Clinically relevant incidental cardiovascular findings in CT examinations
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Voigt, P.; Fahnert, J.; Kahn, T.; Surov, A.; Schramm, D.; Bach, A.G.
2017-01-01
Incidental cardiovascular findings are a frequent phenomenon in computed tomography (CT) examinations. As the result of a dedicated PubMed search this article gives a systemic overview of the current literature on the most important incidental cardiovascular findings, their prevalence and clinical relevance. The majority of incidental cardiovascular findings are of only low clinical relevance; however, highly relevant incidental findings, such as aortic aneurysms, thromboses and thromboembolic events can also occasionally be found, especially in oncology patients. The scans from every CT examination should also be investigated for incidental findings as they can be of decisive importance for the further clinical management of patients, depending on their clinical relevance. (orig.) [de
Clinical relevance of findings in trials of CBT for depression
Lepping, P.; Whittington, R.; Sambhi, R.S.; Lane, S.; Poole, R.; Leucht, S.; Cuijpers, P.; McCabe, R.; Waheed, W.
2017-01-01
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is beneficial in depression. Symptom scores can be translated into Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale scores to indicate clinical relevance. We aimed to assess the clinical relevance of findings of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of CBT in depression. We
Experimental interstellar organic chemistry - Preliminary findings
Khare, B. N.; Sagan, C.
1973-01-01
Review of the results of some explicit experimental simulation of interstellar organic chemistry consisting in low-temperature high-vacuum UV irradiation of condensed simple gases known or suspected to be present in the interstellar medium. The results include the finding that acetonitrile may be present in the interstellar medium. The implication of this and other findings are discussed.
Clinical relevance of findings in trials of CBT for depression.
Lepping, P; Whittington, R; Sambhi, R S; Lane, S; Poole, R; Leucht, S; Cuijpers, P; McCabe, R; Waheed, W
2017-09-01
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is beneficial in depression. Symptom scores can be translated into Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale scores to indicate clinical relevance. We aimed to assess the clinical relevance of findings of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of CBT in depression. We identified RCTs of CBT that used the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD). HAMD scores were translated into Clinical Global Impression - Change scale (CGI-I) scores to measure clinical relevance. One hundred and seventy datasets from 82 studies were included. The mean percentage HAMD change for treatment arms was 53.66%, and 29.81% for control arms, a statistically significant difference. Combined active therapies showed the biggest improvement on CGI-I score, followed by CBT alone. All active treatments had better than expected HAMD percentage reduction and CGI-I scores. CBT has a clinically relevant effect in depression, with a notional CGI-I score of 2.2, indicating a significant clinical response. The non-specific or placebo effect of being in a psychotherapy trial was a 29% reduction of HAMD. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.
Upper GI endoscopy in elderly patients: predictive factors of relevant endoscopic findings.
Buri, Luigi; Zullo, Angelo; Hassan, Cesare; Bersani, Gianluca; Anti, Marcello; Bianco, Maria A; Cipolletta, Livio; Giulio, Emilio Di; Matteo, Giovanni Di; Familiari, Luigi; Ficano, Leonardo; Loriga, Piero; Morini, Sergio; Pietropaolo, Vincenzo; Zambelli, Alessandro; Grossi, Enzo; Tessari, Francesco; Intraligi, Marco; Buscema, Massimo
2013-03-01
Elderly patients are at increased risk for peptic ulcer and cancer. Predictive factors of relevant endoscopic findings at upper endoscopy in the elderly are unknown. This was a post hoc analysis of a nationwide, endoscopic study. A total of 3,147 elderly patients were selected. Demographic, clinical, and endoscopic data were systematically collected. Relevant findings and new diagnoses of peptic ulcer and malignancy were computed. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. A total of 1,559 (49.5%), 213 (6.8%), 93 (3%) relevant findings, peptic ulcers, and malignancies were detected. Peptic ulcers and malignancies were more frequent in >85-year-old patients (OR 3.1, 95% CI = 2.0-4.7, p = 0.001). The presence of dysphagia (OR = 5.15), weight loss (OR = 4.77), persistent vomiting (OR = 3.68), anaemia (OR = 1.83), and male gender (OR = 1.9) were significantly associated with a malignancy, whilst overt bleeding (OR = 6.66), NSAIDs use (OR = 2.23), and epigastric pain (OR = 1.90) were associated with the presence of peptic ulcer. Peptic ulcer or malignancies were detected in 10% of elderly patients, supporting the use of endoscopy in this age group. Very elderly patients appear to be at higher risk of such lesions.
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Voigt, P.; Fahnert, J.; Kahn, T.; Surov, A. [Universitaetsklinikum Leipzig, Klinik fuer Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie, Leipzig (Germany); Schramm, D.; Bach, A.G. [Universitaetsklinikum Halle (Saale), Klinik fuer Radiologie, Halle (Germany)
2017-04-15
Incidental cardiovascular findings are a frequent phenomenon in computed tomography (CT) examinations. As the result of a dedicated PubMed search this article gives a systemic overview of the current literature on the most important incidental cardiovascular findings, their prevalence and clinical relevance. The majority of incidental cardiovascular findings are of only low clinical relevance; however, highly relevant incidental findings, such as aortic aneurysms, thromboses and thromboembolic events can also occasionally be found, especially in oncology patients. The scans from every CT examination should also be investigated for incidental findings as they can be of decisive importance for the further clinical management of patients, depending on their clinical relevance. (orig.) [German] Inzidentelle kardiovaskulaere Befunde sind ein haeufiges Phaenomen bei CT-Untersuchungen. Mit dieser Arbeit soll nach gezielter PubMed-Recherche ein systematischer Literaturueberblick ueber die wichtigsten kardiovaskulaeren Zufallsbefunde sowie deren Haeufigkeit und klinische Relevanz gegeben werden. Die Mehrzahl der inzidentellen kardiovaskulaeren Befunde sind klinisch nur von untergeordneter Bedeutung, allerdings werden immer wieder auch hochgradig relevante Zufallsbefunde wie beispielsweise Aortenaneurysmata oder - gerade bei onkologischen Patienten - Thrombosen und thrombembolische Ereignisse detektiert. Jede CT-Untersuchung sollte gezielt nach inzidentellen Befunden durchsucht werden, da diese je nach klinischer Relevanz von entscheidender Bedeutung fuer das weitere klinische Management des Patienten sein koennen. (orig.)
Ulaczyk, Jan; Morawiec, Krzysztof; Zabierowski, Paweł; Drobiazg, Tomasz; Barreau, Nicolas
2017-09-01
A data mining approach is proposed as a useful tool for the control parameters analysis of the 3-stage CIGSe photovoltaic cell production process, in order to find variables that are the most relevant for cell electric parameters and efficiency. The analysed data set consists of stage duration times, heater power values as well as temperatures for the element sources and the substrate - there are 14 variables per sample in total. The most relevant variables of the process have been found based on the so-called random forest analysis with the application of the Boruta algorithm. 118 CIGSe samples, prepared at Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, were analysed. The results are close to experimental knowledge on the CIGSe cells production process. They bring new evidence to production parameters of new cells and further research. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Lewin, Simon; Carlsen, Benedicte; Glenton, Claire; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Bohren, Meghan A; Rashidian, Arash; Wainwright, Megan; Tunςalp, Özge; Chandler, Jacqueline; Flottorp, Signe; Pantoja, Tomas; Tucker, Joseph D; Munthe-Kaas, Heather
2018-01-25
The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on CERQual's relevance component. We developed the relevance component by searching the literature for definitions, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We tested the CERQual relevance component within several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the current definition and principles for application. When applying CERQual, we define relevance as the extent to which the body of data from the primary studies supporting a review finding is applicable to the context (perspective or population, phenomenon of interest, setting) specified in the review question. In this paper, we describe the relevance component and its rationale and offer guidance on how to assess relevance in the context of a review finding. This guidance outlines the information required to assess relevance, the steps that need to be taken to assess relevance and examples of relevance assessments. This paper provides guidance for review authors and others on undertaking an assessment of relevance in the context of the CERQual approach. Assessing the relevance component requires consideration of potentially important contextual factors at an early stage in the review process. We expect the CERQual
Experimental Models of Vaginal Candidiasis and Their Relevance to Human Candidiasis
Sobel, Jack D.
2016-01-01
Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a high-incidence disease seriously affecting the quality of life of women worldwide, particularly in its chronic, recurrent forms (RVVC), and with no definitive cure or preventive measure. Experimental studies in currently used rat and mouse models of vaginal candidiasis have generated a large mass of data on pathogenicity determinants and inflammation and immune responses of potential importance for the control of human pathology. However, reflection is necessary about the relevance of these rodent models to RVVC. Here we examine the chemical, biochemical, and biological factors that determine or contrast the forms of the disease in rodent models and in women and highlight the differences between them. We also appeal for approaches to improve or replace the current models in order to enhance their relevance to human infection. PMID:26883592
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Aglan, Iman; Jodocy, Daniel; Hiehs, Stefan; Soegner, Peter; Frank, Renate; Haberfellner, Berhard; Klauser, Andrea; Jaschke, Werner; Feuchtner, Gudrun M.
2010-01-01
Objective: To assess the spectrum and clinical relevance of extracoronary findings in coronary CT angiography (CCTA), and to compare a small (cardiac) field of view (FOV) to a large (thoracic) FOV setting. Material and methods: 1084 consecutive patients (mean 57 years) with low-to-intermediate risk of coronary artery disease were enrolled. 542 CCTA scans were interpreted with small FOV (160-190 mm 2 ) encompassing the cardiac region. In another 542 CCTA (patients matched for age and gender), read-out of an additional full FOV (>320 mm 2 ) covering the thorax was performed. Clinical relevance of extracoronary findings was considered as either 'significant' or 'non-significant'. 'Significant' findings were subclassified as either score 1: findings necessitating immediate therapeutic actions, or score 2: findings with undoubted clinical or prognostic relevance, requiring clinical awareness, follow-up or further investigations (non-urgent). 'Non-significant' findings were assigned to either score 3: findings not requiring follow-up or further tests, or as score 4: irrelevant incidental findings. Results: Significantly more patients with extracoronary findings were identified by using a full FOV with 43.2% (234/542) compared to a small FOV with 33.6% (182/542) (p = 0.001). Similarly, a higher total number of extracoronary findings (n = 394) was found on full FOV compared to small FOV (n = 250) (p 2 aortic valve orifice area. Conclusions: The interpretation of extracoronary findings on CCTA scans is mandatory given high prevalence of clinically significant findings by using a full 'thoracic' FOV.
Clinically relevant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI findings in elite swimmers’ shoulders
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Arno Celliers
2017-01-01
Objective: To assess clinically relevant MRI findings in the shoulders of symptomatic and asymptomatic elite swimmers. Method: Twenty (aged 16–23 years elite swimmers completed questionnaires on their swimming training, pain and shoulder function. MRI of both shoulders (n = 40 were performed and all swimmers were given a standardised clinical shoulder examination. Results: Both shoulders of 11 male and 9 female elite swimmers (n = 40 were examined. Eleven of the 40 shoulders were clinically symptomatic and 29 were asymptomatic. The most common clinical finding in both the symptomatic and asymptomatic shoulders was impingement during internal rotation, with impingement in 54.5% of the symptomatic shoulders and in 31.0% of the asymptomatic shoulders. The most common MRI findings in the symptomatic and asymptomatic shoulders were supraspinatus tendinosis (45.5% vs. 20.7%, subacromial subdeltoid fluid (45.5% vs. 34.5%, increased signal in the AC Joint (45.5% vs. 37.9% and AC joint arthrosis (36.4% vs. 34.5%. Thirty-nine (97.5% of the shoulders showed abnormal MRI features. Conclusion: MRI findings in the symptomatic and asymptomatic shoulders of young elite swimmers are similar and care should be taken when reporting shoulder MRIs in these athletes. Asymptomatic shoulders demonstrate manifold MRI abnormalities that may be radiologically significant but appear not to be clinically significant.
Samimi, Parnia; Ravana, Sri Devi
2014-01-01
Test collection is used to evaluate the information retrieval systems in laboratory-based evaluation experimentation. In a classic setting, generating relevance judgments involves human assessors and is a costly and time consuming task. Researchers and practitioners are still being challenged in performing reliable and low-cost evaluation of retrieval systems. Crowdsourcing as a novel method of data acquisition is broadly used in many research fields. It has been proven that crowdsourcing is an inexpensive and quick solution as well as a reliable alternative for creating relevance judgments. One of the crowdsourcing applications in IR is to judge relevancy of query document pair. In order to have a successful crowdsourcing experiment, the relevance judgment tasks should be designed precisely to emphasize quality control. This paper is intended to explore different factors that have an influence on the accuracy of relevance judgments accomplished by workers and how to intensify the reliability of judgments in crowdsourcing experiment.
Relevance and reliability of experimental data in human health risk assessment of pesticides.
Kaltenhäuser, Johanna; Kneuer, Carsten; Marx-Stoelting, Philip; Niemann, Lars; Schubert, Jens; Stein, Bernd; Solecki, Roland
2017-08-01
Evaluation of data relevance, reliability and contribution to uncertainty is crucial in regulatory health risk assessment if robust conclusions are to be drawn. Whether a specific study is used as key study, as additional information or not accepted depends in part on the criteria according to which its relevance and reliability are judged. In addition to GLP-compliant regulatory studies following OECD Test Guidelines, data from peer-reviewed scientific literature have to be evaluated in regulatory risk assessment of pesticide active substances. Publications should be taken into account if they are of acceptable relevance and reliability. Their contribution to the overall weight of evidence is influenced by factors including test organism, study design and statistical methods, as well as test item identification, documentation and reporting of results. Various reports make recommendations for improving the quality of risk assessments and different criteria catalogues have been published to support evaluation of data relevance and reliability. Their intention was to guide transparent decision making on the integration of the respective information into the regulatory process. This article describes an approach to assess the relevance and reliability of experimental data from guideline-compliant studies as well as from non-guideline studies published in the scientific literature in the specific context of uncertainty and risk assessment of pesticides. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Treskes, K.; Bos, S.A.; Sierink, J.C.; Luitse, J.S.K.; Goslings, J.C. [Academic Medical Center, Trauma Unit, Department of Surgery, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Beenen, L.F.M. [Academic Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Edwards, M.J.R. [Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Trauma and emergency surgery, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Beuker, B.J.A. [University Medical Center Groningen, Trauma Unit, Department of Surgery, Groningen (Netherlands); Muradin, G.S.R. [University Medical Center Rotterdam, Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Hohmann, J. [University of Basel Hospital, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Basel (Switzerland); Hollmann, M.W. [Academic Medical Center, Department of Anaesthesiology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Dijkgraaf, M.G.W. [Academic Medical Center, Clinical Research Unit, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Collaboration: REACT-2 study group
2017-06-15
To determine whether there is a difference in frequency and clinical relevance of incidental findings detected by total-body computed tomography scanning (TBCT) compared to those by the standard work-up (STWU) with selective computed tomography (CT) scanning. Trauma patients from five trauma centres were randomized between April 2011 and January 2014 to TBCT imaging or STWU consisting of conventional imaging with selective CT scanning. Incidental findings were divided into three categories: 1) major finding, may cause mortality; 2) moderate finding, may cause morbidity; and 3) minor finding, hardly relevant. Generalized estimating equations were applied to assess differences in incidental findings. In total, 1083 patients were enrolled, of which 541 patients (49.9 %) were randomized for TBCT and 542 patients (50.1 %) for STWU. Major findings were detected in 23 patients (4.3 %) in the TBCT group compared to 9 patients (1.7 %) in the STWU group (adjusted rate ratio 2.851; 95%CI 1.337-6.077; p < 0.007). Findings of moderate relevance were detected in 120 patients (22.2 %) in the TBCT group compared to 86 patients (15.9 %) in the STWU group (adjusted rate ratio 1.421; 95%CI 1.088-1.854; p < 0.010). Compared to selective CT scanning, more patients with clinically relevant incidental findings can be expected by TBCT scanning. (orig.)
Do infants find snakes aversive? Infants' physiological responses to "fear-relevant" stimuli.
Thrasher, Cat; LoBue, Vanessa
2016-02-01
In the current research, we sought to measure infants' physiological responses to snakes-one of the world's most widely feared stimuli-to examine whether they find snakes aversive or merely attention grabbing. Using a similar method to DeLoache and LoBue (Developmental Science, 2009, Vol. 12, pp. 201-207), 6- to 9-month-olds watched a series of multimodal (both auditory and visual) stimuli: a video of a snake (fear-relevant) or an elephant (non-fear-relevant) paired with either a fearful or happy auditory track. We measured physiological responses to the pairs of stimuli, including startle magnitude, latency to startle, and heart rate. Results suggest that snakes capture infants' attention; infants showed the fastest startle responses and lowest average heart rate to the snakes, especially when paired with a fearful voice. Unexpectedly, they also showed significantly reduced startle magnitude during this same snake video plus fearful voice combination. The results are discussed with respect to theoretical perspectives on fear acquisition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Aglan, Iman; Jodocy, Daniel; Hiehs, Stefan; Soegner, Peter; Frank, Renate; Haberfellner, Berhard; Klauser, Andrea; Jaschke, Werner [Department of Radiology II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck (Austria); Feuchtner, Gudrun M. [Department of Radiology II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck (Austria)], E-mail: Gudrun.Feuchtner@i-med.ac.at
2010-04-15
Objective: To assess the spectrum and clinical relevance of extracoronary findings in coronary CT angiography (CCTA), and to compare a small (cardiac) field of view (FOV) to a large (thoracic) FOV setting. Material and methods: 1084 consecutive patients (mean 57 years) with low-to-intermediate risk of coronary artery disease were enrolled. 542 CCTA scans were interpreted with small FOV (160-190 mm{sup 2}) encompassing the cardiac region. In another 542 CCTA (patients matched for age and gender), read-out of an additional full FOV (>320 mm{sup 2}) covering the thorax was performed. Clinical relevance of extracoronary findings was considered as either 'significant' or 'non-significant'. 'Significant' findings were subclassified as either score 1: findings necessitating immediate therapeutic actions, or score 2: findings with undoubted clinical or prognostic relevance, requiring clinical awareness, follow-up or further investigations (non-urgent). 'Non-significant' findings were assigned to either score 3: findings not requiring follow-up or further tests, or as score 4: irrelevant incidental findings. Results: Significantly more patients with extracoronary findings were identified by using a full FOV with 43.2% (234/542) compared to a small FOV with 33.6% (182/542) (p = 0.001). Similarly, a higher total number of extracoronary findings (n = 394) was found on full FOV compared to small FOV (n = 250) (p < 0.001). The detection rate of clinically significant findings was higher by using full FOV compared to small FOV (25.6% versus 15.4%) (p < 0.001), out of those 2.2% versus 1.8% of findings required immediate actions (score 1), and 23.4% versus 13.6% (p = 0.0001), respectively were of clinical relevance (non-urgent, score 2). The rate of malign findings was 0.2%, and of acute pulmonary embolism 0.1%. More lung pathologies were observed by using full FOV compared to small FOV (22% versus 7%) (p < 0.0001), and the detection rate of
Topical review: sluggish cognitive tempo: research findings and relevance for pediatric psychology.
Becker, Stephen P
2013-11-01
To summarize recent research on sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and consider the potential relevance of SCT for the field of pediatric psychology. Literature review. Recent empirical evidence shows SCT symptoms consisting of sluggish/sleepy and daydreamy behaviors to be distinct from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. SCT is associated with psychosocial functioning in children and adolescents, including internalizing symptoms, social withdrawal, and, possibly, academic impairment. The recent findings reviewed suggest that SCT is an important construct for pediatric psychologists to be aware of and may also be directly useful for the research and practice of pediatric psychology.
Experimental Characterization of Supercavitating Finds Piercing a Ventilated Supercavity
2013-08-05
01-2011 --31-07-2013 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Sa. CONTRACT NUMBER Experimental Characterization of Supercavitating Finds Piercing a Ventilated...presents the results from water tunnel experiments on supercavitating fins performed at the Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel of the Pennsylvania State...SUBJECT TERMS supercavitation , fins, cavity-piercing 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT u a. REPORT I~· ABSTRACT I~· THIS
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Serkiz, A.W.
1983-05-01
This report summarizes key technical findings relevant to the Unresolved Safety Issue A-1, Water Hammer. These findings were derived from studies of reported water hammer occurrences and underlying causes and provide key insights into means to minimize or eliminate further water hammer occurrences. It should also be noted that this report does not represent a substitute for current rules and regulations
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1984-03-01
This report, which includes responses to public comments, summarizes key technical findings relevant to the Unresolved Safety Issue A-1, Water Hammer. These findings were derived from studies of reported water hammer occurrences and underlying causes and provide key insights into means to minimize or eliminate further water hammer occurrences. This report does not represent a substitute for current rules and regulations
Expertise finding in bibliographic network: topic dominance learning approach.
Neshati, Mahmood; Hashemi, Seyyed Hadi; Beigy, Hamid
2014-12-01
Expert finding problem in bibliographic networks has received increased interest in recent years. This problem concerns finding relevant researchers for a given topic. Motivated by the observation that rarely do all coauthors contribute to a paper equally, in this paper, we propose two discriminative methods for realizing leading authors contributing in a scientific publication. Specifically, we cast the problem of expert finding in a bibliographic network to find leading experts in a research group, which is easier to solve. We recognize three feature groups that can discriminate relevant experts from other authors of a document. Experimental results on a real dataset, and a synthetic one that is gathered from a Microsoft academic search engine, show that the proposed model significantly improves the performance of expert finding in terms of all common information retrieval evaluation metrics.
The Cancer Target Discovery and Development (CTD^2) Network was established to accelerate the transformation of "Big Data" into novel pharmacological targets, lead compounds, and biomarkers for rapid translation into improved patient outcomes. It rapidly became clear in this collaborative network that a key central issue was to define what constitutes sufficient computational or experimental evidence to support a biologically or clinically relevant finding.
Review for 'Nattoh' model and experimental findings during cold fusion
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Matsumoto, Takaaki
1993-01-01
A review is described for the Nattoh model that provides the framework of the mechanisms of cold fusion. The model classifies the reactions into two categories: fundamental and associated reactions. The former involves the new 'hydrogen-catalyzed' fusion reaction and the chain-reactions of hydrogens. And extremely exciting physics are involved in the latter. Furthermore experimental findings are described. (author)
Task-relevant perceptual features can define categories in visual memory too.
Antonelli, Karla B; Williams, Carrick C
2017-11-01
Although Konkle, Brady, Alvarez, and Oliva (2010, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139(3), 558) claim that visual long-term memory (VLTM) is organized on underlying conceptual, not perceptual, information, visual memory results from visual search tasks are not well explained by this theory. We hypothesized that when viewing an object, any task-relevant visual information is critical to the organizational structure of VLTM. In two experiments, we examined the organization of VLTM by measuring the amount of retroactive interference created by objects possessing different combinations of task-relevant features. Based on task instructions, only the conceptual category was task relevant or both the conceptual category and a perceptual object feature were task relevant. Findings indicated that when made task relevant, perceptual object feature information, along with conceptual category information, could affect memory organization for objects in VLTM. However, when perceptual object feature information was task irrelevant, it did not contribute to memory organization; instead, memory defaulted to being organized around conceptual category information. These findings support the theory that a task-defined organizational structure is created in VLTM based on the relevance of particular object features and information.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Le Corre, J.M.
2009-01-01
The current achievements and needs toward the investigation, understanding and mechanistic prediction of the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) event, under PWR and BWR core conditions, are addressed in this paper. It is shown that, even when using advanced 3-D CFD simulation tools, the current approach to CHF mechanistic modeling has serious limitations. This is mainly due to the lack of information regarding the relevant two-phase flow pattern(s) (in particular near the heated wall) and associated mechanisms (at the meso and micro-scale) leading to the CHF event. Areas of current experimental needs are identified in order to address these shortcomings. In addition, the use of 1-D and 3-D numerical tools to mechanistically predict the CHF is discussed. It is shown that 3-D two-phase CFD codes may not be superior to 1-D codes without proper consideration of relevant constitutive relations. (author)
Alabousi, Abdullah; Patlas, Michael N; Meshki, Malek; Monteiro, Sandra; Katz, Douglas S
2016-04-01
The purpose of our study was to retrospectively evaluate the prevalence and clinical relevance of positive abdominal and pelvic CT findings for patients 65 years of age and older, when compared with all other scanned adult Emergency Department (ED) patients, at a single tertiary care hospital. Our hypothesis was that there is an increased prevalence and clinical relevance of positive abdominal/pelvic CT findings in senior patients. A research ethics board-approved retrospective review of all adult patients who underwent an emergency CT of the abdomen and pelvis for acute nontraumatic abdominal and/or pelvic signs and symptoms was performed. Two thousand one hundred two patients between October 1, 2011, and September 30, 2013, were reviewed. Six hundred thirty-one patients were included in the 65 group (209 men and 253 women; mean age 77.6, age range 65-99). Overall, there were more positive CT findings for patients 65 group (257 positive cases, 55.6 %), which was a statistically significant difference (p 65 group, there were no statistically significant differences in the clinical/surgical relevance of the positive CT findings between the two groups. The findings of our retrospective study therefore refute our hypothesis that there is an increased prevalence of positive abdominal CT findings in patients >65. This may be related to ED physicians at our institution being more hesitant to order CT examinations for the younger population, presumably due to radiation concerns. However, older patients in our series were more likely to present with complicated appendicitis, and a lower threshold for ordering CT examinations of the abdomen and pelvis in this patient population should therefore be considered.
G-CSF in acute myocardial infarction - experimental and clinical findings.
Ince, Hüseyin; Petzsch, Michael; Rehders, Tim C; Dunkelmann, Simone; Nienaber, Christoph A
2006-09-01
Early data from clinical studies suggest that intracoronary injection of autologous progenitor cells may beneficially affect postinfarction remodeling and perfusion. Beyond intracoronary infusion of autologous bone marrow mononuclear CD34+ cells (MNCCD34+), mobilization of stem cells by G-CSF has recently attracted attention because of various advantages such as the noninvasive nature of MNCCD34+ mobilization by subcutaneous injections. It is the aim of the present work to give an overview about the current experimental and clinical findings of G-CSF treatment in acute myocardial infarction.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Stahl, A.; Wieder, H.; Schwaiger, M.; Weber, W.A.; Stollfuss, J.; Ott, K.; Fink, U.
2005-01-01
Aim: the incidence of adenocarcinomas of the distal oesophagus (ADE) has dramatically increased in Western countries. The clinical importance of a FDG PET finding discordant with CT was determined in patients with locally advanced ADE. In addition, tumour standardized uptake values (SUV) were correlated with patient survival. Patients, methods: 40 consecutive patients were analyzed retrospectively. All patients underwent an attenuation corrected FDG PET scan (neck, chest, abdomen) and contrast enhanced helical CT of the chest and abdomen. PET and CT scans were reviewed independently and concomitantly with respect to metastases in predefined lymph node sites and organs. Any discordance between PET and CT was assessed for clinical relevance. Clinical relevance was defined as a change in the overall therapeutic concept (curative vs. palliative). Follow-up imaging and histological evaluation served as the gold standard. Mean tumour SUVs were determined by 1.5 cm regions of interest placed over the tumour's maximum. Results: when read independently from the CT scan FDG PET indicated a clinically relevant change in tumour stage in 9/40 patients (23%) and a non-relevant change in 11/40 patients (28%). PET was correct in 5/9 patients (56%) with clinically relevant discordances. In 4/9 patients PET was incorrect (3 false positive due to suspicion of MI-lymph nodes or lung metastases, 1 false negative in disseminated liver metastases). With concomitant reading, PET indicated a clinically relevant change in tumour stage in 6/40 patients (15%) and a non-relevant change in 5/40 patients (13%). PET was correct in 5/6 patients (83%) with clinically relevant discordances. The patient with disseminated liver disease remained the single false negative. Overall, the benefit from PET was based on its higher diagnostic accuracy at organ sites. Tumour SUV did not correlate with patient survival. Conclusion: about half of discordances between FDG PET and CT are clinically relevant
The relevance of context in understanding health literacy skills: Findings from a qualitative study.
McKenna, Verna B; Sixsmith, Jane; Barry, Margaret M
2017-10-01
Conceptualizing health literacy as a relational concept, which involves how individuals interact with complex health and social systems, requires a greater understanding of the context of people's health experiences. To describe individuals' experiences of accessing, understanding, appraising and applying health information; explore the barriers and facilitators to using these skills; and to describe the experience of information exchange in health consultations. A longitudinal qualitative methodology with thematic analysis of interviews was used. Health literacy levels were assessed using the HLS-EU-47-Item Questionnaire. Findings are presented from the first round of data collection. Twenty-six participants purposefully selected from a CVD risk reduction programme at three separate time points. Four key themes identified: using health literacy capacities for managing health; psychological and structural factors that impact on these capacities; and the relationship quality with the health-care provider (HCP). Although limited health literacy was prevalent across the sample (65%), all individuals were very proactive in attempting to utilize health literacy skills. Findings emphasize the importance of contextual factors such as the quality of communication with the health-care provider, perceptions of control, attitudes to family medical history, navigating structural barriers and being supported in managing treatment and medication side-effects. Findings are relevant for health-care providers in order to enhance the patient-provider relationship and to ensure optimum health outcomes for all individuals regardless of health literacy levels. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
A step-by-step guide to systematically identify all relevant animal studies
Leenaars, Marlies; Hooijmans, Carlijn R; van Veggel, Nieky; ter Riet, Gerben; Leeflang, Mariska; Hooft, Lotty; van der Wilt, Gert Jan; Tillema, Alice; Ritskes-Hoitinga, Merel
2012-01-01
Before starting a new animal experiment, thorough analysis of previously performed experiments is essential from a scientific as well as from an ethical point of view. The method that is most suitable to carry out such a thorough analysis of the literature is a systematic review (SR). An essential first step in an SR is to search and find all potentially relevant studies. It is important to include all available evidence in an SR to minimize bias and reduce hampered interpretation of experimental outcomes. Despite the recent development of search filters to find animal studies in PubMed and EMBASE, searching for all available animal studies remains a challenge. Available guidelines from the clinical field cannot be copied directly to the situation within animal research, and although there are plenty of books and courses on searching the literature, there is no compact guide available to search and find relevant animal studies. Therefore, in order to facilitate a structured, thorough and transparent search for animal studies (in both preclinical and fundamental science), an easy-to-use, step-by-step guide was prepared and optimized using feedback from scientists in the field of animal experimentation. The step-by-step guide will assist scientists in performing a comprehensive literature search and, consequently, improve the scientific quality of the resulting review and prevent unnecessary animal use in the future. PMID:22037056
Lavis, John N; Bärnighausen, Till; El-Jardali, Fadi
2017-09-01
To describe the infrastructure available to support the production of policy-relevant health systems research syntheses, particularly those incorporating quasi-experimental evidence, and the tools available to support the use of these syntheses. Literature review. The general challenges associated with the available infrastructure include their sporadic nature or limited coverage of issues and countries, whereas the specific ones related to policy-relevant syntheses of quasi-experimental evidence include the lack of mechanism to register synthesis titles and scoping review protocols, the limited number of groups preparing user-friendly summaries, and the difficulty of finding quasi-experimental studies for inclusion in rapid syntheses and research syntheses more generally. Although some new tools have emerged in recent years, such as guidance workbooks and citizen briefs and panels, challenges related to using available tools to support the use of policy-relevant syntheses of quasi-experimental evidence arise from such studies potentially being harder for policymakers and stakeholders to commission and understand. Policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers need to expand the coverage and institutionalize the use of the available infrastructure and tools to support the use of health system research syntheses containing quasi-experimental evidence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Biofilms and mechanics: a review of experimental techniques and findings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gordon, Vernita D; Davis-Fields, Megan; Kovach, Kristin; Rodesney, Christopher A
2017-01-01
Biofilms are developmentally-dynamic communities of sessile microbes that adhere to each other and, often, to other structures in their environment. The cohesive mechanical forces binding microbes to each other confer mechanical and structural stability on the biofilm and give rise to biofilm viscoelasticity. The adhesive mechanical forces binding microbes to other structures in their environment can promote biofilm initiation and mechanosensing that leads to changes in biological activity. Thus, physical mechanics is intrinsic to characteristics that distinguish biofilms from free-swimming or free-floating microbes in liquid culture. However, very little is known about the specifics of what mechanical traits characterize different types of biofilms at different stages of development. Even less is known about how mechanical inputs impact microbial biology and how microbes can adjust their mechanical coupling to, and interaction with, their environment. These knowledge gaps arise, in part, from the challenges associated with experimental measurements of microbial and biofilm biomechanics. Here, we review extant experimental techniques and their most-salient findings to date. At the end of this review we indicate areas where significant advances in the state-of-the art are heading. (topical review)
Biofilms and mechanics: a review of experimental techniques and findings
Gordon, Vernita D.; Davis-Fields, Megan; Kovach, Kristin; Rodesney, Christopher A.
2017-06-01
Biofilms are developmentally-dynamic communities of sessile microbes that adhere to each other and, often, to other structures in their environment. The cohesive mechanical forces binding microbes to each other confer mechanical and structural stability on the biofilm and give rise to biofilm viscoelasticity. The adhesive mechanical forces binding microbes to other structures in their environment can promote biofilm initiation and mechanosensing that leads to changes in biological activity. Thus, physical mechanics is intrinsic to characteristics that distinguish biofilms from free-swimming or free-floating microbes in liquid culture. However, very little is known about the specifics of what mechanical traits characterize different types of biofilms at different stages of development. Even less is known about how mechanical inputs impact microbial biology and how microbes can adjust their mechanical coupling to, and interaction with, their environment. These knowledge gaps arise, in part, from the challenges associated with experimental measurements of microbial and biofilm biomechanics. Here, we review extant experimental techniques and their most-salient findings to date. At the end of this review we indicate areas where significant advances in the state-of-the art are heading.
Comparative study of radiologic-pathologic findings of experimental clonorchiasis in rabbits
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ryu, Kyung Nam; Lim, Jae Hoon; Cho, You Jung; Yang, Moon Ho
1993-01-01
Radiological investigation in patients with clonorchiasis is very important as this is the only method of evaluating the severity of clonorchiasis. In order to correlate the radiologic and pathologic findings of clonorchiasis, fourteen rabbits infested with Clonorchis sinensis and five control rabbits were examined radiologically by ultrasonography, computed tomography and cholangiography and the results were correlated with pathologic findings. Dilatation of the intrahepatic small bile ducts of the liver was due to obstruction by flukes: oval or elliptical, small filling defects or irregular margin of the bile ducts on cholangiogram or intraluminal echoes on sonogram represented flukes per se; periductal thickening on sonogram and periductal enhancement of bile ducts on CT were due to inflammatory cell infiltration, adenomatous hyperplasia and periductal fibrosis; band like enhancement at the periphery of the liver on CT represented proliferated bile ducts, destruction of liver cells and resultant fibrosis. The study confirmed the pathological bases for the radiological findings of clonorchiasis in liver and bile ducts and will, perhaps, serve as a basis for the future radiologic-pathological correlation of clonorchiasis and in further clinical and experimental researches in the biliary tract diseases
Comparative study of radiologic-pathologic findings of experimental clonorchiasis in rabbits
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ryu, Kyung Nam; Lim, Jae Hoon; Cho, You Jung; Yang, Moon Ho [College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
1993-01-15
Radiological investigation in patients with clonorchiasis is very important as this is the only method of evaluating the severity of clonorchiasis. In order to correlate the radiologic and pathologic findings of clonorchiasis, fourteen rabbits infested with Clonorchis sinensis and five control rabbits were examined radiologically by ultrasonography, computed tomography and cholangiography and the results were correlated with pathologic findings. Dilatation of the intrahepatic small bile ducts of the liver was due to obstruction by flukes: oval or elliptical, small filling defects or irregular margin of the bile ducts on cholangiogram or intraluminal echoes on sonogram represented flukes per se; periductal thickening on sonogram and periductal enhancement of bile ducts on CT were due to inflammatory cell infiltration, adenomatous hyperplasia and periductal fibrosis; band like enhancement at the periphery of the liver on CT represented proliferated bile ducts, destruction of liver cells and resultant fibrosis. The study confirmed the pathological bases for the radiological findings of clonorchiasis in liver and bile ducts and will, perhaps, serve as a basis for the future radiologic-pathological correlation of clonorchiasis and in further clinical and experimental researches in the biliary tract diseases.
Pauli, Carla; de Oliveira Thais, Maria Emilia Rodrigues; Guarnieri, Ricardo; Schwarzbold, Marcelo Liborio; Diaz, Alexandre Paim; Ben, Juliana; Linhares, Marcelo Neves; Markowitsch, Hans Joachim; Wolf, Peter; Wiebe, Samuel; Lin, Katia; Walz, Roger
2017-10-01
The purpose of this study was to investigate the following: i) the objective impairment in neuropsychological tests that were associated with the subjective perception of cognitive function decline in Brazilian patients who underwent mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) surgery and ii) the predictive variables for those impaired objective neuropsychological tests. Forty-eight adults with MTLE (27 right HS and 23 male) were divided according to their perception of changes (Decline or No-decline) of cognitive function domain of the QOLIE-31 questionnaire applied before and 1year after the ATL. The mean (SD) of changes in the raw score difference of the neuropsychological tests before and after the ATL was compared between Decline and No-decline groups. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were used to assess the optimum cutoff points of neuropsychological test score changes to predict patient-reported subjective cognitive decline. Six (12.5%) patients reported a perception of cognitive function decline after ATL. Among the 25 cognitive tests analyzed, only changes in the Boston Naming Test (BNT) were associated with subjective cognitive decline reported by patients. A reduction of ≥8 points in the raw score of BNT after surgery had 91% of sensitivity and 45% specificity for predicting subjective perception of cognitive function decline by the patient. Left side surgery and age older than 40years were more associated with an important BNT reduction with overall accuracy of 91.7%, 95% predictive ability for no impairment, and 75% for impairment of cognitive function. Impairment in word-finding seems to be the objective cognitive finding most relevant to Brazilian patients after mesial temporal lobe epilepsy surgery. Similar to American patients, the side of surgery and age are good predictors for no decline in the BNT, but shows a lower accuracy to predict its decline. If replicated in other populations, the
Charge migration induced by attosecond pulses in bio-relevant molecules
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Calegari, Francesca; Castrovilli, Mattea C; Nisoli, Mauro; Trabattoni, Andrea; Palacios, Alicia; Ayuso, David; Martín, Fernando; Greenwood, Jason B; Decleva, Piero
2016-01-01
After sudden ionization of a large molecule, the positive charge can migrate throughout the system on a sub-femtosecond time scale, purely guided by electronic coherences. The possibility to actively explore the role of the electron dynamics in the photo-chemistry of bio-relevant molecules is of fundamental interest for understanding, and perhaps ultimately controlling, the processes leading to damage, mutation and, more generally, to the alteration of the biological functions of the macromolecule. Attosecond laser sources can provide the extreme time resolution required to follow this ultrafast charge flow. In this review we will present recent advances in attosecond molecular science: after a brief description of the results obtained for small molecules, recent experimental and theoretical findings on charge migration in bio-relevant molecules will be discussed. (topical review)
CT scan and histological findings in experimental cerebral infarctions in cats
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Morimoto, Tetsuya
1981-01-01
Experimental cerebral infarctions were made in sixty-five cats by the transorbital approach. CT scanning was done at various periods after right-middle cerebral artery occlusion, and all cases were studied histopathologically. Cerebral microcirculation was studied by the carbon perfusion method, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction was studied by intravenous fluorescein administration. The iodine content of brain tissue was measured and this value was compared with the findings on CT scan. Experimental cerebral infarction was divided into four stages according to CT scan findings. These are the pre-edema stage, edema stage, edema diminishing stage, and cavity stage. The low density area (LDA) in the edema stage has a mass effect and a spongy appearance is seen histopathologically. LDA in the edema diminishing stage is localized to the extent of the macroscopic infarcted region, and macrophage (so called ''gitter cells'') and capillaries are seen. Fluorescein stain indicating the area of BBB dysfunction shows almost the same extent as the area of disturbed microcirculation indicated by impaired carbon filling. In the edema diminishing stage, there is good carbon filling in the infarcted region, and enlarged capillaries with carbon black inside are seen. The study of iodine content showed that the iodine level is very high in the infarcted region, and the level has good correlation with the number of capillaries. The mechanism of contrast enhancement in the cerebral infarction seems to be well linked to the capillaries with BBB dysfunction. This study indicates that the contrast medium leaks through the capillary wall. (author)
Multiparton interactions. Theory and experimental findings
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Diehl, Markus
2013-06-15
I give an introduction to multiparton interactions in proton-proton collisions, with a focus on the perturbative regime. Recent experimental results are discussed, as well as progress and open questions in theory.
Finding the Higgs boson: A status report
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Dawson, S.
1995-01-01
The search for the Higgs boson of the minimal Standard Model has been a major focus of experimental high energy physics for some years now. Here, the authors review the current experimental limits and discuss the prospects for finding the Higgs boson at future accelerators, such as LEPII and the LHC. They consider only the Standard Model Higgs boson. Since a null result which definitively excluded a Higgs boson below some mass scale would be extremely important, they emphasize the case where the Higgs boson is much heavier than the relevant collider energy (or where there is no Higgs boson at all). Many of the results given here are a summary of those obtained by the DPF Committee on Long Term Planning
Eisenbarth, H
2014-03-01
Highly psychopathic women are rare in the context of forensic psychiatry; however, the concept of psychopathy plays an important role in diagnostics, for court expertises as well as for treatment. Another so far neglected yet relevant field is the business world. The so-called successful female psychopaths are characterized by highly psychopathic traits but low antisocial behavior, at least with reference to criminal behavior. The basis for investigating and interpreting gender differences is the assessment of psychopathy. Gender differences have been repeatedly demonstrated, especially in the assessment of antisocial behavior and the differentiation of borderline personality disorder and psychopathy which have to be addressed. Group comparisons based on these diagnostic methods found lower inhibitory deficits but less aggressive behavior in female participants with respect to the first main symptom category. For the second symptom category, emotional detachment, so far there are almost no findings reporting gender differences but only few direct gender comparisons have been carried out. However, highly psychopathic women from the general population demonstrate a stronger correlation between psychopathic traits and self-perception as negotiation partner compared to men: they make more use of manipulation and perceive themselves as more powerful in negotiation situations. Future studies should address the diagnostic variability, direct gender comparisons in experimental tasks and the relationship between psychopathic traits, the core symptom categories and career-related success.
Clinically relevant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Background: Shoulder pain is the most common and well-documented site of musculoskeletal pain in elite swimmers. Structural abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of elite swimmers' symptomatic shoulders are common. Little has been documented about the association between MRI findings in the ...
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Vella, G.; Maio, P.A. Di; Giammusso, R.; Tincani, A.; Orco, G. Dell
2006-01-01
Within the framework of the activities promoted by European Fusion Development Agreement on the technology of the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed Test Blanket Module to be irradiated in one of the ITER equatorial ports, attention has been focused on the theoretical modelling of the thermo-mechanical constitutive behaviour of both beryllium and lithiated ceramics pebble beds, that are envisaged to act respectively as neutron multiplier and tritium breeder. The thermo-mechanical behaviour of the pebble beds and their nuclear performances in terms of tritium production depend on the reactor relevant conditions (heat flux and neutron wall load), the pebble sizes and the breeder cell geometries (bed thickness, pebble packing factor, bed overall thermal conductivity). ENEA-Brasimone and the Department of Nuclear Engineering (DIN) of the Palermo University have performed intense research activities intended to investigate fusion-relevant pebble bed thermo-mechanical behaviour by adopting both experimental and theoretical approaches. In particular, ENEA has carried out several experimental campaigns on small scale mock-ups tested in out-of-pile conditions, while DIN has developed a proper constitutive model that has been implemented on commercial FEM code, for the prediction of the thermal and mechanical performances of fusion-relevant pebble beds and for the comparison with the experimental results of the ENEA tests. In that framework, HELICA mock-up has been set-up and tested to investigate the behaviour of pebble bed in reactor-relevant geometries, providing useful data sets to be numerically reproduced by means of the DIN constitutive model, contributing to its assessment. The paper presents the constitutive model developed and the main experimental results of two test campaigns on HELICA mock-up carried out at HE-FUS 3 facility of ENEA Brasimone, the geometry of the mock-up, the adopted thermal and mechanical boundary conditions and the test operating conditions. The most
An Experimental Introduction to Acoustics
Black, Andy Nicholas; Magruder, Robert H.
2017-11-01
Learning and understanding physics requires more than studying physics texts. It requires doing physics. Doing research is a key opportunity for students to connect physical principles with their everyday experience. A powerful way to introduce students to research and technique is through subjects in which they might find interest. Presented is an experiment that serves to introduce an advanced undergraduate or high school student to conducting research in acoustics via an experiment involving a standard dreadnought acoustic guitar, recording industry-related equipment, and relevant industrial analysis software. This experimental process is applicable to a wide range of acoustical topics including both acoustic and electric instruments. Also, the student has a hands-on experience with relevant audio engineering technology to study physical principles.
Sheridan, Heather; Reingold, Eyal M
2014-01-01
The present study explored the ability of expert and novice chess players to rapidly distinguish between regions of a chessboard that were relevant to the best move on the board, and regions of the board that were irrelevant. Accordingly, we monitored the eye movements of expert and novice chess players, while they selected white's best move for a variety of chess problems. To manipulate relevancy, we constructed two different versions of each chess problem in the experiment, and we counterbalanced these versions across participants. These two versions of each problem were identical except that a single piece was changed from a bishop to a knight. This subtle change reversed the relevancy map of the board, such that regions that were relevant in one version of the board were now irrelevant (and vice versa). Using this paradigm, we demonstrated that both the experts and novices spent more time fixating the relevant relative to the irrelevant regions of the board. However, the experts were faster at detecting relevant information than the novices, as shown by the finding that experts (but not novices) were able to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information during the early part of the trial. These findings further demonstrate the domain-related perceptual processing advantage of chess experts, using an experimental paradigm that allowed us to manipulate relevancy under tightly controlled conditions.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Heather eSheridan
2014-08-01
Full Text Available The present study explored the ability of expert and novice chess players to rapidly distinguish between regions of a chessboard that were relevant to the best move on the board, and regions of the board that were irrelevant. Accordingly, we monitored the eye movements of expert and novice chess players, while they selected white’s best move for a variety of chess problems. To manipulate relevancy, we constructed two different versions of each chess problem in the experiment, and we counterbalanced these versions across participants. These two versions of each problem were identical except that a single piece was changed from a bishop to a knight. This subtle change reversed the relevancy map of the board, such that regions that were relevant in one version of the board were now irrelevant (and vice versa. Using this paradigm, we demonstrated that both the experts and novices spent more time fixating the relevant relative to the irrelevant regions of the board. However, the experts were faster at detecting relevant information than the novices, as shown by the finding that experts (but not novices were able to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information during the early part of the trial. These findings further demonstrate the domain-related perceptual processing advantage of chess experts, using an experimental paradigm that allowed us to manipulate relevancy under tightly controlled conditions.
Wang, Dong-Yuan Debbie; Richard, F Dan; Ray, Brittany
2016-01-01
The stimulus-response correspondence (SRC) effect refers to advantages in performance when stimulus and response correspond in dimensions or features, even if the common features are irrelevant to the task. Previous research indicated that the SRC effect depends on the temporal course of stimulus information processing. The current study investigated how the temporal overlap between relevant and irrelevant stimulus processing influences the SRC effect. In this experiment, the irrelevant stimulus (a previously associated tone) preceded the relevant stimulus (a coloured rectangle). The irrelevant and relevant stimuli onset asynchrony was varied to manipulate the temporal overlap between the irrelevant and relevant stimuli processing. Results indicated that the SRC effect size varied as a quadratic function of the temporal overlap between the relevant stimulus and irrelevant stimulus. This finding extends previous experimental observations that the SRC effect size varies in an increasing or decreasing function with reaction time. The current study demonstrated a quadratic function between effect size and the temporal overlap.
The Portevin–Le Chatelier effect: a review of experimental findings
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Ahmet Yilmaz
2011-01-01
Full Text Available The Portevin–Le Chatelier (PLC effect manifests itself as an unstable plastic flow during tensile tests of some dilute alloys under certain regimes of strain rate and temperature. The plastic strain becomes localized in the form of bands which move along a specimen gauge in various ways as the PLC effect occurs. Because the localization of strain causes degradation of the inherent structural properties and surface quality of materials, understanding the effect is crucial for the effective use of alloys. The characteristic behaviors of localized strain bands and techniques commonly used to study the PLC effect are summarized in this review. A brief overview of experimental findings, the effect of material properties and test parameters on the PLC effect, and some discussion on the mechanisms of the effect are included. Tests for predicting the early failure of structural materials due to embrittlement induced by the PLC effect are also discussed.
The relevance of non-human primate and rodent malaria models for humans
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Riley Eleanor
2011-02-01
Full Text Available Abstract At the 2010 Keystone Symposium on "Malaria: new approaches to understanding Host-Parasite interactions", an extra scientific session to discuss animal models in malaria research was convened at the request of participants. This was prompted by the concern of investigators that skepticism in the malaria community about the use and relevance of animal models, particularly rodent models of severe malaria, has impacted on funding decisions and publication of research using animal models. Several speakers took the opportunity to demonstrate the similarities between findings in rodent models and human severe disease, as well as points of difference. The variety of malaria presentations in the different experimental models parallels the wide diversity of human malaria disease and, therefore, might be viewed as a strength. Many of the key features of human malaria can be replicated in a variety of nonhuman primate models, which are very under-utilized. The importance of animal models in the discovery of new anti-malarial drugs was emphasized. The major conclusions of the session were that experimental and human studies should be more closely linked so that they inform each other, and that there should be wider access to relevant clinical material.
Experimental interstellar organic chemistry: Preliminary findings
Khare, B. N.; Sagan, C.
1971-01-01
In a simulation of interstellar organic chemistry in dense interstellar clouds or on grain surfaces, formaldehyde, water vapor, ammonia and ethane are deposited on a quartz cold finger and ultraviolet-irradiated in high vacuum at 77K. The HCHO photolytic pathway which produces an aldehyde radical and a superthermal hydrogen atom initiates solid phase chain reactions leading to a range of new compounds, including methanol, ethanol, acetaldehyde, acetonitrile, acetone, methyl formate, and possibly formic acid. Higher nitriles are anticipated. Genetic relations among these interstellar organic molecules (e.g., the Cannizzaro and Tischenko reactions) must exist. Some of them, rather than being synthesized from smaller molecules, may be degradation products of larger organic molecules, such as hexamethylene tetramine, which are candidate consitituents of the interstellar grains. The experiments reported here may also be relevant to cometary chemistry.
Bootstrapping agency: How control-relevant information affects motivation.
Karsh, Noam; Eitam, Baruch; Mark, Ilya; Higgins, E Tory
2016-10-01
How does information about one's control over the environment (e.g., having an own-action effect) influence motivation? The control-based response selection framework was proposed to predict and explain such findings. Its key tenant is that control relevant information modulates both the frequency and speed of responses by determining whether a perceptual event is an outcome of one's actions or not. To test this framework empirically, the current study examines whether and how temporal and spatial contiguity/predictability-previously established as being important for one's sense of agency-modulate motivation from control. In 5 experiments, participants responded to a cue, potentially triggering a perceptual effect. Temporal (Experiments 1a-c) and spatial (Experiments 2a and b) contiguity/predictability between actions and their potential effects were experimentally manipulated. The influence of these control-relevant factors was measured, both indirectly (through their effect on explicit judgments of agency) and directly on response time and response frequency. The pattern of results was highly consistent with the control-based response selection framework in suggesting that control relevant information reliably modulates the impact of "having an effect" on different levels of action selection. We discuss the implications of this study for the notion of motivation from control and for the empirical work on the sense of agency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Evaluating automatic attentional capture by self-relevant information.
Ocampo, Brenda; Kahan, Todd A
2016-01-01
Our everyday decisions and memories are inadvertently influenced by self-relevant information. For example, we are faster and more accurate at making perceptual judgments about stimuli associated with ourselves, such as our own face or name, as compared with familiar non-self-relevant stimuli. Humphreys and Sui propose a "self-attention network" to account for these effects, wherein self-relevant stimuli automatically capture our attention and subsequently enhance the perceptual processing of self-relevant information. We propose that the masked priming paradigm and continuous flash suppression represent two ways to experimentally examine these controversial claims.
A DYNAMIC FEATURE SELECTION METHOD FOR DOCUMENT RANKING WITH RELEVANCE FEEDBACK APPROACH
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K. Latha
2010-07-01
Full Text Available Ranking search results is essential for information retrieval and Web search. Search engines need to not only return highly relevant results, but also be fast to satisfy users. As a result, not all available features can be used for ranking, and in fact only a small percentage of these features can be used. Thus, it is crucial to have a feature selection mechanism that can find a subset of features that both meets latency requirements and achieves high relevance. In this paper we describe a 0/1 knapsack procedure for automatically selecting features to use within Generalization model for Document Ranking. We propose an approach for Relevance Feedback using Expectation Maximization method and evaluate the algorithm on the TREC Collection for describing classes of feedback textual information retrieval features. Experimental results, evaluated on standard TREC-9 part of the OHSUMED collections, show that our feature selection algorithm produces models that are either significantly more effective than, or equally effective as, models such as Markov Random Field model, Correlation Co-efficient and Count Difference method
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Warren Wiechmann, MD, MBA
2016-03-01
Full Text Available Introduction: The use of personal mobile devices in the medical field has grown quickly, and a large proportion of physicians use their mobile devices as an immediate resource for clinical decisionmaking, prescription information and other medical information. The iTunes App Store (Apple, Inc. contains approximately 20,000 apps in its “Medical” category, providing a robust repository of resources for clinicians; however, this represents only 2% of the entire App Store. The App Store does not have strict criteria for identifying content specific to practicing physicians, making the identification of clinically relevant content difficult. The objective of this study is to quantify the characteristics of existing medical applications in the iTunes App Store that could be used by emergency physicians, residents, or medical students. Methods: We found applications related to emergency medicine (EM by searching the iTunes App Store for 21 terms representing core content areas of EM, such as “emergency medicine,” “critical care,” “orthopedics,” and “procedures.” Two physicians independently reviewed descriptions of these applications in the App Store and categorized each as the following: Clinically Relevant, Book/ Published Source, Non-English, Study Tools, or Not Relevant. A third physician reviewer resolved disagreements about categorization. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results: We found a total of 7,699 apps from the 21 search terms, of which 17.8% were clinical, 9.6% were based on a book or published source, 1.6% were non-English, 0.7% were clinically relevant patient education resources, and 4.8% were study tools. Most significantly, 64.9% were considered not relevant to medical professionals. Clinically relevant apps make up approximately 6.9% of the App Store’s “Medical” Category and 0.1% of the overall App Store. Conclusion: Clinically relevant apps represent only a small percentage (6.9% of the total App
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ko, Kyung Ran; Ryu, Kyung Nam; Park, Ji Seon; Jin, Wook; Sung, Dong Wook; Park, Yong Koo
2008-01-01
To evaluate the serial ultrasonographic findings of experimental intramuscular hemorrhaging to determine if there is a correlation with the pathologic findings. An ultrasonography (US) was performed before and immediately after an intramuscular blood injection in nine rabbits. In addition, follow-up US images were obtained at 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days after the intramuscular blood injections in seven of the rabbits. The pathologic specimens, compared to the US findings on each date, and consisted of samples of left thigh muscle. A US, performed immediately after a blood injection, showed two patterns; 6 cases of hyperechoic muscle thickening and 3 cases of hyperechoic muscle thickening with extravasation between the epimysium and muscle bundle or within muscle bundle. A follow-up US showed a marked decrease in intramuscular hemorrhaging and microcalcifications, which appeared on the 4th, 7th and 10th day after the blood injection. The pathologic findings revealed several short echogenic lines in the muscular bundles which were hemosiderin. Moreover, a 28 day follow-up US revealed that the normal findings are correlated with the normal gross pathologic findings. The US findings of the intramuscular hemorrhaging, for each of the follow-up dates, in comparison to the pathologic findings, revealed a high correlation with the pathologic specimens. Consequently, a US transducer with high resolution can be considered as a helpful technique in the diagnosing and evaluating the follow-up treatment of intramuscular hemorrhaging
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ko, Kyung Ran [National Cancer Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, Kyung Nam; Park, Ji Seon; Jin, Wook; Sung, Dong Wook; Park, Yong Koo [KyungHee University Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
2008-05-15
To evaluate the serial ultrasonographic findings of experimental intramuscular hemorrhaging to determine if there is a correlation with the pathologic findings. An ultrasonography (US) was performed before and immediately after an intramuscular blood injection in nine rabbits. In addition, follow-up US images were obtained at 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days after the intramuscular blood injections in seven of the rabbits. The pathologic specimens, compared to the US findings on each date, and consisted of samples of left thigh muscle. A US, performed immediately after a blood injection, showed two patterns; 6 cases of hyperechoic muscle thickening and 3 cases of hyperechoic muscle thickening with extravasation between the epimysium and muscle bundle or within muscle bundle. A follow-up US showed a marked decrease in intramuscular hemorrhaging and microcalcifications, which appeared on the 4th, 7th and 10th day after the blood injection. The pathologic findings revealed several short echogenic lines in the muscular bundles which were hemosiderin. Moreover, a 28 day follow-up US revealed that the normal findings are correlated with the normal gross pathologic findings. The US findings of the intramuscular hemorrhaging, for each of the follow-up dates, in comparison to the pathologic findings, revealed a high correlation with the pathologic specimens. Consequently, a US transducer with high resolution can be considered as a helpful technique in the diagnosing and evaluating the follow-up treatment of intramuscular hemorrhaging.
Astrophysical relevance of γ transition energies
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rauscher, Thomas
2008-01-01
The relevant γ energy range is explicitly identified where additional γ strength must be located to have an impact on astrophysically relevant reactions. It is shown that folding the energy dependences of the transmission coefficients and the level density leads to maximal contributions for γ energies of 2≤E γ ≤4 unless quantum selection rules allow isolated states to contribute. Under this condition, electric dipole transitions dominate. These findings allow us to more accurately judge the relevance of modifications of the γ strength for astrophysics
Aterosclerose experimental em coelhos Experimental atherosclerosis in rabbits
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Waleska C. Dornas
2010-08-01
Full Text Available Numerosas pesquisas têm sido realizadas utilizando modelos experimentais para estudar o desenvolvimento da aterosclerose com dieta induzindo hiperlipidemia. Devido ao fato de que coelhos são muito sensíveis a dietas ricas em colesterol e acumulam grandes quantidades no plasma, a utilização destes animais como modelo experimental para avaliar o desenvolvimento de aterosclerose é de grande relevância, trazendo informação sobre fatores que contribuem para progressão e regressão aplicadas a situações humanas. Sendo assim, nessa revisão a função aterogênica do colesterol é mostrada em trabalhos que incluem o coelho como modelo experimental, uma vez que este animal tornou-se o mais popular modelo experimental de aterosclerose.Many researches have been conducted in experimental models in order to study the development of atherosclerosis from hyperlipidemia-inducing diets. Since rabbits are very sensitive to cholesterol-rich diets and accumulate large amounts of cholesterol in their plasma, their use as experimental models to evaluate the development of atherosclerosis is highly relevant and brings information on factors that contribute to the progression and regression of this condition that can be applied to humans. As such, this review includes studies on the atherogenic function of cholesterol based on rabbits as the experimental model, since they have become the most largely used experimental model of atherosclerosis.
Incidental findings in musculoskeletal radiology
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wuennemann, F.; Rehnitz, C.; Weber, M.A.
