Vectorization, parallelization and porting of nuclear codes on the VPP500 system (vectorization). Progress report fiscal 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nemoto, Toshiyuki; Kawai, Wataru [Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Kawasaki, Nobuo [and others

1997-12-01

Several computer codes in the nuclear field have been vectorized, parallelized and transported on the FUJITSU VPP500 system at Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. These results are reported in 3 parts, i.e., the vectorization part, the parallelization part and the porting part. In this report, we describe the vectorization. In this vectorization part, the vectorization of two and three dimensional discrete ordinates simulation code DORT-TORT, gas dynamics analysis code FLOWGR and relativistic Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck simulation code RBUU are described. In the parallelization part, the parallelization of 2-Dimensional relativistic electromagnetic particle code EM2D, Cylindrical Direct Numerical Simulation code CYLDNS and molecular dynamics code for simulating radiation damages in diamond crystals DGR are described. And then, in the porting part, the porting of reactor safety analysis code RELAP5/MOD3.2 and RELAP5/MOD3.2.1.2, nuclear data processing system NJOY and 2-D multigroup discrete ordinate transport code TWOTRAN-II are described. And also, a survey for the porting of command-driven interactive data analysis plotting program IPLOT are described. (author)

Vectorization, parallelization and porting of nuclear codes on the VPP500 system (porting). Progress report fiscal 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nemoto, Toshiyuki [Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Kawasaki, Nobuo; Tanabe, Hidenobu [and others

1998-01-01

Several computer codes in the nuclear field have been vectorized, parallelized and transported on the FUJITSU VPP500 system at Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. These results are reported in 3 parts, i.e., the vectorization part, the parallelization part and the porting part. In this report, we describe the porting. In this porting part, the porting of reactor safety analysis code RELAP5/MOD3.2 and RELAP5/MOD3.2.1.2, nuclear data processing system NJOY and 2-D multigroup discrete ordinate transport code TWOTRAN-II are described. And also, a survey for the porting of command-driven interactive data analysis plotting program IPLOT are described. In the parallelization part, the parallelization of 2-Dimensional relativistic electromagnetic particle code EM2D, Cylindrical Direct Numerical Simulation code CYLDNS and molecular dynamics code for simulating radiation damages in diamond crystals DGR are described. And then, in the vectorization part, the vectorization of two and three dimensional discrete ordinates simulation code DORT-TORT, gas dynamics analysis code FLOWGR and relativistic Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck simulation code RBUU are described. (author)

Effect of β-PVDF Piezoelectric Transducers’ Positioning on the Acoustic Streaming Flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susana O. Catarino

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper reports the numerical and experimental analysis of the acoustic streaming effect in a fluidic domain. The actuation of a piezoelectric transducer generates acoustic waves that propagate to the fluids, generating pressure gradients that induce the flow. The number and positioning of the transducers affect the pressure gradients and, consequently, the resultant flow profile. Two actuation conditions were considered: (1 acoustic streaming generated by a 28 μm thick β-poly(vinylidene fluoride (β-PVDF piezoelectric transducer placed asymmetrically relative to the fluidic domain and (2 acoustic streaming generated by two 28 μm thick β-PVDF piezoelectric transducers placed perpendicularly to each other. The transducers were fixed to the lower left corner of a poly(methyl methacrylate (PMMAcuvette and were actuated with a 24 Vpp and 34.2 MHz sinusoidal voltage. The results show that the number of transducers and their positioning affects the shape and number of recirculation areas in the acoustic streaming flows. The obtained global flows show great potential for mixing and pumping, being an alternative to the previous geometries studied by the authors, namely, a single transducer placed symmetrically under a fluidic domain.

Vectorization, parallelization and porting of nuclear codes on the VPP500 system (vectorization). Progress report fiscal 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawasaki, Nobuo; Ogasawara, Shinobu; Adachi, Masaaki; Kume, Etsuo; Ishizuki, Shigeru; Tanabe, Hidenobu; Nemoto, Toshiyuki; Kawai, Wataru; Watanabe, Hideo

1999-05-01

Several computer codes in the nuclear field have been vectorized, parallelized and transported on the FUJITSU VPP500 system and/or the AP3000 system at Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. We dealt with 14 codes in fiscal 1997. These results are reported in 3 parts, i.e., the vectorization part, the parallelization part and the porting part. In this report, we describe the vectorization. In this vectorization part, the vectorization of multidimensional two-fluid model code ACE-3D for evaluation of constitutive equations, statistical decay code SD and three-dimensional thermal analysis code for in-core test section (T2) of HENDEL SSPHEAT are described. In the parallelization part, the parallelization of cylindrical direct numerical simulation code CYLDNS44N, worldwide version of system for prediction of environmental emergency dose information code WSPEEDI, extension of quantum molecular dynamics code EQMD and three-dimensional non-steady compressible fluid dynamics code STREAM are described. In the porting part, the porting of transient reactor analysis code TRAC-BF1 and Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP4A on the AP3000 are described. In addition, a modification of program libraries for command-driven interactive data analysis plotting program IPLOT is described. (author)

Vectorization, parallelization and porting of nuclear codes on the VPP500 system (porting). Progress report fiscal 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishizuki, Shigeru; Nemoto, Toshiyuki; Kawai, Wataru; Watanabe, Hideo; Tanabe, Hidenobu; Kawasaki, Nobuo; Adachi, Masaaki; Ogasawara, Shinobu; Kume, Etsuo

1999-05-01

Several computer codes in the nuclear field have been vectorized, parallelized and transported on the FUJITSU VPP500 system and/or the AP3000 system at Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. We dealt with 14 codes in fiscal 1997. These results are reported in 3 parts, i.e., the vectorization part, the parallelization part and the porting part. In this report, we describe the porting. In this porting part, the porting of transient reactor analysis code TRAC-BF1 and Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCNP4A on the AP3000 are described. In addition, a modification of program libraries for command-driven interactive data analysis plotting program IPLOT is described. In the vectorization part, the vectorization of multidimensional two-fluid model code ACE-3D for evaluation of constitutive equations, statistical decay code SD and three-dimensional thermal analysis code for in-core test section (T2) of HENDEL SSPHEAT are described. In the parallelization part, the parallelization of cylindrical direct numerical simulation code CYLDNS44N, worldwide version of system for prediction of environmental emergency dose information code WSPEEDI, extension of quantum molecular dynamics code EQMD and three-dimensional non-steady compressible fluid dynamics code STREAM are described. (author)

Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential in HIV-Positive Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Matas, Carla Gentile; Samelli, Alessandra Giannella; Angrisani, Rosanna Giaffredo; Magliaro, Fernanda Cristina Leite; Segurado, Aluísio C

2015-10-20

To characterize the findings of brainstem auditory evoked potential in HIV-positive individuals exposed and not exposed to antiretroviral treatment. This research was a cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study. Forty-five HIV-positive individuals (18 not exposed and 27 exposed to the antiretroviral treatment - research groups I and II, respectively - and 30 control group individuals) were assessed through brainstem auditory evoked potential. There were no significant between-group differences regarding wave latencies. A higher percentage of altered brainstem auditory evoked potential was observed in the HIV-positive groups when compared to the control group. The most common alteration was in the low brainstem. HIV-positive individuals have a higher percentage of altered brainstem auditory evoked potential that suggests central auditory pathway impairment when compared to HIV-negative individuals. There was no significant difference between individuals exposed and not exposed to antiretroviral treatment.

Measuring variability of procedure progression in proceduralized scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yochan; Park, Jinkyun; Jung, Wondea

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► The VPP measure was developed to quantify how differently operators follow the procedures. ► Sources that cause variability of ways to follow a given procedure were identified. ► The VPP values for the scenarios are positively related to the scenario performance time. ► The VPP measure is meaningful for explaining characteristics of several PSFs. -- Abstract: Various performance shaping factors (PSFs) have been presented to explain the contributors to unsafe acts in a human failure event or predict a human error probability of new human performance. However, because most of these parameters of an HRA depend on the subjective knowledge and experience of HRA analyzers, the results of an HRA insufficiently provide unbiased standards to explain human performance variations or compare collected data with other data from different analyzers. To secure the validity of the HRA results, we propose a quantitative measure, which represents the variability of procedure progression (VPP) in proceduralized scenarios. A VPP measure shows how differently the operators follow the steps of the procedures. This paper introduces the sources of the VPP measure and relevance to PSFs. The assessment method of the VPP measure is also proposed, and the application examples are shown with a comparison of the performance time. Although more empirical studies should be conducted to reveal the relationship between the VPP measure and other PSFs, it is believed that the VPP measure provides evidence to quantitatively evaluate human performance variations and to cross-culturally compare the collected data.

The light-makeup advantage in facial processing: Evidence from event-related potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Tagai, Keiko; Shimakura, Hitomi; Isobe, Hiroko; Nittono, Hiroshi

2017-01-01

The effects of makeup on attractiveness have been evaluated using mainly subjective measures. In this study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from a total of 45 Japanese women (n = 23 and n = 22 for Experiment 1 and 2, respectively) to examine the neural processing of faces with no makeup, light makeup, and heavy makeup. To have the participants look at each face carefully, an identity judgement task was used: they were asked to judge whether the two faces presented in succession were of the same person or not. The ERP waveforms in response to the first faces were analyzed. In two experiments with different stimulus probabilities, the amplitudes of N170 and vertex positive potential (VPP) were smaller for faces with light makeup than for faces with heavy makeup or no makeup. The P1 amplitude did not differ between facial types. In a subsequent rating phase, faces with light makeup were rated as more attractive than faces with heavy makeup and no makeup. The results suggest that the processing fluency of faces with light makeup is one of the reasons why light makeup is preferred to heavy makeup and no makeup in daily life.

Positive organizational potential as a valuable resource of the contemporary company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bohdan Godziszewski

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The main aim of the article is to present an outcome of the research project concerning the essence and importance of positive organizational potential understood as state, levels and configurations of companies’ resources which stimulate positive organizational climate, positive organizational culture and positive employees’ behaviour, supporting comprehensive companies’ development. Within the project framework was necessary to identify the internal structure of positive potential, positive culture, positive climate and positive employees’ behaviours. Correlations among the above phenomena and companies’ performances were calculated, within a group of 103 Polish companies, as well.

Spatial distribution of potential and positive Aedes aegypti breeding sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Elías Cuartas

2017-03-01

Conclusions: The spatial relationship between positive and potential A. aegypti breeding sites both indoors and outdoors is dynamic and highly sensitive to the characteristics of each territory. Knowing how positive and potential breeding sites are distributed contributes to the prioritization of resources and actions in vector control programs.

Development of an ultrasonic linear motor with ultra-positioning capability and four driving feet.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Cong; Chu, Xiangcheng; Yuan, Songmei; Zhong, Zuojin; Zhao, Yanqiang; Gao, Shuning

2016-12-01

This paper presents a novel linear piezoelectric motor which is suitable for rapid ultra-precision positioning. The finite element analysis (FEA) was applied for optimal design and further analysis, then experiments were conducted to investigate its performance. By changing the input signal, the proposed motor was found capable of working in the fast driving mode as well as in the precision positioning mode. When working in the fast driving mode, the motor acts as an ultrasonic motor with maximum no-load speed up to 181.2mm/s and maximum thrust of 1.7N at 200Vp-p. Also, when working in precision positioning mode, the motor can be regarded as a flexible hinge piezoelectric actuator with arbitrary motion in the range of 8μm. The measurable minimum output displacement was found to be 0.08μm, but theoretically, can be even smaller. More importantly, the motor can be quickly and accurately positioned in a large stroke. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unintended Positional Drift and Its Potential Solutions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Niels Christian; Serafin, Stefania; Nordahl, Rolf

2013-01-01

many users unintentionally move forward while walking in place. We refer to this phenomenon accidental movement as Unintended Positional Drift. The poster presents evidence of the phenomenon's existence and subsequently discusses different design solutions which potentially could circumvent the problem....

Event-related potential responses to beloved and familiar faces in different marriage styles: evidence from Mosuo subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haiyan eWu

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Research on familiar face recognition has largely focused on the neural correlates of recognizing a beloved partner or family member. However, no research has explored the effect of marriage style on the recognition of a beloved partner’s face, especially in matriarchal societies. Here, we examined the time course of event-related potentials (ERP in response to the face of a beloved partner, sibling, or unknown person in a sample of individuals from the matriarchal Mosuo tribe. Two groups were assessed: intermarriage and walking marriage groups (i.e., couples in a committed relationship who do not cohabitate during the daytime. In agreement with previous reports, ERP results revealed more positive VPP, N250, and P300 waveforms for beloved faces than sibling faces in both groups. Moreover, P300 was more positive for beloved partner versus sibling faces; however, this difference emerged at fronto-central sites for the walking marriage group and at posterior sites for the intermarriage group. Overall, we observed that marriage style affects the later stage processing of a beloved partner’s face, and this may be associated with greater affective arousal and familiarity.

Women are better at seeing faces where there are none: an ERP study of face pareidolia.

Science.gov (United States)

Proverbio, Alice M; Galli, Jessica

2016-09-01

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 26 right-handed students while they detected pictures of animals intermixed with those of familiar objects, faces and faces-in-things (FITs). The face-specific N170 ERP component over the right hemisphere was larger in response to faces and FITs than to objects. The vertex positive potential (VPP) showed a difference in FIT encoding processes between males and females at frontal sites; while for men, the FIT stimuli elicited a VPP of intermediate amplitude (between that for faces and objects), for women, there was no difference in VPP responses to faces or FITs, suggesting a marked anthropomorphization of objects in women. SwLORETA source reconstructions carried out to estimate the intracortical generators of ERPs in the 150-190 ms time window showed how, in the female brain, FIT perception was associated with the activation of brain areas involved in the affective processing of faces (right STS, BA22; posterior cingulate cortex, BA22; and orbitofrontal cortex, BA10) in addition to regions linked to shape processing (left cuneus, BA18/30). Conversely, in the men, the activation of occipito/parietal regions was prevalent, with a considerably smaller activation of BA10. The data suggest that the female brain is more inclined to anthropomorphize perfectly real objects compared to the male brain. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Gender moderates valence effects on the late positive potential to emotional distracters

OpenAIRE

Syrjänen, Elmeri

2013-01-01

Attention is captured more strongly by emotional pictures than by neutral pictures. This allocation of attention to emotional pictures is commonly indexed by the late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP) that is larger for negative and positive pictures than for neutral pictures. However, findings are mixed in regards to valence effects, that is, whether the LPP is larger for negative pictures than for positive pictures (negativity bias) or vice versa (positivity bias). ...

[Decrease in N170 evoked potential component latency during repeated presentation of face images].

Science.gov (United States)

Verkhliutov, V M; Ushakov, V L; Strelets, V B

2009-01-01

The 15 healthy volunteers EEG from 28 channels was recorded during the presentation of visual stimuli in the form of face and building images. The stimuli were presented in two series. The first series consisted of 60 face and 60 building images presented in random order. The second series consisted of 30 face and 30 building images. The second series began 1.5-2 min after the end of the first ore. No instruction was given to the participants. P1, N170 and VPP EP components were identified for both stimuli categories. These components were located in the medial parietal area (Brodmann area 40). P1 and N170 components were recorded in the superior temporal fissure (Brodmann area 21, STS region), the first component had the latency 120 ms, the second one--155 ms. VPP was recorded with the latency 190 ms (Brodmann area 19). Dynamic mapping of EP components with the latency from 97 to 242 ms revealed the removal of positive maximums from occipital to frontal areas through temporal ones and their subsequent returning to occipital areas through the central ones. During the comparison of EP components to face and building images the amplitude differences were revealed in the following areas: P1--in frontal, central and anterior temporal areas, N170--in frontal, central, temporal and parietal areas, VPP--in all areas. It was also revealed that N170 latency was 12 ms shorter for face than for building images. It was proposed that the above mentioned N170 latency decrease for face in comparison with building images is connected with the different space location of the fusiform area responsible for face and building images recognition. Priming--the effect that is revealed during the repetitive face images presentation is interpreted as the manifestation of functional heterogeneity of the fusiform area responsible for the face images recognition. The hypothesis is put forward that the parts of extrastriate cortex which are located closer to the central retinotopical

Positive technology–A powerful partnership between positive psychology and interactive technology. A discussion of potential and challenges.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Diefenbach

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Under the umbrella term "positive computing" concepts of positive psychology are transferred to the domain of human-computer interaction (HCI. In an interdisciplinary community psychologist, computer scientists, designers and others are exploring promising ways how to utilize interactive technology to support wellbeing and human flourishing. Along with this, the recent popularity of smartphone apps aiming at the improvement of health behavior, mindfulness and positive routines, suggests the general acceptance of technology as a facilitator of personal development. Given this, there generally seems a high potential for a technology mediated trigger of positive behavior change, especially in context of positive psychology and resource oriented approaches such as solution-focused coaching. At the same time, there is still a lack of well-founded approaches to design such technology which consider its responsible role as an "interactive coach" and systematically integrate the needed expertise of different disciplines. The present article discusses the general potential and particular challenges to support the goals of positive psychology and human desire for self-improvement through interactive technology and highlights critical steps for a successful partnership between both.

Early Stages of Figure–Ground Segregation during Perception of the Face–Vase

OpenAIRE

Pitts, Michael A.; Martínez, Antígona; Brewer, James B.; Hillyard, Steven A.

2010-01-01

The temporal sequence of neural processes supporting figure–ground perception was investigated by recording ERPs associated with subjects’ perceptions of the face–vase figure. In Experiment 1, subjects continuously reported whether they perceived the face or the vase as the foreground figure by pressing one of two buttons. Each button press triggered a probe flash to the face region, the vase region, or the borders between the two. The N170/vertex positive potential (VPP) component of the ERP...

The Effectiveness of Positive Coping Program on Reduction of Addiction Potential in Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatemeh Nematollahi

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study aimed to study the effectiveness of positive coping program on reduction of addiction potential in dormitory girl students. Method: The research method was semi experimental method namely: pre test-post test with witness group. In selection of sample, first addiction potential scale administered among 160 dormitory girl students, and 20 of them who were scored higher than cutoff score on addiction potential scale selected and divided to two experimental and witness groups. Experimental group received 10 sessions training which each session was 90 minutes. Positive coping program was based on three components of Bob Murray’s theory namely: social relationships, goal setting and spirituality. After finishing of training Post test were administered in both experimental and witness groups. Results: The results showed positive coping training was significantly reduced students’ addiction potential. Conclusion: The training of positive coping can be affect on reduction of girl students’ addiction potential.

Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mozhgan Masoom

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Since utricle is the main damaged organ in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV, ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP may be an appropriate method to evaluate the utricule dysfunction and the effect of disease recurrence rate on it. This study aimed to record myogenic potential in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.Methods: In a cross-sectional study, ocular myogenic potential was recorded in 25 healthy subjects and 20 patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo using 500 Hz-tone bursts (95 dB nHL.Results: In the affected ear, mean amplitude was lower and mean threshold was higher than those in the unaffected ear and in the normal group (p<0.05. Mean amplitude asymmetry ratio of patients was more than the healthy subjects (p0.05. Frequencies of abnormal responses in the affected ears were higher than in unaffected ears and in the normal group (p<0.05. Furthermore, the patients with recurrent vertigo showed more abnormalities than the patients with non-recurrent (p=0.030.Conclusion: In the recurrent benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential showed more damage in the utricle, suggesting this response could be used to evaluate the patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

A novel BCI based on ERP components sensitive to configural processing of human faces

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yu; Zhao, Qibin; Jing, Jin; Wang, Xingyu; Cichocki, Andrzej

2012-04-01

This study introduces a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) based on an oddball paradigm using stimuli of facial images with loss of configural face information (e.g., inversion of face). To the best of our knowledge, till now the configural processing of human faces has not been applied to BCI but widely studied in cognitive neuroscience research. Our experiments confirm that the face-sensitive event-related potential (ERP) components N170 and vertex positive potential (VPP) have reflected early structural encoding of faces and can be modulated by the configural processing of faces. With the proposed novel paradigm, we investigate the effects of ERP components N170, VPP and P300 on target detection for BCI. An eight-class BCI platform is developed to analyze ERPs and evaluate the target detection performance using linear discriminant analysis without complicated feature extraction processing. The online classification accuracy of 88.7% and information transfer rate of 38.7 bits min-1 using stimuli of inverted faces with only single trial suggest that the proposed paradigm based on the configural processing of faces is very promising for visual stimuli-driven BCI applications.

Influence of the Lactotripeptides Isoleucine-Proline-Proline and Valine-Proline-Proline on Systolic Blood Pressure in Japanese Subjects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelie Chanson-Rolle

Full Text Available The lactotripeptides isoleucine-proline-proline (IPP and valine-proline-proline (VPP have been shown to decrease systolic blood pressure (SBP in several populations, but the size of the effect varies among studies. We performed a meta-analysis including all published studies to evaluate the SBP-lowering effect of IPP/VPP in Japanese subjects more comprehensively.Eligible randomized controlled trials were searched for within four bibliographic databases, including two Japanese ones. Eighteen studies (including a total of 1194 subjects were included in the meta-analysis. A random effect model using the restricted maximum likelihood (REML estimator was used for the analysis. The analysis showed that consumption of IPP/VPP induced a significant reduction in SBP as compared with placebo in Japanese subjects, with an estimated effect of -5.63 mm Hg (95% CI, -6.87 to -4.39, P<0.0001 and no evidence of publication bias. A significant heterogeneity between series was evident, which could be explained by a significant influence of the baseline blood pressure status of the subjects, the effect of IPP/VPP on SBP being stronger in hypertensive subjects (-8.35 mm Hg, P<0.0001 than in non-hypertensive subjects (-3.42mm Hg, P<0.0001. Furthermore, the effect of IPP/VPP on SBP remained significant when limiting the analysis to series that tested the usual doses of IPP/VPP consumed daily (below 5 mg/d, with estimated effects of -6.01 mm Hg in the overall population and -3.32 mm Hg in non-hypertensive subjects.Results from this meta-analysis show that IPP/VPP lactotripeptides can significantly reduce office SBP in Japanese subjects with or without overt hypertension, and for doses that can potentially be consumed as an everyday supplement. This suggests that these peptides could play a role in controlling blood pressure in Japanese subjects. The systematic review protocol was published on the PROSPERO register (CRD42014014322.

Virtual power plant auctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ausubel, Lawrence M.; Cramton, Peter

2010-01-01

Since their advent in 2001, virtual power plant (VPP) auctions have been implemented widely. In this paper, we describe the simultaneous ascending-clock auction format that has been used for virtually all VPP auctions to date, elaborating on other design choices that most VPP auctions have had in common as well as discussing a few aspects that have varied significantly among VPP auctions. We then evaluate the various objectives of regulators in requiring VPP auctions, concluding that the auctions have been effective devices for facilitating new entry into electricity markets and for developing wholesale power markets. (author)

Virtual power plant auctions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ausubel, Lawrence M.; Cramton, Peter [Department of Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)

2010-12-15

Since their advent in 2001, virtual power plant (VPP) auctions have been implemented widely. In this paper, we describe the simultaneous ascending-clock auction format that has been used for virtually all VPP auctions to date, elaborating on other design choices that most VPP auctions have had in common as well as discussing a few aspects that have varied significantly among VPP auctions. We then evaluate the various objectives of regulators in requiring VPP auctions, concluding that the auctions have been effective devices for facilitating new entry into electricity markets and for developing wholesale power markets. (author)

Harm avoidance in adolescents modulates late positive potentials during affective picture processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wenhai; Lu, Jiamei; Ni, Ziyin; Liu, Xia; Wang, Dahua; Shen, Jiliang

2013-08-01

Research in adults has shown that individual differences in harm avoidance (HA) modulate electrophysiological responses to affective stimuli. To determine whether HA in adolescents modulates affective information processing, we collected event-related potentials from 70 adolescents while they viewed 90 pictures from the Chinese affective picture system. Multiple regressions revealed that HA negatively predicted late positive potential (LPP) for positive pictures and positively predicted for negative pictures; however, HA did not correlate with LPP for neutral pictures. The results suggest that at the late evaluative stage, high-HA adolescents display attentional bias to negative pictures while low-HA adolescents display attentional bias to negative pictures. Moreover, these dissociable attentional patterns imply that individual differences in adolescents' HA modulate the late selective attention mechanism of affective information. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Results of speech improvement following simultaneous push-back together with velopharyngeal flap surgery in cleft palate patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Wermker, Kai; Lünenbürger, Henning; Joos, Ulrich; Kleinheinz, Johannes; Jung, Susanne

2014-07-01

Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) can be caused by a variety of disorders. The most common cause of VPI is the association with cleft palate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different surgical techniques for cleft palate patients with VPI: (1) velopharyngoplasty with an inferiorly based posterior pharyngeal flap (VPP posterior, Schönborn-Rosenthal), and (2) combination of VPP posterior and push-back operation (Dorrance). 41 subjects (26 females, 15 males) with VPI were analysed. Hypernasality was judged subjectively and nasalance data were assessed objectively using the NasalView system preoperative and 6 months postoperative. Subjective analysis showed improved speech results regarding hypernasality for all OP-techniques with good results for VPP posterior and VPP posterior combined with push-back with success rates of 94.4% and 87.7%, respectively. Objective analysis showed a statistically significant reduction of nasalance for both VPP posterior and VPP posterior combined with push-back (p push-back. Based on our findings, both VPP posterior and VPP posterior combined with push-back showed good results in correction of hypernasality in cleft patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency. Copyright © 2013 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Optimal Configuration Scheme of the Virtual Power Plant Considering Benefits and Risks of Investors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingmin Wang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A virtual power plant (VPP is a special virtual unit that integrates various distributed energy resources (DERs distributed in the generation and consumption sides. The optimal configuration scheme of the VPP needs to break the geographical restrictions to make full use of DERs, considering the uncertainties. First, the components of the DERs and the structure of the VPP are briefly introduced. Next, the cubic exponential smoothing method is adopted to predict the VPP load requirement. Finally, the optimal configuration of the DER capacities inside the VPP is calculated by using portfolio theory and genetic algorithms (GA. The results show that the configuration scheme can optimize the DER capacities considering uncertainties, guaranteeing economic benefits of investors, and fully utilizing the DERs. Therefore, this paper provides a feasible reference for the optimal configuration scheme of the VPP from the perspective of investors.

Retrospektive Studie zur Ermittlung der Effizienz sprechunterstützender Operationen bei velopharyngealer Insuffizienz

OpenAIRE

Wellmann, S.S. (Sandra)

2013-01-01

In der vorliegenden Studie wurde retrospektiv an einem Patientenkollektiv die Effizienz der vier sprechunterstützenden Operationen Velopharyngoplastik mit kaudal gestieltem Lappen (VPP kaudal), Push back - Verfahren, VPP kaudal und Push - back kombiniert und die Levatorplastik anhand der Hypernasalitaät prä - und postoperativ untersucht. Die durch die Logopäden ermittelten Erfolgsquoten lagen für VPP kaudal, VPP kaudal mit Push back, Push back und Levatorplastik bei 89%, 88%, 43% und 75% (p>...

Full State Feedback Control for Virtual Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, Jay Tillay [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-09-01

This report presents an object-oriented implementation of full state feedback control for virtual power plants (VPP). The components of the VPP full state feedback control are (1) objectoriented high-fidelity modeling for all devices in the VPP; (2) Distribution System Distributed Quasi-Dynamic State Estimation (DS-DQSE) that enables full observability of the VPP by augmenting actual measurements with virtual, derived and pseudo measurements and performing the Quasi-Dynamic State Estimation (QSE) in a distributed manner, and (3) automated formulation of the Optimal Power Flow (OPF) in real time using the output of the DS-DQSE, and solving the distributed OPF to provide the optimal control commands to the DERs of the VPP.

CASE REPORT PET/CT-positive brown tumour – a potentially ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Brown tumor of bone: a potential source of false-positive Thallium-201 localization. J Nucl Med 1989; 30: 1264-1267. 4. Nassar GM, Ayus JC. Images in clinical medicine. Brown tumor in end stage renal disease. N Engl J Med. 1999; 341: 1652. 5. Keyser JS, Postma GN. Brown tumor of the mandible. Am J Otolaryngol 1996; ...

Potential for false positive HIV test results with the serial rapid HIV testing algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Baveewo, Steven; Kamya, Moses R; Mayanja-Kizza, Harriet; Fatch, Robin; Bangsberg, David R; Coates, Thomas; Hahn, Judith A; Wanyenze, Rhoda K

2012-03-19

Rapid HIV tests provide same-day results and are widely used in HIV testing programs in areas with limited personnel and laboratory infrastructure. The Uganda Ministry of Health currently recommends the serial rapid testing algorithm with Determine, STAT-PAK, and Uni-Gold for diagnosis of HIV infection. Using this algorithm, individuals who test positive on Determine, negative to STAT-PAK and positive to Uni-Gold are reported as HIV positive. We conducted further testing on this subgroup of samples using qualitative DNA PCR to assess the potential for false positive tests in this situation. Of the 3388 individuals who were tested, 984 were HIV positive on two consecutive tests, and 29 were considered positive by a tiebreaker (positive on Determine, negative on STAT-PAK, and positive on Uni-Gold). However, when the 29 samples were further tested using qualitative DNA PCR, 14 (48.2%) were HIV negative. Although this study was not primarily designed to assess the validity of rapid HIV tests and thus only a subset of the samples were retested, the findings show a potential for false positive HIV results in the subset of individuals who test positive when a tiebreaker test is used in serial testing. These findings highlight a need for confirmatory testing for this category of individuals.

A pesquisa de sangue oculto nas fezes associada a um questionário de sinais e sintomas na prevenção do câncer colo retal Faecal occult blood (FOB test associated with a questionaire of signs and symptoms in screening for colorectal cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Luis Altenburg

2009-03-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Determinar a eficácia de um programa de prevenção de Câncer Colo Retal (CCR através do método da pesquisa de sangue oculto das fezes (PSO, e um questionário clínico (QSA. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Foi realizada uma triagem através do PSO e do QSA em indivíduos acima de 50 anos, oriundos de uma campanha de prevenção de CCR em Joinville, SC. 387 indivíduos aderiram à campanha e 93 foram excluídos.. Foram definidos 3 grupos: 1- PSO +, com 20 sujeitos, QSA +, com 38 sujeitos e PSO e QSA negativos com 21 sujeitos. Foi definida como colonoscopia positiva aquela que detectou adenomas. RESULTADOS: O grupo 1 apresentou 22% de sensibilidade, 74% de especificidade, likelihood ratio positivo (LR de 0, 9, acurácia de 56, 9, valor preditivo positivo (VPP de 31,6 e negativo (VPN de 64. O grupo 2 apresentou 71,4% de sensibilidade, 45,6 de especificidade, LR de 1,3, acurácia de 52,6, VPP de 32,6 e VPN de 81,3. O método apresentou 95,2% de sensibilidade, 63,2 de especificidade, LR de 2, 6, acurácia de 71, 8, VPP de 48.8 e VPN de 97.3. CONCLUSÃO: O método da PSO e QSA são complementares e efetivos como triagem em programas de prevenção de CCR.The purpose of this study is to verify the efficacy of a strategy to screen colorectal cancer(CCR and adenomas using the faecal occult blood test(PSO and a questionnaire (QSAbased in signs and symptoms of CCR. METHODS: A program of prevention was done, and the patients answered the QSA and did the PSO type imunocromatograph. RESULTS: 387 people adhered do the program, 93 were excluded. Three groups were formed: 1: 20 persons, with PSO positive, 2:38 persons with QSA positive, and 3, with 21 persons with PSO and QSA negatives. Group 1 presented a sensibility of 22%, specificity of 74%, Likelihood ratio + of 0,9, accuracy of 56,9, Positive predictive value(VPP of 31,6 and negative(VPN of 64. Group 2 presented sensibility of 71,4%, 45,6% of specificity, Likelihood ratio + 1.3, accuracy of 52,6, VPP de

Positive zeta potential of a negatively charged semi-permeable plasma membrane

Science.gov (United States)

Sinha, Shayandev; Jing, Haoyuan; Das, Siddhartha

2017-08-01

The negative charge of the plasma membrane (PM) severely affects the nature of moieties that may enter or leave the cells and controls a large number of ion-interaction-mediated intracellular and extracellular events. In this letter, we report our discovery of a most fascinating scenario, where one interface (e.g., membrane-cytosol interface) of the negatively charged PM shows a positive surface (or ζ) potential, while the other interface (e.g., membrane-electrolyte interface) still shows a negative ζ potential. Therefore, we encounter a completely unexpected situation where an interface (e.g., membrane-cytosol interface) that has a negative surface charge density demonstrates a positive ζ potential. We establish that the attainment of such a property by the membrane can be ascribed to an interplay of the nature of the membrane semi-permeability and the electrostatics of the electric double layer established on either side of the charged membrane. We anticipate that such a membrane property can lead to such capabilities of the cell (in terms of accepting or releasing certain kinds of moieties as well regulating cellular signaling) that was hitherto inconceivable.

Two-dimensional potential and charge distributions of positive surface streamer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Daiki; Matsuoka, Shigeyasu; Kumada, Akiko; Hidaka, Kunihiko

2009-01-01

Information on the potential and the field profile along a surface discharge is required for quantitatively discussing and clarifying the propagation mechanism. The sensing technique with a Pockels crystal has been developed for directly measuring the potential and electric field distribution on a dielectric material. In this paper, the Pockels sensing system consists of a pulse laser and a CCD camera for measuring the instantaneous two-dimensional potential distribution on a 25.4 mm square area with a 50 μm sampling pitch. The temporal resolution is 3.2 ns which is determined by the pulse width of the laser emission. The transient change in the potential distribution of a positive surface streamer propagating in atmospheric air is measured with this system. The electric field and the charge distributions are also calculated from the measured potential profile. The propagating direction component of the electric field near the tip of the propagating streamer reaches 3 kV mm -1 . When the streamer stops, the potential distribution along a streamer forms an almost linear profile with the distance from the electrode, and its gradient is about 0.5 kV mm -1 .

Potential for false positive HIV test results with the serial rapid HIV testing algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baveewo Steven

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rapid HIV tests provide same-day results and are widely used in HIV testing programs in areas with limited personnel and laboratory infrastructure. The Uganda Ministry of Health currently recommends the serial rapid testing algorithm with Determine, STAT-PAK, and Uni-Gold for diagnosis of HIV infection. Using this algorithm, individuals who test positive on Determine, negative to STAT-PAK and positive to Uni-Gold are reported as HIV positive. We conducted further testing on this subgroup of samples using qualitative DNA PCR to assess the potential for false positive tests in this situation. Results Of the 3388 individuals who were tested, 984 were HIV positive on two consecutive tests, and 29 were considered positive by a tiebreaker (positive on Determine, negative on STAT-PAK, and positive on Uni-Gold. However, when the 29 samples were further tested using qualitative DNA PCR, 14 (48.2% were HIV negative. Conclusion Although this study was not primarily designed to assess the validity of rapid HIV tests and thus only a subset of the samples were retested, the findings show a potential for false positive HIV results in the subset of individuals who test positive when a tiebreaker test is used in serial testing. These findings highlight a need for confirmatory testing for this category of individuals.

Dysregulation in cortical reactivity to emotional faces in PTSD patients with high dissociation symptoms

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Aleksandra Klimova

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Predominant dissociation in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD is characterized by restricted affective responses to positive stimuli. To date, no studies have examined neural responses to a range of emotional expressions in PTSD with high dissociative symptoms. Objective: This study tested the hypothesis that PTSD patients with high dissociative symptoms will display increased event-related potential (ERP amplitudes in early components (N1, P1 to threatening faces (angry, fearful, and reduced later ERP amplitudes (Vertex Positive Potential (VPP, P3 to happy faces compared to PTSD patients with low dissociative symptoms. Methods: Thirty-nine civilians with PTSD were classified as high dissociative (n=16 or low dissociative (n=23 according to their responses on the Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale. ERPs were recorded, whilst participants viewed emotional (happy, angry, fear and neutral facial expressions in a passive viewing task. Results: High dissociative PTSD patients displayed significantly increased N120 amplitude to the majority of facial expressions (neutral, happy, and angry compared to low dissociative PTSD patients under conscious and preconscious conditions. The high dissociative PTSD group had significantly reduced VPP amplitude to happy faces in the conscious condition. Conclusion: High dissociative PTSD patients displayed increased early (preconscious cortical responses to emotional stimuli, and specific reductions to happy facial expressions in later (conscious, face-specific components compared to low dissociative PTSD patients. Dissociation in PTSD may act to increase initial pre-attentive processing of affective stimuli, and specifically reduce cortical reactivity to happy faces when consciously processing these stimuli.

Two-Stage Coordinated Operational Strategy for Distributed Energy Resources Considering Wind Power Curtailment Penalty Cost

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Jing Qiu

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The concept of virtual power plant (VPP has been proposed to facilitate the integration of distributed renewable energy. VPP behaves similar to a single entity that aggregates a collection of distributed energy resources (DERs such as distributed generators, storage devices, flexible loads, etc., so that the aggregated power outputs can be flexibly dispatched and traded in electricity markets. This paper presents an optimal scheduling model for VPP participating in day-ahead (DA and real-time (RT markets. In the DA market, VPP aims to maximize the expected profit and reduce the risk in relation to uncertainties. The risk is measured by a risk factor based on the mean-variance Markowitz theory. In the RT market, VPP aims to minimize the imbalance cost and wind power curtailment by adjusting the scheduling of DERs in its portfolio. In case studies, the benefits (e.g., surplus profit and reduced wind power curtailment of aggregated VPP operation are assessed. Moreover, we have investigated how these benefits are affected by different risk-aversion levels and uncertainty levels. According to the simulation results, the aggregated VPP scheduling approach can effectively help the integration of wind power, mitigate the impact of uncertainties, and reduce the cost of risk-aversion.

Short-term economics of virtual power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kok, J.K.

2009-08-01

The Virtual Power Plant (VPP) has gained an increasing interest over the last few years. A VPP is a flexible representation of a portfolio of Distributed Energy Resources (DER: distributed generation, demand response and electricity storage). One of the key activities of a VPP is the delivery of (near-)real-time balancing services. In order to operate such a (near-)real-time coordination activity optimally, the VPP needs to maintain a dynamic merit-order list of all DER participating in the VPP. In order to make optimal decisions based on this list, the merit order needs to be based on the true marginal cost (or marginal benefit in case of demand response) of the individual DER units. The marginal electricity costs of most types of DER are highly dependent on local context and, hence, change over time. From analysis of the short-term bid strategies of various DER units, the existence of a bid strategy spectrum becomes clear. On one end of the spectrum, bidding strategies are based straightforwardly on true marginal cost or benefit. Further along the spectrum, optimal bidding strategies become less dependent on marginal cost levels and more on the price dynamics in the (VPP) market context. These results are relevant for VPP operations both from business and technical perspectives.

A singular position-dependent mass particle in an infinite potential well

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustafa, Omar; Mazharimousavi, S. Habib

2009-01-01

An unusual singular position-dependent-mass particle in an infinite potential well is considered. The corresponding Hamiltonian is mapped through a point-canonical-transformation and an explicit correspondence between the target Hamiltonian and a Poeschl-Teller type reference Hamiltonian is obtained. New ordering ambiguity parametric setting are suggested

Joint Scheduling Optimization of Virtual Power Plants and Equitable Profit Distribution Using Shapely Value Theory

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Zhong-fu Tan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The installation capacity of wind and solar photovoltaic power is continually increasing, which makes renewable energy grid connection and power generation an important link of China’s power structure optimization. A virtual power plant (VPP is an important way to help distributed energy resource grid connection and promote renewable energy industry development. To study the economic scheduling problem of various distributed energy resources and the profit distribution problem of VPP alliance, this study builds a separate operation scheduling model for individual VPP and a joint operation scheduling model for VPP alliance, as well as the profit distribution model. The case study verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model. The sensitivity analysis provides information about VPP decision-making in accordance with the policy environment development trend.

Robust hopping based on virtual pendulum posture control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharbafi, Maziar A; Ahmadabadi, Majid Nili; Yazdanpanah, Mohammad J; Maufroy, Christophe; Seyfarth, Andre

2013-01-01

A new control approach to achieve robust hopping against perturbations in the sagittal plane is presented in this paper. In perturbed hopping, vertical body alignment has a significant role for stability. Our approach is based on the virtual pendulum concept, recently proposed, based on experimental findings in human and animal locomotion. In this concept, the ground reaction forces are pointed to a virtual support point, named virtual pivot point (VPP), during motion. This concept is employed in designing the controller to balance the trunk during the stance phase. New strategies for leg angle and length adjustment besides the virtual pendulum posture control are proposed as a unified controller. This method is investigated by applying it on an extension of the spring loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) model. Trunk, leg mass and damping are added to the SLIP model in order to make the model more realistic. The stability is analyzed by Poincaré map analysis. With fixed VPP position, stability, disturbance rejection and moderate robustness are achieved, but with a low convergence speed. To improve the performance and attain higher robustness, an event-based control of the VPP position is introduced, using feedback of the system states at apexes. Discrete linear quartic regulator is used to design the feedback controller. Considerable enhancements with respect to stability, convergence speed and robustness against perturbations and parameter changes are achieved. (paper)

The milk-derived peptides Val-Pro-Pro and Ile-Pro-Pro attenuate arterial dysfunction in L-NAME-treated rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Nonaka, Atsuko; Nakamura, Teppei; Hirota, Tatsuhiko; Matsushita, Akiko; Asakura, Masanori; Ohki, Kohji; Kitakaze, Masafumi

2014-08-01

Both endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness are surrogate markers of atherosclerosis and thus cardiovascular (CV) events. The milk-derived peptides Val-Pro-Pro (VPP) and Ile-Pro-Pro (IPP) inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme, dilate blood vessels ex vivo and stimulate nitric oxide (NO) production in cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of either VPP or IPP on arterial function and on target organ damage in vivo. Male Wistar rats were treated with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME, 1 g l(-1)), L-NAME+VPP (0.3 g l(-1)) or L-NAME+IPP (0.3 g l(-1)) in their drinking water for 8 weeks. Plasma nitrite and nitrate (NOx) levels were significantly increased in normal Wistar rats after supplementation with either VPP or IPP but not in rats that were chronically treated with L-NAME. Acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation in the thoracic aorta ring was impaired by L-NAME, whereas vasorelaxation was significantly greater in mice treated with L-NAME+VPP for 1 or 4 weeks or L-NAME+IPP for 4 weeks than in mice treated with L-NAME alone. Four weeks of treatment with either VPP or IPP attenuated the increase in pulse wave velocity (PWV) that was induced by L-NAME. Cardiac and renal damage were observed after 8 weeks of treatment with L-NAME, and either VPP or IPP attenuated this damage. These results show that VPP or IPP attenuates arterial dysfunction and suggest that milk-derived peptides might prevent CV damage.

Isospectral Trigonometric Pöschl-Teller Potentials with Position Dependent Mass Generated by Supersymmetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago-Cruz, C

2016-01-01

In this work a position dependent mass Hamiltonian with the same spectrum of the trigonometric Pöschl-Teller one was constructed by means of the underlying potential algebra. The corresponding wave functions are determined by using the factorization method. A new family of isospectral potentials are constructed by applying a Darboux transformation. An example is presented in order to illustrate the formalism. (paper)

Divestiture or virtual power plants - the solution to the problem of the dominant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coppens, F.

2005-01-01

The European commission adopted the directive on 'the common rules for the creation of the internal electricity market' in 1996. After about ten years, it seems that in many smaller countries the historical producer remains dominant in the national market. This is the case for Belgium, where historical reasons and limited interconnection capacity resulted in a market share between 70% and 80% (depending on whether the interconnections are taken into account) for the historical producer Electrabel. This might potentially lead to an abuse of market power. Moreover, the wholesale margins seem to be higher in Belgium than e.g. in the Netherlands. Many argue that divestiture or additional VPP might solve the problem. This paper argues that there is no doubt whatsoever that divestiture and VPP will increase competition. However, whether it will also increase efficiency depends strongly on the specific context. It is shown that the existence of margins might be due to other causes than the abuse of market power and as a consequence that divestiture and VPP might not be the solution. (Author)

Communication - An Effective Tool for Implementing ISO 14001/EMS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rachel Damewood; Bowen Huntsman

2004-04-01

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) received ISO 14001/EMS certification in June 2002. Communication played an effective role in implementing ISO 14001/EMS at the INEEL. This paper describes communication strategies used during the implementation and certification processes. The INEEL achieved Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) and Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star status in 2001. ISMS implemented a formal process to plan and execute work. VPP facilitated worker involvement by establishing geographic units at various facilities with employee points of contact and management champions. The INEEL Environmental Management System (EMS) was developed to integrate the environmental functional area into its ISMS and VPP. Since the core functions of ISMS, VPP, and EMS are interchangeable, they were easy to integrate. Communication is essential to successfully implement an EMS. (According to ISO 14001 requirements, communication interacts with 12 other elements of the requirements.) We developed communication strategies that integrated ISMS, VPP, and EMS. For example, the ISMS, VPP, and EMS Web sites communicated messages to the work force, such as “VPP emphasizes the people side of doing business, ISMS emphasizes the system side of doing business, and EMS emphasizes the systems to protect the environment; but they all define work, identify and analyze hazards, and mitigate the hazards.” As a result of this integration, the work force supported and implemented the EMS. In addition, the INEEL established a cross-functional communication team to assist with implementing the EMS. The team included members from the Training and Communication organizations, VPP office, Pollution Prevention, Employee and Media Relations, a union representative, facility environmental support, and EMS staff. This crossfunctional team used various communication strategies to promote our EMS to all organization levels and successfully implemented EMS

A bi-level stochastic scheduling optimization model for a virtual power plant connected to a wind–photovoltaic–energy storage system considering the uncertainty and demand response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ju, Liwei; Tan, Zhongfu; Yuan, Jinyun; Tan, Qingkun; Li, Huanhuan; Dong, Fugui

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Our research focuses on Virtual Power Plant (VPP). • Virtual Power Plant consists of WPP, PV, CGT, ESSs and DRPs. • Robust optimization theory is introduced to analyze uncertainties. • A bi-level stochastic scheduling optimization model is proposed for VPP. • Models are built to measure the impacts of ESSs and DERPs on VPP operation. - Abstract: To reduce the uncertain influence of wind power and solar photovoltaic power on virtual power plant (VPP) operation, robust optimization theory (ROT) is introduced to build a stochastic scheduling model for VPP considering the uncertainty, price-based demand response (PBDR) and incentive-based demand response (IBDR). First, the VPP components are described including the wind power plant (WPP), photovoltaic generators (PV), convention gas turbine (CGT), energy storage systems (ESSs) and demand resource providers (DRPs). Then, a scenario generation and reduction frame is proposed for analyzing and simulating output stochastics based on the interval method and the Kantorovich distance. Second, a bi-level robust scheduling model is proposed with a double robust coefficient for WPP and PV. In the upper layer model, the maximum VPP operation income is taken as the optimization objective for building the scheduling model with the day-ahead prediction output of WPP and PV. In the lower layer model, the day-ahead scheduling scheme is revised with the actual output of the WPP and PV under the objectives of the minimum system net load and the minimum system operation cost. Finally, the independent micro-grid in a coastal island in eastern China is used for the simulation analysis. The results illustrate that the model can overcome the influence of uncertainty on VPP operations and reduce the system power shortage cost by connecting the day-ahead scheduling with the real-time scheduling. ROT could provide a flexible decision tool for decision makers, effectively addressing system uncertainties. ESSs could

Position-Dependent Mass Schrödinger Equation for the Morse Potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ovando, G; Peña, J J; Morales, J; López-Bonilla, J

2017-01-01

The position dependent mass Schrödinger equation (PDMSE) has a wide range of quantum applications such as the study of semiconductors, quantum wells, quantum dots and impurities in crystals, among many others. On the other hand, the Morse potential is one of the most important potential models used to study the electronic properties of diatomic molecules. In this work, the solution of the effective mass one-dimensional Schrödinger equation for the Morse potential is presented. This is done by means of the canonical transformation method in algebraic form. The PDMSE is solved for any model of the proposed kinetic energy operators as for example the BenDaniel-Duke, Gora-Williams, Zhu-Kroemer or Li-Kuhn. Also, in order to solve the PDMSE with Morse potential, we consider a superpotential leading to a special form of the exactly solvable Schrödinger equation of constant mass for a class of multiparameter exponential-type potential along with a proper mass distribution. The proposed approach is general and can be applied in the search of new potentials suitable on science of materials by looking into the viable choices of the mass function. (paper)

Electron cryotomography of vitrified cells with a Volta phase plate.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuda, Yoshiyuki; Laugks, Ulrike; Lučić, Vladan; Baumeister, Wolfgang; Danev, Radostin

2015-05-01

Electron cryotomography provides a means of studying the three dimensional structure of pleomorphic objects, such as organelles or cells, with a resolution of 1-3nm. A limitation in the study of radiation sensitive biological samples is the low signal-to-noise ratio of the tomograms which may obscure fine details. To overcome this limitation, the recently developed Volta phase plate (VPP) was applied in electron cryotomographic studies of a wide range of cellular structures, from magnetotactic bacteria to primary cultured neurons. The results show that the VPP improves contrast significantly and consequently the signal-to-noise ratio of the tomograms, moreover it avoids disturbing fringing artifacts typical for Zernike phase plates. The contrast improvement provided by the VPP was also confirmed in projection images of relatively thick (∼400nm) samples. In order to investigate the respective contributions of the VPP and the energy filter, images acquired with different combinations of the two were compared. Zero-loss energy filtering reduced the background noise in thicker areas of the sample and improved the contrast of features such as poly-β-hydroxybutyrate granules in magnetotactic bacteria, whereas the VPP provided an overall contrast improvement for all sample areas. After 3D reconstruction, tomograms acquired with the combination of a VPP and an energy filter showed structural features in neuronal processes with outstanding clarity. We also show that the VPP can be combined with focused ion beam milling to examine structures embedded deeply inside cells. Thus, we expect that VPP will become a standard element of the electron cryotomography workflow. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thermal and mechanical properties of injection molded recycled high density polyethylene blends with virgin isotactic polypropylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madi, N.K.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Recycled high density polyethylene and isotactic polypropylene blends have been prepared by melt compounding. ► Thermal study showed that iPP is not well dispersed into the rHDPE matrix. ► Tensile testing shows that there is strong correlation between the thermal properties and the tensile behavior of rHDPE/ipp blends. - Abstract: Polymer blending has become an important field in polymer research and especially in the area of recycling. In this research the target was to reduce the polymer waste problem. Therefore, recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE) and virgin isotactic polypropylene (vPP) blends containing upto 30 wt% of vPP have been prepared by melt compounding method using injection molding at 220 °C. The thermal properties, thermal degradation and the mechanical properties of the polymer blends were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and tensile testing method. DSC study shows that in all the blends there are two melting peaks, one around the melting temperature of rHDPE and another one around the melting point of vPP, indicating that vPP is not well dispersed into the rHDPE matrix. The changes in the heat of fusion for the rHDPE/iPP polymer blends versus vPP content suggests that incorporating vPP affects the crystallinity of the system. TGA analysis of the polymer blends shows that parts of rHDPE with 95/5 upto 80/20 of vPP are mostly stable composition which brings about valuable stabilization to the rHDPE. Tensile testing shows that there is strong correlation between the thermal properties and the tensile behavior of rHDPE/vpp blends

Toward precise potential energy curves for diatomic molecules, derived from experimental line positions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helm, H.

1984-01-01

An inverted, first-order perturbation approach is used to derive potential energy curves for diatomic molecules from experimental line positions of molecular bands. The concept adopted here is based on the inverted perturbation analysis (IPA) proposed by Kozman and Hinze, but uses radial eigenfunctions of the trial potential energy curves as basis sets for the perturbation correction. Using molecular linepositions rather than molecular energy levels we circumvent the necessity of defining molecular constants for the molecule prior to the derivation of the potential energy curves. (Author)

Are AMPA Receptor Positive Allosteric Modulators Potential Pharmacotherapeutics for Addiction?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas R. Watterson

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Positive allosteric modulators (PAMs of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA receptors are a diverse class of compounds that increase fast excitatory transmission in the brain. AMPA PAMs have been shown to facilitate long-term potentiation, strengthen communication between various cortical and subcortical regions, and some of these compounds increase the production and release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF in an activity-dependent manner. Through these mechanisms, AMPA PAMs have shown promise as broad spectrum pharmacotherapeutics in preclinical and clinical studies for various neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. In recent years, a small collection of preclinical animal studies has also shown that AMPA PAMs may have potential as pharmacotherapeutic adjuncts to extinction-based or cue-exposure therapies for the treatment of drug addiction. The present paper will review this preclinical literature, discuss novel data collected in our laboratory, and recommend future research directions for the possible development of AMPA PAMs as anti-addiction medications.

Vectorization, parallelization and implementation of Quantum molecular dynamics codes (QQQF, MONTEV)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kato, Kaori [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Kunugi, Tomoaki; Kotake, Susumu; Shibahara, Masahiko

1998-03-01

This report describes parallelization, vectorization and implementation for two simulation codes, Quantum molecular dynamics simulation code QQQF and Photon montecalro molecular dynamics simulation code MONTEV, that have been developed for the analysis of the thermalization of photon energies in the molecule or materials. QQQF has been vectorized and parallelized on Fujitsu VPP and has been implemented from VPP to Intel Paragon XP/S and parallelized. MONTEV has been implemented from VPP to Paragon and parallelized. (author)

Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project: Report from the DOE voluntary protection program onsite review, November 17--21, 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-01-28

This report summarizes the Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program (DOE-VPP) Review Team`s findings from the five-day onsite evaluation of the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP), conducted November 17--21, 1997. The site was evaluated against the program requirements contained in ``US Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program, Part 1: Program Elements`` to determine its success in implementing the five tenets of DOE-VPP. DOE-VPP consists of three programs, with names and functions similar to those in OSHA`s VPP. These programs are STAR, MERIT, and DEMONSTRATION. The STAR program is the core of DOE-VPP. The program is aimed at truly outstanding protectors of employee safety and health. The MERIT program is a steppingstone for contractors and subcontractors that have good safety and health programs but need time and DOE guidance to achieve STAR status. The DEMONSTRATION program is rarely used; it allows DOE to recognize achievements in unusual situations about which DOE needs to learn more before determining approval requirements for the STAR status.

Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project: Report from the DOE voluntary protection program onsite review, November 17-21, 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

This report summarizes the Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program (DOE-VPP) Review Team's findings from the five-day onsite evaluation of the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP), conducted November 17--21, 1997. The site was evaluated against the program requirements contained in ''US Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program, Part 1: Program Elements'' to determine its success in implementing the five tenets of DOE-VPP. DOE-VPP consists of three programs, with names and functions similar to those in OSHA's VPP. These programs are STAR, MERIT, and DEMONSTRATION. The STAR program is the core of DOE-VPP. The program is aimed at truly outstanding protectors of employee safety and health. The MERIT program is a steppingstone for contractors and subcontractors that have good safety and health programs but need time and DOE guidance to achieve STAR status. The DEMONSTRATION program is rarely used; it allows DOE to recognize achievements in unusual situations about which DOE needs to learn more before determining approval requirements for the STAR status

Bidding strategies for virtual power plants considering CHPs and intermittent renewables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapata Riveros, J.; Bruninx, K.; Poncelet, K.; D’haeseleer, W.

2015-01-01

full knowledge of the RES scenario, but under uncertainty regarding the imbalance price. The ‘flexible RT’ strategy allows the VPP to adjust its position at each time step depending on the RES generation and imbalance price scenarios. The results show that in comparison with the ‘static’ strategy, the ‘flexible DA’ operation results in a profit increase during summer (5900 €/week), the intermediate season (2800 €/week) and winter (2700 €/week). This increase is moderate when compared against the total fuel cost in these seasons. Better results are obtained when the ‘flexible RT’ strategy is applied. Using this strategy larger profits are achieved for all seasons. For instance, during winter the difference between the ‘flexible RT’ operation and the ‘static’ case amounts to 22,600 €/week, approximately 5% of the fuel cost

Incongruence between Verbal and Non-Verbal Information Enhances the Late Positive Potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Morioka, Shu; Osumi, Michihiro; Shiotani, Mayu; Nobusako, Satoshi; Maeoka, Hiroshi; Okada, Yohei; Hiyamizu, Makoto; Matsuo, Atsushi

2016-01-01

Smooth social communication consists of both verbal and non-verbal information. However, when presented with incongruence between verbal information and nonverbal information, the relationship between an individual judging trustworthiness in those who present the verbal-nonverbal incongruence and the brain activities observed during judgment for trustworthiness are not clear. In the present study, we attempted to identify the impact of incongruencies between verbal information and facial expression on the value of trustworthiness and brain activity using event-related potentials (ERP). Combinations of verbal information [positive/negative] and facial expressions [smile/angry] expressions were presented randomly on a computer screen to 17 healthy volunteers. The value of trustworthiness of the presented facial expression was evaluated by the amount of donation offered by the observer to the person depicted on the computer screen. In addition, the time required to judge the value of trustworthiness was recorded for each trial. Using electroencephalography, ERP were obtained by averaging the wave patterns recorded while the participants judged the value of trustworthiness. The amount of donation offered was significantly lower when the verbal information and facial expression were incongruent, particularly for [negative × smile]. The amplitude of the early posterior negativity (EPN) at the temporal lobe showed no significant difference between all conditions. However, the amplitude of the late positive potential (LPP) at the parietal electrodes for the incongruent condition [negative × smile] was higher than that for the congruent condition [positive × smile]. These results suggest that the LPP amplitude observed from the parietal cortex is involved in the processing of incongruence between verbal information and facial expression.

