Efficiency effects of observed and unobserved heterogeneity: Evidence from Norwegian electricity distribution networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Growitsch, Christian; Jamasb, Tooraj; Wetzel, Heike

2012-01-01

Since the 1990s, efficiency and benchmarking analysis has increasingly been used in network utilities research and regulation. A recurrent concern is the effect of observable environmental factors that are beyond the influence of firms and unobserved factors that are not identifiable on measured cost and quality performance of firms. This paper analyses the effect of observed geographic and weather factors and unobserved heterogeneity on a set of 128 Norwegian electricity distribution utilities for the 2001–2004 period. We utilise data on 78 geographic and weather variables to identify real economic inefficiency while controlling for observed and unobserved heterogeneity. We use the Factor Analysis technique to reduce the number of environmental factors into few composite variables and to avoid the problem of multicollinearity. In order to identify firm-specific inefficiency, we then estimate a pooled version of the established stochastic frontier model of Aigner et al. (1977) and the recent true random effects model of Greene (2004; 2005a,b) without and with environmental variables. The results indicate that the observed environmental factors have a rather limited influence on the utilities' average efficiency and the efficiency rankings. Moreover, the difference between the average efficiency scores and the efficiency rankings among the pooled and the true random effects models imply that the type of SFA model used is highly influencing the efficiency estimates.

A Bayesian analysis of the PPP puzzle using an unobserved components model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R.H. Kleijn (Richard); H.K. van Dijk (Herman)

2001-01-01

textabstractThe failure to describe the time series behaviour of most real exchange rates as temporary deviations from fixed long-term means may be due to time variation of the equilibria themselves, see Engel (2000). We implement this idea using an unobserved components model and decompose the

Exploring unobserved heterogeneity in bicyclists' red-light running behaviors at different crossing facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yanyong; Li, Zhibin; Wu, Yao; Xu, Chengcheng

2018-06-01

Bicyclists running the red light at crossing facilities increase the potential of colliding with motor vehicles. Exploring the contributing factors could improve the prediction of running red-light probability and develop countermeasures to reduce such behaviors. However, individuals could have unobserved heterogeneities in running a red light, which make the accurate prediction more challenging. Traditional models assume that factor parameters are fixed and cannot capture the varying impacts on red-light running behaviors. In this study, we employed the full Bayesian random parameters logistic regression approach to account for the unobserved heterogeneous effects. Two types of crossing facilities were considered which were the signalized intersection crosswalks and the road segment crosswalks. Electric and conventional bikes were distinguished in the modeling. Data were collected from 16 crosswalks in urban area of Nanjing, China. Factors such as individual characteristics, road geometric design, environmental features, and traffic variables were examined. Model comparison indicates that the full Bayesian random parameters logistic regression approach is statistically superior to the standard logistic regression model. More red-light runners are predicted at signalized intersection crosswalks than at road segment crosswalks. Factors affecting red-light running behaviors are gender, age, bike type, road width, presence of raised median, separation width, signal type, green ratio, bike and vehicle volume, and average vehicle speed. Factors associated with the unobserved heterogeneity are gender, bike type, signal type, separation width, and bike volume. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sibling death clustering in India: state dependence vs. unobserved heterogeneity

OpenAIRE

Arulampalam, Wiji; Bhalotra, Sonia

2006-01-01

Data from a range of different environments indicate that the incidence of death is not randomly distributed across families but, rather, that there is a clustering of death amongst siblings. A natural explanation of this would be that there are (observed or unobserved) differences across families, for example in genetic frailty, education or living standards. Another hypothesis of considerable interest for both theory and policy is that there is a causal process whereby the death of a child ...

Sibling Death Clustering in India: Genuine Scarring vs Unobserved Heterogeneity

OpenAIRE

Wiji Arulampalam; Sonia Bhalotra

2003-01-01

Data from a range of environments indicate that the incidence of death is not randomly distributed across families but, rather, that there is a clustering of death among siblings. A natural explanation of this would be that there are (observed or unobserved) differences across families, e.g. in genetic frailty, education or living standards. Another hypothesis that is of considerable interest for both theory and policy is that there is a causal process whereby the death of a child influences ...

Estimation of Unobserved Inflation Expectations in India using State-Space Model

OpenAIRE

Chattopadhyay, Siddhartha; Sahu, Sohini; Jha, Saakshi

2016-01-01

Inflation expectations is an important marker for monetary policy makers. India being a new entrant to the group of countries that pursue inflation targeting as its monetary policy objective, estimating the inflation expectation is of paramount importance. This paper estimates the unobserved inflation expectations in India between 1993:Q1 to 2016:Q1 from the Fisher equation relation using the state space approach (Kalman Filter). We find that our results match well with the inflation forecast...

Spatial Mixture Modelling for Unobserved Point Processes: Examples in Immunofluorescence Histology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Chunlin; Merl, Daniel; Kepler, Thomas B; West, Mike

2009-12-04

We discuss Bayesian modelling and computational methods in analysis of indirectly observed spatial point processes. The context involves noisy measurements on an underlying point process that provide indirect and noisy data on locations of point outcomes. We are interested in problems in which the spatial intensity function may be highly heterogenous, and so is modelled via flexible nonparametric Bayesian mixture models. Analysis aims to estimate the underlying intensity function and the abundance of realized but unobserved points. Our motivating applications involve immunological studies of multiple fluorescent intensity images in sections of lymphatic tissue where the point processes represent geographical configurations of cells. We are interested in estimating intensity functions and cell abundance for each of a series of such data sets to facilitate comparisons of outcomes at different times and with respect to differing experimental conditions. The analysis is heavily computational, utilizing recently introduced MCMC approaches for spatial point process mixtures and extending them to the broader new context here of unobserved outcomes. Further, our example applications are problems in which the individual objects of interest are not simply points, but rather small groups of pixels; this implies a need to work at an aggregate pixel region level and we develop the resulting novel methodology for this. Two examples with with immunofluorescence histology data demonstrate the models and computational methodology.

"You Could Call It Magic": What Parents and Siblings Tell Preschoolers about Unobservable Entities

Science.gov (United States)

Canfield, Caitlin F.; Ganea, Patricia A.

2014-01-01

How can we explain children's understanding of the unseen world? Young children are generally able to distinguish between real unobservable entities and fantastical ones, but they attribute different characteristics to and show less confidence in their decisions about fantastical entities generally endorsed by adults, such as Santa Claus. One…

Discrimination or Unobserved Differences in Characteristics?-An Empirical Study on Wage Inequality

OpenAIRE

Fang, Zheng; Sakellariou, Chris

2015-01-01

We apply the discrimination search model with wage-tenure contracts to NLSY79 data to study race/gender wage inequality with a focus on distinguishing unobserved productivity differences from discrimination in the labor market and also simulating the pattern of wage dynamics. Our findings suggest that the productivity differential between black and white workers is 3% of white worker productivity while productivity differences between men and women are estimated to be 3% of male productivity....

Local Amenities, Unobserved Quality, and Market Clearing: Adjusting Teacher Compensation to Provide Equal Education Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Tuck, Bradford; Berman, Matthew; Hill, Alexandra

2009-01-01

Local school districts differ in their ability to pay for teacher quality, and in the amenities they offer as places to live and work. Market clearing with heterogeneous quality yields geographically varying teacher salary levels that confound scarcity with unobserved differences in quality. The paper discusses identification and estimation of a…

DeltaShaper: Enabling Unobservable Censorship-resistant TCP Tunneling over Videoconferencing Streams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barradas Diogo

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the possibility of using the encrypted video channel of widely used videoconferencing applications, such as Skype, as a carrier for unobservable covert TCP/IP communications. We propose and evaluate different alternatives to encode information in the video stream in order to increase available throughput while preserving the packet-level characteristics of the video stream. We have built a censorship-resistant system, named DeltaShaper, which offers a data-link interface and supports TCP/IP applications that tolerate low throughput / high latency links. Our results show that it is possible to run standard protocols such as FTP, SMTP, or HTTP over Skype video streams.

Unobserved Heterogeneity of Frailty in the Analysis of Socioeconomic Differences in Health and Mortality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zarulli, Virginia

2016-01-01

The concepts of unobserved frailty and selection have been extensively analyzed with respect to phenomena like mortality deceleration at old ages and mortality convergence or cross overs between populations (for example American black and white populations, men and women). Despite the long......-time observation of converging mortality risks in differential socioeconomic mortality research, the interest in the connection between frailty, selection, and health and mortality inequalities over a life course approach has increased only recently. This overview of the literature summarizes the main concepts...

Particle Markov Chain Monte Carlo Techniques of Unobserved Component Time Series Models Using Ox

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nonejad, Nima

This paper details Particle Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques for analysis of unobserved component time series models using several economic data sets. PMCMC combines the particle filter with the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. Overall PMCMC provides a very compelling, computationally fast...... and efficient framework for estimation. These advantages are used to for instance estimate stochastic volatility models with leverage effect or with Student-t distributed errors. We also model changing time series characteristics of the US inflation rate by considering a heteroskedastic ARFIMA model where...

NPRB711 Quantification of unobserved injury and mortality of Bering Sea crabs due to encounters with trawls on the seafloor

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The potential for unobserved mortality of crabs encountering bottom trawls, but not captured, has long been a concern in the management of Bering Sea fisheries. We...

An analysis of market shares on the Danish alcohol market using unobserved components

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Milhøj, Anders

2009-01-01

The Danish alcohol market has three types of alcohol: Beer, Wine and Spirits. The market share of wine has doubled over a 25 year period, while the market share of beer has been declining and the market share of spirits is generally low and fluctuating. In recent years the trending behavior has...... however changed, most likely because of changes in taxation on spirits. In the paper these market shares are analyzed by unobserved components models using Proc Ucm as models with time varying trends etc. are well suited for this type of data. In Denmark the relative prices for the three types of alcohol...... have changed radically because of changes in the taxation and hence the relative prices provide good independent variables in regressions. In SAS version 9.2 Proc Ucm has been extended with a Randomreg statement, that allows for the varying regression coefficients. One result is that the effect...

Opinion Dynamics on Networks with Inference of Unobservable States of Others

Science.gov (United States)

Fujie, Ryo

In most opinion formation models which have been proposed, the agents decide their states (i.e. opinions) by referring to the states of others. However, the referred states of others are not necessarily observable and may be inferred. To investigate the effect of an inference of the states of others on opinion dynamics, I propose an extended voter model on networks where observable and referable node sets are different. These sets for a node defined as the nearest to the mo-th neighbors for observable nodes and the nearest to the mr-th neighbors for referable nodes. The state of referable but unobservable node which is the m-th neighbor (mo pagerank'' is conserved. This conserved quantity coincides with the fixation probability. On the other hand, in the case of mo =mr = 1 , the model comes down to the standard voter model on networks and the conserved quantity is a degree-weighted superposition of the states. Thus, the introduction of the inference changes the important opinion spreaders from the high-degree nodes to the high-betweenness pagerank nodes. This work is supported by the Collaboration Research Program of IDEAS, Chubu University IDEAS2016233.

Estimating cost efficiency of Turkish commercial banks under unobserved heterogeneity with stochastic frontier models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakan Gunes

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims to investigate the cost efficiency of Turkish commercial banks over the restructuring period of the Turkish banking system, which coincides with the 2008 financial global crisis and the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis. To this end, within the stochastic frontier framework, we employ true fixed effects model, where the unobserved bank heterogeneity is integrated in the inefficiency distribution at a mean level. To select the cost function with the most appropriate inefficiency correlates, we first adopt a search algorithm and then utilize the model averaging approach to verify that our results are not exposed to model selection bias. Overall, our empirical results reveal that cost efficiencies of Turkish banks have improved over time, with the effects of the 2008 and 2010 crises remaining rather limited. Furthermore, not only the cost efficiency scores but also impacts of the crises on those scores appear to vary with regard to bank size and ownership structure, in accordance with much of the existing literature.

Prediction and reconstruction of future and missing unobservable modified Weibull lifetime based on generalized order statistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amany E. Aly

2016-04-01

Full Text Available When a system consisting of independent components of the same type, some appropriate actions may be done as soon as a portion of them have failed. It is, therefore, important to be able to predict later failure times from earlier ones. One of the well-known failure distributions commonly used to model component life, is the modified Weibull distribution (MWD. In this paper, two pivotal quantities are proposed to construct prediction intervals for future unobservable lifetimes based on generalized order statistics (gos from MWD. Moreover, a pivotal quantity is developed to reconstruct missing observations at the beginning of experiment. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulation studies are conducted and numerical computations are carried out to investigate the efficiency of presented results. Finally, two illustrative examples for real data sets are analyzed.

Accessibility of observable and unobservable characteristics in autobiographical memories of recent and distant past.

Science.gov (United States)

Karylowski, Jerzy J; Mrozinski, Blazej

2017-02-01

Self-reports regarding how people visualise themselves during events that occurred in the past show that for events from the distant past individuals report assuming a more external perspective than for events from the recent past [Nigro, G., & Neisser, U. (1983). Point of view in personal memories. Cognitive Psychology, 15, 467-482; Pronin, E., & Ross, L. (2006). Temporal differences in trait self-ascription. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 90, 197-209]. Thus it appears that, with the passage of time, representations of self embodied in memories of past events lose their position of an insider and assume a more ordinary position of self as an object seen from the perspective of an outside observer. The purpose of the present experiment was to examine this shift using a performance-based measure of accessibility. Results showed that self-judgements regarding unobservable, covert characteristics were faster for recent-compared to more distant-autobiographical events. However, self-judgements regarding observable, overt characteristics were faster for more distant events. This suggests an accessibility-based mechanism underlying the shift from internal to the relatively more external perspective in forming self-images related to the distant past.

Reconstructing a B-cell clonal lineage. I. Statistical inference of unobserved ancestors [v1; ref status: indexed, http://f1000r.es/z6

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas B Kepler

2013-04-01

Full Text Available One of the key phenomena in the adaptive immune response to infection and immunization is affinity maturation, during which antibody genes are mutated and selected, typically resulting in a substantial increase in binding affinity to the eliciting antigen. Advances in technology on several fronts have made it possible to clone large numbers of heavy-chain light-chain pairs from individual B cells and thereby identify whole sets of clonally related antibodies. These collections could provide the information necessary to reconstruct their own history - the sequence of changes introduced into the lineage during the development of the clone - and to study affinity maturation in detail. But the success of such a program depends entirely on accurately inferring the founding ancestor and the other unobserved intermediates. Given a set of clonally related immunoglobulin V-region genes, the method described here allows one to compute the posterior distribution over their possible ancestors, thereby giving a thorough accounting of the uncertainty inherent in the reconstruction. I demonstrate the application of this method on heavy-chain and light-chain clones, assess the reliability of the inference, and discuss the sources of uncertainty.

Racial Bias in the Manager-Employee Relationship: An Analysis of Quits, Dismissals, and Promotions at a Large Retail Firm

Science.gov (United States)

Giuliano, Laura; Levine, David I.; Leonard, Jonathan

2011-01-01

Using data from a large U.S. retail firm, we examine how racial matches between managers and their employees affect rates of employee quits, dismissals, and promotions. We exploit changes in management at hundreds of stores to estimate hazard models with store fixed effects that control for all unobserved differences across store locations. We…

Sensitivity of price elasticity of demand to aggregation, unobserved heterogeneity, price trends, and price endogeneity: Evidence from U.S. Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, Mark; Alberini, Anna

2016-01-01

Price elasticity estimates of residential electricity demand vary widely across the energy economics and policy literature. In this paper, we seek to explain these findings using three nationwide datasets from the U.S. – the American Housing Survey, Forms EIA-861, and the Residential Energy Consumption Survey. We examine the role of the sample period, level of aggregation, use of panel data, use of instrumental variables, and inclusion of housing characteristics and capital stock. Our findings suggest that price elasticities have remained relatively constant over time. Upon splitting our panel datasets into annual cross sections, we do observe a negative relationship between price elasticities and the average price. Whether prices are rising or falling appears to have little effect on our estimates. We also find that aggregating our data can result in both higher and lower price elasticity estimates, depending on the dataset used, and that controlling for unit-level fixed effects with panel data generally results in more inelastic demand functions. Addressing the endogeneity of price and/or measurement error in price with instrumental variables has a small but noticeable effect on the price elasticities. Finally, controlling for housing characteristics and capital stock produces a lower price elasticity. - Highlights: • The price elasticity of residential electricity demand varies widely across studies. • We use three large datasets from the US to examine reasons for such wide variation. • Some assessed effects include aggregation, unobserved heterogeneity, and price trends. • Correcting for such issues can change the estimated price elasticity by 50–100%.

Exact sampling of the unobserved covariates in Bayesian spline models for measurement error problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhadra, Anindya; Carroll, Raymond J

2016-07-01

In truncated polynomial spline or B-spline models where the covariates are measured with error, a fully Bayesian approach to model fitting requires the covariates and model parameters to be sampled at every Markov chain Monte Carlo iteration. Sampling the unobserved covariates poses a major computational problem and usually Gibbs sampling is not possible. This forces the practitioner to use a Metropolis-Hastings step which might suffer from unacceptable performance due to poor mixing and might require careful tuning. In this article we show for the cases of truncated polynomial spline or B-spline models of degree equal to one, the complete conditional distribution of the covariates measured with error is available explicitly as a mixture of double-truncated normals, thereby enabling a Gibbs sampling scheme. We demonstrate via a simulation study that our technique performs favorably in terms of computational efficiency and statistical performance. Our results indicate up to 62 and 54 % increase in mean integrated squared error efficiency when compared to existing alternatives while using truncated polynomial splines and B-splines respectively. Furthermore, there is evidence that the gain in efficiency increases with the measurement error variance, indicating the proposed method is a particularly valuable tool for challenging applications that present high measurement error. We conclude with a demonstration on a nutritional epidemiology data set from the NIH-AARP study and by pointing out some possible extensions of the current work.

μ+ relaxation correlated with susceptibility in the van-Vleck paramagnet PrIn3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grayevsky, A.; Amato, A.; Pinkpank, M.; Schenck, A.

1997-01-01

A previously unobserved increase of the magnetic susceptibility in PrIn 3 at low temperatures is reported. The increase is shown to correlate nicely with a large increase in the transverse μSR depolarization rate. Evidence supports the conclusion that both phenomena are related to some degree of atomic disorder in the structure, and an associated strong Pr CEF level changes. (orig.)

Treatment of Previously Treated Facial Capillary Malformations: Results of Single-Center Retrospective Objective 3-Dimensional Analysis of the Efficacy of Large Spot 532 nm Lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwiek, Bartłomiej; Ambroziak, Marcin; Osipowicz, Katarzyna; Kowalewski, Cezary; Rożalski, Michał

2018-06-01

Current treatment of facial capillary malformations (CM) has limited efficacy. To assess the efficacy of large spot 532 nm lasers for the treatment of previously treated facial CM with the use of 3-dimensional (3D) image analysis. Forty-three white patients aged 6 to 59 were included in this study. Patients had 3D photography performed before and after treatment with a 532 nm Nd:YAG laser with large spot and contact cooling. Objective analysis of percentage improvement based on 3D digital assessment of combined color and area improvement (global clearance effect [GCE]) were performed. The median maximal improvement achieved during the treatment (GCE) was 59.1%. The mean number of laser procedures required to achieve this improvement was 6.2 (range 1-16). Improvement of minimum 25% (GCE25) was achieved by 88.4% of patients, a minimum of 50% (GCE50) by 61.1%, a minimum of 75% (GCE75) by 25.6%, and a minimum of 90% (GCE90) by 4.6%. Patients previously treated with pulsed dye lasers had a significantly less response than those treated with other modalities (GCE 37.3% vs 61.8%, respectively). A large spot 532 nm laser is effective in previously treated patients with facial CM.

An Integrated Account of Generalization across Objects and Features

Science.gov (United States)

Kemp, Charles; Shafto, Patrick; Tenenbaum, Joshua B.

2012-01-01

Humans routinely make inductive generalizations about unobserved features of objects. Previous accounts of inductive reasoning often focus on inferences about a single object or feature: accounts of causal reasoning often focus on a single object with one or more unobserved features, and accounts of property induction often focus on a single…

Parameter and State Estimation of Large-Scale Complex Systems Using Python Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Anushka S. Perera

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the topics related to automating parameter, disturbance and state estimation analysis of large-scale complex nonlinear dynamic systems using free programming tools. For large-scale complex systems, before implementing any state estimator, the system should be analyzed for structural observability and the structural observability analysis can be automated using Modelica and Python. As a result of structural observability analysis, the system may be decomposed into subsystems where some of them may be observable --- with respect to parameter, disturbances, and states --- while some may not. The state estimation process is carried out for those observable subsystems and the optimum number of additional measurements are prescribed for unobservable subsystems to make them observable. In this paper, an industrial case study is considered: the copper production process at Glencore Nikkelverk, Kristiansand, Norway. The copper production process is a large-scale complex system. It is shown how to implement various state estimators, in Python, to estimate parameters and disturbances, in addition to states, based on available measurements.

Short-range effects in large white dwarfs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Membrado, M.C.; Pacheco, A.F.

1988-01-01

Recent work of Membrado and Pacheco (1988) on the implication of Yukawa-like effects in small white dwarfs is extended to analyze the very massive case. Although the role of these impurities grows substantially as the radius of the star decreases, when reasonable supergravity parameters are used the predicted change in the white dwarf mass-radius relation is unobservably small. 8 references

Liquidity Constraints and the Centralized Home Mortgage Policy in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gao, Cixiu

2017-01-01

This paper investigates China's centralized mortgage policy in general, and evaluates the policy change in 2011: the minimum down payment was dramatically raised to 60% of the home price. Using our previously developed structural model, we recover the unobserved liquidity wealth levels of individ......This paper investigates China's centralized mortgage policy in general, and evaluates the policy change in 2011: the minimum down payment was dramatically raised to 60% of the home price. Using our previously developed structural model, we recover the unobserved liquidity wealth levels...

Large Covariance Estimation by Thresholding Principal Orthogonal Complements.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jianqing; Liao, Yuan; Mincheva, Martina

2013-09-01

This paper deals with the estimation of a high-dimensional covariance with a conditional sparsity structure and fast-diverging eigenvalues. By assuming sparse error covariance matrix in an approximate factor model, we allow for the presence of some cross-sectional correlation even after taking out common but unobservable factors. We introduce the Principal Orthogonal complEment Thresholding (POET) method to explore such an approximate factor structure with sparsity. The POET estimator includes the sample covariance matrix, the factor-based covariance matrix (Fan, Fan, and Lv, 2008), the thresholding estimator (Bickel and Levina, 2008) and the adaptive thresholding estimator (Cai and Liu, 2011) as specific examples. We provide mathematical insights when the factor analysis is approximately the same as the principal component analysis for high-dimensional data. The rates of convergence of the sparse residual covariance matrix and the conditional sparse covariance matrix are studied under various norms. It is shown that the impact of estimating the unknown factors vanishes as the dimensionality increases. The uniform rates of convergence for the unobserved factors and their factor loadings are derived. The asymptotic results are also verified by extensive simulation studies. Finally, a real data application on portfolio allocation is presented.

Search for unobserved transitions in "1"4"2Eu

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, Sajad; Rajbanshi, S.; Bisoi, Abhijit

2016-01-01

In order to understand the excitation mechanisms responsible for the generation of high spin states in this mass region we have studied "1"4"2Eu nucleus. The high spin states of the "1"4"2Eu was reported earlier by M. Piiparinen et al. Based on this experimental data, they have proposed a level scheme of "1"4"2Eu. The motivation of current work is to remove the remaining incompleteness of the previously reported level scheme of "1"4"2Eu

Measurement of wavefront structure from large aperture optical components by phase shifting interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolfe, C.R.; Lawson, J.K.; Kellam, M.; Maney, R.T.; Demiris, A.

1995-01-01

This paper discusses the results of high spatial resolution measurement of the transmitted or reflected wavefront of optical components using phase shifting interferometry with a wavelength of 6328 angstrom. The optical components studied range in size from approximately 50 mm x 100 mm to 400 mm x 750 mm. Wavefront data, in the form of 3-D phase maps, have been obtained for three regimes of scale length: ''micro roughness'', ''mid-spatial scale'', and ''optical figure/curvature.'' Repetitive wavefront structure has been observed with scale lengths from 10 mm to 100 mm. The amplitude of this structure is typically λ/100 to λ/20. Previously unobserved structure has been detected in optical materials and on the surfaces of components. We are using this data to assist in optimizing laser system design, to qualify optical components and fabrication processes under study in our component development program

Large Covariance Estimation by Thresholding Principal Orthogonal Complements

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Jianqing; Liao, Yuan; Mincheva, Martina

2012-01-01

This paper deals with the estimation of a high-dimensional covariance with a conditional sparsity structure and fast-diverging eigenvalues. By assuming sparse error covariance matrix in an approximate factor model, we allow for the presence of some cross-sectional correlation even after taking out common but unobservable factors. We introduce the Principal Orthogonal complEment Thresholding (POET) method to explore such an approximate factor structure with sparsity. The POET estimator includes the sample covariance matrix, the factor-based covariance matrix (Fan, Fan, and Lv, 2008), the thresholding estimator (Bickel and Levina, 2008) and the adaptive thresholding estimator (Cai and Liu, 2011) as specific examples. We provide mathematical insights when the factor analysis is approximately the same as the principal component analysis for high-dimensional data. The rates of convergence of the sparse residual covariance matrix and the conditional sparse covariance matrix are studied under various norms. It is shown that the impact of estimating the unknown factors vanishes as the dimensionality increases. The uniform rates of convergence for the unobserved factors and their factor loadings are derived. The asymptotic results are also verified by extensive simulation studies. Finally, a real data application on portfolio allocation is presented. PMID:24348088

Using Length of Stay to Control for Unobserved Heterogeneity When Estimating Treatment Effect on Hospital Costs with Observational Data: Issues of Reliability, Robustness, and Usefulness.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Peter; Garrido, Melissa M; Cassel, J Brian; Morrison, R Sean; Normand, Charles

2016-10-01

To evaluate the sensitivity of treatment effect estimates when length of stay (LOS) is used to control for unobserved heterogeneity when estimating treatment effect on cost of hospital admission with observational data. We used data from a prospective cohort study on the impact of palliative care consultation teams (PCCTs) on direct cost of hospital care. Adult patients with an advanced cancer diagnosis admitted to five large medical and cancer centers in the United States between 2007 and 2011 were eligible for this study. Costs were modeled using generalized linear models with a gamma distribution and a log link. We compared variability in estimates of PCCT impact on hospitalization costs when LOS was used as a covariate, as a sample parameter, and as an outcome denominator. We used propensity scores to account for patient characteristics associated with both PCCT use and total direct hospitalization costs. We analyzed data from hospital cost databases, medical records, and questionnaires. Our propensity score weighted sample included 969 patients who were discharged alive. In analyses of hospitalization costs, treatment effect estimates are highly sensitive to methods that control for LOS, complicating interpretation. Both the magnitude and significance of results varied widely with the method of controlling for LOS. When we incorporated intervention timing into our analyses, results were robust to LOS-controls. Treatment effect estimates using LOS-controls are not only suboptimal in terms of reliability (given concerns over endogeneity and bias) and usefulness (given the need to validate the cost-effectiveness of an intervention using overall resource use for a sample defined at baseline) but also in terms of robustness (results depend on the approach taken, and there is little evidence to guide this choice). To derive results that minimize endogeneity concerns and maximize external validity, investigators should match and analyze treatment and comparison arms

Analysis of previous perceptual and motor experience in breaststroke kick learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ried Bettina

2015-12-01

Full Text Available One of the variables that influence motor learning is the learner’s previous experience, which may provide perceptual and motor elements to be transferred to a novel motor skill. For swimming skills, several motor experiences may prove effective. Purpose. The aim was to analyse the influence of previous experience in playing in water, swimming lessons, and music or dance lessons on learning the breaststroke kick. Methods. The study involved 39 Physical Education students possessing basic swimming skills, but not the breaststroke, who performed 400 acquisition trials followed by 50 retention and 50 transfer trials, during which stroke index as well as rhythmic and spatial configuration indices were mapped, and answered a yes/no questionnaire regarding previous experience. Data were analysed by ANOVA (p = 0.05 and the effect size (Cohen’s d ≥0.8 indicating large effect size. Results. The whole sample improved their stroke index and spatial configuration index, but not their rhythmic configuration index. Although differences between groups were not significant, two types of experience showed large practical effects on learning: childhood water playing experience only showed major practically relevant positive effects, and no experience in any of the three fields hampered the learning process. Conclusions. The results point towards diverse impact of previous experience regarding rhythmic activities, swimming lessons, and especially with playing in water during childhood, on learning the breaststroke kick.

Previous climatic alterations are caused by the sun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groenaas, Sigbjoern

2003-01-01

The article surveys the scientific results of previous research into the contribution of the sun to climatic alterations. The author concludes that there is evidence of eight cold periods after the last ice age and that the alterations largely were due to climate effects from the sun. However, these effects are only causing a fraction of the registered global warming. It is assumed that the human activities are contributing to the rest of the greenhouse effect

Diagnosis of large granular lymphocytic leukemia in a patient previously treated for acute myeloblastic leukemia

OpenAIRE

Sinem Civriz Bozdag; Sinem Namdaroglu; Omur Kayikci; Gülsah Kaygusuz; Itir Demiriz; Murat Cinarsoy; Emre Tekgunduz; Fevzi Altuntas

2013-01-01

Large granular lymphocytic (LGL) leukemia is a lymphoproliferative disease characterized by the clonal expansion of cytotoxic T or natural killer cells. We report on a patient diagnosed with T-cell LGL leukemia two years after the achievement of hematologic remission for acute myeloblastic leukemia.

International, intersectoral, or unobservable?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitze, Timo; Naveed, Amjad; Ahmad, Nisar

2016-01-01

for these methodical advances when estimating sectoral knowledge production functions for OECD countries under weak and strong cross-sectional dependence. By doing so, we are able to uncover technology- and trade-related R&D spillover channels associated with social returns to R&D, while effectively controlling......In the theoretical and empirical growth literature, private and social returns to R&D have been identified as the key drivers of productivity gains and economic development. However, recently the debate on the relative importance of private vis-à-vis social returns has been reinforced...... for other types of productivity spillovers and latent macroeconomic shocks. Our results highlight the role played by international-intersectoral R&D spillovers for the social rate of return to R&D, while we get limited evidence for private returns to R&D once cross-sectional dependence is properly accounted...

Double beta decay searches of 134Xe, 126Xe and 124Xe with large scale Xe detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barros, N; Thurn, J; Zuber, K

2014-01-01

The sensitivity for double beta decay studies of 134 Xe and 124 Xe is investigated assuming a potential large scale Xe experiment developed for dark matter searches depleted in 136 Xe. The opportunity for an observation of the 2νββ - decay of 134 Xe is explored for various scenarios. A positive observation should be possible for all calculated nuclear matrix elements. The detection of 2ν ECEC of 124 Xe can be probed in all scenarios covering the theoretical predicted half-life uncertainties and a potential search for 126 Xe is discussed. The sensitivity to β + EC decay of 124 Xe is discussed and a positive observation might be possible, while β + β + decay still remains unobservable. The performed studies take into account solar pp–neutrino interactions, 85 Kr beta decay and remaining 136 Xe double beta decay as background components in the depleted detector. (paper)

DIEP flap customization using Fluobeam® indocyanine green tissue perfusion assessment with large previous abdominal scar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael A. Fallucco

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The Fluobeam® is a portable, near-infrared camera that is held and controlled by the surgeon to visualize tissue perfusion using indocyanine green (ICG fluorescence imaging. This case report describes how data obtained from ICG imaging allows intraoperative customization in a previously surgically scarred abdomen during autologous Deep Inferior Epigastric Artery Perforator (DIEP flap bilateral breast reconstruction. The outcome was successful breast mound recreation without fat necrosis.

BENCH-SCALE VISUALIZATION OF DNAPL REMEDIATION PROCESSES IN ANALOG HETEROGENEOUS AQUIFERS: SURFACTANT FLOODS, AND IN SITU OXIDATION USING PERMANGANATE

Science.gov (United States)

We have conducted well-controlled DNAPL remediation experiments using surfactants (Aerosol MA and Tween 80) to increase solubility and an oxidant (permanganate) to chemically degrade the DNAPL. Photographs and digital image analysis illustrate previously unobserved interactions b...

Waterfall field in hybrid inflation and curvature perturbation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong, Jinn-Ouk; Sasaki, Misao

2011-01-01

We study carefully the contribution of the waterfall field to the curvature perturbation at the end of hybrid inflation. In particular we clarify the parameter dependence analytically under reasonable assumptions on the model parameters. After calculating the mode function of the waterfall field, we use the δN formalism and confirm the previously obtained result that the power spectrum is very blue with the index 4 and is absolutely negligible on large scales. However, we also find that the resulting curvature perturbation is highly non-Gaussian and hence we calculate the bispectrum. We find that the bispectrum is at leading order independent of momentum and exhibits its peak at the equilateral limit, though it is unobservably small on large scales. We also present the one-point probability distribution function of the curvature perturbation

Waterfall field in hybrid inflation and curvature perturbation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gong, Jinn-Ouk [Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Universiteit Leiden, 2333 CA Leiden (Netherlands); Sasaki, Misao, E-mail: jgong@lorentz.leidenuniv.nl, E-mail: misao@yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)

2011-03-01

We study carefully the contribution of the waterfall field to the curvature perturbation at the end of hybrid inflation. In particular we clarify the parameter dependence analytically under reasonable assumptions on the model parameters. After calculating the mode function of the waterfall field, we use the δN formalism and confirm the previously obtained result that the power spectrum is very blue with the index 4 and is absolutely negligible on large scales. However, we also find that the resulting curvature perturbation is highly non-Gaussian and hence we calculate the bispectrum. We find that the bispectrum is at leading order independent of momentum and exhibits its peak at the equilateral limit, though it is unobservably small on large scales. We also present the one-point probability distribution function of the curvature perturbation.

Determinants of Generic vs. Brand Drug Choice: Evidence from Population-wide Danish Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skipper, Niels; Vejlin, Rune Majlund

driven. We use population-wide Danish register data including all prescriptions for seven blockbuster drugs from 1998-2008. At the outset, descriptive statistics suggest large variation in drug choice over doctors. Nonetheless, using a two-way fixed effects model we find that the primary determinants...... of brand drug use are unobserved patient characteristics and price effects, while observed and unobserved doctor characteristics in general explain only 0.7 % of the variation in drug choice. This is suggestive evidence that the doctors in the Danish setting with no incentives to push expensive brand drugs...

Children and Career Interruptions: The Family Gap in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gupta, Nabanita Datta; Smith, Nina

2002-01-01

Abstract: The effect of children and career interruptions on the family gap is analysed based on longitudinal data covering the years 1980-1995. The estimated model controls for unobserved time-constant heterogeneity. The results show that when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, the negative...... effect of children on mothers' wages disappear, but there are large differences between educational groups and the public and private sector. The main effect of children seems to be a loss of human capital accumulation during child-birth periods. Beside this, there is no indication that children have...

The First Cut is the Deepest? The Role of the Relationship Career for Union Formation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poortman, Anne-Rigt

2007-01-01

Using retrospective data from the survey Divorce in the Netherlands 1998, I examine the influence of the relationship career on chances of union formation. Frailty models accounting for unobserved heterogeneity show that previous union experiences reduce chances of union formation. Furthermore,

Electronic states of the fluorophore 9,10-bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene (BPEA). A synchrotron radiation linear dichroism investigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thulstrup, Peter Waaben; Jones, Nykola; Hoffmann, Søren Vrønning

2013-01-01

temperature spectroscopy and by quantum chemical calculations in the LCOAO and TD-DFT models. The combined experimental and theoretical evidence leads to characterization of several previously unobserved transitions and provides a revised polarization analysis of the visible absorption band of BPEA....

Heterogeneity in Consumer Demands and the Income Effect

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Mette

2014-01-01

This paper uses unique Spanish panel data on household expenditures to test whether unobservable heterogeneity in household demands (taste, etc.) is correlated with total expenditures (income). The main finding is that tastes are indeed correlated with income for about half of the goods considere....... For transportation, the bias is sufficiently large to misclassify the good as a luxury.......This paper uses unique Spanish panel data on household expenditures to test whether unobservable heterogeneity in household demands (taste, etc.) is correlated with total expenditures (income). The main finding is that tastes are indeed correlated with income for about half of the goods considered......, implying that cross-sectional estimates of income elasticities for these goods are biased. The goods are the following: food eaten outside home, alcohol and tobacco, transportation, and energy. The elasticity of alcohol and tobacco is more than halved when taking unobserved heterogeneity into account...

Magnetic Field Dependence and Q of the Josephson Plasma Resonance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Niels Falsig; Finnegan, T. F.; Langenberg, D. N.

1972-01-01

of supercurrent density which is not observed in conventional measurements of the field-dependent critical current. The frequency and field dependence of the plasma-resonance linewidth are interpreted as evidence that the previously unobserved quasiparticle-pair-interference tunnel current predicted by Josephson...

Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization photoelectron spectroscopy of even-parity autoionizing Rydberg states of atomic sulphur

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Woutersen, S.; de Milan, J.B.; de Lange, C.A.; Buma, W.J.

1997-01-01

Several previously unobserved Rydberg states of the sulphur atom above the lowest ionization threshold are identified and assigned using (2 + 1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton-ionization photoelectron spectroscopy. All states were accessed by two-photon transitions from either the 3P ground or the

A rare case of failed healing in previously burned skin after a secondary burns.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldie, Stephen J; Parsons, Shaun; Menezes, Hana; Ives, Andrew; Cleland, Heather

2017-01-01

Patients presenting with large surface area burns are common in our practice; however, patients with a secondary large burn on pre-existing burn scars and grafts are rare and not reported. We report on an unusual case of a patient sustaining a secondary large burn to areas previously injured by a burn from a different mechanism. We discuss the potential implications when managing a case like this and suggest potential biological reasons why the skin may behave differently. Our patient was a 33-year-old man who presented with a 5% TBSA burn on skin scarred by a previous 40% total body surface area (TBSA) burn and skin grafts. Initially assessed as superficial partial thickness in depth, the wounds were treated conservatively with dressings; however, they failed to heal and became infected requiring surgical management. Burns sustained in areas of previous burn scars and grafts may behave differently to normal patterns of healing, requiring more aggressive management and surgical intervention at an early stage.

Sensors on speaking terms: Schedule-based medium access control protocols for wireless sensor networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Hoesel, L.F.W.

2007-01-01

Wireless sensor networks make the previously unobservable, observable. The basic idea behind these networks is straightforward: all wires are cut in traditional sensing systems and the sensors are equipped with batteries and radio's to virtually restore the cut wires. The resulting sensors can be

Do time-invariant confounders explain away the association between job stress and workers' mental health? Evidence from Japanese occupational panel data.

Science.gov (United States)

Oshio, Takashi; Tsutsumi, Akizumi; Inoue, Akiomi

2015-02-01

It is well known that job stress is negatively related to workers' mental health, but most recent studies have not controlled for unobserved time-invariant confounders. In the current study, we attempted to validate previous observations on the association between job stress and workers' mental health, by removing the effects of unobserved time-invariant confounders. We used data from three to four waves of an occupational Japanese cohort survey, focusing on 31,382 observations of 9741 individuals who participated in at least two consecutive waves. We estimated mean-centered fixed effects models to explain psychological distress in terms of the Kessler 6 (K6) scores (range: 0-24) by eight job stress indicators related to the job demands-control, effort-reward imbalance, and organizational injustice models. Mean-centered fixed effects models reduced the magnitude of the association between jobs stress and K6 scores to 44.8-54.2% of those observed from pooled ordinary least squares. However, the association remained highly significant even after controlling for unobserved time-invariant confounders for all job stress indicators. In addition, alternatively specified models showed the robustness of the results. In all, we concluded that the validity of major job stress models, which link job stress and workers' mental health, was robust, although unobserved time-invariant confounders led to an overestimation of the association. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MPQS with three large primes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leyland, P.; Lenstra, A.K.; Dodson, B.; Muffett, A.; Wagstaff, S.; Fieker, C.; Kohel, D.R.

2002-01-01

We report the factorization of a 135-digit integer by the triple-large-prime variation of the multiple polynomial quadratic sieve. Previous workers [6][10] had suggested that using more than two large primes would be counterproductive, because of the greatly increased number of false reports from

A Spatial Model for the Instantaneous Estimation of Wind Power at a Large Number of Unobserved Sites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lenzi, Amanda; Guillot, Gilles; Pinson, Pierre

2015-01-01

We propose a hierarchical Bayesian spatial model to obtain predictive densities of wind power at a set of un-monitored locations. The model consists of a mixture of Gamma density for the non-zero values and degenerated distributions at zero. The spatial dependence is described through a common...... Gaussian random field with a Matérn covariance. For inference and prediction, we use the GMRF-SPDE approximation implemented in the R-INLA package. We showcase the method outlined here on data for 336 wind farms located in Denmark. We test the predictions derived from our method with model-diagnostic tools...

Streptococcus agalactiae endocarditis presenting as acalculous cholecystitis in a previously well woman.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Brewer, Linda

2013-01-01

This case report describes the unusual presentation of a previously very well woman with Streptococcus agalactiae endocarditis in the emergency department. History, examination and preliminary laboratory and radiological investigations supported a diagnosis of acalculous cholecystitis, for which she was given intravenous broad spectrum antimicrobial therapy. One day following admission, the patient deteriorated and became unresponsive. Subsequent MRI of the brain revealed multiple bihemispheric cerebral emboli and a large, mobile mitral valve thrombus was visualised on her transoesophageal echocardiogram. S agalactiae was cultured from venous blood samples and her antimicrobial cover was adjusted accordingly. Despite her presumed guarded prognosis, this patient made a remarkable recovery. To our knowledge, the association of S agalactiae endocarditis with acalculous cholecystitis has not been previously described.

Eight previously unidentified mutations found in the OA1 ocular albinism gene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dufier Jean-Louis

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Ocular albinism type 1 (OA1 is an X-linked ocular disorder characterized by a severe reduction in visual acuity, nystagmus, hypopigmentation of the retinal pigmented epithelium, foveal hypoplasia, macromelanosomes in pigmented skin and eye cells, and misrouting of the optical tracts. This disease is primarily caused by mutations in the OA1 gene. Methods The ophthalmologic phenotype of the patients and their family members was characterized. We screened for mutations in the OA1 gene by direct sequencing of the nine PCR-amplified exons, and for genomic deletions by PCR-amplification of large DNA fragments. Results We sequenced the nine exons of the OA1 gene in 72 individuals and found ten different mutations in seven unrelated families and three sporadic cases. The ten mutations include an amino acid substitution and a premature stop codon previously reported by our team, and eight previously unidentified mutations: three amino acid substitutions, a duplication, a deletion, an insertion and two splice-site mutations. The use of a novel Taq polymerase enabled us to amplify large genomic fragments covering the OA1 gene. and to detect very likely six distinct large deletions. Furthermore, we were able to confirm that there was no deletion in twenty one patients where no mutation had been found. Conclusion The identified mutations affect highly conserved amino acids, cause frameshifts or alternative splicing, thus affecting folding of the OA1 G protein coupled receptor, interactions of OA1 with its G protein and/or binding with its ligand.

Laparoscopy After Previous Laparotomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zulfo Godinjak

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Following the abdominal surgery, extensive adhesions often occur and they can cause difficulties during laparoscopic operations. However, previous laparotomy is not considered to be a contraindication for laparoscopy. The aim of this study is to present that an insertion of Veres needle in the region of umbilicus is a safe method for creating a pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic operations after previous laparotomy. In the last three years, we have performed 144 laparoscopic operations in patients that previously underwent one or two laparotomies. Pathology of digestive system, genital organs, Cesarean Section or abdominal war injuries were the most common causes of previouslaparotomy. During those operations or during entering into abdominal cavity we have not experienced any complications, while in 7 patients we performed conversion to laparotomy following the diagnostic laparoscopy. In all patients an insertion of Veres needle and trocar insertion in the umbilical region was performed, namely a technique of closed laparoscopy. Not even in one patient adhesions in the region of umbilicus were found, and no abdominal organs were injured.

Multiple paths in educational transitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karlson, Kristian Bernt

2011-01-01

In many countries educational branching points consist of more than two qualitatively different alternatives, and only some alternatives provide the opportunity of continuing into higher education. I develop a multinomial transition model for modeling the effects of family background...... characteristics and individual characteristics on these complex educational careers. The model controls for unobserved heterogeneity that may, if ignored, result in biased estimates. Compared to previous research, I explicitly include instrumental variables that ensure identification of the unobserved component....... I apply the model to the Danish case and analyze data which covers the educational careers of a cohort of Danes born around 1954. I find that the model brings forward non-trivial heterogeneity in the influence of family background and ability on qualitatively different choice alternatives both...

Future relativistic heavy ion experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pugh, H.G.

1980-12-01

Equations of state for nuclear matter and ongoing experimental studies are discussed. Relativistic heavy ion physics is the only opportunity to study in the laboratory the properties of extended multiquark systems under conditions such that quarks might run together into new arrangements previously unobserved. Several lines of further study are mentioned

Does Graded Return to Work Improve Disabled Workers’ Labour Market Attachment?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høgelund, Jan; Holm, Anders; McIntosh, James

for the hours off work. When the worker’s health improves, working hours are increased until the sick-listed worker is able to work regular hours. Previous studies either concern specially designed pro-grams with a limited population of disabled workers or they do not take into account the unobserved...

An Investigation into Appraisal Bias: The Role of Decision Support Tools in Debiasing Valuation Judgments

Science.gov (United States)

Tidwell, Owen Alan

2011-01-01

Given the nature of the valuation task environment appraisers are often made aware of previous value opinions rendered by appraisers, commonly in the form of an historic appraisal. And, because an appraisal task involves the rendering of market value, a hypothetical, unobservable construct based on probabilities, direct feedback against this…

Preoperative screening: value of previous tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Macpherson, D S; Snow, R; Lofgren, R P

1990-12-15

To determine the frequency of tests done in the year before elective surgery that might substitute for preoperative screening tests and to determine the frequency of test results that change from a normal value to a value likely to alter perioperative management. Retrospective cohort analysis of computerized laboratory data (complete blood count, sodium, potassium, and creatinine levels, prothrombin time, and partial thromboplastin time). Urban tertiary care Veterans Affairs Hospital. Consecutive sample of 1109 patients who had elective surgery in 1988. At admission, 7549 preoperative tests were done, 47% of which duplicated tests performed in the previous year. Of 3096 previous results that were normal as defined by hospital reference range and done closest to the time of but before admission (median interval, 2 months), 13 (0.4%; 95% CI, 0.2% to 0.7%), repeat values were outside a range considered acceptable for surgery. Most of the abnormalities were predictable from the patient's history, and most were not noted in the medical record. Of 461 previous tests that were abnormal, 78 (17%; CI, 13% to 20%) repeat values at admission were outside a range considered acceptable for surgery (P less than 0.001, frequency of clinically important abnormalities of patients with normal previous results with those with abnormal previous results). Physicians evaluating patients preoperatively could safely substitute the previous test results analyzed in this study for preoperative screening tests if the previous tests are normal and no obvious indication for retesting is present.

Entrepreneurial motives and performance: Why might better educated entrepreneurs be less successful?

OpenAIRE

Bhattacharjee , Arnab; Bonnet , Jean; Le Pape , Nicolas; Renault , Régis

2009-01-01

In a sample of newly created French firms, the impact of an entrepreneurís education on the firm's survival varies widely depending on his previous labor market situation. While it is strongly positive for the overall population, it is much weaker or insignificant for entrepreneurs who were previously unemployed or poorly matched. Our theoretical entrepreneurship model shows that these differences may be attributed to differences in unobserved human capital for better educated entrepreneurs a...

Energy levels of 56Mn

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van Assche, P. H. M.; Baader, H. A.; Koch, H. R.

1971-01-01

The low-energy spectrum of the 55Mn(n,γ)56 Mn reaction has been studied with a γ-diffraction spectrometer. These data allowed the construction of a level scheme for 56Mn with two previously unobserved doublets. High-energy γ-transitions to the low-energy states have been measured for different...

High spin rotational bands in Zn

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We present here some preliminary results from our studies in the. ~ ¼ region in which we have observed an yrast band structure in Zn extending to spin (41/2 ). ... gaps implies that nuclei may exhibit different shapes at different excitation energies. .... uration, identifying previously unobserved states up to an excitation energy ...

Reliability of large and complex systems

CERN Document Server

Kolowrocki, Krzysztof

2014-01-01

Reliability of Large and Complex Systems, previously titled Reliability of Large Systems, is an innovative guide to the current state and reliability of large and complex systems. In addition to revised and updated content on the complexity and safety of large and complex mechanisms, this new edition looks at the reliability of nanosystems, a key research topic in nanotechnology science. The author discusses the importance of safety investigation of critical infrastructures that have aged or have been exposed to varying operational conditions. This reference provides an asympt

Large deviations for noninteracting infinite-particle systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donsker, M.D.; Varadhan, S.R.S.

1987-01-01

A large deviation property is established for noninteracting infinite particle systems. Previous large deviation results obtained by the authors involved a single I-function because the cases treated always involved a unique invariant measure for the process. In the context of this paper there is an infinite family of invariant measures and a corresponding infinite family of I-functions governing the large deviations

Resolved nuclear hyperfine structure of muonium centres in CuCl and GaAs by means of the avoided-level-crossing technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, J.W.; Keller, H.; Schmid, B.; Boesiger, K.; Kuendig, W.; Odermatt, W.; Patterson, B.D.; Puempin, B.; Simmler, H.; Savic, I.M.; Heming, M.; Reid, I.D.; Roduner, E.; Louwrier, P.W.F.

1988-01-01

Avoided-level-crossing resonances from isotropic muonium centres interacting with neighbouring nuclear spins in powdered CuCl are reported. The prominent resonances have a complex multiline structure and are strongly temperature-dependent. In addition, previously unobserved resonances in single-crystal GaAs from anomalous muonium interacting with a 71 Ga neighbour are presented. (orig.)

Incentive contracts with unobservable competence levels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davis, Jerome; Keiding, Hans

2008-01-01

about the competence of the agent to fulfill the obligations of the contract. The agent offers a choice of contracts to the principal, thereby signalling agent competence to the principal, and there is no alternative reputation mechanism to the contract for the principal's bargaining strategy. It turns...

Large for Gestational Age (LGA)

Science.gov (United States)

... mother Other risk factors for having large-for-gestational-age newborns include Maternal obesity Having had previous LGA babies Genetic abnormalities or syndromes (for example, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome or Sotos syndrome) Excessive weight gain during pregnancy (the fetus gets more calories as ...

A Bayesian method for detecting pairwise associations in compositional data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma Schwager

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Compositional data consist of vectors of proportions normalized to a constant sum from a basis of unobserved counts. The sum constraint makes inference on correlations between unconstrained features challenging due to the information loss from normalization. However, such correlations are of long-standing interest in fields including ecology. We propose a novel Bayesian framework (BAnOCC: Bayesian Analysis of Compositional Covariance to estimate a sparse precision matrix through a LASSO prior. The resulting posterior, generated by MCMC sampling, allows uncertainty quantification of any function of the precision matrix, including the correlation matrix. We also use a first-order Taylor expansion to approximate the transformation from the unobserved counts to the composition in order to investigate what characteristics of the unobserved counts can make the correlations more or less difficult to infer. On simulated datasets, we show that BAnOCC infers the true network as well as previous methods while offering the advantage of posterior inference. Larger and more realistic simulated datasets further showed that BAnOCC performs well as measured by type I and type II error rates. Finally, we apply BAnOCC to a microbial ecology dataset from the Human Microbiome Project, which in addition to reproducing established ecological results revealed unique, competition-based roles for Proteobacteria in multiple distinct habitats.

A model for fine mapping in family based association studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Boehringer, Stefan; Pfeiffer, Ruth M

2009-01-01

Genome wide association studies for complex diseases are typically followed by more focused characterization of the identified genetic region. We propose a latent class model to evaluate a candidate region with several measured markers using observations on families. The main goal is to estimate linkage disequilibrium (LD) between the observed markers and the putative true but unobserved disease locus in the region. Based on this model, we estimate the joint distribution of alleles at the observed markers and the unobserved true disease locus, and a penetrance parameter measuring the impact of the disease allele on disease risk. A family specific random effect allows for varying baseline disease prevalences for different families. We present a likelihood framework for our model and assess its properties in simulations. We apply the model to an Alzheimer data set and confirm previous findings in the ApoE region.

