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Sample records for response system prs

  1. Wild-type phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthase (PRS from Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a bacterial class II PRS?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ardala Breda

    Full Text Available The 5-phospho-α-D-ribose 1-diphosphate (PRPP metabolite plays essential roles in several biosynthetic pathways, including histidine, tryptophan, nucleotides, and, in mycobacteria, cell wall precursors. PRPP is synthesized from α-D-ribose 5-phosphate (R5P and ATP by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis prsA gene product, phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthase (MtPRS. Here, we report amplification, cloning, expression and purification of wild-type MtPRS. Glutaraldehyde cross-linking results suggest that MtPRS predominates as a hexamer, presenting varied oligomeric states due to distinct ligand binding. MtPRS activity measurements were carried out by a novel coupled continuous spectrophotometric assay. MtPRS enzyme activity could be detected in the absence of P(i. ADP, GDP and UMP inhibit MtPRS activity. Steady-state kinetics results indicate that MtPRS has broad substrate specificity, being able to accept ATP, GTP, CTP, and UTP as diphosphoryl group donors. Fluorescence spectroscopy data suggest that the enzyme mechanism for purine diphosphoryl donors follows a random order of substrate addition, and for pyrimidine diphosphoryl donors follows an ordered mechanism of substrate addition in which R5P binds first to free enzyme. An ordered mechanism for product dissociation is followed by MtPRS, in which PRPP is the first product to be released followed by the nucleoside monophosphate products to yield free enzyme for the next round of catalysis. The broad specificity for diphosphoryl group donors and detection of enzyme activity in the absence of P(i would suggest that MtPRS belongs to Class II PRS proteins. On the other hand, the hexameric quaternary structure and allosteric ADP inhibition would place MtPRS in Class I PRSs. Further data are needed to classify MtPRS as belonging to a particular family of PRS proteins. The data here presented should help augment our understanding of MtPRS mode of action. Current efforts are toward experimental structure

  2. Wild-Type Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate Synthase (PRS) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A Bacterial Class II PRS?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breda, Ardala; Martinelli, Leonardo K. B.; Bizarro, Cristiano V.; Rosado, Leonardo A.; Borges, Caroline B.; Santos, Diógenes S.; Basso, Luiz A.

    2012-01-01

    The 5-phospho-α-D-ribose 1-diphosphate (PRPP) metabolite plays essential roles in several biosynthetic pathways, including histidine, tryptophan, nucleotides, and, in mycobacteria, cell wall precursors. PRPP is synthesized from α-D-ribose 5-phosphate (R5P) and ATP by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis prsA gene product, phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthase (MtPRS). Here, we report amplification, cloning, expression and purification of wild-type MtPRS. Glutaraldehyde cross-linking results suggest that MtPRS predominates as a hexamer, presenting varied oligomeric states due to distinct ligand binding. MtPRS activity measurements were carried out by a novel coupled continuous spectrophotometric assay. MtPRS enzyme activity could be detected in the absence of Pi. ADP, GDP and UMP inhibit MtPRS activity. Steady-state kinetics results indicate that MtPRS has broad substrate specificity, being able to accept ATP, GTP, CTP, and UTP as diphosphoryl group donors. Fluorescence spectroscopy data suggest that the enzyme mechanism for purine diphosphoryl donors follows a random order of substrate addition, and for pyrimidine diphosphoryl donors follows an ordered mechanism of substrate addition in which R5P binds first to free enzyme. An ordered mechanism for product dissociation is followed by MtPRS, in which PRPP is the first product to be released followed by the nucleoside monophosphate products to yield free enzyme for the next round of catalysis. The broad specificity for diphosphoryl group donors and detection of enzyme activity in the absence of Pi would suggest that MtPRS belongs to Class II PRS proteins. On the other hand, the hexameric quaternary structure and allosteric ADP inhibition would place MtPRS in Class I PRSs. Further data are needed to classify MtPRS as belonging to a particular family of PRS proteins. The data here presented should help augment our understanding of MtPRS mode of action. Current efforts are toward experimental structure determination of MtPRS

  3. Assessing Primary Representational System (PRS) Preference for Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Using Three Methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorn, Fred J.

    1983-01-01

    Considered three methods of identifying Primary Representational System (PRS)--an interview, a word list, and a self-report--in a study of 120 college students. Results suggested the three methods offer little to counselors either collectively or individually. Results did not validate the PRS construct, suggesting the need for further research.…

  4. Development and characterization of membrane surface display system using molecular chaperon, prsA, of Bacillus subtilis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, June-Hyung; Park, In-Suk; Kim, Byung-Gee

    2005-01-01

    We report a new membrane surface display system based on molecular chaperon, prsA, of Bacillus subtilis. Clostridium thermocellum cellulase, celA, was fused to C-terminal end of PrsA. Cellulase activity of B. subtilis protoplast, which expressed PrsA-CelA was 15 times higher compared to control strain. More than 85% of total cellulase activity was observed in surface displayed format and less than 15% of total cellulase activity was found in supernatant. Flow cytometric analysis of protoplast of PrsA-CelA fusion expressing bacteria provided another proof of uniform expression of fusion protein onto cytoplasmic membrane of B. subtilis. Without lysozyme treatment, only part of cellulase activity (10%) was observed in whole cell fraction

  5. High-temperature and high-humidity response of the Eberline Model PRS-2 and the Eberline Model NRD neutron detector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McAtee, J.L.

    1981-03-01

    The high-humidity and high-temperature response of the Eberline Model PRS-2 portable scaler-ratemeter and the Eberline Model NRD neutron detector was studied in an environmental chamber. The BF 3 probe used in the NRD detector was found to produce count rate surges at temperatures > 50 0 C and at relative humidity > 50%. The PRS-2 scaler-ratemeter was found to be relatively insensitive to high temperatures and high humidity

  6. Bacillus caldolyticus prs gene encoding phosphoribosyldiphosphate synthase

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krath, Britta N.; Hove-Jensen, Bjarne

    1996-01-01

    The prs gene, encoding phosphoribosyl-diphosphate (PRPP) synthase, as well as the flanking DNA sequences were cloned and sequenced from the Gram-positive thermophile, Bacillus caldolyticus. Comparison with the homologous sequences from the mesophile, Bacillus subtilis, revealed a gene (gca......D) encoding N-acetylglucosamine-l-phosphate uridyltransferase upstream of prs, and a gene homologous to ctc downstream of prs. cDNA synthesis with a B. caldolyticus gcaD-prs-ctc-specified mRNA as template, followed by amplification utilising the polymerase chain reaction indicated that the three genes are co......-transcribed. Comparison of amino acid sequences revealed a high similarity among PRPP synthases across a wide phylogenetic range. An E. coli strain harbouring the B. caldolyticus prs gene in a multicopy plasmid produced PRPP synthase activity 33-fold over the activity of a haploid B. caldolyticus strain. B. caldolyticus...

  7. Benefits of Employing a Personal Response System in a Decision Analysis Course

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachel Or-Bach

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the employment of a Personal Response System (PRS during a Decision Analysis course for Management Information Systems (MIS students. The description shows how the carefully designed PRS-based questions, the delivery, and the follow-up discussions; provided a context for eliciting and exercising central concepts of the course topics as well as central skills required for MIS majors. A sample of PRS-based questions is presented along with a description for each question of its purpose, the way it was delivered, the response rate, the responses and their frequencies, and the respective in-class discussion. Lessons from these findings are discussed.

  8. PRS and POS/PRS coupling experiments on Hawk

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peterson, G G; Apruzese, J P; Commisso, R J [Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC (United States). Plasma Physics Div.; and others

    1997-12-31

    Experiments are being conducted on Hawk to investigate the electrical coupling of a plasma opening switch (POS) to a neon plasma radiation source (PRS) and to evaluate the K SHELL x-ray yield scaling of implosions with different initial radii, mass, and implosion times. Understanding the coupling and scaling is important for optimizing the performance of more powerful inductive-storage generators that rely on POS technology. (author). 1 tab., 5 figs., 7 refs.

  9. Personal Emergency Response Systems--Communication Technology Aids Elderly and Their Families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dibner, Andrew S.

    Personal response systems (PRS) bring immediate help to aged and disabled persons at home at the touch of a button. The PRS user wears a tiny radio transmitter as a pendant or a bracelet and can send a telephone signal from any part of the home to a 24-hour emergency center when help is needed. This study examined research on the Lifeline system,…

  10. data sets Simulations in articulating light-weight PRS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van den Berg, Bert

    2008-01-01

    The data sets are output of 3 different steps in the development a simulations of a PRS as described in chapter 3.3: Simulations in articulating light-weight PRS A case for Pedagogy-oriented and Rating-based Hybrid Recommendation Strategies Rob Nadolski, Bert van den Berg, Adriana Berlanga, Hans

  11. Management of nuclear PRs activity with optimal conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohnishi, Teruaki

    1997-01-01

    A methodology is proposed to derive optimal conditions for the activity of nuclear public relations (PRs). With the use of data-bases available at present, expressions were derived which connect the budget allocated for the PRs activity with the intensity of stimulus for four types of activity of the advertisement in the press, the exclusive publicity, the pamphlet and the advertisement on television. Optimal conditions for the activity were determined by introducing a model describing a relation between the intensity of stimulus and the extent of the change of public's attitude to nuclear energy, namely the effect of PRs activity, and also by giving the optimal ratio of allocation of the budget among the four types of activity as a function of cost versus effectiveness of each type. Those optimal conditions, being for the ratio of allocation of the budget, the execution time and the intensity of each type of activity at that time, vary depending on the number of household in a target region, the target class of demography, the duration time of activity, and the amount of budget for the activity. It becomes clear from numerical calculation that the optimal conditions and the effect of activity show quite strong non-linearity with respect to the variation of those variables, and that the effect of PRs activity averaged over all public in the target region becomes to be maximum, in Japan, when the activity is executed with the optimal conditions determined for the target class of middle- and advanced-aged women. The management of nuclear PRs activity becomes possible by introducing such a method of fixation of optimal conditions for the activity as described here. (author)

  12. Evaluating the effectiveness of personal response system technology on millennial student learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCurry, Mary K; Hunter Revell, Susan M

    2011-08-01

    As nurse educators, we must explore new technologies that capitalize on the characteristics of millennial learners. One such technology, the personal response system (PRS), is an effective way to promote active learning and increase comprehension. Few nursing studies have examined the benefits of PRS technology on student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of PRS technology on learning outcomes in two sections of an undergraduate nursing research course. A crossover design compared class quiz averages between and within groups. Findings related to between and within class quiz scores were mixed, whereas the effectiveness of in-class PRS questions on paper-and-pencil quiz scores and PRS-targeted quiz items was significant. Knowledge gained from this study can be used to enhance our ability to actively engage our technologically savvy undergraduate students. By threading technology into the undergraduate curriculum, learning outcomes may be improved. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

  13. Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase of Bacillus subtilis. Cloning, characterization and chromosomal mapping of the prs gene

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Dan; Hove-Jensen, Bjarne

    1987-01-01

    The gene (prs) encoding phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) synthetase has been cloned from a library of Bacillus subtilis DNA by complementation of an Escherichia coli prs mutation. Flanking DNA sequences were pruned away by restriction endonuclease and exonuclease BAL 31 digestions, resulting...... in a DNA fragment of approx. 1.8 kb complementing the E. coli prs mutation. Minicell experiments revealed that this DNA fragment coded for a polypeptide, shown to be the PRPP synthetase subunit, with an Mr of approx. 40,000. B. subtilis strains harbouring the prs gene in a multicopy plasmid contained up...... to nine-fold increased PRPP synthetase activity. The prs gene was cloned in an integration vector and the resulting hybrid plasmid inserted into the B. subtilis chromosome by homologous recombination. The integration site was mapped by transduction and the gene order established as purA-guaA-prs-cysA....

  14. Conceptual design of Decade Half, a 15-MA, 300-ns PRS driver

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spence, Phil; Corcoran, Pat; Douglas, John; Tucker, Terry; Altes, Bob; Childers, Kendall; Sincerny, Peter; Whitehead, Lavell; Kenyon, Van; Babineau, Marc; Cotter, Tim; Kurucz, Pete; Davis, R.

    2002-01-01

    The Decade radiation effects simulator is located at AEDC and presently consists of four modules capable of operation as either a large area bremsstrahlung source (Decade Quad LAB) or a plasma radiation source (Decade Quad PRS). During 2001 we investigated several conceptual system architectures for connecting the current of eight Decade modules to a single PRS load. This Decade Half radiation source will be used in combination with other synchronized radiation effects simulators to offer a combined-effects testing capability at AEDC. We describe and compare the projected performance, risk, and relative cost of several rough conceptual designs, and discuss in more detail the 'water bridge' concept that was selected for more complete conceptual design development. We present a self-consistent electrical and mechanical conceptual design for Decade Half, including an equivalent circuit model, details of the mechanical architecture (including operation, maintenance, and turnaround considerations), and electrical performance estimates of approximately 15 MA peak current delivered to a representative large radius, ∼ 300 ns implosion time PRS load

  15. File list: Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate mm9 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX283740,SRX283739,...187,SRX385391,SRX385392,SRX286389 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  16. File list: Oth.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate mm9 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX283734,SRX121185,...389,SRX385392,SRX286380,SRX121187 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  17. File list: ALL.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate mm9 All antigens Prostate Prostate SRX283738,SRX283740,SR...90,SRX286392,SRX283753,SRX283748 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  18. File list: Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate mm9 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX283740,SRX283739,...745,SRX286381,SRX286380,SRX286389 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  19. File list: Oth.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate mm9 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX121185,SRX121186,...338,SRX121187,SRX286380,SRX286381 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  20. File list: ALL.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate mm9 All antigens Prostate Prostate SRX283738,SRX283748,SR...91,SRX467339,SRX286389,SRX385390 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  1. File list: ALL.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  2. File list: ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate mm9 All antigens Prostate Prostate SRX283742,SRX283747,SR...87,SRX286380,SRX283751,SRX286381 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  3. File list: Oth.Prs.50.GABPA.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.50.GABPA.AllCell hg19 TFs and others GABPA Prostate SRX326886,SRX326885,SRX...326884,SRX644408,SRX084526 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.50.GABPA.AllCell.bed ...

  4. File list: Oth.Prs.10.GABPA.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.10.GABPA.AllCell hg19 TFs and others GABPA Prostate SRX326886,SRX326885,SRX...326884,SRX644408,SRX084526 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.10.GABPA.AllCell.bed ...

  5. Primary structure of the tms and prs genes of Bacillus subtilis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Dan; Hove-Jensen, Bjarne; Arnvig, Kirsten

    1989-01-01

    The nucleotide sequence was determined of a 3211 nucleotide pair EcoRI-PvuII DNA fragment containing the tms and prs genes as well as a part of the ctc gene of Bacillus subtilis. The prs gene encodes phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) synthetase, whereas the functioning of the tms and ctc gene...... products remains to be established. The prs gene contains an open reading frame of 317 codons resulting in a subunit Mr of 34828. An open reading frame comprising the tms gene contained 456 codons resulting in a putative translation product with an Mr of 49,554. Comparison of the deduced B. subtilis PRPP...

  6. Using a Personal Response System as an In-Class Assessment Tool in the Teaching of Basic College Chemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Tzy-Ling; Lan, Yu-Li

    2013-01-01

    Since the introduction of personal response systems (PRS) (also referred to as "clickers") nearly a decade ago, their use has been extensively adopted on college campuses, and they are particularly popular with lecturers of large classes. Available evidence supports that PRS offers a promising avenue for future developments in pedagogy,…

  7. File list: Oth.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate hg19 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX481466,SRX502061...,SRX502056,SRX502064,SRX502054,SRX502058,SRX502060,SRX502068 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  8. File list: Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate hg19 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX502061,SRX481466...,SRX502060,SRX502068,SRX502064,SRX502054,SRX502056,SRX502058 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  9. File list: Oth.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate hg19 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX502064,SRX502060...,SRX502056,SRX502054,SRX481466,SRX502068,SRX502058,SRX502061 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  10. File list: Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate hg19 TFs and others Prostate Prostate SRX502058,SRX502061...,SRX502064,SRX502056,SRX481466,SRX502060,SRX502068,SRX502054 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  11. File list: His.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  12. File list: His.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  13. File list: His.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  14. File list: His.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  15. File list: ALL.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate hg19 All antigens Prostate Prostate SRX481466,SRX481465,S...RX481464,SRX502061,SRX502056,SRX502064,SRX502054,SRX502058,SRX502060,SRX502068 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  16. File list: ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  17. File list: ALL.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  18. File list: ALL.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate hg19 All antigens Prostate Prostate SRX502061,SRX481466,S...RX502060,SRX502068,SRX502064,SRX502054,SRX481465,SRX481464,SRX502056,SRX502058 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate.bed ...

  19. File list: Oth.Prs.50.Epitope_tags.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.50.Epitope_tags.AllCell hg19 TFs and others Epitope tags Prostate SRX084527...,SRX084528,SRX084524 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.50.Epitope_tags.AllCell.bed ...

  20. File list: Oth.Prs.20.Epitope_tags.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.20.Epitope_tags.AllCell hg19 TFs and others Epitope tags Prostate SRX084527...,SRX084528,SRX084524 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.20.Epitope_tags.AllCell.bed ...

  1. File list: Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer hg19 TFs and others Prostate Prostate cancer SRX50...X502065,SRX502059,SRX502055 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer.bed ...

  2. File list: Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer hg19 TFs and others Prostate Prostate cancer SRX50...X502065,SRX502055,SRX502069 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer.bed ...

  3. File list: ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate_cancer hg19 All antigens Prostate Prostate cancer SRX5020...02062,SRX861679,SRX861684,SRX861685,SRX861681,SRX861678 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate_cancer.bed ...

  4. File list: ALL.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  5. File list: ALL.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  6. File list: ALL.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  7. File list: Unc.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  8. File list: DNS.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  9. File list: Pol.Prs.10.RNA_polymerase_III.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  10. File list: DNS.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  11. File list: Pol.Prs.05.RNA_polymerase_III.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  12. File list: DNS.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  13. File list: Pol.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  14. File list: Pol.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  15. File list: InP.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  16. File list: InP.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  17. File list: InP.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  18. File list: InP.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  19. File list: Oth.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  20. File list: Pol.Prs.50.RNA_polymerase_II.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  1. File list: Oth.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  3. File list: InP.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  4. File list: InP.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  5. File list: InP.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  6. File list: InP.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  7. File list: His.Prs.20.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  8. File list: Pol.Prs.10.RNA_polymerase_II.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  9. File list: Pol.Prs.05.RNA_polymerase_II.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  10. File list: Pol.Prs.20.RNA_polymerase_II.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  11. File list: ALL.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  12. File list: ALL.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  13. File list: InP.Prs.50.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  14. File list: NoD.Prs.05.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  15. File list: InP.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells hg19 Input control Prostate Prostate cancer ...cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/InP.Prs.10.AllAg.Prostate_cancer_cells.bed ...

  16. 76 FR 34122 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: NEA/PI Online Performance Reporting System (PRS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-10

    ... political, economic, education and women's rights reform in 20 countries of the Middle East and North Africa... PRS streamlines communication with implementers and allows for rapid identification of information...

  17. File list: InP.Prs.50.AllAg.PC-3 [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  18. Investigating Nigerian primary school teachers’ preparedness to adopt personal response system in ESL classroom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alaba Olaoluwakotansibe Agbatogun

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the extent to which computer literacy dimensions (computer general knowledge, documents and documentations, communication and surfing as well as data inquiry, computer use and academic qualification as independent variables predicted primary school teachers’ attitude towards the integration of Personal Response System in English as a second language (ESL classroom. Seventeen (17 Nigerian primary school teachers trained on why and how to effectively use Personal Response System (PRS in ESL classrooms was the sample for the study. Data for the study were gathered through the use of Clickers Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ, Teachers’ Computer Literacy Questionnaire (TCLQ and Computer Use Questionnaire (CUQ. Descriptive statistics such as simple percentage, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics such as Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, and Multiple regression were used for data analysis at 0.05 significance level. The results show that the teachers’ computer literacy was more in the areas of documents and documentation as well as communication and surfing than in general knowledge and data inquiry. Further findings of the study indicated that general computer knowledge, documents and documentation, communication and surfing, and data inquiry combined to contribute to the prediction of teachers’ attitude towards the integration of PRS. Relatively, documents and documentation dimension was the potent predictor, while data inquiry was not a significant predictor of the outcome variable. Similarly, computer use, computer literacy and academic qualification jointly contributed to the prediction of the teachers’ attitude towards the integration of PRS in ESL classroom. Meanwhile, computer use made the most significant contribution to the prediction of teachers’ attitude towards PRS integration, while academic qualification did not make any significant contribution to the teachers’ attitude

  19. Investigating Nigerian Primary School Teachers’ Preparedness to Adopt Personal Response System in ESL Classroom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alaba Olaoluwakotansibe Agbatogun

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the extent to which computer literacy dimensions (computer general knowledge, documents and documentations, communication and surfing as well as data inquiry, computer use and academic qualification as independent variables predicted primary school teachers’ attitude towards the integration of Personal Response System in English as a second language (ESL classroom. Seventeen (17 Nigerian primary school teachers trained on why and how to effectively use Personal Response System (PRS in ESL classrooms was the sample for the study. Data for the studywere gathered through the use of Clickers Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ, Teachers’ Computer Literacy Questionnaire (TCLQ and Computer Use Questionnaire (CUQ. Descriptive statistics such as simplepercentage, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics such as Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, and Multiple regression were used for data analysis at 0.05 significance level.The results show that the teachers’ computer literacy was more in the areas of documents and documentation as well as communication and surfing than in general knowledge and data inquiry. Further findings of the study indicated that general computer knowledge, documents anddocumentation, communication and surfing, and data inquiry combined to contribute to the prediction of teachers’ attitude towards the integration of PRS. Relatively, documents and documentation dimension was the potent predictor, while data inquiry was not a significant predictor of the outcome variable. Similarly, computer use, computer literacy and academic qualification jointly contributed to the prediction of the teachers’ attitude towards the integration of PRS in ESL classroom. Meanwhile, computer use made the most significant contribution to the prediction of teachers’ attitude towards PRS integration, while academic qualification did not make any significantcontribution to the teachers’ attitude

  20. File list: InP.Prs.05.Input_control.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  1. File list: InP.Prs.20.Input_control.AllCell [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  2. A Participatory Design Approach for a Mobile App-Based Personal Response System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Donggil; Oh, Eun Young

    2016-01-01

    This study reports on a participatory design approach including the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a mobile app-based personal response system (PRS). The first cycle formulated initial design principles through context and needs analysis; the second utilized the collaboration with instructors and experts embodying specific…

  3. Requests for post-registration studies (PRS), patients follow-up in actual practice: Changes in the role of databases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berdaï, Driss; Thomas-Delecourt, Florence; Szwarcensztein, Karine; d'Andon, Anne; Collignon, Cécile; Comet, Denis; Déal, Cécile; Dervaux, Benoît; Gaudin, Anne-Françoise; Lamarque-Garnier, Véronique; Lechat, Philippe; Marque, Sébastien; Maugendre, Philippe; Méchin, Hubert; Moore, Nicholas; Nachbaur, Gaëlle; Robain, Mathieu; Roussel, Christophe; Tanti, André; Thiessard, Frantz

    2018-02-01

    Early market access of health products is associated with a larger number of requests for information by the health authorities. Compared with these expectations, the growing expansion of health databases represents an opportunity for responding to questions raised by the authorities. The computerised nature of the health system provides numerous sources of data, and first and foremost medical/administrative databases such as the French National Inter-Scheme Health Insurance Information System (SNIIRAM) database. These databases, although developed for other purposes, have already been used for many years with regard to post-registration studies (PRS). The use thereof will continue to increase with the recent creation of the French National Health Data System (SNDS [2016 health system reform law]). At the same time, other databases are available in France, offering an illustration of "product use under actual practice conditions" by patients and health professionals (cohorts, specific registries, data warehouses, etc.). Based on a preliminary analysis of requests for PRS, approximately two-thirds appeared to have found at least a partial response in existing databases. Using these databases has a number of disadvantages, but also numerous advantages, which are listed. In order to facilitate access and optimise their use, it seemed important to draw up recommendations aiming to facilitate these developments and guarantee the conditions for their technical validity. The recommendations drawn up notably include the need for measures aiming to promote the visibility of research conducted on databases in the field of PRS. Moreover, it seemed worthwhile to promote the interoperability of health data warehouses, to make it possible to match information originating from field studies with information originating from databases, and to develop and share algorithms aiming to identify criteria of interest (proxies). Methodological documents, such as the French National

  4. Characterization of the hemA-prs region of the Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium chromosomes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Post, David A.; Hove-Jensen, Bjarne; Switzer, Robert L.

    1993-01-01

    The prs gene, encoding phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase, is preceded by a leader, which is 302 bp long in Escherichia coli and 417 bp in Salmonella typhimurium. A potential open reading frame (ORF) extends across the prs promoter and into the leader. The region between the prs coding region...... two promoters, the first promoter (P1) originating upstream of ORF 1, and expressing the prs gene in a tricistronic operon and a second promoter (P2), located within the ORF 2 coding frame, which transcribes the prs gene only. The transcripts encoding prs only were 20 times as abundant...... in the amount of message originating from the promoter P2....

  5. PRS: PERSONNEL RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM FOR HUGE DATA ANALYSIS USING PORTER STEMMER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T N Chiranjeevi

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Personal recommendation system is one which gives better and preferential recommendation to the users to satisfy their personalized requirements such as practical applications like Webpage Preferences, Sport Videos preferences, Stock selection based on price, TV preferences, Hotel preferences, books, Mobile phones, CDs and various other products now use recommender systems. The existing Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC and item-based algorithm using PCC, are called as UPCC and IPCC respectively. These systems are mainly based on only the rating services and does not consider the user personal preferences, they simply just give the result based on the ratings. As the size of data increases it will give the recommendations based on the top rated services and it will miss out most of user preferences. These are main drawbacks in the existing system which will give same results to the users based on some evaluations and rankings or rating service, they will neglect the user preferences and necessities. To address this problem we propose a new approach called, Personnel Recommendation System (PRS for huge data analysis using Porter Stemmer to solve the above challenges. In the proposed system it provides a personalized service recommendation list to the users and recommends the most useful services to the users which will increase the accuracy and efficiency in searching better services. Particularly, a set of suggestions or keywords are provided to indicate user preferences and we used Collaborative Filtering and Porter Stemmer algorithm which gives a suitable recommendations to the users. In real, the broad experiments are conducted on the huge database which is available in real world, and outcome shows that our proposed personal recommender method extensively improves the precision and efficiency of service recommender system over the KASR method. In our approach mainly consider the user preferences so it will not miss out the any of the data

  6. Programme Reporting Standards (PRS for improving the reporting of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health programmes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna E. Kågesten

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Information about design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation is central to understand the impact of programmes within the field of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH. Existing reporting guidelines do not orient on reporting of contextual and implementation issues in sufficient detail. We therefore developed Programme Reporting Standards (PRS to be used by SRMNCAH programme implementers and researchers. Methods Building on the first step of the PRS development (a systematic review to identify reporting items, we conducted a three-round online Delphi consensus survey with experts. Consensus was defined a-priori as 80% agreement of items as essential. This was followed by a technical consultation with a group of experts to refine the items, definitions and their structuring. The revised PRS was piloted to assess its relevance to current SRMNCAH programme reports and identify key issues regarding the use of the PRS. Results Of the 81 participants invited to the Delphi survey, 20 responded to all three rounds. In the final round, 27 items received consensus as essential; three items were ranked as “borderline” essential; 20 items as supplementary. The items were subsequently revised, followed by a technical consultation with 29 experts to further review and refine the PRS. The feedback resulted in substantial changes to the structure and content of the PRS into 24 items across five domains: Programme overview; Programme components and implementation; Monitoring of Implementation; Evaluation and Results; and Synthesis. This version was used in a piloting exercise, where questions regarding how much information to report and how to comment on the quality of the information reported were addressed. All items were kept in the PRS following the pilot although minor changes were made to the flow and description of items. Conclusions The PRS 1.0 is the result of a structured

  7. Phenobarbital-responsive sialadenosis in dogs: case series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alcoverro, Emili; Tabar, Maria Dolores; Lloret, Albert; Roura, Xavier; Pastor, Josep; Planellas, Marta

    2014-12-01

    Phenobarbital-responsive sialadenosis (PRS) is a rare idiopathic disease in dogs. Vomiting, retching, and gulping with bilateral enlargement of the submandibular salivary glands are the more frequent clinical signs. A thorough diagnostic examination must be performed to rule out the most important systemic etiologies involved with chronic vomiting, as there is no specific test to diagnose PRS. Diagnosis is confirmed clinically by a rapid and dramatic improvement of clinical signs after instauration of phenobarbital treatment. The aim of this article is to describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic findings, and outcome of a case series of 4 dogs with presumptive PRS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Solution structure of the parvulin-type PPIase domain of Staphylococcus aureus PrsA – Implications for the catalytic mechanism of parvulins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koskela Harri

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium causing many kinds of infections from mild respiratory tract infections to life-threatening states as sepsis. Recent emergence of S. aureus strains resistant to numerous antibiotics has created a need for new antimicrobial agents and novel drug targets. S. aureus PrsA is a membrane associated extra-cytoplasmic lipoprotein which contains a parvulin-type peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase domain. PrsA is known to act as an essential folding factor for secreted proteins in Gram-positive bacteria and thus it is a potential target for antimicrobial drugs against S. aureus. Results We have solved a high-resolution solution structure of the parvulin-type peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase domain of S. aureus PrsA (PrsA-PPIase. The results of substrate peptide titrations pinpoint the active site and demonstrate the substrate preference of the enzyme. With detailed NMR spectroscopic investigation of the orientation and tautomeric state of the active site histidines we are able to give further insight into the structure of the catalytic site. NMR relaxation analysis gives information on the dynamic behaviour of PrsA-PPIase. Conclusion Detailed structural description of the S. aureus PrsA-PPIase lays the foundation for structure-based design of enzyme inhibitors. The structure resembles hPin1-type parvulins both structurally and regarding substrate preference. Even though a wealth of structural data is available on parvulins, the catalytic mechanism has yet to be resolved. The structure of S. aureus PrsA-PPIase and our findings on the role of the conserved active site histidines help in designing further experiments to solve the detailed catalytic mechanism.

  9. Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase of Escherichia coli. Properties of the purified enzyme and primary structure of the prs gene

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hove-Jensen, Bjarne; Harlow, Kenneth W.; King, Cheryl J.

    1986-01-01

    of ADP. The nucleotide sequence of the E. coli prs gene has been determined and the coding segment established. The deduced amino acid sequence of P-Rib-PP synthetase contained 314 amino acid residues and the molecular weight was calculated as 34,060. The initiation site of transcription was determined......Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (P-Rib-PP) synthetase of Escherichia coli has been purified to near homogeneity from a strain harboring the prs gene, encoding P-Rib-PP synthetase, on a multicopy plasmid. Analysis of the enzyme showed that it required inorganic phosphate for activity and for stability...

  10. Structure of the gene encoding phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase (prsA) in Salmonella typhimurium

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bower, Stanley G.; Hove-Jensen, Bjarne; Switzer, Robert L.

    1988-01-01

    in a 416-base-pair 5' untranslated leader in the prsA transcript, which was shown by deletion to be necessary for maximal synthesis of phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase. The S. typhimurium leader contains a 115-base-pair insert relative to the E. coli leader. The insert appears to have no functional...

  11. Modelo analítico del efecto de PRS sobre satélites GPS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meza, A.; Brunini, C.; Usandivaras, J. C.

    El sistema GPS (Global Position System) es, hoy en día, la herramienta de navegación y posicionamiento más potente y lo será sin duda en la próxima década. Gran parte de su valiosa utilidad se debe a la alta precisión que permite lograr y ésta, a su vez, depende, entre otras causas, de la precisión con que se conocen las órbitas de los satélites. La presión de radiación solar (PRS) fija el límite de la precisión con que pueden calcularse en la actualidad las efemérides satelitarias. El objetivo de este trabajo es proponer una mejor resolución de este fenómeno. El modelo analítico aquí presentado, se basa en el análisis del comportamiento de los residuos de un ajuste por mínimos cuadrados en el que se utiliza el modelo de PRS propuesto por Beutler. El mismo consiste en un modelo determinista del fenómeno con dos parámetros libres. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto que, aún después de aplicar dichos parámetros, prevalecen en los residuos efectos semidiurnos en las componentes radial,tangencial y normal. Estos resultados obtenidos se comparan con los de un trabajo desarrollado por el Instituto de Berne (Beutler et al., 1994), en el que se utilizaron como pseudo-observaciones las órbitas precisas del IGS (CODE). El intervalo de integración escogido por este centro fueron las semanas 680 y 681. En resumen se tienen arcos de 14 días para todos los satélites, donde las efemérides precisas de los mismos para los 14 días fueron utilizados como pseudo-observaciones. El modelo de fuerza que empleó dicho centro fue básicamente el tradicional en lo que respecta al modelo de las fuerzas gravitacionales, y para la PRS utilizo el modelo standard de Beutler. Los parámetros de este modelo junto con las 6 condiciones iniciales (posición y velocidad) fueron ajustados por el método general de mínimos cuadrados. Los residuos en la componente radial, tangencial y normal, para los satélites con un buen comportamiento, presentan una

  12. Bacillus subtilis PrsA is required in vivo as an extracytoplasmic chaperone for secretion of active enzymes synthesized either with or without pro-sequences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jabobs, Myra F; Andersen, Jens Bo; Kontinen, Vesa P.

    1993-01-01

    In prsA (protein secretion) mutants of Bacillus subtilis, decreased levels of exoproteins, including alpha-amylase and subtilisins, are found extracellularly. The effect of prsA on subtilisin secretion is elaborated here. Extracytoplasmic folding and secretion of active subtilisin is assisted...

  13. The usefulness of a mobile device-based system for patient-reported outcomes in a spine outpatient clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Chi Heon; Chung, Chun Kee; Choi, Yunhee; Shin, HyunJeong; Woo, Ji Won; Kim, Sung-Mi; Lee, Hyuk-Joon

    2016-07-01

    Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are typically collected using a paper form, but this format is cumbersome to incorporate into outpatient clinic visits as well as in research. Therefore, we developed a mobile device-based system (mobile system) for spinal PRO. We hypothesized that this system may improve the quality of care in an outpatient clinic. This study aimed to analyze the patient-reported efficacy of a mobile system through a survey of patients' responses compared with a paper system. A prospective observational study was carried out. Surveys were conducted for 103 patients who had experience using both the paper and electronic systems in the outpatient clinic. Patient-reported positive response score (PRS) was the outcome measure. The survey included the characteristics of the patients (sex, age, use of smartphone, familiarity with smartphone applications, proficiency of typing with mobile device, site of pain, and education level) and eight questions in four domains: (1) efficacy in the waiting room, (2) efficacy during the clinic visit, (3) overall satisfaction, and (4) opinion about the use of this system. The response to each question was scored from 1 to 5 (1, negative; 5, positive response). The patient-reported PRS was calculated by adding the scores of the 8 questions and converting the total range to 0-100 (60, neutral). The mean PRS of the 8 questions was 79.8 (95% CI, 76.7-83.9). The mean PRS was 78.9 (75.6-82.2) at the waiting room and was 80.5 (77.1-83.9) during the clinic. The PRS for overall satisfaction and use of this system were 83.3 (79.6-87.0) and 77.1 (71.9-82.3), respectively. The use of smartphones and the proficiency of typing were independently significant predictors of PRS with an R(2) value of 0.325. The mobile device-based system improved the patient-reported efficacy in spine outpatient clinics. However, various factors such as the use of smartphones need to be considered when developing and applying mobile systems. Copyright

  14. HAA1 and PRS3 overexpression boosts yeast tolerance towards acetic acid improving xylose or glucose consumption: unravelling the underlying mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunha, Joana T; Costa, Carlos E; Ferraz, Luís; Romaní, Aloia; Johansson, Björn; Sá-Correia, Isabel; Domingues, Lucília

    2018-04-02

    Acetic acid tolerance and xylose consumption are desirable traits for yeast strains used in industrial biotechnological processes. In this work, overexpression of a weak acid stress transcriptional activator encoded by the gene HAA1 and a phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase encoded by PRS3 in a recombinant industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain containing a xylose metabolic pathway was evaluated in the presence of acetic acid in xylose- or glucose-containing media. HAA1 or PRS3 overexpression resulted in superior yeast growth and higher sugar consumption capacities in the presence of 4 g/L acetic acid, and a positive synergistic effect resulted from the simultaneous overexpression of both genes. Overexpressing these genes also improved yeast adaptation to a non-detoxified hardwood hydrolysate with a high acetic acid content. Furthermore, the overexpression of HAA1 and/or PRS3 was found to increase the robustness of yeast cell wall when challenged with acetic acid stress, suggesting the involvement of the modulation of the cell wall integrity pathway. This study clearly shows HAA1 and/or, for the first time, PRS3 overexpression to play an important role in the improvement of industrial yeast tolerance towards acetic acid. The results expand the molecular toolbox and add to the current understanding of the mechanisms involved in higher acetic acid tolerance, paving the way for the further development of more efficient industrial processes.

  15. Kinematic Analysis and Performance Evaluation of Novel PRS Parallel Mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balaji, K.; Khan, B. Shahul Hamid

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, a 3 DoF (Degree of Freedom) novel PRS (Prismatic-Revolute- Spherical) type parallel mechanisms has been designed and presented. The combination of striaght and arc type linkages for 3 DOF parallel mechanism is introduced for the first time. The performances of the mechanisms are evaluated based on the indices such as Minimum Singular Value (MSV), Condition Number (CN), Local Conditioning Index (LCI), Kinematic Configuration Index (KCI) and Global Conditioning Index (GCI). The overall reachable workspace of all mechanisms are presented. The kinematic measure, dexterity measure and workspace analysis for all the mechanism have been evaluated and compared.

  16. “Clicking” with your audience: Evaluating the use of personal response systems in library instruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily K. Chan

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available University of the Pacific librarians used personal response systems (PRS or clickers in first-year mandatory library instructional sessions to assess their effects on student engagement and retention of learning outcomes. Students who utilized clickers during their library session reported greater enjoyment and encouragement to participate (n=291. Students in the sessions not utilizing the clickers achieved better learning outcomes than their counterparts who utilized clickers (n=326. The implications of these results are discussed, specifically within the context of pedagogy and tailoring instruction to the Millennial generation.

  17. Tricistronic operon expression of the genes gcaD (tms), which encodes N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphate uridyltransferase, prs, which encodes phosphoribosyl diphosphate synthetase, and ctc in vegetative cells of Bacillus subtilis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hilden, Ida; Krath, Britta N.; Hove-Jensen, Bjarne

    1995-01-01

    The gcaD, prs, and ctc genes were shown to be organized as a tricistronic operon. The transcription of the prs gene, measured as phosphoribosyl diphosphate synthetase activity, and of the ctc gene, measured as β-galactosidase activity specified by a ctc-lacZ protein fusion, were dependent...

  18. PSA response signatures - a powerful new prognostic indicator after radiation for prostate cancer?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Denham, James W.; Lamb, David S.; Joseph, David; Matthews, John; Atkinson, Chris; Spry, Nigel A.; Duchesne, Gillian; Ebert, Martin; Steigler, Allison; D'Este, Catherine

    2009-01-01

    Background: We sought to determine whether inter-patient variations in pattern of PSA changes after radiation exist and, if so, are they prognostically significant. Methods: In the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) 96.01 randomized controlled trial, patients with T2b,c,3,4 N0 prostate cancer (PC) were randomised to 0, 3 or 6 months maximal androgen deprivation prior to 66 Gy to the prostate and seminal vesicles (XRT). Patterns of anatomical site of failure were one of the trial endpoints. Serial serum PSA's were mandated at all follow-up visits. Pattern recognition software was developed to characterize PSA response 'signatures' (PRS) after therapy in individual patients. Results: By 2000, 270 eligible patients were randomised to radiation alone. Individual patient PSA values were observed to descend after radiation according to one of two characteristic 'signatures': single exponential (PRS Type 1), non-exponential (PRS Type 2). Compared to PRS Type 1, men with PRS Type 2 (50% of the group) had lower PSA nadir (nPSA) levels (p < .0001), longer doubling times on relapse (p = .006) and significantly lower rates of local (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.47, 95% confidence interval [0.30-0.75], p = .0014) and distant failure (HR: 0.25[0.13-0.46], p < .0001), death due to PC (HR: 0.20[0.10-0.42], p < .0001) and death due to any cause (HR: 0.37 [0.23-0.60], p < .0001). PRS retained its powerful prognostic significance in Cox models that incorporated all key pre-treatment covariates and nPSA. Conclusions: PRS reflect the presence of tumor phenotypes that vary substantially in their clinical behavior and response to XRT. Molecular characterization is now necessary

  19. Pheromone binding proteins enhance the sensitivity of olfactory receptors to sex pheromones in Chilo suppressalis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Hetan; Liu, Yang; Yang, Ting; Pelosi, Paolo; Dong, Shuanglin; Wang, Guirong

    2015-08-27

    Sexual communication in moths offers a simplified scenario to model and investigate insect sensory perception. Both PBPs (pheromone-binding proteins) and PRs (pheromone receptors) are involved in the detection of sex pheromones, but the interplay between them still remains largely unknown. In this study, we have measured the binding affinities of the four recombinant PBPs of Chilo suppressalis (CsupPBPs) to pheromone components and analogs and characterized the six PRs using the Xenopus oocytes expression system. Interestingly, when the responses of PRs were recorded in the presence of PBPs, we measured in several combinations a dramatic increase in signals as well as in sensitivity of such combined systems. Furthermore, the discrimination ability of appropriate combinations of PRs and PBPs was improved compared with the performance of PBPs or PRs alone. Besides further supporting a role of PBPs in the pheromone detection and discrimination, our data shows for the first time that appropriate combinations of PRs and PBPs improved the discrimination ability of PBPs or PRs alone. The variety of responses measured with different pairing of PBPs and PRs indicates the complexity of the olfaction system, which, even for the relatively simple task of detecting sex pheromones, utilises a highly sophisticated combinatorial approach.

  20. Gender Differences in the Primary Representational System according to Neurolinguistic Programming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cassiere, M. F.; And Others

    Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) is a currently popular therapeutic modality in which individuals organize information through three basic sensory systems, one of which is the Primary Representational System (PRS). This study was designed to investigate gender differences in PRS according to the predicate preference method. It was expected that…

  1. Predictors of responses to stress among families coping with poverty-related stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santiago, Catherine DeCarlo; Etter, Erica Moran; Wadsworth, Martha E; Raviv, Tali

    2012-05-01

    This study tested how poverty-related stress (PRS), psychological distress, and responses to stress predicted future effortful coping and involuntary stress responses one year later. In addition, we explored age, sex, ethnicity, and parental influences on responses to stress over time. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses conducted with 98 low-income families (300 family members: 136 adults, 82 school-aged children, 82 adolescents) revealed that primary control coping, secondary control coping, disengagement, involuntary engagement, and involuntary disengagement each significantly predicted future use of that response. Primary and secondary control coping also predicted less maladaptive future responses to stress, while involuntary responses to stress undermined the development of adaptive responding. Age, sex, and interactions among PRS and prior coping were also found to predict certain responses to stress. In addition, child subgroup analyses demonstrate the importance of parental modeling of coping and involuntary stress responses, and warmth/nurturance and monitoring practices. Results are discussed with regard to the implications for preventive interventions with families in poverty.

  2. Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase of Escherichia coli. Properties of the purified enzyme and primary structure of the prs gene

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hove-Jensen, Bjarne; Harlow, Kenneth W.; King, Cheryl J.

    1986-01-01

    Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (P-Rib-PP) synthetase of Escherichia coli has been purified to near homogeneity from a strain harboring the prs gene, encoding P-Rib-PP synthetase, on a multicopy plasmid. Analysis of the enzyme showed that it required inorganic phosphate for activity and for stability...... the UAA translation stop codon, within a Thy-rich region following an inverted repeat sequence, indicative of an rho-independent transcription terminator....

  3. SU-E-T-211: Peer Review System for Ensuring Quality of Radiation Therapy Treatments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapoor, R; Kapur, P; Kumar, S A; Alex, D; Ranka, S; Palta, J

    2012-06-01

    To demonstrate a Web-based electronic peer review system that has the potential to improve quality of care for radiation therapy patients. The system provides tools that allow radiation oncologists to seek peer review of target and critical structure delineation, treatment plans, and share clinical data with peers to optimize radiation therapy treatments. Peer review of radiation therapy treatment planning data prior to its initiation improves the quality of radiation therapy and clinical outcomes. Web-based access to radiation therapy treatment planning data and medical records mitigate existing geographical and temporal constraints. With internet access, the healthcare provider can access the data from any location and review it in an interactive and collaborative manner. Interoperability standard like DICOM-RT and IHE-RO compliant RT Systems have facilitated the design and implementation of PRS with Silverlight Web technology, .net Framework and SQL Server. Local DICOM-RT archive and cloud based services are deployed to facilitate remote peer reviews. To validate the PRS system, we tested the system for 100 patients with Philips Pinnacle v 9.0 and Varian Eclipse v 8.9 treatment planning system (TPS). We transmitted the DICOM RT data from the TPS to the cloud based services via the PRS local DICOM RT Archive. Various CT simulation based parameters such as orientation of CT, properties of RT structures etc. were compared between the TPS and PRS system. Data integrity of other parameters such as patient demographics (patient name, ID, attending physician etc.) and dose volume related parameters were also evaluated. Such rigorous testing allowed us to optimize the functionalities and clinical implementation of the PRS. We believe that the PRS will improve the quality and safety of a broad spectrum of radiation therapy patients treated in underserved areas while discouraging the overutilization of expensive radiation treatment modalities. This research and

  4. Predicate Matching in NLP: A Review of Research on the Preferred Representational System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharpley, Christopher F.

    1984-01-01

    Reviews 15 studies that have investigated the use of the Preferred Representational System (PRS) in Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). Aspects of design, methodology, population and dependent measures are evaluated, with comments on the outcomes obtained. Results suggested that there is little supportive evidence for the use of PRS in the NLP.…

  5. System maintenance test plan for the TWRS controlled baseline database system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spencer, S.G.

    1998-01-01

    TWRS [Tank Waste Remediation System] Controlled Baseline Database, formally known as the Performance Measurement Control System, is used to track and monitor TWRS project management baseline information. This document contains the maintenance testing approach for software testing of the TCBD system once SCR/PRs are implemented

  6. Systemic distribution, subcellular localization and differential expression of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors in benign and malignant human tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chunyi; Mao, Jinghe; Redfield, Samantha; Mo, Yinyuan; Lage, Janice M; Zhou, Xinchun

    2014-10-01

    Five sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors (S1PR): S1PR1, S1PR2, S1PR3, S1PR4 and S1PR5 (S1PR1-5) have been shown to be involved in the proliferation and progression of various cancers. However, none of the S1PRs have been systemically investigated. In this study, we performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) for S1PR1-S1PR5 on different tissues, in order to simultaneously determine the systemic distribution, subcellular localization and expression level of all five S1PRs. We constructed tissue microarrays (TMAs) from 384 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks containing 183 benign and 201 malignant tissues from 34 human organs/systems. Then we performed IHC for all five S1PRs simultaneously on these TMA slides. The distribution, subcellular localization and expression of each S1PR were determined for each tissue. The data in benign and malignant tissues from the same organ/tissue were then compared using the Student's t-test. In order to reconfirm the subcellular localization of each S1PR as determined by IHC, immunocytochemistry (ICC) was performed on several malignant cell lines. We found that all five S1PRs are widely distributed in multiple human organs/systems. All S1PRs are expressed in both the cytoplasm and nucleus, except S1PR3, whose IHC signals are only seen in the nucleus. Interestingly, the S1PRs are rarely expressed on cellular membranes. Each S1PR is unique in its organ distribution, subcellular localization and expression level in benign and malignant tissues. Among the five S1PRs, S1PR5 has the highest expression level (in either the nucleus or cytoplasm), with S1PR1, 3, 2 and 4 following in descending order. Strong nuclear expression was seen for S1PR1, S1PR3 and S1PR5, whereas S1PR2 and S1PR4 show only weak staining. Four organs/tissues (adrenal gland, liver, brain and colon) show significant differences in IHC scores for the multiple S1PRs (nuclear and/or cytoplasmic), nine (stomach, lymphoid tissues, lung, ovary, cervix, pancreas, skin, soft

  7. Multimodality multiparametric imaging of early tumor response to a novel antiangiogenic therapy based on anticalins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reinhard Meier

    Full Text Available Anticalins are a novel class of targeted protein therapeutics. The PEGylated Anticalin Angiocal (PRS-050-PEG40 is directed against VEGF-A. The purpose of our study was to compare the performance of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI, dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI and positron emission tomography with the tracer [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET for monitoring early response to antiangiogenic therapy with PRS-050-PEG40. 31 mice were implanted subcutaneously with A673 rhabdomyosarcoma xenografts and underwent DWI, DCE-MRI and FDG-PET before and 2 days after i.p. injection of PRS-050-PEG40 (n = 13, Avastin (n = 6 or PBS (n = 12. Tumor size was measured manually with a caliper. Imaging results were correlated with histopathology. In the results, the tumor size was not significantly different in the treatment groups when compared to the control group on day 2 after therapy onset (P = 0.09. In contrast the imaging modalities DWI, DCE-MRI and FDG-PET showed significant differences between the therapeutic compared to the control group as early as 2 days after therapy onset (P<0.001. There was a strong correlation of the early changes in DWI, DCE-MRI and FDG-PET at day 2 after therapy onset and the change in tumor size at the end of therapy (r = -0.58, 0.71 and 0.67 respectively. The imaging results were confirmed by histopathology, showing early necrosis and necroptosis in the tumors. Thus multimodality multiparametric imaging was able to predict therapeutic success of PRS-050-PEG40 and Avastin as early as 2 days after onset of therapy and thus promising for monitoring early response of antiangiogenic therapy.

  8. Web-based Project Reporting System

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — Web-PRS is a web-based system that captures financial information and project status information that is sortable by geographical location, pillar, project type and...

  9. The defective phosphoribosyl diphosphate synthase in a temperature-sensitive prs-2 mutant of Escherichia coli is compensated by increased enzyme synthesis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Post, David A.; Switzer, Robert L.; Hove-Jensen, Bjarne

    1996-01-01

    An Escherichia coli strain which is temperature-sensitive for growth due to a mutation (prs-2) causing a defective phosphoribosyl diphosphate (PRPP) synthase has been characterized. The temperature-sensitive mutation was mapped to a 276 bp HindIII-BssHII DNA fragment located within the open reading...... temperature shift to 42 degrees C. The other mutation was a C -> T transition located 39 bp upstream of the G -> A mutation, i.e. outside the coding sequence and close to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence. Cells harbouring only the C -> T mutation in a plasmid contained approximately three times as much PRPP...

  10. Point Reward System: A Method of Assessment That Accommodates a Diversity of Student Abilities and Interests and Enhances Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derado, Josip; Garner, Mary L.; Tran, Thu-Hang

    2016-01-01

    Students' abilities and interests vary dramatically in the college mathematics classroom. How do we teach all of these students effectively? In this paper, we present the Point Reward System (PRS), a new method of assessment that addresses this problem. We designed the PRS with three main goals in mind: to increase the retention rates; to keep all…

  11. Cross-Cultural Aspect of Behavior Assessment System for Children-2, Parent Rating Scale-Child: Standardization in Korean Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jungeun; Leventhal, Bennett L.; Koh, Yun-Joo; Cheon, Keun-Ah; Hong, Hyun Ju; Kim, Young-Key; Cho, Kyungjin; Lim, Eun-Chung; Park, Jee In

    2017-01-01

    Purpose Our study aimed to examine psychometric properties and cross-cultural utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2, Parent Rating Scale-Child (BASC-2 PRS-C) in Korean children. Materials and Methods Two study populations were recruited: a general population sample (n=2115) of 1st to 6th graders from 16 elementary schools and a clinical population (n=219) of 6–12 years old from 5 child psychiatric clinics and an epidemiological sample of autism spectrum disorder. We assessed the validity and reliability of the Korean version of BASC-2 PRS-C (K-BASC-2 PRS-C) and compared subscales with those used for US populations. Results Our results indicate that the K-BASC-2 PRS-C is a valuable instrument with reliability and validity for measuring developmental psychopathology that is comparable to those in Western population. However, there were some differences noted in the mean scores of BASC-2 PRS-C between Korean and US populations. Conclusion K-BASC-2 PRS-C is an effective and useful instrument with psychometric properties that permits measurement of general developmental psychopathology. Observed Korean-US differences in patterns of parental reports of children's behaviors indicate the importance of the validation, standardization and cultural adaptation for tools assessing psychopathology especially when used in populations different from those for which the instrument was originally created. PMID:28120577

  12. Cross-Cultural Aspect of Behavior Assessment System for Children-2, Parent Rating Scale-Child: Standardization in Korean Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jungeun; Leventhal, Bennett L; Koh, Yun Joo; Cheon, Keun Ah; Hong, Hyun Ju; Kim, Young Key; Cho, Kyungjin; Lim, Eun Chung; Park, Jee In; Kim, Young Shin

    2017-03-01

    Our study aimed to examine psychometric properties and cross-cultural utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2, Parent Rating Scale-Child (BASC-2 PRS-C) in Korean children. Two study populations were recruited: a general population sample (n=2115) of 1st to 6th graders from 16 elementary schools and a clinical population (n=219) of 6-12 years old from 5 child psychiatric clinics and an epidemiological sample of autism spectrum disorder. We assessed the validity and reliability of the Korean version of BASC-2 PRS-C (K-BASC-2 PRS-C) and compared subscales with those used for US populations. Our results indicate that the K-BASC-2 PRS-C is a valuable instrument with reliability and validity for measuring developmental psychopathology that is comparable to those in Western population. However, there were some differences noted in the mean scores of BASC-2 PRS-C between Korean and US populations. K-BASC-2 PRS-C is an effective and useful instrument with psychometric properties that permits measurement of general developmental psychopathology. Observed Korean-US differences in patterns of parental reports of children's behaviors indicate the importance of the validation, standardization and cultural adaptation for tools assessing psychopathology especially when used in populations different from those for which the instrument was originally created.

  13. Using personal response systems to assess speech perception within the classroom: an approach to determine the efficacy of sound field amplification in primary school classrooms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vickers, Deborah A; Backus, Bradford C; Macdonald, Nora K; Rostamzadeh, Niloofar K; Mason, Nisha K; Pandya, Roshni; Marriage, Josephine E; Mahon, Merle H

    2013-01-01

    The assessment of the combined effect of classroom acoustics and sound field amplification (SFA) on children's speech perception within the "live" classroom poses a challenge to researchers. The goals of this study were to determine: (1) Whether personal response system (PRS) hand-held voting cards, together with a closed-set speech perception test (Chear Auditory Perception Test [CAPT]), provide an appropriate method for evaluating speech perception in the classroom; (2) Whether SFA provides better access to the teacher's speech than without SFA for children, taking into account vocabulary age, middle ear dysfunction or ear-canal wax, and home language. Forty-four children from two school-year groups, year 2 (aged 6 years 11 months to 7 years 10 months) and year 3 (aged 7 years 11 months to 8 years 10 months) were tested in two classrooms, using a shortened version of the four-alternative consonant discrimination section of the CAPT. All children used a PRS to register their chosen response, which they selected from four options displayed on the interactive whiteboard. The classrooms were located in a 19th-century school in central London, United Kingdom. Each child sat at their usual position in the room while target speech stimuli were presented either in quiet or in noise. The target speech was presented from the front of the classroom at 65 dBA (calibrated at 1 m) and the presented noise level was 46 dBA measured at the center of the classroom. The older children had an additional noise condition with a noise level of 52 dBA. All conditions were presented twice, once with SFA and once without SFA and the order of testing was randomized. White noise from the teacher's right-hand side of the classroom and International Speech Test Signal from the teacher's left-hand side were used, and the noises were matched at the center point of the classroom (10sec averaging [A-weighted]). Each child's expressive vocabulary age and middle ear status were measured

  14. Provocation to Learn - A Study in the Use of Personal Response Systems in Information Literacy Instruction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maura Alicia Matesic

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available The appearance of Personal Response Systems (PRS or “clickers” in universityclassrooms has opened an avenue for new forms of communication betweeninstructors and students in large-enrolment classes. Because it allows instructorsto pose questions and receive tabulated responses from students in real-time,proponents of this technology herald it as an innovative means for encouraginghigher levels of participation, fostering student engagement, and streamlining theassessment process. Having already been experimentally deployed acrossdisciplines ranging from business to the arts and sciences, it is also beginning tobe used in the context of information literacy instruction. In this project weemployed the technology not to transfer actual skills, but to advertise theexistence of online library guides, promote the use of the library within thecontext of the course itself, and “provoke” students to adopt a more activeapproach to research as a recursive process. Our findings suggest that studentsadapt easily to the use of this technology and feel democratically empowered torespond to their instructors in a variety of ways that include anonymous clickerresponses as well as more traditional means such as the raising of hands andposing questions verbally. The particular value of this study was to show thatthese broader findings seem equally applicable to pedagogical settings in whichlearning objectives are built around and integrated with the principles ofinformation literacy.

  15. Laser Pointers: Low-Cost, Low-Tech Innovative, Interactive Instruction Tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zdravkovska, Nevenka; Cech, Maureen; Beygo, Pinar; Kackley, Bob

    2010-01-01

    This paper discusses the use of laser pointers at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Library, University of Maryland, College Park, as a personal response system (PRS) tool to encourage student engagement in and interactivity with one-shot, lecture-based information literacy sessions. Unlike more sophisticated personal response systems like…

  16. Functional characterization of sex pheromone receptors in the purple stem borer, Sesamia inferens (Walker).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Y-N; Zhang, J; Yan, S-W; Chang, H-T; Liu, Y; Wang, G-R; Dong, S-L

    2014-10-01

    The sex pheromone communication system in moths is highly species-specific and extremely sensitive, and pheromone receptors (PRs) are thought to be the most important factors in males. In the present study, three full-length cDNAs encoding PRs were characterized from Sesamia inferens antennae. These three PRs were all male-specific in expression, but their relative expression levels were very different; SinfOR29 was 17- to 23-fold higher than the other two PRs. Phylogenetic and motif pattern analyses showed that these three PRs were allocated to different PR subfamilies with different motif patterns. Functional analysis using the heterologous expression system of Xenopus oocytes demonstrated that SinfOR29 specifically and sensitively responded to the major pheromone component, Z11-16:OAc [concentration for 50% of maximal effect (EC50 ) = 3.431 × 10(-7) M], while SinfOR21 responded robustly to a minor pheromone component Z11-16:OH (EC50  = 1.087 × 10(-6) M). SinfOR27, however, displayed no response to any of the three pheromone components, but, interestingly, it was sensitive to a non-sex pheromone component Z9,E12-14:OAc (EC50  = 1.522 × 10(-6) M). Our results provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of specificity and sensitivity of the sex pheromone communication system in moths. © 2014 The Royal Entomological Society.

