El viaducto de Sfalassà Italia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zorzi, S.

1974-11-01

Full Text Available This work is really one of the most spectacular construction on the motor road Salermo-Reggio Calabria. It consists of two lateral viaducts altogether 517 m long, with spans of prestressed concrete, and one 376 m long central metal viaduct. The viaduct bridges a valley at a maximum height of 250 m. The above mentioned central span is the most interesting one since the columns have been mounted vertically on hinges at their base which makes it possible to turn them subsequently into their final position.Esta obra es realmente una de las más espectaculares de la autopista Salermo-Reggio Calabria. Se compone de dos viaductos laterales, de 517 m de longitud total, a base de tramos de hormigón armado pretensado, y uno central, metálico, de 376 m, salvando un valle de 250 m de altura máxima. Dicho tramo central es el más interesante de todo el puente, ya que los pilares se han montado verticalmente, con rótulas en su base, que les ha permitido ser girados posteriormente a su posición definitiva.

The Information Manager Vol. 7 (2)2007 28

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ezra

or infrastructures, dams, bridges, viaducts, industrial complexes, etc. are often .... the ability to span large distances with high precision. ... reduce cost. Issues to be considered in designing a ... Unlike a simple amplitude SAR image, which only ...

Analysis of pavement serviceability for the Aashto Design Method: The Chilean Case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solminihac, Hernan De; Salsilli, R.; Bengoa, E.; Kohler, E.

2003-01-01

Serviceability is an indicator that represents the level of service a pavement provides to the users. This subjective opinion is closely related to objective aspects, which can be measured on the pavement's surface. This research aims specifically at relating serviceability results obtained by a 9-member evaluation panel, representing general public as closely as possible to parameters (particularly of roughness) measured within instruments on 30, 25 and 11 road sections of asphalt concrete, Portland cement concrete and asphalt overlay respectively. Results show that prediction of serviceability is quite accurate based on roughness evaluation, while also revealing that, by comparison to studies in more developed countries, Chileans are seemingly more tolerant, in that they assign a somewhat high rating to ride quality. Furthermore, visible distress does not have a significant influence on serviceability values for Chilean users. A ratio between International Roughness Index (IRI) and Serviceability, as defined by AASHTO, was developed and may be used in this design method. Results for the final pavement condition of urban pavements were obtained (IRI-asphalt final=5.9, IRI-concrete final=8.1). (author)

Twelve fundamental life histories evolving through allocation-dependent fecundity and survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Jacob; Brännström, Åke; Metz, Johan A J; Dieckmann, Ulf

2018-03-01

An organism's life history is closely interlinked with its allocation of energy between growth and reproduction at different life stages. Theoretical models have established that diminishing returns from reproductive investment promote strategies with simultaneous investment into growth and reproduction (indeterminate growth) over strategies with distinct phases of growth and reproduction (determinate growth). We extend this traditional, binary classification by showing that allocation-dependent fecundity and mortality rates allow for a large diversity of optimal allocation schedules. By analyzing a model of organisms that allocate energy between growth and reproduction, we find twelve types of optimal allocation schedules, differing qualitatively in how reproductive allocation increases with body mass. These twelve optimal allocation schedules include types with different combinations of continuous and discontinuous increase in reproduction allocation, in which phases of continuous increase can be decelerating or accelerating. We furthermore investigate how this variation influences growth curves and the expected maximum life span and body size. Our study thus reveals new links between eco-physiological constraints and life-history evolution and underscores how allocation-dependent fitness components may underlie biological diversity.

Damaged Concrete Viaduct in an Italian Highway: Concrete Characterization and Possible Strengthening Techniques by FRP Applications in Comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Tittarelli, Francesca; Ruello, Maria Letizia; Capuani, Domenico; Aprile, Alessandra

2017-10-01

The “Fornello” viaduct in the Italian Orte-Ravenna highway (E45) is seriously damaged. In this paper, the concrete of the reinforced slab has been widely characterized to evaluate the level of damage and to identify the causes of degradation. No-destructive tests, as those based on ultrasonic waves, as well as chemical, physical and mechanical destructive tests have been carried out on specimens drawn from deteriorated and not deteriorated zones of the R/C bridge decks. Into the slab thickness, the concentration distribution of main anions has been quantified by ion chromatography. Porosimetry tests have been carried out to detect the resistance to freeze-thaw cycles of cement paste. Possible strengthening techniques by FRP applications have been compared.

Flexural and Shear Behavior of FRP Strengthened AASHTO Type Concrete Bridge Girders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nur Yazdani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP are being increasingly used for the repair and strengthening of deteriorated or unsafe concrete structures, including structurally deficient concrete highway bridges. The behavior of FRP strengthened concrete bridge girders, including failure modes, failure loads, and deflections, can be determined using an analytical finite element modeling approach, as outlined in this paper. The differences in flexural versus shear FRP strengthening and comparison with available design guidelines are also beneficial to design professionals. In this paper, a common AASHTO type prestressed concrete bridge girder with FRP wrapping was analyzed using the ANSYS FEM software and the ACI analytical approach. Both flexural and shear FRP applications, including vertical and inclined shear strengthening, were examined. Results showed that FRP wrapping can significantly benefit concrete bridge girders in terms of flexure/shear capacity increase, deflection reduction, and crack control. The FRP strength was underutilized in the section selected herein, which could be addressed through decrease of the amount of FRP and prestressing steel used, thereby increasing the section ductility. The ACI approach produced comparable results to the FEM and can be effectively and conveniently used in design.

Evaluation of size effect on shear strength of reinforced concrete ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

of the longitudinal and the web reinforcement, shear span-to-depth ratio and the ... A simple equation for predicting the shear strength of reinforced concrete deep ..... AASHTO 2007 LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, American Association of ...

Non-linear vehicle-bridge-wind interaction model for running safety assessment of high-speed trains over a high-pier viaduct

Science.gov (United States)

Olmos, José M.; Astiz, Miguel Á.

2018-04-01

In order to properly study the high-speed traffic safety on a high-pier viaduct subject to episodes of lateral turbulent winds, an efficient dynamic interaction train-bridge-wind model has been developed and experimentally validated. This model considers the full wheel and rail profiles, the friction between these two bodies in contact, and the piers P-Delta effect. The model has been used to determine the critical train and wind velocities from which the trains cannot travel safely over the O'Eixo Bridge. The dynamic simulations carried out and the results obtained in the time domain show that traffic safety rates exceed the allowed limits for turbulent winds with mean velocities at the deck higher than 25 m/s.

Los viaductos de acceso al puente de Martigues – Francia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perzo, R.

1972-11-01

Full Text Available This article describes the approaches to a large metal bridge 300 m in length. These approaches consist of two viaducts whose decks are continuous beams of prestressed concrete 260 and 315 m long; spans in both viaducts are 45 m long. The cross section is a slab with two 3 m deep ribs; there are no stiffeners, neither between the spans nor over the supports. The two structures have been constructed with spans of 45 m over a self-supporting formwork which has proven very efficient.Se describen los accesos a un gran puente metálico, de 300 m de longitud. Dichos accesos están constituidos por dos viaductos cuyos tableros son vigas continuas, de hormigón pretensado, de 260 y 315 m de longitud; las luces en ambos viaductos son de 45 m. La sección transversal es una losa con dos nervios de 3 m de canto; no existen riostras ni en los vanos ni sobre los apoyos. Las dos estructuras se han construido por tramos de 45 m sobre una cimbra autolanzable, que ha permitido muy buenos rendimientos.

Design recommendations for the optimized continuity diaphragm for prestressed concrete bulb-T beams.

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

This research focused on prestressed concrete bulb-T (PCBT) beams made composite with a cast-in-place concrete deck and continuous over several spans through the use of continuity diaphragms. The current design procedure in AASHTO states that a conti...

A Simulation of the Millau Viaduct

OpenAIRE

Bergsjö, Cathrina; Pettersson, Marcus

2016-01-01

Cable-stayed bridges have become very popular over the last ve decades due totheir aesthetic appeal, structural eciency, the limited amount of material usageand nancial benets. The rapid increase of new techniques creating longer spans,slender decks and more spectacular design has given rise to a major concern ofthe dynamic behavior of cable-stayed bridges. This has resulted in a more carefulmodelling procedure that will represent the reality in the most particular way. Amodel is simply an ap...

Correlation between Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (WDXRF) analysis of hardened concrete for chlorides vs. Atomic Absorption (AA) analysis in accordance with AASHTO T- 260; sampling and testing for chloride ion in concrete and concrete raw mater

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-01

A correlation between Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence(WDXRF) analysis of Hardened : Concrete for Chlorides and Atomic Absorption (AA) analysis (current method AASHTO T-260, procedure B) has been : found and a new method of analysis has been ...

Construction of Pile foundations of Dacheng Viaduct%大成桥高架桥桩基施工

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

彭振斌; 刘铁雄

2001-01-01

Dacheng viaduct in Ningxiang,Hunan province landed in limestone area with developed Karst and cave-in the surface. Considered the engineering geology condition, a project of hand-dug piles was presented, which was successful through several kinds of special treatment. Among of these, the most length of hand-dug pile was 70.8 meter .So long a pile like this was infrequent in our country.%大成桥高架桥位于宁横公路三标段灰岩区，岩溶发育，地面塌陷严重。综合现场工程地质条件，提出了在采用人工挖孔桩的方案，由于采用了特殊处理措施，取得了较大的成功。其中最深的人工挖孔桩达70.8 m，如此深的人工挖孔桩国内少见。

Twelve Girls＇ Band＇ A Modern Miracle of Traditional Music

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YaoZhanxiong

2004-01-01

Twelve antique traditional instruments. Twelve spirited, pretty girls. "Twelve Girls' Band" is a traditional instrument orchestra playing well-known folk music in the form of pop. Besides age-old traditional instruments peculiar to China, such as zheng (ancient 21 to 25-stringed plucked instrument), qin (seven-stringed plucked instrument) and erhu (two-stringed Chinese fiddle),

Span of control matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Cathcart, Deb; Jeska, Susan; Karnas, Joan; Miller, Sue E; Pechacek, Judy; Rheault, Lolita

2004-09-01

Prompted by manager concerns about span of control, a large, integrated health system set out to determine if span of control really mattered. Was there something to it, or was it just an excuse for poor performance? A team of middle managers studied the problem and ultimately demonstrated a strong relationship between span of control and employee engagement. Consequently, it was decided to add 4 management positions to note the effect. One year later, positive changes were observed in employee engagement scores in all 4 areas. This study suggests careful review of manager spans of control to address the untoward effects of large spans of control on employee engagement.

Boundary Spanning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zølner, Mette

The paper explores how locals span boundaries between corporate and local levels. The aim is to better comprehend potentialities and challenges when MNCs draws on locals’ culture specific knowledge. The study is based on an in-depth, interpretive case study of boundary spanning by local actors in...... approach with pattern matching is a way to shed light on the tacit local knowledge that organizational actors cannot articulate and that an exclusively inductive research is not likely to unveil....

Influence of the wind direction on the chloride profiles of structures close to the Caribbean Sea. The case of the Turiguanó- Coco Key Viaduct in Cuba

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pérez García, E. J.

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Interpretation of chlorides profiles is important to predict concrete structures service life, among other factors. However, reported results are, in general, from small specimens exposed to specific atmospheres instead of real structures. The objective of this work was the obtention and interpretation of the chlorides profiles forms from several bridges of the Turiguanó-Coco Key viaduct in Cuba. The results verified data from other authors but on different structural elements and similar atmospheres. The form of the chloride profile for structures similar to those in the viaduct bridges, exposed to tropical marine atmosphere, is consistent and changes in intensity with the winds direction and the blocking to them by parts of the structure. The possible effect of the wet and drying process is also discussed.

En años recientes se le ha dado importancia a la interpretación de los perfiles de cloruros en el hormigón armado con fines de predicción de vida útil, entre otros. Sin embargo, los datos que se han constatado pertenecen, por lo general, a experimentos sobre probetas que han sido expuestas, por un tiempo determinado, a atmósferas específicas más que a estructuras reales. El objetivo de este trabajo fue la obtención e interpretación de la forma de los perfiles de cloruros de varios puentes del viaducto Turiguanó-Cayo Coco en Cuba. Los resultados ratificaron los datos encontrados por otros autores en otros elementos y ambientes similares, pero en un tipo de estructura diferente. En todos los casos estudiados se pudo verificar que, la forma del perfil de concentración de cloruros para estructuras similares a los puentes del viaducto estudiado expuestas a un ambiente tropical marino, es consistente y cambia de intensidad con la dirección de los vientos y del apantallamiento a los mismos por parte de la estructura y de sus partes. Se discute el posible efecto del mojado y secado.

Long Span Bridges in Scandinavia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gimsing, Niels Jørgen

1998-01-01

The first Scandinavian bridge with a span of more than 500 m was the Lillebælt Suspension Bridge opened to traffic in 1970.Art the end of the 20th century the longest span of any European bridge is found in the Storebælt East Bridge with a main span of 1624 m. Also the third longest span in Europe...... is found in Scandinavia - the 1210 m span of the Höga Kusten Bridge in Sweden.The Kvarnsund Bridge in Norway was at the completion in 1991 the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, and the span of 530 m is still thge longest for cable-stayed bridges in concrete. The Øresund Bridge with its sapn of 490...

The twelve colourful stones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doria, R.M.

1983-01-01

A dynamics with twelve colourful stones is created based on the concepts of gauge and colour. It is associated different gauge fields to the same group. A group of gauge invariant Lagrangians is established. A gauge invariant mass term is introduced. The colourful stones physical insight is to be building blocks for quarks and leptons. (Author) [pt

The twelve colourful stones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doria, R.M.

1984-01-01

The gauge symmetry is extended. It is associated differents matter and gauge fields to the same group. A group of gauge invariant Lagrangians is established. A gauge invariant mass term is introduced. A massive Yang Mills is obtained. A dynamics with twelve colourful stones is created based on the concepts of gauge and colour. Structures identified as quarks and leptons are generated. A discussion about colour meaning is presented. (Author) [pt

Mythematics Solving the Twelve Labors of Hercules

CERN Document Server

Huber, Michael

2009-01-01

How might Hercules, the most famous of the Greek heroes, have used mathematics to complete his astonishing Twelve Labors? From conquering the Nemean Lion and cleaning out the Augean Stables, to capturing the Erymanthean Boar and entering the Underworld to defeat the three-headed dog Cerberus, Hercules and his legend are the inspiration for this book of fun and original math puzzles. While Hercules relied on superhuman strength to accomplish the Twelve Labors, Mythematics shows how math could have helped during his quest. How does Hercules defeat the Lernean Hydra and stop its heads from multip

Advance features in the SPAN and SPAN/XRF gamma ray and X ray spectrum analysis software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Liyu

1998-01-01

This paper describes the advanced techniques, integral peak background, experimental peak shape and complex peak shape, which have been used successfully in the software packages SPAN and SPAN/XRF to process gamma ray and X ray spectra from HPGe and Si(Li) detector. Main features of SPAN and SPAN/XRF are also described. The software runs on PC and has convenient graphical capabilities and a powerful user interface. (author)

A High-Speed Target-Free Vision-Based Sensor for Bus Rapid Transit Viaduct Vibration Measurements Using CMT and ORB Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qijun Hu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Bus Rapid Transit (BRT has become an increasing source of concern for public transportation of modern cities. Traditional contact sensing techniques during the process of health monitoring of BRT viaducts cannot overcome the deficiency that the normal free-flow of traffic would be blocked. Advances in computer vision technology provide a new line of thought for solving this problem. In this study, a high-speed target-free vision-based sensor is proposed to measure the vibration of structures without interrupting traffic. An improved keypoints matching algorithm based on consensus-based matching and tracking (CMT object tracking algorithm is adopted and further developed together with oriented brief (ORB keypoints detection algorithm for practicable and effective tracking of objects. Moreover, by synthesizing the existing scaling factor calculation methods, more rational approaches to reducing errors are implemented. The performance of the vision-based sensor is evaluated through a series of laboratory tests. Experimental tests with different target types, frequencies, amplitudes and motion patterns are conducted. The performance of the method is satisfactory, which indicates that the vision sensor can extract accurate structure vibration signals by tracking either artificial or natural targets. Field tests further demonstrate that the vision sensor is both practicable and reliable.

Determinantal spanning forests on planar graphs

OpenAIRE

Kenyon, Richard

2017-01-01

We generalize the uniform spanning tree to construct a family of determinantal measures on essential spanning forests on periodic planar graphs in which every component tree is bi-infinite. Like the uniform spanning tree, these measures arise naturally from the laplacian on the graph. More generally these results hold for the "massive" laplacian determinant which counts rooted spanning forests with weight $M$ per finite component. These measures typically have a form of conformal invariance, ...

Thermodynamics and life span estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuddusi, Lütfullah

2015-01-01

In this study, the life span of people living in seven regions of Turkey is estimated by applying the first and second laws of thermodynamics to the human body. The people living in different regions of Turkey have different food habits. The first and second laws of thermodynamics are used to calculate the entropy generation rate per unit mass of a human due to the food habits. The lifetime entropy generation per unit mass of a human was previously found statistically. The two entropy generations, lifetime entropy generation and entropy generation rate, enable one to determine the life span of people living in seven regions of Turkey with different food habits. In order to estimate the life span, some statistics of Turkish Statistical Institute regarding the food habits of the people living in seven regions of Turkey are used. The life spans of people that live in Central Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia regions are the longest and shortest, respectively. Generally, the following inequality regarding the life span of people living in seven regions of Turkey is found: Eastern Anatolia < Southeast Anatolia < Black Sea < Mediterranean < Marmara < Aegean < Central Anatolia. - Highlights: • The first and second laws of thermodynamics are applied to the human body. • The entropy generation of a human due to his food habits is determined. • The life span of Turks is estimated by using the entropy generation method. • Food habits of a human have effect on his life span

Reading Ability and Memory Span: Long-Term Memory Contributions to Span for Good and Poor Readers.

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Sine J. P.; Donohoe, Rachael

2002-01-01

Investigates the extent to which differences in memory span for good and poor readers can be explained by differences in a long-term memory component to span as well as by differences in short-term memory processes. Discusses the nature of the interrelationships between memory span, reading and measures of phonological awareness. (SG)

Life Span Developmental Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Eryilmaz

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The Life Span Developmental Approach examines development of individuals which occurs from birth to death. Life span developmental approach is a multi-disciplinary approach related with disciplines like psychology, psychiatry, sociology, anthropology and geriatrics that indicates the fact that development is not completed in adulthood, it continues during the life course. Development is a complex process that consists of dying and death. This approach carefully investigates the development of individuals with respect to developmental stages. This developmental approach suggests that scientific disciplines should not explain developmental facts only with age changes. Along with aging, cognitive, biological, and socioemotional development throughout life should also be considered to provide a reasonable and acceptable context, guideposts, and reasonable expectations for the person. There are three important subjects whom life span developmental approach deals with. These are nature vs nurture, continuity vs discontinuity, and change vs stability. Researchers using life span developmental approach gather and produce knowledge on these three most important domains of individual development with their unique scientific methodology.

Working memory and inhibitory control across the life span: Intrusion errors in the Reading Span Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Robert, Christelle; Borella, Erika; Fagot, Delphine; Lecerf, Thierry; de Ribaupierre, Anik

2009-04-01

The aim of this study was to examine to what extent inhibitory control and working memory capacity are related across the life span. Intrusion errors committed by children and younger and older adults were investigated in two versions of the Reading Span Test. In Experiment 1, a mixed Reading Span Test with items of various list lengths was administered. Older adults and children recalled fewer correct words and produced more intrusions than did young adults. Also, age-related differences were found in the type of intrusions committed. In Experiment 2, an adaptive Reading Span Test was administered, in which the list length of items was adapted to each individual's working memory capacity. Age groups differed neither on correct recall nor on the rate of intrusions, but they differed on the type of intrusions. Altogether, these findings indicate that the availability of attentional resources influences the efficiency of inhibition across the life span.

Development of Flexible Link Slabs using Ductile Fiber Reinforced Concrete

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lárusson, Lárus Helgi

Civil engineering structures with large dimensions, such as multi-span bridges, overpasses and viaducts, are typically equipped with mechanical expansion joints. These joints allow the individual spans of the structure to undergo unrestrained deformations due to thermal expansions and load......-deformation response and crack development of representative sections of the reinforced composites, and iv) detailing, designing and testing of large scale prefabricated link slab elements. In addition, an application of ductile Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) in prefabricated floor panels is presented...... crack widths and crack spacing measurements are obtained, which can characterize the tensile behavior of ECC. In chapter 3 on interfacial bond, the bond slip behavior and crack development, between the reinforcement and surrounding cementitious matrix is investigated in a unique test setup with special...

Life Span Developmental Approach

OpenAIRE

Ali Eryilmaz

2011-01-01

The Life Span Developmental Approach examines development of individuals which occurs from birth to death. Life span developmental approach is a multi-disciplinary approach related with disciplines like psychology, psychiatry, sociology, anthropology and geriatrics that indicates the fact that development is not completed in adulthood, it continues during the life course. Development is a complex process that consists of dying and death. This approach carefully investigates the development of...

Real-time health monitoring of civil infrastructure systems in Colombia

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, Peter; Marulanda Casas, Johannio; Marulanda Arbelaez, Johannio; Caicedo, Juan

2001-08-01

Colombia's topography, climatic conditions, intense seismic activity and acute social problems place high demands on the nations deteriorating civil infrastructure. Resources that are available for maintenance of the road and railway networks are often misdirected and actual inspection methods are limited to a visual examination. New techniques for inspection and evaluation of safety and serviceability of civil infrastructure, especially bridges, must be developed. Two cases of civil structures with health monitoring systems in Colombia are presented in this paper. Construction of the Pereria-Dos Quebradas Viaduct was completed in 1997 with a total cost of 58 million dollars, including 1.5 million dollars in health monitoring instrumentation provided and installed by foreign companies. This health monitoring system is not yet fully operational due to the lack of training of national personnel in system operation and extremely limited technical documentation. In contrast to the Pereria-Dos Quebradas Viaduct monitoring system, the authors have proposed a relatively low cost health monitoring system via telemetry. This system has been implemented for real-time monitoring of accelerations of El Hormiguero Bridge spanning the Cauca River using the Colombian Southwest Earthquake Observatory telemetry systems. This two span metallic bridge, located along a critical road between the cities of Puerto Tejada and Cali in the Cauca Valley, was constructed approximately 50 years ago. Experiences with this system demonstrate how effective low cost systems can be used to remotely monitor the structural integrity of deteriorating structures that are continuously subject to high loading conditions.

Free vibration analysis of multi-span pipe conveying fluid with dynamic stiffness method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Baohui; Gao Hangshan; Zhai Hongbo; Liu Yongshou; Yue Zhufeng

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → The dynamic stiffness method was proposed to analysis the free vibration of multi-span pipe conveying fluid. → The main advantage of the proposed method is that it can hold a high precision even though the element size is large. → The flowing fluid can weaken the pipe stiffness, when the fluid velocity increases, the natural frequencies of pipe are decreasing. - Abstract: By taking a pipe as Timoshenko beam, in this paper the original 4-equation model of pipe conveying fluid was modified by taking the dynamic effects of fluid into account. The shape function that always used in the finite element method was replaced by the exact wave solution of the modified four equations. And then the dynamic stiffness was deduced for the free vibration of pipe conveying fluid. The proposed method was validated by comparing the results of critical velocity with analytical solution for a simply supported pipe at both ends. In the example, the proposed method was applied to calculate the first three natural frequencies of a three span pipe with twelve meters long in three different cases. The results of natural frequency for the pipe conveying stationary fluid fitted well with that calculated by finite element software Abaqus. It was shown that the dynamic stiffness method can still hold high precision even though the element's size was quite large. And this is the predominant advantage of the proposed method comparing with conventional finite element method.

Age Differences in Memory Span

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Michelene T. H.

1977-01-01

Three experiments were conducted to determine processes underlying age differences in the level of recall in a memory-span task. Five-year-olds recalled fewer items than adults in memory-span tasks involving both familiar and unfamiliar faces, even though the use of rehearsal and recoding strategies was minimized for adults. (MS)

On the size of monotone span programs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nikov, V.S.; Nikova, S.I.; Preneel, B.; Blundo, C.; Cimato, S.

2005-01-01

Span programs provide a linear algebraic model of computation. Monotone span programs (MSP) correspond to linear secret sharing schemes. This paper studies the properties of monotone span programs related to their size. Using the results of van Dijk (connecting codes and MSPs) and a construction for

London SPAN version 4 parameter file format

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-06-01

Powernext SA is a Multilateral Trading Facility in charge of managing the French power exchange through an optional and anonymous organised trading system. Powernext SA collaborates with the clearing organization LCH.Clearnet SA to secure and facilitate the transactions. The French Standard Portfolio Analysis of Risk (SPAN) is a system used by LCH.Clearnet to calculate the initial margins from and for its clearing members. SPAN is a computerized system which calculates the impact of several possible variations of rates and volatility on by-product portfolios. The initial margin call is equal to the maximum probable loss calculated by the system. This document contains details of the format of the London SPAN version 4 parameter file. This file contains all the parameters and risk arrays required to calculate SPAN margins. London SPAN Version 4 is an upgrade from Version 3, which is also known as LME SPAN. This document contains the full revised file specification, highlighting the changes from Version 3 to Version 4

Comparison on the heat requirements of a four-span greenhouse with a melting snow system and a single-span greenhouse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuno, S.; Sase, S.; Ishii, M.

2004-01-01

The heat requirements were measured and compared between a four-span greenhouse with a melting snow system and a typical single-span greenhouse with no melting snow system. Generally, single-span greenhouses require no melting snow system because snow drops off naturally from the roofs by gravity. The results for the four-span greenhouse showed that the provided heat by a heater for melting snow increased with an increase in snowfall, and there was a high correlation between them. The heat requirement per unit floor area of the four-span greenhouse was slightly less than that of the single-span greenhouse. This suggests that the decrease in heat requirement for internal air because of the larger floor/surface area ratio of the four-span greenhouse was more than the increase in heat requirement for melting snow. The measured heat requirement of the four-span greenhouse with the melting snow system was equal to the estimated heat load based on a common calculation procedure. On the other hand, that of the single-span greenhouse was slightly smaller than the estimated heat load. These suggest that the estimated heat load based on the common calculation procedure was slightly overestimated and larger than the actual heat requirement excluding the heat for the melting snow in snowy area. This is likely due to the fact that the parameters in the common calculation procedure were determined under the condition of larger net radiation than that in snowy area

Linking crowding, visual span, and reading.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yingchen; Legge, Gordon E

2017-09-01

The visual span is hypothesized to be a sensory bottleneck on reading speed with crowding thought to be the major sensory factor limiting the size of the visual span. This proposed linkage between crowding, visual span, and reading speed is challenged by the finding that training to read crowded letters reduced crowding but did not improve reading speed (Chung, 2007). Here, we examined two properties of letter-recognition training that may influence the transfer to improved reading: the spatial arrangement of training stimuli and the presence of flankers. Three groups of nine young adults were trained with different configurations of letter stimuli at 10° in the lower visual field: a flanked-local group (flanked letters localized at one position), a flanked-distributed group (flanked letters distributed across different horizontal locations), and an isolated-distributed group (isolated and distributed letters). We found that distributed training, but not the presence of flankers, appears to be necessary for the training benefit to transfer to increased reading speed. Localized training may have biased attention to one specific, small area in the visual field, thereby failing to improve reading. We conclude that the visual span represents a sensory bottleneck on reading, but there may also be an attentional bottleneck. Reducing the impact of crowding can enlarge the visual span and can potentially facilitate reading, but not when adverse attentional bias is present. Our results clarify the association between crowding, visual span, and reading.

Ten colour photometry of twelve Ap-stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musielok, B.; Lange, D.; Schoeneich, W.; Hildebrandt, G.; Zelwanowa, E.; Hempelmann, A.; Salmanov, G.

1980-01-01

Ten-colour photoelectric observations are presented for twelve Ap-stars. Improved ephemeris for seven of them is given. Phase relations between the light curves and line intensity variations are discussed. The problem of the electromagnetic flux conctancy of IOTA Cas is approached from a qualitative point of view. (author)

Detailed free span assessment for Mexilhao flow lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira, Antonio; Franco, Luciano; Eigbe, Uwa; BomfimSilva, Carlos [INTECSEA, Houston, TX (United States); Escudero, Carlos [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

The subsea gas production system of Mexilhao Field SPS-35, Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, is composed basically of two rigid 12.75 inches production flow lines approximately 21 km long installed in a fairly rough seabed. During the basic design, the free span assessment was performed considering the maximum allowable free span length determined by the response model proposed by DNV-RP-F105. This approach resulted in a large number of predicted free span requiring corrections, leading to a higher capital cost for the project. In this sense, a detailed free span VIV fatigue assessment was proposed, considering multi-spans and multi-mode effects and also the post lay survey data. The assessment followed the DNV-RP-F105 recommendations for multi-spans and multi-mode effects, using Finite Element Analysis to determine the natural frequencies, mode shapes and corresponding stresses associated with the mode shapes. The assessment was performed in three stages, the first during the detailed design as part of the bottom roughness analysis using the expected residual pipelay tension. The second stage was performed after pipelay, considering the post-lay survey data, where the actual requirements for span correction were determined. Actual pipelay tension was used and seabed soil stiffness adjusted in the model to match the as-laid pipeline profile obtained from the survey data. The first and second stage assessments are seamlessly automated to speed up the evaluation process and allow for quick response in the field, which was important to keep the construction vessel time minimized. The third stage was performed once the corrections of the spans were made and the purpose was to confirm that the new pipeline configuration along the supported spans had sufficient fatigue life for the temporary and operational phases. For the assessment of all three stages, the probability of occurrence and directionality of the near bottom current was considered to improve prediction of the

L-fuzzy/span> fixed points theorems for L-fuzzy/span> mappings via βℱL-admissible pair.

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Maliha; Azam, Akbar; Mehmood, Nayyar

2014-01-01

We define the concept of βℱL-admissible for a pair of L-fuzzy/span> mappings and establish the existence of common L-fuzzy/span> fixed point theorem. Our result generalizes some useful results in the literature. We provide an example to support our result.

Sexual conflict, life span, and aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Margo I; Bonduriansky, Russell

2014-06-17

The potential for sexual conflict to influence the evolution of life span and aging has been recognized for more than a decade, and recent work also suggests that variation in life span and aging can influence sexually antagonistic coevolution. However, empirical exploration of these ideas is only beginning. Here, we provide an overview of the ideas and evidence linking inter- and intralocus sexual conflicts with life span and aging. We aim to clarify the conceptual basis of this research program, examine the current state of knowledge, and suggest key questions for further investigation. Copyright © 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.

Spanning forests and the vector bundle Laplacian

OpenAIRE

Kenyon, Richard

2011-01-01

The classical matrix-tree theorem relates the determinant of the combinatorial Laplacian on a graph to the number of spanning trees. We generalize this result to Laplacians on one- and two-dimensional vector bundles, giving a combinatorial interpretation of their determinants in terms of so-called cycle rooted spanning forests (CRSFs). We construct natural measures on CRSFs for which the edges form a determinantal process. ¶ This theory gives a natural generalization of the spanning tre...

Span efficiency in hawkmoths.

Science.gov (United States)

Henningsson, Per; Bomphrey, Richard J

2013-07-06

Flight in animals is the result of aerodynamic forces generated as flight muscles drive the wings through air. Aerial performance is therefore limited by the efficiency with which momentum is imparted to the air, a property that can be measured using modern techniques. We measured the induced flow fields around six hawkmoth species flying tethered in a wind tunnel to assess span efficiency, ei, and from these measurements, determined the morphological and kinematic characters that predict efficient flight. The species were selected to represent a range in wingspan from 40 to 110 mm (2.75 times) and in mass from 0.2 to 1.5 g (7.5 times) but they were similar in their overall shape and their ecology. From high spatio-temporal resolution quantitative wake images, we extracted time-resolved downwash distributions behind the hawkmoths, calculating instantaneous values of ei throughout the wingbeat cycle as well as multi-wingbeat averages. Span efficiency correlated positively with normalized lift and negatively with advance ratio. Average span efficiencies for the moths ranged from 0.31 to 0.60 showing that the standard generic value of 0.83 used in previous studies of animal flight is not a suitable approximation of aerodynamic performance in insects.

Live-Load Testing Application Using a Wireless Sensor System and Finite-Element Model Analysis of an Integral Abutment Concrete Girder Bridge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert W. Fausett

2014-01-01

Full Text Available As part of an investigation on the performance of integral abutment bridges, a single-span, integral abutment, prestressed concrete girder bridge near Perry, Utah was instrumented for live-load testing. The live-load test included driving trucks at 2.24 m/s (5 mph along predetermined load paths and measuring the corresponding strain and deflection. The measured data was used to validate a finite-element model (FEM of the bridge. The model showed that the integral abutments were behaving as 94% of a fixed-fixed support. Live-load distribution factors were obtained using this validated model and compared to those calculated in accordance to recommended procedures provided in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (2010. The results indicated that if the bridge was considered simply supported, the AASHTO LRFD Specification distribution factors were conservative (in comparison to the FEM results. These conservative distribution factors, along with the initial simply supported design assumption resulted in a very conservative bridge design. In addition, a parametric study was conducted by modifying various bridge properties of the validated bridge model, one at a time, in order to investigate the influence that individual changes in span length, deck thickness, edge distance, skew, and fixity had on live-load distribution. The results showed that the bridge properties with the largest influence on bridge live-load distribution were fixity, skew, and changes in edge distance.

Bacteriological And Clinical Evaluation Of Twelve Cases Of Post ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bacteriological And Clinical Evaluation Of Twelve Cases Of Post-Surgical Sepsis Of Odontogenic Tumours At A ... East African Medical Journal ... Intervention: Adequate review of patient\\'s medical history, bacteriological investigations and

Malingering in Toxic Exposure. Classification Accuracy of Reliable Digit Span and WAIS-III Digit Span Scaled Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Greve, Kevin W.; Springer, Steven; Bianchini, Kevin J.; Black, F. William; Heinly, Matthew T.; Love, Jeffrey M.; Swift, Douglas A.; Ciota, Megan A.

2007-01-01

This study examined the sensitivity and false-positive error rate of reliable digit span (RDS) and the WAIS-III Digit Span (DS) scaled score in persons alleging toxic exposure and determined whether error rates differed from published rates in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic pain (CP). Data were obtained from the files of 123 persons…

Vegetative propagation of twelve fodder tree species indigenous to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Vegetative propagation of twelve fodder tree species indigenous to the Sahel, West Africa. Catherine Ky-Dembele, Jules Bayala, Antoine Kalinganire, Fatoumata Tata Traoré, Bréhima Koné, Alain Olivier ...

Education and Development: Twelve Considerations for Transformative Practice

Science.gov (United States)

VanBalkom, W. Duffie; Eastham, Sarada

2011-01-01

Twelve factors that are essential to consider when embarking on the process of transformative development are examined in the context of international development programming in education and training. Each factor raises a number of questions for the deliberations of policy makers, development practitioners, scholars, international educators,…

Signal Enhancement with Variable Span Linear Filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

This book introduces readers to the novel concept of variable span speech enhancement filters, and demonstrates how it can be used for effective noise reduction in various ways. Further, the book provides the accompanying Matlab code, allowing readers to easily implement the main ideas discussed....... Variable span filters combine the ideas of optimal linear filters with those of subspace methods, as they involve the joint diagonalization of the correlation matrices of the desired signal and the noise. The book shows how some well-known filter designs, e.g. the minimum distortion, maximum signal......-to-noise ratio, Wiener, and tradeoff filters (including their new generalizations) can be obtained using the variable span filter framework. It then illustrates how the variable span filters can be applied in various contexts, namely in single-channel STFT-based enhancement, in multichannel enhancement in both...

Electrode spanning with partial tripolar stimulation mode in cochlear implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ching-Chih; Luo, Xin

2014-12-01

The perceptual effects of electrode spanning (i.e., the use of nonadjacent return electrodes) in partial tripolar (pTP) mode were tested on a main electrode EL8 in five cochlear implant (CI) users. Current focusing was controlled by σ (the ratio of current returned within the cochlea), and current steering was controlled by α (the ratio of current returned to the basal electrode). Experiment 1 tested whether asymmetric spanning with α = 0.5 can create additional channels around standard pTP stimuli. It was found that in general, apical spanning (i.e., returning current to EL6 rather than EL7) elicited a pitch between those of standard pTP stimuli on main electrodes EL8 and EL9, while basal spanning (i.e., returning current to EL10 rather than EL9) elicited a pitch between those of standard pTP stimuli on main electrodes EL7 and EL8. The pitch increase caused by apical spanning was more salient than the pitch decrease caused by basal spanning. To replace the standard pTP channel on the main electrode EL8 when EL7 or EL9 is defective, experiment 2 tested asymmetrically spanned pTP stimuli with various α, and experiment 3 tested symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli with various σ. The results showed that pitch increased with decreasing α in asymmetric spanning, or with increasing σ in symmetric spanning. Apical spanning with α around 0.69 and basal spanning with α around 0.38 may both elicit a similar pitch as the standard pTP stimulus. With the same σ, the symmetrically spanned pTP stimulus was higher in pitch than the standard pTP stimulus. A smaller σ was thus required for symmetric spanning to match the pitch of the standard pTP stimulus. In summary, electrode spanning is an effective field-shaping technique that is useful for adding spectral channels and handling defective electrodes with CIs.

Secondary Textbook Review: English, Grades Nine through Twelve.

Science.gov (United States)

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.

This book is intended as a resource for teachers and curriculum developers who select textbooks for secondary English courses. It includes a compilation of 32 factual textbook reviews obtained from the application of a review instrument, which was based on the California "Model Curriculum Standards: Grades Nine through Twelve, English…

The SPAN cookbook: A practical guide to accessing SPAN

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Stephanie; Tencati, Ronald D.; Stern, David M.; Capps, Kimberly D.; Dorman, Gary; Peters, David J.

1990-01-01

This is a manual for remote users who wish to send electronic mail messages from the Space Physics Analysis Network (SPAN) to scientific colleagues on other computer networks and vice versa. In several instances more than one gateway has been included for the same network. Users are provided with an introduction to each network listed with helpful details about accessing the system and mail syntax examples. Also included is information on file transfers, remote logins, and help telephone numbers.

Radiation effects on life span in Caenorhabditis elegans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, T.E.; Hartman, P.S.

1988-01-01

Wild-type and radiation-sensitive (Rad) mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans were irradiated using a 137 Cs source (2.7 krads/min.) at several developmental stages and subsequently monitored for life span. Acute doses of radiation ranged from 1 krad to 300 krads. All stages required doses above 100 krads to reduce mean life span. Dauers and third stage larvae were more sensitive, and 8-day-old adults were the most resistant. Occasional statistically significant but nonrepeatable increases in survival were observed after intermediate levels of irradiation (10-30 krads). Unirradiated rad-4 and rad-7 had life spans similar to wild-type; all others had a significant reduction in survival. The mutants were about as sensitive as wild-type to the effects of ionizing radiation including occasional moderate life span extensions at intermediate doses. We conclude that the moderate life span extensions sometimes observed after irradiation are likely to be mediated by a means other than the induction of DNA repair enzymes

23 CFR 650.809 - Movable span bridges.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Movable span bridges. 650.809 Section 650.809 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND TRAFFIC OPERATIONS BRIDGES, STRUCTURES, AND HYDRAULICS Navigational Clearances for Bridges § 650.809 Movable span bridges. A fixed bridge...

Signal enhancement with variable span linear filters

CERN Document Server

Benesty, Jacob; Jensen, Jesper R

2016-01-01

This book introduces readers to the novel concept of variable span speech enhancement filters, and demonstrates how it can be used for effective noise reduction in various ways. Further, the book provides the accompanying Matlab code, allowing readers to easily implement the main ideas discussed. Variable span filters combine the ideas of optimal linear filters with those of subspace methods, as they involve the joint diagonalization of the correlation matrices of the desired signal and the noise. The book shows how some well-known filter designs, e.g. the minimum distortion, maximum signal-to-noise ratio, Wiener, and tradeoff filters (including their new generalizations) can be obtained using the variable span filter framework. It then illustrates how the variable span filters can be applied in various contexts, namely in single-channel STFT-based enhancement, in multichannel enhancement in both the time and STFT domains, and, lastly, in time-domain binaural enhancement. In these contexts, the properties of ...

Safety of superconducting fusion magnets: twelve problem areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, L.R.

1979-01-01

Twelve problem areas of superconducting magnets for fusion reaction are described. These are: quench detection and energy dump, stationary normal region of conductor, current leads, electrical arcing, electrical shorts, conductor joints, forces from unequal currents, eddy current effects, cryostat rupture, vacuum failure, fringing field and instrumentation for safety. Priorities among these areas are suggested

Safety of superconducting fusion magnets: twelve problem areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, L.R.

1979-01-01

Twelve problem areas of superconducting magnets for fusion reaction are described. These are: Quench Detection and Energy Dump, Stationary Normal Region of Conductor, Current Leads, Electrical Arcing, Electrical Shorts, Conductor Joints, Forces from Unequal Currents, Eddy Current Effects, Cryostat Rupture, Vacuum Failure, Fringing Field and Instrumentation for Safety. Priorities among these areas are suggested

A Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development

Science.gov (United States)

Heckhausen, Jutta; Wrosch, Carsten; Schulz, Richard

2010-01-01

This article had four goals. First, the authors identified a set of general challenges and questions that a life-span theory of development should address. Second, they presented a comprehensive account of their Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development. They integrated the model of optimization in primary and secondary control and the…

The use of passwords to introduce theconcepts of spanning set and span

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Cárcamo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present a proposal for teaching linear algebra based on heuristic of emergent models and mathematical modelling. This proposal begins with a problematic situation  related  to  the  creation  and  use  of  secure  passwords,  which  leads  first-year  students  of  engineering  toward  the  construction  of  the  concepts  of  spanning  set  and  span. The  proposal  is  designed  from  the  results  of  the  two  cycles  of  experimentation  teaching, design-based  research,  which  give  evidence  that  allows  students  to  progress  from  a  situation in a real context to the concepts of linear algebra. This proposal, previously adapted, could have similar results when applied to another group of students.

Validation of correction factors for concrete coefficient of thermal expansion.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

To complete the objectives, AASHTO T 366-09 results will be compared to ASHTO TP 60-00 results. The results will then be used as input values for the MEPDG and the results evaluated. : Major changes between AASHTO TP 60-00 and AASHTO T 336-09 will be...

EU Regulation of E-Commercspan>e A Commentary

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lodder, A.R.; Murray, A.D.

2017-01-01

For the last twenty years the European Union has been extremely active in the field of e-commercspan>e. This important new book addresses the key pieces of EU legislation in the field of e-commercspan>e, including the E-Commercspan>e Directive, the Services Directive, the Consumer Directive, the General Data

Diferença entre span verbal e visual nos gêneros: estudo piloto Difference between verbal and visual span in genders: pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Cristina Pedrassa Sagrilo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: avaliar a memória de trabalho analisando a capacidade de retenção de estímulos auditivos (span verbal e visuais (span visual e estabelecer a relação com o gênero (masculino e feminino. MÉTODO: participaram deste estudo 20 crianças entre seis anos e cinco meses e sete anos, sendo 10 sujeitos do sexo masculino e 10 sujeitos do sexo feminino. Todos os sujeitos foram submetidos às provas de avaliação do span verbal e visual em ordem direta e inversa. RESULTADOS: apenas na prova de palavras dissílabas com fonologia semelhante e semântica diferente do span verbal, houve variância significante entre os gêneros. As crianças do sexo feminino apresentaram melhor desempenho em relação ao outro gênero, bem como maior capacidade de retenção de palavras dissílabas com fonologia e semântica diferentes. No span visual (ordem direta e inversa as crianças do sexo masculino obtiveram melhor desempenho, apesar de não ter diferenças significantes. Em relação à idade não houve diferença de retenção de estímulos. CONCLUSÃO: as crianças do sexo feminino, neste estudo, apresentaram tendência à melhor desempenho do span verbal e as crianças do sexo masculino tendência a melhor desempenho no span visual. No entanto, o estudo é limitado devido ao reduzido número de participantes na amostra.PURPOSE: to evaluate the working memory analyzing the retention ability of auditory stimuli (verbal span and visual stimuli (visual span, and to establish its relation to gender (male and female. METHOD: 20 subjects - 10 female children and 10 male children - from six and five months to seven years old took part in this study. All subjects were submitted to evaluation tests for both verbal and visual spans in direct and inverse orders. RESULTS: there was a significant variance between genders only in the test involving disyllabic words with phonology similar to and semantics different from verbal span. Female children showed a better

Spanning trees and the Eurozone crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, João

2013-12-01

The sovereign debt crisis in the euro area has not yet been solved and recent developments in Spain and Italy have further deteriorated the situation. In this paper we develop a new approach to analyze the ongoing Eurozone crisis. Firstly, we use Maximum Spanning Trees to analyze the topological properties of government bond rates’ dynamics. Secondly, we combine the information given by both Maximum and Minimum Spanning Trees to obtain a measure of market dissimilarity or disintegration. Thirdly, we extend this measure to include a convenient distance not limited to the interval [0, 2]. Our empirical results show that Maximum Spanning Tree gives an adequate description of the separation of the euro area into two distinct groups: those countries strongly affected by the crisis and those that have remained resilient during this period. The measures of market dissimilarity also reveal a persistent separation of these two groups and, according to our second measure, this separation strongly increased during the period July 2009-March 2012.

