Modularity, comparative cognition and human uniqueness.

Science.gov (United States)

Shettleworth, Sara J

2012-10-05

Darwin's claim 'that the difference in mind between man and the higher animals … is certainly one of degree and not of kind' is at the core of the comparative study of cognition. Recent research provides unprecedented support for Darwin's claim as well as new reasons to question it, stimulating new theories of human cognitive uniqueness. This article compares and evaluates approaches to such theories. Some prominent theories propose sweeping domain-general characterizations of the difference in cognitive capabilities and/or mechanisms between adult humans and other animals. Dual-process theories for some cognitive domains propose that adult human cognition shares simple basic processes with that of other animals while additionally including slower-developing and more explicit uniquely human processes. These theories are consistent with a modular account of cognition and the 'core knowledge' account of children's cognitive development. A complementary proposal is that human infants have unique social and/or cognitive adaptations for uniquely human learning. A view of human cognitive architecture as a mosaic of unique and species-general modular and domain-general processes together with a focus on uniquely human developmental mechanisms is consistent with modern evolutionary-developmental biology and suggests new questions for comparative research.

Computational techniques of the simplex method

CERN Document Server

Maros, István

2003-01-01

Computational Techniques of the Simplex Method is a systematic treatment focused on the computational issues of the simplex method. It provides a comprehensive coverage of the most important and successful algorithmic and implementation techniques of the simplex method. It is a unique source of essential, never discussed details of algorithmic elements and their implementation. On the basis of the book the reader will be able to create a highly advanced implementation of the simplex method which, in turn, can be used directly or as a building block in other solution algorithms.

Unique Phrenic Nerve-Sparing Regional Anesthetic Technique for Pain Management after Shoulder Surgery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason K. Panchamia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Ipsilateral phrenic nerve blockade is a common adverse event after an interscalene brachial plexus block, which can result in respiratory deterioration in patients with preexisting pulmonary conditions. Diaphragm-sparing nerve block techniques are continuing to evolve, with the intention of providing satisfactory postoperative analgesia while minimizing hemidiaphragmatic paralysis after shoulder surgery. Case Report. We report the successful application of a combined ultrasound-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus block and suprascapular nerve block in a patient with a complicated pulmonary history undergoing a total shoulder replacement. Conclusion. This case report briefly reviews the important innervations to the shoulder joint and examines the utility of the infraclavicular brachial plexus block for postoperative pain management.

Customization: Ideal Varieties, Product Uniqueness and Price Competition

OpenAIRE

Oksana Loginova; X. Henry Wang

2009-01-01

We study customization in the Hotelling model with two firms. In addition to providing ideal varieties, the perceived uniqueness of a customized product contributes independently to consumer utility. We show that only when consumer preferences for uniqueness are high customization occurs in equilibrium.

TDRSS S-shuttle unique receiver equipment

Science.gov (United States)

Weinberg, A.; Schwartz, J. J.; Spearing, R.

1985-01-01

Beginning with STS-9, the Tracking and Date Relay Satellite system (TDRSS) will start providing S- and Ku-band communications and tracking support to the Space Shuttle and its payloads. The most significant element of this support takes place at the TDRSS White Sands Ground Terminal, which processes the Shuttle return link S- and Ku-band signals. While Ku-band hardware available to other TDRSS users is also applied to Ku-Shuttle, stringent S-Shuttle link margins have precluded the application of the standard TDRSS S-band processing equipment to S-Shuttle. It was therfore found necessary to develop a unique S-Shuttle Receiver that embodies state-of-the-art digital technology and processing techniques. This receiver, developed by Motorola, Inc., enhances link margins by 1.5 dB relative to the standard S-band equipment and its bit error rate performance is within a few tenths of a dB of theory. An overview description of the Space Shuttle Receiver Equipment (SSRE) is presented which includes the presentation of block diagrams and salient design features. Selected, measured performance results are also presented.

Evaluation of the Metered-Dose Inhaler Technique among Health Care Providers Practicing in Hamadan University of Medical Sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Nadi

2004-07-01

Full Text Available Poor inhaler technique is a common problem both in asthma patients and health care providers , which contributes to poor asthma control. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correctness of metered-dose inhaler (MDI technique in a sample of physicians , pharmacists and nurses practicing in Hamadan University hospitals. A total of 176 healthcare providers (35 internists and general physicians , 138 nurses and 3 pharmacists were participated voluntary in this study. After the participants answered a questionnaire aimed at identifying their involvement in MDI prescribing and counseling , a trained observer assessed their MDI technique using a checklist of ten steps.Of the 176 participants , 35(20% were physician , and 3 subjects (2% were pharmacists , and 138 (78% were nurses. However only 6 participants (3.4% performed all steps correctly. Physicians performed significantly better than non-physicians (8.6% vs. 2.13%.The majority of healthcare providers responsible for instructing patients on the correct MDI technique were unable to perform this technique correctly ‘indicating the need for regular formal training programmes on inhaler techniques.

Large Field Photogrammetry Techniques in Aircraft and Spacecraft Impact Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Littell, Justin D.

2010-01-01

The Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR) at NASA Langley Research Center is a 240 ft. high A-frame structure which is used for full-scale crash testing of aircraft and rotorcraft vehicles. Because the LandIR provides a unique capability to introduce impact velocities in the forward and vertical directions, it is also serving as the facility for landing tests on full-scale and sub-scale Orion spacecraft mass simulators. Recently, a three-dimensional photogrammetry system was acquired to assist with the gathering of vehicle flight data before, throughout and after the impact. This data provides the basis for the post-test analysis and data reduction. Experimental setups for pendulum swing tests on vehicles having both forward and vertical velocities can extend to 50 x 50 x 50 foot cubes, while weather, vehicle geometry, and other constraints make each experimental setup unique to each test. This paper will discuss the specific calibration techniques for large fields of views, camera and lens selection, data processing, as well as best practice techniques learned from using the large field of view photogrammetry on a multitude of crash and landing test scenarios unique to the LandIR.

Unique Perspectives on a Transforming Energy Economy: 2014 Annual Report (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gossett, S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2014-03-01

What makes JISEA unique? Unique perspectives. This brochure highlights the unique perspectives provided by the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis through JISEA's recent accomplishments and the people behind them.

A unique gesture of sharing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mustafa, T.

1985-01-01

The Atoms for Peace program was a unique gesture of sharing on the part of the leading industrialized nation, and has very few parallels in modern history. The author says one of the major advantages of the program for developing nations was the much needed stimulation of their indigenous science and technology efforts and the awakening of their governments to the multifaceted benefits of atomic energy. The author discusses how the program benefited Pakistan in the production of electrical energy and in the application of nuclear techniques in the fields of agriculture and medicine, which help to alleviate hunger and combat disease

Uniqueness theorems in linear elasticity

CERN Document Server

Knops, Robin John

1971-01-01

The classical result for uniqueness in elasticity theory is due to Kirchhoff. It states that the standard mixed boundary value problem for a homogeneous isotropic linear elastic material in equilibrium and occupying a bounded three-dimensional region of space possesses at most one solution in the classical sense, provided the Lame and shear moduli, A and J1 respectively, obey the inequalities (3 A + 2 J1) > 0 and J1>O. In linear elastodynamics the analogous result, due to Neumann, is that the initial-mixed boundary value problem possesses at most one solution provided the elastic moduli satisfy the same set of inequalities as in Kirchhoffs theorem. Most standard textbooks on the linear theory of elasticity mention only these two classical criteria for uniqueness and neglect altogether the abundant literature which has appeared since the original publications of Kirchhoff. To remedy this deficiency it seems appropriate to attempt a coherent description ofthe various contributions made to the study of uniquenes...

Marketing the Uniqueness of Small Towns. Small Town Strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogg, David H.; Dunn, Douglas

A small town can strengthen its local economy as a result of business people and concerned citizens collectively identifying that community's uniqueness and then capitalizing on it via advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, or publicity. This publication relates the science of marketing to communities. Seven simple techniques are provided…

Techniques and Tools Providing Strategic Decision Support: A Framework, Review, and Guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

1990-07-01

associations in a dream (Lacan, 1977). But the cognitive operations at level 5 are in themselves beyond the language or the person carrying them out (Jameson...formalizing techniques. A major problem for the design of systems able to provide support at this level is that, as in dream interpretation, what needs to...the development of object relations and affects. International Journal of Psychoanalysis , 59, 285-296. Savage, L.J., 1954. The foundations of

Tattoos and piercings: bodily expressions of uniqueness?

Science.gov (United States)

Tiggemann, Marika; Hopkins, Louise A

2011-06-01

The study aimed to investigate the motivations underlying the body modification practices of tattooing and piercing. There were 80 participants recruited from an Australian music store, who provided descriptions of their tattoos and piercings and completed measures of need for uniqueness, appearance investment and distinctive appearance investment. It was found that tattooed individuals scored significantly higher on need for uniqueness than non-tattooed individuals. Further, individuals with conventional ear piercings scored significantly lower on need for uniqueness than individuals with no piercings or with facial and body piercings. Neither appearance investment nor distinctive appearance investment differed significantly among tattoo or piercing status groups. Strength of identification with music was significantly correlated with number of tattoos, but not number of piercings. It was concluded that tattooing, but not body piercing, represents a bodily expression of uniqueness. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying content-based and relational techniques to change behaviour in motivational interviewing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hardcastle, Sarah J; Fortier, Michelle; Blake, Nicola; Hagger, Martin S

2017-03-01

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a complex intervention comprising multiple techniques aimed at changing health-related motivation and behaviour. However, MI techniques have not been systematically isolated and classified. This study aimed to identify the techniques unique to MI, classify them as content-related or relational, and evaluate the extent to which they overlap with techniques from the behaviour change technique taxonomy version 1 [BCTTv1; Michie, S., Richardson, M., Johnston, M., Abraham, C., Francis, J., Hardeman, W., … Wood, C. E. (2013). The behavior change technique taxonomy (v1) of 93 hierarchically clustered techniques: Building an international consensus for the reporting of behavior change interventions. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 46, 81-95]. Behaviour change experts (n = 3) content-analysed MI techniques based on Miller and Rollnick's [(2013). Motivational interviewing: Preparing people for change (3rd ed.). New York: Guildford Press] conceptualisation. Each technique was then coded for independence and uniqueness by independent experts (n = 10). The experts also compared each MI technique to those from the BCTTv1. Experts identified 38 distinct MI techniques with high agreement on clarity, uniqueness, preciseness, and distinctiveness ratings. Of the identified techniques, 16 were classified as relational techniques. The remaining 22 techniques were classified as content based. Sixteen of the MI techniques were identified as having substantial overlap with techniques from the BCTTv1. The isolation and classification of MI techniques will provide researchers with the necessary tools to clearly specify MI interventions and test the main and interactive effects of the techniques on health behaviour. The distinction between relational and content-based techniques within MI is also an important advance, recognising that changes in motivation and behaviour in MI is a function of both intervention content and the interpersonal style

A Unique Surgical Technique for Tracheostomy in Heterotopic Ossification: A Case Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Esther; Thorpe, Eric

2016-11-01

To describe a technique for tracheostomy in heterotopic ossification that has not yet been described in the literature. We report a case of difficult tracheostomy while using conventional techniques in a 68-year-old patient who underwent mitral valve replacement requiring warfarin therapy three months prior. Imaging revealed heterotopic ossification overlying the trachea. A literature review was performed to identify similar cases or techniques. Extensive surgical planning was pursued after the initial attempted tracheostomy failed, and the airway was eventually accessed using a lighted intubation stylet for guidance and a drill. Heterotopic ossification has been described after orthopedic and abdominal surgeries. We identified one case report in the literature of tracheostomy performed in the setting of heterotopic ossification by an unspecified mechanism. There are few reported cases of tracheobronchial calcification in cardiac patients receiving warfarin therapy; however, these patients had characteristic imaging findings that were not consistent with those of our patient. We illustrate a safe and effective technique for tracheostomy in heterotopic ossification that has not been reported. Coordination with the anesthesia service was paramount for a successful operation. © The Author(s) 2016.

Measurement of MMP-9 and -12 degraded elastin (ELM) provides unique information on lung tissue degradation

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Elastin is an essential component of selected connective tissues that provides a unique physiological elasticity. Elastin may be considered a signature protein of lungs where matrix metalloprotease (MMP) -9-and -12, may be considered the signature proteases of the macrophages, which in part are responsible for tissue damage during disease progression. Thus, we hypothesized that a MMP-9/-12 generated fragment of elastin may be a relevant biochemical maker for lung diseases. Methods Elastin fragments were identified by mass-spectrometry and one sequence, generated by MMP-9 and -12 (ELN-441), was selected for monoclonal antibody generation and used in the development of an ELISA. Soluble and insoluble elastin from lung was cleaved in vitro and the time-dependent release of fragments was assessed in the ELN-441 assay. The release of ELN-441 in human serum from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n = 10) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (n = 29) were compared to healthy matched controls (n = 11). Results The sequence ELN-441 was exclusively generated by MMP-9 and -12 and was time-dependently released from soluble lung elastin. ELN-441 levels were 287% higher in patients diagnosed with COPD (p elastin. This fragment was elevated in serum from patients with the lung diseases IPF and COPD, however these data needs to be validated in larger clinical settings. PMID:22818364

Isotropic and anisotropic surface wave cloaking techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McManus, T M; Spada, L La; Hao, Y

2016-01-01

In this paper we compare two different approaches for surface waves cloaking. The first technique is a unique application of Fermat’s principle and requires isotropic material properties, but owing to its derivation is limited in its applicability. The second technique utilises a geometrical optics approximation for dealing with rays bound to a two dimensional surface and requires anisotropic material properties, though it can be used to cloak any smooth surface. We analytically derive the surface wave scattering behaviour for both cloak techniques when applied to a rotationally symmetric surface deformation. Furthermore, we simulate both using a commercially available full-wave electromagnetic solver and demonstrate a good level of agreement with their analytically derived solutions. Our analytical solutions and simulations provide a complete and concise overview of two different surface wave cloaking techniques. (paper)

Isotropic and anisotropic surface wave cloaking techniques

Science.gov (United States)

McManus, T. M.; La Spada, L.; Hao, Y.

2016-04-01

In this paper we compare two different approaches for surface waves cloaking. The first technique is a unique application of Fermat’s principle and requires isotropic material properties, but owing to its derivation is limited in its applicability. The second technique utilises a geometrical optics approximation for dealing with rays bound to a two dimensional surface and requires anisotropic material properties, though it can be used to cloak any smooth surface. We analytically derive the surface wave scattering behaviour for both cloak techniques when applied to a rotationally symmetric surface deformation. Furthermore, we simulate both using a commercially available full-wave electromagnetic solver and demonstrate a good level of agreement with their analytically derived solutions. Our analytical solutions and simulations provide a complete and concise overview of two different surface wave cloaking techniques.

Topical Review: Unique Contributions of Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Pediatric Psychology Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Chad D; Duraccio, Kara M; Carbine, Kaylie M; Kirwan, C Brock

2016-03-01

This review aims to provide a brief introduction of the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods in pediatric psychology research, describe several exemplar studies that highlight the unique benefits of MRI techniques for pediatric psychology research, and detail methods for addressing several challenges inherent to pediatric MRI research. Literature review. Numerous useful applications of MRI research in pediatric psychology have been illustrated in published research. MRI methods yield information that cannot be obtained using neuropsychological or behavioral measures. Using MRI in pediatric psychology research may facilitate examination of neural structures and processes that underlie health behaviors. Challenges inherent to conducting MRI research with pediatric research participants (e.g., head movement) may be addressed using evidence-based strategies. We encourage pediatric psychology researchers to consider adopting MRI techniques to answer research questions relevant to pediatric health and illness. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

NST and NST integration: nuclear science and technique and nano science and technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Yuliang; Chai Zhifang; Liu Yuanfang

2008-01-01

Nuclear science is considered as a big science and also the frontier in the 20 th century, it developed many big scientific facilities and many technique platforms (e.g., nuclear reactor, synchrotron radiation, accelerator, etc.) Nuclear Science and Technology (NST) provide us with many unique tools such as neutron beams, electron beams, gamma rays, alpha rays, beta rays, energetic particles, etc. These are efficient and essential probes for studying many technique and scientific issues in the fields of new materials, biological sciences, environmental sciences, life sciences, medical science, etc. Nano Science and Technology (NST) is a newly emerging multidisciplinary science and the frontier in the 21 st century, it is expected to dominate the technological revolution in diverse aspects of our life. It involves diverse fields such as nanomaterials, nanobiological sciences, environmental nanotechnology, nanomedicine, etc. nanotechnology was once considered as a futuristic science with applications several decades in the future and beyond. But, the rapid development of nanotechnology has broken this prediction. For example, diverse types of manufactured nanomaterials or nanostructures have been currently utilized in industrial products, semiconductors, electronics, stain-resistant clothing, ski wax, catalysts, other commodity products such as food, sunscreens, cosmetics, automobile parts, etc., to improve their performance of previous functions, or completely create novel functions. They will also be increasingly utilized in medicines for purposes of clinic therapy, diagnosis, and drug delivery. In the talk, we will discuss the possibility of NST-NST integration: how to apply the unique probes of advanced radiochemical and nuclear techniques in nanoscience and nanotechnology. (authors)

High Blood Pressure: Unique to Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... our e-newsletter! Aging & Health A to Z High Blood Pressure Hypertension Unique to Older Adults This section provides ... Pressure Targets are Different for Very Old Adults High blood pressure (also called hypertension) increases your chance of having ...

New techniques for imaging and analyzing lung tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roggli, V.L.; Ingram, P.; Linton, R.W.; Gutknecht, W.F.; Mastin, P.; Shelburne, J.D.

1984-01-01

The recent technological revolution in the field of imaging techniques has provided pathologists and toxicologists with an expanding repertoire of analytical techniques for studying the interaction between the lung and the various exogenous materials to which it is exposed. Analytical problems requiring elemental sensitivity or specificity beyond the range of that offered by conventional scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis are particularly appropriate for the application of these newer techniques. Electron energy loss spectrometry, Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and laser microprobe mass analysis each offer unique advantages in this regard, but also possess their own limitations and disadvantages. Diffraction techniques provide crystalline structural information available through no other means. Bulk chemical techniques provide useful cross-checks on the data obtained by microanalytical approaches. It is the purpose of this review to summarize the methodology of these techniques, acknowledge situations in which they have been used in addressing problems in pulmonary toxicology, and comment on the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach. It is necessary for an investigator to weigh6 each of these factors when deciding which technique is best suited for any given analytical problem; often it is useful to employ a combination of two or more of the techniques discussed. It is anticipated that there will be increasing utilization of these technologies for problems in pulmonary toxicology in the decades to come. 92 references, 10 figures, 2 tables

Classical many-particle systems with unique disordered ground states

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, G.; Stillinger, F. H.; Torquato, S.

2017-10-01

Classical ground states (global energy-minimizing configurations) of many-particle systems are typically unique crystalline structures, implying zero enumeration entropy of distinct patterns (aside from trivial symmetry operations). By contrast, the few previously known disordered classical ground states of many-particle systems are all high-entropy (highly degenerate) states. Here we show computationally that our recently proposed "perfect-glass" many-particle model [Sci. Rep. 6, 36963 (2016), 10.1038/srep36963] possesses disordered classical ground states with a zero entropy: a highly counterintuitive situation . For all of the system sizes, parameters, and space dimensions that we have numerically investigated, the disordered ground states are unique such that they can always be superposed onto each other or their mirror image. At low energies, the density of states obtained from simulations matches those calculated from the harmonic approximation near a single ground state, further confirming ground-state uniqueness. Our discovery provides singular examples in which entropy and disorder are at odds with one another. The zero-entropy ground states provide a unique perspective on the celebrated Kauzmann-entropy crisis in which the extrapolated entropy of a supercooled liquid drops below that of the crystal. We expect that our disordered unique patterns to be of value in fields beyond glass physics, including applications in cryptography as pseudorandom functions with tunable computational complexity.

Duality based direct resolution of unique profiles using zero concentration region information.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakkoli, Elnaz; Rajkó, Róbert; Abdollahi, Hamid

2018-07-01

Self Modeling Curve Resolution (SMCR) is a class of techniques concerned with estimating pure profiles underlying a set of measurements on chemical systems. In general, the estimated profiles are ambiguous (non-unique) except if some special conditions fulfilled. Implementing the adequate information can reduce the so-called rotational ambiguity effectively, and in the most desirable cases lead to the unique solution. Therefore, studies on circumstances resulting in unique solution are of particular importance. The conditions of unique solution can particularly be studied based on duality principle. In bilinear chemical (e.g., spectroscopic) data matrix, there is a natural duality between its row and column vector spaces using minimal constraints (non-negativity of concentrations and absorbances). In this article, the conditions of the unique solution according to duality concept and using zero concentration region information is intended to show. A simulated dataset of three components and an experimental system with synthetic mixtures containing three amino acids tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan are analyzed. It is shown that in the presence of sufficient information, the reliable unique solution is obtained that is valuable in analytical qualification and for quantitative verification analysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

UNiquant, a Program for Quantitative Proteomics Analysis Using Stable Isotope Labeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Xin; Tolmachev, Aleksey V.; Shen, Yulei; Liu, Miao; Huang, Lin; Zhang, Zhixin; Anderson, Gordon A.; Smith, Richard D.; Chan, Wing C.; Hinrichs, Steven; Fu, Kai; Ding, Shi-Jian

2011-03-04

We present UNiquant, a new software program for analyzing stable isotope labeling (SIL) based quantitative proteomics data. UNiquant surpassed the performance of two other platforms, MaxQuant and Mascot Distiller, using complex proteome mixtures having either known or unknown heavy/light ratios. UNiquant is compatible with a broad spectrum of search engines and SIL methods, providing outstanding peptide pair identification and accurate measurement of the relative peptide/protein abundance.

Unique Path Partitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bessenrodt, Christine; Olsson, Jørn Børling; Sellers, James A.

2013-01-01

We give a complete classification of the unique path partitions and study congruence properties of the function which enumerates such partitions.......We give a complete classification of the unique path partitions and study congruence properties of the function which enumerates such partitions....

Specific radiography technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdul Nassir Ibrahim; Azali Muhammad; Ab. Razak Hamzah; Abd. Aziz Mohamed; Mohamad Pauzi Ismail

2008-01-01

Beside radiography testing using x-ray machine and gamma source, there are several technique that developed specifically to complete the testing that cannot be done with the two earlier. This technique was specific based on several factor, for the example, the advantages of neutron and electron using to show the image was unique compare to x-ray and gamma. Besides that, these special radiography techniques maybe differ in how to detect the radiation get through the object. These technique can used to inspect thin or specimen that contained radioactive material. There are several technique will discussed in this chapter such as neutron radiography, electron radiography, fluoroscopy and also autoradiography.

A unique collaboration of female medical providers within the United States Armed Forces: rehabilitation of a marine with post-concussive vestibulopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gottshall, Kim; Gray, Nicola; Drake, Angela I

2005-01-01

Uncle Sam's loyal nieces have come a long way from the days of World War I. The development of occupational and physical therapy was heavily influenced by an early relationship with medical specialists during the First World War. This relationship can be considered largely responsible for the eventual acceptance (by the Armed Forces) of women working in this area. Over the past decade active duty women have seen many changes in opportunities to serve and are now stationed aboard aircraft carriers, performing roles previously considered for male personnel. We report a case study of the medical care provided by both military and civilian women working for the United States Armed Forces. Initial assessment was conducted in a battalion aid station of a United States Marine Corp base and the subject was then referred to a military medical center with highly technical vestibular assessment and rehabilitation services. The subject's case represents a unique collaboration of women therapists, enabling a Marines' access to timely and accurate assessment, treatment and ultimately, successful return to active duty. This case study is one of many examples of the acceptance and successful integration of women as providers of medical care within the Military's medical framework.

Practical relevance of pattern uniqueness in forensic science.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayaprakash, Paul T

2013-09-10

Uniqueness being unprovable, it has recently been argued that individualization in forensic science is irrelevant and, probability, as applied for DNA profiles, should be applied for all identifications. Critiques against uniqueness have omitted physical matching, a realistic and tangible individualization that supports uniqueness. Describing case examples illustrating pattern matches including physical matching, it is indicated that individualizations are practically relevant for forensic science as they establish facts on a definitive basis providing firm leads benefitting criminal investigation. As a tenet of forensic identification, uniqueness forms a fundamental paradigm relevant for individualization. Evidence on the indeterministic and stochastic causal pathways of characteristics in patterns available in the related fields of science sufficiently supports the proposition of uniqueness. Characteristics involved in physical matching and matching achieved in patterned evidence existing in the state of nature are not events amenable for counting; instead these are ensemble of visible units occupying the entire pattern area stretching the probability of re-occurrence of a verisimilitude pattern into infinity offering epistemic support to uniqueness. Observational methods are as respectable as instrumental or statistical methods since they are capable of generating results that are tangible and obviously valid as in physical matching. Applying the probabilistic interpretation used for DNA profiles to the other patterns would be unbefitting since these two are disparate, the causal pathways of the events, the loci, in the manipulated DNA profiles being determinable. While uniqueness enables individualizations, it does not vouch for eliminating errors. Instead of dismissing uniqueness and individualization, accepting errors as human or system failures and seeking remedial measures would benefit forensic science practice and criminal investigation. Copyright © 2013

Esperanto: A Unique Model for General Linguistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Dulichenko, Aleksandr D.

1988-01-01

Esperanto presents a unique model for linguistic research by allowing the study of language development from project to fully functioning language. Esperanto provides insight into the growth of polysemy and redundancy, as well as into language universals and the phenomenon of social control. (Author/CB)

A Unique Technique to get Kaprekar Iteration in Linear Programming Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Sumathi, P.; Preethy, V.

2018-04-01

This paper explores about a frivolous number popularly known as Kaprekar constant and Kaprekar numbers. A large number of courses and the different classroom capacities with difference in study periods make the assignment between classrooms and courses complicated. An approach of getting the minimum value of number of iterations to reach the Kaprekar constant for four digit numbers and maximum value is also obtained through linear programming techniques.

Uniqueness and non-uniqueness of semigroups generated by singular diffusion operators

CERN Document Server

Eberle, Andreas

1999-01-01

This book addresses both probabilists working on diffusion processes and analysts interested in linear parabolic partial differential equations with singular coefficients. The central question discussed is whether a given diffusion operator, i.e., a second order linear differential operator without zeroth order term, which is a priori defined on test functions over some (finite or infinite dimensional) state space only, uniquely determines a strongly continuous semigroup on a corresponding weighted Lp space. Particular emphasis is placed on phenomena causing non-uniqueness, as well as on the relation between different notions of uniqueness appearing in analytic and probabilistic contexts.

Sufficient conditions for uniqueness of the weak value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dressel, J; Jordan, A N

2012-01-01

We review and clarify the sufficient conditions for uniquely defining the generalized weak value as the weak limit of a conditioned average using the contextual values formalism introduced in Dressel, Agarwal and Jordan (2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.240401). We also respond to criticism of our work by Parrott (arXiv:1105.4188v1) concerning a proposed counter-example to the uniqueness of the definition of the generalized weak value. The counter-example does not satisfy our prescription in the case of an underspecified measurement context. We show that when the contextual values formalism is properly applied to this example, a natural interpretation of the measurement emerges and the unique definition in the weak limit holds. We also prove a theorem regarding the uniqueness of the definition under our sufficient conditions for the general case. Finally, a second proposed counter-example by Parrott (arXiv:1105.4188v6) is shown not to satisfy the sufficiency conditions for the provided theorem. (paper)

Orthogonal Electric Field Measurements near the Green Fluorescent Protein Fluorophore through Stark Effect Spectroscopy and pKa Shifts Provide a Unique Benchmark for Electrostatics Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Slocum, Joshua D; First, Jeremy T; Webb, Lauren J

2017-07-20

Measurement of the magnitude, direction, and functional importance of electric fields in biomolecules has been a long-standing experimental challenge. pK a shifts of titratable residues have been the most widely implemented measurements of the local electrostatic environment around the labile proton, and experimental data sets of pK a shifts in a variety of systems have been used to test and refine computational prediction capabilities of protein electrostatic fields. A more direct and increasingly popular technique to measure electric fields in proteins is Stark effect spectroscopy, where the change in absorption energy of a chromophore relative to a reference state is related to the change in electric field felt by the chromophore. While there are merits to both of these methods and they are both reporters of local electrostatic environment, they are fundamentally different measurements, and to our knowledge there has been no direct comparison of these two approaches in a single protein. We have recently demonstrated that green fluorescent protein (GFP) is an ideal model system for measuring changes in electric fields in a protein interior caused by amino acid mutations using both electronic and vibrational Stark effect chromophores. Here we report the changes in pK a of the GFP fluorophore in response to the same mutations and show that they are in excellent agreement with Stark effect measurements. This agreement in the results of orthogonal experiments reinforces our confidence in the experimental results of both Stark effect and pK a measurements and provides an excellent target data set to benchmark diverse protein electrostatics calculations. We used this experimental data set to test the pK a prediction ability of the adaptive Poisson-Boltzmann solver (APBS) and found that a simple continuum dielectric model of the GFP interior is insufficient to accurately capture the measured pK a and Stark effect shifts. We discuss some of the limitations of this

[Uniqueness seeking behavior as a self-verification: an alternative approach to the study of uniqueness].

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaoka, S

1995-06-01

Uniqueness theory explains that extremely high perceived similarity between self and others evokes negative emotional reactions and causes uniqueness seeking behavior. However, the theory conceptualizes similarity so ambiguously that it appears to suffer from low predictive validity. The purpose of the current article is to propose an alternative explanation of uniqueness seeking behavior. It posits that perceived uniqueness deprivation is a threat to self-concepts, and therefore causes self-verification behavior. Two levels of self verification are conceived: one based on personal categorization and the other on social categorization. The present approach regards uniqueness seeking behavior as the personal-level self verification. To test these propositions, a 2 (very high or moderate similarity information) x 2 (with or without outgroup information) x 2 (high or low need for uniqueness) between-subject factorial-design experiment was conducted with 95 university students. Results supported the self-verification approach, and were discussed in terms of effects of uniqueness deprivation, levels of self-categorization, and individual differences in need for uniqueness.

Tendon 'turnover lengthening' technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerovac, S; Miranda, B H

2013-11-01

Tendon defect reconstruction is amongst the most technically challenging areas in hand surgery. Tendon substance deficiency reconstruction techniques include lengthening, grafting, two-stage reconstruction and tendon transfers, however each is associated with unique challenges over and above direct repair. We describe a novel 'turnover lengthening' technique for hand tendons that has successfully been applied to the repair of several cases, including a case of attritional flexor and traumatic extensor tendon rupture in two presented patients where primary tenorrhaphy was not possible. In both cases a good post-operative outcome was achieved, as the patients were happy having returned back to normal activities of daily living such that they were discharged 12 weeks post-operatively. Our technique avoids the additional morbidity and complications associated with grafting, transfers and two stage reconstructions. It is quick, simple and reproducible for defects not exceeding 3-4 cm, provides a means of immediate one stage reconstruction, no secondary donor site morbidity and does not compromise salvage by tendon transfer and/or two-stage reconstruction in cases of failure. To our knowledge no such technique has been previously been described to reconstruct such hand tendon defects. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unique Outcomes in the Narratives of Young Adults Who Experienced Dating Violence as Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Draucker, Claire Burke; Smith, Carolyn; Mazurczyk, Jill; Thomas, Destini; Ramirez, Patricia; McNealy, Kim; Thomas, Jade; Martsolf, Donna S

2016-01-01

Narrative therapy, an approach based on the reauthoring of life narratives, may be a useful psychotherapeutic strategy for youth who have experienced dating violence. A cornerstone of narrative therapy is the concept of unique outcomes, which are moments that stand in contrast to a client's otherwise problem-saturated narratives. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize unique outcomes embedded in narratives about adolescent dating violence. Text units representing unique outcomes were extracted from transcripts of interviews with 88 young adults who had experienced dating violence and were categorized using standard content analytic techniques. Six categories of unique outcome stories were identified: facing-facts stories, standing-up-for-myself stories, cutting-it-off stories, cutting-'em-loose stories, getting-back-on-track stories, and changing-it-up stories. This typology of unique outcomes can inform clinicians who work with clients who have a history of adolescent dating violence. © The Author(s) 2015.

Doppler ultrasound surveillance in deep tunneling compressed-air work with Trimix breathing: bounce dive technique compared to saturation-excursion technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Vellinga, T P van Rees; Sterk, W; de Boer, A G E M; van der Beek, A J; Verhoeven, A C; van Dijk, F J H

2008-01-01

The Western Scheldt Tunneling Project in The Netherlands provided a unique opportunity to evaluate two deep-diving techniques with Doppler ultrasound surveillance. Divers used the bounce diving techniques for repair and maintenance of the TBM. The tunnel boring machine jammed at its deepest depth. As a result the work time was not sufficient. The saturation diving technique was developed and permitted longer work time at great depth. Thirty-one divers were involved in this project. Twenty-three divers were examined using Doppler ultrasound. Data analysis addressed 52 exposures to Trimix at 4.6-4.8 bar gauge using the bounce technique and 354 exposures to Trimix at 4.0-6.9 bar gauge on saturation excursions. No decompression incidents occurred with either technique during the described phase of the project. Doppler ultrasound revealed that the bubble loads assessed in both techniques were generally low. We find out, that despite longer working hours, shorter decompression times and larger physical workloads, the saturation-excursion technique was associated with significant lower bubble grades than in the bounce technique using Doppler Ultrasound. We conclude that the saturation-excursion technique with Trimix is a good option for deep and long exposures in caisson work. The Doppler technique proved valuable, and it should be incorporated in future compressed-air work.

Guide to good practices for operations aspects of unique processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-12-01

This Guide to Good Practices is written to enhance understanding of, and provide direction for, Operations Aspects of Facility Chemistry and Unique Processes, Chapter XIII of Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5480.19, Conduct of Operations Requirements for DOE Facilities. The practices in this guide should be considered when planning or reviewing employee training and facility management programs. Contractors are advised to adopt procedures that meet the intent of DOE Order 5480.19. Operations Aspects of Unique Processes is an element of an effective Conduct of Operations program. The complexity and array of activities performed in DOE facilities dictate the necessity for all personnel to coordinate interrelated activities affecting unique processes.

RPERT: Repetitive-Projects Evaluation and Review Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remon Fayek Aziz

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Estimating expected completion probability of any repetitive construction project with a specified/certain duration including repetitive identical activities by using program evaluation and review technique is the most essential part in construction areas since the activities were had optimistic, most likely and pessimistic durations. This paper focuses on the calculation of expected completion probability of any repetitive construction project within a specified/certain duration (contract duration by using Line Of Balance technique (LOB in case of single or multiple number of crews integrated with Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT. Repetitive-Projects Evaluation and Review Technique (RPERT, which is a simplified software, will generate the expected project completion probability of a specified/certain duration (contract duration. RPERT software is designed by java programming code system to provide a number of new and unique capabilities, including: (1 Viewing the expected project completion probability according to a set of specified durations per each identical activity (optimistic time, most likely time, and pessimistic time in the analyzed project; (2 Providing seamless integration with available project time calculations. In order to provide the aforementioned capabilities of RPERT, the system is implemented and developed in four main modules: (1 A user interface module; (2 A database module; (3 A running module; and (4 A processing module. At the end, an illustrative example will be presented to demonstrate and verify the applications of proposed software (RPERT, by using probabilistic calculations for repetitive construction projects.

Using a computerized provider order entry system to meet the unique prescribing needs of children: description of an advanced dosing model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schellenberger Patricia

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It is well known that the information requirements necessary to safely treat children with therapeutic medications cannot be met with the same approaches used in adults. Over a 1-year period, Duke University Hospital engaged in the challenging task of enhancing an established computerized provider order entry (CPOE system to address the unique medication dosing needs of pediatric patients. Methods An advanced dosing model (ADM was designed to interact with our existing CPOE application to provide decision support enabling complex pediatric dose calculations based on chronological age, gestational age, weight, care area in the hospital, indication, and level of renal impairment. Given that weight is a critical component of medication dosing that may change over time, alerting logic was added to guard against erroneous entry or outdated weight information. Results Pediatric CPOE was deployed in a staggered fashion across 6 care areas over a 14-month period. Safeguards to prevent miskeyed values became important in allowing providers the flexibility to override the ADM logic if desired. Methods to guard against over- and under-dosing were added. The modular nature of our model allows us to easily add new dosing scenarios for specialized populations as the pediatric population and formulary change over time. Conclusions The medical needs of pediatric patients vary greatly from those of adults, and the information systems that support those needs require tailored approaches to design and implementation. When a single CPOE system is used for both adults and pediatrics, safeguards such as redirection and suppression must be used to protect children from inappropriate adult medication dosing content. Unlike other pediatric dosing systems, our model provides active dosing assistance and dosing process management, not just static dosing advice.

Global Existence and Uniqueness of Weak and Regular Solutions of Shallow Shells with Thermal Effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menzala, G. Perla, E-mail: perla@lncc.br [National Laboratory of Scientific Computation, (LNCC/MCTI) (Brazil); Cezaro, F. Travessini De, E-mail: fabianacezaro@furg.br [Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG/IMEF), Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics (Brazil)

2016-10-15

We study a dynamical thin shallow shell whose elastic deformations are described by a nonlinear system of Marguerre–Vlasov’s type under the presence of thermal effects. Our main result is the proof of a global existence and uniqueness of a weak solution in the case of clamped boundary conditions. Standard techniques for uniqueness do not work directly in this case. We overcame this difficulty using recent work due to Lasiecka (Appl Anal 4:1376–1422, 1998).

Collage technique may provide new perspectives for Alzheimer patients by exploring messages from their inner world.

Science.gov (United States)

Meguro, Mitsue; Ishizaki, Junichi; Meguro, Kenichi

2009-01-01

Although the collage art technique has been introduced as a psychotherapeutic method, it has not been fully applied in dementia. To analyze characteristics of the collage articles produced by patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Twenty AD patients were asked to select and place several clippings as they wished. The MMSE was used for cognitive assessments. Simplification and poor organization in their articles were found. The themes of one patient were found to change according to behavior. We discussed the images of the articles, especially spiritual images in the early stage and family images in the later stage. We concluded that the collage technique could provide new perspectives for dementia patients by exploring messages from their inner world.

Advanced flow MRI: emerging techniques and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markl, M.; Schnell, S.; Wu, C.; Bollache, E.; Jarvis, K.; Barker, A.J.; Robinson, J.D.; Rigsby, C.K.

2016-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques provide non-invasive and non-ionising methods for the highly accurate anatomical depiction of the heart and vessels throughout the cardiac cycle. In addition, the intrinsic sensitivity of MRI to motion offers the unique ability to acquire spatially registered blood flow simultaneously with the morphological data, within a single measurement. In clinical routine, flow MRI is typically accomplished using methods that resolve two spatial dimensions in individual planes and encode the time-resolved velocity in one principal direction, typically oriented perpendicular to the two-dimensional (2D) section. This review describes recently developed advanced MRI flow techniques, which allow for more comprehensive evaluation of blood flow characteristics, such as real-time flow imaging, 2D multiple-venc phase contrast MRI, four-dimensional (4D) flow MRI, quantification of complex haemodynamic properties, and highly accelerated flow imaging. Emerging techniques and novel applications are explored. In addition, applications of these new techniques for the improved evaluation of cardiovascular (aorta, pulmonary arteries, congenital heart disease, atrial fibrillation, coronary arteries) as well as cerebrovascular disease (intra-cranial arteries and veins) are presented.

Nuclear resonance scattering of synchrotron radiation as a unique electronic, structural and thermodynamic probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alp, E. Ercan; Sturhahn, Wolfgang; Toellner, Thomas S.; Zhao, Jiyong; Leu, Bogdan M.

2012-01-01

Discovery of Moessbauer effect in a nuclear transition was a remarkable development. It revealed how long-lived nuclear states with relatively low energies in the kiloelectron volt (keV) region can be excited without recoil. This new effect had a unique feature involving a coupling between nuclear physics and solid-state physics, both in terms of physics and sociology. Physics coupling originates from the fact that recoilless emission and absorption or resonance is only possible if the requirement that nuclei have to be bound in a lattice with quantized vibrational states is fulfilled, and that the finite electron density on the nucleus couples to nuclear degrees of freedom leading to hyperfine interactions. thus, Moessbauer spectroscopy allows peering into solid-state effects using unique nuclear transitions. Sociological aspects of this coupling had been equally startling and fruitful. The interaction between diverse scientific communities, who learned to use Moessbauer spectroscopy proved to be very valuable. For example, biologists, geologists, chemists, physics, materials scientists, and archeologists, all sharing a common spectroscopic technique, also learned to appreciate the beauty and intricacies of each other's fields. As a laboratory-based technique, Moessbauer spectroscopy matured by the end of the 1970s. Further exciting developments took place when accelerator-based techniques were employed, like synchrotron radiation or 'in-beam'Moessbauer experiments with implanted radioactive ions. More recently, two Moessbauer spectrometers on the surface of the Mars kept the technique vibrant and viable up until present time. In this chapter, the authors look into some of the unique aspects of nuclear resonance excited with synchrotron radiation as a probe of condensed matter, including magnetism, valence, vibrations, and lattice dynamics, and review the development of nuclear resonance inelastic x-ray scattering (NRIXS) and synchrotron Moessbauer spectroscopy

Uniquely Strongly Clean Group Rings

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG XIU-LAN

2012-01-01

A ring R is called clean if every element is the sum of an idempotent and a unit,and R is called uniquely strongly clean (USC for short) if every element is uniquely the sum of an idempotent and a unit that commute.In this article,some conditions on a ring R and a group G such that RG is clean are given.It is also shown that if G is a locally finite group,then the group ring RG is USC if and only if R is USC,and G is a 2-group.The left uniquely exchange group ring,as a middle ring of the uniquely clean ring and the USC ring,does not possess this property,and so does the uniquely exchange group ring.

Father involvement: Identifying and predicting family members' shared and unique perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyer, W Justin; Day, Randal D; Harper, James M

2014-08-01

Father involvement research has typically not recognized that reports of involvement contain at least two components: 1 reflecting a view of father involvement that is broadly recognized in the family, and another reflecting each reporter's unique perceptions. Using a longitudinal sample of 302 families, this study provides a first examination of shared and unique views of father involvement (engagement and warmth) from the perspectives of fathers, children, and mothers. This study also identifies influences on these shared and unique perspectives. Father involvement reports were obtained when the child was 12 and 14 years old. Mother reports overlapped more with the shared view than father or child reports. This suggests the mother's view may be more in line with broadly recognized father involvement. Regarding antecedents, for fathers' unique view, a compensatory model partially explains results; that is, negative aspects of family life were positively associated with fathers' unique view. Children's unique view of engagement may partially reflect a sentiment override with father antisocial behaviors being predictive. Mothers' unique view of engagement was predicted by father and mother work hours and her unique view of warmth was predicted by depression and maternal gatekeeping. Taken, together finding suggests a far more nuanced view of father involvement should be considered.

Android-Stego: A Novel Service Provider Imperceptible MMS Steganography Technique Robust to Message Loss

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avinash Srinivasan

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Information hiding techniques, especially steganography, have been extensively researched for over two decades. Nonetheless, steganography on smartphones over cellular carrier networks is yet to be fully explored. Today, smartphones, which are at the epitome of ubiquitous and pervasive computing, make steganography an easily accessible covert communication channel. In this paper, we propose Android-Stego - a framework for steganography employing smart-phones. Android-Stego has been evaluated and confirmed to achieve covert communication over real world cellular service providers' communication networks such as Verizon and Sprint. A key contribution of our research presented in this paper is the benchmark results we have provided by analyzing real world cellular carriers network restrictions on MMS message size. We have also analyzed the actions the carriers take - such as compression and/or format conversion - on MMS messages that fall outside the established MMS communication norm, which varies for each service provider. Finally, We have used these benchmark results in implementing Android-Stego such that it is sensitive to carrier restrictions and robust to message loss.

Clinical EPR: Unique Opportunities and Some Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Swartz, Harold M.; Williams, Benjamin B.; Zaki, Bassem I.; Hartford, Alan C.; Jarvis, Lesley A.; Chen, Eunice; Comi, Richard J.; Ernstoff, Marc S.; Hou, Huagang; Khan, Nadeem; Swarts, Steven G.; Flood, Ann B.; Kuppusamy, Periannan

2014-01-01

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been well established as a viable technique for measurement of free radicals and oxygen in biological systems, from in vitro cellular systems to in vivo small animal models of disease. However, the use of EPR in human subjects in the clinical setting, although attractive for a variety of important applications such as oxygen measurement, is challenged with several factors including the need for instrumentation customized for human subjects, probe and regulatory constraints. This paper describes the rationale and development of the first clinical EPR systems for two important clinical applications, namely, measurement of tissue oxygen (oximetry), and radiation dose (dosimetry) in humans. The clinical spectrometers operate at 1.2 GHz frequency and use surface loop resonators capable of providing topical measurements up to 1 cm depth in tissues. Tissue pO2 measurements can be carried out noninvasively and repeatedly after placement of an oxygen-sensitive paramagnetic material (currently India ink) at the site of interest. Our EPR dosimetry system is capable of measuring radiation-induced free radicals in the tooth of irradiated human subjects to determine the exposure dose. These developments offer potential opportunities for clinical dosimetry and oximetry, which include guiding therapy for individual patients with tumors or vascular disease, by monitoring of tissue oxygenation. Further work is in progress to translate this unique technology to routine clinical practice. PMID:24439333

Modularity, comparative cognition and human uniqueness

OpenAIRE

Shettleworth, Sara J.

2012-01-01

Darwin's claim ‘that the difference in mind between man and the higher animals … is certainly one of degree and not of kind’ is at the core of the comparative study of cognition. Recent research provides unprecedented support for Darwin's claim as well as new reasons to question it, stimulating new theories of human cognitive uniqueness. This article compares and evaluates approaches to such theories. Some prominent theories propose sweeping domain-general characterizations of the difference ...

The Mysteries of Diamonds: Bizarre History, Amazing Properties, Unique Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kagan, Harris

2008-01-01

Diamonds have been a prized material throughout history. They are scarce and beautiful, wars have been fought over them, and they remain today a symbol of wealth and power. Diamonds also have exceptional physical properties which can lead to unique applications in science. There are now techniques to artificially synthesize diamonds of extraordinarily high quality. In this talk, Professor Kagan will discuss the history of diamonds, their bizarre properties, and their manufacture and use for 21st century science.

The Mysteries of Diamonds: Bizarre History, Amazing Properties, Unique Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kagan, Harris (Ohio State University)

2008-06-24

Diamonds have been a prized material throughout history. They are scarce and beautiful, wars have been fought over them, and they remain today a symbol of wealth and power. Diamonds also have exceptional physical properties which can lead to unique applications in science. There are now techniques to artificially synthesize diamonds of extraordinarily high quality. In this talk, Professor Kagan will discuss the history of diamonds, their bizarre properties, and their manufacture and use for 21st century science.

Collage technique may provide new perspectives for Alzheimer patients by exploring messages from their inner world

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mitsue Meguro

Full Text Available Abstract Although the collage art technique has been introduced as a psychotherapeutic method, it has not been fully applied in dementia. Objectives: To analyze characteristics of the collage articles produced by patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD. Methods: Twenty AD patients were asked to select and place several clippings as they wished. The MMSE was used for cognitive assessments. Results: Simplification and poor organization in their articles were found. The themes of one patient were found to change according to behavior. We discussed the images of the articles, especially spiritual images in the early stage and family images in the later stage. Conclusions: We concluded that the collage technique could provide new perspectives for dementia patients by exploring messages from their inner world.

Improved biomass utilization through the use of nuclear techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-10-01

Biomass is a major by-product resource of agriculture and food manufacturing, but it is under-utilized as a source of food, fibre, and chemicals. Nuclear techniques provide unique tools for studies of the capabilities of micro-organisms in methane digestor operation and in the transformation of lignocellulosic materials to useful products. Nuclear techniques have also been effectively employed as mutagenic agents in the preparation of more efficient microbial strains for the conversion of biomass. This report reviews the variety and diversity of such applications with focus on the development of microbial processes to utilize agricultural wastes and by-products. The value of nuclear techniques is manifestly demonstrated in the production of efficient microbial mutant strains, in the tracing of metabolic pathways, in the monitoring of lignin degradation and also of fermenter operation. Refs, figs and tabs

Space - A unique environment for process modeling R&D

Science.gov (United States)

Overfelt, Tony

1991-01-01

Process modeling, the application of advanced computational techniques to simulate real processes as they occur in regular use, e.g., welding, casting and semiconductor crystal growth, is discussed. Using the low-gravity environment of space will accelerate the technical validation of the procedures and enable extremely accurate determinations of the many necessary thermophysical properties. Attention is given to NASA's centers for the commercial development of space; joint ventures of universities, industries, and goverment agencies to study the unique attributes of space that offer potential for applied R&D and eventual commercial exploitation.

Provider-based Medicare risk contracting and subcontracting: opportunities and risks for provider sponsored organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, H A; Zenner, P A; Kipp, R A; Whitney, E L

1997-01-01

Provider sponsored organizations (PSOs) are increasingly acquiring the risk for the management of Medicare Risk patients by accepting capitation directly from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) or through contracts with HMOs or other organizations contracting with HCFA. The Medicare population and the requirements that the federal administration has put into place with respect to risk contracting are unique and demand specific responses on the part of the PSO for a contract to be successful. The PSO is cautioned to understand the actuarial risk, the clinical uniqueness of the Medicare beneficiary, Medicare reimbursement regulatory requirements, utilization management needs, and necessary reporting before entering into a contractual arrangement. This article attempts to describe some of the more common issues a provider organization must consider.

Psychological aspects of human cloning and genetic manipulation: the identity and uniqueness of human beings.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, N M

2009-01-01

Human cloning has become one of the most controversial debates about reproduction in Western civilization. Human cloning represents asexual reproduction, but the critics of human cloning argue that the result of cloning is not a new individual who is genetically unique. There is also awareness in the scientific community, including the medical community, that human cloning and the creation of clones are inevitable. Psychology and other social sciences, together with the natural sciences, will need to find ways to help the healthcare system, to be prepared to face the new challenges introduced by the techniques of human cloning. One of those challenges is to help the healthcare system to find specific standards of behaviour that could be used to help potential parents to interact properly with cloned babies or children created through genetic manipulation. In this paper, the concepts of personality, identity and uniqueness are discussed in relationship to the contribution of twin studies in these areas. The author argues that an individual created by human cloning techniques or any other type of genetic manipulation will not show the donor's characteristics to the extent of compromising uniqueness. Therefore, claims to such an effect are needlessly alarmist.

Applying BI Techniques To Improve Decision Making And Provide Knowledge Based Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Maria Ioana FLOREA

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on BI techniques and especially data mining algorithms that can support and improve the decision making process, with applications within the financial sector. We consider the data mining techniques to be more efficient and thus we applied several techniques, supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms The case study in which these algorithms have been implemented regards the activity of a banking institution, with focus on the management of lending activities.

The novel programmable riometer for in-depth ionospheric and magnetospheric observations (PRIAMOS) using direct sampling DSP techniques

OpenAIRE

Dekoulis, G.; Honary, F.

2005-01-01

This paper describes the feasibility study and simulation results for the unique multi-frequency, multi-bandwidth, Programmable Riometer for in-depth Ionospheric And Magnetospheric ObservationS (PRIAMOS) based on direct sampling digital signal processing (DSP) techniques. This novel architecture is based on sampling the cosmic noise wavefront at the antenna. It eliminates the usage of any intermediate frequency (IF) mixer stages (-6 dB) and the noise balancing technique (-3 dB), providing a m...

Digital audio watermarking fundamentals, techniques and challenges

CERN Document Server

Xiang, Yong; Yan, Bin

2017-01-01

This book offers comprehensive coverage on the most important aspects of audio watermarking, from classic techniques to the latest advances, from commonly investigated topics to emerging research subdomains, and from the research and development achievements to date, to current limitations, challenges, and future directions. It also addresses key topics such as reversible audio watermarking, audio watermarking with encryption, and imperceptibility control methods. The book sets itself apart from the existing literature in three main ways. Firstly, it not only reviews classical categories of audio watermarking techniques, but also provides detailed descriptions, analysis and experimental results of the latest work in each category. Secondly, it highlights the emerging research topic of reversible audio watermarking, including recent research trends, unique features, and the potentials of this subdomain. Lastly, the joint consideration of audio watermarking and encryption is also reviewed. With the help of this...

Review of the book: MUPO Program. Unique Minds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Luis Rodríguez-Arias

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Unique Minds (Mentes Únicas and its version for teachers and counsellors, MUPO, are programs full of good ideas and tools for teachers and families. Both programs help to address learning disabilities in the natural context in which they take place and help children, families and teachers in their search for solutions based on their own resources. The programs are grounded on General Systems Theory and Multiple Intelligences Theory. They accessibly explain how our brain works and use techniques from Systemic Brief Family Therapy, such as Externalization, especially appropriate for the target ages - 8 to 12 years old, the ages when children learn to learn-.

Iterative Reconstruction Techniques in Abdominopelvic CT: Technical Concepts and Clinical Implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Patino, Manuel; Fuentes, Jorge M; Singh, Sarabjeet; Hahn, Peter F; Sahani, Dushyant V

2015-07-01

This article discusses the clinical challenge of low-radiation-dose examinations, the commonly used approaches for dose optimization, and their effect on image quality. We emphasize practical aspects of the different iterative reconstruction techniques, along with their benefits, pitfalls, and clinical implementation. The widespread use of CT has raised concerns about potential radiation risks, motivating diverse strategies to reduce the radiation dose associated with CT. CT manufacturers have developed alternative reconstruction algorithms intended to improve image quality on dose-optimized CT studies, mainly through noise and artifact reduction. Iterative reconstruction techniques take unique approaches to noise reduction and provide distinct strength levels or settings.

Generalized image contrast enhancement technique based on Heinemann contrast discrimination model

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hong; Nodine, Calvin F.

1994-03-01

This paper presents a generalized image contrast enhancement technique which equalizes perceived brightness based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model. This is a modified algorithm which presents an improvement over the previous study by Mokrane in its mathematically proven existence of a unique solution and in its easily tunable parameterization. The model uses a log-log representation of contrast luminosity between targets and the surround in a fixed luminosity background setting. The algorithm consists of two nonlinear gray-scale mapping functions which have seven parameters, two of which are adjustable Heinemann constants. Another parameter is the background gray level. The remaining four parameters are nonlinear functions of gray scale distribution of the image, and can be uniquely determined once the previous three are given. Tests have been carried out to examine the effectiveness of the algorithm for increasing the overall contrast of images. It can be demonstrated that the generalized algorithm provides better contrast enhancement than histogram equalization. In fact, the histogram equalization technique is a special case of the proposed mapping.

Exact criteria for uniqueness and multiplicity of an nth order chemical reaction via catastrophe theory approach. [Determines boundaries between unique and multiple steady state conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, H C; Calo, J M

1979-01-01

A simple, generalized technique for the exact determination of the boundaries between regions of unique and of multiple solutions to certain nonlinear equations was developed by applying catastrophe theory to the mapping of implicit and explicit functions. Its application to an nth order reaction in continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) yields exact, explicit expressions for the boundaries between regions of single and multiple steady states, expressed in terms of the dimensionless heat transfer coefficient and activation energy. An exact implicit expression for the boundaries between regions of uniqueness and multiplicity was also derived for an nth order reaction in a catalyst particle with an intraparticle concentration gradient and uniform temperature and is fully demonstrated for the first-order reaction. In addition, explicit criteria were developed by assuming the limits on d ln g/d ln q, where g is the effectiveness factor and q the Thiele modulus, proposed by van den Bosch and Luss.

Addressing Unison and Uniqueness of Reliability and Safety for Better Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhaofeng; Safie, Fayssal

2015-01-01

reliability and safety, a better understanding of unison and commonalities will further help in understanding the interaction between reliability and safety. This paper discusses the unison and uniqueness of reliability and safety. It presents some suggestions for better integration of the two disciplines in terms of technical approaches, tools, techniques, and skills to enhance the role of reliability and safety in supporting a product design and development life cycle. The paper also discusses eliminating the redundant effort and minimizing the overlap of reliability and safety analyses for an efficient implementation of the two disciplines.