  17. Characterization of the Escherichia coli prsA1-encoded mutant phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase identifies a divalent cation-nucleotide binding site

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bower, Stanley G.; Harlow, Kenneth W.; Switzer, Robert L.

    1989-01-01

    : DLHAXQIQGFFDI/VPI/VD. There was little alteration in the Km for ribose 5-phosphate. The Km for ATP of the mutant enzyme was increased 27-fold when Mg2+ was the activating cation but only 5-fold when Mn2+ was used. Maximal velocities of the wild type and mutant enzymes were the same. The mutant enzyme has a 6......-fold lower affinity for Ca2+, as judged by the ability of Ca2+ to inhibit the reaction in the presence of 10 mM Mg2+. Wild type PRPP synthetase is subject to product inhibition by AMP, but AMP inhibition of the prsA1 mutant enzyme could not be detected. It has been previously proposed that a divalent...

  18. Prediction of placebo responses: A systematic review of the literature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bjoern eHoring

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Predicting who responds to placebo treatment – and under which circumstances – has been a question of interest and investigation for generations. However, the literature is disparate and inconclusive. This review aims to identify publications that provide high quality data on the topic of placebo response (PR prediction. Methods: To identify studies concerned with PR prediction, independent searches were performed in an expert database (for all symptom modalities and in PubMed (for pain only. Articles were selected when a they assessed putative predictors prior to placebo treatment and b an adequate control group was included when the association of predictors and PRs were analyzed. Results: Twenty-one studies were identified, most with pain as dependent variable. Most predictors of PRs were psychological constructs related to actions, expected outcomes and the emotional valence attached to these events (goal-seeking, self-efficacy/-esteem, locus of control, optimism. Other predictors involved behavioural control (desire for control, eating restraint, personality variables (fun seeking, sensation seeking, neuroticism, biological markers (sex, a single nucleotide polymorphism related to dopamine metabolism. Finally, suggestibility and beliefs in expectation biases, body consciousness and baseline symptom severity were found to be predictive. Conclusions: While results are heterogeneous, some congruence of predictors can be identified. PRs mainly appear to be moderated by expectations of how the symptom might change after treatment, or the expectation of how symptom repetition can be coped with. It is suggested to include the listed constructs in future research. Furthermore, a closer look at variables moderating symptom change in control groups seems warranted.

  19. A comprehensive scoring system in correlation with perioperative airway management for neonatal Pierre Robin Sequence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ning Yin

    Full Text Available To evaluate a comprehensive scoring system which combines clinical manifestations of Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS including severity of breathing difficulties, body weight and preoperative Cormack-Lehane grade, for its correlation with perioperative PRS airway management decision.Forty PRS children were retrospectively recruited after surgery. Specialists examined all subjects and scored for clinical manifestations (1´ - 4´, weight gain (1´- 4´, dyspnea scores (1´- 4´, and Cormack-Lehane grade (1´- 4´. The correlation of the integrated scores and the necessity of endotracheal intubation or laryngeal mask application were analyzed. In addition, the score correlation with postoperative dyspnea and/or low pulse oxygen saturation (SPO2 levels after extubation was determined.In our study every individual patient had a score from 0´ to 16´, while the higher in the numbers represented higher risk of breathing difficulty. All patients with comprehensive scores 13 points required a laryngeal mask assisted airway management and were considered to have difficult airways. Dyspnea after extubation and postoperative low SPO2 occurred among patients who scored over 10 points.In PRS patients, preoperative weight gaining status and severity of dyspnea in combination with Cormack-Lehane classification provide a scoring system that could help to optimize airway management decisions such as endotracheal intubation or laryngeal mask airway placement and has the potential to predict postoperative dyspnea or low SPO2 levels.

  20. Space-based solar power conversion and delivery systems study. Volume 2: Engineering analysis of orbital systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    1976-01-01

    Program plans, schedules, and costs are determined for a synchronous orbit-based power generation and relay system. Requirements for the satellite solar power station (SSPS) and the power relay satellite (PRS) are explored. Engineering analysis of large solar arrays, flight mechanics and control, transportation, assembly and maintenance, and microwave transmission are included.

  1. PRS: PERSONNEL RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM FOR HUGE DATA ANALYSIS USING PORTER STEMMER

    OpenAIRE

    T N Chiranjeevi; R H Vishwanath

    2016-01-01

    Personal recommendation system is one which gives better and preferential recommendation to the users to satisfy their personalized requirements such as practical applications like Webpage Preferences, Sport Videos preferences, Stock selection based on price, TV preferences, Hotel preferences, books, Mobile phones, CDs and various other products now use recommender systems. The existing Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC) and item-based algorithm using PCC, are called as UPCC and IPCC respe...

  2. Hedonic sensitivity to natural rewards is affected by prenatal stress in a sex-dependent manner.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynaert, Marie-Line; Marrocco, Jordan; Mairesse, Jérôme; Lionetto, Luana; Simmaco, Maurizio; Deruyter, Lucie; Allorge, Delphine; Moles, Anna; Pittaluga, Anna; Maccari, Stefania; Morley-Fletcher, Sara; Van Camp, Gilles; Nicoletti, Ferdinando

    2016-11-01

    Palatable food is a strong activator of the reward circuitry and may cause addictive behavior leading to eating disorders. How early life events and sex interact in shaping hedonic sensitivity to palatable food is largely unknown. We used prenatally restraint stressed (PRS) rats, which show abnormalities in the reward system and anxious/depressive-like behavior. Some of the hallmarks of PRS rats are known to be sex-dependent. We report that PRS enhanced and reduced milk chocolate-induced conditioned place preference in males and females, respectively. Male PRS rats also show increases in plasma dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels and dopamine (DA) levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and reductions in 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels in the NAc and prefrontal cortex (PFC). In male rats, systemic treatment with the DHT-lowering drug finasteride reduced both milk chocolate preference and NAc DA levels. Female PRS rats showed lower plasma estradiol (E 2 ) levels and lower DA levels in the NAc, and 5-HT levels in the NAc and PFC. E 2 supplementation reversed the reduction in milk chocolate preference and PFC 5-HT levels. In the hypothalamus, PRS increased ERα and ERβ estrogen receptor and CARTP (cocaine-and-amphetamine receptor transcript peptide) mRNA levels in males, and 5-HT 2 C receptor mRNA levels in females. Changes were corrected by treatments with finasteride and E 2 , respectively. These new findings show that early life stress has a profound impact on hedonic sensitivity to high-palatable food via long-lasting changes in gonadal hormones. This paves the way to the development of hormonal strategies aimed at correcting abnormalities in the response to natural rewards. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  3. Rapid response systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyons, Patrick G; Edelson, Dana P; Churpek, Matthew M

    2018-07-01

    Rapid response systems are commonly employed by hospitals to identify and respond to deteriorating patients outside of the intensive care unit. Controversy exists about the benefits of rapid response systems. We aimed to review the current state of the rapid response literature, including evolving aspects of afferent (risk detection) and efferent (intervention) arms, outcome measurement, process improvement, and implementation. Articles written in English and published in PubMed. Rapid response systems are heterogeneous, with important differences among afferent and efferent arms. Clinically meaningful outcomes may include unexpected mortality, in-hospital cardiac arrest, length of stay, cost, and processes of care at end of life. Both positive and negative interventional studies have been published, although the two largest randomized trials involving rapid response systems - the Medical Early Response and Intervention Trial (MERIT) and the Effect of a Pediatric Early Warning System on All-Cause Mortality in Hospitalized Pediatric Patients (EPOCH) trial - did not find a mortality benefit with these systems, albeit with important limitations. Advances in monitoring technologies, risk assessment strategies, and behavioral ergonomics may offer opportunities for improvement. Rapid responses may improve some meaningful outcomes, although these findings remain controversial. These systems may also improve care for patients at the end of life. Rapid response systems are expected to continue evolving with novel developments in monitoring technologies, risk prediction informatics, and work in human factors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. A LINE-1 Insertion in DLX6 Is Responsible for Cleft Palate and Mandibular Abnormalities in a Canine Model of Pierre Robin Sequence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, Zena T.; Leslie, Elizabeth J.; Arzi, Boaz; Jayashankar, Kartika; Karmi, Nili; Jia, Zhonglin; Rowland, Douglas J.; Young, Amy; Safra, Noa; Sliskovic, Saundra; Murray, Jeffrey C.; Wade, Claire M.; Bannasch, Danika L.

    2014-01-01

    Cleft palate (CP) is one of the most commonly occurring craniofacial birth defects in humans. In order to study cleft palate in a naturally occurring model system, we utilized the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (NSDTR) dog breed. Micro-computed tomography analysis of CP NSDTR craniofacial structures revealed that these dogs exhibit defects similar to those observed in a recognizable subgroup of humans with CP: Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS). We refer to this phenotype in NSDTRs as CP1. Individuals with PRS have a triad of birth defects: shortened mandible, posteriorly placed tongue, and cleft palate. A genome-wide association study in 14 CP NSDTRs and 72 unaffected NSDTRs identified a significantly associated region on canine chromosome 14 (24.2 Mb–29.3 Mb; praw = 4.64×10−15). Sequencing of two regional candidate homeobox genes in NSDTRs, distal-less homeobox 5 (DLX5) and distal-less homeobox 6 (DLX6), identified a 2.1 kb LINE-1 insertion within DLX6 in CP1 NSDTRs. The LINE-1 insertion is predicted to insert a premature stop codon within the homeodomain of DLX6. This prompted the sequencing of DLX5 and DLX6 in a human cohort with CP, where a missense mutation within the highly conserved DLX5 homeobox of a patient with PRS was identified. This suggests the involvement of DLX5 in the development of PRS. These results demonstrate the power of the canine animal model as a genetically tractable approach to understanding naturally occurring craniofacial birth defects in humans. PMID:24699068

  5. Survival significance of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and current staging system for survival after recurrence in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saji, Hisashi; Sakai, Hiroki; Kimura, Hiroyuki; Miyazawa, Tomoyuki; Marushima, Hideki; Nakamura, Haruhiko

    2017-01-01

    Objective We previously reported that the staging system and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status are key factors for treatment strategy and predicting survival. However, the significance of these factors as predictors of overall survival (OS) and postoperative recurrence survival (PRS) has not been sufficiently elucidated. The objective here was to investigate EGFR mutation status and p-stage, which affect PRS and OS in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma, using a different database. Patients and methods We retrospectively reviewed 56 consecutive lung adenocarcinoma patients with disease recurrence in St. Marianna University Hospital between January 2010 and December 2014. Results EGFR mutants (M) were detected in 16/56 patients (29%). The patients with EGFR M had a better OS than those with EGFR wild-type (WT) status (5-year survival: 50.3% vs 43.1, P=0.133). There was no significant difference in the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate between patients with M and WT (6.3% vs 7.7%, P=0.656), and the patients with EGFR M had a significantly better 3-year PRS than those with WT (77.4% vs 51.7%, P=0.033). The 3-year PRS rate for patients with M/pathologic stage (p-stage) I–II (87.5%) was better than that for patients with M/p-stage III (60.0%), WT/p-stage I–II (52.7%), and WT/p-stage III (43.8%). There was a significant difference between patients with M/p-stage I and WT/p-stage I–II or WT/p-stage III (P=0.021 and 0.030, respectively). During the study period, of the 16 patients with mutants, 12 patients (75%) received EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy and among the 40 patients with WT, no patient received EGFR-TKI therapy. Multivariate survival analysis showed that patients with EGFR-TKI therapy had a statistically significant association with favorable PRS (hazard ratio 0.271; 95% confidence interval 0.074–1.000; P=0.050). Conclusion EGFR status and p-stage were found to be essential prognostic factors for

  6. Selecting score types for longitudinal evaluations: the responsiveness of the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers in children with developmental disabilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsai YP

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Yu-Pei Tsai,1,2 Li-Chen Tung,1,3 Ya-Chen Lee,4 Yu-Lin Wang,1,5 Yun-Shan Yen,1 Kuan-Lin Chen4,6 1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, 2Department of Special Education, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, 3School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, 4Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 5Department of Sports Management, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, 6Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the responsiveness of the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers (CDIIT in children with developmental disabilities (DD.Methods: The responsiveness of a measure is its ability to detect change over time, and it is fundamental to an outcome measure for detecting changes over time. We compared the responsiveness of four types of scores (ie, raw scores, developmental ages [DAs], percentile ranks [PRs], and developmental quotients [DQs] in the five subtests of the CDIIT. The CDIIT was administrated three times at intervals of 3 months on 32 children with DD aged between 5 months and 64 months (mean =30.6, standard deviation [SD] =17.8. The CDIIT is a pediatric norm-referenced assessment commonly used for clinical diagnosis of developmental delays in five developmental areas: cognition, language, motor, social, and self-care skills. The responsiveness was analyzed using three methods: effect size, standardized response mean, and paired t-test.Results: The effect size results showed that at the 3-month and 6-month follow-ups, responsiveness was small or moderate in the raw scores and DAs of most of the subtest scores of the CDIIT, but the level of responsiveness varied in the PRs and DQs. The standardized response mean results of the 3-month

  7. A Personalized Electronic Movie Recommendation System Based on Support Vector Machine and Improved Particle Swarm Optimization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xibin; Luo, Fengji; Qian, Ying; Ranzi, Gianluca

    2016-01-01

    With the rapid development of ICT and Web technologies, a large an amount of information is becoming available and this is producing, in some instances, a condition of information overload. Under these conditions, it is difficult for a person to locate and access useful information for making decisions. To address this problem, there are information filtering systems, such as the personalized recommendation system (PRS) considered in this paper, that assist a person in identifying possible products or services of interest based on his/her preferences. Among available approaches, collaborative Filtering (CF) is one of the most widely used recommendation techniques. However, CF has some limitations, e.g., the relatively simple similarity calculation, cold start problem, etc. In this context, this paper presents a new regression model based on the support vector machine (SVM) classification and an improved PSO (IPSO) for the development of an electronic movie PRS. In its implementation, a SVM classification model is first established to obtain a preliminary movie recommendation list based on which a SVM regression model is applied to predict movies' ratings. The proposed PRS not only considers the movie's content information but also integrates the users' demographic and behavioral information to better capture the users' interests and preferences. The efficiency of the proposed method is verified by a series of experiments based on the MovieLens benchmark data set.

  8. Polarized Raman anisotropic response of collagen in tendon: towards 3D orientation mapping of collagen in tissues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonardo Galvis

    Full Text Available In this study, polarized Raman spectroscopy (PRS was used to characterize the anisotropic response of the amide I band of collagen as a basis for evaluating three-dimensional collagen fibril orientation in tissues. Firstly, the response was investigated theoretically by applying classical Raman theory to collagen-like peptide crystal structures. The theoretical methodology was then tested experimentally, by measuring amide I intensity anisotropy in rat tail as a function of the orientation of the incident laser polarization. For the theoretical study, several collagen-like triple-helical peptide crystal structures obtained from the Protein Data Bank were rotated "in plane" and "out of plane" to evaluate the role of molecular orientation on the intensity of the amide I band. Collagen-like peptides exhibit a sinusoidal anisotropic response when rotated "in plane" with respect to the polarized incident laser. Maximal intensity was obtained when the polarization of the incident light is perpendicular to the molecule and minimal when parallel. In the case of "out of plane" rotation of the molecular structure a decreased anisotropic response was observed, becoming completely isotropic when the structure was perpendicular to the plane of observation. The theoretical Raman response of collagen was compared to that of alpha helical protein fragments. In contrast to collagen, alpha helices have a maximal signal when incident light is parallel to the molecule and minimal when perpendicular. For out-of-plane molecular orientations alpha-helix structures display a decreased average intensity. Results obtained from experiments on rat tail tendon are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions, thus demonstrating the high potential of PRS for experimental evaluation of the three-dimensional orientation of collagen fibers in biological tissues.

  9. Assessment of Primary Representational Systems with Neurolinguistic Programming: Examination of Preliminary Literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorn, Fred J.; And Others

    1983-01-01

    Reviews the inconsistent findings of studies on neurolinguistic programing and recommends some areas that should be examined to verify various claims. Discusses methods of assessing client's primary representational systems, including predicate usage and eye movements, and suggests that more reliable methods of assessing PRS must be found. (JAC)

  10. A Proactive Recommendation System for Writing in the Internet Age

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Muñoz

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available With the use of the computers, the task of writing is intertwined with the task of searching for information that can be relevant for the document that is being written, however very little research has been done to understand how the two tasks intertwine. In this paper we present an initial attempt to develop a model of writing and information seeking with computers and to develop helpful software that can improve the quality of the information searched and the written paper. Proactive Recommendation System (PRS can relieve authors from explicit searching by means of automatically searching, retrieving and recommending information relevant to the text currently being written, and therefore PRS can be helpful to writers. However it is also possible that there are some moments during writing in which presenting proactive information can be an interruption rather than a help. In our research, we have used the PRS IntelliGent™ to investigate its impact in the different stages of writing. We found that when IntelliGent™ offers relevant information the time to task completion is shorter and the quality of the written product increases compared with the control situations in which writers have to look actively for information. We discuss these findings in the context of developing models and tools that integrate searching and writing processes when using computers as the writing environment.

  11. Implementing Global Fund programs: a survey of opinions and experiences of the Principal Recipients across 69 countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wafula, Francis; Marwa, Charles; McCoy, David

    2014-03-24

    Principal Recipients (PRs) receive money from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) to manage and implement programs. However, little research has gone into understanding their opinions and experiences. This survey set out to describe these, thereby providing a baseline against which changes in PR opinions and experiences can be assessed as the recently introduced new funding model is rolled out. An internet based questionnaire was administered to 315 PRs. A total of 115 responded from 69 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The study was conducted between September and December 2012. Three quarters of PRs thought the progress update and disbursement request (PU/DR) system was a useful method of reporting grant progress. However, most felt that the grant negotiation processes were complicated, and that the grant rating system did not reflect performance.While nearly all PRs were happy with the work being done by sub-Recipients (92%) and Fund Portfolio Managers (86%), fewer were happy with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Non-government PRs were generally less happy with the OIG's work compared to government PRs.Most PRs thought the Global Fund's Voluntary Pooled Procurement system made procurement easier. However, only 29% said the system should be made compulsory.When asked which aspects of the Global Fund's operations needed improvement, most PRs said that the Fund should re-define and clarify the roles of different actors, minimize staff turnover at its Secretariat, and shorten the grant application and approval processes. All these are currently being addressed, either directly or indirectly, under a new funding model. Vigorous assessments should nonetheless follow the roll-out of the new model to ensure the areas that are most likely to affect PR performance realize sustained improvement. Opinions and experiences with the Global Fund were varied, with PRs having good communication with Fund

  12. Change in Allosteric Network Affects Binding Affinities of PDZ Domains: Analysis through Perturbation Response Scanning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerek, Z. Nevin; Ozkan, S. Banu

    2011-01-01

    The allosteric mechanism plays a key role in cellular functions of several PDZ domain proteins (PDZs) and is directly linked to pharmaceutical applications; however, it is a challenge to elaborate the nature and extent of these allosteric interactions. One solution to this problem is to explore the dynamics of PDZs, which may provide insights about how intramolecular communication occurs within a single domain. Here, we develop an advancement of perturbation response scanning (PRS) that couples elastic network models with linear response theory (LRT) to predict key residues in allosteric transitions of the two most studied PDZs (PSD-95 PDZ3 domain and hPTP1E PDZ2 domain). With PRS, we first identify the residues that give the highest mean square fluctuation response upon perturbing the binding sites. Strikingly, we observe that the residues with the highest mean square fluctuation response agree with experimentally determined residues involved in allosteric transitions. Second, we construct the allosteric pathways by linking the residues giving the same directional response upon perturbation of the binding sites. The predicted intramolecular communication pathways reveal that PSD-95 and hPTP1E have different pathways through the dynamic coupling of different residue pairs. Moreover, our analysis provides a molecular understanding of experimentally observed hidden allostery of PSD-95. We show that removing the distal third alpha helix from the binding site alters the allosteric pathway and decreases the binding affinity. Overall, these results indicate that (i) dynamics plays a key role in allosteric regulations of PDZs, (ii) the local changes in the residue interactions can lead to significant changes in the dynamics of allosteric regulations, and (iii) this might be the mechanism that each PDZ uses to tailor their binding specificities regulation. PMID:21998559

  13. The contributions of breast density and common genetic variation to breast cancer risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vachon, Celine M; Pankratz, V Shane; Scott, Christopher G; Haeberle, Lothar; Ziv, Elad; Jensen, Matthew R; Brandt, Kathleen R; Whaley, Dana H; Olson, Janet E; Heusinger, Katharina; Hack, Carolin C; Jud, Sebastian M; Beckmann, Matthias W; Schulz-Wendtland, Ruediger; Tice, Jeffrey A; Norman, Aaron D; Cunningham, Julie M; Purrington, Kristen S; Easton, Douglas F; Sellers, Thomas A; Kerlikowske, Karla; Fasching, Peter A; Couch, Fergus J

    2015-05-01

    We evaluated whether a 76-locus polygenic risk score (PRS) and Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) breast density were independent risk factors within three studies (1643 case patients, 2397 control patients) using logistic regression models. We incorporated the PRS odds ratio (OR) into the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) risk-prediction model while accounting for its attributable risk and compared five-year absolute risk predictions between models using area under the curve (AUC) statistics. All statistical tests were two-sided. BI-RADS density and PRS were independent risk factors across all three studies (P interaction = .23). Relative to those with scattered fibroglandular densities and average PRS (2(nd) quartile), women with extreme density and highest quartile PRS had 2.7-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.74 to 4.12) increased risk, while those with low density and PRS had reduced risk (OR = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.18 to 0.51). PRS added independent information (P Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. A self-medication hypothesis for increased vulnerability to drug abuse in prenatally restraint stressed rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynaert, Marie-Line; Marrocco, Jordan; Gatta, Eleonora; Mairesse, Jérôme; Van Camp, Gilles; Fagioli, Francesca; Maccari, Stefania; Nicoletti, Ferdinando; Morley-Fletcher, Sara

    Stress-related events that occur in the perinatal period can permanently change brain and behavior of the developing individual and there is increasing evidence that early-life adversity is a contributing factor in the etiology of drug abuse and mood disorders. Neural adaptations resulting from early-life stress may mediate individual differences in novelty responsiveness and in turn contribute to drug abuse vulnerability. Prenatal restraint stress (PRS) in rats is a well-documented model of early stress known to induce long-lasting neurobiological and behavioral alterations including impaired feedback mechanisms of the HPA axis, enhanced novelty seeking, and increased sensitiveness to psychostimulants as well as anxiety/depression-like behavior. Together with the HPA axis, functional alterations of the mesolimbic dopamine system and of the metabotropic glutamate receptors system appear to be involved in the addiction-like profile of PRS rats.

  15. The use of 32P radioisotope techniques for evaluating the relative agronomic effectiveness of phosphate rock materials in a soybean-maize crop rotation in acid soils of Thailand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahisarakul, J.; Pakkong, P.

    2002-01-01

    A series of greenhouse experiments was conducted over three years to evaluate the relative agronomic effectiveness (RAE) of phosphate rock materials in a soybean - maize crop sequence, using 32 P isotope dilution techniques. For the first two years, the crops were grown in a pot experiment in four acid soils of Thailand. In the first year, four increasing rates of TSP and one rate of four phosphate rocks (PRs) were used. The PRs used were Algerian PR, North Carolina PR, Petchaburi PR, and Ratchaburi PR. Soybean did not respond to P application from TSP, while there was good response in maize which was planted after soybean (1st residual effect). The percent P derived from TSP or PR fertilizer (%Pdff) had the following order: Warin soil > Mae Tang soil > Rangsit soil > Pakchong soil for soybean and Warin soil > Pakchong soil > Rangsit soil > Mae Tang soil for maize. In the second year, the soybean - maize rotation was replanted to study the residual effect of TSP and PRs, both applied at 180 mg P kg -1 . No significant response of soybean and maize to TSP was found in terms of dry matter yield. In terms of %Pdff and %RAE the soils ranked as follows: Rangsit soil > Pakchong soil Mae Tang soil > Warin soil for soybean and Warin soil > Rangsit soil > Mae Tang > Pakchong soil for maize. Both crops absorbed more P from TSP than from PRs. The %RAE in the 2nd year experiment was higher than %RAE in the 1st year In the third year, TSP and two PRs were applied at one P rate to Pakchong and Warin soils. The applied PRs were North Carolina PR (NCPR) and Lamphun phosphate rock (LPPR). PRs were applied either alone or in combination with TSP (50:50). Soybean was planted first, followed by maize. The P-response in terms of dry matter yield and %Pdff was highly significant in both soils. The RAE ranked as follows: TSP > NCPR + TSP > LPPR + TSP > NCPR > LPPR. Maize showed the same trend in RAE as soybean in both soils. The RAE for both crops was highest in Warin soil. (author)

  16. The Design and Implementation of the Ariel Active Database Rule System

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-10-01

    but only as a main-memory prototype. The POSTGRES rule system (PRS) [SHP88, SRH90] and the Starburst rule system (SRS) [WCL91, HCL+90] have been...query language of POSTGRES for specifying data definition commands, queries and updates [SRH90]. POSTQUEL commands retrieve, append, delete, and replace...placed on an arbitrary attribute (e.g., one without an index) ( POSTGRES rule system [SHP88, SHP89, SR1I90], HiPAC [C+891, DIPS [SLR89], Alert [SPAM91

  17. Clinical study of FT-207 suppository for head and neck malignancies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomioka, Masashi; Usami, Masami; Sakamoto, Ayako

    1982-01-01

    Futraful suppository 1.5g per day was administered to 33 patients with head and neck malignancies. Among 33 cases which entered into the study, 16 cases were evaluated. Out of 16 evaluable cases, complete responses (CRs) were obtained in 4 cases and partial responses (PRs) in 7 cases. An overall response rate including 4 CRs and 7 PRs was 68.8%. Side effects due to FT-207 suppository were developed in 14 cases out of 33 patients (42.4%) Side effects such as anal pain, anorexia, diarrhea, pigmentation, exanthema and nail change were observed. No severe side effect was encountered. (author)

  18. Survival significance of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and current staging system for survival after recurrence in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saji H

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Hisashi Saji,1,2 Hiroki Sakai,1 Hiroyuki Kimura,1 Tomoyuki Miyazawa,1 Hideki Marushima,1 Haruhiko Nakamura1 1Department of Chest Surgery, St Marianna University School of Medicine, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan; 2Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan Objective: We previously reported that the staging system and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR mutation status are key factors for treatment strategy and predicting survival. However, the significance of these factors as predictors of overall survival (OS and postoperative recurrence survival (PRS has not been sufficiently elucidated. The objective here was to investigate EGFR mutation status and p-stage, which affect PRS and OS in patients with completely resected lung adenocarcinoma, using a different database.Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 56 consecutive lung adenocarcinoma patients with disease recurrence in St. Marianna University Hospital between January 2010 and December 2014.Results: EGFR mutants (M were detected in 16/56 patients (29%. The patients with EGFR M had a better OS than those with EGFR wild-type (WT status (5-year survival: 50.3% vs 43.1, P=0.133. There was no significant difference in the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate between patients with M and WT (6.3% vs 7.7%, P=0.656, and the patients with EGFR M had a significantly better 3-year PRS than those with WT (77.4% vs 51.7%, P=0.033. The 3-year PRS rate for patients with M/pathologic stage (p-stage I–II (87.5% was better than that for patients with M/p-stage III (60.0%, WT/p-stage I–II (52.7%, and WT/p-stage III (43.8%. There was a significant difference between patients with M/p-stage I and WT/p-stage I–II or WT/p-stage III (P=0.021 and 0.030, respectively. During the study period, of the 16 patients with mutants, 12 patients (75% received EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI therapy and among the 40 patients with WT, no patient received

  19. Espécies do gênero Munida Leach (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae coletadas entre Torres (Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil e Maldonado (Uruguai pelo Programa Rio Grande do Sul (PRS I-II, GEDIP Species of the genus Munida Leach (Crustacea, Decapoda, Galatheidae collected between Torres (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Maldonado (Uruguay, by the Project Rio Grande do Sul (PRS I-II, GEDIP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustavo A.S. de Melo-Filho

    2001-12-01

    Full Text Available The project PRS-GEDIP was carried out in the Rio Grande do Sul coast, with some few stations off Maldonado (Uruguay, by means of a convention between Instituto Oceanográfico USP (IOUSP and the Grupo Executivo do Desenvolvimento da Indústria da Pesca (GEDIP of Rio Grande do Sul. The purpose of this project was the acquisition of data in order to have a better biotic and abiotic characterization of the southern Brazilian coast. Among the Galatheidae, about 1200 specimens of the genus Munida Leach, 1820 were collected, including five species as follows: Munida flinti Benedict, 1902; M. forceps A. Milne Edwards, 1880; M. iris A. Milne Edwards, 1880; M. irrasa A. Milne Edwards. 1880 and M. longipes A. Milne Edwards, 1880. The description, material examined, remarks and maps of the stations where each species was collected are done.

  20. Opportunities for learning in an introductory undergraduate human anatomy and physiology course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montplaisir, Lisa Marie

    2003-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the course conditions that support the development of meaningful student learning in an introductory undergraduate human anatomy and physiology course. The study was conducted during an 8-week summer-session at a small mid-western university. Classroom observations and taped recordings of class sessions were used to determine content episodes within the instructional unit, opportunities for learning created by the instructor, demonstrations of information processing by the students, and the ways in which the instructor used the Personal Response System (PRS). Student interviews were used to determine students' level of understanding of pre-test and post-test items. Student interviews and a questionnaire were used to determine students' perceptions of the PRS as a learning tool. Findings reveal that the instructor had different expectations of students when posing verbal questions in-class than he had when posing PRS questions. The use of verbal questions did not permit demonstrations of student understanding; however, the use of the PRS did result in demonstrations of student understanding. Questions posed via the use of the PRS were categorized according to cognitive level. The cognitive level of the questions increased with time over the instructional unit and within the content episodes. Students demonstrated deeper understanding of the topics after instruction than they did before instruction. Students reported more in-class thinking about the content, more discussion of the content with their neighbors, more regular class attendance, more opportunities for deeper learning, and a general preference for the PRS over traditional lectures. Findings of the study indicate that the instructional decisions about the use of questions influences the opportunities for students to process information and demonstrate their understanding of the content and that students valued these opportunities. A better understanding of the

  1. In vitro kinetics of soybean lipoxygenase with combinatorial fatty substrates and its functional significance in off flavour development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandal, Somnath; Dahuja, Anil; Kar, Abhijit; Santha, I M

    2014-03-01

    Lipoxygenase (Lox) mediated oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in mature soya seeds results in objectionable flavour. In the present study, Lox isozymes were purified to near homogeneity (107-fold). Lox-2 and 3 displayed remarkable kinetic preference (1.7 and 1.5-fold, respectively) for low PUFA ratios (LA/LeA) (PRs) among the selected PUFA combinations. Lox-1 displayed no specific preference. Pure Lox-1 displayed unbiased response towards substrates with marginal preference (1.2-fold) for linoleic acid at its optimum pH. Volatile compounds profiling showed a direct relationship between PRs and hexanal to trans-2-hexenal (1.47, 2.24 and 18.90 for 2, 7 and 15 PRs, respectively) ratio. The off-flavour determining parameters like TBA value, carbonyl value and lipid hydroperoxides (LHPODs) exhibited significant negative correlation (0.76, 0.74, 0.72; psoya genotypes displaying varied PRs and significant positive correlation (0.89, 0.81. 0.89; p<0.0001) with ratio of PI (polyene index) to PRs - suggesting the plausible significance of PUFA ratios in biological lipid peroxidation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Exopolysaccharide-associated protein sorting in environmental organisms: the PEP-CTERM/EpsH system. Application of a novel phylogenetic profiling heuristic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ward Naomi

    2006-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein translocation to the proper cellular destination may be guided by various classes of sorting signals recognizable in the primary sequence. Detection in some genomes, but not others, may reveal sorting system components by comparison of the phylogenetic profile of the class of sorting signal to that of various protein families. Results We describe a short C-terminal homology domain, sporadically distributed in bacteria, with several key characteristics of protein sorting signals. The domain includes a near-invariant motif Pro-Glu-Pro (PEP. This possible recognition or processing site is followed by a predicted transmembrane helix and a cluster rich in basic amino acids. We designate this domain PEP-CTERM. It tends to occur multiple times in a genome if it occurs at all, with a median count of eight instances; Verrucomicrobium spinosum has sixty-five. PEP-CTERM-containing proteins generally contain an N-terminal signal peptide and exhibit high diversity and little homology to known proteins. All bacteria with PEP-CTERM have both an outer membrane and exopolysaccharide (EPS production genes. By a simple heuristic for screening phylogenetic profiles in the absence of pre-formed protein families, we discovered that a homolog of the membrane protein EpsH (exopolysaccharide locus protein H occurs in a species when PEP-CTERM domains are found. The EpsH family contains invariant residues consistent with a transpeptidase function. Most PEP-CTERM proteins are encoded by single-gene operons preceded by large intergenic regions. In the Proteobacteria, most of these upstream regions share a DNA sequence, a probable cis-regulatory site that contains a sigma-54 binding motif. The phylogenetic profile for this DNA sequence exactly matches that of three proteins: a sigma-54-interacting response regulator (PrsR, a transmembrane histidine kinase (PrsK, and a TPR protein (PrsT. Conclusion These findings are consistent with the hypothesis

  3. A case report of Parry Romberg Syndrome initially presenting as periodontitis

    OpenAIRE

    Taylor, Greig; Culshaw, Shauna; Armas, Jose; Savarrio, Lee; Goodall, Christine

    2017-01-01

    Parry Romberg Syndrome (PRS) is a rare disorder of progressive hemifacial atrophy, involving soft tissues, fat and occasionally bone. It can co-exist with presentations of Morphea. We describe an unusual case of persistent periodontal and alveolar destruction associated with PRS. A 56-year-old African female initially presented with persistent periodontal destruction, which showed minimal response to conventional periodontal treatment. After non-surgical treatment, surgical debridement follow...

  4. How should we intervene in psychosis risk syndromes?

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Jijun WANG; Kaida JIANG; Tianhong ZHANG; Huijun LI; Kristen WOODBERRY; Larry SEIDMAN

    2013-01-01

    Research diagnostic instruments such as the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS) are now able to reliably identify individuals with different types of psychosis risk syndromes (PRS). About one-third of individuals with PRS convert to a diagnosable psychotic disorder within three years of the initial assessment. Currently available randomized controlled trials of interventions aimed at reducing the rate of psychotic conversion of PRS are promising, but they are too small and too short in duration to provide definitive conclusions about effectiveness. Given the high level of false positives (i.e., most individuals with PRS do not progress to frank psychosis) and the lack of definitive evidence about effectiveness, we recommend a staged approach to intervention in PRS that only uses antipsychotic medication after other, more benign approaches have been tried. At present the best approach appears to be to develop high-quality casemanagement systems for individuals with PRS that provide close follow-up, psychoeducation and psychosocial support to patients and family members, and, possibly, psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatments (with antipsychotic medications or neuroprotective agents). The effectiveness of these proposed interventions needs to be tested in large randomized controlled trials that follow up subjects for at least three years.

  5. Wind emergency response system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garrett, A.J.; Buckner, M.R.; Mueller, R.A.

    1981-01-01

    The WIND system is an automated emergency response system for real-time predictions of the consequences of liquid and airborne releases from SRP. The system consists of a minicomputer and associated peripherals necessary for acquisition and handling of large amounts of meteorological data from a local tower network and the National Weather Service. The minicomputer uses these data and several predictive models to assess the impact of accidental releases. The system is fast and easy to use, and output is displayed both in tabular form and as trajectory map plots for quick interpretation. The rapid response capabilities of the WIND system have been demonstrated in support of SRP operations

  6. A Rhizobium leguminosarum CHDL- (Cadherin-Like-) Lectin Participates in Assembly and Remodeling of the Biofilm Matrix

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vozza, Nicolás F.; Abdian, Patricia L; Russo, Daniela M

    2016-01-01

    In natural environments most bacteria live in multicellular structures called biofilms. These cell aggregates are enclosed in a self-produced polymeric extracellular matrix, which protects the cells, provides mechanical stability and mediates cellular cohesion and adhesion to surfaces. Although...... important advances were made in the identification of the genetic and extracellular factors required for biofilm formation, the mechanisms leading to biofilm matrix assembly, and the roles of extracellular proteins in these processes are still poorly understood. The symbiont Rhizobium leguminosarum requires...... the synthesis of the acidic exopolysaccharide and the PrsDE secretion system to develop a mature biofilm. PrsDE is responsible for the secretion of the Rap family of proteins that share one or two Ra/CHDL (cadherin-like-) domains. RapA2 is a calcium-dependent lectin with a cadherin-like β sheet structure...

  7. Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer for spectrum sharing in cognitive radio communication systems

    KAUST Repository

    Benkhelifa, Fatma

    2016-07-26

    In this paper, we consider the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer for the spectrum sharing (SS) in cognitive radio (CR) systems with a multi-antenna energy harvesting (EH) primary receiver (PR). The PR uses the antenna switching (AS) technique that assigns a subset of the PR\\'s antennas to harvest the energy from the radio frequency (RF) signals sent by the secondary transmitter (ST), and assigns the rest of the PR\\'s antennas to decode the information data. In this context, the primary network allows the secondary network to use the spectrum as long as the interference induced by the secondary transmitter (ST)\\'s signals is beneficial for the energy harvesting process at the PR side. The objective of this work is to show that the spectrum sharing is beneficial for both the SR and PR sides and leads to a win-win situation. To illustrate the incentive of the spectrum sharing cognitive system, we evaluate the mutual outage probability (MOP) introduced in [1] which declares an outage event if the PR or the secondary receiver (SR) is in an outage. Through the simulation results, we show that the performance of our system in terms of the MOP is always better than the performance of the system in the absence of ST and improves as the ST-PR interference increases. © 2016 IEEE.

  8. Energy and exergy analysis of electricity generation from natural gas pressure reducing stations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neseli, Mehmet Alparslan; Ozgener, Onder; Ozgener, Leyla

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Forecasting the recoverable energy from natural gas pressure reduction stations. • Electricity generation through pressure reduction stations via turboexpanders. • A thermodynamics analysis of PRS. - Abstract: Electricity generation or power recovery through pressure reduction stations (PRS) for general use has not been realized in Izmir. The main objective of the present study was to do a case study for calculating electricity to be recovered in one natural gas pressure reduction stations in Izmir. It is the first forecasting study to obtain energy from natural gas pressure-reducing stations in Izmir. Energy can be obtained from natural gas PRS with turbo-expanders instead of using throttle valves or regulators from the PRS. The exergy performance of PRS with TE is evaluated in this study. Exergetic efficiencies of the system and components are determined to assess their individual performances. Based upon pressure change and volumetric flow rate, it can be obtained by recovering average estimated installed capacity and annual energy 494.24 kW, 4113.03 MW h, respectively. In terms of estimated installed capacity power and annual energy, the highest level is 764.88 kW, approximately 6365.34 MW h, in Aliaga PRS. Also it can be seen that CO 2 emission factor average value is 295.45 kg/MW h

  9. Stress and Bronchodilator Response in Children with Asthma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brehm, John M; Ramratnam, Sima K; Tse, Sze Man; Croteau-Chonka, Damien C; Pino-Yanes, Maria; Rosas-Salazar, Christian; Litonjua, Augusto A; Raby, Benjamin A; Boutaoui, Nadia; Han, Yueh-Ying; Chen, Wei; Forno, Erick; Marsland, Anna L; Nugent, Nicole R; Eng, Celeste; Colón-Semidey, Angel; Alvarez, María; Acosta-Pérez, Edna; Spear, Melissa L; Martinez, Fernando D; Avila, Lydiana; Weiss, Scott T; Soto-Quiros, Manuel; Ober, Carole; Nicolae, Dan L; Barnes, Kathleen C; Lemanske, Robert F; Strunk, Robert C; Liu, Andrew; London, Stephanie J; Gilliland, Frank; Sleiman, Patrick; March, Michael; Hakonarson, Hakon; Duan, Qing Ling; Kolls, Jay K; Fritz, Gregory K; Hu, Donglei; Fani, Negar; Stevens, Jennifer S; Almli, Lynn M; Burchard, Esteban G; Shin, Jaemin; McQuaid, Elizabeth L; Ressler, Kerry; Canino, Glorisa; Celedón, Juan C

    2015-07-01

    Stress is associated with asthma morbidity in Puerto Ricans (PRs), who have reduced bronchodilator response (BDR). To examine whether stress and/or a gene regulating anxiety (ADCYAP1R1) is associated with BDR in PR and non-PR children with asthma. This was a cross-sectional study of stress and BDR (percent change in FEV1 after BD) in 234 PRs ages 9-14 years with asthma. We assessed child stress using the Checklist of Children's Distress Symptoms, and maternal stress using the Perceived Stress Scale. Replication analyses were conducted in two cohorts. Polymorphisms in ADCYAP1R1 were genotyped in our study and six replication studies. Multivariable models of stress and BDR were adjusted for age, sex, income, environmental tobacco smoke, and use of inhaled corticosteroids. High child stress was associated with reduced BDR in three cohorts. PR children who were highly stressed (upper quartile, Checklist of Children's Distress Symptoms) and whose mothers had high stress (upper quartile, Perceived Stress Scale) had a BDR that was 10.2% (95% confidence interval, 6.1-14.2%) lower than children who had neither high stress nor a highly stressed mother. A polymorphism in ADCYAP1R1 (rs34548976) was associated with reduced BDR. This single-nucleotide polymorphism is associated with reduced expression of the gene for the β2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) in CD4(+) lymphocytes of subjects with asthma, and it affects brain connectivity of the amygdala and the insula (a biomarker of anxiety). High child stress and an ADCYAP1R1 single-nucleotide polymorphism are associated with reduced BDR in children with asthma. This is likely caused by down-regulation of ADRB2 in highly stressed children.

  10. Development and prequalification of a medium-accuracy wide-field pattern recognition starsensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhoeff, Peter; de Boom, Kees; Meier, H.; Andre, G.

    1993-10-01

    A development of a medium accuracy, CCD based starsensor, intended for use on the new generation of communication satellites is in progress. The sensor aims at an accuracy of 0.06 degree(s) in a FOV of 30 degree(s) X 40 degree(s). The sensor is designed to detect stars with a brightness of mvia EQM is ongoing now. Intended to be versatile in applications for telecommunication and other missions, a unit is developed which is adaptive and has low recurring cost. The PRS concept is based on new MPP CCD technology. This technology brings passive thermal control without Peltier elements within reach. The electronics accommodated inside the PRS sensorheads is miniaturized by large scale integration by using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Surface Mount Technology (SMT). For cost reasons no microprocessor was implemented. This paper describes the main design features of the PRS, the selection and testing of appropriate CCD, performance characteristics of the system and test results obtained from the PRS breadboard system.

  11. Battery voltage-balancing applications of disk-type radial mode Pb(Zr • Ti)O3 ceramic resonator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thenathayalan, Daniel; Lee, Chun-gu; Park, Joung-hu

    2017-10-01

    In this paper, we propose a novel technique to build a charge-balancing circuit for series-connected battery strings using various kinds of disk-type ceramic Pb(Zr • Ti)O3 piezoelectric resonators (PRs). The use of PRs replaces the whole external battery voltage-balancer circuit, which consists mainly of a bulky magnetic element. The proposed technique is validated using different ceramic PRs and the results are analyzed in terms of their physical properties. A series-connected battery string with a voltage rating of 61.5 V is set as a hardware prototype under test, then the power transfer efficiency of the system is measured at different imbalance voltages. The performance of the proposed battery voltage-balancer circuit employed with a PR is also validated through hardware implementation. Furthermore, the temperature distribution image of the PR is obtained to compare power transfer efficiency and thermal stress under different operating conditions. The test results show that the battery voltage-balancer circuit can be successfully implemented using PRs with the maximum power conversion efficiency of over 96% for energy storage systems.

  12. The Brazilian emergency response system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, Raul dos

    1997-01-01

    With the objective of improving the response actions to potential or real emergency situations generated by radiological or nuclear accidents, the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) installed an integrated response system on a 24 hours basis. All the natiowide notifications on events that may start an emergency situation are converged to this system. Established since July 1990, this system has received around 300 notifications in which 5% were classified as potential emergency situation. (author)

  13. Lighting Systems Control for Demand Response

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Husen, S.A.; Pandharipande, A.; Tolhuizen, L.M.G.; Wang, Y.; Zhao, M.

    2012-01-01

    Lighting is a major part of energy consumption in buildings. Lighting systems will thus be one of the important component systems of a smart grid for dynamic load management services like demand response.In the scenario considered in this paper, under a demand response request, lighting systems in a

  14. Technological learning in bioenergy systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Junginger, Martin; Visser, Erika de; Hjort-Gregersen, Kurt; Koornneef, Joris; Raven, Rob; Faaij, Andre; Turkenburg, Wim

    2006-01-01

    The main goal of this article is to determine whether cost reductions in different bioenergy systems can be quantified using the experience curve approach, and how specific issues (arising from the complexity of biomass energy systems) can be addressed. This is pursued by case studies on biofuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plants in Sweden, global development of fluidized bed boilers and Danish biogas plants. As secondary goal, the aim is to identify learning mechanisms behind technology development and cost reduction for the biomass energy systems investigated. The case studies reveal large difficulties to devise empirical experience curves for investment costs of biomass-fuelled power plants. To some extent, this is due to lack of (detailed) data. The main reason, however, are varying plant costs due to differences in scale, fuel type, plant layout, region etc. For fluidized bed boiler plants built on a global level, progress ratios (PRs) for the price of entire plants lies approximately between 90-93% (which is typical for large plant-like technologies). The costs for the boiler section alone was found to decline much faster. The experience curve approach delivers better results, when the production costs of the final energy carrier are analyzed. Electricity from biofuelled CHP-plants yields PRs of 91-92%, i.e. an 8-9% reduction of electricity production costs with each cumulative doubling of electricity production. The experience curve for biogas production displays a PR of 85% from 1984 to the beginning of 1990, and then levels to approximately 100% until 2002. For technologies developed on a local level (e.g. biogas plants), learning-by-using and learning-by-interacting are important learning mechanism, while for CHP plants utilizing fluidized bed boilers, upscaling is probably one of the main mechanisms behind cost reductions

  15. Folding and Function of Proteorhodopsins in Photoenergy Transducing Membranes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spudich, John L. [University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX (United States). Health Science Center, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

    2012-08-10

    The overall research objectives are to develop proteorhodopsin (PR) proteins as a model system for α-helical membrane protein insertion and folding, and to advance understanding of the diversity and mechanisms of PRs, a large family of photoenergy transducers (~4000 identified) abundant in the world’s oceans. Specific aims are: (1) To develop a high-efficiency genetic selection procedure for light-driven proton-pumping in E. coli cells. Such a procedure would provide a positive selection method for proper folding and function of PRs in the E. coli membrane. (2) Characterize flash-induced absorption changes and photocurrents in PR variants in organisms from various environments, and their expression level and function when expressed in E. coli. Subaims are to: (a) elucidate the relationship of the transport mechanism to mechanisms of other microbial rhodopsins, some of which like PRs function as ion transporters and some of which use light energy to activate signaling pathways (sensory rhodopsins); and (b) identify important residues and chemical events in light-driven proton transport by PRs. In addition to their importance to the energy of the biosphere PRs have attracted interest for their potential for use in making photoenergy-transducing membranes for bioengineering applications.

  16. Voice Response Systems Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerald, Jeanette

    1984-01-01

    Examines two methods of generating synthetic speech in voice response systems, which allow computers to communicate in human terms (speech), using human interface devices (ears): phoneme and reconstructed voice systems. Considerations prior to implementation, current and potential applications, glossary, directory, and introduction to Input Output…

  17. The systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Charles M; Coopersmith, Craig M

    2006-04-01

    The systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is the body's response to an infectious or noninfectious insult. Although the definition of SIRS refers to it as an "inflammatory" response, it actually has pro- and anti-inflammatory components. This review outlines the pathophysiology of SIRS and highlights potential targets for future therapeutic intervention in patients with this complex entity.

  18. The Development of Social Competence Scale for Adolescent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Fu Tsai

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The purposes of this study were 1 to develop a social behavior assessment system for adolescent - social competence scale; and 2 to evaluate the reliability and validity of this proposed scale. The social behavior assessment system for adolescent comprised three scales: the teacher rating scale (TRS, parent rating scale (PRS, and self-report scale (SRS. TRS, PRS, and SRS all included 110 items in two scales: social competence scale (SCS and problem behavior scale (PBS. The social competence scale consisted of 48 items divided into seven subscales for measuring three theoretical dimensions: self-control, interpersonal interaction, and academic behavior. The development of social competence scale yielded the following results regarding validity: 1 evidence based on test content was established and supported by exploring literature and expert validity; 2 TRS-SCS, PRS-SCS, and SRS-SCS all have high internal consistency reliability and 4-week-interval re-test reliability. Besides, the inter-rater reliability between teachers, parents and students were lower to moderate; 3 the concurrent criterion related evidence of the TRS-SCS and PRS-SCS to the behavioral and emotional rating scale and the SRS-SCS to the Beck youth inventories were all significant; 4 the discriminant evidence of TRS-SCS was found to be considerably satisfactory in discriminating children with emotional and behavioral problems from those without; 5 evidence based on internal structure indicates that the results of confirmatory factory analysis were found considerably satisfactory in TRS-SCS, PRS-SCS, and SRS-SCS. In general, the reliability and validity of the study were satisfactory. Finally, the percentile rank and t-score norms were developed for 607 subjects in TRS-SCS, 1,168 subjects in PRS-SCS and 1,246 subjects in SRS-SCS.

  19. Effect of driving pressure on mortality in ARDS patients during lung protective mechanical ventilation in two randomized controlled trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guérin, Claude; Papazian, Laurent; Reignier, Jean; Ayzac, Louis; Loundou, Anderson; Forel, Jean-Marie

    2016-11-29

    Driving pressure (ΔPrs) across the respiratory system is suggested as the strongest predictor of hospital mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We wonder whether this result is related to the range of tidal volume (V T ). Therefore, we investigated ΔPrs in two trials in which strict lung-protective mechanical ventilation was applied in ARDS. Our working hypothesis was that ΔPrs is a risk factor for mortality just like compliance (Crs) or plateau pressure (Pplat,rs) of the respiratory system. We performed secondary analysis of data from 787 ARDS patients enrolled in two independent randomized controlled trials evaluating distinct adjunctive techniques while they were ventilated as in the low V T arm of the ARDSnet trial. For this study, we used V T , positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), Pplat,rs, Crs, ΔPrs, and respiratory rate recorded 24 hours after randomization, and compared them between survivors and nonsurvivors at day 90. Patients were followed for 90 days after inclusion. Cox proportional hazard modeling was used for mortality at day 90. If colinearity between ΔPrs, Crs, and Pplat,rs was verified, specific Cox models were used for each of them. Both trials enrolled 805 patients of whom 787 had day-1 data available, and 533 of these survived. In the univariate analysis, ΔPrs averaged 13.7 ± 3.7 and 12.8 ± 3.7 cmH 2 O (P = 0.002) in nonsurvivors and survivors, respectively. Colinearity between ΔPrs, Crs and Pplat,rs, which was expected as these variables are mathematically coupled, was statistically significant. Hazard ratios from the Cox models for day-90 mortality were 1.05 (1.02-1.08) (P = 0.005), 1.05 (1.01-1.08) (P = 0.008) and 0.985 (0.972-0.985) (P = 0.029) for ΔPrs, Pplat,rs and Crs, respectively. PEEP and V T were not associated with death in any model. When ventilating patients with low V T , ΔPrs is a risk factor for death in ARDS patients, as is Pplat,rs or Crs. As our data

  20. Japanese practicing physicians' relationships with pharmaceutical representatives: a national survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sayaka Saito

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Previous surveys on the relationship between physicians and pharmaceutical representatives (PRs have been of limited quality. The purpose of our survey of practicing physicians in Japan was to assess the extent of their involvement in pharmaceutical promotional activities, physician characteristics that predict such involvement, attitudes toward relationships with PRs, correlations between the extent of involvement and attitudes, and differences in the extent of involvement according to self-reported prescribing behaviors. METHODS AND FINDINGS: From January to March 2008, we conducted a national survey of 2621 practicing physicians in seven specialties: internal medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, psychiatry, and ophthalmology. The response rate was 54%. Most physicians met with PRs (98%, received drug samples (85% and stationery (96%, and participated in industry-sponsored continuing medical education (CME events at the workplace (80% and outside the workplace (93%. Half accepted meals outside the workplace (49% and financial subsidies to attend CME events (49%. Rules at the workplace banning both meetings with PRs and gifts predicted less involvement of physicians in promotional activities. Physicians valued information from PRs. They believed that they were unlikely to be influenced by promotional activities, but that their colleagues were more susceptible to such influence than themselves. They were divided about the appropriateness of low-value gifts. The extent of physician involvement in promotional activities was positively correlated with the attitudes that PRs are a valuable source of information and that gifts are appropriate. The extent of such involvement was higher among physicians who prefer to ask PRs for information when a new medication becomes available, physicians who are not satisfied with patient encounters ending only with advice, and physicians who prefer to

  1. Field assessment of the relative agronomic effectiveness of phosphate rock materials in a soybean - Maize crop rotation using 32P isotope techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahisarakul, J.; Siripaibool, C.; Claimon, J.; Pakkong, P.

    2002-01-01

    Field experiments were conducted at Phrabudhabart Field Crop Research Station, Lopbur Province during the period 1995-1997 to determine the relative agronomic effectiveness (RAE) in a soybean- maize crop rotation using 32 P isotope techniques. The soil of the experimental site was the Pakchong soil series (Oxic Paleustults). Four PRs were applied at 120 kg P ha -1 , namely Algerian PR (ARPR), North Carolina PR from USA (NCPR), Petchaburi PR from Thailand (PBPR) and Ratchaburi PR from Thailand (RBPR) and TSP was added at three rates (40, 60, 120 kg P ha -1 ). For the first year harvest, soybeans absorbed more P from TSP fertilizer (% FPU) applied at 40 kg P ha -1 than maize, but there was no yield response. Among four PRs, North Carolina phosphate rock (NCPR) gave the highest % Pdff as well as the highest RAE. Maize was planted after soybean to study the residual effect of TSP and PRs. The results were the same as in soybean. In the second year (1996) the grain yield of soybean was higher than in the first year (1995), and there was significant response to P from TSP. The RAE of NCPR was very high. Maize showed the opposite results. In this case Algerian PR (ARPR) had the highest RAE. In 1997, TSP and six PRs (same four used in 1995 and 1996, Morocco PR (MCPR), and Lumphun PR (LPPR)) were applied at 60 kg P ha -1 . Phosphate rocks were applied either alone or in combination with TSP (50:50). Application of TSP resulted in high yields of soybean. In terms of RAE the P sources ranked as follows: LPPR+TSP>ARPR>LPPR> MCPR>NCPR+TSP>NCPR. The residual effect of P on the following maize crop resulted in a high RAE for MCPR and LPPR. It was concluded that TSP should be applied to every crop. The reactivity of PRs in the first and the second year experiments were: ARPR>NCPR>RBPR>PBPR. Morocco PR and LPPR were also reactive PRs in the third experiment. The combination of PR and TSP resulted in better P uptake (%Pdff). (author)

  2. Magnetic-Field-Response Measurement-Acquisition System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodward, Stanley E.; Shams, Qamar A.; Fox, Robert L.; Taylor, Bryant D.

    2006-01-01

    A measurement-acquisition system uses magnetic fields to power sensors and to acquire measurements from sensors. The system alleviates many shortcomings of traditional measurement-acquisition systems, which include a finite number of measurement channels, weight penalty associated with wires, use limited to a single type of measurement, wire degradation due to wear or chemical decay, and the logistics needed to add new sensors. Eliminating wiring for acquiring measurements can alleviate potential hazards associated with wires, such as damaged wires becoming ignition sources due to arcing. The sensors are designed as electrically passive inductive-capacitive or passive inductive-capacitive-resistive circuits that produce magnetic-field-responses. One or more electrical parameters (inductance, capacitance, and resistance) of each sensor can be variable and corresponds to a measured physical state of interest. The magnetic-field- response attributes (frequency, amplitude, and bandwidth) of the inductor correspond to the states of physical properties for which each sensor measures. For each sensor, the measurement-acquisition system produces a series of increasing magnetic-field harmonics within a frequency range dedicated to that sensor. For each harmonic, an antenna electrically coupled to an oscillating current (the frequency of which is that of the harmonic) produces an oscillating magnetic field. Faraday induction via the harmonic magnetic fields produces an electromotive force and therefore a current in the sensor. Once electrically active, the sensor produces its own harmonic magnetic field as the inductor stores and releases magnetic energy. The antenna of the measurement- acquisition system is switched from a transmitting to a receiving mode to acquire the magnetic-field response of the sensor. The rectified amplitude of the received response is compared to previous responses to prior transmitted harmonics, to ascertain if the measurement system has detected a

  3. The Institutional System of Economic Agents’ Social Responsibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frolova Elena, A.

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper it was made an attempt to analyse the main characteristics of the institutional system of economic agents social responsibility. The institutional system can be described as a complex of norms, rules, regulations and enforcement mechanisms in the context of interactions and communications of economic agents. The institutional nature of social responsibility allow to solve social dilemmas through the internalization of social responsibility norms and creating social value orientations, which are determine the prosocial behaviour of economic agents. The institutional system of social responsibility was described from the methodological institutionalism point of view. Analysing this phenomenon we are required to develop research on the objects of this system (norms, regulations, behaviour, on the subjects of this system (persons, business, government and on the institutional mechanisms (internalization of social responsibility norms, promoting prosocial behaviour, adaptation and transformation of the social responsibility norms aimed to ensure the understanding of origin and significance of social responsibility for modern society.

  4. Modelling structural systems for transient response analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Melosh, R.J.