Eikenella corrodens endocarditis and liver abscess in a previously healthy male, a case report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordholm, Anne Christine; Vøgg, Ruth Ottilia Birgitta; Permin, Henrik

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: Eikenella corrodens is one of the HACEK bacteria constituting part of the normal flora of the oropharynx, however, still an uncommon pathogen. We report a case of a large Eikenella corrodens liver abscess with simultaneously endocarditis in a previously healthy male. CASE PRESENTATION...... on pneumonia treatment, a PET-CT scan was performed, which showed a large multiloculated abscess in the liver. The abscess was drained using ultrasound guidance. Culture demonstrated Eikenella corrodens. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed aortic endocarditis. The patient was treated with antibiotics...... corrodens concurrent liver abscess and endocarditis. The case report highlights that Eikenella corrodens should be considered as a cause of liver abscess. Empirical treatment of pyogenic liver abscess will most often cover Eikenella corrodens, but the recommended treatment is a third generation...

Backward exotic meson production in π-n→px--

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mantell, D.

1978-01-01

A discussion is given of some of the theory and theoretical techniques as well as actual previous experiments for the study of π - + n → p + X -- interactions. Included are the forces, classification, inclusive reactions, quark diagrams, properties of the unobserved X, cross sections, exotic mesons, duality and crossing, the working and normalization of some actual rexperiments, and analysis. 10 references

How does relativity affect magnetically induced currents?

Science.gov (United States)

Berger, R J F; Repisky, M; Komorovsky, S

2015-09-21

Magnetically induced probability currents in molecules are studied in relativistic theory. Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) enhances the curvature and gives rise to a previously unobserved current cusp in AuH or small bulge-like distortions in HgH2 at the proton positions. The origin of this curvature is magnetically induced spin-density arising from SOC in the relativistic description.

The large-s field-reversed configuration experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, A.L.; Carey, L.N.; Crawford, E.A.; Harding, D.G.; DeHart, T.E.; McDonald, K.F.; McNeil, J.L.; Milroy, R.D.; Slough, J.T.; Maqueda, R.; Wurden, G.A.

1993-01-01

The Large-s Experiment (LSX) was built to study the formation and equilibrium properties of field-reversed configurations (FRCs) as the scale size increases. The dynamic, field-reversed theta-pinch method of FRC creation produces axial and azimuthal deformations and makes formation difficult, especially in large devices with large s (number of internal gyroradii) where it is difficult to achieve initial plasma uniformity. However, with the proper technique, these formation distortions can be minimized and are then observed to decay with time. This suggests that the basic stability and robustness of FRCs formed, and in some cases translated, in smaller devices may also characterize larger FRCs. Elaborate formation controls were included on LSX to provide the initial uniformity and symmetry necessary to minimize formation disturbances, and stable FRCs could be formed up to the design goal of s = 8. For x ≤ 4, the formation distortions decayed away completely, resulting in symmetric equilibrium FRCs with record confinement times up to 0.5 ms, agreeing with previous empirical scaling laws (τ∝sR). Above s = 4, reasonably long-lived (up to 0.3 ms) configurations could still be formed, but the initial formation distortions were so large that they never completely decayed away, and the equilibrium confinement was degraded from the empirical expectations. The LSX was only operational for 1 yr, and it is not known whether s = 4 represents a fundamental limit for good confinement in simple (no ion beam stabilization) FRCs or whether it simply reflects a limit of present formation technology. Ideally, s could be increased through flux buildup from neutral beams. Since the addition of kinetic or beam ions will probably be desirable for heating, sustainment, and further stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic modes at reactor-level s values, neutral beam injection is the next logical step in FRC development. 24 refs., 21 figs., 2 tabs

48 CFR 1652.204-74 - Large provider agreements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS ACQUISITION REGULATION CLAUSES AND FORMS CONTRACT CLAUSES Texts of FEHBP... Large Provider Agreement; and (ii) Not less than 60 days before exercising a renewal or other option, or... exercising a simple renewal or other option contemplated by a Large Provider Agreement that OPM previously...

Non-compliance in surveillance for patients with previous resection of large (≥1 cm) colorectal adenomas

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wolfgang M Brueckl; Berit Fritsche; Brigitte Seifert; Frank Boxberger; Heinz Albrecht; Roland S Croner; Axel Wein; Eckhart G Hahn

2006-01-01

AIM: To assess the extent and reasons of noncompliance in surveillance for patients undergoing polypectomy of large (≥ 1 cm) colorectal adenomas.METHODS: Between 1995 and 2002, colorectal adenomas ≥ 1 cm were diagnosed in 210 patients and subsequently documented at the Erlangen Registry of Colorectal Polyps. One hundred and fifty-eight patients (75.2%) could be contacted by telephone and agreed to be interviewed. Additionally, records were obtained from the treating physicians.RESULTS: Fifty-four out of 158 patients (34.2%)neglected any surveillance. Reasons for non-compliance included lack of knowledge concerning surveillance intervals (45.8%), no symptoms (29.2%), fear of examination (18.8%) or old age/severe illness (6.3%).In a multivariate analysis, the factors including female gender (P = 0.036) and age ≥ 62 years (P = 0.016)proved to be significantly associated with non-compliance in surveillance.CONCLUSION: Efforts to increase compliance in surveillance are of utmost importance, This applies particularly to women's compliance. Effective strategies for avoiding metachronous colorectal adenoma and cancer should focus on both the improvement in awareness and knowledge of patients and information about physicians for surveillance.

[Relationship between previous severity of illness and outcome of in-hospital cardiac arrest].

Science.gov (United States)

Serrano, M; Rodríguez, J; Espejo, A; del Olmo, R; Llanos, S; Del Castillo, J; López-Herce, J

2014-07-01

To analyze the relationship between previous severity of illness, lactic acid, creatinine and inotropic index with mortality of in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) in children, and the value of a prognostic index designed for adults. The study included total of 44 children aged from 1 month to 18 years old who suffered a cardiac arrest while in hospital. The relationship between previous severity of illness scores (PRIMS and PELOD), lactic acid, creatinine, treatment with vasoactive drugs, inotropic index with return of spontaneous circulation and survival at hospital discharge was analyzed. The large majority (90.3%) of patients had a return of spontaneous circulation, and 59% survived at hospital discharge. More than two-thirds (68.2%) were treated with inotropic drugs at the time of the CA. The patients who died had a higher lactic acid before the CA (3.4 mmol/L) than survivors (1.4 mmol/L), P=.04. There were no significant differences in PRIMS, PELOD, creatinine, inotropic drugs, and inotropic index before CA between patients who died and survivors. A high lactic acid previous to cardiac arrest could be a prognostic factor of in-hospital cardiac arrest in children. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

AbobotulinumtoxinA Efficacy and Safety in Children With Equinus Foot Previously Treated With Botulinum Toxin.

Science.gov (United States)

Dabrowski, Edward; Bonikowski, Marcin; Gormley, Mark; Volteau, Magali; Picaut, Philippe; Delgado, Mauricio R

2018-05-01

The effects of botulinum toxin are transient, and repeat injections are required in children with lower-limb spasticity. However, the efficacy of botulinum toxin in patients who have received previous injections has remained largely unexplored. We present subgroup analyses of a phase III study conducted in ambulatory children (aged two to 17) with spastic equinus foot. Patients were randomized to single doses of abobotulinumtoxinA 10 U/kg/leg, 15 U/kg/leg, or placebo injected into the gastrocnemius-soleus complex (one or both legs). The first analysis was prespecified to review the effect of abobotulinumtoxinA in children previously treated with botulinum toxin versus those children new to the treatment; a second post hoc analysis evaluated the effect of abobotulinumtoxinA in children who changed botulinum toxin formulation. Of the 241 randomized patients, 113 had previously received botulinum toxin, including 86 who had been treated with another formulation. In both analyses, muscle tone (Modified Ashworth Scale) and the Physicians Global Assessment, at week 4, improved with abobotulinumtoxinA treatment versus placebo, regardless of baseline botulinum toxin status. Placebo responses in patients new to treatment were consistently higher than in the previously treated group. These results demonstrate similar abobotulinumtoxinA efficacy and safety profiles in children with spasticity who are new to botulinum toxin treatment and those children who were previously treated. The efficacy and safety of abobotulinumtoxinA treatment in these previously treated patients were comparable with the overall trial population, indicating that doses of 10 and 15 U/kg/leg are suitable starting doses for children with spasticity regardless of the previous botulinum toxin preparation used. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Flow reversal at low voltage and low frequency in a microfabricated ac electrokinetic pump

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gregersen, Misha Marie; Olesen, Laurits Højgaard; Brask, Anders

2007-01-01

measured in a regime, where both the applied voltage and the frequency are low, Vrms1.5 V and f20 kHz, compared to previously investigated parameter ranges. The impedance spectrum has been thoroughly measured and analyzed in terms of an equivalent circuit diagram to rule out trivial circuit explanations......Microfluidic chips have been fabricated in Pyrex glass to study electrokinetic pumping generated by a low-voltage ac bias applied to an in-channel asymmetric metallic electrode array. A measurement procedure has been established and followed carefully resulting in a high degree of reproducibility...... of the measurements over several days. A large coverage fraction of the electrode array in the microfluidic channels has led to an increased sensitivity allowing for pumping measurements at low bias voltages. Depending on the ionic concentration a hitherto unobserved reversal of the pumping direction has been...

Are We Wasting Our Children's Time by Giving Them More Homework?

Science.gov (United States)

Eren, Ozkan; Henderson, Daniel J.

2011-01-01

Following an identification strategy that allows us to largely eliminate unobserved student and teacher traits, we examine the effect of homework on math, science, English and history test scores for eighth grade students in the United States. Noting that failure to control for these effects yields selection biases on the estimated effect of…

49 CFR 173.23 - Previously authorized packaging.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Previously authorized packaging. 173.23 Section... REQUIREMENTS FOR SHIPMENTS AND PACKAGINGS Preparation of Hazardous Materials for Transportation § 173.23 Previously authorized packaging. (a) When the regulations specify a packaging with a specification marking...

It pays to be green. A premature conclusion?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Telle, K.

2006-01-01

It has been claimed that good environmental performance can improve firms' economic performance. However, because of e.g. data limitations, the methods applied in most previous quantitative empirical studies on effects of environmental performance on economic performance of firms suffer from several shortcomings. We discuss these shortcomings and conclude that previously applied methods are unsatisfactory as support for a conclusion that it pays for firms to be green. Then we illustrate the consequences of these shortcomings by performing several regression analyses of the effect of environmental performance on economic performance using a panel data set of Norwegian plants. A pooled regression where observable firm characteristics like e.g. size or industry are controlled for, confirms a positive effect of environmental performance on economic performance. However, the estimated positive effect could be due to omitted unobserved variables like management or technology. When the regression model controls for unobserved plant heterogeneity, the effect is generally no longer statistically significant. Hence, although greener plants tend to perform economically better, the analysis provides little support for the claim that it is because they are greener. These empirical findings further indicate that a conclusion that it pays to be green is premature

22 CFR 40.91 - Certain aliens previously removed.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Certain aliens previously removed. 40.91... IMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED Aliens Previously Removed § 40.91 Certain aliens previously removed. (a) 5-year bar. An alien who has been found inadmissible, whether as a result...

The thermodynamic functions of gaseous actinide elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rand, M.H.

1979-01-01

The actinide gases have large number of unobserved energy states - up to 3 x 10 6 for Pu(g) - which could contribute to the partition function and its derivatives, from which the thermal functions of these gases are calculated. Existing compilations have simply ignored these levels. By making reasonable assumptions as to the distribution of these energy states, their effect on the functions can be calculated. It is concluded that the existing compilations will be inadequate above approximately 2000K. The effect is particularly marked on the heat capacity. For example, when unobserved levels for Pu(g) are included, the heat capacity of Pu(g) reaches a maximum value of more than 12R at 3200K. Similar considerations will apply to the gaseous actinide ions. (orig.) [de

Induced polarization of Λ (1116) in kaon electroproduction

Science.gov (United States)

Gabrielyan, M.; Raue, B. A.; Carman, D. S.; Park, K.; Adhikari, K. P.; Adikaram, D.; Amaryan, M. J.; Anefalos Pereira, S.; Avakian, H.; Ball, J.; Baltzell, N. A.; Battaglieri, M.; Baturin, V.; Bedlinskiy, I.; Biselli, A. S.; Bono, J.; Boiarinov, S.; Briscoe, W. J.; Brooks, W. K.; Burkert, V. D.; Cao, T.; Celentano, A.; Chandavar, S.; Charles, G.; Colaneri, L.; Cole, P. L.; Contalbrigo, M.; Cortes, O.; Crede, V.; D'Angelo, A.; Dashyan, N.; De Vita, R.; De Sanctis, E.; Deur, A.; Djalali, C.; Doughty, D.; Dupre, R.; El Fassi, L.; Eugenio, P.; Fedotov, G.; Fegan, S.; Fleming, J. A.; Forest, T. A.; Garillon, B.; Gevorgyan, N.; Ghandilyan, Y.; Gilfoyle, G. P.; Giovanetti, K. L.; Girod, F. X.; Goetz, J. T.; Golovatch, E.; Gothe, R. W.; Griffioen, K. A.; Guidal, M.; Guo, L.; Hafidi, K.; Hakobyan, H.; Hattawy, M.; Hicks, K.; Ho, D.; Holtrop, M.; Hughes, S. M.; Ilieva, Y.; Ireland, D. G.; Ishkhanov, B. S.; Jenkins, D.; Jiang, H.; Jo, H. S.; Joo, K.; Keller, D.; Khandaker, M.; Kim, W.; Klein, F. J.; Koirala, S.; Kubarovsky, V.; Kuhn, S. E.; Kuleshov, S. V.; Lenisa, P.; Levine, W. I.; Livingston, K.; MacGregor, I. J. D.; Mayer, M.; McKinnon, B.; Meyer, C. A.; Mestayer, M. D.; Mirazita, M.; Mokeev, V.; Moody, C. I.; Moutarde, H.; Movsisyan, A.; Munevar, E.; Munoz Camacho, C.; Nadel-Turonski, P.; Niccolai, S.; Niculescu, G.; Osipenko, M.; Pappalardo, L. L.; Paremuzyan, R.; Pasyuk, E.; Peng, P.; Phelps, W.; Phillips, J. J.; Pisano, S.; Pogorelko, O.; Pozdniakov, S.; Price, J. W.; Procureur, S.; Protopopescu, D.; Rimal, D.; Ripani, M.; Rizzo, A.; Sabatié, F.; Salgado, C.; Schott, D.; Schumacher, R. A.; Simonyan, A.; Smith, G. D.; Sober, D. I.; Sokhan, D.; Stepanyan, S. S.; Stepanyan, S.; Strakovsky, I. I.; Strauch, S.; Sytnik, V.; Tang, W.; Ungaro, M.; Vlassov, A. V.; Voskanyan, H.; Voutier, E.; Walford, N. K.; Watts, D. P.; Wei, X.; Weinstein, L. B.; Zachariou, N.; Zana, L.; Zhang, J.; Zonta, I.; CLAS Collaboration

2014-09-01

We have measured. the induced polarization of the Λ(1116) in the reaction ep →e'K+Λ, detecting the scattered e' and K+ in the final state along with the proton from the decay Λ →pπ-. The present study used the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS), which allowed for a large kinematic acceptance in invariant energy W (1.6≤W≤2.7 GeV) and covered the full range of the kaon production angle at an average momentum transfer Q2=1.90GeV2. In this experiment a 5.50-GeV electron beam was incident upon an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. We have mapped out the W and kaon production angle dependencies of the induced polarization and found striking differences from photoproduction data over most of the kinematic range studied. However, we also found that the induced polarization is essentially Q2 independent in our kinematic domain, suggesting that somewhere below the Q2 covered here there must be a strong Q2 dependence. Along with previously published photo- and electroproduction cross sections and polarization observables, these data are needed for the development of models, such as effective field theories, and as input to coupled-channel analyses that can provide evidence of previously unobserved s-channel resonances.

Induced polarization of $\Lambda \left(1116\right)$ in kaon electroproduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gabrielyan, M.; Raue, B. A.; Carman, D. S.; Park, K.; Adhikari, K. P.; Adikaram, D.; Amaryan, M. J.; Anefalos Pereira, S.; Avakian, H.; Ball, J.; Baltzell, N. A.; Battaglieri, M.; Baturin, V.; Bedlinskiy, I.; Biselli, A. S.; Bono, J.; Boiarinov, S.; Briscoe, W. J.; Brooks, W. K.; Burkert, V. D.; Cao, T.; Celentano, A.; Chandavar, S.; Charles, G.; Colaneri, L.; Cole, P. L.; Contalbrigo, M.; Cortes, O.; Crede, V.; D' Angelo, A.; Dashyan, N.; De Vita, R.; De Sanctis, E.; Deur, A.; Djalali, C.; Doughty, D.; Dupre, R.; El Fassi, L.; Eugenio, P.; Fedotov, G.; Fegan, S.; Fleming, J. A.; Forest, T. A.; Garillon, B.; Gevorgyan, N.; Ghandilyan, Y.; Gilfoyle, G. P.; Giovanetti, K. L.; Girod, F. X.; Goetz, J. T.; Golovatch, E.; Gothe, R. W.; Griffioen, K. A.; Guidal, M.; Guo, L.; Hafidi, K.; Hakobyan, H.; Hattawy, M.; Hicks, K.; Ho, D.; Holtrop, M.; Hughes, S. M.; Ilieva, Y.; Ireland, D. G.; Ishkhanov, B. S.; Jenkins, D.; Jiang, H.; Jo, H. S.; Joo, K.; Keller, D.; Khandaker, M.; Kim, W.; Klein, F. J.; Koirala, S.; Kubarovsky, V.; Kuhn, S. E.; Kuleshov, S. V.; Lenisa, P.; Levine, W. I.; Livingston, K.; MacGregor, I. J. D.; Mayer, M.; McKinnon, B.; Meyer, C. A.; Mestayer, M. D.; Mirazita, M.; Mokeev, V.; Moody, C. I.; Moutarde, H.; Movsisyan, A.; Munevar, E.; Munoz Camacho, C.; Nadel-Turonski, P.; Niccolai, S.; Niculescu, G.; Osipenko, M.; Pappalardo, L. L.; Paremuzyan, R.; Pasyuk, E.; Peng, P.; Phelps, W.; Phillips, J. J.; Pisano, S.; Pogorelko, O.; Pozdniakov, S.; Price, J. W.; Procureur, S.; Protopopescu, D.; Rimal, D.; Ripani, M.; Rizzo, A.; Sabatié, F.; Salgado, C.; Schott, D.; Schumacher, R. A.; Simonyan, A.; Smith, G. D.; Sober, D. I.; Sokhan, D.; Stepanyan, S. S.; Stepanyan, S.; Strakovsky, I. I.; Strauch, S.; Sytnik, V.; Tang, W.; Ungaro, M.; Vlassov, A. V.; Voskanyan, H.; Voutier, E.; Walford, N. K.; Watts, D. P.; Wei, X.; Weinstein, L. B.; Zachariou, N.; Zana, L.; Zhang, J.; Zonta, I.

2014-09-01

We have measured the induced polarization of the Λ(1116) in the reaction ep→e'K+Λ, detecting the scattered e' and K+ in the final state along with the proton from the decay Λ→pπ-.The present study used the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS), which allowed for a large kinematic acceptance in invariant energy W (1.6≤W≤2.7 GeV) and covered the full range of the kaon production angle at an average momentum transfer Q2=1.90 GeV2.In this experiment a 5.50 GeV electron beam was incident upon an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. We have mapped out the W and kaon production angle dependencies of the induced polarization and found striking differences from photoproduction data over most of the kinematic range studied. However, we also found that the induced polarization is essentially Q2 independent in our kinematic domain, suggesting that somewhere below the Q2 covered here there must be a strong Q2 dependence. Along with previously published photo- and electroproduction cross sections and polarization observables, these data are needed for the development of models, such as effective field theories, and as input to coupled-channel analyses that can provide evidence of previously unobserved s-channel resonances.

The Affordable Care Act, Insurance Coverage, and Health Care Utilization of Previously Incarcerated Young Men: 2008-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Winkelman, Tyler N A; Choi, HwaJung; Davis, Matthew M

2017-05-01

To estimate health insurance and health care utilization patterns among previously incarcerated men following implementation of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) Medicaid expansion and Marketplace plans in 2014. We performed serial cross-sectional analyses using data from the National Survey of Family Growth between 2008 and 2015. Our sample included men aged 18 to 44 years with (n = 3476) and without (n = 8702) a history of incarceration. Uninsurance declined significantly among previously incarcerated men after ACA implementation (-5.9 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -11.5, -0.4), primarily because of an increase in private insurance (6.8 percentage points; 95% CI = 0.1, 13.3). Previously incarcerated men accounted for a large proportion of the remaining uninsured (38.6%) in 2014 to 2015. Following ACA implementation, previously incarcerated men continued to be significantly less likely to report a regular source of primary care and more likely to report emergency department use than were never-incarcerated peers. Health insurance coverage improved among previously incarcerated men following ACA implementation. However, these men account for a substantial proportion of the remaining uninsured. Previously incarcerated men continue to lack primary care and frequently utilize acute care services.

Direct and indirect effects of unilateral divorce law on marital stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kneip, Thorsten; Bauer, Gerrit; Reinhold, Steffen

2014-12-01

Previous research examining the impact of unilateral divorce law (UDL) on the prevalence of divorce has provided mixed results. Studies based on cross-sectional cross-country/cross-state survey data have received criticism for disregarding unobserved heterogeneity across countries, as have studies using country-level panel data for failing to account for possible mediating mechanisms at the micro level. We seek to overcome both shortcomings by using individual-level event-history data from 11 European countries (SHARELIFE) and controlling for unobserved heterogeneity over countries and cohorts. We find that UDL in total increased the incidence of marital breakdown by about 20 %. This finding, however, neglects potential selection effects into marriage. Accordingly, the estimated effect of unilateral divorce laws becomes much larger when we control for age at marriage, which is used as indicator for match quality. Moreover, we find that UDL particularly affects marital stability in the presence of children.

Laparoscopic repair of large suprapubic hernias.

Science.gov (United States)

Sikar, Hasan Ediz; Çetin, Kenan; Eyvaz, Kemal; Kaptanoglu, Levent; Küçük, Hasan Fehmi

2017-09-01

Suprapubic hernia is the term to describe ventral hernias located less than 4 cm above the pubic arch in the midline. Hernias with an upper margin above the arcuate line encounter technical difficulties, and the differences in repair methods forced us to define them as large suprapubic hernias. To present our experience with laparoscopic repair of large suprapubic hernias that allows adequate mesh overlap. Nineteen patients with suprapubic incisional hernias who underwent laparoscopic repair between May 2013 and January 2015 were included in the study. Patients with laparoscopic extraperitoneal repair who had a suprapubic hernia with an upper margin below the arcuate line were excluded. Two men and 17 women, with a mean age of 58.2, underwent laparoscopic repair. Most of the incisions were midline vertical (13/68.4%). Twelve (63.1%) of the patients had previous incisional hernia repair (PIHR group); the mean number of previous incisional hernia repair was 1.4. Mean defect size of the PIHR group was higher than in patients without previous repair - 107.3 cm 2 vs. 50.9 cm 2 (p < 0.05). Mean operating time of the PIHR group was higher than in patients without repair - 126 min vs. 77.9 min (p < 0.05). Although all complications occurred in the PIHR group, there was no statistically significant difference. Laparoscopic repair of large suprapubic hernias can be considered as the first option in treatment. The low recurrence rates reported in the literature and the lack of recurrence, as observed in our study, support this view.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (alma): Early Results

Science.gov (United States)

Wootten, Alwyn

2012-06-01

New radioastronomical instruments, such as ALMA or the Jansky VLA, have increased spectral throughput by orders of magnitude over previously available capabilities. ALMA brings orders of magnitude increases in spectral sensitivity and spatial resolution over what has previously been available. These increased capabilities open new possibilities for studies of complex molecules in the interstellar medium. Complex interstellar molecules may form on the surfaces of interstellar grains, after which they may be liberated into the gas phase by shocks, radiation, or other external influences. Emission from complex molecules may be diluted owing to the large number of transitions large molecules may undergo, particularly in warm regions of interstellar clouds. High sensitivity and spatial resolution are necessary to explore the distributions and relationships of these molecules. Of particular interest are the distributions of large organic molecules. Observations which establish the relationships between various large molecules are now emerging from these new instruments and will be discussed.

Production of baryons with large transverse momentum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landshoff, P.V.; Polkinghorne, J.C.; Scott, D.M.

1975-01-01

The multiple scattering of constituent quarks provides a natural mechanism for fairly copious production of large-transverse-momentum baryons in nucleon--nucleon collisions. The predicted scaling law agrees well with available data, and the mechanism provides a qualitative explanation of nuclear-target effects. In comparison with previous parton models, correlations are predicted to be qualitatively different, and large-p/sub T/ baryon production by meson beams is relatively suppressed

Risk aversion and religious behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jytte Seested; Bech, Mickael; Christensen, Kaare

2017-01-01

would expect that risk averse individuals would demand a more generous protection plan which they may do by devoting more effort and resources into religious activities such as church attendance and prayer, which seems to be in accordance with previous empirical results. However, a general concern...... and prayer frequency on the other controlling for unobservable variables using survey data of Danish same-sex twin pairs. We verify the correlation between risk preferences and religion found previously by carrying out cross-sectional analyses. We also show that the association between risk attitudes...

Systematic review of the risk of uterine rupture with the use of amnioinfusion after previous cesarean delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Paul

2005-04-01

Amnioinfusion is commonly used for the intrapartum treatment of women with pregnancy complicated by thick meconium or oligohydramnios with deep variable fetal heart rate decelerations. Its benefit in women with previous cesarean deliveries is less known. Theoretically, rapid increases in intrauterine volume would lead to a higher risk of uterine rupture. Searches of the Cochrane Library from inception to the third quarter of 2001 and MEDLINE, 1966 to November 2001, were performed by using keywords "cesarean" and "amnioinfusion." Search terms were expanded to maximize results. All languages were included. Review articles, editorials, and data previously published in other sites were not analyzed. Four studies were retrieved having unduplicated data describing amnioinfusion in women who were attempting a trial of labor after previous cesarean section. As the studies were of disparate types, meta-analysis was not possible. The use of amnioinfusion in women with previous cesarean delivery who are undergoing a trial of labor may be a safe procedure, but confirmatory large, controlled prospective studies are needed before definitive recommendations can be made.

HiggsToFourLeptonsEV in the ATLAS EventView Analysis Framework

CERN Document Server

Lagouri, T; Del Peso, J

2008-01-01

ATLAS is one of the four experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. This experiment has been designed to study a large range of physics topics, including searches for previously unobserved phenomena such as the Higgs Boson and super-symmetry. The physics analysis package HiggsToFourLeptonsEV for the Standard Model (SM) Higgs to four leptons channel with ATLAS is presented. The physics goal is to investigate with the ATLAS detector, the SM Higgs boson discovery potential through its observation in the four-lepton (electron and muon) final state. HiggsToFourLeptonsEV is based on the official ATLAS software ATHENA and the EventView (EV) analysis framework. EventView is a highly flexible and modular analysis framework in ATHENA and it is one of several analysis schemes for ATLAS physics user analysis. At the core of the EventView is the representative "view" of an event, which defines the contents of event data suitable for event-level physics analysis. The HiggsToFourLeptonsEV package, presented in ...

Do Reductions in Class Size Raise Students' Test Scores? Evidence from Population Variation in Minnesota's Elementary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Hyunkuk; Glewwe, Paul; Whitler, Melissa

2012-01-01

Many U.S. states and cities spend substantial funds to reduce class size, especially in elementary (primary) school. Estimating the impact of class size on learning is complicated, since children in small and large classes differ in many observed and unobserved ways. This paper uses a method of Hoxby (2000) to assess the impact of class size on…

Does the Truth Matter in Science?

Science.gov (United States)

Lipton, Peter

2005-01-01

Is science in the truth business, discovering ever more about an independent and largely unobservable world? Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, two of the most important figures in science studies in the 20th century, gave accounts of science that are in some tension with the truth view. Their central claims about science are considered here, along with…

Grandparenting and mothers' labour force participation: A comparative analysis using the Generations and Gender Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnstein Aassve

2012-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND It is well known that the provision of public childcare plays an important role for women labour force participation and its availability varies tremendously across countries. In many countries, informal childcare is also important and typically provided by the grandparents, but its role on mothers' employment is not yet well understood. Understanding the relationship between labour supply decisions and grandparental childcare is complex. While the provision of grandparental childcare is clearly a function of the social and institutional context of a country, it also depends on family preferences, which are typically unobserved in surveys. OBJECTIVE We analyze the role of informal childcare provided by grandparents on mothers' labour force participation keeping unobserved preferences into account. METHODS Bivariate probit models with instrumental variables are estimated on data from seven countries (Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Russia and The Netherlands drawn from the Generations and Gender Survey. RESULTS We find that only in some countries mothers' employment is positively and significantly associated with grandparents providing childcare. In other countries, once we control for unobserved preferences, we do not find this effect. CONCLUSIONS The role of grandparents is an important element to reconcile work and family for women in some countries. Our results show the importance of considering family preferences and country differences when studying the relationship between grandparental childcare and mothers' labour supply. COMMENTS Our results are consistent with previous research on this topic. However, differently from previous studies, we conduct separate analyses by country and show that the effect of grandparental childcare varies considerably. The fact that we also include in the analyses Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia and Georgia is an important novelty as there are no studies on this issue

Identification of temporal patterns in the seismicity of Sumatra using Poisson Hidden Markov models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katerina Orfanogiannaki

2014-05-01

Full Text Available On 26 December 2004 and 28 March 2005 two large earthquakes occurred between the Indo-Australian and the southeastern Eurasian plates with moment magnitudes Mw=9.1 and Mw=8.6, respectively. Complete data (mb≥4.2 of the post-1993 time interval have been used to apply Poisson Hidden Markov models (PHMMs for identifying temporal patterns in the time series of the two earthquake sequences. Each time series consists of earthquake counts, in given and constant time units, in the regions determined by the aftershock zones of the two mainshocks. In PHMMs each count is generated by one of m different Poisson processes that are called states. The series of states is unobserved and is in fact a Markov chain. The model incorporates a varying seismicity rate, it assigns a different rate to each state and it detects the changes on the rate over time. In PHMMs unobserved factors, related to the local properties of the region are considered affecting the earthquake occurrence rate. Estimation and interpretation of the unobserved sequence of states that underlie the data contribute to better understanding of the geophysical processes that take place in the region. We applied PHMMs to the time series of the two mainshocks and we estimated the unobserved sequences of states that underlie the data. The results obtained showed that the region of the 26 December 2004 earthquake was in state of low seismicity during almost the entire observation period. On the contrary, in the region of the 28 March 2005 earthquake the seismic activity is attributed to triggered seismicity, due to stress transfer from the region of the 2004 mainshock.

Impact of previously disadvantaged land-users on sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Impact of previously disadvantaged land-users on sustainable agricultural ... about previously disadvantaged land users involved in communal farming systems ... of input, capital, marketing, information and land use planning, with effect on ...

Twelve previously unknown phage genera are ubiquitous in global oceans.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmfeldt, Karin; Solonenko, Natalie; Shah, Manesh; Corrier, Kristen; Riemann, Lasse; Verberkmoes, Nathan C; Sullivan, Matthew B

2013-07-30

Viruses are fundamental to ecosystems ranging from oceans to humans, yet our ability to study them is bottlenecked by the lack of ecologically relevant isolates, resulting in "unknowns" dominating culture-independent surveys. Here we present genomes from 31 phages infecting multiple strains of the aquatic bacterium Cellulophaga baltica (Bacteroidetes) to provide data for an underrepresented and environmentally abundant bacterial lineage. Comparative genomics delineated 12 phage groups that (i) each represent a new genus, and (ii) represent one novel and four well-known viral families. This diversity contrasts the few well-studied marine phage systems, but parallels the diversity of phages infecting human-associated bacteria. Although all 12 Cellulophaga phages represent new genera, the podoviruses and icosahedral, nontailed ssDNA phages were exceptional, with genomes up to twice as large as those previously observed for each phage type. Structural novelty was also substantial, requiring experimental phage proteomics to identify 83% of the structural proteins. The presence of uncommon nucleotide metabolism genes in four genera likely underscores the importance of scavenging nutrient-rich molecules as previously seen for phages in marine environments. Metagenomic recruitment analyses suggest that these particular Cellulophaga phages are rare and may represent a first glimpse into the phage side of the rare biosphere. However, these analyses also revealed that these phage genera are widespread, occurring in 94% of 137 investigated metagenomes. Together, this diverse and novel collection of phages identifies a small but ubiquitous fraction of unknown marine viral diversity and provides numerous environmentally relevant phage-host systems for experimental hypothesis testing.

Evaluation of Transition Untestable Faults Using a Multi-Cycle Capture Test Generation Method

OpenAIRE

Yoshimura, Masayoshi; Ogawa, Hiroshi; Hosokawa, Toshinori; Yamazaki, Koji

2010-01-01

Overtesting induces unnecessary yield loss. Untestable faults have no effect on normal functions of circuits. However, in scan testing, untestable faults may be detected through scan chains. Detected untestable faults cause overtesting. Untestable faults consist of uncontrollable faults, unobservable faults, and uncontrollable and unobservable faults. Uncontrollable faults may be detected under invalid states through scan chains by shift-in operations. Unobservable faults cannot be observed ...

Determining root correspondence between previously and newly detected objects

Science.gov (United States)

Paglieroni, David W.; Beer, N Reginald

2014-06-17

A system that applies attribute and topology based change detection to networks of objects that were detected on previous scans of a structure, roadway, or area of interest. The attributes capture properties or characteristics of the previously detected objects, such as location, time of detection, size, elongation, orientation, etc. The topology of the network of previously detected objects is maintained in a constellation database that stores attributes of previously detected objects and implicitly captures the geometrical structure of the network. A change detection system detects change by comparing the attributes and topology of new objects detected on the latest scan to the constellation database of previously detected objects.

Incomplete Ionization of a 110 meV Unintentional Donor in Beta-Ga2O3 and its Effect on Power Devices (Postprint)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-16

Adam T. Neal Universal Technology Corporation Shin Mou AFRL/RX Roberto Lopez and Jian V. Li Texas State University Darren B...ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 1) Universal Technology Corp. 1270 N Fairfield Rd. Dayton, OH 45432 2) AFRL/RX...unintentional doping in Ga2O3. Previously unobserved unintentional donors in commercially available (2 ̅01) Ga2O3 substrates have been electrically

Globalization and formal sector migration in Brazil

OpenAIRE

Aguayo-Tellez, Ernesto; Muendler, Marc-Andreas; Poole, Jennifer Pamela

2008-01-01

We use novel linked employer–employee data to study the relationship between globalization and formal sector interstate migration for Brazil. We estimate the worker’s multichoice migration problem and document that previously unobserved employer covariates are significant predictors associated with migration flows. Our results provide support for the idea that globalization acts on internal migration through the growth of employment opportunities at locations with a high concentration of fore...

Large-scale weakly supervised object localization via latent category learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Chong Wang; Kaiqi Huang; Weiqiang Ren; Junge Zhang; Maybank, Steve

2015-04-01

Localizing objects in cluttered backgrounds is challenging under large-scale weakly supervised conditions. Due to the cluttered image condition, objects usually have large ambiguity with backgrounds. Besides, there is also a lack of effective algorithm for large-scale weakly supervised localization in cluttered backgrounds. However, backgrounds contain useful latent information, e.g., the sky in the aeroplane class. If this latent information can be learned, object-background ambiguity can be largely reduced and background can be suppressed effectively. In this paper, we propose the latent category learning (LCL) in large-scale cluttered conditions. LCL is an unsupervised learning method which requires only image-level class labels. First, we use the latent semantic analysis with semantic object representation to learn the latent categories, which represent objects, object parts or backgrounds. Second, to determine which category contains the target object, we propose a category selection strategy by evaluating each category's discrimination. Finally, we propose the online LCL for use in large-scale conditions. Evaluation on the challenging PASCAL Visual Object Class (VOC) 2007 and the large-scale imagenet large-scale visual recognition challenge 2013 detection data sets shows that the method can improve the annotation precision by 10% over previous methods. More importantly, we achieve the detection precision which outperforms previous results by a large margin and can be competitive to the supervised deformable part model 5.0 baseline on both data sets.

Inflation via Gravitino Condensation in Dynamically Broken Supergravity

CERN Document Server

Alexandre, Jean; Mavromatos, Nick E

2015-01-01

Gravitino-condensate-induced inflation via the super-Higgs effect is a UV-motivated scenario for both inflating the early universe and breaking local supersymmetry dynamically, entirely independent of any coupling to external matter. As an added benefit, this also removes the (as of yet unobserved) massless Goldstino associated to global supersymmetry breaking from the particle spectrum. In this review we detail the pertinent properties and outline previously hidden details of the various steps required in this context in order to make contact with current inflationary phenomenology. The class of models of SUGRA we use to exemplify our approach are minimal four-dimensional N=1 supergravity and conformal extensions thereof (with broken conformal symmetry). Therein, the gravitino condensate itself can play the role of the inflaton, however the requirement of slow-roll necessitates unnaturally large values of the wave-function renormalisation. Nevertheless, there is an alternative scenario that may provide Staro...

Micro-splashing by drop impacts

KAUST Repository

Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T; Takehara, Kohsei; Etoh, Takeharugoji

2012-01-01

We use ultra-high-speed video imaging to observe directly the earliest onset of prompt splashing when a drop impacts onto a smooth solid surface. We capture the start of the ejecta sheet travelling along the solid substrate and show how it breaks up immediately upon emergence from the underneath the drop. The resulting micro-droplets are much smaller and faster than previously reported and may have gone unobserved owing to their very small size and rapid ejection velocities, which approach 100 m s-1, for typical impact conditions of large rain drops. We propose a phenomenological mechanism which predicts the velocity and size distribution of the resulting microdroplets. We also observe azimuthal undulations which may help promote the earliest breakup of the ejecta. This instability occurs in the cusp in the free surface where the drop surface meets the radially ejected liquid sheet. © 2012 Cambridge University Press.

Micro-splashing by drop impacts

KAUST Repository

Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T.

2012-07-18

We use ultra-high-speed video imaging to observe directly the earliest onset of prompt splashing when a drop impacts onto a smooth solid surface. We capture the start of the ejecta sheet travelling along the solid substrate and show how it breaks up immediately upon emergence from the underneath the drop. The resulting micro-droplets are much smaller and faster than previously reported and may have gone unobserved owing to their very small size and rapid ejection velocities, which approach 100 m s-1, for typical impact conditions of large rain drops. We propose a phenomenological mechanism which predicts the velocity and size distribution of the resulting microdroplets. We also observe azimuthal undulations which may help promote the earliest breakup of the ejecta. This instability occurs in the cusp in the free surface where the drop surface meets the radially ejected liquid sheet. © 2012 Cambridge University Press.

Marriage duration and divorce: the seven-year itch or a lifelong itch?

Science.gov (United States)

Kulu, Hill

2014-06-01

Previous studies have shown that the risk of divorce is low during the first months of marriage; it then increases, reaches a maximum, and thereafter begins to decline. Some researchers consider this pattern consistent with the notion of a "seven-year itch," while others argue that the rising-falling pattern of divorce risk is a consequence of misspecification of longitudinal models because of omitted covariates or unobserved heterogeneity. The aim of this study is to investigate the causes of the rising-falling pattern of divorce risk. Using register data from Finland and applying multilevel hazard models, the analysis supports the rising-falling pattern of divorce by marriage duration: the risk of marital dissolution increases, reaches its peak, and then gradually declines. This pattern persists when I control for the sociodemographic characteristics of women and their partners. The inclusion of unobserved heterogeneity in the model leads to some changes in the shape of the baseline risk; however, the rising-falling pattern of the divorce risk persists.

Erlotinib-induced rash spares previously irradiated skin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lips, Irene M.; Vonk, Ernest J.A.; Koster, Mariska E.Y.; Houwing, Ronald H.

2011-01-01

Erlotinib is an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor prescribed to patients with locally advanced or metastasized non-small cell lung carcinoma after failure of at least one earlier chemotherapy treatment. Approximately 75% of the patients treated with erlotinib develop acneiform skin rashes. A patient treated with erlotinib 3 months after finishing concomitant treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer is presented. Unexpectedly, the part of the skin that had been included in his previously radiotherapy field was completely spared from the erlotinib-induced acneiform skin rash. The exact mechanism of erlotinib-induced rash sparing in previously irradiated skin is unclear. The underlying mechanism of this phenomenon needs to be explored further, because the number of patients being treated with a combination of both therapeutic modalities is increasing. The therapeutic effect of erlotinib in the area of the previously irradiated lesion should be assessed. (orig.)

Dealing with selection bias in educational transition models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Anders; Jæger, Mads Meier

2011-01-01

This paper proposes the bivariate probit selection model (BPSM) as an alternative to the traditional Mare model for analyzing educational transitions. The BPSM accounts for selection on unobserved variables by allowing for unobserved variables which affect the probability of making educational tr...... account for selection on unobserved variables and high-quality data are both required in order to estimate credible educational transition models.......This paper proposes the bivariate probit selection model (BPSM) as an alternative to the traditional Mare model for analyzing educational transitions. The BPSM accounts for selection on unobserved variables by allowing for unobserved variables which affect the probability of making educational...... transitions to be correlated across transitions. We use simulated and real data to illustrate how the BPSM improves on the traditional Mare model in terms of correcting for selection bias and providing credible estimates of the effect of family background on educational success. We conclude that models which...

Approach for growth of high-quality and large protein crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsumura, Hiroyoshi, E-mail: matsumura@chem.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); JST (Japan); SOSHO Inc., Osaka 541-0053 (Japan); Sugiyama, Shigeru; Hirose, Mika; Kakinouchi, Keisuke; Maruyama, Mihoko; Murai, Ryota [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); JST (Japan); Adachi, Hiroaki; Takano, Kazufumi [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); JST (Japan); SOSHO Inc., Osaka 541-0053 (Japan); Murakami, Satoshi [JST (Japan); SOSHO Inc., Osaka 541-0053 (Japan); Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8501 (Japan); Mori, Yusuke; Inoue, Tsuyoshi [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); JST (Japan); SOSHO Inc., Osaka 541-0053 (Japan)

2011-01-01

Three crystallization methods, including crystallization in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel, top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) and a large-scale hanging-drop method, have previously been presented. In this study, crystallization has been further evaluated in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel by crystallizing additional proteins. A novel crystallization method combining TSSG and the large-scale hanging-drop method has also been developed. Three crystallization methods for growing large high-quality protein crystals, i.e. crystallization in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel, top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) and a large-scale hanging-drop method, have previously been presented. In this study the effectiveness of crystallization in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel has been further evaluated by crystallizing additional proteins in the presence of 2.0% (w/v) agarose gel, resulting in complete gelification with high mechanical strength. In TSSG the seed crystals are hung by a seed holder protruding from the top of the growth vessel to prevent polycrystallization. In the large-scale hanging-drop method, a cut pipette tip was used to maintain large-scale droplets consisting of protein–precipitant solution. Here a novel crystallization method that combines TSSG and the large-scale hanging-drop method is reported. A large and single crystal of lysozyme was obtained by this method.

Pseudo-topotactic conversion of carbon nanotubes to T-carbon nanowires under picosecond laser irradiation in methanol.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jinying; Wang, Rui; Zhu, Xi; Pan, Aifei; Han, Chenxiao; Li, Xin; Dan Zhao; Ma, Chuansheng; Wang, Wenjun; Su, Haibin; Niu, Chunming

2017-09-25

Pseudo-topotactic conversion of carbon nanotubes into one-dimensional carbon nanowires is a challenging but feasible path to obtain desired diameters and morphologies. Here, a previously predicted but experimentally unobserved carbon allotrope, T-carbon, has been produced from pseudo-topotactic conversion of a multi-walled carbon nanotube suspension in methanol by picosecond pulsed-laser irradiation. The as-grown T-carbon nanowires have the same diameter distribution as pristine carbon nanotubes, and have been characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, fast Fourier transform, electron energy loss, ultraviolet-visible, and photoluminescence spectroscopies to possess a diamond-like lattice, where each carbon is replaced by a carbon tetrahedron, and a lattice constant of 7.80 Å. The change in entropy from carbon nanotubes to T-carbon reveals the phase transformation to be first order in nature. The computed electronic band structures and projected density of states are in good agreement with the optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra of the T-carbon nanowires.T-carbon is a previously predicted but so far unobserved allotrope of carbon, with a crystal structure similar to diamond, but with each atomic lattice position replaced by a carbon tetrahedron. Here, the authors produce T-carbon nanowires via laser-irradiating a suspension of carbon nanotubes in methanol.

Automatic electromagnetic valve for previous vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Granados, C. E.; Martin, F.

1959-01-01

A valve which permits the maintenance of an installation vacuum when electric current fails is described. It also lets the air in the previous vacuum bomb to prevent the oil ascending in the vacuum tubes. (Author)

Sex ratio at birth in India, its relation to birth order, sex of previous children and use of indigenous medicine.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samiksha Manchanda

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Sex-ratio at birth in families with previous girls is worse than those with a boy. Our aim was to prospectively study in a large maternal and child unit sex-ratio against previous birth sex and use of traditional medicines for sex selection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sex-ratio among mothers in families with a previous girl and in those with a previous boy, prevalence of indigenous medicine use and sex-ratio in those using medicines for sex selection. RESULTS: Overall there were 806 girls to 1000 boys. The sex-ratio was 720:1000 if there was one previous girl and 178:1000 if there were two previous girls. In second children of families with a previous boy 1017 girls were born per 1000 boys. Sex-ratio in those with one previous girl, who were taking traditional medicines for sex selection, was 928:1000. CONCLUSION: Evidence from the second children clearly shows the sex-ratio is being manipulated by human interventions. More mothers with previous girls tend to use traditional medicines for sex selection, in their subsequent pregnancies. Those taking such medication do not seem to be helped according to expectations. They seem to rely on this method and so are less likely use more definitive methods like sex selective abortions. This is the first such prospective investigation of sex ratio in second children looked at against the sex of previous children. More studies are needed to confirm the findings.

PHACES syndrome: a review of eight previously unreported cases with late arterial occlusions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharya, J.J.; Luo, C.B.; Alvarez, H.; Rodesch, G.; Lasjaunias, P.L.; Pongpech, S.

2004-01-01

PHACE and PHACES are acronyms for a syndrome of variable expression comprising posterior cranial fossa malformations, facial haemangiomas, arterial anomalies, aortic coarctation and other cardiac disorders, ocular abnormalities and stenotic arterial disease. We review five girls and three boys aged 1 month-14 years with disorders from this spectrum. Six had large facial haemangiomas but recent reports suggest that small haemangiomas may occur; hence our inclusion of two possible cases. We also focus on the recently recognised feature of progressive intracranial arterial occlusions, present in four of our patients, later than previously recognised, from 4 to 14 years of age. We suggest that many elements of this disorder could reflect an abnormality of cell proliferation and apoptosis. (orig.)

β decay of Na32

Science.gov (United States)

Mattoon, C. M.; Sarazin, F.; Hackman, G.; Cunningham, E. S.; Austin, R. A. E.; Ball, G. C.; Chakrawarthy, R. S.; Finlay, P.; Garrett, P. E.; Grinyer, G. F.; Hyland, B.; Koopmans, K. A.; Leslie, J. R.; Phillips, A. A.; Schumaker, M. A.; Scraggs, H. C.; Schwarzenberg, J.; Smith, M. B.; Svensson, C. E.; Waddington, J. C.; Walker, P. M.; Washbrook, B.; Zganjar, E.

2007-01-01

The β-decay of Na32 has been studied using β-γ coincidences. New transitions and levels are tentatively placed in the level scheme of Mg32 from an analysis of γ-γ and β-γ-γ coincidences. The observation of the indirect feeding of the 2321 keV state in Mg32 removes some restrictions previously placed on the spin assignment for this state. No evidence of a state at 2117 keV in Mg32 is found. Previously unobserved weak transitions up to 5.4 MeV were recorded but could not be placed in the decay scheme of Na32.

Two-Body Reactions at Large Transverse Momentum

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

Large-angle exclusive reactions are studied, in particular elastic scattering and @*p annihilations into @p|+@p|- and K|+K|-. In a previous geometry, the 90|0 c.m. region was covered. The present geometry covers the -t range from about 1 to 8 (GeV/c)|2. The aim is to tie these two regions together and attem understading of large-angle scattering up to our highest energies. \\\\ \\\\ The experiment uses a 1 m liquid H^2 target surrounded by scintillator and lead sandwiches for vetoing neutral and charged particles missing the acceptance. An aerogel Cerenkov counter in the recoil arm can be used to veto charged pions above 0.8 GeV/c. Otherwise the events are selected as previously with fast coincidence matrices using pulses from arrays of scintillator counters. Identification of particles is carried out with threshold Cerenkov counters and iron calorimeters. MWPC's are used to establish the trajectories of the particles.

Gaining Comparative Advantage Through Discretionary Expenditures: The Returns to R&D and Advertising

OpenAIRE

Gary Erickson; Robert Jacobson

1992-01-01

We explore the extent to which R&D and advertising expenditures generate a comparative advantage that allows firms to earn supranormal profits. After controlling for unobserved firm-specific factors and the feedback between discretionary expenditures and profitability, our results suggest substantially lower accounting and stock market returns to R&D and advertising than indicated in previous research. Isolating mechanisms, which prevent imitation, do not appear sufficient for either R&D or a...

New results on multiple excitations of giant resonances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mordechai, S.; Texas Univ., Austin, TX; Moore, C.F.

1993-01-01

Exotic excitations like the double giant dipole were predicted for many years but not observed experimentally until recently. Several experiments have been carried out at Los Alamos National laboratory to search for these new collective modes of the nucleus. The results discover two previously unobserved types of double giant resonances. This work presents the recent pion double charge exchange data and the analysis that support the existence of two such exotic vibrational nuclear modes

Differences between previously married and never married 'gay' men: family background, childhood experiences and current attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, Daryl J

2004-01-01

Despite a large body of literature on the development of sexual orientation, little is known about why some gay men have been (or remain) married to a woman. In the current study, a self-selected sample of 43 never married gay men ('never married') and 26 gay men who were married to a woman ('previously married') completed a self-report questionnaire. Hypotheses were based on five possible explanations for gay men's marriages: (a) differences in sexual orientation (i.e., bisexuality); (b) internalized homophobia; (c) religious intolerance; (d) confusion created because of childhood/adolescent sexual experiences; and/or (e) poor psychological adjustment. Previously married described their families' religious beliefs as more fundamentalist than never married. No differences were found between married' and never married' ratings of their sexual orientation and identity, and levels of homophobia and self-depreciation. Family adaptability and family cohesion and the degree to which respondents reported having experienced child maltreatment did not distinguish between previously married and never married. The results highlight how little is understood of the reasons why gay men marry, and the need to develop an adequate theoretical model.

Households’ willingness to pay for access to outdoor recreation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Cathrine Ulla

and the profile of the price premium. There is a large correlation between the income level within a neighborhood and the level of outdoor recreation. Controlling for unobserved quality through fixed effects reveals that the price premium increases with prices, but when controlling for the general price level...... using the trade price of neighboring homes (a lag), the price premium becomes constant. Controlling for local neighborhood affluence and unobserved quality on a larger scale yields the same results as the spatial lag term but with a more robust model due to the absence of endogeneity. The paper offers......This paper investigates how household demand for access to nature varies across a Danish housing market. I use conditional quantile regressions to estimate the implicit price for a change in nature area conditional on the home price. If there are systematic differences in the willingness to pay...

Steiner systems and large non-Hamiltonian hypergraphs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zsolt Tuza

2006-10-01

Full Text Available From Steiner systems S(k − 2, 2k − 3, v, we construct k-uniform hyper- graphs of large size without Hamiltonian cycles. This improves previous estimates due to G. Y. Katona and H. Kierstead [J. Graph Theory 30 (1999, pp.  205–212].

Ability, Schooling Choices and Gender Labor Market Discrimination: Evidence for Chile

OpenAIRE

David Bravo; Claudia Sanhueza; Sergio Urzúa

2008-01-01

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the gender differences in the Chilean labor market. We formally deal with the selection of the individuals into schooling levels and its consequences on the gender gaps. Our approach allows for the presence of not only heterogeneity in observable variables but also unobserved heterogeneity. We link this unobserved heterogeneity to unobserved scholastic ability. In the analysis, we utilize a new and rich data set for Chile. This data set contains...