2017-01-01
Increasing numbers of conventional X-rays, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in the inpatient, outpatient and scientific routine leads to an increasing number of incidental findings. The correct interpretation of these incidental findings with respect to the relevance and the evaluation concerning further work-up is an important task of radiologists. Description of common incidental findings in musculoskeletal imaging and their clinical classification. A PubMed literature search was performed using the following terms: incidental findings, population-based imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, non-ossifying fibroma, enchondroma, osteodystrophia deformans, chondrosarcoma, fibrous dysplasia, simple bone cyst, unicameral bone cyst, solitary bone cyst, aneurysmal bone cyst, vertebral hemangioma, bone island, osteopoikilosis, Tarlov cyst and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). Incidental findings are observed in up to 40% of imaging procedures. In up to 6% these incidental findings involve the skeletal system. Common incidental findings are discussed and their clinical relevance is explained. (orig.) [de
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ihme, Matthias [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Driscoll, James [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
2015-08-31
The objective of this closely coordinated experimental and computational research effort is the development of simulation techniques for the prediction of combustion processes, relevant to the oxidation of syngas and high hydrogen content (HHC) fuels at gas-turbine relevant operating conditions. Specifically, the research goals are (i) the characterization of the sensitivity of syngas ignition processes to hydrodynamic processes and perturbations in temperature and mixture composition in rapid compression machines and ow-reactors and (ii) to conduct comprehensive experimental investigations in a swirl-stabilized gas turbine (GT) combustor under realistic high-pressure operating conditions in order (iii) to obtain fundamental understanding about mechanisms controlling unstable flame regimes in HHC-combustion.
Solidarity with Animals: Assessing a Relevant Dimension of Social Identification with Animals.
Amiot, Catherine E; Bastian, Brock
2017-01-01
Interactions with animals are pervasive in human life, a fact that is reflected in the burgeoning field of human-animal relations research. The goal of the current research was to examine the psychology of our social connection with other animals, by specifically developing a measure of solidarity with animals. In 8 studies using correlational, experimental, and longitudinal designs, solidarity with animals predicted more positive attitudes and behaviors toward animals, over and above existing scales of identification, and even when this implied a loss of resources and privileges for humans relative to animals. Solidarity with animals also displayed predicted relationships with relevant variables (anthropomorphism, empathy). Pet owners and vegetarians displayed higher levels of solidarity with animals. Correlational and experimental evidence confirmed that human-animal similarity heightens solidarity with animals. Our findings provide a useful measure that can facilitate important insights into the nature of our relationships with animals.
Major KEEP Findings, 1971 - 1975.
Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, HI. Kamehameha Early Education Project.
This report lists the 34 major research findings from the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) for the years 1971-1975. Each finding is accompanied by a listing of KEEP technical reports and working papers which contain information relevant to that finding. Included among areas covered in the findings are: (1) student motivation, (2) teacher…
POLITENESS IN REQUESTS: SOME RESEARCH FINDINGS RELEVANT FOR INTERCULTURAL ENCOUNTERS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Aura CODREANU; Alina DEBU
2011-01-01
Full Text Available The major aim of this article is to analyze the relationship between indirectness and politeness in requests. The research project supporting the findings of the paper was undertaken in order to find out to what extent politeness and indirectness are viewed as overlapping or mutually excluding categories by Romanians compared to other nationalities, such as the British and the Hebrew. Another inherent goal of the paper is to provide an example of the socio linguistics instruments that can be employed in the investigation of the differences and similarities likely to emerge in intercultural encounters. Thus, we believe that only through similar research undertaken in the fields contributing to the emerging field of interculturality one can actually trespass the theoretical assumptions and move on to the identification of the right tools and means through which intercultural discourse to be approached at a pragmatic level and thus better understood and taught in educational establishments.
Time-Domain Simulations of Transient Species in Experimentally Relevant Environments
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Ueltschi, Tyler W.; Fischer, Sean A.; Apra, Edoardo; Tarnovsky, Alexander N.; Govind, Niranjan; El-Khoury, Patrick Z.; Hess, Wayne P.
2016-02-04
Simulating the spectroscopic properties of short-lived thermal and photochemical reaction intermediates and products is a challenging task, as these species often feature atypical molecular and electronic structures. The complex environments in which such species typically reside in practice add further complexity to the problem. Herein, we tackle this problem in silico using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, employing iso-CHBr3, namely H(Br)C-Br-Br, as a prototypical system. This species was chosen because it features both a non-conventional C-Br-Br bonding pattern, as well as a strong dependence of its spectral features on the local environment in which it resides, as illustrated in recent experimental reports. The spectroscopic properties of iso-CHBr3 were measured by several groups that captured this transient intermediate in the photochemistry of CHBr3 in the gas phase, in rare gas matrices at 5K, and in solution under ambient laboratory conditions. We simulate the UV-Vis and IR spectra of iso-CHBr3 in all three media, including a Ne cluster (64 atoms) and a methylcyclohexane cage (14 solvent molecules) representative of the matrix isolated and solvated species. We exclusively perform fully quantum mechanical static and dynamic simulations. By comparing our condensed phase simulations to their experimental analogues, we stress the importance of (i) conformational sampling, even at cryogenic temperatures, and (ii) using a fully quantum mechanical description of both solute and bath to properly account for the experimental observables.
Heterogeneous reaction mechanisms and kinetics relevant to the CVD of semiconductor materials
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Creighton, J.R.; Coltrin, M.E.
1994-03-01
This report documents the state of the art in experimental and theoretical techniques for determining reaction mechanisms and chemical kinetics of heterogeneous reactions relevant to the chemical vapor deposition of semiconductor materials. It summarizes the most common ultra-high vacuum experimental techniques that are used and the types of rate information available from each. Several case studies of specific chemical systems relevant to the microelectronics industry are described. Theoretical methods for calculating heterogeneous reaction rate constants are also summarized.
Testing the idea of privileged awareness of self-relevant information.
Stein, Timo; Siebold, Alisha; van Zoest, Wieske
2016-03-01
Self-relevant information is prioritized in processing. Some have suggested the mechanism driving this advantage is akin to the automatic prioritization of physically salient stimuli in information processing (Humphreys & Sui, 2015). Here we investigate whether self-relevant information is prioritized for awareness under continuous flash suppression (CFS), as has been found for physical salience. Gabor patches with different orientations were first associated with the labels You or Other. Participants were more accurate in matching the self-relevant association, replicating previous findings of self-prioritization. However, breakthrough into awareness from CFS did not differ between self- and other-associated Gabors. These findings demonstrate that self-relevant information has no privileged access to awareness. Rather than modulating the initial visual processes that precede and lead to awareness, the advantage of self-relevant information may better be characterized as prioritization at later processing stages. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Markou, Athina; Salamone, John D.; Bussey, Timothy; Mar, Adam; Brunner, Daniela; Gilmour, Gary; Balsam, Peter
2013-01-01
The present review article summarizes and expands upon the discussions that were initiated during a meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS; http://cntrics.ucdavis.edu). A major goal of the CNTRICS meeting was to identify experimental procedures and measures that can be used in laboratory animals to assess psychological constructs that are related to the psychopathology of schizophrenia. The issues discussed in this review reflect the deliberations of the Motivation Working Group of the CNTRICS meeting, which included most of the authors of this article as well as additional participants. After receiving task nominations from the general research community, this working group was asked to identify experimental procedures in laboratory animals that can assess aspects of reinforcement learning and motivation that may be relevant for research on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, as well as other disorders characterized by deficits in reinforcement learning and motivation. The tasks described here that assess reinforcement learning are the Autoshaping Task, Probabilistic Reward Learning Tasks, and the Response Bias Probabilistic Reward Task. The tasks described here that assess motivation are Outcome Devaluation and Contingency Degradation Tasks and Effort-Based Tasks. In addition to describing such methods and procedures, the present article provides a working vocabulary for research and theory in this field, as well as an industry perspective about how such tasks may be used in drug discovery. It is hoped that this review can aid investigators who are conducting research in this complex area, promote translational studies by highlighting shared research goals and fostering a common vocabulary across basic and clinical fields, and facilitate the development of medications for the treatment of symptoms mediated by reinforcement learning and motivational deficits. PMID:23994273
Markou, Athina; Salamone, John D; Bussey, Timothy J; Mar, Adam C; Brunner, Daniela; Gilmour, Gary; Balsam, Peter
2013-11-01
The present review article summarizes and expands upon the discussions that were initiated during a meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS; http://cntrics.ucdavis.edu) meeting. A major goal of the CNTRICS meeting was to identify experimental procedures and measures that can be used in laboratory animals to assess psychological constructs that are related to the psychopathology of schizophrenia. The issues discussed in this review reflect the deliberations of the Motivation Working Group of the CNTRICS meeting, which included most of the authors of this article as well as additional participants. After receiving task nominations from the general research community, this working group was asked to identify experimental procedures in laboratory animals that can assess aspects of reinforcement learning and motivation that may be relevant for research on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, as well as other disorders characterized by deficits in reinforcement learning and motivation. The tasks described here that assess reinforcement learning are the Autoshaping Task, Probabilistic Reward Learning Tasks, and the Response Bias Probabilistic Reward Task. The tasks described here that assess motivation are Outcome Devaluation and Contingency Degradation Tasks and Effort-Based Tasks. In addition to describing such methods and procedures, the present article provides a working vocabulary for research and theory in this field, as well as an industry perspective about how such tasks may be used in drug discovery. It is hoped that this review can aid investigators who are conducting research in this complex area, promote translational studies by highlighting shared research goals and fostering a common vocabulary across basic and clinical fields, and facilitate the development of medications for the treatment of symptoms mediated by reinforcement learning and motivational deficits. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier
On relevant boundary perturbations of unitary minimal models
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Recknagel, A.; Roggenkamp, D.; Schomerus, V.
2000-01-01
We consider unitary Virasoro minimal models on the disk with Cardy boundary conditions and discuss deformations by certain relevant boundary operators, analogous to tachyon condensation in string theory. Concentrating on the least relevant boundary field, we can perform a perturbative analysis of renormalization group fixed points. We find that the systems always flow towards stable fixed points which admit no further (non-trivial) relevant perturbations. The new conformal boundary conditions are in general given by superpositions of 'pure' Cardy boundary conditions
Support Vector Machines: Relevance Feedback and Information Retrieval.
Drucker, Harris; Shahrary, Behzad; Gibbon, David C.
2002-01-01
Compares support vector machines (SVMs) to Rocchio, Ide regular and Ide dec-hi algorithms in information retrieval (IR) of text documents using relevancy feedback. If the preliminary search is so poor that one has to search through many documents to find at least one relevant document, then SVM is preferred. Includes nine tables. (Contains 24…
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
2009-01-01
In 2007, the NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) completed a study on Nuclear Safety Research in OECD Countries: Support Facilities for Existing and Advanced Reactors (SFEAR) which focused on facilities suitable for current and advanced water reactor systems. In a subsequent collective opinion on the subject, the CSNI recommended to conduct a similar exercise for Generation IV reactor designs, aiming to develop a strategy for ' better preparing the CSNI to play a role in the planned extension of safety research beyond the needs set by current operating reactors'. In that context, the CSNI established the Task Group on Advanced Reactor Experimental Facilities (TAREF) in 2008 with the objective of providing an overview of facilities suitable for performing safety research relevant to gas-cooled reactors and sodium fast reactors. This report addresses gas-cooled reactors; a similar report covering sodium fast reactors is under preparation. The findings of the TAREF are expected to trigger internationally funded CSNI projects on relevant safety issues at the key facilities identified. Such CSNI-sponsored projects constitute a means for efficiently obtaining the necessary data through internationally co-ordinated research. This report provides an overview of experimental facilities that can be used to carry out nuclear safety research for gas-cooled reactors and identifies priorities for organizing international co-operative programmes at selected facilities. The information has been collected and analysed by a Task Group on Advanced Reactor Experimental Facilities (TAREF) as part of an ongoing initiative of the NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) which aims to define and to implement a strategy for the efficient utilisation of facilities and resources for Generation IV reactor systems. (author)
Students' perceptions of the relevance of mathematics in engineering
Flegg, Jennifer; Mallet, Dann; Lupton, Mandy
2012-09-01
In this article, we report on the findings of an exploratory study into the experience of students as they learn first year engineering mathematics. Here we define engineering as the application of mathematics and sciences to the building and design of projects for the use of society [M. Kirschenman and B. Brenner, Education for Civil Engineering: A Profession of Practice, Leader. Manag. Eng. 10 (2010), p. 54]. Qualitative and quantitative data on students' views of the relevance of their mathematics study to their engineering studies and future careers in engineering was collected. The students described using a range of mathematics techniques (mathematics skills developed, mathematics concepts applied to engineering and skills developed relevant for engineering) for various usages (as a subject of study, a tool for other subjects or a tool for real world problems). We found a number of themes relating to the design of engineering mathematics curriculum emerged from the data. These included the relevance of mathematics within different engineering majors, the relevance of mathematics to future studies, the relevance of learning mathematical rigour and the effectiveness of problem-solving tasks in conveying the relevance of mathematics more effectively than other forms of assessment. We make recommendations for the design of engineering mathematics curriculum based on our findings.
Inferring relevance in a changing world
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Robert C Wilson
2012-01-01
Full Text Available Reinforcement learning models of human and animal learning usually concentrate on how we learn the relationship between different stimuli or actions and rewards. However, in real world situations stimuli are ill-defined. On the one hand, our immediate environment is extremely multi-dimensional. On the other hand, in every decision-making scenario only a few aspects of the environment are relevant for obtaining reward, while most are irrelevant. Thus a key question is how do we learn these relevant dimensions, that is, how do we learn what to learn about? We investigated this process of representation learning experimentally, using a task in which one stimulus dimension was relevant for determining reward at each point in time. As in real life situations, in our task the relevant dimension can change without warning, adding ever-present uncertainty engendered by a constantly changing environment. We show that human performance on this task is better described by a suboptimal strategy based on selective attention and serial hypothesis testing rather than a normative strategy based on probabilistic inference. From this, we conjecture that the problem of inferring relevance in general scenarios is too computationally demanding for the brain to solve optimally. As a result the brain utilizes approximations, employing these even in simplified scenarios in which optimal representation learning is tractable, such as the one in our experiment.
Rozen, P; Liberman, V; Lubin, F; Angel, S; Owen, R; Trostler, N; Shkolnik, T; Kritchevsky, D
1996-01-01
Experimental dietary studies of human colorectal carcinogenesis are usually based on the AIN-76A diet, which is dissimilar to human food in source, preparation, and content. The aims of this study were to examine the feasibility of preparing and feeding rats the diet of a specific human population at risk for colorectal neoplasia and to determine whether changes in the colonic morphology and metabolic contents would differ from those resulting from a standard rat diet. The mean daily food intake composition of a previously evaluated adenoma patient case-control study was used for the "human adenoma" (HA) experimental diet. Foods were prepared as for usual human consumption and processed by dehydration to the physical characteristics of an animal diet. Sixty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized and fed ad libitum the HA or the AIN-76A diet. Every eight weeks, eight rats from each group were sacrificed, and the colons and contents were examined. Analysis of the prepared food showed no significant deleterious changes; food intake and weight gain were similar in both groups. Compared with the controls, the colonic contents of rats fed the HA diet contained significantly less calcium, concentrations of neutral sterols, total lipids, and cholic and deoxycholic acids were increased, and there were no colonic histological changes other than significant epithelial hyperproliferation. This initial study demonstrated that the HA diet can be successfully processed for feeding to experimental animals and is acceptable and adequate for growth but induces significant metabolic and hyperproliferative changes in the rat colon. This dietary model may be useful for studies of human food, narrowing the gap between animal experimentation and human nutritional research.
Why relevance theory is relevant for lexicography
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bothma, Theo; Tarp, Sven
2014-01-01
This article starts by providing a brief summary of relevance theory in information science in relation to the function theory of lexicography, explaining the different types of relevance, viz. objective system relevance and the subjective types of relevance, i.e. topical, cognitive, situational...... that is very important for lexicography as well as for information science, viz. functional relevance. Since all lexicographic work is ultimately aimed at satisfying users’ information needs, the article then discusses why the lexicographer should take note of all these types of relevance when planning a new...... dictionary project, identifying new tasks and responsibilities of the modern lexicographer. The article furthermore discusses how relevance theory impacts on teaching dictionary culture and reference skills. By integrating insights from lexicography and information science, the article contributes to new...
Defecography - analysis of qualitative findings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Schott, U.; Braunschweig, R.; Claussen, C.D.
1994-01-01
The defectography is an examination of the anorectal function in defecatory disorder. The defecography has a diagnostic impact on disease, which only emerge during defecation as intussusception, enterocele, prolapse or sphincter dysfunction. Other findings as rectocele or descending pelvic floor are ambiguous concerning clinical relevance. The interpretation of defecography should include patient's history and clinical findings and - if available -endoscopic and manometric findings. (orig.) [de
The Value Relevance of IFRS: The Case of Turkey
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ahmet Turel
2009-10-01
Full Text Available Accounting standards that are mostly compatible with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS are required for consolidatedfinancial statements of all Turkish listed firms starting from 2005 fiscal year end. Before that, financial reporting in Turkey was closely related to taxreporting. Until 2003, all Turkish listed firms were preparing their financial statements in accordance with the local standards issued by the CapitalMarket Board of Turkey. In this study, I examine the relative and incremental value relevance of earnings and the book value of equity under CapitalMarket Board (CMB Accounting Standards (2001-2002 and under IFRS (2005-2006 for Turkish listed firms. I compare these two periods toinvestigate whether the mandatory adoption of IFRS increase relevance of earnings and book value of equity which are accepted as proxies ofaccounting quality. I find evidence that the value relevance of earnings and book value of equity has increased significantly after adopting IFRS. Inaddition, I find that the incremental value relevance of earnings increased between the CMB accounting standards period and the IFRS period.However, the incremental value relevance of book value of equity degreased in the same period.
Averill, M.; Briggle, A.
2006-12-01
Science policy and knowledge production lately have taken a pragmatic turn. Funding agencies increasingly are requiring scientists to explain the relevance of their work to society. This stems in part from mounting critiques of the "linear model" of knowledge production in which scientists operating according to their own interests or disciplinary standards are presumed to automatically produce knowledge that is of relevance outside of their narrow communities. Many contend that funded scientific research should be linked more directly to societal goals, which implies a shift in the kind of research that will be funded. While both authors support the concept of useful science, we question the exact meaning of "relevance" and the wisdom of allowing it to control research agendas. We hope to contribute to the conversation by thinking more critically about the meaning and limits of the term "relevance" and the trade-offs implicit in a narrow utilitarian approach. The paper will consider which interests tend to be privileged by an emphasis on relevance and address issues such as whose goals ought to be pursued and why, and who gets to decide. We will consider how relevance, narrowly construed, may actually limit the ultimate utility of scientific research. The paper also will reflect on the worthiness of research goals themselves and their relationship to a broader view of what it means to be human and to live in society. Just as there is more to being human than the pragmatic demands of daily life, there is more at issue with knowledge production than finding the most efficient ways to satisfy consumer preferences or fix near-term policy problems. We will conclude by calling for a balanced approach to funding research that addresses society's most pressing needs but also supports innovative research with less immediately apparent application.
Constructing Contracts: Making Discrete Mathematics Relevant to Beginning Programmers
Gegg-Harrison, Timothy S.
2005-01-01
Although computer scientists understand the importance of discrete mathematics to the foundations of their field, computer science (CS) students do not always see the relevance. Thus, it is important to find a way to show students its relevance. The concept of program correctness is generally taught as an activity independent of the programming…
Using mixed methods to identify and answer clinically relevant research questions.
Shneerson, Catherine L; Gale, Nicola K
2015-06-01
The need for mixed methods research in answering health care questions is becoming increasingly recognized because of the complexity of factors that affect health outcomes. In this article, we argue for the value of using a qualitatively driven mixed method approach for identifying and answering clinically relevant research questions. This argument is illustrated by findings from a study on the self-management practices of cancer survivors and the exploration of one particular clinically relevant finding about higher uptake of self-management in cancer survivors who had received chemotherapy treatment compared with those who have not. A cross-sectional study generated findings that formed the basis for the qualitative study, by informing the purposive sampling strategy and generating new qualitative research questions. Using a quantitative research component to supplement a qualitative study can enhance the generalizability and clinical relevance of the findings and produce detailed, contextualized, and rich answers to research questions that would be unachievable through quantitative or qualitative methods alone. © The Author(s) 2015.
Scale-up considerations relevant to experimental studies of nuclear waste-package behavior
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Coles, D.G.; Peters, R.D.
1986-04-01
Results from a study that investigated whether testing large-scale nuclear waste-package assemblages was technically warranted are reported. It was recognized that the majority of the investigations for predicting waste-package performance to date have relied primarily on laboratory-scale experimentation. However, methods for the successful extrapolation of the results from such experiments, both geometrically and over time, to actual repository conditions have not been well defined. Because a well-developed scaling technology exists in the chemical-engineering discipline, it was presupposed that much of this technology could be applicable to the prediction of waste-package performance. A review of existing literature documented numerous examples where a consideration of scaling technology was important. It was concluded that much of the existing scale-up technology is applicable to the prediction of waste-package performance for both size and time extrapolations and that conducting scale-up studies may be technically merited. However, the applicability for investigating the complex chemical interactions needs further development. It was recognized that the complexity of the system, and the long time periods involved, renders a completely theoretical approach to performance prediction almost hopeless. However, a theoretical and experimental study was defined for investigating heat and fluid flow. It was concluded that conducting scale-up modeling and experimentation for waste-package performance predictions is possible using existing technology. A sequential series of scaling studies, both theoretical and experimental, will be required to formulate size and time extrapolations of waste-package performance
Advancing the Relevance Criteria for Video Search and Visual Summarization
Rudinac, S.
2013-01-01
To facilitate finding of relevant information in ever-growing multimedia collections, a number of multimedia information retrieval solutions have been proposed over the past years. The essential element of any such solution is the relevance criterion deployed to select or rank the items from a
Bennett, Jessica G.; Gardner, Ralph, III; Cartledge, Gwendolyn; Ramnath, Rajiv; Council, Morris R., III
2017-01-01
This study investigated the effects of a multicomponent, supplemental intervention on the reading fluency of second-grade African-American urban students who showed reading and special education risk. The packaged intervention combined repeated readings and culturally relevant stories, delivered through a novel computer software program to enhance…
Shrestha, Badri Man; Haylor, John
2017-11-15
Rat models of renal transplant are used to investigate immunologic processes and responses to therapeutic agents before their translation into routine clinical practice. In this study, we have described details of rat surgical anatomy and our experiences with the microvascular surgical technique relevant to renal transplant by employing donor inferior vena cava and aortic conduits. For this study, 175 rats (151 Lewis and 24 Fisher) were used to establish the Fisher-Lewis rat model of chronic allograft injury at our institution. Anatomic and technical details were recorded during the period of training and establishment of the model. A final group of 12 transplanted rats were studied for an average duration of 51 weeks for the Lewis-to-Lewis isografts (5 rats) and 42 weeks for the Fisher-to-Lewis allografts (7 rats). Functional measurements and histology confirmed the diagnosis of chronic allograft injury. Mastering the anatomic details and microvascular surgical techniques can lead to the successful establishment of an experimental renal transplant model.
Explaining citizens’ perceptions of international climate-policy relevance
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Schleich, Joachim; Faure, Corinne
2017-01-01
This paper empirically analyses the antecedents of citizens’ perceptions of the relevance of international climate policy. Its use of representative surveys in the USA, China and Germany controls for different environmental attitudes and socio-economic factors between countries. The findings of the micro-econometric analysis suggest that the perceived relevance of international climate policy is positively affected by its perceived effectiveness, approval of the key topics discussed at international climate conferences, and environmental attitudes, but is not affected by perceived procedural justice. A higher level of perceived trust in international climate policy was positively related to perceived relevance in the USA and in China, but not in Germany. Citizens who felt that they were well informed and that their position was represented at climate summits were more likely to perceive international climate policy as relevant in China in particular. Generally, the results show only weak evidence of socio-demographic effects. - Highlights: • Perceptions of climate-policy relevance increase with perceptions of effectiveness. • In China and the USA, trust increases perceptions of climate-policy relevance. • Environmental attitudes are related to perceptions of climate-policy relevance. • In China, well-informed citizens perceive climate policy as more relevant. • Socio-demographics only weakly affect perceptions of climate-policy relevance.
Experimental astrophysics with high power lasers and Z pinches
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Remington, B A; Drake, R P; Ryutov, D D
2004-12-10
With the advent of high energy density (HED) experimental facilities, such as high-energy lasers and fast Z-pinch, pulsed-power facilities, mm-scale quantities of matter can be placed in extreme states of density, temperature, and/or velocity. This has enabled the emergence of a new class of experimental science, HED laboratory astrophysics, wherein the properties of matter and the processes that occur under extreme astrophysical conditions can be examined in the laboratory. Areas particularly suitable to this class of experimental astrophysics include the study of opacities relevant to stellar interiors; equations of state relevant to planetary interiors; strong shock driven nonlinear hydrodynamics and radiative dynamics, relevant to supernova explosions and subsequent evolution; protostellar jets and high Mach-number flows; radiatively driven molecular clouds and nonlinear photoevaporation front dynamics; and photoionized plasmas relevant to accretion disks around compact objects, such as black holes and neutron stars.
Hydrogen interaction with fusion-relevant materials
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Caorlin, M.
1990-01-01
This paper is an outline of the work carried out at JRC Ispra in the Tritium-materials Interaction Laboratory, on the interaction of gaseous hydrogen with several materials of interest in the field of fusion technology. Experimental work is reported and a concise review of relevant theoretical and numerical supporting activity is given as well. A period of about seven years is covered since 1982. Current work and possible future extensions are also briefly mentioned. 11 figs., 18 refs
Relevant test set using feature selection algorithm for early detection ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The objective of feature selection is to find the most relevant features for classification. Thus, the dimensionality of the information will be reduced and may improve classification's accuracy. This paper proposed a minimum set of relevant questions that can be used for early detection of dyslexia. In this research, we ...
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Costa, Ana I.A.
for ethical benefits to be introduced in fish production, namely for those perceived to be associated with food safety. Nevertheless, these findings also point out that consumers' may not always value the ethical attributes they consider relevant in a consistent manner, especially if these seem to contradict......This paper presents the outcome of a pilot study on Dutch consumers' willingness-to-pay for fresh fish originating from production systems with different levels of ethical attributes, as estimated through the performance of experimental auctions. Fifteen Dutch citizens living in Noord......-Holland and being regular consumers of fresh fish were selected to participate in this study. Two experimental sessions were held in December 2003. Information regarding the subjects, their knowledge about fish production systems and the perceived relevance of different ethical attributes was collected prior...
Usichenko, Taras; Laqua, René; Leutzow, Bianca; Lotze, Martin
2017-02-01
Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (TVNS) is a promising complementary method of pain relief. However, the neural networks associated with its analgesic effects are still to be elucidated. Therefore, we conducted two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions, in a randomized order, with twenty healthy subjects who were exposed to experimental heat pain stimulation applied to the right forearm using a Contact Heat-Evoked Potential Stimulator. While in one session TVNS was administered bilaterally to the concha auriculae with maximal, non-painful intensity, the stimulation device was switched off in the other session (placebo condition). Pain thresholds were measured before and after each session. Heat stimulation elicited fMRI activation in cerebral pain processing regions. Activation magnitude in the secondary somatosensory cortex, posterior insula, anterior cingulate and caudate nucleus was associated with heat stimulation without TVNS. During TVNS, this association was only seen for the right anterior insula. TVNS decreased fMRI signals in the anterior cingulate cortex in comparison with the placebo condition; however, there was no relevant pain reducing effect over the group as a whole. In contrast, TVNS compared to the placebo condition showed an increased activation in the primary motor cortex, contralateral to the site of heat stimulation, and in the right amygdala. In conclusion, in the protocol used here, TVNS specifically modulated the cerebral response to heat pain, without having a direct effect on pain thresholds.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ying, A.Y.; Abdou, M.A.; Morley, N.; Sketchley, T.; Woolley, R.; Burris, J.; Kaita, R.; Fogarty, P.; Huang, H.; Lao, X.; Narula, M.; Smolentsev, S.; Ulrickson, M.
2004-01-01
This paper reports on experimental findings on liquid metal (LM) free surface flows crossing complex magnetic fields. The experiments involve jet and film flows using GaInSn and are conducted at the UCLA MTOR facility. The goal of this study is to understand the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) features associated with such a free surface flow in a fusion-relevant magnetic field environment, and determine what LM free surface flow option is most suitable for lithium divertor particle pumping and surface heat removal applications in a near-term experimental plasma device, such as NSTX. Experimental findings indicate that a steady transverse magnetic field, even with gradients typical of NSTX outer divertor conditions, stabilizes a LM jet flow--reducing turbulent disturbances and delaying jet breakup. Important insights into the MHD behavior of liquid metal films under NSTX-like environments are also presented. It is possible to establish an uphill liquid metal film flow on a conducting substrate, although the MHD drag experienced by the flow could be strong and cause the flow to pile-up under simulated NSTX magnetic field conditions. The magnetic field changes the turbulent film flow so that wave structures range from 2D column-type surface disturbances at regions of high magnetic field, to ordinary hydrodynamic turbulence wave structures at regions of low field strength at the outboard. Plans for future work are also presented
Tomographic diagnosis and relevant aspects of otosclerosis
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gaiotti, Juliana Oggioni; Gomes, Natalia Delage; Costa, Ana Maria Doffemond; Villela, Caroline Laurita Batista Couto; Moreira, Wanderval; Diniz, Renata Lopes Furletti Caldeira
2013-01-01
A literature review and pictorial essay were developed to discuss the importance of knowing the main findings and locations of otosclerosis at multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). The authors performed a retrospective review of cases of otosclerosis diagnosed in their institution by means of high resolution multidetector computed tomography. Otosclerosis corresponds to otic capsule dysplasia characterized by metabolic derangement of its endochondral layer. Such condition constitutes a relevant cause of sensorineural hearing loss, affecting about 7% to 10% of the general population. The diagnosis is usually clinical, but imaging methods play a significant role in the anatomical detailing, differential diagnosis, surgical planning and evaluation of postoperative complications. Among such methods, the relevance of MDCT is highlighted. Radiologists should be familiar with the MDCT findings of otosclerosis, as well as with the temporal bone anatomy to assist in the appropriate clinical management of this disease. (author)
Tomographic diagnosis and relevant aspects of otosclerosis
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Gaiotti, Juliana Oggioni; Gomes, Natalia Delage; Costa, Ana Maria Doffemond; Villela, Caroline Laurita Batista Couto; Moreira, Wanderval; Diniz, Renata Lopes Furletti Caldeira, E-mail: jugaiotti@gmail.com [Hospital Mater Dei-Mater Imagem, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)
2013-09-15
A literature review and pictorial essay were developed to discuss the importance of knowing the main findings and locations of otosclerosis at multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). The authors performed a retrospective review of cases of otosclerosis diagnosed in their institution by means of high resolution multidetector computed tomography. Otosclerosis corresponds to otic capsule dysplasia characterized by metabolic derangement of its endochondral layer. Such condition constitutes a relevant cause of sensorineural hearing loss, affecting about 7% to 10% of the general population. The diagnosis is usually clinical, but imaging methods play a significant role in the anatomical detailing, differential diagnosis, surgical planning and evaluation of postoperative complications. Among such methods, the relevance of MDCT is highlighted. Radiologists should be familiar with the MDCT findings of otosclerosis, as well as with the temporal bone anatomy to assist in the appropriate clinical management of this disease. (author)
Is QCD relevant to nuclear physics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Thomas, A.W.
1985-01-01
A review is given of recent work on baryon structure in a number of QCD-motivated models. After establishing a prima facie case that the quark model should be relevant in a consistent description of the nucleus over a wide range of momentum transfer, the author looks for experimental confirmation. The discussion includes the search for exotic states, for a six quark component of the deuteron, and an up to date report on the interpretation of the EMC effect. (Auth.)
Evaluation of context-aware recommendation systems for information re-finding
Sappelli, M.; Verberne, S.; Kraaij, W.
2016-01-01
In this article we evaluate context-aware recommendation systems for information re-finding by knowledge workers. We identify 4 criteria that are relevant for evaluating the quality of knowledge worker support: context relevance, document relevance, prediction of user action, and diversity of the
The Facts About Sexual (Dys)function in Schizophrenia: An Overview of Clinically Relevant Findings
de Boer, Marrit K.; Castelein, Stynke; Wiersma, Durk; Schoevers, Robert A.; Knegtering, Henderikus
2015-01-01
A limited number of studies have evaluated sexual functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Most patients show an interest in sex that differs little from the general population. By contrast, psychiatric symptoms, institutionalization, and psychotropic medication contribute to frequently occurring impairments in sexual functioning. Women with schizophrenia have a better social outcome, longer lasting (sexual) relationships, and more offspring than men with schizophrenia. Still, in both sexes social and interpersonal impairments limit the development of stable sexual relationships. Although patients consider sexual problems to be highly relevant, patients and clinicians not easily discuss these spontaneously, leading to an underestimation of their prevalence and contributing to decreased adherence to treatment. Studies using structured interviews or questionnaires result in many more patients reporting sexual dysfunctions. Although sexual functioning can be impaired by different factors, the use of antipsychotic medication seems to be an important factor. A comparison of different antipsychotics showed high frequencies of sexual dysfunction for risperidone and classical antipsychotics, and lower frequencies for clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, and aripiprazole. Postsynaptic dopamine antagonism, prolactin elevation, and α1-receptor blockade may be the most relevant factors in the pathogenesis of antipsychotic-induced sexual dysfunction. Psychosocial strategies to treat antipsychotic-induced sexual dysfunction include psychoeducation and relationship counseling. Pharmacological strategies include lowering the dose or switching to a prolactin sparing antipsychotic. Also, the addition of a dopamine agonist, aripiprazole, or a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor has shown some promising results, but evidence is currently scarce. PMID:25721311
Ballmann, Stefan; Härtle, Rainer; Coto, Pedro B.; Elbing, Mark; Mayor, Marcel; Bryce, Martin R.; Thoss, Michael; Weber, Heiko B.
2012-08-01
We analyze quantum interference and decoherence effects in single-molecule junctions both experimentally and theoretically by means of the mechanically controlled break junction technique and density-functional theory. We consider the case where interference is provided by overlapping quasidegenerate states. Decoherence mechanisms arising from electronic-vibrational coupling strongly affect the electrical current flowing through a single-molecule contact and can be controlled by temperature variation. Our findings underline the universal relevance of vibrations for understanding charge transport through molecular junctions.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
ALECU TOMA
2016-06-01
Full Text Available The study method of a ship behavior based on practical tests on scale models is widely used both leading scientists and engineers, architects and researchers in the naval field. In this paper we propose to determine the parameters of a ship handling characteristics relevant to study the 55,000 dwt bulk carrier using a scale model. Scientific background for practical experimentation of this techniques necessary to built a scale model ship consists in applying the principles of similarity or "similitude". The scale model achieved by applying the laws of similarity must allow, through approximations available in certain circumstances, finding relevant parameters needed to simplify and solve the Navier-Stokes equations. These parameters are necessary for modeling the interaction between hull of the real ship and the fluid motion.
Independent effects of relevance and arousal on deductive reasoning.
Caparos, Serge; Blanchette, Isabelle
2017-08-01
Emotional content can have either a deleterious or a beneficial impact on logicality. Using standard deductive-reasoning tasks, we tested the hypothesis that the interplay of two factors - personal relevance and arousal - determines the nature of the effect of emotional content on logicality. Arousal was assessed using measures of skin conductance. Personal relevance was manipulated by asking participants to reason about semantic contents linked to an emotional event that they had experienced or not. Findings showed that (1) personal relevance exerts a positive effect on logicality while arousal exerts a negative effect, and that (2) these effects are independent of each other.
Clinical relevance and prognostic value of radiographic findings in Zenker's diverticulum.
Mantsopoulos, Konstantinos; Psychogios, Georgios; Karatzanis, Alexander; Künzel, Julian; Lell, Michael; Zenk, Johannes; Koch, Michael
2014-03-01
The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance and prognostic value of preoperative and postoperative oesophagography in patients with Zenker's diverticulum. The medical records of 155 patients who underwent surgical treatment (with an endoscopic or transcervical approach) for Zenker's diverticulum between 1992 and 2010 in a tertiary referral centre were retrospectively evaluated. The size of the diverticula on oesophagography, recognizable muscular septum, and protection of the diverticulum were assessed relative to the surgical procedures performed. The incidence of diverticular remnants on postoperative oesophagography was also assessed relative to the surgical procedure. It was investigated whether the detection of a residual pharyngeal pouch and filling of it with contrast medium were related to the patients' immediate postoperative symptoms and the development of symptomatic recurrence. Larger diverticula (Brombart III-IV) were manageable significantly more often with endoscopic procedures (P = 0.007). Residual diverticulum and filling with contrast medium were strongly associated with prolonged dysphagia immediately postoperatively (P = 0.005 and P = 0.009, respectively). However, these parameters failed to correlate significantly with a symptomatic recurrence. Preoperative oesophagography proved to be extremely important for surgical planning, with the surgeon's personal preference seeming to be the driving indicator in many cases. Postoperative oesophagography is only useful for excluding postoperative complications in the immediate postoperative phase and did not have a prognostic value as to a recurrence of the disease.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hoffstetter, P.; Herold, T.; Daneschnejad, M.; Zorger, N.; Jung, E.M.; Feuerbach, S.; Schreyer, A.G.
2008-01-01
Purpose: whole-body CT scans for patients with multiple trauma represent an increasingly accepted first diagnostic tool. The multidetector approach in particular provides appropriate diagnostic algorithms for detecting nearly all relevant traumatic findings in a short time with a high grade of sensitivity and specificity. Non-trauma-associated additional findings are commonly depicted based on these CT examinations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the number and quality of these additional findings in consecutive patients with multiple trauma. Materials and methods: between 3/04 and 8/06 we scanned 304 patients according to our dedicated multiple trauma protocol. The examination protocol includes a head scan without intravenous contrast followed by a whole-body scan including the neck, thorax and abdomen acquired by a 16-row CT Scanner (Siemens, Sensation 16). The CT scans were retrospectively analyzed by two radiologists with respect to non-trauma-associated findings. Lesions were assessed according to their clinical relevance (highly relevant, moderately relevant, not relevant). For patients with highly relevant findings, additional follow-up research was performed. Results: The average age was 43 years (range 3 - 92). 236 of the patients were male (77.6%), 68 female (22.4%). 153 patients (50.3%) had additional non-trauma-associated findings. In 20 cases (6.6%) lesions with high clinical relevance were detected (e.g. carcinoma of the kidney or the ovary). In 71 patients (23.4%) findings with moderate relevance were described. In 63 patients (20.7%) additional findings without major relevance were diagnosed. Conclusion: Whole-body CT scans of patients randomized by a trauma show a considerable number of non-trauma-associated additional findings. In about 30% of cases, these findings are clinically relevant because further diagnostic workup or treatment in the short or medium-term is needed. The results of these analyses emphasize the diagnostic value of CT
Relevance of intracellular polarity to accuracy of eukaryotic chemotaxis
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hiraiwa, Tetsuya; Nishikawa, Masatoshi; Shibata, Tatsuo; Nagamatsu, Akihiro; Akuzawa, Naohiro
2014-01-01
Eukaryotic chemotaxis is usually mediated by intracellular signals that tend to localize at the front or back of the cell. Such intracellular polarities frequently require no extracellular guidance cues, indicating that spontaneous polarization occurs in the signal network. Spontaneous polarization activity is considered relevant to the persistent motions in random cell migrations and chemotaxis. In this study, we propose a theoretical model that connects spontaneous intracellular polarity and motile ability in a chemoattractant solution. We demonstrate that the intracellular polarity can enhance the accuracy of chemotaxis. Chemotactic accuracy should also depend on chemoattractant concentration through the concentration-dependent correlation time in the polarity direction. Both the polarity correlation time and the chemotactic accuracy depend on the degree of responsiveness to the chemical gradient. We show that optimally accurate chemotaxis occurs at an intermediate responsiveness of intracellular polarity. Experimentally, we find that the persistence time of randomly migrating Dictyostelium cells depends on the chemoattractant concentration, as predicted by our theory. At the optimum responsiveness, this ameboid cell can enhance its chemotactic accuracy tenfold. (paper)
The relevance of cell transformation to carcinogenesis in vivo
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Little, J.B.
1989-01-01
Despite the caveats concerning rodent as opposed to human cell transformation systems, the author concludes there are several areas in which cell transformation studies with rodent cells have shown clear relevance to carcinogenesis in vivo, especially studies of carcinogenic effects of high LET radiation, particularly dependence on dose rate. In vitro studies firmly established the generality of promotion by phorbol esters tumour promotors. Initial studies on suppression of transformation, notably by protease inhibitors, has led to the confirmation of this phenomenon in in vivo carcinogenesis; development of inhibitor preparations from natural sources suitable for long-term supplementation in human diet, is under investigation. The potential importance of these modifiers is further emphasized by mechanistic studies suggesting that radiation may initiate a large fraction of exposed cell population, and expression of transformation may be controlled to a large extent by environmental conditions including the presence of promoting or suppressing agents. Finally, cell transformation systems offer the opportunity for mechanistic studies of the initial stages of carcinogenesis. Provocative results have arisen in several areas consistent with findings in experimental animals. (author)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hobbs, D. T. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Shehee, T. C. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)
2015-08-31
Our research seeks to determine if inorganic ion-exchange materials can be exploited to provide effective minor actinide (Am, Cm) separation from lanthanides. Previous work has established that a number of inorganic and UMOF ion-exchange materials exhibit varying affinities for actinides and lanthanides, which may be exploited for effective separations. During FY15, experimental work focused on investigating methods to oxidize americium in dilute nitric and perchloric acid with subsequent ion-exchange performance measurements of ion exchangers with the oxidized americium in dilute nitric acid. Ion-exchange materials tested included a variety of alkali titanates. Americium oxidation testing sought to determine the influence that other redox active components may have on the oxidation of AmIII. Experimental findings indicated that CeIII, NpV, and RuII are oxidized by peroxydisulfate, but there are no indications that the presence of CeIII, NpV, and RuII affected the rate or extent of americium oxidation at the concentrations of peroxydisulfate being used.
Detection of gunshot primer residue on bone in an experimental setting-an unexpected finding.
Berryman, Hugh E; Kutyla, Alicja K; Russell Davis, J
2010-03-01
Pork ribs with intact muscle tissue were used in an experimental attempt to identify bullet wipe on bone at distances from 1 to 6 feet with 0.45 caliber, full metal jacket ammunition. This resulted in the unexpected finding of primer-derived gunshot residue (GSR) deep within the wound tract. Of significance is the fact that the GSR was deposited on the bone, under the periosteum, after the bullet passed through a Ziploc bag and c. 1 inch of muscle tissue. It is also important to note that the GSR persisted on the bone after the periosteum was forcibly removed. The presence of primer-derived GSR on bone provides the potential to differentiate gunshot trauma from blunt trauma when the bone presents an atypical gunshot wound. In this study, the presence of gunshot primer residue at a distance of 6 feet demonstrates the potential for establishing maximum gun-to-target distance for remote shootings.
The Role of Relevance in Future Teachers' Utility Value and Interest toward Technology
Kale, Ugur; Akcaoglu, Mete
2018-01-01
Seeing the relevance of tasks for future use is important for developing value and interest in them. We employed a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design using a mixed-methods approach to examine if reflecting on the relevance of technology to future teaching practices influences elementary and secondary preservice teachers' utility value…
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Triandi ,
2017-02-01
Full Text Available Value relevance is being defined as the ability of information disclosed by financial statements to capture and summarize firm value. earnings per share (EPS and book value of shares (BVS and stock market price (SMP, both before and after IFRS adoption. Based on theresult,test there the valuerelevancebefore and after IFRS adoptio. The value relevance after IFRS adoption decreased. These findings differ from the findings in several countries have adopted IFRS. In many countries have adopted IFRS tends to increase the value relevance. Keyword : value relevance, earning per share, book value of equity, stock price, IFRS adoption, LQ-45
Stamhuis, Eize J.
2006-01-01
Particle image velocimetry (PIV) has proven to be a very useful technique in mapping animal-generated flows or flow patterns relevant to biota. Here, theoretical background is provided and experimental details of 2-dimensional digital PIV are explained for mapping flow produced by or relevant to
Transesophageal NOTES--a critical analysis of relevant problems.
Grund, Karl E; Lehmann, Thorsten G
2010-10-01
The transesophageal access route has not become a principal topic in the discussion about NOTES up to now. Analyzing the problems in this new field of surgery, however, the transesophageal route shows high relevance. Here, all possibilities, limitations, and problems of NOTES become obvious. This paper contains a critical analysis of the literature published to date (nine full papers, five abstracts). Nearly all publications represent experimental studies in living pigs. In most cases a submucosal tunnel technique is performed as access route to mediastinum, pleural cavity, and heart. Interventions and operations include simple mediastinoscopies as well as epicardial operations after exposition of the heart. For access and manipulation, conventional flexible endoscopes and instruments are used. Clips, T-bars, or a combination of both achieve the closure. Some studies rely on spontaneous closure of the incision without any suturing or approximation. In such experimental settings, the following results are presented: Access is achieved in 90% of cases, the aim of the operation is met in 92%, technical success in closure is achieved in 90%, healing of incision assessed as good in two of five studies, satisfactory in three of five studies. Mortality, ranging from 6 to 25%, and complication rates were (surprisingly) high. It has to be stressed that analyzing these papers published to date, no adequate attention is paid to basic facts and problems of general and thoracic surgery (e.g. different forms, prevention, diagnosis and therapy of pneumothorax or differentiated forms of ventilation). Relevant differences in the anatomy and physiology of the esophagus and mediastinum between humans and pigs should additionally be taken into account to choose optimal experimental parameters when transferring results to human settings. Moreover, requirements regarding sterility and hygiene in a structure like the mediastinum, which is at high risk from the point of view of infection
Abraham, Anna; Kaufmann, Carolin; Redlich, Ronny; Hermann, Andrea; Stark, Rudolf; Stevens, Stephan; Hermann, Christiane
2013-03-01
The fear of negative evaluation is one of the hallmark features of social anxiety. Behavioral evidence thus far largely supports cognitive models which postulate that information processing biases in the face of socially relevant information are a key factor underlying this widespread phobia. So far only one neuroimaging study has explicitly focused on the fear of negative evaluation in social anxiety where the brain responses of social phobics were compared to healthy participants during the processing of self-referential relative to other-referential criticism, praise or neutral information. Only self-referential criticism led to stronger activations in emotion-relevant regions of the brain, such as the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortices (mPFC), in the social phobics. The objective of the current study was to determine whether these findings could be extended to subclinical social anxiety. In doing so, the specificity of this self-referential bias was also examined by including both social and non-social (physical illness-related) threat information as well as a highly health anxious control group in the experimental paradigm. The fMRI findings indicated that the processing of emotional stimuli was accompanied by activations in the amygdala and the ventral mPFC, while self-referential processing was associated with activity in regions such as the mPFC, posterior cingulate and temporal poles. Despite the validation of the paradigm, the results revealed that the previously reported behavioral and brain biases associated with social phobia could not be unequivocally extended to subclinical social anxiety. The divergence between the findings is explored in detail with reference to paradigm differences and conceptual issues.
JournalMap: Geo-semantic searching for relevant knowledge
Ecologists struggling to understand rapidly changing environments and evolving ecosystem threats need quick access to relevant research and documentation of natural systems. The advent of semantic and aggregation searching (e.g., Google Scholar, Web of Science) has made it easier to find useful lite...
The Relevance of Academic Research in OSCM Practice
Raffield, Wiliam D.; Vang, David O.; Lundsten, Lorman L.
2016-01-01
The authors examine the relevance of academic research for operations and supply chain management (OSCM) professionals. Members of a major metropolitan APICS chapter were surveyed. Consistent with prior research, findings indicate that OSCM practitioners prefer trade journal articles to academic research. Nonetheless, respondents indicate interest…
Perceptions of unfairness in price increases: an experimental study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Verônica Feder Mayer
2014-09-01
Full Text Available This experimental study investigates antecedents and consequences of perceptions of price unfairness in a price increase situation. The proposed theoretical model states that consumer dependence on the service provider as well as the relevance the consumer attributes to the service (for the consumer's life will affect his/her degree of (a unfairness price perception, (b anger, and (c intention to complain and retaliate. The results support all the hypotheses specified in the model. The findings not only indicate that some situations of unfairness price perception lead to stronger emotions and more dramatic reactions from consumers, but also allow us to predict which situations of perceived unfairness offer greater risks and have greater potential for conflict.
Effects on topic familiarity on online search behaviour and use of relevance criteria
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Wen, Lei; Ruthven, Ian; Borlund, Pia
2006-01-01
This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of topic familiarity on the assessment behaviour of online searchers. In particular we investigate the effect of topic familiarity on the resources and relevance criteria used by searchers. Our results indicate that searching on an unfamiliar...... topic leads to use of more generic and fewer specialised resources and that searchers employ different relevance criteria when searching on less familiar topics....
Cooke, Steven J; Birnie-Gauvin, Kim; Lennox, Robert J; Taylor, Jessica J; Rytwinski, Trina; Rummer, Jodie L; Franklin, Craig E; Bennett, Joseph R; Haddaway, Neal R
2017-01-01
Policy development and management decisions should be based upon the best available evidence. In recent years, approaches to evidence synthesis, originating in the medical realm (such as systematic reviews), have been applied to conservation to promote evidence-based conservation and environmental management. Systematic reviews involve a critical appraisal of evidence, but studies that lack the necessary rigour (e.g. experimental, technical and analytical aspects) to justify their conclusions are typically excluded from systematic reviews or down-weighted in terms of their influence. One of the strengths of conservation physiology is the reliance on experimental approaches that help to more clearly establish cause-and-effect relationships. Indeed, experimental biology and ecology have much to offer in terms of building the evidence base that is needed to inform policy and management options related to pressing issues such as enacting endangered species recovery plans or evaluating the effectiveness of conservation interventions. Here, we identify a number of pitfalls that can prevent experimental findings from being relevant to conservation or would lead to their exclusion or down-weighting during critical appraisal in a systematic review. We conclude that conservation physiology is well positioned to support evidence-based conservation, provided that experimental designs are robust and that conservation physiologists understand the nuances associated with informing decision-making processes so that they can be more relevant.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Chang Guhn; Kim, Gang Deuk; Min, Kyung Yoon; Choi, See Sung; Juhng, Seon Kwan; Noh, Byung Suk; Won, Jong Jin
1994-01-01
We experimentally induced hepatic infarction in rabbit to evaluate MR findings of liver parenchyma and capsule and its changes with time and to confirm the capsular structure correlating with its histologic findings. After ligation of hepatic artery, vein and duct of right inferior posterior lobe of liver, T1, T2 weighted and enhanced T1 weighted images were obtained at several time intervals. Histologic samples were taken of two rabbits or more at each time intervals. During the first several days, the signal intensity of the ischemic necrosis showed strong high signal intensity relative to normal liver on both T1 and T2 weighted images. After 2 weeks , however, the necrotic areas gradually changed to isointensity or low signal intensity. Capsule structure was observed as slightly high signal intensity compare to ischemic areas on both enhanced T1 and T2 weighted images in six cases, and five cases of 12, retrospectively. From the first day, homogeneous coagulation necrosis without hemorrhage or liquefaction was observed. Fibrous thickening with rich vascularity was observed along the surface of the necrosis area after two weeks. During the first several days, the signal intensity of the ischemic necrosis showed strong high signal intensity on both T1 and T2 weighted images and gradually changed to isointensity or low signal intensity. Liver capsule was shown and slightly high signal intensity along the surface of the necrosis area and could be explained by fibrous thickening of the liver capsule and rich vascularity within in it
The Implementation of Cosine Similarity to Calculate Text Relevance between Two Documents
Gunawan, D.; Sembiring, C. A.; Budiman, M. A.
2018-03-01
Rapidly increasing number of web pages or documents leads to topic specific filtering in order to find web pages or documents efficiently. This is a preliminary research that uses cosine similarity to implement text relevance in order to find topic specific document. This research is divided into three parts. The first part is text-preprocessing. In this part, the punctuation in a document will be removed, then convert the document to lower case, implement stop word removal and then extracting the root word by using Porter Stemming algorithm. The second part is keywords weighting. Keyword weighting will be used by the next part, the text relevance calculation. Text relevance calculation will result the value between 0 and 1. The closer value to 1, then both documents are more related, vice versa.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Lioma, Christina; Larsen, Birger; Petersen, Casper
2016-01-01
train a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) on existing relevant information to that query. We then use the RNN to "deep learn" a single, synthetic, and we assume, relevant document for that query. We design a crowdsourcing experiment to assess how relevant the "deep learned" document is, compared...... to existing relevant documents. Users are shown a query and four wordclouds (of three existing relevant documents and our deep learned synthetic document). The synthetic document is ranked on average most relevant of all....
Infrared photothermal imaging of trace explosives on relevant substrates
Kendziora, Christopher A.; Furstenberg, Robert; Papantonakis, Michael; Nguyen, Viet; Borchert, James; Byers, Jeff; McGill, R. Andrew
2013-06-01
We are developing a technique for the stand-off detection of trace explosives on relevant substrate surfaces using photo-thermal infrared (IR) imaging spectroscopy (PT-IRIS). This approach leverages one or more compact IR quantum cascade lasers, tuned to strong absorption bands in the analytes and directed to illuminate an area on a surface of interest. An IR focal plane array is used to image the surface and detect small increases in thermal emission upon laser illumination. The PT-IRIS signal is processed as a hyperspectral image cube comprised of spatial, spectral and temporal dimensions as vectors within a detection algorithm. The ability to detect trace analytes on relevant substrates is critical for stand-off applications, but is complicated by the optical and thermal analyte/substrate interactions. This manuscript describes recent PT-IRIS experimental results and analysis for traces of RDX, TNT, ammonium nitrate (AN) and sucrose on relevant substrates (steel, polyethylene, glass and painted steel panels). We demonstrate that these analytes can be detected on these substrates at relevant surface mass loadings (10 μg/cm2 to 100 μg/cm2) even at the single pixel level.
The philosophy of scientific experimentation: a review
2009-01-01
Practicing and studying automated experimentation may benefit from philosophical reflection on experimental science in general. This paper reviews the relevant literature and discusses central issues in the philosophy of scientific experimentation. The first two sections present brief accounts of the rise of experimental science and of its philosophical study. The next sections discuss three central issues of scientific experimentation: the scientific and philosophical significance of intervention and production, the relationship between experimental science and technology, and the interactions between experimental and theoretical work. The concluding section identifies three issues for further research: the role of computing and, more specifically, automating, in experimental research, the nature of experimentation in the social and human sciences, and the significance of normative, including ethical, problems in experimental science. PMID:20098589
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Biswas, Nabarun; Chakraborti, Prasun; Belkar, Sanjay
2016-01-01
This paper presents both analytical and experimental pressure analysis approach of a typical Lobe and plain bearing for determining effective performance of the bearing. This is found to be dependent on several variables viz. angular velocity (1200-1900 rpm), load (300- 750 N) and pressure angle (0.deg.-180.deg.). This study in particular has been carried out for better rectifications and comparative prediction of lobe and plain bearing in terms of pressure distribution behavior under lubrication oil grade of SAE20W40. Influencing parameters were varied in this set up only to get optimum parametric combination considering all relevant practical issues. The experimentation was done based on significant directives of relevant literatures in these sectors. Attempt was made to compare the analytical findings with experimental results and found matched appreciably. After that attention was diverted to find the nature of pressure and load carrying capacity at various fluctuating speed and load with a fixed lubrication of SAE20W40 for appropriate decision making towards its characteristic performance. The analytical data generated by MATLAB are compared with experimental data which is generated by JBTR
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Biswas, Nabarun; Chakraborti, Prasun [National Institute of Technology Agartala, Jirania (India); Belkar, Sanjay [Pravara Rural Engineering CollegeLoni, Rahata taluka (India)
2016-05-15
This paper presents both analytical and experimental pressure analysis approach of a typical Lobe and plain bearing for determining effective performance of the bearing. This is found to be dependent on several variables viz. angular velocity (1200-1900 rpm), load (300- 750 N) and pressure angle (0.deg.-180.deg.). This study in particular has been carried out for better rectifications and comparative prediction of lobe and plain bearing in terms of pressure distribution behavior under lubrication oil grade of SAE20W40. Influencing parameters were varied in this set up only to get optimum parametric combination considering all relevant practical issues. The experimentation was done based on significant directives of relevant literatures in these sectors. Attempt was made to compare the analytical findings with experimental results and found matched appreciably. After that attention was diverted to find the nature of pressure and load carrying capacity at various fluctuating speed and load with a fixed lubrication of SAE20W40 for appropriate decision making towards its characteristic performance. The analytical data generated by MATLAB are compared with experimental data which is generated by JBTR.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Anon.
1978-01-01
Present knowledge of the relevant physical, chemical, and biological properties of radiocerium as a basis for establishing radiation protection guidelines is summarized. The first section of the report reviews the chemical and physical properties of radiocerium relative to the biological behavior of internally-deposited cerium and other lanthanides. The second section of the report gives the sources of radiocerium in the environment and the pathways to man. The third section of the report describes the metabolic fate of cerium in several mammalian species as a basis for predicting its metabolic fate in man. The fourth section of the report considers the biomedical effects of radiocerium in light of extensive animal experimentation. The last two sections of the report describe the history of radiation protection guidelines for radiocerium and summarize data required for evaluating the adequacy of current radiation protection guidelines. Each section begins with a summary of the most important findings that follow
Online Experimentation in Education and Training
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Maria Teresa Restivo
2014-03-01
Full Text Available The increasing use of emergent technologies in industry, medicine, research, training and education attests to the relevance of their integration in teaching/learning approaches. Online experimentation comprises remote and virtual experimentation also supported and complemented by other online tools that incorporate necessarily the use of emergent technologies. The present work synthesizes the final outcomes of a project aiming to develop, use and disseminate Online Experimentation, funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Some application examples are given to illustrate the use of online experimentation on different contexts, such as secondary and higher education (STEM, lifelong learning or industrial training.
Irradiation creep performance of graphite relevant for pebble bed HTRs
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kleist, G.; O'Connor, M.F.