US Department of Energy transportation programs: computerized techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joy, D.S.; Johnson, P.E.; Fore, C.S.; Peterson, B.E.

1984-01-01

The US Department of Energy is currently sponsoring the development of four specialized computer-based transportation programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The programs function as research tools that provide unique computerized techniques for planning the safe shipment of radioactive and hazardous materials. Major achievements include the development of interactive rail and highway routing models, an emergency response assistance program, a data base focusing on legislative requirements, and a resource file identifying key state and local contacts. A discussion of the programs and data bases is presented, and several examples reflecting each project's applications to the overall DOE transportation program are provided. The interface of these programs offers a dynamic resource of data for use during preshipment planning stages. 10 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs

Somatic cell nuclear transfer: Infinite reproduction of a unique diploid genome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kishigami, Satoshi; Wakayama, Sayaka; Hosoi, Yoshihiko; Iritani, Akira; Wakayama, Teruhiko

2008-01-01

In mammals, a diploid genome of an individual following fertilization of an egg and a spermatozoon is unique and irreproducible. This implies that the generated unique diploid genome is doomed with the individual ending. Even as cultured cells from the individual, they cannot normally proliferate in perpetuity because of the 'Hayflick limit'. However, Dolly, the sheep cloned from an adult mammary gland cell, changes this scenario. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) enables us to produce offspring without germ cells, that is, to 'passage' a unique diploid genome. Animal cloning has also proven to be a powerful research tool for reprogramming in many mammals, notably mouse and cow. The mechanism underlying reprogramming, however, remains largely unknown and, animal cloning has been inefficient as a result. More momentously, in addition to abortion and fetal mortality, some cloned animals display possible premature aging phenotypes including early death and short telomere lengths. Under these inauspicious conditions, is it really possible for SCNT to preserve a diploid genome? Delightfully, in mouse and recently in primate, using SCNT we can produce nuclear transfer ES cells (ntES) more efficiently, which can preserve the eternal lifespan for the 'passage' of a unique diploid genome. Further, new somatic cloning technique using histone-deacetylase inhibitors has been developed which can significantly increase the previous cloning rates two to six times. Here, we introduce SCNT and its value as a preservation tool for a diploid genome while reviewing aging of cloned animals on cellular and individual levels

Somatic cell nuclear transfer: infinite reproduction of a unique diploid genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Kishigami, Satoshi; Wakayama, Sayaka; Hosoi, Yoshihiko; Iritani, Akira; Wakayama, Teruhiko

2008-06-10

In mammals, a diploid genome of an individual following fertilization of an egg and a spermatozoon is unique and irreproducible. This implies that the generated unique diploid genome is doomed with the individual ending. Even as cultured cells from the individual, they cannot normally proliferate in perpetuity because of the "Hayflick limit". However, Dolly, the sheep cloned from an adult mammary gland cell, changes this scenario. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) enables us to produce offspring without germ cells, that is, to "passage" a unique diploid genome. Animal cloning has also proven to be a powerful research tool for reprogramming in many mammals, notably mouse and cow. The mechanism underlying reprogramming, however, remains largely unknown and, animal cloning has been inefficient as a result. More momentously, in addition to abortion and fetal mortality, some cloned animals display possible premature aging phenotypes including early death and short telomere lengths. Under these inauspicious conditions, is it really possible for SCNT to preserve a diploid genome? Delightfully, in mouse and recently in primate, using SCNT we can produce nuclear transfer ES cells (ntES) more efficiently, which can preserve the eternal lifespan for the "passage" of a unique diploid genome. Further, new somatic cloning technique using histone-deacetylase inhibitors has been developed which can significantly increase the previous cloning rates two to six times. Here, we introduce SCNT and its value as a preservation tool for a diploid genome while reviewing aging of cloned animals on cellular and individual levels.

Cancer: Unique to Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... A to Z › Cancer › Unique to Older Adults Font size A A A Print Share Glossary Unique ... group with other older people with the same type of cancer. Researchers have found that support groups ...

The JRC Nanomaterials Repository: A unique facility providing representative test materials for nanoEHS research.

Science.gov (United States)

Totaro, Sara; Cotogno, Giulio; Rasmussen, Kirsten; Pianella, Francesca; Roncaglia, Marco; Olsson, Heidi; Riego Sintes, Juan M; Crutzen, Hugues P

2016-11-01

The European Commission has established a Nanomaterials Repository that hosts industrially manufactured nanomaterials that are distributed world-wide for safety testing of nanomaterials. In a first instance these materials were tested in the OECD Testing Programme. They have then also been tested in several EU funded research projects. The JRC Repository of Nanomaterials has thus developed into serving the global scientific community active in the nanoEHS (regulatory) research. The unique Repository facility is a state-of-the-art installation that allows customised sub-sampling under the safest possible conditions, with traceable final sample vials distributed world-wide for research purposes. This paper describes the design of the Repository to perform a semi-automated subsampling procedure, offering high degree of flexibility and precision in the preparation of NM vials for customers, while guaranteeing the safety of the operators, and environmental protection. The JRC nanomaterials are representative for part of the world NMs market. Their wide use world-wide facilitates the generation of comparable and reliable experimental results and datasets in (regulatory) research by the scientific community, ultimately supporting the further development of the OECD regulatory test guidelines. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Uniqueness of non-linear ground states for fractional Laplacians in R

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frank, Rupert L.; Lenzmann, Enno

2013-01-01

We prove uniqueness of ground state solutions Q = Q(|x|) ≥ 0 of the non-linear equation (−Δ)sQ+Q−Qα+1=0inR,where 0 fractional Laplacian in one dimension. In particular, we answer affirmatively an open question...... recently raised by Kenig–Martel–Robbiano and we generalize (by completely different techniques) the specific uniqueness result obtained by Amick and Toland for s=12 and α = 1 in [5] for the Benjamin–Ono equation. As a technical key result in this paper, we show that the associated linearized operator L...... + = (−Δ) s +1−(α+1)Q α is non-degenerate; i.e., its kernel satisfies ker L + = span{Q′}. This result about L + proves a spectral assumption, which plays a central role for the stability of solitary waves and blowup analysis for non-linear dispersive PDEs with fractional Laplacians, such as the generalized...

Consciousness: a unique way of processing information.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchetti, Giorgio

2018-02-08

In this article, I argue that consciousness is a unique way of processing information, in that: it produces information, rather than purely transmitting it; the information it produces is meaningful for us; the meaning it has is always individuated. This uniqueness allows us to process information on the basis of our personal needs and ever-changing interactions with the environment, and consequently to act autonomously. Three main basic cognitive processes contribute to realize this unique way of information processing: the self, attention and working memory. The self, which is primarily expressed via the central and peripheral nervous systems, maps our body, the environment, and our relations with the environment. It is the primary means by which the complexity inherent to our composite structure is reduced into the "single voice" of a unique individual. It provides a reference system that (albeit evolving) is sufficiently stable to define the variations that will be used as the raw material for the construction of conscious information. Attention allows for the selection of those variations in the state of the self that are most relevant in the given situation. Attention originates and is deployed from a single locus inside our body, which represents the center of the self, around which all our conscious experiences are organized. Whatever is focused by attention appears in our consciousness as possessing a spatial quality defined by this center and the direction toward which attention is focused. In addition, attention determines two other features of conscious experience: periodicity and phenomenal quality. Self and attention are necessary but not sufficient for conscious information to be produced. Complex forms of conscious experiences, such as the various modes of givenness of conscious experience and the stream of consciousness, need a working memory mechanism to assemble the basic pieces of information selected by attention.

Uniqueness in time measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenzen, P.

1981-01-01

According to P. Janich a clock is defined as an apparatus in which a point ( hand ) is moving uniformly on a straight line ( path ). For the definition of uniformly first the scaling (as a constant ratio of velocities) is defined without clocks. Thereafter the uniqueness of the time measurement can be proved using the prove of scaling of all clocks. But the uniqueness can be defined without scaling, as it is pointed out here. (orig.) [de

Diagnostic tools for nearest neighbors techniques when used with satellite imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Ronald E. McRoberts

2009-01-01

Nearest neighbors techniques are non-parametric approaches to multivariate prediction that are useful for predicting both continuous and categorical forest attribute variables. Although some assumptions underlying nearest neighbor techniques are common to other prediction techniques such as regression, other assumptions are unique to nearest neighbor techniques....

Co-location of space geodetic techniques carried out at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell using a closure in time and a multi-technique reference target

Science.gov (United States)

Kodet, J.; Schreiber, K. U.; Eckl, J.; Plötz, C.; Mähler, S.; Schüler, T.; Klügel, T.; Riepl, S.

2018-01-01

The quality of the links between the different space geodetic techniques (VLBI, SLR, GNSS and DORIS) is still one of the major limiting factors for the realization of a unique global terrestrial reference frame that is accurate enough to allow the monitoring of the Earth system, i.e., of processes like sea level change, postglacial rebound and silent earthquakes. According to the specifications of the global geodetic observing system of the International Association of Geodesy, such a reference frame should be accurate to 1 mm over decades, with rates of change stable at the level of 0.1 mm/year. The deficiencies arise from inaccurate or incomplete local ties at many fundamental sites as well as from systematic instrumental biases in the individual space geodetic techniques. Frequently repeated surveys, the continuous monitoring of antenna heights and the geometrical mount stability (Lösler et al. in J Geod 90:467-486, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-016-0887-8) have not provided evidence for insufficient antenna stability. Therefore, we have investigated variations in the respective system delays caused by electronic circuits, which is not adequately captured by the calibration process, either because of subtle differences in the circuitry between geodetic measurement and calibration, high temporal variability or because of lacking resolving bandwidth. The measured system delay variations in the electric chain of both VLBI- and SLR systems reach the order of 100 ps, which is equivalent to 3 cm of path length. Most of this variability is usually removed by the calibrations but by far not all. This paper focuses on the development of new technologies and procedures for co-located geodetic instrumentation in order to identify and remove systematic measurement biases within and between the individual measurement techniques. A closed-loop optical time and frequency distribution system and a common inter-technique reference target provide the possibility to remove

Photo-Elicitation and Visual Semiotics: A Unique Methodology for Studying Inclusion for Children with Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Stockall, Nancy

2013-01-01

The methodology in this paper discusses the use of photographs as an elicitation strategy that can reveal the thinking processes of participants in a qualitatively rich manner. Photo-elicitation techniques combined with a Piercian semiotic perspective offer a unique method for creating a frame of action for later participant analysis. Illustrative…

Absolute calibration technique for spontaneous fission sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zucker, M.S.; Karpf, E.

1984-01-01

An absolute calibration technique for a spontaneously fissioning nuclide (which involves no arbitrary parameters) allows unique determination of the detector efficiency for that nuclide, hence of the fission source strength

Symmetry breaking and uniqueness for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dascaliuc, Radu; Thomann, Enrique; Waymire, Edward C.; Michalowski, Nicholas

2015-01-01

The present article establishes connections between the structure of the deterministic Navier-Stokes equations and the structure of (similarity) equations that govern self-similar solutions as expected values of certain naturally associated stochastic cascades. A principle result is that explosion criteria for the stochastic cascades involved in the probabilistic representations of solutions to the respective equations coincide. While the uniqueness problem itself remains unresolved, these connections provide interesting problems and possible methods for investigating symmetry breaking and the uniqueness problem for Navier-Stokes equations. In particular, new branching Markov chains, including a dilogarithmic branching random walk on the multiplicative group (0, ∞), naturally arise as a result of this investigation

Symmetry breaking and uniqueness for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations.

Science.gov (United States)

Dascaliuc, Radu; Michalowski, Nicholas; Thomann, Enrique; Waymire, Edward C

2015-07-01

The present article establishes connections between the structure of the deterministic Navier-Stokes equations and the structure of (similarity) equations that govern self-similar solutions as expected values of certain naturally associated stochastic cascades. A principle result is that explosion criteria for the stochastic cascades involved in the probabilistic representations of solutions to the respective equations coincide. While the uniqueness problem itself remains unresolved, these connections provide interesting problems and possible methods for investigating symmetry breaking and the uniqueness problem for Navier-Stokes equations. In particular, new branching Markov chains, including a dilogarithmic branching random walk on the multiplicative group (0, ∞), naturally arise as a result of this investigation.

Unique prediction of cannabis use severity and behaviors by delay discounting and behavioral economic demand.

Science.gov (United States)

Strickland, Justin C; Lile, Joshua A; Stoops, William W

2017-07-01

Few studies have simultaneously evaluated delay discounting and behavioral economic demand to determine their unique contribution to drug use. A recent study in cannabis users found that monetary delay discounting uniquely predicted cannabis dependence symptoms, whereas cannabis demand uniquely predicted use frequency. This study sought to replicate and extend this research by evaluating delay discounting and behavioral economic demand measures for multiple commodities and including a use quantity measure. Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk was used to sample individuals reporting recent cannabis use (n=64) and controls (n=72). Participants completed measures of monetary delay discounting as well as alcohol and cannabis delay discounting and demand. Cannabis users and controls did not differ on monetary delay discounting or alcohol delay discounting and demand. Among cannabis users, regression analyses indicated that cannabis delay discounting uniquely predicted use severity, whereas cannabis demand uniquely predicted use frequency and quantity. These effects remained significant after controlling for other delay discounting and demand measures. This research replicates previous outcomes relating delay discounting and demand with cannabis use and extends them by accounting for the contribution of multiple commodities. This research also demonstrates the ability of online crowdsourcing methods to complement traditional human laboratory techniques. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Column-Oriented Storage Techniques for MapReduce

OpenAIRE

Floratou, Avrilia; Patel, Jignesh; Shekita, Eugene; Tata, Sandeep

2011-01-01

Users of MapReduce often run into performance problems when they scale up their workloads. Many of the problems they encounter can be overcome by applying techniques learned from over three decades of research on parallel DBMSs. However, translating these techniques to a MapReduce implementation such as Hadoop presents unique challenges that can lead to new design choices. This paper describes how column-oriented storage techniques can be incorporated in Hadoop in a way that preserves its pop...

Using non-invasive molecular spectroscopic techniques to detect unique aspects of protein Amide functional groups and chemical properties of modeled forage from different sourced-origins.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Cuiying; Zhang, Xuewei; Yu, Peiqiang

2016-03-05

The non-invasive molecular spectroscopic technique-FT/IR is capable to detect the molecular structure spectral features that are associated with biological, nutritional and biodegradation functions. However, to date, few researches have been conducted to use these non-invasive molecular spectroscopic techniques to study forage internal protein structures associated with biodegradation and biological functions. The objectives of this study were to detect unique aspects and association of protein Amide functional groups in terms of protein Amide I and II spectral profiles and chemical properties in the alfalfa forage (Medicago sativa L.) from different sourced-origins. In this study, alfalfa hay with two different origins was used as modeled forage for molecular structure and chemical property study. In each forage origin, five to seven sources were analyzed. The molecular spectral profiles were determined using FT/IR non-invasive molecular spectroscopy. The parameters of protein spectral profiles included functional groups of Amide I, Amide II and Amide I to II ratio. The results show that the modeled forage Amide I and Amide II were centered at 1653 cm(-1) and 1545 cm(-1), respectively. The Amide I spectral height and area intensities were from 0.02 to 0.03 and 2.67 to 3.36 AI, respectively. The Amide II spectral height and area intensities were from 0.01 to 0.02 and 0.71 to 0.93 AI, respectively. The Amide I to II spectral peak height and area ratios were from 1.86 to 1.88 and 3.68 to 3.79, respectively. Our results show that the non-invasive molecular spectroscopic techniques are capable to detect forage internal protein structure features which are associated with forage chemical properties. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flexible and efficient genome tiling design with penalized uniqueness score

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Du Yang

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As a powerful tool in whole genome analysis, tiling array has been widely used in the answering of many genomic questions. Now it could also serve as a capture device for the library preparation in the popular high throughput sequencing experiments. Thus, a flexible and efficient tiling array design approach is still needed and could assist in various types and scales of transcriptomic experiment. Results In this paper, we address issues and challenges in designing probes suitable for tiling array applications and targeted sequencing. In particular, we define the penalized uniqueness score, which serves as a controlling criterion to eliminate potential cross-hybridization, and a flexible tiling array design pipeline. Unlike BLAST or simple suffix array based methods, computing and using our uniqueness measurement can be more efficient for large scale design and require less memory. The parameters provided could assist in various types of genomic tiling task. In addition, using both commercial array data and experiment data we show, unlike previously claimed, that palindromic sequence exhibiting relatively lower uniqueness. Conclusions Our proposed penalized uniqueness score could serve as a better indicator for cross hybridization with higher sensitivity and specificity, giving more control of expected array quality. The flexible tiling design algorithm incorporating the penalized uniqueness score was shown to give higher coverage and resolution. The package to calculate the penalized uniqueness score and the described probe selection algorithm are implemented as a Perl program, which is freely available at http://www1.fbn-dummerstorf.de/en/forschung/fbs/fb3/paper/2012-yang-1/OTAD.v1.1.tar.gz.

Argonne National Laboratory's thermal plume measurements: instruments and techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Loon, L.S.; Frigo, A.A.; Paddock, R.A.

1977-12-01

Instrumentation and techniques were developed at Argonne National Laboratory for measuring the three-dimensional temperature structure of thermal plumes from power plants, along with the limnological, meteorological, and plant operating conditions affecting their behavior. The equipment and procedures were designed to provide field data for use in evaluating predictive models that describe thermal plume behavior, and over 100 sets of these data have been collected. The instrument systems and techniques employed in a typical thermal discharge survey are highly integrated. Continuous monitoring of ambient and plant conditions is coupled with plume mapping from a moving survey boat. The instantaneous location of the boat together with subsurface temperature measurements from a towed thermistor chain provide a quasisynoptic view of the plume structure. Real-time, onboard display of the boat path and vertical temperatures supply feedback to investigators for determining the extent and spatial resolution of measurements required. The unique design, reliability, accuracy, calibration, and historical development of the components of these integrated systems are described. Survey system interfaces with data handling and processing techniques are also explained. Special supportive studies to investigate plume dynamics, values of eddy diffusivities, time-temperature histories of water parcels in thermal plumes, and rapid changes in plume shape are also described along with instrumentation used

Uniqueness of the joint measurement and the structure of the set of compatible quantum measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Guerini, Leonardo; Terra Cunha, Marcelo

2018-04-01

We address the problem of characterising the compatible tuples of measurements that admit a unique joint measurement. We derive a uniqueness criterion based on the method of perturbations and apply it to show that extremal points of the set of compatible tuples admit a unique joint measurement, while all tuples that admit a unique joint measurement lie in the boundary of such a set. We also provide counter-examples showing that none of these properties are both necessary and sufficient, thus completely describing the relation between the joint measurement uniqueness and the structure of the compatible set. As a by-product of our investigations, we completely characterise the extremal and boundary points of the set of general tuples of measurements and of the subset of compatible tuples.

Computational topology and the Unique Games Conjecture

OpenAIRE

Grochow, Joshua A.; Tucker-Foltz, Jamie

2018-01-01

Covering spaces of graphs have long been useful for studying expanders (as "graph lifts") and unique games (as the "label-extended graph"). In this paper we advocate for the thesis that there is a much deeper relationship between computational topology and the Unique Games Conjecture. Our starting point is Linial's 2005 observation that the only known problems whose inapproximability is equivalent to the Unique Games Conjecture - Unique Games and Max-2Lin - are instances of Maximum Section of...

SESAR: Addressing the need for unique sample identification in the Solid Earth Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Lehnert, K. A.; Goldstein, S. L.; Lenhardt, C.; Vinayagamoorthy, S.

2004-12-01

The study of solid earth samples is key to our knowledge of Earth's dynamical systems and evolution. The data generated provide the basis for models and hypotheses in all disciplines of the Geosciences from tectonics to magmatic processes to mantle dynamics to paleoclimate research. Sample-based data are diverse ranging from major and trace element abundances, radiogenic and stable isotope ratios of rocks, minerals, fluid or melt inclusions, to age determinations and descriptions of lithology, texture, mineral or fossil content, stratigraphic context, physical properties. The usefulness of these data is critically dependent on their integration as a coherent data set for each sample. If different data sets for the same sample cannot be combined because the sample cannot be unambiguously recognized, valuable information is lost. The ambiguous naming of samples has been a major problem in the geosciences. Different samples are often given identical names, and there is a tendency for different people analyzing the same sample to rename it in their publications according to local conventions. This situation has generated significant confusion, with samples often losing their "history", making it difficult or impossible to link available data. This has become most evident through the compilation of geochemical data in relational databases such as PetDB, NAVDAT, and GEOROC. While the relational data structure allows linking of disparate data for samples published in different references, linkages cannot be established due to ambiguous sample names. SESAR is a response to this problem of ambiguous naming of samples. SESAR will create a common clearinghouse that provides a centralized registry of sample identifiers, to avoid ambiguity, to systematize sample designation, and ensure that all information associated with a sample would in fact be unique. The project will build a web-based digital registry for solid earth samples that will provide for the first time a way to

Sequence and comparative analysis of the chicken genome provide unique perspectives on vertebrate evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

2004-12-09

We present here a draft genome sequence of the red jungle fowl, Gallus gallus. Because the chicken is a modern descendant of the dinosaurs and the first non-mammalian amniote to have its genome sequenced, the draft sequence of its genome--composed of approximately one billion base pairs of sequence and an estimated 20,000-23,000 genes--provides a new perspective on vertebrate genome evolution, while also improving the annotation of mammalian genomes. For example, the evolutionary distance between chicken and human provides high specificity in detecting functional elements, both non-coding and coding. Notably, many conserved non-coding sequences are far from genes and cannot be assigned to defined functional classes. In coding regions the evolutionary dynamics of protein domains and orthologous groups illustrate processes that distinguish the lineages leading to birds and mammals. The distinctive properties of avian microchromosomes, together with the inferred patterns of conserved synteny, provide additional insights into vertebrate chromosome architecture.

Synchrotron radiation microtomography of musical instruments: a non-destructive monitoring technique for insect infestations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatrice Bentivoglio-Ravasio

2011-08-01

Full Text Available X-ray computed tomography is becoming a common technique for the structural analysis of samples of cultural relevance, providing luthiers, art historians, conservators and restorators with a unique tool for the characterization of musical instruments. Synchrotron-radiation phase-contrast microtomography is an ideal technique for the non-destructive 3D analysis of samples where small lowabsorbing details such as larvae and eggs can be detected. We report results from the first feasibility studies performed at the Elettra synchrotron laboratory, where the 1494 organ by Lorenzo Gusnasco da Pavia has been studied. Together with important information about the structural conditions, the presence of xylophages could be detected and characterized.

The end of the unique myocardial band: Part I. Anatomical considerations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

MacIver, David H.; Stephenson, Robert S.; Jensen, Bjarke; Agger, Peter; Sánchez-Quintana, Damián; Jarvis, Jonathan C.; Partridge, John B.; Anderson, Robert H.

2018-01-01

The concept of the 'unique myocardial band', which proposes that the ventricular myocardial cone is arranged like skeletal muscle, provides an attractive framework for understanding haemodynamics. The original idea was developed by Francisco Torrent-Guasp. Using boiled hearts and blunt dissection,

University Involvement with Charter Schools: Unique Opportunities for Service and Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Julie Hentges

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Charter schools are a controversial, but vibrant, component of the current educational landscape, now serving over 3.1 million students in approximately 6900 schools across the United States.  A unique aspect of this movement has been the establishment of alternative authorizers, and specifically universities, to approve and provide oversight to these public schools.  Campus leaders and policy makers must consider numerous variables regarding a university’s involvement with charter schools.  What are the implications of school choice on university policies and practices? Should universities be “authorizers”, granting charters to schools in direct competition with the traditional public school system? Can universities provide the required “oversight” mandated by the charter school laws, as well as providing “support” for the schools? What opportunities for partnerships and practicum experiences exist?  The article provides an overview of issues that arise with public charter schools authorized by universities.  With 18 years of experiences as a public university on the forefront of enabling charter legislation and the “sponsorship” of inner-city public charter schools, the authors provide a historical perspective of the role of universities within the school choice movement, including oversight roles and supportive programs within the unique and growing phenomenon of school choice.

Non-unique factorizations algebraic, combinatorial and analytic theory

CERN Document Server

Geroldinger, Alfred

2006-01-01

From its origins in algebraic number theory, the theory of non-unique factorizations has emerged as an independent branch of algebra and number theory. Focused efforts over the past few decades have wrought a great number and variety of results. However, these remain dispersed throughout the vast literature. For the first time, Non-Unique Factorizations: Algebraic, Combinatorial, and Analytic Theory offers a look at the present state of the theory in a single, unified resource.Taking a broad look at the algebraic, combinatorial, and analytic fundamentals, this book derives factorization results and applies them in concrete arithmetical situations using appropriate transfer principles. It begins with a basic introduction that can be understood with knowledge of standard basic algebra. The authors then move to the algebraic theory of monoids, arithmetic theory of monoids, the structure of sets of lengths, additive group theory, arithmetical invariants, and the arithmetic of Krull monoids. They also provide a s...

DOE transporation programs - computerized techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joy, D.S.; Johnson, P.E.; Fore, C.S.; Peterson, B.E.

1983-01-01

One of the major thrusts of the transportation programs at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been the development of a number of computerized transportation programs and data bases. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is supporting these efforts through the Transportation Technology Center at Sandia National Laboratories and the Tranportation Operations and Traffic Management (TOTM) organization at DOE Headquarters. Initially this project was centered upon research activities. However, since these tools provide traffic managers and key personnel involved in preshipment planning with a unique resource for ensuring that the movement of radioactive materials can be properly accomplished, additional interest and support is coming from the operational side of DOE. The major accomplishments include the development of two routing models (one for rail shipments and the other for highway shipments), an emergency response assistance program, and two data bases containing pertinent legislative and regulatory information. This paper discusses the mose recent advances in, and additions to, these computerized techniques and provides examples of how they are used.

In Vivo Imaging of Nitric Oxide by Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rakesh Sharma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Nitric oxide (NO biosensors are novel tools for real-time bioimaging of tissue oxygen changes and physiological monitoring of tissue vasculature. Nitric oxide behavior further enhances its role in mapping signal transduction at the molecular level. Spectrometric electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR and fluorometric imaging are well known techniques with the potential for in vivo bioimaging of NO. In tissues, NO is a specific target of nitrosyl compounds for chemical reaction, which provides a unique opportunity for application of newly identified NO biosensors. However, the accuracy and sensitivity of NO biosensors still need to be improved. Another potential magnetic resonance technique based on short term NO effects on proton relaxation enhancement is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, and some NO biosensors may be used as potent imaging contrast agents for measurement of tumor size by MRI combined with fluorescent imaging. The present review provides supporting information regarding the possible use of nitrosyl compounds as NO biosensors in MRI and fluorescent bioimaging showing their measurement limitations and quantitative accuracy. These new approaches open a perspective regarding bioimaging of NO and the in vivo elucidation of NO effects by magnetic resonance techniques.

A Content Analysis of Unique Selling Propositions of Tobacco Print Ads.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson Shen, Megan; Banerjee, Smita C; Greene, Kathryn; Carpenter, Amanda; Ostroff, Jamie S

2017-03-01

We describe the unique selling propositions (USPs) (propositions used to convince customers to use a particular brand/product by focusing on the unique benefit) of print tobacco ads. A qualitative content analysis was conducted of print tobacco ads (N = 171) selected from August 2012 to August 2013 for cigarettes, moist snuff, e-cigarettes, cigars, and snus to determine the content and themes of USPs for tobacco ads. Cigarette ad USP themes focused on portraying the product as attractive; moist snuff ads focused on portraying product as masculine; cigar ads focused on selling a "high end product;" and new and emerging tobacco products (e-cigarette, snus) focused on directly comparing these products to cigarettes. Whereas traditional tobacco product ads used USPs focused on themes of enjoyment and pleasure (eg, attractive for cigarettes, "high end product" for cigars), new and emerging tobacco product ads offered the unique benefit (USP) of their product being a better and "safer" alternative to traditional tobacco products. Snuff's USPs focused nearly exclusively on the masculinity of their products. Our results provide targets for potential tobacco regulatory actions that could be implemented to reduce demand for tobacco products by reducing their perceived unique benefits.

Heart Failure: Unique to Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

... to Z › Heart Failure › Unique to Older Adults Font size A A A Print Share Glossary Unique ... will suffer from depression at some point. This type of severe depression is more serious than the ...

Generative Algorithmic Techniques for Architectural Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Niels Martin

2012-01-01

Architectural design methodology is expanded through the ability to create bespoke computational methods as integrated parts of the design process. The rapid proliferation of digital production techniques within building industry provides new means for establishing seamless flows between digital...... form-generation and the realisation process. A tendency in recent practice shows an increased focus on developing unique tectonic solutions as a crucial ingredient in the design solution. These converging trajectories form the contextual basis for this thesis. In architectural design, digital tools....... The principles are further developed to form new modes of articulation in architectural design. Certain methods are contributions, which suggest a potential for future use and development. Thus, a method is directed towards bottom-up generation of surface topology through the use of an agentbased logic. Another...

Optimal support techniques when providing mechanical ventilation to patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Parissopoulos, Stelios; Mpouzika, Meropi DA; Timmins, Fiona

2017-01-01

Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of acute diffuse lung injury characterized by severe inflammation, increased pulmonary vascular permeability and a loss of aerated lung tissue. The effects of high fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO 2 ) include oxygen toxicity manifested by damage to the lung parenchyma in the acute phase of lung injury. There is still a high mortality rate among this group of patients, so clinically sensitive evidence-based interventions are paramount to maximize survival chances during critical care. The aim of this article is to explore the current opinion concerning optimal mechanical ventilation support techniques for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. A literature search of clinical trials and observation studies, reviews, discussion papers, meta-analyses and clinical guidelines written in English up to 2015, derived from the databases of Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane Library databases and PubMed was conducted. Low tidal volume, pressure limitation and prone positioning in severe ARDS patients appear to be of some benefit. More research is required and further development and use of standardized protocols is an important strategy for reducing practice variations across disciplines, as well as giving clear guidelines to nurses practising in critical care. There is also evidence that this syndrome is under-diagnosed and the utilization of lung protective ventilation is still variable. It is important that nurses have underlying knowledge of both aetiology of ARDS and ventilation management, and that they monitor patients very closely. The adoption of a low tidal ventilation protocol, which is based on quality evidence guidelines, the value of rescue therapies and patient observation practices in the overall patient management, and the need to place emphasis on long-term patient outcomes, all these emerge as key factors for consideration and future research. However, there is also a need for more research that would

Chiropractic biophysics technique: a linear algebra approach to posture in chiropractic.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, D D; Janik, T J; Harrison, G R; Troyanovich, S; Harrison, D E; Harrison, S O

1996-10-01

This paper discusses linear algebra as applied to human posture in chiropractic, specifically chiropractic biophysics technique (CBP). Rotations, reflections and translations are geometric functions studied in vector spaces in linear algebra. These mathematical functions are termed rigid body transformations and are applied to segmental spinal movement in the literature. Review of the literature indicates that these linear algebra concepts have been used to describe vertebral motion. However, these rigid body movers are presented here as applying to the global postural movements of the head, thoracic cage and pelvis. The unique inverse functions of rotations, reflections and translations provide a theoretical basis for making postural corrections in neutral static resting posture. Chiropractic biophysics technique (CBP) uses these concepts in examination procedures, manual spinal manipulation, instrument assisted spinal manipulation, postural exercises, extension traction and clinical outcome measures.

MRI: unique costing and pricing issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, H W; Jarl, D F

1985-01-01

Acquisition of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) involves a plethora of costs not traditionally encountered in radiology procedure cost accounting models. Experiences with MRI gained at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and Clinics during 1984 uncovered a wide variety of unique costing issues which were eventually identified at the time when the MRI hospital charge was being established. Our experience at UMHC can provide those radiology departments now acquiring MRI with an earlier awareness of these special costing issues, hopefully resulting in better and more timely data collection. Current reimbursement and pricing issues are also having a dramatic impact on MRI costs at each institution and must be assessed in terms of third-party payor intentions.

Requesting a unique personal identifier or providing a souvenir incentive did not affect overall consent to health record linkage: evidence from an RCT nested within a cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Michael Y; Li, Tom K; Hui, Rex W H; McDowell, Ian; Leung, Gabriel M

2017-04-01

It is unclear if unique personal identifiers should be requested from participants for health record linkage: this permits high-quality data linkage but at the potential cost of lower consent rates due to privacy concerns. Drawing from a sampling frame based on the FAMILY Cohort, using a 2 × 2 factorial design, we randomly assigned 1,200 participants to (1) request for Hong Kong Identity Card number (HKID) or no request and (2) receiving a souvenir incentive (valued at USD4) or no incentive. The primary outcome was consent to health record linkage. We also investigated associations between demographics, health status, and postal reminders with consent. Overall, we received signed consent forms from 33.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 30.6-36.0%) of respondents. We did not find an overall effect of requesting HKID (-4.3%, 95% CI -9.8% to 1.2%) or offering souvenir incentives (2.4%, 95% CI -3.1% to 7.9%) on consent to linkage. In subgroup analyses, requesting HKID significantly reduced consent among adults aged 18-44 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.53, 95% CI 0.30-0.94, compared to no request). Souvenir incentives increased consent among women (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.13-2.11, compared to no souvenirs). Requesting a unique personal identifier or providing a souvenir incentive did not affect overall consent to health record linkage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using Job Analysis Techniques to Understand Training Needs for Promotores de Salud.

Science.gov (United States)

Ospina, Javier H; Langford, Toshiko A; Henry, Kimberly L; Nelson, Tristan Q

2018-04-01

Despite the value of community health worker programs, such as Promotores de Salud, for addressing health disparities in the Latino community, little consensus has been reached to formally define the unique roles and duties associated with the job, thereby creating unique job training challenges. Understanding the job tasks and worker attributes central to this work is a critical first step for developing the training and evaluation systems of promotores programs. Here, we present the process and findings of a job analysis conducted for promotores working for Planned Parenthood. We employed a systematic approach, the combination job analysis method, to define the job in terms of its work and worker requirements, identifying key job tasks, as well as the worker attributes necessary to effectively perform them. Our results suggest that the promotores' job encompasses a broad range of activities and requires an equally broad range of personal characteristics to perform. These results played an important role in the development of our training and evaluation protocols. In this article, we introduce the technique of job analysis, provide an overview of the results from our own application of this technique, and discuss how these findings can be used to inform a training and performance evaluation system. This article provides a template for other organizations implementing similar community health worker programs and illustrates the value of conducting a job analysis for clarifying job roles, developing and evaluating job training materials, and selecting qualified job candidates.

Unique Associations between Peer Relations and Social Anxiety in Early Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Flanagan, Kelly S.; Erath, Stephen A.; Bierman, Karen L.

2008-01-01

This study examined the unique associations between feelings of social anxiety and multiple dimensions of peer relations (positive peer nominations, peer- and self-reported peer victimization, and self-reported friendship quality) among 383 sixth- and seventh-grade students. Hierarchical regression analysis provided evidence for the unique…

Unique specification of Yang-Mills solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, W.B.; Joseph, D.W.; Morgan, T.A.

1980-01-01

Screened time-independent cylindrically-symmetric solutions of Yang-Mills equations are given which show that the source does not uniquely determine the field. However, these particular solutions suggest a natural way of uniquely specifying solutions in terms of a physical realization of a symmetry group. (orig.)

Dosimetry tools and techniques for IMRT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Low, Daniel A.; Moran, Jean M.; Dempsey, James F.; Dong Lei; Oldham, Mark

2011-01-01

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) poses a number of challenges for properly measuring commissioning data and quality assurance (QA) radiation dose distributions. This report provides a comprehensive overview of how dosimeters, phantoms, and dose distribution analysis techniques should be used to support the commissioning and quality assurance requirements of an IMRT program. The proper applications of each dosimeter are described along with the limitations of each system. Point detectors, arrays, film, and electronic portal imagers are discussed with respect to their proper use, along with potential applications of 3D dosimetry. Regardless of the IMRT technique utilized, some situations require the use of multiple detectors for the acquisition of accurate commissioning data. The overall goal of this task group report is to provide a document that aids the physicist in the proper selection and use of the dosimetry tools available for IMRT QA and to provide a resource for physicists that describes dosimetry measurement techniques for purposes of IMRT commissioning and measurement-based characterization or verification of IMRT treatment plans. This report is not intended to provide a comprehensive review of commissioning and QA procedures for IMRT. Instead, this report focuses on the aspects of metrology, particularly the practical aspects of measurements that are unique to IMRT. The metrology of IMRT concerns the application of measurement instruments and their suitability, calibration, and quality control of measurements. Each of the dosimetry measurement tools has limitations that need to be considered when incorporating them into a commissioning process or a comprehensive QA program. For example, routine quality assurance procedures require the use of robust field dosimetry systems. These often exhibit limitations with respect to spatial resolution or energy response and need to themselves be commissioned against more established dosimeters. A chain of

A Content Analysis of Unique Selling Propositions of Tobacco Print Ads

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Megan Johnson; Banerjee, Smita C.; Greene, Kathryn; Carpenter, Amanda; Ostroff, Jamie S.

2017-01-01

Objectives The present study described the unique selling propositions (USPs) (propositions used to convince customers to use a particular brand/product by focusing on the unique benefit) of print tobacco ads. Methods A qualitative content analysis was conducted of print tobacco ads (N = 171) selected from August 2012-August 2013 for cigarettes, moist snuff, e-cigarettes, cigars, and snus to determine the content and themes of USPs for tobacco ads. Results Cigarette ad USP themes focused on portraying the product as attractive; moist snuff ads focused on portraying product as masculine; cigar ads focused on selling a “high end product;” and new and emerging tobacco products (e-cigarette, snus) focused on directly comparing these products to cigarettes. Conclusions Whereas traditional tobacco product ads used USPs focused on themes of enjoyment and pleasure (eg, attractive for cigarettes, “high end product” for cigars), new and emerging tobacco product ads offered the unique benefit (USP) of their product being a better and “safer” alternative to traditional tobacco products. Snuff’s USPs focused nearly exclusively on the masculinity of their products. Results of this study provide targets for potential tobacco regulatory actions that could be implemented to reduce demand for tobacco products by reducing their perceived unique benefits. PMID:28452697

Singular perturbation techniques in the gravitational self-force problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pound, Adam

2010-01-01

Much of the progress in the gravitational self-force problem has involved the use of singular perturbation techniques. Yet the formalism underlying these techniques is not widely known. I remedy this situation by explicating the foundations and geometrical structure of singular perturbation theory in general relativity. Within that context, I sketch precise formulations of the methods used in the self-force problem: dual expansions (including matched asymptotic expansions), for which I identify precise matching conditions, one of which is a weak condition arising only when multiple coordinate systems are used; multiscale expansions, for which I provide a covariant formulation; and a self-consistent expansion with a fixed worldline, for which I provide a precise statement of the exact problem and its approximation. I then present a detailed analysis of matched asymptotic expansions as they have been utilized in calculating the self-force. Typically, the method has relied on a weak matching condition, which I show cannot determine a unique equation of motion. I formulate a refined condition that is sufficient to determine such an equation. However, I conclude that the method yields significantly weaker results than do alternative methods.

Staged protocol for the treatment of chronic femoral shaft osteomyelitis with Ilizarov's technique followed by the use of intramedullary locked nail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Po-Hsin Chou

2017-06-01

Conclusion: In the treatment of chronic femur osteomyelitis, the staged protocol of Ilizarov distraction osteogenesis followed by intramedullary nailing was safe and successful, and allowed for union, realignment, reorientation, and leg-length restoration. With regard to the soft tissue, this technique provides a unique type of reconstructive closure for infected wounds. It is suggested that the staged protocol is reliable in providing successful simultaneous reconstruction for bone and soft tissue defects without flap coverage.

Uniqueness of time-independent electromagnetic fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karlsson, Per W.

1974-01-01

As a comment on a recent paper by Steele, a more general uniqueness theorem for time-independent fields is mentioned. ©1974 American Institute of Physics......As a comment on a recent paper by Steele, a more general uniqueness theorem for time-independent fields is mentioned. ©1974 American Institute of Physics...

Changes in unique hues induced by chromatic surrounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Klauke, Susanne; Wachtler, Thomas

2016-03-01

A chromatic surround can have a strong influence on the perceived hue of a stimulus. We investigated whether chromatic induction has similar effects on the perception of colors that appear pure and unmixed (unique red, green, blue, and yellow) as on other colors. Subjects performed unique hue settings of stimuli in isoluminant surrounds of different chromaticities. Compared with the settings in a neutral gray surround, unique hue settings altered systematically with chromatic surrounds. The amount of induced hue shift depended on the difference between stimulus and surround hues, and was similar for unique hue settings as for settings of nonunique hues. Intraindividual variability in unique hue settings was roughly twice as high as for settings obtained in asymmetric matching experiments, which may reflect the presence of a reference stimulus in the matching task. Variabilities were also larger with chromatic surrounds than with neutral gray surrounds, for both unique hue settings and matching of nonunique hues. The results suggest that the neural representations underlying unique hue percepts are influenced by the same neural processing mechanisms as the percepts of other colors.

Younger children's nursing students are uniquely placed to provide emotional care for young people in hospital and promote for them a sense of normalcy.

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, Jean M

2014-06-01

To highlight the emotional impact of being in the hospital for young people and to explore the impact of the care by younger student nurses on promoting a sense of "normalcy" for them. Adolescence is strongly influenced by peer relationships and is a unique period in life that requires the achievement of many developmental tasks. An important task of adolescent is developing relationships with peers and feeling part of a recognised peer group. Young people prefer engaging in conversation with people of their own age because they feel less likely to be judged by their peers. Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological study. A Heideggerian phenomenological study was undertaken. Individual unstructured interviews were conducted with eleven younger student nurses (aged l7 years and 5 months-l8 years and 11 months) and nine young people with a chronic illness (aged 13 years and 7 months-18 years and 1 month). The data was collected in 2009. Young people in the hospital with a chronic illness experienced moments in time when they had nothing to think about but the business of getting better. During unique caring interactions, younger children's nursing students were able to help them temporarily forget about their illness and promote for them a sense of normalcy. Younger children's nursing students are in a unique position to engage in ontological caring interactions with the young people due to their similarity in age and stage of development. They are uniquely placed to help the young people reintegrate back into their known "lifeworlds" and promote for them a sense of "normalcy". Clinical staff need to be alerted to the emotional distress caused to young people during long periods of time in the hospital. Practitioners and nurse educators should be facilitating younger student nurses to interact with the young people in a therapeutic way and the care delivered to young people in the hospital should promote a sense of normalcy for them. © 2013.

Nanomaterials-Based Optical Techniques for the Detection of Acetylcholinesterase and Pesticides

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ning Xia

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The large amount of pesticide residues in the environment is a threat to global health by inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE. Biosensors for inhibition of AChE have been thus developed for the detection of pesticides. In line with the rapid development of nanotechnology, nanomaterials have attracted great attention and have been intensively studied in biological analysis due to their unique chemical, physical and size properties. The aim of this review is to provide insight into nanomaterial-based optical techniques for the determination of AChE and pesticides, including colorimetric and fluorescent assays and surface plasmon resonance.

Is Life Unique?

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, David L.

2011-01-01

Is life physicochemically unique? No. Is life unique? Yes. Life manifests innumerable formalisms that cannot be generated or explained by physicodynamics alone. Life pursues thousands of biofunctional goals, not the least of which is staying alive. Neither physicodynamics, nor evolution, pursue goals. Life is largely directed by linear digital programming and by the Prescriptive Information (PI) instantiated particularly into physicodynamically indeterminate nucleotide sequencing. Epigenomic controls only compound the sophistication of these formalisms. Life employs representationalism through the use of symbol systems. Life manifests autonomy, homeostasis far from equilibrium in the harshest of environments, positive and negative feedback mechanisms, prevention and correction of its own errors, and organization of its components into Sustained Functional Systems (SFS). Chance and necessity—heat agitation and the cause-and-effect determinism of nature’s orderliness—cannot spawn formalisms such as mathematics, language, symbol systems, coding, decoding, logic, organization (not to be confused with mere self-ordering), integration of circuits, computational success, and the pursuit of functionality. All of these characteristics of life are formal, not physical. PMID:25382119

The liberal illusion of uniqueness.

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, Chadly; West, Tessa V; Schmitt, Peter G

2014-01-01

In two studies, we demonstrated that liberals underestimate their similarity to other liberals (i.e., display truly false uniqueness), whereas moderates and conservatives overestimate their similarity to other moderates and conservatives (i.e., display truly false consensus; Studies 1 and 2). We further demonstrated that a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives in the motivation to feel unique explains this ideological distinction in the accuracy of estimating similarity (Study 2). Implications of the accuracy of consensus estimates for mobilizing liberal and conservative political movements are discussed.

Radio techniques for probing the terrestrial ionosphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunsucker, R. D.

The subject of the book is a description of the basic principles of operation, plus the capabilities and limitations of all generic radio techniques employed to investigate the terrestrial ionosphere. The purpose of this book is to present to the reader a balanced treatment of each technique so they can understand how to interpret ionospheric data and decide which techniques are most effective for studying specific phenomena. The first two chapters outline the basic theory underlying the techniques, and each following chapter discusses a separate technique. This monograph is entirely devoted to techniques in aeronomy and space physics. The approach is unique in its presentation of the principles, capabilities and limitations of the most important presently used radio techniques. Typical examples of data are shown for the various techniques, and a brief historical account of the technique development is presented. An extended annotated bibliography of the salient papers in the field is included.

Radiotracer techniques in hydrological studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oladipo, M.O.A.; Funtua, I.I.

2000-07-01

The use of radioactive tracers particularly short-lived radioisotopes frequently offers advantages over conventional methods of analyses. Applications of nuclear techniques in the field of hydrology constitute important and sometimes unique tools for obtaining critical information needed for water resources management. Essentially, radiotracer techniques offer a safe, cost effective and powerful tool in the assessment, management and protection of water resources. The Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria of late has been offering consultancy services to some industries in the area of radiotracer technique. The first nuclear reactor in Nigeria, the MNSR, is expected to be commissioned in the Centre very soon. Many short-lived radioisotopes such as Cu-64, Ga-72, Br-82, Hg-197 etc which are very important in hydrological studies can be produced by the MNSR facility. This article reports on the basic principles of the technique and its roles in hydrology

Coexistence of uniquely ergodic subsystems of interval mapping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye Xiangdong.

1991-10-01

The purpose of this paper is to show that uniquely ergodic subsystems of interval mapping also coexist in the same way as minimal sets do. To do this we give some notations in section 2. In section 3 we define D-function of a uniquely ergodic system and show its basic properties. We prove the coexistence of uniquely ergodic subsystems of interval mapping in section 4. Lastly we give the examples of uniquely ergodic systems with given D-functions in section 5. 27 refs

Non-unique Product Groups on Two Generators

OpenAIRE

Carter, William Paul

2007-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to better understand groups that do not have the unique product property. In particular, the goal is to better understand Promislow's example, G, of such a group. In doing so, we will develop methods for generating examples of other sets that do not have the unique product property. With these methods we can show that there exists other distinct 14 element, square, non-unique product sets in G that are not inversions or translations. Also, this paper answers ...

Transosseous fixation of pediatric displaced mandibular fractures with polyglactin resorbable suture--a simplified technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandan, Sanjay; Halli, Rajshekhar; Joshi, Samir; Chhabaria, Gaurav; Setiya, Sneha

2013-11-01

Management of pediatric mandibular fractures presents a unique challenge to surgeons in terms of its numerous variations compared to adults. Both conservative and open methods have been advocated with their obvious limitations and complications. However, conservative modalities may not be possible in grossly displaced fractures, which necessitate the open method of fixation. We present a novel and simplified technique of transosseous fixation of displaced pediatric mandibular fractures with polyglactin resorbable suture, which provides adequate stability without any interference with tooth buds and which is easy to master.

Protection provided by masks sinkers in interventional techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pera Cegarra, O.; Alejo Luque, L.; Pifarre Martinez, J.

2011-01-01

The high doses that are taught in laboratories worked indispensable the use of shields and armor. In this context, the use of sinkers glasses is widespread, but not the sinkers of the masks. Qur goal is to study the effectiveness of such masks for later comparison with that provided by leaded glasses with side shields. Specifically, compare the reduction in lens dose rate for different positions and orientations of the head of specialist intervention.

The method of selecting an integrated development territory for the high-rise unique constructions

Science.gov (United States)

Sheina, Svetlana; Shevtsova, Elina; Sukhinin, Alexander; Priss, Elena

2018-03-01

On the basis of data provided by the Department of architecture and urban planning of the city of Rostov-on-don, the problem of the choice of the territory for complex development that will be in priority for the construction of high-rise and unique buildings is solved. The objective of the study was the development of a methodology for selection of the area and the implementation of the proposed method on the example of evaluation of four-territories complex development. The developed method along with standard indicators of complex evaluation considers additional indicators that assess the territory from the position of high-rise unique building. The final result of the study is the rankings of the functional priority areas that takes into account the construction of both residential and public and business objects of unique high-rise construction. The use of the developed methodology will allow investors and customers to assess the investment attractiveness of the future unique construction project on the proposed site.

Multiple and high-throughput droplet reactions via combination of microsampling technique and microfluidic chip

KAUST Repository

Wu, Jinbo

2012-11-20

Microdroplets offer unique compartments for accommodating a large number of chemical and biological reactions in tiny volume with precise control. A major concern in droplet-based microfluidics is the difficulty to address droplets individually and achieve high throughput at the same time. Here, we have combined an improved cartridge sampling technique with a microfluidic chip to perform droplet screenings and aggressive reaction with minimal (nanoliter-scale) reagent consumption. The droplet composition, distance, volume (nanoliter to subnanoliter scale), number, and sequence could be precisely and digitally programmed through the improved sampling technique, while sample evaporation and cross-contamination are effectively eliminated. Our combined device provides a simple model to utilize multiple droplets for various reactions with low reagent consumption and high throughput. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Ultrasound comparison of external and internal neck anatomy with the LMA Unique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven M. Lee

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Internal neck anatomy landmarks and their relation after placement of an extraglottic airway devices have not been studied extensively by the use of ultrasound. Based on our group experience with external landmarks as well as internal landmarks evaluation with other techniques, we aimed use ultrasound to analyze the internal neck anatomy landmarks and the related changes due to the placement of the Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. Methods: Observational pilot investigation. Non-obese adult patients with no evidence of airway anomalies, were recruited. External neck landmarks were measured based on a validated and standardized method by tape. Eight internal anatomical landmarks, reciprocal by the investigational hypothesis to the external landmarks, were also measured by ultrasound guidance. The internal landmarks were re-measured after optimal placement and inflation of the extraglottic airway devices cuff Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. Results: Six subjects were recruited. Ultrasound measurements of hyoid-mental distance, thyroid-cricoid distance, thyroid height, and thyroid width were found to be significantly (p < 0.05 overestimated using a tape measure. Sagittal neck landmark distances such as thyroid height, sternal-mental distance, and thyroid-cricoid distance significantly decreased after placement of the Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. Conclusion: The laryngeal mask airway Unique resulted in significant changes in internal neck anatomy. The induced changes and respective specific internal neck anatomy landmarks could help to design devices that would modify their shape accordingly to areas of greatest displacement. Also, while external neck landmark measurements overestimate their respective internal neck landmarks, as we previously reported, the concordance of each measurement and their respective conversion factor could continue to be of help in sizing extraglottic airway devices. Due to the pilot nature of the study, more

Cone photoreceptor sensitivities and unique hue chromatic responses: correlation and causation imply the physiological basis of unique hues.

Science.gov (United States)

Pridmore, Ralph W

2013-01-01

This paper relates major functions at the start and end of the color vision process. The process starts with three cone photoreceptors transducing light into electrical responses. Cone sensitivities were once expected to be Red Green Blue color matching functions (to mix colors) but microspectrometry proved otherwise: they instead peak in yellowish, greenish, and blueish hues. These physiological functions are an enigma, unmatched with any set of psychophysical (behavioral) functions. The end-result of the visual process is color sensation, whose essential percepts are unique (or pure) hues red, yellow, green, blue. Unique hues cannot be described by other hues, but can describe all other hues, e.g., that hue is reddish-blue. They are carried by four opponent chromatic response curves but the literature does not specify whether each curve represents a range of hues or only one hue (a unique) over its wavelength range. Here the latter is demonstrated, confirming that opponent chromatic responses define, and may be termed, unique hue chromatic responses. These psychophysical functions also are an enigma, unmatched with any physiological functions or basis. Here both enigmas are solved by demonstrating the three cone sensitivity curves and the three spectral chromatic response curves are almost identical sets (Pearson correlation coefficients r from 0.95-1.0) in peak wavelengths, curve shapes, math functions, and curve crossover wavelengths, though previously unrecognized due to presentation of curves in different formats, e.g., log, linear. (Red chromatic response curve is largely nonspectral and thus derives from two cones.) Close correlation combined with deterministic causation implies cones are the physiological basis of unique hues. This match of three physiological and three psychophysical functions is unique in color vision.

Investigation of unique hue setting changes with ageing

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Chenyang Fu; Kaida Xiao; Dimosthenis Karatzas; Sophie Wuerger

2011-01-01

Clromatic sensitivity along the protan, deutan, and tritan lines and the loci of the unique hues (red, green,yellow, blue) for a very large sample (n = 185) of colour-normal observers ranging from 18 to 75 years of age are assessed. Visual judgments are obtained under normal viewing conditions using colour patches on self-luminous display under controlled adaptation conditions. Trivector discrimination thresholds show an increase as a function of age along the protan, deutan, and tritan axes, with the largest increase present along the tritan line, less pronounced shifts in unique hue settings are also observed. Based on the chromatic (protan, deutan, tritan) thresholds and using scaled cone signals, we predict the unique hue changes with ageing. A dependency on age for unique red and unique yellow for predicted hue angle is found. We conclude that the chromatic sensitivity deteriorates significantly with age, whereas the appearance of unique hues is much less affected, remaining almost constant despite the known changes in the ocular media.%@@ Clromatic sensitivity along the protan, deutan, and tritan lines and the loci of the unique hues (red, green,yellow, blue) for a very large sample (n ＝ 185) of colour-normal observers ranging from 18 to 75 years of age are assessed.Visual judgments are obtained under normal viewing conditions using colour patches on self-luminous display under controlled adaptation conditions.Trivector discrimination thresholds show an increase as a function of age along the protan, deutan, and tritan axes, with the largest increase present along the tritan line, less pronounced shifts in unique hue settings are also observed.

Indirect techniques in nuclear astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukhamedzhanov, A.M.; Tribble, R.E.; Blokhintsev, L.D.; Cherubini, S.; Spitaleri, C.; Kroha, V.; Nunes, F.M.

2005-01-01

It is very difficult or often impossible to measure in the lab conditions nuclear cross sections at astrophysically relevant energies. That is why different indirect techniques are used to extract astrophysical information. In this talk different experimental possibilities to get astrophysical information using radioactive and stable beams will be addressed. 1. The asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) method. 2. Radiative neutron captures are determined by the spectroscopic factors (SP). A new experimental technique to determine the neutron SPs will be addressed. 3. 'Trojan Horse' is another unique indirect method, which allows one to extract the astrophysical factors for direct and resonant nuclear reactions at astrophysically relevant energies. (author)

Could lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy provide oncological providence for local resectional techniques for colon cancer? A review of the literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leroy Joel

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Endoscopic resectional techniques for colon cancer are undermined by their inability to determine lymph node status. This limits their application to only those lesions at the most minimal risk of lymphatic dissemination whereas their technical capacity could allow intraluminal or even transluminal address of larger lesions. Sentinel node biopsy may theoretically address this breach although the variability of its reported results for this disease is worrisome. Methods Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were interrogated back to 1999 to identify all publications concerning lymphatic mapping for colon cancer with reference cross-checking for completeness. All reports were examined from the perspective of in vivo technique accuracy selectively in early stage disease (i.e. lesions potentially within the technical capacity of endoscopic resection. Results Fifty-two studies detailing the experiences of 3390 patients were identified. Considerable variation in patient characteristics as well as in surgical and histological quality assurances were however evident among the studies identified. In addition, considerable contamination of the studies by inclusion of rectal cancer without subgroup separation was frequent. Indeed such is the heterogeneity of the publications to date, formal meta-analysis to pool patient cohorts in order to definitively ascertain technique accuracy in those with T1 and/or T2 cancer is not possible. Although lymphatic mapping in early stage neoplasia alone has rarely been specifically studied, those studies that included examination of false negative rates identified high T3/4 patient proportions and larger tumor size as being important confounders. Under selected circumstances however the technique seems to perform sufficiently reliably to allow it prompt consideration of its use to tailor operative extent. Conclusion The specific question of whether sentinel node biopsy can augment the oncological

Development of sensing techniques for weaponry health monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Eugene; Ruffin, Paul B.; Walker, Ebonee A.; Brantley, Christina L.