Secondary recurrent miscarriage is associated with previous male birth.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ooi, Poh Veh

2012-01-31

Secondary recurrent miscarriage (RM) is defined as three or more consecutive pregnancy losses after delivery of a viable infant. Previous reports suggest that a firstborn male child is associated with less favourable subsequent reproductive potential, possibly due to maternal immunisation against male-specific minor histocompatibility antigens. In a retrospective cohort study of 85 cases of secondary RM we aimed to determine if secondary RM was associated with (i) gender of previous child, maternal age, or duration of miscarriage history, and (ii) increased risk of pregnancy complications. Fifty-three women (62.0%; 53\\/85) gave birth to a male child prior to RM compared to 32 (38.0%; 32\\/85) who gave birth to a female child (p=0.002). The majority (91.7%; 78\\/85) had uncomplicated, term deliveries and normal birth weight neonates, with one quarter of the women previously delivered by Caesarean section. All had routine RM investigations and 19.0% (16\\/85) had an abnormal result. Fifty-seven women conceived again and 33.3% (19\\/57) miscarried, but there was no significant difference in failure rates between those with a previous male or female child (13\\/32 vs. 6\\/25, p=0.2). When patients with abnormal results were excluded, or when women with only one previous child were considered, there was still no difference in these rates. A previous male birth may be associated with an increased risk of secondary RM but numbers preclude concluding whether this increases recurrence risk. The suggested association with previous male birth provides a basis for further investigations at a molecular level.

Secondary recurrent miscarriage is associated with previous male birth.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ooi, Poh Veh

2011-01-01

Secondary recurrent miscarriage (RM) is defined as three or more consecutive pregnancy losses after delivery of a viable infant. Previous reports suggest that a firstborn male child is associated with less favourable subsequent reproductive potential, possibly due to maternal immunisation against male-specific minor histocompatibility antigens. In a retrospective cohort study of 85 cases of secondary RM we aimed to determine if secondary RM was associated with (i) gender of previous child, maternal age, or duration of miscarriage history, and (ii) increased risk of pregnancy complications. Fifty-three women (62.0%; 53\\/85) gave birth to a male child prior to RM compared to 32 (38.0%; 32\\/85) who gave birth to a female child (p=0.002). The majority (91.7%; 78\\/85) had uncomplicated, term deliveries and normal birth weight neonates, with one quarter of the women previously delivered by Caesarean section. All had routine RM investigations and 19.0% (16\\/85) had an abnormal result. Fifty-seven women conceived again and 33.3% (19\\/57) miscarried, but there was no significant difference in failure rates between those with a previous male or female child (13\\/32 vs. 6\\/25, p=0.2). When patients with abnormal results were excluded, or when women with only one previous child were considered, there was still no difference in these rates. A previous male birth may be associated with an increased risk of secondary RM but numbers preclude concluding whether this increases recurrence risk. The suggested association with previous male birth provides a basis for further investigations at a molecular level.

Adult large bowel obstruction: A review of clinical experience

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Adult large bowel obstruction is an infrequent cause of acute obstruction in Africa ... of obstruction varies between regions of the world. .... were obtained for bacteriological culture. ... attachment, as observed in previous studies.

Intralesional Osteophyte Regrowth Following Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation after Previous Treatment with Marrow Stimulation Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Demange, Marco Kawamura; Minas, Tom; von Keudell, Arvind; Sodha, Sonal; Bryant, Tim; Gomoll, Andreas H

2017-04-01

Objective Bone marrow stimulation surgeries are frequent in the treatment of cartilage lesions. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) may be performed after failed microfracture surgery. Alterations to subchondral bone as intralesional osteophytes are commonly seen after previous microfracture and removed during ACI. There have been no reports on potential recurrence. Our purpose was to evaluate the incidence of intralesional osteophyte development in 2 cohorts: existing intralesional osteophytes and without intralesional osteophytes at the time of ACI. Study Design We identified 87 patients (157 lesions) with intralesional osteophytes among a cohort of 497 ACI patients. Osteophyte regrowth was analyzed on magnetic resonance imaging and categorized as small or large (less or more than 50% of the cartilage thickness). Twenty patients (24 defects) without intralesional osteophytes at the time of ACI acted as control. Results Osteophyte regrowth was observed in 39.5% of lesions (34.4% of small osteophytes and 5.1% of large osteophytes). In subgroup analyses, regrowth was observed in 45.8% of periosteal-covered defects and in 18.9% of collagen membrane-covered defects. Large osteophyte regrowth occurred in less than 5% in either group. Periosteal defects showed a significantly higher incidence for regrowth of small osteophytes. In the control group, intralesional osteophytes developed in 16.7% of the lesions. Conclusions Even though intralesional osteophytes may regrow after removal during ACI, most of them are small. Small osteophyte regrowth occurs almost twice in periosteum-covered ACI. Large osteophytes occur only in 5% of patients. Intralesional osteophyte formation is not significantly different in preexisting intralesional osteophytes and control groups.

A new system of labour management in African large-scale agriculture?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gibbon, Peter; Riisgaard, Lone

2014-01-01

This paper applies a convention theory (CT) approach to the analysis of labour management systems in African large-scale farming. The reconstruction of previous analyses of high-value crop production on large-scale farms in Africa in terms of CT suggests that, since 1980–95, labour management has...

Is Previous Respiratory Disease a Risk Factor for Lung Cancer?

Science.gov (United States)

Denholm, Rachel; Schüz, Joachim; Straif, Kurt; Stücker, Isabelle; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Brenner, Darren R.; De Matteis, Sara; Boffetta, Paolo; Guida, Florence; Brüske, Irene; Wichmann, Heinz-Erich; Landi, Maria Teresa; Caporaso, Neil; Siemiatycki, Jack; Ahrens, Wolfgang; Pohlabeln, Hermann; Zaridze, David; Field, John K.; McLaughlin, John; Demers, Paul; Szeszenia-Dabrowska, Neonila; Lissowska, Jolanta; Rudnai, Peter; Fabianova, Eleonora; Dumitru, Rodica Stanescu; Bencko, Vladimir; Foretova, Lenka; Janout, Vladimir; Kendzia, Benjamin; Peters, Susan; Behrens, Thomas; Vermeulen, Roel; Brüning, Thomas; Kromhout, Hans

2014-01-01

Rationale: Previous respiratory diseases have been associated with increased risk of lung cancer. Respiratory conditions often co-occur and few studies have investigated multiple conditions simultaneously. Objectives: Investigate lung cancer risk associated with chronic bronchitis, emphysema, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and asthma. Methods: The SYNERGY project pooled information on previous respiratory diseases from 12,739 case subjects and 14,945 control subjects from 7 case–control studies conducted in Europe and Canada. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between individual diseases adjusting for co-occurring conditions, and patterns of respiratory disease diagnoses and lung cancer. Analyses were stratified by sex, and adjusted for age, center, ever-employed in a high-risk occupation, education, smoking status, cigarette pack-years, and time since quitting smoking. Measurements and Main Results: Chronic bronchitis and emphysema were positively associated with lung cancer, after accounting for other respiratory diseases and smoking (e.g., in men: odds ratio [OR], 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20–1.48 and OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.21–1.87, respectively). A positive relationship was observed between lung cancer and pneumonia diagnosed 2 years or less before lung cancer (OR, 3.31; 95% CI, 2.33–4.70 for men), but not longer. Co-occurrence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema and/or pneumonia had a stronger positive association with lung cancer than chronic bronchitis “only.” Asthma had an inverse association with lung cancer, the association being stronger with an asthma diagnosis 5 years or more before lung cancer compared with shorter. Conclusions: Findings from this large international case–control consortium indicate that after accounting for co-occurring respiratory diseases, chronic bronchitis and emphysema continue to have a positive association with lung cancer. PMID:25054566

Reoperative sentinel lymph node biopsy after previous mastectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Karam, Amer; Stempel, Michelle; Cody, Hiram S; Port, Elisa R

2008-10-01

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is the standard of care for axillary staging in breast cancer, but many clinical scenarios questioning the validity of SLN biopsy remain. Here we describe our experience with reoperative-SLN (re-SLN) biopsy after previous mastectomy. Review of the SLN database from September 1996 to December 2007 yielded 20 procedures done in the setting of previous mastectomy. SLN biopsy was performed using radioisotope with or without blue dye injection superior to the mastectomy incision, in the skin flap in all patients. In 17 of 20 patients (85%), re-SLN biopsy was performed for local or regional recurrence after mastectomy. Re-SLN biopsy was successful in 13 of 20 patients (65%) after previous mastectomy. Of the 13 patients, 2 had positive re-SLN, and completion axillary dissection was performed, with 1 having additional positive nodes. In the 11 patients with negative re-SLN, 2 patients underwent completion axillary dissection demonstrating additional negative nodes. One patient with a negative re-SLN experienced chest wall recurrence combined with axillary recurrence 11 months after re-SLN biopsy. All others remained free of local or axillary recurrence. Re-SLN biopsy was unsuccessful in 7 of 20 patients (35%). In three of seven patients, axillary dissection was performed, yielding positive nodes in two of the three. The remaining four of seven patients all had previous modified radical mastectomy, so underwent no additional axillary surgery. In this small series, re-SLN was successful after previous mastectomy, and this procedure may play some role when axillary staging is warranted after mastectomy.

77 FR 70176 - Previous Participation Certification

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-23

... participants' previous participation in government programs and ensure that the past record is acceptable prior... information is designed to be 100 percent automated and digital submission of all data and certifications is... government programs and ensure that the past record is acceptable prior to granting approval to participate...

Only one previous owner .

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snieckus, Darius

1999-01-01

In the light of the large number of offshore platforms earmarked for decommissioning in the next 30 years, a case for re-use is advanced. Henk Vreeswijk of the Netherlands believes that governments should encourage re-use; it makes sense from both an economical and an environmental perspective. Indeed, in the Netherlands, platforms are now being produced with re-use in mind. Elf has recently taken the unprecedented step of advertising a used platform and a subsea installation on the internet. (UK)

Algorithm of Dynamic Model Structural Identification of the Multivariable Plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Л.М. Блохін

2004-02-01

Full Text Available  The new algorithm of dynamic model structural identification of the multivariable stabilized plant with observable and unobservable disturbances in the regular operating  modes is offered in this paper. With the help of the offered algorithm it is possible to define the “perturbed” models of dynamics not only of the plant, but also the dynamics characteristics of observable and unobservable casual disturbances taking into account the absence of correlation between themselves and control inputs with the unobservable perturbations.

Solid state magnetism

CERN Document Server

Crangle, John

1991-01-01

Solid state magnetism is important and attempts to understand magnetic properties have led to an increasingly deep insight into the fundamental make up of solids. Both experimental and theoretical research into magnetism continue to be very active, yet there is still much ground to cover before there can be a full understanding. There is a strong interplay between the developments of materials science and of magnetism. Hundreds of new materials have been dis­ covered, often with previously unobserved and puzzling magnetic prop­ erties. A large and growing technology exists that is based on the magnetic properties of materials. Very many devices used in everyday life involve magnetism and new applications are being invented all the time. Under­ standing the fundamental background to the applications is vital to using and developing them. The aim of this book is to provide a simple, up-to-date introduction to the study of solid state magnetism, both intrinsic and technical. It is designed to meet the needs a...

The Role of Technology Spillovers in the Process of Water Pollution Abatement for Large International Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luigi Aldieri

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to analyze the effects of technology externalities stemming from different technological sectors for international firms engaged both in water pollution abatement and in dirty activities. We present a theoretical framework and an empirical analysis based upon a dataset composed of worldwide R&D-intensive firms. In order to identify the technological proximity between the firms, we construct an original Mahalanobis environmental industry weight matrix, based on the construction of technological vectors for each firm, with European ecological patents distributed across more technology classes. Opportune econometric techniques that deal with the firms’ unobserved heterogeneity and the weak exogeneity of the explanatory variables are implemented. The findings show significant spillover effects on the productivity and environmental performance of the firms.

[Prevalence of previously diagnosed diabetes mellitus in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Rojas-Martínez, Rosalba; Basto-Abreu, Ana; Aguilar-Salinas, Carlos A; Zárate-Rojas, Emiliano; Villalpando, Salvador; Barrientos-Gutiérrez, Tonatiuh

2018-01-01

To compare the prevalence of previously diagnosed diabetes in 2016 with previous national surveys and to describe treatment and its complications. Mexico's national surveys Ensa 2000, Ensanut 2006, 2012 and 2016 were used. For 2016, logistic regression models and measures of central tendency and dispersion were obtained. The prevalence of previously diagnosed diabetes in 2016 was 9.4%. The increase of 2.2% relative to 2012 was not significant and only observed in patients older than 60 years. While preventive measures have increased, the access to medical treatment and lifestyle has not changed. The treatment has been modified, with an increase in insulin and decrease in hypoglycaemic agents. Population aging, lack of screening actions and the increase in diabetes complications will lead to an increase on the burden of disease. Policy measures targeting primary and secondary prevention of diabetes are crucial.

The positive impact of women's employment on divorce: Context, selection, or anticipation?

OpenAIRE

Daniele Vignoli; Anna Matysiak; Marta Styrc; Valentina Tocchioni

2018-01-01

Background: Empirical findings regarding the impact of women's employment on divorce are mixed. One explanation is that the effects are moderated by the country context. Another is that previous studies have failed to account for unobserved factors that introduce bias into the estimated effects. Studies also rarely consider possible anticipatory employment behavior on the part of women who are thinking of divorce. Objective: The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of the nexus...

Essays on microeconomics and statistical decision making

OpenAIRE

Nieto Barthaburu, Augusto

2006-01-01

Chapter I of this dissertation addresses the problem of optimally forecasting a binary variable based on a vector of covariates in the context of two different decision making environments. First we consider a single decision maker with given preferences, who has to choose between two actions on the basis of an unobserved binary outcome. Previous research has shown that traditional prediction methods, such as a logit regression estimated by maximum likelihood and combined with a cutoff, may p...

Stability of cosmological deflagration fronts

Science.gov (United States)

Mégevand, Ariel; Membiela, Federico Agustín

2014-05-01

In a cosmological first-order phase transition, bubbles of the stable phase nucleate and expand in the supercooled metastable phase. In many cases, the growth of bubbles reaches a stationary state, with bubble walls propagating as detonations or deflagrations. However, these hydrodynamical solutions may be unstable under corrugation of the interface. Such instability may drastically alter some of the cosmological consequences of the phase transition. Here, we study the hydrodynamical stability of deflagration fronts. We improve upon previous studies by making a more careful and detailed analysis. In particular, we take into account the fact that the equation of motion for the phase interface depends separately on the temperature and fluid velocity on each side of the wall. Fluid variables on each side of the wall are similar for weakly first-order phase transitions, but differ significantly for stronger phase transitions. As a consequence, we find that, for large enough supercooling, any subsonic wall velocity becomes unstable. Moreover, as the velocity approaches the speed of sound, perturbations become unstable on all wavelengths. For smaller supercooling and small wall velocities, our results agree with those of previous works. Essentially, perturbations on large wavelengths are unstable, unless the wall velocity is higher than a critical value. We also find a previously unobserved range of marginally unstable wavelengths. We analyze the dynamical relevance of the instabilities, and we estimate the characteristic time and length scales associated with their growth. We discuss the implications for the electroweak phase transition and its cosmological consequences.

Reciprocity, culture and human cooperation: previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Gächter, Simon; Herrmann, Benedikt

2009-03-27

Understanding the proximate and ultimate sources of human cooperation is a fundamental issue in all behavioural sciences. In this paper, we review the experimental evidence on how people solve cooperation problems. Existing studies show without doubt that direct and indirect reciprocity are important determinants of successful cooperation. We also discuss the insights from a large literature on the role of peer punishment in sustaining cooperation. The experiments demonstrate that many people are 'strong reciprocators' who are willing to cooperate and punish others even if there are no gains from future cooperation or any other reputational gains. We document this in new one-shot experiments, which we conducted in four cities in Russia and Switzerland. Our cross-cultural approach allows us furthermore to investigate how the cultural background influences strong reciprocity. Our results show that culture has a strong influence on positive and in especially strong negative reciprocity. In particular, we find large cross-cultural differences in 'antisocial punishment' of pro-social cooperators. Further cross-cultural research and experiments involving different socio-demographic groups document that the antisocial punishment is much more widespread than previously assumed. Understanding antisocial punishment is an important task for future research because antisocial punishment is a strong inhibitor of cooperation.

75 FR 76056 - FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT:

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-07

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Sunshine Act Meeting FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT: STATUS: Closed meeting. PLACE: 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC. DATE AND TIME OF PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED MEETING: Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 2 p.m. CHANGE IN THE MEETING: Time change. The closed...

Calorie Changes in Large Chain Restaurants

Science.gov (United States)

Bleich, Sara N.; Wolfson, Julia A.; Jarlenski, Marian P.

2015-01-01

Introduction Large chain restaurants reduced the number of calories in newly introduced menu items in 2013 by about 60 calories (or 12%) relative to 2012. This paper describes trends in calories available in large U.S. chain restaurants to understand whether previously documented patterns persist. Methods Data (a census of items for included restaurants) were obtained from the MenuStat project. This analysis included 66 of the 100 largest U.S. restaurants that are available in all three 3 of the data (2012–2014; N=23,066 items). Generalized linear models were used to examine: (1) per-item calorie changes from 2012 to 2014 among items on the menu in all years; and (2) mean calories in new items in 2013 and 2014 compared with items on the menu in 2012 only. Data were analyzed in 2014. Results Overall, calories in newly introduced menu items declined by 71 (or 15%) from 2012 to 2013 (p=0.001) and by 69 (or 14%) from 2012 to 2014 (p=0.03). These declines were concentrated mainly in new main course items (85 fewer calories in 2013 and 55 fewer calories in 2014; p=0.01). Although average calories in newly introduced menu items are declining, they are higher than items common to the menu in all 3 years. No differences in mean calories among items on menus in 2012, 2013, or 2014 were found. Conclusions The previously observed declines in newly introduced menu items among large restaurant chains have been maintained, which suggests the beginning of a trend toward reducing calories. PMID:26163168

Implant breast reconstruction after salvage mastectomy in previously irradiated patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Persichetti, Paolo; Cagli, Barbara; Simone, Pierfranco; Cogliandro, Annalisa; Fortunato, Lucio; Altomare, Vittorio; Trodella, Lucio

2009-04-01

The most common surgical approach in case of local tumor recurrence after quadrantectomy and radiotherapy is salvage mastectomy. Breast reconstruction is the subsequent phase of the treatment and the plastic surgeon has to operate on previously irradiated and manipulated tissues. The medical literature highlights that breast reconstruction with tissue expanders is not a pursuable option, considering previous radiotherapy a contraindication. The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the influence of previous radiotherapy on 2-stage breast reconstruction (tissue expander/implant). Only patients with analogous timing of radiation therapy and the same demolitive and reconstructive procedures were recruited. The results of this study prove that, after salvage mastectomy in previously irradiated patients, implant reconstruction is still possible. Further comparative studies are, of course, advisable to draw any conclusion on the possibility to perform implant reconstruction in previously irradiated patients.

Dipole response of 76Se above 4 MeV

Science.gov (United States)

Goddard, P. M.; Cooper, N.; Werner, V.; Rusev, G.; Stevenson, P. D.; Rios, A.; Bernards, C.; Chakraborty, A.; Crider, B. P.; Glorius, J.; Ilieva, R. S.; Kelley, J. H.; Kwan, E.; Peters, E. E.; Pietralla, N.; Raut, R.; Romig, C.; Savran, D.; Schnorrenberger, L.; Smith, M. K.; Sonnabend, K.; Tonchev, A. P.; Tornow, W.; Yates, S. W.

2013-12-01

The dipole response of 3476Se in the energy range from 4 to 9 MeV has been analyzed using a (γ⃗,γ') polarized photon scattering technique, performed at the High Intensity γ-Ray Source facility at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, to complement previous work performed using unpolarized photons. The results of this work offer both an enhanced sensitivity scan of the dipole response and an unambiguous determination of the parities of the observed J=1 states. The dipole response is found to be dominated by E1 excitations, and can reasonably be attributed to a pygmy dipole resonance. Evidence is presented to suggest that a significant amount of directly unobserved excitation strength is present in the region, due to unobserved branching transitions in the decays of resonantly excited states. The dipole response of the region is underestimated when considering only ground state decay branches. We investigate the electric dipole response theoretically, performing calculations in a three-dimensional (3D) Cartesian-basis time-dependent Skyrme-Hartree-Fock framework.

Foreshock occurrence before large earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Reasenberg, P.A.

1999-01-01

Rates of foreshock occurrence involving shallow M ??? 6 and M ??? 7 mainshocks and M ??? 5 foreshocks were measured in two worldwide catalogs over ???20-year intervals. The overall rates observed are similar to ones measured in previous worldwide and regional studies when they are normalized for the ranges of magnitude difference they each span. The observed worldwide rates were compared to a generic model of earthquake clustering based on patterns of small and moderate aftershocks in California. The aftershock model was extended to the case of moderate foreshocks preceding large mainshocks. Overall, the observed worldwide foreshock rates exceed the extended California generic model by a factor of ???2. Significant differences in foreshock rate were found among subsets of earthquakes defined by their focal mechanism and tectonic region, with the rate before thrust events higher and the rate before strike-slip events lower than the worldwide average. Among the thrust events, a large majority, composed of events located in shallow subduction zones, had a high foreshock rate, while a minority, located in continental thrust belts, had a low rate. These differences may explain why previous surveys have found low foreshock rates among thrust events in California (especially southern California), while the worldwide observations suggests the opposite: California, lacking an active subduction zone in most of its territory, and including a region of mountain-building thrusts in the south, reflects the low rate apparently typical for continental thrusts, while the worldwide observations, dominated by shallow subduction zone events, are foreshock-rich. If this is so, then the California generic model may significantly underestimate the conditional probability for a very large (M ??? 8) earthquake following a potential (M ??? 7) foreshock in Cascadia. The magnitude differences among the identified foreshock-mainshock pairs in the Harvard catalog are consistent with a uniform

28 CFR 10.5 - Incorporation of papers previously filed.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Incorporation of papers previously filed... CARRYING ON ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES Registration Statement § 10.5 Incorporation of papers previously filed. Papers and documents already filed with the Attorney General pursuant to the said act and...

Large-scale assessment of olfactory preferences and learning in Drosophila melanogaster: behavioral and genetic components

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisabetta Versace

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the Evolve and Resequence method (E&R, experimental evolution and genomics are combined to investigate evolutionary dynamics and the genotype-phenotype link. As other genomic approaches, this methods requires many replicates with large population sizes, which imposes severe restrictions on the analysis of behavioral phenotypes. Aiming to use E&R for investigating the evolution of behavior in Drosophila, we have developed a simple and effective method to assess spontaneous olfactory preferences and learning in large samples of fruit flies using a T-maze. We tested this procedure on (a a large wild-caught population and (b 11 isofemale lines of Drosophila melanogaster. Compared to previous methods, this procedure reduces the environmental noise and allows for the analysis of large population samples. Consistent with previous results, we show that flies have a preference for orange vs. apple odor. With our procedure wild-derived flies exhibit olfactory learning in the absence of previous laboratory selection. Furthermore, we find genetic differences in the olfactory learning with relatively high heritability. We propose this large-scale method as an effective tool for E&R and genome-wide association studies on olfactory preferences and learning.

The effect of Employee Assistance Programs use on healthcare utilization.

OpenAIRE

Zarkin, G A; Bray, J W; Qi, J

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) use on healthcare utilization as measured by health claims. DATA SOURCES: A unique data set that combines individual-level information on EAP utilization, demographic information, and health insurance claims from 1991 to 1995 for all employees of a large midwestern employer. STUDY DESIGN: Using "fixed-effect" econometric models that control for unobserved differences between individuals' propensities to use healthcare reso...

No discrimination against previous mates in a sexually cannibalistic spider

Science.gov (United States)

Fromhage, Lutz; Schneider, Jutta M.

2005-09-01

In several animal species, females discriminate against previous mates in subsequent mating decisions, increasing the potential for multiple paternity. In spiders, female choice may take the form of selective sexual cannibalism, which has been shown to bias paternity in favor of particular males. If cannibalistic attacks function to restrict a male's paternity, females may have little interest to remate with males having survived such an attack. We therefore studied the possibility of female discrimination against previous mates in sexually cannibalistic Argiope bruennichi, where females almost always attack their mate at the onset of copulation. We compared mating latency and copulation duration of males having experienced a previous copulation either with the same or with a different female, but found no evidence for discrimination against previous mates. However, males copulated significantly shorter when inserting into a used, compared to a previously unused, genital pore of the female.

Modified conjugate gradient method for diagonalizing large matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Jie, Quanlin; Liu, Dunhuan

2003-11-01

We present an iterative method to diagonalize large matrices. The basic idea is the same as the conjugate gradient (CG) method, i.e, minimizing the Rayleigh quotient via its gradient and avoiding reintroducing errors to the directions of previous gradients. Each iteration step is to find lowest eigenvector of the matrix in a subspace spanned by the current trial vector and the corresponding gradient of the Rayleigh quotient, as well as some previous trial vectors. The gradient, together with the previous trial vectors, play a similar role as the conjugate gradient of the original CG algorithm. Our numeric tests indicate that this method converges significantly faster than the original CG method. And the computational cost of one iteration step is about the same as the original CG method. It is suitable for first principle calculations.

Effects of previous ionization and excitation on the ionization wave propagation along the dielectric tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia, Yang; Liu, Dongping; Bi, Zhenhua; Wang, Xueyang; Niu, Jinhai; Ji, Longfei; Song, Ying; Qi, Zhihua; Wang, Wenchun

2016-01-01

In this paper, by using a high precision synchronization system, the ignition time, velocity, and propagation properties of the ionization waves (IWs) have been investigated in detail from the 1st high voltage (HV) pulse to the sequential ones over a large range of the pulse-off time. In order to clarify the effects of previous ionization and excitation on the IW propagation, the density of the residual charges are controlled by varying the pulse-off time from 199 μs to 15 μs. The results show that the formation and propagation of IWs can be strongly affected by previous discharge. For a longer pulse-off time (100 μs–190 μs), the propagation velocity of plasma bullets are decreased from the 1st to the 10th HV pulse, then increased after the 10th pulse, and finally become stable after about 500 pulses. When the pulse-off time is reduced to 15 μs, the propagation velocity of plasma bullets will rapidly increase and become stable after the 1st HV pulse. The ignition voltage is significantly reduced after the 1st HV pulse with the decrease in pulse-off time. Consequently, the generation and propagation of IWs in the tube are strongly affected by the accumulation of long-lived metastable helium (He) species and residual charges from previous discharges, which is important for understanding the plasma bullet behavior. (paper)

Highly Scalable Trip Grouping for Large Scale Collective Transportation Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gidofalvi, Gyozo; Pedersen, Torben Bach; Risch, Tore

2008-01-01

Transportation-related problems, like road congestion, parking, and pollution, are increasing in most cities. In order to reduce traffic, recent work has proposed methods for vehicle sharing, for example for sharing cabs by grouping "closeby" cab requests and thus minimizing transportation cost...... and utilizing cab space. However, the methods published so far do not scale to large data volumes, which is necessary to facilitate large-scale collective transportation systems, e.g., ride-sharing systems for large cities. This paper presents highly scalable trip grouping algorithms, which generalize previous...

Return to Experience and Initial Wage Level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Kenneth Lykke; Vejlin, Rune Majlund

This paper estimates the relationship between initial wage and return to experience. We use a Mincer-like wage model to nonparametrically estimate this relationship allowing for an unobservable individual permanent effect in wages and unobservable individual return to experience. The relationship...

The Determinants of VAT Introduction : A Spatial Duration Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cizek, P.; Lei, J.; Ligthart, J.E.

2012-01-01

Abstract: The spatial survival models typically impose frailties, which characterize unobserved heterogeneity, to be spatially correlated. This specification relies highly on a pre-determinate covariance structure of the errors. However, the spatial effect may not only exist in the unobserved

Modeling Unobserved Consideration Sets for Household Panel Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.E.M. van Nierop; R. Paap (Richard); B. Bronnenberg; Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans)

2000-01-01

textabstractWe propose a new method to model consumers' consideration and choice processes. We develop a parsimonious probit type model for consideration and a multinomial probit model for choice, given consideration. Unlike earlier models of consideration ours is not prone to the curse of

Retrieving unobserved consideration sets from household panel data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.E.M. van Nierop; R. Paap (Richard); B. Bronnenberg; Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans); M. Wedel (Michel)

2005-01-01

textabstractWe propose a new model to describe consideration, consisting of a multivariate probit model component for consideration and a multinomial probit model component for choice, given consideration. The approach allows one to analyze stated consideration set data, revealed consideration set

A previous hamstring injury affects kicking mechanics in soccer players.

Science.gov (United States)

Navandar, Archit; Veiga, Santiago; Torres, Gonzalo; Chorro, David; Navarro, Enrique

2018-01-10

Although the kicking skill is influenced by limb dominance and sex, how a previous hamstring injury affects kicking has not been studied in detail. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sex and limb dominance on kicking in limbs with and without a previous hamstring injury. 45 professional players (males: n=19, previously injured players=4, age=21.16 ± 2.00 years; females: n=19, previously injured players=10, age=22.15 ± 4.50 years) performed 5 kicks each with their preferred and non-preferred limb at a target 7m away, which were recorded with a three-dimensional motion capture system. Kinematic and kinetic variables were extracted for the backswing, leg cocking, leg acceleration and follow through phases. A shorter backswing (20.20 ± 3.49% vs 25.64 ± 4.57%), and differences in knee flexion angle (58 ± 10o vs 72 ± 14o) and hip flexion velocity (8 ± 0rad/s vs 10 ± 2rad/s) were observed in previously injured, non-preferred limb kicks for females. A lower peak hip linear velocity (3.50 ± 0.84m/s vs 4.10 ± 0.45m/s) was observed in previously injured, preferred limb kicks of females. These differences occurred in the backswing and leg-cocking phases where the hamstring muscles were the most active. A variation in the functioning of the hamstring muscles and that of the gluteus maximus and iliopsoas in the case of a previous injury could account for the differences observed in the kicking pattern. Therefore, the effects of a previous hamstring injury must be considered while designing rehabilitation programs to re-educate kicking movement.

Subsequent childbirth after a previous traumatic birth.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Cheryl Tatano; Watson, Sue

2010-01-01

Nine percent of new mothers in the United States who participated in the Listening to Mothers II Postpartum Survey screened positive for meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder after childbirth. Women who have had a traumatic birth experience report fewer subsequent children and a longer length of time before their second baby. Childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder impacts couples' physical relationship, communication, conflict, emotions, and bonding with their children. The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of women's experiences of a subsequent childbirth after a previous traumatic birth. Phenomenology was the research design used. An international sample of 35 women participated in this Internet study. Women were asked, "Please describe in as much detail as you can remember your subsequent pregnancy, labor, and delivery following your previous traumatic birth." Colaizzi's phenomenological data analysis approach was used to analyze the stories of the 35 women. Data analysis yielded four themes: (a) riding the turbulent wave of panic during pregnancy; (b) strategizing: attempts to reclaim their body and complete the journey to motherhood; (c) bringing reverence to the birthing process and empowering women; and (d) still elusive: the longed-for healing birth experience. Subsequent childbirth after a previous birth trauma has the potential to either heal or retraumatize women. During pregnancy, women need permission and encouragement to grieve their prior traumatic births to help remove the burden of their invisible pain.

Studies of Nuclei Close to 132Sn Using Single-Neutron Transfer Reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, K.L.; Pain, S.D.; Kozub, R.L.; Adekola, Aderemi S.; Bardayan, Daniel W.; Blackmon, Jeff C.; Catford, Wilton N.; Chae, K.Y.; Chipps, K.; Cizewski, J.A.; Erikson, Luke; Gaddis, A.L.; Greife, U.; Grzywacz, R.K.; Harlin, Christopher W.; Hatarik, Robert; Howard, Joshua A.; James, J.; Kapler, R.; Krolas, W.; Liang, J. Felix; Ma, Zhanwen; Matei, Catalin; Moazen, Brian; Nesaraja, Caroline D.; O'Malley, Patrick; Patterson, N.P.; Paulauskas, Stanley; Shapira, Dan; Shriner, J.F. Jr.; Sikora, M.; Sissom, D.J.; Smith, Michael Scott; Swan, T.P.; Thomas, J.S.; Wilson, Gemma L.

2009-01-01

Neutron transfer reactions were performed in inverse kinematics using radioactive ion beams of 132Sn, 130Sn, and 134Te and deuterated polyethylene targets. Preliminary results are presented. The Q-value spectra for 133Sn, 131Sn and 135Te reveal a number of previously unobserved peaks. The angular distributions are compatible with the expected lf7/2 nature of the ground state of 133Sn, and 2p3/2 for the 3.4 MeV state in 131Sn.

Analysis of 60 706 Exomes Questions the Role of De Novo Variants Previously Implicated in Cardiac Disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paludan-Müller, Christian; Ahlberg, Gustav; Ghouse, Jonas

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: De novo variants in the exome occur at a rate of 1 per individual per generation, and because of the low reproductive fitness for de novo variants causing severe disease, the likelihood of finding these as standing variations in the general population is low. Therefore, this study...... sought to evaluate the pathogenicity of de novo variants previously associated with cardiac disease based on a large population-representative exome database. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a literature search for previous publications on de novo variants associated with severe arrhythmias...... trio studies (>1000 subjects). Of the monogenic variants, 11% (23/211) were present in ExAC, whereas 26% (802/3050) variants believed to increase susceptibility of disease were identified in ExAC. Monogenic de novo variants in ExAC had a total allele count of 109 and with ≈844 expected cases in Ex...

Large transverse momenta in inclusive hadronic reactions and asymptotic scale invariance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miralles, F.; Sala, C.

1976-01-01

The inclusive reaction among scalar particles in considered, assuming that in the large-transverse momentum limit, scale invariance becomes important. Predictions are made of the asymptotic scale invariance for large four transverse momentum in hadron-hadron interactions, and they are compared with previous predictions. Photoproduction is also studied and the predictions that follow from different assumptions about the compositeness of hadrons are compared

Penalized Estimation in Large-Scale Generalized Linear Array Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Adam; Vincent, Martin; Hansen, Niels Richard

2017-01-01

Large-scale generalized linear array models (GLAMs) can be challenging to fit. Computation and storage of its tensor product design matrix can be impossible due to time and memory constraints, and previously considered design matrix free algorithms do not scale well with the dimension...

Return to experience and initial wage level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, K.L.; Vejlin, R.

2014-01-01

This paper estimates the relationship between initial wage and return to experience. We use a Mincer-like wage model to non-parametrically estimate this relationship allowing for an unobservable individual permanent effect in wages and unobservable individual return to experience. The relationshi...

Previously Unrecognized Ornithuromorph Bird Diversity in the Early Cretaceous Changma Basin, Gansu Province, Northwestern China

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ya-Ming; O'Connor, Jingmai K.; Li, Da-Qing; You, Hai-Lu

2013-01-01

Here we report on three new species of ornithuromorph birds from the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation in the Changma Basin of Gansu Province, northwestern China: Yumenornis huangi gen. et sp. nov., Changmaornis houi gen. et sp. nov., and Jiuquanornis niui gen. et sp. nov.. The last of these is based on a previously published but unnamed specimen: GSGM-05-CM-021. Although incomplete, the specimens can be clearly distinguished from each other and from Gansus yumenensis Hou and Liu, 1984. Phylogenetic analysis resolves the three new taxa as basal ornithuromorphs. This study reveals previously unrecognized ornithuromorph diversity in the Changma avifauna, which is largely dominated by Gansus but with at least three other ornithuromorphs. Body mass estimates demonstrate that enantiornithines were much smaller than ornithuromorphs in the Changma avifauna. In addition, Changma enantiornithines preserve long and recurved pedal unguals, suggesting an arboreal lifestyle; in contrast, Changma ornithuromorphs tend to show terrestrial or even aquatic adaptions. Similar differences in body mass and ecology are also observed in the Jehol avifauna in northeastern China, suggesting niche partitioning between these two clades developed early in their evolutionary history. PMID:24147058

Data reconciliation and optimal operation of a Catalytic naphtha reformer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tore Lid

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The naphtha reforming process converts low-octane gasoline blending components to high-octane components for use in high-performance gasoline fuels. The reformer also has an important function as the producer of hydrogen to the refinery hydrotreaters. A process model based on a unit model structure, is used for estimation of the process condition using data reconciliation. Measurements are classified as redundant or non redundant and the model variables are classified as observable, barely observable or unobservable. The computed uncertainty of the measured and unmeasured variables shows that even if a variable is observable it may have a very large uncertainty and may thereby be practically unobservable. The process condition at 21 data points, sampled from two years of operation, was reconciled and used to optimize the process operation. There are large seasonal variations in the reformer product price and two operational cases are studied. In case 1, the product price is high and throughput is maximized with respect to process and product quality constraints. In case 2, the product price is low and the throughput is minimized with respect to a low constraint on the hydrogen production. Based on the characteristics of the optimal operation, a "self optimizing" control structure is suggested for each of the two operational cases.

Radon anomalies prior to earthquakes (1). Review of previous studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, Tetsuo; Tokonami, Shinji; Yasuoka, Yumi; Shinogi, Masaki; Nagahama, Hiroyuki; Omori, Yasutaka; Kawada, Yusuke

2008-01-01

The relationship between radon anomalies and earthquakes has been studied for more than 30 years. However, most of the studies dealt with radon in soil gas or in groundwater. Before the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake, an anomalous increase of atmospheric radon was observed at Kobe Pharmaceutical University. The increase was well fitted with a mathematical model related to earthquake fault dynamics. This paper reports the significance of this observation, reviewing previous studies on radon anomaly before earthquakes. Groundwater/soil radon measurements for earthquake prediction began in 1970's in Japan as well as foreign countries. One of the most famous studies in Japan is groundwater radon anomaly before the 1978 Izu-Oshima-kinkai earthquake. We have recognized the significance of radon in earthquake prediction research, but recently its limitation was also pointed out. Some researchers are looking for a better indicator for precursors; simultaneous measurements of radon and other gases are new trials in recent studies. Contrary to soil/groundwater radon, we have not paid much attention to atmospheric radon before earthquakes. However, it might be possible to detect precursors in atmospheric radon before a large earthquake. In the next issues, we will discuss the details of the anomalous atmospheric radon data observed before the Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake. (author)

Previously unknown species of Aspergillus.

Science.gov (United States)

Gautier, M; Normand, A-C; Ranque, S

2016-08-01

The use of multi-locus DNA sequence analysis has led to the description of previously unknown 'cryptic' Aspergillus species, whereas classical morphology-based identification of Aspergillus remains limited to the section or species-complex level. The current literature highlights two main features concerning these 'cryptic' Aspergillus species. First, the prevalence of such species in clinical samples is relatively high compared with emergent filamentous fungal taxa such as Mucorales, Scedosporium or Fusarium. Second, it is clearly important to identify these species in the clinical laboratory because of the high frequency of antifungal drug-resistant isolates of such Aspergillus species. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has recently been shown to enable the identification of filamentous fungi with an accuracy similar to that of DNA sequence-based methods. As MALDI-TOF MS is well suited to the routine clinical laboratory workflow, it facilitates the identification of these 'cryptic' Aspergillus species at the routine mycology bench. The rapid establishment of enhanced filamentous fungi identification facilities will lead to a better understanding of the epidemiology and clinical importance of these emerging Aspergillus species. Based on routine MALDI-TOF MS-based identification results, we provide original insights into the key interpretation issues of a positive Aspergillus culture from a clinical sample. Which ubiquitous species that are frequently isolated from air samples are rarely involved in human invasive disease? Can both the species and the type of biological sample indicate Aspergillus carriage, colonization or infection in a patient? Highly accurate routine filamentous fungi identification is central to enhance the understanding of these previously unknown Aspergillus species, with a vital impact on further improved patient care. Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and

Do neighbours influence value-added-tax introduction? A spatial duration analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cizek, Pavel; Lei, J.; Ligthart, J.E.

The spatial survival models typically impose frailties, which characterize unobserved heterogeneity, to be spatially correlated. However, the spatial effect may not only exist in the unobserved errors, but it can also be present in the baseline hazards and the dependent variables. A new spatial

A PANEL-DATA SWITCHING REGRESSION-MODEL OF MOBILITY AND CAR OWNERSHIP

NARCIS (Netherlands)

MEURS, H

1993-01-01

The objective of this paper is to present a panel data model of car ownership and mobility. Unobserved heterogeneity is controlled for by including correlated random effects in the equations describing car ownership and mobility. A mass-points approach is adopted to control for unobserved

22 CFR 40.93 - Aliens unlawfully present after previous immigration violation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Aliens unlawfully present after previous... TO BOTH NONIMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED Aliens Previously Removed § 40.93 Aliens unlawfully present after previous immigration violation. An alien described...

A blind algorithm for recovering articulator positions from acoustics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hogden, John E [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

MIMICRI is a signal-processing algorithm that has been shown to blindly infer and invert memoryless nonlinear functions of unobservable bandlimited signals, such as the mapping from the unobservable positions of the speech articulators to observable speech sounds. We review results of using MIMICRI on toy problems and on human speech data. We note that MIMICRI requires that the user specify two parameters: the dimensionality and pass-band of the unobservable signals. We show how to use cross-validation to help estimate the passband. An unexpected consequence of this work is that it helps separate signals with overlapping frequency bands.

Impact of previous virological treatment failures and adherence on the outcome of antiretroviral therapy in 2007.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Ballif

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Combination antiretroviral treatment (cART has been very successful, especially among selected patients in clinical trials. The aim of this study was to describe outcomes of cART on the population level in a large national cohort. METHODS: Characteristics of participants of the Swiss HIV Cohort Study on stable cART at two semiannual visits in 2007 were analyzed with respect to era of treatment initiation, number of previous virologically failed regimens and self reported adherence. Starting ART in the mono/dual era before HIV-1 RNA assays became available was counted as one failed regimen. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for virological failure between the two consecutive visits. RESULTS: Of 4541 patients 31.2% and 68.8% had initiated therapy in the mono/dual and cART era, respectively, and been on treatment for a median of 11.7 vs. 5.7 years. At visit 1 in 2007, the mean number of previous failed regimens was 3.2 vs. 0.5 and the viral load was undetectable (4 previous failures compared to 1 were 0.9 (95% CI 0.4-1.7, 0.8 (0.4-1.6, 1.6 (0.8-3.2, 3.3 (1.7-6.6 respectively, and 2.3 (1.1-4.8 for >2 missed cART doses during the last month, compared to perfect adherence. From the cART era, odds ratios with a history of 1, 2 and >2 previous failures compared to none were 1.8 (95% CI 1.3-2.5, 2.8 (1.7-4.5 and 7.8 (4.5-13.5, respectively, and 2.8 (1.6-4.8 for >2 missed cART doses during the last month, compared to perfect adherence. CONCLUSIONS: A higher number of previous virologically failed regimens, and imperfect adherence to therapy were independent predictors of imminent virological failure.

A Panel Analysis Of UK Industrial Company Failure

OpenAIRE

Natalia Isachenkova; John Hunter

2002-01-01

We examine the failure determinants for large quoted UK industrials using a panel data set comprising 539 firms observed over the period 1988-93. The empirical design employs data from company accounts and is based on Chamberlain’s conditional binomial logit model, which allows for unobservable, firm-specific, time-invariant factors associated with failure risk. We find a noticeable degree of heterogeneity across the sample companies. Our panel results show that, after controll...

18 CFR 154.302 - Previously submitted material.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Previously submitted material. 154.302 Section 154.302 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY... concurrently with the rate change filing. There must be furnished to the Director, Office of Energy Market...

Subsequent pregnancy outcome after previous foetal death

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijkamp, J. W.; Korteweg, F. J.; Holm, J. P.; Timmer, A.; Erwich, J. J. H. M.; van Pampus, M. G.

Objective: A history of foetal death is a risk factor for complications and foetal death in subsequent pregnancies as most previous risk factors remain present and an underlying cause of death may recur. The purpose of this study was to evaluate subsequent pregnancy outcome after foetal death and to

Measuring True Sales and Underreporting with Matched Firm-Level Survey and Tax-Office Data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhou, F.; Oostendorp, R.H.

2014-01-01

This paper uses firm-level survey data matched with official tax records to estimate the unobserved true sales of formal firms in Mongolia. Taking into account firm-level incentives to comply with taxes and a production function technology linking unobserved true sales with observable firm-level

Does health affect portfolio choice?

Science.gov (United States)

Love, David A; Smith, Paul A

2010-12-01

A number of recent studies find that poor health is empirically associated with a safer portfolio allocation. It is difficult to say, however, whether this relationship is truly causal. Both health status and portfolio choice are influenced by unobserved characteristics such as risk attitudes, impatience, information, and motivation, and these unobserved factors, if not adequately controlled for, can induce significant bias in the estimates of asset demand equations. Using the 1992-2006 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we investigate how much of the connection between health and portfolio choice is causal and how much is due to the effects of unobserved heterogeneity. Accounting for unobserved heterogeneity with fixed effects and correlated random effects models, we find that health does not appear to significantly affect portfolio choice among single households. For married households, we find a small effect (about 2-3 percentage points) from being in the lowest of five self-reported health categories. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Quasi-experimental study designs series-paper 6: risk of bias assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Waddington, Hugh; Aloe, Ariel M; Becker, Betsy Jane; Djimeu, Eric W; Hombrados, Jorge Garcia; Tugwell, Peter; Wells, George; Reeves, Barney

2017-09-01

Rigorous and transparent bias assessment is a core component of high-quality systematic reviews. We assess modifications to existing risk of bias approaches to incorporate rigorous quasi-experimental approaches with selection on unobservables. These are nonrandomized studies using design-based approaches to control for unobservable sources of confounding such as difference studies, instrumental variables, interrupted time series, natural experiments, and regression-discontinuity designs. We review existing risk of bias tools. Drawing on these tools, we present domains of bias and suggest directions for evaluation questions. The review suggests that existing risk of bias tools provide, to different degrees, incomplete transparent criteria to assess the validity of these designs. The paper then presents an approach to evaluating the internal validity of quasi-experiments with selection on unobservables. We conclude that tools for nonrandomized studies of interventions need to be further developed to incorporate evaluation questions for quasi-experiments with selection on unobservables. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prospective memory and its correlates and predictors in schizophrenia: an extension of previous findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Ungvari, Gabor S; Xiang, Yu-Tao; Tang, Wai-Kwong; Shum, David

2008-09-01

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to do something in the future without explicit prompts. Extending the number of subjects and the scope of our previously published study, this investigation examined the relationship between PM and socio-demographic and clinical factors, activities of daily living (ADL) and frontal lobe functions in patients with chronic schizophrenia. One hundred and ten Chinese schizophrenia patients, 60 from the previous study and 50 additional patients recruited for this study, and 110 matched healthy comparison subjects (HC) formed the study sample. Patients' clinical condition and activity of daily living were evaluated with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Functional Needs Assessment (FNA). Time- and event-based PM tasks and three tests of prefrontal lobe functions (Design Fluency Test [DFT], Tower of London [TOL], Wisconsin Card Sorting Test [WCST]) were also administered. Patients' level of ADL and psychopathology were not associated with PM functions and only anticholinergic medications (ACM) showed a significant negative correlational relationship with PM tasks. Confirming the findings of the previous study, patients performed significantly more poorly on all two PM tasks than HC. Performance on time-based PM task significantly correlated with age, education level and DFT in HC and with age, DFT, TOL and WCST in patients. Patients' performance on the event-based PM correlated with DFT and one measure of WCST. In patients, TOL and age predicted the performance on time-based PM task; DFT and WCST predicted the event-based task. Involving a large sample of patients with matched controls, this study confirmed that PM is impaired in chronic schizophrenia. Deficient PM functions were related to prefrontal lobe dysfunction in both HC and patients but not to the patients' clinical condition, nor did they significantly affect ADL. ACMs determined certain aspects of PM.

Left ventricular asynergy score as an indicator of previous myocardial infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Backman, C.; Jacobsson, K.A.; Linderholm, H.; Osterman, G.

1986-01-01

Sixty-eight patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) i.e. a hisotry of angina of effort and/or previous 'possible infarction' were examined inter alia with ECG and cinecardioangiography. A system of scoring was designed which allowed a semiquantitative estimate of the left ventricular asynergy from cinecardioangiography - the left ventricular motion score (LVMS). The LVMS was associated with the presence of a previous myocardial infarction (MI), as indicated by the history and ECG findings. The ECG changes specific for a previous MI were associated with high LVMS values and unspecific or absent ECG changes with low LVMS values. Decision thresholds for ECG changes and asynergy in diagnosing a previous MI were evaluated by means of a ROC analysis. The accuracy of ECG in detecting a previous MI was slightly higher when asynergy indicated a 'true MI' than when autopsy result did so in a comparable group. Therefore the accuracy of asynergy (LVMS ≥ 1) in detecting a previous MI or myocardial fibrosis in patients with CHD should be at least comparable with that of autopsy (scar > 1 cm). (orig.)

Anthropic prediction for a large multi-jump landscape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwartz-Perlov, Delia

2008-01-01

The assumption of a flat prior distribution plays a critical role in the anthropic prediction of the cosmological constant. In a previous paper we analytically calculated the distribution for the cosmological constant, including the prior and anthropic selection effects, in a large toy 'single-jump' landscape model. We showed that it is possible for the fractal prior distribution that we found to behave as an effectively flat distribution in a wide class of landscapes, but only if the single-jump size is large enough. We extend this work here by investigating a large (N∼10 500 ) toy 'multi-jump' landscape model. The jump sizes range over three orders of magnitude and an overall free parameter c determines the absolute size of the jumps. We will show that for 'large' c the distribution of probabilities of vacua in the anthropic range is effectively flat, and thus the successful anthropic prediction is validated. However, we argue that for small c, the distribution may not be smooth

Reasoning with Previous Decisions: Beyond the Doctrine of Precedent

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Komárek, Jan

2013-01-01

in different jurisdictions use previous judicial decisions in their argument, we need to move beyond the concept of precedent to a wider notion, which would embrace practices and theories in legal systems outside the Common law tradition. This article presents the concept of ‘reasoning with previous decisions...... law method’, but they are no less rational and intellectually sophisticated. The reason for the rather conceited attitude of some comparatists is in the dominance of the common law paradigm of precedent and the accompanying ‘case law method’. If we want to understand how courts and lawyers......’ as such an alternative and develops its basic models. The article first points out several shortcomings inherent in limiting the inquiry into reasoning with previous decisions by the common law paradigm (1). On the basis of numerous examples provided in section (1), I will present two basic models of reasoning...

On the Tengiz petroleum deposit previous study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nysangaliev, A.N.; Kuspangaliev, T.K.

1997-01-01

Tengiz petroleum deposit previous study is described. Some consideration about structure of productive formation, specific characteristic properties of petroleum-bearing collectors are presented. Recommendation on their detail study and using of experience on exploration and development of petroleum deposit which have analogy on most important geological and industrial parameters are given. (author)

Evidence of a new state in 11Be observed in the 11Li β-decay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madurga, M.; Borge, M.J.G.; Alcorta, M.; Fraile, L.M.; Fynbo, H.O.U.; Jonson, B.; Kirsebom, O.; Martinez-Pinedo, G.; Nilsson, T.; Nyman, G.; Perea, A.; Poves, A.; Riisager, K.; Tengblad, O.; Tengborn, E.; Van der Walle, J.

2009-01-01

Coincidences between charged particles emitted in the β-decay of 11 Li were observed using highly segmented detectors. The breakup channels involving three particles were studied in full kinematics allowing for the reconstruction of the excitation energy of the 11 Be states participating in the decay. In particular, the contribution of a previously unobserved state at 16.3 MeV in 11 Be has been identified selecting the α+ 7 He→α+ 6 He+n channel. The angular correlations between the α particle and the center of mass of the 6 He + n system favors spin and parity assignment of 3/2 - for this state as well as for the previously known state at 18 MeV.

Characteristics of two-phase flows in large diameter channels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schlegel, J.P., E-mail: schlegelj@mst.edu [Department of Mining and Nuclear Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 301 W 14th St., Rolla, MO 65401 (United States); Hibiki, T.; Ishii, M. [School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, 400 Central Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States)

2016-12-15

Two-phase flows in large diameter channels have a great deal of importance in a wide variety of industrial applications. Nuclear systems, petroleum refineries, and chemical processes make extensive use of larger systems. Flows in such channels have very different properties from flows in smaller channels which are typically used in experimental research. In this paper, the various differences between flows in large and small channels are highlighted using the results of previous experimental and analytical research. This review is followed by a review of recent experiments in and model development for flows in large diameter channels performed by the authors. The topics of these research efforts range from void fraction and interfacial area concentration measurement to flow regime identification and modeling, drift-flux modeling for high void fraction conditions, and evaluation of interfacial area transport models for large diameter channels.

From fire whirls to blue whirls and combustion with reduced pollution

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Huahua; Gollner, Michael J.; Oran, Elaine S.