1980-01-01
Irradiation - induced creep in the core reflector component graphite of high temperature reactors is of primary importance to the core designer since it provides a mechanism for the relief of internal stresses arising from differential Wigner shrinkage and thermal expansion. The experimental determination of the extent of this creep for conditions relevant to the reactor is thus imperative
Holley, Stephanie; Fiedler, Sabine; Graw, Matthias
2008-01-01
The aim of the present study was to determine to what extent macroscopical parameters mentioned in the literature are suitable for the estimation of the post mortem interval (PMI) and particularly for the exclusion of the forensically relevant resting period for recent bone material. The macroscopical examination of recent bone material with a known PMI showed that only one published parameter (relics of adipocere in the cross section of the compacta) was consistent with our findings for this particular resting period (27-28 years). Other macroscopical parameters presented in the literature were contradictory to the results observed in this study. Among those are the rigidity of bones, the adhesion of soft tissue, the filling of the marrow cavity, and the permeation of the epiphyses with adipocere. Concerning the exclusion of the forensically relevant resting period, a similar result was observed. This study identified some diagnostic findings in bones with a resting period of less than 50 years which according to the literature should only be present after a resting period of more than 50 years. These features included the lack of macroscopical traces of adipocere, degradation of the compacta surface, detachment of the cortical substance, the ability of bone to be broken with bare hands, and superficial usures. Moreover, in one-third of our cases we identified some intra-individual differences not previously described in the literature. In addition to the other results, those intra-individual differences make an estimation of the PMI more difficult. However it should be noted that those published parameters were collected from bone material which was stored in a "relatively arid sand-grit-clay soil of the broken stone layer of Munich". The bones in the present study were stored in acidic and clayey-loamy soil, partly with lateral water flow. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that one should use caution estimating the post mortem interval and excluding
MetaFIND: A feature analysis tool for metabolomics data
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cunningham Pádraig
2008-11-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Metabolomics, or metabonomics, refers to the quantitative analysis of all metabolites present within a biological sample and is generally carried out using NMR spectroscopy or Mass Spectrometry. Such analysis produces a set of peaks, or features, indicative of the metabolic composition of the sample and may be used as a basis for sample classification. Feature selection may be employed to improve classification accuracy or aid model explanation by establishing a subset of class discriminating features. Factors such as experimental noise, choice of technique and threshold selection may adversely affect the set of selected features retrieved. Furthermore, the high dimensionality and multi-collinearity inherent within metabolomics data may exacerbate discrepancies between the set of features retrieved and those required to provide a complete explanation of metabolite signatures. Given these issues, the latter in particular, we present the MetaFIND application for 'post-feature selection' correlation analysis of metabolomics data. Results In our evaluation we show how MetaFIND may be used to elucidate metabolite signatures from the set of features selected by diverse techniques over two metabolomics datasets. Importantly, we also show how MetaFIND may augment standard feature selection and aid the discovery of additional significant features, including those which represent novel class discriminating metabolites. MetaFIND also supports the discovery of higher level metabolite correlations. Conclusion Standard feature selection techniques may fail to capture the full set of relevant features in the case of high dimensional, multi-collinear metabolomics data. We show that the MetaFIND 'post-feature selection' analysis tool may aid metabolite signature elucidation, feature discovery and inference of metabolic correlations.
van Overveld, M; de Jong, PJ; Peters, ML
Recently, differential UCS expectancies were found for high- and low-predatory fear-relevant animals [Davey, G. C. L., Cavanagh, K., & Lamb, A. (2003). Differential aversive outcome expectancies for high- and low-predation fear-relevant animals. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental
Relevant energy scale of color confinement from lattice QCD
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yamamoto, Arata; Suganuma, Hideo
2009-01-01
We propose a new lattice framework to extract the relevant gluonic energy scale of QCD phenomena which is based on a 'cut' on link variables in momentum space. This framework is expected to be broadly applicable to all lattice QCD calculations. Using this framework, we quantitatively determine the relevant energy scale of color confinement, through the analyses of the quark-antiquark potential and meson masses. The relevant energy scale of color confinement is found to be below 1.5 GeV in the Landau gauge. In fact, the string tension is almost unchanged even after cutting off the high-momentum gluon component above 1.5 GeV. When the relevant low-energy region is cut, the quark-antiquark potential is approximately reduced to a Coulomb-like potential, and each meson becomes a quasifree quark pair. As an analytical model calculation, we also investigate the dependence of the Richardson potential on the cut, and find the consistent behavior with the lattice result.
Task-relevant information is prioritized in spatiotemporal contextual cueing.
Higuchi, Yoko; Ueda, Yoshiyuki; Ogawa, Hirokazu; Saiki, Jun
2016-11-01
Implicit learning of visual contexts facilitates search performance-a phenomenon known as contextual cueing; however, little is known about contextual cueing under situations in which multidimensional regularities exist simultaneously. In everyday vision, different information, such as object identity and location, appears simultaneously and interacts with each other. We tested the hypothesis that, in contextual cueing, when multiple regularities are present, the regularities that are most relevant to our behavioral goals would be prioritized. Previous studies of contextual cueing have commonly used the visual search paradigm. However, this paradigm is not suitable for directing participants' attention to a particular regularity. Therefore, we developed a new paradigm, the "spatiotemporal contextual cueing paradigm," and manipulated task-relevant and task-irrelevant regularities. In four experiments, we demonstrated that task-relevant regularities were more responsible for search facilitation than task-irrelevant regularities. This finding suggests our visual behavior is focused on regularities that are relevant to our current goal.
Alpha power gates relevant information during working memory updating.
Manza, Peter; Hau, Chui Luen Vera; Leung, Hoi-Chung
2014-04-23
Human working memory (WM) is inherently limited, so we must filter out irrelevant information in our environment or our mind while retaining limited important relevant contents. Previous work suggests that neural oscillations in the alpha band (8-14 Hz) play an important role in inhibiting incoming distracting information during attention and selective encoding tasks. However, whether alpha power is involved in inhibiting no-longer-relevant content or in representing relevant WM content is still debated. To clarify this issue, we manipulated the amount of relevant/irrelevant information using a task requiring spatial WM updating while measuring neural oscillatory activity via EEG and localized current sources across the scalp using a surface Laplacian transform. An initial memory set of two, four, or six spatial locations was to be memorized over a delay until an updating cue was presented indicating that only one or three locations remained relevant for a subsequent recognition test. Alpha amplitude varied with memory maintenance and updating demands among a cluster of left frontocentral electrodes. Greater postcue alpha power was associated with the high relevant load conditions (six and four dots cued to reduce to three relevant) relative to the lower load conditions (four and two dots reduced to one). Across subjects, this difference in alpha power was correlated with condition differences in performance accuracy. In contrast, no significant effects of irrelevant load were observed. These findings demonstrate that, during WM updating, alpha power reflects maintenance of relevant memory contents rather than suppression of no-longer-relevant memory traces.
Prasad, G V R
2009-11-01
This paper presents a brief review of recent advances in the classification of mammals at higher levels using fossils and molecular clocks. It also discusses latest fossil discoveries from the Cretaceous - Eocene (66-55 m.y.) rocks of India and their relevance to our current understanding of placental mammal origins and diversifications.
Clinico-pathological findings in natural cases of "mascadera" in goats.
Micheloud, J F; Vera, T A; Colque Caro, L A; Gimeno, E J
2018-02-01
"Mascadera" is a chronic emaciating neuropathy affecting goats; it produces significant economic losses in many regions and its cause is unknown. Here, the histological lesions found in 15 animals naturally affected by the disease are described. Complete necropsy was performed and tissue samples were collected for histopathological study. Severe atrophy of the masseter and buccinator muscles and tongue was observed, as well as vacuolar degeneration of neurons in the nuclei of the trigeminal, facial, and glossopharyngeal nerves. No relevant lesions were observed in other tissues. These findings and the clinical signs are consistent with those observed by other authors in animals spontaneously and experimentally intoxicated with Prosopis juliflora. The disease may be due to consumption of a similar species present in our country that is still unknown. Further research on the etiology and pathogenesis of this disease is needed to establish appropriate prevention guidelines.
How relevant is government championing behavior for technology development?
Caerteling, J.S.; Halman, J.I.M.; Song, M.; Dorée, A.G.; van der Bij, J.D.
Many studies emphasize the importance of government support in technology development. However, this study is among the first to provide empirical findings of the relevance of government roles for the performance of technology development projects. Based on earlier research and the strategic
How relevant is government championing behavior for technology development
Caerteling, Jasper; Halman, Johannes I.M.; Song, Michael; Doree, Andries G.; van der Bij, J.D.
2013-01-01
Many studies emphasize the importance of government support in technology development. However, this study is among the first to provide empirical findings of the relevance of government roles for the performance of technology development projects. Based on earlier research and the strategic
Introduction to the main experimental findings of the LENR field
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Storms, Edmund
2015-01-01
Twenty-five years ago in March 1989, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons announced their success in initiating fusion between deuterons in palladium used as the cathode in an electrolytic cell. Since then, a battle has waged between skeptics who reject the claim and people who observe behaviour that is consistent with the claim. This article briefly summarizes the major experimental observations. A companion article in this special section provides insight into how the observations might be explained. (author)
An Evaluation of Relevance of Computing Curricula to Industry Needs
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ioana Chan Mow
2015-02-01
Full Text Available The research documented in this paper attempted to answer the question of how relevant the content of the Computing courses offered within programs of the Computing Department at the National University of Samoa (NUS were to meet the needs of industry and the workforce. The RINCCII study which was conducted in 2013 to 2014, surveyed 13 institutions and 19 graduates from the Computing programs. Findings from the survey indicated that the current course offerings within the Computing department are relevant to the needs of industry and the workplace. However there are aspects or topics which need inclusion or better coverage. The study also recommended regular surveys to gauge relevance of curricula to needs of industry.
Relevance in the science classroom: A multidimensional analysis
Hartwell, Matthew F.
groups. The findings combine to support a multidimensional perspective of relevance in the 9th grade biology classroom; offering researchers a useful model for future investigation and educators with insights into the students' classroom experience.
Fuzzy Mutual Information Based min-Redundancy and Max-Relevance Heterogeneous Feature Selection
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daren Yu
2011-08-01
Full Text Available Feature selection is an important preprocessing step in pattern classification and machine learning, and mutual information is widely used to measure relevance between features and decision. However, it is difficult to directly calculate relevance between continuous or fuzzy features using mutual information. In this paper we introduce the fuzzy information entropy and fuzzy mutual information for computing relevance between numerical or fuzzy features and decision. The relationship between fuzzy information entropy and differential entropy is also discussed. Moreover, we combine fuzzy mutual information with qmin-Redundancy-Max-Relevanceq, qMax-Dependencyq and min-Redundancy-Max-Dependencyq algorithms. The performance and stability of the proposed algorithms are tested on benchmark data sets. Experimental results show the proposed algorithms are effective and stable.
Relevant thermal hydraulic aspects of advanced reactors design: status report
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1996-11-01
This status report provides an overview on the relevant thermalhydraulic aspects of advanced reactor designs (e.g. ABWR, AP600, SBWR, EPR, ABB 80+, PIUS, etc.). Since all of the advanced reactor concepts are at the design stage, the information and data available in the open literature are still very limited. Some characteristics of advanced reactor designs are provided together with selected phenomena identification and ranking tables. Specific needs for thermalhydraulic codes together with the list of relevant and important thermalhydraulic phenomena for advanced reactor designs are summarized with the purpose of providing some guidance in development of research plans for considering further code development and assessment needs and for the planning of experimental programs
An overview of research designs relevant to nursing: Part 1: quantitative research designs
Sousa,Valmi D.; Driessnack,Martha; Mendes,Isabel Amélia Costa
2007-01-01
This three part series of articles provides a brief overview of relevant research designs in nursing. The first article in the series presents the most frequently used quantitative research designs. Strategies for non-experimental and experimental research designs used to generate and refine nursing knowledge are described. In addition, the importance of quantitative designs and the role they play in developing evidence-based practice are discussed. Nursing care needs to be determined by the ...
Rapid genetic erosion in pollutant-exposed experimental chironomid populations
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Nowak, Carsten [Abteilung Okologie und Evolution, Institut fuer Okologie, Evolution und Diversitaet, J. W. Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)], E-mail: cnowak@senckenberg.de; Vogt, Christian [Abteilung Aquatische Okotoxikologie, Institut fuer Okologie, Evolution und Diversitaet, J. W. Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)], E-mail: vogt@bio.uni-frankfurt.de; Pfenninger, Markus [Abteilung Okologie und Evolution, Institut fuer Okologie, Evolution und Diversitaet, J. W. Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)], E-mail: pfenninger@bio.uni-frankfurt.de; Schwenk, Klaus [Abteilung Okologie und Evolution, Institut fuer Okologie, Evolution und Diversitaet, J. W. Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)], E-mail: k.schwenk@bio.uni-frankfurt.de; Oehlmann, Joerg [Abteilung Aquatische Okotoxikologie, Institut fuer Okologie, Evolution und Diversitaet, J. W. Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)], E-mail: oehlmann@bio.uni-frankfurt.de; Streit, Bruno [Abteilung Okologie und Evolution, Institut fuer Okologie, Evolution und Diversitaet, J. W. Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)], E-mail: streit@bio.uni-frankfurt.de; Oetken, Matthias [Abteilung Aquatische Okotoxikologie, Institut fuer Okologie, Evolution und Diversitaet, J. W. Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt am Main, Siesmayerstrasse 70, 60054 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)], E-mail: oetken@bio.uni-frankfurt.de
2009-03-15
Few studies have evaluated how effectively environmental contamination may reduce genetic diversity of a population. Here, we chose a laboratory approach in order to test if tributyltin (TBT) exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations leads to reduced genetic variation in the midge Chironomus riparius. Two TBT-exposed and two unexposed experimental populations were reared simultaneously in the laboratory for 12 generations. We recorded several life-history traits in each generation and monitored genetic variation over time using five variable microsatellite markers. TBT-exposed strains showed increased larval mortality (treatments: 43.8%; controls: 27.8%), slightly reduced reproductive output, and delayed larval development. Reduction of genetic variation was strongest and only significant in the TBT-exposed strains (treatments: -45.9%, controls: -24.4% of initial heterozygosity) after 12 generations. Our findings document that chemical pollution may lead to a rapid decrease in genetic diversity, which has important implications for conservation strategies and ecological management in polluted environments. - Chronic TBT exposure reduces allelic variation at five variable microsatellite loci in experimental populations of Chironomus riparius.
Rapid genetic erosion in pollutant-exposed experimental chironomid populations
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Nowak, Carsten; Vogt, Christian; Pfenninger, Markus; Schwenk, Klaus; Oehlmann, Joerg; Streit, Bruno; Oetken, Matthias
2009-01-01
Few studies have evaluated how effectively environmental contamination may reduce genetic diversity of a population. Here, we chose a laboratory approach in order to test if tributyltin (TBT) exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations leads to reduced genetic variation in the midge Chironomus riparius. Two TBT-exposed and two unexposed experimental populations were reared simultaneously in the laboratory for 12 generations. We recorded several life-history traits in each generation and monitored genetic variation over time using five variable microsatellite markers. TBT-exposed strains showed increased larval mortality (treatments: 43.8%; controls: 27.8%), slightly reduced reproductive output, and delayed larval development. Reduction of genetic variation was strongest and only significant in the TBT-exposed strains (treatments: -45.9%, controls: -24.4% of initial heterozygosity) after 12 generations. Our findings document that chemical pollution may lead to a rapid decrease in genetic diversity, which has important implications for conservation strategies and ecological management in polluted environments. - Chronic TBT exposure reduces allelic variation at five variable microsatellite loci in experimental populations of Chironomus riparius
{sup 123}I-FP-CIT SPECT findings and its clinical relevance in prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kasanuki, Koji [Juntendo University School of Medicine, PET/CT Dementia Research Center, Juntendo Tokyo Koto Geriatric Medical Center, Tokyo (Japan); Juntendo University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo (Japan); Mayo Clinic, Department of Neuroscience, Jacksonville, FL (United States); Iseki, Eizo; Ota, Kazumi [Juntendo University School of Medicine, PET/CT Dementia Research Center, Juntendo Tokyo Koto Geriatric Medical Center, Tokyo (Japan); Juntendo University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo (Japan); Kondo, Daizo; Sato, Kiyoshi [Juntendo University School of Medicine, PET/CT Dementia Research Center, Juntendo Tokyo Koto Geriatric Medical Center, Tokyo (Japan); Ichimiya, Yosuke; Arai, Heii [Juntendo University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo (Japan)
2017-03-15
Evidence for the prodromal stage of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is very limited. To address this issue, we investigate the {sup 123}I-FP-CIT SPECT measure of dopamine transporter binding finding and its clinical relevance. We enrolled subjects into a prodromal DLB group (PRD-DLB) (n = 20) and clinical DLB group (CLIN-DLB) (n = 18) and compared these groups with an Alzheimer's disease control group (AD) (n = 10). PRD-DLB was defined as patients having the non-motor symptoms associated with Lewy body disease (LBD) [i.e. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), olfactory dysfunction, autonomic dysfunction, and depression] and showing characteristic diffuse occipital hypometabolism in {sup 18}F-FDG PET. CLIN-DLB was defined as patients fulfilling the established criteria of probable DLB. Striatal specific binding ratio (SBR) of {sup 123}I-FP-CIT SPECT was used for objective group comparisons. The correlations between SBR and cognitive function (MMSE), motor symptoms (UPDRS3), and duration of LBD-associated non-motor symptoms were compared between the two DLB groups. Mean SBR scores of both PRD-DLB and CLIN-DLB were significantly lower than those of AD. No correlation was found between SBR and MMSE scores. Both in the CLIN-DLB and total DLB groups, SBR scores were negatively correlated with UPDRS3 scores, whereas no correlation was found in PRD-DLB. Among the LBD-related non-motor symptoms, duration of olfactory dysfunction, and RBD demonstrated negative correlation with SBR scores in PRD-DLB. {sup 123}I-FP-CIT SPECT may play a role for detecting DLB among the subjects in prodromal stage. During this stage, long-term olfactory dysfunction and/or RBD may indicate more severe degeneration of the nigro-striatal dopaminergic pathway. (orig.)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Abdollahi, Mohammad, E-mail: mohammad.abdollahi@utoronto.ca; Karami-Mohajeri, Somayyeh
2012-02-01
Acute organophosphate (OP) intoxication is important because of its high morbidity and mortality and occurrence of muscular paralysis associated by inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity at the neuromuscular junction. Cholinergic crisis, intermediate syndrome (IMS), and OP-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) are the evidences that can be observed in OP intoxication. The main cause of morbidity due to OP poisoning is IMS that occurs 24–96 h after poisoning. Mechanisms underlying the IMS are not fully known. Although the electrophysiological aspects of delayed neuropathy are best characterized, the IMS remain very little studied. The aim of this study was to revisit current knowledge related to OP and the IMS. For this purpose, a systematic review without date limitation was performed. A total of 599 relevant articles were found and reviewed. Data were categorized according to experimental and clinical studies. Occurrences of persistent AChE inhibition, electromyography changes, muscle cell injury, and oxidative stress are the most important pieces of evidence for involvement of IMS in OP toxicity. Delayed AChE inhibition, muscle necrosis, down regulation or desensitization of postsynaptic ACh receptors, failure of postsynaptic ACh release, and oxidative stress-related myopathy are involved in IMS. Toxicokinetic factors, such as a high lipid-solubility, duration of AChE inhibition and metabolite excretion, evolution of alterations on repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS), type and frequency of muscle lesions can estimate the probability of the IMS. Plasma AChE of less than 200 units is a predictor and the 30 Hz RNS decremental response could be a useful marker for the IMS.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Abdollahi, Mohammad; Karami-Mohajeri, Somayyeh
2012-01-01
Acute organophosphate (OP) intoxication is important because of its high morbidity and mortality and occurrence of muscular paralysis associated by inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity at the neuromuscular junction. Cholinergic crisis, intermediate syndrome (IMS), and OP-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) are the evidences that can be observed in OP intoxication. The main cause of morbidity due to OP poisoning is IMS that occurs 24–96 h after poisoning. Mechanisms underlying the IMS are not fully known. Although the electrophysiological aspects of delayed neuropathy are best characterized, the IMS remain very little studied. The aim of this study was to revisit current knowledge related to OP and the IMS. For this purpose, a systematic review without date limitation was performed. A total of 599 relevant articles were found and reviewed. Data were categorized according to experimental and clinical studies. Occurrences of persistent AChE inhibition, electromyography changes, muscle cell injury, and oxidative stress are the most important pieces of evidence for involvement of IMS in OP toxicity. Delayed AChE inhibition, muscle necrosis, down regulation or desensitization of postsynaptic ACh receptors, failure of postsynaptic ACh release, and oxidative stress-related myopathy are involved in IMS. Toxicokinetic factors, such as a high lipid-solubility, duration of AChE inhibition and metabolite excretion, evolution of alterations on repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS), type and frequency of muscle lesions can estimate the probability of the IMS. Plasma AChE of less than 200 units is a predictor and the 30 Hz RNS decremental response could be a useful marker for the IMS.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daniel Hänggi
Full Text Available BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of locally applied nimodipine prolonged-release microparticles on angiographic vasospasm and secondary brain injury after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH. METHODS: 70 male Wistar rats were categorized into three groups: 1 sham operated animals (control, 2 animals with SAH only (control and the 3 treatment group. SAH was induced using the double hemorrhage model. The treatment group received different concentrations (20%, 30% or 40% of nimodipine microparticles. Angiographic vasospasm was assessed 5 days later using digital subtraction angiography (DSA. Histological analysis of frozen sections was performed using H&E-staining as well as Iba1 and MAP2 immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: DSA images were sufficient for assessment in 42 animals. Severe angiographic vasospasm was present in group 2 (SAH only, as compared to the sham operated group (p<0.001. Only animals within group 3 and the highest nimodipine microparticles concentration (40% as well as group 1 (sham demonstrated the largest intracranial artery diameters. Variation in vessel calibers, however, did not result in differences in Iba-1 or MAP2 expression, i.e. in histological findings for secondary brain injury. CONCLUSIONS: Local delivery of high-dose nimodipine prolonged-release microparticles at high concentration resulted in significant reduction in angiographic vasospasm after experimental SAH and with no histological signs for matrix toxicity.
THE VALUE RELEVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARD IMPLEMENTATION AND AUDIT QUALITY
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hanifa Zulhaimi
2015-12-01
Full Text Available The implementation of international accounting standards in Indonesia has significantly affected financial reporting. It increases information relevance for the investors because a fair value comprehensively represents assets and liabilities of an entity as of the balance sheet date. However, this triggers polemics over the value relevance of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS. This can be seen from stock price decline. This study aims to find out the effect of net income and other comprehensive income on stock price and to observe the effect of other comprehensive income moderated by audit quality. Furthermore this study also aims to find out the effect of the subjectivity of OCI components. Using a sample of 79 companies, the writer analyzes 2014 financial statements derived from Indonesia Stock Exchange. Based on the result, the predetermined hypotheses are unable to prove. Net income is the only variable that affects stock return. Thus it can be concluded that net income has a value relevance for the investors in making economic decisions.
Cellular recovery kinetic studies relevant to combined-modality research and therapy
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Dethlefsen, L.A.
1979-01-01
The relevance of cellular recovery kinetics to combined-modality therapy is evaluated within the framework of an idealized experimental flow chart and published adriamycin data. Within this context, limitations for both experimental design and data interpretations are discussed. The effects of adriamycin have been documented extensively at the molecular and cellular level and its interactions with x-irradiation have been studied, both in vitro and in vivo. The limited in vivo results suggest that the end results of a given protocol correlate with cellular recovery kinetics; however, definitive experiments simply have not been done. For example, no one has used single-dose drug and irradiation data to predict the outcome and then confirm or refute the prediction even in a relatively simple 2-dose drug + 2-dose drug + 2-dose x-ray protocol. Thus, at this time, the extent of the correlations between cellular recovery kinetics and clinical response for either normal or malignant tissues is not known and the possible relevance of such studies cannot be discounted
Theoretical and experimental studies relevant to interpretation of auroral emissions. Annual Report
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Keffer, C.E.
1992-06-01
The results obtained in the second year of a three year collaborative effort with MSFC are summarized. A succession of experimental studies was completed to determine the effects of the natural and induced space vehicle environment on the measurement of auroral images from space-based platforms. In addition, a global model which incorporates both auroral and dayglow emission sources is being developed to allow interpretation of measured auroral emissions. A description of work completed on these two tasks is presented
Towards brain-activity-controlled information retrieval: Decoding image relevance from MEG signals.
Kauppi, Jukka-Pekka; Kandemir, Melih; Saarinen, Veli-Matti; Hirvenkari, Lotta; Parkkonen, Lauri; Klami, Arto; Hari, Riitta; Kaski, Samuel
2015-05-15
We hypothesize that brain activity can be used to control future information retrieval systems. To this end, we conducted a feasibility study on predicting the relevance of visual objects from brain activity. We analyze both magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and gaze signals from nine subjects who were viewing image collages, a subset of which was relevant to a predetermined task. We report three findings: i) the relevance of an image a subject looks at can be decoded from MEG signals with performance significantly better than chance, ii) fusion of gaze-based and MEG-based classifiers significantly improves the prediction performance compared to using either signal alone, and iii) non-linear classification of the MEG signals using Gaussian process classifiers outperforms linear classification. These findings break new ground for building brain-activity-based interactive image retrieval systems, as well as for systems utilizing feedback both from brain activity and eye movements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Personalized Education Approaches for Chemical Engineering and Relevant Majors
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zhao Feng-qing
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Personalized education has drawn increasing attention in universities these years. With the purpose of improving the studentss’ comprehensive ability and developing teaching strategies to ensure students’ education is tailored to their needs, we proposed Three-Stage Approach (TSA to enhance personalized education for chemical engineering and relevant majors: professional tutorial system--equipping with professional guidance teachers for freshman students to guide their learning activities and provide professional guidance; open experimental project--setting up open experimental projects for sophomore and junior students to choose freely; individualized education module--setting up 10 different individualized education modules for senior students to select. After years of practice, the personalized education model is improved day by day and proved effective and fruitful.
Enabling multi-level relevance feedback on PubMed by integrating rank learning into DBMS.
Yu, Hwanjo; Kim, Taehoon; Oh, Jinoh; Ko, Ilhwan; Kim, Sungchul; Han, Wook-Shin
2010-04-16
Finding relevant articles from PubMed is challenging because it is hard to express the user's specific intention in the given query interface, and a keyword query typically retrieves a large number of results. Researchers have applied machine learning techniques to find relevant articles by ranking the articles according to the learned relevance function. However, the process of learning and ranking is usually done offline without integrated with the keyword queries, and the users have to provide a large amount of training documents to get a reasonable learning accuracy. This paper proposes a novel multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, called RefMed, which supports both ad-hoc keyword queries and a multi-level relevance feedback in real time on PubMed. RefMed supports a multi-level relevance feedback by using the RankSVM as the learning method, and thus it achieves higher accuracy with less feedback. RefMed "tightly" integrates the RankSVM into RDBMS to support both keyword queries and the multi-level relevance feedback in real time; the tight coupling of the RankSVM and DBMS substantially improves the processing time. An efficient parameter selection method for the RankSVM is also proposed, which tunes the RankSVM parameter without performing validation. Thereby, RefMed achieves a high learning accuracy in real time without performing a validation process. RefMed is accessible at http://dm.postech.ac.kr/refmed. RefMed is the first multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, which achieves a high accuracy with less feedback. It effectively learns an accurate relevance function from the user's feedback and efficiently processes the function to return relevant articles in real time.
Fusion-relevant basic radiation effects: theory and experiment
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mansur, L.K.; Coghlan, W.A.; Farrell, K.; Horton, L.L.; Lee, E.H.; Lewis, M.B.; Packan, N.H.
1983-01-01
A summary is given of results of the basic radiation effects program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which are relevant to fusion reactor materials applications. The basic radiation effects program at ORNL is a large effort with the dual objectives of understanding the atomic and microstructural defect mechanisms underlying radiation effects and of determining principles for the design of radiation resistant materials. A strength of this effort is the parallel and integrated experimental and theoretical approaches in each major research area. The experimental effort is active in electron microscopy, ion irradiations and ion-beam techniques, neutron irradiations, surface analysis and in other areas. The theoretical effort is active in developing the theory of radiation effects for a broad range of phenomena and in applying it to the design and interpretation of experiments and to alloy design
Properties of amorphous rare earth-transition metal thin films relevant to thermomagnetic recording
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Biesterbos, J.W.M.
1979-01-01
Properties of amorphous RE-(Fe, Co) thin films relevant to thermomagnetic recording are reviewed. Attention is paid to the writing-, reading- and erasure process. The advantages and disadvantages of the amorphous materials are considered. Experimental data on the writing process are given
Joint Concept Correlation and Feature-Concept Relevance Learning for Multilabel Classification.
Zhao, Xiaowei; Ma, Zhigang; Li, Zhi; Li, Zhihui
2018-02-01
In recent years, multilabel classification has attracted significant attention in multimedia annotation. However, most of the multilabel classification methods focus only on the inherent correlations existing among multiple labels and concepts and ignore the relevance between features and the target concepts. To obtain more robust multilabel classification results, we propose a new multilabel classification method aiming to capture the correlations among multiple concepts by leveraging hypergraph that is proved to be beneficial for relational learning. Moreover, we consider mining feature-concept relevance, which is often overlooked by many multilabel learning algorithms. To better show the feature-concept relevance, we impose a sparsity constraint on the proposed method. We compare the proposed method with several other multilabel classification methods and evaluate the classification performance by mean average precision on several data sets. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.
The temporal-relevance temporal-uncertainty model of prospective duration judgment.
Zakay, Dan
2015-12-15
A model aimed at explaining prospective duration judgments in real life settings (as well as in the laboratory) is presented. The model is based on the assumption that situational meaning is continuously being extracted by humans' perceptual and cognitive information processing systems. Time is one of the important dimensions of situational meaning. Based on the situational meaning, a value for Temporal Relevance is set. Temporal Relevance reflects the importance of temporal aspects for enabling adaptive behavior in a specific moment in time. When Temporal Relevance is above a certain threshold a prospective duration judgment process is evoked automatically. In addition, a search for relevant temporal information is taking place and its outcomes determine the level of Temporal Uncertainty which reflects the degree of knowledge one has regarding temporal aspects of the task to be performed. The levels of Temporal Relevance and Temporal Uncertainty determine the amount of attentional resources allocated for timing by the executive system. The merit of the model is in connecting timing processes with the ongoing general information processing stream. The model rests on findings in various domains which indicate that cognitive-relevance and self-relevance are powerful determinants of resource allocation policy. The feasibility of the model is demonstrated by analyzing various temporal phenomena. Suggestions for further empirical validation of the model are presented. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Hartwell, Matthew; Kaplan, Avi
2018-01-01
This paper presents findings from a two-phase mixed methods study investigating the phenomenological structure of self-relevance among ninth-grade junior high school biology students (Phase 1: N = 118; Phase 2: N = 139). We begin with a phenomenological multidimensional definition of self-relevance as comprising three dimensions: the academic…
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kim, Young Hoon; Han, Joon Koo; Chung, Jin Wook; Lee, Kyoung Ho; Kim, Se Hyung; Kim, Seog Joon; Choi, Byung Ihn; Chang, Kee Hyun [College of Medicine, Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
2002-05-01
To describe findings of enhanced power Doppler sonography and DSA in experimentally induced VX2 carcinomas in rabbit thigh and to correlate the imaging findings with the histopathologic features. A total of 30 VX2 carcinomas were implanted in rabbit thigh, and after conventional and enhanced power Doppler sonography and DSA, histopathologic examination was performed. Enhanced power Doppler sonography and DSA, were used to determine the distribution pattern of tumor vascularity; to assess its grade and the percentage of a tumor area occupied by vessels, conventional and enhanced power Doppler sonography, as well as DSA, were used. The grade of necrosis and the development of fibrovascular stroma and capsule were histopathologically determined. The findings of power Doppler sonography were compared with those of DSA and the imaging features were correlated with the histopathologic features. At enhanced power Doppler sonography, the signal was either avascular (n=9), peripheral (n=15) or diffuse (n=6), while at DSA, the corresponding totals were eight, fourteen and eight. There was statistically significant corelation between enhanced power Doppler sonogrpahy and DSA, both in their depiction of the distribution of patterns of tumor vascularity and as regards their findings of grade and percentage of vascular area. As determined by both conventional and enhanced power Doppler sonogrpahy, and by DSA, grade of necrosis and the development of fibrovascular stroma and a capsule correlated with grade and the percentage of vascular area. Experimentally induced VX2 carcinomas in rabbit thigh demonstrated various patterns of tumor vascularity, and the findings of enhanced power Doppler sonography correlated with those of DSA. Tumor vascularity, as demonstrated by two imaging modalities, correlated closely with grade of necrosis and the development of fibrovascular stroma and a capsule, as revealed by histopathologic examination.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Young Hoon; Han, Joon Koo; Chung, Jin Wook; Lee, Kyoung Ho; Kim, Se Hyung; Kim, Seog Joon; Choi, Byung Ihn; Chang, Kee Hyun
2002-01-01
To describe findings of enhanced power Doppler sonography and DSA in experimentally induced VX2 carcinomas in rabbit thigh and to correlate the imaging findings with the histopathologic features. A total of 30 VX2 carcinomas were implanted in rabbit thigh, and after conventional and enhanced power Doppler sonography and DSA, histopathologic examination was performed. Enhanced power Doppler sonography and DSA, were used to determine the distribution pattern of tumor vascularity; to assess its grade and the percentage of a tumor area occupied by vessels, conventional and enhanced power Doppler sonography, as well as DSA, were used. The grade of necrosis and the development of fibrovascular stroma and capsule were histopathologically determined. The findings of power Doppler sonography were compared with those of DSA and the imaging features were correlated with the histopathologic features. At enhanced power Doppler sonography, the signal was either avascular (n=9), peripheral (n=15) or diffuse (n=6), while at DSA, the corresponding totals were eight, fourteen and eight. There was statistically significant corelation between enhanced power Doppler sonogrpahy and DSA, both in their depiction of the distribution of patterns of tumor vascularity and as regards their findings of grade and percentage of vascular area. As determined by both conventional and enhanced power Doppler sonogrpahy, and by DSA, grade of necrosis and the development of fibrovascular stroma and a capsule correlated with grade and the percentage of vascular area. Experimentally induced VX2 carcinomas in rabbit thigh demonstrated various patterns of tumor vascularity, and the findings of enhanced power Doppler sonography correlated with those of DSA. Tumor vascularity, as demonstrated by two imaging modalities, correlated closely with grade of necrosis and the development of fibrovascular stroma and a capsule, as revealed by histopathologic examination
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Christine F. Marton
2011-01-01
Full Text Available Objectives – To compare the performance of the vector space model and the probabilistic weighting model of relevance feedback for the overall purpose of determining the most useful relevance feedback procedures. The amount of improvement that can be obtained from searching several test document collections with only one feedback iteration of each relevance feedback model was measured.Design – The experimental design consisted of 72 different tests: 2 different relevance feedback methods, each with 6 permutations, on 6 test document collections of various sizes. A residual collection method was utilized to ascertain the “true advantage provided by the relevance feedback process.” (Salton & Buckley, 1990, p. 293Setting – Department of Computer Science at Cornell University.Subjects – Six test document collections.Methods – Relevance feedback is an effective technique for query modification that provides significant improvement in search performance. Relevance feedback entails both “term reweighting,” the modification of term weights based on term use in retrieved relevant and non-relevant documents, and “query expansion,” which is the addition of new terms from relevant documents retrieved (Harman, 1992. Salton and Buckley (1990 evaluated two established relevance feedback models based on the vector space model (a spatial model and the probabilistic model, respectively. Harman (1992 describes the two key differences between these competing models of relevance feedback.[The vector space model merges] document vectors and original query vectors. This automatically reweights query terms by adding the weights from the actual occurrence of those query terms in the relevant documents, and subtracting the weights of those terms occurring in the non-relevant documents. Queries are automatically expanded by adding all the terms not in the original query that are in the relevant documents and non-relevant documents. They are expanded
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Yang, Ik; Chung, Soo Young; Lee, Kyung Won; Kim, Hong Dae; Ko, Eun Young; Won, Mi Sook; Noh, Jung Woo [Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Moon Hyang [Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
2001-12-15
To evaluate changes of the high-resolution (HR) gray scale and doppler ultrasonographic (US) characteristics of experimentally induced acute uric acid (UA) nephropathy in rabbits. Acute UA nephropathy was induced in ten rabbits using supersaturated lithium carbonate solution. The rabbits were divided in two groups. Group I consisted of five rabbits, and they were injected with a single dose of 150 ml of saturated UA over one hour. During tis period, serial US studies of the kidneys of these rabbits were performed every ten minutes. Group II consisted of the remaining five rabbits, and three injections of 50 ml of saturated UA solution were given on the first, fifth and eight day and follow-up was done upto twenty fifth day. Sequential HR and Doppler US, renal biopsy and blood sampling were performed on day 1, 5, 8, 21, and 25 in the group II rabbits. In group I, HR and Doppler US examination revealed the normal resistive index without significant abnormality. On the other hand, US studies of group II showed poor renal corticomedullary differentiation, decreased renal blood flow and elevated resistive index. There was statistically significant correlation among US findings, histologic characteristics and chemical index (BUN, creatinine) of renal function. In addition, sequentially increased size and volume of the kidney were noted in both groups. HR gray scale and doppler US characteristics of experimentally induced acute UA nephropathy in rabbits were similar to those of acute renal failure caused by other well-known causes.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yang, Ik; Chung, Soo Young; Lee, Kyung Won; Kim, Hong Dae; Ko, Eun Young; Won, Mi Sook; Noh, Jung Woo; Park, Moon Hyang
2001-01-01
To evaluate changes of the high-resolution (HR) gray scale and doppler ultrasonographic (US) characteristics of experimentally induced acute uric acid (UA) nephropathy in rabbits. Acute UA nephropathy was induced in ten rabbits using supersaturated lithium carbonate solution. The rabbits were divided in two groups. Group I consisted of five rabbits, and they were injected with a single dose of 150 ml of saturated UA over one hour. During tis period, serial US studies of the kidneys of these rabbits were performed every ten minutes. Group II consisted of the remaining five rabbits, and three injections of 50 ml of saturated UA solution were given on the first, fifth and eight day and follow-up was done upto twenty fifth day. Sequential HR and Doppler US, renal biopsy and blood sampling were performed on day 1, 5, 8, 21, and 25 in the group II rabbits. In group I, HR and Doppler US examination revealed the normal resistive index without significant abnormality. On the other hand, US studies of group II showed poor renal corticomedullary differentiation, decreased renal blood flow and elevated resistive index. There was statistically significant correlation among US findings, histologic characteristics and chemical index (BUN, creatinine) of renal function. In addition, sequentially increased size and volume of the kidney were noted in both groups. HR gray scale and doppler US characteristics of experimentally induced acute UA nephropathy in rabbits were similar to those of acute renal failure caused by other well-known causes.
Abdominal alterations in disseminated paracoccidioidomycosis: computed tomography findings
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Vermelho, Marli Batista Fernandes; Correia, Ademir Silva; Michailowsky, Tania Cibele de Almeida; Suzart, Elizete Kazumi Kuniyoshi; Ibanes, Aline Santos; Almeida, Lanamar Aparecida; Khoury, Zarifa; Barba, Mario Flores, E-mail: marlivermelho@globo.com [Instituto de Infectologia Emilio Ribas (IIER), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)
2015-03-15
Objective: to evaluate the incidence and spectrum of abdominal computed tomography imaging findings in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis. Materials and methods: retrospective analysis of abdominal computed tomography images of 26 patients with disseminated paracoccidioidomycosis. Results: abnormal abdominal tomographic findings were observed in 18 patients (69.2%), while no significant finding was observed in the other 8 (30.8%) patients. Conclusion: computed tomography has demonstrated to play a relevant role in the screening and detection of abdominal abnormalities in patients with disseminated paracoccidioidomycosis. (author)
Computational and Experimental Approaches to Visual Aesthetics
Brachmann, Anselm; Redies, Christoph
2017-01-01
Aesthetics has been the subject of long-standing debates by philosophers and psychologists alike. In psychology, it is generally agreed that aesthetic experience results from an interaction between perception, cognition, and emotion. By experimental means, this triad has been studied in the field of experimental aesthetics, which aims to gain a better understanding of how aesthetic experience relates to fundamental principles of human visual perception and brain processes. Recently, researchers in computer vision have also gained interest in the topic, giving rise to the field of computational aesthetics. With computing hardware and methodology developing at a high pace, the modeling of perceptually relevant aspect of aesthetic stimuli has a huge potential. In this review, we present an overview of recent developments in computational aesthetics and how they relate to experimental studies. In the first part, we cover topics such as the prediction of ratings, style and artist identification as well as computational methods in art history, such as the detection of influences among artists or forgeries. We also describe currently used computational algorithms, such as classifiers and deep neural networks. In the second part, we summarize results from the field of experimental aesthetics and cover several isolated image properties that are believed to have a effect on the aesthetic appeal of visual stimuli. Their relation to each other and to findings from computational aesthetics are discussed. Moreover, we compare the strategies in the two fields of research and suggest that both fields would greatly profit from a joined research effort. We hope to encourage researchers from both disciplines to work more closely together in order to understand visual aesthetics from an integrated point of view. PMID:29184491
An Investigation of the Academic Information Finding and Re-finding Behavior on the Web
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hsiao-Tieh Pu
2014-12-01
Full Text Available Academic researchers often need and re-use relevant information found after a period of time. This preliminary study used various methods, including experiments, interviews, search log analysis, sequential analysis, and observation to investigate characteristics of academic information finding and re-finding behavior. Overall, the participants in this study entered short queries either in finding or re-finding phases. Comparatively speaking, the participants entered greater number of queries, modified more queries, browsed more web pages, and stayed longer on web pages in the finding phase. On the other hand, in the re-finding phase, they utilized personal information management tools to re-find instead of finding again using search engine, such as checking browsing history; moreover, they tend to input less number of queries and stayed shorter on web pages. In short, the participants interacted more with the retrieval system during the finding phase, while they increased the use of personal information management tools in the re-finding phase. As to the contextual clues used in re-finding phase, the participants used less clues from the target itself, instead, they used indirect clues more often, especially location-related information. Based on the results of sequential analysis, the transition states in the re-finding phase was found to be more complex than those in the finding phase. Web information finding and re-finding behavior is an important and novel area of research. The preliminary results would benefit research on Web information re-finding behavior, and provide useful suggestions for developing personal academic information management systems. [Article content in Chinese
Climate-relevant monitorings in Germany
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Metternich, P.
1993-01-01
This catalogue contains so-called meta-data; i.e. information on data. For each measuring programme or set of data, users find the address (postal address, telephone, fax-number) of the respective contact person at the beginning of the entry. The catalogue has three parts: Part A is a compilation of monitoring programmes using conventional methods adopted on the ground. Part B contains research programmes or sets of data from the field of remote sensing. In part C, data sets from time series of climate-relevant parameters are described. Section A was additionally structured according so the compartments of the climate system: Atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere. (orig./KW) [de
A review of electrochemistry of relevance to environment-assisted cracking in light water reactors
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Turnbull, A.; Psaila-Dombrowski, M.
1992-01-01
The electrochemistry of relevance to environment-assisted cracking in high temperature, low conductivity water is critically reviewed. The review covers corrosion potential and electrochemical polarisation measurements, thermodynamics, and also experimental measurements and mathematical modelling of the electrochemistry in cracks and crevices. There is a lack of critical data in relation to the electrode kinetics of relevant cathodic reduction reactions, namely H + , H 2 O, O 2 , H 2 O 2 and steady-state anodic reaction data are limited. Transient anodic current measurements, associated with initially film-free metal, have been made for a range of conditions but there is uncertainty regarding the role of fluid flow and transport processes on the current decay characteristics. A number of experimental measurements of potential and pH in crevices and cracks have been made but the experiments are difficult to carry out reliably and hence the range of data of relevance to practical conditions is very limited. Recent developments in mathematical modelling have significantly enhanced the qualitative understanding of the processes controlling the local electrochemistry in cracks and crevices but the reliability of the quantitative predictions is limited by the paucity of reliable input data. (Author)
Kong, W.G.; Wang, A.; Chou, I.-Ming
2011-01-01
Recent findings of various ferric sulfates on Mars emphasize the importance of understanding the fundamental properties of ferric sulfates at temperatures relevant to that of Martian surface. In this study, the phase boundary between kornelite (Fe2(SO4)3.7H2O) and pentahydrated ferric sulfate (Fe2(SO4)3.5H2O) was experimentally determined using the humidity-buffer technique together with gravimetric measurements and Raman spectroscopy at 0.1MPa in the 36-56??C temperature range. Through the thermodynamic analysis of our experimental data, the enthalpy change (-290.8??0.3kJ/mol) and the Gibbs free energy change (-238.82??0.02kJ/mol) for each water molecule of crystallization in the rehydration of pentahydrated ferric sulfate to kornelite were obtained. ?? 2011 Elsevier B.V.
Young, Jared W; Markou, Athina
2015-09-01
Amotivation and reward-processing deficits have long been described in patients with schizophrenia and considered large contributors to patients' inability to integrate well in society. No effective treatments exist for these symptoms, partly because the neuromechanisms mediating such symptoms are poorly understood. Here, we propose a translational neuroscientific approach that can be used to assess reward/motivational deficits related to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia using behavioral paradigms that can also be conducted in experimental animals. By designing and using objective laboratory behavioral tools that are parallel in their parameters in rodents and humans, the neuromechanisms underlying behaviors with relevance to these symptoms of schizophrenia can be investigated. We describe tasks that measure the motivation of rodents to expend physical and cognitive effort to gain rewards, as well as probabilistic learning tasks that assess both reward learning and feedback-based decision making. The latter tasks are relevant because of demonstrated links of performance deficits correlating with negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. These tasks utilize operant techniques in order to investigate neural circuits targeting a specific domain across species. These tasks therefore enable the development of insights into altered mechanisms leading to negative symptom-relevant behaviors in patients with schizophrenia. Such findings will then enable the development of targeted treatments for these altered neuromechanisms and behaviors seen in schizophrenia. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Reina, M A; Arriazu, R; Collier, C B; Sala-Blanch, X; Izquierdo, L; de Andrés, J
2013-12-01
The goal is to describe the ultrastructure of normal human peripheral nerves, and to highlight key aspects that are relevant to the practice of peripheral nerve block anaesthesia. Using samples of sciatic nerve obtained from patients, and dural sac, nerve root cuff and brachial plexus dissected from fresh human cadavers, an analysis of the structure of peripheral nerve axons and distribution of fascicles and topographic composition of the layers that cover the nerve is presented. Myelinated and unmyelinated axons, fascicles, epineurium, perineurium and endoneurium obtained from patients and fresh cadavers were studied by light microscopy using immunohistochemical techniques, and transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Structure of perineurium and intrafascicular capillaries, and its implications in blood-nerve barrier were revised. Each of the anatomical elements is analyzed individually with regard to its relevance to clinical practice to regional anaesthesia. Routine practice of regional anaesthetic techniques and ultrasound identification of nerve structures has led to conceptions, which repercussions may be relevant in future applications of these techniques. In this regard, the ultrastructural and histological perspective accomplished through findings of this study aims at enlightening arising questions within the field of regional anaesthesia. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.
Finding the Genesis for a Thesis
Caroll, Joyce Armstrong
2013-01-01
This article describes a prewriting heuristics strategy that can help students find the genesis of their thesis. The 3 functions of the heuristic procedure are that it aids in retrieving relevant information stored in the mind; draws attention to important information that can be further researched or accessed; and prepares the mind for the…
Incidental Cardiac Findings on Thoracic Imaging.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
Kok, Hong Kuan
2013-02-07
The cardiac structures are well seen on nongated thoracic computed tomography studies in the investigation and follow-up of cardiopulmonary disease. A wide variety of findings can be incidentally picked up on careful evaluation of the pericardium, cardiac chambers, valves, and great vessels. Some of these findings may represent benign variants, whereas others may have more profound clinical importance. Furthermore, the expansion of interventional and surgical practice has led to the development and placement of new cardiac stents, implantable pacemaker devices, and prosthetic valves with which the practicing radiologist should be familiar. We present a collection of common incidental cardiac findings that can be readily identified on thoracic computed tomography studies and briefly discuss their clinical relevance.
Eugster, Manuel J. A.; Ruotsalo, Tuukka; Spapé, Michiel M.; Barral, Oswald; Ravaja, Niklas; Jacucci, Giulio; Kaski, Samuel
2016-01-01
Finding relevant information from large document collections such as the World Wide Web is a common task in our daily lives. Estimation of a user’s interest or search intention is necessary to recommend and retrieve relevant information from these collections. We introduce a brain-information interface used for recommending information by relevance inferred directly from brain signals. In experiments, participants were asked to read Wikipedia documents about a selection of topics while their EEG was recorded. Based on the prediction of word relevance, the individual’s search intent was modeled and successfully used for retrieving new relevant documents from the whole English Wikipedia corpus. The results show that the users’ interests toward digital content can be modeled from the brain signals evoked by reading. The introduced brain-relevance paradigm enables the recommendation of information without any explicit user interaction and may be applied across diverse information-intensive applications. PMID:27929077
Attention bias towards personally relevant stimuli: the individual emotional Stroop task.
Wingenfeld, Katja; Bullig, Renate; Mensebach, Christoph; Hartje, Wolfgang; Driessen, Martin; Beblo, Thomas
2006-12-01
The emotional Stroop task is a widely used method for investigating attentional bias towards stimuli due to mood or affect. In general, standardized stimuli are used, which might not be appropriate when investigating individual contextual frameworks. It was investigated whether words chosen to be related to individuals' personal life events would produce more pronounced Stroop interference (as an indicator of attentional bias) than stimuli without any personal relevance. Twenty-six nonclinical subjects, 20 female and 6 male, participated in the study. Mean age was 36.1 yr. (SD = 18.1). All were recruited by means of local advertising. Stimulus material consisted of four word types: personal words related to negative life events with and without current personal relevance, and negative and neutral words without any personal relevance. Words were presented in three blocks. Analysis of variance showed main effects for word type and blocks, with slower reactions in the personally relevant conditions than in the negative, or neutral conditions, and in response to the first blocks as opposed to the last. These findings indicate that regardless of the word valence, personally relevant stimuli evoke more pronounced Stroop interference than do stimuli without personal relevance.
A Study of Novice Science Teachers' Conceptualizations of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Redman, Elizabeth Horst
This qualitative study examined new science teachers' conceptualization of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). The study followed six novice science teachers from their preservice teaching placements into their first jobs as instructors of record, observing in their classrooms and interviewing them about their use of CRP. The study sought to understand (1) how the participating teachers conceptualize CRP in science, and (2) what challenges the teachers faced in trying to implement CRP. Findings suggest that the teachers conceptualized CRP in ways that were consistent with Enyedy, Danish and Fields' (2011) interpretations of relevance: relevance of authentic purpose, relevance of content and/or context, and relevance of practices. The teachers, however, translated those interpretations of relevance into their conceptualizations and classroom practice in a variety of ways. While they encountered difficulties in conceptualizing and practicing CRP, they also made productive moves in their practice and evidenced positive elements in their conceptualizations of CRP. In order to address the challenges these teachers faced in implementing CRP, I suggest an approach to teacher preparation in CRP that builds upon the understandings and productive moves the teachers evidenced in this study.
Insider Trading B-side: relevance, timeliness and position influence
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luiz Felipe de A. Pontes Girão
2015-12-01
Full Text Available Objective – Our main objective is to analyze the impacto f insider trading on stock investments’ decision. Design/methodology/approach – We used an online survey, obtaining 271 valid answers. To analyze our data, we used some parametric (t and F Anova, and non-parametric techniques (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis. Findings – We find that insider tradings are relevant to investment decisions, and the timeliness also exert an influence to this kind of decision, especially abnormal trades. Practical implications – In practical terms, our results suggests that the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM must update the Brazilian insider trading regulation to achieve the objective to protect investors. In the investors point of view, this possible update could improve investors’ ability to control insiders and follow his activities as well as to mimic his trades. Originality/value – The originality of our paper is an analysis of relevance, timeliness and influence of position in a firm as “determinants” of investment decisions. We use these three specific characteristics to criticize the Brazilian insider trading regulation.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bilal Kimouche
2016-03-01
Full Text Available Purpose: The paper aims to explore whether intangible items that recognised in financial statements are value-relevant to investors in the French context, and whether these items affect the value relevance of accounting information. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data were collected from a sample of French listed companies, over the nine-year period of 2005 to 2013. Starting of Ohlson’s (1995 model, the correlation analysis and the linear multiple regressions have been applied. Findings: We find that intangibles and traditional accounting measures as a whole are value relevant. However, the amortization and impairment charges of intangibles and cash flows do not affect the market values of French companies, unlike other variables, which affect positively and substantially the market values. Also goodwill and book values are more associated with market values than intangible assets and earnings respectively. Finally, we find that intangibles have improved the value relevance of accounting information. Practical implications: French legislators must give more interest for intangibles, in order to enrich the financial statements content and increasing the pertinence of accounting information. Auditors must give more attention for intangibles’ examination process, in order to certify the amounts related to intangibles in financial statements, and hence enrich their reliability, what provides adequacy guarantees for investors to use them in decision making. Originality/value: The paper used recently available financial data, and proposed an improvement concerning the measure of incremental value relevance of intangibles items.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Langner, S.; Buelow, R.; Kirsch, M. [University Medicine Greifswald (Germany). Inst. for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology; Fleck, S. [University Medicine Greifswald (Germany). Dept. of Neurosurgery; Angermaier, A. [University Medicine Greifswald (Germany). Dept. of Neurology
2016-12-15
The wider use of MRI for imaging of the head in both research and clinical practice has led to an increasing number of intracranial incidental findings. Most of these findings have no immediate medical consequences. Nevertheless, knowledge of common intracranial incidental findings and their clinical relevance is necessary to adequately discuss the findings with the patient. Based on the author's experiences from a large population-based study, the most common incidental MR findings in the brain will be presented, discussing their clinical relevance and giving recommendations for management according to the current literature and guidelines.
"1"2"3I-FP-CIT SPECT findings and its clinical relevance in prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kasanuki, Koji; Iseki, Eizo; Ota, Kazumi; Kondo, Daizo; Sato, Kiyoshi; Ichimiya, Yosuke; Arai, Heii
2017-01-01
Evidence for the prodromal stage of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is very limited. To address this issue, we investigate the "1"2"3I-FP-CIT SPECT measure of dopamine transporter binding finding and its clinical relevance. We enrolled subjects into a prodromal DLB group (PRD-DLB) (n = 20) and clinical DLB group (CLIN-DLB) (n = 18) and compared these groups with an Alzheimer's disease control group (AD) (n = 10). PRD-DLB was defined as patients having the non-motor symptoms associated with Lewy body disease (LBD) [i.e. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), olfactory dysfunction, autonomic dysfunction, and depression] and showing characteristic diffuse occipital hypometabolism in "1"8F-FDG PET. CLIN-DLB was defined as patients fulfilling the established criteria of probable DLB. Striatal specific binding ratio (SBR) of "1"2"3I-FP-CIT SPECT was used for objective group comparisons. The correlations between SBR and cognitive function (MMSE), motor symptoms (UPDRS3), and duration of LBD-associated non-motor symptoms were compared between the two DLB groups. Mean SBR scores of both PRD-DLB and CLIN-DLB were significantly lower than those of AD. No correlation was found between SBR and MMSE scores. Both in the CLIN-DLB and total DLB groups, SBR scores were negatively correlated with UPDRS3 scores, whereas no correlation was found in PRD-DLB. Among the LBD-related non-motor symptoms, duration of olfactory dysfunction, and RBD demonstrated negative correlation with SBR scores in PRD-DLB. "1"2"3I-FP-CIT SPECT may play a role for detecting DLB among the subjects in prodromal stage. During this stage, long-term olfactory dysfunction and/or RBD may indicate more severe degeneration of the nigro-striatal dopaminergic pathway. (orig.)
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sanjeev Gupta
2015-02-01
with the operation of passive safety systems in phenomena oriented and coupled effects experiments. In the present paper, potential hydrogen and fission product issues raised by the Fukushima accident are discussed. The discussion focuses on hydrogen and fission product behavior inside nuclear power plant containments under severe accident conditions. The relevant experimental investigations conducted in the technical scale containment THAI (thermal hydraulics, hydrogen, aerosols, and iodine test facility (9.2 m high, 3.2 m in diameter, and 60 m3 volume are discussed in the light of the Fukushima accident.
A Business-Relevant View of Human Nature
Mitreanu, Cristian
2007-01-01
The article, "A Business-Relevant View of Human Nature," provides a new theory of human nature, and aims to bring it to the center of our understanding of business, or commerce, creating a strong foundation for new business and economic principles and practices. The article has three parts. In the first section, the author identifies and discusses the fundamental drives that characterize all forms of life. Building upon these findings, he then develops the unique view of human nature in the s...
Dilution thermodynamics of the biologically relevant cation mixtures
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kaczyński, Marek; Borowik, Tomasz; Przybyło, Magda; Langner, Marek
2014-01-01
Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Dilution energetics of Ca 2+ can be altered by the aqueous phase ionic composition. • Dissipated heat upon Ca 2+ dilution is drastically reduced in the K + presence. • Reduction of the enthalpy change upon Ca 2+ dilution is K + concentration dependent. • The cooperativity of Ca 2+ hydration might be of great biological relevance providing a thermodynamic argument for the specific ionic composition of the intracellular environment. - Abstract: The ionic composition of intracellular space is rigorously controlled by a variety of processes consuming large quantities of energy. Since the energetic efficiency is an important evolutional criterion, therefore the ion fluxes within the cell should be optimized with respect to the accompanying energy consumption. In the paper we present the experimental evidence that the dilution enthalpies of the biologically relevant ions; i.e. calcium and magnesium depend on the presence of monovalent cations; i.e. sodium and potassium. The heat flow generated during the dilution of ionic mixtures was measured with the isothermal titration calorimetry. When calcium was diluted together with potassium the dilution enthalpy was drastically reduced as the function of the potassium concentration present in the solution. No such effect was observed when the potassium ions were substituted with sodium ones. When the dilution of magnesium was investigated the dependence of the dilution enthalpy on the accompanying monovalent cation was much weaker. In order to interpret experimental evidences the ionic cluster formation is postulated. The specific organization of such cluster should depend on ions charges, sizes and organization of the hydration layers
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takeda, A.; Okumura, S.; Miyamoto, T.; Hagio, M.; Fujinaga, T.
1995-01-01
The relationship between extravascular lung water volume (ELWV) and chest radiographical findings was studied in general-anesthetized beagles. The dogs were experimentally injected with oleic acid to increase pulmonary vascular permeability. When the ELWV value in the dogs increased more than approximately 37% from the control value, their chest radiographs began to show signs of pulmonary edema. At this time, the chest X-ray density increased to 10% above the control level. PaO2 decreased, and PaCO2 increased after the administration of oleic acid. This clearly showed that the pulmonary gas exchange function was reduced following increasing ELWV. This comparison showed that probably the thermal-sodium double indicator dilution measurement of ELWV can detect slight hyperpermeability pulmonary edema that does not show on chest radiographs. The chest radiograph was therefore not suitable for the detection of slight pulmonary edema, because it did not show any changes in the early stages in hyperpermeability pulmonary edema
Tavares, Gustavo M; Sobral, Filipe; Goldszmidt, Rafael; Araújo, Felipe
2018-01-01
Although research on implicit leadership theories (ILTs) has concentrated on determining which attributes define a leadership prototype, little attention has been paid to testing the relative importance of each of these attributes for individuals' leadership perceptions. Building on socio-cognitive theories of impression processes, we experimentally explore the formation of leadership perceptions based on the recognition of six key attributes in a series of three experimental studies comprising 566 US-based participants recruited online via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Our results show that while certain attributes play an important role in the leader categorization process, others are less relevant. We also demonstrate that some attributes' importance is contingent on the presence of other attributes and on the leadership schema type activated in respondents' minds. Consistent with the Leadership Categorization Theory, our findings support the premise that individuals cognitively hold a superordinate leadership prototype, which imposes constraints on their more basic level prototypes. We discuss the implications of these results for leadership theory and practice.