Exact solutions of the Schrodinger equation with the position-dependent mass for a hard-core potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Shihai; Lozada-Cassou, M.

2005-01-01

The exact solutions of two-dimensional Schrodinger equation with the position-dependent mass for a hard-core potential are obtained. The eigenvalues related to the position-dependent masses μ 1 and μ 2 , the potential well depth V 0 and the effective range r 0 can be calculated by the boundary condition. We generalize this quantum system to three-dimensional case. The special cases for l=0,1 are studied in detail. For l=0 and c=0, we find that the energy levels will increase with the parameters μ 2 , V 0 and r 0 if μ 1 >μ 2

Early stages of figure-ground segregation during perception of the face-vase.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitts, Michael A; Martínez, Antígona; Brewer, James B; Hillyard, Steven A

2011-04-01

The temporal sequence of neural processes supporting figure-ground perception was investigated by recording ERPs associated with subjects' perceptions of the face-vase figure. In Experiment 1, subjects continuously reported whether they perceived the face or the vase as the foreground figure by pressing one of two buttons. Each button press triggered a probe flash to the face region, the vase region, or the borders between the two. The N170/vertex positive potential (VPP) component of the ERP elicited by probes to the face region was larger when subjects perceived the faces as figure. Preceding the N170/VPP, two additional components were identified. First, when the borders were probed, ERPs differed in amplitude as early as 110 msec after probe onset depending on subjects' figure-ground perceptions. Second, when the face or vase regions were probed, ERPs were more positive (at ∼ 150-200 msec) when that region was perceived as figure versus background. These components likely reflect an early "border ownership" stage, and a subsequent "figure-ground segregation" stage of processing. To explore the influence of attention on these stages of processing, two additional experiments were conducted. In Experiment 2, subjects selectively attended to the face or vase region, and the same early ERP components were again produced. In Experiment 3, subjects performed an identical selective attention task, but on a display lacking distinctive figure-ground borders, and neither of the early components were produced. Results from these experiments suggest sequential stages of processing underlying figure-ground perception, each which are subject to modifications by selective attention.

Beyond Massive MIMO: The Potential of Positioning With Large Intelligent Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Sha; Rusek, Fredrik; Edfors, Ove

2018-04-01

We consider the potential for positioning with a system where antenna arrays are deployed as a large intelligent surface (LIS), which is a newly proposed concept beyond massive-MIMO where future man-made structures are electronically active with integrated electronics and wireless communication making the entire environment \\lq\\lq{}intelligent\\rq\\rq{}. In a first step, we derive Fisher-information and Cram\\'{e}r-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) in closed-form for positioning a terminal located perpendicular to the center of the LIS, whose location we refer to as being on the central perpendicular line (CPL) of the LIS. For a terminal that is not on the CPL, closed-form expressions of the Fisher-information and CRLB seem out of reach, and we alternatively find approximations of them which are shown to be accurate. Under mild conditions, we show that the CRLB for all three Cartesian dimensions ($x$, $y$ and $z$) decreases quadratically in the surface-area of the LIS, except for a terminal exactly on the CPL where the CRLB for the $z$-dimension (distance from the LIS) decreases linearly in the same. In a second step, we analyze the CRLB for positioning when there is an unknown phase $\\varphi$ presented in the analog circuits of the LIS. We then show that the CRLBs are dramatically increased for all three dimensions but decrease in the third-order of the surface-area. Moreover, with an infinitely large LIS the CRLB for the $z$-dimension with an unknown $\\varphi$ is 6 dB higher than the case without phase uncertainty, and the CRLB for estimating $\\varphi$ converges to a constant that is independent of the wavelength $\\lambda$. At last, we extensively discuss the impact of centralized and distributed deployments of LIS, and show that a distributed deployment of LIS can enlarge the coverage for terminal-positioning and improve the overall positioning performance.

Wackenhut Services, Incorporated: Report from the DOE Voluntary Protection Program onsite review, August 10--14, 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

This report summarizes the Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program (DOE-VPP) Review Team`s findings from the five-day onsite evaluation of Wackenhut Services, Inc. (WSI) at Savannah River Site (SRS), conducted August 10-14, 1998. The site was evaluated against the program requirements contained in US Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program, Part 1: Program Elements to determine its success in implementing the five DOE-VPP tenets. The Team determined that WSI has met in varying degrees, all the tenets of the DOE-VPP. In every case, WSI programs and procedures exceed the level or degree necessary for compliance with existing standards, DOE Orders, and guidelines. In addition, WSI has systematically integrated their occupational safety and health (OSH) program into management and work practices at all levels. WSI`s efforts toward implementing the five major DOE-VPP tenets are summarized.

Wackenhut Services, Incorporated: Report from the DOE Voluntary Protection Program onsite review, August 10-14, 1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-05-01

This report summarizes the Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program (DOE-VPP) Review Team's findings from the five-day onsite evaluation of Wackenhut Services, Inc. (WSI) at Savannah River Site (SRS), conducted August 10-14, 1998. The site was evaluated against the program requirements contained in US Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program, Part 1: Program Elements to determine its success in implementing the five DOE-VPP tenets. The Team determined that WSI has met in varying degrees, all the tenets of the DOE-VPP. In every case, WSI programs and procedures exceed the level or degree necessary for compliance with existing standards, DOE Orders, and guidelines. In addition, WSI has systematically integrated their occupational safety and health (OSH) program into management and work practices at all levels. WSI's efforts toward implementing the five major DOE-VPP tenets are summarized

Disciplinary style and child abuse potential: association with indicators of positive functioning in children with behavior problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Christina M; Eden, Ann M

2008-06-01

Reduction of ineffective parenting is promoted in parent training components of mental health treatment for children with externalizing behavior disorders, but minimal research has considered whether disciplinary style and lower abuse risk could also be associated with positive functioning in such children. The present study examined whether lower dysfunctional disciplinary style and child abuse risk was associated with children's positive self-concept, adaptive attributional style, and hopefulness. Recruited from children undergoing treatment for disruptive behavior disorders, 69 mother-child dyads participated, with maternal caregivers reporting on their disciplinary style and abuse potential and children reporting independently on their positive functioning (adaptive attributional style, overall self-concept, and hopelessness). Findings supported the hypothesized association, with lower scores on mothers' dysfunctional discipline style and abuse potential significantly predicting children's reported positive functioning. Future research directions pertaining to more adaptive functioning in children with behavior problems are discussed.

Generic Virtual Power Plants: Management of Distributed Energy Resources under Liberalized Electricity Market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Shi; Træholt, Chresten; Poulsen, Bjarne

2009-01-01

The emergence of Virtual Power Plant (VPP) can be attributed to the major boost of distributed energy resources (DER), which satisfies the changing needs of modern society on energy industry. Based on this concept, DER units disregarding the differences in each individualtechnology are loosely...... aggregated with a unique interface to the external grid and energy market. This paper gives a broad overview of state-of-the-art VPP concepts and proposes a detailed generic VPP (GVPP) model running in liberalized electricity market environment. An attempt is made to provide an outline of the main functions...

Relativistic total energy and chemical potential of heavy atoms and positive ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, S.H.; Grout, P.J.; March, N.H.

1984-01-01

The relativistic Thomas-Fermi theory, with a finite nucleus, is used to study the variation of the chemical potential μ with atomic number Z and number of electrons N (N <= Z). The difference between the total energy of positive ions and that of the corresponding neutral atom has been obtained. The scaling predictions are confirmed by numerical calculations. The first principles calculation of the relativistic Thomas-Fermi total energy of neutral atoms is also studied. (author)

Is Education a Fundamental Right? People's Lay Theories About Intellectual Potential Drive Their Positions on Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Savani, Krishna; Rattan, Aneeta; Dweck, Carol S

2017-09-01

Does every child have a fundamental right to receive a high-quality education? We propose that people's beliefs about whether "nearly everyone" or "only some people" have high intellectual potential drive their positions on education. Three studies found that the more people believed that nearly everyone has high potential, the more they viewed education as a fundamental human right. Furthermore, people who viewed education as a fundamental right, in turn (a) were more likely to support the institution of free public education, (b) were more concerned upon learning that students in the country were not performing well academically compared with students in peer nations, and (c) were more likely to support redistributing educational funds more equitably across wealthier and poorer school districts. The studies show that people's beliefs about intellectual potential can influence their positions on education, which can affect the future quality of life for countless students.

Effects of positive potential in the catastrophe theory study of the point model for bumpy tori

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Punjabi, A; Vahala, G [College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (USA). Dept. of Physics

1985-02-01

With positive ambipolar potential, ion non-resonant neoclassical transport leads to increased particle confinement times. In certain regimes of filling pressure, microwave powers (ECRH and ICRH) and positive potential, new folds can now emerge from previously degenerate equilibrium surfaces allowing for distinct C, T, and M modes of operation. A comparison in the equilibrium fold structure is also made between (i) equal particle and energy confinement times, and (ii) particle confinement times enhanced over the energy confinement time. The nonlinear time evolution of these point model equations is considered and confirms the delay convention occurrences at the fold edges. It is clearly seen that the time-asymptotic equilibrium state is very sensitive, not only to the values of the control parameters (neutral density, ambipolar electrostatic potential, electron and ion cyclotron power densities) but also to the initial conditions on the plasma density, and electron and ion temperatures.

Looking on the bright side in social anxiety: the potential benefit of promoting positive mental imagery.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnaud ePictet

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Current cognitive models of social phobia converge on the view that negative imagery is a key factor in the development and maintenance of the disorder. Research to date has predominantly focussed on the detrimental impact of negative imagery on cognitive bias and anxiety symptoms, while the potential benefit of promoting positive imagery has been relatively unexplored. Emerging evidence suggests however that positive imagery could have multiple benefits such as improving positive affect, self-esteem and positive interpretation bias, and enhancing social performance. The present article defends the view that combining bias induction with a repeated practice in generating positive imagery in a cognitive bias modification procedure could represent a promising area for future research and clinical innovation in social anxiety disorder.

A study of the bound states for square potential wells with position-dependent mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganguly, A.; Kuru, S.; Negro, J.; Nieto, L.M.

2006-01-01

A potential well with position-dependent mass is studied for bound states. Applying appropriate matching conditions, a transcendental equation is derived for the energy eigenvalues. Numerical results are presented graphically and the variation of the energy of the bound states are calculated as a function of the well-width and mass

Dirac Particle for the Position Dependent Mass in the Generalized Asymmetric Woods-Saxon Potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soner Alpdoğan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The one-dimensional Dirac equation with position dependent mass in the generalized asymmetric Woods-Saxon potential is solved in terms of the hypergeometric functions. The transmission and reflection coefficients are obtained by considering the one-dimensional electric current density for the Dirac particle and the equation describing the bound states is found by utilizing the continuity conditions of the obtained wave function. Also, by using the generalized asymmetric Woods-Saxon potential solutions, the scattering states are found out without making calculation for the Woods-Saxon, Hulthen, cusp potentials, and so forth, which are derived from the generalized asymmetric Woods-Saxon potential and the conditions describing transmission resonances and supercriticality are achieved. At the same time, the data obtained in this work are compared with the results achieved in earlier studies and are observed to be consistent.

Comparative study of potential whiplash injuries for different occupant seated positions during rear end accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Omerović, Senad; Tomasch, Ernst; Gutsche, Andreas J; Prebil, Ivan

2016-01-01

Whiplash injuries to the cervical spine represent a considerable economic burden on society with medical conditions, in some cases persisting for more than a year. Numerous studies of whiplash injuries have been made for occupant normal seated position, leaving the analysis of neck injuries for out-of-normal positions not well documented. For that purpose, a detailed human cervical spine finite element model was developed. The analysis was made for four most common occupant seated positions, such as: Normal Position with the torso against the seat back and the head looking straight ahead, Torso Lean forward position with the torso away from the seat back for approximately 10°, Head Flexed position with the head flexed forward approximately 20° from the normal position and Head-Flexed with Torso Lean forward position with the head flexed forward approximately 20° and torso 10° from the normal position. The comparative study included the analysis of capsular ligament deformation and the level of S-curvature of the cervical spine. The model developed predicted that Head Flexed seated position and Head-Flexed with Torso Lean forward seated position are most threatening for upper and lower cervical spine capsular ligament, respectively. As for the level of S-curvature, the model predicted that Head-Flexed with Torso Lean forward seated position would be most prone to neck injuries associated with it. This study demonstrated that the occupant seated position has a significant influence on potential whiplash injuries.

The kpx, a program analyzer for parallelization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuyama, Yuji; Orii, Shigeo; Ota, Toshiro; Kume, Etsuo; Aikawa, Hiroshi.

1997-03-01

The kpx is a program analyzer, developed as a common technological basis for promoting parallel processing. The kpx consists of three tools. The first is ktool, that shows how much execution time is spent in program segments. The second is ptool, that shows parallelization overhead on the Paragon system. The last is xtool, that shows parallelization overhead on the VPP system. The kpx, designed to work for any FORTRAN cord on any UNIX computer, is confirmed to work well after testing on Paragon, SP2, SR2201, VPP500, VPP300, Monte-4, SX-4 and T90. (author)

Salpeter equation in position space: Numerical solution for arbitrary confining potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nickisch, L.J.; Durand, L.; Durand, B.

1984-01-01

We present and test two new methods for the numerical solution of the relativistic wave equation [(-del 2 +m 1 2 )/sup 1/2/+(-del 2 +m 2 2 )/sup 1/2/+V(r)-M]psi( r ) = 0, which appears in the theory of relativistic quark-antiquark bound states. Our methods work directly in position space, and hence have the desirable features that we can vary the potential V(r) locally in fitting the qq-bar mass spectrum, and can easily build in the expected behavior of V for r→0,infinity. Our first method converts the nonlocal square-root operators to mildly singular integral operators involving hyperbolic Bessel functions. The resulting integral equation can be solved numerically by matrix techniques. Our second method approximates the square-root operators directly by finite matrices. Both methods converge rapidly with increasing matrix size (the square-root matrix method more rapidly) and can be used in fast-fitting routines. We present some tests for oscillator and Coulomb interactions, and for the realistic Coulomb-plus-linear potential used in qq-bar phenomenology

Field tests applying multi-agent technology for distributed control. Virtual power plants and wind energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaeffer, G.J.; Warmer, C.J.; Hommelberg, M.P.F.; Kamphuis, I.G.; Kok, J.K. [Energy in the Built Environment and Networks, Petten (Netherlands)

2007-01-15

Multi-agent technology is state of the art ICT. It is not yet widely applied in power control systems. However, it has a large potential for bottom-up, distributed control of a network with large-scale renewable energy sources (RES) and distributed energy resources (DER) in future power systems. At least two major European R and D projects (MicroGrids and CRISP) have investigated its potential. Both grid-related as well as market-related applications have been studied. This paper will focus on two field tests, performed in the Netherlands, applying multi-agent control by means of the PowerMatcher concept. The first field test focuses on the application of multi-agent technology in a commercial setting, i.e. by reducing the need for balancing power in the case of intermittent energy sources, such as wind energy. In this case the flexibility is used of demand and supply of industrial and residential consumers and producers. Imbalance reduction rates of over 40% have been achieved applying the PowerMatcher, and with a proper portfolio even larger rates are expected. In the second field test the multi-agent technology is used in the design and implementation of a virtual power plant (VPP). This VPP digitally connects a number of micro-CHP units, installed in residential dwellings, into a cluster that is controlled to reduce the local peak demand of the common low-voltage grid segment the micro-CHP units are connected to. In this way the VPP supports the local distribution system operator (DSO) to defer reinforcements in the grid infrastructure (substations and cables)

Field tests applying multi-agent technology for distributed control. Virtual power plants and wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaeffer, G.J.; Warmer, C.J.; Hommelberg, M.P.F.; Kamphuis, I.G.; Kok, J.K.

2007-01-01

Multi-agent technology is state of the art ICT. It is not yet widely applied in power control systems. However, it has a large potential for bottom-up, distributed control of a network with large-scale renewable energy sources (RES) and distributed energy resources (DER) in future power systems. At least two major European R and D projects (MicroGrids and CRISP) have investigated its potential. Both grid-related as well as market-related applications have been studied. This paper will focus on two field tests, performed in the Netherlands, applying multi-agent control by means of the PowerMatcher concept. The first field test focuses on the application of multi-agent technology in a commercial setting, i.e. by reducing the need for balancing power in the case of intermittent energy sources, such as wind energy. In this case the flexibility is used of demand and supply of industrial and residential consumers and producers. Imbalance reduction rates of over 40% have been achieved applying the PowerMatcher, and with a proper portfolio even larger rates are expected. In the second field test the multi-agent technology is used in the design and implementation of a virtual power plant (VPP). This VPP digitally connects a number of micro-CHP units, installed in residential dwellings, into a cluster that is controlled to reduce the local peak demand of the common low-voltage grid segment the micro-CHP units are connected to. In this way the VPP supports the local distribution system operator (DSO) to defer reinforcements in the grid infrastructure (substations and cables)

Should Government Facilitate Voluntary Pension Plans?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norma L. Nielson

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Several proposals have surfaced recently that government develop and offer some sort of voluntary pension plan (VPP. This paper examines areas of public policy on pensions where changes should take place with or without the development of a VPP, including those that promote greater harmonization, portability, and labour mobility. Similarly, the challenges of inertia and annuitization are areas in which a VPP is only one of several available policy devices. In the final analysis, two key arguments provide the only compelling reasons to support the establishment of large, economically efficient funds: that their assets could be managed professionally and efficiently and that they could reduce the distraction from employers’ primary goals. Neither of these arguments, however, offers convincing evidence that VPPs should be developed by government rather than by the private sector. Ultimately, the marketplace will determine whether the additional option of a VPP is needed and whether it is offered on terms that make it more attractive than the other available alternatives.

Personality and emotional processing: A relationship between extraversion and the late positive potential in adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Speed, Brittany C; Nelson, Brady D; Perlman, Greg; Klein, Daniel N; Kotov, Roman; Hajcak, Greg

2015-08-01

Neuroticism and extraversion are multifaceted affective-laden personality traits that have been associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). Research and theory have argued that extraversion, and particularly its facet positive emotionality, is specific to MDD, while neuroticism is common across internalizing disorders. Converging evidence has suggested that MDD is associated with reduced engagement with emotional stimuli, but it remains unclear whether either extraversion, neuroticism, or both modulate reactivity to emotional cues. The late positive potential (LPP) is an event-related brain potential that is uniquely suited to assess engagement with emotional stimuli because it reflects sustained attention toward emotional content. The current study examined the LPP in relation to personality traits that may confer risk for depression by examining the relationship between the LPP and both neuroticism and extraversion in never-depressed adolescent girls. Specifically, 550 girls aged 13.5-15.5 with no lifetime history of depression completed an emotional picture-viewing task, and the LPP was measured in response to neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant pictures. Personality traits were gathered via self- and informant report. Results indicated that high extraversion was associated with a potentiated LPP to emotional pictures-and this effect was accounted for by positive emotionality in particular. In contrast, there was no association between the LPP and neuroticism or its facets. The present study is one of the first to demonstrate that extraversion is associated with variation in neural indices of emotional picture processing, similar to what has been observed among individuals with depression and at high risk for depression. © 2015 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Dissociating the Influence of Affective Word Content and Cognitive Processing Demands on the Late Positive Potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowparast Rostami, Hadiseh; Ouyang, Guang; Bayer, Mareike; Schacht, Annekathrin; Zhou, Changsong; Sommer, Werner

2016-01-01

The late positive potential (LPP) elicited by affective stimuli in the event-related brain potential (ERP) is often assumed to be a member of the P3 family. The present study addresses the relationship of the LPP to the classic P3b in a published data set, using a non-parametric permutation test for topographical comparisons, and residue iteration decomposition to assess the temporal features of the LPP and the P3b by decomposing the ERP into several component clusters according to their latency variability. The experiment orthogonally manipulated arousal and valence of words, which were either read or judged for lexicality. High-arousing and positive valenced words induced a larger LPP than low-arousing and negative valenced words, respectively, and the LDT elicited a larger P3b than reading. The experimental manipulation of arousal, valence, and task yielded main effects without any interactions on ERP amplitude in the LPP/P3b time range. The arousal and valence effects partially differed from the task effect in scalp topography; in addition, whereas the late positive component elicited by affective stimuli, defined as LPP, was stimulus-locked, the late positive component elicited by task demand, defined as P3b, was mainly latency-variable. Therefore LPP and P3b manifest different subcomponents.

Measuring the Effects of Virtual Pair Programming in an Introductory Programming Java Course

Science.gov (United States)

Zacharis, N. Z.

2011-01-01

This study investigated the effectiveness of virtual pair programming (VPP) on student performance and satisfaction in an introductory Java course. Students used online tools that integrated desktop sharing and real-time communication, and the metrics examined showed that VPP is an acceptable alternative to individual programming experience.…

Smart grids : combination of 'Virtual Power Plant'-concept and 'smart network'-design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

El Bakari, K.; Kling, W.L.

2010-01-01

The concept of virtual power plant (VPP) offers a solution to control and manage higher level of dispersed generation in nowadays passive distribution network. Under certain conditions the VPP is able to displace power and energy which implies more control on the energy flow in the networks. To

Early Stages of Figure–Ground Segregation during Perception of the Face–Vase

Science.gov (United States)

Pitts, Michael A.; Martínez, Antígona; Brewer, James B.; Hillyard, Steven A.

2011-01-01

The temporal sequence of neural processes supporting figure–ground perception was investigated by recording ERPs associated with subjects’ perceptions of the face–vase figure. In Experiment 1, subjects continuously reported whether they perceived the face or the vase as the foreground figure by pressing one of two buttons. Each button press triggered a probe flash to the face region, the vase region, or the borders between the two. The N170/vertex positive potential (VPP) component of the ERP elicited by probes to the face region was larger when subjects perceived the faces as figure. Preceding the N170/VPP, two additional components were identified. First, when the borders were probed, ERPs differed in amplitude as early as 110 msec after probe onset depending on subjects’ figure–ground perceptions. Second, when the face or vase regions were probed, ERPs were more positive (at ~150–200 msec) when that region was perceived as figure versus background. These components likely reflect an early “border ownership” stage, and a subsequent “figure–ground segregation” stage of processing. To explore the influence of attention on these stages of processing, two additional experiments were conducted. In Experiment 2, subjects selectively attended to the face or vase region, and the same early ERP components were again produced. In Experiment 3, subjects performed an identical selective attention task, but on a display lacking distinctive figure–ground borders, and neither of the early components were produced. Results from these experiments suggest sequential stages of processing underlying figure–ground perception, each which are subject to modifications by selective attention. PMID:20146604

Beta receptor-mediated modulation of the late positive potential in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

de Rover, Mischa; Brown, Stephen B R E; Boot, Nathalie; Hajcak, Greg; van Noorden, Martijn S; van der Wee, Nic J A; Nieuwenhuis, Sander

2012-02-01

Electrophysiological studies have identified a scalp potential, the late positive potential (LPP), which is modulated by the emotional intensity of observed stimuli. Previous work has shown that the LPP reflects the modulation of activity in extrastriate visual cortical structures, but little is known about the source of that modulation. The present study investigated whether beta-adrenergic receptors are involved in the generation of the LPP. We used a genetic individual differences approach (experiment 1) and a pharmacological manipulation (experiment 2) to test the hypothesis that the LPP is modulated by the activation of β-adrenergic receptors. In experiment 1, we found that LPP amplitude depends on allelic variation in the β1-receptor gene polymorphism. In experiment 2, we found that LPP amplitude was modulated by the β-blocker propranolol in a direction dependent on subjects' level of trait anxiety: In participants with lower trait anxiety, propranolol led to a (nonsignificant) decrease in the LPP modulation; in participants with higher trait anxiety, propranolol increased the emotion-related LPP modulation. These results provide initial support for the hypothesis that the LPP reflects the downstream effects, in visual cortical areas, of β-receptor-mediated activation of the amygdala.

Controlling a group of microCHPs: planning and realization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosman, M.G.C.; Bakker, Vincent; Molderink, Albert; Hurink, Johann L.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria

2011-01-01

This paper discusses the planning problem of a group of domestic Combined Heat and Power (microCHP) appliances, which together form a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). To act on an electricity trading market, this VPP has to specify a production plan for electricity for given times of the day to offer to

The Summating Potential Is a Reliable Marker of Electrode Position in Electrocochleography: Cochlear Implant as a Theragnostic Probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmstaedter, Victor; Lenarz, Thomas; Erfurt, Peter; Kral, Andrej; Baumhoff, Peter

2017-12-14

For the increasing number of cochlear implantations in subjects with residual hearing, hearing preservation, and thus the prevention of implantation trauma, is crucial. A method for monitoring the intracochlear position of a cochlear implant (CI) and early indication of imminent cochlear trauma would help to assist the surgeon to achieve this goal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the different electric components recorded by an intracochlear electrocochleography (ECochG) as markers for the cochleotopic position of a CI. The measurements were made directly from the CI, combining intrasurgical diagnostics with the therapeutical use of the CI, thus, turning the CI into a "theragnostic probe." Intracochlear ECochGs were measured in 10 Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs of either sex, with normal auditory brainstem response thresholds. All subjects were fully implanted (4 to 5 mm) with a custom six contact CI. The ECochG was recorded simultaneously from all six contacts with monopolar configuration (retroauricular reference electrode). The gross ECochG signal was filtered off-line to separate three of its main components: compound action potential, cochlear microphonic, and summating potential (SP). Additionally, five cochleae were harvested and histologically processed to access the spatial position of the CI contacts. Both ECochG data and histological reconstructions of the electrode position were fitted with the Greenwood function to verify the reliability of the deduced cochleotopic position of the CI. SPs could be used as suitable markers for the frequency position of the recording electrode with an accuracy of ±1/4 octave in the functioning cochlea, verified by histology. Cochlear microphonics showed a dependency on electrode position but were less reliable as positional markers. Compound action potentials were not suitable for CI position information but were sensitive to "cochlear health" (e.g., insertion trauma). SPs directly recorded from

Westinghouse Savannah River Company: Report from the DOE Voluntary Protection Program onsite reviews, February 24--March 7, 1997, and June 15--19, 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

This report summarizes the Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program (DOE-VPP) Initial and Update Review Teams` findings from the onsite evaluations of the Westinghouse Savannah River Site (SRS), conducted February 24--March 7, 1997, and June 15-19, 1998. The site was evaluated against the program requirements contained in US Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program, Part 1: Program Elements to determine its success in implementing the five tenets of DOE-VPP. The Initial Review Team concluded that WSRC met or surpassed all DOE-VPP requirements, with the exception of 12 minor findings and 5 recommendations. WSRC was asked to resolve the findings within 90 days. During a follow-up visit in January 1996, representatives of the Team verified that all 90-day actions were completed. The Update Team detected though that the program did not demonstrate thorough and meaningful employee involvement. The ability to attain and sustain VPP-level performance on employee involvement is a significant challenge. Large companies with multiple layers of management and geographically disperse personnel have particular difficulty.

Westinghouse Savannah River Company: Report from the DOE Voluntary Protection Program onsite reviews, February 24-March 7, 1997, and June 15-19, 1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-05-01

This report summarizes the Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program (DOE-VPP) Initial and Update Review Teams' findings from the onsite evaluations of the Westinghouse Savannah River Site (SRS), conducted February 24--March 7, 1997, and June 15-19, 1998. The site was evaluated against the program requirements contained in US Department of Energy Voluntary Protection Program, Part 1: Program Elements to determine its success in implementing the five tenets of DOE-VPP. The Initial Review Team concluded that WSRC met or surpassed all DOE-VPP requirements, with the exception of 12 minor findings and 5 recommendations. WSRC was asked to resolve the findings within 90 days. During a follow-up visit in January 1996, representatives of the Team verified that all 90-day actions were completed. The Update Team detected though that the program did not demonstrate thorough and meaningful employee involvement. The ability to attain and sustain VPP-level performance on employee involvement is a significant challenge. Large companies with multiple layers of management and geographically disperse personnel have particular difficulty

Utility of Pars Plana Vitrectomy with Internal Limiting Membrane Dissection, in the Surgical Treatment of Macular Hole and Diabetic Macular Edema. Clinic-Pathological Correlation

OpenAIRE

Castro de Sousa, João Paulo

2006-01-01

ObjetivosEstudiar el papel de la extracción de la membrana limitante interna (MLI) durante la vitrectomía posterior por vía pars plana (VPP), en el tratamiento quirúrgico de lo agujero macular (AM) y de lo edema macular crónico diabético (EMCD). Hemos estudiado las tasas de éxito clínico de la extracción de la MLI durante la VPP. Además hemos analizado el procedimiento técnico de extracción de la MLI, el aporte de la extracción de la MLI en la resolución clínica del EMCD después de la VPP y e...

Is education a fundamental right? People's lay theories about intellectual potential drive their positions on education

OpenAIRE

Savani, K; Rattan, A; Dweck, C S

2017-01-01

Does every child have a fundamental right to receive a high quality education? We propose that people’s beliefs about whether “nearly everyone” or “only some people” have high intellectual potential drive their positions on education. Three studies found that the more people believed that nearly everyone has high potential, the more they viewed education as a fundamental human right. Further, people who viewed education as a fundamental right, in turn, (1) were more likely to support the inst...

The Analytic Solution of Schroedinger Equation with Potential Function Superposed by Six Terms with Positive-power and Inverse-power Potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Xianquan; Luo Guang; Cui Lipeng; Niu Lianbin; Li Fangyu

2009-01-01

The analytic solution of the radial Schroedinger equation is studied by using the tight coupling condition of several positive-power and inverse-power potential functions in this article. Furthermore, the precisely analytic solutions and the conditions that decide the existence of analytic solution have been searched when the potential of the radial Schroedinger equation is V(r) = α 1 r 8 + α 2 r 3 + α 3 r 2 + β 3 r -1 + β 2 r -3 + β 1 r -4 . Generally speaking, there is only an approximate solution, but not analytic solution for Schroedinger equation with several potentials' superposition. However, the conditions that decide the existence of analytic solution have been found and the analytic solution and its energy level structure are obtained for the Schroedinger equation with the potential which is motioned above in this paper. According to the single-value, finite and continuous standard of wave function in a quantum system, the authors firstly solve the asymptotic solution through the radial coordinate r → and r → 0; secondly, they make the asymptotic solutions combining with the series solutions nearby the neighborhood of irregular singularities; and then they compare the power series coefficients, deduce a series of analytic solutions of the stationary state wave function and corresponding energy level structure by tight coupling among the coefficients of potential functions for the radial Schroedinger equation; and lastly, they discuss the solutions and make conclusions. (general)

An approach to the usage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste as roadway pavement material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gürü, Metin, E-mail: mguru@gazi.edu.tr [Gazi University, Eng. Fac., Chem. Eng. Depart., 06570 Maltepe-Ankara (Turkey); Çubuk, M. Kürşat; Arslan, Deniz; Farzanian, S. Ali [Gazi University, Eng. Fac., Civil Eng. Depart., 06570 Maltepe-Ankara (Turkey); Bilici, İbrahim [Hitit University, Eng. Fac., Chem. Eng. Depart., 19100 Çorum (Turkey)

2014-08-30

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • We derived two novel additive materials from PET bottle waste: TLPP and VPP. • We used them to modify the base asphalt separately. • The additives improved both the asphalt and the asphalt mixture performance. • TLPP, VPP offer a beneficial way about disposal of ecologically hazardous PET waste. - Abstract: This study investigates an application area for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle waste which has become an environmental problem in recent decades as being a considerable part of the total plastic waste bulk. Two novel additive materials, namely Thin Liquid Polyol PET (TLPP) and Viscous Polyol PET (VPP), were chemically derived from waste PET bottles and used to modify the base asphalt separately for this aim. The effects of TLPP and VPP on the asphalt and hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixture properties were detected through conventional tests (Penetration, Softening Point, Ductility, Marshall Stability, Nicholson Stripping) and Superpave methods (Rotational Viscosity, Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR)). Also, chemical structures were described by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) techniques. Since TLPP and VPP were determined to improve the low temperature performance and fatigue resistance of the asphalt as well as the Marshall Stability and stripping resistance of the HMA mixtures based on the results of the applied tests, the usage of PET waste as an asphalt roadway pavement material offers an alternative and a beneficial way of disposal of this ecologically hazardous material.

An approach to the usage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste as roadway pavement material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gürü, Metin; Çubuk, M. Kürşat; Arslan, Deniz; Farzanian, S. Ali; Bilici, İbrahim

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • We derived two novel additive materials from PET bottle waste: TLPP and VPP. • We used them to modify the base asphalt separately. • The additives improved both the asphalt and the asphalt mixture performance. • TLPP, VPP offer a beneficial way about disposal of ecologically hazardous PET waste. - Abstract: This study investigates an application area for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle waste which has become an environmental problem in recent decades as being a considerable part of the total plastic waste bulk. Two novel additive materials, namely Thin Liquid Polyol PET (TLPP) and Viscous Polyol PET (VPP), were chemically derived from waste PET bottles and used to modify the base asphalt separately for this aim. The effects of TLPP and VPP on the asphalt and hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixture properties were detected through conventional tests (Penetration, Softening Point, Ductility, Marshall Stability, Nicholson Stripping) and Superpave methods (Rotational Viscosity, Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR)). Also, chemical structures were described by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) techniques. Since TLPP and VPP were determined to improve the low temperature performance and fatigue resistance of the asphalt as well as the Marshall Stability and stripping resistance of the HMA mixtures based on the results of the applied tests, the usage of PET waste as an asphalt roadway pavement material offers an alternative and a beneficial way of disposal of this ecologically hazardous material

An interactive cooperation model for neighboring virtual power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shabanzadeh, Morteza; Sheikh-El-Eslami, Mohammad-Kazem; Haghifam, Mahmoud-Reza

2017-01-01

Highlights: •The trading strategies of a VPP in cooperation with its neighboring VPPs are addressed. •A portfolio of inter-regional contracts is considered to model this cooperation scheme. •A novel mathematical formulation for possible inadvertent transactions is provided. •A two-stage stochastic programming approach is applied to characterize the uncertainty. •Two efficient risk measures, SSD and CVaR, are implemented in the VPP decision-making problem. -- Abstract: Future distribution systems will accommodate an increasing share of distributed energy resources (DERs). Facing with this new reality, virtual power plants (VPPs) play a key role to aggregate DERs with the aim of facilitating their involvement in wholesale electricity markets. In this paper, the trading strategies of a VPP in cooperation with its neighboring VPPs are addressed. Toward this aim, a portfolio of inter-regional contracts is considered to model this cooperation and maximize the energy trade opportunities of the VPP within a medium-term horizon. To hedge against profit variability caused by market price uncertainties, two efficient risk management approaches are also implemented in the VPP decision-making problem based on the concepts of conditional value at risk (CVaR) and second-order stochastic dominance constraints (SSD). The resulting models are formulated as mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problems that can be solved using off-the-shelf software packages. The efficiency of the proposed risk-hedging models is analyzed through a detailed case study, and thereby relevant conclusions are drawn.

Electrophysiological potentials reveal cortical mechanisms for mental imagery, mental simulation, and grounded (embodied cognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haline E. Schendan

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Grounded cognition theory proposes that cognition, including meaning, is grounded in sensorimotor processing. The mechanism for grounding cognition is mental simulation, which is a type of mental imagery that re-enacts modal processing. To reveal top-down, cortical mechanisms for mental simulation of shape, event-related potentials were recorded to face and object pictures preceded by mental imagery of a picture. Mental imagery of the identical face or object (congruous condition facilitated not only categorical perception (VPP/N170 but also later visual knowledge (N3[00] complex and linguistic knowledge (N400 for faces more than objects, and strategic semantic analysis (late positive complex between 200 and 700 ms. The later effects resembled semantic congruity effects with pictures. Mental imagery also facilitated category decisions, as a P3(00 peaked earlier for congruous than incongruous (other category pictures, resembling the case when identical pictures repeat immediately. Thus mental imagery mimics semantic congruity and immediate repetition priming processes with pictures. Perception control results showed the opposite for faces and were in the same direction for objects: Perceptual repetition adapts (and so impairs processing of perceived faces from categorical perception onwards, but primes processing of objects during categorical perception, visual knowledge processes, and strategic semantic analysis. For both imagery and perception, differences between faces and objects support domain-specificity and indicate that cognition is grounded in modal processing. Altogether, this direct neural evidence reveals that top-down processes of mental imagery sustain an imagistic representation that mimics perception well enough to prime subsequent perception and cognition. This also suggests that automatic mental simulation of the visual shape of faces and objects operates between 200 and 400 ms, and strategic mental simulation operates between

Galectin-7 Expression Potentiates HER-2-Positive Phenotype in Breast Cancer.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrée-Anne Grosset

Full Text Available HER-2 positive tumors are among the most aggressive subtypes of breast cancer and are frequently associated with metastasis and poor outcome. As with other aggressive subtypes of breast cancer, these tumors are associated with abnormally high expression of galectin-7 (gal-7, which confers metastatic breast tumor cells with increased invasive behavior. Although previous studies in the rat model of breast tumorigenesis have shown that gal-7 is also increased in primary breast tumor, its contribution to the development of the primary breast tumors remains unclear. In the present work, we have used genetically-engineered gal-7-deficient mice to examine the role of gal-7 in the development of the mammary gland and of breast cancer. Using histological and immunohistological analysis of whole mammary glands at different stages of development, we detected no significant changes between normal and gal-7-deficient mice. To test the involvement of gal-7 in breast cancer, we next examined the effects of loss of gal-7 on mammary tumor development by crossing gal-7-deficient mice with the mammary tumor transgenic mouse strain FVB-Tg(MMTV-Erbb2NK1Mul/J. Finally, assessment of mice survival and tumor volume showed a delay of mammary tumor growth in the absence of systemic gal-7. These data suggest that gal-7 could potentiate the phenotype of HER-2 positive primary breast cancer.

[Validation of a clinical prediction rule to distinguish bacterial from aseptic meningitis].

Science.gov (United States)

Agüero, Gonzalo; Davenport, María C; Del Valle, María de la P; Gallegos, Paulina; Kannemann, Ana L; Bokser, Vivian; Ferrero, Fernando

2010-02-01

Despite most meningitis are not bacterial, antibiotics are usually administered on admission because bacterial meningitis is difficult to be rule-out. Distinguishing bacterial from aseptic meningitis on admission could avoid inappropriate antibiotic use and hospitalization. We aimed to validate a clinical prediction rule to distinguish bacterial from aseptic meningitis in children, on arriving to the emergency room. This prospective study included patients aged or = 1000 cells/mm(3), CSF protein > or = 80 mg/dl, peripheral blood absolute neutrophil count > or = 10.000/mm(3), seizure = 1 point each. Sensitivity (S), specificity (E), positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR and NLR) of the BMS to predict bacterial meningitis were calculated. Seventy patients with meningitis were included (14 bacterial meningitis). When BMS was calculated, 25 patients showed a BMS= 0 points, 11 BMS= 1 point, and 34 BMS > or = 2 points. A BMS = 0 showed S: 100%, E: 44%, VPP: 31%, VPN: 100%, RVP: 1,81 RVN: 0. A BMS > or = 2 predicted bacterial meningitis with S: 100%, E: 64%, VPP: 41%, VPN: 100%, PLR: 2.8, NLR:0. Using BMS was simple, and allowed identifying children with very low risk of bacterial meningitis. It could be a useful tool to assist clinical decision making.

Spatial profile measurements of ion-confining potentials using novel position-sensitive ion-energy spectrometer arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, M.; Cho, T.; Hirata, M.; Ito, H.; Kohagura, J.; Yatsu, K.; Miyoshi, S.

2003-01-01

The first experimental demonstration of simultaneous measurements of temporally and spatially resolved ion-confining potentials phi c and end-loss-ion fluxes I ELA has been carried out during a single plasma discharge alone by the use of newly designed ion-energy-spectrometer arrays installed in both end regions of the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror. This position-sensitive ion-detector structure is proposed to obtain precise ion-energy spectra without any perturbations from simultaneously incident energetic electrons into the arrays. The relation between phi c and I ELA is physically interpreted in terms of Pastukhov's potential confinement theory. In particular, the importance of axisymmetric phi c formation is found for the plasma confinement

Stochastic Optimal Dispatch of Virtual Power Plant considering Correlation of Distributed Generations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Yu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Virtual power plant (VPP is an aggregation of multiple distributed generations, energy storage, and controllable loads. Affected by natural conditions, the uncontrollable distributed generations within VPP, such as wind and photovoltaic generations, are extremely random and relative. Considering the randomness and its correlation of uncontrollable distributed generations, this paper constructs the chance constraints stochastic optimal dispatch of VPP including stochastic variables and its random correlation. The probability distributions of independent wind and photovoltaic generations are described by empirical distribution functions, and their joint probability density model is established by Frank-copula function. And then, sample average approximation (SAA is applied to convert the chance constrained stochastic optimization model into a deterministic optimization model. Simulation cases are calculated based on the AIMMS. Simulation results of this paper mathematic model are compared with the results of deterministic optimization model without stochastic variables and stochastic optimization considering stochastic variables but not random correlation. Furthermore, this paper analyzes how SAA sampling frequency and the confidence level influence the results of stochastic optimization. The numerical example results show the effectiveness of the stochastic optimal dispatch of VPP considering the randomness and its correlations of distributed generations.

Assessing the Electrode-Neuron Interface with the Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potential, Electrode Position, and Behavioral Thresholds.

Science.gov (United States)

DeVries, Lindsay; Scheperle, Rachel; Bierer, Julie Arenberg

2016-06-01

Variability in speech perception scores among cochlear implant listeners may largely reflect the variable efficacy of implant electrodes to convey stimulus information to the auditory nerve. In the present study, three metrics were applied to assess the quality of the electrode-neuron interface of individual cochlear implant channels: the electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP), the estimation of electrode position using computerized tomography (CT), and behavioral thresholds using focused stimulation. The primary motivation of this approach is to evaluate the ECAP as a site-specific measure of the electrode-neuron interface in the context of two peripheral factors that likely contribute to degraded perception: large electrode-to-modiolus distance and reduced neural density. Ten unilaterally implanted adults with Advanced Bionics HiRes90k devices participated. ECAPs were elicited with monopolar stimulation within a forward-masking paradigm to construct channel interaction functions (CIF), behavioral thresholds were obtained with quadrupolar (sQP) stimulation, and data from imaging provided estimates of electrode-to-modiolus distance and scalar location (scala tympani (ST), intermediate, or scala vestibuli (SV)) for each electrode. The width of the ECAP CIF was positively correlated with electrode-to-modiolus distance; both of these measures were also influenced by scalar position. The ECAP peak amplitude was negatively correlated with behavioral thresholds. Moreover, subjects with low behavioral thresholds and large ECAP amplitudes, averaged across electrodes, tended to have higher speech perception scores. These results suggest a potential clinical role for the ECAP in the objective assessment of individual cochlear implant channels, with the potential to improve speech perception outcomes.

A Rising Female Empire? : Exploring the potential barriers women face in achieving leadership positions in the humanitarian sector

OpenAIRE

Eriksson, Lina Elisabeth

2015-01-01

This research aims to explore how women and men view and perceive potential barriers to women achieving leadership positions in the humanitarian sector. Female leadership is so far an under-researched area within the humanitarian sector, so it is unknown whether females encounter any barriers in accessing and attaining leadership positions. Three categories were identified; identity, perception and challenges through which the views and barriers are explored. Semi-structured interviews were c...

Design and Evaluation of a Secure Virtual Power Plant.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, Jay Tillay [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-09-01

For three years, Sandia National Laboratories, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign investigated a smart grid vision in which renewable-centric Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) provided ancillary services with interoperable distributed energy resources (DER). This team researched, designed, built, and evaluated real-time VPP designs incorporating DER forecasting, stochastic optimization, controls, and cyber security to construct a system capable of delivering reliable ancillary services, which have been traditionally provided by large power plants or other dedicated equipment. VPPs have become possible through an evolving landscape of state and national interconnection standards, which now require DER to include grid-support functionality and communications capabilities. This makes it possible for third party aggregators to provide a range of critical grid services such as voltage regulation, frequency regulation, and contingency reserves to grid operators. This paradigm (a) enables renewable energy, demand response, and energy storage to participate in grid operations and provide grid services, (b) improves grid reliability by providing additional operating reserves for utilities, independent system operators (ISOs), and regional transmission organization (RTOs), and (c) removes renewable energy high-penetration barriers by providing services with photovoltaics and wind resources that traditionally were the jobs of thermal generators. Therefore, it is believed VPP deployment will have far-reaching positive consequences for grid operations and may provide a robust pathway to high penetrations of renewables on US power systems. In this report, we design VPPs to provide a range of grid-support services and demonstrate one VPP which simultaneously provides bulk-system energy and ancillary reserves.

Early visual evoked potentials are modulated by eye position in humans induced by whole body rotations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petit Laurent

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To reach and grasp an object in space on the basis of its image cast on the retina requires different coordinate transformations that take into account gaze and limb positioning. Eye position in the orbit influences the image's conversion from retinotopic (eye-centered coordinates to an egocentric frame necessary for guiding action. Neuroimaging studies have revealed eye position-dependent activity in extrastriate visual, parietal and frontal areas that is along the visuo-motor pathway. At the earliest vision stage, the role of the primary visual area (V1 in this process remains unclear. We used an experimental design based on pattern-onset visual evoked potentials (VEP recordings to study the effect of eye position on V1 activity in humans. Results We showed that the amplitude of the initial C1 component of VEP, acknowledged to originate in V1, was modulated by the eye position. We also established that putative spontaneous small saccades related to eccentric fixation, as well as retinal disparity cannot explain the effects of changing C1 amplitude of VEP in the present study. Conclusions The present modulation of the early component of VEP suggests an eye position-dependent activity of the human primary visual area. Our findings also evidence that cortical processes combine information about the position of the stimulus on the retinae with information about the location of the eyes in their orbit as early as the stage of primary visual area.

Neurophysiological Markers of Emotion Processing in Burnout Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Golonka, Krystyna; Mojsa-Kaja, Justyna; Popiel, Katarzyna; Marek, Tadeusz; Gawlowska, Magda

2017-01-01

The substantial body of research employing subjective measures indicates that burnout syndrome is associated with cognitive and emotional dysfunctions. The growing amount of neurophysiological and neuroimaging research helps in broadening existing knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying core burnout components (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization/cynicism) that are inextricably associated with emotional processing. In the presented EEG study, a group of 93 participants (55 women; mean age = 35.8) were selected for the burnout group or the demographically matched control group on the basis of the results of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS) and the Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS). Subjects then participated in an EEG experiment using two experimental procedures: a facial recognition task and viewing of passive pictures. The study focuses on analyzing event-related potentials (ERPs): N170, VPP, EPN, and LPP, as indicators of emotional information processing. Our results show that burnout subjects, as compared to the control group, demonstrate significantly weaker response to affect-evoking stimuli, indexed by a decline in VPP amplitude to emotional faces and decreased EPN amplitude in processing emotional scenes. The analysis of N170 and LPP showed no significant between-group difference. The correlation analyses revealed that VPP and EPN, which are ERP components related to emotional processing, are associated with two core burnout symptoms: emotional exhaustion and cynicism. To our knowledge, we are one of the first research groups to use ERPs to demonstrate such a relationship between neurophysiological activity and burnout syndrome in the context of emotional processing. Thus, in conclusion we emphasized that the decreased amplitude of VPP and EPN components in the burnout group may be a neurophysiological manifestation of emotional blunting and may be considered as neurophysiological markers of emotional exhaustion and cynicism

The potential of positive deviance approach for the sustainable control of neglected tropical diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, Ken Ing Cherng; Araki, Hitomi; Kano, Shigeyuki; Jimba, Masamine

2016-01-01

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have gained much attention in recent years due to the support from various agencies. However, the main approach to combat NTDs has been to cure rather than to prevent. As many NTD infections are closely linked with human behaviors such as hygienic practices and tradition, behavior change is also very crucial to prevent relapse or reinfection. Therefore, we would like to suggest a potential new approach-the positive deviance approach-to tackle NTDs by focusing on the preventive phase. What makes this approach unique is that the solution comes from the affected population themselves and not from the expert outsiders. Preventive chemotherapy that relies on outside aid has serious sustainability issues as reinfection is also high after the aid program has ended. Learning from the success story in Vietnam on preventing childhood malnutrition, the positive deviance approach could end the spread of NTDs once and for all by making full use of the available local solutions.

Positive Psychology and Positive Education: Old Wine in New Bottles?

Science.gov (United States)

Kristjansson, Kristjan

2012-01-01

The recently fashionable theories of positive psychology have educational ramifications at virtually every level of engagement, culminating in the model of positive education. In this critical review, I scrutinize positive education as a potential theory in educational psychology. Special attention is given to conceptual controversies and…

Day-ahead resource scheduling of a renewable energy based virtual power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zamani, Ali Ghahgharaee; Zakariazadeh, Alireza; Jadid, Shahram

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Simultaneous energy and reserve scheduling of a VPP. • Aggregate uncertainties of electricity prices, renewable generation and load demand. • Develop a stochastic scheduling model using the point estimate method. - Abstract: The evolution of energy markets is accelerating in the direction of a greater reliance upon distributed energy resources (DERs). To manage this increasing two-way complexity, virtual power plants (VPPs) are being deployed today all over the world. In this paper, a probabilistic model for optimal day ahead scheduling of electrical and thermal energy resources in a VPP is proposed where participation of energy storage systems and demand response programs (DRPs) are also taken into account. In the proposed model, energy and reserve is simultaneously scheduled considering the uncertainties of market prices, electrical demand and intermittent renewable power generation. The Point Estimate Method (PEM) is applied in order to model the uncertainties of VPP’s scheduling problem. Moreover, the optimal reserve scheduling of VPP is presented which efficiently decreases VPP’s risk facing the unexpected fluctuations of uncertain parameters at the power delivery time. The results demonstrated that implementation of demand response programs (DRPs) would decrease total operation costs of VPP as well as its dependency on the upstream network.

Outbreak of enterovirus D68 of the new B3 lineage in Stockholm, Sweden, August to September 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyrdak, Robert; Grabbe, Malin; Hammas, Berit; Ekwall, Jonas; Hansson, Karin E; Luthander, Joachim; Naucler, Pontus; Reinius, Henrik; Rotzén-Östlund, Maria; Albert, Jan

2016-11-17

We report an enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) outbreak in Stockholm Sweden in 2016. Between 22 August and 25 September EV-D68 was detected in 74/495 respiratory samples analysed at the Karolinska University Hospital. During the peak week, 30/91 (33%) samples were EV-D68 positive. Viral protein (VP)P4/VP2 sequencing revealed that cases were caused by B3 lineage strains. Forty-four (59%) EV-D68-positive patients were children aged ≤ 5 years. Ten patients had severe respiratory or neurological symptoms and one died. This article is copyright of The Authors, 2016.

Prediction of velocity and attitude of a yacht sailing upwind by computational fluid dynamics

OpenAIRE

Lee, Heebum; Park, Mi Yeon; Park, Sunho; Rhee, Shin Hyung

2016-01-01

One of the most important factors in sailing yacht design is accurate velocity prediction. Velocity prediction programs (VPP's) are widely used to predict velocity of sailing yachts. VPP's, which are primarily based on experimental data and experience of long years, however suffer limitations when applied in realistic conditions. Thus, in the present study, a high fidelity velocity prediction method using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was proposed. Using the developed method, velocity an...

Visual evoked potentials show strong positive association with intracranial pressure in patients with cryptococcal meningitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Adriano da Cunha Silva Vieira

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Objective : To verify the relationship between intracranial pressure and flash visual evoked potentials (F-VEP in patients with cryptococcal meningitis. Method The sample included adults diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis admitted at a reference hospital for infectious diseases. The patients were subjected to F-VEP tests shortly before lumbar puncture. The Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient was calculated and the linear regression analysis was performed. Results : Eighteen individuals were subjected to a total of 69 lumbar punctures preceded by F-VEP tests. At the first lumbar puncture performed in each patient, N2 latency exhibited a strong positive correlation with intracranial pressure (r = 0.83; CI = 0.60 - 0.94; p < 0.0001. The direction of this relationship was maintained in subsequent punctures. Conclusion : The intracranial pressure measured by spinal tap manometry showed strong positive association with the N2 latency F-VEP in patients with cryptococcal meningitis.

Valor das provas de posicionamento da ponta da agulha de veress em punção do hipocôndrio esquerdo na instalação do pneumoperitônio

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otávio Cansanção de Azevedo

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Avaliar provas de posicionamento da agulha de Veress no hipocôndrio esquerdo na criação do pneumoperitônio. MÉTODO: Em cem pacientes puncionados no hipocôndrio esquerdo, provas de posicionamento da agulha foram avaliadas, considerando-as positivas quando, na prova da aspiração (PA, material orgânico era aspirado; na prova da resistência (PRes, exercia-se pequena força no êmbolo da seringa à infusão de líquido; na prova da recuperação (PRec, não se recobrava o líquido infundido; na do gotejamento (PG, as gotas escoavam rapidamente e, na prova da pressão intraperitoneal inicial (PPII, os níveis eram = 8mmHg. PA positiva denunciava iatrogenia, enquanto que PRes, PRec, PG e PPII positivas indicavam que a ponta da agulha estava adequadamente posicionada na cavidade peritoneal. Foram calculadas a sensibilidade (S e a especificidade (E das provas, e os seus valores preditivos positivos (VPP e negativos (VPN, mediante correlação dos resultados verdadeiro-positivos (a, falso-positivos (b, falso negativos (c e verdadeiro-negativos (d, segundo as fórmulas: S=[a/(a+c]x100; E=[d/(b+d]x100; VPP=[a/(a+b]x100; VPN=[d(c+d]x100. RESULTADOS: Na PA, constatou-se que S e VPP não puderam ser aplicados, e E=100% e VPN=100%. Na PRes, S=0%, E=100%, VPP=não existiu e VPN=90%. Tanto na PRec quanto na PG, S=50%, E=100%, VPP=100% e VPN=94,7%. Na PPII, obteve-se que S, E, VPP e VPN=100%. CONCLUSÕES: Na punção no hipocôndrio esquerdo, PA negativa garante ausência de lesões; a PRes é insegura quanto ao mau posicionamento da agulha, mas indica corretamente o bom; a PRec e a PG não reconhecem bem o adequado posicionamento, mas detectam com segurança o inadequado; a PPII acusa com segurança tanto o mau quanto o bom posicionamento da agulha, sendo a prova mais confiável dentre as estudadas.

Clinical and Laboratory Potential Predictors of Blood Culture Positivity in Under Five Children with Clinically Severe Pneumonia - Khartoum -Sudan.

Science.gov (United States)

Salih, Karimeldin Mohamed Ali; El-Samani, El-Fatih; Bilal, Jalal Ali; Eldouch, Widad; Ibrahim, Salah Ahmed

2015-08-01

Blood culture is necessary for appropriate management of clinically severe pneumonia in children under five years of age. However, in limited resource countries it might be unduly costly and waste of valuable time because of the high negative culture rate. This study aims to identify clinical and laboratory parameters that potentially predict a positive blood culture in cases of severe pneumonia. A hospital based study, enrolled 189 cases satisfying the WHO definition of severe pneumonia. Age, gender, clinical history, physical examination, temperature, complete blood count, C-reactive protein, blood culture and Chest X Ray for all the patients were recorded. Forty one patients had positive blood culture giving a prevalence of 21.7%. All variables were used in a dichotomous manner. White Blood Count (WBC) more than 20 000, very high C-reactive protein (C-RP ≥8mg/L) and Temperature more than 40(o)C, had a positive predictive value of 46.1%, 44.3% and 40.0% respectively for a positive culture as well as a Negative Predictive Value of 91.1%, 91.6% and 91.7% respectively. The WBC more than 20 000 and temperature above 40(o)C had a significant association with a positive blood culture. Their adjusted Odds Ratios were 3.9 (95% CI: 1.4-10.90) and 3.1 (95% CI: 1.2-8.4) respectively. This was not the case for C-RP (Odds Ratio=2.2, 95% CI: 0.7-2.2) or positive Chest X Ray (Odds Ratio=1.5, 95% CI: 0.6-3.6). Temperature of more than 40(o)C, Very high C-RP and WBC of more than 20 000 are good indicators of a potential positive blood culture. It is therefore recommended that further research be undertaken to refine these predictors as screening tools before resorting to blood culture. It is also recommended that antibiotic treatment may be initiated on the basis of the high temperature and WBC, while waiting for the culture results.