An Account of Preliminary Landslide Damage and Losses Resulting from the February 28, 2001, Nisqually, Washington, Earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Highland, Lynn M.

2003-01-01

The February 28, 2001, Nisqually, Washington, earthquake (Mw = 6.8) damaged an area of the northwestern United States that previously experienced two major historical earthquakes, in 1949 and in 1965. Preliminary estimates of direct monetary losses from damage due to earthquake-induced landslides is approximately $34.3 million. However, this figure does not include costs from damages to the elevated portion of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a major highway through downtown Seattle, Washington that will be repaired or rebuilt, depending on the future decision of local and state authorities. There is much debate as to the cause of the damage to this viaduct with evaluations of cause ranging from earthquake shaking and liquefaction to lateral spreading to a combination of these effects. If the viaduct is included in the costs, the losses increase to $500+ million (if it is repaired) or to more than $1+ billion (if it is replaced). Preliminary estimate of losses due to all causes of earthquake damage is approximately $2 billion, which includes temporary repairs to the Alaskan Way Viaduct. These preliminary dollar figures will no doubt increase when plans and decisions regarding the Viaduct are completed.

The European legal framework regarding e-commercspan>e

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaub, M.Y.

2004-01-01

The year 2000 is a memorable year in the history of e-commercspan>e. This is the year of the so-called 'dot.com shake-out'. The year 2000 is also the year the European Union issued its e-commercspan>e directive. The directive means to regulate but also facilitate e-commercspan>e in the internal market, by laying

Evaluating the efficiency of shortcut span protection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Dittmann, Lars; Berger, Michael Stübert

2010-01-01

This paper presents a comparison of various recovery methods in terms of capacity efficiency with the underlying aim of reducing control plane load. In particular, a method where recovery requests are bundled towards the destination (Shortcut Span Protection) is evaluated can compared against tra...... traditional recovery methods. The optimization model is presented and our simulation results show that Shortcut Span Protection uses more capacity than the unbundled related methods, but this is compensated by easier control and management of the recovery actions.......This paper presents a comparison of various recovery methods in terms of capacity efficiency with the underlying aim of reducing control plane load. In particular, a method where recovery requests are bundled towards the destination (Shortcut Span Protection) is evaluated can compared against...

On the cardinality of smallest spanning sets of rings | Boudi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Let R = (R, +, ·) be a ring. Then Z ⊆ R is called spanning if the R-module generated by Z is equal to the ring R. A spanning set Z ⊆ R is called smallest if there is no spanning set of smaller cardinality than Z. It will be shown that the cardinality of a smallest spanning set of a ring R is not always decidable. In particular, a ring R ...

Mitigating the Impact of Nurse Manager Large Spans of Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Brenda Baird; Dearmon, Valorie; Graves, Rebecca

Nurse managers are instrumental in achievement of organizational and unit performance goals. Greater spans of control for managers are associated with decreased satisfaction and performance. An interprofessional team measured one organization's nurse manager span of control, providing administrative assistant support and transformational leadership development to nurse managers with the largest spans of control. Nurse manager satisfaction and transformational leadership competency significantly improved following the implementation of large span of control mitigation strategies.

Visual working memory span in adults with cochlear implants: Some preliminary findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron C. Moberly

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Neurocognitive functions, specifically verbal working memory (WM, contribute to speech recognition in postlingual adults with cochlear implants (CIs and normal-hearing (NH listener shearing degraded speech. Three hypotheses were tested: (1 WM accuracy as assessed using three visual span measures — digits, objects, and symbols — would correlate with recognition scores for spectrally degraded speech (through a CI or when noise-vocoded; (2 WM accuracy would be best for digit span, intermediate for object span, and lowest for symbol span, due to the increasing cognitive demands across these tasks. Likewise, response times, relating to processing demands, would be shortest for digit span, intermediate for object span, and longest for symbol span; (3 CI users would demonstrate poorer and slower performance than NH peers on WM tasks, as a result of less efficient verbally mediated encoding strategies associated with a period of prolonged auditory deprivation. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 30 postlingually deaf adults with CIs and 34 NH controls. Participants were tested for sentence recognition in quiet (CI users or after noise-vocoding (NH peers, along with WM using visual measures of digit span, object span, and symbol span. Results: Of the three measures of WM, digit span scores alone correlated with sentence recognition for CI users; no correlations were found using these three measures for NH peers. As predicted, WM accuracy (and response times were best (and fastest for digit span, intermediate for object span, and worst (and slowest for symbol span. CI users and NH peers demonstrated equivalent WM accuracy and response time for digit span and object span, and similar response times for symbol span, but contrary to our original predictions, CI users demonstrated better accuracy on symbol span than NH peers. Conclusions: Verbal WM assessed using visual tasks relates weakly to sentence recognition for degraded speech. CI users

The composite complex span: French validation of a short working memory task.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonthier, Corentin; Thomassin, Noémylle; Roulin, Jean-Luc

2016-03-01

Most studies in individual differences in the field of working memory research use complex span tasks to measure working memory capacity. Various complex span tasks based on different materials have been developed, and these tasks have proven both reliable and valid; several complex span tasks are often combined to provide a domain-general estimate of working memory capacity with even better psychometric properties. The present work sought to address two issues. Firstly, having participants perform several full-length complex span tasks in succession makes for a long and tedious procedure. Secondly, few complex span tasks have been translated and validated in French. We constructed a French working memory task labeled the Composite Complex Span (CCS). The CCS includes shortened versions of three classic complex span tasks: the reading span, symmetry span, and operation span. We assessed the psychometric properties of the CCS, including test-retest reliability and convergent validity, with Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and with an alpha span task; the CCS demonstrated satisfying qualities in a sample of 1,093 participants. This work provides evidence that shorter versions of classic complex span tasks can yield valid working memory estimates. The materials and normative data for the CCS are also included.

Visual-Attentional Span and Lexical ­Decision in Skilled Adult Readers

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Virginia M.; Dawson, Georgia

2014-01-01

The goal of the study was to examine the association between visual-attentional span and lexical decision in skilled adult readers. In the span tasks, an array of letters was presented briefly and recognition or production of a single cued letter (partial span) or production of all letters (whole span) was required. Independently of letter…

Examining the locus of age effects on complex span tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, Jennifer; Hartman, Marilyn

2003-09-01

To investigate the locus of age effects on complex span tasks, the authors evaluated the contributions of working memory functions and processing speed. Age differences were found in measures of storage capacity, language processing speed, and lower level speed. Statistically controlling for each of these in hierarchical regressions substantially reduced, but did not eliminate, the complex span age effect. Accounting for lower level speed and storage, however, removed essentially the entire age effect, suggesting that both functions play important and independent roles. Additional evidence for the role of storage capacity was the absence of complex span age differences with span size calibrated to individual word span performance. Explanations for age differences based on inhibition and concurrent task performamce were not supported.

WildSpan: mining structured motifs from protein sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chien-Yu

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Automatic extraction of motifs from biological sequences is an important research problem in study of molecular biology. For proteins, it is desired to discover sequence motifs containing a large number of wildcard symbols, as the residues associated with functional sites are usually largely separated in sequences. Discovering such patterns is time-consuming because abundant combinations exist when long gaps (a gap consists of one or more successive wildcards are considered. Mining algorithms often employ constraints to narrow down the search space in order to increase efficiency. However, improper constraint models might degrade the sensitivity and specificity of the motifs discovered by computational methods. We previously proposed a new constraint model to handle large wildcard regions for discovering functional motifs of proteins. The patterns that satisfy the proposed constraint model are called W-patterns. A W-pattern is a structured motif that groups motif symbols into pattern blocks interleaved with large irregular gaps. Considering large gaps reflects the fact that functional residues are not always from a single region of protein sequences, and restricting motif symbols into clusters corresponds to the observation that short motifs are frequently present within protein families. To efficiently discover W-patterns for large-scale sequence annotation and function prediction, this paper first formally introduces the problem to solve and proposes an algorithm named WildSpan (sequential pattern mining across large wildcard regions that incorporates several pruning strategies to largely reduce the mining cost. Results WildSpan is shown to efficiently find W-patterns containing conserved residues that are far separated in sequences. We conducted experiments with two mining strategies, protein-based and family-based mining, to evaluate the usefulness of W-patterns and performance of WildSpan. The protein-based mining mode

Mapping the developmental constraints on working memory span performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayliss, Donna M; Jarrold, Christopher; Baddeley, Alan D; Gunn, Deborah M; Leigh, Eleanor

2005-07-01

This study investigated the constraints underlying developmental improvements in complex working memory span performance among 120 children of between 6 and 10 years of age. Independent measures of processing efficiency, storage capacity, rehearsal speed, and basic speed of processing were assessed to determine their contribution to age-related variance in complex span. Results showed that developmental improvements in complex span were driven by 2 age-related but separable factors: 1 associated with general speed of processing and 1 associated with storage ability. In addition, there was an age-related contribution shared between working memory, processing speed, and storage ability that was important for higher level cognition. These results pose a challenge for models of complex span performance that emphasize the importance of processing speed alone.

Performance, Career Dynamics, and Span of Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smeets, Valerie Anne Rolande; Waldman, Michael; Warzynski, Frederic Michel Patrick

that higher ability managers should supervise more subordinates, or equivalently, have a larger span of control. And although some of this theory’s predictions have been empirically investigated, there has been little systematic investigation of the theory’s predictions concerning span of control....... In this paper we first extend the theoretical literature on the scale-of-operations effect to allow firms’ beliefs concerning a manager’s ability to evolve over the manager’s career, where much of our focus is the determinants of span of control. We then empirically investigate testable predictions from......There is an extensive theoretical literature based on what is called the scale-of-operations effect, i.e., the idea that the return to managerial ability is higher the more resources the manager influences with his or her decisions. This idea leads to various testable predictions including...

Dynamics of investor spanning trees around dot-com bubble.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sindhuja Ranganathan

Full Text Available We identify temporal investor networks for Nokia stock by constructing networks from correlations between investor-specific net-volumes and analyze changes in the networks around dot-com bubble. The analysis is conducted separately for households, financial, and non-financial institutions. Our results indicate that spanning tree measures for households reflected the boom and crisis: the maximum spanning tree measures had a clear upward tendency in the bull markets when the bubble was building up, and, even more importantly, the minimum spanning tree measures pre-reacted the burst of the bubble. At the same time, we find less clear reactions in the minimal and maximal spanning trees of non-financial and financial institutions around the bubble, which suggests that household investors can have a greater herding tendency around bubbles.

Dynamics of investor spanning trees around dot-com bubble.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranganathan, Sindhuja; Kivelä, Mikko; Kanniainen, Juho

2018-01-01

We identify temporal investor networks for Nokia stock by constructing networks from correlations between investor-specific net-volumes and analyze changes in the networks around dot-com bubble. The analysis is conducted separately for households, financial, and non-financial institutions. Our results indicate that spanning tree measures for households reflected the boom and crisis: the maximum spanning tree measures had a clear upward tendency in the bull markets when the bubble was building up, and, even more importantly, the minimum spanning tree measures pre-reacted the burst of the bubble. At the same time, we find less clear reactions in the minimal and maximal spanning trees of non-financial and financial institutions around the bubble, which suggests that household investors can have a greater herding tendency around bubbles.

Developmental Dyslexia: The Visual Attention Span Deficit Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Bosse, Marie-Line; Tainturier, Marie Josephe; Valdois, Sylviane

2007-01-01

The visual attention (VA) span is defined as the amount of distinct visual elements which can be processed in parallel in a multi-element array. Both recent empirical data and theoretical accounts suggest that a VA span deficit might contribute to developmental dyslexia, independently of a phonological disorder. In this study, this hypothesis was…

Twelve years of fireworks market surveillance in France

OpenAIRE

Branka , Ruddy

2012-01-01

International audience; In the view of market surveillance, more than 4400 fireworks have been taken on the spot by sworn people or bought on the market in France since 1999 for inspection purposes. This paper presents the market surveillance sampling evolution during twelve years, carried out by the PYRO unit of the Accidental Risks Division of INERIS as testing body ; the related measures implemented : additional audits in importer plants, interlaboratory tests for guarantying the reliabili...

Twelve Theses on Reactive Rules for the Web

OpenAIRE

Bry, François; Eckert, Michael

2006-01-01

Reactivity, the ability to detect and react to events, is an essential functionality in many information systems. In particular, Web systems such as online marketplaces, adaptive (e.g., recommender) sys- tems, and Web services, react to events such as Web page updates or data posted to a server. This article investigates issues of relevance in designing high-level programming languages dedicated to reactivity on the Web. It presents twelve theses on features desira...

Noise Reduction with Optimal Variable Span Linear Filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Rindom; Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

2016-01-01

In this paper, the problem of noise reduction is addressed as a linear filtering problem in a novel way by using concepts from subspace-based enhancement methods, resulting in variable span linear filters. This is done by forming the filter coefficients as linear combinations of a number...... included in forming the filter. Using these concepts, a number of different filter designs are considered, like minimum distortion, Wiener, maximum SNR, and tradeoff filters. Interestingly, all these can be expressed as special cases of variable span filters. We also derive expressions for the speech...... demonstrate the advantages and properties of the variable span filter designs, and their potential performance gain compared to widely used speech enhancement methods....

Dual boundary spanning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li-Ying, Jason

2016-01-01

The extant literature runs short in understanding openness of innovation regarding and the different pathways along which internal and external knowledge resources can be combined. This study proposes a unique typology for outside-in innovations based on two distinct ways of boundary spanning......: whether an innovation idea is created internally or externally and whether an innovation process relies on external knowledge resources. This yields four possible types of innovation, which represent the nuanced variation of outside-in innovations. Using historical data from Canada for 1945...

Twelve years at DESY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1993-01-01

As reported in our previous issue (page 27), on 28 February Volker Soergel stepped down after serving as Chairman of the Board of the DESY Laboratory in Hamburg since January 1981, when the previous chairman, Herwig Schopper, moved to become Director General of CERN. DESY is now headed by Bjorn Wiik. During the twelve years of Soergel's mandate, DESY substantially evolved and progressed. Dominating the landscape was the big HERA electron-proton collider - the world's first - proposed, approved, constructed and commissioned under Soergel's leadership. As well as pioneering electron-proton collisions, HERA also broke new ground in international collaboration. At the approval of the project by the German government, it had already been made clear that both the machine and its experiments had to be built with full international cooperation, using material contributions from foreign institutes. With the difficult task of transforming these requirements into hard reality, Volker Soergel succeeded brilliantly. The 'HERA model', with interested countries pledging contributions in equipment and/or manpower, established a new route to major project involvement. For HERA, the substantial Italian contribution, organized by Antonino Zichichi, was vital to the success of the project

Exploring boundary-spanning practices among creativity managers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Poul Houman; Kragh, Hanne

2015-01-01

Purpose – External inputs are critical for organisational creativity. In order to bridge different thought worlds and cross-organisational barriers, managers must initiate and motivate boundary spanning processes. The purpose of this paper is to explore how boundary spanners manage creativity...... and observation. Findings – Three meta-practices used by managers to manage boundary-spanning creative projects are presented: defining the creative space, making space for creativity and acting in the creative space. These practices are detailed in seven case studies of creative projects. Research limitations...

A Distributed Spanning Tree Algorithm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Karl Erik; Jørgensen, Ulla Lundin; Nielsen, Sven Hauge

We present a distributed algorithm for constructing a spanning tree for connected undirected graphs. Nodes correspond to processors and edges correspond to two-way channels. Each processor has initially a distinct identity and all processors perform the same algorithm. Computation as well...

Controlling the spotlight of attention: visual span size and flexibility in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Elahipanah, Ava; Christensen, Bruce K; Reingold, Eyal M

2011-10-01

The current study investigated the size and flexible control of visual span among patients with schizophrenia during visual search performance. Visual span is the region of the visual field from which one extracts information during a single eye fixation, and a larger visual span size is linked to more efficient search performance. Therefore, a reduced visual span may explain patients' impaired performance on search tasks. The gaze-contingent moving window paradigm was used to estimate the visual span size of patients and healthy participants while they performed two different search tasks. In addition, changes in visual span size were measured as a function of two manipulations of task difficulty: target-distractor similarity and stimulus familiarity. Patients with schizophrenia searched more slowly across both tasks and conditions. Patients also demonstrated smaller visual span sizes on the easier search condition in each task. Moreover, healthy controls' visual span size increased as target discriminability or distractor familiarity increased. This modulation of visual span size, however, was reduced or not observed among patients. The implications of the present findings, with regard to previously reported visual search deficits, and other functional and structural abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Life Span Exercise Among Elite Intercollegiate Student Athletes

OpenAIRE

Sorenson, Shawn C.; Romano, Russell; Azen, Stanley P.; Schroeder, E. Todd; Salem, George J.

2015-01-01

Background: Despite prominent public attention, data on life span health and exercise outcomes among elite, competitive athletes are sparse and do not reflect the diversity of modern athletes. Hypothesis: Life span exercise behavior differs between National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student athletes and a nonathlete control group. Sustained exercise is associated with improved cardiopulmonary health outcomes. Study Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive epidemiology study. Level of...

A distributed spanning tree algorithm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Karl Erik; Jørgensen, Ulla Lundin; Nielsen, Svend Hauge

1988-01-01

We present a distributed algorithm for constructing a spanning tree for connected undirected graphs. Nodes correspond to processors and edges correspond to two way channels. Each processor has initially a distinct identity and all processors perform the same algorithm. Computation as well as comm...

Ancestral telomere shortening: a countdown that will increase mean life span?

Science.gov (United States)

Hertzog, Radu G

2006-01-01

Like cells, all mammals have a limited life span. Among cells there are a few exceptions (e.g., immortal cells), among mammals not, even if some of them live longer. Many in vitro and in vivo studies support the consensus that telomere length is strongly correlated with life span. At the somatic cellular level, long telomeres have been associated with longer life span. A different situation can be seen in immortal cells, such as cancer, germ and stem cells, where telomeres are maintained by telomerase, a specialized reverse transcriptase that is involved in synthesis of telomeres. Irrespective of telomere length, if telomerase is active, telomeres can be maintained at a sufficient length to ensure cell survival. To the contrary, telomeres shorten progressively with each cell division and when a critical telomere length (Hayflick limit) is reached, the cells undergo senescence and subsequently apoptosis. In mammals, those with the longest telomeres (e.g., mice) have the shortest life span. Furthermore, the shorter the mean telomere length, the longer the mean life span, as observed in humans (10-14 kpb) and bowhead-whales (undetermined telomere length), which have the longest mean life span among mammals. Over the past centuries, human average life span has increased. The hypothesis presented here suggests that this continual increase in the mean life span could be due to a decrease of mean telomere length over the last hundreds years. Actually, the life span is not directly influenced by length of telomeres, but rather by telomere length - dependent gene expression pattern. According to Greider, "rather than average telomere length, it is the shortest telomere length that makes the biggest difference to a cell". In the context of fast-growing global elderly population due to increase in life expectancy, it also seem to be an age related increase in cancer incidence. Nevertheless, extending healthy life span could depend on how good cells achieve, during the

Peucedanum ostruthium (L. Koch: Morphological and phytochemical variability of twelve accessions from the Swiss alpine region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McCardell, Jessica Heather

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Ostruthin, a natural bioactive compound mainly occurring in the roots of Peucedanum ostruthium, is the focus of this study. P. ostruthium was collected from twelve locations in the Swiss alpine region and reared in an experimental field, subdivided into twelve lots over two years. In the spring and fall, a portion of each of the twelve accessions was harvested and separated into above and below ground plant parts. The dried plants were then extracted with 60 % ethanol using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE and analyzed using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC.The above and below ground plant parts were then analyzed concerning their dry matter yield (DMY, their ostruthin concentration and their ostruthin yield. Focusing on ostruthin, it was found that the below ground plant parts harvested in the fall rendered the highest ostruthin yield. Furthermore, a variability concerning ostruthin among the twelve accessions was found. This variability among the accessions is of interest with regards to a breeding program used to develop a cultivar with a high ostruthin yield.

Vision in Flies: Measuring the Attention Span.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Koenig

Full Text Available A visual stimulus at a particular location of the visual field may elicit a behavior while at the same time equally salient stimuli in other parts do not. This property of visual systems is known as selective visual attention (SVA. The animal is said to have a focus of attention (FoA which it has shifted to a particular location. Visual attention normally involves an attention span at the location to which the FoA has been shifted. Here the attention span is measured in Drosophila. The fly is tethered and hence has its eyes fixed in space. It can shift its FoA internally. This shift is revealed using two simultaneous test stimuli with characteristic responses at their particular locations. In tethered flight a wild type fly keeps its FoA at a certain location for up to 4s. Flies with a mutation in the radish gene, that has been suggested to be involved in attention-like mechanisms, display a reduced attention span of only 1s.

Vision in Flies: Measuring the Attention Span.

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, Sebastian; Wolf, Reinhard; Heisenberg, Martin

2016-01-01

A visual stimulus at a particular location of the visual field may elicit a behavior while at the same time equally salient stimuli in other parts do not. This property of visual systems is known as selective visual attention (SVA). The animal is said to have a focus of attention (FoA) which it has shifted to a particular location. Visual attention normally involves an attention span at the location to which the FoA has been shifted. Here the attention span is measured in Drosophila. The fly is tethered and hence has its eyes fixed in space. It can shift its FoA internally. This shift is revealed using two simultaneous test stimuli with characteristic responses at their particular locations. In tethered flight a wild type fly keeps its FoA at a certain location for up to 4s. Flies with a mutation in the radish gene, that has been suggested to be involved in attention-like mechanisms, display a reduced attention span of only 1s.

Increasing Endurance by Building Fluency: Precision Teaching Attention Span.

Science.gov (United States)

Binder, Carl; And Others

1990-01-01

Precision teaching techniques can be used to chart students' attention span or endurance. Individual differences in attention span can then be better understood and dealt with effectively. The effects of performance duration on performance level, on error rates, and on learning rates are discussed. Implications for classroom practice are noted.…

Life span extension and neuronal cell protection by Drosophila nicotinamidase.

Science.gov (United States)

Balan, Vitaly; Miller, Gregory S; Kaplun, Ludmila; Balan, Karina; Chong, Zhao-Zhong; Li, Faqi; Kaplun, Alexander; VanBerkum, Mark F A; Arking, Robert; Freeman, D Carl; Maiese, Kenneth; Tzivion, Guri

2008-10-10

The life span of model organisms can be modulated by environmental conditions that influence cellular metabolism, oxidation, or DNA integrity. The yeast nicotinamidase gene pnc1 was identified as a key transcriptional target and mediator of calorie restriction and stress-induced life span extension. PNC1 is thought to exert its effect on yeast life span by modulating cellular nicotinamide and NAD levels, resulting in increased activity of Sir2 family class III histone deacetylases. In Caenorhabditis elegans, knockdown of a pnc1 homolog was shown recently to shorten the worm life span, whereas its overexpression increased survival under conditions of oxidative stress. The function and regulation of nicotinamidases in higher organisms has not been determined. Here, we report the identification and biochemical characterization of the Drosophila nicotinamidase, D-NAAM, and demonstrate that its overexpression significantly increases median and maximal fly life span. The life span extension was reversed in Sir2 mutant flies, suggesting Sir2 dependence. Testing for physiological effectors of D-NAAM in Drosophila S2 cells, we identified oxidative stress as a primary regulator, both at the transcription level and protein activity. In contrast to the yeast model, stress factors such as high osmolarity and heat shock, calorie restriction, or inhibitors of TOR and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathways do not appear to regulate D-NAAM in S2 cells. Interestingly, the expression of D-NAAM in human neuronal cells conferred protection from oxidative stress-induced cell death in a sirtuin-dependent manner. Together, our findings establish a life span extending the ability of nicotinamidase in flies and offer a role for nicotinamide-modulating genes in oxidative stress regulated pathways influencing longevity and neuronal cell survival.

A Minimum Spanning Tree Representation of Anime Similarities

OpenAIRE

Wibowo, Canggih Puspo

2016-01-01

In this work, a new way to represent Japanese animation (anime) is presented. We applied a minimum spanning tree to show the relation between anime. The distance between anime is calculated through three similarity measurements, namely crew, score histogram, and topic similarities. Finally, the centralities are also computed to reveal the most significance anime. The result shows that the minimum spanning tree can be used to determine the similarity anime. Furthermore, by using centralities c...

Power, Governance and Boundary Spanning Leadership in Public Sector Organisations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmholdt, Claus Westergård; Fogsgaard, Morten

2015-01-01

the fact that analysis of boundary spanning leadership and power relations is an essential, significant, and critical tool in questioning different forms of management in public sector organizations. The aim of the workshop is to investigate, elucidate and discuss management across organizational units...... on the practice that evolves on the boundaries that span occupational groups, departments and organizations. The workshop takes it’s starting point in an interdisciplinary Scandinavian research project which deals with the question of how power processes can promote, or hinder, boundary spanning leadership...

Decision-making heuristics and biases across the life span

Science.gov (United States)

Strough, JoNell; Karns, Tara E.; Schlosnagle, Leo

2013-01-01

We outline a contextual and motivational model of judgment and decision-making (JDM) biases across the life span. Our model focuses on abilities and skills that correspond to deliberative, experiential, and affective decision-making processes. We review research that addresses links between JDM biases and these processes as represented by individual differences in specific abilities and skills (e.g., fluid and crystallized intelligence, executive functioning, emotion regulation, personality traits). We focus on two JDM biases—the sunk-cost fallacy (SCF) and the framing effect. We trace the developmental trajectory of each bias from preschool through middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, and later adulthood. We conclude that life-span developmental trajectories differ depending on the bias investigated. Existing research suggests relative stability in the framing effect across the life span and decreases in the SCF with age, including in later life. We highlight directions for future research on JDM biases across the life span, emphasizing the need for process-oriented research and research that increases our understanding of JDM biases in people’s everyday lives. PMID:22023568

Decision-making heuristics and biases across the life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Strough, Jonell; Karns, Tara E; Schlosnagle, Leo

2011-10-01

We outline a contextual and motivational model of judgment and decision-making (JDM) biases across the life span. Our model focuses on abilities and skills that correspond to deliberative, experiential, and affective decision-making processes. We review research that addresses links between JDM biases and these processes as represented by individual differences in specific abilities and skills (e.g., fluid and crystallized intelligence, executive functioning, emotion regulation, personality traits). We focus on two JDM biases-the sunk-cost fallacy (SCF) and the framing effect. We trace the developmental trajectory of each bias from preschool through middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, and later adulthood. We conclude that life-span developmental trajectories differ depending on the bias investigated. Existing research suggests relative stability in the framing effect across the life span and decreases in the SCF with age, including in later life. We highlight directions for future research on JDM biases across the life span, emphasizing the need for process-oriented research and research that increases our understanding of JDM biases in people's everyday lives. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

The Life Span Dwelling

OpenAIRE

Hans-Peter Hebensperger-Hüther; Gabriele Franger-Huhle

2014-01-01

The paper presents the findings from a survey of 10 different experimental housing projects in Bavaria. In 2005 students of architecture and students of social work at the University of Applied Science in Coburg approached the topic of “Life Span Dwelling” using interdisciplinary research methods. The scope of the research ranges from urban planning concepts to common spaces in the different neighborhoods, documenting user satisfaction with the individual unit and feasibility of rooms offered...

Life span of animals under acute and chronic irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zapol'skaya, N.A.; Fedorova, A.V.; Borisova, V.V.

1978-01-01

The study has been designed to see to what extent a single and long-term external and internal irradiations shorten the life span of animals. LDsub(50/30) for certain radionuclides whose absorbed doses show different spatiotemporal distributions are considered. It has been found that as far as the average life span is concerned, 137 Cs and 90 Sr have approximately the same effect whether they enter the body on a single occasion or repeatedly. With chronic total-body external gamma-irradiation, the decrease in life span is 5 times smaller than than with single-occasion irradiation. The main reason for the observed differences are found to be differences in the rates with which the absorbed doses are formed

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

OpenAIRE

Gorsky, A.; Nechaev, S.; Poghosyan, V. S.; Priezzhev, V. B.

2012-01-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of $k$ paths ($k$ is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, $k$ loop--erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped in a fashion a $k$--leg watermelon. For large distance $r$ between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as $r^{-\

Appendix B : small beam tests.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-01

The AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (2007) require that confinement : reinforcement be placed around prestressing strands in the bottom bulb of pretensioned concrete : beams. Although the AASHTO specifications contain prescriptive requiremen...

Hidden twelve-dimensional super Poincare symmetry in eleven dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bars, Itzhak; Deliduman, Cemsinan; Pasqua, Andrea; Zumino, Bruno

2004-01-01

First, we review a result in our previous paper, of how a ten-dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, has a hidden eleven-dimensional super Poincare symmetry. Then, we show that the physical sector is defined by three first-class constraints which preserve the full eleven-dimensional symmetry. Applying the same concepts to the eleven-dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, we discover a hidden twelve-dimensional super Poincare symmetry that governs the theory

Life Span and Resiliency Theory: A Critical Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexa Smith-Osborne

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Theories of life span development describe human growth and change over the life cycle (Robbins, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2006. Major types of developmental theories include biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, and social learning, cognitive, moral, and spiritual, and those influenced by systems, empowerment, and conflict theory. Life span development theories commonly focus on ontogenesis and sequential mastery of skills, tasks, and abilities. Social work scholars have pointed out that a limitation of life span and other developmental theory is lack of attention to resilience (Greene, 2007; Robbins et al., 1998. The concept of resilience was developed to “describe relative resistance to psychosocial risk experiences” (Rutter, 1999b, p. 119. Longitudinal studies focused on typical and atypical child development informed theory formulation in developmental psychopathology (Garmezy & Rutter, 1983; Luthar, Cichetti,& Becker, 2000 and in an evolving resilience model (Richardson, 2002; Werner & Smith, 1992. Research on resilience has found a positive relationship between a number of individual traits and contextual variables and resistance to a variety of risk factors among children and adolescents. More recently, resilience research has examined the operation of these same factors in the young adult, middle-age, and elder life stages. This article examines the historical and conceptual progression of the two developmental theories—life span and resiliency—and discusses their application to social work practice and education in human behavior in the social environment.

The optimum spanning catenary cable

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, C. Y.

2015-03-01

A heavy cable spans two points in space. There exists an optimum cable length such that the maximum tension is minimized. If the two end points are at the same level, the optimum length is 1.258 times the distance between the ends. The optimum lengths for end points of different heights are also found.

Van Kampen Colimits as Bicolimits in Span

Science.gov (United States)

Heindel, Tobias; Sobociński, Paweł

The exactness properties of coproducts in extensive categories and pushouts along monos in adhesive categories have found various applications in theoretical computer science, e.g. in program semantics, data type theory and rewriting. We show that these properties can be understood as a single universal property in the associated bicategory of spans. To this end, we first provide a general notion of Van Kampen cocone that specialises to the above colimits. The main result states that Van Kampen cocones can be characterised as exactly those diagrams in ℂ that induce bicolimit diagrams in the bicategory of spans mathcal{S}pan_{mathbb{C}}, provided that ℂ has pullbacks and enough colimits.

Spanning organizational boundaries to manage creative processes:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Poul Houman; Kragh, Hanne; Lettl, Christopher

2013-01-01

In order to continue to be innovative in the current fast-paced and competitive environment, organizations are increasingly dependent on creative inputs developed outside their boundaries. The paper addresses the boundary spanning activities that managers undertake to a) select and mobilize...... creative talent, b) create shared identity, and c) combine and integrate knowledge in innovation projects involving external actors. We study boundary spanning activities in two creative projects in the LEGO group. One involves identifying and integrating deep, specialized knowledge, the other focuses...... actors, and how knowledge is integrated across organizational boundaries. We discuss implications of our findings for managers and researchers in a business-to-business context...

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

Science.gov (United States)

Gorsky, A.; Nechaev, S.; Poghosyan, V. S.; Priezzhev, V. B.

2013-05-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of k paths (k is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, k loop-erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped such that they form a k-leg watermelon. For large distance r between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as r-ν log r with ν = (k2 - 1) / 2. Considering the spanning forest stretched along the meridian of this watermelon, we show that the two-dimensional k-leg loop-erased watermelon exponent ν is converting into the scaling exponent for the reunion probability (at a given point) of k (1 + 1)-dimensional vicious walkers, ν˜ =k2 / 2. At the end, we express the conjectures about the possible relation to integrable systems.

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorsky, A. [ITEP, B. Cheryomushkinskaya 25, 117218 Moscow (Russian Federation); Nechaev, S., E-mail: nechaev@lptms.u-psud.fr [LPTMS, Université Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex (France); P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Poghosyan, V.S. [Institute for Informatics and Automation Problems NAS of Armenia, 375044 Yerevan (Armenia); Priezzhev, V.B. [Bogolubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna (Russian Federation)

2013-05-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of k paths (k is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, k loop-erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped such that they form a k-leg watermelon. For large distance r between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as r{sup −ν}logr with ν=(k{sup 2}−1)/2. Considering the spanning forest stretched along the meridian of this watermelon, we show that the two-dimensional k-leg loop-erased watermelon exponent ν is converting into the scaling exponent for the reunion probability (at a given point) of k(1+1)-dimensional vicious walkers, ν{sup -tilde=}k{sup 2}/2. At the end, we express the conjectures about the possible relation to integrable systems.

From elongated spanning trees to vicious random walks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorsky, A.; Nechaev, S.; Poghosyan, V.S.; Priezzhev, V.B.

2013-01-01

Given a spanning forest on a large square lattice, we consider by combinatorial methods a correlation function of k paths (k is odd) along branches of trees or, equivalently, k loop-erased random walks. Starting and ending points of the paths are grouped such that they form a k-leg watermelon. For large distance r between groups of starting and ending points, the ratio of the number of watermelon configurations to the total number of spanning trees behaves as r −ν logr with ν=(k 2 −1)/2. Considering the spanning forest stretched along the meridian of this watermelon, we show that the two-dimensional k-leg loop-erased watermelon exponent ν is converting into the scaling exponent for the reunion probability (at a given point) of k(1+1)-dimensional vicious walkers, ν -tilde= k 2 /2. At the end, we express the conjectures about the possible relation to integrable systems

USING GENETIC ALGORTIHM TO SOLVE STEINER MINIMUM SPANNING TREE PROBLEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Öznur İŞÇİ

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Genetic algorithms (GA are a stochastic research methods, and they produce solutions that are close to optimum or near optimum. In addition to GA's successful application to traveling salesman problem, square designation, allocation, workshop table, preparation of lesson/examination schedules, planning of communication networks, assembling line balanced, minimum spanning tree type many combinatorial optimization problems it would be applicable to make the best comparison in optimization. In this study a Java program is developed to solve Steiner minimum spanning tree problem by genetic algorithm and its performance is examined. According to the tests carried out on the problems that were given before in the literature, results that are close to optimum are obtained in by GA approach that is recommended in this study. For the predetermined points in the study, length and gain are calculated for Steiner minimum spanning tree problem and minimum spanning tree problem.

Premarital sex in the last twelve months and its predictors among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Premarital sex increases the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV if unprotected and contraception is not used. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess premarital sex in the last twelve months and its predictors among regular undergraduate students of Wollega ...

Is the superior verbal memory span of Mandarin speakers due to faster rehearsal?

Science.gov (United States)

Mattys, Sven L; Baddeley, Alan; Trenkic, Danijela

2018-04-01

It is well established that digit span in native Chinese speakers is atypically high. This is commonly attributed to a capacity for more rapid subvocal rehearsal for that group. We explored this hypothesis by testing a group of English-speaking native Mandarin speakers on digit span and word span in both Mandarin and English, together with a measure of speed of articulation for each. When compared to the performance of native English speakers, the Mandarin group proved to be superior on both digit and word spans while predictably having lower spans in English. This suggests that the Mandarin advantage is not limited to digits. Speed of rehearsal correlated with span performance across materials. However, this correlation was more pronounced for English speakers than for any of the Chinese measures. Further analysis suggested that speed of rehearsal did not provide an adequate account of differences between Mandarin and English spans or for the advantage of digits over words. Possible alternative explanations are discussed.

Exploratory and problem-solving consumer behavior across the life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesser, J A; Kunkel, S R

1991-09-01

Different cognitive functioning, social, and personality changes appear to occur systematically during the adult life span. This article synthesizes research on life span changes in order to develop age-specific models of shopping behavior. The models are tested within a naturalistic field study of shoppers.

Life Span Extension and Neuronal Cell Protection by Drosophila Nicotinamidase*S⃞

OpenAIRE

Balan, Vitaly; Miller, Gregory S.; Kaplun, Ludmila; Balan, Karina; Chong, Zhao-Zhong; Li, Faqi; Kaplun, Alexander; VanBerkum, Mark F. A.; Arking, Robert; Freeman, D. Carl; Maiese, Kenneth; Tzivion, Guri

2008-01-01

The life span of model organisms can be modulated by environmental conditions that influence cellular metabolism, oxidation, or DNA integrity. The yeast nicotinamidase gene pnc1 was identified as a key transcriptional target and mediator of calorie restriction and stress-induced life span extension. PNC1 is thought to exert its effect on yeast life span by modulating cellular nicotinamide and NAD levels, resulting in increased activity of Sir2 family class III histone ...

Individual differences in personality change across the adult life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwaba, Ted; Bleidorn, Wiebke

2018-06-01

A precise and comprehensive description of personality continuity and change across the life span is the bedrock upon which theories of personality development are built. Little research has quantified the degree to which individuals deviate from mean-level developmental trends. In this study, we addressed this gap by examining individual differences in personality trait change across the life span. Data came from a nationally representative sample of 9,636 Dutch participants who provided Big Five self-reports at five assessment waves across 7 years. We divided our sample into 14 age groups (ages 16-84 at initial measurement) and estimated latent growth curve models to describe individual differences in personality change across the study period for each trait and age group. Across the adult life span, individual differences in personality change were small but significant until old age. For Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, individual differences in change were most pronounced in emerging adulthood and decreased throughout midlife and old age. For Emotional Stability, individual differences in change were relatively consistent across the life span. These results inform theories of life span development and provide future directions for research on the causes and conditions of personality change. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Facilitating conditions for boundary-spanning behavior in governance networks

OpenAIRE

Meerkerk, Ingmar; Edelenbos, Jurian

2017-01-01

textabstractThis article examines the impact of two facilitating conditions for boundary-spanning behaviour in urban governance networks. While research on boundary spanning is growing, there is little attention for antecedents. Combining governance network literature on project management and organizational literature on facilitative and servant leadership, we examine two potential conditions: a facilitative project management style and executive support. We conducted survey research among p...

Safety of superconducting fusion magnets: twelve problem areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, L.R.

1979-05-01

Twelve problem areas of superconducting magnets for fusion reaction are described. These are: Quench Detection and Energy Dump, Stationary Normal Region of Conductor, Current Leads, Electrical Arcing, Electrical Shorts, Conductor Joints, Forces from Unequal Currents, Eddy Current Effects, Cryostat Rupture, Vacuum Failure, Fringing Field and Instrumentation for Safety. Each is described under the five categories: Identification and Definition, Possible Safety Effects, Current Practice, Adequacy of Current Practice for Fusion Magnets and Areas Requiring Further Analytical and Experimental Study. Priorities among these areas are suggested; application is made to the Large Coil Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Twelve tips for creating an academic teaching portfolio.

Science.gov (United States)

Little-Wienert, Kim; Mazziotti, Mark

2018-01-01

An academic teaching portfolio is not only a requirement at many academic teaching institutions, but it is also important in a medical educator's growth and development through documentation, reflection, evaluation, and change. Creating an academic portfolio may appear daunting at first but with careful advanced preparation, organized evidence collection of your educational work, proof of scholarship, and thorough documentation of self-reflection and change, you can produce a successful product that accurately represents your educational beliefs, accomplishments, and growth throughout your career. This article provides medical educators with twelve steps for creating a successful academic teaching portfolio.

Minimal spanning trees, filaments and galaxy clustering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrow, J.D.; Sonoda, D.H.

1985-01-01

A graph theoretical technique for assessing intrinsic patterns in point data sets is described. A unique construction, the minimal spanning tree, can be associated with any point data set given all the inter-point separations. This construction enables the skeletal pattern of galaxy clustering to be singled out in quantitative fashion and differs from other statistics applied to these data sets. This technique is described and applied to two- and three-dimensional distributions of galaxies and also to comparable random samples and numerical simulations. The observed CfA and Zwicky data exhibit characteristic distributions of edge-lengths in their minimal spanning trees which are distinct from those found in random samples. (author)

Understanding retirement: the promise of life-span developmental frameworks.

Science.gov (United States)

Löckenhoff, Corinna E

2012-09-01

The impending retirement of large population cohorts creates a pressing need for practical interventions to optimize outcomes at the individual and societal level. This necessitates comprehensive theoretical models that acknowledge the multi-layered nature of the retirement process and shed light on the dynamic mechanisms that drive longitudinal patterns of adjustment. The present commentary highlights ways in which contemporary life-span developmental frameworks can inform retirement research, drawing on the specific examples of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model, Baltes and Baltes Selective Optimization with Compensation Framework, Schulz and Heckhausen's Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development, and Carstensen's Socioemotional Selectivity Theory. Ultimately, a life-span developmental perspective on retirement offers not only new interpretations of known phenomena but may also help to identify novel directions for future research as well as promising pathways for interventions.

Developmental Regulation across the Life Span: Toward a New Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Haase, Claudia M.; Heckhausen, Jutta; Wrosch, Carsten

2013-01-01

How can individuals regulate their own development to live happy, healthy, and productive lives? Major theories of developmental regulation across the life span have been proposed (e.g., dual-process model of assimilation and accommodation; motivational theory of life-span development; model of selection, optimization, and compensation), but they…

RESEARCH OF USING OPEN DOUBLE T BEAMS FOR SPANS IN FLOATING BRIDGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YU. M. Gorbatiuk

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The publication presents the results of calculations of spans for floating bridges with open double T beams. The purpose of research is to analyze the suitability of spans from open double T beams for floating bridges with minimum weight under loads, which is provided by standards for modern floating bridges designing. Methodology. Comparative method, analytical calculation methods (influence lines methodology, strength calculations, endurance, maximum shear stress are used in this paper. Findings. Current loads for bridges calculations are 75% more than those, for which the spans of floating bridge from NZhM-56 property are designed. The use of open double T beams that is formed with double T beam no. 70 (the height of the open one is 104 cm reduces the cross sectional area in a weakened spot, but virtually it does not influence the strength and durability of the material. The use of open double T beams for spans of floating bridges saves up to 22 % of metal that means one in five spans will made of saved metal. Savings on each spans, such as CRP, will be 33.6 - 263 thous. grn. (considering the price of 1 ton of final product 29 thous. grn.. Originality. Research allows making next step in material saving and use of open double T beams for spans in the whole. Practical value. The obtained results give us possibility to make a number of conclusions that allow us to become more familiar and more practical with the use of open double T beams for spans of floating bridges.

Increased Life Span due to Calorie Restriction in Respiratory-Deficient Yeast.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2005-11-01

Full Text Available A model for replicative life span extension by calorie restriction (CR in yeast has been proposed whereby reduced glucose in the growth medium leads to activation of the NAD-dependent histone deacetylase Sir2. One mechanism proposed for this putative activation of Sir2 is that CR enhances the rate of respiration, in turn leading to altered levels of NAD or NADH, and ultimately resulting in enhanced Sir2 activity. An alternative mechanism has been proposed in which CR decreases levels of the Sir2 inhibitor nicotinamide through increased expression of the gene coding for nicotinamidase, PNC1. We have previously reported that life span extension by CR is not dependent on Sir2 in the long-lived BY4742 strain background. Here we have determined the requirement for respiration and the effect of nicotinamide levels on life span extension by CR. We find that CR confers robust life span extension in respiratory-deficient cells independent of strain background, and moreover, suppresses the premature mortality associated with loss of mitochondrial DNA in the short-lived PSY316 strain. Addition of nicotinamide to the medium dramatically shortens the life span of wild type cells, due to inhibition of Sir2. However, even in cells lacking both Sir2 and the replication fork block protein Fob1, nicotinamide partially prevents life span extension by CR. These findings (1 demonstrate that respiration is not required for the longevity benefits of CR in yeast, (2 show that nicotinamide inhibits life span extension by CR through a Sir2-independent mechanism, and (3 suggest that CR acts through a conserved, Sir2-independent mechanism in both PSY316 and BY4742.

Increased life span due to calorie restriction in respiratory-deficient yeast.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matt Kaeberlein

2005-11-01

Full Text Available A model for replicative life span extension by calorie restriction (CR in yeast has been proposed whereby reduced glucose in the growth medium leads to activation of the NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase Sir2. One mechanism proposed for this putative activation of Sir2 is that CR enhances the rate of respiration, in turn leading to altered levels of NAD+ or NADH, and ultimately resulting in enhanced Sir2 activity. An alternative mechanism has been proposed in which CR decreases levels of the Sir2 inhibitor nicotinamide through increased expression of the gene coding for nicotinamidase, PNC1. We have previously reported that life span extension by CR is not dependent on Sir2 in the long-lived BY4742 strain background. Here we have determined the requirement for respiration and the effect of nicotinamide levels on life span extension by CR. We find that CR confers robust life span extension in respiratory-deficient cells independent of strain background, and moreover, suppresses the premature mortality associated with loss of mitochondrial DNA in the short-lived PSY316 strain. Addition of nicotinamide to the medium dramatically shortens the life span of wild type cells, due to inhibition of Sir2. However, even in cells lacking both Sir2 and the replication fork block protein Fob1, nicotinamide partially prevents life span extension by CR. These findings (1 demonstrate that respiration is not required for the longevity benefits of CR in yeast, (2 show that nicotinamide inhibits life span extension by CR through a Sir2-independent mechanism, and (3 suggest that CR acts through a conserved, Sir2-independent mechanism in both PSY316 and BY4742.