Opening the Implicit Leadership Theories’ Black Box: An Experimental Approach with Conjoint Analysis
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gustavo M. Tavares
2018-02-01
Full Text Available Although research on implicit leadership theories (ILTs has concentrated on determining which attributes define a leadership prototype, little attention has been paid to testing the relative importance of each of these attributes for individuals’ leadership perceptions. Building on socio-cognitive theories of impression processes, we experimentally explore the formation of leadership perceptions based on the recognition of six key attributes in a series of three experimental studies comprising 566 US-based participants recruited online via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Our results show that while certain attributes play an important role in the leader categorization process, others are less relevant. We also demonstrate that some attributes’ importance is contingent on the presence of other attributes and on the leadership schema type activated in respondents’ minds. Consistent with the Leadership Categorization Theory, our findings support the premise that individuals cognitively hold a superordinate leadership prototype, which imposes constraints on their more basic level prototypes. We discuss the implications of these results for leadership theory and practice.
Opening the Implicit Leadership Theories’ Black Box: An Experimental Approach with Conjoint Analysis
Tavares, Gustavo M.; Sobral, Filipe; Goldszmidt, Rafael; Araújo, Felipe
2018-01-01
Although research on implicit leadership theories (ILTs) has concentrated on determining which attributes define a leadership prototype, little attention has been paid to testing the relative importance of each of these attributes for individuals’ leadership perceptions. Building on socio-cognitive theories of impression processes, we experimentally explore the formation of leadership perceptions based on the recognition of six key attributes in a series of three experimental studies comprising 566 US-based participants recruited online via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Our results show that while certain attributes play an important role in the leader categorization process, others are less relevant. We also demonstrate that some attributes’ importance is contingent on the presence of other attributes and on the leadership schema type activated in respondents’ minds. Consistent with the Leadership Categorization Theory, our findings support the premise that individuals cognitively hold a superordinate leadership prototype, which imposes constraints on their more basic level prototypes. We discuss the implications of these results for leadership theory and practice. PMID:29467706
Agarwal, Shashank; Liu, Feifan; Yu, Hong
2011-10-03
Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is an important biomedical phenomenon. Automatically detecting PPI-relevant articles and identifying methods that are used to study PPI are important text mining tasks. In this study, we have explored domain independent features to develop two open source machine learning frameworks. One performs binary classification to determine whether the given article is PPI relevant or not, named "Simple Classifier", and the other one maps the PPI relevant articles with corresponding interaction method nodes in a standardized PSI-MI (Proteomics Standards Initiative-Molecular Interactions) ontology, named "OntoNorm". We evaluated our system in the context of BioCreative challenge competition using the standardized data set. Our systems are amongst the top systems reported by the organizers, attaining 60.8% F1-score for identifying relevant documents, and 52.3% F1-score for mapping articles to interaction method ontology. Our results show that domain-independent machine learning frameworks can perform competitively well at the tasks of detecting PPI relevant articles and identifying the methods that were used to study the interaction in such articles. Simple Classifier is available at http://sourceforge.net/p/simpleclassify/home/ and OntoNorm at http://sourceforge.net/p/ontonorm/home/.
Relevant problems in collaborative processes of non-hierarchical manufacturing networks
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Beatriz Andrés
2013-07-01
Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify some of existing problems associated with collaboration among SMEs of the same network. Concretely, the problems are focused. The research objective is to identify the most relevant problems existing when SMEs have to deal with decentralized decisions (DDM. Design/methodology/approach: Through the literature review there have been collected collaborative problems caused by inter-organizational barriers. The approach taken is a qualitative study and analysis that classifies collaborative problems from less important to very important. In light of this, we are able to identify what are the most relevant problems to study in the NHN collaborative context. Findings and Originality/value: The developed methodology allows researchers to indentify amongst the collaborative problems those that are most relevant to solve in the NHN context, with the main aim of providing solutions in the future. The research aim is to provide the expert in the collaborative field a starting point to address the collaborative problems SMEs can find when belonging to collaborative networks. Research limitations/implications: Not all the problems that appear when an SME establish collaborative relationships, in a NHN, are considered. The identified problems have been arisen because there are discussed in the literature for addressing collaborative problems among networked partners. Identified problems are also considered because there are relevant to achieve collaboration among SMEs. Originality/value: The degree of coverage and the degree of significance is the taxonomy criteria used to identify the importance of solution degree of the encountered collaborative problems, in NHN context, in order to provide a future research of solutions to overcome them.
Assessors' Search Result Satisfaction Associated with Relevance in a Scientific Domain
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ingwersen, Peter; Lykke, Marianne; Bogers, Toine
2010-01-01
genuine information tasks. Ease of assessment and search satisfaction are cross tabulated with retrieval performance measured by Normalized Discounted Cumulated Gain. Results show that when assessors find small numbers of relevant documents they tend to regard the search results with dissatisfaction and...
Wagner, Amy K; Brayer, Samuel W; Hurwitz, Max; Niyonkuru, Christian; Zou, Huichao; Failla, Michelle; Arenth, Patricia; Manole, Mioara D; Skidmore, Elizabeth; Thiels, Edda
2013-11-01
Explicit and implicit learning and memory networks exist where each network can facilitate or inhibit cognition. Clinical evidence suggests that implicit networks are relatively preserved after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Non-spatial pre-training (NSPT) in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) provides the necessary behavioral components to complete the task, while limiting the formation of spatial maps. Our study utilized NSPT in the MWM to assess implicit and explicit learning and memory system deficits in the controlled cortical impact (CCI) model of TBI. 76 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided: CCI vs. sham surgery, NSPT vs. No-NSPT, and cued vs. non-cued groups. NSPT occurred for 4d prior to surgery (dynamic hidden platform location, extra-maze cues covered, static pool entry point). Acquisition (d14-18), Probe/Visible Platform (d19), and Reversal (d20-21) trials were conducted with or without extra-maze cues. Novel time allocation and search strategy selection metrics were utilized. Results indicated implicit and explicit learning/memory networks are distinguishable in the MWM. In the cued condition, NSPT reduced thigmotaxis, improved place learning, and largely eliminated the apparent injury-induced deficits typically observed between untrained CCI and sham rats. However, among NSPT groups, incorporation of cues into search strategy selection for CCI rats was relatively impaired compared to shams. Non-cued condition performance showed sham/NSPT and CCI/NSPT rats perform similarly, suggesting implicit memory networks are largely intact 2weeks after CCI. Place learning differences between CCI/NSPT and sham/NSPT rats more accurately reflect spatial deficits in our CCI model compared to untrained controls. These data suggest NSPT as a clinically relevant construct for evaluating potential neurorestorative and neuroprotective therapies. These findings also support development of non-spatial cognitive training paradigms for evaluating rehabilitation relevant
User perspectives on relevance criteria
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Maglaughlin, Kelly L.; Sonnenwald, Diane H.
2002-01-01
, partially relevant, or not relevant to their information need; and explained their decisions in an interview. Analysis revealed 29 criteria, discussed positively and negatively, that were used by the participants when selecting passages that contributed or detracted from a document's relevance......This study investigates the use of criteria to assess relevant, partially relevant, and not-relevant documents. Study participants identified passages within 20 document representations that they used to make relevance judgments; judged each document representation as a whole to be relevant...... matter, thought catalyst), full text (e.g., audience, novelty, type, possible content, utility), journal/publisher (e.g., novelty, main focus, perceived quality), and personal (e.g., competition, time requirements). Results further indicate that multiple criteria are used when making relevant, partially...
Incidental findings in chest X-rays; Zufallsbefunde im Roentgenthorax
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wielpuetz, M.O.; Kauczor, H.U. [Universitaetsklinikum Heidelberg, Klinik fuer Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany); Universitaet Heidelberg, Translational Lung Research Center (TLRC), Deutsches Zentrum fuer Lungenforschung (DZL), Heidelberg (Germany); Universitaetsklinikum Heidelberg, Klinik fuer Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie mit Nuklearmedizin, Thoraxklinik, Heidelberg (Germany); Weckbach, S. [Universitaetsklinikum Heidelberg, Klinik fuer Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany); Universitaet Heidelberg, Translational Lung Research Center (TLRC), Deutsches Zentrum fuer Lungenforschung (DZL), Heidelberg (Germany)
2017-04-15
Conventional projection radiography (chest x-ray) is one of the most frequently requested procedures in radiology. Even though chest x-ray imaging is frequently performed in asymptomatic patients for preoperative assessment, clinically relevant incidental findings are relatively scarce. This is due to the relatively low sensitivity of chest x-rays where few clinically relevant incidental findings are to be expected, as any detectable pathologies will as a rule already be clinically symptomatic. Recommendations from relevant societies for the management of incidental findings, apart from the clarification of incidental nodules, do not exist. This review article therefore describes the most frequent and typical incidental findings of lung parenchyma (apart from pulmonary nodules), mediastinal structures including the hilum of the lungs, pleura, chest wall and major vessels. Also described are those findings which can be diagnosed with sufficient certainty from chest x-rays so that further clarification is not necessary and those which must be further clarified by multislice imaging procedures or other techniques. (orig.) [German] Eine der haeufigsten Untersuchungen in der Radiologie ist die konventionelle Projektionsradiographie des Thorax (Roentgenthorax). Auch wenn projektionsradiographische Aufnahmen im Rahmen einer praeoperativen Abklaerung haeufig als orientierende Untersuchung angefertigt werden, sind - bedingt durch die relativ geringe Sensitivitaet des Roentgenthorax - wenig klinisch relevante Zufallsbefunde zu erwarten, da nachweisbare Pathologien in der Regel bereits auch klinisch apparent sind. Empfehlungen entsprechender Fachgesellschaften zu Zufallsbefunden im Roentgenthorax jenseits der Abklaerung von Rundherden liegen nicht vor. Die vorliegende Arbeit beleuchtet daher haeufige und typische Zufallsbefunde des Lungenparenchyms (ausser den Lungenrundherden), der mediastinalen Strukturen einschliesslich der Hili, der Pleura, der Thoraxwand sowie der
Development of experimental alloxan model of diabetes mellitus
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
V.V. Semenko
2017-05-01
Full Text Available Background. One of the main causes that lead to the disability of diabetic patients is diabetic retinopathy (DR. The relevance of the problem of DR necessitates the development of optimal experimental models on experimental animals to find effective ways of correcting this pathology. The purpose of our work was to develop an experimental alloxan model of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM for the study of DR, which would not result in the lethal outcome of experimental animals under the action of alloxan; histological examination of changes in the tissues of the eyeball in the reproduction of the DM model for the selection of new effective methods for the metabolic treatment of DR in the early stages. Materials and methods. The experiment was carried out on white outbred Wistar rats weighing 180–200 g. The first group consisted of 20 animals that were not subjected to any influence, served as a control; second group — 30 animals, in which DM was modeled by administration of alloxan and fructose. Results. When modeling DR, vessel changes in the form of wall fibrosis, edema of the endothelium and vasospasm were found. There was also a decrease in the amount of pigment granules, dystrophic changes in the cells of the ganglionic layer and a layer of retinal rods and cones, which coincides with the descriptions of damage to the coats of the eyeball in patients with DM. Conclusions. In our studies, we have calculated the optimal dose of alloxan administration, which does not lead to the death of rats (the lethality of rats was absent and is an effective model not only of DM in general, but also of DR.
The relevance of 7-day patch test reading.
Higgins, Eleanor; Collins, Paul
2013-01-01
Patch test readings are usually performed on day 2 (48 hours) and day 4 (96 hours). However, reports in the literature identify delayed allergy to metals, corticosteroids, antibiotics, some preservatives, acrylic and methacrylic monomers and p-phenylenediamine. The aim of our study was to identify the benefit of performing a day 7 (168 hours) reading to identify relevant late positive reactions. Two hundred three consecutive patients were patch tested to the British Society for Cutaneous Allergy standard series with additional test series selected according to clinical history and applied at the same time. Twenty-six patients (12.8%) had new positive reactions on day 7 (168 hours), with 28 relevant positive reactions to 21 allergens. These included mercury 0.5% (2/26); cobalt chloride 1% (2/26); colophony 20% (2/26); disperse blue mix 106/124 1% (2/26); preservatives (4/26) that included Methylchloroisothiazolinone/methylisothiazolinone, sodium metabisulfite, and diazolidinyl urea; fragrances (7/26); and gentamycin sulfate 20% (1/26). These results confirm findings in the literature and support the argument for performing a day 7 reading (168 hours) to identify relevant late positive reactions.
The visualization and availability of experimental research data at Elsevier
Keall, Bethan
2014-05-01
In the digital age, the visualization and availability of experimental research data is an increasingly prominent aspect of the research process and of the scientific output that researchers generate. We expect that the importance of data will continue to grow, driven by technological advancements, requirements from funding bodies to make research data available, and a developing research data infrastructure that is supported by data repositories, science publishers, and other stakeholders. Elsevier is actively contributing to these efforts, for example by setting up bidirectional links between online articles on ScienceDirect and relevant data sets on trusted data repositories. A key aspect of Elsevier's "Article of the Future" program, these links enrich the online article and make it easier for researchers to find relevant data and articles and help place data in the right context for re-use. Recently, we have set up such links with some of the leading data repositories in Earth Sciences, including the British Geological Survey, Integrated Earth Data Applications, the UK Natural Environment Research Council, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory DAAC. Building on these links, Elsevier has also developed a number of data integration and visualization tools, such as an interactive map viewer that displays the locations of relevant data from PANGAEA next to articles on ScienceDirect. In this presentation we will give an overview of these and other capabilities of the Article of the Future, focusing on how they help advance communication of research in the digital age.
Elaboration of a dictionary for radiographic findings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rocha, Roberto A.; Huff, Stanley M.; Haug, Peter J.
1996-01-01
The process for creating a dictionary to represent chest radiologic findings is summarized. The dictionary is built from different sources of terms, including medical vocabularies and chest X-ray reports. The relevance of each source is estimated using the proportions with which they can be found in the final edition of the dictionary
Persuasion in experimental ultimatum games
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersson, Ola; Galizzi, Matteo M.; Hoppe, Tim
2010-01-01
We study persuasion effects in experimental ultimatum games and find that Proposers' payoffs significantly increase if, along with offers, they can send messages which Responders read before deciding. Higher payoffs are driven by both lower offers and higher acceptance rates.......We study persuasion effects in experimental ultimatum games and find that Proposers' payoffs significantly increase if, along with offers, they can send messages which Responders read before deciding. Higher payoffs are driven by both lower offers and higher acceptance rates....
Stem cell therapy for joint problems using the horse as a clinically relevant animal model
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Koch, Thomas Gadegaard; Betts, Dean H.
2007-01-01
of experimentally induced lesions. The horse lends itself as a good animal model of spontaneous joint disorders that are clinically relevant to similar human disorders. Equine stem cell and tissue engineering studies may be financially feasible to principal investigators and small biotechnology companies...
Dijkstra, Arie; Ballast, Karien
2012-02-01
In most computer-tailored interventions, the recipient's name is used to personalize the information. This is done to increase the process of persuasion but few empirical data exist that support this notion. An experimental laboratory study was conducted to test the effects of mentioning the participants name and to study whether it was related to the depth of processing in a 2 (personalization/standard) × 2 (weak/strong arguments) design. Over 120 student smokers were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions in which they read smoking cessation messages offering (pre-tested) strong or weak arguments. Personalization was applied by mentioning the recipient's first name three times in the text. The intention to quit smoking was the dependent variable. Personalization increased persuasion when perceived personal relevance was high, but it decreased persuasion when perceived personal relevance was low. The effects on persuasion were only present in the case of strong arguments. Personalization is not always effective, and it may even lead to less persuasion. Therefore, this often used way to tailor messages must be applied with care. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.
The relevance of folkloric usage of plant galls as medicines: Finding the scientific rationale.
Patel, Seema; Rauf, Abdur; Khan, Haroon
2018-01-01
Galls, the abnormal growths in plants, induced by virus, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, arthropods, or even other plants, are akin to cancers in fauna. The galls which occur in a myriad of forms are phytochemically-distinct from the normal plant tissues, for these are the sites of tug-of-war, just like the granuloma in animals. To counter the stressors, in the form of the effector proteins of the invaders, the host plants elaborate a large repertoire of metabolites, which they normally will not produce. Perturbation of the jasmonic acid pathway, and the overexpression of auxin, and cytokinin, promote the tissue proliferation and the resultant galls. Though the plant family characteristics and the attackers determine the gall biochemistry, most of the galls are rich in bioactive phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, anthocyanins, purpurogallin, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, triterpenes, alkaloids, lipophilic components (tanshinone) etc. Throughout the long trajectory of evolution, humans have learned to use the galls as therapeutics, much like other plant parts. In diverse cultures, the evidence of folkloric usage of galls abound. Among others, galls from the plant genus like Rhus, Pistacia, Quercus, Terminalia etc. are popular as ethnomedicine. This review mines the literature on galling agents, and the medicinal relevance of galls. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Task relevance of emotional information affects anxiety-linked attention bias in visual search.
Dodd, Helen F; Vogt, Julia; Turkileri, Nilgun; Notebaert, Lies
2017-01-01
Task relevance affects emotional attention in healthy individuals. Here, we investigate whether the association between anxiety and attention bias is affected by the task relevance of emotion during an attention task. Participants completed two visual search tasks. In the emotion-irrelevant task, participants were asked to indicate whether a discrepant face in a crowd of neutral, middle-aged faces was old or young. Irrelevant to the task, target faces displayed angry, happy, or neutral expressions. In the emotion-relevant task, participants were asked to indicate whether a discrepant face in a crowd of middle-aged neutral faces was happy or angry (target faces also varied in age). Trait anxiety was not associated with attention in the emotion-relevant task. However, in the emotion-irrelevant task, trait anxiety was associated with a bias for angry over happy faces. These findings demonstrate that the task relevance of emotional information affects conclusions about the presence of an anxiety-linked attention bias. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Training implicit social anxiety associations: an experimental intervention.
Clerkin, Elise M; Teachman, Bethany A
2010-04-01
The current study investigates an experimental anxiety reduction intervention among a highly socially anxious sample (N=108; n=36 per Condition; 80 women). Using a conditioning paradigm, our goal was to modify implicit social anxiety associations to directly test the premise from cognitive models that biased cognitive processing may be causally related to anxious responding. Participants were trained to preferentially process non-threatening information through repeated pairings of self-relevant stimuli and faces indicating positive social feedback. As expected, participants in this positive training condition (relative to our two control conditions) displayed less negative implicit associations following training, and were more likely to complete an impromptu speech (though they did not report less anxiety during the speech). These findings offer partial support for cognitive models and indicate that implicit associations are not only correlated with social anxiety, they may be causally related to anxiety reduction as well. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Steiner, H.; Freund, D.; Geithoff, D.
1982-09-01
In this report a synopsis of the German carbide program is presented. The program comprises the irradiation of about 100 carbide pins equipped with pelletted fuel. Most of these fuel pins were He-bonded, the sodium bonding concept taken as a back-up solution. The main design parameters such as smear and pellet density, gap size, pin diameter and wall thickness as well as the irradiation conditions were varied mostly within wide ranges. Based on a compilation of relevant pin parameters, irradiation conditions, and the results of various irradiation experiments conclusions on the optimum ranges of the main design parameters are drawn. Furthermore, some important aspects of fuel pin behaviour are discussed based on quantitative results from post irradiation examinations. (orig.) [de
Meij, E.; Weerkamp, W.; Balog, K.; de Rijke, M.; Myang, S.-H.; Oard, D.W.; Sebastiani, F.; Chua, T.-S.; Leong, M.-K.
2008-01-01
We describe a method for applying parsimonious language models to re-estimate the term probabilities assigned by relevance models. We apply our method to six topic sets from test collections in five different genres. Our parsimonious relevance models (i) improve retrieval effectiveness in terms of
Net Income, Book Value and Cash Flows: The Value Relevance in Jordanian Economic Sectors
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
DHIAA SHAMKI
2013-07-01
Full Text Available This paper examines the value relevance of financial statements variables namely net income, book value and cash flows simultaneously relative to Jordanian services and industrial firms for the period from 2000 to 2009. The main findings of this paper are three- dimensional. First, net income is value relevant, while book value and cash flows are irrelevant. Second, net income is more value relevant than book value and cash flows in both sectors. Third, this value relevance is greater in services sector than in industrial sector. The study shows that net income assist more in explaining market values in Jordanian services and industrial firms. Since research on the value relevance of these variables has neglected Jordan (and the Middle Eastern region, the study tries to fill this practical gap. The study is the first in Jordan that examines the value relevance of net income, book value and cash flows simultaneously and compares this value relevance according to Amman Stock Exchange sectors in one study in Jordan.
Age differences in emotional reactions: arousal and age-relevance count.
Streubel, Berit; Kunzmann, Ute
2011-12-01
Recent findings suggest positivity effects in older adults' attention and memory, but few studies have examined such effects on the level of emotional reactivity. In this study, 52 young and 52 older adults rated 172 pictures of the International Affective Picture System, differing in arousal and age-relevance, in terms of valence and discrete emotions. Age differences in the ratio of pleasantness reactions to pleasant pictures vs. unpleasantness reactions to unpleasant pictures as well as age differences in absolute levels of unpleasantness and pleasantness reactions suggest that positivity effects in older adults' subjective emotional reactions are reduced under high arousal. There is also evidence that positivity effects may be restricted to stimuli with low relevance in old age.
Creativity-Relevant Personal Characteristics among Indonesia Creative Workers
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nugroho J. Setiadi
2014-09-01
Full Text Available The study aims to identify Creativity-relevant Personal Characteristics among creative workers in Indonesia’s creative industry. Identification of the constituent elements of the nature of the changes needs to be measured. Researchers have advocated replacing creativity-relevant personal characteristics based on the five-factor model to investigate how individual differences stimulate creativity. This study presents data supporting reliability (internal consistency and validity (criterion and construct of the instrument. Validity of the instrument is based on the content validity involving art and design experts. The 220 creative workers from several creative industry firms in Indonesia participated as samples in this research. Results of a factor analysis indicated a five factor solution of creative characteristics and behavior. Discussion of findings and the most important ways in which individuals differ in their enduring emotional, interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational styles for stimulating creativity are presented.
Fuel performance under normal PWR conditions: A review of relevant experimental results and models
Charles, M.; Lemaignan, C.
1992-06-01
Experiments conducted at Grenoble (CEA/DRN) over the past 20 years in the field of nuclear fuel behaviour are reviewed. Of particular concern is the need to achieve a comprehensive understanding of and subsequently overcome the limitations associated with high burnup and load-following conditions (pellet-cladding interaction (PCI), fission gas release (FGR), water-side corrosion). A general view is given of the organization of research work as well as some experimental details (irradiation, postirradiation examination — PIE). Based on various experimental programmes (Cyrano, Medicis, Anemone, Furet, Tango, Contact, Cansar, Hatac, Flog, Decor), the main contributions of the thermomechanical behaviour of a PWR fuel rod are described: thermal conductivity, in-pile densification, swelling, fission gas release in steady state and moderate transient conditions, gap thermal conductance, formation of primary and secondary ridges under PCI conditions. Specific programmes (Gdgrif, Thermox, Grimox) are devoted to the behaviour of particular fuels (gadolinia-bearing fuel, MOX fuel). Moreover, microstructure-based studies have been undertaken on fission gas release (fine analysis of the bubble population inside irradiated fuel samples), and on cladding behaviour (PCI related studies on stress-corrosion cracking (SCO, irradiation effects on zircaloy microstructure).
The Influence Of Learning Model Guided Findings Of Student Learning Outcomes
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A. SaefulBahri
2015-03-01
Full Text Available Abstract This study examines the influence of the learning model guided findings on student learning outcomes in subjects PAI eighth grade students of SMP Plus al Masoem. The research method used in this study is a quantitative method in the form of quasi-experiment Quasi-Experimental Design. The findings of the study are expected to demonstrate 1 the difference significant increase in learning outcomes between the experimental class using guided discovery method that uses the control class discussion of learning models 2 Constraints in the method of guided discovery activities and the limited ability of educators in the experimental class in implements the method of guided discovery and constraints faced by students while digging the information they need so we need special strategies to motivate students in the experimental class in order for them creatively find the right way to gather information that supports learning PAI.
Social Science Research Findings and Educational Policy Dilemmas
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Steven I. Miller
2000-01-01
Full Text Available The article attempts to raise several distinctions regarding the presumed relationship of social science research findings to social policy making. The distinctions are made using Glymour's critique of the Bell Curve. An argument is made that (1 social science models and research findings are largely irrelevant to the actual concerns of policy makers and (2 what is relevant, but overlooked by Glymour, is how ideological factors mediate the process. The forms that ideological mediation may take are indicated.
Experimental setup and procedure for the measurement of the 7Be(n,p)7Li reaction at n_TOF
Barbagallo, M.; Andrzejewski, J.; Mastromarco, M.; Perkowski, J.; Damone, L. A.; Gawlik, A.; Cosentino, L.; Finocchiaro, P.; Maugeri, E. A.; Mazzone, A.; Dressler, R.; Heinitz, S.; Kivel, N.; Schumann, D.; Colonna, N.; Aberle, O.; Amaducci, S.; Audouin, L.; Bacak, M.; Balibrea, J.; Bečvář, F.; Bellia, G.; Berthoumieux, E.; Billowes, J.; Bosnar, D.; Brown, A.; Caamaño, M.; Calviño, F.; Calviani, M.; Cano-Ott, D.; Cardella, R.; Casanovas, A.; Cerutti, F.; Chen, Y. H.; Chiaveri, E.; Cortés, G.; Cortés-Giraldo, M. A.; Cristallo, S.; Diakaki, M.; Dietz, M.; Domingo-Pardo, C.; Dupont, E.; Durán, I.; Fernández-Domínguez, B.; Ferrari, A.; Ferreira, P.; Furman, V.; Göbel, K.; García, A. R.; Gilardoni, S.; Glodariu, T.; Gonçalves, I. F.; González-Romero, E.; Griesmayer, E.; Guerrero, C.; Gunsing, F.; Harada, H.; Heyse, J.; Jenkins, D. G.; Jericha, E.; Johnston, K.; Käppeler, F.; Kadi, Y.; Kalamara, A.; Kavrigin, P.; Kimura, A.; Kokkoris, M.; Krtička, M.; Kurtulgil, D.; Leal-Cidoncha, E.; Lederer, C.; Leeb, H.; Lerendegui-Marco, J.; Lo Meo, S.; Lonsdale, S. J.; Macina, D.; Manna, A.; Marganiec, J.; Martínez, T.; Martins-Correia, J. G.; Masi, A.; Massimi, C.; Mastinu, P.; Mendoza, E.; Mengoni, A.; Milazzo, P. M.; Mingrone, F.; Musumarra, A.; Negret, A.; Nolte, R.; Oprea, A.; Pappalardo, A. D.; Patronis, N.; Pavlik, A.; Piscopo, M.; Porras, I.; Praena, J.; Quesada, J. M.; Radeck, D.; Rauscher, T.; Reifarth, R.; Robles, M. S.; Rubbia, C.; Ryan, J. A.; Sabaté-Gilarte, M.; Saxena, A.; Schell, J.; Schillebeeckx, P.; Sedyshev, P.; Smith, A. G.; Sosnin, N. V.; Stamatopoulos, A.; Tagliente, G.; Tain, J. L.; Tarifeño-Saldivia, A.; Tassan-Got, L.; Valenta, S.; Vannini, G.; Variale, V.; Vaz, P.; Ventura, A.; Vlachoudis, V.; Vlastou, R.; Wallner, A.; Warren, S.; Weiss, C.; Woods, P. J.; Wright, T.; Žugec, P.
2018-04-01
Following the completion of the second neutron beam line and the related experimental area (EAR2) at the n_TOF spallation neutron source at CERN, several experiments were planned and performed. The high instantaneous neutron flux available in EAR2 allows to investigate neutron induced reactions with charged particles in the exit channel even employing targets made out of small amounts of short-lived radioactive isotopes. After the successful measurement of the 7Be(n, α) α cross section, the 7Be(n,p)7Li reaction was studied in order to provide still missing cross section data of relevance for Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), in an attempt to find a solution to the cosmological Lithium abundance problem. This paper describes the experimental setup employed in such a measurement and its characterization.
On the Relevance of Using OpenWireless Sensor Networks in Environment Monitoring
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Antoine B. Bagula
2009-06-01
Full Text Available This paper revisits the problem of the readiness for field deployments of wireless- sensor networks by assessing the relevance of using Open Hardware and Software motes for environment monitoring. We propose a new prototype wireless sensor network that finetunes SquidBee motes to improve the life-time and sensing performance of an environment monitoring system that measures temperature, humidity and luminosity. Building upon two outdoor sensing scenarios, we evaluate the performance of the newly proposed energy-aware prototype solution in terms of link quality when expressed by the Received Signal Strength, Packet Loss and the battery lifetime. The experimental results reveal the relevance of using the Open Hardware and Software motes when setting up outdoor wireless sensor networks.
Early-Life Nutritional Programming of Type 2 Diabetes: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Evidence.
Vaiserman, Alexander M
2017-03-05
Consistent evidence from both experimental and human studies suggest that inadequate nutrition in early life can contribute to risk of developing metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adult life. In human populations, most findings supporting a causative relationship between early-life malnutrition and subsequent risk of T2D were obtained from quasi-experimental studies ('natural experiments'). Prenatal and/or early postnatal exposures to famine were demonstrated to be associated with higher risk of T2D in many cohorts around the world. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of epigenetic regulation of gene expression as a possible major contributor to the link between the early-life famine exposure and T2D in adulthood. Findings from these studies suggest that prenatal exposure to the famine may result in induction of persistent epigenetic changes that have adaptive significance in postnatal development but can predispose to metabolic disorders including T2D at the late stages of life. In this review, quasi-experimental data on the developmental programming of T2D are summarized and recent research findings on changes in DNA methylation that mediate these effects are discussed.
Iterative Filtering of Retrieved Information to Increase Relevance
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Robert Zeidman
2007-12-01
Full Text Available Efforts have been underway for years to find more effective ways to retrieve information from large knowledge domains. This effort is now being driven particularly by the Internet and the vast amount of information that is available to unsophisticated users. In the early days of the Internet, some effort involved allowing users to enter Boolean equations of search terms into search engines, for example, rather than just a list of keywords. More recently, effort has focused on understanding a user's desires from past search histories in order to narrow searches. Also there has been much effort to improve the ranking of results based on some measure of relevancy. This paper discusses using iterative filtering of retrieved information to focus in on useful information. This work was done for finding source code correlation and the author extends his findings to Internet searching and e-commerce. The paper presents specific information about a particular filtering application and then generalizes it to other forms of information retrieval.
Shrestha, Bishwash; Ahsan, Syed N.; Aureli, Matteo
2018-01-01
In this paper, we present a comprehensive experimental study on harmonic oscillations of a submerged rigid plate in a quiescent, incompressible, Newtonian, viscous fluid. The fluid-structure interaction problem is analyzed from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives via a detailed particle image velocimetry (PIV) experimental campaign conducted over a broad range of oscillation frequency and amplitude parameters. Our primary goal is to identify the effect of the oscillation characteristics on the mechanisms of fluid-structure interaction and on the dynamics of vortex shedding and convection and to elucidate the behavior of hydrodynamic forces on the oscillating structure. Towards this goal, we study the flow in terms of qualitative aspects of its pathlines, vortex shedding, and symmetry breaking phenomena and identify distinct hydrodynamic regimes in the vicinity of the oscillating structure. Based on these experimental observations, we produce a novel phase diagram detailing the occurrence of distinct hydrodynamic regimes as a function of relevant governing nondimensional parameters. We further study the hydrodynamic forces associated with each regime using both PIV and direct force measurement via a load cell. Our quantitative results on experimental estimation of hydrodynamic forces show good agreement against predictions from the literature, where numerical and semi-analytical models are available. The findings and observations in this work shed light on the relationship between flow physics, vortex shedding, and convection mechanisms and the hydrodynamic forces acting on a rigid oscillating plate and, as such, have relevance to various engineering applications, including energy harvesting devices, biomimetic robotic system, and micro-mechanical sensors and actuators.
Disclosure of Non-Financial Information: Relevant to Financial Analysts?
ORENS, Raf; LYBAERT, Nadine
2013-01-01
The decline in the relevance of financial statement information to value firms leads to calls from organizational stakeholders to convey non-financial information in order to be able to judge firms' financial performance and value. This literature review aims to report extant literature findings on the use of corporate non-financial information by sell-side financial analysts, the information intermediaries between corporate management and investors. Prior studies highlight that financial ana...
Fedecostante, M.; Spannella, F.; Giulietti, F.; Espinosa, E.; Dessi-Fulgheri, P.; Sarzani, R.
2015-01-01
Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is central in the management of hypertension. Factors related to BP, such as body mass index (BMI), may differently affect particular aspects of 24-hour ABPM profiles. However, the relevance of BMI, the most used index of adiposity, has been
the effect of current and relevant information sources on the use
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Admin
reported similar findings at Yaba College of. Technology, Lagos. However, in a ... values. In other words, current information sources resulted in the use of the library. Jam (1992) identified lack of relevant information sources to be one of the problems facing library users and has ... Bachelor's degree holders. That those with.
Karimli, Leyla; Ssewamala, Fred M; Neilands, Torsten B
2014-12-01
This study examines participants' savings in children's savings accounts (CSAs) set up for AIDS-orphaned children ages 10-15 in Uganda. Using a cluster randomized experimental design, we examine the extent to which families participating in a CSA program report more savings than their counterparts not participating in the program, explore the extent to which families who participate in the CSA program report using formal financial institutions compared with families who do not have a CSA, and consider whether families participating in the CSA program bring new money into the CSA or whether they reshuffle existing household assets. We find that participating in a CSA increased families' likelihood to report having saved money. However, our results show no intervention effect either on the amount of self-reported savings or on the likelihood of using formal financial institutions. Further research is needed to understand whether use of a CSA helps families generate new wealth.
Strangeness and the quark-gluon plasma: An experimenter's perspective
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Odyniec, G.
1994-02-01
Current status of experimental results on strange particle production in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the relevance to the hypothetical quark-gluon plasma formation and the origin of the Universe
Product Manager C4ISR On-The-Move Experimentation
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Utroska, William; Langan, Russell; Amabile, Michael
2006-01-01
Product Manager C4ISR On-The-Move (PM C4ISR OTM) provides a relevant operational field experimentation venue for the purpose of assessing emerging technologies in a System-of- Systems (SoS) environment...
Progress of LMJ-relevant implosions experiments on OMEGA
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Casner A.
2013-11-01
Full Text Available In preparation of the first ignition attempts on the Laser Mégajoule (LMJ, an experimental program is being pursued on OMEGA to investigate LMJ-relevant hohlraums. First, radiation temperature levels close to 300 eV were recently achieved in reduced-scale hohlraums with modest backscatter losses. Regarding the baseline target design for fusion experiments on LMJ, an extensive experimental database has also been collected for scaled implosions experiments in both empty and gas-filled rugby-shaped hohlraums. We acquired a full picture of hohlraum energetics and implosion dynamics. Not only did the rugby hohlraums show significantly higher x-ray drive energy over the cylindrical hohlraums, but symmetry control by power balance was demonstrated, as well as high-performance D2 implosions enabling the use of a complete suite of neutrons diagnostics. Charged particle diagnostics provide complementary insights into the physics of these x-ray driven implosions. An overview of these results demonstrates our ability to control the key parameters driving the implosion, lending more confidence in extrapolations to ignition-scale targets.
Seeking kinetic pathways relevant to the structural evolution of metal nanoparticles
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Haldar, Paramita; Chatterjee, Abhijit
2015-01-01
Understanding the kinetic pathways that cause metal nanoparticles to structurally evolve over time is essential for predicting their shape and size distributions and catalytic properties. Consequently, we need detailed kinetic models that can provide such information. Most kinetic Monte Carlo models used for metal systems contain a fixed catalogue of atomic moves; the catalogue is largely constructed based on our physical understanding of the material. In some situations, it is possible that an incorrect picture of the overall dynamics is obtained when kinetic pathways that are relevant to the dynamics are missing from the catalogue. Hence, a computational framework that can systematically determine the relevant pathways is required. This work intends to fulfil this requirement. Examples involving an Ag nanoparticle are studied to illustrate how molecular dynamics (MD) calculations can be employed to find the relevant pathways in a system. Since pathways that are unlikely to be selected at short timescales can become relevant at longer times, the accuracy of the catalogue is maintained by continually seeking these pathways using MD. We discuss various aspects of our approach, namely, defining the relevance of atomic moves to the dynamics and determining when additional MD is required to ensure the desired accuracy, as well as physical insights into the Ag nanoparticle. (paper)
Radiologic findings in taxane induced colitis
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kaur, Harmeet; Loyer, Evelyne M.; David, Cynthia L.; Sawaf, Hassan; DuBrow, Ronelle A.; Ibrahim, Nuhad K.
2008-01-01
Ischemic colitis in breast cancer patients being treated with taxane-based chemotherapy, which may lead to serious morbidities and even death, has recently been defined as a clinical entity. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the computed tomography (CT) findings in taxane-related colitis and determine their clinical relevance. CT scans of 41 patients at risk for taxane colitis were reviewed retrospectively for bowel and peritoneal abnormalities. Morphological findings were analyzed and correlated with clinical, pathological, and endoscopic findings. CT scans in 10 of the 41 patients showed a definitely abnormal colon with a thickened wall or distended with fluid, signs that are suggestive of colitis, in the context of the clinical picture. Radiographic changes in patients with taxane colitis are not specific but, in the appropriate context, can suggest the correct diagnosis and guide the patient's management
Extra-mammary findings in breast MRI
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Rinaldi, Pierluigi; Costantini, M.; Belli, P.; Giuliani, M.; Bufi, E.; Fubelli, R.; Distefano, D.; Romani, M.; Bonomo, L. [Catholic University - Policlinic A. Gemelli, Department of Bio-Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Rome (Italy)
2011-11-15
Incidental extra-mammary findings in breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) may be benign in nature, but may also represent a metastasis or another important lesion. We aimed to analyse the prevalence and clinical relevance of these unexpected findings. A retrospective review of 1535 breast MRIs was conducted. Only axial sequences were reassessed. Confirmation examinations were obtained in all cases. 285 patients had a confirmed incidental finding, which were located in the liver (51.9%), lung (11.2%), bone (7%), mediastinal lymph nodes (4.2%) or consisted of pleural/pericardial effusion (15.4%). 20.4% of incidental findings were confirmed to be malignant. Positive predictive value for MRI to detect a metastatic lesion was high if located within the bone (89%), lymph nodes (83%) and lung (59%), while it was low if located within the liver (9%) or if it consisted of pleural/pericardial effusion (6%). The axial enhanced sequence showed superior sensitivity to unenhanced images in detecting metastatic lesions, especially if only smaller ({<=}10 mm.) lesions were considered. The prevalence of metastatic incidental extra-mammary findings is not negligible. Particular attention should be to incidental findings located within the lung, bone and mediastinal lymph nodes. (orig.)
Communicating Academic Research Findings to IS Professionals: An Analysis of Problems
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Michael Lang
2003-01-01
Full Text Available Because research findings often do not have direct or immediate relevance to IS professionals in industry, the question arises as to how those findings should be disseminated to them in a suitable form at such time as they do become relevant. A central argument of this paper is that the traditional mechanisms whereby academic researchers disseminate their work are prone to numerous communication breakdowns, and that much work which could potentially make valuable contributions to practice is haplessly lost within the vaults of academia. Using the well-known Shannon & Weaver communication model, three major problems are analyzed: the choice of dissemination channels, language barriers, and the alienation of academia from industry.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Melinda Oroszlányová
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Relevance is usually estimated by search engines using document content, disregarding the user behind the search and the characteristics of the task. In this work, we look at relevance as framed in a situational context, calling it situational relevance, and analyze whether it is possible to predict it using documents, users and tasks characteristics. Using an existing dataset composed of health web documents, relevance judgments for information needs, user and task characteristics, we build a multivariate prediction model for situational relevance. Our model has an accuracy of 77.17%. Our findings provide insights into features that could improve the estimation of relevance by search engines, helping to conciliate the systemic and situational views of relevance. In a near future we will work on the automatic assessment of document, user and task characteristics.
Knoch, Fabian; Schäfer, Ken; Diezemann, Gregor; Speck, Thomas
2018-01-01
We present a dynamic coarse-graining technique that allows one to simulate the mechanical unfolding of biomolecules or molecular complexes on experimentally relevant time scales. It is based on Markov state models (MSMs), which we construct from molecular dynamics simulations using the pulling coordinate as an order parameter. We obtain a sequence of MSMs as a function of the discretized pulling coordinate, and the pulling process is modeled by switching among the MSMs according to the protocol applied to unfold the complex. This way we cover seven orders of magnitude in pulling speed. In the region of rapid pulling, we additionally perform steered molecular dynamics simulations and find excellent agreement between the results of the fully atomistic and the dynamically coarse-grained simulations. Our technique allows the determination of the rates of mechanical unfolding in a dynamical range from approximately 10-8/ns to 1/ns thus reaching experimentally accessible time regimes without abandoning atomistic resolution.
The Non-Human Primate Experimental Glaucoma Model
Burgoyne, Claude F.
2015-01-01
The purpose of this report is to summarize the current strengths and weaknesses of the non-human primate (NHP) experimental glaucoma (EG) model through sections devoted to its history, methods, important findings, alternative optic neuropathy models and future directions. NHP EG has become well established for studying human glaucoma in part because the NHP optic nerve head (ONH) shares a close anatomic association with the human ONH and because it provides the only means of systematically studying the very earliest visual system responses to chronic IOP elevation, i.e. the conversion from ocular hypertension to glaucomatous damage. However, NHPs are impractical for studies that require large animal numbers, demonstrate spontaneous glaucoma only rarely, do not currently provide a model of the neuropathy at normal levels of IOP, and cannot easily be genetically manipulated, except through tissue-specific, viral vectors. The goal of this summary is to direct NHP EG and non-NHP EG investigators to the previous, current and future accomplishment of clinically relevant knowledge in this model. PMID:26070984
Searchers' relevance judgments and criteria in evaluating Web pages in a learning style perspective
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Papaeconomou, Chariste; Zijlema, Annemarie F.; Ingwersen, Peter
2008-01-01
The paper presents the results of a case study of searcher's relevance criteria used for assessments of Web pages in a perspective of learning style. 15 test persons participated in the experiments based on two simulated work tasks that provided cover stories to trigger their information needs. Two...... learning styles were examined: Global and Sequential learners. The study applied eye-tracking for the observation of relevance hot spots on Web pages, learning style index analysis and post-search interviews to gain more in-depth information on relevance behavior. Findings reveal that with respect to use......, they are statistically insignificant. When interviewed in retrospective the resulting profiles tend to become even similar across learning styles but a shift occurs from instant assessments with content features of web pages replacing topicality judgments as predominant relevance criteria....
The Accidental Transgressor: Morally Relevant Theory of Mind
Killen, Melanie; Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Richardson, Cameron; Jampol, Noah
2014-01-01
To test young children’s false belief theory of mind in a morally relevant context, two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, children (N = 162) at 3.5, 5.5, and 7.5 years of age were administered 3 tasks: prototypic moral transgression task, false belief theory of mind task (ToM), and an “accidental transgressor” task, which measured a morally relevant false belief theory of mind (MoToM). Children who did not pass false belief ToM were more likely to attribute negative intentions to an accidental transgressor than children who passed false belief ToM, and to use moral reasons when blaming the accidental transgressor. In Experiment 2, children (N = 46) who did not pass false belief ToM viewed it as more acceptable to punish the accidental transgressor than did participants who passed false belief ToM. Findings are discussed in light of research on the emergence of moral judgment and theory of mind. PMID:21377148
Age differences in attention toward decision-relevant information: education matters.
Xing, Cai; Isaacowitz, Derek
2011-01-01
Previous studies suggested that older adults are more likely to engage in heuristic decision-making than young adults. This study used eye tracking technique to examine young adults' and highly educated older adults' attention toward two types of decision-relevant information: heuristic cue vs. factual cues. Surprisingly, highly educated older adults showed the reversed age pattern-they looked more toward factual cues than did young adults. This age difference disappeared after controlling for educational level. Additionally, education correlated with attentional pattern to decision-relevant information. We interpret this finding as an indication of the power of education: education may modify what are thought to be "typical" age differences in decision-making, and education may influence young and older people's decision-making via different paths.
Interaction of dermatologically relevant nanoparticles with skin cells and skin
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Annika Vogt
2014-12-01
Full Text Available The investigation of nanoparticle interactions with tissues is complex. High levels of standardization, ideally testing of different material types in the same biological model, and combinations of sensitive imaging and detection methods are required. Here, we present our studies on nanoparticle interactions with skin, skin cells, and biological media. Silica, titanium dioxide and silver particles were chosen as representative examples for different types of skin exposure to nanomaterials, e.g., unintended environmental exposure (silica versus intended exposure through application of sunscreen (titanium dioxide or antiseptics (silver. Because each particle type exhibits specific physicochemical properties, we were able to apply different combinations of methods to examine skin penetration and cellular uptake, including optical microscopy, electron microscopy, X-ray microscopy on cells and tissue sections, flow cytometry of isolated skin cells as well as Raman microscopy on whole tissue blocks. In order to assess the biological relevance of such findings, cell viability and free radical production were monitored on cells and in whole tissue samples. The combination of technologies and the joint discussion of results enabled us to look at nanoparticle–skin interactions and the biological relevance of our findings from different angles.
Seminal Fluid Analysis And Biophysical Profile: Findings And ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Seminal Fluid Analysis And Biophysical Profile: Findings And Relevance In Infertile Males In Ilorin, Nigeria. EK Oghagbon, AAG Jimoh, SA Adebisi. Abstract. To determine if there was a bearing of body mass index (BMI) on male infertility, a cross-sectional study of males of infertile couples, attending our infertility clinic was ...
The functional relevance of polyploidization in the skin.
Trakala, Marianna; Malumbres, Marcos
2014-02-01
Cell proliferation and differentiation are tightly coupled through the regulation of the cell division cycle. To preserve specific functional properties in differentiated cells, distinct variants of the basic mitotic cell cycle are used in various mammalian tissues, leading to the formation of polyploid cells. In this issue of Experimental Dermatology, Gandarillas and Freije discuss the evidences for polyploidization in keratinocytes, a process whose physiological relevance is now becoming evident. A better evaluation of these unconventional cell cycles is required not only to improve our understanding of the development and structure of the epidermis but also for future therapies against skin diseases. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Research Courses in Education Leadership Programs: Relevance in an Era of Accountability
Bustamante, Rebecca M.; Combs, Julie P.
2011-01-01
Master's degree research course offerings of 72 university education leadership programs were examined to explore how relevant the courses were to the inquiry needs of practicing school leaders. Research course titles and descriptions were analyzed using content analysis. Findings revealed considerable variation in research course requirements,…
Alveolar type II epithelial cell dysfunction in rat experimental hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wenli Yang
Full Text Available The hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS develops when pulmonary vasodilatation leads to abnormal gas exchange. However, in human HPS, restrictive ventilatory defects are also observed supporting that the alveolar epithelial compartment may also be affected. Alveolar type II epithelial cells (AT2 play a critical role in maintaining the alveolar compartment by producing four surfactant proteins (SPs, SP-A, SP-B, SP-C and SP-D which also facilitate alveolar repair following injury. However, no studies have evaluated the alveolar epithelial compartment in experimental HPS. In this study, we evaluated the alveolar epithelial compartment and particularly AT2 cells in experimental HPS induced by common bile duct ligation (CBDL. We found a significant reduction in pulmonary SP production associated with increased apoptosis in AT2 cells after CBDL relative to controls. Lung morphology showed decreased mean alveolar chord length and lung volumes in CBDL animals that were not seen in control models supporting a selective reduction of alveolar airspace. Furthermore, we found that administration of TNF-α, the bile acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, and FXR nuclear receptor activation (GW4064 induced apoptosis and impaired SP-B and SP-C production in alveolar epithelial cells in vitro. These results imply that AT2 cell dysfunction occurs in experimental HPS and is associated with alterations in the alveolar epithelial compartment. Our findings support a novel contributing mechanism in experimental HPS that may be relevant to humans and a potential therapeutic target.
Noncardiac findings on cardiac CT. Part II: spectrum of imaging findings.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
Killeen, Ronan P
2012-02-01
Cardiac computed tomography (CT) has evolved into an effective imaging technique for the evaluation of coronary artery disease in selected patients. Two distinct advantages over other noninvasive cardiac imaging methods include its ability to directly evaluate the coronary arteries and to provide a unique opportunity to evaluate for alternative diagnoses by assessing the extracardiac structures, such as the lungs and mediastinum, particularly in patients presenting with the chief symptom of acute chest pain. Some centers reconstruct a small field of view (FOV) cropped around the heart but a full FOV (from skin to skin in the area irradiated) is obtainable in the raw data of every scan so that clinically relevant noncardiac findings are identifiable. Debate in the scientific community has centered on the necessity for this large FOV. A review of noncardiac structures provides the opportunity to make alternative diagnoses that may account for the patient\\'s presentation or to detect important but clinically silent problems such as lung cancer. Critics argue that the yield of biopsy-proven cancers is low and that the follow-up of incidental noncardiac findings is expensive, resulting in increased radiation exposure and possibly unnecessary further testing. In this 2-part review we outline the issues surrounding the concept of the noncardiac read, looking for noncardiac findings on cardiac CT. Part I focused on the pros and cons for and against the practice of identifying noncardiac findings on cardiac CT. Part II illustrates the imaging spectrum of cardiac CT appearances of benign and malignant noncardiac pathology.
Cultural relevance of a fruit and vegetable food frequency questionnaire.
Paisley, Judy; Greenberg, Marlene; Haines, Jess
2005-01-01
Canada's multicultural population poses challenges for culturally competent nutrition research and practice. In this qualitative study, the cultural relevance of a widely used semi-quantitative fruit and vegetable food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was examined among convenience samples of adults from Toronto's Cantonese-, Mandarin-, Portuguese-, and Vietnamese-speaking communities. Eighty-nine participants were recruited through community-based organizations, programs, and advertisements to participate in semi-structured interviews moderated in their native language. Data from the interviews were translated into English and transcribed for analysis using the constant comparative approach. Four main themes emerged from the analysis: the cultural relevance of the foods listed on the FFQ, words with multiple meanings, the need for culturally appropriate portion-size prompts, and the telephone survey as a Western concept. This research highlights the importance of investing resources to develop culturally relevant dietary assessment tools that ensure dietary assessment accuracy and, more important, reduce ethnocentric biases in food and nutrition research and practice. The transferability of findings must be established through further research.
New conducted electrical weapons: Electrical safety relative to relevant standards.
Panescu, Dorin; Nerheim, Max; Kroll, Mark W; Brave, Michael A
2017-07-01
We have previously published about TASER ® conducted electrical weapons (CEW) compliance with international standards. CEWs deliver electrical pulses that can inhibit a person's neuromuscular control or temporarily incapacitate. An eXperimental Rotating-Field (XRF) waveform CEW and the X2 CEW are new 2-shot electrical weapon models designed to target a precise amount of delivered charge per pulse. They both can deploy 1 or 2 dart pairs, delivered by 2 separate cartridges. Additionally, the XRF controls delivery of incapacitating pulses over 4 field vectors, in a rotating sequence. As in our previous study, we were motivated by the need to understand the cardiac safety profile of these new CEWs. The goal of this paper is to analyze the nominal electrical outputs of TASER XRF and X2 CEWs in reference to provisions of all relevant international standards that specify safety requirements for electrical medical devices and electrical fences. Although these standards do not specifically mention CEWs, they are the closest electrical safety standards and hence give very relevant guidance. The outputs of several TASER XRF and X2 CEWs were measured under normal operating conditions. The measurements were compared against manufacturer specifications. CEWs electrical output parameters were reviewed against relevant safety requirements of UL 69, IEC 60335-2-76 Ed 2.1, IEC 60479-1, IEC 60479-2, AS/NZS 60479.1, AS/NZS 60479.2, IEC 60601-1 and BS EN 60601-1. Our study confirmed that the nominal electrical outputs of TASER XRF and X2 CEWs lie within safety bounds specified by relevant standards.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, Hak Jin; Lee, Chang Hun; Lee, Suk Hong; Rark, Byung Rae; Kim, Sang Sik; Kim, Yong Woo
2002-01-01
edema and cellular swelling were mild compared with the control side. Experimental cerebral fat embolism was clearly demonstrated by T2WI and Gd-T1WI images obtained at all time points. The greater part of an embolized lesion showed reversible findings at MR and histologic examination; irreversible focal necrosis was, however, observed in gray and white matter at week 3
Masqued findings of the lung in children
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fliegel, C.P.
1982-01-01
Masqued findings of the lung in children can cause grave diagnostic errors. A gamut list of typical pseudodiagnoses is given. Relevant cases are demonstrated as questions and answers. Practical hints how to reach a correct diagnosis are outlined. It is pointed out that initial standard films frequently have to be compleemented by special views to avoid false judgements, which could be harmful to the patient. (orig.)
Experimental measurements of negative hydrogen ion production from surfaces
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Graham, W.G.
1977-09-01
Experimental measurements of the production of H - from surfaces bombarded with hydrogen are reviewed. Some measurements of H + and H 0 production from surfaces are also discussed with particular emphasis on work which might be relevant to ion source applications
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sascha Samadi
2017-03-01
Full Text Available Various electricity generation technologies using different primary energy sources are available. Many published studies compare the costs of these technologies. However, most of those studies only consider plant-level costs and do not fully take into account additional costs that societies may face in using these technologies. This article reviews the literature on the costs of electricity generation technologies, aiming to determine which types of costs are relevant from a societal point of view when comparing generation technologies. The paper categorises the relevant types of costs, differentiating between plant-level, system and external costs as the main categories. It discusses the relevance of each type of cost for each generation technology. The findings suggest that several low-carbon electricity generation technologies exhibit lower social costs per kWh than the currently dominant technologies using fossil fuels. More generally, the findings emphasise the importance of taking not only plant-level costs, but also system and external costs, into account when comparing electricity generation technologies from a societal point of view. The article intends to inform both policymakers and energy system modellers, the latter who may strive to include all relevant types of costs in their models.
Long Pentraxin 3: Experimental and Clinical Relevance in Cardiovascular Diseases
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Fabrizia Bonacina
2013-01-01
Full Text Available Pentraxin 3 (PTX3 is an essential component of the humoral arm of innate immunity and belongs, together with the C-reactive protein (CRP and other acute phase proteins, to the pentraxins' superfamily: soluble, multifunctional, pattern recognition proteins. Pentraxins share a common C-terminal pentraxin domain, which in the case of PTX3 is coupled to an unrelated long N-terminal domain. PTX3 in humans, like CRP, correlates with surrogate markers of atherosclerosis and is independently associated with the risk of developing vascular events. Studies addressing the potential physiopathological role of CRP in the cardiovascular system were so far inconclusive and have been limited by the fact that the sequence and regulation have not been conserved during evolution between mouse and man. On the contrary, the conservation of sequence, gene organization, and regulation of PTX3 supports the translation of animal model findings in humans. While PTX3 deficiency is associated with increased inflammation, cardiac damage, and atherosclerosis, the overexpression limits carotid restenosis after angioplasty. These observations point to a cardiovascular protective effect of PTX3 potentially associated with the ability of tuning inflammation and favor the hypothesis that the increased levels of PTX3 in subjects with cardiovascular diseases may reflect a protective physiological mechanism, which correlates with the immunoinflammatory response observed in several cardiovascular disorders.
Experimental Equipment for Physics Studies in the Aagesta Reactor
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Bernander, G; Blomberg, P E; Dubois, P O
1967-03-15
Comprehensive physics measurements were carried out in connection with the start up of the Agesta reactor. For this purpose special experimental equipment was constructed and installed in the reactor. Parts of this were indispensable and/or time-saving for the reactivity control during the core build-up period and during the first criticality studies. This report gives mainly a detailed description of the experimental equipment used, but also the relevant physics background and the experience gained during the performance.
Enticott, Joanne; Buck, Kimberly; Shawyer, Frances
2018-03-01
There is a lack of information on how to execute effective searches of the grey literature on refugee and asylum seeker groups for inclusion in systematic reviews. High-quality government reports and other grey literature relevant to refugees may not always be identified in conventional literature searches. During the process of conducting a recent systematic review, we developed a novel strategy for systematically searching international refugee and asylum seeker-related grey literature. The approach targets governmental health departments and statistical agencies, who have considerable access to refugee and asylum seeker populations for research purposes but typically do not publish findings in academic forums. Compared to a conventional grey literature search strategy, our novel technique yielded an eightfold increase in relevant high-quality grey sources that provided valuable content in informing our review. Incorporating a search of the grey literature into systematic reviews of refugee and asylum seeker research is essential to providing a more complete view of the evidence. Our novel strategy offers a practical and feasible method of conducting systematic grey literature searches that may be adaptable to a range of research questions, contexts, and resource constraints. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Finding an analytic description of the resolution function for n_TOF-EAR2 at CERN
Eriksson, John Benjamin
2017-01-01
At CERN's neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF a high intensity pulsed neutron source is used to measure energy-dependent neutron-induced reaction cross sections of isotopes relevant to various fields of research such as nuclear astrophysics, -technology or -medicine. Neutron kinetic energies are determined using the time-of-flight (ToF) technique. A correct ToF to energy conversion is essential and is influenced by many factors, one of which is the so-called resolution function (RF). The RF is a characteristic unique to each experimental facility and can only be determined through simulations using Monte Carlo codes. The goal of this project is to find an analytic description of the RF for n_TOF-EAR2. Two functions for two different energy ranges were found, each a combination of linear, polynomial and exponential functions. Furthermore, the energy dependence of the function's parameters was investigated.
Experimental violation of local causality in a quantum network
Carvacho, Gonzalo; Andreoli, Francesco; Santodonato, Luca; Bentivegna, Marco; Chaves, Rafael; Sciarrino, Fabio
2017-03-01
Bell's theorem plays a crucial role in quantum information processing and thus several experimental investigations of Bell inequalities violations have been carried out over the years. Despite their fundamental relevance, however, previous experiments did not consider an ingredient of relevance for quantum networks: the fact that correlations between distant parties are mediated by several, typically independent sources. Here, using a photonic setup, we investigate a quantum network consisting of three spatially separated nodes whose correlations are mediated by two distinct sources. This scenario allows for the emergence of the so-called non-bilocal correlations, incompatible with any local model involving two independent hidden variables. We experimentally witness the emergence of this kind of quantum correlations by violating a Bell-like inequality under the fair-sampling assumption. Our results provide a proof-of-principle experiment of generalizations of Bell's theorem for networks, which could represent a potential resource for quantum communication protocols.
Studies in nuclear structure relevant to Astrophysics: theoretical and experimental efforts
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Saha Sarkar, Maitreyee
2016-01-01
Experimental and theoretical investigations in the region around doubly magic neutron rich 132 Sn nucleus have recently revealed many intriguing issues concerning some newer aspects of nuclear structure in such exotic environments. These nuclei lie on or close to the path of the astrophysical r-process flow. A glimpse of the implication of these studies on the r-process nucleosynthesis will be discussed. Presently, the Nuclear Physics group in Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics is working for installation of a high-current, low energy Accelerator as the primary component of the Facility for Research in low Energy Nuclear Astrophysics (FRENA), a national facility, at Kolkata. Planning for future experiments has been undertaken for successful utilization of this facility. Implantation technique has been found to be one of the most effective methods to produce isotopically pure targets. We have prepared a few isotopically pure targets using this technique. Being the slowest process of the CNO cycle, study of the 14 N(p, γ) 15 O(Q = 7297 keV) capture reaction is of high astrophysical interest. From an experiment utilizing one of the newly prepared 14 N implanted targets, a preliminary estimate of the lifetime of 6792 keV state in 15 O has been obtained, using Doppler shift attenuation method (DSAM). The sensitivity of the results with respect to the uncertainties in various input quantities has been tested. This endeavour will be helpful to design a better experiment to extract more precise lifetime for this important state
Karimli, Leyla; Ssewamala, Fred M.; Neilands, Torsten B.