A Virtual Power Plant Architecture for the Demand-Side Management of Smart Prosumers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Pasetti

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a conceptual study on a Virtual Power Plant (VPP architecture for the optimal management of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs owned by prosumers participating in Demand-Side Management (DSM programs. Compared to classical VPP architectures, which aim to aggregate several DERs dispersed throughout the electrical grid, in the proposed VPP architecture the supervised physical domain is limited to single users, i.e., to single Points of Delivery (PODs of the distribution network. The VPP architecture is based on a service-oriented approach, where multiple agents cooperate to implement the optimal management of the prosumer’s assets, by also considering different forms of Demand Response (DR requests. The considered DR schemes range from Price-Based DRs to Event-Based DRs, covering both the normal operating functions and the emergency control requests applied in modern distribution networks. With respect to centralized approaches, in this study the control perspective is moved from the system level to the single prosumer’s level, who is allowed to independently provide flexible power profiles through the aggregation of multiple DERs. A generalized optimization model, formulated as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP problem, is also introduced. Such a model is able to compute the optimal scheduling of a prosumer’s assets by considering both DR requests and end-users’ requirements in terms of comfort levels while minimizing the costs.

Parallelization of pressure equation solver for incompressible N-S equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichihara, Kiyoshi; Yokokawa, Mitsuo; Kaburaki, Hideo.

1996-03-01

A pressure equation solver in a code for 3-dimensional incompressible flow analysis has been parallelized by using red-black SOR method and PCG method on Fujitsu VPP500, a vector parallel computer with distributed memory. For the comparison of scalability, the solver using the red-black SOR method has been also parallelized on the Intel Paragon, a scalar parallel computer with a distributed memory. The scalability of the red-black SOR method on both VPP500 and Paragon was lost, when number of processor elements was increased. The reason of non-scalability on both systems is increasing communication time between processor elements. In addition, the parallelization by DO-loop division makes the vectorizing efficiency lower on VPP500. For an effective implementation on VPP500, a large scale problem which holds very long vectorized DO-loops in the parallel program should be solved. PCG method with red-black SOR method applied to incomplete LU factorization (red-black PCG) has more iteration steps than normal PCG method with forward and backward substitution, in spite of same number of the floating point operations in a DO-loop of incomplete LU factorization. The parallelized red-black PCG method has less merits than the parallelized red-black SOR method when the computational region has fewer grids, because the low vectorization efficiency is obtained in red-black PCG method. (author)

Template model inspired leg force feedback based control can assist human walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Guoping; Sharbafi, Maziar; Vlutters, Mark; van Asseldonk, Edwin; Seyfarth, Andre

2017-07-01

We present a novel control approach for assistive lower-extremity exoskeletons. In particular, we implement a virtual pivot point (VPP) template model inspired leg force feedback based controller on a lower-extremity powered exoskeleton (LOPES II) and demonstrate that it can effectively assist humans during walking. It has been shown that the VPP template model is capable of stabilizing the trunk and reproduce a human-like hip torque during the stance phase of walking. With leg force and joint angle feedback inspired by the VPP template model, our controller provides hip and knee torque assistance during the stance phase. A pilot experiment was conducted with four healthy subjects. Joint kinematics, leg muscle electromyography (EMG), and metabolic cost were measured during walking with and without assistance. Results show that, for 0.6 m/s walking, our controller can reduce leg muscle activations, especially for the medial gastrocnemius (about 16.0%), while hip and knee joint kinematics remain similar to the condition without the controller. Besides, the controller also reduces 10% of the net metabolic cost during walking. This paper demonstrates walking assistance benefits of the VPP template model for the first time. The support of human walking is achieved by a force feedback of leg force applied to the control of hip and knee joints. It can help us to provide a framework for investigating walking assistance control in the future.

Solid low-level radioactive waste volume projections at Los Alamos National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Art, K.; Minton-Hughes, J.; Peper, C.

1995-01-01

In response to regulatory requirements, the current economic environment, and diminishing on-site low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal capacity, LANL needed to develop a system to collect data on future LLW generation that would comply with DOE Order 5820. 2A and be an effective facility planning tool. The LANL Volume Projections Project (VPP) was created to meet these needs. This paper describes objectives, scope, and components of the VPP that will provide information essential to future facility planning and development

Abstract flexibility description for virtual power plant scheduling

OpenAIRE

Fröhling, Judith

2017-01-01

In the ongoing paradigm shift of the energy market from big power plants to more and more small and decentralized power plants, virtual power plants (VPPs) play an important role. VPPs bundle the capacities of the small and decentralized resources (DER). Planing of VPP operation, that is also called scheduling, relies on the flexibilities of controllable DER in the VPP, e.g., combined heat and power plants (CHPs), heat pumps and batteries. The aim of this thesis is the development of an abstr...

Influence of the Level of the Development of Skills on Labour Potential, its Implementation and Choice of Work Position

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kseniya Aleksandrovna Ustinova

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the sociological assessment of the skills level and identification of its influence on some aspects of labour activity: the realization of labour potential, choice of the scope of activity, position and occupation. It suggests an approach based on the subjective evaluation of the population as an instrument of the skills level assessment. The received results are compared with the indirect estimates allowing to characterize some particular components of labour potential which are similar to the considered skills. A specific feature of the research is not only the determination of the professional sphere, occupation and position on the skills level, but also the accounting of the reverse effect. The methodological tools including the methods for the assessment of skills level, labour potential and extent of its implementation in a labour activity have been approved in the Vologda region. The study revealed that, at the present time, the most developed skills are the teamwork, communication and mutual understanding while the least developed ones are the initiative and creativity as well as ability to be retrained and readiness to increase the professional level. It shows that the employees of socially oriented spheres and also the representatives of state structures have more developed skills. At the same time, the development of innovative skills not only leads to the growth of labour potential, but also creates conditions for the employment in workplaces with higher skills requirements. The paper shows that higher skills level along with higher skills requirements leads to more complete implementation of cumulative potential in the labour activity. The received results can be used by regional authorities for the development of the analytical system of labour market, the development of labour force and the labour potential of the population.

Accentuate the Positive: Positive Sentiments and Status in Task Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Bianchi, Alison J.; Lancianese, Donna A.

2007-01-01

We explore the capacity of positive sentiments, those enduring affective states one achieves when one likes another, to impact status structures. Do positive sentiments combine with existing aspects of interaction to create status hierarchies and potentially change the social order, or do they moderate the effects of extant structure by dampening…

Neural substrate of the late positive potential in emotional processing

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yuelu; Huang, Haiqing; McGinnis, Menton; Keil, Andreas; Ding, Mingzhou

2012-01-01

The late positive potential (LPP) is a reliable electrophysiological index of emotional perception in humans. Despite years of research the brain structures that contribute to the generation and modulation of LPP are not well understood. Recording EEG and fMRI simultaneously, and applying a recently proposed single-trial ERP analysis method, we addressed the problem by correlating the single-trial LPP amplitude evoked by affective pictures with the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activity. Three results were found. First, relative to neutral pictures, pleasant and unpleasant pictures elicited enhanced LPP, as well as heightened BOLD activity in both visual cortices and emotion-processing structures such as amygdala and prefrontal cortex, consistent with previous findings. Second, the LPP amplitude across three picture categories was significantly correlated with BOLD activity in visual cortices, temporal cortices, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and insula. Third, within each picture category, LPP-BOLD coupling revealed category-specific differences. For pleasant pictures, the LPP amplitude was coupled with BOLD in occipitotemporal junction, medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and precuneus, whereas for unpleasant pictures, significant LPP-BOLD correlation was observed in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, insula, and posterior cingulate cortex. These results suggest that LPP is generated and modulated by an extensive brain network comprised of both cortical and subcortical structures associated with visual and emotional processing and the degree of contribution by each of these structures to the LPP modulation is valence-specific. PMID:23077042

Influence of spatial frequency and emotion expression on face processing in patients with panic disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Shim, Miseon; Kim, Do-Won; Yoon, Sunkyung; Park, Gewnhi; Im, Chang-Hwan; Lee, Seung-Hwan

2016-06-01

Deficits in facial emotion processing is a major characteristic of patients with panic disorder. It is known that visual stimuli with different spatial frequencies take distinct neural pathways. This study investigated facial emotion processing involving stimuli presented at broad, high, and low spatial frequencies in patients with panic disorder. Eighteen patients with panic disorder and 19 healthy controls were recruited. Seven event-related potential (ERP) components: (P100, N170, early posterior negativity (EPN); vertex positive potential (VPP), N250, P300; and late positive potential (LPP)) were evaluated while the participants looked at fearful and neutral facial stimuli presented at three spatial frequencies. When a fearful face was presented, panic disorder patients showed a significantly increased P100 amplitude in response to low spatial frequency compared to high spatial frequency; whereas healthy controls demonstrated significant broad spatial frequency dependent processing in P100 amplitude. Vertex positive potential amplitude was significantly increased in high and broad spatial frequency, compared to low spatial frequency in panic disorder. Early posterior negativity amplitude was significantly different between HSF and BSF, and between LSF and BSF processing in both groups, regardless of facial expression. The possibly confounding effects of medication could not be controlled. During early visual processing, patients with panic disorder prefer global to detailed information. However, in later processing, panic disorder patients overuse detailed information for the perception of facial expressions. These findings suggest that unique spatial frequency-dependent facial processing could shed light on the neural pathology associated with panic disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parallelization for first principles electronic state calculation program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Hiroshi; Oguchi, Tamio.

1997-03-01

In this report we study the parallelization for First principles electronic state calculation program. The target machines are NEC SX-4 for shared memory type parallelization and FUJITSU VPP300 for distributed memory type parallelization. The features of each parallel machine are surveyed, and the parallelization methods suitable for each are proposed. It is shown that 1.60 times acceleration is achieved with 2 CPU parallelization by SX-4 and 4.97 times acceleration is achieved with 12 PE parallelization by VPP 300. (author)

State Anxiety Carried Over From Prior Threat Increases Late Positive Potential Amplitude During an Instructed Emotion Regulation Task

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Walker S.; Larson, Christine L.

2018-01-01

Emotion regulation has important consequences for emotional and mental health (Saxena, Dubey & Pandey, 2011) and is dependent on executive function (Eisenberg, Smith & Spinrad, 2011). Because state anxiety disrupts executive function (Robinson, Vytal, Cornwell & Grillon, 2013), we tested whether state anxiety disrupts emotion regulation by having participants complete an instructed emotion regulation task, while under threat of unpredictable shock and while safe from shock. We used the late positive potential (LPP) component of the event related potential to measure emotion regulation success. We predicted that LPP responses to negatively valenced images would be modulated by participants’ attempts to increase and decrease their emotions when safe from shock, but not while under threat of shock. Our manipulation check revealed an order effect such that for participants who completed the threat of shock condition first self-reported state anxiety carried over into the subsequent safe condition. Additionally, we found that although instructions to regulate affected participants’ ratings of how unpleasant the images made them feel, instructions to regulate had no effect on LPP amplitude regardless of threat condition. Instead we found that participants who received the threat condition prior to safe had greater LPP responses to all images in the safe condition. We posit that the carryover of anxiety resulted in misattribution of arousal and potentiation of neural responses to the images in the safe condition. Thus, our results imply that physiological arousal and cognition combine to influence the basic neural response to emotional stimuli. PMID:27055095

Fluctuations of estradiol during women's menstrual cycle: Influences on reactivity towards erotic stimuli in the late positive potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Munk, Aisha J L; Zoeller, Aaron C; Hennig, Juergen

2018-05-01

While several studies examined the reactivity towards negative emotional stimuli across women's menstrual cycle, only few investigated responses to positive emotional cues in association with sexual hormones on a neural level. Therefore, the aim of the current EEG-experiment was to study the differential reactivity towards positive (erotic) words during the menstrual cycle (i.e. with fluctuations in the steroids estradiol and progesterone) in the late positive potential (LPP). Regarding reactivity towards erotic stimuli, the LPP is seen as the most relevant ERP-component, as more positive amplitudes in the LPP reflect larger incentive salience and higher arousal. The LPP towards erotic words was expected to be more pronounced during fertile phases of the menstrual cycle (around ovulation). Furthermore, associations with hormonal concentrations of estradiol and progesterone were investigated. 19 young, free cycling women were tested in an Erotic Stroop paradigm during the follicular phase, ovulation, and the luteal phase in a balanced cross-over design, while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. LPPs in reaction to erotic compared to neutral words were larger in every phase. During the follicular phase and ovulation, higher estradiol-concentrations were associated with more positive LPP-amplitudes towards erotic- than to neutral words. No effects of progesterone, as well as no effects of cycle phase, were evident. Results are being discussed regarding implications for further research. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The dynamic allocation of attention to emotion: simultaneous and independent evidence from the late positive potential and steady state visual evoked potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajcak, Greg; MacNamara, Annmarie; Foti, Dan; Ferri, Jamie; Keil, Andreas

2013-03-01

Emotional stimuli capture and hold attention without explicit instruction. The late positive potential (LPP) component of the event related potential can be used to track motivated attention toward emotional stimuli, and is larger for emotional compared to neutral pictures. In the frequency domain, the steady state visual evoked potential (ssVEP) has also been used to track attention to stimuli flickering at a particular frequency. Like the LPP, the ssVEP is also larger for emotional compared to neutral pictures. Prior work suggests that both the LPP and ssVEP are sensitive to "top-down" manipulations of attention, however the LPP and ssVEP have not previously been examined using the same attentional manipulation in the same participants. In the present study, LPP and ssVEP amplitudes were simultaneously elicited by unpleasant and neutral pictures. Partway through picture presentation, participants' attention was directed toward an arousing or non-arousing region of unpleasant pictures. In line with prior work, the LPP was reduced when attention was directed toward non-arousing compared to arousing regions of unpleasant pictures; similar results were observed for the ssVEP. Thus, both electrocortical measures index affective salience and are sensitive to directed (here: spatial) attention. Variation in the LPP and ssVEP was unrelated, suggesting that these measures are not redundant with each other and may capture different neurophysiological aspects of affective stimulus processing and attention. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Is micro-CHP price controllable under price signal controlled Virtual Power Plants?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Shi; Træholt, Chresten; Poulsen, Bjarne

2011-01-01

As micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems move towards mass deployment together with other kinds of distributed energy resources (DER), an increasing emphasis has been placed on how to coordinate such a large diversified DER portfolio in an efficient way by the Virtual Power Plant (VPP...... for three different micro-CHP systems to investigate the feasibility of being controlled by price. Such analysis is relevant for both controller designs for micro-CHP systems and VPP related operations. The results indicate that controlling the micro-CHP systems by price is feasible but could result...

Information Modeling for Direct Control of Distributed Energy Resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biegel, Benjamin; Andersen, Palle; Stoustrup, Jakob

2013-01-01

We present an architecture for an unbundled liberalized electricity market system where a virtual power plant (VPP) is able to control a number of distributed energy resources (DERs) directly through a two-way communication link. The aggregator who operates the VPP utilizes the accumulated...... a desired accumulated response. In this paper, we design such an information model based on the markets that the aggregator participates in and based on the flexibility characteristics of the remote controlled DERs. The information model is constructed in a modular manner making the interface suitable...

Coalition of distributed generation units to virtual power players - a game theory approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morais, Hugo; Sousa, Tiago M; Santos, Gabriel

2015-01-01

and the existence of new management players such as several types of aggregators. This paper proposes a methodology to facilitate the coalition between distributed generation units originating Virtual Power Players (VPP) considering a game theory approach. The proposed approach consists in the analysis...... strategies, size and goals, each parameter has different importance. VPP can also manage other type of energy resources, like storage units, electric vehicles, demand response programs or even parts of the MV and LV distribution network. A case study with twelve VPPs with different characteristics and one...

Integration of Electric Vehicles into the Power Distribution Network with a Modified Capacity Allocation Mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junjie Hu

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The growing penetration of electric vehicles (EVs represents an operational challenge to system operators, mainly at the distribution level by introducing congestion and voltage drop problems. To solve these potential problems, a two-level coordination approach is proposed in this study. An aggregation entity, i.e., an EV virtual power plant (EV-VPP, is used to facilitate the interaction between the distribution system operator (DSO and EV owners considering the decentralized electricity market structure. In level I, to prevent the line congestion and voltage drop problems, the EV-VPP internally respects the line and voltage constraints when making optimal charging schedules. In level II, to avoid power transformer congestion problems, this paper investigates three different coordination mechanisms, or power transformer capacity allocation mechanisms, between the DSO and the EV-VPPs, considering the case of EVs charging and discharging. The three mechanisms include: (1 a market-based approach; (2 a pro-rata approach; and (3 a newly-proposed constrained market-based approach. A case study considering a 37-bus distribution network and high penetration of electric vehicles is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed coordination mechanism, comparing with the existing ones.

Step by step parallel programming method for molecular dynamics code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orii, Shigeo; Ohta, Toshio

1996-07-01

Parallel programming for a numerical simulation program of molecular dynamics is carried out with a step-by-step programming technique using the two phase method. As a result, within the range of a certain computing parameters, it is found to obtain parallel performance by using the level of parallel programming which decomposes the calculation according to indices of do-loops into each processor on the vector parallel computer VPP500 and the scalar parallel computer Paragon. It is also found that VPP500 shows parallel performance in wider range computing parameters. The reason is that the time cost of the program parts, which can not be reduced by the do-loop level of the parallel programming, can be reduced to the negligible level by the vectorization. After that, the time consuming parts of the program are concentrated on less parts that can be accelerated by the do-loop level of the parallel programming. This report shows the step-by-step parallel programming method and the parallel performance of the molecular dynamics code on VPP500 and Paragon. (author)

Pressure-induced basilar membrane position shifts and the stimulus-evoked potentials in the low-frequency region of the guinea pig cochlea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fridberger, A; vanMaarseveen, JTPW; Scarfone, E; Ulfendahl, M; Flock, B; Flock, A

1997-01-01

We have used the guinea pig isolated temporal bone preparation to investigate changes in the nonlinear properties of the tone-evoked cochlear potentials during reversible step displacements of the basilar membrane towards either the scala tympani or the scala vestibuli. The position shifts were

Performance Assessment of Black Box Capacity Forecasting for Multi-Market Trade Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pamela MacDougall

2017-10-01

Full Text Available With the growth of renewable generated electricity in the energy mix, large energy storage and flexible demand, particularly aggregated demand response is becoming a front runner as a new participant in the wholesale energy markets. One of the biggest barriers for the integration of aggregator services into market participation is knowledge of the current and future flexible capacity. To calculate the available flexibility, the current aggregator pilot and simulation implementations use lower level measurements and device specifications. This type of implementation is not scalable due to computational constraints, as well as it could conflict with end user privacy rights. Black box machine learning approaches have been proven to accurately estimate the available capacity of a cluster of heating devices using only aggregated data. This study will investigate the accuracy of this approach when applied to a heterogeneous virtual power plant (VPP. Firstly, a sensitivity analysis of the machine learning model is performed when varying the underlying device makeup of the VPP. Further, the forecasted flexible capacity of a heterogeneous residential VPP was applied to a trade strategy, which maintains a day ahead schedule, as well as offers flexibility to the imbalance market. This performance is then compared when using the same strategy with no capacity forecasting, as well as perfect knowledge. It was shown that at most, the highest average error, regardless of the VPP makeup, was still less than 9%. Further, when applying the forecasted capacity to a trading strategy, 89% of the optimal performance can be met. This resulted in a reduction of monthly costs by approximately 20%.

Outsourced Probe Data Effectiveness on Signalized Arterials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young, Stanley E [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sharifi, Elham [University of Maryland; Eshragh, Sepideh [University of Maryland; Hamedi, Masoud [University of Maryland; Juster, Reuben M. [University of Maryland; Kaushik, Kartik [University of Maryland

2017-07-31

This paper presents results of an I-95 Corridor Coalition sponsored project to assess the ability of outsourced vehicle probe data to provide accurate travel time on signalized roadways for the purposes of real-time operations as well as performance measures. The quality of outsourced probe data on freeways has led many departments of transportation to consider such data for arterial performance monitoring. From April 2013 through June of 2014, the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Transportation Technology gathered travel times from several arterial corridors within the mid-Atlantic region using Bluetooth traffic monitoring (BTM) equipment, and compared these travel times with the data reported to the I95 Vehicle Probe Project (VPP) from an outsourced probe data vendor. The analysis consisted of several methodologies: (1) a traditional analysis that used precision and bias speed metrics; (2) a slowdown analysis that quantified the percentage of significant traffic disruptions accurately captured in the VPP data; (3) a sampled distribution method that uses overlay methods to enhance and analyze recurring congestion patterns. (4) Last, the BTM and VPP data from each 24-hour period of data collection were reviewed by the research team to assess the extent to which VPP captured the nature of the traffic flow. Based on the analysis, probe data is recommended only on arterial roadways with signal densities (measured in signals per mile) up to one, and it should be tested and used with caution for signal densities between one and two, and is not recommended when signal density exceeds two.

A position-dependent mass model for the Thomas–Fermi potential: Exact solvability and relation to δ-doped semiconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schulze-Halberg, Axel, E-mail: xbataxel@gmail.com [Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science, Indiana University Northwest, 3400 Broadway, Gary IN 46408 (United States); García-Ravelo, Jesús; Pacheco-García, Christian [Escuela Superior de Física y Matemáticas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, Zacatenco, 07738 México D.F. (Mexico); Juan Peña Gil, José [Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Azcapotzalco, CBI - Area de Física Atómica Molecular Aplicada, Av. San Pablo 180, Reynosa Azcapotzalco, 02200 México D.F. (Mexico)

2013-06-15

We consider the Schrödinger equation in the Thomas–Fermi field, a model that has been used for describing electron systems in δ-doped semiconductors. It is shown that the problem becomes exactly-solvable if a particular effective (position-dependent) mass distribution is incorporated. Orthogonal sets of normalizable bound state solutions are constructed in explicit form, and the associated energies are determined. We compare our results with the corresponding findings on the constant-mass problem discussed by Ioriatti (1990) [13]. -- Highlights: ► We introduce an exactly solvable, position-dependent mass model for the Thomas–Fermi potential. ► Orthogonal sets of solutions to our model are constructed in closed form. ► Relation to delta-doped semiconductors is discussed. ► Explicit subband bottom energies are calculated and compared to results obtained in a previous study.

A position-dependent mass model for the Thomas–Fermi potential: Exact solvability and relation to δ-doped semiconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulze-Halberg, Axel; García-Ravelo, Jesús; Pacheco-García, Christian; Juan Peña Gil, José

2013-01-01

We consider the Schrödinger equation in the Thomas–Fermi field, a model that has been used for describing electron systems in δ-doped semiconductors. It is shown that the problem becomes exactly-solvable if a particular effective (position-dependent) mass distribution is incorporated. Orthogonal sets of normalizable bound state solutions are constructed in explicit form, and the associated energies are determined. We compare our results with the corresponding findings on the constant-mass problem discussed by Ioriatti (1990) [13]. -- Highlights: ► We introduce an exactly solvable, position-dependent mass model for the Thomas–Fermi potential. ► Orthogonal sets of solutions to our model are constructed in closed form. ► Relation to delta-doped semiconductors is discussed. ► Explicit subband bottom energies are calculated and compared to results obtained in a previous study

Positive affect and markers of inflammation: discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines.

Science.gov (United States)

Stellar, Jennifer E; John-Henderson, Neha; Anderson, Craig L; Gordon, Amie M; McNeil, Galen D; Keltner, Dacher

2015-04-01

Negative emotions are reliably associated with poorer health (e.g., Kiecolt-Glaser, McGuire, Robles, & Glaser, 2002), but only recently has research begun to acknowledge the important role of positive emotions for our physical health (Fredrickson, 2003). We examine the link between dispositional positive affect and one potential biological pathway between positive emotions and health-proinflammatory cytokines, specifically levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6). We hypothesized that greater trait positive affect would be associated with lower levels of IL-6 in a healthy sample. We found support for this hypothesis across two studies. We also explored the relationship between discrete positive emotions and IL-6 levels, finding that awe, measured in two different ways, was the strongest predictor of lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines. These effects held when controlling for relevant personality and health variables. This work suggests a potential biological pathway between positive emotions and health through proinflammatory cytokines. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Introducing Positive Psychology to SLA

Science.gov (United States)

MacIntyre, Peter D.; Mercer, Sarah

2014-01-01

Positive psychology is a rapidly expanding subfield in psychology that has important implications for the field of second language acquisition (SLA). This paper introduces positive psychology to the study of language by describing its key tenets. The potential contributions of positive psychology are contextualized with reference to prior work,…

Simulated Annealing Approach Applied to the Energy Resource Management Considering Demand Response for Electric Vehicles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sousa, Tiago; Vale, Zita; Morais, Hugo

2013-01-01

The aggregation and management of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) by an Virtual Power Players (VPP) is an important task in a smart grid context. The Energy Resource Management (ERM) of theses DERs can become a hard and complex optimization problem. The large integration of several DERs......, including Electric Vehicles (EVs), may lead to a scenario in which the VPP needs several hours to have a solution for the ERM problem. This is the reason why it is necessary to use metaheuristic methodologies to come up with a good solution with a reasonable amount of time. The presented paper proposes...

The OCA CCD Camera Controller

Science.gov (United States)

1996-01-01

multi CCD arrays for wide field telescopes with an array of 8x8 1K CCDs in use at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile . The same group is also involved...Verify key EPROM -292H VIH . VIH Program security bitl 1 29AH . VPP Program security’ bit 2 *. .298H -Vpp Verify security bits - 9HVIH ViI NOTE: 1...Pulsed from V.. to VIL and returned to VIH . EPROM PROGRAMMING AND VERIFICATION ..t= 21’C to-+27 ’rC:-VCC= 5V ±10%VS3 = OV. SYMBOL I .-- PARAMETER MIN MAX

Solitons in dusty plasmas with positive dust grains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baluku, T. K.; Hellberg, M. A.; Mace, R. L.

2008-01-01

Although ''typical'' micrometer-sized dust grains in a space or laboratory plasma are often negatively charged because of collisions with the mobile electrons, there are environments in which grains may take on a positive charge. We consider a dusty plasma composed of electrons, positive ions and positive dust grains, and use the fluid dynamic paradigm to identify existence domains in parameter space for both dust-acoustic (DA) and dust-modified ion-acoustic (DIA) solitons. Only positive potential DA solitons are found. This represents an expected antisymmetry with the case of negative dust, where previously only negative solitons were reported. However, whereas for negative dust DIA solitons of either sign of potential may exist, we find that for the case of positive dust, DIA solitons are restricted to positive potentials only. The results for both positive and negative dust are consistent with an hypothesis that, in the absence of flows, the sign(s) of the soliton potential coincide(s) with the sign(s) of the species whose inertia is included in the calculation; i.e., the cold, supersonic species present in the plasma

Presence and potential for horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance in oxidase-positive bacteria populating raw salad vegetables.

Science.gov (United States)

Bezanson, G S; MacInnis, R; Potter, G; Hughes, T

2008-09-30

To assess whether domestically grown fresh salad vegetables constitute a possible reservoir of antibiotic resistance for Canadian consumers, aerobic bacteria capable of forming colonies at 30 degrees C on nutrient-limited media were recovered from a single sampling of Romaine lettuce, Savoy spinach and alfalfa sprouts, then examined for their susceptibility to ten antibiotics and the carriage of potentially mobile R-plasmids and integrons. Of the 140 isolates resistant to one or more antibiotic, 93.5 and 90.0% were resistant to ampicillin and cephalothin; 35.7% to chloramphenicol, 10.0% to streptomycin, 4.2% to nalidixic acid, 4.2% to kanamycin, and 2.8% to gentamicin. Gram-positive isolates accounted for less than 4% of the antibiotic resistant strains. A small portion (23.1%) of the predominant oxidase-positive, gram-negative isolates was resistant to two or more antimicrobials. Members of the Pseudomonas fluorescens/putida complex were most prevalent among the 34 resistant strains identified. Sphingobacterium spp. and Acinetobacter baumanni also were detected. Ten of 52 resistant strains carried plasmids, 3 of which were self-transmissible and bore resistance to ampicillin and kanamycin. Eighteen of 48 gave PCR evidence for integron DNA. Class 2 type integrons were the most prevalent, followed by class 1. We conclude that the foods examined here carry antibiotic resistant bacteria at the retail level. Further, our determination that resistant strains contain integron-specific DNA sequences and self-transmissible R-plasmids indicates their potential to influence the pool of antibiotic resistance in humans via lateral gene transfer subsequent to ingestion.

Plant operator selection system for evaluating employment candidates' potential for success in electric power plant operations positions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunnette, M.D.

1982-01-01

The Plant Operator Selection System is a battery of tests and questionnaires that can be administered to job candidates in less than three hours. Various components of the battery measure what a job candidate has accomplished in previous educational and work situations, how well a candidate compares with others on a number of important aptitudes or abilities, and whether or not a candidate possesses the kind of personal stability required in power plant operations positions. A job candidate's answers to the tests and questionnaires of the Plant Operator Selection System are scored and converted to an OVERALL POTENTIAL INDEX. Values of the OVERALL POTENTIAL INDEX [OPI] range between 0 and 15. Candidates with high OPI values are much more likely to become effective and successful plant operators than candidates with low OPI values. It is possible to estimate the financial advantages to a company of using the Plant Operator Selection System in evaluating candidates for plant operations jobs

Can older adults resist the positivity effect in neural responding? The impact of verbal framing on event-related brain potentials elicited by emotional images.

Science.gov (United States)

Rehmert, Andrea E; Kisley, Michael A

2013-10-01

Older adults have demonstrated an avoidance of negative information, presumably with a goal of greater emotional satisfaction. Understanding whether avoidance of negative information is a voluntary, motivated choice or an involuntary, automatic response will be important to differentiate, as decision making often involves emotional factors. With the use of an emotional framing event-related potential (ERP) paradigm, the present study investigated whether older adults could alter neural responses to negative stimuli through verbal reframing of evaluative response options. The late positive potential (LPP) response of 50 older adults and 50 younger adults was recorded while participants categorized emotional images in one of two framing conditions: positive ("more or less positive") or negative ("more or less negative"). It was hypothesized that older adults would be able to overcome a presumed tendency to down-regulate neural responding to negative stimuli in the negative framing condition, thus leading to larger LPP wave amplitudes to negative images. A similar effect was predicted for younger adults, but for positively valenced images, such that LPP responses would be increased in the positive framing condition compared with the negative framing condition. Overall, younger adults' LPP wave amplitudes were modulated by framing condition, including a reduction in the negativity bias in the positive frame. Older adults' neural responses were not significantly modulated, even though task-related behavior supported the notion that older adults were able to successfully adopt the negative framing condition.

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and digital vectoelectronystagmography's study in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lira-Batista, Marta Maria da Silva

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV is a very common vestibular disorder characterized by brief but intense attacks of rotatory vertigo triggered by simple rapid movement of the head. The integrity of the vestibular pathways can be assessed using tests such as digital vectoelectronystagmography (VENG and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP. Aim: This study aimed to determine the VEMP findings with respect to latency, amplitude, and waveform peak to peak and the results of the oculomotor and vestibular components of VENG in patients with BPPV. Method: Although this otoneurological condition is quite common, little is known of the associated VEMP and VENG changes, making it important to research and describe these results. Results: We examined the records of 4438 patients and selected 35 charts after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of these, 26 patients were women and 9 men. The average age at diagnosis was 52.7 years, and the most prevalent physiological cause, accounting for 97.3% of cases, was ductolithiasis. There was a statistically significant association between normal hearing and mild contralateral sensorineural hearing loss. The results of the oculomotor tests were within the normal reference ranges for all subjects. Patients with BPPV exhibited symmetrical function of the semicircular canals in their synergistic pairs (p < 0.001. The caloric test showed statistically normal responses from the lateral canals. The waveforms of all patients were adequate, but the VEMP results for the data-crossing maneuver with positive positioning showed a trend toward a relationship for the left ear Lp13. There was also a trend towards an association between normal reflexes in the caloric test and the inter-peak VEMP of the left ear. It can be concluded that although there are some differences between the average levels of the VENG and VEMP results, these differences were not statistically significant

CONTEMPLATIVE POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: INTRODUCING MINDFULNESS INTO POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ausiàs Cebolla

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Although mindfulness is included in many positive psychology manuals as a “positive” technique, the implications of its use have scarcely been developed and the relationship between mindfulness and human well-being has barely been researched. Analyzing the main strengths of the two fields, the possibilities for their integration and the potential contradictions between their messages is essential in order to establish connections. Mindfulness is more than a meditation technique. It has implicit within it a set of values and ethical conditions that coincide to a great extent with the proposed assumptions from positive psychology, such as the development of kindness, compassion, and positive emotions. The aim of this paper is to present, on the one hand, the commonalities and similarities, and on the other, the differences between mindfulness and positive psychology. We also present the main studies that have investigated the role of mindfulness and contemplative practices on human well-being. Finally future research will be discussed and intervention suggested in order to bring the two proposals together.

IMRT credentialing for prospective trials using institutional virtual phantoms: results of a joint European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer and Radiological Physics Center project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, Damien C; Vallet, Veronique; Molineu, Andrea; Melidis, Christos; Teglas, Vanda; Naudy, Suzanne; Moeckli, Raphael; Followill, David S; Hurkmans, Coen W

2014-01-01

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) credentialing for a EORTC study was performed using an anthropomorphic head phantom from the Radiological Physics Center (RPC; RPC PH ). Institutions were retrospectively requested to irradiate their institutional phantom (INST PH ) using the same treatment plan in the framework of a Virtual Phantom Project (VPP) for IMRT credentialing. CT data set of the institutional phantom and measured 2D dose matrices were requested from centers and sent to a dedicated secure EORTC uploader. Data from the RPC PH and INST PH were thereafter centrally analyzed and inter-compared by the QA team using commercially available software (RIT; ver.5.2; Colorado Springs, USA). Eighteen institutions participated to the VPP. The measurements of 6 (33%) institutions could not be analyzed centrally. All other centers passed both the VPP and the RPC ±7%/4 mm credentialing criteria. At the 5%/5 mm gamma criteria (90% of pixels passing), 11(92%) as compared to 12 (100%) centers pass the credentialing process with RPC PH and INST PH (p = 0.29), respectively. The corresponding pass rate for the 3%/3 mm gamma criteria (90% of pixels passing) was 2 (17%) and 9 (75%; p = 0.01), respectively. IMRT dosimetry gamma evaluations in a single plane for a H&N prospective trial using the INST PH measurements showed agreement at the gamma index criteria of ±5%/5 mm (90% of pixels passing) for a small number of VPP measurements. Using more stringent, criteria, the RPC PH and INST PH comparison showed disagreement. More data is warranted and urgently required within the framework of prospective studies

Evaluación de una prueba rápida para el diagnostico de Malaria en áreas endémicas del Perú

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nancy Arrospide V

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Objetivos: Evaluar la sensibilidad, especificidad y valores predictivos de la prueba rapida basada en la deteccion de la pLDH (OptiMALR kit individual para el diagnostico de malaria en areas endemicas del Peru. Materiales y metodos: Estudio transversal realizado con pacientes febriles atendidos en centros de salud de la selva norte del Peru (San Martin y Loreto, de abril a diciembre de 2001. A cada paciente se le realizo la gota gruesa, la prueba OptiMALR y densidad parasitaria en forma ciega, por personal local capacitado y luego en el Laboratorio Nacional de Referencia de Malaria. Se calculo la sensibilidad (S, especificidad (E, valor predictivo positivo (VPP y valor predictivo negativo(VPN de la prueba OptiMALR en relacion a la gota gruesa para el diagnostico de malaria global y segun especie (P.falciparum y P.vivax. Resultados: Se incluyeron 346 muestras, 170 positivas. La prueba OptiMALR tuvo niveles de S=95,7%, E=97,1%, VPP=97,7%, VPN=95,3% independientemente de la especie. Para P.falciparum tuvo S=90,5%, E=97,3%, VPP=67,9 y VPN=99.4%; en tanto que para P.vivax S=92,0%, E=99,0%, VPP=98,7% y VPN=93,5%. Las sensibilidades estratificadas por parasitemia fueron 97,0% (5000 parasitos/¥ìL, 99% (100-5000 p/¥ìL y 50% (<100p/¥ìL. Conclusiones: La prueba rapida OptiMALR es un metodo con buena sensibilidad y especificidad para el diagnostico de malaria y puede ser usado en lugares donde no se dispone de laboratorios o microscopistas.

Prediction of velocity and attitude of a yacht sailing upwind by computational fluid dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heebum Lee

2016-01-01

Full Text Available One of the most important factors in sailing yacht design is accurate velocity prediction. Velocity prediction programs (VPP's are widely used to predict velocity of sailing yachts. VPP's, which are primarily based on experimental data and experience of long years, however suffer limitations when applied in realistic conditions. Thus, in the present study, a high fidelity velocity prediction method using computational fluid dynamics (CFD was proposed. Using the developed method, velocity and attitude of a 30 feet sloop yacht, which was developed by Korea Research Institute of Ship and Ocean (KRISO and termed KORDY30, were predicted in upwind sailing condition.

Can Older Adults Resist the Positivity Effect in Neural Responding: The Impact of Verbal Framing on Event-Related Brain Potentials Elicited by Emotional Images

Science.gov (United States)

Rehmert, Andrea E.; Kisley, Michael A.

2014-01-01

Older adults have demonstrated an avoidance of negative information presumably with a goal of greater emotional satisfaction. Understanding whether avoidance of negative information is a voluntary, motivated choice, or an involuntary, automatic response will be important to differentiate, as decision-making often involves emotional factors. With the use of an emotional framing event-related potential (ERP) paradigm, the present study investigated whether older adults could alter neural responses to negative stimuli through verbal reframing of evaluative response options. The late-positive potential (LPP) response of 50 older adults and 50 younger adults was recorded while participants categorized emotional images in one of two framing conditions: positive (“more or less positive”) or negative (“more or less negative”). It was hypothesized that older adults would be able to overcome a presumed tendency to down-regulate neural responding to negative stimuli in the negative framing condition thus leading to larger LPP wave amplitudes to negative images. A similar effect was predicted for younger adults but for positively valenced images such that LPP responses would be increased in the positive framing condition compared to the negative framing condition. Overall, younger adults' LPP wave amplitudes were modulated by framing condition, including a reduction in the negativity bias in the positive frame. Older adults' neural responses were not significantly modulated even though task-related behavior supported the notion that older adults were able to successfully adopt the negative framing condition. PMID:23731435

A Positive Deviance Approach to Early Childhood Obesity: Cross-Sectional Characterization of Positive Outliers

OpenAIRE

Foster, Byron Alexander; Farragher, Jill; Parker, Paige; Hale, Daniel E.

2015-01-01

Objective: Positive deviance methodology has been applied in the developing world to address childhood malnutrition and has potential for application to childhood obesity in the United States. We hypothesized that among children at high-risk for obesity, evaluating normal weight children will enable identification of positive outlier behaviors and practices.

Potential predictive factors of positive prostate biopsy in the Chinese ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Yomi

2012-01-16

Jan 16, 2012 ... Therefore, it might be inappropriate that we apply these western models to the. Chinese population that has a lower incidence of PCa. Therefore, this retrospective study aimed to determine predictive factors for a positive prostate biopsy in Chinese men. Our ultimate goal is to develop a simple model for ...

Electrochemical noise and impedance of Au electrode/electrolyte interfaces enabling extracellular detection of glioma cell populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha, Paulo R F; Schlett, Paul; Kintzel, Ulrike; Mailänder, Volker; Vandamme, Lode K J; Zeck, Gunther; Gomes, Henrique L; Biscarini, Fabio; de Leeuw, Dago M

2016-10-06

Microelectrode arrays (MEA) record extracellular local field potentials of cells adhered to the electrodes. A disadvantage is the limited signal-to-noise ratio. The state-of-the-art background noise level is about 10 μVpp. Furthermore, in MEAs low frequency events are filtered out. Here, we quantitatively analyze Au electrode/electrolyte interfaces with impedance spectroscopy and noise measurements. The equivalent circuit is the charge transfer resistance in parallel with a constant phase element that describes the double layer capacitance, in series with a spreading resistance. This equivalent circuit leads to a Maxwell-Wagner relaxation frequency, the value of which is determined as a function of electrode area and molarity of an aqueous KCl electrolyte solution. The electrochemical voltage and current noise is measured as a function of electrode area and frequency and follow unambiguously from the measured impedance. By using large area electrodes the noise floor can be as low as 0.3 μVpp. The resulting high sensitivity is demonstrated by the extracellular detection of C6 glioma cell populations. Their minute electrical activity can be clearly detected at a frequency below about 10 Hz, which shows that the methodology can be used to monitor slow cooperative biological signals in cell populations.

A morphological protocol and guide-list on uterine cervix cytology associated to Papillomavirus infection Padronização da análise de critérios citomorfológicos de lesões associadas à infecção pelo HPV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luzia Setuko Umeda Yamamoto

2004-08-01

Full Text Available The present study was designed to further assess the validity of the cytological description of morphological lesions said to be related to Papillomavirus (HPV infections in senior women. The casuistic comprised 196 cervical smears from a group of women with no clinical or morphological evidence of neoplasia, collected simultaneously with samples submitted to detection of HPV DNA by PCR in a previous study. Three experienced cytologists studied each slide in two different conditions, with an interval of 20 months between them. The first approach was performed under routine laboratory standards, whereas the second was guided by a list of 16 well-defined parameters indicative of HPV-related cytological lesions. When suspicious cases of HPV-related alterations were grouped with positive cases, they showed on average: sensitivity of 25.5%, specificity of 84.4% and positive predictive value (PPV of 26.8%. When suspicious cases were grouped with negative cases, sensitivity decreased, whereas specificity and PPV increased, as expected. In the second reading, which followed a "guide-list", a decrease in sensitivity was observed, contrasting with a sharp increase of positive predictive value. Among the 16 cytomorphological criteria tested, "koilocytosis", "mild koilocytosis" and "condylomatous parabasal cells" yielded the best predictive value for HPV DNA detection by PCR. In conclusion, despite the low sensitivity, cytopathologic assessment of cervico-vaginal smears leads to a highly specific diagnosis of HPV infection in menopausal women, with PPV of 91.0% when directed by a guide-list of well-defined morphologic criteria.O presente estudo analisou aspectos relacionados ao valor da citologia cervical na identificação de alterações cito-morfológicas relacionadas à infecção por Papilomavírus humano (HPV em mulheres com idades avançadas. A casuística compreendeu 196 amostras cérvico-vaginais provenientes de uma população de mulheres sem evid

Trial sequential analysis reveals insufficient information size and potentially false positive results in many meta-analyses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brok, J.; Thorlund, K.; Gluud, C.

2008-01-01

in 80% (insufficient information size). TSA(15%) and TSA(LBHIS) found that 95% and 91% had absence of evidence. The remaining nonsignificant meta-analyses had evidence of lack of effect. CONCLUSION: TSA reveals insufficient information size and potentially false positive results in many meta......OBJECTIVES: To evaluate meta-analyses with trial sequential analysis (TSA). TSA adjusts for random error risk and provides the required number of participants (information size) in a meta-analysis. Meta-analyses not reaching information size are analyzed with trial sequential monitoring boundaries...... analogous to interim monitoring boundaries in a single trial. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We applied TSA on meta-analyses performed in Cochrane Neonatal reviews. We calculated information sizes and monitoring boundaries with three different anticipated intervention effects of 30% relative risk reduction (TSA...

The Potential and Challenges of Digital Well-Being Interventions: Positive Technology Research and Design in Light of the Bitter-Sweet Ambivalence of Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Diefenbach

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Along with the dissemination of technical assistance in nearly every part of life, there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support well-being and human flourishing. “Positive technology” thereby takes the responsible role of a “digital coach,” supporting people in achieving personal goals and behavior change. The design of such technology requires knowledge of different disciplines such as psychology, design and human-computer interaction. However, possible synergies are not yet used to full effect, and it needs common frameworks to support a more deliberate design of the “therapeutic interaction” mediated through technology. For positive technology design, positive psychology, and resource oriented approaches appear as particularly promising starting point. Besides a general fit of the basic theoretical conceptions of human change, many elements of established interventions could possibly be transferred to technology design. However, besides the power of focusing on the positive, another psychological aspect to consider are the bitter components inherent to change, such as the confrontation with a negative status quo, threat of self-esteem, and the effort required. The present research discusses the general potential and challenges within positive technology design from an interdisciplinary perspective with theoretical and practical contributions. Based on the bitter-sweet ambivalence of change as present in many psychological approaches of motivation and behavior change, the bitter-sweet continuum serves as a proxy for the mixed emotions and cognitions related to change. An empirical investigation of those factors among 177 users of self-improvement technologies provides initial support for the usefulness of the bitter-sweet perspective in understanding change dynamics. In a next step, the bitter-sweet concept is transformed into different design strategies to support positive change. The present article

The Potential and Challenges of Digital Well-Being Interventions: Positive Technology Research and Design in Light of the Bitter-Sweet Ambivalence of Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Diefenbach, Sarah

2018-01-01

Along with the dissemination of technical assistance in nearly every part of life, there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support well-being and human flourishing. "Positive technology" thereby takes the responsible role of a "digital coach," supporting people in achieving personal goals and behavior change. The design of such technology requires knowledge of different disciplines such as psychology, design and human-computer interaction. However, possible synergies are not yet used to full effect, and it needs common frameworks to support a more deliberate design of the "therapeutic interaction" mediated through technology. For positive technology design, positive psychology, and resource oriented approaches appear as particularly promising starting point. Besides a general fit of the basic theoretical conceptions of human change, many elements of established interventions could possibly be transferred to technology design. However, besides the power of focusing on the positive, another psychological aspect to consider are the bitter components inherent to change, such as the confrontation with a negative status quo, threat of self-esteem, and the effort required. The present research discusses the general potential and challenges within positive technology design from an interdisciplinary perspective with theoretical and practical contributions. Based on the bitter-sweet ambivalence of change as present in many psychological approaches of motivation and behavior change, the bitter-sweet continuum serves as a proxy for the mixed emotions and cognitions related to change. An empirical investigation of those factors among 177 users of self-improvement technologies provides initial support for the usefulness of the bitter-sweet perspective in understanding change dynamics. In a next step, the bitter-sweet concept is transformed into different design strategies to support positive change. The present article aims to deepen the discussion

The Potential and Challenges of Digital Well-Being Interventions: Positive Technology Research and Design in Light of the Bitter-Sweet Ambivalence of Change

Science.gov (United States)

Diefenbach, Sarah

2018-01-01

Along with the dissemination of technical assistance in nearly every part of life, there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support well-being and human flourishing. “Positive technology” thereby takes the responsible role of a “digital coach,” supporting people in achieving personal goals and behavior change. The design of such technology requires knowledge of different disciplines such as psychology, design and human-computer interaction. However, possible synergies are not yet used to full effect, and it needs common frameworks to support a more deliberate design of the “therapeutic interaction” mediated through technology. For positive technology design, positive psychology, and resource oriented approaches appear as particularly promising starting point. Besides a general fit of the basic theoretical conceptions of human change, many elements of established interventions could possibly be transferred to technology design. However, besides the power of focusing on the positive, another psychological aspect to consider are the bitter components inherent to change, such as the confrontation with a negative status quo, threat of self-esteem, and the effort required. The present research discusses the general potential and challenges within positive technology design from an interdisciplinary perspective with theoretical and practical contributions. Based on the bitter-sweet ambivalence of change as present in many psychological approaches of motivation and behavior change, the bitter-sweet continuum serves as a proxy for the mixed emotions and cognitions related to change. An empirical investigation of those factors among 177 users of self-improvement technologies provides initial support for the usefulness of the bitter-sweet perspective in understanding change dynamics. In a next step, the bitter-sweet concept is transformed into different design strategies to support positive change. The present article aims to deepen the

Decision ambiguity is mediated by a late positive potential originating from cingulate cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Sai; Zhen, Shanshan; Fu, Zhongzheng; Wu, Daw-An; Shimojo, Shinsuke; Adolphs, Ralph; Yu, Rongjun; Wang, Shuo

2017-08-15

People often make decisions in the face of ambiguous information, but it remains unclear how ambiguity is represented in the brain. We used three types of ambiguous stimuli and combined EEG and fMRI to examine the neural representation of perceptual decisions under ambiguity. We identified a late positive potential, the LPP, which differentiated levels of ambiguity, and which was specifically associated with behavioral judgments about choices that were ambiguous, rather than passive perception of ambiguous stimuli. Mediation analyses together with two further control experiments confirmed that the LPP was generated only when decisions are made (not during mere perception of ambiguous stimuli), and only when those decisions involved choices on a dimension that is ambiguous. A further control experiment showed that a stronger LPP arose in the presence of ambiguous stimuli compared to when only unambiguous stimuli were present. Source modeling suggested that the LPP originated from multiple loci in cingulate cortex, a finding we further confirmed using fMRI and fMRI-guided ERP source prediction. Taken together, our findings argue for a role of an LPP originating from cingulate cortex in encoding decisions based on task-relevant perceptual ambiguity, a process that may in turn influence confidence judgment, response conflict, and error correction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can empathy, other personality attributes, and level of positive social influence in medical school identify potential leaders in medicine?

Science.gov (United States)

Hojat, Mohammadreza; Michalec, Barret; Veloski, J Jon; Tykocinski, Mark L

2015-04-01

To test the hypotheses that medical students recognized by peers as the most positive social influencers would score (1) high on measures of engaging personality attributes that are conducive to relationship building (empathy, sociability, activity, self-esteem), and (2) low on disengaging personality attributes that are detrimental to interpersonal relationships (loneliness, neuroticism, aggression-hostility, impulsive sensation seeking). The study included 666 Jefferson Medical College students who graduated in 2011-2013. Students used a peer nomination instrument to identify classmates who had a positive influence on their professional and personal development. At matriculation, these students had completed a survey that included the Jefferson Scale of Empathy and Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire short form and abridged versions of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and UCLA Loneliness Scale. In multivariate analyses of variance, the method of contrasted groups was used to compare the personality attributes of students nominated most frequently by their peers as positive influencers (top influencers [top 25% in their class distribution], n = 176) with those of students nominated least frequently (bottom influencers [bottom 25%], n = 171). The top influencers scored significantly higher on empathy, sociability, and activity and significantly lower on loneliness compared with the bottom influencers. However, the effect size estimates of the differences were moderate at best. The research hypotheses were partially confirmed. Positive social influencers appear to possess personality attributes conducive to relationship building, which is an important feature of effective leadership. The findings have implications for identifying and training potential leaders in medicine.

A medium-term coalition-forming model of heterogeneous DERs for a commercial virtual power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shabanzadeh, Morteza; Sheikh-El-Eslami, Mohammad-Kazem; Haghifam, Mahmoud-Reza

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A medium-term coalition-forming scheme is proposed for commercial VPPs. • Decision making on the optimal selection of VPP coalition members, bilateral and forward contracting, and pool involvement. • VPP acts as an arbitrageur by exercising arbitrage between diverse energy trading floors. • Stochastic programming approach applied to characterize the uncertainty and to derive informed decisions. - Abstract: Within a medium-term market horizon, this research work provides a methodology that allows a commercial virtual power plant (CVPP) to form an optimal coalition of heterogeneous distributed energy resources (DERs) based on weekly bilateral contracting, futures-market involvement, and pool participation. The established model aims at composing an optimal portfolio of available DERs and jointly takes into account the risk associated with the energy trading strategy of the CVPP. Perceiving the fact that pool prices have highly uncertain nature, a framework based on stochastic programming approach is utilized to model this decision-making problem. The proposed framework consists of two stages. The first stage deals with decisions regarding DERs optimal selection for the VPP coalition, the amount of agreed quantity in the bilateral negotiation, and the type and quantity selection of futures-market contracts as well. In the second stage, decisions are made based on the most plausible realizations of the stochastic prices in the day-ahead market. For a given pre-specified risk level on profit volatility, the main objective is to maximize the expected profit for the VPP manager over the planning horizon. The efficiency and applicability of the developed model is illustrated and analyzed by its implementation in a system with few heterogeneous DERs and through different scenarios, and finally thereby meaningful conclusions are duly drawn.

Comparacion de la viabilidad de las semillas obtenidas por medio de las tecnicas de extraccion fisica por lavado y de germinacion Comparing the viability of seeds obtained by the physical extraction techniques VBP and VBP plus germination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.S. Zuluaga

2004-06-01

Full Text Available El objetivo del presente trabajo fue comparar la viabilidad obtenida por la técnica de viabilidad por presión (VPP respecto de la viabilidad obtenida por una combinación de la metodología VPP más germinación. Asimismo se trató de establecer si ambos procedimientos determinan la viabilidad de las mismas especies o si existen diferencias en las especies establecidas como viables. El número de semillas viables estimado por la técnica VPP fue de 3475 (9,85% del total del banco de semillas, en tanto el número de semillas no viables fue de 31795 (90,15% del total del banco de semillas. Luego de aplicar la técnica de germinación (5 ciclos sobre ambas categorías, en las viables se obtuvo una germinación de 3286 semillas (9,32% del total del banco de semillas, no germinando 189 semillas (0,53% del total de dicho banco. Hubo un 7.23% adicional del banco de semillas que resultó viable por germinación, cuando previamente había sido considerado no viable por la técnica VPP. Los resultados alcanzados muestran que la técnica VPP realiza una subestimación significativa del banco de semillas, en tanto la sobreestimación no alcanzó niveles de significancia. Estos resultados ponen de manifiesto que con la técnica VPP no sólo se obtiene un menor número total de semillas viables, sino que no permitiría reflejar la verdadera proporción de semillas viables y no viables del banco total. Cuando se incorpora al análisis la técnica de germinación, se encuentra que la proporción del banco no es la misma de acuerdo a la metodología empleada, pues mientras la VPP establece, dentro del banco, semillas viables y no viables, se observó que aplicando la técnica de germinación algunas semillas consideradas viables no germinaron mientras que otras consideradas como no viables sí lo hiciero.The objective of this study was to compare the viability of seeds obtained through the techniques "viability by pressure" (VBP and "viability by pressure plus

Workaholism as positive social deviance

OpenAIRE

Belousov, Konstantin

2014-01-01

The article justifies a potential research of workaholism as a social phenomenon within the positive deviance approach. In this paper, the authors provide definitions of positive deviance by foreign and Russian scholars as well as analyse how such behaviors depart from the norms of a referent group and adduce a number of studies positively assessing the concept. Finally, the authors conclude that workaholism can be regarded as a supraconformal behavior that can boost economic, cultural and sc...

Identifying potential engaging leaders within medical education: The role of positive influence on peers.

Science.gov (United States)

Michalec, Barret; Veloski, J Jon; Hojat, Mohammadreza; Tykocinski, Mark L

2014-08-26

Abstract Background: Previous research has paid little to no attention towards exploring methods of identifying existing medical student leaders. Aim: Focusing on the role of influence and employing the tenets of the engaging leadership model, this study examines demographic and academic performance-related differences of positive influencers and if students who have been peer-identified as positive influencers also demonstrate high levels of genuine concern for others. Methods: Three separate fourth-year classes were asked to designate classmates that had significant positive influences on their professional and personal development. The top 10% of those students receiving positive influence nominations were compared with the other students on demographics, academic performance, and genuine concern for others. Results: Besides age, no demographic differences were found between positive influencers and other students. High positive influencers were not found to have higher standardized exam scores but did receive significantly higher clinical clerkship ratings. High positive influencers were found to possess a higher degree of genuine concern for others. Conclusion: The findings lend support to (a) utilizing the engaging model to explore leaders and leadership within medical education, (b) this particular method of identifying existing medical student leaders, and (c) return the focus of leadership research to the power of influence.

MDEP Common Position CP-DICWG-13. Common position on spurious actuation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

Spurious actuations produced by Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems are a safety concern if such actuations could challenge plant safety. Spurious actuations can lead to unnecessary challenges to safety equipment, challenge the ability of safety systems to provide their intended functions, or place the plant in an un-analysed state. Spurious actuation of plant equipment can be caused by factors including, but not limited to, single failures, common cause failures, human (e.g. operator) action, maintenance errors, design errors, or missing requirements. Modern I and C systems can have inter-connectivities, dependencies and commonalities that can, if the overall I and C architecture and the individual I and C systems are not adequately developed and operated, facilitate fault propagation, leading to potential spurious actuation of one or more trains of plant equipment. Sources and contributors of spurious actuations of multiple trains of plant equipment may include inadequate independence among redundant portions of I and C systems, inappropriate allocation of I and C functions, inadequate qualification or design of supporting systems (e.g. heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system), or non-classified systems that could have been erroneously classified. Spurious actuations are a type of hazard. Generic Common Position (GCP) DICWG-10 'Common Position on Hazard Identification and Controls for Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems' provides a set of common positions pertaining to identifying and controlling hazards in an I and C system. This common position was developed to add special considerations when identifying and controlling hazards that include spurious actuations. It is expected that GCP DICWG-10 and the common positions in this document be used together for a complete analysis of hazards and their controls (e.g. prevention of spurious actuations in the design of the system/component). Spurious actuations of concern

An approach to the usage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste as roadway pavement material.