Boundary Spanning in Higher Education: How Universities Can Enable Success

Science.gov (United States)

Skolaski, Jennifer Pauline

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to better understand the identity and work of academic and extension staff who have boundary spanning responsibilities. The results will help universities, especially public land-grant universities with an outreach mission, to create stronger policies and systems to support boundary spanning staff members…

Who should do what in environmental management? Twelve principles for allocating responsibilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mostert, E.

2015-01-01

In environmental management there is often discussion on the allocation of responsibilities. Such discussions can continue for a long time and can form an obstacle for effective action. In this article twelve normative principles for the allocation of responsibilities are identified, coming from

A pluggable service platform architecture for e-commercspan>e

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aulkemeier, Fabian; Paramartha, Mohammad Anggasta; Iacob, Maria Eugenia; van Hillegersberg, Jos

2016-01-01

In the beginning of the e-commercspan>e era, retailers mostly adopted vertically integrated solutions to control the entire e-commercspan>e value chain. However, they began to realize that to achieve agility, a better approach would be to focus on certain core capabilities and then create a partner ecosystem

Implications of e-commercspan>e for banking and finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heng, Michael S.H.

2001-01-01

The aim of the paper is to show that e-commercspan>e holds the potential totransform banking and financial systems. There are three aspects in which e-commercecan affect banking and finance. First, banks and financial firms can use thetechnology and business practice of e-commercspan>e to market their

The Role of Covert Retrieval in Working Memory Span Tasks: Evidence from Delayed Recall Tests

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, David P.

2008-01-01

The current study examined delayed recall of items that had been processed during simple and complex span tasks. Three experiments were reported showing that despite more items being recalled initially from a simple span task (i.e., word span) than a complex span task (i.e., operation span), on a delayed recall test more items were recalled that…

Sadhana | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Sadhana. Ahmet Çelık. Articles written in Sadhana. Volume 31 Issue 1 February 2006 pp 9-20. Natural frequencies of a flat viaduct road part simply supported on two ends · İsmail Yüksek Ahmet Çelık Kayhan Gülez · More Details Abstract Fulltext PDF. Viaduct roads have wide application in big cities with ...

Paternal smoking habits affect the reproductive life span of daughters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fukuda, Misao; Fukuda, Kiyomi; Shimizu, Takashi

2011-01-01

The present study assessed whether the smoking habits of fathers around the time of conception affected the period in which daughters experienced menstrual cycles (i.e., the reproductive life span). The study revealed that the smoking habits of the farther shortened the daughters' reproductive life...... span compared with daughters whose fathers did not smoke....

On the number of spanning trees in random regular graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greenhill, Catherine; Kwan, Matthew; Wind, David Kofoed

2014-01-01

Let d >= 3 be a fixed integer. We give an asympotic formula for the expected number of spanning trees in a uniformly random d-regular graph with n vertices. (The asymptotics are as n -> infinity, restricted to even n if d is odd.) We also obtain the asymptotic distribution of the number of spanning...

Time-varying span efficiency through the wingbeat of desert locusts.

Science.gov (United States)

Henningsson, Per; Bomphrey, Richard J

2012-06-07

The flight performance of animals depends greatly on the efficacy with which they generate aerodynamic forces. Accordingly, maximum range, load-lifting capacity and peak accelerations during manoeuvres are all constrained by the efficiency of momentum transfer to the wake. Here, we use high-speed particle image velocimetry (1 kHz) to record flow velocities in the near wake of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria, Forskål). We use the measured flow fields to calculate time-varying span efficiency throughout the wing stroke cycle. The locusts are found to operate at a maximum span efficiency of 79 per cent, typically at a plateau of about 60 per cent for the majority of the downstroke, but at lower values during the upstroke. Moreover, the calculated span efficiencies are highest when the largest lift forces are being generated (90% of the total lift is generated during the plateau of span efficiency) suggesting that the combination of wing kinematics and morphology in locust flight perform most efficiently when doing the most work.

The design, construction and Heavy Vehicle Simulator testing results on Roller Compacted Concrete test sections at the CSIR Innovation Site and on a full-scale test road at Rayton

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Du Plessis, Louw

2016-09-01

Full Text Available . AASHTO), which was above the specified South African limit of a minimum CBR of 25 at 95% Mod AASHTO. The density of the subbase was measured with a nuclear density gauge after compaction. The subbase was only compacted to 90.7% Mod AASHTO, 2.3% short... and was concentrated around the shrinkage crack. 6.1.1 Elastic deflection response Figure 1 shows both the surface deflections captured by the joint deflection measuring devices (JDMDs) and multi-depth deflectometers (MDD). MDD 12 and JDMD 1 and 2 were placed...

Life Span Extension and Neuronal Cell Protection by Drosophila Nicotinamidase*S⃞

Science.gov (United States)

Balan, Vitaly; Miller, Gregory S.; Kaplun, Ludmila; Balan, Karina; Chong, Zhao-Zhong; Li, Faqi; Kaplun, Alexander; VanBerkum, Mark F. A.; Arking, Robert; Freeman, D. Carl; Maiese, Kenneth; Tzivion, Guri

2008-01-01

The life span of model organisms can be modulated by environmental conditions that influence cellular metabolism, oxidation, or DNA integrity. The yeast nicotinamidase gene pnc1 was identified as a key transcriptional target and mediator of calorie restriction and stress-induced life span extension. PNC1 is thought to exert its effect on yeast life span by modulating cellular nicotinamide and NAD levels, resulting in increased activity of Sir2 family class III histone deacetylases. In Caenorhabditis elegans, knockdown of a pnc1 homolog was shown recently to shorten the worm life span, whereas its overexpression increased survival under conditions of oxidative stress. The function and regulation of nicotinamidases in higher organisms has not been determined. Here, we report the identification and biochemical characterization of the Drosophila nicotinamidase, D-NAAM, and demonstrate that its overexpression significantly increases median and maximal fly life span. The life span extension was reversed in Sir2 mutant flies, suggesting Sir2 dependence. Testing for physiological effectors of D-NAAM in Drosophila S2 cells, we identified oxidative stress as a primary regulator, both at the transcription level and protein activity. In contrast to the yeast model, stress factors such as high osmolarity and heat shock, calorie restriction, or inhibitors of TOR and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathways do not appear to regulate D-NAAM in S2 cells. Interestingly, the expression of D-NAAM in human neuronal cells conferred protection from oxidative stress-induced cell death in a sirtuin-dependent manner. Together, our findings establish a life span extending the ability of nicotinamidase in flies and offer a role for nicotinamide-modulating genes in oxidative stress regulated pathways influencing longevity and neuronal cell survival. PMID:18678867

Evidence for deficits in the temporal attention span of poor readers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troy A W Visser

Full Text Available While poor reading is often associated with phonological deficits, many studies suggest that visual processing might also be impaired. In particular, recent research has indicated that poor readers show impaired spatial visual attention spans in partial and whole report tasks. Given the similarities between competition-based accounts for reduced visual attention span and similar explanations for impairments in sequential object processing, the present work examined whether poor readers show deficits in their "temporal attention span"--that is, their ability to rapidly and accurately process sequences of consecutive target items.Poor and normal readers monitored a sequential stream of visual items for two (TT condition or three (TTT condition consecutive target digits. Target identification was examined using both unconditional and conditional measures of accuracy in order to gauge the overall likelihood of identifying a target and the likelihood of identifying a target given successful identification of previous items. Compared to normal readers, poor readers showed small but consistent deficits in identification across targets whether unconditional or conditional accuracy was used. Additionally, in the TTT condition, final-target conditional accuracy was poorer than unconditional accuracy, particularly for poor readers, suggesting a substantial cost arising from processing the previous two targets that was not present in normal readers.Mirroring the differences found between poor and normal readers in spatial visual attention span, the present findings suggest two principal differences between the temporal attention spans of poor and normal readers. First, the consistent pattern of reduced performance across targets suggests increased competition amongst items within the same span for poor readers. Second, the steeper decline in final target performance amongst poor readers in the TTT condition suggests a reduction in the extent of their

Evidence for deficits in the temporal attention span of poor readers.

Science.gov (United States)

Visser, Troy A W

2014-01-01

While poor reading is often associated with phonological deficits, many studies suggest that visual processing might also be impaired. In particular, recent research has indicated that poor readers show impaired spatial visual attention spans in partial and whole report tasks. Given the similarities between competition-based accounts for reduced visual attention span and similar explanations for impairments in sequential object processing, the present work examined whether poor readers show deficits in their "temporal attention span"--that is, their ability to rapidly and accurately process sequences of consecutive target items. Poor and normal readers monitored a sequential stream of visual items for two (TT condition) or three (TTT condition) consecutive target digits. Target identification was examined using both unconditional and conditional measures of accuracy in order to gauge the overall likelihood of identifying a target and the likelihood of identifying a target given successful identification of previous items. Compared to normal readers, poor readers showed small but consistent deficits in identification across targets whether unconditional or conditional accuracy was used. Additionally, in the TTT condition, final-target conditional accuracy was poorer than unconditional accuracy, particularly for poor readers, suggesting a substantial cost arising from processing the previous two targets that was not present in normal readers. Mirroring the differences found between poor and normal readers in spatial visual attention span, the present findings suggest two principal differences between the temporal attention spans of poor and normal readers. First, the consistent pattern of reduced performance across targets suggests increased competition amongst items within the same span for poor readers. Second, the steeper decline in final target performance amongst poor readers in the TTT condition suggests a reduction in the extent of their temporal attention

Rating precast prestressed concrete bridges for shear

Science.gov (United States)

2008-12-01

Shear capacity of real-world prestressed concrete girders designed in the 1960s and 1970s is a concern because : AASHTO Standard Specifications (AASHTO-STD) employed the quarter-point rule for shear design, which is less : conservative for shea...

Key lessons: Twelve factors critical to the success of WDM at the ...

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

English · Français ... Key lessons: Twelve factors critical to the success of WDM at the policy and at the operational levels ... from slums in central New Delhi to the city's desolate periphery face daily indignities and danger as they collect water o.

Spanning the Home/Work Creative Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davis, Lee N.; Davis, Jerome; Hoisl, Karin

the employee brings to work. Based on Woodman et al.’s (1993) “interactionist perspective” on organizational creativity, supplemented by literature on search and knowledge re/combination, we explore whether and how leisure time activities can span the creative space between the employee’s home and workplace...

[Survey on menopausal age and menstruation span in women in Pudong district of Shanghai].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hua; Feng, You-ji; Shu, Hui-min; Lu, Tian-mei; Zhu, Hong-mei; Yang, Bin-lie; Xiong, Miao

2010-06-01

To investigate natural spontaneous menopausal age, menstruation span and their relationship with menarche age and parity in Pudong district of Shanghai. From Jan 2007 to Jul 2008, 15 083 spontaneous menopause women undergoing cervical cancer screening were enrolled in this study. The questionnaire included menarche age, parity, spontaneous menopausal age and menstruation span. Those women were divided into four groups based on age, which were group of 56 - 60, 61 - 65, 66 - 70 and more than 70.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for comparing difference between menopausal age and menstruation span. Multiple factor regressions was used to analyze the relationship between menarche age, parity and menopausal age and menstruation span. (1) Spontaneous menopausal age: the minimum was 29 years old, the maximum was 61 years old, and the mean age was (50.6 ± 3.7) years old. The mean spontaneous menopause age were (50.9 ± 3.4), (50.7 ± 3.7), (50.0 ± 4.1), (49.6 ± 4.0) years in groups of 56 - 60, 61 - 65, 66 - 70 and more than 70 years. With the increasing age range in four groups, the increasing trends of menopausal age were observed, which the difference of 1.36 year was shown between groups of 56 - 60 and more than 70 years. (2) Menstruation span: the mean of menstruation span was (34.3 ± 4.1) years, which the minimal age of 12 years and maximal age of 48 years were recorded. (34.6 ± 3.8), (34.3 ± 4.1), (33.9 ± 4.6), (33.2 ± 4.5) were observed in groups of 56 - 60, 61 - 65, 66 - 70 and more than 70 years. With the increasing age range in four groups, the increasing trends of menstruation span were observed, which the difference of 1.41 year was shown between groups of 56 - 60 and more than 70 years. (3) The impact of menarche age on menopausal age and menstruation span: there was no correlation between menarche age and menopausal age (r = 0.02); however, menstruation span was found to be negatively correlated with the menarche age (r = -0.43). (4) The impact

Emotional Egocentricity Bias across the life-span

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Federica eRiva

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In our daily lives, we often have to quickly estimate the emotions of our conspecifics in order to have successful social interactions. While this estimation process seems quite easy when we are ourselves in a neutral or equivalent emotional state, it has recently been shown that in case of incongruent emotional states between ourselves and the others, our judgments can be biased. This phenomenon, introduced to the literature with the term Emotional Egocentricity Bias (EEB, has been found to occur in young adults and, to a greater extent, in children. However, how EEB changes across the life-span from adolescence to old age has been largely unexplored. In this study, we recruited 114 female participants subdivided in four cohorts (adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, older adults to examine EEB age-related changes. Participants were administered with a paradigm which, by making use of visuo-tactile stimulation that elicits conflicting feelings in paired participants, allows the valid and reliable exploration of EEB. Results highlighted a U-shaped relation between age and EEB, revealing higher emotional egocentricity in adolescents and older adults compared to young and middle-aged adults. These results are in line with the neuroscientific literature which has recently shown that overcoming EEB is associated with a greater activation of a portion of the parietal lobe, namely the right Supramarginal Gyrus (rSMG. This is an area that reaches full maturation only by the end of adolescence, and displays an early decay in older age. Thus, the age-related changes of the EEB could be possibly due to the life-span development of the rSMG. This study is the first one to show the quadratic relation between age and the EEB and set a milestone for further research exploring the neural correlates of the life-span development of the EEB. Future studies are needed in order to generalize these results to the male population and to explore gender

A Hidden Twelve-Dimensional SuperPoincare Symmetry In Eleven Dimensions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bars, Itzhak; Deliduman, Cemsinan; Pasqua, Andrea; Zumino, Bruno

2003-12-13

First, we review a result in our previous paper, of how a ten-dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, has a hidden eleven-dimensional superPoincare symmetry. Then, we show that the physical sector is defined by three first-class constraints which preserve the full eleven-dimensional symmetry. Applying the same concepts to the eleven dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, we discover a hidden twelve dimensional superPoincare symmetry that governs the theory.

Interorganizational Boundary Spanning in Global Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søderberg, Anne-Marie; Romani, Laurence

, and which skills and competencies they draw on in their efforts to deal with emerging cross-cultural issues in a way that paves ground for developing a shared understanding and common platform for the client and vendor representatives. A framework of boundary spanning leadership practices is adapted...... to virtuality and cultural diversity. This paper, which draws on a case study of collaborative work in a global software development project, focuses on key boundary spanners in an Indian vendor company, who are responsible for developing trustful and sustainable client relations and coordinating complex...... projects across multiple cultures, languages, organisational boundaries, time zones and geographical distances. It looks into how these vendor managers get prepared for their complex boundary spanning work, which cross-cultural challenges they experience in their collaboration with Western clients...

Estimation of Height from Arm Span in 6-11 Years Children in Odisha, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Snigdha Prava Mishra

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Standing height is an important anthropometric parameter to track longitudinal growth, to estimate body fatness and to calculate energy requirement. Measurement of height may be difficult in children who cannot stand. Aim: To establish regression equation for estimation of height from arm span in children. To check comparative relevancy of this equation with fixed height-to-arm span ratio (HAR for estimation of height. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 6-11 years school children (n=1465, Boys=774, Girls=691 in state of Odisha, India. Height was measured by portable stadiometer and arm span was measured by fiberglass measuring tape to nearest 0.1 cm. Pearson correlation and regression analysis was carried out between height and arm span data. p<0.05 (two tail was considered statistically significant. Results: Mean height and arm span in boys (124.16±8.74 cm and 125.57±10.43 cm respectively was significantly more (p<0.001 than height and arm span in girls (121.18±10.37 cm and 121.50±11.68 cm respectively. Mean HAR was 0.9942±0.0279. Correlation between height and arm span in boys was r = 0.94 (p<0.001 and in girls was r = 0.96 (p<0.001. Overall correlation coefficient was r = 0.95 (p<0.001. Regression equation for estimation of height from arm span was established: Height (cm = 0.8192 * arm span (cm + 21.46. Conclusion: Height in children of 6-11 years showed strong positive correlation with arm span. Regression equation established from this study can be used to estimate height from arm span. This estimation is more reliable than estimation of height from HAR.

The Influence of Dietary Fat Source on Life Span in Calorie Restricted Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Domínguez, José A; Ramsey, Jon J; Tran, Dianna; Imai, Denise M; Koehne, Amanda; Laing, Steven T; Griffey, Stephen M; Kim, Kyoungmi; Taylor, Sandra L; Hagopian, Kevork; Villalba, José M; López-Lluch, Guillermo; Navas, Plácido; McDonald, Roger B

2015-10-01

Calorie restriction (CR) without malnutrition extends life span in several animal models. It has been proposed that a decrease in the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and especially n-3 fatty acids, in membrane phospholipids may contribute to life span extension with CR. Phospholipid PUFAs are sensitive to dietary fatty acid composition, and thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of dietary lipids on life span in CR mice. C57BL/6J mice were assigned to four groups (a 5% CR control group and three 40% CR groups) and fed diets with soybean oil (high in n-6 PUFAs), fish oil (high in n-3 PUFAs), or lard (high in saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids) as the primary lipid source. Life span was increased (p Life span was also increased (p life span in mice on CR, and suggest that a diet containing a low proportion of PUFAs and high proportion of monounsaturated and saturated fats may maximize life span in animals maintained on CR. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

23 CFR 500.106 - PMS.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... the “AASHTO Guidelines for Pavement Management Systems.” 1 1 AASHTO Guidelines for Pavement Management... ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING SYSTEMS Management Systems § 500.106 PMS. An effective PMS for Federal-aid highways is a systematic...

The relationship between short-term memory and working memory: complex span made simple?

Science.gov (United States)

Bayliss, Donna M; Jarrold, Christopher; Baddeley, Alan D; Gunn, Deborah M

2005-01-01

This experiment addresses the question of what makes a working memory measure a good predictor of higher-level abilities. Verbal and visuospatial processing episodes were interleaved with distinct verbal and visuospatial storage episodes to form four complex span tasks. Although these measures were reliable predictors of reading and mathematics ability in children, they were no more predictive of these abilities than corresponding simple span tasks involving storage alone. However, when individual differences in storage ability and processing capacity were controlled for, residual variance in complex span performance was related to academic ability in some cases. These findings indicate that complex span tasks are multiply determined, and that differences in task structure can dramatically influence the relative importance of these multiple constraints and the predictive power of a complex span measure.

1-Skeletons of the Spanning Tree Problems with Additional Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Bondarenko

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we study polyhedral properties of two spanning tree problems with additional constraints. In the first problem, it is required to find a tree with a minimum sum of edge weights among all spanning trees with the number of leaves less than or equal to a given value. In the second problem, an additional constraint is the assumption that the degree of all nodes of the spanning tree does not exceed a given value. The recognition versions of both problems are NP-complete. We consider polytopes of these problems and their 1-skeletons. We prove that in both cases it is a NP-complete problem to determine whether the vertices of 1-skeleton are adjacent. Although it is possible to obtain a superpolynomial lower bounds on the clique numbers of these graphs. These values characterize the time complexity in a broad class of algorithms based on linear comparisons. The results indicate a fundamental difference between combinatorial and geometric properties of the considered problems from the classical minimum spanning tree problem.

The visual attention span deficit in dyslexia is visual and not verbal.

Science.gov (United States)

Lobier, Muriel; Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Valdois, Sylviane

2012-06-01

The visual attention (VA) span deficit hypothesis of dyslexia posits that letter string deficits are a consequence of impaired visual processing. Alternatively, some have interpreted this deficit as resulting from a visual-to-phonology code mapping impairment. This study aims to disambiguate between the two interpretations by investigating performance in a non-verbal character string visual categorization task with verbal and non-verbal stimuli. Results show that VA span ability predicts performance for the non-verbal visual processing task in normal reading children. Furthermore, VA span impaired dyslexic children are also impaired for the categorization task independently of stimuli type. This supports the hypothesis that the underlying impairment responsible for the VA span deficit is visual, not verbal. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

The effects of age on processing and storage in working memory span tasks and reading comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Paul J

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Declines in verbal working memory span task performance have been associated with deficits in the language processing abilities of healthy older adults, but it is unclear how storage and processing contribute to this relationship. Moreover, recent studies of the psychometric properties of span measures in the general cognitive literature highlight the need for a critical reassessment of age-related differences in working memory task performance. Forty-two young (Mage = 19.45 years) and 42 older participants (Mage = 73.00 years) completed a series of neuropsychological screening measures, four memory span tasks (one-syllable word span, three-syllable word span, reading span, and sentence span), and a measure of reading comprehension. Each span measure was completed under self-paced and timed encoding conditions. A 2 (age) × 2 (task type) × 2 (encoding conditions) mixed-model design was used. (1) Age effects were reliable for both simple and complex span task performance; (2) limiting the available encoding time yielded lower recall scores across tasks and exacerbated age differences in simple span performance; and (3) both encoding condition and age affected the relationship between each of the span measures and the relationship between span and reading comprehension. Declines in both storage and processing abilities contributed to age differences in span task performance and the relationship between span and reading comprehension. Although older people appear to benefit from task administration protocols that promote successful memory encoding, researchers should be aware of the potential risks to validity posed by such accommodations.

Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

McClelland, Megan M.; Acock, Alan C.; Piccinin, Andrea; Rhea, Sally Ann; Stallings, Michael C.

2013-01-01

This study examined relations between children's attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children's age 4 attention span-persistence…

Spanning k-ended trees of 3-regular connected graphs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamed Ghasemian Zoeram

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A vertex of degree one is called an end-vertex and the set of end-vertices of G is denoted by End(G. For a positive integer k, a tree T be called k-ended tree if $|End(T| \\leq k$. In this paper, we obtain sufficient conditions for spanning k-trees of 3-regular connected graphs. We give a construction sequence of graphs satisfying the condition. At the end, we present a conjecture about spanning k-ended trees of 3-regular connected graphs.

Faster Fully-Dynamic minimum spanning forest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Jacob; Rotenberg, Eva; Wulff-Nilsen, Christian

2015-01-01

We give a new data structure for the fully-dynamic minimum spanning forest problem in simple graphs. Edge updates are supported in O(log4 n/log logn) expected amortized time per operation, improving the O(log4 n) amortized bound of Holm et al. (STOC’98, JACM’01).We also provide a deterministic data...

Structure-borne low-frequency noise from multi-span bridges: A prediction method and spatial distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Song, X. D.; Wu, D. J.; Li, Q.; Botteldooren, D.

2016-04-01

Structure-borne noise from railway bridges at far-field points is an important indicator in environmental noise assessment. However, studies that predict structure-borne noise tend to model only single-span bridges, thus ignoring the sound pressure radiating from adjacent spans. To simulate the noise radiating from multi-span bridges induced by moving vehicles, the vibrations of a multi-span bridge are first obtained from a three-dimensional (3D) vehicle-track-bridge dynamic interaction simulation using the mode superposition method. A procedure based on the 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) boundary element method (BEM) is then presented to promote the efficiency of acoustical computation compared with the 3D BEM. The simulated results obtained from both the single-span and multi-span bridge models are compared with the measured results. The sound predictions calculated from the single-span model are accurate only for a minority of near-field points. In contrast, the sound pressures calculated from the multi-span bridge model match the measured results in both the time and frequency domains for all of the near-field and far-field points. The number of bridge spans required in the noise simulation is then recommended related to the distance between the track center and the field points of interest. The spatial distribution of multi-span structure-borne noise is also studied. The variation in sound pressure levels is insignificant along the length of the bridge, which validates the finding that the sound test section can be selected at an arbitrary plane perpendicular to the multi-span bridge.

Earthquake resistant measures of existing structures by TRTA; Eidan chikatetsu ni okeru kisetsu doboku kozobutsu no taishin taisaku

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miyata, N.

1997-08-10

Seismic countermeasures for the existing structures are introduced on the main item: reinforcement of open-cut tunnel RC center pillars as well as on reinforcement of rigid frame viaduct pillars and installation of a device for prevention of viaduct falling. First, for reinforcing open-cut tunnel center pillars, design was devised so as to be suitable to construction environment in the subway yard. Important reinforcement materials are steel and filling materials; SS and a self-leveling material for building construction were chosen. The following construction work procedures are explained based on the actual construction: removal of interior materials of existing pillars and measurement of the actual size, high pressure water washing, steel plate fabrication, plate delivery to the yard, installation of steel plates, filler filling, painting. Next, on reinforcement of viaduct pillars on the ground, the reinforcement design concept is basically same as in the open-cut tunnel. Points of difference in design and construction are explained. On the countermeasure for prevention of viaduct falling for girder bridges without the falling prevention, countermeasure investigation and design work or installation work are being carried out. Seismic resistance evaluation and design of existing bridges, and construction work are explained. 13 figs., 1 tab.

The effects of repeat testing, malingering, and traumatic brain injury on visuospatial memory span

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L Woods

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Spatial span tests such as the Corsi Block Test (CBT and the spatial span test of the Wechsler Memory Scale are widely used to assess deficits in spatial working memory. We conducted three experiments to evaluate the test-retest reliability and clinical sensitivity of a new computerized spatial span test (C-SST that incorporates psychophysical methods to improve the precision of spatial span measurement. In Experiment 1, we analyzed C-SST test-retest reliability in 49 participants who underwent three test sessions at weekly intervals. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC were higher for a psychophysically derived mean span (MnS metric (0.83 than for the maximal span and total correct metrics used in traditional spatial-span tests. Response times (ReTs also showed high ICCs (0.93 that correlated negatively with MnS scores and correlated positively with response-time latencies from other tests of processing speed. Learning effects were insignificant. Experiment 2 examined the performance of Experiment 1 participants when instructed to feign symptoms of traumatic brain injury: 57% showed abnormal MnS z-scores. A MnS z-score cutoff of 3.0 correctly classified 36% of simulated malingerers and 91% of the subgroup of 11 control participants with abnormal spans. Malingerers also made more substitution errors than control participants with abnormal spans (sensitivity = 43%, specificity = 91%. In addition, malingerers showed no evidence of ReT slowing, in contrast to significant abnormalities seen on other malingered tests of processing speed. As a result, differences between ReT z-scores and z-scores on other processing speed tests showed very high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing malingering and control participants with either normal or abnormal spans. Experiment 3 examined C-SST performance in a group of patients with predominantly mild traumatic brain injury (TBI: neither MnS nor ReT z-scores showed significant group

Spanning Tree Based Attribute Clustering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zeng, Yifeng; Jorge, Cordero Hernandez

2009-01-01

Attribute clustering has been previously employed to detect statistical dependence between subsets of variables. We propose a novel attribute clustering algorithm motivated by research of complex networks, called the Star Discovery algorithm. The algorithm partitions and indirectly discards...... inconsistent edges from a maximum spanning tree by starting appropriate initial modes, therefore generating stable clusters. It discovers sound clusters through simple graph operations and achieves significant computational savings. We compare the Star Discovery algorithm against earlier attribute clustering...

Paternal smoking habits affect the reproductive life span of daughters.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuda, Misao; Fukuda, Kiyomi; Shimizu, Takashi; Nobunaga, Miho; Andersen, Elisabeth Wreford; Byskov, Anne Grete; Andersen, Claus Yding

2011-06-30

The present study assessed whether the smoking habits of fathers around the time of conception affected the period in which daughters experienced menstrual cycles (i.e., the reproductive life span). The study revealed that the smoking habits of the farther shortened the daughters' reproductive life span compared with daughters whose fathers did not smoke. Copyright © 2011 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Free span burial inspection pig. Phase B

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-04-01

This report deals with design and construction of a pipeline pig for on-line internal inspection of offshore trenched gas pipelines for pipeline burial, free spans, exposures and loss of concrete weight coating. The measuring principle uses detection of the natural gamma radiation emitted by sea bed formations and the concrete coating of the pipe to map pipeline condition. The gamma ray flux penetrating to the internal side of the pipeline is an effect of the outside conditions. The measuring principle was confirmed in a occasionally present in the gas, blurred seriously sensor signals of the previous instrumentation. The continued project activities have been divided in two phases. Phase A comprised design and construction of a detector system, which could identify and quantify radioactive components from decay of radon-222. During Phase A a new gamma detector was tested in full scale exposed to radon-222. New data analysis procedures for the correction for the influence of radon-222 inside the pipeline, where developed and its utility successfully demonstrated. During Phase B the new detector was mounted in a pipeline pig constructed for inspection of 30-inch gas pipelines. Working conditions were demonstrated in three runs through the southern route of the DONG owned 30-inch gas pipelines crossing the Danish strait named the Great Belt. The FSB-technology found 88% of the free spans identified with the latest acoustic survey. The FSB-technology found in addition 22 free spans that were termed ''invisible'', because they were not identified by the most recent acoustic survey. It is believed that ''invisible free spans'' are either real free spans or locations, where the pipeline has no or very little support from deposits in the pipeline trench. The FSB-survey confirmed all exposed sections longer than 20 metres found by the acoustic survey in the first 21 kilometre of the pipeline. However, the FSB-survey underestimated

Enhancing reading performance through action video games: the role of visual attention span.

Science.gov (United States)

Antzaka, A; Lallier, M; Meyer, S; Diard, J; Carreiras, M; Valdois, S

2017-11-06

Recent studies reported that Action Video Game-AVG training improves not only certain attentional components, but also reading fluency in children with dyslexia. We aimed to investigate the shared attentional components of AVG playing and reading, by studying whether the Visual Attention (VA) span, a component of visual attention that has previously been linked to both reading development and dyslexia, is improved in frequent players of AVGs. Thirty-six French fluent adult readers, matched on chronological age and text reading proficiency, composed two groups: frequent AVG players and non-players. Participants performed behavioural tasks measuring the VA span, and a challenging reading task (reading of briefly presented pseudo-words). AVG players performed better on both tasks and performance on these tasks was correlated. These results further support the transfer of the attentional benefits of playing AVGs to reading, and indicate that the VA span could be a core component mediating this transfer. The correlation between VA span and pseudo-word reading also supports the involvement of VA span even in adult reading. Future studies could combine VA span training with defining features of AVGs, in order to build a new generation of remediation software.

Digit Span as a measure of everyday attention: a study of ecological validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Groth-Marnat, Gary; Baker, Sonya

2003-12-01

This study investigated the effectiveness of the WAIS-III Digit Span subtest to predict the everyday attention of 75 participants with heterogeneous neurological conditions who were administered the Digit Span subtest as well as the ecologically valid Test of Everyday Attention. In addition, the more visually oriented Picture Completion subtest along with the verbally loaded National Adult Reading Test were administered. Analysis indicated that, although Digit Span was a weak but statistically significant predictor of attentional ability (accounting for 12.7% of the unique variance). Picture Completion was a somewhat stronger predictor (accounting for 19% of the unique variance). The weak association of Digit Span and the Test of Everyday Attention, along with the finding that Picture Completion was a better predictor of performance on the Test of Everyday Attention, question the clinical utility of using Digit Span as a measure of everyday attention.

Isolation and characterization of twelve microsatellite loci for the Japanese Devilray (Mobula japanica)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poortvliet, Marloes; Galvan-Magana, Felipe; Bernardi, Giacomo; Croll, Donald A.; Olsen, Jeanine L.

2011-01-01

Twelve polymorphic microsatellites loci were characterized for Mobula japanica (Japanese Devilray) using an enrichment protocol. All but two loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium with no evidence of linkage disequilibrium or null-alleles for a sample of 40 individuals from two populations. The

Fatigue life assessment of free spanning pipelines containing corrosion defects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopes, Rita de Kassia D.; Campello, Georga C.; Matt, Cyntia G. da Costa; Benjamin, Adilson C.; Franciss, Ricardo [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas (CENPES)

2009-12-19

The free spanning pipelines assessment is a highlighted issue to be considered during the project and maintenance of the submarine pipelines. It is required to evaluate the fatigue life and the maximum stress due to VIV (Vortex Induced Vibration) as well as wave forces when applicable in case of shallow water. The code DNV-RP-F105 (2006) presents a methodology to calculate the fatigue life for free spanning pipelines. Such methodology however considers the pipe with no kind of defects. Nevertheless, sometimes corrosion defects are detected in periodic inspections and therefore their effects need to be taken into account in the fatigue life evaluation. The purpose of this paper thus is to present a procedure to assess the influence of the corrosion defects in the fatigue life of free spanning pipelines. Some FE analyses were performed to determine the stress concentrate factor (SCF) of the corrosion defects, which were used as input in the methodology presented in the code DNV-RP-F105 (2006). Curves of damage and so lifetime have been generated as function of the span length and water depth. As a practical application, this methodology was applied to a sub sea pipeline with several corrosion defects, localized in shallow water offshore Brazil. (author)

Skilled deaf readers have an enhanced perceptual span in reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Bélanger, Nathalie N; Slattery, Timothy J; Mayberry, Rachel I; Rayner, Keith

2012-07-01

Recent evidence suggests that, compared with hearing people, deaf people have enhanced visual attention to simple stimuli viewed in the parafovea and periphery. Although a large part of reading involves processing the fixated words in foveal vision, readers also utilize information in parafoveal vision to preprocess upcoming words and decide where to look next. In the study reported here, we investigated whether auditory deprivation affects low-level visual processing during reading by comparing the perceptual span of deaf signers who were skilled and less-skilled readers with the perceptual span of skilled hearing readers. Compared with hearing readers, the two groups of deaf readers had a larger perceptual span than would be expected given their reading ability. These results provide the first evidence that deaf readers' enhanced attentional allocation to the parafovea is used during complex cognitive tasks, such as reading.

Minimum spanning trees and random resistor networks in d dimensions.

Science.gov (United States)

Read, N

2005-09-01

We consider minimum-cost spanning trees, both in lattice and Euclidean models, in d dimensions. For the cost of the optimum tree in a box of size L , we show that there is a correction of order L(theta) , where theta or =1 . The arguments all rely on the close relation of Kruskal's greedy algorithm for the minimum spanning tree, percolation, and (for some arguments) random resistor networks. The scaling of the entropy and free energy at small nonzero T , and hence of the number of near-optimal solutions, is also discussed. We suggest that the Steiner tree problem is in the same universality class as the minimum spanning tree in all dimensions, as is the traveling salesman problem in two dimensions. Hence all will have the same value of theta=-3/4 in two dimensions.

Definition of a Twelve-Point Polygonal SAA Boundary for the GLAST Mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djomehri, Sabra I.; UC, Santa Cruz; SLAC

2007-01-01

The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), set to launch in early 2008, detects gamma rays within a huge energy range of 100 MeV - 300 GeV. Background cosmic radiation interferes with such detection resulting in confusion over distinguishing cosmic from gamma rays encountered. This quandary is resolved by encasing GLAST's Large Area Telescope (LAT) with an Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD), a device which identifies and vetoes charged particles. The ACD accomplishes this through plastic scintillator tiles; when cosmic rays strike, photons produced induce currents in Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) attached to these tiles. However, as GLAST orbits Earth at altitudes ∼550km and latitudes between -26 degree and 26 degree, it will confront the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), a region of high particle flux caused by trapped radiation in the geomagnetic field. Since the SAA flux would degrade the sensitivity of the ACD's PMTs over time, a determined boundary enclosing this region need be attained, signaling when to lower the voltage on the PMTs as a protective measure. The operational constraints on such a boundary require a convex SAA polygon with twelve edges, whose area is minimal ensuring GLAST has maximum observation time. The AP8 and PSB97 models describing the behavior of trapped radiation were used in analyzing the SAA and defining a convex SAA boundary of twelve sides. The smallest possible boundary was found to cover 14.58% of GLAST's observation time. Further analysis of defining a boundary safety margin to account for inaccuracies in the models reveals if the total SAA hull area is increased by ∼20%, the loss of total observational area is < 5%. These twelve coordinates defining the SAA flux region are ready for implementation by the GLAST satellite

Sex differences in life span: Females homozygous for the X chromosome do not suffer the shorter life span predicted by the unguarded X hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Brengdahl, Martin; Kimber, Christopher M; Maguire-Baxter, Jack; Friberg, Urban

2018-03-01

Life span differs between the sexes in many species. Three hypotheses to explain this interesting pattern have been proposed, involving different drivers: sexual selection, asymmetrical inheritance of cytoplasmic genomes, and hemizygosity of the X(Z) chromosome (the unguarded X hypothesis). Of these, the unguarded X has received the least experimental attention. This hypothesis suggests that the heterogametic sex suffers a shortened life span because recessive deleterious alleles on its single X(Z) chromosome are expressed unconditionally. In Drosophila melanogaster, the X chromosome is unusually large (∼20% of the genome), providing a powerful model for evaluating theories involving the X. Here, we test the unguarded X hypothesis by forcing D. melanogaster females from a laboratory population to express recessive X-linked alleles to the same degree as males, using females exclusively made homozygous for the X chromosome. We find no evidence for reduced life span or egg-to-adult viability due to X homozygozity. In contrast, males and females homozygous for an autosome both suffer similar, significant reductions in those traits. The logic of the unguarded X hypothesis is indisputable, but our results suggest that the degree to which recessive deleterious X-linked alleles depress performance in the heterogametic sex appears too small to explain general sex differences in life span. © 2018 The Author(s). Evolution © 2018 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Suture spanning augmentation of single-row rotator cuff repair: a biomechanical analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Early, Nicholas A; Elias, John J; Lippitt, Steven B; Filipkowski, Danielle E; Pedowitz, Robert A; Ciccone, William J

2017-02-01

This in vitro study evaluated the biomechanical benefit of adding spanning sutures to single-row rotator cuff repair. Mechanical testing was performed to evaluate 9 pairs of cadaveric shoulders with complete rotator cuff repairs, with a single-row technique used on one side and the suture spanning technique on the other. The spanning technique included sutures from 2 lateral anchors securing tendon near the musculotendinous junction, spanning the same anchor placement from single-row repair. The supraspinatus muscle was loaded to 100 N at 0.25 Hz for 100 cycles, followed by a ramp to failure. Markers and a video tracking system measured anterior and posterior gap formation across the repair at 25-cycle intervals. The force at which the stiffness decreased by 50% and 75% was determined. Data were compared using paired t-tests. One single-row repair failed at row repairs than for the suture spanning technique. The difference was statistically significant at all cycles for the posterior gap formation (P ≤ .02). The trends were not significant for the anterior gap (P ≥ .13). The loads at which the stiffness decreased by 50% and 75% did not differ significantly between the 2 types of repair (P ≥ .10). The suture spanning technique primarily improved posterior gap formation. Decreased posterior gap formation could reduce failure rates for rotator cuff repair. Copyright © 2017 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Flutter suppression and stability analysis for a variable-span wing via morphing technology

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wencheng; Jin, Dongping

2018-01-01

A morphing wing can enhance aerodynamic characteristics and control authority as an alternative to using ailerons. To use morphing technology for flutter suppression, the dynamical behavior and stability of a variable-span wing subjected to the supersonic aerodynamic loads are investigated numerically in this paper. An axially moving cantilever plate is employed to model the variable-span wing, in which the governing equations of motion are established via the Kane method and piston theory. A morphing strategy based on axially moving rates is proposed to suppress the flutter that occurs beyond the critical span length, and the flutter stability is verified by Floquet theory. Furthermore, the transient stability during the morphing motion is analyzed and the upper bound of the morphing rate is obtained. The simulation results indicate that the proposed morphing law, which is varying periodically with a proper amplitude, could accomplish the flutter suppression. Further, the upper bound of the morphing speed decreases rapidly once the span length is close to its critical span length.

Modelling ecosystem service flows under uncertainty with stochiastic SPAN

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Gary W.; Snapp, Robert R.; Villa, Ferdinando; Bagstad, Kenneth J.

2012-01-01

Ecosystem service models are increasingly in demand for decision making. However, the data required to run these models are often patchy, missing, outdated, or untrustworthy. Further, communication of data and model uncertainty to decision makers is often either absent or unintuitive. In this work, we introduce a systematic approach to addressing both the data gap and the difficulty in communicating uncertainty through a stochastic adaptation of the Service Path Attribution Networks (SPAN) framework. The SPAN formalism assesses ecosystem services through a set of up to 16 maps, which characterize the services in a study area in terms of flow pathways between ecosystems and human beneficiaries. Although the SPAN algorithms were originally defined deterministically, we present them here in a stochastic framework which combines probabilistic input data with a stochastic transport model in order to generate probabilistic spatial outputs. This enables a novel feature among ecosystem service models: the ability to spatially visualize uncertainty in the model results. The stochastic SPAN model can analyze areas where data limitations are prohibitive for deterministic models. Greater uncertainty in the model inputs (including missing data) should lead to greater uncertainty expressed in the model’s output distributions. By using Bayesian belief networks to fill data gaps and expert-provided trust assignments to augment untrustworthy or outdated information, we can account for uncertainty in input data, producing a model that is still able to run and provide information where strictly deterministic models could not. Taken together, these attributes enable more robust and intuitive modelling of ecosystem services under uncertainty.

Millipedes (Diplopoda of twelve caves in Western Mecsek, Southwest Hungary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angyal, D.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Twelve caves of Western Mecsek, Southwest Hungary were examined between September 2010 and April 2013from the millipede (Diplopoda faunistical point of view. Ten species were found in eight caves, which consistedeutroglophile and troglobiont elements as well. The cave with the most diverse fauna was the Törökpince Sinkhole, while thetwo previously also investigated caves, the Abaligeti Cave and the Mánfai-kőlyuk Cave provided less species, which couldbe related to their advanced touristic and industrial utilization.

Morphology of the spermathecae of twelve species of Triatominae (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) vectors of Chagas disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Nascimento, Juliana Damieli; Ribeiro, Aline Rimoldi; Almeida, Larissa Aguiar; de Oliveira, Jader; Mendonça, Vagner José; Cilense, Mário; da Rosa, João Aristeu

2017-12-01

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is transmitted by triatomines that have been described in a large number of studies. Most of those studies are related to external morphology and taxonomy, but some biochemical, genetic and physiological studies have also been published. There are a few publications in the literature about the internal organs of Triatominae, for instance the spermathecae, which are responsible for storing and maintaining the viability of the spermatozoids until the fertilization of the oocytes. This work aims to study the spermathecae of twelve species of triatomines obtained from the Triatominae Insectarium of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNESP, Araraquara, using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The spermathecae of the twelve species studied showed three morphological patterns: a) P. herreri sn, P. lignarius, P. megistus, Triatoma brasiliensis, T. juazeirensis, T. sherlocki and T. tibiamaculata have spermathecae with a thin initial portion and an oval-shaped final portion; b) R. montenegrensis, R. nasutus, R. neglectus, R. pictipes and R. prolixus have tubular and winding spermathecae; c) T. infestans has oval spermathecae. In addition to the three morphological patterns, it was noted that each of the twelve species has particular features that differentiate them. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Octave-Spanning Mid-IR Supercontinuum Generation with Ultrafast Cascaded Nonlinearities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Binbin; Guo, Hairun; Liu, Xing

2014-01-01

An octave-spanning mid-IR supercontinuum is observed experimentally using ultrafast cascaded nonlinearities in an LiInS2 quadratic nonlinear crystal pumped with 70 fs energetic mid-IR pulses and cut for strongly phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation.......An octave-spanning mid-IR supercontinuum is observed experimentally using ultrafast cascaded nonlinearities in an LiInS2 quadratic nonlinear crystal pumped with 70 fs energetic mid-IR pulses and cut for strongly phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation....

Natural ventilation of large multi-span greenhouses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, de T.

1990-01-01

In this thesis the ventilation of large multi-span greenhouses caused by wind and temperature effects is studied. Quantification of the ventilation is important to improve the control of the greenhouse climate.

Knowledge of the flow characteristics of the one-side-mounted windows of

Leaf life span plasticity in tropical seedlings grown under contrasting light regimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Gregoire

2006-02-01

The phenotypic plasticity of leaf life span in response to low resource conditions has a potentially large impact on the plant carbon budget, notably in evergreen species not subject to seasonal leaf shedding, but has rarely been well documented. This study evaluates the plasticity of leaf longevity, in terms of its quantitative importance to the plant carbon balance under limiting light. Seedlings of four tropical tree species with contrasting light requirements (Alstonia scholaris, Hevea brasiliensis, Durio zibethinus and Lansium domesticum) were grown under three light regimes (full sunlight, 45 % sunlight and 12 % sunlight). Their leaf dynamics were monitored over 18 months. All species showed a considerable level of plasticity with regard to leaf life span: over the range of light levels explored, the ratio of the range to the mean value of life span varied from 29 %, for the least plastic species, to 84 %, for the most. The common trend was for leaf life span to increase with decreasing light intensity. The plasticity apparent in leaf life span was similar in magnitude to the plasticity observed in specific leaf area and photosynthetic rate, implying that it has a significant impact on carbon gain efficiency when plants acclimate to different light regimes. In all species, median survival time was negatively correlated with leaf photosynthetic capacity (or its proxy, the nitrogen content per unit area) and leaf emergence rate. Longer leaf life spans under low light are likely to be a consequence of slower ageing as a result of a slower photosynthetic metabolism.