2014-01-01
This study examines participants’ savings in children’s savings accounts (CSAs) set up for AIDS-orphaned children ages 10–15 in Uganda. Using a cluster randomized experimental design, we examine the extent to which families participating in a CSA program report more savings than their counterparts not participating in the program, explore the extent to which families who participate in the CSA program report using formal financial institutions compared with families who do not have a CSA, and consider whether families participating in the CSA program bring new money into the CSA or whether they reshuffle existing household assets. We find that participating in a CSA increased families’ likelihood to report having saved money. However, our results show no intervention effect either on the amount of self-reported savings or on the likelihood of using formal financial institutions. Further research is needed to understand whether use of a CSA helps families generate new wealth. PMID:25525282
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
An, Ji Young; Kim, Hyoung Jung; Lee, Dong Ho; Lim, Joo Won; Ko, Young Tae; Choi, Bong Keun [Dept. of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
2012-06-15
To determine the association of gallbladder (GB) abnormalities on ultrasonography (US) of patients with acute hepatitis A with demographic, clinical, and biochemical factors, and with other US findings. This retrospective study was approved by our institutional review board, which waived the requirement for informed consent. We retrospectively evaluated 152 consecutive patients with acute hepatitis A who underwent US. The diagnosis of acute hepatitis A was made during acute illness by demonstrating anti- HAV of the IgM class. US images were reviewed simultaneously by two abdominal radiologists and a consensus was reached for GB wall thickening, GB collapse, lymphadenopathy, and hepatic echogenicity. The associations between demographic, clinical, biochemical, and US findings and GB wall thickening or collapse were then assessed. GB wall thickening was present in 123 (81%) and GB collapse in 96 (63%) of the 152 patients. Total bilirubin level and GB collapse differed significantly (p < 0.05) between patients with and without GB wall thickening. Gender ratio, total and peak total bilirubin level, and GB wall thickness differed significantly (p < 0.05) between patients with and without GB collapse. Multivariate analysis showed that GB wall thickening was associated with GB collapse and vice versa. GB wall thickening and GB collapse are common US abnormalities associated with each other in patients with acute hepatitis A. However, GB wall thickening or collapse is not associated with any demographic, clinical, or biochemical factors, or with other US findings, in patients with acute hepatitis A.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
An, Ji Young; Kim, Hyoung Jung; Lee, Dong Ho; Lim, Joo Won; Ko, Young Tae; Choi, Bong Keun
2012-01-01
To determine the association of gallbladder (GB) abnormalities on ultrasonography (US) of patients with acute hepatitis A with demographic, clinical, and biochemical factors, and with other US findings. This retrospective study was approved by our institutional review board, which waived the requirement for informed consent. We retrospectively evaluated 152 consecutive patients with acute hepatitis A who underwent US. The diagnosis of acute hepatitis A was made during acute illness by demonstrating anti- HAV of the IgM class. US images were reviewed simultaneously by two abdominal radiologists and a consensus was reached for GB wall thickening, GB collapse, lymphadenopathy, and hepatic echogenicity. The associations between demographic, clinical, biochemical, and US findings and GB wall thickening or collapse were then assessed. GB wall thickening was present in 123 (81%) and GB collapse in 96 (63%) of the 152 patients. Total bilirubin level and GB collapse differed significantly (p < 0.05) between patients with and without GB wall thickening. Gender ratio, total and peak total bilirubin level, and GB wall thickness differed significantly (p < 0.05) between patients with and without GB collapse. Multivariate analysis showed that GB wall thickening was associated with GB collapse and vice versa. GB wall thickening and GB collapse are common US abnormalities associated with each other in patients with acute hepatitis A. However, GB wall thickening or collapse is not associated with any demographic, clinical, or biochemical factors, or with other US findings, in patients with acute hepatitis A.
Dynamic Effects of Self-Relevance and Task on the Neural Processing of Emotional Words in Context.
Fields, Eric C; Kuperberg, Gina R
2015-01-01
We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the interactions between task, emotion, and contextual self-relevance on processing words in social vignettes. Participants read scenarios that were in either third person (other-relevant) or second person (self-relevant) and we recorded ERPs to a neutral, pleasant, or unpleasant critical word. In a previously reported study (Fields and Kuperberg, 2012) with these stimuli, participants were tasked with producing a third sentence continuing the scenario. We observed a larger LPC to emotional words than neutral words in both the self-relevant and other-relevant scenarios, but this effect was smaller in the self-relevant scenarios because the LPC was larger on the neutral words (i.e., a larger LPC to self-relevant than other-relevant neutral words). In the present work, participants simply answered comprehension questions that did not refer to the emotional aspects of the scenario. Here we observed quite a different pattern of interaction between self-relevance and emotion: the LPC was larger to emotional vs. neutral words in the self-relevant scenarios only, and there was no effect of self-relevance on neutral words. Taken together, these findings suggest that the LPC reflects a dynamic interaction between specific task demands, the emotional properties of a stimulus, and contextual self-relevance. We conclude by discussing implications and future directions for a functional theory of the emotional LPC.
Dynamic effects of self-relevance and task on the neural processing of emotional words in context
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eric C. Fields
2016-01-01
Full Text Available We used event-related potentials (ERPs to examine the interactions between task, emotion, and contextual self-relevance on processing words in social vignettes. Participants read scenarios that were in either third person (other-relevant or second person (self-relevant and we recorded ERPs to a neutral, pleasant, or unpleasant critical word. In a previously reported study (Fields & Kuperberg, 2012 with these stimuli, participants were tasked with producing a third sentence continuing the scenario. We observed a larger LPC to emotional words than neutral words in both the self-relevant and other-relevant scenarios, but this effect was smaller in the self-relevant scenarios because the LPC was larger on the neutral words (i.e., a larger LPC to self-relevant than other-relevant neutral words. In the present work, participants simply answered comprehension questions that did not refer to the emotional aspects of the scenario. Here we observed quite a different pattern of interaction between self-relevance and emotion: the LPC was larger to emotional versus neutral words in the self-relevant scenarios only, and there was no effect of self-relevance on neutral words. Taken together, these findings suggest that the LPC reflects a dynamic interaction between specific task demands, the emotional properties of a stimulus, and contextual self-relevance. We conclude by discussing implications and future directions for a functional theory of the emotional LPC.
Students' views about the nature of experimental physics
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Lewandowski, H. J.
2017-12-01
The physics community explores and explains the physical world through a blend of theoretical and experimental studies. The future of physics as a discipline depends on training of students in both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the field. However, while student learning within lecture courses has been the subject of extensive research, lab courses remain relatively under-studied. In particular, there is little, if any, data available that address the effectiveness of physics lab courses at encouraging students to recognize the nature and importance of experimental physics within the discipline as a whole. To address this gap, we present the first large-scale, national study (Ninstitutions=75 and Nstudents=7167 ) of undergraduate physics lab courses through analysis of students' responses to a research-validated assessment designed to investigate students' beliefs about the nature of experimental physics. We find that students often enter and leave physics lab courses with ideas about experimental physics as practiced in their courses that are inconsistent with the views of practicing experimental physicists, and this trend holds at both the introductory and upper-division levels. Despite this inconsistency, we find that both introductory and upper-division students are able to accurately predict the expertlike response even in cases where their views about experimentation in their lab courses disagree. These finding have implications for the recruitment, retention, and adequate preparation of students in physics.
Historical microbiology, is it relevant in the 21st century?
Robertson, Lesley A
2015-05-01
Facsimile microscopes have been used to examine the possibilities of van Leeuwenhoek microscopes with a range of magnifications, particularly to confirm that bacteria can be seen if the microscope is strong enough. The relevance of historical microbiology in education is also illustrated by adapting versions of van Leeuwenhoek's pepper water experiment and Beijerinck's use of bioluminescent bacteria as oxygen probes. These experiments can demonstrate fundamentals such as enrichment and isolation cultures, physiology and experimental planning as well as critical reading of published material. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Victor Mogre
2018-03-01
Discussion: Students were dissatisfied with their current education in nutrition, felt inadequately prepared to provide nutrition care and considered nutrition education to be highly relevant to their future practice. The findings of this study provide additional evidence that suggests changes in the current format and content of nutrition education in medical education.
Evaporation and vapor shielding of CFC targets exposed to plasma heat fluxes relevant to ITER ELMs
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Safronov, V.M.; Arkhipov, N.I.; Landman, I.S.; Pestchanyi, S.E.; Toporkov, D.A.; Zhitlukhin, A.M.
2009-01-01
Carbon fibre composite NB31 was tested at plasma gun facility MK-200UG by plasma heat fluxes relevant to Edge Localised Modes in ITER. The paper reports the results obtained on the evaporation threshold of carbon fibre composite, the velocity of carbon vapor motion along and across the magnetic field lines, and the parameters of carbon plasma such as temperature, density and ionization state. First experimental results on investigation of the vapor shield onset conditions are presented also. The obtained experimental data are compared with the results of numerical modeling.
Finding Objects for Assisting Blind People.
Yi, Chucai; Flores, Roberto W; Chincha, Ricardo; Tian, Yingli
2013-07-01
Computer vision technology has been widely used for blind assistance, such as navigation and wayfinding. However, few camera-based systems are developed for helping blind or visually-impaired people to find daily necessities. In this paper, we propose a prototype system of blind-assistant object finding by camera-based network and matching-based recognition. We collect a dataset of daily necessities and apply Speeded-Up Robust Features (SURF) and Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) feature descriptors to perform object recognition. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our prototype system.
Making Deferred Taxes Relevant
Brouwer, Arjan; Naarding, Ewout
2018-01-01
We analyse the conceptual problems in current accounting for deferred taxes and provide solutions derived from the literature in order to make International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) deferred tax numbers value-relevant. In our view, the empirical results concerning the value relevance of
Takashi Obinata
2006-01-01
In 2000, the reform of consolidated financial statements changed the income statement section where amortization of goodwill and gains and losses from interest method should be disclosed. The results in this paper show that the reform may improve the value relevance of operating profits and ordinary income. We cannot find the evidence that the reform decreases the relevance of the multi-step earnings. Though we cannot definitively conclude that the reform was the best way for improving the va...
Nonlinear waves in Bose–Einstein condensates: physical relevance and mathematical techniques
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Carretero-González, R; Frantzeskakis, D J; Kevrekidis, P G
2008-01-01
The aim of this review is to introduce the reader to some of the physical notions and the mathematical methods that are relevant to the study of nonlinear waves in Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). Upon introducing the general framework, we discuss the prototypical models that are relevant to this setting for different dimensions and different potentials confining the atoms. We analyse some of the model properties and explore their typical wave solutions (plane wave solutions, bright, dark, gap solitons as well as vortices). We then offer a collection of mathematical methods that can be used to understand the existence, stability and dynamics of nonlinear waves in such BECs, either directly or starting from different types of limits (e.g. the linear or the nonlinear limit or the discrete limit of the corresponding equation). Finally, we consider some special topics involving more recent developments, and experimental setups in which there is still considerable need for developing mathematical as well as computational tools. (invited article)
The value relevance of voluntary disclosure in the annual report
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Banghøj, Jesper; Plenborg, Thomas
2006-01-01
This paper examines if the level of voluntary disclosure affects the association between current returns and future earnings. Economic theory suggests that firms might find it advantageous to provide additional pieces of information (i.e., voluntary disclosure) to investors and analysts (Verrecchia...... 1983). Our results indicate that more voluntary disclosure does not improve the association between current returns and future earnings; i.e. current returns do not reflect more future earnings news. This finding raises the question whether voluntary information in the annual report contains value...... relevant information about future earnings or if investors are simply not capable of incorporating voluntary information in the firm value estimates. Key words: Disclosure, future earnings, informativeness...
Barrett, M.; Oppenheimer, L.
2011-01-01
This paper reviews some of the relevant background findings against which the empirical studies reported in this special issue were designed. Particular attention is given to previous findings on the development of children’s national knowledge, national attitudes and national identifications. The
Kehinde, Elijah O
2013-01-01
The objective of this review article was to examine current and prospective developments in the scientific use of laboratory animals, and to find out whether or not there are still valid scientific benefits of and justification for animal experimentation. The PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched using the following key words: animal models, basic research, pharmaceutical research, toxicity testing, experimental surgery, surgical simulation, ethics, animal welfare, benign, malignant diseases. Important relevant reviews, original articles and references from 1970 to 2012 were reviewed for data on the use of experimental animals in the study of diseases. The use of laboratory animals in scientific research continues to generate intense public debate. Their use can be justified today in the following areas of research: basic scientific research, use of animals as models for human diseases, pharmaceutical research and development, toxicity testing and teaching of new surgical techniques. This is because there are inherent limitations in the use of alternatives such as in vitro studies, human clinical trials or computer simulation. However, there are problems of transferability of results obtained from animal research to humans. Efforts are on-going to find suitable alternatives to animal experimentation like cell and tissue culture and computer simulation. For the foreseeable future, it would appear that to enable scientists to have a more precise understanding of human disease, including its diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic intervention, there will still be enough grounds to advocate animal experimentation. However, efforts must continue to minimize or eliminate the need for animal testing in scientific research as soon as possible. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wiel, J.C.M. van de; Wang, Y.; Xu, D.M.; Zaag-Loonen, H.J. van der; Jagt, E.J. van der; Oudkerk, M.; Klaveren, R.J. van
2007-01-01
The purpose of this study was to prospectively determine the frequency and spectrum of incidental findings (IFs) and their clinical implications in a high risk population for lung cancer undergoing low-dose multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) screening for lung cancer. Scans of 1,929 participants were evaluated for lung lesions and IFs by two radiologists. IFs were categorised as not clinically relevant or possibly clinically relevant. Findings were considered possibly clinically relevant if they could require further evaluation or could have substantial clinical implications. All possibly clinically relevant IFs were reviewed by a third radiologist, who determined its clinical relevance. Of all 1,929 participants, 1,410 (73%) had not clinically relevant IFs and 163 (8%) had possibly clinically relevant IFs of which 129 (79%) were indeed considered clinically relevant. Additional imaging was performed mainly by ultrasound (112 of 118, 96%). All but one lesion were concluded to be benign, mostly cysts (n = 115, 80%). Only 21 (1%) participants had findings with clinical implications. In one participant a malignancy was found, yet without any clinical benefit since no curative treatment was possible. Based on our results, we advise against systematically searching for and reporting of IFs in lung cancer screening studies using low-dose MDCT. (orig.)
Exposure of nickel and the relevance of nickel sensitivity among hospital cleaners
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Clemmensen, O J; Menne, T; Kaaber, K; Solgaard, P
1981-01-01
The nickel content of water specimens from consecutive stages during the cleaning process in a Danish hospital was analyzed. Statistically significant increases of the nickel concentrations were found from step to step of the cleaning, eventually exceeding the theoretical sensitizing safety limit. The relevance of the findings in relation to hand eczema is discussed.
Boetto, J; Chan-Seng, E; Lonjon, G; Pech, J; Lotthé, A; Lonjon, N
2015-11-01
Spinal instrumentation has a high rate of surgical site infection (SSI), but results greatly vary depending on surveillance methodology, surgical procedures, or quality of follow-up. Our aim was to study true incidence of SSI in spinal surgery by significant data collection, and to compare it with the results obtained through the hospital information system. This work is a single center prospective cohort study that included all patients consecutively operated on for spinal instrumentation by posterior approach over a six-month period regardless the etiology. For all patients, a "high definition" prospective method of surveillance was performed by the infection control (IC) department during at least 12 months after surgery. Results were then compared with findings from automatic surveillance though the hospital information system (HIS). One hundred and fifty-four patients were included. We found no hardly difference between "high definition" and automatic surveillance through the HIS, even if HIS tended to under-estimate the infection rate: rate of surgical site infection was 2.60% and gross SSI incidence rate via the hospital information system was 1.95%. Smoking and alcohol consumption were significantly related to a SSI. Our SSI rates to reflect the true incidence of infectious complications in posterior instrumented adult spinal surgery in our hospital and these results were consistent with the lower levels of published infection rate. In-house surveillance by surgeons only is insufficiently sensitive. Further studies with more patients and a longer inclusion time are needed to conclude if SSI case detection through the HIS could be a relevant and effective alternative method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
The flaws and human harms of animal experimentation.
Akhtar, Aysha
2015-10-01
Nonhuman animal ("animal") experimentation is typically defended by arguments that it is reliable, that animals provide sufficiently good models of human biology and diseases to yield relevant information, and that, consequently, its use provides major human health benefits. I demonstrate that a growing body of scientific literature critically assessing the validity of animal experimentation generally (and animal modeling specifically) raises important concerns about its reliability and predictive value for human outcomes and for understanding human physiology. The unreliability of animal experimentation across a wide range of areas undermines scientific arguments in favor of the practice. Additionally, I show how animal experimentation often significantly harms humans through misleading safety studies, potential abandonment of effective therapeutics, and direction of resources away from more effective testing methods. The resulting evidence suggests that the collective harms and costs to humans from animal experimentation outweigh potential benefits and that resources would be better invested in developing human-based testing methods.
Value Relevance of Embedded Value and IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts
Rebecca Chung-Fern Wu; Audrey Wen-Hsin Hsu
2011-01-01
In light of the recent exodus of foreign insurers from Taiwan and the local insurers’ outcries against the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 4 Insurance Contracts, we examine the value relevance of financial statements for life insurance firms, with particular interests to the embedded value (EV) disclosure. We find that the EV of equity has an incremental information role for book value of equity, which indicates that the accounting mismatching problem in the insurance indust...
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Miyanaga, N.; Nakatsuka, M.; Azechi, H.
2001-01-01
To test high gain targets surrogated in the planar geometry, we have constructed a new experimental system (HIPER) which provides the high ablation pressure with a uniform irradiance profile. These performances were achieved by bundling twelve beams of the existing GEKKO XII into a F/3 focus cone. The partially coherent light is introduced for the beam smoothing of a green foot pulse consisting of three beams, and the three-directional smoothing by spectral dispersion is utilized for residual nine beams delivering a blue main drive pulse. The detail of design concept and results of initial activation of this system are reported. (author)
de Bruijn, Saskia T; van Wijck, Albert J M; Geenen, Rinie; Snijders, Tom J; van der Meulen, Wout J T M; Jacobs, Johannes W G; Veldhuijzen, Dieuwke Swaantje
2011-09-01
It has been suggested that low physical fitness is a contributor to pain in fibromyalgia and that exercise-related beliefs play a role in the persistence of this association. Yet the association between physical fitness and pain is hardly explored in detail. The aim of this exploratory study in patients with fibromyalgia was to investigate the association of physical fitness levels with self-reported and experimental pain as well as with pain catastrophizing and activity-avoidance beliefs. Physical fitness of 18 patients with fibromyalgia was examined using maximal ergocycling and the 6-minute walking test (6MWT). Pain intensity was assessed using self-report scales and quantitative sensory testing. A reduced walking distance on the 6MWT was correlated with more severe self-reported pain on the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (r = -0.52, P physically fit and experienced more severe pain. The results demonstrate some associations between physical fitness and pain in fibromyalgia and point to the importance of activity avoidance. Although the causal directionality of the associations needs substantiation in clinical research, the findings support the notion that low fitness and activity-avoidance beliefs should be targeted while treating pain in fibromyalgia.
Sauer, Christina; Sheppes, Gal; Lackner, Helmut Karl; Arens, Elisabeth A; Tarrasch, Ricardo; Barnow, Sven
2016-08-30
Emotion dysregulation is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). So far, many studies have tested the consequences of the implementation of certain emotion regulation (ER) strategies, but there have been no investigations about ER choices in BPD. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate habitual ER choices by self-report questionnaires and experimentally by testing the preference to select between distraction and reappraisal when facing different emotional intensities (high vs. low) and contents (borderline-specific vs. unspecific negative) in patients with BPD (n=24) compared with clinical controls (patients with major depression, n=19) and a healthy control group (n=32). Additionally, heart rate (HR) responses were continuously assessed. Main results revealed that both patient groups showed maladaptive self-reported ER choice profiles compared with HC. We found, however, no differences between the groups in the choice of distraction and reappraisal on the behavioral level and in HR responses. In BPD, within-group analyses revealed a positive correlation between symptom severity and the preference for distraction under high-intensity borderline-specific stimuli. Our findings provide preliminary evidence of ER choices in BPD and show the robustness of the choice effect in patients with affective disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Shima, T.; Kii, T.; Kikuchi, T.; Okazaki, F.; Kobayashi, T.; Baba, T.; Nagai, Y. [Tokyo Inst. of Tech. (Japan). Faculty of Science; Igashira, M.
1997-03-01
Nuclear reactions induced by keV energy neutrons provide a plenty of informations for studies of both astrophysics and nuclear physics. In this paper we will show our experimental studies of neutron- induced reactions of light nuclei in the keV energy region by means of a pulsed keV neutron beam and high-sensitivity detectors. Also we will discuss astrophysical and nuclear-physical consequences by using the obtained results. (author)
Hyllegard, Randy; Bories, Tamara L
2009-10-01
This study, based on the theory of deliberate practice, examined the practice relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment aspects of the theory. 25 college undergraduates practiced playing a melody on an electronic keyboard for three 20-min. practice sessions. Following each session, the perceived relevance of the practice for improving performance of the melody, the effort needed to learn the melody, and the inherent enjoyment of the practice were each rated on 10-point scales. Findings were consistent with theory and similar to previous studies also involving music practice and other tasks.
Macrophages and Uveitis in Experimental Animal Models
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Salvador Mérida
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Resident and infiltrated macrophages play relevant roles in uveitis as effectors of innate immunity and inductors of acquired immunity. They are major effectors of tissue damage in uveitis and are also considered to be potent antigen-presenting cells. In the last few years, experimental animal models of uveitis have enabled us to enhance our understanding of the leading role of macrophages in eye inflammation processes, including macrophage polarization in experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis and the major role of Toll-like receptor 4 in endotoxin-induced uveitis. This improved knowledge should guide advantageous iterative research to establish mechanisms and possible therapeutic targets for human uveitis resolution.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fuertauer, Siegfried; Beutl, Alexander; Flanorfer, Hans; Henriques, David; Giel, Hans; Markus, Thorsten
2017-01-01
This article reports on two consecutive joint projects titled ''Experimental Thermodynamics and Phase Relations of New Electrode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries'', which were performed in the framework of the WenDeLIB 1473 priority program ''Materials with new Design for Lithium Ion Batteries''. Hundreds of samples were synthesized using experimental techniques specifically developed to deal with highly reactive lithium and lithium-containing compounds to generate electrochemical, phase diagram and crystal structure data in the Cu-Li, Li-Sn, Li-Sb, Cu-Li-Sn, Cu-Li-Sb and selected oxide systems. The thermochemical and phase diagram data were subsequently used to develop self-consistent thermodynamic descriptions of several binary systems. In the present contribution, the experimental techniques, working procedures, results and their relevance to the development of new electrode materials for lithium ion batteries are discussed and summarized. The collaboration between the three groups has resulted in more than fifteen (15) published articles during the six-year funding period.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Fuertauer, Siegfried; Beutl, Alexander; Flanorfer, Hans [Vienna Univ. (Austria). Dept. of Inorganic Chemistry - Functional Materials; Li, Dajian; Cupid, Damian [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany). Inst. for Applied Materials - Applied Materials Physics (IAM-AWP); Henriques, David; Giel, Hans; Markus, Thorsten [Mannheim Univ. of Applied Sciences (Germany). Inst. for Thermo- and Fluiddynamics
2017-11-15
This article reports on two consecutive joint projects titled ''Experimental Thermodynamics and Phase Relations of New Electrode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries'', which were performed in the framework of the WenDeLIB 1473 priority program ''Materials with new Design for Lithium Ion Batteries''. Hundreds of samples were synthesized using experimental techniques specifically developed to deal with highly reactive lithium and lithium-containing compounds to generate electrochemical, phase diagram and crystal structure data in the Cu-Li, Li-Sn, Li-Sb, Cu-Li-Sn, Cu-Li-Sb and selected oxide systems. The thermochemical and phase diagram data were subsequently used to develop self-consistent thermodynamic descriptions of several binary systems. In the present contribution, the experimental techniques, working procedures, results and their relevance to the development of new electrode materials for lithium ion batteries are discussed and summarized. The collaboration between the three groups has resulted in more than fifteen (15) published articles during the six-year funding period.
Task relevance modulates successful retrieval effects during explicit and implicit memory tests.
Elman, Jeremy A; Shimamura, Arthur P
2011-05-01
The successful retrieval effect refers to greater activation for items identified as old compared to those identified as new. This effect is particularly apparent in the ventral posterior parietal cortex (vPPC), though its functional properties remain unclear. In two experiments, we assessed the activation for old and new items during explicit and implicit tests of memory. In Experiment 1, significant effects were observed during explicit recognition performance and during an implicit lexical decision task. In both tasks, determining mnemonic status provides relevant information to task goals. Experiment 2 included a second implicit task in which determining mnemonic status was not relevant (color discrimination task). In this case, vPPC activation did not distinguish between old and new items. These findings suggest that automatic or implicit processes can drive retrieval-related activation in the vPPC, though such processes are gated by stimulus relevancy and task goals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Effects of Goal Relevance and Perceptual Features on Emotional Items and Associative Memory.
Mao, Wei B; An, Shu; Yang, Xiao F
2017-01-01
Showing an emotional item in a neutral background scene often leads to enhanced memory for the emotional item and impaired associative memory for background details. Meanwhile, both top-down goal relevance and bottom-up perceptual features played important roles in memory binding. We conducted two experiments and aimed to further examine the effects of goal relevance and perceptual features on emotional items and associative memory. By manipulating goal relevance (asking participants to categorize only each item image as living or non-living or to categorize each whole composite picture consisted of item image and background scene as natural scene or manufactured scene) and perceptual features (controlling visual contrast and visual familiarity) in two experiments, we found that both high goal relevance and salient perceptual features (high salience of items vs. high familiarity of items) could promote emotional item memory, but they had different effects on associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds. Specifically, high goal relevance and high perceptual-salience of items could jointly impair the associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds, while the effect of item familiarity on associative memory for emotional items would be modulated by goal relevance. High familiarity of items could increase associative memory for negative items and neutral backgrounds only in the low goal relevance condition. These findings suggest the effect of emotion on associative memory is not only related to attentional capture elicited by emotion, but also can be affected by goal relevance and perceptual features of stimulus.
Özdemir, Öner; Göksu Erol, Azize Yasemin
2013-01-01
Probiotics are ingested live microbes that can modify intestinal microbial populations in a way that benefits the host. The interest in probiotic preventative/therapeutic potential in allergic diseases stemmed from the fact that probiotics have been shown to improve intestinal dysbiosis and permeability and to reduce inflammatory cytokines in human and murine experimental models. Enhanced presence of probiotic bacteria in the intestinal microbiota is found to correlate with protection against allergy. Therefore, many studies have been recently designed to examine the efficacy of probiotics, but the literature on the allergic skin disorders is still very scarce. Here, our objective is to summarize and evaluate the available knowledge from randomized or nonrandomized controlled trials of probiotic use in allergic skin conditions. Clinical improvement especially in IgE-sensitized eczema and experimental models such as atopic dermatitis-like lesions (trinitrochlorobenzene and picryl chloride sensitizations) and allergic contact dermatitis (dinitrofluorobenzene sensitization) has been reported. Although there is a very promising evidence to recommend the addition of probiotics into foods, probiotics do not have a proven role in the prevention or the therapy of allergic skin disorders. Thus, being aware of possible measures, such as probiotics use, to prevent/heal atopic diseases is essential for the practicing allergy specialist. PMID:24078929
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Scholderer, Joachim; Grunert, Klaus G.
2004-01-01
, bidirectionality, and self-relevance. The predictions were tested in altogether six experiments, using the same basic methodology. Two sessions were held with each participant. In a pilot session, a set of conventional MEC representations was elicited from each participant using the laddering technique. From......Despite its popularity in consumer research, means-end chain (MEC) theory suffers from problems of unconfirmed validity. Theoretically, MECs can be cast as associative networks with a three-layered structure that should exhibit four properties: hierarchicity, automatic spreading activation...
Experimental fact-finding in CFB biomass gasification for ECN's 500 kWth pilot-plant
Kersten, Sascha R.A.; Prins, W.; van der Drift, A.; van Swaaij, Willibrordus Petrus Maria
2003-01-01
CFB biomass gasification has been studied by experimentation with ECN's pilot facility and a cold-flow model of this plant. Data obtained by normal operation of this plant and the results of some special experiments have provided new insight into the behavior of circulating fluidized bed reactors
Busch, Alina; Bauer, Larissa; Wardelmann, Eva; Rudack, Claudia; Grünewald, Inga; Stenner, Markus
2017-05-01
Cancer of the major salivary glands comprises a morphologically diverse group of rare tumours of largely unknown cause. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to play a significant prognostic role in various human cancers. The aim was to assess the expression of EMT markers in different histological subtypes of parotid gland cancer (PGC) and analyse their prognostic value. We examined 94 PGC samples (13 histological subtypes) for the expression of MIB-1, epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin), β-catenin, vimentin and cytokeratin 8/18 (CK8/18) by means of immunohistochemistry. The experimental findings were correlated with clinicopathological and survival parameters. We detected all analysed EMT and proliferation markers in specifically different constellations within the examined histological subtypes of PGC. We found high epithelial marker expressions (CK8/18, E-cadherin, membranous β-catenin) only in a distinct variety of carcinomas. A high proliferation rate (high MIB-1 expression) as well as a combination of high CK8/18 and low vimentin expression was associated with a significantly worse survival. Our findings indicate that activation of the EMT pathway is a relevant explanation for tumour progression in individual histological subtypes of malignant parotid gland lesions, but by far not in all. Evidence of EMT activation in PGC cannot be seen as an isolated prognostic factor. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.
The relevance of animal experimental results for the assessment of radiation genetic risks in man
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Stephan, G.
1981-01-01
No suitable data are available from man for the quantitative assessment of genetic radiation risk. Therefore, the results from experiments on animals must be utilized. Two hypotheses are presented here in drawing analogical conclusions from one species to another. Although the extrapolation of results from animal experiments remains an open question, the use of experimental results from mice seems to be justified for an assessment of the genetic radiation risk in man. (orig.) [de
Clinically applied medical ethnography: relevance to cultural competence in patient care.
Engebretson, Joan
2011-06-01
Medical anthropology provides an excellent resource for nursing research that is relevant to clinical nursing. By expanding the understanding of ethnographic research beyond ethnicity, nurses can conduct research that explores patient's constructions and explanatory models of health and healing and how they make meaning out of chronic conditions and negotiate daily life. These findings can have applicability to culturally competent care at both the organizational or systems level, as well as in the patient/provider encounter. Individual patient care can be improved by applying ethnographic research findings to build provider expertise and then using a cultural negotiation process for individualized patient care. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jung, Seung Eun; Shinn, Kyung Sub; Kim, Hak Hee; Mun, Seok Hwan; Lee, Young Joon; Lee, Bae Young; Choi, Byung Gil; Lee, Jae Mun; Lee, Hee Jeong
1999-01-01
To evaluate the efficacy of power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) in depicting renal infarction in rabbits during experimental renal segmental arterial occlusion, and to compare the results with those of CT scanning. In 28 rabbits weighing 2.5 4kg, the segmental renal artery was occluded through the left main renal artery by embolization with Ivalon (Nycomed, Paris, France). Power Doppler ultrasonography and spiral CT scanning were performed before and at 2, 5, 8, 15, and 24 hours, and 3 and 7 days after occlusion of the segmental renal artery. The location of infarcted areas and collaterals, as seen on PDUS and CT scans, was evaluated by two radiologists. In all cases, as seen on power Doppler ultrasonography, infarcted areas-when compared with normal parenchyma, clearly demonstrated wedge-shaped perfusion defects in the kidney. The location of the lesion closely corresponded to the location seen during CT scanning. After renal arterial occlusion, transiently congested capsular arteries, which were named 'capsular sign', were seen in 63% of rabbits in the two and five-hour groups. No significant cortical rim sign was demonstrated on power Doppler ultrasonography, though it was noted on spiral CT at 15 and 24 hours, and 3 and 7 days after renal arterial occlusion. Power Doppler ultrasonography was useful for the diagnosis of renal infarction. Congested capsular artery seen in the early stage of renal infarction might be a characteristic finding of this condition, as seen on power Doppler ultrasonography
Relevance of labor room fetal autopsy in increasing its acceptance.
Kumar, Manisha; Singh, Abha; Gupta, Usha; Anand, Rama; Thakur, Seema
2015-02-01
Fetal autopsy is included in the basic protocol of investigating a perinatal death, parental refusal is the main reason for its low rate. To increase acceptance of fetal autopsy and to provide better counselling to the couple regarding risk of recurrence in future pregnancies. All cases with antenatally diagnosed congenital anomaly resulting in stillbirth or termination before 20 weeks were offered fetal autopsy and it was performed in labor room itself by the fetal medicine specialist after consents. External and internal examination, photograph, infantogram and karyotyping were done, and relevant tissue was sent for histopathology. Correlation between the ultrasound and autopsy finding was done. Total 674 cases of antenatally detected major congenital anomaly were included in the study. Out of 403 cases of stillbirth and abortion, consent for autopsy was given in 312. Most common defect was cranio-vertebral defect followed by genitourinary anomaly. The autopsy finding correlated with USG findings fully in 63.5% cases, there were additional findings altering diagnosis in 24.7% cases, the diagnosis completely changed in 11.8% cases. Autopsy if done in labor room increases its acceptance by the couple. Additional findings on autopsy helped in reaching at diagnosis and counseling accordingly.
The neural correlates of implicit self-relevant processing in low self-esteem: an ERP study.
Yang, Juan; Guan, Lili; Dedovic, Katarina; Qi, Mingming; Zhang, Qinglin
2012-08-30
Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that implicit and explicit processing of self-relevant (schematic) material elicit activity in many of the same brain regions. Electrophysiological studies on the neural processing of explicit self-relevant cues have generally supported the view that P300 is an index of attention to self-relevant stimuli; however, there has been no study to date investigating the temporal course of implicit self-relevant processing. The current study seeks to investigate the time course involved in implicit self-processing by comparing processing of self-relevant with non-self-relevant words while subjects are making a judgment about color of the words in an implicit attention task. Sixteen low self-esteem participants were examined using event-related potentials technology (ERP). We hypothesized that this implicit attention task would involve P2 component rather than the P300 component. Indeed, P2 component has been associated with perceptual analysis and attentional allocation and may be more likely to occur in unconscious conditions such as this task. Results showed that latency of P2 component, which indexes the time required for perceptual analysis, was more prolonged in processing self-relevant words compared to processing non-self-relevant words. Our results suggested that the judgment of the color of the word interfered with automatic processing of self-relevant information and resulted in less efficient processing of self-relevant word. Together with previous ERP studies examining processing of explicit self-relevant cues, these findings suggest that the explicit and the implicit processing of self-relevant information would not elicit the same ERP components. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Dieter, Hermann H
2010-03-01
"Non-relevant metabolites" are those degradation products of plant protection products (PPPs), which are devoid of the targeted toxicities of the PPP and devoid of genotoxicity. Most often, "non-relevant metabolites" have a high affinity to the aquatic environment, are very mobile within this environment, and, usually, are also persistent. Therefore, from the point of drinking water hygiene, they must be characterized as "relevant for drinking water" like many other hydrophilic/polar environmental contaminants of different origins. "Non-relevant metabolites" may therefore penetrate to water sources used for abstraction of drinking water and may thus ultimately be present in drinking water. The presence of "non-relevant metabolites" and similar trace compounds in the water cycle may endanger drinking water quality on a long-term scale. During oxidative drinking water treatment, "non-relevant metabolites" may also serve as the starting material for toxicologically relevant transformation products similar to processes observed by drinking water disinfection with chlorine. This hypothesis was recently confirmed by the detection of the formation of N-nitroso-dimethylamine from ozone and dimethylsulfamide, a "non-relevant metabolite" of the fungicide tolylfluanide. In order to keep drinking water preferably free of "non-relevant metabolites", the German drinking water advisory board of the Federal Ministry of Health supports limiting their penetration into raw and drinking water to the functionally (agriculturally) unavoidable extent. On this background, the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) recently has recommended two health related indication values (HRIV) to assess "non-relevant metabolites" from the view of drinking water hygiene. Considering the sometimes incomplete toxicological data base for some "non-relevant metabolites", HRIV also have the role of health related precautionary values. Depending on the completeness and quality of the toxicological
Motivated memory: memory for attitude-relevant information as a function of self-esteem
Wiersema, D.V.; van der Pligt, J.; van Harreveld, F.
2010-01-01
In this article we offer a new perspective on the contradictory findings in the literature on memory for attitude-relevant information. We propose that biases in memory are most likely to occur when the attitude involved is connected to personally important values and the self; i.e., if the attitude
Time-Quality Tradeoff of Waiting Strategies for Tutors to Retrieve Relevant Teaching Methods
Shih, Wen-Chung; Tseng, Shian-Shyong; Yang, Che-Ching; Liang, Tyne
2011-01-01
As more and more undergraduate students act as voluntary tutors to rural pupils after school, there is a growing need for a supporting environment to facilitate adaptive instruction. Among others, a teaching method retrieval system is intended to help tutors find relevant teaching methods for teaching a particular concept. However, teaching…
Development of response inhibition in the context of relevant versus irrelevant emotions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Margot A Schel
2013-07-01
Full Text Available The present study examined the influence of relevant and irrelevant emotions on response inhibition from childhood to early adulthood. Ninety-four participants between 6 and 25 years of age performed two go/nogo tasks with emotional faces (neutral, happy, and fearful as stimuli. In one go/nogo task emotion formed a relevant dimension of the task and in the other go/nogo task emotion was irrelevant and participants had to respond to the color of the faces instead. A special feature of the latter task, in which emotion was irrelevant, was the inclusion of free choice trials, in which participants could freely decide between acting and inhibiting. Results showed a linear increase in response inhibition performance with increasing age both in relevant and irrelevant affective contexts. Relevant emotions had a pronounced influence on performance across age, whereas irrelevant emotions did not. Overall, participants made more false alarms on trials with fearful faces than happy faces, and happy faces were associated with better performance on go trials (higher percentage correct and faster RTs than fearful faces. The latter effect was stronger for young children in terms of accuracy. Finally, during the free choice trials participants did not base their decisions on affective context, confirming that irrelevant emotions do not have a strong impact on inhibition. Together, these findings suggest that across development relevant affective context has a larger influence on response inhibition than irrelevant affective context. When emotions are relevant, a context of positive emotions is associated with better performance compared to a context with negative emotions, especially in young children.
Some experimental aspects of optimality theoretic pragmatics
Blutner, R.; Németh T., E.; Bibok, K.
2010-01-01
The article has three main concerns: (i) it gives a concise introduction into optimality-theoretic pragmatics; (ii) it discusses the relation to alternative accounts (relevance theory and Levinson's theory of presumptive meanings); (iii) it reviews recent findings concerning the psychological
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
DHIAA SHAMKI
2013-07-01
Full Text Available The paper presents empirical evidence about the impact of firm’s shareholders number as non accounting information on the value relevance of its earnings and book value of equity as accounting information for Jordanian industrial firms for the period from 1993 to 2002. Employing the return regression analysis and using shareholders number in two proxies namely local and foreign shareholders number, the findings of the study are fourfold. First, Individual earnings are value relevant while book value is irrelevant. Second, combining earnings with book value leads both of them to be irrelevant. Third, extending local shareholders number has significant impact on the value relevance of individual and combined earnings. Forth, extending foreign shareholders number has significant impact on the value relevance of individual book value and combined earnings. Since studies on the value relevance of these variables have neglected Jordan (and the Middle Eastern region, the study is the first especially in Jordan that tries to fill this gap by examiningthe impact of shareholders numbers on the value relevance of earnings and book valueto indicate firm value.
Identifying relevant feature-action associations for grasping unmodelled objects
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Thomsen, Mikkel Tang; Kraft, Dirk; Krüger, Norbert
2015-01-01
content. The method is provided with a large and structured set of visual features, motivated by the visual hierarchy in primates and finds relevant feature action associations automatically. We apply our method in a simulated environment on three different object sets for the case of grasp affordance...... learning. For box objects, we achieve a 0.90 success probability, 0.80 for round objects and up to 0.75 for open objects, when presented with novel objects. In this work, we in particular demonstrate the effect of choosing appropriate feature representations. We demonstrate a significant performance...
Neural systems supporting and affecting economically relevant behavior
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Braeutigam S
2012-05-01
Full Text Available Sven BraeutigamOxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomAbstract: For about a hundred years, theorists and traders alike have tried to unravel and understand the mechanisms and hidden rules underlying and perhaps determining economically relevant behavior. This review focuses on recent developments in neuroeconomics, where the emphasis is placed on two directions of research: first, research exploiting common experiences of urban inhabitants in industrialized societies to provide experimental paradigms with a broader real-life content; second, research based on behavioral genetics, which provides an additional dimension for experimental control and manipulation. In addition, possible limitations of state-of-the-art neuroeconomics research are addressed. It is argued that observations of neuronal systems involved in economic behavior converge to some extent across the technologies and paradigms used. Conceptually, the data available as of today raise the possibility that neuroeconomic research might provide evidence at the neuronal level for the existence of multiple systems of thought and for the importance of conflict. Methodologically, Bayesian approaches in particular may play an important role in identifying mechanisms and establishing causality between patterns of neural activity and economic behavior.Keywords: neuroeconomics, behavioral genetics, decision-making, consumer behavior, neural system
Intertwining personal and reward relevance: evidence from the drift-diffusion model.
Yankouskaya, A; Bührle, R; Lugt, E; Stolte, M; Sui, J
2018-01-24
In their seminal paper 'Is our self nothing but reward', Northoff and Hayes (Biol Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, Northoff, Hayes, Biological Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, 2011) proposed three models of the relationship between self and reward and opened a continuing debate about how these different fields can be linked. To date, none of the proposed models received strong empirical support. The present study tested common and distinct effects of personal relevance and reward values by de-componenting different stages of perceptual decision making using a drift-diffusion approach. We employed a recently developed associative matching paradigm where participants (N = 40) formed mental associations between five geometric shapes and five labels referring personal relevance in the personal task, or five shape-label pairings with different reward values in the reward task and then performed a matching task by indicating whether a displayed shape-label pairing was correct or incorrect. We found that common effects of personal relevance and monetary reward were manifested in the facilitation of behavioural performance for high personal relevance and high reward value as socially important signals. The differential effects between personal and monetary relevance reflected non-decisional time in a perceptual decision process, and task-specific prioritization of stimuli. Our findings support the parallel processing model (Northoff & Hayes, Biol Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, Northoff, Hayes, Biological Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, 2011) and suggest that self-specific processing occurs in parallel with high reward processing. Limitations and further directions are discussed.
Nostalgia's place among self-relevant emotions.
van Tilburg, Wijnand A P; Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine
2017-07-24
How is nostalgia positioned among self-relevant emotions? We tested, in six studies, which self-relevant emotions are perceived as most similar versus least similar to nostalgia, and what underlies these similarities/differences. We used multidimensional scaling to chart the perceived similarities/differences among self-relevant emotions, resulting in two-dimensional models. The results were revealing. Nostalgia is positioned among self-relevant emotions characterised by positive valence, an approach orientation, and low arousal. Nostalgia most resembles pride and self-compassion, and least resembles embarrassment and shame. Our research pioneered the integration of nostalgia among self-relevant emotions.
Skin signs of primary immunodeficiencies: how to find the genes to check.
Ettinger, M; Schreml, J; Wirsching, K; Berneburg, M; Schreml, S
2018-02-01
Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) are a heterogeneous group of rare diseases that result from defects in immune system development and/or function. The clinical manifestations of PIDs are highly variable, but most disorders involve at least an increased susceptibility to infection. Furthermore, cutaneous manifestations are very common in PIDs. As an easily accessible organ, the skin can be crucial for early diagnosis and treatment. This is relevant for preventing significant disease-associated morbidity and mortality. We provide a table that enables the reader to find the possible diseases and corresponding gene defects based on the skin manifestations of the suspected PIDs. To our knowledge, this is the first review that allows the reader to find relevant PIDs and the respective gene defects through solitary or combined skin signs. © 2017 British Association of Dermatologists.
Petersen, L E; Stahlberg, D; Dauenheimer, D
2000-02-01
The basic assumption of the integrative self-schema model (ISSM; L.-E. Petersen, 1994; L.-E. Petersen, D. Stahlberg, & D. Dauenheimer, 1996; D. Stahlberg, L.-E. Petersen, & D. Dauenheimer, 1994, 1999) is that self-schema elaboration (schematic vs. aschematic) affects reactions to self-relevant information. This assumption is based on the idea that schematic dimensions occupy a more central position in the cognitive system than aschematic dimensions. In the first study, this basic prediction could be clearly confirmed: The results showed that schematic dimensions possessed stronger cognitive associations with other self-relevant cognitions as well as a higher resistance to change than aschematic dimensions did. In the second study, the main assumptions of the ISSM concerning the affective and cognitive reactions to self-relevant feedback were tested: The ISSM proposes that, on schematic dimensions, reactions to self-relevant feedback will most likely follow principles of self-consistency theory, whereas on aschematic dimensions positive feedback should elicit the most positive reactions that self-enhancement theory would predict. The experimental results clearly confirmed the hypotheses derived from the ISSM for affective reactions. Cognitive reactions, however, were in line with self-consistency principles and were not modified by the elaboration of the self-schema dimension involved.
Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Atmosphereic Inorganic Chlorine Chemistry
Sander, Stanley P.; Friedl, Randall R.
1993-01-01
Over the last five years substantial progress has been made in defining the realm of new chlorine chemistry in the polar stratosphere. Application of existing experimental techniques to potentially important chlorine-containing compounds has yielded quantitative kinetic and spectroscopic data as well as qualitative mechanistic insights into the relevant reactions.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Søgaard, Søren Vinter; Olesen, Niels Erik; Hirschberg, Cosima
2017-01-01
. The comparison of the observed and predicted critical outlet diameters showed good agreement for the powder with the best flowability when linear extrapolation of the flow function was applied. In contrast, the predicted critical outlet diameter was slightly overestimated compared to the experimentally observed...... diameter for the two more cohesive powders. A likely reason for this overestimation is that the flow function probably has a non-linear convex upward shape for these two powders at very small consolidation stresses. These findings illustrate the relevance of measuring shear and wall shear stresses at very...... small consolidation stresses to improve the flow behavior predictions for small-scale process equipment typically used during production of solid state pharmaceuticals....
Evaluating the ergonomics of BCI devices for research and experimentation.
Ekandem, Joshua I; Davis, Timothy A; Alvarez, Ignacio; James, Melva T; Gilbert, Juan E
2012-01-01
The use of brain computer interface (BCI) devices in research and applications has exploded in recent years. Applications such as lie detectors that use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to video games controlled using electroencephalography (EEG) are currently in use. These developments, coupled with the emergence of inexpensive commercial BCI headsets, such as the Emotiv EPOC ( http://emotiv.com/index.php ) and the Neurosky MindWave, have also highlighted the need of performing basic ergonomics research since such devices have usability issues, such as comfort during prolonged use, and reduced performance for individuals with common physical attributes, such as long or coarse hair. This paper examines the feasibility of using consumer BCIs in scientific research. In particular, we compare user comfort, experiment preparation time, signal reliability and ease of use in light of individual differences among subjects for two commercially available hardware devices, the Emotiv EPOC and the Neurosky MindWave. Based on these results, we suggest some basic considerations for selecting a commercial BCI for research and experimentation. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Despite increased usage, few studies have examined the usability of commercial BCI hardware. This study assesses usability and experimentation factors of two commercial BCI models, for the purpose of creating basic guidelines for increased usability. Finding that more sensors can be less comfortable and accurate than devices with fewer sensors.
Modelling low energy electron and positron tracks in biologically relevant media
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Blanco, F.; Munoz, A.; Almeida, D.; Ferreira da Silva, F.; Limao-Vieira, P.; Fuss, M.C.; Sanz, A.G.; Garcia, G.
2013-01-01
This colloquium describes an approach to incorporate into radiation damage models the effect of low and intermediate energy (0-100 eV) electrons and positrons, slowing down in biologically relevant materials (water and representative biomolecules). The core of the modelling procedure is a C++ computing programme named 'Low Energy Particle Track Simulation (LEPTS)', which is compatible with available general purpose Monte Carlo packages. Input parameters are carefully selected from theoretical and experimental cross section data and energy loss distribution functions. Data sources used for this purpose are reviewed showing examples of electron and positron cross section and energy loss data for interactions with different media of increasing complexity: atoms, molecules, clusters and condense matter. Finally, we show how such a model can be used to develop an effective dosimetric tool at the molecular level (i.e. nanodosimetry). Recent experimental developments to study the fragmentation induced in biologically material by charge transfer from neutrals and negative ions are also included. (authors)
Sandhu, Rajinder; Kaur, Jaspreet; Thapar, Vivek
2018-02-01
Dengue, also known as break-bone fever, is a tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes. If the similarity between dengue infected users can be identified, it can help government's health agencies to manage the outbreak more effectively. To find similarity between cases affected by Dengue, user's personal and health information are the two fundamental requirements. Identification of similar symptoms, causes, effects, predictions and treatment procedures, is important. In this paper, an effective framework is proposed which finds similar patients suffering from dengue using keyword aware domain thesaurus and case base reasoning method. This paper focuses on the use of ontology dependent domain thesaurus technique to extract relevant keywords and then build cases with the help of case base reasoning method. Similar cases can be shared with users, nearby hospitals and health organizations to manage the problem more adequately. Two million case bases were generated to test the proposed similarity method. Experimental evaluations of proposed framework resulted in high accuracy and low error rate for finding similar cases of dengue as compared to UPCC and IPCC algorithms. The framework developed in this paper is for dengue but can easily be extended to other domains also.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Gallmeier, F.X.; Glasgow, D.C.; Jerde, E.A.; Johnson, J.O.; Yugo, J.J.
1999-01-01
The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) will provide an intense source of low-energy neutrons for experimental use. The low-energy neutrons are produced by the interaction of a high-energy (1.0 GeV) proton beam on a mercury (Hg) target and slowed down in liquid hydrogen or light water moderators. Computer codes and computational techniques are being benchmarked against relevant experimental data to validate and verify the tools being used to predict the performance of the SNS. The LAHET Code System (LCS), which includes LAHET, HTAPE ad HMCNP (a modified version of MCNP version 3b), have been applied to the analysis of experiments that were conducted in the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). In the AGS experiments, foils of various materials were placed around a mercury-filled stainless steel cylinder, which was bombarded with protons at 1.6 GeV. Neutrons created in the mercury target, activated the foils. Activities of the relevant isotopes were accurately measured and compared with calculated predictions. Measurements at BNL were provided in part by collaborating scientists from JAERI as part of the AGS Spallation Target Experiment (ASTE) collaboration. To date, calculations have shown good agreement with measurements
The Effects of Goal Relevance and Perceptual Features on Emotional Items and Associative Memory
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wei B. Mao
2017-07-01
Full Text Available Showing an emotional item in a neutral background scene often leads to enhanced memory for the emotional item and impaired associative memory for background details. Meanwhile, both top–down goal relevance and bottom–up perceptual features played important roles in memory binding. We conducted two experiments and aimed to further examine the effects of goal relevance and perceptual features on emotional items and associative memory. By manipulating goal relevance (asking participants to categorize only each item image as living or non-living or to categorize each whole composite picture consisted of item image and background scene as natural scene or manufactured scene and perceptual features (controlling visual contrast and visual familiarity in two experiments, we found that both high goal relevance and salient perceptual features (high salience of items vs. high familiarity of items could promote emotional item memory, but they had different effects on associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds. Specifically, high goal relevance and high perceptual-salience of items could jointly impair the associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds, while the effect of item familiarity on associative memory for emotional items would be modulated by goal relevance. High familiarity of items could increase associative memory for negative items and neutral backgrounds only in the low goal relevance condition. These findings suggest the effect of emotion on associative memory is not only related to attentional capture elicited by emotion, but also can be affected by goal relevance and perceptual features of stimulus.
Relevance theory: pragmatics and cognition.
Wearing, Catherine J
2015-01-01
Relevance Theory is a cognitively oriented theory of pragmatics, i.e., a theory of language use. It builds on the seminal work of H.P. Grice(1) to develop a pragmatic theory which is at once philosophically sensitive and empirically plausible (in both psychological and evolutionary terms). This entry reviews the central commitments and chief contributions of Relevance Theory, including its Gricean commitment to the centrality of intention-reading and inference in communication; the cognitively grounded notion of relevance which provides the mechanism for explaining pragmatic interpretation as an intention-driven, inferential process; and several key applications of the theory (lexical pragmatics, metaphor and irony, procedural meaning). Relevance Theory is an important contribution to our understanding of the pragmatics of communication. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Müller, Emmanuel; Assent, Ira; Günnemann, Stephan
2009-01-01
Subspace clustering aims at detecting clusters in any subspace projection of a high dimensional space. As the number of possible subspace projections is exponential in the number of dimensions, the result is often tremendously large. Recent approaches fail to reduce results to relevant subspace...... clusters. Their results are typically highly redundant, i.e. many clusters are detected multiple times in several projections. In this work, we propose a novel model for relevant subspace clustering (RESCU). We present a global optimization which detects the most interesting non-redundant subspace clusters...... achieves top clustering quality while competing approaches show greatly varying performance....
Howard-Jones, Paul; Ott, Michela; van Leeuwen, Theo; De Smedt, Bert
2015-01-01
There is increasing interest in the application of cognitive neuroscience in educational thinking and practice, and here we review findings from neuroscience that demonstrate its potential relevance to technology-enhanced learning (TEL). First, we identify some of the issues in integrating
Models of the Economic Growth and their Relevance
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nicolae MOROIANU
2012-06-01
Full Text Available Until few years ago, the economic growth was something perfect normal, part of an era marked by the transformation speed. Normality itself has been transformed and we currently are influenced by other rules, unknown yet, which should answer the question: “How do we return to the economic growth?” The economic growth and the models aiming to solve this problem concern the economic history even since its beginnings. In this paper we would like to find out what is the relevance that the well-known macroeconomic models still have and which might be their applicability level in a framework created by a black swan event type.
Health-relevant personality is associated with sensitivity to sound (hyperacusis).
Villaume, Karin; Hasson, Dan
2017-04-01
Hyperacusis, over-sensitivity to sounds, causes distress and disability and the etiology is not fully understood. The study aims to explore possible associations between health-relevant personality traits and hyperacusis. Hyperacusis was assessed using the Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ), and clinical uncomfortable loudness levels (ULL). Personality was measured with the Health-relevant Personality (HP5i) Inventory. The study sample was 348 (140 men and 208 women; age 23-71 years). Moderate correlations were found between the personality trait negative affectivity (NA; a facet of neuroticism) and dimensions of the HQ and weak correlations were found with the ULLs. Hedonic capacity (a facet of extraversion) was significantly correlated with the HQ but not with the ULLs. Impulsivity (a facet of conscientiousness) was correlated with the HQ and the ULLs. A significant difference in mean values was found in all hyperacusis measures and different levels of NA - those with higher levels displayed more severe signs of hyperacusis. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that higher levels of NA increases the odds of having hyperacusis on average 4.6 times for men and 2.4 times for women. These findings imply that health-relevant personality traits should be considered in the diagnosis and treatment of hyperacusis. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Inge Kersbergen
2017-01-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Alcohol warning labels have a limited effect on drinking behavior, potentially because people devote minimal attention to them. We report findings from two studies in which we measured the extent to which alcohol consumers attend to warning labels on alcohol packaging, and aimed to identify if increased attention to warning labels is associated with motivation to change drinking behavior. Methods Study 1 (N = 60 was an exploratory cross-sectional study in which we used eye-tracking to measure visual attention to brand and health information on alcohol and soda containers. In study 2 (N = 120 we manipulated motivation to reduce drinking using an alcohol brief intervention (vs control intervention and measured heavy drinkers’ attention to branding and warning labels with the same eye-tracking paradigm as in study 1. Then, in a separate task we experimentally manipulated attention by drawing a brightly colored border around health (or brand information before measuring participants’ self-reported drinking intentions for the subsequent week. Results Study 1 showed that participants paid minimal attention to warning labels (7% of viewing time. Participants who were motivated to reduce drinking paid less attention to alcohol branding and alcohol warning labels. Results from study 2 showed that the alcohol brief intervention decreased attention to branding compared to the control condition, but it did not affect attention to warning labels. Furthermore, the experimental manipulation of attention to health or brand information did not influence drinking intentions for the subsequent week. Conclusions Alcohol consumers allocate minimal attention to warning labels on alcohol packaging and even if their attention is directed to these warning labels, this has no impact on their drinking intentions. The lack of attention to warning labels, even among people who actively want to cut down, suggests that there is room for
Kersbergen, Inge; Field, Matt
2017-01-26
Alcohol warning labels have a limited effect on drinking behavior, potentially because people devote minimal attention to them. We report findings from two studies in which we measured the extent to which alcohol consumers attend to warning labels on alcohol packaging, and aimed to identify if increased attention to warning labels is associated with motivation to change drinking behavior. Study 1 (N = 60) was an exploratory cross-sectional study in which we used eye-tracking to measure visual attention to brand and health information on alcohol and soda containers. In study 2 (N = 120) we manipulated motivation to reduce drinking using an alcohol brief intervention (vs control intervention) and measured heavy drinkers' attention to branding and warning labels with the same eye-tracking paradigm as in study 1. Then, in a separate task we experimentally manipulated attention by drawing a brightly colored border around health (or brand) information before measuring participants' self-reported drinking intentions for the subsequent week. Study 1 showed that participants paid minimal attention to warning labels (7% of viewing time). Participants who were motivated to reduce drinking paid less attention to alcohol branding and alcohol warning labels. Results from study 2 showed that the alcohol brief intervention decreased attention to branding compared to the control condition, but it did not affect attention to warning labels. Furthermore, the experimental manipulation of attention to health or brand information did not influence drinking intentions for the subsequent week. Alcohol consumers allocate minimal attention to warning labels on alcohol packaging and even if their attention is directed to these warning labels, this has no impact on their drinking intentions. The lack of attention to warning labels, even among people who actively want to cut down, suggests that there is room for improvement in the content of health warnings on alcohol packaging.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Sucha, Dominika; Mali, Willem P.T.M.; Habets, Jesse [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Chamuleau, Steven A.J. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cardiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Symersky, Petr [VU Medical Center, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Meijs, Matthijs F.L. [Thoraxcentrum Twente, Medisch Spectrum Twente, Department of Cardiology, Enschede (Netherlands); Brink, Renee B.A. van den [Academic Medical Center, Department of Cardiology, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Mol, Bas A.J.M. de [Academic Medical Center, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Herwerden, Lex A. van [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Utrecht (Netherlands); Budde, Ricardo P.J. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Radiology, Utrecht (Netherlands); Erasmus University Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
2016-04-15
Recent studies have proposed additional multidetector-row CT (MDCT) for prosthetic heart valve (PHV) dysfunction. References to discriminate physiological from pathological conditions early after implantation are lacking. We present baseline MDCT findings of PHVs 6 weeks post implantation. Patients were prospectively enrolled and TTE was performed according to clinical guidelines. 256-MDCT images were systematically assessed for leaflet excursions, image quality, valve-related artefacts, and pathological and additional findings. Forty-six patients were included comprising 33 mechanical and 16 biological PHVs. Overall, MDCT image quality was good and relevant regions remained reliably assessable despite mild-moderate PHV-artefacts. MDCT detected three unexpected valve-related pathology cases: (1) prominent subprosthetic tissue, (2) pseudoaneurysm and (3) extensive pseudoaneurysms and valve dehiscence. The latter patient required valve surgery to be redone. TTE only showed trace periprosthetic regurgitation, and no abnormalities in the other cases. Additional findings were: tilted aortic PHV position (n = 3), pericardial haematoma (n = 3) and pericardial effusion (n = 3). Periaortic induration was present in 33/40 (83 %) aortic valve patients. MDCT allowed evaluation of relevant PHV regions in all valves, revealed baseline postsurgical findings and, despite normal TTE findings, detected three cases of unexpected, clinically relevant pathology. (orig.)