Science.gov (United States)

Gürü, Metin; Çubuk, M Kürşat; Arslan, Deniz; Farzanian, S Ali; Bilici, İbrahim

2014-08-30

This study investigates an application area for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle waste which has become an environmental problem in recent decades as being a considerable part of the total plastic waste bulk. Two novel additive materials, namely Thin Liquid Polyol PET (TLPP) and Viscous Polyol PET (VPP), were chemically derived from waste PET bottles and used to modify the base asphalt separately for this aim. The effects of TLPP and VPP on the asphalt and hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixture properties were detected through conventional tests (Penetration, Softening Point, Ductility, Marshall Stability, Nicholson Stripping) and Superpave methods (Rotational Viscosity, Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR)). Also, chemical structures were described by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) techniques. Since TLPP and VPP were determined to improve the low temperature performance and fatigue resistance of the asphalt as well as the Marshall Stability and stripping resistance of the HMA mixtures based on the results of the applied tests, the usage of PET waste as an asphalt roadway pavement material offers an alternative and a beneficial way of disposal of this ecologically hazardous material. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pumping potential wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hershkowitz, N.; Forest, C.; Wang, E.Y.; Intrator, T.

1987-01-01

Nonmonotonic plasma potential structures are a common feature of many double layers and sheaths. Steady state plasma potential wells separating regions having different plasma potentials are often found in laboratory experiments. In order to exist, such structures all must find a solution to a common problem. Ions created by charge exchange or ionization in the region of the potential well are electrostatically confined and tend to accumulate and fill up the potential well. The increase in positive charge should eliminate the well, but steady state structures are found in which the wells do not fill up. This means that it is important to take into account processes which 'pump' ions from the well. As examples of ion pumping of plasma wells, potential dips in front of a positively biased electron collecting anode in a relatively cold, low density multidipole plasma are considered. Pumping is provided by ion leaks from the edges of the potential dip or by oscillating the applied potential. In the former case the two dimensional character of the problem is shown to be important. (author)

Pumping potential wells

Science.gov (United States)

Hershkowitz, N.; Forest, C.; Wang, E. Y.; Intrator, T.

1987-01-01

Nonmonotonic plasma potential structures are a common feature of many double layers and sheaths. Steady state plasma potential wells separating regions having different plasma potentials are often found in laboratory experiments. In order to exist, such structures all must find a solution to a common problem. Ions created by charge exchange or ionization in the region of the potential well are electrostatically confined and tend to accumulate and fill up the potential well. The increase in positive charge should eliminate the well. Nevertheless, steady state structures are found in which the wells do not fill up. This means that it is important to take into account processes which 'pump' ions from the well. As examples of ion pumping of plasma wells, potential dips in front of a positively biased electro collecting anode in a relatively cold, low density multidipole plasma is considered. Pumping is provided by ion leaks from the edges of the potential dip or by oscillating the applied potential. In the former case the two dimensional character of the problem is shown to be important.

Pumping potential wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hershkowitz, N.; Forest, C.; Wang, E.Y.; Intrator, T.

1987-01-01

Nonmonotonic plasma potential structures are a common feature of many double layers and sheaths. Steady state plasma potential wells separating regions having different plasma potentials are often found in laboratory experiments. In order to exist, all such structures must find a solution to a common problem. Ions created by charge exchange or ionization in the region of the potential well are electrostatically confined and tend to accumulate and fill up the potential well. The increase in positive charge should eliminate the well. Nevertheless, steady state structures are found in which the wells do not fill up. This means that it is important to take into account processes which pump ions from the well. As examples of ion pumping of plasma wells, potential dips in front of a positively biased electron collecting anode in a relatively cold, low density, multidipole plasma are considered. Pumping is provided by ion leaks from the edges of the potential dip or by oscillating the applied potential. In the former case the two-dimensional character of the problem is shown to be important

Potential Effects of Climate Change on Treeline Position in the Swedish Mountains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jon Moen

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Climate change may strongly influence species distribution and, thus, the structure and function of ecosystems. This paper describes simulated changes in the position of the upper treeline in the Swedish mountains in response to predicted climate change. Data on predicted summer temperature changes, the current position of the treeline, and a digital elevation model were used to predict the position of the treeline over a 100-year timeframe. The results show the treeline advancing upward by 233-667 m, depending on the climate scenario used and location within the mountain chain. Such changes hypothetically caused a 75-85% reduction in treeless alpine heaths, with 60-93% of the remaining areas being scree slopes and boulder fields. For this change to occur, the migration rate of the trees would be in the order of 23-221 m yr-1, which is well within published migration rates for wind-dispersed deciduous trees. The remaining alpine areas would be strongly fragmented. These drastic changes would influence all aspects of mountain ecosystems, including biodiversity conservation and human land-use patterns.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia: role of positioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Li Bassi, Gianluigi; Torres, Antoni

2011-02-01

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a lung infection commonly acquired following tracheal intubation. This review assesses the role of the supine semirecumbent and the prone position as VAP preventive strategies and calls attention for further investigation on novel body positions that could potentially reduce risks of VAP. The most recent studies on the semirecumbent position failed to achieve an orientation of the head of the bed higher than 30° and did not corroborate any benefit of the semirecumbent position on VAP, as reported in earlier studies. To date, there is clear evidence that the supine horizontal body position increases risks of pulmonary aspiration and VAP, particularly when patients are enterally fed. Laboratory reports are emphasizing the importance of an endotracheal tube-oropharynx-trachea axis below horizontal to avoid VAP. The prone position potentially increases drainage of oropharyngeal and airways secretions and recent evidence is supporting its beneficial effects. However, several associated adverse effects preclude its regular use as a VAP preventive strategy for patients other than those with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Body position greatly affects several pathogenetic mechanisms of VAP. The current evidence recommends avoidance of supine horizontal position in order to prevent aspiration of colonized gastric contents. The semirecumbent position has proven benefits and should be routinely used but there is still limited evidence to recommend the lowest orientation of the bed at which the patient can be safely maintained. Results from pioneering laboratory investigation call attention to new possible positions, that is lateral Trendelenburg position, aimed to avoid pulmonary aspiration and to enhance mucus clearance in intubated patients.

Antimicrobial-Resistance Genetic Markers in Potentially Pathogenic Gram Positive Cocci Isolated from Brazilian Soft Cheese.

Science.gov (United States)

Resende, Juliana Alves; Fontes, Cláudia Oliveira; Ferreira-Machado, Alessandra Barbosa; Nascimento, Thiago César; Silva, Vânia Lúcia; Diniz, Cláudio Galuppo

2018-02-01

Although most Brazilian dairy products meet high technological standards, there are quality issues regarding milk production, which may reduce the final product quality. Several microbial species may contaminate milk during manufacture and handling. If antimicrobial usage remains uncontrolled in dairy cattle, the horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes in foodstuffs may be of particular concern for both food producers and dairy industry. This study focused on the evaluation of putative Gram positive cocci in Minas cheese and of antimicrobial and biocide resistance genes among the isolated bacteria. Representative samples of 7 different industrially trademarked Minas cheeses (n = 35) were processed for selective culture and isolation of Gram positive cocci. All isolated bacteria were identified by DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Antimicrobial resistance genes were screened by PCR. Overall, 208 strains were isolated and identified as follows: Enterococcus faecalis (47.6%), Macrococcus caseolyticus (18.3%), Enterococcus faecium (11.5%), Enterococcus caseliflavus (7.7%), Staphylococcus haemolyticus (7.2%), Staphylococcus aureus (4.3%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (2.9%), and Enterococcus hirae (0.5%). The genetic markers mecA (78.0%) and smr (71.4%) were the most prevalent, but others were also detected, such as blaZ (65.2%), msrA (60.9%), msrB (46.6%), linA (54.7%), and aacA-aphD (47.6%). The occurrence of opportunist pathogenic bacteria harboring antimicrobial resistance markers in the cheese samples are of special concern, since these bacteria are not considered harmful contaminating agents according to the Brazilian sanitary regulations. However, they are potentially pathogenic bacteria and the cheese may be considered a reservoir for antimicrobial resistance genes available for horizontal transfer through the food chain, manufacturing personnel and consumers. © 2018 Institute of Food Technologists®.

DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF BARIUM ENEMA FINDINGS IN HIRSCHSPRUNG'S DISEASE.

Science.gov (United States)

Peyvasteh, Mehran; Askarpour, Shahnam; Ostadian, Nasrollah; Moghimi, Mohammad-Reza; Javaherizadeh, Hazhir

2016-01-01

Hirschsprung's disease is the most common cause of pediatric intestinal obstruction. Contrast enema is used for evaluation of the patients with its diagnosis. To evaluate sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of radiologic findings for diagnosis of Hirschsprung in patients underwent barium enema. This cross sectional study was carried out in Imam Khomeini Hospital for one year starting from 2012, April. Sixty patients were enrolled. Inclusion criteria were: neonates with failure to pass meconium, abdominal distention, and refractory constipation who failed to respond with medical treatment. Transitional zone, delay in barium evacuation after 24 h, rectosigmoid index (maximum with of the rectum divided by maximum with of the sigmoid; abnormal if de Hirschsprung é a causa mais comum de obstrução intestinal pediátrica. Enema baritado é usado para a avaliação dos pacientes com o diagnóstico . Avaliar a sensibilidade, especificidade, valor preditivo positivo e valor preditivo negativo de achados radiológicos para diagnóstico de Hirschsprung em pacientes submetidos ao enema opaco. Este estudo transversal foi realizado em Imam Khomeini Hospital por um ano a partir de abril de 2012. Sessenta pacientes foram incluídos. Os critérios de inclusão foram: recém-nascidos com insuficiência de passagem de mecônio, distensão abdominal, e constipação refratária sem resposta ao tratamento médico. Foram avaliadas no enema zona de transição, atraso na evacuação de bário após 24 h, índice retossigmoide (máximo do diâmetro do reto dividido pelo máximo do sigmóide; anormal se casos com a doença de Hirschsprung e sem foi 17,90±18,29 meses e 17,8±18,34 meses, respectivamente (p=0,983). Confirmou-se em 30 (M=20, F=10) dos casos. Falha no mecônio foi encontrada em 21 (70%) casos. Sensibilidade, especificidade, VPP e VPN foram de 90%, 80%, 81,8% e 88,8%, respectivamente, para a zona de transição no enema

Working memory load reduces the late positive potential and this effect is attenuated with increasing anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

MacNamara, Annmarie; Ferri, Jamie; Hajcak, Greg

2011-09-01

Emotion regulation decreases the processing of arousing stimuli, as indexed by the late positive potential (LPP), an electrocortical component that varies in amplitude with emotional arousal. Emotion regulation increases activity in the prefrontal areas associated with cognitive control, including the dosolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The present study manipulated working memory load, known to activate the DLPFC, and recorded the LPP elicited by aversive and neutral IAPS pictures presented during the retention interval. The LPP was larger on low-load compared to high-load trials, and on trials with aversive compared to neutral pictures. These LPP data suggest that emotional content and working memory load have opposing effects on attention to distracting stimuli. State anxiety was associated with reduced modulation of the LPP by working memory load. Results are discussed in terms of competition for attention between emotion and cognition and suggest a relationship between DLPFC activation and the allocation of attentional resources to distracting visual stimuli-a relationship that may be disrupted with increasing anxiety.

High-power piezo drive amplifier for large stack and PFC applications

Science.gov (United States)

Clingman, Dan J.; Gamble, Mike

2001-08-01

This paper describes the continuing development of Boeing High Power Piezo Drive Amplifiers. Described is the development and testing of a 1500 Vpp, 8 amp switching amplifier. This amplifier is used to drive a piezo stack driven rotor blade trailing edge flap on a full size helicopter. Also discuss is a switching amplifier designed to drive a Piezo Fiber Composite (PFC) active twist rotor blade. This amplifier was designed to drive the PFC material at 2000 Vpp and 0.5 amps. These amplifiers recycle reactive energy, allowing for a power and weight efficient amplifier design. This work was done in conjunction with the DARPA sponsored Phase II Smart Rotor Blade program and the NASA Langley Research Center sponsored Active Twist Rotor (ATR) blade program.

Potential clinical applications of {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose position emission tomography/magnetic resonance mammography in breast cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Ihn Ho; Kong, Eun Jung [Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Yeugnam University Hospital, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

2017-09-15

The whole-body positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance (MR) scan is a cutting edge technology providing comprehensive structural information from MR imaging and functional features from PET in a single session. Recent research findings and clinical experience have shown that 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) whole-body PET/MR imaging has a diagnostic performance comparable with or superior to that of PET/CT in the field of oncology, including for breast cancer. In particular, FDG PET/MR mammography in the prone position with the breast hanging in a pendant manner can provide more comprehensive information about the metabolism, anatomy, and functional features of a breast lesion than a whole-body PET/MR scan. This article reports on current state-of-the-art PET/MR mammography in patients with breast cancer and the prospects for potential application in the future.

A different perspective: introducing positive criminology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ronel, Natti; Elisha, Ety

2011-04-01

Positive criminology is a new conceptual perspective of criminology, encompassing several theories and models. Positive criminology refers to a focus on individuals' encounters with forces and influences that are experienced as positive, which distance them from deviance and crime, whether by means of formal and informal therapy programs and interventions, such as self-help groups; through emphasis of positive social elements, such as exposure to goodness, social acceptance, and reintegrative shaming; or based on positive personal traits, such as resilience and coherence. The perspective of positive criminology broadens that of traditional criminology, which focuses mainly on understanding the factors and processes that lead individuals and groups to what is defined as deviant and criminal behavior. Positive criminology is implemented in treatment and rehabilitation of individuals and groups that have demonstrated deviant and criminal behavior, by emphasizing positive experiences that may potentially prevent or discourage continued criminal behavior. Positive criminology is also expressed in prevention based on a positive approach.

Introducing positive psychology to SLA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Mercer

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Positive psychology is a rapidly expanding subfield in psychology that has important implications for the field of second language acquisition (SLA. This paper introduces positive psychology to the study of language by describing its key tenets. The potential contributions of positive psychology are contextualized with reference to prior work, including the humanistic movement in language teaching, models of motivation, the concept of an affective filter, studies of the good language learner, and the concepts related to the self. There are reasons for both encouragement and caution as studies inspired by positive psychology are undertaken. Papers in this special issue of SSLLT cover a range of quantitative and qualitative methods with implications for theory, research, and teaching practice. The special issue serves as a springboard for future research in SLA under the umbrella of positive psychology.

Beta-and gamma-turns in proteins revisited: a new set of amino acid turn-type dependent positional preferences and potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Guruprasad, K; Rajkumar, S

2000-06-01

The number of beta-turns in a representative set of 426 protein three-dimensional crystal structures selected from the recent Protein Data Bank has nearly doubled and the number of gamma-turns in a representative set of 320 proteins has increased over seven times since the previous analysis. Beta-turns (7153) and gamma-turns (911) extracted from these proteins were used to derive a revised set of type-dependent amino acid positional preferences and potentials. Compared with previous results, the preference for proline, methionine and tryptophan has increased and the preference for glutamine, valine, glutamic acid and alanine has decreased for beta-turns. Certain new amino acid preferences were observed for both turn types and individual amino acids showed turn-type dependent positional preferences. The rationale for new amino acid preferences are discussed in the light of hydrogen bonds and other interactions involving the turns. Where main-chain hydrogen bonds of the type NH(i + 3) --> CO(i) were not observed for some beta-turns, other main-chain hydrogen bonds or solvent interactions were observed that possibly stabilize such beta-turns. A number of unexpected isolated beta-turns with proline at i + 2 position were also observed. The NH(i + 2) --> CO(i) hydrogen bond was observed for almost all gamma-turns. Nearly 20% classic gamma-turns and 43% inverse gamma-turns are isolated turns.

Vitrification of Simulated Fernald K-65 Silo Waste at Low Temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jantzen, C.M.; Pickett, J.B.

1998-01-01

Vitrification is the technology that has been chosen to solidify approximately 15,500 tons of geologic mill tailings at the Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) in Fernald, Ohio. The geologic mill tailings are residues from the processing of pitchlende ore during 1949-1958. These waste residues are contained in silos in Operable Unit 4 (OU4) at the FEMP facility. Operable Unit 4 is one of five operable units at the FEMP. Operating Unit 4 consists of four concrete storage silos and their contents. Silos 1 and 2 contain K-65 mill tailing residues and a bentonite cap, Silo 3 contains non-radioactive metal oxides, and Silo 4 is empty. The K-65 residues contain radium, uranium, uranium daughter products, and heavy metals such as lead and barium.The K-65 waste leaches lead at greater than 100 times the allowable Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act (RCRA) concentration limits when tested by the Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). Vitrification was chosen by FEMP as the preferred technology for the Silos 1, 2, 3 wastes because the final waste form met the following criteria: controls radon emanation, eliminates the potential for hazardous or radioactive constituents to migrate to the aquifer below FEMP, controls the spread of radioactive particulates, reduces leachability of metals and radiological constituents, reduces volume of final wasteform for disposal, silo waste composition is favorable to vitrification, will meet current and proposed RCRA TCLP leaching criteria Glasses that melt at 1350 degrees C were developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and glasses that melt between 1150-1350 degrees C were developed by the Vitreous State Laboratory (VSL) for the K-65 silo wastes. Both crucible studies and pilot scale vitrification studies were conducted by PNNL and VSL. Subsequently, a Vitrification Pilot Plant (VPP) was constructed at FEMP capable of operating at temperatures up to 1450

Positive uncertainty: The benefit of the doubt in advertising

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaar, P.E.; Riet, J.P. van 't; Thorbjornsen, H.; Buijzen, M.A.

2018-01-01

Positive uncertainty refers to uncertainty surrounding an anticipated positive outcome. It provides consumers with the opportunity to imagine and speculate on a product's or experience's potentially positive characteristics. Research has shown that when uncertainty is associated with something

The effect of emotional content on brain activation and the late positive potential in a word n-back task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliane Kopf

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: There is mounting evidence for the influence of emotional content on working memory performance. This is particularly important in light of the emotion processing that needs to take place when emotional content interferes with executive functions. In this study, we used emotional words of different valence but with similar arousal levels in an n-back task. METHODS: We examined the effects on activation in the prefrontal cortex by means of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS and on the late positive potential (LPP. FNIRS and LPP data were examined in 30 healthy subjects. RESULTS: BEHAVIORAL RESULTS SHOW AN INFLUENCE OF VALENCE ON THE ERROR RATE DEPENDING ON THE DIFFICULTY OF THE TASK: more errors were made when the valence was negative and the task difficult. Brain activation was dependent both on the difficulty of the task and on the valence: negative valence of a word diminished the increase in activation, whereas positive valence did not influence the increase in activation, while difficulty levels increased. The LPP also differentiated between the different valences, and in addition was influenced by the task difficulty, the more difficult the task, the less differentiation could be observed. CONCLUSIONS: Summarized, this study shows the influence of valence on a verbal working memory task. When a word contained a negative valence, the emotional content seemed to take precedence in contrast to words containing a positive valence. Working memory and emotion processing sites seemed to overlap and compete for resources even when words are carriers of the emotional content.

Scalability Optimization of Seamless Positioning Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juraj Machaj

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recently positioning services are getting more attention not only within research community but also from service providers. From the service providers point of view positioning service that will be able to work seamlessly in all environments, for example, indoor, dense urban, and rural, has a huge potential to open new markets. However, such system does not only need to provide accurate position estimates but have to be scalable and resistant to fake positioning requests. In the previous works we have proposed a modular system, which is able to provide seamless positioning in various environments. The system automatically selects optimal positioning module based on available radio signals. The system currently consists of three positioning modules—GPS, GSM based positioning, and Wi-Fi based positioning. In this paper we will propose algorithm which will reduce time needed for position estimation and thus allow higher scalability of the modular system and thus allow providing positioning services to higher amount of users. Such improvement is extremely important, for real world application where large number of users will require position estimates, since positioning error is affected by response time of the positioning server.

Application of positive matrix factorization to identify potential sources of PAHs in soil of Dalian, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Degao; Tian Fulin; Yang Meng; Liu Chenlin; Li Yifan

2009-01-01

Soil derived sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the region of Dalian, China were investigated using positive matrix factorization (PMF). Three factors were separated based on PMF for the statistical investigation of the datasets both in summer and winter. These factors were dominated by the pattern of single sources or groups of similar sources, showing seasonal and regional variations. The main sources of PAHs in Dalian soil in summer were the emissions from coal combustion average (46%), diesel engine (30%), and gasoline engine (24%). In winter, the main sources were the emissions from coal-fired boiler (72%), traffic average (20%), and gasoline engine (8%). These factors with strong seasonality indicated that coal combustion in winter and traffic exhaust in summer dominated the sources of PAHs in soil. These results suggested that PMF model was a proper approach to identify the sources of PAHs in soil. - PMF model is a proper approach to identify potential sources of PAHs in soil based on the PAH profiles measured in the field and those published in the literature.

SU-E-I-88: Mammography Imaging: Does Positioning Matter?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, J; Szabunio, M [University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)

2014-06-01

Purpose: In mammography, compression is imperative for quality images and glandular radiation exposure dose. The thickness of the compressed breast directly determines mammography acquisition parameters. The compressed thickness varies due to variation in technologist practice, even for the same patient imaged at different time. This study is to investigate potential effect of the variation in breast positioning on radiation dose and image quality. Methods: Radiation dose at different thicknesses was measured with a BR-12 breast phantom for both conventional craniocaudal view and tomosynthesis in a Hologic Tomosynthesis mammography system. The CIRS stereotactic needle biopsy training phantom embedded dense masses and microcalcification in various sizes were imaged for image quality evaluation. Radiologists evaluated images. Clinical mammograms from the same patient but acquired at different time were retrospectively retrieved to evaluate potential effects of variation in positioning. Results: Acquisition parameters (kVp and mAs) increase with the increased phantom thickness. Radiation exposure increases following an exponential trend. The stereotactic phantom images showed loss of spatial and contrast resolution with inappropriate positioning. The compressed pressure may not be a good indicator for appropriate positioning. The inclusion of different amount of pectoralis muscle may lead to the same compressed pressure but different compressed thickness. The initial retrospective study of 3 patients showed that there were potential large variations in positioning the same patient at different examination time, resulting in large variations in patient radiation dose and image quality. Conclusion: Variations in patient positioning potentially influence patient radiation dose and image quality. The technologist has the critical responsibility to position patient to provide quality images in spite of different breast and body types. To reduce intra and inter practice

Energy resource management under the influence of the weekend transition considering an intensive use of electric vehicles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sousa, T.; Morais, Hugo; Pinto, T.

2015-01-01

Energy resource scheduling is becoming increasingly important, as the use of distributed resources is intensified and of massive electric vehicle is envisaged. The present paper proposes a methodology for day-ahead energy resource scheduling for smart grids considering the intensive use of distri......Energy resource scheduling is becoming increasingly important, as the use of distributed resources is intensified and of massive electric vehicle is envisaged. The present paper proposes a methodology for day-ahead energy resource scheduling for smart grids considering the intensive use...... of distributed generation and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). This method considers that the energy resources are managed by a Virtual Power Player (VPP) which established contracts with their owners. It takes into account these contracts, the users' requirements subjected to the VPP, and several discharge price steps...

Wideband pulse amplifier with 8 GHz GBW product in a 0.35 {mu}m CMOS technology for the integrated camera of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gascon, D; Sanuy, A; Ribo, M [Dept. AM i Dept.ECM, Institut de Ciencies del Cosmos (ICC), Universitat de Barcelona, Marti i Franques 1, E08028, Barcelona (Spain); Delagnes, E; Glicenstein, J-F [IRFU/DSM/CEA, CE-Saclay, Bat. 141 SEN Saclay, F-91191, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Sieiro, X [Departament d' Electronica, Universitat de Barcelona, Marti i Franques 1, E08028, Barcelona (Spain); Feinstein, F; Vorobiov, S [LPTA, Universite Montpellier II and IN2P3/CNRS, Montpellier (France); Nayman, P; Toussenel, F; Tavernet, J-P; Vincent, P, E-mail: gascon@ecm.ub.es [LPNHE, Universite Paris VI and IN2P3/CNRS, Paris (France)

2010-12-15

A fully differential wideband amplifier for the camera of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is presented. This amplifier would be part of a new ASIC, developed by the NECTAr collaboration, performing the digitization at 1 GS/s with a dynamic range of 16 bits. Input amplifiers must have a voltage gain up to 20 V/V and a bandwidth of 400 MHz. Being impossible to design a fully differential operational amplifier with an 8 GHz GBW product in a 0.35{mu}m CMOS technology, an alternative implementation based on HF linearised transconductors is explored. Test results show that the required GBW product is achieved, with a linearity error smaller than 1% for a differential output voltage range up to 1 Vpp, and smaller than 3% for 2 Vpp.

Wideband pulse amplifier with 8 GHz GBW product in a 0.35 μm CMOS technology for the integrated camera of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gascon, D; Sanuy, A; Ribo, M; Delagnes, E; Glicenstein, J-F; Sieiro, X; Feinstein, F; Vorobiov, S; Nayman, P; Toussenel, F; Tavernet, J-P; Vincent, P

2010-01-01

A fully differential wideband amplifier for the camera of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is presented. This amplifier would be part of a new ASIC, developed by the NECTAr collaboration, performing the digitization at 1 GS/s with a dynamic range of 16 bits. Input amplifiers must have a voltage gain up to 20 V/V and a bandwidth of 400 MHz. Being impossible to design a fully differential operational amplifier with an 8 GHz GBW product in a 0.35μm CMOS technology, an alternative implementation based on HF linearised transconductors is explored. Test results show that the required GBW product is achieved, with a linearity error smaller than 1% for a differential output voltage range up to 1 Vpp, and smaller than 3% for 2 Vpp.

Therapeutic Potential of a Scorpion Venom-Derived Antimicrobial Peptide and Its Homologs Against Antibiotic-Resistant Gram-Positive Bacteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaomin Liu

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The alarming rise in the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria poses a unique challenge for the development of effective therapeutic agents. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs have attracted a great deal of attention as a possible solution to the increasing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Marcin-18 was identified from the scorpion Mesobuthus martensii at both DNA and protein levels. The genomic sequence revealed that the marcin-18 coding gene contains a phase-I intron with a GT-AG splice junction located in the DNA region encoding the N-terminal part of signal peptide. The peptide marcin-18 was also isolated from scorpion venom. A protein sequence homology search revealed that marcin-18 shares extremely high sequence identity to the AMPs meucin-18 and megicin-18. In vitro, chemically synthetic marcin-18 and its homologs (meucin-18 and megicin-18 showed highly potent inhibitory activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including some clinical antibiotic-resistant strains. Importantly, in a mouse acute peritonitis model, these peptides significantly decreased the bacterial load in ascites and rescued nearly all mice heavily infected with clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from lethal bacteremia. Peptides exerted antimicrobial activity via a bactericidal mechanism and killed bacteria through membrane disruption. Taken together, marcin-18 and its homologs have potential for development as therapeutic agents for treating antibiotic-resistant, Gram-positive bacterial infections.

Socioeconomic position and participation in colorectal cancer screening

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frederiksen, B L; Jørgensen, Torben; Brasso, K

2010-01-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with faecal occult blood test (FOBT) has the potential to reduce the incidence and mortality of CRC. Screening uptake is known to be inferior in people with low socioeconomic position (SEP) when compared with those with high position; however, the results of most...... information on education, employment, and income to encompass different but related aspects of socioeconomic stratification. Also, the impact of ethnicity and cohabiting status was analysed.......Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with faecal occult blood test (FOBT) has the potential to reduce the incidence and mortality of CRC. Screening uptake is known to be inferior in people with low socioeconomic position (SEP) when compared with those with high position; however, the results of most...... previous studies have limited value because they are based on recall or area-based measures of socioeconomic position, and might thus be subject to selective participation and misclassification. In this study we investigated differences in CRC screening participation using register-based individual...

Where do developing countries go after Doha?:An analysis of WTO positions and potential alliances

OpenAIRE

Bjørnskov, Christian; Lind, Kim Martin Hjorth

2002-01-01

In the wake of the November 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha, the positions of most members of the World Trade Organisation diverge, reflecting a large extent of disagreement within the organisation. This paper attempts to organise these positions and thereby inspire a debate on the possibility of collusion in the coming round of trade negotiations with a particular focus on the options of developing countries. Members' positions on a range of issues identified as important in the coming r...

Abscisic Acid accumulates at positive turgor potential in excised soybean seedling growing zones.

Science.gov (United States)

Creelman, R A; Mullet, J E

1991-04-01

Abscisic acid (ABA) accumulated in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv Williams) hypocotyl elongating regions when seedlings were transferred to low water potential vermiculite (Psi = -0.3 megapascals) even though positive turgor is retained in this tissue. Accumulation of ABA in growing zones could occur from de novo biosynthesis within this tissue or transport from adjacent nongrowing zones. Both growing and nongrowing hypocotyl and root tissues accumulated significant levels of ABA when excised and dehydrated to reduce turgor. Surprisingly, excised growing zones (which experienced no water loss) also accumulated ABA when incubated in darkness for 4 hours at 100% relative humidity and 29 degrees C. Induction of ABA accumulation in the excised elongating region of the hypocotyl was not caused by disruption of root pressure or wounding. While excision of hypocotyl elongating regions induced ABA accumulation, no change in either extensin or p33 mRNA levels was observed. Accumulation of extensin or p33 mRNA required more severe wounding. This suggests that ABA is not involved in the response of these genes in wounded tissue and that wound signals are not causing ABA accumulation in excised tissue. Accumulation of ABA in excised elongating regions was correlated with growth inhibition and a decline in turgor to the yield threshold (Psi;(p) = 0.37 megapascals; R Matyssek, S Maruyama, JS Boyer [1988] Plant Physiol 86: 1163-1167). Inhibiting hypocotyl growth by transferring seedlings to lower temperatures or light did not cause ABA accumulation. We conclude that induction of ABA accumulation in growing zones is more sensitive to changes in turgor than the induction which occurs in mature tissues.

Being Positive. Approaching Career Design from the Perspective of Positive Psychology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Małgorzata Klimka

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Constructing a career path based upon positive personal potential and positive individual resources is a significant factor for professional development of employees and their success on today’s labour market. A satisfying career, an inherent element of personal well-being and good life, is linked with an ability to explore and reinforce signature strengths. In order to effectively design programmes which could support young people who are preparing to enter a job market, it is essential to acquire knowledge about values and character strengths and their perceptions among young people living in Poland and abroad. The article presents comparative analysis of signature strengths perceptions among young people in different cultures and discusses the significance of the most striking differences.

Quantum information entropies for a squared tangent potential well

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Shishan; Sun, Guo-Hua; Dong, Shi-Hai; Draayer, J.P.

2014-01-01

The particle in a symmetrical squared tangent potential well is studied by examining its Shannon information entropy and standard deviations. The position and momentum information entropy densities ρ s (x), ρ s (p) and probability densities ρ(x), ρ(p) are illustrated with different potential range L and potential depth U. We present analytical position information entropies S x for the lowest two states. We observe that the sum of position and momentum entropies S x and S p expressed by Bialynicki-Birula–Mycielski (BBM) inequality is satisfied. Some eigenstates exhibit entropy squeezing in the position. The entropy squeezing in position will be compensated by an increase in momentum entropy. We also note that the S x increases with the potential range L, while decreases with the potential depth U. The variation of S p is contrary to that of S x .

Doripenem: position in clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Dedhia, Harakh V; McKnight, Richard

2009-06-01

Doripenem is a novel carbapenem with a broad spectrum of activity against Gram-positive pathogens, anerobes and Gram-negative bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Doripenem exhibits rapid bactericidal activity with two- to fourfold lower MIC values for Gram-negative bacteria, compared with other carbapenems such as imipenem. Doripenem is approved for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infection and urinary tract infections. It has been successfully used in the treatment of nosocomial and ventilator-associated pneumonia. It has a potential to be the drug of choice for these conditions. This evaluation focuses on the general review of the drug, including mechanisms of resistance, clinical efficacy and the position of doripenem in clinical practice. Stability against numerous beta-lactamases, low adverse-event potential and more potent in vitro and possibly in vivo activity against P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumanni compared with existing carbapenems are attractive features.

Positive emotion in distress as a potentially effective emotion regulation strategy for depression: A preliminary investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Keiko; Ito, Masaya; Takebayashi, Yoshitake

2018-03-12

Emotion regulation utilizing positive emotion during negative emotional states might be one of the effective ways to alleviate depression and anxiety problems among people with emotional disorders. This study examined the psychometric properties and incremental validity of the Positive Emotion In Distress Scale (PEIDS), a newly developed self-report scale, in a sample of university students in Japan. To examine the psychometric properties of the PEIDS, the scale was completed by Japanese university students (396 men and 363 women; mean age of 19.92). Participants additionally answered the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Rumination and Reflection Questionnaire - Shorter Version, Affective Style Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Affective Schedule, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The survey was conducted at two time points separated by 1 month to assess test-retest reliability and validity of the PEIDS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a one-factor structure. Reliability was confirmed by high internal consistency and test-retest stability; the convergent and discriminant validity was confirmed by correlations with related and unrelated variables. The results of hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that positive emotion in distress might predict depression above and beyond the effect of baseline depression and other common emotion regulation strategies. The PEIDS showed acceptable reliability and validity within young adults and a non-clinical population in Japan. Further research will be needed to examine the effect of positive emotion among clinical populations. Previous research suggests that positive emotions play a key role in recovery from depression and anxiety problems through some forms of psychotherapy. The Positive Emotion In Distress Scale (PEIDS) measures individual differences regarding the extent to which people can experience positive emotions in negative emotional states. Results suggested that the

Quantum information entropies for a squared tangent potential well

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dong, Shishan [Information and Engineering College, DaLian University, 116622 (China); Sun, Guo-Hua, E-mail: sunghdb@yahoo.com [Centro Universitario Valle de Chalco, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Valle de Chalco Solidaridad, Estado de México, 56615 (Mexico); Dong, Shi-Hai, E-mail: dongsh2@yahoo.com [Departamento de Física, Escuela Superior de Física y Matemáticas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, Edificio 9, México D.F. 07738 (Mexico); Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4001 (United States); Draayer, J.P., E-mail: draayer@sura.org [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4001 (United States)

2014-01-10

The particle in a symmetrical squared tangent potential well is studied by examining its Shannon information entropy and standard deviations. The position and momentum information entropy densities ρ{sub s}(x), ρ{sub s}(p) and probability densities ρ(x), ρ(p) are illustrated with different potential range L and potential depth U. We present analytical position information entropies S{sub x} for the lowest two states. We observe that the sum of position and momentum entropies S{sub x} and S{sub p} expressed by Bialynicki-Birula–Mycielski (BBM) inequality is satisfied. Some eigenstates exhibit entropy squeezing in the position. The entropy squeezing in position will be compensated by an increase in momentum entropy. We also note that the S{sub x} increases with the potential range L, while decreases with the potential depth U. The variation of S{sub p} is contrary to that of S{sub x}.

Effective potential for non-convex potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimoto, Y.; O'Raifeartaigh, L.; Parravicini, G.

1983-01-01

It is shown that the well-known relationship between the effective potential GAMMA and the vacuum graphs μ of scalar QFT follows directly from the translational invariance of the measure, and that it holds for all values of the fields phi if, and only if, the classical potential is convex. In the non-convex case μ appears to become complex for some values of phi, but it is shown that the complexity is only apparent and is due to the failure of the loop expansion. The effective potential actually remains real and well-defined for all phi, and reduces to μ in the neighbourhood of the classical minima. A number of examples are considered, notably potentials which are spontaneously broken. In particular the mechanism by which a spontaneous breakdown may be generated by radiative corrections is re-investigated and some new insights obtained. Finally, it is shown that the renormalization group equations for the parameters may be obtained by inspection from the effective potential, and among the examples considered are SU(n) fields and supermultiplets. In particular, it is shown that for supermultiplets the effective potential is not only real but positive. (orig.)

Ascending colon rotation following patient positional change during CT colonography: a potential pitfall in interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ji Yeon; Park, Seong Ho; Lee, Seung Soo; Kim, Ah Young; Ha, Hyun Kwon

2011-01-01

To investigate the degree and pattern of ascending colonic rotation as patients moved from supine to prone positions during CTC. A search of our CTC and colonoscopy database found 37 patients (43 eligible lesions) who fulfilled the following criteria: colonoscopy-proven sessile polyps ≥6 mm in the straight mid-ascending colon, lesion visualisation in both supine and prone CTC, and optimal colonic distension. A coordinate system was developed to designate the polyp radial location ( ) along the luminal circumference, unaffected by rotation of the torso. The degree/direction of polyp radial location change (i.e. ascending colonic rotation) between supine and prone positions correlated with anthropometric measurements. Movement from supine to prone positions resulted in a change in the radial polyp location of between -23 and 79 (median, 21 ), demonstrating external rotation of the ascending colon in almost all cases (2 to 79 in 36/37 patients and 42/43 lesions). The degree/direction of rotation mildly correlated with the degree of abdominal compression in the anterior-posterior direction in prone position (r = 0.427 [P = 0.004] and r = 0.404 [P = 0.007]). The ascending colon was usually found to rotate externally as patients moved from supine to prone positions, partly dependent on the degree of abdominal compression. (orig.)

No praise, please: Depressive symptoms, reactivity to positive social interaction, and fear of positive evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Reichenberger, Julia; Wiggert, Nicole; Agroskin, Dmitrij; Wilhelm, Frank H; Blechert, Jens

2017-03-01

Depression is characterized by depressed mood and loss of interest or pleasure. Resulting alterations in emotional reactivity have been explained by three different accounts: 'positive attenuation', 'negative potentiation', and 'emotion context insensitivity'. Despite the importance of depression-related emotional alteration in social interactions, research with naturalistic interpersonal stimuli is scarce and underlying mechanisms largely unknown. Hence, the present study examined subjective emotional reactivity to brief negative, positive, and neutral social-evaluative videos as a function of depressive symptoms in an adult sample (N = 84). Fear of positive evaluation (FPE) and fear of negative evaluation (FNE), often conceptualized as cognitive components of social anxiety, were examined as possible mediators. Results revealed that more depression symptoms were related to diminished pleasantness responses to both positive and neutral videos. When considering all three video conditions simultaneously, only responses to positive videos remained significantly related to depression scores, supporting the 'positive attenuation' account. Moreover, FPE was found to uniquely mediate the relationship between depressive symptoms and pleasantness responses to positive videos. Results indicate that emotional reactivity to positive interpersonal stimuli is relevant for theoretical and clinical considerations of depression. This research underlines the importance of FPE not only for understanding social anxiety but also depression. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of Positive Emotion and Contributions of Positive Psychology in Depression Treatment: Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Veruska; Paes, Flavia; Pereira, Valeska; Arias-Carrión, Oscar; Silva, Adriana Cardoso; Carta, Mauro Giovanni; Nardi, Antonio Egidio; Machado, Sergio

2013-01-01

The present study aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature by checking the impact of positive emotion in the treatment of depression and on the use of strategies of positive psychology which involves positive emotion to treat and reduce symptoms of depression. For this purpose, we conducted searches in databases ISI Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO and PubMed and found a total of 3400 studies. After inclusion application and exclusion criteria, 28 articles remained, presented and discussed in this study. The studies have important relations between humor and positive emotion as well as a significant improvement in signs and symptoms of depression using differents strategies of positive psychology. Another relevant aspect is the preventative character of the proposed interventions by positive psychology by the fact that increase well-being and produce elements such as resilience and coping resources that reduce the recurrent relapses in the treatment of depression. The strategies of positive psychology, such as increasing positive emotions, develop personal strengths: seeking direction, meaning and engagement for the day-to-day life of the patients, appear as potentially tools for the prophylaxis and treatment of depression, helping to reduce signs and symptoms as well as for prevention of relapses. PMID:24358052

An integrated approach for improving occupational health and safety management: the voluntary protection program in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Teh-Sheng; Tsai, Way-Yi; Yu, Yi-Chun

2005-05-01

A voluntary compliance program for occupational health and safety management, Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), was implemented with a strategy of cooperation and encouragement in Taiwan. Due to limitations on increasing the human forces of inspection, a regulatory-based guideline addressing the essence of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) was promulgated, which combined the resources of third parties and insurance providers to accredit a self-improving worksite with the benefits of waived general inspection and a merit contributing to insurance premium payment reduction. A designated institute accepts enterprise's applications, performs document review and organizes the onsite inspection. A final review committee of Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) confers a two-year certificate on an approved site. After ten years, the efforts have shown a dramatic reduction of occupational injuries and illness in the total number of 724 worksites granted certification. VPP worksites, in comparison with all industries, had 49% lower frequency rate in the past three years. The severity rate reduction was 80% in the same period. The characteristics of Taiwan VPP program and international occupational safety and health management programs are provided. A Plan-Do-Check-Act management cycle was employed for pursuing continual improvements to the culture fostered. The use of a quantitative measurement for assessing the performance of enterprises' occupational safety and health management showed the efficiency of the rating. The results demonstrate that an employer voluntary protection program is a promising strategy for a developing country.

Position-dependent patterning of spontaneous action potentials in immature cochlear inner hair cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Stuart L; Eckrich, Tobias; Kuhn, Stephanie; Zampini, Valeria; Franz, Christoph; Ranatunga, Kishani M; Roberts, Terri P; Masetto, Sergio; Knipper, Marlies; Kros, Corné J; Marcotti, Walter

2011-06-01

Spontaneous action potential activity is crucial for mammalian sensory system development. In the auditory system, patterned firing activity has been observed in immature spiral ganglion and brain-stem neurons and is likely to depend on cochlear inner hair cell (IHC) action potentials. It remains uncertain whether spiking activity is intrinsic to developing IHCs and whether it shows patterning. We found that action potentials were intrinsically generated by immature IHCs of altricial rodents and that apical IHCs showed bursting activity as opposed to more sustained firing in basal cells. We show that the efferent neurotransmitter acetylcholine fine-tunes the IHC's resting membrane potential (V(m)), and as such is crucial for the bursting pattern in apical cells. Endogenous extracellular ATP also contributes to the V(m) of apical and basal IHCs by triggering small-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (SK2) channels. We propose that the difference in firing pattern along the cochlea instructs the tonotopic differentiation of IHCs and auditory pathway.

Position-dependent patterning of spontaneous action potentials in immature cochlear inner hair cells

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Stuart L.; Eckrich, Tobias; Kuhn, Stephanie; Zampini, Valeria; Franz, Christoph; Ranatunga, Kishani M.; Roberts, Terri P.; Masetto, Sergio; Knipper, Marlies; Kros, Corné J.; Marcotti, Walter

2011-01-01

Spontaneous action potential activity is crucial for mammalian sensory system development. In the auditory system, patterned firing activity has been observed in immature spiral ganglion cells and brain-stem neurons and is likely to depend on cochlear inner hair cell (IHC) action potentials. It remains uncertain whether spiking activity is intrinsic to developing IHCs and whether it shows patterning. We found that action potentials are intrinsically generated by immature IHCs of altricial rodents and that apical IHCs exhibit bursting activity as opposed to more sustained firing in basal cells. We show that the efferent neurotransmitter ACh, by fine-tuning the IHC’s resting membrane potential (Vm), is crucial for the bursting pattern in apical cells. Endogenous extracellular ATP also contributes to the Vm of apical and basal IHCs by activating SK2 channels. We hypothesize that the difference in firing pattern along the cochlea instructs the tonotopic differentiation of IHCs and auditory pathway. PMID:21572434

Leisure Activity Engagement and Positive Affect Partially Mediate the Relationship Between Positive Views on Aging and Physical Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Stephanie A; Siedlecki, Karen L

2017-03-01

To examine leisure activity engagement and positive affect as potential mediators for the relationships between positive views on aging (PVA) and two health outcomes: subjective health and physical limitations. Data from 5,194 participants from the German Ageing Survey (aged 40-91 years) were used to examine relationships between PVA to subjective health (assessed by self-rated health and perceived health change from past) and physical limitations (assessed via self-reported limitations on 10 activities). Leisure activity engagement and positive affect were examined as potential mediators in latent variable path analyses. Age moderation among these relationships was also examined. Leisure activity engagement and positive affect separately and jointly served to partially mediate the relationships between PVA and the health outcomes. When entered as joint mediators, positive affect no longer significantly predicted physical limitations, indicating a shared variance with leisure activity engagement. Age moderated the relationship between PVA and physical limitations; the relationship was stronger among older adults than among middle-aged adults. Leisure activity engagement and positive affect were shown to help explain the relationship between PVA and health, but differently for different health constructs and also among middle-aged and older adults. Findings provide further insight into ways in which PVA influence health. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Virtual Power Players Internal Negotiation and Management in MASCEM

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Santos, Gabriel; Pinto, Tiago; Vale, Zita

2013-01-01

for the management of coalitions in electricity markets. This approach is tested using the multi-agent market simulator MASCEM (Multi-Agent Simulator of Competitive Electricity Markets), taking advantage of its ability to provide the means to model and simulate Virtual Power Players (VPP). VPPs are represented......Electricity Markets are not only a new reality but an evolving one as the involved players and rules change at a relatively high rate. Multi-agent simulation combined with Artificial Intelligence techniques may result in very helpful sophisticated tools. This paper presents a new methodology...... as coalitions of agents, with the capability of negotiating both in the market and internally, with their members in order to combine and manage their individual specific characteristics and goals, with the strategy and objectives of the VPP itself. A case study using real data from the Iberian Electricity...

Lithium ion battery energy storage system for augmented wind power plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Swierczynski, Maciej Jozef

with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) into the so called Virtual Power Plants (VPP). Relatively new energy storage technologies based on Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries are constantly improving their performance and are becoming attractive for stationary energy storage applications due...... to their characteristics such as high power, high efficiency, low self-discharge, and long lifetime. The family of the Li-ion batteries is wide and the selection of the most appropriate Liion chemistries for VPPs is one of the topics of this thesis, where different chemistries are compared and the most suitable ones...... if the batteries are able to meet several performance requirements, which are application dependent. Furthermore, for the VPP, the degradation or failure of the interconnected BESS can lead to costly downtime. Thus, an accurate estimation of the battery cells lifetime becomes mandatory. However, lifetime...

Mast cells: potential positive and negative roles in tumor biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Marichal, Thomas; Tsai, Mindy; Galli, Stephen J

2013-11-01

Mast cells are immune cells that reside in virtually all vascularized tissues. Upon activation by diverse mechanisms, mast cells can secrete a broad array of biologically active products that either are stored in the cytoplasmic granules of the cells (e.g., histamine, heparin, various proteases) or are produced de novo upon cell stimulation (e.g., prostaglandins, leukotrienes, cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors). Mast cells are best known for their effector functions during anaphylaxis and acute IgE-associated allergic reactions, but they also have been implicated in a wide variety of processes that maintain health or contribute to disease. There has been particular interest in the possible roles of mast cells in tumor biology. In vitro studies have shown that mast cells have the potential to influence many aspects of tumor biology, including tumor development, tumor-induced angiogenesis, and tissue remodeling, and the shaping of adaptive immune responses to tumors. Yet, the actual contributions of mast cells to tumor biology in vivo remain controversial. Here, we review some basic features of mast cell biology with a special emphasis on those relevant to their potential roles in tumors. We discuss how using in vivo tumor models in combination with models in which mast cell function can be modulated has implicated mast cells in the regulation of host responses to tumors. Finally, we summarize data from studies of human tumors that suggest either beneficial or detrimental roles for mast cells in tumors. ©2013 AACR.

Thinking back about a positive event: The impact of processing style on positive affect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabine eNelis

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The manner in which individuals recall an autobiographical positive life event has affective consequences. Two studies addressed the processing styles during positive memory recall in a non-clinical sample. Participants retrieved a positive memory which was self-generated (Study 1, n = 70 or experimenter-chosen (i.e., academic achievement, Study 2, n = 159, followed by the induction of one of three processing styles (between-subjects: In Study 1, a ‘concrete/imagery’ vs. ‘abstract/verbal’ processing style was compared. In Study 2, a ‘concrete/imagery’, ‘abstract/verbal’, and ‘comparative/verbal’ processing style were compared. The processing of a personal memory in a concrete/imagery-based way led to a larger increase in positive affect compared to abstract/verbal processing in Study 1, as well as compared to comparative/verbal thinking in Study 2. Results of Study 2 further suggest that it is making unfavourable verbal comparisons that may hinder affective benefits to positive memories (rather then general abstract/verbal processing per se. The comparative/verbal thinking style failed to lead to improvements in positive affect, and with increasing levels of depressive symptoms it had a more negative impact on change in positive affect. We found no evidence that participant’s tendency to have dampening thoughts in response to positive affect in daily life contributed to the affective impact of positive memory recall. The results support the potential for current trainings in boosting positive memories and mental imagery, and underline the search for parameters that determine at times deleterious outcomes of abstract/verbal memory processing in the face of positive information.

Current and potential distributions on positive plates with conductive Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4} and BaPbO{sub 3} in their formation and discharge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guo, Yonglang; Liu, Huan [College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108 (China)

2008-08-15

The positive plates with conductive materials, Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4} and BaPbO{sub 3}, in automotive lead-acid batteries were investigated by measuring their current and potential distributions in the course of formation and discharge. It is found that these two conductive materials, especially Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4}, enhance the formation in the initial stage greatly and that they make the current and potential distributions more uniform. In the discharge, the addition of Pb{sub 3}O{sub 4} increases the capacity of the positive plate, but it is unfavorable to the paste curing and causes poor contact between active mass (AM) particles so that the polarization increases greatly at 3 C discharge rate. The BaPbO{sub 3} additive improves not only the formation but also the discharge performance because of its stability in acidic media and at high polarization. The violent charge at high polarization around the plates in the initial formation can lead to poor AM contact and high polarization resistance. (author)

Sexual risk behavior among HIV-positive persons in Jamaica ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

positive status potentially place their partners at risk for HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted infections. The study findings highlight the need to promote safe sexual behaviors and a positive social environment for people living with ...

Evaluación de un método de aglutinación con látex para la detección de proteína C reactiva Agglutination evaluation method related to use of latex to detection of reactive C protein

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana María Guerreiro Hernández

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Se evaluó un método de aglutinación con látex para la detección de proteína C reactiva (PCR (PCR-Látex, CENTIS empleándose como referencia un test turbidimétrico (PCR-Turbilátex, Spinreact. Se procesaron en paralelo 97 sueros de pacientes con clínica sugestiva de inflamación y sepsis. El análisis estadístico incluyó la determinación de la sensibilidad, especificidad, valor predictivo positivo (VPP, valor predictivo negativo (VPN y límites de detección. Los resultados obtenidos de sensibilidad: 97,8 %; especificidad: 98,0 %; VPP: 97,8 %; VPN: 98,0 %, con un límite de detección de 6 mg/L, pueden considerarse de satisfactorios, lo que permite contar con un procedimiento sencillo, rápido y eficiente que no requiere de un equipamiento especial.Agglutination evaluation method related to use of latex for detection of reactive C protein (RCP (RCP-Latex, CENTIS was evaluated, using as reference a turbidimetry test (RCP-Turbilatex, Spinreact. In parallel, 97 sera from patients with possibilities of inflammation and sepsis were processed. Statistical analysis included determination of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV, negative predictive value (NPV, and detection limits. Results achieved for sensitivity: 97,8 %; specificity: 98,0 %; NVP: 97,8 %; NPV: 98 % with a detection limit of 6 mg/L, may be considered of satisfactory, allowing to have a simple, fast, and efficient procedure without a especial equipment.

Self-diagnosis of active head lice infestation by individuals from an impoverished community: high sensitivity and specificity Auto diagnóstico de pediculose por indivíduos de uma comunidade economicamente desfavorecida: alta sensibilidade e especificidade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Pilger

2008-04-01

Full Text Available To compare sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV and negative predictive value (NPV of self-diagnosis for head lice infestation with visual inspection, we conducted a study in an urban slum in Brazil. Individuals were asked about active head lice infestation (self-diagnosis; we performed visual inspection and thereafter wet combing (gold standard. Of the 175 individuals included, 77 (44% had an active head lice infestation. For self-diagnosis, sensitivity (80.5%, specificity (91.8%, PPV (88.6% and NPV (85.7% were high. Sensitivity of visual inspection was 35.1%. Public health professionals can use self-diagnosis as a diagnostic tool, to estimate accurately prevalence of pediculosis in a community, and to monitor ongoing intervention strategies.Foi conduzido um estudo em uma favela urbana no Brasil com o objetivo de comparar a sensibilidade, especificidade, valor preditivo positivo (VPP e valor preditivo negativo (VPN do auto-diagnóstico de pediculose com a inspeção visual. Dos 175 indivíduos incluídos, 77 (44% apresentavam pediculose. Para o auto-diagnóstico, a sensibilidade (80.5%, a especificidade (91.8%, o VPP (88.6% e o VPN (85.7% foram altos. A sensibilidade da inspeção visual foi 35.1%. Profissionais de saúde podem utilizar o auto-diagnóstico como uma ferramenta diagnóstica para estimar de forma acurada a prevalência de pediculose em uma comunidade, como também para monitorar estratégias de controle da doença.

Future directions for positive body image research.

Science.gov (United States)

Halliwell, Emma

2015-06-01

The emergence of positive body image research during the last 10 years represents an important shift in the body image literature. The existing evidence provides a strong empirical basis for the study of positive body image and research has begun to address issues of age, gender, ethnicity, culture, development, and intervention in relation to positive body image. This article briefly reviews the existing evidence before outlining directions for future research. Specifically, six areas for future positive body image research are outlined: (a) conceptualization, (b) models, (c) developmental factors, (d) social interactions, (e) cognitive processing style, and (f) interventions. Finally, the potential role of positive body image as a protective factor within the broader body image literature is discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy harvesting from radio frequency propagation using piezoelectric cantilevers

KAUST Repository

Al Ahmad, Mahmoud; Alshareef, Husam N.

2012-01-01

This work reports an induced strain in a piezoelectric cantilever due to radio frequency signal propagation. The piezoelectric actuator is coupled to radio frequency (RF) line through a gap of 0.25 mm. When a voltage signal of 10 Vpp propagates

Assessment of potential false positives via orbitrap-based untargeted lipidomics from rat tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Lina; Wang, Xueying; Jiao, Yupei; Liu, Xiaohui

2018-02-01

Untargeted lipidomics is increasingly popular due to the broad coverage of lipid species. Data dependent MS/MS acquisition is commonly used in order to acquire sufficient information for confident lipid assignment. However, although lipids are identified based on MS/MS confirmation, a number of false positives are still observed. Here, we discuss several causes of introducing lipid false identifications in untargeted analysis. Phosphotidylcholines and cholesteryl esters generate in-source fragmentation to produce dimethylated phosphotidylethanolamine and free cholesterol. Dimerization of fatty acid results in false identification of fatty acid ester of hydroxyl fatty acid. Realizing these false positives is able to improve confidence of results acquired from untargeted analysis. Besides, thresholds are established for lipids identified using LipidSearch v4.1.16 software to reduce unreliable results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Potential Role for mu-Opioids in Mediating the Positive Effects of Gratitude.

Science.gov (United States)

Henning, Max; Fox, Glenn R; Kaplan, Jonas; Damasio, Hanna; Damasio, Antonio

2017-01-01

Gratitude is a complex emotional feeling associated with universally desirable positive effects in personal, social, and physiological domains. Why or how gratitude achieves these functional outcomes is not clear. Toward the goal of identifying its' underlying physiological processes, we recently investigated the neural correlates of gratitude. In our study, participants were exposed to gratitude-inducing stimuli, and rated each according to how much gratitude it provoked. As expected, self-reported gratitude intensity correlated with brain activity in distinct regions of the medial pre-frontal cortex associated with social reward and moral cognition. Here we draw from our data and existing literature to offer a theoretical foundation for the physiological correlates of gratitude. We propose that mu-opioid signaling (1) accompanies the mental experience of gratitude, and (2) may account for the positive effects of gratitude on social relationships, subjective wellbeing, and physiological health.

A zeta potential value determines the aggregate's size of penta-substituted [60]fullerene derivatives in aqueous suspension whereas positive charge is required for toxicity against bacterial cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Deryabin, Dmitry G; Efremova, Ludmila V; Vasilchenko, Alexey S; Saidakova, Evgeniya V; Sizova, Elena A; Troshin, Pavel A; Zhilenkov, Alexander V; Khakina, Ekaterina A; Khakina, Ekaterina E

2015-08-08

The cause-effect relationships between physicochemical properties of amphiphilic [60]fullerene derivatives and their toxicity against bacterial cells have not yet been clarified. In this study, we report how the differences in the chemical structure of organic addends in 10 originally synthesized penta-substituted [60]fullerene derivatives modulate their zeta potential and aggregate's size in salt-free and salt-added aqueous suspensions as well as how these physicochemical characteristics affect the bioenergetics of freshwater Escherichia coli and marine Photobacterium phosphoreum bacteria. Dynamic light scattering, laser Doppler micro-electrophoresis, agarose gel electrophoresis, atomic force microscopy, and bioluminescence inhibition assay were used to characterize the fullerene aggregation behavior in aqueous solution and their interaction with the bacterial cell surface, following zeta potential changes and toxic effects. Dynamic light scattering results indicated the formation of self-assembled [60]fullerene aggregates in aqueous suspensions. The measurement of the zeta potential of the particles revealed that they have different surface charges. The relationship between these physicochemical characteristics was presented as an exponential regression that correctly described the dependence of the aggregate's size of penta-substituted [60]fullerene derivatives in salt-free aqueous suspension from zeta potential value. The prevalence of DLVO-related effects was shown in salt-added aqueous suspension that decreased zeta potential values and affected the aggregation of [60]fullerene derivatives expressed differently for individual compounds. A bioluminescence inhibition assay demonstrated that the toxic effect of [60]fullerene derivatives against E. coli cells was strictly determined by their positive zeta potential charge value being weakened against P. phosphoreum cells in an aquatic system of high salinity. Atomic force microscopy data suggested that the

Positive School and Classroom Environment: Precursors of Successful Implementation of Positive Youth Development Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel C. F. Sun

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This case study was based on a school where the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. was integrated into the formal curriculum. In this case study, an interview with the school principal, vice-principal, and social worker was conducted in order to understand their perceptions of administrative arrangements and issues in the school, implementation characteristics, program effectiveness, program success, and overall impression. Results showed that several positive school and classroom attributes were conducive to program success, including positive school culture and belief in students' potentials, an inviting school environment, an encouraging classroom environment, high involvement of school administrative personnel, and systematic program arrangement.