Time and resource limits on working memory: cross-age consistency in counting span performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ransdell, Sarah; Hecht, Steven

2003-12-01

This longitudinal study separated resource demand effects from those of retention interval in a counting span task among 100 children tested in grade 2 and again in grades 3 and 4. A last card large counting span condition had an equivalent memory load to a last card small, but the last card large required holding the count over a longer retention interval. In all three waves of assessment, the last card large condition was found to be less accurate than the last card small. A model predicting reading comprehension showed that age was a significant predictor when entered first accounting for 26% of the variance, but counting span accounted for a further 22% of the variance. Span at Wave 1 accounted for significant unique variance at Wave 2 and at Wave 3. Results were similar for math calculation with age accounting for 31% of the variance and counting span accounting for a further 34% of the variance. Span at Wave 1 explained unique variance in math at Wave 2 and at Wave 3.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Zoubrinetzky

Full Text Available We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants' VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants' VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition.

Relationships between Categorical Perception of Phonemes, Phoneme Awareness, and Visual Attention Span in Developmental Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Zoubrinetzky, Rachel; Collet, Gregory; Serniclaes, Willy; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the categorical perception deficit of speech sounds in developmental dyslexia is related to phoneme awareness skills, whereas a visual attention (VA) span deficit constitutes an independent deficit. Phoneme awareness tasks, VA span tasks and categorical perception tasks of phoneme identification and discrimination using a d/t voicing continuum were administered to 63 dyslexic children and 63 control children matched on chronological age. Results showed significant differences in categorical perception between the dyslexic and control children. Significant correlations were found between categorical perception skills, phoneme awareness and reading. Although VA span correlated with reading, no significant correlations were found between either categorical perception or phoneme awareness and VA span. Mediation analyses performed on the whole dyslexic sample suggested that the effect of categorical perception on reading might be mediated by phoneme awareness. This relationship was independent of the participants’ VA span abilities. Two groups of dyslexic children with a single phoneme awareness or a single VA span deficit were then identified. The phonologically impaired group showed lower categorical perception skills than the control group but categorical perception was similar in the VA span impaired dyslexic and control children. The overall findings suggest that the link between categorical perception, phoneme awareness and reading is independent from VA span skills. These findings provide new insights on the heterogeneity of developmental dyslexia. They suggest that phonological processes and VA span independently affect reading acquisition. PMID:26950210

55. 鉄道構造物の健全度把握手法の精度向上と有効利用に関する考察(都市施設の防災性向上と許容リスク その1)

OpenAIRE

上半, 文昭; 目黒, 公郎; Fumiaki, UEHAN; Kimiro, MEGURO; (財)鉄道総合技術研究所:東京大学生産技術研究所; 東京大学生産技術研究所; Railway Technical Research Institute:Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo; Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

1999-01-01

This paper discusses the improvement and effective use of health monitoring technique of railway bridges, using vibration measurement and new numerical model for nonlinear analysis of structures. First, accuracy of the Applied Element Method (AEM), used in this study, is verified through eigen value analysis and seismic response simulation of existing two-storied RC rigid frame viaduct. Next, change of natural frequency of the viaduct due to damage to columns is studied by the AEM. Applicabil...

Comparison between BIDE, PrefixSpan, and TRuleGrowth for Mining of Indonesian Text

Science.gov (United States)

Sa'adillah Maylawati, Dian; Irfan, Mohamad; Budiawan Zulfikar, Wildan

2017-01-01

Mining proscess for Indonesian language still be an interesting research. Multiple of words representation was claimed can keep the meaning of text better than bag of words. In this paper, we compare several sequential pattern algortihm, among others BIDE (BIDirectional Extention), PrefixSpan, and TRuleGrowth. All of those algorithm produce frequent word sequence to keep the meaning of text. However, the experiment result, with 14.006 of Indonesian tweet from Twitter, shows that BIDE can produce more efficient frequent word sequence than PrefixSpan and TRuleGrowth without missing the meaning of text. Then, the average of time process of PrefixSpan is faster than BIDE and TRuleGrowth. In the other hand, PrefixSpan and TRuleGrowth is more efficient in using memory than BIDE.

Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions of Abnormal Attention Span of Elementary School-Age Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Segal-Triwitz, Yael; Kirchen, Louisa M; Shani Sherman, Tal; Levav, Miriam; Schonherz-Pine, Yael; Kushnir, Jonathan; Ariel, Raya; Gothelf, Doron

2016-01-01

To determine teacher and parental perception of minimal expected sustained attention span during various daily tasks among elementary school children. 54 parents and 47 teachers completed the attention span questionnaire (AtSQ) that was developed for this study. The AtSQ consists of 15 academic and leisure tasks that require a child's sustained attention. The study focused on third and fourth graders in Israel. There was a high degree of variability among teachers and parents in their responses to the AtSQ. The expected attention span of children as judged by parents was higher and more varied compared to teachers, and higher for girls than for boys. Our results indicate poor agreement in cutoff values for sustained attention span between teachers and parents and within each group.

[Twelve years of liver transplantation in Lausanne].

Science.gov (United States)

Mosimann, F; Bettschart, V; Gardaz, J P; Fontolliet, C; Tissot, J D; Meuwly, J Y; Chioléro, R; Gillet, M

2001-02-01

From 1988 to June 2000 138 transplantations were performed in 129 adult patients. Actuarial patient and graft survivals have been 80.7% and 75.4% at one year and 67.8% and 63.5% at 10 years. This compares favourably with the statistics of the European Liver Transplant Registry that collected data from more than 30,000 grafts. Over the twelve years of activity, the indications have become more liberal and the techniques have been simplified. The waiting list has therefore grown and some patients are now unfortunately dying before a graft can be found because the number of brain dead donors remains stable. In order to palliate this shortage, older donors are now being accepted even with co-morbidities and/or moderate alterations of the liver function tests. The use of live donors and the split of the best cadaveric grafts for two recipients will also reduce the gap between the demand and the offer.

Aeroelastic stability of full-span tiltrotor aircraft model in forward flight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiquan LI

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The existing full-span models of the tiltrotor aircraft adopted the rigid blade model without considering the coupling relationship among the elastic blade, wing and fuselage. To overcome the limitations of the existing full-span models and improve the precision of aeroelastic analysis of tiltrotor aircraft in forward flight, the aeroelastic stability analysis model of full-span tiltrotor aircraft in forward flight has been presented in this paper by considering the coupling among elastic blade, wing, fuselage and various components. The analytical model is validated by comparing with the calculation results and experimental data in the existing references. The influence of some structural parameters, such as the fuselage degrees of freedom, relative displacement between the hub center and the gravity center, and nacelle length, on the system stability is also investigated. The results show that the fuselage degrees of freedom decrease the critical stability velocity of tiltrotor aircraft, and the variation of the structural parameters has great influence on the system stability, and the instability form of system can change between the anti-symmetric and symmetric wing motions of vertical and chordwise bending. Keywords: Aeroelastic stability, Forward flight, Full-span model, Modal analysis, Tiltrotor aircraft

Young Skilled Deaf Readers Have an Enhanced Perceptual Span in Reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Bélanger, Nathalie N; Lee, Michelle; Schotter, Elizabeth R

2017-04-27

Recently, Bélanger, Slattery, Mayberry and Rayner (2012) showed, using the moving window paradigm, that profoundly deaf adults have a wider perceptual span during reading relative to hearing adults matched on reading level. This difference might be related to the fact that deaf adults allocate more visual attention to simple stimuli in the parafovea (Bavelier, Dye & Hauser, 2006). Importantly, this reorganization of visual attention in deaf individuals is already manifesting in deaf children (Dye, Hauser & Bavelier, 2009). This leads to questions about the time course of the emergence of an enhanced perceptual span (which is under attentional control; Rayner, 2014; Miellet, O'Donnell, & Sereno, 2009) in young deaf readers. The present research addressed this question by comparing the perceptual spans of young deaf readers (age 7-15) and young hearing children (age 7-15). Young deaf readers, like deaf adults, were found to have a wider perceptual span relative to their hearing peers matched on reading level, suggesting that strong and early reorganization of visual attention in deaf individuals goes beyond the processing of simple visual stimuli and emerges into more cognitively complex tasks, such as reading.

[The evolution of plant life span: facts and hypotheses].

Science.gov (United States)

2006-01-01

There are two different views on the evolution of life forms in Cormophyta: from woody plants to herbaceous ones or in opposite direction - from herbs to trees. In accordance with these views it is supposed that life span in plants changed in the course of evolution from many years (perennials) to few years (annuals, biennials), or went in reverse - from few years to many years. The author discusses the problems of senescence and longevity in Cormophyta in the context of various hypotheses of ageing (programmed death theory, mutation accumulation, antagonistic pleiotropy, disposable soma, genes of ageing, genes of longevity). Special attention is given to bio-morphological aspects of longevity and cases of non-ageing plants ("negative senescence", "potential immortality"). It is proposed to distinguish seven models of simple ontogenesis in Cormophyta that can exemplify the diversity of mechanisms of ageing and longevity. The evolution of life span in plants is considered as an indirect result of natural selection of other characteristics of organisms or as a consequence of fixation of modifications (episelectional evolution). It seems that short life span could emerge several times during evolution of one group of plants, thus favoring its adaptive radiation.

Low doze γ-irradiation influence on drosophila life span in different genetics background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moskalev, A.

2007-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. The main goal of this work was to study in Drosophila melanogaster the contribution of DNA damage sensing and repair, apoptosis and heat shock defence into life span and physical activity alteration after gamma-irradiation at low doze rate. In our experiments, the strains were exposed to chronic gamma-irradiation from a 226Ra source (50 R/h) at doze rate 0.17 cGy/h at pre-imago development stages only. The absorbed radiation dose per generation (from embryo to imago, 12 days) was 60 cGy. Life span estimation was prepared in adult males and females separately. We compared the life span of apoptotic (p53, DIAP-1, dApaf-1, Dcp-1, reaper, grim and hid), heat shock defence (HSP70, HSP23, HSF), DNA damage sensing (ATR) and repair (XPF, XPC, PCNA, DSB repair helicase homologs) mutants after chronic irradiation with the control. On the basis of our investigation we have concluded: 1) Low doze irradiation alter the life span depending on genetic background (mutant alleles, heterozygosity level and sex); 2) Age dynamics of physical activity positively correlates with the life span; 3) Longevity potential forms at early development stages; 4) DNA damage sensing, DNA repair, heat shock defence and apoptosis as aging preventing mechanisms play crucial role in radiation-induced life span hormesis.

The effect of span length and girder type on bridge costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Batikha Mustafa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Bridges have an important role in impacting the civilization, growth and economy of cities from ancient time until these days due to their function in reducing transportation cost and time. Therefore, development of bridges has been a knowledge domain in civil engineering studies in terms of their types and construction materials to confirm a reliable, safe, economic design and construction. Girder-bridge of concrete deck and I-beam girder has been used widely for short and medium span bridges because of ease and low-cost of fabrication. However, many theoretical and practical investigations are still undertaken regarding the type of beam girder; i.e steel composite or prestressed concrete. This paper evaluates the effect of bridge span and the type of girder on the capital cost and life cycle costs of bridges. Three types of girders were investigated in this research: steel composite, pre-tensioned pre-stressed concrete and post-tensioned pre-stressed concrete. The structural design was analyzed for 5 span lengths: 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40m. Then, the capital construction cost was accounted for 15 bridges according to each span and construction materials. Moreover, the maintenance required for 50 years of bridge life was evaluated and built up as whole life costs for each bridge. As a result of this study, the influence of both span length and type of girder on initial construction cost and maintenance whole life costs were assessed to support the decision makers and designers in the selection process for the optimum solution of girder bridges.

Diferença entre span verbal e visual nos gêneros: estudo piloto

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Cristina Pedrassa Sagrilo

2013-06-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: avaliar a memória de trabalho analisando a capacidade de retenção de estímulos auditivos (span verbal e visuais (span visual e estabelecer a relação com o gênero (masculino e feminino. MÉTODO: participaram deste estudo 20 crianças entre seis anos e cinco meses e sete anos, sendo 10 sujeitos do sexo masculino e 10 sujeitos do sexo feminino. Todos os sujeitos foram submetidos às provas de avaliação do span verbal e visual em ordem direta e inversa. RESULTADOS: apenas na prova de palavras dissílabas com fonologia semelhante e semântica diferente do span verbal, houve variância significante entre os gêneros. As crianças do sexo feminino apresentaram melhor desempenho em relação ao outro gênero, bem como maior capacidade de retenção de palavras dissílabas com fonologia e semântica diferentes. No span visual (ordem direta e inversa as crianças do sexo masculino obtiveram melhor desempenho, apesar de não ter diferenças significantes. Em relação à idade não houve diferença de retenção de estímulos. CONCLUSÃO: as crianças do sexo feminino, neste estudo, apresentaram tendência à melhor desempenho do span verbal e as crianças do sexo masculino tendência a melhor desempenho no span visual. No entanto, o estudo é limitado devido ao reduzido número de participantes na amostra.

Span Restoration in Optical Networks with Limited Wavelength Conversion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Buron, Jakob Due; Andriolli, N

2007-01-01

Next generation optical networks provide functionalities to dynamically provision and recover connections, while emerging technologies allow for the conversion between wavelengths. These devices are however expensive and hence it is likely that only few are deployed throughout the network...... converter-saving wavelength assignment in GMPLS networks. The converter saving property of the Suggested Vector is particularly desirable in span restoration, where the pre-failure path stubs have to be merged to the restoration path at the failure-adjacent nodes. In order to avoid wavelength conversion....... Furthermore, we describe different scenarios to extend the suggested vector wavelength assignment scheme to multi-domain networks with focus on span restoration....

Qualitative Exploration of Acculturation and Life-Span Issues of Elderly Asian Americans

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jee Hyang; Heo, Nanseol; Lu, Junfei; Portman, Tarrell Awe Agahe

2013-01-01

Awareness of aging issues across diverse populations begins the journey toward counselors becoming culturally competent across client life spans. Understanding the life-span experiences of cultural groups is important for helping professionals. The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the qualitative experiences of Asian American…

23 CFR 973.208 - Indian lands pavement management system (PMS).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Indian lands pavement management system (PMS). 973.208... PROGRAM Bureau of Indian Affairs Management Systems § 973.208 Indian lands pavement management system (PMS... concepts described in the AASHTO's “Pavement Management Guide.” 1 1 “Pavement Management Guide,” AASHTO...

Experimental investigation of span length for flexural test of fiber reinforced polymer composite laminates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akhil Mehndiratta

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Testing and evaluation of mechanical properties for FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer composite parts play a significant role to qualify it for the end use. Among the mechanical properties, the flexural strength is significant and vital as it may vary with specimen depth, temperature and the test span length. The flexural strength varies for different materials with varying the test span length hence the current work aims to find an optimum span length to test flexural strength for the specimens made of Glass (7781, EC9756 and Carbon (HTA7, G801 prepreg materials. Experiments are conducted as per the ASTM Standard D 790 for flexural test by varying the span lengths to understand the behavior of the flexural strength and flexural modulus. The experimental data were compared with those obtained from the finite element program software Altair Hyper works 14.0. The results indicate that flexural modulus increases with the span length to a point and then it decreases. Thereby, an optimum span length can be obtained for testing flexural strength, which will be useful to the designers and the composite manufacturers to accomplish better standard testing procedures.

A Wide Span Tractor concept developed for efficient and environmental friendly farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Hans Henrik; Grøn Sørensen, Claus; Oudshoorn, Frank W

2013-01-01

agricultural machines a new Wide Span (WS) tractor concept has been designed and a prototype tractor with a span of 9.6 m (wheel centre to wheel centre) has been built. It is designed to optimise the Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) system that is already in place on the vegetable farm where it is being tested....... The tractor is designed to carry out all operations during vegetable production including harvest. Using the tractor means that less than 10% of the field area is affected by compaction due to field traffic. The economical and environmental effects of such a wide span CTF growing system will be assessed....

Wavelength-Converter Saving Span Restoration in GMPLS Controlled WDM Optical Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Buron, Jakob Due; Andriolli, N.

2006-01-01

We present two label preference schemes to reduce wavelength-conversion during restoration path setup in GMPLS controlled optical networks exploiting span restoration. The amount of required wavelength-conversions can be reduced up to 34 percent.......We present two label preference schemes to reduce wavelength-conversion during restoration path setup in GMPLS controlled optical networks exploiting span restoration. The amount of required wavelength-conversions can be reduced up to 34 percent....

Hormigón liviano de alto desempeño - una comparación entre pérdidas de pretensado reales y estimadas por los códigos de diseño High performance lightweight concrete - a comparison between actual prestress losses and design code estimates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauricio López

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Dos mezclas de hormigón liviano de alto desempeño (HLAD con resistencias a compresión de 55 MPa y 69 MPa fueron desarrolladas. El peso unitario de los hormigones fue 1855 y 1890 kg/m, respectivamente. Creep, retracción y pérdidas de pretensado fueron investigadas en 36 probetas cilíndricas y en cuatro vigas pretensadas AASHTO tipo II. Las pérdidas de pretensado medidas en las vigas AASHTO tipo II fabricadas con HLAD fueron menores que las estimadas con los métodos descritos en los códigos AASHTO, PCI y ACI-209, lo que significa que los códigos de diseño dan estimaciónes conservadoras de las pérdidas de pretensado en este nuevo hormigón. Basados en los datos experimentales, las pérdidas finales de pretensado fueron estimadas como un 14.3 y 9.6% de la carga inicial aplicada para las vigas hechas con HLAD de 55 y 69 MPa, respectivamenteTwo different high performance lightweight concretes (HPLC with strengths of 55 and 69 MPa were developed. They had an air-dry unit weight of 1855 and 1890 kg/m³, respectively. Creep, shrinkage and prestress losses were investigated on 36 cylinder specimens and on four AASHTO Type II girders. Prestress losses measured on the AASHTO Type II girders made with HPLC were less than those predicted using AASHTO, PCI and ACI-209 methods which means that the design codes give conservative estimates of the actual prestress losses of this new concrete. Based on experimental data, final, total prestress losses were estimated to be 14.3 and 9.6% of the initial prestressing force for the 55-MPa and 69-MPa HPLC, respectively

Uso de aisladores de base en puentes de concreto simplemente apoyados

OpenAIRE

Leocadio Rico Pradilla; Gustavo Chio Cho

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to present a comparison of the seismic behavior of simply supported concrete bridges by using three types of base isolators, namely high damping rubber bearing (HDRB), lead rubber bearing (LRB) and friction pendulum system (FPS). “La Flora” viaduct is taken as case study; the geometry and the corresponding modeling of such viaduct are defined in sap2000. Additionally, the mechanical properties of three insulators are defined using a bilinear model. An analysis of hist...

Testing for Spanning with Futrures Contracts and Nontraded Assets : A General Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijman, T.E.; de Roon, F.A.; Werker, B.J.M.

1996-01-01

This paper generalizes the notion of mean-variance spanning as de- ned in the seminal paper of Huberman & Kandel (1987) in three di- mensions.It is shown how regression techniques can be used to test for spanning for more general classes of utility functions, in case some as- sets are nontraded, and

Evaluation of Bridges Subjected to Military Loading and Dynamic Hydraulic Effects: Review of Design Regulations, Selection Criteria, and Inspection Procedures for Bridge Railing Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-01

Figure 11. Potential for wheel , bumper, or hood impact with post (AASHTO 2007). ....................... 102 Figure 12. Post setback criteria (AASHTO 2007...barriers. ................................................................... 88 Table 22. Recommended values for runout lengths...The clear zone may consist of a shoulder, a recoverable slope, a nonrecoverable slope, and/or a clear runout area. Crash tests: Vehicular impact

Herbal supplement extends life span under some environmental conditions and boosts stress resistance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryant Villeponteau

Full Text Available Genetic studies indicate that aging is modulated by a great number of genetic pathways. We have used Drosophila longevity and stress assays to test a multipath intervention strategy. To carry out this strategy, we supplemented the flies with herbal extracts (SC100 that are predicted to modulate the expression of many genes involved in aging and stress resistance, such as mTOR, NOS, NF-KappaB, and VEGF. When flies were housed in large cages with SC100 added, daily mortality rates of both male and female flies were greatly diminished in mid to late life. Surprisingly, SC100 also stabilized midlife mortality rate increases so as to extend the maximum life span substantially beyond the limits previously reported for D. melanogaster. Under these conditions, SC100 also promoted robust resistance to partial starvation stress and to heat stress. Fertility was the same initially in both treated and control flies, but it became significantly higher in treated flies at older ages as the fertility of control flies declined. Mean and maximum life spans of flies in vials at the same test site were also extended by SC100, but the life spans were short in absolute terms. In contrast, at an independent test site where stress was minimized, the flies exhibited much longer mean life spans, but the survival curves became highly rectangular and the effects of SC100 on both mean and maximum life spans declined greatly or were abolished. The data indicate that SC100 is a novel herbal mix with striking effects on enhancing Drosophila stress resistance and life span in some environments, while minimizing mid to late life mortality rates. They also show that the environment and other factors can have transformative effects on both the length and distribution of survivorship, and on the ability of SC100 to extend the life span.

Recognition memory span in autopsy-confirmed Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, David P; Heindel, William C; Hamilton, Joanne M; Vincent Filoteo, J; Cidambi, Varun; Hansen, Lawrence A; Masliah, Eliezer; Galasko, Douglas

2015-08-01

Evidence from patients with amnesia suggests that recognition memory span tasks engage both long-term memory (i.e., secondary memory) processes mediated by the diencephalic-medial temporal lobe memory system and working memory processes mediated by fronto-striatal systems. Thus, the recognition memory span task may be particularly effective for detecting memory deficits in disorders that disrupt both memory systems. The presence of unique pathology in fronto-striatal circuits in Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) compared to AD suggests that performance on the recognition memory span task might be differentially affected in the two disorders even though they have quantitatively similar deficits in secondary memory. In the present study, patients with autopsy-confirmed DLB or AD, and Normal Control (NC) participants, were tested on separate recognition memory span tasks that required them to retain increasing amounts of verbal, spatial, or visual object (i.e., faces) information across trials. Results showed that recognition memory spans for verbal and spatial stimuli, but not face stimuli, were lower in patients with DLB than in those with AD, and more impaired relative to NC performance. This was despite similar deficits in the two patient groups on independent measures of secondary memory such as the total number of words recalled from long-term storage on the Buschke Selective Reminding Test. The disproportionate vulnerability of recognition memory span task performance in DLB compared to AD may be due to greater fronto-striatal involvement in DLB and a corresponding decrement in cooperative interaction between working memory and secondary memory processes. Assessment of recognition memory span may contribute to the ability to distinguish between DLB and AD relatively early in the course of disease. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The twelve-flavor β-function and dilaton tests of the sextet scalar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fodor Zoltan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We discuss near-conformal gauge theories beyond the standard model (BSM where interesting results on the twelve-flavor β-function of massless fermions in the fundamental representation of the SU(3 color gauge group and dilaton tests of the light scalar with two massless fermions in the two-index symmetric tensor (sextet representation can be viewed as parts of the same BSM paradigm under investigation. The clear trend in the decreasing size of β-functions at fixed renormalized gauge coupling is interpreted as a first indicator how the conformal window (CW is approached in correlation with emergent near-conformal light scalars. BSM model building close to the CW will be influenced by differing expectations on the properties of the emergent light 0++ scalar either as a σ-particle of chiral symmetry breaking (ΧS B, or as a dilaton of scale symmetry breaking. The twelve-flavor β-function emerges as closest to the CW, perhaps near-conformal, or perhaps with an infrared fixed point (IRFP at some unexplored strong coupling inside the CW. It is premature to speculate on dilaton properties of the twelveflavor model since the near-conformal realization remains an open question. However, it is interesting and important to investigate dilaton tests of the light sextet scalar whose β-function is closest to the CW in the symmetry breaking phase and emerges as the leading candidate for dilaton tests of the light scalar. We report results from high precision analysis of the twelve-flavor β-function [1] refuting its published IRFP [2, 3]. We present our objections to recent claims [4, 5] for non-universal behavior of staggered fermions used in our analysis. We also report our first analysis of dilaton tests of the light 0++ scalar in the sextet model and comment on related post-conference developments. The dilaton test is the main thrust of this conference contribution including presentation #405 on the nf = 12 β-function and presentation #260 on dilaton

Twelve reasons to refuse the nuclear in the MDP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonduelle, A.

2000-01-01

The author presents twelve reasons which show that the nuclear energy has not a place in the MDP Mechanism of Clean Development: a main loophole for the developed countries, the doubtful ''additionality'' of the nuclear, the treaty ratification is more difficult with the nuclear, the domestic energy conservation is more efficient in Europe than the nuclear development, the nuclear white elephants facing the South debts, the technology transfers are doubtful, the developing countries and the sustainable development policies are evicted from the MDP, some options are more powerful in the South, the reactors and transport networks size are unsuited, the absence of democratic control, the nuclear proliferation, the nuclear safety and the wastes. (A.L.B.)

High-Reynolds Number Active Blowing Semi-Span Force Measurement System Development

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Keith C.; Rhew, Ray D.; Acheson, Michael J.; Jones, Gregory S.; Milholen, William E.; Goodliff, Scott L.

2012-01-01

Recent wind-tunnel tests at the NASA Langley Research Center National Transonic Facility utilized high-pressure bellows to route air to the model for evaluating aircraft circulation control. The introduction of these bellows within the Sidewall Model Support System significantly impacted the performance of the external sidewall mounted semi-span balance. As a result of this impact on the semi-span balance measurement performance, it became apparent that a new capability needed to be built into the National Transonic Facility s infrastructure to allow for performing pressure tare calibrations on the balance in order to properly characterize its performance under the influence of static bellows pressure tare loads and bellows thermal effects. The objective of this study was to design both mechanical calibration hardware and an experimental calibration design that can be employed at the facility in order to efficiently and precisely perform the necessary loadings in order to characterize the semi-span balance under the influence of multiple calibration factors (balance forces/moments and bellows pressure/temperature). Using statistical design of experiments, an experimental design was developed allowing for strategically characterizing the behavior of the semi-span balance for use in circulation control and propulsion-type flow control testing at the National Transonic Facility.

Restoring speech perception with cochlear implants by spanning defective electrode contacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Frijns, Johan H M; Snel-Bongers, Jorien; Vellinga, Dirk; Schrage, Erik; Vanpoucke, Filiep J; Briaire, Jeroen J

2013-04-01

Even with six defective contacts, spanning can largely restore speech perception with the HiRes 120 speech processing strategy to the level supported by an intact electrode array. Moreover, the sound quality is not degraded. Previous studies have demonstrated reduced speech perception scores (SPS) with defective contacts in HiRes 120. This study investigated whether replacing defective contacts by spanning, i.e. current steering on non-adjacent contacts, is able to restore speech recognition to the level supported by an intact electrode array. Ten adult cochlear implant recipients (HiRes90K, HiFocus1J) with experience with HiRes 120 participated in this study. Three different defective electrode arrays were simulated (six separate defective contacts, three pairs or two triplets). The participants received three take-home strategies and were asked to evaluate the sound quality in five predefined listening conditions. After 3 weeks, SPS were evaluated with monosyllabic words in quiet and in speech-shaped background noise. The participants rated the sound quality equal for all take-home strategies. SPS with background noise were equal for all conditions tested. However, SPS in quiet (85% phonemes correct on average with the full array) decreased significantly with increasing spanning distance, with a 3% decrease for each spanned contact.

Developments and Prospects of Long-Span High-Speed Railway Bridge Technologies in China

OpenAIRE

Shunquan Qin; Zongyu Gao

2017-01-01

With the rapid developments of the high-speed railway in China, a great number of long-span bridges have been constructed in order to cross rivers and gorges. At present, the longest main span of a constructed high-speed railway bridge is only 630 m. The main span of Hutong Yangtze River Bridge and of Wufengshan Yangtze River Bridge, which are under construction, will be much longer, at 1092 m each. In order to overcome the technical issues that originate from the extremely large dead loading...

Orion: a glimpse of hope in life span extension?

Science.gov (United States)

Muradian, K; Bondar, V; Bezrukov, V; Zhukovsky, O; Polyakov, V; Utko, N

2010-01-01

Orion is a multicomponent drug based on derivatives of taurocholic acid and several other compounds. Application of Orion into the feeding medium of Drosophila melanogaster resulted in increased life span and survival at stressful conditions. Two paradoxical features of the drug should be stressed: The "age-threshold" (life span extension was observed only when the drug was applied starting from the second half of life) and induction of "centenarian" flies (older 100 days). Orion enhanced survival at heat shock (38 degrees C) and acidic (pH = 1.6) or alkaline (pH = 11.8) feeding mediums, but not at oxidative stresses modeled by 100% oxygen or application of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)).

Post-Tensioned Concrete Long-Span Slabs in Projects of Modern Building Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Szydlowski, Rafal; Labuzek, Barbara

2017-10-01

Nowadays, design of modern an architectural building structures requires the use of slender and free from numerous supports slabs. The most suitable solution for above requirements are the post-tensioned slabs with unbounded tendons. Slabs prestressed by unbounded tendons are successfully used worldwide for several decades. During that time many recommendations dealing with the forming of geometry and prestressing, dimensioning and erection technology were issued. During the recent years prestressed slabs characterized by span and slenderness substantially exceeding recommended limitations were designed and erected with success in Poland. During the slabs erection and in two years of their using, the deflection of three oversized slabs were monitoring. In spite of designed the slabs significantly larger and slenderer than the recommended maximum value of span and span to depth ratio, the deflection of the slabs is definitely far from the limit value. The paper shows the geometry, characteristic and deflection of erected slabs and conclusion. Description of a very large span slab (21.3m), that was designed regarded to the information obtained from the previous realisation, is presented in this paper.

Front-line managers as boundary spanners: effects of span and time on nurse supervision satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Raquel M; O'Brien-Pallas, Linda; Doran, Diane; Streiner, David; Ferguson-Paré, Mary; Duffield, Christine

2011-07-01

To examine the influence of nurse manager span (number of direct report staff), time in staff contact, transformational leadership practices and operational hours on nurse supervision satisfaction. Increasing role complexity has intensified the boundary spanning functions of managers. Because work demands and scope vary by management position, time in staff contact rather than span may better explain managers' capacity to support staff. A descriptive, correlational design was used to collect cross-sectional survey and prospective work log and administrative data from a convenience sample of 558 nurses in 51 clinical areas and 31 front-line nurse managers from four acute care hospitals in 2007-2008. Data were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling. Span, but not time in staff contact, interacted with leadership and operational hours to explain supervision satisfaction. With compressed operational hours, supervision satisfaction was lower with highly transformational leadership in combination with wider spans. With extended operational hours, supervision satisfaction was higher with highly transformational leadership, and this effect was more pronounced under wider spans. Operational hours, which influence the manager's daily span (average number of direct report staff working per weekday), should be factored into the design of front-line management positions. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography consisting of twelve second-dimension columns for comprehensive analysis of intact proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Jiangtao; Beckner, Matthew A; Lynch, Kyle B; Chen, Huang; Zhu, Zaifang; Yang, Yu; Chen, Apeng; Qiao, Zhenzhen; Liu, Shaorong; Lu, Joann J

2018-05-15

A comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LCxLC) system consisting of twelve columns in the second dimension was developed for comprehensive analysis of intact proteins in complex biological samples. The system consisted of an ion-exchange column in the first dimension and the twelve reverse-phase columns in the second dimension; all thirteen columns were monolithic and prepared inside 250 µm i.d. capillaries. These columns were assembled together through the use of three valves and an innovative configuration. The effluent from the first dimension was continuously fractionated and sequentially transferred into the twelve second-dimension columns, while the second-dimension separations were carried out in a series of batches (six columns per batch). This LCxLC system was tested first using standard proteins followed by real-world samples from E. coli. Baseline separation was observed for eleven standard proteins and hundreds of peaks were observed for the real-world sample analysis. Two-dimensional liquid chromatography, often considered as an effective tool for mapping proteins, is seen as laborious and time-consuming when configured offline. Our online LCxLC system with increased second-dimension columns promises to provide a solution to overcome these hindrances. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Looking for an Explanation for the Low Sign Span. Is Order Involved?

Science.gov (United States)

Gozzi, Marta; Geraci, Carlo; Cecchetto, Carlo; Perugini, Marco; Papagno, Costanza

2011-01-01

Although signed and speech-based languages have a similar internal organization of verbal short-term memory, sign span is lower than word span. We investigated whether this is due to the fact that signs are not suited for serial recall, as proposed by Bavelier, Newport, Hall, Supalla, and Boutla (2008. Ordered short-term memory differs in signers…

Linking and Cutting Spanning Trees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luís M. S. Russo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We consider the problem of uniformly generating a spanning tree for an undirected connected graph. This process is useful for computing statistics, namely for phylogenetic trees. We describe a Markov chain for producing these trees. For cycle graphs, we prove that this approach significantly outperforms existing algorithms. For general graphs, experimental results show that the chain converges quickly. This yields an efficient algorithm due to the use of proper fast data structures. To obtain the mixing time of the chain we describe a coupling, which we analyze for cycle graphs and simulate for other graphs.

Characterisation of minimal-span plane Couette turbulence with pressure gradients

Science.gov (United States)

Sekimoto, Atsushi; Atkinson, Callum; Soria, Julio

2018-04-01

The turbulence statistics and dynamics in the spanwise-minimal plane Couette flow with pressure gradients, so-called, Couette-Poiseuille (C-P) flow, are investigated using direct numerical simulation. The large-scale motion is limited in the spanwise box dimension as in the minimal-span channel turbulence of Flores & Jiménez (Phys. Fluids, vol. 22, 2010, 071704). The effect of the top wall, where normal pressure-driven Poiseuille flow is realised, is distinguished from the events on the bottom wall, where the pressure gradient results in mild or almost-zero wall-shear stress. A proper scaling of turbulence statistics in minimal-span C-P flows is presented. Also the ‘shear-less’ wall-bounded turbulence, where the Corrsin shear parameter is very weak compared to normal wall-bounded turbulence, represents local separation, which is also observed as spanwise streaks of reversed flow in full-size plane C-P turbulence. The local separation is a multi-scale event, which grows up to the order of the channel height even in the minimal-span geometry.

Short-term memory predictions across the lifespan: monitoring span before and after conducting a task.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertrand, Julie Marilyne; Moulin, Chris John Anthony; Souchay, Céline

2017-05-01

Our objective was to explore metamemory in short-term memory across the lifespan. Five age groups participated in this study: 3 groups of children (4-13 years old), and younger and older adults. We used a three-phase task: prediction-span-postdiction. For prediction and postdiction phases, participants reported with a Yes/No response if they could recall in order a series of images. For the span task, they had to actually recall such series. From 4 years old, children have some ability to monitor their short-term memory and are able to adjust their prediction after experiencing the task. However, accuracy still improves significantly until adolescence. Although the older adults had a lower span, they were as accurate as young adults in their evaluation, suggesting that metamemory is unimpaired for short-term memory tasks in older adults. •We investigate metamemory for short-term memory tasks across the lifespan. •We find younger children cannot accurately predict their span length. •Older adults are accurate in predicting their span length. •People's metamemory accuracy was related to their short-term memory span.

The visual attention span deficit in Chinese children with reading fluency difficulty.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Liu, Menglian; Liu, Hanlong; Huang, Chen

2018-02-01

With reading development, some children fail to learn to read fluently. However, reading fluency difficulty (RFD) has not been fully investigated. The present study explored the underlying mechanism of RFD from the aspect of visual attention span. Fourteen Chinese children with RFD and fourteen age-matched normal readers participated. The visual 1-back task was adopted to examine visual attention span. Reaction time and accuracy were recorded, and relevant d-prime (d') scores were computed. Results showed that children with RFD exhibited lower accuracy and lower d' values than the controls did in the visual 1-back task, revealing a visual attention span deficit. Further analyses on d' values revealed that the attention distribution seemed to exhibit an inverted U-shaped pattern without lateralization for normal readers, but a W-shaped pattern with a rightward bias for children with RFD, which was discussed based on between-group variation in reading strategies. Results of the correlation analyses showed that visual attention span was associated with reading fluency at the sentence level for normal readers, but was related to reading fluency at the single-character level for children with RFD. The different patterns in correlations between groups revealed that visual attention span might be affected by the variation in reading strategies. The current findings extend previous data from alphabetic languages to Chinese, a logographic language with a particularly deep orthography, and have implications for reading-dysfluency remediation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of protection spanning-tree protocol

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Б.Я. Корнієнко

2007-01-01

Full Text Available  Extraordinary sweeping  of  IT – development  causes vulnerabilities and, thereafter, attacks that use these vulnerabilities. That is why one must post factum or even in advance speed up invention of new information  security systems as well as develop the old ones. The matter of article concerns Spanning-Tree Protocol  – the vivid example of the case, when the cure of the vulnerability creates dozen of new "weak spots".

Evaluating the life cycle environmental impact of short span bridges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Guangli; Pettersson, Lars; Karoumi, Raid

2016-01-01

impact of the construction sector. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic method for assessing the environmental impact of products and systems, but its application in bridges is scarce. In Swede, most of the bridges are short spans and the type of concrete slab-frame bridge (CFB) accounts...... for a large share. Soil steel composite bridge (SSCB) is a functional equivalent solution for CFB. In order to mitigate the environmental burdens of short span bridges, this paper performed a comparative LCA study between these two types of bridge. The results indicate that the initial material consumption...

Cross-language modulation of visual attention span: An Arabic-French-Spanish comparison in adult skilled readers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faris Haroon Rasheed Awadh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages --French, Spanish and Arabic-- that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were adult skilled readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented 5 consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T. All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that the VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between visual attention span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.

Cross-Language Modulation of Visual Attention Span: An Arabic-French-Spanish Comparison in Skilled Adult Readers.

Science.gov (United States)

Awadh, Faris H R; Phénix, Thierry; Antzaka, Alexia; Lallier, Marie; Carreiras, Manuel; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA) span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages -French, Spanish, and Arabic- that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were skilled adult readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented five consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T). All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between VA span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.

Electrical performance of conducting polymer (SPAN) grown on GaAs with different substrate orientations

Science.gov (United States)

Jameel, D. A.; Aziz, M.; Felix, J. F.; Al Saqri, N.; Taylor, D.; Albalawi, H.; Alghamdi, H.; Al Mashary, F.; Henini, M.

2016-11-01

This article reports the effect of n-type GaAs substrate orientation, namely (100), (311)A and (311)B, on the electrical properties of sulfonated polyaniline (SPAN)/GaAs heterojunction devices. In addition, the inhomogeneity of the interface between various GaAs substrates and SPAN is investigated in terms of barrier height and ideality factor by performing I-V measurements at different temperatures (20-420 K). The I-V results indicate that the value of the rectification ratio (IF/IR) at 0.5 V is higher for SPAN/(311)B GaAs samples than for SPAN/(100) GaAs and SPAN/(311)A GaAs samples. Moreover, the barrier height decreases and the ideality factor increases with decreasing temperature for all three heterostructure devices. The high value of mean barrier Φbarb of SPAN/(311)B (calculated from the plots of Φb 0 as a function of 1/2kT) confirms that the GaAs substrate orientation results in an increase of barrier homogeneities. Furthermore, the C-V characteristics were obtained at room temperature. The C-V measurements showed that the carrier distributions at the interface and away from the interface in high index (311) GaAs orientations are more uniform and have better barrier homogeneity than those grown on the conventional (100) GaAs substrates.

DIRECT SELECTION ON LIFE-SPAN IN DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ZWAAN, B; BIJLSMA, R; HOEKSTRA, RE

An important issue in the study of the evolution of aging in Drosophila melanogaster is whether decreased early fecundity is inextricably coupled with increased life span in selection experiments on age at reproduction. Here, this problem has been tackled using an experimental design in which

Life span effects of Hypericum perforatum extracts on Caenorhabditis elegans under heat stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Kılıçgün, Hasan; Göksen, Gülden

2012-10-01

The beneficial effects of antioxidants in plants are mainly extrapolated from in vitro studies or short-term dietary supplementation studies. Due to cost and duration, relatively little is known about whether dietary antioxidants are beneficial in whole animals' life span or not. To address this question, under heat stress (35°C), Hypericum perforatum was extracted with petroleum ether and the nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to three different extract concentrations (1mg/mL, 0.1mg/mL, 0.01mg/mL) of H. perforatum. We report that Hypericum perforatum extracts did not increase life span and slow aging related increase in C. elegans. Moreover, one fraction (1mg/mL) increased declines of C. elegans life span and thermotolerance. Given this mounting evidence for life span role of H. perforatum in the presence of heat stress in vivo, the question whether H. perforatum acts as a prooxidant or an antioxidant in vivo under heat stress arises.

Extended investigation of the twelve-flavor β-function

Science.gov (United States)

Fodor, Zoltán; Holland, Kieran; Kuti, Julius; Nógrádi, Dániel; Wong, Chik Him

2018-04-01

We report new results from high precision analysis of an important BSM gauge theory with twelve massless fermion flavors in the fundamental representation of the SU(3) color gauge group. The range of the renormalized gauge coupling is extended from our earlier work [1] to probe the existence of an infrared fixed point (IRFP) in the β-function reported at two different locations, originally in [2] and at a new location in [3]. We find no evidence for the IRFP of the β-function in the extended range of the renormalized gauge coupling, in disagreement with [2,3]. New arguments to guard the existence of the IRFP remain unconvincing [4], including recent claims of an IRFP with ten massless fermion flavors [5,6] which we also rule out. Predictions of the recently completed 5-loop QCD β-function for general flavor number are discussed in this context.

Structural covariance networks across the life span, from 6 to 94 years of age

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Elizabeth DuPre

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Structural covariance examines covariation of gray matter morphology between brain regions and across individuals. Despite significant interest in the influence of age on structural covariance patterns, no study to date has provided a complete life span perspective—bridging childhood with early, middle, and late adulthood—on the development of structural covariance networks. Here, we investigate the life span trajectories of structural covariance in six canonical neurocognitive networks: default, dorsal attention, frontoparietal control, somatomotor, ventral attention, and visual. By combining data from five open-access data sources, we examine the structural covariance trajectories of these networks from 6 to 94 years of age in a sample of 1,580 participants. Using partial least squares, we show that structural covariance patterns across the life span exhibit two significant, age-dependent trends. The first trend is a stable pattern whose integrity declines over the life span. The second trend is an inverted-U that differentiates young adulthood from other age groups. Hub regions, including posterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, appear particularly influential in the expression of this second age-dependent trend. Overall, our results suggest that structural covariance provides a reliable definition of neurocognitive networks across the life span and reveal both shared and network-specific trajectories. The importance of life span perspectives is increasingly apparent in understanding normative interactions of large-scale neurocognitive networks. Although recent work has made significant strides in understanding the functional and structural connectivity of these networks, there has been comparatively little attention to life span trajectories of structural covariance networks. In this study we examine patterns of structural covariance across the life span for six neurocognitive networks. Our results suggest that networks exhibit

Processing Efficiency in Preschoolers' Memory Span: Individual Differences Related to Age and Anxiety

Science.gov (United States)

Visu-Petra, Laura; Miclea, Mircea; Cheie, Lavinia; Benga, Oana

2009-01-01

In self-paced auditory memory span tasks, the microanalysis of response timing measures represents a developmentally sensitive measure, providing insights into the development of distinct processing rates during recall performance. The current study first examined the effects of age and trait anxiety on span accuracy (effectiveness) and response…

Comparative analysis and supragenome modeling of twelve Moraxella catarrhalis clinical isolates.

Science.gov (United States)

Davie, Jeremiah J; Earl, Josh; de Vries, Stefan P W; Ahmed, Azad; Hu, Fen Z; Bootsma, Hester J; Stol, Kim; Hermans, Peter W M; Wadowsky, Robert M; Ehrlich, Garth D; Hays, John P; Campagnari, Anthony A

2011-01-26

M. catarrhalis is a gram-negative, gamma-proteobacterium and an opportunistic human pathogen associated with otitis media (OM) and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). With direct and indirect costs for treating these conditions annually exceeding $33 billion in the United States alone, and nearly ubiquitous resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics among M. catarrhalis clinical isolates, a greater understanding of this pathogen's genome and its variability among isolates is needed. The genomic sequences of ten geographically and phenotypically diverse clinical isolates of M. catarrhalis were determined and analyzed together with two publicly available genomes. These twelve genomes were subjected to detailed comparative and predictive analyses aimed at characterizing the supragenome and understanding the metabolic and pathogenic potential of this species. A total of 2383 gene clusters were identified, of which 1755 are core with the remaining 628 clusters unevenly distributed among the twelve isolates. These findings are consistent with the distributed genome hypothesis (DGH), which posits that the species genome possesses a far greater number of genes than any single isolate. Multiple and pair-wise whole genome alignments highlight limited chromosomal re-arrangement. M. catarrhalis gene content and chromosomal organization data, although supportive of the DGH, show modest overall genic diversity. These findings are in stark contrast with the reported heterogeneity of the species as a whole, as wells as to other bacterial pathogens mediating OM and COPD, providing important insight into M. catarrhalis pathogenesis that will aid in the development of novel therapeutic regimens.