2016-08-01

Fire whirls are powerful, spinning disasters for people and surroundings when they occur in large urban and wildland fires. Whereas fire whirls have been studied for fire-safety applications, previous research has yet to harness their potential burning efficiency for enhanced combustion. This article presents laboratory studies of fire whirls initiated as pool fires, but where the fuel sits on a water surface, suggesting the idea of exploiting the high efficiency of fire whirls for oil-spill remediation. We show the transition from a pool fire, to a fire whirl, and then to a previously unobserved state, a “blue whirl.” A blue whirl is smaller, very stable, and burns completely blue as a hydrocarbon flame, indicating soot-free burning. The combination of fast mixing, intense swirl, and the water-surface boundary creates the conditions leading to nearly soot-free combustion. With the worldwide need to reduce emissions from both wanted and unwanted combustion, discovery of this state points to possible new pathways for reduced-emission combustion and fuel-spill cleanup. Because current methods to generate a stable vortex are difficult, we also propose that the blue whirl may serve as a research platform for fundamental studies of vortices and vortex breakdown in fluid mechanics.

From fire whirls to blue whirls and combustion with reduced pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Huahua; Gollner, Michael J; Oran, Elaine S

2016-08-23

Fire whirls are powerful, spinning disasters for people and surroundings when they occur in large urban and wildland fires. Whereas fire whirls have been studied for fire-safety applications, previous research has yet to harness their potential burning efficiency for enhanced combustion. This article presents laboratory studies of fire whirls initiated as pool fires, but where the fuel sits on a water surface, suggesting the idea of exploiting the high efficiency of fire whirls for oil-spill remediation. We show the transition from a pool fire, to a fire whirl, and then to a previously unobserved state, a "blue whirl." A blue whirl is smaller, very stable, and burns completely blue as a hydrocarbon flame, indicating soot-free burning. The combination of fast mixing, intense swirl, and the water-surface boundary creates the conditions leading to nearly soot-free combustion. With the worldwide need to reduce emissions from both wanted and unwanted combustion, discovery of this state points to possible new pathways for reduced-emission combustion and fuel-spill cleanup. Because current methods to generate a stable vortex are difficult, we also propose that the blue whirl may serve as a research platform for fundamental studies of vortices and vortex breakdown in fluid mechanics.

Randomized trials, generalizability, and meta-analysis: Graphical insights for binary outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kramer Barnett S

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Randomized trials stochastically answer the question. "What would be the effect of treatment on outcome if one turned back the clock and switched treatments in the given population?" Generalizations to other subjects are reliable only if the particular trial is performed on a random sample of the target population. By considering an unobserved binary variable, we graphically investigate how randomized trials can also stochastically answer the question, "What would be the effect of treatment on outcome in a population with a possibly different distribution of an unobserved binary baseline variable that does not interact with treatment in its effect on outcome?" Method For three different outcome measures, absolute difference (DIF, relative risk (RR, and odds ratio (OR, we constructed a modified BK-Plot under the assumption that treatment has the same effect on outcome if either all or no subjects had a given level of the unobserved binary variable. (A BK-Plot shows the effect of an unobserved binary covariate on a binary outcome in two treatment groups; it was originally developed to explain Simpsons's paradox. Results For DIF and RR, but not OR, the BK-Plot shows that the estimated treatment effect is invariant to the fraction of subjects with an unobserved binary variable at a given level. Conclusion The BK-Plot provides a simple method to understand generalizability in randomized trials. Meta-analyses of randomized trials with a binary outcome that are based on DIF or RR, but not OR, will avoid bias from an unobserved covariate that does not interact with treatment in its effect on outcome.

Electrostatic Deposition of Large-Surface Graphene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Trudeau

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This work describes a method for electrostatic deposition of graphene over a large area using controlled electrostatic exfoliation from a Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG block. Deposition over 130 × 130 µm2 with 96% coverage is achieved, which contrasts with sporadic micro-scale depositions of graphene with little control from previous works on electrostatic deposition. The deposition results are studied by Raman micro-spectroscopy and hyperspectral analysis using large fields of view to allow for the characterization of the whole deposition area. Results confirm that laser pre-patterning of the HOPG block prior to cleaving generates anchor points favoring a more homogeneous and defect-free HOPG surface, yielding larger and more uniform graphene depositions. We also demonstrate that a second patterning of the HOPG block just before exfoliation can yield features with precisely controlled geometries.

Investigation of Secondary Neutron Production in Large Space Vehicles for Deep Space

Science.gov (United States)

Rojdev, Kristina; Koontz, Steve; Reddell, Brandon; Atwell, William; Boeder, Paul

2016-01-01

Future NASA missions will focus on deep space and Mars surface operations with large structures necessary for transportation of crew and cargo. In addition to the challenges of manufacturing these large structures, there are added challenges from the space radiation environment and its impacts on the crew, electronics, and vehicle materials. Primary radiation from the sun (solar particle events) and from outside the solar system (galactic cosmic rays) interact with materials of the vehicle and the elements inside the vehicle. These interactions lead to the primary radiation being absorbed or producing secondary radiation (primarily neutrons). With all vehicles, the high-energy primary radiation is of most concern. However, with larger vehicles, there is more opportunity for secondary radiation production, which can be significant enough to cause concern. In a previous paper, we embarked upon our first steps toward studying neutron production from large vehicles by validating our radiation transport codes for neutron environments against flight data. The following paper will extend the previous work to focus on the deep space environment and the resulting neutron flux from large vehicles in this deep space environment.

Genetic Influences on Pulmonary Function: A Large Sample Twin Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingebrigtsen, Truls S; Thomsen, Simon F; van der Sluis, Sophie

2011-01-01

Heritability of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)), forced vital capacity (FVC), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) has not been previously addressed in large twin studies. We evaluated the genetic contribution to individual differences observed in FEV(1), FVC, and PEF using data from...... the largest population-based twin study on spirometry. Specially trained lay interviewers with previous experience in spirometric measurements tested 4,314 Danish twins (individuals), 46-68 years of age, in their homes using a hand-held spirometer, and their flow-volume curves were evaluated. Modern variance...

Coronal mass ejections and large geomagnetic storms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gosling, J.T.; Bame, S.J.; McComas, D.J.; Phillips, J.L.

1990-01-01

Previous work indicates that coronal mass ejection (CME) events in the solar wind at 1 AU can be identified by the presence of a flux of counterstreaming solar wind halo electrons (above about 80 eV). Using this technique to identify CMEs in 1 AU plasma data, the authors find that most large geomagnetic storms during the interval surrounding the last solar maximum (Aug. 1978-Oct. 1982) were associated with Earth-passage of interplanetary disturbances in which the Earth encountered both a shock and the CME driving the shock. However, only about one CME in six encountered by Earth was effective in causing a large geomagnetic storm. Slow CMEs which did not interact strongly with the ambient solar wind ahead were particularly ineffective in a geomagnetic sense

Trade-facilitated technology spillovers in energy productivity convergence processes across EU countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan, Jun; Baylis, Kathy; Mulder, Peter

2015-01-01

This empirical paper tests for trade-facilitated spillovers in the convergence of energy productivity across 16 European Union (EU) countries from 1995 to 2005. One might anticipate that by inducing specialization, trade limits the potential for convergence in energy productivity. Conversely, by inducing competition and knowledge diffusion, trade may spur sectors to greater energy productivity. Unlike most previous work on convergence, we explain productivity dynamics from cross-country interactions at a detailed sector level and apply a spatial panel data approach to explicitly account for trade-flow related spatial effects in the convergence analysis. Our study confirms the existence of convergence in manufacturing energy productivity, caused by efficiency improvements in lagging countries, while undermined by increasing international differences in sector structure. Further, we find that trade flows explain 30 to 40% of the unobserved variation in energy productivity. Trade continues to explain the unobserved variation in energy productivity even after accounting for geographic proximity. Last, we find that those countries and sectors with higher dependence on trade both have higher energy productivity growth and a higher rate of convergence, further implying that trade can enhance energy productivity. Thus, unlike concerns that trade may spur a ‘race to the bottom’, we find that promoting trade may help stimulate energy efficiency improvements across countries. - Highlights: • We test for trade-facilitated spillovers in cross-country energy productivity convergence. • We use a spatial panel-data approach and data for 16 European Union countries. • Efficiency improvements in lagging countries cause energy productivity convergence. • Trade flows explain 30 to 40% of unobserved variation in energy productivity. • Higher dependence on trade means higher rates of energy productivity growth

Large-N limit of the two-Hermitian-matrix model by the hidden BRST method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfaro, J.

1993-01-01

This paper discusses the large-N limit of the two-Hermitian-matrix model in zero dimensions, using the hidden Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin method. A system of integral equations previously found is solved, showing that it contained the exact solution of the model in leading order of large N

Should previous mammograms be digitised in the transition to digital mammography?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor-Phillips, S.; Gale, A.G.; Wallis, M.G.

2009-01-01

Breast screening specificity is improved if previous mammograms are available, which presents a challenge when converting to digital mammography. Two display options were investigated: mounting previous film mammograms on a multiviewer adjacent to the workstation, or digitising them for soft copy display. Eight qualified screen readers were videotaped undertaking routine screen reading for two 45-min sessions in each scenario. Analysis of gross eye and head movements showed that when digitised, previous mammograms were examined a greater number of times per case (p=0.03), due to a combination of being used in 19% more cases (p=0.04) and where used, looked at a greater number of times (28% increase, p=0.04). Digitising previous mammograms reduced both the average time taken per case by 18% (p=0.04) and the participants' perceptions of workload (p < 0.05). Digitising previous analogue mammograms may be advantageous, in particular in increasing their level of use. (orig.)

Racial Inequality in Education in Brazil: A Twins Fixed-Effects Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Marteleto, Letícia J; Dondero, Molly

2016-08-01

Racial disparities in education in Brazil (and elsewhere) are well documented. Because this research typically examines educational variation between individuals in different families, however, it cannot disentangle whether racial differences in education are due to racial discrimination or to structural differences in unobserved neighborhood and family characteristics. To address this common data limitation, we use an innovative within-family twin approach that takes advantage of the large sample of Brazilian adolescent twins classified as different races in the 1982 and 1987-2009 Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios. We first examine the contexts within which adolescent twins in the same family are labeled as different races to determine the characteristics of families crossing racial boundaries. Then, as a way to hold constant shared unobserved and observed neighborhood and family characteristics, we use twins fixed-effects models to assess whether racial disparities in education exist between twins and whether such disparities vary by gender. We find that even under this stringent test of racial inequality, the nonwhite educational disadvantage persists and is especially pronounced for nonwhite adolescent boys.

14 CFR 121.406 - Credit for previous CRM/DRM training.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Credit for previous CRM/DRM training. 121... previous CRM/DRM training. (a) For flightcrew members, the Administrator may credit CRM training received before March 19, 1998 toward all or part of the initial ground CRM training required by § 121.419. (b...

The Gould's Belt very large array survey. III. The Orion region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kounkel, Marina; Hartmann, Lee [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Loinard, Laurent; Ortiz-León, Gisela N.; Rodríguez, Luis F.; Pech, Gerardo; Rivera, Juana L. [Centro de Radiostronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Morelia 58089 (Mexico); Mioduszewski, Amy J. [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States); Dzib, Sergio A. [Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Torres, Rosa M. [Instituto de Astronomía y Meteorología, Universidad de Guadalajara, Avenida Vallarta No. 2602, Col. Arcos Vallarta, CP 44130, Guadalajara, Jalisco (Mexico); Boden, Andrew F. [Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Evans, Neal J. II [Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, C1400, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Briceño, Cesar [Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena (Chile); Tobin, John [National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903 (United States)

2014-07-20

We present results from a high-sensitivity (60 μJy), large-scale (2.26 deg{sup 2}) survey obtained with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array as part of the Gould's Belt Survey program. We detected 374 and 354 sources at 4.5 and 7.5 GHz, respectively. Of these, 148 are associated with previously known young stellar objects (YSOs). Another 86 sources previously unclassified at either optical or infrared wavelengths exhibit radio properties that are consistent with those of young stars. The overall properties of our sources at radio wavelengths such as their variability and radio to X-ray luminosity relation are consistent with previous results from the Gould's Belt Survey. Our detections provide target lists for follow-up Very Long Baseline Array radio observations to determine their distances as YSOs are located in regions of high nebulosity and extinction, making it difficult to measure optical parallaxes.

Challenging previous conceptions of vegetarianism and eating disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisak, B; Peterson, R D; Tantleff-Dunn, S; Molnar, J M

2006-12-01

The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand upon previous research that has examined the potential association between vegetarianism and disordered eating. Limitations of previous research studies are addressed, including possible low reliability of measures of eating pathology within vegetarian samples, use of only a few dietary restraint measures, and a paucity of research examining potential differences in body image and food choice motives of vegetarians versus nonvegetarians. Two hundred and fifty-six college students completed a number of measures of eating pathology and body image, and a food choice motives questionnaire. Interestingly, no significant differences were found between vegetarians and nonvegetarians in measures of eating pathology or body image. However, significant differences in food choice motives were found. Implications for both researchers and clinicians are discussed.

Protecting Spacecraft Fragments from Exposure to Small Debris

OpenAIRE

V. V. Zelentsov

2015-01-01

Since the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite a large amount of space debris has been accumulated in near-earth space. This debris comprises the exhausted spacecrafts, final stages of rocket-carriers and boosters, technological space junk, consisting of the structure elements, which are separated when deploying the solar arrays, antennas etc., as well as when undocking a booster and a spacecraft. All the debris is divided into observable one of over 100 mm in size and unobservable ...

How Productive Is Workplace Health and Safety?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buhai, I. Sebastian; Cottini, Elena; Westergaard-Nielsen, Niels

2017-01-01

In this paper, we investigate the causal impact of workplace health and safety practices on firm performance, using Danish longitudinal matched employer–employee data merged with unique cross-sectional representative firm survey data on work environment conditions. We estimate standard production...... functions, augmented with workplace environment indicators, addressing both time-invariant and time-varying potentially relevant unobservables in the production process. We find positive and large productivity effects of improved physical dimensions of the health and safety environment, specifically...

Ice–ocean interaction and calving front morphology at two west Greenland tidewater outlet glaciers

OpenAIRE

Chauché , N.; Hubbard , A.; Gascard , Jean-Claude; Box , J. E.; Bates , R.; Koppes , M.; Sole , A.; Christoffersen , P.; Patton , H.

2014-01-01

International audience; Warm, subtropical-originating Atlantic water (AW) has been identified as a primary driver of mass loss across the marine sectors of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), yet the specific processes by which this water mass interacts with and erodes the calving front of tidewater glaciers is frequently modelled and much speculated upon but remains largely unobserved. We present a suite of fjord salinity, temperature, turbidity versus depth casts along with glacial runoff estim...

A Green Bank Telescope Survey of Large Galactic H II Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, L. D.; Armentrout, W. P.; Luisi, Matteo; Bania, T. M.; Balser, Dana S.; Wenger, Trey V.

2018-02-01

As part of our ongoing H II Region Discovery Survey (HRDS), we report the Green Bank Telescope detection of 148 new angularly large Galactic H II regions in radio recombination line (RRL) emission. Our targets are located at a declination of δ > -45^\\circ , which corresponds to 266^\\circ > {\\ell }> -20^\\circ at b=0^\\circ . All sources were selected from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Catalog of Galactic H II Regions, and have infrared angular diameters ≥slant 260\\prime\\prime . The Galactic distribution of these “large” H II regions is similar to that of the previously known sample of Galactic H II regions. The large H II region RRL line width and peak line intensity distributions are skewed toward lower values, compared with that of previous HRDS surveys. We discover seven sources with extremely narrow RRLs 100 {pc}, making them some of the physically largest known H II regions in the Galaxy. This survey completes the HRDS H II region census in the Northern sky, where we have discovered 887 H II regions and more than doubled the size of the previously known census of Galactic H II regions.

Modelling demand for crude oil products in Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedregal, D.J.; Dejuan, O.; Gomez, N.; Tobarra, M.A.

2009-01-01

This paper develops an econometric model for the five most important crude oil products demand in Spain. The aim is the estimation of a range of elasticities of such demands that would serve as the basis for an applied general equilibrium model used for forecasting energy demand in a broader framework. The main distinctive features of the system with respect to previous literature are (1) it takes advantage of monthly information coming from very different information sources and (2) multivariate unobserved components (UC) models are implemented allowing for a separate analysis of long- and short-run relations. UC models decompose time series into a number of unobserved though economic meaningful components mainly trend, seasonal and irregular. A module is added to such structure to take into account the influence of exogenous variables necessary to compute price, cross and income elasticities. Since all models implemented are multivariate in nature, the demand components are allowed to interact among them through the system noises (similar to a seemingly unrelated equations model). The results show unambiguously that the main factor driving demand is real income with prices having little impact on energy consumption. (author)

The association between retirement and emotional well-being: does prior work-family conflict matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Coursolle, Kathryn M; Sweeney, Megan M; Raymo, James M; Ho, Jeong-Hwa

2010-09-01

This study investigates whether the association between retirement and emotional well-being depends on prior experience of work-family conflict. We use data from the 1993 and 2004 waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to estimate linear regression models of 2 dimensions of emotional well-being-depressive symptoms and positive psychological functioning. We also use fixed effects models to investigate whether key findings persist after controlling for stable, but unobserved, characteristics of individuals. Retirement is associated with relatively fewer depressive symptoms among individuals who reported high levels of work stress interfering with family life in late midlife. We find suggestive evidence of a similar association with respect to positive psychological functioning after accounting for unobserved characteristics of individuals. Among individuals reporting high levels of family stress spillover into work life at late midlife, our results suggest that retirement tends to be associated with better emotional well-being among men than among women. Retirement may come more as a relief than as a stressor for individuals previously experiencing high levels of work demands interfering with family life. However, particularly among women, retirement may not relieve the burdens of family life stressors.

Modelling demand for crude oil products in Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pedregal, D.J. [Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales and Instituto de Matematica Aplicada a la Ciencia y la Ingenieria (IMACI), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Avenida Camilo Jose Cela s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real (Spain); Dejuan, O.; Gomez, N.; Tobarra, M.A. [Facultad de Ciencias Economicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) (Spain)

2009-11-15

This paper develops an econometric model for the five most important crude oil products demand in Spain. The aim is the estimation of a range of elasticities of such demands that would serve as the basis for an applied general equilibrium model used for forecasting energy demand in a broader framework. The main distinctive features of the system with respect to previous literature are (1) it takes advantage of monthly information coming from very different information sources and (2) multivariate unobserved components (UC) models are implemented allowing for a separate analysis of long- and short-run relations. UC models decompose time series into a number of unobserved though economic meaningful components mainly trend, seasonal and irregular. A module is added to such structure to take into account the influence of exogenous variables necessary to compute price, cross and income elasticities. Since all models implemented are multivariate in nature, the demand components are allowed to interact among them through the system noises (similar to a seemingly unrelated equations model). The results show unambiguously that the main factor driving demand is real income with prices having little impact on energy consumption. (author)

Large, Tunable Magnetoresistance in Nonmagnetic III-V Nanowires.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Sichao; Luo, Wei; Gu, Jiangjiang; Cheng, Xiang; Ye, Peide D; Wu, Yanqing

2015-12-09

Magnetoresistance, the modulation of resistance by magnetic fields, has been adopted and continues to evolve in many device applications including hard-disk, memory, and sensors. Magnetoresistance in nonmagnetic semiconductors has recently raised much attention and shows great potential due to its large magnitude that is comparable or even larger than magnetic materials. However, most of the previous work focus on two terminal devices with large dimensions, typically of micrometer scales, which severely limit their performance potential and more importantly, scalability in commercial applications. Here, we investigate magnetoresistance in the impact ionization region in InGaAs nanowires with 20 nm diameter and 40 nm gate length. The deeply scaled dimensions of these nanowires enable high sensibility with less power consumption. Moreover, in these three terminal devices, the magnitude of magnetoresistance can be tuned by the transverse electric field controlled by gate voltage. Large magnetoresistance between 100% at room temperature and 2000% at 4.3 K can be achieved at 2.5 T. These nanoscale devices with large magnetoresistance offer excellent opportunity for future high-density large-scale magneto-electric devices using top-down fabrication approaches, which are compatible with commercial silicon platform.

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norman, E.B.; Chan, Y.D.; Garcia, A.; Lesko, K.T.; Smith, A.R.; Stokstad, R.G.; Zlimen, I.; Evans, H.C.; Ewan, G.T.; Hallin, A.; Lee, H.W.; Leslie, J.R.; MacArthur, J.D.; Mak, H.B.; McDonald, A.B.; McLatchie, W.; Robertson, B.C.; Skensved, P.; Sur, B.; Jagam, P.; Law, J.; Ollerhead, R.W.; Simpson, J.J.; Wang, J.X.; Tanner, N.W.; Jelley, N.A.; Barton, J.C.; Doucas, G.; Hooper, E.W.; Knox, A.B.; Moorhead, M.E.; Omori, M.; Trent, P.T.; Wark, D.L.

1992-11-01

Two experiments now in progress have reported measurements of the flux of high energy neutrinos from the Sun. Since about 1970, Davis and his co-workers have been using a 37 Cl-based detector to measure the 7 Be and 8 B solar neutrino flux and have found it to be at least a factor of three lower than that predicted by the Standard Solar Model (SSM). The Kamiokande collaborations has been taking data since 1986 using a large light-water Cerenkov detector and have confirmed that the flux is about two times lower than predicted. Recent results from the SAGE and GALLEX gallium-based detectors show that there is also a deficit of the low energy pp solar neutrinos. These discrepancies between experiment and theory could arise because of inadequacies in the theoretical models of solar energy generation or because of previously unobserved properties of neutrinos. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) will provide the information necessary to decide which of these solutions to the ''solar neutrino problem'' is correct

Ligand-induced expansion of the S1' site in the anthrax toxin lethal factor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maize, Kimberly M.; Kurbanov, Elbek K.; Johnson, Rodney L.; Amin, Elizabeth Ambrose; Finzel, Barry C. (UMM)

2016-07-05

The Bacillus anthracis lethal factor (LF) is one component of a tripartite exotoxin partly responsible for persistent anthrax cytotoxicity after initial bacterial infection. Inhibitors of the zinc metalloproteinase have been investigated as potential therapeutic agents, but LF is a challenging target because inhibitors lack sufficient selectivity or possess poor pharmaceutical properties. These structural studies reveal an alternate conformation of the enzyme, induced upon binding of specific inhibitors, that opens a previously unobserved deep pocket termed S1'* which might afford new opportunities to design selective inhibitors that target this subsite.

Rotationally resolved photodetachment spectrum of OH{sup -}, exposed with velocity-map imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gibson, S T; Cavanagh, S J; Lewis, B R, E-mail: Stephen.Gibson@anu.edu.a, E-mail: Steven.Cavanagh@anu.edu.a [Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 (Australia)

2009-11-01

The photodetachment spectrum of OH{sup -} has been measured using velocity-map imaging for the detection of photoelectrons. The relative electron kinetic-energy resolution, determined to be ({Delta}E/E) = 0.5%, resolves individual rotational transitions, including R3(0) that defines the electron affinity. Previously unobserved, N-, O-, S-, T-branch transitions are also revealed. The angular anisotropy parameters in general exhibit values consistent with electron detachment from O{sup -}, {beta} {approx} -0.8, except for the S, T branches which are significantly more isotropic, with {beta} {approx} -0.4.

Structural control on the Tohoku earthquake rupture process investigated by 3D FEM, tsunami and geodetic data.

Science.gov (United States)

Romano, F; Trasatti, E; Lorito, S; Piromallo, C; Piatanesi, A; Ito, Y; Zhao, D; Hirata, K; Lanucara, P; Cocco, M

2014-07-09

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake (Mw = 9.1) highlighted previously unobserved features for megathrust events, such as the large slip in a relatively limited area and the shallow rupture propagation. We use a Finite Element Model (FEM), taking into account the 3D geometrical and structural complexities up to the trench zone, and perform a joint inversion of tsunami and geodetic data to retrieve the earthquake slip distribution. We obtain a close spatial correlation between the main deep slip patch and the local seismic velocity anomalies, and large shallow slip extending also to the North coherently with a seismically observed low-frequency radiation. These observations suggest that the friction controlled the rupture, initially confining the deeper rupture and then driving its propagation up to the trench, where it spreads laterally. These findings are relevant to earthquake and tsunami hazard assessment because they may help to detect regions likely prone to rupture along the megathrust, and to constrain the probability of high slip near the trench. Our estimate of ~40 m slip value around the JFAST (Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project) drilling zone contributes to constrain the dynamic shear stress and friction coefficient of the fault obtained by temperature measurements to ~0.68 MPa and ~0.10, respectively.

Response to health insurance by previously uninsured rural children.

Science.gov (United States)

Tilford, J M; Robbins, J M; Shema, S J; Farmer, F L

1999-08-01

To examine the healthcare utilization and costs of previously uninsured rural children. Four years of claims data from a school-based health insurance program located in the Mississippi Delta. All children who were not Medicaid-eligible or were uninsured, were eligible for limited benefits under the program. The 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) was used to compare utilization of services. The study represents a natural experiment in the provision of insurance benefits to a previously uninsured population. Premiums for the claims cost were set with little or no information on expected use of services. Claims from the insurer were used to form a panel data set. Mixed model logistic and linear regressions were estimated to determine the response to insurance for several categories of health services. The use of services increased over time and approached the level of utilization in the NMES. Conditional medical expenditures also increased over time. Actuarial estimates of claims cost greatly exceeded actual claims cost. The provision of a limited medical, dental, and optical benefit package cost approximately $20-$24 per member per month in claims paid. An important uncertainty in providing health insurance to previously uninsured populations is whether a pent-up demand exists for health services. Evidence of a pent-up demand for medical services was not supported in this study of rural school-age children. States considering partnerships with private insurers to implement the State Children's Health Insurance Program could lower premium costs by assembling basic data on previously uninsured children.

Monogamy in large bee societies: a stingless paradox.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaffé, Rodolfo; Pioker-Hara, Fabiana C; Dos Santos, Charles F; Santiago, Leandro R; Alves, Denise A; de M P Kleinert, Astrid; Francoy, Tiago M; Arias, Maria C; Imperatriz-Fonseca, Vera L

2014-03-01

High genetic diversity is important for the functioning of large insect societies. Across the social Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps), species with the largest colonies tend to have a high colony-level genetic diversity resulting from multiple queens (polygyny) or queens that mate with multiple males (polyandry). Here we studied the genetic structure of Trigona spinipes, a stingless bee species with colonies an order of magnitude larger than those of polyandrous honeybees. Genotypes of adult workers and pupae from 43 nests distributed across three Brazilian biomes showed that T. spinipes colonies are usually headed by one singly mated queen. Apart from revealing a notable exception from the general incidence of high genetic diversity in large insect societies, our results reinforce previous findings suggesting the absence of polyandry in stingless bees and provide evidence against the sperm limitation hypothesis for the evolution of polyandry. Stingless bee species with large colonies, such as T. spinipes, thus seem promising study models to unravel alternative mechanisms to increase genetic diversity within colonies or understand the adaptive value of low genetic diversity in large insect societies.

Abiraterone in metastatic prostate cancer without previous chemotherapy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ryan, Charles J.; Smith, Matthew R.; de Bono, Johann S.; Molina, Arturo; Logothetis, Christopher J.; de Souza, Paul; Fizazi, Karim; Mainwaring, Paul; Piulats, Josep M.; Ng, Siobhan; Carles, Joan; Mulders, Peter F. A.; Basch, Ethan; Small, Eric J.; Saad, Fred; Schrijvers, Dirk; van Poppel, Hendrik; Mukherjee, Som D.; Suttmann, Henrik; Gerritsen, Winald R.; Flaig, Thomas W.; George, Daniel J.; Yu, Evan Y.; Efstathiou, Eleni; Pantuck, Allan; Winquist, Eric; Higano, Celestia S.; Taplin, Mary-Ellen; Park, Youn; Kheoh, Thian; Griffin, Thomas; Scher, Howard I.; Rathkopf, Dana E.; Boyce, A.; Costello, A.; Davis, I.; Ganju, V.; Horvath, L.; Lynch, R.; Marx, G.; Parnis, F.; Shapiro, J.; Singhal, N.; Slancar, M.; van Hazel, G.; Wong, S.; Yip, D.; Carpentier, P.; Luyten, D.; de Reijke, T.

2013-01-01

Abiraterone acetate, an androgen biosynthesis inhibitor, improves overall survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after chemotherapy. We evaluated this agent in patients who had not received previous chemotherapy. In this double-blind study, we randomly assigned

Primary Hepatosplenic Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.R. Morales-Polanco

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common form of lymphoma. It usually begins in the lymph nodes; up to 40% may have an extranodal presentation. According to a definition of primary extranodal lymphoma with presentation only in extranodal sites, there are reports of large B-cell lymphomas limited to liver or spleen as separate entities, and to date there have been only three documented cases of primary hepatosplenic presentation. This paper reports a fourth case. Due to a review of the literature and the clinical course of the case reported, we conclude that primary hepatosplenic large B-cell lymphoma has been found predominantly in females older than 60 years. The patients reported had <2 months of evolution prior to diagnosis, prominent B symptoms, splenomegaly in three and hepatomegaly in two, none with lymph node involvement. All had thrombocytopenia and abnormal liver function tests; three had anemia and elevated serum lactic dehydrogenase levels, two with hemophagocytosis in bone marrow. Because of the previously mentioned data, it can be stated that primary hepatosplenic lymphoma is an uncommon and aggressive form of disease that requires immediate recognition and treatment.

Size matters: large objects capture attention in visual search.

Science.gov (United States)

Proulx, Michael J

2010-12-23

Can objects or events ever capture one's attention in a purely stimulus-driven manner? A recent review of the literature set out the criteria required to find stimulus-driven attentional capture independent of goal-directed influences, and concluded that no published study has satisfied that criteria. Here visual search experiments assessed whether an irrelevantly large object can capture attention. Capture of attention by this static visual feature was found. The results suggest that a large object can indeed capture attention in a stimulus-driven manner and independent of displaywide features of the task that might encourage a goal-directed bias for large items. It is concluded that these results are either consistent with the stimulus-driven criteria published previously or alternatively consistent with a flexible, goal-directed mechanism of saliency detection.

Squamous cell carcinoma arising in previously burned or irradiated skin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, M.J.; Hirsch, R.M.; Broadwater, J.R.; Netscher, D.T.; Ames, F.C.

1989-01-01

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) arising in previously burned or irradiated skin was reviewed in 66 patients treated between 1944 and 1986. Healing of the initial injury was complicated in 70% of patients. Mean interval from initial injury to diagnosis of SCC was 37 years. The overwhelming majority of patients presented with a chronic intractable ulcer in previously injured skin. The regional relapse rate after surgical excision was very high, 58% of all patients. Predominant patterns of recurrence were in local skin and regional lymph nodes (93% of recurrences). Survival rates at 5, 10, and 20 years were 52%, 34%, and 23%, respectively. Five-year survival rates in previously burned and irradiated patients were not significantly different (53% and 50%, respectively). This review, one of the largest reported series, better defines SCC arising in previously burned or irradiated skin as a locally aggressive disease that is distinct from SCC arising in sunlight-damaged skin. An increased awareness of the significance of chronic ulceration in scar tissue may allow earlier diagnosis. Regional disease control and survival depend on surgical resection of all known disease and may require radical lymph node dissection or amputation

Albizzia lebbeck Benth. (Hindi: Siris) of Leguminosae is a large ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Albizzia lebbeck Benth. (Hindi: Siris) of Leguminosae is a large deciduous tree with greyish bark and compound leaves. Flowers are greenish-yellow in head inflorescences. Fruit pods are yellowish-brown, flat and carry 6-10 seeds (Inset shows the entire crown of the tree covered with previous season's dry pods).

Modeling coverage gaps in haplotype frequencies via Bayesian inference to improve stem cell donor selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Louzoun, Yoram; Alter, Idan; Gragert, Loren; Albrecht, Mark; Maiers, Martin

2018-05-01

Regardless of sampling depth, accurate genotype imputation is limited in regions of high polymorphism which often have a heavy-tailed haplotype frequency distribution. Many rare haplotypes are thus unobserved. Statistical methods to improve imputation by extending reference haplotype distributions using linkage disequilibrium patterns that relate allele and haplotype frequencies have not yet been explored. In the field of unrelated stem cell transplantation, imputation of highly polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes has an important application in identifying the best-matched stem cell donor when searching large registries totaling over 28,000,000 donors worldwide. Despite these large registry sizes, a significant proportion of searched patients present novel HLA haplotypes. Supporting this observation, HLA population genetic models have indicated that many extant HLA haplotypes remain unobserved. The absent haplotypes are a significant cause of error in haplotype matching. We have applied a Bayesian inference methodology for extending haplotype frequency distributions, using a model where new haplotypes are created by recombination of observed alleles. Applications of this joint probability model offer significant improvement in frequency distribution estimates over the best existing alternative methods, as we illustrate using five-locus HLA frequency data from the National Marrow Donor Program registry. Transplant matching algorithms and disease association studies involving phasing and imputation of rare variants may benefit from this statistical inference framework.

Dissociation in decision bias mechanism between probabilistic information and previous decision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshiyuki eKaneko

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Target detection performance is known to be influenced by events in the previous trials. It has not been clear, however, whether this bias effect is due to the previous sensory stimulus, motor response, or decision. Also it remains open whether or not the previous trial effect emerges via the same mechanism as the effect of knowledge about the target probability. In the present study, we asked normal human subjects to make a decision about the presence or absence of a visual target. We presented a pre-cue indicating the target probability before the stimulus, and also a decision-response mapping cue after the stimulus so as to tease apart the effect of decision from that of motor response. We found that the target detection performance was significantly affected by the probability cue in the current trial and also by the decision in the previous trial. While the information about the target probability modulated the decision criteria, the previous decision modulated the sensitivity to target-relevant sensory signals (d-prime. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we also found that activation in the left intraparietal sulcus was decreased when the probability cue indicated a high probability of the target. By contrast, activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus was increased when the subjects made a target-present decision in the previous trial, but this change was observed specifically when the target was present in the current trial. Activation in these regions was associated with individual-difference in the decision computation parameters. We argue that the previous decision biases the target detection performance by modulating the processing of target-selective information, and this mechanism is distinct from modulation of decision criteria due to expectation of a target.

Dissociation in decision bias mechanism between probabilistic information and previous decision

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneko, Yoshiyuki; Sakai, Katsuyuki

2015-01-01

Target detection performance is known to be influenced by events in the previous trials. It has not been clear, however, whether this bias effect is due to the previous sensory stimulus, motor response, or decision. Also it remains open whether or not the previous trial effect emerges via the same mechanism as the effect of knowledge about the target probability. In the present study, we asked normal human subjects to make a decision about the presence or absence of a visual target. We presented a pre-cue indicating the target probability before the stimulus, and also a decision-response mapping cue after the stimulus so as to tease apart the effect of decision from that of motor response. We found that the target detection performance was significantly affected by the probability cue in the current trial and also by the decision in the previous trial. While the information about the target probability modulated the decision criteria, the previous decision modulated the sensitivity to target-relevant sensory signals (d-prime). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we also found that activation in the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) was decreased when the probability cue indicated a high probability of the target. By contrast, activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was increased when the subjects made a target-present decision in the previous trial, but this change was observed specifically when the target was present in the current trial. Activation in these regions was associated with individual-difference in the decision computation parameters. We argue that the previous decision biases the target detection performance by modulating the processing of target-selective information, and this mechanism is distinct from modulation of decision criteria due to expectation of a target. PMID:25999844

Modulated convection at high frequencies and large modulation amplitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swift, J.B.; Hohenberg, P.C.

1987-01-01

Modulated Rayleigh-Benard convection is analyzed for high frequencies and large modulation amplitudes. The linear theory of Gershuni and Zhukhovitskii is generalized to the nonlinear domain, and a subcritical bifurcation to convection is found in agreement with the experiments of Niemela and Donnelly. The crossover between the high-frequency (''Stokes layer'') regime and the low-frequency regime studied previously is analyzed

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance in adults with previous cardiovascular surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff, Florian; Trauzeddel, Ralf Felix; Schulz-Menger, Jeanette

2014-03-01

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a versatile non-invasive imaging modality that serves a broad spectrum of indications in clinical cardiology and has proven evidence. Most of the numerous applications are appropriate in patients with previous cardiovascular surgery in the same manner as in non-surgical subjects. However, some specifics have to be considered. This review article is intended to provide information about the application of CMR in adults with previous cardiovascular surgery. In particular, the two main scenarios, i.e. following coronary artery bypass surgery and following heart valve surgery, are highlighted. Furthermore, several pictorial descriptions of other potential indications for CMR after cardiovascular surgery are given.

Nonhomogeneous Poisson process with nonparametric frailty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slimacek, Vaclav; Lindqvist, Bo Henry

2016-01-01

The failure processes of heterogeneous repairable systems are often modeled by non-homogeneous Poisson processes. The common way to describe an unobserved heterogeneity between systems is to multiply the basic rate of occurrence of failures by a random variable (a so-called frailty) having a specified parametric distribution. Since the frailty is unobservable, the choice of its distribution is a problematic part of using these models, as are often the numerical computations needed in the estimation of these models. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a method for estimation of the parameters of a nonhomogeneous Poisson process with unobserved heterogeneity which does not require parametric assumptions about the heterogeneity and which avoids the frequently encountered numerical problems associated with the standard models for unobserved heterogeneity. The introduced method is illustrated on an example involving the power law process, and is compared to the standard gamma frailty model and to the classical model without unobserved heterogeneity. The derived results are confirmed in a simulation study which also reveals several not commonly known properties of the gamma frailty model and the classical model, and on a real life example. - Highlights: • A new method for estimation of a NHPP with frailty is introduced. • Introduced method does not require parametric assumptions about frailty. • The approach is illustrated on an example with the power law process. • The method is compared to the gamma frailty model and to the model without frailty.

Evaluating the inverse reasoning account of object discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Christopher D; Kemp, Charles

2015-06-01

People routinely make inferences about unobserved objects. A hotel guest with welts on his arms, for example, will often worry about bed bugs. The discovery of unobserved objects almost always involves a backward inference from some observed effects (e.g., welts) to unobserved causes (e.g., bed bugs). The inverse reasoning account, which is typically formalized as Bayesian inference, posits that the strength of a backward inference is closely connected to the strength of the corresponding forward inference from the unobserved causes to the observed effects. We evaluated the inverse reasoning account of object discovery in three experiments where participants were asked to discover the unobserved "attractors" and "repellers" that controlled a "particle" moving within an arena. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that participants often failed to provide the best explanations for various particle motions, even when the best explanations were simple and when participants enthusiastically endorsed these explanations when presented with them. This failure demonstrates that object discovery is critically dependent on the processes that support hypothesis generation-processes that the inverse reasoning account does not explain. Experiment 3 demonstrated that people sometimes generate explanations that are invalid even according to their own forward inferences, suggesting that the psychological processes that support forward and backward inference are less intertwined than the inverse reasoning account suggests. The experimental findings support an alternative account of object discovery in which people rely on heuristics to generate possible explanations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

R Aquarii - the large-scale optical nebula and the Mira variable position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michalitsianos, A.G.; Oliversen, R.J.; Hollis, J.M.; Kafatos, M.; Crull, H.E.

1988-01-01

The R Aquarii symbiotic star system is surrounded by a large-scale optical nebula. Observations of the nebular forbidden O III structure are presented and its morphological significance are discussed in context with previously observed small-scale radio-continuum features, which may be related. It is suggested that a precessing accretion disk may explain the global features of both the large-scale optical emission and the small-scale radio emission. Moreover, an accurate position has been determined of the system's Mira, which suggests that a recent theoretical model, yielding an egg-shaped central H II region for symbiotic systems with certain physical parameters, may apply to R Aquarii. The optical position of the 387 d period Mira variable is consistent with previous findings in the radio, that SiO maser emission is far removed from the Mira photosphere. 25 references

Market size and attendance in English Premier League football

OpenAIRE

Buraimo, B; Simmons, R

2006-01-01

This paper models the impacts of market size and team competition for fan base on matchday attendance in the English Premier League over the period 1997-2004 using a large panel data set. We construct a comprehensive set of control variables and use tobit estimation to overcome the problems caused by sell-out crowds. We also account for unobserved influences on attendance by means of random effects attached to home teams. Our treatment of market size, with its use of Geographical Information ...

A Bayesian Analysis of Unobserved Component Models Using Ox

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles S. Bos

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This article details a Bayesian analysis of the Nile river flow data, using a similar state space model as other articles in this volume. For this data set, Metropolis-Hastings and Gibbs sampling algorithms are implemented in the programming language Ox. These Markov chain Monte Carlo methods only provide output conditioned upon the full data set. For filtered output, conditioning only on past observations, the particle filter is introduced. The sampling methods are flexible, and this advantage is used to extend the model to incorporate a stochastic volatility process. The volatility changes both in the Nile data and also in daily S&P 500 return data are investigated. The posterior density of parameters and states is found to provide information on which elements of the model are easily identifiable, and which elements are estimated with less precision.

Accounting for unobserved management in renewable energy and growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menegaki, Angeliki N.

2013-01-01

The paper employs a management random parameters frontier stochastic frontier and a simple frontier stochastic model to benchmark European countries according to their management efficiency in growth and renewable energy development. The results come from an empirical application of a panel with 31 European countries over a 14 year old period using a translog type stochastic frontier production function. In particular the paper focuses on results from a management random coefficients model and compares results with the conventional stochastic frontier model with inputs such as renewable energy, fossil fuel energy, employment and capital. The results suggest that the interaction of renewable energy with management affects growth in Europe and that the technical efficiency estimated by the management model is by 6.05% higher than the one produced by the simple stochastic frontier model. - Highlights: • Application of management random coefficients frontier model in growth-renewable energy nexus. • Comparison with the simple frontier efficiency model. • Technical efficiency is higher by 6.05% in the management model

Previously unreported abnormalities in Wolfram Syndrome Type 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Akturk, Halis Kaan; Yasa, Seda

2017-01-01

Wolfram syndrome (WFS) is a rare autosomal recessive disease with non-autoimmune childhood onset insulin dependent diabetes and optic atrophy. WFS type 2 (WFS2) differs from WFS type 1 (WFS1) with upper intestinal ulcers, bleeding tendency and the lack ofdiabetes insipidus. Li-fespan is short due to related comorbidities. Only a few familieshave been reported with this syndrome with the CISD2 mutation. Here we report two siblings with a clinical diagnosis of WFS2, previously misdiagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy-related blindness. We report possible additional clinical and laboratory findings that have not been pre-viously reported, such as asymptomatic hypoparathyroidism, osteomalacia, growth hormone (GH) deficiency and hepatomegaly. Even though not a requirement for the diagnosis of WFS2 currently, our case series confirm hypogonadotropic hypogonadism to be also a feature of this syndrome, as reported before. © Polish Society for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology.

Evaluation of Mobile Phones for Large Display Interaction

OpenAIRE

Bauer, Jens; Thelen, Sebastian; Ebert, Achim

2012-01-01

Large displays have become more and more common in the last few years. While interaction with these displays can be conducted using standard methods such as computer mouse and keyboard, this approach causes issues in multi-user environments, where the various conditions for providing multiple keyboards and mice, together with the facilities to employ them, cannot be met. To solve this problem, interaction using mobile phones was proposed by several authors. Previous solutions were specialized...

The global magnitude-frequency relationship for large explosive volcanic eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Rougier, Jonathan; Sparks, R. Stephen J.; Cashman, Katharine V.; Brown, Sarah K.

2018-01-01

For volcanoes, as for other natural hazards, the frequency of large events diminishes with their magnitude, as captured by the magnitude-frequency relationship. Assessing this relationship is valuable both for the insights it provides about volcanism, and for the practical challenge of risk management. We derive a global magnitude-frequency relationship for explosive volcanic eruptions of at least 300Mt of erupted mass (or M4.5). Our approach is essentially empirical, based on the eruptions recorded in the LaMEVE database. It differs from previous approaches mainly in our conservative treatment of magnitude-rounding and under-recording. Our estimate for the return period of 'super-eruptions' (1000Gt, or M8) is 17ka (95% CI: 5.2ka, 48ka), which is substantially shorter than previous estimates, indicating that volcanoes pose a larger risk to human civilisation than previously thought.

Outcome Of Pregnancy Following A Previous Lower Segment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: A previous ceasarean section is an important variable that influences patient management in subsequent pregnancies. A trial of vaginal delivery in such patients is a feasible alternative to a secondary section, thus aiding to reduce the ceasarean section rate and its associated co-morbidities. Objective: To ...

Cryptococcal meningitis in a previously healthy child | Chimowa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

An 8-year-old previously healthy female presented with a 3 weeks history of headache, neck stiffness, deafness, fever and vomiting and was diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis. She had documented hearing loss and was referred to tertiary-level care after treatment with fluconazole did not improve her neurological ...

24 CFR 1710.552 - Previously accepted state filings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... of Substantially Equivalent State Law § 1710.552 Previously accepted state filings. (a) Materials... and contracts or agreements contain notice of purchaser's revocation rights. In addition see § 1715.15..., unless the developer is obligated to do so in the contract. (b) If any such filing becomes inactive or...

Sudden unexpected death in children with a previously diagnosed cardiovascular disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Polderman, Florens N.; Cohen, Joeri; Blom, Nico A.; Delhaas, Tammo; Helbing, Wim A.; Lam, Jan; Sobotka-Plojhar, Marta A.; Temmerman, Arno M.; Sreeram, Narayanswani

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: It is known that children with previously diagnosed heart defects die suddenly. The causes of death are often unknown. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to identify all infants and children within the Netherlands with previously diagnosed heart disease who had a sudden unexpected death

Sudden unexpected death in children with a previously diagnosed cardiovascular disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Polderman, F.N.; Cohen, Joeri; Blom, N.A.; Delhaas, T.; Helbing, W.A.; Lam, J.; Sobotka-Plojhar, M.A.; Temmerman, Arno M.; Sreeram, N.

2004-01-01

Background: It is known that children with previously diagnosed heart defects die suddenly. The causes of death are often unknown. Objective: The aim of the study was to identify all infants and children within the Netherlands with previously diagnosed heart disease who had a sudden unexpected death

75 FR 20933 - Airworthiness Directives; Arrow Falcon Exporters, Inc. (previously Utah State University...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-22

... Hawkins and Powers Aviation, Inc.); S.M.&T. Aircraft (previously US Helicopters, Inc., UNC Helicopter, Inc... Joaquin Helicopters (previously Hawkins and Powers Aviation, Inc.); S.M.&T. Aircraft (previously US...

First Very Large Telescope/X-shooter spectroscopy of early-type stars outside the Local Group

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartoog, O.E.; Sana, H.; de Koter, A.; Kaper, L.

2012-01-01

As part of the Very Large Telescope (VLT)/X-shooter science verification, we obtained the first optical medium-resolution spectrum of a previously identified bright O-type object in NGC 55, a Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)-like galaxy at a distance of ∼2.0 Mpc. Based on the stellar and nebular

On the relativistic large-angle electron collision operator for runaway avalanches in plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Embréus, O.; Stahl, A.; Fülöp, T.

2018-02-01

Large-angle Coulomb collisions lead to an avalanching generation of runaway electrons in a plasma. We present the first fully conservative large-angle collision operator, derived from the relativistic Boltzmann operator. The relation to previous models for large-angle collisions is investigated, and their validity assessed. We present a form of the generalized collision operator which is suitable for implementation in a numerical kinetic equation solver, and demonstrate the effect on the runaway-electron growth rate. Finally we consider the reverse avalanche effect, where runaways are slowed down by large-angle collisions, and show that the choice of operator is important if the electric field is close to the avalanche threshold.

Separation of large DNA molecules by applying pulsed electric field to size exclusion chromatography-based microchip

Science.gov (United States)

Azuma, Naoki; Itoh, Shintaro; Fukuzawa, Kenji; Zhang, Hedong

2018-02-01

Through electrophoresis driven by a pulsed electric field, we succeeded in separating large DNA molecules with an electrophoretic microchip based on size exclusion chromatography (SEC), which was proposed in our previous study. The conditions of the pulsed electric field required to achieve the separation were determined by numerical analyses using our originally proposed separation model. From the numerical results, we succeeded in separating large DNA molecules (λ DNA and T4 DNA) within 1600 s, which was approximately half of that achieved under a direct electric field in our previous study. Our SEC-based electrophoresis microchip will be one of the effective tools to meet the growing demand of faster and more convenient separation of large DNA molecules, especially in the field of epidemiological research of infectious diseases.

40 CFR 152.93 - Citation of a previously submitted valid study.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Data Submitters' Rights § 152.93 Citation of a previously submitted valid study. An applicant may demonstrate compliance for a data requirement by citing a valid study previously submitted to the Agency. The... the original data submitter, the applicant may cite the study only in accordance with paragraphs (b...

Investigation of previously derived Hyades, Coma, and M67 reddenings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, B.J.

1980-01-01

New Hyades polarimetry and field star photometry have been obtained to check the Hyades reddening, which was found to be nonzero in a previous paper. The new Hyades polarimetry implies essentially zero reddening; this is also true of polarimetry published by Behr (which was incorrectly interpreted in the previous paper). Four photometric techniques which are presumed to be insensitive to blanketing are used to compare the Hyades to nearby field stars; these four techniques also yield essentially zero reddening. When all of these results are combined with others which the author has previously published and a simultaneous solution for the Hyades, Coma, and M67 reddenings is made, the results are E (B-V) =3 +- 2 (sigma) mmag, -1 +- 3 (sigma) mmag, and 46 +- 6 (sigma) mmag, respectively. No support for a nonzero Hyades reddening is offered by the new results. When the newly obtained reddenings for the Hyades, Coma, and M67 are compared with results from techniques given by Crawford and by users of the David Dunlap Observatory photometric system, no differences between the new and other reddenings are found which are larger than about 2 sigma. The author had previously found that the M67 main-sequence stars have about the same blanketing as that of Coma and less blanketing than the Hyades; this conclusion is essentially unchanged by the revised reddenings

Process cells dismantling of EUREX pant: previous activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gili, M.

1998-01-01

In the '98-'99 period some process cells of the EUREX pant will be dismantled, in order to place there the liquid wastes conditioning plant 'CORA'. This report resumes the previous activities (plant rinsing campaigns and inactive Cell 014 dismantling), run in the past three years and the drawn experience [it

75 FR 39143 - Airworthiness Directives; Arrow Falcon Exporters, Inc. (previously Utah State University); AST...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-08

... (previously Precision Helicopters, LLC); Robinson Air Crane, Inc.; San Joaquin Helicopters (previously Hawkins... (Previously Hawkins & Powers Aviation); S.M. &T. Aircraft (Previously Us Helicopter Inc., UNC Helicopters, Inc...

Inference in randomized trials with death and missingness.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chenguang; Scharfstein, Daniel O; Colantuoni, Elizabeth; Girard, Timothy D; Yan, Ying

2017-06-01

In randomized studies involving severely ill patients, functional outcomes are often unobserved due to missed clinic visits, premature withdrawal, or death. It is well known that if these unobserved functional outcomes are not handled properly, biased treatment comparisons can be produced. In this article, we propose a procedure for comparing treatments that is based on a composite endpoint that combines information on both the functional outcome and survival. We further propose a missing data imputation scheme and sensitivity analysis strategy to handle the unobserved functional outcomes not due to death. Illustrations of the proposed method are given by analyzing data from a recent non-small cell lung cancer clinical trial and a recent trial of sedation interruption among mechanically ventilated patients. © 2016, The International Biometric Society.

Contribution of large scale coherence to wind turbine power: A large eddy simulation study in periodic wind farms

Science.gov (United States)

Chatterjee, Tanmoy; Peet, Yulia T.

2018-03-01

Length scales of eddies involved in the power generation of infinite wind farms are studied by analyzing the spectra of the turbulent flux of mean kinetic energy (MKE) from large eddy simulations (LES). Large-scale structures with an order of magnitude bigger than the turbine rotor diameter (D ) are shown to have substantial contribution to wind power. Varying dynamics in the intermediate scales (D -10 D ) are also observed from a parametric study involving interturbine distances and hub height of the turbines. Further insight about the eddies responsible for the power generation have been provided from the scaling analysis of two-dimensional premultiplied spectra of MKE flux. The LES code is developed in a high Reynolds number near-wall modeling framework, using an open-source spectral element code Nek5000, and the wind turbines have been modelled using a state-of-the-art actuator line model. The LES of infinite wind farms have been validated against the statistical results from the previous literature. The study is expected to improve our understanding of the complex multiscale dynamics in the domain of large wind farms and identify the length scales that contribute to the power. This information can be useful for design of wind farm layout and turbine placement that take advantage of the large-scale structures contributing to wind turbine power.