Quantitative determination of caffeine and alcohol in energy drinks and the potential to produce positive transdermal alcohol concentrations in human subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayala, Jessica; Simons, Kelsie; Kerrigan, Sarah

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether non-alcoholic energy drinks could result in positive "alcohol alerts" based on transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) using a commercially available electrochemical monitoring device. Eleven energy drinks were quantitatively assayed for both ethanol and caffeine. Ethanol concentrations for all of the non-alcoholic energy drinks ranged in concentration from 0.03 to 0.230% (w/v) and caffeine content per 8-oz serving ranged from 65 to 126 mg. A total of 15 human subjects participated in the study. Subjects consumed between 6 and 8 energy drinks over an 8-h period. The SCRAM II monitoring device was used to determine TACs every 30 min before, during, and after the study. None of the subjects produced TAC readings that resulted in positive "alcohol alerts". TAC measurements for all subjects before, during and after the energy drink study period (16 h total) were study consumed a quantity of non-alcoholic energy drink that greatly exceeds what would be considered typical. Based on these results, it appears that energy drink consumption is an unlikely explanation for elevated TACs that might be identified as potential drinking episodes or "alcohol alerts" using this device.

Studies of pyrrole black electrodes as possible battery positive electrodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mengoli, G.; Musiani, M.M.; Fleischmann, M.; Pletcher, D.

1984-05-01

It is shown that a polypyrrole, pyrrole black, may be formed anodically in several aqueous acids. The polypyrrole film shows a redox couple at less positive potentials than that required to form the film and the charge associated with these reduction and oxidation processes together with their stabilty to cycling varies with the anion in solution and the potential where the polypyrrole is formed; over-oxidation of the film caused by taking its potential too positive has a particularly disadvantageous affect. In the acids HBr and HI, the polypyrrole films can act as a storage medium for Br/sub 2/ or I/sub 2/ so that they may be used as a substrate for a X/sub 2//X/sup -/ electrode. Such electrodes may be charge/discharge cycled and the pyrrole/Br/sub 2/ electrode shows promise as a battery positive electrode.

Mallinckrodt's position on SLR production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, T.L.

1985-01-01

The potential of the short-lived radionuclides used in nuclear medicine applications and Mallinckrodt's position are discussed. An update of Mallinckrodt's activities and future plans are also given. The keen interest of Mallinckrodt, Inc., in the application and development of short-lived radionuclides for medical use is stressed, as well as envisioned innovations

Abscisic Acid Accumulates at Positive Turgor Potential in Excised Soybean Seedling Growing Zones 1

Science.gov (United States)

Creelman, Robert A.; Mullet, John E.

1991-01-01

Abscisic acid (ABA) accumulated in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr. cv Williams) hypocotyl elongating regions when seedlings were transferred to low water potential vermiculite (Ψ = −0.3 megapascals) even though positive turgor is retained in this tissue. Accumulation of ABA in growing zones could occur from de novo biosynthesis within this tissue or transport from adjacent nongrowing zones. Both growing and nongrowing hypocotyl and root tissues accumulated significant levels of ABA when excised and dehydrated to reduce turgor. Surprisingly, excised growing zones (which experienced no water loss) also accumulated ABA when incubated in darkness for 4 hours at 100% relative humidity and 29°C. Induction of ABA accumulation in the excised elongating region of the hypocotyl was not caused by disruption of root pressure or wounding. While excision of hypocotyl elongating regions induced ABA accumulation, no change in either extensin or p33 mRNA levels was observed. Accumulation of extensin or p33 mRNA required more severe wounding. This suggests that ABA is not involved in the response of these genes in wounded tissue and that wound signals are not causing ABA accumulation in excised tissue. Accumulation of ABA in excised elongating regions was correlated with growth inhibition and a decline in turgor to the yield threshold (Ψ;p = 0.37 megapascals; R Matyssek, S Maruyama, JS Boyer [1988] Plant Physiol 86: 1163-1167). Inhibiting hypocotyl growth by transferring seedlings to lower temperatures or light did not cause ABA accumulation. We conclude that induction of ABA accumulation in growing zones is more sensitive to changes in turgor than the induction which occurs in mature tissues. Images Figure 2 PMID:16668113

Positioning Theory and Higher Education Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Mette Krogh; Musaeus, Peter; Petersen, Eva Bendix

The aim of this symposium is to connect scholars who use positioning theory in their research on very diverse issues in higher education and to open up the analytic to others who may be interested in taking it up. Positioning theory is a social constructionist approach and it emerged in the 1980s...... available. After this introduction, four paper presentations will follow (see abstracts below), and the session will conclude with a whole-group discussion of the potentials and pitfalls of the approach.......The aim of this symposium is to connect scholars who use positioning theory in their research on very diverse issues in higher education and to open up the analytic to others who may be interested in taking it up. Positioning theory is a social constructionist approach and it emerged in the 1980s...... in gender studies and social psychology. It is concerned with theorising and analysing how people position themselves and others, and the personal, relational, cultural, moral, political, and institutional effects hereof. Positioning theory is most commonly used in studies of the discursive constitution...

The role of nocturnal oximetry in obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome screening

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Celestina Ventura

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Aim: The aim of our study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of Nocturnal Oximetry (NO as a diagnostic screening tool for obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS, compared with polysomnography (PSG as the gold standard. Methodology: 63 patients with clinical suspicion of OSAHS and exclusion of respiratory disease underwent PSG and NO. We then determined NO sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV and negative predictive values (NPV. Results: OSAHS was diagnosed in 47 patients with a mean age of 54 years. In the evaluation of the percentage of Total Sleep Time (TST with oxygen desaturation below 90%, we found significant differences between patients with OSAHS (25.4 ± 29.7% and without OSAHS (1 ± 1.5%, p<0,001. We used two cutoff points to evaluate sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV and negative predictive values (NPV, based on the severity of O2 desaturation (StO2<90%. Using the first cutoff point we diagnosed with NO as positive all the patients with TST desaturation values ≥1% of the TST. Under these circumstances we found a sensitivity of 76.6%, a specificity of 75%, a PPV of 90% and an NPV value of 52.2% for our screening test (NO. Using the second cutoff point, we diagnosed with NO as positive all the patients with TST desaturation values ≥5% of the TST. With this method we found a sensitivity of 65.9%, a specificity of 100%, a PPV of 100% and an NPV of 50%. Conclusion: NO is a useful screening test for the diagnosis of OSAHS in patients without respiratory disease. Resumo: Objectivo: Foi objectivo deste estudo determinar a sensibilidade e a especificidade da oximetria nocturna (ON como método de screening diagnóstico para a síndroma de apneia-hipopneia obstrutiva do sono (SAHOS, utilizando como método de referência a polissonografia (PSG. Metodologia: Foram incluídos 63 doentes com suspeita clínica de SAHOS e exclusão de doença respiratória, sendo

Mass-positioning of Nanodiamonds Using Squeegee Technique

OpenAIRE

Cui, Ran; Shalaginov, Mikhail Y.; Shalaev, Vladimir M.

2015-01-01

Fluorescent color centers in diamond nanocrystals have recently become the focus of researchers because of their potential applications in quantum information processing, nano-sensing, biomarking, and bioimaging. One of the biggest challenges in working with nanodiamonds is how to position them precisely and efficiently to create strong interaction with nanoscale photonic structures. The most popular methods to position nanodiamonds are spin-coating and transporting via scanning probe microsc...

Integration of aquifer thermal energy systems (ATES) into virtual powerplant as a source of flexibility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bozkaya, B.; Zeiler, W.; Boxem, G.; Treeck, van C.; Müller, D.

2014-01-01

Rapid deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) has changed traditional billing system into dynamic pricing due to the fluctuations in power generation. Virtual power plant (VPP) concept has emerged to take full economic benefit of electricity market and enhancing reliability of electricity

Cadastral Database Positional Accuracy Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Hashim, N. M.; Omar, A. H.; Ramli, S. N. M.; Omar, K. M.; Din, N.

2017-10-01

Positional Accuracy Improvement (PAI) is the refining process of the geometry feature in a geospatial dataset to improve its actual position. This actual position relates to the absolute position in specific coordinate system and the relation to the neighborhood features. With the growth of spatial based technology especially Geographical Information System (GIS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), the PAI campaign is inevitable especially to the legacy cadastral database. Integration of legacy dataset and higher accuracy dataset like GNSS observation is a potential solution for improving the legacy dataset. However, by merely integrating both datasets will lead to a distortion of the relative geometry. The improved dataset should be further treated to minimize inherent errors and fitting to the new accurate dataset. The main focus of this study is to describe a method of angular based Least Square Adjustment (LSA) for PAI process of legacy dataset. The existing high accuracy dataset known as National Digital Cadastral Database (NDCDB) is then used as bench mark to validate the results. It was found that the propose technique is highly possible for positional accuracy improvement of legacy spatial datasets.

Engagement as a source of positive consumer behaviour: a study ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Engagement as a source of positive consumer behaviour: a study amongst South African football fans. ... Remember me ... Further, the potential of fan engagement as a predictor of positive consumer behaviours (match attendance and ...

[Phrenic nerve stimulation protects against mechanical ventilation-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction through myogenic regulatory factors].

Science.gov (United States)

An, G H; Chen, M; Zhan, W F; Hu, B; Zhang, H X

2018-02-12

Objective: To explore the protective effect of electrical stimulation of phrenic nerve on diaphragmatic function during mechanical ventilation. Methods: Forty healthy adult SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: blank control group (BC), spontaneous breathing group (SB), electrical stimulation group (ES), mechanical ventilation group (MV), and electrical stimulation and mechanical ventilation group (MS). The rats in each group were treated for 18 h except for the BC group. After treatment, the diaphragm muscle tissue was obtained and the diaphragm contractility including peak-to-peak value(Vpp) and maximum rate of contraction(+ dT/dt max) were measured. Expression of MyoD and myogenin were detected. Results: Except for the ES and the MS groups, there was a significant difference for peak-to-peak value (Vpp) between each 2 groups ( P mechanical ventilation induced diaphragmatic function damage, and therefore plays a protective effect on the diaphragm.

Virtual Power Plant and Microgrids controller for Energy Management based on optimization techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maher G. M. Abdolrasol

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper discuss virtual power plant (VPP and Microgrid controller for energy management system (EMS based on optimization techniques by using two optimization techniques namely Backtracking search algorithm (BSA and particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO. The research proposes use of multi Microgrid in the distribution networks to aggregate the power form distribution generation and form it into single Microgrid and let these Microgrid deal directly with the central organizer called virtual power plant. VPP duties are price forecast, demand forecast, weather forecast, production forecast, shedding loads, make intelligent decision and for aggregate & optimizes the data. This huge system has been tested and simulated by using Matlab simulink. These paper shows optimizations of two methods were really significant in the results. But BSA is better than PSO to search for better parameters which could make more power saving as in the results and the discussion.

Empathy and the Internet: Positive Potentials vs. Risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatjana Milivojević

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Internet enables the exchange of information with incredible speed, allowing at the same time users to share their feelings, thoughts and opinions. This exchange that can be carried out virally spreading the interest about people and events that transcends our geographical and social horizons, represents a civilizational progress when it’s not recognized just as technological progress, but also as an increasing process of humanization of man and society. Empathy, which was once reserved for the narrowest community, can now be expanded globally. This optimistic view, however, doesn’t take under consideration that human capacity for empathy isn't limitless. Perceptual, cognitive, and emotional overload can lead to saturation and desensitization or dissociation where there is apperception of others, but without any emotional involvement. The paradox of empathy lays within its possibility of being used as a means of control and manipulation: it’s then a pure mimicry of empathy. It can serve a better acquaintance, rapprochement and understanding of other people and cultures, or, on the contrary, non-relations such as impersonation, inauthentic communication, and ultimately online harassment. Therefore, the possibility that Internet gives us to be connected to others is less important than the personal attitude that each individual has towards it and to others via the network. Internet isn't empathic by itself, but it can help one’s basic empathy, which is developing in vivid interpersonal contacts in the real world, to expand to the remote and sensory unobservable others. In this article we’ll analyze the empathic potential of social networks, as well as their features that can narrow or even shut down empathy.

Optimal Set Anode Potentials Vary in Bioelectrochemical Systems

KAUST Repository

Wagner, Rachel C.

2010-08-15

In bioelectrochemical systems (BESs), the anode potential can be set to a fixed voltage using a potentiostat, but there is no accepted method for defining an optimal potential. Microbes can theoretically gain more energy by reducing a terminal electron acceptor with a more positive potential, for example oxygen compared to nitrate. Therefore, more positive anode potentials should allow microbes to gain more energy per electron transferred than a lower potential, but this can only occur if the microbe has metabolic pathways capable of capturing the available energy. Our review of the literature shows that there is a general trend of improved performance using more positive potentials, but there are several notable cases where biofilm growth and current generation improved or only occurred at more negative potentials. This suggests that even with diverse microbial communities, it is primarily the potential of the terminal respiratory proteins used by certain exoelectrogenic bacteria, and to a lesser extent the anode potential, that determines the optimal growth conditions in the reactor. Our analysis suggests that additional bioelectrochemical investigations of both pure and mixed cultures, over a wide range of potentials, are needed to better understand how to set and evaluate optimal anode potentials for improving BES performance. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

Exact quantum solutions for some asymmetrical two-well potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ley-Koo, E.

1985-01-01

We discuss several points of interest in the study of two-well potentials in quantum mechanics courses. In particular, we construct the solutions of the Schroedinger equation for rectangular-well, harmonic-oscillator and triangular-well potentials with a delta-function potential superimposed in different positions. The energy spectra and eigenfunctions of such systems are presented and analyzed for different intensities and positions of the delta-function potential. (author)

The late positive potential as a marker of motivated attention to underweight bodies in girls with anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Horndasch, Stefanie; Heinrich, Hartmut; Kratz, Oliver; Moll, Gunther H

2012-12-01

In anorexia nervosa (AN), aspects of motivational salience and reward are increasingly discussed. Event related potentials, particularly the late positive potential (LPP), have been investigated as a marker for motivational salience of stimuli, for example in addictive disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the LPP as a possible indicator of motivated attention towards disease-specific pictures of underweight female bodies in adolescents with AN in comparison to typically developing (TD) adolescent girls. 13 girls with AN and 18 TD adolescent girls (aged 12 to 18 years) viewed pictures of underweight, normal-weight and overweight women while EEG activity was recorded. An earlier (450-680 ms after stimulus onset) as well as a later time window (850-1250 ms after stimulus onset) of the LPP were examined for the different picture categories. Participants were also asked to rate subjective emotions (fear, disgust, happiness) elicited by the pictures. Subjective ratings showed no differential experience of emotions for the two groups. For AN patients, highest LPP amplitudes were found for underweight women in the earlier as well as in the later time window. In TD girls, highest amplitudes for pictures of overweight women were observed in the earlier time window. A differential LPP pattern for girls with AN and TD girls when viewing pictures of women's bodies of different weight categories was obtained. Highest amplitudes in AN patients for pictures of underweight women may reflect motivational significance of strongly underweight body shapes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluación de la definición de caso probable de dengue clásico durante el brote de dengue en Lima, 2005

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Juárez S

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Objetivos: Evaluar la utilidad diagnóstica de la definición de caso probable de dengue clásico (DCPDC para la identificación de casos definitivos, durante el brote en el distrito de Comas, abril - mayo 2005. Materiales y métodos: Estudio observacional, analítico, no controlado de corte transversal. Se incluyeron pacientes procedentes de Comas que en el periodo de estudio presentaron sospecha de dengue y con resultados de aislamiento viral o ELISA IgM, según el tiempo de enfermedad (4 ó e5 días respectivamente realizados en el Instituto Nacional de Salud. Se determinó la sensibilidad (S, especificidad (E, valor predictivo positivo (VPP y negativo (VPN de la DCPDC y de los síntomas que la conforman, tomando como prueba de oro al aislamiento viral o ELISA IgM. Resultados:Se incluyeron 316 pacientes, de los cuales se confirmaron 137 (43,4% casos de dengue. Se detectaron 60 pacientes mediante aislamiento viral, la DCPDC en pacientes con cuatro o menos días de enfermedad presentó una S=85%, E=13,40%, VPP=13,18%, VPN= 74,29%. Se detectaron 77 pacientes con cinco o más días de enfermedad con IgM ELISA, la DCPDC en este grupo presentó S= 68,42, E= 16,28, VPP= 68,42, VPN= 46,67. Conclusiones: La DCPDC aplicada en el brote de dengue en Comas, al igual que los síntomas individuales que la conforman es sensible, pero poco específico.

False Positives in Exoplanet Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Leuquire, Jacob; Kasper, David; Jang-Condell, Hannah; Kar, Aman; Sorber, Rebecca; Suhaimi, Afiq; KELT (Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope)

2018-06-01

Our team at the University of Wyoming uses a 0.6 m telescope at RBO (Red Buttes Observatory) to help confirm results on potential exoplanet candidates from low resolution, wide field surveys shared by the KELT (Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope) team. False positives are common in this work. We carry out transit photometry, and this method comes with special types of false positives. The most common false positive seen at the confirmation level is an EB (eclipsing binary). Low resolution images are great in detecting multiple sources for photometric dips in light curves, but they lack the precision to decipher single targets at an accurate level. For example, target star KC18C030621 needed RBO’s photometric precision to determine there was a nearby EB causing exoplanet type light curves. Identifying false positives with our telescope is important work because it helps eliminate the waste of time taken by more expensive telescopes trying to rule out negative candidate stars. It also furthers the identification of other types of photometric events, like eclipsing binaries, so they can be studied on their own.

Underlying Mechanisms of Cooperativity, Input Specificity, and Associativity of Long-Term Potentiation Through a Positive Feedback of Local Protein Synthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lijie Hao

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Long-term potentiation (LTP is a specific form of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity that is a leading mechanism of learning and memory in mammals. The properties of cooperativity, input specificity, and associativity are essential for LTP; however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, based on experimentally observed phenomena, we introduce a computational model of synaptic plasticity in a pyramidal cell to explore the mechanisms responsible for the cooperativity, input specificity, and associativity of LTP. The model is based on molecular processes involved in synaptic plasticity and integrates gene expression involved in the regulation of neuronal activity. In the model, we introduce a local positive feedback loop of protein synthesis at each synapse, which is essential for bimodal response and synapse specificity. Bifurcation analysis of the local positive feedback loop of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF signaling illustrates the existence of bistability, which is the basis of LTP induction. The local bifurcation diagram provides guidance for the realization of LTP, and the projection of whole system trajectories onto the two-parameter bifurcation diagram confirms the predictions obtained from bifurcation analysis. Moreover, model analysis shows that pre- and postsynaptic components are required to achieve the three properties of LTP. This study provides insights into the mechanisms underlying the cooperativity, input specificity, and associativity of LTP, and the further construction of neural networks for learning and memory.

76 FR 3192 - Value Pricing Pilot Program Participation, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-19

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Highway Administration Value Pricing Pilot Program... Value Pricing Pilot (VPP) program, which was published on October 19, 2010, at 75 FR 64397. The original... interest at the following Web site: http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tolling_pricing/participation.htm . FOR FURTHER...

Exact quantum solution for some symmetrical two-well potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ley-Koo, E.

1985-01-01

We construct the solutions of the Schroedinger equation for the rectangular-well, harmonic-oscillator and symmetric-linear potentials with a delta-function potential superimposed in their central positions. The odd-parity states are not affected by the presence of the delta-function potential. The even-parity states are determined by the condition that their wave functions have in the central position a fixed logarithmic derivative, which is proportional to the intensity the delta-function potential. (author)

Cytokeratin positivity in myxopapillary ependymoma – a potential diagnostic pitfall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sur Monalisa

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Myxopapillary ependymomas (MPE occur in the filum terminale of the spinal cord, but also present in extra-spinal locations such as subcutaneous tissue and brain. They are slow growing grade I gliomas. Areas of solid growth pattern with aggregates of cells with "epithelioid morphology" seen in MPE can mimic metastatic carcinoma. The presence of occasional cells with clear cytoplasm and morphology can resemble Chordoma. Diagnosis can be missed due to these morphological similarities, which could affect patient management and hence, long term survival. Case presentation We describe two cases of MPE with cytokeratin (AE1 AE3, CAM 5.2, Cytokeratin 7 and cytokeratin 20 expression. Conclusion MPE can be positive for Cytokeratins (CAM 5.2, AE1 AE3, CK7 and focally for EMA, which could be misdiagnosed as metastatic carcinoma. In cases demonstrating epithelioid and clear cell morphology, the diagnosis of MPE should be made in conjunction with histology, proper immunohistochemical profile which includes co-expression of GFAP, S-100 protein and epithelial markers, radiologic findings and site. It is important to be aware of the cytokeratin profile in MPE to avoid erroneous diagnosis with other tumour entities.

Position detectors, methods of detecting position, and methods of providing positional detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Weinberg, David M.; Harding, L. Dean; Larsen, Eric D.

2002-01-01

Position detectors, welding system position detectors, methods of detecting various positions, and methods of providing position detectors are described. In one embodiment, a welding system positional detector includes a base that is configured to engage and be moved along a curved surface of a welding work piece. At least one position detection apparatus is provided and is connected with the base and configured to measure angular position of the detector relative to a reference vector. In another embodiment, a welding system positional detector includes a weld head and at least one inclinometer mounted on the weld head. The one inclinometer is configured to develop positional data relative to a reference vector and the position of the weld head on a non-planar weldable work piece.

Clinical usefulness of the nested polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis Utilidad clínica de la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa anidada para el diagnóstico de tuberculosis extrapulmonar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guadalupe García-Elorriaga

2009-06-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the effectiveness of nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR for diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (ETB, as well as the impact of PCR results on clinical management. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We conducted a study of nested PCR tests in 45 patients and a review of patient hospital files, calculating sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV, and negative predictive value (NPV. RESULTS:PCR was positive in 51% of cases; PCR sensitivity for diagnosing TB was 86%, specificity was 79%, PPV was 76%, and NPV was 88%. When solely analyzing urine samples, sensitivity and NPV increased to 100%. PCR exerted an influence on management in 27% of patients. CONCLUSIONS:PCR for rapid diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB has an adequate effect, which improves when performed on urine. The results of PCR exerted an acceptable impact on the clinical management of these patients.OBJETIVO:Evaluar la eficacia de la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (PCR anidada para el diagnóstico de tuberculosis extrapulmonar, así como el impacto de sus resultados en el manejo clínico. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se realizó PCR anidada en 45 pacientes y se llevó a cabo la revisión de expedientes. Se calculó sensibilidad, especificidad, valor predictivo positivo (VPP y valor predictivo negativo (VPN. RESULTADOS:La PCR fue positiva en 51% de los casos, la sensibilidad fue de 86%, la especificidad de 79%, el VPP de 76% y el VPN de 88%. Al analizar solamente las muestras de orina, la sensibilidad y VPN se incrementaron a 100%. La PCR influyó en el manejo de 27% de los pacientes. CONCLUSIONES:La PCR para el diagnóstico rápido de TB extrapulmonar tiene una eficacia adecuada, la cual mejora cuando se realiza en orina. El resultado de la PCR tuvo un impacto aceptable en el manejo clínico de estos pacientes.

Does a positive pretransplant crossmatch affect long-term outcome in liver transplantation?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Al-Sibae, Mohamad R

2012-02-01

Despite the historical success of liver transplantation in the face of a positive lymphocytic crossmatch, increased incidence of acute cellular rejection and graft loss have been reported in this setting. Given the potential adverse effects of antirejection treatment, especially in hepatitis C virus-positive recipients, identification of predisposing factors could allow for better surveillance, avoidance of rejection, and potentially better graft outcomes.

[The importance of vestibular evoked myogenic potentials for the assessment of the otolith function in the patients presenting with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo].

Science.gov (United States)

Kunel'skaya, N L; Baybakova, E V; Guseva, A L; Chugunova, M A; Manaenkova, E A

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the otolith function in the patients presenting with idiopathic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (pBPPV) attributable to the occlusion of the posterior semicircular canal (PSCC) of the inner ear with the use of vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP). Cervical (cVEMP) and ocular VEMP (oVEMP) were measured in 34 patients with idiopathic pBPPV before and 7 days after the treatment by means of reposition maneuvers. The results of the repeated Dix-Hallpike test performed 7 days after the repositioning maneuver were negative in 27 patients and positive in 7 patients. There was no statistically significant difference in the amplitude of cervical VEMP between the healthy and affected ears either before or after the repositioning treatment. The measurement of oVEMP revealed a reduction of the response amplitude on the affected side. The average values of the plnl on the healthy side were 12.84±1.09 and those on the affected side 4.62±0.69 (potolith function.

Resonant coupling between ion bounce in a potential well and the potential relaxation instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popa, G.; Schrittwieser, R.

1994-01-01

When in a double plasma machine (DP-machine) plasma is produced solely in the source chamber, not only ions but also electrons can leak through the separating grid into the target chamber, so that a low-density plasma forms there. The electrons are trapped by the traveling ion space charge and can thereby overcome the strongly negative grid bias. The investigations presented here show that a positive space-charge forms behind the grid in the target chamber and a deep potential well is formed around the grid. When the anode of the target chamber is biased positively, under certain conditions a low-frequency instability is observed in the target chamber, the properties of which indicate a potential relaxation oscillation, somewhat similar to the potential relaxation instability in a quiescent plasma machine (Q machine). The frequency of the instability is determined by the ion transit time through a thin layer of the target chamber plasma. In addition, resonant coupling occurs between this frequency and the bounce frequency of ions in the potential well around the grid

A novel methanol sensor based on gas-penetration through a porous polypyrrole-coated polyacrylonitrile nanofiber mat.

Science.gov (United States)

Jun, Tae-Sun; Ho, Thi Anh; Rashid, Muhammad; Kim, Yong Shin

2013-09-01

In this work, we propose a novel chemoresistive gas sensor operated under a vertical analyte flow passing through a permeable sensing membrane. Such a configuration is different from the use of a planar sensor implemented under a conventional horizontal flow. A highly porous core-shell polyacrylonitrile-polypyrrole (PAN@PPy) nanofiber mat was prepared as the sensing element via electrospinning and two-step vapor-phase polymerization (VPP). Various analysis methods such as SEM, TEM, FT-IR and XPS measurements were employed in order to characterize structural features of the porous sensing mat. These analyses confirmed that very thin (ca. 10 nm) conductive PPy sheath layers were deposited by VPP on electrospun PAN nanofibers with an average diameter of 258 nm. Preliminary results revealed that the gas penetration-type PAN@PPy sensor had a higher sensor response and shorter detection and recovery times upon exposure to methanol analyte when compared with a conventional horizontal flow sensor due to efficient and fast analyte transfer into the sensing layer.

Evaluating the Effects of Virtual Pair Programming on Students’ Achievement and Satisfaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nick Zacharis

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Pair programming is a lightweight software development technique in which two programmers work together at one computer. In literature, many benefits of pair programming have been proposed, such as increased productivity, improved code quality, enhanced job satisfaction and confidence. Although pair programming provides clear pedagogical benefits, its collocation requirement and the limited time during a lab session are serious barriers in the full deployment and evaluation of this programming technique. This paper reports on a study that investigated the effectiveness of Virtual Pair Programming (VPP on student performance and satisfaction in an introductory Java course where students worked collaboratively in pairs on homework programming assignments, using online tools that integrated desktop sharing and real time communication. The results of this study support previous research findings and suggest that VPP is an effective pedagogical tool for flexible collaboration and an acceptable alternative to individual/solo programming experience, regarding productivity, code quality, academic performance and student satisfaction.

Electric vehicle integration in a real-time market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Anders Bro

with an externally simulated model of the power grid, it is be possible, in real-time, to simulate the impact of EV charging and help to identify bottlenecks in the system. In EDISON the vehicles are aggregated using an entity called a Virtual Power Plant (VPP); a central server monitoring and controlling...... the distributed energy resources registered with it, in order to make them appear as a single producer in the eyes of the market. Although the concept of a VPP is used within the EcoGrid EU project, the idea of more individual control is introduced through a new proposed real-time electricity market, where......This project is rooted in the EDISON project, which dealt with Electrical Vehicle (EV) integration into the existing power grid, as well as with the infrastructure needed to facilitate the ever increasing penetration of fluctuating renewable energy resources like e.g. wind turbines. In the EDISON...

10 Gb/s OEIC optical receiver front-end and 3.125 Gb/s PHEMT limiting amplifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan Chao; Jiao Shilong; Wu Yunfeng; Ye Yutang; Chen Tangsheng; Yang Lijie; Feng Ou

2009-01-01

A 10 Gb/s OEIC (optoelectronic integrated circuit) optical receiver front-end has been studied and fabricated based on the Φ-76 mm GaAs PHEMT process; this is the first time that a limiting amplifier (LA) has been designed and realized using depletion mode PHEMT. An OEIC optical receiver front-end mode composed of an MSM photodiode and a current mode transimpedance amplifier (TIA) has been established and optimized by simulation software ATLAS. The photodiode has a bandwidth of 10 GHz, a capacitance of 3 fF/μm and a photosensitive area of 50 x 50 μm 2 . The whole chip has an area of 1511 x 666 μm 2 . The LA bandwidth is expanded by spiral inductance which has been simulated by software HFSS. The chip area is 1950 x 1910 μm 2 and the measured results demonstrate an input dynamic range of 34 dB (10-500 mVpp) with constant output swing of 500 mVpp.

10 Gb/s OEIC optical receiver front-end and 3.125 Gb/s PHEMT limiting amplifier

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fan Chao; Jiao Shilong; Wu Yunfeng; Ye Yutang [School of Opto-Electronic Information, UESTC, Chengdu 610054 (China); Chen Tangsheng; Yang Lijie; Feng Ou, E-mail: fanchao41@126.co [Nanjing Electronic Devices Institute, Nanjing 210016 (China)

2009-10-15

A 10 Gb/s OEIC (optoelectronic integrated circuit) optical receiver front-end has been studied and fabricated based on the {Phi}-76 mm GaAs PHEMT process; this is the first time that a limiting amplifier (LA) has been designed and realized using depletion mode PHEMT. An OEIC optical receiver front-end mode composed of an MSM photodiode and a current mode transimpedance amplifier (TIA) has been established and optimized by simulation software ATLAS. The photodiode has a bandwidth of 10 GHz, a capacitance of 3 fF/{mu}m and a photosensitive area of 50 x 50 {mu}m{sup 2}. The whole chip has an area of 1511 x 666 {mu}m{sup 2}. The LA bandwidth is expanded by spiral inductance which has been simulated by software HFSS. The chip area is 1950 x 1910 {mu}m{sup 2} and the measured results demonstrate an input dynamic range of 34 dB (10-500 mVpp) with constant output swing of 500 mVpp.

Vapor phase polymerization deposition of conducting polymer/graphene nanocomposites as high performance electrode materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yajie; Li, Shibin; Zhang, Luning; Xu, Jianhua; Yang, Wenyao; Jiang, Yadong

2013-05-22

In this paper, we report chemical vapor phase polymerization (VPP) deposition of novel poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/graphene nanocomposites as solid tantalum electrolyte capacitor cathode films. The PEDOT/graphene films were successfully prepared on porous tantalum pentoxide surface as cathode films through the VPP procedure. The results indicated that the high conductivity nature of PEDOT/graphene leads to the decrease of cathode films resistance and contact resistance between PEDOT/graphene and carbon paste. This nanocomposite cathode film based capacitor showed ultralow equivalent series resistance (ESR) ca. 12 mΩ and exhibited better capacitance-frequency performance than the PEDOT based capacitor. The leakage current investigation revealed that the device encapsulation process does not influence capacitor leakage current, indicating the excellent mechanical strength of PEDOT-graphene films. The graphene showed a distinct protection effect on the dielectric layer from possible mechanical damage. This high conductivity and mechanical strength graphene based conducting polymer nanocomposites indicated a promising application future for organic electrode materials.

Vectorization, parallelization and porting of nuclear codes. Vectorization and parallelization. Progress report fiscal 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adachi, Masaaki; Ogasawara, Shinobu; Kume, Etsuo [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment; Ishizuki, Shigeru; Nemoto, Toshiyuki; Kawasaki, Nobuo; Kawai, Wataru [Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Yatake, Yo-ichi [Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

2001-02-01

Several computer codes in the nuclear field have been vectorized, parallelized and trans-ported on the FUJITSU VPP500 system, the AP3000 system, the SX-4 system and the Paragon system at Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. We dealt with 18 codes in fiscal 1999. These results are reported in 3 parts, i.e., the vectorization and the parallelization part on vector processors, the parallelization part on scalar processors and the porting part. In this report, we describe the vectorization and parallelization on vector processors. In this vectorization and parallelization on vector processors part, the vectorization of Relativistic Molecular Orbital Calculation code RSCAT, a microscopic transport code for high energy nuclear collisions code JAM, three-dimensional non-steady thermal-fluid analysis code STREAM, Relativistic Density Functional Theory code RDFT and High Speed Three-Dimensional Nodal Diffusion code MOSRA-Light on the VPP500 system and the SX-4 system are described. (author)

Positivity Effect Specific to Older Adults with Subclinical Memory Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Leal, Stephanie L.; Noche, Jessica A.; Murray, Elizabeth A.; Yassa, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have suggested that older adults preferentially remember positive information ("positivity effect"), however others have reported mixed results. One potential source of conflict is that aging is not a unitary phenomenon and individual differences exist. We modified a standard neuropsychological test to vary emotional…

'False-positive' and 'false-negative' test results in clinical urine drug testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Reisfield, Gary M; Goldberger, Bruce A; Bertholf, Roger L

2009-08-01

The terms 'false-positive' and 'false-negative' are widely used in discussions of urine drug test (UDT) results. These terms are inadequate because they are used in different ways by physicians and laboratory professionals and they are too narrow to encompass the larger universe of potentially misleading, inappropriate and unexpected drug test results. This larger universe, while not solely comprised of technically 'true' or 'false' positive or negative test results, presents comparable interpretive challenges with corresponding clinical implications. In this review, we propose the terms 'potentially inappropriate' positive or negative test results in reference to UDT results that are ambiguous or unexpected and subject to misinterpretation. Causes of potentially inappropriate positive UDT results include in vivo metabolic conversions of a drug, exposure to nonillicit sources of a drug and laboratory error. Causes of potentially inappropriate negative UDT results include limited assay specificity, absence of drug in the urine, presence of drug in the urine, but below established assay cutoff, specimen manipulation and laboratory error. Clinical UDT interpretation is a complicated task requiring knowledge of recent prescription, over-the-counter and herbal drug administration, drug metabolism and analytical sensitivities and specificities.

Solid phase stability of a double-minimum interaction potential system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suematsu, Ayumi; Yoshimori, Akira; Saiki, Masafumi; Matsui, Jun; Odagaki, Takashi

2014-01-01

We study phase stability of a system with double-minimum interaction potential in a wide range of parameters by a thermodynamic perturbation theory. The present double-minimum potential is the Lennard-Jones-Gauss potential, which has a Gaussian pocket as well as a standard Lennard-Jones minimum. As a function of the depth and position of the Gaussian pocket in the potential, we determine the coexistence pressure of crystals (fcc and bcc). We show that the fcc crystallizes even at zero pressure when the position of the Gaussian pocket is coincident with the first or third nearest neighbor site of the fcc crystal. The bcc crystal is more stable than the fcc crystal when the position of the Gaussian pocket is coincident with the second nearest neighbor sites of the bcc crystal. The stable crystal structure is determined by the position of the Gaussian pocket. These results show that we can control the stability of the solid phase by tuning the potential function

STRATEGIC MARKET POSITION OF THE GDANSK AIRPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henryk Ćwikliński

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Airports are a key link of the air transport infrastructure, which is a part of the whole transportation system. Their potential is determined by a network of airlines relations and affects the long-term, strategic position in the market of aviation services. The most possible scenario of the macro-environment of the Gdansk Airport has a relatively high predictability and generally positive influencing on the potential for development in the next years. Only international and demographic areas can constitute a barrier to achieving the strategic objectives. Gdansk Airport takes permanently the third position on the Polish market. Strategic gap analysis leads to the conclusion that, compared to its main competitors Airport Gdansk has a gap of compliance trends, but in relation to smaller regional airports excess gap. GDN services are located in the square "Star" in the BCG matrix. This airport has prepared an investment program till 2035. The dynamics of the projected increase in the number of passengers and air operations in Gdansk is generally slightly higher than the growth nationwide forecasts. The strategic challenge for next years will be to strengthen the status of the GDN as a Polish aviation gateway to Scandinavia.

Log-ratio circuit for beam position monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wells, F.D.; Shafer, R.E.; Gilpatrick, J.D.; Shurter, R.B.

1990-01-01

A synopsis is given of work in progress on a new signal processing technique for obtaining real-time normalized beam position information from sensing electrodes in accelerator beam pipes. The circuit employs wideband logarithmic amplifiers in a configuration that converts pickup electrode signals to position signals that are substantially independent of beam current. The circuit functions as a ratio detector that computes the logarithm of (A/B) as (Log A-Log B), and presents the result in a video (real-time analog) format representing beam position. It has potential benefits of greater dynamic range and better linearity than other techniques currently used and it may be able to operate at substantially higher frequencies. 4 refs., 8 figs

No influence of positive emotion on orbitofrontal reality filtering: relevance for confabulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Chiara eLiverani

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Orbitofrontal reality filtering is a mechanism that allows us to keep thought and behavior in phase with reality. Its failure induces reality confusion with confabulation and disorientation. Confabulations have been claimed to have a positive emotional bias, suggesting that they emanate from a tendency to embellish the situation of a handicap. Here we tested the influence of positive emotion on orbitofrontal reality filtering in healthy subjects using a paradigm validated in reality confusing patients and with a known electrophysiological signature, a frontal positivity at 200-400 ms after memory evocation. Subjects made two continuous recognition tasks (two runs, composed of the same set of neutral and positive pictures, but arranged in different order. In both runs, participants had to indicate pictures repetitions within, and only within, the ongoing run. The first run measures learning and recognition. The second run, where all items are familiar, requires orbitofrontal reality filtering to avoid false positive responses. High-density evoked potentials were recorded from nineteen healthy subjects during completion of the task. Performance was more accurate and faster on neutral than positive pictures in both runs and all conditions. Evoked potential correlates of emotion and reality filtering occurred at 260-350 ms but dissociated in terms of amplitudes and topography. In both runs, positive stimuli evoked a more negative frontal potential than neutral ones. In the second run, the frontal positivity characteristic of reality filtering was separately, and to the same degree, expressed for positive and neutral stimuli. We conclude that orbitofrontal reality filtering, the ability to place oneself correctly in time and space, is not influenced by emotional positivity of the processed material.

Potential mechanism of corpus-predominant gastritis after PPI therapy in Helicobacter pylori-positive patients with GERD.

Science.gov (United States)

Mukaisho, Ken-ichi; Hagiwara, Tadashi; Nakayama, Takahisa; Hattori, Takanori; Sugihara, Hiroyuki

2014-09-14

The long-term use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) exacerbates corpus atrophic gastritis in patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. To identify a potential mechanism for this change, we discuss interactions between pH, bile acids, and H. pylori. Duodenogastric reflux, which includes bile, occurs in healthy individuals, and bile reflux is increased in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Diluted human plasma and bile acids have been found to be significant chemoattractants and chemorepellents, respectively, for the bacillus H. pylori. Although only taurine conjugates, with a pKa of 1.8-1.9, are soluble in an acidic environment, glycine conjugates, with a pKa of 4.3-5.2, as well as taurine-conjugated bile acids are soluble in the presence of PPI therapy. Thus, the soluble bile acid concentrations in the gastric contents of patients with GERD after continuous PPI therapy are considerably higher than that in those with intact acid production. In the distal stomach, the high concentration of soluble bile acids is likely to act as a bactericide or chemorepellent for H. pylori. In contrast, the mucous layer in the proximal stomach has an optimal bile concentration that forms chemotactic gradients with plasma components required to direct H. pylori to the epithelial surface. H. pylori may then colonize in the stomach body rather than in the pyloric antrum, which may explain the occurrence of corpus-predominant gastritis after PPI therapy in H. pylori-positive patients with GERD.

A Velocity Prediction Procedure for Sailing Yachts with a hydrodynamic Model based on integrated fully coupled RANSE-Free-Surface Simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boehm, C.

2014-01-01

One of the most important tools in today's sailing yacht design is the Velocity Prediction Program (VPP). VPPs calculate boat speed from the equilibrium of aero- and hydrodynamic flow forces. Consequently their accuracy is linked to the accuracy of the aero- and hydrodynamic data used to represent a

Estimating Production Potentials: Expert Bias in Applied Decision Making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, L.J.; Burggraf, L.K.; Reece, W.J.

1998-01-01

A study was conducted to evaluate how workers predict manufacturing production potentials given positively and negatively framed information. Findings indicate the existence of a bias toward positive information and suggest that this bias may be reduced with experience but is never the less maintained. Experts err in the same way non experts do in differentially processing negative and positive information. Additionally, both experts and non experts tend to overestimate production potentials in a positive direction. The authors propose that these biases should be addressed with further research including cross domain analyses and consideration in training, workplace design, and human performance modeling

Predição de pré-eclâmpsia em suas formas tardia e precoce pela dilatação fluxo-mediada da artéria braquial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Augusto Henriques Fulgêncio Brandão

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Objetivo:Avaliar a capacidade de predição das formas precoce e tardia da pré-eclâmpsia pela dilatação fluxo-mediada da artéria braquial (FMD, marcador biofísico de disfunção endotelial.Materiais e Métodos:Um total de 91 pacientes de alto risco para desenvolvimento de pré-eclâmpsia foi submetido a FMD entre 24 e 28 semanas de gestação.Resultados:Das pacientes selecionadas, 19 desenvolveram pré-eclâmpsia, sendo 8 em sua forma precoce e 11 em sua forma tardia. Usando-se um valor de corte de 6,5%, a sensibilidade (S da FMD para predição de pré-eclâmpsia precoce foi 75,0%, com especificidade (E de 73,3%, valor preditivo positivo (VPP de 32,4% e valor preditivo negativo (VPN de 91,9%. Para predição de pré-eclâmpsia tardia, encontrou-se valor de S de 83,3%, E de 73,2%, VPP de 34,4% e VPN de 96,2%. Para a predição de todas as formas associadas de pré-eclâmpsia, encontrou-se valor de S de 84,2%, E de 73,6%, VPP de 45,7% e VPN de 94,6%.Conclusão:A FMD se mostrou uma ferramenta com boa capacidade de predição de pré-eclâmpsia, nas suas formas tardia e precoce, o que pode representar um impacto positivo no acompanhamento de gestantes de alto risco para desenvolvimento dessa síndrome.

Emotion and attention : Event-related brain potential studies

OpenAIRE

Schupp, Harald Thomas; Flaisch, Tobias; Stockburger, Jessica; Junghöfer, Markus

2006-01-01

Emotional pictures guide selective visual attention. A series of event-related brain potential (ERP) studies is reviewed demonstrating the consistent and robust modulation of specific ERP components by emotional images. Specifically, pictures depicting natural pleasant and unpleasant scenes are associated with an increased early posterior negativity, late positive potential, and sustained positive slow wave compared with neutral contents. These modulations are considered to index different st...

Developing Virtual Power Plant for Optimized Distributed Energy Resources Operation and Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Shi

Distributed Energy Resources (DER) are small-scale power generation and storage technologies, (typically in the range of a few kWe to tens of kWe) located close to the customer side. They are right now under heavy development and have a great market potential in the near future. However, these so......Distributed Energy Resources (DER) are small-scale power generation and storage technologies, (typically in the range of a few kWe to tens of kWe) located close to the customer side. They are right now under heavy development and have a great market potential in the near future. However...... units in the electric power system  Efficient electricity market participation to benefit both power system operation and DER owners To address these issues, an innovative concept Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is investigated in this PhD study. Based on a comprehensive overview of the state of the art...

Robotics Potential Fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jordi Lucero

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This problem was to calculate the path a robot would take to navigate an obstacle field and get to its goal. Three obstacles were given as negative potential fields which the robot avoided, and a goal was given a positive potential field that attracted the robot. The robot decided each step based on its distance, angle, and influence from every object. After each step, the robot recalculated and determined its next step until it reached its goal. The robot's calculations and steps were simulated with Microsoft Excel.

Diagnóstico de malaria por el método de la PCR anidada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nohora M. Mendoza

2001-12-01

Full Text Available En 1998, se presentaron en Colombia 256.697 casos de malaria: 132.712 por Plasmodium falciparum, 121.161 por Plasmodium vivax y 2.824 infecciones mixtas. Dada esta situación, el Programa de Malaria del Laboratorio Nacional de Referencia se propuso evaluar la PCR anidada frente a la gota gruesa, como método alternativo para el diagnóstico de malaria. Se utilizó la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (PCR anidada para amplificar secuencias variables de genes de la subunidad ribosomal pequeña 18s (ssrARN de P falciparum y P vivax. Para evaluar la PCR, se recolectaron 102 muestras de pacientes febriles en Quibdó (Chocó y se determinó la presencia de parásitos tanto por PCR como por observación microscópica (gota gruesa. Los resultados de las dos pruebas se compararon entre sí. Los criterios de evaluación fueron: precisión, exactitud, limite de detección, sensibilidad, especificidad, valores predictivos positivo (VPP y negativo (VPN e índice kappa. La PCR anidada presentó una sensibilidad general del 100%: 96,7% para Pvivax y 100% para P falciparum. La especificidad general para P vivax y para P falciparum fue del 100%. El VPP general de la prueba fue del 90% y el VPN fue de 90.3%; para P vivax, el VPP fue de 77,0% y el VPN de 90.6%: para P falciparum, el VPP fue de 66,1% y el VPN de 94,3%. El índice kappa generaI fue de 1 y el de especie fue de 0,96. El límite de detección del ADN parasitario fue de 10 fg/ml. La PCR anidada detectó una muestra con infección mixta de P. vivax y P. falciparun que, por gota gruesa, dio resultado positivo para P. vivax. Se recomienda el uso de la PCR anidada como método de tamizaje en estudios epidemiológicos para la evaluación del Programa de Control Nacional de Malaria, en estudios orientados a detectar de manera temprana parasitemias en pacientes tratados cuya posible causa pueda ser la resistencia a los antimaláricos y como prueba de referencia para evaluar nuevos métodos diagnósticos.

[Radiotherapy in node-positive prostate cancer].

Science.gov (United States)

Bottke, D; Bartkowiak, D; Bolenz, C; Wiegel, T

2016-03-01

There are numerous randomized trials to guide the management of patients with localized (and metastatic) prostate cancer, but only a few (mostly retrospective) studies have specifically addressed node-positive patients. Therefore, there is uncertainty regarding optimal treatment in this situation. Current guidelines recommend long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) alone or radiotherapy plus long-term ADT as treatment options. This overview summarizes the existing literature on the use of radiotherapy for node-positive prostate cancer as definitive treatment and as adjuvant or salvage therapy after radical prostatectomy. In this context, we also discuss several PET tracers in the imaging evaluation of patients with biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy. As for definitive treatment, retrospective studies suggest that ADT plus radiotherapy improves overall survival compared with ADT alone. These studies also consistently demonstrated that many patients with node-positive prostate cancer can achieve long-term survival - and are likely curable - with aggressive therapy. The beneficial impact of adjuvant radiotherapy on survival in patients with pN1 prostate cancer seems to be highly influenced by tumor characteristics. Men with ≤ 2 positive lymph nodes in the presence of intermediate- to high-grade disease, or positive margins, and those with 3 or 4 positive lymph nodes are the ideal candidates for adjuvant radiotherapy (plus long-term ADT) after surgery. There is a need for randomized trials to further examine the potential role of radiotherapy as either definitive or adjuvant treatment, for patients with node-positive prostate cancer.

Nano-Scale Positioning Design with Piezoelectric Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yung Yue Chen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Piezoelectric materials naturally possess high potential to deliver nano-scale positioning resolution; hence, they are adopted in a variety of engineering applications widely. Unfortunately, unacceptable positioning errors always appear because of the natural hysteresis effect of the piezoelectric materials. This natural property must be mitigated in practical applications. For solving this drawback, a nonlinear positioning design is proposed in this article. This nonlinear positioning design of piezoelectric materials is realized by the following four steps: 1. The famous Bouc–Wen model is utilized to present the input and output behaviors of piezoelectric materials; 2. System parameters of the Bouc–Wen model that describe the characteristics of piezoelectric materials are simultaneously identified with the particle swam optimization method; 3. Stability verification for the identified Bouc–Wen model; 4. A nonlinear feedback linearization control design is derived for the nano-scale positioning design of the piezoelectric material, mathematically. One important contribution of this investigation is that the positioning error between the output displacement of the controlled piezoelectric materials and the desired trajectory in nano-scale level can be proven to converge to zero asymptotically, under the effect of the hysteresis.

Beyond 1984: The Positive and Negative Potential of Computer Supported School Focused Information Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Susan S.

Although educators' use of computers to track student and school information with the attendant positive and negative outcomes is still in an early stage of development, accessible data from such systems could improve the objective rationality of educational and instructional decision-making as long as no one places unwarranted credibility in the…

Control of secondary electrons from ion beam impact using a positive potential electrode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crowley, T. P., E-mail: tpcrowley@xanthotechnologies.com; Demers, D. R.; Fimognari, P. J. [Xantho Technologies, LLC, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (United States)

2016-11-15

Secondary electrons emitted when an ion beam impacts a detector can amplify the ion beam signal, but also introduce errors if electrons from one detector propagate to another. A potassium ion beam and a detector comprised of ten impact wires, four split-plates, and a pair of biased electrodes were used to demonstrate that a low-voltage, positive electrode can be used to maintain the beneficial amplification effect while greatly reducing the error introduced from the electrons traveling between detector elements.

High current precision long pulse electron beam position monitor

CERN Document Server

Nelson, S D; Fessenden, T J; Holmes, C

2000-01-01

Precision high current long pulse electron beam position monitoring has typically experienced problems with high Q sensors, sensors damped to the point of lack of precision, or sensors that interact substantially with any beam halo thus obscuring the desired signal. As part of the effort to develop a multi-axis electron beam transport system using transverse electromagnetic stripline kicker technology, it is necessary to precisely determine the position and extent of long high energy beams for accurate beam position control (6 - 40 MeV, 1 - 4 kA, 2 μs beam pulse, sub millimeter beam position accuracy.) The kicker positioning system utilizes shot-to-shot adjustments for reduction of relatively slow (< 20 MHz) motion of the beam centroid. The electron beams passing through the diagnostic systems have the potential for large halo effects that tend to corrupt position measurements.

Estimates of statistical significance for comparison of individual positions in multiple sequence alignments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadreyev Ruslan I

2004-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Profile-based analysis of multiple sequence alignments (MSA allows for accurate comparison of protein families. Here, we address the problems of detecting statistically confident dissimilarities between (1 MSA position and a set of predicted residue frequencies, and (2 between two MSA positions. These problems are important for (i evaluation and optimization of methods predicting residue occurrence at protein positions; (ii detection of potentially misaligned regions in automatically produced alignments and their further refinement; and (iii detection of sites that determine functional or structural specificity in two related families. Results For problems (1 and (2, we propose analytical estimates of P-value and apply them to the detection of significant positional dissimilarities in various experimental situations. (a We compare structure-based predictions of residue propensities at a protein position to the actual residue frequencies in the MSA of homologs. (b We evaluate our method by the ability to detect erroneous position matches produced by an automatic sequence aligner. (c We compare MSA positions that correspond to residues aligned by automatic structure aligners. (d We compare MSA positions that are aligned by high-quality manual superposition of structures. Detected dissimilarities reveal shortcomings of the automatic methods for residue frequency prediction and alignment construction. For the high-quality structural alignments, the dissimilarities suggest sites of potential functional or structural importance. Conclusion The proposed computational method is of significant potential value for the analysis of protein families.

[The positive deviance approach to change nutrition behavior: a systematic review].

Science.gov (United States)

Machado, Juliana Costa; Cotta, Rosângela Minardi Mitre; Silva, Luciana Saraiva da

2014-08-01

To conduct a systematic review of the literature describing the use of the positive deviance approach to change nutrition behavior in order to identify the potentials of this method for health and nutrition education. Cochrane Library, LILACS, MEDLINE, SciELO, PubMed, and Scopus were searched. The following search terms were used: positive deviance, desvio positivo, positive deviance inquiry and positive deviants. Inclusion criteria were: reporting primary data, clearly defined methods, and availability of full text. The main results of the studies selected for inclusion were described and examined based on psychosocial (socioeconomic and health status, hygiene and nutrition habits), anthropometric (weight, height), and biochemical and clinical (presence of morbidity and biochemical tests) criteria to determine the potential and limitations of the positive deviance approach to change nutrition behavior. Of the 47 studies identified, nine met the inclusion criteria. The positive deviance method was used for prevention and rehabilitation of child and maternal malnutrition in areas of socioeconomic vulnerability and for the treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. An improvement in maternal and child nutrition and the maintenance of beneficial behaviors over time were underscored as positive impacts of the method. The positive deviance approach may help change nutrition behaviors with the aim of reversing child malnutrition and overweight and obesity in adults. This approach seems effective to promote health education in areas of socioeconomic vulnerability.

Positive organizational behavior and safety in the offshore oil industry: Exploring the determinants of positive safety climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Hystad, Sigurd W; Bartone, Paul T; Eid, Jarle

2014-01-01

Much research has now documented the substantial influence of safety climate on a range of important outcomes in safety critical organizations, but there has been scant attention to the question of what factors might be responsible for positive or negative safety climate. The present paper draws from positive organizational behavior theory to test workplace and individual factors that may affect safety climate. Specifically, we explore the potential influence of authentic leadership style and psychological capital on safety climate and risk outcomes. Across two samples of offshore oil-workers and seafarers working on oil platform supply ships, structural equation modeling yielded results that support a model in which authentic leadership exerts a direct effect on safety climate, as well as an indirect effect via psychological capital. This study shows the importance of leadership qualities as well as psychological factors in shaping a positive work safety climate and lowering the risk of accidents.

Ion mobilities and ion-atom interaction potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gatland, I.R.

1982-01-01

The techniques for measuring the mobilities of ions in gases, relating interaction potentials to mobilities, and determining potentials from experimental mobilities are reviewed. Applications are presented for positive alkali ions and negative halogen ions in inert gases. (Auth.)

On the construction of coherent states of position dependent mass Schroedinger equation endowed with effective potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chithiika Ruby, V.; Senthilvelan, M.

2010-01-01

In this paper, we propose an algorithm to construct coherent states for an exactly solvable position dependent mass Schroedinger equation. We use point canonical transformation method and obtain ground state eigenfunction of the position dependent mass Schroedinger equation. We fix the ladder operators in the deformed form and obtain explicit expression of the deformed superpotential in terms of mass distribution and its derivative. We also prove that these deformed operators lead to minimum uncertainty relations. Further, we illustrate our algorithm with two examples, in which the coherent states given for the second example are new.

Scalar potentials and the Dirac equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergerhoff, B.; Soff, G.

1994-01-01

The Dirac equation is solved for various types of scalar potentials. Energy eigenvalues and normalized bound-state wave functions are calculated analytically for a scalar 1/r-potential as well as for a mixed scalar and Coulomb 1/r-potential. Also continuum wave functions for positive and negative energies are derived. Similarly, we investigate the solutions of the Dirac equation for a scalar square-well potential. Relativistic wave functions for scalar Yukawa and exponential potentials are determined numerically. Finally, we also discuss solutions of the Dirac equation for scalar linear and quadratic potentials which are frequently used to simulate quark confinement. (orig.)

Antiadhesion agents against Gram-positive pathogens.

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Cascioferro, Stella; Cusimano, Maria Grazia; Schillaci, Domenico

2014-01-01

A fundamental step of Gram-positive pathogenesis is the bacterial adhesion to the host tissue involving interaction between bacterial surface molecules and host ligands. This review is focused on antivirulence compounds that target Gram-positive adhesins and on their potential development as therapeutic agents alternative or complementary to conventional antibiotics in the contrast of pathogens. In particular, compounds that target the sortase A, wall theicoic acid inhibitors, carbohydrates able to bind bacterial proteins and proteins capable of influencing the bacterial adhesion, were described. We further discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy in the development of novel antimicrobials and the future perspective of this research field still at its first steps.

Evidence for differential control of tibial position in perturbed unilateral stance after acute ACL rupture.

