Systematic review and meta-analysis of in vitro synergy of polymyxins and carbapenems.

Science.gov (United States)

Zusman, Oren; Avni, Tomer; Leibovici, Leonard; Adler, Amos; Friberg, Lena; Stergiopoulou, Theodouli; Carmeli, Yehuda; Paul, Mical

2013-10-01

Our objective was to examine the evidence of in vitro synergy of polymyxin-carbapenem combination therapy against Gram-negative bacteria (GNB). A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed. All studies examining in vitro interactions of antibiotic combinations consisting of any carbapenem with colistin or polymyxin B against any GNB were used. A broad search was conducted with no language, date, or publication status restrictions. Synergy rates, defined as a fractional inhibitory concentration index of ≤0.5 or a >2-log reduction in CFU, were pooled separately for time-kill, checkerboard, and Etest methods in a mixed-effect meta-analysis of rates. We examined whether the synergy rate depended on the testing method, type of antibiotic, bacteria, and resistance to carbapenems. Pooled rates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) are shown. Thirty-nine published studies and 15 conference proceeding were included, reporting on 246 different tests on 1,054 bacterial isolates. In time-kill studies, combination therapy showed synergy rates of 77% (95% CI, 64 to 87%) for Acinetobacter baumannii, 44% (95% CI, 30 to 59%) for Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 50% (95% CI, 30 to 69%) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with low antagonism rates for all. Doripenem showed high synergy rates for all three bacteria. For A. baumannii, meropenem was more synergistic than imipenem, whereas for P. aeruginosa the opposite was true. Checkerboard and Etest studies generally reported lower synergy rates than time-kill studies. The use of combination therapy led to less resistance development in vitro. The combination of a carbapenem with a polymyxin against GNB, especially A. baumannii, is supported in vitro by high synergy rates, with low antagonism and less resistance development. These findings should be examined in clinical studies.

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of In Vitro Synergy of Polymyxins and Carbapenems

Science.gov (United States)

Avni, Tomer; Leibovici, Leonard; Adler, Amos; Friberg, Lena; Stergiopoulou, Theodouli; Carmeli, Yehuda; Paul, Mical

2013-01-01

Our objective was to examine the evidence of in vitro synergy of polymyxin-carbapenem combination therapy against Gram-negative bacteria (GNB). A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed. All studies examining in vitro interactions of antibiotic combinations consisting of any carbapenem with colistin or polymyxin B against any GNB were used. A broad search was conducted with no language, date, or publication status restrictions. Synergy rates, defined as a fractional inhibitory concentration index of ≤0.5 or a >2-log reduction in CFU, were pooled separately for time-kill, checkerboard, and Etest methods in a mixed-effect meta-analysis of rates. We examined whether the synergy rate depended on the testing method, type of antibiotic, bacteria, and resistance to carbapenems. Pooled rates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) are shown. Thirty-nine published studies and 15 conference proceeding were included, reporting on 246 different tests on 1,054 bacterial isolates. In time-kill studies, combination therapy showed synergy rates of 77% (95% CI, 64 to 87%) for Acinetobacter baumannii, 44% (95% CI, 30 to 59%) for Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 50% (95% CI, 30 to 69%) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with low antagonism rates for all. Doripenem showed high synergy rates for all three bacteria. For A. baumannii, meropenem was more synergistic than imipenem, whereas for P. aeruginosa the opposite was true. Checkerboard and Etest studies generally reported lower synergy rates than time-kill studies. The use of combination therapy led to less resistance development in vitro. The combination of a carbapenem with a polymyxin against GNB, especially A. baumannii, is supported in vitro by high synergy rates, with low antagonism and less resistance development. These findings should be examined in clinical studies. PMID:23917322

Differences between kinematic synergies and muscle synergies during two-digit grasping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michele eTagliabue

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The large number of mechanical degrees of freedom of the hand is not fully exploited during actual movements such as grasping. Usually, angular movements in various joints tend to be coupled, and EMG activities in different hand muscles tend to be correlated. The occurrence of covariation in the former was termed kinematic synergies, in the latter muscle synergies. This study addresses two questions: (i Whether kinematic and muscle synergies can simultaneously accommodate for kinematic and kinetic constraints. (ii If so, whether there is an interrelation between kinematic and muscle synergies. We used a reach-grasp-and-pull paradigm and recorded the hand kinematics as well as 8 surface EMGs. Subjects had to either perform a precision grip or side grip and had to modify their grip force in order to displace an object against a low or high load. The analysis was subdivided into three epochs: reach, grasp-and-pull, and static hold. Principal component analysis (PCA, temporal or static was performed separately for all three epochs, in the kinematic and in the EMG domain. PCA revealed that (i Kinematic- and muscle-synergies can simultaneously accommodate kinematic (grip type and kinetic task constraints (load condition. (ii Upcoming grip and load conditions of the grasp are represented in kinematic- and muscle-synergies already during reach. Phase plane plots of the principal muscle-synergy against the principal kinematic synergy revealed (iii that the muscle-synergy is linked (correlated, and in phase advance to the kinematic synergy during reach and during grasp-and-pull. Furthermore (iv, pair-wise correlations of EMGs during hold suggest that muscle-synergies are (in part implemented by coactivation of muscles through common input. Together, these results suggest that kinematic synergies have (at least in part their origin not just in muscular activation, but in synergiestic muscle activation. In short: kinematic synergies may result from muscle

Synergy: a framework for leadership development and transformation.

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Pacini, Christine M

2005-06-01

The Synergy Model has been adopted as an organizing framework for nursing practice, education, and leadership at Clarian Health Partners, Inc. of Indiana. This article describes the evolution of educational programs at Clarian, in concert with the implementation of the Synergy Model. Philosophical and operational changes in staff orientation, professional development, and management development are described.

In vitro testing of daptomycin plus rifampin againstmethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus resistant to rifampin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khaswneh, Faisal A.; Ashcraft, Deborah S.; Pankey, George A.

2008-01-01

Objective was to test for synergy between daptomycin (DAP) and rifampin(RIF) against RIF-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) isolates. Synergy testing using time-kill assay (TKA) was performed on6 clinically and genetically unique RIF-resistant MRSA isolates. The isolateswere identified out of 489 (1.2%) samples collected during April 2003 toAugust 2006, from patients at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans,Louisiana, United States of America. Synergy testing of DAP plus RIF by TKAshowed that 5 isolates were different, but one isolate was antagonistic. Ourin-vitro study failed to demonstrate synergy between DAP plus RIF, againstour RIF-resistant MRSA isolates. Clinical failure of this combination shouldprompt the clinician to consider antagonism as one of the potential causes.(author)

Systematic synergy modeling: understanding drug synergy from a systems biology perspective.

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Chen, Di; Liu, Xi; Yang, Yiping; Yang, Hongjun; Lu, Peng

2015-09-16

Owing to drug synergy effects, drug combinations have become a new trend in combating complex diseases like cancer, HIV and cardiovascular diseases. However, conventional synergy quantification methods often depend on experimental dose-response data which are quite resource-demanding. In addition, these methods are unable to interpret the explicit synergy mechanism. In this review, we give representative examples of how systems biology modeling offers strategies toward better understanding of drug synergy, including the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network-based methods, pathway dynamic simulations, synergy network motif recognitions, integrative drug feature calculations, and "omic"-supported analyses. Although partially successful in drug synergy exploration and interpretation, more efforts should be put on a holistic understanding of drug-disease interactions, considering integrative pharmacology and toxicology factors. With a comprehensive and deep insight into the mechanism of drug synergy, systems biology opens a novel avenue for rational design of effective drug combinations.

Synergy against drug-resistant HIV-1 with the microbicide antiretrovirals, dapivirine and tenofovir, in combination.

Science.gov (United States)

Schader, Susan M; Colby-Germinario, Susan P; Schachter, Jordana R; Xu, Hongtao; Wainberg, Mark A

2011-08-24

To evaluate the candidate antiretroviral microbicide compounds, dapivirine (DAP) and tenofovir (TFV), alone and in combination against the transmission of wild-type and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-resistant HIV-1 from different subtypes. We determined single-drug efficacy of the RTIs, DAP and TFV, against subtype B and non-B wild-type and NNRTI-resistant HIV-1 in vitro. To assess breadth of activity, compounds were tested alone and in combination against wild-type and NNRTI-resistant subtype C primary HIV-1 isolates and complimentary clonal HIV-1 from subtypes B, C and CRF02_AG to control for viral variation. Early infection was quantified by counting light units emitted from TZM-bl cells less than 48-h postinfection. Combination ratios were based on drug inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)s) and combined effects were determined by calculating combination indices. Both candidate microbicide antiretrovirals demonstrated potent anti-NNRTI-resistant HIV-1 activity in vitro, albeit the combination protected better than the single-drug treatments. Of particular interest, the DAP with TFV combination exhibited synergy (50% combination index, CI(50) = 0.567) against subtype C NNRTI-resistant HIV-1, whereas additivity (CI(50) = 0.987) was observed against the wild-type counterpart from the same patient. The effect was not compounded by the presence of subdominant viral fractions, as experiments using complimentary clonal subtype C wild-type (CI(50) = 0.968) and NNRTI-resistant (CI(50) = 0.672) HIV-1, in lieu of the patient quasispecies, gave similar results. This study supports the notion that antiretroviral drug combinations may retain antiviral activity against some drug-resistant HIV-1 despite subtype classification and quasispecies diversity.

Time-kill assay and Etest evaluation for synergy with polymyxin B and fluconazole against Candida glabrata.

Science.gov (United States)

Pankey, George; Ashcraft, Deborah; Kahn, Heather; Ismail, Abdulrahim

2014-10-01

Fluconazole-resistant Candida glabrata is an emerging pathogen that causes fungemia. Polymyxin B, a last-resort antibiotic used to treat multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections, has been found to possess in vitro fungicidal activity and showed synergy with fluconazole against a single strain of C. glabrata. Since both agents may be used simultaneously in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, this study was performed to test for possible synergy of this combination against 35 C. glabrata blood isolates, using 2 methods: a time-kill assay and an experimental MIC-MIC Etest method. Thirty-five genetically unique C. glabrata bloodstream isolates were collected from 2009 to 2011, identified using an API 20C system, and genotyped by repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR). MICs were determined by Etest and broth microdilution methods. Synergy testing was performed using a modified bacterial Etest synergy method and time-kill assay, with final results read at 24 h. The Etest method showed synergy against 19/35 (54%) isolates; the time-kill assay showed synergy against 21/35 (60%) isolates. Isolates not showing drug synergy had an indifferent status. Concordance between methods was 60%. In vitro synergy of polymyxin B and fluconazole against the majority of C. glabrata isolates was demonstrated by both methods. The bacterial Etest synergy method adapted well when used with C. glabrata. Etest was easier to perform than time-kill assay and may be found to be an acceptable alternative to time-kill assay with antifungals. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Muscle synergy space: learning model to create an optimal muscle synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Alnajjar, Fady; Wojtara, Tytus; Kimura, Hidenori; Shimoda, Shingo

2013-01-01

Muscle redundancy allows the central nervous system (CNS) to choose a suitable combination of muscles from a number of options. This flexibility in muscle combinations allows for efficient behaviors to be generated in daily life. The computational mechanism of choosing muscle combinations, however, remains a long-standing challenge. One effective method of choosing muscle combinations is to create a set containing the muscle combinations of only efficient behaviors, and then to choose combinations from that set. The notion of muscle synergy, which was introduced to divide muscle activations into a lower-dimensional synergy space and time-dependent variables, is a suitable tool relevant to the discussion of this issue. The synergy space defines the suitable combinations of muscles, and time-dependent variables vary in lower-dimensional space to control behaviors. In this study, we investigated the mechanism the CNS may use to define the appropriate region and size of the synergy space when performing skilled behavior. Two indices were introduced in this study, one is the synergy stability index (SSI) that indicates the region of the synergy space, the other is the synergy coordination index (SCI) that indicates the size of the synergy space. The results on automatic posture response experiments show that SSI and SCI are positively correlated with the balance skill of the participants, and they are tunable by behavior training. These results suggest that the CNS has the ability to create optimal sets of efficient behaviors by optimizing the size of the synergy space at the appropriate region through interacting with the environment.

Synergy between research activity and management procedures in an industrial waste treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertanza, G.; Collivignarelli, M.C.; Zanaboni, S.

2006-01-01

The optimization of operation criteria for centralized industrial waste treatment plants is a difficult task. Experimental research can be a useful tool for understanding how to carry out this optimization process; however, in order to obtain proper solution, a very close connection must been observed activity and the field (e.g. practical application at the full scale). In this paper a three years successful experience is described: the research was carried out in an industrial waste treatment facility located in Northern Italy. Thanks to a close interaction between management and research activities, a significant synergy was achieved: in fact, interesting and original suggestions for the research arose from plant monitoring, and the first findings of the research have already led to important improvements in the full scale plant management [it

[Do different interpretative methods used for evaluation of checkerboard synergy test affect the results?].

Science.gov (United States)

Ozseven, Ayşe Gül; Sesli Çetin, Emel; Ozseven, Levent

2012-07-01

In recent years, owing to the presence of multi-drug resistant nosocomial bacteria, combination therapies are more frequently applied. Thus there is more need to investigate the in vitro activity of drug combinations against multi-drug resistant bacteria. Checkerboard synergy testing is among the most widely used standard technique to determine the activity of antibiotic combinations. It is based on microdilution susceptibility testing of antibiotic combinations. Although this test has a standardised procedure, there are many different methods for interpreting the results. In many previous studies carried out with multi-drug resistant bacteria, different rates of synergy have been reported with various antibiotic combinations using checkerboard technique. These differences might be attributed to the different features of the strains. However, different synergy rates detected by checkerboard method have also been reported in other studies using the same drug combinations and same types of bacteria. It was thought that these differences in synergy rates might be due to the different methods of interpretation of synergy test results. In recent years, multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has been the most commonly encountered nosocomial pathogen especially in intensive-care units. For this reason, multidrug resistant A.baumannii has been the subject of a considerable amount of research about antimicrobial combinations. In the present study, the in vitro activities of frequently preferred combinations in A.baumannii infections like imipenem plus ampicillin/sulbactam, and meropenem plus ampicillin/sulbactam were tested by checkerboard synergy method against 34 multi-drug resistant A.baumannii isolates. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for imipenem, meropenem and ampicillin/sulbactam were determined by the broth microdilution method. Subsequently the activity of two different combinations were tested in the dilution range of 4 x MIC and 0.03 x MIC in

Muscle Synergy-Driven Robust Motion Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Kyuengbo; Iwamoto, Masami; Kakei, Shinji; Kimpara, Hideyuki

2018-04-01

Humans are able to robustly maintain desired motion and posture under dynamically changing circumstances, including novel conditions. To accomplish this, the brain needs to optimize the synergistic control between muscles against external dynamic factors. However, previous related studies have usually simplified the control of multiple muscles using two opposing muscles, which are minimum actuators to simulate linear feedback control. As a result, they have been unable to analyze how muscle synergy contributes to motion control robustness in a biological system. To address this issue, we considered a new muscle synergy concept used to optimize the synergy between muscle units against external dynamic conditions, including novel conditions. We propose that two main muscle control policies synergistically control muscle units to maintain the desired motion against external dynamic conditions. Our assumption is based on biological evidence regarding the control of multiple muscles via the corticospinal tract. One of the policies is the group control policy (GCP), which is used to control muscle group units classified based on functional similarities in joint control. This policy is used to effectively resist external dynamic circumstances, such as disturbances. The individual control policy (ICP) assists the GCP in precisely controlling motion by controlling individual muscle units. To validate this hypothesis, we simulated the reinforcement of the synergistic actions of the two control policies during the reinforcement learning of feedback motion control. Using this learning paradigm, the two control policies were synergistically combined to result in robust feedback control under novel transient and sustained disturbances that did not involve learning. Further, by comparing our data to experimental data generated by human subjects under the same conditions as those of the simulation, we showed that the proposed synergy concept may be used to analyze muscle synergy

Synergy and mechanism of action of α-mangostin and ceftazidime against ceftazidime-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Science.gov (United States)

Pimchan, T; Maensiri, D; Eumkeb, G

2017-10-01

To address the resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii to β-lactam antibiotics, combination therapy between different antibiotic classes is increasingly used. The antibacterial activity of α-mangostin (AMT) alone or in combination with ceftazidime (CTZ) was investigated against ceftazidime-resistant A. baumannii DMST 45378 (CRAB). Initial screening showed that A. baumannii strains possessed AmpC β-lactamase (AmpC), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and metallo-β-lactamases (MBL). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of all test agents were >800 μg ml -1 against CRAB. The combination of AMT/CTZ exhibited a fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) of Type IV β-lactamase was inhibited by AMT. The data suggest that AMT in combination with CTZ is synergistic and efficient against CRAB. The data also indicate that the AMT/CTZ combination may target multiple structures on the bacterial cell surface. This represents the first report of this effect on CRAB and could potentially be expanded into in vivo studies. Significance and Impact of the Study: Acinetobacter baumannii strains cause serious infections, patient mortality, and have been reported to rise of multidrug resistance. This article represents the first report of using α-mangostin plus ceftazidime against these resistant strains and its mechanism of action. α-mangostin has no cytotoxic effects. Therefore, α-mangostin has strong potential for development as a useful, novel adjunct phytopharmaceutical to ceftazidime synergistically for the treatment of these strains. The synergy approach could potentially be a novel tool to combat the resistant strains. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Enhanced Corrosion Resistance and Interfacial Conductivity of TiC x/a-C Nanolayered Coatings via Synergy of Substrate Bias Voltage for Bipolar Plates Applications in PEMFCs.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Peiyun; Zhang, Weixin; Bi, Feifei; Peng, Linfa; Lai, Xinmin

2018-06-06

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells are one kind of renewable and clean energy conversion device, whose metallic bipolar plates are one of the key components. However, high interfacial contact resistance and poor corrosion resistance are still great challenges for the commercialization of metallic bipolar plates. In this study, we demonstrated a novel strategy for depositing TiC x /amorphous carbon (a-C) nanolayered coatings by synergy of 60 and 300 V bias voltage to enhance corrosion resistance and interfacial conductivity. The synergistic effects of bias voltage on the composition, microstructure, surface roughness, electrochemical corrosion behaviors, and interfacial conductivity of TiC x /a-C coatings were explored. The results revealed that the columnar structures in the inner layer were suppressed and the surface became rougher with the 300 V a-C layer outside. The composition analysis indicated that the sp 2 content increased with an increase of 300 V sputtering time. Due to the synergy strategy of bias voltage, lower corrosion current densities were achieved both in potentiostatic polarization (1.6 V vs standard hydrogen electrode) and potentiodynamic polarization. With the increase of 300 V sputtering time, the interfacial conductivity was improved. The enhanced corrosion resistance and interfacial conductivity of the TiC x /a-C coatings would provide new opportunities for commercial bipolar plates.

Progressive Abduction Loading Therapy with Horizontal-Plane Viscous Resistance Targeting Weakness and Flexion Synergy to Treat Upper Limb Function in Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Michael D; Carmona, Carolina; Drogos, Justin; Dewald, Julius P A

2018-01-01

Progressive abduction loading therapy has emerged as a promising exercise therapy in stroke rehabilitation to systematically target the loss of independent joint control (flexion synergy) in individuals with chronic moderate/severe upper-extremity impairment. Preclinical investigations have identified abduction loading during reaching exercise as a key therapeutic factor to improve reaching function. An augmentative approach may be to additionally target weakness by incorporating resistance training to increase constitutive joint torques of reaching with the goal of improving reaching function by "overpowering" flexion synergy. The objective was, therefore, to determine the therapeutic effects of horizontal-plane viscous resistance in combination with progressive abduction loading therapy. 32 individuals with chronic hemiparetic stroke were randomly allocated to two groups. The two groups had equivalent baseline characteristics on all demographic and outcome metrics including age (59 ± 11 years), time poststroke (10.1 ± 7.6 years), and motor impairment (Fugl-Meyer, 26.7 ± 6.5 out of 66). Both groups received therapy three times/week for 8 weeks while the experimental group included additional horizontal-plane viscous resistance. Quantitative standardized progression of the intervention was achieved using a robotic device. The primary outcomes of reaching distance and velocity under maximum abduction loading and secondary outcomes of isometric strength and a clinical battery were measured at pre-, post-, and 3 months following therapy. There was no difference between groups on any outcome measure. However, for combined groups, there was a significant increase in reaching distance (13.2%, effect size; d  = 0.56) and velocity (13.6%, effect size; d  = 0.27) at posttesting that persisted for 3 months and also a significant increase in abduction, elbow extension, and external rotation strength at posttesting that did not persist 3�

Understanding synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Geary, Nori

2013-02-01

Analysis of the interactive effects of combinations of hormones or other manipulations with qualitatively similar individual effects is an important topic in basic and clinical endocrinology as well as other branches of basic and clinical research related to integrative physiology. Functional, as opposed to mechanistic, analyses of interactions rely on the concept of synergy, which can be defined qualitatively as a cooperative action or quantitatively as a supra-additive effect according to some metric for the addition of different dose-effect curves. Unfortunately, dose-effect curve addition is far from straightforward; rather, it requires the development of an axiomatic mathematical theory. I review the mathematical soundness, face validity, and utility of the most frequently used approaches to supra-additive synergy. These criteria highlight serious problems in the two most common synergy approaches, response additivity and Loewe additivity, which is the basis of the isobole and related response surface approaches. I conclude that there is no adequate, generally applicable, supra-additive synergy metric appropriate for endocrinology or any other field of basic and clinical integrative physiology. I recommend that these metrics be abandoned in favor of the simpler definition of synergy as a cooperative, i.e., nonantagonistic, effect. This simple definition avoids mathematical difficulties, is easily applicable, meets regulatory requirements for combination therapy development, and suffices to advance phenomenological basic research to mechanistic studies of interactions and clinical combination therapy research.

Hand Grasping Synergies As Biometrics.

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Patel, Vrajeshri; Thukral, Poojita; Burns, Martin K; Florescu, Ionut; Chandramouli, Rajarathnam; Vinjamuri, Ramana

2017-01-01

Recently, the need for more secure identity verification systems has driven researchers to explore other sources of biometrics. This includes iris patterns, palm print, hand geometry, facial recognition, and movement patterns (hand motion, gait, and eye movements). Identity verification systems may benefit from the complexity of human movement that integrates multiple levels of control (neural, muscular, and kinematic). Using principal component analysis, we extracted spatiotemporal hand synergies (movement synergies) from an object grasping dataset to explore their use as a potential biometric. These movement synergies are in the form of joint angular velocity profiles of 10 joints. We explored the effect of joint type, digit, number of objects, and grasp type. In its best configuration, movement synergies achieved an equal error rate of 8.19%. While movement synergies can be integrated into an identity verification system with motion capture ability, we also explored a camera-ready version of hand synergies-postural synergies. In this proof of concept system, postural synergies performed well, but only when specific postures were chosen. Based on these results, hand synergies show promise as a potential biometric that can be combined with other hand-based biometrics for improved security.

IT Portfolio Selection and IT Synergy

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Woo Je

2010-01-01

This dissertation consists of three chapters. The primary objectives of this dissertation are: (1) to provide a methodological framework of IT (Information Technology) portfolio management, and (2) to identify the effect of IT synergy on IT portfolio selection of a firm. The first chapter presents a methodological framework for IT project…

SYNERGY EFFECTS IN WORK TEAMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca C. ZOLTAN

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Today’s organization increasingly utilizes all kind of teams in order to surpass their competitors through flexibility, adaptability and innovation, features which are seen to characterize the teams. For this purpose, the concept of synergy in teams’ activity is often mentioned as the prime reason for which collective work is considered to be superior comparative with individual work. But what exactly does it mean? The present paper aims to shed some light on the concept of synergy in work teams and its positive effects, namely, the social consequences of collective work such as social compensation, social indispensability, social comparison, social identity, but also its negative effects, such as free-riding, social loafing and sucker effect. These are important group phenomena that managers should be aware of because they have a major impact on team performance, and consequently, on organization performance.

Synergy of imipenem/colistin methanesulfonate combinations against imipenem-nonsusceptible multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

Science.gov (United States)

Leu, Hsieh-Shong; Ye, Jung-Jr; Lee, Ming-Hsun; Su, Lin-Hui; Huang, Po-Yen; Wu, Tsu-Lan; Huang, Ching-Tai

2014-10-01

The optimal combination ratio of imipenem to colistin methanesulfonate (CMS) against imipenem-nonsusceptible multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (INS-MDRAB) has not been determined in previous studies. To provide an alternative therapeutic option for clinical INS-MDRAB isolates, we investigated whether clinically achievable serum concentrations of CMS in combination with imipenem enhance the in vitro activity of imipenem against the INS-MDRAB isolates. Fifty-nine INS-MDRAB isolates with imipenem minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of ≥8 mg/L were selected randomly from the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at a university-affiliated medical center between July 1998 and May 2005. The in vitro activity of imipenem among these 59 clinical isolates was explored via serial two-fold dilutions containing a range of imipenem concentration from 0.125 mg/L to 256 mg/L, in combination with two fixed CMS concentrations at 0.5 mg/L and 1 mg/L. Genotype classification was performed using the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis method and infrequent-restriction-site polymerase chain reaction. A significant reversal of imipenem resistance (i.e., MICs ≤ 4 mg/L) was observed in 34 (57.6%) isolates and 44 (74.6%) isolates with the tests of CMS concentrations at 0.5 mg/L and 1 mg/L, respectively (p = 0.041). Genotype 1 was predominant (43 isolates, 72.9%) with imipenem resistance reversal rates of 51.2% and 79.1% (p = 0.004) in the tests of CMS at 0.5 mg/L and 1 mg/L, respectively. The synergy of imipenem/CMS against INS-MDRAB was significantly better for the CMS concentration at 1 mg/L than that at 0.5 mg/L, especially in our predominant clone. Our results provided insightful information for treating INS-MDRAB infections in clinical practice. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Hand Grasping Synergies As Biometrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramana Vinjamuri

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, the need for more secure identity verification systems has driven researchers to explore other sources of biometrics. This includes iris patterns, palm print, hand geometry, facial recognition, and movement patterns (hand motion, gait, and eye movements. Identity verification systems may benefit from the complexity of human movement that integrates multiple levels of control (neural, muscular, and kinematic. Using principal component analysis, we extracted spatiotemporal hand synergies (movement synergies from an object grasping dataset to explore their use as a potential biometric. These movement synergies are in the form of joint angular velocity profiles of 10 joints. We explored the effect of joint type, digit, number of objects, and grasp type. In its best configuration, movement synergies achieved an equal error rate of 8.19%. While movement synergies can be integrated into an identity verification system with motion capture ability, we also explored a camera-ready version of hand synergies—postural synergies. In this proof of concept system, postural synergies performed well, but only when specific postures were chosen. Based on these results, hand synergies show promise as a potential biometric that can be combined with other hand-based biometrics for improved security.

A Conceptual Framework for Team Social Capital as Basis for Organizational Team Synergy

OpenAIRE

Raluca ZOLTAN

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to outline a conceptual framework of team social capital as a basis for reaching organizational team synergy. The dimensions of team social capital and the basic conditions required for organizational team synergy enable the extension of current model of team social capital by including of other variables. Today’s managers must consider these variables since the team tends to be the basic structural unit of current organizations and synergy, the key to achieving h...

Lethal synergy involving bicyclomycin: an approach for reviving old antibiotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, Muhammad; Li, Liping; Zhao, Xilin; Kerns, Robert J; Berger, James M; Drlica, Karl

2014-12-01

One way to address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance is to revive old compounds that may have intrinsic lethal activity that is obscured by protective factors. Bicyclomycin is an old inhibitor of the Rho transcription terminator that by itself shows little rapid lethal activity. However, bicyclomycin participates in bacteriostatic synergy, which raises the possibility that conditions for lethal synergy may exist, perhaps through a suppression of protective factors. Bicyclomycin was combined with bacteriostatic inhibitors of gene expression, and bactericidal activity was measured with several cultured Gram-negative pathogens. When used alone, bicyclomycin failed to rapidly kill growing cultures of Escherichia coli; however, the additional presence of bacteriostatic concentrations of tetracycline, chloramphenicol or rifampicin led to rapid killing. Four other pathogen species, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium and Shigella dysenteriae, also exhibited enhanced killing when bicyclomycin was combined with tetracycline or rifampicin. This lethal synergy was achieved at low concentrations (slightly above the MIC) for all agents tested in combinations. Follow-up work with E. coli indicated that lethal synergy arose from a blockage of transcription elongation. Moreover, lethal synergy was reduced when bicyclomycin was added 60 min before tetracycline, suggesting that bicyclomycin induces a protective factor. The action of bicyclomycin illustrates the potential present in a largely abandoned antibacterial agent; it exhibits lethal synergy when coadministered with known, bacteriostatic inhibitors of gene expression. The identification of protective factors, which are currently uncharacterized, may reveal new ways to promote the lethal action of some old antibiotics. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved

Synergies between energy supply networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Jianzhnog; Yan, Jinyue; Desideri, Umberto

2017-01-01

Energy system integration uses a whole-system approach to optimize the synergies between energy supply networks to facilitate and coordinate the grid integration of distributed energy resources while enabling the synergies and conflicts between the local distribution networks and the national lev...... and integration of local renewables including solar energy wind geothermal waste heat and biomass is presented.......Energy system integration uses a whole-system approach to optimize the synergies between energy supply networks to facilitate and coordinate the grid integration of distributed energy resources while enabling the synergies and conflicts between the local distribution networks and the national level...... objectives to be understood and optimally coordinated. The latest research on the network coupling technologies analysis of synergies between energy supply networks and optimal use of synergies in network operation is discussed. A diagram on the possible interactions between different energy networks...

The synergy between mass-media and public management: a positive perspective for the Departments of Communication and Public Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prodan (Mocanu Ana-Maria

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to emphasize the major role the departments of communication and public relations detains in the synergy process between mass-media and public institutions, starting from a series of short-circuits which have occurred in Romanian public sector and led to the misunderstanding of messages, due to an unprofessional communication. Synergy, on its basic meaning, represents a simultaneous action oriented in the same direction, which involves several agents who have the same purposes (DEI, 1999. In the present context, I define synergy as intensifying two activities with a determinant role in the proper functioning of public management which contributes, to a large extent, on informing and educating the general public. The premises I start with are that crisis situations occur because of a faulty communication department and these could be avoided if there would be a permanent and efficient relationship between mass-media and public institutions. In other words, an efficiently organized department of communication could enhance company’s activity starting from the partnership between media and public institutions. Through collaboration, both units could present advantages to be felt at the organizational, social, economic and cultural levels.

A Conceptual Framework for Team Social Capital as Basis for Organizational Team Synergy

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Raluca ZOLTAN

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to outline a conceptual framework of team social capital as a basis for reaching organizational team synergy. The dimensions of team social capital and the basic conditions required for organizational team synergy enable the extension of current model of team social capital by including of other variables. Today’s managers must consider these variables since the team tends to be the basic structural unit of current organizations and synergy, the key to achieving high performance in global competition.

LHC-ILC synergy

CERN Document Server

Godbole, Rohini M

2006-01-01

I will begin by making a few general comments on the synergy between the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which will go in action in 2007 and the International Linear Collider (ILC) which is under planning. I will then focus on the synergy between the LHC and the PLC option at the ILC, which is expected to be realised in the later stages of the ILC program. In this I will cover the possible synergy in the Higgs sector (with and without CP violation), in the determination of the anomalous vector boson couplings and last but not the least, in the search for extra dimensions and radions.

Ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies misunderstood without landscape history

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie A. Tomscha

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Dramatic changes in ecosystem services have motivated recent work characterizing their interactions, including identifying trade-offs and synergies. Although time is arguably implicit in these ideas of trade-offs and synergies (e.g., temporal dynamics or changes in ecosystem services, such interactions are routinely inferred based on the spatial relationships among ecosystem services alone (e.g., spatial concordance of ecosystem services indicates synergies, whereas incongruence signifies trade-offs. The limitations of this approach have not been fully explored. We quantified ecosystem service interactions using correlations among contemporary ecosystem services and compared these results to those derived by incorporating change in ecosystem services from an earlier decade. To document change over ~60 years in an urbanizing floodplain, we used aerial photography to map multiple floodplain-associated ecosystem services. Our results demonstrate how incorporating landscape baselines can influence measured synergies and trade-offs. Spatial correlations among contemporary ecosystem services missed several interactions that were detected when using prior baseline ecosystem services. Ignoring the history of ecosystem services and their change over time may result in missed opportunities to foster their synergies and lead to unnecessary trade-offs. Efforts to incorporate ecosystem services into land management should include long-term monitoring and baseline reconstructions of ecosystem services.

Antibacterial and synergy of berberines with antibacterial agents against clinical multi-drug resistant isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Guo-Ying; Li, Yang; Han, Jun; Wang, Gen-Chun; Zhang, Yun-Ling; Bian, Zhong-Qi

2012-08-29

Antibacterial activity of berberine (Ber) and 8-acetonyl-dihydroberberine (A-Ber) alone and combined uses with antibacterial agents ampicillin (AMP), azithromycin (AZM), cefazolin (CFZ) and levofloxacin (LEV) was studied on 10 clinical isolates of SCCmec III type methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Susceptibility to each agent alone was tested using a broth microdilution method and the chequerboard and time-kill tests for the combined evaluations, respectively. The alone MICs/MBCs (μg/mL) ranges were 32-128/64-256 (Ber) and 32-128/128-512 (A-Ber). Significant synergies were observed for the Ber (A-Ber)/AZM and Ber (A-Ber)/LEV combinations against 90% of the tested MRSA strains, with fractional inhibitory concentration indices (FICIs) values ranged from 0.188 to 0.500. An additivity result was also observed for the Ber/AZM combination by time-kill curves. These results demonstrated for the first time that Ber and A-Ber enhanced the in vitro inhibitory efficacy of AZM and LEV to a same extent, which had potential for further investigation in combinatory therapeutic applications of patients infected with MRSA.

Studies and Application of the Platform for Synergies among Tobacco Enterprises in Tobacco Leaf Threshing and Redrying

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiao-Shuang; Wang, Hong-Lv

2018-03-01

Departing from the formulas of cigarette products, synergized business framework is established on the basis of cross-enterprise synergies for tobacco leaf threshing and redrying through the introduction of batch management, remote quality data sharing and consistent processes, among others. Functions of the business framework are achieved and a platform for synergies is erected by applying IOT, cross-enterprise system integration and big data processing technologies, resulting in a new pattern for intensive interaction and synergies between China Tobacco Zhejiang (CTZ) and tobacco redrying plants for more delicate management of the redrying process, more interactive information flows and more stable tobacco strip quality.

Future Combat Systems (FCS) Creates Cannon and Mortar Synergy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Beard, Kirby; James, Jeff; Tolbert, Vincent J

2008-01-01

.... The NLOS-C is one of the eight MGVs. Program Manager FCS (Brigade Combat Team (PM FCS(BCT)) is leveraging previous and current research and development efforts to create synergy between cannons and mortars, without duplication of effort...

From silos to synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Treadwell, Janet; Levermann, Laurie; Soffar, Gail; Giardino, Angelo

2007-08-01

Texas Children's Health Plan (TCHP) redesigned its approach to care management in an effort to provide support for member-centric care and the medical home. The changes in process and structure focused on connecting information and programs to promote care for members in a collaborative manner and taking advantage of the synergy between staff, programming, and the physician practices serving health plan membership. The results brought about an improvement in job satisfaction, positive change in the medical-loss ratio, and new innovations to support preventive and chronic care service delivery needs of the TCHP membership.

In vitro synergy of polymyxins with other antibiotics for Acinetobacter baumannii: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Wentao; Shao, Xiaodi; Di, Xiuzhen; Cui, Junchang; Wang, Rui; Liu, Youning

2015-01-01

In order to provide preliminary guidance for rational antibiotic combination therapy in the clinic, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the in vitro synergistic activity of polymyxins combined with other antibiotics against Acinetobacter baumannii. An extensive literature search was undertaken without restriction according to region, publication type or language. All available in vitro synergy tests on antibiotic combinations consisting of polymyxins were included. The primary outcome assessed was the in vitro activity of combination therapy on bacterial kill or inhibition. In total, 70 published studies and 31 conference proceedings reporting testing of polymyxins in combination with 11 classes consisting of 28 antibiotic types against 1484 A. baumannii strains were included in the analysis. In time-kill studies, high in vitro synergy and bactericidal activity were found for polymyxins combined with several antibiotic classes such as carbapenems and glycopeptides. Carbapenems or rifampicin combination could efficiently suppress the development of colistin resistance and displayed a >50% synergy rate against colistin-resistant strains. Synergy rates of chequerboard microdilution and Etest methods in most antibiotic combinations were generally lower than those of time-kill assays. The benefits of these antibiotic combinations should be further demonstrated by well-designed clinical studies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Synergy among rat T cells in the proliferative response to alloantigen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, P.W.; Loop, S.M.; Bernstein, I.D.

1979-01-01

A synergistic interaction in the proliferative response to alloantigen is described for mixtures of rat thymus and lymph node cells. The optimal conditions for synergy are quantitatively defined. Regression analysis of the slope of the dose-response curve has been utilized to estimate the degree of interaction in thymus--lymph node cell mixtures. The slope of the response of cell mixtures was noted to be significantly greater than the slope for the response of lympth node cells alone. Irradiation was shown to have a differential effect on the response of thymus and lymph node cells in mixtures. Irradiated thymus cells retained the capacity for synergy in mixtures, whereas irradiated lymph node cells did not. Additional studies have demonstrated that both de novo protein synthesis and specific antigen recognition by both responding cell populations in mixtures was required for maximal synergy. These studies demonstrate that synergy cannot be explained as an artifact of altered cell density in vitro. They establish that thymus cells and lymph node cells represent distinct subsets which manifest qualitatively different functions in the proliferative response to alloantigen. Thymus cells can respond directly to alloantigen by proliferation but also have the capacity to amplify the proliferative response of lymph node cells, a capacity which is resistant to X irradiation but requires recognition of alloantigen and de novo protein synthesis. Lymph node cells may similarly respond by proliferation to alloantigen but lack the amplifier activity of thymus cells. Synergy for rat lymphoidcells, like mouse lymphoid cells, has been shown to involve an interaction of thymus-derived lymphocytes

Synergy cycles in the Norwegian innovation system: The relation between synergy and cycle values

OpenAIRE

Inga Ivanova; Oivind Strand; Loet Leydesdorff

2014-01-01

The knowledge base of an economy measured in terms of Triple Helix relations can be analyzed in terms of mutual information among geographical, sectorial, and size distributions of firms as dimensions of the probabilistic entropy. The resulting synergy values of a TH system provide static snapshots. In this study, we add the time dimension and analyze the synergy dynamics using the Norwegian innovation system as an example. The synergy among the three dimensions can be mapped as a set of part...

SynergyFinder: a web application for analyzing drug combination dose-response matrix data.

Science.gov (United States)

Ianevski, Aleksandr; He, Liye; Aittokallio, Tero; Tang, Jing

2017-08-01

Rational design of drug combinations has become a promising strategy to tackle the drug sensitivity and resistance problem in cancer treatment. To systematically evaluate the pre-clinical significance of pairwise drug combinations, functional screening assays that probe combination effects in a dose-response matrix assay are commonly used. To facilitate the analysis of such drug combination experiments, we implemented a web application that uses key functions of R-package SynergyFinder, and provides not only the flexibility of using multiple synergy scoring models, but also a user-friendly interface for visualizing the drug combination landscapes in an interactive manner. The SynergyFinder web application is freely accessible at https://synergyfinder.fimm.fi ; The R-package and its source-code are freely available at http://bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/synergyfinder.html . jing.tang@helsinki.fi. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Synergy disclosures in mergers and acquisitions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.D.R.P. Dutordoir (Marie); P.G.J. Roosenboom (Peter); M. Teixeira de Vasconcelos (Manuel)

2013-01-01

textabstractWe examine bidding firms’ motives for disclosing a synergy forecast when announcing a merger or acquisition. Our sample consists of 1,990 M&A deals, of which 345 announce synergy estimates. Our results suggest that synergy disclosures serve to obtain a more favorable market reception for

Three Dimensional Checkerboard Synergy Analysis of Colistin, Meropenem, Tigecycline against Multidrug-Resistant Clinical Klebsiella pneumonia Isolates.

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Claudia Stein

Full Text Available The spread of carbapenem-non-susceptible Klebsiella pneumoniae strains bearing different resistance determinants is a rising problem worldwide. Especially infections with KPC (Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase - producers are associated with high mortality rates due to limited treatment options. Recent clinical studies of KPC-blood stream infections revealed that colistin-based combination therapy with a carbapenem and/or tigecycline was associated with significantly decreased mortality rates when compared to colistin monotherapy. However, it remains unclear if these observations can be transferred to K. pneumoniae harboring other mechanisms of carbapenem resistance. A three-dimensional synergy analysis was performed to evaluate the benefits of a triple combination with meropenem, tigecycline and colistin against 20 K. pneumoniae isolates harboring different β-lactamases. To examine the mechanism behind the clinically observed synergistic effect, efflux properties and outer membrane porin (Omp genes (ompK35 and ompK36 were also analyzed. Synergism was found for colistin-based double combinations for strains exhibiting high minimal inhibition concentrations against all of the three antibiotics. Adding a third antibiotic did not result in further increased synergistic effect in these strains. Antagonism did not occur. These results support the idea that colistin-based double combinations might be sufficient and the most effective combination partner for colistin should be chosen according to its MIC.

Motor synergies and the equilibrium-point hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Latash, Mark L

2010-07-01

The article offers a way to unite three recent developments in the field of motor control and coordination: (1) The notion of synergies is introduced based on the principle of motor abundance; (2) The uncontrolled manifold hypothesis is described as offering a computational framework to identify and quantify synergies; and (3) The equilibrium-point hypothesis is described for a single muscle, single joint, and multijoint systems. Merging these concepts into a single coherent scheme requires focusing on control variables rather than performance variables. The principle of minimal final action is formulated as the guiding principle within the referent configuration hypothesis. Motor actions are associated with setting two types of variables by a controller, those that ultimately define average performance patterns and those that define associated synergies. Predictions of the suggested scheme are reviewed, such as the phenomenon of anticipatory synergy adjustments, quick actions without changes in synergies, atypical synergies, and changes in synergies with practice. A few models are briefly reviewed.

A measure of internal synergy of the collective system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Novikov V.A.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background: The authors examine the methodology of HRM personnel management based on ratings. Proposed to represent a collective system that uses a matrix of pair relations as a system of linear differential equations. The condition of auto generation of an autonomous system can be determined by the application of the Laplace transformation to the system. This condition mainly depends on the main eigenvalue of dating relationships matrix. Assuming the oscillation frequency is straightly proportional to the system's synergy rating, a special algorithm of comparative evaluation of several collective systems was suggested. Methods: The calculation of the rating of internal synergies is based on the representation of the collective system as a system of linear differential equations, the coefficients of which are obtained by questionnaire survey of all members of the team. Internal representation of the system's synergism as a stimulation of an autonomous system allows using the eigenvector of the system as a measure of internal synergies. Results: The result of this method is the rating of members of interacting collective systems in terms of their contribution to the self-organization sharing behavior.  Conclusions:  Using a matrix of pair relations allows without direct programming and only using MathCad determines the measure of internal synergy of a collective system.  

Dietary antioxidant synergy in chemical and biological systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Sunan; Zhu, Fan

2017-07-24

Antioxidant (AOX) synergies have been much reported in chemical ("test-tube" based assays focusing on pure chemicals), biological (tissue culture, animal and clinical models), and food systems during the past decade. Tentative synergies differ from each other due to the composition of AOX and the quantification methods. Regeneration mechanism responsible for synergy in chemical systems has been discussed. Solvent effects could contribute to the artifacts of synergy observed in the chemical models. Synergy in chemical models may hardly be relevant to biological systems that have been much less studied. Apparent discrepancies exist in understanding the molecular mechanisms in both chemical and biological systems. This review discusses diverse variables associated with AOX synergy and molecular scenarios for explanation. Future research to better utilize the synergy is suggested.

Supply Chain Management and Business Sustainability Synergy: A Theoretical and Integrated Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zabihollah Rezaee

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Global business organizations face the challenges of adapting proper sustainability strategies and practices to effectively respond to social, ethical, environmental, and governance issues while improving financial performance in creating value for their shareholders. Business sustainability enables the integration of financial economic sustainability performance and non-financial environmental, social, ethical, and governance sustainability performance dimensions into the corporate culture, supply chain management and business models in creating shared value for all stakeholders. Business literature has provided mixed evidence of the tension, and possible link, between financial and non-financial sustainability performance dimensions and sustainability theories have yet to sufficiently address this tension. This paper attempts to fill this void by shedding light on the link between various dimensions of sustainability performance, their integrated effect on creating shared value for all stakeholders and their implications for supply chain sustainability. This paper examines the synergy between business sustainability and supply chain management by presenting a framework consisting of sustainability theories, sustainability performance dimensions, sustainability shared value concept, and sustainability best practices. Companies can use the suggested framework in integrating both financial and non-financial sustainability initiatives into their supply chain sustainability from production design, purchasing and inbound logistics, and manufacturing process to distribution and outbound logistics.

Sensory Synergy as Environmental Input Integration

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Fady eAlnajjar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The development of a method to feed proper environmental inputs back to the central nervous system (CNS remains one of the challenges in achieving natural movement when part of the body is replaced with an artificial device. Muscle synergies are widely accepted as a biologically plausible interpretation of the neural dynamics between the CNS and the muscular system. Yet the sensorineural dynamics of environmental feedback to the CNS has not been investigated in detail. In this study, we address this issue by exploring the concept of sensory synergy. In contrast to muscle synergy, we hypothesize that sensory synergy plays an essential role in integrating the overall environmental inputs to provide low-dimensional information to the CNS. We assume that sensor synergy and muscle synergy communicate using these low-dimensional signals. To examine our hypothesis, we conducted posture control experiments involving lateral disturbance with 9 healthy participants. Proprioceptive information represented by the changes on muscle lengths were estimated by using the musculoskeletal model analysis software SIMM. Changes on muscles lengths were then used to compute sensory synergies. The experimental results indicate that the environmental inputs were translated into the two dimensional signals and used to move the upper limb to the desired position immediately after the lateral disturbance. Participants who showed high skill in posture control were found to be likely to have a strong correlation between sensory and muscle signaling as well as high coordination between the utilized sensory synergies. These results suggest the importance of integrating environmental inputs into suitable low-dimensional signals before providing them to the CNS. This mechanism should be essential when designing the prosthesis’ sensory system to make the controller simpler

Sensory synergy as environmental input integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Alnajjar, Fady; Itkonen, Matti; Berenz, Vincent; Tournier, Maxime; Nagai, Chikara; Shimoda, Shingo

2014-01-01

The development of a method to feed proper environmental inputs back to the central nervous system (CNS) remains one of the challenges in achieving natural movement when part of the body is replaced with an artificial device. Muscle synergies are widely accepted as a biologically plausible interpretation of the neural dynamics between the CNS and the muscular system. Yet the sensorineural dynamics of environmental feedback to the CNS has not been investigated in detail. In this study, we address this issue by exploring the concept of sensory synergy. In contrast to muscle synergy, we hypothesize that sensory synergy plays an essential role in integrating the overall environmental inputs to provide low-dimensional information to the CNS. We assume that sensor synergy and muscle synergy communicate using these low-dimensional signals. To examine our hypothesis, we conducted posture control experiments involving lateral disturbance with nine healthy participants. Proprioceptive information represented by the changes on muscle lengths were estimated by using the musculoskeletal model analysis software SIMM. Changes on muscles lengths were then used to compute sensory synergies. The experimental results indicate that the environmental inputs were translated into the two dimensional signals and used to move the upper limb to the desired position immediately after the lateral disturbance. Participants who showed high skill in posture control were found to be likely to have a strong correlation between sensory and muscle signaling as well as high coordination between the utilized sensory synergies. These results suggest the importance of integrating environmental inputs into suitable low-dimensional signals before providing them to the CNS. This mechanism should be essential when designing the prosthesis' sensory system to make the controller simpler.

Beta-Lactams combinations with Vancomycin provide synergy against VSSA, hVISA, and VISA.

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Kieu-Nhi; Rybak, Michael J

2018-03-19

Background: Increasing utilization of vancomycin due to the high prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections has lead to the emergence of vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) and heterogeneous VISA (hVISA). In vitro data suggest the potential for potent synergy between several beta-lactams and vancomycin. The objective of this study is to evaluate the synergy between beta-lactams and vancomycin against MRSA that is vancomycin susceptible, vancomycin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (VSSA), hVISA, and VISA. Methods: Fifty randomly selected clinical MRSA strains with varying susceptibility to vancomycin were evaluated for vancomycin alone and vancomycin in combination with varying concentrations of cefazolin (CFZ), cefepime (FEP), ceftaroline (CPT), and nafcillin (NAF) minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The potential for synergy was assessed by 24h time-kills. Results: Beta-lactams reduced vancomycin MIC values against all strains (4-16 fold reduction). In time-kill studies against MRSA, CFZ, FEP, CPT, and NAF all demonstrated a similar extent of killing at 24h, and all showed synergistic activity with vancomycin against VSSA, hVISA, and VISA. Each of these combinations was also superior to any single agent against isolates of all three phenotypes, and each was bactericidal (P synergy of vancomycin against these Staphylococcus strains. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

Human and veterinary medicine: the priority for public health synergies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriano Mantovani

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The concepts of ‘one medicine’ and 'one ‘health’ are supported and visualised as a tree (medicine, placed on the fertile soil (basic sciences, which divides into the two major branches of human and veterinary medicine, connected by the large branch of public health; minor branches (specialisations depart from the three larger ones. The synergy between human and veterinary medicine is not only a must for public health, but also implies ethical considerations. The basic reasons requiring synergy are found in the common sharing of the environment, in the use of animal products by humans, in the common culture and in the many problems to be faced together. The long list of adversities requiring synergy is topped by zoonoses (intended both in the classic and in the extended sense and food safety that extends to many other items connected with nutrition, environment, human/animal coexistence and the management of public health; the entire quality of human life is affected. Human and veterinary medicine have a strong cultural background (many subject matters in common, but unfortunately the undergraduate and postgraduate education programme (with few important exceptions do not offer training in cooperation. The synergy between human and veterinary medicines is an indicator of 'good public health practice' and any obstacles to this collaboration should be identified and eliminated. The logo for a public health founded on synergy is drawn as an umbrella formed by the medical and veterinary activities, protecting the population (consumers and producers, the animals and their products and the environment from the possible adversities linked to health.

Synergy in supramolecular chemistry

CERN Document Server

Nabeshima, Tatsuya

2014-01-01

Synergy and Cooperativity in Multi-metal Supramolecular Systems, T. NabeshimaHierarchically Assembled Titanium Helicates, Markus AlbrechtSupramolecular Hosts and Catalysts Formed by Self-assembly of Multinuclear Zinc Complexes in Aqueous Solution, Shin AokiSupramolecular Assemblies Based on Interionic Interactions, H. MaedaSupramolecular Synergy in the Formation and Function of Guanosine Quadruplexes, Jeffery T. DavisOn-Surface Chirality in Porous Self-Assembled Monolayers at Liquid-Solid Interface, Kazukuni Tahar

Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Principles of Resistance, Diagnosis, and Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, John W; Tsukayama, Dean T

2016-04-01

Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) is an unfortunate by-product of mankind's medical and pharmaceutical ingenuity during the past 60 years. Although new drug developments have enabled TB to be more readily curable, inappropriate TB management has led to the emergence of drug-resistant disease. Extensively drug-resistant TB describes Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is collectively resistant to isoniazid, rifampin, a fluoroquinolone, and an injectable agent. It proliferates when established case management and infection control procedures are not followed. Optimized treatment outcomes necessitate time-sensitive diagnoses, along with expanded combinations and prolonged durations of antimicrobial drug therapy. The challenges to public health institutions are immense and most noteworthy in underresourced communities and in patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus. A comprehensive and multidisciplinary case management approach is required to optimize outcomes. We review the principles of TB drug resistance and the risk factors, diagnosis, and managerial approaches for extensively drug-resistant TB. Treatment outcomes, cost, and unresolved medical issues are also discussed. Copyright © 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Muscle synergy analysis in children with cerebral palsy

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Lu; Li, Fei; Cao, Shuai; Zhang, Xu; Wu, De; Chen, Xiang

2015-08-01

Objective. To explore the mechanism of lower extremity dysfunction of cerebral palsy (CP) children through muscle synergy analysis. Approach. Twelve CP children were involved in this study, ten adults (AD) and eight typically developed (TD) children were recruited as a control group. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals were collected bilaterally from eight lower limb muscles of the subjects during forward walking at a comfortable speed. A nonnegative matrix factorization algorithm was used to extract muscle synergies. In view of muscle synergy differences in number, structure and symmetry, a model named synergy comprehensive assessment (SCA) was proposed to quantify the abnormality of muscle synergies. Main results. There existed larger variations between the muscle synergies of the CP group and the AD group in contrast with the TD group. Fewer mature synergies were recruited in the CP group, and many abnormal synergies specific to the CP group appeared. Specifically, CP children were found to recruit muscle synergies with a larger difference in structure and symmetry between two legs of one subject and different subjects. The proposed SCA scale demonstrated its great potential to quantitatively assess the lower-limb motor dysfunction of CP children. SCA scores of the CP group (57.00 ± 16.78) were found to be significantly less (p < 0.01) than that of the control group (AD group: 95.74 ± 2.04; TD group: 84.19 ± 11.76). Significance. The innovative quantitative results of this study can help us to better understand muscle synergy abnormality in CP children, which is related to their motor dysfunction and even the physiological change in their nervous system.

Antibacterial and Synergy of Berberines with Antibacterial Agents against Clinical Multi-Drug Resistant Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhong-Qi Bian

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Antibacterial activity of berberine (Ber and 8-acetonyl-dihydroberberine (A-Ber alone and combined uses with antibacterial agents ampicillin (AMP, azithromycin (AZM, cefazolin (CFZ and levofloxacin (LEV was studied on 10 clinical isolates of SCCmec III type methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA. Susceptibility to each agent alone was tested using a broth microdilution method and the chequerboard and time-kill tests for the combined evaluations, respectively. The alone MICs/MBCs (mg/mL ranges were 32–128/64–256 (Ber and 32-128/128-512 (A-Ber. Significant synergies were observed for the Ber (A-Ber/AZM and Ber (A-Ber/LEV combinations against 90% of the tested MRSA strains, with fractional inhibitory concentration indices (FICIs values ranged  from 0.188 to 0.500. An additivity result was also observed for the Ber/AZM combination by time-kill curves. These results demonstrated for the first time that Ber and A-Ber enhanced the in vitro inhibitory efficacy of AZM and LEV to a same extent, which had potential for further investigation in combinatory therapeutic applications of patients infected with MRSA.

CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING THE MANAGEMENT OF RESISTANCE IN ORGANIZATIONS

OpenAIRE

Marius-Dan DALOTĂ

2011-01-01

The difficulty of organisational change is often exacerbated by the mismanagement of resistance derived from a simple set of assumptions that misunderstand resistance’s essential nature. It is suggested that management may greatly gain from techniques that carefully manage resistance to change by looking for ways of utilising it rather than overcoming it. Today, suggestions and prescriptions for managing resistance have left little room for utility in resistance. Traditionally, resistance has...

Does Synergy Exist in Nursing? A Concept Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Witges, Kim A; Scanlan, Judith M

2015-01-01

The aim is to analyze the concept of synergy, particularly as the concept applies to teamwork, and determine if the concept has utility in improving the work environment for nurses. Tackling nursing shortages that result from a poor work environment is a priority for many nurse leaders. Producing synergy among teams may be an effective strategy in enhancing the work environment. However, the understanding of synergy and the ability to produce synergy among teams has been seldom highlighted or discussed within nursing literature. Walker and Avant's approach was used to guide this concept analysis of synergy. Literature searches involved databases (PsycInfo, Medline, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature [CINAHL], and Scopus), Internet search engines (Google), and hand searches. The analysis suggests that synergy is an outcome of the successful collaboration of the following three attributes: group cohesion, the pursuit of a common goal, and the achievement of a positive gain, considerably more than what was thought possible by the group. The foundation for this accomplishment requires an underlying feeling of special importance, the acknowledgment of each member's role, and open communication and dialogue among members. Nursing leaders would benefit from a broader understanding of synergy, and the mindful application and utility of synergy as an outcome of effective teamwork among nurses. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Synergy Cropland of China by Fusing Multiple Existing Maps and Statistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Miao; Wu, Wenbin; You, Liangzhi; Chen, Di; Zhang, Li; Yang, Peng; Tang, Huajun

2017-07-12

Accurate information on cropland extent is critical for scientific research and resource management. Several cropland products from remotely sensed datasets are available. Nevertheless, significant inconsistency exists among these products and the cropland areas estimated from these products differ considerably from statistics. In this study, we propose a hierarchical optimization synergy approach (HOSA) to develop a hybrid cropland map of China, circa 2010, by fusing five existing cropland products, i.e., GlobeLand30, Climate Change Initiative Land Cover (CCI-LC), GlobCover 2009, MODIS Collection 5 (MODIS C5), and MODIS Cropland, and sub-national statistics of cropland area. HOSA simplifies the widely used method of score assignment into two steps, including determination of optimal agreement level and identification of the best product combination. The accuracy assessment indicates that the synergy map has higher accuracy of spatial locations and better consistency with statistics than the five existing datasets individually. This suggests that the synergy approach can improve the accuracy of cropland mapping and enhance consistency with statistics.