2013-04-01

Due to the costliness of destructive evaluation methods for assessing the aging and shelf-life of missile and rocket components, the identification of nondestructive evaluation methods has become increasingly important to the Army. Verifying that there is a sufficient concentration of stabilizer is a dependable indicator that the missile's double-based solid propellant is viable. The research outlined in this paper summarizes the Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center's (AMRDEC's) comparative use of nanoporous membranes, carbon nanotubes, and optical spectroscopic configured sensing techniques for detecting degradation in rocket motor propellant. The first sensing technique utilizes a gas collecting chamber consisting of nanoporous structures that trap the smaller solid propellant particles for measurement by a gas analysis device. In collaboration with NASA-Ames, sensing methods are developed that utilize functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes as the key sensing element. The optical spectroscopic sensing method is based on a unique light collecting optical fiber system designed to detect the concentration of the propellant stabilizer. Experimental setups, laboratory results, and overall effectiveness of each technique are presented in this paper. Expectations are for the three sensing mechanisms to provide nondestructive evaluation methods that will offer cost-savings and improved weaponry health monitoring.

Unique expression of cytoskeletal proteins in human soft palate muscles.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Farhan; Berggren, Diana; Holmlund, Thorbjörn; Levring Jäghagen, Eva; Stål, Per

2016-03-01

The human oropharyngeal muscles have a unique anatomy with diverse and intricate functions. To investigate if this specialization is also reflected in the cytoarchitecture of muscle fibers, intermediate filament proteins and the dystrophin-associated protein complex have been analyzed in two human palate muscles, musculus uvula (UV) and musculus palatopharyngeus (PP), with immunohistochenmical and morphological techniques. Human limb muscles were used as reference. The findings show that the soft palate muscle fibers have a cytoskeletal architecture that differs from the limb muscles. While all limb muscles showed immunoreaction for a panel of antibodies directed against different domains of cytoskeletal proteins desmin and dystrophin, a subpopulation of palate muscle fibers lacked or had a faint immunoreaction for desmin (UV 11.7% and PP 9.8%) and the C-terminal of the dystrophin molecule (UV 4.2% and PP 6.4%). The vast majority of these fibers expressed slow contractile protein myosin heavy chain I. Furthermore, an unusual staining pattern was also observed in these fibers for β-dystroglycan, caveolin-3 and neuronal nitric oxide synthase nNOS, which are all membrane-linking proteins associated with the dystrophin C-terminus. While the immunoreaction for nNOS was generally weak or absent, β-dystroglycan and caveolin-3 showed a stronger immunostaining. The absence or a low expression of cytoskeletal proteins otherwise considered ubiquitous and important for integration and contraction of muscle cells indicate a unique cytoarchitecture designed to meet the intricate demands of the upper airway muscles. It can be concluded that a subgroup of muscle fibers in the human soft palate appears to have special biomechanical properties, and their unique cytoarchitecture must be taken into account while assessing function and pathology in oropharyngeal muscles. © 2015 Anatomical Society.

Nurse Practitioners' Use of Communication Techniques: Results of a Maryland Oral Health Literacy Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Laura W; Horowitz, Alice M; Radice, Sarah D; Wang, Min Q; Kleinman, Dushanka V

2016-01-01

should increase emphasis on health-literate and patient-centered communication techniques to increase patient understanding of dental caries prevention. Non-dental healthcare providers, such as NPs, are uniquely positioned to contribute to preventing early childhood dental caries through health-literate and patient-centered communication.

Vis-A-Plan /visualize a plan/ management technique provides performance-time scale

Science.gov (United States)

Ranck, N. H.

1967-01-01

Vis-A-Plan is a bar-charting technique for representing and evaluating project activities on a performance-time basis. This rectilinear method presents the logic diagram of a project as a series of horizontal time bars. It may be used supplementary to PERT or independently.

Adaptive subdomain modeling: A multi-analysis technique for ocean circulation models

Science.gov (United States)

Altuntas, Alper; Baugh, John

2017-07-01

Many coastal and ocean processes of interest operate over large temporal and geographical scales and require a substantial amount of computational resources, particularly when engineering design and failure scenarios are also considered. This study presents an adaptive multi-analysis technique that improves the efficiency of these computations when multiple alternatives are being simulated. The technique, called adaptive subdomain modeling, concurrently analyzes any number of child domains, with each instance corresponding to a unique design or failure scenario, in addition to a full-scale parent domain providing the boundary conditions for its children. To contain the altered hydrodynamics originating from the modifications, the spatial extent of each child domain is adaptively adjusted during runtime depending on the response of the model. The technique is incorporated in ADCIRC++, a re-implementation of the popular ADCIRC ocean circulation model with an updated software architecture designed to facilitate this adaptive behavior and to utilize concurrent executions of multiple domains. The results of our case studies confirm that the method substantially reduces computational effort while maintaining accuracy.

Providing solutions to engineering problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Connop, R.P.P.

1991-01-01

BNFL has acquired unique experience over a period of 40 years in specifying, designing and constructing spent fuel reprocessing and associated waste management plant. This experience is currently used to support a pound 5.5 billion capital investment programme. This paper reviews a number of engineering problems and their solutions to highlight BNFL experience in providing comprehensive specification, design and engineering and project management services. (author)

Transcriptome of interstitial cells of Cajal reveals unique and selective gene signatures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moon Young Lee

Full Text Available Transcriptome-scale data can reveal essential clues into understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms behind specific cellular functions and biological processes. Transcriptomics is a continually growing field of research utilized in biomarker discovery. The transcriptomic profile of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC, which serve as slow-wave electrical pacemakers for gastrointestinal (GI smooth muscle, has yet to be uncovered. Using copGFP-labeled ICC mice and flow cytometry, we isolated ICC populations from the murine small intestine and colon and obtained their transcriptomes. In analyzing the transcriptome, we identified a unique set of ICC-restricted markers including transcription factors, epigenetic enzymes/regulators, growth factors, receptors, protein kinases/phosphatases, and ion channels/transporters. This analysis provides new and unique insights into the cellular and biological functions of ICC in GI physiology. Additionally, we constructed an interactive ICC genome browser (http://med.unr.edu/physio/transcriptome based on the UCSC genome database. To our knowledge, this is the first online resource that provides a comprehensive library of all known genetic transcripts expressed in primary ICC. Our genome browser offers a new perspective into the alternative expression of genes in ICC and provides a valuable reference for future functional studies.

Experimental techniques for cement hydration studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Luttge

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Cement hydration kinetics is a complex problem of dissolution, nucleation and growth that is still not well understood, particularly in a quantitative way. While cement systems are unique in certain aspects they are also comparable to natural mineral systems. Therefore, geochemistry and particularly the study of mineral dissolution and growth may be able to provide insight and methods that can be utilized in cement hydration research. Here, we review mainly what is not known or what is currently used and applied in a problematic way. Examples are the typical Avrami approach, the application of Transition State Theory (TST to overall reaction kinetics and the problem of reactive surface area. Finally, we suggest an integrated approach that combines vertical scanning interferometry (VSI with other sophisticated analytical techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM and theoretical model calculations based on a stochastic treatment.

ARAC: A unique command and control resource

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradley, M.M.; Baskett, R.L.; Ellis, J.S. [and others

1996-04-01

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a centralized federal facility designed to provide real-time, world-wide support to military and civilian command and control centers by predicting the impacts of inadvertent or intentional releases of nuclear, biological, or chemical materials into the atmosphere. ARAC is a complete response system consisting of highly trained and experienced personnel, continually updated computer models, redundant data collection systems, and centralized and remote computer systems. With over 20 years of experience responding to domestic and international incidents, strong linkages with the Department of Defense, and the ability to conduct classified operations, ARAC is a unique command and control resource.

ARAC: A unique command and control resource

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, M.M.; Baskett, R.L.; Ellis, J.S.

1996-04-01

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a centralized federal facility designed to provide real-time, world-wide support to military and civilian command and control centers by predicting the impacts of inadvertent or intentional releases of nuclear, biological, or chemical materials into the atmosphere. ARAC is a complete response system consisting of highly trained and experienced personnel, continually updated computer models, redundant data collection systems, and centralized and remote computer systems. With over 20 years of experience responding to domestic and international incidents, strong linkages with the Department of Defense, and the ability to conduct classified operations, ARAC is a unique command and control resource

Using Data-Driven and Process Mining Techniques for Identifying and Characterizing Problem Gamblers in New Zealand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suriadi Suriadi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article uses data-driven techniques combined with established theory in order to analyse gambling behavioural patterns of 91 thousand individuals on a real-world fixed-odds gambling dataset in New Zealand. This research uniquely integrates a mixture of process mining, data mining and confirmatory statistical techniques in order to categorise different sub-groups of gamblers, with the explicit motivation of identifying problem gambling behaviours and reporting on the challenges and lessons learned from our case study.We demonstrate how techniques from various disciplines can be combined in order to gain insight into the behavioural patterns exhibited by different types of gamblers, as well as provide assurances of the correctness of our approach and findings. A highlight of this case study is both the methodology which demonstrates how such a combination of techniques provides a rich set of effective tools to undertake an exploratory and open-ended data analysis project that is guided by the process cube concept, as well as the findings themselves which indicate that the contribution that problem gamblers make to the total volume, expenditure, and revenue is higher than previous studies have maintained.

Proceedings of Fifth International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques NURT 2006

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-04-01

The Cd-Rom presents papers submitted to the Fifth International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques NURT 2006 held in Havana, Cuba, on April, 2006. The NURT Symposia are one of the key Cuban scientific meetings dealing with the peaceful applications of nuclear techniques in all domains of the society. They are arranged with a two-year frequency and provide a unique opportunity for the international scientific community to meet outstanding researches and to discuss current trends and task in several areas of applied, nuclear related topics. The first editions of the NURT were organized under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1997, 1999, 200, 2003 and hosted delegates and invited scientific from more than 40 countries from all over the world. The join several workshops, each one devoted to an specific field research

Uniqueness conditions for finitely dependent random fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobrushin, R.L.; Pecherski, E.A.

1981-01-01

The authors consider a random field for which uniqueness and some additional conditions guaranteeing that the correlations between the variables of the field decrease rapidly enough with the distance between the values of the parameter occur. The main result of the paper states that in such a case uniqueness is true for any other field with transition probabilities sufficiently close to those of the original field. Then they apply this result to some ''degenerate'' classes of random fields for which one can check this condition of correlation to decay, and thus obtain some new conditions of uniqueness. (Auth.)

Exploration Challenges: Transferring Ground Repair Techniques to Space Flight Application

Science.gov (United States)

McLemore, Carole A.; Kennedy, James P.; Rose, Frederick A.; Evans, Brian W.

2007-01-01

Fulfilling NASA's Vision for Space Exploration will demand an extended presence in space at distances from our home planet that exceed our current experience in space logistics and maintenance. The ability to perform repairs in lieu of the customary Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) process where a faulty part is replaced will be elevated from contingency to routine to sustain operations. The use and cost effectiveness of field repairs for ground based operations in industry and the military have advanced with the development of technology in new materials, new repair techniques and new equipment. The unique environments, accessibility constraints and Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) issues of space operations will require extensive assessment and evolution of these technologies to provide an equivalent and expected level of assurance to mission success. Challenges include the necessity of changes in design philosophy and policy, extremes in thermal cycling, disruptive forces (such as static charge and wind entrainment) on developed methods for control of materials, dramatically increased volatility of chemicals for cleaning and other compounds due to extremely low pressures, the limits imposed on dexterity and maneuverability by current EVA equipment and practices, and the necessity of unique verification methodology. This paper describes these challenges in and discusses the effects on the established ground techniques for repair. The paper also describes the leading repair methodology candidates and their beneficial attributes for resolving these issues with the evolution of technology.

Cone photoreceptor sensitivities and unique hue chromatic responses: correlation and causation imply the physiological basis of unique hues.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ralph W Pridmore

Full Text Available This paper relates major functions at the start and end of the color vision process. The process starts with three cone photoreceptors transducing light into electrical responses. Cone sensitivities were once expected to be Red Green Blue color matching functions (to mix colors but microspectrometry proved otherwise: they instead peak in yellowish, greenish, and blueish hues. These physiological functions are an enigma, unmatched with any set of psychophysical (behavioral functions. The end-result of the visual process is color sensation, whose essential percepts are unique (or pure hues red, yellow, green, blue. Unique hues cannot be described by other hues, but can describe all other hues, e.g., that hue is reddish-blue. They are carried by four opponent chromatic response curves but the literature does not specify whether each curve represents a range of hues or only one hue (a unique over its wavelength range. Here the latter is demonstrated, confirming that opponent chromatic responses define, and may be termed, unique hue chromatic responses. These psychophysical functions also are an enigma, unmatched with any physiological functions or basis. Here both enigmas are solved by demonstrating the three cone sensitivity curves and the three spectral chromatic response curves are almost identical sets (Pearson correlation coefficients r from 0.95-1.0 in peak wavelengths, curve shapes, math functions, and curve crossover wavelengths, though previously unrecognized due to presentation of curves in different formats, e.g., log, linear. (Red chromatic response curve is largely nonspectral and thus derives from two cones. Close correlation combined with deterministic causation implies cones are the physiological basis of unique hues. This match of three physiological and three psychophysical functions is unique in color vision.

Proceedings of the symposium on advanced measurement techniques and instrumentation: abstract book

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kale, Y.B.; Kushwaha, M.; Somkuwar, S.P.; Ajayakumar, S.; Sampathkumar, R.

2011-01-01

In order to consolidate the existing knowledge base and further to focus on the future directions of the field of advanced measurement techniques and instrumentation, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has organized a three-day symposium on 'Advanced Measurement Techniques and Instrumentation' at Multi Purpose Hall, Training School Hostel, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai during February 02-04, 2011. The symposium is aimed at providing a forum to discuss the emerging trends and challenges ahead in the important area of measurement science and technology. This is a unique symposium, which brings together scientists and engineers from all disciplines and provides them a platform for close interaction to exchange ideas, methodologies and expertise, which is extremely important for synergic growth of this field. The symposium consists of 27 talks, which include keynote address, plenary and invited talks, and 63 contributory papers. The abstracts of these papers are brought to you in this volume. Readers may observe that the scientific programme of the symposium covers a wide ranging issues including advanced scientific concepts in measurements, instrumentation strategies, mathematical techniques and development of devices for applications in fundamental physics, astrophysics, fusion plasmas, nuclear reactors, accelerators, environment, chemical and biological sciences, and national security. Papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately

Unique Description for Single Transverse Spin Asymmetries in DIS and Hadronic Collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Feng

2007-01-01

We derive a unique formula for the single-transverse-spin asymmetry in semi-inclusive hadron production in deep inelastic scattering, valid for all transverse momentum region. Based on this, we further study the integrated asymmetry weighted with transverse-momentum. They can be evaluated in terms of the twist-three quark-gluon correlation functions, which are responsible for the single spin asymmetry in single inclusive hadron production in hadronic collisions. By using the fitted twist-three functions from the hadronic collision data, we find a consistent description for SSAs in deep inelastic scattering. This demonstrates that we have a unique picture for SSAs in these two processes, and shall provide important guidelines for future studies

Existence, uniqueness, monotonicity and asymptotic behaviour of travelling waves for epidemic models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, Cheng-Hsiung; Yang, Tzi-Sheng

2013-01-01

The purpose of this work is to investigate the existence, uniqueness, monotonicity and asymptotic behaviour of travelling wave solutions for a general epidemic model arising from the spread of an epidemic by oral–faecal transmission. First, we apply Schauder's fixed point theorem combining with a supersolution and subsolution pair to derive the existence of positive monotone monostable travelling wave solutions. Then, applying the Ikehara's theorem, we determine the exponential rates of travelling wave solutions which converge to two different equilibria as the moving coordinate tends to positive infinity and negative infinity, respectively. Finally, using the sliding method, we prove the uniqueness result provided the travelling wave solutions satisfy some boundedness conditions. (paper)

Attitude Certainty and Attitudinal Advocacy: The Unique Roles of Clarity and Correctness.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheatham, Lauren; Tormala, Zakary L

2015-11-01

When and why do people advocate on behalf of their attitudes? Past research suggests that attitude certainty is one important determinant. The current research seeks to provide more nuanced insight into this relationship by (a) exploring the unique roles of attitude clarity and attitude correctness, and (b) mapping clarity and correctness onto different forms of advocacy (sharing intentions and persuasion intentions). Across four studies, we find that correctness but not clarity plays an important role in promoting persuasion intentions, whereas both correctness and clarity help shape sharing intentions. Thus, this research unpacks the certainty-advocacy relation and helps identify experimental manipulations that uniquely drive persuasion and sharing intentions. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Addressing techniques of liquid crystal displays

CERN Document Server

Ruckmongathan, Temkar N

2014-01-01

Unique reference source that can be used from the beginning to end of a design project to aid choosing an appropriate LCD addressing technique for a given application This book will be aimed at design engineers who are likely to embed LCD drivers and controllers in many systems including systems on chip. Such designers face the challenge of making the right choice of an addressing technique that will serve them with best performance at minimal cost and complexity. Readers will be able to learn about various methods available for driving matrix LCDs and the comparisons at the end of each chap

Combination of SANS and 3D stochastic reconstruction techniques for the study of nanostructured materials

CERN Document Server

Kikkinides, E S; Steriotis, T A; Kanellopoulos, N K; Mitropoulos, A C; Treimer, W

2002-01-01

Ceramic nanostructured materials have recently received scientific and industrial interest due to their unique properties. A series of such nanoporous structures were characterised by SANS techniques. The resulting scattering curves were analysed to obtain basic structural information regarding the pore size distribution and autocorrelation function of each material. Furthermore, stochastic reconstruction models were employed to generate 3D images with the same basic structural characteristics obtained from SANS. Finally, simulation results of permeation on the reconstructed images provide very good agreement with experimental data. (orig.)

Unique in the shopping mall: On the reidentifiability of credit card metadata

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Montjoye, Yves-Alexandre; Radaelli, Laura; Singh, Vivek Kumar

2015-01-01

. We study 3 months of credit card records for 1.1 million people and show that four spatiotemporal points are enough to uniquely reidentify 90% of individuals. We show that knowing the price of a transaction increases the risk of reidentification by 22%, on average. Finally, we show that even data...... sets that provide coarse information at any or all of the dimensions provide little anonymity and that women are more reidentifiable than men in credit card metadata....

Optical inspection techniques for security instrumentation

Science.gov (United States)

van Renesse, Rudolf L.

1996-03-01

This paper reviews four optical inspection systems, in which development TNO Institute of Applied Physics was involved: (1) intaglio scanning and recognition, (2) banknote quality inspection, (3) visualization and reading of a finger pattern, and (4) 3DAS authentication. (1) Intaglio is reserved for high security printing. It renders a tactile relief that can be recognized by a laser scanning technique. This technique is applied by various national banks to detect counterfeit banknotes returning from circulation. A new system is proposed that will detect intaglio on arbitrary wrinkled banknotes. (2) A banknote fitness inspection system (BFIS) that inspects banknotes in specularly reflected light is described. As modern banknotes are provided increasingly with reflective security foils, a new system is proposed that inspects banknotes in specular and diffuse reflection, as well as in transmission. (3) An alternative visualization method for visualization of finger patterns is described, employing a reflective elastomer. A CD scanning system reads the finger patterns. (4) A nonwoven structure has two advantageous properties for card authentication: a random structure which renders each few square millimeters of the pattern uniqueness (identification) and a 3D structure which makes it virtually impossible to be counterfeited (authentication). Both properties are inspected by an extremely simple lenseless reader.

Health Care Provider Accommodations for Patients with Communication Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Michael I.; Baylor, Carolyn; Dudgeon, Brian J.; Starks, Helene; Yorkston, Kathryn

2017-01-01

Health care providers can experience increased diffculty communicating with adult patients during medical interactions when the patients have communication disorders. Meeting the communication needs of these patients can also create unique challenges for providers. The authors explore Communication Accommodation Theory (H. Giles, 1979) as a guide…

The Turn the Tables Technique (T[cube]): A Program Activity to Provide Group Facilitators Insight into Teen Sexual Behaviors and Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Sclafane, Jamie Heather; Merves, Marni Loiacono; Rivera, Angelic; Long, Laura; Wilson, Ken; Bauman, Laurie J.

2012-01-01

The Turn the Tables Technique (T[cube]) is an activity designed to provide group facilitators who lead HIV/STI prevention and sexual health promotion programs with detailed and current information on teenagers' sexual behaviors and beliefs. This information can be used throughout a program to tailor content. Included is a detailed lesson plan of…

Human uniqueness-self-interest and social cooperation.

Science.gov (United States)

Okada, Daijiro; Bingham, Paul M

2008-07-21

Humans are unique among all species of terrestrial history in both ecological dominance and individual properties. Many, or perhaps all, of the unique elements of this nonpareil status can be plausibly interpreted as evolutionary and strategic elements and consequences of the unprecedented intensity and scale of our social cooperation. Convincing explanation of this unique human social adaptation remains a central, unmet challenge to the scientific enterprise. We develop a hypothesis for the ancestral origin of expanded cooperative social behavior. Specifically, we present a game theoretic analysis demonstrating that a specific pattern of expanded social cooperation between conspecific individuals with conflicts of interest (including non-kin) can be strategically viable, but only in animals that possess a highly unusual capacity for conspecific violence (credible threat) having very specific properties that dramatically reduce the costs of coercive violence. The resulting reduced costs allow preemptive or compensated coercion to be an instantaneously self-interested behavior under diverse circumstances rather than in rare, idiosyncratic circumstances as in actors (animals) who do not have access to inexpensive coercive threat. Humans are apparently unique among terrestrial organisms in having evolved conspecific coercive capabilities that fulfill these stringent requirements. Thus, our results support the proposal that access to a novel capacity for projection of coercive threat might represent the essential initiating event for the evolution of a human-like pattern of social cooperation and the subsequent evolution of the diverse features of human uniqueness. Empirical evidence indicates that these constraints were, in fact, met only in our evolutionary lineage. The logic for the emergence of uniquely human cooperation suggested by our analysis apparently accounts simply for the human fossil record.

Lip prints- A study of its uniqueness among students of MediCiti Medical College.

Science.gov (United States)

Alzapur, Archana; Nagothu, Rajani S; Nalluri, Hima B

2017-01-01

"Cheiloscopy" is a technique that deals with lip prints. The pattern of fine creases on the lips are unique to the individual. They are similar to finger prints and useful in crime investigation. To study the uniqueness, prevalence, and gender significance of lip print patterns in human subjects. The study was conducted on 100 randomly selected male and female undergraduate medical students. The lip print of each subject was obtained and its pattern was analyzed according to Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification. The study showed that Type I lip pattern was the commonest. Our study has added to confirmation of the distinctiveness of cheiloscopy, which can be used as an additional tool for identification. Studies on lip prints being very scanty, our findings add significantly to the meager literature on this subject. Further in-depth studies to establish prevalence of patterns in lip prints will certainly help as useful evidence in forensic investigations.

Clinical translation of autologous cell-based tissue engineering techniques as Class III therapeutics in China: Taking cartilage tissue engineering as an example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Zhang

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Autologous cell-based tissue engineering (TE techniques have been clinically approved for approximately 4 years in China, since the first cartilage TE technique was approved for clinical use by the Zhejiang Health Bureau. TE techniques offer a promising alternative to traditional transplantation surgery, and are different from those for transplanted tissues (biologics or pharmaceutical, the clinical translational procedures are unique and multitasked, and the requirements may differ from those of the target tissues. Thus, the translational procedure is still unfamiliar to most researchers and needs further improvement. This perspectives paper describes the key guidelines and regulations involved in the current translational process, and shares our translational experiences in cartilage TE to provide an example of autologous cell-based TE translation in China. Finally, we discuss the scientific and social challenges and provide some suggestions for future improvements.

Four-Dimensional Ultrafast Electron Microscopy: Insights into an Emerging Technique

KAUST Repository

Adhikari, Aniruddha

2016-12-15

Four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy (4D-UEM) is a novel analytical technique that aims to fulfill the long-held dream of researchers to investigate materials at extremely short spatial and temporal resolutions by integrating the excellent spatial resolution of electron microscopes with the temporal resolution of ultrafast femtosecond laser-based spectroscopy. The ingenious use of pulsed photoelectrons to probe surfaces and volumes of materials enables time-resolved snapshots of the dynamics to be captured in a way hitherto impossible by other conventional techniques. The flexibility of 4D-UEM lies in the fact that it can be used in both the scanning (S-UEM) and transmission (UEM) modes depending upon the type of electron microscope involved. While UEM can be employed to monitor elementary structural changes and phase transitions in samples using real-space mapping, diffraction, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and tomography, S-UEM is well suited to map ultrafast dynamical events on materials surfaces in space and time. This review provides an overview of the unique features that distinguish these techniques and also illustrates the applications of both S-UEM and UEM to a multitude of problems relevant to materials science and chemistry.

Constructing Dense Graphs with Unique Hamiltonian Cycles

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Mark A. M.

2012-01-01

It is not difficult to construct dense graphs containing Hamiltonian cycles, but it is difficult to generate dense graphs that are guaranteed to contain a unique Hamiltonian cycle. This article presents an algorithm for generating arbitrarily large simple graphs containing "unique" Hamiltonian cycles. These graphs can be turned into dense graphs…

The method of selecting an integrated development territory for the high-rise unique constructions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheina Svetlana

2018-01-01

Full Text Available On the basis of data provided by the Department of architecture and urban planning of the city of Rostov-on-don, the problem of the choice of the territory for complex development that will be in priority for the construction of high-rise and unique buildings is solved. The objective of the study was the development of a methodology for selection of the area and the implementation of the proposed method on the example of evaluation of four-territories complex development. The developed method along with standard indicators of complex evaluation considers additional indicators that assess the territory from the position of high-rise unique building. The final result of the study is the rankings of the functional priority areas that takes into account the construction of both residential and public and business objects of unique high-rise construction. The use of the developed methodology will allow investors and customers to assess the investment attractiveness of the future unique construction project on the proposed site.

Unique Results and Lessons Learned From the TSS Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Nobie H.

2016-01-01

The Tethered Satellite System (TSS) Space Shuttle missions, TSS-1 in 1993 and TSS-1R in 1996, were the height of space tether technology development in the U.S. Altogether, the investment made by NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) over the thirteen-year period of the TSS Program totaled approximately $400M-exclusive of the two Space Shuttle flights provided by NASA. Since those two pioneering missions, there have been several smaller tether flight experiments, but interest in this promising technology has waned within NASA as well as the DOD agencies. This is curious in view of the unique capabilities of space tether systems and the fact that they have been flight validated in earth orbit and shown to perform better than the preflight dynamic or electrodynamic theoretical predictions. While it is true that the TSS-1 and TSS-1R missions experienced technical difficulties, the causes of these early developmental problems are now known to have been engineering design flaws, material selection, and procedural issues that (1) are unrelated to the basic viability of space tether technology, and (2) can be readily corrected. The purpose of this paper is to review the dynamic and electrodynamic fundamentals of space tethers and the unique capabilities they afford (that are enabling to certain types of space missions); to elucidate the nature, cause, and solution of the early developmental problems; and to provide an update on progress made in development of the technology.

Unique Association of Rare Cardiovascular Disease in an Athlete With Ventricular Arrhythmias.

Science.gov (United States)

Santomauro, V; Contursi, M; Dellegrottaglie, S; Borsellino, G

2015-01-01

Ventricular arrhythmias are a leading cause of non-elegibility to competitive sport. The failure to detect a significant organic substrate in the initial stage of screening does not preclude the identification of structural pathologies in the follow-up by using advanced imaging techniques. Here we report the case of a senior athlete judged not elegible because an arrhythmia with the morphology consistent with the origin of the left ventricle, in which subsequent execution of a cardiac MR and a thoracic CT scan has allowed the identification of an unique association between an area of myocardial damage, probable site of origine of the arrhythma, and a rare aortic malformation.

Kinematic characteristics of a sprinting technique and morphofunctional structures of its providing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Druz

2017-02-01

Tomazin, Stephanie Letzelter, Akira Ito, Masaki Ishivaka, etc., and also the executed model constructions. Conclusion The modern requirements of the development of sport define conditions of the organization of the training process in which it is necessary to provide the systematic control and the analysis of dynamics of the passing changes in biomechanics of the mastered movements, physiological processes of the training and competitive loads providing performance, psychological preparedness of the sportsman for extreme and special conditions. The implementation of such control demands the corresponding preparation of the coach's structure and necessary technical providing. The existence of modern control methods of the dynamics of the development of exhaustion in change of movements of biokinematic links of a body allow to carry out in real time on video filming this task. However, the coach can't provide the performance of all these functions at full satisfaction of these conditions. The trained professional has to be appropriately in ensuring the training process, and the training in the contents has to consist of not only the direct physical activities, but also the subsequent analysis of the video record of the actions and computer processing of their performance. The solution of these tasks assumes opening of the new specialization in specialized educational institutions, which provides the scientific and technical maintenance of the educational-training process and competitive performances. It is natural that the solution of this task has to be carried out step by step, but now there are all bases to start the beginning of its realization.     Key words: kinematic characteristic, sprinting technique, morphofunctional structures.

Novel criteria of uniqueness for signal reconstruction from phase

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ma, C.

1991-01-01

An approach for ascertaining whether a signal is uniquely determined by its Fourier transform phase is proposed. It is shown that uniqueness corresponds to the nonsingularity of a matrix which can be formed from the finite-length real sequence. The criterion of uniqueness for reconstructing a

Is subjective social status a unique correlate of physical health? A meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cundiff, Jenny M; Matthews, Karen A

2017-12-01

Both social stratification (e.g., social rank) as well as economic resources (e.g., income) are thought to contribute to socioeconomic health disparities. It has been proposed that subjective socioeconomic status (an individual's perception of his or her hierarchical rank) provides increased predictive utility for physical health over and above more traditional, well-researched socioeconomic constructs such as education, occupation, and income. PsycINFO and PubMed databases were systematically searched for studies examining the association of subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and physical health adjusting for at least 1 measure of objective SES. The final sample included 31 studies and 99 unique effects. Meta-analyses were performed to: (a) estimate the overlap among subjective and objective indicators of SES and (b) estimate the cumulative association of subjective SES with physical health adjusting for objective SES. Potential moderators such as race and type of health indicator assessed (global self-reports vs. more specific and biologically based indicators) were also examined. Across samples, subjective SES shows moderate overlap with objective indicators of SES, but associations are much stronger in Whites than Blacks. Subjective SES evidenced a unique cumulative association with physical health in adults, above and beyond traditional objective indicators of SES (Z = .07, SE = .01, p Subjective SES may provide unique information relevant to understanding disparities in health, especially self-rated health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A unique funding opportunity for public health in Texas.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlenker, Thomas; Huber, Carol A

2015-01-01

In addition to the Affordable Care Act, states are more frequently turning to Medicaid waivers to achieve the "Triple Aim" goals of improving the experience of care, improving population health, and reducing per capita costs. These demonstration waivers provide opportunities to test innovative ways to finance and deliver care. Texas is currently implementing a waiver known as the Transformation and Quality Improvement Program. Its inclusion of public health agencies is a unique approach to a system typically limited to traditional providers. San Antonio Metropolitan Health District is one public health agency taking advantage of this new funding opportunity to implement 6 new or expanded programs targeting health issues of highest priority in this south Texas region. This article discusses the use of Medicaid waivers and the advantages and challenges of public health agency participation.

Advanced bioimaging technologies in assessment of the quality of bone and scaffold materials. Techniques and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin Ling; Leung, Kwok Sui; Griffith, J.F.

2007-01-01

This book provides a perspective on the current status of bioimaging technologies developed to assess the quality of musculoskeletal tissue with an emphasis on bone and cartilage. It offers evaluations of scaffold biomaterials developed for enhancing the repair of musculoskeletal tissues. These bioimaging techniques include micro-CT, nano-CT, pQCT/QCT, MRI, and ultrasound, which provide not only 2-D and 3-D images of the related organs or tissues, but also quantifications of the relevant parameters. The advance bioimaging technologies developed for the above applications are also extended by incorporating imaging contrast-enhancement materials. Thus, this book will provide a unique platform for multidisciplinary collaborations in education and joint R and D among various professions, including biomedical engineering, biomaterials, and basic and clinical medicine. (orig.)

How a Training Program Is Transforming the Role of Traditional Birth Attendants from Cultural Practitioners to Unique Health-care Providers: A Community Case Study in Rural Guatemala

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sasha Hernandez

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs, where the rates of maternal mortality continue to be inappropriately high, there has been recognition of the importance of training traditional birth attendants (TBAs to help improve outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth. In Guatemala, there is no national comprehensive training program in place despite the fact that the majority of women rely on TBAs during pregnancy and childbirth. This community case study presents a unique education program led by TBAs for TBAs in rural Guatemala. Discussion of this training program focuses on programming implementation, curriculum development, sustainable methodology, and how an educational partnership with the current national health-care system can increase access to health care for women in LMICs. Recent modifications to this training model are also discussed including how a change in the clinical curriculum is further integrating TBAs into the national health infrastructure. The training program has demonstrated that Guatemalan TBAs are able to improve their basic obstetrical knowledge, are capable of identifying and referring early complications of pregnancy and labor, and can deliver basic prenatal care that would otherwise not be provided. This training model is helping transform the role of the TBA from a sole cultural practitioner to a validated health-care provider within the health-care infrastructure of Guatemala and has the potential to do the same in other LMICs.

How a Training Program Is Transforming the Role of Traditional Birth Attendants from Cultural Practitioners to Unique Health-care Providers: A Community Case Study in Rural Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Sasha; Oliveira, Jessica Bastos; Shirazian, Taraneh

2017-01-01

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the rates of maternal mortality continue to be inappropriately high, there has been recognition of the importance of training traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to help improve outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth. In Guatemala, there is no national comprehensive training program in place despite the fact that the majority of women rely on TBAs during pregnancy and childbirth. This community case study presents a unique education program led by TBAs for TBAs in rural Guatemala. Discussion of this training program focuses on programming implementation, curriculum development, sustainable methodology, and how an educational partnership with the current national health-care system can increase access to health care for women in LMICs. Recent modifications to this training model are also discussed including how a change in the clinical curriculum is further integrating TBAs into the national health infrastructure. The training program has demonstrated that Guatemalan TBAs are able to improve their basic obstetrical knowledge, are capable of identifying and referring early complications of pregnancy and labor, and can deliver basic prenatal care that would otherwise not be provided. This training model is helping transform the role of the TBA from a sole cultural practitioner to a validated health-care provider within the health-care infrastructure of Guatemala and has the potential to do the same in other LMICs.

Forensic palynology: current status of a rarely used technique in the United States of America.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Vaughn M; Jones, Gretchen D

2006-11-22

The United States of America would seem to be an excellent location for using pollen data in forensic applications. The vegetation within the region is highly diverse ranging from areas of Arctic tundra to some of the most inhospitable deserts anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. The highly varied ecology, great plant diversity, thousands of vegetational microhabitats, and extensive published pollen records for the region provide an ideal setting for these types of analyses. This diversity, often characterized in most locations by unique combinations of pollen types, makes the use of forensic pollen a reliable technique that can often be used to associate individuals with a unique crime scene or geographical region. Nevertheless, forensic pollen studies in the United States of America are currently one of the most highly under utilized techniques available to assist in solving criminal and civil cases. During the past century there has been a very limited attempt to use pollen evidence in either criminal or civil cases, for a variety of reasons, including a lack of available information about the technique, a very limited number of specialists trained to do forensic pollen work, and an almost total absence of academic centers able to train needed specialists or forensic facilities able, or willing, to fund research in this area. Hopefully, this paucity of use will change if certain steps are taken to encourage the routine collection and use of pollen evidence in both criminal and civil cases.

Fabrication of Polymeric Coatings with Controlled Microtopographies Using an Electrospraying Technique.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiongyu Guo

Full Text Available Surface topography of medical implants provides an important biophysical cue on guiding cellular functions at the cell-implant interface. However, few techniques are available to produce polymeric coatings with controlled microtopographies onto surgical implants, especially onto implant devices of small dimension and with complex structures such as drug-eluting stents. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to develop a new strategy to fabricate polymeric coatings using an electrospraying technique based on the uniqueness of this technique in that it can be used to produce a mist of charged droplets with a precise control of their shape and dimension. We hypothesized that this technique would allow facile manipulation of coating morphology by controlling the shape and dimension of electrosprayed droplets. More specifically, we employed the electrospraying technique to coat a layer of biodegradable polyurethane with tailored microtopographies onto commercial coronary stents. The topography of such stent coatings was modulated by controlling the ratio of round to stretched droplets or the ratio of round to crumped droplets under high electric field before deposition. The shape of electrosprayed droplets was governed by the stability of these charged droplets right after ejection or during their flight in the air. Using the electrospraying technique, we achieved conformal polymeric coatings with tailored microtopographies onto conductive surgical implants. The approach offers potential for controlling the surface topography of surgical implant devices to modulate their integration with surrounding tissues.

Flow theory and MR techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Listerud, J.; Altas, S.W.; Axel, L.

1991-01-01

One of the unique characteristics of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is its depiction of flow, even without the administration of intravascular contrast agents. Flow-related phenomena were recognized early in the development of nuclear magnetic resonance, well before imaging techniques were even devised. The appearance of flowing fluid (e.g., blood or CSF) is important to understand for several reasons. First, its signal intensity is quite variable, even in normal physiologic states, so the possibility of misinterpreting normal findings as representing pathologic conditions, such as vascular thrombosis, is reduced if one has a solid conceptualization of the physical basis of flow effects. Second, signal emanating from flowing spins often generates significant artifacts that can obscure anatomy and degrade images, thereby reducing the radiologist's ability to interpret images and identify lesions. The understanding of flow artifacts allows one to recognize them and implement maneuvers to eliminate or compensate for such effects. Third, it has become apparent that the signal information from flow can be exploited to provide previously unavailable physiologic information

Proceedings of XIV Workshop on Nuclear Physics. VIII International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques. WONP-NURT 2013

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-02-01

This year 2013, the XIV Workshop on Nuclear Physics and VIII International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques, WONP-NURT 2013 organized by the Center of Technological Applications and Nuclear Development from 5 to 8 February at the National Museum of Fine Arts. NURT is one of the key Cuban scientific meetings since 1997 dealing with the peaceful applications of nuclear techniques in several domains of the society. WONP and NURT provide an unique opportunity for the national and international scientific community to meet outstanding researchers and discuss current trends in several areas of theoretical, experimental and applied nuclear physics and related topics. The papers submitted to this event are presented in this CD-ROM

Proceedings of XV Workshop on Nuclear Physics. IX International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques. WONP-NURT 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-02-01

This year 2015, the XV Workshop on Nuclear Physics and IX International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques, WONP-NURT 2015 organized by the Center of Technological Applications and Nuclear Development from 9 to 13 February at the National Museum of Fine Arts. NURT is one of the key Cuban scientific meetings since 1997 dealing with the peaceful applications of nuclear techniques in several domains of the society. WONP and NURT provide an unique opportunity for the national and international scientific community to meet outstanding researchers and discuss current trends in several areas of theoretical, experimental and applied nuclear physics and related topics. The papers submitted to this event are presented in this CD-ROM.

Alpbach Summer School - a unique learning experience

Science.gov (United States)

Kern, K.; Aulinas, J.; Clifford, D.; Krejci, D.; Topham, R.

2011-12-01

The Alpbach Summer School is a ten-day program that provides a unique opportunity for young european science and engineering students, both undergraduate and graduate, to learn how to approach the entire design process of a space mission. The theme of the 2010 Summer School was "New Space Missions to Understand Climate Change", a current, challenging, very broad and complex topic. The program was established more than 35 years ago and is organised in two interrelated parts: a series of lectures held by renowned experts in the field (in the case of this specific year, climate change and space engineering experts) that provides a technical and scientific background for the workshops that follow, the core of the Summer School. For the workshops the students are split into four international, interdisciplinary teams of about 15 students. In 2010 every team had to complete a number of tasks, four in total: (1) identify climate change research gaps and design a space mission that has not yet been flown or proposed, (2) define the science objectives and requirements of the mission, (3) design a spacecraft that meets the mission requirements, which includes spacecraft design and construction, payload definition, orbit calculations, but also the satellite launch, operation and mission costs and (4) write up a short mission proposal and present the results to an expert review panel. Achieving these tasks in only a few days in a multicultural, interdisciplinary team represents a major challenge for all participants and provides an excellent practical learning experience. Over the course of the program, students do not just learn facts about climate change and space engineering, but scientists also learn from engineers and engineers from scientists. The participants have to deepen their knowledge in an often unfamiliar field, develop organisational and team-work skills and work under pressure. Moreover, teams are supported by team and roving tutors and get the opportunity to

Might "Unique" Factors Be "Common"? On the Possibility of Indeterminate Common-Unique Covariances

Science.gov (United States)

Grayson, Dave

2006-01-01

The present paper shows that the usual factor analytic structured data dispersion matrix lambda psi lambda' + delta can readily arise from a set of scores y = lambda eta + epsilon, shere the "common" (eta) and "unique" (epsilon) factors have nonzero covariance: gamma = Cov epsilon,eta) is not equal to 0. Implications of this finding are discussed…

Unique interconnected graphene/SnO2 nanoparticle spherical multilayers for lithium-ion battery applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Qingguo; Tang, Jie; Sun, Yige; Li, Jing; Zhang, Kun; Yuan, Jinshi; Zhu, Da-Ming; Qin, Lu-Chang

2017-03-30

We have designed and synthesized a unique structured graphene/SnO 2 composite, where SnO 2 nanoparticles are inserted in between interconnected graphene sheets which form hollow spherical multilayers. The hollow spherical multilayered structure provides much flexibility to accommodate the configuration and volume changes of SnO 2 in the material. When it is used as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, such a novel nanostructure can not only provide a stable conductive matrix and suppress the mechanical stress, but also eliminate the need of any binders for constructing electrodes. Electrochemical tests show that the unique graphene/SnO 2 composite electrode as designed could exhibit a large reversible capacity over 1000 mA h g -1 and long cycling life with 88% retention after 100 cycles. These results indicate the great potential of the composite for being used as a high performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

Dimmable electronic ballasts by variable power density modulation technique

Science.gov (United States)

Borekci, Selim; Kesler, Selami

2014-11-01

Dimming can be accomplished commonly by switching frequency and pulse density modulation techniques and a variable inductor. In this study, a variable power density modulation (VPDM) control technique is proposed for dimming applications. A fluorescent lamp is operated in several states to meet the desired lamp power in a modulation period. The proposed technique has the same advantages of magnetic dimming topologies have. In addition, a unique and flexible control technique can be achieved. A prototype dimmable electronic ballast is built and experiments related to it have been conducted. As a result, a 36WT8 fluorescent lamp can be driven for a desired lamp power from several alternatives without modulating the switching frequency.

The AD: The unique anti-accelerator

CERN Multimedia

Slide show by Maximilien Brice. Voice (French only): Jacques Fichet. Content: Paola Catapano, Django Manglunki, CERN Bulletin

2011-01-01

Unlike other machines whose performance is measured in terms of energy records, AD's uniqueness resides in the fact that it can very effectively decelerate beams. At the hearth of antimatter production at CERN, the AD is making headlines in the world's press. This provides an excellent opportunity for us to retrace its history in images.   var flash_video_player=get_video_player_path(); insert_player_for_external('Video/Public/Movies/2011/CERN-MOVIE-2011-083/CERN-MOVIE-2011-083-0753-kbps-480x360-25-fps-audio-64-kbps-44-kHz-stereo', 'mms://mediastream.cern.ch/MediaArchive/Video/Public/Movies/2011/CERN-MOVIE-2011-083/CERN-MOVIE-2011-083-0480-kbps-384x288-25-fps-audio-128-kbps-48-kHz-stereo.wmv', 'false', 480, 360, 'http://mediaarchive.cern.ch/MediaArchive/Video/Public/Movies/2011/CERN-MOVIE-2011-083/CERN-MOVIE-2011-083-posterframe-480x360-at-5-percent.jpg', '1357551', true, '');  

Decoding incident-to and provider-based billing: ensuring payment and avoiding liability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofstra, Patricia S; Hart, Elinor L

2012-01-01

In this increasingly complex world of Medicare reimbursement, physicians must constantly review their billing practices to ensure compliance with all Medicare requirements. "Incident-to" billing and provider-based billing are two areas that present unique challenges for providers, especially those practicing in hospital-owned practices such as hospital outpatient departments. Both incident-to and provider-based billing limit providers' abilities to bill for and receive reimbursement in those practice settings. The Office of Inspector General's 2012 Work Plan Report identified both incident-to billing and place-of-service errors as two of the many areas for investigation and compliance efforts in 2012. This article focuses on identifying the unique point-of-service challenges presented by physicians practicing in hospital outpatient departments or hospital-owned clinics.

Simultaneous Kidney-Pancreas Transplantation With an Original "Transverse Pancreas" Technique: Initial 9 Years' Experience With 56 Cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Paulino, J; Martins, A; Vigia, E; Marcelino, P; Nobre, A M; Bicho, L; Filipe, E; Barroso, E

2017-10-01

An innovative technique for pancreas transplantation is described. The main aspect consists of the horizontal positioning of the pancreas, which allows a better venous outflow, thus preventing thrombosis and graft loss. The program of pancreas transplantation in this national reference center for pancreatic and liver surgery was started in 2007; the initial results were considered poor, resulting in the loss of half of the grafts due to venous thrombosis. After analyzing the possible causes, this technique was proposed and successfully implemented, reducing the postoperative complications, particularly the problem of venous thrombosis. A detailed description of the new surgical technique is provided. The main clinical and demographic characteristics of the 56 patients who underwent the surgery are analyzed. The incidence of venous thrombosis was 5.3% (3 patients) and graft loss was 3.5% (2 patients). Due to the good results, this technique became the standard surgery for transplantation of the pancreas in our center. The technique proved to be safe and successful. Due to the unique pancreas graft implantation, we called it "transverse pancreas surgery." Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can facial uniqueness be inferred from impostor scores?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dutta, A.; Veldhuis, Raymond N.J.; Spreeuwers, Lieuwe Jan

2013-01-01

In Biometrics, facial uniqueness is commonly inferred from impostor similarity scores. In this paper, we show that such uniqueness measures are highly unstable in the presence of image quality variations like pose, noise and blur. We also experimentally demonstrate the instability of a recently

The zenithal 4-m International Liquid Mirror Telescope: a unique facility for supernova studies

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Brajesh; Pandey, Kanhaiya L.; Pandey, S. B.; Hickson, P.; Borra, E. F.; Anupama, G. C.; Surdej, J.

2018-05-01

The 4-m International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) will soon become operational at the newly developed Devasthal observatory near Nainital (Uttarakhand, India). Coupled with a 4k × 4k pixels CCD detector and TDI optical corrector, it will reach approximately 22.8, 22.3, and 21.4 mag in the g΄, r΄, and i΄ spectral bands, respectively, in a single scan. The limiting magnitudes can be further improved by co-adding the consecutive night images in particular filters. The uniqueness to observe the same sky region by looking towards the zenith direction every night makes the ILMT a unique instrument to detect new supernovae (SNe) by applying the image subtraction technique. High cadence (˜24 h) observations will help to construct dense sampling multi-band SNe light curves. We discuss the importance of the ILMT facility in the context of SNe studies. Considering the various plausible cosmological parameters and observational constraints, we perform detailed calculations of the expected SNe rate that can be detected with the ILMT in different spectral bands.

Kosovo case: A unique arbitrariness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nakarada Radmila

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The end of Cold war, contrary to expectations has brought new conflicts and forms of violence, new divisions and new relativizations of the international legal order. Taking as an example the endeavors to resolve the Kosovo conflict, the author attempts to indicate the broader implications of the international efforts to constitute an independent state on part of the territory of an existing sovereign state. The arguments used to justify the redefinition of the borders of the Serbian state without its consent, the moral, democratic, peace arguments, are reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the argument that Kosovo is a unique case and therefore unique rules should be applied. The author seeks to understand the deeper significance of these efforts, concluding that dismantling the present international legal order is not only a potential danger but a possible aim.

Medical Oversight, Educational Core Content, and Proposed Scopes of Practice of Wilderness EMS Providers: A Joint Project Developed by Wilderness EMS Educators, Medical Directors, and Regulators Using a Delphi Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Millin, Michael G; Johnson, David E; Schimelpfenig, Tod; Conover, Keith; Sholl, Matthew; Busko, Jonnathan; Alter, Rachael; Smith, Will; Symonds, Jennifer; Taillac, Peter; Hawkins, Seth C

2017-01-01

A disparity exists between the skills needed to manage patients in wilderness EMS environments and the scopes of practice that are traditionally approved by state EMS regulators. In response, the National Association of EMS Physicians Wilderness EMS Committee led a project to define the educational core content supporting scopes of practice of wilderness EMS providers and the conditions when wilderness EMS providers should be required to have medical oversight. Using a Delphi process, a group of experts in wilderness EMS, representing educators, medical directors, and regulators, developed model educational core content. This core content is a foundation for wilderness EMS provider scopes of practice and builds on both the National EMS Education Standards and the National EMS Scope of Practice Model. These experts also identified the conditions when oversight is needed for wilderness EMS providers. By consensus, this group of experts identified the educational core content for four unique levels of wilderness EMS providers: Wilderness Emergency Medical Responder (WEMR), Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT), Wilderness Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (WAEMT), and Wilderness Paramedic (WParamedic). These levels include specialized skills and techniques pertinent to the operational environment. The skills and techniques increase in complexity with more advanced certification levels, and address the unique circumstances of providing care to patients in the wilderness environment. Furthermore, this group identified that providers having a defined duty to act should be functioning with medical oversight. This group of experts defined the educational core content supporting the specific scopes of practice that each certification level of wilderness EMS provider should have when providing patient care in the wilderness setting. Wilderness EMS providers are, indeed, providing health care and should thus function within defined scopes of practice and with

MO-B-BRB-03: 3D Dosimetry in the Clinic: Validating Special Techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Juang, T. [Stanford Cancer Center (United States)

2016-06-15

Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by the development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data in an

MO-B-BRB-03: 3D Dosimetry in the Clinic: Validating Special Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juang, T.

2016-01-01

Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by the development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data in an

[Research Progress of Vitreous Humor Detection Technique on Estimation of Postmortem Interval].

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, W C; Lan, L M; Guo, Y D; Zha, L; Yan, J; Ding, Y J; Cai, J F

2018-02-01

Estimation of postmortem interval （PMI） plays a crucial role in forensic study and identification work. Because of the unique anatomy location, vitreous humor is considered to be used for estima- ting PMI, which has aroused interest among scholars, and some researches have been carried out. The detection techniques of vitreous humor are constantly developed and improved which have been gradually applied in forensic science, meanwhile, the study of PMI estimation using vitreous humor is updated rapidly. This paper reviews various techniques and instruments applied to vitreous humor detection, such as ion selective electrode, capillary ion analysis, spectroscopy, chromatography, nano-sensing technology, automatic biochemical analyser, flow cytometer, etc., as well as the related research progress on PMI estimation in recent years. In order to provide a research direction for scholars and promote a more accurate and efficient application in PMI estimation by vitreous humor analysis, some inner problems are also analysed in this paper. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.

Seafloor massive sulfide deposits support unique megafaunal assemblages: Implications for seabed mining and conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Boschen, Rachel E; Rowden, Ashley A; Clark, Malcolm R; Pallentin, Arne; Gardner, Jonathan P A

2016-04-01

Mining of seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) is imminent, but the ecology of assemblages at SMS deposits is poorly known. Proposed conservation strategies include protected areas to preserve biodiversity at risk from mining impacts. Determining site suitability requires biological characterisation of the mine site and protected area(s). Video survey of a proposed mine site and protected area off New Zealand revealed unique megafaunal assemblages at the mine site. Significant relationships were identified between assemblage structure and environmental conditions, including hydrothermal features. Unique assemblages occurred at both active and inactive chimneys and are particularly at risk from mining-related impacts. The occurrence of unique assemblages at the mine site suggests that the proposed protected area is insufficient alone and should instead form part of a network. These results provide support for including hydrothermally active and inactive features within networks of protected areas and emphasise the need for quantitative survey data of proposed sites. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Application of spectroscopic techniques to the study of illuminated manuscripts: A survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pessanha, S.; Manso, M.; Carvalho, M.L.

2012-01-01

This work focused on the application of the most relevant spectroscopic techniques used for the characterization of illuminated manuscripts. The historical value of these unique and invaluable artworks, together with the increased awareness concerning the conservation of cultural heritage, prompted the application of analytical techniques to the study of these illuminations. This is essential for the understanding of the artist's working methods, which aids conservation–restoration. The characterization of the pigments may also help assign a probable date to the manuscript. For these purposes, the spectroscopic techniques used so far include those that provide information on the elemental content: X-ray fluorescence, total reflection X-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Complementary techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy, reveal information regarding the compounds present in the samples. The techniques, suitability, technological evolution and development of high-performance detectors, as well as the possibility of microanalysis and the higher sensitivity of the equipment, will also be discussed. Furthermore, issues such as the necessity of sampling, the portability of the equipment and the overall advantages and disadvantages of different techniques will be analyzed. - Highlights: ► The techniques used for studying illuminated manuscripts are described and compared. ► For in situ, non-destructive analysis the most suitable technique is EDXRF. ► For quantitative analysis TXRF is more appropriate. ► Raman spectroscopy is mostly used for pigments identification. ► FTIR was used for the characterization of binders and parchment.

Analytical techniques applied to study cultural heritage objects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rizzutto, M.A.; Curado, J.F.; Bernardes, S.; Campos, P.H.O.V.; Kajiya, E.A.M.; Silva, T.F.; Rodrigues, C.L.; Moro, M.; Tabacniks, M.; Added, N., E-mail: rizzutto@if.usp.br [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Instituto de Fisica

2015-07-01

The scientific study of artistic and cultural heritage objects have been routinely performed in Europe and the United States for decades. In Brazil this research area is growing, mainly through the use of physical and chemical characterization methods. Since 2003 the Group of Applied Physics with Particle Accelerators of the Physics Institute of the University of Sao Paulo (GFAA-IF) has been working with various methodologies for material characterization and analysis of cultural objects. Initially using ion beam analysis performed with Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) and recently Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL), for the determination of the elements and chemical compounds in the surface layers. These techniques are widely used in the Laboratory of Materials Analysis with Ion Beams (LAMFI-USP). Recently, the GFAA expanded the studies to other possibilities of analysis enabled by imaging techniques that coupled with elemental and compositional characterization provide a better understanding on the materials and techniques used in the creative process in the manufacture of objects. The imaging analysis, mainly used to examine and document artistic and cultural heritage objects, are performed through images with visible light, infrared reflectography (IR), fluorescence with ultraviolet radiation (UV), tangential light and digital radiography. Expanding more the possibilities of analysis, new capabilities were added using portable equipment such as Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) and Raman Spectroscopy that can be used for analysis 'in situ' at the museums. The results of these analyzes are providing valuable information on the manufacturing process and have provided new information on objects of different University of Sao Paulo museums. Improving the arsenal of cultural heritage analysis it was recently constructed an 3D robotic stage for the precise positioning of samples in the external beam setup

Analytical techniques applied to study cultural heritage objects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rizzutto, M.A.; Curado, J.F.; Bernardes, S.; Campos, P.H.O.V.; Kajiya, E.A.M.; Silva, T.F.; Rodrigues, C.L.; Moro, M.; Tabacniks, M.; Added, N.