'Localised creativity: a life span perspective'

OpenAIRE

Worth, Piers J.

2000-01-01

This thesis is based around a biographic study of the lives of 40 individuals (24 men and 16 women) with a reputation for creative work in a localised context (such as an organisation). The study examines life span development patterns from birth to middle age (45 - 60 years of age) with data gained by biographic interview and thematic analysis. Participants selected for this study are creative in that they have a reputation for producing new, novel and useful or appropriate contributions in ...

Blended Design Approach of Long Span Structure and Malay Traditional Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Sundari, Titin

2017-12-01

The growing population in the world is so fast, which is followed by the increasing need of some new and large activities. Architects face the problem on how to facilitate buildings with various activities such as for large meeting, conference, indoors gymnasium and sports, and many others. The long span structure of building is one of the solutions to solve that problem. Generally, large buildings which implemented this structure will look as a technological, modern and futuristic ones or even neo futuristic performance. But on the other hand, many people still want to enjoy the specific and unique senses of local traditional architecture. So is the Malay people who want an easy pleasant large facilities which can be fulfilled by implementing modern long span building structure technology. In the same time, their unique sense of Malay traditional architecture can still be maintained. To overcome this double problems of design, it needs a blended design approach of long span structure and Malay Traditional Architecture.

Seismic Performance of Multi-Span RC Railway Bridges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Georgakis, Christos; Barrau, Xavier

2008-01-01

Presently, there is no clear method for determining the optimal railway bridge design for a particular ground type and expected seismic intensity. Four main types of RC bridge dominate the current multi-span railway bridge design trends – the Simply Supported Beam, Continuous Box-Girder (CBG), CBG...

Spanning the Creative Space between Home and Work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davis, Lee N.; Hoisl, Karin; Davis, Jerome

the employee brings to work. Based on Woodman et al.’s (1993) “interactionist perspective” on organizational creativity, supplemented by literature on search and knowledge/combination, we explore whether leisure time activities can span the creative space between the employee’s home and workplace – given...

Individual differences in memory span: the contribution of rehearsal, access to lexical memory, and output speed.

Science.gov (United States)

Tehan, G; Lalor, D M

2000-11-01

Rehearsal speed has traditionally been seen to be the prime determinant of individual differences in memory span. Recent studies, in the main using young children as the subject population, have suggested other contributors to span performance, notably contributions from long-term memory and forgetting and retrieval processes occurring during recall. In the current research we explore individual differences in span with respect to measures of rehearsal, output time, and access to lexical memory. We replicate standard short-term phenomena; we show that the variables that influence children's span performance influence adult performance in the same way; and we show that lexical memory access appears to be a more potent source of individual differences in span than either rehearsal speed or output factors.

Phonological similarity effect in complex span task.

Science.gov (United States)

Camos, Valérie; Mora, Gérôme; Barrouillet, Pierre

2013-01-01

The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis that two systems are involved in verbal working memory; one is specifically dedicated to the maintenance of phonological representations through verbal rehearsal while the other would maintain multimodal representations through attentional refreshing. This theoretical framework predicts that phonologically related phenomena such as the phonological similarity effect (PSE) should occur when the domain-specific system is involved in maintenance, but should disappear when concurrent articulation hinders its use. Impeding maintenance in the domain-general system by a concurrent attentional demand should impair recall performance without affecting PSE. In three experiments, we manipulated the concurrent articulation and the attentional demand induced by the processing component of complex span tasks in which participants had to maintain lists of either similar or dissimilar words. Confirming our predictions, PSE affected recall performance in complex span tasks. Although both the attentional demand and the articulatory requirement of the concurrent task impaired recall, only the induction of an articulatory suppression during maintenance made the PSE disappear. These results suggest a duality in the systems devoted to verbal maintenance in the short term, constraining models of working memory.

The Problem of Predecessors on Spanning Trees

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V. S. Poghosyan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the equiprobable distribution of spanning trees on the square lattice. All bonds of each tree can be oriented uniquely with respect to an arbitrary chosen site called the root. The problem of predecessors is to find the probability that a path along the oriented bonds passes sequentially fixed sites i and j. The conformal field theory for the Potts model predicts the fractal dimension of the path to be 5/4. Using this result, we show that the probability in the predecessors problem for two sites separated by large distance r decreases as P(r ∼ r −3/4. If sites i and j are nearest neighbors on the square lattice, the probability P(1 = 5/16 can be found from the analytical theory developed for the sandpile model. The known equivalence between the loop erased random walk (LERW and the directed path on the spanning tree states that P(1 is the probability for the LERW started at i to reach the neighboring site j. By analogy with the self-avoiding walk, P(1 can be called the return probability. Extensive Monte-Carlo simulations confirm the theoretical predictions.

Detection of suboptimal effort with symbol span: development of a new embedded index.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, J Christopher; Caron, Joshua E; Baughman, Brandon C; Sawyer, R John

2012-03-01

Developing embedded indicators of suboptimal effort on objective neurocognitive testing is essential for detecting increasingly sophisticated forms of symptom feigning. The current study explored whether Symbol Span, a novel Wechsler Memory Scale-fourth edition measure of supraspan visual attention, could be used to discriminate adequate effort from suboptimal effort. Archival data were collected from 136 veterans classified into Poor Effort (n = 42) and Good Effort (n = 94) groups based on symptom validity test (SVT) performance. The Poor Effort group had significantly lower raw scores (p Span test. A raw score cutoff of Span can effectively differentiate veterans with multiple failures on established free-standing and embedded SVTs.

Friendship in childhood and adulthood: lessons across the life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherman, A M; de Vries, B; Lansford, J E

2000-01-01

Friendship occupies an important place in the growing body of literature in child development and gerontological research. As such, it may be useful for researchers from both fields to consider what can be learned from work carried out in each tradition. Therefore, we present a selected review of topics in friendship research across the life span. Through discussion of the value of friendship, the development of friendship, challenges to friendship, the gendered nature of friendship, and the connection between friends and family, points of commonality and contrast are identified. We conclude by presenting possible avenues for future investigation for researchers interested in friendship at any point in the life span.

Proactive and coactive interference in age-related performance in a recognition-based operation span task.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeintl, Melanie; Kliegel, Matthias

2010-01-01

Generally, older adults perform worse than younger adults in complex working memory span tasks. So far, it is unclear which processes mainly contribute to age-related differences in working memory span. The aim of the present study was to investigate age effects and the roles of proactive and coactive interference in a recognition-based version of the operation span task. Younger and older adults performed standard versions and distracter versions of the operation span task. At retrieval, participants had to recognize target words in word lists containing targets as well as proactive and/or coactive interference-related lures. Results show that, overall, younger adults outperformed older adults in the recognition of target words. Furthermore, analyses of error types indicate that, while younger adults were only affected by simultaneously presented distracter words, older adults had difficulties with both proactive and coactive interference. Results suggest that age effects in complex span tasks may not be mainly due to retrieval deficits in old age. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

How long will my mouse live? Machine learning approaches for prediction of mouse life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Swindell, William R; Harper, James M; Miller, Richard A

2008-09-01

Prediction of individual life span based on characteristics evaluated at middle-age represents a challenging objective for aging research. In this study, we used machine learning algorithms to construct models that predict life span in a stock of genetically heterogeneous mice. Life-span prediction accuracy of 22 algorithms was evaluated using a cross-validation approach, in which models were trained and tested with distinct subsets of data. Using a combination of body weight and T-cell subset measures evaluated before 2 years of age, we show that the life-span quartile to which an individual mouse belongs can be predicted with an accuracy of 35.3% (+/-0.10%). This result provides a new benchmark for the development of life-span-predictive models, but improvement can be expected through identification of new predictor variables and development of computational approaches. Future work in this direction can provide tools for aging research and will shed light on associations between phenotypic traits and longevity.

The Life Span of the BD-PND Bubble Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanhavere, F.; Loos, M.; Thierens, H.

1999-01-01

BD-PND bubble detectors from Bubble Technology Industries (BTI) were used to conduct a study of the life span of these detectors. The manufacturer guarantees an optimum detector performance for three months after receipt. Nevertheless, it is important to know the evolution of their characteristics with time, also after those three months. On a standard set-up with a 252 Cf source the bubble detectors were irradiated until they reached the end of their life span. During this period, the evolution in sensitivity was monitored. The temperature compensating system seems to be the limiting factor with time for the use of the BTI bubble detectors. The change in temperature dependence with age was determined. The same parameters were also checked with several batches of detectors that were used in practice. (author)

Robustness Analysis of Big Span Glulam Truss Structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rajčié, V.; čizmar, D.; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

2010-01-01

(Eurocode 0 &1, Probabilistic model code etc.) Based on a project of big span glulam truss structure, build in Croatia few years ago, a probabilistic model is made with four failure elements. Reliability analysis of components is conducted and based on this a robustness analysis is preformed. It can...

Hard-Rock Stability Analysis for Span Design in Entry-Type Excavations with Learning Classifiers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esperanza García-Gonzalo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The mining industry relies heavily on empirical analysis for design and prediction. An empirical design method, called the critical span graph, was developed specifically for rock stability analysis in entry-type excavations, based on an extensive case-history database of cut and fill mining in Canada. This empirical span design chart plots the critical span against rock mass rating for the observed case histories and has been accepted by many mining operations for the initial span design of cut and fill stopes. Different types of analysis have been used to classify the observed cases into stable, potentially unstable and unstable groups. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new method for defining rock stability areas of the critical span graph, which applies machine learning classifiers (support vector machine and extreme learning machine. The results show a reasonable correlation with previous guidelines. These machine learning methods are good tools for developing empirical methods, since they make no assumptions about the regression function. With this software, it is easy to add new field observations to a previous database, improving prediction output with the addition of data that consider the local conditions for each mine.

Hard-Rock Stability Analysis for Span Design in Entry-Type Excavations with Learning Classifiers.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Gonzalo, Esperanza; Fernández-Muñiz, Zulima; García Nieto, Paulino José; Bernardo Sánchez, Antonio; Menéndez Fernández, Marta

2016-06-29

The mining industry relies heavily on empirical analysis for design and prediction. An empirical design method, called the critical span graph, was developed specifically for rock stability analysis in entry-type excavations, based on an extensive case-history database of cut and fill mining in Canada. This empirical span design chart plots the critical span against rock mass rating for the observed case histories and has been accepted by many mining operations for the initial span design of cut and fill stopes. Different types of analysis have been used to classify the observed cases into stable, potentially unstable and unstable groups. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new method for defining rock stability areas of the critical span graph, which applies machine learning classifiers (support vector machine and extreme learning machine). The results show a reasonable correlation with previous guidelines. These machine learning methods are good tools for developing empirical methods, since they make no assumptions about the regression function. With this software, it is easy to add new field observations to a previous database, improving prediction output with the addition of data that consider the local conditions for each mine.

E-commercspan>e in China and Germany: a Sino-German comparative analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Purnhagen, K.

2012-01-01

The ways to approach the regulation of e-commercspan>e markets are in the focus of discussion both in China and Germany. While a general need for regulation is undisputed in both countries, the scope, means and aims regulation differ. The Chinese e-commercspan>e regulation is based on strong governmental

The eye-voice span during reading aloud

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Jochen eLaubrock

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Although eye movements during reading are modulated by cognitive processing demands, they also reflect visual sampling of the input, and possibly preparation of output for speech or the inner voice. By simultaneously recording eye movements and the voice during reading aloud, we obtained an output measure that constrains the length of time spent on cognitive processing. Here we investigate the dynamics of the eye-voice span (EVS, the distance between eye and voice. We show that the EVS is regulated immediately during fixation of a word by either increasing fixation duration or programming a regressive eye movement against the reading direction. EVS size at the beginning of a fixation was positively correlated with the likelihood of regressions and refixations. Regression probability was further increased if the EVS was still large at the end of a fixation: if adjustment of fixation duration did not sufficiently reduce the EVS during a fixation, then a regression rather than a refixation followed with high probability. We further show that the EVS can help understand cognitive influences on fixation duration during reading: in mixed model analyses, the EVS was a stronger predictor of fixation durations than either word frequency or word length. The EVS modulated the influence of several other predictors on single fixation durations. For example, word-N frequency effects were larger with a large EVS, especially when word N-1 frequency was low. Finally, a comparison of single fixation durations during oral and silent reading showed that reading is governed by similar principles in both reading modes, although EVS maintenance and articulatory processing also cause some differences. In summary, the eye-voice span is regulated by adjusting fixation duration and/or by programming a regressive eye movement when the eye-voice span gets too large. Overall, the EVS appears to be directly related to updating of the working memory buffer during reading.

Blocking Reduction of Span Restoration Requests in GMPLS Controlled WDM Optical Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buron, Jakob Due; Ruepp, Sarah Renée; Andriolli, N.

2006-01-01

The proposed label preference scheme reduces blocking of span restoration requests in GMPLS optical networks with limited wavelength conversion. By minimizing resource contention and conversion usage, it increases recovery percentage and reduces control plane load.......The proposed label preference scheme reduces blocking of span restoration requests in GMPLS optical networks with limited wavelength conversion. By minimizing resource contention and conversion usage, it increases recovery percentage and reduces control plane load....

Boundary Spanning in Global Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søderberg, Anne-Marie; Romani, Laurence

imbalances of power, exacerbated in the case of an Indian vendor and a European client, need to be taken into account. The paper thus contributes with a more context sensitive understanding of inter-organizational boundary work. Taking the vendor perspective also leads to problematization of common...... of Indian IT vendor managers who are responsible for developing client relations and coordinating complex global development projects. The authors revise a framework of boundary spanning leadership practices to adapt it to an offshore outsourcing context. The empirical investigation highlights how...

Effect of practice and span length on the dual-task coordination executive test

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Sylwan R.P.

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The measure "mu", proposed as an index of the ability to coordinate concurrent box-crossing (BC and digit-span (DS tasks in the dual task (DT, should reflect the capacity of the executive component of the working memory system. We investigated the effect of practice in BC and of a change in the digit span on mu by adding previous practice trials in BC and diminishing, maintaining or increasing the digit sequence length. The mu behavior was evaluated throughout three trials of the test. Reported strategies in digit tasks were also analyzed. Subjects with diminished span showed the best performance in DT due to a stable performance in DS and BC in the single- and dual-task conditions. These subjects also showed a more stable performance throughout trials. Subjects with diminished span tended to employ effortless strategies, whereas subjects with increased span employed effort-requiring strategies and showed the lowest means of mu. Subjects with initial practice trials showed the best performance in BC and the most differentiated performance between the single- and dual-task conditions in BC. The correlation coefficient between the mu values obtained in the first and second trials was 0.814 for subjects with diminished span and practice trials in BC. It seems that the within-session practice in BC and the performance variability in DS affect the reliability of the index mu. To control these factors we propose the introduction of previous practice trials in BC and a modification of the current method to determine the digit sequence length. This proposal should contribute to the development of a more reliable method to evaluate the executive capacity of coordination in the dual-task paradigm.

Spanning trees with many leaves: new extremal results and an improved FPT algorithm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bonsma, P.S.

We present two lower bounds for the maximum number of leaves in a spanning tree of a graph. For connected graphs without triangles, with minimum degree at least three, we show that a spanning tree with at least (n+4)/3 leaves exists, where n is the number of vertices of the graph. For connected

E-commercspan>e in the banking sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stroeken, J.H.M.; Munck, S.G.E. de; Hawkins, R.

2001-01-01

Het doel van de studie is het verschaffen van inzicht in de effecten van e-commercspan>e in de Nederlandse banksector. Elektronische transactie omgevingen als zodanig zijn niet nieuw voor banken, en financiële dienstverlening heeft altijd al te maken gehad met intermediëring door elektronische netwerken.

Damage detection in multi-span beams based on the analysis of frequency changes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gillich, G R; Ntakpe, J L; Praisach, Z I; Mimis, M C; Abdel Wahab, M

2017-01-01

Crack identification in multi-span beams is performed to determine whether the structure is healthy or not. Among all crack identification methods, these based on measured natural frequency changes present the advantage of simplicity and easy to use in practical engineering. To accurately identify the cracks characteristics for multi-span beam structure, a mathematical model is established, which can predict frequency changes for any boundary conditions, the intermediate supports being hinges. This relation is based on the modal strain energy concept. Since frequency changes are relative small, to obtain natural frequencies with high resolution, a signal processing algorithm based on superposing of numerous spectra is also proposed, which overcomes the disadvantage of Fast Fourier Transform in the aspect of frequency resolution. Based on above-mentioned mathematical model and signal processing algorithm, the method of identifying cracks on multi-span beams is presented. To verify the accuracy of this identification method, experimental examples are conducted on a two-span structure. The results demonstrate that the method proposed in this paper can accurately identify the crack position and depth. (paper)

STUDY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL AND VERY SMALL SPAN WINGS, USED ON SHIPS

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Beazit ALI

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This scientific work presents the way in which the small, and very small span wings can be obtainedstarting from the great span wings and using the two scales of the similarity theory. Basing on two scales modelit can transcribe from model at nature the coefficients x c , y c and lengthening λ of Gottingen - 612 profile.

Symmetric Electrode Spanning Narrows the Excitation Patterns of Partial Tripolar Stimuli in Cochlear Implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Xin; Wu, Ching-Chih

2016-12-01

In cochlear implants (CIs), standard partial tripolar (pTP) mode reduces current spread by returning a fraction of the current to two adjacent flanking electrodes within the cochlea. Symmetric electrode spanning (i.e., separating both the apical and basal return electrodes from the main electrode by one electrode) has been shown to increase the pitch of pTP stimuli, when the ratio of intracochlear return current was fixed. To explain the pitch increase caused by symmetric spanning in pTP mode, this study measured the electrical potentials of both standard and symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli on a main electrode EL8 in five CI ears using electrical field imaging (EFI). In addition, the spatial profiles of evoked compound action potentials (ECAP) and the psychophysical forward masking (PFM) patterns were also measured for both stimuli. The EFI, ECAP, and PFM patterns of a given stimulus differed in shape details, reflecting the different levels of auditory processing and different ratios of intracochlear return current across the measurement methods. Compared to the standard pTP stimuli, the symmetrically spanned pTP stimuli significantly reduced the areas under the curves of the normalized EFI and PFM patterns, without shifting the pattern peaks and centroids (both around EL8). The more focused excitation patterns with symmetric spanning may have caused the previously reported pitch increase, due to an interaction between pitch and timbre perception. Being able to reduce the spread of excitation, pTP mode symmetric spanning is a promising stimulation strategy that may further increase spectral resolution and frequency selectivity with CIs.

DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF TWO-SPAN CONTINUOUS CONCRETE BRIDGES UNDER MOVING OF HIGH-SPEED TRAINS

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O. H. Marinichenko

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The scientific work provides a comparison of the results of the movement of a high-speed passenger train across the bridge, obtained as a result of finite element modeling in the SAP2000 software package, and real tests of a double-span concrete railway bridge. Analysis of the rigid characteristics of flying structures. Methodology.The numerical method presented in this study shows valid results concerning the dynamic analysis of the behavior of bridges in conditions of high-speed train traffic. The factors influencing the dynamic behavior of bridges under moving loads, the influence of design parameters and rolling stock, as well as the interaction of the train and spans are determined. The system was used in the form of moving concentrated forces simulating the axes of the train. Findings. Maximum movements and accelerations were obtained as a result of the dynamic calculation for different speeds of the train and compared with practical tests. The correctness of the model of a span structure with regard to continuous ferroconcrete spans was verified. Originality. Within the framework of the work, the latest test results were used, including those with speeds calculated on the prospect of rail passenger traffic. For these tests, a model of a span structure was developed. Practical value. The results of the research can be used to plan the introduction of high-speed train traffic on existing and planned flying structures of reinforced concrete bridges. An approach to the design of span structures that will be effective when passing high-speed passenger trains is implemented.

Comparative analysis and supragenome modeling of twelve Moraxella catarrhalis clinical isolates

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Hermans Peter WM

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background M. catarrhalis is a gram-negative, gamma-proteobacterium and an opportunistic human pathogen associated with otitis media (OM and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. With direct and indirect costs for treating these conditions annually exceeding $33 billion in the United States alone, and nearly ubiquitous resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics among M. catarrhalis clinical isolates, a greater understanding of this pathogen's genome and its variability among isolates is needed. Results The genomic sequences of ten geographically and phenotypically diverse clinical isolates of M. catarrhalis were determined and analyzed together with two publicly available genomes. These twelve genomes were subjected to detailed comparative and predictive analyses aimed at characterizing the supragenome and understanding the metabolic and pathogenic potential of this species. A total of 2383 gene clusters were identified, of which 1755 are core with the remaining 628 clusters unevenly distributed among the twelve isolates. These findings are consistent with the distributed genome hypothesis (DGH, which posits that the species genome possesses a far greater number of genes than any single isolate. Multiple and pair-wise whole genome alignments highlight limited chromosomal re-arrangement. Conclusions M. catarrhalis gene content and chromosomal organization data, although supportive of the DGH, show modest overall genic diversity. These findings are in stark contrast with the reported heterogeneity of the species as a whole, as wells as to other bacterial pathogens mediating OM and COPD, providing important insight into M. catarrhalis pathogenesis that will aid in the development of novel therapeutic regimens.

USE OF MEMBRANE EMULSION SPAN 80 AND TOPO IN URANIUM EXTRACTION AND STRIPPING

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Kris Tri Basuki

2017-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT USE OF MEMBRANE EMULSION SPAN 80 AND TOPO IN URANIUM EXTRACTION AND STRIPPING. Membrane emulsion span 80 and TOPO used in uranium extraction and stripping has been done. The extraction was carried outby emulsion membrane H3PO4 in TOPO-Kerosene. The feed or external aqueous phase was uranium in  HNO3. The emulgator span-80 was used to obtain a stable emulsion membrane system. The influence factors were percentage of TOPO-Kerosene, time extraction,  molarity of external aqueous phase and  molarity of internal aqueous. After the emulsion membrane was formed, the extractionand stripping process was performed. The ratio volume feed : volume membrane phase equal to 1 : 1 and volume of 5 % TOPO-Kerosene : Volume 3 M H3PO4 equal 1 : 1 were used. The relative good yield were obtained at concentration of TOPO in Kerosene and 3 M H3PO4 was 5 %, molarity of internal aqueous phase equal to 1 M, molarity of external aqueous phase 3 M H3PO4 and time extraction equalto 10 minutes with the speed of emulsification was 8000 rpm. At this condition the extraction efficiency of uranium obtained was 97.8 %, the stripping efficiency 52.56 %, and the total efficiency was 53.80 %. Keywords: membrane emulsion, extraction, stripping, span 80, kerosene, uranium. ABSTRAK PENGGUNAAN MEMBRAN EMULSI SPAN 80 DAN TOPO UNTUK EKSTRASI DAN STRIPPING URANIUM. Telah dilakukan penelitian membran emulsi span 80 dan TOPO yang digunakan untuk ekstraksi uranium. Extraksi dengan membran emulsi H3PO4 dalam TOPO-Kerosen. Larutan umpan untuk fasa air eksternal adalah uranium dalam asam nitrat. Untuk memperoleh sistem emulsi yang stabil dipakai emulgator Span 80. Parameter yang berpengaruh adalah persen TOPO-Kerosene, molaritas fasa air internal H3PO4, molaritas fasa air eksternal HNO3 dan waktu ekstraksi. Setelah diperoleh membran emulsi, kemudian dilakukan proses ekstraksi dan stripping, dengan rasio volume umpan : volume membran sebesar 1 : 1; volume 5% TOPO-Kerose : volume 3M

Individual Differences in Digit Span, Susceptibility to Proactive Interference, and Aptitude/Achievement Test Scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Dempster, Frank N.; Cooney, John B.

1982-01-01

Individual differences in digit span, susceptibility to proactive interference, and various aptitude/achievement test scores were investigated in two experiments with college students. Results indicated that digit span was strongly correlated with aptitude/achievement scores, but did not indicate that susceptibility to proactive interference…

Several Families of Sequences with Low Correlation and Large Linear Span

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Fanxin; Zhang, Zhenyu

In DS-CDMA systems and DS-UWB radios, low correlation of spreading sequences can greatly help to minimize multiple access interference (MAI) and large linear span of spreading sequences can reduce their predictability. In this letter, new sequence sets with low correlation and large linear span are proposed. Based on the construction Trm1[Trnm(αbt+γiαdt)]r for generating p-ary sequences of period pn-1, where n=2m, d=upm±v, b=u±v, γi∈GF(pn), and p is an arbitrary prime number, several methods to choose the parameter d are provided. The obtained sequences with family size pn are of four-valued, five-valued, six-valued or seven-valued correlation and the maximum nontrivial correlation value is (u+v-1)pm-1. The simulation by a computer shows that the linear span of the new sequences is larger than that of the sequences with Niho-type and Welch-type decimations, and similar to that of [10].

Analysis of the effectiveness of various cross-sections in large-span post-tensioned ceilings

Science.gov (United States)

Bednarz, K.

2018-03-01

The correct construction of large span, slim post-tensioned concrete slabs is conditioned by an appropriate cross-section selection. It is generally accepted that the thinnest slab can be constructed using the full cross-section as the largest compression stress storage. However, completely different cross-sections may help to overcome large spans. The paper presents the results of the computational analysis of several types of cross-sections (full, with internal relieving inserts and ribbed) in the application to a post-tensioned slab with a span of 15.0m. Based on the results presented, appropriate conclusions were drawn.

Exploration of malingering indices in the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition Digit Span subtest.

Science.gov (United States)

Reese, Caitlin S; Suhr, Julie A; Riddle, Tara L

2012-03-01

Prior research shows that Digit Span is a useful embedded measure of malingering. However, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (Wechsler, 2008) altered Digit Span in meaningful ways, necessitating another look at Digit Span as an embedded measure of malingering. Using a simulated malingerer design, we examined the predictive accuracy of existing Digit Span validity indices and explored whether patterns of performance utilizing the new version would provide additional evidence for malingering. Undergraduates with a history of mild head injury performed with best effort or simulated impaired cognition and were also compared with a large sample of non-head-injured controls. Previously established cutoffs for the age-corrected scaled score and Reliable Digit Span (RDS) performed similarly in the present samples. Patterns of RDS length using all three subscales of the new scale were different in malingerers when compared with both head-injured and non-head-injured controls. Two potential alternative RDS scores were introduced, which showed better sensitivity than the traditional RDS, while retaining specificity to malingering.

Structural covariance networks across the life span, from 6 to 94 years of age.

Science.gov (United States)

DuPre, Elizabeth; Spreng, R Nathan

2017-10-01

Structural covariance examines covariation of gray matter morphology between brain regions and across individuals. Despite significant interest in the influence of age on structural covariance patterns, no study to date has provided a complete life span perspective-bridging childhood with early, middle, and late adulthood-on the development of structural covariance networks. Here, we investigate the life span trajectories of structural covariance in six canonical neurocognitive networks: default, dorsal attention, frontoparietal control, somatomotor, ventral attention, and visual. By combining data from five open-access data sources, we examine the structural covariance trajectories of these networks from 6 to 94 years of age in a sample of 1,580 participants. Using partial least squares, we show that structural covariance patterns across the life span exhibit two significant, age-dependent trends. The first trend is a stable pattern whose integrity declines over the life span. The second trend is an inverted-U that differentiates young adulthood from other age groups. Hub regions, including posterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula, appear particularly influential in the expression of this second age-dependent trend. Overall, our results suggest that structural covariance provides a reliable definition of neurocognitive networks across the life span and reveal both shared and network-specific trajectories.

Uso de aisladores de base en puentes de concreto simplemente apoyados

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Leocadio Rico Pradilla

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present a comparison of the seismic behavior of simply supported concrete bridges by using three types of base isolators, namely high damping rubber bearing (HDRB, lead rubber bearing (LRB and friction pendulum system (FPS. “La Flora” viaduct is taken as case study; the geometry and the corresponding modeling of such viaduct are defined in sap2000. Additionally, the mechanical properties of three insulators are defined using a bilinear model. An analysis of histories in time was made for the model of the viaduct, considering the non-linearity in the insulators and using frontal fault earthquakes caused by the Frontal and Bucaramanga-Santa Marta fault; this is applied at a surface-level scale. The results from the model without seismic isolation are compared with the three systems of seismic isolation and the findings suggest that the different systems of seismic isolation significantly reduce both the demands of the displacements and the cutting forces in the piles of the bridge, which may induce probable earthquakes.

Analytical Model for Passing Sight Distance Design Criteria of Two-Lane Roads in Sri Lanka

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Mampearachchi W. K.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available For a safe overtaking manoeuvre on two-lane highways, drivers need a sufficient sight distance along the roadway, but it depends on the traffic environment. To provide an adequate Passing Sight Distance (PSD, a number of models have been proposed since the initial model introduced by American Association of State Highways and Transport Officials (AASHTO in 1954. It is a current design practice in Sri Lanka as well, however, not validated for local traffic conditions. This paper will present an alternative PSD model and an evaluation of AASHTO model for national highway design. Experiment was based on GPS data collection. In conclusion, PSD demand was satisfied by AASHTO PSD under mix traffic conditions, but not the safety concerns for speeds greater than 80 km/h, while alternative model successful for all speeds.

The importance of adult life-span perspective in explaining variations in political ideology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sedek, Grzegorz; Kossowska, Malgorzata; Rydzewska, Klara

2014-06-01

As a comment on Hibbing et al.'s paper, we discuss the evolution of political and social views from more liberal to more conservative over the span of adulthood. We show that Hibbing et al.'s theoretical model creates a false prediction from this developmental perspective, as increased conservatism in the adult life-span trajectory is accompanied by the avoidance of negative bias.

ETS-4 is a transcriptional regulator of life span in Caenorhabditis elegans.

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Bargavi Thyagarajan

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Aging is a complex phenotype responsive to a plethora of environmental inputs; yet only a limited number of transcriptional regulators are known to influence life span. How the downstream expression programs mediated by these factors (or others are coordinated into common or distinct set of aging effectors is an addressable question in model organisms, such as C. elegans. Here, we establish the transcription factor ETS-4, an ortholog of vertebrate SPDEF, as a longevity determinant. Adult worms with ets-4 mutations had a significant extension of mean life span. Restoring ETS-4 activity in the intestine, but not neurons, of ets-4 mutant worms rescued life span to wild-type levels. Using RNAi, we demonstrated that ets-4 is required post-developmentally to regulate adult life span; thus uncoupling the role of ETS-4 in aging from potential functions in worm intestinal development. Seventy ETS-4-regulated genes, identified by gene expression profiling of two distinct ets-4 alleles and analyzed by bioinformatics, were enriched for known longevity effectors that function in lipid transport, lipid metabolism, and innate immunity. Putative target genes were enriched for ones that change expression during normal aging, the majority of which are controlled by the GATA factors. Also, some ETS-4-regulated genes function downstream of the FOXO factor, DAF-16 and the insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway. However, epistasis and phenotypic analyses indicate that ets-4 functioned in parallel to the insulin/IGF-1 receptor, daf-2 and akt-1/2 kinases. Furthermore, ets-4 required daf-16 to modulate aging, suggesting overlap in function at the level of common targets that affect life span. In conclusion, ETS-4 is a new transcriptional regulator of aging, which shares transcriptional targets with GATA and FOXO factors, suggesting that overlapping pathways direct common sets of lifespan-related genes.

Truth-telling and Nash equilibria in minimum cost spanning tree models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Tvede, Mich

2012-01-01

In this paper we consider the minimum cost spanning tree model. We assume that a central planner aims at implementing a minimum cost spanning tree not knowing the true link costs. The central planner sets up a game where agents announce link costs, a tree is chosen and costs are allocated according...... to the rules of the game. We characterize ways of allocating costs such that true announcements constitute Nash equilibria both in case of full and incomplete information. In particular, we find that the Shapley rule based on the irreducible cost matrix is consistent with truthful announcements while a series...

A closed solution for the collapse load of pressurized pipelines in free spans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bezerra, Luciano M. [Brasilia Univ., DF (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Civil; Murray, David W.; Xuejun Song [University of Alberta (Canada). Civil Engineering Dept.

2005-07-01

Submarine pipelines for oil exploitation, generally, are under internal pressure and compressive thermal loading. Due to rough see-bottom terrains, these pipelines may be supported only intermittently and span freely. The collapse of such pipelines may produce oil leakage to the environment. A common engineering practice for the determination of the collapse load of such pipelines is the use of finite element modeling. This paper presents an analytical method for the determination of the collapse load of pressurized pipelines extended over free spans. The formulation also takes into account the internal pressure and initial imperfection, generally present in these pipelines. Collapse load is determined from a deduced transcendental equation. Results of the presented formulation are compared with sophisticated finite element analyses. While sophisticated finite element analysis requires hours of computer processing, the present formulation takes practically no time to assess a good approximation for the collapse load of pressurized free span pipelines under compression. The present paper is not intended to substitute the more precise finite element analyses but to provide an easier, faster, and practical way to determine a first approximation of the collapse load of pressurized free span pipelines. (author)

C. elegans VANG-1 modulates life span via insulin/IGF-1-like signaling.

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Sebastian J Honnen

Full Text Available The planar cell polarity (PCP pathway is highly conserved from Drosophila to humans and a PCP-like pathway has recently been described in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The developmental function of this pathway is to coordinate the orientation of cells or structures within the plane of an epithelium or to organize cell-cell intercalation required for correct morphogenesis. Here, we describe a novel role of VANG-1, the only C. elegans ortholog of the conserved PCP component Strabismus/Van Gogh. We show that two alleles of vang-1 and depletion of the protein by RNAi cause an increase of mean life span up to 40%. Consistent with the longevity phenotype vang-1 animals also show enhanced resistance to thermal- and oxidative stress and decreased lipofuscin accumulation. In addition, vang-1 mutants show defects like reduced brood size, decreased ovulation rate and prolonged reproductive span, which are also related to gerontogenes. The germline, but not the intestine or neurons, seems to be the primary site of vang-1 function. Life span extension in vang-1 mutants depends on the insulin/IGF-1-like receptor DAF-2 and DAF-16/FoxO transcription factor. RNAi against the phase II detoxification transcription factor SKN-1/Nrf2 also reduced vang-1 life span that might be explained by gradual inhibition of insulin/IGF-1-like signaling in vang-1. This is the first time that a key player of the PCP pathway is shown to be involved in the insulin/IGF-1-like signaling dependent modulation of life span in C. elegans.

Impact Coefficient Analysis of Long-Span Railway Cable-Stayed Bridge Based on Coupled Vehicle-Bridge Vibration

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Yongle Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Compared with medium and small span bridges, very limited attention has been paid on the research of the impact coefficient of long-span railway bridges. To estimate the impact effects of long-span railway bridges subjected to moving vehicles, a real long-span railway cable-stayed bridge is regarded as the research object in this study, and a coupled model of vehicle-bridge system is established. The track irregularities are taken as the system excitation and the dynamic responses of the vehicle-bridge system are calculated. The impact effects on main girder, stayed cable, bearings, and bridge tower are discussed at various vehicle speeds. The results show that different components of the long-span railway cable-stayed bridge have different impact coefficients. Even for each part, the impact coefficient is also different at different local positions. It reveals that the impact coefficients in the actual situation may have significant differences with the related code clauses in the present design codes.

Working Memory Capacity and Fluid Abilities: Examining the Correlation between Operation Span and Raven

Science.gov (United States)

Unsworth, N.; Engle, R.W.

2005-01-01

The correlation between a measure of working memory capacity (WMC) (Operation Span) and a measure of fluid abilities (Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices) was examined. Specifically, performance on Raven problems was decomposed by difficulty, memory load, and rule type. The results suggest that the relation between Operation Span and Raven is…

Working Memory Deficits in Children with Reading Difficulties: Memory Span and Dual Task Coordination

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shinmin; Gathercole, Susan E.

2013-01-01

The current study investigated the cause of the reported problems in working memory in children with reading difficulties. Verbal and visuospatial simple and complex span tasks, and digit span and reaction times tasks performed singly and in combination, were administered to 46 children with single word reading difficulties and 45 typically…

Heritability of life span in the Old Order Amish.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, B D; Hsueh, W C; King, T M; Pollin, T I; Sorkin, J; Agarwala, R; Schäffer, A A; Shuldiner, A R

2001-09-01

Although a familial contribution to human longevity is recognized, the nature of this contribution is largely unknown. We have examined the familial contribution to life span in the Old Order Amish (OOA) population of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Analyses were conducted on 1,655 individuals, representing all those born prior to 1890 and appearing in the most widely available genealogy, surviving until at least age 30 years, and with known date of death. Mean age at death (+/-SD) in this population was 70.7 +/- 15.6 years, and this did not change appreciably over time. Parental and offspring ages at death were significantly correlated, as were ages of death among siblings. Offspring longevity was correlated with longevity of both parents, and in more or less additive fashion. For example, mean offspring age at death was 69.4 +/- 15.3 years in individuals for whom both parents died before the age of 75 years (n = 280) and increased to 73.5 +/- 16.0 years in individuals for whom neither parent died before the age of 75 years (n = 311). These differences were highly significant (P = 0.006). We estimated heritability of life span to be 25% +/- 5%, suggesting that the additive effects of genes account for one quarter of the total variability in life span in the OOA. We conclude that longevity is moderately heritable in the OOA, that the genetic effects are additive, and that genetic influences on longevity are likely to be expressed across a broad range of ages. Published 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Asymmetry in auditory and spatial attention span in normal elderly genetically at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, Mark W; Delis, Dean C; Bondi, Mark W; Salmon, David P

2005-02-01

Some studies of elderly individuals with the ApoE-e4 genotype noted subtle deficits on tests of attention such as the WAIS-R Digit Span subtest, but these findings have not been consistently reported. One possible explanation for the inconsistent results could be the presence of subgroups of e4+ individuals with asymmetric cognitive profiles (i.e., significant discrepancies between verbal and visuospatial skills). Comparing genotype groups with individual, modality-specific tests might obscure subtle differences between verbal and visuospatial attention in these asymmetric subgroups. In this study, we administered the WAIS-R Digit Span and WMS-R Visual Memory Span subtests to 21 nondemented elderly e4+ individuals and 21 elderly e4- individuals matched on age, education, and overall cognitive ability. We hypothesized that a) the e4+ group would show a higher incidence of asymmetric cognitive profiles when comparing Digit Span/Visual Memory Span performance relative to the e4- group; and (b) an analysis of individual test performance would fail to reveal differences between the two subject groups. Although the groups' performances were comparable on the individual attention span tests, the e4+ group showed a significantly larger discrepancy between digit span and spatial span scores compared to the e4- group. These findings suggest that contrast measures of modality-specific attentional skills may be more sensitive to subtle group differences in at-risk groups, even when the groups do not differ on individual comparisons of standardized test means. The increased discrepancy between verbal and visuospatial attention may reflect the presence of "subgroups" within the ApoE-e4 group that are qualitatively similar to asymmetric subgroups commonly associated with the earliest stages of AD.

Tresfjord Bridge - a human friendly and traffic efficient structure

Science.gov (United States)

Dahl, Kristian B.; Anta Magerøy Tønnessen, Aja; Toverud, Lars I.

2017-09-01

The E136 Tresfjord Bridge opened in October 2015, and crosses the Tresfjorden on the west coast of Norway. It is a concrete bridge with a total length of 1290 m, consisting of 19 viaduct spans, 60 m each, and a FCM (free cantilever method) main span of 160 m. The E136 is one of the most important transportation routes in the county of Møre and Romsdal and starts in Ålesund, and passes along Tresfjorden to Åndalsnes. The existing road is very narrow with speed limit of 60 km/h and characterizes by many accidents involving cars and people. The traffic flow is approximately ca 2500 vehicles a day, of this is 25% heavy vehicles. Those transport fresh salmon from the breeders in the fjords along the coast. To try to decrease the transportation time is very important for the fresh salmon. The bridge reduces the distance between Ålesund and Åndalsnes by 13 km. The speed limit is now 80 km/h, and with much less risk for accidents since there are separate lanes for cars and pedestrians over the whole bridge. This means that the bridge represents a human friendly and traffic efficient structure to the benefit for the people and the region.

Influence of long-wavelength track irregularities on the motion of a high-speed train

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, C. F.; Hsu, W. L.

2018-01-01

Vertical track irregularities over viaducts in high-speed rail systems could be possibly caused by concrete creep if pre-stressed concrete bridges are used. For bridge spans that are almost uniformly distributed, track irregularity exhibits a near-regular wave profile that excites car bodies as a high-speed train moves over the bridge system. A long-wavelength irregularity induces low-frequency excitation that may be close to the natural frequencies of the train suspension system, thereby causing significant vibration of the car body. This paper investigates the relationship between the levels of car vibration, bridge vibration, track irregularity, and the train speed. First, this study investigates the vibration levels of a high-speed train and bridge system using 3D finite-element (FE) transient dynamic analysis, before and after adjustment of vertical track irregularities by means of installing shimming plates under rail pads. The analysis models are validated by in situ measurements and on-board measurement. Parametric studies of car body vibration and bridge vibration under three different levels of track irregularity at five train speeds and over two bridge span lengths are conducted using the FE model. Finally, a discontinuous shimming pattern is proposed to avoid vehicle suspension resonance.

Global Processing Speed as a Mediator of Developmental Changes in Children's Auditory Memory Span

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, A.N.; Bowey, J.A.

2005-01-01

This study examined the role of global processing speed in mediating age increases in auditory memory span in 5- to 13-year-olds. Children were tested on measures of memory span, processing speed, single-word speech rate, phonological sensitivity, and vocabulary. Structural equation modeling supported a model in which age-associated increases in…

Influence of the Visual Attention Span on Child Reading Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bosse, Marie-Line; Valdois, Sylviane

2009-01-01

The visual attention (VA) span deficit hypothesis was found successfully to account for variability in developmental dyslexia (Bosse, Tainturier & Valdois, 2007). We conducted a cross-sectional study on 417 typically developing children from first, third and fifth grades examining the role of VA span on the development of reading skills. A battery…

Managerial span of control: a pilot study comparing departmental complexity and number of direct reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Merrill, Katreena Collette; Pepper, Ginette; Blegen, Mary

2013-09-01

Nurse managers play pivotal roles in hospitals. However, restructuring has resulted in nurse managers having wider span of control and reduced visibility. The purpose of this pilot study was to compare two methods of measuring span of control: departmental complexity and number of direct reports. Forty-one nurse managers across nine hospitals completed The Ottawa Hospital Clinical Manager Span of Control Tool (TOH-SOC) and a demographic survey. A moderate positive relationship between number of direct reports and departmental complexity score was identified (r=.49, p=managers' responsibility. Copyright © 2013 Longwoods Publishing.

Portrayal of Life Form in Selected Biographies for Children Eight to Twelve Years of Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Shirley Lois

This study describes and analyzes, in a critical literary manner, selected biographies for children eight to twelve years of age. Biographies of Jane Addams, Cesar Chavez, Mohandas Gandhi, Toyohiko Kagawa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Albert Schweitzer are viewed from the perspective of a literary criterion based on the principles of design to…

Lane Changing Control to Reduce Traffic Load Effect on Long-Span Bridges

OpenAIRE

Caprani, Colin C; Enright, Bernard; Carey, Colm

2012-01-01

Long span bridges are critical parts of a nation’s infrastructure network and congested traffic loading is the governing form of traffic loading. Groups of trucks travelling in conveys are created when fast-er moving vehicles, such as cars, change lane. In this research the authors investigate how the control of these lane-changing events can help reduce the traffic load effects on long span bridges. Real traffic data is used to simulate a traffic stream on a virtual road and bridge using a m...

Polarisation independent bi-directional four wave mixing for mid span spectral inversion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Anders; Buxens, Alvaro A.; Poulsen, Henrik Nørskov

1999-01-01

Polarisation independent Four Wave Mixing in a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier used for Mid Span Spectral Inversion (MSSI) is implemented and introduce only 0.9 dB penalty compared to polarisation dependent MSSI. The polarisation dependence in receiver sensitivity is 1 dB.......Polarisation independent Four Wave Mixing in a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier used for Mid Span Spectral Inversion (MSSI) is implemented and introduce only 0.9 dB penalty compared to polarisation dependent MSSI. The polarisation dependence in receiver sensitivity is 1 dB....

The rate of source memory decline across the adult life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Cansino, Selene; Estrada-Manilla, Cinthya; Hernández-Ramos, Evelia; Martínez-Galindo, Joyce Graciela; Torres-Trejo, Frine; Gómez-Fernández, Tania; Ayala-Hernández, Mariana; Osorio, David; Cedillo-Tinoco, Melisa; Garcés-Flores, Lissete; Gómez-Melgarejo, Sandra; Beltrán-Palacios, Karla; Guadalupe García-Lázaro, Haydée; García-Gutiérrez, Fabiola; Cadena-Arenas, Yadira; Fernández-Apan, Luisa; Bärtschi, Andrea; Resendiz-Vera, Julieta; Rodríguez-Ortiz, María Dolores

2013-05-01

Previous studies have suggested that the ability to remember contextual information related to specific episodic experiences declines with advancing age; however, the exact moment in the adult life span when this deficit begins is still controversial. Source memory for spatial information was tested in a life span sample of 1,500 adults between the ages of 21 and 80. Initially, images of common objects were randomly presented on one quadrant of a screen while the participants judged whether they were natural or artificial. During the retrieval phase, these same images were mixed with new ones, and all images were displayed in the center of the screen. The participants were asked to judge whether each image was new or old, and whether it was old, to indicate in which quadrant of the screen it had originally been presented. Source accuracy decreased linearly with advancing age at a rate of 0.6% per year across all decades even after controlling for educational level; this decline was unaffected by sex. These results reveal that either spatial information becomes less efficiently bound to episodic representations over time or that the ability to retrieve this information decreases gradually throughout the adult life span.