Mapping synergies and trade-offs between energy and the Sustainable Development Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Fuso Nerini, Francesco; Tomei, Julia; To, Long Seng; Bisaga, Iwona; Parikh, Priti; Black, Mairi; Borrion, Aiduan; Spataru, Catalina; Castán Broto, Vanesa; Anandarajah, Gabrial; Milligan, Ben; Mulugetta, Yacob

2018-01-01

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—including 17 interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets—is a global plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. SDG7 calls for action to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Here we characterize synergies and trade-offs between efforts to achieve SDG7 and delivery of the 2030 Agenda as a whole. We identify 113 targets requiring actions to change energy systems, and published evidence of relationships between 143 targets (143 synergies, 65 trade-offs) and efforts to achieve SDG7. Synergies and trade-offs exist in three key domains, where decisions about SDG7 affect humanity's ability to: realize aspirations of greater welfare and well-being; build physical and social infrastructures for sustainable development; and achieve sustainable management of the natural environment. There is an urgent need to better organize, connect and extend this evidence, to help all actors work together to achieve sustainable development.

Synergies of the Liberalization of the Railway Transport Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Panák Michal

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The liberalization of transport market brings various effects, which in the context of the assessment of synergies can affect in different ways the company, a customer as such, and transport undertakings operating on the railway transport market as well. This paper provides an innovative perspective on the relationship between liberalization and synergy, defining new types of synergies that have not yet been monitored in the conditions of railway transport. This approach is interesting because of the possibility of assessing the operation of railway undertakings in the open transport market. The eminent is characteristic of integration type synergies and emergence type synergies in relation to railway transport, as well as the breakdown of synergies in relation to the customer and carrier.

Combination Cancer Therapy Can Confer Benefit via Patient-to-Patient Variability without Drug Additivity or Synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Adam C; Sorger, Peter K

2017-12-14

Combination cancer therapies aim to improve the probability and magnitude of therapeutic responses and reduce the likelihood of acquired resistance in an individual patient. However, drugs are tested in clinical trials on genetically diverse patient populations. We show here that patient-to-patient variability and independent drug action are sufficient to explain the superiority of many FDA-approved drug combinations in the absence of drug synergy or additivity. This is also true for combinations tested in patient-derived tumor xenografts. In a combination exhibiting independent drug action, each patient benefits solely from the drug to which his or her tumor is most sensitive, with no added benefit from other drugs. Even when drug combinations exhibit additivity or synergy in pre-clinical models, patient-to-patient variability and low cross-resistance make independent action the dominant mechanism in clinical populations. This insight represents a different way to interpret trial data and a different way to design combination therapies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Toward a Formal Model of Cognitive Synergy

OpenAIRE

Goertzel, Ben

2017-01-01

"Cognitive synergy" refers to a dynamic in which multiple cognitive processes, cooperating to control the same cognitive system, assist each other in overcoming bottlenecks encountered during their internal processing. Cognitive synergy has been posited as a key feature of real-world general intelligence, and has been used explicitly in the design of the OpenCog cognitive architecture. Here category theory and related concepts are used to give a formalization of the cognitive synergy concept....

Diagnosing resistance to change in the change management process

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Tetiana Kuzhda

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article explains the change management process and resistance to organizational change through examining causes of resistance to change, diagnosing them, and finding the ways to deal with resistance to change. In business environment, the one thing any company can be assured of is change. If an organization experiences change it may also need to implement new business strategies, which can create resistance among employees. Managers need to know in which phase they have to expect unusual situations, problems, and resistance to change. Most successful organizations are those that are able to adjust themselves to new conditions quickly. Preparing for change, managing change through resistance management plan and reinforcing change have been identified in the article as the main phrases of change management process that lead to improve the organization performance. Managing resistance to change is important part for success of any change effort in each company. Dealing with resistance in large part will depend on timely recognition of the real causes of resistance to change and finding the ways to reduce, overcome or eliminate the resistance to change. Developing efficient ways to introduce and implement change can ease the stress the staff feels when change is introduced. Different resistance states, causes of change resistance and forms of change resistance have been emphasized in the change management process. The proposed diagnosing model has been used to identify significant and weighty causes of resistance to change by using the expert survey and ranking causes of resistance to change. The ways to reduce and overcome resistance to change have been explained.

Co-location synergies : specialized versus diverse logistics concentration areas

OpenAIRE

Heuvel, van den, F.P.; Langen, de, P.W.; Donselaar, van, K.H.; Fransoo, J.C.

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of spatial concentration of logistics firms by empirically analyzing synergies through co-location and investigating whether co-location of logistics establishments in specialized logistics concentration areas results in benefits compared to co-location in diverse logistics concentration areas. Methodology: A survey among managers of 128 logistics establishments located in logistics concentration areas was used to test f...

What is synergy? The Saariselkä agreement revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Jing; Wennerberg, Krister; Aittokallio, Tero

2015-01-01

Many biological or chemical agents when combined interact with each other and produce a synergistic response that cannot be predicted based on the single agent responses alone. However, depending on the postulated null hypothesis of non-interaction, one may end up in different interpretations of synergy. Two popular reference models for null hypothesis include the Bliss independence model and the Loewe additivity model, each of which is formulated from different perspectives. During the last century, there has been an intensive debate on the suitability of these synergy models, both of which are theoretically justified and also in practice supported by different schools of scientists. More than 20 years ago, there was a community effort to make a consensus on the terminology one should use when claiming synergy. The agreement was formulated at a conference held in Saariselkä, Finland in 1992, stating that one should use the terms Bliss synergy or Loewe synergy to avoid ambiguity in the underlying models. We review the theoretical relationships between these models and argue that one should combine the advantages of both models to provide a more consistent definition of synergy and antagonism.

Can Measured Synergy Excitations Accurately Construct Unmeasured Muscle Excitations?

Science.gov (United States)

Bianco, Nicholas A; Patten, Carolynn; Fregly, Benjamin J

2018-01-01

Accurate prediction of muscle and joint contact forces during human movement could improve treatment planning for disorders such as osteoarthritis, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral palsy. Recent studies suggest that muscle synergies, a low-dimensional representation of a large set of muscle electromyographic (EMG) signals (henceforth called "muscle excitations"), may reduce the redundancy of muscle excitation solutions predicted by optimization methods. This study explores the feasibility of using muscle synergy information extracted from eight muscle EMG signals (henceforth called "included" muscle excitations) to accurately construct muscle excitations from up to 16 additional EMG signals (henceforth called "excluded" muscle excitations). Using treadmill walking data collected at multiple speeds from two subjects (one healthy, one poststroke), we performed muscle synergy analysis on all possible subsets of eight included muscle excitations and evaluated how well the calculated time-varying synergy excitations could construct the remaining excluded muscle excitations (henceforth called "synergy extrapolation"). We found that some, but not all, eight-muscle subsets yielded synergy excitations that achieved >90% extrapolation variance accounted for (VAF). Using the top 10% of subsets, we developed muscle selection heuristics to identify included muscle combinations whose synergy excitations achieved high extrapolation accuracy. For 3, 4, and 5 synergies, these heuristics yielded extrapolation VAF values approximately 5% lower than corresponding reconstruction VAF values for each associated eight-muscle subset. These results suggest that synergy excitations obtained from experimentally measured muscle excitations can accurately construct unmeasured muscle excitations, which could help limit muscle excitations predicted by muscle force optimizations.

Intra-Personal and Inter-Personal Kinetic Synergies During Jumping

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Slomka Kajetan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available We explored synergies between two legs and two subjects during preparation for a long jump into a target. Synergies were expected during one-person jumping. No such synergies were expected between two persons jumping in parallel without additional contact, while synergies were expected to emerge with haptic contact and become stronger with strong mechanical contact. Subjects performed jumps either alone (each foot standing on a separate force platform or in dyads (parallel to each other, each person standing on a separate force platform without any contact, with haptic contact, and with strong coupling. Strong negative correlations between pairs of force variables (strong synergies were seen in the vertical force in one-person jumps and weaker synergies in two-person jumps with the strong contact. For other force variables, only weak synergies were present in one-person jumps and no negative correlations between pairs of force variable for two-person jumps. Pairs of moment variables from the two force platforms at steady state showed positive correlations, which were strong in one-person jumps and weaker, but still significant, in two-person jumps with the haptic and strong contact. Anticipatory synergy adjustments prior to action initiation were observed in oneperson trials only. We interpret the different results for the force and moment variables at steady state as reflections of postural sway.

Seeds and Synergies

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

'Seeds and Synergies presents inspiring evidence of change in practice and policy ... Seeds of inspiration: breathing new life into the formal agricultural research .... and Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation and Agricultural Commodity ...

A novel computational framework for deducing muscle synergies from experimental joint moments

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Anantharaman eGopalakrishnan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Prior experimental studies have hypothesized the existence of a ‘muscle synergy’ based control scheme for producing limb movements and locomotion in vertebrates. Such synergies have been suggested to consist of fixed muscle grouping schemes with the co-activation of all muscles in a synergy resulting in limb movement. Quantitative representations of these groupings (termed muscle weightings and their control signals (termed synergy controls have traditionally been derived by the factorization of experimentally measured EMG. This study presents a novel approach for deducing these weightings and controls from inverse dynamic joint moments that are computed from an alternative set of experimental measurements – movement kinematics and kinetics. This technique was applied to joint moments for healthy human walking at 0.7 and 1.7 m/s, and two sets of ‘simulated’ synergies were computed based on two different criteria (1 synergies were required to minimize errors between experimental and simulated joint moments in a musculoskeletal model (pure-synergy solution (2 along with minimizing joint moment errors, synergies also minimized muscle activation levels (optimal-synergy solution. On comparing the two solutions, it was observed that the introduction of optimality requirements (optimal-synergy to a control strategy solely aimed at reproducing the joint moments (pure-synergy did not necessitate major changes in the muscle grouping within synergies or the temporal profiles of synergy control signals. Synergies from both the simulated solutions exhibited many similarities to EMG derived synergies from a previously published study, thus implying that the analysis of the two different types of experimental data reveals similar, underlying synergy structures.

Generational Differences in Work-Family Conflict and Synergy

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Nicholas J. Beutell

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines differences in work-family conflict and synergy among the four generational groups represented in the contemporary workforce: Generation Y Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Matures using data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (n = 3,502. Significant generational differences were found for work-family conflict (work interfering with family and family interfering with work but not for work-family synergy. Mental health and job pressure were the best predictors of work interfering with family conflict for each generational group. Work-family synergy presented a more complex picture. Work-family conflict and synergy were significantly related to job, marital, and life satisfaction. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Generational differences in work-family conflict and synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Beutell, Nicholas J

2013-06-19

This paper examines differences in work-family conflict and synergy among the four generational groups represented in the contemporary workforce: Generation Y Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Matures using data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (n = 3,502). Significant generational differences were found for work-family conflict (work interfering with family and family interfering with work) but not for work-family synergy. Mental health and job pressure were the best predictors of work interfering with family conflict for each generational group. Work-family synergy presented a more complex picture. Work-family conflict and synergy were significantly related to job, marital, and life satisfaction. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Generational Differences in Work-Family Conflict and Synergy

Science.gov (United States)

Beutell, Nicholas J.

2013-01-01

This paper examines differences in work-family conflict and synergy among the four generational groups represented in the contemporary workforce: Generation Y Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Matures using data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (n = 3,502). Significant generational differences were found for work-family conflict (work interfering with family and family interfering with work) but not for work-family synergy. Mental health and job pressure were the best predictors of work interfering with family conflict for each generational group. Work-family synergy presented a more complex picture. Work-family conflict and synergy were significantly related to job, marital, and life satisfaction. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. PMID:23783221

SYNERGY EFFECTS IN WORK TEAMS

OpenAIRE

Raluca C. Zoltan

2014-01-01

Today’s organization increasingly utilizes all kind of teams in order to surpass their competitors through flexibility, adaptability and innovation, features which are seen to characterize the teams. For this purpose, the concept of synergy in teams’ activity is often mentioned as the prime reason for which collective work is considered to be superior comparative with individual work. But what exactly does it mean? The present paper aims to shed some light on the concept of synergy in work te...

Muscle synergies during bench press are reliable across days.

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Kristiansen, Mathias; Samani, Afshin; Madeleine, Pascal; Hansen, Ernst Albin

2016-10-01

Muscle synergies have been investigated during different types of human movement using nonnegative matrix factorization. However, there are not any reports available on the reliability of the method. To evaluate between-day reliability, 21 subjects performed bench press, in two test sessions separated by approximately 7days. The movement consisted of 3 sets of 8 repetitions at 60% of the three repetition maximum in bench press. Muscle synergies were extracted from electromyography data of 13 muscles, using nonnegative matrix factorization. To evaluate between-day reliability, we performed a cross-correlation analysis and a cross-validation analysis, in which the synergy components extracted in the first test session were recomputed, using the fixed synergy components from the second test session. Two muscle synergies accounted for >90% of the total variance, and reflected the concentric and eccentric phase, respectively. The cross-correlation values were strong to very strong (r-values between 0.58 and 0.89), while the cross-validation values ranged from substantial to almost perfect (ICC3, 1 values between 0.70 and 0.95). The present findings revealed that the same general structure of the muscle synergies was present across days and the extraction of muscle synergies is thus deemed reliable. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dissection of protein interactomics highlights microRNA synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Wenliang; Zhao, Yilei; Xu, Yingqi; Sun, Yong; Wang, Zhe; Yuan, Wei; Du, Zhimin

2013-01-01

Despite a large amount of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been validated to play crucial roles in human biology and disease, there is little systematic insight into the nature and scale of the potential synergistic interactions executed by miRNAs themselves. Here we established an integrated parameter synergy score to determine miRNA synergy, by combining the two mechanisms for miRNA-miRNA interactions, miRNA-mediated gene co-regulation and functional association between target gene products, into one single parameter. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated that synergy score accurately identified the gene ontology-defined miRNA synergy (AUC = 0.9415, psynergy, implying poor expectancy of widespread synergy. However, targeting more key genes made two miRNAs more likely to act synergistically. Compared to other miRNAs, miR-21 was a highly exceptional case due to frequent appearance in the top synergistic miRNA pairs. This result highlighted its essential role in coordinating or strengthening physiological and pathological functions of other miRNAs. The synergistic effect of miR-21 and miR-1 were functionally validated for their significant influences on myocardial apoptosis, cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. The novel approach established in this study enables easy and effective identification of condition-restricted potent miRNA synergy simply by concentrating the available protein interactomics and miRNA-target interaction data into a single parameter synergy score. Our results may be important for understanding synergistic gene regulation by miRNAs and may have significant implications for miRNA combination therapy of cardiovascular disease.

Synergy as a rationale for phage therapy using phage cocktails.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmerer, Matthew; Molineux, Ian J; Bull, James J

2014-01-01

Where phages are used to treat bacterial contaminations and infections, multiple phages are typically applied at once as a cocktail. When two or more phages in the cocktail attack the same bacterium, the combination may produce better killing than any single phage (synergy) or the combination may be worse than the best single phage (interference). Synergy is of obvious utility, especially if it can be predicted a priori, but it remains poorly documented with few examples known. This study addresses synergy in which one phage improves adsorption by a second phage. It first presents evidence of synergy from an experimental system of two phages and a mucoid E. coli host. The synergy likely stems from a tailspike enzyme produced by one of the phages. We then offer mathematical models and simulations to understand the dynamics of synergy and the enhanced magnitude of bacterial control possible. The models and observations complement each other and suggest that synergy may be of widespread utility and may be predictable from easily observed phenotypes.

Constructing dual-defense mechanisms on membrane surfaces by synergy of PFSA and SiO2 nanoparticles for persistent antifouling performance

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Linjie; Gao, Kang; Jiao, Zhiwei; Wu, Mengyuan; He, Mingrui; Su, Yanlei; Jiang, Zhongyi

2018-05-01

Synthetic antifouling membrane surfaces with dual-defense mechanisms (fouling-resistant and fouling-release mechanism) were constructed through the synergy of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) and SiO2 nanoparticles. During the nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) process, the amphiphilic PFSA polymers spontaneously segregated to membrane surfaces and catalyzed the hydrolysis-polycondensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) to generate hydrophilic SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). The resulting PVDF/PFSA/SiO2 hybrid membranes were characterized by contact angle measurements, FTIR, XPS, SEM, AFM, TGA, and TEM. The hydrophilic microdomains and low surface energy microdomains of amphiphilic PFSA polymers respectively endowed membrane surfaces with fouling-resistant mechanism and fouling-release mechanism, while the hydrophilic SiO2 NPs intensified the fouling-resistant mechanism. When the addition of TEOS reached 3 wt%, the hybrid membrane with optimal synergy of PFSA and SiO2 NPs displayed low flux decline (17.4% DRt) and high flux recovery (99.8% FRR) during the filtration of oil-in-water emulsion. Meanwhile, the long-time stability test verified that the hybrid membrane possessed persistent antifouling performance.

Alterations in upper limb muscle synergy structure in chronic stroke survivors

Science.gov (United States)

Rymer, William Z.; Perreault, Eric J.; Yoo, Seng Bum; Beer, Randall F.

2013-01-01

Previous studies in neurologically intact subjects have shown that motor coordination can be described by task-dependent combinations of a few muscle synergies, defined here as a fixed pattern of activation across a set of muscles. Arm function in severely impaired stroke survivors is characterized by stereotypical postural and movement patterns involving the shoulder and elbow. Accordingly, we hypothesized that muscle synergy composition is altered in severely impaired stroke survivors. Using an isometric force matching protocol, we examined the spatial activation patterns of elbow and shoulder muscles in the affected arm of 10 stroke survivors (Fugl-Meyer synergies were identified using non-negative matrix factorization. In both groups, muscle activation patterns could be reconstructed by combinations of a few muscle synergies (typically 4). We did not find abnormal coupling of shoulder and elbow muscles within individual muscle synergies. In stroke survivors, as in controls, two of the synergies were comprised of isolated activation of the elbow flexors and extensors. However, muscle synergies involving proximal muscles exhibited consistent alterations following stroke. Unlike controls, the anterior deltoid was coactivated with medial and posterior deltoids within the shoulder abductor/extensor synergy and the shoulder adductor/flexor synergy in stroke was dominated by activation of pectoralis major, with limited anterior deltoid activation. Recruitment of the altered shoulder muscle synergies was strongly associated with abnormal task performance. Overall, our results suggest that an impaired control of the individual deltoid heads may contribute to poststroke deficits in arm function. PMID:23155178

Prehension synergies and control with referent hand configurations.

Science.gov (United States)

Latash, Mark L; Friedman, Jason; Kim, Sun Wook; Feldman, Anatol G; Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M

2010-04-01

We used the framework of the equilibrium-point hypothesis (in its updated form based on the notion of referent configuration) to investigate the multi-digit synergies at two levels of a hypothetical hierarchy involved in prehensile actions. Synergies were analyzed at the thumb-virtual finger (VF) level (VF is an imaginary digit with the mechanical action equivalent to that of the four actual fingers) and at the individual finger level. The subjects performed very quick vertical movements of a handle into a target. A load could be attached off-center to provide a pronation or supination torque. In a few trials, the handle was unexpectedly fixed to the table and the digits slipped off the sensors. In such trials, the hand stopped at a higher vertical position and rotated into pronation or supination depending on the expected torque. The aperture showed non-monotonic changes with a large, fast decrease and further increase, ending up with a smaller distance between the thumb and the fingers as compared to unperturbed trials. Multi-digit synergies were quantified using indices of co-variation between digit forces and moments of force across unperturbed trials. Prior to the lifting action, high synergy indices were observed at the individual finger level while modest indices were observed at the thumb-VF level. During the lifting action, the synergies at the individual finger level disappeared while the synergy indices became higher at the thumb-VF level. The results support the basic premise that, within a given task, setting a referent configuration may be described with a few referent values of variables that influence the equilibrium state, to which the system is attracted. Moreover, the referent configuration hypothesis can help interpret the data related to the trade-off between synergies at different hierarchical levels.

Muscle Synergies Control during Hand-Reaching Tasks in Multiple Directions Post-stroke

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Sharon Israely

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: A muscle synergies model was suggested to represent a simplifying motor control mechanism by the brainstem and spinal cord. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of such control mechanisms in the rehabilitation of post-stroke individuals during the execution of hand-reaching movements in multiple directions, compared to non-stroke individuals.Methods: Twelve non-stroke and 13 post-stroke individuals participated in the study. Muscle synergies were extracted from EMG data that was recorded during hand reaching tasks, using the NMF algorithm. The optimal number of synergies was evaluated in both groups using the Variance Accounted For (VAF and the Mean Squared Error (MSE. A cross validation procedure was carried out to define a representative set of synergies. The similarity index and the K-means algorithm were applied to validate the existence of such a set of synergies, but also to compare the modulation properties of synergies for different movement directions between groups. The similarity index and hierarchical cluster analysis were also applied to compare between group synergies.Results: Four synergies were chosen to optimally capture the variances in the EMG data, with mean VAF of 0.917 ± 0.034 and 0.883 ± 0.046 of the data variances, with respective MSE of 0.007 and 0.016, in the control and study groups, respectively. The representative set of synergies was set to be extracted from movement to the center of the reaching space. Two synergies had different muscle activation balance between groups. Seven and 17 clusters partitioned the muscle synergies of the control and study groups. The control group exhibited a gradual change in the activation in the amplitude in the time domain (modulation of synergies, as reflected by the similarity index, whereas the study group exhibited consistently significant differences between all movement directions and the representative set of synergies. The study findings support

Premises and Limitations in Defining and Measuring Synergy from M&As

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Aevoae George Marian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Mergers and acquisitions are performed worldwide mainly because of synergy. Although many invoke the term synergy as the key motivation of why they engage in M&As, research has led us to understand that it is not very clear in terms of what it actually is. In the scientific literature, synergy is mostly defined as being “2+2=5”. Thus, we first thought that it can only be a positive effect. But, latter on, we found out that synergy is not only positive, it can be negative as well, known as negative synergy or dyssynergy. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on what is synergy, how can we quantify and classify it and why acquiring firms tend to pay more for the target firm. We believe that there is a link between the amount of premium paid for a target firm and the expectations for synergy.

Robustness of muscle synergies during visuomotor adaptation

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Reinhard eGentner

2013-09-01

Full Text Available During visuomotor adaptation a novel mapping between visual targets and motor commands is gradually acquired. How muscle activation patterns are affected by this process is an open question. We tested whether the structure of muscle synergies is preserved during adaptation to a visuomotor rotation. Eight subjects applied targeted isometric forces on a handle instrumented with a force transducer while electromyographic (EMG activity was recorded from 13 shoulder and elbow muscles. The recorded forces were mapped into horizontal displacements of a virtual sphere with simulated mass, elasticity, and damping. The task consisted of moving the sphere to a target at one of eight equally spaced directions. Subjects performed three baseline blocks of 32 trials, followed by six blocks with a 45° CW rotation applied to the planar force, and finally three wash-out blocks without the perturbation. The sphere position at 100 ms after movement onset revealed significant directional error at the beginning of the rotation, a gradual learning in subsequent blocks, and aftereffects at the beginning of the wash-out. The change in initial force direction was closely related to the change in directional tuning of the initial EMG activity of most muscles. Throughout the experiment muscle synergies extracted using a non-negative matrix factorization algorithm from the muscle patterns recorded during the baseline blocks could reconstruct the muscle patterns of all other blocks with an accuracy significantly higher than chance indicating structural robustness. In addition, the synergies extracted from individual blocks remained similar to the baseline synergies throughout the experiment. Thus synergy structure is robust during visuomotor adaptation suggesting that changes in muscle patterns are obtained by rotating the directional tuning of the synergy recruitment.

Synergies between nonproliferation regimes: A pragmatic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Findlay, Trevor; Meier, Oliver

2001-01-01

Full text: With the recent progress in establishing international nonproliferation regimes, the question of synergies between different verification and monitoring regimes is becoming more acute. Three multilateral and universal nonproliferation organisations covering safeguards on civil nuclear materials, nuclear testing, and chemical weapons are up and running. A regime on biological weapons is under negotiation. Several regional organisations concerned with monitoring nonproliferation commitments in the nuclear field are in place; others are being established. Past discussions on synergies between these regimes have suffered from being too far-reaching. These discussions often have not reflected adequately the political difficulties of cooperation between regimes with different membership, scope and institutional set-up. This paper takes a pragmatic look at exploiting synergies and identifies some potential and real overlaps in the work between different verification regimes. It argues for a bottom-up approach and identifies building blocks for collaboration between verification regimes. By realising such, more limited potential for cooperation, the ground could be prepared for exploiting other synergies between these regimes. (author)

Herbicide-resistant crops: utilities and limitations for herbicide-resistant weed management.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Jerry M; Owen, Micheal D K

2011-06-08

Since 1996, genetically modified herbicide-resistant (HR) crops, particularly glyphosate-resistant (GR) crops, have transformed the tactics that corn, soybean, and cotton growers use to manage weeds. The use of GR crops continues to grow, but weeds are adapting to the common practice of using only glyphosate to control weeds. Growers using only a single mode of action to manage weeds need to change to a more diverse array of herbicidal, mechanical, and cultural practices to maintain the effectiveness of glyphosate. Unfortunately, the introduction of GR crops and the high initial efficacy of glyphosate often lead to a decline in the use of other herbicide options and less investment by industry to discover new herbicide active ingredients. With some exceptions, most growers can still manage their weed problems with currently available selective and HR crop-enabled herbicides. However, current crop management systems are in jeopardy given the pace at which weed populations are evolving glyphosate resistance. New HR crop technologies will expand the utility of currently available herbicides and enable new interim solutions for growers to manage HR weeds, but will not replace the long-term need to diversify weed management tactics and discover herbicides with new modes of action. This paper reviews the strengths and weaknesses of anticipated weed management options and the best management practices that growers need to implement in HR crops to maximize the long-term benefits of current technologies and reduce weed shifts to difficult-to-control and HR weeds.

Trade-Off and Synergy among Ecosystem Services in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Keyu; Li, Jing; Yang, Xiaonan

2015-11-03

Natural ecosystems provide society with important goods and services. With rapidly increasing populations and excessive utilization of natural resources, humans have been enhancing the production of some services at the expense of others. Although the need for certain trade-offs between conservation and development is urgent, having only a small number of efficient methods to assess such trade-offs has impeded progress. This study focuses on the evaluation of ecosystem services under different land use schemes. It reveals the spatial and temporal distributions of and changes in ecosystem services. Based on a correlation rate model and distribution mapping, the trade-offs and synergies of these ecosystem services can be found. Here, we also describe a new simple approach to quantify the relationships of every trade-off and synergy. The results show that all ecosystem services possess trade-offs and synergies in the study area. The trend of improving carbon sequestration and water interception indicate that these key ecosystem services have the strongest synergy. And the decrease in regional agricultural production and other services, except water yield, may be considered as trade-offs. The synergy between water yield and agricultural production was the most significant, while the trade-off between water interception and carbon sequestration was the most apparent, according to our interaction quantification model. The results of this study have implications for planning and monitoring the future management of natural capital and ecosystem services, and can be integrated into land use decision-making.

Trade-Off and Synergy among Ecosystem Services in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keyu Qin

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Natural ecosystems provide society with important goods and services. With rapidly increasing populations and excessive utilization of natural resources, humans have been enhancing the production of some services at the expense of others. Although the need for certain trade-offs between conservation and development is urgent, having only a small number of efficient methods to assess such trade-offs has impeded progress. This study focuses on the evaluation of ecosystem services under different land use schemes. It reveals the spatial and temporal distributions of and changes in ecosystem services. Based on a correlation rate model and distribution mapping, the trade-offs and synergies of these ecosystem services can be found. Here, we also describe a new simple approach to quantify the relationships of every trade-off and synergy. The results show that all ecosystem services possess trade-offs and synergies in the study area. The trend of improving carbon sequestration and water interception indicate that these key ecosystem services have the strongest synergy. And the decrease in regional agricultural production and other services, except water yield, may be considered as trade-offs. The synergy between water yield and agricultural production was the most significant, while the trade-off between water interception and carbon sequestration was the most apparent, according to our interaction quantification model. The results of this study have implications for planning and monitoring the future management of natural capital and ecosystem services, and can be integrated into land use decision-making.

Herbicide-resistant weed management: focus on glyphosate.

Science.gov (United States)

Beckie, Hugh J

2011-09-01

This review focuses on proactive and reactive management of glyphosate-resistant (GR) weeds. Glyphosate resistance in weeds has evolved under recurrent glyphosate usage, with little or no diversity in weed management practices. The main herbicide strategy for proactively or reactively managing GR weeds is to supplement glyphosate with herbicides of alternative modes of action and with soil-residual activity. These herbicides can be applied in sequences or mixtures. Proactive or reactive GR weed management can be aided by crop cultivars with alternative single or stacked herbicide-resistance traits, which will become increasingly available to growers in the future. Many growers with GR weeds continue to use glyphosate because of its economical broad-spectrum weed control. Government farm policies, pesticide regulatory policies and industry actions should encourage growers to adopt a more proactive approach to GR weed management by providing the best information and training on management practices, information on the benefits of proactive management and voluntary incentives, as appropriate. Results from recent surveys in the United States indicate that such a change in grower attitudes may be occurring because of enhanced awareness of the benefits of proactive management and the relative cost of the reactive management of GR weeds. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Infrastructures for healthcare: From synergy to reverse synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Langhoff, Tue Odd; Amstrup, Mikkel Hvid; Mørck, Peter; Bjørn, Pernille

2018-03-01

The Danish General Practitioners Database has over more than a decade developed into a large-scale successful information infrastructure supporting medical research in Denmark. Danish general practitioners produce the data, by coding all patient consultations according to a certain set of classifications, on the entire Danish population. However, in the Autumn of 2014, the system was temporarily shut down due to a lawsuit filed by two general practitioners. In this article, we ask why and identify a political struggle concerning authority, control, and autonomy related to a transformation of the fundamental ontology of the information infrastructure. We explore how the transformed ontology created cracks in the inertia of the information infrastructure damaging the long-term sustainability. We propose the concept of reverse synergy as the awareness of negative impacts occurring when uncritically adding new actors or purposes to a system without due consideration to the nature of the infrastructure. We argue that while long-term information infrastructures are dynamic by nature and constantly impacted by actors joining or leaving the project, each activity of adding new actors must take reverse synergy into account, if not to risk breaking down the fragile nature of otherwise successful information infrastructures supporting research on healthcare.

Muscle synergies evoked by microstimulation are preferentially encoded during behavior

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Simon Alexander Overduin

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Electrical microstimulation studies provide some of the most direct evidence for the neural representation of muscle synergies. These synergies, i.e. coordinated activations of groups of muscles, have been proposed as building blocks for the construction of motor behaviors by the nervous system. Intraspinal or intracortical microstimulation has been shown to evoke muscle patterns that can be resolved into a small set of synergies similar to those seen in natural behavior. However, questions remain about the validity of microstimulation as a probe of neural function, particularly given the relatively long trains of supratheshold stimuli used in these studies. Here, we examined whether muscle synergies evoked during intracortical microstimulation in two rhesus macaques were similarly encoded by nearby motor cortical units during a purely voluntary behavior involving object reach, grasp, and carry movements. At each microstimulation site we identified the synergy most strongly evoked among those extracted from muscle patterns evoked over all microstimulation sites. For each cortical unit recorded at the same microstimulation site, we then identified the synergy most strongly encoded among those extracted from muscle patterns recorded during the voluntary behavior. We found that the synergy most strongly evoked at an intracortical microstimulation site matched the synergy most strongly encoded by proximal units more often than expected by chance. These results suggest a common neural substrate for microstimulation-evoked motor responses and for the generation of muscle patterns during natural behaviors.

Quantitative evaluation of muscle synergy models: a single-trial task decoding approach.

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Delis, Ioannis; Berret, Bastien; Pozzo, Thierry; Panzeri, Stefano

2013-01-01

Muscle synergies, i.e., invariant coordinated activations of groups of muscles, have been proposed as building blocks that the central nervous system (CNS) uses to construct the patterns of muscle activity utilized for executing movements. Several efficient dimensionality reduction algorithms that extract putative synergies from electromyographic (EMG) signals have been developed. Typically, the quality of synergy decompositions is assessed by computing the Variance Accounted For (VAF). Yet, little is known about the extent to which the combination of those synergies encodes task-discriminating variations of muscle activity in individual trials. To address this question, here we conceive and develop a novel computational framework to evaluate muscle synergy decompositions in task space. Unlike previous methods considering the total variance of muscle patterns (VAF based metrics), our approach focuses on variance discriminating execution of different tasks. The procedure is based on single-trial task decoding from muscle synergy activation features. The task decoding based metric evaluates quantitatively the mapping between synergy recruitment and task identification and automatically determines the minimal number of synergies that captures all the task-discriminating variability in the synergy activations. In this paper, we first validate the method on plausibly simulated EMG datasets. We then show that it can be applied to different types of muscle synergy decomposition and illustrate its applicability to real data by using it for the analysis of EMG recordings during an arm pointing task. We find that time-varying and synchronous synergies with similar number of parameters are equally efficient in task decoding, suggesting that in this experimental paradigm they are equally valid representations of muscle synergies. Overall, these findings stress the effectiveness of the decoding metric in systematically assessing muscle synergy decompositions in task space.

How valid are claims for synergy in published clinical studies?

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Ocana, A; Amir, E; Yeung, C; Seruga, B; Tannock, I F

2012-08-01

Clinical trials evaluating drug combinations are often stimulated by claims of synergistic interactions in preclinical models. Overuse or misuse of the term synergy could lead to poorly designed clinical studies. We searched PubMed using the terms 'synergy' or 'synergistic' and 'cancer' to select articles published between 2006 and 2010. Eligible studies were those that referred to synergy in preclinical studies to justify a drug combination evaluated in a clinical trial. Eighty-six clinical articles met eligibility criteria and 132 preclinical articles were cited in them. Most of the clinical studies were phase I (43%) or phase II trials (56%). Appropriate methods to evaluate synergy in preclinical studies included isobologram analysis in 18 studies (13.6%) and median effect in 10 studies (7.6%). Only 26 studies using animal models (39%) attempted to evaluate therapeutic index. There was no association between the result of the clinical trial and the use of an appropriate method to evaluate synergy (P=0.25, chi-squared test). Synergy is cited frequently in phase I and phase II studies to justify the evaluation of a specific drug combination. Inappropriate methods for evaluation of synergy and poor assessment of therapeutic index have been used in most preclinical articles.

Determination of in vitro synergy between linezolid and other antimicrobial agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.

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Zou, Lin; Liu, Min; Wang, Yufeng; Lu, Jie; Pang, Yu

2015-12-01

In this study, our objective was to explore the potential in vitro synergy between linezolid (LZD) and six other anti-TB drugs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, especially multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) strains. Among the different combinations, the LZD-clarithromycin (CLA) combination showed the best synergism, which was observed in 85% (34/40) of 40 isolates. In addition, one (2.5%) and twenty-one (52.5%) of 40 isolates showed synergism for the LZD-levofloxcin (LEV) and LZD-moxifloxacin (MOX) combinations, respectively, and the difference in the proportion of synergy between these two combinations was significantly different (P synergy against non-MDR group seemed higher than that against MDR group in each combination, while the significant difference was only observed in the LZD-EMB combination (P = 0.046). In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that LZD shows the synergistic activity against both non-MDR and MDR M. tuberculosis strains when in combination with CLA, EMB, MOX, amikacin and clofazimine, indicating that LZD may be considered as a promising component involving the regimen for the treatment of MDR-TB. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The synergy between mass-media and public management: a positive perspective for the Departments of Communication and Public Relations

OpenAIRE

Prodan (Mocanu) Ana-Maria

2012-01-01

The aim of this article is to emphasize the major role the departments of communication and public relations detains in the synergy process between mass-media and public institutions, starting from a series of short-circuits which have occurred in Romanian public sector and led to the misunderstanding of messages, due to an unprofessional communication. Synergy, on its basic meaning, represents a simultaneous action oriented in the same direction, which involves several agents who have the sa...

A weed resistance management game: a teaching tool.

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Frisvold, George B

2018-04-15

This article provides instructions and materials to moderate an interactive resistance management game. The game is designed to generate discussion about the challenges and possibilities of coordinating resistance management activities among groups of farmers. The game has been successfully applied in classroom settings, extension workshops, and at professional weed science meetings. Research has found farmers often perceive the success of their own resistance management may be thwarted if their neighbors are not adequately managing resistance as well. This can lead to negative 'tragedy of the commons' outcomes. In past applications of the game exercise, participants have often responded in ways consistent with similar studies in experimental and behavioral economics. This includes dividing benefits evenly (even though this is not a requirement of the game) or treating one-time transactions as potentially repeated exchanges. Player behavior may also be greatly influenced by their attitudes toward monetary risks. The game allows participants to explore ways to overcome the tragedy of the commons and illustrates the roles of information sharing and economic incentives in finding solutions. It also allows participants to experiment with bottom-up voluntary approaches toward resistance management as an alternative to top-down regulatory approaches. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

A values-based approach to exploring synergies between livestock farming and landscape conservation in Galicia (Spain)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Swagemakers, Paul; Garcia, Maria Dolores Dominguez; Torres, Amanda Onofa; Oostindie, Henk; Groot, Jeroen C.J.

2017-01-01

The path to sustainable development involves creating coherence and synergies in the complex relationships between economic and ecological systems. In sustaining their farm businesses farmers' differing values influence their decisions about agroecosystem management, leading them to adopt diverging

The effect of aging on respiratory synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kweon, Migyoung; Son, Sung Min; Kwon, Yong Hyun

2015-04-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aging on respiratory synergy, through the comparison of an elderly group and a young group, to help further understanding of postural control in the elderly. [Subjects and Methods] Ten community-dwelling elderly subjects and ten young subjects performed standing under two different respiratory conditions: quiet breathing and apnea. Center of foot pressure displacement and joint angular movements of the head, trunk, pelvis, hips, knees and ankles were measured. [Results] The results of this study showed that the elderly group had a respiratory synergy different from that of the young group. The elderly group in quiet stance used significantly more hip and pelvis movements when compensating for respiratory disturbance than standing with apnea, while the young group used significantly more whole body segments. There were no differences in angular displacements in the quiet stance between the elderly and the young groups. [Conclusion] The elderly group demonstrated a respiratory synergy pattern different from that of the young group. The findings indicate that aging changes the respiratory synergy pattern and this change is not due to decreased functioning of the ankle joint alone.

Target Choice and Unique Synergies in Global Mobile Telephony

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Claussen, Jörg; Köhler, Rebecca; Kretschmer, Tobias

2018-01-01

their foresight to select specific targets: First, they lower integration costs by selecting geographically close targets. This effect is stronger when buyer and target are in the same country, but only if the market is not so concentrated that it provokes regulatory interventions. Second, they select targets......The success of acquisitions rests on detecting and realizing unique synergies between buyer and target through their dyadic relationships. We study the role of unique dyad-specific synergies in the selection of takeover targets in the global mobile telecommunications industry. Firms use...... that can be acquired at a modest bid premium because they have asymmetric bargaining power. Finally, they select targets which can generate significant synergies due to technological synergies. Our work expands the existing target selection literature by studying dyad-specific factors within a single...

Phenotypic- and Genotypic-Resistance Detection for Adaptive Resistance Management in Tetranychus urticae Koch.

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Deok Ho Kwon

Full Text Available Rapid resistance detection is necessary for the adaptive management of acaricide-resistant populations of Tetranychus urticae. Detection of phenotypic and genotypic resistance was conducted by employing residual contact vial bioassay (RCV and quantitative sequencing (QS methods, respectively. RCV was useful for detecting the acaricide resistance levels of T. urticae, particularly for on-site resistance detection; however, it was only applicable for rapid-acting acaricides (12 out of 19 tested acaricides. QS was effective for determining the frequencies of resistance alleles on a population basis, which corresponded to 12 nonsynonymous point mutations associated with target-site resistance to five types of acaricides [organophosphates (monocrotophos, pirimiphos-methyl, dimethoate and chlorpyrifos, pyrethroids (fenpropathrin and bifenthrin, abamectin, bifenazate and etoxazole]. Most field-collected mites exhibited high levels of multiple resistance, as determined by RCV and QS data, suggesting the seriousness of their current acaricide resistance status in rose cultivation areas in Korea. The correlation analyses revealed moderate to high levels of positive relationships between the resistance allele frequencies and the actual resistance levels in only five of the acaricides evaluated, which limits the general application of allele frequency as a direct indicator for estimating actual resistance levels. Nevertheless, the resistance allele frequency data alone allowed for the evaluation of the genetic resistance potential and background of test mite populations. The combined use of RCV and QS provides basic information on resistance levels, which is essential for choosing appropriate acaricides for the management of resistant T. urticae.

Novel Methods to Enhance Precision and Reliability in Muscle Synergy Identification during Walking

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Kim, Yushin; Bulea, Thomas C.; Damiano, Diane L.

2016-01-01

Muscle synergies are hypothesized to reflect modular control of muscle groups via descending commands sent through multiple neural pathways. Recently, the number of synergies has been reported as a functionally relevant indicator of motor control complexity in individuals with neurological movement disorders. Yet the number of synergies extracted during a given activity, e.g., gait, varies within and across studies, even for unimpaired individuals. With no standardized methods for precise determination, this variability remains unexplained making comparisons across studies and cohorts difficult. Here, we utilize k-means clustering and intra-class and between-level correlation coefficients to precisely discriminate reliable from unreliable synergies. Electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from eight leg muscles during treadmill walking at self-selected speed. Muscle synergies were extracted from 20 consecutive gait cycles using non-negative matrix factorization. We demonstrate that the number of synergies is highly dependent on the threshold when using the variance accounted for by reconstructed EMG. Beyond use of threshold, our method utilized a quantitative metric to reliably identify four or five synergies underpinning walking in unimpaired adults and revealed synergies having poor reproducibility that should not be considered as true synergies. We show that robust and unreliable synergies emerge similarly, emphasizing the need for careful analysis in those with pathology. PMID:27695403

Consequences of biomechanically constrained tasks in the design and interpretation of synergy analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Katherine M; Tresch, Matthew C; Perreault, Eric J

2015-04-01

Matrix factorization algorithms are commonly used to analyze muscle activity and provide insight into neuromuscular control. These algorithms identify low-dimensional subspaces, commonly referred to as synergies, which can describe variation in muscle activity during a task. Synergies are often interpreted as reflecting underlying neural control; however, it is unclear how these analyses are influenced by biomechanical and task constraints, which can also lead to low-dimensional patterns of muscle activation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether commonly used algorithms and experimental methods can accurately identify synergy-based control strategies. This was accomplished by evaluating synergies from five common matrix factorization algorithms using muscle activations calculated from 1) a biomechanically constrained task using a musculoskeletal model and 2) without task constraints using random synergy activations. Algorithm performance was assessed by calculating the similarity between estimated synergies and those imposed during the simulations; similarities ranged from 0 (random chance) to 1 (perfect similarity). Although some of the algorithms could accurately estimate specified synergies without biomechanical or task constraints (similarity >0.7), with these constraints the similarity of estimated synergies decreased significantly (0.3-0.4). The ability of these algorithms to accurately identify synergies was negatively impacted by correlation of synergy activations, which are increased when substantial biomechanical or task constraints are present. Increased variability in synergy activations, which can be captured using robust experimental paradigms that include natural variability in motor activation patterns, improved identification accuracy but did not completely overcome effects of biomechanical and task constraints. These results demonstrate that a biomechanically constrained task can reduce the accuracy of estimated synergies and highlight

Anticipatory synergy adjustments reflect individual performance of feedforward force control.

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Togo, Shunta; Imamizu, Hiroshi

2016-10-06

We grasp and dexterously manipulate an object through multi-digit synergy. In the framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis, multi-digit synergy is defined as the coordinated control mechanism of fingers to stabilize variable important for task success, e.g., total force. Previous studies reported anticipatory synergy adjustments (ASAs) that correspond to a drop of the synergy index before a quick change of the total force. The present study compared ASA's properties with individual performances of feedforward force control to investigate a relationship of those. Subjects performed a total finger force production task that consisted of a phase in which subjects tracked target line with visual information and a phase in which subjects produced total force pulse without visual information. We quantified their multi-digit synergy through UCM analysis and observed significant ASAs before producing total force pulse. The time of the ASA initiation and the magnitude of the drop of the synergy index were significantly correlated with the error of force pulse, but not with the tracking error. Almost all subjects showed a significant increase of the variance that affected the total force. Our study directly showed that ASA reflects the individual performance of feedforward force control independently of target-tracking performance and suggests that the multi-digit synergy was weakened to adjust the multi-digit movements based on a prediction error so as to reduce the future error. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synergy and antagonism between iron chelators and antifungal drugs in Cryptococcus.

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Lai, Yu-Wen; Campbell, Leona T; Wilkins, Marc R; Pang, Chi Nam Ignatius; Chen, Sharon; Carter, Dee A

2016-10-01

Fungal infections remain very difficult to treat, and developing new antifungal drugs is difficult and expensive. Recent approaches therefore seek to augment existing antifungals with synergistic agents that can lower the therapeutic dose, increase efficacy and prevent resistance from developing. Iron limitation can inhibit microbial growth, and iron chelators have been employed to treat fungal infections. In this study, chequerboard testing was used to explore combinations of iron chelators with antifungal agents against pathogenic Cryptococcus spp. with the aim of determining how disruption to iron homeostasis affects antifungal susceptibility. The iron chelators ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), deferoxamine (DFO), deferiprone (DFP), deferasirox (DSX), ciclopirox olamine and lactoferrin (LF) were paired with the antifungal agents amphotericin B (AmB), fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole and caspofungin. All chelators except for DFO increased the efficacy of AmB, and significant synergy was seen between AmB and LF for all Cryptococcus strains. Addition of exogenous iron rescued cells from the antifungal effect of LF alone but could not prevent inhibition by AmB + LF, indicating that synergy was not due primarily to iron chelation but to other properties of LF that were potentiated in the presence of AmB. Significant synergy was not seen consistently for other antifungal-chelator combinations, and EDTA, DSX and DFP antagonised the activity of azole drugs in strains of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. This study highlights the range of interactions that can be induced by chelators and indicates that most antifungal drugs are not enhanced by iron limitation in Cryptococcus. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. and International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Role of Nutrients and Phyto-compounds in the Modulation of Antimicrobial Resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Harakeh, Steve; Khan, Imran; Almasaudi, Saad B; Azhar, Esam I; Al-Jaouni, Soad; Niedzweicki, Aleksandra

2017-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance is quickly spreading and has become a major public health problem worldwide. If this issue is not resolved, it may cause a shift back to the pre-antibiotics era and infectious disease will again be a serious problem, especially in developing countries. Since the discovery of antibiotics, bacterial resistance has emerged, enabling certain bacteria to withstand antibiotic action. The emergence of antibiotic resistance is fueled by excessive and improper use of antimicrobial agents, especially in developing countries. For this reason, alternatives to or modifications of current treatment methods have been sought. The aim of this review is to highlight the possible synergies of various agents that can augment antibiotic activities. A structured literature search was conducted using only papers that have been published in PubMed with the focus on the agents that are likely to modulate antimicrobial resistance. In this review, data was retrieved from the literature regarding the possible synergies that exist between commercially available antimicrobial drugs with agents of interest. The papers included were summarized and analyzed, critiqued and compared for their contents using a conceptual frame-work. In total, one hundred and twenty six papers were reviewed. The number of papers that dealt with the different topics included are as follows (): emergence of antimicrobial resistance (22), bioactive phyto-compounds (36) (phytobiologics, and phytochemicals), Antioxidants (40) (N-acetylcysteine, Ambroxol, Ascorbic acid, Glutathione and vitamin E), Peptide synergies (14) (Synthetic cationic α-helical AMPs, CopA3, Alafosfalin, PMAP-36, Phosphonopeptide L-norvalyl-L-1-aminoethylphosphonic acid and norcardicin-A), nano-antibiotics (10), drug-compound interactions (4).This review addressed the new strategies using the above compounds in the modulation of antimicrobial resistance to avoid issues related to resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. The

A Typical Synergy

Science.gov (United States)

van Noort, Thomas; Achten, Peter; Plasmeijer, Rinus

We present a typical synergy between dynamic types (dynamics) and generalised algebraic datatypes (GADTs). The former provides a clean approach to integrating dynamic typing in a statically typed language. It allows values to be wrapped together with their type in a uniform package, deferring type unification until run time using a pattern match annotated with the desired type. The latter allows for the explicit specification of constructor types, as to enforce their structural validity. In contrast to ADTs, GADTs are heterogeneous structures since each constructor type is implicitly universally quantified. Unfortunately, pattern matching only enforces structural validity and does not provide instantiation information on polymorphic types. Consequently, functions that manipulate such values, such as a type-safe update function, are cumbersome due to boilerplate type representation administration. In this paper we focus on improving such functions by providing a new GADT annotation via a natural synergy with dynamics. We formally define the semantics of the annotation and touch on novel other applications of this technique such as type dispatching and enforcing type equality invariants on GADT values.

Diagnosing resistance to change in the change management process

OpenAIRE

Tetiana Kuzhda

2016-01-01

This article explains the change management process and resistance to organizational change through examining causes of resistance to change, diagnosing them, and finding the ways to deal with resistance to change. In business environment, the one thing any company can be assured of is change. If an organization experiences change it may also need to implement new business strategies, which can create resistance among employees. Managers need to know in which phase they have to expect unusual...

Muscle synergy extraction during arm reaching movements at different speeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabzevari, Vahid Reza; Jafari, Amir Homayoun; Boostani, Reza

2017-01-01

Muscle synergy is the activation of a group of muscles that contribute to a particular movement. The goal of the present study is to examine the hypothesis that human reaching movements at different speeds share similar muscle synergies and to investigate the kinesiology basis and innervation of muscles. Electromyographic activity from six muscles of the upper limb and shoulder girdle were recorded during three movements at different speeds, i.e. slow, moderate and fast. The effect of window length on the RMS signal of the EMG was analyzed and then EMG envelope signals were decomposed using non-negative matrix factorization. For each of the ten subjects, three synergies were extracted which accounted for at least 99% of the VAF. For each movement, the muscle synergies and muscle activation coefficients of all participants were clustered in to three partitions. Investigation showed a high similarity and dependency of cluster members due to the cosine similarity and mutual information in muscle synergy clustering. For further verification, the EMG envelope signals for all subjects were reconstructed. The results indicated a lower reconstruction error using the center of the muscle synergy clusters in comparison with the average of the activation coefficients, which confirms the current research's hypothesis.

Coevolution: A synergy in biology and ecology

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WenJun Zhang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Synergy refers to that in an open and complex system consisting of a large number of subsystems, far from equilibrium, its subsystems interact in a nonlinear way to produce synergistic effects and thus make the system generate a self-organization structure in space/time with certain functions. Biologists and ecologists, tend to use coevolution/coadaptation to represent the terminology "synergy". Coevolution and research methodology were briefly discussed in present paper.

The Philosophy of Modern Scientific Knowledge: the Language of Synergy and the Synergy of Language

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Larisa Kiyashchenko

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The issue of the formation of present-day scientific knowledge is viewed in the paper through the prism of language. Language is seen here not merely as an external form vis-a-vis the content of scientific knowledge, but rather as the mode of emergence and existence of scientific knowledge as a certain reality (Shverev 2001: 509,  the one that evolves as a result of cognitive and communicative practices in transdisciplinary studies. The mutual influence of the language of synergy and the synergy of language leads to a new unity of scientific experience and gives rise to the philosophy of transdisciplinarity (Киященко 2006: 17. 

Field Synergy Principle for Energy Conservation Analysis and Application

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Qun Chen

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Optimization of mass and energy transfer process is critical to improve energy efficiency. In this contribution we introduce the field synergy principle as a unified principle for analyzing and improving the performance of the transfer process. Three field synergy numbers are introduced for heat, mass, and momentum transfer, respectively, and three cases are demonstrated for validation. The results indicate that the field synergy numbers will increase when reducing the angle between the velocity vector and the temperature gradient or the species concentration gradient fields in the convective heat or mass transfer, and the overall heat or mass transfer capability is therefore enhanced. In fluid flows, it will reduce the fluid flow drag to decrease the synergy number between the velocity and the velocity gradient fields over the entire domain and to decrease the product between the fluid viscosity and the velocity gradient at the boundary simultaneously.

Historical aspects and causes of the synergy beginning as a science

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Yakimtsov V. V.

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the historical aspects of the beginning and development of a new popular science – synergy, as a means of interdisciplinary communication among scholars. Using methodological apparatus of synergy here were considered the basics of studies. Historical aspects of the origin, beginning and formation of synergy as a science and its application in all aspects of human life were analyzed. Current research areas within synergy and nonlinear dynamics were presented. Was presented a question of order and organization of global issues (energetic, environmental, social and economic and systems, that were developed by human using synergy. The conclusion was made on the need for a synergistic approach to all aspects of human life and especially to the economy – it is undeniable in the science of human development in society and especially within the manufacturing process.

Team synergies in sport: Theory and measures

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Duarte Araújo

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Individual players act as a coherent unit during team sports performance, forming a team synergy. A synergy is a collective property of a task-specific organization of individuals, such that the degrees of freedom of each individual in the system are coupled, enabling the degrees of freedom of different individuals to co-regulate each other. Here, we present an explanation for the emergence of such collective behaviors, indicating how these can be assessed and understood through the measurement of key system properties that exist, considering the contribution of each individual and beyond These include: to (i dimensional compression, a process resulting in independent degree of freedom being coupled so that the synergy has fewer degrees of freedom than the set of components from which it arises; (ii reciprocal compensation, if one element do not produce its function, other elements should display changes in their contributions so that task goals are still attained; (iii interpersonal linkages, the specific contribution of each element to a group task; and (iv, degeneracy, structurally different components performing a similar, but not necessarily identical, function with respect to context. A primary goal of our analysis is to highlight the principles and tools required to understand coherent and dynamic team behaviors, as well as the performance conditions that make such team synergies possible, through perceptual attunement to shared affordances in individual performers. A key conclusion is that teams can be trained to perceive how to use and share specific affordances, explaining how individual’s behaviours self-organize into a group synergy.Ecological dynamics explanations of team behaviors can transit beyond mere ratification of sport performance, providing a comprehensive conceptual framework to guide the implementation of diagnostic measures by sport scientists, sport psychologists and performance analysts.

Explosive spreading on complex networks: The role of synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Quan-Hui; Wang, Wei; Tang, Ming; Zhou, Tao; Lai, Ying-Cheng

2017-04-01

In spite of the vast literature on spreading dynamics on complex networks, the role of local synergy, i.e., the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect greater than the sum of the individual elements, has been studied but only for irreversible spreading dynamics. Reversible spreading dynamics are ubiquitous but their interplay with synergy has remained unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, we articulate a model to incorporate local synergistic effect into the classical susceptible-infected-susceptible process, in which the probability for a susceptible node to become infected through an infected neighbor is enhanced when the neighborhood of the latter contains a number of infected nodes. We derive master equations incorporating the synergistic effect, with predictions that agree well with the numerical results. A striking finding is that when a parameter characterizing the strength of the synergy reinforcement effect is above a critical value, the steady-state density of the infected nodes versus the basic transmission rate exhibits an explosively increasing behavior and a hysteresis loop emerges. In fact, increasing the synergy strength can promote the spreading and reduce the invasion and persistence thresholds of the hysteresis loop. A physical understanding of the synergy promoting explosive spreading and the associated hysteresis behavior can be obtained through a mean-field analysis.

An Operational Framework for Insecticide Resistance Management Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Chanda, Emmanuel; Thomsen, Edward K; Musapa, Mulenga; Kamuliwo, Mulakwa; Brogdon, William G; Norris, Douglas E; Masaninga, Freddie; Wirtz, Robert; Sikaala, Chadwick H; Muleba, Mbanga; Craig, Allen; Govere, John M; Ranson, Hilary; Hemingway, Janet; Seyoum, Aklilu; Macdonald, Michael B; Coleman, Michael

2016-05-01

Arthropod vectors transmit organisms that cause many emerging and reemerging diseases, and their control is reliant mainly on the use of chemical insecticides. Only a few classes of insecticides are available for public health use, and the increased spread of insecticide resistance is a major threat to sustainable disease control. The primary strategy for mitigating the detrimental effects of insecticide resistance is the development of an insecticide resistance management plan. However, few examples exist to show how to implement such plans programmatically. We describe the formulation and implementation of a resistance management plan for mosquito vectors of human disease in Zambia. We also discuss challenges, steps taken to address the challenges, and directions for the future.