    1975-01-01

    This paper introduces and reports success of a direct means of determining the time periods in which a structural system behaves as a linear system. Numerical results are based on post fracture transient analyses of simplified nuclear piping systems. Knowledge of the linear response ranges will lead to improved analysis-test correlation and more efficient analyses. It permits direct use of data from physical tests in analysis and simplication of the analytical model and interpretation of its behavior. The paper presents a procedure for deducing linearity based on transient responses. Given the forcing functions and responses of discrete points of the system at various times, the process produces evidence of linearity and quantifies an adequate set of equations of motion. Results of use of the process with linear and nonlinear analyses of piping systems with damping illustrate its success. Results cover the application to data from mathematical system responses. The process is successfull with mathematical models. In loading ranges in which all modes are excited, eight digit accuracy of predictions are obtained from the equations of motion deduced. Small changes (less than 0.01%) in the norm of the transfer matrices are produced by manipulation errors for linear systems yielding evidence that nonlinearity is easily distinguished. Significant changes (greater than five %) are coincident with relatively large norms of the equilibrium correction vector in nonlinear analyses. The paper shows that deducing linearity and, when admissible, quantifying linear equations of motion from transient response data for piping systems can be achieved with accuracy comparable to that of response data

  5. Validation of the Pain Resilience Scale in Chinese-speaking patients with temporomandibular disorders pain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, S L; Wang, J H; Ji, P

    2018-03-01

    To validate the Pain Resilience Scale (PRS) for use in Chinese patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) pain. According to international guidelines, the original PRS was first translated and cross-culturally adapted to formulate the Chinese version of PRS (PRS-C). A total of 152 patients with TMD pain were recruited to complete series of questionnaires. Reliability of the PRS-C was investigated using internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Validity of the PRS-C was calculated using cross-cultural validity and convergent validity. Cross-cultural validity was evaluated by examining the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). And convergent validity was examined through correlating the PRS-C scores with scores of 2 commonly used pain-related measures (the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale [CD-RISC] and the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia for Temporomandibular Disorders [TSK-TMD]). The PRS-C had a high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92) and good test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.81). The CFA supported a 2-factor model for the PRS-C with acceptable fit to the data. The fit indices were chi-square/DF = 2.21, GFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.97, CFI = 0.98 and RMSEA = 0.08. As regards convergent validity, the PRS-C evidenced moderate-to-good relationships with the CD-RISC and the TSK-TMD. The PRS-C shows good psychometric properties and could be considered as a reliable and valid measure to evaluate pain-related resilience in patients with TMD pain. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Prospective comparison of three risk scoring systems in non-variceal and variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thanapirom, Kessarin; Ridtitid, Wiriyaporn; Rerknimitr, Rungsun; Thungsuk, Rattikorn; Noophun, Phadet; Wongjitrat, Chatchawan; Luangjaru, Somchai; Vedkijkul, Padet; Lertkupinit, Comson; Poonsab, Swangphong; Ratanachu-ek, Thawee; Hansomburana, Piyathida; Pornthisarn, Bubpha; Thongbai, Thirada; Mahachai, Varocha; Treeprasertsuk, Sombat

    2016-04-01

    Data regarding the efficacy of the Glasgow Blatchford score (GBS), full Rockall score (FRS) and pre-endoscopic Rockall scores (PRS) in comparing non-variceal and variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) are limited. Our aim was to determine the performance of these three risk scores in predicting the need for treatment, mortality, and re-bleeding among patients with non-variceal and variceal UGIB. During January, 2010 and September, 2011, patients with UGIB from 11 hospitals were prospectively enrolled. The GBS, FRS, and PRS were calculated. Discriminative ability for each score was assessed using the receiver operated characteristics curve (ROC) analysis. A total of 981 patients presented with acute UGIB, 225 patients (22.9%) had variceal UGIB. The areas under the ROC (AUC) of the GBS, FRS, and PRS for predicting the need for treatment were 0.77, 0.69, and 0.61 in non-variceal versus 0.66, 0.66, and 0.59 in variceal UGIB. The AUC for predicting mortality and re-bleeding during admission were 0.66, 0.80, and 0.76 in non-variceal versus 0.63, 0.57, and 0.63 in variceal UGIB. AUC score was not statistically significant for predicting need for therapy and clinical outcome in variceal UGIB. The GBS ≤ 2 and FRS ≤ 1 identified low-risk non-variceal UGIB patients for death and re-bleeding during hospitalization. In contrast to non-variceal UGIB, the GBS, FRS, and PRS were not precise scores for assessing the need for therapy, mortality, and re-bleeding during admission in variceal UGIB. © 2015 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  7. SICOEM: emergency response data system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, A.; Villota, C.; Francia, L.

    1993-01-01

    The main characteristics of the SICOEM emergency response system are: -direct electronic redundant transmission of certain operational parameters and plant status informations from the plant process computer to a computer at the Regulatory Body site, - the system will be used in emergency situations, -SICOEM is not considered as a safety class system. 1 fig

  8. SICOEM: emergency response data system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin, A.; Villota, C.; Francia, L. (UNESA, Madrid (Spain))

    1993-01-01

    The main characteristics of the SICOEM emergency response system are: -direct electronic redundant transmission of certain operational parameters and plant status informations from the plant process computer to a computer at the Regulatory Body site, - the system will be used in emergency situations, -SICOEM is not considered as a safety class system. 1 fig.

  9. One-step polypyrrole coating of self-assembled silver nanoprisms for enhanced stability and Raman scattering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Dong-Won; Jeong, Sugyeong; Jang, Du-Jeon

    2017-07-01

    Self-assemblies of silver nanoprisms (AgPRs) having enhanced structural stability and optical properties have been facilely coated with polypyrrole (PPy) via the in situ polymerization of pyrrole monomers that also act as an assembling agent. The assemblies of AgPRs, whose edge lengths and thicknesses are typically 78 and 4 nm, respectively, have been surrounded by a PPy coating of 6 nm. AgPRs are assembled in a side-to-side orientation, and the degree of assembly has been controlled by varying the concentration of trisodium citrate dihydrate, which attaches selectively to the {111} facets of AgPRs. The morphology deformation time of PPy-coated AgPRs in 0.6 mM H2O2(aq) is seven times longer than that of PPy-free AgPRs, suggesting that PPy coating prevents the sharp tips of AgPRs from being truncated by oxidizing agents. The SERS effect of highly self-assembled and PPy-coated AgPRs becomes as high as 6.3 due to numerous hot spots generated between nanoprisms. Overall, our fabricated AgPRs assemblies with PPy coating have not only improved structural stability but also enhanced optical properties, extending the practical use of noble-metal nanoprisms for various optical applications.

  10. Magnetic Field Response Measurement Acquisition System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodard, Stanley E.; Taylor,Bryant D.; Shams, Qamar A.; Fox, Robert L.

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents a measurement acquisition method that alleviates many shortcomings of traditional measurement systems. The shortcomings are a finite number of measurement channels, weight penalty associated with measurements, electrical arcing, wire degradations due to wear or chemical decay and the logistics needed to add new sensors. Wire degradation has resulted in aircraft fatalities and critical space launches being delayed. The key to this method is the use of sensors designed as passive inductor-capacitor circuits that produce magnetic field responses. The response attributes correspond to states of physical properties for which the sensors measure. Power is wirelessly provided to the sensing element by using Faraday induction. A radio frequency antenna produces a time-varying magnetic field used to power the sensor and receive the magnetic field response of the sensor. An interrogation system for discerning changes in the sensor response frequency, resistance and amplitude has been developed and is presented herein. Multiple sensors can be interrogated using this method. The method eliminates the need for a data acquisition channel dedicated to each sensor. The method does not require the sensors to be near the acquisition hardware. Methods of developing magnetic field response sensors and the influence of key parameters on measurement acquisition are discussed. Examples of magnetic field response sensors and the respective measurement characterizations are presented. Implementation of this method on an aerospace system is discussed.

  11. Prescribing for Children With Rheumatic Disease: Perceived Treatment Approaches Between Pediatric and Adult Rheumatologists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Mater, Heather; Balevic, Stephen J; Freed, Gary L; Clark, Sarah J

    2018-02-01

    To compare practice patterns and prescribing differences for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) between adult rheumatologists (ARs) and pediatric rheumatologists (PRs), the perceived educational needs, and factors that enhance or impede co-management. Two parallel, cross-sectional surveys focusing on JIA were administered in 2009 to a random sample of 193 PRs and 500 ARs using the American College of Rheumatology membership file. Bivariate analysis was conducted for common items. The response rate was 62.1% for ARs (n = 306) and 72.3% for PRs (n = 138). Only 23% of responding ARs (n = 69) reported caring for children with JIA. Of these, 94% strongly agreed/agreed feeling comfortable diagnosing JIA; however, only 76% felt comfortable treating JIA. Clinical vignettes highlighted several prescribing differences. Forty-eight percent of ARs and 31% of PRs felt medications to treat JIA did not have clear dosing guidelines. Though PRs initiated disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and biologic agents earlier, treatments were similar after 3 months. To enhance co-management, 74% of pediatric respondents endorsed shared medical records. Nearly one-quarter of surveyed ARs care for children with JIA, with most limiting their practice to older children. There was more discomfort in treating JIA than diagnosing it, and there were significant prescribing differences. Both provider types identified the need for better dosing and treatment resources. Updated management guidelines along with exposure to pediatric rheumatology in fellowship could reduce treatment differences and enhance the care of children with JIA. Shared medical records and improvement in reimbursement may optimize co-management. © 2017, American College of Rheumatology.

  12. N114S mutation causes loss of ATP-induced aggregation of human phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Honglin; Peng, Xiaohui; Zhao Fang; Zhang Guobin; Tao Ye; Luo Zhaofeng; Li Yang; Teng Maikun; Li Xu; Wei Shiqiang

    2009-01-01

    This study examined recombinant wild-type human phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase 1 (wt-PRS1, EC 2.7.6.1) and the point mutant Asn114Ser PRS1 (N114S-Mutant) in cells of a patient with primary gout. Dynamic light-scattering and sedimentation velocity experiments indicated that the monomeric wt-PRS1 in solution was assembled into hexamers after adding the substrate ATP. However, this ATP-induced aggregation effect was not observed with N114S-Mutant, which has a 50% higher enzymatic activity than that of wt-PRS1. Synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed that the point mutation causes an increase of α-helix content and a decrease of turn content. Examination of the crystal structure of wt-PRS1 indicated that 12 hydrogen bonds formed by 6 pairs of N114 and D139 have an important role in stabilizing the hexamer. We suggest that the substitution of S114 for N114 in N114S-Mutant leads to the rupture of 12 hydrogen bonds and breakage of the PO 4 3- allosteric site where PO 4 3- functions as a fixer of the ATP-binding loop. Therefore, we consider that formation of the hexamer as the structural basis of the ADP allosteric inhibition is greatly weakened by the N114S mutation, and that alteration of the ATP-binding loop conformation is the key factor in the increased activity of N114S-Mutant. These two factors could be responsible for the high level of activity of N114S-Mutant in this patient.

  13. Students Prefer Audience Response System for Lecture Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph W Turban

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Student evaluation of courses is an important component of overall course evaluation. The extent of student participation in the evaluation may be related to the ease of the evaluation process. The standard evaluation format is a paper form. This study examines medical students preference of utilizing Audience Response System compared to a paper method. Methods: Following several medical school lectures, students were queried if they preferred Audience Response System versus a paper method, and if they would prefer using Audience Response System more for future course evaluations. Results: 391 students were queried. Overall response rate was 94%. Using a five point Likert scale, 299 out of 361 (82% responded they agreed, or strongly agreed with the statement “We should use ARS more. . .” When asked which format they preferred to use for evaluation, 299/367 (81% responded Audience Response System, 31 (8% preferred paper, and 37 (10% were not sure, or had no opinion (chi squared = 378.936, df2, p<0.0001. Conclusion: The medical students surveyed showed a strong preference for utilizing Audience Response System as a course evaluation modality, and desired its continued use in medical school. Audience Response System should be pursued as a lecture evaluation modality, and its use in medical school education should be encouraged.

  14. [Logic model of the Franche-Comté Regional Health Project: advantages and limitations for the evaluation process].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michaud, Claude; Sannino, Nadine; Duboudin, Cédric; Baudier, François; Guillin, Caroline; Billondeau, Christine; Mansion, Sylvie

    2014-01-01

    The French "Hospitals, patients, health and territories" law of July 2009 created the Regional Health Project (PRS) to support regional health policy, and requires evaluation of these projects. The construction of these projects, which includes prevention planning, care planning, and medical and social welfare planning, presents an unprecedented complexity in France, where evaluation programmes are still in their infancy. To support future evaluations, the Franche-Comté Regional Health Agency (ARS FC), assisted by the expertise of EFECT Consultants, decided to reconstruct the PRS logic model. This article analyzes the advantages and limitations of this approach. The resulting logic model allows visualization of the strategy adopted to achieve the Franche-Comté PRS ambitions and expected results. The model highlights four main aspects of structural change to the health system, often poorly visible in PRS presentation documents. This model also establishes links with the usual public policy evaluation issues and facilitates their prioritization. This approach also provides a better understanding of the importance of analysis of the programme construction in order to be effective rather than direct analysis of the effects, which constitutes the natural tendency of current practice. The main controversial limit concerns the retrospective design of the PRS framework, both in terms of the reliability of interpretation and adoption by actors not directly involved in this initiative.

  15. Possible association between phantom vibration syndrome and occupational burnout.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chao-Pen; Wu, Chi-Cheng; Chang, Li-Ren; Lin, Yu-Hsuan

    2014-01-01

    Phantom vibration syndrome (PVS) and phantom ringing syndrome (PRS) occur in many cell phone users. Previous studies have indicated an association between PVS/PRS and job stress. The aim of this study was to determine if PVS/PRS were also associated with occupational burnout. This was a cross-sectional study of 384 employees of a high-tech company in northern Taiwan. They all completed a phantom vibration and ringing questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Chinese version of the Occupational Burnout Inventory. Significantly more women and people with at least a college education were in the population with PRS and PVS, respectively. Anxiety and depression had no associations with PVS/PRS. Higher scores for personal fatigue, job fatigue, and service target fatigue had an independent impact on the presence of PVS, but only a higher score for service target fatigue had an independent impact on the presence of PRS. The independent association between work-related burnout and PVS/PRS suggests that PVS/PRS may be a harbinger of mental stress or a component of the clinical burnout syndrome, and may even be a more convenient and accurate predictor of occupational burnout.

  16. Active Response Gravity Offload System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valle, Paul; Dungan, Larry; Cunningham, Thomas; Lieberman, Asher; Poncia, Dina

    2011-01-01

    The Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) provides the ability to simulate with one system the gravity effect of planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and microgravity, where the gravity is less than Earth fs gravity. The system works by providing a constant force offload through an overhead hoist system and horizontal motion through a rail and trolley system. The facility covers a 20 by 40-ft (approximately equals 6.1 by 12.2m) horizontal area with 15 ft (approximately equals4.6 m) of lifting vertical range.

  17. Step response and frequency response of an air conditioning system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Crommelin, R.D.; Jackman, P.J.

    1978-01-01

    A system of induction units of an existing air conditioning system has been analyzed with respect to its dynamic properties. Time constants were calculated and measured by analogue models. Comparison with measurements at the installation itself showed a reasonable agreement. Frequency responses were

  18. Emergency response and radiation monitoring systems in Russian regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arutyunyan, R.; Osipiyants, I.; Kiselev, V.; Ogar, K; Gavrilov, S.

    2008-01-01

    Full text: Preparedness of the emergency response system to elimination of radiation incidents and accidents is one of the most important elements of ensuring safe operation of nuclear power facilities. Routine activities on prevention of emergency situations along with adequate, efficient and opportune response actions are the key factors reducing the risks of adverse effects on population and environment. Both high engineering level and multiformity of the nuclear branch facilities make special demands on establishment of response system activities to eventual emergency situations. First and foremost, while resolving sophisticated engineering and scientific problems emerging during the emergency response process, one needs a powerful scientific and technical support system.The emergency response system established in the past decade in Russian nuclear branch provides a high efficiency of response activities due to the use of scientific and engineering potential and experience of the involved institutions. In Russia the responsibility for population protection is imposed on regional authority. So regional emergence response system should include up-to-date tools of radiation monitoring and infrastructure. That's why new activities on development of radiation monitoring and emergency response system were started in the regions of Russia. The main directions of these activities are: 1) Modernization of the existing and setting-up new facility and territorial automatic radiation monitoring systems, including mobile radiation surveillance kits; 2) Establishment of the Regional Crisis Centres and Crisis Centres of nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities; 3) Setting up communication systems for transfer, acquisition, processing, storage and presentation of data for participants of emergency response at the facility, regional and federal levels; 4) Development of software and hardware systems for expert support of decision-making on protection of personnel, population

  19. Performance of integrated systems of automated roller shade systems and daylight responsive dimming systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Byoung-Chul; Choi, An-Seop; Jeong, Jae-Weon [Department of Architectural Engineering, Sejong University, Kunja-Dong, Kwangjin-Gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Eleanor S. [Building Technologies Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2011-03-15

    Daylight responsive dimming systems have been used in few buildings to date because they require improvements to improve reliability. The key underlying factor contributing to poor performance is the variability of the ratio of the photosensor signal to daylight workplane illuminance in accordance with sun position, sky condition, and fenestration condition. Therefore, this paper describes the integrated systems between automated roller shade systems and daylight responsive dimming systems with an improved closed-loop proportional control algorithm, and the relative performance of the integrated systems and single systems. The concept of the improved closed-loop proportional control algorithm for the integrated systems is to predict the varying correlation of photosensor signal to daylight workplane illuminance according to roller shade height and sky conditions for improvement of the system accuracy. In this study, the performance of the integrated systems with two improved closed-loop proportional control algorithms was compared with that of the current (modified) closed-loop proportional control algorithm. In the results, the average maintenance percentage and the average discrepancies of the target illuminance, as well as the average time under 90% of target illuminance for the integrated systems significantly improved in comparison with the current closed-loop proportional control algorithm for daylight responsive dimming systems as a single system. (author)

  20. Linear optical response of finite systems using multishift linear system solvers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hübener, Hannes; Giustino, Feliciano [Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH (United Kingdom)

    2014-07-28

    We discuss the application of multishift linear system solvers to linear-response time-dependent density functional theory. Using this technique the complete frequency-dependent electronic density response of finite systems to an external perturbation can be calculated at the cost of a single solution of a linear system via conjugate gradients. We show that multishift time-dependent density functional theory yields excitation energies and oscillator strengths in perfect agreement with the standard diagonalization of the response matrix (Casida's method), while being computationally advantageous. We present test calculations for benzene, porphin, and chlorophyll molecules. We argue that multishift solvers may find broad applicability in the context of excited-state calculations within density-functional theory and beyond.

  1. Conventional estimating method of earthquake response of mechanical appendage system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Shigeru; Suzuki, Kohei

    1981-01-01

    Generally, for the estimation of the earthquake response of appendage structure system installed in main structure system, the method of floor response analysis using the response spectra at the point of installing the appendage system has been used. On the other hand, the research on the estimation of the earthquake response of appendage system by the statistical procedure based on probability process theory has been reported. The development of a practical method for simply estimating the response is an important subject in aseismatic engineering. In this study, the method of estimating the earthquake response of appendage system in the general case that the natural frequencies of both structure systems were different was investigated. First, it was shown that floor response amplification factor was able to be estimated simply by giving the ratio of the natural frequencies of both structure systems, and its statistical property was clarified. Next, it was elucidated that the procedure of expressing acceleration, velocity and displacement responses with tri-axial response spectra simultaneously was able to be applied to the expression of FRAF. The applicability of this procedure to nonlinear system was examined. (Kako, I.)

  2. Information Systems Security: Whose Responsibility? | Senzige ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... compounded by the increasingly international nature of information systems, this responsibility still rests with managers only. This paper looks at security concerns related to information systems, identifies the threats and suggests how the security of information systems should be handled. African Journal of Finance and ...

  3. Refinement for Transition Systems with Responses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Carbone

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Motivated by the response pattern for property specifications and applications within flexible workflow management systems, we report upon an initial study of modal and mixed transition systems in which the must transitions are interpreted as must eventually, and in which implementations can contain may behaviors that are resolved at run-time. We propose Transition Systems with Responses (TSRs as a suitable model for this study. We prove that TSRs correspond to a restricted class of mixed transition systems, which we refer to as the action-deterministic mixed transition systems. We show that TSRs allow for a natural definition of deadlocked and accepting states. We then transfer the standard definition of refinement for mixed transition systems to TSRs and prove that refinement does not preserve deadlock freedom. This leads to the proposal of safe refinements, which are those that preserve deadlock freedom. We exemplify the use of TSRs and (safe refinements on a small medication workflow.

  4. Bottleneck in secretion of α-amylase in Bacillus subtilis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Shaomin; Wu, Guang

    2017-07-19

    Amylase plays an important role in biotechnology industries, and Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis is a major host to produce heterogeneous α-amylases. However, the secretion stress limits the high yield of α-amylase in B. subtilis although huge efforts have been made to address this secretion bottleneck. In this question-oriented review, every effort is made to answer the following questions, which look simple but are long-standing, through reviewing of literature: (1) Does α-amylase need a specific and dedicated chaperone? (2) What signal sequence does CsaA recognize? (3) Does CsaA require ATP for its operation? (4) Does an unfolded α-amylase is less soluble than a folded one? (5) Does α-amylase aggregate before transporting through Sec secretion system? (6) Is α-amylase sufficient stable to prevent itself from misfolding? (7) Does α-amylase need more disulfide bonds to be stabilized? (8) Which secretion system does PrsA pass through? (9) Is PrsA ATP-dependent? (10) Is PrsA reused after folding of α-amylase? (11) What is the fate of PrsA? (12) Is trigger factor (TF) ATP-dependent? The literature review suggests that not only the most of those questions are still open to answers but also it is necessary to calculate ATP budget in order to better understand how B. subtilis uses its energy for production and secretion.

  5. Designing effective questions for classroom response system teaching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beatty, Ian D.; Gerace, William J.; Leonard, William J.; Dufresne, Robert J.

    2006-01-01

    Classroom response systems can be powerful tools for teaching physics. Their efficacy depends strongly on the quality of the questions. Creating effective questions is difficult and differs from creating exam and homework problems. Each classroom response system question should have an explicit pedagogic purpose consisting of a content goal, a process goal, and a metacognitive goal. Questions can be designed to fulfill their purpose through four complementary mechanisms: directing students' attention, stimulating specific cognitive processes, communicating information to the instructor and students via classroom response system-tabulated answer counts, and facilitating the articulation and confrontation of ideas. We identify several tactics that are useful for designing potent questions and present four "makeovers" to show how these tactics can be used to convert traditional physics questions into more powerful questions for a classroom response system.

  6. LOFT system structural response during subcooled blowdown

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martinell, J.S.

    1978-01-01

    The Loss-of-Fluid Test (LOFT) facility is a highly instrumented, pressurized water reactor test system designed to be representative of large pressurized water reactors (LPWRs) for the simulation of loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs). Detailed structural analysis and appropriate instrumentation (accelerometers and strain gages) on the LOFT system provided information for evaluation of the structural response of the LOFT facility for loss-of-coolant experiment (LOCE) induced loads. In general, the response of the system during subcooled blowdown was small with typical structural accelerations below 2.0 G's and dynamic strains less than 150 x 10 - 6 m/m. The accelerations measured at the steam generator and simulated steam generator flange exceeded LOCE design values; however, integration of the accelerometer data at these locations yielded displacements which were less than one half of the design values associated with a safe shutdown earthquake (SSE), which assures structural integrity for LOCE loads. The existing measurement system was adequate for evaluation of the LOFT system response during the LOCEs. The conditions affecting blowdown loads during nuclear LOCEs will be nearly the same as those experienced during the nonnuclear LOCEs, and the characteristics of the structural response data in both types of experiments are expected to be the same. The LOFT system is concluded to be adequately designed and further analysis of the LOFT system with structural codes is not required for future LOCE experiments

  7. Frequency response functions for nonlinear convergent systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pavlov, A.V.; Wouw, van de N.; Nijmeijer, H.

    2007-01-01

    Convergent systems constitute a practically important class of nonlinear systems that extends the class of asymptotically stable linear time-invariant systems. In this note, we extend frequency response functions defined for linear systems to nonlinear convergent systems. Such nonlinear frequency

  8. Possible association between phantom vibration syndrome and occupational burnout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chao-Pen; Wu, Chi-Cheng; Chang, Li-Ren; Lin, Yu-Hsuan

    2014-01-01

    Background Phantom vibration syndrome (PVS) and phantom ringing syndrome (PRS) occur in many cell phone users. Previous studies have indicated an association between PVS/PRS and job stress. The aim of this study was to determine if PVS/PRS were also associated with occupational burnout. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of 384 employees of a high-tech company in northern Taiwan. They all completed a phantom vibration and ringing questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Chinese version of the Occupational Burnout Inventory. Results Significantly more women and people with at least a college education were in the population with PRS and PVS, respectively. Anxiety and depression had no associations with PVS/PRS. Higher scores for personal fatigue, job fatigue, and service target fatigue had an independent impact on the presence of PVS, but only a higher score for service target fatigue had an independent impact on the presence of PRS. Conclusion The independent association between work-related burnout and PVS/PRS suggests that PVS/PRS may be a harbinger of mental stress or a component of the clinical burnout syndrome, and may even be a more convenient and accurate predictor of occupational burnout. PMID:25750984

  9. Pervasive refusal syndrome. Three German cases provide further illustration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jans, Thomas; Ball, Juliane; Preiss, Maike; Haberhausen, Michael; Warnke, Andreas; Renner, Tobias J

    2011-09-01

    Pervasive refusal syndrome (PRS) has been proposed as a new diagnostic entity among child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. It is characterized by a cluster of life-threatening symptoms including refusal of hood intake, decreased or complete lack of mobilization, and lack of communication as well as retreat from normal life activities. Active refusal to accept help as well as neglect of personal care have been core features of PRS in the limited number of cases reported in the last decade. There have, however; been cases with predominantly passive resistance, indicating the possibility that there may be a continuum from active refusal to passive resistance within PRS. Postulating this continuum allows for the integration of "depressive devitalization" -- a refusal syndrome mainly characterized by passive resistance -- into the concept of PRS. Here, three case vignettes of adolescent patients with PRS are presented. The patients' symptomatology can be allocated on this continuum of PRS. PRS and dissociative disorders are compared in greater detail and contrasted within this discussion of differential diagnoses at the poles of such a continuum. PRS is a useful diagnosis for cases involving symptoms of predominating refusal and retreat which cannot satisfactorily be classified by existing diagnostic categories, and which can mostly clearly be separated from dissociative disorder.

  10. Sleep in prenatally restraint stressed rats, a model of mixed anxiety-depressive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mairesse, Jérôme; Van Camp, Gilles; Gatta, Eleonora; Marrocco, Jordan; Reynaert, Marie-Line; Consolazione, Michol; Morley-Fletcher, Sara; Nicoletti, Ferdinando; Maccari, Stefania

    2015-01-01

    Prenatal restraint stress (PRS) can induce persisting changes in individual's development. PRS increases anxiety and depression-like behaviors and induces changes in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in adult PRS rats after exposure to stress. Since adaptive capabilities also depend on temporal organization and synchronization with the external environment, we studied the effects of PRS on circadian rhythms, including the sleep-wake cycle, that are parameters altered in depression. Using a restraint stress during gestation, we showed that PRS induced phase advances in hormonal/behavioral circadian rhythms in adult rats, and an increase in the amount of paradoxical sleep, positively correlated to plasma corticosterone levels. Plasma corticosterone levels were also correlated with immobility in the forced swimming test, indicating a depressive-like profile in the PRS rats. We observed comorbidity with anxiety-like profile on PRS rats that was correlated with a reduced release of glutamate in the ventral hippocampus. Pharmacological approaches aimed at modulating glutamate release may represent a novel therapeutic strategy to treat stress-related disorders. Finally, since depressed patients exhibit changes in HPA axis activity and in circadian rhythmicity as well as in the paradoxical sleep regulation, we suggest that PRS could represent an original animal model of depression.

  11. The TransPetro emergency response system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Filho, A.T.F.; Cardoso, V.F.; Carbone, R.; Berardinelli, R.P. [Petrobras-TransPetro, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Carvalho, M.T.M.; Casanova, M.A. [Pontificia Univ. Catolica, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Dept. de Informatica, TeCGraf

    2004-07-01

    Petrobras-TransPetro developed the TransPetro Emergency Response System in response to emergency situations at large oil pipelines or at terminal facilities located in sea or river harbour areas. The standard of excellence includes full compliance with environmental regulations set by the federal government. A distributed workflow management software called InfoPAE forms the basis of the system in which actions are defined, along with geographic and conventional data. The first prototype of InfoPAE was installed in 1999. Currently it is operational in nearly 80 installations. The basic concepts and functionality of the TransPetro Emergency Response System were outlined in this paper with reference to the mitigative actions that are based on an evaluation of the organization of the emergency teams; the communication procedures; characterization of the installations; definition of accidental scenarios; environmental sensitivity maps; simulation of oil spill trajectories and dispersion behaviour; geographical data of the area surrounding the installations; and, other conventional data related to the installations, including available equipment. The emergency response team can take action as soon as an accident is detected. The action plan involves characterizing several scenarios and delegating mitigative actions to specific sub-teams, each with access to geographic data on the region where the emergency occurred. 13 refs., 3 figs.

  12. Error response test system and method using test mask variable

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gender, Thomas K. (Inventor)

    2006-01-01

    An error response test system and method with increased functionality and improved performance is provided. The error response test system provides the ability to inject errors into the application under test to test the error response of the application under test in an automated and efficient manner. The error response system injects errors into the application through a test mask variable. The test mask variable is added to the application under test. During normal operation, the test mask variable is set to allow the application under test to operate normally. During testing, the error response test system can change the test mask variable to introduce an error into the application under test. The error response system can then monitor the application under test to determine whether the application has the correct response to the error.

  13. Demand Response as a System Reliability Resource

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eto, Joseph H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Lewis, Nancy Jo [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Watson, David [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Kiliccote, Sila [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Auslander, David [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Paprotny, Igor [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Makarov, Yuri [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2012-12-31

    The Demand Response as a System Reliability Resource project consists of six technical tasks: • Task 2.1. Test Plan and Conduct Tests: Contingency Reserves Demand Response (DR) Demonstration—a pioneering demonstration of how existing utility load-management assets can provide an important electricity system reliability resource known as contingency reserve. • Task 2.2. Participation in Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) IntelliGrid—technical assistance to the EPRI IntelliGrid team in developing use cases and other high-level requirements for the architecture. • Task 2.3. Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) Planning for Demand Response Technology Development—technical support to the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program on five topics: Sub-task 1. PIER Smart Grid RD&D Planning Document; Sub-task 2. System Dynamics of Programmable Controllable Thermostats; Sub-task 3. California Independent System Operator (California ISO) DR Use Cases; Sub-task 4. California ISO Telemetry Requirements; and Sub-task 5. Design of a Building Load Data Storage Platform. • Task 2.4. Time Value of Demand Response—research that will enable California ISO to take better account of the speed of the resources that it deploys to ensure compliance with reliability rules for frequency control. • Task 2.5. System Integration and Market Research: Southern California Edison (SCE)—research and technical support for efforts led by SCE to conduct demand response pilot demonstrations to provide a contingency reserve service (known as non-spinning reserve) through a targeted sub-population of aggregated residential and small commercial customers enrolled in SCE’s traditional air conditioning (AC) load cycling program, the Summer Discount Plan. • Task 2.6. Demonstrate Demand Response Technologies: Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)—research and technical support for efforts led by PG&E to conduct a demand response pilot demonstration to provide non

  14. A Tactical Emergency Response Management System (Terms ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2013-03-01

    Mar 1, 2013 ... information is a result of collaboration between accident response personnel. ... Tactical Emergency Response Management System (TERMS) which unifies all these different ... purpose of handling crisis and emergency.

  15. Dosimetric results from a feasibility study of a novel radiosurgical source for irradiation of intracranial metastases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Douglas, Robert M.; Beatty, John; Gall, Kenneth; Valenzuela, Raul F.; Biggs, Peter; Okunieff, Paul; Pardo, Francisco S.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose: A feasibility study addressing the role of a new miniature x-ray device, the Photon Radiosurgery System (PRS), for interstitial radiosurgical treatment of intracranial metastatic neoplasms, was conducted at our institution. To gain insight into the role of PRS vis-a-vis other currently available radiosurgical treatment modalities, dosimetric comparisons of Linac Radiosurgery and proton beam therapy were performed in the treatment of a small approximately spherical metastasis. Methods and Materials: The photon radiosurgery system is a miniature, battery operated, high-voltage x-ray generator that produces low-energy x-rays with an effective energy of 10-20 keV emanating from the tip of a probe stereotactically inserted into small tumors (< 3 cm in diameter) in humans. Patients, 18 years or older, with supratentorial mass lesions less than 3 cm in diameter were eligible if they were likely to survive their systemic cancer and be capable of self-care for more than 4 months. Patients were ineligible if presenting with infratentorial lesions, contraindications for biopsy, or receipt of chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks were ineligible. Results: Fourteen patients with metastatic supratentorial lesions were treated from December 1992 to December 1993 for metastatic tumors to the brain. Single doses of 10-20 Gy were delivered to spherical targets of 10 to 35 mm in diameter. Treatment, including biopsy, pathologic review and radiation treatment, generally took less than 3 h. One patient, later found to have an ischemic stroke, developed a small hemorrhage from the biopsy that preceded interstitial irradiation. There were no other complications. Median survival was 10 months. Three locally recurrent lesions failed at 3.5, 4, and 10 months after treatment. All patients had stable or improved Karnofsky status for 2 weeks to 21 months after treatment. The PRS dosimetry appears at least as good as that obtained using 6 MV Linac or 160 MeV protons. Analyses of

  16. A prototype nuclear emergency response decision making expert system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, C.; Shih, C.; Hong, M.; Yu, W.; Su, M.; Wang, S.

    1990-01-01

    A prototype of emergency response expert system developed for nuclear power plants, has been fulfilled by Institute of Nuclear Energy Research. Key elements that have been implemented for emergency response include radioactive material dispersion assessment, dynamic transportation evacuation assessment, and meteorological parametric forecasting. A network system consists of five 80386 Personal Computers (PCs) has been installed to perform the system functions above. A further project is still continuing to achieve a more complicated and fanciful computer aid integral emergency response expert system

  17. An audit to assess the consequences of the use of a pluripotential risk syndrome: the case to move on from "psychosis risk syndrome (PRS) ".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agius, Mark; Zaman, Rashid; Hanafy, Dean

    2013-09-01

    An audit has been carried out of the patients who have been assessed using the CAARMS tool in order to assess patients who have been judged to have a prodromal psychotic syndrome. Instead of advocating PRS, Johannessen & McGorry (Johannessen 2010), have offered an alternative: a 'Pluripotent risk syndrome'. This less specific prodrome reflects the unpredictable nature of "Ultra-High Risk" states which have been shown to be more likely to develop into a non-psychotic mood disorder than schizophrenia (Hoon 2012). The corollary this is thus; could patients who exhibit significant depressive features (regardless of diagnosis) be initially identified as having a 'Pluripotent risk syndrome'? Ten adult patients (6 males & 4 females, aged 19-26 years old) with four broad psychiatric diagnoses (Depression, Schizoaffective disorder, Borderline personality disorder and psychotic illness) were chosen from an anonimised database of the patients and their symptomatology as assessed by CAARMS was retrospectively assessed to see if the presence of depressive symptoms supported the case for a "Pluripotent risk syndrome". Though patients diagnosed with depression frequently exhibited depressive symptoms, psychotic symptoms were also apparent, albeit in comparatively decreased severity. Patients diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder had depressive symptoms more frequently than psychotic symptoms, but these were comparatively less severe. Borderline personality disorder patients exhibited depressive symptoms more frequently than psychotic symptoms. Psychotic illnesses frequently had depressive symptoms, but more typically (and unsurprisingly) had comparatively more severe psychotic than depressive symptoms. Hence we propose that the concept of a "Pluripotent risk syndrome" is in our view born out.

  18. Systemic Inflammatory Response and Adhesion Molecules

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. V. Molchanova

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The lecture presents the materials of foreign studies on the mechanisms responsible for the formation of a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS. The hypotheses accounting for the occurrence of SIRS in emergencies are described. Adhesion molecules (AM and endothelial dysfunction are apparent to be involved in the inflammatory process, no matter what the causes of SIRS are. The current classification of AM and adhesion cascades with altered blood flow is presented. There are two lines in the studies of AM. One line is to measure the concentration of AM in the plasma of patients with emergencies of various etiology. The other is to study the impact of antiadhesion therapy on the alleviation of the severity of terminal state and its outcome. The studies provide evidence for that an adhesive process is a peculiar prelude to a systemic inflammatory response.

  19. A case of pervasive refusal syndrome: a diagnostic conundrum.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    McNicholas, Fiona

    2013-01-01

    A case is presented of an 11-year-old girl with pervasive refusal syndrome (PRS) who ultimately recovered acutely and completely after an 18-month paediatric hospitalisation. There was an apparent absence of previously proposed important aetiological factors in PRS, such as family pathology and markedly traumatic or abusive experiences, and her recovery was sudden and complete. The authors consider the differential diagnoses of PRS paying particular attention to the possibility of a conversion disorder or catatonia, given the absence of PRS in the North American literature. Consideration of catatonia is important as it has a diagnostic test and responds rapidly to appropriate treatment, in contrast to conventional treatment for PRS and conversion disorder.

  20. Heterooligomeric phosphoribosyl diphosphate synthase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hove-Jensen, Bjarne

    2004-01-01

    The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains five phosphoribosyl diphosphate (PRPP) synthase-homologous genes (PRS1-5), which specify PRPP synthase subunits 1-5. Expression of the five S. cerevisiae PRS genes individually in an Escherichia coli PRPP-less strain (Deltaprs) showed that a single PRS...

  1. Systems biology of neutrophil differentiation and immune response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Theilgaard-Mönch, Kim; Porse, Bo T; Borregaard, Niels

    2005-01-01

    Systems biology has emerged as a new scientific field, which aims at investigating biological processes at the genomic and proteomic levels. Recent studies have unravelled aspects of neutrophil differentiation and immune responses at the systems level using high-throughput technologies. These stu......Systems biology has emerged as a new scientific field, which aims at investigating biological processes at the genomic and proteomic levels. Recent studies have unravelled aspects of neutrophil differentiation and immune responses at the systems level using high-throughput technologies....... These studies have identified a plethora of novel effector proteins stored in the granules of neutrophils. In addition, these studies provide evidence that neutrophil differentiation and immune response are governed by a highly coordinated transcriptional programme that regulates cellular fate and function...

  2. Time response for sensor sensed to actuator response for mobile robotic system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amir, N. S.; Shafie, A. A.

    2017-11-01

    Time and performance of a mobile robot are very important in completing the tasks given to achieve its ultimate goal. Tasks may need to be done within a time constraint to ensure smooth operation of a mobile robot and can result in better performance. The main purpose of this research was to improve the performance of a mobile robot so that it can complete the tasks given within time constraint. The problem that is needed to be solved is to minimize the time interval between sensor detection and actuator response. The research objective is to analyse the real time operating system performance of sensors and actuators on one microcontroller and on two microcontroller for a mobile robot. The task for a mobile robot for this research is line following with an obstacle avoidance. Three runs will be carried out for the task and the time between the sensors senses to the actuator responses were recorded. Overall, the results show that two microcontroller system have better response time compared to the one microcontroller system. For this research, the average difference of response time is very important to improve the internal performance between the occurrence of a task, sensors detection, decision making and actuator response of a mobile robot. This research helped to develop a mobile robot with a better performance and can complete task within the time constraint.

  3. Ion-Responsive Drug Delivery Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshida, Takayuki; Shakushiro, Kohsuke; Sako, Kazuhiro

    2018-02-08

    Some kinds of cations and anions are contained in body fluids such as blood, interstitial fluid, gastrointestinal juice, and tears at relatively high concentration. Ionresponsive drug delivery is available to design the unique dosage formulations which provide optimized drug therapy with effective, safe and convenient dosing of drugs. The objective of the present review was to collect, summarize, and categorize recent research findings on ion-responsive drug delivery systems. Ions in body fluid/formulations caused structural changes of polymers/molecules contained in the formulations, allow formulations exhibit functions. The polymers/molecules responding to ions were ion-exchange resins/fibers, anionic or cationic polymers, polymers exhibiting transition at lower critical solution temperature, self-assemble supramolecular systems, peptides, and metalorganic frameworks. The functions of ion-responsive drug delivery systems were categorized to controlled drug release, site-specific drug release, in situ gelation, prolonged retention at the target sites, and enhancement of drug permeation. Administration of the formulations via oral, ophthalmic, transdermal, and nasal routes has showed significant advantages in the recent literatures. Many kinds of drug delivery systems responding to ions have been reported recently for several administration routes. Improvement and advancement of these systems can maximize drugs potential and contribute to patients in the world. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  4. Silicone Wristband Passive Samplers Yield Highly Individualized Pesticide Residue Exposure Profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aerts, Raf; Joly, Laure; Szternfeld, Philippe; Tsilikas, Khariklia; De Cremer, Koen; Castelain, Philippe; Aerts, Jean-Marie; Van Orshoven, Jos; Somers, Ben; Hendrickx, Marijke; Andjelkovic, Mirjana; Van Nieuwenhuyse, An

    2018-01-02

    Monitoring human exposure to pesticides and pesticide residues (PRs) remains crucial for informing public health policies, despite strict regulation of plant protection product and biocide use. We used 72 low-cost silicone wristbands as noninvasive passive samplers to assess cumulative 5-day exposure of 30 individuals to polar PRs. Ethyl acetate extraction and LC-MS/MS analysis were used for the identification of PRs. Thirty-one PRs were detected of which 15 PRs (48%) were detected only in worn wristbands, not in environmental controls. The PRs included 16 fungicides (52%), 8 insecticides (26%), 2 herbicides (6%), 3 pesticide derivatives (10%), 1 insect repellent (3%), and 1 pesticide synergist (3%). Five detected pesticides were not approved for plant protection use in the EU. Smoking and dietary habits that favor vegetable consumption were associated with higher numbers and higher cumulative concentrations of PRs in wristbands. Wristbands featured unique PR combinations. Our results suggest both environment and diet contributed to PR exposure in our study group. Silicone wristbands could serve as sensitive passive samplers to screen population-wide cumulative dietary and environmental exposure to authorized, unauthorized and banned pesticides.

  5. Classroom Response System (CRS) pilot ‘Responsiveness and meaning for all’

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rusman, Ellen; Ternier, Stefaan

    2014-01-01

    Classroom Response Systems (CRS or “clickers”) enable teachers and learners to get an insight in how well learners have understood and learnt from learning activities that they carried out, and to what degree they achieved certain learning objectives. With a CRS system, a teacher can pose a

  6. Parametric Control on Fractional-Order Response for Lü Chaotic System

    KAUST Repository

    Moaddy, K; Radwan, A G; Salama, Khaled N.; Momani, S; Hashim, I

    2013-01-01

    This paper discusses the influence of the fractional order parameter on conventional chaotic systems. These fractional-order parameters increase the system degree of freedom allowing it to enter new domains and thus it can be used as a control for such dynamical systems. This paper investigates the behaviour of the equally-fractional-order Lü chaotic system when changing the fractional-order parameter and determines the fractional-order ranges for chaotic behaviour. Five different parameter values and six fractional-order cases are discussed through this paper. Unlike the conventional parameters, as the fractional-order increases the system response begins with stability, passing by chaotic behaviour then reaches periodic response. As the system parameter α increases, a shift in the fractional order is required to maintain chaotic response.Therefore, the range of chaotic response can be expanded or minimized by controlling the fractional-order parameter. The non-standard finite difference method is used to solve the fractional-order Lü chaotic system numerically to validate these responses.

  7. Parametric Control on Fractional-Order Response for Lü Chaotic System

    KAUST Repository

    Moaddy, K

    2013-04-10

    This paper discusses the influence of the fractional order parameter on conventional chaotic systems. These fractional-order parameters increase the system degree of freedom allowing it to enter new domains and thus it can be used as a control for such dynamical systems. This paper investigates the behaviour of the equally-fractional-order Lü chaotic system when changing the fractional-order parameter and determines the fractional-order ranges for chaotic behaviour. Five different parameter values and six fractional-order cases are discussed through this paper. Unlike the conventional parameters, as the fractional-order increases the system response begins with stability, passing by chaotic behaviour then reaches periodic response. As the system parameter α increases, a shift in the fractional order is required to maintain chaotic response.Therefore, the range of chaotic response can be expanded or minimized by controlling the fractional-order parameter. The non-standard finite difference method is used to solve the fractional-order Lü chaotic system numerically to validate these responses.

  8. Activation of presynaptic oxytocin receptors enhances glutamate release in the ventral hippocampus of prenatally restraint stressed rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mairesse, Jérôme; Gatta, Eleonora; Reynaert, Marie-Line; Marrocco, Jordan; Morley-Fletcher, Sara; Soichot, Marion; Deruyter, Lucie; Camp, Gilles Van; Bouwalerh, Hammou; Fagioli, Francesca; Pittaluga, Anna; Allorge, Delphine; Nicoletti, Ferdinando; Maccari, Stefania

    2015-12-01

    Oxytocin receptors are known to modulate synaptic transmission and network activity in the hippocampus, but their precise function has been only partially elucidated. Here, we have found that activation of presynaptic oxytocin receptor with the potent agonist, carbetocin, enhanced depolarization-evoked glutamate release in the ventral hippocampus with no effect on GABA release. This evidence paved the way for examining the effect of carbetocin treatment in "prenatally restraint stressed" (PRS) rats, i.e., the offspring of dams exposed to repeated episodes of restraint stress during pregnancy. Adult PRS rats exhibit an anxious/depressive-like phenotype associated with an abnormal glucocorticoid feedback regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and, remarkably, with a reduced depolarization-evoked glutamate release in the ventral hippocampus. Chronic systemic treatment with carbetocin (1mg/kg, i.p., once a day for 2-3 weeks) in PRS rats corrected the defect in glutamate release, anxiety- and depressive-like behavior, and abnormalities in social behavior, in the HPA response to stress, and in the expression of stress-related genes in the hippocampus and amygdala. Of note, carbetocin treatment had no effect on these behavioral and neuroendocrine parameters in prenatally unstressed (control) rats, with the exception of a reduced expression of the oxytocin receptor gene in the amygdala. These findings disclose a novel function of oxytocin receptors in the hippocampus, and encourage the use of oxytocin receptor agonists in the treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders in adult life. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Nailfold capillaroscopy assessment of microcirculation abnormalities and endothelial dysfunction in children with primary or secondary Raynaud syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latuskiewicz-Potemska, Joanna; Chmura-Skirlinska, Antonina; Gurbiel, Ryszard J; Smolewska, Elzbieta

    2016-08-01

    Raynaud syndrome (RS) manifests as episodes of transient spasms of peripheral blood vessels, most often in response to cold. The reason of that symptom (primary RS (pRS)) usually cannot be found but may be accompanied by some autoimmune diseases (secondary RS (sRS)). In this study, we assessed microcapillary status and serum concentrations of chosen cytokines, adhesive molecules, and nitric oxide (NO) in patients with pRS and sRS in comparison with healthy children. Eighty-six patients with RS were enrolled into the study, including 52 with pRS and 34 with sRS. The control group consisted of 29 healthy children. A decrease in myorelaxative and anticoagulant abilities was observed, with simultaneous prevalence of vasopressor substances and procoagulative activity. Therefore, several important factors such as endothelin-1 (ET-1), E-selectin (E-sel), interleukin-18 (IL-18), and nitrogen oxide (NO) were also analyzed. Two types of capillaroscopy status were determined: normal and microangiopathic. There was a significant relationship between presence of microangiopathy and higher serum ET-1 (p = 0.018) and E-sel (p = 0.021) levels. Similarly, we have found a correlation between presence of ANA and higher ET-1 (p = 0.005), but not E-sel (p = 0.241). In patients with pRS, we found significant relationship between ANA and higher ET-1 (p = 0.008). No such relations were observed in sRS patients. Our data indicates that external factor-induced vasoconstrictive effects dominated in pRS, whereas in sRS in the course of connective tissue diseases, it was accompanied by coexistent vasodilation due to endothelial dysfunction. The latter phenomenon is at least partially dependent on insufficient NO release.

  10. Anxiety-like behaviour and associated neurochemical and endocrinological alterations in male pups exposed to prenatal stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laloux, Charlotte; Mairesse, Jérôme; Van Camp, Gilles; Giovine, Angela; Branchi, Igor; Bouret, Sebastien; Morley-Fletcher, Sara; Bergonzelli, Gabriela; Malagodi, Marithé; Gradini, Roberto; Nicoletti, Ferdinando; Darnaudéry, Muriel; Maccari, Stefania

    2012-10-01

    Epidemiological studies suggest that emotional liability in infancy could be a predictor of anxiety-related disorders in the adulthood. Rats exposed to prenatal restraint stress ("PRS rats") represent a valuable model for the study of the interplay between environmental triggers and neurodevelopment in the pathogenesis of anxious/depressive like behaviours. Repeated episodes of restraint stress were delivered to female Sprague-Dawley rats during pregnancy and male offspring were studied. Ultrasonic vocalization (USV) was assessed in pups under different behavioural paradigms. After weaning, anxiety was measured by conventional tests. Expression of GABA(A) receptor subunits and metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors was assessed by immunoblotting. Plasma leptin levels were measured using a LINCOplex bead assay kit. The offspring of stressed dams emitted more USVs in response to isolation from their mothers and showed a later suppression of USV production when exposed to an unfamiliar male odour, indicating a pronounced anxiety-like profile. Anxiety like behaviour in PRS pups persisted one day after weaning. PRS pups did not show the plasma peak in leptin levels that is otherwise seen at PND14. In addition, PRS pups showed a reduced expression of the γ2 subunit of GABA(A) receptors in the amygdala at PND14 and PND22, an increased expression of mGlu5 receptors in the amygdala at PND22, a reduced expression of mGlu5 receptors in the hippocampus at PND14 and PND22, and a reduced expression of mGlu2/3 receptors in the hippocampus at PND22. These data offer a clear-cut demonstration that the early programming triggered by PRS could be already translated into anxiety-like behaviour during early postnatal life. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. A Polygenic Risk Score of glutamatergic SNPs associated with schizophrenia predicts attentional behavior and related brain activity in healthy humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rampino, Antonio; Taurisano, Paolo; Fanelli, Giuseppe; Attrotto, Mariateresa; Torretta, Silvia; Antonucci, Linda Antonella; Miccolis, Grazia; Pergola, Giulio; Ursini, Gianluca; Maddalena, Giancarlo; Romano, Raffaella; Masellis, Rita; Di Carlo, Pasquale; Pignataro, Patrizia; Blasi, Giuseppe; Bertolino, Alessandro

    2017-09-01

    Multiple genetic variations impact on risk for schizophrenia. Recent analyses by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC2) identified 128 SNPs genome-wide associated with the disorder. Furthermore, attention and working memory deficits are core features of schizophrenia, are heritable and have been associated with variation in glutamatergic neurotransmission. Based on this evidence, in a sample of healthy volunteers, we used SNPs associated with schizophrenia in PGC2 to construct a Polygenic-Risk-Score (PRS) reflecting the cumulative risk for schizophrenia, along with a Polygenic-Risk-Score including only SNPs related to genes implicated in glutamatergic signaling (Glu-PRS). We performed Factor Analysis for dimension reduction of indices of cognitive performance. Furthermore, both PRS and Glu-PRS were used as predictors of cognitive functioning in the domains of Attention, Speed of Processing and Working Memory. The association of the Glu-PRS on brain activity during the Variable Attention Control (VAC) task was also explored. Finally, in a second independent sample of healthy volunteers we sought to confirm the association between the Glu-PRS and both performance in the domain of Attention and brain activity during the VAC.We found that performance in Speed of Processing and Working Memory was not associated with any of the Polygenic-Risk-Scores. The Glu-PRS, but not the PRS was associated with Attention and brain activity during the VAC. The specific effects of Glu-PRS on Attention and brain activity during the VAC were also confirmed in the replication sample.Our results suggest a pathway specificity in the relationship between genetic risk for schizophrenia, the associated cognitive dysfunction and related brain processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

  12. External-stimuli responsive systems for cancer theranostic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianhui Yao

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The upsurge of novel nanomaterials and nanotechnologies has inspired the researchers who are striving for designing safer and more efficient drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. Stimuli responsive nanomaterial offered an alternative to design controllable drug delivery system on account of its spatiotemporally controllable properties. Additionally, external stimuli (light, magnetic field and ultrasound could develop into theranostic applications for personalized medicine use because of their unique characteristics. In this review, we give a brief overview about the significant progresses and challenges of certain external-stimuli responsive systems that have been extensively investigated in drug delivery and theranostics within the last few years.

  13. The impulsive control synchronization of the drive-response complex system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Yanhong; Yang Yongqing

    2008-01-01

    This Letter investigates projective synchronization between the drive system and response complex dynamical system. An impulsive control scheme is adapted to synchronize the drive-response dynamical system to a desired scalar factor. By using the stability theory of the impulsive differential equation, the criteria for the projective synchronization are derived. The feasibility of the impulsive control of the projective synchronization is demonstrated in the drive-response dynamical system

  14. Modular telerobot control system for accident response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Richard J. M.; Shirey, David L.

    1999-08-01

    The Accident Response Mobile Manipulator System (ARMMS) is a teleoperated emergency response vehicle that deploys two hydraulic manipulators, five cameras, and an array of sensors to the scene of an incident. It is operated from a remote base station that can be situated up to four kilometers away from the site. Recently, a modular telerobot control architecture called SMART was applied to ARMMS to improve the precision, safety, and operability of the manipulators on board. Using SMART, a prototype manipulator control system was developed in a couple of days, and an integrated working system was demonstrated within a couple of months. New capabilities such as camera-frame teleoperation, autonomous tool changeout and dual manipulator control have been incorporated. The final system incorporates twenty-two separate modules and implements seven different behavior modes. This paper describes the integration of SMART into the ARMMS system.

  15. Structural Studies of a Rationally Selected Multi-Drug Resistant HIV-1 Protease Reveal Synergistic Effect of Distal Mutations on Flap Dynamics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Agniswamy, Johnson; Louis, John M.; Roche, Julien; Harrison, Robert W.; Weber, Irene T. (GSU); (NIH); (Iowa State)

    2016-12-16

    We report structural analysis of HIV protease variant PRS17 which was rationally selected by machine learning to represent wide classes of highly drug-resistant variants. Crystal structures were solved of PRS17 in the inhibitor-free form and in complex with antiviral inhibitor, darunavir. Despite its 17 mutations, PRS17 has only one mutation (V82S) in the inhibitor/substrate binding cavity, yet exhibits high resistance to all clinical inhibitors. PRS17 has none of the major mutations (I47V, I50V, I54ML, L76V and I84V) associated with darunavir resistance, but has 10,000-fold weaker binding affinity relative to the wild type PR. Comparable binding affinity of 8000-fold weaker than PR is seen for drug resistant mutant PR20, which bears 3 mutations associated with major resistance to darunavir (I47V, I54L and I84V). Inhibitor-free PRS17 shows an open flap conformation with a curled tip correlating with G48V flap mutation. NMR studies on inactive PRS17 D25N unambiguously confirm that the flaps adopt mainly an open conformation in solution very similar to that in the inhibitor-free crystal structure. In PRS17, the hinge loop cluster of mutations, E35D, M36I and S37D, contributes to the altered flap dynamics by a mechanism similar to that of PR20. An additional K20R mutation anchors an altered conformation of the hinge loop. Flap mutations M46L and G48V in PRS17/DRV complex alter the Phe53 conformation by steric hindrance between the side chains. Unlike the L10F mutation in PR20, L10I in PRS17 does not break the inter-subunit ion pair or diminish the dimer stability, consistent with a very low dimer dissociation constant comparable to that of wild type PR. Distal mutations A71V, L90M and I93L propagate alterations to the catalytic site of PRS17. PRS17 exhibits a molecular mechanism whereby mutations act synergistically to alter the flap dynamics resulting in significantly weaker binding yet maintaining active site contacts with darunavir.

  16. Evaluation of Polygenic Risk Scores for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Prediction in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuchenbaecker, Karoline B.; McGuffog, Lesley; Barrowdale, Daniel; Lee, Andrew; Soucy, Penny; Healey, Sue; Dennis, Joe; Lush, Michael; Robson, Mark; Spurdle, Amanda B.; Ramus, Susan J.; Mavaddat, Nasim; Terry, Mary Beth; Neuhausen, Susan L.; Hamann, Ute; Southey, Melissa; John, Esther M.; Chung, Wendy K.; Daly, Mary B.; Buys, Saundra S.; Goldgar, David E.; Dorfling, Cecilia M.; van Rensburg, Elizabeth J.; Ding, Yuan Chun; Ejlertsen, Bent; Gerdes, Anne-Marie; Hansen, Thomas V. O.; Slager, Susan; Hallberg, Emily; Benitez, Javier; Osorio, Ana; Cohen, Nancy; Lawler, William; Weitzel, Jeffrey N.; Peterlongo, Paolo; Pensotti, Valeria; Dolcetti, Riccardo; Barile, Monica; Bonanni, Bernardo; Azzollini, Jacopo; Manoukian, Siranoush; Peissel, Bernard; Radice, Paolo; Savarese, Antonella; Papi, Laura; Giannini, Giuseppe; Fostira, Florentia; Konstantopoulou, Irene; Adlard, Julian; Brewer, Carole; Cook, Jackie; Davidson, Rosemarie; Eccles, Diana; Eeles, Ros; Ellis, Steve; Frost, Debra; Hodgson, Shirley; Izatt, Louise; Lalloo, Fiona; Ong, Kai-ren; Godwin, Andrew K.; Arnold, Norbert; Dworniczak, Bernd; Engel, Christoph; Gehrig, Andrea; Hahnen, Eric; Hauke, Jan; Kast, Karin; Meindl, Alfons; Niederacher, Dieter; Schmutzler, Rita Katharina; Varon-Mateeva, Raymonda; Wang-Gohrke, Shan; Wappenschmidt, Barbara; Barjhoux, Laure; Collonge-Rame, Marie-Agnès; Elan, Camille; Golmard, Lisa; Barouk-Simonet, Emmanuelle; Lesueur, Fabienne; Mazoyer, Sylvie; Sokolowska, Joanna; Stoppa-Lyonnet, Dominique; Isaacs, Claudine; Claes, Kathleen B. M.; Poppe, Bruce; de la Hoya, Miguel; Garcia-Barberan, Vanesa; Aittomäki, Kristiina; Nevanlinna, Heli; Ausems, Margreet G. E. M.; de Lange, J. L.; Gómez Garcia, Encarna B.; Hogervorst, Frans B. L.; Kets, Carolien M.; Meijers-Heijboer, Hanne E. J.; Oosterwijk, Jan C.; Rookus, Matti A.; van Asperen, Christi J.; van den Ouweland, Ans M. W.; van Doorn, Helena C.; van Os, Theo A. M.; Kwong, Ava; Olah, Edith; Diez, Orland; Brunet, Joan; Lazaro, Conxi; Teulé, Alex; Gronwald, Jacek; Jakubowska, Anna; Kaczmarek, Katarzyna; Lubinski, Jan; Sukiennicki, Grzegorz; Barkardottir, Rosa B.; Chiquette, Jocelyne; Agata, Simona; Montagna, Marco; Teixeira, Manuel R.; Park, Sue Kyung; Olswold, Curtis; Tischkowitz, Marc; Foretova, Lenka; Gaddam, Pragna; Vijai, Joseph; Pfeiler, Georg; Rappaport-Fuerhauser, Christine; Singer, Christian F.; Tea, Muy-Kheng M.; Greene, Mark H.; Loud, Jennifer T.; Rennert, Gad; Imyanitov, Evgeny N.; Hulick, Peter J.; Hays, John L.; Piedmonte, Marion; Rodriguez, Gustavo C.; Martyn, Julie; Glendon, Gord; Mulligan, Anna Marie; Andrulis, Irene L.; Toland, Amanda Ewart; Jensen, Uffe Birk; Kruse, Torben A.; Pedersen, Inge Sokilde; Thomassen, Mads; Caligo, Maria A.; Teo, Soo-Hwang; Berger, Raanan; Friedman, Eitan; Laitman, Yael; Arver, Brita; Borg, Ake; Ehrencrona, Hans; Rantala, Johanna; Olopade, Olufunmilayo I.; Ganz, Patricia A.; Nussbaum, Robert L.; Bradbury, Angela R.; Domchek, Susan M.; Nathanson, Katherine L.; Arun, Banu K.; James, Paul; Karlan, Beth Y.; Lester, Jenny; Simard, Jacques; Pharoah, Paul D. P.; Offit, Kenneth; Couch, Fergus J.; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Easton, Douglas F.