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Chmielewski, T L; Ramsey, D K; Snyder-Mackler, L

2005-01-01

Functional outcomes in anterior cruciate ligament-deficient "potential copers" and "non-copers" may be related to their knee stabilization strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to differentiate dynamic knee stabilization strategies of potential copers and non-copers through analysis of sagittal plane knee angle and tibia position during disturbed and undisturbed unilateral standing. Ten uninjured potential coper and non-coper subjects stood in unilateral stance on a platform that translated anteriorly, posteriorly and laterally. Knee angle and tibia position with reference to the femur were calculated before and after platform movement. During perturbation trials, potential copers maintained kinematics that were similar to uninjured subjects across conditions. Conversely, non-copers stood with greater knee flexion than uninjured subjects and a tibia position that was more posterior than the other groups. Both non-copers and potential copers demonstrated small changes in tibia position following platform movement, but direction of movement was not similar. The similarities between the knee kinematics of potential copers and uninjured subjects suggest that potential copers compensated well from their injury by utilizing analogous dynamic knee stabilization strategies. In comparison to the other groups, by keeping the knee in greater flexion and the tibia in a more posterior position, non-copers appear to constrain the tibia in response to a challenging task, which is consistent with a "stiffening strategy". Based on the poor functional outcomes of non-copers, a stiffening strategy does not lead to dynamic knee stability, and the strategy may increase compressive forces which could contribute to or exacerbate articular cartilage degeneration.

Exploring positive hospital ward soundscape interventions.

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Mackrill, J; Jennings, P; Cain, R

2014-11-01

Sound is often considered as a negative aspect of an environment that needs mitigating, particularly in hospitals. It is worthwhile however, to consider how subjective responses to hospital sounds can be made more positive. The authors identified natural sound, steady state sound and written sound source information as having the potential to do this. Listening evaluations were conducted with 24 participants who rated their emotional (Relaxation) and cognitive (Interest and Understanding) response to a variety of hospital ward soundscape clips across these three interventions. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the 'Relaxation' response was significantly affected (n(2) = 0.05, p = 0.001) by the interventions with natural sound producing a 10.1% more positive response. Most interestingly, written sound source information produced a 4.7% positive change in response. The authors conclude that exploring different ways to improve the sounds of a hospital offers subjective benefits that move beyond sound level reduction. This is an area for future work to focus upon in an effort to achieve more positively experienced hospital soundscapes and environments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Complications associated with prone positioning in elective spinal surgery.

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DePasse, J Mason; Palumbo, Mark A; Haque, Maahir; Eberson, Craig P; Daniels, Alan H

2015-04-18

Complications associated with prone surgical positioning during elective spine surgery have the potential to cause serious patient morbidity. Although many of these complications remain uncommon, the range of possible morbidities is wide and includes multiple organ systems. Perioperative visual loss (POVL) is a well described, but uncommon complication that may occur due to ischemia to the optic nerve, retina, or cerebral cortex. Closed-angle glaucoma and amaurosis have been reported as additional etiologies for vision loss following spinal surgery. Peripheral nerve injuries, such as those caused by prolonged traction to the brachial plexus, are more commonly encountered postoperative events. Myocutaneous complications including pressure ulcers and compartment syndrome may also occur after prone positioning, albeit rarely. Other uncommon positioning complications such as tongue swelling resulting in airway compromise, femoral artery ischemia, and avascular necrosis of the femoral head have also been reported. Many of these are well-understood and largely avoidable through thoughtful attention to detail. Other complications, such as POVL, remain incompletely understood and thus more difficult to predict or prevent. Here, the current literature on the complications of prone positioning for spine surgery is reviewed to increase awareness of the spectrum of potential complications and to inform spine surgeons of strategies to minimize the risk of prone patient morbidity.

Allied health research positions: a qualitative evaluation of their impact.

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Wenke, Rachel J; Ward, Elizabeth C; Hickman, Ingrid; Hulcombe, Julie; Phillips, Rachel; Mickan, Sharon

2017-02-06

Research positions embedded within healthcare settings have been identified as an enabler to allied health professional (AHP) research capacity; however, there is currently limited research formally evaluating their impact. In 2008, a Health Practitioner industrial agreement funded a research capacity building initiative within Queensland Health, Australia, which included 15 new allied health research positions. The present project used a qualitative and realist approach to explore the impact of these research positions, as well as the mechanisms which facilitated or hindered their success within their respective organisations. Forty-four AHP employees from six governmental health services in Queensland, Australia, participated in the study. Individual interviews were undertaken, with individuals in research positions (n = 8) and their reporting line managers (n = 8). Four stakeholder focus groups were also conducted with clinicians, team leaders and professional heads who had engaged with the research positions. Nine key outcomes of the research positions were identified across individual, team/service and organisational/community levels. These outcomes included clinician skill development, increased research activity, clinical and service changes, increased research outputs and collaborations, enhanced research and workplace culture, improved profile of allied health, development of research infrastructure, and professional development of individuals in the research positions. Different mechanisms that influenced these outcomes were identified. These mechanisms were grouped by those related to the (1) research position itself, (2) organisational factors and (3) implementation factors. The present findings highlight the potential value of the research positions for individuals, teams and clinical services across different governmental healthcare services, and demonstrate the impact of the roles on building the internal and external profile of allied health

Positive organizational behavior and safety in the offshore oil industry: Exploring the determinants of positive safety climate

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Hystad, Sigurd W.; Bartone, Paul T.; Eid, Jarle

2013-01-01

Much research has now documented the substantial influence of safety climate on a range of important outcomes in safety critical organizations, but there has been scant attention to the question of what factors might be responsible for positive or negative safety climate. The present paper draws from positive organizational behavior theory to test workplace and individual factors that may affect safety climate. Specifically, we explore the potential influence of authentic leadership style and psychological capital on safety climate and risk outcomes. Across two samples of offshore oil-workers and seafarers working on oil platform supply ships, structural equation modeling yielded results that support a model in which authentic leadership exerts a direct effect on safety climate, as well as an indirect effect via psychological capital. This study shows the importance of leadership qualities as well as psychological factors in shaping a positive work safety climate and lowering the risk of accidents. PMID:24454524

Cancer-associated fibroblasts are positively correlated with metastatic potential of human gastric cancers

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Zhang Hao

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The prognosis of gastric cancer patients is difficult to predict because of defects in establishing the surgical-pathological features. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs have been found to play prominent role in promoting tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. Thus raises the hypothesis that the extent of CAFs prevalence may help to establish the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Methods Immunochemistry and realtime-PCR experiments were carried out to compare the expression of proteins which are specific markers of CAFs or secreted by CAFs in the tumor and normal tissue specimens. The extent of CAFs' prevalence was graded according to immunochemical staining, and correlation was further analyzed between CAFs' prevalence and other tumor characteristics which may influence the prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Results Nearly 80 percent of normal gastric tissues were negative or weak positive for CAFs staining, while more than 60 percent of gastric cancer tissues were moderate or strong positive for CAFs staining. Realtime-PCR results also showed significant elevated expression of FAP, SDF-1 and TGF-β1 in gastric cancer tissues compared to normal gastric tissues. Further analysis showed that CAFs' prevalence was correlated with tumor size, depth of the tumor, lymph node metastasis, liver metastasis or peritoneum metastasis. Conclusions Reactive cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs were frequently accumulated in gastric cancer tissues, and the prevalence of CAFs was correlated with tumor size, depth of the tumor and tumor metastasis, thus give some supports for establishing the prognosis of the gastric cancer patients.

Accuracy of simple urine tests for diagnosis of urinary tract infections in low-risk pregnant women La exactitud del examen de orina simple para diagnosticar infecciones del tracto urinario en gestantes de bajo riesgo Acurácia do exame de urina simples para diagnóstico de infecções do trato urinário em gestantes de baixo risco

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle Cristina Alves Feitosa

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Anatomic and physiological alterations during pregnancy predispose pregnant women to urinary tract infections (UTI. This study aimed to identify the accuracy of the simple urine test for UTI diagnosis in low-risk pregnant women. Diagnostic test performance was conducted in Botucatu, SP, involving 230 pregnant women, between 2006 and 2008. Results showed 10% UTI prevalence. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the simple urine test were 95.6%, 63.3% and 66.5%, respectively, in relation to UTI diagnoses. The analysis of positive (PPV and negative (NPV predictive values showed that, when a regular simple urine test was performed, the chance of UTI occurrence was small (NPV 99.2%. In view of an altered result for such a test, the possibility of UTI existence was small (PPV 22.4%. It was concluded that the accuracy of the simple urine test as a diagnostic means for UTI was low, and that performing a urine culture is essential for appropriate diagnosis.Las alteraciones anatómicas y fisiológicas de la gravidez predisponen a las gestantes a infecciones del tracto urinario (ITU. El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar la exactitud del examen de orina simple para diagnosticar ITU en gestantes de bajo riesgo. Se hizo uso del estudio de desempeño de prueba de diagnóstico realizado en Botucatu, San Pablo, con 230 gestantes, entre 2006 y 2008. Los resultados muestran que la prevalencia de ITU fue de 10%. La sensibilidad fue 95,6%, la especificidad 63,3% y la exactitud 66,5% del examen de orina simple, en relación al diagnóstico de ITU. El análisis de los valores de predicción positivo y negativo (VPP y VPN mostró que, en la vigencia de examen de orina simple normal, la probabilidad de haber ITU fue pequeña (VPN 99,2%. Frente al resultado alterado de ese examen, la probabilidad de haber ITU fue baja (VPP 22,4%. Se concluye que la exactitud del examen de orina simple como medio de diagnóstico de ITU fue baja, siendo indispensable la realizaci

YouTube: Educational Potentials and Pitfalls

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Jones, Troy; Cuthrell, Kristen

2011-01-01

The instructional potential of video technology in the classroom is promising, especially in light of the 21st Century Learning Framework (Siegle, 2009). Studies show positive gains in student outcomes as a result of the integration of video technology in instruction. This article explores potential uses of YouTube as an instructional aid in…

Positive Youth Development from Sport to Life: Explicit or Implicit Transfer?

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Turnnidge, Jennifer; Côté, Jean; Hancock, David J.

2014-01-01

While previous studies indicate that participation in sport has the potential to facilitate positive developmental outcomes, there is a lack of consensus regarding the possible transfer of these outcomes to other environments (i.e., school or work). An important issue within the positive development literature concerns how sport programs should…

Specific Reaction Patterns to Distinct Positive Emotional Cues Related to Incentive Motivation in Dependence of the Taq1A-Polymorphism: Molecular Genetic Associations of Early and Late Event-Related Potentials.

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Munk, Aisha J L; Wielpuetz, Catrin; Osinsky, Roman; Müller, Erik M; Grant, Phillip; Hennig, Jürgen

2016-01-01

Early and late event-related potential (ERP) responses, representing early subconscious and late motivational processes, were recorded for positive emotional words related to 'wanting' and 'liking', in dependence of the dopamine-related Taq1A genotype (ANKK1/DRD2). Research suggests that 'wanting' as opposed to 'liking' is related to dopaminergic processes. Therefore, it was hypothesized that risk allele carriers of the Taq1A polymorphism exhibit late ERP changes in reaction to words representing incentive motivation, i.e. 'wanting' (word categories 'lust' and 'anticipation'), but not to words representing 'liking' ('closeness'). Seventy-two male participants performed an emotional-word Stroop task during EEG recording and were genotyped according to the Taq1A polymorphism of ANKK1/DRD2. Positive emotional words related to anticipation and lust revealed blunted responses in the late positive potential (LPP) in carriers of the A1 allele, an effect absent in response to 'liking'-related words. These differences were not evident in the earlier posterior negativity (EPN). As no differences in dependence of the Taq1A genotype were observed in reaction to 'wanting'- and 'liking'-related words in the EPN, but merely in the LPP, it can be assumed that incentive-motivational stimuli only modify motivation-related ERP responses in carriers of the A1 allele of the Taq1A polymorphism, indicating the role of dopamine in late ERP components. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Rendimiento en pruebas cognitivas breves, de adultos mayores con demencia en estadios avanzados, residentes de una comunidad urbana de Lima, Perú

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Nilton Custodio

Full Text Available Objetivos. Evaluar el rendimiento de la prueba de dibujo de reloj en versión de Manos (PDR-M y Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE en su versión peruana, para detectar demencia de cualquier tipo en adultos mayores residentes de una comunidad urbana de Lima, Perú. Materiales y métodos. Análisis secundario de base de datos, de tipo observacional, analítico y transversal; con diseño de prueba diagnóstica, teniendo como prueba estándar a las evaluaciones clínica y neuropsicológica en conjunto. Se evaluó el rendimiento de las pruebas individualmente, así como de forma combinada. Resultados. El rendimiento de MMSE para la evaluación de pacientes con demencia de cualquier tipo presentó sensibilidad de 64,1%, especificidad de 84,1%, VPP de 24,4%, VPN de 96,7%, LR (+ de 4,03 y LR (- de 0,43. La PDR-M presentó sensibilidad de 89,3%, especificidad de 98,1%, VPP de 79,3%, VPN de 99,1%, LR (+ de 47,79 y LR (- de 0,11. Cuando se aplicaron ambas pruebas, y al menos una de ellas fue positiva, presentaron sensibilidad de 98,1%, especificidad de 84,1%, VPP de 33,1%, VPN de 99,8%, LR (+ de 6,17 y LR (- de 0,02. Al realizar el análisis, por separado, de demencia tipo alzhéimer y no alzhéimer, los valores de los parámetros no se diferencian sustancialmente de los obtenidos para demencias de cualquier tipo. Conclusiones. La combinación de MMSE y PDR-M demuestran un buen rendimiento para detectar demencia en estadios moderado y severo en población residente de una comunidad urbana de Lima.

Decision-making in stimulant and opiate addicts in protracted abstinence: evidence from computational modeling with pure users.

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Ahn, Woo-Young; Vasilev, Georgi; Lee, Sung-Ha; Busemeyer, Jerome R; Kruschke, John K; Bechara, Antoine; Vassileva, Jasmin

2014-01-01

Substance dependent individuals (SDI) often exhibit decision-making deficits; however, it remains unclear whether the nature of the underlying decision-making processes is the same in users of different classes of drugs and whether these deficits persist after discontinuation of drug use. We used computational modeling to address these questions in a unique sample of relatively "pure" amphetamine-dependent (N = 38) and heroin-dependent individuals (N = 43) who were currently in protracted abstinence, and in 48 healthy controls (HC). A Bayesian model comparison technique, a simulation method, and parameter recovery tests were used to compare three cognitive models: (1) Prospect Valence Learning with decay reinforcement learning rule (PVL-DecayRI), (2) PVL with delta learning rule (PVL-Delta), and (3) Value-Plus-Perseverance (VPP) model based on Win-Stay-Lose-Switch (WSLS) strategy. The model comparison results indicated that the VPP model, a hybrid model of reinforcement learning (RL) and a heuristic strategy of perseverance had the best post-hoc model fit, but the two PVL models showed better simulation and parameter recovery performance. Computational modeling results suggested that overall all three groups relied more on RL than on a WSLS strategy. Heroin users displayed reduced loss aversion relative to HC across all three models, which suggests that their decision-making deficits are longstanding (or pre-existing) and may be driven by reduced sensitivity to loss. In contrast, amphetamine users showed comparable cognitive functions to HC with the VPP model, whereas the second best-fitting model with relatively good simulation performance (PVL-DecayRI) revealed increased reward sensitivity relative to HC. These results suggest that some decision-making deficits persist in protracted abstinence and may be mediated by different mechanisms in opiate and stimulant users.

Decision-making in stimulant and opiate addicts in protracted abstinence: evidence from computational modeling with pure users

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Woo-Young eAhn

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Substance dependent individuals (SDI often exhibit decision-making deficits; however, it remains unclear whether the nature of the underlying decision-making processes is the same in users of different classes of drugs and whether these deficits persist after discontinuation of drug use. We used computational modeling to address these questions in a unique sample of relatively pure amphetamine-dependent (N=38 and heroin-dependent individuals (N=43 who were currently in protracted abstinence, and in 48 healthy controls. A Bayesian model comparison technique, a simulation method, and parameter recovery tests were used to compare three cognitive models: (1 Prospect Valence Learning with decay reinforcement learning rule (PVL-DecayRI, (2 PVL with delta learning rule (PVL-Delta, and (3 Value-Plus-Perseverance (VPP models based on Win-Stay-Lose-Switch (WSLS strategy. The model comparison results indicated that the VPP model, a hybrid model of reinforcement learning (RL and a heuristic strategy of perseverance had the best post hoc model fit, but the two PVL models showed better simulation performance. Computational modeling results suggested that overall all three groups relied more on RL than on a WSLS strategy. Heroin users displayed reduced loss aversion relative to healthy controls across all three models, which suggests that their decision-making deficits are longstanding (or pre-existing and may be driven by reduced sensitivity to loss. In contrast, amphetamine users showed comparable cognitive functions to healthy controls with the VPP model, whereas the second best-fitting model with relatively good simulation performance (PVL-DecayRI revealed increased reward sensitivity relative to healthy controls. These results suggest that some decision-making deficits persist in protracted abstinence and may be mediated by different mechanisms in opiate and stimulant users.

Stochastic profit-based scheduling of industrial virtual power plant using the best demand response strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nosratabadi, Seyyed Mostafa; Hooshmand, Rahmat-Allah; Gholipour, Eskandar

2016-01-01

Highlights: • VPPs and IVPPs are defined for energy management of aggregated generations. • IVPP can manage industrial microgrid containing some relevant load and generation. • A stochastic modeling is proposed to schedule optimal generations in competition market. • Wind generation and day-ahead and spot market prices are considered to be stochastic. • A new DRL program selection scheme is presented in the scheduling procedure. - Abstract: One of the main classified microgrids in a power system is the industrial microgrid. Due to its behaviors and the heavy loads, its energy management is challengeable. Virtual Power Plant (VPP) can be an important concept in managing such problems in this kind of grids. Here, a transmission power system is considered as a Regional Electric Company (REC) and the VPPs comprising Distributed Generation (DG) units and Demand Response Loads (DRLs) are determined in this system. This paper focuses on Industrial VPP (IVPP) and its management. An IVPP can be determined as a management unit comprising generations and loads in an industrial microgrid. Since the scheduling procedure for these units is very important for their participation in a short-term electric market, a stochastic formulation is proposed for power scheduling in VPPs especially in IVPPs in this paper. By introducing the DRL programs and using the proposed modeling, the operator can select the best DRL program for each VPP in a scheduling procedure. In this regard, a suitable approach is presented to determine the proposed formulation and its solution in a Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP). To validate the performance of the proposed method, the IEEE Reliability Test System (IEEE-RTS) is considered to apply the method on it, while some challenging aspects are presented.

Positive emotions in earthquake survivors in El Salvador (2001).

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Vázquez, Carmelo; Cervellón, Priscilla; Pérez-Sales, Pau; Vidales, Diana; Gaborit, Mauricio

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze, within a more extensive intervention program, the existence of positive emotions and positive coping in the refugees at the two largest shelters created after the earthquakes of El Salvador in January, 2001. One hundred and fifteen survivors were interviewed in the shelters about different aspects related to positive cognitions and emotions experienced during their sojourn at the camps, as well as their perception of aspects of posttraumatic growth. The results show that most of the people affected by the earthquake revealed a consistent pattern of positive reactions and emotions. The potential implications of these results in the individual sphere, as buffering elements to protect people from the effects of a traumatic experience receive comment.

Positive Education for Young Children: Effects of a Positive Psychology Intervention for Preschool Children on Subjective Well Being and Learning Behaviors

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Anat Shoshani

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Despite the flourishing in recent years in applications of positive psychology in the field of education, there is a paucity of research investigating positive psychology interventions for preschool children. The present study examined the effects of a positive psychology-based intervention conducted in Israel on children’s subjective well-being, mental health and learning behaviors. Twelve preschool classrooms of 3–6.5 year-olds were randomly assigned to a positive psychology intervention condition or a wait-list control condition. In the intervention condition, during one school year, 160 children experienced eight modules of basic concepts in positive psychology that were adapted to the developmental characteristics of young children and were compared to 155 children in demographically similar control classrooms. Children were administered a pre-test and post-test of subjective well-being measures. In addition, children’s mental health and emotional well-being were measured by parental questionnaires. Preschool teachers completed questionnaires concerning children’s learning behaviors. The findings showed significant increases in subjective well-being and positive learning behaviors among the intervention participants, with no significant changes in the control group. The results highlight the potential of positive psychology interventions for increasing subjective well-being and a positive approach to learning at young ages.

A positive deviance approach to early childhood obesity: cross-sectional characterization of positive outliers.

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Foster, Byron Alexander; Farragher, Jill; Parker, Paige; Hale, Daniel E

2015-06-01

Positive deviance methodology has been applied in the developing world to address childhood malnutrition and has potential for application to childhood obesity in the United States. We hypothesized that among children at high-risk for obesity, evaluating normal weight children will enable identification of positive outlier behaviors and practices. In a community at high-risk for obesity, a cross-sectional mixed-methods analysis was done of normal weight, overweight, and obese children, classified by BMI percentile. Parents were interviewed using a semistructured format in regard to their children's general health, feeding and activity practices, and perceptions of weight. Interviews were conducted in 40 homes in the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas with a largely Hispanic (87.5%) population. Demographics, including income, education, and food assistance use, did not vary between groups. Nearly all (93.8%) parents of normal weight children perceived their child to be lower than the median weight. Group differences were observed for reported juice and yogurt consumption. Differences in both emotional feeding behaviors and parents' internalization of reasons for healthy habits were identified as different between groups. We found subtle variations in reported feeding and activity practices by weight status among healthy children in a population at high risk for obesity. The behaviors and attitudes described were consistent with previous literature; however, the local strategies associated with a healthy weight are novel, potentially providing a basis for a specific intervention in this population.

Current models of positive mental health

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Stanojević Dragana Z.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of positive mental health represents not merely the absence of mental disease but presence of high level of happiness and well-being. In this paper we mentioned shortly the earliest concept of mental health, presented by Marie Jahoda in the mid-twentieth century. After that, we described two traditions in understanding and researching of subjective well-being: hedonic and eudaimonic approach. First approach focuses on investigation of positive affects and happiness as emotional and life satisfaction as cognitive component of subjective well-being. Second tradition emphasizes potentials and competences that person develops to the highest level, in personal and social area. Both psychological and social well-being are core concept of positive mental health psychology, designated together as positive functioning. The psychological well-being comprises six dimensions: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, environmental mastery, autonomy, purpose of life and personal growth. Social well-being consists of five dimensions: social integration, social acceptance, social contribution, social actualization and social coherence. By integrating hedonic and eudaimonic well-being as well as absence of mental disease, Corey Keyes introduced concept of complete mental health. People with complete mental health have reported absence of disease during past year and presence of high level of emotional, psychological and social well-being (flourishing. People with incomplete mental health have also reported absence of mental disease but low level of positive functioning (languishing. Keyes thought there are people with complete and incomplete mental illness; both groups report presence of mental disease, but second group has high level of positive functioning. Models of positive mental health are widely used in research studies as well as in programs for prevention and promotion of mental health. .

Inertial piezoelectric linear motor driven by a single-phase harmonic wave with automatic clamping mechanism

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He, Liangguo; Chu, Yuheng; Hao, Sai; Zhao, Xiaoyong; Dong, Yuge; Wang, Yong

2018-05-01

A novel, single-phase, harmonic-driven, inertial piezoelectric linear motor using an automatic clamping mechanism was designed, fabricated, and tested to reduce the sliding friction and simplify the drive mechanism and power supply control of the inertial motor. A piezoelectric bimorph and a flexible hinge were connected in series to form the automatic clamping mechanism. The automatic clamping mechanism was used as the driving and clamping elements. A dynamic simulation by Simulink was performed to prove the feasibility of the motor. The finite element method software COMSOL was used to design the structure of the motor. An experimental setup was built to validate the working principle and evaluate the performance of the motor. The prototype motor outputted a no-load velocity of 3.178 mm/s at a voltage of 220 Vp-p and a maximum traction force of 4.25 N under a preload force of 8 N. The minimum resolution of 1.14 μm was achieved at a driving frequency of 74 Hz, a driving voltage of 50 Vp-p, and a preload force of 0 N.

A 16.3 pJ/pulse low-complexity and energy-efficient transmitter with adjustable pulse parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Jun; Zhao Yi; Shao Ke; Chen Hu; Xia Lingli; Hong Zhiliang

2011-01-01

This paper presents a novel, fully integrated transmitter for 3-5 GHz pulsed UWB. The BPSK modulation transmitter has been implemented in SMIC CMOS 0.13 μm technology with a 1.2-V supply voltage and a die size of 0.8 x 0.95 mm 2 . This transmitter is based on the impulse response filter method, which uses a tunable R paralleled with a LC frequency selection network to realize continuously adjustable pulse parameters, including bandwidth, width and amplitude. Due to the extremely low duty of the pulsed UWB, a proposed output buffer is employed to save power consumption significantly. Finally, measurement results show that the transmitter consumes only 16.3 pJ/pulse to achieve a pulse repetition rate of 100 Mb/s. Generated pulses strictly comply with the FCC spectral mask. The continuously variable pulse width is from 900 to 1.5 ns and the amplitude with the minimum 178 mVpp and the maximum 432 mVpp can be achieved. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Vectorization, parallelization and porting of nuclear codes (porting). Progress report fiscal 1999

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawasaki, Nobuo; Nemoto, Toshiyuki; Kawai, Wataru; Ishizuki, Shigeru [Fujitsu Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Ogasawara, Shinobu; Kume, Etsuo; Adachi, Masaaki [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment; Yatake, Yo-ichi [Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

2001-01-01

Several computer codes in the nuclear field have been vectorized, parallelized and transported on the FUJITSU VPP500 system, the AP3000 system, the SX-4 system and the Paragon system at Center for Promotion of Computational Science and Engineering in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. We dealt with 18 codes in fiscal 1999. These results are reported in 3 parts, i.e., the vectorization and the parallelization part on vector processors, the parallelization port on scalar processors and the porting part. In this report, we describe the porting. In this porting part, the porting of Assisted Model Building with Energy Refinement code version 5 (AMBER5), general purpose Monte Carlo codes far neutron and photon transport calculations based on continuous energy and multigroup methods (MVP/GMVP), automatic editing system for MCNP library code (autonj), neutron damage calculations for materials irradiations and neutron damage calculations for compounds code (SPECTER/SPECOMP), severe accident analysis code (MELCOR) and COolant Boiling in Rod Arrays, Two-Fluid code (COBRA-TF) on the VPP500 system and/or the AP3000 system are described. (author)

Biasing vector network analyzers using variable frequency and amplitude signals

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Nobles, J. E.; Zagorodnii, V.; Hutchison, A.; Celinski, Z.

2016-08-01

We report the development of a test setup designed to provide a variable frequency biasing signal to a vector network analyzer (VNA). The test setup is currently used for the testing of liquid crystal (LC) based devices in the microwave region. The use of an AC bias for LC based devices minimizes the negative effects associated with ionic impurities in the media encountered with DC biasing. The test setup utilizes bias tees on the VNA test station to inject the bias signal. The square wave biasing signal is variable from 0.5 to 36.0 V peak-to-peak (VPP) with a frequency range of DC to 10 kHz. The test setup protects the VNA from transient processes, voltage spikes, and high-frequency leakage. Additionally, the signals to the VNA are fused to ½ amp and clipped to a maximum of 36 VPP based on bias tee limitations. This setup allows us to measure S-parameters as a function of both the voltage and the frequency of the applied bias signal.

Love withdrawal predicts electrocortical responses to emotional faces with performance feedback: a follow-up and extension.

Science.gov (United States)

Huffmeijer, Renske; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; Alink, Lenneke R A; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H

2014-06-02

Parental use of love withdrawal is thought to affect children's later psychological functioning because it creates a link between children's performance and relational consequences. In addition, recent studies have begun to show that experiences of love withdrawal also relate to the neural processing of socio-emotional information relevant to a performance-relational consequence link, and can moderate effects of oxytocin on social information processing and behavior. The current study follows-up on our previous results by attempting to confirm and extend previous findings indicating that experiences of maternal love withdrawal are related to electrocortical responses to emotional faces presented with performance feedback. More maternal love withdrawal was related to enhanced early processing of facial feedback stimuli (reflected in more positive VPP amplitudes, and confirming previous findings). However, attentional engagement with and processing of the stimuli at a later stage were diminished in those reporting higher maternal love withdrawal (reflected in less positive LPP amplitudes, and diverging from previous findings). Maternal love withdrawal affects the processing of emotional faces presented with performance feedback differently in different stages of neural processing.

Photoinduced effects of ferroelectric domains in PbZr1-xTixO3 thin films as obtained by using piezoresponse force microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Y. H.; Kim, C. H.; Hwang, H. J.; Cho, J. H.; Moon, H. B.; Bhang, S. H.

2011-01-01

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) has been used to investigate the photoinduced effect of ferroelectric domains in PbZr 1-x Ti x O 3 (PZT) thin films. In order to perform nondestructive visualization of the high-resolution domain structure, we optimized the imaging condition, such as applying a lower voltage than 1.0 Vpp (peak-to-peak voltage). In this study, domain changes were measured before and after illumination on the surface of PZT films by using an UV light emitting diode (LED) source (λ = 310 nm) with a focusing lens to investigate the influence of the photoinduced carriers on the ferroelectric polarization. In addition, to investigate the photoinduced effects on the domain distribution, we performed histogram of positive and negative domains before and after UV-light illumination. The illumination with UV light resulted in an increase of the positive domain of the out-of-plane mode. Also, a change in the out-of-plane domain distribution was observed before and after UV illumination. The relaxation of photoinduced changes was monitored by repeated scans within a time range of 20 ∼ 60 minutes.

Reproductive desires and intentions of HIV‑positive women of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Key words: HIV‑positive women of reproductive age; Jos; reproductive intention; serodiscordant or ... with plasma viral RNA suppression with HAART, can reduce the risk of ..... Evalution of sperm washing as a potential method of reducing.

Positive Technologies for Understanding and Promoting Positive Emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Baños, Rosa María; Carrillo, Alba; Etchemendy, Ernestina; Botella, Cristina

2017-10-26

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become increasingly present in our lives, and their use has spread considerably. This paper presents a review of the way ICTs can help practitioners and researchers to study, promote, and train positive emotions. It is framed within the field of Positive Technologies: the applied scientific approach to the study of the use of technology to improve the quality of personal experience, with the goal of increasing wellbeing. First, the article presents an introduction to the topic of technologies and positive emotions. Then, it describes how ICTs can aid in monitoring, assessing, promoting, modifying, and training positive emotions. Finally, implications and future directions of the role of Positive Technologies in positive emotions are discussed. The authors conclude that, in the near future, Positive Technologies and the field of positive emotions will interact synergistically, producing an exponential growth in the understanding and promotion of positive emotions.

Scintillating fibre detectors using position-sensitive photomultipliers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agoritsas, V.; Bergdolt, A.M.; Bing, O.; Bravar, A.; Ditta, J.; Drevenak, R.

1995-01-01

Scintillating fibre technology has made substantial progress, and has demonstrated great potential for fast tracking and triggering in high luminosity experiments in Particle Physics. Some recent issues of the RD-17 project at CERN are presented for fast and precise readout of scintillating fibre arrays, as well as for upgrade of position-sensitive photomultipliers. Excellent matching of the scintillating fibre and the position-sensitive photomultiplier, in particular in time characteristics, allowed to achieve excellent detector performances, typically a spatial resolution of ∼ 125 μm with time resolution better than 1 ns and detection efficiency greater than 95%. (author)10 refs.; 25 figs.; 1 tab

Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Youngquist, Robert; Garcia, Alyssa; Simmons, Stephen

2010-01-01

Optical hardware has been developed to measure the depth of defects in the Space Shuttle Orbiter's windows. In this hardware, a mirror is translated such that its position corresponds to the defect's depth, so the depth measurement problem is transferred to a mirror-position measurement problem. This is preferable because the mirror is internal to the optical system and thus accessible. Based on requirements supplied by the window inspectors, the depth of the defects needs to be measured over a range of 200 microns with a resolution of about 100 nm and an accuracy of about 400 nm. These same requirements then apply to measuring the position of the mirror, and in addition, since this is a scanning system, a response time of about 10 ms is needed. A market search was conducted and no sensor that met these requirements that also fit into the available housing volume (less than one cubic inch) was found, so a novel sensor configuration was constructed to meet the requirements. This new sensor generates a nearly linearly varying magnetic field over a small region of space, which can easily be sampled, resulting in a voltage proportional to position. Experiments were done with a range of inductor values, drive voltages, drive frequencies, and inductor shapes. A rough mathematical model was developed for the device that, in most aspects, describes how it operates and what electrical parameters should be chosen for best performance. The final configuration met all the requirements, yielding a small rugged sensor that was easy to use and had nanometer resolution over more than the 200-micron range required. The inductive position sensor is a compact device (potentially as small as 2 cubic centimeters), which offers nanometer-position resolution over a demonstrated range of nearly 1 mm. One of its advantages is the simplicity of its electrical design. Also, the sensor resolution is nearly uniform across its operational range, which is in contrast to eddy current and

On the Existence of Positive Solutions of a Nonlinear Differential Equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Ben Othman

2007-01-01

A is a continuous function on [0,ω, positive and differentiable on (0,ω, and ψ is a nonnegative function on (0,ω×[0,∞ such that t↦tψ(x,t is continuous on [0,∞ for each x∈(0,ω. We give asymptotic behavior for positive solutions using a potential theory approach.

How the Post-Secondary Classroom Can Benefit from Positive Psychology Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Kennette, Lynne N.; Myatt, Beverley

2018-01-01

Positive psychology is based on the notion that people are motivated to develop into their best selves and reach their maximum potential. Martin Seligman, a pioneer of positive psychology, defines it as "the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. The field is founded on the belief that people want…

The uterine blush. A potential false-positive in Meckel's scan interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fink-Bennett, D.

1982-01-01

To determine the presence, prevalence, and clinical importance of /sup 99m/Tc pertechnetate uterine uptake, this retrospective analysis of 71 Meckel's scans was undertaken. Specifically, each study was evaluated for the presence of a focal accumulation of radiotracer cephalad to the bladder. Patients received an intravenous dose of 150 microCi/kg of /sup 99m/Tc pertechnetate. Each study consisted of 15 one minute anterior serial gamma camera images, and a 15, 30, and 60 minute anterior, right lateral and posterior scintiscan. Menstrual histories were obtained from all patients except two. No males (33/33), nor premenstrual (13/13), menopausal (4/4) or posthysterectomy (2/2) patients revealed a uterine blush. Eleven of 15 patients (73%) with regular menses demonstrated a uterine blush. They were in the menstrual or secretory phases of their cycle. Four demonstrated no uterine uptake, had regular periods, but were in the proliferative phase of their cycle. Two with irregular periods, and one with no recorded menstrual history, manifested the blush. Radiotracer should be expected in the uterus during the menstrual and secretory phases of the menstrual cycle. It is a manifestation of a normal physiologic phenomenon, and must be recognized to prevent false-positive Meckel's scan interpretations

Heavy ion beam study of potential formation in bumpy torus plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takasugi, Keiichi.

1985-01-01

A heavy ion beam probe is constructed for the study of plasma confinement in Nagoya Bumpy Torus (NBT-1/1M). The measurement of the local plasma potential as well as the electron density profile is possible with good spatial (1 -- 2 cm) and temporal (-- 1 msec) resolutions. The feedback controlled detection technique and the time resolved fast detection technique are coupled to use, which enables us to measure local potential reliably even in the pulsed experiments. The process of the devlopment of concentric equipotential surface is observed. The cold and collisional plasma in bumpy torus is not in the equilibrium (C-mode), and the vertically polarized potential profile is produced by the toroidal drift. With the growth of warm collisionless electron component, the polarization is poloidally short-circuited, and the concentric equipotential surface is developed. The concentric negative potential well and its positive rim are observed in the standard operation. The position of the potential boundary (rim) moves with the second harmonic ECRH zone at the midplane of each mirror section, where the hot electron ring exists. The rim potential is formed by the direct loss of warm electrons. It is confirmed that the core electron heating is essential for the negative potential formation. The potential depth is much larger than the ion temperature Tsub(i), and cannot be explained by the existing neoclassical theory. A stable positive potential is observed near T-M transition. The positive potential is also observed in the ion heated plasma. Relating to the growth of the high energy component, the potential formation due to direct loss process is discussed. (author)

The epidemiology of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis at ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Currently, data regarding the magnitude of TB and associated factors have been released at different health facilities as part of service auditing. However ... Logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between TB positivity and potential associated variables; p < 0.05 was considered to be significant.

Functionally Independent Components of the Late Positive Event-Related Potential During Visual Spatial Attention

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Makeig, Scott; Westeifleld, Marissa; Jung, Tzyy-Ping; Covington, James; Townsend, Jeanne; Sejnowski, Terrence J; Courchesne, Eric

1999-01-01

Human event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 10 subjects presented with visual target and nontarget stimuli at five screen locations and responding to targets presented at one of the locations...

Mouse models of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shakur Mohibi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Despite advances in genetic and biochemical analyses, the incidence of breast cancer and its associated mortality remain very high. About 60 - 70% of breast cancers are Estrogen Receptor alpha (ER-α positive and are dependent on estrogen for growth. Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs have therefore provided an effective targeted therapy to treat ER-α positive breast cancer patients. Unfortunately, development of resistance to endocrine therapy is frequent and leads to cancer recurrence. Our understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in the development of ER-α positive tumors and their resistance to ER antagonists is currently limited due to lack of experimental models of ER-α positive breast cancer. In most mouse models of breast cancer, the tumors that form are typically ER-negative and independent of estrogen for their growth. However, in recent years more attention has been given to develop mouse models that develop different subtypes of breast cancers, including ER-positive tumors. In this review, we discuss the currently available mouse models that develop ER-α positive mammary tumors and their potential use to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of ER-α positive breast cancer development and endocrine resistance.

Skin Potential as an Indicator of Emotion

Science.gov (United States)

Seligman, Linda

1975-01-01

The skin-potential responses of six college students were monitored while each was seen for 10 counseling sessions. Negative skin-potential responses were accompanied by feelings described as pleasant and released; positive responses were associated with unpleasant and inhibited feelings; and neutral responses were often associated with unpleasant…

Evaluation of a value prior to pulping-thermomechanical pulp business concept. Part 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Ted Bilek; Carl Houtman; Peter Ince

2011-01-01

Value Prior to Pulping (VPP) is a novel biorefining concept for pulp mills that includes hydrolysis extraction of hemicellulose wood sugars and acetic acid from pulpwood prior to pulping. The concept involves conversion of wood sugars via fermentation to fuel ethanol or other chemicals and the use of remaining solid wood material in the pulping process. This paper...

Exploring Positive Survivorship Experiences of Indigenous Australian Cancer Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Tam, Laura; Garvey, Gail; Meiklejohn, Judith; Martin, Jennifer; Adams, Jon; Walpole, Euan; Fay, Michael; Valery, Patricia

2018-01-01

Amongst Indigenous Australians, “cancer” has negative connotations that detrimentally impact upon access to cancer care services. Barriers to accessing cancer services amongst Indigenous Australians are widely reported. In contrast, factors that facilitate this cohort to successfully navigate cancer care services (“enablers”) are scarcely reported in the literature. Through qualitative interviews, this article examines factors that assist Indigenous Australians to have positive cancer experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve adult Indigenous oncology patients recruited from a tertiary hospital in Queensland, Australia during 2012–2014. Data generated from the interviews were independently reviewed by two researchers via inductive thematic analytical processes. Discussions followed by consensus on the major categories allowed conclusions to be drawn on potential enablers. Two major categories of enablers were identified by the researchers: resilience and communication. Individual’s intrinsic strength, their coping strategies, and receipt of support improved participant’s resilience and consequently supported a positive experience. Communication methods and an effective patient-provider relationship facilitated positive experiences for participants. Despite potential barriers to access of care for Indigenous cancer patients, participants in the study demonstrated that it was still possible to focus on the positive aspects of their cancer experiences. Many participants explained how cancer changed their outlook on life, often for the better, with many feeling empowered as they progressed through their cancer diagnosis and treatment processes. PMID:29342934

Are positive emotions just as "positive" across cultures?

Science.gov (United States)

Leu, Janxin; Wang, Jennifer; Koo, Kelly

2011-08-01

Whereas positive emotions and feeling unequivocally good may be at the heart of well-being among Westerners, positive emotions often carry negative associations within many Asian cultures. Based on a review of East-West cultural differences in dialectical emotions, or co-occurring positive and negative feelings, we predicted culture to influence the association between positive emotions and depression, but not the association between negative emotions and depression. As predicted, in a survey of over 600 European-, immigrant Asian-, and Asian American college students, positive emotions were associated with depression symptoms among European Americans and Asian Americans, but not immigrant Asians. Negative emotions were associated with depression symptoms among all three groups. We also found initial evidence that acculturation (i.e., nativity) may influence the role of positive emotions in depression: Asian Americans fell "in between" the two other groups. These findings suggest the importance of studying the role of culture in positive emotions and in positive psychology. The use of interventions based on promoting positive emotions in clinical psychology among Asian clients is briefly discussed. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Language as Pure Potential

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Joseph Sung-Yul

2016-01-01

Language occupies a crucial position in neoliberalism, due to the reimagination of language as commodified skill. This paper studies the role of language ideology in this transformation by identifying a particular ideology that facilitates this process, namely the ideology which views language as pure potential. Neoliberalism treats language as a…

Eulerian velocity reconstruction in ideal atmospheric dynamics using potential vorticity and potential temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Blender, R.

2009-04-01

An approach for the reconstruction of atmospheric flow is presented which uses space- and time-dependent fields of density ?, potential vorticity Q and potential temperature Î& cedil;[J. Phys. A, 38, 6419 (2005)]. The method is based on the fundamental equations without approximation. The basic idea is to consider the time-dependent continuity equation as a condition for zero divergence of momentum in four dimensions (time and space, with unit velocity in time). This continuity equation is solved by an ansatz for the four-dimensional momentum using three conserved stream functions, the potential vorticity, potential temperature and a third field, denoted as ?-potential. In zonal flows, the ?-potential identifies the initial longitude of particles, whereas potential vorticity and potential temperature identify mainly meridional and vertical positions. Since the Lagrangian tracers Q, Î&,cedil; and ? determine the Eulerian velocity field, the reconstruction combines the Eulerian and the Lagrangian view of hydrodynamics. In stationary flows, the ?-potential is related to the Bernoulli function. The approach requires that the gradients of the potential vorticity and potential temperature do not vanish when the velocity remains finite. This behavior indicates a possible interrelation with stability conditions. Examples with analytical solutions are presented for a Rossby wave and zonal and rotational shear flows.

Detecting positive quadrant dependence and positive function dependence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janic-Wróblewska, A.; Kallenberg, W.C.M.; Ledwina, T.

2004-01-01

There is a lot of interest in positive dependence going beyond linear correlation. In this paper three new rank tests for testing independence against positive dependence are introduced. The first one is directed on positive quadrant dependence, the second and third one concentrate on positive

Detecting positive quadrant dependence and positive function dependence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janic-Wróblewska, A.; Kallenberg, W.C.M.; Ledwina, T.

2003-01-01

There is a lot of interest in positive dependence going beyond linear correlation. In this paper three new rank tests for testing independence against positive dependence are introduced. The first one is directed on positive quadrant dependence, the second and third one concentrate on positive

Effects of Positive Mood on Generative and Evaluative Thinking in Creative Problem Solving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Politis

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The goal of this study was to examine the role of positive mood on generative and evaluative thinking in creative problem solving. Participants included 89 middle school students who watched either a positive or neutral mood video program. After students watched the video, they completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS scale to determine their current mood. Participants were then divided into three groups and given a divergent thinking task to complete. Group A was asked to generate potential solutions to a problem (generative thinking. Group B was given one solution to the problem that had been offered by participants’ peers in a previous pilot study and then asked to generate possible advantages to this particular solution (evaluative thinking. Group C was given the potential solution but asked to generate potential disadvantages (also evaluative thinking. Students in the positive mood condition were significantly more fluent than those who watched the neutral video. Students in the neutral mood condition generated more disadvantages than advantages, but this difference was significant only at p < .10. Implications and limitations of these results were discussed.

Position and mass determination of multiple particles using cantilever based mass sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dohn, Soeren; Schmid, Silvan; Boisen, Anja; Amiot, Fabien

2010-01-01

Resonant microcantilevers are highly sensitive to added masses and have the potential to be used as mass-spectrometers. However, making the detection of individual added masses quantitative requires the position determination for each added mass. We derive expressions relating the position and mass of several added particles to the resonant frequencies of a cantilever, and an identification procedure valid for particles with different masses is proposed. The identification procedure is tested by calculating positions and mass of multiple microparticles with similar mass positioned on individual microcantilevers. Excellent agreement is observed between calculated and measured positions and calculated and theoretical masses.

Microbial community composition is unaffected by anode potential

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Xiuping

2014-01-21

There is great controversy on how different set anode potentials affect the performance of a bioelectrochemical system (BES). It is often reported that more positive potentials improve acclimation and performance of exoelectrogenic biofilms, and alter microbial community structure, while in other studies relatively more negative potentials were needed to achieve higher current densities. To address this issue, the biomass, electroactivity, and community structure of anodic biofilms were examined over a wide range of set anode potentials (-0.25, -0.09, 0.21, 0.51, and 0.81 V vs a standard hydrogen electrode, SHE) in single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells. Maximum currents produced using a wastewater inoculum increased with anode potentials in the range of -0.25 to 0.21 V, but decreased at 0.51 and 0.81 V. The maximum currents were positively correlated with increasing biofilm biomass. Pyrosequencing indicated biofilm communities were all similar and dominated by bacteria most similar to Geobacter sulfurreducens. Differences in anode performance with various set potentials suggest that the exoelectrogenic communities self-regulate their exocellular electron transfer pathways to adapt to different anode potentials. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

Microbial community composition is unaffected by anode potential

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Xiuping; Yates, Matthew D.; Hatzell, Marta C.; Rao, Hari Ananda; Saikaly, Pascal; Logan, Bruce E.

2014-01-01

There is great controversy on how different set anode potentials affect the performance of a bioelectrochemical system (BES). It is often reported that more positive potentials improve acclimation and performance of exoelectrogenic biofilms, and alter microbial community structure, while in other studies relatively more negative potentials were needed to achieve higher current densities. To address this issue, the biomass, electroactivity, and community structure of anodic biofilms were examined over a wide range of set anode potentials (-0.25, -0.09, 0.21, 0.51, and 0.81 V vs a standard hydrogen electrode, SHE) in single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells. Maximum currents produced using a wastewater inoculum increased with anode potentials in the range of -0.25 to 0.21 V, but decreased at 0.51 and 0.81 V. The maximum currents were positively correlated with increasing biofilm biomass. Pyrosequencing indicated biofilm communities were all similar and dominated by bacteria most similar to Geobacter sulfurreducens. Differences in anode performance with various set potentials suggest that the exoelectrogenic communities self-regulate their exocellular electron transfer pathways to adapt to different anode potentials. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

Culture-positive sepsis in neonatal camelids: 21 cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolente, Brett A; Lindborg, Susan; Palmer, Jonathan E; Wilkins, Pamela A

2007-01-01

There is limited literature on neonatal bacterial sepsis in New World (NW) camelids. Bacterial culture-positive crias have clinical differences based on the specific bacterial genera isolated. Bacterial culture-positive NW camelid crias blood gas abnormalities, potentially complicating diagnosis. Affected crias may not have localizing signs at presentation and are not usually febrile, although hypothermia, tachypnea, and tachycardia are relatively common. Total protein concentration was not a substitute for immunoglobulin G measurement in septic crias in this study. Familiarity with the clinical presentation and common pathogens isolated should improve early recognition and treatment and ultimately outcome of crias with sepsis.

High Hopes: Organizational Position, Employment Experiences, and Women's and Men's Promotion Aspirations.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassirer, Naomi; Reskin, Barbara

2000-01-01

Analysis of General Social Survey data (n=733) indicated that men attached greater importance to promotion than women because they were more likely in positions with promotion potential. Results support Kanter's thesis that men's and women's positions in the workplace opportunity structure, not gender, shape career attitudes. (Contains 66…

Relationship of condylar position to disc position and morphology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Incesu, L.; Taskaya-Yilmaz, N. E-mail: nergizy@omu.edu.tr; Oeguetcen-Toller, M.; Uzun, E

2004-09-01

Introduction/objective: The purpose of this study was to assess whether condylar position, as depicted by magnetic resonance imaging, was an indicator of disc morphology and position. Methods and material: One hundred and twenty two TMJs of 61 patients with temporomandibular joint disorder were examined. Condylar position, disc deformity and degree of anterior disc displacement were evaluated by using magnetic resonance imaging. Results and discussion: Posterior condyle position was found to be the main feature of temporomandibular joints with slight and moderate anterior disc displacement. No statistical significance was found between the condylar position, and reducing and nonreducing disc positions. On the other hand, superior disc position was found to be statistically significant for centric condylar position. Conclusion: It was concluded that posterior condyle position could indicate anterior disc displacement whereas there was no relation between the position of condyle and the disc deformity.

Educational Potential of Case-Study Technology

OpenAIRE

Fedorinova, Zoya; Vorobeva, Victoria; Malyanova, Marina

2015-01-01

This article presents the results of phenomenological and typological analysis of case-study technology educational potential. The definition “educational potential of case-study technology” is given, the main characteristics of which are changed in communication and collaborative activity quality, appearance of educational initiatives, change of participants’ position in learning process, formation of “collective subject” in collaborative activity, increase of learning (subject) results. Dep...

Ultra Wideband Indoor Positioning Technologies: Analysis and Recent Advances.

Science.gov (United States)

Alarifi, Abdulrahman; Al-Salman, AbdulMalik; Alsaleh, Mansour; Alnafessah, Ahmad; Al-Hadhrami, Suheer; Al-Ammar, Mai A; Al-Khalifa, Hend S

2016-05-16

In recent years, indoor positioning has emerged as a critical function in many end-user applications; including military, civilian, disaster relief and peacekeeping missions. In comparison with outdoor environments, sensing location information in indoor environments requires a higher precision and is a more challenging task in part because various objects reflect and disperse signals. Ultra WideBand (UWB) is an emerging technology in the field of indoor positioning that has shown better performance compared to others. In order to set the stage for this work, we provide a survey of the state-of-the-art technologies in indoor positioning, followed by a detailed comparative analysis of UWB positioning technologies. We also provide an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to analyze the present state of UWB positioning technologies. While SWOT is not a quantitative approach, it helps in assessing the real status and in revealing the potential of UWB positioning to effectively address the indoor positioning problem. Unlike previous studies, this paper presents new taxonomies, reviews some major recent advances, and argues for further exploration by the research community of this challenging problem space.

Ultra Wideband Indoor Positioning Technologies: Analysis and Recent Advances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulrahman Alarifi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In recent years, indoor positioning has emerged as a critical function in many end-user applications; including military, civilian, disaster relief and peacekeeping missions. In comparison with outdoor environments, sensing location information in indoor environments requires a higher precision and is a more challenging task in part because various objects reflect and disperse signals. Ultra WideBand (UWB is an emerging technology in the field of indoor positioning that has shown better performance compared to others. In order to set the stage for this work, we provide a survey of the state-of-the-art technologies in indoor positioning, followed by a detailed comparative analysis of UWB positioning technologies. We also provide an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT to analyze the present state of UWB positioning technologies. While SWOT is not a quantitative approach, it helps in assessing the real status and in revealing the potential of UWB positioning to effectively address the indoor positioning problem. Unlike previous studies, this paper presents new taxonomies, reviews some major recent advances, and argues for further exploration by the research community of this challenging problem space.

Boundary layer friction of solvate ionic liquids as a function of potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hua; Rutland, Mark W; Watanabe, Masayoshi; Atkin, Rob

2017-07-01

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to investigate the potential dependent boundary layer friction at solvate ionic liquid (SIL)-highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and SIL-Au(111) interfaces. Friction trace and retrace loops of lithium tetraglyme bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (Li(G4) TFSI) at HOPG present clearer stick-slip events at negative potentials than at positive potentials, indicating that a Li + cation layer adsorbed to the HOPG lattice at negative potentials which enhances stick-slip events. The boundary layer friction data for Li(G4) TFSI shows that at HOPG, friction forces at all potentials are low. The TFSI - anion rich boundary layer at positive potentials is more lubricating than the Li + cation rich boundary layer at negative potentials. These results suggest that boundary layers at all potentials are smooth and energy is predominantly dissipated via stick-slip events. In contrast, friction at Au(111) for Li(G4) TFSI is significantly higher at positive potentials than at negative potentials, which is comparable to that at HOPG at the same potential. The similarity of boundary layer friction at negatively charged HOPG and Au(111) surfaces indicates that the boundary layer compositions are similar and rich in Li + cations for both surfaces at negative potentials. However, at Au(111), the TFSI - rich boundary layer is less lubricating than the Li + rich boundary layer, which implies that anion reorientations rather than stick-slip events are the predominant energy dissipation pathways. This is confirmed by the boundary friction of Li(G4) NO 3 at Au(111), which shows similar friction to Li(G4) TFSI at negative potentials due to the same cation rich boundary layer composition, but even higher friction at positive potentials, due to higher energy dissipation in the NO 3 - rich boundary layer.

An unusual class of anthracyclines potentiate Gram-positive antibiotics in intrinsically resistant Gram-negative bacteria

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Georgina; Koteva, Kalinka; Wright, Gerard D.

2014-01-01

Objectives An orthogonal approach taken towards novel antibacterial drug discovery involves the identification of small molecules that potentiate or enhance the activity of existing antibacterial agents. This study aimed to identify natural-product rifampicin adjuvants in the intrinsically resistant organism Escherichia coli. Methods E. coli BW25113 was screened against 1120 actinomycete fermentation extracts in the presence of subinhibitory (2 mg/L) concentrations of rifampicin. The active molecule exhibiting the greatest rifampicin potentiation was isolated using activity-guided methods and identified using mass and NMR spectroscopy. Susceptibility testing and biochemical assays were used to determine the mechanism of antibiotic potentiation. Results The anthracycline Antibiotic 301A1 was isolated from the fermentation broth of a strain of Streptomyces (WAC450); the molecule was shown to be highly synergistic with rifampicin (fractional inhibitory concentration index = 0.156) and moderately synergistic with linezolid (FIC index = 0.25) in both E. coli and Acinetobacter baumannii. Activity was associated with inhibition of efflux and the synergistic phenotype was lost when tested against E. coli harbouring mutations within the rpoB gene. Structure–activity relationship studies revealed that other anthracyclines do not synergize with rifampicin and removal of the sugar moiety of Antibiotic 301A1 abolishes activity. Conclusions Screening only a subsection of our natural product library identified a small-molecule antibiotic adjuvant capable of sensitizing Gram-negative bacteria to antibiotics to which they are ordinarily intrinsically resistant. This result demonstrates the great potential of this approach in expanding antibiotic effectiveness in the face of the growing challenge of resistance in Gram-negatives. PMID:24627312

Female False Positive Exercise Stress ECG Testing - Fact Verses Fiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzgerald, Benjamin T; Scalia, William M; Scalia, Gregory M

2018-03-07

Exercise stress testing is a well validated cardiovascular investigation. Accuracy for treadmill stress electrocardiograph (ECG) testing has been documented at 60%. False positive stress ECGs (exercise ECG changes with non-obstructive disease on anatomical testing) are common, especially in women, limiting the effectiveness of the test. This study investigates the incidence and predictors of false positive stress ECG findings, referenced against stress echocardiography (SE) as a standard. Stress echocardiography was performed using the Bruce treadmill protocol. False positive stress ECG tests were defined as greater than 1mm of ST depression on ECG during exertion, without pain, with a normal SE. Potential causes for false positive tests were recorded before the test. Three thousand consecutive negative stress echocardiograms (1036 females, 34.5%) were analysed (age 59+/-14 years. False positive (F+) stress ECGs were documented in 565/3000 tests (18.8%). F+ stress ECGs were equally prevalent in females (194/1036, 18.7%) and males (371/1964, 18.9%, p=0.85 for the difference). Potential causes (hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, known coronary disease, arrhythmia, diabetes mellitus, valvular heart disease) were recorded in 36/194 (18.6%) of the female F+ ECG tests and 249/371 (68.2%) of the male F+ ECG tests (preinforce the value of stress imaging, particularly in women. Copyright © 2018 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). All rights reserved.