Clinical Management of HIV Drug Resistance

Science.gov (United States)

Cortez, Karoll J.; Maldarelli, Frank

2011-01-01

Combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-1 infection has resulted in profound reductions in viremia and is associated with marked improvements in morbidity and mortality. Therapy is not curative, however, and prolonged therapy is complicated by drug toxicity and the emergence of drug resistance. Management of clinical drug resistance requires in depth evaluation, and includes extensive history, physical examination and laboratory studies. Appropriate use of resistance testing provides valuable information useful in constructing regimens for treatment-experienced individuals with viremia during therapy. This review outlines the emergence of drug resistance in vivo, and describes clinical evaluation and therapeutic options of the individual with rebound viremia during therapy. PMID:21994737

Beyond synergies. Comment on "Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands" by Marco Santello et al.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Andrew B.

2016-07-01

The target paper by Santello et al. [1] uses the observation that hand shape during grasping can be described by a small set of basic postures, or ;synergies,; to describe the possible neural basis of motor control during this complex behavior. In the literature, the term ;synergy; has been used with a number of different meanings and is still loosely defined, making it difficult to derive concrete analogs of corresponding neural structure. Here, I will define ;synergy; broadly, as a set of parameters bound together by a pattern of correlation. With this definition, it can be argued that behavioral synergies are just one facet of the correlational structuring used by the brain to generate behavior. As pointed out in the target article, the structure found in synergies is driven by the physical constraints of our bodies and our surroundings, combined with the behavioral control imparted by our nervous system. This control itself is based on correlational structure which is likely to be a fundamental property of brain function.

Tapping Geography's Potential for Synergy with Creative Instructional Approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Conway-Gomez, Kristen; Williams, Nikki; Atkinson-Palombo, Carol; Ahlqvist, Ola; Kim, Eje; Morgan, Miranda

2011-01-01

We define synergy, explain its importance within the context of rapidly changing academia, and provide examples of how geographic educators have used creative instructional approaches to create synergies. Both the content of geography and some of the instructional approaches used by geographic educators support the discipline's ability to deliver…

The number and choice of muscles impact the results of muscle synergy analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine Muterspaugh Steele

2013-08-01

Full Text Available One theory for how humans control movement is that muscles are activated in weighted groups or synergies. Studies have shown that electromyography (EMG from a variety of tasks can be described by a low-dimensional space thought to reflect synergies. These studies use algorithms, such as nonnegative matrix factorization, to identify synergies from EMG. Due to experimental constraints, EMG can rarely be taken from all muscles involved in a task. However, it is unclear if the choice of muscles included in the analysis impacts estimated synergies. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of the number and choice of muscles on synergy analyses. We used a musculoskeletal model to calculate muscle activations required to perform an isometric upper-extremity task. Synergies calculated from the activations from the musculoskeletal model were similar to a prior experimental study. To evaluate the impact of the number of muscles included in the analysis, we randomly selected subsets of between 5 and 29 muscles and compared the similarity of the synergies calculated from each subset to a master set of synergies calculated from all muscles. We determined that the structure of synergies is dependent upon the number and choice of muscles included in the analysis. When five muscles were included in the analysis, the similarity of the synergies to the master set was only 0.57 ± 0.54; however, the similarity improved to over 0.8 with more than ten muscles. We identified two methods, selecting dominant muscles from the master set or selecting muscles with the largest maximum isometric force, which significantly improved similarity to the master set and can help guide future experimental design. Analyses that included a small subset of muscles also over-estimated the variance accounted for (VAF by the synergies compared to an analysis with all muscles. Thus, researchers should use caution using VAF to evaluate synergies when EMG is measured from a small

Synergy Maps: exploring compound combinations using network-based visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Richard; Guha, Rajarshi; Korcsmaros, Tamás; Bender, Andreas

2015-01-01

The phenomenon of super-additivity of biological response to compounds applied jointly, termed synergy, has the potential to provide many therapeutic benefits. Therefore, high throughput screening of compound combinations has recently received a great deal of attention. Large compound libraries and the feasibility of all-pairs screening can easily generate large, information-rich datasets. Previously, these datasets have been visualized using either a heat-map or a network approach-however these visualizations only partially represent the information encoded in the dataset. A new visualization technique for pairwise combination screening data, termed "Synergy Maps", is presented. In a Synergy Map, information about the synergistic interactions of compounds is integrated with information about their properties (chemical structure, physicochemical properties, bioactivity profiles) to produce a single visualization. As a result the relationships between compound and combination properties may be investigated simultaneously, and thus may afford insight into the synergy observed in the screen. An interactive web app implementation, available at http://richlewis42.github.io/synergy-maps, has been developed for public use, which may find use in navigating and filtering larger scale combination datasets. This tool is applied to a recent all-pairs dataset of anti-malarials, tested against Plasmodium falciparum, and a preliminary analysis is given as an example, illustrating the disproportionate synergism of histone deacetylase inhibitors previously described in literature, as well as suggesting new hypotheses for future investigation. Synergy Maps improve the state of the art in compound combination visualization, by simultaneously representing individual compound properties and their interactions. The web-based tool allows straightforward exploration of combination data, and easier identification of correlations between compound properties and interactions.

Integrated Adaptive Scenarios for Ariculture: Synergies and Tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Malek, K.; Rajagopalan, K.; Adam, J. C.; Brady, M.; Stockle, C.; Liu, M.; Kruger, C. E.

2017-12-01

A wide variety of factors can drive adaptation of the agricultural production sector in response to climate change. Warming and increased growing season length can lead to adoption of newer plant varieties as well as increases in double cropping systems. Changes in expectations of drought frequency or economic factors could lead to adoption of new technology (such as irrigation technology or water trading systems) or crop choices with a view of reducing farm-level risk, and these choices can result in unintended system wide effects. These are all examples of producer adaptation decisions made with a long-term (multiple decades) view. In addition, producers respond to short-term (current year) shocks - such as drought events - through management strategies that include deficit irrigation, fallowing, nutrient management, and engaging in water trading. The effects of these short- and long-term decisions are not independent, and can drive or be driven by the other. For example, investment in new irrigation systems (long-term) can be driven by expectations of short-term crop productivity losses in drought years. Similarly, the capacity to manage for short-term shocks will depend on crop type and variety as well as adopted irrigation technologies. Our overarching objective is to understand the synergies and tradeoffs that exist when combining three potential long-term adaptation strategies and two short-term adaptation strategies, with a view of understanding the synergies and tradeoffs. We apply the integrated crop-hydrology modeling framework VIC-CropSyst, along with the water management module Yakima RiverWare to address these questions over our test area, the Yakima River basin. We consider adoption of a) more efficient irrigation technologies, slower growing crop varieties, and increased prevalence of double cropping systems as long-term adaptation strategies; and b) fallowing and deficit irrigation as short-term responses to droughts. We evaluate the individual and

Exploiting Synergies in European Wind and Hydrogen Sectors: A Cost-benefit Assessment

OpenAIRE

SHAW SUZANNE; PETEVES ESTATHIOS

2007-01-01

This article outlines an assessment of the perspectives for exploiting synergies between European wind and hydrogen energy sectors, where wind energy conversion to hydrogen is used as a common strategy for reducing network management costs in high wind energy penetration situations, and for production of renewable hydrogen. The attractiveness of this approach, referred to here as a ¿¿wind-hydrogen strategy¿¿, is analysed using a costbenefit approach to evaluate the final impact...

Exo-exo synergy between Cel6A and Cel7A from Hypocrea jecorina

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badino, Silke Flindt; Christensen, Stefan Jarl; Kari, Jeppe

2017-01-01

Synergy between cellulolytic enzymes is essential in both natural and industrial breakdown of biomass. In addition to synergy between endo- and exo-lytic enzymes, a lesser known but equally conspicuous synergy occurs among exo-acting, processive cellobiohydrolases (CBHs) such as Cel7A and Cel6A...... from Hypocrea jecorina. We studied this system using microcrystalline cellulose as substrate and found a degree of synergy between 1.3 and 2.2 depending on the experimental conditions. Synergy between enzyme variants without the carbohydrate binding module (CBM) and its linker was strongly reduced...... compared to the wild types. One plausible interpretation of this is that exo-exo synergy depends on the targeting role of the CBM. Many earlier works have proposed that exo-exo synergy was caused by an auxiliary endo-lytic activity of Cel6A. However, biochemical data from different assays suggested...

Cross learning synergies between Operation Management content and the use of generic analytic tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederic Marimon

2017-06-01

By presenting both objectives simultaneously students are found to be more motivated towards working deeply in both objectives. Students know that the theoretical content will be put in practice through certain tools, strengthening the student's interest on the conceptual issues of the chapter. In turn, because students know that they will use a generic tool in a known context, their interests in these tools is reinforced. The result is a cross learning synergy.

Environmental, Disaster and Crisis Management Strategies: Interdisciplinarity and Synergy in Postgraduate Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Lekkas, Efthymis; Andreadakis, Emmanouil; Nomikou, Paraskevi; Antoniou, Varvara; Kapourani, Eleni; Papaspyropoulos, Konstantinos

2017-04-01

, admitted students come, in a large percentage, from services and authorities involved in environmental, disaster and crisis management issues (for example fire service, police, armed forces, ministries, local administration etc) apart from graduate students continuing their studies. An added value of the program has been observed the development of a critical mass of personnel of these organizations and young scientists with increased connectivity, extending from simple acquaintance to cooperation and trust and synergy development of the services themselves. This is a promising condition for a more effective risk and emergency management in a context of ethical and responsible practices. The curriculum comprises live or online lectures, asynchronous education with exercises and essay writing, seminars on tools such as related GIS and SPSS applications, and applied field exercises on both scientific and emergency management subjects. The program completed the second year of function, and was upgraded after internal and external evaluation, to adjust to new fields, ideas and challenges and include students' suggestions. More than one hundred students have graduated so far, and another 350 are currently attending. The program, which originally available in Greek, is going to be available in English starting September 2017, and is open for applications, and presented at: http://www.edcm.edu.gr

Simulating Serial-Target Antibacterial Drug Synergies Using Flux Balance Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krueger, Andrew S.; Munck, Christian; Dantas, Gautam

2016-01-01

Flux balance analysis (FBA) is an increasingly useful approach for modeling the behavior of metabolic systems. However, standard FBA modeling of genetic knockouts cannot predict drug combination synergies observed between serial metabolic targets, even though such synergies give rise to some of t...

Food synergies for improving bioavailability of micronutrients from plant foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, K Madhavan; Augustine, Little Flower

2018-01-01

Plant foods are endowed with micronutrients but an understanding of bioavailability is essential in countries primarily dependent on plant based foods. Bioavailability depends majorly on food synergies. This review examines the nature of certain food synergies and methods to screen and establish it as a strategy to control micronutrient deficiency in the populations. Strong evidence on the synergistic effect of inclusion of vitamin C rich fruits and non-vegetarian foods in enhancing the bioavailability of iron has been demonstrated. Fat is found to be synergistic for vitamin A absorption. Red wine and protein have been explored for zinc absorption and effect of fat has been studied for vitamin D. Methods for screening of bioavailability, and biomarkers to demonstrate the synergistic effects of foods are required. Translation of food synergy as a strategy requires adaptation to the context and popularization of intelligent food synergies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Generational Differences in Work-Family Conflict and Synergy

OpenAIRE

Beutell, Nicholas

2013-01-01

This paper examines differences in work-family conflict and synergy among the four generational groups represented in the contemporary workforce: Generation Y Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Matures using data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (n = 3,502). Significant generational differences were found for work-family conflict (work interfering with family and family interfering with work) but not for work-family synergy. Mental health and job pressure were the best pred...

The efficacy of Elekta Synergy image-guided radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takamatsu, Shigeyuki; Takanaka, Tsuyoshi; Kumano, Tomoyasu

2008-01-01

We evaluated the efficacy of Elekta Synergy image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) system equipped with cone beam CT (CBCT) for high accuracy radiation therapy. In cases set up with body marking who had large set up error could be adjusted by this system within 1 mm error. IGRT with CBCT correction provided precise set up. Elekta Synergy IGRT system is useful for high accuracy set up and will facilitate novel precise radiotherapy techniques. (author)

Field synergy characteristics in condensation heat transfer with non-condensable gas over a horizontal tube

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Junxia Zhang

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Field synergy characteristics in condensation heat transfer with non-condensable gas (NCG over a horizontal tube were numerically simulated. Consequently, synergy angles between velocity and pressure or temperature gradient fields, gas film layer thickness, and induced velocity and shear stress on gas–liquid interface were obtained. Results show that synergy angles between velocity and temperature gradient fields are within 73.2°–88.7° and ascend slightly with the increment in mainstream velocity and that the synergy is poor. However, the synergy angle between velocity and pressure gradient fields decreases intensively with the increase in mainstream velocity at θ ≤ 30°, thereby improving the pressure loss. As NCG mass fraction increases, the gas film layer thickness enlarges and the induced velocity and shear stress on gas–liquid interface decreases. The synergy angles between velocity and temperature gradient fields increase, and the synergy angles between velocity and pressure gradient fields change at θ = 70°, decrease at θ 70°. When the horizontal tube circumference angle increases, the synergy angles between velocity and temperature or pressure gradient fields decrease, the synergy between velocity and pressure fields enhances, and the synergy between velocity and temperature fields degrades.

Managing for soil health can suppress pests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amanda Hodson

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A “healthy” soil can be thought of as one that functions well, both agronomically and ecologically, and one in which soil biodiversity and crop management work in synergy to suppress pests and diseases. UC researchers have pioneered many ways of managing soil biology for pest management, including strategies such as soil solarization, steam treatment and anaerobic soil disinfestation, as well as improvements on traditional methods, such as reducing tillage, amending soil with organic materials, and cover cropping. As managing for soil health becomes more of an explicit focus due to restrictions on the use of soil fumigants, integrated soil health tests will be needed that are validated for use in California. Other research needs include breeding crops for disease resistance and pest suppressive microbial communities as well as knowledge of how beneficial organisms influence plant health.

Hybrid fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete: fiber synergy at low ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Flexural toughness tests were performed and results were extensively analysed to identify synergy, if any, associated with various fiber combinations. Based on various analysis schemes, the paper identifies fiber combinations that demonstrate maximum synergy in terms of flexural toughness. Journal of Civil Engineering ...

Inter-subject variability of muscle synergies during bench press in power lifters and untrained individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristiansen, M; Madeleine, P; Hansen, E A; Samani, A

2015-02-01

The purpose of the study was to elucidate the role of expertise on muscle synergies involved in bench press. Ten expert power lifters (EXP) and nine untrained participants (UNT) completed three sets of eight repetitions at 60% of three repetition maximum in bench press. Muscle synergies were extracted from surface electromyography data of 21 bench press cycles using non-negative matrix factorization algorithm. The synergy activation coefficient represents the relative contribution of the muscle synergy to the overall muscle activity pattern, while the muscle synergy vector represents the relative weighting of each muscle within each synergy. Describing more than 90% of the variability, two muscle synergies reflected the eccentric and concentric phase. The cross-correlations (ρ(max)) for synergy activation coefficient 2 (concentric phase) were 0.83 [0.71;0.88] and 0.59 [0.49;0.77] [Median ρ(max) (25th;75th percentile)] (P = 0.001) in UNT and EXP, respectively. Median correlation coefficient (ρ) for muscle synergy vector 2 was 0.15 [-0.08;0.46] and 0.48 [0.02;0.70] (P = 0.03) in UNT and EXP, respectively. Thus, EXP showed larger inter-subject variability than UNT in the synergy activation coefficient during the concentric phase, while the muscle synergy vectors were less variable in EXP. This points at the importance of a specialized neural strategy in elite bench press performance. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Predicting synergy in atomic layer etching

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanarik, Keren J. [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Tan, Samantha [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Yang, Wenbing [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Kim, Taeseung [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Lill, Thorsten [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Kabansky, Alexander [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Hudson, Eric A. [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Ohba, Tomihito [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Nojiri, Kazuo [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Yu, Jengyi [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Wise, Rich [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Berry, Ivan L. [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Pan, Yang [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Marks, Jeffrey [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States); Gottscho, Richard A. [Lam Research Corp., Fremont, CA (United States)

2017-03-27

Atomic layer etching (ALE) is a multistep process used today in manufacturing for removing ultrathin layers of material. In this article, the authors report on ALE of Si, Ge, C, W, GaN, and SiO₂ using a directional (anisotropic) plasma-enhanced approach. The authors analyze these systems by defining an “ALE synergy” parameter which quantifies the degree to which a process approaches the ideal ALE regime. This parameter is inspired by the ion-neutral synergy concept introduced in the 1979 paper by Coburn and Winters. ALE synergy is related to the energetics of underlying surface interactions and is understood in terms of energy criteria for the energy barriers involved in the reactions. Synergistic behavior is observed for all of the systems studied, with each exhibiting behavior unique to the reactant–material combination. By systematically studying atomic layer etching of a group of materials, the authors show that ALE synergy scales with the surface binding energy of the bulk material. This insight explains why some materials are more or less amenable to the directional ALE approach. Furthermore, they conclude that ALE is both simpler to understand than conventional plasma etch processing and is applicable to metals, semiconductors, and dielectrics.

Synergy Repetition Training versus Task Repetition Training in Acquiring New Skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Vrajeshri; Craig, Jamie; Schumacher, Michelle; Burns, Martin K; Florescu, Ionut; Vinjamuri, Ramana

2017-01-01

Traditionally, repetitive practice of a task is used to learn a new skill, exhibiting as immediately improved performance. Research suggests, however, that a more experience-based rather than exposure-based training protocol may allow for better transference of the skill to related tasks. In synergy-based motor control theory, fundamental motor skills, such as hand grasping, are represented with a synergy subspace that captures essential motor patterns. In this study, we propose that motor-skill learning through synergy-based mechanisms may provide advantages over traditional task repetition learning. A new task was designed to highlight the range of motion and dexterity of the human hand. Two separate training strategies were tested in healthy subjects: task repetition training and synergy training versus a control. All three groups showed improvements when retested on the same task. When tested on a similar, but different set of tasks, only the synergy group showed improvements in accuracy (9.27% increase) compared to the repetition (3.24% decline) and control (3.22% decline) groups. A kinematic analysis revealed that although joint angular peak velocities decreased, timing benefits stemmed from the initial feed-forward portion of the task (reaction time). Accuracy improvements may have derived from general improved coordination among the four involved fingers. These preliminary results warrant further investigation of synergy-based motor training in healthy individuals, as well as in individuals undergoing hand-based rehabilitative therapy.

Cultural effect on synergy realization in cross-border acquisitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Daojuan; Hain, Daniel; Dao, Li Thuy

2017-01-01

This study examines two levels of cultural differences - national and organizational on synergy realization simultaneously by considering two critical implementation factors as the moderators: pre-acquisition due diligence and post-acquisition coordination efforts. Meanwhile, we argue cultural...... by Nordic companies. Results show that both national and organizational cultural differences only exert negative impact on realization of Type-2 synergy which is more implicit/intangible, less predictable, usually tacit-knowledge intensive and/or complementary, but no impact on realization of Type-1 synergy...... which is explicit/tangible, more predictable, less tacit-knowledge intensive, and/or based on cost reduction and similarity. Meanwhile, national cultural differences generate stronger negative effect at higher level of significance than that of organizational cultural differences. Moreover, proactive...

The quest for synergy when developing the urban fringe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Jesper Rohr; Engberg, Lars A.

How can planning policies related to urban fringe development and disadvantaged neighbourhoods create synergy? This question is approached and answered by various research fields and explored on various urban-planning levels, displaying case-studies related to urban regeneration, post......-industrial and suburban development and urban fringe literature. The present paper adds to these discussions by analysing two case-studies in Denmark in which local government pursue traditional urban-growth strategies in urban-fringe development - a post-industrial harbour and a large suburb, located just outside...... analyses this synergy by first describing the legislative, interventionist and financial context for urban-growth strategies deployed in the cases. On this background, the paper explores synergy potential related to policy as well as private-sector actors (local businesses, social housing organizations...

Impact Of Merger And Acquisition On Debt Management Ratio: A Case Study In Malaysian Banking Sectors

OpenAIRE

Mohammad Talha; Abdullah Sallehhuddin

2011-01-01

This study based on efficiency theory of shareholders wealth maximization of acquisition principle attempted to investigate the debt management ratio of ten Malaysian anchor banks after undergoing mega merger and acquisition program which was completed in the year of 2000. As efficiency theory consists of three elements that are financial synergy, operation synergy and managerial synergy, the study will primarily focus its analysis on financial synergy (debt management). Using accounting tech...

A model-based approach to predict muscle synergies using optimization: application to feedback control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza eSharif Razavian

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new model-based method to define muscle synergies. Unlike the conventional factorization approach, which extracts synergies from electromyographic data, the proposed method employs a biomechanical model and formally defines the synergies as the solution of an optimal control problem. As a result, the number of required synergies is directly related to the dimensions of the operational space. The estimated synergies are posture-dependent, which correlate well with the results of standard factorization methods. Two examples are used to showcase this method: a two-dimensional forearm model, and a three-dimensional driver arm model. It has been shown here that the synergies need to be task-specific (i.e. they are defined for the specific operational spaces: the elbow angle and the steering wheel angle in the two systems. This functional definition of synergies results in a low-dimensional control space, in which every force in the operational space is accurately created by a unique combination of synergies. As such, there is no need for extra criteria (e.g., minimizing effort in the process of motion control. This approach is motivated by the need for fast and bio-plausible feedback control of musculoskeletal systems, and can have important implications in engineering, motor control, and biomechanics.

A model-based approach to predict muscle synergies using optimization: application to feedback control.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharif Razavian, Reza; Mehrabi, Naser; McPhee, John

2015-01-01

This paper presents a new model-based method to define muscle synergies. Unlike the conventional factorization approach, which extracts synergies from electromyographic data, the proposed method employs a biomechanical model and formally defines the synergies as the solution of an optimal control problem. As a result, the number of required synergies is directly related to the dimensions of the operational space. The estimated synergies are posture-dependent, which correlate well with the results of standard factorization methods. Two examples are used to showcase this method: a two-dimensional forearm model, and a three-dimensional driver arm model. It has been shown here that the synergies need to be task-specific (i.e., they are defined for the specific operational spaces: the elbow angle and the steering wheel angle in the two systems). This functional definition of synergies results in a low-dimensional control space, in which every force in the operational space is accurately created by a unique combination of synergies. As such, there is no need for extra criteria (e.g., minimizing effort) in the process of motion control. This approach is motivated by the need for fast and bio-plausible feedback control of musculoskeletal systems, and can have important implications in engineering, motor control, and biomechanics.

Quantifying synergy: a systematic review of mixture toxicity studies within environmental toxicology.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Cedergreen

Full Text Available Cocktail effects and synergistic interactions of chemicals in mixtures are an area of great concern to both the public and regulatory authorities. The main concern is whether some chemicals can enhance the effect of other chemicals, so that they jointly exert a larger effect than predicted. This phenomenon is called synergy. Here we present a review of the scientific literature on three main groups of environmentally relevant chemical toxicants: pesticides, metal ions and antifouling compounds. The aim of the review is to determine 1 the frequency of synergy, 2 the extent of synergy, 3 whether any particular groups or classes of chemicals tend to induce synergy, and 4 which physiological mechanisms might be responsible for this synergy. Synergy is here defined as mixtures with minimum two-fold difference between observed and predicted effect concentrations using Concentration Addition (CA as a reference model and including both lethal and sub-lethal endpoints. The results showed that synergy occurred in 7%, 3% and 26% of the 194, 21 and 136 binary pesticide, metal and antifoulants mixtures included in the data compilation on frequency. The difference between observed and predicted effect concentrations was rarely more than 10-fold. For pesticides, synergistic mixtures included cholinesterase inhibitors or azole fungicides in 95% of 69 described cases. Both groups of pesticides are known to interfere with metabolic degradation of other xenobiotics. For the four synergistic metal and 47 synergistic antifoulant mixtures the pattern in terms of chemical groups inducing synergy was less clear. Hypotheses in terms of mechanisms governing these interactions are discussed. It was concluded that true synergistic interactions between chemicals are rare and often occur at high concentrations. Addressing the cumulative rather than synergistic effect of co-occurring chemicals, using standard models as CA, is therefore regarded as the most important step in

Quantifying synergy: a systematic review of mixture toxicity studies within environmental toxicology.

Science.gov (United States)

Cedergreen, Nina

2014-01-01

Cocktail effects and synergistic interactions of chemicals in mixtures are an area of great concern to both the public and regulatory authorities. The main concern is whether some chemicals can enhance the effect of other chemicals, so that they jointly exert a larger effect than predicted. This phenomenon is called synergy. Here we present a review of the scientific literature on three main groups of environmentally relevant chemical toxicants: pesticides, metal ions and antifouling compounds. The aim of the review is to determine 1) the frequency of synergy, 2) the extent of synergy, 3) whether any particular groups or classes of chemicals tend to induce synergy, and 4) which physiological mechanisms might be responsible for this synergy. Synergy is here defined as mixtures with minimum two-fold difference between observed and predicted effect concentrations using Concentration Addition (CA) as a reference model and including both lethal and sub-lethal endpoints. The results showed that synergy occurred in 7%, 3% and 26% of the 194, 21 and 136 binary pesticide, metal and antifoulants mixtures included in the data compilation on frequency. The difference between observed and predicted effect concentrations was rarely more than 10-fold. For pesticides, synergistic mixtures included cholinesterase inhibitors or azole fungicides in 95% of 69 described cases. Both groups of pesticides are known to interfere with metabolic degradation of other xenobiotics. For the four synergistic metal and 47 synergistic antifoulant mixtures the pattern in terms of chemical groups inducing synergy was less clear. Hypotheses in terms of mechanisms governing these interactions are discussed. It was concluded that true synergistic interactions between chemicals are rare and often occur at high concentrations. Addressing the cumulative rather than synergistic effect of co-occurring chemicals, using standard models as CA, is therefore regarded as the most important step in the risk

Suboptimal Muscle Synergy Activation Patterns Generalize their Motor Function across Postures.

Science.gov (United States)

Sohn, M Hongchul; Ting, Lena H

2016-01-01

We used a musculoskeletal model to investigate the possible biomechanical and neural bases of using consistent muscle synergy patterns to produce functional motor outputs across different biomechanical conditions, which we define as generalizability. Experimental studies in cats demonstrate that the same muscle synergies are used during reactive postural responses at widely varying configurations, producing similarly-oriented endpoint force vectors with respect to the limb axis. However, whether generalizability across postures arises due to similar biomechanical properties or to neural selection of a particular muscle activation pattern has not been explicitly tested. Here, we used a detailed cat hindlimb model to explore the set of feasible muscle activation patterns that produce experimental synergy force vectors at a target posture, and tested their generalizability by applying them to different test postures. We used three methods to select candidate muscle activation patterns: (1) randomly-selected feasible muscle activation patterns, (2) optimal muscle activation patterns minimizing muscle effort at a given posture, and (3) generalizable muscle activation patterns that explicitly minimized deviations from experimentally-identified synergy force vectors across all postures. Generalizability was measured by the deviation between the simulated force direction of the candidate muscle activation pattern and the experimental synergy force vectors at the test postures. Force angle deviations were the greatest for the randomly selected feasible muscle activation patterns (e.g., >100°), intermediate for effort-wise optimal muscle activation patterns (e.g., ~20°), and smallest for generalizable muscle activation patterns (e.g., synergy force vector was reduced by ~45% when generalizability requirements were imposed. Muscles recruited in the generalizable muscle activation patterns had less sensitive torque-producing characteristics to changes in postures. We

Handwriting: three-dimensional kinetic synergies in circle drawing movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Hooke, Alexander W; Karol, Sohit; Park, Jaebum; Kim, Yoon Hyuk; Shim, Jae Kun

2012-07-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate central nervous system (CNS) strategies for controlling multifinger forces during a circle-drawing task. Subjects drew 30 concentric, discontinuous clockwise and counter clockwise circles, at self and experimenter-set paces. The three-dimensional trajectory of the pen's center of mass and the three-dimensional forces and moments of force at each contact between the hand and the pen were recorded. Uncontrolled Manifold Analysis was used to quantify the synergies between pen-hand contact forces in radial, tangential and vertical directions. Results showed that synergies in the radial and tangential components were significantly stronger than in the vertical component. Synergies in the clockwise direction were significantly stronger than the counterclockwise direction in the radial and vertical components. Pace was found to be insignificant under any condition.

MIGRATION AND CONSERVATION: FRAMEWORKS, GAPS, AND SYNERGIES IN SCIENCE, LAW, AND MANAGEMENT.

Science.gov (United States)

Meretsky, Vicky J; Atwell, Jonathan W; Hyman, Jeffrey B

2011-01-01

Migratory animals provide unique spectacles of cultural, ecological, and economic importance. However, the process of migration is a source of risk for migratory species as human actions increasingly destroy and fragment habitat, create obstacles to migration, and increase mortality along the migration corridor. As a result, many migratory species are declining in numbers. In the United States, the Endangered Species Act provides some protection against extinction for such species, but no protection until numbers are severely reduced, and no guarantee of recovery to population levels associated with cultural, ecological, or economic significance. Although groups of species receive some protection from statutes such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, there is no coordinated system for conservation of migratory species. In addition, information needed to protect migratory species is often lacking, limiting options for land and wildlife managers who seek to support these species. In this Article, we outline the existing scientific, legal, and management information and approaches to migratory species. Our objective is to assess present capacity to protect the species and the phenomenon of migration, and we argue that al three disciplines are necessary for effective conservation. We find significant capacity to support conservation in all three disciplines, but no organization around conservation of migration within any discipline or among the three disciplines. Areas of synergy exist among the disciplines but not as a result of any attempt for coordination. As a result, significant gaps in information and capacity exist that must be addressed if effective conservation of migratory species is to be undertaken. We suggest that all three disciplines cooperate to identify the most pressing research needs, so that these can become targets for relevant funding sources. We identify areas of current risk to migratory species that represent gaps

Muscle synergies and complexity of neuromuscular control during gait in cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Katherine M; Rozumalski, Adam; Schwartz, Michael H

2015-12-01

Individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) have impaired movement due to a brain injury near birth. Understanding how neuromuscular control is altered in CP can provide insight into pathological movement. We sought to determine if individuals with CP demonstrate reduced complexity of neuromuscular control during gait compared with unimpaired individuals and if changes in control are related to functional ability. Muscle synergies during gait were retrospectively analyzed for 633 individuals (age range 3.9-70y): 549 with CP (hemiplegia, n=122; diplegia, n=266; triplegia, n=73; quadriplegia, n=88) and 84 unimpaired individuals. Synergies were calculated using non-negative matrix factorization from surface electromyography collected during previous clinical gait analyses. Synergy complexity during gait was compared with diagnosis subtype, functional ability, and clinical examination measures. Fewer synergies were required to describe muscle activity during gait in individuals with CP compared with unimpaired individuals. Changes in synergies were related to functional impairment and clinical examination measures including selective motor control, strength, and spasticity. Individuals with CP use a simplified control strategy during gait compared with unimpaired individuals. These results were similar to synergies during walking among adult stroke survivors, suggesting similar neuromuscular control strategies between these clinical populations. © 2015 Mac Keith Press.

Postural Hand Synergies during Environmental Constraint Exploitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosimo Della Santina

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Humans are able to intuitively exploit the shape of an object and environmental constraints to achieve stable grasps and perform dexterous manipulations. In doing that, a vast range of kinematic strategies can be observed. However, in this work we formulate the hypothesis that such ability can be described in terms of a synergistic behavior in the generation of hand postures, i.e., using a reduced set of commonly used kinematic patterns. This is in analogy with previous studies showing the presence of such behavior in different tasks, such as grasping. We investigated this hypothesis in experiments performed by six subjects, who were asked to grasp objects from a flat surface. We quantitatively characterized hand posture behavior from a kinematic perspective, i.e., the hand joint angles, in both pre-shaping and during the interaction with the environment. To determine the role of tactile feedback, we repeated the same experiments but with subjects wearing a rigid shell on the fingertips to reduce cutaneous afferent inputs. Results show the persistence of at least two postural synergies in all the considered experimental conditions and phases. Tactile impairment does not alter significantly the first two synergies, and contact with the environment generates a change only for higher order Principal Components. A good match also arises between the first synergy found in our analysis and the first synergy of grasping as quantified by previous work. The present study is motivated by the interest of learning from the human example, extracting lessons that can be applied in robot design and control. Thus, we conclude with a discussion on implications for robotics of our findings.

Inter- and Intrasubject Similarity of Muscle Synergies During Bench Press With Slow and Fast Velocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Samani, Afshin; Kristiansen, Mathias

2018-01-01

We investigated the effect of low and high bar velocity on inter- and intrasubject similarity of muscle synergies during bench press. A total of 13 trained male subjects underwent two exercise conditions: a slow- and a fast-velocity bench press. Surface electromyography was recorded from 13 muscles, and muscle synergies were extracted using a nonnegative matrix factorization algorithm. The intrasubject similarity across conditions and intersubject similarity within conditions were computed for muscle synergy vectors and activation coefficients. Two muscle synergies were sufficient to describe the dataset variability. For the second synergy activation coefficient, the intersubject similarity within the fast-velocity condition was greater than the intrasubject similarity of the activation coefficient across the conditions. An opposite pattern was observed for the first muscle synergy vector. We concluded that the activation coefficients are robust within conditions, indicating a robust temporal pattern of muscular activity across individuals, but the muscle synergy vector seemed to be individually assigned.

Synergy in RF Current Drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumont, R.J.; Giruzzi, G.

2005-01-01

Auxiliary methods for efficient non-inductive current drive in tokamaks generally involve the interaction of externally driven waves with superthermal electrons. Among the possible schemes, Lower Hybrid (LH) and Electron Cyclotron (EC) current drive have been so far the most successful. An interesting aspect of their combined use is the fact that since they involve possibly overlapping domains in velocity and configuration spaces, a synergy between them is expected for appropriate parameters. The signature of this effect, significant improvement of the EC current drive efficiency, results from a favorable interplay of the quasilinear diffusions induced by both waves. Recently, improvements of the EC current drive efficiency in the range of 2-4 have been measured in fully non-inductive discharges in the Tore Supra tokamak, providing the first clear evidence of this effect in steady-state conditions. We present here the experimental aspects of these discharges. The associated kinetic modeling and current state of understanding of the LH-EC synergy phenomenon are also discussed. (authors)

Synergy in RF Current Drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumont, R.J.; Giruzzi, G.

2005-01-01

Auxiliary methods for efficient non-inductive current drive in tokamaks generally involve the interaction of externally driven waves with superthermal electrons. Among the possible schemes, Lower Hybrid (LH) and Electron Cyclotron (EC) current drive have been so far the most successful. An interesting aspect of their combined use is the fact that since they involve possibly overlapping domains in velocity and configuration spaces, a synergy between them is expected for appropriate parameters. The signature of this effect, significant improvement of the EC current drive efficiency, results from a favorable interplay of the quasilinear diffusions induced by both waves. Recently, improvements of the EC current drive efficiency in the range of 2-4 have been measured in fully non-inductive discharges in the Tore Supra tokamak, providing the first clear evidence of this effect in steady-state conditions. We present here the experimental aspects of these discharges. The associated kinetic modeling and current state of understanding of the LH-EC synergy phenomenon are also discussed

Managing Resistance: An Essential Consulting Skill for Learning Disabilities Teachers.

Science.gov (United States)

Friend, Marilyn; Bauwens, Jeanne

1988-01-01

The article explores characteristics of resistance by general educators to special education consultation programs. It offers teachers of learning disabled students strategies for managing specific types of resistance as well as a general plan for minimizing resistance as well as suggestions for evaluating the impact of resistance management…

Underpinning sustainable vector control through informed insecticide resistance management.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward K Thomsen

Full Text Available There has been rapid scale-up of malaria vector control in the last ten years. Both of the primary control strategies, long-lasting pyrethroid treated nets and indoor residual spraying, rely on the use of a limited number of insecticides. Insecticide resistance, as measured by bioassay, has rapidly increased in prevalence and has come to the forefront as an issue that needs to be addressed to maintain the sustainability of malaria control and the drive to elimination. Zambia's programme reported high levels of resistance to the insecticides it used in 2010, and, as a result, increased its investment in resistance monitoring to support informed resistance management decisions.A country-wide survey on insecticide resistance in Zambian malaria vectors was performed using WHO bioassays to detect resistant phenotypes. Molecular techniques were used to detect target-site mutations and microarray to detect metabolic resistance mechanisms. Anopheles gambiae s.s. was resistant to pyrethroids, DDT and carbamates, with potential organophosphate resistance in one population. The resistant phenotypes were conferred by both target-site and metabolic mechanisms. Anopheles funestus s.s. was largely resistant to pyrethroids and carbamates, with potential resistance to DDT in two locations. The resistant phenotypes were conferred by elevated levels of cytochrome p450s.Currently, the Zambia National Malaria Control Centre is using these results to inform their vector control strategy. The methods employed here can serve as a template to all malaria-endemic countries striving to create a sustainable insecticide resistance management plan.

Exercising Synergy of Safeguards Safety and Security at Facility Level of the GA Siwabessy Multi-Purpose Reactor, Indonesia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susilowati, E.

2015-01-01

Safeguards, safety and security (3Ss) constitute as essential elements for successful development of nuclear technology in the life time of nuclear installation. All 3Ss need to be coordinated due workers, the public and the environment require protection from plant malfunction, human error, malicious acts and proliferation of nuclear materials and technologies. Then the importance of the 3Ss was deemed valuable, particularly to a country having willingness to expand to nuclear power reactor such as Indonesia that in the near future plans to build small experimental power reactor. This paper is aimed to discuss synergy among safeguards, safety and security which will have opportunity been exercising at the GA Siwabessy Reactor (RSG-GAS), Indonesia. Synergy among safeguards, safety and security offers much opportunity for cost savings and enhance efficiency. Discussion is carried out by first investigating common values and conflicts exist among 3S. Up to now each of them was accomplished separately by different division and using different equipment due lack of coordination among them. The objective of this exercise is to develop more efficient and effective 3Ss infrastructures and also to support skill and knowledge of human resources. Benefitting from synergy between safeguards and security such as management of nuclear material and non proliferation; safeguards and safety such as management of nuclear material and waste management; safety and security such as prevent radiological release and also tension among them if any are discussed. It is expected that outcome of this exercise will able to develop a role model of infrastructures to the up-coming small experimental power reactor in Indonesia. (author)

Accelerator Magnet R&D in the Perspective of a LHeC and HE-LHC - Synergy or Competion?

CERN Document Server

Bottura, L; Bajko, M; Ballarino, A; Borgnolutti, F; Ferracin, P; Fessia, P; Karppinen, M; Kirby, G; Oberli, L; Perez, J C; Rossi, L; De Rijk, G; Russenschuck, S; Smekens, D; Todesco, E; Tommasini, D

2012-01-01

Beyond HL-LHC, CERN has a number of physics options that offer potential and challenges. This contribution dwells on the long-term projects HE-LHC and LHeC to put the magnet R&D at CERN (resistive and superconducting, slow and fast) in a long-term perspective. In particular synergies and parallel roadmaps will be highlighted. We will show how the on-going development (2012-2015) on low-field, high-field, and low-loss magnets can be used towards longer term objectives.

Insights from agriculture for the management of insecticide resistance in disease vectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sternberg, Eleanore D; Thomas, Matthew B

2018-04-01

Key to contemporary management of diseases such as malaria, dengue, and filariasis is control of the insect vectors responsible for transmission. Insecticide-based interventions have contributed to declines in disease burdens in many areas, but this progress could be threatened by the emergence of insecticide resistance in vector populations. Insecticide resistance is likewise a major concern in agriculture, where insect pests can cause substantial yield losses. Here, we explore overlaps between understanding and managing insecticide resistance in agriculture and in public health. We have used the Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management in malaria vectors, developed under the auspices of the World Health Organization Global Malaria Program, as a framework for this exploration because it serves as one of the few cohesive documents for managing a global insecticide resistance crisis. Generally, this comparison highlights some fundamental differences between insect control in agriculture and in public health. Moreover, we emphasize that the success of insecticide resistance management strategies is strongly dependent on the biological specifics of each system. We suggest that the biological, operational, and regulatory differences between agriculture and public health limit the wholesale transfer of knowledge and practices from one system to the other. Nonetheless, there are some valuable insights from agriculture that could assist in advancing the existing Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management framework.

Cry1F resistance among lepidopteran pests: a model for improved resistance management?

Science.gov (United States)

Vélez, Ana M; Vellichirammal, Neetha Nanoth; Jurat-Fuentes, Juan Luis; Siegfried, Blair D

2016-06-01

The Cry1Fa protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is known for its potential to control lepidopteran pests, especially through transgenic expression in maize and cotton. The maize event TC1507 expressing the cry1Fa toxin gene became commercially available in the United States in 2003 for the management of key lepidopteran pests including the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, and the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda. A high-dose/refuge strategy has been widely adopted to delay evolution of resistance to event TC1507 and other transgenic Bt crops. Efficacy of this strategy depends on the crops expressing a high dose of the Bt toxin to targeted pests and adjacent refuges of non-Bt host plants serving as a source of abundant susceptible insects. While this strategy has proved effective in delaying O. nubilalis resistance, field-evolved resistance to event TC1507 has been reported in S. frugiperda populations in Puerto Rico, Brazil, and the southeastern United States. This paper examines available information on resistance to Cry1Fa in O. nubilalis and S. frugiperda and discusses how this information identifies opportunities to refine resistance management recommendations for Bt maize. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Entrepreneurial Creativity through Motivational Synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Amabile, Teresa M.

1997-01-01

Defines and describes entrepreneurial creativity, which is the generation and implementation of novel, appropriate ideas to establish a new venture. Discusses the need for motivational synergy, which results when strong levels of personal interest and involvement are combined with the promise of rewards that confirm competence. (Author/CR)

Comparison of the clinical efficacy between tigecycline plus extended-infusion imipenem and sulbactam plus imipenem against ventilator-associated pneumonia with pneumonic extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia, and correlation of clinical efficacy with in vitro synergy tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Jean, Shio-Shin; Hsieh, Tai-Chin; Hsu, Chin-Wan; Lee, Wen-Sen; Bai, Kuan-Jen; Lam, Carlos

2016-12-01

To compare the clinical efficacy between salvage antimicrobial regimen consisting of tigecycline plus extended-infusion imipenem/cilastatin (TIC) and regimen of sulbactam plus imipenem/cilastatin (SIC) for patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia and pneumonic bacteremia due to extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab) isolates, and determine the correlation of results of in vitro tigecycline-imipenem synergy test with clinical efficacy. The comparative survey was conducted at a medical center in Taiwan in 2013. Patients comprising the TIC group (n = 28) received tigecycline plus extended-infusion imipenem/cilastatin following unresponsiveness to 3-day sulbactam-imipenem/cilastatin therapy, and those in the SIC group (n = 56) received sulbactam-imipenem/cilastatin throughout the course. Univariate and multivariate analyses were applied to explore 30-day case-fatality independent predictors. Additionally, the checkerboard test and time-kill analysis were performed for the bloodstream XDR-Ab isolates from patients in the TIC group, and molecular characterization was done for the bloodstream XDR-Ab strains of all patients. We found that the TIC scheme has a significant benefit on improving patients' survival status (the mortality rate of TIC and SIC group patients was 14.3% and 64.3%, respectively), corresponding well with in vitro synergy or additivity results by the checkerboard test. Twenty TIC group cases had monomicrobial XDR-Ab cultured from tracheal aspirates after 10 days of tigecycline-imipenem/cilastatin therapy, but none developed subsequent pneumonia. However, breakthrough primary Burkholderia cepacia (n = 3) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 1) bacteremias were attributed to four TIC case fatalities. Shock, SIC regimen usage, and development of breakthrough bacteremia were independent predictors of 30-day in-hospital mortality. Although the TIC regimen showed good efficacy, its value regarding managing XDR-Ab ventilator

Synergy for a Strong Future FY 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devore, L.; Chrzanowski, P.

2008-01-01

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC is committed to delivering the best combination of scientific research, technology development, business management, and safe, secure operations in support of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's critical national security mission. LLNS was formed specifically to manage LLNL for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. LLNS consists of a team of five organizations renowned for their expertise and accomplishments throughout the U.S. nuclear weapons complex and beyond - Bechtel National, University of California, Babcock and Wilcox, Washington Division of URS Corporation, and Battelle. Bechtel is the nation's largest engineering and construction firm and a leader in project management. The University of California is the world's largest public research institution. Babcock and Wilcox and the Washington Division of URS Corporation are top nuclear facilities contractors and between them manage four of DOE's five safest sites. Battelle is a global leader in science and technology development and commercialization. The LLNS Board of Governors provides oversight for the management of the Laboratory and holds the Director and LLNS President responsible for the Laboratory's performance. The Board has seven standing committees that assist in assessing Laboratory performance and monitoring risks and internal controls. Through the Board of Governors, the Laboratory can reach back to LLNS partner organizations to help ensure that it fulfills its national security mission with excellence in scientific research, technology development, business management, and safe, secure operations. LLNS assumed management of LLNL on October 1, 2007. This report highlights LLNS accomplishments in FY2008, its first year as the Laboratory's managing contractor. It is clear that LLNS and the Laboratory have exploited numerous synergies inherent in their relationship - for example, science and engineering, mission and

Scientific Synergy between LSST and Euclid

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Jason; Nichol, Robert C.; Aubourg, Éric; Bean, Rachel; Boutigny, Dominique; Bremer, Malcolm N.; Capak, Peter; Cardone, Vincenzo; Carry, Benoît; Conselice, Christopher J.; Connolly, Andrew J.; Cuillandre, Jean-Charles; Hatch, N. A.; Helou, George; Hemmati, Shoubaneh; Hildebrandt, Hendrik; Hložek, Renée; Jones, Lynne; Kahn, Steven; Kiessling, Alina; Kitching, Thomas; Lupton, Robert; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Markovic, Katarina; Marshall, Phil; Massey, Richard; Maughan, Ben J.; Melchior, Peter; Mellier, Yannick; Newman, Jeffrey A.; Robertson, Brant; Sauvage, Marc; Schrabback, Tim; Smith, Graham P.; Strauss, Michael A.; Taylor, Andy; Von Der Linden, Anja

2017-12-01

Euclid and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) are poised to dramatically change the astronomy landscape early in the next decade. The combination of high-cadence, deep, wide-field optical photometry from LSST with high-resolution, wide-field optical photometry, and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy from Euclid will be powerful for addressing a wide range of astrophysical questions. We explore Euclid/LSST synergy, ignoring the political issues associated with data access to focus on the scientific, technical, and financial benefits of coordination. We focus primarily on dark energy cosmology, but also discuss galaxy evolution, transient objects, solar system science, and galaxy cluster studies. We concentrate on synergies that require coordination in cadence or survey overlap, or would benefit from pixel-level co-processing that is beyond the scope of what is currently planned, rather than scientific programs that could be accomplished only at the catalog level without coordination in data processing or survey strategies. We provide two quantitative examples of scientific synergies: the decrease in photo-z errors (benefiting many science cases) when high-resolution Euclid data are used for LSST photo-z determination, and the resulting increase in weak-lensing signal-to-noise ratio from smaller photo-z errors. We briefly discuss other areas of coordination, including high-performance computing resources and calibration data. Finally, we address concerns about the loss of independence and potential cross-checks between the two missions and the potential consequences of not collaborating.

Framing the issues of resistance management in soybean

Science.gov (United States)

The soybean insect-pest complex consists of both long-established and new invasive pests. Management of these pests has been achieved by various means, but often relies heavily on the application of insecticides and the development of insect-resistant soybean varieties. Pest management practitione...

Accelerator magnet R/D in the perspective of a LHeC and HE-LHC, synergy or competition?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bottura, L.; Auchmann, B.; Bajko, M.; Ballarino, A.; Borgnolutti, F.; Ferracin, P.; Fessia, P.; Karppinen, M.; Kirby, G.; Oberli, L.; Perez, J.C.; Rossi, L.; Rijk, G. de; Russenschuck, S.; Smekens, D.; Todesco, E.; Tommasini, D.

2012-01-01

Beyond HL-LHC, CERN has a number of physics options that offer potential and challenges. This contribution dwells on the long-term projects HE-LHC and LHeC to put the magnet research and development at CERN (resistive and superconducting, slow and fast) in a long-term perspective. In particular synergies and parallel road-maps will be highlighted. We will show how the on-going development (2012-2015) on low-field, high-field, and low-loss magnets can be used towards longer term objectives. (authors)

Custirsen in combination with docetaxel and prednisone for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (SYNERGY trial): a phase 3, multicentre, open-label, randomised trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Kim N; Higano, Celestia S; Blumenstein, Brent; Ferrero, Jean-Marc; Reeves, James; Feyerabend, Susan; Gravis, Gwenaelle; Merseburger, Axel S; Stenzl, Arnulf; Bergman, Andries M; Mukherjee, Som D; Zalewski, Pawel; Saad, Fred; Jacobs, Cindy; Gleave, Martin; de Bono, Johann S

2017-04-01

Clusterin is a chaperone protein associated with treatment resistance and upregulated by apoptotic stressors such as chemotherapy. Custirsen is a second-generation antisense oligonucleotide that inhibits clusterin production. The aim of the SYNERGY trial was to investigate the effect of custirsen in combination with docetaxel and prednisone on overall survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. SYNERGY was a phase 3, multicentre, open-label, randomised trial set at 134 study centres in 12 countries. Patients were eligible for participation if they had: metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and had received no previous chemotherapy; prostate-specific antigen greater than 5 ng/mL; and a Karnofsky performance score of 70% or higher. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 centrally to either the docetaxel, prednisone, and custirsen combination or docetaxel and prednisone alone. Patients were not masked to treatment allocation. Randomisation was stratified by opioid use for cancer-related pain and radiographic evidence of progression. All patients received docetaxel 75 mg/m 2 intravenously with 5 mg of prednisone orally twice daily. Patients assigned docetaxel, prednisone, and custirsen received weekly doses of custirsen 640 mg intravenously after three loading doses of 640 mg. The primary endpoint was overall survival analysed in the intention-to-treat population. Patients who received at least one study dose were included in the safety analysis set. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01188187. The trial is completed and final analyses are reported here. Between Dec 10, 2010, and Nov 7, 2012, 1022 patients were enrolled to the trial, of whom 510 were assigned docetaxel, prednisone, and custirsen and 512 were allocated docetaxel and prednisone. No difference in overall survival was recorded between the two groups (median survival 23·4 months [95% CI 20·9-24·8] with docetaxel, prednisone, and custirsen vs

Muscle synergies in neuroscience and robotics: from input-space to task-space perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiano eAlessandro

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we review the works related to muscle synergies that have been carried-out in neuroscience and control engineering. In particular, we refer to the hypothesis that the central nervous system (CNS generates desired muscle contractions by combining a small number of predefined modules, called muscle synergies. We provide an overview of the methods that have been employed to test the validity of this scheme, and we show how the concept of muscle synergy has been generalized for the control of artificial agents. The comparison between these two lines of research, in particular their different goals and approaches, is instrumental to explain the computational implications of the hypothesized modular organization. Moreover, it clarifies the importance of assessing the functional role of muscle synergies: although these basic modules are defined at the level of muscle activations (input-space, they should result in the effective accomplishment of the desired task. This requirement is not always explicitly considered in experimental neuroscience, as muscle synergies are often estimated solely by analyzing recorded muscle activities. We suggest that synergy extraction methods should explicitly take into account task execution variables, thus moving from a perspective purely based on input-space to one grounded on task-space as well.

Practice effects on intra-team synergies in football teams.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Pedro; Chung, Dante; Carvalho, Thiago; Cardoso, Tiago; Davids, Keith; Araújo, Duarte; Garganta, Júlio

2016-04-01

Developing synchronised player movements for fluent competitive match play is a common goal for coaches of team games. An ecological dynamics approach advocates that intra-team synchronization is governed by locally created information, which specifies shared affordances responsible for synergy formation. To verify this claim we evaluated coordination tendencies in two newly-formed teams of recreational players during association football practice games, weekly, for fifteen weeks (thirteen matches). We investigated practice effects on two central features of synergies in sports teams - dimensional compression and reciprocal compensation here captured through near in-phase modes of coordination and time delays between coupled players during forward and backwards movements on field while attacking and defending. Results verified that synergies were formed and dissolved rapidly as a result of the dynamic creation of informational properties, perceived as shared affordances among performers. Practising once a week led to small improvements in the readjustment delays between co-positioning team members, enabling faster regulation of coordinated team actions. Mean values of the number of player and team synergies displayed only limited improvements, possibly due to the timescales of practice. No relationship between improvements in dimensional compression and reciprocal compensation were found for number of shots, amount of ball possession and number of ball recoveries made. Findings open up new perspectives for monitoring team coordination processes in sport. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Molecular mechanism of synergy between the antimicrobial peptides PGLa and magainin 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Zerweck, Jonathan; Strandberg, Erik; Kukharenko, Olga; Reichert, Johannes; Bürck, Jochen; Wadhwani, Parvesh; Ulrich, Anne S

2017-10-13

PGLa and magainin 2 (MAG2) are amphiphilic α-helical membranolytic peptides from frog skin with known synergistic antimicrobial activity. By systematically mutating residues in the two peptides it was possible to identify the ones crucial for the synergy, as monitored by biological assays, fluorescence vesicle leakage, and solid-state 15 N-NMR. Electrostatic interactions between anionic groups in MAG2 and cationic residues in PGLa enhance synergy but are not necessary for the synergistic effect. Instead, two Gly residues (7 and 11) in a so-called GxxxG motif in PGLa are necessary for synergy. Replacing either of them with Ala or another hydrophobic residue completely abolishes synergy according to all three methods used. The designer-made peptide MSI-103, which has a similar sequence as PGLa, shows no synergy with MAG2, but by introducing two Gly mutations it was possible to make it synergistic. A molecular model is proposed for the functionally active PGLa-MAG2 complex, consisting of a membrane-spanning antiparallel PGLa dimer that is stabilized by intimate Gly-Gly contacts, and where each PGLa monomer is in contact with one MAG2 molecule at its C-terminus.

A New Maraging Stainless Steel with Excellent Strength–Toughness–Corrosion Synergy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jialong Tian

2017-11-01

Full Text Available A new maraging stainless steel with superior strength–toughness–corrosion synergy has been developed based on an innovative concept of alloy design. The high strength–toughness combination is achieved by forming dispersive nano-sized intermetallic compounds in the soft lath martensitic matrix with a slight amount of residual austenite. The good corrosion resistance is guaranteed by exactly controlling the Co content based on understanding the synergistic effect between Co and Cr. The fine structure characteristics of two dominant strengthening precipitations including Ni3Ti and Mo-rich phases were finely characterized associated with transmission electron microscope (TEM and atom probe tomography (APT analyses. The relationship among microstructure, strength and toughness is discussed. The precipitation mechanism of different precipitates in the new maraging stainless steel is revealed based on the APT analysis.

A New Maraging Stainless Steel with Excellent Strength-Toughness-Corrosion Synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Jialong; Wang, Wei; Babar Shahzad, M; Yan, Wei; Shan, Yiyin; Jiang, Zhouhua; Yang, Ke

2017-11-10

A new maraging stainless steel with superior strength-toughness-corrosion synergy has been developed based on an innovative concept of alloy design. The high strength-toughness combination is achieved by forming dispersive nano-sized intermetallic compounds in the soft lath martensitic matrix with a slight amount of residual austenite. The good corrosion resistance is guaranteed by exactly controlling the Co content based on understanding the synergistic effect between Co and Cr. The fine structure characteristics of two dominant strengthening precipitations including Ni₃Ti and Mo-rich phases were finely characterized associated with transmission electron microscope (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT) analyses. The relationship among microstructure, strength and toughness is discussed. The precipitation mechanism of different precipitates in the new maraging stainless steel is revealed based on the APT analysis.

The Impact of Technical–Nontechnical Factors Synergy on Innovation Performance: The Moderating Effect of Talent Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong-Bo Shi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Innovation and talent are the guarantee of the sustainable development of an enterprise. However, internet companies are facing two major problems: innovation scarcity and frequent talent flow. The gradual intensification of competition is leading internet companies to realize the importance of collaborative innovation of an enterprise’s internal elements. Previous studies have pointed out that appropriate talent flow is conducive to improve the corporation’s innovation performance, too low or too high talent flow has a negative impact on the enterprise’s innovation ability. This study explores the relationship between talent flow, technical–nontechnical element synergy and collaborative innovation performance in the internet industry. The results show that the technical–nontechnical element synergy is beneficial to improve the collaborative innovation performance, and the comprehensive coordination of the elements can generate integration advantages that single element synergy cannot produce. As a moderator variable, talent flow can positively moderate the relationship between technical–market synergy, technical–strategy synergy, technical–institution synergy and collaborative innovation performance. However, because of the particularity of organization and culture, talent flow has no moderating effect on the relationship between technical–culture synergy, technical–organization synergy and innovation performance. Finally, this paper puts forward some suggestions on how to promote internet enterprise internal element synergy and use the talent flow frequency to improve collaborative innovation performance.

Nuclear and Renewable Energy Synergies Workshop: Report of Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruth, M.; Antkowiak, M.; Gossett, S.