2015-01-01

The scientific study of artistic and cultural heritage objects have been routinely performed in Europe and the United States for decades. In Brazil this research area is growing, mainly through the use of physical and chemical characterization methods. Since 2003 the Group of Applied Physics with Particle Accelerators of the Physics Institute of the University of Sao Paulo (GFAA-IF) has been working with various methodologies for material characterization and analysis of cultural objects. Initially using ion beam analysis performed with Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) and recently Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL), for the determination of the elements and chemical compounds in the surface layers. These techniques are widely used in the Laboratory of Materials Analysis with Ion Beams (LAMFI-USP). Recently, the GFAA expanded the studies to other possibilities of analysis enabled by imaging techniques that coupled with elemental and compositional characterization provide a better understanding on the materials and techniques used in the creative process in the manufacture of objects. The imaging analysis, mainly used to examine and document artistic and cultural heritage objects, are performed through images with visible light, infrared reflectography (IR), fluorescence with ultraviolet radiation (UV), tangential light and digital radiography. Expanding more the possibilities of analysis, new capabilities were added using portable equipment such as Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) and Raman Spectroscopy that can be used for analysis 'in situ' at the museums. The results of these analyzes are providing valuable information on the manufacturing process and have provided new information on objects of different University of Sao Paulo museums. Improving the arsenal of cultural heritage analysis it was recently constructed an 3D robotic stage for the precise positioning of samples in the external beam setup

The Spiritual Form of Ancient Art and Culture - Bharatanatyam (Visual Art Depicted Using Unique Techniques on Scratchboard (Fine Art Medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arpitha Parthasarathy

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The most ancient form of dance that is prevailing todays is a form of classical Indian dance, Bharatanatyam. In Sanskrit (and Devanagri, bharatanatyam means "Indian dance", is believed to have divine origin and is of the most ancient form of classical dance. Bharatanatyam is a two thousand-year-old dance form, originally practiced in the temples of ancient India. The art today remains purely devotional even today and this performing art is yet to gain awareness and interest in the western world. This dance form has various implications in improving the higher order thinking in children and provides health benefits in adults apart from cultural preservation. The current study uses scratchboard as a medium to display the artistic movements and emotions. Scratchboard, a fine art is one means by which the visual art is expressed in this current study using sharp tools, namely X-acto 11 scalpel and tattoo needles. This unique medium made up of a masonite hardboard coated with soft clay and Indian ink has been used to not only show the details of the ancient dance form and expression but also to comprehend and transcribe both visual art and fine art. It is for the first time that scratchboard medium has been the innovatively used to show various textures of flower, glistening gold jewels, hand woven silk and the divine expression in the same art ‘devotion’. The current study was carried out in-order to perpetuate, conserve and disseminate these classic forms of visual art and fine art.

Future development, innovation and promotion of European unique food: an interdisciplinary research framework perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, Derek V; Waehrens, Sandra S; O'Sullivan, Maurice G

2013-11-01

Unique food products constitute a very important element of European food business, culture, identity and heritage. Understanding the uniqueness of food in Europe from a research-based interdisciplinary perspective will be a critical factor in promoting the competitiveness of artisanal food industries going forward both locally and internationally. Success will support the competitiveness of the European food industry, in particular, small and medium enterprises, by enabling substantial product differentiation potential for producers and providing ample variety in food choice for the consumer. In addition, it will contribute to promotion of sustainable agriculture and development of rural areas, protecting them from depopulation. In order to meet the demands of a developing fundamental shift in European Union agricultural focus to greener, sustainable farming practices and wider rural development and to ensure success for local small-scale producers, this paper discusses the future direction of research in the field of unique European foods. The paper presents a perspective which promotes optimisation and innovation in unique food products in Europe through the integration of advanced knowledge and technologies. A framework is presented covering location, identity, perception and well-being as research areas needing synergy to bridge the research knowledge deficit in determination and specification of food identity in the European Union. The ultimate aim being promotion of sustainable agriculture and rural development, particularly in territories across the European Union where unique food is strategically and scientifically under-defined. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Advanced neutron and X-ray techniques for insights into the microstructure of EB-PVD thermal barrier coatings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kulkarni, Anand [State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794 (United States); Goland, Allen [State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794 (United States); Herman, Herbert [State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794 (United States)]. E-mail: hherman@ms.cc.sunysb.edu; Allen, Andrew J. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (United States); Dobbins, Tabbetha [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (United States); DeCarlo, Francesco [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Ilavsky, Jan [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Long, Gabrielle G. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Fang, Stacy [Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corporation, Orangeburg, NY 10962 (United States); Lawton, Paul [Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corporation, Orangeburg, NY 10962 (United States)

2006-06-25

The ongoing quest to increase gas turbine efficiency and performance (increased thrust) provides a driving force for materials development. While improved engine design and usage of novel materials provide solutions for increased engine operating temperatures, and hence fuel efficiency, reliability issues remain. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), deposited onto turbine components using the electron-beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) process, exhibit unique pore architectures capable of bridging the technological gap between insulation/life extension and prime reliance. This article explores the potential of advanced X-ray and neutron techniques for comprehension of an EB-PVD TBC coating microstructure. While conventional microscopy reveals a hierarchy of voids, complementary advanced techniques allow quantification of these voids in terms of component porosities, anisotropy, size and gradient through the coating thickness. In addition, the derived microstructural parameters obtained both further knowledge of the nature and architecture of the porosity, and help establish its influence on the resultant thermal and mechanical properties.

Mindfulness meditation-related pain relief: Evidence for unique brain mechanisms in the regulation of pain

Science.gov (United States)

Zeidan, F.; Grant, J.A.; Brown, C.A.; McHaffie, J.G.; Coghill, R.C.

2013-01-01

The cognitive modulation of pain is influenced by a number of factors ranging from attention, beliefs, conditioning, expectations, mood, and the regulation of emotional responses to noxious sensory events. Recently, mindfulness meditation has been found attenuate pain through some of these mechanisms including enhanced cognitive and emotional control, as well as altering the contextual evaluation of sensory events. This review discusses the brain mechanisms involved in mindfulness meditation-related pain relief across different meditative techniques, expertise and training levels, experimental procedures, and neuroimaging methodologies. Converging lines of neuroimaging evidence reveal that mindfulness meditation-related pain relief is associated with unique appraisal cognitive processes depending on expertise level and meditation tradition. Moreover, it is postulated that mindfulness meditation-related pain relief may share a common final pathway with other cognitive techniques in the modulation of pain. PMID:22487846

A Description of the Revised ATHEANA (A Technique for Human Event Analysis)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

FORESTER, JOHN A.; BLEY, DENNIS C.; COOPER, SUSANE; KOLACZKOWSKI, ALAN M.; THOMPSON, CATHERINE; RAMEY-SMITH, ANN; WREATHALL, JOHN

2000-01-01

This paper describes the most recent version of a human reliability analysis (HRA) method called ''A Technique for Human Event Analysis'' (ATHEANA). The new version is documented in NUREG-1624, Rev. 1 [1] and reflects improvements to the method based on comments received from a peer review that was held in 1998 (see [2] for a detailed discussion of the peer review comments) and on the results of an initial trial application of the method conducted at a nuclear power plant in 1997 (see Appendix A in [3]). A summary of the more important recommendations resulting from the peer review and trial application is provided and critical and unique aspects of the revised method are discussed

The Munich MIDY Pig Biobank – A unique resource for studying organ crosstalk in diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Blutke

2017-08-01

Conclusions: The broad spectrum of well-defined biosamples in the Munich MIDY Pig Biobank that will be available to the scientific community provides a unique resource for systematic studies of organ crosstalk in diabetes in a multi-organ, multi-omics dimension.

Unique aspects of impulsive traits in substance use and overeating: specific contributions of common assessments of impulsivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Beaton, Derek; Abdi, Hervé; Filbey, Francesca M

2014-11-01

Abstract Background: Impulsivity is a complex trait often studied in substance abuse and overeating disorders, but the exact nature of impulsivity traits and their contribution to these disorders are still debated. Thus, understanding how to measure impulsivity is essential for comprehending addictive behaviors. Identify unique impulsivity traits specific to substance use and overeating. Impulsive Sensation Seeking (ImpSS) and Barratt's Impulsivity scales (BIS) Scales were analyzed with a non-parametric factor analytic technique (discriminant correspondence analysis) to identify group-specific traits on 297 individuals from five groups: Marijuana (n = 88), Nicotine (n = 82), Overeaters (n = 27), Marijuauna + Nicotine (n = 63), and CONTROLs (n = 37). A significant overall factor structure revealed three components of impulsivity that explained respectively 50.19% (pperm Overeating: lacks focus, but plans (short and long term). Our results reveal impulsivity traits specific to each group. This may provide better criteria to define spectrums and trajectories - instead of categories - of symptoms for substance use and eating disorders. Defining symptomatic spectrums could be an important step forward in diagnostic strategies.

Unique phytochrome responses of the holoparasitic plant Orobanche minor.

Science.gov (United States)

Takagi, Kazuteru; Okazawa, Atsushi; Wada, Yu; Mongkolchaiyaphruek, Anchaya; Fukusaki, Eiichiro; Yoneyama, Koichi; Takeuchi, Yasutomo; Kobayashi, Akio

2009-06-01

Holoparasitic plants such as Orobanche spp. have lost their photosynthetic ability, so photoresponses to optimize photosynthesis are not necessary in these plants. Photoresponses are also involved in the regulation of plant development but the photoresponses of holoparasites have not been characterized in detail. In this study, the phytochrome (phy)-related photoresponse of Orobanche minor was investigated. Its photoreceptor, phytochrome A (OmphyA), was also characterized. Light effects on germination, shoot elongation, anthocyanin biosynthesis, and OmphyA expression and subcellular localization were analyzed. Red light (R):far-red light (FR) reversible inhibition of O. minor seed germination demonstrated that phy-mediated responses are retained in this holoparasite. Shoot elongation was inhibited by FR but not by R. This pattern is unique among known patterns of plant photoresponses. Additionally, molecular analysis showed that OmphyA is able to respond to the light signals. Interestingly, the unique pattern of photoresponses in O. minor seems to have been modified for adaptation to its parasitic life cycle. We hypothesize that this alteration has resulted from the loss or alteration of some phy-signaling components. Elucidation of altered components in phy signaling in this parasite will provide useful information not only about its physiological characteristics but also about general plant photoreception systems.

DECISIONS ET COMPETITIVITE SUR LE MARCHE UNIQUE EUROPEEN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sirghi Nicoleta

2008-05-01

Full Text Available L’un des traits importants du marché unique européen, a comme source le męme énoncé du principal objectif de l’intégration européenne ainsi que: l’harmonisation des niveaux du développement des Etats Membres et l’augmentation du niveau de vie dans l’ensemble de la communauté. Pour le marché unique européen, cet aspect se traduit par une permanente et soutenue augmentation de la demande. Cet ouvrage présente au début une analyse des éléments spécifiques du marché européen. Ensuite on identifie les opportunités et les risques au niveau macroéconomique adjointes aux perspectives du marché unique européen. Comme fondement on présente des stratégies du développement réalisables au niveau microéconomique que puissent assurer l’augmentation du niveau sur la compétitivité des sociétés sur le marché unique européen.

Novel experimental measuring techniques required to provide data for CFD validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasser, H.-M.

2008-01-01

CFD code validation requires experimental data that characterize the distributions of parameters within large flow domains. On the other hand, the development of geometry-independent closure relations for CFD codes have to rely on instrumentation and experimental techniques appropriate for the phenomena that are to be modelled, which usually requires high spatial and time resolution. The paper reports about the use of wire-mesh sensors to study turbulent mixing processes in single-phase flow as well as to characterize the dynamics of the gas-liquid interface in a vertical pipe flow. Experiments at a pipe of a nominal diameter of 200 mm are taken as the basis for the development and test of closure relations describing bubble coalescence and break-up, interfacial momentum transfer and turbulence modulation for a multi-bubble-class model. This is done by measuring the evolution of the flow structure along the pipe. The transferability of the extended CFD code to more complicated 3D flow situations is assessed against measured data from tests involving two-phase flow around an asymmetric obstacle placed in a vertical pipe. The obstacle, a half-moon-shaped diaphragm, is movable in the direction of the pipe axis; this allows the 3D gas fraction field to be recorded without changing the sensor position. In the outlook, the pressure chamber of TOPFLOW is presented, which will be used as the containment for a test facility, in which experiments can be conducted in pressure equilibrium with the inner atmosphere of the tank. In this way, flow structures can be observed by optical means through large-scale windows even at pressures of up to 5 MPa. The so-called 'Diving Chamber' technology will be used for Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) tests. Finally, some important trends in instrumentation for multi-phase flows will be given. This includes the state-of-art of X-ray and gamma tomography, new multi-component wire-mesh sensors, and a discussion of the potential of other non

Novel experimental measuring techniques required to provide data for CFD validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasser, H.M.

2007-01-01

CFD code validation requires experimental data that characterize distributions of parameters within large flow domains. On the other hand, the development of geometry-independent closure relations for CFD codes have to rely on instrumentation and experimental techniques appropriate for the phenomena that are to be modelled, which usually requires high spatial and time resolution. The presentation reports about the use of wire-mesh sensors to study turbulent mixing processes in the single-phase flow as well as to characterize the dynamics of the gas-liquid interface in a vertical pipe flow. Experiments at a pipe of a nominal diameter of 200 mm are taken as the basis for the development and test of closure relations describing bubble coalescence and break-up, interfacial momentum transfer and turbulence modulation for a multi-bubble-class model. This is done by measuring the evolution of the flow structure along the pipe. The transferability of the extended CFD code to more complicated 3D flow situations is assessed against measured data from tests involving two-phase flow around an asymmetric obstacle placed in a vertical pipe. The obstacle, a half-moon-shaped diaphragm, is movable in the direction of the pipe axis; this allows the 3D gas fraction field to be recorded without changing the sensor position. In the outlook, the pressure chamber of TOPFLOW is presented, which will be used as the containment for a test facility, in which experiments can be conducted in pressure equilibrium with the inner atmosphere of the tank. In this way, flow structures can be observed by optical means through large-scale windows even at pressures of up to 5 MPa. The so-called 'Diving Chamber' technology will be used for Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) tests. Finally, some important trends in instrumentation for multi-phase flows will be given. This includes the state-of-art of X-ray and gamma tomography, new multi-component wire-mesh sensors, and a discussion of the potential of

Combustion synthesis of advanced materials. [using in-situ infiltration technique

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, J. J.; Feng, H. J.; Perkins, N.; Readey, D. W.

1992-01-01

The combustion synthesis of ceramic-metal composites using an in-situ liquid infiltration technique is described. The effect of varying the reactants and their stoichiometry to provide a range of reactant and product species i.e. solids, liquids and gases, with varying physical properties e.g. thermal conductivity, on the microstructure and morphology of synthesized products is also described. Alternatively, conducting the combustion synthesis reaction in a reactive gas environment is also discussed, in which advantages can be gained from the synergistic effects of combustion synthesis and vapor phase transport. In each case, the effect of the presence or absence of gravity (density) driven fluid flow and vapor transport is discussed as is the potential for producing new and perhaps unique materials by conducting these SHS reactions under microgravity conditions.

Motivational techniques to improve self-care in hemophilia: the need to support autonomy in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Bérubé, Sarah; Mouillard, Florine; Amesse, Claudine; Sultan, Serge

2016-01-11

In pediatric hemophilia, caregivers are facing unique challenges to adherence and self-care in children and adolescents with hemophilia. Hemophilia treatment requires adequate prophylaxis and on-demand treatment, as well as a clear behavioral strategy to limit risk-taking in terms of physical exercise and diet. Medication adherence rates of hemophilia patients have been reported to decrease during late childhood and adolescence. In the developing child, moving safely from parent-care to self-care is one of the greatest challenges of integrative care within this domain. There is a clear need for initiatives designed to increase an individual's motivation for treatment and self-care activities. Among motivational approaches, the self-determination perspective offers a useful framework to explain how the transition to self-care can be facilitated. We discuss how motivation regarding hemophilia treatment may be increased through parental autonomy support and we offer examples of applied communication techniques to facilitate autonomy-supportive caregiving. Although it has not yet been tested in the context of hemophilia, these communication techniques could potentially help caregivers promote adherence and self-care in children. Confronted by unique challenges to adherence and self-care, caregivers of children with hemophilia should move from an exclusive focus on illness-management education to an integrative strategy, including motivation-enhancing communication. The self-determination perspective provides important proximal objectives (e.g. autonomy support) to maintain optimal adherence in adolescents as they move from parent-care to self-care. Future research initiatives should address the practice of these communication techniques and evaluate them in the context of hemophilia.

Conditions for uniqueness of product representations for separable quantum channels and separable quantum states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, Scott M.

2014-01-01

We give a sufficient condition that an operator sum representation of a separable quantum channel in terms of product operators is the unique product representation for that channel, and then provide examples of such channels for any number of parties. This result has implications for efforts to determine whether or not a given separable channel can be exactly implemented by local operations and classical communication. By the Choi-Jamiolkowski isomorphism, it also translates to a condition for the uniqueness of product state ensembles representing a given quantum state. These ideas follow from considerations concerning whether or not a subspace spanned by a given set of product operators contains at least one additional product operator

Technique, Thematic, Symbolism and Semiotics - Authentic Synthesis in Adem Kastrati’s Creativity

OpenAIRE

Shpresa Tolaj-Gjonbalaj

2015-01-01

The choice to bring this topic consists in choosing the creative vocation of the inventive painter Adem Kastrati, who articulates the artistic work with a unique technique, the usage of brown soil color, as a pictorial material and tool without artificial mixture, stressing also the application of the specific pictorial structure, which is considered unique up to now. Main objective of this paper is the analysis of the technical, thematic, symbolic and semiotic authenticity, in Adem Kastrati’...

Unique Physician Identification Number (UPIN) Directory

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Unique Physician Identification Number (UPIN) Directory contains selected information on physicians, doctors of Osteopathy, limited licensed practitioners and...

Probability, statistics, and associated computing techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

James, F.

1983-01-01

This chapter attempts to explore the extent to which it is possible for the experimental physicist to find optimal statistical techniques to provide a unique and unambiguous quantitative measure of the significance of raw data. Discusses statistics as the inverse of probability; normal theory of parameter estimation; normal theory (Gaussian measurements); the universality of the Gaussian distribution; real-life resolution functions; combination and propagation of uncertainties; the sum or difference of 2 variables; local theory, or the propagation of small errors; error on the ratio of 2 discrete variables; the propagation of large errors; confidence intervals; classical theory; Bayesian theory; use of the likelihood function; the second derivative of the log-likelihood function; multiparameter confidence intervals; the method of MINOS; least squares; the Gauss-Markov theorem; maximum likelihood for uniform error distribution; the Chebyshev fit; the parameter uncertainties; the efficiency of the Chebyshev estimator; error symmetrization; robustness vs. efficiency; testing of hypotheses (e.g., the Neyman-Pearson test); goodness-of-fit; distribution-free tests; comparing two one-dimensional distributions; comparing multidimensional distributions; and permutation tests for comparing two point sets

Power system stabilizers based on modern control techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malik, O P; Chen, G P; Zhang, Y; El-Metwally, K [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

1994-12-31

Developments in digital technology have made it feasible to develop and implement improved controllers based on sophisticated control techniques. Power system stabilizers based on adaptive control, fuzzy logic and artificial networks are being developed. Each of these control techniques possesses unique features and strengths. In this paper, the relative performance of power systems stabilizers based on adaptive control, fuzzy logic and neural network, both in simulation studies and real time tests on a physical model of a power system, is presented and compared to that of a fixed parameter conventional power system stabilizer. (author) 16 refs., 45 figs., 3 tabs.

Acoustical holographic Siamese image technique for imaging radial cracks in reactor piping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collins, H.D.; Gribble, R.P.

1985-04-01

This paper describes a unique technique (i.e., ''Siamese imaging'') for imaging quasi-vertical defects in reactor pipe weldments. The Siamese image is a bi-symmetrical view of the inner surface defect. Image construction geometry consists of two probes (i.e., source/receiver) operating either from opposite sides or the same side of the defect to be imaged. As the probes are scanned across a lower surface connected defect, they encounter two images - first the normal upright image and then the inverted image. The final integrated image consists of two images connected along their baselines, thus we call it a ''Siamese image.'' The experimental imaging results on simulated and natural cracks in reactor piping weldments graphically illustrate this unique technique. Excellent images of mechanical fatique and thermal cracks were obtained on ferritic and austenitic piping

A uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ya-Fen; Yu, Shih-Hui; Shiao, Ding-Rui

2013-04-01

Connected health care provides new opportunities for improving financial and clinical performance. Many connected health care applications such as telecare medicine information system, personally controlled health records system, and patient monitoring have been proposed. Correct and quality care is the goal of connected heath care, and user authentication can ensure the legality of patients. After reviewing authentication schemes for connected health care applications, we find that many of them cannot protect patient privacy such that others can trace users/patients by the transmitted data. And the verification tokens used by these authentication schemes to authenticate users or servers are only password, smart card and RFID tag. Actually, these verification tokens are not unique and easy to copy. On the other hand, biometric characteristics, such as iris, face, voiceprint, fingerprint and so on, are unique, easy to be verified, and hard to be copied. In this paper, a biometrics-based user authentication scheme will be proposed to ensure uniqueness and anonymity at the same time. With the proposed scheme, only the legal user/patient himself/herself can access the remote server, and no one can trace him/her according to transmitted data.

On 0-Complete Partial Metric Spaces and Quantitative Fixed Point Techniques in Denotational Semantics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Shahzad

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In 1994, Matthews introduced the notion of partial metric space with the aim of providing a quantitative mathematical model suitable for program verification. Concretely, Matthews proved a partial metric version of the celebrated Banach fixed point theorem which has become an appropriate quantitative fixed point technique to capture the meaning of recursive denotational specifications in programming languages. In this paper we show that a few assumptions in statement of Matthews fixed point theorem can be relaxed in order to provide a quantitative fixed point technique useful to analyze the meaning of the aforementioned recursive denotational specifications in programming languages. In particular, we prove a new fixed point theorem for self-mappings between partial metric spaces in which the completeness has been replaced by 0-completeness and the contractive condition has been weakened in such a way that the new one best fits the requirements of practical problems in denotational semantics. Moreover, we provide examples that show that the hypothesis in the statement of our new result cannot be weakened. Finally, we show the potential applicability of the developed theory by means of analyzing a few concrete recursive denotational specifications, some of them admitting a unique meaning and others supporting multiple ones.

Unique Capabilities of the Situational Awareness Sensor Suite for the ISS (SASSI) Mission Concept to Study the Equatorial Ionosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Habash Krause, L.; Gilchrist, B. E.; Minow, J. I.; Gallagher, D. L.; Hoegy, W. R.; Coffey, V. N.; Willis, E. M.

2014-12-01

We present an overview of a mission concept named Situational Awareness Sensor Suite for the ISS (SASSI) with a special focus here on low-latitude ionospheric plasma turbulence measurements relevant to equatorial spread-F. SASSI is a suite of sensors that improves Space Situational Awareness for the ISS local space environment, as well as unique ionospheric measurements and support active plasma experiments on the ISS. As such, the mission concept has both operational and basic research objectives. We will describe two compelling measurement techniques enabled by SASSI's unique mission architecture. That is, SASSI provides new abilities to 1) measure space plasma potentials in low Earth orbit over ~100 m relative to a common potential, and 2) to investigate multi-scale ionospheric plasma turbulence morphology simultaneously of both ~ 1 cm and ~ 10 m scale lengths. The first measurement technique will aid in the distinction of vertical drifts within equatorial plasma bubbles from the vertical motions of the bulk of the layer due to zonal electric fields. The second will aid in understanding ionospheric plasma turbulence cascading in scale sizes that affect over the horizon radar. During many years of ISS operation, we have conducted effective (but not perfect) human and robotic extravehicular activities within the space plasma environment surrounding the ISS structure. However, because of the complexity of the interaction between the ISS and the space environment, there remain important sources of unpredictable environmental situations that affect operations. Examples of affected systems include EVA safety, solar panel efficiency, and scientific instrument integrity. Models and heuristically-derived best practices are well-suited for routine operations, but when it comes to unusual or anomalous events or situations, there is no substitute for real-time monitoring. SASSI is being designed to deploy and operate a suite of low-cost, medium/high-TRL plasma sensors on

New Examples of Torsion-Free Non-unique Product Groups

OpenAIRE

Carter, William

2013-01-01

We give an infinite family of torsion-free groups that do not satisfy the unique product property. For these examples, we also show that each group contains arbitrarily large sets whose square has no uniquely represented element.

Mandibular lateral incisor with four root canals: A unique case of double tooth diagnosed using multidetector computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Sunil Kumar; Acharya, Shashi Rashmi; Ather, Amber; Gupta, Jaya

2013-01-01

Double tooth is a dental anomaly consequent to fusion of two or more teeth or gemination of a single tooth. This report describes a unique case of double tooth in relation to a mandibular lateral incisor exhibiting the presence of four root canals. The role of conventional radiography and advanced three-dimensional imaging techniques in the better assessment of complex root canal systems and their aid in endodontic management has also been highlighted.

A Unique Marine and Environmental Science Program for High School Teachers in Hawai'i: Professional Development, Teacher Confidence, and Lessons Learned

Science.gov (United States)

Rivera, Malia Ana J.; Manning, Mackenzie M.; Krupp, David A.

2013-01-01

Hawai'i is a unique and special place to conduct environmental science inquiry through place based learning and scientific investigation. Here, we describe and evaluate a unique professional development program for science teachers in Hawai'i that integrates the traditional approach of providing training to improve content knowledge, with the…

Social marketing's unique contribution to mental health stigma reduction and HIV testing: two case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Thackeray, Rosemary; Keller, Heidi; Heilbronner, Jennifer Messenger; Dellinger, Laura K Lee

2011-03-01

Since its inception in 2005, articles in Health Promotion Practice's social marketing department have focused on describing social marketing's unique contributions and the application of each to the practice of health promotion. This article provides a brief review of six unique features (marketing mix, consumer orientation, segmentation, exchange, competition, and continuous monitoring) and then presents two case studies-one on reducing stigma related to mental health and the other a large-scale campaign focused on increasing HIV testing among African American youth. The two successful case studies show that social marketing principles can be applied to a wide variety of topics among various population groups.

PET-CT in the typification of unique pulmonary injuries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cobos, P.; San Roman, Jose L.; Dalurzo, L.

2007-01-01

The objective of this document is to evaluate the usefulness of the PET-CT for the characterization of the unique pulmonary injuries. Retrospective analysis was made to patients with unique pulmonary injuries who carried out a PET-CT in the Italian Hospital between May of 2003 - March of 2005. Those patients with pulmonary outlying nodule, or unique pulmonary mass that had pathological anatomy of injury or follow-up through a computed tomography of thorax made with an interval of time not minor at 2 years of the PET-CT were included [es

Special feature on imaging systems and techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wuqiang; Giakos, George

2013-07-01

The IEEE International Conference on Imaging Systems and Techniques (IST'2012) was held in Manchester, UK, on 16-17 July 2012. The participants came from 26 countries or regions: Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, UAE, UK and USA. The technical program of the conference consisted of a series of scientific and technical sessions, exploring physical principles, engineering and applications of new imaging systems and techniques, as reflected by the diversity of the submitted papers. Following a rigorous review process, a total of 123 papers were accepted, and they were organized into 30 oral presentation sessions and a poster session. In addition, six invited keynotes were arranged. The conference not only provided the participants with a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and disseminate research outcomes but also paved a way to establish global collaboration. Following the IST'2012, a total of 55 papers, which were technically extended substantially from their versions in the conference proceeding, were submitted as regular papers to this special feature of Measurement Science and Technology . Following a rigorous reviewing process, 25 papers have been finally accepted for publication in this special feature and they are organized into three categories: (1) industrial tomography, (2) imaging systems and techniques and (3) image processing. These papers not only present the latest developments in the field of imaging systems and techniques but also offer potential solutions to existing problems. We hope that this special feature provides a good reference for researchers who are active in the field and will serve as a catalyst to trigger further research. It has been our great pleasure to be the guest editors of this special feature. We would like to thank the authors for their contributions, without which it would

Lattices with unique complements

CERN Document Server

Saliĭ, V N

1988-01-01

The class of uniquely complemented lattices properly contains all Boolean lattices. However, no explicit example of a non-Boolean lattice of this class has been found. In addition, the question of whether this class contains any complete non-Boolean lattices remains unanswered. This book focuses on these classical problems of lattice theory and the various attempts to solve them. Requiring no specialized knowledge, the book is directed at researchers and students interested in general algebra and mathematical logic.

Requirements for facilities and measurement techniques to support CFD development for hypersonic aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Sellers, William L., III; Dwoyer, Douglas L.

1992-01-01

The design of a hypersonic aircraft poses unique challenges to the engineering community. Problems with duplicating flight conditions in ground based facilities have made performance predictions risky. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been proposed as an additional means of providing design data. At the present time, CFD codes are being validated based on sparse experimental data and then used to predict performance at flight conditions with generally unknown levels of uncertainty. This paper will discuss the facility and measurement techniques that are required to support CFD development for the design of hypersonic aircraft. Illustrations are given of recent success in combining experimental and direct numerical simulation in CFD model development and validation for hypersonic perfect gas flows.

Development of criteria for evaluating clinical response in thyroid eye disease using a modified Delphi technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Douglas, Raymond S; Tsirbas, Angelo; Gordon, Mark

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To identify components of a provisional clinical response index for thyroid eye disease using a modified Delphi technique. METHODS: The International Thyroid Eye Disease Society conducted a structured, 3-round Delphi exercise establishing consensus for a core set of measures for clinical...... parsed into 11 domains for the Delphi surveys. Eighty-four respondents participated in the Delphi 1 survey, providing 220 unique items. Ninety-two members (100% of the respondents from Delphi 1 plus 8 new participants) responded in Delphi 2 and rated the same 220 items. Sixty-four members (76......% of participants) rated 153 criteria in Delphi 3 (67 criteria were excluded because of redundancy). Criteria with a mean greater than 6 (1 = least appropriate to 9 = most appropriate) were further evaluated by the nominal group technique and provisional core measures were chosen. CONCLUSIONS: Using a Delphi...

On the uniqueness of static perfect-fluid solutions in general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beig, R.; Simon, W.

1990-01-01

Following earlier work of Masood-ul-Alam, we consider a uniqueness problem for nonrotating stellar models. Given a static, asymptotically flat perfect-fluid spacetime with barotropic equation of state ρ(p), and given another such spacetime which is spherically symmetric and has the same ρ(p) and the same surface potential: we prove that both are identical provided ρ(p) satisfies a certain differential inequality. This inequality is more natural and less restrictive that the conditions required by Masood-ul-Alam. 30 refs. (Authors)

Parent-provider communication during hospitalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Mark J; Broome, Marion E

2011-02-01

Parents and health care providers interact and communicate with each other during a child's hospitalization. The purpose of this study was to compare communication experiences of parents, nurses, and physicians. A unique aspect of this study involved combining three individual data sources into a collective unit of study (triad). Triads involved in the care of three children in the inpatient setting of an urban children's hospital served as the sample for this study (n = 10). Participants were asked semistructured questions during face-to-face interviews. Findings included (a) the importance of providing information by health care providers using a caring and inclusive approach, (b) the benefits of establishing interpersonal connections and nurturing relationships, and (c) the identification of specific behaviors in all members of the triad that contribute to and sustain positively perceived communication. Future research directions examining triadic interactions, communication, and relationships among parents, nurses, and physicians are recommended. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Application of a distributed optical fiber sensing technique in monitoring the stress of precast piles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Y; Shi, B; Wei, G Q; Zhang, D; Chen, S E

2012-01-01

Due to its ability in providing long distance, distributed sensing, the optical fiber sensing technique based on a Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (BOTDR) has a unique advantage in monitoring the stability and safety of linear structures. This paper describes the application of a BOTDR-based technique to measure the stress within precast piles. The principle behind the BOTDR and the embedding technique for the sensing optical fiber in precast piles is first introduced, and then the analysis method and deformation and stress calculation based on distributed strain data are given. Finally, a methodology for using a BOTDR-based monitoring workflow for in situ monitoring of precast piles, combined with a practical example, is introduced. The methodology requires implantation of optical fibers prior to pile placement. Field experimental results show that the optical fiber implantation method with slotting, embedding, pasting and jointing is feasible, and have accurately measured the axial force, side friction, end-bearing resistance and bearing feature of the precast pile according to the strain measuring data. (paper)

Surface science techniques

CERN Document Server

Bracco, Gianangelo

2013-01-01

The book describes the experimental techniques employed to study surfaces and interfaces. The emphasis is on the experimental method. Therefore all chapters start with an introduction of the scientific problem, the theory necessary to understand how the technique works and how to understand the results. Descriptions of real experimental setups, experimental results at different systems are given to show both the strength and the limits of the technique. In a final part the new developments and possible extensions of the techniques are presented. The included techniques provide microscopic as well as macroscopic information. They cover most of the techniques used in surface science.

Uniqueness of solutions for a mathematical model for magneto-viscoelastic flows

Science.gov (United States)

Schlömerkemper, A.; Žabenský, J.

2018-06-01

We investigate uniqueness of weak solutions for a system of partial differential equations capturing behavior of magnetoelastic materials. This system couples the Navier–Stokes equations with evolutionary equations for the deformation gradient and for the magnetization obtained from a special case of the micromagnetic energy. It turns out that the conditions on uniqueness coincide with those for the well-known Navier–Stokes equations in bounded domains: weak solutions are unique in two spatial dimensions, and weak solutions satisfying the Prodi–Serrin conditions are unique among all weak solutions in three dimensions. That is, we obtain the so-called weak-strong uniqueness result in three spatial dimensions.

In situ tagging technique for fishes provides insight into growth and movement of invasive lionfish.

Science.gov (United States)

Akins, John L; Morris, James A; Green, Stephanie J

2014-10-01

's mass. Our study offers a novel in situ tagging technique that can be used to provide critical information on fish site fidelity, movement patterns, and growth in cases where ex situ tagging is not feasible.

Automatic Classification of Sub-Techniques in Classical Cross-Country Skiing Using a Machine Learning Algorithm on Micro-Sensor Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ole Marius Hoel Rindal

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The automatic classification of sub-techniques in classical cross-country skiing provides unique possibilities for analyzing the biomechanical aspects of outdoor skiing. This is currently possible due to the miniaturization and flexibility of wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs that allow researchers to bring the laboratory to the field. In this study, we aimed to optimize the accuracy of the automatic classification of classical cross-country skiing sub-techniques by using two IMUs attached to the skier’s arm and chest together with a machine learning algorithm. The novelty of our approach is the reliable detection of individual cycles using a gyroscope on the skier’s arm, while a neural network machine learning algorithm robustly classifies each cycle to a sub-technique using sensor data from an accelerometer on the chest. In this study, 24 datasets from 10 different participants were separated into the categories training-, validation- and test-data. Overall, we achieved a classification accuracy of 93.9% on the test-data. Furthermore, we illustrate how an accurate classification of sub-techniques can be combined with data from standard sports equipment including position, altitude, speed and heart rate measuring systems. Combining this information has the potential to provide novel insight into physiological and biomechanical aspects valuable to coaches, athletes and researchers.

Sampling phased array a new technique for signal processing and ultrasonic imaging

OpenAIRE

Bulavinov, A.; Joneit, D.; Kröning, M.; Bernus, L.; Dalichow, M.H.; Reddy, K.M.

2006-01-01

Different signal processing and image reconstruction techniques are applied in ultrasonic non-destructive material evaluation. In recent years, rapid development in the fields of microelectronics and computer engineering lead to wide application of phased array systems. A new phased array technique, called "Sampling Phased Array" has been developed in Fraunhofer Institute for non-destructive testing. It realizes unique approach of measurement and processing of ultrasonic signals. The sampling...

A unique case of craniopagus twins: considerations and challenges for dental rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Karen M

2013-01-01

The purpose of this case report was to describe oral findings and outline challenges and considerations for general anesthetic (GA) and dental management of 4-year-old female craniopagus (cranially conjoined) twins, at high risk for medical comorbidity, who presented for treatment of severe early childhood caries. This hospital-based procedure required good interdisciplinary communication, cooperation, and presurgical planning to address unique challenges and ensure positive postoperative outcomes. Two separate anesthesia teams delivered GA simultaneously to each twin. To minimize anesthetic exposure, two pediatric dental teams completed dental care concurrently. Extensive plaque accumulation and unusual "mirror-image" caries distribution were attributed to frequency and postural pooling during feeding. The rehabilitation objective was to provide definitive dental management, minimizing future need for dental retreatment under GA. Two-month follow-up revealed intact dental restorations, good oral hygiene, and weight gain. For these unique twins however, the challenge of long-term oral health maintenance remains.

Uniqueness of the electrostatic solution in Schwarzschild space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molnar, Pal G.; Elsaesser, Klaus

2003-01-01

In this Brief Report we give the proof that the solution of any static test charge distribution in Schwarzschild space is unique. In order to give the proof we derive the first Green's identity written with p-forms on (pseudo) Riemannian manifolds. Moreover, the proof of uniqueness can be shown for either any purely electric or purely magnetic field configuration. The spacetime geometry is not crucial for the proof

Indirect Techniques in Nuclear Astrophysics. Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient and Trojan Horse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukhamedzhanov, A.M.; Blokhintsev, L.D.; Brown, S.

2007-01-01

We address two important indirect techniques, the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) and the Trojan Horse (TH) methods. We discuss the application of the ANC technique to determine the astrophysical factor for the 13 C(α, n) 16 O reaction which is one of the neutron generators for the s processes in AGB stars. The TH method is a unique indirect technique allowing one to measure astrophysical S factors for rearrangement reactions down to astrophysically relevant energies. We derive equations connecting the cross sections for the binary direct and resonant reactions determined from the indirect TH reactions to direct cross sections measurements

MO-B-BRB-02: 3D Dosimetry in the Clinic: IMRT Technique Validation in Sweden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ceberg, S. [Lund University (Sweden)

2016-06-15

Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by the development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data in an

MO-B-BRB-02: 3D Dosimetry in the Clinic: IMRT Technique Validation in Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ceberg, S.

2016-01-01

Full three-dimensional (3D) dosimetry using volumetric chemical dosimeters probed by 3D imaging systems has long been a promising technique for the radiation therapy clinic, since it provides a unique methodology for dose measurements in the volume irradiated using complex conformal delivery techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. To date true 3D dosimetry is still not widely practiced in the community; it has been confined to centres of specialized expertise especially for quality assurance or commissioning roles where other dosimetry techniques are difficult to implement. The potential for improved clinical applicability has been advanced considerably in the last decade by the development of improved 3D dosimeters (e.g., radiochromic plastics, radiochromic gel dosimeters and normoxic polymer gel systems) and by improved readout protocols using optical computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. In this session, established users of some current 3D chemical dosimeters will briefly review the current status of 3D dosimetry, describe several dosimeters and their appropriate imaging for dose readout, present workflow procedures required for good dosimetry, and analyze some limitations for applications in select settings. We will review the application of 3D dosimetry to various clinical situations describing how 3D approaches can complement other dose delivery validation approaches already available in the clinic. The applications presented will be selected to inform attendees of the unique features provided by full 3D techniques. Learning Objectives: L. John Schreiner: Background and Motivation Understand recent developments enabling clinically practical 3D dosimetry, Appreciate 3D dosimetry workflow and dosimetry procedures, and Observe select examples from the clinic. Sofie Ceberg: Application to dynamic radiotherapy Observe full dosimetry under dynamic radiotherapy during respiratory motion, and Understand how the measurement of high resolution dose data in an

Application for trackless mining technique in Benxi uranium mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Bingguo

1998-01-01

The author narrates the circumstances achieving constructional target in Benxi Uranium Mine under relying on advance of science and technology and adopting small trackless mining equipment, presents the application of trackless mining equipment at mining small mine and complex mineral deposit and discusses the unique superiority of trackless mining technique in development work, mining preparation work and backstoping

Neutron diffraction tomography: a unique, 3D inspection technique for crystals using an intensifier TV system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, J.B.; Case, A.L.

1978-01-01

The application of phosphor-intensifier-TV techniques to neutron topography and tomography of crystals is described. The older, analogous x-ray topography using wavelengths approximately 1.5A is widely used for surface inspection. However, the crystal must actually be cut in order to see diffraction anomalies beneath the surface. Because 1.5-A thermal neutrons are highly penetrating, much larger and thicker specimens can be used. Also, since neutrons have magnetic moments, they are diffracted by magnetic structures within crystals. In neutron volume topography, the entire crystal or a large part of it is irradiated, and the images obtained are superimposed reflections from the total volume. In neutron tomography (or section topography), a collimated beam irradiates a slice (0.5 to 10 mm) of the crystal. The diffracted image is a tomogram from this part only. A series of tomograms covering the crystal can be taken as the specimen is translated in steps across the narrow beam. Grains, voids, twinning, and other defects from regions down to 1 mm in size can be observed and isolated. Although at present poorer in resolution than the original neutron and film methods, the TV techniques are much faster and, in some cases, permit real-time viewing. Two camera systems are described: a counting camera having a 150 mm 6 Li-ZnS screen for low-intensity reflections which are integrated in a digital memory, and a 300-mm system using analog image storage. Topographs and tomograms of several crystals ranging in size from 4 mm to 80 mm are shown

Airway support using a pediatric intubation tube in adult patients with atrial fibrillation: A simple and unique method to prevent heart movement during catheter ablation under continuous deep sedation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masateru Takigawa, MD

2017-08-01

Conclusion: This unique airway management technique using a pediatric intubation tube for CA procedures performed in adult patients with AF under continuous deep sedation was easy, safe, and effective.

A Novel Image Steganography Technique for Secured Online Transaction Using DWT and Visual Cryptography

Science.gov (United States)

Anitha Devi, M. D.; ShivaKumar, K. B.

2017-08-01

Online payment eco system is the main target especially for cyber frauds. Therefore end to end encryption is very much needed in order to maintain the integrity of secret information related to transactions carried online. With access to payment related sensitive information, which enables lot of money transactions every day, the payment infrastructure is a major target for hackers. The proposed system highlights, an ideal approach for secure online transaction for fund transfer with a unique combination of visual cryptography and Haar based discrete wavelet transform steganography technique. This combination of data hiding technique reduces the amount of information shared between consumer and online merchant needed for successful online transaction along with providing enhanced security to customer’s account details and thereby increasing customer’s confidence preventing “Identity theft” and “Phishing”. To evaluate the effectiveness of proposed algorithm Root mean square error, Peak signal to noise ratio have been used as evaluation parameters

Conservation of a unique mechanism of immune evasion across the Lyssavirus genus.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiltzer, L; Larrous, F; Oksayan, S; Ito, N; Marsh, G A; Wang, L F; Blondel, D; Bourhy, H; Jans, D A; Moseley, G W

2012-09-01

The evasion of host innate immunity by Rabies virus, the prototype of the genus Lyssavirus, depends on a unique mechanism of selective targeting of interferon-activated STAT proteins by the viral phosphoprotein (P-protein). However, the immune evasion strategies of other lyssaviruses, including several lethal human pathogens, are unresolved. Here, we show that this mechanism is conserved between the most distantly related members of the genus, providing important insights into the pathogenesis and potential therapeutic targeting of lyssaviruses.

Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices.

Science.gov (United States)

Madhwani, Kishore P; Nag, P K

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate web-based Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) intervention on office ergonomics - a unique method for prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) - in corporate offices that influences behavior modification. With the increasing use of computers, laptops and hand-held communication devices globally among office employees, creating awareness on office ergonomics has become a top priority. Emphasis needs to be given on maintaining ideal work postures, ergonomic arrangement of workstations, optimizing chair functions, as well as performing desk stretches to reduce MSD arising from the use of these equipment, thereby promoting safe work practices at offices and home, as in the current scenario many employees work from home with flexible work hours. Hence, this justifies the importance of our study. To promote safe working by exploring cost-effective communication methods to achieve behavior change at distant sites when an on-site visit may not be feasible. An invitation was sent by the Medical and Occupational Health Team of a multinational corporation to all employees at their offices in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia to take up an online Nordic questionnaire, a screening tool for musculoskeletal symptoms, shared in local languages on two occasions - baseline evaluation ( n = 240) and a follow-up evaluation after 3 months ( n = 203). After completing the baseline questionnaire, employees were immediately trained on correct postures and office ergonomics with animation graphics. The same questionnaire was sent again after a 12-week gap only to those employees who responded to the baseline questionnaire on initial assessment. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software and variables were compared using odds ratio as well as Chi-square test. Of the 203 employees who responded, 47.35% had some musculoskeletal symptoms. Among them 58.7% had lower back pain

Radioactive source calibration technique for the CMS hadron calorimeter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hazen, E.; Lawlor, C.; Rohlf, J.W. E-mail: rohlf@bu.edu; Wu, S.X.; Baumbaugh, A.; Elias, J.E.; Freeman, J.; Green, D.; Lazic, D.; Los, S.; Ronzhin, A.; Sergueev, S.; Shaw, T.; Vidal, R.; Whitmore, J.; Zimmerman, T.; Adams, M.; Burchesky, K.; Qian, W.; Baden, A.; Bard, R.; Breden, H.; Grassi, T.; Skuja, A.; Fisher, W.; Mans, J.; Tully, C.; Barnes, V.; Laasanen, A.; Barbaro, P. de; Budd, H

2003-10-01

Relative calibration of the scintillator tiles used in the hadronic calorimeter for the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is established and maintained using a radioactive source technique. A movable source can be positioned remotely to illuminate each scintillator tile individually, and the resulting photo-detector current is measured to provide the relative calibration. The unique measurement technique described here makes use of the normal high-speed data acquisition system required for signal digitization at the 40 MHz collider frequency. The data paths for collider measurements and source measurements are then identical, and systematic uncertainties associated with having different signal paths are avoided. In this high-speed mode, the source signal is observed as a Poisson photo-electron distribution with a mean that is smaller than the width of the electronics noise (pedestal) distribution. We report demonstration of the technique using prototype electronics for the complete readout chain and show the typical response observed with a 144 channel test beam system. The electronics noise has a root-mean-square of 1.6 least counts, and a 1 mCi source produces a shift of the mean value of 0.1 least counts. Because of the speed of the data acquisition system, this shift can be measured to a statistical precision better than a fraction of a percent on a millisecond time scale. The result is reproducible to better than 2% over a time scale of 1 month.

Neuropsychologists as primary care providers of cognitive health: A novel comprehensive cognitive wellness service delivery model.

Science.gov (United States)

Pimental, Patricia A; O'Hara, John B; Jandak, Jessica L

2018-01-01

By virtue of their extensive knowledge base and specialized training in brain-behavior relationships, neuropsychologists are especially poised to execute a unique broad-based approach to overall cognitive wellness and should be viewed as primary care providers of cognitive health. This article will describe a novel comprehensive cognitive wellness service delivery model including cognitive health, anti-aging, lifelong wellness, and longevity-oriented practices. These practice areas include brain-based cognitive wellness, emotional and spiritually centric exploration, and related multimodality health interventions. As experts in mind-body connections, neuropsychologists can provide a variety of evidence-based treatment options, empowering patients with a sense of value and purpose. Multiple areas of clinical therapy skill-based learning, tailor-made to fit individual needs, will be discussed including: brain stimulating activities, restorative techniques, automatic negative thoughts and maladaptive thinking reduction, inflammation and pain management techniques, nutrition and culinary focused cognitive wellness, spirituality based practices and mindfulness, movement and exercise, alternative/complimentary therapies, relationship restoration/social engagement, and trauma healing/meaning. Cognitive health rests upon the foundation of counteracting mind-body connection disruptions from multiple etiologies including inflammation, chronic stress, metabolic issues, cardiac conditions, autoimmune disease, neurological disorders, infectious diseases, and allergy spectrum disorders. Superimposed on these issues are lifestyle patterns and negative health behaviors that develop as ill-fated compensatory mechanisms used to cope with life stressors and aging. The brain and body are electrical systems that can "short circuit." The therapy practices inherent in the proposed cognitive wellness service delivery model can provide preventative insulation and circuit breaking against

Advanced enrichment techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, A.

1988-01-01

BNFL is in a unique position in that it has commercial experience of diffusion enrichment, and of centrifuge enrichment through its associate company Urenco. In addition BNFL is developing laser enrichment techniques as part of a UK development programme in this area. The paper describes the development programme which led to the introduction of competitive centrifuge enrichment technology by Urenco and discusses the areas where improvements have and will continue to be made in the centrifuge process. It also describes the laser development programme currently being undertaken in the UK. The paper concludes by discussing the relative merits of the various methods of uranium enrichment, with particular reference to the enrichment market likely to obtain over the rest of the century

Advanced enrichment techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, A.

1987-01-01

BNFL is in a unique position in that it has commercial experience of diffusion enrichment, and of centrifuge enrichment through its associate company Urenco. In addition BNFL is developing laser enrichment techniques as part of a UK development programme in this area. The paper describes the development programme which led to the introduction of competitive centrifuge enrichment technology by Urenco and discusses the areas where improvements have and will continue to be made in the centrifuge process. It also describes the laser development programme currently being undertaken in the UK. The paper concludes by discussing the relative merits of the various methods of uranium enrichment, with particular reference to the enrichment market likely to obtain over the rest of the century. (author)

A New Approach to Environmentally Safe Unique Identification of Long-Term Stored Copper Canisters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chernikova, D.; Axell, K.; Nordlund, A.

2015-01-01

A new approach to environmentally safe unique identification of long-term stored copper canisters is suggested in this paper. The approach is based on the use of a tungstenbased insert placed inside a copper cask between a top iron lid and a copper lid. The insert/label is marked with unique code in a form of binary number, which is implemented as a combination of holes in the tungsten plate. In order to provide a necessary redundancy of the identifier, the tungsten label marked with few identical binary codes. The position of code (i.e., holes in tungsten) corresponds to a predefined placement of the spent fuel assembles in the iron container. This is in order to avoid any non-uniformity of the gamma background at the canister surface caused by a presence of iron-filled spaces between spent nuclear fuel assembles. Due to the use of the tungsten material gamma rays emitted by the spent fuel assembles are collimated in a specific way because of strong attenuation properties of tungsten. As a result, the variation in the gamma-counting rate in a detector array placed on the top of copper lid provides the distribution of the holes in the tungsten insert or in other words the unique identifier. Thus, this way of identification of copper cask do not impair the integrity of the cask and it offers a way that the information about spent nuclear fuel is legible for a time scale up to a few thousands years. (author)

Transcriptome profile and unique genetic evolution of positively selected genes in yak lungs.

Science.gov (United States)

Lan, DaoLiang; Xiong, XianRong; Ji, WenHui; Li, Jian; Mipam, Tserang-Donko; Ai, Yi; Chai, ZhiXin

2018-04-01

The yak (Bos grunniens), which is a unique bovine breed that is distributed mainly in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, is considered a good model for studying plateau adaptability in mammals. The lungs are important functional organs that enable animals to adapt to their external environment. However, the genetic mechanism underlying the adaptability of yak lungs to harsh plateau environments remains unknown. To explore the unique evolutionary process and genetic mechanism of yak adaptation to plateau environments, we performed transcriptome sequencing of yak and cattle (Bos taurus) lungs using RNA-Seq technology and a subsequent comparison analysis to identify the positively selected genes in the yak. After deep sequencing, a normal transcriptome profile of yak lung that containing a total of 16,815 expressed genes was obtained, and the characteristics of yak lungs transcriptome was described by functional analysis. Furthermore, Ka/Ks comparison statistics result showed that 39 strong positively selected genes are identified from yak lungs. Further GO and KEGG analysis was conducted for the functional annotation of these genes. The results of this study provide valuable data for further explorations of the unique evolutionary process of high-altitude hypoxia adaptation in yaks in the Tibetan Plateau and the genetic mechanism at the molecular level.

Applications of neutron activation analysis technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jonah, S. A.

2000-07-01

The technique was developed as far back as 1936 by G. Hevesy and H. Levy for the analysis of Dy using an isotopic source. Approximately 40 elements can be analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INNA) technique with neutrons from a nuclear reactor. By applying radiochemical separation, the number of elements that can be analysed may be increased to almost 70. Compared with other analytical methods used in environmental and industrial research, NAA has some unique features. These are multi-element capability, rapidity, reproducibility of results, complementarity to other methods, freedom from analytical blank and independency of chemical state of elements. There are several types of neutron sources namely: nuclear reactors, accelerator-based and radioisotope-based sources, but nuclear reactors with high fluxes of neutrons from the fission of 235 U give the most intense irradiation, and hence the highest available sensitivities for NAA. In this paper, the applications of NAA of socio-economic importance are discussed. The benefits of using NAA and related nuclear techniques for on-line applications in industrial process control are highlighted. A brief description of the NAA set-ups at CERT is enumerated. Finally, NAA is compared with other leading analytical techniques

Multiple floating metatarsals: a unique injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trikha Vivek

2013-04-01

Full Text Available 【Abstract】Concomitant dislocation of the tar-sometatarsal and metatarsophalangeal joints of foot is an extremely rare injury. Such injuries presenting in a single or adjacent dual rays have been described in few cases previously. We describe such an injury in adjacent three metatarsals of a polytrauma patient. These injuries are likely to be missed in the initial assessment of a polytrauma patient. These patients are at risk of an overlooked diagnosis but the consequences of missing this type of injury may be Vivek Trikha*, Tarun Goyal, Amit K Agarwal quite severe. This case is presented in view of its unique-ness along with possible mechanism of injury, the sequence of reduction and follow-up. Knowledge of such injury and its proper management may be useful to the trauma surgeons. Key words: Metatarsal bones; Metatarsophalangeal joint; Wounds and injuries

Emerging optical nanoscopy techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Montgomery PC

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Paul C Montgomery, Audrey Leong-Hoi Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Ingénieur, de l'Informatique et de l'Imagerie (ICube, Unistra-CNRS, Strasbourg, France Abstract: To face the challenges of modern health care, new imaging techniques with subcellular resolution or detection over wide fields are required. Far field optical nanoscopy presents many new solutions, providing high resolution or detection at high speed. We present a new classification scheme to help appreciate the growing number of optical nanoscopy techniques. We underline an important distinction between superresolution techniques that provide improved resolving power and nanodetection techniques for characterizing unresolved nanostructures. Some of the emerging techniques within these two categories are highlighted with applications in biophysics and medicine. Recent techniques employing wider angle imaging by digital holography and scattering lens microscopy allow superresolution to be achieved for subcellular and even in vivo, imaging without labeling. Nanodetection techniques are divided into four subcategories using contrast, phase, deconvolution, and nanomarkers. Contrast enhancement is illustrated by means of a polarized light-based technique and with strobed phase-contrast microscopy to reveal nanostructures. Very high sensitivity phase measurement using interference microscopy is shown to provide nanometric surface roughness measurement or to reveal internal nanometric structures. Finally, the use of nanomarkers is illustrated with stochastic fluorescence microscopy for mapping intracellular structures. We also present some of the future perspectives of optical nanoscopy. Keywords: microscopy, imaging, superresolution, nanodetection, biophysics, medical imaging

On the Non-Uniqueness of Sediment Yield

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J.; Ivanov, V. Y.; Fatichi, S.