Immediate relativity: EEG reveals early engagement of comparison in social information processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohmann, Katharina; Stahl, Jutta; Mussweiler, Thomas; Kedia, Gayannée

2016-11-01

A wide array of social decisions relies on social comparisons. As such, these decisions require fast access to relative information. Therefore, we expect that signatures of the comparative process should be observable in electrophysiological components at an early stage of information processing. However, to date, little is known about the neural time course of social target comparisons. Therefore, we tested this hypothesis in 2 electroencephalography (EEG) studies using a social distance effect paradigm. The distance effect capitalizes on the fact that stimuli close on a certain dimension take longer to compare than stimuli clearly differing on this dimension. Here, we manipulated the distance of face characteristics regarding their levels of attractiveness (Study 1) and trustworthiness (Study 2), 2 essential social dimensions. In both studies, size comparisons served as a nonsocial control condition. In Study 1, distance related effects were apparent 170 ms (vertex positive potential, VPP) and 200 ms (N2) after stimulus onset for attractiveness comparisons. In Study 2, trustworthiness comparisons took effect already after 100 ms (N1) and likewise carried over to an event-related N2. Remarkably, we observed a similar temporal pattern for social (attractiveness, trustworthiness) and nonsocial (size) dimensions. These results speak in favor of an early encoding of comparative information and emphasize the primary role of comparison in social information processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Position resolution simulations for the inverted-coaxial germanium detector, SIGMA

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, J. P.; Harkness-Brennan, L. J.; Boston, A. J.; Judson, D. S.; Labiche, M.; Nolan, P. J.; Page, R. D.; Pearce, F.; Radford, D. C.; Simpson, J.; Unsworth, C.

2018-06-01

The SIGMA Germanium detector has the potential to revolutionise γ-ray spectroscopy, providing superior energy and position resolving capabilities compared with current large volume state-of-the-art Germanium detectors. The theoretical position resolution of the detector as a function of γ-ray interaction position has been studied using simulated detector signals. A study of the effects of RMS noise at various energies has been presented with the position resolution ranging from 0.33 mm FWHM at Eγ = 1 MeV, to 0.41 mm at Eγ = 150 keV. An additional investigation into the effects pulse alignment have on pulse shape analysis and in turn, position resolution has been performed. The theoretical performance of SIGMA operating in an experimental setting is presented for use as a standalone detector and as part of an ancillary system.

Clostridium perfringens and C. difficile in parvovirus-positive dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Rodrigo Otávio Silveira; Dorella, Fernanda Alves; Figueiredo, Henrique Cesar Pereira; Costa, Érica Azevedo; Pelicia, Vanessa; Ribeiro, Bruna Letícia Devidé; Ribeiro, Marcio Garcia; Paes, Antonio Carlos; Megid, Jane; Lobato, Francisco Carlos Faria

2017-12-01

The aim of this study was to investigate Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens in 82 diarrheic dogs positive for canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV). Enterotoxigenic C. perfringens type A was isolated from three (3.6%) dogs. One (1.2%) strain was also positive for NetE- and NetF-encoding genes, which are commonly associated with diarrhea in dogs. Toxigenic C. difficile was isolated from one animal (1.2%), which was also positive for A/B toxins. The present study identified C. difficile and C. perfringens infection in CPV-positive dogs. Further studies are necessary to clarify if clostridial infections may predispose or potentiate CPV-infection in dogs or vice versa. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-Term Charge/Discharge Cycling Stability of MnO2 Aqueous Supercapacitor under Positive Polarization

KAUST Repository

Ataherian, Fatemeh; Wu, Nae-Lih

2011-01-01

The long-term charge/discharge cycling stability of MnO 2 electrode under positive polarization in aqueous KCl electrolyte has been studied over different potential windows spanning from the open circuit potential to varied higher-end potential

Towards a Decentralized Magnetic Indoor Positioning System

Science.gov (United States)

Kasmi, Zakaria; Norrdine, Abdelmoumen; Blankenbach, Jörg

2015-01-01

Decentralized magnetic indoor localization is a sophisticated method for processing sampled magnetic data directly on a mobile station (MS), thereby decreasing or even avoiding the need for communication with the base station. In contrast to central-oriented positioning systems, which transmit raw data to a base station, decentralized indoor localization pushes application-level knowledge into the MS. A decentralized position solution has thus a strong feasibility to increase energy efficiency and to prolong the lifetime of the MS. In this article, we present a complete architecture and an implementation for a decentralized positioning system. Furthermore, we introduce a technique for the synchronization of the observed magnetic field on the MS with the artificially-generated magnetic field from the coils. Based on real-time clocks (RTCs) and a preemptive operating system, this method allows a stand-alone control of the coils and a proper assignment of the measured magnetic fields on the MS. A stand-alone control and synchronization of the coils and the MS have an exceptional potential to implement a positioning system without the need for wired or wireless communication and enable a deployment of applications for rescue scenarios, like localization of miners or firefighters. PMID:26690145

Towards a Decentralized Magnetic Indoor Positioning System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zakaria Kasmi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Decentralized magnetic indoor localization is a sophisticated method for processing sampled magnetic data directly on a mobile station (MS, thereby decreasing or even avoiding the need for communication with the base station. In contrast to central-oriented positioning systems, which transmit raw data to a base station, decentralized indoor localization pushes application-level knowledge into the MS. A decentralized position solution has thus a strong feasibility to increase energy efficiency and to prolong the lifetime of the MS. In this article, we present a complete architecture and an implementation for a decentralized positioning system. Furthermore, we introduce a technique for the synchronization of the observed magnetic field on the MS with the artificially-generated magnetic field from the coils. Based on real-time clocks (RTCs and a preemptive operating system, this method allows a stand-alone control of the coils and a proper assignment of the measured magnetic fields on the MS. A stand-alone control and synchronization of the coils and the MS have an exceptional potential to implement a positioning system without the need for wired or wireless communication and enable a deployment of applications for rescue scenarios, like localization of miners or firefighters.

Positive and Negative Peer Influence in Residential Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Huefner, Jonathan C; Smith, Gail L; Stevens, Amy L

2017-10-13

The potential for negative peer influence has been well established in research, and there is a growing interest in how positive peer influence also impacts youth. No research, however, has concurrently examined positive and negative peer influence in the context of residential care. Clinical records for 886 residential care youth were used in a Hierarchical Linear Model analysis to examine the impact of negative and positive peer influence on naturally occurring patterns of serious problem behavior over time. Negative peer influence, where the majority of youth in a home manifested above the average number of serious behavior problems, occurred 13.7% of the time. Positive peer influence, where the majority of youth manifested no serious problem behaviors for the month, occurred 47.7% of the time. Overall, youth problem behavior improved over time. There were significantly lower rates of serious problem behavior in target youth during positive peer influence months. Conversely, there were significantly higher rates of serious problem behaviors in target youth during negative peer influence months. Negative peer influence had a relatively greater impact on target peers' serious behavior problems than did positive peer influence. Caregiver experience significantly reduced the impact of negative peer influence, but did not significantly augment positive peer influence. Months where negative peer influence was combined with inexperienced caregivers produced the highest rates of serious problem behavior. Our results support the view that residential programs for troubled youth need to create circumstances that promote positive and control for negative peer influence.

The costs and benefits of positive illusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Makridakis, Spyros; Moleskis, Andreas

2015-01-01

Positive illusions are associated with unrealistic optimism about the future and an inflated assessment of one's abilities. They are prevalent in normal life and are considered essential for maintaining a healthy mental state, although, there are disagreements to the extent to which people demonstrate these positive illusions and whether they are beneficial or not. But whatever the situation, it is hard to dismiss their existence and their positive and/or negative influence on human behavior and decision making in general. Prominent among illusions is that of control, that is "the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to control events." This paper describes positive illusions, their potential benefits but also quantifies their costs in five specific fields (gambling, stock and other markets, new firms and startups, preventive medicine and wars). It is organized into three parts. First the psychological reasons giving rise to positive illusions are described and their likely harm and benefits stated. Second, their negative consequences are presented and their costs are quantified in five areas seriously affected with emphasis to those related to the illusion of control that seems to dominate those of unrealistic optimism. The costs involved are huge and serious efforts must be undertaken to understand their enormity and steps taken to avoid them in the future. Finally, there is a concluding section where the challenges related to positive illusions are noted and directions for future research are presented.

Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadlinger, Heather A; Isaacowitz, Derek M

2006-03-01

In an attempt to investigate the impact of positive emotions on visual attention within the context of Fredrickson's (1998) broaden-and-build model, eye tracking was used in two studies to measure visual attentional preferences of college students (n=58, n=26) to emotional pictures. Half of each sample experienced induced positive mood immediately before viewing slides of three similarly-valenced images, in varying central-peripheral arrays. Attentional breadth was determined by measuring the percentage viewing time to peripheral images as well as by the number of visual saccades participants made per slide. Consistent with Fredrickson's theory, the first study showed that individuals induced into positive mood fixated more on peripheral stimuli than did control participants; however, this only held true for highly-valenced positive stimuli. Participants under induced positive mood also made more frequent saccades for slides of neutral and positive valence. A second study showed that these effects were not simply due to differences in emotional arousal between stimuli. Selective attentional broadening to positive stimuli may act both to facilitate later building of resources as well as to maintain current positive affective states.

Action potentials in retinal ganglion cells are initiated at the site of maximal curvature of the extracellular potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Eickenscheidt, Max; Zeck, Günther

2014-06-01

The initiation of an action potential by extracellular stimulation occurs after local depolarization of the neuronal membrane above threshold. Although the technique shows remarkable clinical success, the site of action and the relevant stimulation parameters are not completely understood. Here we identify the site of action potential initiation in rabbit retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) interfaced to an array of extracellular capacitive stimulation electrodes. We determine which feature of the extracellular potential governs action potential initiation by simultaneous stimulation and recording RGCs interfaced in epiretinal configuration. Stimulation electrodes were combined to areas of different size and were presented at different positions with respect to the RGC. Based on stimulation by electrodes beneath the RGC soma and simultaneous sub-millisecond latency measurement we infer axonal initiation at the site of maximal curvature of the extracellular potential. Stimulation by electrodes at different positions along the axon reveals a nearly constant threshold current density except for a narrow region close to the cell soma. These findings are explained by the concept of the activating function modified to consider a region of lower excitability close to the cell soma. We present a framework how to estimate the site of action potential initiation and the stimulus required to cross threshold in neurons tightly interfaced to capacitive stimulation electrodes. Our results underscore the necessity of rigorous electrical characterization of the stimulation electrodes and of the interfaced neural tissue.

Promoting positive psychology using social networking sites: a study of new college entrants on Facebook.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Shu-Man; Lin, Yung-Hsiu; Lin, Chi-Wei; Chang, Her-Kun; Chong, Ping Pete

2014-04-29

This study explores the potential of promoting college students' positive psychological development using popular online social networks. Online social networks have dramatically changed the ways college students manage their social relationships. Social network activities, such as checking Facebook posts dominates students' Internet time and has the potential to assist students' positive development. Positive psychology is a scientific study of how ordinary individuals can apply their strength effectively when facing objective difficulties and how this capability can be cultivated with certain approaches. A positive message delivery approach was designed for a group of new college entrants. A series of positive messages was edited by university counselors and delivered by students to their Facebook social groups. Responses from each posted positive messages were collected and analyzed by researchers. The responses indicated that: (1) relationships of individual engagement and social influence in this study can partially explain the observed student behavior; (2) using class-based social groups can promote a positive atmosphere to enhance strong-tie relationships in both the physical and virtual environments, and (3) promoting student's positive attitudes can substantially impact adolescents' future developments, and many positive attitudes can be cultivated by emotional events and social influence.

The Leadership Program’s Violence Prevention Project: Infusing the Arts into Conflict Resolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa M. Chauveron

2012-06-01

Full Text Available While the demand for youth violence prevention programs increases, the ability of the traditional school day schedule to accommodate violence prevention program time requirements has diminished. School reforms, such as No Child Left Behind, have pressed schools to focus more tightly on academics, often to the exclusion of subjects such as physical education and the arts. Viable violence prevention programs must offer components that supplement classroom curriculum as well as reduce violence and strike a balance between brevity and effectiveness. The Leadership Program’s (TLP universal Violence Prevention Project (VPP meets this call with a conflict resolution model for students in urban schools. The curriculum is based on a conceptual framework derived from prevention science and positive youth development delivered through the vehicle of the arts. Utilizing an engaging hybrid prevention program, this high quality 12 session model melds fidelity and adaptation to yield effective evaluation outcomes.

The unification of the nuclear optical potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodgson, P.E.

1990-01-01

The nuclear mean field is defined for bound and scattering states and its parameters shown to vary continuously over the whole energy range. The real and imaginary parts of the potential are connected by dispersion relations, and this unifies the potential from negative to positive energies. Recent analyses of experimental data using dispersion relations are reviewed. (author)

Relevance of positive patch-test reactions to fragrance mix.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Devos, S.A.; Constandt, L.; Tupker, R.A.; Noz, K.C.; Lucker, G.P.H.; Bruynzeel, D.P.; Schuttelaar, M.L.; Kruyswijk, M.R.; Zuuren, E.J. van; Vink, J.; Coenraads, P.J.; Kiemeney, L.A.L.M.; Valk, P.G.M. van der

2008-01-01

BACKGROUND: Fragrances are an important cause of allergic contact dermatitis. We presume that the traditional fragrance mix (FM) detects 70 to 80% of fragrance-allergic patients. FM has an irritant potential. Weak positive reactions may have a greater chance of being irrelevant than strong

Relevance of positive patch-test reactions to fragrance mix

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Devos, S.A.; Constandt, L.; Tupker, R.A.; Noz, K.C.; Lucker, G.P.H.; Bruynzeel, D.P.; Schuttelaar, M.L.A.; Kruyswijk, M.R.J.; van Zuuren, E.J.; Vink, J.; Coenraads, P.J.; Kiemeney, L.A.L.M.; van der Valk, P.G.M.

2008-01-01

BACKGROUND: Fragrances are an important cause of allergic contact dermatitis. We presume that the traditional fragrance mix (FM) detects 70 to 80% of fragrance-allergic patients. FM has an irritant potential. Weak positive reactions may have a greater chance of being irrelevant than strong

Euthanasia: India's position in the global scenario.

Science.gov (United States)

Shekhar, Skand; Goel, Ashish

2013-11-01

Euthanasia requests have increased as the number of debilitated patients rises in both developed and developing countries such as India due to medical, psychosocial-emotional, socioenvironmental, and existential issues amid fears of potential misuse. WORLD'S POSITION: Albania, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Switzerland permit euthanasia conditionally. Australia's legalization of euthanasia has been withdrawn. The United States permits withdrawal of life support. Mexico and Norway permit active euthanasia. INDIA'S POSITION: Following the Aruna Shanbaug case the Supreme Court granted legal sanction to passive, but not active, euthanasia that is valid till the Parliament legislates on euthanasia. HANDLING EUTHANASIA REQUESTS: Acknowledging the complexity of the problem; individualizing the palliative approach; and accepting the 'There is no alternative' or 'There is no answer' (TINA) factor.

Structural changes at the myrtenol backbone reverse its positive allosteric potential into inhibitory GABAA receptor modulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milanos, Sinem; Kuenzel, Katharina; Gilbert, Daniel F

2017-01-01

monoterpenes, e.g. myrtenol as positive allosteric modulator at α1β2 GABAA receptors. Here, along with pharmacophore-based virtual screening studies, we demonstrate that scaffold modifications of myrtenol resulted in loss of modulatory activity. Two independent approaches, fluorescence-based compound analysis...

Positioning consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halkier, Bente; Keller, Margit

2014-01-01

positionings emerges based on empirical examples of research in parent–children consumption. Positionings are flexible discursive fixations of the relationship between the performances of the practitioner, other practitioners, media discourse and consumption activities. The basic positioning types...... are the practice maintenance and the practice change position, with different sorts of adapting in between. Media discourse can become a resource for a resistant position against social control or for an appropriating position in favour of space for action. Regardless of the current relation to a particular media......This article analyses the ways in which media discourses become a part of contested consumption activities. We apply a positioning perspective with practice theory to focus on how practitioners relate to media discourse as a symbolic resource in their everyday practices. A typology of performance...

Positive modulation of delta-subunit containing GABAA receptors in mouse neurons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vardya, Irina; Hoestgaard-Jensen, Kirsten; Nieto-Gonzalez, Jose Luis

2012-01-01

δ-subunit containing extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptors are potential targets for modifying neuronal activity in a range of brain disorders. With the aim of gaining more insight in synaptic and extrasynaptic inhibition, we used a new positive modulator, AA29504, of δ-subunit containing GABA(A) recep......δ-subunit containing extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptors are potential targets for modifying neuronal activity in a range of brain disorders. With the aim of gaining more insight in synaptic and extrasynaptic inhibition, we used a new positive modulator, AA29504, of δ-subunit containing GABA......(A) receptors in mouse neurons in vitro and in vivo. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were carried out in the dentate gyrus in mouse brain slices. In granule cells, AA29504 (1 μM) caused a 4.2-fold potentiation of a tonic current induced by THIP (1 μM), while interneurons showed a potentiation of 2.6-fold......-free environment using Ca²⁺ imaging in cultured neurons, AA29504 showed GABA(A) receptor agonism in the absence of agonist. Finally, AA29504 exerted dose-dependent stress-reducing and anxiolytic effects in mice in vivo. We propose that AA29504 potentiates δ-containing GABA(A) receptors to enhance tonic inhibition...

Influence of salt concentration and topographical position on water ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Water resource quality (WRQ) is affected by salt concentration and topographical position. Indeed, an increase in salt concentration, which decreases water availability for animal and plant nutrition, and lower altitude, which diminishes the potential for production of hydropower, negatively affects WRQ. Therefore, it is useful ...

An unusual class of anthracyclines potentiate Gram-positive antibiotics in intrinsically resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Georgina; Koteva, Kalinka; Wright, Gerard D

2014-07-01

An orthogonal approach taken towards novel antibacterial drug discovery involves the identification of small molecules that potentiate or enhance the activity of existing antibacterial agents. This study aimed to identify natural-product rifampicin adjuvants in the intrinsically resistant organism Escherichia coli. E. coli BW25113 was screened against 1120 actinomycete fermentation extracts in the presence of subinhibitory (2 mg/L) concentrations of rifampicin. The active molecule exhibiting the greatest rifampicin potentiation was isolated using activity-guided methods and identified using mass and NMR spectroscopy. Susceptibility testing and biochemical assays were used to determine the mechanism of antibiotic potentiation. The anthracycline Antibiotic 301A(1) was isolated from the fermentation broth of a strain of Streptomyces (WAC450); the molecule was shown to be highly synergistic with rifampicin (fractional inhibitory concentration index = 0.156) and moderately synergistic with linezolid (FIC index = 0.25) in both E. coli and Acinetobacter baumannii. Activity was associated with inhibition of efflux and the synergistic phenotype was lost when tested against E. coli harbouring mutations within the rpoB gene. Structure-activity relationship studies revealed that other anthracyclines do not synergize with rifampicin and removal of the sugar moiety of Antibiotic 301A(1) abolishes activity. Screening only a subsection of our natural product library identified a small-molecule antibiotic adjuvant capable of sensitizing Gram-negative bacteria to antibiotics to which they are ordinarily intrinsically resistant. This result demonstrates the great potential of this approach in expanding antibiotic effectiveness in the face of the growing challenge of resistance in Gram-negatives. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Sensorimotor modulation differs with load type during constant finger force or position.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hikari Kirimoto

Full Text Available During submaximal isometric contraction, there are two different load types: production of a constant force against a rigid restraint (force task, and maintenance of position against a constant load (position task. Previous studies reported that the time to task failure during a fatigue task was twice as long in the force task compared with the position task. Sensory feedback processing may contribute to these differences. The purpose of the current study was to determine the influence of load types during static muscle contraction tasks on the gating effect, i.e., attenuation of somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs and the cortical silent period (cSP. Ten healthy subjects contracted their right first dorsal interosseus muscle by abducting their index finger for 90 s, to produce a constant force against a rigid restraint that was 20% of the maximum voluntary contraction (force task, or to maintain a constant position with 10° abduction of the metacarpophalangeal joint against the same load (position task. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs were recorded from C3' by stimulating either the right ulnar or median nerve at the wrist while maintaining contraction. The cortical silent period (cSP was also elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Reduction of the amplitude of the P45 component of SEPs was significantly larger during the position task than during the force task and under control rest conditions when the ulnar nerve, but not the median nerve, was stimulated. The position task had a significantly shorter cSP duration than the force task. These results suggest the need for more proprioceptive information during the position task than the force task. The shorter duration of the cSP during the position task may be attributable to larger amplitude of heteronymous short latency reflexes. Sensorimotor modulations may differ with load type during constant finger force or position tasks.

Habitat Analysis - Trinity River Restoration Potential

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The goal of the Trinity River project is to identify the potential positive effects of large-scale restoration actions in a 63 kilometer reach of the Trinity River...

Geomorphic Analysis - Trinity River Restoration Potential

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The goal of the Trinity River project is to identify the potential positive effects of large-scale restoration actions in a 63 kilometer reach of the Trinity River...

False Position, Double False Position and Cramer's Rule

Science.gov (United States)

Boman, Eugene

2009-01-01

We state and prove the methods of False Position (Regula Falsa) and Double False Position (Regula Duorum Falsorum). The history of both is traced from ancient Egypt and China through the work of Fibonacci, ending with a connection between Double False Position and Cramer's Rule.

Tobacco point of sale advertising increases positive brand user imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Donovan, R J; Jancey, J; Jones, S

2002-09-01

To determine the potential impact of point of sale advertising on adolescents so as to inform changes to the Tobacco Control Act. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the control condition, students were exposed to a photograph of a packet of cigarettes; in the intervention condition, students were exposed to an ad for cigarettes, typical of point of sale advertising posters. All students then rated the brand user on a set of 12 bipolar adjectives. Two brands were used in the study: Benson & Hedges, and Marlboro. One hundred year (grade) 6 and 7 students (age range 10-12 years), from four Western Australian metropolitan primary schools, participated in the study. In a majority of the brand user descriptions, the cigarette advertisements increased brand user imagery in a positive way, especially for Benson & Hedges. For example, participants viewing the Benson & Hedges advertisement, as distinct from those viewing the Benson & Hedges pack only, were more likely to describe the Benson & Hedges user as relaxed, interesting, cool, rich, adventurous, and classy. Relative to the Marlboro pack only, the Marlboro ad increased positive perceptions of the Marlboro user on adventurous, interesting, and relaxed. The results presented here support restrictions being placed on advertising at point of sale, since such ads have the potential to increase positive brand user imagery directly in the situation where a product purchase can take place, and hence the potential to increase the likelihood of impulse purchasing.

The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Fredrickson, Barbara L.

2001-01-01

Describes the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, situating it within the field of positive psychology. The theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn build their enduring personal resources (physical, intellectual, social, and psychological). Reviews…

Ubiquitous positioning

CERN Document Server

Mannings, Robin

2008-01-01

This groundbreaking resource offers a practical, in-depth understanding of Ubiquitous Positioning - positioning systems that identify the location and position of people, vehicles and objects in time and space in the digitized networked economy. The future and growth of ubiquitous positioning will be fueled by the convergence of many other areas of technology, from mobile telematics, Internet technology, and location systems, to sensing systems, geographic information systems, and the semantic web. This first-of-its-kind volume explores ubiquitous positioning from a convergence perspective, of

A Sleep Position Trainer for positional sleep apnea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laub, Rasmus R; Tønnesen, Philip; Jennum, Poul J

2017-01-01

We tested the effect of the Sleep Position Trainer, a vibrational device, for positional sleep apnea in an open, randomized controlled trial with 101 patients, where 52 patients were allocated to Sleep Position Trainer and 49 patients to a non-treatment control group for 2 months (Part 1). All...... patients were then followed as a cohort for a period of 6 months with use of the Sleep Position Trainer (Part 2). The participants were assessed with polygraphy at entry, and after 2 and 6 months. The mean apnea-hypopnea index supine was 35 per h (SD, 18) in the Sleep Position Trainer group and 38 per h...... (SD, 15) in the control group at entry. In a per protocol analysis, the mean total apnea-hypopnea index at entry and after 2 months in the Sleep Position Trainer group was 18 per h (SD, 10) and 10 per h (SD, 9; P

Effective potentials from complex simulations: a potential-matching algorithm and remarks on coarse-grained potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toth, Gergely

2007-01-01

The projection of complex interactions onto simple distance-dependent or angle-dependent classical mechanical functions is a long-standing theoretical challenge in the field of computational sciences concerning biomolecules, colloids, aggregates and simple systems as well. The construction of an effective potential may be based on theoretical assumptions, on the application of fitting procedures on experimental data and on the simplification of complex molecular simulations. Recently, a force-matching method was elaborated to project the data of Car-Parrinello ab initio molecular dynamics simulations onto two-particle classical interactions (Izvekov et al 2004 J. Chem. Phys. 120 10896). We have developed a potential-matching algorithm as a practical analogue of this force-matching method. The algorithm requires a large number of configurations (particle positions) and a single value of the potential energy for each configuration. We show the details of the algorithm and the test calculations on simple systems. The test calculation on water showed an example in which a similar structure was obtained for qualitatively different pair interactions. The application of the algorithm on reverse Monte Carlo configurations was tried as well. We detected inconsistencies in a part of our calculations. We found that the coarse graining of potentials cannot be performed perfectly both for the structural and the thermodynamic data. For example, if one applies an inverse method with an input of the pair-correlation function, it provides energetics data for the configurations uniquely. These energetics data can be different from the desired ones obtained by all atom simulations, as occurred in the testing of our potential-matching method

Positive Psychology: Positive Emotions and Emotional Intelegence

OpenAIRE

Miloseva, Lence

2008-01-01

The paper focuses on the and emotional intelligence. We try to answer on some questions regarding the role which positive emotions have in our life’s. The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998; 2001) predicts that positive emotions are useful in several ways. They guide present behavior, by broadening one’s attention and cognition, setting the stage for creative, explorative, and innovative pursuits. As well, positive emotions build personal and social resources to help individuals achi...

Quantum information entropies of the eigenstates for the Pöschl—Teller-like potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Guo-Hua; Aoki, M. Avila; Dong Shi-Hai

2013-01-01

Shannon entropy for lower position and momentum eigenstates of Pöschl—Teller-like potential is evaluated. Based on the entropy densities demonstrated graphically, we note that the wave through of the position information entropy density ρ(x) moves right when the potential parameter V 1 increases and its amplitude decreases. However, its wave through moves left with the increase in the potential parameter |V 2 |. Concerning the momentum information entropy density ρ(p), we observe that its amplitude increases with increasing potential parameter V 1 , but its amplitude decreases with increasing |V 2 |. The Bialynicki—Birula—Mycielski (BBM) inequality has also been tested for a number of states. Moreover, there exist eigenstates that exhibit squeezing in the momentum information entropy. Finally, we note that position information entropy increases with V 1 , but decreases with |V 2 |. However, the variation of momentum information entropy is contrary to that of the position information entropy. (general)

A two degrees-of-freedom piezoelectric single-crystal micromotor

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhijiang; Li, Xiaotian; Liu, Guoxi; Dong, Shuxiang

2014-12-01

A two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) ultrasonic micromotor made of piezoelectric Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 (PIN-PMN-PT) single crystal square-bar (dimensions 2 × 2 × 9 mm3) was developed. The PIN-PMN-PT square-bar stator can generate standing wave elliptical motions in two orthogonal vertical planes by combining the first longitudinal and second bending vibration modes, enabling it to drive a slider in two orthogonal directions. The relatively large driving forces of 0.25 N and motion speed of 35 mm/s were obtained under a voltage of 80 Vpp at its resonance frequency of 87.5 kHz. The proposed micromotor has potential for applications in micro robots, cell manipulators, and digital cameras as a two-DOF actuator.

Promoting Positive Psychology Using Social Networking Sites: A Study of New College Entrants on Facebook

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu-Man Chang

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This study explores the potential of promoting college students’ positive psychological development using popular online social networks. Online social networks have dramatically changed the ways college students manage their social relationships. Social network activities, such as checking Facebook posts dominates students’ Internet time and has the potential to assist students’ positive development. Positive psychology is a scientific study of how ordinary individuals can apply their strength effectively when facing objective difficulties and how this capability can be cultivated with certain approaches. A positive message delivery approach was designed for a group of new college entrants. A series of positive messages was edited by university counselors and delivered by students to their Facebook social groups. Responses from each posted positive messages were collected and analyzed by researchers. The responses indicated that: (1 relationships of individual engagement and social influence in this study can partially explain the observed student behavior; (2 using class-based social groups can promote a positive atmosphere to enhance strong-tie relationships in both the physical and virtual environments, and (3 promoting student’s positive attitudes can substantially impact adolescents’ future developments, and many positive attitudes can be cultivated by emotional events and social influence.

Effect of the δ-potential on spin-dependent electron tunneling in double barrier semiconductor heterostructure

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasekar, L. Bruno; Gnanasekar, K.; Karunakaran, M.

2018-06-01

The effect of δ-potential was studied in GaAs/Ga0.6Al0·4As double barrier heterostructure with Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction. The role of barrier height and position of the δ- potential in the well region was analysed on spin-dependent electron tunneling using transfer matrix method. The spin-separation between spin-resonances on energy scale depends on both height and position of the δ- potential, whereas the tunneling life time of electrons highly influenced by the position of the δ- potential and not on the height. These results might be helpful for the fabrication of spin-filters.

Improved UUV Positioning Using Acoustic Communications and a Potential for Real-Time Networking and Collaboration

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

model the environment is proposed for real-time applications . To be able to establish the submersible vehicle’s position, a tracking algorithm ...approximation, which in certain cases can lead to coarse accuracy in the results. In high frequency applications , however, ray tracing algorithms are very...intelligence techniques, as in the genetic algorithms or simulated annealing algorithms . START Initial Choice for Run UKF for  , , , ,  x R Q

Want Positive Behavior? Use Positive Language

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Chip; Freeman-Loftis, Babs

2012-01-01

Positive adult language is the professional use of words and tone of voice to enable students to learn in an engaged, active way. This includes learning social skills. To guide children toward choosing and maintaining positive behaviors, adults need to carefully choose the words and tone of voice used when speaking to them. Learning to use…

Determination of the structure of γ-alumina from interatomic potential and first-principles calculations: The requirement of significant numbers of nonspinel positions to achieve an accurate structural model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paglia, Gianluca; Rohl, Andrew L.; Gale, Julian D.; Buckley, Craig E.

2005-01-01

We have performed an extensive computational study of γ-Al 2 O 3 , beginning with the geometric analysis of approximately 1.47 billion spinel-based structural candidates, followed by derivative method energy minimization calculations of approximately 122 000 structures. Optimization of the spinel-based structural models demonstrated that structures exhibiting nonspinel site occupancy after simulation were more energetically favorable, as suggested in other computational studies. More importantly, none of the spinel structures exhibited simulated diffraction patterns that were characteristic of γ-Al 2 O 3 . This suggests that cations of γ-Al 2 O 3 are not exclusively held in spinel positions, that the spinel model of γ-Al 2 O 3 does not accurately reflect its structure, and that a representative structure cannot be achieved from molecular modeling when the spinel representation is used as the starting structure. The latter two of these three findings are extremely important when trying to accurately model the structure. A second set of starting models were generated with a large number of cations occupying c symmetry positions, based on the findings from recent experiments. Optimization of the new c symmetry-based structural models resulted in simulated diffraction patterns that were characteristic of γ-Al 2 O 3 . The modeling, conducted using supercells, yields a more accurate and complete determination of the defect structure of γ-Al 2 O 3 than can be achieved with current experimental techniques. The results show that on average over 40% of the cations in the structure occupy nonspinel positions, and approximately two-thirds of these occupy c symmetry positions. The structures exhibit variable occupancy in the site positions that follow local symmetry exclusion rules. This variation was predominantly represented by a migration of cations away from a symmetry positions to other tetrahedral site positions during optimization which were found not to affect the

Use of Anthropogenic Sea Floor Structures by Australian Fur Seals: Potential Positive Ecological Impacts of Marine Industrial Development?

Science.gov (United States)

Arnould, John P Y; Monk, Jacquomo; Ierodiaconou, Daniel; Hindell, Mark A; Semmens, Jayson; Hoskins, Andrew J; Costa, Daniel P; Abernathy, Kyler; Marshall, Greg J

2015-01-01

Human-induced changes to habitats can have deleterious effects on many species that occupy them. However, some species can adapt and even benefit from such modifications. Artificial reefs have long been used to provide habitat for invertebrate communities and promote local fish populations. With the increasing demand for energy resources within ocean systems, there has been an expansion of infrastructure in near-shore benthic environments which function as de facto artificial reefs. Little is known of their use by marine mammals. In this study, the influence of anthropogenic sea floor structures (pipelines, cable routes, wells and shipwrecks) on the foraging locations of 36 adult female Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) was investigated. For 9 (25%) of the individuals, distance to anthropogenic sea floor structures was the most important factor in determining the location of intensive foraging activity. Whereas the influence of anthropogenic sea floor structures on foraging locations was not related to age and mass, it was positively related to flipper length/standard length (a factor which can affect manoeuvrability). A total of 26 (72%) individuals tracked with GPS were recorded spending time in the vicinity of structures (from 75% of the foraging trip duration) with pipelines and cable routes being the most frequented. No relationships were found between the amount of time spent frequenting anthropogenic structures and individual characteristics. More than a third (35%) of animals foraging near anthropogenic sea floor structures visited more than one type of structure. These results further highlight potentially beneficial ecological outcomes of marine industrial development.

Use of Anthropogenic Sea Floor Structures by Australian Fur Seals: Potential Positive Ecological Impacts of Marine Industrial Development?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John P Y Arnould

Full Text Available Human-induced changes to habitats can have deleterious effects on many species that occupy them. However, some species can adapt and even benefit from such modifications. Artificial reefs have long been used to provide habitat for invertebrate communities and promote local fish populations. With the increasing demand for energy resources within ocean systems, there has been an expansion of infrastructure in near-shore benthic environments which function as de facto artificial reefs. Little is known of their use by marine mammals. In this study, the influence of anthropogenic sea floor structures (pipelines, cable routes, wells and shipwrecks on the foraging locations of 36 adult female Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus was investigated. For 9 (25% of the individuals, distance to anthropogenic sea floor structures was the most important factor in determining the location of intensive foraging activity. Whereas the influence of anthropogenic sea floor structures on foraging locations was not related to age and mass, it was positively related to flipper length/standard length (a factor which can affect manoeuvrability. A total of 26 (72% individuals tracked with GPS were recorded spending time in the vicinity of structures (from 75% of the foraging trip duration with pipelines and cable routes being the most frequented. No relationships were found between the amount of time spent frequenting anthropogenic structures and individual characteristics. More than a third (35% of animals foraging near anthropogenic sea floor structures visited more than one type of structure. These results further highlight potentially beneficial ecological outcomes of marine industrial development.

Vapor-phase polymerization of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on commercial carbon coated aluminum foil as enhanced electrodes for supercapacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Linyue; Skorenko, Kenneth H.; Faucett, Austin C.; Boyer, Steven M.; Liu, Jian; Mativetsky, Jeffrey M.; Bernier, William E.; Jones, Wayne E.

2015-11-01

Laminar composite electrodes are prepared for application in supercapacitors using a catalyzed vapor-phase polymerization (VPP) of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) on the surface of commercial carbon coated aluminum foil. These highly electrically conducting polymer films provide for rapid and stable power storage per gram at room temperature. The chemical composition, surface morphology and electrical properties are characterized by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and conducting atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). A series of electrical measurements including cyclic voltammetry (CV), charge-discharge (CD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are also used to evaluate electrical performance. The processing temperature of VPP shows a significant effect on PEDOT morphology, the degree of orientation and its electrical properties. The relatively high temperature leads to high specific area and large conductive domains of PEDOT layer which benefits the capacitive behavior greatly according to the data presented. Since the substrate is already highly conductive, the PEDOT based composite can be used as electrode materials directly without adding current collector. By this simple and efficient process, PEDOT based composites exhibit specific capacitance up to 134 F g-1 with the polymerization temperature of 110 °C.

Risk averse optimal operation of a virtual power plant using two stage stochastic programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajeddini, Mohammad Amin; Rahimi-Kian, Ashkan; Soroudi, Alireza

2014-01-01

VPP (Virtual Power Plant) is defined as a cluster of energy conversion/storage units which are centrally operated in order to improve the technical and economic performance. This paper addresses the optimal operation of a VPP considering the risk factors affecting its daily operation profits. The optimal operation is modelled in both day ahead and balancing markets as a two-stage stochastic mixed integer linear programming in order to maximize a GenCo (generation companies) expected profit. Furthermore, the CVaR (Conditional Value at Risk) is used as a risk measure technique in order to control the risk of low profit scenarios. The uncertain parameters, including the PV power output, wind power output and day-ahead market prices are modelled through scenarios. The proposed model is successfully applied to a real case study to show its applicability and the results are presented and thoroughly discussed. - Highlights: • Virtual power plant modelling considering a set of energy generating and conversion units. • Uncertainty modelling using two stage stochastic programming technique. • Risk modelling using conditional value at risk. • Flexible operation of renewable energy resources. • Electricity price uncertainty in day ahead energy markets

Avaliação da qualidade dos dados, valor preditivo positivo, oportunidade e representatividade do sistema de vigilância epidemiológica da dengue no Brasil, 2005 a 2009

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakeline Ribeiro Barbosa

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: avaliar a qualidade dos dados, o valor preditivo positivo (VPP, a oportunidade e a representatividade do sistema de vigilância epidemiológica da dengue no Brasil entre 2005 e 2009. MÉTODOS: estudo de avaliação, com análise dos dados de dengue do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (Sinan conforme atributos selecionados da metodologia do Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta/GA, Estados Unidos da América. RESULTADOS: houve melhora na qualidade dos dados quanto a sua consistência; o VPP dos casos de dengue variou de 34 a 65%; o sistema apresentou uma mediana de oportunidade para notificação dos casos de 3 dias e revelou-se representativo, permitindo conhecer a situação da doença no país. CONCLUSÃO: o sistema de vigilância da dengue no Brasil mostrou-se consistente, com valor preditivo positivo expressivo, oportuno para notificação de casos e representativo, capaz de detectar tendência de mudança no perfil epidemiológico da doença.

Communication-based positioning systems: past, present and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Guanyi; Wan Qingtao; Gan Tong

2012-01-01

This paper reviews positioning systems in the context of communication systems. First, the basic positioning technique is described for location based service (LBS) in mobile communication systems. Then the high integrity global positioning system (iGPS) is introduced in terms of aspects of what it is and how the low Earth orbit (LEO) Iridium telecommunication satellites enhance the global positioning system (GPS). Emphasis is on the Chinese Area Positioning System (CAPS) which is mainly based on commercial geostationary (GEO) communication satellites, including decommissioned GEO and inclined geosynchronous communication satellites. Characterized by its low cost, high flexibility, wide-area coverage and ample frequency resources, a distinctive feature of CAPS is that its navigation messages are generated on the ground, then uploaded to and forwarded by the communication satellites. Fundamental principles and key technologies applied in the construction of CAPS are presented in detail from the CAPS validation phase to its experimental system setup. A prospective view of CAPS has concluded it to be a seamless, high accuracy, large capacity navigation and communication system which can be achieved by expanding it world wide and enhancing it with LEO satellites and mobile base stations. Hence, this system is a potential candidate for the next generation of radio navigation after GPS. (invited reviews)

Implementation and impact of in-class physical activities in a positive mental health perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Lars Breum Skov; Holt, Anne-Didde; Smedegaard, Søren

Introduction School physical activity and other activities with the body in focus hold the potential to benefit student’s positive mental health and psychosocial well-being. In-class activities (ICAs) (e.g. energizers, active breaks, brain breaks) can positively influence social connectedness......, physical self-perception, motivation and emotions. However, if all students are to benefit from the potential qualities of ICA, an inclusive environment is crucial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation and impact of ICA in Danish public schools. Methods ICA is one of three...... tool to promote positive mental health and well-being in schools for all students. For many teachers, ICA is a challenging task, which calls for both competence development, supportive structures, materials and local school leadership....

Relativistic quantum similarities in atoms in position and momentum spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maldonado, P.; Sarsa, A.; Buendia, E.; Galvez, F.J.

2011-01-01

A study of different quantum similarity measures and their corresponding quantum similarity indices is carried out for the atoms from H to Lr (Z=1-103). Relativistic effects in both position and momentum spaces have been studied by comparing the relativistic values to the non-relativistic ones. We have used the atomic electron density in both position and momentum spaces obtained within relativistic and non-relativistic numerical-parameterized optimized effective potential approximations. -- Highlights: → Quantum similarity measures and indices in electronic structure of atoms. → Position and momentum electronic densities. → Similarity of relativistic and non-relativistic densities. → Similarity of core and valence regions of different atoms. → Dependence with Z along the Periodic Table.

Vacuum stability of a general scalar potential of a few fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kannike, Kristjan [NICPB, Tallinn (Estonia)

2016-06-15

We calculate analytical vacuum stability or bounded from below conditions for general scalar potentials of a few fields. After a brief review of copositivity, we show how to find positivity conditions for more complicated potentials. We discuss the vacuum stability conditions of the general potential of two real scalars, without and with the Higgs boson included in the potential. As further examples, we give explicit vacuum stability conditions for the two Higgs doublet model with no explicit CP breaking, and for the Z{sub 3} scalar dark matter with an inert doublet and a complex singlet. We give a short overview of positivity conditions for tensors of quartic couplings via tensor eigenvalues. (orig.)

A modular positive feedback-based gene amplifier

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhalerao Kaustubh D

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Positive feedback is a common mechanism used in the regulation of many gene circuits as it can amplify the response to inducers and also generate binary outputs and hysteresis. In the context of electrical circuit design, positive feedback is often considered in the design of amplifiers. Similar approaches, therefore, may be used for the design of amplifiers in synthetic gene circuits with applications, for example, in cell-based sensors. Results We developed a modular positive feedback circuit that can function as a genetic signal amplifier, heightening the sensitivity to inducer signals as well as increasing maximum expression levels without the need for an external cofactor. The design utilizes a constitutively active, autoinducer-independent variant of the quorum-sensing regulator LuxR. We experimentally tested the ability of the positive feedback module to separately amplify the output of a one-component tetracycline sensor and a two-component aspartate sensor. In each case, the positive feedback module amplified the response to the respective inducers, both with regards to the dynamic range and sensitivity. Conclusions The advantage of our design is that the actual feedback mechanism depends only on a single gene and does not require any other modulation. Furthermore, this circuit can amplify any transcriptional signal, not just one encoded within the circuit or tuned by an external inducer. As our design is modular, it can potentially be used as a component in the design of more complex synthetic gene circuits.

Ultra Wideband Indoor Positioning Technologies: Analysis and Recent Advances †

Science.gov (United States)

Alarifi, Abdulrahman; Al-Salman, AbdulMalik; Alsaleh, Mansour; Alnafessah, Ahmad; Al-Hadhrami, Suheer; Al-Ammar, Mai A.; Al-Khalifa, Hend S.

2016-01-01

In recent years, indoor positioning has emerged as a critical function in many end-user applications; including military, civilian, disaster relief and peacekeeping missions. In comparison with outdoor environments, sensing location information in indoor environments requires a higher precision and is a more challenging task in part because various objects reflect and disperse signals. Ultra WideBand (UWB) is an emerging technology in the field of indoor positioning that has shown better performance compared to others. In order to set the stage for this work, we provide a survey of the state-of-the-art technologies in indoor positioning, followed by a detailed comparative analysis of UWB positioning technologies. We also provide an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to analyze the present state of UWB positioning technologies. While SWOT is not a quantitative approach, it helps in assessing the real status and in revealing the potential of UWB positioning to effectively address the indoor positioning problem. Unlike previous studies, this paper presents new taxonomies, reviews some major recent advances, and argues for further exploration by the research community of this challenging problem space. PMID:27196906

Positive feelings facilitate working memory and complex decision making among older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Stephanie M; Peters, Ellen; Västfjäll, Daniel; Isen, Alice M

2013-01-01

The impact of induced mild positive feelings on working memory and complex decision making among older adults (aged 63-85) was examined. Participants completed a computer administered card task in which participants could win money if they chose from "gain" decks and lose money if they chose from "loss" decks. Individuals in the positive-feeling condition chose better than neutral-feeling participants and earned more money overall. Participants in the positive-feeling condition also demonstrated improved working-memory capacity. These effects of positive-feeling induction have implications for affect theory, as well as, potentially, practical implications for people of all ages dealing with complex decisions.

Atoms confined in a penetrable potential: effect of the atom position on the electric and magnetic responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acosta Coden, Diego S; Gomez, Sergio S; Romero, Rodolfo H

2011-01-01

We report results of the calculation of polarizability and the nuclear magnetic shielding tensors of two-electron atoms confined within an attractive Gaussian potential well. The electric and magnetic responses are obtained within the random phase approximation (RPA) of the polarization propagator. The influence of the depth and range of the potential on the electronic structure is also studied. The dependence of the parallel (along the displacement) and perpendicular components of the polarizability and shielding tensors on the distance of the atom to the centre of the well is calculated and rationalized as a dissociation-type process of the artificial diatomic molecule formed between the Coulomb and the well potentials.

Atoms confined in a penetrable potential: effect of the atom position on the electric and magnetic responses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Acosta Coden, Diego S; Gomez, Sergio S; Romero, Rodolfo H, E-mail: rhromero@exa.unne.edu.ar [Instituto de Modelado e Innovacion Tecnologica, CONICET and Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Avenida Libertad 5500 (3400) Corrientes (Argentina)

2011-02-14

We report results of the calculation of polarizability and the nuclear magnetic shielding tensors of two-electron atoms confined within an attractive Gaussian potential well. The electric and magnetic responses are obtained within the random phase approximation (RPA) of the polarization propagator. The influence of the depth and range of the potential on the electronic structure is also studied. The dependence of the parallel (along the displacement) and perpendicular components of the polarizability and shielding tensors on the distance of the atom to the centre of the well is calculated and rationalized as a dissociation-type process of the artificial diatomic molecule formed between the Coulomb and the well potentials.

Navicular bone position determined by positional MRI: a reproducibility study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, Philip; Nybing, Janus D. [Copenhagen University Hospital Frederiksberg and Bispebjerg, Department of Radiology, Frederiksberg (Denmark); Johannsen, Finn E.; Stallknecht, Sandra E. [Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Copenhagen, NV (Denmark); Hangaard, Stine; Hansen, Bjarke B. [Copenhagen University Hospital Frederiksberg, Parker Institute, Department of Rheumatology, Frederiksberg (Denmark); Boesen, Mikael [Copenhagen University Hospital Frederiksberg and Bispebjerg, Department of Radiology, Frederiksberg (Denmark); Copenhagen University Hospital Frederiksberg, Parker Institute, Department of Rheumatology, Frederiksberg (Denmark)

2016-02-15

To examine intraobserver, interobserver and between-day reproducibility of positional MRI for evaluation of navicular bone height (NVH) and medial navicular position (MNP). Positional MRI (pMRI) of the foot was performed on ten healthy participants (0.25 T G-scanner). Scanning was performed in supine and standing position, respectively. Two radiologists evaluated the images in a blinded manner. Reliability and agreement were assessed by calculation of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and 95 % limits of agreement as a percentage of the mean (LOA%). Intraobserver and interobserver reliability was ''substantial'' in both supine and standing position (ICC 0.86-0.98) and showed good agreement (LOA% 4.9-14.7 %). Between-day reliability of navicular height and medial navicular position in standing position remained substantial (ICC 0.85-0.92) with adequate agreement (LOA% 8.3-19.8 %). In supine position between-day reliability was ''moderate'' for NVH (ICC 0.72) and ''slight'' for MNP (ICC 0.39). Agreement remained adequate between-days for MNP in supine position (LOA% 17.7 %), but it was less than adequate for NVH in supine position (LOA% 24.2 %). Navicular height and medial navicular position can be measured by pMRI in a very reproducible manner within and between observers. Increased measurement variation is observed between-days in supine position, which may be due to small positional differences or other unknown biomechanical factors. (orig.)

Navicular bone position determined by positional MRI: a reproducibility study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, Philip; Nybing, Janus D.; Johannsen, Finn E.; Stallknecht, Sandra E.; Hangaard, Stine; Hansen, Bjarke B.; Boesen, Mikael

2016-01-01

To examine intraobserver, interobserver and between-day reproducibility of positional MRI for evaluation of navicular bone height (NVH) and medial navicular position (MNP). Positional MRI (pMRI) of the foot was performed on ten healthy participants (0.25 T G-scanner). Scanning was performed in supine and standing position, respectively. Two radiologists evaluated the images in a blinded manner. Reliability and agreement were assessed by calculation of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and 95 % limits of agreement as a percentage of the mean (LOA%). Intraobserver and interobserver reliability was ''substantial'' in both supine and standing position (ICC 0.86-0.98) and showed good agreement (LOA% 4.9-14.7 %). Between-day reliability of navicular height and medial navicular position in standing position remained substantial (ICC 0.85-0.92) with adequate agreement (LOA% 8.3-19.8 %). In supine position between-day reliability was ''moderate'' for NVH (ICC 0.72) and ''slight'' for MNP (ICC 0.39). Agreement remained adequate between-days for MNP in supine position (LOA% 17.7 %), but it was less than adequate for NVH in supine position (LOA% 24.2 %). Navicular height and medial navicular position can be measured by pMRI in a very reproducible manner within and between observers. Increased measurement variation is observed between-days in supine position, which may be due to small positional differences or other unknown biomechanical factors. (orig.)

Osteoporosis management in patients with breast cancer : EMAS position statement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trémollieres, Florence A; Ceausu, Iuliana; Depypere, Herman; Lambrinoudaki, Irene; Mueck, Alfred; Pérez-López, Faustino R; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Senturk, Levent M; Simoncini, Tommaso; Stevenson, John C; Stute, Petra; Rees, Margaret

Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are the first-line recommended standard of care for postmenopausal estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Because they cause a profound suppression of estrogen levels, concerns regarding their potential to increase the risk of fracture were rapidly raised. There is

[Treatment of supine position-related obstructive sleep apnea with smartphone applications].

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, D; Birk, R; Maurer, J T; Hörmann, K; Stuck, B A; Sommer, J U

2017-02-01

Positional obstructive sleep apnea (POSA) is common in mild and moderate forms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Two smartphone applications (apps) professing to avoid the supine position (SP) are available: for Android the "Apnea Sleep Position Trainer" and for iOS the "SomnoPose-Sleep Position Monitor". The smartphone needs to be attached to the chest to recognize SP, which then triggers a vibration alarm. This is intended to encourage the patient to change position and the vibration stops as soon as SP is left. These apps, however, have not yet undergone a systematic evaluation. Adult patients with polysomnographically diagnosed POSA were invited to participate in the study. POSA was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in SP >10, with AHI in a lateral position sleep time and to an overall AHI smartphone apps have the capability to prevent PS in POSA patients and can potentially offer a cost-effective option in the treatment of POSA.

Polio vaccines: WHO position paper, March 2016-recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

World Health Organization

2017-03-01

This article presents the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations on the use of polio vaccine excerpted from the WHO position paper on polio vaccines - March 2016, published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record [1]. This position paper on polio vaccines replaces the 2014 WHO position paper [2]. The position paper summarizes the WHO position on the introduction of at least one dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) into routine immunization schedules as a strategy to mitigate the potential risk of re-emergence of type 2 polio following the withdrawal of Sabin type 2 strains from oral polio vaccine (OPV) [3]. Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core references including references to grading tables that assess the quality of the scientific evidence, and to the evidence-to-recommendation table. In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This position paper reflects the global switch from trivalent to bivalent OPV which took place in April 2016. Recommendations on the use of polio vaccines have been discussed on multiple occasions by SAGE, most recently in October 2016; evidence presented at these meetings can be accessed at: http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benign positional vertigo

Science.gov (United States)

Vertigo - positional; Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo; BPPV: dizziness- positional ... Benign positional vertigo is also called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). It is caused by a problem in the inner ear. ...

ECONOMIC POTENTIALS OF FISH MARKETING AND WOMEN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AKINYEMISI

efficiency greater than one which indicated profitability of the enterprise and further showed the potential of fish marketing contribution to women's economic empowerment. The regression results showed that the variables which positively and.

Navigation with ECDIS: Choosing the Proper Secondary Positioning Source

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Brčic

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The completion of ECDIS mandatory implementation period on-board SOLAS vessels requires certain operational, functional and educational gaping holes to be solved. It especially refers to positioning and its redundancy, which represents fundamental safety factor on-board navigating vessels. The proposed paper deals with primary and secondary positioning used in ECDIS system. Standard positioning methods are described, discussing possibilities of obtained positions’ automatic and manual implementation in ECDIS, beside default methods. With the aim of emphasizing the need and importance of using secondary positioning source in ECDIS, positioning issue from the standpoint of end-users was elaborated, representing a practical feedback of elaborated topic. The survey was conducted in the form of international questionnaire placed among OOWs, ranging from apprentice officers to captains. The result answers and discussion regarding (nonusage of secondary positioning sources in ECDIS were analysed and presented. Answers and statements were elaborated focusing not only in usage of the secondary positioning system in ECDIS, but in navigation in general. The study revealed potential risks arising from the lack of knowledge and even negligence. The paper concludes with summary of findings related to discrepancies between theoretical background, good seamanship practice and real actions taken by OOWs. Further research activities are pointed out, together with planned practical actions in raising awareness regarding navigation with ECDIS.

Localization of s-Wave and Quantum Effective Potential of a Quasi-free Particle with Position-Dependent Mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ju Guoxing; Xiang Yang; Ren Zhongzhou

2006-01-01

The properties of the s-wave for a quasi-free particle with position-dependent mass (PDM) have been discussed in details. Differed from the system with constant mass in which the localization of the s-wave for the free quantum particle around the origin only occurs in two dimensions, the quasi-free particle with PDM can experience attractive forces in D dimensions except D = 1 when its mass function satisfies some conditions. The effective mass of a particle varying with its position can induce effective interaction, which may be attractive in some cases. The analytical expressions of the eigenfunctions and the corresponding probability densities for the s-waves of the two- and three-dimensional systems with a special PDM are given, and the existences of localization around the origin for these systems are shown.

The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions

OpenAIRE

Fredrickson, Barbara L.

2001-01-01

In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting ...

Positioning performance of a maglev fine positioning system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wronosky, J.B.; Smith, T.G.; Jordan, J.D.; Darnold, J.R.

1996-12-01

A wafer positioning system was recently developed by Sandia National Laboratories for an Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) research tool. The system, which utilizes a magnetically levitated fine stage to provide ultra-precise positioning in all six degrees of freedom, incorporates technological improvements resulting from four years of prototype development experience. System enhancements, implemented on a second generation design for an ARPA National Center for Advanced Information Component Manufacturing (NCAICM) project, introduced active structural control for the levitated structure of the system. Magnetic levitation (maglev) is emerging as an important technology for wafer positioning systems in advanced lithography applications. The advantages of maglev stem from the absence of physical contact. The resulting lack of friction enables accurate, fast positioning. Maglev systems are mechanically simple, accomplishing full six degree-of-freedom suspension and control with a minimum of moving parts. Power-efficient designs, which reduce the possibility of thermal distortion of the platen, are achievable. Manufacturing throughput will be improved in future systems with the addition of active structural control of the positioning stages. This paper describes the design, implementation, and functional capability of the maglev fine positioning system. Specifics regarding performance design goals and test results are presented.

Experimental Investigation on Propagation Characteristics of PD Radiated UHF Signal in Actual 252 kV GIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianhui Li

2017-07-01

Full Text Available For partial discharge (PD diagnostics in gas insulated switchgears (GISs based on the ultra-high-frequency (UHF method, it is essential to study the attenuation characteristics of UHF signals so as to improve the application of the UHF technique. Currently, the performance of UHF has not been adequately considered in most experimental research, while the constructive conclusions about the installation and position of UHF sensors are relatively rare. In this research, by using a previously-designed broadband sensor, the output signal is detected and analyzed experimentally in a 252 kV GIS with L-shaped structure and disconnecting switch. Since the relative position of the sensor and the defect is usually fixed by prior research, three circumferential angle positions of the defect in cross section are performed. The results are studied by time, statistics and frequency analyses. This identifies that the discontinuity conductor of DS will lead to a rise of both the peak to peak value (Vpp and the transmission rate of the UHF signal. Then, the frequency analysis indicates that the reason for the distinction of signal amplitude and transmission rate is that the mode components of the PD signal are distinctively affected by the special structure of GIS. Finally, the optimal circumferential angle position of the UHF Sensor is given based on the comparison of transmission rates.

Relationships Among Positive Emotions, Coping, Resilience and Mental Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gloria, Christian T; Steinhardt, Mary A

2016-04-01

The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions suggests that positive emotions can widen the range of potential coping strategies that come to mind and subsequently enhance one's resilience against stress. Studies have shown that high stress, especially chronic levels of stress, strongly contributes to the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, researchers have also found that individuals who possess high levels of resilience are protected from stress and thus report lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Using a sample of 200 postdoctoral research fellows, the present study examined if (a) positive emotions were associated with greater resilience, (b) coping strategies mediated the link between positive emotions and resilience and (c) resilience moderated the influence of stress on trait anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results support the broaden-and-build theory in that positive emotions may enhance resilience directly as well as indirectly through the mediating role of coping strategies-particularly via adaptive coping. Resilience also moderated the association of stress with trait anxiety and depressive symptoms. Although stress is unavoidable and its influences on anxiety and depressive symptoms are undeniable, the likelihood of postdocs developing anxiety or depressive symptoms may be reduced by implementing programmes designed to increase positive emotions, adaptive coping strategies and resilience. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Toward quantum-limited position measurements using optically levitated microspheres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Libbrecht, Kenneth G.; Black, Eric D.