    2017-01-01

    Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 94 common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with breast cancer (BC) risk and 18 associated with ovarian cancer (OC) risk. Several of these are also associated with risk of BC or OC for women who carry a pathogenic mutation in the high-risk BC and OC genes BRCA1 or BRCA2. The combined effects of these variants on BC or OC risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers have not yet been assessed while their clinical management could benefit from improved personalized risk estimates. Methods: We constructed polygenic risk scores (PRS) using BC and OC susceptibility SNPs identified through population-based GWAS: for BC (overall, estrogen receptor [ER]–positive, and ER-negative) and for OC. Using data from 15 252 female BRCA1 and 8211 BRCA2 carriers, the association of each PRS with BC or OC risk was evaluated using a weighted cohort approach, with time to diagnosis as the outcome and estimation of the hazard ratios (HRs) per standard deviation increase in the PRS. Results: The PRS for ER-negative BC displayed the strongest association with BC risk in BRCA1 carriers (HR = 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.23 to 1.31, P = 8.2×10−53). In BRCA2 carriers, the strongest association with BC risk was seen for the overall BC PRS (HR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.17 to 1.28, P = 7.2×10−20). The OC PRS was strongly associated with OC risk for both BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers. These translate to differences in absolute risks (more than 10% in each case) between the top and bottom deciles of the PRS distribution; for example, the OC risk was 6% by age 80 years for BRCA2 carriers at the 10th percentile of the OC PRS compared with 19% risk for those at the 90th percentile of PRS. Conclusions: BC and OC PRS are predictive of cancer risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers. Incorporation of the PRS into risk prediction models has promise to better inform decisions on cancer risk management. PMID

  17. Hippocampal low-frequency stimulation inhibits afterdischarge and increases GABA (A) receptor expression in amygdala-kindled pharmacoresistant epileptic rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Guofeng; Wang, Likun; Hong, Zhen; Ren, Siying; Zhou, Feng

    2017-08-01

    The purpose of the present study was to observe the effects of hippocampal low-frequency stimulation (Hip-LFS) on amygdala afterdischarge and GABA (A) receptor expression in pharmacoresistant epileptic (PRE) rats. A total of 110 healthy adult male Wistar rats were used to generate a model of epilepsy by chronic stimulation of the amygdala. Sixteen PRE rats were selected from 70 amygdala-kindled rats by testing their response to Phenytoin and Phenobarbital, and they were randomly assigned to a pharmacoresistant stimulation group (PRS group, 8 rats) or a pharmacoresistant control group (PRC group, 8 rats). A stimulation electrode was implanted into the hippocampus of all of the rats. Hip-LFS was administered twice per day in the PRS group for two weeks. Simultaneously, amygdala stimulus-induced seizures and afterdischarge were recorded. After the hippocampal stimulation was terminated, the brain tissues were obtained to determine the GABA (A) receptors by a method of immumohistochemistry and a real-time polymerase chain reaction. The stages and duration of the amygdala stimulus-induced epileptic seizures were decreased in the PRS group. The afterdischarge threshold was increased and the duration as well as the afterdischarge frequency was decreased. Simultaneously, the GABA (A) expression was significantly increased in the PRS group. Hip-LFS may inhibit amygdala stimulus-induced epileptic seizures and up-regulate GABA (A) receptor expression in PRE rats. The antiepileptic effects of hippocampal stimulation may be partly achieved by increasing the GABA (A) receptor.

  18. Social responsibility as a management system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuria Arimany-Serrat

    2018-02-01

    Originality/value: The study identifies a business management system that continuously organises and improves the performances of a company in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility, through audited certification that enhances the competitivity of companies that hold the international standard. The study also demonstrates the need for a management system to integrate into business models.

  19. SU-E-T-608: Performance Comparison of Four Commercial Treatment Planning Systems Applied to Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cao, Y; Li, R; Chi, Z [The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, CN, Shijiazhuang, Hebei (China)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To compare the performances of four commercial treatment planning systems (TPS) used for the intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods: Ten patients of nasopharyngeal (4 cases), esophageal (3 cases) and cervical (3 cases) cancer were randomly selected from a 3-month IMRT plan pool at one radiotherapy center. For each patient, four IMRT plans were newly generated by using four commercial TPS (Corvus, Monaco, Pinnacle and Xio), and then verified with Matrixx (two-dimensional array/IBA Company) on Varian23EX accelerator. A pass rate (PR) calculated from the Gamma index by OminiPro IMRT 1.5 software was evaluated at four plan verification standards (1%/1mm, 2%/2mm, 3%/3mm, 4%/4mm and 5%/5mm) for each treatment plan. Overall and multiple pairwise comparisons of PRs were statistically conducted by analysis of covariance (ANOVA) F and LSD tests among four TPSs. Results: Overall significant (p>0.05) differences of PRs were found among four TPSs with F test values of 3.8 (p=0.02), 21.1(>0.01), 14.0 (>0.01), 8.3(>0.01) at standards of 1%/1mm to 4%/4mm respectively, except at 5%/5mm standard with 2.6 (p=0.06). All means (standard deviation) of PRs at 3%/3mm of 94.3 ± 3.3 (Corvus), 98.8 ± 0.8 (Monaco), 97.5± 1.7 (Pinnacle), 98.4 ± 1.0 (Xio) were above 90% and met clinical requirement. Multiple pairwise comparisons had not demonstrated a consistent low or high pattern on either TPS. Conclusion: Matrixx dose verification results show that the validation pass rates of Monaco and Xio plans are relatively higher than those of the other two; Pinnacle plan shows slight higher pass rate than Corvus plan; lowest pass rate was achieved by the Corvus plan among these four kinds of TPS.

  20. CNS imaging findings associated with Parry-Romberg syndrome and en coup de sabre: correlation to dermatologic and neurologic abnormalities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doolittle, Derrick A; Lehman, Vance T; Schwartz, Kara M; Wong-Kisiel, Lily C; Lehman, Julia S; Tollefson, Megha M

    2015-01-01

    Parry-Romberg syndrome (PRS) and en coup de sabre (ECS) are variants of morphea. Although numerous findings on central nervous system (CNS) imaging of PRS and ECS have been reported, the spectrum and frequency of CNS imaging findings and relation to cutaneous and neurologic abnormalities have not been fully characterized. We retrospectively reviewed patients younger than 50 years at our institution over a 16-year interval who had clinical diagnosis of PRS and ECS by a skin or facial subspecialist. Two neuroradiologists evaluated available imaging and characterized CNS imaging findings. Eighty-eight patients with PRS or ECS were identified (62 women [70.4 %]; mean age 28.8 years). Of the 43 patients with CNS imaging, 19 (44 %) had abnormal findings. The only finding in 1 of these 19 patients was lateral ventricle asymmetry; of the other 18, findings were bilateral in 11 (61 %), ipsilateral to the side of facial involvement in 6 (33 %), and contralateral in 1 (6 %). Sixteen patients had serial imaging examinations over an average of 632 days; 13 (81 %) had stable imaging findings, and 3 (19 %) had change over time. Of six patients with progressive cutaneous findings, five (83 %) had stable imaging findings over time. Among the 23 patients with clinical neurologic abnormality and imaging, 12 (52 %) had abnormal imaging findings. All seven patients with seizures (100 %) had abnormal imaging studies. In PRS and ECS, imaging findings often are bilateral and often do not progress, regardless of cutaneous disease activity. Findings are inconsistently associated with clinical abnormalities.

  1. Pollination Reservoirs in Lowbush Blueberry (Ericales: Ericaceae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venturini, E M; Drummond, F A; Hoshide, A K; Dibble, A C; Stack, L B

    2017-04-01

    Pollinator-dependent agriculture heavily relies upon a single pollinator-the honey bee. To diversify pollination strategies, growers are turning to alternatives. Densely planted reservoirs of pollen- and nectar-rich flowers (pollination reservoirs, hereafter "PRs") may improve pollination services provided by wild bees. Our focal agroecosystem, lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton), exists in a simple landscape uniquely positioned to benefit from PRs. First, we contrast bee visitation rates and use of three types of PR. We consider the effects of PRs on wild bee diversity and the composition of bumble bee pollen loads. We contrast field-level crop pollination services between PRs and controls four years postestablishment. Last, we calculate the time to pay for PR investment. Social bees preferentially used clover plantings; solitary bees preferentially used wildflower plantings. On average, bumble bee pollen loads in treatment fields contained 37% PR pollen. PRs significantly increased visitation rates to the crop in year 4, and exerted a marginally significant positive influence on fruit set. The annualized costs of PRs were covered by the fourth year using the measured increase in pollination services. Our findings provide evidence of the positive impact of PRs on crop pollination services. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.

  2. The national response system: Where do we go from here?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, R.C.

    1993-01-01

    The response to the Exxon Valdez incident showed that the nation needs to be better prepared to respond to a spill of that magnitude. In research conducted on the Valdez response, several inadequacies were noted in the National Response System (NRS). A key deficiency identified was the critical need for a standardized management system to direct the response effort more effectively and efficiently. The most pressing question for preparedness planners in improving the NRS is open-quotes where do we go from here?close quotes. In answering this question, planners must address another question, open-quotes how long is it going to take?close quotes. There has been wide spread failure to put existing knowledge into practice. To fill the management void identified in the NRS, it is imperative that a response management system be adopted as soon as possible. Once adopted, it can be modified and refined to provide a more effective response. The system proposed in this paper uses the sound management practices of an incident command system and modifies and/or expands these practices to fit onto the foundation built by the NRS. This response management system could be used for all spills from minor ones to large, catastrophic spills of national significance (SONS)

  3. Transformation Planning of Ecotourism Systems to Invigorate Responsible Tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yun Eui Choi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to introduce transformation plans that can stimulate responsible ecotourism by using systems thinking to solve ecotourism problems in Korea. Systems thinking is a research method used to understand the operating mechanisms of the variables that influence an entire system, in order to identify its problems. The four types of ecotourism systems are classified as follows: low-infrastructure and resident-initiated, high-infrastructure and resident-initiated, high-infrastructure and government-initiated and low-infrastructure and government-initiated. These systems vary based on the need for tourism facilities and the form of governance. Each type of system is analyzed using the systems thinking process (dynamic thinking, causal thinking, feedback thinking, strategic thinking at representative ecotourism sites in Jeollanam-do and the following transformation plans are proposed to improve the responsibility at the tourism sites: First, local residents will develop a system to manage and operate ecotourism ventures and establish cooperative governance structures to strengthen the local capacity. Second, ecotourism operators will improve the quality of their educational and interpretative programs and tourist information platforms in order to raise awareness of the responsibilities of ecotourists. Third, ecotourism systems that are improved through ecotourists’ and tour operators' heightened senses of responsibility can sustain ecotourism independently. These transformation plans can be applied to policy proposals for revitalizing ecotourism, to guidelines for improving community resilience and to biological habitat protection plans. This study is meaningful in that it discusses the role of stakeholders in ecotourism planning and promoting responsible tourism and their role in utilizing and conserving natural resources accordingly.

  4. Rosatom's Crisis Response Centre within the national nuclear safety system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smirnov, S.N.; Komarovskij, A.V.; Moskalev, V.A.

    2011-01-01

    The Rosatom Corporation includes a number of subsidiaries associated with nuclear energy use as well as with the military, scientific, technological, nuclear and radiation safety management aspects. The Rosatom Corporation has a well-established and efficient industry-wide system of emergency prevention and response, whose purpose is to ensure safe functioning of the nuclear industry, protection of personnel, the public and nature from potential dangers; it is also a functional subsystem of the unified national system of emergency prevention and response. Overall management of the system is performed by Director General of the Rosatom Corporation, overall methodological management - by the Department of Licensing, Nuclear and Radiation Safety; everyday management of the emergency prevention and response system, round-the-clock monitoring and informational support - by the Rosatom Crisis and Response Centre (CRC). CRC acts as the national focal point for warning and communication in Russia, which provides continuous round-the-clock preparedness to cooperate with the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Centre using the formats of the ENATOM international emergency response system, similar national crisis response centres abroad [ru

  5. An Ontology-Underpinned Emergency Response System for Water Pollution Accidents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoliang Meng

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available With the unceasing development and maturation of environment geographic information system, the response to water pollution accidents has been digitalized through the combination of monitoring sensors, management servers, and application software. However, most of these systems only achieve the basic and general geospatial data management and functional process tasks by adopting mechanistic water-quality models. To satisfy the sustainable monitoring and real-time emergency response application demand of the government and public users, it is a hotspot to study how to make the water pollution information being semantic and make the referred applications intelligent. Thus, the architecture of the ontology-underpinned emergency response system for water pollution accidents is proposed in this paper. This paper also makes a case study for usability testing of the water ontology models, and emergency response rules through an online water pollution emergency response system. The system contributes scientifically to the safety and sustainability of drinking water by providing emergency response and decision-making to the government and public in a timely manner.

  6. Automated emergency meteorological response system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pepper, D.W.

    1980-01-01

    A sophisticated emergency response system was developed to aid in the evaluation of accidental releases of hazardous materials from the Savannah River Plant to the environment. A minicomputer system collects and archives data from both onsite meteorological towers and the National Weather Service. In the event of an accidental release, the computer rapidly calculates the trajectory and dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere. Computer codes have been developed which provide a graphic display of predicted concentration profiles downwind from the source, as functions of time and distance

  7. Host-selective toxins of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis induce common responses associated with host susceptibility.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iovanna Pandelova

    Full Text Available Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr, a necrotrophic fungus and the causal agent of tan spot of wheat, produces one or a combination of host-selective toxins (HSTs necessary for disease development. The two most studied toxins produced by Ptr, Ptr ToxA (ToxA and Ptr ToxB (ToxB, are proteins that cause necrotic or chlorotic symptoms respectively. Investigation of host responses induced by HSTs provides better insight into the nature of the host susceptibility. Microarray analysis of ToxA has provided evidence that it can elicit responses similar to those associated with defense. In order to evaluate whether there are consistent host responses associated with susceptibility, a similar analysis of ToxB-induced changes in the same sensitive cultivar was conducted. Comparative analysis of ToxA- and ToxB-induced transcriptional changes showed that similar groups of genes encoding WRKY transcription factors, RLKs, PRs, components of the phenylpropanoid and jasmonic acid pathways are activated. ROS accumulation and photosystem dysfunction proved to be common mechanism-of-action for these toxins. Despite similarities in defense responses, transcriptional and biochemical responses as well as symptom development occur more rapidly for ToxA compared to ToxB, which could be explained by differences in perception as well as by differences in activation of a specific process, for example, ethylene biosynthesis in ToxA treatment. Results of this study suggest that perception of HSTs will result in activation of defense responses as part of a susceptible interaction and further supports the hypothesis that necrotrophic fungi exploit defense responses in order to induce cell death.

  8. Immune response induction in the central nervous system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Owens, Trevor; Babcock, Alicia

    2002-01-01

    The primary function of the immune response is protection of the host against infection with pathogens, including viruses. Since viruses can infect any tissue of the body, including the central nervous system (CNS), it is logical that cells of the immune system should equally have access to all...... tissues. Nevertheless, the brain and spinal cord are noted for their lack of immune presence. Relative to other organ systems, the CNS appears immunologically privileged. Furthermore, when immune responses do occur in the CNS, they are frequently associated with deleterious effects such as inflammatory...

  9. Modulation of systemic immune responses through commensal gastrointestinal microbiota.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyle M Schachtschneider

    Full Text Available Colonization of the gastrointestinal (GI tract is initiated during birth and continually seeded from the individual's environment. Gastrointestinal microorganisms play a central role in developing and modulating host immune responses and have been the subject of investigation over the last decades. Animal studies have demonstrated the impact of GI tract microbiota on local gastrointestinal immune responses; however, the full spectrum of action of early gastrointestinal tract stimulation and subsequent modulation of systemic immune responses is poorly understood. This study explored the utility of an oral microbial inoculum as a therapeutic tool to affect porcine systemic immune responses. For this study a litter of 12 pigs was split into two groups. One group of pigs was inoculated with a non-pathogenic oral inoculum (modulated, while another group (control was not. DNA extracted from nasal swabs and fecal samples collected throughout the study was sequenced to determine the effects of the oral inoculation on GI and respiratory microbial communities. The effects of GI microbial modulation on systemic immune responses were evaluated by experimentally infecting with the pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Coughing levels, pathology, toll-like receptors 2 and 6, and cytokine production were measured throughout the study. Sequencing results show a successful modulation of the GI and respiratory microbiomes through oral inoculation. Delayed type hypersensitivity responses were stronger (p = 0.07, and the average coughing levels and respiratory TNF-α variance were significantly lower in the modulated group (p<0.0001 and p = 0.0153, respectively. The M. hyopneumoniae infection study showed beneficial effects of the oral inoculum on systemic immune responses including antibody production, severity of infection and cytokine levels. These results suggest that an oral microbial inoculation can be used to modulate microbial communities, as well as

  10. Coupled response spectrum analysis of secondary systems using uncoupled modal properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, A.K.; Jaw Jingwen

    1986-01-01

    A method of performing coupled response spectrum analysis of secondary systems is presented. The response spectrum specified at the base of the primary system is used as the input. The complex coupled mode shapes along with frequencies and damping values are calculated using an efficient and accurate perturbation scheme. The new method is applied to a 2 DOF secondary system coupled with a 6 DOF secondary system. The masses and the stiffness of the secondary system are varied to get nine different cases. The coupled system is subjected to El Centro (S00E, 1940) ground motion. It is shown that the response values from the present method are in good agreement with those from the coupled time history analysis. The conventional floor response spectrum method gives response values which are consistently much higher than the corresponding values from the time history analysis. It is concluded that the present method is sufficiently straightforward and efficient, and that it yields accurate response values. (orig.)

  11. Ecotoxicological screen of Potential Release Site 50-006(d) of Operable Unit 1147 of Mortandad Canyon and relationship to the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facilities project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonzales, G.J.; Newell, P.G.

    1996-04-01

    Potential ecological risk associated with soil contaminants in Potential Release Site (PRS) 50-006(d) of Mortandad Canyon at the Los Alamos National Laboratory was assessed by performing an ecotoxicological risk screen. The PRS surrounds Outfall 051, which discharges treated effluent from the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility. Discharge at the outfall is permitted under the Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. Radionuclide discharge is regulated by US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.5. Ecotoxicological Screening Action Levels (ESALSs) were computed for nonradionuclide constituents in the soil, and human risk SALs for radionuclides were used as ESALs. Within the PRS and beginning at Outfall 051, soil was sampled at three points along each of nine linear transects at 100-ft intervals. Soil samples from 3 depths for each sampling point were analyzed for the concentration of a total of 121 constituents. Only the results of the surface sampling are reported in this report

  12. Comparison study of time history and response spectrum responses for multiply supported piping systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Y.K.; Subudhi, M.; Bezler, P.

    1983-01-01

    In the past decade, several investigators have studied the problem of independent support excitation of a multiply supported piping system to identify the real need for such an analysis. This approach offers an increase in accuracy at a small increase in computational costs. To assess the method, studies based on the response spectrum approach using independent support motions for each group of commonly connected supports were performed. The results obtained from this approach were compared with the conventional envelope spectrum and time history solutions. The present study includes a mathematical formulation of the independent support motion analysis method suitable for implementation into an existing all purpose piping code PSAFE2 and a comparison of the solutions for some typical piping system using both Time History and Response Spectrum Methods. The results obtained from the Response Spectrum Methods represent the upper bound solution at most points in the piping system. Similarly, the Seismic Anchor Movement analysis based on the SRP method over predicts the responses near the support points and under predicts at points away from the supports

  13. Long-term culture change related to rapid response system implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Jennifer; Johansson, Anna; Lennes, Inga; Hsu, Douglas; Tess, Anjala; Howell, Michael

    2014-12-01

    Increasing attention to patient safety in training hospitals may come at the expense of trainee autonomy and professional growth. This study sought to examine changes in medical trainees' self-reported behaviour after the institution-wide implementation of a rapid response system. We conducted a two-point cross-sectional survey of medical trainees in 2006, during the implementation of a rapid response system, and in 2010, in a single academic medical centre. A novel instrument was used to measure trainee likelihood of calling for supervisory assistance, perception of autonomy, and comfort in managing decompensating patients. Non-parametric tests to assess for change were used and year of training was evaluated as an effect modifier. Response rates were 38% in 2006 and 70% in 2010. After 5 years of the full implementation of the rapid response system, residents were significantly more likely to report calling their attending physicians for assistance (rising from 40% to 65% of relevant situations; p autonomy at 5 years after the implementation of the rapid response system. These changes were mirrored in the actual use of the rapid response system, which increased by 41% during the 5-year period after adjustment for patient volume (p < 0.0001). A primary team-focused implementation of a rapid response system was associated with durable changes in resident physicians' reported behaviour, including increased comfort with involving more experienced physicians and managing unstable patients. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Lack of IgG antibody seropositivity to Borrelia burgdorferi in patients with Parry-Romberg syndrome and linear morphea en coup de sabre in Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutiérrez-Gómez, Claudia; Godínez-Hana, Ana L; García-Hernández, Marisela; Suárez-Roa, María de Lourdes; Toussaint-Caire, Sonia; Vega-Memije, Elisa; Gutiérrez-Mendoza, Daniela; Pérez-Dosal, Marcia; Medina-De la Garza, Carlos E

    2014-08-01

    Progressive hemifacial atrophy or Parry-Romberg Syndrome (PRS) is a rare, acquired, progressive dysplasia of subcutaneous tissue and bone characterized by unilateral facial involvement. Its etiology is unknown, but theories about its pathogenesis include infectious, degenerative, autoimmune, and traumatic causes among others. The causal relationship of PRS and linear morphea en coup de sabre (LMCS) with Borrelia burgdorferi infection remains controversial. Our goal was to serologically determine anti-B. burgdorferi antibodies in patients diagnosed with PRS and LMCS to establish a possible association as a causative agent. We conducted a serology study with patients belonging to a group of 21 individuals diagnosed with PRS, six with LMCS, and 21 matched controls. Anti-Borrelia IgG antibodies were determined by ELISA. A descriptive statistical analysis and Fischer's exact test were done. In serological tests, only two cases had borderline values and were further analyzed by Western blot with non-confirmatory results. For both the PRS and LMCS group, the association test was not significant, suggesting a lack of association between PRS or LMCS and the presence of anti-Borrelia antibodies. In Mexico there are no previous studies on Borrelia infection and its relationship between PRS or LMCS. Our result showed a lack of association of either clinical entities with anti-Borrelia-antibodies. Former reports of this association may suggest coincidental findings without causal relationship. © 2014 The International Society of Dermatology.

  15. Systems approach to chemical spill response information needs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parnarouskis, M.C.; Flessner, M.F.; Potts, R.G.

    1980-01-01

    The Chemical Hazards Response Information System (CHRIS) has been specifically designed to meet the emergency needs of US Coast Guard field personnel, currently providing them with information on 900 hazardous chemicals, with methods of predicting hazards resulting from accidental discharges, and with procedures for selecting and implementing response to accident discharges. The major components of CHRIS and the computerized hazard assessment models within the Hazard Assessment Computer System are described in detail.

  16. Anti-tumor activity of polysaccharides extracted from Senecio ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Purpose: To optimize the extraction conditions of polysaccharides from the root of Senecio scandens Buch,-Ham. (PRS) and evaluate its anti-tumor effect on hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Response surface methodology (RSM) applied with a Box-Behnken design (BBD, three levels and three factors) was employed to ...

  17. Socio-economic disparities in health system responsiveness in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malhotra, Chetna; Do, Young Kyung

    2013-03-01

    To assess the magnitude of socio-economic disparities in health system responsiveness in India after correcting for potential reporting heterogeneity by socio-economic characteristics (education and wealth). Data from Wave 1 of the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (2007-2008) involving six Indian states were used. Seven health system responsiveness domains were considered for a respondent's last visit to an outpatient service in 12 months: prompt attention, dignity, clarity of information, autonomy, confidentiality, choice and quality of basic amenities. Hierarchical ordered probit models (correcting for reporting heterogeneity through anchoring vignettes) were used to assess the association of socio-economic characteristics with the seven responsiveness domains, controlling for age, gender and area of residence. Stratified analysis was also conducted among users of public and private health facilities. Our statistical models accounting for reporting heterogeneity revealed socio-economic disparities in all health system responsiveness domains. Estimates suggested that individuals from the lowest wealth group, for example, were less likely than individuals from the highest wealth group to report 'very good' on the dignity domain by 8% points (10% vs 18%). Stratified analysis showed that such disparities existed among users of both public and private health facilities. Socio-economic disparities exist in health system responsiveness in India, irrespective of the type of health facility used. Policy efforts to monitor and improve these disparities are required at the health system level.

  18. What is health systems responsiveness? Review of existing knowledge and proposed conceptual framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirzoev, Tolib; Kane, Sumit

    2017-01-01

    Responsiveness is a key objective of national health systems. Responsive health systems anticipate and adapt to existing and future health needs, thus contributing to better health outcomes. Of all the health systems objectives, responsiveness is the least studied, which perhaps reflects lack of comprehensive frameworks that go beyond the normative characteristics of responsive services. This paper contributes to a growing, yet limited, knowledge on this topic. Herewith, we review the current frameworks for understanding health systems responsiveness and drawing on these, as well as key frameworks from the wider public services literature, propose a comprehensive conceptual framework for health systems responsiveness. This paper should be of interest to different stakeholders who are engaged in analysing and improving health systems responsiveness. Our review shows that existing knowledge on health systems responsiveness can be extended along the three areas. First, responsiveness entails an actual experience of people’s interaction with their health system, which confirms or disconfirms their initial expectations of the system. Second, the experience of interaction is shaped by both the people and the health systems sides of this interaction. Third, different influences shape people’s interaction with their health system, ultimately affecting their resultant experiences. Therefore, recognition of both people and health systems sides of interaction and their key determinants would enhance the conceptualisations of responsiveness. Our proposed framework builds on, and advances, the core frameworks in the health systems literature. It positions the experience of interaction between people and health system as the centrepiece and recognises the determinants of responsiveness experience both from the health systems (eg, actors, processes) and the people (eg, initial expectations) sides. While we hope to trigger further thinking on the conceptualisation of health

  19. What is health systems responsiveness? Review of existing knowledge and proposed conceptual framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirzoev, Tolib; Kane, Sumit

    2017-01-01

    Responsiveness is a key objective of national health systems. Responsive health systems anticipate and adapt to existing and future health needs, thus contributing to better health outcomes. Of all the health systems objectives, responsiveness is the least studied, which perhaps reflects lack of comprehensive frameworks that go beyond the normative characteristics of responsive services. This paper contributes to a growing, yet limited, knowledge on this topic. Herewith, we review the current frameworks for understanding health systems responsiveness and drawing on these, as well as key frameworks from the wider public services literature, propose a comprehensive conceptual framework for health systems responsiveness. This paper should be of interest to different stakeholders who are engaged in analysing and improving health systems responsiveness. Our review shows that existing knowledge on health systems responsiveness can be extended along the three areas. First, responsiveness entails an actual experience of people's interaction with their health system, which confirms or disconfirms their initial expectations of the system. Second, the experience of interaction is shaped by both the people and the health systems sides of this interaction. Third, different influences shape people's interaction with their health system, ultimately affecting their resultant experiences. Therefore, recognition of both people and health systems sides of interaction and their key determinants would enhance the conceptualisations of responsiveness. Our proposed framework builds on, and advances, the core frameworks in the health systems literature. It positions the experience of interaction between people and health system as the centrepiece and recognises the determinants of responsiveness experience both from the health systems (eg, actors, processes) and the people (eg, initial expectations) sides. While we hope to trigger further thinking on the conceptualisation of health system

  20. Benefits of Demand-Side Response in Providing Frequency Response Service in the Future GB Power System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Teng, Fei, E-mail: fei.teng09@imperial.ac.uk; Aunedi, Marko; Pudjianto, Danny; Strbac, Goran [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)

    2015-08-18

    The demand for ancillary service is expected to increase significantly in the future Great Britain (GB) electricity system due to high penetration of wind. In particular, the need for frequency response, required to deal with sudden frequency drops following a loss of generator, will increase because of the limited inertia capability of wind plants. This paper quantifies the requirements for primary frequency response and analyses the benefits of frequency response provision from demand-side response (DSR). The results show dramatic changes in frequency response requirements driven by high penetration of wind. Case studies carried out by using an advanced stochastic generation scheduling model suggest that the provision of frequency response from DSR could greatly reduce the system operation cost, wind curtailment, and carbon emissions in the future GB system characterized by high penetration of wind. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the benefit of DSR shows significant diurnal and seasonal variation, whereas an even more rapid (instant) delivery of frequency response from DSR could provide significant additional value. Our studies also indicate that the competing technologies to DSR, namely battery storage, and more flexible generation could potentially reduce its value by up to 35%, still leaving significant room to deploy DSR as frequency response provider.

  1. Benefits of Demand-Side Response in Providing Frequency Response Service in the Future GB Power System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Teng, Fei; Aunedi, Marko; Pudjianto, Danny; Strbac, Goran

    2015-01-01

    The demand for ancillary service is expected to increase significantly in the future Great Britain (GB) electricity system due to high penetration of wind. In particular, the need for frequency response, required to deal with sudden frequency drops following a loss of generator, will increase because of the limited inertia capability of wind plants. This paper quantifies the requirements for primary frequency response and analyses the benefits of frequency response provision from demand-side response (DSR). The results show dramatic changes in frequency response requirements driven by high penetration of wind. Case studies carried out by using an advanced stochastic generation scheduling model suggest that the provision of frequency response from DSR could greatly reduce the system operation cost, wind curtailment, and carbon emissions in the future GB system characterized by high penetration of wind. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the benefit of DSR shows significant diurnal and seasonal variation, whereas an even more rapid (instant) delivery of frequency response from DSR could provide significant additional value. Our studies also indicate that the competing technologies to DSR, namely battery storage, and more flexible generation could potentially reduce its value by up to 35%, still leaving significant room to deploy DSR as frequency response provider.

  2. BEARS: a multi-mission anomaly response system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Bryce A.

    2009-05-01

    The Mission Operations Group at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory operates a highly automated ground station and presently a fleet of seven satellites, each with its own associated command and control console. However, the requirement for prompt anomaly detection and resolution is shared commonly between the ground segment and all spacecraft. The efficient, low-cost operation and "lights-out" staffing of the Mission Operations Group requires that controllers and engineers be notified of spacecraft and ground system problems around the clock. The Berkeley Emergency Anomaly and Response System (BEARS) is an in-house developed web- and paging-based software system that meets this need. BEARS was developed as a replacement for an existing emergency reporting software system that was too closedsource, platform-specific, expensive, and antiquated to expand or maintain. To avoid these limitations, the new system design leverages cross-platform, open-source software products such as MySQL, PHP, and Qt. Anomaly notifications and responses make use of the two-way paging capabilities of modern smart phones.

  3. The Nature of Nurture: Using a Virtual-Parent Design to Test Parenting Effects on Children's Educational Attainment in Genotyped Families.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bates, Timothy C; Maher, Brion S; Medland, Sarah E; McAloney, Kerrie; Wright, Margaret J; Hansell, Narelle K; Kendler, Kenneth S; Martin, Nicholas G; Gillespie, Nathan A

    2018-04-01

    Research on environmental and genetic pathways to complex traits such as educational attainment (EA) is confounded by uncertainty over whether correlations reflect effects of transmitted parental genes, causal family environments, or some, possibly interactive, mixture of both. Thus, an aggregate of thousands of alleles associated with EA (a polygenic risk score; PRS) may tap parental behaviors and home environments promoting EA in the offspring. New methods for unpicking and determining these causal pathways are required. Here, we utilize the fact that parents pass, at random, 50% of their genome to a given offspring to create independent scores for the transmitted alleles (conventional EA PRS) and a parental score based on alleles not transmitted to the offspring (EA VP_PRS). The formal effect of non-transmitted alleles on offspring attainment was tested in 2,333 genotyped twins for whom high-quality measures of EA, assessed at age 17 years, were available, and whose parents were also genotyped. Four key findings were observed. First, the EA PRS and EA VP_PRS were empirically independent, validating the virtual-parent design. Second, in this family-based design, children's own EA PRS significantly predicted their EA (β = 0.15), ruling out stratification confounds as a cause of the association of attainment with the EA PRS. Third, parental EA PRS predicted the SES environment parents provided to offspring (β = 0.20), and parental SES and offspring EA were significantly associated (β = 0.33). This would suggest that the EA PRS is at least as strongly linked to social competence as it is to EA, leading to higher attained SES in parents and, therefore, a higher experienced SES for children. In a full structural equation model taking account of family genetic relatedness across multiple siblings the non-transmitted allele effects were estimated at similar values; but, in this more complex model, confidence intervals included zero. A test using the forthcoming EA3

  4. Effectiveness Analysis of a Part-Time Rapid Response System During Operation Versus Nonoperation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Youlim; Lee, Dong Seon; Min, Hyunju; Choi, Yun Young; Lee, Eun Young; Song, Inae; Park, Jong Sun; Cho, Young-Jae; Jo, You Hwan; Yoon, Ho Il; Lee, Jae Ho; Lee, Choon-Taek; Do, Sang Hwan; Lee, Yeon Joo

    2017-06-01

    To evaluate the effect of a part-time rapid response system on the occurrence rate of cardiopulmonary arrest by comparing the times of rapid response system operation versus nonoperation. Retrospective cohort study. A 1,360-bed tertiary care hospital. Adult patients admitted to the general ward were screened. Data were collected over 36 months from rapid response system implementation (October 2012 to September 2015) and more than 45 months before rapid response system implementation (January 2009 to September 2012). None. The rapid response system operates from 7 AM to 10 PM on weekdays and from 7 AM to 12 PM on Saturdays. Primary outcomes were the difference of cardiopulmonary arrest incidence between pre-rapid response system and post-rapid response system periods and whether the rapid response system operating time affects the cardiopulmonary arrest incidence. The overall cardiopulmonary arrest incidence (per 1,000 admissions) was 1.43. Although the number of admissions per month and case-mix index were increased (3,555.18 vs 4,564.72, p times (0.82 vs 0.49/1,000 admissions; p = 0.001) but remained similar during rapid response system nonoperating times (0.77 vs 0.73/1,000 admissions; p = 0.729). The implementation of a part-time rapid response system reduced the cardiopulmonary arrest incidence based on the reduction of cardiopulmonary arrest during rapid response system operating times. Further analysis of the cost effectiveness of part-time rapid response system is needed.

  5. Possible association between phantom vibration syndrome and occupational burnout

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen CP

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Chao-Pen Chen,1 Chi-Cheng Wu,2 Li-Ren Chang,3 Yu-Hsuan Lin4 1Department of Education, National Taiwan University Hospital, 2Department of Family Medicine, Min-Sheng General Hospital, Taoyuan City, 3Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, 4Institute of Brain Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan Background: Phantom vibration syndrome (PVS and phantom ringing syndrome (PRS occur in many cell phone users. Previous studies have indicated an association between PVS/PRS and job stress. The aim of this study was to determine if PVS/PRS were also associated with occupational burnout.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 384 employees of a high-tech company in northern Taiwan. They all completed a phantom vibration and ringing questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Chinese version of the Occupational Burnout Inventory.Results: Significantly more women and people with at least a college education were in the population with PRS and PVS, respectively. Anxiety and depression had no associations with PVS/PRS. Higher scores for personal fatigue, job fatigue, and service target fatigue had an independent impact on the presence of PVS, but only a higher score for service target fatigue had an independent impact on the presence of PRS.Conclusion: The independent association between work-related burnout and PVS/PRS suggests that PVS/PRS may be a harbinger of mental stress or a component of the clinical burnout syndrome, and may even be a more convenient and accurate predictor of occupational burnout. Keywords: phantom vibration syndrome, phantom ringing syndrome, occupational burnout

  6. Prenatal restraint stress generates two distinct behavioral and neurochemical profiles in male and female rats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Rita Zuena

    Full Text Available Prenatal Restraint Stress (PRS in rats is a validated model of early stress resulting in permanent behavioral and neurobiological outcomes. Although sexual dimorphism in the effects of PRS has been hypothesized for more than 30 years, few studies in this long period have directly addressed the issue. Our group has uncovered a pronounced gender difference in the effects of PRS (stress delivered to the mothers 3 times per day during the last 10 days of pregnancy on anxiety, spatial learning, and a series of neurobiological parameters classically associated with hippocampus-dependent behaviors. Adult male rats subjected to PRS ("PRS rats" showed increased anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM, a reduction in the survival of newborn cells in the dentate gyrus, a reduction in the activity of mGlu1/5 metabotropic glutamate receptors in the ventral hippocampus, and an increase in the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF and pro-BDNF in the hippocampus. In contrast, female PRS rats displayed reduced anxiety in the EPM, improved learning in the Morris water maze, an increase in the activity of mGlu1/5 receptors in the ventral and dorsal hippocampus, and no changes in hippocampal neurogenesis or BDNF levels. The direction of the changes in neurogenesis, BDNF levels and mGlu receptor function in PRS animals was not consistent with the behavioral changes, suggesting that PRS perturbs the interdependency of these particular parameters and their relation to hippocampus-dependent behavior. Our data suggest that the epigenetic changes in hippocampal neuroplasticity induced by early environmental challenges are critically sex-dependent and that the behavioral outcome may diverge in males and females.

  7. Improvement in MFTF data base system response times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lang, N.C.; Nelson, B.C.

    1983-01-01

    The Supervisory Control and Diagnostic System for the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) has been designed as an event driven system. To this end we have designed a data base notification facility in which a task can request that it be loaded and started whenever an element in the data base is changed beyond some user defined range. Our initial implementation of the notify facility exhibited marginal response times whenever a data base table with a large number of outstanding notifies was written into. In this paper we discuss the sources of the slow response and describe in detail a new structure for the list of notifies which minimizes search time resulting in significantly faster response

  8. Post-radiation soft tissue sarcoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomita, Yasuhiko; Kuratsu, Shigeyuki; Myoui, Akira; Ohsawa, Masahiko; Aozasa, Katsuyuki; Uchida, Atsumasa; Ono, Keiro

    1993-01-01

    Seven patients received radiation for malignancies, and two received for benign tumors. The latency period from radiation to symptom ranged from two years to 36 years (mean 17.2 years). Post-radiation soft tissue sarcomas (PRS) comprised six cases of malignant fibrous histiocytomas, two leiomyosarcomas, and one angiosarcoma. The five-year survival of PRS was 16.7% showing a worse prognosis than spontaneously occurring soft tissue sarcomas. Seven PRS occurred superficially, and two were deeply located. Four cases occurring in the superficial tissues had histories of radiation-induced dermatitis. The radiation-induced dermatitis was suggested to be a risk factor for development of PRS. (author)

  9. Optimal Linear Responses for Markov Chains and Stochastically Perturbed Dynamical Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antown, Fadi; Dragičević, Davor; Froyland, Gary

    2018-03-01

    The linear response of a dynamical system refers to changes to properties of the system when small external perturbations are applied. We consider the little-studied question of selecting an optimal perturbation so as to (i) maximise the linear response of the equilibrium distribution of the system, (ii) maximise the linear response of the expectation of a specified observable, and (iii) maximise the linear response of the rate of convergence of the system to the equilibrium distribution. We also consider the inhomogeneous, sequential, or time-dependent situation where the governing dynamics is not stationary and one wishes to select a sequence of small perturbations so as to maximise the overall linear response at some terminal time. We develop the theory for finite-state Markov chains, provide explicit solutions for some illustrative examples, and numerically apply our theory to stochastically perturbed dynamical systems, where the Markov chain is replaced by a matrix representation of an approximate annealed transfer operator for the random dynamical system.

  10. Simulation in Canadian postgraduate emergency medicine training - a national survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Evan; Hall, Andrew Koch; Hagel, Carly; Petrosoniak, Andrew; Dagnone, Jeffrey Damon; Howes, Daniel

    2018-01-01

    Simulation-based education (SBE) is an important training strategy in emergency medicine (EM) postgraduate programs. This study sought to characterize the use of simulation in FRCPC-EM residency programs across Canada. A national survey was administered to residents and knowledgeable program representatives (PRs) at all Canadian FRCPC-EM programs. Survey question themes included simulation program characteristics, the frequency of resident participation, the location and administration of SBE, institutional barriers, interprofessional involvement, content, assessment strategies, and attitudes about SBE. Resident and PR response rates were 63% (203/321) and 100% (16/16), respectively. Residents reported a median of 20 (range 0-150) hours of annual simulation training, with 52% of residents indicating that the time dedicated to simulation training met their needs. PRs reported the frequency of SBE sessions ranging from weekly to every 6 months, with 15 (94%) programs having an established simulation curriculum. Two (13%) of the programs used simulation for resident assessment, although 15 (94%) of PRs indicated that they would be comfortable with simulation-based assessment. The most common PR-identified barriers to administering simulation were a lack of protected faculty time (75%) and a lack of faculty experience with simulation (56%). Interprofessional involvement in simulation was strongly valued by both residents and PRs. SBE is frequently used by Canadian FRCPC-EM residency programs. However, there exists considerable variability in the structure, frequency, and timing of simulation-based activities. As programs transition to competency-based medical education, national organizations and collaborations should consider the variability in how SBE is administered.

  11. Post-relapse survival in patients with Ewing sarcoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrari, Stefano; Luksch, Roberto; Hall, Kirsten Sundby; Fagioli, Franca; Prete, Arcangelo; Tamburini, Angela; Tienghi, Amelia; DiGirolamo, Stefania; Paioli, Anna; Abate, Massimo Eraldo; Podda, Marta; Cammelli, Silvia; Eriksson, Mikael; Brach del Prever, Adalberto

    2015-06-01

    Post-relapse survival (PRS) was evaluated in patients with Ewing sarcoma (EWS) enrolled in chemotherapy protocols based on the use of high-dose chemotherapy with busulfan and melfalan (HDT) as a first-line consolidation treatment in high-risk patients. EWS patients enrolled in ISG/SSG III and IV trials who relapsed after complete remission were included in the analysis. At recurrence, chemotherapy based on high-dose ifosfamide was foreseen, and patients who responded but had not received HDT underwent consolidation therapy with HDT. Data from 107 EWS patients were included in the analysis. Median time to recurrence (RFI) was 18 months, and 45 (42%) patients had multiple sites of recurrence. Patients who had previously been treated with HDT had a significantly (P = 0.02) shorter RFI and were less likely to achieve a second complete remission (CR2). CR2 status was achieved by 42 (39%) patients. Fifty patients received high-dose IFO (20 went to consolidation HDT). The 5-year PRS was 19% (95% CI 11 to 27%). With CR2, the 5-year PRS was 48% (95% CI 31 to 64%). Without CR2, median time to death was six months (range 1-45 months). According to the multivariate analysis, patients younger than 15 years, recurrence to the lung only, and RFI longer than 24 months significantly influenced the probability of PRS. Age, pattern of recurrence, RFI, and response to second-line chemotherapy influence post-relapse survival in patients with recurrent Ewing sarcoma. No survival advantage was observed from chemotherapy consolidation with HDT. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. External validation of scoring systems in risk stratification of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anchu, Anna Cherian; Mohsina, Subair; Sureshkumar, Sathasivam; Mahalakshmy, T; Kate, Vikram

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this study was to externally validate the four commonly used scoring systems in the risk stratification of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleed (UGIB). Patients of UGIB who underwent endoscopy within 24 h of presentation were stratified prospectively using the pre-endoscopy Rockall score (PRS) >0, complete Rockall score (CRS) >2, Glasgow Blatchford bleeding scores (GBS) >3, and modified GBS (m-GBS) >3 scores. Patients were followed up to 30 days. Prognostic accuracy of the scores was done by comparing areas under curve (AUC) in terms of overall risk stratification, re-bleeding, mortality, need for intervention, and length of hospitalization. One hundred and seventy-five patients were studied. All four scores performed better in the overall risk stratification on AUC [PRS = 0.566 (CI: 0.481-0.651; p-0.043)/CRS = 0.712 (CI: 0.634-0.790); p0.001); m-GBS = 0.802 (CI: 0.734-0.871; pbleed [AUC-0.679 (CI: 0.579-0.780; p = 0.003)]. All the scoring systems except PRS were found to be significantly better in detecting 30-day mortality with a high AUC (CRS = 0.798; p-0.042)/GBS = 0.833; p-0.023); m-GBS = 0.816; p-0.031). All four scores demonstrated significant accuracy in the risk stratification of non-variceal patients; however, only GBS and m-GBS were significant in variceal etiology. Higher cutoff scores achieved better sensitivity/specificity [RS > 0 (50/60.8), CRS > 1 (87.5/50.6), GBS > 7 (88.5/63.3), m-GBS > 7(82.3/72.6)] in the risk stratification. GBS and m-GBS appear to be more valid in risk stratification of UGIB patients in this region. Higher cutoff values achieved better predictive accuracy.

  13. International Responsibility and the Systemic Character of International Law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saganek Przemysław

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The question whether international law is a system is one of the modern topics discussed by specialists of international law. The text of P. Saganek poses this question with respect to the rules on international responsibility. The two aims are to establish whether the rules on state responsibility are a system themselves and whether they may prima facie support the idea of international law as such a system. The two prima facie answers are positive. Every violation of international law gives rise to state responsibility if it can be attributed to a state and no circumstance precluding wrongfulness is in place. In this sense the rules on state responsibility form a sub-system supporting the thesis on the systemic nature of international law. On a closer analysis one can encounter several doubts as to both answers. Paradoxically those rules are too ideal, too systemic. The author – without denying the necessity of several if not the majority of the identified rules – refers to a tendency of presenting as law some non-binding documents prepared by expert groups. This is a part of a wider process of ‘paper-law’. In this sense expert groups engage in ‘creating the language’ in which the true subjects of international law are expected to speak.

  14. Investigation of air cleaning system response to accident conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andrae, R.W.; Bolstad, J.W.; Foster, R.D.; Gregory, W.S.; Horak, H.L.; Idar, E.S.; Martin, R.A.; Ricketts, C.I.; Smith, P.R.; Tang, P.K.

    1980-01-01

    Air cleaning system response to the stress of accident conditions are being investigated. A program overview and hghlight recent results of our investigation are presented. The program includes both analytical and experimental investigations. Computer codes for predicting effects of tornados, explosions, fires, and material transport are described. The test facilities used to obtain supportive experimental data to define structural integrity and confinement effectiveness of ventilation system components are described. Examples of experimental results for code verification, blower response to tornado transients, and filter response to tornado and explosion transients are reported

  15. Benefits of Demand Side Response in Providing Frequency Response Service in the Future GB Power System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei eTeng

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The demand for ancillary service is expected to increase significantly in the future GB electricity system due to high penetration of wind. In particular, the need for frequency response, required to deal with sudden frequency drops following a loss of generator, will increase because of the limited inertia capability of wind plants. This paper quantifies the requirements for primary frequency response and analyses the benefits of frequency response provision from DSR. The results show dramatic changes in frequency response requirements driven by high penetration of wind. Case studies carried out by using an advanced stochastic generation scheduling model suggest that the provision of frequency response from DSR could greatly reduce the system operation cost, wind curtailment and carbon emissions in the future GB system characterised by high penetration of wind. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the benefit of DSR shows significant diurnal and seasonal variation, whereas an even more rapid (instant delivery of frequency response from DSR could provide significant additional value. Our studies also indicate that the competing technologies to DSR, namely battery storage and more flexible generation could potentially reduce its value by up to 35%, still leaving significant room to deploy DSR as frequency response provider.

  16. LANL environmental restoration site ranking system: System description. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merkhofer, L.; Kann, A.; Voth, M.

    1992-01-01

    The basic structure of the LANL Environmental Restoration (ER) Site Ranking System and its use are described in this document. A related document, Instructions for Generating Inputs for the LANL ER Site Ranking System, contains detailed descriptions of the methods by which necessary inputs for the system will be generated. LANL has long recognized the need to provide a consistent basis for comparing the risks and other adverse consequences associated with the various waste problems at the Lab. The LANL ER Site Ranking System is being developed to help address this need. The specific purpose of the system is to help improve, defend, and explain prioritization decisions at the Potential Release Site (PRS) and Operable Unit (OU) level. The precise relationship of the Site Ranking System to the planning and overall budget processes is yet to be determined, as the system is still evolving. Generally speaking, the Site Ranking System will be used as a decision aid. That is, the system will be used to aid in the planning and budgetary decision-making process. It will never be used alone to make decisions. Like all models, the system can provide only a partial and approximate accounting of the factors important to budget and planning decisions. Decision makers at LANL will have to consider factors outside of the formal system when making final choices. Some of these other factors are regulatory requirements, DOE policy, and public concern. The main value of the site ranking system, therefore, is not the precise numbers it generates, but rather the general insights it provides

  17. LANL environmental restoration site ranking system: System description. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Merkhofer, L.; Kann, A.; Voth, M. [Applied Decision Analysis, Inc., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

    1992-10-13

    The basic structure of the LANL Environmental Restoration (ER) Site Ranking System and its use are described in this document. A related document, Instructions for Generating Inputs for the LANL ER Site Ranking System, contains detailed descriptions of the methods by which necessary inputs for the system will be generated. LANL has long recognized the need to provide a consistent basis for comparing the risks and other adverse consequences associated with the various waste problems at the Lab. The LANL ER Site Ranking System is being developed to help address this need. The specific purpose of the system is to help improve, defend, and explain prioritization decisions at the Potential Release Site (PRS) and Operable Unit (OU) level. The precise relationship of the Site Ranking System to the planning and overall budget processes is yet to be determined, as the system is still evolving. Generally speaking, the Site Ranking System will be used as a decision aid. That is, the system will be used to aid in the planning and budgetary decision-making process. It will never be used alone to make decisions. Like all models, the system can provide only a partial and approximate accounting of the factors important to budget and planning decisions. Decision makers at LANL will have to consider factors outside of the formal system when making final choices. Some of these other factors are regulatory requirements, DOE policy, and public concern. The main value of the site ranking system, therefore, is not the precise numbers it generates, but rather the general insights it provides.

  18. Prenatal exposure to systemic antibacterials and overweight and obesity in Danish schoolchildren

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mor, A; Antonsen, S; Kahlert, J

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Prenatal exposure to antibacterials may permanently dysregulate fetal metabolic patterns via epigenetic pathways or by altering maternal microbiota. We examined the association of prenatal exposure to systemic antibacterials with overweight and obesity in schoolchildren...... admissions during pregnancy. We defined overweight and obesity among the children using standard age- and sex-specific cutoffs. We computed sex-specific adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) of overweight and obesity associated with exposure to prenatal antibacterials, adjusting for maternal age at delivery....... SUBJECTS/METHODS: We conducted a prevalence study among Danish schoolchildren aged 7-16 years using data from routine school anthropometric evaluations conducted during 2002-2013. Prenatal exposure to antibacterials was ascertained by using maternal prescription dispensations and infection-related hospital...

  19. A Modular Telerobot Control System for Accident Response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, Robert J.; Shirey, David L.

    1999-01-01

    The Accident Response Mobile Manipulator System (ARMMS) is a teleoperated emergency response vehicle that deploys two hydraulic manipulators, five cameras, and an array of sensors to the scene of an incident. It is operated from a remote base station that can be situated up to four kilometers away from the site. Recently, a modular telerobot control architecture called SMART (Sandia's Modular Architecture for Robotic and Teleoperation) was applied to ARMMS to improve the precision, safety, and operability of the manipulators on board. Using SMART, a prototype manipulator control system was developed in a couple of days, and an integrated working system was demonstrated within a couple of months. New capabilities such as camera teleoperation, autonomous tool changeout and dual manipulator control have been incorporated. The final system incorporates twenty-two separate modules and implements eight different behavior modes. This paper describes the integration of SMART into the ARMMS system

  20. 40 CFR 281.37 - Financial responsibility for UST systems containing petroleum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... systems containing petroleum. 281.37 Section 281.37 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION... for No-Less-Stringent § 281.37 Financial responsibility for UST systems containing petroleum. (a) In... UST systems containing petroleum, the state requirements for financial responsibility for petroleum...

  1. Challenges in designing interactive systems for emergency response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Margit; Kyng, Morten; Nielsen, Esben Toftdahl

    2007-01-01

    and visions as ways to bridge between fieldwork and literature studies on the one hand and the emerging computer based prototypes on the other. Our case concerns design of innovative interactive systems for support in emergency response, including patient identification and monitoring as well as construction......This paper presents research on participatory design of interactive systems for emergency response. We present the work by going through the design method with a focus on the new elements that we developed for the participatory design toolkit, in particular we emphasize the use of challenges...

  2. Emergency response information within the National LLW Information Management System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paukert, J.G.; Fuchs, R.L.

    1986-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy, with operational assistance from EG and G Idaho, Inc., maintains the National Low-Level Waste Information Management System, a relational data base management system with extensive information collection and reporting capabilities. The system operates on an IBM 4341 main-frame computer in Idaho Falls, Idaho and is accessible through terminals in 46 states. One of the many programs available on the system is an emergency response data network, which was developed jointly by EG and G Idaho, Inc. and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As a prototype, the program comprises emergency response team contacts, policies, activities and decisions; federal, state and local government contacts; facility and support center locations; and news releases for nine reactor sites in the southeast. The emergency response program provides a method for consolidating currently fragmented information into a central and user-friendly system. When the program is implemented, immediate answers to response questions will be available through a remote terminal or telephone on a 24-hour basis. In view of current hazardous and low-level waste shipment rates and future movements of high-level waste, the program can offer needed and timely information for transportation as well as site incident response

  3. Linear response theory for quantum open systems

    OpenAIRE

    Wei, J. H.; Yan, YiJing

    2011-01-01

    Basing on the theory of Feynman's influence functional and its hierarchical equations of motion, we develop a linear response theory for quantum open systems. Our theory provides an effective way to calculate dynamical observables of a quantum open system at its steady-state, which can be applied to various fields of non-equilibrium condensed matter physics.

  4. Social Responsibility as a Management Control System

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Barger, Anthony

    2004-01-01

    ...) to balance business strategy. The authors examine how management control systems for social responsibility apply to each control lever both in theory and through the application of case examples...

  5. Social Responsibility as a Management Control System

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Barger, Anthony

    2004-01-01

    In this report, the authors examine how businesses with social responsibility as part of their core strategy use related management control systems within the business strategy control model set forth...

  6. Risk and resiliency processes in ethnically diverse families in poverty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wadsworth, Martha E; Santiago, Catherine Decarlo

    2008-06-01

    Families living in poverty face numerous stressors that threaten the health and well-being of family members. This study examined the relationships among family-level poverty-related stress (PRS), individual-level coping with PRS, and a wide range of psychological symptoms in an ethnically diverse sample of 98 families (300 family members) living at or below 150% of the federal poverty line. Hierarchical linear model (HLM) analyses revealed that family PRS is robustly related to a wide range of psychological syndromes for family members of both genders, all ages, and all ethnic backgrounds. In addition, primary and secondary control coping were both found to serve as buffers of PRS for many syndromes. For several psychological syndromes, parents showed significantly higher levels of symptoms, but the link between PRS and symptoms was significantly stronger for children than for adults. Ethnicity was not a significant predictor in overall HLM models or follow-up analyses, suggesting that the broad construct of PRS and the theoretical model tested here apply across the 3 major ethnic groups included in this study. The findings suggest that family-based, coping-focused interventions have the potential to promote resiliency and break linkages in the pernicious cycle of family economic stress. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

  7. Response trees and expert systems for nuclear reactor operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, W.R.

    1984-02-01

    The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sponsoring a project performed by EG and G Idaho, Inc., at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) to evaluate different display concepts for use in nuclear reactor control rooms. Included in this project is the evaluation of the response tree computer based decision aid and its associated displays. This report serves as an overview of the response tree methodology and how it has been implemented as a computer based decision aid utilizing color graphic displays. A qualitative assessment of the applicability of the response tree aid in the reactor control room is also made. Experience gained in evaluating the response tree aid is generalized to address a larger category of computer aids, those known as knowledge based expert systems. General characteristics of expert systems are discussed, as well as examples of their application in other domains. A survey of ongoing work on expert systems in the nuclear industry is presented, and an assessment of their potential applicability is made. Finally, recommendations for the design and evaluation of computer based decision aids are presented

  8. Agriculture in sustainable rural development : effects of the growth and poverty reduction strategy 11 (GRPS 11) on livelihoods and coping strategies of smallholder farming households: context of the Ejisu-Juaben municipality in the Ashanti region of Ghana

    OpenAIRE

    Boateng, Peter Kojo

    2011-01-01

    Master thesis in development management- University of Agder 2011 The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) approach championed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund lies at the centre of development assistance, debt relief, and development planning in many developing countries, including Ghana. Ghana has implemented a PRS (Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy I, 2003-2005) and a second generation of PRS (Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II, 2006-2009) had just pass...

  9. Expert system technology to support emergency response: its prospects and limitations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belardo, S.; Wallace, W.A.

    1988-01-01

    The capabilities for computer technologies to provide decision support in emergency response are now well recognized. The information flow prior to, during, and after potentially catastrophic events must be managed in order to have effective response. We feel strongly that computer technology can be a crucial component in this management process. We will first review a relatively new facet of computer technology - expert systems. We will then provide a conceptual framework for decision making under crisis, a situation typified by emergency response. We follow with a discussion of a prototype expert system for response to an accident at a nuclear power generation facility. Our final section discusses the potential advantages and limitations of expert system technology in emergency response. (author)

  10. Ex-vivo evaluation of an early caries detector based on integrated OCT and polarized Raman spectroscopy (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamouche, Guy; Padioleau, Christian; Hewko, Mark; Smith, Michael S. D.; Schattka, Bernie J.; Fulton, Crystal; Gauthier, Bruno; Beauchesne, André; Ko, Alex C.; Choo-Smith, Lin-P'ing; Sowa, Michael G.

    2017-02-01

    Early detection of incipient caries would allow dentists to provide more effective measures to delay or to reverse caries' progression at earlier stage. Such earlier intervention could lead to improved oral health for the patients and reduced burden to the health system. Previously, we have demonstrated that the combination of morphological and biochemical information furnished by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and polarized Raman spectroscopy (PRS), respectively, provided a unique tool for dental caries management. In this study we will report the first pre-clinical caries detection system that includes a hand-held probe with a size slightly larger than a tooth brush. This probe presents a novel platform combining both OCT and PRS optics in a very tight space ideal for clinical practice. OCT cross-sectional images of near-surface enamel morphology are obtained with miniaturized MEMS scanning device and are processed in real-time to identify culprit regions. These regions are sequentially analyzed with polarized Raman spectroscopy for further confirmation. PRS is performed using 830nm laser line and four detection channels in order to obtain polarized Raman spectroscopic data, i.e. depolarization ratio of the hydroxyapatite Raman band at 960 cm-1. A detailed description of this hand-held caries detector and ex-vivo/in-vivo test results will be presented.