2014-12-01

There has been ample experimental evidence that soil erosion does not necessarily occur at the same rate, given the same amount of rainfall or runoff. Such a non-unique phenomenon has been often referred to in literature as due to 'natural variability'. Our recent study hypothesized that uncertainties in the distribution and properties of a sediment layer can be a potential clue to one of the reasons of the non-unique sediment yield. Specifically, numerical experimentation with a sophisticated two-dimensional model showed that a deposited layer plays two conflicting roles: it can both increase and decrease soil erosion, given the same magnitude of runoff. The difference in erodibilities of the "original, intact soil layer" and the "deposited, loose soil layer" and the composition of soil particles in the underlying layers give rise to the non-uniqueness of the amount of eroded materials. In continuing efforts, we attempt to investigate this phenomenon using a comprehensive the Universal Soil Loss Erosion (USLE) database, that contains data on paired hillslopes that show a high degree of non-uniqueness in the response, even though the hillslopes exhibit the same topography, soil type, rainfall and meteorological forcings, and landuse. An underlying hypothesis of this study is that uncertainties in the distribution of soil substrate prior to a rainfall event lead to low predictability skill, i.e., a stochastically-varying outcome. A large number of simulation cases demonstrating the proposed hypothesis are conducted using a coupled numerical model, tRIBS-VEGGIE-FEaST (Triangulated irregular network - based Real time Integrated Basin Simulator- VEGetation Generator for Interactive Evolution -Flow Erosion and Sediment Transport).

Dynamic Tensile Experimental Techniques for Geomaterials: A Comprehensive Review

Science.gov (United States)

Heard, W.; Song, B.; Williams, B.; Martin, B.; Sparks, P.; Nie, X.

2018-01-01

This review article is dedicated to the Dynamic Behavior of Materials Technical Division for celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM). Understanding dynamic behavior of geomaterials is critical for analyzing and solving engineering problems of various applications related to underground explosions, seismic, airblast, and penetration events. Determining the dynamic tensile response of geomaterials has been a great challenge in experiments due to the nature of relatively low tensile strength and high brittleness. Various experimental approaches have been made in the past century, especially in the most recent half century, to understand the dynamic behavior of geomaterials in tension. In this review paper, we summarized the dynamic tensile experimental techniques for geomaterials that have been developed. The major dynamic tensile experimental techniques include dynamic direct tension, dynamic split tension, and spall tension. All three of the experimental techniques are based on Hopkinson or split Hopkinson (also known as Kolsky) bar techniques and principles. Uniqueness and limitations for each experimental technique are also discussed.

Creativity and technical innovation: spatial ability's unique role.

Science.gov (United States)

Kell, Harrison J; Lubinski, David; Benbow, Camilla P; Steiger, James H

2013-09-01

In the late 1970s, 563 intellectually talented 13-year-olds (identified by the SAT as in the top 0.5% of ability) were assessed on spatial ability. More than 30 years later, the present study evaluated whether spatial ability provided incremental validity (beyond the SAT's mathematical and verbal reasoning subtests) for differentially predicting which of these individuals had patents and three classes of refereed publications. A two-step discriminant-function analysis revealed that the SAT subtests jointly accounted for 10.8% of the variance among these outcomes (p development of creativity, beyond the roles played by the abilities traditionally measured in educational selection, counseling, and industrial-organizational psychology. Spatial ability plays a key and unique role in structuring many important psychological phenomena and should be examined more broadly across the applied and basic psychological sciences.

LIGO and the opening of a unique observational window on the universe.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalogera, Vassiliki; Lazzarini, Albert

2017-03-21

A unique window on the universe opened on September 14, 2015, with direct detection of gravitational waves by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. This event culminated a half-century effort around the globe to develop terrestrial detectors of adequate sensitivity to achieve this goal. It also happened appropriately only a few months before the centennial of Einstein's final paper introducing the general theory of relativity. This detection provided the surprising discovery of a coalescing pair of "heavy" black holes (more massive than [Formula: see text] M[Formula: see text]) leading to the formation of a spinning [Formula: see text]62 solar mass black hole. One more binary black-hole detection and a significant candidate event demonstrated that a population of such merging binaries is formed in nature with a broad mass spectrum. This unique observational sample has already provided concrete measurements on the coalescence rates and has allowed us to test the theory of general relativity in the strong-field regime. As this nascent field of gravitational-wave astrophysics is emerging we are looking forward to the detection of binary mergers involving neutron stars and their electromagnetic counterparts, as well as continuous-wave sources, supernovae, a stochastic confusion background of compact-object mergers, known sources detected in unexpected ways, and completely unknown sources.

Novel Technique for Safe Primary Trocar Insertion in Laparoscopy: Chou's Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pan-Hsin Chou

2005-06-01

Conclusion: The results with this novel method incorporating the unique concept of directly holding the fascia suggest it to be relatively safe, simple, and economic. The risk of major vascular injury was decreased to nil by this technique and the chance of visceral injury was also minimal.

Sampling phased array - a new technique for ultrasonic signal processing and imaging

OpenAIRE

Verkooijen, J.; Boulavinov, A.

2008-01-01

Over the past 10 years, the improvement in the field of microelectronics and computer engineering has led to significant advances in ultrasonic signal processing and image construction techniques that are currently being applied to non-destructive material evaluation. A new phased array technique, called 'Sampling Phased Array', has been developed in the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing([1]). It realises a unique approach of measurement and processing of ultrasonic signals. Th...

Accessibility of physical states and non-uniqueness of entanglement measure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morikoshi, Fumiaki; Santos, Marcelo Franca; Vedral, Vlatko

2004-01-01

Ordering physical states is the key to quantifying some physical property of the states uniquely. Bipartite pure entangled states are totally ordered under local operations and classical communication (LOCC) in the asymptotic limit and uniquely quantified by the well-known entropy of entanglement. However, we show that mixed entangled states are partially ordered under LOCC even in the asymptotic limit. Therefore, non-uniqueness of entanglement measure is understood on the basis of an operational notion of asymptotic convertibility

Ultrasound comparison of external and internal neck anatomy with the LMA Unique.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Steven M; Wojtczak, Jacek A; Cattano, Davide

2017-12-01

Internal neck anatomy landmarks and their relation after placement of an extraglottic airway devices have not been studied extensively by the use of ultrasound. Based on our group experience with external landmarks as well as internal landmarks evaluation with other techniques, we aimed use ultrasound to analyze the internal neck anatomy landmarks and the related changes due to the placement of the Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. Observational pilot investigation. Non-obese adult patients with no evidence of airway anomalies, were recruited. External neck landmarks were measured based on a validated and standardized method by tape. Eight internal anatomical landmarks, reciprocal by the investigational hypothesis to the external landmarks, were also measured by ultrasound guidance. The internal landmarks were re-measured after optimal placement and inflation of the extraglottic airway devices cuff Laryngeal Mask Airway Unique. Six subjects were recruited. Ultrasound measurements of hyoid-mental distance, thyroid-cricoid distance, thyroid height, and thyroid width were found to be significantly ( p internal neck anatomy. The induced changes and respective specific internal neck anatomy landmarks could help to design devices that would modify their shape accordingly to areas of greatest displacement. Also, while external neck landmark measurements overestimate their respective internal neck landmarks, as we previously reported, the concordance of each measurement and their respective conversion factor could continue to be of help in sizing extraglottic airway devices. Due to the pilot nature of the study, more investigations are warranted.

Conservation of a Unique Mechanism of Immune Evasion across the Lyssavirus Genus

Science.gov (United States)

Wiltzer, L.; Larrous, F.; Oksayan, S.; Ito, N.; Marsh, G. A.; Wang, L. F.; Blondel, D.; Bourhy, H.; Jans, D. A.

2012-01-01

The evasion of host innate immunity by Rabies virus, the prototype of the genus Lyssavirus, depends on a unique mechanism of selective targeting of interferon-activated STAT proteins by the viral phosphoprotein (P-protein). However, the immune evasion strategies of other lyssaviruses, including several lethal human pathogens, are unresolved. Here, we show that this mechanism is conserved between the most distantly related members of the genus, providing important insights into the pathogenesis and potential therapeutic targeting of lyssaviruses. PMID:22740405

Programmable self-assembly of three-dimensional nanostructures from 10,000 unique components

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, Luvena L.; Hanikel, Nikita; Yaghi, Omar K.; Grun, Casey; Strauss, Maximilian T.; Bron, Patrick; Lai-Kee-Him, Josephine; Schueder, Florian; Wang, Bei; Wang, Pengfei; Kishi, Jocelyn Y.; Myhrvold, Cameron; Zhu, Allen; Jungmann, Ralf; Bellot, Gaetan; Ke, Yonggang; Yin, Peng

2017-12-01

Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are widely used to construct nanometre-scale structures with ever increasing complexity, with possible application in fields such as structural biology, biophysics, synthetic biology and photonics. The nanostructures are formed through one-pot self-assembly, with early kilodalton-scale examples containing typically tens of unique DNA strands. The introduction of DNA origami, which uses many staple strands to fold one long scaffold strand into a desired structure, has provided access to megadalton-scale nanostructures that contain hundreds of unique DNA strands. Even larger DNA origami structures are possible, but manufacturing and manipulating an increasingly long scaffold strand remains a challenge. An alternative and more readily scalable approach involves the assembly of DNA bricks, which each consist of four short binding domains arranged so that the bricks can interlock. This approach does not require a scaffold; instead, the short DNA brick strands self-assemble according to specific inter-brick interactions. First-generation bricks used to create three-dimensional structures are 32 nucleotides long, consisting of four eight-nucleotide binding domains. Protocols have been designed to direct the assembly of hundreds of distinct bricks into well formed structures, but attempts to create larger structures have encountered practical challenges and had limited success. Here we show that DNA bricks with longer, 13-nucleotide binding domains make it possible to self-assemble 0.1-1-gigadalton, three-dimensional nanostructures from tens of thousands of unique components, including a 0.5-gigadalton cuboid containing about 30,000 unique bricks and a 1-gigadalton rotationally symmetric tetramer. We also assembled a cuboid that contains around 10,000 bricks and about 20,000 uniquely addressable, 13-base-pair ‘voxels’ that serves as a molecular canvas for three-dimensional sculpting. Complex, user-prescribed, three-dimensional cavities can

Sputtering. [as deposition technique in mechanical engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Spalvins, T.

1976-01-01

This paper primarily reviews the potential of using the sputtering process as a deposition technique; however, the manufacturing and sputter etching aspects are also discussed. Since sputtering is not regulated by classical thermodynamics, new multicomponent materials can be developed in any possible chemical composition. The basic mechanism for dc and rf sputtering is described. Sputter-deposition is described in terms of the unique advantageous features it offers such as versatility, momentum transfer, stoichiometry, sputter-etching, target geometry (coating complex surfaces), precise controls, flexibility, ecology, and sputtering rates. Sputtered film characteristics, such as strong adherence and coherence and film morphology, are briefly evaluated in terms of varying the sputtering parameters. Also described are some of the specific industrial areas which are turning to sputter-deposition techniques.

“Spray Technique: Tracing the Sketch Traditions of Limestone Cave in Lenggong, Perak”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahaya Fatan Hamamah

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Archaeological research provides the widest opportunity for researchers to analyse various aspects and disciplines appropriate to the subject and the object of choice. Subject and object selection is the work of exploration artefacts found in particular sites and archaeological heritage. Exploration and excavation on of a world heritage site such as Lenggong enables researchers to uncover various archaeological artefacts that are rich and meaningful. To find evidence of the strength and benefits of an artefact, further studies on each artefact should be carried out continuously. This essay will track the wisdom of the ancient artists use to produce paintings in a limestone cave in Lenggong, Perak, using spray techniques. Some artefacts that are identified as cave paintings show a very interesting sketch technique that are unique and special. This essay will also examine some of the cave paintings in other caves in Perak and also other caves in several countries as comparison. Studies involving cave paintings in Malaysia are new compared to Western countries. Thus, the study of one of the technique which is spray technique can open the eyes of the audience to acknowledge and recognise the ancient heritage. It also hoped that this study is able to increase the body of knowledge that goes beyond the boundaries of the arts district and the country.

STIM with energy loss contrast: An imaging modality unique to MeV ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefevre, H.W.; Schofield, R.M.S.; Bench, G.S.; Legge, G.J.F.

1991-01-01

Scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) through measurement of energy loss of individual ions is a quantitative imaging technique with several unique capabilities. The uniqueness derives conjointly from the large penetration with small scattering of MeV ions in low-Z specimens, from the simple relationship between energy loss and projected or areal density, and from the almost 100% efficiency with which one obtains pixel data from individual ions. Since contrast is in energy loss and not in numbers of events, the statistics of energy loss straggling affects the image but the statistics of counting does not. Small scattering makes it possible to observe details within transparent specimens. High efficiency makes it possible to collect large data sets for computed tomography, stereo, or high-definition imaging with a small radiation dose. High efficiency allows one to minimize aberrations by use of small apertures, to achieve good precision in the determination of areal density, or even to image live biological specimens in air since only one or a few ions per pixel are required. This paper includes a bibliography on STIM with MeV ions, it discusses the accuracy that one can achieve in the areal density coloring of a pixel with data from one or a few ions, and it supplements that review with recent examples from the Melbourne and the Eugene microprobes. (orig.)

Providing Nutritional Care in the Office Practice: Teams, Tools, and Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Kushner, Robert F

2016-11-01

Provision of dietary counseling in the office setting is enhanced by using team-based care and electronic tools. Effective provider-patient communication is essential for fostering behavior change: the key component of lifestyle medicine. The principles of communication and behavior change are skill-based and grounded in scientific theories and models. Motivational interviewing and shared decision making, a collaboration process between patients and their providers to reach agreement about a health decision, is an important process in counseling. The stages of change, self-determination, health belief model, social cognitive model, theory of planned behavior, and cognitive behavioral therapy are used in the counseling process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Addressing Uniqueness and Unison of Reliability and Safety for a Better Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhaofeng; Safie, Fayssal

2016-01-01

Over time, it has been observed that Safety and Reliability have not been clearly differentiated, which leads to confusion, inefficiency, and, sometimes, counter-productive practices in executing each of these two disciplines. It is imperative to address this situation to help Reliability and Safety disciplines improve their effectiveness and efficiency. The paper poses an important question to address, "Safety and Reliability - Are they unique or unisonous?" To answer the question, the paper reviewed several most commonly used analyses from each of the disciplines, namely, FMEA, reliability allocation and prediction, reliability design involvement, system safety hazard analysis, Fault Tree Analysis, and Probabilistic Risk Assessment. The paper pointed out uniqueness and unison of Safety and Reliability in their respective roles, requirements, approaches, and tools, and presented some suggestions for enhancing and improving the individual disciplines, as well as promoting the integration of the two. The paper concludes that Safety and Reliability are unique, but compensating each other in many aspects, and need to be integrated. Particularly, the individual roles of Safety and Reliability need to be differentiated, that is, Safety is to ensure and assure the product meets safety requirements, goals, or desires, and Reliability is to ensure and assure maximum achievability of intended design functions. With the integration of Safety and Reliability, personnel can be shared, tools and analyses have to be integrated, and skill sets can be possessed by the same person with the purpose of providing the best value to a product development.

Elemental mercury: Its unique properties affect its behavior and fate in the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Raymat, Hansell; Liu, Guangliang; Liriano, Carolina; Li, Yanbin; Yin, Yongguang; Shi, Jianbo; Jiang, Guibin; Cai, Yong

2017-01-01

Elemental mercury (Hg 0 ) has different behavior in the environment compared to other pollutants due to its unique properties. It can remain in the atmosphere for long periods of time and so can travel long distances. Through air-surface (e.g., vegetation or ocean) exchange (dry deposition), Hg 0 can enter terrestrial and aquatic systems where it can be converted into other Hg species. Despite being ubiquitous and playing a key role in Hg biogeochemical cycling, Hg 0 behavior in the environment is not well understood. The objective of this review is to provide a better understanding of how the unique physicochemical properties of Hg 0 affects its cycling and chemical transformations in different environmental compartments. The first part focuses on the fundamental chemistry of Hg 0 , addressing why Hg 0 is liquid at room temperature and the formation of amalgam, Hg halide, and Hg chalcogenides. The following sections discuss the long-range transport of Hg 0 as well as its redistribution in the atmosphere, aquatic and terrestrial systems, in particular, on the sorption/desorption processes that occur in each environmental compartment as well as the involvement of Hg 0 in chemical transformation processes driven by photochemical, abiotic, and biotic reactions. - Highlights: • Unique property of Hg 0 make it to behave differently with other toxic metals. • Hg 0 is considered the only global metal pollutant due to its uniqueness. • Hg 0 can be easily transformed and efficiently redistributed in the environments. - A better understanding of the properties and behavior of Hg 0 is the key to elucidate the biogeochemical cycling of mercury, a global pollutant in the environment.

No-insulation multi-width winding technique for high temperature superconducting magnet.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Seungyong; Kim, Youngjae; Keun Park, Dong; Kim, Kwangmin; Voccio, John P; Bascuñán, Juan; Iwasa, Yukikazu

2013-10-21

We present a No-Insulation ( NI ) Multi-Width ( MW ) winding technique for an HTS (high temperature superconductor) magnet consisting of double-pancake (DP) coils. The NI enables an HTS magnet self-protecting and the MW minimizes the detrimental anisotropy in current-carrying capacity of HTS tape by assigning tapes of multiple widths to DP coils within a stack, widest tape to the top and bottom sections and the narrowest in the midplane section. This paper presents fabrication and test results of an NI-MW HTS magnet and demonstrates the unique features of the NI-MW technique: self-protecting and enhanced field performance, unattainable with the conventional technique.

Risk-based maintenance-Techniques and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arunraj, N.S.; Maiti, J.

2007-01-01

Plant and equipment, however well designed, will not remain safe or reliable if it is not maintained. The general objective of the maintenance process is to make use of the knowledge of failures and accidents to achieve the possible safety with the lowest possible cost. The concept of risk-based maintenance was developed to inspect the high-risk components usually with greater frequency and thoroughness and to maintain in a greater manner, to achieve tolerable risk criteria. Risk-based maintenance methodology provides a tool for maintenance planning and decision making to reduce the probability of failure of equipment and the consequences of failure. In this paper, the risk analysis and risk-based maintenance methodologies were identified and classified into suitable classes. The factors affecting the quality of risk analysis were identified and analyzed. The applications, input data and output data were studied to understand their functioning and efficiency. The review showed that there is no unique way to perform risk analysis and risk-based maintenance. The use of suitable techniques and methodologies, careful investigation during the risk analysis phase, and its detailed and structured results are necessary to make proper risk-based maintenance decisions

Building unique surface structure on aramid fibers through a green layer-by-layer self-assembly technique to develop new high performance fibers with greatly improved surface activity, thermal resistance, mechanical properties and UV resistance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Lifang; Yuan, Li; Guan, Qingbao; Gu, Aijuan, E-mail: ajgu@suda.edu.cn; Liang, Guozheng, E-mail: lgzheng@suda.edu.cn

2017-07-31

Highlights: • A green technology is setup to build unique surface structure on aramid fiber (AF). • The method is layer-by-layer self-assembling SiO{sub 2} and layered double hydroxide. • The surface of AF is adjustable by controlling the self-assembly cycle number. • New AF has excellent surface activity, anti-UV, thermal and mechanical properties. • The origin behind attractive performances of new AFs was intensively studied. - Abstract: Combining green preparation and high performance is becoming the direction of sustainable development of materials. How to simultaneously overcome the two bottlenecks (poor surface activity and UV resistance) of aramid fibers (AFs) while improving thermal and mechanical properties through a green process is still an interesting issue with big challenge. Herein, new AFs (BL-AFs) were prepared by alternately self-assembling SiO{sub 2} and MgAlFe layered double hydroxide (LDH) on surfaces of AFs, successively, through a green layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique without using high temperature and organic solvent. The structures and properties of BL-AFs were systematically studied, which are controllable by adjusting the number of self-assembly cycle. The new fibers with three or more self-assembly cycles have remarkably improved surface activity, thermal resistance, mechanical properties and UV resistance compared with AFs. Typically, with three self-assembly cycles, the initial degradation temperature and char yield of the new fiber (3BL-AF) are as high as 552.9 °C and 81.2%, about 92 °C and 25.2% higher than those of AF, respectively; after 168 h-UV irradiation, the retention of tensile performances of 3BL-AF fiber is as high as 91–95%, about 29–14% higher than that of AF, showing the best overall performances among all modified AFs prepared using a green technique reported so far. The origin behind the attractive performances of BL-AFs is revealed through correlating with structures of original and

Plastic-casting intrinsic-surface unique identifier (tag)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palm, R.G.; De Volpi, A.

1995-04-01

This report describes the development of an authenticated intrinsic-surf ace tagging method for unique- identification of controlled items. Although developed for control of items limited by an arms control treaty, this method has other potential applications to keep track of critical or high-value items. Each tag (unique-identifier) consists of the intrinsic, microscopic surface topography of a small designated area on a controlled item. It is implemented by making a baseline plastic casting of the designated tag area and usually placing a cover (for example, a bar-code label) over this area to protect the surface from environmental alteration. The plastic casting is returned to a laboratory and prepared for high-resolution scanning electron microscope imaging. Several images are digitized and stored for use as a standard for authentication of castings taken during future inspections. Authentication is determined by numerically comparing digital images. Commercially available hardware and software are used for this tag. Tag parameters are optimized, so unique casting images are obtained from original surfaces, and images obtained from attempted duplicate surfaces are detected. This optimization uses the modulation transfer function, a first principle of image analysis, to determine the parameters. Surface duplication experiments confirmed the optimization

Unique Turbinal Morphology in Horseshoe Bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Abigail A; Simmons, Nancy B

2017-02-01

The mammalian nasal fossa contains a set of delicate and often structurally complex bones called turbinals. Turbinals and associated mucosae function in regulating respiratory heat and water loss, increasing surface area for olfactory tissue, and directing airflow within the nasal fossa. We used high-resolution micro-CT scanning to investigate a unique maxilloturbinal morphology in 37 species from the bat family Rhinolophidae, which we compared with those of families Hipposideridae, Megadermatidae, and Pteropodidae. Rhinolophids exhibit numerous structural modifications along the nasopharyngeal tract associated with emission of high duty cycle echolocation calls via the nostrils. In rhinolophids, we found that the maxilloturbinals and a portion of ethmoturbinal I form a pair of strand-like bony structures on each side of the nasal chamber. These structures project anteriorly from the transverse lamina and complete a hairpin turn to project posteriorly down the nasopharyngeal duct, and vary in length among species. The strand-like maxilloturbinals in Rhinolophidae were not observed in our outgroups and represent a synapomorphy for this family, and are unique in form among mammals. Within Rhinolophidae, maxilloturbinal size and cross-sectional shape were correlated with phylogeny. We hypothesize that strand-shaped maxilloturbinals may function to reduce respiratory heat and water loss without greatly impacting echolocation call transmission since they provide increased mucosal surface area for heat and moisture exchange but occupy minimal space. Alternatively, they may play a role in transmission of echolocation calls since they are located directly along the path sound travels between the larynx and nostrils during call emission. Anat Rec, 300:309-325, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Selenoproteins-What unique properties can arise with selenocysteine in place of cysteine?

Science.gov (United States)

Arnér, Elias S J

2010-05-01

The defining entity of a selenoprotein is the inclusion of at least one selenocysteine (Sec) residue in its sequence. Sec, the 21st naturally occurring genetically encoded amino acid, differs from its significantly more common structural analog cysteine (Cys) by the identity of a single atom: Sec contains selenium instead of the sulfur found in Cys. Selenium clearly has unique chemical properties that differ from sulfur, but more striking are perhaps the similarities between the two elements. Selenium was discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, a renowned Swedish scientist instrumental in establishing the institution that would become Karolinska Institutet. Written at the occasion of the bicentennial anniversary of Karolinska Institutet, this mini review focuses on the unique selenium-derived properties that may potentially arise in a protein upon the inclusion of Sec in place of Cys. With 25 human genes encoding selenoproteins and in total several thousand selenoproteins yet described in nature, it seems likely that the presence of that single selenium atom of Sec should convey some specific feature, thereby explaining the existence of selenoproteins in spite of demanding and energetically costly Sec-specific synthesis machineries. Nonetheless, most, if not all, of the currently known selenoproteins are also found as Cys-containing non-selenoprotein orthologues in other organisms, wherefore any potentially unique properties of selenoproteins are yet a matter of debate. The pK(a) of free Sec (approximately 5.2) being significantly lower than that of free Cys (approximately 8.5) has often been proposed as one of the unique features of Sec. However, as discussed herein, this pK(a) difference between Sec and Cys can hardly provide an evolutionary pressure for maintenance of selenoproteins. Moreover, the typically 10- to 100-fold lower enzymatic efficiencies of Sec-to-Cys mutants of selenoprotein oxidoreductases, are also weak arguments for the overall existence of

Weeping dragon, a unique ornamenal citrus

Science.gov (United States)

‘Weeping Dragon’ is a new ornamental citrus cultivar developed by intercrossing of two unusual and unique citrus types, Poncirus trifoliata cultivated variety (cv.) Flying Dragon, and Citrus sinensis cv. ‘Cipo’. This new hybrid cultivar combines strongly contorted and weeping growth traits in a smal...

Uniqueness of the Fock quantization of the Gowdy T3 model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortez, Jeronimo; Marugan, Guillermo A. Mena; Velhinho, Jose M.

2007-01-01

After its reduction by a gauge-fixing procedure, the family of linearly polarized Gowdy T 3 cosmologies admits a scalar field description whose evolution is governed by a Klein-Gordon type equation in a flat background in 1+1 dimensions with the spatial topology of S 1 , though in the presence of a time-dependent potential. The model is still subject to a homogeneous constraint, which generates S 1 -translations. Recently, a Fock quantization of this scalar field was introduced and shown to be unique under the requirements of unitarity of the dynamics and invariance under the gauge group of S 1 -translations. In this work, we extend and complete this uniqueness result by considering other possible scalar field descriptions, resulting from reasonable field reparametrizations of the induced metric of the reduced model. In the reduced phase space, these alternate descriptions can be obtained by means of a time-dependent scaling of the field, the inverse scaling of its canonical momentum, and the possible addition of a time-dependent, linear contribution of the field to this momentum. Demanding again unitarity of the field dynamics and invariance under the gauge group, we prove that the alternate canonical pairs of fieldlike variables admit a Fock representation if and only if the scaling of the field is constant in time. In this case, there exists essentially a unique Fock representation, provided by the quantization constructed by Corichi, Cortez, and Mena Marugan. In particular, our analysis shows that the scalar field description proposed by Pierri does not admit a Fock quantization with the above unitarity and invariance properties

Uniqueness of family therapists as family business systems consultants: a cross-disciplinary investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jinhee; Danes, Sharon M

2012-06-01

The purpose of this study is to address how the consulting approaches of family therapists working with family businesses differ from those of business consultants. The logic of analytic induction was used to analyze qualitative data from family business consultants with and without training in family therapy. Consultants were asked to respond to two vignettes: one emphasized primarily family system problems, whereas the other emphasized business problems with influencing issues at the family/business intersection. Both similarities and differences were found in reference to problem assessment, consulting goal orientation, intervention strategy focus, consultant role and function, and consulting setting preference between consultants with and without family therapy training. Results indicate that consultants of each discipline provide a unique perspective and expertise that allow them to successfully address the spectrum of issues that family firms face. Further, findings highlight the unique contribution of family therapists to an interdisciplinary consulting team. © 2012 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Unique sudden onsets capture attention even when observers are in feature-search mode.

Science.gov (United States)

Spalek, Thomas M; Yanko, Matthew R; Poiese, Paola; Lagroix, Hayley E P

2012-01-01

Two sources of attentional capture have been proposed: stimulus-driven (exogenous) and goal-oriented (endogenous). A resolution between these modes of capture has not been straightforward. Even such a clearly exogenous event as the sudden onset of a stimulus can be said to capture attention endogenously if observers operate in singleton-detection mode rather than feature-search mode. In four experiments we show that a unique sudden onset captures attention even when observers are in feature-search mode. The displays were rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) streams of differently coloured letters with the target letter defined by a specific colour. Distractors were four #s, one of the target colour, surrounding one of the non-target letters. Capture was substantially reduced when the onset of the distractor array was not unique because it was preceded by other sets of four grey # arrays in the RSVP stream. This provides unambiguous evidence that attention can be captured both exogenously and endogenously within a single task.

Αpproach techniques and psychological support in pediatric patients: literature review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthoula Patsiala

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Effective approaches and psychological support of pediatric patients provided by health professionals are complex processes. The negative reactions and fear that pediatric patients develop during their hospitalization hamper cooperation with health professionals. The pediatric nursing staff is called upon to apply appropriate techniques for managing these situations.The purpose of this paper was to investigate, through contemporary literature review, methods of technical and psychological support of pediatric patients, applied by nurses in everyday clinical practice. The management of negative reactions and fear of pediatric patients requires individualized approach, given the uniqueness of each one of them. However, there are some general measures which may bring the ultimate results. According to literature some of them are: creation of a sincere relationship through targeted discussion, application of documented interactive educational programs to familiarize with nursing and medical procedures, distraction during painful acts, such as venipuncture or bladder catheterization, and finally high perception to identify nonverbal reactions.Awareness and familiarization of health professionals with appropriate methods will improve the relationship between pediatric patients and healthcare providers.

Signal Amplification Technique (SAT): an approach for improving resolution and reducing image noise in computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phelps, M.E.; Huang, S.C.; Hoffman, E.J.; Plummer, D.; Carson, R.

1981-01-01

Spatial resolution improvements in computed tomography (CT) have been limited by the large and unique error propagation properties of this technique. The desire to provide maximum image resolution has resulted in the use of reconstruction filter functions designed to produce tomographic images with resolution as close as possible to the intrinsic detector resolution. Thus, many CT systems produce images with excessive noise with the system resolution determined by the detector resolution rather than the reconstruction algorithm. CT is a rigorous mathematical technique which applies an increasing amplification to increasing spatial frequencies in the measured data. This mathematical approach to spatial frequency amplification cannot distinguish between signal and noise and therefore both are amplified equally. We report here a method in which tomographic resolution is improved by using very small detectors to selectively amplify the signal and not noise. Thus, this approach is referred to as the signal amplification technique (SAT). SAT can provide dramatic improvements in image resolution without increases in statistical noise or dose because increases in the cutoff frequency of the reconstruction algorithm are not required to improve image resolution. Alternatively, in cases where image counts are low, such as in rapid dynamic or receptor studies, statistical noise can be reduced by lowering the cutoff frequency while still maintaining the best possible image resolution. A possible system design for a positron CT system with SAT is described

A cell-microelectronic sensing technique for profiling cytotoxicity of chemicals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyd, Jessica M.; Huang, Li; Xie Li; Moe, Birget; Gabos, Stephan; Li Xingfang

2008-01-01

A cell-microelectronic sensing technique is developed for profiling chemical cytotoxicity and is used to study different cytotoxic effects of the same class chemicals using nitrosamines as examples. This technique uses three human cell lines (T24 bladder, HepG2 liver, and A549 lung carcinoma cells) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells in parallel as the living components of the sensors of a real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) method for dynamic monitoring of chemical toxicity. The RT-CES technique measures changes in the impedance of individual microelectronic wells that is correlated linearly with changes in cell numbers during t log phase of cell growth, thus allowing determination of cytotoxicity. Four nitrosamines, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPhA), N-nitrosopiperidine (NPip), and N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPyr), were examined and unique cytotoxicity profiles were detected for each nitrosamine. In vitro cytotoxicity values (IC 50 ) for NDPhA (ranging from 0.6 to 1.9 mM) were significantly lower than the IC 50 values for the well-known carcinogen NDMA (15-95 mM) in all four cell lines. T24 cells were the most sensitive to nitrosamine exposure among the four cell lines tested (T24 > CHO > A549 > HepG2), suggesting that T24 may serve as a new sensitive model for cytotoxicity screening. Cell staining results confirmed that administration of the IC 50 concentration from the RT-CES experiments inhibited cell growth by 50% compared to the controls, indicating that the RT-CES method provides reliable measures of IC 50 . Staining and cell-cycle analysis confirmed that NDPhA caused cell-cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase, whereas NDMA did not disrupt the cell cycle but induced cell death, thus explaining the different cytotoxicity profiles detected by the RT-CES method. The parallel cytotoxicity profiling of nitrosamines on the four cell lines by the RT-CES method led to the discovery of the unique cytotoxicity of NDPhA causing cell

A cell-microelectronic sensing technique for profiling cytotoxicity of chemicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boyd, Jessica M [Division of Analytical and Environmental Toxicology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, 10-102 Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3 (Canada); Huang, Li [Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 10-102 Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3 (Canada); Li, Xie; Moe, Birget [Division of Analytical and Environmental Toxicology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, 10-102 Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3 (Canada); Gabos, Stephan [Public Health Surveillance and Environmental Health, Alberta Health and Wellness, 10025 Jasper Avenue, Box 1360, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 2N3 (Canada); Xingfang, Li [Division of Analytical and Environmental Toxicology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, 10-102 Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3 (Canada); Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 10-102 Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G3 (Canada)], E-mail: xingfang.li@ualberta.ca

2008-05-12

A cell-microelectronic sensing technique is developed for profiling chemical cytotoxicity and is used to study different cytotoxic effects of the same class chemicals using nitrosamines as examples. This technique uses three human cell lines (T24 bladder, HepG2 liver, and A549 lung carcinoma cells) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells in parallel as the living components of the sensors of a real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES) method for dynamic monitoring of chemical toxicity. The RT-CES technique measures changes in the impedance of individual microelectronic wells that is correlated linearly with changes in cell numbers during t log phase of cell growth, thus allowing determination of cytotoxicity. Four nitrosamines, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPhA), N-nitrosopiperidine (NPip), and N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPyr), were examined and unique cytotoxicity profiles were detected for each nitrosamine. In vitro cytotoxicity values (IC{sub 50}) for NDPhA (ranging from 0.6 to 1.9 mM) were significantly lower than the IC{sub 50} values for the well-known carcinogen NDMA (15-95 mM) in all four cell lines. T24 cells were the most sensitive to nitrosamine exposure among the four cell lines tested (T24 > CHO > A549 > HepG2), suggesting that T24 may serve as a new sensitive model for cytotoxicity screening. Cell staining results confirmed that administration of the IC{sub 50} concentration from the RT-CES experiments inhibited cell growth by 50% compared to the controls, indicating that the RT-CES method provides reliable measures of IC{sub 50}. Staining and cell-cycle analysis confirmed that NDPhA caused cell-cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase, whereas NDMA did not disrupt the cell cycle but induced cell death, thus explaining the different cytotoxicity profiles detected by the RT-CES method. The parallel cytotoxicity profiling of nitrosamines on the four cell lines by the RT-CES method led to the discovery of the unique cytotoxicity of NDPh

On uniqueness in evolution quasivariational inequalities

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Brokate, M.; Krejčí, Pavel; Schnabel, H.

2004-01-01

Roč. 11, č. 1 (2004), s. 111-130 ISSN 0944-6532 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1019905 Keywords : evolution quasivariational inequality * uniqueness * sweeping process Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.425, year: 2004 http://www.heldermann-verlag.de/jca/jca11/jca0386.pdf

The International Universities Walking Project: development of a framework for workplace intervention using the Delphi technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilson, Nicholas; Brown, Wendy J; Faulkner, Guy; McKenna, Jim; Murphy, Marie; Pringle, Andy; Proper, Karin; Puig-Ribera, Anna; Stathi, Aphroditi

2009-07-01

This paper aimed to use the Delphi technique to develop a consensus framework for a multinational, workplace walking intervention. Ideas were gathered and ranked from eight recognized and emerging experts in the fields of physical activity and health, from universities in Australia, Canada, England, The Netherlands, Northern Ireland, and Spain. Members of the panel were asked to consider the key characteristics of a successful campus walking intervention. Consensus was reached by an inductive, content analytic approach, conducted through an anonymous, three-round, e-mail process. The resulting framework consisted of three interlinking themes defined as "design, implementation, and evaluation." Top-ranked subitems in these themes included the need to generate research capacity (design), to respond to group needs through different walking approaches (implementation), and to undertake physical activity assessment (evaluation). Themes were set within an underpinning domain, referred to as the "institution" and sites are currently engaging with subitems in this domain, to provide sustainable interventions that reflect the practicalities of local contexts and needs. Findings provide a unique framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating walking projects in universities and highlight the value of adopting the Delphi technique for planning international, multisite health initiatives.

Holistic Leadership-Nursing's Unique Contribution to Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Pamela N; Bleich, Michael R

2018-04-01

This dialogue is focused on holistic leadership from the perspective of a well-known leader in nursing. He frames the changing healthcare environment and nursing's unique contribution on the interprofessional team.

48 CFR 52.211-7 - Alternatives to Government-unique standards.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Alternatives to Government... Government-unique standards. The offeror may propose voluntary consensus standards that meet the Government's... voluntary consensus standard instead of the Government-unique standard if it meets the Government's...

Fluorescent Photo-conversion: A second chance to label unique cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellott, Adam J; Shinogle, Heather E; Moore, David S; Detamore, Michael S

2015-03-01

Not all cells behave uniformly after treatment in tissue engineering studies. In fact, some treated cells display no signs of treatment or show unique characteristics not consistent with other treated cells. What if the "unique" cells could be isolated from a treated population, and further studied? Photo-convertible reporter proteins, such as Dendra2 , allow for the ability to selectively identify unique cells with a secondary label within a primary labeled treated population. In the current study, select cells were identified and labeled through photo-conversion of Dendra2 -transfected human Wharton's Jelly cells (hWJCs) for the first time. Robust photo-conversion of green-to-red fluorescence was achieved consistently in arbitrarily selected cells, allowing for precise cell identification of select hWJCs. The current study demonstrates a method that offers investigators the opportunity to selectively label and identify unique cells within a treated population for further study or isolation from the treatment population. Photo-convertible reporter proteins, such as Dendra2 , offer the ability over non-photo-convertible reporter proteins, such as green fluorescent protein, to analyze unique individual cells within a treated population, which allows investigators to gain more meaningful information on how a treatment affects all cells within a target population.

Executive Functions Contribute Uniquely to Reading Competence in Minority Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Lisa A.; Koriakin, Taylor; Lipkin, Paul; Boada, Richard; Frijters, Jan; Lovett, Maureen; Hill, Dina; Willcutt, Erik; Gottwald, Stephanie; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R.; Mahone, E. Mark

2018-01-01

Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing “higher-level” or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching). Research in this area has relied on largely Caucasian samples, with limited representation of children from racial or ethnic minority groups. This study examined contributions of executive skills to reading competence in 761 children of minority backgrounds. Hierarchical linear regressions examined unique contributions of executive functions (EF) to word reading, fluency, and comprehension. EF contributed uniquely to reading performance, over and above reading-related language skills; working memory contributed uniquely to all components of reading; while attentional switching, but not problem solving, contributed to isolated and contextual word reading and reading fluency. Problem solving uniquely predicted comprehension, suggesting that this skill may be especially important for reading comprehension in minority youth. Attentional switching may play a unique role in development of reading fluency in minority youth, perhaps as a result of the increased demand for switching between spoken versus written dialects. Findings have implications for educational and clinical practice with regard to reading instruction, remedial reading intervention, and assessment of individuals with reading difficulty. PMID:26755569

DRUMS: a human disease related unique gene mutation search engine.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zuofeng; Liu, Xingnan; Wen, Jingran; Xu, Ye; Zhao, Xin; Li, Xuan; Liu, Lei; Zhang, Xiaoyan

2011-10-01

With the completion of the human genome project and the development of new methods for gene variant detection, the integration of mutation data and its phenotypic consequences has become more important than ever. Among all available resources, locus-specific databases (LSDBs) curate one or more specific genes' mutation data along with high-quality phenotypes. Although some genotype-phenotype data from LSDB have been integrated into central databases little effort has been made to integrate all these data by a search engine approach. In this work, we have developed disease related unique gene mutation search engine (DRUMS), a search engine for human disease related unique gene mutation as a convenient tool for biologists or physicians to retrieve gene variant and related phenotype information. Gene variant and phenotype information were stored in a gene-centred relational database. Moreover, the relationships between mutations and diseases were indexed by the uniform resource identifier from LSDB, or another central database. By querying DRUMS, users can access the most popular mutation databases under one interface. DRUMS could be treated as a domain specific search engine. By using web crawling, indexing, and searching technologies, it provides a competitively efficient interface for searching and retrieving mutation data and their relationships to diseases. The present system is freely accessible at http://www.scbit.org/glif/new/drums/index.html. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Hoshin Kanri: a technique for strategic quality management.

Science.gov (United States)

Tennant, C; Roberts, P A

2000-01-01

This paper describes a technique for Strategic Quality Management (SQM), known as Hoshin Kanri, which has been operated as a management system in many Japanese companies since the 1960s. It represents a core aspect of Japanese companies' management systems, and is stated as: the means by which the overall control system and Total Quality Management (TQM) are deployed. Hoshin Kanri is not particularly unique in its concept of establishing and tracking individual goals and objectives, but the manner in which the objectives and the means to achieve them are developed and deployed is. The problem with applying the concept of Strategic Quality Management (SQM) using Hoshin Kanri, is that it can tend to challenge the traditional authoritarian strategic planning models, which have become the paradigms of modern business. Yet Hoshin Kanri provides an appropriate tool for declaration of the strategic vision for the business while integrating goals and targets in a single holistic model. There have been various adaptations of Hoshin Kanri to align the technique to Western thinking and management approaches, yet outside Japan its significance has gone largely unreported. It is proposed that Hoshin Kanri is an effective methodology for SQM, which has a number of benefits over the more conventional planning techniques. The benefits of Hoshin Kanri as a tool for Strategic Quality Management (SQM) compared to conventional planning systems include: integration of strategic objectives with tactical daily management, the application of the plan-do-check-act cycle to business process management, parallel planning and execution methodology, company wide approach, improvements in communication, increased consensus and buy-in to goal setting, and cross-functional-management integration.

Status and development of nuclear techniques for commercial application in Sichuan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Hao; Pan Pingchuan; Chen Zhuping; Zhu Yun; Chao Xiaochuan [Sichuan Province Institute of Nuclear Technology Application, Chengdu, Sichuan (China)

2001-03-01

This article presents information on fields of radiation techniques in Sichuan and their potential development in future. Sichuan is one of biggest provinces and is a center of economy and art in the southwest of China. Research of nuclear technology began from 1960. The studies at the beginning had focused on agriculture, radiation chemistry industry and radiation medicine. Over the past 30 years, nuclear techniques are used in a wide range of applications, from food preservation to crosslinking. They play an increasingly valuable and often unique role in Sichuan economy. (J.P.N.)

Status and development of nuclear techniques for commercial application in Sichuan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Hao; Pan Pingchuan; Chen Zhuping; Zhu Yun; Chao Xiaochuan

2001-01-01

This article presents information on fields of radiation techniques in Sichuan and their potential development in future. Sichuan is one of biggest provinces and is a center of economy and art in the southwest of China. Research of nuclear technology began from 1960. The studies at the beginning had focused on agriculture, radiation chemistry industry and radiation medicine. Over the past 30 years, nuclear techniques are used in a wide range of applications, from food preservation to crosslinking. They play an increasingly valuable and often unique role in Sichuan economy. (J.P.N.)

Taking Care of You: Body, Mind, Spirit--A Unique Stress Management Program That Improves Lifestyle Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Vetter-Smith, Molly; Massey, Vera; Rellergert, Linda; Wissmann, Mary

2014-01-01

Taking Care of You: Body, Mind, Spirit is a multi-session group program developed by University of Missouri Extension that provides a unique and practical approach to helping adults better managing their stress and bounce back from life's challenges while improving lifestyle behaviors. The program combines mindfulness and a variety of other…

It's magic: a unique practice management strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Steven

2003-11-15

For thousands of years prior to the advent of modern dentistry, magic has been used to entertain, impress, and motivate individuals. Today's dental professionals are using the concept of The Magic of a Healthy Smile through their use of modern clinical techniques and as a means for practice marketing, patient education, and the reduction of patient stress and fear. This article describes how dentists/magicians have incorporated magic into their practices and the benefits of this useful patient management strategy. A script of the "Happy Tooth Magic Show" and resources for dentists to create their own dental magic show are provided.

Authentication techniques for smart cards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, R.A.

1994-02-01

Smart card systems are most cost efficient when implemented as a distributed system, which is a system without central host interaction or a local database of card numbers for verifying transaction approval. A distributed system, as such, presents special card and user authentication problems. Fortunately, smart cards offer processing capabilities that provide solutions to authentication problems, provided the system is designed with proper data integrity measures. Smart card systems maintain data integrity through a security design that controls data sources and limits data changes. A good security design is usually a result of a system analysis that provides a thorough understanding of the application needs. Once designers understand the application, they may specify authentication techniques that mitigate the risk of system compromise or failure. Current authentication techniques include cryptography, passwords, challenge/response protocols, and biometrics. The security design includes these techniques to help prevent counterfeit cards, unauthorized use, or information compromise. This paper discusses card authentication and user identity techniques that enhance security for microprocessor card systems. It also describes the analysis process used for determining proper authentication techniques for a system

Surrogate pregnancy: a guide for Canadian prenatal health care providers

OpenAIRE

Reilly, Dan R.

2007-01-01

Providing health care for a woman with a surrogate pregnancy involves unique challenges. Although the ethical debate surrounding surrogacy continues, Canada has banned commercial, but not altruistic, surrogacy. In the event of a custody dispute between a surrogate mother and the individual(s) intending to parent the child, it is unclear how Canadian courts would rule. The prenatal health care provider must take extra care to protect the autonomy and privacy rights of the surrogate. There is l...

Deep Learning Techniques for Top-Quark Reconstruction

CERN Document Server

Naderi, Kiarash

2017-01-01

Top quarks are unique probes of the standard model (SM) predictions and have the potential to be a window for physics beyond the SM (BSM). Top quarks decay to a $Wb$ pair, and the $W$ can decay in leptons or jets. In a top pair event, assigning jets to their correct source is a challenge. In this study, I studied different methods for improving top reconstruction. The main motivation was to use Deep Learning Techniques in order to enhance the precision of top reconstruction.

Plagiarism detection and prevention techniques in engineering education

OpenAIRE

Halak, Basel; El-Hajjar, Mohammed

2016-01-01

Plagiarism seriously damages the education process in a number of ways; it prevents students from developing the skills of creative thinking and critical analysis; it undermines the trust between lectures and students, and if goes undetected, it can impact the reputation of the academic institution and devalue its degrees. In this paper, we present two techniques for plagiarism detection and prevention. The first method is based on the allocation of a unique assignment for each student, and t...

Procedures and Techniques for the PSA of Digital I and C System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Hyun Gook; Eom, Heung Sup; Jang, Seung Cheol

2006-01-01

UCN 5 and 6 nuclear units (OPR-1000) are being constructed and the Korean Next Generation Reactor (APR-1400) is being designed by using digital I and C equipment for the safety functions such as a reactor protection system, an engineered safety feature actuation system, and a safety equipment control system. Even though the use of digital equipment for safety-related functions provides many advantageous features, there are still many arguable safety issues remaining. Design, configuration management and maintenance are important application areas for the probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). Digital I and C systems are natural candidates for PSA applications. From the viewpoint of the PSA, the digital techniques are very different from the conventional techniques of analog I and C systems because of some unique features. This article aims at giving an overview for the important issues of digital system PSA and at presenting the current status of technology development for each issue. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has performed an initiative research in order to meet risk information needs for digitalized safety-critical systems in Korea. The technologies presented in this article especially focusing on those developed in the KAERI

Airway clearance techniques in neuromuscular disorders: A state of the art review.

Science.gov (United States)

Chatwin, Michelle; Toussaint, Michel; Gonçalves, Miguel R; Sheers, Nicole; Mellies, Uwe; Gonzales-Bermejo, Jesus; Sancho, Jesus; Fauroux, Brigitte; Andersen, Tiina; Hov, Brit; Nygren-Bonnier, Malin; Lacombe, Matthieu; Pernet, Kurt; Kampelmacher, Mike; Devaux, Christian; Kinnett, Kathy; Sheehan, Daniel; Rao, Fabrizio; Villanova, Marcello; Berlowitz, David; Morrow, Brenda M

2018-03-01

This is a unique state of the art review written by a group of 21 international recognized experts in the field that gathered during a meeting organized by the European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC) in Naarden, March 2017. It systematically reports the entire evidence base for airway clearance techniques (ACTs) in both adults and children with neuromuscular disorders (NMD). We not only report randomised controlled trials, which in other systematic reviews conclude that there is a lack of evidence base to give an opinion, but also include case series and retrospective reviews of practice. For this review, we have classified ACTs as either proximal (cough augmentation) or peripheral (secretion mobilization). The review presents descriptions; standard definitions; the supporting evidence for and limitations of proximal and peripheral ACTs that are used in patients with NMD; as well as providing recommendations for objective measurements of efficacy, specifically for proximal ACTs. This state of the art review also highlights how ACTs may be adapted or modified for specific contexts (e.g. in people with bulbar insufficiency; children and infants) and recommends when and how each technique should be applied. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Use of PIXE techniques for food variety differentiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alayande, S.O.; Osinkolu, G.A.; Makinde, W.; Ogundele, T.

2011-01-01

Various foods come with varieties; each presents its own uniqueness in term of beneficial nutrients. Differentiation of these varieties will assist to obtain optimum benefit from their consumption, hence PIXE technique was used to differentiate known cowpea varieties in South-west Nigeria. Local names for the varieties were alayin nla, alayin wewe, mala, drum and sakata. The technique detected six major elements (Mg, K, Ca, P, S and CI) and several trace elements (AI, Fe, Ni, Cu, Mn, Sr, Si, Rb and Ti). The concentration of beneficial elements in the varieties differ and comparison with recommended daily allowance value shows consumption of some of the variety is sufficient. This research work will guide health workers in their recommendation of cowpea for nutritional deficiency.

Anatomic partial nephrectomy: technique evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Azhar, Raed A; Metcalfe, Charles; Gill, Inderbir S

2015-03-01

Partial nephrectomy provides equivalent long-term oncologic and superior functional outcomes as radical nephrectomy for T1a renal masses. Herein, we review the various vascular clamping techniques employed during minimally invasive partial nephrectomy, describe the evolution of our partial nephrectomy technique and provide an update on contemporary thinking about the impact of ischemia on renal function. Recently, partial nephrectomy surgical technique has shifted away from main artery clamping and towards minimizing/eliminating global renal ischemia during partial nephrectomy. Supported by high-fidelity three-dimensional imaging, novel anatomic-based partial nephrectomy techniques have recently been developed, wherein partial nephrectomy can now be performed with segmental, minimal or zero global ischemia to the renal remnant. Sequential innovations have included early unclamping, segmental clamping, super-selective clamping and now culminating in anatomic zero-ischemia surgery. By eliminating 'under-the-gun' time pressure of ischemia for the surgeon, these techniques allow an unhurried, tightly contoured tumour excision with point-specific sutured haemostasis. Recent data indicate that zero-ischemia partial nephrectomy may provide better functional outcomes by minimizing/eliminating global ischemia and preserving greater vascularized kidney volume. Contemporary partial nephrectomy includes a spectrum of surgical techniques ranging from conventional-clamped to novel zero-ischemia approaches. Technique selection should be tailored to each individual case on the basis of tumour characteristics, surgical feasibility, surgeon experience, patient demographics and baseline renal function.

Techniques for remote maintenance of in-cell material-handling system in the HFEF/N main cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tobias, D.A.; Frickey, C.A.

1975-01-01

Operations in the main cell of HFEF/N have required development of remote handling equipment and unique techniques for maintaining the in-cell material-handling system. Specially designed equipment is used to remove a disabled crane or electromechanical manipulator bridge from its support rails and place it on floor stands for repair or maintenance. Support areas for the main cell, such as the spray chamber and hot repair area, provide essential decontamination, repair, and staging areas for the in-cell material-handling-system equipment and tools. A combined engineering and technical effort in upgrading existing master-slave manipulators has definitely reduced the requirements for their maintenance. The cell is primarily for postirradiation examination of LMFBR materials and fuel elements

In-room CT techniques for image-guided radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, C.-M. Charlie; Paskalev, Kamen M.S.

2006-01-01

Accurate patient setup and target localization are essential to advanced radiation therapy treatment. Significant improvement has been made recently with the development of image-guided radiation therapy, in which image guidance facilitates short treatment course and high dose per fraction radiotherapy, aiming at improving tumor control and quality of life. Many imaging modalities are being investigated, including x-ray computed tomography (CT), ultrasound imaging, positron emission tomography, magnetic resonant imaging, magnetic resonant spectroscopic imaging, and kV/MV imaging with flat panel detectors. These developments provide unique imaging techniques and methods for patient setup and target localization. Some of them are different; some are complementary. This paper reviews the currently available kV x-ray CT systems used in the radiation treatment room, with a focus on the CT-on-rails systems, which are diagnostic CT scanners moving on rails installed in the treatment room. We will describe the system hardware including configurations, specifications, operation principles, and functionality. We will review software development for image fusion, structure recognition, deformation correction, target localization, and alignment. Issues related to the clinical implementation of in-room CT techniques in routine procedures are discussed, including acceptance testing and quality assurance. Clinical applications of the in-room CT systems for patient setup, target localization, and adaptive therapy are also reviewed for advanced radiotherapy treatments

Spectrometric techniques 2

CERN Document Server

Vanasse, George A

2013-01-01

Spectrometric Techniques, Volume II provides information pertinent to vacuum ultraviolet techniques to complete the demonstration of the diversity of methods available to the spectroscopist interested in the ultraviolet visible and infrared spectral regions. This book discusses the specific aspects of the technique of Fourier transform spectroscopy.Organized into five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the large number of systematic effects in the recording of an interferogram. This text then examines the design approach for a Fourier transform spectrometer with focus on optics.

MS-Based Analytical Techniques: Advances in Spray-Based Methods and EI-LC-MS Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Medina, Isabel; Cappiello, Achille; Careri, Maria

2018-01-01

Mass spectrometry is the most powerful technique for the detection and identification of organic compounds. It can provide molecular weight information and a wealth of structural details that give a unique fingerprint for each analyte. Due to these characteristics, mass spectrometry-based analytical methods are showing an increasing interest in the scientific community, especially in food safety, environmental, and forensic investigation areas where the simultaneous detection of targeted and nontargeted compounds represents a key factor. In addition, safety risks can be identified at the early stage through online and real-time analytical methodologies. In this context, several efforts have been made to achieve analytical instrumentation able to perform real-time analysis in the native environment of samples and to generate highly informative spectra. This review article provides a survey of some instrumental innovations and their applications with particular attention to spray-based MS methods and food analysis issues. The survey will attempt to cover the state of the art from 2012 up to 2017.

The Uniqueness of Milton Friedman

OpenAIRE

J. Daniel Hammond

2013-01-01

That there is no Milton Friedman today is not a mystery; the mystery is how Milton Friedman could have been. The facts of Friedman’s biography make him unique among twentieth-century public figures. He had extensive knowledge and expertise in mathematics and statistics. Yet he became a critic of ‘formal’ theory, exemplified by mathematical economics, that failed to engage with real-world facts and data, and of econometric modeling that presumed more knowledge of economic structure than Friedm...

Are Anesthesia Providers Ready for Hypnosis? Anesthesia Providers' Attitudes Toward Hypnotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Alexander B; Sheinberg, Rosanne; Bertram, Amanda; Seymour, Anastasia Rowland

2016-04-01

This study sought to measure current attitudes toward hypnosis among anesthesia providers using an in-person survey distributed at a single grand rounds at a single academic teaching hospital. One hundred twenty-six anesthesia providers (anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists) were included in this study. A 10-question Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved questionnaire was developed. One hundred twenty-six (73% of providers at the meeting) anesthesia providers completed the survey. Of the respondents, 54 (43%) were anesthesiologists, 42 (33%) were trainees (interns/residents/fellows) in anesthesia, and 30 (24%) were nurse anesthetists. Over 70% of providers, at each level of training, rated their knowledge of hypnosis as either below average or having no knowledge. Fifty-two (42%) providers agreed or strongly agreed that hypnotherapy has a place in the clinical practice of anesthesia, while 103 (83%) believed that positive suggestion has a place in the clinical practice of anesthesia (p hypnosis were that it is too time consuming (41%) and requires special training (34%). Only three respondents (2%) believed that there were no reasons for using hypnosis in their practice. These data suggest that there is a self-reported lack of knowledge about hypnosis among anesthesia providers, although many anesthesia providers are open to the use of hypnosis in their clinical practice. Anesthesia providers are more likely to support the use of positive suggestion in their practice than hypnosis. Practical concerns should be addressed if hypnosis and therapeutic verbal techniques are to gain more widespread use.