Superior Parietal Lobule Dysfunction in a Homogeneous Group of Dyslexic Children with a Visual Attention Span Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Peyrin, C.; Demonet, J. F.; N'Guyen-Morel, M. A.; Le Bas, J. F.; Valdois, S.

2011-01-01

A visual attention (VA) span disorder has been reported in dyslexic children as potentially responsible for their poor reading outcome. The purpose of the current paper was to identify the cerebral correlates of this VA span disorder. For this purpose, 12 French dyslexic children with severe reading and VA span disorders and 12 age-matched control…

Is selective mutism associated with deficits in memory span and visual memory?: An exploratory case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristensen, Hanne; Oerbeck, Beate

2006-01-01

Our main aim in this study was to explore the association between selective mutism (SM) and aspects of nonverbal cognition such as visual memory span and visual memory. Auditory-verbal memory span was also examined. The etiology of SM is unclear, and it probably represents a heterogeneous condition. SM is associated with language impairment, but nonspecific neurodevelopmental factors, including motor problems, are also reported in SM without language impairment. Furthermore, SM is described in Asperger's syndrome. Studies on nonverbal cognition in SM thus merit further investigation. Neuropsychological tests were administered to a clinical sample of 32 children and adolescents with SM (ages 6-17 years, 14 boys and 18 girls) and 62 nonreferred controls matched for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. We used independent t-tests to compare groups with regard to auditory-verbal memory span, visual memory span, and visual memory (Benton Visual Retention Test), and employed linear regression analysis to study the impact of SM on visual memory, controlling for IQ and measures of language and motor function. The SM group differed from controls on auditory-verbal memory span but not on visual memory span. Controlled for IQ, language, and motor function, the SM group did not differ from controls on visual memory. Motor function was the strongest predictor of visual memory performance. SM does not appear to be associated with deficits in visual memory span or visual memory. The reduced auditory-verbal memory span supports the association between SM and language impairment. More comprehensive neuropsychological studies are needed.

Existence of spanning and dominating trails and circuits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veldman, H.J.

1986-01-01

Let T be a trail of a graph G. T is a spanning trail (S-trail) if T contains all vertices of G. T is a dominating trail (D-trail) if every edge of G is incident with at least one vertex of T. A circuit is a nontrivial closed trail. Sufficient conditions involving lower bounds on the degree-sum of

Study on Remote Monitoring System of Crossing and Spanning Tangent Tower

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Da-bing; Zhang, Nai-long; Zhang, Meng-ge; Wang, Ze-hua; Zhang, Yan

2017-05-01

In order to grasp the vibration state of overhead transmission line and ensure the operational security of transmission line, the remote monitoring system of crossing and spanning tangent tower was studied. By use of this system, the displacement, velocity and acceleration of the tower, and the local weather data are collected automatically, displayed on computer of remote monitoring centre through wireless network, real-time collection and transmission of vibration signals are realized. The applying results show that the system is excellent in reliability and accuracy and so on. The system can be used to remote monitoring of transmission tower of UHV power transmission lines and in large spanning areas.

Compression of women's reproductive spans in Andhra Pradesh, India

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Padmadas, SS; Hutter, [No Value; Willekens, F

CONTEXT. The total fertility rate in Andhra Pradesh, India, has recently decreased to near-replacement level; however, the reasons for the fertility decline are unknown. METHODS: Data from the second round of the National Family Health Survey were used to examine the reproductive span-the duration

A set of BAC clones spanning the human genome.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krzywinski, M.; Bosdet, I.; Smailus, D.; Chiu, R.; Mathewson, C.; Wye, N.; Barber, S.; Brown-John, M.; Chan, S.; Chand, S.; Cloutier, A.; Girn, N.; Lee, D.; Masson, A.; Mayo, M.; Olson, T.; Pandoh, P.; Prabhu, A.L.; Schoenmakers, E.F.P.M.; Tsai, M.Y.; Albertson, D.; Lam, W.W.; Choy, C.O.; Osoegawa, K.; Zhao, S.; Jong, P.J. de; Schein, J.; Jones, S.; Marra, M.A.

2004-01-01

Using the human bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) fingerprint-based physical map, genome sequence assembly and BAC end sequences, we have generated a fingerprint-validated set of 32 855 BAC clones spanning the human genome. The clone set provides coverage for at least 98% of the human

Measuring working memory in aphasia: Comparing performance on complex span and N-back tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Ivanova

2014-04-01

No significant correlations were observed between performance on complex span task and N-back tasks.Furthermore, performance on the modified listening span was related to performance on the comprehension subtest of the QASA, while no relationship was found for 2-back and 0-back tasks.Our results mirror studies in healthy controls that demonstrated no relationship between performance on the two tasks(Jaeggi et al., 2010; Kane et al., 2007. Thus although N-back tasks seem similar to traditional complex span measures and may also index abilities related to cognitive processing, the evidence to date does not warrant their direct association with the construct of WM. Implications for future investigation of cognitive deficits in aphasia will be discussed.

Vitamin and mineral intake of twelve adolescent male Kalenjin runners in western Kenya

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Dirk Lund; Jakobsen, Jette; Friis, H

2005-01-01

runners was carried out to determine their micronutrient intake. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Over a two-week period, samples of the main eaten food were collected for analysis of micronutrient distribution and a daily 24 recall interview performed to determine additional food intake. RESULTS: The estimated...... mg, 1309 microg, and 79 microg, respectively. CONCLUSION: Total daily micronutrient intake of the twelve Kalenjin runners was far from adequate compared to FAO/WHO daily recommended and suggested adequate intake....

Effectiveness of community-based treatment for problem gambling: a quasi-experimental evaluation of cognitive-behavioral vs. twelve-step therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Toneatto, Tony; Dragonetti, Rosa

2008-01-01

With the increasing availability of gambling throughout North America, there is interest in developing more effective treatments. This study compares the effectiveness of two brief outpatient treatments for problem gambling: eight sessions of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (n = 65) and eight sessions of a twelve-step treatment-oriented approach based on the first five steps of Gamblers Anonymous (n = 61). There were no baseline group differences on gambling-relevant variables. Twelve months post-treatment showed no group differences on key gambling variables (eg, frequency, abstinence rates, money wagered) in an analysis of completers. Participants who attended more sessions and chose an initial abstinent treatment goal appeared to achieve better outcomes.

Energy Efficient MANET Routing Using a Combination of Span and BECA/AFECA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Mads Darø; Bouvin, Niels Olof

2008-01-01

This paper presents some novel approaches for energy efficient routing in mobile ad-hoc networks. Two known energy preserving techniques, Span and BECA/AFECA, are combined with a well-known re-active routing protocol, AODV, to create a new energy efficient routing protocol. Furthermore, the proto......This paper presents some novel approaches for energy efficient routing in mobile ad-hoc networks. Two known energy preserving techniques, Span and BECA/AFECA, are combined with a well-known re-active routing protocol, AODV, to create a new energy efficient routing protocol. Furthermore...

Multi-span Suspension Bridge with Floating Towers

OpenAIRE

Brunstad, Orjan

2013-01-01

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) is currently conducting a feasible study of crossing 8 fjords on the west coast of Norway. The most challenging crossing is the 3700 m wide Sognefjord. Three main concepts are under development, and one of the concepts of this crossing is a three span suspension bridge on floating towers. The floating foundation suggested is a multi-column pontoon with mooring lines to seabed. The object of this thesis was to study this bridge concept with resp...

Mapping the Developmental Constraints on Working Memory Span Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Bayliss, Donna M.; Jarrold, Christopher; Baddeley, Alan D.; Gunn, Deborah M.; Leigh, Eleanor

2004-01-01

This study investigated the constraints underlying developmental improvements in complex working memory span performance among 120 children of between 6 and 10 years of age. Independent measures of processing efficiency, storage capacity, rehearsal speed, and basic speed of processing were assessed to determine their contribution to age-related…

The effects of perceived organisational support and span of control on the organisational commitment of novice leaders.

Science.gov (United States)

Havaei, Farinaz; Dahinten, V Susan; MacPhee, Maura

2015-04-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the main and interaction effects of perceived organisational support, span of control and leadership rank on novice nurse leaders' organisational commitment. As nurse leaders' organisational commitment is eroded at times of healthcare restructuring, it is important to study factors associated with organisational commitment. Cross-sectional data from 69 novice nurse leaders, collected via mailed surveys at two time points, were analysed using hierarchical regression. The findings supported our hypotheses about the positive effect of perceived organisational support, the positive effect of leadership rank and the negative effect of span of control on novice nurse leaders' organisational commitment. In addition, perceived organisational support was shown to moderate the negative effect of span of control on novice nurse leaders' organisational commitment at time 2. Organisational strategies aimed at supporting nurse leaders, and attention to span of control, are required to enhance the organisational commitment of novice nurse leaders. Nurse leaders with a wide span of control, in particular those with little leadership experience, need to adopt leadership strategies that maximise their effectiveness, such as organising smaller work groups or teams within their wide span of control. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reading direction and the central perceptual span in Urdu and English.

Science.gov (United States)

Paterson, Kevin B; McGowan, Victoria A; White, Sarah J; Malik, Sameen; Abedipour, Lily; Jordan, Timothy R

2014-01-01

Normal reading relies on the reader making a series of saccadic eye movements along lines of text, separated by brief fixational pauses during which visual information is acquired from a region of text. In English and other alphabetic languages read from left to right, the region from which useful information is acquired during each fixational pause is generally reported to extend further to the right of each fixation than to the left. However, the asymmetry of the perceptual span for alphabetic languages read in the opposite direction (i.e., from right to left) has received much less attention. Accordingly, in order to more fully investigate the asymmetry in the perceptual span for these languages, the present research assessed the influence of reading direction on the perceptual span for bilingual readers of Urdu and English. Text in Urdu and English was presented either entirely as normal or in a gaze-contingent moving-window paradigm in which a region of text was displayed as normal at the reader's point of fixation and text outside this region was obscured. The windows of normal text extended symmetrically 0.5° of visual angle to the left and right of fixation, or asymmetrically by increasing the size of each window to 1.5° or 2.5° to either the left or right of fixation. When participants read English, performance for the window conditions was superior when windows extended to the right. However, when reading Urdu, performance was superior when windows extended to the left, and was essentially the reverse of that observed for English. These findings provide a novel indication that the perceptual span is modified by the language being read to produce an asymmetry in the direction of reading and show for the first time that such an asymmetry occurs for reading Urdu.

Reading direction and the central perceptual span in Urdu and English.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin B Paterson

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Normal reading relies on the reader making a series of saccadic eye movements along lines of text, separated by brief fixational pauses during which visual information is acquired from a region of text. In English and other alphabetic languages read from left to right, the region from which useful information is acquired during each fixational pause is generally reported to extend further to the right of each fixation than to the left. However, the asymmetry of the perceptual span for alphabetic languages read in the opposite direction (i.e., from right to left has received much less attention. Accordingly, in order to more fully investigate the asymmetry in the perceptual span for these languages, the present research assessed the influence of reading direction on the perceptual span for bilingual readers of Urdu and English. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Text in Urdu and English was presented either entirely as normal or in a gaze-contingent moving-window paradigm in which a region of text was displayed as normal at the reader's point of fixation and text outside this region was obscured. The windows of normal text extended symmetrically 0.5° of visual angle to the left and right of fixation, or asymmetrically by increasing the size of each window to 1.5° or 2.5° to either the left or right of fixation. When participants read English, performance for the window conditions was superior when windows extended to the right. However, when reading Urdu, performance was superior when windows extended to the left, and was essentially the reverse of that observed for English. CONCLUSION: These findings provide a novel indication that the perceptual span is modified by the language being read to produce an asymmetry in the direction of reading and show for the first time that such an asymmetry occurs for reading Urdu.

Increasing cell culture population doublings for long-term growth of finite life span human cell cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Stampfer, Martha R; Garbe, James C

2015-02-24

Cell culture media formulations for culturing human epithelial cells are herein described. Also described are methods of increasing population doublings in a cell culture of finite life span human epithelial cells and prolonging the life span of human cell cultures. Using the cell culture media disclosed alone and in combination with addition to the cell culture of a compound associated with anti-stress activity achieves extended growth of pre-stasis cells and increased population doublings and life span in human epithelial cell cultures.

Memory and digit span experiment among psychology students in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study was an experiment that investigated short-term memory and digit span among the psychology students in a federal and state university in Lagos State, Nigeria. Memory is the process involved in retaining; retrieving and using information about stimuli, images, events, ideas and skills after original information was ...

Individual differences in memory span: relationship between rate of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Individual differences in memory span: relationship between rate of item identification and rate of reading. AM Sunmola, CC Ukachi, JI Osu. Abstract. No Abstract Available African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol.4(1) 1999: 74-78. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL ...

Dyslexia in a French-Spanish bilingual girl: behavioural and neural modulations following a visual attention span intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdois, Sylviane; Peyrin, Carole; Lassus-Sangosse, Delphine; Lallier, Marie; Démonet, Jean-François; Kandel, Sonia

2014-04-01

We report the case study of a French-Spanish bilingual dyslexic girl, MP, who exhibited a severe visual attention (VA) span deficit but preserved phonological skills. Behavioural investigation showed a severe reduction of reading speed for both single items (words and pseudo-words) and texts in the two languages. However, performance was more affected in French than in Spanish. MP was administered an intensive VA span intervention programme. Pre-post intervention comparison revealed a positive effect of intervention on her VA span abilities. The intervention further transferred to reading. It primarily resulted in faster identification of the regular and irregular words in French. The effect of intervention was rather modest in Spanish that only showed a tendency for faster word reading. Text reading improved in the two languages with a stronger effect in French but pseudo-word reading did not improve in either French or Spanish. The overall results suggest that VA span intervention may primarily enhance the fast global reading procedure, with stronger effects in French than in Spanish. MP underwent two fMRI sessions to explore her brain activations before and after VA span training. Prior to the intervention, fMRI assessment showed that the striate and extrastriate visual cortices alone were activated but none of the regions typically involved in VA span. Post-training fMRI revealed increased activation of the superior and inferior parietal cortices. Comparison of pre- and post-training activations revealed significant activation increase of the superior parietal lobes (BA 7) bilaterally. Thus, we show that a specific VA span intervention not only modulates reading performance but further results in increased brain activity within the superior parietal lobes known to housing VA span abilities. Furthermore, positive effects of VA span intervention on reading suggest that the ability to process multiple visual elements simultaneously is one cause of successful

Effect of habitat preference on frond life span in three Cyathea tree ferns

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Tzu Yun; Wang, Hsiang Hua; Lun Kuo, Yao; Kume, Tomonori

2013-04-01

It has been reported that plants living in various geographical areas had different physiological forms, as factors of microenvironment have strong impacts on physiological characters. However, the physiological characters of fronds have been scarcely reported in ferns. In this study, we investigated physiological differences in response to the habitat preference in the three tree ferns in northeast Taiwan, Cyathea lepifera, C. spinulosa, and C. podophylla, prefer to open site, edge of forest, and interior forest, respectively. The canopy openness above the individuals of C. lepifera, C. spinulosa and C. podophylla were 29.2 ± 14.10 , 7.0 ± 3.07 and 5.0 ± 2.24 %, respectively. Among three species, C. podophylla had the longest frond life span (13.0 ± 4.12 months) than the two others (C. lepifera (6.8 ± 1.29 months) and C. spinulosa (7.3 ±1.35 months). Our result supported the general patterns that shade intolerant species have a shorter leaf life span than shade tolerant species. The maximum net CO2 assimilation of C. lepifera, C. spinulosa and C. podophylla were 11.46 ± 1.34, 8.27 ± 0.69, and 6.34 ± 0.54 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1, respectively. As well, C. lepifera had the highest photosynthetic light saturation point (LSP), while C. podophylla had the lowest LSP among these three tree ferns. These suggested that C. lepifera could be more efficient for capturing and utilizing light resources under the larger canopy openness condition than the other two species. We also found that frond C : N ratio were positively correlated with frond life span among species. C. podophylla, with the longest frond life span, had the highest frond C : N ratio (22.17 ± 1.95), which was followed by C. spinulosa (18.58 ± 1.37) and C. lepifera (18.68 ± 2.63) with shorter frond life span. The results were consistent to the theory that the fronds and leaves of shade intolerant species have high photosynthetic abilities with low C : N ratio. Key words: Canopy openness, frond life span

A novel double quad-inverter configuration for multilevel twelve-phase open-winding converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Padmanaban, Sanjeevi Kumar; Blaabjerg, Frede; Wheeler, Patrick William

2016-01-01

This paper describes a novel proposal of double quad-inverter configuration for multilevel twelve-phase open-winding ac converter. Modular power units are developed from reconfigured eight classical three-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs). Each VSI has one additional bi-directional switching...... numerical simulation software's (Matlab/PLECS) developments. Further, the results confirm the good agreement to the developed theoretical background. Proposed converter suits the need of low-voltage/high-current applications such as ac tractions and `More-Electric Aircraft' propulsion systems....

Time Span of Discretion and Administrative Work in School Systems: Results of a Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Allison, Derek J.; Morfitt, Grace

This paper presents findings of a study that utilized Elliott Jaques' theories of organizational depth structure and time span of discretion in administrative work to examine administrators' responsibilities in two Ontario (Canada) school systems. The theory predicts that the time-span of discretion associated with the administrative tasks will…

From menarche to menopause: the fertile life span of celiac women.

Science.gov (United States)

Santonicola, Antonella; Iovino, Paola; Cappello, Carmelina; Capone, Pietro; Andreozzi, Paolo; Ciacci, Carolina

2011-10-01

We evaluated menopause-associated disorders and fertile life span in women with celiac disease (CD) under untreated conditions and after long-term treatment with a gluten-free diet. The participants were 33 women with CD after menopause (untreated CD group), 25 celiac women consuming a gluten-free diet at least 10 years before menopause (treated CD group), and 45 healthy volunteers (control group). The Menopause Rating Scale questionnaire was used to gather information on menopause-associated disorders. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to acquire information on physical activity. Untreated celiac women had a shorter duration of fertile life span than did the control women because of an older age of menarche and a younger age of menopause (P menopause causes a shorter fertile period in untreated celiac women compared with control women. A gluten-free diet that started at least 10 years before menopause prolongs the fertile life span of celiac women. The perception of intensity of hot flushes and irritability is more severe in untreated celiac women than in controls. Low physical exercise and/or poorer quality of life frequently reported by untreated celiac women might be the cause of reduced discomfort tolerance, thus increasing the subjective perception of menopausal symptoms.

Toward an Integrative Science of Life-Span Development and Aging

Science.gov (United States)

Piccinin, Andrea M.

2010-01-01

The study of aging demands an integrative life-span developmental framework, involving interdisciplinary collaborations and multiple methodological approaches for understanding how and why individuals change, in both normative and idiosyncratic ways. We highlight and summarize some of the issues encountered when conducting integrative research for understanding aging-related change, including, the integration of results across different levels of analysis; the integration of theory, design, and analysis; and the synthesis of results across studies of aging. We emphasize the necessity of longitudinal designs for understanding development and aging and discuss methodological issues that should be considered for achieving reproducible research on within-person processes. It will be important that current and future studies permit opportunities for quantitative comparison across populations given the extent to which historical shifts and cultural differences influence life-span processes and aging-related outcomes. PMID:20237144

Twelve tips for teaching child development and disability to medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Jenny

2018-02-01

Child development is a marker of well-being in childhood and recognition of developmental delay allows timely investigation and intervention for children with developmental disabilities. Despite this, child development and disabilities are not given emphasis in the medical curriculum. This under representation of teaching combined with the stigma associated with disabilities contributes to the sub-optimal health care of people with disabilities. As well as, addressing the stigma of disability a medical undergraduate curriculum should include: the key concepts of child development; the clinical presentation of the most common developmental disabilities; developmental history taking and the infant neurodevelopmental examination. The following twelve tips provide practical advice about how to teach this knowledge and these skills during medical training.

Effect of high dose irradiation on the red cell span in rabbits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, T.W.; Koh, J.W.; Woo, K.S.; Lee, O.H.; Youn, C.S.

1982-01-01

As a part of studies on acute effects of high dose irradiation in vivo, the present report was carried out to evaluate the changes of the red cell life span in the white rabbits by a single whole body exposure to gamma rays from 60 Co teletherapy unit. The exposure was done in dose levels of 100, 600 and 900 rads to each experimental group of 10 rabbits. The life span apparent half survival time of red cells, and that the red cell volume in the circulting blood were measured by ICSH Reference method using 51 Cr. (Author)

Management of long span partially edentulous maxilla with fixed removable denture prosthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeyavalan, Mahilan I; Narasimman, M; Venkatakrishnan, C J; Philip, Jacob M

2012-07-01

Restoration of a long span partially edentulous maxilla with tooth supported prosthesis is challenging because of inherent anatomic limitations and unfavourable biomechanics present after the loss of teeth. A tooth supported fixed-removable prosthesis is a treatment option for restoration of such long span partially edentulous maxillary arches. This prosthesis meets the requirements for esthetics, phonetics, comfort, and hygiene, as well as favourable biomechanical stress distribution to the remaining natural tooth abutments. This article presents a procedure for fabrication of a fixed-removable prosthesis that has cement-retained custom cast bar metal substructure and a ball attachment retained removable superstructure prosthesis.

Does having children extend life span? A genealogical study of parity and longevity in the Amish.

Science.gov (United States)

McArdle, Patrick F; Pollin, Toni I; O'Connell, Jeffrey R; Sorkin, John D; Agarwala, Richa; Schäffer, Alejandro A; Streeten, Elizabeth A; King, Terri M; Shuldiner, Alan R; Mitchell, Braxton D

2006-02-01

The relationship between parity and life span is uncertain, with evidence of both positive and negative relationships being reported previously. We evaluated this issue by using genealogical data from an Old Order Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a population characterized by large nuclear families, homogeneous lifestyle, and extensive genealogical records. The analysis was restricted to the set of 2,015 individuals who had children, were born between 1749 and 1912, and survived until at least age 50 years. Pedigree structures and birth and death dates were extracted from Amish genealogies, and the relationship between parity and longevity was examined using a variance component framework. Life span of fathers increased in linear fashion with increasing number of children (0.23 years per additional child; p =.01), while life span of mothers increased linearly up to 14 children (0.32 years per additional child; p =.004) but decreased with each additional child beyond 14 (p =.0004). Among women, but not men, a later age at last birth was associated with longer life span (p =.001). Adjusting for age at last birth obliterated the correlation between maternal life span and number of children, except among mothers with ultrahigh (>14 children) parity. We conclude that high parity among men and later menopause among women may be markers for increased life span. Understanding the biological and/or social factors mediating these relationships may provide insights into mechanisms underlying successful aging.

Interorganizational Trust in Business to Business E-Commercspan>e

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P. Puvanasvari Ratnasingam

2001-01-01

textabstractMost previous research in the Information Systems discipline focused on information systems and technology, e-commercspan>e applications such as Inter-Organizational Systems (IOSs), competitive advantages, and security issues. The emphasis on IOSs' gave rise to concerns about

Estimation of Stature from Arm Span in Medical Students of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

“Identification is an individual's birth right” United Nations. Declaration on ... stature from arm span (AS) for a region in Maharashtra, India. Subjects ... found correlation coefficient (R) of 0.89 in male and 0.90 in female using simple regression,.

Antifouling activity of twelve demosponges from Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SM. Ribeiro

Full Text Available Benthic marine organisms are constantly exposed to fouling, which is harmful to most host species. Thus, the production of secondary metabolites containing antifouling properties is an important ecological advantage for sessile organisms and may also provide leading compounds for the development of antifouling paints. High antifouling potential of sponges has been demonstrated in the Indian and Pacific oceans and in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas. Brazilian sponges remain understudied concerning antifouling activities. Only two scientific articles reported this activity in sponges of Brazil. The objective of this study was to test crude extracts of twelve species of sponges from Brazil against the attachment of the mussel Perna perna through laboratorial assays, and highlight promising species for future studies. The species Petromica citrina, Amphimedon viridis, Desmapsamma anchorata, Chondrosia sp., Polymastia janeirensis, Tedania ignis, Aplysina fulva, Mycale angulosa, Hymeniacidon heliophila, Dysidea etheria, Tethya rubra, and Tethya maza were frozen and freeze-dried before extraction with acetone or dichloromethane. The crude extract of four species significantly inhibited the attachment of byssus: Tethya rubra (p = 0.0009, Tethya maza (p = 0.0039, Petromica citrina (p = 0.0277, and Hymeniacidon heliophila (p = 0.00003. These species, specially, should be the target of future studies to detail the substances involved in the ability antifouling well as to define its amplitude of action.

Energy and greenhouse effect. Twelve short notes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prevot, Henri

2013-12-01

The author proposes twelve brief notes aimed at discussing the reduction of fossil energy consumption in order to reduce CO 2 emissions and to improve the French energy supply security, without any useless expense. These notes address the reason for energy savings, the cost and price of a CO 2 ton, the issue of thermal regulation for buildings (it's not in compliance with the law, and results in higher expenses and increased CO 2 emissions), the introduction of a carbon tax to incite investments for energy saving, the status and health of the CO 2 European market, the support of actions aimed at reducing fossil energy consumption, the fact that bio-heat is ten times more efficient than bio-fuel and that therefore car holders should finance bio-heat, the development of hybrid uses of energy to avoid the difficulty of energy storage, the reduction of CO 2 emissions at low cost (by consuming as much renewable energy as nuclear energy but without wind or photovoltaic energy), the cost of less CO 2 , less fossil energy and less nuclear, and the interest of France to act on its own to reduce CO 2 emissions. The author proposes a brief synthesis of these notes and some proposals regarding thermal regulation for buildings, taxes, the European CO 2 market, the forest biomass, electricity production, and the European and word dimensions of these issues

The Effects of Visual Attention Span and Phonological Decoding in Reading Comprehension in Dyslexia: A Path Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chen; Schneps, Matthew H; Masyn, Katherine E; Thomson, Jennifer M

2016-11-01

Increasing evidence has shown visual attention span to be a factor, distinct from phonological skills, that explains single-word identification (pseudo-word/word reading) performance in dyslexia. Yet, little is known about how well visual attention span explains text comprehension. Observing reading comprehension in a sample of 105 high school students with dyslexia, we used a pathway analysis to examine the direct and indirect path between visual attention span and reading comprehension while controlling for other factors such as phonological awareness, letter identification, short-term memory, IQ and age. Integrating phonemic decoding efficiency skills in the analytic model, this study aimed to disentangle how visual attention span and phonological skills work together in reading comprehension for readers with dyslexia. We found visual attention span to have a significant direct effect on more difficult reading comprehension but not on an easier level. It also had a significant direct effect on pseudo-word identification but not on word identification. In addition, we found that visual attention span indirectly explains reading comprehension through pseudo-word reading and word reading skills. This study supports the hypothesis that at least part of the dyslexic profile can be explained by visual attention abilities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Non-linear impact of glutathione depletion on C. elegans life span and stress resistance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadine Urban

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The redox environment in cells and organisms is set by low-molecular mass and protein-bound thiols, with glutathione (GSH representing a major intracellular redox buffer. Subtle thiol oxidation elicits signal transduction processes and adaptive responses to cope with stressors, whereas highly oxidizing conditions may provoke cell death. We here tested how thiol depletion affects life span, stress resistance and stress signaling in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. Diethyl maleate (DEM, an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compound that conjugates to GSH and other thiols, decreased C. elegans life span at a concentration of 1 mM. In contrast, low and moderate doses of DEM (10–100 µM increased mean and maximum life span and improved resistance against oxidative stress. DEM-induced life span extension was not detectable in worms deficient in either the FoxO orthologue, DAF-16, or the Nrf2 orthologue, SKN-1, pointing to a collaborative role of the two transcription factors in life span extension induced by thiol depletion. Cytoprotective target genes of DAF-16 and SKN-1 were upregulated after at least 3 days of exposure to 100 µM DEM, but not 1 mM DEM, whereas only 1 mM DEM caused upregulation of egl-1, a gene controlled by a p53-orthologue, CEP-1. In order to test whether depletion of GSH may elicit effects similar to DEM, we suppressed GSH biosynthesis in worms by attenuating γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gcs-1 expression through RNAi. The decline in GSH levels elicited by gcs-1 knockdown starting at young adult stage did not impair viability, but increased both stress resistance and life expectancy of the worms. In contrast, gcs-1 knockdown commencing right after hatching impaired nematode stress resistance and rendered young adult worms prone to vulval ruptures during egg-laying. Thus, modest decrease in GSH levels in young adult worms may promote stress resistance and life span, whereas depletion of GSH is detrimental to freshly

Non-linear impact of glutathione depletion on C. elegans life span and stress resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Urban, Nadine; Tsitsipatis, Dimitrios; Hausig, Franziska; Kreuzer, Katrin; Erler, Katrin; Stein, Vanessa; Ristow, Michael; Steinbrenner, Holger; Klotz, Lars-Oliver

2017-04-01

The redox environment in cells and organisms is set by low-molecular mass and protein-bound thiols, with glutathione (GSH) representing a major intracellular redox buffer. Subtle thiol oxidation elicits signal transduction processes and adaptive responses to cope with stressors, whereas highly oxidizing conditions may provoke cell death. We here tested how thiol depletion affects life span, stress resistance and stress signaling in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. Diethyl maleate (DEM), an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compound that conjugates to GSH and other thiols, decreased C. elegans life span at a concentration of 1mM. In contrast, low and moderate doses of DEM (10-100µM) increased mean and maximum life span and improved resistance against oxidative stress. DEM-induced life span extension was not detectable in worms deficient in either the FoxO orthologue, DAF-16, or the Nrf2 orthologue, SKN-1, pointing to a collaborative role of the two transcription factors in life span extension induced by thiol depletion. Cytoprotective target genes of DAF-16 and SKN-1 were upregulated after at least 3 days of exposure to 100µM DEM, but not 1mM DEM, whereas only 1mM DEM caused upregulation of egl-1, a gene controlled by a p53-orthologue, CEP-1. In order to test whether depletion of GSH may elicit effects similar to DEM, we suppressed GSH biosynthesis in worms by attenuating γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gcs-1) expression through RNAi. The decline in GSH levels elicited by gcs-1 knockdown starting at young adult stage did not impair viability, but increased both stress resistance and life expectancy of the worms. In contrast, gcs-1 knockdown commencing right after hatching impaired nematode stress resistance and rendered young adult worms prone to vulval ruptures during egg-laying. Thus, modest decrease in GSH levels in young adult worms may promote stress resistance and life span, whereas depletion of GSH is detrimental to freshly hatched and developing worms

Fixed Parameter Evolutionary Algorithms and Maximum Leaf Spanning Trees: A Matter of Mutations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kratsch, Stefan; Lehre, Per Kristian; Neumann, Frank

2011-01-01

Evolutionary algorithms have been shown to be very successful for a wide range of NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems. We investigate the NP-hard problem of computing a spanning tree that has a maximal number of leaves by evolutionary algorithms in the context of fixed parameter tractabil...... two common mutation operators, we show that an operator related to spanning tree problems leads to an FPT running time in contrast to a general mutation operator that does not have this property....

Transport regimes spanning magnetization-coupling phase space

Science.gov (United States)

Baalrud, Scott D.; Daligault, Jérôme

2017-10-01

The manner in which transport properties vary over the entire parameter-space of coupling and magnetization strength is explored. Four regimes are identified based on the relative size of the gyroradius compared to other fundamental length scales: the collision mean free path, Debye length, distance of closest approach, and interparticle spacing. Molecular dynamics simulations of self-diffusion and temperature anisotropy relaxation spanning the parameter space are found to agree well with the predicted boundaries. Comparison with existing theories reveals regimes where they succeed, where they fail, and where no theory has yet been developed.

Decentralized Pricing in Minimum Cost Spanning Trees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Moulin, Hervé; Østerdal, Lars Peter

In the minimum cost spanning tree model we consider decentralized pricing rules, i.e. rules that cover at least the ecient cost while the price charged to each user only depends upon his own connection costs. We de ne a canonical pricing rule and provide two axiomatic characterizations. First......, the canonical pricing rule is the smallest among those that improve upon the Stand Alone bound, and are either superadditive or piece-wise linear in connection costs. Our second, direct characterization relies on two simple properties highlighting the special role of the source cost....

Signal Enhancement with Variable Span Linear Filters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benesty, Jacob; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll; Jensen, Jesper Rindom

. Variable span filters combine the ideas of optimal linear filters with those of subspace methods, as they involve the joint diagonalization of the correlation matrices of the desired signal and the noise. The book shows how some well-known filter designs, e.g. the minimum distortion, maximum signal...... the time and STFT domains, and, lastly, in time-domain binaural enhancement. In these contexts, the properties of these filters are analyzed in terms of their noise reduction capabilities and desired signal distortion, and the analyses are validated and further explored in simulations....

The Effects of Visual Attention Span and Phonological Decoding in Reading Comprehension in Dyslexia: A Path Analysis

OpenAIRE

Chen, C.; Schneps, M.; Masyn, K.; Thomson, J.

2016-01-01

Increasing evidence has shown visual attention span to be a factor, distinct from phonological skills, that explains single-word identification (pseudo-word/word reading) performance in dyslexia. Yet, little is known about how well visual attention span explains text comprehension. Observing reading comprehension in a sample of 105 high school students with dyslexia, we used a pathway analysis to examine the direct and indirect path between visual attention span and reading comprehension whil...

Life-span studies of inhaled plutonium in beagle dogs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bair, W.J.

1990-04-01

In 1970 a life-span study with over 300 beagle dogs was begun to gain an understanding of long-term health effects resulting from respiratory tract intakes of plutonium and to derive risk estimates that might be applied to plutonium and other transuranic elements. Groups of beagle dogs were given single exposures to 239 PuO 2 , 238 PuO 2 , or 239 Pu(NO 3 ) 4 to obtain graded levels of initial lung burdens ranging from 1 to 1800 Bq lung. The objective of this paper is to give you a progress report on the current life-span studies of inhaled plutonium in beagle dogs at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory. I will describe the biokinetics of inhaled plutonium in dogs and the resulting health effects. I will also mention some studies directed towards understanding the mechanism leading to these effects. Finally, I will discuss the current risk estimates derived from these studies and how they might relate to plutonium exposures in humans. 5 refs., 13 figs., 4 tabs

Holistic life-span health outcomes among elite intercollegiate student-athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorenson, Shawn C; Romano, Russell; Scholefield, Robin M; Martin, Brandon E; Gordon, James E; Azen, Stanley P; Schroeder, E Todd; Salem, George J

2014-01-01

Competitive sports are recognized as having unique health benefits and risks, and the effect of sports on life-span health among elite athletes has received increasing attention. However, supporting scientific data are sparse and do not represent modern athletes. To assess holistic life-span health and health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) among current and former National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes (SAs). Cross-sectional study. A large Division I university. Population-based sample of 496 university students and alumni (age 17-84 years), including SAs and an age-matched and sex-matched nonathlete (NA) control group. Participants completed anonymous, self-report questionnaires. We measured the Short-Form 12 (SF-12) physical and mental component HRQL scores and cumulative lifetime experience and relative risk of treatment for joint, cardiopulmonary, and psychosocial health concerns. Older alumni (age 43+ years) SAs reported greater joint health concerns than NAs (larger joint summary scores; P = .04; Cohen d = 0.69; probability of clinically important difference [pCID] = 77%; treatment odds ratio [OR] = 14.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.6, 126). Joint health for current and younger alumni SAs was similar to that for NAs. Older alumni reported greater cardiopulmonary health concerns than younger alumni (summary score P students (P 99.5%; OR = 7.1, 95% CI = 3.3, 15), but the risk was similar for SAs and NAs. Current SAs demonstrated evidence of better psychosocial health (summary score P = .006; d = -0.52; pCID = 40%) and mental component HRQL (P = .008; d = 0.50; pCID = 48%) versus NAs but similar psychosocial treatment odds (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.39, 1.9). Psychosocial health and mental component HRQL were similar between alumni SAs and NAs. No differences were observed between SAs and NAs in physical component HRQL. The SAs demonstrated significant, clinically meaningful evidence of greater joint health concerns later in life, comparable

Accumulation of aluminum and barium in twelve Punjab wheat varieties and their contents in the agricultural soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shar, G.Q.; Lashari, A.K.H.; Haider, S.I.

2003-01-01

Wheat samples of twelve varieties, grown by breeders at NIAB, Faisalabad Pakistan and its soil, were collected and analyzed for aluminum and barium content by atomic absorption spectroscopy using acetylene-nitroxide flame. For dissolution for heavy metals, aluminum and barium, wet acid digestion method was used. The experimental study was conducted using six samples for each twelve varieties of FSC and RD (Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department) as standard reference materials and representative samples, and the soil which was also collected from agricultural plot of Nuclear Inst. of Agricultural and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Punjab. The characteristics mean of both elements in each variety of representative samples was found to be 28.32, 71.02, 37.41, 36.95, 28.32, 47.40, 30.14, 14.69, 25.41, 32.86, 30.14 and 41.95 for the aluminum and 12.67, 6.92, 5.67, 19.82, 3.28, 17.34, 10.25, 10.49, 8.01, 14.23, 15.16 and 6.92 mg/kg for the barium of Chakwal-86, Bakhatawar-92, Shahkar-95, Parwaz-94, Punjab-96, Bahawal pur-97, Shahkar-91, Inquilab-91, Pasban-90, Punjab-85, Faisalabad-85 and Pak-81 varieties respectively. The soil of that specific plot contains 35964.3 and 111.08 mg/kg of aluminum and barium respectively. The representative samples, which are compared with certified samples at 95% confidence limit. The purpose of this study was to study the variation in uptake of aluminum and barium in twelve different wheat varieties grown in same agricultural plot. (author)

Validation of the human odor span task: effects of nicotine.

Science.gov (United States)

MacQueen, David A; Drobes, David J

2017-10-01

Amongst non-smokers, nicotine generally enhances performance on tasks of attention, with limited effect on working memory. In contrast, nicotine has been shown to produce robust enhancements of working memory in non-humans. To address this gap, the present study investigated the effects of nicotine on the performance of non-smokers on a cognitive battery which included a working memory task reverse-translated from use with rodents (the odor span task, OST). Nicotine has been reported to enhance OST performance in rats and the present study assessed whether this effect generalizes to human performance. Thirty non-smokers were tested on three occasions after consuming either placebo, 2 mg, or 4 mg nicotine gum. On each occasion, participants completed a battery of clinical and experimental tasks of working memory and attention. Nicotine was associated with dose-dependent enhancements in sustained attention, as evidenced by increased hit accuracy on the rapid visual information processing (RVIP) task. However, nicotine failed to produce main effects on OST performance or on alternative measures of working memory (digit span, spatial span, letter-number sequencing, 2-back) or attention (digits forward, 0-back). Interestingly, enhancement of RVIP performance occurred concomitant to significant reductions in self-reported attention/concentration. Human OST performance was significantly related to N-back performance, and as in rodents, OST accuracy declined with increasing memory load. Given the similarity of human and rodent OST performance under baseline conditions and the strong association between OST and visual 0-back accuracy, the OST may be particular useful in the study of conditions characterized by inattention.

Age differences in five personality domains across the life span

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Allemand, Mathias; Zimprich, Daniel; Hendriks, A. A. Jolijn

The present study addresses the issue of age differences in 5 personality domains across the-life span in a cross-sectional study. In contrast to most previous studies, the present study follows a methodologically more rigorous approach to warrant that age-related differences in personality

Management of long span partially edentulous maxilla with fixed removable denture prosthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahilan I Jeyavalan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Restoration of a long span partially edentulous maxilla with tooth supported prosthesis is challenging because of inherent anatomic limitations and unfavourable biomechanics present after the loss of teeth. A tooth supported fixed-removable prosthesis is a treatment option for restoration of such long span partially edentulous maxillary arches. This prosthesis meets the requirements for esthetics, phonetics, comfort, and hygiene, as well as favourable biomechanical stress distribution to the remaining natural tooth abutments. This article presents a procedure for fabrication of a fixed-removable prosthesis that has cement-retained custom cast bar metal substructure and a ball attachment retained removable superstructure prosthesis.

Effects of low dose rate irradiation on life span prolongation of human premature-aging syndrome model mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nomura, Takaharu

2006-01-01

We previously showed that Type II diabetes model mice prolonged of their life span by life long low dose rate irradiation. We also found that antioxidant function in variety tissues of some strain of mice were enhancement after low dose/low dose rate irradiation. The prolongation of life span might depend on certain damaged level of reactive oxygen species. We thought the effect of the prolongation was due to the enhancement of the antioxidant activities after irradiation. We investigated whether the enhancement of antioxidant activities after low dose rate irradiation had an effect on life span prolongation. Four-week-old female human premature-aging syndrome model mice, kl/kl (klotho) mice, which the life span of this model mouse is about 65 days, were irradiated with gamma rays at 0.35, 0.70 or 1.2 mGy/hr. The 0.70 mGy/hr-irradiated group remarkably effected on the prolongation of their life span. Some mice of the group were extremely survived for about and more 100 days. Antioxidant activities in the irradiated groups were enhancement by low dose rate irradiation, however the dependence of the dose rates were not clearly difference. These results suggest that the antioxidant activities in this model mouse were enhanced by the low dose rate irradiation, and may make it possible to prolong the life span of this mouse. (author)

Comparative assay of fluorescent antibody test results among twelve European National Reference Laboratories using various anti-rabies conjugates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Robardet, E.; Andrieu, S.; Rasmussen, Thomas Bruun

2013-01-01

Twelve National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) for rabies have undertaken a comparative assay to assess the comparison of fluorescent antibody test (FAT) results using five coded commercial anti-rabies conjugates (Biorad, Bioveta, Fujirebio, Millipore, and SIFIN conjugates). Homogenized positive...

Comparisons of High School Graduation Rates of Students with Disabilities and Their Peers in Twelve Southern States

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Theodore Scott; Manuel, Nancy; Stokes, Billy R.

2012-01-01

This study compared differences in diploma and graduation dropout rates among students with and without disabilities, analyzed differences in various graduation-types by disabilities, and offered recommendations to improve graduation rates through evidence-based practices. The geographic catchment area of this study was limited to twelve Southern…

The Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Content of Twelve Bestselling US Principles of Economics Textbooks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Poul Thøis

2013-01-01

How have authors of twelve bestselling introductory US textbooks in economics responded to the traumatizing financial crisis? In general the financial crisis is described with a couple of lines here and there or it is dealt with in boxes, separate sections, or specific isolated chapters. Some...

Assessing working memory in children with ADHD: Minor administration and scoring changes may improve digit span backward's construct validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Erica L; Kofler, Michael J; Soto, Elia F; Schaefer, Hillary S; Sarver, Dustin E

2018-01-01

Pediatric ADHD is associated with impairments in working memory, but these deficits often go undetected when using clinic-based tests such as digit span backward. The current study pilot-tested minor administration/scoring modifications to improve digit span backward's construct and predictive validities in a well-characterized sample of children with ADHD. WISC-IV digit span was modified to administer all trials (i.e., ignore discontinue rule) and count digits rather than trials correct. Traditional and modified scores were compared to a battery of criterion working memory (construct validity) and academic achievement tests (predictive validity) for 34 children with ADHD ages 8-13 (M=10.41; 11 girls). Traditional digit span backward scores failed to predict working memory or KTEA-2 achievement (allns). Alternate administration/scoring of digit span backward significantly improved its associations with working memory reordering (r=.58), working memory dual-processing (r=.53), working memory updating (r=.28), and KTEA-2 achievement (r=.49). Consistent with prior work, these findings urge caution when interpreting digit span performance. Minor test modifications may address test validity concerns, and should be considered in future test revisions. Digit span backward becomes a valid measure of working memory at exactly the point that testing is traditionally discontinued. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neuromodulation of Behavioral and Cognitive Development across the Life Span

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shu-Chen

2012-01-01

Among other mechanisms, behavioral and cognitive development entail, on the one hand, contextual scaffolding and, on the other hand, neuromodulation of adaptive neurocognitive representations across the life span. Key brain networks underlying cognition, emotion, and motivation are innervated by major transmitter systems (e.g., the catecholamines…

The effects of planting density and cultural intensity on loblolly pine crown characteristics at age twelve

Science.gov (United States)

Madison Akers; Michael Kane; Robert Teskey; Richard Daniels; Dehai Zhao; Santosh Subedi

2012-01-01

Twelve-year old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) stands were analyzed for the effects of planting density and cultural intensity on tree and crown attributes. Four study installations were located in the Piedmont and Upper Coastal Plain regions of the U.S. South. The treatments included six planting densities (740, 1480, 2220, 2960, 3700, 4440 trees...