  11. Seismic response analysis of structural system subjected to multiple support excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, R.W.; Hussain, F.A.; Liu, L.K.

    1978-01-01

    In the seismic analysis of a multiply supported structural system subjected to nonuniform excitations at each support point, the single response spectrum, the time history, and the multiple response spectrum are the three commonly employed methods. In the present paper the three methods are developed, evaluated, and the limitations and advantages of each method assessed. A numerical example has been carried out for a typical piping system. Considerably smaller responses have been predicted by the time history method than that by the single response spectrum method. This is mainly due to the fact that the phase and amplitude relations between the support excitations are faithfully retained in the time history method. The multiple response spectrum prediction has been observed to compare favourably with the time history method prediction. Based on the present evaluation, the multiple response spectrum method is the most efficient method for seismic response analysis of structural systems subjected to multiple support excitation. (Auth.)

  12. Wind Generation Participation in Power System Frequency Response: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gevorgian, Vahan; Zhang, Yingchen

    2017-01-01

    The electrical frequency of an interconnected power system must be maintained close its nominal level at all times. Excessive under- and overfrequency excursions can lead to load shedding, instability, machine damage, and even blackouts. There is a rising concern in the electric power industry in recent years about the declining amount of inertia and primary frequency response (PFR) in many interconnections. This decline may continue due to increasing penetrations of inverter-coupled generation and the planned retirements of conventional thermal plants. Inverter-coupled variable wind generation is capable of contributing to PFR and inertia with a response that is different from that of conventional generation. It is not yet entirely understood how such a response will affect the system at different wind power penetration levels. The modeling work presented in this paper evaluates the impact of wind generation's provision of these active power control strategies on a large, synchronous interconnection. All simulations were conducted on the U.S. Western Interconnection with different levels of instantaneous wind power penetrations (up to 80%). The ability of wind power plants to provide PFR - and a combination of synthetic inertial response and PFR - significantly improved the frequency response performance of the system.

  13. Plant Core Environmental Stress Response Genes Are Systemically Coordinated during Abiotic Stresses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenneth W. Berendzen

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Studying plant stress responses is an important issue in a world threatened by global warming. Unfortunately, comparative analyses are hampered by varying experimental setups. In contrast, the AtGenExpress abiotic stress experiment displays intercomparability. Importantly, six of the nine stresses (wounding, genotoxic, oxidative, UV-B light, osmotic and salt can be examined for their capacity to generate systemic signals between the shoot and root, which might be essential to regain homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana. We classified the systemic responses into two groups: genes that are regulated in the non-treated tissue only are defined as type I responsive and, accordingly, genes that react in both tissues are termed type II responsive. Analysis of type I and II systemic responses suggest distinct functionalities, but also significant overlap between different stresses. Comparison with salicylic acid (SA and methyl-jasmonate (MeJA responsive genes implies that MeJA is involved in the systemic stress response. Certain genes are predominantly responding in only one of the categories, e.g., WRKY genes respond mainly non-systemically. Instead, genes of the plant core environmental stress response (PCESR, e.g., ZAT10, ZAT12, ERD9 or MES9, are part of different response types. Moreover, several PCESR genes switch between the categories in a stress-specific manner.

  14. Implementation of a linear mini accelerator for radiotherapy intraoperative; Puesta en marcha de un miniacelerador lineal para radioterapia intraoperatoria

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Macias-Verde, D.; Yanez-Lopez, D.; Marti-Asenjo, J.; Sanchez-Carrascal, M.; Torres-Pozas, S.; Godoy-Cazorla, J. I.; Madan-Rodriguez, C.; Martin-Oliva, R.

    2013-07-01

    Has been defined the status initial reference of the lineal mini-accelerator Intrabeam PRS 500. The alternative worksheet in times of treatment provides an additional verification. The system is validated for clinical use. (Author)

  15. Implementation of a linear mini accelerator for radiotherapy intraoperative

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Macias-Verde, D.; Yanez-Lopez, D.; Marti-Asenjo, J.; Sanchez-Carrascal, M.; Torres-Pozas, S.; Godoy-Cazorla, J. I.; Madan-Rodriguez, C.; Martin-Oliva, R.

    2013-01-01

    Has been defined the status initial reference of the lineal mini-accelerator Intrabeam PRS 500. The alternative worksheet in times of treatment provides an additional verification. The system is validated for clinical use. (Author)

  16. Time-of-use based electricity demand response for sustainable manufacturing systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Yong; Li, Lin

    2013-01-01

    As required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, utility companies across the U.S. are offering TOU (time-of-use) based electricity demand response programs. The TOU rate gives consumers opportunities to manage their electricity bill by shifting use from on-peak periods to mid-peak and off-peak periods. Reducing the amount of electricity needed during the peak load times makes it possible for the power grid to meet consumers' needs without building more costly backup infrastructures and help reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. Previous research on the applications of TOU and other electricity demand response programs has been mainly focused on residential and commercial buildings while largely neglected industrial manufacturing systems. This paper proposes a systems approach for TOU based electricity demand response for sustainable manufacturing systems under the production target constraint. Key features of this approach include: (i) the electricity related costs including both consumption and demand are integrated into production system modeling; (ii) energy-efficient and demand-responsive production scheduling problems are formulated and the solution technique is provided; and (iii) the effects of various factors on the near-optimal scheduling solutions are examined. The research outcome is expected to enhance the energy efficiency, electricity demand responsiveness, and cost effectiveness of modern manufacturing systems. - Highlights: • We propose a TOU based demand response approach for manufacturing systems. • Both electricity consumption and demand are integrated into the system modeling. • Energy-efficient and demand-responsive production scheduling problems are formulated. • The meta-heuristic solution technique is provided. • The effects of various factors on the scheduling solutions are examined

  17. Cyber Physical System Modelling of Distribution Power Systems for Dynamic Demand Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Xiaodong; Zhang, Rongxiang; Tang, Maosen; Huang, Haoyi; Zhang, Lei

    2018-01-01

    Dynamic demand response (DDR) is a package of control methods to enhance power system security. A CPS modelling and simulation platform for DDR in distribution power systems is presented in this paper. CPS modelling requirements of distribution power systems are analyzed. A coupled CPS modelling platform is built for assessing DDR in the distribution power system, which combines seamlessly modelling tools of physical power networks and cyber communication networks. Simulations results of IEEE 13-node test system demonstrate the effectiveness of the modelling and simulation platform.

  18. Design Requirements for Designing Responsive Modular Manufacturing Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Steffen; Madsen, Ole; Nielsen, Kjeld

    2011-01-01

    Customers demand the newest technologies, newest designs, the ability to customise, high quality, and all this at a low cost. These are trends which challenge the traditional way of operating manufacturing companies, especially in regard to product development and manufacturing. Research...... the needed flexibility and responsiveness, but such systems are not yet fully achieved. From related theory it is known that achieving modular benefits depend on the modular architecture; a modular architecture which must be developed according to the customer needs. This makes production needs a design...... requirement in order to achieve responsiveness and other benefits of modular manufacturing systems (MMS). Due to the complex and interrelated nature of a production system and its surroundings these production needs are complex to identify. This paper presents an analysis framework for identification...

  19. Desmoid fibromatosis: MRI features of response to systemic therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sheth, Pooja J.; Subhawong, Ty K. [University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Department of Radiology, Miami, FL (United States); Del Moral, Spencer; Wilky, Breelyn A.; Trent, Jonathan C. [University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Miami, FL (United States); Cohen, Jonathan [Oncology and Radiation Associates, Miami, FL (United States); Rosenberg, Andrew E. [University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Miami, FL (United States); Temple, H.T. [Center for Orthopedic Innovations, Miami, FL (United States)

    2016-10-15

    Imaging criteria for measuring the response of desmoid fibromatosis to systemic therapy are not well established. We evaluated a series of patients with desmoids who underwent systemic therapy to document magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features associated with a positive clinical response. This Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective study included 23 patients (mean age 40.5) with 29 extra-abdominal tumors. Therapeutic regimens included cytotoxic chemotherapy (n = 19), targeted therapy (n = 3), and nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS; n = 1). Clinical effects were categorized as progressive disease, stable, or partial response. Maximum tumor dimension (D{sub max}), approximate tumor volume (V{sub Tumor}), and quantitative tumor T2 hyperintensity and contrast enhancement (relative to muscle) for pre- and post-treatment MRIs were compared. Three lesions progressed, 5 lesions were stable, whereas 21 showed a clinical response. D{sub max} decreased more in responders (mean -11.0 %) than in stable/progressive lesions (mean -3.6 and 0 % respectively, p = 0.28, ANOVA); by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST 1.1) 27 out of 29 lesions were ''stable,'' including the 3 progressive lesions. In responders, V{sub Tumor} change averaged -29.4 %, but -19.2 % and +32.5 % in stable and progressive lesions respectively (p = 0.002, ANOVA); by 3D criteria 14 out of 29 lesions showed a partial response. T2 hyperintensity decreased by 50-54 % in partial response/stable disease, but only by 10 % in progressive lesions (p = 0.049, t test). Changes in contrast enhancement ranged from -23 % to 0 %, but were not statistically significant among response groups (p = 0.37). Change in T2 hyperintensity showed a positive correlation with volumetric change (r = 0.40). Decreases in volume and T2 hyperintensity reflect the positive response of desmoid fibromatosis to systemic therapy; RECIST 1.1 criteria are not sensitive to clinically

  20. Inelastic response spectra of simple degrading systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andreaus, U.; Ceradini, G.; D'Asdia, P.; Gaudenzi, P.

    1985-01-01

    Ductility was first stated, for single-degree-of-freedom elastic-perfectly plastic systems as the ratio of maximum to yield displacements. An alternative approach, aimed to reduce design forces for ductile structures and based on the energy dissipated during earthquake allows to obtain more reliable ductility factors even when system restoring characteristics are affected by deterioration during loading history. Inelastic response of SDOF systems has been investigated under seimic excitation, assuming stable and degrading constitutive laws to model their structural behaviour. Energy spectra and ductility requirent diagrams are generated and compared with those of the corresponding elastic-perfectly plastic systems. (orig.)

  1. Does methotrexate administration for ectopic pregnancy after in vitro fertilization impact ovarian reserve or ovarian responsiveness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boots, Christina E; Gustofson, Robert L; Feinberg, Eve C

    2013-12-01

    To evaluate the effects of methotrexate (MTX) on the future fertility of women undergoing IVF by comparing ovarian reserve and ovarian responsiveness in the IVF cycle before and after an ectopic pregnancy (EP) treated with MTX. Retrospective cohort study. Private reproductive endocrinology and infertility practice. Sixty-six women undergoing IVF before and after receiving MTX for an EP. Methotrexate administration and ovarian stimulation. Markers of ovarian reserve (day 3 FSH, antral follicle count), measures of ovarian responsiveness (duration of stimulation, peak E2 level, total dose of gonadotropins, number of oocytes retrieved, fertilization rate), and time from MTX administration to subsequent IVF cycle. There were no differences after MTX administration in body mass index (BMI), FSH, or antral follicle count. A greater dose of gonadotropins was used in the cycle after MTX, but there were no differences in numbers of oocytes retrieved or high quality embryos transferred. As expected, there was a slight increase in age in the subsequent IVF cycle. The pregnancy rates (PR) were comparable to the average PRs within the practice when combining all age groups. Methotrexate remains the first line of therapy for medical management of asymptomatic EP and does not compromise ovarian reserve, ovarian responsiveness, or IVF success in subsequent cycles. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP)-less mutants of Escherichia coli

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hove-Jensen, Bjarne

    1989-01-01

    A DNA fragment encoding kanamycin resistance was inserted in vitro into a plasmid-borne prs gene encoding phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase of Escherichia coli. The resulting plasmids were subsequently transferred to the chromosome by homologous recombination and the haploid strains prs-3::Kan......R and prs-4::KanR were obtained. These strains were fully viable, but required guanosine, uridine, histidine, tryptophan and nicotinamide mononucleotide. There was no phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase activity or phosphoribosylpyrophosphate pool in the mutant strains. These results show...

  3. An Immune-inspired Adaptive Automated Intrusion Response System Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling-xi Peng

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available An immune-inspired adaptive automated intrusion response system model, named as , is proposed. The descriptions of self, non-self, immunocyte, memory detector, mature detector and immature detector of the network transactions, and the realtime network danger evaluation equations are given. Then, the automated response polices are adaptively performed or adjusted according to the realtime network danger. Thus, not only accurately evaluates the network attacks, but also greatly reduces the response times and response costs.

  4. Software-Based Student Response Systems: An Interdisciplinary Initiative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Carol M.; Hoffman, Michael S.; Casey, Nancy C.; Cox, Maureen P.

    2015-01-01

    Colleagues from information technology and three academic departments collaborated on an instructional technology initiative to employ student response systems in classes in mathematics, accounting and education. The instructors assessed the viability of using software-based systems to enable students to use their own devices (cell phones,…

  5. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AS A NEXT STEP IN DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEMIC BEHAVIOR TOWARD SYSTEMS SOLUTIONS OF SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS OF TODAY

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Matja(z) Mulej; Zdenka (Z)enko; Viktor (Z)akelj

    2017-01-01

    Data are clear:humankind is facing a global socio-economic crisis.Global bodies search for solution in ending the neoliberal monopolistic,rather than free market,economy,and in introduction of systemic behavior under the label of social responsibility.To support this effort,the research that is reported about in this contribution,suggests systemic perception of social responsibility to cause the end of abuse,strategy of promotion of social responsibility,and of suitable economic preconditions,supported by several lines of action,which everybody can trigger.

  6. A Rough VIKOR-Based QFD for Prioritizing Design Attributes of Product-Related Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiuzhen Li

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Many manufacturers today are striving to offer high value-added product-related services (PRS due to increasing competition and environmental pressure. PRS can reduce the negative impact on the environment, because it extends the life of products and minimizes the cost. Product and service planning has been considered as the critical factor to the success of PRS. Quality function deployment (QFD has been recognized as an efficient planning tool which can convert customer needs (CNs into design attributes of PRS involving product attributes (PAs and service attributes (SAs. However, the subjective and vague information in the design of PRS with QFD may lead to inaccurate priority of PAs and SAs. To solve this problem, a novel rough VIKOR- (VIseKriterijumska Optimizaciji I Kompromisno Resenje- based QFD is proposed. The proposed approach integrates the strength of rough number (RN in manipulating vague concepts with less a priori information and the merit of VIKOR in structuring framework of compromise decision-making. Finally, an application in compressor-based service design is presented to illustrate the potential of the proposed method.

  7. Elements of a national emergency response system for nuclear accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dickerson, M.H.

    1987-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to suggest elements for a general emergency response system, employed at a national level, to detect, evaluate and assess the consequences of a radiological atmospheric release occurring within or outside of national boundaries. These elements are focused on the total aspect of emergency response ranging from providing an initial alarm to a total assessment of the environmental and health effects. Elements of the emergency response system are described in such a way that existing resources can be directly applied if appropriate; if not, newly developed or an expansion of existing resources can be employed. The major thrust of this paper is toward a philosophical discussion and general description of resources that would be required to implementation. If the major features of this proposal system are judged desirable for implementation, then the next level of detail can be added. The philosophy underlying this paper is preparedness - preparedness through planning, awareness and the application of technology. More specifically, it is establishment of reasonable guidelines including the definition of reference and protective action levels for public exposure to accidents involving nuclear material; education of the public, government officials and the news media; and the application of models and measurements coupled to computer systems to address a series of questions related to emergency planning, response and assessment. It is the role of a proven national emergency response system to provide reliable, quality-controlled information to decision makers for the management of environmental crises

  8. Day-ahead stochastic economic dispatch of wind integrated power system considering demand response of residential hybrid energy system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, Yibo; Xu, Jian; Sun, Yuanzhang; Wei, Congying; Wang, Jing; Ke, Deping; Li, Xiong; Yang, Jun; Peng, Xiaotao; Tang, Bowen

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Improving the utilization of wind power by the demand response of residential hybrid energy system. • An optimal scheduling of home energy management system integrating micro-CHP. • The scattered response capability of consumers is aggregated by demand bidding curve. • A stochastic day-ahead economic dispatch model considering demand response and wind power. - Abstract: As the installed capacity of wind power is growing, the stochastic variability of wind power leads to the mismatch of demand and generated power. Employing the regulating capability of demand to improve the utilization of wind power has become a new research direction. Meanwhile, the micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP) allows residential consumers to choose whether generating electricity by themselves or purchasing from the utility company, which forms a residential hybrid energy system. However, the impact of the demand response with hybrid energy system contained micro-CHP on the large-scale wind power utilization has not been analyzed quantitatively. This paper proposes an operation optimization model of the residential hybrid energy system based on price response, integrating micro-CHP and smart appliances intelligently. Moreover, a novel load aggregation method is adopted to centralize scattered response capability of residential load. At the power grid level, a day-ahead stochastic economic dispatch model considering demand response and wind power is constructed. Furthermore, simulation is conducted respectively on the modified 6-bus system and IEEE 118-bus system. The results show that with the method proposed, the wind power curtailment of the system decreases by 78% in 6-bus system. In the meantime, the energy costs of residential consumers and the operating costs of the power system reduced by 10.7% and 11.7% in 118-bus system, respectively.

  9. Application of geographic information system for radiologic emergency response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Best, R.G.; Doyle, J.F.; Mueller, P.G.

    1998-01-01

    Comprehensive and timely radiological, cultural, and environmental data are required in order to make informed decisions during a radiological emergency. Within the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC), there is a continuing effort to improve the data management and communication process. The most recent addition to this essential function has been the development of the Field Analysis System for Emergency Response (FASER). It is an integrated system with compatible digital image processing and Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities. FASER is configured with commercially available off-the-shelf hardware and software components. To demonstrate the potential of the FASER system for radiological emergency response, the system has been utilized in interagency FRMAC exercises to analyze the available spatial data to help determine the impact of a hypothetical radiological release and to develop mitigation plans. (R.P.)

  10. Studies on modeling to failed fuel detection system response in LMFBR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyazawa, T.; Saji, G.; Mitsuzuku, N.; Hikichi, T.; Odo, T.; Rindo, H.

    1981-05-01

    Failed Fuel Detection (FFD) system with Fission Products (FP) detection is considered to be the most promissing method, since FP provides direct information against fuel element failure. For designing FFD system and for evaluating FFD signals, some adequate FFD signal response to fuel failure have been required. But few models are available in nowadays. Thus Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) had developed FFD response model with computer codes, based on several fundamental investigations on FP release and FP behavior, and referred to foreign country experiences on fuel failure. In developing the model, noble gas and halogen FP release and behavior were considered, since FFD system would be composed of both cover gas monitoring and delayed neutron monitoring. The developed model can provide typical fuel failure response and detection limit which depends on various background signals at cover gas monitoring and delayed neutron monitoring. According to the FFD response model, we tried to assume fuel failure response and detection limit at Japan experimental fast reactor ''JOYO''. The detection limit of JOYO FFD system was estimated by measuring the background signals. Followed on the studies, a complete computer code has been now made with some improvement. On the paper, the details of the model, out line of developed computer code, status of JOYO FFD system, and trial assumption of JOYO FFD response and detection limit. (author)

  11. Age- and Wavelength-Dependency of Drosophila Larval Phototaxis and Behavioral Responses to Natural Lighting Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon G. Sprecher

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Animals use various environmental cues as key determinant for their behavioral decisions. Visual systems are hereby responsible to translate light-dependent stimuli into neuronal encoded information. Even though the larval eyes of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster are comparably simple, they comprise two types of photoreceptor neurons (PRs, defined by different Rhodopsin genes expressed. Recent findings support that for light avoidance Rhodopsin5 (Rh5 expressing photoreceptors are crucial, while Rhodopsin6 (Rh6 expressing photoreceptors are dispensable under laboratory conditions. However, it remains debated how animals change light preference during larval live. We show that larval negative phototaxis is age-independent as it persists in larvae from foraging to wandering developmental stages. Moreover, if spectrally different Rhodopsins are employed for the detection of different wavelength of light remains unexplored. We found that negative phototaxis can be elicit by light with wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet (UV to green. This behavior is uniquely mediated by Rh5 expressing photoreceptors, and therefore suggest that this photoreceptor-type is able to perceive UV up to green light. In contrast to laboratory our field experiments revealed that Drosophila larvae uses both types of photoreceptors under natural lighting conditions. All our results, demonstrate that Drosophila larval eyes mediate avoidance of light stimuli with a wide, ecological relevant range of quantity (intensities and quality (wavelengths. Thus, the two photoreceptor-types appear more likely to play a role in different aspects of phototaxis under natural lighting conditions, rather than color discrimination.

  12. SU-D-BRD-01: Cloud-Based Radiation Treatment Planning: Performance Evaluation of Dose Calculation and Plan Optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Na, Y; Kapp, D; Kim, Y; Xing, L; Suh, T

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: To report the first experience on the development of a cloud-based treatment planning system and investigate the performance improvement of dose calculation and treatment plan optimization of the cloud computing platform. Methods: A cloud computing-based radiation treatment planning system (cc-TPS) was developed for clinical treatment planning. Three de-identified clinical head and neck, lung, and prostate cases were used to evaluate the cloud computing platform. The de-identified clinical data were encrypted with 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm. VMAT and IMRT plans were generated for the three de-identified clinical cases to determine the quality of the treatment plans and computational efficiency. All plans generated from the cc-TPS were compared to those obtained with the PC-based TPS (pc-TPS). The performance evaluation of the cc-TPS was quantified as the speedup factors for Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculations and large-scale plan optimizations, as well as the performance ratios (PRs) of the amount of performance improvement compared to the pc-TPS. Results: Speedup factors were improved up to 14.0-fold dependent on the clinical cases and plan types. The computation times for VMAT and IMRT plans with the cc-TPS were reduced by 91.1% and 89.4%, respectively, on average of the clinical cases compared to those with pc-TPS. The PRs were mostly better for VMAT plans (1.0 ≤ PRs ≤ 10.6 for the head and neck case, 1.2 ≤ PRs ≤ 13.3 for lung case, and 1.0 ≤ PRs ≤ 10.3 for prostate cancer cases) than for IMRT plans. The isodose curves of plans on both cc-TPS and pc-TPS were identical for each of the clinical cases. Conclusion: A cloud-based treatment planning has been setup and our results demonstrate the computation efficiency of treatment planning with the cc-TPS can be dramatically improved while maintaining the same plan quality to that obtained with the pc-TPS. This work was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute (1

  13. SU-D-BRD-01: Cloud-Based Radiation Treatment Planning: Performance Evaluation of Dose Calculation and Plan Optimization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Na, Y; Kapp, D; Kim, Y; Xing, L [Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (United States); Suh, T [Catholic UniversityMedical College, Seoul, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-06-01

    Purpose: To report the first experience on the development of a cloud-based treatment planning system and investigate the performance improvement of dose calculation and treatment plan optimization of the cloud computing platform. Methods: A cloud computing-based radiation treatment planning system (cc-TPS) was developed for clinical treatment planning. Three de-identified clinical head and neck, lung, and prostate cases were used to evaluate the cloud computing platform. The de-identified clinical data were encrypted with 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm. VMAT and IMRT plans were generated for the three de-identified clinical cases to determine the quality of the treatment plans and computational efficiency. All plans generated from the cc-TPS were compared to those obtained with the PC-based TPS (pc-TPS). The performance evaluation of the cc-TPS was quantified as the speedup factors for Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculations and large-scale plan optimizations, as well as the performance ratios (PRs) of the amount of performance improvement compared to the pc-TPS. Results: Speedup factors were improved up to 14.0-fold dependent on the clinical cases and plan types. The computation times for VMAT and IMRT plans with the cc-TPS were reduced by 91.1% and 89.4%, respectively, on average of the clinical cases compared to those with pc-TPS. The PRs were mostly better for VMAT plans (1.0 ≤ PRs ≤ 10.6 for the head and neck case, 1.2 ≤ PRs ≤ 13.3 for lung case, and 1.0 ≤ PRs ≤ 10.3 for prostate cancer cases) than for IMRT plans. The isodose curves of plans on both cc-TPS and pc-TPS were identical for each of the clinical cases. Conclusion: A cloud-based treatment planning has been setup and our results demonstrate the computation efficiency of treatment planning with the cc-TPS can be dramatically improved while maintaining the same plan quality to that obtained with the pc-TPS. This work was supported in part by the National Cancer Institute (1

  14. Tanggung Jawab Hukum Penyelenggara Sistem Elektronik (Law Responsibility of the Electronic System Providers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Salam

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Reviewing Edmon Makarim’s book which is about Law Responsibility of the Electronic System Providers, remind us that easiness and availability of electronic system in electronic transaction in private or public happen because the role of electronic system providers. Behind the important and central role, there is big responsibility for electronic system providers. But because of wide of definition of provision of electronic system and so many people who involve in electronic system providers, there is a question in our mind, how is the shape of responsibility of the electronic system providers if the electronic system which is held is broken and / or not in operation as it has to and bring loss to users. Which one from the electronic system providers should take the responsibility in law?

  15. Analysis of design floor response spectra and testing of the electrical systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ambriashvili, Y.

    1996-01-01

    This report covers the following activities as foreseen according to the working plan of 'Atmoenergoproject': analysis of calculated floor response spectra used during the design of Kozloduy NPP and comparison with other spectra recommended for this NPP; analysis of floor response spectrum for the most important systems (reactor, main coolant loop, electrical systems); tests of main electrical systems and analysis of the results on seismic stability of those systems. Results of the response spectra analysis are given, some of the electrical systems are identified by the Kozloduy authorities to be analyzed in future according to the results of the test on seismicity

  16. Comparing the performance of the public, social security and private health subsystems in Argentina by core dimensions of primary health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavich, Natalia; Báscolo, Ernesto Pablo; Haggerty, Jeannie

    2016-06-01

    Most Latin American health systems are comprised of public (PubS), social security (SSS) and private (PrS) subsystems. These subsystems coexist, causing health care fragmentation and population segmentation. To estimate the extent of subsystem cross-coverage in a geographically bounded population (Rosario city) and to compare the subsystems' performance on primary health care (PHC) dimensions. Through a cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey to a representative sample (n = 822) of the Rosario population, we measured the percentage of cross-coverage (people with usual source of care in one subsystem but also covered by another subsystem) and the health services' performance by core PHC dimensions, as reported by each subsystem's usual users. We compared the subsystems' performance using chi-square analysis and one-way analysis of variance testing. We analyzed whether the observed differences were coherent with the predominant institutional and organizational features of each subsystem. Overall, 39.3% of the population was affiliated with the PubS, 44.8% with the SSS and 15.9% with the PrS. Cross-coverage was reported by 40.6% of respondents. The performance of the PubS was weak on accessibility but strong on person-and-community-oriented care, the opposite of the PrS. The SSS combined the strengths of the other two subsystems. Rosario's health system has a high percentage of cross-coverage, contributing to issues of fragmentation, segmentation, financial inequity and inefficiency. The overall performance of the SSS was better than that of the PrS and PubS, though each subsystem had a particular performance pattern with areas of strength and weakness that were consistent with their institutional and organizational profiles. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Systems Biology of Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-09-01

    AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-2-0032 TITLE: Systems Biology of Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR...CONTRACT NUMBER Systems Biology of Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-16-2-0032 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...cell) responses will be measured using molecular and cellular approaches and the data analyzed using a systems biology approach. During the first

  18. Transformative Learning: Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response and Technology-Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-09-01

    Psychophysiologic Response and Technology -Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Leigh W. Jerome, Ph.D...NUMBER Transformative Learning : Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response and Technology - Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems 5b. GRANT NUMBER...project entitled “Transformative Learning : Patterns of Psychophysiologic Response in Technology Enabled Learning and Intervention Systems.” The

  19. Responsiveness of the health insurance and private systems in Alexandria, Egypt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosallam, Rasha A; Aly, Mahmoud M; Moharram, Ahmed M

    2013-04-01

    Responsiveness to patients is a key indicator for measuring the health system performance with respect to nonhealth aspects. This study aimed to compare responsiveness of the Health Insurance Organization (HIO) with the private healthcare system and also to assess the importance of the different responsiveness domains according to the study population's perspective. Patients attending both inpatient and outpatient settings of both organizations were interviewed (200 outpatients and 200 inpatients from each selected hospital) using the WHO questionnaire. The questionnaire elicits the ratings of the respondents on their experiences with the healthcare system over the past 12 months in terms of responsiveness domains, respondents' inability to access medical care because of financial barriers, and their ranking of the relative importance of responsiveness domains. Almost twice the number of HIO participants reported poor responsiveness compared with the private organization participants (27.8 vs. 56.8%, respectively). The outpatient setting scored much favorably compared with the inpatient setting at the HIO (52.3% of respondents reported poor responsiveness in the outpatient setting compared with 76.3% in the inpatient setting); however, they were comparable in the private setting. Communication, prompt attention, and dignity were the domains most frequently rated as the most important (36.0, 32.0, and 14.7%, respectively). The type of organization (HIO vs. private organization) and setting of care (inpatient vs. outpatient) were significant predictors of responsiveness score (Pprivate sector. The results emphasize the importance of establishment of systems for monitoring the performance of the providers and discontinuation of the services for the nonperformers.

  20. Non-Markovian linear response theory for quantum open systems and its applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, H Z; Li, D X; Yi, X X

    2017-01-01

    The Kubo formula is an equation that expresses the linear response of an observable due to a time-dependent perturbation. It has been extended from closed systems to open systems in recent years under the Markovian approximation, but is barely explored for open systems in non-Markovian regimes. In this paper, we derive a formula for the linear response of an open system to a time-independent external field. This response formula is available for both Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics depending on parameters in the spectral density of the environment. As an illustration of the theory, the Hall conductance of a two-band system subjected to environments is derived and discussed. With the tight-binding model, we point out the Hall conductance changes from Markovian to non-Markovian dynamics by modulating the spectral density of the environment. Our results suggest a way to the controlling of the system response, which has potential applications for quantum statistical mechanics and condensed matter physics.

  1. Modeling the dynamic response of pressures in a distributed helium refrigeration system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brubaker, J.C.

    1997-12-01

    A mathematical model is created of the dynamic response of pressures caused by flow inputs to an existing distributed helium refrigeration system. The dynamic system studied consists of the suction and discharge pressure headers and compressor portions of the refrigeration system used to cool the superconducting magnets of the Tevatron accelerator at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The modeling method involves identifying the system from data recorded during a series of controlled tests, with effort made to detect locational differences in pressure response around the four mile accelerator circumference. A review of the fluid mechanics associated with the system indicates linear time invariant models are suitable for the identification, particularly since the governing equations of one dimensional fluid flow are approximated by linear differential equations. An outline of the experimental design and the data acquisition system are given, followed by a detailed description of the modeling, which utilized the Matlab programming language and associated System Identification Toolbox. Two representations of the system are presented. One, a black box model, provides a multi-input, multi-output description assembled from the results of single input step function testing. This description indicates definite variation in pressure response with distance from the flow input location, and also suggests subtle differences in response with the input location itself. A second system representation is proposed which details the relation between continuous flow changes and pressure response, and provides explanation of a previously unappreciated pressure feedback internal to the system

  2. Modeling the dynamic response of pressures in a distributed helium refrigeration system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brubaker, John Carl [Illinois Inst. of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States)

    1997-12-01

    A mathematical model is created of the dynamic response of pressures caused by flow inputs to an existing distributed helium refrigeration system. The dynamic system studied consists of the suction and discharge pressure headers and compressor portions of the refrigeration system used to cool the superconducting magnets of the Tevatron accelerator at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The modeling method involves identifying the system from data recorded during a series of controlled tests, with effort made to detect locational differences in pressure response around the four mile accelerator circumference. A review of the fluid mechanics associated with the system indicates linear time invariant models are suitable for the identification, particularly since the governing equations of one dimensional fluid flow are approximated by linear differential equations. An outline of the experimental design and the data acquisition system are given, followed by a detailed description of the modeling, which utilized the Matlab programming language and associated System Identification Toolbox. Two representations of the system are presented. One, a black box model, provides a multi-input, multi-output description assembled from the results of single input step function testing. This description indicates definite variation in pressure response with distance from the flow input location, and also suggests subtle differences in response with the input location itself. A second system representation is proposed which details the relation between continuous flow changes and pressure response, and provides explanation of a previously unappreciated pressure feedback internal to the system.

  3. An experimental study of the response of the multiple support piping systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiba, T.; Koyanagi, R.

    1987-01-01

    From the test results, following remarks have been obtained. 1. Since the effect of internal pressure was not so small on the stress response, its effect should be considered in the design of piping systems. 2. The effect of the phase of excitations was fairly dominant to the response of piping systems. From this fact, the adopting of the support structures which have different dynamic characteristics may be one of the more realistic approaches to reduce the response of piping systems. 3. The acceleration responses near the support points are always underestimated because the natural modes of the analysis are zero at these support points. 4. If the pseudo-static response is dominant, the stress responses near the support points are always overestimated by the ABS method to support groups. In such case the SRSS method is recommended. 5. The 10% method to the closely spaced modes is conservative for the flexible piping. The closely spaced mode methods to these flexible piping systems should be used carefully. 6. The SRSS combination method is offered the reasonable results to the space, modes and support groups in the multiple response spectra method. (orig.)

  4. CLASSIFICATION OF THE MGR EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zeigler, J.A.

    1999-01-01

    The purpose of this analysis is to document the Quality Assurance (QA) classification of the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) emergency response system structures, systems and components (SSCs) performed by the MGR Safety Assurance Department. This analysis also provides the basis for revision of YMP/90-55Q, Q-List (YMP 1998). The Q-List identifies those MGR SSCs subject to the requirements of DOE/RW-0333P7 ''Quality Assurance Requirements and Description'' (QARD) (DOE 1998)

  5. Consumer response to a report card comparing healthcare systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braun, Barbara L; Kind, Elizabeth A; Fowles, Jinnet B; Suarez, Walter G

    2002-06-01

    Report cards to date have focused on quality of care in health plans rather than within healthcare delivery systems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate consumer response to the first healthcare system-level report card. Qualitative assessment of consumer response. We conducted 5 focus groups of community members to evaluate consumer response to the report card; 2 included community club members, 3 included community-dwelling retired persons. Discussions were audiotaped and transcribed; comments were categorized by topic area from the script, and common themes identified. Focus group participants, in general, were unaware of the current emphasis on medical quality improvement initiatives. However, they believed that the opinion that the descriptive clinic information and patient survey data contained in the report card would be most useful mainly for choosing a healthcare system if they were dissatisfied with current medical care, if their healthcare options changed, or if they were in poor health. Personal experience was considered a more trustworthy measure of healthcare quality than were patient survey results. Trustworthiness was perceived to be higher if the report card sponsor was not affiliated with the healthcare systems being evaluated. Participants also believed care system administrators should use the data to enact positive clinic-level and physician-level changes. Healthcare consumers appreciated the attention to patient experiences and supported healthcare quality improvement initiatives. Report cards were considered important for choosing a healthcare system in certain circumstances and for guiding quality improvement efforts at all levels.

  6. Pulmonary and systemic inflammatory responses in rabbits with gram-negative pneumonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox-Dewhurst, R; Alberts, M K; Kajikawa, O; Caldwell, E; Johnson, M C; Skerrett, S J; Goodman, R B; Ruzinski, J T; Wong, V A; Chi, E Y; Martin, T R

    1997-06-01

    The major goals of this study were to define the relationships between intrapulmonary and systemic inflammatory responses in animals with gram-negative pneumonia. We treated rabbits with intrapulmonary Escherichia coli (1 x 10(7) to 1 x 10(10) cfu/ml), and then measured physiologic, cellular, and molecular events in the lungs and systemic circulation for 24 h. The treatment protocols resulted in groups of animals that mimicked the stages of the septic inflammatory response in humans. Animals treated with low inocula had systemic changes consistent with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and cleared the bacteria and inflammatory products from the lungs. Animals treated with high inocula failed to clear bacteria from the lungs, had severe intrapulmonary inflammatory responses, and developed septic shock. Intrapulmonary leukocyte recruitment was directly related to the size of the bacterial inoculum, but lung protein accumulation was not. Tumor neurosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and GRO were detectable in lung lavage fluid at 4 h and declined by 24 h in animals that cleared intrapulmonary E. coli. In contrast, lavage TNF-alpha, IL-8, and GRO increased over 24 h in animals that failed to clear intrapulmonary bacteria. MCP-1 increased between 4 h and 24 h in the lungs of all of the animals as the histologic response evolved from neutrophilic to mononuclear cell predominance. Thus, the intensity of systemic inflammatory and physiologic responses to intrapulmonary gram-negative infection depends on the inoculum size and whether the bacteria are cleared from or proliferate in the lungs. The results provide experimental support for the recently proposed classification of septic responses in humans.

  7. System response of a DOE Defense Program package in a transportation accident environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, T.F.; Hovingh, J.; Kimura, C.Y.

    1992-01-01

    The system response in a transportation accident environment is an element to be considered in an overall Transportation System Risk Assessment (TSRA) framework. The system response analysis uses the accident conditions and the subsequent accident progression analysis to develop the accident source term, which in turn, is used in the consequence analysis. This paper proposes a methodology for the preparation of the system response aspect of the TSRA

  8. Book Review: System Forensics, Investigation, and Response

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nate Keith

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Vacca, J. R. and Rudolph, K. (2011. System Forensics, Investigation, and Response. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. 339 + xv pages, ISBN: 978-0-7637-9134-6, US$89.95.Reviewed by Nate Keith, MBA, (natejkeith@gmail.comI recently expressed an interest to a respected colleague in finding a way to “give back” to the forensic community. He suggested writing a review for a text he recently received and provide feedback to the community. It is my intent to present an objective analysis of System Forensics, Investigation, and Response.Written by John R. Vacca and K Rudolph, this book is part of the Jones and Bartlett Learning Information Systems Security & Assurance Series.  Both Vacca and Rudolph have considerable experience in the information technology field as is demonstrated by the back cover notes: “John R. Vacca is an information technology consultant and internationally known best-selling author based in Pomeroy, Ohio.  Since 1982, he has written 62 books and more than 600 articles in the areas of advanced storage, computer security, and aerospace technology.(see PDF for full review

  9. Development of glucose-responsive 'smart' insulin systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rege, Nischay K; Phillips, Nelson F B; Weiss, Michael A

    2017-08-01

    The complexity of modern insulin-based therapy for type I and type II diabetes mellitus and the risks associated with excursions in blood-glucose concentration (hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia) have motivated the development of 'smart insulin' technologies (glucose-responsive insulin, GRI). Such analogs or delivery systems are entities that provide insulin activity proportional to the glycemic state of the patient without external monitoring by the patient or healthcare provider. The present review describes the relevant historical background to modern GRI technologies and highlights three distinct approaches: coupling of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) to deliver devices (algorithm-based 'closed-loop' systems), glucose-responsive polymer encapsulation of insulin, and molecular modification of insulin itself. Recent advances in GRI research utilizing each of the three approaches are illustrated; these include newly developed algorithms for CGM-based insulin delivery systems, glucose-sensitive modifications of existing clinical analogs, newly developed hypoxia-sensitive polymer matrices, and polymer-encapsulated, stem-cell-derived pancreatic β cells. Although GRI technologies have yet to be perfected, the recent advances across several scientific disciplines that are described in this review have provided a path towards their clinical implementation.

  10. A Comprehensive Evaluation System for Military Hospitals' Response Capability to Bio-terrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hui; Jiang, Nan; Shao, Sicong; Zheng, Tao; Sun, Jianzhong

    2015-05-01

    The objective of this study is to establish a comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. Literature research and Delphi method were utilized to establish the comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. Questionnaires were designed and used to survey the status quo of 134 military hospitals' response capability to bio-terrorism. Survey indicated that factor analysis method was suitable to for analyzing the comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. The constructed evaluation system was consisted of five first-class and 16 second-class indexes. Among them, medical response factor was considered as the most important factor with weight coefficient of 0.660, followed in turn by the emergency management factor with weight coefficient of 0.109, emergency management consciousness factor with weight coefficient of 0.093, hardware support factor with weight coefficient of 0.078, and improvement factor with weight coefficient of 0.059. The constructed comprehensive assessment model and system are scientific and practical.

  11. Corporate Social Responsibility Management System: A Beverage Industry Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Almeida, Rita; David, Fátima; Abreu, Rute

    2017-01-01

    This research aims to analyse policies inherent to the Corporate Social Responsibility Management System (CSRMS) of a company that produce diet and light beverage, iced teas, juice drinks and bottled waters. This management system is based on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as “concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (EC, Green paper – Promotin...

  12. Potential risk for bacterial contamination in conventional reused ventilator systems and disposable closed ventilator-suction systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ya-Chi; Lin, Hui-Ling; Liao, Fang-Chun; Wang, Sing-Siang; Chang, Hsiu-Chu; Hsu, Hung-Fu; Chen, Sue-Hsien; Wan, Gwo-Hwa

    2018-01-01

    Few studies have investigated the difference in bacterial contamination between conventional reused ventilator systems and disposable closed ventilator-suction systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the bacterial contamination rates of the reused and disposable ventilator systems, and the association between system disconnection and bacterial contamination of ventilator systems. The enrolled intubated and mechanically ventilated patients used a conventional reused ventilator system and a disposable closed ventilator-suction system, respectively, for a week; specimens were then collected from the ventilator circuit systems to evaluate human and environmental bacterial contamination. The sputum specimens from patients were also analyzed in this study. The detection rate of bacteria in the conventional reused ventilator system was substantially higher than that in the disposable ventilator system. The inspiratory and expiratory limbs of the disposable closed ventilator-suction system had higher bacterial concentrations than the conventional reused ventilator system. The bacterial concentration in the heated humidifier of the reused ventilator system was significantly higher than that in the disposable ventilator system. Positive associations existed among the bacterial concentrations at different locations in the reused and disposable ventilator systems, respectively. The predominant bacteria identified in the reused and disposable ventilator systems included Acinetobacter spp., Bacillus cereus, Elizabethkingia spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Stenotrophomonas (Xan) maltophilia. Both the reused and disposable ventilator systems had high bacterial contamination rates after one week of use. Disconnection of the ventilator systems should be avoided during system operation to decrease the risks of environmental pollution and human exposure, especially for the disposable ventilator system. ClinicalTrials.gov PRS / NCT03359148.

  13. Experiences of faculty and students using an audience response system in the classroom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Christine M; Monturo, Cheryl; Conroy, Katherine

    2011-07-01

    The advent of innovative technologies, such as the audience response system, provides an opportunity to engage students and enhance learning. Based on their experiences, three nursing faculty evaluated the use of an audience response system in four distinct nursing courses through the use of informal survey results. When using the audience response system, the faculty experienced an increased perception of student attentiveness and engagement, high level of class attendance, and enhanced learning. Faculty feelings were mixed concerning the burden in adapting to increased classroom time and increased preparation time. Students' perception of the value of audience response system use was mostly positive, except when responses were included as part of the grade. The majority of the students indicated that use of the audience response system enhanced learning and was a helpful learning method when used with NCLEX-style questions. Overall, faculty believed that the benefits of student engagement and enhanced learning outweighed the burdens of incorporating this new technology in the classroom.

  14. Measuring the mental health care system responsiveness: results of an outpatient survey in Tehran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Setareh eForouzan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available AbstractAs explained by the World Health Organisation (WHO in 2000, the concept of health system responsiveness is one of the core goals of health systems. Since 2000, further efforts have been made to measure health system responsiveness and the factors affecting responsiveness, yet few studies have applied responsiveness concepts to the evaluation of mental health systems. The present study aims to measure responsiveness and its related domains in the mental health care system of Tehran. Utilising the same method used by the WHO for its responsiveness survey, responsiveness for outpatient mental health care was evaluated using a validated Farsi questionnaire. A sample of 500 public mental health service users in Tehran participated and subsequently completed the questionnaire. On average, 47% of participants reported experiencing poor responsiveness. Among responsiveness domains, confidentiality and dignity were the best performing factors while autonomy, access to care and quality of basic amenities were the worst performing. Respondents who reported their social status as low were more likely to experience poor responsiveness overall. Autonomy, quality of basic amenities and clear communication were responsiveness dimensions that performed poorly but were considered to be important by study participants. In summary, the study suggests that measuring responsiveness could provide guidance for further development of mental health care systems to become more patient orientated and provide patients with more respect.

  15. From Management Systems to Corporate Social Responsibility

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwetsloot, G.I.J.M.

    2003-01-01

    At the start of the 21st century, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seems to have great potential for innovating business practices with a positive impact on People, Planet and Profit. In this article the differences between the management systems approach of the nineties, and Corporate Social

  16. Systemic inflammatory responses following welding inhalation challenge test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula Kauppi

    2015-01-01

    Conclusions: Exposure to MS and SS welding fume resulted in a mild systemic inflammatory response. The particle concentration from the breathing zones correlated with the measurements inside the welding face shields.

  17. Users' Orientations in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia towards the Reading ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    pc

    2018-03-05

    Mar 5, 2018 ... by making them occupied with digital entertainment means of the audiovisual materials from Music, Movies, Videos, Games and Others, and making .... three types of devices which are: Sony PRS 600 Device,. Sony PRS 505 ...

  18. Adaptation of Vanderbilt Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnostic Parent Scale in Turkish

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tüba KÜÇÜK DOĞAROĞLU

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to adaptation of Vanderbilt Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnostic Parent Rating Scale (Vanderbilt ADHD PRS to Turkish. This study was done 343 mother whose children with DEHB and 7 – 9 years old. Gender of mothers’ children is 132 girls and 211 boys. Age of children is that 82 children are 7 years old, 141 children are 8 years old and 120 children are 9 years old. Datas are gathering by Vanderbilt ADHD PRS and data form. Validity and reliability of scale was examined exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach Alpha. Results reveal that adaptation of Vanderbilt ADHD PRS to Turkish included 45 items which had 4 factors (inattention / hyperactivity / oppositional and conduct disorder / depression – anxiety. Results indicated that adaptation of Vanderbilt ADHD PRS to Turkish is valid and reliable scale

  19. Optimal approximation of linear systems by artificial immune response

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    无

    2006-01-01

    This paper puts forward a novel artificial immune response algorithm for optimal approximation of linear systems. A quaternion model of artificial immune response is proposed for engineering computing. The model abstracts four elements, namely, antigen, antibody, reaction rules among antibodies, and driving algorithm describing how the rules are applied to antibodies, to simulate the process of immune response. Some reaction rules including clonal selection rules, immunological memory rules and immune regulation rules are introduced. Using the theorem of Markov chain, it is proofed that the new model is convergent. The experimental study on the optimal approximation of a stable linear system and an unstable one show that the approximate models searched by the new model have better performance indices than those obtained by some existing algorithms including the differential evolution algorithm and the multi-agent genetic algorithm.

  20. Applying the principles of adult learning to the teaching of psychopharmacology: audience response systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, Stephen M; Davis, Richard L

    2009-08-01

    Medical presentations can be enhanced by systematically collecting audience feedback. This is readily accomplished with polling systems, called audience response systems. Several systems are now available that are small, inexpensive, and can be readily integrated into standard powerpoint presentations without the need for a technician. Use of audience response systems has several advantages. These include improving attentiveness, increasing learning, polling anonymously, tracking individual and group responses, gauging audience understanding, adding interactivity and fun, and evaluating both participant learning and instructor teaching. Tips for how to write questions for audience response systems are also included.

  1. Caire - A real-time feedback system for emergency response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braun, H.; Brenk, H.D.; de Witt, H.

    1991-01-01

    In cases of nuclear emergencies it is the primary task of emergency response forces and decision making authorities to act properly. Whatever the specific reason for the contingency may be, a quick and most accurate estimate of the radiation exposure in consequence of the emergency must be made. This is a necessary prerequisite for decisions on protective measures and off-site emergency management. With respect to this fact ant the recent experience of the Chernobyl accident, remote monitoring systems have increased their importance as an inherent part of environmental surveillance installations in the FRG and in other countries. The existing systems in Germany are designed to cover both, routine operation and emergency situations. They provide site specific meteorological data, gross effluent dose rates, and dose rate measurements at on-site and approximately 30 off-site locations in the vicinity of a plant. Based on such telemetric surveillance networks an advanced automatic on-line system named CAIRE (Computer Aided Response to Emergencies) has been developed as a real time emergency response tool for nuclear facilities. this tool is designed to provide decision makers with most relevant radiation exposure data of the population at risk. The development phase of CAIRE has already been finished. CAIRE is now in an operational status and available for applications in emergency planning and response

  2. The Purse-String Reinforced SMASectomy Short Scar Facelift

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Lei, Berend; Cromheecke, Michel; Hofer, Stefan O. P.

    Background: Over the last two decades, short scar facelifts, often referred to as "mini'' facelifts, have gained popularity. We use a purse-string reinforced (PRS) superficial musculoaponeurotic system rhytidectomy (SMASectomy) shortscar facelift that combines a SMASectomy in the vertical direction

  3. Response Time Analysis of Distributed Web Systems Using QPNs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomasz Rak

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A performance model is used for studying distributed Web systems. Performance evaluation is done by obtaining load test measurements. Queueing Petri Nets formalism supports modeling and performance analysis of distributed World Wide Web environments. The proposed distributed Web systems modeling and design methodology have been applied in the evaluation of several system architectures under different external loads. Furthermore, performance analysis is done to determine the system response time.

  4. Trauma-induced systemic inflammatory response versus exercise-induced immunomodulatory effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fehrenbach, Elvira; Schneider, Marion E

    2006-01-01

    Accidental trauma and heavy endurance exercise, both induce a kind of systemic inflammatory response, also called systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Exercise-related SIRS is conditioned by hyperthermia and concomitant heat shock responses, whereas trauma-induced SIRS manifests concomitantly with tissue necrosis and immune activation, secondarily followed by fever. Inflammatory cytokines are common denominators in both trauma and exercise, although there are marked quantitative differences. Different anti-inflammatory cytokines may be involved in the control of inflammation in trauma- and exercise-induced stress. Exercise leads to a balanced equilibrium between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. Intermittent states of rest, as well as anti-oxidant capacity, are lacking or minor in trauma but are high in exercising individuals. Regular training may enhance immune competence, whereas trauma-induced SIRS often paves the way for infectious complications, such as sepsis.

  5. Audience response-systemer styrker læringsmiljøet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jacob Vad; Østergaard, Doris

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this article was to describe the possibilities gained by using an electronic voting system (EVS), the existing evidence to determine whether an EVS affects learning proceeds, challenges in EVS and perspectives for EVS in Danish medical training. Audience Response-Systems (ARS) seem...

  6. An expert system for improving nuclear emergency response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salame-Alfie, A.; Goldbogen, G.C.; Ryan, R.M.; Wallace, W.A.; Yeater, M.L.

    1987-01-01

    The accidents at TMI-2 and Chernobyl have produced initiatives aimed at improving nuclear plant emergency response capabilities. Among them are the development of emergency response facilities with capabilities for the acquisition, processing, and diagnosis of data which are needed to help coordinate plant operations, engineering support and management under emergency conditions. An effort in this direction prompted the development of an expert system. EP (EMERGENCY PLANNER) is a prototype expert system that is intended to help coordinate the overall management during emergency conditions. The EP system was built using the GEN-X expert system shell. GEN-X has a variety of knowledge representation mechanisms including AND/OR trees, Decision trees, and IF/THEN tables, and runs on an IBM PC-XT or AT computer or compatible. Among the main features, EP is portable, modular, user friendly, can interact with external programs and interrogate data bases. The knowledge base is made of New York State (NYS) Procedures for Emergency Classification, NYS Radiological Emergency Preparedness Plan (REPP) and knowledge from experts of the NYS Radiological Emergency Preparedness Group and the Office of Radiological Health and Chemistry of the New York Power Authority (NYPA)

  7. Characterising the mucosal and systemic immune responses to experimental human hookworm infection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soraya Gaze

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The mucosal cytokine response of healthy humans to parasitic helminths has never been reported. We investigated the systemic and mucosal cytokine responses to hookworm infection in experimentally infected, previously hookworm naive individuals from non-endemic areas. We collected both peripheral blood and duodenal biopsies to assess the systemic immune response, as well as the response at the site of adult worm establishment. Our results show that experimental hookworm infection leads to a strong systemic and mucosal Th2 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-9 and IL-13 and regulatory (IL-10 and TGF-β response, with some evidence of a Th1 (IFN-γ and IL-2 response. Despite upregulation after patency of both IL-15 and ALDH1A2, a known Th17-inducing combination in inflammatory diseases, we saw no evidence of a Th17 (IL-17 response. Moreover, we observed strong suppression of mucosal IL-23 and upregulation of IL-22 during established hookworm infection, suggesting a potential mechanism by which Th17 responses are suppressed, and highlighting the potential that hookworms and their secreted proteins offer as therapeutics for human inflammatory diseases.

  8. Impact of Demand Side Response on a Commercial Retail Refrigeration System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibrahim M. Saleh

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available The UK National Grid has placed increased emphasis on the development of Demand Side Response (DSR tariff mechanisms to manage load at peak times. Refrigeration systems, along with HVAC, are estimated to consume 14% of the UK’s electricity and could have a significant role for DSR application. However, characterized by relatively low individual electrical loads and massive asset numbers, multiple low power refrigerators need aggregation for inclusion in these tariffs. In this paper, the impact of the Demand Side Response (DSR control mechanisms on food retailing refrigeration systems is investigated. The experiments are conducted in a test-rig built to resemble a typical small supermarket store. The paper demonstrates how the temperature and pressure profiles of the system, the active power and the drawn current of the compressors are affected following a rapid shut down and subsequent return to normal operation as a response to a DSR event. Moreover, risks and challenges associated with primary and secondary Firm Frequency Response (FFR mechanisms, where the load is rapidly shed at high speed in response to changes in grid frequency, is considered. For instance, measurements are included that show a significant increase in peak inrush currents of approx. 30% when the system returns to normal operation at the end of a DSR event. Consideration of how high inrush currents after a DSR event can produce voltage fluctuations of the supply and we assess risks to the local power supply system.

  9. Transformation Planning of Ecotourism Systems to Invigorate Responsible Tourism

    OpenAIRE

    Yun Eui Choi; Minsun Doh; Samuel Park; Jinhyung Chon

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to introduce transformation plans that can stimulate responsible ecotourism by using systems thinking to solve ecotourism problems in Korea. Systems thinking is a research method used to understand the operating mechanisms of the variables that influence an entire system, in order to identify its problems. The four types of ecotourism systems are classified as follows: low-infrastructure and resident-initiated, high-infrastructure and resident-initiated, high-infr...

  10. Relative conservatisms of combination methods used in response spectrum analyses of nuclear piping systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, S.; Kustu, O.; Jhaveri, D.P.; Blume, J.A.

    1983-01-01

    The paper presents the conclusions of a comprehensive study that investigated the relative conservatisms represented by various combination techniques. Two approaches were taken for the study, producing mutually consistent results. In the first, 20 representative nuclear piping systems were systematically analyzed using the response spectrum method. The total response was obtained using nine different combination methods. One procedure, using the SRSS method for combining spatial components of response and the 10% method for combining the responses of different modes (which is currently acceptable to the U.S. NRC), was the standard for comparison. Responses computed by the other methods were normalized to this standard method. These response ratios were then used to develop cumulative frequency-distribution curves, which were used to establish the relative conservatism of the methods in a probabilistic sense. In the second approach, 30 single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems that represent different modes of hypothetical piping systems and have natural frequencies varying from 1 Hz to 30 Hz, were analyzed for 276 sets of three-component recorded ground motion. A set of hypothetical systems assuming a variety of modes and frequency ranges was developed. The responses of these systems were computed from the responses of the SDOF systems by combining the spatial response components by algebraic summation and the individual mode responses by the Navy method, or combining both spatial and modal response components using the SRSS method. Probability density functions and cumulative distribution functions were developed for the ratio of the responses obtained by both methods. (orig./HP)

  11. Water and Climate Impacts on Power System Operations: The Importance of Cooling Systems and Demand Response Measures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Macknick, Jordan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhou, Ella [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); O' Connell, Matthew [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Brinkman, Gregory [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Miara, Ariel [City College of New York, NY (United States); Ibanez, Eduardo [GE Energy Connections, Atlanta, GA (United States); Hummon, Marissa [Tendril, Denver, CO (United States)

    2016-12-01

    The U.S. electricity sector is highly dependent upon water resources; changes in water temperatures and water availability can affect operational costs and the reliability of power systems. Despite the importance of water for power system operations, the effects of changes in water characteristics on multiple generators in a system are generally not modeled. Moreover, demand response measures, which can change the magnitude and timing of loads and can have beneficial impacts on power system operations, have not yet been evaluated in the context of water-related power vulnerabilities. This effort provides a first comprehensive vulnerability and cost analysis of water-related impacts on a modeled power system and the potential for demand response measures to address vulnerability and cost concerns. This study uniquely combines outputs and inputs of a water and power plant system model, production cost, model, and relative capacity value model to look at variations in cooling systems, policy-related thermal curtailments, and demand response measures to characterize costs and vulnerability for a test system. Twenty-five scenarios over the course of one year are considered: a baseline scenario as well as a suite of scenarios to evaluate six cooling system combinations, the inclusion or exclusion of policy-related thermal curtailments, and the inclusion or exclusion of demand response measures. A water and power plant system model is utilized to identify changes in power plant efficiencies resulting from ambient conditions, a production cost model operating at an hourly scale is used to calculate generation technology dispatch and costs, and a relative capacity value model is used to evaluate expected loss of carrying capacity for the test system.

  12. Identifying Industry-Specific Components of Product Liability Response System Using Delphi-AHP Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seo JunHyeok

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available PL (product liability response system is an enterprise-wide system that prevents company’s financial loss due to PL-related accidents. Existing researches on PL response system are mainly focused on preventive and/or defense strategies for the companies. Also, it is obvious that each industry has their original characteristics related on PL issues. It means industry-specific characteristics should be considered to adopt PL response strategies. Thus, this paper aims to discuss industry-specific PL response system and their components. Based on prior researches, we tried to reveal the possibility of its application to manufacturing companies of existing PL response strategies using Delphi method with PL experts. Based on first round results, we tried to classify existing PL strategies of manufacturing companies into several categories. To validate our suggestion for essential components of PL response system, second round Delphi method are applied. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP technique will be applied to identify a prioritized list of each components and strategies. Existing PL response strategies could be categorized with six components – strategy, technology, investment, training, awareness, and organization. Among six components, Technology – it represents the technology needed for improving the safety of all products – is the most important components to prepare PL accidents. The limitation of this paper is on the size of survey and variety of examples. However, the future study will enhance the potential of the proposed method. Regardless of rich research efforts to identify PL response strategies, there is no effort to categorize these strategies and prioritized them. Well-coordinated and actionable PL response strategies and their priorities could help small-and-medium sized enterprise (SME to develop their own PL response system with their limited resources.

  13. Cisplatin plus vindesine versus cisplatin plus versus doxorubicin plus cytoxan in non-small-cell carcinoma of the lung

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paccagnella, A.; Brandes, A.; Pappagallo, G.L.