2011-12-01

Two of the major challenges the U.S. energy sector faces are greenhouse gas emissions and oil that is both imported and potentially reaching a peak (the point at which maximum extraction is reached). Interest in development of both renewable and nuclear energy has been strong because both have potential for overcoming these challenges. Research in both energy sources is ongoing, but relatively little research has focused on the potential benefits of combining nuclear and renewable energy. In September 2011, the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) convened the Nuclear and Renewable Energy Synergies Workshop at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to identify potential synergies and strategic leveraging opportunities between nuclear energy and renewable energy. Industry, government, and academic thought leaders gathered to identify potential broad categories of synergies and brainstorm topic areas for additional analysis and research and development (R&D). This report records the proceedings and outcomes of the workshop.

Nuclear and Renewable Energy Synergies Workshop: Report of Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruth, M.; Antkowiak, M.; Gossett, S.

2011-01-01

Two of the major challenges the U.S. energy sector faces are greenhouse gas emissions and oil that is both imported and potentially reaching a peak (the point at which maximum extraction is reached). Interest in development of both renewable and nuclear energy has been strong because both have potential for overcoming these challenges. Research in both energy sources is ongoing, but relatively little research has focused on the potential benefits of combining nuclear and renewable energy. In September 2011, the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) convened the Nuclear and Renewable Energy Synergies Workshop at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to identify potential synergies and strategic leveraging opportunities between nuclear energy and renewable energy. Industry, government, and academic thought leaders gathered to identify potential broad categories of synergies and brainstorm topic areas for additional analysis and research and development (R and D). This report records the proceedings and outcomes of the workshop.

Electromyogram synergy control of a dexterous artificial hand to unscrew and screw objects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Benjamin A; Karnati, Nareen; Engeberg, Erik D

2014-03-21

Due to their limited dexterity, it is currently not possible to use a commercially available prosthetic hand to unscrew or screw objects without using elbow and shoulder movements. For these tasks, prosthetic hands function like a wrench, which is unnatural and limits their use in tight working environments. Results from timed rotational tasks with human subjects demonstrate the clinical need for increased dexterity of prosthetic hands, and a clinically viable solution to this problem is presented for an anthropomorphic artificial hand. Initially, a human hand motion analysis was performed during a rotational task. From these data, human hand synergies were derived and mapped to an anthropomorphic artificial hand. The synergy for the artificial hand is controlled using conventional dual site electromyogram (EMG) signals. These EMG signals were mapped to the developed synergy to control four joints of the dexterous artificial hand simultaneously.Five limb absent and ten able-bodied test subjects participated in a comparison study to complete a timed rotational task as quickly as possible with their natural hands (except for one subject with a bilateral hand absence), eight commercially available prosthetic hands, and the proposed synergy controller. Each test subject used two to four different artificial hands. With the able-bodied subjects, the developed synergy controller reduced task completion time by 177% on average. The limb absent subjects completed the task faster on average than with their own prostheses by 46%. There was a statistically significant improvement in task completion time with the synergy controller for three of the four limb absent participants with integrated prostheses, and was not statistically different for the fourth. The proposed synergy controller reduced average task completion time compared to commercially available prostheses. Additionally, the synergy controller is able to function in a small workspace and requires less physical

Optimizing the resource usage in Cloud based environments: the Synergy approach

Science.gov (United States)

Zangrando, L.; Llorens, V.; Sgaravatto, M.; Verlato, M.

2017-10-01

Managing resource allocation in a cloud based data centre serving multiple virtual organizations is a challenging issue. In fact, while batch systems are able to allocate resources to different user groups according to specific shares imposed by the data centre administrator, without a static partitioning of such resources, this is not so straightforward in the most common cloud frameworks, e.g. OpenStack. In the current OpenStack implementation, it is only possible to grant fixed quotas to the different user groups and these resources cannot be exceeded by one group even if there are unused resources allocated to other groups. Moreover in the existing OpenStack implementation, when there aren’t resources available, new requests are simply rejected: it is then up to the client to later re-issue the request. The recently started EU-funded INDIGO-DataCloud project is addressing this issue through “Synergy”, a new advanced scheduling service targeted for OpenStack. Synergy adopts a fair-share model for resource provisioning which guarantees that resources are distributed among users following the fair-share policies defined by the administrator, taken also into account the past usage of such resources. We present the architecture of Synergy, the status of its implementation, some preliminary results and the foreseen evolution of the service.

Analysis of the Factors Affecting Resistance to Changes in Management Accounting Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Angonese

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Despite changes in the environment and management accounting practices, studies indicate that management accounting systems do not change or change at a much slower rate than expected. The stability of the management accounting systems used by companies may relate to resistance to changing these systems. This study analyzes the factors that contribute to resistance to implementing an integrated management system from the perspective of institutional theory, grounded in the old institutional economics. Methodologically, this study provides a qualitative assessment of the problem and a descriptive analysis of the resistance factors through a case-study approach. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through content analysis. Two companies were selected for this study due to their differing characteristics. The following seven factors were analyzed for resistance to implementing integrated management systems: institutional power, ontological insecurity, trust, inertia, lack of knowledge, acceptance of routines and decoupling. However, there was no evidence to characterize hierarchical power. The research findings indicate that changing management accounting systems, through the implementation of an integrated management system, faces internal resistance in these organizations. Each factor varies in intensity but is permanently present in these companies, such as ontological insecurity, trust, inertia, lack of knowledge, acceptance of routines and decoupling. These factors are awakened when the change process begins and, if they gather enough force, can stop the change.

Synergy effect of naphthenic acid corrosion and sulfur corrosion in crude oil distillation unit

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, B. S.; Yin, W. F.; Sang, D. H.; Jiang, Z. Y.

2012-10-01

The synergy effect of naphthenic acid corrosion and sulfur corrosion at high temperature in crude oil distillation unit was studied using Q235 carbon-manganese steel and 316 stainless steel. The corrosion of Q235 and 316 in corrosion media containing sulfur and/or naphthenic acid at 280 °C was investigated by weight loss, scanning electron microscope (SEM), EDS and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis. The results showed that in corrosion media containing only sulfur, the corrosion rate of Q235 and 316 first increased and then decreased with the increase of sulfur content. In corrosion media containing naphthenic acid and sulfur, with the variations of acid value or sulfur content, the synergy effect of naphthenic acid corrosion and sulfur corrosion has a great influence on the corrosion rate of Q235 and 316. It was indicated that the sulfur accelerated naphthenic acid corrosion below a certain sulfur content but prevented naphthenic acid corrosion above that. The corrosion products on two steels after exposure to corrosion media were investigated. The stable Cr5S8 phases detected in the corrosion products film of 316 were considered as the reason why 316 has greater corrosion resistance to that of Q235.

Feasibility of Muscle Synergy Outcomes in Clinics, Robotics, and Sports: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juri Taborri

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In the last years, several studies have been focused on understanding how the central nervous system controls muscles to perform a specific motor task. Although it still remains an open question, muscle synergies have come to be an appealing theory to explain the modular organization of the central nervous system. Even though the neural encoding of muscle synergies remains controversial, a large number of papers demonstrated that muscle synergies are robust across different tested conditions, which are within a day, between days, within a single subject, and between subjects that have similar demographic characteristics. Thus, muscle synergy theory has been largely used in several research fields, such as clinics, robotics, and sports. The present systematical review aims at providing an overview on the applications of muscle synergy theory in clinics, robotics, and sports; in particular, the review is focused on the papers that provide tangible information for (i diagnosis or pathology assessment in clinics, (ii robot-control design in robotics, and (iii athletes’ performance assessment or training guidelines in sports.

A Methodology to Measure Synergy Among Energy-Efficiency Programs at the Program Participant Level

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tonn, B.E.

2003-11-14

This paper presents a methodology designed to measure synergy among energy-efficiency programs at the program participant level (e.g., households, firms). Three different definitions of synergy are provided: strong, moderate, and weak. Data to measure synergy can be collected through simple survey questions. Straightforward mathematical techniques can be used to estimate the three types of synergy and explore relative synergistic impacts of different subsets of programs. Empirical research is needed to test the concepts and methods and to establish quantitative expectations about synergistic relationships among programs. The market for new energy-efficient motors is the context used to illustrate all the concepts and methods in this paper.

Modeling the synergy of cofilin and Arp2/3 in lamellipodial protrusive activity.

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Tania, Nessy; Condeelis, John; Edelstein-Keshet, Leah

2013-11-05

Rapid polymerization of actin filament barbed ends generates protrusive forces at the cell edge, leading to cell migration. Two important regulators of free barbed ends, cofilin and Arp2/3, have been shown to work in synergy (net effect greater than additive). To explore this synergy, we model the dynamics of F-actin at the leading edge, motivated by data from EGF-stimulated mammary carcinoma cells. We study how synergy depends on the localized rates and relative timing of cofilin and Arp2/3 activation at the cell edge. The model incorporates diffusion of cofilin, membrane protrusion, F-actin capping, aging, and severing by cofilin and branch nucleation by Arp2/3 (but not G-actin recycling). In a well-mixed system, cofilin and Arp2/3 can each generate a large pulse of barbed ends on their own, but have little synergy; high synergy occurs only at low activation rates, when few barbed ends are produced. In the full spatially distributed model, both synergy and barbed-end production are significant over a range of activation rates. Furthermore, barbed-end production is greatest when Arp2/3 activation is delayed relative to cofilin. Our model supports a direct role for cofilin-mediated actin polymerization in stimulated cell migration, including chemotaxis and cancer invasion. Copyright © 2013 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Techniques for rapid determination of effects of synergy between radionuclides and pollutants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saas, A.; Grauby, A.

1975-01-01

The authors present a number of chromatographic techniques for rapid determination of synergy between radionuclides and various compounds in water. The first technique consists in studying how the chemical equilibrium of iodine varies in the presence of various organic and mineral compounds. The second makes it possible to define the effects of synergy within a given hydrographic basin. A third technique deals with the effects of synergy in ground water in the presence of various types of irrigation water. Finally, to complete this set of techniques, the authors define the mobility potential of a radionuclide in a given aqueous effluent

Human synergy in the rotten banana

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensson, Christian Franklin

Counter-activity and synergy canbe viewed as a renaissance when recapturing the human potentials in civil society. The paper discusses employees' navigations and their imaginings of the future both relating to social enterprises and civil society and relating to the municipality as a rural area....

Effects of 5 Weeks of Bench Press Training on Muscle Synergies: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristiansen, Mathias; Samani, Afshin; Madeleine, Pascal; Hansen, Ernst A

2016-07-01

Kristiansen, M, Samani, A, Madeleine, P, and Hansen, EA. Effects of 5 weeks of bench press training on muscle synergies: A randomized controlled study. J Strength Cond Res 30(7): 1948-1959, 2016-The ability to perform forceful muscle contractions has important implications in sports performance and in activities of daily living. However, there is a lack of knowledge on adaptations in intermuscular coordination after strength training. The purpose of this study was therefore to assess muscle synergies before and after 5 weeks of bench press training. Thirty untrained male subjects were randomly allocated to a training group (TRA) or a control group (CON). After the pretest, TRA completed 5 weeks of bench press training, before completing a posttest, whereas subjects in CON continued their normal life. During test sessions, surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded from 13 different muscles. Muscle synergies were extracted from EMG data using nonnegative matrix factorization. To evaluate differences between pretest and posttest, we performed a cross-correlation analysis and a cross-validation analysis, in which the synergy components extracted in the pretest session were recomputed, using the fixed synergy components from the posttest session. Two muscle synergies accounted for 90% of the total variance and reflected the concentric and eccentric phase, respectively. TRA significantly increased 3 repetition maximum in bench press with 19.0% (25th; 75th percentile, 10.3%; 21.7%) (p < 0.001), whereas no change occurred in CON. No significant differences were observed in synergy components between groups. However, decreases in correlation values for intragroup comparisons in TRA may suggest that the synergy components changed, whereas this was not the case in CON. Strength and conditioning professionals may consider monitoring changes in muscle synergies in training and rehabilitation programs as a way to benchmark changes in intermuscular coordination.

Mechanisms of the negative synergy effect between electron cyclotron current drive and lower hybrid current drive in tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Shaoyong; Hong Binbin; Tang Changjian; Yang Wen; Zhang Xinjun

2013-01-01

The synergy current drive by combining electron cyclotron wave (ECW) with lower hybrid wave (LHW) can be used to either increase the noninductive current drive efficiency or shape the plasma current profile. In this paper, the synergy current drive by ECW and LHW is studied with numerical simulation. The nonlinear relationship between the wave powers and the synergy current of ECW and LHW is revealed. When the LHW power is small, the synergy current reduces as the ECW power increases, and the synergy current is even reduced to lower than zero, which is referred as negative synergy in the this context. Research shows that the mechanism of the negative synergy is the peaking effect of LHW power profile and the trapped electrons effect. The present research is helpful for understanding the physics of synergy between electron cyclotron current drive and lower hybrid current drive, it can also instruct the design of experiments. (authors)

Muscle Synergies Heavily Influence the Neural Control of Arm Endpoint Stiffness and Energy Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Inouye, Joshua M; Valero-Cuevas, Francisco J

2016-02-01

Much debate has arisen from research on muscle synergies with respect to both limb impedance control and energy consumption. Studies of limb impedance control in the context of reaching movements and postural tasks have produced divergent findings, and this study explores whether the use of synergies by the central nervous system (CNS) can resolve these findings and also provide insights on mechanisms of energy consumption. In this study, we phrase these debates at the conceptual level of interactions between neural degrees of freedom and tasks constraints. This allows us to examine the ability of experimentally-observed synergies--correlated muscle activations--to control both energy consumption and the stiffness component of limb endpoint impedance. In our nominal 6-muscle planar arm model, muscle synergies and the desired size, shape, and orientation of endpoint stiffness ellipses, are expressed as linear constraints that define the set of feasible muscle activation patterns. Quadratic programming allows us to predict whether and how energy consumption can be minimized throughout the workspace of the limb given those linear constraints. We show that the presence of synergies drastically decreases the ability of the CNS to vary the properties of the endpoint stiffness and can even preclude the ability to minimize energy. Furthermore, the capacity to minimize energy consumption--when available--can be greatly affected by arm posture. Our computational approach helps reconcile divergent findings and conclusions about task-specific regulation of endpoint stiffness and energy consumption in the context of synergies. But more generally, these results provide further evidence that the benefits and disadvantages of muscle synergies go hand-in-hand with the structure of feasible muscle activation patterns afforded by the mechanics of the limb and task constraints. These insights will help design experiments to elucidate the interplay between synergies and the mechanisms

Trade-off between synergy and efficacy in combinations of HIV-1 latency-reversing agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Vipul; Dixit, Narendra M

2018-02-01

Eradicating HIV-1 infection is difficult because of the reservoir of latently infected cells that gets established soon after infection, remains hidden from antiretroviral drugs and host immune responses, and retains the capacity to reignite infection following the cessation of treatment. Drugs called latency-reversing agents (LRAs) are being developed to reactivate latently infected cells and render them susceptible to viral cytopathicity or immune killing. Whereas individual LRAs have failed to induce adequate reactivation, pairs of LRAs have been identified recently that act synergistically and hugely increase reactivation levels compared to individual LRAs. The maximum synergy achievable with LRA pairs is of clinical importance, as it would allow latency-reversal with minimal drug exposure. Here, we employed stochastic simulations of HIV-1 transcription and translation in latently infected cells to estimate this maximum synergy. We incorporated the predominant mechanisms of action of the two most promising classes of LRAs, namely, protein kinase C agonists and histone deacetylase inhibitors, and quantified the activity of individual LRAs in the two classes by mapping our simulations to corresponding in vitro experiments. Without any adjustable parameters, our simulations then quantitatively captured experimental observations of latency-reversal when the LRAs were used in pairs. Performing simulations representing a wide range of drug concentrations, we estimated the maximum synergy achievable with these LRA pairs. Importantly, we found with all the LRA pairs we considered that concentrations yielding the maximum synergy did not yield the maximum latency-reversal. Increasing concentrations to increase latency-reversal compromised synergy, unravelling a trade-off between synergy and efficacy in LRA combinations. The maximum synergy realizable with LRA pairs would thus be restricted by the desired level of latency-reversal, a constrained optimum we elucidated with

Resistance Management for San Jose Scale (Hemiptera: Diaspididae).

Science.gov (United States)

Buzzetti, K; Chorbadjian, R A; Nauen, R

2015-12-01

The San Jose scale Diaspidiotus perniciosus Comstock is one of the most important pests of deciduous fruit trees. The major cause of recent outbreaks in apple orchards is thought to be the development of insecticide resistance, specifically organophosphates. The first report was given in North America, and now, in Chile. In the present study, San Jose scale populations collected from two central regions of Chile were checked for their susceptibility to different mode of action insecticides in order to establish alternatives to manage this pest. No evidence of cross resistance between organophosphates insecticides and acetamiprid, buprofezin, pyriproxyfen, spirotetramat, sulfoxaflor, or thiacloprid was found. Baselines of LC50-LC95 for different life stages of San Jose scale are given, as reference to future studies of resistance monitoring. The systemic activity of acetamiprid, spirotetramat, and thiacloprid was higher than the contact residue effect of these compounds. For sulfoxaflor, both values were similar. Program treatments including one or more of these compounds are compared in efficacy and impact on resistance ratio values. In order to preserve new insecticides as an important tool to control San Jose scale, resistance management programs should be implemented, considering insecticide mode of action classes alternated or mixed. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Using mass-release of engineered insects to manage insecticide resistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alphey, Nina; Coleman, Paul G.; Donnelly, Christl A.

2006-01-01

Transgenic crops expressing insecticidal toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely used to control insect pests. The benefits of such crops would be lost if resistance to the toxins spread to a significant proportion of the pest population. The main resistance management method, mandatory in the US, is the high-dose/refuge strategy, requiring nearby refuges of toxin-free crops, and the use of toxin doses sufficiently high to kill not only wild type insects but also insects heterozygous for a resistance allele, thereby rendering the resistance functionally recessive. We propose that mass-release of harmless toxin-sensitive insects could substantially delay or even reverse the spread of resistance. Mass-release of such insects is an integral part of RIDL, a genetics-based method of pest control related to the Sterile Insect Technique. We used a population genetic mathematical model to analyze the effects of releasing male insects homozygous for a female-specific dominant lethal genetic construct, and concluded that this RIDL strategy could form an effective component of a resistance management scheme for insecticidal plants and other toxins. (author)

Using mass-release of engineered insects to manage insecticide resistance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alphey, Nina [University of Oxford (United Kingdom). Dept. of Zoology; Alphey, Luke [Oxitec Limited, Oxford (United Kingdom); Coleman, Paul G [London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (United Kingdom). Dept. of Infectious and Tropical Diseases; Donnelly, Christl A [Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, London (United Kingdom). Dept. of Infectious Disease Epidemiology

2006-07-01

Transgenic crops expressing insecticidal toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely used to control insect pests. The benefits of such crops would be lost if resistance to the toxins spread to a significant proportion of the pest population. The main resistance management method, mandatory in the US, is the high-dose/refuge strategy, requiring nearby refuges of toxin-free crops, and the use of toxin doses sufficiently high to kill not only wild type insects but also insects heterozygous for a resistance allele, thereby rendering the resistance functionally recessive. We propose that mass-release of harmless toxin-sensitive insects could substantially delay or even reverse the spread of resistance. Mass-release of such insects is an integral part of RIDL, a genetics-based method of pest control related to the Sterile Insect Technique. We used a population genetic mathematical model to analyze the effects of releasing male insects homozygous for a female-specific dominant lethal genetic construct, and concluded that this RIDL strategy could form an effective component of a resistance management scheme for insecticidal plants and other toxins. (author)

Treatment strategy for a multidrug-resistant Klebsiella UTI.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Erin; Heil, Emily L; Hynicka, Lauren M

2014-01-01

To describe the management strategy for a multidrug-resistant (MDR) Klebsiella urinary tract infection (UTI). A 69-year-old Caucasian woman with a past medical history of recurrent UTIs and a right-lung transplant presented with fever to 101.4°F, chills, malaise, and cloudy, foul-smelling urine for approximately 1 week. She was found to have a MDR Klebsiella UTI that was sensitive to tigecycline and cefepime. To further evaluate the degree of resistance Etest minimum inhibitory concentrations were requested for cefepime, amikacin, meropenem, and ertapenem. The patient received a 14-day course of amikacin, which resulted in resolution of her symptoms. One month later, the patient's UTI symptoms returned. The urine culture again grew MDR Klebsiella, sensitive only to tigecycline. Fosfomycin was initiated and resulted in limited resolution of her symptoms. Colistin was started, however, therapy was discontinued on day 5 secondary to the development of acute kidney injury. Despite the short course of therapy, the patient's symptoms resolved. The case presented lends itself well to numerous discussion items that are important to consider when determining optimal treatment for MDR Gram-negative bacilli (GNBs). Susceptibility testing is an important tool for optimizing antibiotic therapy, however, automated systems may overestimate the susceptibility profile for a MDR GNB. Treatment strategies evaluated to treat MDR GNB, include combination therapy with a carbepenem and synergy using polymyxin. We have described the management strategy for a MDR Klebsiella UTI, the consequences of the initial management strategy, and potential strategies to manage these types of infections in future patients.

Synergy effect of naphthenic acid corrosion and sulfur corrosion in crude oil distillation unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, B.S., E-mail: yinwenfeng2010@163.com [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Sichuan, Chengdu, 610500 (China); Yin, W.F. [College of Mechatronic Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Sichuan, Chengdu, 610500 (China); Sang, D.H. [Sheng Li Construction Group International Engineering Department, Shandong, Dongying, 257000 (China); Jiang, Z.Y. [College of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Sichuan, Chengdu, 610500 (China)

2012-10-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The corrosion of a carbon-manganese steel and a stainless steel in sulfur and/or naphthenic acid media was investigated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The corrosion rate of the carbon-manganese steel increased with the increase of the acid value and sulfur content. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The critical values of the concentration of sulfur and acid for corrosion rate of the stainless steel were ascertained respectively. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The stainless steel is superior to the carbon-manganese steel in corrosion resistance because of the presence of stable Cr{sub 5}S{sub 8} phases. - Abstract: The synergy effect of naphthenic acid corrosion and sulfur corrosion at high temperature in crude oil distillation unit was studied using Q235 carbon-manganese steel and 316 stainless steel. The corrosion of Q235 and 316 in corrosion media containing sulfur and/or naphthenic acid at 280 Degree-Sign C was investigated by weight loss, scanning electron microscope (SEM), EDS and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis. The results showed that in corrosion media containing only sulfur, the corrosion rate of Q235 and 316 first increased and then decreased with the increase of sulfur content. In corrosion media containing naphthenic acid and sulfur, with the variations of acid value or sulfur content, the synergy effect of naphthenic acid corrosion and sulfur corrosion has a great influence on the corrosion rate of Q235 and 316. It was indicated that the sulfur accelerated naphthenic acid corrosion below a certain sulfur content but prevented naphthenic acid corrosion above that. The corrosion products on two steels after exposure to corrosion media were investigated. The stable Cr{sub 5}S{sub 8} phases detected in the corrosion products film of 316 were considered as the reason why 316 has greater corrosion resistance to that of Q235.

Cooperation Formats of China and Europe: Synergies and Divergences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šteinbuka Inna

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This contribution articulates the synergies and divergences of the various formats of cooperation between China and the European countries. The EU and China have a strong interest in each other’s flagship initiatives, namely the Investment Plan for Europe, and the One Belt, One Road Initiative (Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. The authors argue that there are certain synergies between these initiatives. Furthermore, the new initiative EU-China Connectivity Platform is aimed to explore these synergies. The authors explore the recent developments in the EU-China investments, trade cooperation and the challenges of the ever-growing CEEC-China partnership in different formats, including the new platform of 16+1. The authors examine these implications in relation to the need to expand and adapt the content and approach of the EU-China Bilateral Investment agreement. The article concludes that the CEEC-China relation does not go against the EU; moreover, neither the CEE countries nor China have any motivation to try to weaken the EU.

Activity of levofloxacin alone and in combination with a DnaK inhibitor against gram-negative rods, including levofloxacin-resistant strains.

Science.gov (United States)

Credito, Kim; Lin, Gengrong; Koeth, Laura; Sturgess, Michael A; Appelbaum, Peter C

2009-02-01

Synergy time-kill testing of levofloxacin alone and in combination with CHP-105, a representative DnaK inhibitor, against 50 gram-negative rods demonstrated that 34 of the 50 strains tested showed significant synergy between levofloxacin and CHP-105 after 12 h and 24 h. Fourteen of these 34 organisms were quinolone resistant (levofloxacin MICs of > or =4 microg/ml).

Activity of Levofloxacin Alone and in Combination with a DnaK Inhibitor against Gram-Negative Rods, Including Levofloxacin-Resistant Strains▿

Science.gov (United States)

Credito, Kim; Lin, Gengrong; Koeth, Laura; Sturgess, Michael A.; Appelbaum, Peter C.

2009-01-01

Synergy time-kill testing of levofloxacin alone and in combination with CHP-105, a representative DnaK inhibitor, against 50 gram-negative rods demonstrated that 34 of the 50 strains tested showed significant synergy between levofloxacin and CHP-105 after 12 h and 24 h. Fourteen of these 34 organisms were quinolone resistant (levofloxacin MICs of ≥4 μg/ml). PMID:19015359

Neural basis for hand muscle synergies in the primate spinal cord.

Science.gov (United States)

Takei, Tomohiko; Confais, Joachim; Tomatsu, Saeka; Oya, Tomomichi; Seki, Kazuhiko

2017-08-08

Grasping is a highly complex movement that requires the coordination of multiple hand joints and muscles. Muscle synergies have been proposed to be the functional building blocks that coordinate such complex motor behaviors, but little is known about how they are implemented in the central nervous system. Here we demonstrate that premotor interneurons (PreM-INs) in the primate cervical spinal cord underlie the spatiotemporal patterns of hand muscle synergies during a voluntary grasping task. Using spike-triggered averaging of hand muscle activity, we found that the muscle fields of PreM-INs were not uniformly distributed across hand muscles but rather distributed as clusters corresponding to muscle synergies. Moreover, although individual PreM-INs have divergent activation patterns, the population activity of PreM-INs reflects the temporal activation of muscle synergies. These findings demonstrate that spinal PreM-INs underlie the muscle coordination required for voluntary hand movements in primates. Given the evolution of neural control of primate hand functions, we suggest that spinal premotor circuits provide the fundamental coordination of multiple joints and muscles upon which more fractionated control is achieved by superimposed, phylogenetically newer, pathways.

Analgesic synergy between opioid and α2 -adrenoceptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Chabot-Doré, A-J; Schuster, D J; Stone, L S; Wilcox, G L

2015-01-01

Opioid and α2 -adrenoceptor agonists are potent analgesic drugs and their analgesic effects can synergize when co-administered. These supra-additive interactions are potentially beneficial clinically; by increasing efficacy and/or reducing the total drug required to produce sufficient pain relief, undesired side effects can be minimized. However, combination therapies of opioids and α2 -adrenoceptor agonists remain underutilized clinically, in spite of a large body of preclinical evidence describing their synergistic interaction. One possible obstacle to the translation of preclinical findings to clinical applications is a lack of understanding of the mechanisms underlying the synergistic interactions between these two drug classes. In this review, we provide a detailed overview of the interactions between different opioid and α2 -adrenoceptor agonist combinations in preclinical studies. These studies have identified the spinal cord as an important site of action of synergistic interactions, provided insights into which receptors mediate these interactions and explored downstream signalling events enabling synergy. It is now well documented that the activation of both μ and δ opioid receptors can produce synergy with α2 -adrenoceptor agonists and that α2 -adrenoceptor agonists can mediate synergy through either the α2A or the α2C adrenoceptor subtypes. Current hypotheses surrounding the cellular mechanisms mediating opioid-adrenoceptor synergy, including PKC signalling and receptor oligomerization, and the evidence supporting them are presented. Finally, the implications of these findings for clinical applications and drug discovery are discussed. This article is part of a themed section on Opioids: New Pathways to Functional Selectivity. To view the other articles in this section visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.2015.172.issue-2. © 2014 The British Pharmacological Society.

Synergies Between ' and Cavity Formation in HT-9 Following High Dose Neutron Irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Field, Kevin G. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Parish, Chad M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Saleh, Tarik A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Eftink, Benjamin P. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2017-06-01

Candidate cladding materials for advanced nuclear power reactors including fast reactor designs require materials capable of withstanding high dose neutron irradiation at elevated temperatures. One candidate material, HT-9, through various research programs have demonstrated the ability to withstand significant swelling and other radiation-induced degradation mechanisms in the high dose regime (>50 displacements per atom, dpa) at elevated temperatures (>300 C). Here, high efficiency multi-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) acquisition with the aid of a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and modeling technique is used to probe the microstructural features that contribute to the exceptional swelling resistance of HT-9. In particular, the synergies between ' and fine-scale and moderate-scale cavity formation is investigated.

The antimicrobial resistance crisis: management through gene monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an acknowledged crisis for humanity. Its genetic origins and dire potential outcomes are increasingly well understood. However, diagnostic techniques for monitoring the crisis are currently largely limited to enumerating the increasing incidence of resistant pathogens. Being the end-stage of the evolutionary process that produces antimicrobial resistant pathogens, these measurements, while diagnostic, are not prognostic, and so are not optimal in managing this crisis. A better test is required. Here, using insights from an understanding of evolutionary processes ruling the changing abundance of genes under selective pressure, we suggest a predictive framework for the AMR crisis. We then discuss the likely progression of resistance for both existing and prospective antimicrobial therapies. Finally, we suggest that by the environmental monitoring of resistance gene frequency, resistance may be detected and tracked presumptively, and how this tool may be used to guide decision-making in the local and global use of antimicrobials. PMID:27831476

Skid resistance determination for pavement management and wet-weather road safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.F. Fwa

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Road accidents during wet weather have been a topic of major concern of road engineers in regions of wet-tropical climate and in other parts of the world during the wet season of the year. Road safety studies indicate that approximately 20% of all road accidents occurred during wet weather, and that the skid resistance of wet pavements have a major influence on the occurrences of wet-weather accidents. Monitoring of wet pavement skid resistance has been an integral part of a typical pavement management system. However, because of the lack of prediction capability of pavement skid resistance under various rainfall intensities, the minimum skid resistance threshold for safe wet-weather driving has been specified by highway agencies based on either engineering judgement or past experience. It is shown in this paper that the single-point minimum skid resistance threshold is inadequate to offer a complete description of the skid resistance performance of the pavement sections in question for effective management of a road network. It is unable to assess the risk involved in an actual wet-weather condition where the pavement surface water-film thickness and vehicle speed are different from standard test conditions. This limitation of the current system of specifying a minimum skid resistance threshold can be overcome by adopting a theoretically sound approach to represent pavement skid resistance under different conditions of water-film thickness and vehicle speed. This paper describes the theoretical basis of the approach and the development of a mechanistically derived three-dimensional finite-element skid resistance simulation model to predict skid resistance. The application of the proposed approach and the skid resistance prediction procedure in pavement management system and wet-weather driving safety assessment is presented.

Evaluation of Functional Correlation of Task-Specific Muscle Synergies with Motor Performance in Patients Poststroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Si Li

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The central nervous system produces movements by activating specifically programmed muscle synergies that are also altered with injuries in the brain, such as stroke. In this study, we hypothesize that there exists a positive correlation between task-specific muscle synergy and motor functions at joint and task levels in patients following stroke. The purpose here is to define and evaluate neurophysiological metrics based on task-specific muscle synergy for assessing motor functions in patients. A patient group of 10 subjects suffering from stroke and a control group of nine age-matched healthy subjects were recruited to participate in this study. Electromyography (EMG signals and movement kinematics were recorded in patients and control subjects while performing arm reaching tasks. Muscle synergies of individual patients were extracted off-line from EMG records of each patient, and a baseline pattern of muscle synergy was obtained from the pooled EMG data of all nine control subjects. Peak velocities and movement durations of each reaching movement were computed from measured kinematics. Similarity indices of matching components to those of the baseline synergy were defined by synergy vectors and time profiles, respectively, as well as by a combined similarity of vector and time profile. Results showed that pathological synergies of patients were altered from the characteristics of baseline synergy with missing components, or varied vector patterns and time profiles. The kinematic performance measured by peak velocities and movement durations was significantly poorer for the patient group than the control group. In patients, all three similarity indices were found to correlate significantly to the kinematics of movements for the reaching tasks. The correlation to the Fugl-Meyer score of arm was the highest with the vector index, the lowest with the time profile index, and in between with the combined index. These findings illustrate that the

Screening for synergistic activity of antimicrobial combinations against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae using inkjet printer-based technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan-Krohn, Thea; Truelson, Katherine A; Smith, Kenneth P; Kirby, James E

2017-10-01

Synergistic combination antimicrobial therapy may provide new options for treatment of MDR infections. However, comprehensive in vitro synergy data are limited and facile methods to perform synergy testing in a clinically actionable time frame are unavailable. To systematically investigate a broad range of antibiotic combinations for evidence of synergistic activity against a collection of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) isolates. We made use of an automated method for chequerboard array synergy testing based on inkjet printer technology in the HP D300 digital dispenser to test 56 pairwise antimicrobial combinations of meropenem, aztreonam, cefepime, colistin, gentamicin, levofloxacin, chloramphenicol, fosfomycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, minocycline and rifampicin, as well as the double carbapenem combination of meropenem and ertapenem. In a screening procedure, we tested these combinations against four CRE strains and identified nine antibiotic combinations that showed potential clinically relevant synergy. In confirmatory testing using 10 CRE strains, six combinations demonstrated clinically relevant synergy with both antimicrobials at the minimum fractional inhibitory concentration (FICI-MIN) in the susceptible or intermediate range in at least one trial. These included two novel combinations: minocycline plus colistin and minocycline plus meropenem. In 80% of strains at least one combination demonstrated clinically relevant synergy, but the combinations that demonstrated synergy varied from strain to strain. This work establishes the foundation for future systematic, broad-range investigations into antibiotic synergy for CRE, emphasizes the need for individualized synergy testing and demonstrates the utility of inkjet printer-based technology for the performance of automated antimicrobial synergy assays. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights

Theoretical Aspects of Innovatization of the Management of Regional Social Systems on the Basis of the Phenomena Complex «Syntellect – Synergy – Synarchy»

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vartsaba Vjera I.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at the theoretical substantiation of the role and practicability of the both search and elaboration of innovative concepts, technologies and tools for regional management based on the contemporary management requirements of the managerial harmonization of goals, interests, relationships and interaction of participants in the regional markets under the respective acts on the part of public policy and regional management. A model for transforming resources of the regional social system into the economically and socially significant results of its development has been proposed. A graphical-analytic model for managing the status of dysergy-synergy of a socio-economic system by means of the organizational integration of its subsystems has been created, the coefficients for determining the degree of harmonization when controlling the system have been suggested. A base management algorithm for the 3С-Technology of harmonizing objectives and interests of the subsystems of a socio-economic system has been developed. Proceeding from the fact that the basis of the underlying algorithm for the managerial 3С-Technology is in its turn based on the algorithm for implementation of the management tool Strategic Planning (SP, which is supplemented by the mandatory use with the aim of the progressive transformation of the material resources of the system with an intensive and managed participation of the intellectual resources of the latter, becomes quite practical to explore and evaluate the relationship between the results obtained from the use of this technology

Prediction of drug synergy in cancer using ensemble-based machine learning techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Harpreet; Rana, Prashant Singh; Singh, Urvinder

2018-04-01

Drug synergy prediction plays a significant role in the medical field for inhibiting specific cancer agents. It can be developed as a pre-processing tool for therapeutic successes. Examination of different drug-drug interaction can be done by drug synergy score. It needs efficient regression-based machine learning approaches to minimize the prediction errors. Numerous machine learning techniques such as neural networks, support vector machines, random forests, LASSO, Elastic Nets, etc., have been used in the past to realize requirement as mentioned above. However, these techniques individually do not provide significant accuracy in drug synergy score. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to design a neuro-fuzzy-based ensembling approach. To achieve this, nine well-known machine learning techniques have been implemented by considering the drug synergy data. Based on the accuracy of each model, four techniques with high accuracy are selected to develop ensemble-based machine learning model. These models are Random forest, Fuzzy Rules Using Genetic Cooperative-Competitive Learning method (GFS.GCCL), Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Dynamic Evolving Neural-Fuzzy Inference System method (DENFIS). Ensembling is achieved by evaluating the biased weighted aggregation (i.e. adding more weights to the model with a higher prediction score) of predicted data by selected models. The proposed and existing machine learning techniques have been evaluated on drug synergy score data. The comparative analysis reveals that the proposed method outperforms others in terms of accuracy, root mean square error and coefficient of correlation.

Study of LHW and IBW synergy experiment on the HT-7 superconducting tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, X.

2001-01-01

A successful experiment on lower hybrid wave (LHW) and ion Bernstein wave (IBW) synergy has been carried out in the HT-7 superconducting tokamak. With 500 kW of LHW heating power and 200 kW of injected IBW power, it is observed that the ion temperature increases from 500 eV to about 850 eV, the electron temperature increases from 800 eV to 1.2 keV, and the averaged electron density increases from 0.9x10 19 m -3 to 2.6x10 19 m -3 . The plasma parameters were obviously enhanced by means of the LHW and IBW heating and their synergy. The charge-exchange spectra of the neutral particle analysis (NPA) diagnostics data clearly showed that the high-energy ion tail which was produced by the LHW was decreased by the synergy with the IBW, and the bulk ion temperature was increased. The mechanism of the LHW and IBW synergy effect is discussed. (author)

Emergence of motor synergy in vertical reaching task via tacit learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashibe, Mitsuhiro; Shimoda, Shingo

2013-01-01

The dynamics of multijoint limbs often causes complex dynamic interaction torques which are the inertial effect of other joints motion. It is known that Cerebellum takes important role in a motor learning by developing the internal model. In this paper, we propose a novel computational control paradigm in vertical reaching task which involves the management of interaction torques and gravitational effect. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed method is valid for acquiring motor synergy in the system with actuation redundancy and resulted in the energy efficient solutions. It is highlighted that the tacit learning in vertical reaching task can bring computational adaptability and optimality with model-free and cost-function-free approach differently from previous studies.

Taming THC: potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Ethan B

2011-01-01

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been the primary focus of cannabis research since 1964, when Raphael Mechoulam isolated and synthesized it. More recently, the synergistic contributions of cannabidiol to cannabis pharmacology and analgesia have been scientifically demonstrated. Other phytocannabinoids, including tetrahydrocannabivarin, cannabigerol and cannabichromene, exert additional effects of therapeutic interest. Innovative conventional plant breeding has yielded cannabis chemotypes expressing high titres of each component for future study. This review will explore another echelon of phytotherapeutic agents, the cannabis terpenoids: limonene, myrcene, α-pinene, linalool, β-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, nerolidol and phytol. Terpenoids share a precursor with phytocannabinoids, and are all flavour and fragrance components common to human diets that have been designated Generally Recognized as Safe by the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies. Terpenoids are quite potent, and affect animal and even human behaviour when inhaled from ambient air at serum levels in the single digits ng·mL−1. They display unique therapeutic effects that may contribute meaningfully to the entourage effects of cannabis-based medicinal extracts. Particular focus will be placed on phytocannabinoid-terpenoid interactions that could produce synergy with respect to treatment of pain, inflammation, depression, anxiety, addiction, epilepsy, cancer, fungal and bacterial infections (including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Scientific evidence is presented for non-cannabinoid plant components as putative antidotes to intoxicating effects of THC that could increase its therapeutic index. Methods for investigating entourage effects in future experiments will be proposed. Phytocannabinoid-terpenoid synergy, if proven, increases the likelihood that an extensive pipeline of new therapeutic products is possible from this venerable plant. LINKED ARTICLES

Synergy between phenothiazines and oxacillin against clinical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the compounds were determined by agar dilution method, and synergy between phenothiazines and oxacillin was investigated using Checkerboard (microbroth dilution) technique. Results: We found that all S. aureus strains, regardless of their susceptibility to oxacillin, ...

Evaluations of the Synergy of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Science.gov (United States)

Taniguchi, M.

2017-12-01

Analyses of the synergy and tradeoff of the water-energy-food nexus are keys to a sustainable society under the increasing demand for resources. Analyses of the water-energy-food nexus in Kumamoto, Japan showed that the paddy field for rice production, upstream of the basin with irrigated water from the river, had recharged the groundwater which is used as drinking water downstream in Kumamoto city without energy consumption for the transport of groundwater. National government regulations of "fallow rice fields" and urbanization after the 1970s caused the decrease in the groundwater recharge rate upstream in the paddy field area. This also lead to the decrease in water resources of groundwater downstream in Kumamoto city, which then required additional energy for water pumping. Therefore, the synergy of water-energy-food was lost after government regulations of rice production and urbanization which caused an impermeable layer for groundwater recharge. The nexus model has been established to analyze the synergy of water-energy-food, including cost-benefit analyses, food trade including rice with different scenarios of food self-sufficiency rates, water and energy consumption for food, and others. A decrease in rice consumption and production with the same self-sufficiency rate caused a decrease in water and energy consumption for rice production, and a decrease in carbon emissions. However, the cost of synergy loss in the water-energy-food nexus in Kumamoto did not outweigh the benefit of reductions in water and energy consumption for rice production.

The SYNERGY biodegradable polymer everolimus eluting coronary stent: Porcine vascular compatibility and polymer safety study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Gregory J; Marks, Angela; Berg, Kimberly J; Eppihimer, Michael; Sushkova, Natalia; Hawley, Steve P; Robertson, Kimberly A; Knapp, David; Pennington, Douglas E; Chen, Yen-Lane; Foss, Aaron; Huibregtse, Barbara; Dawkins, Keith D

2015-11-15

SYNERGY is a novel platinum chromium alloy stent that delivers abluminal everolimus from an ultrathin poly-lactide-co-glycide (PLGA) biodegradable polymer. This study evaluated the in vivo degradation of the polymer coating, everolimus release time course, and vascular compatibility of the SYNERGY stent. SYNERGY stents were implanted in arteries of domestic swine. Devices were explanted at predetermined time points (up to 120 days) and the extent of PLGA coating or everolimus remaining on the stents was quantified. Everolimus levels in the arterial tissue were also evaluated. A pathological analysis on coronary arteries of single and overlapping stents was performed at time points between 5 and 270 days. PLGA bioabsorption began immediately after implantation, and drug release was essentially complete by 90 days; PLGA absorption was substantially complete by 120 days (>90% of polymer was absorbed) leaving a bare metal SYNERGY stent. Vascular response was similar among SYNERGY and control stents (bare metal, polymer-only, and 3× polymer-only). Mild increases in para-strut fibrin were seen for SYNERGY at an early time point with no significant differences in all other morphological and morphometric parameters through 270 days or endothelial function (eNOS immunostaining) at 90 or 180 days. Inflammation was predominantly minimal to mild for all device types. In a swine model, everolimus was released by 90 days and PLGA bioabsorption was complete shortly thereafter. The SYNERGY stent and its biodegradable polymer, even at a 3× safety margin, demonstrated vascular compatibility similar to bare metal stent controls. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Flexion synergy overshadows flexor spasticity during reaching in chronic moderate to severe hemiparetic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Michael D; Schut, Ingrid; Dewald, Julius P A

2017-07-01

Pharmaceutical intervention targets arm flexor spasticity with an often-unsuccessful goal of improving function. Flexion synergy is a related motor impairment that may be inadvertently neglected. Here, flexor spasticity and flexion synergy are disentangled to determine their contributions to reaching dysfunction. Twenty-six individuals participated. A robotic device systematically modulated shoulder abduction loading during ballistic reaching. Elbow muscle electromyography data were partitioned into windows delineated by elbow joint velocity allowing for the separation of synergy- and spasticity-related activation. Reaching velocity decreased with abduction loading (psynergy increased with abduction loading (psynergy is the predominant contributor to reaching dysfunction while flexor spasticity appears only relevant during unnaturally occurring passively supported movement. Interventions targeting flexion synergy should be leveraged in future stroke recovery trials. Copyright © 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Potential synergies between existing multilateral environmental agreements in the implementation of land use, land-use change and forestry activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowie, Annette; Schneider, Uwe A.; Montanarella, Luca

2007-01-01

There is potential for synergy between the global environmental conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification: changes in land management and land use undertaken to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions can simultaneously deliver positive outcomes for conservation of biodiversity, and mitigation of desertification and land degradation. However, while there can be complementarities between the three environmental goals, there are often tradeoffs. Thus, the challenge lies in developing land use policies that promote optimal environmental outcomes, and in implementing these locally to promote sustainable development. The paper considers synergies and tradeoffs in implementing land use measures to address the objectives of the three global environmental conventions, both from an environmental and economic perspective. The intention is to provide environmental scientists and policy makers with a broad overview of these considerations, and the benefits of addressing the conventions simultaneously

Blended Refuge and Insect Resistance Management for Insecticidal Corn

Science.gov (United States)

Crespo, Andre L B; Pan, Zaiqi; Crain, Philip R; Thompson, Stephen D; Pilcher, Clinton D; Sethi, Amit

2018-01-01

Abstract In this review, we evaluate the intentional mixing or blending of insecticidal seed with refuge seed for managing resistance by insects to insecticidal corn (Zea mays). We first describe the pest biology and farming practices that will contribute to weighing trade-offs between using block refuges and blended refuges. Case studies are presented to demonstrate how the trade-offs will differ in different systems. We compare biological aspects of several abstract models to guide the reader through the history of modeling, which has played a key role in the promotion or denigration of blending in various scientific debates about insect resistance management for insecticidal crops. We conclude that the use of blended refuge should be considered on a case-by-case basis after evaluation of insect biology, environment, and farmer behavior. For Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, Ostrinia nubilalis, and Helicoverpa zea in the United States, blended refuge provides similar, if not longer, delays in the evolution of resistance compared to separate block refuges. PMID:29220481

Fiscal 1997 achievement report. Research and development of synergy ceramics; 1997 nendo synergy ceramics no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-03-01

Research and development is conducted on two subjects, that is, 1) hyper organized structure control technology and 2) structural element control technology. In addition, joint research and development is conducted on the creation of new materials by hyper organized structure controlling, hyper organized structure controlling for ceramics by a structurization reaction process, designing of precursors to ceramics, and the hyper organized structure control for ceramics by nanostructure process control. The joint research and development endeavors further deal with re-entrusted projects which involve researches on sintered structure control by powdery particulate structure control; dynamic process of synergy ceramics; oxynitride liquids, glasses, and glass-ceramics; and multifunctional ceramic laminates for engineering applications. Under subject 1), researches are made on the development of precursors into ceramics by utilizing chemical reactions of organic metal compounds, and analyses are conducted into the effects, exerted by the molecular structures of precursors and the conditions of a reaction for their development into ceramics, on the microstructures and various properties of the ceramics to be composed. Under subject 2), high strength, great hardness, and high resistance to wear are realized by allowing the precipitation of nano-particulates in crystals of a fine and very compact sintered body of alumina. (NEDO)

Radiation-resistant composite for biological shield of personnel

Science.gov (United States)

Barabash, D. E.; Barabash, A. D.; Potapov, Yu B.; Panfilov, D. V.; Perekalskiy, O. E.

2017-10-01

This article presents the results of theoretical and practical justification for the use of polymer concrete based on nonisocyanate polyurethanes in biological shield structures. We have identified the impact of ratio: polymer - radiation-resistant filling compound on the durability and protection properties of polymer concrete. The article expounds regression dependence of the change of basic properties of the aforementioned polymer concrete on the absorbed radiation dose rate. Synergy effect in attenuation of radioactivity release in case of conjoint use of hydrogenous polymer base and radiation-resistant powder is also addressed herein.

Understanding the Process and Success Factors to Increase Synergies between Research and Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah Ballou

2016-12-01

Full Text Available While the synergies between research for knowledge discovery and teaching are widely accepted, the evidence is mostly implicit, verbal and poorly documented, and many times contradictive. In an effort to better understand the interaction between these important activities, the main objective of this study is to collect knowledge illustrating their synergies through specific cases. A complementary objective is to identify the important factors, which professionals should implement or avoid for increasing the likelihood that these synergies will be derived. To collect the necessary information personal interviews have been used to address the research question. The same set of questions was sent to several professionals known to have extensive experience in the areas of academic research and teaching. The respondents were asked to: 1. briefly describe the knowledge area in which the synergies occurred; 2. For the specified knowledge area, to please describe in summary form but specifically how they derived the synergy between research and teaching; and 3. Based on their personal experience, to please identify the important factors to increase the likelihood that academic research will produce benefits for teaching, and vice versa. The results strongly corroborate the importance of academic research for effective teaching. Based on the results, a set of recommendations are made to faculty members and school administrators to further promote academic research as an important factor for more effective teaching.

ZAKAT AND TAX; FROM THE SYNERGY TO OPTIMIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustofa

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Dualism dilemma between zakat and tax in Indonesia can be relatively mitigated by ratification of Act No. No. 38/1999 on Management of Zakat. In the regulation, zakat has been synergized with tax by placing zakat as a deduction from taxable income element (PKP. But so far it has not been given the significant impact on the acceptance of zakat and awareness of Muslims to pay zakat. There are also some problems in practical level that contribute to that fact. This article explores the zakat and tax synergy that have been achieved through Act No. 38 of 1999, the problems found in its execution, and of course an offer for a solution to optimize the role of zakat and tax for the people welfare. By examining same practice in some countries, this paper recommends zakat as a direct tax deduction (tax credit as a strategic step in the effort to optimize the role of zakat.

Muscle Synergies of Untrained Subjects during 6 min Maximal Rowing on Slides and Fixed Ergometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shazlin Shaharudin

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The slides ergometer (SE was an improvisation from fixed ergometer (FE to bridge the gap of mechanics between ergometer rowing and on-water rowing. The specific mechanical constraints of these two types of ergometers may affect the pattern of muscle recruitment, coordination and adaptation. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the muscle synergy during 6 minutes maximal rowing on slides (SE and fixed ergometers (FE. The laterality of muscle synergy was also examined. Surface electromyography activity, power output, heart rate, stroke length and stroke rate were analyzed from nine physically active subjects to assess the rowing performance. Physically active subjects, who were not specifically trained in rowing, were chosen to exclude the training effect on muscle synergy. Principal component analysis (PCA with varimax rotation was applied to extract muscle synergy. Three muscle synergies were sufficient to explain the majority of variance in SE (94.4 ± 2.2 % and FE (92.8 ± 1.7 %. Subjects covered more rowing distance, exerted greater power output and attained higher maximal heart rate during rowing on SE than on FE. The results proved the flexibility of muscle synergy to adapt to the mechanical constraints. Rowing on SE emphasized on bi-articular muscles contrary to rowing on FE which relied on cumulative effect of trunk and upper limb muscles during propulsive phase.

Challenges and Opportunities to Developing Synergies Among Diverse Environmental Observatories: FSML, NEON, and GLEON

Science.gov (United States)

Williamson, C. E.; Weathers, K. C.; Knoll, L. B.; Brentrup, J.

2012-12-01

Recent rapid advances in sensor technology and cyberinfrastructure have enabled the development of numerous environmental observatories ranging from local networks at field stations and marine laboratories (FSML) to continental scale observatories such as the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to global scale observatories such as the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON). While divergent goals underlie the initial development of these observatories, and they are often designed to serve different communities, many opportunities for synergies exist. In addition, the use of existing infrastructure may enhance the cost-effectiveness of building and maintaining large scale observatories. For example, FSMLs are established facilities with the staff and infrastructure to host sensor nodes of larger networks. Many field stations have existing staff and long-term databases as well as smaller sensor networks that are the product of a single or small group of investigators with a unique data management system embedded in a local or regional community. These field station based facilities and data are a potentially untapped gold mine for larger continental and global scale observatories; common ecological and environmental challenges centered on understanding the impacts of changing climate, land use, and invasive species often underlie these efforts. The purpose of this talk is to stimulate a dialog on the challenges of merging efforts across these different spatial and temporal scales, as well as addressing how to develop synergies among observatory networks with divergent roots and philosophical approaches. For example, FSMLs have existing long-term databases and facilities, while NEON has sparse past data but a well-developed template and closely coordinated team working in a coherent format across a continental scale. GLEON on the other hand is a grass-roots network of experts in science, information technology, and engineering with a common goal

Facilitating Inter-Domain Synergies in Ambient Assisted Living Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartze, Jonas; Schrom, Harald; Wolf, Klaus-Hendrik; Marschollek, Michael

2016-01-01

Current Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) environments lack integration of sensors and actuators of other sub-domains. Creating technical and organizational integration is addressed by the BASIS project (Build Automation by a Scalable and Intelligent System), which aims to build a cross-domain home bus system. The main objective of this paper is to present an overview of design, architecture and state of realization of BASIS by describing the requirements development process, underlying hardware design and software architecture. We built a distributed system of one independent building manager with several redundantly meshed segment controllers, each controlling a bus segment with any number of bus nodes. The software system layer is divided into logical partitions representing each sub-domain. Structured data storage is possible with a special FHIR based home centered data warehouse. The system has been implemented in six apartments running under daily living conditions. BASIS integrates a broad range of sub-domains, which poses challenges to all project partners in terms of a common terminology, and project management methods, but enables development of inter-domain synergies like using the same sensor and actuator hardware for a broad range of services and use cases.

Effect of fuel origin on synergy during co-gasification of biomass and coal in CO2.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Zheng, Yan; Yang, Mingjun; Song, Yongchen

2016-01-01

The effect of fuel origin on synergy in coal/biomass blends during co-gasification has been assessed using a congruent-mass thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) method. Results revealed that synergy occurs when ash residuals are formed, followed by an almost complete gasification of biomass. Potassium species in biomass ash play a catalytic role in promoting gasification reactivity of coal char, which is a direct consequence of synergy during co-gasification. The SEM-EDS spectra provided conclusive evidence that the transfer of potassium from biomass to the surface of coal char occurs during co-pyrolysis/gasification. Biomass ash rich in silica eliminated synergy in coal/biomass blends but not to the extent of inhibiting the reaction rate of the blended chars to make it slower than that of separated ones. The best result in terms of synergy was concluded to be the combination of low-ash coal and K-rich biomass. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synergy in spreading processes: from exploitative to explorative foraging strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Reche, Francisco J; Ludlam, Jonathan J; Taraskin, Sergei N; Gilligan, Christopher A

2011-05-27

An epidemiological model which incorporates synergistic effects that allow the infectivity and/or susceptibility of hosts to be dependent on the number of infected neighbors is proposed. Constructive synergy induces an exploitative behavior which results in a rapid invasion that infects a large number of hosts. Interfering synergy leads to a slower and sparser explorative foraging strategy that traverses larger distances by infecting fewer hosts. The model can be mapped to a dynamical bond percolation with spatial correlations that affect the mechanism of spread but do not influence the critical behavior of epidemics. © 2011 American Physical Society

Synergy between indigenous knowledge systems, modern health ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... the people of this country should harness a synergy between indigenous health care systems, scientific research and modern health care methods. This article attempts to address the historical evolution of health care methods in South Africa, its effect on the community as well as challenges facing the health professions.

Exploiting the synergy between carboplatin and ABT-737 in the treatment of ovarian carcinomas.

KAUST Repository

Jain, Harsh Vardhan

2014-01-06

Platinum drug-resistance in ovarian cancers mediated by anti-apoptotic proteins such as Bcl-xL is a major factor contributing to the chemotherapeutic resistance of recurrent disease. Consequently, concurrent inhibition of Bcl-xL in combination with chemotherapy may improve treatment outcomes for patients. Here, we develop a mathematical model to investigate the potential of combination therapy with ABT-737, a small molecule inhibitor of Bcl-xL, and carboplatin, a platinum-based drug, on a simulated tumor xenograft. The model is calibrated against in vivo experimental data, wherein xenografts established in mice were treated with ABT-737 and/or carboplatin on a fixed periodic schedule. The validated model is used to predict the minimum drug load that will achieve a predetermined level of tumor growth inhibition, thereby maximizing the synergy between the two drugs. Our simulations suggest that the infusion-duration of each carboplatin dose is a critical parameter, with an 8-hour infusion of carboplatin given weekly combined with a daily bolus dose of ABT-737 predicted to minimize residual disease. The potential of combination therapy to prevent or delay the onset of carboplatin-resistance is also investigated. When resistance is acquired as a result of aberrant DNA-damage repair in cells treated with carboplatin, drug delivery schedules that induce tumor remission with even low doses of combination therapy can be identified. Intrinsic resistance due to pre-existing cohorts of resistant cells precludes tumor regression, but dosing strategies that extend disease-free survival periods can still be identified. These results highlight the potential of our model to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics such as BH3 mimetics.