Obstructive pulmonary disease in patients with previous tuberculosis ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Obstructive pulmonary disease in patients with previous tuberculosis: Pathophysiology of a community-based cohort. B.W. Allwood, R Gillespie, M Galperin-Aizenberg, M Bateman, H Olckers, L Taborda-Barata, G.L. Calligaro, Q Said-Hartley, R van Zyl-Smit, C.B. Cooper, E van Rikxoort, J Goldin, N Beyers, E.D. Bateman ...

Vortex-ring-induced large bubble entrainment during drop impact

KAUST Repository

Thoraval, Marie-Jean

2016-03-29

For a limited set of impact conditions, a drop impacting onto a pool can entrap an air bubble as large as its own size. The subsequent rise and rupture of this large bubble plays an important role in aerosol formation and gas transport at the air-sea interface. The large bubble is formed when the impact crater closes up near the pool surface and is known to occur only for drops that are prolate at impact. Herein we use experiments and numerical simulations to show that a concentrated vortex ring, produced in the neck between the drop and the pool, controls the crater deformations and pinchoff. However, it is not the strongest vortex rings that are responsible for the large bubbles, as they interact too strongly with the pool surface and self-destruct. Rather, it is somewhat weaker vortices that can deform the deeper craters, which manage to pinch off the large bubbles. These observations also explain why the strongest and most penetrating vortex rings emerging from drop impacts are not produced by oblate drops but by more prolate drop shapes, as had been observed in previous experiments.

Foreign Firms, Domestic Wages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Malchow-Møller, Nikolaj; Markusen, James R.; Schjerning, Bertel

to the firm?s productivity. Foreign-owned firms have, on average, higher productivity in equilibrium due to entry costs, which means that low-productivity foreign firms cannot enter. Foreign firms have higher wage growth and, with some exceptions, pay higher average wages, but not when compared to similarly...... large domestic firms. The empirical implications of the model are tested on matched employer-employee data from Denmark. Consistent with the theory, we find considerable evidence of higher wages and wage growth in large and/or foreign-owned firms. These effects survive controlling for individual...... characteristics, but, as expected, are reduced significantly when controlling for unobservable firm heterogeneity. Furthermore, acquired skills in foreign-owned and large firms appear to be transferable to both subsequent wage work and self-employment...

Matched cohort study of external cephalic version in women with previous cesarean delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Keepanasseril, Anish; Anand, Keerthana; Soundara Raghavan, Subrahmanian

2017-07-01

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of external cephalic version (ECV) among women with previous cesarean delivery. A retrospective study was conducted using data for women with previous cesarean delivery and breech presentation who underwent ECV at or after 36 weeks of pregnancy during 2011-2016. For every case, two multiparous women without previous cesarean delivery who underwent ECV and were matched for age and pregnancy duration were included. Characteristics and outcomes were compared between groups. ECV was successful for 32 (84.2%) of 38 women with previous cesarean delivery and 62 (81.6%) in the control group (P=0.728). Multivariate regression analysis confirmed that previous cesarean was not associated with ECV success (odds ratio 1.89, 95% confidence interval 0.19-18.47; P=0.244). Successful vaginal delivery after successful ECV was reported for 19 (59.4%) women in the previous cesarean delivery group and 52 (83.9%) in the control group (P<0.001). No ECV-associated complications occurred in women with previous cesarean delivery. To avoid a repeat cesarean delivery, ECV can be offered to women with breech presentation and previous cesarean delivery who are otherwise eligible for a trial of labor. © 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Attribute and topology based change detection in a constellation of previously detected objects

Science.gov (United States)

Paglieroni, David W.; Beer, Reginald N.

2016-01-19

A system that applies attribute and topology based change detection to networks of objects that were detected on previous scans of a structure, roadway, or area of interest. The attributes capture properties or characteristics of the previously detected objects, such as location, time of detection, size, elongation, orientation, etc. The topology of the network of previously detected objects is maintained in a constellation database that stores attributes of previously detected objects and implicitly captures the geometrical structure of the network. A change detection system detects change by comparing the attributes and topology of new objects detected on the latest scan to the constellation database of previously detected objects.

Outcomes With Edoxaban Versus Warfarin in Patients With Previous Cerebrovascular Events

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rost, Natalia S; Giugliano, Robert P; Ruff, Christian T

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with atrial fibrillation and previous ischemic stroke (IS)/transient ischemic attack (TIA) are at high risk of recurrent cerebrovascular events despite anticoagulation. In this prespecified subgroup analysis, we compared warfarin with edoxaban in patients with ver......BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with atrial fibrillation and previous ischemic stroke (IS)/transient ischemic attack (TIA) are at high risk of recurrent cerebrovascular events despite anticoagulation. In this prespecified subgroup analysis, we compared warfarin with edoxaban in patients...... with versus without previous IS/TIA. METHODS: ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 (Effective Anticoagulation With Factor Xa Next Generation in Atrial Fibrillation-Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 48) was a double-blind trial of 21 105 patients with atrial fibrillation randomized to warfarin (international normalized ratio......). Because only HDER is approved, we focused on the comparison of HDER versus warfarin. RESULTS: Of 5973 (28.3%) patients with previous IS/TIA, 67% had CHADS2 (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age, diabetes, prior stroke/transient ischemic attack) >3 and 36% were ≥75 years. Compared with 15 132...

Efficiency effects of quality of service and environmental factors. Experience from Norwegian electricity distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Growitsch, Christian [WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut fuer Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH, Bad Honnef (Germany). Dept. of Energy Markets and Energy Regulation; Jamasb, Tooraj [Edinburgh Univ. (United Kingdom). Dept. of Economics; Wetzel, Heike [Cologne Univ. (Germany). Dept. of Economics

2010-08-15

Since the 1990s, efficiency and benchmarking analysis has increasingly been used in network utilities research and regulation. A recurrent concern is the effect of environmental factors that are beyond the influence of firms (observable heterogeneity) and factors that are not identifiable (unobserved heterogeneity) on measured cost and quality performance of firms. This paper analyses the effect of geographic and weather factors and unobserved heterogeneity on a set of 128 Norwegian electricity distribution utilities for the 2001-2004 period. We utilize data on almost 100 geographic and weather variables to identify real economic inefficiency while controlling for observable and unobserved heterogeneity. We use the factor analysis technique to reduce the number of environmental factors into few composite variables and to avoid the problem of multicollinearity. We then estimate the established stochastic frontier models of Battese and Coelli (1992; 1995) and the recent true fixed effects models of Greene (2004; 2005) without and with environmental variables. In the former models some composite environmental variables have a significant effect on the performance of utilities. These effects vanish in the true fixed effects models. However, the latter models capture the entire unobserved heterogeneity and therefore show significantly higher average efficiency scores. (orig.)

Validation of SWAT+ at field level and comparison with previous SWAT models in simulating hydrologic quantity

Science.gov (United States)

GAO, J.; White, M. J.; Bieger, K.; Yen, H.; Arnold, J. G.

2017-12-01

Over the past 20 years, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has been adopted by many researches to assess water quantity and quality in watersheds around the world. As the demand increases in facilitating model support, maintenance, and future development, the SWAT source code and data have undergone major modifications over the past few years. To make the model more flexible in terms of interactions of spatial units and processes occurring in watersheds, a completely revised version of SWAT (SWAT+) was developed to improve SWAT's ability in water resource modelling and management. There are only several applications of SWAT+ in large watersheds, however, no study pays attention to validate the new model at field level and assess its performance. To test the basic hydrologic function of SWAT+, it was implemented in five field cases across five states in the U.S. and compared the SWAT+ created results with that from the previous models at the same fields. Additionally, an automatic calibration tool was used to test which model is easier to be calibrated well in a limited number of parameter adjustments. The goal of the study was to evaluate the performance of SWAT+ in simulating stream flow on field level at different geographical locations. The results demonstrate that SWAT+ demonstrated similar performance with previous SWAT model, but the flexibility offered by SWAT+ via the connection of different spatial objects can result in a more accurate simulation of hydrological processes in spatial, especially for watershed with artificial facilities. Autocalibration shows that SWAT+ is much easier to obtain a satisfied result compared with the previous SWAT. Although many capabilities have already been enhanced in SWAT+, there exist inaccuracies in simulation. This insufficiency will be improved with advancements in scientific knowledge on hydrologic process in specific watersheds. Currently, SWAT+ is prerelease, and any errors are being addressed.

75 FR 66009 - Airworthiness Directives; Cessna Aircraft Company (Type Certificate Previously Held by Columbia...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-27

... Company (Type Certificate Previously Held by Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing (Previously the Lancair... Company (Type Certificate Previously Held by Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing (Previously The Lancair...-15895. Applicability (c) This AD applies to the following Cessna Aircraft Company (type certificate...

Streaming Parallel GPU Acceleration of Large-Scale filter-based Spiking Neural Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.P. Slazynski (Leszek); S.M. Bohte (Sander)

2012-01-01

htmlabstractThe arrival of graphics processing (GPU) cards suitable for massively parallel computing promises a↵ordable large-scale neural network simulation previously only available at supercomputing facil- ities. While the raw numbers suggest that GPUs may outperform CPUs by at least an order of

Randomized Phase II Study of R-CHOP With or Without Bortezomib in Previously Untreated Patients With Non-Germinal Center B-Cell-Like Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, John P; Kolibaba, Kathryn S; Reeves, James A; Tulpule, Anil; Flinn, Ian W; Kolevska, Tatjana; Robles, Robert; Flowers, Christopher R; Collins, Robert; DiBella, Nicholas J; Papish, Steven W; Venugopal, Parameswaran; Horodner, Andrew; Tabatabai, Amir; Hajdenberg, Julio; Park, Jaehong; Neuwirth, Rachel; Mulligan, George; Suryanarayan, Kaveri; Esseltine, Dixie-Lee; de Vos, Sven

2017-11-01

Purpose To evaluate the impact of the addition of bortezomib to rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) on outcomes in previously untreated patients with non-germinal center B-cell-like (non-GCB) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Patients and Methods After real-time determination of non-GCB DLBCL using the Hans immunohistochemistry algorithm, 206 patients were randomly assigned (1:1; stratified by International Prognostic Index [IPI] score) to six 21-day cycles of standard R-CHOP alone or R-CHOP plus bortezomib 1.3 mg/m 2 intravenously on days 1 and 4 (VR-CHOP). The primary end point, progression-free survival (PFS), was evaluated in 183 patients with centrally confirmed non-GCB DLBCL who received one or more doses of study drug (91 R-CHOP, 92 VR-CHOP). Results After a median follow-up of 34 months, with 25% (R-CHOP) and 18% (VR-CHOP) of patients having had PFS events, the hazard ratio (HR) for PFS was 0.73 (90% CI, 0.43 to 1.24) with VR-CHOP ( P = .611). Two-year PFS rates were 77.6% with R-CHOP and 82.0% with VR-CHOP; they were 65.1% versus 72.4% in patients with high-intermediate/high IPI (HR, 0.67; 90% CI, 0.34 to 1.29), and 90.0% versus 88.9% (HR, 0.85; 90% CI, 0.35 to 2.10) in patients with low/low-intermediate IPI. Overall response rate with R-CHOP and VR-CHOP was 98% and 96%, respectively. The overall survival HR was 0.75 (90% CI, 0.38 to 1.45); 2-year survival rates were 88.4% and 93.0%, respectively. In the safety population (100 R-CHOP and 101 VR-CHOP patients), grade ≥ 3 adverse events included neutropenia (53% v 49%), thrombocytopenia (13% v 29%), anemia (7% v 15%), leukopenia (26% v 25%), and neuropathy (1% v 5%). Conclusion Outcomes for newly diagnosed, prospectively enrolled patients with non-GCB DLBCL were more favorable than expected with R-CHOP and were not significantly improved by adding bortezomib.

[Fatal amnioinfusion with previous choriocarcinoma in a parturient woman].

Science.gov (United States)

Hrgović, Z; Bukovic, D; Mrcela, M; Hrgović, I; Siebzehnrübl, E; Karelovic, D

2004-04-01

The case of 36-year-old tercipare is described who developed choriocharcinoma in a previous pregnancy. During the first term labour the patient developed cardiac arrest, so reanimation and sectio cesarea was performed. A male new-born was delivered in good condition, but even after intensive therapy and reanimation occurred death of parturient woman with picture of disseminate intravascular coagulopathia (DIK). On autopsy and on histology there was no sign of malignant disease, so it was not possible to connect previous choricarcinoma with amniotic fluid embolism. Maybe was place of choriocarcinoma "locus minoris resistentiae" which later resulted with failure in placentation what was hard to prove. On autopsy we found embolia of lung with a microthrombosis of terminal circulation with punctiformis bleeding in mucous, what stands for DIK.

The Impact of Health Changes on Labor Supply: Evidence from Merged Data on Individual Objective Medical Diagnosis Codes and Early Retirement Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Bent Jesper; Kallestrup-Lamb, Malene

2012-01-01

The justification bias in the estimated impact of health shocks on retirement is mitigated by using objective health measures from a large, register-based longitudinal data set including medical diagnosis codes, along with labor market status, financial, and socio-economic variables. The duration...... until retirement is modeled using single and competing risk specifications, observed and unobserved heterogeneity, and flexible baseline hazards. Wealth is used as a proxy for elapsed duration to mitigate the potential selection bias stemming from conditioning on initial participation. The competing...

Nonparametric Identification and Estimation of Finite Mixture Models of Dynamic Discrete Choices

OpenAIRE

Hiroyuki Kasahara; Katsumi Shimotsu

2006-01-01

In dynamic discrete choice analysis, controlling for unobserved heterogeneity is an important issue, and finite mixture models provide flexible ways to account for unobserved heterogeneity. This paper studies nonparametric identifiability of type probabilities and type-specific component distributions in finite mixture models of dynamic discrete choices. We derive sufficient conditions for nonparametric identification for various finite mixture models of dynamic discrete choices used in appli...

A Theory of Liquidity and Regulation of Financial Intermediation

OpenAIRE

Emmanuel Farhi; Mikhail Golosov; Aleh Tsyvinski

2009-01-01

This paper studies a mechanism design model of financial intermediation. There are two informational frictions: agents receive unobservable shocks and can participate in markets by engaging in trades unobservable to intermediaries. Without regulations, intermediaries provide no risk sharing because of an externality arising from arbitrage opportunities. We identify a simple regulation -- a liquidity requirement -- that corrects such an externality by affecting the interest rate on the markets...

Life style segmentation in a cross-cultural perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Carsten Stig; Juhl, Hans Jørn

1997-01-01

This paper describes some problemes in doing cross-country, comparative research, involving observed as well as unobserved heterogeneity. The setting is life style segmentation, but the arguments cover a mush broader area.......This paper describes some problemes in doing cross-country, comparative research, involving observed as well as unobserved heterogeneity. The setting is life style segmentation, but the arguments cover a mush broader area....

Quasi-stable injection channels in a wakefield accelerator

CERN Document Server

Wiltshire-Turkay, Mara; Pukhov, Alexander

2016-01-01

Particle-driven plasma-wakefield acceleration is a promising alternative to conventional electron acceleration techniques, potentially allowing electron acceleration to energies orders of magnitude higher than can currently be achieved. In this work we investigate the dependence of the energy gain on the position at which electrons are injected into the wake. Test particle simulations show previously unobserved complex structure in the parameter space, with quasi-stable injection channels forming for particles injected in narrow regions away from the centre of the wake. The result is relevant to the planning and tuning of experiments making use of external injection.

Jump chaotic behaviour of ultra low loss bulk acoustic wave cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goryachev, Maxim, E-mail: maxim.goryachev@uwa.edu.au; Farr, Warrick G.; Tobar, Michael E. [ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009 (Australia); Galliou, Serge [Department of Time and Frequency, FEMTO-ST Institute, ENSMM, 26 Chemin de l' Épitaphe 25000 Besançon (France)

2014-08-11

We demonstrate a previously unobserved nonlinear phenomenon in an ultra-low loss quartz bulk acoustic wave cavity (Q>3>10{sup 9}), which only occurs below 20 mK in temperature and under relatively weak pumping. The phenomenon reveals the emergence of several stable equilibria (at least two foci and two nodes) and jumps between these quasi states at random times. The degree of this randomness as well as separations between levels can be controlled by the frequency of the incident carrier signal. It is demonstrated that the nature of the effect lies beyond the standard Duffing model.

Long-Lived Ultracold Molecules with Electric and Magnetic Dipole Moments

Science.gov (United States)

Rvachov, Timur M.; Son, Hyungmok; Sommer, Ariel T.; Ebadi, Sepehr; Park, Juliana J.; Zwierlein, Martin W.; Ketterle, Wolfgang; Jamison, Alan O.

2017-10-01

We create fermionic dipolar 23Na 6Li molecules in their triplet ground state from an ultracold mixture of 23Na and 6Li. Using magnetoassociation across a narrow Feshbach resonance followed by a two-photon stimulated Raman adiabatic passage to the triplet ground state, we produce 3 ×1 04 ground state molecules in a spin-polarized state. We observe a lifetime of 4.6 s in an isolated molecular sample, approaching the p -wave universal rate limit. Electron spin resonance spectroscopy of the triplet state was used to determine the hyperfine structure of this previously unobserved molecular state.

12C+16O sub-barrier radiative capture cross-section measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goasduff, A.; Courtin, S.; Haas, F.; Beck, C.; Lebhertz, D.; Jenkins, D.G.; Fallis, J.; Ruiz, C.; Hutcheon, D.A.; Amandruz, P.A.; Davis, C.; Hager, U.; Ottewell, D.; Ruprecht, G.

2011-01-01

We have performed a heavy ion radiative capture reaction between two light heavy ions, 12 C and 16 O, leading to 28 Si. The present experiment has been performed below Coulomb barrier energies in order to reduce the phase space and to try to shed light on structural effects. Obtained γ-spectra display a previously unobserved strong feeding of intermediate states around 11 MeV at these energies. This new decay branch is not fully reproduced by statistical nor semi-statistical decay scenarios and may imply structural effects. Radiative capture cross-sections are extracted from the data. (authors)

Variant of Coffin-Siris syndrome or previously undescribed syndrome?

Science.gov (United States)

Braun-Quentin, C; Kapferer, L; Kotzot, D

1996-09-06

We describe a 23-year-old woman with growth and mental retardation, hypoplasia of the nails and distal phalanges, particularly of the fifth fingers and toes, hirsutism, and a "coarse" face with large mouth and large tongue, and bushy eyebrows. Follow-up from birth to adulthood showed that developmental delay and hypoplasia of nails and distal phalanges are permanent signs. Sparse scalp hair, hypotonia, and feeding difficulties were present in early infancy. Later, growth retardation, hirsutism, and a "coarse" face with midface hypoplasia, broad nose, and large mouth became more impressive. Differential diagnosis includes a number of conditions, particularly Coffin-Siris syndrome, which is the most likely but not completely convincing diagnosis. Therefore, this woman might represent a variant of Coffin-Siris syndrome or a new entity.

Numerical simulation of the shot peening process under previous loading conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero-Ángeles, B; Urriolagoitia-Sosa, G; Torres-San Miguel, C R; Molina-Ballinas, A; Benítez-García, H A; Vargas-Bustos, J A; Urriolagoitia-Calderón, G

2015-01-01

This research presents a numerical simulation of the shot peening process and determines the residual stress field induced into a component with a previous loading history. The importance of this analysis is based on the fact that mechanical elements under shot peening are also subjected to manufacturing processes, which convert raw material into finished product. However, material is not provided in a virgin state, it has a previous loading history caused by the manner it is fabricated. This condition could alter some beneficial aspects of the residual stress induced by shot peening and could accelerate the crack nucleation and propagation progression. Studies were performed in beams subjected to strain hardening in tension (5ε y ) before shot peening was applied. Latter results were then compared in a numerical assessment of an induced residual stress field by shot peening carried out in a component (beam) without any previous loading history. In this paper, it is clearly shown the detrimental or beneficial effect that previous loading history can bring to the mechanical component and how it can be controlled to improve the mechanical behavior of the material

Does previous use affect litter box appeal in multi-cat households?

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, J J; McGowan, R T S; Martin, F

2017-08-01

It is commonly assumed that cats actively avoid eliminated materials (especially in multi-cat homes), suggesting regular litter box cleaning as the best defense against out-of-box elimination. The relationship between previous use and litter box appeal to familiar subsequent users is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between previous litter box use and the identity of the previous user, type of elimination, odor, and presence of physical/visual obstructions in a multi-cat household scenario. Cats preferred a clean litter box to a dirty one, but the identity of the previous user had no impact on preferences. While the presence of odor from urine and/or feces did not impact litter box preferences, the presence of odorless faux-urine and/or feces did - with the presence of faux-feces being preferred over faux-urine. Results suggest neither malodor nor chemical communication play a role in litter box preferences, and instead emphasize the importance of regular removal of physical/visual obstructions as the key factor in promoting proper litter box use. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DIRAC in Large Particle Physics Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Stagni, F.; Tsaregorodtsev, A.; Arrabito, L.; Sailer, A.; Hara, T.; Zhang, X.; Consortium, DIRAC

2017-10-01

The DIRAC project is developing interware to build and operate distributed computing systems. It provides a development framework and a rich set of services for both Workload and Data Management tasks of large scientific communities. A number of High Energy Physics and Astrophysics collaborations have adopted DIRAC as the base for their computing models. DIRAC was initially developed for the LHCb experiment at LHC, CERN. Later, the Belle II, BES III and CTA experiments as well as the linear collider detector collaborations started using DIRAC for their computing systems. Some of the experiments built their DIRAC-based systems from scratch, others migrated from previous solutions, ad-hoc or based on different middlewares. Adaptation of DIRAC for a particular experiment was enabled through the creation of extensions to meet their specific requirements. Each experiment has a heterogeneous set of computing and storage resources at their disposal that were aggregated through DIRAC into a coherent pool. Users from different experiments can interact with the system in different ways depending on their specific tasks, expertise level and previous experience using command line tools, python APIs or Web Portals. In this contribution we will summarize the experience of using DIRAC in particle physics collaborations. The problems of migration to DIRAC from previous systems and their solutions will be presented. An overview of specific DIRAC extensions will be given. We hope that this review will be useful for experiments considering an update, or for those designing their computing models.

Student Engagement at a Large Suburban Community College: Gender and Race Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Sontam, Varalakshmi; Gabriel, George

2012-01-01

Previous research shows that there are individual differences in academic achievement associated with gender and race. Research also suggests that student engagement is an important determinant of student outcomes/achievement. The present study explored student engagement at an extra-large community college. It specifically investigated possible…

The influence of previous subject experience on interactions during peer instruction in an introductory physics course: A mixed methods analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Vondruska, Judy A.

Over the past decade, peer instruction and the introduction of student response systems has provided a means of improving student engagement and achievement in large-lecture settings. While the nature of the student discourse occurring during peer instruction is less understood, existing studies have shown student ideas about the subject, extraneous cues, and confidence level appear to matter in the student-student discourse. Using a mixed methods research design, this study examined the influence of previous subject experience on peer instruction in an introductory, one-semester Survey of Physics course. Quantitative results indicated students in discussion pairs where both had previous subject experience were more likely to answer clicker question correctly both before and after peer discussion compared to student groups where neither partner had previous subject experience. Students in mixed discussion pairs were not statistically different in correct response rates from the other pairings. There was no statistically significant difference between the experience pairs on unit exam scores or the Peer Instruction Partner Survey. Although there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-MPEX and post-MPEX scores, there was no difference between the members of the various subject experience peer discussion pairs. The qualitative study, conducted after the quantitative study, helped to inform the quantitative results by exploring the nature of the peer interactions through survey questions and a series of focus groups discussions. While the majority of participants described a benefit to the use of clickers in the lecture, their experience with their discussion partners varied. Students with previous subject experience tended to describe peer instruction more positively than students who did not have previous subject experience, regardless of the experience level of their partner. They were also more likely to report favorable levels of comfort with

Disparities in Diabetes Care Quality by English Language Preference in Community Health Centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Lucinda B; Vargas-Bustamante, Arturo; Martinez, Ana E; Chen, Xiao; Rodriguez, Hector P

2018-02-01

To conduct a parallel analysis of disparities in diabetes care quality among Latino and Asian community health center (CHC) patients by English language preference. Clinical outcomes (2011) and patient survey data (2012) for Type 2 diabetes adults from 14 CHCs (n = 1,053). We estimated separate regression models for Latino and Asian patients by English language preference for Clinician & Group-Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System, Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care, hemoglobin A1c, and self-reported hypoglycemic events. We used the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method to parse out observed and unobserved differences in outcomes between English versus non-English language groups. After adjusting for socioeconomic and health characteristics, disparities in patient experiences by English language preference were found only among Asian patients. Unobserved factors largely accounted for linguistic disparities for most patient experience measures. There were no significant differences in glycemic control by language for either Latino or Asian patients. Given the importance of patient retention in CHCs, our findings indicate opportunities to improve CHC patients' experiences of care and to reduce disparities in patient experience by English preference for Asian diabetes patients. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

The effect of family member migration on education and work among nonmigrant youth in Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Halpern-Manners, Andrew

2011-02-01

While academic and policy circles have given much attention to the assimilatory experiences of Mexican immigrants in the United States, less is known about those who stay behind-an especially unfortunate oversight given the increasing number of Mexican youth with migrant family members. Of the studies on this topic, most have sought to identify the effect that migration has on youths' migratory and educational aspirations, often using qualitative methods in individual sending communities. The present article supplements this research in two ways: (1) in addition to assessing educational outcomes, the scope of the analysis is expanded to include nonmigrant' interaction with another homeland institution of upward mobility: the labor market; and (2) using a large demographic data set, statistical techniques are employed to adjust for unobserved selectivity into the migrant family-member population, thus accounting for a potentially serious source of bias. The results suggest that youth in migrant-sending families are less likely to complete the educational transitions leading up to postsecondary school and have a lower probability of participating in the local economy. The results also indicate that unobserved factors play a "nonignorable" role in sorting youth into migrant and nonmigrant families.

Large capacity temporary visual memory

Science.gov (United States)

Endress, Ansgar D.; Potter, Mary C.

2014-01-01

Visual working memory (WM) capacity is thought to be limited to three or four items. However, many cognitive activities seem to require larger temporary memory stores. Here, we provide evidence for a temporary memory store with much larger capacity than past WM capacity estimates. Further, based on previous WM research, we show that a single factor — proactive interference — is sufficient to bring capacity estimates down to the range of previous WM capacity estimates. Participants saw a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of 5 to 21 pictures of familiar objects or words presented at rates of 4/s or 8/s, respectively, and thus too fast for strategies such as rehearsal. Recognition memory was tested with a single probe item. When new items were used on all trials, no fixed memory capacities were observed, with estimates of up to 9.1 retained pictures for 21-item lists, and up to 30.0 retained pictures for 100-item lists, and no clear upper bound to how many items could be retained. Further, memory items were not stored in a temporally stable form of memory, but decayed almost completely after a few minutes. In contrast, when, as in most WM experiments, a small set of items was reused across all trials, thus creating proactive interference among items, capacity remained in the range reported in previous WM experiments. These results show that humans have a large-capacity temporary memory store in the absence of proactive interference, and raise the question of whether temporary memory in everyday cognitive processing is severely limited as in WM experiments, or has the much larger capacity found in the present experiments. PMID:23937181

Large-D gravity and low-D strings.

Science.gov (United States)

Emparan, Roberto; Grumiller, Daniel; Tanabe, Kentaro

2013-06-21

We show that in the limit of a large number of dimensions a wide class of nonextremal neutral black holes has a universal near-horizon limit. The limiting geometry is the two-dimensional black hole of string theory with a two-dimensional target space. Its conformal symmetry explains the properties of massless scalars found recently in the large-D limit. For black branes with string charges, the near-horizon geometry is that of the three-dimensional black strings of Horne and Horowitz. The analogies between the α' expansion in string theory and the large-D expansion in gravity suggest a possible effective string description of the large-D limit of black holes. We comment on applications to several subjects, in particular to the problem of critical collapse.

Low-dose computed tomography image restoration using previous normal-dose scan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Jianhua; Huang, Jing; Feng, Qianjin; Zhang, Hua; Lu, Hongbing; Liang, Zhengrong; Chen, Wufan

2011-01-01

Purpose: In current computed tomography (CT) examinations, the associated x-ray radiation dose is of a significant concern to patients and operators. A simple and cost-effective means to perform the examinations is to lower the milliampere-seconds (mAs) or kVp parameter (or delivering less x-ray energy to the body) as low as reasonably achievable in data acquisition. However, lowering the mAs parameter will unavoidably increase data noise and the noise would propagate into the CT image if no adequate noise control is applied during image reconstruction. Since a normal-dose high diagnostic CT image scanned previously may be available in some clinical applications, such as CT perfusion imaging and CT angiography (CTA), this paper presents an innovative way to utilize the normal-dose scan as a priori information to induce signal restoration of the current low-dose CT image series. Methods: Unlike conventional local operations on neighboring image voxels, nonlocal means (NLM) algorithm utilizes the redundancy of information across the whole image. This paper adapts the NLM to utilize the redundancy of information in the previous normal-dose scan and further exploits ways to optimize the nonlocal weights for low-dose image restoration in the NLM framework. The resulting algorithm is called the previous normal-dose scan induced nonlocal means (ndiNLM). Because of the optimized nature of nonlocal weights calculation, the ndiNLM algorithm does not depend heavily on image registration between the current low-dose and the previous normal-dose CT scans. Furthermore, the smoothing parameter involved in the ndiNLM algorithm can be adaptively estimated based on the image noise relationship between the current low-dose and the previous normal-dose scanning protocols. Results: Qualitative and quantitative evaluations were carried out on a physical phantom as well as clinical abdominal and brain perfusion CT scans in terms of accuracy and resolution properties. The gain by the use

Observability Analysis of DVL/PS Aided INS for a Maneuvering AUV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itzik Klein

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Recently, ocean exploration has increased considerably through the use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV. A key enabling technology is the precision of the AUV navigation capability. In this paper, we focus on understanding the limitation of the AUV navigation system. That is, what are the observable error-states for different maneuvering types of the AUV? Since analyzing the performance of an underwater navigation system is highly complex, to answer the above question, current approaches use simulations. This, of course, limits the conclusions to the emulated type of vehicle used and to the simulation setup. For this reason, we take a different approach and analyze the system observability for different types of vehicle dynamics by finding the set of observable and unobservable states. To that end, we apply the observability Gramian approach, previously used only for terrestrial applications. We demonstrate our analysis for an underwater inertial navigation system aided by a Doppler velocity logger or by a pressure sensor. The result is a first prediction of the performance of an AUV standing, rotating at a position and turning at a constant speed. Our conclusions of the observable and unobservable navigation error states for different dynamics are supported by extensive numerical simulation.

Reconstructing the hidden states in time course data of stochastic models.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmer, Christoph

2015-11-01

Parameter estimation is central for analyzing models in Systems Biology. The relevance of stochastic modeling in the field is increasing. Therefore, the need for tailored parameter estimation techniques is increasing as well. Challenges for parameter estimation are partial observability, measurement noise, and the computational complexity arising from the dimension of the parameter space. This article extends the multiple shooting for stochastic systems' method, developed for inference in intrinsic stochastic systems. The treatment of extrinsic noise and the estimation of the unobserved states is improved, by taking into account the correlation between unobserved and observed species. This article demonstrates the power of the method on different scenarios of a Lotka-Volterra model, including cases in which the prey population dies out or explodes, and a Calcium oscillation system. Besides showing how the new extension improves the accuracy of the parameter estimates, this article analyzes the accuracy of the state estimates. In contrast to previous approaches, the new approach is well able to estimate states and parameters for all the scenarios. As it does not need stochastic simulations, it is of the same order of speed as conventional least squares parameter estimation methods with respect to computational time. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Three point functions in the large N=4 holography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Changhyun; Kim, Hyunsu

2015-01-01

Sixteen higher spin currents with spins (1,(3/2),(3/2),2), ((3/2),2,2,(5/2)), ((3/2),2,2,(5/2)), and (2,(5/2),(5/2),3) were previously obtained in an extension of the large N=4 ‘nonlinear’ superconformal algebra in two dimensions. By carefully analyzing the zero-mode eigenvalue equations, three-point functions of bosonic (higher spin) currents are obtained with two scalars for any finite N (where SU(N+2) is the group of coset) and k (the level of spin-1 Kac Moody current). Furthermore, these 16 higher spin currents are implicitly obtained in an extension of large N=4 ‘linear’ superconformal algebra for generic N and k. The corresponding three-point functions are also determined. Under the large N ’t Hooft limit, the two corresponding three-point functions in the nonlinear and linear versions coincide even though they are completely different for finite N and k.

The Relationship between Large Cavum Septum Pellucidum and Antisocial Behavior, Callous-Unemotional Traits and Psychopathy in Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

White, Stuart F.; Brislin, Sarah; Sinclair, Stephen; Fowler, Katherine A.; Pope, Kayla; Blair, R. James R.

2013-01-01

Background: The presence of a large cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) has been previously associated with antisocial behavior/psychopathic traits in an adult community sample. Aims: The current study investigated the relationship between a large CSP and symptom severity in disruptive behavior disorders (DBD; conduct disorder and oppositional defiant…

Sizing the star cluster population of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Piatti, Andrés E.

2018-04-01

The number of star clusters that populate the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) at deprojected distances knowledge of the LMC cluster formation and dissolution histories, we closely revisited such a compilation of objects and found that only ˜35 per cent of the previously known catalogued clusters have been included. The remaining entries are likely related to stellar overdensities of the LMC composite star field, because there is a remarkable enhancement of objects with assigned ages older than log(t yr-1) ˜ 9.4, which contrasts with the existence of the LMC cluster age gap; the assumption of a cluster formation rate similar to that of the LMC star field does not help to conciliate so large amount of clusters either; and nearly 50 per cent of them come from cluster search procedures known to produce more than 90 per cent of false detections. The lack of further analyses to confirm the physical reality as genuine star clusters of the identified overdensities also glooms those results. We support that the actual size of the LMC main body cluster population is close to that previously known.

New technologies for large-scale micropatterning of functional nanocomposite polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Khosla, A.; Gray, B. L.

2012-04-01

We present a review of different micropatterning technologies for flexible elastomeric functional nanocomposites with a particular emphasis on mold material and processes for production of large size substrates. The functional polymers include electrically conducting and magnetic materials developed at the Micro-instrumentation Laboratory at Simon Fraser University, Canada. We present a chart that compares many of these different conductive and magnetic functional nanocomposites and their measured characteristics. Furthermore, we have previously reported hybrid processes for nanocomposite polymers micromolded against SU-8 photoepoxy masters. However, SU-8 is typically limited to substrate sizes that are compatible with microelectronics processing as a microelectronics uv-patterning step is typically involved, and de-molding problems are observed. Recently, we have developed new processes that address the problems faced with SU-8 molds. These new technologies for micropatterning nanocomposites involve new substrate materials. A low cost Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microfabrication technology has been developed, which involves fabrication of micromold via either CO2 laser ablation or deep UV. We have previously reported this large-scale patterning technique using laser ablation. Finally, we compare the two processes for PMMA producing micromolds for nanocomposites.

High resolution, large deformation 3D traction force microscopy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennet Toyjanova

Full Text Available Traction Force Microscopy (TFM is a powerful approach for quantifying cell-material interactions that over the last two decades has contributed significantly to our understanding of cellular mechanosensing and mechanotransduction. In addition, recent advances in three-dimensional (3D imaging and traction force analysis (3D TFM have highlighted the significance of the third dimension in influencing various cellular processes. Yet irrespective of dimensionality, almost all TFM approaches have relied on a linear elastic theory framework to calculate cell surface tractions. Here we present a new high resolution 3D TFM algorithm which utilizes a large deformation formulation to quantify cellular displacement fields with unprecedented resolution. The results feature some of the first experimental evidence that cells are indeed capable of exerting large material deformations, which require the formulation of a new theoretical TFM framework to accurately calculate the traction forces. Based on our previous 3D TFM technique, we reformulate our approach to accurately account for large material deformation and quantitatively contrast and compare both linear and large deformation frameworks as a function of the applied cell deformation. Particular attention is paid in estimating the accuracy penalty associated with utilizing a traditional linear elastic approach in the presence of large deformation gradients.

VESPA: Very large-scale Evolutionary and Selective Pressure Analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew E. Webb

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background Large-scale molecular evolutionary analyses of protein coding sequences requires a number of preparatory inter-related steps from finding gene families, to generating alignments and phylogenetic trees and assessing selective pressure variation. Each phase of these analyses can represent significant challenges, particularly when working with entire proteomes (all protein coding sequences in a genome from a large number of species. Methods We present VESPA, software capable of automating a selective pressure analysis using codeML in addition to the preparatory analyses and summary statistics. VESPA is written in python and Perl and is designed to run within a UNIX environment. Results We have benchmarked VESPA and our results show that the method is consistent, performs well on both large scale and smaller scale datasets, and produces results in line with previously published datasets. Discussion Large-scale gene family identification, sequence alignment, and phylogeny reconstruction are all important aspects of large-scale molecular evolutionary analyses. VESPA provides flexible software for simplifying these processes along with downstream selective pressure variation analyses. The software automatically interprets results from codeML and produces simplified summary files to assist the user in better understanding the results. VESPA may be found at the following website: http://www.mol-evol.org/VESPA.

A salvage chemotherapy of R-P-IMVP16/CBDCA consisting of rituximab, methylprednisolone, ifosfamide, methotrexate, etoposide, and carboplatin for patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma who had previously received R-CHOP therapy as first-line chemotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, Takuro; Hara, Takeshi; Shibata, Yuhei; Nakamura, Nobuhiko; Nakamura, Hiroshi; Ninomiya, Soranobu; Kitagawa, Junichi; Kanemura, Nobuhiro; Goto, Naoe; Kito, Yusuke; Kasahara, Senji; Yamada, Toshiki; Sawada, Michio; Miyazaki, Tatsuhiko; Takami, Tsuyoshi; Takeuchi, Tamotsu; Moriwaki, Hisataka; Tsurumi, Hisashi

2017-09-01

We have reported the efficacy of the salvage chemotherapy P-IMVP16/CBDCA for patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who had previously received CHOP before the availability of rituximab (R). Here, we confirmed the efficacy of R combined with P-IMVP16/CBDCA as a salvage chemotherapy for patients with DLBCL, who had previously received R-CHOP. We retrospectively analysed 59 patients with relapse or refractory DLBCL (38 male patients and 21 female patients) presenting between June 2004 and June 2013. The patients received R 375 mg/m 2 on day 1, methylprednisolone 1000 mg/body for 3 days (from day 3 to day 5), ifosfamide 1000 mg/m 2 for 5 days (from day 3 to day 7), methotrexate 30 mg/m 2 on day 5 and day 12, etoposide 80 mg/m 2 for 3 days (from day 3 to day 5), and carboplatin 300 mg/m 2 on day 3 every 21 days. Patients aged 70 years or older were given 75% of the standard dose. The overall response rate (complete response + partial response) was 64.4%. The 2-year overall survival rate was 55.3%. The 2-year progression free survival rate was 34.7%. The 2-year overall survival rate was 61.5% for the relapse patients, and 15.6% for the refractory patients (p effects were mild and tolerable. The R-P-IMVP-16/CBDCA regimen displayed a significant activity in relapsed DLBCL, with acceptable toxicity, and should be considered a candidate for salvage chemotherapy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Research Note Effects of previous cultivation on regeneration of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We investigated the effects of previous cultivation on regeneration potential under miombo woodlands in a resettlement area, a spatial product of Zimbabwe's land reforms. We predicted that cultivation would affect population structure, regeneration, recruitment and potential grazing capacity of rangelands. Plant attributes ...

A canonical splice site mutation in GIPC3 causes sensorineural hearing loss in a large Pakistani family

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Siddiqi, S.; Ismail, M.; Oostrik, J.; Munawar, S.; Mansoor, A.; Kremer, H.; Qamar, R.; Schraders, M.

2014-01-01

With homozygosity mapping we have identified two large homozygous regions on chromosome 3q13.11-q13.31 and chromosome 19p13.3-q31.32 in a large Pakistani family suffering from autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing impairment (arNSHI). The region on chromosome 19 overlaps with the previously

What do educational test scores really measure?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McIntosh, James; D. Munk, Martin

Latent class Poisson count models are used to analyze a sample of Danish test score results from a cohort of individuals born in 1954-55 and tested in 1968. The procedure takes account of unobservable effects as well as excessive zeros in the data. The bulk of unobservable effects are uncorrelate......, and possible incentive problems make it more difficult to elicit true values of what the tests measure....

Females use self-referent cues to avoid mating with previous mates

OpenAIRE

Ivy, Tracie M; Weddle, Carie B; Sakaluk, Scott K

2005-01-01

Females of many species mate repeatedly throughout their lives, often with many different males (polyandry). Females can secure genetic benefits by maximizing their diversity of mating partners, and might be expected, therefore, to forego matings with previous partners in favour of novel males. Indeed, a female preference for novel mating partners has been shown in several taxa, but the mechanism by which females distinguish between novel males and previous mates remains unknown. We show that...

Large Volcanic Rises on Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Smrekar, Suzanne E.; Kiefer, Walter S.; Stofan, Ellen R.

1997-01-01

Large volcanic rises on Venus have been interpreted as hotspots, or the surface manifestation of mantle upwelling, on the basis of their broad topographic rises, abundant volcanism, and large positive gravity anomalies. Hotspots offer an important opportunity to study the behavior of the lithosphere in response to mantle forces. In addition to the four previously known hotspots, Atla, Bell, Beta, and western Eistla Regiones, five new probable hotspots, Dione, central Eistla, eastern Eistla, Imdr, and Themis, have been identified in the Magellan radar, gravity and topography data. These nine regions exhibit a wider range of volcano-tectonic characteristics than previously recognized for venusian hotspots, and have been classified as rift-dominated (Atla, Beta), coronae-dominated (central and eastern Eistla, Themis), or volcano-dominated (Bell, Dione, western Eistla, Imdr). The apparent depths of compensation for these regions ranges from 65 to 260 km. New estimates of the elastic thickness, using the 90 deg and order spherical harmonic field, are 15-40 km at Bell Regio, and 25 km at western Eistla Regio. Phillips et al. find a value of 30 km at Atla Regio. Numerous models of lithospheric and mantle behavior have been proposed to interpret the gravity and topography signature of the hotspots, with most studies focusing on Atla or Beta Regiones. Convective models with Earth-like parameters result in estimates of the thickness of the thermal lithosphere of approximately 100 km. Models of stagnant lid convection or thermal thinning infer the thickness of the thermal lithosphere to be 300 km or more. Without additional constraints, any of the model fits are equally valid. The thinner thermal lithosphere estimates are most consistent with the volcanic and tectonic characteristics of the hotspots. Estimates of the thermal gradient based on estimates of the elastic thickness also support a relatively thin lithosphere (Phillips et al.). The advantage of larger estimates of

Does the patients′ educational level and previous counseling affect their medication knowledge?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulmalik M Alkatheri

2013-01-01

Conclusions: The education level of the patient and previous counseling are positively linked to medication knowledge. Knowledge of the medications′ side effects proved to be the most difficult task for the participants in this study, requiring the highest level of education, and was improved by previous counseling.

The job satisfaction of principals of previously disadvantaged schools

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to identify influences on the job satisfaction of previously disadvantaged ..... I am still riding the cloud … I hope it lasts. .... as a way of creating a climate and culture in schools where individuals are willing to explore.

Looking at large data sets using binned data plots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carr, D.B.

1990-04-01

This report addresses the monumental challenge of developing exploratory analysis methods for large data sets. The goals of the report are to increase awareness of large data sets problems and to contribute simple graphical methods that address some of the problems. The graphical methods focus on two- and three-dimensional data and common task such as finding outliers and tail structure, assessing central structure and comparing central structures. The methods handle large sample size problems through binning, incorporate information from statistical models and adapt image processing algorithms. Examples demonstrate the application of methods to a variety of publicly available large data sets. The most novel application addresses the too many plots to examine'' problem by using cognostics, computer guiding diagnostics, to prioritize plots. The particular application prioritizes views of computational fluid dynamics solution sets on the fly. That is, as each time step of a solution set is generated on a parallel processor the cognostics algorithms assess virtual plots based on the previous time step. Work in such areas is in its infancy and the examples suggest numerous challenges that remain. 35 refs., 15 figs.

2MASS Constraints on the Local Large-Scale Structure: A Challenge to LCDM?

OpenAIRE

Frith, W. J.; Shanks, T.; Outram, P. J.

2004-01-01

We investigate the large-scale structure of the local galaxy distribution using the recently completed 2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). First, we determine the K-band number counts over the 4000 sq.deg. APM survey area where evidence for a large-scale `local hole' has previously been detected and compare them to a homogeneous prediction. Considering a LCDM form for the 2-point angular correlation function, the observed deficiency represents a 5 sigma fluctuation in the galaxy distribution. We...

Predictive factors for the development of diabetes in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damm, P.; Kühl, C.; Bertelsen, Aksel

1992-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of diabetes in women with previous dietary-treated gestational diabetes mellitus and to identify predictive factors for development of diabetes. STUDY DESIGN: Two to 11 years post partum, glucose tolerance was investigated in 241...... women with previous dietary-treated gestational diabetes mellitus and 57 women without previous gestational diabetes mellitus (control group). RESULTS: Diabetes developed in 42 (17.4%) women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus (3.7% insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and 13.7% non...... of previous patients with gestational diabetes mellitus in whom plasma insulin was measured during an oral glucose tolerance test in late pregnancy a low insulin response at diagnosis was found to be an independent predictive factor for diabetes development. CONCLUSIONS: Women with previous dietary...

Kidnapping Detection and Recognition in Previous Unknown Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Tian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An unaware event referred to as kidnapping makes the estimation result of localization incorrect. In a previous unknown environment, incorrect localization result causes incorrect mapping result in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM by kidnapping. In this situation, the explored area and unexplored area are divided to make the kidnapping recovery difficult. To provide sufficient information on kidnapping, a framework to judge whether kidnapping has occurred and to identify the type of kidnapping with filter-based SLAM is proposed. The framework is called double kidnapping detection and recognition (DKDR by performing two checks before and after the “update” process with different metrics in real time. To explain one of the principles of DKDR, we describe a property of filter-based SLAM that corrects the mapping result of the environment using the current observations after the “update” process. Two classical filter-based SLAM algorithms, Extend Kalman Filter (EKF SLAM and Particle Filter (PF SLAM, are modified to show that DKDR can be simply and widely applied in existing filter-based SLAM algorithms. Furthermore, a technique to determine the adapted thresholds of metrics in real time without previous data is presented. Both simulated and experimental results demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed method.

Photoluminescence in large fluence radiation irradiated space silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hisamatsu, Tadashi; Kawasaki, Osamu; Matsuda, Sumio [National Space Development Agency of Japan, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan). Tsukuba Space Center; Tsukamoto, Kazuyoshi

1997-03-01

Photoluminescence spectroscopy measurements were carried out for silicon 50{mu}m BSFR space solar cells irradiated with 1MeV electrons with a fluence exceeding 1 x 10{sup 16} e/cm{sup 2} and 10MeV protons with a fluence exceeding 1 x 10{sup 13} p/cm{sup 2}. The results were compared with the previous result performed in a relative low fluence region, and the radiation-induced defects which cause anomalous degradation of the cell performance in such large fluence regions were discussed. As far as we know, this is the first report which presents the PL measurement results at 4.2K of the large fluence radiation irradiated silicon solar cells. (author)

A dynamic random effects multinomial logit model of household car ownership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bue Bjørner, Thomas; Leth-Petersen, Søren

2007-01-01

Using a large household panel we estimate demand for car ownership by means of a dynamic multinomial model with correlated random effects. Results suggest that the persistence in car ownership observed in the data should be attributed to both true state dependence and to unobserved heterogeneity...... (random effects). It also appears that random effects related to single and multiple car ownership are correlated, suggesting that the IIA assumption employed in simple multinomial models of car ownership is invalid. Relatively small elasticities with respect to income and car costs are estimated...

Predictions for the decays of radially-excited baryons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, C.E.

2001-01-01

We consider decays of the lowest-lying radially excited baryons. Assuming a single-quark decay approximation, and negligible configuration mixing, we make model-independent predictions for the partial decay widths to final states with a single meson. Masses of unobserved states are predicted using an old mass formula rederived using large-N c QCD. The momentum dependence of the one-body decay amplitude is determined phenomenologically by fitting to observed decays. Comparison of these predictions to experiment may shed light on whether the Roper resonance can be interpreted as a three-quark state. (author)

The Transition to Work for Italian University Graduates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pozzoli, Dario

This study investigates the hazard of first job for Italian graduates. The analysis is in particular focused on the transition from university to work, taking into account the graduates' characteristics and the effects relating to degree subject. It is used a large data set from a survey on job...... opportunities for the 1998 Italian graduates. The paper employs a non parametric discrete-time single risk models to study employment hazard. Alternative mixing distributions have also been used to account for unobserved heterogeneity. The results obtained indicate that there is evidence of positive duration...

Outcome of trial of scar in patients with previous caesarean section

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, B.; Bashir, R.; Khan, W.

2016-01-01

Medical evidence indicates that 60-80% of women can achieve vaginal delivery after a previous lower segment caesarean section. Proper selection of patients for trial of scar and vigilant monitoring during labour will achieve successful maternal and perinatal outcome. The objective of our study is to establish the fact that vaginal delivery after one caesarean section has a high success rate in patients with previous one caesarean section for non-recurrent cause. Methods: The study was conducted in Ayub Teaching Abbottabad, Gynae-B Unit. All labouring patients, during the study period of five years, with previous one caesarean section and between 37 weeks to 41 weeks of gestation for a non-recurrent cause were included in the study. Data was recorded on special proforma designed for the purpose. Patients who had previous classical caesarean section, more than one caesarean section, and previous caesarean section with severe wound infection, transverse lie and placenta previa in present pregnancy were excluded. Foetal macrosomia (wt>4 kg) and severe IUGR with compromised blood flow on Doppler in present pregnancy were also not considered suitable for the study. Patients who had any absolute contraindication for vaginal delivery were also excluded. Results: There were 12505 deliveries during the study period. Total vaginal deliveries were 8790 and total caesarean sections were 3715. Caesarean section rate was 29.7%. Out of these 8790 patients, 764 patients were given a trial of scar and 535 patients delivered successfully vaginally (70%). Women who presented with spontaneous onset of labour were more likely to deliver vaginally (74.8%) as compared to induction group (27.1%). Conclusion: Trial of vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) in selected cases has great importance in the present era of the rising rate of primary caesarean section. (author)

Study of functional-performance deficits in athletes with previous ankle sprains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

hamid Babaee

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: Despite the importance of functional-performance deficits in athletes with history of ankle sprain few, studies have been carried out in this area. The aim of this research was to study relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in athletes. Materials and methods: The subjects were 40 professional athletes selected through random sampling among volunteer participants in soccer, basketball, volleyball and handball teams of Lorestan province. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: Injured group (athletes with previous ankle sprains and healthy group (athletes without previous ankle sprains. In this descriptive study we used Functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test to determine ankle deficits and limitations. They participated in figure 8 hop test including hopping in 8 shape course with the length of 5 meters and side hop test including 10 side hop repetitions in course with the length of 30 centimeters. Time were recorded via stopwatch. Results: After data gathering and assessing information distributions, Pearson correlation was used to assess relationships, and independent T test to assess differences between variables. Finally the results showed that there is a significant relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in the athletes. Conclusion: The athletes who had previous ankle sprains indicated functional-performance deficits more than healthy athletes in completion of mentioned functional-performance tests. The functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test are sensitive and suitable to assess and detect functional-performance deficits in athletes. Therefore we can use the figure 8 hop and side hop tests for goals such as prevention, assessment and rehabilitation of ankle sprains without spending too much money and time.

The prevalence of previous self-harm amongst self-poisoning patients in Sri Lanka

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohamed, Fahim; Perera, Aravinda; Wijayaweera, Kusal

2011-01-01

BACKGROUND: One of the most important components of suicide prevention strategies is to target people who repeat self-harm as they are a high risk group. However, there is some evidence that the incidence of repeat self-harm is lower in Asia than in the West. The objective of this study...... was to investigate the prevalence of previous self-harm among a consecutive series of self-harm patients presenting to hospitals in rural Sri Lanka. METHOD: Six hundred and ninety-eight self-poisoning patients presenting to medical wards at two hospitals in Sri Lanka were interviewed about their previous episodes...... of self-harm. RESULTS: Sixty-one (8.7%, 95% CI 6.7-11%) patients reported at least one previous episode of self-harm [37 (10.7%) male, 24 (6.8%) female]; only 19 (2.7%, 95% CI 1.6-4.2%) patients had made more than one previous attempt. CONCLUSION: The low prevalence of previous self-harm is consistent...