    1986-01-01

    From March 1981 to January 1984, 116 patients with advanced non-small-cell carcinoma of the lung (NSCCL) were randomly assigned to 3 combinations as follow: CDDP+DVA, CDDP+VP16 and DXR+CTX. 94 patients were evaluable for response, 106 for toxicity and survival. Of 31 patients, 15 (48%; 3 CRs and 12 PRs) responded to CDDP+DVA; of 33 patients, 12 (36%, 2 CRs and 10 PRs) responded to CDDP+VP16: OF 30 patients, 3 (10%) obtained a PR with DXR+CTX (CDDP+DVA vs DXR+CTX, P<0.005; CDDP+VP16 vs DXR+CTX, P<0.05; CDDP+DVA vs CDDP+VP16, P=NS). The median duration of response was 22 weeks in the CDDP-DVA group, 17 weeks in the CDDP-VP16 group, and 16 weeks in the DXR+CTX group. No significant difference in survival was observed among the 3 groups (median: 43, 47, 41 weeks, respectively). Hematologic and neurologic toxicites were significantly higher in the DVA-containing regimen. Despite the lack of improvement of overall survival with the CDDP-containing combinations over the DXR+CTX control group, the good response rate makes them suitable to be used in combined therapeutic strategies

  14. Segmental isotope labeling of proteins for NMR structural study using a protein S tag for higher expression and solubility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kobayashi, Hiroshi; Swapna, G. V. T.; Wu, Kuen-Phon; Afinogenova, Yuliya; Conover, Kenith; Mao, Binchen; Montelione, Gaetano T.; Inouye, Masayori

    2012-01-01

    A common obstacle to NMR studies of proteins is sample preparation. In many cases, proteins targeted for NMR studies are poorly expressed and/or expressed in insoluble forms. Here, we describe a novel approach to overcome these problems. In the protein S tag-intein (PSTI) technology, two tandem 92-residue N-terminal domains of protein S (PrS 2 ) from Myxococcus xanthus is fused at the N-terminal end of a protein to enhance its expression and solubility. Using intein technology, the isotope-labeled PrS 2 -tag is replaced with non-isotope labeled PrS 2 -tag, silencing the NMR signals from PrS 2 -tag in isotope-filtered 1 H-detected NMR experiments. This method was applied to the E. coli ribosome binding factor A (RbfA), which aggregates and precipitates in the absence of a solubilization tag unless the C-terminal 25-residue segment is deleted (RbfAΔ25). Using the PrS 2 -tag, full-length well-behaved RbfA samples could be successfully prepared for NMR studies. PrS 2 (non-labeled)-tagged RbfA (isotope-labeled) was produced with the use of the intein approach. The well-resolved TROSY-HSQC spectrum of full-length PrS 2 -tagged RbfA superimposes with the TROSY-HSQC spectrum of RbfAΔ25, indicating that PrS 2 -tag does not affect the structure of the protein to which it is fused. Using a smaller PrS-tag, consisting of a single N-terminal domain of protein S, triple resonance experiments were performed, and most of the backbone 1 H, 15 N and 13 C resonance assignments for full-length E. coli RbfA were determined. Analysis of these chemical shift data with the Chemical Shift Index and heteronuclear 1 H– 15 N NOE measurements reveal the dynamic nature of the C-terminal segment of the full-length RbfA protein, which could not be inferred using the truncated RbfAΔ25 construct. CS-Rosetta calculations also demonstrate that the core structure of full-length RbfA is similar to that of the RbfAΔ25 construct.

  15. Acute injury in the peripheral nervous system triggers an alternative macrophage response

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ydens Elke

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The activation of the immune system in neurodegeneration has detrimental as well as beneficial effects. Which aspects of this immune response aggravate the neurodegenerative breakdown and which stimulate regeneration remains an open question. To unravel the neuroprotective aspects of the immune system we focused on a model of acute peripheral nerve injury, in which the immune system was shown to be protective. Methods To determine the type of immune response triggered after axotomy of the sciatic nerve, a model for Wallerian degeneration in the peripheral nervous system, we evaluated markers representing the two extremes of a type I and type II immune response (classical vs. alternative using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR, western blot, and immunohistochemistry. Results Our results showed that acute peripheral nerve injury triggers an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive response, rather than a pro-inflammatory response. This was reflected by the complete absence of classical macrophage markers (iNOS, IFNγ, and IL12p40, and the strong up-regulation of tissue repair markers (arginase-1, Ym1, and Trem2. The signal favoring the alternative macrophage environment was induced immediately after nerve damage and appeared to be established within the nerve, well before the infiltration of macrophages. In addition, negative regulators of the innate immune response, as well as the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were induced. The strict regulation of the immune system dampens the potential tissue damaging effects of an over-activated response. Conclusions We here demonstrate that acute peripheral nerve injury triggers an inherent protective environment by inducing the M2 phenotype of macrophages and the expression of arginase-1. We believe that the M2 phenotype, associated with a sterile inflammatory response and tissue repair, might explain their neuroprotective capacity. As such, shifting the

  16. Establishment of one-axis vibration test system for measurement of biodynamic response of human hand-arm system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shibata, Nobuyuki; Hosoya, Naoki; Maeda, Setsuo

    2008-12-01

    Prolonged exposure to hand-arm vibration (HAV) due to use of hand-held power tools leads to an increased occurrence of symptoms of disorders in the vascular, neurological, and osteo-articular systems of the upper limbs called hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Biodynamic responses of the hand-arm system to vibration can be suggestive parameters that give us better assessment of exposure to HAV and fundamental data for design of low-vibration-exposure power tools. Recently, a single axis hand-arm vibration system has been installed in the Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The aims of this study were to obtain the fundamental dynamic characteristics of an instrumented handle and to validate the performance and measurement accuracy of the system applied to dynamic response measurement. A pseudo-random vibration signal with a frequency range of 5-1,250 Hz and a power spectrum density of 1.0 (m/s2)2/Hz was used in this study. First the dynamic response of the instrumented handle without any weight was measured. After this measurement, the dynamic response measurement of the handle with weights mounted on the handle was performed. The apparent mass of a weight itself was obtained by using the mass cancellation method. The mass of the measuring cap on the instrumented handle was well compensated by using the mass cancellation method. Based on the 10% error tolerance, this handle can reliably measure the dynamic response represented by an apparent mass with a minimum weight of 2.0 g in a frequency range of 10.0 to 1,000 Hz. A marked increase in the AM magnitude of the weights of 15 g and 20 g in frequency ranges greater than 800 Hz is attributed not to the fundamental resonance frequency of the handle with weights, but to the fixation of the weight to the measuring cap. In this aspect, the peak of the AM magnitude can be reduced and hence should not be an obstacle to the biodynamic response measurement of the human hand-arm system. On the

  17. Module-based analysis of robustness tradeoffs in the heat shock response system.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroyuki Kurata

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Biological systems have evolved complex regulatory mechanisms, even in situations where much simpler designs seem to be sufficient for generating nominal functionality. Using module-based analysis coupled with rigorous mathematical comparisons, we propose that in analogy to control engineering architectures, the complexity of cellular systems and the presence of hierarchical modular structures can be attributed to the necessity of achieving robustness. We employ the Escherichia coli heat shock response system, a strongly conserved cellular mechanism, as an example to explore the design principles of such modular architectures. In the heat shock response system, the sigma-factor sigma32 is a central regulator that integrates multiple feedforward and feedback modules. Each of these modules provides a different type of robustness with its inherent tradeoffs in terms of transient response and efficiency. We demonstrate how the overall architecture of the system balances such tradeoffs. An extensive mathematical exploration nevertheless points to the existence of an array of alternative strategies for the existing heat shock response that could exhibit similar behavior. We therefore deduce that the evolutionary constraints facing the system might have steered its architecture toward one of many robustly functional solutions.

  18. General response formula and application to topological insulator in quantum open system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, H Z; Qin, M; Shao, X Q; Yi, X X

    2015-11-01

    It is well-known that the quantum linear response theory is based on the first-order perturbation theory for a system in thermal equilibrium. Hence, this theory breaks down when the system is in a steady state far from thermal equilibrium and the response up to higher order in perturbation is not negligible. In this paper, we develop a nonlinear response theory for such quantum open system. We first formulate this theory in terms of general susceptibility, after which we apply it to the derivation of Hall conductance for open system at finite temperature. As an example, the Hall conductance of the two-band model is derived. Then we calculate the Hall conductance for a two-dimensional ferromagnetic electron gas and a two-dimensional lattice model. The calculations show that the transition points of topological phase are robust against the environment. Our results provide a promising platform for the coherent manipulation of the nonlinear response in quantum open system, which has potential applications for quantum information processing and statistical physics.

  19. Assessment of the dynamic response of systems and measures to enhance their safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serban, Viorel; Androne, Marian; Ciocan, George Alexandru; Zamfir, Madalina; Florea, Ioana; Panait, Adrian; Prisecaru, Ilie

    2007-01-01

    Buildings, equipment and pipe networks are dynamically, oscillating structures that may build-up energy or not, from the excitation, amplifying or damping their response as a function of the rate between the system vibration Eigen period and the repetition period of the dynamic excitation and the system damping capacity. This paper is an analysis in time and frequency of the dynamic response of an oscillating system subject to a periodic excitation. The results of the conducted analysis show how a system must be sized for the transfer of energy from excitation to the system be minimized, the system builds-up as less kinetic and elastic energy as possible and the system response to accelerations, velocity and distortions be also minimal. (author)

  20. Response of a Doppler canceling system to plane gravitational waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caporali, A.

    1982-01-01

    This paper discusses the interaction of long periodic gravitational waves with a three-link microwave system known as the Doppler canceling system. This system, which was developed for gravitational red-shift experiment, uses one-way and two-way Doppler information to construct the beat signal of two reference oscillators moving with respect to each other. The geometric-optics approximation is used to derive the frequency shift produced on a light signal propagating in a gravitational-wave space-time. The signature left on the Doppler-canceled beat by bursts and continuous gravitational waves is analyzed. A comparison is made between the response to gravitational waves of the Doppler canceling system and that of a (NASA) Doppler tracking system which employs two-way, round-trip radio waves. A threefold repetition of the gravitational wave form is found to be a common feature of the response functions of both systems. These two functions otherwise exhibit interesting differences

  1. Monitoring water supply systems for anomaly detection and response

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bakker, M.; Lapikas, T.; Tangena, B.H.; Vreeburg, J.H.G.

    2012-01-01

    Water supply systems are vulnerable to damage caused by unintended or intended human actions, or due to aging of the system. In order to minimize the damages and the inconvenience for the customers, a software tool was developed to detect anomalies at an early stage, and to support the responsible

  2. Interactive Voice/Web Response System in clinical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruikar, Vrishabhsagar

    2016-01-01

    Emerging technologies in computer and telecommunication industry has eased the access to computer through telephone. An Interactive Voice/Web Response System (IxRS) is one of the user friendly systems for end users, with complex and tailored programs at its backend. The backend programs are specially tailored for easy understanding of users. Clinical research industry has experienced revolution in methodologies of data capture with time. Different systems have evolved toward emerging modern technologies and tools in couple of decades from past, for example, Electronic Data Capture, IxRS, electronic patient reported outcomes, etc.

  3. Associations between Polygenic Risk for Psychiatric Disorders and Substance Involvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caitlin E Carey

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Despite evidence of substantial comorbidity between psychiatric disorders and substance involvement, the extent to which common genetic factors contribute to their co-occurrence remains understudied. In the current study, we tested for associations between polygenic risk for psychiatric disorders and substance involvement (i.e., ranging from ever-use to severe dependence among 2573 non-Hispanic European-American participants from the Study of Addiction: Genetics and Environment. Polygenic risk scores (PRS for cross-disorder psychopathology (CROSS were generated based on the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium’s Cross-Disorder meta-analysis and then tested for associations with a factor representing general liability to alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, nicotine, and opioid involvement (GENSUB. Follow-up analyses evaluated specific associations between each of the 5 psychiatric disorders which comprised CROSS—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (AUT, bipolar disorder (BIP, major depressive disorder (MDD, and schizophrenia (SCZ—and involvement with each component substance included in GENSUB. CROSS PRS explained 1.10% of variance in GENSUB in our sample (p<0.001. After correction for multiple testing in our follow-up analyses of polygenic risk for each individual disorder predicting involvement with each component substance, associations remained between: A MDD PRS and non-problem cannabis use, B MDD PRS and severe cocaine dependence, C SCZ PRS and non-problem cannabis use and severe cannabis dependence, and D SCZ PRS and severe cocaine dependence. These results suggest that shared covariance from common genetic variation contributes to psychiatric and substance involvement comorbidity.

  4. Prediction of breast cancer risk based on common genetic variants in women of East Asian ancestry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Wanqing; Shu, Xiao-Ou; Guo, Xingyi; Cai, Qiuyin; Long, Jirong; Bolla, Manjeet K; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Dennis, Joe; Wang, Qin; Gao, Yu-Tang; Zheng, Ying; Dunning, Alison M; García-Closas, Montserrat; Brennan, Paul; Chen, Shou-Tung; Choi, Ji-Yeob; Hartman, Mikael; Ito, Hidemi; Lophatananon, Artitaya; Matsuo, Keitaro; Miao, Hui; Muir, Kenneth; Sangrajrang, Suleeporn; Shen, Chen-Yang; Teo, Soo H; Tseng, Chiu-Chen; Wu, Anna H; Yip, Cheng Har; Simard, Jacques; Pharoah, Paul D P; Hall, Per; Kang, Daehee; Xiang, Yongbing; Easton, Douglas F; Zheng, Wei

    2016-12-08

    Approximately 100 common breast cancer susceptibility alleles have been identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The utility of these variants in breast cancer risk prediction models has not been evaluated adequately in women of Asian ancestry. We evaluated 88 breast cancer risk variants that were identified previously by GWAS in 11,760 cases and 11,612 controls of Asian ancestry. SNPs confirmed to be associated with breast cancer risk in Asian women were used to construct a polygenic risk score (PRS). The relative and absolute risks of breast cancer by the PRS percentiles were estimated based on the PRS distribution, and were used to stratify women into different levels of breast cancer risk. We confirmed significant associations with breast cancer risk for SNPs in 44 of the 78 previously reported loci at P women in the middle quintile of the PRS, women in the top 1% group had a 2.70-fold elevated risk of breast cancer (95% CI: 2.15-3.40). The risk prediction model with the PRS had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.606. The lifetime risk of breast cancer for Shanghai Chinese women in the lowest and highest 1% of the PRS was 1.35% and 10.06%, respectively. Approximately one-half of GWAS-identified breast cancer risk variants can be directly replicated in East Asian women. Collectively, common genetic variants are important predictors for breast cancer risk. Using common genetic variants for breast cancer could help identify women at high risk of breast cancer.

  5. Genetic risk of major depressive disorder: the moderating and mediating effects of neuroticism and psychological resilience on clinical and self-reported depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navrady, L B; Adams, M J; Chan, S W Y; Ritchie, S J; McIntosh, A M

    2017-11-29

    Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for depression correlate with depression status and chronicity, and provide causal anchors to identify depressive mechanisms. Neuroticism is phenotypically and genetically positively associated with depression, whereas psychological resilience demonstrates negative phenotypic associations. Whether increased neuroticism and reduced resilience are downstream mediators of genetic risk for depression, and whether they contribute independently to risk remains unknown. Moderating and mediating relationships between depression PRS, neuroticism, resilience and both clinical and self-reported depression were examined in a large, population-based cohort, Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (N = 4166), using linear regression and structural equation modelling. Neuroticism and resilience were measured by the Eysenck Personality Scale Short Form Revised and the Brief Resilience Scale, respectively. PRS for depression was associated with increased likelihood of self-reported and clinical depression. No interaction was found between PRS and neuroticism, or between PRS and resilience. Neuroticism was associated with increased likelihood of self-reported and clinical depression, whereas resilience was associated with reduced risk. Structural equation modelling suggested the association between PRS and self-reported and clinical depression was mediated by neuroticism (43-57%), while resilience mediated the association in the opposite direction (37-40%). For both self-reported and clinical diagnoses, the genetic risk for depression was independently mediated by neuroticism and resilience. Findings suggest polygenic risk for depression increases vulnerability for self-reported and clinical depression through independent effects on increased neuroticism and reduced psychological resilience. In addition, two partially independent mechanisms - neuroticism and resilience - may form part of the pathway of vulnerability to depression.

  6. Systems Biology of the Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-09-01

    AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-2-0031 TITLE: Systems Biology of the Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines PRINCIPAL...SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Systems Biology of the Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-16-2-0031 5c...adaptive (T and B cell) responses will be measured using molecular and cellular approaches and the data analyzed using a systems biology approach

  7. Effects of age and mild cognitive impairment on the pain response system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunz, Miriam; Mylius, Veit; Schepelmann, Karsten; Lautenbacher, Stefan

    2009-01-01

    Both age and dementia have been shown to have an effect on nociception and pain processing. The question arises whether mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is thought to be a transitional stage between normal ageing and dementia, is also associated with alterations in pain processing. The aim of the present study was to answer this question by investigating the impact of age and MCI on the pain response system. Forty young subjects, 45 cognitively unimpaired elderly subjects and 42 subjects with MCI were investigated by use of an experimental multi-method approach. The subjects were tested for their subjective (pain ratings), motor (RIII reflex), facial (Facial Action Coding System) and their autonomic (sympathetic skin response and evoked heart rate response) responses to noxious electrical stimulation of the nervus suralis. We found significant group differences in the autonomic responses to noxious stimulation. The sympathetic skin response amplitude was significantly reduced in the cognitively unimpaired elderly subjects compared to younger subjects and to an even greater degree in subjects with MCI. The evoked heart rate response was reduced to a similar degree in both groups of aged subjects. Regression analyses within the two groups of the elderly subjects revealed that age and, in the MCI group, cognitive status were significant predictors of the decrease in autonomic responsiveness to noxious stimulation. Except for the autonomic parameters, no other pain parameter differed between the three groups. The pain response system appeared to be quite unaltered in MCI patients compared to cognitively unimpaired individuals of the same age. Only the sympathetic responsiveness qualified as an indicator of early aging effects as well as of pathophysiology associated with MCI, which both seemed to affect the pain system independently from each other.

  8. Supporting system in emergency response plan for nuclear material transport accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakagome, Y.; Aoki, S.

    1993-01-01

    As aiming to provide the detailed information concerning nuclear material transport accidents and to supply it to the concerned organizations by an online computer, the Emergency Response Supporting System has been constructed in the Nuclear Safety Technology Center, Japan. The system consists of four subsystems and four data bases. By inputting initial information such as name of package and date of accident, one can obtain the appropriate initial response procedures and related information for the accident immediately. The system must be useful for protecting the public safety from nuclear material transport accidents. But, it is not expected that the system shall be used in future. (J.P.N.)

  9. Evolution of CANDU vacuum building and pressure relief structures from Pickering NGS A to Darlington NGS A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beg, Z.M.; Ghosh, R.S.

    1987-01-01

    The vacuum building (VB) and pressure relief structures (PRS) are the unique features of multiple unit CANDU containments. In case of loss-of-coolant accident, the released radionuclides are drawn through the PRS into the subatmospheric VB, doused and contained without being released to the environment. This paper describes the differences in design, configuration and layout of the VB and PRS from Pickering NGS A to Darlington NGS A due to new developments in design concepts and to requirements which have proceeded from the experience gained in both the design and operation of the nuclear stations. (orig.)

  10. EMIR: a configurable hierarchical system for event monitoring and incident response

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deich, William T. S.

    2014-07-01

    The Event Monitor and Incident Response system (emir) is a flexible, general-purpose system for monitoring and responding to all aspects of instrument, telescope, and general facility operations, and has been in use at the Automated Planet Finder telescope for two years. Responses to problems can include both passive actions (e.g. generating alerts) and active actions (e.g. modifying system settings). Emir includes a monitor-and-response daemon, plus graphical user interfaces and text-based clients that automatically configure themselves from data supplied at runtime by the daemon. The daemon is driven by a configuration file that describes each condition to be monitored, the actions to take when the condition is triggered, and how the conditions are aggregated into hierarchical groups of conditions. Emir has been implemented for the Keck Task Library (KTL) keyword-based systems used at Keck and Lick Observatories, but can be readily adapted to many event-driven architectures. This paper discusses the design and implementation of Emir , and the challenges in balancing the competing demands for simplicity, flexibility, power, and extensibility. Emir 's design lends itself well to multiple purposes, and in addition to its core monitor and response functions, it provides an effective framework for computing running statistics, aggregate values, and summary state values from the primitive state data generated by other subsystems, and even for creating quick-and-dirty control loops for simple systems.

  11. Tool for generation of seismic floor response spectra for secondary system design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cardoso, Tarcisio F.; Almeida, Andreia A. Diniz de

    2009-01-01

    The spectral analysis is still a valuable method to the seismic structure design, especially when one focalizes the topics of secondary systems in large industrial installations, as nuclear power plants. Two aspects of this situation add their arguments to recommend the use of this kind of analysis: the random character of the excitation and the multiplicity and the variability of the secondary systems. The first aspect can be managed if one assumes the site seismicity represented by a power spectrum density function of the ground acceleration, and then, by the systematic resolution of a first passage problem, to develop a uniformly probable response spectrum. The second one suggests also a probabilistic approach to the response spectrum in order to be representative all over the extensive group of systems with different characteristics, which can be enrolled in a plant. The present paper proposes a computational tool to achieve in-structure floor response spectra for secondary system design, which includes a probabilistic approach and considers coupling effects between primary and inelastic secondary systems. The analysis is performed in the frequency domain, with SASSI2000 system. A set of auxiliary programs are developed to consider three-dimensional models and their responses to a generic base excitation, acting in 3 orthogonal directions. The ground excitation is transferred to a secondary system SDOF model conveniently attached to the primary system. Then, a uniformly probable coupled response spectrum is obtained using a first passage analysis. In this work, the ExeSASSI program is created to manage SASSI2000 several modules and a set of auxiliary programs created to perform the probabilistic analyses. (author)

  12. Associations between Polygenic Risk for Psychiatric Disorders and Substance Involvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carey, Caitlin E; Agrawal, Arpana; Bucholz, Kathleen K; Hartz, Sarah M; Lynskey, Michael T; Nelson, Elliot C; Bierut, Laura J; Bogdan, Ryan

    2016-01-01

    Despite evidence of substantial comorbidity between psychiatric disorders and substance involvement, the extent to which common genetic factors contribute to their co-occurrence remains understudied. In the current study, we tested for associations between polygenic risk for psychiatric disorders and substance involvement (i.e., ranging from ever-use to severe dependence) among 2573 non-Hispanic European-American participants from the Study of Addiction: Genetics and Environment. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for cross-disorder psychopathology (CROSS) were generated based on the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium's Cross-Disorder meta-analysis and then tested for associations with a factor representing general liability to alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, nicotine, and opioid involvement (GENSUB). Follow-up analyses evaluated specific associations between each of the five psychiatric disorders which comprised CROSS-attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (AUT), bipolar disorder (BIP), major depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia (SCZ)-and involvement with each component substance included in GENSUB. CROSS PRS explained 1.10% of variance in GENSUB in our sample (p cannabis use, (B) MDD PRS and severe cocaine dependence, (C) SCZ PRS and non-problem cannabis use and severe cannabis dependence, and (D) SCZ PRS and severe cocaine dependence. These results suggest that shared covariance from common genetic variation contributes to psychiatric and substance involvement comorbidity.

  13. Determining the Effect of Calculus, Hypocalcification, and Stain on Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Polarized Raman Spectroscopy for Detecting White Spot Lesions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda Huminicki

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Optical coherence tomography (OCT and polarized Raman spectroscopy (PRS have been shown as useful methods for distinguishing sound enamel from carious lesions ex vivo. However, factors in the oral environment such as calculus, hypocalcification, and stain could lead to false-positive results. OCT and PRS were used to investigate extracted human teeth clinically examined for sound enamel, white spot lesion (WSL, calculus, hypocalcification, and stain to determine whether these factors would confound WSL detection with these optical methods. Results indicate that OCT allowed differentiating caries from sound enamel, hypocalcification, and stain, with calculus deposits recognizable on OCT images. ANOVA and post-hoc unequal N HSD analyses to compare the mean Raman depolarization ratios from the various groups showed that the mean values were statistically significant at P<.05, except for several comparison pairs. With the current PRS analysis method, the mean depolarization ratios of stained enamel and caries are not significantly different due to the sloping background in the stained enamel spectra. Overall, calculus and hypocalcification are not confounding factors affecting WSL detection using OCT and PRS. Stain does not influence WSL detection with OCT. Improved PRS analysis methods are needed to differentiate carious from stained enamel.

  14. The prevalence of phantom vibration/ringing syndromes and their related factors in Iranian' students of medical sciences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammadbeigi, Abolfazl; Mohammadsalehi, Narges; Moshiri, Esmail; Anbari, Zohreh; Ahmadi, Ali; Ansari, Hossein

    2017-06-01

    Mobile phone abuse can cause pathologic stress that may lead to addictive behavior such as Phantom Vibration Syndrome (PVS) and Phantom Ringing Syndrome (PRS). The current study aimed to determine the PVS and PRS due to mobile phone use in students of Qom University of medical Sciences in Iran. Cross-sectional study. The participants were 380 students selected by proportional stratified random sampling method in each stratum. Data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive and analytic statistical methods including t-test, chi square and analysis of variance. The prevalence of PVS and PRS due to mobile phones in students of medical sciences was estimated to be 54.3% and 49.3%, respectively. PVS was higher in female students than in males while the PRS was higher in male students. There was a significant relationship between PVS and using social networks such as Viber, WhatsApp, and Line. In addition, a significant association was observed between PVS and friend-finding, chatting and entertainment. Studies should be done in the future to assess the long-term complication of overusing mobile phones. In the current study, the prevalence of PVS and PRS in half of students is considerable. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Functional evolution of a multigene family: orthologous and paralogous pheromone receptor genes in the turnip moth, Agrotis segetum.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan-Dan Zhang

    Full Text Available Lepidopteran pheromone receptors (PRs, for which orthologies are evident among closely related species, provide an intriguing example of gene family evolution in terms of how new functions may arise. However, only a limited number of PRs have been functionally characterized so far and thus evolutionary scenarios suffer from elements of speculation. In this study we investigated the turnip moth Agrotis segetum, in which female moths produce a mixture of chemically related pheromone components that elicit specific responses from receptor cells on male antennae. We cloned nine A. segetum PR genes and the Orco gene by degenerate primer based RT-PCR. The nine PR genes, named as AsegOR1 and AsegOR3-10, fall into four distinct orthologous clusters of known lepidopteran PRs, of which one contains six paralogues. The paralogues are under relaxed selective pressure, contrasting with the purifying selection on other clusters. We identified the receptors AsegOR9, AsegOR4 and AsegOR5, specific for the respective homologous pheromone components (Z-5-decenyl, (Z-7-dodecenyl and (Z-9-tetradecenyl acetates, by two-electrode voltage clamp recording from Xenopus laevis oocytes co-expressing Orco and each PR candidate. These receptors occur in three different orthologous clusters. We also found that the six paralogues with high sequence similarity vary dramatically in ligand selectivity and sensitivity. Different from AsegOR9, AsegOR6 showed a relatively large response to the behavioural antagonist (Z-5-decenol, and a small response to (Z-5-decenyl acetate. AsegOR1 was broadly tuned, but most responsive to (Z-5-decenyl acetate, (Z-7-dodecenyl acetate and the behavioural antagonist (Z-8-dodecenyl acetate. AsegOR8 and AsegOR7, which differ from AsegOR6 and AsegOR1 by 7 and 10 aa respectively, showed much lower sensitivities. AsegOR10 showed only small responses to all the tested compounds. These results suggest that new receptors arise through gene duplication, and

  16. Improvements in the nuclear accident response system in Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Estrada, J.J.S.; Azevedo, E.M.; Knofel, T.M.J.; Recio, J.C.A.; Alves, R.N.

    1998-01-01

    The National Commission on Nuclear Energy has been making outstanding effort to improve its nuclear and radiological accident response systems since the tragic accident in Goiania. Most of this effort is related to nuclear area although the radiological accident has been also considered. This paper describes the improvements in the CNEN response system structure, discusses several topics involving those related to emergency planning and preparedness, and points out some deficiencies that need to be corrected also. The situation during the Goiania accident was more disadvantageous than nowadays, so it is believed that none of the actual deficiencies are sufficient to guess that the population and the environment will not be protected in case of a nuclear or radiological accident

  17. Response rates and selection problems, with emphasis on mental health variables and DNA sampling, in large population-based, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of adolescents in Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjertness, Espen; Sagatun, Ase; Green, Kristian; Lien, Lars; Søgaard, Anne Johanne; Selmer, Randi

    2010-10-12

    Selection bias is a threat to the internal validity of epidemiological studies. In light of a growing number of studies which aim to provide DNA, as well as a considerable number of invitees who declined to participate, we discuss response rates, predictors of lost to follow-up and failure to provide DNA, and the presence of possible selection bias, based on five samples of adolescents. We included nearly 7,000 adolescents from two longitudinal studies of 18/19 year olds with two corresponding cross-sectional baseline studies at age 15/16 (10th graders), and one cross-sectional study of 13th graders (18/19 years old). DNA was sampled from the cheek mucosa of 18/19 year olds. Predictors of lost to follow-up and failure to provide DNA were studied by Poisson regression. Selection bias in the follow-up at age 18/19 was estimated through investigation of prevalence ratios (PRs) between selected exposures (physical activity, smoking) and outcome variables (general health, mental distress, externalizing problems) measured at baseline. Out of 5,750 who participated at age 15/16, we lost 42% at follow-up at age 18/19. The percentage of participants who gave their consent to DNA provision was as high as the percentage that consented to a linkage of data with other health registers and surveys, approximately 90%. Significant predictors of lost to follow-up and failure to provide DNA samples in the present genetic epidemiological study were: male gender; non-western ethnicity; postal survey compared with school-based; low educational plans; low education and income of father; low perceived family economy; unmarried parents; poor self-reported health; externalized symptoms and smoking, with some differences in subgroups of ethnicity and gender. The association measures (PRs) were quite similar among participants and all invitees, with some minor discrepancies in subgroups of non-western boys and girls. Lost to follow-up had marginal impact on the estimated prevalence ratios

  18. Instrument response measurements of ion mobility spectrometers in situ: maintaining optimal system performance of fielded systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallis, Eric; Griffin, Todd M.; Popkie, Norm, Jr.; Eagan, Michael A.; McAtee, Robert F.; Vrazel, Danet; McKinly, Jim

    2005-05-01

    Ion Mobility Spectroscopy (IMS) is the most widespread detection technique in use by the military for the detection of chemical warfare agents, explosives, and other threat agents. Moreover, its role in homeland security and force protection has expanded due, in part, to its good sensitivity, low power, lightweight, and reasonable cost. With the increased use of IMS systems as continuous monitors, it becomes necessary to develop tools and methodologies to ensure optimal performance over a wide range of conditions and extended periods of time. Namely, instrument calibration is needed to ensure proper sensitivity and to correct for matrix or environmental effects. We have developed methodologies to deal with the semi-quantitative nature of IMS and allow us to generate response curves that allow a gauge of instrument performance and maintenance requirements. This instrumentation communicates to the IMS systems via a software interface that was developed in-house. The software measures system response, logs information to a database, and generates the response curves. This paper will discuss the instrumentation, software, data collected, and initial results from fielded systems.

  19. Jump phenomena. [large amplitude responses of nonlinear systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reiss, E. L.

    1980-01-01

    The paper considers jump phenomena composed of large amplitude responses of nonlinear systems caused by small amplitude disturbances. Physical problems where large jumps in the solution amplitude are important features of the response are described, including snap buckling of elastic shells, chemical reactions leading to combustion and explosion, and long-term climatic changes of the earth's atmosphere. A new method of rational functions was then developed which consists of representing the solutions of the jump problems as rational functions of the small disturbance parameter; this method can solve jump problems explicitly.

  20. Response of Kondo lattice systems to pressure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, J.D.; Borges, H.A.; Fisk, Z.; Horn, S.; Parks, R.D.; Wells, G.L.

    1987-01-01

    Yb-based Kondo lattice systems (YbAgCu 4 , YbCu 2 Si 2 , YbRh 2 Si 2 ) represent an interesting class of materials in which it is possible to study systematically the development of heavy electron behavior through the application of pressure. Certainly, additional experiments are required to determine to what extent Yb compounds are mirror images of their Ce counterparts. Finally, pressure reveals the presence of competing interactions for which a simple model exists that qualitatively accounts for the pressure response observed in a large number of Ce, U and Yb-based Kondo lattice systems

  1. An Extended System Frequency Response Model Considering Wind Power Participation in Frequency Regulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Tang

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available With increasing penetration of wind power into the power system, wind power participation in frequency regulation is regarded as a beneficial strategy to improve the dynamic frequency response characteristics of power systems. The traditional power system frequency response (SFR model, which only includes synchronous generators, is no longer suitable for power systems with high penetrated wind power. An extended SFR model, based on the reduced-order model of wind turbine generator (WTG and the traditional SFR model, is presented in this paper. In the extended SFR model, the reduced-order model of WTG with combined frequency control is deduced by employing small signal analysis theory. Afterwards, the stability analysis of a closed-loop control system for the extended SFR model is carried out. Time-domain simulations using a test system are performed to validate the effectiveness of the extended SFR model; this model can provide a simpler, clearer and faster way to analyze the dynamic frequency response characteristic for a high-wind integrated power systems. The impact of additional frequency control parameters and wind speed disturbances on the system dynamic frequency response characteristics are investigated.

  2. Competence Description for Personal Recommendations: The Importance of Identifying the Complexity of Learning and Performance Situations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prins, Frans J.; Nadolski, Rob J.; Berlanga, Adriana J.; Drachsler, Hendrik; Hummel, Hans G. K.; Koper, Rob

    2008-01-01

    For competences development of learners and professionals, target competences and corresponding competence development opportunities have to be identified. Personal Recommender Systems (PRS) provide personal recommendations for learners aimed at finding and selecting learning activities that best match their needs. This article argues that a…

  3. Effect of an interactive voice response system on oral anticoagulant management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oake, Natalie; van Walraven, Carl; Rodger, Marc A; Forster, Alan J

    2009-04-28

    Monitoring oral anticoagulants is logistically challenging for both patients and medical staff. We evaluated the effect of adding an interactive voice response system to computerized decision support for oral anticoagulant management. We developed an interactive voice response system to communicate to patients the results of international normalized ratio testing and their dosage schedules for anticoagulation therapy. The system also reminded patients of upcoming and missed appointments for blood tests. We recruited patients whose anticoagulation control was stable after at least 3 months of warfarin therapy. We prospectively examined clinical data and outcomes for these patients for an intervention period of at least 3 months. We also collected retrospective data for each patient for the 3 months before study enrolment. We recruited 226 patients between Nov. 23, 2006, and Aug. 1, 2007. The mean duration of the intervention period (prospective data collection) was 4.2 months. Anticoagulation control was similar for the periods during and preceding the intervention (mean time within the therapeutic range 80.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 77.5% to 83.1% v. 79.9%, 95% CI 77.3% to 82.6%). The interactive voice response system delivered 1211 (77.8%) of 1557 scheduled dosage messages, with no further input required from clinic staff. The most common reason for clinic staff having to deliver the remaining messages (accounting for 143 [9.2%] of all messages) was an international normalized ratio that was excessively high or low, (i.e., 0.5 or more outside the therapeutic range). When given the option, 76.6% of patients (164/214) chose to continue with the interactive voice response system for management of their anticoagulation after the study was completed. The system reduced staff workload for monitoring anticoagulation therapy by 48 min/wk, a 33% reduction from the baseline of 2.4 hours. Interactive voice response systems have a potential role in improving the

  4. Division of Cyber Safety and Security Responsibilities Between Control System Owners and Suppliers

    OpenAIRE

    Skotnes , Ruth

    2016-01-01

    Part 2: CONTROL SYSTEMS SECURITY; International audience; The chapter discusses the important issue of responsibility for information and communications technology (ICT) – or cyber – safety and security for industrial control systems and the challenges involved in dividing the responsibility between industrial control system owners and suppliers in the Norwegian electric power supply industry. Industrial control system owners are increasingly adopting information and communications technologi...

  5. Counterbalancing Regulation in Response Memory of a Positively Autoregulated Two-Component System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Rong; Godfrey, Katherine A; Sufian, Mahir A; Stock, Ann M

    2017-09-15

    Fluctuations in nutrient availability often result in recurrent exposures to the same stimulus conditions. The ability to memorize the past event and use the "memory" to make adjustments to current behaviors can lead to a more efficient adaptation to the recurring stimulus. A short-term phenotypic memory can be conferred via carryover of the response proteins to facilitate the recurrent response, but the additional accumulation of response proteins can lead to a deviation from response homeostasis. We used the Escherichia coli PhoB/PhoR two-component system (TCS) as a model system to study how cells cope with the recurrence of environmental phosphate (Pi) starvation conditions. We discovered that "memory" of prior Pi starvation can exert distinct effects through two regulatory pathways, the TCS signaling pathway and the stress response pathway. Although carryover of TCS proteins can lead to higher initial levels of transcription factor PhoB and a faster initial response in prestarved cells than in cells not starved, the response enhancement can be overcome by an earlier and greater repression of promoter activity in prestarved cells due to the memory of the stress response. The repression counterbalances the carryover of the response proteins, leading to a homeostatic response whether or not cells are prestimulated. A computational model based on sigma factor competition was developed to understand the memory of stress response and to predict the homeostasis of other PhoB-regulated response proteins. Our insight into the history-dependent PhoBR response may provide a general understanding of how TCSs respond to recurring stimuli and adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions. IMPORTANCE Bacterial cells in their natural environments experience scenarios that are far more complex than are typically replicated in laboratory experiments. The architectures of signaling systems and the integration of multiple adaptive pathways have evolved to deal with such complexity

  6. Counterbalancing Regulation in Response Memory of a Positively Autoregulated Two-Component System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Rong; Godfrey, Katherine A.; Sufian, Mahir A.

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Fluctuations in nutrient availability often result in recurrent exposures to the same stimulus conditions. The ability to memorize the past event and use the “memory” to make adjustments to current behaviors can lead to a more efficient adaptation to the recurring stimulus. A short-term phenotypic memory can be conferred via carryover of the response proteins to facilitate the recurrent response, but the additional accumulation of response proteins can lead to a deviation from response homeostasis. We used the Escherichia coli PhoB/PhoR two-component system (TCS) as a model system to study how cells cope with the recurrence of environmental phosphate (Pi) starvation conditions. We discovered that “memory” of prior Pi starvation can exert distinct effects through two regulatory pathways, the TCS signaling pathway and the stress response pathway. Although carryover of TCS proteins can lead to higher initial levels of transcription factor PhoB and a faster initial response in prestarved cells than in cells not starved, the response enhancement can be overcome by an earlier and greater repression of promoter activity in prestarved cells due to the memory of the stress response. The repression counterbalances the carryover of the response proteins, leading to a homeostatic response whether or not cells are prestimulated. A computational model based on sigma factor competition was developed to understand the memory of stress response and to predict the homeostasis of other PhoB-regulated response proteins. Our insight into the history-dependent PhoBR response may provide a general understanding of how TCSs respond to recurring stimuli and adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions. IMPORTANCE Bacterial cells in their natural environments experience scenarios that are far more complex than are typically replicated in laboratory experiments. The architectures of signaling systems and the integration of multiple adaptive pathways have evolved to deal

  7. Response tree evaluation: experimental assessment of an expert system for nuclear reactor operators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, W.R.; Blackman, H.S.

    1985-09-01

    The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) sponsored a project performed by EG and G Idaho, Inc., at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) to evaluate different display concepts for use in nuclear reactor control rooms. Included in this project was the evaluation of the response tree computer-based decision aid and its associated displays. The response tree evaluation task was deisgned to (1) assess the merit of the response tree decision aid and (2) develop a technical basis for recommendations, guidelines, and criteria for the design and evaluation of computerized decision aids for use in reactor control rooms. Two major experiments have been conducted to evaluate the response tree system. This report emphasizes the conduct and results of the second experiment. An enhanced version of the response tree system, known as the automated response tree system, was used in a controlled experiment using trained reactor operators as test subjects. This report discusses the automated response tree system, the design of the evaluation experiment, and the quantitative results of the experiment. The results of the experiment are compared to the results of the previous experiment to provide an integrated perspective of the response tree evaluation project. In addition, a subjective assessment of the results addresses the implications for the use of advanced, ''intelligent'' decision aids in the reactor control room

  8. Examining parents' ratings of middle-school students' academic self-regulation using principal axis factoring analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Peggy P; Cleary, Timothy J; Lui, Angela M

    2015-09-01

    This study examined the reliability and validity of a parent rating scale, the Self-Regulation Strategy Inventory: Parent Rating Scale (SRSI-PRS), using a sample of 451 parents of sixth- and seventh-grade middle-school students. Principal axis factoring (PAF) analysis revealed a 3-factor structure for the 23-item SRSI-PRS: (a) Managing Behavior and Learning (α = .92), (b) Maladaptive Regulatory Behaviors (α = .76), and (c) Managing Environment (α = .84). The majority of the observed relations between these 3 subscales, and the SRSI-SR, student motivation beliefs, and student mathematics grades were statistically significant and in the small to medium range. After controlling for various student variables and motivation indices of parental involvement, 2 SRSI-PRS factors (Managing Behavior and Learning, Maladaptive Regulatory Behaviors) reliably predicted students' achievement in their mathematics course. This study provides initial support for the validity and reliability of the SRSI-PRS and underscores the advantages of obtaining parental ratings of students' SRL behaviors. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Comparison of parent-child communication patterns and parental role satisfaction among mothers with and without breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Ok-Hee; Yoo, Yang-Sook; Hwang, Kyung-Hye

    2015-05-01

    This study compared parent-child communication (PCC) patterns and parental role satisfaction (PRS) between women with breast cancer and healthy women. A limited number of studies have examined PCC and the impact of PRS between cancer patients and their children. It was a descriptive survey design comprising the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale and a PRS measure. Data from 202 participants in total were analysed with two-way analyses of variance and t-tests. Closed communication was higher in both groups than open communication, but higher still in children of women with breast cancer than in children of healthy women. PRS was lower in women with breast cancer than in healthy women. Educational programs should be developed to support parents and children during the post-treatment adjustment period for mothers with breast cancer. Such programs should take a practical approach toward increasing open parent-child communication while considering personal characteristics and cultural backgrounds. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Assessment of Patellar Tendon Reflex Responses Using Second-Order System Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brett D. Steineman

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Deep tendon reflex tests, such as the patellar tendon reflex (PTR, are widely accepted as simple examinations for detecting neurological disorders. Despite common acceptance, the grading scales remain subjective, creating an opportunity for quantitative measures to improve the reliability and efficacy of these tests. Previous studies have demonstrated the usefulness of quantified measurement variables; however, little work has been done to correlate experimental data with theoretical models using entire PTR responses. In the present study, it is hypothesized that PTR responses may be described by the exponential decay rate and damped natural frequency of a theoretical second-order system. Kinematic data was recorded from both knees of 45 subjects using a motion capture system and correlation analysis found that the mean R2 value was 0.99. Exponential decay rate and damped natural frequency ranges determined from the sample population were −5.61 to −1.42 and 11.73 rad/s to 14.96 rad/s, respectively. This study confirmed that PTR responses strongly correlate to a second-order system and that exponential decay rate and undamped natural frequency are novel measurement variables to accurately measure PTR responses. Therefore, further investigation of these measurement variables and their usefulness in grading PTR responses is warranted.

  11. Optimal Design of Wireless Power Transmission Links for Millimeter-Sized Biomedical Implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahn, Dukju; Ghovanloo, Maysam

    2016-02-01

    This paper presents a design methodology for RF power transmission to millimeter-sized implantable biomedical devices. The optimal operating frequency and coil geometries are found such that power transfer efficiency (PTE) and tissue-loss-constrained allowed power are maximized. We define receiver power reception susceptibility (Rx-PRS) and transmitter figure of merit (Tx-FoM) such that their multiplication yields the PTE. Rx-PRS and Tx-FoM define the roles of the Rx and Tx in the PTE, respectively. First, the optimal Rx coil geometry and operating frequency range are identified such that the Rx-PRS is maximized for given implant constraints. Since the Rx is very small and has lesser design freedom than the Tx, the overall operating frequency is restricted mainly by the Rx. Rx-PRS identifies such operating frequency constraint imposed by the Rx. Secondly, the Tx coil geometry is selected such that the Tx-FoM is maximized under the frequency constraint at which the Rx-PRS was saturated. This aligns the target frequency range of Tx optimization with the frequency range at which Rx performance is high, resulting in the maximum PTE. Finally, we have found that even in the frequency range at which the PTE is relatively flat, the tissue loss per unit delivered power can be significantly different for each frequency. The Rx-PRS can predict the frequency range at which the tissue loss per unit delivered power is minimized while PTE is maintained high. In this way, frequency adjustment for the PTE and tissue-loss-constrained allowed power is realized by characterizing the Rx-PRS. The design procedure was verified through full-wave electromagnetic field simulations and measurements using de-embedding method. A prototype implant, 1 mm in diameter, achieved PTE of 0.56% ( -22.5 dB) and power delivered to load (PDL) was 224 μW at 200 MHz with 12 mm Tx-to-Rx separation in the tissue environment.

  12. Innate immune responses in central nervous system inflammation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Finsen, Bente; Owens, Trevor

    2011-01-01

    In autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), innate glial cell responses play a key role in determining the outcome of leukocyte infiltration. Access of leukocytes is controlled via complex interactions with glial components of the blood-brain barrier that include angiotensin II...

  13. Dynamic response of a rub-impact rotor system under axial thrust

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    An, Xueli; Zhou, Jianzhong; Xiang, Xiuqiao; Li, Chaoshun; Luo, Zhimeng [Huazhong University of Science andTechnology, College of Hydroelectric and Digitalization Engineering, Wuhan, Hubei (China)

    2009-11-15

    A model of a rigid rotor system under axial thrust with rotor-to-stator is developed based on the classic impact theory and is analyzed by the Lagrangian dynamics. The rubbing condition is modeled using the elastic impact-contact idealization, which consists of normal and tangential forces at the rotor-to-stator contact point. Mass eccentricity and rotating speed are used as control parameters to simulate the response of rotor system. The motions of periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic are found in the rotor system response. Mass eccentricity plays an important role in creating chaotic phenomena. (orig.)

  14. Stochastic seismic floor response analysis method for various damping systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kitada, Y.; Hattori, K.; Ogata, M.; Kanda, J.

    1991-01-01

    A study using the stochastic seismic response analysis method which is applicable for the estimation of floor response spectra is carried out. It is pointed out as a shortcoming in this stochastic seismic response analysis method, that the method tends to overestimate floor response spectra for low damping systems, e.g. 1% of the critical damping ratio. An investigation on the cause of the shortcoming is carried out and a number of improvements in this method were also made to the original method by taking correlation of successive peaks in a response time history into account. The application of the improved method to a typical BWR reactor building is carried out. The resultant floor response spectra are compared with those obtained by deterministic time history analysis. Floor response spectra estimated by the improved method consistently cover the response spectra obtained by the time history analysis for various damping ratios. (orig.)

  15. Survey of system responsibility in the Nordic countries. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-02-01

    In September 2004 the Nordic Council of Ministers asked Nordel to perform some tasks and present the results to the Council on 1 March 2005. One of the tasks is to survey how system responsibility is defined and executed in the different Nordic countries. According to the Nordic Council of Ministers, the survey shall illuminate similarities and differences between the countries and assess the reasons for the differences. Nordel is asked to present a joint view system responsibility in the Nordic countries. Among other things, the responsibility for the system operators and the participants in the market shall be defined. The definition shall also include the distribution of costs between costs for network business and costs for business in competition. This shall be done in a way that creates a common platform for the further harmonisation work and continuous positive development of the Nordic electricity market. It is also important to identify the need for changes in e.g. legislation and guidelines in the different countries as a consequence of an implementation of a common definition in the Nordic countries. Areas to be included in the task are among others, balance settlement, security of supply, congestion management and system services. (BA)

  16. ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY MODEL BASED ON ISO 14000 MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catalina SITNIKOV

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Worldwide corporations, as well as their stakeholders, are more conscious of the need for environmental management, SR behaviour, and sustainable growth and development. International Standards are becoming more significant for corporations to work towards common environmental management practices. ISO 14001 is the first and the broadest standard intended at a more responsible approach of corporations and the world’s most acknowledged framework for environmental management systems that assists corporations to better manage the effect of their activities on the environment. This article aims to study ISO 14001 implementation and its effects on the environmental responsibility. A model will be built, which covers the environmental management system, the components of organizational culture, being able to influence environmental standards implementation.

  17. Circuitry linking the Csr and stringent response global regulatory systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Adrianne N; Patterson-Fortin, Laura M; Vakulskas, Christopher A; Mercante, Jeffrey W; Potrykus, Katarzyna; Vinella, Daniel; Camacho, Martha I; Fields, Joshua A; Thompson, Stuart A; Georgellis, Dimitris; Cashel, Michael; Babitzke, Paul; Romeo, Tony

    2011-06-01

    CsrA protein regulates important cellular processes by binding to target mRNAs and altering their translation and/or stability. In Escherichia coli, CsrA binds to sRNAs, CsrB and CsrC, which sequester CsrA and antagonize its activity. Here, mRNAs for relA, spoT and dksA of the stringent response system were found among 721 different transcripts that copurified with CsrA. Many of the transcripts that copurified with CsrA were previously determined to respond to ppGpp and/or DksA. We examined multiple regulatory interactions between the Csr and stringent response systems. Most importantly, DksA and ppGpp robustly activated csrB/C transcription (10-fold), while they modestly activated csrA expression. We propose that CsrA-mediated regulation is relieved during the stringent response. Gel shift assays confirmed high affinity binding of CsrA to relA mRNA leader and weaker interactions with dksA and spoT. Reporter fusions, qRT-PCR and immunoblotting showed that CsrA repressed relA expression, and (p)ppGpp accumulation during stringent response was enhanced in a csrA mutant. CsrA had modest to negligible effects on dksA and spoT expression. Transcription of dksA was negatively autoregulated via a feedback loop that tended to mask CsrA effects. We propose that the Csr system fine-tunes the stringent response and discuss biological implications of the composite circuitry. © Published 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  18. Demonstrating demand response from water distribution system through pump scheduling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Menke, Ruben; Abraham, Edo; Parpas, Panos; Stoianov, Ivan

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Water distribution systems can profitably provide demand response energy. • STOR and FFR are financially viable under a wide range of operating conditions. • Viability depends on the pump utilisation and peak price of the electricity tariff. • Total GHG emissions caused by the provision of reserve energy are <300 gCO_2/kW h. • These are lower than those from the major reserve energy provision technologies. - Abstract: Significant changes in the power generation mix are posing new challenges for the balancing systems of the grid. Many of these challenges are in the secondary electricity grid regulation services and could be met through demand response (DR) services. We explore the opportunities for a water distribution system (WDS) to provide balancing services with demand response through pump scheduling and evaluate the associated benefits. Using a benchmark network and demand response mechanisms available in the UK, these benefits are assessed in terms of reduced green house gas (GHG) emissions from the grid due to the displacement of more polluting power sources and additional revenues for water utilities. The optimal pump scheduling problem is formulated as a mixed-integer optimisation problem and solved using a branch and bound algorithm. This new formulation finds the optimal level of power capacity to commit to the provision of demand response for a range of reserve energy provision and frequency response schemes offered in the UK. For the first time we show that DR from WDS can offer financial benefits to WDS operators while providing response energy to the grid with less greenhouse gas emissions than competing reserve energy technologies. Using a Monte Carlo simulation based on data from 2014, we demonstrate that the cost of providing the storage energy is less than the financial compensation available for the equivalent energy supply. The GHG emissions from the demand response provision from a WDS are also shown to be smaller than

  19. ISCRAM: Information systems for crisis response and management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carle, B.

    2006-01-01

    Information sharing and communication is a key challenge in any crisis situation. With new technologies appearing increasingly faster, and crisis management becoming more complex as more stakeholders get a say in emergency preparedness, the research in the information systems used in emergency preparedness and crisis management is emerging as a multi-disciplinary area. Research and development on decision support systems for radiation protection experts and decision makers and organising complex emergency response exercises are traditionally key domains of expertise in our research group. Together with the UvT (University of Tilburg), and other research groups, we started a series of activities to build a community allowing us to set up collaboration structures and participate in larger projects. The focus of the activities is on all the aspects of design, development, use and evaluation of information systems for crisis response and management. The main objective of this project is to establish a community where both information systems researchers and practitioners (crisis managers and field responders) exchange their experiences and opinions, and learn from each others work. The community helps researchers to get an insight on real life cases and informs professionals about new developments and research. The first goal is to close the loop between research and reality. Formulating new ideas and priorities for research policy makers is an important spin-off of our community building work

  20. Drug-induced and genetic alterations in stress-responsive systems: Implications for specific addictive diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yan; Proudnikov, Dmitri; Yuferov, Vadim; Kreek, Mary Jeanne

    2010-02-16

    From the earliest work in our laboratory, we hypothesized, and with studies conducted in both clinical research and animal models, we have shown that drugs of abuse, administered or self-administered, on a chronic basis, profoundly alter stress-responsive systems. Alterations of expression of specific genes involved in stress responsivity, with increases or decreases in mRNA levels, receptor, and neuropeptide levels, and resultant changes in hormone levels, have been documented to occur after chronic intermittent exposure to heroin, morphine, other opiates, cocaine, other stimulants, and alcohol in animal models and in human molecular genetics. The best studied of the stress-responsive systems in humans and mammalian species in general is undoubtedly the HPA axis. In addition, there are stress-responsive systems in other parts in the brain itself, and some of these include components of the HPA axis, such as CRF and CRF receptors, along with POMC gene and gene products. Several other stress-responsive systems are known to influence the HPA axis, such as the vasopressin-vasopressin receptor system. Orexin-hypocretin, acting at its receptors, may effect changes which suggest that it should be properly categorized as a stress-responsive system. However, less is known about the interactions and connectivity of some of these different neuropeptide and receptor systems, and in particular, about the possible connectivity of fast-acting (e.g., glutamate and GABA) and slow-acting (including dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine) neurotransmitters with each of these stress-responsive components and the resultant impact, especially in the setting of chronic exposure to drugs of abuse. Several of these stress-responsive systems and components, primarily based on our laboratory-based and human molecular genetics research of addictive diseases, will be briefly discussed in this review. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Influence of chemical peeling on the skin stress response system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Ayako; Kanazawa, Nobuo; Li, Hong-Jin; Yonei, Nozomi; Yamamoto, Yuki; Furukawa, Fukumi

    2012-07-01

    Skin stress response system (SSRS) involves corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides, such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), a-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) and b-endorphin that are locally generated in response to locally provided stressors or proinflammatory cytokines. This system would restrict tissue damage and restore local homoeostasis. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) is one of the most widely used peeling agents and applied for cosmetic treatment of photodamaged skin. However, the biological mechanism responsible for TCA peeling has yet to be fully determined. While our investigation focused on the inflammation and wound healing pathways, in the recent study, we have examined involvement of the SSRS as the third pathway. Mostly depending on our findings that TCA peeling activates the SSRS by inducing the POMC expression of keratinocytes in the CRH-independent manner, together with the results reported by other researchers, we can say that the biological effect of POMC seems to be responsible for the TCA-induced epidermal SSRS activation. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  2. Data-Driven Optimization of Incentive-based Demand Response System with Uncertain Responses of Customers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jimyung Kang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Demand response is nowadays considered as another type of generator, beyond just a simple peak reduction mechanism. A demand response service provider (DRSP can, through its subcontracts with many energy customers, virtually generate electricity with actual load reduction. However, in this type of virtual generator, the amount of load reduction includes inevitable uncertainty, because it consists of a very large number of independent energy customers. While they may reduce energy today, they might not tomorrow. In this circumstance, a DSRP must choose a proper set of these uncertain customers to achieve the exact preferred amount of load curtailment. In this paper, the customer selection problem for a service provider that consists of uncertain responses of customers is defined and solved. The uncertainty of energy reduction is fully considered in the formulation with data-driven probability distribution modeling and stochastic programming technique. The proposed optimization method that utilizes only the observed load data provides a realistic and applicable solution to a demand response system. The performance of the proposed optimization is verified with real demand response event data in Korea, and the results show increased and stabilized performance from the service provider’s perspective.

  3. Cardiorespiratory fitness alters the influence of a polygenic risk score on biomarkers of AD.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultz, Stephanie A; Boots, Elizabeth A; Darst, Burcu F; Zetterberg, Henrik; Blennow, Kaj; Edwards, Dorothy F; Koscik, Rebecca L; Carlsson, Cynthia M; Gallagher, Catherine L; Bendlin, Barbara B; Asthana, Sanjay; Sager, Mark A; Hogan, Kirk J; Hermann, Bruce P; Cook, Dane B; Johnson, Sterling C; Engelman, Corinne D; Okonkwo, Ozioma C

    2017-04-25

    To examine whether a polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from APOE4, CLU, and ABCA7 is associated with CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology and whether higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) modifies the association between the PRS and CSF biomarkers. Ninety-five individuals from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention were included in these cross-sectional analyses. They were genotyped for APOE4 , CLU , and ABCA7 , from which a PRS was calculated for each participant. The participants underwent lumbar puncture for CSF collection. β-Amyloid 42 (Aβ 42 ), Aβ 40 , total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) were quantified by immunoassays, and Aβ 42 /Aβ 40 and tau/Aβ 42 ratios were computed. CRF was estimated from a validated equation incorporating sex, age, body mass index, resting heart rate, and self-reported physical activity. Covariate-adjusted regression analyses were used to test for associations between the PRS and CSF biomarkers. In addition, by including a PRS×CRF term in the models, we examined whether these associations were modified by CRF. A higher PRS was associated with lower Aβ 42 /Aβ 40 ( p interactions for Aβ 42 /Aβ 40 ( p = 0.003), t-tau/Aβ 42 ( p = 0.003), and p-tau/Aβ 42 ( p = 0.001). Specifically, the association between the PRS and these CSF biomarkers was diminished in those with higher CRF. In a late-middle-aged cohort, CRF attenuates the adverse influence of genetic vulnerability on CSF biomarkers. These findings support the notion that increased cardiorespiratory fitness may be beneficial to those at increased genetic risk for AD. © 2017 American Academy of Neurology.