Simple and non-invasive techniques to evaluate the function of CircuLite Synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohite, Prashant N; Bowles, Christopher T; Sabashnikov, Anton; Popov, Aron-Frederik; Patil, Nikhil P; Sáez, Diana García; Banner, Nicholas R; Simon, André R

2014-11-01

The Synergy CircuLite micropump is a novel partial-support miniature left ventricular assist device that propels 2-3 l/min blood from the left atrium into the right subclavian artery. The ability of currently available investigative modalities to confirm Synergy pump malfunction is limited. The Synergy speed fluctuates periodically (at 10-s intervals) from the baseline to a transient decrease followed by a transient increase (alternating speed algorithm, ASA) with the purpose of changing the blood flow behaviour, thereby reducing thrombogenicity. The aim of this study was to develop a simple non-invasive monitoring technique to assess pump function based on the detection of the ASA in the peripheral microcirculation. Between February 2012 and July 2013, 10 patients with advanced chronic heart failure underwent Synergy implantation at our institution. The pump function was assessed by echocardiography and invasive monitoring according to standard protocols; additionally, the pump speed and power consumption were monitored. During the pump function assessment, the pulse oximeter waveform was recorded from the index fingers of the left and right hand with simultaneous pump auscultation using a stethoscope positioned on the pump (right infra-clavicular pocket). The pulse oximeter waveform was readily detectable from the right and left hand of all study patients. If the Synergy function was normal, there was a significant difference in the morphology of the pulse oximeter waveform from each hand: the ASA algorithm produced a more pronounced variation (giant wave) in the trace from the right hand than from the left. The giant waves invariably coincided with the sound variation associated with the ASA algorithms, which were detected regularly at 10-s intervals. We describe a simple, readily applicable, inexpensive, non-invasive technique that allows evaluation of Synergy pump function and may have diagnostic utility under conditions of suspected pump thrombus

A synergy-driven approach to a myoelectric hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Godfrey, S B; Ajoudani, A; Catalano, M; Grioli, G; Bicchi, A

2013-06-01

In this paper, we present the Pisa/IIT SoftHand with myoelectric control as a synergy-driven approach for a prosthetic hand. Commercially available myoelectric hands are more expensive, heavier, and less robust than their body-powered counterparts; however, they can offer greater freedom of motion and a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. The Pisa/IIT SoftHand is built on the motor control principle of synergies through which the immense complexity of the hand is simplified into distinct motor patterns. As the SoftHand grasps, it follows a synergistic path with built-in flexibility to allow grasping of a wide variety of objects with a single motor. Here we test, as a proof-of-concept, 4 myoelectric controllers: a standard controller in which the EMG signal is used only as a position reference, an impedance controller that determines both position and stiffness references from the EMG input, a standard controller with vibrotactile force feedback, and finally a combined vibrotactile-impedance (VI) controller. Four healthy subjects tested the control algorithms by grasping various objects. All controllers were sufficient for basic grasping, however the impedance and vibrotactile controllers reduced the physical and cognitive load on the user, while the combined VI mode was the easiest to use of the four. While these results need to be validated with amputees, they suggest a low-cost, robust hand employing hardware-based synergies is a viable alternative to traditional myoelectric prostheses.

A Water-/Fireproof Flexible Lithium-Oxygen Battery Achieved by Synergy of Novel Architecture and Multifunctional Separator.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yan-Bin; Yang, Xiao-Yang; Chang, Zhi-Wen; Zhu, Yun-Hai; Liu, Tong; Yan, Jun-Min; Jiang, Qing

2018-01-01

To meet the increasing demands for portable and flexible devices in a rapidly developing society, it is urgently required to develop highly safe and flexible electrochemical energy-storage systems. Flexible lithium-oxygen batteries with high theoretical specific energy density are promising candidates; however, the conventional half-open structure design prevents it from working properly under water or fire conditions. Herein, as a proof-of-concept experiment, a highly safe flexible lithium-oxygen battery achieved by the synergy of a vital multifunctional structure design and a unique composite separator is proposed and fabricated. The structure can effectively prevent the invasion of water from the environment and combustion, which is further significantly consolidated with the help of a polyimide and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) composite separator, which holds good water resistance, thermal stability, and ionic conductivity. Unexpectedly, the obtained lithium-oxygen battery exhibits superior flexibility, water resistance, thermal resistance, and cycling stability (up to 218 cycles; at a high current of 1 mA and capacity of 4 mA h). This novel water/fireproof, flexible lithium-oxygen battery is a promising candidate to power underwater flexible electronics. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Harnessing Resistance: Using the Theory of Constraints To Assist Change Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Mabin, Victoria J.; Forgeson, Steve; Green, Lawrence

2001-01-01

Applies the Theory of Constraints, which views resistance to change as a necessary, positive force, to a case study of a bank merger. For each resistance factor, the theory provides tools for using it and managing change successfully. (Contains 46 references.) (SK)

Shared and task-specific muscle synergies of Nordic walking and conventional walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Boccia, G; Zoppirolli, C; Bortolan, L; Schena, F; Pellegrini, B

2018-03-01

Nordic walking is a form of walking that includes a poling action, and therefore an additional subtask, with respect to conventional walking. The aim of this study was to assess whether Nordic walking required a task-specific muscle coordination with respect to conventional walking. We compared the electromyographic (EMG) activity of 15 upper- and lower-limb muscles of 9 Nordic walking instructors, while executing Nordic walking and conventional walking at 1.3 ms -1 on a treadmill. Non-negative matrix factorization method was applied to identify muscle synergies, representing the spatial and temporal organization of muscle coordination. The number of muscle synergies was not different between Nordic walking (5.2 ± 0.4) and conventional walking (5.0 ± 0.7, P = .423). Five muscle synergies accounted for 91.2 ± 1.1% and 92.9 ± 1.2% of total EMG variance in Nordic walking and conventional walking, respectively. Similarity and cross-reconstruction analyses showed that 4 muscle synergies, mainly involving lower-limb and trunk muscles, are shared between Nordic walking and conventional walking. One synergy acting during upper limb propulsion is specific to Nordic walking, modifying the spatial organization and the magnitude of activation of upper limb muscles compared to conventional walking. The inclusion of the poling action in Nordic walking does not increase the complexity of movement control and does not change the coordination of lower limb muscles. This makes Nordic walking a physical activity suitable also for people with low motor skill. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Results from the SynergieHaus programme of PreussenElektra; Ergebnisse aus dem SynergieHaus-Programm der PreussenElektra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mussenbrock, K. [Preussen Elektra, Hannover (Germany)

1998-06-01

The `SynergieHaus` project is an initiative by PreussenElektra and 25 regional and municipal utilities. Its objective is to contribute towards the further development and propagation of energy-saving building techniques. Within the framework of the project, funding was granted for more than 400 residential units erected between 1995 and 1997. The main prerequisites for funding were as follows: an at least 30 % shortfall of annual heating energy demand from the specifications of the thermal protection ordinance (WSchV `95) currently in force; installation of mechanical ventilation; and an airtight building envelope. (orig.) [Deutsch] Das SynergieHaus-Projekt ist eine Initiative der PreussenElektra und 25 Regionaler und Kommunaler Versorgungsunternehmen. Ziel ist es, einen Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung und Verbreitung energiesparender Bauweisen zu leisten. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes wurden zwischen 1995 und 1997 mehr als 400 neuerrichtete Wohneinheiten finanziell gefoerdert. Voraussetzung fuer eine Foerderung waren insbesondere die Unterschreitung des Jahres-Heizwaermebedarfs gemaess geltender Waermeschutzverordnung (WSchV `95) um mindestens 30%, der Einbau einer mechanischen Wohnungslueftung sowie eine luftdichte Gebaeudehuelle. (orig.)

Use of muscle synergies and wavelet transforms to identify fatigue during squatting.

Science.gov (United States)

Smale, Kenneth B; Shourijeh, Mohammad S; Benoit, Daniel L

2016-06-01

The objective of this study was to supplement continuous wavelet transforms with muscle synergies in a fatigue analysis to better describe the combination of decreased firing frequency and altered activation profiles during dynamic muscle contractions. Nine healthy young individuals completed the dynamic tasks before and after they squatted with a standard Olympic bar until complete exhaustion. Electromyography (EMG) profiles were analyzed with a novel concatenated non-negative matrix factorization method that decomposed EMG signals into muscle synergies. Muscle synergy analysis provides the activation pattern of the muscles while continuous wavelet transforms output the temporal frequency content of the EMG signals. Synergy analysis revealed subtle changes in two-legged squatting after fatigue while differences in one-legged squatting were more pronounced and included the shift from a general co-activation of muscles in the pre-fatigue state to a knee extensor dominant weighting post-fatigue. Continuous wavelet transforms showed major frequency content decreases in two-legged squatting after fatigue while very few frequency changes occurred in one-legged squatting. It was observed that the combination of methods is an effective way of describing muscle fatigue and that muscle activation patterns play a very important role in maintaining the overall joint kinetics after fatigue. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the origin of muscle synergies: invariant balance in the co-activation of agonist and antagonist muscle pairs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroaki eHirai

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Investigation of neural representation of movement planning has attracted the attention of neuroscientists, as it may reveal the sensorimotor transformation essential to motor control. The analysis of muscle synergies based on the activity of agonist-antagonist (AA muscle pairs may provide insight into such transformations, especially for a reference frame in the muscle space. In this study, we examined the AA concept using the following explanatory variables: the AA ratio, which is related to the equilibrium-joint angle, and the AA sum, which is associated with joint stiffness. We formulated muscle synergies as a function of AA sums, positing that muscle synergies are composite units of mechanical impedance. The AA concept can be regarded as another form of the equilibrium-point (EP hypothesis, and it can be extended to the concept of EP-based synergies. We introduce here a novel tool for analyzing the neurological and motor functions underlying human movements and review some initial insights from our results about the relationships between muscle synergies, endpoint stiffness, and virtual trajectories (time series of EP. Our results suggest that (1 muscle synergies reflect an invariant balance in the co-activation of AA muscle pairs; (2 each synergy represents the basis for the radial, tangential, and null movements of the virtual trajectory in the polar coordinates centered on the specific joint at the base of the body; and (3 the alteration of muscle synergies (for example, due to spasticity or rigidity following neurological injury results in significant distortion of endpoint stiffness and concomitant virtual trajectories. These results indicate that muscle synergies (i.e., the balance of muscle mechanical impedance are essential for motor control.

On the Origin of Muscle Synergies: Invariant Balance in the Co-activation of Agonist and Antagonist Muscle Pairs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirai, Hiroaki; Miyazaki, Fumio; Naritomi, Hiroaki; Koba, Keitaro; Oku, Takanori; Uno, Kanna; Uemura, Mitsunori; Nishi, Tomoki; Kageyama, Masayuki; Krebs, Hermano Igo

2015-01-01

Investigation of neural representation of movement planning has attracted the attention of neuroscientists, as it may reveal the sensorimotor transformation essential to motor control. The analysis of muscle synergies based on the activity of agonist-antagonist (AA) muscle pairs may provide insight into such transformations, especially for a reference frame in the muscle space. In this study, we examined the AA concept using the following explanatory variables: the AA ratio, which is related to the equilibrium-joint angle, and the AA sum, which is associated with joint stiffness. We formulated muscle synergies as a function of AA sums, positing that muscle synergies are composite units of mechanical impedance. The AA concept can be regarded as another form of the equilibrium-point (EP) hypothesis, and it can be extended to the concept of EP-based synergies. We introduce, here, a novel tool for analyzing the neurological and motor functions underlying human movements and review some initial insights from our results about the relationships between muscle synergies, endpoint stiffness, and virtual trajectories (time series of EP). Our results suggest that (1) muscle synergies reflect an invariant balance in the co-activation of AA muscle pairs; (2) each synergy represents the basis for the radial, tangential, and null movements of the virtual trajectory in the polar coordinates centered on the specific joint at the base of the body; and (3) the alteration of muscle synergies (for example, due to spasticity or rigidity following neurological injury) results in significant distortion of endpoint stiffness and concomitant virtual trajectories. These results indicate that muscle synergies (i.e., the balance of muscle mechanical impedance) are essential for motor control.

Resistance Exercise to Prevent and Manage Sarcopenia and Dynapenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Timothy D; Clark, Leatha A; Clark, Brian C

For well over twenty centuries the muscle wasting (sarcopenia) and weakness (dynapenia) that occurs with old age has been a predominant concern of mankind. Exercise has long been suggested as a treatment to combat sarcopenia and dynapenia, as it exerts effects on both the nervous and muscular systems that are critical to positive physiological and functional adaptations (e.g., enhanced muscle strength). For more than two decades scientists have recognized the profound role that progressive resistance exercise training can have on increasing muscle strength, muscle size and functional capacity in older adults. In this review article we discuss how resistance exercise training can be used in the management and prevention of sarcopenia and dynapenia. We first provide an overview of the evidence for this notion and highlight certain critical factors- namely exercise intensity, volume and progression- that are key to optimizing the resistance exercise prescription. We then highlight how many, if not most, of the commonly prescribed exercise programs for seniors are not the 'best practices', and subsequently present easy-to-read guidelines for a well-rounded resistance exercise training program designed for the management and prevention of sarcopenia and dynapenia, including example training programs for the beginner through the advanced senior resistance exerciser. These guidelines have been written for the academician as well as the student and health care provider across a variety of disciplines, including those in the long term care industry, such as wellness instructors or activity directors.

Investigating reduction of dimensionality during single-joint elbow movements: a case study on muscle synergies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enrico eChiovetto

2013-02-01

Full Text Available A long standing hypothesis in the neuroscience community is that the CNS generates the muscle activities to accomplish movements by combining a relatively small number of stereotyped patterns of muscle activations, often referred to as muscle synergies. Different definitions of synergies have been given in the literature. The most well-known are those of synchronous, time-varying and temporal muscle synergies. Each one of them is based on a different mathematical model used to factor some EMG array recordings collected during the execution of variety of motor tasks into a well-determined spatial, temporal or spatio-temporal organization. This plurality of definitions and their separate application to complex tasks have so far complicated the comparison and interpretation of the results obtained across studies, and it has always remained unclear why and when one synergistic decomposition should be preferred to another one. By using well-understood motor tasks such as elbow flexions and extensions, we aimed in this study to clarify better what are the motor features characterized by each kind of decomposition and to assess whether, when and why one of them should be preferred to the others. We found that three temporal synergies, each one of them accounting for specific temporal phases of the movements could account for the majority of the data variation. Similar performances could be achieved by two synchronous synergies, encoding the agonist-antagonist nature of the two muscles considered, and by two time-varying muscle synergies, encoding each one a task-related feature of the elbow movements, specifically their direction. Our findings support the notion that each EMG decomposition provides a set of well-interpretable muscle synergies, identifying reduction of dimensionality in different aspects of the movements. Taken together, our findings suggest that all decompositions are not equivalent and may imply different neurophysiological substrates

Stability of vertical posture explored with unexpected mechanical perturbations: synergy indices and motor equivalence.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamagata, Momoko; Falaki, Ali; Latash, Mark L

2018-03-21

We explored the relations between indices of mechanical stability of vertical posture and synergy indices under unexpected perturbations. The main hypotheses predicted higher posture-stabilizing synergy indices and higher mechanical indices of center of pressure stability during perturbations perceived by subjects as less challenging. Healthy subjects stood on a force platform and held in fully extended arms a bar attached to two loads acting downward and upward. One of the loads was unexpectedly released by the experimenter causing a postural perturbations. In different series, subjects either knew or did not know which of the two loads would be released. Forward perturbations were perceived as more challenging and accompanied by co-activation patterns among the main agonist-antagonist pairs. Backward perturbation led to reciprocal muscle activation patterns and was accompanied by indices of mechanical stability and of posture-stabilizing synergy which indicated higher stability. Changes in synergy indices were observed as early as 50-100 ms following the perturbation reflecting involuntary mechanisms. In contrast, predictability of perturbation direction had weak or no effect on mechanical and synergy indices of stability. These observations are interpreted within a hierarchical scheme of synergic control of motor tasks and a hypothesis on the control of movements with shifts of referent coordinates. The findings show direct correspondence between stability indices based on mechanics and on the analysis of multi-muscle synergies. They suggest that involuntary posture-stabilizing mechanisms show synergic organization. They also show that predictability of perturbation direction has strong effects on anticipatory postural adjustment but not corrective adjustments. We offer an interpretation of co-activation patterns that questions their contribution to postural stability.

Cultural synergy in information institutions

CERN Document Server

Smiraglia, Richard P

2014-01-01

Cultural forces govern a synergistic relationship among information institutions that shapes their roles collectively and individually. Cultural synergy is the combination of perception- and behavior-shaping knowledge within, between, and among groups. Our hyperlinked era makes information-sharing among institutions critically important for scholarship as well as for the advancement of humankind. Information institutions are those that have, or share in, the mission to preserve, conserve, and disseminate information objects and their informative content. A central idea is the notion of social

Synergy temporal sequences and topography in the spinal cord: evidence for a traveling wave in frog locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Saltiel, Philippe; d'Avella, Andrea; Wyler-Duda, Kuno; Bizzi, Emilio

2016-11-01

Locomotion is produced by a central pattern generator. Its spinal cord organization is generally considered to be distributed, with more rhythmogenic rostral lumbar segments. While this produces a rostrocaudally traveling wave in undulating species, this is not thought to occur in limbed vertebrates, with the exception of the interneuronal traveling wave demonstrated in fictive cat scratching (Cuellar et al. J Neurosci 29:798-810, 2009). Here, we reexamine this hypothesis in the frog, using the seven muscle synergies A to G previously identified with intraspinal NMDA (Saltiel et al. J Neurophysiol 85:605-619, 2001). We find that locomotion consists of a sequence of synergy activations (A-B-G-A-F-E-G). The same sequence is observed when focal NMDA iontophoresis in the spinal cord elicits a caudal extension-lateral force-flexion cycle (flexion onset without the C synergy). Examining the early NMDA-evoked motor output at 110 sites reveals a rostrocaudal topographic organization of synergy encoding by the lumbar cord. Each synergy is preferentially activated from distinct regions, which may be multiple, and partially overlap between different synergies. Comparing the sequence of synergy activation in locomotion with their spinal cord topography suggests that the locomotor output is achieved by a rostrocaudally traveling wave of activation in the swing-stance cycle. A two-layer circuitry model, based on this topography and a traveling wave reproduces this output and explores its possible modifications under different afferent inputs. Our results and simulations suggest that a rostrocaudally traveling wave of excitation takes advantage of the topography of interneuronal regions encoding synergies, to activate them in the proper sequence for locomotion.

Integration of robotics and neuroscience beyond the hand: What kind of synergies?. Comment on "Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands" by Marco Santello et al.

Science.gov (United States)

d'Avella, Andrea

2016-07-01

Santello et al. [1] review an impressive amount of work on the control of biological and artificial hands that demonstrates how the concept of synergies can lead to a successful integration of robotics and neuroscience. Is it possible to generalize the same approach to the control of biological and artificial limbs and bodies beyond the hand? The human hand synergies that appear most relevant for robotic hands are those defined at the kinematic level, i.e. postural synergies [2]. Postural synergies capture the geometric relations among the many joints of the hand and allow for a low dimensional characterization and synthesis of the static hand postures involved in grasping and manipulating a large set of objects. However, many other complex motor skills such as walking, reaching, throwing, and catching require controlling multi-articular time-varying trajectories rather than static postures. Dynamic control of biological and artificial limbs and bodies, especially when geometric and inertial parameters are uncertain and the joints are compliant, poses great challenges. What kind of synergies might simplify the dynamic control of motor skills involving upper and lower limbs as well as the whole body?

Ethnic diversity and knowledge synergies: Rethinking the interrelations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauring, Jakob

2005-01-01

desire to see ethnical diversity as productive. Theoretical reviews and empirical research have indicated that the link between diversity and knowledge synergy cannot be taken for granted. This article argues that some theoretical rethinking of managerial strategies toward cultural diversity...

Country-level operational implementation of the Global Plan for Insecticide Resistance Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemingway, Janet; Vontas, John; Poupardin, Rodolphe; Raman, Jaishree; Lines, Jo; Schwabe, Chris; Matias, Abrahan; Kleinschmidt, Immo

2013-06-04

Malaria control is reliant on the use of long-lasting pyrethroid-impregnated nets and/or indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticide. The rapid selection and spread of operationally significant pyrethroid resistance in African malaria vectors threatens our ability to sustain malaria control. Establishing whether resistance is operationally significant is technically challenging. Routine monitoring by bioassay is inadequate, and there are limited data linking resistance selection with changes in disease transmission. The default is to switch insecticides when resistance is detected, but limited insecticide options and resistance to multiple insecticides in numerous locations make this approach unsustainable. Detailed analysis of the resistance situation in Anopheles gambiae on Bioko Island after pyrethroid resistance was detected in this species in 2004, and the IRS program switched to carbamate bendiocarb, has now been undertaken. The pyrethroid resistance selected is a target-site knock-down resistance kdr-form, on a background of generally elevated metabolic activity, compared with insecticide-susceptible A. gambiae, but the major cytochrome P450-based metabolic pyrethroid resistance mechanisms are not present. The available evidence from bioassays and infection data suggests that the pyrethroid resistance mechanisms in Bioko malaria vectors are not operationally significant, and on this basis, a different, long-lasting pyrethroid formulation is now being reintroduced for IRS in a rotational insecticide resistance management program. This will allow control efforts to be sustained in a cost-effective manner while reducing the selection pressure for resistance to nonpyrethroid insecticides. The methods used provide a template for evidence-based insecticide resistance management by malaria control programs.

MAINTAINING LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT: Herbicide-resistant weeds challenge some signature cropping systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bradley D. Hanson

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Invasive and endemic weeds pose recurring challenges for California land managers. The evolution of herbicide resistance in several species has imposed new challenges in some cropping systems, and these issues are being addressed by UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors, specialists and faculty. There are currently 24 unique herbicide-resistant weed biotypes in the state, dominated by grasses and sedges in flooded rice systems and, more recently, glyphosate-resistant broadleaf and grass weeds in tree and vine systems, roadsides and glyphosate-tolerant field crops. Weed scientists address these complex issues using approaches ranging from basic physiology and genetics research to applied research and extension efforts in grower fields throughout the state. Although solutions to herbicide resistance are not simple and are affected by many biological, economic, regulatory and social factors, California stakeholders need information, training and solutions to address new weed management problems as they arise. Coordinated efforts conducted under the Endemic and Invasive Pests and Disease Strategic Initiative directly address weed management challenges in California's agricultural industries.

Synergies between renewable energy and fresh water production. Scoping study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geurts, F.; Noothout, P.; Schaap, A. [Ecofys Netherlands, Utrecht (Netherlands)

2011-02-15

The IEA Implementing Agreement for Renewable Energy Technology Deployment (IEA-RETD) investigated the opportunities for coupling renewable energy systems with fresh water supply systems. The four main conclusions of the scoping study, carried out by Ecofys, are: (1) Fresh water production based on desalination technologies provide most options for synergies with renewable energy production; (2) Linking desalination to renewable sources is currently not economically viable; (3) There is a large potential for small scale (decentralised) desalination plants; (4) Current commercially-sized desalination technologies are in need of a constant operation point. Reverse osmosis and thermal membrane technologies might give future synergies as deferrable load.

Evaluation of synergy and bacterial regrowth in photocatalytic ozonation disinfection of municipal wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Mecha, Achisa C; Onyango, Maurice S; Ochieng, Aoyi; Momba, Maggy N B

2017-12-01

The use of solar and ultraviolet titanium dioxide photocatalytic ozonation processes to inactivate waterborne pathogens (Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Shigella species and Vibrio cholerae) in synthetic water and secondary municipal wastewater effluent is presented. The performance indicators were bacterial inactivation efficiency, post-disinfection regrowth and synergy effects (collaboration) between ozonation and photocatalysis (photocatalytic ozonation). Photocatalytic ozonation effectively inactivated the target bacteria and positive synergistic interactions were observed, leading to synergy indices (SI) of up to 1.86 indicating a performance much higher than that of ozonation and photocatalysis individually (SI≤1, no synergy; SI>1 shows synergy between the two processes). Furthermore, there was a substantial reduction in contact time required for complete bacterial inactivation by 50-75% compared to the individual unit processes of ozonation and photocatalysis. Moreover, no post-treatment bacterial regrowth after 24 and 48h in the dark was observed. Therefore, the combined processes overcame the limitations of the individual unit processes in terms of the suppression of bacterial reactivation and regrowth owing to the fact that bacterial cells were irreparably damaged. The treated wastewater satisfied the bacteriological requirements in treated wastewater for South Africa. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of field synergy principle for optimization fluid flow and convective heat transfer in a tube bundle of a pre-heater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamid, Mohammed O.A.; Zhang, Bo; Yang, Luopeng

2014-01-01

The big problems facing solar-assisted MED (multiple-effect distillation) desalination unit are the low efficiency and bulky heat exchangers, which worsen its systematic economic feasibility. In an attempt to develop heat transfer technologies with high energy efficiency, a mathematical study is established, and optimization analysis using FSP (field synergy principle) is proposed to support meaning of heat transfer enhancement of a pre-heater in a solar-assisted MED desalination unit. Numerical simulations are performed on fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in a circular and elliptical tube bundle. The numerical results are analyzed using the concept of synergy angle and synergy number as an indication of synergy between velocity vector and temperature gradient fields. Heat transfer in elliptical tube bundle is enhanced significantly with increasing initial velocity of the feed seawater and field synergy number and decreasing of synergy angle. Under the same operating conditions of the two designs, the total average synergy angle is 78.97° and 66.31° in circular and elliptical tube bundle, respectively. Optimization of the pre-heater by FSP shows that in case of elliptical tube bundle design, the average synergy number and heat transfer rate are increased by 22.68% and 35.98% respectively. - Highlights: • FSP (field synergy principle) is used to investigate heat transfer enhancement. • Numerical simulations are performed in circular and elliptical tubes pre-heater. • Numerical results are analyzed using concept of synergy angle and synergy number. • Optimization of elliptical tube bundle by FSP has better performance

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE AND ERP IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESS: THE MODERATING ROLE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zafar U. Ahmed

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP is a useful tool that builds strong capabilities, improves performance, supports better decision making, and provides competitive advantage for businesses. ERP aims to help the management by setting better business practices and equipping them with the right information to take timely decision. In any new technology implementation, one of the issues that need to be addressed is the resistance to change. Many implementations have failed due to strong resistance from the end users. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to test the impact of resistance to change on ERP's implementation success and how change management initiatives acts in the capacity of a moderating role. Using data collected from 69 manufacturing organizations through a mail survey, it was found that resistance to change is negatively related to achievement of predetermined goals (b = –0.930, p < 0.01 and usersatisfaction (b = –0.952, p < 0.01. Further, change management initiatives did not moderate the relationship between resistance and predetermined goals but it moderated the relationship between resistance and user satisfaction. In addition, change management initiatives have a direct positive impact on user satisfaction. This research concludes that the human factor is very important in ERP's implementation.

Synergy of EMG patterns in gait as an objective measure of muscle selectivity in children with spastic cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwaan, Esther; Becher, Jules G; Harlaar, Jaap

2012-01-01

Selective motor control (SMC) is an important determinant of functioning in cerebral palsy (CP). Currently its assessment is based on subjective clinical tests with a low sensitivity. Electromyography (EMG) profiles during gait represent muscle coordination and might be used to assess SMC. EMG measurements during gait were processed into a measure of extensor synergy and thigh synergy. This was obtained in two groups of children with CP, and 30 typically developing children. Extensor synergy in CP was higher (0.95) than in healthy children (0.77), thigh synergy was almost equal in both groups. GMFM scores in the first group of 39 children with CP did not correlate to EMG based synergy measures. In a second group of 38 children with CP, a clear relation of clinical SMC score with extensor synergy was found, but only a weak relation with thigh synergy. Although an extensor synergy was validated at group level, our results present no convincing evidence for the use of EMG during gait to assess SMC in individual subjects with CP. Since gait involves both synergistic and selective contractions, the inherent motor control properties of this task will not allow for an assessment of selectivity comparable to the ability to perform isolated movements. Nevertheless, our results support the sensitive nature of EMG to represent an aberrant motor control in CP. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synergies between the first-generation JHF-SK and NuMI superbeam experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huber, P.; Lindner, M.; Winter, W.

2003-01-01

We discuss synergies in the combination of the first-generation JHF to Super-Kamiokande and NuMI off-axis superbeam experiments. With synergies we mean effects which go beyond simply adding the statistics of the two experiments. As a first important result, we do not observe interesting synergy effects in the combination of the two experiments as they are planned right now. However, we find that with minor modifications, such as a different NuMI baseline or a partial antineutrino running, one could do much richer physics with both experiments combined. Specifically, we demonstrate that one could, depending on the value of the solar mass squared difference, either measure the sign of the atmospheric mass squared difference or CP violation already with the initial stage experiments. Our main results are presented in a way that can be easily interpreted in terms of the forthcoming KamLAND result

Evaluation of stem borer resistance management strategies for Bt ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

GREGORY

2011-06-01

Jun 1, 2011 ... cultivars were identified as cost-effective, flexible, easily adoptable and ... Key words: Refugia, cost-benefit analysis, Bt-maize, insect pest resistance management. ..... Refugia are part of stewardship plan for the Bt maize.

Landscape of Targeted Anti-Cancer Drug Synergies in Melanoma Identifies a Novel BRAF-VEGFR/PDGFR Combination Treatment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam A Friedman

Full Text Available A newer generation of anti-cancer drugs targeting underlying somatic genetic driver events have resulted in high single-agent or single-pathway response rates in selected patients, but few patients achieve complete responses and a sizeable fraction of patients relapse within a year. Thus, there is a pressing need for identification of combinations of targeted agents which induce more complete responses and prevent disease progression. We describe the results of a combination screen of an unprecedented scale in mammalian cells performed using a collection of targeted, clinically tractable agents across a large panel of melanoma cell lines. We find that even the most synergistic drug pairs are effective only in a discrete number of cell lines, underlying a strong context dependency for synergy, with strong, widespread synergies often corresponding to non-specific or off-target drug effects such as multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1 transporter inhibition. We identified drugs sensitizing cell lines that are BRAFV600E mutant but intrinsically resistant to BRAF inhibitor PLX4720, including the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor/kinase insert domain receptor (VEGFR/KDR and platelet derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR family inhibitor cediranib. The combination of cediranib and PLX4720 induced apoptosis in vitro and tumor regression in animal models. This synergistic interaction is likely due to engagement of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs, demonstrating the potential of drug- rather than gene-specific combination discovery approaches. Patients with elevated biopsy KDR expression showed decreased progression free survival in trials of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK kinase pathway inhibitors. Thus, high-throughput unbiased screening of targeted drug combinations, with appropriate library selection and mechanistic follow-up, can yield clinically-actionable drug combinations.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

1989-01-01

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

Getting post-M&A integration mechanisms tuned in to technological relatedness and innovation synergy realisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wubben, Emiel F.M.; Batterink, Maarten; Omta, Onno

2016-01-01

Studies on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) typically relate innovation synergies to either context characteristics or post-M&A integration. There is little research on how to tune the relevant practices to the benefit of realising specific innovation synergies. It is the purpose of this

Resistant hypertension: an approach to management in primary care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julian P Yaxley

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Hypertension is widely encountered in family medicine. Despite its prevalence, many patients have uncontrolled or difficult-to-control blood pressure. Resistant hypertension is defined as hypertension that is poorly responsive to treatment and requires the use of multiple medications to achieve acceptable blood pressure ranges. It may be a consequence of secondary hypertension or have no identifiable cause. Resistant hypertension is important to recognise because it places patients at risk of end-organ damage. Primary care physicians should be aware of the therapeutic approach for hypertension when traditional therapy fails. This article aims to familiarise readers with the evaluation and management of resistant hypertension by outlining the most recent evidence-based treatment options.

A synergy-based hand control is encoded in human motor cortical areas

Science.gov (United States)

Leo, Andrea; Handjaras, Giacomo; Bianchi, Matteo; Marino, Hamal; Gabiccini, Marco; Guidi, Andrea; Scilingo, Enzo Pasquale; Pietrini, Pietro; Bicchi, Antonio; Santello, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano

2016-01-01

How the human brain controls hand movements to carry out different tasks is still debated. The concept of synergy has been proposed to indicate functional modules that may simplify the control of hand postures by simultaneously recruiting sets of muscles and joints. However, whether and to what extent synergic hand postures are encoded as such at a cortical level remains unknown. Here, we combined kinematic, electromyography, and brain activity measures obtained by functional magnetic resonance imaging while subjects performed a variety of movements towards virtual objects. Hand postural information, encoded through kinematic synergies, were represented in cortical areas devoted to hand motor control and successfully discriminated individual grasping movements, significantly outperforming alternative somatotopic or muscle-based models. Importantly, hand postural synergies were predicted by neural activation patterns within primary motor cortex. These findings support a novel cortical organization for hand movement control and open potential applications for brain-computer interfaces and neuroprostheses. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13420.001 PMID:26880543

TKA patients with unsatisfying knee function show changes in neuromotor synergy pattern but not joint biomechanics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ardestani, Marzieh M; Malloy, Philip; Nam, Denis; Rosenberg, Aaron G; Wimmer, Markus A

2017-12-01

Nearly 20% of patients who have undergone total knee arthroplasty (TKA) report persistent poor knee function. This study explores the idea that, despite similar knee joint biomechanics, the neuro-motor synergies may be different between high-functional and low-functional TKA patients. We hypothesized that (1) high-functional TKA recruit a more complex neuro-motor synergy pattern compared to low-functional TKA and (2) high-functional TKA patients demonstrate more stride-to-stride variability (flexibility) in their synergies. Gait and electromyography (EMG) data were collected during level walking for three groups of participants: (i) high-functional TKA patients (n=13); (ii) low-functional TKA patients (n=13) and (iii) non-operative controls (n=18). Synergies were extracted from EMG data using non-negative matrix factorization. Analysis of variance and Spearman correlation analyses were used to investigate between-group differences in gait and neuro-motor synergies. Results showed that synergy patterns were different among the three groups. Control subjects used 5-6 independent neural commands to execute a gait cycle. High functional TKA patients used 4-5 independent neural commands while low-functional TKA patients relied on only 2-3 independent neural commands to execute a gait cycle. Furthermore, stride-to-stride variability of muscles' response to the neural commands was reduced up to 15% in low-functional TKAs compared to the other two groups. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proposed Methodology for Assessing Cost of Synergies between Offshore Renewable Energy and Other Sea Uses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Margheritini, Lucia; Hanssen, Jan Erik; O´Sullivan, Keith

2015-01-01

Dragon and wind turbine, W2Power) and another (non-energy) sea use. The methodology described in the present study has the value of presenting synergies under an economic prospective. Synergies can be found both in structural, installation and maintenance costs. The CAPEX and OPEX for the energy...

Synergy between low and high energy radical femtochemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gauduel, Y A

2011-01-01

The deleterious effects of ionizing radiation on integrated biological targets being dependent on the spatio-temporal distribution of short-lived radical processes, a thorough knowledge of these early events requires a real-time probing in the range 10 -15 - 10 -10 s. This manuscript review is focused on the synergy that exists between low (1-10 eV) and high (MeV) energy radiation femtochemistry (LERF, HERF respectively). The synergy remains crucial for the investigation of primary radical processes that take place within the prethermal regime of low energy secondary electrons. The quantum character of very-short lived electron in a prehydrated configuration provides a unique sub-nanometric probe to spatially explore some early radiation-induced biomolecular damage. This approach would foreshadow the development of innovative applications for spatio-temporal radiation biology such as, i) a highly-selective pro-drug activation using well-defined quantum states of short-lived radicals, ii) the real-time nanodosimetry in biologically relevant environments, and iii) the ultrashort irradiation of living cells.

Possible causes of dry pea synergy to corn

Science.gov (United States)

Dry pea improves corn yield and tolerance to weed interference compared with soybean, spring wheat, or canola as preceding crops. To understand this synergy between dry pea and corn, we examined growth and nutrient concentration of corn following dry pea or soybean in sequence. Each corn plot was ...

Recognition and Management of Resistant Hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Braam, Branko; Taler, Sandra J; Rahman, Mahboob; Fillaus, Jennifer A; Greco, Barbara A; Forman, John P; Reisin, Efrain; Cohen, Debbie L; Saklayen, Mohammad G; Hedayati, S Susan

2017-03-07

Despite improvements in hypertension awareness and treatment, 30%-60% of hypertensive patients do not achieve BP targets and subsequently remain at risk for target organ damage. This therapeutic gap is particularly important to nephrologists, who frequently encounter treatment-resistant hypertension in patients with CKD. Data are limited on how best to treat patients with CKD and resistant hypertension, because patients with CKD have historically been excluded from hypertension treatment trials. First, we propose a consistent definition of resistant hypertension as BP levels confirmed by both in-office and out-of-office measurements that exceed appropriate targets while the patient is receiving treatment with at least three antihypertensive medications, including a diuretic, at dosages optimized to provide maximum benefit in the absence of intolerable side effects. Second, we recommend that each patient undergo a standardized, stepwise evaluation to assess adherence to dietary and lifestyle modifications and antihypertensive medications to identify and reduce barriers and discontinue use of substances that may exacerbate hypertension. Patients in whom there is high clinical suspicion should be evaluated for potential secondary causes of hypertension. Evidence-based management of resistant hypertension is discussed with special considerations of the differences in approach to patients with and without CKD, including the specific roles of diuretics and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists and the current place of emerging therapies, such as renal denervation and baroreceptor stimulation. We endorse use of such a systematic approach to improve recognition and care for this vulnerable patient group that is at high risk for future kidney and cardiovascular events. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Characterization of Cardiac Patients Based on the Synergy Model

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Tavangar

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Background Cardiac patients need comprehensive support due to the adverse effects of this disease on different aspects of their lives. Synergy intervention is a model that focuses on patients' requirements. Objectives This study aimed to determine the eightfold characteristic of cardiac patients based on the synergy model that represent their clinical requirements. Materials and Methods In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 40 cardiac patients hospitalized at the cardiac care unit (CCU of Yazd Afshar Hospital were randomly selected. The data were collected by using a two-part check-list including demographic characteristics and also by studying eight characteristics of patients through interviewing and reviewing their records. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency (percentage and analytical statistics such as Spearman and Mann-Whitney test with the SPSS software, version 18. Results The results showed that among patients' internal characteristics, reversibility (70.6%, vulnerability (68.6%, and predictability (80.4% at level 1 (the minimum score had the highest frequency and stability (49% and complexity (54.9% were at level 3 (average score. Among external characteristics participation in decision-making (80.4% at level 1 had the highest frequency while care (62.7% and recourses (98% were at level 3. Conclusions Ignoring any of the eightfold characteristics based on the synergy model interferes with comprehensive support of cardiac patients. Therefore, it is necessary for professional health practitioners, especially nurses, to consider patients' eightfold characteristics in order to provide quality care.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project ;The Hand Embodied; (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands.

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M L; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project "The Hand Embodied" (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methodological Choices in Muscle Synergy Analysis Impact Differentiation of Physiological Characteristics Following Stroke

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Caitlin L. Banks

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Muscle synergy analysis (MSA is a mathematical technique that reduces the dimensionality of electromyographic (EMG data. Used increasingly in biomechanics research, MSA requires methodological choices at each stage of the analysis. Differences in methodological steps affect the overall outcome, making it difficult to compare results across studies. We applied MSA to EMG data collected from individuals post-stroke identified as either responders (RES or non-responders (nRES on the basis of a critical post-treatment increase in walking speed. Importantly, no clinical or functional indicators identified differences between the cohort of RES and nRES at baseline. For this exploratory study, we selected the five highest RES and five lowest nRES available from a larger sample. Our goal was to assess how the methodological choices made before, during, and after MSA affect the ability to differentiate two groups with intrinsic physiologic differences based on MSA results. We investigated 30 variations in MSA methodology to determine which choices allowed differentiation of RES from nRES at baseline. Trial-to-trial variability in time-independent synergy vectors (SVs and time-varying neural commands (NCs were measured as a function of: (1 number of synergies computed; (2 EMG normalization method before MSA; (3 whether SVs were held constant across trials or allowed to vary during MSA; and (4 synergy analysis output normalization method after MSA. MSA methodology had a strong effect on our ability to differentiate RES from nRES at baseline. Across all 10 individuals and MSA variations, two synergies were needed to reach an average of 90% variance accounted for (VAF. Based on effect sizes, differences in SV and NC variability between groups were greatest using two synergies with SVs that varied from trial-to-trial. Differences in SV variability were clearest using unit magnitude per trial EMG normalization, while NC variability was less sensitive to EMG

The Successful Synergy of Swift and Fermi/GBM in Magnetars

Science.gov (United States)

Kouveliotou, Chryssa

2011-01-01

The magnetar rate of discovery has increased dramatically in the last decade. Five sources were discovered in the last three years alone as a result of the very efficient synergy among three X- and .gamma-ray instruments on NASA satellites: the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), the Fermi/Gamma ray Burst Monitor (GBM), and the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer; RXTE/Proportional Counter Array (PCA). To date, there are approx. 25 magnetar candidates, of which two are (one each) in the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud and the rest reside on the Galactic plane of our Milky Way. I will discuss here the main properties of the Magnetar Population and the common projects that can be achieved with the synergy of Swift and GBM.

Co-location synergies : specialized versus diverse logistics concentration areas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heuvel, van den F.P.; Langen, de P.W.; Donselaar, van K.H.; Fransoo, J.C.

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of spatial concentration of logistics firms by empirically analyzing synergies through co-location and investigating whether co-location of logistics establishments in specialized logistics concentration areas results in

Proximity matters : synergies through co-location of logistics establishments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heuvel, van den F.P.; Langen, de P.W.; Donselaar, van K.H.; Fransoo, J.C.

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of spatial concentration of logistics firms by empirically analyzing synergies through co-location and investigating whether spatial concentration of logistics activities indeed results in classical agglomeration economies as

Phenotypic and Genotypic Detection of Metallo-beta-lactamases among Imipenem-Resistant Gram Negative Isolates

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Mohammad Mohammadzadeh

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Background:   Imipenem-resistant gram negative bacteria, resulting from metallo-beta-lactamase (MBLs-producing strains have been reported to be among the important causes of nosocomial infections and of serious therapeutic problem worldwide. Because of their broad range, potent carbapenemase activity and resistance to inhibitors, these enzymes can confer resistance to almost all beta-lactams. The prevalence of metallo-beta-lactamase among imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Enerobacteriaceae isolates is determined.Methods:   In this descriptive study 864 clinical isolates of Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Enterobacteriaceae, were initially tested for imipenem susceptibility. The metallo-beta-lactamase production was detected using combined disk diffusion, double disk synergy test, and Hodge test. Then all imipenem resistant isolates were tested by PCR for imp, vim and ndm genes. Results:   Among 864 isolates, 62 (7.17 % were imipenem-resistant. Positive phonetypic test for metallo-beta-lactamase was 40 (64.5%, of which 24 (17.1% and 16 (9.2% isolates were Acinetobacter spp. and Pseudomonas spp., respectively. By PCR method 30 (48.4% of imipenem resistant Acinetobacter, and Pseudomonas isolates were positive for MBL-producing genes. None of the Enterobacteriaceae isolates were positive for metallo-beta-lactamase activity. Conclusion:   The results of this study are indicative of the growing number of nosocomial infections associated with multidrug-resistant gram negative bacteria in this region leading to difficulties in antibiotic therapy. Thereby, using of phenotypic methods can be helpful for management of this problem.

Synergy between Security and Safeguards in Uranium Concentrate Export Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soumana, T.

2010-01-01

This paper is a proposal to the government of Niger and all national institutions involved in the ISSAS and INSSERV Missions held in Niger to optimally coordinate they activities in nuclear field. It is essential to notice that Niger has significant nuclear activities, mainly in uranium prospecting, mining, milling, and export. In Niger, there are also many radioactive sources in non nuclear use. The safeguards agreement of Niger, infcirc/664, is in force since 16 February 2005 and its relating additional protocol since 2 May 2007. For the safeguards implementation in Niger, Government has requested to the IAEA an ISSAS Mission which was completed in February 2008. A main recommendation of this mission is to consider an overall plan for security measures and in this regards, an INSSERV Mission was completed in December 2008. Nuclear safeguards conclusions focus on correctness and completeness of declarations provided by operators. Nuclear security activities (prevention, detection and response) are useful contributions to confirm safeguards conclusions specially, a good detection strategy at national level can help to confirm the absence of undeclared activities in a country like Niger. Many governmental institutions are involved in nuclear activities and there are lacks of communication between them. Creating a synergy between safeguards and security can federate the mechanisms of control at national level and have impact in many aspects specially in (i) awareness of decision makers (ii) optimal use of the equipments (iii) organizing training activities and human resource management and (iv) designing national strategic plans. The institution which hosted the two IAEA consultative missions (Directorate of Peaceful Use of Nuclear Techniques-DUPTN for the ISSAS Mission and Civil Defence for INSSERV Mission) in consultation with other national institutions had to create a framework for this synergy. This framework must be submitted to the IAEA for observation and

International legal instruments promoting synergy's in nuclear safety, security and safeguards: myth of reality?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasmant, A.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this article is to assess the existing synergies between nuclear safety, nuclear security and non-proliferation/safeguards resulting from the adoption of international legal instruments. Keeping in mind that a synergy is the extra success achieved by two or more elements of a system working together instead of on their own, this paper will try to evaluate the possibility of a so-called '3 S' approach to optimize the benefits so defined. to achieve this, Part 1 focuses on the history of the three regimes and their major features, while Part 2, 3 and 4 explore the various benefits of, limits to, synergies between the nuclear safety, nuclear security and safeguards regimes. Part 5 describes the potential '3 S' approach in international nuclear law. (N.C.)

Gene pyramiding as a Bt resistance management strategy: How ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Reports on the emergence of insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis delta endotoxins have raised doubts on the sustainability of Bt-toxin based pest management technologies. Corporate industry has responded to this challenge with innovations that include gene pyramiding among others. Pyramiding entails stacking ...

Active sensor synergy for arctic cloud microphysics

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Sato Kaori

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, we focus on the retrieval of liquid and ice-phase cloud microphysics from spaceborne and ground-based lidar-cloud radar synergy. As an application of the cloud retrieval algorithm developed for the EarthCARE satellite mission (JAXA-ESA [1], the derived statistics of cloud microphysical properties in high latitudes and their relation to the Arctic climate are investigated.

Genistein, a phytoestrogen, improves total cholesterol, and Synergy, a prebiotic, improves calcium utilization, but there were no synergistic effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Legette, LeeCole L; Lee, Wang-Hee; Martin, Berdine R; Story, Jon A; Arabshahi, Ali; Barnes, Stephen; Weaver, Connie M

2011-08-01

Prebiotics and phytoestrogens have sparked great interest because evidence indicates that the consumption of these dietary constituents leads to lower cholesterol levels and inhibition of postmenopausal bone loss. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of both a prebiotic (Synergy) and a phytoestrogen (genistein) on bone and blood lipid levels in an animal model of postmenopausal women. A 4-week feeding study was conducted in 5-month-old ovariectomized (OVX) Sprague-Dawley rats to examine the effect of genistein, Synergy (a prebiotic), and genistein and Synergy combined on bone density and strength, calcium metabolism, and lipid biomarkers. There were six treatment groups: sham control, OVX control, OVX rats receiving daily estradiol injections, and OVX rats receiving an AIN-93M diet supplement with 200 ppm genistein, with 5% Synergy or with 200 ppm genistein and 5% Synergy combined. The rats receiving genistein had significantly lower total serum cholesterol concentrations than OVX rats in the control group (17%), OVX rats receiving daily estradiol injections (14%), and OVX rats fed the 5% Synergy diet (19%). Consumption of Synergy improved calcium absorption efficiency (41%) compared with nonconsumption (OVX control). Sham control rats had a significantly higher femoral bone density, as determined by underwater weighing, than did the rats in all of the OVX groups. Genistein consumption restored total and trabecular bone mineral density at the distal femur similar to the levels of sham rats. Genistein supplementation imparts modest heart health benefits and improves bone geometry at the distal femur, and prebiotic consumption (Synergy) results in improved calcium utilization strength in ovariectomized rats, but the combination produced no synergistic effects.

Are we ready to move beyond the reductionist approach of classical synergy control?. Comment on "Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands" by Marco Santello et al.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacquaniti, Francesco; Ivanenko, Yuri P.; Zago, Myrka

2016-07-01

Starting from the classical concepts introduced by Sherrington [1] and considerably elaborated by Bernstein [2], much has been learned about motor synergies in the last several years. The contributions of the group funded by the European project ;The Hand Embodied; are remarkable in the field of biological and robotic control of the hand based on synergies, and they are reflected in this enjoyable review [3]. There, Santello et al. adopt Bernstein's definition of motor synergies as multiple elements working together towards a common goal, with the result that multiple degrees of freedom are controlled within a lower-dimensional space than the available number of dimensions.

Sustainable Urbanization Synergy Degree Measures—A Case Study in Henan Province, China

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Leilei Jiao

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainable urbanization emphasizes properly handling the relationships between people, people and society, and people and nature in the process of urban development. However, sometimes these interactions are difficult to quantify. Through an analysis of the structure and functions of the sustainable urbanization system, this paper introduced synergetic theory and constructed a sustainable urbanization synergy system (SUSS with five subsystems; demographic change, economic development, spatial structure, environmental quality, and social development; to study the synergistic development and orderly evolution trend of the sustainable urbanization composite system. Using sustainable urbanization in Henan province as an example, a mathematical quantitative model was established to measure the subsystem order degrees and the composite system synergy degree from 2006 to 2015. The results were consistent with the actual situation and indicated that over time, sustainable urbanization in Henan developed towards a more harmonious and orderly state, though the overall synergy degree was not high. It was found that the model was a sound basis for scientific judgment and effective decision-making when seeking to coordinate sustainable urbanization.

Synergy as a new and sensitive marker of basal ganglia dysfunction: A study of asymptomatic welders.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Mechelle M; Lee, Eun-Young; Jo, Hang Jin; Du, Guangwei; Park, Jaebum; Flynn, Michael R; Kong, Lan; Latash, Mark L; Huang, Xuemei

2016-09-01

Multi-digit synergies, a recently developed, theory-based method to quantify stability of motor action, are shown to reflect basal ganglia dysfunction associated with parkinsonian syndromes. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that multi-digit synergies may capture early and subclinical basal ganglia dysfunction. We chose asymptomatic welders to test the hypothesis because the basal ganglia are known to be most susceptible to neurotoxicity caused by welding-related metal accumulation (such as manganese and iron). Twenty right-handed welders and 13 matched controls were invited to perform single- and multi-finger pressing tasks using the fingers of the right or left hand. Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and Grooved Pegboard scores were used to gauge gross and fine motor dysfunction, respectively. High-resolution (3T) T1-weighted, T2-weighted, T1 mapping, susceptibility, and diffusion tensor MRIs were obtained to reflect manganese, iron accumulation, and microstructural changes in basal ganglia. The synergy index stabilizing total force and anticipatory synergy adjustments were computed, compared between groups, and correlated with estimates of basal ganglia manganese [the pallidal index, R1 (1/T1)], iron [R2* (1/T2*)], and microstructural changes [fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity]. There were no significant differences in Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (total or motor subscale) or Grooved Pegboard test scores between welders and controls. The synergy index during steady-state accurate force production was decreased significantly in the left hand of welders compared to controls (p=0.004) but did not reach statistical significance in the right hand (p=0.16). Anticipatory synergy adjustments, however, were not significantly different between groups. Among welders, higher synergy indices in the left hand were associated significantly with higher fractional anisotropy values in the left globus pallidus (R=0.731, psynergy metrics may serve

Molecular signatures of nicotinoid-pathogen synergy in the termite gut.

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Ruchira Sen

Full Text Available Previous studies in lower termites revealed unexpected synergies between nicotinoid insecticides and fungal entomopathogens. The present study investigated molecular mechanisms of nicotinoid-pathogen synergy in the lower termite Reticulitermes flavipes, using the nicotinoid, imidacloprid, in combination with fungal and bacterial entomopathogens. Particular focus was placed on metatranscriptome composition and microbial dynamics in the symbiont-rich termite gut, which houses diverse mixes of protists and bacteria. cDNA microarrays containing a mix of host and protist symbiont oligonucleotides were used to simultaneously assess termite and protist gene expression. Five treatments were compared that included single challenges with sublethal doses of fungi (Metharizium anisopliae, bacteria (Serratia marcescens or imidacloprid, and dual challenges with fungi + imidacloprid or bacteria + imidacloprid. Our findings point towards protist dysbiosis and compromised social behavior, rather than suppression of stereotypical immune defense mechanisms, as the dominant factors underlying nicotinoid-pathogen synergy in termites. Also, greater impacts observed for the fungal pathogen than for the bacterial pathogen suggest that the rich bacterial symbiont community in the R. flavipes gut (>5000 species-level phylotypes exists in an ecological balance that effectively excludes exogenous bacterial pathogens. These findings significantly advance our understanding of antimicrobial defenses in this important eusocial insect group, as well as provide novel insights into how nicotinoids can exert deleterious effects on social insect colonies.

Modeling Game Avatar Synergy and Opposition through Embedding in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games

OpenAIRE

Chen, Zhengxing; Xu, Yuyu; Nguyen, Truong-Huy D.; Sun, Yizhou; El-Nasr, Magy Seif

2018-01-01

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games have received increasing worldwide popularity recently. In such games, players compete in teams against each other by controlling selected game avatars, each of which is designed with different strengths and weaknesses. Intuitively, putting together game avatars that complement each other (synergy) and suppress those of opponents (opposition) would result in a stronger team. In-depth understanding of synergy and opposition relationships among game ...

Tumor microenvironment and metabolic synergy in breast cancers: critical importance of mitochondrial fuels and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Outschoorn, Ubaldo; Sotgia, Federica; Lisanti, Michael P

2014-04-01

Metabolic synergy or metabolic coupling between glycolytic stromal cells (Warburg effect) and oxidative cancer cells occurs in human breast cancers and promotes tumor growth. The Warburg effect or aerobic glycolysis is the catabolism of glucose to lactate to obtain adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This review summarizes the main findings on this stromal metabolic phenotype, and the associated signaling pathways, as well as the critical role of oxidative stress and autophagy, all of which promote carcinoma cell mitochondrial metabolism and tumor growth. Loss of Caveolin 1 (Cav-1) and the upregulation of monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) in stromal cells are novel markers of the Warburg effect and metabolic synergy between stromal and carcinoma cells. MCT4 and Cav-1 are also breast cancer prognostic biomarkers. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are key mediators of the stromal Warburg effect. High ROS also favors cancer cell mitochondrial metabolism and tumorigenesis, and anti-oxidants can reverse this altered stromal and carcinoma metabolism. A pseudo-hypoxic state with glycolysis and low mitochondrial metabolism in the absence of hypoxia is a common feature in breast cancer. High ROS induces loss of Cav-1 in stromal cells and is sufficient to generate a pseudo-hypoxic state. Loss of Cav-1 in the stroma drives glycolysis and lactate extrusion via HIF-1α stabilization and the upregulation of MCT4. Stromal cells with loss of Cav-1 and/or high expression of MCT4 also show a catabolic phenotype, with enhanced macroautophagy. This catabolic state in stromal cells is driven by hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α, nuclear factor κB (NFκB), and JNK activation and high ROS generation. A feed-forward loop in stromal cells regulates pseudo-hypoxia and metabolic synergy, with Cav-1, MCT4, HIF-1α, NFκB, and ROS as its key elements. Metabolic synergy also may occur between cancer cells and cells in distant organs from the tumor. Cancer cachexia, which is due to severe organismal

Synergy among School and District Leaders in the Application of Quality Standards in Kuwaiti Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Aldaihani, Sultan Ghaleb

2017-01-01

This study sought to identify existing levels of synergy, or cooperation and compatibility, among school and district leaders and the impact of synergy on standards of quality in Kuwaiti schools. The researcher employed a qualitative methodology based on interviews with principals and administrators representing the six educational districts in…

The Resistome: A Comprehensive Database of Escherichia coli Resistance Phenotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Winkler, James D; Halweg-Edwards, Andrea L; Erickson, Keesha E; Choudhury, Alaksh; Pines, Gur; Gill, Ryan T

2016-12-16

The microbial ability to resist stressful environmental conditions and chemical inhibitors is of great industrial and medical interest. Much of the data related to mutation-based stress resistance, however, is scattered through the academic literature, making it difficult to apply systematic analyses to this wealth of information. To address this issue, we introduce the Resistome database: a literature-curated collection of Escherichia coli genotypes-phenotypes containing over 5,000 mutants that resist hundreds of compounds and environmental conditions. We use the Resistome to understand our current state of knowledge regarding resistance and to detect potential synergy or antagonism between resistance phenotypes. Our data set represents one of the most comprehensive collections of genomic data related to resistance currently available. Future development will focus on the construction of a combined genomic-transcriptomic-proteomic framework for understanding E. coli's resistance biology. The Resistome can be downloaded at https://bitbucket.org/jdwinkler/resistome_release/overview .