Charged-particle thermonuclear reaction rates: IV. Comparison to previous work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iliadis, C.; Longland, R.; Champagne, A.E.; Coc, A.

2010-01-01

We compare our Monte Carlo reaction rates (see Paper II of this issue) to previous results that were obtained by using the classical method of computing thermonuclear reaction rates. For each reaction, the comparison is presented using two types of graphs: the first shows the change in reaction rate uncertainties, while the second displays our new results normalized to the previously recommended reaction rate. We find that the rates have changed significantly for almost all reactions considered here. The changes are caused by (i) our new Monte Carlo method of computing reaction rates (see Paper I of this issue), and (ii) newly available nuclear physics information (see Paper III of this issue).

Iodine-131 induced hepatotoxicity in previously healthy patients with Grave's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Jhummon, Navina Priya; Tohooloo, Bhavna; Qu, Shen

2013-01-01

To describe the association of the rare and serious complication of liver toxicity in previously healthy Grave's disease (GD) patients after the treatment with radioactive iodine (131)I (RAI). We report the clinical, laboratory and pathologic findings of 2 cases of severe liver toxicity associated with the treatment with RAI in previously healthy patients with GD. Clinical examination and laboratory investigations excluded viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, granulomatous disease, primary biliary disease, extrahepatic biliary obstruction, and heart failure. Case 1: A previously healthy 52-years old man reportedly having a typical GD but following RAI treatment, concomitantly developed severe liver toxicity that required 1 week of treatment in hospital. Case 2: A previously healthy 34-years old woman is reported as having a typical GD but developed jaundice following RAI treatment that required several weeks of in hospital treatment in the hepato-biliary department. In both cases, the liver dysfunction resolved after intensive treatment with hepato-protective agents. In this report the therapeutic considerations as well as the pathogenetic possibilities are reviewed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of the association observed, which is rare but may be severe and should be considered in any case of thyrotoxicosis where a liver dysfunction develops after the treatment with radioactive iodine (131)I.

RESTRUCTURING OF THE LARGE-SCALE SPRINKLERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paweł Kozaczyk

2016-09-01

Full Text Available One of the best ways for agriculture to become independent from shortages of precipitation is irrigation. In the seventies and eighties of the last century a number of large-scale sprinklers in Wielkopolska was built. At the end of 1970’s in the Poznan province 67 sprinklers with a total area of 6400 ha were installed. The average size of the sprinkler reached 95 ha. In 1989 there were 98 sprinklers, and the area which was armed with them was more than 10 130 ha. The study was conducted on 7 large sprinklers with the area ranging from 230 to 520 hectares in 1986÷1998. After the introduction of the market economy in the early 90’s and ownership changes in agriculture, large-scale sprinklers have gone under a significant or total devastation. Land on the State Farms of the State Agricultural Property Agency has leased or sold and the new owners used the existing sprinklers to a very small extent. This involved a change in crop structure, demand structure and an increase in operating costs. There has also been a threefold increase in electricity prices. Operation of large-scale irrigation encountered all kinds of barriers in practice and limitations of system solutions, supply difficulties, high levels of equipment failure which is not inclined to rational use of available sprinklers. An effect of a vision of the local area was to show the current status of the remaining irrigation infrastructure. The adopted scheme for the restructuring of Polish agriculture was not the best solution, causing massive destruction of assets previously invested in the sprinkler system.

The job satisfaction of principals of previously disadvantaged schools

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to identify influences on the job satisfaction of previously disadvantaged school principals in North-West Province. Evans's theory of job satisfaction, morale and motivation was useful as a conceptual framework. A mixedmethods explanatory research design was important in discovering issues with ...

75 FR 57844 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2010-09-23

... Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft... Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.): Amendment 39-16438. Docket No. FAA-2010-0555... (Type Certificate previously held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Galaxy and Gulfstream 200...

77 FR 64767 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2012-10-23

... Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Airplanes AGENCY... airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate previously held by Israel... Certificate previously held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Galaxy and Gulfstream 200 airplanes...

78 FR 11567 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2013-02-19

... Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft... Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Gulfstream G150... Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.): Amendment 39...

76 FR 70040 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2011-11-10

... Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft... Aerospace LP (type certificate previously held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Galaxy and... new AD: 2011-23-07 Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft...

76 FR 6525 - Airworthiness Directives; Cessna Aircraft Company (Type Certificate Previously Held by Columbia...

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2011-02-07

... Airworthiness Directives; Cessna Aircraft Company (Type Certificate Previously Held by Columbia Aircraft... following new AD: 2011-03-04 Cessna Aircraft Company (Type Certificate Previously Held by Columbia Aircraft... the following Cessna Aircraft Company (type certificate previously held by Columbia Aircraft...

ATLANTIC DIP: simplifying the follow-up of women with previous gestational diabetes.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Noctor, E

2013-11-01

Previous gestational diabetes (GDM) is associated with a significant lifetime risk of type 2 diabetes. In this study, we assessed the performance of HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) measurements against that of 75 g oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) for the follow-up screening of women with previous GDM.

VBAC Scoring: Successful vaginal delivery in previous one caesarean section in induced labour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raja, J.F.; Bangash, K.T.; Mahmud, G.

2013-01-01

Objective: To develop a scoring system for the prediction of successful vaginal birth after caesarean section, following induction of labour with intra-vaginal E2 gel (Glandin). Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2010 to August 2011, at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad. Trial of labour in previous one caesarean section, undergoing induction with intra-vaginal E2 gel, was attempted in 100 women. They were scored according to six variables; maternal age; gestation; indications of previous caesarean; history of vaginal birth either before or after the previous caesarean; Bishop score and body mass index. Multivariate and univariate logistic regression analysis was used to develop the scoring system. Results: Of the total, 67 (67%) women delivered vaginally, while 33 (33%) ended in repeat caesarean delivery. Among the subjects, 55 (55%) women had no history of vaginal delivery either before or after previous caesarean section; 15 (15%) had history of vaginal births both before and after the previous caesarean; while 30 (30%) had vaginal delivery only after the previous caesarean section. Rates of successful vaginal birth after caesarean increased from 38% in women having a score of 0-3 to 58% in patients scoring 4-6. Among those having a score of 7-9 and 10-12, the success rates were 71% and 86% respectively. Conclusion: Increasing scores correlated with the increasing probability of vaginal birth after caesarean undergoing induction of labour. The admission VBAC scoring system is useful in counselling women with previous caesarean for the option of induction of labour or repeat caesarean delivery. (author)

75 FR 28485 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2010-05-21

... Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft... Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.): Amendment 39... previously held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Gulfstream 100 airplanes; and Model Astra SPX and...

Smoking and early retirement due to chronic disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bengtsson, Tommy; Nilsson, Anton

2018-05-01

This paper considers the long-term effects of smoking on disability retirement in Sweden. Smoking is known to have damaging effects on health, but there is limited evidence on how the effects of smoking translate into worse labour market outcomes, such as the inability to work. In contrast to the few previous studies on smoking and disability retirement, we use a large population sample with registry information on smoking, which is recorded for all women who give birth in Sweden. Thanks to these comprehensive data, we are able to account for a much broader range of potential confounders. In particular, by the use of sibling and twin fixed effects, we account for unobserved heterogeneity in childhood environment and family characteristics. Given that smoking is often initiated in adolescence, one would suspect such factors to play important roles. Among individuals aged 50-64 in 2011, a simple model suggested smokers to have a 5 percentage point higher probability of receiving (full) disability pension, making them more than twice as likely as non-smokers to receive this. However, in a model with sibling fixed effects, the size of the effect was reduced by more than a third. The results point to the importance of confounders, such as childhood circumstances or behaviours, which were not accounted for by previous studies. We also consider effects on disability due to different health conditions. In relative terms, effects are the largest for circulatory conditions and tumours. Results are largely driven by health problems severe enough to merit hospitalization, and there is no evidence of a role played by financial incentives. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Body composition and wages.

Science.gov (United States)

Wada, Roy; Tekin, Erdal

2010-07-01

This paper examines the relationship between body composition and wages in the United States. We develop measures of body composition--body fat (BF) and fat-free mass (FFM)--using data on bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) that are available in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III and estimate wage models for respondents in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Previous research uses body size or BMI as measures of obesity despite a growing concern that they do not distinguish between body fat and fat-free body mass or adequately control for non-homogeneity inside the human body. Therefore, measures presented in this paper represent a useful alternative to BMI-based proxies of obesity. Our results indicate that BF is associated with decreased wages for both males and females among whites and blacks. We also present evidence suggesting that FFM is associated with increased wages. We show that these results are not the artifacts of unobserved heterogeneity. Finally, our findings are robust to numerous specification checks and to a large number of alternative BIA prediction equations from which the body composition measures are derived. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The impact of price policy on demand for alcohol in rural India.

Science.gov (United States)

Subramanian, Arjunan; Kumar, Parmod

2017-10-01

Whether raising the price of addictive goods can reduce its burden is widely debated in many countries, largely due to lack of appropriate data and robust methods. Three key concerns frequently raised in the literature are: unobserved heterogeneity; omitted variables; identification problem. Addressing these concerns, using robust instrument and employing unique individual-level panel data from Indian Punjab, this paper investigates two related propositions (i) will increase in alcohol price reduce its burden (ii) since greater incomes raise the costs of inebriation, will higher incomes affect consumption of alcohol negatively. Distinct from previous studies, the key variable of interest is the budget share of alcohol that allows studying the burden of alcohol consumption on drinker's and also on other family members. Results presented show that an increase in alcohol price is likely to be regressive, especially on the bottom quartile, with a rise in the budget share of alcohol given budget constraint. This outcome is robust to different econometric specifications. Preliminary explorations suggest that higher per capita income increases the odds of quitting drinking. Results reported have wider implications for the effective design of addiction related health policies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multistate event history analysis with frailty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Govert Bijwaard

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Background: In survival analysis a large literature using frailty models, or models with unobserved heterogeneity, exists. In the growing literature and modelling on multistate models, this issue is only in its infant phase. Ignoring frailty can, however, produce incorrect results. Objective: This paper presents how frailties can be incorporated into multistate models, with an emphasis on semi-Markov multistate models with a mixed proportional hazard structure. Methods: First, the aspects of frailty modeling in univariate (proportional hazard, Cox and multivariate event history models are addressed. The implications of choosing shared or correlated frailty is highlighted. The relevant differences with recurrent events data are covered next. Multistate models are event history models that can have both multivariate and recurrent events. Incorporating frailty in multistate models, therefore, brings all the previously addressed issues together. Assuming a discrete frailty distribution allows for a very general correlation structure among the transition hazards in a multistate model. Although some estimation procedures are covered the emphasis is on conceptual issues. Results: The importance of multistate frailty modeling is illustrated with data on labour market and migration dynamics of recent immigrants to the Netherlands.

DEPFET detectors for direct detection of MeV dark matter particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baehr, A.; Ninkovic, J.; Treis, J. [Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Halbleiterlabor, Munich (Germany); Kluck, H.; Schieck, J. [Institut fuer Hochenergiephysik, Oesterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna (Austria); Atominstitut, Technische Universitaet Wien, Vienna (Austria)

2017-12-15

The existence of dark matter is undisputed, while the nature of it is still unknown. Explaining dark matter with the existence of a new unobserved particle is among the most promising possible solutions. Recently dark matter candidates in the MeV mass region received more and more interest. In comparison to the mass region between a few GeV to several TeV, this region is experimentally largely unexplored. We discuss the application of a RNDR DEPFET semiconductor detector for direct searches for dark matter in the MeV mass region. We present the working principle of the RNDR DEPFET devices and review the performance obtained by previously performed prototype measurements. The future potential of the technology as dark matter detector is discussed and the sensitivity for MeV dark matter detection with RNDR DEPFET sensors is presented. Under the assumption of six background events in the region of interest and an exposure of 1 kg year a sensitivity of about anti σ{sub e} = 10{sup -41} cm{sup 2} for dark matter particles with a mass of 10 MeV can be reached. (orig.)

Study of the secondary electron energy spectrum of clean aluminium modification during oxygen adsorption, hydrogen adsorption or carbon segregation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pellerin, Francois

1981-01-01

The first part of this work is a review of both theoretical and experimental aspects of the fine structure appearing in the Secondary Electron Spectrum (SES) and in the electron energy loss spectrum. In the second part, we report the results of a study of the SES and ELS spectra of clean and gas covered aluminium. The use of very low primary electron energies (E p ≤ 30 eV) enables the detection of previously unobserved peaks in the ELS spectra of clean and oxygen covered aluminium. They are attributed to single electron excitations. Furthermore, a very large peak appears in the SES spectrum during oxygen or carbon adsorption on aluminium. It is interpreted in terms of interaction of the background electrons with the valence electrons of the surface. Molecular hydrogen adsorption is observed on Ta, Pt, Al 2 O 3 , Si. It is responsible for an ELS peak located 13 eV below the elastic peak. Furthermore, on silicon, the chemisorbed hydrogen form can be distinguished from the molecular form with the help of ELS. Finally, some examples are given of the application of these results to surface imaging. (author) [fr

Why explicit gluonic components are needed in multiquark wave functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipkin, H.J.

1982-03-01

Constituent quark models with nontrivial correlations between color and space and no explicit description of the gluon degrees of freedom are inconsistent with local color gauge invariance. The screening by gluons of local color density in the quark sector must be included in treatments of long range forces in multiquark states. Neglect of gauge invariance and screening leads to erroneous predictions like unobserved Van der Weals forces and unobserved ''baryonium'' states with localized color. (author)

Exchange rate smoothing in Hungary

OpenAIRE

Karádi, Péter

2005-01-01

The paper proposes a structural empirical model capable of examining exchange rate smoothing in the small, open economy of Hungary. The framework assumes the existence of an unobserved and changing implicit exchange rate target. The central bank is assumed to use interest rate policy to obtain this preferred rate in the medium term, while market participants are assumed to form rational expectations about this target and influence exchange rates accordingly. The paper applies unobserved varia...

Does Prescription Drug Adherence Reduce Hospitalizations and Costs?

OpenAIRE

William Encinosa; Didem Bernard; Avi Dor

2010-01-01

We estimate the impact of diabetic drug adherence on hospitalizations, ER visits, and hospital costs, using insurance claims from MarketScan® employer data. However, it is often difficult to measure the impact of drug adherence on hospitalizations since both adherence and hospitalizations may be correlated with unobservable patient severity. We control for such unobservables using propensity score methods and instrumental variables for adherence such as drug coinsurance levels and direct-to- ...

Collective enhancement of inclusive cross sections at large transverse momentum in stochastic-field multiparticle theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnold, R.C.

1976-01-01

A stochastic-field calculus, previously discussed in connection with Regge intercepts and instability questions, is applied to inclusive cross sections, and is shown to predict a growth with energy of large-P/perpendicular/ to inclusives

76 FR 1349 - Airworthiness Directives; Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna) (Type Certificate A00003SE Previously...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-10

... Airworthiness Directives; Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna) (Type Certificate A00003SE Previously Held by... Company (Type Certificate A00003SE previously held by Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing (previously The... Cessna Aircraft Company (Cessna) (Type Certificate A00003SE previously held by Columbia Aircraft...

Association between cotinine-verified smoking status and hypertension in 167,868 Korean adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Byung Jin; Han, Ji Min; Kang, Jung Gyu; Kim, Bum Soo; Kang, Jin Ho

2017-10-01

Previous studies showed inconsistent results concerning the relationship between chronic smoking and blood pressure. Most of the studies involved self-reported smoking status. This study was performed to evaluate the association of urinary cotinine or self-reported smoking status with hypertension and blood pressure in Korean adults. Among individuals enrolled in the Kangbuk Samsung Health Study and Kangbuk Samsung Cohort Study, 167,868 participants (men, 55.7%; age, 37.5 ± 6.9 years) between 2011 and 2013 who had urinary cotinine measurements were included. Individuals with urinary cotinine levels ≥50 ng/mL were defined as cotinine-verified current smokers. The prevalence of hypertension and cotinine-verified current smokers in the overall population was 6.8% and 22.7%, respectively (10.0% in men and 2.8% in women for hypertension: 37.7% in men and 3.9% in women for cotinine-verified current smokers). In a multivariate regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, waist circumference, alcohol drinking, vigorous exercise, and diabetes, cotinine-verified current smoking was associated with lower prevalence of hypertension compared with cotinine-verified never smoking (OR[95% CI], 0.79 [0.75, 0.84]). Log-transformed cotinine levels and unobserved smoking were negatively associated with hypertension, respectively (0.96 [0.96, 0.97] and 0.55 [0.39, 0.79]). In a multivariate linear regression analysis, the cotinine-verified current smoking was inversely associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) (regression coefficient[95% CI], -1.23[-1.39, -1.07] for systolic BP and -0.71 [-0.84, -0.58] for diastolic BP). In subgroup analyses according to sex, the inverse associations between cotinine-verified current smoking and hypertension were observed only in men. This large observational study showed that cotinine-verified current smoking and unobserved smoking were inversely associated with hypertension in Korean adults, especially only in

Controls for the CERN large hadron collider (LHC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kissler, K.H.; Perriollat, F.; Rabany, M.; Shering, G.

1992-01-01

CERN's planned large superconducting collider project presents several new challenges to the Control System. These are discussed along with current thinking as to how they can be met. The high field superconducting magnets are subject to 'persistent currents' which will require real time measurements and control using a mathematical model on a 2-10 second time interval. This may be realized using direct links, multiplexed using TDM, between the field equipment and central servers. Quench control and avoidance will make new demands on speed of response, reliability and surveillance. The integration of large quantities of industrially controlled equipment will be important. Much of the controls will be in common with LEP so a seamless integration of LHC and LEP controls will be sought. A very large amount of new high-tech equipment will have to be tested, assembled and installed in the LEP tunnel in a short time. The manpower and cost constrains will be much tighter than previously. New approaches will have to be found to solve many of these problems, with the additional constraint of integrating them into an existing frame work. (author)

Large scale CMB anomalies from thawing cosmic strings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ringeval, Christophe [Centre for Cosmology, Particle Physics and Phenomenology, Institute of Mathematics and Physics, Louvain University, 2 Chemin du Cyclotron, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium); Yamauchi, Daisuke; Yokoyama, Jun' ichi [Research Center for the Early Universe (RESCEU), Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Bouchet, François R., E-mail: christophe.ringeval@uclouvain.be, E-mail: yamauchi@resceu.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp, E-mail: yokoyama@resceu.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp, E-mail: bouchet@iap.fr [Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095-CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 98bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris (France)

2016-02-01

Cosmic strings formed during inflation are expected to be either diluted over super-Hubble distances, i.e., invisible today, or to have crossed our past light cone very recently. We discuss the latter situation in which a few strings imprint their signature in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Anisotropies after recombination. Being almost frozen in the Hubble flow, these strings are quasi static and evade almost all of the previously derived constraints on their tension while being able to source large scale anisotropies in the CMB sky. Using a local variance estimator on thousand of numerically simulated Nambu-Goto all sky maps, we compute the expected signal and show that it can mimic a dipole modulation at large angular scales while being negligible at small angles. Interestingly, such a scenario generically produces one cold spot from the thawing of a cosmic string loop. Mixed with anisotropies of inflationary origin, we find that a few strings of tension GU = O(1) × 10{sup −6} match the amplitude of the dipole modulation reported in the Planck satellite measurements and could be at the origin of other large scale anomalies.

Large and small sets with respect to homomorphisms and products of groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riccardo Gusso

2002-10-01

Full Text Available We study the behaviour of large, small and medium subsets with respect to homomorphisms and products of groups. Then we introduce the definition af a P-small set in abelian groups and we investigate the relations between this kind of smallness and the previous one, giving some examples that distinguish them.

Large Scale Processes and Extreme Floods in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro Lima, C. H.; AghaKouchak, A.; Lall, U.

2016-12-01

Persistent large scale anomalies in the atmospheric circulation and ocean state have been associated with heavy rainfall and extreme floods in water basins of different sizes across the world. Such studies have emerged in the last years as a new tool to improve the traditional, stationary based approach in flood frequency analysis and flood prediction. Here we seek to advance previous studies by evaluating the dominance of large scale processes (e.g. atmospheric rivers/moisture transport) over local processes (e.g. local convection) in producing floods. We consider flood-prone regions in Brazil as case studies and the role of large scale climate processes in generating extreme floods in such regions is explored by means of observed streamflow, reanalysis data and machine learning methods. The dynamics of the large scale atmospheric circulation in the days prior to the flood events are evaluated based on the vertically integrated moisture flux and its divergence field, which are interpreted in a low-dimensional space as obtained by machine learning techniques, particularly supervised kernel principal component analysis. In such reduced dimensional space, clusters are obtained in order to better understand the role of regional moisture recycling or teleconnected moisture in producing floods of a given magnitude. The convective available potential energy (CAPE) is also used as a measure of local convection activities. We investigate for individual sites the exceedance probability in which large scale atmospheric fluxes dominate the flood process. Finally, we analyze regional patterns of floods and how the scaling law of floods with drainage area responds to changes in the climate forcing mechanisms (e.g. local vs large scale).

SONOGRAPHIC PREDICTION OF SCAR DEHISCENCE IN WOMEN WITH PREVIOUS CAESAREAN SECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shubhada Suhas Jajoo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Caesarean section (Sectio Caesarea is a surgical method for the completion of delivery. After various historical modifications of operative techniques, modern approach consists in the transverse dissection of the anterior wall of the uterus. The rate of vaginal birth after caesarean section was significantly reduced from year to year and the rate of repeated caesarean section is increased during the past 10 years. Evaluation of scar thickness is done by ultrasound, but it is still debatable size of thick scar that would be guiding “cut-off value” for the completion of the delivery method. To better assess the risk of uterine rupture, some authors have proposed sonographic measurement of lower uterine segment thickness near term assuming that there is an inverse correlation between LUS thickness and the risk of uterine scar defect. Therefore, this assessment for the management of women with prior CS may increase safety during labour by selecting women with the lowest risk of uterine rupture. The aim of the study is to study the diagnostic accuracy of sonographic measurements of the Lower Uterine Segment (LUS thickness near term in predicting uterine scar defects in women with prior Caesarean Section (CS. We aim to ascertain the best cut-off values for predicting uterine rupture. MATERIALS AND METHODS 100 antenatal women with history of previous one LSCS who come to attend antenatal clinic will be assessed for scar thickness by transabdominal ultrasonography and its correlation with intraoperative findings. This prospective longitudinal study was conducted for 1 year after IEC approval with inclusion criteria previous one LSCS. Exclusion criteria- 1 Previous myomectomy scar; 2 Previous 2 LSCS; 3 Previous hysterotomy scar. RESULTS Our findings indicate that there is a strong association between degree of LUS thinning measured near term and the risk of uterine scar defect at birth. In our study, optimal cut-off value for predicting

Large eddy simulation study of the kinetic energy entrainment by energetic turbulent flow structures in large wind farms

Science.gov (United States)

VerHulst, Claire; Meneveau, Charles

2014-02-01

In this study, we address the question of how kinetic energy is entrained into large wind turbine arrays and, in particular, how large-scale flow structures contribute to such entrainment. Previous research has shown this entrainment to be an important limiting factor in the performance of very large arrays where the flow becomes fully developed and there is a balance between the forcing of the atmospheric boundary layer and the resistance of the wind turbines. Given the high Reynolds numbers and domain sizes on the order of kilometers, we rely on wall-modeled large eddy simulation (LES) to simulate turbulent flow within the wind farm. Three-dimensional proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis is then used to identify the most energetic flow structures present in the LES data. We quantify the contribution of each POD mode to the kinetic energy entrainment and its dependence on the layout of the wind turbine array. The primary large-scale structures are found to be streamwise, counter-rotating vortices located above the height of the wind turbines. While the flow is periodic, the geometry is not invariant to all horizontal translations due to the presence of the wind turbines and thus POD modes need not be Fourier modes. Differences of the obtained modes with Fourier modes are documented. Some of the modes are responsible for a large fraction of the kinetic energy flux to the wind turbine region. Surprisingly, more flow structures (POD modes) are needed to capture at least 40% of the turbulent kinetic energy, for which the POD analysis is optimal, than are needed to capture at least 40% of the kinetic energy flux to the turbines. For comparison, we consider the cases of aligned and staggered wind turbine arrays in a neutral atmospheric boundary layer as well as a reference case without wind turbines. While the general characteristics of the flow structures are robust, the net kinetic energy entrainment to the turbines depends on the presence and relative

The Impact of Ownership Structure on Firm Performance : Evidence From a Large Emerging Market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Douma, S.W.; George, R.; Kabir, M.R.

2002-01-01

We examine how ownership structure affects the performance of firms using firm level data from a large emerging market, India.We specifically focus on a previously unexplored phenomenon, namely the differential role played by foreign institutional and foreign corporate shareholders.An examination of

Assessing the sustainable construction of large construction companies in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Adewale, Bamgbade Jibril; Mohammed, Kamaruddeen Ahmed; Nasrun, Mohd Nawi Mohd

2016-08-01

Considering the increasing concerns for the consideration of sustainability issues in construction project delivery within the construction industry, this paper assesses the extent of sustainable construction among Malaysian large contractors, in order to ascertain the level of the industry's impacts on both the environment and the society. Sustainable construction explains the construction industry's responsibility to efficiently utilise the finite resources while also reducing construction impacts on both humans and the environment throughout the phases of construction. This study used proportionate stratified random sampling to conduct a field study with a sample of 172 contractors out of the 708 administered questionnaires. Data were collected from large contractors in the eleven states of peninsular Malaysia. Using the five-level rating scale (which include: 1= Very Low; 2= Low; 3= Moderate; 4= High; 5= Very High) to describe the level of sustainable construction of Malaysian contractors based on previous studies, statistical analysis reveals that environmental, social and economic sustainability of Malaysian large contractors are high.

Rapid fish stock depletion in previously unexploited seamounts: the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Rapid fish stock depletion in previously unexploited seamounts: the case of Beryx splendens from the Sierra Leone Rise (Gulf of Guinea) ... A spectral analysis and red-noise spectra procedure (REDFIT) algorithm was used to identify the red-noise spectrum from the gaps in the observed time-series of catch per unit effort by ...

Choice of contraception after previous operative delivery at a family ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Choice of contraception after previous operative delivery at a family planning clinic in Northern Nigeria. Amina Mohammed‑Durosinlorun, Joel Adze, Stephen Bature, Caleb Mohammed, Matthew Taingson, Amina Abubakar, Austin Ojabo, Lydia Airede ...

IM-Chem: The Use of Instant Messaging to Improve Student Performance and Personalize Large Lecture General Chemistry Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Behmke, Derek A.; Atwood, Charles H.

2012-01-01

Previous research has linked poor student performance with the depersonalized feeling of large lecture courses. Various forms of enhanced communication have been tried that appear to enhance personalization in large courses. For general chemistry classes taught in a 365-seat lecture hall at the University of Georgia, we have attempted to enhance…

Self managing monitoring for highly elastic large scale Cloud deployments

OpenAIRE

Ward, Jonathan Stuart; Barker, Adam David

2014-01-01

Infrastructure as a Service computing exhibits a number of properties, which are not found in conventional server deployments. Elasticity is among the most significant of these properties which has wide reaching implications for applications deployed in cloud hosted VMs. Among the applications affected by elasticity is monitoring. In this paper we investigate the challenges of monitoring large cloud deployments and how these challenges differ from previous monitoring problems. In order to mee...

Multiaxial loading of large-diameter, thin-walled tube rock specimens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hecker, S.S.; Petrovic, J.J.

1981-01-01

A large-scale mechanical testing facility permits previously impossible thin-walled tube multiaxial loading experiments on rock materials. Constraints are removed regarding tube wall thickness in relation to rock microstructural features and tube diameter as well as test machine load capacity. Thin-walled tube studies clarify the influence of intermediate principal stress sigma 2 on rock fracture and help define a realistic rock fracture criterion for all multiaxial stressing situations. By comparing results of thin-walled and thick-walled tube fracture investigations, effects of stress gradients can be established. Finally, influence of stress path on rock fracture, an area largely ignored in current rock failure criteria, can be examined in detail using controlled loading changes as well as specimen prestrains

Statistical evaluation of unobserved nonuniform corrosion in A216 steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pulsipher, B.A.

1988-07-01

Tests designed to promote nonuniform corrosion have been conducted at PNL on A216 steel. In all of the tests performed to date, there have been no manifestations of significant nonuniform corrosion. Although this may suggest that nonuniform corrosion in A216 steel may not be a significant problem in the nuclear waste repository, a question arises as to whether enough tests have been conducted for a sufficient length of time to rule out nonuniform corrosion of A216 steel. In this report, a method for determining the required number of tests is examined for two of the mechanisms of nonuniform corrosion: pitting and crevice corrosion

Marijuana Use and High School Dropout: The Influence of Unobservables

OpenAIRE

Daniel F. McCaffrey; Rosalie Liccardo Pacula; Bing Han; Phyllis Ellickson

2008-01-01

In this study we reconsider the relationship between heavy and persistent marijuana use and high school dropout status using a unique prospective panel study of over 4500 7th grade students from South Dakota who are followed up through high school. Propensity score weighting is used to adjust for baseline differences that are found to exist before marijuana initiation occurs (7th grade). Weighted logistic regression incorporating these propensity score weights is then used to examine the exte...

Counterfactual Graphical Models for Longitudinal Mediation Analysis with Unobserved Confounding

Science.gov (United States)

Shpitser, Ilya

2013-01-01

Questions concerning mediated causal effects are of great interest in psychology, cognitive science, medicine, social science, public health, and many other disciplines. For instance, about 60% of recent papers published in leading journals in social psychology contain at least one mediation test (Rucker, Preacher, Tormala, & Petty, 2011).…

Spatial occupancy models for large data sets

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Devin S.; Conn, Paul B.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Ray, Justina C.; Pond, Bruce A.

2013-01-01

Since its development, occupancy modeling has become a popular and useful tool for ecologists wishing to learn about the dynamics of species occurrence over time and space. Such models require presence–absence data to be collected at spatially indexed survey units. However, only recently have researchers recognized the need to correct for spatially induced overdisperison by explicitly accounting for spatial autocorrelation in occupancy probability. Previous efforts to incorporate such autocorrelation have largely focused on logit-normal formulations for occupancy, with spatial autocorrelation induced by a random effect within a hierarchical modeling framework. Although useful, computational time generally limits such an approach to relatively small data sets, and there are often problems with algorithm instability, yielding unsatisfactory results. Further, recent research has revealed a hidden form of multicollinearity in such applications, which may lead to parameter bias if not explicitly addressed. Combining several techniques, we present a unifying hierarchical spatial occupancy model specification that is particularly effective over large spatial extents. This approach employs a probit mixture framework for occupancy and can easily accommodate a reduced-dimensional spatial process to resolve issues with multicollinearity and spatial confounding while improving algorithm convergence. Using open-source software, we demonstrate this new model specification using a case study involving occupancy of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) over a set of 1080 survey units spanning a large contiguous region (108 000 km2) in northern Ontario, Canada. Overall, the combination of a more efficient specification and open-source software allows for a facile and stable implementation of spatial occupancy models for large data sets.

Procedure for estimating nonfuel operation and maintenance costs for large steam-electric power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, M.L.; Fuller, L.C.

1979-01-01

Revised guidelines are presented for estimating annual nonfuel operation and maintenance costs for large steam-electric power plants, specifically light-water-reactor plants and coal-fired plants. Previous guidelines were published in October 1975 in ERDA 76-37, a Procedure for Estimating Nonfuel Operating and Maintenance Costs for Large Steam-Electric Power Plants. Estimates for coal-fired plants include the option of limestone slurry scrubbing for flue gas desulfurization. A computer program, OMCOST, is also presented which covers all plant options

Poly-epiphyseal overgrowth: description of a previously unreported skeletal dysplasia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pazzaglia, Ugo E.; Bonaspetti, Giovanni [University of Brescia, Orthopaedic Clinic, Brescia (Italy); Beluffi, Giampiero [Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Department of Paediatric Radiology, Pavia (Italy); Marchi, Antonietta; Bozzola, Mauro; Savasta, Salvatore [Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Paediatric Clinic, University of Pavia, Pavia (Italy)

2007-10-15

A skeletal dysplasia with previously unreported features is presented. Its evolution was characterized by growth abnormalities of bones without involvement of other organs. Advanced bone age, increased stature and irregular epiphyseal ossification with stippling of the main long bones were documented. Physeal overgrowth was massive in the left proximal humerus and femur. Furthermore, the hip joint appeared fused with an abundant mass of pathological calcific tissue extending from the femur to the ilium. Pathological epiphyses were characterized by anarchic cartilaginous proliferation with multiple ossification centres, while lamellar bone apposition and remodelling were normal. The observed bone changes were different from those in any previously reported syndrome, metabolic defect or bone dysplasia. However, they clearly indicated a defect of endochondral ossification with some resemblance to phenotypes observed in dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica. (orig.)

Poly-epiphyseal overgrowth: description of a previously unreported skeletal dysplasia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pazzaglia, Ugo E.; Bonaspetti, Giovanni; Beluffi, Giampiero; Marchi, Antonietta; Bozzola, Mauro; Savasta, Salvatore

2007-01-01

A skeletal dysplasia with previously unreported features is presented. Its evolution was characterized by growth abnormalities of bones without involvement of other organs. Advanced bone age, increased stature and irregular epiphyseal ossification with stippling of the main long bones were documented. Physeal overgrowth was massive in the left proximal humerus and femur. Furthermore, the hip joint appeared fused with an abundant mass of pathological calcific tissue extending from the femur to the ilium. Pathological epiphyses were characterized by anarchic cartilaginous proliferation with multiple ossification centres, while lamellar bone apposition and remodelling were normal. The observed bone changes were different from those in any previously reported syndrome, metabolic defect or bone dysplasia. However, they clearly indicated a defect of endochondral ossification with some resemblance to phenotypes observed in dysplasia epiphysealis hemimelica. (orig.)

Microarray-based classification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Christian Bjørn; Borup, Rehannah; Nielsen, Finn Cilius

2005-01-01

on the Affymetrix HG-U133A oligonucleotide arrays and improve the classification, we determined the expression profiles of pretreatment, diagnostic samples from 52 primary nodal DLBCL. METHODS AND RESULTS: First, three previously published gene lists were converted to the HG-U133A probe sets and used......OBJECTIVE: Hierarchical clusterings of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) based on gene expression signatures have previously been used to classify DLBCL into Germinal Center B-cell (GCB) and Activated B-cell (ABC) types. To examine if it was feasible to perform a cross-platform validation...... for hierarchical clustering. In this way, three subtypes, including the GCB type (n = 20), the ABC type (n = 25) and an intermediate group, Type-3 (n = 5), were distinguished. The CD10 and Bcl-6 expression as well as t(14;18) translocation were prevalent, but not exclusive to the GCB type. By contrast, MUM1...

Manager impartiality? Worker-firm matching and the gender wage gap

OpenAIRE

Hensvik, Lena

2011-01-01

Using a rich matched employer-employee data set from Sweden, the author examines whether female managers in a firm narrow the gender pay gap. The studyÌs main contribution is its ability to account for unobserved heterogeneity among both workers and firms that is potentially correlated with manager gender. The results show a substantial negative association between the representation of female managers and the establishmentÌs gender wage gap. Estimates that account for sorting on unobserved w...

GPS Composite Clock Analysis

OpenAIRE

Wright, James R.

2008-01-01

The GPS composite clock defines GPS time, the timescale used today in GPS operations. GPS time is illuminated by examination of its role in the complete estimation and control problem relative to UTC/TAI. The phase of each GPS clock is unobservable from GPS pseudorange measurements, and the mean phase of the GPS clock ensemble (GPS time) is unobservable. A new and useful observability definition is presented, together with new observability theorems, to demonstrate explicitly that GPS time is...

Beyond Falsifiability: Normal Science in a Multiverse

OpenAIRE

Carroll, Sean M.

2018-01-01

Cosmological models that invoke a multiverse - a collection of unobservable regions of space where conditions are very different from the region around us - are controversial, on the grounds that unobservable phenomena shouldn't play a crucial role in legitimate scientific theories. I argue that the way we evaluate multiverse models is precisely the same as the way we evaluate any other models, on the basis of abduction, Bayesian inference, and empirical success. There is no scientifically re...

Ethnic Enclaves and Immigrant Labour Market Outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damm, Anna Piil

This study investigates empirically how residence in ethnic enclaves affects labour market outcomes of refugees. Self-selection into ethnic enclaves in terms of unobservable characteristics is taken into account by exploitation of a Danish spatial dispersal policy which randomly disperses new...... refugees across locations conditional on six individual-specific characteristics. The results show that refugees with unfavourable unobserved characteristics are found to self-select into ethnic enclaves. Furthermore, taking account of negative self-selection, a relative standard deviation increase...

HEART TRANSPLANTATION IN PATIENTS WITH PREVIOUS OPEN HEART SURGERY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Sh. Saitgareev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Heart Transplantation (HTx to date remains the most effective and radical method of treatment of patients with end-stage heart failure. The defi cit of donor hearts is forcing to resort increasingly to the use of different longterm mechanical circulatory support systems, including as a «bridge» to the follow-up HTx. According to the ISHLT Registry the number of recipients underwent cardiopulmonary bypass surgery increased from 40% in the period from 2004 to 2008 to 49.6% for the period from 2009 to 2015. HTx performed in repeated patients, on the one hand, involves considerable technical diffi culties and high risks; on the other hand, there is often no alternative medical intervention to HTx, and if not dictated by absolute contradictions the denial of the surgery is equivalent to 100% mortality. This review summarizes the results of a number of published studies aimed at understanding the immediate and late results of HTx in patients, previously underwent open heart surgery. The effect of resternotomy during HTx and that of the specifi c features associated with its implementation in recipients previously operated on open heart, and its effects on the immediate and long-term survival were considered in this review. Results of studies analyzing the risk factors for perioperative complications in repeated recipients were also demonstrated. Separately, HTx risks after implantation of prolonged mechanical circulatory support systems were examined. The literature does not allow to clearly defi ning the impact factor of earlier performed open heart surgery on the course of perioperative period and on the prognosis of survival in recipients who underwent HTx. On the other hand, subject to the regular fl ow of HTx and the perioperative period the risks in this clinical situation are justifi ed as a long-term prognosis of recipients previously conducted open heart surgery and are comparable to those of patients who underwent primary HTx. Studies

Baryons in QCDAS at large Nc: A roundabout approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, Thomas D.; Shafer, Daniel L.; Lebed, Richard F.

2010-01-01

QCD AS , a variant of large N c QCD in which quarks transform under the color two-index antisymmetric representation, reduces to standard QCD at N c =3 and provides an alternative to the usual large N c extrapolation that uses fundamental representation quarks. Previous strong plausibility arguments assert that the QCD AS baryon mass scales as N c 2 ; however, the complicated combinatoric problem associated with quarks carrying two color indices impeded a complete demonstration. We develop a diagrammatic technique to solve this problem. The key ingredient is the introduction of an effective multigluon vertex: a ''traffic circle'' or roundabout diagram. We show that arbitrarily complicated diagrams can be reduced to simple ones with the same leading N c scaling using this device, and that the leading contribution to baryon mass does, in fact, scale as N c 2 .

Deeper penetration of large earthquakes on seismically quiescent faults.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Junle; Lapusta, Nadia

2016-06-10

Why many major strike-slip faults known to have had large earthquakes are silent in the interseismic period is a long-standing enigma. One would expect small earthquakes to occur at least at the bottom of the seismogenic zone, where deeper aseismic deformation concentrates loading. We suggest that the absence of such concentrated microseismicity indicates deep rupture past the seismogenic zone in previous large earthquakes. We support this conclusion with numerical simulations of fault behavior and observations of recent major events. Our modeling implies that the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake on the San Andreas Fault in Southern California penetrated below the seismogenic zone by at least 3 to 5 kilometers. Our findings suggest that such deeper ruptures may occur on other major fault segments, potentially increasing the associated seismic hazard. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

On Two Mixture-Based Clustering Approaches Used in Modeling an Insurance Portfolio

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatjana Miljkovic

2018-05-01

Full Text Available We review two complementary mixture-based clustering approaches for modeling unobserved heterogeneity in an insurance portfolio: the generalized linear mixed cluster-weighted model (CWM and mixture-based clustering for an ordered stereotype model (OSM. The latter is for modeling of ordinal variables, and the former is for modeling losses as a function of mixed-type of covariates. The article extends the idea of mixture modeling to a multivariate classification for the purpose of testing unobserved heterogeneity in an insurance portfolio. The application of both methods is illustrated on a well-known French automobile portfolio, in which the model fitting is performed using the expectation-maximization (EM algorithm. Our findings show that these mixture-based clustering methods can be used to further test unobserved heterogeneity in an insurance portfolio and as such may be considered in insurance pricing, underwriting, and risk management.

THE VVV SURVEY REVEALS CLASSICAL CEPHEIDS TRACING A YOUNG AND THIN STELLAR DISK ACROSS THE GALAXY’S BULGE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dékány, I. [Instituto Milenio de Astrofísica, Santiago (Chile); Minniti, D. [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Andres Bello, República 220, Santiago (Chile); Majaess, D. [Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada); Zoccali, M.; Hajdu, G.; Catelan, M. [Instituto de Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago (Chile); Alonso-García, J. [Unidad de Astronomía, Fac. Cs. Básicas, Universidad de Antofagasta, Avda. U. de Antofagasta 02800, Antofagasta (Chile); Gieren, W. [Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción (Chile); Borissova, J., E-mail: idekany@astro.puc.cl [Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, Valparaso (Chile)

2015-10-20

Solid insight into the physics of the inner Milky Way is key to understanding our Galaxy’s evolution, but extreme dust obscuration has historically hindered efforts to map the area along the Galactic mid-plane. New comprehensive near-infrared time-series photometry from the VVV Survey has revealed 35 classical Cepheids, tracing a previously unobserved component of the inner Galaxy, namely a ubiquitous inner thin disk of young stars along the Galactic mid-plane, traversing across the bulge. The discovered period (age) spread of these classical Cepheids implies a continuous supply of newly formed stars in the central region of the Galaxy over the last 100 million years.

Phase Transitions in Sexual Populations Subject to Stabilizing Selection

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, A.

2003-04-01

We show that a simple model of an evolving sexual population, which dates back to some of the earliest work in theoretical population genetics, exhibits an unexpected and previously unobserved phase transition between ordered and disordered states. This behavior is not present in populations evolving asexually without recombination and is thus important in any comparison of sexual and asexual populations. In order to calculate the details of the phase transition, we use techniques from statistical physics. We introduce the correlation of the population as the order parameter of the system and use maximum entropy inference to find the state of the population at any time.

The pathogenicity of genetic variants previously associated with left ventricular non-compaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abbasi, Yeganeh; Jabbari, Javad; Jabbari, Reza

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC) is a rare cardiomyopathy. Many genetic variants have been associated with LVNC. However, the number of the previous LVNC-associated variants that are common in the background population remains unknown. The aim of this study was to provide...... an updated list of previously reported LVNC-associated variants with biologic description and investigate the prevalence of LVNC variants in healthy general population to find false-positive LVNC-associated variants. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Human Gene Mutation Database and PubMed were systematically...... searched to identify all previously reported LVNC-associated variants. Thereafter, the Exome Sequencing Project (ESP) and the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC), that both represent the background population, was searched for all variants. Four in silico prediction tools were assessed to determine...

Prevalent musculoskeletal pain as a correlate of previous exposure to torture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Dorte Reff; Montgomery, Edith; Bojholm, S

2006-01-01

AIM: To research possible associations between previous exposure to specific torture techniques and prevalent pain in the head and face, back, and feet. METHODS: 221 refugees, 193 males and 28 females, previously exposed to torture in their home country, were subject to a clinical interview...... was general abuse of the whole body (OR 5.64, 95% CI 1.93-16.45). CONCLUSION: In spite of many factors being potentially co-responsible for prevalent pain, years after the torture took place it presents itself as strongly associated with specific loci of pain, with generalized effects, and with somatizing....

[A large-scale accident in Alpine terrain].

Science.gov (United States)

Wildner, M; Paal, P

2015-02-01

Due to the geographical conditions, large-scale accidents amounting to mass casualty incidents (MCI) in Alpine terrain regularly present rescue teams with huge challenges. Using an example incident, specific conditions and typical problems associated with such a situation are presented. The first rescue team members to arrive have the elementary tasks of qualified triage and communication to the control room, which is required to dispatch the necessary additional support. Only with a clear "concept", to which all have to adhere, can the subsequent chaos phase be limited. In this respect, a time factor confounded by adverse weather conditions or darkness represents enormous pressure. Additional hazards are frostbite and hypothermia. If priorities can be established in terms of urgency, then treatment and procedure algorithms have proven successful. For evacuation of causalities, a helicopter should be strived for. Due to the low density of hospitals in Alpine regions, it is often necessary to distribute the patients over a wide area. Rescue operations in Alpine terrain have to be performed according to the particular conditions and require rescue teams to have specific knowledge and expertise. The possibility of a large-scale accident should be considered when planning events. With respect to optimization of rescue measures, regular training and exercises are rational, as is the analysis of previous large-scale Alpine accidents.

Payload specialist Reinhard Furrer show evidence of previous blood sampling

Science.gov (United States)

1985-01-01

Payload specialist Reinhard Furrer shows evidence of previous blood sampling while Wubbo J. Ockels, Dutch payload specialist (only partially visible), extends his right arm after a sample has been taken. Both men show bruises on their arms.

Lessons from a large-scale assessment: Results from conceptual inventories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beth Thacker

2014-07-01

Full Text Available We report conceptual inventory results of a large-scale assessment project at a large university. We studied the introduction of materials and instructional methods informed by physics education research (PER (physics education research-informed materials into a department where most instruction has previously been traditional and a significant number of faculty are hesitant, ambivalent, or even resistant to the introduction of such reforms. Data were collected in all of the sections of both the large algebra- and calculus-based introductory courses for a number of years employing commonly used conceptual inventories. Results from a small PER-informed, inquiry-based, laboratory-based class are also reported. Results suggest that when PER-informed materials are introduced in the labs and recitations, independent of the lecture style, there is an increase in students’ conceptual inventory gains. There is also an increase in the results on conceptual inventories if PER-informed instruction is used in the lecture. The highest conceptual inventory gains were achieved by the combination of PER-informed lectures and laboratories in large class settings and by the hands-on, laboratory-based, inquiry-based course taught in a small class setting.

Analysis of previous screening examinations for patients with breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Eun Hye; Cha, Joo Hee; Han, Dae Hee; Choi, Young Ho; Hwang, Ki Tae; Ryu, Dae Sik; Kwak, Jin Ho; Moon, Woo Kyung

2007-01-01

We wanted to improve the quality of subsequent screening by reviewing the previous screening of breast cancer patients. Twenty-four breast cancer patients who underwent previous screening were enrolled. All 24 took mammograms and 15 patients also took sonograms. We reviewed the screening retrospectively according to the BI-RADS criteria and we categorized the results into false negative, true negative, true positive and occult cancers. We also categorized the causes of false negative cancers into misperception, misinterpretation and technical factors and then we analyzed the attributing factors. Review of the previous screening revealed 66.7% (16/24) false negative, 25.0% (6/24) true negative, and 8.3% (2/24) true positive cancers. False negative cancers were caused by the mammogram in 56.3% (9/16) and by the sonogram in 43.7% (7/16). For the false negative cases, all of misperception were related with mammograms and this was attributed to dense breast, a lesion located at the edge of glandular tissue or the image, and findings seen on one view only. Almost all misinterpretations were related with sonograms and attributed to loose application of the final assessment. To improve the quality of breast screening, it is essential to overcome the main causes of false negative examinations, including misperception and misinterpretation. We need systematic education and strict application of final assessment categories of BI-RADS. For effective communication among physicians, it is also necessary to properly educate them about BI-RADS

A search for technicolor at the large hadron collider

Science.gov (United States)

Love, Jeremy R.

The Standard Model of particle physics provides an accurate description of all experimental data to date. The only unobserved piece of the Standard Model is the Higgs boson, a consequence of the spontaneous breaking of electroweak symmetry by the Higgs mechanism. An alternative to the Higgs mechanism is proposed by Technicolor theories which break electroweak symmetry dynamically through a new force. Technicolor predicts many new particles, called Technihadrons, that could be observed by experiments at hadron colliders. This thesis presents a search for two of the lightest Technihadrons, the rhoT and oT. The Low-Scale Technicolor model predicts the phenomenology of these new states. The rhoT and oT are produced through qq annihilation and couple to Standard Model fermions through the Drell-Yan process, which can result in the dimuon final state. The rhoT and oT preferentially decay to the piT and a Standard Model gauge boson if kinematically allowed. Changing the mass of the piT relative to that of the rhoT and o T affects the cross section times branching fraction to dimuons. The rhoT and oT are expected to have masses below about 1 TeV. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN outside of Geneva, Switzerland, produces proton-proton collisions with a center of mass energy of 7 TeV. A general purpose high energy physics detector ATLAS has been used in this analysis to search for Technihadrons decaying to two muons. We use the ATLAS detector to reconstruct the tracks of muons with high transverse momentum coming from these proton-proton collisions. The dimuon invariant mass spectrum is analyzed above 130 GeV to test the consistency of the observed data with the Standard Model prediction. We observe excellent agreement between our data and the background only hypothesis, and proceed to set limits on the cross section times branching ratio of the rhoT and oT as a function of their mass using the Low-Scale Technicolor model. We combine the dielectron and dimuon channels

Ultra Large Gene Families: A Matter of Adaptation or Genomic Parasites?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philipp H. Schiffer

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Gene duplication is an important mechanism of molecular evolution. It offers a fast track to modification, diversification, redundancy or rescue of gene function. However, duplication may also be neutral or (slightly deleterious, and often ends in pseudo-geneisation. Here, we investigate the phylogenetic distribution of ultra large gene families on long and short evolutionary time scales. In particular, we focus on a family of NACHT-domain and leucine-rich-repeat-containing (NLR-genes, which we previously found in large numbers to occupy one chromosome arm of the zebrafish genome. We were interested to see whether such a tight clustering is characteristic for ultra large gene families. Our data reconfirm that most gene family inflations are lineage-specific, but we can only identify very few gene clusters. Based on our observations we hypothesise that, beyond a certain size threshold, ultra large gene families continue to proliferate in a mechanism we term “run-away evolution”. This process might ultimately lead to the failure of genomic integrity and drive species to extinction.

Activity of CERN and LNF groups on large area GEM detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alfonsi, M. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Bencivenni, G. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell' INFN, Frascati (Italy); Brock, I. [Physikalisches Institute der Universitat Bonn, Bonn (Germany); Cerioni, S. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell' INFN, Frascati (Italy); Croci, G.; David, E. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); De Lucia, E. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell' INFN, Frascati (Italy); De Oliveira, R. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); De Robertis, G. [Sezione INFN di Bari, Bari (Italy); Domenici, D., E-mail: Danilo.Domenici@lnf.infn.i [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell' INFN, Frascati (Italy); Duarte Pinto, S. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Felici, G.; Gatta, M.; Jacewicz, M. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell' INFN, Frascati (Italy); Loddo, F. [Sezione INFN di Bari, Bari (Italy); Morello, G. [Dipeartimento di Fisica Universita della Calabria e INFN, Cosenza (Italy); Pistilli, M. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell' INFN, Frascati (Italy); Ranieri, A. [Sezione INFN di Bari, Bari (Italy); Ropelewski, L. [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Sauli, F. [TERA Foundation, Novara (Italy)

2010-05-21

We report on the activity of CERN and INFN-LNF groups on the development of large area GEM detectors. The two groups work together within the RD51 Collaboration, to aim at the development of Micro-pattern Gas detectors technologies. The vast request for large area foils by the GEM community has driven a change in the manufacturing procedure by the TS-DEM-PMT laboratory, needed to overcome the previous size limitation of 450x450mm{sup 2}. Now a single-mask technology is used allowing foils to be made as large as 450x2000mm{sup 2}. The limitation in the short size, due to the definite width of the raw material, can be overcome by splicing more foils together. A 10x10cm{sup 2} GEM detector with the new single-mask foil has been tested with X-rays and the results are shown. Possible future applications for large area GEM are the TOTEM experiment upgrade at CERN, and the KLOE-2 experiment at the Dafne {Phi}-factory in Frascati.

Activity of CERN and LNF groups on large area GEM detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfonsi, M.; Bencivenni, G.; Brock, I.; Cerioni, S.; Croci, G.; David, E.; De Lucia, E.; De Oliveira, R.; De Robertis, G.; Domenici, D.; Duarte Pinto, S.; Felici, G.; Gatta, M.; Jacewicz, M.; Loddo, F.; Morello, G.; Pistilli, M.; Ranieri, A.; Ropelewski, L.; Sauli, F.