Study on Cloud Security Based on Trust Spanning Tree Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Yingxu; Liu, Zenghui; Pan, Qiuyue; Liu, Jing

2015-09-01

Attacks executed on Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) expose the weakness of link layer protocols and put the higher layers in jeopardy. Although the problems have been studied for many years and various solutions have been proposed, many security issues remain. To enhance the security and credibility of layer-2 network, we propose a trust-based spanning tree protocol aiming at achieving a higher credibility of LAN switch with a simple and lightweight authentication mechanism. If correctly implemented in each trusted switch, the authentication of trust-based STP can guarantee the credibility of topology information that is announced to other switch in the LAN. To verify the enforcement of the trusted protocol, we present a new trust evaluation method of the STP using a specification-based state model. We implement a prototype of trust-based STP to investigate its practicality. Experiment shows that the trusted protocol can achieve security goals and effectively avoid STP attacks with a lower computation overhead and good convergence performance.

The complexities of complex span: explaining individual differences in working memory in children and adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayliss, Donna M; Jarrold, Christopher; Gunn, Deborah M; Baddeley, Alan D

2003-03-01

Two studies are presented that investigated the constraints underlying working memory performance in children and adults. In each case, independent measures of processing efficiency and storage capacity are assessed to determine their relative importance in predicting performance on complex span tasks,which measure working memory capacity. Results show that complex span performance was independently constrained by individual differences in domain-general processing efficiency and domain-specific storage capacity. Residual variance, which may reflect the ability to coordinate storage and processing, also predicted academic achievement. These results challenge the view that complex span taps a limited-capacity resource pool shared between processing and storage operations. Rather, they are consistent with a multiple-component model in which separate resource pools support the processing and storage functions of working memory.

Work environment perceptions following relocation to open-plan offices: A twelve-month longitudinal study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergström, Jessica; Miller, Michael; Horneij, Eva

2015-01-01

A workplace's design can have various positive or negative effects on the employees and since the 1970s the advantages and disadvantages of open-plan offices have been discussed. The aim of this study was to investigate perceived health, work environment and self-estimated productivity one month before and at three, six and twelve months after relocation from individual offices to an open-plan office environment. Employees from three departments within the same company group and who worked with relatively similar tasks and who were planned to be relocated from private offices to open-plan offices were invited to participate. Questionnaires comprising items from The Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale, The Work Experience Measurement Scale, the questionnaire by Brennan et al. about perceived performance and one question from the Work Ability Index were sent to participants one month before relocation (baseline) to open-plan offices and then at three, six and twelve months after relocation. At baseline, 82 questionnaires were sent out. The response rate was 85%. At the follow-ups 77-79 questionnaires were sent out and the response-rate was 70%-81%. At follow-ups, perceived health, job satisfaction and performance had generally deteriorated. The results of the study indicate that employees' perception of health, work environment and performance decreased during a 12 month period following relocation from individual offices to open-plan offices.

A formal analysis of a dynamic distributed spanning tree algorithm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, A.J.; Wesselink, J.W.

2003-01-01

Abstract. We analyze the spanning tree algorithm in the IEEE 1394.1 draft standard, which correctness has not previously been proved. This algorithm is a fully-dynamic distributed graph algorithm, which, in general, is hard to develop. The approach we use is to formally develop an algorithm that is

Redesign of a Life Span Development Course Using Fink's Taxonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Fallahi, Carolyn R.

2008-01-01

This study compared a traditional lecture-based life span development course to the same course redesigned using Fink's (2003) taxonomy of significant learning. The goals, activities, and feedback within the course corresponded to Fink's 6 taxa (knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, learning how to learn). Undergraduates in…

Span-Dependent Distributions of the Bending Strength of Spruce Timber

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ditlevsen, Ove; Källsner, Bo

2005-01-01

Tests data of bending strengths of a large number of timber beams of different spans obtained at the Swedish Institute for Wood Technology Research reveal a statistical structure that can be represented in a simple probabilistic model of series system type. A particular feature of the data from one...

BODY HEIGHT AND ITS ESTIMATION UTILIZING ARM SPAN MEASUREMENTS IN MALE ADOLESCENTS FROM CENTRAL REGION IN MONTENEGRO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dobrislav Vujović

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Anthropologists recognized the tallness of nations in the Dinaric Alps long time ago (Popovic et al, 2013. As the modern Montenegrins fall partly into the Dinaric racial classification (Bjelica et al., 2012, the purpose of this study was to examine the body height in Montenegrin male adolescents from central region as well as the relationship between arm span as an alternative to estimating the body height, which would vary from region to region in Montenegro. Method: Our investigation analyses 548 male adolescents from the central region in Montenegro. The anthropometric measurements were taken according to the protocol of the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK. Means and standard deviations regarding the anthropometric measurements were obtained. A comparison of means of body heights and arm spans within this gender group were carried out using a t-test. The relationships between body height and arm span were determined using simple correlation coefficients and their 95% confidence interval. Then a linear regression analysis was performed to examine the extent to which the arm span can reliably predict body height. Results: The results displayed that male Central-Montenegrins are 183.66±6.93 cm tall and have an arm span of 184.99±8.30cm. Discussion: Compared to other studies, the results of this study have shown that this gender made Central-Macedonians the tall population, taller than general male population in Montenegro (Bjelica et al., 2012. On the other hand, expectably, the arm span reliably predicts body height in this gender. However, the estimation equations which have been obtained in Central-Montenegrins are, different alike in general population, since arm span was closer to body heights (1.33±1.37 centimetres, more than in general population (Bjelica et al., 2012. This confirms the necessity for developing separate height models for each region in Montenegro.

STUDY ON SPANNING EXTERNAL FIXATORS FOR PERIARTICULAR OPEN FRACTURES

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Prasanth Maddila

2017-04-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Open fractures which occur close to any fracture need immobilisation for the soft tissues to heal. Some open fractures are even fixed with provisional fixations to maintain the alignment of the fractures. The provisional fixation needs to be augmented with external support, which can be given by spanning external fixators across a joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS Our study consists of 38 open fractures of the lower limbs, which are of Gustilo-Anderson’s type IIIB, an MT4 of AO-ASIF soft tissue injury classification essentially requiring open wound management as well as fracture fixation. Wound lavage and debridements are carried out till the soft tissues show granulations. The position in which joint is immobilised is functional and with access to open wound for dressings and inspection without any displacement of the fracture as well as creeping granulation tissue. RESULTS All the cases in our study are maintained with functional position till soft tissue cover is achieved and provisional fixation is done with definitive fixation after soft tissue cover with skin grafting. CONCLUSION Spanning external fixators are useful in maintaining functional positions as well as augmenting the provisional fixation of the compound fractures.

Individual differences in phonological learning and verbal STM span.

Science.gov (United States)

Service, Elisabet; Maury, Sini; Luotoniemi, Emilia

2007-07-01

A relationship between phonological short-term memory tasks (e.g., nonword repetition, digit span) and vocabulary learning in both experimental and real-life conditions has been reported in numerous studies. A mechanism that would explain this correlation is, however, not known. The present study explores the possibility that it is the quality of phonological representations that affects both short-term recall and long-term learning of novel wordlike items. In Experiment 1, groups with relatively good and poor span for pseudowords were established. The good group was found to perform better at explicit memory tasks tapping the incidental learning of a limited stimulus pool used in an auditory immediate serial pseudoword recall task. In Experiment 2, the results of Experiment 1 were replicated when experience of correct recall was controlled. In Experiment 3, the immediate recall performance of the good group was found to benefit more than that of the poor group from syllable repetition within stimulus pools. It is concluded that the efficiency of a process that creates phonological representations is related both to short-term capacity for verbal items, and to long-term phonological learning of the structure of novel phonological items.

Materialism across the life span: An age-period-cohort analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaspers, Esther D T; Pieters, Rik G M

2016-09-01

This research examined the development of materialism across the life span. Two initial studies revealed that (a) lay beliefs were that materialism declines with age and (b) previous research findings also implied a modest, negative relationship between age and materialism. Yet, previous research has considered age only as a linear control variable, thereby precluding the possibility of more intricate relationships between age and materialism. Moreover, prior studies have relied on cross-sectional data and thus confound age and cohort effects. To improve on this, the main study used longitudinal data from 8 waves spanning 9 years of over 4,200 individuals (16 to 90 years) to examine age effects on materialism while controlling for cohort and period effects. Using a multivariate multilevel latent growth model, it found that materialism followed a curvilinear trajectory across the life span, with the lowest levels at middle age and higher levels before and after that. Thus, in contrast to lay beliefs, materialism increased in older age. Moreover, age effects on materialism differed markedly between 3 core themes of materialism: acquisition centrality, possession-defined success, and acquisition as the pursuit of happiness. In particular, acquisition centrality and possession-defined success were higher at younger and older age. Independent of these age effects, older birth cohorts were oriented more toward possession-defined success, whereas younger birth cohorts were oriented more toward acquisition centrality. The economic downturn since 2008 led to a decrease in acquisition as the pursuit of happiness and in desires for personal growth, but to an increase in desires for achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Auditory and Visual Memory Span: Cognitive Processing by TMR Individuals with Down Syndrome or Other Etiologies.

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Varnhagen, Connie K.; And Others

1987-01-01

Auditory and visual memory span were examined with 13 Down Syndrome and 15 other trainable mentally retarded young adults. Although all subjects demonstrated relatively poor auditory memory span, Down Syndrome subjects were especially poor at long-term memory access for visual stimulus identification and short-term storage and processing of…

Transanal rectopexy - twelve case studies

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Rubens Henrique Oleques Fernandes

2012-06-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed the results of transanal rectopexy and showed the benefits of this surgical technique. METHOD: Twelve patients were submitted to rectopexy between 1997 and 2011. The surgical technique used was transanal rectopexy, where the mesorectum was fixed to the sacrum with nonabsorbable suture. Three patients had been submitted to previous surgery, two by the Delorme technique and one by the Thiersch technique. RESULTS: Postoperative hospital stay ranged from 1 to 4 days. One patient (8.3% had intraoperative hematoma, which was treated with local compression and antibiotics. One patient (8.3% had residual mucosal prolapse, which was resected. Prolapse recurrence was seen in one case (8.3%. Improved incontinence occurred in 75% of patients and one patient reported obstructed evacuation in the first month after surgery. No death occurred. CONCLUSION: Transanal rectopexy is a simple, low cost technique, which has shown good efficacy in rectal prolapse control.OBJETIVO: O presente estudo analisou os resultados da retopexia pela via transanal e expôs os benefícios desta técnica cirúrgica. MÉTODO: Doze pacientes com prolapso foram operados no período de 1997 a 2011. A técnica cirúrgica usada foi a retopexia transanal, onde o mesorreto foi fixado ao sacro com fio inabsorvível. Três pacientes tinham cirurgia prévia, dois pela técnica de Delorme e um pela técnica de Thiersch. RESULTADOS: A permanência hospitalar pós-operatória variou de 1- 4 dias. Uma paciente (8,3% apresentou hematoma transoperatório que foi tratado com compressão local e antibioticoterapia. Um paciente apresentou prolapso mucoso residual (8,3%, que foi ressecado. Houve recidiva da procidência em um caso (8,3%. A melhora da incontinência ocorreu em 75% dos pacientes e uma paciente apresentou bloqueio evacuatório no primeiro mês após a cirurgia. Não houve mortalidade entre os pacientes operados. CONCLUSÃO: A retopexia transanal é uma t

Age- and calorie-independent life span extension from dietary restriction by bacterial deprivation in Caenorhabditis elegans

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Sager Jennifer

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Dietary restriction (DR increases life span and delays age-associated disease in many organisms. The mechanism by which DR enhances longevity is not well understood. Results Using bacterial food deprivation as a means of DR in C. elegans, we show that transient DR confers long-term benefits including stress resistance and increased longevity. Consistent with studies in the fruit fly and in mice, we demonstrate that DR also enhances survival when initiated late in life. DR by bacterial food deprivation significantly increases life span in worms when initiated as late as 24 days of adulthood, an age at which greater than 50% of the cohort have died. These survival benefits are, at least partially, independent of food consumption, as control fed animals are no longer consuming bacterial food at this advanced age. Animals separated from the bacterial lawn by a barrier of solid agar have a life span intermediate between control fed and food restricted animals. Thus, we find that life span extension from bacterial deprivation can be partially suppressed by a diffusible component of the bacterial food source, suggesting a calorie-independent mechanism for life span extension by dietary restriction. Conclusion Based on these findings, we propose that dietary restriction by bacterial deprivation increases longevity in C. elegans by a combination of reduced food consumption and decreased food sensing.

Predicting scour beneath subsea pipelines from existing small free span depths under steady currents

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Jun Y. Lee

2017-06-01

Full Text Available An equation was developed to predict current-induced scour beneath subsea pipelines in areas with small span depths, S. Current equations for scour prediction are only applicable to partially buried pipelines. The existence of small span depths (i.e. S/D < 0.3 are of concern because the capacity for scour is higher at smaller span depths. Furthermore, it is impractical to perform rectification works, such as installing grout bags, under a pipeline with a small S/D. Full-scale two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD simulations were performed using the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach and the Shear stress transport k–ω turbulence model. To predict the occurrence of scour, the computed maximum bed shear stress beneath the pipe was converted to the dimensionless Shields parameter, and compared with the critical Shields parameter based on the mean sediment grain size. The numerical setup was verified, and a good agreement was found between model-scale CFD data and experimental data. Field data were obtained to determine the mean grain size, far field current velocity and to measure the span depths along the surveyed pipe length. A trend line equation was fitted to the full-scale CFD data, whereby the maximum Shields parameter beneath the pipe can be calculated based on the undisturbed Shields parameter and S/D.

Like cognitive function, decision making across the life span shows profound age-related changes.

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Tymula, Agnieszka; Rosenberg Belmaker, Lior A; Ruderman, Lital; Glimcher, Paul W; Levy, Ifat

2013-10-15

It has long been known that human cognitive function improves through young adulthood and then declines across the later life span. Here we examined how decision-making function changes across the life span by measuring risk and ambiguity attitudes in the gain and loss domains, as well as choice consistency, in an urban cohort ranging in age from 12 to 90 y. We identified several important age-related patterns in decision making under uncertainty: First, we found that healthy elders between the ages of 65 and 90 were strikingly inconsistent in their choices compared with younger subjects. Just as elders show profound declines in cognitive function, they also show profound declines in choice rationality compared with their younger peers. Second, we found that the widely documented phenomenon of ambiguity aversion is specific to the gain domain and does not occur in the loss domain, except for a slight effect in older adults. Finally, extending an earlier report by our group, we found that risk attitudes across the life span show an inverted U-shaped function; both elders and adolescents are more risk-averse than their midlife counterparts. Taken together, these characterizations of decision-making function across the life span in this urban cohort strengthen the conclusions of previous reports suggesting a profound impact of aging on cognitive function in this domain.

Correspondence between spanning trees and the Ising model on a square lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, G. M.

2017-06-01

An important problem in statistical physics concerns the fascinating connections between partition functions of lattice models studied in equilibrium statistical mechanics on the one hand and graph theoretical enumeration problems on the other hand. We investigate the nature of the relationship between the number of spanning trees and the partition function of the Ising model on the square lattice. The spanning tree generating function T (z ) gives the spanning tree constant when evaluated at z =1 , while giving the lattice green function when differentiated. It is known that for the infinite square lattice the partition function Z (K ) of the Ising model evaluated at the critical temperature K =Kc is related to T (1 ) . Here we show that this idea in fact generalizes to all real temperatures. We prove that [Z(K ) s e c h 2 K ] 2=k exp[T (k )] , where k =2 tanh(2 K )s e c h (2 K ) . The identical Mahler measure connects the two seemingly disparate quantities T (z ) and Z (K ) . In turn, the Mahler measure is determined by the random walk structure function. Finally, we show that the the above correspondence does not generalize in a straightforward manner to nonplanar lattices.

Development of Gis Tool for the Solution of Minimum Spanning Tree Problem using Prim's Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, S.; Patra, D.; Shankar, H.; Alok Verma, P.

2014-11-01

minimum spanning tree (MST) of a connected, undirected and weighted network is a tree of that network consisting of all its nodes and the sum of weights of all its edges is minimum among all such possible spanning trees of the same network. In this study, we have developed a new GIS tool using most commonly known rudimentary algorithm called Prim's algorithm to construct the minimum spanning tree of a connected, undirected and weighted road network. This algorithm is based on the weight (adjacency) matrix of a weighted network and helps to solve complex network MST problem easily, efficiently and effectively. The selection of the appropriate algorithm is very essential otherwise it will be very hard to get an optimal result. In case of Road Transportation Network, it is very essential to find the optimal results by considering all the necessary points based on cost factor (time or distance). This paper is based on solving the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) problem of a road network by finding it's minimum span by considering all the important network junction point. GIS technology is usually used to solve the network related problems like the optimal path problem, travelling salesman problem, vehicle routing problems, location-allocation problems etc. Therefore, in this study we have developed a customized GIS tool using Python script in ArcGIS software for the solution of MST problem for a Road Transportation Network of Dehradun city by considering distance and time as the impedance (cost) factors. It has a number of advantages like the users do not need a greater knowledge of the subject as the tool is user-friendly and that allows to access information varied and adapted the needs of the users. This GIS tool for MST can be applied for a nationwide plan called Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana in India to provide optimal all weather road connectivity to unconnected villages (points). This tool is also useful for constructing highways or railways spanning several

"Pull and push back" concepts of longevity and life span extension.

Science.gov (United States)

Muradian, Khachik

2013-12-01

The negative relation between metabolism and life span is a fundamental gerontological discovery well documented in a variety of ontogenetic and phylogenetic models. But how the long-lived species and populations sustain lower metabolic rate and, in more general terms, what is the efficient way to decline the metabolism? The suggested 'pull and push back' hypothesis assumes that decreased Po2 (hypoxia) and/or increased [Formula: see text] (hypercapnia) may create preconditions for the declined metabolic and aging rates. However, wider implementation of such ideas is compromised because of little advances in modification of the metabolic rate. Artificial atmosphere with controlled [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] could be a promising approach because of the minimal external invasions and involvement of the backward and forward loops ensuring physiological self-regulation of the metabolic perturbations. General considerations and existing data indicate that manipulations of [Formula: see text] may be more efficient in life span extension than [Formula: see text]. Thus, maximum life span of mammals positively correlates with the blood [Formula: see text] and HCO3 (-) but not with [Formula: see text]. Yet, proportional decease of the body [Formula: see text] and increase of [Formula: see text] seems the most optimal regime ensuring lower losses of the energy equivalents. Furthermore, especially rewarding results could be expected when such changes are modeled without major external invasions using the animals' inner capacity to consume O2 and generate CO2, as it is typical for the extreme longevity.

Perceptual Representation as a Mechanism of Lexical Ambiguity Resolution: An Investigation of Span and Processing Time

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Madden, Carol J.; Zwaan, Rolf A.

2006-01-01

In 2 experiments, the authors investigated the ability of high- and low-span comprehenders to construe subtle shades of meaning through perceptual representation. High- and low-span comprehenders responded to pictures that either matched or mismatched a target object's shape as implied by the preceding sentence context. At 750 ms after hearing the…

Endosomal protein sorting and autophagy genes contribute to the regulation of yeast life span.

Science.gov (United States)

Longo, Valter D; Nislow, Corey; Fabrizio, Paola

2010-11-01

Accumulating evidence from various organisms points to a role for autophagy in the regulation of life span. By performing a genome-wide screen to identify novel life span determinants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we have obtained further insights into the autophagy-related and -unrelated degradation processes that may be important for preventing cellular senescence. The generation of multivesicular bodies and their fusion with the vacuole in the endosomal pathway emerged as novel cell functions involved in yeast chronological survival and longevity extension.

Preliminary investigation into the zone of support influence and stable span between support units.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Daehnke, A

1999-10-01

Full Text Available stability envelopes for hangingwalls with FPFs as a function of instability height, unsupported span, support load and discontinuity orientation (g = 90o – f, where f is the friction angle associated with the fracture surfaces)........................144... Figure 8.6.8 Rockburst stability envelopes for hangingwalls with FPFs as a function of instability height, unsupported span, support load and discontinuity orientation (g = 90o – f, where f is the friction angle associated with the fracture surfaces...

Analysis of the Working Cable System of Single-span Circulating Ropeway

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Qin Jian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the analysis of the mutual interaction between bearing cable and traction cable of single-span circulating ropeway, the calculation method is proposed for working cables of ropeway with arbitrary loads. The 5 sets nonlinear equations are set up for the working cables according to the equal spans and altitude differences of the bearing cable and the traction cable, the constant of the load running space and the bearing cable length, and the tension balance of bearing cable and traction cable beside load. The resolving method is proposed based on the Newton iterative method. The correctness and feasibility of the method are proved by the results of engineering test. From the solution, the tension and coordinate of working cables can be obtained accurately, which is meaningful for the design and analysis of the freight ropeway.

Society for Promotion of Peaceful Applications of Nuclear in Kenya (SPANS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

The seminar was organized by the National Council for Science and Technology in collaboration with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to achieve the following objectives; create public awareness on Peaceful use of Nuclear Science and Technology discuss and adopt the draft constitution for the Society for the Promotion of Nuclear Science in Kenya SPANS (K). The National Council for Science and Technology identified highly qualified resource persons who are competent enough in the area of nuclear applications who prepared relevant topics based on their knowledge and experiences in the field of nuclear science. The presentations covered topics of nuclear applications in the areas of agriculture, health, pollution and a draft of SPANS Constitution. The Council is in the process of compiling and publishing the proceedings whose details will be submitted later to INIS once it is ready

A STUDY OF DISPLACEMENT-LEVEL DEPENDENCY OF VERTICAL STIFFNESS OF PILE - COMPARISONS BETWEEN STATIC LOADING TEST AND MEASUREMENTS DURING TRAIN PASSING -

Science.gov (United States)

Nihei, Tatsuya; Nishioka, Hidetoshi; Kawamura, Chikara; Nishimura, Masahiro; Edamatsu, Masayuki; Koda, Masayuki

In order to introduce the performance based design of pile foundation, vertical stiffness of pile is one of the important design factors. Although it had been es timated the vertical stiffness of pile had the displacement-level dependency, it had been not clarified. We compared the vertical stiffness of pile measured by two loading conditions at pile foundation of the railway viaduct. Firstly, we measured the vertical stiffness at static loading test under construction of the viaduct. Secondly, we measured the vertical stiffness at the time of train passing. So, we recognized that the extrapolation of the displacement level dependency in static loading test could evaluate the vertical stiffness of pile during train passing.

Connecting Life Span Development with the Sociology of the Life Course: A New Direction.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilleard, Chris; Higgs, Paul

2016-04-01

The life course has become a topic of growing interest within the social sciences. Attempts to link this sub-discipline with life span developmental psychology have been called for but with little sign of success. In this paper, we seek to address three interlinked issues concerning the potential for a more productive interchange between life course sociology and life span psychology. The first is to try to account for the failure of these two sub-disciplines to achieve any deepening engagement with each other, despite the long-expressed desirability of that goal; the second is to draw attention to the scope for enriching the sociology of the life course through Erik Erikson's model of life span development; and the last is the potential for linking Eriksonian theory with current debates within mainstream sociology about the processes involved in 'individualisation' and 'self-reflexivity' as an alternative entry point to bring together these two fields of work.

Sustained Attention Across the Life Span in a Sample of 10,000: Dissociating Ability and Strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortenbaugh, Francesca C; DeGutis, Joseph; Germine, Laura; Wilmer, Jeremy B; Grosso, Mallory; Russo, Kathryn; Esterman, Michael

2015-09-01

Normal and abnormal differences in sustained visual attention have long been of interest to scientists, educators, and clinicians. Still lacking, however, is a clear understanding of how sustained visual attention varies across the broad sweep of the human life span. In the present study, we filled this gap in two ways. First, using an unprecedentedly large 10,430-person sample, we modeled age-related differences with substantially greater precision than have prior efforts. Second, using the recently developed gradual-onset continuous performance test (gradCPT), we parsed sustained-attention performance over the life span into its ability and strategy components. We found that after the age of 15 years, the strategy and ability trajectories saliently diverge. Strategy becomes monotonically more conservative with age, whereas ability peaks in the early 40s and is followed by a gradual decline in older adults. These observed life-span trajectories for sustained attention are distinct from results of other life-span studies focusing on fluid and crystallized intelligence. © The Author(s) 2015.

Twelve recommendations for integrating existing systematic reviews into new reviews: EPC guidance.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Karen A; Chou, Roger; Berkman, Nancy D; Newberry, Sydne J; Fu, Rongwei; Hartling, Lisa; Dryden, Donna; Butler, Mary; Foisy, Michelle; Anderson, Johanna; Motu'apuaka, Makalapua; Relevo, Rose; Guise, Jeanne-Marie; Chang, Stephanie

2016-02-01

As time and cost constraints in the conduct of systematic reviews increase, the need to consider the use of existing systematic reviews also increases. We developed guidance on the integration of systematic reviews into new reviews. A workgroup of methodologists from Evidence-based Practice Centers developed consensus-based recommendations. Discussions were informed by a literature scan and by interviews with organizations that conduct systematic reviews. Twelve recommendations were developed addressing selecting reviews, assessing risk of bias, qualitative and quantitative synthesis, and summarizing and assessing body of evidence. We provide preliminary guidance for an efficient and unbiased approach to integrating existing systematic reviews with primary studies in a new review. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental Verification of Current Shear Design Equations for HSRC Beams

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Attaullah Shah

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Experimental research on the shear capacity of HSRC (High Strength Reinforced Concrete beams is relatively very limited as compared to the NSRC (Normal Strength Reinforced Concrete beams. Most of the Building Codes determine the shear strength of HSRC with the help of empirical equations based on experimental work of NSRC beams and hence these equations are generally regarded as un-conservative for HSRC beams particularly at low level of longitudinal reinforcement. In this paper, 42 beams have been tested in two sets, such that in 21 beams no transverse reinforcement has been used, whereas in the remaining 21 beams, minimum transverse reinforcement has been used as per ACI-318 (American Concrete Institute provisions. Two values of compressive strength 52 and 61 MPa, three values of longitudinal steel ratio and seven values of shear span to depth ratio have been have been used. The beams were tested under concentrated load at the mid span. The results are compared with the equations proposed by different international building codes like ACI, AASHTO LRFD, EC (Euro Code, Canadian Code and Japanese Code for shear strength of HSRC beams.From comparison, it has been observed that some codes are less conservative for shear design of HSRC beams and further research is required to rationalize these equations.

The local limit of the uniform spanning tree on dense graphs

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hladký, Jan; Nachmias, A.; Tran, Tuan

First Online: 10 January (2018) ISSN 0022-4715 R&D Projects: GA ČR GJ16-07822Y Keywords : uniform spanning tree * graph limits * Benjamini-Schramm convergence * graphon * branching process Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.349, year: 2016

Stature and Its Estimation Utilizing Arm Span Measurements of both gender Adolescents from Southern Region in Kosovo

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Fitim Arifi

2018-06-01

Full Text Available This study is based on measurements of Southern region Kosovan adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the stature of adolescents from Southern region as well relationship between arm span and stature in both Kosovar genders. A total measured subject participated in this research was 225 out of which (105 girls and 120 boys, females average of age is 18.36±0.50 years old (range 18-20 years and for male 18.40±0.55 years old (range 18-20 years.The anthropometric measurements were done by trained people and were taken according to the ISAK manual. Relationship between stature and arm span has been analyzed by the simple correlation coeffi cient at a 95% confi dence interval. The linear regression analysis was carried out to examine extent to which arm span can reliably predict of stature. Statistical importance was placed at level p<0.05. As a result anthropometric measurements for both sexes showed that the average of stature for boys adolescents from Southern region are 178.60±5.73 centimeters and have the arm span average of 180.92±6.92 centimeters, while girls from Southern 165.33±4.45 centimeters tall, and have the arm span average of 165.60±6.03 centimeters. The results have shown that the arm span was estimated as a reliable indicator of stature assessment to the both genders adolescents from Southern region of Kosovo population. This study also confi rms the necessity for developing separate height models for each region in Kosovo.

Body Height and its Estimation Utilizing Arm Span Measurements in Male Adolescents from Southern Region in Montenegro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajko Milašinović

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the body height in Montenegrin male adolescents from southern region as well as the relationship between arm span as an alternative to estimating the body height, which would vary from region to region in Montenegro. Our investigation analyses 87 male adolescents from the southern region in Montenegro. The anthropometric measurements were taken according to the protocol of the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK. Means and standard deviations regarding the anthropometric measurements were obtained. The relationships between body height and arm span were determined using simple correlation coefficients and their 95% confidence interval. Then a linear regression analysis was performed to examine the extent to which the arm span can reliably predict body height. The results displayed that male Southern-Montenegrins are 182.53±7.53 cm tall and have an arm span of 184.55±9.03 cm. Compared to other studies, the results of this study have shown that this gender made Southern- Montenegrins the tall population, taller than most of nation around the Europe. On the other hand, expectably, the arm span reliably predicts body height in this gender. However, the estimation equations which have been obtained in Southern-Montenegrins are, different alike in general population, since arm span was closer to body heights (2.03±1.50 cm, more than in general population. Hence, this study also confirms the necessity for developing separate height models for each region in Montenegro.

Image Segmentation Using Minimum Spanning Tree

Science.gov (United States)

Dewi, M. P.; Armiati, A.; Alvini, S.

2018-04-01

This research aim to segmented the digital image. The process of segmentation is to separate the object from the background. So the main object can be processed for the other purposes. Along with the development of technology in digital image processing application, the segmentation process becomes increasingly necessary. The segmented image which is the result of the segmentation process should accurate due to the next process need the interpretation of the information on the image. This article discussed the application of minimum spanning tree on graph in segmentation process of digital image. This method is able to separate an object from the background and the image will change to be the binary images. In this case, the object that being the focus is set in white, while the background is black or otherwise.

Robustness of Long Span Reciprocal Timber Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balfroid, Nathalie; Kirkegaard, Poul Henning

2011-01-01

engineer may take necessary steps to design robust structures that are insensitive to accidental circumstances. The present paper makes a discussion of such robustness issues related to the future development of reciprocal timber structures. The paper concludes that these kind of structures can have...... a potential as long span timber structures in real projects if they are carefully designed with respect to the overall robustness strategies.......Robustness of structural systems has obtained a renewed interest due to a much more frequent use of advanced types of structures with limited redundancy and serious consequences in case of failure. The interest has also been facilitated due to recently severe structural failures...

Observation of an octave-spanning supercontinuum in the mid-infrared using ultrafast cascaded nonlinearities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bache, Morten; Liu, Xing; Zhou, Binbin

2014-01-01

An octave-spanning mid-IR supercontinuum is observed experimentally using ultrafast cascaded nonlinearities in an LiInS2 quadratic nonlinear crystal pumped with 70 fs energetic mid-IR pulses and cut for strongly phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation. ©OSA 2014.......An octave-spanning mid-IR supercontinuum is observed experimentally using ultrafast cascaded nonlinearities in an LiInS2 quadratic nonlinear crystal pumped with 70 fs energetic mid-IR pulses and cut for strongly phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation. ©OSA 2014....

The eye movements of dyslexic children during reading and visual search: impact of the visual attention span.

Science.gov (United States)

Prado, Chloé; Dubois, Matthieu; Valdois, Sylviane

2007-09-01

The eye movements of 14 French dyslexic children having a VA span reduction and 14 normal readers were compared in two tasks of visual search and text reading. The dyslexic participants made a higher number of rightward fixations in reading only. They simultaneously processed the same low number of letters in both tasks whereas normal readers processed far more letters in reading. Importantly, the children's VA span abilities related to the number of letters simultaneously processed in reading. The atypical eye movements of some dyslexic readers in reading thus appear to reflect difficulties to increase their VA span according to the task request.

Re-use and life span of gloves | van Palenstein Helderman ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Re-use and life span of gloves. WH van Palenstein Helderman. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors · FAQ's · More about ...

Physical Performance Across the Adult Life Span: Correlates With Age and Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Katherine S; Cohen, Harvey J; Pieper, Carl F; Fillenbaum, Gerda G; Kraus, William E; Huffman, Kim M; Cornish, Melissa A; Shiloh, Andrew; Flynn, Christy; Sloane, Richard; Newby, L Kristin; Morey, Miriam C

2017-04-01

A number of large-scale population studies have provided valuable information about physical performance in aged individuals; however, there is little information about trajectories of function and associations with age across the adult life span. We developed a mobility-focused physical performance screener designed to be appropriate for the adult life span. The physical performance battery includes measures of mobility, strength, endurance, and balance. Physical activity (PA) was assessed with accelerometry. We examined age-related trends in physical performance and PA, and the relationship between physical performance and PA across the age range (30-90+), by decade, in 775 participants enrolled in the study 2012-2014. Physical performance was worse with increasing age decade. Although men performed better than women across all ages, the decrement by age group was similar between genders. Worsening physical performance was observed as early as the fifth decade for chair stands and balance and in the sixth decade for gait speed and aerobic endurance. The number and strength of significant associations between physical performance and PA increased with greater age: the greatest number of significant associations was seen in the 60-79 age groups, with fewer reported in the 30-59 and 80-90+ age groups. More PA was associated with better physical function. These results emphasize the importance of a life span approach to studies of function and aging. This work points to the need for a physical performance screener that spans across adulthood as a clinical tool for identifying functional decline. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Separating attoliter-sized compartments using fluid pore-spanning lipid bilayers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazzara, Thomas D; Carnarius, Christian; Kocun, Marta; Janshoff, Andreas; Steinem, Claudia

2011-09-27

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) is a porous material having aligned cylindrical compartments with 55-60 nm diameter pores, and being several micrometers deep. A protocol was developed to generate pore-spanning fluid lipid bilayers separating the attoliter-sized compartments of the nanoporous material from the bulk solution, while preserving the optical transparency of the AAO. The AAO was selectively functionalized by silane chemistry to spread giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) resulting in large continuous membrane patches covering the pores. Formation of fluid single lipid bilayers through GUV rupture could be readily observed by fluorescence microscopy and further supported by conservation of membrane surface area, before and after GUV rupture. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching gave low immobile fractions (5-15%) and lipid diffusion coefficients similar to those found for bilayers on silica. The entrapment of molecules within the porous underlying cylindrical compartments, as well as the exclusion of macromolecules from the nanopores, demonstrate the barrier function of the pore-spanning membranes and could be investigated in three-dimensions using confocal laser scanning fluorescence imaging. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Splitting of beams caused by multiple connections along the beam span

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leijten, A.J.M.; Salenikovich, A.

2014-01-01

: In the past splitting of beams caused by connection perpendicular to grain has drawn attention. Models have mainly being developed considering one mid span connection. Some semi-empirical models assume the splitting capacity to be proportional with the number of connections when sufficiently

Influence of incorporated radionuclides on the life span of Drosophila melanogaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koshel', N.M.; Vajserman, O.M.; Vojtenko, V.P.; Kutlakhmedov, Yu.O.; Mikhjejev, O.M.

2004-01-01

Influence of incorporated radionuclides ( 137 Cs and 90 Sr) on the life span of Drosophila melanogaster was studied. External irradiation modified the formation of cumulative dose of incorporated radionuclides. All influences leaded to significant (p 90 Sr was higher comparing to 137 Cs

BODY HEIGHT AND ITS ESTIMATION UTILIZING ARM SPAN MEASUREMENTS IN FEMALE ADOLESCENTS FROM CENTRAL REGION IN MONTENEGRO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marija Bubanja

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Anthropologists recognized the tallness of nations in the Dinaric Alps long time ago (Popovic et al, 2013. As the modern Montenegrins fall partly into the Dinaric racial classification (Bjelica et al., 2012, the purpose of this study was to examine the body height in Montenegrin female adolescents from central region as well as the relationship between arm span as an alternative to estimating the body height, which would vary from region to region in Montenegro. Method: Our investigation analyses 593 female adolescents from the central region in Montenegro. The anthropometric measurements were taken according to the protocol of the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK. Means and standard deviations regarding the anthropometric measurements were obtained. A comparison of means of body heights and arm spans within this gender group were carried out using a t-test. The relationships between body height and arm span were determined using simple correlation coefficients and their 95% confidence interval. Then a linear regression analysis was performed to examine the extent to which the arm span can reliably predict body height. Results: The results displayed that female Central-Montenegrins are 169.24±11.61cm tall and have an arm span of 168.03±10.34cm. Discussion: Compared to other studies, the results of this study have shown that this gender made Central-Macedonians the tall population, taller than general female population in Montenegro (Bjelica et al., 2012. On the other hand, expectably, the arm span reliably predicts body height in this gender. However, the estimation equations which have been obtained in Central-Montenegrins are, different alike in general population, since arm span was shorter than the body heights (1.21±1.27 centimetres, much more than in general population (Bjelica et al., 2012. This confirms the necessity for developing separate height models for each region in Montenegro.

Ultra pressure liquid chromatography-negative electrospray ionization mass spectrometry determination of twelve halobenzoquinones at ng/L levels in drinking water.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Rongfu; Wang, Wei; Qian, Yichao; Boyd, Jessica M; Zhao, Yuli; Li, Xing-Fang

2013-05-07

We report here the characterization of twelve halobenzoquinones (HBQs) using electrospray ionization (ESI) high resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The high resolution negative ESI spectra of the twelve HBQs formed two parent ions, [M + H(+) + 2e(-)], and the radical M(-•). The intensities of these two parent ions are dependent on their chemical structures and on instrumental parameters such as the source temperature and flow rate. The characteristic ions of the HBQs were used to develop an ultra pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method. At the UPLC flow rate (400 μL/min) and under the optimized ESI conditions, eleven HBQs showed the stable and abundant transitions [M + H(+) + 2e(-)] → X(-) (X(-) representing Cl(-), Br(-), or I(-)), while dibromo-dimethyl-benzoquinone (DBDMBQ) showed only the transition of M(-•) → Br(-). The UPLC efficiently separates all HBQs including some HBQ isomers, while the MS/MS offers exquisite limits of detection (LODs) at subng/mL levels for all HBQs except DBDMBQ. Combined with solid phase extraction (SPE), the method LOD is down to ng/L. The results from analysis of authentic samples demonstrated that the SPE-UPLC-MS/MS method is reliable, fast, and sensitive for the identification and quantification of the twelve HBQs in drinking water.

Homeless Aging Veterans in Transition: A Life-Span Perspective

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Carla J. Thompson

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The need for counseling and career/educational services for homeless veterans has captured political and economic venues for more than 25 years. Veterans are three times more likely to become homeless than the general population if veterans live in poverty or are minority veterans. This mixed methods study emphasized a life-span perspective approach for exploring factors influencing normative aging and life-quality of 39 homeless veterans in Alabama and Florida. Seven descriptive quantitative and qualitative research questions framed the investigation. Study participants completed a quantitative survey reflecting their preferences and needs with a subset of the sample (N=12 also participating in individual qualitative interview sessions. Thirty-two service providers and stakeholders completed quantitative surveys. Empirical and qualitative data with appropriate triangulation procedures provided interpretive information relative to a life-span development perspective. Study findings provide evidence of the need for future research efforts to address strategies that focus on the health and economic challenges of veterans before they are threatened with the possibility of homelessness. Implications of the study findings provide important information associated with the premise that human development occurs throughout life with specific characteristics influencing the individual’s passage. Implications for aging/homelessness research are grounded in late-life transitioning and human development intervention considerations.

Femoral Neck Strain during Maximal Contraction of Isolated Hip-Spanning Muscle Groups

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Saulo Martelli

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to investigate femoral neck strain during maximal isometric contraction of the hip-spanning muscles. The musculoskeletal and the femur finite-element models from an elderly white woman were taken from earlier studies. The hip-spanning muscles were grouped by function in six hip-spanning muscle groups. The peak hip and knee moments in the model were matched to corresponding published measurements of the hip and knee moments during maximal isometric exercises about the hip and the knee in elderly participants. The femoral neck strain was calculated using full activation of the agonist muscles at fourteen physiological joint angles. The 5%±0.8% of the femoral neck volume exceeded the 90th percentile of the strain distribution across the 84 studied scenarios. Hip extensors, flexors, and abductors generated the highest tension in the proximal neck (2727 με, tension (986 με and compression (−2818 με in the anterior and posterior neck, and compression (−2069 με in the distal neck, respectively. Hip extensors and flexors generated the highest neck strain per unit of joint moment (63–67 με·m·N−1 at extreme hip angles. Therefore, femoral neck strain is heterogeneous and muscle contraction and posture dependent.

The Interaction of Eye-Voice Span with Syntactic Chunking and Predictability in Right- and Left-Embedded Sentences.

Science.gov (United States)

Balajthy, Ernest P., Jr.

Sixty tenth graders participated in this study of relationships between eye/voice span, phrase and clause boundaries, reading ability, and sentence structure. Results indicated that sentences apparently are "chunked" into surface constituents during processing. Better tenth grade readers had longer eye/voice spans than did poorer readers and…

Visual and auditory digit-span performance in native and nonnative speakers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olsthoorn, N.M.; Andringa, S.; Hulstijn, J.H.

2014-01-01

We compared 121 native and 114 non-native speakers of Dutch (with 35 different first languages) on four digit-span tasks, varying modality (visual/auditory) and direction (forward/backward). An interaction was observed between nativeness and modality, such that, while natives performed better than

Advancing E-Commercspan>e Personalization: Process Framework and Case Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaptein, M.C.; Parvinen, P.

2015-01-01

Personalization is widely used in e-commercspan>e, and as computational power increases, personalization is now within reach for many online vendors. We describe a process framework to structure our knowledge of online personalization both from academia and from applied attempts. This framework is

Recent research and applications of numerical simulation for dynamic response of long-span bridges subjected to multiple loads.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhiwei; Chen, Bo

2014-01-01

Many long-span bridges have been built throughout the world in recent years but they are often subject to multiple types of dynamic loads, especially those located in wind-prone regions and carrying both trains and road vehicles. To ensure the safety and functionality of these bridges, dynamic responses of long-span bridges are often required for bridge assessment. Given that there are several limitations for the assessment based on field measurement of dynamic responses, a promising approach is based on numerical simulation technologies. This paper provides a detailed review of key issues involved in dynamic response analysis of long-span multiload bridges based on numerical simulation technologies, including dynamic interactions between running trains and bridge, between running road vehicles and bridge, and between wind and bridge, and in the wind-vehicle-bridge coupled system. Then a comprehensive review is conducted for engineering applications of newly developed numerical simulation technologies to safety assessment of long-span bridges, such as assessment of fatigue damage and assessment under extreme events. Finally, the existing problems and promising research efforts for the numerical simulation technologies and their applications to assessment of long-span multiload bridges are explored.

Use of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Digit Span subtest for malingering detection: a meta-analytic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Jasinski, Lindsey J; Berry, David T R; Shandera, Anni L; Clark, Jessica A

2011-03-01

Twenty-four studies utilizing the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Digit Span subtest--either the Reliable Digit Span (RDS) or Age-Corrected Scaled Score (DS-ACSS) variant--for malingering detection were meta-analytically reviewed to evaluate their effectiveness in detecting malingered neurocognitive dysfunction. RDS and DS-ACSS effectively discriminated between honest responders and dissimulators, with average weighted effect sizes of 1.34 and 1.08, respectively. No significant differences were found between RDS and DS-ACSS. Similarly, no differences were found between the Digit Span subtest from the WAIS or Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS). Strong specificity and moderate sensitivity were observed, and optimal cutting scores are recommended.

Extended attention span training system

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Alan T.; Bogart, Edward H.

1991-01-01

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a behavioral disorder characterized by the inability to sustain attention long enough to perform activities such as schoolwork or organized play. Treatments for this disorder include medication and brainwave biofeedback training. Brainwave biofeedback training systems feed back information to the trainee showing him how well he is producing the brainwave pattern that indicates attention. The Extended Attention Span Training (EAST) system takes the concept a step further by making a video game more difficult as the player's brainwaves indicate that attention is waning. The trainee can succeed at the game only by maintaining an adequate level of attention. The EAST system is a modification of a biocybernetic system that is currently being used to assess the extent to which automated flight management systems maintain pilot engagement. This biocybernetic system is a product of a program aimed at developing methods to evaluate automated flight deck designs for compatibility with human capabilities. The EAST technology can make a contribution in the fields of medical neuropsychology and neurology, where the emphasis is on cautious, conservative treatment of youngsters with attention disorders.

Families enriched for exceptional longevity also have increased health span: Findings from the Long Life Family Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola eSebastiani

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Hypothesizing that members of families enriched for longevity delay morbidity compared to population controls and approximate the health-span of centenarians, we compared the health spans of older generation subjects of the Long Life Family Study (LLFS to controls without family history of longevity and to centenarians of the New England Centenarian Study (NECS using Bayesian parametric survival analysis. We estimated hazard ratios, the ages at which specific percentiles of subjects had onsets of diseases, and the gain of years of disease-free survival in the different cohorts compared to referent controls. Compared to controls, LLFS subjects had lower hazards for cancer, cardiovascular disease, severe dementia, diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis and stroke. The age at which 20% of the LLFS siblings and probands had one or more age-related diseases was approximately 10 years later than NECS controls. While female NECS controls generally delayed the onset of age-related diseases compared with males controls, these gender differences became much less in the older generation of the LLFS and disappeared amongst the centenarians of the NECS. The analyses demonstrate extended health-span in the older subjects of the LLFS and suggest that this aging cohort provides an important resource to discover genetic and environmental factors that promote prolonged health-span in addition to longer life-span.