  4. Association of the polygenic risk score for schizophrenia with mortality and suicidal behavior - A Danish population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laursen, Thomas M; Trabjerg, Betina B; Mors, Ole; Børglum, Anders D; Hougaard, David M; Mattheisen, Manuel; Meier, Sandra M; Byrne, Enda M; Mortensen, Preben B; Munk-Olsen, Trine; Agerbo, Esben

    2017-06-01

    It is unknown whether an increased genetic liability to schizophrenia influences the risk of dying early. The aim of the study was to determine whether the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia is associated with the risk of dying early and experience a suicide attempt. Case control study, Denmark. The main measure was the mortality rate ratios (MRR) for deaths and odds ratios (OR) for multiple suicide attempts, associated with one standard deviations increase of the polygenic risk-score for schizophrenia (PRS). We replicated the high mortality MRR=9.01 (95% CI: 3.56-22.80), and high risk of multiple suicide attempts OR=33.16 (95% CI: 20.97-52.43) associated with schizophrenia compared to the general population. However, there was no effect of the PRS on mortality MRR=1.00 (95% CI 0.71-1.40) in the case-control setup or in cases only, MRR=1.05 (95% CI 0.73-1.51). Similar, no association between the PRS and multiple suicide attempts was found in the adjusted models, but in contrast, family history of mental disorders was associated with both outcomes. A genetic predisposition for schizophrenia, measured by PRS, has little influence on the excess mortality or the risk of suicide attempts. In contrast there is a strong significant effect of family history of mental disorders. Our findings could reflect that the common variants detected by recent PRS only explain a small proportion of risk of schizophrenia, and that future, more powerful PRS instruments may be able to predict excess mortality within this disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Analysis of Bi-directional Effects on the Response of a Seismic Base Isolation System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Hyung-Kui; Kim, Jung-Han; Kim, Min Kyu; Choi, In-Kil

    2014-01-01

    The floor response spectrum depends on the height of the floor of the structure. Also FRS depends on the characteristics of the seismic base isolation system such as the natural frequency, damping ratio. In the previous study, the floor response spectrum of the base isolated structure was calculated for each axis without considering bi-directional effect. However, the shear behavior of the seismic base isolation system of two horizontal directions are correlated each other by the bi-directional effects. If the shear behavior of the seismic isolation system changes, it can influence the floor response spectrum and displacement response of isolators. In this study, the analysis of a bi-directional effect on the floor response spectrum was performed. In this study, the response of the seismic base isolation system based on the bi-directional effects was analyzed. By analyzing the time history result, while there is no alteration in the maximum shear force of seismic base isolation system, it is confirmed that the shear force is generally more decreased in a one-directional that in a two-directional in most parts. Due to the overall decreased shear force, the floor response spectrum is more reduced in a two-directional than in a one-directional

  6. The interaction of pupil response with the vergence system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feil, Moritz; Moser, Barbara; Abegg, Mathias

    2017-11-01

    A gaze shift from a target at distance to a target at near leads to pupillary constriction. The regulation of this pupillary near response is ill known. We investigated the impact of accommodation, convergence, and proximity on the pupillary diameter. We recorded pupil size and vergence eye movements with the use of an infrared eye tracker. We determined the pupillary response in four conditions: (1) after a gaze shift from far to near without accommodation, (2) after a gaze shift from far to near with neither accommodation nor convergence, (3) after accommodation alone, and (4) after accommodation with convergence without a gaze shift to near. These responses were compared to the pupil response of a full near response and to a gaze shift from one far target to another. We found a reliable pupillary near response. The removal of both accommodation and convergence in gaze shift from far to near abolished the pupillary near response. Accommodation alone did not induce pupillary constriction, while convergence and accommodation together induced a pupil response similar to the full near response. The main trigger for the pupillary response seems to be convergence. Neither accommodation nor proximity alone induce a significant pupillary constriction. This suggests that the miosis of the near triad is closely coupled to the vergence system rather than being independently regulated.

  7. Seismic analysis response factors and design margins of piping systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shieh, L.C.; Tsai, N.C.; Yang, M.S.; Wong, W.L.

    1985-01-01

    The objective of the simplified methods project of the Seismic Safety Margins Research Program is to develop a simplified seismic risk methodology for general use. The goal is to reduce seismic PRA costs to roughly 60 man-months over a 6 to 8 month period, without compromising the quality of the product. To achieve the goal, it is necessary to simplify the calculational procedure of the seismic response. The response factor approach serves this purpose. The response factor relates the median level response to the design data. Through a literature survey, we identified the various seismic analysis methods adopted in the U.S. nuclear industry for the piping system. A series of seismic response calculations was performed. The response factors and their variabilities for each method of analysis were computed. A sensitivity study of the effect of piping damping, in-structure response spectra envelop method, and analysis method was conducted. In addition, design margins, which relate the best-estimate response to the design data, are also presented

  8. Adsorption of Chloroform by the Rapid Response System Filter

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Karwacki, Christopher

    1997-01-01

    Adsorption equilibria and dynamic breakthrough data were measured to determine the adsorption capacity and effect of purge air on the desorption of chloroform from activated carbon simulating the Rapid Response System (RRS) filter...

  9. Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) implementation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jolicoeur, J.

    1991-06-01

    The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun implementation of the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) to upgrade its ability to acquire data from nuclear power plants in the event of an emergency at the plant. ERDS provides a direct real-time transfer of data from licensee plant computers to the NRC Operations Center. The system has been designed to be activated by the licensee during an emergency which has been classified at an ALERT or higher level. The NRC portion of ERDS will receive the data stream, sort and file the data. The users will include the NRC Operations Center, the NRC Regional Office of the affected plant, and if requested the States which are within the ten mile EPZ of the site. The currently installed Emergency Notification System will be used to supplement ERDS data. This report provides the minimum guidance for implementation of ERDS at licensee sites. It is intended to be used for planning implementation under the current voluntary program as well as for providing the minimum standards for implementing the proposed ERDS rule. 4 refs., 3 figs

  10. Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) implementation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jolicoeur, J.

    1990-04-01

    The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun implementation of the Emergency Response Data System (ERDS) to upgrade its ability to acquire data from nuclear power plants in the event of an emergency at the plant. ERDS provides a direct real-time transfer of data from licensee plant computers to the NRC Operations Center. The system has been designed to be activated by the licensee during an emergency which has been classified at an ALERT or higher level. The NRC portion of ERDS will receive the data stream, sort and file the data. The users will include the NRC Operations Center, the NRC Regional Office of the affected plant, and if requested the States which are within the ten mile EPZ of the site. The currently installed Emergency Notification System will be used to supplement ERDS data. This report provides the minimum guidance for implementation of ERDS at licensee sites. It is intended to be used for planning implementation under the current voluntary program as well as for providing the minimum standards for implementing the proposed ERDS rule

  11. Evaluating the success of an emergency response medical information system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petter, Stacie; Fruhling, Ann

    2011-07-01

    STATPack™ is an information system used to aid in the diagnosis of pathogens in hospitals and state public health laboratories. STATPack™ is used as a communication and telemedicine diagnosis tool during emergencies. This paper explores the success of this emergency response medical information system (ERMIS) using a well-known framework of information systems success developed by DeLone and McLean. Using an online survey, the entire population of STATPack™ users evaluated the success of the information system by considering system quality, information quality, system use, intention to use, user satisfaction, individual impact, and organizational impact. The results indicate that the overall quality of this ERMIS (i.e., system quality, information quality, and service quality) has a positive impact on both user satisfaction and intention to use the system. However, given the nature of ERMIS, overall quality does not necessarily predict use of the system. Moreover, the user's satisfaction with the information system positively affected the intention to use the system. User satisfaction, intention to use, and system use had a positive influence on the system's impact on the individual. Finally, the organizational impacts of the system were positively influenced by use of the system and the system's individual impact on the user. The results of the study demonstrate how to evaluate the success of an ERMIS as well as introduce potential changes in how one applies the DeLone and McLean success model in an emergency response medical information system context. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Development Contextual Factors of the System of Media Responsibility in Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Aurelia Popa

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The present study represents a research in incipient stage with the purpose of discovering certaincontextual aspects in the Romanian media. The starting point is represented by the analysis of several reportsdrafted at national and international level regarding the actual state of the instruments used to raise theawareness of the media in Romania. The action of raising awareness involves a precursory process ofinvestigating the rights, duties, actions and behavior norms in their professional activity. The journalist has toshape his opinion according to a set of ethical and deontological values so that the responsibility towards thepublic and its interest is situated first. The objectives of this study will point at aspects regarding thedetermination of the features of a context that is opportune and favorable for the implementation of a systemof media responsibility in Romania; establishing a degree of active involvement of the media organisms inRomania in the elaboration and implementation of a system of media responsibility; the identification of theactivities that can ensure the optimization of implementing a system of media responsibility in Romania; thehighlight of the effects of creating a context favorable for the implementation of a system of mediaresponsibility in Romania.

  13. Order of exposure to pleasant and unpleasant odors affects autonomic nervous system response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horii, Yuko; Nagai, Katsuya; Nakashima, Toshihiro

    2013-04-15

    When mammals are exposed to an odor, that odor is expected to elicit a physiological response in the autonomic nervous system. An unpleasant aversive odor causes non-invasive stress, while a pleasant odor promotes healing and relaxation in mammals. We hypothesized that pleasant odors might reduce a stress response previously induced by an aversive predator odor. Rats were thus exposed to pleasant and unpleasant odors in different orders to determine whether the order of odor exposure had an effect on the physiological response in the autonomic nervous system. The first trial examined autonomic nerve activity via sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve response while the second trial examined body temperature response. Initial exposure to a pleasant odor elicited a positive response and secondary exposure to an unpleasant odor elicited a negative response, as expected. However, we found that while initial exposure to an unpleasant odor elicited a negative stress response, subsequent secondary exposure to a pleasant odor not only did not alleviate that negative response, but actually amplified it. These findings were consistent for both the autonomic nerve activity response trial and the body temperature response trial. The trial results suggest that exposure to specific odors does not necessarily result in the expected physiological response and that the specific order of exposure plays an important role. Our study should provide new insights into our understanding of the physiological response in the autonomic nervous system related to odor memory and discrimination and point to areas that require further research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. High Response Dew Point Measurement System for a Supersonic Wind Tunnel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumenthal, Philip Z.

    1996-01-01

    A new high response on-line measurement system has been developed to continuously display and record the air stream dew point in the NASA Lewis 10 x 10 supersonic wind tunnel. Previous instruments suffered from such problems as very slow response, erratic readings, and high susceptibility to contamination. The system operates over the entire pressure level range of the 10 x 10 SWT, from less than 2 psia to 45 psia, without the need for a vacuum pump to provide sample flow. The system speeds up tunnel testing, provides large savings in tunnel power costs and provides the dew point input for the data-reduction subroutines which calculate test section conditions.

  15. Responses of an isolation system with distinct multiple frequencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Ting-shu; Seidensticker, R.W.

    1991-01-01

    Base isolation systems are generally designed with a single natural frequency. A major concern for these isolation systems is that, if the dominant frequency of a future earthquake is equal or close to the system's natural frequency, the ground motion will be greatly amplified because of resonance,and the superstructure would suffer severe damages. This paper present an isolation system designed with two distinct frequencies. Its responses to different ground motions, including a harmonic motion, show that no excessive amplification will occur. Adoption of this isolation system would greatly enhance the safety of an isolated superstructure against future strong earthquakes. 3 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

  16. Sphingosine Kinases and Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptors: Signaling and Actions in the Cardiovascular System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandro Cannavo

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The sphingosine kinases 1 and 2 (SphK1 and 2 catalyze the phosphorylation of the lipid, sphingosine, generating the signal transmitter, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P. The activation of such kinases and the subsequent S1P generation and secretion in the blood serum of mammals represent a major checkpoint in many cellular signaling cascades. In fact, activating the SphK/S1P system is critical for cell motility and proliferation, cytoskeletal organization, cell growth, survival, and response to stress. In the cardiovascular system, the physiological effects of S1P intervene through the binding and activation of a family of five highly selective G protein-coupled receptors, called S1PR1-5. Importantly, SphK/S1P signal is present on both vascular and myocardial cells. S1P is a well-recognized survival factor in many tissues. Therefore, it is not surprising that the last two decades have seen a flourishing of interest and investigative efforts directed to obtain additional mechanistic insights into the signaling, as well as the biological activity of this phospholipid, and of its receptors, especially in the cardiovascular system. Here, we will provide an up-to-date account on the structure and function of sphingosine kinases, discussing the generation, release, and function of S1P. Keeping the bull’s eye on the cardiovascular system, we will review the structure and signaling cascades and biological actions emanating from the stimulation of different S1P receptors. We will end this article with a summary of the most recent, experimental and clinical observations targeting S1PRs and SphKs as possible new therapeutic avenues for cardiovascular disorders, such as heart failure.

  17. Multi-Agent System-Based Microgrid Operation Strategy for Demand Response

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hee-Jun Cha

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The microgrid and demand response (DR are important technologies for future power grids. Among the variety of microgrid operations, the multi-agent system (MAS has attracted considerable attention. In a microgrid with MAS, the agents installed on the microgrid components operate optimally by communicating with each other. This paper proposes an operation algorithm for the individual agents of a test microgrid that consists of a battery energy storage system (BESS and an intelligent load. A microgrid central controller to manage the microgrid can exchange information with each agent. The BESS agent performs scheduling for maximum benefit in response to the electricity price and BESS state of charge (SOC through a fuzzy system. The intelligent load agent assumes that the industrial load performs scheduling for maximum benefit by calculating the hourly production cost. The agent operation algorithm includes a scheduling algorithm using day-ahead pricing in the DR program and a real-time operation algorithm for emergency situations using emergency demand response (EDR. The proposed algorithm and operation strategy were implemented both by a hardware-in-the-loop simulation test using OPAL-RT and an actual hardware test by connecting a new distribution simulator.

  18. The safeguards active response inventory system (SARIS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, R.L.; Hairston, L.A.; O'Callaghan, P.B.; Grambihler, A.J.; Ruemmler, W.P.

    1987-01-01

    The Safeguards Active Response Inventory System (SARIS) is a computerized accountability system developed for nuclear materials control that incorporates elements of process monitoring, criticality safety, physical inventory and safeguards. It takes data from the process operations, stores it in an on-line database and translates the information into the formats needed by the various users. It traces the material through the process from feed to product; including recycle, waste and scraps streams. It models the process as the material changes form to ensure that artificial losses are not created. It automatically generates input to Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS), performs checks to prevent the possibility of a criticality accident, prepares an audit trail for Safeguards, prints labels for nuclear material containers, and produces DOE/NRC 741 forms. SARIS has been installed at three laboratories across the country

  19. Acute systemic inflammatory response after cardiac surgery in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2017-09-03

    Sep 3, 2017 ... valve(s) replacement were enrolled, from a single center hospital, after informed consent was obtained. C-reactive ... Cite as: Gojo MKE, Prakaschandra R. Acute systemic inflammatory response after cardiac surgery in patients infected with human im- ..... Arroyo-Espliguero R, Avanzas P, Cosín-Sales J, Al-.

  20. Pressure drop of filtering facepiece respirators: How low should we go?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jung-Hyun Kim

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Introduction This study was undertaken to determine the mean peak filter resistance to airflow (Rfilter encountered by subjects while wearing prototype filtering facepiece respirators (PRs with low Rfilter during nasal and oral breathing at sedentary and low-moderate work rates. Material and methods In-line pressure transducer measurements of mean Rfilteracross PRs with nominal Rfilter of 29.4 Pa, 58.8 Pa and 88.2 Pa (measured at 85 l/min constant airflow were obtained during nasal and oral breathing at sedentary and low-moderate work rates for 10 subjects. Results The mean Rfilter for the 29.4 PR was significantly lower than the other 2 PRs (p 0.05. The mean Rfilter was greater for oral versus nasal breathing and for exercise compared to sedentary activity (p < 0.001. Conclusions Mean oral and nasal Rfilter for all 3 PRs was at, or below, the minimal threshold level for detection of inspiratory resistance (the 58.8–74.5 Pa/l×s–1, which may account for the previously-reported lack of significant subjective or physiological differences when wearing PRs with these low Rfilter. Lowering filtering facepiece respirator Rfilter below 88.2 Pa (measured at 85 l/min constant airflow may not result in additional subjective or physiological benefit to the wearer.

  1. The Gain Estimation of a Fabry-Perot Cavity (FPC Antenna with a Finite Dimension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taek-Sun Kwon

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we have presented an equation for estimating the gain of a Fabry-Perot cavity (FPC antenna with a finite dimension. When an FPC antenna has an infinite dimension and its height is half of a wavelength, the maximum gain of that FPC antenna can be obtained theoretically. If the FPC antenna does not have a dimension sufficient for multiple reflections between a partially reflective surface (PRS and the ground, its gain must be less than that of an FPC antenna that has an infinite dimension. In addition, the gain of an FPC antenna increases as the dimension of a PRS increases and becomes saturated from a specific dimension. The specific dimension where the gain starts to saturate also gets larger as the reflection magnitude of the PRS becomes closer to one. Thus, it would be convenient to have a gain equation when considering the dimension of an FPC antenna in order to estimate the exact gain of the FPC antenna with a specific dimension. A gain versus the dimension of the FPC antenna for various reflection magnitudes of PRS has been simulated, and the modified gain equation is produced through the curve fitting of the full-wave simulation results. The resulting empirical gain equation of an FPC antenna whose PRS dimension is larger than 1.5λ0 has been obtained.

  2. Balance perturbation system to improve balance compensatory responses during walking in old persons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melzer Itshak

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Ageing commonly disrupts the balance control and compensatory postural responses that contribute to maintaining balance and preventing falls during perturbation of posture. This can lead to increased risk of falling in old adults (65 years old and over. Therefore, improving compensatory postural responses during walking is one of the goals in fall prevention programs. Training is often used to achieve this goal. Most fall prevention programs are usually directed towards improving voluntary postural control. Since compensatory postural responses triggered by a slip or a trip are not under direct volitional control these exercises are less expected to improve compensatory postural responses due to lack of training specificity. Thus, there is a need to investigate the use balance perturbations during walking to train more effectively compensatory postural reactions during walking. This paper describes the Balance Measure & Perturbation System (BaMPer System a system that provides small, controlled and unpredictable perturbations during treadmill walking providing valuable perturbation, which allows training compensatory postural responses during walking which thus hypothesize to improve compensatory postural responses in older adults.

  3. AEROS: a real-time emergency response system for atmospheric releases of toxic material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nasstrom, J.S.; Greenly, G.D.

    1986-01-01

    The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has developed a sophisticated computer-based real-time emergency response system for radiotoxic releases into the atmosphere. The ARAC Emergency Response Operating System (AEROS) has a centralized computer facility linked to remote site computers, meteorological towers, and meteorological data sources. The system supports certain fixed sites, but has the ability to respond to accidents at arbitrary locations. Product quality and response time are optimized by using complex three-dimensional dispersion models; extensive on-line data bases; automated data processing; and an efficient user interface, employing graphical computer displays and computer-displayed forms. Upon notification, the system automatically initiates a response to an emergency and proceeds through preliminary calculations, automatically processing accident information, meteorological data, and model parameters. The model calculations incorporate mass-consistent three-dimensional wind fields, terrain effects, and particle-in-cell diffusion. Model products are color images of dose or deposition contours overlaid on a base map

  4. The influence of a scaled boundary response on integral system transient behavior

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dimenna, R.A.; Kullberg, C.M.

    1989-01-01

    Scaling relationships associated with the thermal-hydraulic response of a closed-loop system are applied to a calculational assessment of a feed-and-bleed recovery in a nuclear reactor integral effects test. The analysis demonstrates both the influence of scale on the system response and the ability of the thermal-hydraulics code to represent those effects. The qualitative response of the fluid is shown to be coupled to the behavior of the bounding walls through the energy equation. The results of the analysis described in this paper influence the determination of computer code applicability. The sensitivity of the code response to scaling variations introduced in the analysis is found to be appropriate with respect to scaling criteria determined from the scaling literature. Differences in the system response associated with different scaling criteria are found to be plausible and easily explained using well-known principles of heat transfer. Therefore, it is concluded that RELAP5/MOD2 can adequately represent the scaled effects of heat transfer boundary conditions of the thermal-hydraulic calculations through the mechanism of communicating walls. The results of the analysis also serve to clarify certain aspects of experiment and facility design

  5. The integrity of the tax system after BEPS : A shared responsibility

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gribnau, Hans

    2017-01-01

    The international tax system is the result of the interaction of different actors who share the responsibility for its integrity. States and multinational corporations both enjoy to a certain extent freedom of choice with regard to their tax behaviour – which entails moral responsibility. Making,

  6. Audience response-systemer styrker læringsmiljøet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jacob Vad; Østergaard, Doris

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this article was to describe the possibilities gained by using an electronic voting system (EVS), the existing evidence to determine whether an EVS affects learning proceeds, challenges in EVS and perspectives for EVS in Danish medical training. Audience Response-Systems (ARS) seem...... suited to enhance participants' activity and attention. The technology as such holds the potential to enhance learning outcome, but changes in the pedagogical method are needed. More studies examining the use of new wireless, mobile voting systems are required....

  7. Examining Parents' Ratings of Middle-School Students' Academic Self-Regulation Using Principal Axis Factoring Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Peggy P.; Cleary, Timothy J.; Lui, Angela M.

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the reliability and validity of a parent rating scale, the "Self-Regulation Strategy Inventory: Parent Rating Scale" ("SRSI-PRS"), using a sample of 451 parents of sixth- and seventh-grade middle-school students. Principal axis factoring (PAF) analysis revealed a 3-factor structure for the 23-item SRSI-PRS:…

  8. The role of policy in supporting the private rented sector : International comparisons

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oxley, M.; Brown, T.; Haffner, M.; Hoekstra, J.

    2011-01-01

    The size of the private rented housing sector (PRS) varies markedly between coun-tries. The paper explores the role of policy in supporting the PRS with emphasis on the evidence from France, Germany, the UK and the USA. The definition and meas-urement of the size of the sector in each country is

  9. Systems Biology of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Physiology and its DNA Damage Response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fazio, Alessandro

    The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a model organism in biology, being widely used in fundamental research, the first eukaryotic organism to be fully sequenced and the platform for the development of many genomics techniques. Therefore, it is not surprising that S. cerevisiae has also been widely...... used in the field of systems biology during the last decade. This thesis investigates S. cerevisiae growth physiology and DNA damage response by using a systems biology approach. Elucidation of the relationship between growth rate and gene expression is important to understand the mechanisms regulating...... set of growth dependent genes by using a multi-factorial experimental design. Moreover, new insights into the metabolic response and transcriptional regulation of these genes have been provided by using systems biology tools (Chapter 3). One of the prerequisite of systems biology should...

  10. Seismic Safety Margins Research Program. Phase 1. Project V. Structural sub-system response: subsystem response review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fogelquist, J.; Kaul, M.K.; Koppe, R.; Tagart, S.W. Jr.; Thailer, H.; Uffer, R.

    1980-03-01

    This project is directed toward a portion of the Seismic Safety Margins Research Program which includes one link in the seismic methodology chain. The link addressed here is the structural subsystem dynamic response which consists of those components and systems whose behavior is often determined decoupled from the major structural response. Typically the mathematical model utilized for the major structural response will include only the mass effects of the subsystem and the main model is used to produce the support motion inputs for subsystem seismic qualification. The main questions addressed in this report have to do with the seismic response uncertainty of safety-related components or equipment whose seismic qualification is performed by (a) analysis, (b) tests, or (c) combinations of analysis and tests, and where the seismic input is assumed to have no uncertainty

  11. Privacy Impact Assessment for the Enforcement Action Response System

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Enforcement Action Response System collects waste transaction information, and liability determination information. Learn how this data is collected, how it will be used, access to the data, the purpose of data collection, and record retention policies

  12. Experimental benchmark for piping system dynamic-response analyses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1981-01-01

    This paper describes the scope and status of a piping system dynamics test program. A 0.20 m(8 in.) nominal diameter test piping specimen is designed to be representative of main heat transport system piping of LMFBR plants. Particular attention is given to representing piping restraints. Applied loadings consider component-induced vibration as well as seismic excitation. The principal objective of the program is to provide a benchmark for verification of piping design methods by correlation of predicted and measured responses. Pre-test analysis results and correlation methods are discussed

  13. Experimental benchmark for piping system dynamic response analyses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schott, G.A.; Mallett, R.H.

    1981-01-01

    The scope and status of a piping system dynamics test program are described. A 0.20-m nominal diameter test piping specimen is designed to be representative of main heat transport system piping of LMFBR plants. Attention is given to representing piping restraints. Applied loadings consider component-induced vibration as well as seismic excitation. The principal objective of the program is to provide a benchmark for verification of piping design methods by correlation of predicted and measured responses. Pre-test analysis results and correlation methods are discussed. 3 refs

  14. Software Architecture Coupling Metric for Assessing Operational Responsiveness of Trading Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudiu VINTE

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The empirical observation that motivates our research relies on the difficulty to assess the performance of a trading architecture beyond a few synthetic indicators like response time, system latency, availability or volume capacity. Trading systems involve complex software architectures of distributed resources. However, in the context of a large brokerage firm, which offers a global coverage from both, market and client perspectives, the term distributed gains a critical significance indeed. Offering a low latency ordering system by nowadays standards is relatively easily achievable, but integrating it in a flexible manner within the broader information system architecture of a broker/dealer requires operational aspects to be factored in. We propose a metric for measuring the coupling level within software architecture, and employ it to identify architectural designs that can offer a higher level of operational responsiveness, which ultimately would raise the overall real-world performance of a trading system.

  15. Seismic response characteristics of full-size buildings with base isolation system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, C.Y.; Gvildys, J.

    1991-01-01

    This paper investigates the response characteristics of full-size reinforced concrete buildings via numerical simulations and actual observations. The test facility consists of two identical three-story buildings constructed side by side at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. Since the installation of high-damping isolation bearings in April 1989, data from over twenty earthquakes have been recorded. In this paper, three representative earthquake records, No. 2, No. 6, and No. 17 are used to study the detailed response characteristics. Numerical simulations are carried out with the system response program, SISEC. In general, good agreement has been found between numerical solutions and actual observations. The system is stiff enough to prevent the building displacement under minor earthquakes and wind loads, but is relatively soft for reducing the acceleration response during earthquakes with moderate and strong ground motion. Lessons learned in this effort are applicable to base isolation design of nuclear power plants. 7 refs., 16 figs., 3 tabs

  16. Response of Simple, Model Systems to Extreme Conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ewing, Rodney C. [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Lang, Maik [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

    2015-07-30

    The focus of the research was on the application of high-pressure/high-temperature techniques, together with intense energetic ion beams, to the study of the behavior of simple oxide systems (e.g., SiO2, GeO2, CeO2, TiO2, HfO2, SnO2, ZnO and ZrO2) under extreme conditions. These simple stoichiometries provide unique model systems for the analysis of structural responses to pressure up to and above 1 Mbar, temperatures of up to several thousands of kelvin, and the extreme energy density generated by energetic heavy ions (tens of keV/atom). The investigations included systematic studies of radiation- and pressure-induced amorphization of high P-T polymorphs. By studying the response of simple stoichiometries that have multiple structural “outcomes”, we have established the basic knowledge required for the prediction of the response of more complex structures to extreme conditions. We especially focused on the amorphous state and characterized the different non-crystalline structure-types that result from the interplay of radiation and pressure. For such experiments, we made use of recent technological developments, such as the perforated diamond-anvil cell and in situ investigation using synchrotron x-ray sources. We have been particularly interested in using extreme pressures to alter the electronic structure of a solid prior to irradiation. We expected that the effects of modified band structure would be evident in the track structure and morphology, information which is much needed to describe theoretically the fundamental physics of track-formation. Finally, we investigated the behavior of different simple-oxide, composite nanomaterials (e.g., uncoated nanoparticles vs. core/shell systems) under coupled, extreme conditions. This provided insight into surface and boundary effects on phase stability under extreme conditions.

  17. Neuroscience of opiates for addiction medicine: From stress-responsive systems to behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yan; Leri, Francesco

    2016-01-01

    Opiate addiction, similarly to addiction to other psychoactive drugs, is chronic relapsing brain disease caused by drug-induced short-term and long-term neuroadaptations at the molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels. Preclinical research in laboratory animals has found important interactions between opiate exposure and stress-responsive systems. In this review, we will discuss the dysregulation of several stress-responsive systems in opiate addiction: vasopressin and its receptor system, endogenous opioid systems (including proopiomelanocortin/mu opioid receptor and dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor), orexin and its receptor system, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. A more complete understanding of how opiates alter these stress systems, through further laboratory-based studies, is required to identify novel and effective pharmacological targets for the long-term treatment of heroin addiction. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. LOFT PSMG Speed Control System frequency response analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, H.R.

    1977-01-01

    An analysis was done to gain insight into the shape of the open loop frequency response of the PSMG Speed Control System. The results of the analysis were used as a guide to groom the proportional band and reset time settings of the 2 mode controller in the speed control system. The analysis shows that when an actuator with a timing of 90 degrees per 60 seconds is installed in the system the proportional band and reset time should be 316% and 1 minute. Whereas when grooming the system a proportional band and reset time of 150% and 1.5 minutes were found to be appropriate. The closeness of the settings show that even though a linear model was used to describe the non-linear PSMG Speed Control System, it was accurate enough to be used as a guide to groom the proportional band and reset time settings

  19. Polygenic signal for symptom dimensions and cognitive performance in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xavier, Rose Mary; Dungan, Jennifer R; Keefe, Richard S E; Vorderstrasse, Allison

    2018-06-01

    Genetic etiology of psychopathology symptoms and cognitive performance in schizophrenia is supported by candidate gene and polygenic risk score (PRS) association studies. Such associations are reported to be dependent on several factors - sample characteristics, illness phase, illness severity etc. We aimed to examine if schizophrenia PRS predicted psychopathology symptoms and cognitive performance in patients with chronic schizophrenia. We also examined if schizophrenia associated autosomal loci were associated with specific symptoms or cognitive domains. Case-only analysis using data from the Clinical Antipsychotics Trials of Intervention Effectiveness-Schizophrenia trials ( n  = 730). PRS was constructed using Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) leave one out genome wide association analysis as the discovery data set. For candidate region analysis, we selected 105-schizophrenia associated autosomal loci from the PGC study. We found a significant effect of PRS on positive symptoms at p -threshold ( P T ) of 0.5 ( R 2  = 0.007, p  = 0.029, empirical p  = 0.029) and negative symptoms at P T of 1e-07 ( R 2  = 0.005, p  = 0.047, empirical p  = 0.048). For models that additionally controlled for neurocognition, best fit PRS predicted positive ( p- threshold 0.01, R 2   =  0.007, p =  0.013, empirical p  = 0.167) and negative symptoms ( p- threshold 0.1, R 2   =  0.012, p =  0.004, empirical p  = 0.329). No associations were seen for overall neurocognitive and social cognitive performance tests. Post-hoc analyses revealed that PRS predicted working memory and vigilance performance but did not survive correction. No candidate regions that survived multiple testing corrections were associated with either symptoms or cognitive performance. Our findings point to potentially distinct pathogenic mechanisms for schizophrenia symptoms.

  20. Genetic correlates of insight in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xavier, Rose Mary; Vorderstrasse, Allison; Keefe, Richard S E; Dungan, Jennifer R

    2018-05-01

    Insight in schizophrenia is clinically important as it is associated with several adverse outcomes. Genetic contributions to insight are unknown. We examined genetic contributions to insight by investigating if polygenic risk scores (PRS) and candidate regions were associated with insight. Schizophrenia case-only analysis of the Clinical Antipsychotics Trials of Intervention Effectiveness trial. Schizophrenia PRS was constructed using Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) leave-one out GWAS as discovery data set. For candidate regions, we selected 105 schizophrenia-associated autosomal loci and 11 schizophrenia-related oligodendrocyte genes. We used regressions to examine PRS associations and set-based testing for candidate analysis. We examined data from 730 subjects. Best-fit PRS at p-threshold of 1e-07 was associated with total insight (R 2 =0.005, P=0.05, empirical P=0.054) and treatment insight (R 2 =0.005, P=0.048, empirical P=0.048). For models that controlled for neurocognition, PRS significantly predicted treatment insight but at higher p-thresholds (0.1 to 0.5) but did not survive correction. Patients with highest polygenic burden had 5.9 times increased risk for poor insight compared to patients with lowest burden. PRS explained 3.2% (P=0.002, empirical P=0.011) of variance in poor insight. Set-based analyses identified two variants associated with poor insight- rs320703, an intergenic variant (within-set P=6e-04, FDR P=0.046) and rs1479165 in SOX2-OT (within-set P=9e-04, FDR P=0.046). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study examining genetic basis of insight. We provide evidence for genetic contributions to impaired insight. Relevance of findings and necessity for replication are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Incident Command System - Environmental Unit responsibilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hillman, S. O.

    1997-01-01

    The Incident Command System (ICS) for crisis management, used for response to oil spills by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company throughout its facilities, including the Trans Alaska Pipeline and the Valdez Marine Terminal, was described. Special attention was given to the Environmental Unit within the ICS which functions as a primary support unit for the Incident Operations Section. Details of the Unit's function were provided. These include the collection, evaluation and dissemination of information on all environmental issues concerning the crisis, provision of advice and direction on environmental aspects, and up-front agency interaction. A checklist of tasks is included. 7 refs

  2. 26 CFR 1.199-9 - Application of section 199 to pass-thru entities for taxable years beginning on or before May 17...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... taxable year on the partner's 2007 Federal income tax return. (5) Partnerships electing out of subchapter... basis of X's non-PRS assets, all of which are investment assets, is $10,000. X's only gross receipts for... presumed). In the 2006 taxable year, PRS's only wage expense is $2,000 for marketing, which is not included...

  3. Measuring Tree Seedlings and Associated Understory Vegetation in Pennsylvania's Forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    William H. McWilliams; Todd W. Bowersox; Patrick H. Brose; Daniel A. Devlin; James C. Finley; Kurt W. Gottschalk; Steve Horsley; Susan L. King; Brian M. LaPoint; Tonya W. Lister; Larry H. McCormick; Gary W. Miller; Charles T. Scott; Harry Steele; Kim C. Steiner; Susan L. Stout; James A. Westfall; Robert L. White

    2005-01-01

    The Northeastern Research Station's Forest Inventory and Analysis (NE-FIA) unit is conducting the Pennsylvania Regeneration Study (PRS) to evaluate composition and abundance of tree seedlings and associated vegetation. Sampling methods for the PRS were tested and developed in a pilot study to determine the appropriate number of 2-m microplots needed to capture...

  4. Simulations of hybrid system varying solar radiation and microturbine response time

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yolanda Fernández Ribaya

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Hybrid power systems, such as combinations of renewable power sources with intermittent power production and non-renewable power sources, theoretically increase the reliability and thus integration of renewable sources in the electrical system. However, a recent increase in the number of hybrid installations has sparked interest in the effects of their connection to the grid, especially in remote areas. This paper analyses a photovoltaic-gas microturbine hybrid system dimensioned to be installed in La Paz (Mexico.The research presented in this paper studies and quantifies the effects on the total electric power produced, varying both the solar radiation and the gas microturbine response time. The gas microturbine and the photovoltaic panels are modelled using Matlab/Simulink software, obtaining a platform where different tests to simulate real conditions have been executed. They consist of diverse ramps of irradiance that replicate solar radiation variations, and different microturbine response times reproduced by the time constants of a first order transfer function that models the microturbine dynamic response. The results obtained show that when radiation varies quickly it does not produce significant differences in the power guarantee or the microturbine gas consumption, to any microturbine response time. However, these two parameters are highly variable with smooth radiance variations. The maximum total power variation decreases greatly as the radiation variation gets lower. In addition, by decreasing the microturbine response time, it is possible to appreciably increase the power guarantee although the maximum power variation and gas consumption increase. Only in cases of low radiation variation is there no appreciable difference in the maximum power variation obtained by the different turbine response times.

  5. Simulations of hybrid system varying solar radiation and microturbine response time

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fernández Ribaya, Yolanda, E-mail: fernandezryolanda@uniovi.es; Álvarez, Eduardo; Paredes Sánchez, José Pablo; Xiberta Bernat, Jorge [Department of Energy E.I.M.E.M., University of Oviedo. 13 Independencia Street 2" n" d floor, 36004, Oviedo (Spain)

    2015-07-15

    Hybrid power systems, such as combinations of renewable power sources with intermittent power production and non-renewable power sources, theoretically increase the reliability and thus integration of renewable sources in the electrical system. However, a recent increase in the number of hybrid installations has sparked interest in the effects of their connection to the grid, especially in remote areas. This paper analyses a photovoltaic-gas microturbine hybrid system dimensioned to be installed in La Paz (Mexico).The research presented in this paper studies and quantifies the effects on the total electric power produced, varying both the solar radiation and the gas microturbine response time. The gas microturbine and the photovoltaic panels are modelled using Matlab/Simulink software, obtaining a platform where different tests to simulate real conditions have been executed. They consist of diverse ramps of irradiance that replicate solar radiation variations, and different microturbine response times reproduced by the time constants of a first order transfer function that models the microturbine dynamic response. The results obtained show that when radiation varies quickly it does not produce significant differences in the power guarantee or the microturbine gas consumption, to any microturbine response time. However, these two parameters are highly variable with smooth radiance variations. The maximum total power variation decreases greatly as the radiation variation gets lower. In addition, by decreasing the microturbine response time, it is possible to appreciably increase the power guarantee although the maximum power variation and gas consumption increase. Only in cases of low radiation variation is there no appreciable difference in the maximum power variation obtained by the different turbine response times.

  6. Fluctuation-Response Relation and modeling in systems with fast and slow dynamics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Lacorata

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available We show how a general formulation of the Fluctuation-Response Relation is able to describe in detail the connection between response properties to external perturbations and spontaneous fluctuations in systems with fast and slow variables. The method is tested by using the 360-variable Lorenz-96 model, where slow and fast variables are coupled to one another with reciprocal feedback, and a simplified low dimensional system. In the Fluctuation-Response context, the influence of the fast dynamics on the slow dynamics relies in a non trivial behavior of a suitable quadratic response function. This has important consequences for the modeling of the slow dynamics in terms of a Langevin equation: beyond a certain intrinsic time interval even the optimal model can give just statistical prediction.

  7. Inside Perovskites: Quantum Luminescence from Bulk Cs4PbBr6 Single Crystals

    KAUST Repository

    de Bastiani, Michele

    2017-08-01

    Zero-dimensional perovskite-related structures (0D-PRS) are a new frontier of perovskite-based materials. 0D-PRS, commonly synthesized in powder form, manifest distinctive optical properties such as strong photoluminescence (PL), narrow emission linewidth, and high exciton binding energy. These properties make 0D-PRS compelling for several types of optoelectronic applications, including phosphor screens and electroluminescent devices. However, it would not be possible to rationally design the chemistry and structure of these materials, without revealing the origins of their optical behaviour, which is contradictory to the well-studied APbX3 perovskites. In this work, we synthesize single crystals of Cs4PbBr6 0D-PRS, and investigated the origins of their unique optical and electronic properties. The crystals exhibit a PL quantum yield higher than 40%, the highest reported for perovskite-based single crystals. Time-resolved and temperature dependent PL studies, supported by DFT calculations, and structural analysis, elucidate an emissive behaviour reminiscent of a quantum confined structure rather than a typical bulk perovskite material.

  8. Structure of Prolyl-tRNA Synthetase-Halofuginone Complex Provides Basis for Development of Drugs against Malaria and Toxoplasmosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jain, Vitul; Yogavel, Manickam; Oshima, Yoshiteru; Kikuchi, Haruhisa; Touquet, Bastien; Hakimi, Mohamed-Ali; Sharma, Amit

    2015-05-05

    The Chinese herb Dichroa febrifuga has traditionally treated malaria-associated fever. Its active component febrifugine (FF) and derivatives such as halofuginone (HF) are potent anti-malarials. Here, we show that FF-based derivatives arrest parasite growth by direct interaction with and inhibition of the protein translation enzyme prolyl-tRNA synthetase (PRS). Dual administration of inhibitors that target different tRNA synthetases suggests high utility of these drug targets. We reveal the ternary complex structure of PRS-HF and adenosine 5'-(β,γ-imido)triphosphate where the latter facilitates HF integration into the PRS active site. Structural analyses also highlight spaces within the PRS architecture for HF derivatization of its quinazolinone, but not piperidine, moiety. We also show a remarkable ability of HF to kill the related human parasite Toxoplasma gondii, suggesting wider HF efficacy against parasitic PRSs. Hence, our cell-, enzyme-, and structure-based data on FF-based inhibitors strengthen the case for their inclusion in anti-malarial and anti-toxoplasmosis drug development efforts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. CMSMAP : oil, chemical, search and rescue, and marine emergency response crisis management system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, E.L.; Howlett, E.; Galagan, C.; Giguere, T.; Wee, F.; Chong, J.

    2002-01-01

    This paper describes a newly developed Crisis Management System (CMS) which makes it possible to view oil and chemical spills on the seafloor. The CMS is designed to run in a network environment, so that multiple stations can be used cooperatively to respond to a spill incident. It was developed by the Maritime and Port Authority in Singapore and represents a singular integration of a ship's bridge simulator hardware and software. It incorporates numerical models and emergency response software. The CMS is installed in a specifically designed building at the Singapore Polytechnic University, and is integrated with two shipping bridge simulators. One user interface has access to models dealing with oil spills, chemical spills, search and rescues, marine emergencies, and nuclear disasters. The interface is linked to a response management system. The entire system is used to train response personnel to marine emergencies. The histories and costs of planned response activities are described and logged for reference purposes. Estimates of damages associated with spills can be obtained. Alternative response plans can also be determined. Further research in 2002 will focus on developing real time response. 3 refs., 6 figs

  10. A microculture system for generating haemolytic antibody responses from human tonsillar lymphocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booth, R J

    1979-01-01

    Small numbers of Ficoll-Hypaque purified human tonsillar lymphocytes were stimulated with PWM to produce SRBC-specific PFC in a microculture system. The magnitude of the response varied among different tonsils but was typically between 200 and 1000 PFC/10(6) cells cultured. Little or no response was observed in the absence of PWM. SRBC failed to stimulate a SRBC-specific response and the presence of this antigen in PWM-stimulated cultures depressed the response. The time of the maximum response was inversely related to the number of cells cultured. In addition, the duration of the response was limited by rapid depletion of critical medium requirements and/or build up of inhibitory factors especially when the cell concentration exceeded 5 x 10(5) cells/culture. This effect could be partially overcome by daily feeding of cultures with fresh medium. Fractionation studies indicated a requirement for both T and B cell populations. Constant efficiency of PFC production with respect to cell number could be achieved by the addition of inactivated autologous 'filler' cells. The significance of these results and applicability of the microculture system to a detailed analysis of human antibody responses will be discussed.

  11. THE COMMUNICATION OF INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEM WEAKNESSES - NECESSITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariana, NEDELCU (BUNEA

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available In terms of its mission, the control is an inherent part of management, being a specifically human activity, especially useful serving both the management, business partners, public institutions and public. Especially in the last period, amid the economic and financial crisis manifested in recent years, the control has evolved and evolving both by the improvement of organization and management systems and by the response to continuous development of the environment in which it operates. The control activities are an integral part of the management process by which the entity aims to achieve their objectives. The research methodology consists essentially in a literature review and recent regulations in the analyzed field.The objective of this study is to highlight the way in which shall be communicated the deficiencies of internal control systems, to the persons responsible for their governance, inclusively in the banking system.

  12. Dynamic response of piping system subject to flow acoustic excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, T.; Sun, Y.S.

    1988-01-01

    Through the use of a theoretically derived and test data-calibrated forcing function, the dynamic response of a piping system subject to flow-acoustic induced vibration is analyzed. It is shown that the piping behavior can be predicted when consideration is given to both the wall flexural vibration and the piping system vibration. Piping responded as a system to the transversal excitation due to the swirling motion of the fluid flow, as well as flexurally to the high-frequency acoustic excitations. The transverse piping system response was calculated using a lumped mass piping model. The piping model has more stringent requirements than its counterpart for waterhammer and seismic modeling due to the shorter spiral wavelength and higher frequency of the forcing function. Proper modeling ensured that both the moment stress caused by system excitation and the local stress induced by the support reaction load were properly accounted for. Flexural vibration not only poses a threat to nipples and branch connections, but also contributes substantially to the resultant total stress experienced by the pipe. The forcing function approach has the advantage that the critical locations on the piping system can be identified by means of analysis, facilitating surveillance and inspection, as well as fatigue evaluation

  13. Occupational Safety and Health System for Workers Engaged in Emergency Response Operations in the USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyoda, Hiroyuki; Kubo, Tatsuhiko; Mori, Koji

    2016-12-03

    To study the occupational safety and health systems used for emergency response workers in the USA, we performed interviews with related federal agencies and conducted research on related studies. We visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the USA and performed interviews with their managers on the agencies' roles in the national emergency response system. We also obtained information prepared for our visit from the USA's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In addition, we conducted research on related studies and information on the website of the agencies. We found that the USA had an established emergency response system based on their National Incident Management System (NIMS). This enabled several organizations to respond to emergencies cooperatively using a National Response Framework (NRF) that clarifies the roles and cooperative functions of each federal agency. The core system in NIMS was the Incident Command System (ICS), within which a Safety Officer was positioned as one of the command staff supporting the commander. All ICS staff were required to complete a training program specific to their position; in addition, the Safety Officer was required to have experience. The All-Hazards model was commonly used in the emergency response system. We found that FEMA coordinated support functions, and OSHA and NIOSH, which had specific functions to protect workers, worked cooperatively under NRF. These agencies employed certified industrial hygienists that play a professional role in safety and health. NIOSH recently executed support activities during disasters and other emergencies. The USA's emergency response system is characterized by functions that protect the lives and health of emergency response workers. Trained and experienced human resources support system effectiveness. The findings provided valuable information that could be used to improve the

  14. The influence of an audience response system on knowledge retention: an application to resident education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pradhan, Archana; Sparano, Dina; Ananth, Cande V

    2005-11-01

    The purpose of the study was to compare delivery methods of lecture material regarding contraceptive options by either traditional or interactive lecture style with the use of an audience response system with obstetrics and gynecology residents. A prospective, randomized controlled trial that included 17 obstetrics and gynecology residents was conducted. Group differences and comparison of pre/posttest scores to evaluate efficacy of lecture styles were performed with the Student t test. Each participant completed an evaluation to assess usefulness of the audience response system. Residents who received audience response system interactive lectures showed a 21% improvement between pretest and posttest scores; residents who received the standard lecture demonstrated a 2% improvement (P = .018). The evaluation survey showed that 82% of residents thought that the audience response system was a helpful learning aid. The results of this randomized controlled trial demonstrate the effectiveness of audience response system for knowledge retention, which suggests that it may be an efficient teaching tool for residency education.

  15. Research of the system response of neutron double scatter imaging for MLEM reconstruction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, M., E-mail: wyj2013@163.com [Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Xi’an 710024 (China); State Key Laboratory of Intense Pulsed Radiation-Simulation and Effect, Xi’an 710024 (China); Peng, B.D.; Sheng, L.; Li, K.N.; Zhang, X.P.; Li, Y.; Li, B.K.; Yuan, Y.; Wang, P.W.; Zhang, X.D.; Li, C.H. [Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Xi’an 710024 (China); State Key Laboratory of Intense Pulsed Radiation-Simulation and Effect, Xi’an 710024 (China)

    2015-03-01

    A Maximum Likelihood image reconstruction technique has been applied to neutron scatter imaging. The response function of the imaging system can be obtained by Monte Carlo simulation, which is very time-consuming if the number of image pixels and particles is large. In this work, to improve time efficiency, an analytical approach based on the probability of neutron interaction and transport in the detector is developed to calculate the system response function. The response function was applied to calculate the relative efficiency of the neutron scatter imaging system as a function of the incident neutron energy. The calculated results agreed with simulations by the MCNP5 software. Then the maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) reconstruction method with the system response function was used to reconstruct data simulated by Monte Carlo method. The results showed that there was good consistency between the reconstruction position and true position. Compared with back-projection reconstruction, the improvement in image quality was obvious, and the locations could be discerned easily for multiple radiation point sources.

  16. Delayed system response times affect immediate physiology and the dynamics of subsequent button press behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohrs, Christin; Hrabal, David; Angenstein, Nicole; Brechmann, André

    2014-11-01

    System response time research is an important issue in human-computer interactions. Experience with technical devices and general rules of human-human interactions determine the user's expectation, and any delay in system response time may lead to immediate physiological, emotional, and behavioral consequences. We investigated such effects on a trial-by-trial basis during a human-computer interaction by measuring changes in skin conductance (SC), heart rate (HR), and the dynamics of button press responses. We found an increase in SC and a deceleration of HR for all three delayed system response times (0.5, 1, 2 s). Moreover, the data on button press dynamics was highly informative since subjects repeated a button press with more force in response to delayed system response times. Furthermore, the button press dynamics could distinguish between correct and incorrect decisions and may thus even be used to infer the uncertainty of a user's decision. Copyright © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  17. Powersail High Power Propulsion System Design Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulczinski, Frank S., III

    2000-11-01

    A desire by the United States Air Force to exploit the space environment has led to a need for increased on-orbit electrical power availability. To enable this, the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/ VS) is developing Powersail: a two-phased program to demonstrate high power (100 kW to 1 MW) capability in space using a deployable, flexible solar array connected to the host spacecraft using a slack umbilical. The first phase will be a proof-of-concept demonstration at 50 kW, followed by the second phase, an operational system at full power. In support of this program, the AFRL propulsion Directorate's Spacecraft Propulsion Branch (AFRL/PRS ) at Edwards AFB has commissioned a design study of the Powersail High Power Propulsion System. The purpose of this study, the results of which are summarized in this paper, is to perform mission and design trades to identify potential full-power applications (both near-Earth and interplanetary) and the corresponding propulsion system requirements and design. The design study shall farther identify a suitable low power demonstration flight that maximizes risk reduction for the fully operational system. This propulsion system is expected to be threefold: (1) primary propulsion for moving the entire vehicle, (2) a propulsion unit that maintains the solar array position relative to the host spacecraft, and (3) control propulsion for maintaining proper orientation for the flexible solar array.

  18. Active Disaster Response System for a Smart Building

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Chun-Yen; Chu, Edward T.-H; Ku, Lun-Wei; Liu, Jane W. S.

    2014-01-01

    Disaster warning and surveillance systems have been widely applied to help the public be aware of an emergency. However, existing warning systems are unable to cooperate with household appliances or embedded controllers; that is, they cannot provide enough time for preparedness and evacuation, especially for disasters like earthquakes. In addition, the existing warning and surveillance systems are not responsible for collecting sufficient information inside a building for relief workers to conduct a proper rescue action after a disaster happens. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a proof of concept prototype, named the active disaster response system (ADRS), which automatically performs emergency tasks when an earthquake happens. ADRS can interpret Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) messages, published by an official agency, and actuate embedded controllers to perform emergency tasks to respond to the alerts. Examples of emergency tasks include opening doors and windows and cutting off power lines and gas valves. In addition, ADRS can maintain a temporary network by utilizing the embedded controllers; hence, victims trapped inside a building are still able to post emergency messages if the original network is disconnected. We conducted a field trial to evaluate the effectiveness of ADRS after an earthquake happened. Our results show that compared to manually operating emergency tasks, ADRS can reduce the operation time by up to 15 s, which is long enough for people to get under sturdy furniture, or to evacuate from the third floor to the first floor, or to run more than 100 m. PMID:25237897

  19. The performance of a hybrid analytical-Monte Carlo system response matrix in pinhole SPECT reconstruction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El Bitar, Z; Pino, F; Candela, C; Ros, D; Pavía, J; Rannou, F R; Ruibal, A; Aguiar, P

    2014-01-01

    It is well-known that in pinhole SPECT (single-photon-emission computed tomography), iterative reconstruction methods including accurate estimations of the system response matrix can lead to submillimeter spatial resolution. There are two different methods for obtaining the system response matrix: those that model the system analytically using an approach including an experimental characterization of the detector response, and those that make use of Monte Carlo simulations. Methods based on analytical approaches are faster and handle the statistical noise better than those based on Monte Carlo simulations, but they require tedious experimental measurements of the detector response. One suggested approach for avoiding an experimental characterization, circumventing the problem of statistical noise introduced by Monte Carlo simulations, is to perform an analytical computation of the system response matrix combined with a Monte Carlo characterization of the detector response. Our findings showed that this approach can achieve high spatial resolution similar to that obtained when the system response matrix computation includes an experimental characterization. Furthermore, we have shown that using simulated detector responses has the advantage of yielding a precise estimate of the shift between the point of entry of the photon beam into the detector and the point of interaction inside the detector. Considering this, it was possible to slightly improve the spatial resolution in the edge of the field of view. (paper)

  20. Pharmacological response of systemically derived focal epileptic lesions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Remler, M.P.; Sigvardt, K.; Marcussen, W.H.

    1986-11-01

    Focal epileptic lesions were made in rats by systemic focal epileptogenesis. In this method, a focal lesion of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is produced by focal alpha irradiation followed by repeated systemic injection of a convulsant drug that cannot cross the normal BBB, resulting in a chronic epileptic focus. Changes in the spike frequency of these foci in response to various drugs was recorded. The controls, saline and chlorpromazine, produced no change. Phenytoin, phenobarbital, chlordiazepoxide, and valproic acid produced the expected decrease in spike frequency. Pentobarbital and diazepam produced a paradoxical increase in spike frequency.

  1. The response analysis of fractional-order stochastic system via generalized cell mapping method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Liang; Xue, Lili; Sun, Chunyan; Yue, Xiaole; Xu, Wei

    2018-01-01

    This paper is concerned with the response of a fractional-order stochastic system. The short memory principle is introduced to ensure that the response of the system is a Markov process. The generalized cell mapping method is applied to display the global dynamics of the noise-free system, such as attractors, basins of attraction, basin boundary, saddle, and invariant manifolds. The stochastic generalized cell mapping method is employed to obtain the evolutionary process of probability density functions of the response. The fractional-order ϕ 6 oscillator and the fractional-order smooth and discontinuous oscillator are taken as examples to give the implementations of our strategies. Studies have shown that the evolutionary direction of the probability density function of the fractional-order stochastic system is consistent with the unstable manifold. The effectiveness of the method is confirmed using Monte Carlo results.

  2. Systemic inflammatory response in erderly patients following hernioplastical operation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grimaldi Maria

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The number of old and oldest old patients undergoing surgery of varying severity is increasing. Ageing is a process that changes the performances of most physiological systems and increases susceptibility to diseases and death; accordingly, host responses to surgical stress are altered with ageing and the occurrence of age-related increase in susceptibility to post-operative complications has been claimed. Twenty-four male patients undergoing Lichtenstein (LH hernioplasty for unilateral inguinal hernia were included in this study and divided in two groups (Young and Old respectively, according to their age. As expression of the acute phase response, we measured changes in concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines Tumor necrosis factor-α and Interleukin-1β, leukocytes, acute phase proteins C-reactive protein and α 1-antitrypsin. Elderly humans showed prolonged and strong inflammatory activity compared to younger subjects in response to surgical stress, indicating that the acute-phase response to surgical stress of elderly humans varies from that of the young, showing initial hyperactivity and a delayed termination of the response. Thus, the acute phase response to surgical stress is higher in old subjects, but the clinical significance of this remains unclear. It is not known whether a causal relationship exists between this stronger acute phase response and the increases in susceptibility to post-operative complications observed in aged patients.

  3. Phosphate-dependent root system architecture responses to salt stress

    KAUST Repository

    Kawa, Dorota; Julkowska, Magdalena; Montero Sommerfeld, Hector; Horst, Anneliek ter; Haring, Michel A; Testerink, Christa

    2016-01-01

    Nutrient availability and salinity of the soil affect growth and development of plant roots. Here, we describe how phosphate availability affects root system architecture (RSA) of Arabidopsis and how phosphate levels modulate responses of the root to salt stress. Phosphate (Pi) starvation reduced main root length and increased the number of lateral roots of Arabidopsis Col-0 seedlings. In combination with salt, low Pi dampened the inhibiting effect of mild salt stress (75mM) on all measured RSA components. At higher NaCl concentrations, the Pi deprivation response prevailed over the salt stress only for lateral root elongation. The Pi deprivation response of lateral roots appeared to be oppositely affected by abscisic acid (ABA) signaling compared to the salt stress response. Natural variation in the response to the combination treatment of salt and Pi starvation within 330 Arabidopsis accessions could be grouped into four response patterns. When exposed to double stress, in general lateral roots prioritized responses to salt, while the effect on main root traits was additive. Interestingly, these patterns were not identical for all accessions studied and multiple strategies to integrate the signals from Pi deprivation and salinity were identified. By Genome Wide Association Mapping (GWAS) 13 genomic loci were identified as putative factors integrating responses to salt stress and Pi starvation. From our experiments, we conclude that Pi starvation interferes with salt responses mainly at the level of lateral roots and that large natural variation exists in the available genetic repertoire of accessions to handle the combination of stresses.

  4. Phosphate-dependent root system architecture responses to salt stress

    KAUST Repository

    Kawa, Dorota

    2016-05-20

    Nutrient availability and salinity of the soil affect growth and development of plant roots. Here, we describe how phosphate availability affects root system architecture (RSA) of Arabidopsis and how phosphate levels modulate responses of the root to salt stress. Phosphate (Pi) starvation reduced main root length and increased the number of lateral roots of Arabidopsis Col-0 seedlings. In combination with salt, low Pi dampened the inhibiting effect of mild salt stress (75mM) on all measured RSA components. At higher NaCl concentrations, the Pi deprivation response prevailed over the salt stress only for lateral root elongation. The Pi deprivation response of lateral roots appeared to be oppositely affected by abscisic acid (ABA) signaling compared to the salt stress response. Natural variation in the response to the combination treatment of salt and Pi starvation within 330 Arabidopsis accessions could be grouped into four response patterns. When exposed to double stress, in general lateral roots prioritized responses to salt, while the effect on main root traits was additive. Interestingly, these patterns were not identical for all accessions studied and multiple strategies to integrate the signals from Pi deprivation and salinity were identified. By Genome Wide Association Mapping (GWAS) 13 genomic loci were identified as putative factors integrating responses to salt stress and Pi starvation. From our experiments, we conclude that Pi starvation interferes with salt responses mainly at the level of lateral roots and that large natural variation exists in the available genetic repertoire of accessions to handle the combination of stresses.

  5. Violations of local equilibrium and linear response in classical lattice systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Kenichiro; Kusnezov, Dimitri

    2003-01-01

    We quantitatively and systematically analyze how local equilibrium, and linear response in transport are violated as systems move far from equilibrium. This is done by studying heat flow in classical lattice models with and without bulk transport behavior, in 1-3 dimensions, at various temperatures. Equations of motion for the system are integrated numerically to construct the non-equilibrium steady states. Linear response and local equilibrium assumptions are seen to break down in a similar manner. We quantify the breakdown through the analysis of both microscopic and macroscopic observables and examine its transformation properties under general redefinitions of the non-equilibrium temperature

  6. STUDY OF THE PRESENCE OF THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CHIEF OFFICER IN BANKING SYSTEM

    OpenAIRE

    MIHAELA DUMITRASCU

    2014-01-01

    We present a study regarding the banking system from Romania with the aim to identify corporations that have a position of „Corporate Social Responsibility Cheif Officer” or „Corporate Social Responsibility Synonym: Citizenship/ Sustainability” included in the position title. To achieve this objective, we present some preliminary findings. Our first hypothesis was that there are a number of positions of Chief Officers of Corporate Social Responsibility in banking system. After...