Phenotypic Detection of Metallo-Beta-Lactamases in Carbapenem Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Isolated from Pediatric Patients in Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muneeza Anwar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Multidrug resistant A. baumannii has emerged as an important and problematic human pathogen as it is the causative agent of several types of infections especially in neonates and immunocompromised patients because they have least capacity to fight against infections. Carbapenems are used as last resort antibiotics for treating these infections but currently resistance against carbapenems due to MBL production is on the rise. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of antibiotic resistance in A. baumannii and also to compare the efficacy of combined disk test and double disk synergy test for detection of metallo-beta-lactamases. A total of 112 A. baumannii were identified from various clinical samples and antibiotic susceptibility profile was determined by Kirby-Bauer Disk Diffusion method. Out of 112, 66 (58.9% isolates were resistant to both imipenem and meropenem (OXOID. These resistant isolates were tested for carbapenemase production, and 55 (83.3% were carbapenemase producers by Modified Hodge Test. These isolates were further tested for MBL production by combined disk test and double disk synergy test. Out of 66, 49 isolates were positive by both methods, CDT and DDST, and only one isolate was detected as negative (with kappa value = 0.038. All MBL producing strains showed remarkable resistance to cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and piperacillin/tazobactam (OXOID. The antibiotic resistance was very high in A. baumannii which were isolated from children in Pakistan specially attending a nephrology unit.

Institutional Synergies in Customary Land Markets—Selected Case Studies of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs in Ghana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elias Danyi Kuusaana

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Synergies among land institutions and institutional changes impact on land markets and in guaranteeing agro-based employment, capital injection, local economic development and infrastructural improvement. Increasingly, these institutions have come under pressure and there are concerns about their functional capacities and implications on land markets. This paper discusses institutional synergies and its impacts on customary land markets under large-scale land acquisitions for agro-investments in Ghana. From the study, it was identified that the government of Ghana has maintained a non-interfering stance in customary land markets so as to protect the sanctity and independence of customary land institutions. Also, land transactions were found characterised by lack of transparency, information sharing, participation and accountability. For an efficient and effective management of LSLAs in Ghana, there is the need for a functioning institutional collaboration and one-stop-shop approach to streamline the apparent complex processes of acquiring agricultural land. The roles of customary custodians such as chiefs and Tendaamba should be critically reviewed and re-aligned according to local customs to make the institutions more accountable, consultative and transparent, while curtailing their enormous powers in land administration.

Normalized Index of Synergy for Evaluating the Coordination of Motor Commands

Science.gov (United States)

Togo, Shunta; Imamizu, Hiroshi

2015-01-01

Humans perform various motor tasks by coordinating the redundant motor elements in their bodies. The coordination of motor outputs is produced by motor commands, as well properties of the musculoskeletal system. The aim of this study was to dissociate the coordination of motor commands from motor outputs. First, we conducted simulation experiments where the total elbow torque was generated by a model of a simple human right and left elbow with redundant muscles. The results demonstrated that muscle tension with signal-dependent noise formed a coordinated structure of trial-to-trial variability of muscle tension. Therefore, the removal of signal-dependent noise effects was required to evaluate the coordination of motor commands. We proposed a method to evaluate the coordination of motor commands, which removed signal-dependent noise from the measured variability of muscle tension. We used uncontrolled manifold analysis to calculate a normalized index of synergy. Simulation experiments confirmed that the proposed method could appropriately represent the coordinated structure of the variability of motor commands. We also conducted experiments in which subjects performed the same task as in the simulation experiments. The normalized index of synergy revealed that the subjects coordinated their motor commands to achieve the task. Finally, the normalized index of synergy was applied to a motor learning task to determine the utility of the proposed method. We hypothesized that a large part of the change in the coordination of motor outputs through learning was because of changes in motor commands. In a motor learning task, subjects tracked a target trajectory of the total torque. The change in the coordination of muscle tension through learning was dominated by that of motor commands, which supported the hypothesis. We conclude that the normalized index of synergy can be used to evaluate the coordination of motor commands independently from the properties of the

Performance and cross-crop resistance of Cry1F-maize selected Spodoptera frugiperda on transgenic Bt cotton: implications for resistance management.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Fei; Kerns, David L; Brown, Sebe; Kurtz, Ryan; Dennehy, Tim; Braxton, Bo; Head, Graham; Huang, Fangneng

2016-06-15

Transgenic crops producing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins have become a primary tool in pest management. Due to the intensive use of Bt crops, resistance of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, to Cry1F maize has occurred in Puerto Rico, Brazil, and some areas of the southeastern U.S. The sustainability of Bt crops faces a great challenge because the Cry1F-maize resistant S. frugiperda may also infest other Bt crops in multiple cropping ecosystems. Here we examined the survival and plant injury of a S. frugiperda population selected with Cry1F maize on three single-gene and five pyramided Bt cotton products. Larvae of Cry1F-susceptible (SS), -heterozygous (RS), and -resistant (RR) genotypes of S. frugiperda were all susceptible to the pyramided cotton containing Cry1Ac/Cry2Ab, Cry1Ac/Cry1F/Vip3A, Cry1Ab/Cry2Ae, or Cry1Ab/Cry2Ae/Vip3A, and the single-gene Cry2Ae cotton. Pyramided cotton containing Cry1Ac/Cry1F was effective against SS and RS, but not for RR. These findings show that the Cry1F-maize selected S. frugiperda can cause cross-crop resistance to other Bt crops expressing similar insecticidal proteins. Resistance management and pest management programs that utilize diversify mortality factors must be implemented to ensure the sustainability of Bt crops. This is especially important in areas where resistance to single-gene Bt crops is already widespread.

Analytical calculation of current drive synergy between LH and EC waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumont, R.; Giruzzi, G.

2001-01-01

An analytical model for the evaluation of electron cyclotron current drive efficiency improvement in lower hybrid current drive regimes is presented. The adjoint equation is written and solved by a perturbation treatment, allowing to derive a response function including both collisional and lower hybrid effects, in the limit where the former still dominate. This allows an analytical demonstration of the current drive synergy effects, previously found by numerical solutions of the kinetic equation. The model is especially useful for the determination of appropriate wave parameters optimizing this synergy effect, such as the EC launching angles suitable for a given LH target plasma. Under these conditions, it is shown that a significant improvement of the ECCD efficiency can be obtained

A regional synergy approach to energy recovery: The case of the Kwinana industrial area, Western Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beers, D. van; Biswas, W.K.

2008-01-01

Energy is a key issue in the Kwinana industrial area, Western Australia's major heavy industrial region, where the major energy consuming industries consume upto 80 PJ/yr of energy in their processes. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made towards the reduction of energy consumption and reduction of greenhouse gases in Kwinana. One way to further advance sustainable energy use is through the realisation of regional synergies. These concern the capture, recovery and reuse of by-products, water and energy between industries in close proximity. Kwinana is recognised as a leading edge example in regional synergy development, but more synergy opportunities appear to exist. The centre for sustainable resource processing (CSRP) is undertaking research to develop new synergies in Kwinana, including energy utility synergies. As part of the research, a methodology was developed and applied to identify and evaluate the economic, technical, and environmental feasibility of collaborative energy recovery opportunities from industry flue gases in Kwinana. The trial application demonstrated the significant potential to mitigate CO 2 emissions through energy recovery from flue gases by applying technologies to convert the embedded energy into useful thermal and electric applications. This article discusses the methodology and outcomes from the trial applications, including the impact of carbon taxes, reducing costs of emerging technologies, and increasing energy prices

Pest control and resistance management through release of insects carrying a male-selecting transgene.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey-Samuel, Tim; Morrison, Neil I; Walker, Adam S; Marubbi, Thea; Yao, Ju; Collins, Hilda L; Gorman, Kevin; Davies, T G Emyr; Alphey, Nina; Warner, Simon; Shelton, Anthony M; Alphey, Luke

2015-07-16

Development and evaluation of new insect pest management tools is critical for overcoming over-reliance upon, and growing resistance to, synthetic, biological and plant-expressed insecticides. For transgenic crops expressing insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis ('Bt crops') emergence of resistance is slowed by maintaining a proportion of the crop as non-Bt varieties, which produce pest insects unselected for resistance. While this strategy has been largely successful, multiple cases of Bt resistance have now been reported. One new approach to pest management is the use of genetically engineered insects to suppress populations of their own species. Models suggest that released insects carrying male-selecting (MS) transgenes would be effective agents of direct, species-specific pest management by preventing survival of female progeny, and simultaneously provide an alternative insecticide resistance management strategy by introgression of susceptibility alleles into target populations. We developed a MS strain of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, a serious global pest of crucifers. MS-strain larvae are reared as normal with dietary tetracycline, but, when reared without tetracycline or on host plants, only males will survive to adulthood. We used this strain in glasshouse-cages to study the effect of MS male P. xylostella releases on target pest population size and spread of Bt resistance in these populations. Introductions of MS-engineered P. xylostella males into wild-type populations led to rapid pest population decline, and then elimination. In separate experiments on broccoli plants, relatively low-level releases of MS males in combination with broccoli expressing Cry1Ac (Bt broccoli) suppressed population growth and delayed the spread of Bt resistance. Higher rates of MS male releases in the absence of Bt broccoli were also able to suppress P. xylostella populations, whereas either low-level MS male releases or Bt broccoli

Enhanced MR angiography of the lower extremities with synergy spine coil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takashima, Hiroyuki; Watanabe, Naoki

2002-01-01

A synergy spine coil is a phased-array coil designed for spine imaging. The coil's sensitive area is narrow in both the x-axis and y-axis directions but very wide in the z-axis direction. It is therefore suitable for using in long parts of the body, such as the spine. We used the coil for enhanced MR angiography in the lower extremities, which requires a very long field of view on the z-axis direction. Using on the NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) standard test for special-purpose coils, the sensitive volume of the synergy spine coil was first measured by using a phantom. It was found that the sensitive lengths along x-axis and y-axis were 300 mm and 120 mm, respectively, while that along z-axis could set at any length required for the examination by modifying the element number. The above area was confirmed to be sufficient for obtaining enhanced MR angiograms of the lower extremities. The results of this study showed the use of the synergy spine coil in enhanced MR angiography of the lower extremities is superior to the use of a conventional whole body coil for obtaining good MR angiograms with a good single-to-noise ratio (SNR). (author)

Antistaphylococcal activity of DX-619 alone and in combination with vancomycin, teicoplanin, and linezolid assessed by time-kill synergy testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Credito, Kim; Lin, Genrong; Appelbaum, Peter C

2007-04-01

Time-kill synergy studies testing in vitro activity of DX-619 alone and with added vancomycin, teicoplanin, or linezolid against 101 Staphylococcus aureus strains showed synergy between DX-619 and teicoplanin at 12 to 24 h in 72 strains and between DX-619 and vancomycin in 28 strains. No synergy was found with linezolid, and no antagonism was observed with any combination.

Academic Entrepreneurship and Traditional Academic Duties: Synergy or Rivalry?

Science.gov (United States)

De Silva, Muthu

2016-01-01

This study investigates the influence of academic entrepreneurship on traditional academic duties carried out in a resource-constrained environment, particularly focusing on whether there is synergy or rivalry between these two activities. Using qualitative evidence, we discover that there are funding, resource, knowledge and skill and networking…

Synergy of plasma resistivity and electron viscosity in mediating double tearing modes in cylindrical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Zhixiong; He, H D; Long, Y X; Mou, Z Z; Dong, J Q; Gao Zhe

2010-01-01

The linear behaviors of the double tearing mode (DTM) mediated by parallel electron viscosity and plasma resistivity in cylindrical plasmas with reversed magnetic shear and thus two resonant rational flux surfaces are numerically investigated in this paper. It is shown that DTMs mediated by electron viscosity alone behave similarly to the DTMs mediated by resistivity alone. DTMs mediated by electron viscosity are found to be enhanced by plasma resistivity, which is in such a range that the growth rate of the modes induced by the latter alone is comparable with that of the modes mediated by the former alone, and vice versa. Otherwise the growth rate of the modes is equal to the higher of the modes mediated by resistivity or electron viscosity alone when both resistivity and electron viscosity are taken into account. The enhancement is found to be closely related to the profiles of the stream function.

Energy mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity: Synergies and antagonisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berry, P M; Paterson, J S

2009-01-01

In this paper we review the current impacts of different energy producers (and energy conservation) on biodiversity and investigate the potential for achieving positive biodiversity effects along with mitigation and adaptation objectives. Very few energy producers achieve all three aims - although it may be possible with careful choice of location and management. In some instances, energy conservation can provide mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity benefits. There is still a gap in knowledge regarding the effects of newer energy technologies on biodiversity. There is an additional concern that many supposedly 'green' renewable energy projects may actually harm biodiversity to such a degree that their overall human benefits are negated. The increasing understanding that ecosystem services are vital for human well-being though means that attempting positive mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity conservation in the energy sector should be an imperative goal for international policy. Whilst research into synergies between mitigation and adaptation is established, there has been very little that has examined the impacts on biodiversity as well. Further work is required to identify and provide evidence of the best ways of optimising mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity in the energy sector.

Geneva international synergies

CERN Multimedia

2010-01-01

Geneva has a long history of hosting international organizations, which is part of the reason why CERN is here, and it makes the canton an ideal place to forge links between such organizations. Over recent weeks, CERN has signed agreements with the ITU, WIPO and the WMO. At first sight, there may not seem to be much common ground between CERN and, say, the World Meteorological Organization, but scratch the surface, and you’ll soon find a common thread. All of these organizations have a vocation to stimulate technological innovation, and together we’re stronger.   Let’s start with ITU, the International Telecommunications Union. There, the synergies are evident. When ITU organized the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003, CERN provided a significant side event examining the Role of Science in the Information Society. The current agreement builds on that, allowing our two organizations to work together on important societal issues such as the extension of b...

Effect of human-robot interaction on muscular synergies on healthy people and post-stroke chronic patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Scano, A; Chiavenna, A; Caimmi, M; Malosio, M; Tosatti, L M; Molteni, F

2017-07-01

Robot-assisted training is a widely used technique to promote motor re-learning on post-stroke patients that suffer from motor impairment. While it is commonly accepted that robot-based therapies are potentially helpful, strong insights about their efficacy are still lacking. The motor re-learning process may act on muscular synergies, which are groups of co-activating muscles that, being controlled as a synergic group, allow simplifying the problem of motor control. In fact, by coordinating a reduced amount of neural signals, complex motor patterns can be elicited. This paper aims at analyzing the effects of robot assistance during 3D-reaching movements in the framework of muscular synergies. 5 healthy people and 3 neurological patients performed free and robot-assisted reaching movements at 2 different speeds (slow and quasi-physiological). EMG recordings were used to extract muscular synergies. Results indicate that the interaction with the robot very slightly alters healthy people patterns but, on the contrary, it may promote the emergency of physiological-like synergies on neurological patients.

Diagnostic Performance of the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris (ECU) Synergy Test to Detect Sonographic ECU Abnormalities in Chronic Dorsal Ulnar-Sided Wrist Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Junko; Ishii, Yoshinori; Noguchi, Hideo

2016-01-01

The extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) tendon synergy test is a simple and unique diagnostic maneuver for evaluation of chronic dorsal ulnar-sided wrist pain, which applies isolated tension to the ECU without greatly stressing other structures. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of the ECU synergy test to detect ECU abnormalities on sonography. Forty affected wrists from 39 consecutive patients with chronic dorsal ulnar-sided wrist pain that continued for greater than 1 month were examined with the ECU synergy test and sonography. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the ECU synergy test to detect ECU abnormalities were evaluated. We compared the results of the ECU synergy test between groups with and without ECU abnormalities and also compared the ages, sexes, and symptomatic durations of the patients between groups with positive and negative ECU synergy test results and between the groups with and without ECU abnormalities. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 73.7%, 85.7%, 82.4%, and 78.3%, respectively. There was significant difference in the ECU synergy test results between the groups with and without ECU abnormalities (P synergy test could be a useful provocative maneuver to detect ECU abnormalities in patients with chronic dorsal ulnar-sided wrist pain. © 2016 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Industrial energy management; Betriebliches Energiemanagement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goebel, D.

2007-07-01

Effective and successful energy and facility management uses a holistic view in which the life cycles of plants and buildings are considered, plus efficient controlling and reporting. The challenge is not in short-term cost reduction but in ensuring long-term effects. This requires management strategies which make use of synergy effects by means of interdisciplinary measures. Main topics: management of energy utilization, energy conversion and energy supply. (GL)

Core business concentration vs. corporate diversification in the US electric utility industry: Synergy and deregulation effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki; Goto, Mika; Shang, Jennifer

2009-01-01

Many economists such as Wilson (2002) [Wilson, R., 2002. Architecture of power market, Econometrica, 70, 1299-1340] have considered that there are similarities between electricity and gas services in the US electric utility industry. Hence, they expect a synergy effect between them. However, the two businesses do not have technology similarities at the level that the gas service produces a synergy effect with electricity. To examine whether there is a synergy effect of corporate diversification in the industry, we compare electricity-specialized firms with diversified utility firms in terms of their financial performance and corporate value. The comparison indicates that core business concentration is more effective for electric utility firms than corporate diversification under the current US deregulation policy.

Management of oak forests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Löf, Magnus; Brunet, Jörg; Filyushkina, Anna

2016-01-01

timber production, habitats for biodiversity and cultural services, and the study analyses associated trade-offs and synergies. The three regimes were: intensive oak timber production (A), combined management for both timber production and biodiversity (B) and biodiversity conservation without management...... of wood production and cultural services. In contrast, Regime B provided a balanced delivery of timber production, biodiversity conservation and cultural services. We identified several stand-management options which provide comparatively synergistic outcomes in ecosystem services delivery. The use...

Nuclear energy and its synergies with renewable energies; Le nucleaire dans ses synergies avec les renouvelables

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carre, F. [CEA Saclay, DEN, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Mermilliod, N. [CEA Grenoble, Dir. de la Recherche Technologique, 38 (France); Devezeaux De Lavergne, J.G. [CEA Saclay, Dir. de l' Institut de tecchnico-economie des systemes energetiques I-tese, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Durand, S. [CEA Grenoble, European Institute of Technology -KIC InnoEnergy, 38 (France)

2011-05-15

France has the ambition to become a world leader in both nuclear industry and in renewable energies. 3 types of synergies between nuclear power and renewable energies are highlighted. First, nuclear power can be used as a low-carbon energy to produce the equipment required to renewable energy production for instance photovoltaic cells. Secondly, to benefit from the complementary features of both energies: continuous/intermittency of the production, centralized/local production. The future development of smart grids will help to do that. Thirdly, to use nuclear energy to produce massively hydrogen from water and synthetic fuels from biomass. (A.C.)

Working hard to make a simple definition of synergies. Comment on: "Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands" by Marco Santello et al.

Science.gov (United States)

Alessandro, Cristiano; Oliveira Barroso, Filipe; Tresch, Matthew

2016-07-01

The paper ;Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands; [1] presents a comprehensive review of the work carried out as part of the EU funded project ;The Hand Embodied;. The work uses the concept of ;synergy; to study the neuromuscular control of the human hand and to design novel robotics systems. The project has been very productive and has made important contributions. We are therefore confident that it will lead to further advancements and experiments in the future.

Development of a resistance management strategy for ixodid ticks ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The strategy developed for managing resistance in ticks with the acaricidal products on the market was based on mode of action of the active ingredients. The strategy requires the rotaional use of the acaricidal products in ways that reduces the selection pressure of active ingredients of same chemistry on the target-site in ...

Diamond coating deposition by synergy of thermal and laser methods-A problem revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ristic, Gordana S.; Trtica, Milan S.; Bogdanov, Zarko D.; Romcevic, Nebojsa Z.; Miljanic, Scepan S.

2007-01-01

Diamond coatings were deposited by synergy of the hot filament CVD method and the pulse TEA CO 2 laser, in spectroactive and spectroinactive diamond precursor atmospheres. Resulting diamond coatings are interpreted relying on evidence of scanning electron microscopy as well as microRaman spectroscopy. Thermal synergy component (hot filament) possesses an activating agent for diamond deposition, and contributes significantly to quality and extent of diamond deposition. Laser synergy component comprises a solid surface modification as well as the spectroactive gaseous atmosphere modification. Surface modification consists in changes of the diamond coating being deposited and, at the same time, in changes of the substrate surface structure. Laser modification of the spectroactive diamond precursor atmosphere means specific consumption of the precursor, which enables to skip the deposition on a defined substrate location. The resulting process of diamond coating elimination from certain, desired locations using the CO 2 laser might contribute to tailoring diamond coatings for particular applications. Additionally, the substrate laser modification could be optimized by choice of a proper spectroactive precursor concentration, or by a laser radiation multiple pass through an absorbing medium

The synergy of creativity and critical thinking in engineering design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spuzic, Sead; Narayanan, Ramadas; Adriansen, Hanne Kirstine

2016-01-01

framework. It has been widely recognised that engineering design encompasses two ways of thinkingdcreative and critical. A central argument that the synergy of creativity and criticality is significantly enhanced by connecting true interdisciplinary augmentation with the fine arts is discussed along...

Synergies of multiple remote sensing data sources for REDD+ monitoring

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sy, de V.; Herold, M.; Achard, F.; Asner, G.P.; Held, A.; Kellndorfer, J.; Verbesselt, J.

2012-01-01

Remote sensing technologies can provide objective, practical and cost-effective solutions for developing and maintaining REDD+ monitoring systems. This paper reviews the potential and status of available remote sensing data sources with a focus on different forest information products and synergies

syNErgy: A Case Study in Workforce Curriculum Development

Science.gov (United States)

Killingsworth, John; Grosskopf, Kevin R.

2013-01-01

With high unemployment and structural changes to industry, workforce development in the United States is a growing concern. Many semiskilled workers lack knowledge, skills, and abilities to be competitive for reemployment to green jobs. Nebraska's syNErgy research grant was introduced to address the training needs of unemployed and underemployed…

Health, supervisory support, and workplace culture in relation to work-family conflict and synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Beutell, Nicholas J

2010-08-01

This research examined health, supervisory support, and workplace culture as predictors of work interfering with family, family interfering with work, and work-family synergy. The analysis of data from 2,796 respondents from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce yielded significant relations among measures of mental health, self-rated health, supervisory support, and work-family culture with a focus on career concerns. Support was found for a measure of work-family synergy. Implications and directions for research are discussed.

Mechanism of c-Src Synergy with the EGFR in Breast Cancer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tice, David

1997-01-01

.... To gain further insights into the mechanism of c-Src synergy with the EGFR, stable cell lines containing various c-Src mutants and overexpressed wt EGFR were generated and examined for tumorigenic...

Mechanism of c-Src Synergy with the EGFR In Breast Cancer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tice, David

1999-01-01

... on tumorigenicity and growth of breast tumor cells. Furthermore, we have discovered a mechanism of c-Src synergy with the EGFR and located specific points at which the pathway can be interdicted...

Research on a Novel Hydraulic/Electric Synergy Bus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kegang Zhao

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In recent years, increasing concerns regarding environmental pollution and requirements for lower fossil fuel consumption have increased interest in alternative hybrid powertrains. As a result, this paper presents a novel hydraulic/electric synergy powertrain with multiple working modes. The three energy sources (i.e., engine, battery, and hydraulic accumulator in this configuration are regulated by a dual planetary gear set to achieve optimal performances. This paper selects the component sizes of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV, a hydraulic hybrid vehicle (HHV, and a hydraulic/electric synergy vehicle (HESV, based on the dynamic performance of a target vehicle (TV. In addition, this paper develops the forward simulation models of the four aforementioned vehicles in the MATLAB/Simulink/Driveline platform, in which the fuel economy simulations are carried out in relation to the Chinese urban bus cycle. The simulation results show that the fuel consumption of the three hybrid vehicles is similar, but much better than, that of the TV. Finally, based on the operating cost calculations over a five-year working period, the lowest cost ranges of the three hybrid vehicles are determined, which provides a method for choosing the optimal hybrid scheme.

Modification of Spastic Stretch Reflexes at the Elbow by Flexion Synergy Expression in Individuals With Chronic Hemiparetic Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

McPherson, Jacob G; Stienen, Arno H; Drogos, Justin M; Dewald, Julius P

2018-03-01

To systematically characterize the effect of flexion synergy expression on the manifestation of elbow flexor stretch reflexes poststroke, and to relate these findings to elbow flexor stretch reflexes in individuals without neurologic injury. Controlled cohort study. Academic medical center. Participants (N=20) included individuals with chronic hemiparetic stroke (n=10) and a convenience sample of individuals without neurologic or musculoskeletal injury (n=10). Participants with stroke were interfaced with a robotic device that precisely manipulated flexion synergy expression (by regulating shoulder abduction loading) while delivering controlled elbow extension perturbations over a wide range of velocities. This device was also used to elicit elbow flexor stretch reflexes during volitional elbow flexor activation, both in the cohort of individuals with stroke and in a control cohort. In both cases, the amplitude of volitional elbow flexor preactivation was matched to that generated involuntarily during flexion synergy expression. The amplitude of short- and long-latency stretch reflexes in the biceps brachii, assessed by electromyography, and expressed as a function of background muscle activation and stretch velocity. Increased shoulder abduction loading potentiated elbow flexor stretch reflexes via flexion synergy expression in the paretic arm. Compared with stretch reflexes in individuals without neurologic injury, paretic reflexes were larger at rest but were approximately equal to control muscles at matched levels of preactivation. Because flexion synergy expression modifies stretch reflexes in involved muscles, interventions that reduce flexion synergy expression may confer the added benefit of reducing spasticity during functional use of the arm. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Synergy effects between bismuth molybdate catalyst phases (Bi/Mo from 0.57 to 2) for the selective oxidation of propylene to arcrolein

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Le, Minh Thang; Well, Willy van; Stoltze, Per

2005-01-01

In this work, the synergy effect between different phases of bismuth molybdate catalysts was investigated systematically. The catalysts were prepared by spray drying and had a Bi/Mo atomic between 0.57 and 2. It is found that the synergy effect is only observed in mixtures containing γ-phase. A m......-phase. A mixture with Bi/Mo ratio = 1.3 consisting of γ- and α-phase, exhibits the highest activity. Less homogeneous ‘artificial mixtures’ exhibit reduced synergy effects when compared to homogeneous ‘in situ mixtures’.......In this work, the synergy effect between different phases of bismuth molybdate catalysts was investigated systematically. The catalysts were prepared by spray drying and had a Bi/Mo atomic between 0.57 and 2. It is found that the synergy effect is only observed in mixtures containing γ...

Alberta industrial synergy CO2 programs initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yildirim, E.

1998-01-01

The various industrial sectors within Alberta produce about 350,000 tonnes of CO 2 per day. This presentation was concerned with how this large volume and high concentration of CO 2 can be used in industrial and agricultural applications, because every tonne of CO 2 used for such purposes is a tonne that does not end up in the atmosphere. There is a good potential for an industrial synergy between the producers and users of CO 2 . The Alberta Industrial Synergy CO 2 Programs Initiative was established to ultimately achieve a balance between the producers of CO 2 and the users of CO 2 by creating ways to use the massive quantities of CO 2 produced by Alberta's hydrocarbon-based economy. The Alberta CO 2 Research Steering Committee was created to initiate and support CO 2 programs such as: (1) CO 2 use in enhanced oil recovery, (2) creation of a CO 2 production inventory, (3) survey of CO 2 users and potential users, (4) investigation of process issues such as power generation, oil sands and cement manufacturing, and (5) biofixation by plants, (6) other disposal options (e.g. in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, in aquifers, in tailings ponds, in coal beds). The single most important challenge was identified as 'rationalizing the formation of the necessary infrastructure'. Failing to do that will greatly impede efforts directed towards CO 2 utilization

Using Epidemiological Principles to Explain Fungicide Resistance Management Tactics: Why do Mixtures Outperform Alternations?

Science.gov (United States)

Elderfield, James A D; Lopez-Ruiz, Francisco J; van den Bosch, Frank; Cunniffe, Nik J

2018-07-01

Whether fungicide resistance management is optimized by spraying chemicals with different modes of action as a mixture (i.e., simultaneously) or in alternation (i.e., sequentially) has been studied by experimenters and modelers for decades. However, results have been inconclusive. We use previously parameterized and validated mathematical models of wheat Septoria leaf blotch and grapevine powdery mildew to test which tactic provides better resistance management, using the total yield before resistance causes disease control to become economically ineffective ("lifetime yield") to measure effectiveness. We focus on tactics involving the combination of a low-risk and a high-risk fungicide, and the case in which resistance to the high-risk chemical is complete (i.e., in which there is no partial resistance). Lifetime yield is then optimized by spraying as much low-risk fungicide as is permitted, combined with slightly more high-risk fungicide than needed for acceptable initial disease control, applying these fungicides as a mixture. That mixture rather than alternation gives better performance is invariant to model parameterization and structure, as well as the pathosystem in question. However, if comparison focuses on other metrics, e.g., lifetime yield at full label dose, either mixture or alternation can be optimal. Our work shows how epidemiological principles can explain the evolution of fungicide resistance, and also highlights a theoretical framework to address the question of whether mixture or alternation provides better resistance management. It also demonstrates that precisely how spray tactics are compared must be given careful consideration. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license .

Antistaphylococcal Activity of DX-619 Alone and in Combination with Vancomycin, Teicoplanin, and Linezolid Assessed by Time-Kill Synergy Testing▿ †

Science.gov (United States)

Credito, Kim; Lin, Genrong; Appelbaum, Peter C.

2007-01-01

Time-kill synergy studies testing in vitro activity of DX-619 alone and with added vancomycin, teicoplanin, or linezolid against 101 Staphylococcus aureus strains showed synergy between DX-619 and teicoplanin at 12 to 24 h in 72 strains and between DX-619 and vancomycin in 28 strains. No synergy was found with linezolid, and no antagonism was observed with any combination. PMID:17261625

Building synergies between climate change mitigation and energy poverty alleviation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana; Tirado Herrero, Sergio

2012-01-01

Even though energy poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation are inextricably linked policy goals, they have remained as relatively disconnected fields of research inquiry and policy development. Acknowledging this gap, this paper explores the mainstream academic and policy literatures to provide a taxonomy of interactions and identify synergies and trade-offs between them. The most important trade-off identified is the potential increase in energy poverty levels as a result of strong climate change action if the internalisation of the external costs of carbon emissions is not offset by efficiency gains. The most significant synergy was found in deep energy efficiency in buildings. The paper argues that neither of the two problems – deep reductions in GHG emissions by mid-century, and energy poverty eradication – is likely to be solved fully on their own merit, while joining the two policy goals may provide a very solid case for deep efficiency improvements. Thus, the paper calls for a strong integration of these two policy goals (plus other key related benefits like energy security or employment), in order to provide sufficient policy motivation to mobilise a wide-scale implementation of deep energy efficiency standards. - Highlights: ► A taxonomy of interactions between climate change and energy poverty is offered. ► Energy poverty levels may increase as a result of strong climate change action. ► However, strong synergies are offered by deep improvements of energy efficiency. ► Access to modern energy carriers is a key requirement in developing countries. ► Sufficiently solving both problems requires the integration of policy goals.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M.L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2017-01-01

The term ‘synergy’ – from the Greek synergia – means ‘working together’. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project “The Hand Embodied” (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. PMID:26923030

Nuclear Security and Nuclear Safeguards; Differences, Commonalities and Synergies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jorant, C.

2015-01-01

Reference to the three S's in the nuclear world is recurring and much has been said about the need to build on synergies to reinforce safeguards, safety and security. In practice, the 3S's communities are seldom interconnected even though some interaction can be observed between safety and security and security and safeguards. Ensuring a better understanding between those three sectors about their scope, requirements, implementation methods and tools would stimulate cooperation. The second Nuclear Security Summit and particularly the industry related event stressed the synergies between safety and security. The first IAEAs Security Conference organized in July 2013 did not address specifically nuclear safeguards and security relations. Last Security Summit took place in The Hague in March 2014 and this type of issue was not really raised either. The safeguards Symposium provides a timely opportunity to tackle possible enhanced cooperation between safeguards and security communities and assess the prospect for addressing such issue at the next and allegedly last security summit in 2016. This presentation will analyze the differences and commonalities between those two sectors, in particular with regards to the objectives and actors, the organization and technicalities, or to the conceptual approaches (DBT and APA/SLC, attractiveness/accessibility). It will then assess the possible synergies or cooperation between both communities. It will discuss the merits of a global and comprehensive involvement of the different actors, (State, industry and international bodies including the NGOs) and of exchanges on good practices to contribute to a common understanding and references while allowing for an adaptable and national approach. Indeed the need to reassure the stakeholders, including the general public, that security, as well as safeguards are addressed in a consistent manner worldwide is of utmost importance for building future nuclear energy programmes on a

Ginger phytochemicals exhibit synergy to inhibit prostate cancer cell proliferation

Science.gov (United States)

Brahmbhatt, Meera; Gundala, Sushma R.; Asif, Ghazia; Shamsi, Shahab A; Aneja, Ritu

2014-01-01

Dietary phytochemicals offer non-toxic therapeutic management as well as chemopreventive intervention for slow-growing prostate cancers. However, the limited success of several single-agent clinical trials suggest a paradigm shift that the health benefits of fruits and vegetables are not ascribable due to individual phytochemicals rather may be ascribed to but to synergistic interactions among them. We recently reported growth-inhibiting and apoptosis-inducing properties of ginger extract (GE) in in vitro and in vivo prostate cancer models. Nevertheless, the nature of interactions among the constituent ginger biophenolics, viz. 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol, and 6-shogoal, remains elusive. Here we show antiproliferative efficacy of the most-active GE biophenolics as single-agents and in binary combinations, and investigate the nature of their interactions using the Chou-Talalay combination-index (CI) method. Our data demonstrate that binary combinations of ginger phytochemicals synergistically inhibit proliferation of PC-3 cells with CI values ranging from 0.03-0.88. To appreciate synergy among phytochemicals present in GE, the natural abundance of ginger biophenolics was quantitated using LC-UV/MS. Interestingly, combining GE with its constituents (in particular, 6-gingerol) resulted in significant augmentation of GE’s antiproliferative activity. These data generate compelling grounds for further preclinical evaluation of GE alone and in combination with individual ginger biophenols for prostate cancer management. PMID:23441614

Fire retardation of polystyrene/clay nanocomposites: initial study on synergy effect

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Dujková, Z.; Měřínská, D.; Šlouf, Miroslav

2013-01-01

Roč. 26, č. 9 (2013), s. 1278-1286 ISSN 0892-7057 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40500505 Keywords : fire retardation * synergy * clay Subject RIV: CD - Macromolecular Chemistry Impact factor: 1.134, year: 2013

Characterization of a sodium-cooled fast reactor in an MHR-SFR synergy for TRU transmutation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Ser Gi; Kim, Yonghee; Venneri, Francesco

2008-01-01

In the task of destroying the light water reactor (LWR) transuranics (TRUs), we consider the concept of a synergistic combination of a deep-burn (DB) gas-cooled reactor followed by a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), as an alternative way to the direct feeding of the LWR TRUs to the SFR. In the synergy concept, TRUs from LWR are first deeply incinerated in a graphite-moderated DB-MHR (modular helium reactor) and then the spent fuels of DB-MHR are recycled into the closed-cycle SFR. The DB-MHR core is 100% TRU-loaded and a deep-burning (50-65%) is achieved in a safe manner (as discussed in our previous work). In this analysis, the SFR fuel cycle is closed with a pyro-processing technology to minimize the waste stream to a final repository. Neutronic characteristics of the SFR core in the MHR-SFR synergy have been evaluated from the core physics point of view. Also, we have compared core characteristics of the synergy SFR with those of a stand-alone SFR transuranic burner. For a consistent comparison, the two SFRs are designed to have the same TRU consumption rate of ∼250 kg/GW EFPY that corresponds to the TRU discharge rate from three 600 MW DB-MHRs. The results of our work show that the synergy SFR, fed with TRUs from DB-MHR, has a much smaller burnup reactivity swing, a slightly greater delayed neutron fraction (both positive features) but also a higher sodium void worth and a less negative Doppler coefficients than the conventional SFR, fed with TRUs directly from the LWRs. In addition, several design measures have been considered to reduce the sodium void worth in the synergy SFR core

Towards a synergy framework across neuroscience and robotics: Lessons learned and open questions. Reply to comments on: "Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands"

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jorntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Schaeffer, Alin Abu; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

We would like to thank all commentators for their insightful commentaries. Thanks to their diverse and complementary expertise in neuroscience and robotics, the commentators have provided us with the opportunity to further discuss state-of-the-art and gaps in the integration of neuroscience and robotics reviewed in our article. We organized our reply in two sections that capture the main points of all commentaries [1-9]: (1) Advantages and limitations of the synergy approach in neuroscience and robotics, and (2) Learning and role of sensory feedback in biological and robotics synergies.

Using postural synergies to animate a low-dimensional hand avatar in haptic simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulatto, Sara; Formaglio, Alessandro; Malvezzi, Monica; Prattichizzo, Domenico

2013-01-01

A technique to animate a realistic hand avatar with 20 DoFs based on the biomechanics of the human hand is presented. The animation does not use any sensor glove or advanced tracker with markers. The proposed approach is based on the knowledge of a set of kinematic constraints on the model of the hand, referred to as postural synergies, which allows to represent the hand posture using a number of variables lower than the number of joints of the hand model. This low-dimensional set of parameters is estimated from direct measurement of the motion of thumb and index finger tracked using two haptic devices. A kinematic inversion algorithm has been developed, which takes synergies into account and estimates the kinematic configuration of the whole hand, i.e., also of the fingers whose end tips are not directly tracked by the two haptic devices. The hand skin is deformable and its deformation is computed using a linear vertex blending technique. The proposed synergy-based animation of the hand avatar involves only algebraic computations and is suitable for real-time implementation as required in haptics.

Stride time synergy in relation to walking during dual task

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Læssøe, Uffe; Madeleine, Pascal

2012-01-01

point of view elemental and performance variables may represent good and bad components of variability [2]. In this study we propose that the gait pattern can be seen as an on-going movement synergy in which each stride is corrected by the next stride (elemental variables) to ensure a steady gait...... (performance variable). AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate stride time synergy and to identify good and bad stride variability in relation to walking during dual task. METHODS: Thirteen healthy young participants walked along a 2x5 meter figure-of-eight track at a self-selected comfortable speed...... with a positive slope going through the mean of the strides, and bad variance with respect to a similar line with a negative slope. The general variance coefficient (CV%) was also computed. The effect of introducing a concurrent cognitive task (dual task: counting backwards in sequences of 7) was evaluated...

Implementation of total responsibility management into corporate strategy

OpenAIRE

Gorenak, Štefka; Bobek, Vito

2012-01-01

This contribution reports about relationship and potential synergies between the total quality management (TQM) and total responsibility management (TRM) as well as corporate citizenship. TRM principles and standards reflect the raising public expectations about corporate social responsibility. Many companies develop TRM as requisitely holistically and hence successfully manage their responsibilities toward their stakeholders and natural environment. The evolution and implementation of TRM in...

Antimicrobial behavior of phage endolysin PlyP100 and its synergy with nisin to control Listeria monocytogenes in Queso Fresco.

Science.gov (United States)

Ibarra-Sánchez, Luis A; Van Tassell, Maxwell L; Miller, Michael J

2018-06-01

Hispanic-style fresh cheeses, such as Queso Fresco (QF), have been linked to numerous listeriosis outbreaks in the United States. In this work, we have studied the antilisterial behavior and effectiveness of the Listeria phage endolysin PlyP100 in QF, as well as the potential synergy between PlyP100 and nisin. PlyP100 showed similar bacterial reduction regardless of varying L. monocytogenes inoculum size in QF, and when the inoculation size was 1 Log CFU/g, no pathogen recovery after cheese enrichment was observed. PlyP100 was stable in QF for up to 28 days of cold storage exhibiting similar antilisterial activity regardless of when contamination with L. monocytogenes occurred. PlyP100 alone exhibited a strong listeriostatic effect in QF, on the contrary, nisin alone was not effective to control the pathogen in QF during cold storage. The combination of nisin and PlyP100 showed a strong synergy in QF with non-enumerable levels of L. monocytogenes after 4 weeks of refrigerated storage. Moreover, L. monocytogenes isolates from cheeses treated with nisin, PlyP100, and their combination did not develop resistance to nisin or PlyP100. Our results support the use of PlyP100 combined with nisin as an efficient L. monocytogenes control measure in QF. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Importance of Emotion Management Emerging for the Prevention of Resistance in the Change Process: A Perspective for Service Businesses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meryem Akoğlan Kozak

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to draw the attention to the importance of emotions preventing employees’ resistance to change during the change process. The most important obstacle in today’s enterprises is the resistance of the employees to changing applications. To prevent this resistance methods such as prediction, ensure participation, communication, education, reconciliation, force are usually used. However, considering the structure of tourism managements which is labor-intensive or human-oriented, besides these traditional methods to prevent resistance also must be used as a method of managing emotions. As a result of the evaluation about the subject over literature; emotion management is an awareness in the sector, but it isn’t used as a method of preventing resistance. Emotion management which is used for preventing resistance in change process is expected to make easier this process in tourism managements. For this purpose, employees constantly informing, supporting and clarity towards them, special interest to them, by pinpointing desires and needs, to perform the effort up and continuous learning to encourage such applications are recommended.

Research on the Synergy Degree of China Yangtze River Delta Region Technology Innovation System Evolution from the Perspective of Technology Innovation Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Bin Feng

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This paper divides technology innovation system into research and development input subsystem, technology research and development subsystem and technology application subsystem from the perspective of technology innovation chain, combining with the system theory. Then selects the corresponding ordinal variables, makes an empirical analysis to the synergy degree of Yangtze River delta regional technology innovation system evolution by complex system synergy degree model which based on the data of 2002-2009. The results show that the development of synergy degree of the technology innovation system appears a rising trend and the technology application subsystem is the key factor of direction and degree of synergy development in the evolution process of regional technology innovation system in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Finally, this paper analyzes the characteristics and causes of synergy degree’s evolution, and puts forward the corresponding policy recommendations to different problems.

Achieving synergy between strategy and innovation: The key to value creation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dobni, C.B.

2010-01-01

Full Text Available An innovation perspective provides an unencumbered clean sheet view of the future, as it is only concerned with what opportunities lie ahead. It prompts the organization to consider the question of 'what future state do we want to achieve?' as opposed to the orchestrated approaches of strategic planning that promotes incrementalism. The perspective chosen will often determine whether an organization is a competitive innovator and competitive imitator. In today's economic environment, organizations are required to create differentiable value. To do so requires a certain synergy between strategy and innovation. This article outlines the importance of innovation, but more importantly discusses the relationship between strategy and innovation. It argues that strategic innovation is logical, yet strategy and innovation are quite different, both in terms of definition and function. These differences are identified, and approaches to achieving synergy are outlined.

Co-gasification of coal and biomass: Synergy, characterization and reactivity of the residual char.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Junhao; Shao, Jingai; Yang, Haiping; Lin, Guiying; Chen, Yingquan; Wang, Xianhua; Zhang, Wennan; Chen, Hanping

2017-11-01

The synergy effect between coal and biomass in their co-gasification was studied in a vertical fixed bed reactor, and the physic-chemical structural characteristics and gasification reactivity of the residual char obtained from co-gasification were also investigated. The results shows that, conversion of the residual char and tar into gas is enhanced due to the synergy effect between coal and biomass. The physical structure of residual char shows more pore on coal char when more biomass is added in the co-gasification. The migration of inorganic elements between coal and biomass was found, the formation and competitive role of K 2 SiO 3 , KAlSiO 4 , and Ca 3 Al 2 (SiO 4 ) 3 is a mechanism behind the synergy. The graphization degree is enhanced but size of graphite crystallite in the residual char decreases with biomass blending ratio increasing. TGA results strongly suggest the big difference in the reactivity of chars derived from coal and biomass in spite of influence from co-gasification. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Precise Plan in the analysis of volume precision in SynergyTM conebeam CT image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai Sen; Xu Qingfeng; Zhong Renming; Jiang Xiaoqin; Jiang Qingfeng; Xu Feng

2007-01-01

Objective: A method of checking the volume precision in Synergy TM conebeam CT image. Methods: To scan known phantoms (big, middle, small spheres, cubes and cuniform cavum) at different positions (CBCT centre and departure centre from 5, 8, 10 cm along the accelerator G-T way)with conebeam CT, the phantom volume of reconstructed images were measure. Then to compared measured volume of Synergy TM conebeam CT with fanbeam CT results and nominal values. Results: The middle spheres had 1.5% discrepancy in nominal values and metrical average values at CBCT centre and departure from centre 5, 8 cm along accelerator G-T way. The small spheres showed 8.1%, with 0.8 % of the big cube and 2.9% of small cube, in nominal values and metrical average values at CBCT centre and departure from centre 5, 8, 10 cm along the accelerator G-T way. Conclusion: In valid scan range of Synergy TM conebeam CT, reconstructed precision is independent of the distance deviation from the center. (authors)

Kinematic and kinetic synergies of the lower extremities during the pull in olympic weightlifting.

Science.gov (United States)

Kipp, Kristof; Redden, Josh; Sabick, Michelle; Harris, Chad

2012-07-01

The purpose of this study was to identify multijoint lower extremity kinematic and kinetic synergies in weightlifting and compare these synergies between joints and across different external loads. Subjects completed sets of the clean exercise at loads equal to 65, 75, and 85% of their estimated 1-RM. Functional data analysis was used to extract principal component functions (PCF's) for hip, knee, and ankle joint angles and moments of force during the pull phase of the clean at all loads. The PCF scores were then compared between joints and across loads to determine how much of each PCF was present at each joint and how it differed across loads. The analyses extracted two kinematic and four kinetic PCF's. The statistical comparisons indicated that all kinematic and two of the four kinetic PCF's did not differ across load, but scaled according to joint function. The PCF's captured a set of joint- and load-specific synergies that quantified biomechanical function of the lower extremity during Olympic weightlifting and revealed important technical characteristics that should be considered in sports training and future research.

An approach to diagnosis and management of resistant hypertension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hitesh C Patel

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Hypertension is a key determinant of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality, directly accounting for approximately 10% of deaths in India. There is a causal association between the magnitude of blood pressure (BP elevation and adverse cardiovascular event rate, which provides the rationale for implementing BP reduction in routine clinical practice. However, an estimated 30-50% of the hypertensive population remain uncontrolled with a BP >140/90 mmHg, of whom a subgroup fulfill the diagnostic criteria for resistant hypertension. This cohort lies at the extreme end of the cardiovascular risk spectrum, and hence stands to benefit most from specialist input to optimize BP control. This review summarizes a management approach in patients with resistant hypertension, focusing on accurate diagnosis and evidence-based treatments.

Env-glycoprotein heterogeneity as a source of apparent synergy and enhanced cooperativity in inhibition of HIV-1 infection by neutralizing antibodies and entry inhibitors

Science.gov (United States)

Ketas, Thomas J.; Holuigue, Sophie; Matthews, Katie; Moore, John P.

2011-01-01

We measured the inhibition of infectivity of HIV-1 isolates and derivative clones by combinations of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and other entry inhibitors in a single-cycle-replication assay. Synergy was analyzed both by the current linear and a new nonlinear method. The new method reduced spurious indications of synergy and antagonism. Synergy between NAbs was overall weaker than between other entry inhibitors, and no stronger where one ligand is known to enhance the binding of another. However, synergy was stronger for a genetically heterogeneous HIV-1 R5 isolate than for its derivative clones. Enhanced cooperativity in inhibition by combinations, compared with individual inhibitors, correlated with increased synergy at higher levels of inhibition, while being less variable. Again, cooperativity enhancement was stronger for isolates than clones. We hypothesize that genetic, post-translational or conformational heterogeneity of the Env protein and of other targets for inhibitors can yield apparent synergy and increased cooperativity between inhibitors. PMID:22018634

Investigating Conversational Dynamics: Interactive Alignment, Interpersonal Synergy, and Collective Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Fusaroli, Riccardo; Tylén, Kristian

2016-01-01

This study investigates interpersonal processes underlying dialog by comparing two approaches, "interactive alignment" and "interpersonal synergy", and assesses how they predict collective performance in a joint task. While the interactive alignment approach highlights imitative patterns between interlocutors, the synergy…

Co-gasification of bituminous coal and hydrochar derived from municipal solid waste: Reactivity and synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Juntao; Guo, Qinghua; He, Qing; Ding, Lu; Yoshikawa, Kunio; Yu, Guangsuo

2017-09-01

In this work, the influences of gasification temperature and blended ratio on co-gasification reactivity and synergy of Shenfu bituminous coal (SF) and municipal solid waste-derived hydrochar (HTC) were investigated using TGA. Additionally, active alkaline and alkaline earth metal (AAEM) transformation during co-gasification was quantitatively analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer for correlating synergy on co-gasification reactivity. The results showed that higher char gasification reactivity existed at higher HTC char proportion and gasification temperature, and the main synergy behaviour on co-gasification reactivity was performed as synergistic effect. Enhanced synergistic effect at lower temperature was mainly resulted from more obviously inhibiting the primary AAEM (i.e. active Ca) transformation, and weak synergistic effect still existed at higher temperature since more active K with prominent catalysis was retained. Furthermore, more active HTC-derived AAEM remaining in SF sample during co-gasification would lead to enhanced synergistic effect as HTC char proportion increased. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Striking multiple synergies created by combining reduced graphene oxides and carbon nanotubes for polymer nanocomposites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Ping’an; Liu Lina; Fu Shenyuan; Yu Youming; Jin Chunde; Wu Qiang; Zhang Yan; Li Qian

2013-01-01

The extraordinary properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene stimulate the development of advanced composites. Recently, several studies have reported significant synergies in the mechanical, electrical and thermal conductivity properties of polymer nanocomposites by incorporating their nanohybrids. In this work, we created polypropylene nanocomposites with homogeneous dispersion of CNTs and reduced graphene oxides via a facile polymer-latex-coating plus melt-mixing strategy, and investigated their synergistic effects in their viscoelastic, gas barrier, and flammability properties. Interestingly, the results show remarkable synergies, enhancing their melt modulus and viscosity, O 2 barrier, and flame retardancy properties and respectively exhibiting a synergy percentage of 15.9%, 45.3%, and 20.3%. As previously reported, we also observed remarkable synergistic effects in their tensile strength (14.3%) and Young’s modulus (27.1%), electrical conductivity (32.3%) and thermal conductivity (34.6%). These impressive results clearly point towards a new strategy to create advanced materials by adding binary combinations of different types of nanofillers. (paper)

Quantifying Net Synergy/Redundancy of Spontaneous Variability Regulation via Predictability and Transfer Entropy Decomposition Frameworks.

Science.gov (United States)

Porta, Alberto; Bari, Vlasta; De Maria, Beatrice; Takahashi, Anielle C M; Guzzetti, Stefano; Colombo, Riccardo; Catai, Aparecida M; Raimondi, Ferdinando; Faes, Luca

2017-11-01

Objective: Indexes assessing the balance between redundancy and synergy were hypothesized to be helpful in characterizing cardiovascular control from spontaneous beat-to-beat variations of heart period (HP), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), and respiration (R). Methods: Net redundancy/synergy indexes were derived according to predictability and transfer entropy decomposition strategies via a multivariate linear regression approach. Indexes were tested in two protocols inducing modifications of the cardiovascular regulation via baroreflex loading/unloading (i.e., head-down tilt at -25° and graded head-up tilt at 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°, respectively). The net redundancy/synergy of SAP and R to HP and of HP and R to SAP were estimated over stationary sequences of 256 successive values. Results: We found that: 1) regardless of the target (i.e., HP or SAP) redundancy was prevalent over synergy and this prevalence was independent of type and magnitude of the baroreflex challenge; 2) the prevalence of redundancy disappeared when decoupling inputs from output via a surrogate approach; 3) net redundancy was under autonomic control given that it varied in proportion to the vagal withdrawal during graded head-up tilt; and 4) conclusions held regardless of the decomposition strategy. Conclusion: Net redundancy indexes can monitor changes of cardiovascular control from a perspective completely different from that provided by more traditional univariate and multivariate methods. Significance: Net redundancy measures might provide a practical tool to quantify the reservoir of effective cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms sharing causal influences over a target variable. Objective: Indexes assessing the balance between redundancy and synergy were hypothesized to be helpful in characterizing cardiovascular control from spontaneous beat-to-beat variations of heart period (HP), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), and respiration (R). Methods: Net redundancy/synergy

Knee Motion Generation Method for Transfemoral Prosthesis Based on Kinematic Synergy and Inertial Motion.

Science.gov (United States)

Sano, Hiroshi; Wada, Takahiro

2017-12-01

Previous research has shown that the effective use of inertial motion (i.e., less or no torque input at the knee joint) plays an important role in achieving a smooth gait of transfemoral prostheses in the swing phase. In our previous research, a method for generating a timed knee trajectory close to able-bodied individuals, which leads to sufficient clearance between the foot and the floor and the knee extension, was proposed using the inertial motion. Limb motions are known to correlate with each other during walking. This phenomenon is called kinematic synergy. In this paper, we measure gaits in level walking of able-bodied individuals with a wide range of walking velocities. We show that this kinematic synergy also exists between the motions of the intact limbs and those of the knee as determined by the inertial motion technique. We then propose a new method for generating the motion of the knee joint using its inertial motion close to the able-bodied individuals in mid-swing based on its kinematic synergy, such that the method can adapt to the changes in the motion velocity. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed method achieves prosthetic walking similar to that of able-bodied individuals with a wide range of constant walking velocities and termination of walking from steady-state walking. Further investigations have found that a kinematic synergy also exists at the start of walking. Overall, our method successfully achieves knee motion generation from the initiation of walking through steady-state walking with different velocities until termination of walking.

Synergy between methylerythritol phosphate pathway and mevalonate pathway for isoprene production in Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Chen; Gao, Xiang; Jiang, Yu; Sun, Bingbing; Gao, Fang; Yang, Sheng

2016-09-01

Isoprene, a key building block of synthetic rubber, is currently produced entirely from petrochemical sources. In this work, we engineered both the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway and the mevalonate (MVA) pathway for isoprene production in E. coli. The synergy between the MEP pathway and the MVA pathway was demonstrated by the production experiment, in which overexpression of both pathways improved the isoprene yield about 20-fold and 3-fold, respectively, compared to overexpression of the MEP pathway or the MVA pathway alone. The (13)C metabolic flux analysis revealed that simultaneous utilization of the two pathways resulted in a 4.8-fold increase in the MEP pathway flux and a 1.5-fold increase in the MVA pathway flux. The synergy of the dual pathway was further verified by quantifying intracellular flux responses of the MEP pathway and the MVA pathway to fosmidomycin treatment and mevalonate supplementation. Our results strongly suggest that coupling of the complementary reducing equivalent demand and ATP requirement plays an important role in the synergy of the dual pathway. Fed-batch cultivation of the engineered strain overexpressing the dual pathway resulted in production of 24.0g/L isoprene with a yield of 0.267g/g of glucose. The synergy of the MEP pathway and the MVA pathway also successfully increased the lycopene productivity in E. coli, which demonstrates that it can be used to improve the production of a broad range of terpenoids in microorganisms. Copyright © 2016 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A pragmatic definition of therapeutic synergy suitable for clinically relevant in vitro multicompound analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Kashif, Muhammad; Andersson, Claes; Åberg, Magnus; Nygren, Peter; Sjöblom, Tobias; Hammerling, Ulf; Larsson, Rolf; Gustafsson, Mats G

2014-07-01

For decades, the standard procedure when screening for candidate anticancer drug combinations has been to search for synergy, defined as any positive deviation from trivial cases like when the drugs are regarded as diluted versions of each other (Loewe additivity), independent actions (Bliss independence), or no interaction terms in a response surface model (no interaction). Here, we show that this kind of conventional synergy analysis may be completely misleading when the goal is to detect if there is a promising in vitro therapeutic window. Motivated by this result, and the fact that a drug combination offering a promising therapeutic window seldom is interesting if one of its constituent drugs can provide the same window alone, the largely overlooked concept of therapeutic synergy (TS) is reintroduced. In vitro TS is said to occur when the largest therapeutic window obtained by the best drug combination cannot be achieved by any single drug within the concentration range studied. Using this definition of TS, we introduce a procedure that enables its use in modern massively parallel experiments supported by a statistical omnibus test for TS designed to avoid the multiple testing problem. Finally, we suggest how one may perform TS analysis, via computational predictions of the reference cell responses, when only the target cell responses are available. In conclusion, the conventional error-prone search for promising drug combinations may be improved by replacing conventional (toxicology-rooted) synergy analysis with an analysis focused on (clinically motivated) TS. ©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.

Characterisation of ALS genes in the polyploid species Schoenoplectus mucronatus and implications for resistance management.

Science.gov (United States)

Scarabel, Laura; Locascio, Antonella; Furini, Antonella; Sattin, Maurizio; Varotto, Serena

2010-03-01

The polyploid weed Schoenoplectus mucronatus (L.) Palla has evolved target-site resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides in Italian rice crops. Molecular and genetic characterisation of the resistance mechanism is relevant to the evolution and management of herbicide resistance. The authors aimed (a) to study the organisation of the target-site loci in two field-selected S. mucronatus populations with different cross-resistance patterns, (b) to identify the mutations endowing resistance to ALS inhibitors and determine the role of these mutations by using transgenesis and (c) to analyse the implications for the management of the S. mucronatus populations. Two complete ALS genes (ALS1 and ALS2) having an intron and a third partial intronless ALS gene (ALS3) were identified. The presence of multiple ALS genes was confirmed by Southern blot analyses, and ALS loci were characterised by examining cytosine methylation. In S. mucronatus leaves, the transcripts of ALS1, ALS2 and ALS3 were detected. Two mutations endowing resistance (Pro(197) to His and Trp(574) to Leu) were found in both resistant populations, but at different frequencies. Tobacco plants transformed with the two resistant alleles indicated that the Pro(197)-to-His substitution conferred resistance to SU and TP herbicides, while the allele with the Trp(574)-to-Leu substitution conferred cross-resistance to SU, TP, IMI and PTB herbicides. Schoenoplectus mucronatus has multiple ALS genes characterised by methylated sites that can influence the expression profile. The two mutated alleles proved to be responsible for ALS resistance. At population level, the resistance pattern depends on the frequency of various resistant genotypes, and this influences the efficacy of various ALS-inhibiting herbicides.