2010-01-01

We report on the activity of CERN and INFN-LNF groups on the development of large area GEM detectors. The two groups work together within the RD51 Collaboration, to aim at the development of Micro-pattern Gas detectors technologies. The vast request for large area foils by the GEM community has driven a change in the manufacturing procedure by the TS-DEM-PMT laboratory, needed to overcome the previous size limitation of 450x450mm 2 . Now a single-mask technology is used allowing foils to be made as large as 450x2000mm 2 . The limitation in the short size, due to the definite width of the raw material, can be overcome by splicing more foils together. A 10x10cm 2 GEM detector with the new single-mask foil has been tested with X-rays and the results are shown. Possible future applications for large area GEM are the TOTEM experiment upgrade at CERN, and the KLOE-2 experiment at the Dafne Φ-factory in Frascati.

Previous utilization of service does not improve timely booking in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Previous utilization of service does not improve timely booking in antenatal care: Cross sectional study ... Journal Home > Vol 24, No 3 (2010) > ... Results: Past experience on antenatal care service utilization did not come out as a predictor for ...

Radioiodine treatment of recurrent hyperthyroidism in patients previously treated for Graves' disease by subtotal thyroidectomy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestergaard, H; Laurberg, P

1992-01-01

showed a higher sensitivity to radioiodine, with more cases of early hypothyroidism, than non-operated patients. However, after 50 months of follow-up the outcome was identical. The results indicate that frequent assessment is necessary after radioiodine treatment of previously operated patients, since......Radioiodine therapy is often employed for treatment of patients with relapse of hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease, after previous thyroid surgery. Little is known about the outcome of this treatment compared to patients with no previous surgery. A total of 20 patients who had received surgical...... treatment for Graves' hyperthyroidism 1-46 years previously and with relapse of the hyperthyroidism, and 25 patients with hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease and no previous thyroid surgery were treated with radioiodine, following the same protocol. Early after treatment the previously operated patients...

The Impact of Health Changes on Labor Supply: Evidence from Merged Data on Individual Objective Medical Diagnosis Codes and Early Retirement Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Bent Jesper; Kallestrup-Lamb, Malene

2012-01-01

The justification bias in the estimated impact of health shocks on retirement is mitigated by using objective health measures from a large, register-based longitudinal data set including medical diagnosis codes, along with labor market status, financial, and socio-economic variables. The duration...... until retirement is modeled using single and competing risk specifications, observed and unobserved heterogeneity, and flexible baseline hazards. Wealth is used as a proxy for elapsed duration to mitigate the potential selection bias stemming from conditioning on initial participation. The competing...... risk specification distinguishes complete multi-period routes to retirement, such as unemployment followed by early retirement. A result on comparison of coefficients across all states is offered. The empirical results indicate a strong impact of health changes on retirement, and hence a large...

Personality disorders in previously detained adolescent females: a prospective study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krabbendam, A.; Colins, O.F.; Doreleijers, T.A.H.; van der Molen, E.; Beekman, A.T.F.; Vermeiren, R.R.J.M.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study investigated the predictive value of trauma and mental health problems for the development of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) in previously detained women. The participants were 229 detained adolescent females who were assessed

The long-term consequences of previous hyperthyroidism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjelm Brandt Kristensen, Frans

2015-01-01

Thyroid hormones affect every cell in the human body, and the cardiovascular changes associated with increased levels of thyroid hormones are especially well described. As an example, short-term hyperthyroidism has positive chronotropic and inotropic effects on the heart, leading to a hyperdynamic...... with CVD, LD and DM both before and after the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. Although the design used does not allow a stringent distinction between cause and effect, the findings indicate a possible direct association between hyperthyroidism and these morbidities, or vice versa....... vascular state. While it is biologically plausible that these changes may induce long-term consequences, the insight into morbidity as well as mortality in patients with previous hyperthyroidism is limited. The reasons for this are a combination of inadequately powered studies, varying definitions...

Perturbative QCD Lagrangian at large distances and stochastic dimensionality reduction. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shintani, M.

1986-11-01

Using the method of stochastic dimensional reduction, we derive a four-dimensional quantum effective Lagrangian for the classical Yang-Mills system coupled to the Gaussian white noise. It is found that the Lagrangian coincides with the perturbative QCD at large distances constructed in our previous paper. That formalism is based on the local covariant operator formalism which maintains the unitarity of the S-matrix. Furthermore, we show the non-perturbative equivalence between super-Lorentz invariant sectors of the effective Lagrangian and two dimensional QCD coupled to the adjoint pseudo-scalars. This implies that stochastic dimensionality reduction by two is approximately operative in QCD at large distances. (orig.)

Large deviations

CERN Document Server

Varadhan, S R S

2016-01-01

The theory of large deviations deals with rates at which probabilities of certain events decay as a natural parameter in the problem varies. This book, which is based on a graduate course on large deviations at the Courant Institute, focuses on three concrete sets of examples: (i) diffusions with small noise and the exit problem, (ii) large time behavior of Markov processes and their connection to the Feynman-Kac formula and the related large deviation behavior of the number of distinct sites visited by a random walk, and (iii) interacting particle systems, their scaling limits, and large deviations from their expected limits. For the most part the examples are worked out in detail, and in the process the subject of large deviations is developed. The book will give the reader a flavor of how large deviation theory can help in problems that are not posed directly in terms of large deviations. The reader is assumed to have some familiarity with probability, Markov processes, and interacting particle systems.

Large Payload Ground Transportation and Test Considerations

Science.gov (United States)

Rucker, Michelle A.

2016-01-01

Many spacecraft concepts under consideration by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Evolvable Mars Campaign take advantage of a Space Launch System payload shroud that may be 8 to 10 meters in diameter. Large payloads can theoretically save cost by reducing the number of launches needed--but only if it is possible to build, test, and transport a large payload to the launch site in the first place. Analysis performed previously for the Altair project identified several transportation and test issues with an 8.973 meters diameter payload. Although the entire Constellation Program—including Altair—has since been canceled, these issues serve as important lessons learned for spacecraft designers and program managers considering large payloads for future programs. A transportation feasibility study found that, even broken up into an Ascent and Descent Module, the Altair spacecraft would not fit inside available aircraft. Ground transportation of such large payloads over extended distances is not generally permitted, so overland transportation alone would not be an option. Limited ground transportation to the nearest waterway may be possible, but water transportation could take as long as 67 days per production unit, depending on point of origin and acceptance test facility; transportation from the western United States would require transit through the Panama Canal to access the Kennedy Space Center launch site. Large payloads also pose acceptance test and ground processing challenges. Although propulsion, mechanical vibration, and reverberant acoustic test facilities at NASA’s Plum Brook Station have been designed to accommodate large spacecraft, special handling and test work-arounds may be necessary, which could increase cost, schedule, and technical risk. Once at the launch site, there are no facilities currently capable of accommodating the combination of large payload size and hazardous processing such as hypergolic fuels

Influence of previous experience on resistance training on reliability of one-repetition maximum test.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritti-Dias, Raphael Mendes; Avelar, Ademar; Salvador, Emanuel Péricles; Cyrino, Edilson Serpeloni

2011-05-01

The 1-repetition maximum test (1RM) has been widely used to assess maximal strength. However, to improve accuracy in assessing maximal strength, several sessions of the 1RM test are recommended. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of previous resistance training experience on the reliability of 1RM test. Thirty men were assigned to the following 2 groups according to their previous resistance training experience: no previous resistance training experience (NOEXP) and more than 24 months of resistance training experience (EXP). All subjects performed the 1RM tests in bench press and squat in 4 sessions on distinct days. There was a significant session × group effect in bench press (F = 3.09; p reliability of the 1RM test is influenced by the subject's previous experience in resistance training. Subjects without experience in resistance training require more practice and familiarization and show greater increases in maximal strength between sessions than subjects with previous experience in resistance training.

Results of a neutrino oscillation experiment performed at a meson factory beam-stop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, J.W.

1989-04-01

This document describes a neutrino oscillation experiment performed at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility. The oscillation mode searched for is /bar /nu///sub μ/ → /bar /nu///sub e/. The first chapter is a review of the known properties of the neutrino and a description of the phenomenon of neutrino oscillation. Previous experimental limits on this unobserved phenomenon are also given. The second chapter describes the experimental apparatus used by the E645 experiment to detect neutrinos produced in the LAMPF beam stop. The salient features of the detector are its large mass (20 tons of CH 2 ), its fine segmentation (to allow good particle tracking), good energy resolution, its recording of the history both before and after tracks appear in the detector, an active cosmic-ray anticoincidence shield, and 2000 gm/cm 2 of passive cosmic-ray shielding. It is located 26.8 m from the neutrino source, which has a mean neutrino energy of 40 MeV. The third chapter details the reduction of the 1.3 million event data sample to a 49 event sample of neutrino candidates. Principle backgrounds are Michel electrons from stopping cosmic-ray muons and protons from np elastic scattering by cosmic-ray neutrons. The fourth chapter explains how background levels from neutrino-nuclear scattering are predicted. The result of a maximum-likelihood analysis reveals no evidence for oscillation. 90% confidence levels are set at δm 2 = .10 eV 2 for large mixing and sin 2 (2θ) = .014 for large δm 2 . 82 refs., 18 figs., 55 tabs

Processing and properties of large-sized ceramic slabs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raimondo, M.; Dondi, M.; Zanelli, C.; Guarini, G.; Gozzi, A.; Marani, F.; Fossa, L.

2010-07-01

Large-sized ceramic slabs with dimensions up to 360x120 cm{sup 2} and thickness down to 2 mm are manufactured through an innovative ceramic process, starting from porcelain stoneware formulations and involving wet ball milling, spray drying, die-less slow-rate pressing, a single stage of fast drying-firing, and finishing (trimming, assembling of ceramic-fiberglass composites). Fired and unfired industrial slabs were selected and characterized from the technological, compositional (XRF, XRD) and microstructural (SEM) viewpoints. Semi-finished products exhibit a remarkable microstructural uniformity and stability in a rather wide window of firing schedules. The phase composition and compact microstructure of fired slabs are very similar to those of porcelain stoneware tiles. The values of water absorption, bulk density, closed porosity, functional performances as well as mechanical and tribological properties conform to the top quality range of porcelain stoneware tiles. However, the large size coupled with low thickness bestow on the slab a certain degree of flexibility, which is emphasized in ceramic-fiberglass composites. These outstanding performances make the large-sized slabs suitable to be used in novel applications: building and construction (new floorings without dismantling the previous paving, ventilated facades, tunnel coverings, insulating panelling), indoor furnitures (table tops, doors), support for photovoltaic ceramic panels. (Author) 24 refs.

Processing and properties of large-sized ceramic slabs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raimondo, M.; Dondi, M.; Zanelli, C.; Guarini, G.; Gozzi, A.; Marani, F.; Fossa, L.

2010-01-01

Large-sized ceramic slabs with dimensions up to 360x120 cm 2 and thickness down to 2 mm are manufactured through an innovative ceramic process, starting from porcelain stoneware formulations and involving wet ball milling, spray drying, die-less slow-rate pressing, a single stage of fast drying-firing, and finishing (trimming, assembling of ceramic-fiberglass composites). Fired and unfired industrial slabs were selected and characterized from the technological, compositional (XRF, XRD) and microstructural (SEM) viewpoints. Semi-finished products exhibit a remarkable microstructural uniformity and stability in a rather wide window of firing schedules. The phase composition and compact microstructure of fired slabs are very similar to those of porcelain stoneware tiles. The values of water absorption, bulk density, closed porosity, functional performances as well as mechanical and tribological properties conform to the top quality range of porcelain stoneware tiles. However, the large size coupled with low thickness bestow on the slab a certain degree of flexibility, which is emphasized in ceramic-fiberglass composites. These outstanding performances make the large-sized slabs suitable to be used in novel applications: building and construction (new floorings without dismantling the previous paving, ventilated facades, tunnel coverings, insulating panelling), indoor furnitures (table tops, doors), support for photovoltaic ceramic panels. (Author) 24 refs.

Large-scale assembly bias of dark matter halos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazeyras, Titouan; Musso, Marcello; Schmidt, Fabian, E-mail: titouan@mpa-garching.mpg.de, E-mail: mmusso@sas.upenn.edu, E-mail: fabians@mpa-garching.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85748 Garching (Germany)

2017-03-01

We present precise measurements of the assembly bias of dark matter halos, i.e. the dependence of halo bias on other properties than the mass, using curved 'separate universe' N-body simulations which effectively incorporate an infinite-wavelength matter overdensity into the background density. This method measures the LIMD (local-in-matter-density) bias parameters b {sub n} in the large-scale limit. We focus on the dependence of the first two Eulerian biases b {sup E} {sup {sub 1}} and b {sup E} {sup {sub 2}} on four halo properties: the concentration, spin, mass accretion rate, and ellipticity. We quantitatively compare our results with previous works in which assembly bias was measured on fairly small scales. Despite this difference, our findings are in good agreement with previous results. We also look at the joint dependence of bias on two halo properties in addition to the mass. Finally, using the excursion set peaks model, we attempt to shed new insights on how assembly bias arises in this analytical model.

Cycling to School Is Associated With Lower BMI and Lower Odds of Being Overweight or Obese in a Large Population-Based Study of Danish Adolescents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Lars; Grøntved, Anders; Bjørkelund Børrestad, Line Anita

2012-01-01

Previous studies have been inconclusive concerning the effect of active transport on BMI. Our objective was to investigate the association between travel mode and BMI in a large community-based sample of Danish adolescents.......Previous studies have been inconclusive concerning the effect of active transport on BMI. Our objective was to investigate the association between travel mode and BMI in a large community-based sample of Danish adolescents....

Time Frame Affects Vantage Point in Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory: Evidence from Response Latencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerzy J. Karylowski

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Previous research suggests that, with the passage of time, representations of self in episodic memory become less dependent on their initial (internal vantage point and shift toward an external perspective that is normally characteristic of how other people are represented. The present experiment examined this phenomenon in both episodic and semantic autobiographical memory using latency of self-judgments as a measure of accessibility of the internal vs. the external perspective. Results confirmed that in the case of representations of the self retrieved from recent autobiographical memories, trait-judgments regarding unobservable self-aspects (internal perspective were faster than trait judgments regarding observable self-aspects (external perspective. Yet, in the case of self-representations retrieved from memories of a more distant past, judgments regarding observable self-aspects were faster. Those results occurred for both self-representations retrieved from episodic memory and for representations retrieved from the semantic memory. In addition, regardless of the effect of time, greater accessibility of unobservable (vs. observable self-aspects was associated with the episodic rather than semantic autobiographical memory. Those results were modified by neither declared trait’s self-descriptiveness (yes vs. no responses nor by its desirability (highly desirable vs. moderately desirable traits. Implications for compatibility between how self and others are represented and for the role of self in social perception are discussed.

Time Frame Affects Vantage Point in Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory: Evidence from Response Latencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Karylowski, Jerzy J; Mrozinski, Blazej

2017-01-01

Previous research suggests that, with the passage of time, representations of self in episodic memory become less dependent on their initial (internal) vantage point and shift toward an external perspective that is normally characteristic of how other people are represented. The present experiment examined this phenomenon in both episodic and semantic autobiographical memory using latency of self-judgments as a measure of accessibility of the internal vs. the external perspective. Results confirmed that in the case of representations of the self retrieved from recent autobiographical memories, trait-judgments regarding unobservable self-aspects (internal perspective) were faster than trait judgments regarding observable self-aspects (external perspective). Yet, in the case of self-representations retrieved from memories of a more distant past, judgments regarding observable self-aspects were faster. Those results occurred for both self-representations retrieved from episodic memory and for representations retrieved from the semantic memory. In addition, regardless of the effect of time, greater accessibility of unobservable (vs. observable) self-aspects was associated with the episodic rather than semantic autobiographical memory. Those results were modified by neither declared trait's self-descriptiveness ( yes vs. no responses) nor by its desirability (highly desirable vs. moderately desirable traits). Implications for compatibility between how self and others are represented and for the role of self in social perception are discussed.

Uniformity studies in large area triple-GEM based detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akl, M. Abi [Science Program, Texas A& M University at Qatar, PO Box 23874, Doha (Qatar); Bouhali, O., E-mail: othmane.bouhali@qatar.tamu.edu [Science Program, Texas A& M University at Qatar, PO Box 23874, Doha (Qatar); Qatar Computing Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, PO Box 5825, Doha (Qatar); Castaneda, A.; Maghrbi, Y.; Mohamed, T. [Science Program, Texas A& M University at Qatar, PO Box 23874, Doha (Qatar)

2016-10-01

Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) based detectors have been used in many applications since their introduction in 1997. Large areas, e.g. exceeding 30×30 cm{sup 2}, of GEM detectors are foreseen in future experiments which puts stringent requirements on the uniformity of response across the detection area. We investigate the effect of small variations of several parameters that could affect the uniformity. Parameters such as the anode pitch, the gas gap, the size and the shape of the holes are investigated. Simulation results are presented and compared to previous experimental data.

Large Dielectric Constant Enhancement in MXene Percolative Polymer Composites

KAUST Repository

Tu, Shao Bo

2018-04-06

near the percolation limit of about 15.0 wt % MXene loading, which surpasses all previously reported composites made of carbon-based fillers in the same polymer. With up to 10 wt % MXene loading, the dielectric loss of the MXene/P(VDF-TrFE-CFE) composite indicates only an approximately 5-fold increase (from 0.06 to 0.35), while the dielectric constant increased by 25 times over the same composition range. Furthermore, the ratio of permittivity to loss factor of the MXene-polymer composite is superior to that of all previously reported fillers in this same polymer. The dielectric constant enhancement effect is demonstrated to exist in other polymers as well when loaded with MXene. We show that the dielectric constant enhancement is largely due to the charge accumulation caused by the formation of microscopic dipoles at the surfaces between the MXene sheets and the polymer matrix under an external applied electric field.

Genome-wide association study identifies multiple susceptibility loci for diffuse large B cell lymphoma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cerhan, James R.; Berndt, Sonja I.; Vijai, Joseph; Ghesquières, Hervé; McKay, James; Wang, Sophia S.; Wang, Zhaoming; Yeager, Meredith; Conde, Lucia; De Bakker, Paul I W; Nieters, Alexandra; Cox, David; Burdett, Laurie; Monnereau, Alain; Flowers, Christopher R.; De Roos, Anneclaire J.; Brooks-Wilson, Angela R.; Lan, Qing; Severi, Gianluca; Melbye, Mads; Gu, Jian; Jackson, Rebecca D.; Kane, Eleanor; Teras, Lauren R.; Purdue, Mark P.; Vajdic, Claire M.; Spinelli, John J.; Giles, Graham G.; Albanes, Demetrius; Kelly, Rachel S.; Zucca, Mariagrazia; Bertrand, Kimberly A.; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Anne; Lawrence, Charles; Hutchinson, Amy; Zhi, Degui; Habermann, Thomas M.; Link, Brian K.; Novak, Anne J.; Dogan, Ahmet; Asmann, Yan W.; Liebow, Mark; Thompson, Carrie A.; Ansell, Stephen M.; Witzig, Thomas E.; Weiner, George J.; Veron, Amelie S.; Zelenika, Diana; Tilly, Hervé; Haioun, Corinne; Molina, Thierry Jo; Hjalgrim, Henrik; Glimelius, Bengt; Adami, Hans Olov; Bracci, Paige M.; Riby, Jacques; Smith, Martyn T.; Holly, Elizabeth A.; Cozen, Wendy; Hartge, Patricia; Morton, Lindsay M.; Severson, Richard K.; Tinker, Lesley F.; North, Kari E.; Becker, Nikolaus; Benavente, Yolanda; Boffetta, Paolo; Brennan, Paul; Foretova, Lenka; Maynadie, Marc; Staines, Anthony; Lightfoot, Tracy; Crouch, Simon; Smith, Alex; Roman, Eve; Diver, W. Ryan; Offit, Kenneth; Zelenetz, Andrew; Klein, Robert J.; Villano, Danylo J.; Zheng, Tongzhang; Zhang, Yawei; Holford, Theodore R.; Kricker, Anne; Turner, Jenny; Southey, Melissa C.; Clavel, Jacqueline; Virtamo, Jarmo; Weinstein, Stephanie; Riboli, Elio; Vineis, Paolo; Kaaks, Rudolph; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Vermeulen, Roel C H; Boeing, Heiner; Tjonneland, Anne; Angelucci, Emanuele; Di Lollo, Simonetta; Rais, Marco; Birmann, Brenda M.; Laden, Francine; Giovannucci, Edward; Kraft, Peter; Huang, Jinyan; Ma, Baoshan; Ye, Yuanqing; Chiu, Brian C H; Sampson, Joshua; Liang, Liming; Park, Ju Hyun; Chung, Charles C.; Weisenburger, Dennis D.; Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Fraumeni, Joseph F.; Slager, Susan L.; Wu, Xifeng; De Sanjose, Silvia; Smedby, Karin E.; Salles, Gilles; Skibola, Christine F.; Rothman, Nathaniel; Chanock, Stephen J.

2014-01-01

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common lymphoma subtype and is clinically aggressive. To identify genetic susceptibility loci for DLBCL, we conducted a meta-analysis of 3 new genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and 1 previous scan, totaling 3,857 cases and 7,666 controls of

Detecting superior face recognition skills in a large sample of young British adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Katarzyna Bobak

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The Cambridge Face Memory Test Long Form (CFMT+ and Cambridge Face Perception Test (CFPT are typically used to assess the face processing ability of individuals who believe they have superior face recognition skills. Previous large-scale studies have presented norms for the CFPT but not the CFMT+. However, previous research has also highlighted the necessity for establishing country-specific norms for these tests, indicating that norming data is required for both tests using young British adults. The current study addressed this issue in 254 British participants. In addition to providing the first norm for performance on the CFMT+ in any large sample, we also report the first UK specific cut-off for superior face recognition on the CFPT. Further analyses identified a small advantage for females on both tests, and only small associations between objective face recognition skills and self-report measures. A secondary aim of the study was to examine the relationship between trait or social anxiety and face processing ability, and no associations were noted. The implications of these findings for the classification of super-recognisers are discussed.

Daily online testing in large classes: boosting college performance while reducing achievement gaps.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James W Pennebaker

Full Text Available An in-class computer-based system, that included daily online testing, was introduced to two large university classes. We examined subsequent improvements in academic performance and reductions in the achievement gaps between lower- and upper-middle class students in academic performance. Students (N = 901 brought laptop computers to classes and took daily quizzes that provided immediate and personalized feedback. Student performance was compared with the same data for traditional classes taught previously by the same instructors (N = 935. Exam performance was approximately half a letter grade above previous semesters, based on comparisons of identical questions asked from earlier years. Students in the experimental classes performed better in other classes, both in the semester they took the course and in subsequent semester classes. The new system resulted in a 50% reduction in the achievement gap as measured by grades among students of different social classes. These findings suggest that frequent consequential quizzing should be used routinely in large lecture courses to improve performance in class and in other concurrent and subsequent courses.

Previous PICC Placement May Be Associated With Catheter-Related Infections in Hemodialysis Patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butler, Philip J.; Sood, Shreya; Mojibian, Hamid; Tal, Michael G.

2011-01-01

Background: Catheter-related infections (CRIs) are a significant source of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients. The identification of novel, modifiable risk factors for CRIs may lead to improved outcomes in this population. Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) have been hypothesized to compromise vascular access due to vascular damage and venous thrombosis, whereas venous thrombosis has been linked to the development of CRIs. Here we examine the association between PICC placement and CRIs. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of all chronic hemodialysis catheter placements and exchanges performed at a large university hospital from September 2003 to September 2008. History of PICC line use was determined by examining hospital radiologic records from December 1993 to September 2008. Catheter-related complications were assessed and correlated with PICC line history. Results: One hundred eighty-five patients with 713 chronic tunneled hemodialysis catheter placements were identified. Thirty-eight of those patients (20.5%) had a history of PICC placement; these patients were more likely to have CRIs (odds ratio = 2.46, 95% confidence interval = 1.71–3.53, p < .001) compared with patients without a history of PICC placement. There was no difference between the two groups in age or number of catheters placed. Conclusion: Previous PICC placement may be associated with catheter-related infections in hemodialysis patients.

African aerosol and large-scale precipitation variability over West Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Jingfeng; Zhang Chidong; Prospero, Joseph M

2009-01-01

We investigated the large-scale connection between African aerosol and precipitation in the West African Monsoon (WAM) region using 8-year (2000-2007) monthly and daily Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol products (aerosol optical depth, fine mode fraction) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation and rain type. These high-quality data further confirmed our previous results that the large-scale link between aerosol and precipitation in this region undergoes distinct seasonal and spatial variability. Previously detected suppression of precipitation during months of high aerosol concentration occurs in both convective and stratiform rain, but not systematically in shallow rain. This suggests the suppression of deep convection due to the aerosol. Based on the seasonal cycle of dust and smoke and their geographical distribution, our data suggest that both dust (coarse mode aerosol) and smoke (fine mode aerosol) contribute to the precipitation suppression. However, the dust effect is evident over the Gulf of Guinea while the smoke effect is evident over both land and ocean. A back trajectory analysis further demonstrates that the precipitation reduction is statistically linked to the upwind aerosol concentration. This study suggests that African aerosol outbreaks in the WAM region can influence precipitation in the local monsoon system which has direct societal impact on the local community. It calls for more systematic investigations to determine the modulating mechanisms using both observational and modeling approaches.

New large volume Calabi-Yau threefolds

Science.gov (United States)

Altman, Ross; He, Yang-Hui; Jejjala, Vishnu; Nelson, Brent D.

2018-02-01

In previous work, we have commenced the task of unpacking the 473 800 776 reflexive polyhedra by Kreuzer and Skarke into a database of Calabi-Yau threefolds [R. Altman et al. J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2015) 158., 10.1007/JHEP02(2015)158] (see www.rossealtman.com). In this paper, following a pedagogical introduction, we present a new algorithm to isolate Swiss cheese solutions characterized by "holes," or small 4-cycles, descending from the toric divisors inherent to the original four dimensional reflexive polyhedra. Implementing these methods, we find 2268 explicit Swiss cheese manifolds, over half of which have h1 ,1=6 . Many of our solutions have multiple large cycles. Such Swiss cheese geometries facilitate moduli stabilization in string compactifications and provide flat directions for cosmological inflation.

Iodine-131 induced hepatotoxicity in previously healthy patients with Grave’s disease

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Objective To describe the association of the rare and serious complication of liver toxicity in previously healthy Grave’s disease (GD) patients after the treatment with radioactive iodine 131I (RAI). Case presentation We report the clinical, laboratory and pathologic findings of 2 cases of severe liver toxicity associated with the treatment with RAI in previously healthy patients with GD. Clinical examination and laboratory investigations excluded viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, granulomatous disease, primary biliary disease, extrahepatic biliary obstruction, and heart failure. Case 1: A previously healthy 52-years old man reportedly having a typical GD but following RAI treatment, concomitantly developed severe liver toxicity that required 1 week of treatment in hospital. Case 2: A previously healthy 34-years old woman is reported as having a typical GD but developed jaundice following RAI treatment that required several weeks of in hospital treatment in the hepato-biliary department. In both cases, the liver dysfunction resolved after intensive treatment with hepato-protective agents. In this report the therapeutic considerations as well as the pathogenetic possibilities are reviewed. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of the association observed, which is rare but may be severe and should be considered in any case of thyrotoxicosis where a liver dysfunction develops after the treatment with radioactive iodine 131I. PMID:23497434

Antimetabolites in cataract surgery to prevent failure of a previous trabeculectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Roger E; Crichton, Andrew; Thomas, Bennett C

2014-07-28

Patients having cataract surgery have often earlier undergone a trabeculectomy for glaucoma. However, cataract surgery may be associated with failure of the previous glaucoma surgery and antimetabolites may be used with cataract surgery to prevent such failure. There is no systematic review on whether antimetabolites with cataract surgery prevent failure of a previous trabeculectomy. To assess the effects of antimetabolites with cataract surgery on functioning of a previous trabeculectomy. We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (2014, Issue 5), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to June 2014), EMBASE (January 1980 to June 2014), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database (LILACS) (January 1982 to June 2014), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 10 June 2014. We also searched the Science Citation Index database (July 2013) and reference lists of potentially relevant studies. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of antimetabolites with cataract surgery in people with a functioning trabeculectomy. Two review authors independently reviewed the titles and abstracts from the electronic searches. Two review authors independently assessed relevant full-text articles and entered data. We identified no RCTs to test the effectiveness of antimetabolites with cataract surgery in individuals with the intention of preventing failure of a previous trabeculectomy. There are no RCTs of antimetabolites with cataract surgery in people with a functioning trabeculectomy. Appropriately powered RCTs

Low frequency of large genomic rearrangements of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in western Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomassen, Mads; Gerdes, Anne-Marie; Cruger, Dorthe

2006-01-01

Germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 predispose female carriers to breast and ovarian cancer. The majority of mutations identified are small deletions or insertions or are nonsense mutations. Large genomic rearrangements in BRCA1 are found with varying frequencies in different populations......, but BRCA2 rearrangements have not been investigated thoroughly. The objective in this study was to determine the frequency of large genomic rearrangements in BRCA1 and BRCA2 in a large group of Danish families with increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. A total of 617 families previously tested...... negative for mutations involving few bases were screened with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). Two deletions in BRCA1 were identified in three families; no large rearrangements were detected in BRCA2. The large deletions constitute 3.8% of the BRCA1 mutations identified, which...

Books average previous decade of economic misery.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, R Alexander; Acerbi, Alberto; Ormerod, Paul; Lampos, Vasileios

2014-01-01

For the 20(th) century since the Depression, we find a strong correlation between a 'literary misery index' derived from English language books and a moving average of the previous decade of the annual U.S. economic misery index, which is the sum of inflation and unemployment rates. We find a peak in the goodness of fit at 11 years for the moving average. The fit between the two misery indices holds when using different techniques to measure the literary misery index, and this fit is significantly better than other possible correlations with different emotion indices. To check the robustness of the results, we also analysed books written in German language and obtained very similar correlations with the German economic misery index. The results suggest that millions of books published every year average the authors' shared economic experiences over the past decade.

Bilateral orbital infarction and retinal detachment in a previously undiagnosed sickle cell hemoglobinopathy African child

Science.gov (United States)

Helen, Onakpoya Oluwatoyin; Ajite, K. O.; Oyelami, O. A.; Asaleye, C. M.; Adeoye, A. O.

2013-01-01

Bone infarction involving the orbit in sickle cell disease is not common. Bilateral orbital infarction in a previously undiagnosed sickle cell hemoglobinopathy has not been previously reported. In this report, we present a case of an 11-year-old previously undiagnosed sickle cell disease Nigerian girl with severe acute bilateral orbital infarction and retinal detachment to highlight that hemoglobinopathy induced orbital infarction should be considered in African children with acute onset proptosis with or without previous history of sickle cell hemoglobinopathy. PMID:23901183

Effect of family background on the educational gradient in lifetime fertility of Finnish women born 1940-50.

Science.gov (United States)

Nisén, Jessica; Myrskylä, Mikko; Silventoinen, Karri; Martikainen, Pekka

2014-01-01

An inverse association between education and fertility in women has been found in many societies but the causes of this association remain inadequately understood. We investigated whether observed and unobserved family-background characteristics explained educational differences in lifetime fertility among 35,212 Finnish women born in 1940-50. Poisson and logistic regression models, adjusted for measured socio-demographic family-background characteristics and for unobserved family characteristics shared by siblings, were used to analyse the relationship between education and the number of children, having any children, and fertility beyond the first child. The woman's education and the socio-economic position of the family were negatively associated with fertility. Observed family characteristics moderately (3-28 per cent) explained the association between education and fertility, and results from models including unobserved characteristics supported this interpretation. The remaining association may represent a causal relationship between education and fertility or joint preferences that form independently of our measures of background.

Density-based Monte Carlo filter and its applications in nonlinear stochastic differential equation models.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Guanghui; Wan, Jianping; Chen, Hui

2013-02-01

Nonlinear stochastic differential equation models with unobservable state variables are now widely used in analysis of PK/PD data. Unobservable state variables are usually estimated with extended Kalman filter (EKF), and the unknown pharmacokinetic parameters are usually estimated by maximum likelihood estimator. However, EKF is inadequate for nonlinear PK/PD models, and MLE is known to be biased downwards. A density-based Monte Carlo filter (DMF) is proposed to estimate the unobservable state variables, and a simulation-based M estimator is proposed to estimate the unknown parameters in this paper, where a genetic algorithm is designed to search the optimal values of pharmacokinetic parameters. The performances of EKF and DMF are compared through simulations for discrete time and continuous time systems respectively, and it is found that the results based on DMF are more accurate than those given by EKF with respect to mean absolute error. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of family background on the educational gradient in lifetime fertility of Finnish women born 1940–50

Science.gov (United States)

Nisén, Jessica; Myrskylä, Mikko; Silventoinen, Karri; Martikainen, Pekka

2014-01-01

An inverse association between education and fertility in women has been found in many societies but the causes of this association remain inadequately understood. We investigated whether observed and unobserved family-background characteristics explained educational differences in lifetime fertility among 35,212 Finnish women born in 1940–50. Poisson and logistic regression models, adjusted for measured socio-demographic family-background characteristics and for unobserved family characteristics shared by siblings, were used to analyse the relationship between education and the number of children, having any children, and fertility beyond the first child. The woman's education and the socio-economic position of the family were negatively associated with fertility. Observed family characteristics moderately (3–28 per cent) explained the association between education and fertility, and results from models including unobserved characteristics supported this interpretation. The remaining association may represent a causal relationship between education and fertility or joint preferences that form independently of our measures of background. PMID:24946905

Previous Employment and Job Satisfaction Conditions: The Case of Regional Administration

Science.gov (United States)

Amalia, Myronaki; Nikolaos, Antonakas

2009-08-01

In the present work we study the different dimensions of satisfaction and the way of constitution of satisfaction of an important sample of the employees in the Regional administration of Crete and in their connection with the variable of the previous employment. We found statistically important differences for the components of satisfaction from the life, collaboration in and outside from the department, in the social satisfaction and the variable of the years in the service (labour group with satisfaction than the other previous employment groups. In the other hand the group with many years in the service presents bigger satisfaction than the other groups. Finally, is important to note that the sample present some interesting characteristics.

Large Scale Plasmonic nanoCones array For Spectroscopy Detection

KAUST Repository

Das, Gobind

2015-09-24

Advanced optical materials or interfaces are gaining attention for diagnostic applications. However, the achievement of large device interface as well as facile surface functionalization largely impairs their wide use. The present work is aimed to address different innovative aspects related to the fabrication of large area 3D plasmonic arrays, their direct and easy functionalization with capture elements and their spectroscopic verifications through enhanced Raman and enhanced fluorescence techniques. In detail we have investigated the effect of Au-based nanoCones array, fabricated by means of direct nanoimprint technique over large area (mm2), on protein capturing and on the enhancement in optical signal. A selective functionalization of gold surfaces was proposed by using a peptide (AuPi3) previously selected by phage display. In this regard, two different sequences, labeled with fluorescein and biotin, were chemisorbed on metallic surfaces. The presence of Au nanoCones array consents an enhancement in electric field on the apex of cone, enabling the detection of molecules. We have witnessed around 12-fold increase in fluorescence intensity and SERS enhancement factor around 1.75 ×105 with respect to the flat gold surface. Furthermore, a sharp decrease in fluorescence lifetime over nanoCones confirms the increase in radiative emission (i.e. an increase in photonics density at the apex of cones).

Large Scale Plasmonic nanoCones array For Spectroscopy Detection

KAUST Repository

Das, Gobind; Battista, Edmondo; Manzo, Gianluigi; Causa, Filippo; Netti, Paolo; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.

2015-01-01

Advanced optical materials or interfaces are gaining attention for diagnostic applications. However, the achievement of large device interface as well as facile surface functionalization largely impairs their wide use. The present work is aimed to address different innovative aspects related to the fabrication of large area 3D plasmonic arrays, their direct and easy functionalization with capture elements and their spectroscopic verifications through enhanced Raman and enhanced fluorescence techniques. In detail we have investigated the effect of Au-based nanoCones array, fabricated by means of direct nanoimprint technique over large area (mm2), on protein capturing and on the enhancement in optical signal. A selective functionalization of gold surfaces was proposed by using a peptide (AuPi3) previously selected by phage display. In this regard, two different sequences, labeled with fluorescein and biotin, were chemisorbed on metallic surfaces. The presence of Au nanoCones array consents an enhancement in electric field on the apex of cone, enabling the detection of molecules. We have witnessed around 12-fold increase in fluorescence intensity and SERS enhancement factor around 1.75 ×105 with respect to the flat gold surface. Furthermore, a sharp decrease in fluorescence lifetime over nanoCones confirms the increase in radiative emission (i.e. an increase in photonics density at the apex of cones).

Tests of the t quark mass from B meson decays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, B.A.; O'Donnell, P.

1984-01-01

This chapter examines the constraints one may put on the mass of the as yet unobserved top(t) quark from limits on the mixing or neutral current decay of B mesons. Those decays of the b quark which involve the emission of a neutral gage boson are considered. The branching ratios are estimated by dividing the computed width for the decay in question by the total B decay width. The standard six quark model is used. It is determined that b→s+γ is the only rare decay process to proceed at a sufficiently large rate to be experimentally feasible

Firm Spin-offs in Denmark, 1981-2000

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Tor Viking; Kuhn, Johan Moritz

Abstract. The motivation of this paper is to add large sample evidence to our knowledge on the extent to which the likelihood of business failure or success is related to relationships between parent firms and their 'off-spring'. For this purpose we make use of an exhaustive matched employer...... that the exit risks of spin-offs and the comparison group are converging over time. However, when we cater for unobserved heterogeneity this observation turns out to be predominantly an outcome of selection rather than the result of other start-ups catching up via some learning process. For the entire sample...

The impact of large tidal volume ventilation on the absorption of inhaled insulin in rabbits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Astrid Heide; Laursen, Torben; Ahrén, Bo

2007-01-01

Previous studies have shown that ventilation patterns affect absorption of inhaled compounds. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of large tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) on the absorption of inhaled insulin in rabbits. Mechanically ventilated rabbits were given human insulin...

Haemophilus influenzae type f meningitis in a previously healthy boy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ronit, Andreas; Berg, Ronan M G; Bruunsgaard, Helle

2013-01-01

Non-serotype b strains of Haemophilus influenzae are extremely rare causes of acute bacterial meningitis in immunocompetent individuals. We report a case of acute bacterial meningitis in a 14-year-old boy, who was previously healthy and had been immunised against H influenzae serotype b (Hib...

Effect of media composition, including gelling agents, on isolation of previously uncultured rumen bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyonyo, T; Shinkai, T; Tajima, A; Mitsumori, M

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop novel anaerobic media using gellan gum for the isolation of previously uncultured rumen bacteria. Four anaerobic media, a basal liquid medium (BM) with agar (A-BM), a modified BM (MBM) with agar (A-MBM), an MBM with phytagel (P-MBM) and an MBM with gelrite (G-MBM) were used for the isolation of rumen bacteria and evaluated for the growth of previously uncultured rumen bacteria. Of the 214 isolates composed of 144 OTUs, 103 isolates (83 OTUs) were previously uncultured rumen bacteria. Most of the previously uncultured strains were obtained from A-MBM, G-MBM and P-MBM, but the predominant cultural members, isolated from each medium, differed. A-MBM and G-MBM showed significantly higher numbers of different OTUs derived from isolates than A-BM (P rumen bacteria were isolated from all media used, the ratio of previously uncultured bacteria to total isolates was increased in A-MBM, P-MBM and G-MBM. © 2012 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Impulsivity moderates the relationship between previous quit failure and cue-induced craving.

Science.gov (United States)

Erblich, Joel; Michalowski, Alexandra

2015-12-01

Poor inhibitory control has been shown to be an important predictor of relapse to a number of drugs, including nicotine. Indeed, smokers who exhibit higher levels of impulsivity are thought to have impaired regulation of urges to smoke, and previous research has suggested that impulsivity may moderate cue-induced cigarette cravings. To that end, we conducted a study to evaluate the interplay between failed smoking cessation, cue-induced craving, and impulsivity. Current smokers (n=151) rated their cigarette cravings before and after laboratory to exposure to smoking cues, and completed questionnaires assessing impulsivity and previous failed quit attempts. Findings indicated that shorter duration of previous failed quit attempts was related to higher cue-induced cigarette craving, especially among smokers with higher levels of impulsivity. Results underscore the importance of considering trait impulsivity as a factor in better understanding the management of cue-induced cravings. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impaired insulin-stimulated nonoxidative glucose metabolism in glucose-tolerant women with previous gestational diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damm, P; Vestergaard, H; Kühl, Carl Erik

1996-01-01

Our purpose was to investigate insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in women with previous gestational diabetes.......Our purpose was to investigate insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in women with previous gestational diabetes....

Endovascular intervention for central venous cannulation in patients with vascular occlusion after previous catheterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Pikwer, Andreas; Acosta, Stefan; Kölbel, Tilo; Åkeson, Jonas

2010-01-01

This study was designed to assess endovascular intervention for central venous cannulation in patients with vascular occlusion after previous catheterization. Patients referred for endovascular management of central venous occlusion during a 42-month period were identified from a regional endovascular database, providing prospective information on techniques and clinical outcome. Corresponding patient records, angiograms, and radiographic reports were analyzed retrospectively. Sixteen patients aged 48 years (range 0.5-76), including 11 females, were included. All patients but 1 had had multiple central venous catheters with a median total indwelling time of 37 months. Eleven patients cannulated for hemodialysis had had significantly fewer individual catheters inserted compared with 5 patients cannulated for nutritional support (mean 3.6 vs. 10.2, pvenous occlusions. Patients were subjected to recanalization (n=2), recanalization and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (n=5), or stenting for vena cava superior syndrome (n=1) prior to catheter insertion. The remaining 8 patients were cannulated by avoiding the occluded route. Central venous occlusion occurs particularly in patients under hemodialysis and with a history of multiple central venous catheterizations with large-diameter catheters and/or long total indwelling time periods. Patients with central venous occlusion verified by CT or MRT venography and need for central venous access should be referred for endovascular intervention.

De novo adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma presenting anew in an elderly patient with previous normal CT and MRI studies: A case report and implications on pathogenesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy Walker, B.S.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas are histologically benign epithelial tumors which arise from embryonic remnants of the craniopharyngeal duct and Rathke’s pouch. They are thought to have a congenital origin and are histologically unique from papillary craniopharyngioma. We describe the case of an elderly male who presented with symptoms related to a large craniopharyngioma with previously normal brain magnetic resonance and computed tomography imaging studies. These findings dispute the embryogenic theory that craniopharyngiomas observed in adults develop from the persistent slow growth of embryonic remnants.

[ANTITHROMBOTIC MEDICATION IN PREGNANT WOMEN WITH PREVIOUS INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION].

Science.gov (United States)

Neykova, K; Dimitrova, V; Dimitrov, R; Vakrilova, L

2016-01-01

To analyze pregnancy outcome in patients who were on antithrombotic medication (AM) because of previous pregnancy with fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). The studied group (SG) included 21 pregnancies in 15 women with history of previous IUGR. The patients were on low dose aspirin (LDA) and/or low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). Pregnancy outcome was compared to the one in two more groups: 1) primary group (PG) including the previous 15 pregnancies with IUGR of the same women; 2) control group (CG) including 45 pregnancies of women matched for parity with the ones in the SG, with no history of IUGR and without medication. The SG, PG and CG were compared for the following: mean gestational age (g.a.) at birth, mean birth weight (BW), proportion of cases with early preeclampsia (PE), IUGR (total, moderate, and severe), intrauterine fetal death (IUFD), neonatal death (NND), admission to NICU, cesarean section (CS) because of chronic or acute fetal distress (FD) related to IUGR, PE or placental abruption. Student's t-test was applied to assess differences between the groups. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The differences between the SG and the PG regarding mean g. a. at delivery (33.7 and 29.8 w.g. respectively) and the proportion of babies admitted to NICU (66.7% vs. 71.4%) were not statistically significant. The mean BW in the SG (2114,7 g.) was significantly higher than in the PG (1090.8 g.). In the SG compared with the PG there were significantly less cases of IUFD (14.3% and 53.3% respectively), early PE (9.5% vs. 46.7%) moderate and severe IUGR (10.5% and 36.8% vs. 41.7% and 58.3%). Neonatal mortality in the SG (5.6%) was significantly lower than in the PG (57.1%), The proportion of CS for FD was not significantly different--53.3% in the SG and 57.1% in the PG. On the other hand, comparison between the SG and the CG demonstrated significantly lower g.a. at delivery in the SG (33.7 vs. 38 w.g.) an lower BW (2114 vs. 3094 g

A comparison of morbidity associated with placenta previa with and without previous caesarean sections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baqai, S.; Siraj, A.; Noor, N.

2018-01-01

To compare the morbidity associated with placenta previa with and without previous caesarean sections. Study Design: Retrospective comparative study. Place and Duration of Study: From March 2014 till March 2016 in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at PNS Shifa hospital Karachi. Material and Methods: After the approval from hospital ethical committee, antenatal patients with singleton pregnancy of gestational age >32 weeks, in the age group of 20-40 years diagnosed to have placenta previa included in the study. All patients with twin pregnancy less than 20 years and more than 40 years of age were excluded. The records of all patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were reviewed. Data had been collected for demographic and maternal variables, placenta previa, history of previous lower segment caesarean section (LSCS), complications associated with placenta previa and techniques used to control blood loss were recorded. Results: During the study period, 6879 patients were delivered in PNS Shifa, out of these, 2060 (29.9%) had caesarean section out of these, 47.3% patients had previous history of LSCS. Thirty three (1.6%) patients were diagnosed to have placenta previa and frequency of placenta previa was significantly higher in patients with previous history of LSCS than previous normal delivery of LSCS i.e. 22 vs. 11 (p=0.023). It was observed that the frequency of morbidly adherent placenta (MAP) and Intensive care unit (ICU) stay were significantly higher in patients with previous history of LSCS than previous history of normal delivery. Conclusion: Frequency of placenta previa was significantly higher in patients with history of LSCS. Also placenta previa remains a major risk factor for various maternal complications. (author)

Complication of cesarean section: pregnancy on the cicatrix of a previous cesarean section.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weimin; Long, Wenqing; Yu, Qunhuan

2002-02-01

To probe into the clinical manifestation, diagnosis, as well as treatment of pregnancy on the cicatrix of a previous cesarean section at the uterine isthmus in the first trimester. Analysis of 14 patients with pregnancy on the cicatrix of a previous cesarean section at the uterine isthmus in the first trimester was made after conservative treatment by drugs from January 1996 to December 1999. The 14 patients with a pregnancy on the cicatrix of a previous cesarean section at the uterine isthmus in the first trimester were painless, had slight vaginal bleeding, and concurrently had increased serum beta-subunit human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-HCG). Doppler ultrasonic examination revealed an obvious enlargement of the previous cesarean section cicatrix in the uterine isthmus, and found a gestational sac or mixed mass attached to the cicatrice, with a very thin myometrium between the gestational sac and bladder walls. Among the 14 patients, 12 patients had crystalline trichosanthes injected into the cervix, mifepristone taken orally, or methotrexate in the form of intramuscular injection. Following this procedure, their serum beta-HCG dropped to normal. The other 2 patients had a total hysterectomy. Pregnancy on the cicatrix of a previous cesarean section at the uterine isthmus in the first trimester is a complication of cesarean section. Early diagnosis and effective conservative treatment by drugs are instrumental in decreasing the potential occurrence of uterine rupture, which is also conducive to preserving the patient's future fertility.

National Rates of Uterine Rupture are not Associated with Rates of Previous Caesarean Delivery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Colmorn, Lotte B.; Langhoff-Roos, Jens; Jakobsson, Maija

2017-01-01

% of all Nordic deliveries. Information on the comparison population was retrieved from the national medical birth registers. Incidence rate ratios by previous caesarean delivery and intended mode of delivery after caesarean were modelled using Poisson regression. RESULTS: The incidence of uterine rupture......BACKGROUND: Previous caesarean delivery and intended mode of delivery after caesarean are well-known individual risk factors for uterine rupture. We examined if different national rates of uterine rupture are associated with differences in national rates of previous caesarean delivery and intended...... was 7.8/10 000 in Finland and 4.6/10 000 in Denmark. Rates of caesarean (21.3%) and previous caesarean deliveries (11.5%) were highest in Denmark, while the rate of intended vaginal delivery after caesarean was highest in Finland (72%). National rates of uterine rupture were not associated...

Innovative Approaches to Large Component Packaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freitag, A.; Hooper, M.; Posivak, E.; Sullivan, J.

2006-01-01

presents the approach that has been successfully used for planning, implementing, and preparing for the disposition of large components such as those mentioned previously. It addresses the major regulatory and design requirements for packaging, transporting, and disposing of these components. The specific topics that are covered include radiological characterization, shielding, packaging design, on-site handling and movement, off-site transportation options, a brief discussion on disposition, and lessons learned. (authors)

How large-scale subsidence affects stratocumulus transitions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. J. van der Dussen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Some climate modeling results suggest that the Hadley circulation might weaken in a future climate, causing a subsequent reduction in the large-scale subsidence velocity in the subtropics. In this study we analyze the cloud liquid water path (LWP budget from large-eddy simulation (LES results of three idealized stratocumulus transition cases, each with a different subsidence rate. As shown in previous studies a reduced subsidence is found to lead to a deeper stratocumulus-topped boundary layer, an enhanced cloud-top entrainment rate and a delay in the transition of stratocumulus clouds into shallow cumulus clouds during its equatorwards advection by the prevailing trade winds. The effect of a reduction of the subsidence rate can be summarized as follows. The initial deepening of the stratocumulus layer is partly counteracted by an enhanced absorption of solar radiation. After some hours the deepening of the boundary layer is accelerated by an enhancement of the entrainment rate. Because this is accompanied by a change in the cloud-base turbulent fluxes of moisture and heat, the net change in the LWP due to changes in the turbulent flux profiles is negligibly small.

Large fluctuations and fixation in evolutionary games

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Assaf, Michael; Mobilia, Mauro

2010-01-01

We study large fluctuations in evolutionary games belonging to the coordination and anti-coordination classes. The dynamics of these games, modeling cooperation dilemmas, is characterized by a coexistence fixed point separating two absorbing states. We are particularly interested in the problem of fixation that refers to the possibility that a few mutants take over the entire population. Here, the fixation phenomenon is induced by large fluctuations and is investigated by a semiclassical WKB (Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin) theory generalized to treat stochastic systems possessing multiple absorbing states. Importantly, this method allows us to analyze the combined influence of selection and random fluctuations on the evolutionary dynamics beyond the weak selection limit often considered in previous works. We accurately compute, including pre-exponential factors, the probability distribution function in the long-lived coexistence state and the mean fixation time necessary for a few mutants to take over the entire population in anti-coordination games, and also the fixation probability in the coordination class. Our analytical results compare excellently with extensive numerical simulations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our treatment is superior to the Fokker–Planck approximation when the selection intensity is finite

Computer-Assisted Search Of Large Textual Data Bases

Science.gov (United States)

Driscoll, James R.

1995-01-01

"QA" denotes high-speed computer system for searching diverse collections of documents including (but not limited to) technical reference manuals, legal documents, medical documents, news releases, and patents. Incorporates previously available and emerging information-retrieval technology to help user intelligently and rapidly locate information found in large textual data bases. Technology includes provision for inquiries in natural language; statistical ranking of retrieved information; artificial-intelligence implementation of semantics, in which "surface level" knowledge found in text used to improve ranking of retrieved information; and relevance feedback, in which user's judgements of relevance of some retrieved documents used automatically to modify search for further information.

Surface Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Large Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weichman, P.B.; Lavely, E.M.; Ritzwoller, M.H.

1999-01-01

The general theory of surface NMR imaging of large electromagnetically active systems is considered, motivated by geophysical applications. A general imaging equation is derived for the NMR voltage response, valid for arbitrary transmitter and receiver loop geometry and arbitrary conductivity structure of the sample. When the conductivity grows to the point where the electromagnetic skin depth becomes comparable to the sample size, significant diffusive retardation effects occur that strongly affect the signal. Accounting for these now allows more accurate imaging than previously possible. It is shown that the time constant T 1 may in principle be inferred directly from the diffusive tail of the signal. copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

Books Average Previous Decade of Economic Misery

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, R. Alexander; Acerbi, Alberto; Ormerod, Paul; Lampos, Vasileios

2014-01-01

For the 20th century since the Depression, we find a strong correlation between a ‘literary misery index’ derived from English language books and a moving average of the previous decade of the annual U.S. economic misery index, which is the sum of inflation and unemployment rates. We find a peak in the goodness of fit at 11 years for the moving average. The fit between the two misery indices holds when using different techniques to measure the literary misery index, and this fit is significantly better than other possible correlations with different emotion indices. To check the robustness of the results, we also analysed books written in German language and obtained very similar correlations with the German economic misery index. The results suggest that millions of books published every year average the authors' shared economic experiences over the past decade. PMID:24416159

Sustained Local Diversity of Vibrio cholerae O1 Biotypes in a Previously Cholera-Free Country.