Development of in vivo impedance spectroscopy techniques for measurement of micropore formation following microneedle insertion.

Science.gov (United States)

Brogden, Nicole K; Ghosh, Priyanka; Hardi, Lucia; Crofford, Leslie J; Stinchcomb, Audra L

2013-06-01

Microneedles (MNs) provide a minimally invasive means to enhance skin permeability by creating micron-scale channels (micropores) that provide a drug delivery pathway. Adequate formation of the micropores is critical to the success of this unique drug delivery technique. The objective of the current work was to develop sensitive and reproducible impedance spectroscopy techniques to monitor micropore formation in animal models and human subjects. Hairless guinea pigs, a Yucatan miniature pig, and human volunteers were treated with 100 MN insertions per site following an overnight prehydration period. Repeated measurements were made pre- and post-MN treatment using dry and gel Ag/AgCl electrodes applied with light verses direct pressure to hold the electrode to the skin surface. Impedance measurements dropped significantly post-MN application at all sites (p micropore formation. In the Yucatan pig and human subjects, gel electrodes with direct pressure yielded the lowest variability (demonstrated by lower %relative standard deviation), whereas dry electrodes with direct pressure were superior in the guinea pigs. These studies confirm that impedance measurements are suitable for use in both clinical and animal research environments to monitor the formation of new micropores that will allow for drug delivery through the impermeable skin layers. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Constructing a unique two-phase compressibility factor model for lean gas condensates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moayyedi, Mahmood; Gharesheikhlou, Aliashghar [Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Azamifard, Arash; Mosaferi, Emadoddin [Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2015-02-15

Generating a reliable experimental model for two-phase compressibility factor in lean gas condensate reservoirs has always been demanding, but it was neglected due to lack of required experimental data. This study presents the main results of constructing the first two-phase compressibility factor model that is completely valid for Iranian lean gas condensate reservoirs. Based on a wide range of experimental data bank for Iranian lean gas condensate reservoirs, a unique two-phase compressibility factor model was generated using design of experiments (DOE) method and neural network technique (ANN). Using DOE, a swift cubic response surface model was generated for two-phase compressibility factor as a function of some selected fluid parameters for lean gas condensate fluids. The proposed DOE and ANN models were finally validated using four new independent data series. The results showed that there is a good agreement between experimental data and the proposed models. In the end, a detailed comparison was made between the results of proposed models.

Constructing a unique two-phase compressibility factor model for lean gas condensates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moayyedi, Mahmood; Gharesheikhlou, Aliashghar; Azamifard, Arash; Mosaferi, Emadoddin

2015-01-01

Generating a reliable experimental model for two-phase compressibility factor in lean gas condensate reservoirs has always been demanding, but it was neglected due to lack of required experimental data. This study presents the main results of constructing the first two-phase compressibility factor model that is completely valid for Iranian lean gas condensate reservoirs. Based on a wide range of experimental data bank for Iranian lean gas condensate reservoirs, a unique two-phase compressibility factor model was generated using design of experiments (DOE) method and neural network technique (ANN). Using DOE, a swift cubic response surface model was generated for two-phase compressibility factor as a function of some selected fluid parameters for lean gas condensate fluids. The proposed DOE and ANN models were finally validated using four new independent data series. The results showed that there is a good agreement between experimental data and the proposed models. In the end, a detailed comparison was made between the results of proposed models

Contribution of the radioactive tracer techniques to the littoral management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alami, R.

1994-01-01

The construction of a harbor or its extending, the management of entrance channels and their maintenance (e.g. dredging works), the littoral development for industrial or tourist purposes, the management of urban or industrial rejects are very expensive and have a great impact on the environment, the optimization of which requires to begin with understanding and making sure of the sedimentary mechanisms occurring under the natural conditions. The tracer techniques are, in such cases, a precious tool and a unique help to the decision makers. The profits made by using such techniques in Morocco, which is a seaboard country, have led the C entre National de l'Energie, des Sciences et des Techniques Nucleaires (CNESTEN) to set up a unit which is operational in this field. 7 figs., 8 refs (F.M.)

Non-unique inclusion in a flow and vast centralizer of a generic measure-preserving transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stepin, A M; Eremenko, A M

2004-01-01

The problem of the inclusion in a flow is considered for a measure-preserving transformation. It is shown that if a transformation T has a simple spectrum, then the set of flows including T - provided that it is not empty - consists either of a unique element or of infinitely many spectrally non-equivalent flows. It is proved that, generically, inclusions in a flow are maximally non-unique in the following sense: the centralizer of a generic transformation contains a subgroup isomorphic to an infinite-dimensional torus. The corresponding proof is based on the so-called dynamical alternative, a topological analogue of Fubini's theorem, a fundamental fact from descriptive set theory about the almost openness of analytic sets, and Dougherty's lemma describing conditions ensuring that the image of a separable metric space is a second-category set.

Radioimmunochemical characterization of hemoglobins Lepore and Kenya: unique antigenic determinants located on hybrid hemoglobins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garver, F.A.; Altay, G.; Baker, M.M.; Gravely, M.; Huisman, T.H.J.

1978-01-01

Antisera were produced in rabbits to the three known types of Lepore hemoglobins, which contain hybrid delta-β non-α-chains, and to hemoglobin Kenya, which has a hybrid γ-β non-α-chain. By using a sensitive radioimmunoassay technique, the absorbed antisera were shown to contain an antibody population that was specific for the hybrid hemoglobin and did not cross-react with normal hemoglobins. However, with the absorbed Lepore-specific antisera, the three known types of Lepore hemoglobins were antigenically indistinguishable from each other, suggesting that antibodies are not produced to the primary structural differences which define the three non-α-chains of the Lepore hemoglobins. These studies demonstrate that the non-α-subunits of hemoglobins Lepore and Kenya possess unique antigenic determinant sites, evidently resulting from an altered polypeptide conformation

NHash: Randomized N-Gram Hashing for Distributed Generation of Validatable Unique Study Identifiers in Multicenter Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guo-Qiang; Tao, Shiqiang; Xing, Guangming; Mozes, Jeno; Zonjy, Bilal; Lhatoo, Samden D; Cui, Licong

2015-11-10

A unique study identifier serves as a key for linking research data about a study subject without revealing protected health information in the identifier. While sufficient for single-site and limited-scale studies, the use of common unique study identifiers has several drawbacks for large multicenter studies, where thousands of research participants may be recruited from multiple sites. An important property of study identifiers is error tolerance (or validatable), in that inadvertent editing mistakes during their transmission and use will most likely result in invalid study identifiers. This paper introduces a novel method called "Randomized N-gram Hashing (NHash)," for generating unique study identifiers in a distributed and validatable fashion, in multicenter research. NHash has a unique set of properties: (1) it is a pseudonym serving the purpose of linking research data about a study participant for research purposes; (2) it can be generated automatically in a completely distributed fashion with virtually no risk for identifier collision; (3) it incorporates a set of cryptographic hash functions based on N-grams, with a combination of additional encryption techniques such as a shift cipher; (d) it is validatable (error tolerant) in the sense that inadvertent edit errors will mostly result in invalid identifiers. NHash consists of 2 phases. First, an intermediate string using randomized N-gram hashing is generated. This string consists of a collection of N-gram hashes f1, f2, ..., fk. The input for each function fi has 3 components: a random number r, an integer n, and input data m. The result, fi(r, n, m), is an n-gram of m with a starting position s, which is computed as (r mod |m|), where |m| represents the length of m. The output for Step 1 is the concatenation of the sequence f1(r1, n1, m1), f2(r2, n2, m2), ..., fk(rk, nk, mk). In the second phase, the intermediate string generated in Phase 1 is encrypted using techniques such as shift cipher. The result

Unique Protein Signature of Circulating Microparticles in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Ole; Nielsen, Christoffer; Iversen, Line V

2013-01-01

To characterize the unique qualities of proteins associated with circulating subcellular material in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients compared with healthy controls and patients with other chronic autoimmune diseases.......To characterize the unique qualities of proteins associated with circulating subcellular material in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients compared with healthy controls and patients with other chronic autoimmune diseases....

Diagnostic techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berquist, T.H.; Bender, C.E.; James, E.M.; Brown, M.L.; McLeod, R.A.; Broderick, D.F.; Welch, T.J.

1989-01-01

Proper application of imaging procedures is essential to obtain needed information for diagnosis and therapy planning in patients with suspected foot and/or ankle pathology. This paper provides basic background data for the numerous imaging techniques

Spider Silk Violin Strings with a Unique Packing Structure Generate a Soft and Profound Timbre

Science.gov (United States)

Osaki, Shigeyoshi

2012-04-01

We overcome the difficulties in pulling long draglines from spiders, twist bundles of dragline filaments, and succeed in preparing violin strings. The twisting is found to change the cross section shapes of filaments from circular to polygonal and to optimize the packing structure with no openings among filaments providing mechanically strong and elastic strings. The spider string signal peaks of overtones for the violin are relatively large at high frequencies, generating a soft and profound timbre. Such a preferable timbre is considered to be due to the unique polygonal packing structure which provides valuable knowledge for developing new types of materials.

Spectrometry techniques for radioactivity measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anilkumar, S.

2016-01-01

The energy of the radiation emission following the nuclear decay is unique and the characteristic of the radio nuclide which undergoes decay. Thus measurement of the energy of the radiation offers a method of identifying the radio nuclides. The prime requirement of the energy measurement is a suitable detector which shows response proportional to the energy of the radiation rather than the presence of the radiation. The response from such detectors are suitably processed and distributed with respect to the signal strength which is proportional to incident energy. This distribution is normally referred as energy spectrum and is recorded in the multichannel analyser. The measurement of energy and intensity of radiation from the spectrum is called radiation spectrometry. Thus the radiation spectrometry allows the identification and quantification of radioactive isotopes in variety of matrices. The radiation spectrometry has now become a popular radioanalytical technique in wide area of nuclear fuel cycle programs. The popular spectrometry techniques commonly used for the radioactivity measurement and analysis are Alpha spectrometry, Gamma ray spectrometry and Beta spectrometry

Three-Hand Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery: Experience With an Anatomy-Preserving Mononostril Approach Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Eseonu, Chikezie I; ReFaey, Karim; Pamias-Portalatin, Eva; Asensio, Javier; Garcia, Oscar; Boahene, Kofi D; Quiñones-Hinojosa, Alfredo

2018-02-01

Variations on the endoscopic transsphenoidal approach present unique surgical techniques that have unique effects on surgical outcomes, extent of resection (EOR), and anatomical complications. To analyze the learning curve and perioperative outcomes of the 3-hand endoscopic endonasal mononostril transsphenoidal technique. Prospective case series and retrospective data analysis of patients who were treated with the 3-hand transsphenoidal technique between January 2007 and May 2015 by a single neurosurgeon. Patient characteristics, preoperative presentation, tumor characteristics, operative times, learning curve, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Volumetric EOR was evaluated, and a logistic regression analysis was used to assess predictors of EOR. Two hundred seventy-five patients underwent an endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery using the 3-hand technique. One hundred eighteen patients in the early group had surgery between 2007 and 2010, while 157 patients in the late group had surgery between 2011 and 2015. Operative time was significantly shorter in the late group (161.6 min) compared to the early group (211.3 min, P = .001). Both cohorts had similar EOR (early group 84.6% vs late group 85.5%, P = .846) and postoperative outcomes. The learning curve showed that it took 54 cases to achieve operative proficiency with the 3-handed technique. Multivariate modeling suggested that prior resections and preoperative tumor size are important predictors for EOR. We describe a 3-hand, mononostril endoscopic transsphenoidal technique performed by a single neurosurgeon that has minimal anatomic distortion and postoperative complications. During the learning curve of this technique, operative time can significantly decrease, while EOR, postoperative outcomes, and complications are not jeopardized. Copyright © 2017 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons

Fifty years of levelling measurements at Askja volcano, Iceland: New Bayesian interpretations of a unique dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Barnie, Talfan; Sigmundsson, Freysteinn; Sturkell, Erik

2017-04-01

The year 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of geodetic levelling surveys at Askja volcano in the Northern Volcanic Zone of Iceland. Askja has produced frequent basaltic fissural eruptions and rarer silicic caldera forming eruptions during the Holocene, the most recent of each type in 1961 and 1875 respectively. The potential for widespread disruption from larger eruptions and the popularity of the site with tourists makes Askja an important target for observation. Geodetic monitoring started in 1966 with the installation of a 12 station survey line on the 1961 lava flow, which provided a stable, extensive surface close to the putative source of magma. This was infilled and extended over the following two decades to give a finished levelling line of 35 stations spaced approximately 50 m apart (Tryggvason, Nordic Volcanological Institute, 1989). With the exception of the period 1972 to 1983, this line has been surveyed every year, providing a unique record of post eruptive deformation at a spreading rift segment capable of capturing magma motions at depth and any potential recharging in anticipation of future activity. The levelling has so far revealed that after an initial period of complicated inflations and deflations the volcano settled into a pattern of slowly decaying deflation from 1983 onwards (Sturkell and Sigmundsson, JGR, 105, 2000), a pattern that has been confirmed by newer geodetic techniques as they have become available (e.g. Pagli et al., JVGR, 152, 2005). The strength of the levelling data at Askja is its long time span, high accuracy and same measurement type over a period of 50 years. However, the small extent of the levelling line limits the power of the network to resolve changes in the magma plumbing system and requires the addition of constraints from other sources. This lends itself to Bayesian modelling techniques where assumptions are made explicit as priors and uncertainties in retrieved parameters can be comprehensibly modelled

An Insight Into the Two Costing Technique: Absorption Costing and Marginal Costing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariam Nawaz

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This paper will investigate the controversy that is innate between the two costing techniques; Absorption Costing and Marginal Costing and would throw light on which costing technique better serves its purpose in helping management for decision making process and if Marginal Costing technique is concluded as better technique then why it should not be used for external reporting purpose. This paper will only crystallize and highlight the issues descriptively and will not resolve the issues that are inherent between the two costing techniques. The unique thing about this paper is that it is in favor of treating fixed cost as product cost that is it is supporting the advocates of Absorption Costing Technique but it is against to consider profit as a function of production rather it believes that profit should only be considered as function of sales for stock valuation and to help management in decision making process that is, regarding this point it is supporting advocates of Marginal Costing.

Development on application of ultrasonic sealing techniques to plutonium transportation cask

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayakawa, Tsuyoshi; Akiba, Mitsunori; D'Agraives, B.C.

1994-01-01

In a cooperation research between Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation and Commission of the European Communities, Joint Research Centre, Ispra establishment, application of ultrasonic sealing techniques to a plutonium container is developed in Ispra. The seal is derived from the sealing-bolt technology currently in use at the BNFL site of sellafield (UK) for the safeguarding of underwater spent fuel storage containers called MEBs. In this technique, one of the normal bolts closing the lid of the container is replaced by a special ultrasonically verifiable sealing-bolt. In the application to the plutonium container, it is proposed to attach a clamping seal which has the same internal configuration as a MEB sealing-bolt but is fastened with a 'one-way' mechanism to one of the protruding pins of the container. Similarly the seal is provided with an identity and integrity features. The uniqueness of the identity, as well as the integrity can be checked on the spot by an inspector carrying a reading equipment. Thus, in a few minutes, one identifies the seal and knows whether its integrity is intact, which tells that the container has not been opened or attempted to open illeagally. By application of the seal to the plutonium container, the containment/surveillance during the transportation will be upgraded. (author)

Vietnam Project For Production Of Radioactive Beam Based On ISOL Technique With The Dalat Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Hong Khiem; Phan Viet Cuong; Fadi Ibrahim

2011-01-01

The presence in Vietnam of Dalat nuclear reactor dedicated to fundamental studies is a unique opportunity to produce Radioactive Ion (RI) Beams with the fission of a 235 U induced by the thermal neutrons produced by the reactor. We propose to produce RI beams at the Dalat nuclear reactor using ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) technique. This project should be a unique opportunity for Vietnamese nuclear physics community to use its own facilities to produce RI beams for studying nuclear physics at an international level. (author)

The end of the unique myocardial band

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

MacIver, David H; Partridge, John B; Agger, Peter

2018-01-01

Two of the leading concepts of mural ventricular architecture are the unique myocardial band and the myocardial mesh model. We have described, in an accompanying article published in this journal, how the anatomical, histological and high-resolution computed tomographic studies strongly favour th...

Zen and the Art of Swimming – Aesthetical Experience as a New Perspective for Training Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dagmar Gerda Martha Dahl

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The interest in alternative movement concepts has been on the increase in recent years. Mindfulness is well known in sports psychology, and many sports have been promoted as ‘Zen sports’. The use of the phrase ‘Zen and the Art of ...’ has also become commonplace. People learning and teaching swimming techniques face unique challenges due to the special conditions that water provides. The approach based on looking at swimming as a Zen sport, or as an art in the sense of being a sensual aesthetic experience, and an aesthetic learning process, can provide new teaching and learning opportunities. Gadamer’s, Dewey’s, and Johnson’s philosophical concepts combined with approaches of embodiment theories and theories of aesthetic learning processes (Storch, Stelter, Gallagher have been brought together with the basic elements from Zen and supplemented and exemplified with practical examples.

Nuclear techniques for bulk and surface analysis of materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Agostino, M.D.; Kamykowski, E.A.; Kuehne, F.J.; Padawer, G.M.; Schneid, E.J.; Schulte, R.L.; Stauber, M.C.; Swanson, F.R.

1978-01-01

A review is presented summarizing several nondestructive bulk and surface analysis nuclear techniques developed in the Grumman Research Laboratories. Bulk analysis techniques include 14-MeV-neutron activation analysis and accelerator-based neutron radiography. The surface analysis techniques include resonant and non-resonant nuclear microprobes for the depth profile analysis of light elements (H, He, Li, Be, C, N, O and F) in the surface of materials. Emphasis is placed on the description and discussion of the unique nuclear microprobe analytical capacibilities of immediate importance to a number of current problems facing materials specialists. The resolution and contrast of neutron radiography was illustrated with an operating heat pipe system. The figure shows that the neutron radiograph has a resolution of better than 0.04 cm with sufficient contrast to indicate Freon 21 on the inner capillaries of the heat pipe and pooling of the liquid at the bottom. (T.G.)

Humans vs Hardware: The Unique World of NASA Human System Risk Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Anton, W.; Havenhill, M.; Overton, Eric

2016-01-01

Understanding spaceflight risks to crew health and performance is a crucial aspect of preparing for exploration missions in the future. The research activities of the Human Research Program (HRP) provide substantial evidence to support most risk reduction work. The Human System Risk Board (HSRB), acting on behalf of the Office of Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO), assesses these risks and assigns likelihood and consequence ratings to track progress. Unfortunately, many traditional approaches in risk assessment such as those used in the engineering aspects of spaceflight are difficult to apply to human system risks. This presentation discusses the unique aspects of risk assessment from the human system risk perspective and how these limitations are accommodated and addressed in order to ensure that reasonable inputs are provided to support the OCHMO's overall risk posture for manned exploration missions.

Ontogeny of a surgical technique: Robotic kidney transplantation with regional hypothermia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sood, Akshay; McCulloch, Peter; Dahm, Philipp; Ahlawat, Rajesh; Jeong, Wooju; Bhandari, Mahendra; Menon, Mani

2016-01-01

Innovation is a hallmark of surgical practice. It is generally accepted that a new procedure will undergo technical changes during its evolution; however, quantitative accounts of the process are limited. Multiple groups, including our own, have recently described a minimally-invasive approach to conventional kidney transplantation (KT) operation. Unique to our experience is a structured development of the technique within the confines of a safe surgical innovation framework - the IDEAL framework (idea, development, exploration, assessment, long-term monitoring; stages 0-4). We here provide a first-hand narrative of the progress of robotic KT operation from preclinical trial to clinical application. Overall, 54 patients underwent robotic KT with regional hypothermia successfully. Major technical changes including selection of optimal patient position (flank vs. lithotomy), robotic instrumentation, vascular occlusion method (bulldog vs. tourniquet) and suture material (prolene vs. GoreTex) occurred early during the procedure development (IDEAL stage 0, preclinical). Minor technical changes such as utilization of the aortic punch for arteriotomy (case 3), use of barbed suture during ureteroneocystostomy (case 6) and extraperitonealization of the graft kidney (case 6) that increased the efficiency and safety of the procedure continued throughout procedure development (IDEAL stages 1-2, clinical stages). We demonstrate that a surgical technique evolves continually; although, the majority of technical alterations occur early in the life-cycle of the procedure. Development of a new technique within the confines a structured surgical innovation framework allows for evidence based progression of the technique and may minimize the risk of harm to the patient. Copyright © 2015 IJS Publishing Group Limited. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Concentration and mindfulness meditations: unique forms of consciousness?

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, B R; Hartigan, J A; Mikulas, W L

1999-09-01

Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings from 19 scalp recording sites were used to differentiate among two posited unique forms of mediation, concentration and mindfulness, and a normal relaxation control condition. Analyzes of all traditional frequency bandwidth data (i.e., delta 1-3 Hz; theta, 4-7 Hz; alpha, 8-12 Hz; beta 1, 13-25 Hz; beta 2, 26-32 Hz) showed strong mean amplitude frequency differences between the two meditation conditions and relaxation over numerous cortical sites. Furthermore, significant differences were obtained between concentration and mindfulness states at all bandwidths. Taken together, our results suggest that concentration and mindfulness "meditations" may be unique forms of consciousness and are not merely degrees of a state of relaxation.

Solitary intraosseous neurofibroma: Report of a unique case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sagar Satish Jangam

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Neural tumors located centrally in jaw bones are relatively rare compared with soft tissue neurofibromas. Less than 50 cases have been reported in the literature with a predilection for mandible. This article aims to elucidate a unique case of intraosseous neurofibroma of mandible in a 62-year-old edentulous female patient associated with facial asymmetry due to the swelling extending from the right body of mandible to left body of mandible. The uniqueness of this case is related to the age and extensiveness of this lesion. A review of clinical, radiographic, histological, and immunohistochemical features, and the surgical management pertaining to this case are discussed along with a review of the literature.

Identifying Non-Volatile Data Storage Areas: Unique Notebook Identification Information as Digital Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikica Budimir

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The research reported in this paper introduces new techniques to aid in the identification of recovered notebook computers so they may be returned to the rightful owner. We identify non-volatile data storage areas as a means of facilitating the safe storing of computer identification information. A forensic proof of concept tool has been designed to test the feasibility of several storage locations identified within this work to hold the data needed to uniquely identify a computer. The tool was used to perform the creation and extraction of created information in order to allow the analysis of the non-volatile storage locations as valid storage areas capable of holding and preserving the data created within them.  While the format of the information used to identify the machine itself is important, this research only discusses the insertion, storage and ability to retain such information.

A unique concept for automatically controlling the braking action of wheeled vehicles during minimum distance stops

Science.gov (United States)

Barthlome, D. E.

1975-01-01

Test results of a unique automatic brake control system are outlined and a comparison is made of its mode of operation to that of an existing skid control system. The purpose of the test system is to provide automatic control of braking action such that hydraulic brake pressure is maintained at a near constant, optimum value during minimum distance stops.

Unique properties of Drosophila spermatocyte primary cilia

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Maria Giovanna Riparbelli

2013-09-01

The primary cilium is an essential organelle required for animal development and adult homeostasis that is found on most animal cells. The primary cilium contains a microtubule-based axoneme cytoskeleton that typically grows from the mother centriole in G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle as a membrane-bound compartment that protrudes from the cell surface. A unique system of bidirectional transport, intraflagellar transport (IFT, maintains the structure and function of cilia. While the axoneme is dynamic, growing and shrinking at its tip, at the same time it is very stable to the effects of microtubule-targeting drugs. The primary cilia found on Drosophila spermatocytes diverge from the general rules of primary cilium biology in several respects. Among these unique attributes, spermatocyte cilia assemble from all four centrioles in an IFT-independent manner in G2 phase, and persist continuously through two cell divisions. Here, we show that Drosophila spermatocyte primary cilia are extremely sensitive to microtubule-targeting drugs, unlike their mammalian counterparts. Spermatocyte cilia and their axonemes fail to assemble or be maintained upon nocodazole treatment, while centriole replication appears unperturbed. On the other hand, paclitaxel (Taxol, a microtubule-stabilizing drug, disrupted transition zone assembly and anchoring to the plasma membrane while causing spermatocyte primary cilia to grow extensively long during the assembly/elongation phase, but did not overtly affect the centrioles. However, once assembled to their mature length, spermatocyte cilia appeared unaffected by Taxol. The effects of these drugs on axoneme dynamics further demonstrate that spermatocyte primary cilia are endowed with unique assembly properties.

Unique Features of Halophilic Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Arakawa, Tsutomu; Yamaguchi, Rui; Tokunaga, Hiroko; Tokunaga, Masao

2017-01-01

Proteins from moderate and extreme halophiles have unique characteristics. They are highly acidic and hydrophilic, similar to intrinsically disordered proteins. These characteristics make the halophilic proteins soluble in water and fold reversibly. In addition to reversible folding, the rate of refolding of halophilic proteins from denatured structure is generally slow, often taking several days, for example, for extremely halophilic proteins. This slow folding rate makes the halophilic proteins a novel model system for folding mechanism analysis. High solubility and reversible folding also make the halophilic proteins excellent fusion partners for soluble expression of recombinant proteins.

Unique microstructure and excellent mechanical properties of ADI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jincheng Liu

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Amongst the cast iron family, ADI has a unique microstructure and an excellent, optimised combination of mechanical properties. The main microstructure of ADI is ausferrite, which is a mixture ofextremely fine acicular ferrite and stable, high carbon austenite. There are two types of austenite in ADI:(1 the coarser and more equiaxed blocks of austenite between non-parallel acicular structures, which exist mainly in the last solidified area, and (2 the thin films of ustenite between the individual ferriteplatelets in the acicular structure. It is this unique microstructure, which gives ADI its excellent static and dynamic properties, and good low temperature impact toughness. The effect of microstructure on the mechanical properties is explained in more detail by examining the microstructure at the atomic scale. Considering the nanometer grain sizes, the unique microstructure, the excellent mechanical properties,good castability, (which enables near net shape components to be produced economically and in large volumes, and the fact that it can be 100% recycled, it is not overemphasized to call ADI a high-tech,nanometer and “green” material. ADI still has the potential to be further improved and its production and the number of applications for ADI will continue to grow, driven by the resultant cost savings over alternative materials.

Comparative study of four advanced 3d-conformal radiation therapy treatment planning techniques for head and neck cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrassi, Mohamed Yassine; Bentayeb, Farida; Malisan, Maria Rosa

2013-01-01

For the head-and-neck cancer bilateral irradiation, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is the most reported technique as it enables both target dose coverage and organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing. However, during the last 20 years, three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) techniques have been introduced, which are tailored to improve the classic shrinking field technique, as regards both planning target volume (PTV) dose conformality and sparing of OARs, such as parotid glands and spinal cord. In this study, we tested experimentally in a sample of 13 patients, four of these advanced 3DCRT techniques, all using photon beams only and a unique isocentre, namely Bellinzona, Forward-Planned Multisegments (FPMS), ConPas, and field-in-field (FIF) techniques. Statistical analysis of the main dosimetric parameters of PTV and OARs DVHs as well as of homogeneity and conformity indexes was carried out in order to compare the performance of each technique. The results show that the PTV dose coverage is adequate for all the techniques, with the FPMS techniques providing the highest value for D95%; on the other hand, the best sparing of parotid glands is achieved using the FIF and ConPas techniques, with a mean dose of 26 Gy to parotid glands for a PTV prescription dose of 54 Gy. After taking into account both PTV coverage and parotid sparing, the best global performance was achieved by the FIF technique with results comparable to that of IMRT plans. This technique can be proposed as a valid alternative when IMRT equipment is not available or patient is not suitable for IMRT treatment. (author)

New techniques provide low-cost X-ray inspection of highly attenuating materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stupin, D.M.; Mueller, K.H.; Viskoe, D.A.; Howard, B.; Poland, R.W.; Schneberk, D.; Dolan, K.; Thompson, K.; Stoker, G.

1995-01-01

As a result of an arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation, both countries will each be storing over 40,000 containers of plutonium. To help detect any deterioration of the containers and prevent leakage, the authors are designing a digital radiography and computed tomography system capable of handling this volume reliably, efficiently, and at a lower cost. The materials to be stored have very high x-ray attenuations, and, in the past, were inspected using 1- to 24-MV x-ray sources. This inspection system, however, uses a new scintillating (Lockheed) glass and an integrating CCD camera. Preliminary experiments show that this will permit the use of a 450-kV x-ray source. This low-energy system will cost much less than others designed to use a higher-energy x-ray source because it will require a less expensive source, less shielding, and less floor space. Furthermore, they can achieve a tenfold improvement in spatial resolution by using their knowledge of the point-spread function of the x-ray imaging system and a least-squares fitting technique

String Theory - The Physics of String-Bending and Other Electric Guitar Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Grimes, David Robert

2014-01-01

Electric guitar playing is ubiquitous in practically all modern music genres. In the hands of an experienced player, electric guitars can sound as expressive and distinct as a human voice. Unlike other more quantised instruments where pitch is a discrete function, guitarists can incorporate micro-tonality and, as a result, vibrato and sting-bending are idiosyncratic hallmarks of a player. Similarly, a wide variety of techniques unique to the electric guitar have emerged. While the mechano-acoustics of stringed instruments and vibrating strings are well studied, there has been comparatively little work dedicated to the underlying physics of unique electric guitar techniques and strings, nor the mechanical factors influencing vibrato, string-bending, fretting force and whammy-bar dynamics. In this work, models for these processes are derived and the implications for guitar and string design discussed. The string-bending model is experimentally validated using a variety of strings and vibrato dynamics are simulated. The implications of these findings on the configuration and design of guitars is also discussed. PMID:25054880

String theory--the physics of string-bending and other electric guitar techniques.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Robert Grimes

Full Text Available Electric guitar playing is ubiquitous in practically all modern music genres. In the hands of an experienced player, electric guitars can sound as expressive and distinct as a human voice. Unlike other more quantised instruments where pitch is a discrete function, guitarists can incorporate micro-tonality and, as a result, vibrato and sting-bending are idiosyncratic hallmarks of a player. Similarly, a wide variety of techniques unique to the electric guitar have emerged. While the mechano-acoustics of stringed instruments and vibrating strings are well studied, there has been comparatively little work dedicated to the underlying physics of unique electric guitar techniques and strings, nor the mechanical factors influencing vibrato, string-bending, fretting force and whammy-bar dynamics. In this work, models for these processes are derived and the implications for guitar and string design discussed. The string-bending model is experimentally validated using a variety of strings and vibrato dynamics are simulated. The implications of these findings on the configuration and design of guitars is also discussed.

String theory--the physics of string-bending and other electric guitar techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Grimes, David Robert

2014-01-01

Electric guitar playing is ubiquitous in practically all modern music genres. In the hands of an experienced player, electric guitars can sound as expressive and distinct as a human voice. Unlike other more quantised instruments where pitch is a discrete function, guitarists can incorporate micro-tonality and, as a result, vibrato and sting-bending are idiosyncratic hallmarks of a player. Similarly, a wide variety of techniques unique to the electric guitar have emerged. While the mechano-acoustics of stringed instruments and vibrating strings are well studied, there has been comparatively little work dedicated to the underlying physics of unique electric guitar techniques and strings, nor the mechanical factors influencing vibrato, string-bending, fretting force and whammy-bar dynamics. In this work, models for these processes are derived and the implications for guitar and string design discussed. The string-bending model is experimentally validated using a variety of strings and vibrato dynamics are simulated. The implications of these findings on the configuration and design of guitars is also discussed.

Generalized image contrast enhancement technique based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hong; Nodine, Calvin F.

1996-07-01

This paper presents a generalized image contrast enhancement technique, which equalizes the perceived brightness distribution based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model. It is based on the mathematically proven existence of a unique solution to a nonlinear equation, and is formulated with easily tunable parameters. The model uses a two-step log-log representation of luminance contrast between targets and surround in a luminous background setting. The algorithm consists of two nonlinear gray scale mapping functions that have seven parameters, two of which are adjustable Heinemann constants. Another parameter is the background gray level. The remaining four parameters are nonlinear functions of the gray-level distribution of the given image, and can be uniquely determined once the previous three are set. Tests have been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm for increasing the overall contrast of radiology images. The traditional histogram equalization can be reinterpreted as an image enhancement technique based on the knowledge of human contrast perception. In fact, it is a special case of the proposed algorithm.

Runtime analysis of the (1+1) EA on computing unique input output sequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehre, Per Kristian; Yao, Xin

2010-01-01

Computing unique input output (UIO) sequences is a fundamental and hard problem in conformance testing of finite state machines (FSM). Previous experimental research has shown that evolutionary algorithms (EAs) can be applied successfully to find UIOs for some FSMs. However, before EAs can...... in the theoretical analysis, and the variability of the runtime. The numerical results fit well with the theoretical results, even for small problem instance sizes. Together, these results provide a first theoretical characterisation of the potential and limitations of the (1 + 1) EA on the problem of computing UIOs....

Novel technique for online characterization of cartilaginous tissue properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Tai-Yi; Huang, Chun-Yuh; Yong Gu, Wei

2011-09-01

The goal of tissue engineering is to use substitutes to repair and restore organ function. Bioreactors are an indispensable tool for monitoring and controlling the unique environment for engineered constructs to grow. However, in order to determine the biochemical properties of engineered constructs, samples need to be destroyed. In this study, we developed a novel technique to nondestructively online-characterize the water content and fixed charge density of cartilaginous tissues. A new technique was developed to determine the tissue mechano-electrochemical properties nondestructively. Bovine knee articular cartilage and lumbar annulus fibrosus were used in this study to demonstrate that this technique could be used on different types of tissue. The results show that our newly developed method is capable of precisely predicting the water volume fraction (less than 3% disparity) and fixed charge density (less than 16.7% disparity) within cartilaginous tissues. This novel technique will help to design a new generation of bioreactors which are able to actively determine the essential properties of the engineered constructs, as well as regulate the local environment to achieve the optimal conditions for cultivating constructs.

Innovative SU-8 Lithography Techniques and Their Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeong Bong Lee

2014-12-01

Full Text Available SU-8 has been widely used in a variety of applications for creating structures in micro-scale as well as sub-micron scales for more than 15 years. One of the most common structures made of SU-8 is tall (up to millimeters high-aspect-ratio (up to 100:1 3D microstructure, which is far better than that made of any other photoresists. There has been a great deal of efforts in developing innovative unconventional lithography techniques to fully utilize the thick high aspect ratio nature of the SU-8 photoresist. Those unconventional lithography techniques include inclined ultraviolet (UV exposure, back-side UV exposure, drawing lithography, and moving-mask UV lithography. In addition, since SU-8 is a negative-tone photoresist, it has been a popular choice of material for multiple-photon interference lithography for the periodic structure in scales down to deep sub-microns such as photonic crystals. These innovative lithography techniques for SU-8 have led to a lot of unprecedented capabilities for creating unique micro- and nano-structures. This paper reviews such innovative lithography techniques developed in the past 15 years or so.

Nuclear techniques in agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhagwat, S.G.

2012-01-01

Crops provide us food grains and many other products. Demand for food and other agricultural products is increasing. There is also need for improvement of quality of the agricultural produce. There are several technologies in use for achieving the goal of increasing the quantity and quality of agricultural produce. Nuclear techniques provide us with an option which has certain advantages. The characteristics of crop plants are determined by the genetic make up of the plant. Traditionally the genetic make up was modified using conventional breeding techniques such as cross breeding to improve crops for yield, disease resistance, stress tolerance, resistance to insect pests or to improve quality. New varieties of crops are produced which replace the earlier ones and thus the demands are met. The process of development of new varieties is long and time consuming. Nuclear technique called mutation breeding provides an efficient way of breeding new varieties or improving the older ones. This technique merely enhances the process of occurrence of mutations. In nature mutations occur at a rate of approximately one in a million, while when mutations are induced using radiations such as gamma rays the efficiency of inducing mutations is enhanced. Useful mutations are selected, the mutants are evaluated and developed as a new variety. In the Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division (NA and BTD) this technique has been used to develop mutants of many crop plants. The mutants can be used to develop a variety directly or by using it in further breeding programme. Using these approaches the NA and BTD has developed 40 new varieties of crops such as groundnut, mungbean, urid, pigeon pea, mustard, soybean, sunflower, cowpea, jute. These varieties are developed in collaboration with other agricultural institutions and are popular among the farming community. The method of mutation breeding can be applied to many other crops for improvement. There is increasing interest among

Prehospital Providers' Perceptions on Providing Patient and Family Centered Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayub, Emily M; Sampayo, Esther M; Shah, Manish I; Doughty, Cara B

2017-01-01

emotional support and effective communication as important components to the delivery of PFCC. Other providers revealed several perceived barriers to providing PFCC, though potential solutions to overcome many of these barriers were also identified. These findings can be utilized to integrate effective communication and emotional support techniques into EMS protocols and provider training to overcome perceived barriers to PFCC in the prehospital setting.

Solving Multi-Pollutant Emission Dispatch Problem Using Computational Intelligence Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nur Azzammudin Rahmat

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Economic dispatch is a crucial process conducted by the utilities to correctly determine the satisfying amount of power to be generated and distributed to the consumers. During the process, the utilities also consider pollutant emission as the consequences of fossil-fuel consumption. Fossil-fuel includes petroleum, coal, and natural gas; each has its unique chemical composition of pollutants i.e. sulphur oxides (SOX, nitrogen oxides (NOX and carbon oxides (COX. This paper presents multi-pollutant emission dispatch problem using computational intelligence technique. In this study, a novel emission dispatch technique is formulated to determine the amount of the pollutant level. It utilizes a pre-developed optimization technique termed as differential evolution immunized ant colony optimization (DEIANT for the emission dispatch problem. The optimization results indicated high level of COX level, regardless of any type of fossil fuel consumed.

Ethical Use of Gestalt Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Given, Jane A.

The purpose of this paper is to engender a healthy respect for Gestalt theory and techniques and the use of the techniques in the client's best interest and in the interest of positive professional and self-development in the practitioner. An overview of Gestalt techniques is provided, concentrating on the two category divisions of experiments and…

Existence and uniqueness of solution for a system of equations of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The existence and uniqueness of solution for a system of equations of microwave heating of biologic issue is discussed. Using the Green function approach we establish the existence and uniqueness of solution. Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics Vol. 8 2004: pp. 177-180 ...

The provider perception inventory: psychometrics of a scale designed to measure provider stigma about HIV, substance abuse, and MSM behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Windsor, Liliane C; Benoit, Ellen; Ream, Geoffrey L; Forenza, Brad

2013-01-01

Nongay identified men who have sex with men and women (NGI MSMW) and who use alcohol and other drugs are a vulnerable, understudied, and undertreated population. Little is known about the stigma faced by this population or about the way that health service providers view and serve these stigmatized clients. The provider perception inventory (PPI) is a 39-item scale that measures health services providers' stigma about HIV/AIDS, substance use, and MSM behavior. The PPI is unique in that it was developed to include service provider stigma targeted at NGI MSMW individuals. PPI was developed through a mixed methods approach. Items were developed based on existing measures and findings from focus groups with 18 HIV and substance abuse treatment providers. Exploratory factor analysis using data from 212 health service providers yielded a two dimensional scale: (1) individual attitudes (19 items) and (2) agency environment (11 items). Structural equation modeling analysis supported the scale's predictive validity (N=190 sufficiently complete cases). Overall findings indicate initial support for the psychometrics of the PPI as a measure of service provider stigma pertaining to the intersection of HIV/AIDS, substance use, and MSM behavior. Limitations and implications to future research are discussed.

Proceedings of VII International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques. XIII Workshop on Nuclear Physics. WONP-NURT 2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-02-01

This year the XIII Workshop on Nuclear Physics (WONP) and the VII Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques (NURT) are organized jointly, by Instituto Superior de Tecnologias y Ciencias Aplicadas and Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnologicas y Desarrollo Nuclear. Both events gather scientists from several countries with top research work on nuclear physics and its applications. WONP has been carried out since 1994 promoting an ever-exchanging exchange between professionals of various nuclear and applied physics fields, those related to environmental and health care. NURT is one of the key Cuban scientific meetings since 1997 dealing with the peaceful applications of nuclear techniques in several domains of the society. WONP and NURT provide an unique opportunity for the national and international scientific community to meet outstanding researchers and discuss current trends in several areas of theoretical, experimental and applied nuclear physics and related topics. The papers submitted to this event are presented in this CD-ROM

Proceedings of VI International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques. XII Workshop on Nuclear Physics. WONP-NURT 2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-02-01

This year the XII Workshop on Nuclear Physics (WONP) and the VI Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques (NURT) are organized jointly, by Instituto Superior de Tecnologias y Ciencias Aplicadas and Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnologicas y Desarrollo Nuclear. Both events gather scientists from several countries with top research work on nuclear physics and its applications. WONP has been carried out since 1994 promoting an ever-exchanging exchange between professionals of various nuclear and applied physics fields, those related to environmental and health care. NURT is one of the key Cuban scientific meetings since 1997 dealing with the peaceful applications of nuclear techniques in several domains of the society. WONP and NURT provide an unique opportunity for the national and international scientific community to meet outstanding researchers and discuss current trends in several areas of theoretical, experimental and applied nuclear physics and related topics. The papers submitted to this event are presented in this CD-ROM

Hepatoblastoma Biology Using Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry: Utility of a Unique Technique for the Analysis of Oncological Specimens.

Science.gov (United States)

Taran, Katarzyna; Frączek, Tomasz; Sitkiewicz, Anna; Sikora-Szubert, Anita; Kobos, Józef; Paneth, Piotr

2016-07-07

Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary liver tumor in children. However, it occurs rarely, with an incidence of 0.5-1.5 cases per million children. There is no clear explanation of the relationship between clinicopathologic features, therapy, and outcome in hepatoblastoma cases, so far. One of the most widely accepted prognostic factors in hepatoblastoma is histology of the tumor. The aim of the study was to determine the potential differences in biology of hepatoblastoma histological subtypes at the atomic level using the unique method of isotope ratio mass spectrometry, which is especially valuable in examination of small groups of biological samples. Twenty-four measurements of nitrogen stable isotope ratio, carbon stable isotope ratio and total carbon to nitrogen mass ratio in fetal and embryonal hepatoblastoma tissue were performed using a Sercon 20-22 Continuous Flow Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (CF-IRMS) coupled with a Sercon SL elemental analyzer for simultaneous carbon-nitrogen-sulfur (NCS) analysis. A difference of about 1.781‰ in stable nitrogen isotope 15N/14N ratio was found between examined hepatoblastoma histological subtypes. The prognosis in liver tumors cases in children may be challenging particularly because of the lack of versatile methods of its evaluation. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry allows one to determine the difference between hepatoblastoma histological subtypes and clearly indicates the cases with the best outcome.

Mindfulness for Singers: The Effects of a Targeted Mindfulness Course on Learning Vocal Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Czajkowski, Anne-Marie L.; Greasley, Alinka E.

2015-01-01

This paper reports the development and implementation of a unique Mindfulness for Singers (MfS) course designed to improve singers' vocal technique. Eight university students completed the intervention. Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) scores showed general improvement across all five facets of mindfulness. Qualitative results showed…

Closing the gap: accelerating the translational process in nanomedicine by proposing standardized characterization techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Khorasani, Ali A; Weaver, James L; Salvador-Morales, Carolina

2014-01-01

On the cusp of widespread permeation of nanomedicine, academia, industry, and government have invested substantial financial resources in developing new ways to better treat diseases. Materials have unique physical and chemical properties at the nanoscale compared with their bulk or small-molecule analogs. These unique properties have been greatly advantageous in providing innovative solutions for medical treatments at the bench level. However, nanomedicine research has not yet fully permeated the clinical setting because of several limitations. Among these limitations are the lack of universal standards for characterizing nanomaterials and the limited knowledge that we possess regarding the interactions between nanomaterials and biological entities such as proteins. In this review, we report on recent developments in the characterization of nanomaterials as well as the newest information about the interactions between nanomaterials and proteins in the human body. We propose a standard set of techniques for universal characterization of nanomaterials. We also address relevant regulatory issues involved in the translational process for the development of drug molecules and drug delivery systems. Adherence and refinement of a universal standard in nanomaterial characterization as well as the acquisition of a deeper understanding of nanomaterials and proteins will likely accelerate the use of nanomedicine in common practice to a great extent.

Principles of fluorescence techniques

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

Fluorescence techniques are being used and applied increasingly in academics and industry. The Principles of Fluorescence Techniques course will outline the basic concepts of fluorescence techniques and the successful utilization of the currently available commercial instrumentation. The course is designed for students who utilize fluorescence techniques and instrumentation and for researchers and industrial scientists who wish to deepen their knowledge of fluorescence applications. Key scientists in the field will deliver theoretical lectures. The lectures will be complemented by the direct utilization of steady-state and lifetime fluorescence instrumentation and confocal microscopy for FLIM and FRET applications provided by leading companies.

A technique for determining the optimum mix of logistics service providers of a make-to-order supply chain by formulating and solving a constrained nonlinear cost optimization problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mrityunjoy Roy

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a technique has been developed to determine the optimum mix of logistic service providers of a make-to-order (MTO supply chain. A serial MTO supply chain with different stages/ processes has been considered. For each stage different logistic service providers with different mean processing lead times, but same lead time variances are available. A realistic assumption that for each stage, the logistic service provider who charges more for his service consumes less processing lead time and vice-versa has been made in our study. Thus for each stage, for each service provider, a combination of cost and mean processing lead time is available. Using these combinations, for each stage, a polynomial curve, expressing cost of that stage as a function of mean processing lead time is fit. Cumulating all such expressions of cost for the different stages along with incorporation of suitable constraints arising out of timely delivery, results in the formulation of a constrained nonlinear cost optimization problem. On solving the problem using mathematica, optimum processing lead time for each stage is obtained. Using these optimum processing lead times and by employing a simple technique the optimum logistic service provider mix of the supply chain along with the corresponding total cost of processing is determined. Finally to examine the effect of changes in different parameters on the optimum total processing cost of the supply chain, sensitivity analysis has been carried out graphically.

Stabilizing inverse problems by internal data. II: non-local internal data and generic linearized uniqueness

KAUST Repository

Kuchment, Peter

2015-05-10

© 2015, Springer Basel. In the previous paper (Kuchment and Steinhauer in Inverse Probl 28(8):084007, 2012), the authors introduced a simple procedure that allows one to detect whether and explain why internal information arising in several novel coupled physics (hybrid) imaging modalities could turn extremely unstable techniques, such as optical tomography or electrical impedance tomography, into stable, good-resolution procedures. It was shown that in all cases of interest, the Fréchet derivative of the forward mapping is a pseudo-differential operator with an explicitly computable principal symbol. If one can set up the imaging procedure in such a way that the symbol is elliptic, this would indicate that the problem was stabilized. In the cases when the symbol is not elliptic, the technique suggests how to change the procedure (e.g., by adding extra measurements) to achieve ellipticity. In this article, we consider the situation arising in acousto-optical tomography (also called ultrasound modulated optical tomography), where the internal data available involves the Green’s function, and thus depends globally on the unknown parameter(s) of the equation and its solution. It is shown that the technique of (Kuchment and Steinhauer in Inverse Probl 28(8):084007, 2012) can be successfully adopted to this situation as well. A significant part of the article is devoted to results on generic uniqueness for the linearized problem in a variety of situations, including those arising in acousto-electric and quantitative photoacoustic tomography.

Uniqueness of the gauge invariant action for cosmological perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prokopec, Tomislav; Weenink, Jan

2012-01-01

In second order perturbation theory different definitions are known of gauge invariant perturbations in single field inflationary models. Consequently the corresponding gauge invariant cubic actions do not have the same form. Here we show that the cubic action for one choice of gauge invariant variables is unique in the following sense: the action for any other, non-linearly related variable can be brought to the same bulk action, plus additional boundary terms. These boundary terms correspond to the choice of hypersurface and generate extra, disconnected contributions to the bispectrum. We also discuss uniqueness of the action with respect to conformal frames. When expressed in terms of the gauge invariant curvature perturbation on uniform field hypersurfaces the action for cosmological perturbations has a unique form, independent of the original Einstein or Jordan frame. Crucial is that the gauge invariant comoving curvature perturbation is frame independent, which makes it extremely helpful in showing the quantum equivalence of the two frames, and therefore in calculating quantum effects in nonminimally coupled theories such as Higgs inflation

Uniqueness of Gibbs states and global Markov property for Euclidean fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albeverio, S.; Hoeegh-Krohn, R.

1981-01-01

The authors briefly discuss the proof of the uniqueness of solutions of the DLR equations (uniqueness of Gibbs states) in the class of regular generalized random fields (in the sense of having second moments bounded by those of some Euclidean field), for the Euclidean fields with trigonometric interaction. (Auth.)

Development of Curriculum Content for a Unique Career Ladder Multi-Entry/Multi-Exit Nursing Program. Final Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosbach, Ellen M.

A project was undertaken to develop the curriculum content for a unique career ladder multi-entry/multi-exit nursing program that would provide training for nurse aides, practical nurses, and registered nurses. The major objectives of the project were to conduct a review of the literature on curriculum materials presently in use, to develop 11…

Health care in a unique setting: applying emergency medicine at music festivals.

Science.gov (United States)

McQueen, Carl; Davies, Charlotte

2012-01-01

The last 25 years has seen an explosion in the popularity of outdoor music festivals, especially in the UK. Coupled with this has been the development of the trend for major sporting events that were once confined to stadia to be accompanied by mass gatherings of spectators and fans in "fan parks" and public places. The majority of music festivals and sporting events are considered to be mass gatherings, using the popular definition of more than 1000 people in one place.1 Despite the increasing popularity of music festivals and other mass gathering events, there is a lack of scientifically robust data concerning the provision of medical care in these circumstances. Published studies are almost exclusively retrospective reviews or case studies of the care provided at individual events. Prospective studies analyzing the role of medical professionals and the quality of care provided at mass gathering events are extremely rare. This literature review aims to summarize the current literature and provide an opportunity to identify new and exciting avenues for research into this unique field.

A unique in vivo approach for investigating antimicrobial materials utilizing fistulated animals

Science.gov (United States)

Berean, Kyle J.; Adetutu, Eric M.; Zhen Ou, Jian; Nour, Majid; Nguyen, Emily P.; Paull, David; McLeod, Jess; Ramanathan, Rajesh; Bansal, Vipul; Latham, Kay; Bishop-Hurley, Greg J.; McSweeney, Chris; Ball, Andrew S.; Kalantar-Zadeh, Kourosh

2015-06-01

Unique in vivo tests were conducted through the use of a fistulated ruminant, providing an ideal environment with a diverse and vibrant microbial community. Utilizing such a procedure can be especially invaluable for investigating the performance of antimicrobial materials related to human and animal related infections. In this pilot study, it is shown that the rumen of a fistulated animal provides an excellent live laboratory for assessing the properties of antimicrobial materials. We investigate microbial colonization onto model nanocomposites based on silver (Ag) nanoparticles at different concentrations into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). With implantable devices posing a major risk for hospital-acquired infections, the present study provides a viable solution to understand microbial colonization with the potential to reduce the incidence of infection through the introduction of Ag nanoparticles at the optimum concentrations. In vitro measurements were also conducted to show the validity of the approach. An optimal loading of 0.25 wt% Ag is found to show the greatest antimicrobial activity and observed through the in vivo tests to reduce the microbial diversity colonizing the surface.

Marketing the Uniqueness of Small Towns. Revised.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Douglas; Hogg, David H.

The key to marketing a town is determining and promoting the town's "differential advantage" or uniqueness that would make people want to visit or live there. Exercises to help communities gain important insights into the town's competitive edge include a brainstorming session with knowledgeable community members, a visitor…

Interdependencies of Arctic land surface processes: A uniquely sensitive environment

Science.gov (United States)

Bowling, L. C.

2007-12-01

The circumpolar arctic drainage basin is composed of several distinct ecoregions including steppe grassland and cropland, boreal forest and tundra. Land surface hydrology throughout this diverse region shares several unique features such as dramatic seasonal runoff differences controlled by snowmelt and ice break-up; the storage of significant portions of annual precipitation as snow and in lakes and wetlands; and the effects of ephemeral and permanently frozen soils. These arctic land processes are delicately balanced with the climate and are therefore important indicators of change. The litany of recently-detected changes in the Arctic includes changes in snow precipitation, trends and seasonal shifts in river discharge, increases and decreases in the extent of surface water, and warming soil temperatures. Although not unique to the arctic, increasing anthropogenic pressures represent an additional element of change in the form of resource extraction, fire threat and reservoir construction. The interdependence of the physical, biological and social systems mean that changes in primary indicators have large implications for land cover, animal populations and the regional carbon balance, all of which have the potential to feed back and induce further change. In fact, the complex relationships between the hydrological processes that make the Artic unique also render observed historical change difficult to interpret and predict, leading to conflicting explanations. For example, a decrease in snow accumulation may provide less insulation to the underlying soil resulting in greater frost development and increased spring runoff. Similarly, melting permafrost and ground ice may lead to ground subsidence and increased surface saturation and methane production, while more complete thaw may enhance drainage and result in drier soil conditions. The threshold nature of phase change around the freezing point makes the system especially sensitive to change. In addition, spatial

Efficient Serial and Parallel Algorithms for Selection of Unique Oligos in EST Databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Mata-Montero, Manrique; Shalaby, Nabil; Sheppard, Bradley

2013-01-01

Obtaining unique oligos from an EST database is a problem of great importance in bioinformatics, particularly in the discovery of new genes and the mapping of the human genome. Many algorithms have been developed to find unique oligos, many of which are much less time consuming than the traditional brute force approach. An algorithm was presented by Zheng et al. (2004) which finds the solution of the unique oligos search problem efficiently. We implement this algorithm as well as several new algorithms based on some theorems included in this paper. We demonstrate how, with these new algorithms, we can obtain unique oligos much faster than with previous ones. We parallelize these new algorithms to further improve the time of finding unique oligos. All algorithms are run on ESTs obtained from a Barley EST database.

Exploitation of Unique Properties of Zeolites in the Development of Gas Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prabir K. Dutta

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The unique properties of microporous zeolites, including ion-exchange properties, adsorption, molecular sieving, catalysis, conductivity have been exploited in improving the performance of gas sensors. Zeolites have been employed as physical and chemical filters to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of gas sensors. In addition, direct interaction of gas molecules with the extraframework cations in the nanoconfined space of zeolites has been explored as a basis for developing new impedance-type gas/vapor sensors. In this review, we summarize how these properties of zeolites have been used to develop new sensing paradigms. There is a considerable breadth of transduction processes that have been used for zeolite incorporated sensors, including frequency measurements, optical and the entire gamut of electrochemical measurements. It is clear from the published literature that zeolites provide a route to enhance sensor performance, and it is expected that commercial manifestation of some of the approaches discussed here will take place. The future of zeolite-based sensors will continue to exploit its unique properties and use of other microporous frameworks, including metal organic frameworks. Zeolite composites with electronic materials, including metals will lead to new paradigms in sensing. Use of nano-sized zeolite crystals and zeolite membranes will enhance sensor properties and make possible new routes of miniaturized sensors.

A unique Fock quantization for fields in non-stationary spacetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortez, Jerónimo; Marugán, Guillermo A. Mena; Olmedo, Javier; Velhinho, José M.