Management Options For Reducing The Release Of Antibiotics And Antibiotic Resistance Genes To The Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Background: There is growing concern worldwide about the role of polluted soil and water - 77 environments in the development and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. 78 Objective: To identify management options for reducing the spread of antibiotics and 79 antibiotic resist...

Implications of Antibiotic Resistance in the Management of Helicobacter pylori Infection: Canadian Helicobacter Study Group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RH Hunt

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Eradication of Helicobacter pylori from the gastric and duodenal mucosa is an important clinical goal in the treatment of infected patients with peptic ulcer disease and other H pylori-associated conditions. Although several oral drug combination regimens are associated with eradication rates of approximately 85% in controlled trials, the success rate in patients infected with a resistant strain of H pylori is closer to 75%. Resistance to metronidazole and clarithromycin, which are common components of combination treatment regimens, is of greatest concern. Reported rates of H pylori resistance to various antibiotics vary considerably. In Canada, the data documenting H pylori susceptibility are limited but suggest that resistance to these antibiotics varies geographically and within specific treatment groups. Although susceptibility testing is not a prerequisite for initial treatment of individual patients infected with H pylori, formal efforts to identify and monitor both the causes and prevalence of antibiotic resistance across Canada are a much needed step in the ongoing management of this important infection. Recommended treatment regimens may be useful, even for treating apparently resistant H pylori strains. However, it is important to understand the mechanisms of the development of resistant strains to manage patients with treatment failure better.

EBW-Bootstrap Current Synergy in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvey, R.W.; Taylor, G.

2005-01-01

Current driven by electron Bernstein waves (EBW) and by the electron bootstrap effect are calculated separately and concurrently with a kinetic code, to determine the degree of synergy between them. A target β = 40% NSTX plasma is examined. A simple bootstrap model in the CQL3D Fokker-Planck code is used in these studies: the transiting electron distributions are connected in velocity-space at the trapped-passing boundary to trapped-electron distributions which are displaced radially by a half-banana width outwards/inwards for the co-/counter-passing regions. This model agrees well with standard bootstrap current calculations, over the outer 60% of the plasma radius. Relatively small synergy net bootstrap current is obtained for EBW power up to 4 MW. Locally, bootstrap current density increases in proportion to increased plasma pressure, and this effect can significantly affect the radial profile of driven current

Childhood obesity and insulin resistance: how should it be managed?

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Mandy; Garnett, Sarah P; Baur, Louise A

2014-12-01

Concomitant with the rise in global pediatric obesity in the past decades, there has been a significant increase in the number of children and adolescents with clinical signs of insulin resistance. Given insulin resistance is the important link between obesity and the associated metabolic abnormalities and cardiovascular risk, clinicians should be aware of high risk groups and treatment options. As there is no universally accepted biochemical definition of insulin resistance in children and adolescents, identification and diagnosis of insulin resistance usually relies on clinical features such as acanthosis nigricans, polycystic ovary syndrome, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Treatment for reducing insulin resistance and other obesity-associated comorbidities should focus on changes in health behaviors to achieve effective weight management. Lifestyle interventions incorporating dietary change, increased physical activity, and decreased sedentary behaviors, with the involvement of family and adoption of a developmentally appropriate approach, should be used as the first line treatment. Current evidence suggests that the primary objective of dietary interventions should be to reduce total energy intake and a combination of aerobic and resistance training should be encouraged. Metformin can be used in conjunction with a lifestyle intervention program in obese adolescents with clinical insulin resistance to achieve weight loss and to improve insulin sensitivity. Ongoing evaluation and research are required to explore optimal protocol and long-term effectiveness of lifestyle interventions, as well as to determine whether the improvements in insulin sensitivity induced by lifestyle interventions and weight loss will lead to a clinical benefit including reduced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Polarization-coupled tunable resistive behavior in oxide ferroelectric heterostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gruverman, Alexei [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States); Tsymbal, Evgeny Y. [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States); Eom, Chang-Beom [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

2017-05-03

This research focuses on investigation of the physical mechanism of the electrically and mechanically tunable resistive behavior in oxide ferroelectric heterostructures with engineered interfaces realized via a strong coupling of ferroelectric polarization with tunneling electroresistance and metal-insulator (M-I) transitions. This report describes observation of electrically conductive domain walls in semiconducting ferroelectrics, voltage-free control of resistive switching and demonstration of a new mechanism of electrical control of 2D electron gas (2DEG) at oxide interfaces. The research goals are achieved by creating strong synergy between cutting-edge fabrication of epitaxial single-crystalline complex oxides, nanoscale electrical characterization by scanning probe microscopy and theoretical modeling of the observed phenomena. The concept of the ferroelectric devices with electrically and mechanically tunable nonvolatile resistance represents a new paradigm shift in realization of the next-generation of non-volatile memory devices and low-power logic switches.

Management options for reducing the release of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes to the environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pruden, Amy; Larsson, D.G. Joakim; Amézquita, Alejandro

2013-01-01

Background: There is growing concern worldwide about the role of polluted soil and water environments in the development and dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Objective: Our aim in this study was to identify management options for reducing the spread of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance...

Inter- and intrasubject similarity of muscle synergies during bench press with slow and fast velocity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Samani, Afshin; Kristiansen, Mathias

2018-01-01

We investigated the effect of low and high bar velocity on inter- and intra-subject similarity of muscle synergies during bench press. Thirteen trained male subjects underwent two exercise conditions, i.e. a slow and a fast velocity bench press. Surface electromyography was recorded from thirteen...... to describe the dataset variability. For the second activation coefficient, the inter-subject similarity within the fast velocity condition was greater than the intra-subject similarity of the activation coefficient across the conditions. An opposite pattern was observed for the first muscle synergy vector...

Stages in learning motor synergies: a view based on the equilibrium-point hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Latash, Mark L

2010-10-01

This review describes a novel view on stages in motor learning based on recent developments of the notion of synergies, the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis, and the equilibrium-point hypothesis (referent configuration) that allow to merge these notions into a single scheme of motor control. The principle of abundance and the principle of minimal final action form the foundation for analyses of natural motor actions performed by redundant sets of elements. Two main stages of motor learning are introduced corresponding to (1) discovery and strengthening of motor synergies stabilizing salient performance variable(s) and (2) their weakening when other aspects of motor performance are optimized. The first stage may be viewed as consisting of two steps, the elaboration of an adequate referent configuration trajectory and the elaboration of multi-joint (multi-muscle) synergies stabilizing the referent configuration trajectory. Both steps are expected to lead to more variance in the space of elemental variables that is compatible with a desired time profile of the salient performance variable ("good variability"). Adjusting control to other aspects of performance during the second stage (for example, esthetics, energy expenditure, time, fatigue, etc.) may lead to a drop in the "good variability". Experimental support for the suggested scheme is reviewed. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cultural Synergy and Organizational Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøbæk, Pernille Solveig; Vogt, Joachim

2013-01-01

This paper explores informal codes and rhythms of social behavior at work and their relation to organizational change and wellbeing. After a merger within a public service organization we organized 8 focus groups of 2-3 clerical or academic employees within a head office and a division office (N...... = 21). Word counts of ‘I’ and ‘we’ revealed that people sharing pre-merger organizational background (homogeneous groups) used ‘we’ more often than heterogeneous groups. Head office employees were concerned with workload and social code, whereas division office employees mainly discussed meetings......, commitment, and office space. Organizational background rather than office cultures guided these differences. We found that in a merged organization cultural synergies are possible to create if practical and social values for employees are offered. Thus, interesting new ways to transform problems...

Simbol-X: Synergies with JWST, ALMA and Herschel

Science.gov (United States)

Maiolino, R.

2009-05-01

I discuss the synergies between Simbol-X and three among the major astronomical facilities that, in the next decade, will be operative in the infrared-millimeter spectral range, namely JWST, Herschel and ALMA. I first provide a brief overview of the main features and observing capabilities offered by these facilities. Then I will discuss a few research fields (mostly extragalactic) that will geatly benefit of the joint exploitation of Simbol-X and these IR-mm observatories.

Synergy and redundancy in the Granger causal analysis of dynamical networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stramaglia, Sebastiano; M Cortes, Jesus; Marinazzo, Daniele

2014-01-01

We analyze, by means of Granger causality (GC), the effect of synergy and redundancy in the inference (from time series data) of the information flow between subsystems of a complex network. While we show that fully conditioned GC (CGC) is not affected by synergy, the pairwise analysis fails to prove synergetic effects. In cases when the number of samples is low, thus making the fully conditioned approach unfeasible, we show that partially conditioned GC (PCGC) is an effective approach if the set of conditioning variables is properly chosen. Here we consider two different strategies (based either on informational content for the candidate driver or on selecting the variables with highest pairwise influences) for PCGC and show that, depending on the data structure, either one or the other might be equally valid. On the other hand, we observe that fully conditioned approaches do not work well in the presence of redundancy, thus suggesting the strategy of separating the pairwise links in two subsets: those corresponding to indirect connections of the CGC (which should thus be excluded) and links that can be ascribed to redundancy effects and, together with the results from the fully connected approach, provide a better description of the causality pattern in the presence of redundancy. Finally we apply these methods to two different real datasets. First, analyzing electrophysiological data from an epileptic brain, we show that synergetic effects are dominant just before seizure occurrences. Second, our analysis applied to gene expression time series from HeLa culture shows that the underlying regulatory networks are characterized by both redundancy and synergy. (paper)

Effective dominance of resistance of Spodoptera frugiperda to Bt maize and cotton varieties: implications for resistance management

Science.gov (United States)

Horikoshi, Renato J.; Bernardi, Daniel; Bernardi, Oderlei; Malaquias, José B.; Okuma, Daniela M.; Miraldo, Leonardo L.; Amaral, Fernando S. De A. E.; Omoto, Celso

2016-10-01

The resistance of fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, has been characterized to some Cry and Vip3A proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) expressed in transgenic maize in Brazil. Here we evaluated the effective dominance of resistance based on the survival of neonates from selected Bt-resistant, heterozygous, and susceptible (Sus) strains of FAW on different Bt maize and cotton varieties. High survival of strains resistant to the Cry1F (HX-R), Cry1A.105/Cry2Ab (VT-R) and Cry1A.105/Cry2Ab/Cry1F (PW-R) proteins was detected on Herculex, YieldGard VT PRO and PowerCore maize. Our Vip3A-resistant strain (Vip-R) exhibited high survival on Herculex, Agrisure Viptera and Agrisure Viptera 3 maize. However, the heterozygous from HX-R × Sus, VT-R × Sus, PW-R × Sus and Vip-R × Sus had complete mortality on YieldGard VT PRO, PowerCore, Agrisure Viptera, and Agrisure Viptera 3, whereas the HX-R × Sus and Vip-R × Sus strains survived on Herculex maize. On Bt cotton, the HX-R, VT-R and PW-R strains exhibited high survival on Bollgard II. All resistant strains survived on WideStrike, but only PW-R and Vip-R × Sus survived on TwinLink. Our study provides useful data to aid in the understanding of the effectiveness of the refuge strategy for Insect Resistance Management of Bt plants.

Temporo-spatial distribution of insecticide-resistance in Indian malaria vectors in the last quarter-century: Need for regular resistance monitoring and management.

Science.gov (United States)

Raghavendra, Kamaraju; Velamuri, Poonam Sharma; Verma, Vaishali; Elamathi, Natarajan; Barik, Tapan Kumar; Bhatt, Rajendra Mohan; Dash, Aditya Prasad

2017-01-01

The Indian vector control programme similar to other programmes in the world is still reliant on chemical insecticides. Anopheles culicifacies is the major vector out of six primary malaria vectors in India and alone contributes about 2/3 malaria cases annually; and per se its control is actually control of malaria in India. For effective management of vectors, current information on their susceptibility status to different insecticides is essential. In this review, an attempt was made to compile and present the available data on the susceptibility status of different malaria vector species in India from the last 2.5 decades. Literature search was conducted by different means mainly web and library search; susceptibility data was collated from 62 sources for the nine malaria vector species from 145 districts in 21 states and two union territories between 1991 and 2016. Interpretation of the susceptibility/resistance status was made on basis of the recent WHO criteria. Comprehensive analysis of the data indicated that An. culicifacies, a major vector species was resistant to at least one insecticide in 70% (101/145) of the districts. It was reported mostly resistant to DDT and malathion whereas, its resistant status against deltamethrin varied across the districts. The major threat for the malaria control programmes is multiple-insecticide-resistance in An. culicifacies which needs immediate attention for resistance management in order to sustain the gains achieved so far, as the programmes have targeted malaria elimination by 2030.

European Synergies for Soil-Related Training Provisions

Science.gov (United States)

Arnoult, Matthieu; Reynders, Suzanne; Dittmann, Marie; Lukac, Martin

2017-04-01

The University of Reading (UK) has created an original massive online open course (MOOC) the concepts and practices of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), a new approach to agriculture based on three principles: mitigation of climate change, adaptation to climate change, stable or increased productivity, and sustainable food security. Through 2 case studies (dairy farming and wine production) this MOOC is an opportunity to highlight the importance of soil conditions for farmers (e.g., organic matter content, erosion, leaching), an issue which had been overlooked but is now seen as an essential part of integrated farm management or techniques such as no-till farming. Furthermore, this 3-week course launching in January 2017 will be translated in several European languages in order to foster international interest in CSA from students across Europe, but also to create collaborative synergies with research partners. To that effect, collaborative work is under way between the University of Reading, INRA, and Agreenium to develop a soil-oriented MOOC, around the 4‰ Initiative to be launched by France in 2017/18. This session will present the existing MOOC material developed at Reading in the context of British and French farming, the current issues facing farmers with respect to soil, and how these will be addressed in the forthcoming MOOC to be developed in partnership with INRA and Agreenium. The use of online training provision to elicit interest in climate change in general and soil topics in particular will also be outlined.

ENERGY MANAGEMENT INNOVATION IN THE US SKI INDUSTRY

Science.gov (United States)

Ski areas represent a unique opportunity to develop innovative energy management practices in an industrial setting. Through a unique synergy of onsite generation, preferably by renewable sources and innovative technologies, and the energy storage potential of exis...

Supply Chain Performance Improvement Strategy Through Quality of Synergy in The Automotive Components Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tri Purwani

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study were 1 develop a new concept of Bilateral Symmetry, which is the ability of similarity based on transparency and standardization, 2 conduct empirical testing and analyzing the effect of bilateral symmetry to the improved supply chain performance through quality of synergy in industrial automotive components. The study population includes the entire automotive component industry in Indonesia. This study used sample of 105 respondents using purposive sampling method to comply with the AMOS program. The study result shows that the ability of similarity standardization and the ability of the similarity of transparency have positive significant impact on the quality of synergy, and quality of synergy have positive significant impact on the supply chain performance. In addition, from the results of hypothesis testing found two strategies that can improve supply chain performance with 1 increasing the ability of similarity standardization and 2 improve transparency through quality of synergy.Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengembangkan konsep baru bilateral symmetry, yang merupakan kemampuan kesamaan berdasarkan transparansi dan standarisasi, dan melakukan pengujian empiris dan menganalisis pengaruh simetri bilateral untuk peningkatan kinerja rantai pasokan melalui kualitas sinergi pada komponen otomotif industri. Populasi penelitian meliputi seluruh industri komponen otomotif di Indonesia. Penelitian ini menggunakan sampel 105 responden dengan menggunakan metode purposive sampling dan dianalisis dengan program AMOS. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kemampuan kesamaan standarisasi dan kemampuan kesamaan transparansi berdampak signifikan positif pada kualitas sinergi, dan kualitas sinergi berdampak signifikan positif terhadap kinerja rantai pasokan. Selain itu, dari hasil pengujian hipotesis menemukan dua strategi yang dapat meningkatkan kinerja supply chain dengan meningkatkan kemampuan kesamaan standarisasi dan

Renal denervation in the management of resistant hypertension: current evidence and perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Yu; Persu, Alexandre; Staessen, Jan A

2013-09-01

Catheter-based renal denervation has emerged as a novel treatment modality for resistant hypertension. This review summarizes the current evidence on this procedure in treatment of resistant hypertension, limitations of available evidence and questions to be answered. The SYMPLICITY studies showed that renal denervation is feasible in treating resistant hypertension, but failed to provide conclusive evidence on the size and durability of the antihypertensive, renal and sympatholytic effects, as well as the long-term safety. The definition of resistant hypertension was loose in the SYMPLICITY studies and the management of resistant hypertension was suboptimal. Future studies should have a randomized design and enroll truly resistant hypertension patients by excluding secondary hypertension, white-coat hypertension and nonadherent patients. Questions to be addressed by the ongoing and future trials include the long-term efficacy and safety of this procedure, identification of responders and uncovering of the underlying mechanisms. Only well-designed, randomized clinical trials addressing the limitations of the SYMPLICITY studies will be able to demonstrate whether renal denervation is an efficacious treatment modality in resistant hypertension and in which patients. For now, renal denervation remains an experimental procedure and should only be offered to truly resistant hypertensive patients in a research context after careful selection.

Effectiveness of a grant program's efforts to promote synergy within its funded initiatives: perceptions of participants of the Southern Rural Access Program

Science.gov (United States)

Pathman, Donald E; Chuang, Emmeline; Weiner, Bryan J

2008-01-01

Background Foundations and public agencies commonly fund focused initiatives for individual grantees. These discrete, stand-alone initiatives can risk failure by being carried out in isolation. Fostering synergy among grantees' initiatives is one strategy proposed for promoting the success and impact of grant programs. We evaluate an explicit strategy to build synergy within the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP), which awarded grants to collaboratives within eight southeastern U.S. states to strengthen basic health care services in targeted rural counties. Methods We interviewed 39 key participants of the SRAP, including the program director within each state and the principal subcontractors heading the program's funded initiatives that supported heath professionals' recruitment, retention and training, made loans to health care providers, and built networks among providers. Interews were recorded and transcribed. Two investigators independently coded the transcripts and a third investigator distilled the main points. Results Participants generally perceived that the SRAP yielded more synergies than other grant programs in which they had participated and that these synergies added to the program's impact. The synergies most often noted were achieved through relationship building among grantees and with outside agencies, sharing information and know-how, sharing resources, combining efforts to yield greater capacity, joining voices to advocate for common goals, and spotting gaps in services offered and then filling these gaps. The SRAP's strategies that participants felt fostered synergy included targeting funding to culturally and geographically similar states, supporting complementary types of initiatives, promoting opportunities to network through semi-annual meetings and regular conference calls, and the advocacy efforts of the program's leadership. Participants noted that synergies were sometimes hindered by turf issues and

Effectiveness of a grant program's efforts to promote synergy within its funded initiatives: perceptions of participants of the Southern Rural Access Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiner Bryan J

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Foundations and public agencies commonly fund focused initiatives for individual grantees. These discrete, stand-alone initiatives can risk failure by being carried out in isolation. Fostering synergy among grantees' initiatives is one strategy proposed for promoting the success and impact of grant programs. We evaluate an explicit strategy to build synergy within the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP, which awarded grants to collaboratives within eight southeastern U.S. states to strengthen basic health care services in targeted rural counties. Methods We interviewed 39 key participants of the SRAP, including the program director within each state and the principal subcontractors heading the program's funded initiatives that supported heath professionals' recruitment, retention and training, made loans to health care providers, and built networks among providers. Interews were recorded and transcribed. Two investigators independently coded the transcripts and a third investigator distilled the main points. Results Participants generally perceived that the SRAP yielded more synergies than other grant programs in which they had participated and that these synergies added to the program's impact. The synergies most often noted were achieved through relationship building among grantees and with outside agencies, sharing information and know-how, sharing resources, combining efforts to yield greater capacity, joining voices to advocate for common goals, and spotting gaps in services offered and then filling these gaps. The SRAP's strategies that participants felt fostered synergy included targeting funding to culturally and geographically similar states, supporting complementary types of initiatives, promoting opportunities to network through semi-annual meetings and regular conference calls, and the advocacy efforts of the program's leadership. Participants noted that synergies were sometimes

CO2-capture and air quality. Synergy or conflict? A study of possible impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koornneef, J.M.; Ramirez Ramirez, C.A.; Van Harmelen, A.K.; Van Horssen, A.; Van Gijlswijk, R.N.

2008-01-01

Does CO2 capture and storage conflict with the objectives for air quality in the Netherlands? Or are win-win situations conceivable? These are important questions for policy makers today. It is expected that both conflicts and synergies will occur in the large scale implementation of CO2 capture in the Dutch electricity sector. This article provides a brief summary of part of the research program that was set up to unravel synergies and conflicts in policy for climate and air quality: the Dutch Policy Research Program on Air and Climate (BOLK) of the ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. [mk] [nl

Combined slurry and cavitation erosion resistance of surface modified SS410 stainless steel

Science.gov (United States)

Amarendra, H. J.; Pratap, M. S.; Karthik, S.; Punitha Kumara, M. S.; Rajath, H. C.; Ranjith, H.; Shubhatunga, S. V.

2018-03-01

Slurry erosion and combined slurry and cavitation erosion resistance of thermal spray coatings are studied and compared with the as-received martensitic stainless steel material. 70Ni-Cr coatings are deposited on SS 410 material through plasma thermal spray process. The synergy effect of the combined slurry and cavitation erosion resistance of plasma thermal spray coatings were investigated in a slurry pot tester in the presence of bluff bodies known as Cavitation Inducers. Results showed the combined slurry and cavitation erosion resistance of martensitic stainless steel - 410 can be improved by plasma thermal spray coating. It is observed that the plasma spray coated specimens are better erosion resistant than the as- received material, subjected to erosion test under similar conditions. As-received and the surface modified steels are mechanically characterized for its hardness, bending. Morphological studies are conducted through scanning electron microscope.

Plasmas meet nanoparticles-where synergies can advance the frontier of medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kong, M G; Keidar, M; Ostrikov, K

2011-01-01

Nanoparticles and low-temperature plasmas have been developed, independently and often along different routes, to tackle the same set of challenges in biomedicine. There are intriguing similarities and contrasts in their interactions with cells and living tissues, and these are reflected directly in the characteristics and scope of their intended therapeutic solutions, in particular their chemical reactivity, selectivity against pathogens and cancer cells, safety to healthy cells and tissues and targeted delivery to diseased tissues. Time has come to ask the inevitable question of possible plasma-nanoparticle synergy and the related benefits to the development of effective, selective and safe therapies for modern medicine. This perspective paper offers a detailed review of the strengths and weakenesses of nanomedicine and plasma medicine as a stand-alone technology, and then provides a critical analysis of some of the major opportunities enabled by synergizing nanotechnology and plasma technology. It is shown that the plasma-nanoparticle synergy is best captured through plasma nanotechnology and its benefits for medicine are highly promising.

A synergy perspective on gait – over-ground vs. treadmill walking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Læssøe, Uffe; Madeleine, Pascal

on movements has proposed that elemental and performance variables may represent good and bad components of variability [2]. We suggest that the gait pattern can be regarded as a movement synergy in which medio-lateral deviation in one stride can be corrected during the next stride (the elemental variables......). Such corrections ensure a straight gait path (the performance variable). AIM: The aim of this study was to apply a synergy approach to gait analysis by comparing over-ground and treadmill walking. The treadmill was hypothesized to demand a less variable walking path resulting in a larger good/bad variability ratio...... of the strides, and bad variance with respect to a similar line with a negative slope. The good/bad variance ratio was calculated and the difference between treadmill and over-ground walking was finally evaluated. RESULTS: The good/bad variance ratio for over-ground walking was 1.7 (CI95%: 1.5-2.0). When walking...

Synergies between neutrino oscillation experiments: an ‘adequate’ configuration for LBNO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Monojit; Ghoshal, Pomita; Goswami, Srubabati; Raut, Sushant K.

2014-01-01

Determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy, octant of the mixing angle θ 23 and the CP violating phase δ CP are the unsolved problems in neutrino oscillation physics today. In this paper our aim is to obtain the minimum exposure required for the proposed Long Baseline Neutrino Oscillation (LBNO) experiment to determine the above unknowns. We emphasize on the advantage of exploiting the synergies offered by the existing and upcoming long-baseline and atmospheric neutrino experiments in economising the LBNO configuration. In particular, we do a combined analysis for LBNO, T2K, NOνA and INO. We consider three prospective LBNO setups — CERN-Pyhäsalmi (2290 km), CERN-Slanic (1500 km) and CERN-Fréjus (130 km) and evaluate the adequate exposure required in each case. Our analysis shows that the exposure required from LBNO can be reduced considerably due to the synergies arising from the inclusion of the other experiments

Flexible automation and the loss of pooling synergy

OpenAIRE

Slomp, Jannes; Zee, Durk-Jouke van der

2001-01-01

This paper focuses on the effects of flexible automation on the performance of a job shop. Flexible automated machines may significantly improve the delivery performance and the flow time of jobs. The insertion of a flexible automated system in a job shop, however, also has a counter effect on the manufacturing performance. This is caused by the reduction of pooling synergy due to the dedication implied by flexible automated machines. This paper investigates by means of a simulation study to ...

Activation of plantar flexor muscles is constrained by multiple muscle synergies rather than joint torques.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takahito Suzuki

Full Text Available Behavioral evidence has suggested that a small number of muscle synergies may be responsible for activating a variety of muscles. Nevertheless, such dimensionality reduction may also be explained using the perspective of alternative hypotheses, such as predictions based on linear combinations of joint torques multiplied by corresponding coefficients. To compare the explanatory capacity of these hypotheses for describing muscle activation, we enrolled 12 male volunteers who performed isometric plantar flexor contractions at 10-100% of maximum effort. During each plantar flexor contraction, the knee extensor muscles were isometrically contracted at 0%, 50%, or 100% of maximum effort. Electromyographic activity was recorded from the vastus lateralis, medial gastrocnemius (MG, lateral gastrocnemius (LG, and soleus muscles and quantified using the average rectified value (ARV. At lower plantar flexion torque, regression analysis identified a clear linear relationship between the MG and soleus ARVs and between the MG and LG ARVs, suggesting the presence of muscle synergy (r2 > 0.65. The contraction of the knee extensor muscles induced a significant change in the slope of this relationship for both pairs of muscles (MG × soleus, P = 0.002; MG × LG, P = 0.006. Similarly, the slope of the linear relationship between the plantar flexion torque and the ARV of the MG or soleus changed significantly with knee extensor contraction (P = 0.031 and P = 0.041, respectively. These results suggest that muscle synergies characterized by non-mechanical constraints are selectively recruited according to whether contraction of the knee extensor muscles is performed simultaneously, which is relatively consistent with the muscle synergy hypothesis.

Exploring Opportunities for Promoting Synergies between Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Forest Carbon Initiatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugene L. Chia

2016-01-01

Full Text Available There is growing interest in designing and implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation (M + A in synergy in the forest and land use sectors. However, there is limited knowledge on how the planning and promotion of synergies between M + A can be operationalized in the current efforts to mitigate climate change through forest carbon. This paper contributes to fill this knowledge gap by exploring ways of planning and promoting M + A synergy outcomes in forest carbon initiatives. It examines eight guidelines that are widely used in designing and implementing forest carbon initiatives. Four guiding principles with a number of criteria that are relevant for planning synergy outcomes in forest carbon activities are proposed. The guidelines for developing forest carbon initiatives need to demonstrate that (1 the health of forest ecosystems is maintained or enhanced; (2 the adaptive capacity of forest-dependent communities is ensured; (3 carbon and adaptation benefits are monitored and verified; and (4 adaptation outcomes are anticipated and planned in forest carbon initiatives. The forest carbon project development guidelines can encourage the integration of adaptation in forest carbon initiatives. However, their current efforts guiding projects and programs to deliver biodiversity and environmental benefits, ecosystem services, and socioeconomic benefits are not considered explicitly as efforts towards enhancing adaptation. An approach for incentivizing and motivating project developers, guideline setters, and offset buyers is imperative in order to enable existing guidelines to make clear contributions to adaptation goals. We highlight and discuss potential ways of incentivizing and motivating the explicit planning and promotion of adaptation outcomes in forest carbon initiatives.

Synergy analysis reveals association between insulin signaling and desmoplakin expression in palmitate treated HepG2 cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuewei Wang

Full Text Available The regulation of complex cellular activities in palmitate treated HepG2 cells, and the ensuing cytotoxic phenotype, involves cooperative interactions between genes. While previous approaches have largely focused on identifying individual target genes, elucidating interacting genes has thus far remained elusive. We applied the concept of information synergy to reconstruct a "gene-cooperativity" network for palmititate-induced cytotoxicity in liver cells. Our approach integrated gene expression data with metabolic profiles to select a subset of genes for network reconstruction. Subsequent analysis of the network revealed insulin signaling as the most significantly enriched pathway, and desmoplakin (DSP as its top neighbor. We determined that palmitate significantly reduces DSP expression, and treatment with insulin restores the lost expression of DSP. Insulin resistance is a common pathological feature of fatty liver and related ailments, whereas loss of DSP has been noted in liver carcinoma. Reduced DSP expression can lead to loss of cell-cell adhesion via desmosomes, and disrupt the keratin intermediate filament network. Our findings suggest that DSP expression may be perturbed by palmitate and, along with insulin resistance, may play a role in palmitate induced cytotoxicity, and serve as potential targets for further studies on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD.

Proximity matters : synergies through co-location of logistics establishments

OpenAIRE

Heuvel, van den, F.P.; Langen, de, P.W.; Donselaar, van, K.H.; Fransoo, J.C.

2012-01-01

Although anecdotic evidence suggests that co-location of logistics activities can bring several benefits to the co-located logistics companies and hence, can be important to incorporate in the location decisions of these companies, this is the first paper to empirically research these benefits. This paper contributes to the understanding of spatial concentration of logistics firms by empirically analyzing synergies through co-location and investigates whether spatial concentration of logistic...

Mind the gap in SEA: An institutional perspective on why assessment of synergies amongst climate change mitigation, adaptation and other policy areas are missing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vammen Larsen, Sanne; Kørnøv, Lone; Wejs, Anja

2012-01-01

This article takes its point of departure in two approaches to integrating climate change into Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): Mitigation and adaptation, and in the fact that these, as well as the synergies between them and other policy areas, are needed as part of an integrated assessment and policy response. First, the article makes a review of how positive and negative synergies between a) climate change mitigation and adaptation and b) climate change and other environmental concerns are integrated into Danish SEA practice. Then, the article discusses the implications of not addressing synergies. Finally, the article explores institutional explanations as to why synergies are not addressed in SEA practice. A document analysis of 149 Danish SEA reports shows that only one report comprises the assessment of synergies between mitigation and adaptation, whilst 9,4% of the reports assess the synergies between climate change and other environmental concerns. The consequences of separation are both the risk of trade-offs and missed opportunities for enhancing positive synergies. In order to propose explanations for the lacking integration, the institutional background is analysed and discussed, mainly based on Scott's theory of institutions. The institutional analysis highlights a regulatory element, since the assessment of climate change synergies is underpinned by legislation, but not by guidance. This means that great focus is on normative elements such as the local interpretation of legislation and of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The analysis also focuses on how the fragmentation of the organisation in which climate change and SEA are embedded has bearings on both normative and cultural–cognitive elements. This makes the assessment of synergies challenging. The evidence gathered and presented in the article points to a need for developing the SEA process and methodology in Denmark with the aim to include climate change in the assessments in

Biomimetic microstructures for photonic and fluidic synergies

Science.gov (United States)

Vasileiou, Maria; Mpatzaka, Theodora; Alexandropoulos, Dimitris; Vainos, Nikolaos A.

2017-08-01

Nature-inspired micro- and nano-structures offer a unique platform for the development of novel synergetic systems combining photonic and microfluidic functionalities. In this context, we examine the paradigm of butterfly Vanessa cardui and develop artificial diffractive microstructures inspired by its natural designs. Softlithographic and nanoimprint protocols are developed to replicate surfaces of natural specimens. Further to their optical behavior, interphases tailored by such microstructures exhibit enhanced hydrophobic properties, as compared to their planar counterparts made of the same materials. Such synergies exploited by new design approaches pave the way to prospective optofluidic, lab-on-chip and sensing applications.

Confirmation of Maslow's Hypothesis of Synergy: Developing an Acceptance of Selfishness at the Workplace Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Takaki, Jiro; Taniguchi, Toshiyo; Fujii, Yasuhito

2016-04-30

This study aimed to develop a new Acceptance of Selfishness at the Workplace Scale (ASWS) and to confirm Maslow's hypothesis of synergy: if both a sense of contribution and acceptance of selfishness at the workplace are high, workers are psychologically healthy. In a cross-sectional study with employees of three Japanese companies, 656 workers answered a self-administered questionnaire on paper completely (response rate = 66.8%). Each questionnaire was submitted to us in a sealed envelope and analyzed. The ASWS indicated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). Significant (p Maslow's hypothesis of synergy was confirmed.

Multidrug-resistant bacteria infection and nursing quality management application in the department of physical examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li; Luo, Qiang; Chen, Liangzhen; Jiao, Lingmei

2017-09-01

The main problem of clinical prevention and control of multi drug resistant bacteria infection is to strengthen the monitoring of pathogenic bacteria spectrum, this study research on the multi drug-resistant bacteria infection and nursing quality management application in the department of physical examination. The results of this study showed that the number of patients with multiple drug resistant infections showed an increasing trend. Therefore, once the patients with multiple drug-resistant bacteria infection are found, the prevention and control of the patients with multiple drug-resistant bacteria should be strictly followed, and the patient's medication care should be highly valued. Also, the nurses need to be classified based on the knowledge and skill characteristics of the nurses in the department of physical examination, and compare the nursing effect before and after classification and grouping. The physicians and individuals receiving physical examinations in the department of physical examination had a higher degree of satisfaction for nursing effect after classification compared with those before classification. Classification and grouping management helps improve the nursing quality and overall quality of the nurses in the department of physical examination.

Circumvention of resistance to photodynamic therapy in doxorubicin-resistant sarcoma by photochemical internalization of gelonin.

Science.gov (United States)

Olsen, Cathrine Elisabeth; Berg, Kristian; Selbo, Pål Kristian; Weyergang, Anette

2013-12-01

A wide range of anti-cancer therapies have been shown to induce resistance upon repetitive treatment and such adapted resistance may also cause cross-resistance to other treatment modalities. We here show that MES-SA/Dx5 cells with adapted resistance to doxorubicin (DOX) are cross-resistant to photodynamic therapy (PDT). A DOX-induced increased expression of the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging proteins glutathione peroxidase (GPx) 1 and GPx4 in MES-SA/Dx5 cells was indicated as the mechanism of resistance to PDT in line with the reduction in PDT-generated ROS observed in this cell line. ROS-induced p38 activation was, in addition, shown to be reduced to one-third of the signal of the parental MES-SA cells 2h after PDT, and addition of the p38 inhibitor SB203580 confirmed p38 activation as a death signal after PDT in the MES-SA cells. The MES-SA/Dx5 cells were also cross-resistant to ionizing radiation in agreement with the increased GPx1 and GPx4 expression. Surprisingly, PDT-induced endo/lysosomal release of the ribosome-inactivating protein gelonin (photochemical internalization (PCI)) was more effective in the PDT-resistant MES-SA/Dx5 cells, as measured by synergy calculations in both cell lines. Analysis of death-inducing signaling indicated a low activation of caspase-3 and a strong PARP I cleavage after PDT and PCI in both cell lines. The PARP I activation was, however, stronger after PCI than after PDT in the MES-SA cells, but not in the MES-SA/Dx5 cells, and therefore cannot explain the strong PCI effect in the MES-SA/Dx5 cells. In conclusion PCI of recombinant gelonin circumvents ROS resistance in an apoptosis-independent manner. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exo-exo synergy between Cel6A and Cel7A from Hypocrea jecorina: Role of carbohydrate binding module and the endo-lytic character of the enzymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Badino, Silke F; Christensen, Stefan J; Kari, Jeppe; Windahl, Michael S; Hvidt, Søren; Borch, Kim; Westh, Peter

2017-08-01

Synergy between cellulolytic enzymes is essential in both natural and industrial breakdown of biomass. In addition to synergy between endo- and exo-lytic enzymes, a lesser known but equally conspicuous synergy occurs among exo-acting, processive cellobiohydrolases (CBHs) such as Cel7A and Cel6A from Hypocrea jecorina. We studied this system using microcrystalline cellulose as substrate and found a degree of synergy between 1.3 and 2.2 depending on the experimental conditions. Synergy between enzyme variants without the carbohydrate binding module (CBM) and its linker was strongly reduced compared to the wild types. One plausible interpretation of this is that exo-exo synergy depends on the targeting role of the CBM. Many earlier works have proposed that exo-exo synergy was caused by an auxiliary endo-lytic activity of Cel6A. However, biochemical data from different assays suggested that the endo-lytic activity of both Cel6A and Cel7A were 10 3 -10 4 times lower than the common endoglucanase, Cel7B, from the same organism. Moreover, the endo-lytic activity of Cel7A was 2-3-fold higher than for Cel6A, and we suggest that endo-like activity of Cel6A cannot be the main cause for the observed synergy. Rather, we suggest the exo-exo synergy found here depends on different specificities of the enzymes possibly governed by their CBMs. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1639-1647. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Modeling of Synergy Between 4th and 6th Harmonic Absorptions of Fast Waves on Injected Beams in DIII-D Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, M.; Pinsker, R. I.; Chan, V. S.; Muscatello, C. M.; Jaeger, E. F.

2011-01-01

In recent moderate to high harmonic fast wave heating and current drive experiments in DIII-D, a synergy effect was observed when the 6 th harmonic 90 MHz fast wave power is applied to the plasma preheated by neutral beams and the 4 th harmonic 60 MHz fast wave. In this paper, we investigate how the synergy can occur using ORBIT-RF coupled with AORSA. Preliminary simulations suggest that damping of 4 th harmonic FW on beam ions accelerates them above the injection energy, which may allow significant damping of 6 th harmonic FW on beam ion tails to produce synergy.

Two aspects of feedforward postural control: anticipatory postural adjustments and anticipatory synergy adjustments.

Science.gov (United States)

Klous, Miriam; Mikulic, Pavle; Latash, Mark L

2011-05-01

We used the framework of the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis to explore the relations between anticipatory synergy adjustments (ASAs) and anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) during feedforward control of vertical posture. ASAs represent a drop in the index of a multimuscle-mode synergy stabilizing the coordinate of the center of pressure in preparation to an action. ASAs reflect early changes of an index of covariation among variables reflecting muscle activation, whereas APAs reflect early changes in muscle activation levels averaged across trials. The assumed purpose of ASAs is to modify stability of performance variables, whereas the purpose of APAs is to change magnitudes of those variables. We hypothesized that ASAs would be seen before APAs and that this finding would be consistent with regard to the muscle-mode composition defined on the basis of different tasks and phases of action. Subjects performed a voluntary body sway task and a quick, bilateral shoulder flexion task under self-paced and reaction time conditions. Surface muscle activity of 12 leg and trunk muscles was analyzed to identify sets of 4 muscle modes for each task and for different phases within the shoulder flexion task. Variance components in the muscle-mode space and indexes of multimuscle-mode synergy stabilizing shift of the center of pressure were computed. ASAs were seen ∼ 100-150 ms prior to the task initiation, before APAs. The results were consistent with respect to different sets of muscle modes defined over the two tasks and different shoulder flexion phases. We conclude that the preparation for a self-triggered postural perturbation is associated with two types of anticipatory adjustments, ASAs and APAs. They reflect different feedforward processes within the hypothetical hierarchical control scheme, resulting in changes in patterns of covariation of elemental variables and in their patterns averaged across trials, respectively. The results show that synergies quantified

Potential management of resistant microbial infections with a novel non-antibiotic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dutta, Noton Kumar; Annadurai, Subramanian; Mazumdar, Kaushiki

2007-01-01

Diclofenac sodium (Dc), an anti-inflammatory agent, has remarkable inhibitory action both against drug-sensitive and drug-resistant clinical isolates of various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The aim of this study was to determine the ability of Dc to protect mice from a virulent...... Salmonella infection. Dc injected at 1.5 microg/g and 3.0 microg/g mouse body weight significantly protected animals from the lethality of Salmonella infection. As was the case for the in vitro interaction, Dc in combination with streptomycin was even more effective. The non-antibiotic drug Dc has potential...... for the management of problematic antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections....

Diagnosis and management of resistant hypertension: state of the art.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Fang-Fei; Zhang, Zhen-Yu; Huang, Qi-Fang; Staessen, Jan A

2018-04-26

Resistant hypertension is defined as a lack of ambulatory blood pressure response to optimized medical treatment after exclusion of secondary hypertension in patients who are fully adherent to antihypertensive therapy. Patients with resistant hypertension are at high risk of complications, particularly cardiovascular events, and optimization of medical treatment remains the cornerstone of their management. Such optimization should be based on simple algorithms and include the use of aldosterone antagonists. The available data from clinical trials do not support the use of device-based approaches such as renal denervation, baroreflex activation therapy or arteriovenous anastomosis for the treatment of resistant hypertension in the majority of patients. Therefore, device treatment remains a last-resort for patients with truly resistant hypertension in the context of clinical research in highly skilled tertiary referral centres. Future research should focus on improving understanding of the intrinsic (physiological and psychological factors) and extrinsic (environmental stressors) mechanisms that contribute to a lack of response to blood-pressure-lowering drugs in adherent patients. The use of biomarkers to identify patients with early target organ damage and new technologies, such as renal nerve stimulation, to predict blood pressure responses to renal denervation could aid the selection of patients who might benefit from device therapies.

Notification: Evaluation of Office of Pesticide Programs’ Genetically Engineered Corn Insect Resistance Management

Science.gov (United States)

Project #OPE-FY15-0055, July 09, 2015. The EPA OIG plans to begin preliminary research on the EPA's ability to manage and prevent increased insect resistance to genetically engineered Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn.

Spread of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii co-expressing OXA-23 and GES-11 carbapenemases in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammoudi, D; Moubareck, C Ayoub; Hakime, N; Houmani, M; Barakat, A; Najjar, Z; Suleiman, M; Fayad, N; Sarraf, R; Sarkis, D Karam

2015-07-01

The acquisition of carbapenemases by Acinetobacter baumannii is reported increasingly worldwide, but data from Lebanon are limited. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of imipenem-resistant A. baumannii in Lebanon, identify resistance determinants, and detect clonal relatedness. Imipenem-resistant A. baumannii were collected from nine Lebanese hospitals during 2012. Antimicrobial susceptibility, the cloxacillin effect, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) synergy were determined. Genes encoding carbapenemases and insertion sequence ISAba1 were screened via PCR sequencing. ISAba1 position relative to genes encoding Acinetobacter-derived cephalosporinases (ADCs) and OXA-23 was studied by PCR mapping. Clonal linkage was examined by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR (ERIC-PCR). Out of 724 A. baumannii isolated in 2012, 638 (88%) were imipenem-resistant. Of these, 142 were analyzed. Clavulanic acid-imipenem synergy suggested carbapenem-hydrolyzing extended-spectrum β-lactamase. A positive cloxacillin test indicated ADCs, while EDTA detection strips were negative. Genotyping indicated that 90% of isolates co-harbored blaOXA-23 and blaGES-11. The remaining strains had blaOXA-23, blaOXA-24, blaGES-11, or blaOXA-24 with blaGES-11. ISAba1 was located upstream of blaADC and blaOXA-23 in 97% and 100% of isolates, respectively. ERIC-PCR fingerprinting revealed 18 pulsotypes spread via horizontal gene transfer and clonal dissemination. This survey established baseline evidence of OXA-23 and GES-11-producing A. baumannii in Lebanon, indicating the need for further surveillance. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

An empirical evaluation of competency requirements for first-line managers to deal with resistance to change.

OpenAIRE

2007-01-01

The point of departure of this study is that first-line managers play a pivotal role in the facilitation of change initiatives in organisations world-wide. Resistance to change is one of the primary reasons why change interventions fail or why success is not achieved in the change process. More specific, the inability of first-line managers to deal with resistance to change has been cited as a primary cause for change projects to fail. There is no evidence that any research has been conducted...

Synergy with HST and JWST Data Management Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Gretchen; Space Telescope Data Management Team

2014-01-01

The data processing and archive systems for the JWST will contain a petabyte of science data and the best news is that users will have fast access to the latest calibrations through a variety of new services. With a synergistic approach currently underway with the STScI science operations between the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope data management subsystems (DMS), operational verification is right around the corner. Next year the HST archive will provide scientists on-demand fully calibrated data products via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), which takes advantage of an upgraded DMS. This enhanced system, developed jointly with the JWST DMS is based on a new CONDOR distributed processing system capable of reprocessing data using a prioritization queue which runs in the background. A Calibration Reference Data System manages the latest optimal configuration for each scientific instrument pipeline. Science users will be able to search and discover the growing MAST archive calibrated datasets from these missions along with the other multiple mission holdings both local to MAST and available through the Virtual Observatory. JWST data systems will build upon the successes and lessons learned from the HST legacy and move us forward into the next generation of multi-wavelength archive research.

Reaching control of a full-torso, modelled musculoskeletal robot using muscle synergies emergent under reinforcement learning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamond, A; Holland, O E

2014-01-01

‘Anthropomimetic’ robots mimic both human morphology and internal structure—skeleton, muscles, compliance and high redundancy—thus presenting a formidable challenge to conventional control. Here we derive a novel controller for this class of robot which learns effective reaching actions through the sustained activation of weighted muscle synergies, an approach which draws upon compelling, recent evidence from animal and human studies, but is almost unexplored to date in the musculoskeletal robot literature. Since the effective synergy patterns for a given robot will be unknown, we derive a reinforcement-learning approach intended to allow their emergence, in particular those patterns aiding linearization of control. Using an extensive physics-based model of the anthropomimetic ECCERobot, we find that effective reaching actions can be learned comprising only two sequential motor co-activation patterns, each controlled by just a single common driving signal. Factor analysis shows the emergent muscle co-activations can be largely reconstructed using weighted combinations of only 13 common fragments. Testing these ‘candidate’ synergies as drivable units, the same controller now learns the reaching task both faster and better. (paper)

Post acquisition business synergies of a foreign affiliate. Case study of companies in Nuevo Leon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Cabeza

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This article will explain the importance of creating synergies after having acquired foreign affiliates. Interviews were conducted to executives of four of the most important manufacturing companies in Nuevo Leon, which have been involved in the international acquisition process of foreign affiliates. Also presented are 10 areas where synergies may be obtained after having acquired a foreign affiliate, in accordance with (Marin and Ketelhohn, 2008 economies of size at corporate headquarters, greater opportunities for professional development, corporate image, interdivisional transactions, vertical integration, economies of scale and/or scope, coordination of skills, learning center, leverage of intangible assets and unleashing of skills.

INPRO-SYNERGIES - a new international INPRO/IAEA project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreeva-Andrievskaya, L.N.; Kuznetsov, V.V.; Busurin, Yu.N.; Ponomarev, A.V.; )

2012-01-01

The new INPRO project entitled Synergistic Nuclear Energy Regional Group Interactions Evaluated for Sustainability (INPRO- SYNERGIES) is described. The project aims to improve the analytical software and databases to model more specifically the particular forms of synergistic architectures involving collaboration among supplier countries and user countries to support an efficient transition towards sustainable energy systems. The project's objectives, methods and contents of the work are analyzed. The synergistic collaborative scenarios for fuel cycle infrastructure development are evaluated. The course of the project and expected outputs are also described [ru

The Swedish system of innovation: Regional synergies in a knowledge-based economy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leydesdorff, L.; Strand, Ø.

2013-01-01

Based on the complete set of firm data for Sweden (N = 1,187,421; November 2011), we analyze the mutual information among the geographical, technological, and organizational distributions in terms of synergies at regional and national levels. Using this measure, the interaction among three

Oxidative stress resistance in Porphyromonas gingivalis

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Leroy G; McKenzie, Rachelle ME; Robles, Antonette; Fletcher, Hansel M

2012-01-01

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a black-pigmented, Gram-negative anaerobe, is an important etiologic agent of periodontal disease. The harsh inflammatory condition of the periodontal pocket implies that this organism has properties that will facilitate its ability to respond and adapt to oxidative stress. Because the stress response in the pathogen is a major determinant of its virulence, a comprehensive understanding of its oxidative stress resistance strategy is vital. We discuss multiple mechanisms and systems that clearly work in synergy to defend and protect P. gingivalis against oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species. The involvement of multiple hypothetical proteins and/or proteins of unknown function in this process may imply other unique mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets. PMID:22439726

Dissemination of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in patients with burn injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Shoja, Saeed; Moosavian, Mojtaba; Rostami, Soodabeh; Farahani, Abbas; Peymani, Amir; Ahmadi, Khadijeh; Ebrahimifard, Nasim

2017-04-01

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important cause of infection in burn patients. This study aimed to characterize the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, determine the prevalence of oxacillinase and metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) genes, and type the A. baumannii isolates obtained from burn patients. During a 1-year period, a total of 40 nonduplicated isolates of A. baumannii were obtained from burn patients who were hospitalized in the Taleghani Burn Hospital in Ahvaz, in the southwest of Iran. Testing for antimicrobial susceptibility was carried out by disk diffusion and E-test. To screen MBL production, a double disk synergy and MBL E-test were performed. The presence of bla OXA-23-like , bla OXA-24-like , bla OXA-51-like and bla OXA-58-like , bla VIM , bla IMP and bla SPM , and bla NDM was sought by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based PCR was carried out for determination of isolates clonality. Overall, 92.5% of isolates were carbapenem-resistant. Polymyxin B, colistin, and ampicillin-sulbactam were the most effective agents in vitro, with a susceptibility rate of 100%, 97.5%, and 72.5%, respectively. According to the double disk synergy and E-test, 55.6% and 97.3% of isolates were MBL producers, respectively. Furthermore, 70% of isolates harbored bla OXA-23-like and 20% were positive for bla OXA-24-like. However, no encoding genes were detected for bla VIM , bla IMP and bla SPM , bla NDM , and bla OXA-58-like . Repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based PCR revealed that carbapenem-resistant isolates belonged to four clones, including A, B, C, and D; the predominant clones were B and C. The rate of carbapenem resistance was high, and it appeared that bla OXA-23-like and bla OXA-24-like contributed to the carbapenem resistance of A. baumannii isolates. This result suggests that the two predominant clones of A. baumannii were spread among burn patients. In order to prevent future

Urinary Tract Infection in Children: Management in the Era of Antibiotic Resistance-A Pediatric Urologist's View.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutasy, Balazs; Coyle, David; Fossum, Magdalena

2017-04-01

Antibiotic resistance to uropathogens has grown significantly worldwide. Today, pediatric urologist experience a situation that needs appropriate action because urinary tract infections are one of the most common bacterial infections in children. In this overview we aimed at presenting the clinical aspects of antibiotic usage in pediatric urology. Our intention was to take part of the important debate regarding future management of bacterial resistance against antibiotics. We searched PubMed for the terms: [UTI in children], [Recurrent UTI in children], and [Antibiotic resistance in UTI]. When using these terms, we found a numerous amount (3875) of published clinical articles related to the topic. By means of an overview, we chose not to focus on a specific condition but to an overall understanding of the problems related to pediatric urology in general. We found that usage of antibiotics has had an unquestionable benefit to reduce the morbidity and mortality related to urinary tract infections in childhood. However, recent studies suggest that early exposure to antibiotics in childhood might have negative systemic effects related to neurocognitive function, body metabolism, and fat distribution. In addition to increased resistance to common antimicrobial agents, it has resulted in increased costs and inadequate effect in severe infections. This calls for changes in the clinical management of urinary pathogens in pediatric urology. As the prevalence of antibiotic resistance grows, pediatric urologists have a key role in managing its consequences and its prevention. In this overview we looked at the consequences of antibiotic usage treating urinary tract infections in childhood. We found that the prevalence of antibiotic resistance has grown. We concluded that decision-makers must know about the short- and long-term effects of antibiotic usage in children. When we understand the development of antibiotic resistance better, we can build up prevention strategies

Disentangling trade-offs and synergies around ecosystem services with the influence network framework: illustration from a consultative process over the French Alps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilie Crouzat

2016-06-01

Full Text Available An important aspect of sustainability is to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functioning while improving human well-being. For this, the ecosystem service (ES approach has the potential to bridge the still existing gap between ecological management and social development, especially by focusing on trade-offs and synergies between ES and between their beneficiaries. Several frameworks have been proposed to account for trade-offs and synergies between ES, and between ES and other components of social-ecological systems. However, to date, insufficient explicit attention has been paid to the three facets encompassed in the ES concept, namely potential supply, demand, and use, leading to incomplete descriptions of ES interactions. We expand on previous frameworks by proposing a new influence network framework (INF based on an explicit consideration of influence relationships between these three ES facets, biodiversity, and external driving variables. We tested its ability to provide a comprehensive view of complex social-ecological interactions around ES through a consultative process focused on environmental management in the French Alps. We synthetized the interactions mentioned during this consultative process and grouped variables according to their overall propensity to influence or be influenced by the system. The resulting directed sequence of influences distinguished between: (1 mostly influential variables (dynamic social variables and ecological state variables, (2 target variables (provisioning and cultural services, and (3 mostly impacted variables (regulating services and biodiversity parameters. We discussed possible reasons for the discrepancies between actual and perceived influences and proposed options to overcome them. We demonstrated that the INF holds the potential to deliver collective assessments of ES relations by: (1 including ecological as well as social aspects, (2 providing opportunities for colearning processes between

Synergy between Competitive Intelligence (CI), Knowledge Management (KM) and Technological Foresight (TF) as a strategic model of prospecting--the use of biotechnology in the development of drugs against breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Canongia, Claudia

2007-01-01

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the synergy between Competitive Intelligence, Knowledge Management and Technological Foresight, and to emphasize the proposal of a strategic model of data prospecting as a mechanism to support decision-making in regard to three approaches for sustainable development and innovation: technological, social and economic. The use of biotechnology in the development of drugs against breast cancer is the case study. The article shows the results of data and text mining in specialized medical and patent databases, identifying the most frequently cited drugs, as well as the authors of research, and the inventors of new technology at the beginning of the 21st century. In addition, the study includes reference to Brazilian competence in breast cancer area, the international trends in drugs for treatment of this cancer, leading international institutions and Brazilian competencies. A framework is presented, which could serve as a guide and support for the decision-making process.

Polymyxin B in Combination with Enrofloxacin Exerts Synergistic Killing against Extensively Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yu-Wei; Yu, Heidi H; Zhao, Jinxin; Han, Mei-Ling; Zhu, Yan; Akter, Jesmin; Wickremasinghe, Hasini; Walpola, Hasini; Wirth, Veronika; Rao, Gauri G; Forrest, Alan; Velkov, Tony; Li, Jian

2018-06-01

Polymyxins are increasingly used as a last-resort class of antibiotics against extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Gram-negative bacteria. However, resistance to polymyxins can emerge with monotherapy. As nephrotoxicity is the major dose-limiting factor for polymyxin monotherapy, dose escalation to suppress the emergence of polymyxin resistance is not a viable option. Therefore, novel approaches are needed to preserve this last-line class of antibiotics. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial synergy of polymyxin B combined with enrofloxacin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Static time-kill studies were conducted over 24 h with polymyxin B (1 to 4 mg/liter) and enrofloxacin (1 to 4 mg/liter) alone or in combination. Additionally, in vitro one-compartment model (IVM) and hollow-fiber infection model (HFIM) experiments were performed against P. aeruginosa 12196. Polymyxin B and enrofloxacin in monotherapy were ineffective against all of the P. aeruginosa isolates examined, whereas polymyxin B-enrofloxacin in combination was synergistic against P. aeruginosa , with ≥2 to 4 log 10 kill at 24 h in the static time-kill studies. In both IVM and HFIM, the combination was synergistic, and the bacterial counting values were below the limit of quantification on day 5 in the HFIM. A population analysis profile indicated that the combination inhibited the emergence of polymyxin resistance in P. aeruginosa 12196. The mechanism-based modeling suggests that the synergistic killing is a result of the combination of mechanistic and subpopulation synergy. Overall, this is the first preclinical study to demonstrate that the polymyxin-enrofloxacin combination is of considerable utility for the treatment of XDR P. aeruginosa infections and warrants future clinical evaluations. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

Social constructionism, discourse analysis and mental health nursing: a natural synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Leishman, June L

2003-09-01

This paper has been developed to identify the natural synergy between social constructionism, discourse analysis and mental health research. It is based on research undertaken to explore mental health nurses' identity. The proposal is that nurses' identities are rhetorically constructed in the language they use to account for and justify their work in the practice context.