2004-01-01

We propose the use of optically levitated microspheres as test masses in experiments aimed at reaching and potentially exceeding the standard quantum limit for position measurements. Optically levitated microspheres have low mass and are essentially free of suspension thermal noise, making them well suited for experimentally testing our understanding of quantum-limited measurements

Toward quantum-limited position measurements using optically levitated microspheres

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Libbrecht, Kenneth G.; Black, Eric D

2004-01-26

We propose the use of optically levitated microspheres as test masses in experiments aimed at reaching and potentially exceeding the standard quantum limit for position measurements. Optically levitated microspheres have low mass and are essentially free of suspension thermal noise, making them well suited for experimentally testing our understanding of quantum-limited measurements.

Greater ability to express positive emotion is associated with lower projected cardiovascular disease risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuck, Natalie L; Adams, Kathryn S; Pressman, Sarah D; Consedine, Nathan S

2017-12-01

Positive emotion is associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, yet some mechanisms remain unclear. One potential pathway is via emotional competencies/skills. The present study tests whether the ability to facially express positive emotion is associated with CVD risk scores, while controlling for potential confounds and testing for sex moderation. Eighty-two men and women underwent blood draws before completing self-report assessments and a performance test of expressive skill. Positive expressions were scored for degree of 'happiness' using expression coding software. CVD risk scores were calculated using established algorithms based on biological, demographic, and behavioral risk factors. Linear regressions revealed a main effect for skill, with skill in expressing positive emotion associated with lower CVD risk scores. Analyses also revealed a sex-by-skill interaction whereby links between expressive skill and CVD risk scores were stronger among men. Objective tests of expressive skill have methodological advantages, appear to have links to physical health, and offer a novel avenue for research and intervention.

Interatomic potentials and the simulation of lattice defects in metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heugten, W.F.W.M. van.

1979-01-01

The computer simulation technique is applied to investigate the properties of point defects and line defects in metals. For that purpose crystallites are constructed in which these defects are simulated. In the case of line defects (dislocations) the initial positions of the atoms, surrounding the dislocations, are determined using the elastic theory of anisotropic media. Hereafter the atoms in such crystallites are allowed to relax to there minimum potential energy positions under the influence of the interatomic forces. These forces are derived from interatomic interaction potentials. These potentials are together with the boundary conditions of the simulated crystallite the main input data in these computer simulation models. The metals considered include molybdenum, tungsten and tantalum. (Auth.)

Steroid induction of therapy-resistant cytokeratin-5-positive cells in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer through a BCL6-dependent mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, C R; Sato, T; Peck, A R; Girondo, M A; Yang, N; Liu, C; Yanac, A F; Kovatich, A J; Hooke, J A; Shriver, C D; Mitchell, E P; Hyslop, T; Rui, H

2016-01-01

Therapy resistance remains a major problem in estrogen receptor-α (ERα)-positive breast cancer. A subgroup of ERα-positive breast cancer is characterized by mosaic presence of a minor population of ERα-negative cancer cells expressing the basal cytokeratin-5 (CK5). These CK5-positive cells are therapy resistant and have increased tumor-initiating potential. Although a series of reports document induction of the CK5-positive cells by progestins, it is unknown if other 3-ketosteroids share this ability. We now report that glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids effectively expand the CK5-positive cell population. CK5-positive cells induced by 3-ketosteroids lacked ERα and progesterone receptors, expressed stem cell marker, CD44, and displayed increased clonogenicity in soft agar and broad drug-resistance in vitro and in vivo. Upregulation of CK5-positive cells by 3-ketosteroids required induction of the transcriptional repressor BCL6 based on suppression of BCL6 by two independent BCL6 small hairpin RNAs or by prolactin. Prolactin also suppressed 3-ketosteroid induction of CK5+ cells in T47D xenografts in vivo. Survival analysis with recursive partitioning in node-negative ERα-positive breast cancer using quantitative CK5 and BCL6 mRNA or protein expression data identified patients at high or low risk for tumor recurrence in two independent patient cohorts. The data provide a mechanism by which common pathophysiological or pharmacologic elevations in glucocorticoids or other 3-ketosteroids may adversely affect patients with mixed ERα+/CK5+ breast cancer. The observations further suggest a cooperative diagnostic utility of CK5 and BCL6 expression levels and justify exploring efficacy of inhibitors of BCL6 and 3-ketosteroid receptors for a subset of ERα-positive breast cancers. PMID:26096934

The neuroscience of positive memory deficits in depression

Science.gov (United States)

Dillon, Daniel G.

2015-01-01

Adults with unipolar depression typically show poor episodic memory for positive material, but the neuroscientific mechanisms responsible for this deficit have not been characterized. I suggest a simple hypothesis: weak memory for positive material in depression reflects disrupted communication between the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory systems during encoding. This proposal draws on basic research showing that dopamine release in the hippocampus is critical for the transition from early- to late-phase long-term potentiation (LTP) that marks the conversion of labile, short-term memories into stable, long-term memories. Neuroimaging and pharmacological data from healthy humans paint a similar picture: activation of the mesolimbic reward circuit enhances encoding and boosts retention. Unipolar depression is characterized by anhedonia–loss of pleasure–and reward circuit dysfunction, which is believed to reflect negative effects of stress on the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. Thus, I propose that the MTL is deprived of strengthening reward signals in depressed adults and memory for positive events suffers accordingly. Although other mechanisms are important, this hypothesis holds promise as an explanation for positive memory deficits in depression. PMID:26441703

The neuroscience of positive memory deficits in depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Gerard Dillon

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Adults with unipolar depression typically show poor episodic memory for positive material, but the neuroscientific mechanisms responsible for this deficit have not been characterized. I suggest a simple hypothesis: weak memory for positive material in depression reflects disrupted communication between the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and medial temporal lobe (MTL memory systems during encoding. This proposal draws on basic research showing that dopamine release in the hippocampus is critical for the transition from early- to late-phase long-term potentiation (LTP that marks the conversion of labile, short-term memories into stable, long-term memories. Neuroimaging and pharmacological data from healthy humans paint a similar picture: activation of the mesolimbic reward circuit enhances encoding and boosts retention. Unipolar depression is characterized by anhedonia--loss of pleasure--and reward circuit dysfunction, which is believed to reflect negative effects of stress on the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. Thus, I propose that the MTL is deprived of strengthening reward signals in depressed adults and memory for positive events suffers accordingly. Although other mechanisms are important, this hypothesis holds promise as an explanation for positive memory deficits in depression.

Differentiating Three Conceptualisations of the Relationship between Positive Development and Psychopathology during the Transition to Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Meredith; Sanson, Ann; Hawkins, Mary T.; Toumbourou, John W.; Letcher, Primrose; Frydenberg, Erica

2011-01-01

The transition to adulthood is characterised by both great potential for positive change and a relatively high incidence of problem outcomes. A multidimensional model of positive development during the transition to adulthood (at 19-20 years) has recently been proposed. However, an unresolved question regarding the nature of positive development…

Fundamental limits to position determination by concentration gradients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filipe Tostevin

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Position determination in biological systems is often achieved through protein concentration gradients. Measuring the local concentration of such a protein with a spatially varying distribution allows the measurement of position within the system. For these systems to work effectively, position determination must be robust to noise. Here, we calculate fundamental limits to the precision of position determination by concentration gradients due to unavoidable biochemical noise perturbing the gradients. We focus on gradient proteins with first-order reaction kinetics. Systems of this type have been experimentally characterised in both developmental and cell biology settings. For a single gradient we show that, through time-averaging, great precision potentially can be achieved even with very low protein copy numbers. As a second example, we investigate the ability of a system with oppositely directed gradients to find its centre. With this mechanism, positional precision close to the centre improves more slowly with increasing averaging time, and so longer averaging times or higher copy numbers are required for high precision. For both single and double gradients, we demonstrate the existence of optimal length scales for the gradients for which precision is maximized, as well as analyze how precision depends on the size of the concentration-measuring apparatus. These results provide fundamental constraints on the positional precision supplied by concentration gradients in various contexts, including both in developmental biology and also within a single cell.

A comparative study of imbalance reduction strategies for virtual power plant operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapata, J.; Vandewalle, J.; D'haeseleer, W.

2014-01-01

The penetration of a large amount of distributed generation (DG) technologies with intermittent output, such as photovoltaic installations and wind turbines, yields an important challenge to the electric grid. It is believed that aggregating them with controllable technologies such as cogeneration devices (CHP) can help to balance fluctuations of renewable energy. This work evaluates the ability of a virtual power plant (VPP) to reduce the imbalance error of renewable generators. The study is undertaken in a VPP that consists of several cogeneration devices and photovoltaic (PV) installations. The virtual power plant operator bids electricity into the day-ahead market using the forecast for solar irradiation and for the thermal demand. During the actual day, the imbalance due to deviations between the forecasted electricity delivered and the real output has to be settled in the balancing market. Thus, in order to compensate these errors and possible economic drawbacks, the operation of the CHP is adjusted periodically in a so called reschedule. Two different rescheduling strategies are compared against a ‘reference scenario’ in which the imbalance error is settled in the market. The first one (‘forced strategy’) aims at reducing the imbalance error every time step regardless of the imbalance prices. The second (‘economic strategy’) considers the imbalance prices and takes only action if it is economically appropriate and thus intends to reduce the total operational cost. The results show that the rescheduling technique is able to reduce the imbalance error (up to 90% depending on the season and the strategy). Additionally, the total operational cost is estimated. However, the nowadays imbalance prices only lead to a minor financial advantage that is unlikely to motivate real life operators to perform a rescheduling strategy. - Highlights: • The VPP is dispatched by a day-ahead optimization followed by a rescheduling. • A forced rescheduling strategy

Decomposing the Roles of Perseveration and Expected Value Representation in Models of the Iowa Gambling Task

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Darrell A. Worthy

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Models of human behavior in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT have played a pivotal role in accounting for behavioral differences during decision-making. One critical difference between models that have been used to account for behavior in the IGT is the inclusion or exclusion of the assumption that participants tend to persevere, or stay with the same option over consecutive trials. Models that allow for this assumption include win-stay-lose-shift (WSLS models and reinforcement learning (RL models that include a decay learning rule where expected values for each option decay as they are chosen less often. One shortcoming of RL models that have included decay rules is that the tendency to persevere by sticking with the same option has been conflated with the tendency to select the option with the highest expected value because a single term is used to represent both of these tendencies. In the current work we isolate the tendencies to perseverate and to select the option with the highest expected value by including them as separate terms in a Value-Plus-Perseveration (VPP RL model. Overall the VPP model provides a better fit to data from a large group of participants than models that include a single term to account for both perseveration and the representation of expected value. Simulations of each model show that the VPP model’s simulated choices most closely resemble the decision-making behavior of human subjects. In addition, we also find that parameter estimates of loss aversion are more strongly correlated with performance when perseverative tendencies and expected value representations are decomposed as separate terms within the model. The results suggest that the tendency to persevere and the tendency to select the option that leads to the best net payoff are central components of decision-making behavior in the IGT. Future work should use this model to better examine decision-making behavior.

Decomposing the roles of perseveration and expected value representation in models of the Iowa gambling task.

Science.gov (United States)

Worthy, Darrell A; Pang, Bo; Byrne, Kaileigh A

2013-01-01

Models of human behavior in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) have played a pivotal role in accounting for behavioral differences during decision-making. One critical difference between models that have been used to account for behavior in the IGT is the inclusion or exclusion of the assumption that participants tend to persevere, or stay with the same option over consecutive trials. Models that allow for this assumption include win-stay-lose-shift (WSLS) models and reinforcement learning (RL) models that include a decay learning rule where expected values for each option decay as they are chosen less often. One shortcoming of RL models that have included decay rules is that the tendency to persevere by sticking with the same option has been conflated with the tendency to select the option with the highest expected value because a single term is used to represent both of these tendencies. In the current work we isolate the tendencies to perseverate and to select the option with the highest expected value by including them as separate terms in a Value-Plus-Perseveration (VPP) RL model. Overall the VPP model provides a better fit to data from a large group of participants than models that include a single term to account for both perseveration and the representation of expected value. Simulations of each model show that the VPP model's simulated choices most closely resemble the decision-making behavior of human subjects. In addition, we also find that parameter estimates of loss aversion are more strongly correlated with performance when perseverative tendencies and expected value representations are decomposed as separate terms within the model. The results suggest that the tendency to persevere and the tendency to select the option that leads to the best net payoff are central components of decision-making behavior in the IGT. Future work should use this model to better examine decision-making behavior.

Arylesterase Phenotype-Specific Positive Association Between Arylesterase Activity and Cholinesterase Specific Activity in Human Serum

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Yutaka Aoki

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Context: Cholinesterase (ChE specific activity is the ratio of ChE activity to ChE mass and, as a biomarker of exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors, has a potential advantage over simple ChE activity. Objective: To examine the association of several potential correlates (serum arylesterase/paraoxonase activity, serum albumin, sex, age, month of blood collection, and smoking with plasma ChE specific activity. Methods: We analyzed data from 195 cancer-free controls from a nested case-control study, accounting for potential confounding. Results: Arylesterase activity had an independent, statistically significant positive association with ChE specific activity, and its magnitude was the greatest for the arylesterase phenotype corresponding to the QQ PON1192 genotype followed by phenotypes corresponding to QR and RR genotypes. Serum albumin was positively associated with ChE specific activity. Conclusions: Plasma arylesterase activity was positively associated with plasma ChE specific activity. This observation is consistent with protection conferred by a metabolic phenotype resulting in reduced internal dose.

Fermionic particles with position-dependent mass in the presence of ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Approximate solutions of the Dirac equation with position-dependent mass are presented for the inversely quadratic Yukawa potential and Coulomb-like tensor interaction by using the asymptotic iteration method. The energy eigenvalues and the corresponding normalized eigenfunctions are obtained in the case of ...

Compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis and risk of acute renal failure as complications of the lithotomy position.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bocca, G.; Moorselaar, R.J.A. van; Feitz, W.F.J.; Staak, F.H.J.M. van der; Monnens, L.A.H.

2002-01-01

Compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis and the risk of acute renal failure are potential complications of the lithotomy position. A six-year-old girl is described who developed a compartment syndrome with rhabdomyolysis after prolonged surgery in the lithotomy position. This complication occurred

Realizing the full potential of a RITA spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefmann, K.; Niedermayer, Ch.; Abrahamsen, A.B.; Bahl, C.R.H.; Christensen, N.B.; Jacobsen, H.S.; Larsen, T.L.; Haefliger, P.; Filges, U.; Ronnow, H.M.

2006-01-01

The 're-invented triple-axis spectrometer (RITA) concept has existed for a decade. Recent developments at RITA-2 at PSI, have revealed more of the potential of this instrument class. We demonstrate the performance of the multi-blade imaging mode, which has been applied e.g. to studies of dispersion relations and emphasize the power of this mode in combination with the low background of RITA-2. In addition, we present other ways of utilizing the position sensitive detector in a RITA instrument. Simulations of a planned upgrade of the guide-monochromator system at RITA-2 have shown a potential to increase the flux at the sample position by a factor 5

Realizing the full potential of a RITA spectrometer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lefmann, K. [Riso National Laboratory, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark)]. E-mail: kim.lefmann@risoe.dk; Niedermayer, Ch. [Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH-Zuerich and Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villilgen (Switzerland); Abrahamsen, A.B. [Riso National Laboratory, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Bahl, C.R.H. [Riso National Laboratory, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark); Christensen, N.B. [Riso National Laboratory, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark): Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH-Zuerich and Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villilgen (Switzerland); Jacobsen, H.S. [Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen O (Denmark); Larsen, T.L. [Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen O (Denmark); Haefliger, P. [Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH-Zuerich and Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villilgen (Switzerland); Filges, U. [Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH-Zuerich and Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villilgen (Switzerland); Ronnow, H.M. [Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH-Zuerich and Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villilgen (Switzerland)

2006-11-15

The 're-invented triple-axis spectrometer (RITA) concept has existed for a decade. Recent developments at RITA-2 at PSI, have revealed more of the potential of this instrument class. We demonstrate the performance of the multi-blade imaging mode, which has been applied e.g. to studies of dispersion relations and emphasize the power of this mode in combination with the low background of RITA-2. In addition, we present other ways of utilizing the position sensitive detector in a RITA instrument. Simulations of a planned upgrade of the guide-monochromator system at RITA-2 have shown a potential to increase the flux at the sample position by a factor 5.

Transfer matrix in 1D Schroedinger problems with constant and position-dependent mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez-Alvarez, R.; Rodriguez-Coppola, H.

1987-10-01

We consider the transfer matrix method for obtaining properties of standard wells and barriers in one-dimensional Schroedinger problems with constant and position-dependent mass. We report the formulae for the energy levels of a well and the transmission coefficient of a barrier. We demonstrate the continuity between virtual bound states and bound states in a well of position-dependent mass and the relation between the zero energy gap states of a periodic potential problem with the corresponding energies of the non-periodic ones with transmission coefficient equal to one. The calculations were carried out for a wide class of potential profiles. (author). 30 refs, 2 figs

Positioning of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: combining prone and upright makes sense.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Jean-Christophe M; Lefebvre, Jean-Claude

2011-01-01

Positional strategies have been proposed for mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Despite different physiological mechanisms involved, oxygenation improvement has been demonstrated with both prone and upright positions. In the previous issue of Critical Care, Robak and colleagues reported the first study evaluating the short-term effects of combining prone and upright positioning. The combined positioning enhanced the response rate in terms of oxygenation. Other benefits, such as a reduction in ventilator-associated pneumonia and better enteral feeding tolerance, can potentially be expected.

Performance of the CEBAF Arc Beam Position Monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A.S. Hofler; B.A. Bowling; C.S. Higgins; P.K. Kloeppel; G.A. Krafft; K.L. Mahoney

1993-01-01

The first three quarters of the first CEBAF arc have been instrumented with beam position monitors. Thirty-seven monitors (of 450) have been installed and their noise measured. Resolution of 100 mu-m was obtained at the lowest operating current of 1 mu-A. The update time of the system is 1 sec, limited by computer interfacing with a potential bandwidth of greater than 10 kHz

Quantum information entropies of the eigenstates for the P(o)schl-Teller-like potential

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Guo-Hua Sun; M.Avila Aoki; Shi-Hai Dong

2013-01-01

Shannon entropy for lower position and momentum eigenstates of P(o)schl-Teller-like potential is evaluated.Based on the entropy densities demonstrated graphically,we note that the wave through of the position information entropy density ρ(x) moves right when the potential parameter V1 increases and its amplitude decreases.However,its wave through moves left with the increase in the potential parameter |V2|.Concerning the momentum information entropy density p(p),we observe that its amplitude increases with increasing potential parameter V1,but its amplitude decreases with increasing |V2|.The Bialynicki-Birula-Mycielski (BBM) inequality has also been tested for a number of states.Moreover,there exist eigenstates that exhibit squeezing in the momentum information entropy.Finally,we note that position information entropy increases with V1,but decreases with |V2|.However,the variation of momentum information entropy is contrary to that of the position information entropy.

Monitoring positive mental health and its determinants in Canada: the development of the Positive Mental Health Surveillance Indicator Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Orpana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The Mental Health Strategy for Canada identified a need to enhance the collection of data on mental health in Canada. While surveillance systems on mental illness have been established, a data gap for monitoring positive mental health and its determinants was identified. The goal of this project was to develop a Positive Mental Health Surveillance Indicator Framework, to provide a picture of the state of positive mental health and its determinants in Canada. Data from this surveillance framework will be used to inform programs and policies to improve the mental health of Canadians. Methods: A literature review and environmental scan were conducted to provide the theoretical base for the framework, and to identify potential positive mental health outcomes and risk and protective factors. The Public Health Agency of Canada’s definition of positive mental health was adopted as the conceptual basis for the outcomes of this framework. After identifying a comprehensive list of risk and protective factors, mental health experts, other governmental partners and non-governmental stakeholders were consulted to prioritize these indicators. Subsequently, these groups were consulted to identify the most promising measurement approaches for each indicator. Results: A conceptual framework for surveillance of positive mental health and its determinants has been developed to contain 5 outcome indicators and 25 determinant indicators organized within 4 domains at the individual, family, community and societal level. This indicator framework addresses a data gap identified in Canada’s strategy for mental health and will be used to inform programs and policies to improve the mental health status of Canadians throughout the life course.

A position-dependent mass harmonic oscillator and deformed space

Science.gov (United States)

da Costa, Bruno G.; Borges, Ernesto P.

2018-04-01

We consider canonically conjugated generalized space and linear momentum operators x^ q and p^ q in quantum mechanics, associated with a generalized translation operator which produces infinitesimal deformed displacements controlled by a deformation parameter q. A canonical transformation (x ^ ,p ^ ) →(x^ q,p^ q ) leads the Hamiltonian of a position-dependent mass particle in usual space to another Hamiltonian of a particle with constant mass in a conservative force field of the deformed space. The equation of motion for the classical phase space (x, p) may be expressed in terms of the deformed (dual) q-derivative. We revisit the problem of a q-deformed oscillator in both classical and quantum formalisms. Particularly, this canonical transformation leads a particle with position-dependent mass in a harmonic potential to a particle with constant mass in a Morse potential. The trajectories in phase spaces (x, p) and (xq, pq) are analyzed for different values of the deformation parameter. Finally, we compare the results of the problem in classical and quantum formalisms through the principle of correspondence and the WKB approximation.

Positive Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Christopher

2009-01-01

Positive psychology is a deliberate correction to the focus of psychology on problems. Positive psychology does not deny the difficulties that people may experience but does suggest that sole attention to disorder leads to an incomplete view of the human condition. Positive psychologists concern themselves with four major topics: (1) positive…

The Moderating Effect of Self-Reported State and Trait Anxiety on the Late Positive Potential to Emotional Faces in 6–11-Year-Old Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgia Chronaki

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The emergence of anxiety during childhood is accompanied by the development of attentional biases to threat. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these biases are poorly understood. In addition, previous research has not examined whether state and trait anxiety are independently associated with threat-related biases.Methods: We compared ERP waveforms during the processing of emotional faces in a population sample of 58 6–11-year-olds who completed self-reported measures of trait and state anxiety and depression.Results: The results showed that the P1 was larger to angry than neutral faces in the left hemisphere, though early components (P1, N170 were not strongly associated with child anxiety or depression. In contrast, Late Positive Potential (LPP amplitudes to angry (vs. neutral faces were significantly and positively associated with symptoms of anxiety/depression. In addition, the difference between LPPs for angry (vs. neutral faces was independently associated with state and trait anxiety symptoms.Discussion: The results showed that neural responses to facial emotion in children with elevated symptoms of anxiety and depression were most evident at later processing stages characterized as evaluative and effortful. The findings support cognitive models of threat perception in anxiety and indicate that trait elements of anxiety and more transitory fluctuations in anxious affect are important in understanding individual variation in the neural response to threat in late childhood.

Equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian for the non-Hermitian -x4 potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, H.F.; Mateo, J.

2006-01-01

The potential V(x)=-x 4 , which is unbounded below on the real line, can give rise to a well-posed bound state problem when x is taken on a contour in the lower-half complex plane. It is then PT-symmetric rather than Hermitian. Nonetheless it has been shown numerically to have a real spectrum, and a proof of reality, involving the correspondence between ordinary differential equations and integrable systems, was subsequently constructed for the general class of potentials -(ix) N . For such Hamiltonians the natural PT metric is not positive definite, but a dynamically-defined positive-definite metric can be defined, depending on an operator Q. Further, with the help of this operator an equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian h can be constructed. This programme has been carried out exactly for a few soluble models, and the first few terms of a perturbative expansion have been found for the potential m 2 x 2 +igx 3 . However, until now, the -x 4 potential has proved intractable. In the present paper we give explicit, closed form expressions for Q and h, which are made possible by a particular parametrization of the contour in the complex plane on which the problem is defined. This constitutes an explicit proof of the reality of the spectrum. The resulting equivalent Hamiltonian has a potential with a positive quartic term together with a linear term

Electric vehicles in Danish power system with large penetration of wind power

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Lihui; Xu, Zhao; Østergaard, Jacob

2011-01-01

Electric vehicles (EVs) provide a unique opportunity for reducing the CO2 emissions from the transport sector. At the same time, EVs have the potential to play an important role in the economical and reliable operation of an electricity system with high penetration of renewable energy. An analysi......). The managing structure of V2G adopting virtual power plant (VPP) technology is proposed. © 2011 State Grid Electric Power Research Institute Press....... is made of the potential for using EVs in Denmark, and the benefits of the electric power system with high wind power generation by intelligent charging and discharging of EVs are enumerated. Based on the analysis, important technological gaps are identified, and the corresponding research and development...... initiatives of the recently established EDISON program are described. Moreover, the latest development of the EDISON program is treated, that is, EDISON as a research consortium to design a new model for the Danish power system with high penetration of wind power and EVs with vehicle to grid (V2G...

Messages of Hope: Using Positive Stories of Survival to Assist Recovery in Rwanda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Girish Lala

2014-08-01

Full Text Available For the past twenty years, the overriding story of Rwanda has been centred around the events and consequences of the genocide. In Rwanda, public expressions of that story have occurred in the gacaca courts, where survivors and perpetrators testified about their experiences and actions, during ongoing annual remembrance and mourning commemorations, and in memorial sites across the country that act as physical reminders of the genocide. While important as mechanisms for justice, testimony, and commemoration, on their own such events and installations also have the potential to re-traumatise. Accordingly, Rwandan agencies have encouraged a focus on the future as the overarching theme of recent national commemorations. Yet, opportunities for Rwandans to recount and disseminate positive, future-oriented stories of survival and healing remain sparse. Creation and awareness of positive stories have the potential to assist in recovery by increasing feelings of hope and efficacy; and recent research has demonstrated the value of hopefulness, well-being, and social support for vulnerable people. The Messages of Hope program seeks to leverage those ideas into a framework for generating positive messages by Rwandan survivors, providing an opportunity for everyday Rwandans to record and transmit their own positive stories of survival to demonstrate recovery and growth after the genocide, and to reinforce connectedness by sharing their challenges and aspirations. We describe the development and early implementation of this initiative and its potential longer-term application in other contexts of vulnerability.

Interferon Potentiates Toll-Like Receptor-Induced Prostaglandin D2 Production through Positive Feedback Regulation between Signal Transducer and Activators of Transcription 1 and Reactive Oxygen Species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ji-Yun Kim

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2 is a potent lipid mediator that controls inflammation, and its dysregulation has been implicated in diverse inflammatory disorders. Despite significant progress made in understanding the role of PGD2 as a key regulator of immune responses, the molecular mechanism underlying PGD2 production remains unclear, particularly upon challenge with different and multiple inflammatory stimuli. Interferons (IFNs potentiate macrophage activation and act in concert with exogenous inflammatory mediators such as toll-like receptor (TLR ligands to amplify inflammatory responses. A recent study found that IFN-γ enhanced lipopolysaccharide-induced PGD2 production, indicating a role of IFNs in PGD2 regulation. Here, we demonstrate that TLR-induced PGD2 production by macrophages was significantly potentiated by signaling common to IFN-β and IFN-γ in a signal transducer and activators of transcription (STAT1-dependent mechanism. Such potentiation by IFNs was also observed for PGE2 production, despite the differential regulation of PGD synthase and PGE synthase isoforms mediating PGD2 and PGE2 production under inflammatory conditions. Mechanistic analysis revealed that the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS was remarkably potentiated by IFNs and required for PGD2 production, but was nullified by STAT1 deficiency. Conversely, the regulation of STAT1 level and activity by IFNs was largely dependent on ROS levels. Using a model of zymosan-induced peritonitis, the relevance of this finding in vivo was supported by marked inhibition of PGD2 and ROS produced in peritoneal exudate cells by STAT1 deficiency. Collectively, our findings suggest that IFNs, although not activating on their own, are potent amplifiers of TLR-induced PGD2 production via positive-feedback regulation between STAT1 and ROS.

Corrosion behavior of a positive graphite electrode in vanadium redox flow battery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Huijun; Xu Qian; Yan Chuanwei; Qiao Yonglian

2011-01-01

Graphical abstract: The overpotential for gas evolution on positive graphite electrode decreases due to the functional groups of COOH and C=O introduced on the surface of graphite electrode during corrosion process, which can self-catalyze the oxidation of carbon atoms therefore, accelerates corrosion process. Highlights: → Initial potential for gas evolution is higher than 1.60 V vs SCE. → Factors affecting the graphite corrosion are investigated. → Functional groups of COOH and C=O introduced during corrosion process. → The groups can self-catalyze the oxidation of carbon atoms. - Abstract: The graphite plate is easily suffered from corosion because of CO 2 evolution when it acts as the positive electrode for vanadium redox flow battery. The aim is to obtain the initial potential for gas evolution on a positive graphite electrode in 2 mol dm -3 H 2 SO 4 + 2 mol dm -3 VOSO 4 solution. The effects of polarization potential, operating temperature and polarization time on extent of graphite corrosion are investigated by potentiodynamic and potentiostatic techniques. The surface characteristics of graphite electrode before and after corrosion are examined by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that the gas begins to evolve on the graphite electrode when the anodic polarization potential is higher than 1.60 V vs saturated calomel electrode at 20 deg. C. The CO 2 evolution on the graphite electrode can lead to intergranular corrosion of the graphite when the polarization potential reaches 1.75 V. In addition, the functional groups of COOH and C=O introduced on the surface of graphite electrode during corrosion can catalyze the formation of CO 2 , therefore, accelerates the corrosion rate of graphite electrode.

Condom makers jockey for position in barrier warfare.

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

U.S. condom manufacturers are receiving competition from high quality Japanese products. However, the sale of a plastic polyurethane condom by U.S. manufacturer, London International, could potentially outsell Japanese ultra-thin condoms. The polyurethane products can be made at a uniform thinness, resulting in a more sensitive condom. Industry analysts are not sure about the impact of a plastic condom. Some feel that even if they prove to be safer than latex condoms, polyurethane condoms will have a difficult time competing against established brands. Others feel that if consumer response is positive, the potential profits provide a strong incentive for companies to invest in the efficacy studies and marketing of a polyurethane product.

Reality television predicts both positive and negative outcomes for adolescent girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Christopher J; Salmond, Kimberlee; Modi, Kamla

2013-06-01

To assess the influence of media, specifically reality television, on adolescent behavior. A total of 1141 preteen and adolescent girls (age range 11-17) answered questions related to their reality television viewing, personality, self-esteem, relational aggression, appearance focus, and desire for fame. Our results indicated that the influence of reality television on adolescent behavior is complex and potentially related to the adolescents' intended uses and gratifications for using reality television. Reality television viewing was positively related to increased self-esteem and expectations of respect in dating relationships. However, watching reality television also was related to an increased focus on appearance and willingness to compromise other values for fame. Reality television viewing did not predict relational aggression. The potential influences of reality television use on adolescent girls are both positive and negative, defying easy categorization. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Positive deviance as a novel tool in malaria control and elimination: methodology, qualitative assessment and future potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Shafique, Muhammad; Edwards, Hannah M; De Beyl, Celine Zegers; Thavrin, Bou Kheng; Min, Myo; Roca-Feltrer, Arantxa

2016-02-16

Positive deviance (PD) is an asset-based, community-driven approach to behaviour change that has successfully been applied to address many health and social problems. It is yet to have been assessed for malaria control but may represent a promising tool for malaria elimination given its suitability in targeting small and remote population groups, apparent sustainability and ability to instil a high amount of community mobilisation. Here, the PD methodology as applied to malaria is explained, with focus upon and qualitative assessment of a proof of concept study in Cambodia. Three villages in Battambang, northwestern Cambodia were selected for the intervention, with an estimated population of 5036 including both residents and migrant workers. In August 2010, field teams conducted a 1 week PD process to sensitise and mobilise the community, establish normative behaviours in relation to malaria control and prevention, identify positive deviant behaviours from within the community, and identify PD volunteers. Until March 2011, PD volunteers were supported by field teams via monthly meetings to conduct activities in their respective communities to increase practice of PD behaviours. In February 2012, 1 year following the end of external support, evaluative interviews were conducted with community members to qualitatively assess community acceptance and interpretation of the PD intervention, perceived behaviour changes, and perceived positive outcomes. Qualitative data from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews showed that the PD approach was well-accepted into the communities and created a strong sense of community empowerment. Positive behaviour change was linked to the PD intervention, including greater usage of nets by forest goers, and use of public health facilities for malaria diagnosis and treatment. One year following the end of external assistance, PD volunteers were still conducting activities in their respective communities. PD offers a promising

Measuring attachment to life in old age: the Portuguese version of the Positive Valuation of Life Scale (Positive VOL).

Science.gov (United States)

Araújo, Lia; Ribeiro, Oscar; Teixeira, Laetitia; Azevedo, Maria João; Jopp, Daniela S; Rott, Christoph; Paúl, Constança

2015-10-01

This study aims to present the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Positive Valuation of Life Scale (Lawton et al. in J Aging Ment Healt 13:3-31, 2001). Sample included 207 community-dwelling elders (129 women; M Age = 77.2 years, SD = 7.5). The data collection included the translated and adapted Portuguese version of Positive Valuation of Life Scale, Life Satisfaction Index Z, Meaning in Life Questionnaire and Geriatric Depression Scale. From exploratory factor analysis, two factors emerged, existential beliefs and perceived control, explaining 49 % of the total variance. Both factors were positively related with meaning in life and life satisfaction and negatively related with depression (p 0.75). The Portuguese version of Positive VOL Scale represents a reliable and valid measure to capture the subjective experience of attachment to one's life. The two-factor structure is an update to Lawton's previous work and in line with findings obtained in the USA (Dennis et al. in What is valuation of life for frail community-dwelling older adults: factor structure and criterion validity of the VOL, Thomas Jefferson University, Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health Research, 2005) and Japan (Nakagawa et al. in Shinrigaku Kenkyu 84:37-46, 2013). Future research is required to investigate VOL predictors and the potential changes toward the end of the life span.

Asymptotics of information entropies of some Toda-like potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dehesa, J. S.; Martinez-Finkelshtein, A.; Sorokin, V. N.

2003-01-01

The spreading of the quantum probability density for the highly-excited states of a single-particle system with an exponential-type potential on the positive semiaxis is quantitatively determined in both position and momentum spaces by means of the Boltzmann-Shannon information entropy. This problem boils down to the calculation of the asymptotics of the entropy-like integrals of the modified Bessel function of the second kind (also called the Mcdonald function or Basset function). The dependence of the two physical entropies on the large quantum number n is given in detail. It is shown that the semiclassical (WKB) position-space entropy grows slower than the corresponding quantity of not only the harmonic oscillator but also the single-particle systems with any power-type potential of the form V(x)=x 2k , x(set-membership sign)R and k(set-membership sign)N. The momentum-space entropy, calculated with a method based on the properties of the Mcdonald function, is rigorously found to have a behavior of the form -ln ln n, in strong contrast with the corresponding quantity of other one-dimensional systems known up to now (power-type potentials, infinite well)

Potential involvement of Notch1 signalling in the pathogenesis of primary cutaneous CD30-positive lymphoproliferative disorders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kamstrup, M.R.; Ralfkiaer, E.; Skovgaard, G.L.

2008-01-01

Background The central role of Notch signalling in T-cell development and oncogenesis raises the question of the importance of this pathway in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Objectives To investigate the pattern of expression of Notch and its ligands, Jagged and Delta, in skin samples of primary...... obtained from three patients with LyP and two patients with primary cutaneous ALCL. Results We identified single Notch1-positive cells or small clusters of atypical cells in LyP. Similarly, strongly positive Jagged1 cells tended to be localized in clusters. Primary cutaneous ALCL had higher expression...... of Notch1 and Jagged1 compared with LyP. Cells expressing Notch1 and Jagged1 were colocalized and a subset of cells expressed both the receptor and the ligand. The expression of the ligand Delta1 was low to undetectable in both types of lymphoproliferations. A subpopulation of lymphoma cells was found...

The model of evaluation of innovative potential of enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ганна Ігорівна Заднєпровська

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The basic components of the enterprise’s innovative potential evaluation process are investigated. It is offered the conceptual model of evaluation of the innovative potential that includes: subjects, objects, purpose, provision of information, principles, methods, criteria, indicators. It is noted that the innovative capacity characterizes the transition from the current to the strategic level of innovation potential and, thus, characterizes the composition of objects from position of user

Pharmacological stimuli decreasing nucleus accumbens dopamine can act as positive reinforcers but have a low addictive potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Marinelli, M; Barrot, M; Simon, H; Oberlander, C; Dekeyne, A; Le Moal, M; Piazza, P V

1998-10-01

Opioid peptides, through mu and delta receptors, play an important part in reward. In contrast, the role of kappa receptors is more controversial. We examined the possible positive reinforcing effects of a selective kappa agonist, RU 51599, by studying intravenous self-administration in the rat. The effect of RU 51599 on dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens was also studied, as opioids and dopamine seem to interact in the mediation of reward. The behavioural and dopaminergic effects of RU 51599 were compared with those of the mu agonist heroin. Rats self-administered both RU 51599 (6.5, 20 and 60 microg/inj) and heroin (30 microg/inj) at low ratio requirement. When the ratio requirement, i.e. the number of responses necessary to receive one drug infusion, was increased, self-administration of RU 51599 rapidly extinguished, whereas self-administration of heroin was maintained. Intravenous infusion of RU 51599 (100, 200 and 400 microg) dose-dependently decreased (25, 30 and 40%, respectively) extracellular concentrations of dopamine, as measured by means of microdialysis in freely moving rats. In contrast, heroin increased accumbens dopamine (130% over baseline). These results indicate that kappa receptors, similarly to mu ones, can mediate positive reinforcing effects of opioid peptides. However, the strength of the reinforcement is very low for kappa receptors. This suggests that changes in accumbens dopamine do not correlate with the capacity of a stimulus to induce reward or aversion. In contrast, a parallel seems to exist between an increase in accumbens dopamine and the drive to reach or obtain a positive reinforcer.

The harmonic oscillator and the position dependent mass Schroedinger equation: isospectral partners and factorization operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morales, J.; Ovando, G.; Pena, J. J.

2010-01-01

One of the most important scientific contributions of Professor Marcos Moshinsky has been his study on the harmonic oscillator in quantum theory vis a vis the standard Schroedinger equation with constant mass [1]. However, a simple description of the motion of a particle interacting with an external environment such as happen in compositionally graded alloys consist of replacing the mass by the so-called effective mass that is in general variable and dependent on position. Therefore, honoring in memoriam Marcos Moshinsky, in this work we consider the position-dependent mass Schrodinger equations (PDMSE) for the harmonic oscillator potential model as former potential as well as with equi-spaced spectrum solutions, i.e. harmonic oscillator isospectral partners. To that purpose, the point canonical transformation method to convert a general second order differential equation (DE), of Sturm-Liouville type, into a Schroedinger-like standard equation is applied to the PDMSE. In that case, the former potential associated to the PDMSE and the potential involved in the Schroedinger-like standard equation are related through a Riccati-type relationship that includes the equivalent of the Witten superpotential to determine the exactly solvable positions-dependent mass distribution (PDMD)m(x). Even though the proposed approach is exemplified with the harmonic oscillator potential, the procedure is general and can be straightforwardly applied to other DEs.

Potentially traumatic events have negative and positive effects on loneliness, depending on PTSD-symptom levels: evidence from a population-based prospective comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Velden, Peter G; Pijnappel, Bas; van der Meulen, Erik

2018-02-01

Examine to what extent adults affected by recent potentially traumatic events (PTE) with different PTSD-symptom levels are more at risk for post-event loneliness than non-affected adults are in the same study period. We extracted data from the Dutch longitudinal LISS panel to measure pre-event loneliness (2011) and post-event loneliness (2013 and 2014), pre-event mental health problems (2011), PTE and PTSD symptoms (2012). This panel is based on a traditional random sample drawn from the population register by Statistics Netherlands. Results of the multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that affected adults with high levels of PTSD symptoms were more at risk for high levels of post-event loneliness than affected adults with very low PTSD-symptom levels and non-affected adults, while controlling for pre-event loneliness, pre-event mental health problems and demographics. However, affected adults with very low levels of PTSD symptoms compared to non-affected adults were less at risk for medium and high levels of post-event loneliness while controlling for the same variables. Yet, pre-event loneliness appeared to be the strongest independent predictor of loneliness at later stages: more than 80% with high pre-event levels had high post-event levels at both follow-ups. Remarkably, potentially traumatic events have depending on PTSD-symptom levels both negative and positive effects on post-event loneliness in favor of affected adults with very low PTSD symptoms levels. However, post-event levels at later stages are predominantly determined by pre-event loneliness levels.

Neural correlates of an early attentional capture by positive distractor words.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinojosa, José A; Mercado, Francisco; Albert, Jacobo; Barjola, Paloma; Peláez, Irene; Villalba-García, Cristina; Carretié, Luis

2015-01-01

Exogenous or automatic attention to emotional distractors has been observed for emotional scenes and faces. In the language domain, however, automatic attention capture by emotional words has been scarcely investigated. In the current event-related potentials study we explored distractor effects elicited by positive, negative and neutral words in a concurrent but distinct target distractor paradigm. Specifically, participants performed a digit categorization task in which task-irrelevant words were flanked by numbers. The results of both temporo-spatial principal component and source location analyses revealed the existence of early distractor effects that were specifically triggered by positive words. At the scalp level, task-irrelevant positive compared to neutral and negative words elicited larger amplitudes in an anterior negative component that peaked around 120 ms. Also, at the voxel level, positive distractor words increased activity in orbitofrontal regions compared to negative words. These results suggest that positive distractor words quickly and automatically capture attentional resources diverting them from the task where attention was voluntarily directed.

Neural correlates of an early attentional capture by positive distractor words

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Antonio Hinojosa

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Exogenous or automatic attention to emotional distractors has been observed for emotional scenes and faces. In the language domain, however, automatic attention capture by emotional words has been scarcely investigated. In the current event-related potentials study we explored distractor effects elicited by positive, negative and neutral words in a concurrent but distinct target distractor paradigm. Specifically, participants performed a digit categorization task in which task-irrelevant words were flanked by numbers. The results of both temporo-spatial principal component and source location analyses revealed the existence of early distractor effects that were specifically triggered by positive words. At the scalp level, task-irrelevant positive compared to neutral and negative words elicited larger amplitudes in an anterior negative component that peaked around 120 ms. Also, at the voxel level, positive distractor words increased activity in orbitofrontal regions compared to negative words. These results suggest that positive distractor words quickly and automatically capture attentional resources diverting them from the task where attention was voluntarily directed.

Vicious walkers in a potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bray, Alan J; Winkler, Karen

2004-01-01

We consider N vicious walkers moving in one dimension in a one-body potential v(x). Using the backward Fokker-Planck equation we derive exact results for the asymptotic form of the survival probability Q(x, t) of vicious walkers initially located at (x 1 , ..., x N ) = x, when v(x) is an arbitrary attractive potential. Explicit results are given for a square-well potential with absorbing or reflecting boundary conditions at the walls, and for a harmonic potential with an absorbing or reflecting boundary at the origin and the walkers starting on the positive half line. By mapping the problem of N vicious walkers in zero potential onto the harmonic potential problem, we rederive the results by Fisher (1984 J. Stat. Phys. 34 667) and Krattenthaler et al (2000 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 33 8835) respectively for vicious walkers on an infinite line and on a semi-infinite line with an absorbing wall at the origin. This mapping also gives a new result for vicious walkers on a semi-infinite line with a reflecting boundary at the origin: Q(x,t) ∼ t N(N-1)/2

Positive emotional context eliminates the framing effect in decision-making.

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Cassotti, Mathieu; Habib, Marianne; Poirel, Nicolas; Aïte, Ania; Houdé, Olivier; Moutier, Sylvain

2012-10-01

Dual-process theories have suggested that emotion plays a key role in the framing effect in decision-making. However, little is known about the potential impact of a specific positive or negative emotional context on this bias. We investigated this question with adult participants using an emotional priming paradigm. First, participants were presented with positive or negative affective pictures (i.e., pleasant vs. unpleasant photographs). Afterward, participants had to perform a financial decision-making task that was unrelated to the pictures previously presented. The results revealed that the presentation framed in terms of gain or loss no longer affected subjects' decision-making following specific exposure to emotionally pleasant pictures. Interestingly, a positive emotional context did not globally influence risk-taking behavior but specifically decreased the risk propensity in the loss frame. This finding confirmed that a positive emotional context can reduce loss aversion, and it strongly reinforced the dual-process view that the framing effect stems from an affective heuristic belonging to intuitive System 1.

Dengue vaccine: WHO position paper, July 2016 - recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

World Health Organization

2017-03-01

This article presents the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations on the use of dengue vaccine excerpted from the WHO position paper on dengue vaccine published in the Weekly epidemiological Record in July 2016 (Dengue vaccine: WHO position paper, 2016) [1]. The current document is the first WHO position paper on dengue vaccination and focuses primarily on the available evidence concerning the only dengue vaccine to have been registered by National Regulatory Authorities. The position paper gives consideration to the epidemiological features of the disease and assesses the potential use of the vaccine for public health benefits. Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core references including references to grading tables that assess the quality of the scientific evidence, and to the evidence-to-recommendation table. In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This paper reflects the recommendations of the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. Recommendations on the use of this dengue vaccine were discussed by SAGE in April 2016; evidence presented at that SAGE meeting can be accessed at: http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polio vaccines: WHO position paper, January 2014--recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-16

This article presents the World Health Organizations (WHO) evidence and recommendations for the use of polio vaccination from the WHO position paper on polio vaccines - January 2014 recently published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record [1]. This position paper summarizes the WHO position on the introduction of at least one dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) into routine immunization schedules as a strategy to mitigate the potential risk of re-emergence of type 2 polio following the withdrawal of Sabin type 2 strains from oral polio vaccine (OPV). The current document replaces the position paper on the use of polio vaccines published in 2010 [2]. Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core references. In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This paper reflects the recommendations of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. These recommendations were discussed by SAGE at its November 2013 meeting. Evidence presented at the meeting can be accessed at http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html. Copyright © 2014 World Health Organization. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Why victimology should stay positive: The ongoing need for positive victimology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronel Natti

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the need for positive victimology and its unique contribution to victimology. Victimology presented a shift in attention and awareness in practice, research and theory, by focusing on victims of crime and of abuse of power, and on victims’ rights and victims’ services. Positive victimology indicates a more specified shift in attention and awareness, within the larger shift of victimology. This shift stands in line with positive psychology, positive criminology and the idea of victims’ victimology. It denotes an approach to provide the following, as much as possible: 1. A wide range of social responses to the victims and their victimization that victims can experience as positive, 2. Positive outcomes of healing and recovery for victims, and 3. Positive integration of victims. Within each of those, positive victimology suggests a pragmatic coordinated system that ranges from definitions of negative poles to those of positive ones. When moving towards the positive pole at any given coordinate, a sense of justice is an important factor that might reduce the impact of the harm. Support is also a crucial factor and at the very positive pole, stands human, inter-personal love.

Scalar potential from de Sitter brane in 5D and effective cosmological constant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Masato

2004-01-01

We derive the scalar potential in zero mode effective action arising from a de Sitter brane embedded in five dimensions with bulk cosmological constant Λ. The scalar potential for a scalar field canonically normalized is given by the sum of exponential potentials. In the case of Λ = 0 and Λ > 0, we point out that the scalar potential has an unstable maximum at the origin and exponentially vanishes for large positive scalar field. In the case of Λ < 0, the scalar potential has an unstable maximum at the origin and a local minimum. It is shown that the positive cosmological constant in dS brane is reduced by negative potential energy of scalar at minimum and that effective cosmological constant depends on a dimensionless quantity. Furthermore, we discuss the fate of our universe including the potential energy of the scalar. (author)

75 FR 14658 - Invitation for Public Comment on Mitigation Options for Global Positioning System Satellite...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-26

... Public Comment on Mitigation Options for Global Positioning System Satellite Vehicle Number 49 AGENCY... options prior to changing the health status of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite IIR-20M (satellite vehicle number 49--SVN 49) from unhealthy to healthy. The potential mitigations are each designed...

Positive energy Weinberg states for the solution of scattering problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rawitscher, G.

1982-01-01

Positive energy Weinberg states are defined and numerically calculated in the presence of a general complex Woods-Saxon potential. The numerical procedure is checked for the limit of a square well potential for which the Weinberg states and the corresponding eigenvalues are known. A finite number M of these (auxiliary) positive energy Weinberg states are then use as a set of basis functions in order to provide a separable approximation of rank M, V/sub M/, to a potential V, and also to the scattering matrix element S which obtains as a result of the presence of V, S/sub M/. Both V/sub M/ and S/sub M/ are obtained by means of algebraic manipulations which involve the matrix elements of V calculated in terms of the auxiliary postive energy Weinberg states Next, expressions are derived which enable one to iteratively correct for the error in V--V/sub M/. These expressions are a modified version of the quasi-particle method of Weinberg. The convergence of S/sub M/ to S, as well as the first order interation of the error in S/sub M/ is examined as a function M for a numerical example which uses a complex Woods-Saxon potential for V and assumes zero angular momentum. With M = 5 and one iteration an error of less than 10% in S is achieved; for M = 8 the error is less than 1%. The method is expected to be useful for the solution of large systems of coupled equations by matrix techniques or when a part of the potential is non-local

The grounds for time dependent market potentials from dealers' dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, K.; Takayasu, H.; Takayasu, M.

2008-06-01

We apply the potential force estimation method to artificial time series of market price produced by a deterministic dealer model. We find that dealers’ feedback of linear prediction of market price based on the latest mean price changes plays the central role in the market’s potential force. When markets are dominated by dealers with positive feedback the resulting potential force is repulsive, while the effect of negative feedback enhances the attractive potential force.

Relativistic gravitational potential and its relation to mass-energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voracek, P.

1979-01-01

From the general theory of relativity a relation is deduced between the mass of a particle and the gravitational field at the position of the particle. For this purpose the fall of a particle of negligible mass in the gravitational field of a massive body is used. After establishing the relativistic potential and its relationship to the rest mass of the particle, we show, assuming conservation of mass-energy, that the difference between two potential-levels depends upon the value of the radial metric coefficient at the position of an observer. Further, it is proved that the relativistic potential is compatible with the general concept of the potential also from the standpoint of kinematics. In the third section it is shown that, although the mass-energy of a body is a function of the distance from it, this does not influence the relativistic potential of the body itself. From this conclusion it follows that the mass-energy of a particle in a gravitational field is anisotropic; isotropic is the mass only. Further, the possibility of an incidental feed-back between two masses is ruled out, and the law of the composition of the relativistic gravitational potentials is deduced. Finally, it is shown, by means of a simple model, that local inhomogeneities in the ideal fluid filling the Universe have negligible influence on the total potential in large regions. (orig.)

Contextual effect of positive intergroup contact on outgroup prejudice

Science.gov (United States)

Christ, Oliver; Schmid, Katharina; Lolliot, Simon; Swart, Hermann; Stolle, Dietlind; Tausch, Nicole; Al Ramiah, Ananthi; Wagner, Ulrich; Vertovec, Steven; Hewstone, Miles

2014-01-01

We assessed evidence for a contextual effect of positive intergroup contact, whereby the effect of intergroup contact between social contexts (the between-level effect) on outgroup prejudice is greater than the effect of individual-level contact within contexts (the within-level effect). Across seven large-scale surveys (five cross-sectional and two longitudinal), using multilevel analyses, we found a reliable contextual effect. This effect was found in multiple countries, operationalizing context at multiple levels (regions, districts, and neighborhoods), and with and without controlling for a range of demographic and context variables. In four studies (three cross-sectional and one longitudinal) we showed that the association between context-level contact and prejudice was largely mediated by more tolerant norms. In social contexts where positive contact with outgroups was more commonplace, norms supported such positive interactions between members of different groups. Thus, positive contact reduces prejudice on a macrolevel, whereby people are influenced by the behavior of others in their social context, not merely on a microscale, via individuals’ direct experience of positive contact with outgroup members. These findings reinforce the view that contact has a significant role to play in prejudice reduction, and has great policy potential as a means to improve intergroup relations, because it can simultaneously impact large numbers of people. PMID:24591627

Contextual effect of positive intergroup contact on outgroup prejudice.

Science.gov (United States)

Christ, Oliver; Schmid, Katharina; Lolliot, Simon; Swart, Hermann; Stolle, Dietlind; Tausch, Nicole; Al Ramiah, Ananthi; Wagner, Ulrich; Vertovec, Steven; Hewstone, Miles

2014-03-18

We assessed evidence for a contextual effect of positive intergroup contact, whereby the effect of intergroup contact between social contexts (the between-level effect) on outgroup prejudice is greater than the effect of individual-level contact within contexts (the within-level effect). Across seven large-scale surveys (five cross-sectional and two longitudinal), using multilevel analyses, we found a reliable contextual effect. This effect was found in multiple countries, operationalizing context at multiple levels (regions, districts, and neighborhoods), and with and without controlling for a range of demographic and context variables. In four studies (three cross-sectional and one longitudinal) we showed that the association between context-level contact and prejudice was largely mediated by more tolerant norms. In social contexts where positive contact with outgroups was more commonplace, norms supported such positive interactions between members of different groups. Thus, positive contact reduces prejudice on a macrolevel, whereby people are influenced by the behavior of others in their social context, not merely on a microscale, via individuals' direct experience of positive contact with outgroup members. These findings reinforce the view that contact has a significant role to play in prejudice reduction, and has great policy potential as a means to improve intergroup relations, because it can simultaneously impact large numbers of people.

Evaluating a Gender Diversity Workshop to Promote Positive Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Burford, James; Lucassen, Mathijs F. G.; Hamilton, Thomas

2017-01-01

Drawing on data from an Aotearoa/New Zealand study of more than 230 secondary students, this article evaluates the potential of a 60-min gender diversity workshop to address bullying and promote positive environments for learning. Students completed pre- and postworkshop questionnaires. The authors used descriptive statistics to summarize results…

A 12b 2.9GS/s DAC with IM3>60dB beyond 1 GHz in 65nm CMOS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lin, C.H.; Goes, F.; Westra, J.; Mulder, J.; Lin, Y.; Arslan, E.; Ayranci, E.; Liu, X.; Bult, K.

2009-01-01

A 12b 2.9GS/s current-steering DAC implemented in 65nm CMOS is presented, with an IM3 «-60dBc beyond 1GHz while driving a 50¿ load with an output swing of 2.5Vpp-diff and dissipating a power of 188mW. The SFDR measured at 2.9GS/s is better than 60dB beyond 340MHz.

Multi-technology positioning

CERN Document Server

Lohan, Elena-Simona; Wymeersch, Henk; Seco-Granados, Gonzalo; Nykänen, Ossi

2017-01-01

This book provides an overview of positioning technologies, applications and services in a format accessible to a wide variety of readers. Readers who have always wanted to understand how satellite-based positioning, wireless network positioning, inertial navigation, and their combinations work will find great value in this book. Readers will also learn about the advantages and disadvantages of different positioning methods, their limitations and challenges. Cognitive positioning, adding the brain to determine which technologies to use at device runtime, is introduced as well. Coverage also includes the use of position information for Location Based Services (LBS), as well as context-aware positioning services, designed for better user experience. • Brings understanding of positioning technology to readers from a variety of disciplines • Reviews multiple techniques, providing insight on the pros, cons and challenges related to each • Designed to be a tutorial on basic principles, avoiding unnecessary de...

Disciplinary Style and Child Abuse Potential: Association with Indicators of Positive Functioning in Children with Behavior Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Christina M.; Eden, Ann M.

2008-01-01

Reduction of ineffective parenting is promoted in parent training components of mental health treatment for children with externalizing behavior disorders, but minimal research has considered whether disciplinary style and lower abuse risk could also be associated with positive functioning in such children. The present study examined whether lower…

MDEP Generic Common Position No DICWG-01. Common position on the treatment of common cause failure caused by software within digital safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

Common cause failures (CCF)2 have been a significant safety concern for nuclear power plant systems. The increasing dependence on software-in safety systems for nuclear power plants has increased the safety significance of CCF caused by software, when software in redundant channels or portions of safety systems has some common dependency. For example, the effect of systematic failures can lead to a loss of safety in many ways: unwanted actuations, a safety function is not provided when needed. Therefore, nuclear power plants should be systematically protected from the effects of common cause failures caused by software in DI and C safety systems. Software for nuclear power plant safety systems should be of the high quality necessary to help assure against the loss of safety (i.e. developed with high-quality engineering practices, commensurate quality assurance applied, with continuous improvement through corrective actions based on lessons learned from operating experience). However, demonstrating adequate software quality only through verification and validation activities and controls on the development process has proved to be problematic. Therefore, this common position provides guidance for the assessment of the potential for CCF for software. It is recognized that programmable logic devices do not execute software in the conventional sense; however, the application development process using these devices have many similarities with software development, and the deficiencies that may be introduced during the application development process may induce errors in the programmable logic devices that can result in common cause failures of these devices of a type similar to software common cause failure. Although deficiencies with the potential to give rise to software common cause failures can be introduced at all phases of the software life cycle, this common position will only consider the potential for software common cause failures within digital safety system

Review of Integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) into Power Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)