2010-01-01

In curved spacetimes, the lack of criteria for the construction of a unique quantization is a fundamental problem undermining the significance of the predictions of quantum field theory. Inequivalent quantizations lead to different physics. Recently, however, some uniqueness results have been obtained for fields in non-stationary settings. In particular, for vacua that are invariant under the background symmetries, a unitary implementation of the classical evolution suffices to pick up a unique Fock quantization in the case of Klein-Gordon fields with time-dependent mass, propagating in a static spacetime whose spatial sections are three-spheres. In fact, the field equation can be reinterpreted as describing the propagation in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime after a suitable scaling of the field by a function of time. For this class of fields, we prove here an even stronger result about the Fock quantization: the uniqueness persists when one allows for linear time-dependent transformations of the field in order to account for a scaling by background functions. In total, paying attention to the dynamics, there exists a preferred choice of quantum field, and only one SO(4)-invariant Fock representation for it that respects the standard probabilistic interpretation along the evolution. The result has relevant implications e.g. in cosmology

MUSE spectroscopy and deep observations of a unique compact JWST target, lensing cluster CLIO

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Alex; Conselice, Christopher J.; Alpaslan, Mehmet; Frye, Brenda L.; Diego, Jose M.; Zitrin, Adi; Yan, Haojing; Ma, Zhiyuan; Barone-Nugent, Robert; Bhatawdekar, Rachana; Driver, Simon P.; Robotham, Aaron S. G.; Windhorst, Rogier A.; Wyithe, J. Stuart B.

2018-04-01

We present the results of a VLT MUSE/FORS2 and Spitzer survey of a unique compact lensing cluster CLIO at z = 0.42, discovered through the GAMA survey using spectroscopic redshifts. Compact and massive clusters such as this are understudied, but provide a unique prospective on dark matter distributions and for finding background lensed high-z galaxies. The CLIO cluster was identified for follow-up observations due to its almost unique combination of high-mass and dark matter halo concentration, as well as having observed lensing arcs from ground-based images. Using dual band optical and infra-red imaging from FORS2 and Spitzer, in combination with MUSE optical spectroscopy we identify 89 cluster members and find background sources out to z = 6.49. We describe the physical state of this cluster, finding a strong correlation between environment and galaxy spectral type. Under the assumption of an NFW profile, we measure the total mass of CLIO to be M200 = (4.49 ± 0.25) × 1014 M⊙. We build and present an initial strong-lensing model for this cluster, and measure a relatively low intracluster light (ICL) fraction of 7.21 ± 1.53 per cent through galaxy profile fitting. Due to its strong potential for lensing background galaxies and its low ICL, the CLIO cluster will be a target for our 110 h James Webb Space Telescope `Webb Medium-Deep Field' (WMDF) GTO program.

Lourdes: A uniquely Catholic approach to medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Dichoso, Travis Jon

2015-02-01

As an American medical student, I spent the summer break between my first and second year in Lourdes, France, the site where the Immaculate Conception appeared eighteen times to St. Bernadette in 1858 as proclaimed approved by the Catholic Church and whose water is associated with over seven thousand unexplained cures. During this time I volunteered with St. Joseph's Service and Poste Secour, followed several medical teams taking care of large pilgrim groups, and shadowed Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis the president of Le Bureau des Constations Médicales, the office in Lourdes charged with investigating claims of miracles. Through my experiences, I found the mission of medicine in Lourdes to be twofold: to provide the critical care needed to give sick persons the chance to transform their experience of disease through their faith; and secondly, through the efforts of the Medical Bureau, to be an instrument by which we can comprehend the wonders of the work of God. I conclude that this twofold mission should inform the work of every Catholic in health care or research, and Lourdes provides the venue par excellence to cultivate this mission. Lay Summary: Lourdes is a pilgrimage site in southern France that has been associated with medical miracles for the past 150 years. The site is unique in that throughout its history, physicians, of any or no faith, have been invited to participate in the proceedings of the investigations of each claimed cure. The investigations have formalized into a process handled by the Lourdes Medical Bureau and the Lourdes International Medical Association. Travis Dichoso, an American medical student, writes about his experiences as part of this process.

A unique tripartite collision tumor of the esophagus

Science.gov (United States)

Schizas, Dimitrios; Michalinos, Adamantios; Alexandrou, Paraskevi; Moris, Demetrios; Baliou, Evangelia; Tsilimigras, Diamantis; Throupis, Theodore; Liakakos, Theodore

2017-01-01

Abstract Rationale: We report a unique case of a tripartite esophageal collision tumor consisting of three separate histologic types. Patients concerns: Therapeutic dilemmas on the proper treatment of those rare neoplasms remain unanswered considering both proper surgical therapy and adjuvant therapy. Diagnose: In this paper, we report a unique case of a patient with a tripartite esophageal collision tumor consisting of a small cell carcinoma, an adenocarcinoma of medium differentiation and a signet ring cell carcinoma. Diagnosis is difficult as clinical presentation of the patient was undistinguishable from other, commoner tumor types. Interventions: The patient's diagnostic and therapeutic course along with available data on the collisions tumor's biological behavior and treatment are briefly discussed. Outcomes: Esophagectomy is the best treatment options for these patients. Unique nature of this tumor demands aggresive oncologic treatment. Lessons: Collision tumors are rare neoplasms consisting of distinct cell populations developing in juxtaposition to one another without any areas of intermingling. Various cell types can be found. However, collision neoplasms of the esophagus combining adenomatous and neuroendocrine components are exceedingly rare, with only 5 cases described to date in the literature. Given their rarity, limited information is available on their tumorigenesis, biological behavior and clinical course. In general, these tumors are aggressive neoplasms and significantly affect patient treatment and prognosis. PMID:29245236

A unique metal-semiconductor interface and resultant electron transfer phenomenon

OpenAIRE

Taft, S. L.

2012-01-01

An unusual electron transfer phenomenon has been identified from an n-type semiconductor to Schottky metal particles, the result of a unique metal semiconductor interface that results when the metal particles are grown from the semiconductor substrate. The unique interface acts as a one-way (rectifying) open gateway and was first identified in reduced rutile polycrystalline titanium dioxide (an n-type semiconductor) to Group VIII (noble) metal particles. The interface significantly affects th...

Tissue-Specific Floral Transcriptome Analysis of the Sexually Deceptive Orchid Chiloglottis trapeziformis Provides Insights into the Biosynthesis and Regulation of Its Unique UV-B Dependent Floral Volatile, Chiloglottone 1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darren C. J. Wong

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The Australian sexually deceptive orchid, Chiloglottis trapeziformis, employs a unique UV-B-dependent floral volatile, chiloglottone 1, for specific male wasp pollinator attraction. Chiloglottone 1 and related variants (2,5-dialkylcyclohexane-1,3-diones, represent a unique class of specialized metabolites presumed to be the product of cyclization between two fatty acid (FA precursors. However, the genes involved in the biosynthesis of precursors, intermediates, and transcriptional regulation remains to be discovered. Chiloglottone 1 production occurs in the aggregation of calli (callus on the labellum under continuous UV-B light. Therefore, deep sequencing, transcriptome assembly, and differential expression (DE analysis were performed across different tissue types and UV-B treatments. Transcripts expressed in the callus and labellum (∼23,000 transcripts were highly specialized and enriched for a diversity of known and novel metabolic pathways. DE analysis between chiloglottone-emitting callus versus the remainder of the labellum showed strong coordinated induction of entire FA biosynthesis and β-oxidation pathways including genes encoding Ketoacyl-ACP Synthase, Acyl-CoA Oxidase, and Multifunctional Protein. Phylogenetic analysis revealed potential gene duplicates with tissue-specific differential regulation including two Acyl-ACP Thioesterase B and a Ketoacyl-ACP Synthase genes. UV-B treatment induced the activation of UVR8-mediated signaling and large-scale transcriptome changes in both tissues, however, neither FA biosynthesis/β-oxidation nor other lipid metabolic pathways showed clear indications of concerted DE. Gene co-expression network analysis identified three callus-specific modules enriched with various lipid metabolism categories. These networks also highlight promising candidates involved in the cyclization of chiloglottone 1 intermediates (e.g., Bet v I and dimeric α,β barrel proteins and orchestrating regulation of precursor

The sea cucumber genome provides insights into morphological evolution and visceral regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaojun; Sun, Lina; Yuan, Jianbo; Sun, Yamin; Gao, Yi; Zhang, Libin; Li, Shihao; Dai, Hui; Hamel, Jean-François; Liu, Chengzhang; Yu, Yang; Liu, Shilin; Lin, Wenchao; Guo, Kaimin; Jin, Songjun; Xu, Peng; Storey, Kenneth B; Huan, Pin; Zhang, Tao; Zhou, Yi; Zhang, Jiquan; Lin, Chenggang; Li, Xiaoni; Xing, Lili; Huo, Da; Sun, Mingzhe; Wang, Lei; Mercier, Annie; Li, Fuhua; Yang, Hongsheng; Xiang, Jianhai

2017-10-01

Apart from sharing common ancestry with chordates, sea cucumbers exhibit a unique morphology and exceptional regenerative capacity. Here we present the complete genome sequence of an economically important sea cucumber, A. japonicus, generated using Illumina and PacBio platforms, to achieve an assembly of approximately 805 Mb (contig N50 of 190 Kb and scaffold N50 of 486 Kb), with 30,350 protein-coding genes and high continuity. We used this resource to explore key genetic mechanisms behind the unique biological characters of sea cucumbers. Phylogenetic and comparative genomic analyses revealed the presence of marker genes associated with notochord and gill slits, suggesting that these chordate features were present in ancestral echinoderms. The unique shape and weak mineralization of the sea cucumber adult body were also preliminarily explained by the contraction of biomineralization genes. Genome, transcriptome, and proteome analyses of organ regrowth after induced evisceration provided insight into the molecular underpinnings of visceral regeneration, including a specific tandem-duplicated prostatic secretory protein of 94 amino acids (PSP94)-like gene family and a significantly expanded fibrinogen-related protein (FREP) gene family. This high-quality genome resource will provide a useful framework for future research into biological processes and evolution in deuterostomes, including remarkable regenerative abilities that could have medical applications. Moreover, the multiomics data will be of prime value for commercial sea cucumber breeding programs.

The sea cucumber genome provides insights into morphological evolution and visceral regeneration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojun Zhang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Apart from sharing common ancestry with chordates, sea cucumbers exhibit a unique morphology and exceptional regenerative capacity. Here we present the complete genome sequence of an economically important sea cucumber, A. japonicus, generated using Illumina and PacBio platforms, to achieve an assembly of approximately 805 Mb (contig N50 of 190 Kb and scaffold N50 of 486 Kb, with 30,350 protein-coding genes and high continuity. We used this resource to explore key genetic mechanisms behind the unique biological characters of sea cucumbers. Phylogenetic and comparative genomic analyses revealed the presence of marker genes associated with notochord and gill slits, suggesting that these chordate features were present in ancestral echinoderms. The unique shape and weak mineralization of the sea cucumber adult body were also preliminarily explained by the contraction of biomineralization genes. Genome, transcriptome, and proteome analyses of organ regrowth after induced evisceration provided insight into the molecular underpinnings of visceral regeneration, including a specific tandem-duplicated prostatic secretory protein of 94 amino acids (PSP94-like gene family and a significantly expanded fibrinogen-related protein (FREP gene family. This high-quality genome resource will provide a useful framework for future research into biological processes and evolution in deuterostomes, including remarkable regenerative abilities that could have medical applications. Moreover, the multiomics data will be of prime value for commercial sea cucumber breeding programs.

Inhaled corticosteroid metered-dose inhalers: how do variations in technique for solutions versus suspensions affect drug distribution?

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Christie A; Tsourounis, Candy

2013-03-01

To assess the literature that evaluates how variations in metered-dose inhaler (MDI) technique affect lung distribution for inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) formulated as MDI suspensions and solutions. PubMed (up to November 2012) and Cochrane Library (up to November 2012) were searched using the terms metered-dose inhalers, HFA 134a, Asthma/*drug therapy, and inhaled corticosteroids. In addition, reference citations from publications identified were reviewed. All articles in English from the data sources that assessed MDI technique comparing total lung distribution (TLD) of MDI solutions or suspensions formulated with ICSs were included in the review. Five relevant studies were identified. Five controlled studies compared how variations in MDI technique affect TLD for ICS MDI solutions with suspensions. MDI solutions resulted in greater TLD compared with larger particle MDI suspensions. Delayed or early inspiration upon device actuation of MDI solutions resulted in less TLD than coordinated actuation, but with a 3- to 4-times greater TLD than MDI suspensions inhaled using a standard technique. A sixth study evaluated inspiratory flow rates (IFR) for small, medium, and large particles. Rapid and slow IFRs resulted in similar TLD for small particles, while far fewer particles reached the airways with medium and large particles at rapid, rather than slow, IFRs. Based on the literature evaluated, standard MDI technique should be used for ICS suspensions. ICS MDI solutions can provide a higher average TLD than larger-particle ICS suspensions using standard technique, discoordinated inspiration and medication actuation timing, or rapid and slow IFRs. ICS MDI solutions allow for a more forgiving technique, which makes them uniquely suitable options for patients with asthma who have difficultly with MDI technique.

Existence of non-unique steady state solutions to the RMF current drive equations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hugrass, W N [Flinders Univ. of South Australia, Bedford Park. School of Physical Sciences

1985-05-04

It is shown that the value of the d.c. current driven in a plasma cylinder by means of a rotating magnetic field (RMF) is not unique for R/delta >= 6 and eBsub(..omega..)/..nu..sub(ei)m approx.R/delta, where R is the radius of the plasma cylinder, delta is the classical skin depth, ..nu..sub(ei) is the electron-ion momentum transfer collision frequency, Bsub(..omega..) is the magnitude of the rotating magnetic field, e is the electron charge and m is the electron mass. This effect is predicted using three distinct approaches: (i) a steady state anaysis which ignores the second and higher harmonics of the fields and currents; (ii) a qualitative model which utilizes the analogy between the RMF current drive technique and the operation of the induction motor; (iii) a solution of the initial boundary value equations describing the RMF current drive in cylindrical plasmas.

A century of radiochemistry. Its growth and development as a unique scientific discipline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jervis, R.E.

1999-01-01

In recognition of the 1997 anniversary of the first century of radiochemistry, a review is made of its unique contribution to the emergence of nuclear science, its development from the use of very basic chemical techniques initially to a battery of more sophisticated procedures, and its changing role as it has become widely applied in many fields of science. Synergistically, these fields have been able to develop with the aid of radiochemistry while at the same time, radiochemical methods developed to meet the demands of such applications, Among these, during the second half of the century, has been radiochemistry applied to quantitative chemical analysis: RAA or, nuclear analytical chemistry, and typical examples of its use in the authors' laboratory are described, including some recent INAA results on development of novel 'activable' tracer coding for forensic use with specialized and high security materials. The specific contributions, during the century, of Japanese pioneers in radiochemistry are also cited. (author)

Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy via Griggs Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimpour, Hasan Ali; Vafaii, Kamran; Chalechale, Maryam; Mohammadi, Saeed; Kaviannezhad, Rasool

2017-01-01

Tracheostomy is considered the airway management of choice for patients who need prolonged mechanical ventilation support. Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheotomy (PDT) is a technique that can be performed easily and rapidly at bedside and is particularly useful in the intensive care setting. The Griggs percutaneous tracheotomy is unique in its utilization of a guide wire dilator forceps. We aimed to describe the early perioperative and late postoperative complications of PDT using the Griggs technique in patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). This cross-sectional study was conducted on all patients who underwent tracheostomy in the ICU of the Imam Reza Hospital of Kermanshah, Iran, from June 2011 to June 2015. PDT was performed in 184 patients with the Griggs technique. Demographic variables, as well as perioperative and late postoperative complications were recorded. The mean age of patients was 57.3 ± 15.37 years. The most common primary causes of tracheostomy were hypoxic brain damage disorders (43.2%) and pneumonia (14.8%). Perioperative and early complications occurred in 16.7 % of procedures, of which 9.3% were bleedings (minor, significant and major). Furthermore, the incidence of late complications was 8.6%, including: stomal infection, difficult replace tracheostomy tube, tracheoesophageal fistula, tracheal stenosis, and tracheomalacia. PDT via Griggs technique is a safe, quick, and effective method. The low incidence of complications indicates that bedside percutaneous tracheostomy can be performed safely as a routine procedure for daily care implemented in the ICU.

A unique theory of all forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Vecchia, Paolo

1997-01-01

In discussing the construction of a consistent theory of quantum gravity unified with the gauge interactions we are naturally led to a string theory. We review its properties and the five consistent supersymmetric string theories in ten dimensions. We finally discuss the evidence that these theories are actually special limits of a unique 11-dimensional theory, called M-theory, and a recent conjecture for its explicit formulation as a supersymmetric Matrix theory

Some views about PET technique establish and development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Zuhan

2001-01-01

About 2100 patients had been performed in Nanfang PET center since its establish in November, 1999. The clinical practice showed that the positron emission tomography (PET) had unique value for the diagnosis of malignancy, cardiac coronal artery disease, myocardium viability and for lesion localization of epilepsy and other cerebral function diseases. It had important impact to treatment of these diseases and improved the treatment outcomes of them. It also promoted the scientific studies and other correlative subjects and enhanced the station of nuclear medicine. Its integrative benefit was very great. In order to develop this technique more smoothly, authors would give the views on some questions such as how to look on PET images, its clinical value, its price and its cost-effectiveness. The authors would also give some proposal which could not be neglectable for establish of PET technique

Is Self-Assessment in Religious Education Unique?

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Val; Fancourt, Nigel

2012-01-01

This paper addresses the question: is self-assessment in religious education unique? It first presents an overview of some challenges for assessment from subject differences, and then reviews the generic literature on self-assessment. It builds on earlier empirical research on self-assessment in religious education, carried out in an English state…

Natural gas hydrates. Experimental techniques and their applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ye, Yuguang; Liu, Changling (eds.) [Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology (China). Gas Hydrate Laboratory

2013-07-01

Focuses on gas hydrate experiment in laboratory. Intends to provide practical significant parameters for gas hydrate exploration and exploitation in the oceanic and permafrost environments. Consists of different themes that present up-to-date information on hydrate experiments. ''Natural Gas Hydrates: Experimental Techniques and Their Applications'' attempts to broadly integrate the most recent knowledge in the fields of hydrate experimental techniques in the laboratory. The book examines various experimental techniques in order to provide useful parameters for gas hydrate exploration and exploitation. It provides experimental techniques for gas hydrates, including the detection techniques, the thermo-physical properties, permeability and mechanical properties, geochemical abnormalities, stability and dissociation kinetics, exploitation conditions, as well as modern measurement technologies etc.

Hepatoblastoma Biology Using Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry: Utility of a Unique Technique for the Analysis of Oncological Specimens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Taran

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary liver tumor in children. However, it occurs rarely, with an incidence of 0.5-1.5 cases per million children. There is no clear explanation of the relationship between clinicopathologic features, therapy, and outcome in hepatoblastoma cases, so far. One of the most widely accepted prognostic factors in hepatoblastoma is histology of the tumor. The aim of the study was to determine the potential differences in biology of hepatoblastoma histological subtypes at the atomic level using the unique method of isotope ratio mass spectrometry, which is especially valuable in examination of small groups of biological samples.Material/Methods: Twenty-four measurements of nitrogen stable isotope ratio, carbon stable isotope ratio and total carbon to nitrogen mass ratio in fetal and embryonal hepatoblastoma tissue were performed using a Sercon 20-22 Continuous Flow Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (CF-IRMS coupled with a Sercon SL elemental analyzer for simultaneous carbon-nitrogen-sulfur (NCS analysis.Results: A difference of about 1.781‰ in stable nitrogen isotope 15N/14N ratio was found between examined hepatoblastoma histological subtypes.Conclusions: The prognosis in liver tumors cases in children may be challenging particularly because of the lack of versatile methods of its evaluation. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry allows one to determine the difference between hepatoblastoma histological subtypes and clearly indicates the cases with the best outcome.

Sampling phased array, a new technique for ultrasonic signal processing and imaging now available to industry

OpenAIRE

Verkooijen, J.; Bulavinov, A.

2008-01-01

Over the past 10 years the improvement in the field of microelectronics and computer engineering has led to significant advances in ultrasonic signal processing and image construction techniques that are currently being applied to non-destructive material evaluation. A new phased array technique, called "Sampling Phased Array" has been developed in the Fraunhofer Institute for non-destructive testing [1]. It realizes a unique approach of measurement and processing of ultrasonic signals. The s...

Growing skull hemangioma: first and unique description in a patient with Klippel-Trénaunay-Weber syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Loo, Lars E; Beckervordersandforth, Jan; Colon, Albert J; Schijns, Olaf E M G

2017-02-01

We present the first and unique case of a rapid-growing skull hemangioma in a patient with Klippel-Trénaunay-Weber syndrome. This case report provides evidence that not all rapid-growing, osteolytic skull lesions need to have a malignant character but certainly need a histopathological verification. This material offers insight into the list of rare pathological diagnoses in an infrequent syndrome.

Why are predictions of general relativity theory for gravitational effects non-unique?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loskutov, Yu.M.

1990-01-01

Reasons of non-uniqueness of predictions of the general relativity theory (GRT) for gravitational effects are analyzed in detail. To authors' opinion, the absence of comparison mechanism of curved and plane metrics is the reason of non-uniqueness

New techniques in quality assurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fornicola, J.C.

1987-01-01

GPU Nuclear Corp. has a multifaceted quality assurance (QA) program. This program includes a comprehensive QA organization to help ensure its implementation. The QA organization employs various techniques in assuring quality at GPU Nuclear. These techniques not only include the typical QA/quality-control verification activities, i.e., QA engineering, quality control, and audits, but also include some new innovative techniques. Several new techniques have been developed for verifying activities. These techniques include monitoring and functional audits of safety systems. Several new techniques for assessing performance and adequacy and effectiveness of plant and QA programs, such as plant assessments and QA systems engineering evaluations, have also been developed. This paper provides an overview of these and other new techniques being employed by GPU Nuclear's QA organization

Deairing Techniques for Double-Ended Centrifugal Total Artificial Heart Implantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimov, Jamshid H; Horvath, David J; Byram, Nicole; Sunagawa, Gengo; Grady, Patrick; Sinkewich, Martin; Moazami, Nader; Sale, Shiva; Golding, Leonard A R; Fukamachi, Kiyotaka

2017-06-01

The unique device architecture of the Cleveland Clinic continuous-flow total artificial heart (CFTAH) requires dedicated and specific air-removal techniques during device implantation in vivo. These procedures comprise special surgical techniques and intraoperative manipulations, as well as engineering design changes and optimizations to the device itself. The current study evaluated the optimal air-removal techniques during the Cleveland Clinic double-ended centrifugal CFTAH in vivo implants (n = 17). Techniques and pump design iterations consisted of developing a priming method for the device and the use of built-in deairing ports in the early cases (n = 5). In the remaining cases (n = 12), deairing ports were not used. Dedicated air-removal ports were not considered an essential design requirement, and such ports may represent an additional risk for pump thrombosis. Careful passive deairing was found to be an effective measure with a centrifugal pump of this design. In this report, the techniques and design changes that were made during this CFTAH development program to enable effective residual air removal and prevention of air embolism during in vivo device implantation are explained. © 2016 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Uniqueness of flat spherically symmetric spacelike hypersurfaces admitted by spherically symmetric static spacetimes

Science.gov (United States)

Beig, Robert; Siddiqui, Azad A.

2007-11-01

It is known that spherically symmetric static spacetimes admit a foliation by flat hypersurfaces. Such foliations have explicitly been constructed for some spacetimes, using different approaches, but none of them have proved or even discussed the uniqueness of these foliations. The issue of uniqueness becomes more important due to suitability of flat foliations for studying black hole physics. Here, flat spherically symmetric spacelike hypersurfaces are obtained by a direct method. It is found that spherically symmetric static spacetimes admit flat spherically symmetric hypersurfaces, and that these hypersurfaces are unique up to translation under the timelike Killing vector. This result guarantees the uniqueness of flat spherically symmetric foliations for such spacetimes.

In-situ, real-time, studies of film growth processes using ion scattering and direct recoil spectroscopy techniques.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smentkowski, V. S.

1999-04-22

Time-of-flight ion scattering and recoil spectroscopy (TOF-ISARS) enables the characterization of the composition and structure of surfaces with 1-2 monolayer specificity. It will be shown that surface analysis is possible at ambient pressures greater than 3 mTorr using TOF-ISARS techniques; allowing for real-time, in situ studies of film growth processes. TOF-ISARS comprises three analytical techniques: ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS), which detects the backscattered primary ion beam; direct recoil spectroscopy (DRS), which detects the surface species recoiled into the forward scattering direction; and mass spectroscopy of recoiled ions (MSRI), which is 3 variant of DRS capable of isotopic resolution for all surface species--including H and He. The advantages and limitations of each of these techniques will be discussed. The use of the three TOF-ISARS methods for real-time, in situ film growth studies at high ambient pressures will be illustrated. It will be shown that MSRI analysis is possible during sputter deposition. It will be also be demonstrated that the analyzer used for MSRI can also be used for time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) under high vacuum conditions. The use of a single analyzer to perform the complimentary surface analytical techniques of MSRI and SIMS is unique. The dwd functionality of the MSRI analyzer provides surface information not obtained when either MSRI or SIMS is used independently.

Young children's preference for unique owned objects.

Science.gov (United States)

Gelman, Susan A; Davidson, Natalie S

2016-10-01

An important aspect of human thought is the value we place on unique individuals. Adults place higher value on authentic works of art than exact replicas, and young children at times value their original possessions over exact duplicates. What is the scope of this preference in early childhood, and when do children understand its subjective nature? On a series of trials, we asked three-year-olds (N=36) to choose between two toys for either themselves or the researcher: an old (visibly used) toy vs. a new (more attractive) toy matched in type and appearance (e.g., old vs. brand-new blanket). Focal pairs contrasted the child's own toy with a matched new object; Control pairs contrasted toys the child had never seen before. Children preferred the old toys for Focal pairs only, and treated their own preferences as not shared by the researcher. By 3years of age, young children place special value on unique individuals, and understand the subjective nature of that value. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Event segmentation ability uniquely predicts event memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Sargent, Jesse Q; Zacks, Jeffrey M; Hambrick, David Z; Zacks, Rose T; Kurby, Christopher A; Bailey, Heather R; Eisenberg, Michelle L; Beck, Taylor M

2013-11-01

Memory for everyday events plays a central role in tasks of daily living, autobiographical memory, and planning. Event memory depends in part on segmenting ongoing activity into meaningful units. This study examined the relationship between event segmentation and memory in a lifespan sample to answer the following question: Is the ability to segment activity into meaningful events a unique predictor of subsequent memory, or is the relationship between event perception and memory accounted for by general cognitive abilities? Two hundred and eight adults ranging from 20 to 79years old segmented movies of everyday events and attempted to remember the events afterwards. They also completed psychometric ability tests and tests measuring script knowledge for everyday events. Event segmentation and script knowledge both explained unique variance in event memory above and beyond the psychometric measures, and did so as strongly in older as in younger adults. These results suggest that event segmentation is a basic cognitive mechanism, important for memory across the lifespan. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increasing Need for Uniqueness in Contemporary China: Empirical Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huajian Cai

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Past research has documented various cultural and psychological changes in contemporary China. In two studies, we examine how Chinese people’s need for uniqueness (NFU also has changed. In Study 1, we found a significant cross-generational increase in Chinese participants’ self-reported NFU. In Study 2, we sampled the names of Chinese newborn babies over the last five decades and found that parents have been increasingly likely to use unique characters to name their children. These findings suggest that the NFU has been rising in China, a historically collectivistic-oriented society. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings were discussed.

Multiple Problem-Solving Strategies Provide Insight into Students' Understanding of Open-Ended Linear Programming Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Sole, Marla A.

2016-01-01

Open-ended questions that can be solved using different strategies help students learn and integrate content, and provide teachers with greater insights into students' unique capabilities and levels of understanding. This article provides a problem that was modified to allow for multiple approaches. Students tended to employ high-powered, complex,…

Separating Common from Unique Variance Within Emotional Distress: An Examination of Reliability and Relations to Worry.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Andrew J; Evanovich, Emma K; David, Sarah Jo; Mumma, Gregory H

2018-01-17

High comorbidity rates among emotional disorders have led researchers to examine transdiagnostic factors that may contribute to shared psychopathology. Bifactor models provide a unique method for examining transdiagnostic variables by modelling the common and unique factors within measures. Previous findings suggest that the bifactor model of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) may provide a method for examining transdiagnostic factors within emotional disorders. This study aimed to replicate the bifactor model of the DASS, a multidimensional measure of psychological distress, within a US adult sample and provide initial estimates of the reliability of the general and domain-specific factors. Furthermore, this study hypothesized that Worry, a theorized transdiagnostic variable, would show stronger relations to general emotional distress than domain-specific subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the bifactor model structure of the DASS in 456 US adult participants (279 females and 177 males, mean age 35.9 years) recruited online. The DASS bifactor model fitted well (CFI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.05). The General Emotional Distress factor accounted for most of the reliable variance in item scores. Domain-specific subscales accounted for modest portions of reliable variance in items after accounting for the general scale. Finally, structural equation modelling indicated that Worry was strongly predicted by the General Emotional Distress factor. The DASS bifactor model is generalizable to a US community sample and General Emotional Distress, but not domain-specific factors, strongly predict the transdiagnostic variable Worry.

48 CFR 252.211-7007 - Reporting of Government-Furnished Equipment in the DoD Item Unique Identification (IUID) Registry.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... property, equipment, machine tools, or similar capital items. Unique item identifier (UII) means a set of... management of Government-furnished equipment shall be performed at the item level; and (2) Unless provided by... payments; (6) Intellectual property or software; or (7) Real property. (d) Procedures for establishing UIIs...

A note on unique solvability of the absolute value equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taher Lotfi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available It is proved that applying sufficient regularity conditions to the interval matrix $[A-|B|,A+|B|]$‎, ‎we can create a new unique solvability condition for the absolute value equation $Ax+B|x|=b$‎, ‎since regularity of interval matrices implies unique solvability of their corresponding absolute value equation‎. ‎This condition is formulated in terms of positive definiteness of a certain point matrix‎. ‎Special case $B=-I$ is verified too as an application.

Synthetic Biology of Cyanobacteria: Unique Challenges and Opportunities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bertram M Berla

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Photosynthetic organisms, and especially cyanobacteria, hold great promise as sources of renewably-produced fuels, bulk and specialty chemicals, and nutritional products. Synthetic biology tools can help unlock cyanobacteria’s potential for these functions, but unfortunately tool development for these organisms has lagged behind that for S. cerevisiae and E. coli. While these organisms may in many cases be more difficult to work with as ‘chassis’ strains for synthetic biology than certain heterotrophs, the unique advantages of autotrophs in biotechnology applications as well as the scientific importance of improved understanding of photosynthesis warrant the development of these systems into something akin to a ‘green E. coli’. In this review, we highlight unique challenges and opportunities for development of synthetic biology approaches in cyanobacteria. We review classical and recently developed methods for constructing targeted mutants in various cyanobacterial strains, and offer perspective on what genetic tools might most greatly expand the ability to engineer new functions in such strains. Similarly, we review what genetic parts are most needed for the development of cyanobacterial synthetic biology. Finally, we highlight recent methods to construct genome-scale models of cyanobacterial metabolism and to use those models to measure properties of autotrophic metabolism. Throughout this paper, we discuss some of the unique challenges of a diurnal, autotrophic lifestyle along with how the development of synthetic biology and biotechnology in cyanobacteria must fit within those constraints.

Non-invasive techniques for revealing the palette of the Romantic painter Francesco Hayez

Science.gov (United States)

Rampazzi, Laura; Brunello, Valentina; Corti, Cristina; Lissoni, Elena

2017-04-01

This paper describes the first systematic analysis of the palette of Francesco Hayez, one of the most outstanding artists of European Romanticism, whose painting technique has never been extensively investigated despite the plethora of artistic studies. He lived in a particular moment in the history of painting, as in the first half of the 19th century many synthetic pigments were available, also in tin tubes, but traditional materials were still used. Sixteen paintings on canvas and on panels, created between 1823 and 1868, were analyzed in situ through non-invasive techniques (infrared reflectography and infrared reflection spectroscopy). Imaging investigation provided clues on painting technique, revealing some cases of pentimenti and underdrawings. A preliminary survey was carried out on a hundred pure pigments used up to the 19th century and on new synthetic colours, in order to attain reference spectra for the interpretation of painting spectra. The portable infrared instrument provided insight into Hayez's painting materials, identifying barite, ivory black, lead-tin yellow, Naples yellow, ochres, Prussian blue, and white lead. The pigments were often blended, to obtain a unique fabric appearance or to attain cold shades. The results pointed to a siccative oil as a binder, mixed with white lead so that it could act as a catalyzer in polymerization reactions, and in some cases with a proteinaceous binder and resins. The preparation was made with gypsum and white lead mixed with a siccative oil. The results showed that the artist used a typical traditional palette, throughout his career, in order to lead to brilliant colours and with long-term stability. Anyway, the possible presence of cobalt blue in a few paintings suggests that Hayez had probably started testing the new colours, since the second decade of 19th century.

Application of three pollination techniques and of hormone treatments for overcoming interspecific crossing barriers in Tulipa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Creij, van M.G.M.; Kerckhoffs, D.M.F.J.; Tuyl, van J.M.

1997-01-01

In tulip, interspecific crossing is restricted by both pre-fertilization and post-fertilization barriers. In order to introduce traits from wild species into the cultivar assortment these barriers must be bypassed. By application of embryo rescue techniques, unique hybrids have been obtained of

Clinical Study of Bacillus coagulans Unique IS-2 (ATCC PTA-11748) in the Treatment of Patients with Bacterial Vaginosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ratna Sudha, M; Yelikar, Kanan A; Deshpande, Sonali

2012-09-01

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most prevalent vaginal infection worldwide and is characterized by reduction of native lactobacilli. Antimicrobial therapy used to cure the disease is often found to be ineffective. We postulate that Bacillus coagulans Unique IS-2 (Unique Biotech Limited, India) might provide an appendage to antimicrobial treatment and improve curing rate. In the present study 40 Indian women diagnosed with BV by the presence of symptoms including white discharge, pH greater than 4.7, burning micturation, itching, soreness and redness at vulva. The subjects were divided in 2 groups probiotic (n = 20) and control (n = 20) based on age (control group, 33 ± 3 years and probiotic group, 32.5 ± 3 years), history of previous vaginosis (control group, 75% or 15/20 and probiotic group, 75% or 15/20) and severity of current vaginosis infection (burning micturation and itching, 35% in each group). Probiotic group subjects were assigned to receive a dose of antibiotic therapy [Ofloxacin-Ornidazole with strength of 200-500 mg per capsule/day for 5 days along with vaginal peccaries (co-kimaxazol) for 3 days] simultaneously with two probiotic capsules (10(9) CFUs of Bacillus coagulans Unique IS-2 per capsule). The control group received only antibiotic therapy. At the end of the treatment the 80% of probiotic group subjects showed significant positive response as revealed by reduction of vaginosis symptoms compared to the control group which exhibited reduction in 45% subjects only. Thus, the results of present study indicate that strain Bacillus coagulans Unique IS-2 can provide benefits to women being treated with antibiotics to cure an infectious condition.

Modelling, analysis and validation of microwave techniques for the characterisation of metallic nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

Sulaimalebbe, Aslam

In the last decade, the study of nanoparticle (NP) systems has become a large and interesting research area due to their novel properties and functionalities, which are different from those of the bulk materials, and also their potential applications in different fields. It is vital to understand the behaviour and properties of nano-materials aiming at implementing nanotechnology, controlling their behaviour and designing new material systems with superior performance. Physical characterisation of NPs falls into two main categories, property and structure analysis, where the properties of the NPs cannot be studied without the knowledge of size and structure. The direct measurement of the electrical properties of metal NPs presents a key challenge and necessitates the use of innovative experimental techniques. There have been numerous reports of two/four point resistance measurements of NPs films and also electrical conductivity of NPs films using the interdigitated microarray (IDA) electrode. However, using microwave techniques such as open ended coaxial probe (OCP) and microwave dielectric resonator (DR) for electrical characterisation of metallic NPs are much more accurate and effective compared to other traditional techniques. This is because they are inexpensive, convenient, non-destructive, contactless, hazardless (i.e. at low power) and require no special sample preparation. This research is the first attempt to determine the microwave properties of Pt and Au NP films, which were appealing materials for nano-scale electronics, using the aforementioned microwave techniques. The ease of synthesis, relatively cheap, unique catalytic activities and control over the size and the shape were the main considerations in choosing Pt and Au NPs for the present study. The initial phase of this research was to implement and validate the aperture admittance model for the OCP measurement through experiments and 3D full wave simulation using the commercially available Ansoft

Uniqueness: skews bit occurrence frequencies in randomly generated fingerprint libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Nelson G

2016-08-01

Requiring that randomly generated chemical fingerprint libraries have unique fingerprints such that no two fingerprints are identical causes a systematic skew in bit occurrence frequencies, the proportion at which specified bits are set. Observed frequencies (O) at which each bit is set within the resulting libraries systematically differ from frequencies at which bits are set at fingerprint generation (E). Observed frequencies systematically skew toward 0.5, with the effect being more pronounced as library size approaches the compound space, which is the total number of unique possible fingerprints given the number of bit positions each fingerprint contains. The effect is quantified for varying library sizes as a fraction of the overall compound space, and for changes in the specified frequency E. The cause and implications for this systematic skew are subsequently discussed. When generating random libraries of chemical fingerprints, the imposition of a uniqueness requirement should either be avoided or taken into account.

RUCS: Rapid identification of PCR primers for unique core sequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Martin Christen Frølund; Hasman, Henrik; Westh, Henrik

2017-01-01

Designing PCR primers to target a specific selection of whole genome sequenced strains can be a long, arduous, and sometimes impractical task. Such tasks would benefit greatly from an automated tool to both identify unique targets, and to validate the vast number of potential primer pairs...... for the targets in silico . Here we present RUCS, a program that will find PCR primer pairs and probes for the unique core sequences of a positive genome dataset complement to a negative genome dataset. The resulting primer pairs and probes are in addition to simple selection also validated through a complex...... in silico PCR simulation. We compared our method, which identifies the unique core sequences, against an existing tool called ssGeneFinder, and found that our method was 6.5-20 times more sensitive. We used RUCS to design primer pairs that would target a set of genomes known to contain the mcr-1 colistin...

Health Care Providers' Spirit at Work Within a Restructured Workplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Joan I J; Brooks, Denise; Urban, Ann-Marie

2018-01-01

Spirit at work (SAW) research emerged as a response to care provider determination to maintain a healthy and productive health care work environment, despite restructuring. The aim of this descriptive mixed-methods research is to present the care provider's perceptions of SAW. SAW is a holistic measure of care provider workplace outcomes, defined as the unique experience of individuals who are passionate about and energized by their work. A mixed group of licensed and unlicensed care providers in a continuing care workplace were surveyed. Eighteen Likert-type scale survey questions were further informed by two open-ended questions. Results indicated that unlicensed continuing care providers' perceptions of SAW are lower than licensed care providers. Responses suggest that open discussion between managers and team members, combined with structured workplace interventions, will lead to enhanced SAW and improved patient care. Further research on SAW within the continuing care workplace is required.

Providing a USSD location based clinic finder in South Africa: did it work?

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Annie Neo; Timler, Dagmar

2014-01-01

A new mHealth service, Clinic Finder, was designed to provide a location-based service for any cellphone user in South Africa dialing a dedicated USSD string to find the nearest public primary health care facility. The service was funded by a European Union grant to Cell-Life to support the National Department of Health. Clinic Finder's aims were to provide a reliable and accurate service, and to assess both the most effective means of advertising the service as well as interest in the service. Users dialing the USSD string are asked to agree to geo-location (Vodacom and MTN users) or asked to enter their province, town and street (virtual network users and those choosing not to geo-locate). The service provider, AAT, sends the data to Cell-Life where an SMS with details of the nearest public primary health care facility is sent to the user by Cell-Life's open-source Communicate platform. The service was advertised on 3 days in 2014 using two different means: a newspaper ad on 20 May 2014 and Please Call Me ads on 30 July 2014 and 14 August 2014. 28.2% of unique users on 20 May 2014, 10.5% of unique users on 30 July 2014 and 92.8% of unique users on 14 August 2014 who agreed to geo-location successfully received SMSs. However, only 4.2%, 0.5%, and 2.4% of unique users responding to each advertisement who did not geo-locate then received an SMS. A small survey of users following the 20 May 2014 newspaper ad found overall interest in the idea of Clinic Finder, though unsuccessful users were more likely to dislike the service. The overall experience of using location based services and USSD for Clinic Finder suggests a need in the field of mHealth for wider availability of data on service usability and effectiveness.

Non destructive assay techniques applied to nuclear materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gavron, A.

2001-01-01

Nondestructive assay is a suite of techniques that has matured and become precise, easily implementable, and remotely usable. These techniques provide elaborate safeguards of nuclear material by providing the necessary information for materials accounting. NDA techniques are ubiquitous, reliable, essentially tamper proof, and simple to use. They make the world a safer place to live in, and they make nuclear energy viable. (author)

Imaging Techniques in Endodontics: An Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Deepak, B. S.; Subash, T. S.; Narmatha, V. J.; Anamika, T.; Snehil, T. K.; Nandini, D. B.

2012-01-01

This review provides an overview of the relevance of imaging techniques such as, computed tomography, cone beam computed tomography, and ultrasound, to endodontic practice. Many limitations of the conventional radiographic techniques have been overcome by the newer methods. Advantages and disadvantages of various imaging techniques in endodontic practice are also discussed. PMID:22530184

Simulation of Unique Pressure Changing Steps and Situations in Psa Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Ebner, Armin D.; Mehrotra, Amal; Knox, James C.; LeVan, Douglas; Ritter, James A.

2007-01-01

A more rigorous cyclic adsorption process simulator is being developed for use in the development and understanding of new and existing PSA processes. Unique features of this new version of the simulator that Ritter and co-workers have been developing for the past decade or so include: multiple absorbent layers in each bed, pressure drop in the column, valves for entering and exiting flows and predicting real-time pressurization and depressurization rates, ability to account for choked flow conditions, ability to pressurize and depressurize simultaneously from both ends of the columns, ability to equalize between multiple pairs of columns, ability to equalize simultaneously from both ends of pairs of columns, and ability to handle very large pressure ratios and hence velocities associated with deep vacuum systems. These changes to the simulator now provide for unique opportunities to study the effects of novel pressure changing steps and extreme process conditions on the performance of virtually any commercial or developmental PSA process. This presentation will provide an overview of the cyclic adsorption process simulator equations and algorithms used in the new adaptation. It will focus primarily on the novel pressure changing steps and their effects on the performance of a PSA system that epitomizes the extremes of PSA process design and operation. This PSA process is a sorbent-based atmosphere revitalization (SBAR) system that NASA is developing for new manned exploration vehicles. This SBAR system consists of a 2-bed 3-step 3-layer system that operates between atmospheric pressure and the vacuum of space, evacuates from both ends of the column simultaneously, experiences choked flow conditions during pressure changing steps, and experiences a continuously changing feed composition, as it removes metabolic CO2 and H20 from a closed and fixed volume, i.e., the spacecraft cabin. Important process performance indicators of this SBAR system are size, and the

Unique Education and Workforce Development for NASA Engineers

Science.gov (United States)

Forsgren, Roger C.; Miller, Lauren L.

2010-01-01

NASA engineers are some of the world's best-educated graduates, responsible for technically complex, highly significant scientific programs. Even though these professionals are highly proficient in traditional analytical competencies, there is a unique opportunity to offer continuing education that further enhances their overall scientific minds. With a goal of maintaining the Agency's passionate, "best in class" engineering workforce, the NASA Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership (APPEL) provides educational resources encouraging foundational learning, professional development, and knowledge sharing. NASA APPEL is currently partnering with the scientific community's most respected subject matter experts to expand its engineering curriculum beyond the analytics and specialized subsystems in the areas of: understanding NASA's overall vision and its fundamental basis, and the Agency initiatives supporting them; sharing NASA's vast reservoir of engineering experience, wisdom, and lessons learned; and innovatively designing hardware for manufacturability, assembly, and servicing. It takes collaboration and innovation to educate an organization that possesses such a rich and important historyand a future that is of great global interest. NASA APPEL strives to intellectually nurture the Agency's technical professionals, build its capacity for future performance, and exemplify its core valuesalJ to better enable NASA to meet its strategic visionand beyond.

Unique proteomic signatures distinguish macrophages and dendritic cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lev Becker

Full Text Available Monocytes differentiate into heterogeneous populations of tissue macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs that regulate inflammation and immunity. Identifying specific populations of myeloid cells in vivo is problematic, however, because only a limited number of proteins have been used to assign cellular phenotype. Using mass spectrometry and bone marrow-derived cells, we provided a global view of the proteomes of M-CSF-derived macrophages, classically and alternatively activated macrophages, and GM-CSF-derived DCs. Remarkably, the expression levels of half the plasma membrane proteins differed significantly in the various populations of cells derived in vitro. Moreover, the membrane proteomes of macrophages and DCs were more distinct than those of classically and alternatively activated macrophages. Hierarchical cluster and dual statistical analyses demonstrated that each cell type exhibited a robust proteomic signature that was unique. To interrogate the phenotype of myeloid cells in vivo, we subjected elicited peritoneal macrophages harvested from wild-type and GM-CSF-deficient mice to mass spectrometric and functional analysis. Unexpectedly, we found that peritoneal macrophages exhibited many features of the DCs generated in vitro. These findings demonstrate that global analysis of the membrane proteome can help define immune cell phenotypes in vivo.

Development of a National Consensus for Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) Training Programs--Operators and Medical Providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Richard; Lerner, Brooke; Llwewllyn, Craig; Pennardt, Andre; Wedmore, Ian; Callaway, David; Wightman, John; Casillas, Raymond; Eastman, Alex; Gerold, Kevin; Giebner, Stephen; Davidson, Robert; Kamin, Richard; Piazza, Gina; Bollard, Glenn; Carmona, Phillip; Sonstrom, Ben; Seifarth, William; Nicely, Barbara; Croushorn, John; Carmona, Richard

2014-01-01

Tactical teams are at high risk of sustaining injuries. Caring for these casualties in the field involves unique requirements beyond what is provided by traditional civilian emergency medical services (EMS) systems. Despite this need, the training objectives and competencies are not uniformly agreed to or taught. An expert panel was convened that included members from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services, as well as federal, state, and local law-enforcement officers who were recruited through requests to stakeholder agencies and open invitations to individuals involved in Tactical Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) or its oversight. Two face-to-face meetings took place. Using a modified Delphi technique, previously published TEMS competencies were reviewed and updated. The original 17 competency domains were modified and the most significant changes were the addition of Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC), Tactical Familiarization, Legal Aspects of TEMS, and Mass Casualty Triage to the competency domains. Additionally, enabling and terminal learning objectives were developed for each competency domain. This project has developed a minimum set of medical competencies and learning objectives for both tactical medical providers and operators. This work should serve as a platform for ensuring minimum knowledge among providers, which will serve enhance team interoperability and improve the health and safety of tactical teams and the public. 2014.

Biopsy techniques for intraocular tumors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pukhraj Rishi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Biopsy involves the surgical removal of a tissue specimen for histopathologic evaluation. Most intraocular tumors are reliably diagnosed based on the clinical evaluation or with noninvasive diagnostic techniques. However, accurately diagnosing a small percentage of tumors can be challenging. A tissue biopsy is thus needed to establish a definitive diagnosis and plan the requisite treatment. From fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB to surgical excision, all tissue collection techniques have been studied in the literature. Each technique has its indications and limitations. FNAB has been reported to provide for 88-95% reliable and safe ophthalmic tumor diagnosis and has gained popularity for prognostic purposes and providing eye conserving treatment surgeries. The technique and instrumentation for biopsy vary depending upon the tissue involved (retina, choroid, subretinal space, vitreous, and aqueous, suspected diagnosis, size, location, associated retinal detachment, and clarity of the media. The cytopathologist confers a very important role in diagnosis and their assistance plays a key role in managing and planning the treatment for malignancies.

Interdisciplinary Transgender Veteran Care: Development of a Core Curriculum for VHA Providers

Science.gov (United States)

Shipherd, Jillian C.; Kauth, Michael R.; Firek, Anthony F.; Garcia, Ranya; Mejia, Susan; Laski, Sandra; Walden, Brent; Perez-Padilla, Sonia; Lindsay, Jan A.; Brown, George; Roybal, Lisa; Keo-Meier, Colton L.; Knapp, Herschel; Johnson, Laura; Reese, Rebecca L.; Byne, William

2016-01-01

Abstract Purpose: The Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) has created a training program for interdisciplinary teams of providers on the unique treatment needs of transgender veterans. An overview of this program's structure and content is described along with an evaluation of each session and the program overall. Methods: A specialty care team delivered 14 didactic courses supplemented with case consultation twice per month over the course of 7 months through video teleconferencing to 16 teams of learners. Each team, consisting of at least one mental health provider (e.g., social worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist) and one medical provider (e.g., physician, nurse, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse, or pharmacist), received training and consultation on transgender veteran care. Results: In the first three waves of learners, 111 providers across a variety of disciplines attended the sessions and received training. Didactic topics included hormone therapy initiation and adjustments, primary care issues, advocacy within the system, and psychotherapy issues. Responses were provided to 39 veteran-specific consult questions to augment learning. Learners reported an increase in knowledge plus an increase in team cohesion and functioning. As a result, learners anticipated treating more transgender veterans in the future. Conclusion: VHA providers are learning about the unique healthcare needs of transgender veterans and benefitting from the training opportunity offered through the Transgender Specialty Care Access Network–Extension of Community Healthcare Outcomes program. The success of this program in training interdisciplinary teams of providers suggests that it might serve as a model for other large healthcare systems. In addition, it provides a path forward for individual learners (both within VHA and in the community) who wish to increase their knowledge. PMID:29159298

Edges and vertices in a unique signed circle in a signed graph

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Behr

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We examine the conditions under which a signed graph contains an edge or a vertex that is contained in a unique negative circle or a unique positive circle. For an edge in a unique signed circle, the positive and negative case require the same structure on the underlying graph, but the requirements on the signature are different. We characterize the structure of the underlying graph necessary to support such an edge in terms of bridges of a circle. We then use the results from the edge version of the problem to help solve the vertex version.

Unique inflammatory RNA profiles of microglia in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Christopher A.; Manuelidis, Laura

2003-01-01

Previous studies in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) have shown that myeloid cells in the periphery as well as derivative microglial cells in the brain are infectious. Microglia can show an activated phenotype before prion protein (PrP) pathology is detectable in brain, and isolated infectious microglia contain very little PrP. To find whether a set of inflammatory genes are significantly induced or suppressed with infection, we analyzed RNA from isolated microglia with relevant cDNA arrays, and identified 30 transcripts not previously examined in any transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. This CJD expression profile contrasted with that of uninfected microglia exposed to prototypic inflammatory stimuli such as lipopolysaccharide and IFN-, as well as PrP amyloid. These findings underscore inflammatory pathways evoked by the infectious agent in brain. Transcript profiles unique for CJD microglia and other myeloid cells provide opportunities for more sensitive preclinical diagnoses of infectious and noninfectious neurodegenerative diseases.

Applications of ultrasonic phased array technique during fabrication of nuclear tubing and other components for the Indian nuclear power program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapoor, K.

2015-01-01

Ultrasonic phased array technique has been applied in fabrication of nuclear fuel and structural at NFC. The integrity of the nuclear fuel and structural components is most crucial as they are exposed to severe environment during operation leading to rapid degradation of its properties during its lifecycle. Nuclear Fuel Complex has mandate for the fabrication of the nuclear fuel and core structurals for Indian PHWRs/BWR, sub-assemblies for the PFBR and steam generator tubing for PFBR and PHWRs which are the most critical materials for the Indian Nuclear Power program. NDE during fabrication of these materials is thus most crucial as it provides the confidence to the designer for safe operation during its lifetime. Many of these techniques have to be developed in-house to meet unique requirements of high sensitivity, resolution and shape of the components. Some of the advancements in the NDE during the fabrication include use of ultrasonic phased array which is detailed in this paper

Evolution PDEs with nonstandard growth conditions existence, uniqueness, localization, blow-up

CERN Document Server

Antontsev, Stanislav

2015-01-01

This monograph offers the reader a treatment of the theory of evolution PDEs with nonstandard growth conditions. This class includes parabolic and hyperbolic equations with variable or anisotropic nonlinear structure. We develop methods for the study of such equations and present a detailed account of recent results. An overview of other approaches to the study of PDEs of this kind is provided. The presentation is focused on the issues of existence and uniqueness of solutions in appropriate function spaces, and on the study of the specific qualitative properties of solutions, such as localization in space and time, extinction in a finite time and blow-up, or nonexistence of global in time solutions. Special attention is paid to the study of the properties intrinsic to solutions of equations with nonstandard growth.

Being and feeling unique: statistical deviance and psychological marginality.

Science.gov (United States)

Frable, D E

1993-03-01

Two studies tested the hypothesis that people with culturally stigmatized and concealable conditions (e.g., gays, epileptics, juvenile delinquents, and incest victims) would be more likely to feel unique than people with culturally valued or conspicuous conditions (e.g., the physically attractive, the intellectually gifted, the obese, and the facially scarred). In Study 1, culturally stigmatized individuals with concealable conditions were least likely to perceive consensus between their personal preferences and those of others. In Study 2, they were most likely to describe themselves as unique and to make these self-relevant decisions quickly. Marginality is a psychological reality, not just a statistical one, for those with stigmatized and concealable "master status" conditions.

On the Existence and Uniqueness of the Scientific Method.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagensberg, Jorge

2014-01-01

The ultimate utility of science is widely agreed upon: the comprehension of reality. But there is much controversy about what scientific understanding actually means, and how we should proceed in order to gain new scientific understanding. Is there a method for acquiring new scientific knowledge? Is this method unique and universal? There has been no shortage of proposals, but neither has there been a shortage of skeptics about these proposals. This article proffers for discussion a potential scientific method that aspires to be unique and universal and is rooted in the recent and ancient history of scientific thinking. Curiously, conclusions can be inferred from this scientific method that also concern education and the transmission of science to others.

Uniqueness of KMS states for continuous fermion systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaekel, C.D.

1993-01-01

In 1989 Prof H. Narnhofer and Prof. W. Thirring established a (nonlocal) model of fermions with pair interactions. The existence of equilibrium states and the appearance of mixing properties was proofed. If this model reflects the basic facts of nature, one has to expect and to require that at high temperatures there is a unique equilibrium state and at low temperatures there are many different equilibrium states. Uniqueness of the equilibrium state at high temperatures is the topic of this dissertation. One may be astonished, that the proof of the uniqueness requires such a huge machinery, while the existence of KMS-states followes from fairly general conditions. Two states differ, if they can be distinguished by experiment. If one considers now that we have to show that two KMS-states at high temperatures result into the same value in all experiments one can think of, one might get an idea how unhandy this problem is. Even a conscious numeration of all experiments was a problem. Surprisingly only a few principal ideas of the treatment of spin-models survive. The temperature is the leading parameter and therefore it is a good idea to make a high temperature perturbation expansion for the KMS-condition, which fixes an equilibrium state in mathematical terms. But when we choose a generating vector for the perturbation expansion the similarities end. We better use physical considerations: at high temperatures we expect that chemical bounds will be broken up and the interacting equilibrium state will differ only slightly from the equilibrium state for the free time evolution. Roughly spoken, one can expect that high-energetic particles neglect interactions and fly in a straight line. In chapter 2.4 the whole machinery is presented in an easy-to-survey manner on a simple interaction. But in the case of pair interactions every particle interacts with each other and so the author was not able to find an easily accessible form of the developed method for this case

Machine-learning techniques applied to antibacterial drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Durrant, Jacob D; Amaro, Rommie E

2015-01-01

The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria threatens to revert humanity back to the preantibiotic era. Even now, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections annually result in millions of hospital days, billions in healthcare costs, and, most importantly, tens of thousands of lives lost. As many pharmaceutical companies have abandoned antibiotic development in search of more lucrative therapeutics, academic researchers are uniquely positioned to fill the pipeline. Traditional high-throughput screens and lead-optimization efforts are expensive and labor intensive. Computer-aided drug-discovery techniques, which are cheaper and faster, can accelerate the identification of novel antibiotics, leading to improved hit rates and faster transitions to preclinical and clinical testing. The current review describes two machine-learning techniques, neural networks and decision trees, that have been used to identify experimentally validated antibiotics. We conclude by describing the future directions of this exciting field. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

The Relations of Family Members’ Unique and Shared Perspectives of Family Dysfunction to Dyad Adjustment

Science.gov (United States)

Jager, Justin; Yuen, Cynthia X.; Bornstein, Marc H.; Putnick, Diane L.; Hendricks, Charlene

2017-01-01

Among a community sample of families (N = 128), this study examined how family members’ shared and unique perspectives of family dysfunction relate to dyad members’ shared views of dyad adjustment within adolescent-mother, adolescent-father, and mother-father dyads. Independent of a family’s family perspective (shared perspective of family dysfunction), the adolescent’s unique perspective was associated with lower security and higher conflict with both mother and father, the father’s unique perspective was associated with lower security and higher conflict with the adolescent as well as lower marital quality with mother, and the mother unique perspective was associated with lower marital quality with the father. Moreover, for adolescent-parent dyads, compared to the parent unique perspective, the adolescent unique perspective was more strongly associated with dyad adjustment. These findings indicate that both shared and unique views of the family system – the adolescent’s unique view in particular - independently relate to the health of family subsystems. They also suggest that research as well as therapeutic interventions that focus on just the shared view of the family may miss important elements of family dysfunction. PMID:24884682

The Restaurant as Hybrid: Lean Manufacturer and Service Provider

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Muller

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Uniquely positioned as both consumer service providers and tangible finished goods manufacturers, restaurants sell at retail an inventory that is fabricated from raw materials at the site of consumption. This article illustrates how restaurant managers have historically used the fundamentals of just-in-time and lean manufacturing production, often without understanding the power for efficiency and profit each brings. The goal is to encourage restaurateurs to seek a better understanding of where these principles interface with service management theory.