Lewin, Simon; Bohren, Meghan; Rashidian, Arash; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Glenton, Claire; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Tunçalp, Özge; Wainwright, Megan; Flottorp, Signe; Tucker, Joseph D; Carlsen, Benedicte
2018-01-25
The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on making an overall assessment of confidence in a review finding and creating a CERQual Evidence Profile and a CERQual Summary of Qualitative Findings table. We developed this guidance by examining the methods used by other GRADE approaches, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We then piloted the guidance on several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the approach. Confidence in the evidence is an assessment of the extent to which a review finding is a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. Creating a summary of each review finding and deciding whether or not CERQual should be used are important steps prior to assessing confidence. Confidence should be assessed for each review finding individually, based on the judgements made for each of the four CERQual components. Four levels are used to describe the overall assessment of confidence: high, moderate, low or very low. The overall CERQual assessment for each review finding should be explained in a CERQual Evidence Profile and Summary of Qualitative Findings table. Structuring and summarising review findings, assessing confidence in those findings using CERQual and creating a CERQual Evidence
Larval aquatic insect responses to cadmium and zinc in experimental streams.
Mebane, Christopher A; Schmidt, Travis S; Balistrieri, Laurie S
2017-03-01
To evaluate the risks of metal mixture effects to natural stream communities under ecologically relevant conditions, the authors conducted 30-d tests with benthic macroinvertebrates exposed to cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) in experimental streams. The simultaneous exposures were with Cd and Zn singly and with Cd+Zn mixtures at environmentally relevant ratios. The tests produced concentration-response patterns that for individual taxa were interpreted in the same manner as classic single-species toxicity tests and for community metrics such as taxa richness and mayfly (Ephemeroptera) abundance were interpreted in the same manner as with stream survey data. Effect concentrations from the experimental stream exposures were usually 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than those from classic single-species tests. Relative to a response addition model, which assumes that the joint toxicity of the mixtures can be predicted from the product of their responses to individual toxicants, the Cd+Zn mixtures generally showed slightly less than additive toxicity. The authors applied a modeling approach called Tox to explore the mixture toxicity results and to relate the experimental stream results to field data. The approach predicts the accumulation of toxicants (hydrogen, Cd, and Zn) on organisms using a 2-pK a bidentate model that defines interactions between dissolved cations and biological receptors (biotic ligands) and relates that accumulation through a logistic equation to biological response. The Tox modeling was able to predict Cd+Zn mixture responses from the single-metal exposures as well as responses from field data. The similarity of response patterns between the 30-d experimental stream tests and field data supports the environmental relevance of testing aquatic insects in experimental streams. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:749-762. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Grieser, T.; Buehne, K.H.; Haeuser, H.; Bohndorf, K.
2001-01-01
Purpose: To evaluate prospectively whether and to what extent both thoracic computed tomography (Tx-CT) and supine X-ray of the chest (Rx-Tx) are able to show additional findings that are therapeutically relevant. Patients and Methods: According to a fixed study protocol, we performed Rx-Tx and Tx-CT in 102 consecutive, haemodynamically stable polytrauma patients (mean age, 41.2 yrs; age range, 12-93 yrs). Findings of therapeutical relevance drawn from both Tx-CT and Rx-Tx, and urgent interventions indicated by an attending trauma team were documented on a standardized evaluation sheet immediately. Any change in the patient's management that is different from routine life-saving procedures, and any therapeutical intervention done in the emergency room or elsewhere (operating theatre, angiographic facility) were considered therapeutically relevant. Results: Of 102 patients, 43 (42.2%) had a total of 51 therapeutically relevant findings. Rx-Tx alone yielded 23 relevant findings (45.1%) in 23 patients (22.5%). Of them, Tx-CT has shown additional important findings in 7 patients (30.4%). When Tx-CT alone is considered, it revealed 22 new findings of therapeutical relevance (43.2%) in 20 patients (46.5%). Altogether, Tx-CT was able to show 30 relevant findings in 27 patients, i.e., there was a therapeutical benefit for 26.5% of all polytrauma patients included. Most frequently, there was a need for chest-tube insertion (n=29). Conclusions: Polytrauma patients if haemodynamically stable may profit from computed tomography of the chest when therapeutically relevant thoracic injuries are looked for or early therapeutical interventions are to be checked. However, chest X-ray should stay as a 'front-line' screening method because of its superbly quick feasibility and availability. (orig.) [de
Experimental and theoretical data on ion-molecule-reactions relevant for plasma modelling
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hansel, A.; Praxmarer, C.; Lindinger, W.
1995-01-01
Despite the fact that the rate coefficients of hundreds of ion-molecule-reactions have been published in the literature, much more data are required for the purpose of plasma modelling. Many ion molecule reactions have rate coefficients, k, as large as the collisional limiting value, k c , i.e. the rate coefficients k c at which ion-neutral collision complexes are formed are close to the actual rate coefficients observed. In the case of the interaction of an ion with a non polar molecule, k c , is determined by the Langevin limiting value k L being typically 10 -9 cm 3 s -1 . However, when ions react with polar molecules k c is predicted by the average dipole orientation (ADO) theory. These classical theories yield accurate rate coefficients at thermal and elevated temperatures for practically all proton transfer as well as for many charge transfer and hydrogen abstraction reactions. The agreement between experimental and calculated values is usually better than ±20% and in the case of proton transfer reactions the agreement seems to be even better as recent investigations have shown. Even the interaction of the permanent ion dipole with non polar and polar neutrals can be taken into account to predict reaction rate coefficients as has been shown very recently in reactions of the highly polar ion ArH 3 + with various neutrals
Experimental data at high PT and its interpretation: the role of theory
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Belonoshko, A. B.; Rosengren, A.
2011-07-01
Experiments, relevant for planetary science, are performed often under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature. This makes them technically difficult. The results are often difficult to interpret correctly, especially in the cases when experimental data are scarce and experimental trends difficult to establish. Theory, while normally is inferior in precision of delivered data, is superior in providing a big picture and details behind materials behavior. We consider the experiments performed for deuterium, Mo, and Fe. We demonstrate that when experimental data is verified by theory, significant insight can be gained. (Author) 26 refs.
FIRST experiment: Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Agodi, C; Bondì, M; Cavallaro, M; Carbone, D; Cirrone, G A P; Cuttone, G; Abou-Haidar, Z; Alvarez, M A G; Bocci, A; Aumann, T; Durante, M; Balestra, F; Battistoni, G; Bohlen, T T; Boudard, A; Brunetti, A; Carpinelli, M; Cappuzzello, F; Cortes-Giraldo, M A; Napoli, M De
2013-01-01
Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in different fields of basic research and applied physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection applications. The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, has been designed for the measurement of different ions fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The experimental apparatus is partly based on an already existing setup made of the ALADIN magnet, the MUSIC IV TPC, the LAND2 neutron detector and the TOFWALL scintillator TOF system, integrated with newly designed detectors in the interaction Region (IR) around the carbon removable target: a scintillator Start Counter, a Beam Monitor drift chamber, a silicon Vertex Detector and a Proton Tagger for detection of light fragments emitted at large angles (KENTROS). The scientific program of the FIRST experiment started on summer 2011 with the study of the 400 MeV/nucleon 12C beam fragmentation on thin (8 mm) carbon target.
FIRST experiment: Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy
Agodi, C.; Abou-Haidar, Z.; Alvarez, M. A. G.; Aumann, T.; Balestra, F.; Battistoni, G.; Bocci, A.; Bohlen, T. T.; Bondì, M.; Boudard, A.; Brunetti, A.; Carpinelli, M.; Cappuzzello, F.; Cavallaro, M.; Carbone, D.; Cirrone, G. A. P.; Cortes-Giraldo, M. A.; Cuttone, G.; De Napoli, M.; Durante, M.; Fernandez-Garcia, J. P.; Finck, C.; Foti, A.; Gallardo, M. I.; Golosio, B.; Iarocci, E.; Iazzi, F.; Ickert, G.; Introzzi, R.; Juliani, D.; Krimmer, J.; Kurz, N.; Labalme, M.; Lavagno, A.; Leifels, Y.; Le Fevre, A.; Leray, S.; Marchetto, F.; Monaco, V.; Morone, M. C.; Nicolosi, D.; Oliva, P.; Paoloni, A.; Patera, V.; Piersanti, L.; Pleskac, R.; Quesada, J. M.; Randazzo, N.; Romano, F.; Rossi, D.; Rosso, V.; Rousseau, M.; Sacchi, R.; Sala, P.; Sarti, A.; Scheidenberger, C.; Schuy, C.; Sciubba, A.; Sfienti, C.; Simon, H.; Sipala, V.; Spiriti, E.; Stuttge, L.; Tropea, S.; Younis, H.
2013-03-01
Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in different fields of basic research and applied physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection applications. The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, has been designed for the measurement of different ions fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The experimental apparatus is partly based on an already existing setup made of the ALADIN magnet, the MUSIC IV TPC, the LAND2 neutron detector and the TOFWALL scintillator TOF system, integrated with newly designed detectors in the interaction Region (IR) around the carbon removable target: a scintillator Start Counter, a Beam Monitor drift chamber, a silicon Vertex Detector and a Proton Tagger for detection of light fragments emitted at large angles (KENTROS). The scientific program of the FIRST experiment started on summer 2011 with the study of the 400 MeV/nucleon 12C beam fragmentation on thin (8mm) carbon target.
Leach, James L; Awwad, Reem; Greiner, Hansel M; Vannest, Jennifer J; Miles, Lili; Mangano, Francesco T
2016-06-01
OBJECTIVE Diagnostic criteria for hippocampal malrotation (HIMAL) on brain MRI typically include a rounded hippocampus, vertical collateral sulcus, and architectural blurring. Relationship to epileptogenesis remains speculative, and usefulness for surgical guidance is unknown. The study was performed to determine the prevalence of hippocampal rotational anomalies in a cohort of pediatric patients with intractable epilepsy undergoing evaluation for surgery and to determine the significance of this finding in the context of surgical planning. METHODS Forty-eight surgically treated children with intractable epilepsy were compared with matched healthy subjects; reviewers were blinded to surgical side. Each temporal lobe was evaluated for rounded hippocampus, blurring, vertical collateral sulcus, wide choroidal fissure, enlarged temporal horn, low fornix, hippocampal signal, and findings of hippocampal sclerosis. A mesial temporal lobe (MTL) score was calculated by summing the number of features, and the collateral sulcus angle (CSA) was measured in each temporal lobe. Surgical side, pathological diagnosis, and imaging findings elsewhere in the brain were tabulated. Presence of HIMAL, associated imaging features, and MTL score were compared between sides, between epilepsy and control groups, in relationship to side of surgery, and in relationship to postoperative outcome. RESULTS Only 3 epilepsy patients (6.2%) and no controls exhibited all 3 features of HIMAL (p = 0.12). Eight of 48 (16.7%) epilepsy versus 2 of 48 (4.6%) control subjects had both a rounded hippocampus and vertical collateral sulcus (suggesting HIMAL) (p = 0.045). In control and epilepsy subjects, most findings were more prevalent on the left, and the left CSA was more vertical (p Epilepsy subjects had higher MTL scores (z = -2.95, p = 0.002) and more acute CSAs (p = 0.04) than controls. Only lateralizing raw MTL score had a significant association with surgical side (p = 0.03, OR 7.33); however, this
Experimental Facilities at the High Energy Frontier
Jenni, P.
2016-01-01
The main theme of the lectures covered the experimental work at hadron colliders, with a clear focus on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and on the roadmap that led finally to the discovery of the Higgs boson. The lectures were not a systematic course on machine and detector technologies, but rather tried to give a physics-motivated overview of many experimental aspects that were all relevant for making the discovery. The actual lectures covered a much broader scope than what is documented here in this write- up. The successful concepts for the experiments at the LHC have benefitted from the experience gained with previous generations of detectors at lower- energy machines. The lectures included also an outlook to the future experimental programme at the LHC, with its machine and experiments upgrades, as well as a short discussion of possible facilities at the high energy frontier beyond LHC.
Profiles of Dialogue for Relevance
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Douglas Walton
2016-12-01
Full Text Available This paper uses argument diagrams, argumentation schemes, and some tools from formal argumentation systems developed in artificial intelligence to build a graph-theoretic model of relevance shown to be applicable (with some extensions as a practical method for helping a third party judge issues of relevance or irrelevance of an argument in real examples. Examples used to illustrate how the method works are drawn from disputes about relevance in natural language discourse, including a criminal trial and a parliamentary debate.
Science and the struggle for relevance
Hessels, L.K.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304832863
2010-01-01
This thesis deals with struggles for relevance of university researchers, their efforts to make their work correspond with ruling standards of relevance and to influence these standards. Its general research question is: How to understand changes in the struggle for relevance of Dutch academic
MSCT findings in a controlled bus bombing using a pig model
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Hansen, Nikolaj Friis
2009-01-01
and recovering relevant foreign bodies that might have been used in the bomb to inflict more damages to bystanders. The author will present MSCT findings and the injuries found at autopsy in 10 dead pigs were positioned inside the bus in a controlled explosion. This will be done in correlation to the individual...... of the findings. 3D reconstructions of the MSCT studies using the Osirix Viewer were made to visualize injuries and foreign bodies. Results of these findings will be presented to demonstrate the advantages of MSCT to aid forensic pathologists and police investigators in understanding the injury types, patterns...
Coors, Anja; Vollmar, Pia; Heim, Jennifer; Sacher, Frank; Kehrer, Anja
2018-01-01
Biocidal products are mixtures of one or more active substances (a.s.) and a broad range of formulation additives. There is regulatory guidance currently under development that will specify how the combined effects of the a.s. and any relevant formulation additives shall be considered in the environmental risk assessment of biocidal products. The default option is a component-based approach (CBA) by which the toxicity of the product is predicted from the toxicity of 'relevant' components using concentration addition. Hence, unequivocal and practicable criteria are required for identifying the 'relevant' components to ensure protectiveness of the CBA, while avoiding unnecessary workload resulting from including by default components that do not significantly contribute to the product toxicity. The present study evaluated a set of different criteria for identifying 'relevant' components using confidential information on the composition of 21 wood preservative products. Theoretical approaches were complemented by experimentally testing the aquatic toxicity of seven selected products. For three of the seven tested products, the toxicity was underestimated for the most sensitive endpoint (green algae) by more than factor 2 if only the a.s. were considered in the CBA. This illustrated the necessity of including at least some additives along with the a.s. Considering additives that were deemed 'relevant' by the tentatively established criteria reduced the underestimation of toxicity for two of the three products. A lack of data for one specific additive was identified as the most likely reason for the remaining toxicity underestimation of the third product. In three other products, toxicity was overestimated by more than factor 2, while prediction and observation fitted well for the seventh product. Considering all additives in the prediction increased only the degree of overestimation. Supported by theoretical calculations and experimental verifications, the present
Wirtz, John G; Sar, Sela; Ghuge, Shreyas
2015-01-01
We predicted that mood would moderate the relation between message framing and two outcome variables, message evaluation and behavioral intention, when the message was personally relevant to the target audience. Participants (N = 242) were randomly assigned to an experimental condition in which a positive or negative mood was induced. Participants then read and evaluated a health message that emphasized potential benefits or risks associated with a vaccine. As predicted, participants who received a loss-framed message reported higher message evaluation and intention scores but only when the message was personally relevant and they were in a positive mood.
Research Courses in Education Leadership Programs: Relevance in an Era of Accountability
Rebecca M. Bustamante; Julie P. Combs
2011-01-01
Master’s degree research course offerings of 72 university education leadership programs were examined to explore how relevant the courses were to the inquiry needs of practicing school leaders. Research course titles and descriptions were analyzed using content analysis. Findings revealed considerable variation in research course requirements, course titles, and course descriptions. Analysis of course descriptions indicated minimal emphasis on the research skills required for school improvem...
Contribution to the experimental study of the hydraulic jump in ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The purpose of this study is to study experimentally the hydraulic jump evolving in a symmetric trapezoidal channel with a positive slope, requires the use of an experimental protocol, and to find experimental relations linking the characteristics of the formed projection. The experimental study investigated the variation of the ...
Culturally Relevant Cyberbullying Prevention
Phillips, Gregory John
2017-01-01
In this action research study, I, along with a student intervention committee of 14 members, developed a cyberbullying intervention for a large urban high school on the west coast. This high school contained a predominantly African American student population. I aimed to discover culturally relevant cyberbullying prevention strategies for African American students. The intervention committee selected video safety messages featuring African American actors as the most culturally relevant cyber...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Florian eBublatzky
2014-07-01
Full Text Available Human face perception is modulated by both emotional valence and social relevance, but their interaction has rarely been examined. Event-related brain potentials (ERP to happy, neutral, and angry facial expressions with different degrees of social relevance were recorded. Social relevance was manipulated by presenting pictures of two specific face actors as future interaction partners (meet condition, whereas two other face actors remained non-relevant. As a further control condition all stimuli were presented without specific task instructions (passive viewing condition. A within-subject design (Facial Expression x Relevance x Task was implemented, where randomly ordered face stimuli of four actors (2 women, from the KDEF were presented for 1s to 26 participants (16 female. Results showed an augmented N170, early posterior negativity (EPN, and late positive potential (LPP for emotional in contrast to neutral facial expressions. Of particular interest, face processing varied as a function of instructed social relevance. Whereas the meet condition was accompanied with unspecific effects regardless of relevance (P1, EPN, viewing potential interaction partners was associated with increased LPP amplitudes. The LPP was specifically enhanced for happy facial expressions of the future interaction partners. This underscores that social relevance can impact face processing already at an early stage of visual processing. These findings are discussed within the framework of motivated attention and face processing theories.
The design of PSB-VVER experiments relevant to accident management
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Del Nevo, Alessandro; D'auria, Francesco; Mazzini, Marino; Bykov, Michael; Elkin, Ilya V.; Suslov, Alexander
2008-01-01
Experimental programs carried-out in integral test facilities are relevant for validating the best estimate thermal-hydraulic codes, which are used for accident analyses, design of accident management procedures, licensing of nuclear power plants, etc. The validation process, in fact, is based on well designed experiments. It consists in the comparison of the measured and calculated parameters and the determination whether a computer code has an adequate capability in predicting the major phenomena expected to occur in the course of transient and/or accidents. University of Pisa was responsible of the numerical design of the 12 experiments executed in PSB-VVER facility, operated at Electrogorsk Research and Engineering Center (Russia), in the framework of the TACIS 2.03/97 Contract 3.03.03 Part A, EC financed. The paper describes the methodology adopted at University of Pisa, starting form the scenarios foreseen in the final test matrix until the execution of the experiments. This process considers three key topics: a) the scaling issue and the simulation, with unavoidable distortions, of the expected performance of the reference nuclear power plants; b) the code assessment process involving the identification of phenomena challenging the code models; c) the features of the concerned integral test facility (scaling limitations, control logics, data acquisition system, instrumentation, etc.). The activities performed in this respect are discussed, and emphasis is also given to the relevance of the thermal losses to the environment. This issue affects particularly the small scaled facilities and has relevance on the scaling approach related to the power and volume of the facility. (author)
The Design of PSB-VVER Experiments Relevant to Accident Management
Nevo, Alessandro Del; D'Auria, Francesco; Mazzini, Marino; Bykov, Michael; Elkin, Ilya V.; Suslov, Alexander
Experimental programs carried-out in integral test facilities are relevant for validating the best estimate thermal-hydraulic codes(1), which are used for accident analyses, design of accident management procedures, licensing of nuclear power plants, etc. The validation process, in fact, is based on well designed experiments. It consists in the comparison of the measured and calculated parameters and the determination whether a computer code has an adequate capability in predicting the major phenomena expected to occur in the course of transient and/or accidents. University of Pisa was responsible of the numerical design of the 12 experiments executed in PSB-VVER facility (2), operated at Electrogorsk Research and Engineering Center (Russia), in the framework of the TACIS 2.03/97 Contract 3.03.03 Part A, EC financed (3). The paper describes the methodology adopted at University of Pisa, starting form the scenarios foreseen in the final test matrix until the execution of the experiments. This process considers three key topics: a) the scaling issue and the simulation, with unavoidable distortions, of the expected performance of the reference nuclear power plants; b) the code assessment process involving the identification of phenomena challenging the code models; c) the features of the concerned integral test facility (scaling limitations, control logics, data acquisition system, instrumentation, etc.). The activities performed in this respect are discussed, and emphasis is also given to the relevance of the thermal losses to the environment. This issue affects particularly the small scaled facilities and has relevance on the scaling approach related to the power and volume of the facility.
Experimental Economics: Some Methodological Notes
Fiore, Annamaria
2009-01-01
The aim of this work is presenting in a self-contained paper some methodological aspects as they are received in the current experimental literature. The purpose has been to make a critical review of some very influential papers dealing with methodological issues. In other words, the idea is to have a single paper where people first approaching experimental economics can find summarised (some) of the most important methodological issues. In particular, the focus is on some methodological prac...
Pentaquarks. An experimental overview
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Barna, D.
2005-01-01
Since the recent observation of a pentaquark (Θ + = qqqqq-bar) state (see Nakano et al. (LEPS Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett.91 (2003) 012002-1) several positive and negative experimental results have emerged. These results are overviewed, with a trial to find common features among them. (author)
Thought-shape fusion in anorexia nervosa: an experimental investigation.
Radomsky, Adam S; de Silva, Padmal; Todd, Gillian; Treasure, Janet; Murphy, Tara
2002-10-01
Cognitive biases and cognitive distortions have been implicated as important factors in the development and maintenance of many disorders. The concept of thought-shape fusion (TSF) in eating disorders was developed by Shafran, Teachman, Kerry, and Rachman (British Journal of Clinical Psychology 38 (1999) 167) as a variant of thought-action fusion, described by Shafran, Thordarson and Rachman (Journal of Anxiety Disorders 10 (1996) 379). TSF occurs when thinking about eating certain types of food increases a person's estimate of their shape and/or weight, elicits a perception of moral wrongdoing, and/or makes the person feel fat. Shafran et al. (1999) examined both the psychometric and experimental properties of TSF in an undergraduate sample. This paper reports an extension of this work to a clinical group (N=20) of patients with anorexia nervosa. After completing a set of relevant questionnaires, participants were asked to think about a food which they considered extremely fattening. They were then asked to write out the sentence, "I am eating--.", inserting the name of the fattening food in the blank. After being asked to rate their anxiety, guilt, feelings about their weight, morality, etc., participants were given the opportunity to neutralize their statement in any way they chose. The majority of the participants neutralized in ways consistent with the findings of Shafran et al. (1999). The results are discussed in terms of cognitive-behavioural formulations of eating disorders, and of the influence of cognitive biases and cognitive distortions on the processing of information relevant to food, weight and shape in anorexia nervosa.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Jackson, J. D.; Li, J.; Wang, J. [The Univ., of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom)
2003-07-01
Two separate effects experiments concerned with buoyancy-influenced convective heat transfer in vertical passages which have relevance to the problem of nuclear reactor containment cooling by means of buoyancy-driven airflow are described. A feature of each is that local values of heat transfer coefficient are determined on surfaces maintained at uniform temperature. Experimental results are presented which highlight the need for buoyancy-induced impairment of turbulent convective heat transfer to be accounted for in the design of such passive cooling systems. A strategy is presented for predicting the heat removal by combined convective and radiative heat transfer from a full scale nuclear reactor containment shell using such experimental results.
Arlinghaus, Barry P.
2008-01-01
In this article, the author discusses a survey of faculty members at nondoctoral AACSB-accredited accounting programs in the United States. The purpose of the survey was to determine the environment for professional interaction and relevant experience in light of institutional demands for intellectual contributions. The findings show that the…
Nonisothermal hydrologic transport experimental plan
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rasmussen, T.C.; Evans, D.D.
1992-09-01
A field heater experimental plan is presented for investigating hydrologic transport processes in unsaturated fractured rock related to the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in an underground repository. The experimental plan provides a methodology for obtaining data required for evaluating conceptual and computer models related to HLW isolation in an environment where significant heat energy is produced. Coupled-process models are currently limited by the lack of validation data appropriate for field scales that incorporate relevant transport processes. Presented in this document is a discussion of previous nonisothermal experiments. Processes expected to dominate heat-driven liquid, vapor, gas, and solute flow during the experiment are explained, and the conceptual model for nonisothermal flow and transport in unsaturated, fractured rock is described. Of particular concern is the ability to confirm the hypothesized conceptual model specifically, the establishment of higher water saturation zones within the host rock around the heat source, and the establishment of countercurrent flow conditions within the host rock near the heat source. Field experimental plans are presented using the Apache Leap Tuff Site to illustrate the implementation of the proposed methodology. Both small-scale preliminary experiments and a long-term experiment are described
Experimenter gender and replicability in science.
Chapman, Colin D; Benedict, Christian; Schiöth, Helgi B
2018-01-01
There is a replication crisis spreading through the annals of scientific inquiry. Although some work has been carried out to uncover the roots of this issue, much remains unanswered. With this in mind, this paper investigates how the gender of the experimenter may affect experimental findings. Clinical trials are regularly carried out without any report of the experimenter's gender and with dubious knowledge of its influence. Consequently, significant biases caused by the experimenter's gender may lead researchers to conclude that therapeutics or other interventions are either overtreating or undertreating a variety of conditions. Bearing this in mind, this policy paper emphasizes the importance of reporting and controlling for experimenter gender in future research. As backdrop, it explores what we know about the role of experimenter gender in influencing laboratory results, suggests possible mechanisms, and suggests future areas of inquiry.
Variants, pitfalls and asymptomatic findings in wrist and hand imaging
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Pfirrmann, Christian W.A. [University Hospital Balgrist, Radiology, University of Zurich Switzerland, Forchstrasse 340, CH-8008 Zurich (Switzerland)]. E-mail: christian@pfirrmann.ch; Zanetti, Marco [University Hospital Balgrist, Radiology, University of Zurich Switzerland, Forchstrasse 340, CH-8008 Zurich (Switzerland)
2005-12-15
Anatomic variants of the bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles are frequent findings in imaging of the wrist and hand. Many findings especially changes in the triangular fibrocartilage (TFC) and the interosseous ligaments are asymptomatic, their incidence is increasing with age, and they are frequently found bilaterally. Abnormalities such as increased signal within tendons are common in asymptomatic subjects. They may be explained by normal physiology, anatomical variability, MR artifacts or true abnormalities without clinical importance. Although it is not always possible to differentiate variants and artifacts from clinically relevant findings it is important to know their potential etiology and clinical importance and not to over report them as abnormality requiring additional imaging or treatment.
Neurophysiological findings relevant to echolocation in marine animals
Bullock, T. H.; Ridgway, S. H.
1972-01-01
A review of echolocation mechanisms in marine mammals, chiefly porpoises, is given. Data cover peripheral auditory and central neurophysiological specializations favorable to the analysis of echolocating clicks and their echoes. Conclusions show (1) signals are received from 50 up to at least 135 kHz, (2) sound is received through the mandible skin, and (3) the midbrain sites are insensitive to low frequencies (below 6 kHz).
Finding Relevant Data in a Sea of Languages
2016-04-26
and information retrieval to automate language processing tasks so that the limited number of linguists available for analyzing text and spoken...HLT literature that a research team would do a study and stop short,” says Williams. “Each study was trying to solve a very specific problem. No
Takashi Obinata
2006-01-01
In 2000, the reform of consolidated financial statements changed the income statement section where amortization of goodwill and gains and losses from interest method should be disclosed. The results in this paper show that the reform may improve the value relevance of operating profits and ordinary income. We cannot find the evidence that the reform decreases the relevance of the multi-step earnings. Though we cannot definitively conclude that the reform was the best way for improving the va...
Kroczek, Eduard K; Wieners, Gero; Steffen, Ingo; Lindner, Tobias; Streitparth, Florian; Hamm, Bernd; Maurer, Martin H
2017-10-01
To evaluate the number, localisation and importance of non-traumatic incidental findings (IFs) in patients with suspected or obvious multiple trauma undergoing whole-body CT (WBCT) in a level-1 trauma centre. Between January 2009 and December 2013, a total of 2440 patients with trauma undergoing WBCT at admission to a level-1 trauma centre of a university hospital were retrospectively analysed, through imaging IFs unrelated to trauma with the radiological reports. All IFs were grouped into four categories according to their clinical relevance. Category 1: urgent treatment or further clarification needed; category 2: further examination and follow-up within 3-6 months required; category 3: findings with no immediate consequences for the treatment of the patient but of potential relevance in the future; category 4: harmless findings. Altogether, 5440 IFs in 2440 patients (1735 male, 705 female; mean age 45.1 years) were documented. In 204 patients (8.4%) urgent category 1 findings were reported, 766 patients (31.4%) had category 2 findings, 1236 patients (50.7%) had category 3 findings and 1173 patients (48.1%) had category 4 findings. Most IFs were detected in the abdomen/pelvis (42.5%). 602 (24.7%) of the patients had no IFs. WBCT scans of unrelated trauma patients demonstrate a high rate of IF. A substantial percentage (8.4%) of patients had urgent category 1IFs and a high percentage (31.4%) had category 2 IFs requiring a follow-up. This high number of patients with polytrauma undergoing WBCT, having IFs of high relevance, poses a major challenge for the level-1 trauma centre in the acute and postacute management of these patients. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
Experimental quantum simulations of many-body physics with trapped ions.
Schneider, Ch; Porras, Diego; Schaetz, Tobias
2012-02-01
Direct experimental access to some of the most intriguing quantum phenomena is not granted due to the lack of precise control of the relevant parameters in their naturally intricate environment. Their simulation on conventional computers is impossible, since quantum behaviour arising with superposition states or entanglement is not efficiently translatable into the classical language. However, one could gain deeper insight into complex quantum dynamics by experimentally simulating the quantum behaviour of interest in another quantum system, where the relevant parameters and interactions can be controlled and robust effects detected sufficiently well. Systems of trapped ions provide unique control of both the internal (electronic) and external (motional) degrees of freedom. The mutual Coulomb interaction between the ions allows for large interaction strengths at comparatively large mutual ion distances enabling individual control and readout. Systems of trapped ions therefore exhibit a prominent system in several physical disciplines, for example, quantum information processing or metrology. Here, we will give an overview of different trapping techniques of ions as well as implementations for coherent manipulation of their quantum states and discuss the related theoretical basics. We then report on the experimental and theoretical progress in simulating quantum many-body physics with trapped ions and present current approaches for scaling up to more ions and more-dimensional systems.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vidić-Trninić Jelena
2013-01-01
Full Text Available The author focuses on compliance of the legal treatment of experimental animals in Serbian law with the provisions of the European legislation. Analysing, on one hand, the treatment that experimental animals have under the law of European Union, and on the other hand, the treatment that they have in the law of Serbia, in accordance with the relevant acts and subordinate legislation acts, this article seeks to answer the question whether the degree of legal protection of experimental animals in domestic law is satisfactory, as well as whether and to what extent the relevant national legislation complies with the European standards. At the same time, the article attempts to point out the appropriate measures necessary to be taken in the future in order to achieve as high quality and comprehensive protection of experimental animals as possible in Serbian law.
Evolutionary relevance facilitates visual information processing.
Jackson, Russell E; Calvillo, Dusti P
2013-11-03
Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Caress, R.W.; Mayo, R.M.; Carter, T.A.
1995-01-01
Plasma disruptions in tokamaks remain serious obstacles to the demonstration of economical fusion power. In disruption simulation experiments, some important effects have not been taken into account. Present disruption simulation experimental data do not include effects of the high magnetic fields expected near the PFCs in a tokamak major disruption. In addition, temporal and spatial scales are much too short in present simulation devices to be of direct relevance to tokamak disruptions. To address some of these inadequacies, an experimental program is planned at North Carolina State University employing an upgrade to the Coaxial Plasma Source (CPS-1) magnetized coaxial plasma gun facility. The advantages of the CPS-1 plasma source over present disruption simulation devices include the ability to irradiate large material samples at extremely high areal energy densities, and the ability to perform these material studies in the presence of a high magnetic field. Other tokamak disruption relevant features of CPS-1U include a high ion temperature, high electron temperature, and long pulse length
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Martin, Madison E. [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
2017-05-20
Opacity is a critical parameter in the simulation of radiation transport in systems such as inertial con nement fusion capsules and stars. The resolution of current disagreements between solar models and helioseismological observations would bene t from experimental validation of theoretical opacity models. Overall, short pulse laser heated iron experiments reaching stellar-relevant conditions have been designed with consideration of minimizing tamper emission and optical depth effects while meeting plasma condition and x-ray emission goals.
Sodium fires: French strategy - theoretical and experimental developments
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Descombes; Thomann; Malet, J.C.; Rzekiecki, R.
1985-01-01
After a description of the needs relating to LMFBR safety analysis and design in terms of prevention, detection and protection, the French strategy concerning sodium fires it presented. It includes theoretical developments supported with relevant experimental program, to allow reliable calculations and predictions for safety and design. The following physical phenomena are detailed: (1) sodium fire (mechanical and thermal effects); (2) sodium-structures interactions; (3) aerosols behavior
The quark gluon plasma: Lattice computations put to experimental test
Indian Academy of Sciences (India)
I describe how lattice computations are being used to extract experimentally relevant features of the quark gluon plasma. I deal specifically with relaxation times, photon emissivity, strangeness yields, event-by-event fluctuations of conserved quantities and hydrodynamic flow. Finally I give evidence that the plasma is rather ...
The Teaching Effectiveness of a Relevant Physics Course
Hobson, Art
1998-04-01
If America is to achieve the science literacy that is ssential to industrialized democracy, all students must study such topics as scientific methodology, pseudoscience, critical thinking, ozone depletion, technological risk, and global warming. My large-enrollment liberal-arts physics course covers the great principles of physics along with several such philosophical and societal topics. Students find these topics relevant and fascinating, leading to strong course evaluations and large enrollments by non-scientists even in courses labeled physics. I will describe this course and present some evidence indicating that the course is effective in communicating physics and its interdisciplinary connections. A textbook, Physics: Concepts and Connections (Prentice Hall, 1995, 2nd edition to appear in June 1998), is available.
An experimental and theoretical study of reaction mechanisms between nitriles and hydroxylamine.
Vörös, Attila; Mucsi, Zoltán; Baán, Zoltán; Timári, Géza; Hermecz, István; Mizsey, Péter; Finta, Zoltán
2014-10-28
The industrially relevant reaction between nitriles and hydroxylamine yielding amidoximes was studied in different molecular solvents and in ionic liquids. In industry, this procedure is carried out on the ton scale in alcohol solutions and the above transformation produces a significant amount of unexpected amide by-product, depending on the nature of the nitrile, which can cause further analytical and purification issues. Although there were earlier attempts to propose mechanisms for this transformation, the real reaction pathway is still under discussion. A new detailed reaction mechanistic explanation, based on theoretical and experimental proof, is given to augment the former mechanisms, which allowed us to find a more efficient, side-product free procedure. Interpreting the theoretical results obtained, it was shown that the application of specific imidazolium, phosphonium and quaternary ammonium based ionic liquids could decrease simultaneously the reaction time while eliminating the amide side-product, leading to the targeted product selectively. This robust and economic procedure now affords a fast, selective amide free synthesis of amidoximes.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Enzo eBrunetti
2013-06-01
Full Text Available During monitoring of the discourse, the detection of the relevance of incoming lexical information could be critical for its incorporation to update mental representations in memory. Because, in these situations, the relevance for lexical information is defined by abstract rules that are maintained in memory, results critical to understand how an abstract level of knowledge maintained in mind mediates the detection of the lower-level semantic information. In the present study, we propose that neuronal oscillations participate in the detection of relevant lexical information, based on ‘kept in mind’ rules deriving from more abstract semantic information. We tested our hypothesis using an experimental paradigm that restricted the detection of relevance to inferences based on explicit information, thus controlling for ambiguities derived from implicit aspects. We used a categorization task, in which the semantic relevance was previously defined based on the congruency between a kept in mind category (abstract knowledge, and the lexical-semantic information presented. Our results show that during the detection of the relevant lexical information, phase synchronization of neuronal oscillations selectively increases in delta and theta frequency bands during the interval of semantic analysis. These increments were independent of the semantic category maintained in memory, had a temporal profile specific for each subject, and were mainly induced, as they had no effect on the evoked mean global field power. Also, recruitment of an increased number of pairs of electrodes was a robust observation during the detection of semantic contingent words. These results are consistent with the notion that the detection of relevant lexical information based on a particular semantic rule, could be mediated by increasing the global phase synchronization of neuronal oscillations, which may contribute to the recruitment of an extended number of cortical regions.
Brunetti, Enzo; Maldonado, Pedro E; Aboitiz, Francisco
2013-01-01
During monitoring of the discourse, the detection of the relevance of incoming lexical information could be critical for its incorporation to update mental representations in memory. Because, in these situations, the relevance for lexical information is defined by abstract rules that are maintained in memory, a central aspect to elucidate is how an abstract level of knowledge maintained in mind mediates the detection of the lower-level semantic information. In the present study, we propose that neuronal oscillations participate in the detection of relevant lexical information, based on "kept in mind" rules deriving from more abstract semantic information. We tested our hypothesis using an experimental paradigm that restricted the detection of relevance to inferences based on explicit information, thus controlling for ambiguities derived from implicit aspects. We used a categorization task, in which the semantic relevance was previously defined based on the congruency between a kept in mind category (abstract knowledge), and the lexical semantic information presented. Our results show that during the detection of the relevant lexical information, phase synchronization of neuronal oscillations selectively increases in delta and theta frequency bands during the interval of semantic analysis. These increments occurred irrespective of the semantic category maintained in memory, had a temporal profile specific for each subject, and were mainly induced, as they had no effect on the evoked mean global field power. Also, recruitment of an increased number of pairs of electrodes was a robust observation during the detection of semantic contingent words. These results are consistent with the notion that the detection of relevant lexical information based on a particular semantic rule, could be mediated by increasing the global phase synchronization of neuronal oscillations, which may contribute to the recruitment of an extended number of cortical regions.
Čenský, Miroslav; Hrubý, Jan; Vinš, Václav; Hykl, Jiří; Šmíd, Bohuslav
2018-06-01
A unique in-house designed experimental apparatus for investigation of nucleation of droplets in CCS relevant systems is being developed by the present team. The apparatus allows simulating various processes relevant to CCS technologies. Gaseous mixtures with CO2 are prepared in a Mixture Preparation Device (MPD) based on accurate adjustment of flow rates of individual components [EPJ Web of Conferences 143, 02140 (2017)]. The mixture then flows into an expansion chamber, where it undergoes a rapid adiabatic expansion. As a consequence of adiabatic cooling, the mixture becomes supersaturated and nucleation and simultaneous growth of droplets occurs. In this study, we describe the design and testing of the expansion part of the experimental setup. The rapid expansion was realized using two valve systems, one for low pressures (up to 0.7 MPa) and the other for high pressures (up to 10 MPa). A challenge for a proper design of the expansion system is avoiding acoustic oscillations. These can occur either in the mode of Helmholtz resonator, where the compressible gas in the chamber acts as a spring and the rapidly moving gas in the valve system as a mass, or in the "flute" mode, where acoustic waves are generated in a long outlet tubing.
Evolutionary Relevance Facilitates Visual Information Processing
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Russell E. Jackson
2013-07-01
Full Text Available Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.
Zamanipoor Najafabadi, Amir H; Peeters, Marthe C M; Lobatto, Daniel J; Broekman, Marieke L D; Smith, Timothy R; Biermasz, Nienke R; Peerdeman, Saskia M; Peul, Wilco C; Taphoorn, Martin J B; van Furth, Wouter R; Dirven, Linda
2017-11-01
The clinical relevance of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in meningioma patients has been increasingly acknowledged in recent years. Various questionnaires have been used. However, almost none of these questionnaires has been particularly developed for and/or validated in this patient group. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the relevance and comprehensiveness of existing HRQoL questionnaires used in meningioma research and to assess the agreement between patients and health care professionals (HCPs) on the most relevant and important HRQoL issues. A systematic literature search, following the PRISMA statement, was conducted to identify all HRQoL questionnaires used in meningioma research. Semi-structured interviews were organized with patients and HCPs to (1) assess the relevance of all issues covered by the questionnaires (score 0-3: not relevant-highly relevant), (2) assess the ten most important issues, and (3) identify new relevant HRQoL issues. Fourteen different questionnaires were found in the literature, comprising 140 unique issues. Interviews were conducted with 20 patients (median age 57, 71% female) and 10 HCPs (4 neurosurgeons, 2 neurologists, 2 radiotherapists, 1 rehabilitation specialist, 1 neuropsychologist; median experience 13 years). Meningioma patients rated 17-80% of the issues in each of the questionnaires as relevant, HCPs 90-100%. Patients and HCPs agreed on the relevance of only 49 issues (35%, Cohen's kappa: 0.027). Both patients and HCPs considered lack of energy the most important issue. Patients and HCPs suggested five additional relevant issues not covered by current HRQoL questionnaires. Existing HRQoL questionnaires currently used in meningioma patients do not fully cover all relevant issues to these patients. Agreement between patients and HCPs on the relevance of issues was poor. Both findings support the need to develop and validate a meningioma-specific HRQoL questionnaire.
Highlights on experimental neutrino physics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kemp, Ernesto
2013-01-01
Full text: In the last years a remarkable progress was achieved in a deeper understanding of neutrino sector. Nowadays we know all mixing angles and mass splits which govern the neutrino oscillation phenomena. The parameters of neutrino mixing were measured by combining results of different experimental approaches including accelerator beams, nuclear reactors, radiative decays and astrophysical neutrinos. Nevertheless, there are open questions which can be viewed as key points to consolidate our knowledge on the intrinsic properties of neutrinos such as mass hierarchy and the existence of a CP violation in leptonic sector. To answer these questions and also to improve the precision of the already known mixing parameters, a series of huge experimental efforts are being set up, even in a world-wide scale in some cases. In this presentation I will review the current knowledge of the fundamental properties of neutrinos and the experimental scenario in which we expect, in a time frame of a decade, to find missing pieces in the leptonic sector. The findings can strengthen the foundations of the Standard Model as well as open very interesting paths for new physics. (author)
2016 International Symposium on Experimental Robotics
Nakamura, Yoshihiko; Khatib, Oussama; Venture, Gentiane
2017-01-01
Experimental Robotics XV is the collection of papers presented at the International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan on October 3-6, 2016. 73 scientific papers were selected and presented after peer review. The papers span a broad range of sub-fields in robotics including aerial robots, mobile robots, actuation, grasping, manipulation, planning and control and human-robot interaction, but shared cutting-edge approaches and paradigms to experimental robotics. The readers will find a breadth of new directions of experimental robotics. The International Symposium on Experimental Robotics is a series of bi-annual symposia sponsored by the International Foundation of Robotics Research, whose goal is to provide a forum dedicated to experimental robotics research. Robotics has been widening its scientific scope, deepening its methodologies and expanding its applications. However, the significance of experiments remains and will remain at the center of the discipline. The ISER gatherings are...
Han, Hyemin; Kim, Jeongmin; Jeong, Changwoo; Cohen, Geoffrey L
2017-01-01
The present study aimed to develop effective moral educational interventions based on social psychology by using stories of moral exemplars. We tested whether motivation to engage in voluntary service as a form of moral behavior was better promoted by attainable and relevant exemplars or by unattainable and irrelevant exemplars. First, experiment 1, conducted in a lab, showed that stories of attainable exemplars more effectively promoted voluntary service activity engagement among undergraduate students compared with stories of unattainable exemplars and non-moral stories. Second, experiment 2, a middle school classroom-level experiment with a quasi-experimental design, demonstrated that peer exemplars, who are perceived to be attainable and relevant to students, better promoted service engagement compared with historic figures in moral education classes.
Set membership experimental design for biological systems
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Marvel Skylar W
2012-03-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Experimental design approaches for biological systems are needed to help conserve the limited resources that are allocated for performing experiments. The assumptions used when assigning probability density functions to characterize uncertainty in biological systems are unwarranted when only a small number of measurements can be obtained. In these situations, the uncertainty in biological systems is more appropriately characterized in a bounded-error context. Additionally, effort must be made to improve the connection between modelers and experimentalists by relating design metrics to biologically relevant information. Bounded-error experimental design approaches that can assess the impact of additional measurements on model uncertainty are needed to identify the most appropriate balance between the collection of data and the availability of resources. Results In this work we develop a bounded-error experimental design framework for nonlinear continuous-time systems when few data measurements are available. This approach leverages many of the recent advances in bounded-error parameter and state estimation methods that use interval analysis to generate parameter sets and state bounds consistent with uncertain data measurements. We devise a novel approach using set-based uncertainty propagation to estimate measurement ranges at candidate time points. We then use these estimated measurements at the candidate time points to evaluate which candidate measurements furthest reduce model uncertainty. A method for quickly combining multiple candidate time points is presented and allows for determining the effect of adding multiple measurements. Biologically relevant metrics are developed and used to predict when new data measurements should be acquired, which system components should be measured and how many additional measurements should be obtained. Conclusions The practicability of our approach is illustrated with a case study. This
Experimental Study of Plasma-Surface Interaction and Material Damage Relevant to ITER Type I Elms
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Makhlai, V.A.; Bandura, A.N.; Byrka, O.V. and others; Landman, I.; Neklyudov, I.M.
2006-01-01
The paper presents experimental investigations of main features of plasma surface interaction and energy transfer to the material surface in dependence on plasma heat loads. The experiments were performed with QSPA repetitive plasma pulses of the duration of 0.25 ms and the energy density up to 2.5 MJ/m 2 . Surface morphology of the targets exposed to QSPA plasma screams is analyzed. Relative contribution of the Lorentz force and plasma pressure gradient to the resulting surface profile is discussed. development of cracking on the tungsten surface and swelling of the surface are found to be in strong dependence on initial temperature of the target
Cameron, Delroy; Sheth, Amit P; Jaykumar, Nishita; Thirunarayan, Krishnaprasad; Anand, Gaurish; Smith, Gary A
2014-12-01
relevant documents when compared with three existing search systems.
Howard-Jones, Paul; Ott, Michela; van Leeuwen, Theo; De Smedt, Bert
2015-01-01
There is increasing interest in the application of cognitive neuroscience in educational thinking and practice, and here we review findings from neuroscience that demonstrate its potential relevance to technology-enhanced learning (TEL). First, we identify some of the issues in integrating neuroscientific concepts into TEL research. We caution…
The relevance of existing health communication models in the email age: An
Fage-Butler, Antoinette Mary; Jensen, Matilde Nisbeth
2015-01-01
Email communication is being integrated relatively slowly into doctor–patient communication. Patients have expressed enthusiasm for the medium, while doctors are generally more reluctant. As existing health communication models have characteristically assumed the co-presence of doctor and patient and primarily reflect medical practitioners’ perspectives, their suitability in relation to email communication and patients’ perspectives warrants further investigation. Following a two-step process and using the methodology of the integrative literature review, 29 articles from 2004–2014 are analysed with the aim of investigating the advantages and disadvantages of the medium of email from the patient’s perspective. The findings are compared to the health communication models of biomedicine, patient-centeredness, patient education and patient empowerment to investigate these models’ relevance for doctor–patient email communication. Results show that patients identify numerous advantages with email communication, including improved convenience and access, more detailed informational exchanges, greater reflection opportunities, freedom from the medical gaze and the potential to level out power imbalances, as well as a number of primarily medium-related disadvantages. The findings indicate that email can counteract some of the communicative problems associated with biomedicine and suggest the ongoing relevance of aspects of the models of patient empowerment, patient-centeredness and patient education for email communication.
Does emotion help or hinder reasoning? The moderating role of relevance.
Blanchette, Isabelle; Gavigan, Sarah; Johnston, Kathryn
2014-06-01
Some prior research has shown that emotion impairs logicality in deductive reasoning tasks, while other research suggests improved performance with emotional contents. We suggest that relevance, whether the affective state is associated with the semantic contents of the reasoning task, may be crucial in explaining these apparently inconsistent findings. This hypothesis is based on a framework distinguishing between integral emotions, where affective responses are evoked by the semantic contents of the target task, and incidental emotions, where affective responses are not related to the task. In 4 experiments we examined the effect of emotion on conditional reasoning when affective responses were relevant and irrelevant. We used images presented simultaneously with the reasoning stimuli (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or videos presented prior to the reasoning stimuli (Experiment 4) that were either emotional or neutral and semantically related or not to the conditional statements. Results showed that emotion decreased the proportion of normatively correct responses only in the irrelevant condition. In the relevant condition, emotion did not produce reliable deleterious effects. We used reaction time and skin conductance measures to investigate the physiological and cognitive correlates of these effects. Results are discussed in terms of the distinction between incidental and integral emotions. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
Task-Relevant Information Modulates Primary Motor Cortex Activity Before Movement Onset.
Calderon, Cristian B; Van Opstal, Filip; Peigneux, Philippe; Verguts, Tom; Gevers, Wim
2018-01-01
Monkey neurophysiology research supports the affordance competition hypothesis (ACH) proposing that cognitive information useful for action selection is integrated in sensorimotor areas. In this view, action selection would emerge from the simultaneous representation of competing action plans, in parallel biased by relevant task factors. This biased competition would take place up to primary motor cortex (M1). Although ACH is plausible in environments affording choices between actions, its relevance for human decision making is less clear. To address this issue, we designed an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment modeled after monkey neurophysiology studies in which human participants processed cues conveying predictive information about upcoming button presses. Our results demonstrate that, as predicted by the ACH, predictive information (i.e., the relevant task factor) biases activity of primary motor regions. Specifically, first, activity before movement onset in contralateral M1 increases as the competition is biased in favor of a specific button press relative to activity in ipsilateral M1. Second, motor regions were more tightly coupled with fronto-parietal regions when competition between potential actions was high, again suggesting that motor regions are also part of the biased competition network. Our findings support the idea that action planning dynamics as proposed in the ACH are valid both in human and non-human primates.
Seeing without knowing: task relevance dissociates between visual awareness and recognition.
Eitam, Baruch; Shoval, Roy; Yeshurun, Yaffa
2015-03-01
We demonstrate that task relevance dissociates between visual awareness and knowledge activation to create a state of seeing without knowing-visual awareness of familiar stimuli without recognizing them. We rely on the fact that in order to experience a Kanizsa illusion, participants must be aware of its inducers. While people can indicate the orientation of the illusory rectangle with great ease (signifying that they have consciously experienced the illusion's inducers), almost 30% of them could not report the inducers' color. Thus, people can see, in the sense of phenomenally experiencing, but not know, in the sense of recognizing what the object is or activating appropriate knowledge about it. Experiment 2 tests whether relevance-based selection operates within objects and shows that, contrary to the pattern of results found with features of different objects in our previous studies and replicated in Experiment 1, selection does not occur when both relevant and irrelevant features belong to the same object. We discuss these findings in relation to the existing theories of consciousness and to attention and inattentional blindness, and the role of cognitive load, object-based attention, and the use of self-reports as measures of awareness. © 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yap, Kelvin Kwok-Ho; Sutherland, Tom; Shafik-Eid, Raymond; Taubman, Kim; Schlicht, Stephen; Ramaseshan, Ganeshan
2015-01-01
In nuclear medicine, single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) is often combined with ‘simultaneous’ low-dose CT (LDCT) to provide complementary anatomical and functional correlation. As a consequence, numerous incidental and unexpected findings may be detected on LDCT. Recognition of these findings and appropriate determination of their relevance can add to the utility of SPECT/CT. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and categorise the relevance of incidental and unexpected findings on LDCT scans performed as part of routine SPECT/CT studies. All available LDCT scans performed as part of SPECT/CT studies at St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne in the year 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Two qualified radiologists independently reviewed the studies and any previous available imaging and categorised any detected incidental findings. A total of 2447 LDCT studies were reviewed. The relevance of the findings was classified according to a modified version of a scale used in the Colonography Reporting and Data System: E1 = normal or normal variant (28.0%); E2 = clinically unimportant (63.5%); E3 = likely unimportant or incompletely characterised (6.2%); E4 = potentially important (2.5%). Imaging specialists need to be cognisant of incidental and unexpected findings present on LDCT studies performed as part of SPECT/CT. Appropriate categorisation of findings and communication of potentially important findings to referring clinicians should form part of routine practice. The overall prevalence of potentially significant incidental and unexpected findings in our series was 8.7% (E3, 6.2%; E4, 2.5%) and was comparable to rates in other published imaging series.
Bias against foreign-born or foreign-trained doctors: experimental evidence.
Louis, Winnifred R; Lalonde, Richard N; Esses, Victoria M
2010-12-01
Bias against foreign-born or -trained medical students and doctors is not well understood, despite its documented impact on recruitment, integration and retention. This research experimentally examines the interaction of location of medical education and nationality in evaluations of doctors' competence and trustworthiness. A convenience sample of prospective patients evaluated fictitious candidates for a position as a doctor in community practice at a new local health clinic. All applicants were described as having the same personality profile, legal qualifications to practise, a multi-degree education and relevant work experience. The location of medical education (the candidate's home country or the UK) and national background (Australia or Pakistan) of the applicants were independently experimentally manipulated. Consistent with previous research on skills discounting and bias, foreign-born candidates were evaluated less favourably than native-born candidates, despite their comparable education level, work experience and personality. However, overseas medical education obtained in the First World both boosted evaluations (of competence and trustworthiness) and attenuated bias based on nationality. The present findings demonstrate the selective discounting of foreign-born doctors' credentials. The data show an interaction of location of medical education and birth nationality in bias against foreign doctors. On an applied level, the data document that the benefits of medical education obtained in the First World can extend beyond its direct outcomes (high-quality training and institutional recognition) to the indirect benefit of the attenuation of patient bias based on nationality. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2010.
US and MRI Findings of Penile Metastasis from Rectal Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Oh, Ha Yeun [Kangwon National University Hospital, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of)
2012-03-15
Metastatic tumors of the penis originating from the gastrointestinal tract are rare clinical conditions. We experienced a case of penile metastasis in a 59-year-old man who underwent an abdomino-peritoneal resection for a moderately-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the rectum 4 years earlier. We report penile ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging findings on this uncommon metastatic penile tumor from a rectal adenocarcinoma and briefly review radiologic findings and relevant literature
A multiple relevance feedback strategy with positive and negative models.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yunlong Ma
Full Text Available A commonly used strategy to improve search accuracy is through feedback techniques. Most existing work on feedback relies on positive information, and has been extensively studied in information retrieval. However, when a query topic is difficult and the results from the first-pass retrieval are very poor, it is impossible to extract enough useful terms from a few positive documents. Therefore, the positive feedback strategy is incapable to improve retrieval in this situation. Contrarily, there is a relatively large number of negative documents in the top of the result list, and it has been confirmed that negative feedback strategy is an important and useful way for adapting this scenario by several recent studies. In this paper, we consider a scenario when the search results are so poor that there are at most three relevant documents in the top twenty documents. Then, we conduct a novel study of multiple strategies for relevance feedback using both positive and negative examples from the first-pass retrieval to improve retrieval accuracy for such difficult queries. Experimental results on these TREC collections show that the proposed language model based multiple model feedback method which is generally more effective than both the baseline method and the methods using only positive or negative model.
Gene Expression Analysis to Assess the Relevance of Rodent Models to Human Lung Injury.
Sweeney, Timothy E; Lofgren, Shane; Khatri, Purvesh; Rogers, Angela J
2017-08-01
The relevance of animal models to human diseases is an area of intense scientific debate. The degree to which mouse models of lung injury recapitulate human lung injury has never been assessed. Integrating data from both human and animal expression studies allows for increased statistical power and identification of conserved differential gene expression across organisms and conditions. We sought comprehensive integration of gene expression data in experimental acute lung injury (ALI) in rodents compared with humans. We performed two separate gene expression multicohort analyses to determine differential gene expression in experimental animal and human lung injury. We used correlational and pathway analyses combined with external in vitro gene expression data to identify both potential drivers of underlying inflammation and therapeutic drug candidates. We identified 21 animal lung tissue datasets and three human lung injury bronchoalveolar lavage datasets. We show that the metasignatures of animal and human experimental ALI are significantly correlated despite these widely varying experimental conditions. The gene expression changes among mice and rats across diverse injury models (ozone, ventilator-induced lung injury, LPS) are significantly correlated with human models of lung injury (Pearson r = 0.33-0.45, P human lung injury. Predicted therapeutic targets, peptide ligand signatures, and pathway analyses are also all highly overlapping. Gene expression changes are similar in animal and human experimental ALI, and provide several physiologic and therapeutic insights to the disease.
Region-Based Image Retrieval Using an Object Ontology and Relevance Feedback
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kompatsiaris Ioannis
2004-01-01
Full Text Available An image retrieval methodology suited for search in large collections of heterogeneous images is presented. The proposed approach employs a fully unsupervised segmentation algorithm to divide images into regions and endow the indexing and retrieval system with content-based functionalities. Low-level descriptors for the color, position, size, and shape of each region are subsequently extracted. These arithmetic descriptors are automatically associated with appropriate qualitative intermediate-level descriptors, which form a simple vocabulary termed object ontology. The object ontology is used to allow the qualitative definition of the high-level concepts the user queries for (semantic objects, each represented by a keyword and their relations in a human-centered fashion. When querying for a specific semantic object (or objects, the intermediate-level descriptor values associated with both the semantic object and all image regions in the collection are initially compared, resulting in the rejection of most image regions as irrelevant. Following that, a relevance feedback mechanism, based on support vector machines and using the low-level descriptors, is invoked to rank the remaining potentially relevant image regions and produce the final query results. Experimental results and comparisons demonstrate, in practice, the effectiveness of our approach.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Schott, U. [Tuebingen Univ. (Germany). Abt. Radiologische Diagnostik; Braunschweig, R. [Tuebingen Univ. (Germany). Abt. Radiologische Diagnostik; Claussen, C.D. [Tuebingen Univ. (Germany). Abt. Radiologische Diagnostik
1994-12-31
The defectography is an examination of the anorectal function in defecatory disorder. The defecography has a diagnostic impact on disease, which only emerge during defecation as intussusception, enterocele, prolapse or sphincter dysfunction. Other findings as rectocele or descending pelvic floor are ambiguous concerning clinical relevance. The interpretation of defecography should include patient`s history and clinical findings and - if available - endoscopic and manometric findings. (orig.) [Deutsch] Die Evakuationsproktographie ist eine Funktionsuntersuchung des Anorektums beim Symptomenkreis der Defaekationsbeschwerden. Die Domaene der Evakuationsproktographie sind Erkrankungen, die sich nur unter den Provokationsbedingungen der Defaekation manifestieren, wie die Intussuzeption, Enterocele, temporaerer Wandprolaps oder Anismus. Andere Befunde wie eine Rektocele oder Beckenbodenschwaeche sind in ihrer klinischen Relevanz umstritten. Die Bewertung der Evakuationsproktographie im Rahmen des Beschwerdebildes des Patienten sollte in Zusammenschau von vollstaendiger anamnestischer und klinischer Information und - sofern vorhanden - Befunden von Rektoskopie und Rektummanometrie erfolgen. (orig.)