Science.gov (United States)

Boucher, Yan

2016-05-03

Although the current cholera pandemic can trace its origin to a specific time and place, many variants of Vibrio cholerae have caused this disease over the last 50 years. The relative clinical importance and geographical distribution of these variants have changed with time, but most remain in circulation. Some countries, such as Mexico and Haiti, had escaped the current pandemic, until large epidemics struck them in 1991 and 2010, respectively. Cholera has been endemic in these countries ever since. A recent retrospective study in mBio presents the results of more than 3 decades of V. cholerae monitoring from environmental and clinical sources in Mexico (S. Y. Choi et al., mBio 7:e02160-15, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02160-15). It reveals that multiple V. cholerae variants, including classical strains from the previous pandemic, as well as completely novel biotypes, have been circulating in Mexico. This discovery has important implications for the epidemiology and evolution of V. cholerae. Copyright © 2016 Boucher.

Sustained Local Diversity of Vibrio cholerae O1 Biotypes in a Previously Cholera-Free Country

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Boucher

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Although the current cholera pandemic can trace its origin to a specific time and place, many variants of Vibrio cholerae have caused this disease over the last 50 years. The relative clinical importance and geographical distribution of these variants have changed with time, but most remain in circulation. Some countries, such as Mexico and Haiti, had escaped the current pandemic, until large epidemics struck them in 1991 and 2010, respectively. Cholera has been endemic in these countries ever since. A recent retrospective study in mBio presents the results of more than 3 decades of V. cholerae monitoring from environmental and clinical sources in Mexico (S. Y. Choi et al., mBio 7:e02160-15, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02160-15. It reveals that multiple V. cholerae variants, including classical strains from the previous pandemic, as well as completely novel biotypes, have been circulating in Mexico. This discovery has important implications for the epidemiology and evolution of V. cholerae.

Effects of a large wildfire on vegetation structure in a variable fire mosaic.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, C N; Barton, P S; Robinson, N M; MacGregor, C I; Lindenmayer, D B

2017-12-01

Management guidelines for many fire-prone ecosystems highlight the importance of maintaining a variable mosaic of fire histories for biodiversity conservation. Managers are encouraged to aim for fire mosaics that are temporally and spatially dynamic, include all successional states of vegetation, and also include variation in the underlying "invisible mosaic" of past fire frequencies, severities, and fire return intervals. However, establishing and maintaining variable mosaics in contemporary landscapes is subject to many challenges, one of which is deciding how the fire mosaic should be managed following the occurrence of large, unplanned wildfires. A key consideration for this decision is the extent to which the effects of previous fire history on vegetation and habitats persist after major wildfires, but this topic has rarely been investigated empirically. In this study, we tested to what extent a large wildfire interacted with previous fire history to affect the structure of forest, woodland, and heath vegetation in Booderee National Park in southeastern Australia. In 2003, a summer wildfire burned 49.5% of the park, increasing the extent of recently burned vegetation (post-fire) to more than 72% of the park area. We tracked the recovery of vegetation structure for nine years following the wildfire and found that the strength and persistence of fire effects differed substantially between vegetation types. Vegetation structure was modified by wildfire in forest, woodland, and heath vegetation, but among-site variability in vegetation structure was reduced only by severe fire in woodland vegetation. There also were persistent legacy effects of the previous fire regime on some attributes of vegetation structure including forest ground and understorey cover, and woodland midstorey and overstorey cover. For example, woodland midstorey cover was greater on sites with higher fire frequency, irrespective of the severity of the 2003 wildfire. Our results show that even

Slip-Stick Mechanism in Training the Superconducting Magnets in the Large Hadron Collider

CERN Document Server

Granieri, P P; Todesco, E

2011-01-01

Superconducting magnets can exhibit training quenches during successive powering to reaching nominal performance. The slip–stick motion of the conductors is considered to be one of the mechanisms of training. In this paper, we present a simple quantitative model where the training is described as a discrete dynamical system matching the equilibrium between the energy margin of the superconducting cable and the frictional energy released during the conductor motion. The model can be explicitly solved in the linearized case, showing that the short sample limit is reached via a power law. Training phenomena have a large random component. A large set of data of the large hadron collider magnet tests is postprocessed according to previously defined methods to extract an average training curve for dipoles and quadrupoles. These curves show the asymptotic power law predicted by the model. The curves are then fit through the model, which has two free parameters. The model shows good agreement over a large range, bu...

Slip-Stick Mechanism in Training the Superconducting Magnets in the Large Hadron Collider

CERN Document Server

Granieri, P P; Lorin, C

2011-01-01

Superconducting magnets can exhibit training quenches during successive powering to reaching nominal performance. The slip-stick motion of the conductors is considered to be one of the mechanisms of training. In this paper, we present a simple quantitative model where the training is described as a discrete dynamical system matching the equilibrium between the energy margin of the superconducting cable and the frictional energy released during the conductor motion. The model can be explicitly solved in the linearized case, showing that the short sample limit is reached via a power law. Training phenomena have a large random component. A large set of data of the large hadron collider magnet tests is postprocessed according to previously defined methods to extract an average training curve for dipoles and quadrupoles. These curves show the asymptotic power law predicted by the model. The curves are then fit through the model, which has two free parameters. The model shows good agreement over a large range, but ...

Large N Chern-Simons with massive fundamental fermions — A model with no bound states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frishman, Yitzhak; Sonnenschein, Jacob

2014-01-01

In a previous paper http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2013)091, we analyzed the theory of massive fermions in the fundamental representation coupled to a U(N) Chern-Simons gauge theory in three dimensions at level K. It was done in the large N, large K limits where λ=(N/K) was kept fixed. Among other results, we showed there that there are no high mass “quark anti-quark" bound states. Here we show that there are no bound states at all.

77 FR 59242 - Extension of a Previously Approved Collection; Public Charters

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2012-09-26

... previous notice. DATES: Comments on this notice should be received by October 26, 2012: attention OMB/OST... operator's advertising, selling or operating the charter. If the prospectus information were not collected...

Total hip arthroplasty after a previous pelvic osteotomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shigemura, T; Yamamoto, Y; Murata, Y; Sato, T; Tsuchiya, R; Wada, Y

2018-06-01

There are several reports regarding total hip arthroplasty (THA) after a previous pelvic osteotomy (PO). However, to our knowledge, until now there has been no formal systematic review and meta-analysis published to summarize the clinical results of THA after a previous PO. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of results of THA after a previous PO. We focus on these questions as follows: does a previous PO affect the results of subsequent THA, such as clinical outcomes, operative time, operative blood loss, and radiological parameters. Using PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, we searched for relevant original papers. The pooling of data was performed using RevMan software (version 5.3, Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK). A p-value50%, significant heterogeneity was assumed and a random-effects model was applied for the meta-analysis. A fixed-effects model was applied in the absence of significant heterogeneity. Eleven studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled results indicated that there was no significant difference in postoperative Merle D'Aubigne-Postel score (I 2 =0%, SMD=-0.15, 95% CI: -0.36 to 0.06, p=0.17), postoperative Harris hip score (I 2 =60%, SMD=-0.23, 95% CI: -0.50 to 0.05, p=0.10), operative time (I 2 =86%, SMD=0.37, 95% CI: -0.09 to 0.82, p=0.11), operative blood loss (I 2 =82%, SMD=0.23, 95% CI: -0.17 to 0.63, p=0.25), and cup abduction angle (I 2 =43%, SMD=-0.08, 95% CI: -0.25 to 0.09, p=0.38) between THA with and without a previous PO. However, cup anteversion angle of THA with a previous PO was significantly smaller than that of without a previous PO (I 2 =77%, SMD=-0.63, 95% CI: -1.13 to -0.13, p=0.01). Systematic review and meta-analysis of results of THA after a previous PO was performed. A previous PO did not affect the results of subsequent THA, except for cup anteversion. Because of the low quality evidence currently available, high-quality randomized controlled trials are required

Technical Note: A novel leaf sequencing optimization algorithm which considers previous underdose and overdose events for MLC tracking radiotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wisotzky, Eric, E-mail: eric.wisotzky@charite.de, E-mail: eric.wisotzky@ipk.fraunhofer.de; O’Brien, Ricky; Keall, Paul J., E-mail: paul.keall@sydney.edu.au [Radiation Physics Laboratory, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

2016-01-15

Purpose: Multileaf collimator (MLC) tracking radiotherapy is complex as the beam pattern needs to be modified due to the planned intensity modulation as well as the real-time target motion. The target motion cannot be planned; therefore, the modified beam pattern differs from the original plan and the MLC sequence needs to be recomputed online. Current MLC tracking algorithms use a greedy heuristic in that they optimize for a given time, but ignore past errors. To overcome this problem, the authors have developed and improved an algorithm that minimizes large underdose and overdose regions. Additionally, previous underdose and overdose events are taken into account to avoid regions with high quantity of dose events. Methods: The authors improved the existing MLC motion control algorithm by introducing a cumulative underdose/overdose map. This map represents the actual projection of the planned tumor shape and logs occurring dose events at each specific regions. These events have an impact on the dose cost calculation and reduce recurrence of dose events at each region. The authors studied the improvement of the new temporal optimization algorithm in terms of the L1-norm minimization of the sum of overdose and underdose compared to not accounting for previous dose events. For evaluation, the authors simulated the delivery of 5 conformal and 14 intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)-plans with 7 3D patient measured tumor motion traces. Results: Simulations with conformal shapes showed an improvement of L1-norm up to 8.5% after 100 MLC modification steps. Experiments showed comparable improvements with the same type of treatment plans. Conclusions: A novel leaf sequencing optimization algorithm which considers previous dose events for MLC tracking radiotherapy has been developed and investigated. Reductions in underdose/overdose are observed for conformal and IMRT delivery.

Interstellar gas and large grains toward HD 38087

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snow, T.P.; Witt, A.

1989-01-01

High-dispersion IUE spectra have been obtained of HD 38087, a star associated with reflection nebulosity where 2175 A scattering has previously been observed. The presence of 2175 A in emission implies unusually large grains, an attempt was made to see how these unusual grains may have affected the depletions of gas-phase elements onto dust in the line of sight. Even though the observed scattering region constitutes only a fraction of the total column density of dust, it is expected that the present line-of-sight analysis provides useful information on the gas and dust in the scattering nebulosity. Somewhat larger overall depletions than normal are found, and it is found that the depletions of certain elements (manganese and zinc) are enhanced relative to the normal pattern of element-to-element depletions, suggesting that grain growth has occurred with some elements sticking to grains preferentially. The molecular fraction in the line of sight is low, in accord with similar lines of sight having low far-ultraviolet extinction and large depletions. 37 refs

Observations of the Earth's polar cleft at large radial distances with the Hawkeye 1 magnetometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farrell, W.M.; Van Allen, J.A.

1990-01-01

Based on 364-spacecraft passes through the dayside region, the position of the polar cleft at large redial distances was determined with the magnetometer flown on Hawkeye 1. This data set represents one of the largest to investigate the high-latitude region at large radial distances, making it ideal for the study of the cusp and cleft region. Identification of the cleft depended on noting strong negative deviations of the magnetic field strength in the region from that of the dipole field. In solar magnetic coordinates, cleft observations were found between 40 degree and 70 degree latitude and ±75 degree longitude, while in geocentric magnetospheric coordinates, these observations were found between 20 degree and 75 degree latitude and ± 75 degree longitude. The extreme longitudinal extent of 150 degree is larger than those reported in some previous studies. Large magnetic depressions associated with the cleft extend out to 12 R E . Beyond this point, low model dipole field strengths make the determination of the cleft based on magnetic depressions unreliable. The cleft occurrences fall within an oval in magnetic latitude and longitude, but this oval is of a statistical nature and cannot be interpreted as the shape of the region at a given moment. As reported in other studies, the cleft was observed to shift to lower latitudes as compared to its quiet time geometry during periods when Kp was large and when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) pointed in a southerly direction. A southerly shift was also observed when th solar wind bulk flow speed, V sw , was large (>450 km/s), and the region might have enlarged when solar wind pressure, P sw , was large. The variation of the cleft latitude with V sw and P sw has not been thoroughly examined in previous studies

Understanding large social-ecological systems: introducing the SESMAD project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Cox

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article introduces the Social-ecological systems meta-analysis database (SESMAD project, which is the project behind the case studies and synthetic articles contained in this special issue of the International Journal of the Commons. SESMAD is an internationally collaborative meta-analysis project that builds on previous seminally synthetic work on small-scale common-pool resource systems conducted at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University. This project is guided by the following research question: can the variables found to be important in explaining outcomes on small-scale systems be scaled up to explain outcomes in large-scale environmental governance? In this special issue we report on our findings thus far through a set of case studies of large-scale environmental governance, a paper that describes our conceptual advances, and a paper that compares these five case studies to further examine our central research question.

Response to deep TMS in depressive patients with previous electroconvulsive treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Oded; Zangen, Abraham; Stryjer, Rafael; Kotler, Moshe; Dannon, Pinhas N

2010-10-01

The efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of major depression has already been shown. Novel TMS coils allowing stimulation of deeper brain regions have recently been developed and studied. Our study is aimed at exploring the possible efficacy of deep TMS in patients with resistant depression, who previously underwent electroconvalsive therapy (ECT). Using Brainsway's deep TMS H1 coil, six patients who previously underwent ECT, were treated with 120% power of the motor threshold at a frequency of 20 Hz. Patients underwent five sessions per week, up to 4 weeks. Before the study, patients were evaluated using the Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS, 24 items), the Hamilton anxiety scale, and the Beck depression inventory and were again evaluated after 5, 10, 15, and 20 daily treatments. Response to treatment was considered a reduction in the HDRS of at least 50%, and remission was considered a reduction of the HDRS-24 below 10 points. Two of six patients responded to the treatment with deep TMS, including one who achieved full remission. Our results suggest the possibility of a subpopulation of depressed patients who may benefit from deep TMS treatment, including patients who did not respond to ECT previously. However, the power of the study is small and similar larger samples are needed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk aversion and religious behaviour: Analysis using a sample of Danish twins.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Jytte Seested; Bech, Mickael; Christensen, Kaare; Kiil, Astrid; Hvidt, Niels Christian

2017-08-01

Economics offers an analytical framework to consider human behaviour including religious behaviour. Within the realm of Expected Utility Theory, religious belief and activity could be interpreted as an insurance both for current life events and for afterlife rewards. Based on that framework, we would expect that risk averse individuals would demand a more generous protection plan which they may do by devoting more effort and resources into religious activities such as church attendance and prayer, which seems to be in accordance with previous empirical results. However, a general concern regards the problems of spurious correlations due to underlying omitted or unobservable characteristics shaping both religious activities and risk attitudes. This paper examines empirically the demand for religion by analysing the association between risk attitudes on the one hand, and church attandance and prayer frequency on the other controlling for unobservable variables using survey data of Danish same-sex twin pairs. We verify the correlation between risk preferences and religion found previously by carrying out cross-sectional analyses. We also show that the association between risk attitudes and religious behaviour is driven by the subgroup of individuals who believe in an afterlife. In addition, when re-analysing our results using panel data analyses which cancel out shared factors among twin pairs, we find that the correlation found between risk aversion and religious behaviour is no longer significant indicating that other factors might explain differences in religious behaviour. Caution is needed in the interpretation of our results as the insignificant association between risk aversion and religious behaviour in the panel data analyses potentially might be due to measurement error causing attenuation bias or lack of variation within twin pairs rather than the actual absence of an association. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adverse obstetric outcomes in women with previous cesarean for dystocia in second stage of labor.

Science.gov (United States)

Jastrow, Nicole; Demers, Suzanne; Gauthier, Robert J; Chaillet, Nils; Brassard, Normand; Bujold, Emmanuel

2013-03-01

To evaluate obstetric outcomes in women undergoing a trial of labor (TOL) after a previous cesarean for dystocia in second stage of labor. A retrospective cohort study of women with one previous low transverse cesarean undergoing a first TOL was performed. Women with previous cesarean for dystocia in first stage and those with previous dystocia in second stage were compared with those with previous cesarean for nonrecurrent reasons (controls). Multivariable regressions analyses were performed. Of 1655 women, those with previous dystocia in second stage of labor (n = 204) had greater risks than controls (n = 880) to have an operative delivery [odds ratio (OR): 1.5; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.1 to 2.2], shoulder dystocia (OR: 2.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 8.0), and uterine rupture in the second stage of labor (OR: 4.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 23), and especially in case of fetal macrosomia (OR: 29.6; 95% CI 4.4 to 202). The median second stage of labor duration before uterine rupture was 2.5 hours (interquartile range: 1.5 to 3.2 hours) in these women. Previous cesarean for dystocia in the second stage of labor is associated with second-stage uterine rupture at next delivery, especially in cases of suspected fetal macrosomia and prolonged second stage of labor. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

78 FR 47546 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2013-08-06

... Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft... Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model... Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI), which is the aviation authority for Israel, has issued Israeli...

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Metastasis to the Orbit in a Coinfected HIV+ HBV+ Patient Previously Treated with Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: A Case Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Guerriero

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Hepatocellular carcinoma rarely metastasizes to the orbit. We report a 45-year-old male, HBV+, HIV+, with a past history of a liver transplant for ELSD (end-stage liver disease with hepatocellular carcinoma and recurrent HCC, who presented with proptosis and diplopia of the left eye. CT scans of the head revealed a large, irregular mass in the left orbit causing superior and lateral destruction of the orbital bone. Biopsy specimens of the orbital tumor showed features of metastatic foci of hepatocellular carcinoma. Only 16 other cases of HCC metastasis to the orbit have been described in literature, and this is the first case in a previously transplanted HIV+, HBV+ patient.

FERMI/LARGE AREA TELESCOPE BRIGHT GAMMA-RAY SOURCE LIST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdo, A. A.; Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Bechtol, K.; Berenji, B.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Borgland, A. W.; Atwood, W. B.; Axelsson, M.; Battelino, M.; Baldini, L.; Bellazzini, R.; Ballet, J.; Band, D. L.; Barbiellini, G.; Bastieri, D.; Baughman, B. M.; Bignami, G. F.; Bonamente, E.

2009-01-01

Following its launch in 2008 June, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) began a sky survey in August. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi in three months produced a deeper and better resolved map of the γ-ray sky than any previous space mission. We present here initial results for energies above 100 MeV for the 205 most significant (statistical significance greater than ∼10σ) γ-ray sources in these data. These are the best characterized and best localized point-like (i.e., spatially unresolved) γ-ray sources in the early mission data.

Fermi Large Area Telescope Bright Gamma-ray Source List

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdo, Aous A.; /Naval Research Lab, Wash., D.C.; Ackermann, M.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Ajello, M.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Atwood, W.B.; /UC, Santa Cruz; Axelsson, M.; /Stockholm U., OKC /Stockholm U.; Baldini, L.; /INFN, Pisa; Ballet, J.; /DAPNIA, Saclay; Band, D.L.; /NASA, Goddard /NASA, Goddard; Barbiellini, Guido; /INFN, Trieste /Trieste U.; Bastieri, Denis; /INFN, Padua /Padua U.; Bechtol, K.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Bellazzini, R.; /INFN, Pisa; Berenji, B.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Bignami, G.F.; /Pavia U.; Bloom, Elliott D.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Bonamente, E.; /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U.; Borgland, A.W.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Bregeon, J.; /INFN, Pisa; Brigida, M.; /Bari U. /INFN, Bari; Bruel, P.; /Ecole Polytechnique; Burnett, Thompson H.; /Washington U., Seattle /Bari U. /INFN, Bari /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /IASF, Milan /IASF, Milan /DAPNIA, Saclay /ASDC, Frascati /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /George Mason U. /Naval Research Lab, Wash., D.C. /NASA, Goddard /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /INFN, Perugia /Perugia U. /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /Montpellier U. /Sonoma State U. /Stockholm U., OKC /Royal Inst. Tech., Stockholm /Stockholm U. /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /ASDC, Frascati /NASA, Goddard /Maryland U. /Naval Research Lab, Wash., D.C. /INFN, Trieste /Pavia U. /Bari U. /INFN, Bari /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /UC, Santa Cruz /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC /Montpellier U. /Bari U. /INFN, Bari /Ecole Polytechnique /NASA, Goddard; /more authors..

2009-05-15

Following its launch in 2008 June, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) began a sky survey in August. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on Fermi in three months produced a deeper and better resolved map of the {gamma}-ray sky than any previous space mission. We present here initial results for energies above 100 MeV for the 205 most significant (statistical significance greater than {approx}10{sigma}) {gamma}-ray sources in these data. These are the best characterized and best localized point-like (i.e., spatially unresolved) {gamma}-ray sources in the early mission data.

An Aerial-Ground Robotic System for Navigation and Obstacle Mapping in Large Outdoor Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Zapata

2013-01-01

Full Text Available There are many outdoor robotic applications where a robot must reach a goal position or explore an area without previous knowledge of the environment around it. Additionally, other applications (like path planning require the use of known maps or previous information of the environment. This work presents a system composed by a terrestrial and an aerial robot that cooperate and share sensor information in order to address those requirements. The ground robot is able to navigate in an unknown large environment aided by visual feedback from a camera on board the aerial robot. At the same time, the obstacles are mapped in real-time by putting together the information from the camera and the positioning system of the ground robot. A set of experiments were carried out with the purpose of verifying the system applicability. The experiments were performed in a simulation environment and outdoor with a medium-sized ground robot and a mini quad-rotor. The proposed robotic system shows outstanding results in simultaneous navigation and mapping applications in large outdoor environments.

MCNP HPGe detector benchmark with previously validated Cyltran model.

Science.gov (United States)

Hau, I D; Russ, W R; Bronson, F

2009-05-01

An exact copy of the detector model generated for Cyltran was reproduced as an MCNP input file and the detection efficiency was calculated similarly with the methodology used in previous experimental measurements and simulation of a 280 cm(3) HPGe detector. Below 1000 keV the MCNP data correlated to the Cyltran results within 0.5% while above this energy the difference between MCNP and Cyltran increased to about 6% at 4800 keV, depending on the electron cut-off energy.

A LUMINOUS GAMMA-RAY BINARY IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corbet, R. H. D. [University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory, Code 662 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Rd., MD 20771 (United States); Chomiuk, L.; Strader, J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States); Coe, M. J. [University of Southampton, School of Physics and Astronomy, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Coley, J. B. [NASA Postdoctoral Program, and Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, Code 661 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Rd., MD 20771 (United States); Dubus, G. [Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, F-38000 Grenoble (France); Edwards, P. G.; Stevens, J. [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Astronomy and Space Science, P.O. Box 76, Epping, New South Wales 1710 (Australia); Martin, P. [Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, F-31028 Toulouse cedex 4 (France); McBride, V. A.; Townsend, L. J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa); Udalski, A. [Warsaw University Observatory, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warszawa (Poland)

2016-10-01

Gamma-ray binaries consist of a neutron star or a black hole interacting with a normal star to produce gamma-ray emission that dominates the radiative output of the system. Only a handful of such systems have been previously discovered, all within our Galaxy. Here, we report the discovery of a luminous gamma-ray binary in the Large Magellanic Cloud, found with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT), from a search for periodic modulation in all sources in the third Fermi LAT catalog. This is the first such system to be found outside the Milky Way. The system has an orbital period of 10.3 days, and is associated with a massive O5III star located in the supernova remnant DEM L241, previously identified as the candidate high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) CXOU J053600.0–673507. X-ray and radio emission are also modulated on the 10.3 day period, but are in anti-phase with the gamma-ray modulation. Optical radial velocity measurements suggest that the system contains a neutron star. The source is significantly more luminous than similar sources in the Milky Way, at radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths. The detection of this extra-galactic system, but no new Galactic systems, raises the possibility that the predicted number of gamma-ray binaries in our Galaxy has been overestimated, and that HMXBs may be born containing relatively slowly rotating neutron stars.

Mapsembler, targeted and micro assembly of large NGS datasets on a desktop computer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peterlongo Pierre

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The analysis of next-generation sequencing data from large genomes is a timely research topic. Sequencers are producing billions of short sequence fragments from newly sequenced organisms. Computational methods for reconstructing whole genomes/transcriptomes (de novo assemblers are typically employed to process such data. However, these methods require large memory resources and computation time. Many basic biological questions could be answered targeting specific information in the reads, thus avoiding complete assembly. Results We present Mapsembler, an iterative micro and targeted assembler which processes large datasets of reads on commodity hardware. Mapsembler checks for the presence of given regions of interest that can be constructed from reads and builds a short assembly around it, either as a plain sequence or as a graph, showing contextual structure. We introduce new algorithms to retrieve approximate occurrences of a sequence from reads and construct an extension graph. Among other results presented in this paper, Mapsembler enabled to retrieve previously described human breast cancer candidate fusion genes, and to detect new ones not previously known. Conclusions Mapsembler is the first software that enables de novo discovery around a region of interest of repeats, SNPs, exon skipping, gene fusion, as well as other structural events, directly from raw sequencing reads. As indexing is localized, the memory footprint of Mapsembler is negligible. Mapsembler is released under the CeCILL license and can be freely downloaded from http://alcovna.genouest.org/mapsembler/.

77 FR 44113 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2012-07-27

... Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft... Aerospace LP (Type Certificate previously held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Gulfstream G150... to the manufacturer. This action was prompted by a report from the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel...

77 FR 58323 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2012-09-20

... Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Airplanes AGENCY... Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Gulfstream G150 airplanes. This proposed AD was.... Discussion The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI), which is the aviation authority for Israel, has...

77 FR 32069 - Airworthiness Directives; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel...

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2012-05-31

... Aerospace LP (Type Certificate Previously Held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Airplanes AGENCY... previously held by Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd.) Model Galaxy and Gulfstream 200 airplanes. This proposed... receive about this proposed AD. Discussion The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI), which is the...

The large N limit of the topological susceptibility of Yang-Mills gauge theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ce, Marco [Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (Italy); INFN, Pisa (Italy); Garcia Vera, Miguel [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen (Germany). John von Neumann-Inst. fuer Computing NIC; Humboldt Univ. Berlin (Germany). Inst. fuer Physik; Giusti, Leonardo [Milano Bicocca Univ., Milano (Italy); INFN, Milano Bicocca (Italy); Schaefer, Stefan [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen (Germany). John von Neumann-Inst. fuer Computing NIC

2016-10-27

We present a precise computation of the topological susceptibility χ{sub YM} of SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in the large N limit. The computation is done on the lattice, using high-statistics Monte Carlo simulations with N=3,4,5,6 and three different lattice spacings. Two major improvements make it possible to go to finer lattice spacing and larger N compared to previous works. First, the topological charge is implemented through the gradient flow definition; and second, open boundary conditions in the time direction are employed in order to avoid the freezing of the topological charge. The results allow us to extrapolate the dimensionless quantity t{sub 0}{sup 2}χ{sub YM} to the continuum and large N limits with confidence. The accuracy of the final result represents a new quality in the verification of large N scaling.

Association between previous splenectomy and gastric dilatation-volvulus in dogs: 453 cases (2004-2009).

Science.gov (United States)

Sartor, Angela J; Bentley, Adrienne M; Brown, Dorothy C

2013-05-15

To evaluate the association between previous splenectomy and gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV) in dogs. Multi-institutional retrospective case-control study. Animals-151 dogs treated surgically for GDV and 302 control dogs with no history of GDV. Computerized records of dogs evaluated via exploratory laparotomy or abdominal ultrasonography were searched, and dogs with GDV and dogs without GDV (control dogs) were identified. Two control dogs were matched with respect to age, body weight, sex, neuter status, and breed to each dog with GDV. Data were collected on the presence or absence of the spleen for both dogs with GDV and control dogs. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association of previous splenectomy with GDV. 6 (4%) dogs in the GDV group and 3 (1%) dogs in the control group had a history of previous splenectomy. The odds of GDV in dogs with a history of previous splenectomy in this population of dogs were 5.3 times those of dogs without a history of previous splenectomy (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 26.8). For the patients in the present study, there was an increased odds of GDV in dogs with a history of splenectomy. Prophylactic gastropexy may be considered in dogs undergoing a splenectomy, particularly if other risk factors for GDV are present.

Peruvian Tropical Glacier May Survive Longer Than Previously Thought: Landsat Image Analysis of Nevado Coropuna Ice Cap, Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Kochtitzky, W. H.; Edwards, B. R.; Marino, J.; Manrique, N.

2015-12-01

Nevado Coropuna is a large volcanic complex in southern Peru (15.56°S, 72.62°N; 6,425 m). The complex is approximately 12 km east-west and 8 km north-south with elevation from ~4,500 m at the base to over 6,000 m at the highest points. This ice cap is the largest hosted by a volcano in the tropics, and one of the ten biggest ice masses in the tropics. Previous workers have predicted that the Coropuna ice cap will completely melt by 2050. We present a new analysis of historic satellite imagery to test this hypothesis. In this study, ice and snow are classified based on unique spectral signatures including spectral band thresholds, Normalized Difference Snow Index, and Band 4/5 ratio. Landsat scenes (L2, 4, 5, 7, and 8) from 1975 to present in addition to one SPOT scene (2013) are used. Previous workers used images from June and July, which are peak snow periods in southern Peru, leading to overestimates of ice area. This study uses November and December images when snow is at an annual minimum. Annual equilibrium line altitudes are calculated for each end of year image (November/December). The glaciers of Nevado Coropuna were found to be shrinking at ~0.5 km2/yr, which is ~1/3 the rate previously published. In this study, SPOT (1.5 m resolution) and Landsat 7 ETM scenes from November 23 and 26, 2013 respectively were used to calibrate the spectral band threshold classification. While this study suggests that the ice cap of Coropuna will persist until 2100 given current rates, water quantity and security remains a concern for Peruvian agriculture. Coropuna is an active volcano, so it poses great risk to surrounding inhabitants from lahars, flooding, and debris avalanches. Our new data suggest that these will continue to be risks late into this century.

Scientific opinion on the evaluation of substances as acceptable previous cargoes for edible fats and oils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Annette

Shipping of edible fats and oils into Europe is permitted in bulk tanks, provided that the previous cargo is included in a positive list. The European Commission requested EFSA to evaluate the acceptability as previous cargoes for fats and oils the substances calcium lignosulphonate, methyl acetate...... the criteria for acceptability as previous cargoes. Due to uncertainties, mainly with regard to the composition and toxicity of the low molecular mass fraction, and the fact that the toxicological database is limited to the 40–65 grade and does not cover all grades of calcium lignosulphonate shipped...... as previous cargoes, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) concluded that calcium lignosulphonate does not meet the criteria for acceptability as a previous cargo. Only food-grade ammonium sulphate meets the criteria for acceptability as a previous cargo due to uncertainties about...

Inverse problems in vision and 3D tomography

CERN Document Server

Mohamad-Djafari, Ali

2013-01-01

The concept of an inverse problem is a familiar one to most scientists and engineers, particularly in the field of signal and image processing, imaging systems (medical, geophysical, industrial non-destructive testing, etc.) and computer vision. In imaging systems, the aim is not just to estimate unobserved images, but also their geometric characteristics from observed quantities that are linked to these unobserved quantities through the forward problem. This book focuses on imagery and vision problems that can be clearly written in terms of an inverse problem where an estimate for the image a

Nuclear spectroscopy in the rare earth region near the proton drip line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toth, K.S.; Nitschke, J.M.; Wilmarth, P.A.; Vierinen, K.S.

1989-01-01

We have used the isotope separator facility OASIS, on-line at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory SuperHILAC, to investigate rare earth nuclei close to the proton drip line. Single-particle states near the 82-neutron shell have been examined and their excitation energies determined. Numerous new isotopes, isomers, and β-delayed proton emitters have been discovered. In addition, the α-decay properties of nuclides with N ≥ 84 have been reexamined; this has led to the discovery of several previously unobserved α transitions. The overall experimental program is summarized and some recently obtained results on 145 Dy, 147 Er, 147 Tm, 153 Lu, 155 Lu, and 157 Lu are discussed. 20 refs., 11 figs., 11 tabs

Detection of water masers toward young stellar objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johanson, A. K.; Migenes, V.; Breen, S. L.

2014-01-01

We present results from a search for water maser emission toward N4A, N190, and N206, three regions of massive star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Four water masers were detected; two toward N4A, and two toward N190. In the latter region, no previously known maser emission has been reported. Future studies of maser proper motion to determine the galactic dynamics of the LMC will benefit from the independent data points the new masers in N190 provide. Two of these masers are associated with previously identified massive young stellar objects (YSOs), which strongly supports the authenticity of the classification. We argue that the other two masers identify previously unknown YSOs. No masers were detected toward N206, but it does host a newly discovered 22 GHz continuum source, also associated with a massive YSO. We suggest that future surveys for water maser emission in the LMC be targeted toward the more luminous, massive YSOs.

Modified distribution parameter for churn-turbulent flows in large diameter channels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schlegel, J.P., E-mail: jschlege@purdue.edu; Macke, C.J.; Hibiki, T.; Ishii, M.

2013-10-15

Highlights: • Void fraction data collected in pipe sizes up to 0.304 m using impedance void meters. • Flow conditions extend to transition between churn-turbulent and annular flow. • Flow regime identification results agree with previous studies. • A new model for the distribution parameter in churn-turbulent flow is proposed. -- Abstract: Two phase flows in large diameter channels are important in a wide range of industrial applications, but especially in analysis of nuclear reactor safety for the prediction of BWR behavior and safety analysis in PWRs. To remedy an inability of current drift-flux models to accurately predict the void fraction in churn-turbulent flows in large diameter pipes, extensive experiments have been performed in pipes with diameters of 0.152 m, 0.203 m and 0.304 m to collect area-averaged void fraction data using electrical impedance void meters. The standard deviation and skewness of the impedance meter signal have been used to characterize the flow regime and confirm previous flow regime transition results. By treating churn-turbulent flow as a transition between cap-bubbly dispersed flow and annular separated flow and using a linear ramp, the distribution parameter has been modified for churn-turbulent flow. The modified distribution parameter has been evaluated through comparison of the void fraction predicted by the drift-flux model and the measured void fraction.

Modified distribution parameter for churn-turbulent flows in large diameter channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlegel, J.P.; Macke, C.J.; Hibiki, T.; Ishii, M.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Void fraction data collected in pipe sizes up to 0.304 m using impedance void meters. • Flow conditions extend to transition between churn-turbulent and annular flow. • Flow regime identification results agree with previous studies. • A new model for the distribution parameter in churn-turbulent flow is proposed. -- Abstract: Two phase flows in large diameter channels are important in a wide range of industrial applications, but especially in analysis of nuclear reactor safety for the prediction of BWR behavior and safety analysis in PWRs. To remedy an inability of current drift-flux models to accurately predict the void fraction in churn-turbulent flows in large diameter pipes, extensive experiments have been performed in pipes with diameters of 0.152 m, 0.203 m and 0.304 m to collect area-averaged void fraction data using electrical impedance void meters. The standard deviation and skewness of the impedance meter signal have been used to characterize the flow regime and confirm previous flow regime transition results. By treating churn-turbulent flow as a transition between cap-bubbly dispersed flow and annular separated flow and using a linear ramp, the distribution parameter has been modified for churn-turbulent flow. The modified distribution parameter has been evaluated through comparison of the void fraction predicted by the drift-flux model and the measured void fraction

Usability-driven pruning of large ontologies: the case of SNOMED CT.

Science.gov (United States)

López-García, Pablo; Boeker, Martin; Illarramendi, Arantza; Schulz, Stefan

2012-06-01

To study ontology modularization techniques when applied to SNOMED CT in a scenario in which no previous corpus of information exists and to examine if frequency-based filtering using MEDLINE can reduce subset size without discarding relevant concepts. Subsets were first extracted using four graph-traversal heuristics and one logic-based technique, and were subsequently filtered with frequency information from MEDLINE. Twenty manually coded discharge summaries from cardiology patients were used as signatures and test sets. The coverage, size, and precision of extracted subsets were measured. Graph-traversal heuristics provided high coverage (71-96% of terms in the test sets of discharge summaries) at the expense of subset size (17-51% of the size of SNOMED CT). Pre-computed subsets and logic-based techniques extracted small subsets (1%), but coverage was limited (24-55%). Filtering reduced the size of large subsets to 10% while still providing 80% coverage. Extracting subsets to annotate discharge summaries is challenging when no previous corpus exists. Ontology modularization provides valuable techniques, but the resulting modules grow as signatures spread across subhierarchies, yielding a very low precision. Graph-traversal strategies and frequency data from an authoritative source can prune large biomedical ontologies and produce useful subsets that still exhibit acceptable coverage. However, a clinical corpus closer to the specific use case is preferred when available.

An Improved Conceptually-Based Method for Analysis of Communication Network Structure of Large Complex Organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, William D., Jr.

Previous methods for determining the communication structure of organizations work well for small or simple organizations, but are either inadequate or unwieldy for use with large complex organizations. An improved method uses a number of different measures and a series of successive approximations to order the communication matrix such that…

Endoscopically assisted enucleation of a large mandibular periapical cyst.

Science.gov (United States)

Nestal Zibo, Heleia; Miller, Ene

2011-01-01

Enucleation of large cysts in the jaws is an invasive method that might be associated with complications. Marsupialization is a less invasive alternative method but it involves a prolonged and uncomfortable healing period. This study addresses a contemporaneous and less invasive surgical technique for treating larger mandibular cysts. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A 48-year-old woman presented with a large mandibular apical cyst involving the left parasymphysis, body, ramus and condylar neck, with involvement of the alveolar inferior nerve. The cystic lesion was enucleated using a 30° 4.0 mm endoscopic scope and endoscopic instruments through two small accesses: the ostectomy site of previously performed marsupialization and the alveolus of the involved third molar extracted of the time of the enucleation of the cyst. RESULTS. The endoscopic scope provided good visualization of the whole cystic cavity allowing the removal of any residual pathologic tissue and preservation of the integrity of the involved inferior alveolar nerve. The morbidity of the surgical procedure was extremely reduced. At a 6-month follow-up the patient did not present any symptom of inflammation and a panoramic X-ray showed good bone repair and remodelation. CONCLUSIONS. Endoscopically assisted enucleation proved to be effective method of treating a large mandibular cyst, providing total enucleation with a minimal invasive technique.

Do emotional intelligence and previous caring experience influence student nurse performance? A comparative analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Stenhouse, Rosie; Snowden, Austyn; Young, Jenny; Carver, Fiona; Carver, Hannah; Brown, Norrie

2016-08-01

Reports of poor nursing care have focused attention on values based selection of candidates onto nursing programmes. Values based selection lacks clarity and valid measures. Previous caring experience might lead to better care. Emotional intelligence (EI) might be associated with performance, is conceptualised and measurable. To examine the impact of 1) previous caring experience, 2) emotional intelligence 3) social connection scores on performance and retention in a cohort of first year nursing and midwifery students in Scotland. A longitudinal, quasi experimental design. Adult and mental health nursing, and midwifery programmes in a Scottish University. Adult, mental health and midwifery students (n=598) completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-short form and Schutte's Emotional Intelligence Scale on entry to their programmes at a Scottish University, alongside demographic and previous caring experience data. Social connection was calculated from a subset of questions identified within the TEIQue-SF in a prior factor and Rasch analysis. Student performance was calculated as the mean mark across the year. Withdrawal data were gathered. 598 students completed baseline measures. 315 students declared previous caring experience, 277 not. An independent-samples t-test identified that those without previous caring experience scored higher on performance (57.33±11.38) than those with previous caring experience (54.87±11.19), a statistically significant difference of 2.47 (95% CI, 0.54 to 4.38), t(533)=2.52, p=.012. Emotional intelligence scores were not associated with performance. Social connection scores for those withdrawing (mean rank=249) and those remaining (mean rank=304.75) were statistically significantly different, U=15,300, z=-2.61, p$_amp_$lt;0.009. Previous caring experience led to worse performance in this cohort. Emotional intelligence was not a useful indicator of performance. Lower scores on the social connection factor were associated

Large-aperture, high-damage-threshold optics for beamlet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, J.H.; Atherton, L.J.; DeYoreo, J.J.; Kozlowski, M.R.; Maney, R.T.; Montesanti, R.C.; Sheehan, L.M.; Barker, C.E.

1995-01-01

Beamlet serves as a test bed for the proposed NIF laser design and components. Therefore, its optics are similar in size and quality to those proposed for the NIF. In general, the optics in the main laser cavity and transport section of Beamlet are larger and have higher damage thresholds than the optics manufactured for any of our previous laser systems. In addition, the quality of the Beamlet optical materials is higher, leading to better wavefront quality, higher optical transmission, and lower-intensity modulation of the output laser beam than, for example, that typically achieved on Nova. In this article, we discuss the properties and characteristics of the large-aperture optics used on Beamlet

Exercise induced ST elevation and residual myocardial ischemia in previous myocardial infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimonagata, Tsuyoshi; Nishimura, Tsunehiko; Uehara, Toshiisa; Hayashida, Kohei; Saito, Muneyasu; Sumiyoshi, Tetsuya

1987-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of stress induced ST elevation on infarcted area in 65 patients with previous myocardial infarction (single vessel disease) who had stress thallium scan. Stress induced ST changes on infarcted area were compared with quantitative assessment of myocardial ischemia (thallium ischemic score; TIS) and extent of myocardial infarction (defect score; DS) derived from circumferential profile analysis. In patients with previous myocardial infarction in less than 3 month from the onset (n = 36), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and extent of abnormal LV wall motion were not significantly different between patients with stress induced ST elevation ( ≥ 2 mm, n = 26) and those with stress induced ST elevation ( < 2 mm, n = 10), while, in patients with previous myocardial infarction in more than 3 month (n = 29), patients with stress induced ST elevation ( ≥ 2 mm, n = 15) showed left ventricular dyskinesis more frequently than those with ST elevation ( < 2 mm, n = 14). In addition, the former showed significantly higher DS and significantly lower TIS than the latter. In patients with previous myocardial infarction in less than 3 month, patients with ST elevation ( ≥ 2 mm, n = 15) with prominent upright T wave (n = 15) had transient thallium defect in infarcted area in 73 % and they had significantly higher LVEF and TIS than those with ST elevation ( < 2 mm, n = 11). These results indicated that ST elevation in infarcted area reflect different significance according to the recovery of injured myocardium and stress induced ST elevation with prominent upright T wave in infarcted area reflect residual myocardial ischemia in less than 3 month from the onset of myocardial infarction. (author)

A study of the multiplicities associated with large transverse momentum particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abad, J.; Cruz, A.

1976-01-01

Recent experimental data on multiplicities in large transverse momentum reactions are analyzed in a two-jet picture whose features have been previously fixed by data on inclusive cross sections and correlations. Special attention has been devoted to the psub(T) and √s behaviour of the particle multiplicities at the ISR energy range. A particular result is that changes in the behaviour of the associated multiplicity may be a sharp signal of a fundamental transition in the dynamics of particle production. (Auth.)

How to prevent type 2 diabetes in women with previous gestational diabetes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Anne Louise Winkler; Terkildsen Maindal, Helle; Juul, Lise

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Women with previous gestational diabetes (GDM) have a seven times higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) than women without. We aimed to review the evidence of effective behavioural interventions seeking to prevent T2DM in this high-risk group. METHODS: A systematic review...... of RCTs in several databases in March 2016. RESULTS: No specific intervention or intervention components were found superior. The pooled effect on diabetes incidence (four trials) was estimated to: -5.02 per 100 (95% CI: -9.24; -0.80). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that intervention is superior...... to no intervention in prevention of T2DM among women with previous GDM....

Fish quality – linking previous infections to the quality of consumers’ fillet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The quality of the fish meat is dependent upon a wide range of biological and non-biological factors. In the present study it has been established that previous infections by Vibrio anguillarum in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) influence the quality of the fish meat (fillet) at slaughter more...... than after the fish have recovered from the infection. The texture of the fillet analysed by sensory analysis showed changes, which could be explained by previous tissue damage caused by the infection. These changes indicated formation of scars in affected tissue during the processes of tissue repair......, which gave rise to a more fibrous, tougher and flaky texture of the fillets....

Identification of a Basic Helix-Loop-Helix-Type Transcription Regulator Gene in Aspergillus oryzae by Systematically Deleting Large Chromosomal Segments▿ †

OpenAIRE

Jin, Feng Jie; Takahashi, Tadashi; Machida, Masayuki; Koyama, Yasuji

2009-01-01

We previously developed two methods (loop-out and replacement-type recombination) for generating large-scale chromosomal deletions that can be applied to more effective chromosomal engineering in Aspergillus oryzae. In this study, the replacement-type method is used to systematically delete large chromosomal DNA segments to identify essential and nonessential regions in chromosome 7 (2.93 Mb), which is the smallest A. oryzae chromosome and contains a large number of nonsyntenic blocks. We con...

Technique for sparing previously irradiated critical normal structures in salvage proton craniospinal irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, Mark W; Wolanski, Mark R; Simmons, Joseph W; Buchsbaum, Jeffrey C

2013-01-01

Cranial reirradiation is clinically appropriate in some cases but cumulative radiation dose to critical normal structures remains a practical concern. The authors developed a simple technique in 3D conformal proton craniospinal irradiation (CSI) to block organs at risk (OAR) while minimizing underdosing of adjacent target brain tissue. Two clinical cases illustrate the use of proton therapy to provide salvage CSI when a previously irradiated OAR required sparing from additional radiation dose. The prior radiation plan was coregistered to the treatment planning CT to create a planning organ at risk volume (PRV) around the OAR. Right and left lateral cranial whole brain proton apertures were created with a small block over the PRV. Then right and left lateral “inverse apertures” were generated, creating an aperture opening in the shape of the area previously blocked and blocking the area previously open. The inverse aperture opening was made one millimeter smaller than the original block to minimize the risk of dose overlap. The inverse apertures were used to irradiate the target volume lateral to the PRV, selecting a proton beam range to abut the 50% isodose line against either lateral edge of the PRV. Together, the 4 cranial proton fields created a region of complete dose avoidance around the OAR. Comparative photon treatment plans were generated with opposed lateral X-ray fields with custom blocks and coplanar intensity modulated radiation therapy optimized to avoid the PRV. Cumulative dose volume histograms were evaluated. Treatment plans were developed and successfully implemented to provide sparing of previously irradiated critical normal structures while treating target brain lateral to these structures. The absence of dose overlapping during irradiation through the inverse apertures was confirmed by film. Compared to the lateral X-ray and IMRT treatment plans, the proton CSI technique improved coverage of target brain tissue while providing the least

Observations of X-ray sources in the Large Magellanic cloud by the OSO-7 satellite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markert, T.H.; Clark, G.W.

1975-01-01

Observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud with the 1-40 keV X-ray detectors on the OSO-7 satellite are reported. Results include the discovery of a previously unreported source LMC X-5, measurements of the spectral characteristics of four sources, and observations of their variability on time scales of months

Detection of large-scale concentric gravity waves from a Chinese airglow imager network

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Chang; Yue, Jia; Xu, Jiyao; Yuan, Wei; Li, Qinzeng; Liu, Xiao

2018-06-01

Concentric gravity waves (CGWs) contain a broad spectrum of horizontal wavelengths and periods due to their instantaneous localized sources (e.g., deep convection, volcanic eruptions, or earthquake, etc.). However, it is difficult to observe large-scale gravity waves of >100 km wavelength from the ground for the limited field of view of a single camera and local bad weather. Previously, complete large-scale CGW imagery could only be captured by satellite observations. In the present study, we developed a novel method that uses assembling separate images and applying low-pass filtering to obtain temporal and spatial information about complete large-scale CGWs from a network of all-sky airglow imagers. Coordinated observations from five all-sky airglow imagers in Northern China were assembled and processed to study large-scale CGWs over a wide area (1800 km × 1 400 km), focusing on the same two CGW events as Xu et al. (2015). Our algorithms yielded images of large-scale CGWs by filtering out the small-scale CGWs. The wavelengths, wave speeds, and periods of CGWs were measured from a sequence of consecutive assembled images. Overall, the assembling and low-pass filtering algorithms can expand the airglow imager network to its full capacity regarding the detection of large-scale gravity waves.

Large-Scale Astrophysical Visualization on Smartphones

Science.gov (United States)

Becciani, U.; Massimino, P.; Costa, A.; Gheller, C.; Grillo, A.; Krokos, M.; Petta, C.

2011-07-01

Nowadays digital sky surveys and long-duration, high-resolution numerical simulations using high performance computing and grid systems produce multidimensional astrophysical datasets in the order of several Petabytes. Sharing visualizations of such datasets within communities and collaborating research groups is of paramount importance for disseminating results and advancing astrophysical research. Moreover educational and public outreach programs can benefit greatly from novel ways of presenting these datasets by promoting understanding of complex astrophysical processes, e.g., formation of stars and galaxies. We have previously developed VisIVO Server, a grid-enabled platform for high-performance large-scale astrophysical visualization. This article reviews the latest developments on VisIVO Web, a custom designed web portal wrapped around VisIVO Server, then introduces VisIVO Smartphone, a gateway connecting VisIVO Web and data repositories for mobile astrophysical visualization. We discuss current work and summarize future developments.

Efficient preparation of large-block-code ancilla states for fault-tolerant quantum computation

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yi-Cong; Lai, Ching-Yi; Brun, Todd A.

2018-03-01

Fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC) schemes that use multiqubit large block codes can potentially reduce the resource overhead to a great extent. A major obstacle is the requirement for a large number of clean ancilla states of different types without correlated errors inside each block. These ancilla states are usually logical stabilizer states of the data-code blocks, which are generally difficult to prepare if the code size is large. Previously, we have proposed an ancilla distillation protocol for Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes by classical error-correcting codes. It was assumed that the quantum gates in the distillation circuit were perfect; however, in reality, noisy quantum gates may introduce correlated errors that are not treatable by the protocol. In this paper, we show that additional postselection by another classical error-detecting code can be applied to remove almost all correlated errors. Consequently, the revised protocol is fully fault tolerant and capable of preparing a large set of stabilizer states sufficient for FTQC using large block codes. At the same time, the yield rate can be boosted from O (t-2) to O (1 ) in practice for an [[n ,k ,d =2 t +1

Employee-driven innovation in large project organisations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Henrik; Wandahl, Søren; Christensen, Randi Muff

2014-01-01

(EDI). The case was a group of employees in a large governmental client organisation. The EDI framework was based on a theoretical approach to conduct EDI, derived from a previous literature study. The case study was conducted as an exploratory case study with outset in a gaming approach...... that challenged the participants with discussions on obstacles and solutions for EDI. The game approach was undertaken to facilitate discussions on specific EDI topics carefully selected to stimulate both group and plenum discussions. The themes of the theoretical framework were challenged through...... the participants’ discussions and perceptions of the applicability in the organisation. The findings were discussed in relation to the theoretical approach and findings from a comparable case study. It identified overall methods that had the higher robustness and applicability to incorporate in a practical EDI...

Two-phase flow structure in large diameter pipes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, T.R.; Schlegel, J.P.; Hibiki, T.; Ishii, M.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Local profiles of various quantities measured in large diameter pipe. ► Database for interfacial area in large pipes extended to churn-turbulent flow. ► Flow regime map confirms previous models for flow regime transitions. ► Data will be useful in developing interfacial area transport models for large pipes. - Abstract: Flow in large pipes is important in a wide variety of applications. In the nuclear industry in particular, understanding of flow in large diameter pipes is essential in predicting the behavior of reactor systems. This is especially true of natural circulation Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) designs, where a large-diameter chimney above the core provides the gravity head to drive circulation of the coolant through the reactor. The behavior of such reactors during transients and during normal operation will be predicted using advanced thermal–hydraulics analysis codes utilizing the two-fluid model. Essential to accurate two-fluid model calculations is reliable and accurate computation of the interfacial transfer terms. These interfacial transfer terms can be expressed as the product of one term describing the potential driving the transfer and a second term describing the available surface area for transfer, or interfacial area concentration. Currently, the interfacial area is predicted using flow regime dependent empirical correlations; however the interfacial area concentration is best computed through the use of the one-dimensional interfacial area transport equation (IATE). To facilitate the development of IATE source and sink term models in large-diameter pipes a fundamental understanding of the structure of the two-phase flow is essential. This understanding is improved through measurement of the local void fraction, interfacial area concentration and gas velocity profiles in pipes with diameters of 0.102 m and 0.152 m under a wide variety of flow conditions. Additionally, flow regime identification has been performed to