Detection of circulating tumor cells harboring a unique ALK rearrangement in ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Pailler, Emma; Adam, Julien; Barthélémy, Amélie; Oulhen, Marianne; Auger, Nathalie; Valent, Alexander; Borget, Isabelle; Planchard, David; Taylor, Melissa; André, Fabrice; Soria, Jean Charles; Vielh, Philippe; Besse, Benjamin; Farace, Françoise

2013-06-20

The diagnostic test for ALK rearrangement in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for crizotinib treatment is currently done on tumor biopsies or fine-needle aspirations. We evaluated whether ALK rearrangement diagnosis could be performed by using circulating tumor cells (CTCs). The presence of an ALK rearrangement was examined in CTCs of 18 ALK-positive and 14 ALK-negative patients by using a filtration enrichment technique and filter-adapted fluorescent in situ hybridization (FA-FISH), a FISH method optimized for filters. ALK-rearrangement patterns were determined in CTCs and compared with those present in tumor biopsies. ALK-rearranged CTCs and tumor specimens were characterized for epithelial (cytokeratins, E-cadherin) and mesenchymal (vimentin, N-cadherin) marker expression. ALK-rearranged CTCs were monitored in five patients treated with crizotinib. All ALK-positive patients had four or more ALK-rearranged CTCs per 1 mL of blood (median, nine CTCs per 1 mL; range, four to 34 CTCs per 1 mL). No or only one ALK-rearranged CTC (median, one per 1 mL; range, zero to one per 1 mL) was detected in ALK-negative patients. ALK-rearranged CTCs harbored a unique (3'5') split pattern, and heterogeneous patterns (3'5', only 3') of splits were present in tumors. ALK-rearranged CTCs expressed a mesenchymal phenotype contrasting with heterogeneous epithelial and mesenchymal marker expressions in tumors. Variations in ALK-rearranged CTC levels were detected in patients being treated with crizotinib. ALK rearrangement can be detected in CTCs of patients with ALK-positive NSCLC by using a filtration technique and FA-FISH, enabling both diagnostic testing and monitoring of crizotinib treatment. Our results suggest that CTCs harboring a unique ALK rearrangement and mesenchymal phenotype may arise from clonal selection of tumor cells that have acquired the potential to drive metastatic progression of ALK-positive NSCLC.

Dragon pulse information management system (DPIMS): A unique model-based approach to implementing domain agnostic system of systems and behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Thomas S.

2016-05-01

The Global Information Network Architecture is an information technology based on Vector Relational Data Modeling, a unique computational paradigm, DoD network certified by USARMY as the Dragon Pulse Informa- tion Management System. This network available modeling environment for modeling models, where models are configured using domain relevant semantics and use network available systems, sensors, databases and services as loosely coupled component objects and are executable applications. Solutions are based on mission tactics, techniques, and procedures and subject matter input. Three recent ARMY use cases are discussed a) ISR SoS. b) Modeling and simulation behavior validation. c) Networked digital library with behaviors.

Marginal and happy? The need for uniqueness predicts the adjustment of marginal immigrants.

Science.gov (United States)

Debrosse, Régine; de la Sablonnière, Roxane; Rossignac-Milon, Maya

2015-12-01

Marginalization is often presented as the strategy associated with the worst adjustment for immigrants. This study identifies a critical variable that buffers marginal immigrants from the negative effects of marginalization on adjustment: The need for uniqueness. In three studies, we surveyed immigrants recruited on university campuses (n = 119, n = 116) and in the field (n = 61). Among marginal immigrants, a higher need for uniqueness predicted higher self-esteem (Study 1), affect (Study 2), and life satisfaction (Study 3), and marginally higher happiness (Study 2) and self-esteem (Study 3). No relationship between the need for uniqueness and adjustment was found among non-marginal immigrants. The adaptive value of the need for uniqueness for marginal immigrants is discussed. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

The neXtProt peptide uniqueness checker: a tool for the proteomics community.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaeffer, Mathieu; Gateau, Alain; Teixeira, Daniel; Michel, Pierre-André; Zahn-Zabal, Monique; Lane, Lydie

2017-11-01

The neXtProt peptide uniqueness checker allows scientists to define which peptides can be used to validate the existence of human proteins, i.e. map uniquely versus multiply to human protein sequences taking into account isobaric substitutions, alternative splicing and single amino acid variants. The pepx program is available at https://github.com/calipho-sib/pepx and can be launched from the command line or through a cgi web interface. Indexing requires a sequence file in FASTA format. The peptide uniqueness checker tool is freely available on the web at https://www.nextprot.org/tools/peptide-uniqueness-checker and from the neXtProt API at https://api.nextprot.org/. lydie.lane@sib.swiss. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

On uniqueness in diffuse optical tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harrach, Bastian

2009-01-01

A prominent result of Arridge and Lionheart (1998 Opt. Lett. 23 882–4) demonstrates that it is in general not possible to simultaneously recover both the diffusion (aka scattering) and the absorption coefficient in steady-state (dc) diffusion-based optical tomography. In this work we show that it suffices to restrict ourselves to piecewise constant diffusion and piecewise analytic absorption coefficients to regain uniqueness. Under this condition both parameters can simultaneously be determined from complete measurement data on an arbitrarily small part of the boundary

Assessment of labour market returns in the case of gender unique human capital

OpenAIRE

Paas, Tiiu; Tverdostup, Maryna

2016-01-01

Maryna Tverdostup, Tiiu Paas, ERSA 2016: The paper focuses on the identification of the unique, non-reached by the opposite gender human capital and the analysis of its effect on the earning profiles of unique human capital holders. The overwhelming research aim is to better understand the possible reasons behind gender wage disparities, focusing on the unique features of male and female human capital and their returns. When assessing the gender pay disparities, variation of human capital cha...

Surrogate pregnancy: a guide for Canadian prenatal health care providers

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Dan R.

2007-01-01

Providing health care for a woman with a surrogate pregnancy involves unique challenges. Although the ethical debate surrounding surrogacy continues, Canada has banned commercial, but not altruistic, surrogacy. In the event of a custody dispute between a surrogate mother and the individual(s) intending to parent the child, it is unclear how Canadian courts would rule. The prenatal health care provider must take extra care to protect the autonomy and privacy rights of the surrogate. There is limited evidence about the medical and psychological risks ofsurrogacy. Whether theoretical concerns about these risks are clinically relevant remains unknown. In the face of these uncertainties, the prenatal health care provider should have a low threshold for seeking obstetrical, social work, ethical and legal support. PMID:17296962

Surrogate pregnancy: a guide for Canadian prenatal health care providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Dan R

2007-02-13

Providing health care for a woman with a surrogate pregnancy involves unique challenges. Although the ethical debate surrounding surrogacy continues, Canada has banned commercial, but not altruistic, surrogacy. In the event of a custody dispute between a surrogate mother and the individual(s) intending to parent the child, it is unclear how Canadian courts would rule. The prenatal health care provider must take extra care to protect the autonomy and privacy rights of the surrogate. There is limited evidence about the medical and psychological risks of surrogacy. Whether theoretical concerns about these risks are clinically relevant remains unknown. In the face of these uncertainties, the prenatal health care provider should have a low threshold for seeking obstetrical, social work, ethical and legal support.

Detecting Beer Intake by Unique Metabolite Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Gürdeniz, Gözde; Jensen, Morten Georg; Meier, Sebastian; Bech, Lene; Lund, Erik; Dragsted, Lars Ove

2016-12-02

Evaluation of the health related effects of beer intake is hampered by the lack of accurate tools for assessing intakes (biomarkers). Therefore, we identified plasma and urine metabolites associated with recent beer intake by untargeted metabolomics and established a characteristic metabolite pattern representing raw materials and beer production as a qualitative biomarker of beer intake. In a randomized, crossover, single-blinded meal study (MSt1), 18 participants were given, one at a time, four different test beverages: strong, regular, and nonalcoholic beers and a soft drink. Four participants were assigned to have two additional beers (MSt2). In addition to plasma and urine samples, test beverages, wort, and hops extract were analyzed by UPLC-QTOF. A unique metabolite pattern reflecting beer metabolome, including metabolites derived from beer raw material (i.e., N-methyl tyramine sulfate and the sum of iso-α-acids and tricyclohumols) and the production process (i.e., pyro-glutamyl proline and 2-ethyl malate), was selected to establish a compliance biomarker model for detection of beer intake based on MSt1. The model predicted the MSt2 samples collected before and up to 12 h after beer intake correctly (AUC = 1). A biomarker model including four metabolites representing both beer raw materials and production steps provided a specific and accurate tool for measurement of beer consumption.

A Unique Civil Engineering Capstone Design Course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Padmanabhan

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The North Dakota State University, USA, capstone course was developed as a unique model in response to the effort of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology, USA, to streamline and improve design instruction in the curriculum and has steadily evolved to keep pace with the ever-changing technology and the expectations of the profession and the society we serve. A capstone design course by definition should be a design experience for students in the final year before graduation integrating all major design concepts they have learned up until then in the program. Carefully chosen real world projects with design content in all sub-disciplines of civil engineering are assigned in this team-taught course. Faculty and practicing professionals make presentations on design process; project management; leadership in an engineering environment; and public policy; global perspectives in engineering; and professional career and licensure. Practicing professionals also critique the final student presentations. Students work in teams with number of faculty serving as technical consultants, and a faculty mentor for each team to provide non-technical guidance and direction. The course requires students to demonstrate mastery of the curriculum and to work with others in a team environment. Course assessment includes evaluation of the final design, presentations, written technical reports, project design schedule, a project design journal, and reaction papers.

Nonvolatile memory characteristics in metal-oxide-semiconductors containing metal nanoparticles fabricated by using a unique laser irradiation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, JungYup; Yoon, KapSoo; Kim, JuHyung; Choi, WonJun; Do, YoungHo; Kim, ChaeOk; Hong, JinPyo

2006-01-01

Metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with metal nanoparticles (Co NP) were successfully fabricated by utilizing an external laser exposure technique for application of non-volatile memories. Images of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveal that the spherically shaped Co NP are clearly embedded in the gate oxide layer. Capacitance-voltage measurements exhibit typical charging and discharging effects with a large flat-band shift. The effects of the tunnel oxide thickness and the different tunnel materials are analyzed using capacitance-voltage and retention characteristics. In addition, the memory characteristics of the NP embedded in a high-permittivity material are investigated because the thickness of conventionally available SiO 2 gates is approaching the quantum tunneling limit as devices are scaled down. Finally, the suitability of NP memory devices for nonvolatile memory applications is also discussed. The present results suggest that our unique laser exposure technique holds promise for the NP formation as floating gate elements in nonvolatile NP memories and that the quality of the tunnel oxide is very important for enhancing the retention properties of nonvolatile memory.

Three Unique Implementations of Processes for PyCSP

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friborg, Rune Møllegaard; Bjørndalen, John Markus; Vinter, Brian

2009-01-01

In this work we motivate and describe three unique implementations of processes for PyCSP: process, thread and greenlet based. The overall purpose is to demonstrate the feasibility of Communicating Sequential Processes as a framework for different application types and target platforms. The result...

Differentiating Performance Approach Goals and Their Unique Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Ordene V.

2014-01-01

The study differentiates between two types of performance approach goals (competence demonstration performance approach goal and normative performance approach goal) by examining their unique effects on self-efficacy, interest, and fear of failure. Seventy-nine students completed questionnaires that measure performance approach goals,…

Unique Reversible Crystal-to-Crystal Phase Transition – Structural and Functional Properties of Fused Ladder Thienoarenes

KAUST Repository

Abe, Yuichiro

2017-08-15

Donor-acceptor type molecules based on fused ladder thienoarenes, indacenodithiophene (IDT) and dithienocyclopenta-thienothiophene (DTCTT), coupled with benzothiadiazole, are prepared and their solid-state structures are investigated. They display a rich variety of solid phases ranging from amorphous glass states to crystalline states, upon changes in the central aromatic core and side group structures. Most notably, the DTCTT-based derivatives showed reversible crystal-to-crystal phase transitions in heating and cooling cycles. Unlike what has been seen in π−conjugated molecules variable temperature XRD revealed that structural change occurs continuously during the transition. A columnar self-assembled structure with slip-stacked π−π interaction is proposed to be involved in the solid-state. This research provides the evidence of unique structural behavior of the DTCTT-based molecules through the detailed structural analysis. This unique structural transition paves the way for these materials to have self-healing of crystal defects, leading to improved optoelectronic properties.

Unique Reversible Crystal-to-Crystal Phase Transition – Structural and Functional Properties of Fused Ladder Thienoarenes

KAUST Repository

Abe, Yuichiro; Savikhin, Victoria; Yin, Jun; Grimsdale, Andrew C.; Soci, Cesare; Toney, Michael F.; Lam, Yeng Ming

2017-01-01

Donor-acceptor type molecules based on fused ladder thienoarenes, indacenodithiophene (IDT) and dithienocyclopenta-thienothiophene (DTCTT), coupled with benzothiadiazole, are prepared and their solid-state structures are investigated. They display a rich variety of solid phases ranging from amorphous glass states to crystalline states, upon changes in the central aromatic core and side group structures. Most notably, the DTCTT-based derivatives showed reversible crystal-to-crystal phase transitions in heating and cooling cycles. Unlike what has been seen in π−conjugated molecules variable temperature XRD revealed that structural change occurs continuously during the transition. A columnar self-assembled structure with slip-stacked π−π interaction is proposed to be involved in the solid-state. This research provides the evidence of unique structural behavior of the DTCTT-based molecules through the detailed structural analysis. This unique structural transition paves the way for these materials to have self-healing of crystal defects, leading to improved optoelectronic properties.

A unique genomic sequence in the Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome [WHS] region of humans is conserved in the great apes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarzami, S T; Kringstein, A M; Conte, R A; Verma, R S

1996-10-01

The Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) is caused by a partial deletion in the short arm of chromosome 4 band 16.3 (4p 16.3). A unique-sequence human DNA probe (39 kb) localized within this region has been used to search for sequence homology in the apes' equivalent chromosome 3 by FISH-technique. The WHS loci are conserved in higher primates at the expected position. Nevertheless, a control probe, which detects alphoid sequences of the pericentromeric region of humans, is diverged in chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. The conservation of WHS loci and divergence of DNA alphoid sequences have further added to the controversy concerning human descent.

Twin - Arch technique. Revival of the "edgewise -Technique"?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacob Karp

2012-01-01

The SNB – Bracket brings a new dimension into the orthodontic world which is most apparent in extraction cases. Its Teflon – like material has a very low friction coefficient thus, reducing the treatment time considerably. Through the use of low dimensioned arch wires, the Twin – Arch Technique becomes a Light – wire system and simultaneously provides good anchorage and torque control.

Need for Uniqueness Determines Reactions to Web-Based Personalized Advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

Stiglbauer, Barbara; Kovacs, Carrie

2018-01-01

The presented empirical study among a sample of n = 256 participants addressed the relationship between consumers' need for uniqueness and their reactions to web-based personalized advertising. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, we argue that the consumers' need for uniqueness dimensions creative choice and similarity avoidance may relate to promotion and prevention regulatory orientations, respectively. Accordingly, we hypothesized that creative choice and similarity avoidance would differentially predict self-reported approach and avoidance behavior toward personalized advertising. These direct relationships were further expected to be mediated by subjective evaluations of personalized advertising (i.e., perceived value and irritation). In line with these hypotheses, we found that creative choice predicted approach behavior through increased web-based personalized advertising value, whereas similarity avoidance predicted avoidance behavior through increased irritation. Creative choice also predicted decreased irritation, which in turn was related to decreased approach behavior. In sum, the results suggest that the consumers' need for uniqueness dimensions should not be investigated as a composite, as they seem to reflect different regulatory orientations and are therefore likely to evoke different affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses.

Meeting Nontraditional Medical Information Needs for the Unique Populations and Geographically Remote Locations of Alaska.

Science.gov (United States)

Lema, Dana V

2016-01-01

The types of information required by hospital and clinical staff can be greatly influenced by the geography and culture of the area in which they operate. In some situations, information must be acquired from sources that fall outside the traditional provisions of a medical or reference library. This article provides examples of the unique information needs of clinical staff serving a primarily Native Alaskan and Native American clientele in Alaska. It also presents sources and personnel utilized to meet those information needs outside of traditional reference sources.

A Hierarchy of Compatibility and Comeasurability Levels in Quantum Logics with Unique Conditional Probabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niestegge, Gerd

2010-01-01

In the quantum mechanical Hilbert space formalism, the probabilistic interpretation is a later ad-hoc add-on, more or less enforced by the experimental evidence, but not motivated by the mathematical model itself. A model involving a clear probabilistic interpretation from the very beginning is provided by the quantum logics with unique conditional probabilities. It includes the projection lattices in von Neumann algebras and here probability conditionalization becomes identical with the state transition of the Lueders-von Neumann measurement process. This motivates the definition of a hierarchy of five compatibility and comeasurability levels in the abstract setting of the quantum logics with unique conditional probabilities. Their meanings are: the absence of quantum interference or influence, the existence of a joint distribution, simultaneous measurability, and the independence of the final state after two successive measurements from the sequential order of these two measurements. A further level means that two elements of the quantum logic (events) belong to the same Boolean subalgebra. In the general case, the five compatibility and comeasurability levels appear to differ, but they all coincide in the common Hilbert space formalism of quantum mechanics, in von Neumann algebras, and in some other cases. (general)

A robust uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Fengtong

2013-12-01

User authentication plays an important role to protect resources or services from being accessed by unauthorized users. In a recent paper, Das et al. proposed a secure and efficient uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care. This scheme uses three factors, e.g. biometrics, password, and smart card, to protect the security. It protects user privacy and is believed to have many abilities to resist a range of network attacks, even if the secret information stored in the smart card is compromised. In this paper, we analyze the security of Das et al.'s scheme, and show that the scheme is in fact insecure against the replay attack, user impersonation attacks and off-line guessing attacks. Then, we also propose a robust uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care. Compared with the existing schemes, our protocol uses a different user authentication mechanism to resist replay attack. We show that our proposed scheme can provide stronger security than previous protocols. Furthermore, we demonstrate the validity of the proposed scheme through the BAN (Burrows, Abadi, and Needham) logic.

Actualizing Unique Type and Token Values as a Solution to the Problem of Evil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atle Ottesen Søvik

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Concerning the problem of evil, I suggest that God's goodness and omnipotence causes God to want to actualize many different values and things, not solely angels in heaven, but also type unique values like independence, self-formation, creativity, and surprise, and token unique goods like animals and human beings. Such a universe as ours, though, requires undisturbed indeterministic self-formation as actualized by a good God to give those token unique beings access to those type unique values and allow them the opportunity to live forever with God after completion of this self-formation.

Shared and Unique Proteins in Human, Mouse and Rat Saliva Proteomes: Footprints of Functional Adaptation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert C. Karn

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The overall goal of our study was to compare the proteins found in the saliva proteomes of three mammals: human, mouse and rat. Our first objective was to compare two human proteomes with very different analysis depths. The 89 shared proteins in this comparison apparently represent a core of highly-expressed human salivary proteins. Of the proteins unique to each proteome, one-half to 2/3 lack signal peptides and probably are contaminants instead of less highly-represented salivary proteins. We recently published the first rodent saliva proteomes with saliva collected from the genome mouse (C57BL/6 and the genome rat (BN/SsNHsd/Mcwi. Our second objective was to compare the proteins in the human proteome with those we identified in the genome mouse and rat to determine those common to all three mammals, as well as the specialized rodent subset. We also identified proteins unique to each of the three mammals, because differences in the secreted protein constitutions can provide clues to differences in the evolutionary adaptation of the secretions in the three different mammals.

The Evocative Power of Projective Techniques for the Elicitation of Meaning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline Porr PhD

2011-03-01

Full Text Available A unique project was undertaken by doctoral and postdoctoral students, and their mentor, from diverse backgrounds in health and social sciences to explore their past experiences as participants in a qualitative research training initiative called EQUIPP (Enhancing Qualitative Understanding of Illness Processes and Prevention. The purpose of the project was to create a symbolic representation of the EQUIPP program through the use of projective techniques. The authors examined the meaning of engaging in qualitative research training through images and conceptual metaphors that were subsequently consolidated thematically and then portrayed in the form of a newly constructed logo that was developed with the assistance of a professional graphic designer. Projective techniques proved to be a powerful, evocative tool for eliciting meaning and translating concrete experiences into visual discourse. In this paper, the authors discuss how projective techniques were operationalized and consider their broad implications for qualitative research.

Aspects of Training and Remuneration in the Accommodation Industry: A Comparison between Australian and Singaporean Providers

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Ruth; Davies, Doug

2004-01-01

It has long been recognised that effective staff training and remuneration allows an organisation to provide a unique and differentiating standard of service in industry, resulting in increased profitability to service providers. The purpose of this research study is to investigate the training strategies, and hence the training profile, of…

Logic without unique readability - a study of semantic and syntactic ambiguity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bentzen, Martin Mose

One of the main reasons for introducing a formal language is to remove ambiguity, the possibility of assigning several meanings to a linguistic expression. Typically, this is achieved through ensuring unique readability of formulas by using brackets (or another convention, such as Polish notation...... not hold true universally. Whereas e.g. scope ambiguities in natural languages have been studied extensively, ambiguous formal languages have not been the focus of in depth research. Here, we lift the assumption of unique readability by omitting the brackets from propositional logic, making it possible...... to formally distinguish between syntactic and semantic ambiguity. A valuation then amounts to a semantic disambiguation, and rather than a unique valuation (truth value), there is a set of valuations corresponding to ways a formula could have been constructed. We show what happens to familiar concepts...

Uniqueness and zeros of q-shift difference polynomials

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

In this paper, we consider the zero distributions of -shift difference polynomials of meromorphic functions with zero order, and obtain two theorems that extend the classical Hayman results on the zeros of differential polynomials to -shift difference polynomials. We also investigate the uniqueness problem of -shift ...

Preference for different relaxation techniques by COPD patients: comparison between six techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyl

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Michael E Hyland,1 David MG Halpin,2 Sue Blake,3 Clare Seamark,3 Margaret Pinnuck,3 David Ward,3 Ben Whalley,1 Colin J Greaves,4 Adam L Hawkins,5 Dave Seamark3 1School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, 3Honiton Group Practice, Honiton, 4University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, 5GSK House, Brentford, UK Background: A review of the effectiveness of relaxation techniques for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients has shown inconsistent results, but studies have varied in terms of technique and outcome measures. Aim: To determine patient preference for different relaxation techniques. Methods: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients were presented with six techniques via a DVD and asked to rate the techniques in terms of effectiveness, rank in order of likely use, and comment. Results: Patients differed in the technique preferred and reason for that preference, but the most commonly preferred technique both for effectiveness and ease of use was “thinking of a nice place” followed by progressive relaxation and counting. Familiarity and ease of activity were commonly given reasons for preference. Conclusion: Rather than providing patients with a single technique that they might find difficult to implement, these results suggest that it would be better to give a choice. “Thinking of a nice place” is a popular but under-investigated technique. Keywords: COPD exacerbation, anxiety, relaxation techniques

The Role of Visual Working Memory in Attentive Tracking of Unique Objects

Science.gov (United States)

Makovski, Tal; Jiang, Yuhong V.

2009-01-01

When tracking moving objects in space humans usually attend to the objects' spatial locations and update this information over time. To what extent do surface features assist attentive tracking? In this study we asked participants to track identical or uniquely colored objects. Tracking was enhanced when objects were unique in color. The benefit…

Large anterior temporal Virchow-Robin spaces: unique MR imaging features

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lim, Anthony T. [Monash University, Neuroradiology Service, Monash Imaging, Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Chandra, Ronil V. [Monash University, Neuroradiology Service, Monash Imaging, Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Monash University, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Melbourne (Australia); Trost, Nicholas M. [St Vincent' s Hospital, Neuroradiology Service, Melbourne (Australia); McKelvie, Penelope A. [St Vincent' s Hospital, Anatomical Pathology, Melbourne (Australia); Stuckey, Stephen L. [Monash University, Neuroradiology Service, Monash Imaging, Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia); Monash University, Southern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Melbourne (Australia)

2015-05-01

Large Virchow-Robin (VR) spaces may mimic cystic tumor. The anterior temporal subcortical white matter is a recently described preferential location, with only 18 reported cases. Our aim was to identify unique MR features that could increase prospective diagnostic confidence. Thirty-nine cases were identified between November 2003 and February 2014. Demographic, clinical data and the initial radiological report were retrospectively reviewed. Two neuroradiologists reviewed all MR imaging; a neuropathologist reviewed histological data. Median age was 58 years (range 24-86 years); the majority (69 %) was female. There were no clinical symptoms that could be directly referable to the lesion. Two thirds were considered to be VR spaces on the initial radiological report. Mean maximal size was 9 mm (range 5-17 mm); majority (79 %) had perilesional T2 or fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) hyperintensity. The following were identified as potential unique MR features: focal cortical distortion by an adjacent branch of the middle cerebral artery (92 %), smaller adjacent VR spaces (26 %), and a contiguous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) intensity tract (21 %). Surgery was performed in three asymptomatic patients; histopathology confirmed VR spaces. Unique MR features were retrospectively identified in all three patients. Large anterior temporal lobe VR spaces commonly demonstrate perilesional T2 or FLAIR signal and can be misdiagnosed as cystic tumor. Potential unique MR features that could increase prospective diagnostic confidence include focal cortical distortion by an adjacent branch of the middle cerebral artery, smaller adjacent VR spaces, and a contiguous CSF intensity tract. (orig.)

Application of Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Techniques to Evaluate Water Quality in Turbid Coastal Waters of South Carolina.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, K. A.; Ryan, K.

2014-12-01

Coastal and inland waters represent a diverse set of resources that support natural habitat and provide valuable ecosystem services to the human population. Conventional techniques to monitor water quality using in situ sensors and laboratory analysis of water samples can be very time- and cost-intensive. Alternatively, remote sensing techniques offer better spatial coverage and temporal resolution to accurately characterize the dynamic and unique water quality parameters. Existing remote sensing ocean color products, such as the water quality proxy chlorophyll-a, are based on ocean derived bio-optical models that are primarily calibrated in Case 1 type waters. These traditional models fail to work when applied in turbid (Case 2 type), coastal waters due to spectral interference from other associated color producing agents such as colored dissolved organic matter and suspended sediments. In this work, we introduce a novel technique for the predictive modeling of chlorophyll-a using a multivariate-based approach applied to in situ hyperspectral radiometric data collected from the coastal waters of Long Bay, South Carolina. This method uses a partial least-squares regression model to identify prominent wavelengths that are more sensitive to chlorophyll-a relative to other associated color-producing agents. The new model was able to explain 80% of the observed chlorophyll-a variability in Long Bay with RMSE = 2.03 μg/L. This approach capitalizes on the spectral advantage gained from current and future hyperspectral sensors, thus providing a more robust predicting model. This enhanced mode of water quality monitoring in marine environments will provide insight to point-sources and problem areas that may contribute to a decline in water quality. The utility of this tool is in its versatility to a diverse set of coastal waters and its use by coastal and fisheries managers with regard to recreation, regulation, economic and public health purposes.

Indirect techniques in nuclear astrophysics. Asymptotic normalization coefficient and trojan horse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukhamedzhanov, A.M.; Gagliardi, C.A.; Pirlepesov, F.; Trache, L.; Tribble, R.E.; Blokhintsev, L.D.; Brown, B.A.; Nunes, F.M.; Burjan, V.; Kroha, V.; Cherubini, S.; Pizzone, R.G.; Romano, S.; Spitaleri, C.; Tumino, A.; Irgaziev, B.F.; Tang, X.D.

2006-01-01

Owing to the presence of the Coulomb barrier at astrophysically relevant kinetic energies it is very difficult, or sometimes impossible, to measure astrophysical reaction rates in the laboratory. That is why different indirect techniques are being used along with direct measurements. Here we address two important indirect techniques, the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) and the Trojan Horse (TH) methods. We discuss the application of the ANC technique for calculation of the astrophysical processes in the presence of subthreshold bound states, in particular, two different mechanisms are discussed: direct capture to the subthreshold state and capture to the low-lying bound states through the subthreshold state, which plays the role of the subthreshold resonance. The ANC technique can also be used to determine the interference sign of the resonant and nonresonant (direct) terms of the reaction amplitude. The TH method is unique indirect technique allowing one to measure astrophysical rearrangement reactions down to astrophysically relevant energies. We explain why there is no Coulomb barrier in the sub-process amplitudes extracted from the TH reaction. The expressions for the TH amplitude for direct and resonant cases are presented. (orig.)

Topology based data analysis identifies a subgroup of breast cancers with a unique mutational profile and excellent survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolau, Monica; Levine, Arnold J; Carlsson, Gunnar

2011-04-26

High-throughput biological data, whether generated as sequencing, transcriptional microarrays, proteomic, or other means, continues to require analytic methods that address its high dimensional aspects. Because the computational part of data analysis ultimately identifies shape characteristics in the organization of data sets, the mathematics of shape recognition in high dimensions continues to be a crucial part of data analysis. This article introduces a method that extracts information from high-throughput microarray data and, by using topology, provides greater depth of information than current analytic techniques. The method, termed Progression Analysis of Disease (PAD), first identifies robust aspects of cluster analysis, then goes deeper to find a multitude of biologically meaningful shape characteristics in these data. Additionally, because PAD incorporates a visualization tool, it provides a simple picture or graph that can be used to further explore these data. Although PAD can be applied to a wide range of high-throughput data types, it is used here as an example to analyze breast cancer transcriptional data. This identified a unique subgroup of Estrogen Receptor-positive (ER(+)) breast cancers that express high levels of c-MYB and low levels of innate inflammatory genes. These patients exhibit 100% survival and no metastasis. No supervised step beyond distinction between tumor and healthy patients was used to identify this subtype. The group has a clear and distinct, statistically significant molecular signature, it highlights coherent biology but is invisible to cluster methods, and does not fit into the accepted classification of Luminal A/B, Normal-like subtypes of ER(+) breast cancers. We denote the group as c-MYB(+) breast cancer.

Protein nanoparticle: A unique system as drug delivery vehicles

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2008-12-29

Dec 29, 2008 ... Nanobiotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Babol University of Technology, Iran. ... as potential carriers with unique advantages including ..... for intracellular uptake in BT/20 human breast cancer.

Common and unique elements of the ABA-regulated transcriptome of Arabidopsis guard cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Zhixin

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the presence of drought and other desiccating stresses, plants synthesize and redistribute the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA. ABA promotes plant water conservation by acting on specialized cells in the leaf epidermis, guard cells, which border and regulate the apertures of stomatal pores through which transpirational water loss occurs. Following ABA exposure, solute uptake into guard cells is rapidly inhibited and solute loss is promoted, resulting in inhibition of stomatal opening and promotion of stomatal closure, with consequent plant water conservation. There is a wealth of information on the guard cell signaling mechanisms underlying these rapid ABA responses. To investigate ABA regulation of gene expression in guard cells in a systematic genome-wide manner, we analyzed data from global transcriptomes of guard cells generated with Affymetrix ATH1 microarrays, and compared these results to ABA regulation of gene expression in leaves and other tissues. Results The 1173 ABA-regulated genes of guard cells identified by our study share significant overlap with ABA-regulated genes of other tissues, and are associated with well-defined ABA-related promoter motifs such as ABREs and DREs. However, we also computationally identified a unique cis-acting motif, GTCGG, associated with ABA-induction of gene expression specifically in guard cells. In addition, approximately 300 genes showing ABA-regulation unique to this cell type were newly uncovered by our study. Within the ABA-regulated gene set of guard cells, we found that many of the genes known to encode ion transporters associated with stomatal opening are down-regulated by ABA, providing one mechanism for long-term maintenance of stomatal closure during drought. We also found examples of both negative and positive feedback in the transcriptional regulation by ABA of known ABA-signaling genes, particularly with regard to the PYR/PYL/RCAR class of soluble ABA receptors and

Common and unique elements of the ABA-regulated transcriptome of Arabidopsis guard cells

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background In the presence of drought and other desiccating stresses, plants synthesize and redistribute the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). ABA promotes plant water conservation by acting on specialized cells in the leaf epidermis, guard cells, which border and regulate the apertures of stomatal pores through which transpirational water loss occurs. Following ABA exposure, solute uptake into guard cells is rapidly inhibited and solute loss is promoted, resulting in inhibition of stomatal opening and promotion of stomatal closure, with consequent plant water conservation. There is a wealth of information on the guard cell signaling mechanisms underlying these rapid ABA responses. To investigate ABA regulation of gene expression in guard cells in a systematic genome-wide manner, we analyzed data from global transcriptomes of guard cells generated with Affymetrix ATH1 microarrays, and compared these results to ABA regulation of gene expression in leaves and other tissues. Results The 1173 ABA-regulated genes of guard cells identified by our study share significant overlap with ABA-regulated genes of other tissues, and are associated with well-defined ABA-related promoter motifs such as ABREs and DREs. However, we also computationally identified a unique cis-acting motif, GTCGG, associated with ABA-induction of gene expression specifically in guard cells. In addition, approximately 300 genes showing ABA-regulation unique to this cell type were newly uncovered by our study. Within the ABA-regulated gene set of guard cells, we found that many of the genes known to encode ion transporters associated with stomatal opening are down-regulated by ABA, providing one mechanism for long-term maintenance of stomatal closure during drought. We also found examples of both negative and positive feedback in the transcriptional regulation by ABA of known ABA-signaling genes, particularly with regard to the PYR/PYL/RCAR class of soluble ABA receptors and their downstream targets

A cross-cultural investigation into the relationships among parental support for basic psychological needs, sense of uniqueness, and happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Simşek, Omer Faruk; Demir, Melikşah

2014-01-01

A significant number of empirical studies have reported that parental support for basic psychological needs is a robust correlate of adolescent happiness. Yet, less is known about the mechanisms responsible for this link. The present study proposed a model suggesting that personal sense of uniqueness explains why satisfaction of basic psychological needs in parent-child relationships is related to happiness. This mediational model was tested among late adolescents in Turkey and the United States. Analyses relying on structural equation modeling and bootstrapping supported the model in both cultures. Implications of the findings for theory and cross-cultural research are discussed. Directions for future research that could improve our understanding of the dynamic interplay between basic needs, sense of uniqueness and well-being are provided.

The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation-A Unique Window on the Early Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Hinshaw, Gary

2010-01-01

The cosmic microwave background radiation is the remnant heat from the Big Bang. It provides us with a unique probe of conditions in the early universe, long before any organized structures had yet formed. The anisotropy in the radiation's brightness yields important clues about primordial structure and additionally provides a wealth of information about the physics of the early universe. Within the framework of inflationary dark matter models, observations of the anisotropy on sub-degree angular scales reveals the signatures of acoustic oscillations of the photon-baryon fluid at a redshift of 11 00. Data from the first seven years of operation of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite provide detailed full-sky maps of the cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization anisotropy. Together, the data provide a wealth of cosmological information, including the age of the universe, the epoch when the first stars formed, and the overall composition of baryonic matter, dark matter, and dark energy. The results also provide constraints on the period of inflationary expansion in the very first moments of time. WMAP, part of NASA's Explorers program, was launched on June 30, 2001. The WMAP satellite was produced in a partnership between the Goddard Space Flight Center and Princeton University. The WMAP team also includes researchers at the Johns Hopkins University; the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics; University of Texas; Oxford University; University of Chicago; Brown University; University of British Columbia; and University of California, Los Angeles.

Application and benefits to industry of radioisotope tracer techniques - an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hills, A.E.

2002-01-01

Radioisotopes continue to play an important role in better management of natural resources and industrial processes. The success of radioisotope applications is primarily to the ability, conferred by the unique properties of radioactive materials, to collect data, which cannot be obtained by other investigative techniques. Radioisotope-based industrial tracer techniques that have stood the test in their own right are described briefly and certain of the economic and process efficiency impacts are highlighted. The financial and other benefits of this technology, especially in Petrochemical sector have been amply demonstrated and accepted. Typical techniques employed are: Gamma ray scanning of distillation columns, leak testing of heat exchangers, deposit and blockage detection in pipe lines, homogeneous mixing, flow rate measurements and liquid interface measurements. The financial benefits by these techniques are widely accepted to exceed the cost of equipment and studies by several folds. Based on retrospective analysis of the data, it is found that an average cost-benefit ratio of 1:20 in many applications is reasonably representative. (Author)

A novel edge based embedding in medical images based on unique key generated using sudoku puzzle design.

Science.gov (United States)

Santhi, B; Dheeptha, B

2016-01-01

The field of telemedicine has gained immense momentum, owing to the need for transmitting patients' information securely. This paper puts forth a unique method for embedding data in medical images. It is based on edge based embedding and XOR coding. The algorithm proposes a novel key generation technique by utilizing the design of a sudoku puzzle to enhance the security of the transmitted message. The edge blocks of the cover image alone, are utilized to embed the payloads. The least significant bit of the pixel values are changed by XOR coding depending on the data to be embedded and the key generated. Hence the distortion in the stego image is minimized and the information is retrieved accurately. Data is embedded in the RGB planes of the cover image, thus increasing its embedding capacity. Several measures including peak signal noise ratio (PSNR), mean square error (MSE), universal image quality index (UIQI) and correlation coefficient (R) are the image quality measures that have been used to analyze the quality of the stego image. It is evident from the results that the proposed technique outperforms the former methodologies.

Ultrasonic, microwave, and millimeter wave inspection techniques for adhesively bonded stacked open honeycomb core composites

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, Clint D.; Cox, Ian; Ghasr, Mohammad Tayeb Ahmed; Ying, Kuang P.; Zoughi, Reza

2015-03-01

Honeycomb sandwich composites are used extensively in the aerospace industry to provide stiffness and thickness to lightweight structures. A common fabrication method for thick, curved sandwich structures is to stack and bond multiple honeycomb layers prior to machining core curvatures. Once bonded, each adhesive layer must be inspected for delaminations and the presence of unwanted foreign materials. From a manufacturing and cost standpoint, it can be advantageous to inspect the open core prior to face sheet closeout in order to reduce end-article scrap rates. However, by nature, these honeycomb sandwich composite structures are primarily manufactured from low permittivity and low loss materials making detection of delamination and some of the foreign materials (which also are low permittivity and low loss) quite challenging in the microwave and millimeter wave regime. Likewise, foreign materials such as release film in adhesive layers can be sufficiently thin as to not cause significant attenuation in through-transmission ultrasonic signals, making them difficult to detect. This paper presents a collaborative effort intended to explore the efficacy of different non-contact NDI techniques for detecting flaws in a stacked open fiberglass honeycomb core panel. These techniques primarily included air-coupled through-transmission ultrasonics, single-sided wideband synthetic aperture microwave and millimeter-wave imaging, and lens-focused technique. The goal of this investigation has been to not only evaluate the efficacy of these techniques, but also to determine their unique advantages and limitations for evaluating parameters such as flaw type, flaw size, and flaw depth.

Skipper genome sheds light on unique phenotypic traits and phylogeny.

Science.gov (United States)

Cong, Qian; Borek, Dominika; Otwinowski, Zbyszek; Grishin, Nick V

2015-08-27

Butterflies and moths are emerging as model organisms in genetics and evolutionary studies. The family Hesperiidae (skippers) was traditionally viewed as a sister to other butterflies based on its moth-like morphology and darting flight habits with fast wing beats. However, DNA studies suggest that the family Papilionidae (swallowtails) may be the sister to other butterflies including skippers. The moth-like features and the controversial position of skippers in Lepidoptera phylogeny make them valuable targets for comparative genomics. We obtained the 310 Mb draft genome of the Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius) from a wild-caught specimen using a cost-effective strategy that overcomes the high (1.6 %) heterozygosity problem. Comparative analysis of Lerema accius and the highly heterozygous genome of Papilio glaucus revealed differences in patterns of SNP distribution, but similarities in functions of genes that are enriched in non-synonymous SNPs. Comparison of Lepidoptera genomes revealed possible molecular bases for unique traits of skippers: a duplication of electron transport chain components could result in efficient energy supply for their rapid flight; a diversified family of predicted cellulases might allow them to feed on cellulose-enriched grasses; an expansion of pheromone-binding proteins and enzymes for pheromone synthesis implies a more efficient mate-recognition system, which compensates for the lack of clear visual cues due to the similarities in wing colors and patterns of many species of skippers. Phylogenetic analysis of several Lepidoptera genomes suggested that the position of Hesperiidae remains uncertain as the tree topology varied depending on the evolutionary model. Completion of the first genome from the family Hesperiidae allowed comparative analyses with other Lepidoptera that revealed potential genetic bases for the unique phenotypic traits of skippers. This work lays the foundation for future experimental studies of skippers and

The Python Project: A Unique Model for Extending Research Opportunities to Undergraduate Students

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Pamela A.; Wall, Christopher; Luckey, Stephen W.; Langer, Stephen; Leinwand, Leslie A.

2014-01-01

Undergraduate science education curricula are traditionally composed of didactic instruction with a small number of laboratory courses that provide introductory training in research techniques. Research on learning methodologies suggests this model is relatively ineffective, whereas participation in independent research projects promotes enhanced…

Unique features of space reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buden, D.

1990-01-01

This paper reports on space reactors that are designed to meet a unique set of requirements; they must be sufficiently compact to be launched in a rocket to their operational location, operate for many years without maintenance and servicing, operate in extreme environments, and reject heat by radiation to space. To meet these restrictions, operating temperatures are much greater than in terrestrial power plants, and the reactors tend to have a fast neutron spectrum. Currently, a new generation of space reactor power plants is being developed. The major effort is in the SP-100 program, where the power plant is being designed for seven years of full power, and no maintenance operation at a reactor outlet operating temperature of 1350 K

Revealing a steroid receptor ligand as a unique PPAR[gamma] agonist

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Shengchen; Han, Ying; Shi, Yuzhe; Rong, Hui; Zheng, Songyang; Jin, Shikan; Lin, Shu-Yong; Lin, Sheng-Cai; Li, Yong (Pitt); (Xiamen)

2012-06-28

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR{gamma}) regulates metabolic homeostasis and is a molecular target for anti-diabetic drugs. We report here the identification of a steroid receptor ligand, RU-486, as an unexpected PPAR{gamma} agonist, thereby uncovering a novel signaling route for this steroid drug. Similar to rosiglitazone, RU-486 modulates the expression of key PPAR{gamma} target genes and promotes adipocyte differentiation, but with a lower adipogenic activity. Structural and functional studies of receptor-ligand interactions reveal the molecular basis for a unique binding mode for RU-486 in the PPAR{gamma} ligand-binding pocket with distinctive properties and epitopes, providing the molecular mechanisms for the discrimination of RU-486 from thiazolidinediones (TZDs) drugs. Our findings together indicate that steroid compounds may represent an alternative approach for designing non-TZD PPAR{gamma} ligands in the treatment of insulin resistance.

Existence and uniqueness of consistent conjectural variation equilibrium in electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Youfei; Cai, Bin; Ni, Y.X.; Wu, Felix F.

2007-01-01

The game-theory based methods are widely applied to analyze the market equilibrium and to study the strategic behavior in the oligopolistic electricity markets. Recently, the conjecture variation approach, one of well-studied methods in game theory, is reported to model the strategic behavior in deregulated electricity markets. Unfortunately, the conjecture variation models have been criticized for the drawback of logical inconsistence and possibility of abundant equilibria. Aiming for this, this paper investigates the existence and uniqueness of consistent conjectural variation equilibrium in electricity markets. With several good characteristics of the electricity market and with an infinite horizon optimization model, it is shown that the consistent conjecture variation will satisfy a set of coupled nonlinear equations and there will be only one equilibrium. This result can provide the fundamentals for further applications of the conjecture variation approach. (author)

Misdiagnosis and management of iatrogenic pseudoaneurysm of vertebral artery after Harms technique of C1-C2 fixation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIN Li

2012-12-01

Full Text Available 【Abstract】 Harms technique of C1-C2 fixation for atlantoaxial complex becomes more popular due to good fusion rate and low vertebral artery injury (VAI rate. But considering the unique and variable anatomy of atlanto-axial complex, iatrogenic VAI will result in catastrophic con-sequences and provides particular surgical challenges for surgeons. To our knowledge, comparing with iatrogenic VAI in the screw hole, iatrogenic VAI in the “open space” is much rarer during the Harms technique of C1-C2 fixation. In this article, we present a case of iatrogenic vertebral artery pseudoaneurysm after Harms technique of posterior C1-C2 fixation. This case of iatrogenic VAI effectively treated by endovascular coil occlusion and external local compression was initially misdiagnosed as VAI by pedicle screw perforation. It can be concluded that intraoperative or post-operative computed angiography is very helpful to diag-nose the exact site of VAI and the combination of endovascular coil occlusion as well as external local com-pression can further prevent bleeding and abnormal verte-bral artery flow in the pseudoaneurysm. However, patients treated require further follow-up to confirm that there is no recurrence of the pseudoaneurysm. Key words: Vertebral artery; Aneurysm, false; Endovascular procedures

Development of criteria for evaluating clinical response in thyroid eye disease (CRI-TED) using a modified Delphi technique

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas, Raymond S.; Tsirbas, Angelo; Gordon, Mark; Lee, Diana; Khadavi, Nicole; Garneau, Helene Chokron; Goldberg, Robert A.; Cahill, Kenneth; Dolman, Peter J.; Elner, Victor; Feldon, Steve; Lucarelli, Mark; Uddin, Jimmy; Kazim, Michael; Smith, Terry J.; Khanna, Dinesh

2014-01-01

To identify components of a provisional clinical response index for thyroid eye disease (CRI-TED) using a modified Delphi technique. The International Thyroid Eye Disease Society (ITEDS) conducted a structured, 3-round Delphi exercise establishing consensus for a core set of measures for clinical trials in TED. The steering committee discussed the results in a face-to-face meeting (nominal group technique) and evaluated each criterion with respect to its feasibility, reliability, redundancy, and validity. Redundant measures were consolidated or excluded. Criteria were parsed into 11 domains for the Delphi surveys. Eighty four respondents participated in the Delphi-1 survey, providing 220 unique items. Ninety- two members (100% of the respondents from Delphi 1 plus eight new participants) responded in Delphi-2 and rated the same 220 items. Sixty-four members (76% of participants) rated 153 criteria in Delphi-3 (67 criteria were excluded due to redundancy). Criteria with a mean greater than 6 (1 least appropriate to 9 most appropriate) were further evaluated by the nominal group technique and provisional core measures were chosen. Using a Delphi exercise, we developed provisional core measures for assessing disease activity and severity in clinical trials of therapies for TED. These measures will be iteratively refined for use in multicenter clinical trials. PMID:19752424

RFCM Techniques Chamber Facility

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — FUNCTION: Provides the capability to develop radio-frequency countermeasure (RFCM) techniques in a controlled environment from 2.0 to 40.0 GHz. The configuration of...

Applying contemporary statistical techniques

CERN Document Server

Wilcox, Rand R

2003-01-01

Applying Contemporary Statistical Techniques explains why traditional statistical methods are often inadequate or outdated when applied to modern problems. Wilcox demonstrates how new and more powerful techniques address these problems far more effectively, making these modern robust methods understandable, practical, and easily accessible.* Assumes no previous training in statistics * Explains how and why modern statistical methods provide more accurate results than conventional methods* Covers the latest developments on multiple comparisons * Includes recent advanc

A Unique Case of Muscle Invasive Metastatic Breast Cancer Mimicking Myositis

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-28

TYPE 08/ 03/20 17 Publ ication/Journal 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE A unique case of muscle-invasive metastatic breast cancer mimicking myositis 6...Rev. 8/98) Prescnbed by ANSI Std Z39. 18 Adobe Profes11on11 7.0 Title: A Unique Case of M uscle-Invasive Metastatic Breast Cancer M imicking...an 84-year-old female who presented with neck swelling and upper airway obstruction due to metastatic breast cancer invading the sternocleidomastoid

Novel in-situ lamella fabrication technique for in-situ TEM.

Science.gov (United States)

Canavan, Megan; Daly, Dermot; Rummel, Andreas; McCarthy, Eoin K; McAuley, Cathal; Nicolosi, Valeria

2018-03-29

In-situ transmission electron microscopy is rapidly emerging as the premier technique for characterising materials in a dynamic state on the atomic scale. The most important aspect of in-situ studies is specimen preparation. Specimens must be electron transparent and representative of the material in its operational state, amongst others. Here, a novel fabrication technique for the facile preparation of lamellae for in-situ transmission electron microscopy experimentation using focused ion beam milling is developed. This method involves the use of rotating microgrippers during the lift-out procedure, as opposed to the traditional micromanipulator needle and platinum weld. Using rotating grippers, and a unique adhesive substance, lamellae are mounted onto a MEMS device for in-situ TEM annealing experiments. We demonstrate how this technique can be used to avoid platinum deposition as well as minimising damage to the MEMS device during the thinning process. Our technique is both a cost effective and readily implementable alternative to the current generation of preparation methods for in-situ liquid, electrical, mechanical and thermal experimentation within the TEM as well as traditional cross-sectional lamella preparation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New technique for levitating solid particles using a proton beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misconi, N.Y.

1996-01-01

A new technique for levitating solid particles inside a vacuum chamber is developed using a proton beam. This new technique differs from the classical laser-levitation technique invented by Ashkin in that it does not heat up light-absorbing levitated particles to vaporization. This unique property of the method will make it possible to levitate real interplanetary dust particles in a vacuum chamber and study their spin-up dynamics in a ground-based laboratory. It is found that a flux of protons from a proton gun of ∼ 10 15 cm -2 sec -1 is needed to levitate a 10-mm particle. Confinement of the levitated particle can be achieved by a Z or θ pinch to create a gravity well, or by making the beam profile doughnut in shape. In levitating real interplanetary particles, two spin-up mechanisms can be investigated using this technique: one is the Paddack Effect and the other is a spin-up mechanism by the interaction of F-coronal dust with CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections). The real interplanetary particles were collected by Brownie and associates (also known as the Brownie Particles) from the earth's upper atmosphere. (author)

Technique, Thematic, Symbolism and Semiotics - Authentic Synthesis in Adem Kastrati’s Creativity

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Shpresa Tolaj-Gjonbalaj

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The choice to bring this topic consists in choosing the creative vocation of the inventive painter Adem Kastrati, who articulates the artistic work with a unique technique, the usage of brown soil color, as a pictorial material and tool without artificial mixture, stressing also the application of the specific pictorial structure, which is considered unique up to now. Main objective of this paper is the analysis of the technical, thematic, symbolic and semiotic authenticity, in Adem Kastrati’s works, which is based on the Albanian traditional history. The artist’s tendency to create a form of art apprehensible to all, through the articulation of a clear figurative language which occupies a specific considered space in the paper, shows the artist’s message transmission to receptive level in reference to psychological-spiritual condition. This paper is based on primary and secondary sources, direct analysis of the artist’s activity, as well as different materials and publishing. As for the idea, technique, theme, variety of signs and symbols reflected, it is important to notice that the artist’ s skill is very original in the universe of inventive values of pictorial art that is why he occupies an important position in the Albanian culture. Consequently, this paper reflects a unique panorama of the authentic synthesis of specifications that characterize this artist’s activity. Therefore through this exposition, we are trying not only to highlight his creativity, but we are also trying to highlight his works to all the competent institutions nationwide, whose art was presented in 50 individual and collective exhibitions in different countries of the world.

Progress in study of Prespa Lake using nuclear and related techniques (IAEA Regional Project RER/8/008)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anovski, Todor

2001-09-01

One of the main objective of the IAEA - Regional project RER/8/008 entitled Study of Prespa Lake Using Nuclear and Related Techniques was to provide a scientific basis for sustainable and environmental management of the Lake Prespa (Three lakes: Ohrid, Big Prespa and Small Prespa are on the borders between Albania, Republic of Macedonia and Greece, and are separated by the Mali i Thate and Galichica, mostly Carstificated mountains), see Fig. 1. In this sense investigations connected with the hydrogeology, water quality (Physics-chemical, biological and radiological characteristics) and water balance determination by application of Environmental isotopes ( i.e. H,D,T,O-18,O-18 etc.,) distribution, artificial water tracers and other relevant analytical techniques such as: AAS, HPLC, Total α and β-activity, α and γ-spectrometry as well as ultra sonic measurements (defining of the Lake bottom profile) through regional cooperation / Scientists from Albania, Greece and Republic of Macedonia, participated in the implementation of the Project/ during one hydrological year, had been initiated and valuable results obtained, a part of which are presented in this report. This cooperation was the only way for providing necessary data for better understanding beside the other, of the water quality of the Prespa Lake and its hydrological relationship to Ohrid Lake too, representing a unique regional hydro system in the world. (Author)

The Strengths of Wisdom Provide Unique Contributions to Improved Leadership, Sustainability, Inequality, Gross National Happiness, and Civic Discourse in the Face of Contemporary World Problems

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Igor Grossmann

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We present evidence for the strengths of the intellectual virtues that philosophers and behavioral scientists characterize as key cognitive elements of wisdom. Wisdom has been of centuries-long interest for philosophical scholarship, but relative to intelligence largely neglected in public discourse on educational science, public policy, and societal well-being. Wise reasoning characteristics include intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty, consideration of diverse viewpoints, and an attempt to integrate these viewpoints. Emerging scholarship on these features of wisdom suggest that they uniquely contribute to societal well-being, improve leadership, shed light on societal inequality, promote cooperation in Public Goods Games and reduce political polarization and intergroup-hostility. We review empirical evidence about macro-cultural, ecological, situational, and person-level processes facilitating and inhibiting wisdom in daily life. Based on this evidence, we speculate about ways to foster wisdom in education, organizations, and institutions.

Ultrasonic techniques for fluids characterization

CERN Document Server

Povey, Malcolm J W

1997-01-01

This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to the use of ultrasonic techniques for the characterization of fluids. Focusing on ultrasonic velocimetry, the author covers the basic topics and techniques necessaryfor successful ultrasound measurements on emulsions, dispersions, multiphase media, and viscoelastic/viscoplastic materials. Advanced techniques such as scattering, particle sizing, and automation are also presented. As a handbook for industrial and scientific use, Ultrasonic Techniques for Fluids Characterization is an indispensable guide to chemists and chemical engineers using ultrasound for research or process monitoring in the chemical, food processing, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, biotechnology,and fuels industries. Key Features * Appeals to anyone using ultrasound to study fluids * Provides the first detailed description of the ultrasound profiling technique for dispersions * Describes new techniques for measuring phase transitions and nucleation, such as water/ice and oil/fat * Presents the l...