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wu, Marcel; Martins Neto, Luciano; Calixto, Wesley Pacheco; Gontijo, Andre Luiz; Alves, Aylton Jose [Universidade Federal de Uberlandia (LMEE/FEELT/UFU), MG (Brazil). Fac. de Engenharia Eletrica. Lab. de Maquinas Eletricas Especiais], E-mails: marcel@mestrado.ufu.br, lmn@ufu.br, wpcalixto@ieee.org, aja@cefetgo.br
2009-10-15
Due to its lower costs, robustness, reduced maintenance and easy operation, the induction generator shows to be an economic alternative in small power generator systems. This work presents the initial phase of pertinent studies about the employment of the induction generator directly connected to the electrical power grid in a pilot project to be implemented at the Santa Luzia SHP. A project that aims to raise relevant operational aspects and to evidence some advantages about the employment of the induction generator in small power generator systems. This phase comprises the experimentation of an induction generator directly connected to the power grid in a laboratorial scale, plus a computational modeling which represents the same. This computational modeling takes into account loads variations which are being supplied by the generator, unbalance between phases and magnetic saturation effects, such as harmonic distortions in the generated currents. From the experimental model collected data, a theoretical-experimental confrontation of the computational modeling is made, where quantitative and qualitative analyses about the operational characteristics of the machine are made. The results of this work will head the operation and supervision of the SHP induction machine. (author)
Boareto, Marcelo; Cesar, Jonatas; Leite, Vitor B P; Caticha, Nestor
2015-01-01
We introduce Supervised Variational Relevance Learning (Suvrel), a variational method to determine metric tensors to define distance based similarity in pattern classification, inspired in relevance learning. The variational method is applied to a cost function that penalizes large intraclass distances and favors small interclass distances. We find analytically the metric tensor that minimizes the cost function. Preprocessing the patterns by doing linear transformations using the metric tensor yields a dataset which can be more efficiently classified. We test our methods using publicly available datasets, for some standard classifiers. Among these datasets, two were tested by the MAQC-II project and, even without the use of further preprocessing, our results improve on their performance.
Early-Life Effects on Adult Physical Activity: Concepts, Relevance, and Experimental Approaches.
Garland, Theodore; Cadney, Marcell D; Waterland, Robert A
Locomotion is a defining characteristic of animal life and plays a crucial role in most behaviors. Locomotion involves physical activity, which can have far-reaching effects on physiology and neurobiology, both acutely and chronically. In human populations and in laboratory rodents, higher levels of physical activity are generally associated with positive health outcomes, although excessive exercise can have adverse consequences. Whether and how such relationships occur in wild animals is unknown. Behavioral variation among individuals arises from genetic and environmental factors and their interactions as well as from developmental programming (persistent effects of early-life environment). Although tremendous progress has been made in identifying genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in behavior, early-life effects are not well understood. Early-life effects can in some cases persist across multiple generations following a single exposure and, in principle, may constrain or facilitate the rate of evolution at multiple levels of biological organization. Understanding the mechanisms of such transgenerational effects (e.g., exposure to stress hormones in utero, inherited epigenetic alterations) may prove crucial to explaining unexpected and/or sex-specific responses to selection as well as limits to adaptation. One area receiving increased attention is early-life effects on adult physical activity. Correlational data from epidemiological studies suggest that early-life nutritional stress can (adversely) affect adult human activity levels and associated physiological traits (e.g., body composition, metabolic health). The few existing studies of laboratory rodents demonstrate that both maternal and early-life exercise can affect adult levels of physical activity and related phenotypes. Going forward, rodents offer many opportunities for experimental studies of (multigenerational) early-life effects, including studies that use maternal
Initial diagnosis of therapeutically relevant thoracic lesions in polytraumatised patients
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Danz, B.; Biehl, C.; Baehren, W.
1996-01-01
To determine the value of supine chest radiography in comparison to orientating chest CT in the initial diagnostic evaluation of severely polytraumatised patients. 303 patients with primary indication for a cranial CT following trauma were investigated between 1988 and 1993. After performing the cranial CT all patients underwent a chest CT with an average of 6 CT slices without changing the position of the patient and with a median scan time of 4 minutes. The results of the chest CT were correlated with the findings of the supine chest radiography in regard to therapeutically relevant pathological changes. The sensitivity in detection of pneumothorax in supine chest radiography was 53% versus 97% in CT, atelectasis 20% versus 94%, lung contusion 79% versus 99%, haemotothorax 62% versus 97%. More fractures were found conventionally (sensitivity 94%) than by chest CT (sensitivity 44%). Supine chest radiography of polytraumatised patients is clearly inferior to orientating chest CT in demonstrating posttraumatic lesions; obtaining therapeutically relevant information justifies the additionally needed small amount of time. (orig.) [de
Advanced reactor experimental facilities
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Amri, A.; Papin, J.; Uhle, J.; Vitanza, C.
2010-01-01
For many years, the NEA has been examining advanced reactor issues and disseminating information of use to regulators, designers and researchers on safety issues and research needed. Following the recommendation of participants at an NEA workshop, a Task Group on Advanced Reactor Experimental Facilities (TAREF) was initiated with the aim of providing an overview of facilities suitable for carrying out the safety research considered necessary for gas-cooled reactors (GCRs) and sodium fast reactors (SFRs), with other reactor systems possibly being considered in a subsequent phase. The TAREF was thus created in 2008 with the following participating countries: Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea and the United States. In a second stage, India provided valuable information on its experimental facilities related to SFR safety research. The study method adopted entailed first identifying high-priority safety issues that require research and then categorizing the available facilities in terms of their ability to address the safety issues. For each of the technical areas, the task members agreed on a set of safety issues requiring research and established a ranking with regard to safety relevance (high, medium, low) and the status of knowledge based on the following scale relative to full knowledge: high (100%-75%), medium (75 - 25%) and low (25-0%). Only the issues identified as being of high safety relevance and for which the state of knowledge is low or medium were included in the discussion, as these issues would likely warrant further study. For each of the safety issues, the TAREF members identified appropriate facilities, providing relevant information such as operating conditions (in- or out-of reactor), operating range, description of the test section, type of testing, instrumentation, current status and availability, and uniqueness. Based on the information collected, the task members assessed prospects and priorities
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Rohrschneider, W.K.; Becker, K.; Hoffend, J.; Clorius, J.H.; Darge, K.; Kooijman, H.; Troeger, J.
2000-01-01
Purpose. To assess the diagnostic value of combined static-dynamic MR urography (MRU) for the functional-morphological evaluation of experimentally induced urinary tract obstruction in the piglet. Materials and methods. In 20 piglets unilateral ureteric stenosis was created operatively. Post-surgery repeated comparative examinations were obtained with MRU, diuretic renal scintigraphy (DRS), excretory urography (EU) and ultrasound (US). MRU was performed as a combination study with a static 3D-IR-TSE sequence and a dynamic 2D-FFE sequence after Gd-DTPA with frusemide administration. Results. MRU allowed complete depiction of the prestenotic urinary tract and of the stenosis in all cases. In 43 comparative studies MRU was superior to EU in 36, EU to MRU in 2. When single kidney function was calculated with both MRU and DRS, results were highly correlated (r = 0.92). When urinary excretion was compared, significant agreement was achieved with concordant findings in 86 % and slightly discordant results in 12 %. Conclusions. Static-dynamic MR urography permits excellent depiction of experimentally induced urinary tract obstruction in piglets and reliable assessment of individual renal function and urinary excretion. Two advantages of the method stand out - it does not require radiation and it permits functional-morphological correlation. (orig.)
Winman, Thomas; Rystedt, Hans
2011-03-01
The implementation of generic models for organizing information in complex institutions like those in healthcare creates a gap between standardization and the need for locally relevant knowledge. The present study addresses how this gap can be bridged by focusing on the practical work of healthcare staff in transforming information in EPRs into knowledge that is useful for everyday work. Video recording of shift handovers on a rehabilitation ward serves as the empirical case. The results show how extensive selections and reorganizations of information in EPRs are carried out in order to transform information into professionally relevant accounts. We argue that knowledge about the institutional obligations and professional ways of construing information are fundamental for these transitions. The findings point to the need to consider the role of professional knowledge inherent in unpacking information in efforts to develop information systems intended to bridge between institutional and professional boundaries in healthcare. © The Author(s) 2011.
Old Wine in New Skins: The Sensitivity of Established Findings to New Methods
Foster, E. Michael; Wiley-Exley, Elizabeth; Bickman, Leonard
2009-01-01
Findings from an evaluation of a model system for delivering mental health services to youth were reassessed to determine the robustness of key findings to the use of methodologies unavailable to the original analysts. These analyses address a key concern about earlier findings--that the quasi-experimental design involved the comparison of two…
Alligator rivers analogue project. Final report; volume 1; summary of findings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Duerden, P.; Lever, D.A.; Sverjensky, D.A.; Townley, L.R.
1992-01-01
The Koongarra uranium ore deposit is located in the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Many of the processes that have controlled the development of this natural system are relevant to the performance assessment of radioactive waste repositories. An agreement was reached in 1987 by a number of agencies concerned with radioactive waste disposal to set up the International Alligator Rivers Analogue Project (ARAP) to study relevant aspects of the hydrological and geochemical evolution of the site. The Project ran for five years. The aims of the study were: to contribute to the production of reliable and realistic models for radionuclide migration within geological environments relevant to the assessment of the safety of radioactive waste repositories; to develop methods of validation of models using a combination of laboratory and field data associated with the Koongarra uranium deposit; and to encourage maximum interaction between modellers and experimentalists in achieving these objectives. It was anticipated that the substantial databases generated in the field and laboratory studies would then be used to develop and test geochemical and radionuclide transport models. The findings from the technical studies are discussed in the context of assessments of the long-term performance of geological repositories for radioactive wastes, which are being undertaken in many countries. They are also considered in an integrated 'Scenario Development' approach, aimed to understand the formation of the ore deposit. Despite their inherent uncertainties, the findings provide a basis for assessing the way in which radionuclides will migrate in environments with a variety of geologic settings and over a range of different geologic timescales. This summary report, which highlights the work and findings of the Alligator Rivers Analogue Project is one of a series of 16 volumes
The Green Lab : Experimentation in Software Energy Efficiency
Procaccianti, Giuseppe; Lago, Patricia; Vetrò, Antonio; Méndez Fernández, Daniel; Wieringa, Roel
2015-01-01
Software energy efficiency is a research topic where experimentation is widely adopted. Nevertheless, current studies and research approaches struggle to find generalizable findings that can be used to build a consistent knowledge base for energy-efficient software. To this end, we will discuss how
Incidental findings in musculoskeletal radiology; Zufallsbefunde in der muskuloskeletalen Radiologie
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wuennemann, F.; Rehnitz, C.; Weber, M.A. [Universitaetsklinikum Heidelberg, Klinik fuer Diagnostische und Interventionelle Radiologie, Heidelberg (Germany)
2017-04-15
Increasing numbers of conventional X-rays, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in the inpatient, outpatient and scientific routine leads to an increasing number of incidental findings. The correct interpretation of these incidental findings with respect to the relevance and the evaluation concerning further work-up is an important task of radiologists. Description of common incidental findings in musculoskeletal imaging and their clinical classification. A PubMed literature search was performed using the following terms: incidental findings, population-based imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, non-ossifying fibroma, enchondroma, osteodystrophia deformans, chondrosarcoma, fibrous dysplasia, simple bone cyst, unicameral bone cyst, solitary bone cyst, aneurysmal bone cyst, vertebral hemangioma, bone island, osteopoikilosis, Tarlov cyst and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). Incidental findings are observed in up to 40% of imaging procedures. In up to 6% these incidental findings involve the skeletal system. Common incidental findings are discussed and their clinical relevance is explained. (orig.) [German] Mit steigender Menge an konventionellen Roentgen- sowie CT- und MRT-Bildern im stationaeren, ambulanten und wissenschaftlichen Alltag steigt unweigerlich auch die Zahl der Zufallsbefunde. Die korrekte Einordnung bzgl. deren Relevanz, ob eine weitere Abklaerung notwendig ist oder nicht, stellt eine wichtige Aufgabe des Radiologen dar. Vorstellung haeufiger Zufallsbefunde des muskuloskeletalen Systems und deren klinische Einordnung. Pubmed-Literaturrecherche zu den Stichworten ''incidental findings'', ''population-based imaging'', ''musculoskeletal imaging'', ''non-ossifying fibroma'', ''enchondroma'', ''osteodysthrophia deformans'', ''chondrosarcoma'', ''fibrous dysplasia'', &apos
Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings: introduction to the series.
Lewin, Simon; Booth, Andrew; Glenton, Claire; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Rashidian, Arash; Wainwright, Megan; Bohren, Meghan A; Tunçalp, Özge; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Carlsen, Benedicte; Langlois, Etienne V; Noyes, Jane
2018-01-25
The GRADE-CERQual ('Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research') approach provides guidance for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from systematic reviews of qualitative research (or qualitative evidence syntheses). The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. Confidence in the evidence from qualitative evidence syntheses is an assessment of the extent to which a review finding is a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. CERQual provides a systematic and transparent framework for assessing confidence in individual review findings, based on consideration of four components: (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data, and (4) relevance. A fifth component, dissemination (or publication) bias, may also be important and is being explored. As with the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach for effectiveness evidence, CERQual suggests summarising evidence in succinct, transparent, and informative Summary of Qualitative Findings tables. These tables are designed to communicate the review findings and the CERQual assessment of confidence in each finding. This article is the first of a seven-part series providing guidance on how to apply the CERQual approach. In this paper, we describe the rationale and conceptual basis for CERQual, the aims of the approach, how the approach was developed, and its main components. We also outline the purpose and structure of this series and discuss the growing role for qualitative evidence in decision-making. Papers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 in this series discuss each CERQual component, including the rationale for including the component in the approach, how the component is conceptualised, and how it should be assessed. Paper 2 discusses how to make an overall assessment of confidence in a review
Experimental simulation and analysis of off-normal heat loads accompanying plasma disruptions
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Laan, J.G. van der; Bakker, J.; Stad, R.C.L. van der; Klippel, H.T.
1990-12-01
The plasma disruption heat load is simulated experimentally using a pulsed laser beam with high energy density and short pulse duration (0.2-20 mm) covering a certain range of ITER design values. The present status of the laser heat flux test facility and new experimental tools are described. Spatial and time resolved profiles of the laser beam are given. Experimental results are presented including the variation of angle of incidence of the laser beam relative to the material surface. The nature and effects of the induced vapour plume are discussed. Materials studied are relevant to the ITER design. Experimental results are compared with numerical calculations. Some implications for the design of First Wall and Divertor of ITER are addressed. (author). 13 refs.; 5 figs
Righter, K.; Campbell, A. J.; Humayun, M.
2003-01-01
Experimental studies have identified spinels as important hosts phases for many of the highly siderophile elements (HSE). Yet experimental studies involving chromite or Cr-rich spinel have been lacking. Experimental studies of partitioning of HSEs between silicate, oxides and silicate melt are plagued by low solubilities and the presence of small metallic nuggets at oxygen fugacities relevant to magmas, which interfere with analysis of the phases of interest. We have circumvented these problems in two ways: 1) performing experiments at oxidized conditions, which are still relevant to natural systems but in which nuggets are not observed, and 2) analysis of run products with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), allowing a combination of high sensitivity and good spatial resolution.
Experimental Research of Moisture Evaporation Process from Biomass in a Drying Chamber
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bulba E.E.
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Presented mass evaporation rate hardwood (birch, aspen, maple, poplar derived from experimental studies. The dependence of temperature on evaporation mass rate and calculated the accommodation coefficient for the respective temperature ranges are obtained. Analyzed the temperature of drying conditions relevant species hardwood.
Experimental models of testicular development and function using human tissue and cells
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Tharmalingam, Melissa D; Jorgensen, Anne; Mitchell, Rod T
2018-01-01
. In this review, we outline experimental approaches used to sustain cells and tissue from human testis at different developmental time-points and discuss relevant end-points. These include survival, proliferation and differentiation of cell lineages within the testis as well as autocrine, paracrine and endocrine...
Experimental Spaces and Institutional Innovation
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Cartel, Melodie; Boxenbaum, Eva
and procedures that connect the prototype to the organizational field, hence increasing the likelihood of institutional innovation. We develop a process model of institutional institutionalization that, through temporal interactions between distancing work and anchoring work, enables the generation......This paper examines processes involved in designing experimental spaces for institutional innovation. Through a qualitative, process-oriented analysis of an experimental space related to the institutional innovation of carbon markets in Europe, we show how key actors in the European electricity...... sector deliberately designed an experimental space and engaged a range of stakeholders in experimenting incognito with a carbon market model. A mirror image of their prototype later appeared as European policy. Our findings show that the key actors engaged in two forms of institutional work, distancing...
Persuasion in Experimental Ultimatum Games
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Andersson, Ola; Galizzi, Matteo; Hoppe, Tim
2008-01-01
This paper experimentally studies persuasion effects in ultimatum games and finds that Proposers' payoffs significantly increase if, along with offers, they can send messages which Responders read before their acceptance decision. Higher payoffs are due to higher acceptance rates as well as more...
Relevance of quantum mechanics on some aspects of ion channel function
Roy, Sisir; Llinás, Rodolfo
2009-01-01
Mathematical modeling of ionic diffusion along K ion channels indicates that such diffusion is oscillatory, at the weak non-Markovian limit. This finding leads us to derive a Schrödinger–Langevin equation for this kind of system within the framework of stochastic quantization. The Planck’s constant is shown to be relevant to the Lagrangian action at the level of a single ion channel. This sheds new light on the issue of applicability of quantum formalism to ion channel dynamics and to the phy...
The Development of Relevance in Information Retrieval
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mu-hsuan Huang
1997-12-01
Full Text Available This article attempts to investigate the notion of relevance in information retrieval. It discusses various definitions for relevance from historical viewpoints and the characteristics of relevance judgments. Also, it introduces empirical results of important related researches.[Article content in Chinese
Aspect-based Relevance Learning for Image Retrieval
M.J. Huiskes (Mark)
2005-01-01
htmlabstractWe analyze the special structure of the relevance feedback learning problem, focusing particularly on the effects of image selection by partial relevance on the clustering behavior of feedback examples. We propose a scheme, aspect-based relevance learning, which guarantees that feedback
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bobițan Nicolae
2017-01-01
Full Text Available In Romania for becoming a forensic accountant it is necessary, as preliminary conditions, first,to have a bachelor`s degree in accounting or finance, and second, to attain a certification, aschartered accountant, given by the professional body, CECCAR, and after that, as forensicaccountant. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the Romanian academic educationand the professional education can assure all the relevant skills for a forensic accountant. In orderto achieve the objective, first, the authors investigated the most important studies which have thepurpose to identify the relevant skills for a forensic accountant. Second, the authors reviewed thecurriculum of the most important faculties with the aim to find and connect different courses withdifferent skills. The purpose was to determine how the forensic accounting education, offered to theprofessional accountants, assures them, all the relevant skills that are necessary in the profession.
Modulation of the mirror system by social relevance.
Kilner, James M; Marchant, Jennifer L; Frith, Chris D
2006-09-01
When we observe the actions of others, certain areas of the brain are activated in a similar manner as to when we perform the same actions ourselves. This 'mirror system' includes areas in the ventral premotor cortex and the inferior parietal lobule. Experimental studies suggest that action observation automatically elicits activity in the observer, which precisely mirrors the activity observed. In this case we would expect this activity to be independent of observer's viewpoint. Here we use whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) to record cortical activity of human subjects whilst they watched a series of videos of an actor making a movement recorded from different viewpoints. We show that one cortical response to action observation (oscillatory activity in the 7-12 Hz frequency range) is modulated by the relationship between the observer and the actor. We suggest that this modulation reflects a mechanism that filters information into the 'mirror system', allowing only socially relevant information to pass.
The vortex-finding property of maximal center (and other) gauges
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Faber, M.; Greensite, J.; Olejnik, S.; Yamada, D.
1999-01-01
The authors argue that the vortex-finding property of maximal center gauge, i.e. the ability of this gauge to locate center vortices inserted by hand on any given lattice, is the key to its success in extracting the vortex content of thermalized lattice configurations. The authors explain how this property comes about, and why it is expected not only in maximal center gauge, but also in an infinite class of gauge conditions based on adjoint-representation link variables. In principle, the vortex-finding property can be foiled by Gribov copies. This fact is relevant to a gauge-fixing procedure devised by Kovacs and Tomboulis, where they show that the loss of center dominance, found in their procedure, is explained by a corresponding loss of the vortex-finding property. The dependence of center dominance on the vortex-finding property is demonstrated numerically in a number of other gauges
Hooijmans, Carlijn R; Tillema, Alice; Leenaars, Marlies; Ritskes-Hoitinga, Merel
2010-07-01
Collecting and analysing all available literature before starting an animal experiment is important and it is indispensable when writing a systematic review (SR) of animal research. Writing such review prevents unnecessary duplication of animal studies and thus unnecessary animal use (Reduction). One of the factors currently impeding the production of 'high-quality' SRs in laboratory animal science is the fact that searching for all available literature concerning animal experimentation is rather difficult. In order to diminish these difficulties, we developed a search filter for PubMed to detect all publications concerning animal studies. This filter was compared with the method most frequently used, the PubMed Limit: Animals, and validated further by performing two PubMed topic searches. Our filter performs much better than the PubMed limit: it retrieves, on average, 7% more records. Other important advantages of our filter are that it also finds the most recent records and that it is easy to use. All in all, by using our search filter in PubMed, all available literature concerning animal studies on a specific topic can easily be found and assessed, which will help in increasing the scientific quality and thereby the ethical validity of animal experiments.
Beineke, John A.
2011-01-01
"Teaching History to Adolescents: A Quest for Relevance" is an exploration of research, ideas, trends, and practices for educators who teach American history to adolescents from the middle grades through high school. Higher education faculty in history and professional education will also find the book germane to their work. Topics within the…
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Čenský Miroslav
2018-01-01
Full Text Available A unique in-house designed experimental apparatus for investigation of nucleation of droplets in CCS relevant systems is being developed by the present team. The apparatus allows simulating various processes relevant to CCS technologies. Gaseous mixtures with CO2 are prepared in a Mixture Preparation Device (MPD based on accurate adjustment of flow rates of individual components [EPJ Web of Conferences 143, 02140 (2017]. The mixture then flows into an expansion chamber, where it undergoes a rapid adiabatic expansion. As a consequence of adiabatic cooling, the mixture becomes supersaturated and nucleation and simultaneous growth of droplets occurs. In this study, we describe the design and testing of the expansion part of the experimental setup. The rapid expansion was realized using two valve systems, one for low pressures (up to 0.7 MPa and the other for high pressures (up to 10 MPa. A challenge for a proper design of the expansion system is avoiding acoustic oscillations. These can occur either in the mode of Helmholtz resonator, where the compressible gas in the chamber acts as a spring and the rapidly moving gas in the valve system as a mass, or in the “flute” mode, where acoustic waves are generated in a long outlet tubing.
Inducing task-relevant responses to speech in the sleeping brain.
Kouider, Sid; Andrillon, Thomas; Barbosa, Leonardo S; Goupil, Louise; Bekinschtein, Tristan A
2014-09-22
Falling asleep leads to a loss of sensory awareness and to the inability to interact with the environment [1]. While this was traditionally thought as a consequence of the brain shutting down to external inputs, it is now acknowledged that incoming stimuli can still be processed, at least to some extent, during sleep [2]. For instance, sleeping participants can create novel sensory associations between tones and odors [3] or reactivate existing semantic associations, as evidenced by event-related potentials [4-7]. Yet, the extent to which the brain continues to process external stimuli remains largely unknown. In particular, it remains unclear whether sensory information can be processed in a flexible and task-dependent manner by the sleeping brain, all the way up to the preparation of relevant actions. Here, using semantic categorization and lexical decision tasks, we studied task-relevant responses triggered by spoken stimuli in the sleeping brain. Awake participants classified words as either animals or objects (experiment 1) or as either words or pseudowords (experiment 2) by pressing a button with their right or left hand, while transitioning toward sleep. The lateralized readiness potential (LRP), an electrophysiological index of response preparation, revealed that task-specific preparatory responses are preserved during sleep. These findings demonstrate that despite the absence of awareness and behavioral responsiveness, sleepers can still extract task-relevant information from external stimuli and covertly prepare for appropriate motor responses. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ji-Yong An
2016-01-01
Full Text Available We propose a novel computational method known as RVM-LPQ that combines the Relevance Vector Machine (RVM model and Local Phase Quantization (LPQ to predict PPIs from protein sequences. The main improvements are the results of representing protein sequences using the LPQ feature representation on a Position Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM, reducing the influence of noise using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA, and using a Relevance Vector Machine (RVM based classifier. We perform 5-fold cross-validation experiments on Yeast and Human datasets, and we achieve very high accuracies of 92.65% and 97.62%, respectively, which is significantly better than previous works. To further evaluate the proposed method, we compare it with the state-of-the-art support vector machine (SVM classifier on the Yeast dataset. The experimental results demonstrate that our RVM-LPQ method is obviously better than the SVM-based method. The promising experimental results show the efficiency and simplicity of the proposed method, which can be an automatic decision support tool for future proteomics research.
Support and Against Historical Cost Accounting: is IT Value Relevance for Decision Making?
Rahmawati, Evi
2006-01-01
This paper reviews the issues on the support and criticism of historical cost accounting (HCA) and the incremental information content on current cost disclosures. Based on literature review this study find that historical cost is still relevant to use in decision making. Empirical studies show evidence both; supporting historical cost accounting and criticisms against the conventional historical cost based financial statements. Issues on historical cost are raised because of economic condit...
Human Capital and Economic Growth: The Quest for the Most Relevant Level of Education in Pakistan
Sultan, Faisal; Tehseen, Syed; Arif, Imtiaz
2009-01-01
The study examines the role of human capital in the economic growth of Pakistan by using primary, secondary and higher education enrolments as proxies for human capital in three different specifications. The idea behind these models is to find out the most relevant level of education in terms of its contribution in economic growth. The order of integration of the variables is checked through Augmented Dickey Fuller and Phillips Perron test. In order to find out the evidences of the long run r...
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Lee, Ki Nam; Nam, Kyung Jin; Park, Byeoung Ho; Jeong, Jin Sook; Lee, Hyung Sik
1994-01-01
To describe soft-tissue radiographic and high-resolution CT findings of radiation-induced lung injury of rabbit over time and to correlate them with pathologic findings. 15 rabbits were irradiated in the right lung with one fracture of 2000 cGy. After 4, 6, 12, 20, 24 weeks 3 rabbits in each group were sacrificed and soft-tissue radiographs and high-resolution CT of their lung tissue were obtained. Radiological findings were correlated with pathologic findings. On soft-tissue radiogram, radiation pneumonitis shown as consolidation with air- bronchogram occurred in 3 cases after 6 weeks , and in 1 case after 12 weeks of irradiation. In addition, pneumonic consolidation with adjacent pleural contraction was seen in 2 cases after 12 weeks of irradiation. Fibrotic changes indicated by decreased volume occurred after 20 weeks and combined bronchiectatic change and bronchial wall thickening appeared after 20 weeks(N=1), and 24 weeks(N=3). HRCT findings of radiation pneumonitis were homogeneous, increased attention after 4 weeks(N=3), 6 and 12 weeks(each N=1), patchy consolidation after 6 and 12 weeks(each N=2), discrete consolidation after 12, 20 and 24 weeks(each N=1) and solid consolidation after 20 and 24 weeks(each N=2). Pathologically radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary congestion were seen after 4 and 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, collagen and reticulin fibers were detected along alveolar wall. Mixed radiation pneumonitis and fibrosis were detected after 12 weeks. 20 weeks after irradiation, fibrosis was well defined in interstitium and in 24 weeks, decreased number of alveoli and thickening of bronchial wall were defined. Radiation pneumonitis was provoked 4 weeks after irradiation on rabbit lung and progressed into radiation fibrosis 20 weeks after irradiation on soft-tissue radiographs and high-resolution CT. High-resolution CT is more precise in detecting early radiation pneumonitis and detailed pathologic findings
Sustainability Reporting and Value Relevance of Financial Statements
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bambang Sutopo
2018-03-01
Full Text Available This study examines whether information about the winners of the Sustainability Reporting Award (SRA contributes to the usefulness of the information in financial statements. This study used a sample consisting of 110 winners of SRA (SRA firms and 110 companies that did not receive SRA (non-SRA firms from 2008 to 2016. The study found that earnings per share (EPS, earnings per share change (EPSC, and book value per share (BVPS are value-relevant information. Results of comparison between SRA firms and non-SRA firms show that the positive association between EPS and stock price (P and the positive association of EPS with stock returns (R for SRA firms are higher than that for the non-SRA firms. In addition, findings of this study indicate that EPSC is positively associated with R when EPSC and R are measured by Indonesian rupiah (IDR instead of by percentage, and the positive association between EPSC and R for the SRA firms is higher than that for the non-SRA firms. Thus, the results are sensitive to measures of the variables. However, this study found that value relevance of BVPS for SRA firms is lower than for non-SRA firms. Implication of this study is that information about the winners of SRA contributes to the usefulness of financial statements, especially the information of EPS and EPSC.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Linda J. COLLINS
2014-07-01
Full Text Available Online professional development (oPD for teachers should focus on designing web-based learning opportunities that help practicing educators solve the tough problems of practice when working in their schools. Technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge can be integrated in the design of online professional development modules to enhance task relevance for maximum learning and transformation. The purpose of this study was to learn which tasks in an online professional development module were ranked by in-service educators as relevant to their work with English language learners (ELLs. Using Q methodology, the researcher asked participants to rank the relevancy of 36 online tasks from an online professional development module designed and developed at an American university. Participants used a -5 to 5 forced distribution to rank online activities from “Least relevant to my work with ELLs” to “Most relevant to my work with ELLs” followed by a semi-structured interview to explain their decisions. After data analysis, two factors emerged, indicating that participants’ perceptions on task relevance differed by professional roles and educational settings. The participants also favored didactic online tasks over interactive tasks. The findings from the oPD participants’ responses have the potential to serve as the basis for future online professional development design and for planning other relevant activities to be applied to the e-learning environment.
de Lange, T; Møystad, A; Torgersen, G R
2018-02-13
The aims of the study were to investigate benefits and challenges in implementing a digital examination and study the clinical relevance of the digital examination in relation to clinical training and practice. The study was based on semi-structured focus-group interviews from two distinct student populations (2016 and 2017) in a bachelor programme in dental hygiene. In addition, conversational data from a plenary discussion from the whole second student population (2017) were collected and analysed. The data were approached on basis of content analysis. A benefit experienced in the digital examination was the ease in typing and editing answers on the computer. This suggests an increased effectiveness in computer-based compared to analogue examinations. An additional advantage was the experienced relevance of the examination related to the clinic. This finding refers not only to the digital presentations of images, but also to the entire setting in the clinic and dental practice. The limitations reported by the students were non-optimal viewing conditions for presenting radiographic images and difficulties in obtaining an overview of the assignments compared to paper-based examinations due to the linear digital examination format. The last finding on lacking overview revealed an influence on student performances which should be taken seriously in designing digital examinations. In conclusion, the digital layout increases efficiency and clinical relevance of examinations to a certain extent. Obstacles were found in limitations related to image presentation and lack of overview of the examination. The latter challenge raises questions related to developing suitable assessment software. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Movement does not promote recovery of motor output following acute experimental muscle pain
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Schabrun, Siobhan M.; Palsson, Thorvaldur Skuli; Thapa, Tribikram
2018-01-01
Objective.: To examine the effect of motor activity on the magnitude and duration of altered corticomotor output following experimental muscle pain. Design. : Experimental, pre-post test. Setting. : University laboratory. Subjects. : Twenty healthy individuals. Methods.: Participants were rando....... Understanding corticomotor depression in the postpain period and what factors promote recovery has relevance for clinical pain syndromes where ongoing motor dysfunction, in the absence of pain, may predispose to symptom persistence or recurrence....
Science youth action research: Promoting critical science literacy through relevance and agency
Coleman, Elizabeth R.
This three-article dissertation presents complementary perspectives on Science Youth Action Research (Sci-YAR), a K-12 curriculum designed to emphasize relevance and agency to promote youth's science learning. In Sci-YAR, youth conduct action research projects to better understand science-related issues in their lives, schools, or communities, while they simultaneously document, analyze, and reflect upon their own practices as researchers. The first article defines Sci-YAR and argues for its potential to enhance youth's participation as citizens in a democratic society. The second article details findings from a case study of youth engaged in Sci-YAR, describing how the curriculum enabled and constrained youth's identity work in service of critical science agency. The third article provides guidance to science teachers in implementing student-driven curriculum and instruction by emphasizing Sci-YAR's key features as a way to promote student agency and relevance in school science.
Dunn, Michelle; Loch, Birgit; Scott, Wendy
2018-01-01
First-year engineering students often struggle to see the relevance of theoretical mathematical concepts for their future studies and professional careers. This is an issue, as students who do not see relevance in fundamental parts of their studies may disengage from these parts and focus their efforts on other subjects they think will be more useful to them. In this study, we surveyed engineering students enrolled in a first-year mathematics subject on their perceptions of the relevance of the individual mathematical topics taught. Surveys were administered at the start of semester when some of these topics were unknown to them, and again at the end of semester when students had not only studied all these topics but also watched a set of animated videos. These videos had been produced by higher-year students to explain where they had seen applications of the mathematical concepts presented in the first year. We notice differences between the perceived relevance of topics for future study and for professional careers, with relevance to study rated higher than relevance to careers. We also find that the animations are seen as helpful in understanding the relevance of first-year mathematics. The majority of students indicated that lecturers with students as partners should work collaboratively to produce future videos.
Study on the relevance of some of the description methods for plateau-honed surfaces
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yousfi, M; Mezghani, S; Demirci, I; El Mansori, M
2014-01-01
Much work has been undertaken in recent years into the determination of a complete parametric description of plateau-honed surfaces with the intention of making a link between the process conditions, the surface topography and the required functional performances. Different advanced techniques (plateau/valleys decomposition using the normalized Abbott–Firestone curve or morphological operators, multiscale decomposition using continuous wavelets transform, etc) were proposed and applied in different studies. This paper re-examines the current state of developments and addresses a discussion on the relevance of the different proposed parameters and characterization methods for plateau-honed surfaces by considering the control loop manufacturing-characterization-function. The relevance of appropriate characterization is demonstrated through two experimental studies. They consider the effect of the most plateau honing process variables (the abrasive grit size and abrasive indentation velocity in finish-honing and the plateau-honing stage duration and pressure) on cylinder liner surface textures and hydrodynamic friction of the ring-pack system. (paper)
Oud, Bart; Maris, Antonius J A; Daran, Jean-Marc; Pronk, Jack T
2012-01-01
Successful reverse engineering of mutants that have been obtained by nontargeted strain improvement has long presented a major challenge in yeast biotechnology. This paper reviews the use of genome-wide approaches for analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains originating from evolutionary engineering or random mutagenesis. On the basis of an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods, we conclude that for the initial identification of relevant genetic changes, whole genome sequencing is superior to other analytical techniques, such as transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, or array-based genome analysis. Key advantages of this technique over gene expression analysis include the independency of genome sequences on experimental context and the possibility to directly and precisely reproduce the identified changes in naive strains. The predictive value of genome-wide analysis of strains with industrially relevant characteristics can be further improved by classical genetics or simultaneous analysis of strains derived from parallel, independent strain improvement lineages. PMID:22152095
Oud, Bart; van Maris, Antonius J A; Daran, Jean-Marc; Pronk, Jack T
2012-03-01
Successful reverse engineering of mutants that have been obtained by nontargeted strain improvement has long presented a major challenge in yeast biotechnology. This paper reviews the use of genome-wide approaches for analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains originating from evolutionary engineering or random mutagenesis. On the basis of an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods, we conclude that for the initial identification of relevant genetic changes, whole genome sequencing is superior to other analytical techniques, such as transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, or array-based genome analysis. Key advantages of this technique over gene expression analysis include the independency of genome sequences on experimental context and the possibility to directly and precisely reproduce the identified changes in naive strains. The predictive value of genome-wide analysis of strains with industrially relevant characteristics can be further improved by classical genetics or simultaneous analysis of strains derived from parallel, independent strain improvement lineages. © 2011 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Personal Relevance of the Social Studies.
VanSickle, Ronald L.
1990-01-01
Conceptualizes a personal-relevance framework derived from Ronald L. VanSickle's five areas of life integrated with four general motivating goals from Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Richard and Patricia Schmuck's social motivation theory. Illustrates ways to apply the personal relevance framework to make social studies more relevant to…
Exploring the Relevance of Search Engines: An Overview of Google as a Case Study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ricardo Beltrán-Alfonso
2017-08-01
Full Text Available The huge amount of data on the Internet and the diverse list of strategies used to try to link this information with relevant searches through Linked Data have generated a revolution in data treatment and its representation. Nevertheless, the conventional search engines like Google are kept as strategies with good reception to do search processes. The following article presents a study of the development and evolution of search engines, more specifically, to analyze the relevance of findings based on the number of results displayed in paging systems with Google as a case study. Finally, it is intended to contribute to indexing criteria in search results, based on an approach to Semantic Web as a stage in the evolution of the Web.
Relevance: An Interdisciplinary and Information Science Perspective
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Howard Greisdorf
2000-01-01
Full Text Available Although relevance has represented a key concept in the field of information science for evaluating information retrieval effectiveness, the broader context established by interdisciplinary frameworks could provide greater depth and breadth to on-going research in the field. This work provides an overview of the nature of relevance in the field of information science with a cursory view of how cross-disciplinary approaches to relevance could represent avenues for further investigation into the evaluative characteristics of relevance as a means for enhanced understanding of human information behavior.
Age Differences in Selective Memory of Goal-Relevant Stimuli Under Threat.
Durbin, Kelly A; Clewett, David; Huang, Ringo; Mather, Mara
2018-02-01
When faced with threat, people often selectively focus on and remember the most pertinent information while simultaneously ignoring any irrelevant information. Filtering distractors under arousal requires inhibitory mechanisms, which take time to recruit and often decline in older age. Despite the adaptive nature of this ability, relatively little research has examined how both threat and time spent preparing these inhibitory mechanisms affect selective memory for goal-relevant information across the life span. In this study, 32 younger and 31 older adults were asked to encode task-relevant scenes, while ignoring transparent task-irrelevant objects superimposed onto them. Threat levels were increased on some trials by threatening participants with monetary deductions if they later forgot scenes that followed threat cues. We also varied the time between threat induction and a to-be-encoded scene (i.e., 2 s, 4 s, 6 s) to determine whether both threat and timing effects on memory selectivity differ by age. We found that age differences in memory selectivity only emerged after participants spent a long time (i.e., 6 s) preparing for selective encoding. Critically, this time-dependent age difference occurred under threatening, but not neutral, conditions. Under threat, longer preparation time led to enhanced memory for task-relevant scenes and greater memory suppression of task-irrelevant objects in younger adults. In contrast, increased preparation time after threat induction had no effect on older adults' scene memory and actually worsened memory suppression of task-irrelevant objects. These findings suggest that increased time to prepare top-down encoding processes benefits younger, but not older, adults' selective memory for goal-relevant information under threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Deliberate practice theory: relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment of music practice.
Hyllegard, Randy; Bories, Tamara L
2008-10-01
This study examined three assumptions of the theory of deliberate practice for practice playing music on an electronic keyboard. 40 undergraduate students, divided into two separate groups, practiced one of two music sequences and rated the relevance of practice for improving performance on the sequences, the amount of effort needed to learn the sequences, and the inherent enjoyment of practice sessions. Findings for each assumption were consistent with those suggested by theory but also showed that perceptions are affected by the amount of practice completed and performance of the skill.
Experimental demonstration of quantum contextuality with nonentangled photons
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Liu, B. H.; Huang, Y. F.; Gong, Y. X.; Sun, F. W.; Zhang, Y. S.; Li, C. F.; Guo, G. C.
2009-01-01
We present an experimental test of quantum contextuality by using two-photon product states. The experimental results show that the noncontextual hidden-variable theories are violated by nonentangled states in spite of the local hidden-variable theories can be violated or not. We find that the Hong-Ou-Mandel-type quantum interference effect causes the quantum contextuality.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Shin, Ji Hoon [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology (Korea, Republic of); Angle, John F.; Park, Auh Whan; Anderson, Curtis; Sabri, Saher S.; Turba, Ulku C. [University of Virginia Health System, Division of Angiography, Interventional Radiology and Special Procedures, Department of Radiology (United States); Kern, John A.; Cherry, Kenneth J. [University of Virginia Health System, Department of Surgery (United States); Matsumoto, Alan H., E-mail: ahm4d@virginia.edu [University of Virginia Health System, Division of Angiography, Interventional Radiology and Special Procedures, Department of Radiology (United States)
2012-12-15
Purpose: To present the computed tomographic (CT) imaging findings and their relevance to clinical outcomes related to stent graft placement in patients with penetrating aortic ulcers (PAUs). Methods: Medical and imaging records and imaging studies were reviewed for consecutive patients who underwent stent graft repair of a PAU. The distribution and characteristics of the PAU, technical success of stent graft repair, procedure-related complications, associated aortic wall abnormalities, and outcomes of the PAUs at follow-up CT scans were evaluated. Results: Fifteen patients underwent endovascular treatment for PAU. A total of 87% of the PAUs were in the proximal (n = 8) or distal (n = 5) descending thoracic aorta. There was a broad spectrum of PAU depth (mean, 7.9 {+-} 5.6 mm; range 1.5-25.0 mm) and diameter (mean, 13.5 {+-} 9.7 mm; range 2.2-41.0 mm). Atherosclerosis of the thoracic aorta and intramural hematoma were associated in 53 and 93% of the patients, respectively. Technical success was achieved in 100%. Two or more stent grafts were used in five patients. Endoleaks were observed in two patients within 2 weeks of the procedure, both of which resolved spontaneously. At follow-up CT scanning, regression and thrombosis of the PAUs were observed in all patients. The average patient survival was 61.8 months, with an overall mortality of 13% (2 of 15) at follow-up. Neither death was related to the endograft device or the PAU. Conclusion: Endovascular stent graft placement was safe and effective in causing regression and thrombosis of PAUs in this small series of patients. Two or more stent grafts were used in five patients (33%) with associated long-segmental atherosclerotic changes of the thoracic aorta or intramural hematoma.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Shin, Ji Hoon; Angle, John F.; Park, Auh Whan; Anderson, Curtis; Sabri, Saher S.; Turba, Ulku C.; Kern, John A.; Cherry, Kenneth J.; Matsumoto, Alan H.
2012-01-01
Purpose: To present the computed tomographic (CT) imaging findings and their relevance to clinical outcomes related to stent graft placement in patients with penetrating aortic ulcers (PAUs). Methods: Medical and imaging records and imaging studies were reviewed for consecutive patients who underwent stent graft repair of a PAU. The distribution and characteristics of the PAU, technical success of stent graft repair, procedure-related complications, associated aortic wall abnormalities, and outcomes of the PAUs at follow-up CT scans were evaluated. Results: Fifteen patients underwent endovascular treatment for PAU. A total of 87% of the PAUs were in the proximal (n = 8) or distal (n = 5) descending thoracic aorta. There was a broad spectrum of PAU depth (mean, 7.9 ± 5.6 mm; range 1.5–25.0 mm) and diameter (mean, 13.5 ± 9.7 mm; range 2.2–41.0 mm). Atherosclerosis of the thoracic aorta and intramural hematoma were associated in 53 and 93% of the patients, respectively. Technical success was achieved in 100%. Two or more stent grafts were used in five patients. Endoleaks were observed in two patients within 2 weeks of the procedure, both of which resolved spontaneously. At follow-up CT scanning, regression and thrombosis of the PAUs were observed in all patients. The average patient survival was 61.8 months, with an overall mortality of 13% (2 of 15) at follow-up. Neither death was related to the endograft device or the PAU. Conclusion: Endovascular stent graft placement was safe and effective in causing regression and thrombosis of PAUs in this small series of patients. Two or more stent grafts were used in five patients (33%) with associated long-segmental atherosclerotic changes of the thoracic aorta or intramural hematoma.
Lee, Tai-Sung; Kantarjian, Hagop; Ma, Wanlong; Yeh, Chen-Hsiung; Giles, Francis; Albitar, Maher
2011-01-01
Mutations in the thrombopoietin receptor (MPL) may activate relevant pathways and lead to chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). The mechanisms of MPL activation remain elusive because of a lack of experimental structures. Modern computational biology techniques were utilized to explore the mechanisms of MPL protein activation due to various mutations. Transmembrane (TM) domain predictions, homology modeling, ab initio protein structure prediction, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to build structural dynamic models of wild-type and four clinically observed mutants of MPL. The simulation results suggest that S505 and W515 are important in keeping the TM domain in its correct position within the membrane. Mutations at either of these two positions cause movement of the TM domain, altering the conformation of the nearby intracellular domain in unexpected ways, and may cause the unwanted constitutive activation of MPL's kinase partner, JAK2. Our findings represent the first full-scale molecular dynamics simulations of the wild-type and clinically observed mutants of the MPL protein, a critical element of the MPL-JAK2-STAT signaling pathway. In contrast to usual explanations for the activation mechanism that are based on the relative translational movement between rigid domains of MPL, our results suggest that mutations within the TM region could result in conformational changes including tilt and rotation (azimuthal) angles along the membrane axis. Such changes may significantly alter the conformation of the adjacent and intrinsically flexible intracellular domain. Hence, caution should be exercised when interpreting experimental evidence based on rigid models of cytokine receptors or similar systems.
Flow past an axially aligned spinning cylinder: Experimental Study
Carlucci, Pasquale; Buckley, Liam; Mehmedagic, Igbal; Carlucci, Donald; Thangam, Siva
2017-11-01
Experimental investigation of flow past a spinning cylinder is presented in the context of its application and relevance to flow past projectiles. A subsonic wind tunnel is used to perform experiments on the flow past a spinning cylinder that is mounted on a forward sting and oriented such that its axis of rotation is aligned with the mean flow. The experiments cover a Reynolds number of range of up to 45000 and rotation numbers of up to 2 (based on cylinder diameter). Time-averaged mean flow and turbulence profiles in the wake flow are presented with and without spin along with comparison to published experimental data. Funded in part by the U. S. Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ.
Issue-Relevant Values and Opinions About Gay Rights: Beyond Equality and Morality.
Rhodebeck, Laurie
2018-01-01
Although many studies have examined the role of values in shaping public opinion, the number of values that inform this research is limited. This article employs the concept of issue-relevant values as a means to explore the broader range of values associated with policy issues. After discussing the concept in general terms, the article explores issue-relevant values pertinent to public opinion about gay rights. Using the policy examples of employment nondiscrimination and same-sex couple adoption, the present study identifies, measures, and assesses several values that add to the very short list previously used to explain public opinion about gay rights issues. Content from interest-group Web sites and news media coverage of the two issues aided in identifying the values. Data from an original Internet survey yield valid measures of the values. Multivariate analyses indicate that the values behave in predictable ways: they are strongly influenced by partisanship, and they strongly affect opinions about the two issues. The performance of the values is consistent with findings from previous research on the partisan basis of values and the value-based nature of opinions. The article concludes with suggestions for further empirical and theoretical work that could apply and extend the concept of issue-relevant values.
Impairment of cocaine-mediated behaviours in mice by clinically relevant Ras-ERK inhibitors
Papale, Alessandro; Morella, Ilaria Maria; Indrigo, Marzia Tina; Bernardi, Rick Eugene; Marrone, Livia; Marchisella, Francesca; Brancale, Andrea; Spanagel, Rainer; Brambilla, Riccardo; Fasano, Stefania
2016-01-01
Ras-ERK signalling in the brain plays a central role in drug addiction. However, to date, no clinically relevant inhibitor of this cascade has been tested in experimental models of addiction, a necessary step toward clinical trials. We designed two new cell-penetrating peptides - RB1 and RB3 - that penetrate the brain and, in the micromolar range, inhibit phosphorylation of ERK, histone H3 and S6 ribosomal protein in striatal slices. Furthermore, a screening of small therapeutics currently in clinical trials for cancer therapy revealed PD325901 as a brain-penetrating drug that blocks ERK signalling in the nanomolar range. All three compounds have an inhibitory effect on cocaine-induced ERK activation and reward in mice. In particular, PD325901 persistently blocks cocaine-induced place preference and accelerates extinction following cocaine self-administration. Thus, clinically relevant, systemically administered drugs that attenuate Ras-ERK signalling in the brain may be valuable tools for the treatment of cocaine addiction. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17111.001 PMID:27557444
Liese, Angela D; Krebs-Smith, Susan M; Subar, Amy F; George, Stephanie M; Harmon, Brook E; Neuhouser, Marian L; Boushey, Carol J; Schap, TusaRebecca E; Reedy, Jill
2015-01-01
The Dietary Patterns Methods Project (DPMP) was initiated in 2012 to strengthen research evidence on dietary indices, dietary patterns, and health for upcoming revisions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, given that the lack of consistent methodology has impeded development of consistent and reliable conclusions. DPMP investigators developed research questions and a standardized approach to index-based dietary analysis. This article presents a synthesis of findings across the cohorts. Standardized analyses were conducted in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, the Multiethnic Cohort, and the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS). Healthy Eating Index 2010, Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010), alternate Mediterranean Diet, and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) scores were examined across cohorts for correlations between pairs of indices; concordant classifications into index score quintiles; associations with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality with the use of Cox proportional hazards models; and dietary intake of foods and nutrients corresponding to index quintiles. Across all cohorts in women and men, there was a high degree of correlation and consistent classifications between index pairs. Higher diet quality (top quintile) was significantly and consistently associated with an 11–28% reduced risk of death due to all causes, CVD, and cancer compared with the lowest quintile, independent of known confounders. This was true for all diet index–mortality associations, with the exception of AHEI-2010 and cancer mortality in WHI-OS women. In all cohorts, survival benefit was greater with a higher-quality diet, and relatively small intake differences distinguished the index quintiles. The reductions in mortality risk started at relatively lower levels of diet quality. Higher scores on each of the indices, signifying higher diet quality, were associated with marked reductions in mortality
Mood-congruent memory in depression - the influence of personal relevance and emotional context.
Wittekind, Charlotte E; Terfehr, Kirsten; Otte, Christian; Jelinek, Lena; Hinkelmann, Kim; Moritz, Steffen
2014-03-30
The investigation of veridical mood-congruent memory (MCM) in major depressive disorder (MDD) has been subject of many studies, whereas mood-congruent false memory has received comparatively little attention. The present study examined the influence of valence, personal relevance and the valence of the context of the learning material on true and false MCM in 20 inpatients with MDD and 20 healthy controls. Sixty positive, negative, neutral or personally relevant nouns were either combined with a positive, negative or neutral adjective. Word pairs were presented to participants in a learning trial. In a recognition task, participants had to identify the previously studied word pairs. A MCM effect could not be found for hits. However, in exploratory analyses, word pairs containing personally relevant nouns were more rated towards old by the patient relative to the control group. Furthermore, depressed patients tended to rate items more towards old than controls when the words were presented in a negative new context. Results are in line with previous findings in depression research emphasizing the role of mood-congruent false memories for mood disorders. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Prognosis Essay Scoring and Article Relevancy Using Multi-Text Features and Machine Learning
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Arif Mehmood
2017-01-01
Full Text Available This study develops a model for essay scoring and article relevancy. Essay scoring is a costly process when we consider the time spent by an evaluator. It may lead to inequalities of the effort by various evaluators to apply the same evaluation criteria. Bibliometric research uses the evaluation criteria to find relevancy of articles instead. Researchers mostly face relevancy issues while searching articles. Therefore, they classify the articles manually. However, manual classification is burdensome due to time needed for evaluation. The proposed model performs automatic essay evaluation using multi-text features and ensemble machine learning. The proposed method is implemented in two data sets: a Kaggle short answer data set for essay scoring that includes four ranges of disciplines (Science, Biology, English, and English language Arts, and a bibliometric data set having IoT (Internet of Things and non-IoT classes. The efficacy of the model is measured against the Tandalla and AutoP approach using Cohen’s kappa. The model achieves kappa values of 0.80 and 0.83 for the first and second data sets, respectively. Kappa values show that the proposed model has better performance than those of earlier approaches.
Gilbert, David G; Sugai, Chihiro; Zuo, Yantao; Rabinovich, Norka E; McClernon, F Joseph; Froeliger, Brett
2007-03-01
Aversive and smoking-related stimuli are related to smoking urges and relapse and can be potent distractors of selective attention. It has been suggested that the beneficial effect of nicotine replacement therapy may be mediated partly by the ability of nicotine to reduce distraction by such stimuli and thereby to facilitate attention to task-relevant stimuli. The present study tested the hypothesis that nicotine reduces distraction by aversive and smoking-related stimuli as indexed by the parietal P3b brain response to a task-relevant target digit. We assessed the effect of nicotine on distraction by emotionally negative, positive, neutral, and smoking-related pictures immediately preceding target digits during a rapid visual information processing task in 16 smokers in a double-blind, counterbalanced, within-subjects design. The study included two experimental sessions. After overnight smoking deprivation (12+ hr), active nicotine patches were applied to participants during one of the sessions and placebo patches were applied during the other session. Nicotine enhanced P3b responses associated with target digits immediately subsequent to negative emotional pictures bilaterally and subsequent to smoking-related pictures only in the right hemisphere. No effects of nicotine were observed for P3bs subsequent to positive and neutral distractor pictures. Another measure of attention, contingent negative variation amplitude in anticipation of the target digits also was increased by nicotine, especially in the left hemisphere and at posterior sites. Together, these findings suggest that nicotine reduces the distraction by emotionally negative and smoking-related stimuli and promotes attention to task-related stimuli by modulating somewhat lateralized and task-specific neural networks.
Support and Against Historical Cost Accounting: is IT Value Relevance for Decision Making?
Rahmawati, Evi
2006-01-01
This paper reviews the issues on the support and criticism of historical cost accounting (HCA) and the incremental information content on current cost disclosures. Based on literature review this study find that historical cost is still relevant to use in decision making. Empirical studies show evidence both; supporting historical cost accounting and criticisms against the conventional historical cost based financial statements. Issues on historical cost are raised because of economic condit...
Edge Localized Modes: resent experimental findings and related issues
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kamiya, K.
2007-01-01
Edge Localized Mode (ELM) measurements in the tokamaks, including JT-60U, DIII-D, ASDEX-U and JET, are reviewed. An ELMy H-mode operation having Type-I ELMs is nominated as the reference inductive operational scenario for ITER (Q DT =10), which is normally observed for the best performing H-mode in many tokamaks,. However, the ELMs produce pulsed heat and particle fluxes that can lead to a rapid erosion of the divertor plate. It is estimated that the peak heat flux to the divertor would reduce the lifetime of the divertor to several hundred shots in ITER (e.g. an acceptable divertor lifetime could be realized only by an upper limit of ELM energy loss normalized by pedestal stored energy, ΔDW ELM /W ped ∼ 5-6%). Approaches to control the Type-I ELMs, such as '' Ergodization '' on DIII-D, '' Pace making by a shallow pellet injection '' on ASDEX-U, '' Vertical motion '' on TCV, have been successfully demonstrated in many tokamaks. On the other hand, finding alternative scenarios to Type-I ELMy H-mode operation are also a key area of research for current tokamaks. Specifically, '' Quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) '' on DIII-D, ASDEX-U and JT-60U, and '' Grassy ELMs '' on JT-60U demonstrated a high confinement (being comparable to that of Type-I ELMy H-mode plasmas at similar parameters) in the absence of large, ELM induced, transient heat/particle fluxes to the divertor targets. ELM dynamics measurements in the SOL at the midplane show large, rapid variations of the SOL parameters. Recent data from a fast resolved measurements, such as scanning probe, radial interferometer chord, BES and tangentially viewing fast-gated camera at the midplane, suggest a filamentary structure of the perturbation with fast radial propagation in later phases and parallel propagation of the ELM pulse at around the sound speed of pedestal ions. The results are qualitatively consistent with nonlinear ballooning theory, although a more quantitative physics understanding, including detailed
Model Predictive Engine Air-Ratio Control Using Online Sequential Relevance Vector Machine
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hang-cheong Wong
2012-01-01
Full Text Available Engine power, brake-specific fuel consumption, and emissions relate closely to air ratio (i.e., lambda among all the engine variables. An accurate and adaptive model for lambda prediction is essential to effective lambda control for long term. This paper utilizes an emerging technique, relevance vector machine (RVM, to build a reliable time-dependent lambda model which can be continually updated whenever a sample is added to, or removed from, the estimated lambda model. The paper also presents a new model predictive control (MPC algorithm for air-ratio regulation based on RVM. This study shows that the accuracy, training, and updating time of the RVM model are superior to the latest modelling methods, such as diagonal recurrent neural network (DRNN and decremental least-squares support vector machine (DLSSVM. Moreover, the control algorithm has been implemented on a real car to test. Experimental results reveal that the control performance of the proposed relevance vector machine model predictive controller (RVMMPC is also superior to DRNNMPC, support vector machine-based MPC, and conventional proportional-integral (PI controller in production cars. Therefore, the proposed RVMMPC is a promising scheme to replace conventional PI controller for engine air-ratio control.
Finding the unexpected: pathological examination of surgically resected femoral heads
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Fornasier, V.L. [St. Michael' s Hospital, University of Toronto, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Battaglia, D.M. [St. Michael' s Hospital, University of Toronto, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); St. Michael' s Hospital, University of Toronto, Division of Pathology, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
2005-06-01
To study the clinically diagnosed disease process but also identify additional, clinically undetected pathologies in femoral heads resected for replacement arthroplasty. A retrospective review was carried out of the pathological findings in 460 surgically resected femoral heads. Serial sections were submitted to low-energy fine-detail radiography, then decalcified sections stained by the WHO method were examined. The preoperative clinical and imaging diagnoses were compared with the pathological findings and special interest was placed on assessing the clinical significance of any unexpected, clinically undetected findings. The most common findings included the presence of bone islands (solitary osteomas) and areas of avascular necrosis in addition to the primary joint disease for which the patient underwent surgery. The preoperative symptomatology did not distinguish between the known primary disease and the additional pathological findings. Some of the clinically unidentified lesions were of a size that fell below the ability of current clinical investigations to detect. However, the finding of lesions by tissue fine-detail radiography indicates that current, more sensitive clinical imaging techniques may identify them. Careful examination of surgically resected femoral heads is important to ensure that all pathologies are identified and assessed for clinical relevance. (orig.)
Finding the unexpected: pathological examination of surgically resected femoral heads
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fornasier, V.L.; Battaglia, D.M.
2005-01-01
To study the clinically diagnosed disease process but also identify additional, clinically undetected pathologies in femoral heads resected for replacement arthroplasty. A retrospective review was carried out of the pathological findings in 460 surgically resected femoral heads. Serial sections were submitted to low-energy fine-detail radiography, then decalcified sections stained by the WHO method were examined. The preoperative clinical and imaging diagnoses were compared with the pathological findings and special interest was placed on assessing the clinical significance of any unexpected, clinically undetected findings. The most common findings included the presence of bone islands (solitary osteomas) and areas of avascular necrosis in addition to the primary joint disease for which the patient underwent surgery. The preoperative symptomatology did not distinguish between the known primary disease and the additional pathological findings. Some of the clinically unidentified lesions were of a size that fell below the ability of current clinical investigations to detect. However, the finding of lesions by tissue fine-detail radiography indicates that current, more sensitive clinical imaging techniques may identify them. Careful examination of surgically resected femoral heads is important to ensure that all pathologies are identified and assessed for clinical relevance. (orig.)