Pilot study on quantitative assessment of muscle imbalance: differences of muscle synergies, equilibrium-point trajectories, and endpoint stiffness in normal and pathological upper-limb movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Oku, Takanori; Uno, Kanna; Nishi, Tomoki; Kageyama, Masayuki; Phatiwuttipat, Pipatthana; Koba, Keitaro; Yamashita, Yuto; Murakami, Kenta; Uemura, Mitsunori; Hirai, Hiroaki; Miyazaki, Fumio; Naritomi, Hiroaki

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a novel method for assessment of muscle imbalance based on muscle synergy hypothesis and equilibrium point (EP) hypothesis of motor control. We explain in detail the method for extracting muscle synergies under the concept of agonist-antagonist (AA) muscle pairs and for estimating EP trajectories and endpoint stiffness of human upper limbs in a horizontal plane using an electromyogram. The results of applying this method to the reaching movement of one normal subject and one hemiplegic subject suggest that (1) muscle synergies (the balance among coactivation of AA muscle pairs), particularly the synergies that contributes to the angular directional kinematics of EP and the limb stiffness, are quite different between the normal subject and the hemiplegic subject; (2) the concomitant EP trajectory is also different between the normal and hemiplegic subjects, corresponding to the difference of muscle synergies; and (3) the endpoint (hand) stiffness ellipse of the hemiplegic subject becomes more elongated and orientation of the major axis rotates clockwise more than that of the normal subject. The level of motor impairment would be expected to be assessed from a comparison of these differences of muscle synergies, EP trajectories, and endpoint stiffness among normal and pathological subjects using the method.

Insecticide resistance and resistance mechanisms in bed bugs, Cimex spp. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Dang, Kai; Doggett, Stephen L; Veera Singham, G; Lee, Chow-Yang

2017-06-29

The worldwide resurgence of bed bugs [both Cimex lectularius L. and Cimex hemipterus (F.)] over the past two decades is believed in large part to be due to the development of insecticide resistance. The transcriptomic and genomic studies since 2010, as well as morphological, biochemical and behavioral studies, have helped insecticide resistance research on bed bugs. Multiple resistance mechanisms, including penetration resistance through thickening or remodelling of the cuticle, metabolic resistance by increased activities of detoxification enzymes (e.g. cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and esterases), and knockdown resistance by kdr mutations, have been experimentally identified as conferring insecticide resistance in bed bugs. Other candidate resistance mechanisms, including behavioral resistance, some types of physiological resistance (e.g. increasing activities of esterases by point mutations, glutathione S-transferase, target site insensitivity including altered AChEs, GABA receptor insensitivity and altered nAChRs), symbiont-mediated resistance and other potential, yet undiscovered mechanisms may exist. This article reviews recent studies of resistance mechanisms and the genes governing insecticide resistance, potential candidate resistance mechanisms, and methods of monitoring insecticide resistance in bed bugs. This article provides an insight into the knowledge essential for the development of both insecticide resistance management (IRM) and integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for successful bed bug management.

Exploiting Soil-Management Strategies for Climate Mitigation in the European Union: Maximizing "Win-Win" Solutions across Policy Regimes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Bugge. Henriksen

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC has identified a number of soil-management strategies that can be implemented to reduce GHG emissions. However, before deciding which of these strategies are most appropriate in any given situation, it is important to investigate how these strategies affect other aspects of sustainable development. For instance, some attempts to sequester carbon in the landscape could alter the soil's capacity to filter water. Alternatively, other strategies could unintentionally increase net energy consumption through greater fertilizer use. Focusing specifically on opportunities to implement soil-management strategies in the European Union (EU, we discuss the synergies and trade-offs of those strategies with respect to water resources management and energy security. The focus of the analysis is two-fold: first, we analyze the net benefit of strategies such as crop management, nutrient management, tillage and residue management, water management, and bioenergy vis-a-vis their implications for water resources and energy security; second, we undertake an assessment of the EU's relevant policy frameworks to assess whether the potential synergies from various soil-management strategies are being encouraged or, conversely, where perverse outcomes or trade-offs are likely. Our findings suggest there is much scope to encourage soil-management strategies in Europe that would mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, but these synergies are currently not fully exploited at the EU policy level. We identify a number of options for better policy integration among the Common Agricultural Policy, the Water Framework Directive, and the Climate Action and Renewable Energy Package.

The synergies of the Italian wine and tourism sectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Gaetano Santeramo

2017-06-01

We analyse the synergic relations between the domestic tourism in Italy and wine industry exploring data on flows of domestic tourism among the Italian regions and key indicators for the wine industry. The region of origin of tourists is a determining factor in the choice of destination; we also highlight the role of customer loyalty. The political implications are relevant: institutions and political actors could exploit the synergies between the tourism and the wine industries by promoting excellence in wine.

Defining the Relationship Between Phenotypic and Genotypic Resistance Profiles of Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacterial Clinical Isolates.

Science.gov (United States)

Galal, Lamis; Abdel Aziz, Neveen A; Hassan, Walaa M

2018-05-11

Fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides offer effective therapy for extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing enterobacterial infections, but their usefulness is threatened by increasing resistant strains. This study was conducted to demonstrate the phenotypic outcomes of the coexistence of genetic determinants mediating resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins and quinolones in enterobacterial isolates collected from patients with health-care-associated infections in Egypt. ESBL phenotype was determined using double-disk synergy test (DDST). The PCR technique was used to detect the presence of the genes mediating quinolone resistance (qnr and aac(6')-Ib-cr) and coexistence with ESBL genes. We also examined the association between the genetic makeup of the isolates and their resistance profiles including effect on MIC results. Phenotypically ESBLs were detected in 60-82% of the enterobacterial isolates. ESBL, qnr and aac(6')-Ib-cr genes were detected with the following percentages in Citrobacter isolates (69%, 69%, and 43%, respectively), E.coli isolates (65%, 70%, and 45%, respectively), Enterobacter isolates (56%, 67%, and 33%, respectively), and finally Klebsiella isolates (42%, 66%, and 25%, respectively). The coexistence of these multiresistant genetic elements significantly increased the MIC values of the tested antibiotics from different classes. We suggest using blaTEM, blaCTX-M-15, qnr, and aac(6')-Ib-cr genes for better and faster prediction of suitable antibiotic therapy with effective doses against ESBL-producing isolates harboring plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) determinants. Amikacin, meropenem, gentamicin, and imipenem seem to be better choices of treatment for such life-threatening infections, because of their remaining highest activity.

In Vitro Activity of the Histatin Derivative P-113 against Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens Responsible for Pneumonia in Immunocompromised Patients

OpenAIRE

Giacometti, Andrea; Cirioni, Oscar; Kamysz, Wojciech; D'Amato, Giuseppina; Silvestri, Carmela; Prete, Maria Simona Del; Licci, Alberto; Riva, Alessandra; Łukasiak, Jerzy; Scalise, Giorgio

2005-01-01

The in vitro activity of the histatin derivative P-113, alone or combined with eight antibiotics, was investigated against multidrug-resistant strains isolated from clinical specimens of immunocompromised patients with pneumonia. The gram-negative isolates were susceptible to P-113. S. aureus showed less susceptibility. Synergy was demonstrated when P-113 was combined with beta-lactams against gram-negative organisms.

Re-thinking urban flood management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sörensen, Johanna; Persson, Andreas; Sternudd, Catharina

2016-01-01

-term flood risk and harm the riverine ecosystems in urban as well as rural areas. In the present paper, we depart from resilience theory and suggest a concept to improve urban flood resilience. We identify areas where contemporary challenges call for improved collaborative urban flood management. The concept...... emphasizes resiliency and achieved synergy between increased capacity to handle stormwater runoff and improved experiential and functional quality of the urban environments. We identify research needs as well as experiments for improved sustainable and resilient stormwater management namely, flexibility...

Synergetic effects leading to coke-resistant NiCo bimetallic catalysts for dry reforming of methane

KAUST Repository

Li, Lidong

2015-01-08

A new dry reforming of methane catalyst comprised of NiCo bimetallic nanoparticles and a Mgx(Al)O support that exhibits high coke resistance and long-term on-stream stability is reported. The structural characterization by XRD, TEM, temperature-programmed reduction, and BET analysis demonstrates that the excellent performance of this catalyst is ascribed to the synergy of various parameters, including metal-nanoparticle size, metal-support interaction, catalyst structure, ensemble size, and alloy effects.

Non-proliferation and security: synergy and differences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joly, J.

2013-01-01

Operators of nuclear facilities put in place both physical and organisational means to meet in a comprehensive way the requirements associated with Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Safety and Security. The common aim is to protect man and the environment from ionising radiation. The approaches for meeting these requirements have real similarities, but also differences which need to be respected in order to develop an appropriate synergy for obtaining the best possible level of safety, security and non-proliferation. This article aims to show the provisions that have been taken with regard to non-proliferation, security and safety which complement and reinforce each other.The paper is followed by the slides of the presentation. (author)

Nuclear energy and its synergies with renewable energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carre, F.; Mermilliod, N.; Devezeaux De Lavergne, J.G.; Durand, S.

2011-01-01

France has the ambition to become a world leader in both nuclear industry and in renewable energies. 3 types of synergies between nuclear power and renewable energies are highlighted. First, nuclear power can be used as a low-carbon energy to produce the equipment required to renewable energy production for instance photovoltaic cells. Secondly, to benefit from the complementary features of both energies: continuous/intermittency of the production, centralized/local production. The future development of smart grids will help to do that. Thirdly, to use nuclear energy to produce massively hydrogen from water and synthetic fuels from biomass. (A.C.)

RF propagation measurement and model validation during RF/IR synergy trial vampira

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heemskerk, H.J.M.

2005-01-01

The member nations of AC/323 SET-RTG056/RTG32 on Integration of Radar and Infrared for Ship Self Defence have performed the Validation Measurements for Propagation in the Infrared and Radar (VAMPIRA). The objective was to get insight into the radar and infrared synergy concentrated on propagation in

Numerical analysis on the synergy between electron cyclotron current drive and lower hybrid current drive in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, S Y; Hong, B B; Liu, Y; Lu, W; Huang, J; Tang, C J; Ding, X T; Zhang, X J; Hu, Y J

2012-01-01

The synergy between electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) and lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) is investigated numerically with the parameters of the HL-2A tokamak. Based on the understanding of the synergy mechanisms, a high current driven efficiency or a desired radial current profile can be achieved through properly matching the parameters of ECCD and LHCD due to the flexibility of ECCD. Meanwhile, it is found that the total current driven by the electron cyclotron wave (ECW) and the lower hybrid wave (LHW) simultaneously can be smaller than the sum of the currents driven by the ECW and LHW separately, when the power of the ECW is much larger than the LHW power. One of the reasons leading to this phenomenon (referred to as negative synergy in this context) is that fast current-carrying electrons tend to be trapped, when the perpendicular velocity driven by the ECW is large and the parallel velocity decided by the LHW is correspondingly small. (paper)

Multiple-algorithm parallel fusion of infrared polarization and intensity images based on algorithmic complementarity and synergy

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lei; Yang, Fengbao; Ji, Linna; Lv, Sheng

2018-01-01

Diverse image fusion methods perform differently. Each method has advantages and disadvantages compared with others. One notion is that the advantages of different image methods can be effectively combined. A multiple-algorithm parallel fusion method based on algorithmic complementarity and synergy is proposed. First, in view of the characteristics of the different algorithms and difference-features among images, an index vector-based feature-similarity is proposed to define the degree of complementarity and synergy. This proposed index vector is a reliable evidence indicator for algorithm selection. Second, the algorithms with a high degree of complementarity and synergy are selected. Then, the different degrees of various features and infrared intensity images are used as the initial weights for the nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF). This avoids randomness of the NMF initialization parameter. Finally, the fused images of different algorithms are integrated using the NMF because of its excellent data fusing performance on independent features. Experimental results demonstrate that the visual effect and objective evaluation index of the fused images obtained using the proposed method are better than those obtained using traditional methods. The proposed method retains all the advantages that individual fusion algorithms have.

Antimicrobial peptides as potential anti-biofilm agents against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Pooi Yin; Khanum, Ramona

2017-08-01

Bacterial resistance to commonly used drugs has become a global health problem, causing increased infection cases and mortality rate. One of the main virulence determinants in many bacterial infections is biofilm formation, which significantly increases bacterial resistance to antibiotics and innate host defence. In the search to address the chronic infections caused by biofilms, antimicrobial peptides (AMP) have been considered as potential alternative agents to conventional antibiotics. Although AMPs are commonly considered as the primitive mechanism of immunity and has been extensively studied in insects and non-vertebrate organisms, there is now increasing evidence that AMPs also play a crucial role in human immunity. AMPs have exhibited broad-spectrum activity against many strains of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including drug-resistant strains, and fungi. In addition, AMPs also showed synergy with classical antibiotics, neutralize toxins and are active in animal models. In this review, the important mechanisms of action and potential of AMPs in the eradication of biofilm formation in multidrug-resistant pathogen, with the goal of designing novel antimicrobial therapeutics, are discussed. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Synergy in the areas of NPP nuclear safety and nuclear security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dybach, A.M.; Kuzmyak, I.Ya.; Kukhotskij, A.V.

2013-01-01

The paper considers the question of synergy between nuclear safety and nuclear security. Special attention is paid to identifying interface of the two areas of safety and definition of common principles for nuclear security and nuclear safety measures. The principles of defense in depth, safety culture and graded approach are analyzed in detail.Specific features characteristic of nuclear safety and security are outlined

Motor equivalence and structure of variance: multi-muscle postural synergies in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Falaki, Ali; Huang, Xuemei; Lewis, Mechelle M; Latash, Mark L

2017-07-01

We explored posture-stabilizing multi-muscle synergies with two methods of analysis of multi-element, abundant systems: (1) Analysis of inter-cycle variance; and (2) Analysis of motor equivalence, both quantified within the framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis. Data collected in two earlier studies of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) were re-analyzed. One study compared synergies in the space of muscle modes (muscle groups with parallel scaling of activation) during tasks performed by early-stage PD patients and controls. The other study explored the effects of dopaminergic medication on multi-muscle-mode synergies. Inter-cycle variance and absolute magnitude of the center of pressure displacement across consecutive cycles were quantified during voluntary whole-body sway within the UCM and orthogonal to the UCM space. The patients showed smaller indices of variance within the UCM and motor equivalence compared to controls. The indices were also smaller in the off-drug compared to on-drug condition. There were strong across-subject correlations between the inter-cycle variance within/orthogonal to the UCM and motor equivalent/non-motor equivalent displacements. This study has shown that, at least for cyclical tasks, analysis of variance and analysis of motor equivalence lead to metrics of stability that correlate with each other and show similar effects of disease and medication. These results show, for the first time, intimate links between indices of variance and motor equivalence. They suggest that analysis of motor equivalence, which requires only a handful of trials, could be used broadly in the field of motor disorders to analyze problems with action stability.

Photon beam commissioning of an Elekta Synergy linear accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Al Mashud, Md Abdullah; Tariquzzaman, M.; Jahangir Alam, M.; Zakaria, GA

2017-12-01

The aim of this study is to present the results of commissioning of Elekta Synergy linear accelerator (linac). The acceptance test and commissioning were performed for three photon beams energies 4 MV, 6 MV and 15 MV and for the multileaf collimator (MLC). The percent depth doses (PDDs), in-plane and cross-plane beam profiles, head scatter factors (Sc), relative photon output factors (Scp), universal wedge transmission factor and MLC transmission factors were measured. The size of gantry, collimator, and couch isocenter were also measured.

Achievement report on industrial science and technology research and development in fiscal 2000. Research and development of synergy ceramics (Research and development of technology to prevent corrosion in petroleum production systems); 2000 nendo sangyo kagaku gijutsu kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Synergy ceramics no kenkyu kaihatsu (sekiyu seisan system fushoku boshi gijutsu kenkyu kaihatsu)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-03-01

Achievements in fiscal 2000 were put into order for research and development of synergy ceramics aimed at completion of high temperature energy materials and ultra-precision materials. Activities were taken in the following four areas: 1) materialization technologies and advanced assessment and design technologies, 2) application technologies, 3) common basic technologies, and 4) assessment on composite function manifestation process. In Item 1), discussions were given on ultra-precision materials, high temperature energy materials, member designing basic technologies, materials to detect stress and microfine destruction, pore pattern controlling porous materials, and self-restoration and self-lubrication functioning materials. In Item 2), discussions were given on material and light selection functioning materials, high abrasion resistant and easy-to-process materials, high performance resistance materials for electric power devices, and flexible sliding materials. In the material and light selection functioning materials, their material selecting function was manifested by controlling micro pores through xerogelation on inorganic and organic hybrids. In the assessment of the composite function manifesting process, the wet type forming process was assessed, that uses microfine powder for model parts assuming cut members. (NEDO)

From fuel cells to batteries: Synergies, scales and simulation methods

OpenAIRE

Bessler, Wolfgang G.

2011-01-01

The recent years have shown a dynamic growth of battery research and development activities both in academia and industry, supported by large governmental funding initiatives throughout the world. A particular focus is being put on lithium-based battery technologies. This situation provides a stimulating environment for the fuel cell modeling community, as there are considerable synergies in the modeling and simulation methods for fuel cells and batteries. At the same time, batter...

Molecular Basis for Drug Resistance in HIV-1 Protease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Celia A. Schiffer

2010-11-01

Full Text Available HIV-1 protease is one of the major antiviral targets in the treatment of patients infected with HIV-1. The nine FDA approved HIV-1 protease inhibitors were developed with extensive use of structure-based drug design, thus the atomic details of how the inhibitors bind are well characterized. From this structural understanding the molecular basis for drug resistance in HIV-1 protease can be elucidated. Selected mutations in response to therapy and diversity between clades in HIV-1 protease have altered the shape of the active site, potentially altered the dynamics and even altered the sequence of the cleavage sites in the Gag polyprotein. All of these interdependent changes act in synergy to confer drug resistance while simultaneously maintaining the fitness of the virus. New strategies, such as incorporation of the substrate envelope constraint to design robust inhibitors that incorporate details of HIV-1 protease’s function and decrease the probability of drug resistance, are necessary to continue to effectively target this key protein in HIV-1 life cycle.

Synergy of Stochastic and Systematic Energization of Plasmas during Turbulent Reconnection

Science.gov (United States)

Pisokas, Theophilos; Vlahos, Loukas; Isliker, Heinz

2018-01-01

The important characteristic of turbulent reconnection is that it combines large-scale magnetic disturbances (δ B/B∼ 1) with randomly distributed unstable current sheets (UCSs). Many well-known nonlinear MHD structures (strong turbulence, current sheet(s), shock(s)) lead asymptotically to the state of turbulent reconnection. We analyze in this article, for the first time, the energization of electrons and ions in a large-scale environment that combines large-amplitude disturbances propagating with sub-Alfvénic speed with UCSs. The magnetic disturbances interact stochastically (second-order Fermi) with the charged particles and play a crucial role in the heating of the particles, while the UCSs interact systematically (first-order Fermi) and play a crucial role in the formation of the high-energy tail. The synergy of stochastic and systematic acceleration provided by the mixture of magnetic disturbances and UCSs influences the energetics of the thermal and nonthermal particles, the power-law index, and the length of time the particles remain inside the energy release volume. We show that this synergy can explain the observed very fast and impulsive particle acceleration and the slightly delayed formation of a superhot particle population.

Characterizing Aerosols over Southeast Asia using the AERONET Data Synergy Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Giles, David M.; Holben, Brent N.; Eck, Thomas F.; Slutsker, Ilya; Slutsker, Ilya; Welton, Ellsworth, J.; Chin, Mian; Kucsera, Thomas; Schmaltz, Jeffery E.; Diehl, Thomas;

In vitro activity of colistin in antimicrobial combination against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia in Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Minh, Vien; Thi Khanh Nhu, Nguyen; Vinh Phat, Voong; Thompson, Corinne; Huong Lan, Nguyen Phu; Thieu Nga, Tran Vu; Thanh Tam, Pham Thi; Tuyen, Ha Thanh; Hoang Nhu, Tran Do; Van Hao, Nguyen; Thi Loan, Huynh; Minh Yen, Lam; Parry, Christopher M; Trung Nghia, Ho Dang; Campbell, James I; Hien, Tran Tinh; Thwaites, Louise; Thwaites, Guy; Van Vinh Chau, Nguyen; Baker, Stephen

2015-10-01

Acinetobacter baumannii has become one of the major infection threats in intensive care units (ICUs) globally. Since 2008, A. baumannii has been the leading cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in our ICU at an infectious disease hospital in southern Vietnam. The emergence of this pathogen in our setting is consistent with the persistence of a specific clone exhibiting resistance to carbapenems. Antimicrobial combinations may be a strategy to treat infections caused by these carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii. Therefore, we assessed potential antimicrobial combinations against local carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii by measuring in vitro interactions of colistin with four antimicrobials that are locally certified for treating VAP. We first performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing and multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) genotyping on 74 A. baumannii isolated from quantitative tracheal aspirates from patients with VAP over an 18-month period. These 74 isolates could be subdivided into 21 main clusters by MLVA and >80 % were resistant to carbapenems. We selected 56 representative isolates for in vitro combination synergy testing. Synergy was observed in four (7 %), seven (13 %), 20 (36 %) and 38 (68 %) isolates with combinations of colistin with ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, imipenem and meropenem, respectively. Notably, more carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates (36/43; 84 %) exhibited synergistic activity with a combination of colistin and meropenem than carbapenem-susceptible A. baumannii isolates (2/13; 15 %) (P = 0.023; Fisher's exact test). Our findings suggest that combinations of colistin and meropenem should be considered when treating carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii infections in Vietnam, and we advocate clinical trials investigating combination therapy for VAP.

The formation of dissipative structures in polymers as a model of synergy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khanchich Oleg A.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Synergetic is an interdisciplinary area and describes the emergence of various kinds of structures, using the representation of the natural sciences. In this paper we studied the conditions for the appearance of thermodynamically stable amorphous-crystalline supramolecular structures on the basis of practical importance for the production of heat-resistant high-strength polymer fibers semi-rigid systems. It is found that in the process of structure formation in the coagulation of the polymer from solutions having supramolecular structures area a definite geometric shape and dimensions. Pattern formation in such systems can simulate the processes studied synergy. This is occurring in the process of self-organization of dissipative structures, transitions from one structure to another. This most discussed matter of self-organization on the “optical” scale level, are observed spherulites have a “correct” form and certain geometric dimensions comparable to the wavelength of visible light. Previously, this polymer does not crystallize at all considered. It is shown that for the study of supramolecular structures are the most convenient and informative experimental approaches are polarization-optical methods, which are directly “tuned” to the optical anisotropy of the structure and morphology. The great advantage of these methods is also possible to study the kinetics of structure formation processes without interfering the system under study.

The role of records management as a tool to identify risks in the public sector in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mpho Ngoepe

2014-06-01

Objectives: The study utilised the King III report on corporate governance in South Africa as a framework to investigate the role of records management in identifying risks in the public sector, with a view to entrench the synergy between records management and risk management. Method: Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires distributed to records managers, risk managers and auditors in governmental bodies in South Africa. Provisions of the King III report, guided the research objectives. Results: Even though the study established that there is a reciprocal relationship between risk identification and records management, most governmental bodies in South Africa lack records management and risk-mitigating frameworks or strategy. Furthermore, records management did not feature in most governmental bodies’ risk registers. It has been established that most governmental bodies have established risk committees that do not include records management practitioners. In most governmental bodies, risk management resides within internal audit functions. Conclusion: The study concludes by arguing that a strong records management regime can be one of an organisation’s primary tools in identifying risks and implementing proper risk management. Therefore, records management should be integrated with risk management processes for organisations to benefit from the synergy.

Heat Roadmap Europe: Identifying strategic heat synergy regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persson, U.; Möller, B.; Werner, S.

2014-01-01

This study presents a methodology to assess annual excess heat volumes from fuel combustion activities in energy and industry sector facilities based on carbon dioxide emission data. The aim is to determine regional balances of excess heat relative heat demands for all third level administrative regions in the European Union (EU) and to identify strategic regions suitable for large-scale implementation of district heating. The approach is motivated since the efficiency of current supply structures to meet building heat demands, mainly characterised by direct use of primary energy sources, is low and improvable. District heating is conceived as an urban supply side energy efficiency measure employable to enhance energy system efficiency by increased excess heat recoveries; hereby reducing primary energy demands by fuel substitution. However, the importance of heat has long been underestimated in EU decarbonisation strategies and local heat synergies have often been overlooked in energy models used for such scenarios. Study results indicate that 46% of all excess heat in EU27, corresponding to 31% of total building heat demands, is located within identified strategic regions. Still, a realisation of these rich opportunities will require higher recognition of the heat sector in future EU energy policy. - Highlights: • EU27 energy and industry sector heat recycling resources are mapped and quantified. • Target regions for large-scale implementation of district heating are identified. • 46% of total EU27 excess heat volume is seized in 63 strategic heat synergy regions. • Large urban zones have lead roles to play in transition to sustainability in Europe. • Higher recognition of heat sector is needed in future EU energy policy for realisation

When Bioelectrochemical Systems Meet Forward Osmosis: Accomplishing Wastewater Treatment and Reuse through Synergy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaobin Lu

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Bioelectrochemical systems (BES and forward osmosis (FO are two emerging technologies with great potential for energy-efficient water/wastewater treatment. BES takes advantage of microbial interaction with a solid electron acceptor/donor to accomplish bioenergy recovery from organic compounds, and FO can extract high-quality water driven by an osmotic pressure. The strong synergy between those two technologies may complement each other and collaboratively address water-energy nexus. FO can assist BES with achieving water recovery (for future reuse, enhancing electricity generation, and supplying energy for accomplishing the cathode reactions; while BES may help FO with degrading organic contaminants, providing sustainable draw solute, and stabilizing water flux. This work has reviewed the recent development that focuses on the synergy between BES and FO, analyzed the advantages of each combination, and provided perspectives for future research. The findings encourage further investigation and development for efficient coordination between BES and FO towards an integrated system for wastewater treatment and reuse.

Using Informatics to Create a New Triangular Array of e-Assessment Tools through an International Synergy between Education and Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gary R. Tucker

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The increased power of the Internet, advances in authoring software, and the availability of sophisticated content management systems (CMS have enabled instructional designers, educators, and teachers, to create flexible learning environments that use advanced pedagogies based on active learning, collaboration, multiple perspectives and knowledge building. As the new learning environments gain ground instruction there is an increased emphasis in what is called "authentic assessment." Due to the difficulty with translating authentic assessment into grades faculty are not being provided the information technology support systems that they need. This is a report on three assessment tools developed to address this need that came about due to the synergy of an international partnership.

Implementation synergies that exploit situational knowledge strategically

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Quitzau, Maj-Britt; Petersen, Jens-Phillip

This paper illustrates how strategic and situated forms of knowledge may increase capacity to implement energy strategies in local urban development projects. Through analysis of front runner implementation projects, we show that the involved planners utilize situational learning processes...... strategically to develop more viable implementation trajectories. These findings resonate well with relational and network orienteered research in contemporary planning theory. In the selected case studies, we can see that planners deliberately seek to extend traditional planning approaches, like e.......g. regulation, with broader context‐specific learning processes. In doing so, we argue that – what we call – an implementation synergy is established by interlacing different forms of situational knowledge with strategic knowledge about how to reach a desired energy target. In conclusion, the paper identifies...

Pedagogical Synergy: Linking Assessment, Curriculum, and Instruction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caro Rolheiser

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the evolution of attempts to build coherence and capacity in an Ontario school district, focusing on the development of literacy strategies in all of the district’s elementary and secondary schools. In reviewing case studies in four elementary schools, the authors have identified three key elements (instruction, curriculum, and assessment as the key dimensions which have the greatest influence on student achievement. The authors of this paper present a new construct, pedagogical synergy, in which those three elements are combined. Improvements can occur at both the district and school levels when there are horizontal and reciprocal strategies for building capacity and increasing coherence. It is the mutual support between district and schools that provides the power in this new concept.

USING THE SYNERGY OF ALLIANCES AND PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

OpenAIRE

Elena DOVAL; Oriana DOVAL

2010-01-01

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate by searching the literature that the synergy of different types of alliances and partnership brings much more opportunities for the sustainable growth of the companies. After a briefing about definitions, types and purpose of alliances and partnership the paper reminds the process of alliances and partnership formation and emphasises the main advantages and limits of alliances and partnership Finally, a new type of company is defined, i.e. ‘the s...

Insecticide resistance in disease vectors from Mayotte: an opportunity for integrated vector management.

Science.gov (United States)

Pocquet, Nicolas; Darriet, Frédéric; Zumbo, Betty; Milesi, Pascal; Thiria, Julien; Bernard, Vincent; Toty, Céline; Labbé, Pierrick; Chandre, Fabrice

2014-07-01

Mayotte, a small island in the Indian Ocean, has been affected for many years by vector-borne diseases. Malaria, Bancroftian filariasis, dengue, chikungunya and Rift Valley fever have circulated or still circulate on the island. They are all transmitted by Culicidae mosquitoes. To limit the impact of these diseases on human health, vector control has been implemented for more than 60 years on Mayotte. In this study, we assessed the resistance levels of four major vector species (Anopheles gambiae, Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) to two types of insecticides: i) the locally currently-used insecticides (organophosphates, pyrethroids) and ii) alternative molecules that are promising for vector control and come from different insecticide families (bacterial toxins or insect growth regulators). When some resistance was found to one of these insecticides, we characterized the mechanisms involved. Larval and adult bioassays were used to evaluate the level of resistance. When resistance was found, we tested for the presence of metabolic resistance through detoxifying enzyme activity assays, or for target-site mutations through molecular identification of known resistance alleles. Resistance to currently-used insecticides varied greatly between the four vector species. While no resistance to any insecticides was found in the two Aedes species, bioassays confirmed multiple resistance in Cx. p. quinquefasciatus (temephos: ~ 20 fold and deltamethrin: only 10% mortality after 24 hours). In An. gambiae, resistance was scarce: only a moderate resistance to temephos was found (~5 fold). This resistance appears to be due only to carboxyl-esterase overexpression and not to target modification. Finally, and comfortingly, none of the four species showed resistance to any of the new insecticides. The low resistance observed in Mayotte's main disease vectors is particularly interesting, because it leaves a range of tools useable by vector control

The synergy of modeling and novel experiments for melt crystal growth research

Science.gov (United States)

Derby, Jeffrey J.

2018-05-01

Computational modeling and novel experiments, when performed together, can enable the identification of new, fundamental mechanisms important for the growth of bulk crystals from the melt. In this paper, we present a compelling example of this synergy via the discovery of previously unascertained physical mechanisms that govern the engulfment of silicon carbide particles during the growth of crystalline silicon.

Optimized procedure for calibration and verification multileaf collimator from Elekta Synergy accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castel Millan, A.; Perellezo Mazon, A.; Fernandez Ibiza, J.; Arnalte Olloquequi, M.; Armengol Martinez, S.; Rodriguez Rey, A.; Guedea Edo, F.

2011-01-01

The objective of this work is to design an optimized procedure for calibration and verification of a multileaf collimator used so as to allow the EPID and the image plate in a complementary way, using different processing systems. With this procedure we have two equivalent alternative as the same parameters obtained for the calibration of multileaf Elekta Synergy accelerator.

Exploiting the synergy between carboplatin and ABT-737 in the treatment of ovarian carcinomas.

KAUST Repository

Jain, Harsh Vardhan; Richardson, Alan; Meyer-Hermann, Michael; Byrne, Helen M

2014-01-01

that will achieve a predetermined level of tumor growth inhibition, thereby maximizing the synergy between the two drugs. Our simulations suggest that the infusion-duration of each carboplatin dose is a critical parameter, with an 8-hour infusion of carboplatin

Customer Relationship Management (Crm) Berbasis Web Untuk Meningkatkan Daya Saing Toko Online

OpenAIRE

Kholil, Ishak

2017-01-01

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a thorough business strategy of a company that enables the company to effectively manage relationships with customers. relationships with CRM information technology is very important because without good information technology capabilities in managing information within the organization, CRM will be paralyzed and has no meaning. Synergy of these two things are needed what today's technology era. To generate a reliable performance of the organization m...

Educational Opportunities Based on the University-Industry Synergies in an Open Innovation Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Lucia, Oscar; Burdio, Jose M.; Acero, Jesus; Barragan, Luis A.; Garcia, Jose R.

2012-01-01

Collaboration between Industry and University is becoming more important in order to improve the competitiveness of the research and development activities. Moreover, establishing synergies to bridge the gap between the academic and industrial spheres has demonstrated to be advantageous for both of them. Nowadays, Industry is moving towards an…

Cognitive synergy in groups and group-to-individual transfer of decision-making competencies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Curseu, P.L.; Meslec, M.N.; Pluut, Helen; Lucas, G.J.M.

2015-01-01

In a field study (148 participants organized in 38 groups) we tested the effect of group synergy and one's position in relation to the collaborative zone of proximal development (CZPD) on the change of individual decision-making competencies. We used two parallel sets of decision tasks reported in

LiDAR and Orthophoto Synergy to optimize Object-Based Landscape Change: Analysis of an Active Landslide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martijn Kamps

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Active landslides have three major effects on landscapes: (1 land cover change, (2 topographical change, and (3 above ground biomass change. Data derived from multi-temporal Light Detection and Ranging technology (LiDAR are used in combination with multi-temporal orthophotos to quantify these changes between 2006 and 2012, caused by an active deep-seated landslide near the village of Doren in Austria. Land-cover is classified by applying membership-based classification and contextual improvements based on the synergy of orthophotos and LiDAR-based elevation data. Topographical change is calculated by differencing of LiDAR derived digital terrain models. The above ground biomass is quantified by applying a local-maximum algorithm for tree top detection, in combination with allometric equations. The land cover classification accuracies were improved from 65% (using only LiDAR and 76% (using only orthophotos to 90% (using data synergy for 2006. A similar increase from respectively 64% and 75% to 91% was established for 2012. The increased accuracies demonstrate the effectiveness of using data synergy of LiDAR and orthophotos using object-based image analysis to quantify landscape changes, caused by an active landslide. The method has great potential to be transferred to larger areas for use in landscape change analyses.

[Isolation of a carbapenem-resistant K1 serotype Klebsiella pneumonia strain and the study of resistance mechanism].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rong; Wang, Xuan; Lü, Jianxin

2014-12-16

To study the virulence and mechanism of carbapenem resistance of a clinical isolate of carbapenem-resistant K1 serotype Klebsiella pneumonia strain. Identification of isolate was carried out with VITEK-2 compact system. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by E-test; Metallo β-lactamases and carbapenemases screening were conducted by imipenem-EDTA double disc synergy test and modified Hodge test, respectively.Specific polymerehse chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing were preformed to detect the virulence genes including K1, K2, K5, K20, K54, K57, magA, rmpA, wcaG and a series of β-lactamase resistence genes. Conjunction experiment was also performed. The plasmids of transconjugants were submitted to PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT) method. Molecular typing was performed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that the Klebsiella pneumonia strain was resistant to most of the antibiotics used in clinic. Phynotype confirmary rest revealed the production of carbapanemases, while Metallo β-lactamases were negative; PCR and DNA sequencing confirmed the isolate was positive for blaKPC-2, blaCTX-M-15, blaTEM-1, blaSHV-1 and virulence genes K1, magA, rmpA, wcaG simultaneously; blaKPC-2 was transferred from donor to Escherichia EC600 by conjunction experiment, while no virulence genes were found in the transconjugants. PBRT revealed that Frep plasmid was found in transconjugants. MLST analysis revealed that this strain belonged to ST23. K1 serotype Klebsiella pneumonia strain carries virulence genes and carbapenem resistance gene blaKPC-2, noteworthily the carbapenem resistance genes can be transferred through horizontal transmission on plasmids.

Towards multifunctional agricultural landscapes in Europe: Assessing and governing synergies between food production, biodiversity, and ecosystem services - TALE

Science.gov (United States)

Volk, Martin; Cord, Anna; Demiguel, Ángel; Holzkämper, Annelie; Kaim, Andrea; Kirchner, Mathias; Lienhoop, Nele; Nieto Romero, Marta; Nitsch, Heike; Rutz, Cordula; Saa, Antonio; Schmid, Erwin; Schönhart, Martin; Schramek, Jörg; Strauch, Michael; Tarquis Alfonso, Ana Maria; van der Zanden, Emma H.; Verburg, Peter; Willaarts, Bárbara; Zarrineh, Nina; Rivas, David; Hagemann, Nina

2016-04-01

There is a need to improve our understanding of the synergies between biodiversity, food and energy production and other regulating or cultural ecosystem services (ESS) and the development of technical and policy measures to support these synergies. Procedures to quantify synergies and trade-offs between ESS and biodiversity are considered as promising solutions to close this gap. The BiodivERsA project TALE aims at developing such methodologies in a set of representative European agricultural landscapes in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, The Netherlands and Spain. This will be done by using i) a framework that links process-based, integrated, and statistical models with optimization algorithms, and ii) a set of land use scenarios and land use policies, iii) a systematic stakeholder integration process that allows the incorporation of expert knowledge in all phases of the research project to safeguard that research results are of practical relevance. Moreover, the project not only addresses experts but provides an innovative online learning environment that is accessible also for students and the general public.

Exploiting synergies in European wind and hydrogen sectors: A cost-benefit assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaw, Suzanne; Peteves, Estathios

2008-01-01

This article outlines an assessment of the perspectives for exploiting synergies between European wind and hydrogen energy sectors, where wind energy conversion to hydrogen is used as a common strategy for reducing network management costs in high wind energy penetration situations, and for production of renewable hydrogen. The attractiveness of this approach, referred to here as a 'wind-hydrogen strategy', is analysed using a cost-benefit approach to evaluate the final impact at the level of the end-consumer when this strategy is implemented. The analysis is conducted for four scenarios, based on different levels of: wind energy penetration in the electricity network area, hydrogen energy price, and environmental taxation on fuels. The effect of technological learning on the outcome is also analysed for the period up to 2050. The results of the analysis indicate that the relative value of the wind energy in the electricity market compared to the hydrogen market is a deciding factor in the attractiveness of the strategy; here the wind energy penetration in the network is a key consideration. Finally, in order to exploit learning effects from linking European wind and hydrogen sectors, action would need to be taken in the short term. (author)

Dependence of synergy current driven by lower hybrid wave and electron cyclotron wave on the frequency and parallel refractive index of electron cyclotron wave for Tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, J.; Chen, S. Y.; Tang, C. J.

2014-01-01

The physical mechanism of the synergy current driven by lower hybrid wave (LHW) and electron cyclotron wave (ECW) in tokamaks is investigated using theoretical analysis and simulation methods in the present paper. Research shows that the synergy relationship between the two waves in velocity space strongly depends on the frequency ω and parallel refractive index N // of ECW. For a given spectrum of LHW, the parameter range of ECW, in which the synergy current exists, can be predicted by theoretical analysis, and these results are consistent with the simulation results. It is shown that the synergy effect is mainly caused by the electrons accelerated by both ECW and LHW, and the acceleration of these electrons requires that there is overlap of the resonance regions of the two waves in velocity space

Epidemiology, Clinical Presentation, Laboratory Diagnosis, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Antimicrobial Management of Invasive Salmonella Infections

Science.gov (United States)

Sjölund-Karlsson, Maria; Gordon, Melita A.; Parry, Christopher M.

2015-01-01

SUMMARY Salmonella enterica infections are common causes of bloodstream infection in low-resource areas, where they may be difficult to distinguish from other febrile illnesses and may be associated with a high case fatality ratio. Microbiologic culture of blood or bone marrow remains the mainstay of laboratory diagnosis. Antimicrobial resistance has emerged in Salmonella enterica, initially to the traditional first-line drugs chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Decreased fluoroquinolone susceptibility and then fluoroquinolone resistance have developed in association with chromosomal mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region of genes encoding DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV and also by plasmid-mediated resistance mechanisms. Resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins has occurred more often in nontyphoidal than in typhoidal Salmonella strains. Azithromycin is effective for the management of uncomplicated typhoid fever and may serve as an alternative oral drug in areas where fluoroquinolone resistance is common. In 2013, CLSI lowered the ciprofloxacin susceptibility breakpoints to account for accumulating clinical, microbiologic, and pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic data suggesting that revision was needed for contemporary invasive Salmonella infections. Newly established CLSI guidelines for azithromycin and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi were published in CLSI document M100 in 2015. PMID:26180063

Change Management: Dampak Perubahan Dengan Adanya Implementasi IT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iwan Kurniawan Widjaya

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Technology improvement has brought much changes in how businesses and organizations have to run properly in global competitions. But the most important thing is the changing in organizations and people who will operate with the integrations systems. Resistance always happens in every implementations and it will be the main problems in every company. In this paper, it will be explored more in details about the cause and effect from the changes that will happens before and after the implementations, including how to utilize the result of the implementations in order to get the benefits for the business. Another important things are including the strategy and planning of changes that should be effectively implemented and given the maximum contributions to support the future development and synergy with business planning. This paper is also given the guidance about how to act and do some preventive actions in managing better ways in setting up the planning of changes in implementations of Information Technology and systems in the best ways. 

Outreach and Profitability Trade-off: Does Synergy between Islamic Banking and Islamic Microfinance Institutions Matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruri Eka Fauziah Nasution

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of linkage program between IslamicBanking (IB and Baitul Maal Wat Tamwil (BMT on BMT financing growth and profitability. Thisstudy also aims to compare three linkage models and to explore the keys factors that affect the implementation of linkage program. To achieve these objectives, both quantitative and qualitative research methods are employed. The dataset consists of the financial statement of 26 BMT in Indonesia and interviews with 12 managers of BMT and IB in Jakarta. The findings suggest that a synergy between IB and BMT through linkage program has significant impact on BMT financing growth and BMT ROE. Among three linkage models, executing model appears to be the most preferable model, both by BMT and IB. The finding also suggests that internal and external factors at BMT level have impacts on the effectiveness of linkage program.

Schedule dependent synergy of gemcitabine and doxorubicin: Improvement of in vitro efficacy and lack of in vitro-in vivo correlation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogus, Douglas R; Pusuluri, Anusha; Chen, Renwei; Mitragotri, Samir

2018-01-01

Combination chemotherapy is commonly used to treat late stage cancer; however, treatment is often limited by systemic toxicity. Optimizing drug ratio and schedule can improve drug combination activity and reduce dose to lower toxicity. Here, we identify gemcitabine (GEM) and doxorubicin (DOX) as a synergistic drug pair in vitro for the triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Drug synergy and caspase activity were increased the most by exposing cells to GEM prior to DOX in vitro. While the combination was more effective than the single drugs at inhibiting MDA-MB-231 growth in vivo, the clear schedule dependence observed in vitro was not observed in vivo. Differences in drug exposure and cellular behavior in vivo compared to in vitro are likely responsible. This study emphasizes the importance in understanding how schedule impacts drug synergy and the need to develop more advanced strategies to translate synergy to the clinic.

Remote sensing of aerosols by synergy of caliop and modis

OpenAIRE

Kudo Rei; Nishizawa Tomoaki; Higurashi Akiko; Oikawa Eiji

2018-01-01

For the monitoring of the global 3-D distribution of aerosol components, we developed the method to retrieve the vertical profiles of water-soluble, light absorbing carbonaceous, dust, and sea salt particles by the synergy of CALIOP and MODIS data. The aerosol product from the synergistic method is expected to be better than the individual products of CALIOP and MODIS. We applied the method to the biomass-burning event in Africa and the dust event in West Asia. The reasonable results were obt...

Life Spectacles: Media, Business Synergy, and Affective Work in Neoliberal China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai Ren

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The way in which Chinese media communicates the meanings of everyday life has been significantly reconfigured since the late 1970s. ‘Folk television’ or ‘life television’ has been developed as a popular television genre that focuses on ordinary people and their lived experiences. This phenomenon reflects the neoliberal development of China’s cultural institutions in general and the privatization of television production and distribution in particular. Meanwhile, cultural enterprises also shape the way in which Chinese citizens conduct themselves. In such domains as leisure and consumption, operators of theme built environments such as theme parks, theme shopping malls, and even residential communities deploy spatial planning and engineering techniques to subtly train their users to behave in a particular way to become proper citizens. This type of business through real estate development, a dominant sector of the Chinese economy, contributes to the national project of managing social risks in China’s neoliberal process. To illustrate how media and leisure companies engage in cultural production appropriate to China’s neoliberal development, this paper examines both a television production of news about ‘ordinary people’ and a theme park operation of ethnic festival by focusing on the relationship between media convergence, business synergy, and affective work.

A Prospective Study of Tuberculosis Drug Susceptibility in Sabah, Malaysia, and an Algorithm for Management of Isoniazid Resistance

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid Ali, Muhammad Redzwan S.; Parameswaran, Uma; William, Timothy; Bird, Elspeth; Wilkes, Christopher S.; Lee, Wai Khew; Yeo, Tsin Wen; Anstey, Nicholas M.; Ralph, Anna P.

2015-01-01

Introduction. The burden of tuberculosis is high in eastern Malaysia, and rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance are poorly defined. Our objectives were to determine M. tuberculosis susceptibility and document management after receipt of susceptibility results. Methods. Prospective study of adult outpatients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in Sabah, Malaysia. Additionally, hospital clinicians accessed the reference laboratory for clinical purposes during the study. Results. 176 outpatients were enrolled; 173 provided sputum samples. Mycobacterial culture yielded M. tuberculosis in 159 (91.9%) and nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM) in three (1.7%). Among outpatients there were no instances of multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Seven people (4.5%) had isoniazid resistance (INH-R); all were switched to an appropriate second-line regimen for varying durations (4.5–9 months). Median delay to commencement of the second-line regimen was 13 weeks. Among 15 inpatients with suspected TB, 2 had multidrug resistant TB (one extensively drug resistant), 2 had INH-R, and 4 had NTM. Conclusions. Current community rates of MDR-TB in Sabah are low. However, INH-resistance poses challenges, and NTM is an important differential diagnosis in this setting, where smear microscopy is the usual diagnostic modality. To address INH-R management issues in our setting, we propose an algorithm for the treatment of isoniazid-resistant PTB. PMID:25838829

Long-Range Regulatory Synergy Is Required to Allow Control of the TAC1 Locus by MEK/ERK Signalling in Sensory Neurones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lynne Shanley

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Changes in the expression of the neuropeptide substance P (SP in different populations of sensory neurones are associated with the progression of chronic inflammatory disease. Thus, understanding the genomic and cellular mechanisms driving the expression of the TAC1 gene, which encodes SP, in sensory neurones is essential to understanding its role in inflammatory disease. We used a novel combination of computational genomics, primary-cell culture and mouse transgenics to determine the genomic and cellular mechanisms that control the expression of TAC1 in sensory neurones. Intriguingly, we demonstrated that the promoter of the TAC1 gene must act in synergy with a remote enhancer, identified using comparative genomics, to respond to MAPK signalling that modulates the expression of TAC1 in sensory neurones. We also reveal that noxious stimulation of sensory neurones triggers this synergy in larger diameter sensory neurones – an expression of SP associated with hyperalgesia. This noxious stimulation of TAC1 enhancer-promotor synergy could be strongly blocked by antagonism of the MEK pathway. This study provides a unique insight into the role of long-range enhancer-promoter synergy and selectivity in the tissue-specific response of promoters to specific signal transduction pathways and suggests a possible new avenue for the development of novel anti-inflammatory therapies.

Antimicrobial Resistance status and prevalence rates of Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL producers isolated from a mixed human population.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth A. Afunwa

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Owing to the increasing epidemiological and therapeutic challenges associated with infections due to ESBL producers, ESBL prevalence rate among some bacteria isolates from healthy and non-healthy human population in a metropolitan Nigerian setting was evaluated.A total of one hundred and forty-five (145 bacteria strains were isolated from a total of four hundred and sixty (460 samples collected from urine, wound, throat and anal swabs of 220 healthy volunteers in the community and from 240 patients in 2 secondary and 2 tertiary hospitals (altogether, 4 in Enugu metropolis. The presumptive confirmatory test used for ESBL detection was the Double Disc Synergy Test (DDST method. Conjugation and plasmid curing studies were also done for resistance factor determination.Of the 145 isolates, 20 were ESBL producers with 35% of these ESBL producers being of community origin and 65% from hospitals. This translates to 4.8% and 9% incidences (comparably higher than established prevalence of 4.4% and 7.5 respectively for community and hospital infections respectively. The ESBL isolates showed high resistance to tetracycline, gentamicin, pefloxacin, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, ciprofloxacin and Augmentin® (Amoxicilin and clavulanic acid combination. Conjugation studies for Resistance plasmid transfer showed non-transference of resistance determinants between the ESBL transconjugants and recipient strains. Correspondingly, the plasmid curing studies revealed that the acridine orange could not effect a cure on the isolates as they still retained high resistance to the antibiotics after the treatment.This study confirms the growing incidences/pool of ESBL strains in Nigeria and call for widespread and continuous monitoring towards an effective management of the potential therapeutic hurdle posed by this trend.

Non-communicable diseases and human rights: Global synergies, gaps and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Laura; Tarantola, Daniel; Hoffmann, Michael; Gruskin, Sofia

2017-10-01

The incorporation of human rights in health policy and programmes is known to strengthen responses to health problems and help address disparities created or exacerbated by illness yet this remains underexplored in relation to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Aiming to understand existing synergies and how they might be further strengthened, we assessed the extent to which human rights are considered in global NCD policies and strategies and the degree of attention given to NCDs by select United Nations human rights mechanisms. Across global NCD policies and strategies, rhetorical assertions regarding human rights appear more often than actionable statements, thus limiting their implementation and impact. Although no human rights treaty explicitly mentions NCDs, some human rights monitoring mechanisms have been paying increasing attention to NCDs. This provides important avenues for promoting the incorporation of human rights norms and standards into NCD responses as well as for accountability. Linking NCDs and human rights at the global level is critical for encouraging national-level action to promote better outcomes relating to both health and human rights. The post-2015 development agenda constitutes a key entry point for highlighting these synergies and strengthening opportunities for health and rights action at global, national and local levels.

Resistance Management for Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, in Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xue Dong; Stelinski, Lukasz L

2017-09-20

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayma, is one of the most important pests in citrus production. The objective of this study was to evaluate D. citri resistance management with three insecticide rotations and compare them with no rotation and an untreated check. The different insecticides (modes of action) tested were: dimethoate, imidacloprid, diflubenzuron, abamectin 3% + thiamethoxam 13.9%, and fenpropathrin. Eggs, nymph, and adult psyllids were counted weekly. Five insecticide applications were made in 2016. Insecticide susceptibility was determined by direct comparison with a laboratory susceptible population and field populations before and after all treatments were applied. Rankings of eggs, nymphs, and adults counted in treated plots were significantly lower than in the untreated control plots after each application. Initially, the resistance ratio (RR 50 ) for each rotation model, as compared with laboratory susceptible strain and the field population before application, was less than 5.76 and 4.31, respectively. However, after five applications with dimethoate, the RR 50 using the laboratory and pre-treatment field populations was 42.34 and 34.74, respectively. Our results indicate that effectively rotating modes of action can delay and/or prevent development of insecticide resistance in populations of D. citri .

"I've Known Rivers": A Reflection on the Synergy of Multigenre, Multimodal Texts

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

In this article an elementary literacy specialist reflects on the use of multigenre, multimodal texts to support the teaching of poetry. She explores the synergy between poetry and related informational, visual, and auditory texts to afford deeper insights into the poem and the poet, in this instance, the poem, "The Negro Speaks of…

If you want to benefit from users - don't be a chicken!

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dragsdahl Lauritzen, Ghita

2015-01-01

to overcome internal resistance and constraints when firms introduce user-centric business models. Using a lens of paradox, this article offers a novel model of management that explains how managers can leverage their innovation capabilities and provide long-term relief from tensions arising from user...... communities. Proposing mechanisms to be implemented, the model helps managers to benefit from the distinct characteristics of firms and users and to encourage synergies. Finally, I develop propositions and suggest implications for user innovation practice and research....

New Generation of Resistant Sugar Beet Varieties for Advanced Integrated Management of Cercospora Leaf Spot in Central Europe

OpenAIRE

Johannes Vogel; Johannes Vogel; Christine Kenter; Carsten Holst; Bernward Märländer

2018-01-01

Cercospora leaf spot (CLS) epidemics in sugar beet have been increasing in recent years causing higher use of fungicides. Concomitantly, the availability of effective fungicides is at risk because of resistance development in the fungus, the lack of new active ingredients as well as restrictive approval practices. A key option for an integrated management of CLS is cultivation of resistant varieties. Because of the yield penalty in resistant varieties, acceptance in commercial practice so far...

A Novel Role for Raloxifene Nanomicelles in Management of Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastien Taurin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Of patients with castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC, less than 25–33% survive more than five years. Recent studies have implicated estrogen, acting either alone or synergistically with androgens in the development of castrate resistant prostate cancer. Several in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as a limited number of clinical trials, have highlighted the potential of selective estrogen receptor modulators, such as raloxifene (Ral for the treatment of castrate resistant prostate cancer. However, the poor oral bioavailability and metabolism of selective estrogen receptor modulators limit their efficiency in clinical application. To overcome these limitations, we have used styrene co-maleic acid (SMA micelle to encapsulate raloxifene. Compared to free drug, SMA-Ral micelles had 132 and 140% higher cytotoxicity against PC3 and DU 145 prostate cell lines, respectively. SMA-Ral effectively inhibits cell cycle progression, increases apoptosis, and alters the integrity of tumor spheroid models. In addition, the micellar system induced changes in expression and localization of estrogen receptors, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR, and downstream effectors associated with cell proliferation and survival. Finally, SMA-Ral treatment decreased migration and invasion of castrate resistant prostate cancer cell lines. In conclusion, SMA-Ral micelles can potentially benefit new strategies for clinical management of castrate resistant prostate cancer.

An interprofessional approach to managing children with treatment-resistant enuresis: an educational review.

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Patrina H Y; Lim, Melissa; Nankivell, Gail

2017-11-06

Enuresis (intermittent urinary incontinence during sleep in a child aged ≥ 5 years) is commonly seen in paediatric practice. Despite the availability of effective interventions, treatment resistance is encountered in up to 50% of children. In this educational review we attempt to provide insight into the causes of treatment resistance, and offer practical suggestions for addressing this condition using an interprofessional approach. We explore the pathophysiology of and standard treatments for enuresis and discuss why standard treatments may fail. An interprofessional approach to treatment resistance is proposed which utilises the expertise of professionals from different disciplines to address the problems and barriers to treatment. The two interprofessional approaches include a multidisciplinary approach that involves the patient being sent to experts in different disciplines at different times to address their treatment resistance utilising the skills of the respective experts, and an interdisciplinary approach that involves a patient being managed by members of interdisciplinary team who integrate their separate discipline perspectives into a single treatment plan. Although an interdisciplinary approach is ideal, interdisciplinary teams may not be available in all circumstances. Understanding the roles of other disciplines and engaging clinicians from other disciplines when appropriate can still be helpful when treatment resistance is encountered.

Computational intelligence synergies of fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computing

CERN Document Server

Siddique, Nazmul

2013-01-01

Computational Intelligence: Synergies of Fuzzy Logic, Neural Networks and Evolutionary Computing presents an introduction to some of the cutting edge technological paradigms under the umbrella of computational intelligence. Computational intelligence schemes are investigated with the development of a suitable framework for fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computing, neuro-fuzzy systems, evolutionary-fuzzy systems and evolutionary neural systems. Applications to linear and non-linear systems are discussed with examples. Key features: Covers all the aspect

A Control Scheme That Uses Dynamic Postural Synergies to Coordinate a Hybrid Walking Neuroprosthesis: Theory and Experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Alibeji, Naji A; Molazadeh, Vahidreza; Dicianno, Brad E; Sharma, Nitin

2018-01-01

A hybrid walking neuroprosthesis that combines functional electrical stimulation (FES) with a powered lower limb exoskeleton can be used to restore walking in persons with paraplegia. It provides therapeutic benefits of FES and torque reliability of the powered exoskeleton. Moreover, by harnessing metabolic power of muscles via FES, the hybrid combination has a potential to lower power consumption and reduce actuator size in the powered exoskeleton. Its control design, however, must overcome the challenges of actuator redundancy due to the combined use of FES and electric motor. Further, dynamic disturbances such as electromechanical delay (EMD) and muscle fatigue must be considered during the control design process. This ensures stability and control performance despite disparate dynamics of FES and electric motor. In this paper, a general framework to coordinate FES of multiple gait-governing muscles with electric motors is presented. A muscle synergy-inspired control framework is used to derive the controller and is motivated mainly to address the actuator redundancy issue. Dynamic postural synergies between FES of the muscles and the electric motors were artificially generated through optimizations and result in key dynamic postures when activated. These synergies were used in the feedforward path of the control system. A dynamic surface control technique, modified with a delay compensation term, is used as the feedback controller to address model uncertainty, the cascaded muscle activation dynamics, and EMD. To address muscle fatigue, the stimulation levels in the feedforward path were gradually increased based on a model-based fatigue estimate. A Lyapunov-based stability approach was used to derive the controller and guarantee its stability. The synergy-based controller was demonstrated experimentally on an able-bodied subject and person with an incomplete spinal cord injury.