  7. Autonomic nervous system response patterns specificity to basic emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collet, C; Vernet-Maury, E; Delhomme, G; Dittmar, A

    1997-01-12

    The aim of this study was to test the assumption that the autonomic nervous system responses to emotional stimuli are specific. A series of six slides was randomly presented to the subjects while six autonomic nervous system (ANS) parameters were recorded: skin conductance, skin potential, skin resistance, skin blood flow, skin temperature and instantaneous respiratory frequency. Each slide induced a basic emotion: happiness, surprise, anger, fear, sadness and disgust. Results have been first considered with reference to electrodermal responses (EDR) and secondly through thermo-vascular and respiratory variations. Classical as well as original indices were used to quantify autonomic responses. The six basic emotions were distinguished by Friedman variance analysis. Thus, ANS values corresponding to each emotion were compared two-by-two. EDR distinguished 13 emotion-pairs out of 15. 10 emotion-pairs were separated by skin resistance as well as skin conductance ohmic perturbation duration indices whereas conductance amplitude was only capable of distinguishing 7 emotion-pairs. Skin potential responses distinguished surprise and fear from sadness, and fear from disgust, according to their elementary pattern analysis in form and sign. Two-by-two comparisons of skin temperature, skin blood flow (estimated by the new non-oscillary duration index) and instantaneous respiratory frequency, enabled the distinction of 14 emotion-pairs out of 15. 9 emotion-pairs were distinguished by the non-oscillatory duration index values. Skin temperature was demonstrated to be different i.e. positive versus negative in response to anger and fear. The instantaneous respiratory frequency perturbation duration index was the only one capable of separating sadness from disgust. From the six ANS parameters study, different autonomic patterns were identified, each characterizing one of the six basic emotion used as inducing signals. No index alone, nor group of parameters (EDR and thermovascular

  8. The out of equilibrium response function in sub-diffusive systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gradenigo, G; Puglisi, A; Sarracino, A; Vulpiani, A; Villamaina, D

    2012-01-01

    We study the Einstein relation between spontaneous fluctuations and the response to an external perturbation for the comb model and the single file, which are examples of systems with sub-diffusive transport properties. The relevance of nonequilibrium conditions is investigated: when a stationary current (in the form of a drift or an energy flux) is present, the Einstein relation breaks down. In the case of the comb model, a general relation - appearing in the recent literature - between the response function and an unperturbed suitable correlation function allows us to explain the obtained results. This suggests that the relevant ingredient in breaking the Einstein formula, for stationary regimes, is not anomalous diffusion but the presence of currents driving the system out of equilibrium.

  9. Belgium: risk adjustment and financial responsibility in a centralised system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schokkaert, Erik; Van de Voorde, Carine

    2003-07-01

    Since 1995 Belgian sickness funds are partially financed through a risk adjustment system and are held partially financially responsible for the difference between their actual and their risk-adjusted expenditures. However, they did not get the necessary instruments for exerting a real influence on expenditures and the health insurance market has not been opened for new entrants. At the same time the sickness funds have powerful tools for risk selection, because they also dominate the market for supplementary health insurance. The present risk-adjustment system is based on the results of a regression analysis with aggregate data. The main proclaimed purpose of this system is to guarantee a fair treatment to all the sickness funds. Until now the danger of risk selection has not been taken seriously. Consumer mobility has remained rather low. However, since the degree of financial responsibility is programmed to increase in the near future, the potential profits from cream skimming will increase.

  10. Response of MDOF strongly nonlinear systems to fractional Gaussian noises

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deng, Mao-Lin; Zhu, Wei-Qiu, E-mail: wqzhu@zju.edu.cn [Department of Mechanics, State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Key Laboratory of Soft Machines and Smart Devices of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

    2016-08-15

    In the present paper, multi-degree-of-freedom strongly nonlinear systems are modeled as quasi-Hamiltonian systems and the stochastic averaging method for quasi-Hamiltonian systems (including quasi-non-integrable, completely integrable and non-resonant, completely integrable and resonant, partially integrable and non-resonant, and partially integrable and resonant Hamiltonian systems) driven by fractional Gaussian noise is introduced. The averaged fractional stochastic differential equations (SDEs) are derived. The simulation results for some examples show that the averaged SDEs can be used to predict the response of the original systems and the simulation time for the averaged SDEs is less than that for the original systems.

  11. Response of MDOF strongly nonlinear systems to fractional Gaussian noises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Mao-Lin; Zhu, Wei-Qiu

    2016-08-01

    In the present paper, multi-degree-of-freedom strongly nonlinear systems are modeled as quasi-Hamiltonian systems and the stochastic averaging method for quasi-Hamiltonian systems (including quasi-non-integrable, completely integrable and non-resonant, completely integrable and resonant, partially integrable and non-resonant, and partially integrable and resonant Hamiltonian systems) driven by fractional Gaussian noise is introduced. The averaged fractional stochastic differential equations (SDEs) are derived. The simulation results for some examples show that the averaged SDEs can be used to predict the response of the original systems and the simulation time for the averaged SDEs is less than that for the original systems.

  12. Response of MDOF strongly nonlinear systems to fractional Gaussian noises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deng, Mao-Lin; Zhu, Wei-Qiu

    2016-01-01

    In the present paper, multi-degree-of-freedom strongly nonlinear systems are modeled as quasi-Hamiltonian systems and the stochastic averaging method for quasi-Hamiltonian systems (including quasi-non-integrable, completely integrable and non-resonant, completely integrable and resonant, partially integrable and non-resonant, and partially integrable and resonant Hamiltonian systems) driven by fractional Gaussian noise is introduced. The averaged fractional stochastic differential equations (SDEs) are derived. The simulation results for some examples show that the averaged SDEs can be used to predict the response of the original systems and the simulation time for the averaged SDEs is less than that for the original systems.

  13. Uncertainty analysis technique of dynamic response and cumulative damage properties of piping system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Kohei; Aoki, Shigeru; Hara, Fumio; Hanaoka, Masaaki; Yamashita, Tadashi.

    1982-01-01

    It is a technologically important subject to establish the method of uncertainty analysis statistically examining the variation of the earthquake response and damage properties of equipment and piping system due to the change of input load and the parameters of structural system, for evaluating the aseismatic capability and dynamic structural reliability of these systems. The uncertainty in the response and damage properties when equipment and piping system are subjected to excessive vibration load is mainly dependent on the irregularity of acting input load such as the unsteady vibration of earthquakes, and structural uncertainty in forms and dimensions. This study is the basic one to establish the method for evaluating the uncertainty in the cumulative damage property at the time of resonant vibration of piping system due to the disperse of structural parameters with a simple model. First, the piping models with simple form were broken by resonant vibration, and the uncertainty in the cumulative damage property was evaluated. Next, the response analysis using an elasto-plastic mechanics model was performed by numerical simulation. Finally, the method of uncertainty analysis for response and damage properties by the perturbation method utilizing equivalent linearization was proposed, and its propriety was proved. (Kako, I.)

  14. Reliability and validity of a Mental Health System Responsiveness Questionnaire in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ameneh S. Forouzan

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: The Health System Responsiveness Questionnaire is an instrument designed by the World Health Organization (WHO in 2000 to assess the experience of patients when interacting with the health care system. This investigation aimed to adapt a Mental Health System Responsiveness Questionnaire (MHSRQ based on the WHO concept and evaluate its validity and reliability to the mental health care system in Iran. Design: In accordance with the WHO health system responsiveness questionnaire and the findings of a qualitative study, a Farsi version of the MHSRQ was tailored to suit the mental health system in Iran. This version was tested in a cross-sectional study at nine public mental health clinics in Tehran. A sample of 500 mental health services patients was recruited and subsequently completed the questionnaire. Item missing rate was used to check the feasibility while the reliability of the scale was determined by assessing the Cronbach's alpha and item total correlations. The factor structure of the questionnaire was investigated by performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA. Results: The results showed a satisfactory feasibility since the item missing value was lower than 5.2%. With the exception of access domain, reliability of different domains of the questionnaire was within a desirable range. The factor loading showed an acceptable unidimentionality of the scale despite the fact that three items related to access did not perform well. The CFA also indicated good fit indices for the model (CFI=0.99, GFI=0.97, IFI=0.99, AGFI=0.97. Conclusions: In general, the findings suggest that the Farsi version of the MHSRQ is a feasible, reliable, and valid measure of the mental health system responsiveness in Iran. Changes to the questions related to the access domain should be considered in order to improve the psychometric properties of the measure.

  15. The Prestige oil spill response in the French coastal waters : setting up a second-line response system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kerambrun, L.; Lavenant, M.; Cariou, G.; Poisson, H.; Goasguen, H.; Peltier, M.

    2005-01-01

    A heavy fuel oil spill from the Prestige oil tanker in early 2003 threatened the coastline of France, particularly the sensitive sandy dunes of the Aquitaine coast. The spill posed a long-term threat to two affected tourist islands that host a rich marine life, including the Marennes-Oleron oysters and juvenile eel fisheries. An oil spill response system was established by the French Maritime Affairs Department. The two-tiered response system was constructed with dynamic and static components and was adapted for strong tidal currents and muddy waters where fuel patches from the spill might not be visible. Local fishermen with knowledge of the waters used their trawlers and eel-fishing boats that were equipped with oil recovery trawls. A local netting device was also tested. The second response line for shallow waters consisted of small boats with net bags. The storage, transfer and treatment of the oily waste were controlled and available oil waste treatment procedures were assessed at local, regional and national levels for each type of oil waste fuel. 2 refs

  16. Phase I study of afatinib combined with nintedanib in patients with advanced solid tumours.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahleda, Rastislav; Hollebecque, Antoine; Varga, Andrea; Gazzah, Anas; Massard, Christophe; Deutsch, Eric; Amellal, Nadia; Farace, Françoise; Ould-Kaci, Mahmoud; Roux, Flavien; Marzin, Kristell; Soria, Jean-Charles

    2015-11-17

    This Phase I study evaluated continuous- and intermittent-dosing (every other week) of afatinib plus nintedanib in patients with advanced solid tumours. In the dose-escalation phase (n=45), maximum tolerated doses (MTDs) were determined for continuous/intermittent afatinib 10, 20, 30 or 40 mg once daily plus continuous nintedanib 150 or 200 mg twice daily. Secondary objectives included safety and efficacy. Clinical activity of continuous afatinib plus nintedanib at the MTD was further evaluated in an expansion phase (n=25). The most frequent dose-limiting toxicities were diarrhoea (11%) and transaminase elevations (7%). Maximum tolerated doses were afatinib 30 mg continuously plus nintedanib 150 mg, and afatinib 40 mg intermittently plus nintedanib 150 mg. Treatment-related adverse events (mostly Grade⩽3) included diarrhoea (98%), asthenia (64%), nausea (62%) and vomiting (60%). In the dose-escalation phase, two patients had partial responses (PRs) and 27 (60%) had stable disease (SD). In the expansion phase, one complete response and three PRs were observed (all non-small cell lung cancer), with SD in 13 (52%) patients. No pharmacokinetic interactions were observed. MTDs of continuous or intermittent afatinib plus nintedanib demonstrated a manageable safety profile with proactive management of diarrhoea. Antitumour activity was observed in patients with solid tumours.

  17. Modulation of innate immune responses by Yersinia type III secretion system translocators and effectors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bliska, James B; Wang, Xiaoying; Viboud, Gloria I; Brodsky, Igor E

    2013-10-01

    The innate immune system of mammals responds to microbial infection through detection of conserved molecular determinants called 'pathogen-associated molecular patterns' (PAMPs). Pathogens use virulence factors to counteract PAMP-directed responses. The innate immune system can in turn recognize signals generated by virulence factors, allowing for a heightened response to dangerous pathogens. Many Gram-negative bacterial pathogens encode type III secretion systems (T3SSs) that translocate effector proteins, subvert PAMP-directed responses and are critical for infection. A plasmid-encoded T3SS in the human-pathogenic Yersinia species translocates seven effectors into infected host cells. Delivery of effectors by the T3SS requires plasma membrane insertion of two translocators, which are thought to form a channel called a translocon. Studies of the Yersinia T3SS have provided key advances in our understanding of how innate immune responses are generated by perturbations in plasma membrane and other signals that result from translocon insertion. Additionally, studies in this system revealed that effectors function to inhibit innateimmune responses resulting from insertion of translocons into plasma membrane. Here, we review these advances with the goal of providing insight into how a T3SS can activate and inhibit innate immune responses, allowing a virulent pathogen to bypass host defences. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Stochastic stationary response of a variable-mass system with mass disturbance described by Poisson white noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiao, Yan; Xu, Wei; Jia, Wantao; Han, Qun

    2017-05-01

    Variable-mass systems have received widespread attention and show prominent significance with the explosive development of micro- and nanotechnologies, so there is a growing need to study the influences of mass disturbances on systems. This paper is devoted to investigating the stochastic response of a variable-mass system subject to weakly random excitation, in which the mass disturbance is modeled as a Poisson white noise. Firstly, the original system is approximately replaced by the associated conservative system with small disturbance based on the Taylor expansion technique. Then the stationary response of the approximate system is obtained by applying the stochastic averaging method. At last, a representative variable-mass oscillator is worked out to illustrate the effectiveness of the analytical solution by comparing with Monte Carlo simulation. The relative change of mean-square displacement is used to measure the influences of mass disturbance on system responses. Results reveal that the stochastic responses are more sensitive to mass disturbance for some system parameters. It is also found that the influences of Poisson white noise as the mass disturbance on system responses are significantly different from that of Gaussian white noise of the same intensity.

  19. Development of a Tailored Methodology and Forensic Toolkit for Industrial Control Systems Incident Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-06-01

    for industrial control systems ,” in Proceedings of the VDE Kongress, 2004. [15] K. Stouffer et al., “Special publication 800-82: Guide to industrial...TAILORED METHODOLOGY AND FORENSIC TOOLKIT FOR INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS INCIDENT RESPONSE by Nicholas B. Carr June 2014 Thesis Co...CONTROL SYSTEMS INCIDENT RESPONSE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Nicholas B. Carr 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval

  20. Response of piping system with semi-active variable stiffness damper under tri-directional seismic excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Praveen Kumar; Jangid, R.S.; Reddy, G.R.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Piping system with semi-active variable stiffness damper is investigated under different seismic excitations. ► Switching control law and modified switching control law are adopted. ► There exist an optimum parameters of the SAVSD. ► Substantial reduction of the seismic response of piping system with SAVSD is observed. ► Good amount of energy dissipation is observed. -- Abstract: Seismic loads on piping system due to earthquakes can cause excessive vibrations, which can lead to serious instability resulting in damage or complete failure. In this paper, semi-active variable stiffness dampers (SAVSDs) have been studied to mitigate seismic response and vibration control of piping system used in the process industries, fossil and fissile fuel power plant. The SAVSD changes its stiffness depending upon the piping response and accordingly adds the control forces in the piping system. A study is conducted on the performance of SAVSD due to variation in device stiffness ratios in the switching control law and modified switching control law, which plays an important role in the present control algorithm of the damper. The effectiveness of the SAVSD in terms of reduction in the responses, namely, displacements, accelerations and base shear of the piping system is investigated by comparing uncontrolled responses under four different artificial earthquake motions with increasing amplitudes. The analytical results demonstrate that the SAVSDs under particular optimum parameters are very effective and practically implementable for the seismic response mitigation, vibration control and seismic requalification of piping systems

  1. Response of piping system with semi-active variable stiffness damper under tri-directional seismic excitation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Praveen Kumar, E-mail: praveen@barc.gov.in [Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076 (India); Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400085 (India); Jangid, R.S. [Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076 (India); Reddy, G.R. [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400085 (India)

    2013-05-15

    Highlights: ► Piping system with semi-active variable stiffness damper is investigated under different seismic excitations. ► Switching control law and modified switching control law are adopted. ► There exist an optimum parameters of the SAVSD. ► Substantial reduction of the seismic response of piping system with SAVSD is observed. ► Good amount of energy dissipation is observed. -- Abstract: Seismic loads on piping system due to earthquakes can cause excessive vibrations, which can lead to serious instability resulting in damage or complete failure. In this paper, semi-active variable stiffness dampers (SAVSDs) have been studied to mitigate seismic response and vibration control of piping system used in the process industries, fossil and fissile fuel power plant. The SAVSD changes its stiffness depending upon the piping response and accordingly adds the control forces in the piping system. A study is conducted on the performance of SAVSD due to variation in device stiffness ratios in the switching control law and modified switching control law, which plays an important role in the present control algorithm of the damper. The effectiveness of the SAVSD in terms of reduction in the responses, namely, displacements, accelerations and base shear of the piping system is investigated by comparing uncontrolled responses under four different artificial earthquake motions with increasing amplitudes. The analytical results demonstrate that the SAVSDs under particular optimum parameters are very effective and practically implementable for the seismic response mitigation, vibration control and seismic requalification of piping systems.

  2. Tsunami response system for ports in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, H.-R.; Cho, J.-S.; Cho, Y.-S.

    2015-09-01

    The tsunamis that have occurred in many places around the world over the past decade have taken a heavy toll on human lives and property. The eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula is not safe from tsunamis, particularly the eastern coastal areas, which have long sustained tsunami damage. The eastern coast had been attacked by 1983 and 1993 tsunami events. The aim of this study was to mitigate the casualties and property damage against unexpected tsunami attacks along the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula by developing a proper tsunami response system for important ports and harbors with high population densities and high concentrations of key national industries. The system is made based on numerical and physical modelings of 3 historical and 11 virtual tsunamis events, field surveys, and extensive interviews with related people.

  3. Inelastic response of piping systems subjected to in-structure seismic excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, R.D.; Kennedy, R.P.; Trasher, R.D.

    1983-01-01

    A study was undertaken to examine the inelastic response of single-degree-of-freedom systems and a simple piping system to varying levels of earthquake loading with superimposed static loading. The objective was to examine the conservatism inherent in ASME code rules for the design of piping systems by quantifying the ratio of the dynamic margin to the static margin for various degrees of inelastic strain, system frequencies and instructure time histories. Previous studies of elastic, perfectly-plastic and bilinear strain-hardening, single-degree-of-freedom models subjected to earthquake ground motion records have demonstrated the conservatism in current design methodology and design codes for earthquake resistant design of structures. This study compares response of single degree of freedom and simple piping system subjected to typical in-structure earthquake time histories and focuses on the excess margin inherent in current design criteria for piping systems. It is shown that the factor of safety against failure is variable and is dependent upon the frequency content of the loading, the dynamic characteristics of the piping system and the allowable system ductility. A recommendation is made for revision to current criteria on the basis of maintaining a constant factor of safety for dynamic and static loading

  4. Identification of the Most Effective Point of Connection for Battery Energy Storage Systems Focusing on Power System Frequency Response Improvement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thiago Pieroni

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available With the massive penetration of intermittent generation (wind and solar, the reduction of Electrical Power Systems’ (EPSs inertial frequency response represents a new challenge. One alternative to deal with this scenario may be the application of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS. However, the main constraint for the massive deployment of BESSs is the high acquisition cost of these storage systems which in some situations, can preclude their use in transmission systems. The main goal of this paper is to propose a systematic procedure to include BESSs in power system aiming to improve the power system frequency response using full linear models and geometric measures. In this work, a generic battery model is developed in a two-area test system with assumed high wind penetration and full conventional generators models. The full power system is linearized, and the geometric measures of controllability associated with of the frequency regulation mode are estimated. Then, these results are used to identify the most effective point of connection for a BESS aiming at the improvement of the power system frequency response. Nonlinear time-domain simulations are carried out to evaluate and validate the results.

  5. Regimes of heating and dynamical response in driven many-body localized systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gopalakrishnan, Sarang; Knap, Michael; Demler, Eugene

    2016-09-01

    We explore the response of many-body localized (MBL) systems to periodic driving of arbitrary amplitude, focusing on the rate at which they exchange energy with the drive. To this end, we introduce an infinite-temperature generalization of the effective "heating rate" in terms of the spread of a random walk in energy space. We compute this heating rate numerically and estimate it analytically in various regimes. When the drive amplitude is much smaller than the frequency, this effective heating rate is given by linear response theory with a coefficient that is proportional to the optical conductivity; in the opposite limit, the response is nonlinear and the heating rate is a nontrivial power law of time. We discuss the mechanisms underlying this crossover in the MBL phase. We comment on implications for the subdiffusive thermal phase near the MBL transition, and for response in imperfectly isolated MBL systems.

  6. Systemic signature of the lung response to respiratory syncytial virus infection.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeroen L A Pennings

    Full Text Available Respiratory Syncytial Virus is a frequent cause of severe bronchiolitis in children. To improve our understanding of systemic host responses to RSV, we compared BALB/c mouse gene expression responses at day 1, 2, and 5 during primary RSV infection in lung, bronchial lymph nodes, and blood. We identified a set of 53 interferon-associated and innate immunity genes that give correlated responses in all three murine tissues. Additionally, we identified blood gene signatures that are indicative of acute infection, secondary immune response, and vaccine-enhanced disease, respectively. Eosinophil-associated ribonucleases were characteristic for the vaccine-enhanced disease blood signature. These results indicate that it may be possible to distinguish protective and unfavorable patient lung responses via blood diagnostics.

  7. Systemic and Mucosal Antibody Responses to Soluble and Nanoparticle-Conjugated Antigens Administered Intranasally

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Savannah E. Howe

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Nanoparticles (NPs are increasingly being used for drug delivery, as well as antigen carriers and immunostimulants for the purpose of developing vaccines. In this work, we examined how intranasal (i.n. priming followed by i.n. or subcutaneous (s.c. boosting immunization affects the humoral immune response to chicken ovalbumin (Ova and Ova conjugated to 20 nm NPs (NP-Ova. We show that i.n. priming with 20 mg of soluble Ova, a dose known to trigger oral tolerance when administered via gastric gavage, induced substantial systemic IgG1 and IgG2c, as well as mucosal antibodies. These responses were further boosted following a s.c. immunization with Ova and complete Freund’s adjuvant (Ova+CFA. In contrast, 100 µg of Ova delivered via NPs induced an IgG1-dominated systemic response, and primed the intestinal mucosa for secretion of IgA. Following a secondary s.c. or i.n. immunization with Ova+CFA or NP-Ova, systemic IgG1 titers significantly increased, and serum IgG2c and intestinal antibodies were induced in mice primed nasally with NP-Ova. Only Ova- and NP-Ova-primed mice that were s.c.-boosted exhibited substantial systemic and mucosal titers for up to 6 months after priming, whereas the antibodies of i.n.-boosted mice declined over time. Our results indicate that although the amount of Ova delivered by NPs was 1000-fold less than Ova delivered in soluble form, the antigen-specific antibody responses, both systemic and mucosal, are essentially identical by 6 months following the initial priming immunization. Additionally, both i.n.- and s.c.-boosting strategies for NP-Ova-primed mice were capable of inducing a polarized Th1/Th2 immune response, as well as intestinal antibodies; however, it is only by using a heterogeneous prime-boost strategy that long-lasting antibody responses were initiated. These results provide valuable insight for future mucosal vaccine development, as well as furthering our understanding of mucosal antibody responses.

  8. [Establishment of response system to emergency parasitic disease affairs in China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun-Li, C; Le-Ping, S; Qing-Biao, H; Bian-Li, X U; Bo, Z; Jian-Bing, L; Dan-Dan, L; Shi-Zhu, L I; Oning, X; Xiao-Nong, Z

    2017-08-14

    China's prevention and control of parasitic diseases has made remarkable achievements. However, the prevalence and transmission of parasitic diseases is impacted by the complicated natural and social factors of environment, natural disasters, population movements, and so on. Therefore, there are still the risks of the outbreak of emergency parasitic diseases affairs, which may affect the control effectiveness of parasitic diseases and endanger the social stability seriously. In this article, we aim at the analysis of typical cases of emergency parasitic disease affairs and their impacts on public health security in China in recently years, and we also elaborate the disposal characteristics of emergency parasitic disease affairs, and propose the establishment of response system to emergency parasitic disease affairs in China, including the organizational structure and response flow path, and in addition, point out that, in the future, we should strengthen the system construction and measures of the response system to emergency parasitic disease affairs, so as to control the risk and harm of parasitic disease spread as much as possible and to realize the early intervention and proper disposal of emergency parasitic disease affairs.

  9. Extension of a nonlinear systems theory to general-frequency unsteady transonic aerodynamic responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Walter A.

    1993-01-01

    A methodology for modeling nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic responses, for subsequent use in aeroservoelastic analysis and design, using the Volterra-Wiener theory of nonlinear systems is presented. The methodology is extended to predict nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic responses of arbitrary frequency. The Volterra-Wiener theory uses multidimensional convolution integrals to predict the response of nonlinear systems to arbitrary inputs. The CAP-TSD (Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance) code is used to generate linear and nonlinear unit impulse responses that correspond to each of the integrals for a rectangular wing with a NACA 0012 section with pitch and plunge degrees of freedom. The computed kernels then are used to predict linear and nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic responses via convolution and compared to responses obtained using the CAP-TSD code directly. The results indicate that the approach can be used to predict linear unsteady aerodynamic responses exactly for any input amplitude or frequency at a significant cost savings. Convolution of the nonlinear terms results in nonlinear unsteady aerodynamic responses that compare reasonably well with those computed using the CAP-TSD code directly but at significant computational cost savings.

  10. Computing level-impulse responses of log-specified VAR systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wieringa, J.E.; Horvath, C.

    2005-01-01

    Impulse response functions (IRFs) are often used to analyze the dynamic behavior of a vector autoregressive (VAR) system. In many applications of VAR modelling, the variables are log-transformed before the model is estimated. If this is the case, the results of the IRFs do not have a direct

  11. Theoretical and experimental study on dynamic responses of piping systems with combined dampers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gershtein, M.; Fridman, Ya.; Perelmiter, A.

    1996-01-01

    Vibrations of pipelines transporting fluids, gases, and granular materials are excited by the air flow, internal pressure pulsation, or seismic ground motion. The susceptibility of oil and gas pipelines to seismic damage has been demonstrated in earthquakes everywhere around the world. Devices for above-ground pipelines and piping systems vibration suppression with combination of dry friction and viscous energy dissipation are developed by AVIBRA, Shear deformation of viscous-elastic material in these devices occurs prior to interfacial slip. The way to account this phenomenon is to model the damper as an elastic-viscous element in series with an ideal Coulomb dry friction element. The harmonic balance method was applied to obtain an equivalent viscous damping constant for a combined damper. Iteration process was used to predict a dynamic response of a piping system with combined dampers subjected to sinusoidal excitation. Every iteration step was based on ANSYS procedures. Time integration of systems with hysteretic friction models presents computational difficulties. Some examples of dynamic responses of piping systems were analyzed by a time integration procedure for finite-element models. Combined dry friction-viscous dissipation dampers were tested on a piping model under harmonic excitation. It was clarified that combined dampers are very effective to reduce dynamic response. The seismic response of the piping system with combined dampers was calculated using time history finite-element analysis. The excellent effectiveness of AVIBRA combined dampers for aseismic design and retrofitting of pipelines and piping systems was confirmed by the analysis

  12. Employee Responses to Flexible Work Schedules: An Inter-Organization, Inter-System Comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierce, Jon L.; Newstrom, John W.

    1982-01-01

    Compared employee affective and behavioral responses to four work schedules--a fixed-hour schedule and three variations of flexible working hours. Hypothesized systematic differences in employee responses reflecting increased flexibility were not supported. Employees generally responded more favorably to flexible hour systems as contrasted with…

  13. Cyber-intrusion Auto-response and Policy Management System (CAPMS)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lusk, Steve [ViaSat Inc., Boston, MA (United States); Lawrence, David [Duke Energy, Charlotte, NC (United States); Suvana, Prakash [Southern California Edison, Rosemead, CA (United States)

    2015-11-11

    The Cyber-intrusion Auto-response and Policy Management System (CAPMS) project was funded by a grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Cybersecurity for Energy Delivery Systems (CEDS) program with contributions from two partner electric utilities: Southern California Edison (SCE) and Duke Energy. The goal of the project was to demonstrate protecting smart grid assets from a cyber attack in a way that “does not impede critical energy delivery functions.” This report summarizes project goals and activities for the CAPMS project and explores what did and did not work as expected. It concludes with an assessment of possible benefits and value of the system for the future.

  14. Self-esteem and self-efficacy; perceived parenting and family climate; and depression in university students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliver, J M; Paull, J C

    1995-07-01

    This study examined associations among self-esteem and self-efficacy; perceived unfavorable Parental Rearing Style (perceived PRS) and unfavorable family climate in the family of origin; and depression in undergraduates still in frequent contact with their families (N = 186). Unfavorable perceived PRS and family climate were construed as "affectionless control," in which parents and family provide little affection, but excessive control. Constructs were measured by the Self-Esteem Inventory, the Self-Efficacy Scale, the Child Report of Parental Behavior Inventory, the Family Environment Scale, and the Beck Inventory. Perceived "affectionless control" in both PRS and family climate accounted for about 13% of the variance in self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression. Neither introversion nor depression mediated the relation between family socialization and self-esteem.

  15. A 222 energy bins response matrix for a "6Lil scintillator Bss system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lacerda, M. A. S.; Vega C, H. R.; Mendez V, R.; Lorente F, A.; Ibanez F, S.; Gallego D, E.

    2016-10-01

    A new response matrix was calculated for a Bonner Sphere Spectrometer (Bss) with a "6Lil(Eu) scintillator. We utilized the Monte Carlo N-particle radiation transport code MCNPX, version 2.7.0, with Endf/B-VII.0 nuclear data library to calculate the responses for 6 spheres and the bare detector, for energies varying from 9.441 E(-10) MeV to 105.9 MeV, with 20 equal-log(E)-width bins per energy decade, totalizing 222 energy groups. A Bss, like the modeled in this work, was utilized to measure the neutron spectrum generated by the "2"4"1AmBe source of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. From the count rates obtained with this Bss system we unfolded neutron spectrum utilizing the BUNKIUT code for 31 energy bins (UTA-4 response matrix) and the MAXED code with the new calculated response functions. We compared spectra obtained with these Bss system / unfold codes with that obtained from measurements performed with a Bss system constituted of 12 spheres with a spherical "3He Sp-9 counter (Centronic Ltd., UK) and MAXED code with the system-specific response functions (Bss-CIEMAT). A relatively good agreement was observed between our response matrix and that calculated by other authors. In general, we observed an improvement in the agreement as the energy increases. However, higher discrepancies were observed for energies close to 1-E(-8) MeV and, mainly, for energies above 20 MeV. These discrepancies were mainly attributed to the differences in cross-section libraries employed. The ambient dose equivalent (H (10)) calculated with the "6Lil-MAXED showed a good agreement with values measured with the neutron area monitor Bert hold Lb 6411 and within 12% the value obtained with another Bss system (Bss-CIEMAT). The response matrix calculated in this work can be utilized together with the MAXED code to generate neutron spectra with a good energy resolution up to 20 MeV. Some additional tests are being done to validate this response matrix and improve the results for energies

  16. Response rates and selection problems, with emphasis on mental health variables and DNA sampling, in large population-based, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of adolescents in Norway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lien Lars

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Selection bias is a threat to the internal validity of epidemiological studies. In light of a growing number of studies which aim to provide DNA, as well as a considerable number of invitees who declined to participate, we discuss response rates, predictors of lost to follow-up and failure to provide DNA, and the presence of possible selection bias, based on five samples of adolescents. Methods We included nearly 7,000 adolescents from two longitudinal studies of 18/19 year olds with two corresponding cross-sectional baseline studies at age 15/16 (10th graders, and one cross-sectional study of 13th graders (18/19 years old. DNA was sampled from the cheek mucosa of 18/19 year olds. Predictors of lost to follow-up and failure to provide DNA were studied by Poisson regression. Selection bias in the follow-up at age 18/19 was estimated through investigation of prevalence ratios (PRs between selected exposures (physical activity, smoking and outcome variables (general health, mental distress, externalizing problems measured at baseline. Results Out of 5,750 who participated at age 15/16, we lost 42% at follow-up at age 18/19. The percentage of participants who gave their consent to DNA provision was as high as the percentage that consented to a linkage of data with other health registers and surveys, approximately 90%. Significant predictors of lost to follow-up and failure to provide DNA samples in the present genetic epidemiological study were: male gender; non-western ethnicity; postal survey compared with school-based; low educational plans; low education and income of father; low perceived family economy; unmarried parents; poor self-reported health; externalized symptoms and smoking, with some differences in subgroups of ethnicity and gender. The association measures (PRs were quite similar among participants and all invitees, with some minor discrepancies in subgroups of non-western boys and girls. Conclusions Lost to

  17. A meta-analysis of response-time tests of the sequential two-systems model of moral judgment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baron, Jonathan; Gürçay, Burcu

    2017-05-01

    The (generalized) sequential two-system ("default interventionist") model of utilitarian moral judgment predicts that utilitarian responses often arise from a system-two correction of system-one deontological intuitions. Response-time (RT) results that seem to support this model are usually explained by the fact that low-probability responses have longer RTs. Following earlier results, we predicted response probability from each subject's tendency to make utilitarian responses (A, "Ability") and each dilemma's tendency to elicit deontological responses (D, "Difficulty"), estimated from a Rasch model. At the point where A = D, the two responses are equally likely, so probability effects cannot account for any RT differences between them. The sequential two-system model still predicts that many of the utilitarian responses made at this point will result from system-two corrections of system-one intuitions, hence should take longer. However, when A = D, RT for the two responses was the same, contradicting the sequential model. Here we report a meta-analysis of 26 data sets, which replicated the earlier results of no RT difference overall at the point where A = D. The data sets used three different kinds of moral judgment items, and the RT equality at the point where A = D held for all three. In addition, we found that RT increased with A-D. This result holds for subjects (characterized by Ability) but not for items (characterized by Difficulty). We explain the main features of this unanticipated effect, and of the main results, with a drift-diffusion model.

  18. The Impact of Student Response Systems on the Learning Experience of Undergraduate Psychology Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walklet, Elaine; Davis, Sarah; Farrelly, Daniel; Muse, Kate

    2016-01-01

    Student response systems (SRS) are hand-held devices or mobile phone polling systems which collate real-time, individual responses to on-screen questions. Previous research examining their role in higher education has highlighted both advantages and disadvantages of their use. This paper explores how different SRS influence the learning experience…

  19. Effects of starvation on intermolt development in Calanus finmarchicus copepodites: a comparison between theoretical models and field studies1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crain, Jennifer A.; Miller, Charles B.

    Campbell et al . (Deep Sea Research II, 48 (2001) 531) have shown that there was a localized starvation event affecting Calanus finmarchicus on the southern flank of Georges Bank in April 1997. Growth and molting rates of this dominant copepod were reduced. We have used the morphology of tooth development in field-collected samples to show that this starvation affected animals living continuously in the field, as well as those in Campbell et al .'s experimental tanks. Assuming a point of reserve saturation (PRS) response of Calanus to food limitation, and correspondence between PRS and advance from the postmolt jaw facies, the proportion of individuals with postmolt jaws should increase in all copepodite stages under starvation. Individuals that have developed past PRS should molt to the next stage, acquiring postmolt facies. Thus, the fraction of postmolt jaws should increase, while the fraction of jaws in later phases should decrease. This was observed for a drifter-marked station over five days. Numerical simulations of jaw phase distributions expected under full nutrition, and both total and patchy starvation were generated from individual-based models of development. Proportions of copepodites in postmolt phase do not increase with full nutrition. A simulation of a total starvation event showed a marked increase in postmolts during food limitation, but the increase was more extreme than the field data. A modification of the starvation simulation, representing patchy feeding conditions, matched the level of increase of postmolt individuals in all stages that was observed in the field samples.

  20. The mast cell integrates the splanchnic and systemic inflammatory response in portal hypertension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arias Jorge-Luis

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Portal hypertension is a clinical syndrome that is difficult to study in an isolated manner since it is always associated with a greater or lesser degree of liver functional impairment. The aim of this review is to integrate the complications related to chronic liver disease by using both, the array of mast cell functions and mediators, since they possibly are involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms of these complications. The portal vein ligated rat is the experimental model most widely used to study this syndrome and it has been considered that a systemic inflammatory response is produced. This response is mediated among other inflammatory cells by mast cells and it evolves in three linked pathological functional systems. The nervous functional system presents ischemia-reperfusion and edema (oxidative stress and would be responsible for hyperdynamic circulation; the immune functional system causes tissue infiltration by inflammatory cells, particularly mast cells and bacteria (enzymatic stress and the endocrine functional system presents endothelial proliferation (antioxidative and antienzymatic stress and angiogenesis. Mast cells could develop a key role in the expression of these three phenotypes because their mediators have the ability to produce all the aforementioned alterations, both at the splanchnic level (portal hypertensive enteropathy, mesenteric adenitis, liver steatosis and the systemic level (portal hypertensive encephalopathy. This hypothetical splanchnic and systemic inflammatory response would be aggravated during the progression of the chronic liver disease, since the antioxidant ability of the body decreases. Thus, a critical state is produced, in which the appearance of noxious factors would favor the development of a dedifferentiation process protagonized by the nervous functional system. This system rapidly induces an ischemia-reperfusion phenotype with hydration and salinization of the body (hepatorenal

  1. Simulation of the dynamic response of radioactive material shipping package - railcar systems during coupling operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fields, S.R.

    1981-12-01

    The basic equations of the computer model CARDS (Cask-Railcar Dynamic Simulator), developed for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to simulate the dynamic behavior of radioactive material shipping package - railcar systems, are presented. A companion model, CARRS (Casks Railcar Response Spectrum Generator), that generates system response as frequency response spectra is also presented in terms of its basic equations

  2. Simulation of the dynamic response of radioactive material shipping package-railcar systems during coupling operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fields, S.R.

    1983-10-01

    The basic equations of the computer model CARDS (Cask-Railcar Dynamic Simulator), developed for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to simulate the dynamic behavior of radioactive material shipping package - railcar systems, are presented. A companion model, CARRS (Cask Railcar Response Spectrum Generator), that generates system response as frequency response spectra is also presented in terms of its basic equations. 1 reference, 18 figures

  3. Response of two-band systems to a single-mode quantized field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Z. C.; Shen, H. Z.; Wang, W.; Yi, X. X.

    2016-03-01

    The response of topological insulators (TIs) to an external weakly classical field can be expressed in terms of Kubo formula, which predicts quantized Hall conductivity of the quantum Hall family. The response of TIs to a single-mode quantized field, however, remains unexplored. In this work, we take the quantum nature of the external field into account and define a Hall conductance to characterize the linear response of a two-band system to the quantized field. The theory is then applied to topological insulators. Comparisons with the traditional Hall conductance are presented and discussed.

  4. Design of protein-responsive micro-sized hydrogels for self-regulating microfluidic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirayama, Mayu; Tsuruta, Kazuhiro; Kawamura, Akifumi; Ohara, Masayuki; Shoji, Kan; Kawano, Ryuji; Miyata, Takashi

    2018-03-01

    Diagnosis sensors using micro-total analysis systems (µ-TAS) have been developed for detecting target biomolecules such as proteins and saccharides because they are signal biomolecules for monitoring body conditions and diseases. In this study, biomolecularly stimuli-responsive micro-sized hydrogels that exhibited quick shrinkage in response to lectin concanavalinA (ConA) were prepared in a microchannel by photopolymerization using a fluorescence microscope. In preparing the micro-size hydrogels, glycosyloxyethyl methacrylate (GEMA) as a ligand monomer was copolymerized with a crosslinker in the presence of template ConA in molecular imprinting. The ConA-imprinted micro-hydrogel showed greater shrinkage in response to target ConA than nonimprinted micro-hydrogel. When a buffer solution was switched to an aqueous ConA solution in the Y-shaped microchannel, the flow rates changed quickly because of the responsive shrinkage of the micro-hydrogel prepared in the microchannel. These results suggest that the ConA-imprinted micro-hydrogel acted as a self-regulated microvalve in microfluidic systems.

  5. Columbia River System Operation Review final environmental impact statement. Appendix T: Comments and responses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-11-01

    The System Operation Review (SOR) is a study and environmental compliance process being used by the three Federal agencies to analyze future operations of the system and river use issues. The goal of the SOR is to achieve a coordinated system operation strategy for the river that better meets the needs of all river users. This technical appendix addresses only the effects of alternative system operating strategies for managing the Columbia River system. This appendix documents the public and agency review of the SOR Draft EIS and how the SOR agencies used the review to formulate the FINAL EIS. The appendix includes a summary of the review process, a discussion of the nature of the comments, a list of all commentors, reproductions of comment letters, and responses to all comments. Changes in the EIS text in response to comments are noted in the responses

  6. The Safeguards Active Response Inventory System (SARIS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, R.L.

    1985-04-01

    The Safeguards Active Response Inventory System (SARIS) was developed by Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) to perform material control and accountability on all the nuclear material under WHC's jurisdiction. SARIS has been in operation for four and one-half years. It has reduced physical inventory plant shutdown time from several days to a few hours. The user-friendly interface has proven successful, as the training time for a new operator is only two to three hours; also errors have been dramatically reduced. The modeling features of SARIS have reduced the reported inventory difference and provide better information for measurement of scrap and waste. The audit files have been usefull in resolving data entry errors and the backup features have averted several potential problems. SARIS as a computerized accountability system has replaced manual record keeping with a consequent increase in productivity. 4 refs

  7. Rapid response of a hydrologic system to volcanic activity: Masaya volcano, Nicaragua

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearson, S.C.P.; Connor, C.B.; Sanford, W.E.

    2008-01-01

    Hydrologic systems change in response to volcanic activity, and in turn may be sensitive indicators of volcanic activity. Here we investigate the coupled nature of magmatic and hydrologic systems using continuous multichannel time series of soil temperature collected on the flanks of Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. The soil temperatures were measured in a low-temperature fumarole field located 3.5 km down the flanks of the volcano. Analysis of these time series reveals that they respond extremely rapidly, on a time scale of minutes, to changes in volcanic activity also manifested at the summit vent. These rapid temperature changes are caused by increased flow of water vapor through flank fumaroles during volcanism. The soil temperature response, ~5 °C, is repetitive and complex, with as many as 13 pulses during a single volcanic episode. Analysis of the frequency spectrum of these temperature time series shows that these anomalies are characterized by broad frequency content during volcanic activity. They are thus easily distinguished from seasonal trends, diurnal variations, or individual rainfall events, which triggered rapid transient increases in temperature during 5% of events. We suggest that the mechanism responsible for the distinctive temperature signals is rapid change in pore pressure in response to magmatism, a response that can be enhanced by meteoric water infiltration. Monitoring of distal fumaroles can therefore provide insight into coupled volcanic-hydrologic-meteorologic systems, and has potential as an inexpensive monitoring tool.

  8. Endocannabinoid System and Synaptic Plasticity: Implications for Emotional Responses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María-Paz Viveros

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The endocannabinoid system has been involved in the regulation of anxiety, and proposed as an inhibitory modulator of neuronal, behavioral and adrenocortical responses to stressful stimuli. Brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus and cortex, which are directly involved in the regulation of emotional behavior, contain high densities of cannabinoid CB1 receptors. Mutant mice lacking CB1 receptors show anxiogenic and depressive-like behaviors as well as an altered hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis activity, whereas enhancement of endocannabinoid signaling produces anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects. Genetic and pharmacological approaches also support an involvement of endocannabinoids in extinction of aversive memories. Thus, the endocannabinoid system appears to play a pivotal role in the regulation of emotional states. Endocannabinoids have emerged as mediators of short- and long- term synaptic plasticity in diverse brain structures. Despite the fact that most of the studies on this field have been performed using in vitro models, endocannabinoid-mediated plasticity might be considered as a plausible candidate underlying some of the diverse physiological functions of the endogenous cannabinoid system, including developmental, affective and cognitive processes. In this paper, we will focus on the functional relevance of endocannabinoid-mediated plasticity within the framework of emotional responses. Alterations of the endocannabinoid system may constitute an important factor in the aetiology of certain neuropsychiatric disorders, and, in turn, enhancers of endocannabinoid signaling could represent a potential therapeutical tool in the treatment of both anxiety and depressive symptoms.

  9. Percutaneous dilational tracheotomy for airway management in a newborn with Pierre-Robin syndrome and a glossopharyngeal web.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirat, Arash; Candan, Selim; Unlükaplan, Aytekin; Kömürcü, Ozgür; Kuşlu, Selim; Arslan, Gülnaz

    2012-04-01

    Pierre-Robin syndrome (PRS) is often associated with difficulty in endotracheal intubation. We present the use of percutaneous dilational tracheotomy (PDT) for airway management of a newborn with PRS and a glossopharyngeal web. A 2-day-old term newborn with PRS and severe obstructive dyspnea was evaluated by the anesthesiology team for airway management. A direct laryngoscopy revealed a glossopharyngeal web extending from the base of the tongue to the posterior pharyngeal wall. The infant was spontaneously breathing through a 2 mm diameter fistula in the center of this web. It was decided that endotracheal intubation was impossible, and a PDT was planned. The trachea of the newborn was cannulated, using a 20 gauge peripheral venous catheter and a 0.71 mm guide wire was introduced through this catheter. Using 5 French, 7 French, 9 French, and 11 French central venous catheter kit dilators, staged tracheotomy stoma dilation was performed. By inserting a size 3.0 tracheotomy cannula, PDT was successfully completed in this newborn. This case describes the successful use of PDT for emergency airway management of a newborn with PRS and glossopharyngeal web.

  10. [Characteristics of the sympathoadrenal system response to psychoemotional stress under hypoxic conditions in aged people with physiological and accelerated aging of the respiratory system].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asanov, E O; Os'mak, Ie D; Kuz'mins'ka, L A

    2013-01-01

    The peculiarities of the response of the sympathoadrenal system to psychoemotional and hypoxic stress in healthy young people and in aged people with physiological and accelerated aging of respiratory system were studied. It was shown that in aging a more pronounced response of the sympathoadrenal system to psychoemotional stress. At the same time, elderly people with different types of aging of the respiratory system did not demonstrate a difference in the response of the sympathoadrenal system to psychoemotional stress. Unlike in young people, in aged people, combination of psychoemotional and hypoxic stresses resulted in further activation of the sympathoadrenal system. The reaction of the sympathoadrenal system was more expressed in elderly people with accelerated ageing of the respiratory system.

  11. Meta-analysis reveals an association of STAT4 polymorphisms with systemic autoimmune disorders and anti-dsDNA antibody.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Junfeng; Yin, Junping; Huang, Renliang; Petersen, Frank; Yu, Xinhua

    2013-08-01

    Signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) has been recently identified as a susceptibility gene for multiple autoimmune diseases. Here we performed a comprehensive analysis of the association between STAT4 and several different autoimmune disorders to identify potential common inflammatory principles behind this association. Our meta-analysis revealed that the STAT4 rs7574865 polymorphism is associated with four autoimmune diseases with systemic pathology, including systemic lupus erythematosus (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.48 - 1.56, Prs7574865 polymorphism is associated with the presence of autoantibodies with systemic reactivity (anti-ds-DNA antibodies) in SLE patients (OR = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.21 - 1.56, P = 1.12 × 10(-6)). However, no such specific association was seen in RA with regard to the presence of non-systemically reacting antibodies, including rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies. Taken together, these results suggest that STAT4 polymorphisms are associated with autoimmune diseases which are characterized by a systemic pathology and anti-dsDNA antibody. Copyright © 2013 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Outage Performance Analysis of Relay Selection Schemes in Wireless Energy Harvesting Cooperative Networks over Non-Identical Rayleigh Fading Channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Do, Nhu Tri; Bao, Vo Nguyen Quoc; An, Beongku

    2016-02-26

    In this paper, we study relay selection in decode-and-forward wireless energy harvesting cooperative networks. In contrast to conventional cooperative networks, the relays harvest energy from the source's radio-frequency radiation and then use that energy to forward the source information. Considering power splitting receiver architecture used at relays to harvest energy, we are concerned with the performance of two popular relay selection schemes, namely, partial relay selection (PRS) scheme and optimal relay selection (ORS) scheme. In particular, we analyze the system performance in terms of outage probability (OP) over independent and non-identical (i.n.i.d.) Rayleigh fading channels. We derive the closed-form approximations for the system outage probabilities of both schemes and validate the analysis by the Monte-Carlo simulation. The numerical results provide comprehensive performance comparison between the PRS and ORS schemes and reveal the effect of wireless energy harvesting on the outage performances of both schemes. Additionally, we also show the advantages and drawbacks of the wireless energy harvesting cooperative networks and compare to the conventional cooperative networks.

  13. Outage Performance Analysis of Relay Selection Schemes in Wireless Energy Harvesting Cooperative Networks over Non-Identical Rayleigh Fading Channels †

    Science.gov (United States)

    Do, Nhu Tri; Bao, Vo Nguyen Quoc; An, Beongku

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we study relay selection in decode-and-forward wireless energy harvesting cooperative networks. In contrast to conventional cooperative networks, the relays harvest energy from the source’s radio-frequency radiation and then use that energy to forward the source information. Considering power splitting receiver architecture used at relays to harvest energy, we are concerned with the performance of two popular relay selection schemes, namely, partial relay selection (PRS) scheme and optimal relay selection (ORS) scheme. In particular, we analyze the system performance in terms of outage probability (OP) over independent and non-identical (i.n.i.d.) Rayleigh fading channels. We derive the closed-form approximations for the system outage probabilities of both schemes and validate the analysis by the Monte-Carlo simulation. The numerical results provide comprehensive performance comparison between the PRS and ORS schemes and reveal the effect of wireless energy harvesting on the outage performances of both schemes. Additionally, we also show the advantages and drawbacks of the wireless energy harvesting cooperative networks and compare to the conventional cooperative networks. PMID:26927119

  14. A Distributed Intelligent Automated Demand Response Building Management System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auslander, David [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Culler, David [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Wright, Paul [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lu, Yan [Siemens Corporate Research Inc., Princeton, NJ (United States); Piette, Mary [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2013-03-31

    The goal of the 2.5 year Distributed Intelligent Automated Demand Response (DIADR) project was to reduce peak electricity load of Sutardja Dai Hall at UC Berkeley by 30% while maintaining a healthy, comfortable, and productive environment for the occupants. We sought to bring together both central and distributed control to provide “deep” demand response1 at the appliance level of the building as well as typical lighting and HVAC applications. This project brought together Siemens Corporate Research and Siemens Building Technology (the building has a Siemens Apogee Building Automation System (BAS)), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (leveraging their Open Automated Demand Response (openADR), Auto-­Demand Response, and building modeling expertise), and UC Berkeley (related demand response research including distributed wireless control, and grid-­to-­building gateway development). Sutardja Dai Hall houses the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), which fosters collaboration among industry and faculty and students of four UC campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz). The 141,000 square foot building, occupied in 2009, includes typical office spaces and a nanofabrication laboratory. Heating is provided by a district heating system (steam from campus as a byproduct of the campus cogeneration plant); cooling is provided by one of two chillers: a more typical electric centrifugal compressor chiller designed for the cool months (Nov-­ March) and a steam absorption chiller for use in the warm months (April-­October). Lighting in the open office areas is provided by direct-­indirect luminaries with Building Management System-­based scheduling for open areas, and occupancy sensors for private office areas. For the purposes of this project, we focused on the office portion of the building. Annual energy consumption is approximately 8053 MWh; the office portion is estimated as 1924 MWh. The maximum peak load

  15. Role of the autonomic nervous system and baroreflex in stress-evoked cardiovascular responses in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dos Reis, Daniel Gustavo; Fortaleza, Eduardo Albino Trindade; Tavares, Rodrigo Fiacadori; Corrêa, Fernando Morgan Aguiar

    2014-07-01

    Restraint stress (RS) is an experimental model to study stress-related cardiovascular responses, characterized by sustained pressor and tachycardiac responses. We used pharmacologic and surgical procedures to investigate the role played by sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) in the mediation of stress-evoked cardiovascular responses. Ganglionic blockade with pentolinium significantly reduced RS-evoked pressor and tachycardiac responses. Intravenous treatment with homatropine methyl bromide did not affect the pressor response but increased tachycardia. Pretreatment with prazosin reduced the pressor and increased the tachycardiac response. Pretreatment with atenolol did not affect the pressor response but reduced tachycardia. The combined treatment with atenolol and prazosin reduced both pressor and tachycardiac responses. Adrenal demedullation reduced the pressor response without affecting tachycardia. Sinoaortic denervation increased pressor and tachycardiac responses. The results indicate that: (1) the RS-evoked cardiovascular response is mediated by the autonomic nervous system without an important involvement of humoral factors; (2) hypertension results primarily from sympathovascular and sympathoadrenal activation, without a significant involvement of the cardiac sympathetic component (CSNS); (3) the abrupt initial peak in the hypertensive response to restraint is sympathovascular-mediated, whereas the less intense but sustained hypertensive response observed throughout the remaining restraint session is mainly mediated by sympathoadrenal activation and epinephrine release; (4) tachycardia results from CSNS activation, and not from PSNS inhibition; (5) RS evokes simultaneous CSNS and PSNS activation, and heart rate changes are a vector of both influences; (6) the baroreflex is functional during restraint, and modulates both the vascular and cardiac responses to restraint.

  16. Analysis of railcar-shipping container system response to impact conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartholomew, R.J.; Butler, T.A.

    1980-01-01

    An existing mathematical model for simulating railcar-container system response to coupling impacts was revised to simulate configurations that were tested in full-scale experiments. The structural model is represented with the lumped-parameter technique. The resulting equations are linear except for those for the coupler forces experienced during the impact. Results from the mathematical model are compared with load and acceleration data obtained during the full-scale tests. The model predicts actual response accurately enough to make it useful as a design and safety analysis tool

  17. Interplay between Schizophrenia Polygenic Risk Score and Childhood Adversity in First-Presentation Psychotic Disorder: A Pilot Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trotta, Antonella; Iyegbe, Conrad; Di Forti, Marta; Sham, Pak C.; Campbell, Desmond D.; Cherny, Stacey S.; Mondelli, Valeria; Aitchison, Katherine J.; Murray, Robin M.

    2016-01-01

    A history of childhood adversity is associated with psychotic disorder, with an increase in risk according to number or severity of exposures. However, it is not known why only some exposed individuals go on to develop psychosis. One possibility is pre-existing genetic vulnerability. Research on gene-environment interaction in psychosis has primarily focused on candidate genes, although the genetic effects are now known to be polygenic. This pilot study investigated whether the effect of childhood adversity on psychosis is moderated by the polygenic risk score for schizophrenia (PRS). Data were utilised from the Genes and Psychosis (GAP) study set in South London, UK. The GAP sample comprises 285 first-presentation psychosis cases and 256 unaffected controls with information on childhood adversity. We studied only white subjects (80 cases and 110 controls) with PRS data, as the PRS has limited predictive ability in patients of African ancestry. The occurrence of childhood adversity was assessed with the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) and the PRS was based on genome-wide meta-analysis results for schizophrenia from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Higher schizophrenia PRS and childhood adversities each predicted psychosis status. Nevertheless, no evidence was found for interaction as departure from additivity, indicating that the effect of polygenic risk scores on psychosis was not increased in the presence of a history of childhood adversity. These findings are compatible with a multifactorial threshold model in which both genetic liability and exposure to environmental risk contribute independently to the etiology of psychosis. PMID:27648571

  18. A Single Lab Test to Aid Pierre Robin Sequence Severity Diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fahradyan, Artur; Azadgoli, Beina; Tsuha, Michaela; Urata, Mark M; Francis, Stacey H

    2018-01-01

    The workup of patients with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS) consists of a physical examination, O 2 saturation, and polysomnography to determine the severity of respiratory obstruction and need for surgery. We suggest that capillary blood gas (CBG) may be a better physiologic representation of airway obstruction and should be routinely used in the management of patients with PRS. This is a multicenter study based on a retrospective review of medical records. The study was performed at tertiary care centers. Patients with PRS <1 year old underwent mandibular distraction osteogenesis. Using successful treatment outcome as a reference standard, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the accuracy of the diagnostic test and values for the best sensitivity and specificity to determine the need for surgical intervention. Of 73 patients, 48 had sporadic PRS, 23 had syndromes, 2 had micrognathia, not otherwise specified. Mandibular distraction osteogenesis was performed in 62 patients at a mean age of 39 days. The mean initial Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) in nonsurgical versus surgical groups was 10 versus 31 ( P = .063), pH 7.41 versus 7.34 ( P = .003), pCO 2 43 versus 56 ( P < .001), and HCO 3 27 versus 30 ( P = .022). The ROC curve showed that pCO 2 of 49.5 has the best specificity (100%) and sensitivity (72.6%) profile in terms of need for definitive airway. A simple CBG heel stick may better predict the physiologic effects of obstructive apnea; therefore, it should be added to the algorithm of PRS workup.

  19. Interplay between Schizophrenia Polygenic Risk Score and Childhood Adversity in First-Presentation Psychotic Disorder: A Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trotta, Antonella; Iyegbe, Conrad; Di Forti, Marta; Sham, Pak C; Campbell, Desmond D; Cherny, Stacey S; Mondelli, Valeria; Aitchison, Katherine J; Murray, Robin M; Vassos, Evangelos; Fisher, Helen L

    2016-01-01

    A history of childhood adversity is associated with psychotic disorder, with an increase in risk according to number or severity of exposures. However, it is not known why only some exposed individuals go on to develop psychosis. One possibility is pre-existing genetic vulnerability. Research on gene-environment interaction in psychosis has primarily focused on candidate genes, although the genetic effects are now known to be polygenic. This pilot study investigated whether the effect of childhood adversity on psychosis is moderated by the polygenic risk score for schizophrenia (PRS). Data were utilised from the Genes and Psychosis (GAP) study set in South London, UK. The GAP sample comprises 285 first-presentation psychosis cases and 256 unaffected controls with information on childhood adversity. We studied only white subjects (80 cases and 110 controls) with PRS data, as the PRS has limited predictive ability in patients of African ancestry. The occurrence of childhood adversity was assessed with the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) and the PRS was based on genome-wide meta-analysis results for schizophrenia from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Higher schizophrenia PRS and childhood adversities each predicted psychosis status. Nevertheless, no evidence was found for interaction as departure from additivity, indicating that the effect of polygenic risk scores on psychosis was not increased in the presence of a history of childhood adversity. These findings are compatible with a multifactorial threshold model in which both genetic liability and exposure to environmental risk contribute independently to the etiology of psychosis.

  20. New functions of the este system - new possibilities for emergency response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carny, P.

    2005-01-01

    The ESTE system (Emergency Source Term Evaluation) is support instrument for off-site emergency response and its main objective is to assist to the crisis staff: - to mitigate radiological consequences of significant releases; - to manage the protective measures; - to manage emergency monitoring. At national level the ESTE system are implemented at the Emergency Response Centre of the Czech Republic (SUJB) and Austrian versions are implemented at the Crisis Centre of the Austrian Republic (BMLFUW). ESTE system can now be utilized not only in close (40 km) vicinity of the point of the release (NPP), but radiological impacts are now calculated across the whole country or over the country border. Puff Trajectory Model (PTM) with the background of geographical information system (GIS) is included in este. Numerical weather prediction data (wind fields) predicted for the whole or the part of the country are online connected with este and utilized for the puffs movement simulation and impacts calculations. It means that not only meteorological data from the point of release (measured or predicted), but 'meteorological data wind field' predicted for larger region across the country are used by the este system. (author)

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