Application of gas hydrate formation in separation processes: A review of experimental studies
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Eslamimanesh, Ali; Mohammadi, Amir H.; Richon, Dominique; Naidoo, Paramespri; Ramjugernath, Deresh
2012-01-01
Highlights: ► Review of gas hydrate technology applied to separation processes. ► Gas hydrates have potential to be a future sustainable separation technology. ► More theoretical, simulation, and economic studies needed. - Abstract: There has been a dramatic increase in gas hydrate research over the last decade. Interestingly, the research has not focussed on only the inhibition of gas hydrate formation, which is of particular relevance to the petroleum industry, but has evolved into investigations on the promotion of hydrate formation as a potential novel separation technology. Gas hydrate formation as a separation technology shows tremendous potential, both from a physical feasibility (in terms of effecting difficult separations) as well as an envisaged lower energy utilization criterion. It is therefore a technology that should be considered as a future sustainable technology and will find wide application, possibly replacing a number of current commercial separation processes. In this article, we focus on presenting a brief description of the positive applications of clathrate hydrates and a comprehensive survey of experimental studies performed on separation processes using gas hydrate formation technology. Although many investigations have been undertaken on the positive application of gas hydrates to date, there is a need to perform more theoretical, experimental, and economic studies to clarify various aspects of separation processes using clathrate/semi-clathrate hydrate formation phenomena, and to conclusively prove its sustainability.
Experimental innovations in surface science a guide to practical laboratory methods and instruments
Yates, John T
2015-01-01
This book is a new edition of a classic text on experimental methods and instruments in surface science. It offers practical insight useful to chemists, physicists, and materials scientists working in experimental surface science. This enlarged second edition contains almost 300 descriptions of experimental methods. The more than 50 active areas with individual scientific and measurement concepts and activities relevant to each area are presented in this book. The key areas covered are: Vacuum System Technology, Mechanical Fabrication Techniques, Measurement Methods, Thermal Control, Delivery of Adsorbates to Surfaces, UHV Windows, Surface Preparation Methods, High Area Solids, Safety. The book is written for researchers and graduate students.
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
2001-05-01
The Norwegian Global Change Committee has made an inventory of global change research (GCR) projects funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) in 2001. In lack of a rigid definition, GCR was defined as research that can be considered relevant to the science agenda of the four major international global change programmes DIVERSITAS, IGBP, IHDP and WCRP. Relevance was judged based on the objectives stated for each of the international programmes and their core projects. It was not attempted to check whether the projects had any kind of link to the programmes they were considered relevant for. The grants provided by the RCN in 2001 to GCR as defined above amounts to about 77 mill. NOK. Based on a recent survey on climate change research it is reasonable to estimate that the RCN finances between 30 and 40 % of all GCR in Norway. Accordingly, the total value of Norwegian research relevant to the four international global change programmes in 2001 can be estimated to 192 - 254 mill. NOK.
Baik, Seung Yeon; Jeong, Minkyung; Kim, Hyang Sook; Lee, Seung-Hwan
2018-01-01
Previous studies suggest the presence of attentional bias towards suicide-relevant information in suicidal individuals. However, the findings are limited by their reliance on behavioral measures. This study investigates the role of difficulty in disengaging attention from suicide-relevant stimuli using the P300 component of event-related potentials (ERPs). Forty-four adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) were administered the spatial cueing task using suicide-relevant and negatively-valenced words as cue stimuli. Disengagement difficulty was measured using reaction time and P300 during invalid trials. P300 amplitudes at Pz were higher in suicide-relevant compared to negatively-valenced word condition on invalid trials for participants with low rates of suicidal behavior. However, no such difference was found among participants with high rates of suicidal behavior. P300 amplitudes for suicide-relevant word condition were negatively correlated with "lifetime suicide ideation and attempt" at Pz. No significant results were found for the reaction time data, indicating that the ERP may be more sensitive in capturing the attentional disengagement effect. The groups were divided according to Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R) total score. Neutral stimulus was not included as cue stimuli. Most participants were under medication during the experiment. Our results indicate that patients with MDD and low rates of suicidal behavior show difficulty in disengaging attention from suicide-relevant stimuli. We suggest that suicide-specific disengagement difficulties may be related to recentness of suicide attempt and that acquired capability for suicide may contribute to reduced disengagement difficulties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Rieben, James C., Jr.
This study focuses on the effects of relevance and lab design on student learning within the chemistry laboratory environment. A general chemistry conductivity of solutions experiment and an upper level organic chemistry cellulose regeneration experiment were employed. In the conductivity experiment, the two main variables studied were the effect of relevant (or "real world") samples on student learning and a verification-based lab design versus a discovery-based lab design. With the cellulose regeneration experiment, the effect of a discovery-based lab design vs. a verification-based lab design was the sole focus. Evaluation surveys consisting of six questions were used at three different times to assess student knowledge of experimental concepts. In the general chemistry laboratory portion of this study, four experimental variants were employed to investigate the effect of relevance and lab design on student learning. These variants consisted of a traditional (or verification) lab design, a traditional lab design using "real world" samples, a new lab design employing real world samples/situations using unknown samples, and the new lab design using real world samples/situations that were known to the student. Data used in this analysis were collected during the Fall 08, Winter 09, and Fall 09 terms. For the second part of this study a cellulose regeneration experiment was employed to investigate the effects of lab design. A demonstration creating regenerated cellulose "rayon" was modified and converted to an efficient and low-waste experiment. In the first variant students tested their products and verified a list of physical properties. In the second variant, students filled in a blank physical property chart with their own experimental results for the physical properties. Results from the conductivity experiment show significant student learning of the effects of concentration on conductivity and how to use conductivity to differentiate solution types with the
16 CFR 1702.9 - Relevant experimental data.
2010-01-01
..., weight, sex and nutritional state of animals; (iii) Dosage level(s) and number of animals tested per... determined LD50 values. (4) In view of the fact that LD50 values in themselves do not necessarily reflect a... published work is submitted. (6) Acute toxicity studies submitted with petitions should have at least a...
What is the clinically relevant change on the ADAS-Cog?
Schrag, Anette; Schott, Jonathan M
2012-02-01
To establish the minimal clinically relevant change (MCRC) on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive (ADAS-Cog) for patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cohort study. 59 recruiting sites for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Outpatients with AD in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The authors applied anchor-based MCRC methodology comparing ADAS-Cog change against clinicians' judgement of clinically relevant worsening between baseline and 6 months in four domains: memory and non-memory cognitive performance; Clinical Dementia Rating Scale; and Functional Assessment Questionnaire. The analysis was repeated for the 6-12-month interval. To support these findings, the authors calculated distribution-based measures including half-baseline SD (1/2 SD) and SEM. 181 patients (baseline ADAS-Cog score 18.5±6.4) had ADAS-Cog data at 0 and 6 months. Those undergoing clinically significant worsening on any of the four anchor questions (n=41-47) had an average ADAS-Cog change of 3.1-3.8 points. Similar results were found for the 177 patients with 6-12-month data. The average 1/2 SD for the baseline ADAS-Cog score was 3.2, and the SEM was 3.7. 3 points decline on the ADAS-Cog may be an appropriate MCRC for clinical trials of patients with early AD. However, further studies assessing the MCRC for improvement on the ADAS-Cog, using patient-based judgement as an anchor, and determining the minimal clinically relevant difference between change on two treatments are required. http://clinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00106899.
Harvey, H. Benjamin; Gilman, Matthew D.; Wu, Carol C.; Cushing, Matthew S.; Halpern, Elkan F.; Zhao, Jing; Pandharipande, Pari V.; Shepard, Jo-Anne O.
2015-01-01
Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic yield of recommended chest computed tomography (CT) prompted by abnormalities detected on outpatient chest radiographic images. Materials and Methods This HIPAA-compliant study had institutional review board approval; informed consent was waived. Reports of all outpatient chest radiographic examinations performed at a large academic center during 2008 (n = 29 138) were queried to identify studies that included a recommendation for a chest CT imaging. The radiology information system was queried for these patients to determine if a chest CT examination was obtained within 1 year of the index radiographic examination that contained the recommendation. For chest CT examinations obtained within 1 year of the index chest radiographic examination and that met inclusion criteria, chest CT images were reviewed to determine if there was an abnormality that corresponded to the chest radiographic finding that prompted the recommendation. All corresponding abnormalities were categorized as clinically relevant or not clinically relevant, based on whether further work-up or treatment was warranted. Groups were compared by using t test and Fisher exact test with a Bonferroni correction applied for multiple comparisons. Results There were 4.5% (1316 of 29138 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 4.3%, 4.8%]) of outpatient chest radiographic examinations that contained a recommendation for chest CT examination, and increasing patient age (P recommendation for chest CT examination. Of patients within this subset who met inclusion criteria, 65.4% (691 of 1057 [95% CI: 62.4%, 68.2%) underwent a chest CT examination within the year after the index chest radiographic examination. Clinically relevant corresponding abnormalities were present on chest CT images in 41.4% (286 of 691 [95% CI: 37.7%, 45.2%]) of cases, nonclinically relevant corresponding abnormalities in 20.6% (142 of 691 [95% CI: 17.6%, 23.8%]) of cases, and no corresponding abnormalities in 38
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bradley, K.S.
1993-01-01
Despite the apparent simplicity of controlled fusion, there are many phenomena which have prevented its achievement. One phenomenon is laser-plasma instabilities. An investigation of one such instability, stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), is reported here. SBS is a parametric process whereby an electromagnetic wave (the parent wave) decays into another electromagnetic wave and an ion acoustic wave (the daughter waves). SBS impedes controlled fusion since it can scatter much or all of the incident laser light, resulting in poor drive symmetry and inefficient laser-plasma coupling. It is widely believed that SBS becomes convectively unstable--that is, it grows as it traverses the plasma. Though it has yet to be definitively tested, convective theory is often invoked to explain experimental observations, even when one or more of the theory's assumptions are violated. In contrast, the experiments reported here not only obeyed the assumptions of the theory, but were also conducted in plasmas with peak densities well below quarter-critical density. This prevented other competing or coexisting phenomena from occurring, thereby providing clearly interpretable results. These are the first SBS experiments that were designed to be both a clear test of linear convective theory and pertinent to controlled fusion research. A crucial part of this series of experiments was the development of a new instrument, the Multiple Angle Time Resolving Spectrometer (MATRS). MATRS has the unique capability of both spectrally and temporally resolving absolute levels of scattered light at many angles simultaneously, and is the first of its kind used in laser-plasma experiments. A detailed comparison of the theoretical predictions and the experimental observations is made
Inoculating Relevance Feedback Against Poison Pills
Dehghani, Mostafa; Azarbonyad, Hosein; Kamps, Jaap; Hiemstra, Djoerd; Marx, Maarten
2016-01-01
Relevance Feedback is a common approach for enriching queries, given a set of explicitly or implicitly judged documents to improve the performance of the retrieval. Although it has been shown that on average, the overall performance of retrieval will be improved after relevance feedback, for some
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hollebeek, R.
1990-01-01
The purpose of these lectures, given at the 1989 SLAC Summer School, was to discuss the experimental aspects of heavy quark production. A companion set of lectures on the theoretical point of view were to be given by Keith Ellis. An experimentalist should gather together the measurements which have been made by various groups, compare, contrast and tabulate them, and if possible point out the ways in which these measurements confirm or contradict current theories. Here the authors has tried to do this, although the reader who expects to find here the latest of all experimental measurements should probably be forewarned that the field is moving extremely rapidly. In some cases, he has added and updated materials where crucial new information became available after or during the summer of 1989, but not in all cases. He has concentrated on trying to select those measurements which are at the moment most crucial in refining our understanding of heavy quarks as opposed to those which merely measure things which are perhaps too complicated to be enlightening at the moment. While theorists worry primarily about production mechanisms, cross sections, QCD corrections, and to some extent about signatures, the experimentalist must determine which measurements he is interested in making, and which signatures for heavy quark production are realistic and likely to produce results which will shed some new light on the underlying production model without undo theoretical complications. Experimentalists also need to evaluate the available experimental equipment, both machines and detectors to find the best way to investigate the properties of heavy quarks. In many cases, the things which we would like to measure are severely restricted by what we can measure. Nevertheless, many properties of heavy quark production and decay can be measured, and the results have already taught us much about the weak interactions and QCD
Autonomia e relevância dos regimes The autonomy and relevance of regimes
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gustavo Seignemartin de Carvalho
2005-12-01
Full Text Available Teorias institucionalistas na disciplina de relações internacionais usualmente definem regimes como um conjunto de normas e regras formais ou informais que permitem a convergência de expectativas ou a padronização do comportamento de seus participantes em uma determinada área de interesses com o objetivo de resolver problemas de coordenação que tenderiam a resultados não pareto-eficientes. Como estas definições baseadas meramente na "eficiência" dos regimes não parecem suficientes para explicar sua efetividade, o presente artigo propõe uma definição diferente para regimes: a de arranjos políticos que permitem a redistribuição dos ganhos da cooperação pelos participantes em uma determinada área de interesses em um contexto de interdependência. Regimes possuiriam efetividade pela sua autonomia e relevância, ou seja, por possuírem existência objetiva autônoma da de seus participantes e por influenciarem seu comportamento e expectativas de maneiras que não podem ser reduzidas à ação individual de nenhum deles. O artigo inicia-se com uma breve discussão sobre as dificuldades terminológicas associadas ao estudo de regimes e a definição dos conceitos de autonomia e relevância. Em seguida, classifica os diversos autores participantes do debate em duas perspectivas distintas, uma que nega (não-autonomistas e outra que atribui (autonomistas aos regimes autonomia e relevância, e faz uma breve análise dos autores e tradições mais significativos para o debate, aprofundando-se nos autonomistas e nos argumentos que reforçam a hipótese aqui apresentada. Ao final, o artigo propõe uma decomposição analítica dos regimes nos quatro elementos principais que lhes propiciam autonomia e relevância: normatividade, atores, especificidade da área de interesses e interdependência complexa com o contexto.Regimes are defined by institutionalist theories in the discipline of International Relations as formal or informal sets
Clinical relevance in anesthesia journals
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Lauritsen, Jakob; Møller, Ann M
2006-01-01
The purpose of this review is to present the latest knowledge and research on the definition and distribution of clinically relevant articles in anesthesia journals. It will also discuss the importance of the chosen methodology and outcome of articles.......The purpose of this review is to present the latest knowledge and research on the definition and distribution of clinically relevant articles in anesthesia journals. It will also discuss the importance of the chosen methodology and outcome of articles....
Experimental investigation of the role of ions in aerosol nucleation
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Enghoff, Martin Andreas Bødker
The role of ions in producing aerosols in Earth’s atmosphere is an area of very active research. Atmospheric and experimental observations have shown that the nucleation of aerosol particles can occur under conditions that cannot be explained by classical nucleation theory. Several ideas have been...... put forward to solve this nucleation problem, e.g. Ion-Induced Nucleation and Ternary Nucleation. Experimental investigations exploring the role of ions in particle production are scarce, and often at conditions far removed from those relevant for the lower part of the atmosphere. Recent experimental...... were grown using photochemically produced sulphuric acid and ionization levels were controlled with a Cs-137 gamma-source. An increase in nucleation was observed when the chamber was exposed to the radioactive source. The results were analyzed using a model based on the General Dynamic Equation...
Optimality-theoretic pragmatics meets experimental pragmatics
Blutner, R.; Benz, A.; Blutner, R.
2009-01-01
The main concern of this article is to discuss some recent findings concerning the psychological reality of optimality-theoretic pragmatics and its central part - bidirectional optimization. A present challenge is to close the gap between experimental pragmatics and neo-Gricean theories of
Experimental Overview of Open Heavy Flavor
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Schweda, Kai
2017-01-01
These are the proceedings of the experimental overview of the production of open heavy flavor at the international conference Strangeness in Quark Matter 2016 . Instead of a comprehensive overview, I focus on a few topics which the reader might find particularly interesting. (paper)
Causal and Epistemic Relevance in Appeals to Authority
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sebastiano Lommi
2015-05-01
Full Text Available Appeals to authority have a long tradition in the history of argumentation theory. During the Middle Age they were considered legitimate and sound arguments, but after Locke’s treatment in the Essay Concerning Human Understanding their legitimacy has come under question. Traditionally, arguments from authority were considered informal arguments, but since the important work of Charles Hamblin (Hamblin, 1970 many attempts to provide a form for them have been done. The most convincing of them is the presumptive form developed by Douglas Walton and John Woods (Woods, Walton, 1974 that aims at taking into account the relevant contextual aspects in assessing the provisional validity of an appeal to authority. The soundness of an appeal depends on its meeting the adequacy conditions set to scrutinize all the relevant questions. I want to claim that this approach is compatible with the analysis of arguments in terms of relevance advanced by David Hitchcock (Hitchcock, 1992. He claims that relevance is a triadic relation between two items and a context. The first item is relevant to the second one in a given context. Different types of relevance relation exist, namely causal relevance and epistemic relevance. “Something is [causally] relevant to an outcome in a given situation if it helps to cause that outcome in the situation” (Hitchcock, 1992, p. 253, whereas it is epistemically relevant when it helps to achieve an epistemic goal in a given situation. I claim that we can adapt this conception to Walton and Krabbe’s theory of dialogue type (Walton, Krabbe, 1995, seeing the items of a relevance relation as the argument and its consequence and the context as the type of dialogue in which these arguments are advanced. According to this perspective, an argument from authority that meets the adequacy conditions has to be considered legitimate because it is an epistemically relevant relation. Therefore, my conclusion is that an analysis of appeals to
Making academic research more relevant: A few suggestions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Abinash Panda
2014-09-01
Full Text Available Academic research in the domain of management scholarship, though steeped in scientific and methodological rigour, is generally found to be of little relevance to practice. The authors of this paper have revisited the rigour-relevance debate in light of recent developments and with special reference to the management research scenario in India. The central thesis of the argument is that the gulf between rigour and relevance needs to be bridged to make academic research more relevant to business organizations and practitioners. They have offered some suggestions to enhance the relevance of academic research to practice.
A Narrative Review of Lumbar Fusion Surgery With Relevance to Chiropractic Practice.
Daniels, Clinton J; Wakefield, Pamela J; Bub, Glenn A; Toombs, James D
2016-12-01
The purpose of this narrative review was to describe the most common spinal fusion surgical procedures, address the clinical indications for lumbar fusion in degeneration cases, identify potential complications, and discuss their relevance to chiropractic management of patients after surgical fusion. The PubMed database was searched from the beginning of the record through March 31, 2015, for English language articles related to lumbar fusion or arthrodesis or both and their incidence, procedures, complications, and postoperative chiropractic cases. Articles were retrieved and evaluated for relevance. The bibliographies of selected articles were also reviewed. The most typical lumbar fusion procedures are posterior lumbar interbody fusion, anterior lumbar interbody fusion, transforaminal interbody fusion, and lateral lumbar interbody fusion. Fair level evidence supports lumbar fusion procedures for degenerative spondylolisthesis with instability and for intractable low back pain that has failed conservative care. Complications and development of chronic pain after surgery is common, and these patients frequently present to chiropractic physicians. Several reports describe the potential benefit of chiropractic management with spinal manipulation, flexion-distraction manipulation, and manipulation under anesthesia for postfusion low back pain. There are no published experimental studies related specifically to chiropractic care of postfusion low back pain. This article describes the indications for fusion, common surgical practice, potential complications, and relevant published chiropractic literature. This review includes 10 cases that showed positive benefits from chiropractic manipulation, flexion-distraction, and/or manipulation under anesthesia for postfusion lumbar pain. Chiropractic care may have a role in helping patients in pain who have undergone lumbar fusion surgery.
Pediatric renal leukemia: spectrum of CT imaging findings
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hilmes, Melissa A.; Dillman, Jonathan R.; Mody, Rajen J.; Strouse, Peter J.
2008-01-01
The kidneys are a site of extramedullary leukemic disease that can be readily detected by CT. To demonstrate the spectrum of CT findings in children with renal leukemic involvement. Twelve children were identified retrospectively as having renal leukemic involvement by contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen. Contrast-enhanced CT images through the kidneys of each patient were reviewed by two pediatric radiologists. Pertinent imaging findings and renal lengths were documented. The electronic medical record was accessed to obtain relevant clinical and pathologic information. Five patients with renal leukemic involvement presented with multiple bilateral low-attenuation masses, while three patients demonstrated large areas of wedge-shaped and geographic low attenuation. Four other patients presented with unique imaging findings, including a solitary unilateral low-attenuation mass, solitary bilateral low-attenuation masses, multiple bilateral low-attenuation masses including unilateral large conglomerate masses, and bilateral areas of ill-defined parenchymal low attenuation. Two patients showed unilateral nephromegaly, while eight other patients showed bilateral nephromegaly. Two patients had normal size kidneys. Two patients had elevated serum creatinine concentrations at the time of imaging. Renal leukemic involvement in children can present with a variety of CT imaging findings. Focal renal abnormalities as well as nephromegaly are frequently observed. Most commonly, renal leukemic involvement does not appear to impair renal function. (orig.)
Pediatric renal leukemia: spectrum of CT imaging findings
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hilmes, Melissa A. [University of Michigan Health System, C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Section of Pediatric Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Vanderbilt University Children' s Hospital, Section of Pediatric Radiology, Nashville, TN (United States); Dillman, Jonathan R. [University of Michigan Health System, C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Section of Pediatric Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); University of Michigan Health System, Department of Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Mody, Rajen J. [University of Michigan Health System, C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Strouse, Peter J. [University of Michigan Health System, C.S. Mott Children' s Hospital, Section of Pediatric Radiology, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
2008-04-15
The kidneys are a site of extramedullary leukemic disease that can be readily detected by CT. To demonstrate the spectrum of CT findings in children with renal leukemic involvement. Twelve children were identified retrospectively as having renal leukemic involvement by contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen. Contrast-enhanced CT images through the kidneys of each patient were reviewed by two pediatric radiologists. Pertinent imaging findings and renal lengths were documented. The electronic medical record was accessed to obtain relevant clinical and pathologic information. Five patients with renal leukemic involvement presented with multiple bilateral low-attenuation masses, while three patients demonstrated large areas of wedge-shaped and geographic low attenuation. Four other patients presented with unique imaging findings, including a solitary unilateral low-attenuation mass, solitary bilateral low-attenuation masses, multiple bilateral low-attenuation masses including unilateral large conglomerate masses, and bilateral areas of ill-defined parenchymal low attenuation. Two patients showed unilateral nephromegaly, while eight other patients showed bilateral nephromegaly. Two patients had normal size kidneys. Two patients had elevated serum creatinine concentrations at the time of imaging. Renal leukemic involvement in children can present with a variety of CT imaging findings. Focal renal abnormalities as well as nephromegaly are frequently observed. Most commonly, renal leukemic involvement does not appear to impair renal function. (orig.)
The role of human values and relations in the employment of people with work-relevant disabilities
Kuiper, L.; Bakker, M.; van der Klink, J.J.L.
2016-01-01
The aim of this study is to discuss the role of human values and relations in the employment of people with work-relevant disabilities. Purpose: Finding and maintaining a paid job is known to be more difficult for people with a disability. The aim of the study is to explore the use which people with
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Svelle, Stian
2004-07-01
The primary objective of the present work is to obtain new insight into the reaction mechanism of the zeolite catalyzed methanol-to-hydrocarbons (MTH) reaction. It was decided to use both experimental and computational techniques to reach this goal. An investigation of the n-butene + methanol system was therefore initiated. Over time, it became apparent that it was possible to determine the rate for the methylation of n-butene by methanol. The ethene and propene systems were therefore reexamined in order to collect kinetic information also for those cases. With the development of user-friendly quantum chemistry programs such as the Gaussian suite of programs, the possibility of applying quantum chemical methods to many types of problems has become readily available even for non-experts. When performing mechanistic studies, there is quite often a considerable synergy effect when combining experimental and computational approaches. The methylation reactions mentioned above turned out to be an issue well suited for quantum chemical investigations. The incentive for examining the halomethane reactivity was the clear analogy to the MTH reaction system. Alkene dimerization was also a reaction readily examined with quantum chemistry. As discussed in the introduction of this thesis, polymethylbenzenes, or their cationic counterparts, are suspected to be key intermediates in the MTH reaction. It was therefore decided to investigate the intrinsic reactivity of these species in the gas-phase by employing sophisticated mass spectrometric (MS) techniques in collaboration with the MS group at the Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo The data thus obtained will also be compared with results from an ongoing computational study on gas phase polymethylbenzenium reactivity. 6 papers presenting various studies are included. The titles are: 1) A Theoretical Investigation of the Methylation of Alkenes with Methanol over Acidic Zeolites. 2) A Theoretical Investigation of the
2016 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics
Lamberson, Leslie; Kimberley, Jamie; Korach, Chad; Tekalur, Srinivasan; Zavattieri, Pablo; Yoshida, Sanichiro; Lamberti, Luciano; Sciammarella, Cesar; Ralph, W; Singh, Raman; Tandon, Gyaneshwar; Thakre, Piyush; Zavattieri, Pablo; Zhu, Yong; Zehnder, Alan; Zehnder, Alan; Carroll, Jay; Hazeli, Kavan; Berke, Ryan; Pataky, Garrett; Cavalli, Matthew; Beese, Alison; Xia, Shuman; Starman, La; Hay, Jennifer; Karanjgaokar, Nikhil; Quinn, Simon; Balandraud, Xavier; Cloud, Gary; Patterson, Eann; Backman, David
2017-01-01
Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1 of the Proceedings of the 2016 SEM Annual Conference& Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, the first volume of ten from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Experimental Mechanics, including papers on: Quantitative Visualization Fracture & Fragmentation Dynamic Behavior of Low Impedance Materials Shock & Blast Dynamic Behavior of Composites Novel Testing Techniques Hybrid Experimental & Computational Methods Dynamic Behavior of Geo-materials General Material Behavior.
Gingival tissue transcriptomes in experimental gingivitis
Jönsson, Daniel; Ramberg, Per; Demmer, Ryan T.; Kebschull, Moritz; Dahlén, Gunnar; Papapanou, Panos N.
2012-01-01
Aims We investigated the sequential gene expression in the gingiva during the induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis. Methods Twenty periodontally and systemically healthy non-smoking volunteers participated in a 3-week experimental gingivitis protocol, followed by debridement and 2-week regular plaque control. We recorded clinical indices and harvested gingival tissue samples from 4 interproximal palatal sites in half of the participants at baseline, Day 7, 14 and 21 (‘induction phase’), and at day 21, 25, 30 and 35 in the other half (‘resolution phase’). RNA was extracted, amplified, reversed transcribed, amplified, labeled and hybridized with Affymetrix Human Genome U133Plus2.0 microarrays. Paired t-tests compared gene expression changes between consecutive time points. Gene ontology analyses summarized the expression patterns into biologically relevant categories. Results The median gingival index was 0 at baseline, 2 at Day 21 and 1 at Day 35. Differential gene regulation peaked during the third week of induction and the first four days of resolution. Leukocyte transmigration, cell adhesion and antigen processing/presentation were the top differentially regulated pathways. Conclusions Transcriptomic studies enhance our understanding of the pathobiology of the reversible inflammatory gingival lesion and provide a detailed account of the dynamic tissue responses during induction and resolution of experimental gingivitis. PMID:21501207
A Compositional Relevance Model for Adaptive Information Retrieval
Mathe, Nathalie; Chen, James; Lu, Henry, Jr. (Technical Monitor)
1994-01-01
There is a growing need for rapid and effective access to information in large electronic documentation systems. Access can be facilitated if information relevant in the current problem solving context can be automatically supplied to the user. This includes information relevant to particular user profiles, tasks being performed, and problems being solved. However most of this knowledge on contextual relevance is not found within the contents of documents, and current hypermedia tools do not provide any easy mechanism to let users add this knowledge to their documents. We propose a compositional relevance network to automatically acquire the context in which previous information was found relevant. The model records information on the relevance of references based on user feedback for specific queries and contexts. It also generalizes such information to derive relevant references for similar queries and contexts. This model lets users filter information by context of relevance, build personalized views of documents over time, and share their views with other users. It also applies to any type of multimedia information. Compared to other approaches, it is less costly and doesn't require any a priori statistical computation, nor an extended training period. It is currently being implemented into the Computer Integrated Documentation system which enables integration of various technical documents in a hypertext framework.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ruebe, C.E.; Ruebe, C.; Rodemann, H.P.
2004-01-01
Methods: published data on radiation-induced cytokine expression from experimental and clinical studies are reviewed. Results and conclusion: the major pro-inflammatory cytokines in the radiation response of the lung include tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) appears to be of particular importance in the development of lung fibrosis. First approaches with radioprotective agents and gene therapy to modify radiation-induced cytokine expression have been investigated for prevention of late effects of irradiation lung damage in animal experiments. Preliminary data of clinical studies suggest that elevated plasma TGF-β-levels during radiotherapy may predict the development of symptomatic radiation pneumonitis. The biological impacts of endogenous radiation-induced cytokine production by tumor cells in respect of tumor behavior, potential damage to normal tissue, and clinical status of the host still need to be determined more precisely. (orig.)
Environmentally relevant approaches to assess nanoparticles ecotoxicity: A review
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Bour, Agathe; Mouchet, Florence; Silvestre, Jérôme; Gauthier, Laury [Université de Toulouse (France); UPS, INP (France); EcoLab (Laboratoire d’écologie fonctionnelle et environnement) (France); ENSAT, Avenue de l’Agrobiopôle, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan (France); CNRS (France); EcoLab (Laboratoire d’écologie fonctionnelle et environnement), F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan (France); Pinelli, Eric, E-mail: pinelli@ensat.fr [Université de Toulouse (France); UPS, INP (France); EcoLab (Laboratoire d’écologie fonctionnelle et environnement) (France); ENSAT, Avenue de l’Agrobiopôle, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan (France); CNRS (France); EcoLab (Laboratoire d’écologie fonctionnelle et environnement), F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan (France)
2015-02-11
Highlights: • Integrated ecotoxicity of NPs from organism to community level is reviewed. • Trophic chains allow determining the implication of trophic route in NP toxicity. • The use of microcosms and mesocosms allows studies at larger scale. • Data concerning NP fate and effects in environmental conditions are lacking. - Abstract: Despite the increasing production and use of nanoparticles (NPs), there is a lack of knowledge about their environmental fate and ecotoxicity. Studies in environmentally relevant conditions are necessary to better assess these parameters, but such studies are rather rare. The present work represents first time that studies on engineered NPs using environmentally relevant exposure methods have been reviewed. These exposure methods differ from standardized protocols and can be classified into three groups: experimental trophic chains that allow study of the trophic route, multi-species exposures under laboratory conditions that allow for complex but controlled exposure and outdoor exposures that are more similar to environmentally realistic conditions. The majority of studies of micro- or mesocosms have focused on NP partitioning and bioaccumulation. The other major parameter that has been studied is NP ecotoxicity, which has been assessed in single species, in single species via the trophic route, and at the community level. The induction of biochemical defense systems, immunomodulation, effects on growth and reproduction, behavioral alterations and mortality have been used as indicators of major toxicity, depending on the species studied. The major effects of NPs on both microbial and algal communities include modifications of community compositions and diversities, decreased biomass and changes in community activities.
Environmentally relevant approaches to assess nanoparticles ecotoxicity: A review
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bour, Agathe; Mouchet, Florence; Silvestre, Jérôme; Gauthier, Laury; Pinelli, Eric
2015-01-01
Highlights: • Integrated ecotoxicity of NPs from organism to community level is reviewed. • Trophic chains allow determining the implication of trophic route in NP toxicity. • The use of microcosms and mesocosms allows studies at larger scale. • Data concerning NP fate and effects in environmental conditions are lacking. - Abstract: Despite the increasing production and use of nanoparticles (NPs), there is a lack of knowledge about their environmental fate and ecotoxicity. Studies in environmentally relevant conditions are necessary to better assess these parameters, but such studies are rather rare. The present work represents first time that studies on engineered NPs using environmentally relevant exposure methods have been reviewed. These exposure methods differ from standardized protocols and can be classified into three groups: experimental trophic chains that allow study of the trophic route, multi-species exposures under laboratory conditions that allow for complex but controlled exposure and outdoor exposures that are more similar to environmentally realistic conditions. The majority of studies of micro- or mesocosms have focused on NP partitioning and bioaccumulation. The other major parameter that has been studied is NP ecotoxicity, which has been assessed in single species, in single species via the trophic route, and at the community level. The induction of biochemical defense systems, immunomodulation, effects on growth and reproduction, behavioral alterations and mortality have been used as indicators of major toxicity, depending on the species studied. The major effects of NPs on both microbial and algal communities include modifications of community compositions and diversities, decreased biomass and changes in community activities
Shang, Ce; Huang, Jidong; Li, Qing; Chaloupka, Frank J
while existing research has demonstrated a positive association between exposure to point-of-sale (POS) tobacco advertising and youth smoking, there is limited evidence on the relationship between POS advertising restrictions and experimental smoking among youth. This study aims to fill this research gap by analyzing the association between POS advertising bans and youths' experimental smoking. Global Youth Tobacco Surveys from 130 countries during 2007-2011 were linked to the WHO "MPOWER" tobacco control policy measures to analyze the association between POS advertising bans (a dichotomous measure of the existence of such bans) and experimental smoking using weighted logistic regressions. All analyses were clustered at the country level and controlled for age, parents' smoking status, GDP per capita, and country-level tobacco control scores in monitoring tobacco use, protecting people from smoke, offering help to quit, warning about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing promotion/advertising bans, and raising taxes on tobacco. The results suggest that a POS advertising ban is significantly associated with reduced experimental smoking among youth (OR = 0.63, p advertising bans are significantly associated with reduced experimental smoking among youth. Adopting POS advertising bans has the potential to reduce tobacco use among their youth in countries currently without such bans.
Optimal Experimental Design for Large-Scale Bayesian Inverse Problems
Ghattas, Omar
2014-01-06
We develop a Bayesian framework for the optimal experimental design of the shock tube experiments which are being carried out at the KAUST Clean Combustion Research Center. The unknown parameters are the pre-exponential parameters and the activation energies in the reaction rate expressions. The control parameters are the initial mixture composition and the temperature. The approach is based on first building a polynomial based surrogate model for the observables relevant to the shock tube experiments. Based on these surrogates, a novel MAP based approach is used to estimate the expected information gain in the proposed experiments, and to select the best experimental set-ups yielding the optimal expected information gains. The validity of the approach is tested using synthetic data generated by sampling the PC surrogate. We finally outline a methodology for validation using actual laboratory experiments, and extending experimental design methodology to the cases where the control parameters are noisy.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Park, I. K.; Kim, J. H.; Hong, S. W.; Min, B. T.; Hong, S. H.; Song, J. H.; Kim, H. D.
2006-01-01
Since a steam explosion may breach the integrity of a reactor vessel and containment, it is one of the most important severe accident issues. So, a lot of experimental and analytical researches on steam explosions have been performed. Although many findings from the steam explosion researches have been obtained, there still exist unsolved issues such as the explosivity of the real core material(corium) and the conversion ratio from the thermal energy to the mechanical energy. TROI experiments were carried out to provide the experimental data for these issues. The TROI experiments were performed with a prototypic material such as ZrO 2 melt and a mixture of ZrO 2 and UO 2 melt (corium). Several steam explosion codes including TEXAS-V had been developed by considering the findings in the past steam explosion experiments. However, some unique findings on steam explosions have been obtained from a series of TROI experiments. These findings should be considered in the application to a reactor safety analysis by using a computational code. In this paper, several findings from TROI experiments are discussed and the sensitivity studies on the TROI experimental parameters were conducted by using TEXAS-V code and TROI-13 test. The comparison between the TROI experimental findings and the results of the sensitivity study might allow us to know which parameter is important and which model is uncertain for steam explosions
DEMO relevance of the test blanket modules in ITER-Application to the European test blanket modules
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Magnani, E.; Gabriel, F.; Boccaccini, L.V.; Li-Puma, A.
2010-01-01
Test blanket module (TBM) testing programme in ITER as a support to DEMO design is a very important step on the road map to commercial fusion reactors although it is an ambitious task. Finding as much as possible DEMO relevant tests in view of the future DEMO blanket design is therefore a major goal since ITER and DEMO environment and loading conditions are different. To clarify and quantify the meaning of the DEMO relevance, criteria using a structural, functional and behavioural representation of the breeding blanket acting as a system are investigated. Then, a three-step strategy is proposed to carry out TBM DEMO relevant tests associated with a TBM design modification strategy. Key parameters should intensively be used as target for TBM characterization and numerical code validation. When assessing the relevance, on the other hand, not only the actual difference between DEMO and ITER values should be considered, but also whether the analyzed phenomena have a threshold and a range of applicability, as numerical simulations are usually permitted within these limits. The proposed methodology is at the end applied to the design of the HCLL TBM breeding unit configuration.
Calamy, H.; Hamann, F.; Lassalle, F.; Bayol, F.; Mangeant, C.; Morell, A.; Huet, D.; Bedoch, J. P.; Chittenden, J. P.; Lebedev, S. V.; Jennings, C. A.; Bland, S. N.
2006-01-01
Centre d'Etudes de Gramat (France) has developed an efficient long implosion time (800 ns) Aluminum plasma radiation source (PRS). Based on the LTD technology, the SPHINX facility is developed as a 1-3MJ, 1μs rise time, 4-10 MA current driver. In this paper, it was used in 1MJ, 4MA configuration to drive Aluminum nested wire arrays Z-pinches with K-shell yield up to 20 kJ and a FWHM of the x-ray pulse of about 50 ns. We present latest SPHINX experiments and some of the main physic issues of the microsecond regime. Experimental setup and results are described with the aim of giving trends that have been obtained. The main features of microsecond implosion of wire arrays can be analyzed thanks to same methods and theories as used for faster Z-pinches. The effect of load polarity was examined. The stability of the implosion , one of the critical point of microsecond wire arrays due to the load dimensions imposed by the time scale, is tackled. A simple scaling from 100 ns Z-pinch results to 800 ns ones gives good results and the use of nested arrays improves dramatically the implosion quality and the Kshell yield of the load. However, additional effects such as the impact of the return current can geometry on the implosion have to be taken into account on our loads. Axial inhomogeneity of the implosion the origin of which is not yet well understood occurs in some shots and impacts the radiation output. The shape of the radiative pulse is discussed and compared with the homogeneity of the implosion. Numerical 2D R-Z and R-θ simulations are used to highlight some experimental results and understand the plasma conditions during these microsecond wire arrays implosions.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Calamy, H.; Hamann, F.; Lassalle, F.; Bayol, F.; Mangeant, C.; Morell, A.; Huet, D.; Bedoch, J.P.; Chittenden, J.P.; Lebedev, S.V.; Jennings, C.A.; Bland, S.N.
2006-01-01
Centre d'Etudes de Gramat (France) has developed an efficient long implosion time (800 ns) Aluminum plasma radiation source (PRS). Based on the LTD technology, the SPHINX facility is developed as a 1-3MJ, 1μs rise time, 4-10 MA current driver. In this paper, it was used in 1MJ, 4MA configuration to drive Aluminum nested wire arrays Z-pinches with K-shell yield up to 20 kJ and a FWHM of the x-ray pulse of about 50 ns. We present latest SPHINX experiments and some of the main physic issues of the microsecond regime. Experimental setup and results are described with the aim of giving trends that have been obtained. The main features of microsecond implosion of wire arrays can be analyzed thanks to same methods and theories as used for faster Z-pinches. The effect of load polarity was examined. The stability of the implosion , one of the critical point of microsecond wire arrays due to the load dimensions imposed by the time scale, is tackled. A simple scaling from 100 ns Z-pinch results to 800 ns ones gives good results and the use of nested arrays improves dramatically the implosion quality and the Kshell yield of the load. However, additional effects such as the impact of the return current can geometry on the implosion have to be taken into account on our loads. Axial inhomogeneity of the implosion the origin of which is not yet well understood occurs in some shots and impacts the radiation output. The shape of the radiative pulse is discussed and compared with the homogeneity of the implosion. Numerical 2D R-Z and R-θ simulations are used to highlight some experimental results and understand the plasma conditions during these microsecond wire arrays implosions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rafael Fenutría
Full Text Available CD5 is a lymphoid-specific transmembrane glycoprotein constitutively expressed on thymocytes and mature T and B1a lymphocytes. Current data support the view that CD5 is a negative regulator of antigen-specific receptor-mediated signaling in these cells, and that this would likely be achieved through interaction with CD5 ligand/s (CD5L of still undefined nature expressed on immune or accessory cells. To determine the functional consequence of loss of CD5/CD5L interaction in vivo, a new transgenic mouse line was generated (shCD5EμTg, expressing a circulating soluble form of human CD5 (shCD5 as a decoy to impair membrane-bound CD5 function. These shCD5EμTg mice showed an enhanced response to autologous antigens, as deduced from the presentation of more severe forms of experimentally inducible autoimmune disease (collagen-induced arthritis, CIA; and experimental autoimmune encephalitis, EAE, as well as an increased anti-tumoral response in non-orthotopic cancer models (B16 melanoma. This enhancement of the immune response was in agreement with the finding of significantly reduced proportions of spleen and lymph node Treg cells (CD4+CD25+FoxP3+, and of peritoneal IL-10-producing and CD5+ B cells, as well as an increased proportion of spleen NKT cells in shCD5EμTg mice. Similar changes in lymphocyte subpopulations were observed in wild-type mice following repeated administration of exogenous recombinant shCD5 protein. These data reveal the relevant role played by CD5/CD5L interactions on the homeostasis of some functionally relevant lymphocyte subpopulations and the modulation of immune responses to autologous antigens.
Evolution of density-dependent movement during experimental range expansions.
Fronhofer, E A; Gut, S; Altermatt, F
2017-12-01
Range expansions and biological invasions are prime examples of transient processes that are likely impacted by rapid evolutionary changes. As a spatial process, range expansions are driven by dispersal and movement behaviour. Although it is widely accepted that dispersal and movement may be context-dependent, for instance density-dependent, and best represented by reaction norms, the evolution of density-dependent movement during range expansions has received little experimental attention. We therefore tested current theory predicting the evolution of increased movement at low densities at range margins using highly replicated and controlled range expansion experiments across multiple genotypes of the protist model system Tetrahymena thermophila. Although rare, we found evolutionary changes during range expansions even in the absence of initial standing genetic variation. Range expansions led to the evolution of negatively density-dependent movement at range margins. In addition, we report the evolution of increased intrastrain competitive ability and concurrently decreased population growth rates in range cores. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding movement and dispersal as evolving reaction norms and plastic life-history traits of central relevance for range expansions, biological invasions and the dynamics of spatially structured systems in general. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.
Loss-of-Fluid Test findings in pressurized water reactor core's thermal-hydraulic behavior
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Russell, M.
1983-01-01
This paper summarizes the pressurized water reactor (PWR) core's thermal-hydraulic behavior findings from experiments performed at the Loss-of-Fluid Test (LOFT) Facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The potential impact of these findings on the safety and economics of PWR's generation of electricity is also discussed. Reviews of eight important findings in the core's physical behavior and in experimental methods are presented with supporting evidence
The policy relevance of global environmental change research
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yarnal, Brent
1996-01-01
Many scientists are striving to identify and promote the policy implications of their global change research. Much basic research on global environmental change cannot advance policy directly, but new projects can determine the relevance of their research to decision makers and build policy-relevant products into the work. Similarly, many ongoing projects can alter or add to the present science design to make the research policy relevant. Thus, this paper shows scientists working on global change how to make their research policy relevant. It demonstrates how research on physical global change relates to human dimensions studies and integrated assessments. It also presents an example of how policy relevance can be fit retroactively into a global change project (in this case, SRBEX-the Susquehanna River Basin Experiment) and how that addition can enhance the project's status and science. The paper concludes that policy relevance is desirable from social and scientific perspectives
Therapeutic relevance of HRCT findings from a pneumological viewpoint
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Suchy, R.; Pfeifer, M.
2014-01-01
The high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) technique is an essential component in diagnosing interstitial lung disease (ILD) as it provides important and specialized information and a much greater accuracy than chest X-rays. It contributes to a narrowing down of the differential diagnoses and is also important for planning further invasive investigations, e.g. bronchoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage, transbronchial lung biopsy and surgical lung biopsy, if needed. An accurate diagnosis of ILD is based on a multidisciplinary discussion involving pulmonologists, radiologists and pathologists experienced in the diagnosis of ILD. The therapy approaches of five different entities of ILD are shown as examples. In hypersensitivity pneumonitis the mainstay of treatment is complete avoidance of exposure to the provoking antigen. In cryptogenic organizing pneumonia most patients recover with corticosteroid therapy with prednisolone over a period of 6 months to 1 year. In cases of sarcoidosis therapy depends on organ involvement and functional impairment but there is no durable benefit to routine treatment of patients with acute pulmonary sarcoidosis, even among those with stage II or III chest radiographs. In general, patients with severe or progressive disease will require treatment. In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) a confident radiological diagnosis of definitive usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) obviates the need for surgical lung biopsy. Other etiologies of a HRCT pattern of UIP, such as domestic and occupational environmental exposure, connective tissue disease and drug toxicity must be ruled out. In IPF antifibrotic therapy with pirfenidone (approval since 2011) or the triple tyrosine kinase inhibitor nintendanib (pending approval in 2015) can reduce disease progression but therapy with acetylcysteine alone or in combination with prednisolone and azathioprine failed to meet efficacy endpoints. In the management of scleroderma associated ILD rapid semiquantitative evaluation of the extent of the disease on HRCT > 20 % is useful for identifying patients who require treatment. (orig.) [de
Does relevance matter in academic policy research?
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Dredge, Dianne
2015-01-01
A reflection on whether relevance matters in tourism policy research. A debate among tourism scholars.......A reflection on whether relevance matters in tourism policy research. A debate among tourism scholars....
Experimental and numerical investigations on minichannel cooling gas thermal-hydraulics
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Arbeiter, Frederik
2007-01-01
For fusion material research, minichannel gas flows are designed to cool irradiated material specimens. Since the facility design requires accurate prediction methods for the temperatures in the structure and the specimens, relevant experiments were conducted. This paper reports on the experimental procedures, which are specific to the small scale of the channels, and elucidates results obtained for wall friction, heat transfer and velocity profiles. Comparisons between the experimental data and engineering correlations as well as CFD calculations are presented. These comparisons reveal good accordance of the presented minichannel data with classical engineering correlations, and indicate the fitness of the v2f turbulence model for numerical flow field predictions in the scope of the considered application. (author)
The Strategic Value of Affiliation Partnerships in Securing Future Relevance.
Saunders, Ninfa M
2017-01-01
Finding the best route to navigate the changing landscape of healthcare has become an obsession for many organizations. Their quest to stay competitive, significant, and ultimately relevant is a continuous discovery process. Many hospitals and health systems have considered affiliations and partnerships as important tactical options. Partnerships can range from loose arrangements, such as nonequity collaborations and management agreements, to total affiliation, as in a merger and acquisition. Whichever option an organization decides to pursue, a comprehensive assessment is necessary to find the best partner-the right fit. Addressing the "why," "when," "how," and "with whom" questions is fundamental. Having the depth and breadth of resources to manage the discovery process is equally important.Learning from others who have experienced this journey is helpful, as is the support of industry experts. However, one task that cannot be delegated is discerning whether affiliation is right for an organization. That is the responsibility of an organization's leadership team, which must consider the dynamic forces in play when evaluating an affiliation partnership. Many of the suggested modalities revolve around how the affiliation partnership can provide a value proposition for the entities involved. Furthermore, inevitable challenges emerge when fiercely independent and successful organizations come together at different levels of need and readiness. Anticipating and providing for the potential exit of any member are matters that the partnership must accept and prepare for, and the ability to execute can make or break the trajectory toward a value proposition. A strong resolve to monitor, measure, calibrate, and recalibrate can give a partnership the agility to pivot toward relevance and sustainability.Stratus Healthcare applied principles of alignment and affiliation in creating the largest collaborative partnership of hospitals in the southeastern United States. Drawing
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jason Miin-Hwa Lim
2011-04-01
Full Text Available Teaching second language learners how to write research reports constitutes a crucial component in programmes on English for Specific Purposes (ESP in institutions of higher learning. One of the rhetorical segments in research reports that merit attention has to do with the descriptions and justifications of sampling procedures. This genre-based study looks into sampling delineations in the Method-related sections of research articles on the teaching of English as a second language (TESL written by expert writers and published in eight reputed international refereed journals. Using Swales’s (1990 & 2004 framework, I conducted a quantitative analysis of the rhetorical steps and a qualitative investigation into the language resources employed in delineating sampling procedures. This investigation has considerable relevance to ESP students and instructors as it has yielded pertinent findings on how samples can be appropriately described to meet the expectations of dissertation examiners, reviewers, and supervisors. The findings of this study have furnished insights into how supervisors and instructors can possibly teach novice writers ways of using specific linguistic mechanisms to lucidly describe and convincingly justify the sampling procedures in the Method sections of experimental research reports.
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ichihara, Chihiro; Fujine, Shigenori; Hayashi, Masatoshi
1986-01-01
The Kyoto University critical assembly experimental facilities belong to the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, and are the versatile critical assembly constructed for experimentally studying reactor physics and reactor engineering. The facilities are those for common utilization by universities in whole Japan. During more than ten years since the initial criticality in 1974, various experiments on reactor physics and reactor engineering have been carried out using many experimental facilities such as two solidmoderated cores, a light water-moderated core and a neutron generator. The kinds of the experiment carried out were diverse, and to find out the required data from them is very troublesome, accordingly it has become necessary to make a data base which can be processed by a computer with the data accumulated during the past more than ten years. The outline of the data base, the data base CAEX using personal computers, the data base supported by a large computer and so on are reported. (Kako, I.)
Kumar, Niraj
2016-01-01
The objectives of this paper were to explore the existing status of agricultural higher education in India, application of marketing concepts in similar institutions and to find the most appropriate marketing concept to make agricultural higher education more competitive. Extensive searches of relevant agricultural education, business management…
[Artistic dream reconstructions of the Wolf Man in the light of experimental findings].
Leuschner, W; Hau, S
1995-07-01
The authors take the famous dream picture by the "wolf-man" as the starting-point for experimental research of their own and relate the one to the other. They see the significance of pictorial representations of dreams less in the supplementary information they convey about the "text" of dreams than in the fact that they give separate expression to motility-based "gesture-associated" memories and ideas. These need to be distinguished from "language-associated" memories as there are dissociated modes of encoding experience underlying verbal and pictorial representation. The splitting of these modes into different part-codes is an important component of repression. In addition, the pictorial representation of dreams enables the patient to re-associate part-codes and thus achieve a "deferred" reconstruction and complementation of significant experiences. In the authors view, pictorial representation is favorable to the discovery of repressed material; it is as yet however impossible to say exactly what relationship there is between verbalized and pictorial representation in the context of analysis.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ce Shang
2015-12-01
Full Text Available Background and Objectives: while existing research has demonstrated a positive association between exposure to point-of-sale (POS tobacco advertising and youth smoking, there is limited evidence on the relationship between POS advertising restrictions and experimental smoking among youth. This study aims to fill this research gap by analyzing the association between POS advertising bans and youths' experimental smoking. Methods: Global Youth Tobacco Surveys from 130 countries during 2007-2011 were linked to the WHO “MPOWER” tobacco control policy measures to analyze the association between POS advertising bans (a dichotomous measure of the existence of such bans and experimental smoking using weighted logistic regressions. All analyses were clustered at the country level and controlled for age, parents' smoking status, GDP per capita, and country-level tobacco control scores in monitoring tobacco use, protecting people from smoke, offering help to quit, warning about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing promotion/advertising bans, and raising taxes on tobacco. Results: The results suggest that a POS advertising ban is significantly associated with reduced experimental smoking among youth (OR = 0.63, p p p < 0.001. Conclusions: POS advertising bans are significantly associated with reduced experimental smoking among youth. Adopting POS advertising bans has the potential to reduce tobacco use among their youth in countries currently without such bans.
Heuristics for Relevancy Ranking of Earth Dataset Search Results
Lynnes, Christopher; Quinn, Patrick; Norton, James
2016-01-01
As the Variety of Earth science datasets increases, science researchers find it more challenging to discover and select the datasets that best fit their needs. The most common way of search providers to address this problem is to rank the datasets returned for a query by their likely relevance to the user. Large web page search engines typically use text matching supplemented with reverse link counts, semantic annotations and user intent modeling. However, this produces uneven results when applied to dataset metadata records simply externalized as a web page. Fortunately, data and search provides have decades of experience in serving data user communities, allowing them to form heuristics that leverage the structure in the metadata together with knowledge about the user community. Some of these heuristics include specific ways of matching the user input to the essential measurements in the dataset and determining overlaps of time range and spatial areas. Heuristics based on the novelty of the datasets can prioritize later, better versions of data over similar predecessors. And knowledge of how different user types and communities use data can be brought to bear in cases where characteristics of the user (discipline, expertise) or their intent (applications, research) can be divined. The Earth Observing System Data and Information System has begun implementing some of these heuristics in the relevancy algorithm of its Common Metadata Repository search engine.
Animal to human translational paradigms relevant for approach avoidance conflict decision making.
Kirlic, Namik; Young, Jared; Aupperle, Robin L
2017-09-01
Avoidance behavior in clinical anxiety disorders is often a decision made in response to approach-avoidance conflict, resulting in a sacrifice of potential rewards to avoid potential negative affective consequences. Animal research has a long history of relying on paradigms related to approach-avoidance conflict to model anxiety-relevant behavior. This approach includes punishment-based conflict, exploratory, and social interaction tasks. There has been a recent surge of interest in the translation of paradigms from animal to human, in efforts to increase generalization of findings and support the development of more effective mental health treatments. This article briefly reviews animal tests related to approach-avoidance conflict and results from lesion and pharmacologic studies utilizing these tests. We then provide a description of translational human paradigms that have been developed to tap into related constructs, summarizing behavioral and neuroimaging findings. Similarities and differences in findings from analogous animal and human paradigms are discussed. Lastly, we highlight opportunities for future research and paradigm development that will support the clinical utility of this translational work. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Imaging Findings in Elder Abuse: A Role for Radiologists in Detection.
Wong, Natalie Z; Rosen, Tony; Sanchez, Allen M; Bloemen, Elizabeth M; Mennitt, Kevin W; Hentel, Keith; Nicola, Refky; Murphy, Kieran J; LoFaso, Veronica M; Flomenbaum, Neal E; Lachs, Mark S
2017-02-01
Emergency department assessment represents a critical but often missed opportunity to identify elder abuse, which is common and has serious consequences. Among emergency care providers, diagnostic radiologists are optimally positioned to raise suspicion for mistreatment when reviewing imaging of geriatric injury victims. However, little literature exists describing relevant injury patterns, and most radiologists currently receive neither formal nor informal training in elder abuse identification. We present 2 cases to begin characterisation of the radiographic findings in elder abuse. Findings from these cases demonstrate similarities to suspicious findings in child abuse including high-energy fractures that are inconsistent with reported mechanisms and the coexistence of acute and chronic injuries. Specific injuries uncommon to accidental injury are also noted, including a distal ulnar diaphyseal fracture. We hope to raise awareness of elder abuse among diagnostic radiologists to encourage future large-scale research, increased focus on chronic osseous findings, and the addition of elder abuse to differential diagnoses. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Mellis, Alexandra M; Snider, Sarah E; Bickel, Warren K
2018-04-01
Reading experimenter-provided narratives of negative income shock has been previously demonstrated to increase impulsivity, as measured by discounting of delayed rewards. We hypothesized that writing these narratives would potentiate their effects of negative income shock on decision-making more than simply reading them. In the current study, 193 cigarette-smoking individuals from Amazon Mechanical Turk were assigned to either read an experimenter-provided narrative or self-generate a narrative describing either the negative income shock of job loss or a neutral condition of job transfer. Individuals then completed a task of delay discounting and measures of affective response to narratives, as well as rating various narrative qualities such as personal relevance and vividness. Consistent with past research, narratives of negative income shock increased delay discounting compared to control narratives. No significant differences existed in delay discounting after self-generating compared to reading experimenter-provided narratives. Positive affect was lower and negative affect was higher in response to narratives of job loss, but affect measures did not differ based on whether narratives were experimenter-provided or self-generated. All narratives were rated as equally realistic, but self-generated narratives (whether negative or neutral) were rated as more vivid and relevant than experimenter-provided narratives. These results indicate that the content of negative income shock narratives, regardless of source, consistently drives short-term choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Becraft, W.R.; Reardon, P.J.
1980-01-01
The vehicle by which the fusion program would move into the engineering testing phase of fusion power development is designated the Engineering Test Facility (ETF). The progress toward the design and construction of the ETF will reflect the significant achievements of past, present, and future experimental tokamak devices. Some of the features of this foundation of experimental results and relevant engineering designs and operation will derive from the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) Project, now nearing the completion of its construction phase. The ETF would provide a test-bed for reactor components in the fusion environment. In order to initiate preliminary planning for the ETF decision, the Office of Fusion Energy (OFE) established the ETF Design Center activity to prepare the design of the ETF. This paper describes the design status of the ETF and discusses some highlights of the TFTR R and D work
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Becraft, W.R.; Reardon, P.J.
1981-01-01
The vehicle by which the fusion programme would move into the engineering testing phase of fusion power development is designated the Engineering Test Facility (ETF). The progress toward the design and construction of the ETF will reflect the significant achievements of past, present, and future experimental tokamak devices. Some of the features of this foundation of experimental results and relevant engineering designs and operation will derive from the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) Project, now nearing the completion of its construction phase. The ETF would provide a test-bed for reactor components in the fusion environment. To initiate preliminary planning for the ETF decision, the Office of Fusion Energy (OFE) established the ETF Design Center activity to prepare the design of the ETF. This paper describes the design status of the ETF and discusses some highlights of the TFTR R and D work. (author)
Relevance of tidal heating on large TNOs
Saxena, Prabal; Renaud, Joe P.; Henning, Wade G.; Jutzi, Martin; Hurford, Terry
2018-03-01
We examine the relevance of tidal heating for large Trans-Neptunian Objects, with a focus on its potential to melt and maintain layers of subsurface liquid water. Depending on their past orbital evolution, tidal heating may be an important part of the heat budget for a number of discovered and hypothetical TNO systems and may enable formation of, and increased access to, subsurface liquid water. Tidal heating induced by the process of despinning is found to be particularly able to compete with heating due to radionuclide decay in a number of different scenarios. In cases where radiogenic heating alone may establish subsurface conditions for liquid water, we focus on the extent by which tidal activity lifts the depth of such conditions closer to the surface. While it is common for strong tidal heating and long lived tides to be mutually exclusive, we find this is not always the case, and highlight when these two traits occur together. We find cases where TNO systems experience tidal heating that is a significant proportion of, or greater than radiogenic heating for periods ranging from100‧s of millions to a billion years. For subsurface oceans that contain a small antifreeze component, tidal heating due to very high initial spin states may enable liquid water to be preserved right up to the present day. Of particular interest is the Eris-Dysnomia system, which in those cases may exhibit extant cryovolcanism.
Containment-emergency-sump performance. Technical findings related to Unresolved Safety Issue A-43
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
1983-04-01
This report summarizes key technical findings related to the Unresolved Safety Issue A-43, Containment Emergency Sump Performance, and provides recommendations for resolution of attendant safety issues. The key safety questions relate to: (a) effects of insulation debris on sump performance; (b) sump hydraulic performance as determined by design features, submergence, and plant induced effects, and (c) recirculation pump performance wherein air and/or particulate ingestion can occur. The technical findings presented in this report provide information relevant to the design and performance evaluation of the containment emergency sump