A Summary Review of Correlations between Temperatures and Vibration Properties of Long-Span Bridges

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Guang-Dong Zhou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The shift of modal parameters induced by temperature fluctuation may mask the changes of vibration properties caused by structural damage and result in false structural condition identification. Thoroughly understanding the temperature effects on vibration properties of long-span bridges becomes an especially important issue before vibration-based damage detection methodologies are applied in real bridges. This paper presents an overview of current research activities and developments in the field of correlations between temperatures and vibration properties of long-span bridges. The theoretical derivation methods using classical structural dynamics and closed-form formulations are first briefly introduced. Then the trend analysis methods that are intended to extract the degree of variability in vibration property under temperature variation for different bridges by numerical analysis, laboratory test, or field monitoring are reviewed in detail. Following that, the development of quantitative models to quantify the temperature influence on vibration properties is discussed including the linear model, nonlinear model, and learning model. Finally, some promising research efforts for promoting the study of correlations between temperatures and vibration properties of long-span bridges are suggested.

Advancing e-commercspan>e personalization : Process framework and case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaptein, Maurits; Parvinen, Petri

2015-01-01

Personalization is widely used in e-commercspan>e, and as computational power increases, personalization is now within reach for many online vendors. We describe a process framework to structure our knowledge of online personalization —both from academia and from applied attempts. This framework is

Aerodynamic problems of cable-stayed bridges spanning over one thousand meters

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Chen Airong; Ma Rujin; Wang Dalei

2009-01-01

Tbe elongating of cable-stayed bridge brings a series of aerodynamic problems. First of all, geometric nonlin-ear effect of extreme long cable is much more significant for cable-stayed bridge spanning over one thousand meters. Lat-eral static wind load will generate additional displacement of long cables, which causes the decrease of supporting rigidi-ty of the whole bridge and the change of dynamic properties. Wind load, being the controlling load in the design of ca-hie-stayed bridge, is a critical problem and needs to be solved. Meanwhile, research on suitable system between pylon and deck indicates fixed-fixed connection system is an effective way for improvement performance of cable-stayed bridges under longitudinal wind load. In order to obtain aerodynamic parameters of cable-stayed bridge spanning over one thou-sand meters, identification method for flutter derivatives of full bridge aero-elastic model is developed in this paper. Furthermore, vortex induced vibration and Reynolds number effect are detailed discussed.

Relationship between Arm Span Measurements and Body Height in Dinaric Alpes Population: a Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bojan Masanovic

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Several researches have reported the benefit of using various body parameters in predicting standing height, and arm span happened to be one of the most reliable ones in adults. On the other hand, it is well-known the tallness and body proportions are specific in the area that are covered by Dinaric Alpes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between arm span measurements and body height in Dinaric Alpes population. The most visible electronic database (Google Scholar was searched for original research articles available until September 2017. Then research findings were summarized and relationship between arm span measurements and body height in Dinaric Alpes population were identified, as well as areas of future research were recommended. The assessment of body height using various anthropometric measures is very typical from the past centuries and it has been attempted to be studied by many researchers. However, it is important to underline that the arm span has been obtained as the most reliable body indicator for predicting the true height of an individual. However, the studies sampled with the populations lived at Dinaric Alpes mountains have specific estimates. Therefore, all above-mentioned have confirmed the necessity for developing separate body height models for each population on account of ethnic as well as regional differences.

Ultimate strength analysis of long-span cable-stayed bridges; Chodai chachokyo no shukyoku kyodo kaiseki to kyodo ni kansuru ichikosatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xie, X.; Yamaguchi, H. [Saitama Univ., Urawa (Japan)] Nagai, M. [Nagaoka Technical Coll., Niigata (Japan)

1998-07-21

Recently, span of cable-stayed bridges has been getting loner and longer, present situation is that cable-stayed bridges with span 600 to 800m class have been built inside and outside the country, and accurate determination of its ultimate strength has been an important problem statistically. However, concrete design method for evaluating load bearing stress of long-span cable-stayed bridge. Particularly of the main beam whose axial stress is dominating, has not been established so far. As for cable-stayed bridge, even for long-span, effect of plasticization of cross section on ultimate strength is severe because there is little effect of geometric nonlinearity and it is thought that accurate evaluation of ultimate strength only by elastic finite potential analysis is difficult. Accordingly, it is necessary to study the behavior by using combined nonlinear analysis considering the nonlinearity of the material in order to evaluate the safety and economy to long-span cable-stayed bridge. In this report, 3 dimensional analysis method was formularized taking into account the combine nonlinearity of multi-box girder and analysis program of ultimate strength behavior of long-span cable-stayed bridge was developed. 19 refs., 17 figs., 2 tabs.

Life Span Approach to Growth and Human Development: A Broad ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The traditional approach to the study of development emphasizes extensive change in childhood. ... the paper draws the reader's attention to the fact that by adopting the life-span perspective, we gain insights into what our lives will be like as we grow into middle age or old age, who we are, how we came to be this way and ...

Weight concern across the life-span: relationship to self-esteem and feminist identity.

Science.gov (United States)

Tiggemann, M; Stevens, C

1999-07-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlates of weight concern across the life-span. Questionnaires assessing weight concern, self-esteem, and feminist attitudes were completed in their homes by 180 women aged between 18 and 60 years. It was found that there was a negative relationship between weight concern and self-esteem for 30 to 49-year-old women, but not for younger or older women. A similar pattern held for feminist attitudes. Among 30 to 49-year-old women, a strong feminist orientation related to a lesser concern with weight. It was concluded that the meaning and experience of body weight and size change across the life-span.

The Magic Number 70 (Plus or Minus 20): Variables Determining Performance in the Rodent Odor Span Task

Science.gov (United States)

April, L. Brooke; Bruce, Katherine; Galizio, Mark

2013-01-01

The olfactory span task (OST) uses an incrementing non-matching to sample procedure such that the number of stimuli to remember increases during the session. The number of consecutive correct responses (span length) and percent correct as a function of the memory load have been viewed as defining rodent working memory capacity limitations in…

Leaf life span and the mobility of "non-mobile" mineral nutrients - the case of boron in conifers

Science.gov (United States)

Pedro J. Aphalo; Anna W. Schoettle; Tarja Lehto

2002-01-01

Nutrient conservation is considered important for the adaptation of plants to infertile environments. The importance of leaf life spans in controlling mean residence time of nutrients in plants has usually been analyzed in relation to nutrients that can be retranslocated within the plant. Longer leaf life spans increase the mean residence time of all mineral...

Working Memory Span Development: A Time-Based Resource-Sharing Model Account

Science.gov (United States)

Barrouillet, Pierre; Gavens, Nathalie; Vergauwe, Evie; Gaillard, Vinciane; Camos, Valerie

2009-01-01

The time-based resource-sharing model (P. Barrouillet, S. Bernardin, & V. Camos, 2004) assumes that during complex working memory span tasks, attention is frequently and surreptitiously switched from processing to reactivate decaying memory traces before their complete loss. Three experiments involving children from 5 to 14 years of age…

Individual differences in working memory, secondary memory, and fluid intelligence: evidence from the levels-of-processing span task.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Nathan S

2013-12-01

Individual differences in working memory (WM) are related to performance on secondary memory (SM), and fluid intelligence (gF) tests. However, the source of the relation remains unclear, in part because few studies have controlled for the nature of encoding; therefore, it is unclear whether individual variation is due to encoding, maintenance, or retrieval processes. In the current study, participants performed a WM task (the levels-of-processing span task; Rose, Myerson, Roediger III, & Hale, 2010) and a SM test that tested for both targets and the distracting processing words from the initial WM task. Deeper levels of processing at encoding did not benefit WM, but did benefit subsequent SM, although the amount of benefit was smaller for those with lower WM spans. This result suggests that, despite encoding cues that facilitate retrieval from SM, low spans may have engaged in shallower, maintenance-focused processing to maintain the words in WM. Low spans also recalled fewer targets, more distractors, and more extralist intrusions than high spans, although this was partially due to low spans' poorer recall of targets, which resulted in a greater number of opportunities to commit recall errors. Delayed recall of intrusions and commission of source errors (labeling targets as processing words and vice versa) were significant negative predictors of gF. These results suggest that the ability to use source information to recall relevant information and withhold recall of irrelevant information is a critical source of both individual variation in WM and the relation between WM, SM, and gF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Trade-off between cellular immunity and life span in mealworm beetles Tenebrio molitor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indrikis KRAMS, Janīna DAUKŠTE, Inese KIVLENIECE, Ants KAASIK, Tatjana KRAMA, Todd M. REEBERG, Markus J. RANTALA

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Encapsulation is a nonspecific, cellular response through which insects defend themselves against multicellular pathogens. During this immune reaction, haemocytes recognize an object as foreign and cause other haemocytes to aggregate and form a capsule around the object, often consisting of melanized cells. The process of melanisation is accompanied by the formation of potentially toxic reactive oxygen species, which can kill not only pathogens but also host cells. In this study we tested whether the encapsulation response is costly in mealworm beetles Tenebrio molitor. We found a negative relationship between the duration of implantation via a nylon monofilament and remaining life span. We also found a negative relationship between the strength of immune response and remaining life span, suggesting that cellular immunity is costly in T. molitor, and that there is a trade-off between immune response and remaining life span. However, this relationship disappeared at 31-32 hours of implantation at 25 ± 2℃. As the disappearance of a relationship between duration of implantation and lifespan coincided with the highest values of encapsulation response, we concluded that the beetles stopped investment in the production of melanotic cells, as the implant, a synthetic parasite, was fully isolated from the host’s tissues [Current Zoology 59 (3: 340–346, 2013].

Technical research and development of long-spanned bridges; Chodai kyoryo no gijutsu kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakai, F.; Yamanaka, M.; Ogawa, K.; Mizukami, Y.; Kano, J.; Watanabe, K. [Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Kobe (Japan)

1996-10-15

Outlined herein is technical development of long-spanned bridges represented by suspension and cable-stayed bridges. The design of long-spanned bridges requires theoretical analysis of flexibility in which balance after they are deformed by load is taken into consideration. The matrix finite displacement analysis program is developed for optimizing cable-stayed bridge designs and determining suspension bridge shapes as the new major functions. The analysis program, named KASTAN, is also developed for stress analysis of the structure details. A wind tunnel for structure designs is installed to analyze resistance to wind. A number of experiments have been carried out by the tunnel for the designs of segment, main tower and overall bridge models. The means of controlling wind-caused vibration include hydraulic dampers, mass dampers, and combination of high damping rubber and spacer. Cable-stayed bridges are highly flexible, their types being selected by tower height and shape, span ratio and shape of the main beam, and cable position. These bridges constructed by the company include the S-shaped ones whose main beams are supported by cables suspended by two towers of different height, and the others with H-shape towers of high columns which are connected to each other by horizontal beams. 11 refs., 15 figs.

Risk assessment of K basin twelve-inch drain valve failure from a postulated seismic initiating event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MORGAN, R.G.

1999-01-01

The Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Project will transfer metallic SNF from the Hanford 105 K-East and 105 K-West Basins to safe interim storage in the Canister Storage Building in the 200 Area. The initial basis for design, fabrication, installation, and operation of the fuel removal systems was that the basin leak rates which could result from a postulated accident condition would not be excessive relative to reasonable recovery operations. However, an additional potential K Basin water leak path is through the K Basin drain valves. Three twelve-inch drain valves are located in the main basin bays along the north wall. The sumps containing the valves are filled with concrete which covers the drain valve body. Visual observations suggest that only the valve's bonnet and stem are exposed above the basin concrete floor. It was recognized, however, that damage of the drain valve bonnet or stem during a seismic initiating event could provide a potential K Basin water leak path. The objectives of this activity are to: (1) evaluate the risk of damaging the three twelve-inch drain valves located along the north wall of the main basin from a seismic initiating event, and (2) determine the associated potential leak rate from a damaged valve

Risk assessment of K basin twelve-inch drain valve failure from a postulated seismic initiating event

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MORGAN, R.G.

1999-04-06

The Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Project will transfer metallic SNF from the Hanford 105 K-East and 105 K-West Basins to safe interim storage in the Canister Storage Building in the 200 Area. The initial basis for design, fabrication, installation, and operation of the fuel removal systems was that the basin leak rates which could result from a postulated accident condition would not be excessive relative to reasonable recovery operations. However, an additional potential K Basin water leak path is through the K Basin drain valves. Three twelve-inch drain valves are located in the main basin bays along the north wall. The sumps containing the valves are filled with concrete which covers the drain valve body. Visual observations suggest that only the valve's bonnet and stem are exposed above the basin concrete floor. It was recognized, however, that damage of the drain valve bonnet or stem during a seismic initiating event could provide a potential K Basin water leak path. The objectives of this activity are to: (1) evaluate the risk of damaging the three twelve-inch drain valves located along the north wall of the main basin from a seismic initiating event, and (2) determine the associated potential leak rate from a damaged valve.

Strut elaboration in strut-and-tie model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad PANJEHPOUR

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The Strut-and-Tie Model (STM has been incorporated into the codes and standards because of its consistency and rationality since last decade. However, it has encountered few challenges whilst its implementation. The effective compressive strength of strut has been a complex issue among researchers since emergence of STM. This review serves as a base for future developments of STM. It addresses several ways towards enhancing our understanding of strut performance in the STM. It also throws up questions for further investigation of effective compressive strength of strut in the STM. This review is confined to the evaluation of strut effectiveness factor based on the available codes and standards particularly AASHTO LRFD and ACI 318-08. According to the example given in this paper, there is sometimes a marked difference of approximately 50% between strut effectiveness factor recommended by AASHTO LRFD and ACI 318-08. More broadly, research is needed to determine which of the complicated strut effectiveness factor recommended by AASHTO LRFD and the simple one recommended by ACI 318-08 is optimum.

GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors and AMPA receptors in medial prefrontal cortex are necessary for odor span in rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Don A Davies

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Working memory is a type of short-term memory involved in the maintenance and manipulation of information essential for complex cognition. While memory span capacity has been extensively studied in humans as a measure of working memory, it has received considerably less attention in rodents. Our aim was to examine the role of the NMDA and AMPA glutamate receptors in odor span capacity using systemic injections or infusions of receptor antagonists into the medial prefrontal cortex. Long Evans rats were trained on a well-characterized odor span task. Initially, rats were trained to dig for a food reward in sand followed by training on a non-match to sample discrimination using sand scented with household spices. The rats were then required to perform a serial delayed non-match to sample procedure which was their odor span. Systemic injection of the broad spectrum NMDA receptor antagonist CPP (10 mg/kg or the GluN2B-selective antagonist Ro25-6981 (10 mg/kg but not 6 mg/kg significantly reduced odor span capacity. Infusions of the GluN2B- selective antagonist Ro25-6981 (2.5 µg/hemisphere into medial prefrontal cortex reduced span capacity, an effect that was nearly significant (p = 0.069. Infusions of the AMPA receptor antagonist CNQX (1.25 µg/hemisphere into medial prefrontal cortex reduced span capacity and latency for the rats to make a choice in the task. These results demonstrate span capacity in rats depends on ionotropic glutamate receptor activation in the medial prefrontal cortex. Further understanding of the circuitry underlying span capacity may aid in the novel therapeutic drug development for persons with working memory impairments as a result of disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

From Children to Adults: Motor Performance across the Life-Span

Science.gov (United States)

Leversen, Jonas S. R.; Haga, Monika; Sigmundsson, Hermundur

2012-01-01

The life-span approach to development provides a theoretical framework to examine the general principles of life-long development. This study aims to investigate motor performance across the life span. It also aims to investigate if the correlations between motor tasks increase with aging. A cross-sectional design was used to describe the effects of aging on motor performance across age groups representing individuals from childhood to young adult to old age. Five different motor tasks were used to study changes in motor performance within 338 participants (7–79 yrs). Results showed that motor performance increases from childhood (7–9) to young adulthood (19–25) and decreases from young adulthood (19–25) to old age (66–80). These results are mirroring results from cognitive research. Correlation increased with increasing age between two fine motor tasks and two gross motor tasks. We suggest that the findings might be explained, in part, by the structural changes that have been reported to occur in the developing and aging brain and that the theory of Neural Darwinism can be used as a framework to explain why these changes occur. PMID:22719958

Stochastic finite element analysis of long-span bridges with CFRP ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Stochastic seismic analysis of long-span bridges with Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) cables are presented in this study through combination of the advantages ... Gümüşhane University, Department of Civil Engineering, 29000, Gümüşhane, Turkey; Karadeniz Technical University, Department of Civil Engineering, ...

Point of View--What Do We Mean by "Limited Attention Span"?

Science.gov (United States)

Findley, Nicola

2005-01-01

Often times, teachers and prospective teachers repeat the "common knowledge" that young children have short attention spans. How often this becomes another self-fulfilling prophecy as teachers switch frequently from one activity to another, before student attention can wander, in an imitation of the Sesame Street model of teaching as…

THE ELM SURVEY. II. TWELVE BINARY WHITE DWARF MERGER SYSTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kilic, Mukremin; Brown, Warren R.; Kenyon, S. J.; Prieto, Carlos Allende; Agueeros, M. A.; Heinke, Craig

2011-01-01

We describe new radial velocity and X-ray observations of extremely low-mass white dwarfs (ELM WDs, ∼0.2 M sun ) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 and the MMT Hypervelocity Star survey. We identify four new short period binaries, including two merger systems. These observations bring the total number of short period binary systems identified in our survey to 20. No main-sequence or neutron star companions are visible in the available optical photometry, radio, and X-ray data. Thus, the companions are most likely WDs. Twelve of these systems will merge within a Hubble time due to gravitational wave radiation. We have now tripled the number of known merging WD systems. We discuss the characteristics of this merger sample and potential links to underluminous supernovae, extreme helium stars, AM CVn systems, and other merger products. We provide new observational tests of the WD mass-period distribution and cooling models for ELM WDs. We also find evidence for a new formation channel for single low-mass WDs through binary mergers of two lower mass objects.

Phonological similarity in working memory span tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Chow, Michael; Macnamara, Brooke N; Conway, Andrew R A

2016-08-01

In a series of four experiments, we explored what conditions are sufficient to produce a phonological similarity facilitation effect in working memory span tasks. By using the same set of memoranda, but differing the secondary-task requirements across experiments, we showed that a phonological similarity facilitation effect is dependent upon the semantic relationship between the memoranda and the secondary-task stimuli, and is robust to changes in the representation, ordering, and pool size of the secondary-task stimuli. These findings are consistent with interference accounts of memory (Brown, Neath, & Chater, Psychological Review, 114, 539-576, 2007; Oberauer, Lewandowsky, Farrell, Jarrold, & Greaves, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19, 779-819, 2012), whereby rhyming stimuli provide a form of categorical similarity that allows distractors to be excluded from retrieval at recall.

Twelve Tips for teaching medical professionalism at all levels of medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Eraky, Mohamed Mostafa

2015-01-01

Review of studies published in medical education journals over the last decade reveals that teaching medical professionalism is essential, yet challenging. According to a recent Best Evidence in Medical Education (BEME) guide, there is no consensus on a theoretical or practical model to integrate the teaching of professionalism into medical education. The aim of this article is to outline a practical manual for teaching professionalism at all levels of medical education. Drawing from research literature and author's experience, Twelve Tips are listed and organised in four clusters with relevance to (1) the context, (2) the teachers, (3) the curriculum, and (4) the networking. With a better understanding of the guiding educational principles for teaching medical professionalism, medical educators will be able to teach one of the most challenging constructs in medical education.

Upper body segment to lower body segment and arm span to height ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

owner

2013-01-17

Jan 17, 2013 ... One such measure of linear growth is arm span defined as the distance ... and Indian children with sickle cell anaemia.3 However, these populations ... Children two years of age and older had their heights measured using a ...

Body Height and Its Estimation Utilizing Arm Span Measurements of both Gender Adolescents from Central Region in Kosovo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fitim Arifi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study is based on measurements of Central region Kosovar adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the Body Height of adolescents from Central region as well relationship between arm span and Body Height in both Kosovar genders. A total measured subject participated in this research was 193 out of which (93 girls and 100 boys, females average of age is 18.15±0.35 years old (range 18-20 years and for male 18.26±0.44 years old (range 18-20 years. The anthropometric measurements were done by trained people and were taken according to the ISAK manual. Relationship between Body Height and arm span has been analyzed by the simple correlation coefficient at a 95% confidence interval. The linear regression analysis was carried out to examine extent to which arm span can reliably predict of Body Height. Statistical importance was placed at level p<0.05. As a result anthropometric measurements for both sexes showed that the average of Body Height for boys adolescents from Central region are 180.62±5.88 centimeters and have the arm span average of 181.36±7.08 centimeters, while girls from Central 166.77±4.71 centimeters tall, and have the arm span average of 167.08±5.03 centimeters. The results have shown that the arm span was estimated as a reliable indicator of Body Height assessment to the both genders adolescents from Central region of Kosovo population. This study also confirms the necessity for developing separate height models for each region in Kosovo.

Life-Span Differences in the Uses and Gratifications of Tablets: Implications for Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Magsamen-Conrad, Kate; Dowd, John; Abuljadail, Mohammad; Alsulaiman, Saud; Shareefi, Adnan

2015-01-01

This study extends Uses and Gratifications theory by examining the uses and gratifications of a new technological device, the tablet computer, and investigating the differential uses and gratifications of tablet computers across the life-span. First, we utilized a six-week tablet training intervention to adapt and extend existing measures to the tablet as a technological device. Next, we used paper-based and online surveys (N=847), we confirmed four main uses of tablets: 1) Information Seeking, 2) Relationship Maintenance, 3) Style, 4) Amusement and Killing time, and added one additional use category 5) Organization. We discovered differences among the five main uses of tablets across the life-span, with older adults using tablets the least overall. Builders, Boomers, GenX and GenY all reported the highest means for information seeking. Finally, we used a structural equation model to examine how uses and gratifications predicts hours of tablet use. The study provides limitations and suggestions for future research and marketers. In particular, this study offers insight to the relevancy of theory as it applies to particular information and communication technologies and consideration of how different periods in the life-span affect tablet motivations. PMID:26113769

Life-Span Differences in the Uses and Gratifications of Tablets: Implications for Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Magsamen-Conrad, Kate; Dowd, John; Abuljadail, Mohammad; Alsulaiman, Saud; Shareefi, Adnan

2015-11-01

This study extends Uses and Gratifications theory by examining the uses and gratifications of a new technological device, the tablet computer, and investigating the differential uses and gratifications of tablet computers across the life-span. First, we utilized a six-week tablet training intervention to adapt and extend existing measures to the tablet as a technological device. Next, we used paper-based and online surveys ( N =847), we confirmed four main uses of tablets: 1) Information Seeking, 2) Relationship Maintenance, 3) Style, 4) Amusement and Killing time, and added one additional use category 5) Organization. We discovered differences among the five main uses of tablets across the life-span, with older adults using tablets the least overall. Builders, Boomers, GenX and GenY all reported the highest means for information seeking. Finally, we used a structural equation model to examine how uses and gratifications predicts hours of tablet use. The study provides limitations and suggestions for future research and marketers. In particular, this study offers insight to the relevancy of theory as it applies to particular information and communication technologies and consideration of how different periods in the life-span affect tablet motivations.

An Improved Algorithm Research on the PrefixSpan Based on the Server Session Constraint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cai Hong-Guo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available When we mine long sequential pattern and discover knowledge by the PrefixSpan algorithm in Web Usage Mining (WUM.The elements and the suffix sequences are much more may cause the problem of the calculation, such as the space explosion. To further solve the problem a more effective way is that. Firstly, a server session-based server log file format is proposed. Then the improved algorithm on the PrefixSpan based on server session constraint is discussed for mining frequent Sequential patterns on the website. Finally, the validity and superiority of the method are presented by the experiment in the paper.

Life-span radiation effects studies in animals: what can they tell us

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, R.C.

1984-05-01

Results from life-span studies in a variety of animal species have found relatively little application in the development of radiation risk factors for various organs of man. This paper discusses possible reasons for this situation and presents recommendations to correct it

A standard computerised version of the reading span test in different languages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noort, M.W.M.L. van den; Bosch, M.P.C.; Hugdahl, K.

2008-01-01

The Reading Span Test (RST) is a verbal working-memory test. The original RST (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980), and derivatives of it, are being used increasingly as assessments of central executive functioning and for research on aging-associated cognitive decline (Whitney, Arnett, Driver, & Budd,

Comparación de las normas sísmicas más utilizadas para puentes continuos en el Perú y sus métodos de análisis

OpenAIRE

Acero Martínez, José Alberto

2004-01-01

Este trabajo esta orientado a revisar las normas sísmicas más utilizadas para puentes continuos en el Perú y sus métodos de análisis. Se revisan principalmente: la norma AASHTO STANDARD, AASHTO LRFD, CALTRANS y la Norma Sísmica para Puentes de Japón. También, se discute la propuesta de norma para puentes del Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones del Perú y se revisa la NTE E.030. Por otro lado, se revisan en forma referencial, normas sísmicas de puentes de Chile, Venezuela y Canadá. T...

The impact of emotional intelligent leadership on staff nurse empowerment: the moderating effect of span of control.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Victoria; Laschinger, Heather K Spence; Wong, Carol A

2008-11-01

To test a model linking nurses' perceptions of their nurse manager's emotionally intelligent leadership style and nurses' structural empowerment, and the impact of nurse manager span of control (number of direct reports) on the emotional intelligence/empowerment relationship. Hospital restructuring in the 1990s resulted in a dramatic reduction in nurse manager positions, yet nurse managers are critical to empowering nurses for professional practice. A descriptive correlational survey design was used to test the hypothesized model in two community hospitals in Ontario. Two hundred and three nurses from two hospitals returned useable questionnaires (68% response rate). Span of control was a significant moderator of the relationship between nurses perceptions of their managers' emotionally intelligent behaviour and feelings of workplace empowerment. The results suggest that even managers with strong emotional intelligence may not be able to empower their staff if their span of control is large. Every effort must be made to ensure that managers have reasonable spans of control that allow them to develop and use the leadership skill necessary for empowering their staff to practice to the full scope of their professional role.

Increased iron supplied through Fet3p results in replicative life span extension of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under conditions requiring respiratory metabolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Botta, Gabriela; Turn, Christina S; Quintyne, Nicholas J; Kirchman, Paul A

2011-10-01

We have previously shown that copper supplementation extends the replicative life span of Saccharomyces cerevisiae when grown under conditions forcing cells to respire. We now show that copper's effect on life span is through Fet3p, a copper containing enzyme responsible for high affinity transport of iron into yeast cells. Life span extensions can also be obtained by supplementing the growth medium with 1mM ferric chloride. Extension by high iron levels is still dependent on the presence of Fet3p. Life span extension by iron or copper requires growth on media containing glycerol as the sole carbon source, which forces yeast to respire. Yeast grown on glucose containing media supplemented with iron show no extension of life span. The iron associated with cells grown in media supplemented with copper or iron is 1.4-1.8 times that of cells grown without copper or iron supplementation. As with copper supplementation, iron supplementation partially rescues the life span of superoxide dismutase mutants. Cells grown with copper supplementation display decreased production of superoxide as measured by dihydroethidium staining. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spanning trees with many or few colors in edge-colored graphs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broersma, Haitze J.; Li, Xueliang; Li, Xueliang

1997-01-01

Given a graph G = (V,E) and a (not necessarily proper) edge-coloring of G, we consider the complexity of finding a spanning tree of G with as many different colors as possible, and of finding one with as few different colors as possible. We show that the first problem is equivalent to finding a

Phonological Skills, Visual Attention Span, and Visual Stress in Developmental Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

Saksida, Amanda; Iannuzzi, Stéphanie; Bogliotti, Caroline; Chaix, Yves; Démonet, Jean-François; Bricout, Laure; Billard, Catherine; Nguyen-Morel, Marie-Ange; Le Heuzey, Marie-France; Soares-Boucaud, Isabelle; George, Florence; Ziegler, Johannes C.; Ramus, Franck

2016-01-01

In this study, we concurrently investigated 3 possible causes of dyslexia--a phonological deficit, visual stress, and a reduced visual attention span--in a large population of 164 dyslexic and 118 control French children, aged between 8 and 13 years old. We found that most dyslexic children showed a phonological deficit, either in terms of…

Dynamic Minimum Spanning Forest with Subpolynomial Worst-case Update Time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nanongkai, Danupon; Saranurak, Thatchaphol; Wulff-Nilsen, Christian

2017-01-01

Abstract: We present a Las Vegas algorithm for dynamically maintaining a minimum spanning forest of an nnode graph undergoing edge insertions and deletions. Our algorithm guarantees an O(no(1)) worst-case update time with high probability. This significantly improves the two recent Las Vegas algo...... the previous approach in [2], [3] which is based on Frederickson's 2-dimensional topology tree [6] and illustrates a new application to this old technique....

Metabotypes with properly functioning mitochondria and anti-inflammation predict extended productive life span in dairy cows

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, K.; Dänicke, S.; Rehage, J.; Sauerwein, H.; Otto, W.; Rolle-Kampczyk, U.; von Bergen, M.

2016-01-01

The failure to adapt metabolism to the homeorhetic demands of lactation is considered as a main factor in reducing the productive life span of dairy cows. The so far defined markers of production performance and metabolic health in dairy cows do not predict the length of productive life span satisfyingly. This study aimed to identify novel pathways and biomarkers related to productive life in dairy cows by means of (targeted) metabolomics. In a longitudinal study from 42 days before up to 100 days after parturition, we identified metabolites such as long-chain acylcarnitines and biogenic amines associated with extended productive life spans. These metabolites are mainly secreted by the liver and depend on the functionality of hepatic mitochondria. The concentrations of biogenic amines and some acylcarnitines differed already before the onset of lactation thus indicating their predictive potential for continuation or early ending of productive life. PMID:27089826

Progressive collapse susceptibility of a long span suspension bridge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olmati, Pierluigi; Giuliani, Luisa

2013-01-01

Long span bridges are complex structural systems, often having strategic roles in the network infrastructures; consequently their susceptibility to a disproportionate response in case of local failures needs to be assessed. In particular, current regulations prescribe that the structural robustness...... should be maintained in case of an accidental hanger detachment. Local damages in bridges, which are characterized by an horizontal load transfer system, may progress along the deck or along the suspension system, as the dynamic overloading of the structural elements immediately adjacent to the failed...

Ground States of Random Spanning Trees on a D-Wave 2X

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, J. S.; Hobl, L.; Novotny, M. A.; Michielsen, Kristel

The performances of two D-Wave 2 machines (476 and 496 qubits) and of a 1097-qubit D-Wave 2X were investigated. Each chip has a Chimera interaction graph calG . Problem input consists of values for the fields hj and for the two-qubit interactions Ji , j of an Ising spin-glass problem formulated on calG . Output is returned in terms of a spin configuration {sj } , with sj = +/- 1 . We generated random spanning trees (RSTs) uniformly distributed over all spanning trees of calG . On the 476-qubit D-Wave 2, RSTs were generated on the full chip with Ji , j = - 1 and hj = 0 and solved one thousand times. The distribution of solution energies and the average magnetization of each qubit were determined. On both the 476- and 1097-qubit machines, four identical spanning trees were generated on each quadrant of the chip. The statistical independence of these regions was investigated. In another study, on the D-Wave 2X, one hundred RSTs with random Ji , j ∈ { - 1 , 1 } and hj = 0 were generated on the full chip. Each RST problem was solved one hundred times and the number of times the ground state energy was found was recorded. This procedure was repeated for square subgraphs, with dimensions ranging from 7 ×7 to 11 ×11. Supported in part by NSF Grants DGE-0947419 and DMR-1206233. D-Wave time provided by D-Wave Systems and by the USRA Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Research Opportunity.

Damping-controlled fluidelastic instability forces in multi-span tubes with loose supports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassan, Marwan A.; Rogers, Robert J.; Gerber, Andrew G.

2011-01-01

This paper presents simulations of a loosely supported multi-span tube subjected to turbulence and fluidelastic instability forces in order to compare several time-domain fluid force models simulating the damping-controlled fluidelastic instability mechanism in tube arrays. These models include the negative damping model based on the Connors equation, fluid force coefficient-based models (Chen; Tanaka and Takahara), and two semi-analytical models (Price and Paidoussis; and Lever and Weaver). Time domain modelling challenges for each of these theories are discussed. The implemented models are validated against available experimental data. The linear simulations (without tube/support clearance) show that the Connors-equation based model exhibits the most conservative prediction of the critical flow velocity when the recommended design values for the Connors equation are used. The models are then utilized to simulate the nonlinear response of a three-span cantilever tube in a lattice bar support subjected to air crossflow. The tube is subjected to a single-phase flow passing over the spans where the flow velocity and the support clearance are varied. Special attention is paid to the tube/support interaction parameters that affect wear, such as impact forces, contact ratio, and normal work rate. As was seen for the linear cases, the reduced flow velocity at the instability threshold differs for the fluid force models considered. The investigated models do, however, exhibit similar response characteristics for the impact force, tip lift response, and work rate, except for the Connors-based model that overestimates the response and the tube/support interaction parameters for the loose support case, especially at large clearances.

The poetics of comic in the «The Twelve Chairs» novel (to the problem of a funny word

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kildyaeva Yu.I.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available the article deals with the role of a funny word in the comic structure of «The Twelve Chairs» by I. Ilf and E. Petrov. The researcher reveals its different functions taking into account authors’ strategy, directed to the creation of a special type of comic.

An Approach for Maintaining Models of an E-Commercspan>e Collaboration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bodenstaff, L.; Wombacher, Andreas; Reichert, M.U.; Wieringa, Roelf J.

To keep an overview on complex E-Commercspan>e collaborations several models are used to describe them. When models overlap in describing a collaboration, the overlapping information should not contradict. Models are of different nature and maintained by different people. Therefore, keeping model-overlap

The relationship between visual-spatial and auditory-verbal working memory span in Senegalese and Ugandan children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J Boivin

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC Conant et al. (1999 observed that visual and auditory working memory (WM span were independent in both younger and older children from DR Congo, but related in older American children and in Lao children. The present study evaluated whether visual and auditory WM span were independent in Ugandan and Senegalese children. METHOD: In a linear regression analysis we used visual (Spatial Memory, Hand Movements and auditory (Number Recall WM along with education and physical development (weight/height as predictors. The predicted variable in this analysis was Word Order, which is a verbal memory task that has both visual and auditory memory components. RESULTS: Both the younger (8.5 yrs Ugandan children had auditory memory span (Number Recall that was strongly predictive of Word Order performance. For both the younger and older groups of Senegalese children, only visual WM span (Spatial Memory was strongly predictive of Word Order. Number Recall was not significantly predictive of Word Order in either age group. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible that greater literacy from more schooling for the Ugandan age groups mediated their greater degree of interdependence between auditory and verbal WM. Our findings support those of Conant et al., who observed in their cross-cultural comparisons that stronger education seemed to enhance the dominance of the phonological-auditory processing loop for WM.

JNIH-ABCC Life Span Study, Hiroshima 1950-59. Multiple causes of death stated in medical certificates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishida, Morihiro; Jablon, S

1962-08-22

The applicability to the JNIH-ABCC Life Span Study of secondary causes shown in Hiroshima death certificates is discussed. The analysis is based on 5526 death certificates reported among members of Selection I and II of the Life Span Study sample. Secondary causes appear to be of only limited usefulness to the Life Span Study. Factors such as age, sex, exposure status, which may influence the frequency of entry of secondary causes in medical certificates are analyzed. Age is the only factor which shows a significant relationship and this may be interpreted as resulting from the fact that chronic diseases with multiple illnesses are most prevalent among persons at older ages. The number of secondary causes in the present study is too small to delineate in detail the pattern of complications or contributory causes. However, 9 cases of malignant neoplasms were entered only as complications and were missed in the primary tabulation, representing only about one percent of all malignancies. Secondary causes shown in the death certificates and associated causes found at postmortem examination seem not to be comparably distributed, thus raising a serious problem as to the applicability of the former to the Life Span Study. Both the magnitude and accuracy of entry of the secondary causes are influenced greatly by the ease with which illnesses may be detected clinically. 9 references, 12 tables.

The relationship between visual-spatial and auditory-verbal working memory span in Senegalese and Ugandan children.

Science.gov (United States)

Boivin, Michael J; Bangirana, Paul; Shaffer, Rebecca C; Smith, Rebecca C

2010-01-27

Using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) Conant et al. (1999) observed that visual and auditory working memory (WM) span were independent in both younger and older children from DR Congo, but related in older American children and in Lao children. The present study evaluated whether visual and auditory WM span were independent in Ugandan and Senegalese children. In a linear regression analysis we used visual (Spatial Memory, Hand Movements) and auditory (Number Recall) WM along with education and physical development (weight/height) as predictors. The predicted variable in this analysis was Word Order, which is a verbal memory task that has both visual and auditory memory components. Both the younger (8.5 yrs) Ugandan children had auditory memory span (Number Recall) that was strongly predictive of Word Order performance. For both the younger and older groups of Senegalese children, only visual WM span (Spatial Memory) was strongly predictive of Word Order. Number Recall was not significantly predictive of Word Order in either age group. It is possible that greater literacy from more schooling for the Ugandan age groups mediated their greater degree of interdependence between auditory and verbal WM. Our findings support those of Conant et al., who observed in their cross-cultural comparisons that stronger education seemed to enhance the dominance of the phonological-auditory processing loop for WM.

Effect of shear span, concrete strength and strrup spacing on behavior of pre-stressed concrete beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, S.; Bukhari, I.A.

2007-01-01

The shear strength of pre-stressed concrete beams is one of the most important factors to be considered in their design. The available data on shear behavior of pre-tensioned prestressed concrete beams is very limited. In this experimental study, pre-tensioned prestressed concrete I-beams are fabricated with normal and high- strength concretes, varying stirrup spacing and shear span-to-depth ratios. 1Wenty one I-beam specimens that are 300 mm deep and 3745-4960mm long are tested up to failure while deflections, cracking pattern, cracking and failure loads were recorded. The research results are compared with ACI 318-02 and Structure Analysis Program, Response 2000. It was observed that with the decrease in concrete strength, failure mode of prestressed concrete beams changes from flexure shear to web shear cracking for values of shear span-to-depth ratio less than 4.75. Increase in stirrup spacing decreased the effectiveness of stirrups in transmitting shear across crack as a result of which failure mode is changed to web shear cracking especially for beams with lower values of shear span-to-depth ratios. ACI code underestimates the shear carrying capacity of prestressed concrete beams with lower values of shear span- to-depth ratios. Response 2000 can be used more effectively in predicting shear behavior of normal strength prestressed concrete beams. (author)

Comparative Research of Extra-large-span Cable-stayed Bridge with Steel Truss Girder and Steel Box Girder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tan Manjiang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available To research structural performance of extra-large-span cable-stayed bridge under different section forms, with the engineering background of a 800m main-span cable-stayed bridge with steel truss girder, the cable-stayed bridge with steel box girder is designed according to the current bridge regulations when two bridges are designed in an ultimate state of the carrying capacity, so the maximum stress and minimum stress of the stress envelope diagram are substantially the same. A comprehensive comparison is given to two types of bridge on the aspect of static force, natural vibration frequency, stability, economic performance and so on. Analysis results provide future reference for the large-span cable-stayed bridge to select between the steel truss girder and the steel box girder.

Similarities and Differences between Working Memory and Long-Term Memory: Evidence from the Levels-of-Processing Span Task

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Nathan S.; Myerson, Joel; Roediger, Henry L., III; Hale, Sandra

2010-01-01

Two experiments compared the effects of depth of processing on working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM) using a levels-of-processing (LOP) span task, a newly developed WM span procedure that involves processing to-be-remembered words based on their visual, phonological, or semantic characteristics. Depth of processing had minimal effect on…

DOE life-span radiation effects studies at Pacific Northwest Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, R.C.; Cross, F.T.; Dagle, G.E.; Park, J.F.; Sanders, C.L.

1986-01-01

Major life-span radiation effects studies at Pacific Northwest Laboratory fall into three categories: (1) studies with beagle dogs exposed to plutonium compounds via a single inhalation; (2) studies with dogs and rats exposed chronically via inhalation to various combinations and concentrations of radon, radon daughters, and other components of uranium mine atmospheres; and (3) a study in which rats are exposed via single inhalation, in very large numbers, to very low concentrations of 239 PuO 2 . Exposure of beagles currently on study was initiated in 1970 with 239 PuO 2 , in 1973 with 238 PuO 2 , and in 1976 with 239 Pu(NO 3 ) 4 . These experiments involve more than 500 animals, many of them still alive. Experiments seeking to explain the increased incidence of lung cancer in uranium miners have been in progress since 1966. Present emphasis is on studies with rats, in an attempt to define dose-effect relationships at the lowest feasible radon-daughter exposure levels. Our very-low-level experiment with inhaled 239 PuO 2 in rats, with exposures still under way, includes 1000 rats in the control group and 1000 rats in the lowest-exposure group, where life-span lung doses of <5 rads are anticipated

SNEV overexpression extends the life span of human endothelial cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voglauer, Regina; Chang, Martina Wei-Fen; Dampier, Brigitta; Wieser, Matthias; Baumann, Kristin; Sterovsky, Thomas; Schreiber, Martin; Katinger, Hermann; Grillari, Johannes

2006-01-01

In a recent screening for genes downregulated in replicatively senescent human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), we have isolated the novel protein SNEV. Since then SNEV has proven as a multifaceted protein playing a role in pre-mRNA splicing, DNA repair, and the ubiquitin/proteosome system. Here, we report that SNEV mRNA decreases in various cell types during replicative senescence, and that it is increased in various immortalized cell lines, as well as in breast tumors, where SNEV transcript levels also correlate with the survival of breast cancer patients. Since these mRNA profiles suggested a role of SNEV in the regulation of cell proliferation, the effect of its overexpression was tested. Thereby, a significant extension of the cellular life span was observed, which was not caused by altered telomerase activity or telomere dynamics but rather by enhanced stress resistance. When SNEV overexpressing cells were treated with bleomycin or bleomycin combined with BSO, inducing DNA damage as well as reactive oxygen species, a significantly lower fraction of apoptotic cells was found in comparison to vector control cells. These data suggest that high levels of SNEV might extend the cellular life span by increasing the resistance to stress or by improving the DNA repair capacity of the cells

Discrepancies between bilinguals' performance on the Spanish and English versions of the WAIS Digit Span task: Cross-cultural implications.

Science.gov (United States)

López, Enrique; Steiner, Alexander J; Hardy, David J; IsHak, Waguih W; Anderson, W Brantley

2016-01-01

This study explored within-subjects differences in the performance of 40 bilingual participants on the English and Spanish versions of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Digit Span task. To test the linguistic hypothesis that individuals would perform worse in Spanish because of its syllabic demand, we compared the number of syllables correctly recalled by each participant for every correct trial. Our analysis of the correct number of syllables remembered per trial showed that participants performed significantly better (i.e., recalling more syllables) in Spanish than in English on the total score. Findings suggest the Spanish version of the Digit Span (total score) was significantly more difficult than the English version utilizing traditional scoring methods. Moreover, the Forward Trial, rather than the Backward Trial, was more likely to show group differences between both language versions. Additionally, the Spanish trials of the Digit Span were correlated with language comprehension and verbal episodic memory measures, whereas the English trials of the Digit Span were correlated with confrontational naming and verbal fluency tasks. The results suggest that more research is necessary to further investigate other cognitive factors, rather than just syllabic demand, that might contribute to performance and outcome differences on the WAIS Digit Span in Spanish-English bilinguals.

Which HRM practices enhance employee outcomes at work across the life-span?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veth, Klaske; Korzilius, Hubert P.L.M.; van der Heijden, Beatrice I.J.M.; Emans, Ben; de Lange, Annet H.

Based on the social exchange theory and on ageing and life-span theories, this paper aims to examine: (1) the relationships between perceived availability and use of HRM practices, and employee outcomes (i.e. work engagement and employability); and (2) how employee age moderates these relationships.

Which HRM practices enhance employee outcomes at work across the life-span?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veth, K.N.; Korzilius, H.P.L.M.; Heijden, B.I.J.M. van der; Lange, A.H. de; Emans, B.J.M.

2017-01-01

Based on the social exchange theory and on ageing and life-span theories, this paper aims to examine: (1) the relationships between perceived availability and use of HRM practices, and employee outcomes (i.e. work engagement and employability); and (2) how employee age moderates these relationships.

Parafoveal magnification: visual acuity does not modulate the perceptual span in reading.

Science.gov (United States)

Miellet, Sébastien; O'Donnell, Patrick J; Sereno, Sara C

2009-06-01

Models of eye guidance in reading rely on the concept of the perceptual span-the amount of information perceived during a single eye fixation, which is considered to be a consequence of visual and attentional constraints. To directly investigate attentional mechanisms underlying the perceptual span, we implemented a new reading paradigm-parafoveal magnification (PM)-that compensates for how visual acuity drops off as a function of retinal eccentricity. On each fixation and in real time, parafoveal text is magnified to equalize its perceptual impact with that of concurrent foveal text. Experiment 1 demonstrated that PM does not increase the amount of text that is processed, supporting an attentional-based account of eye movements in reading. Experiment 2 explored a contentious issue that differentiates competing models of eye movement control and showed that, even when parafoveal information is enlarged, visual attention in reading is allocated in a serial fashion from word to word.

Neural Dissociation of Phonological and Visual Attention Span Disorders in Developmental Dyslexia: fMRI Evidence from Two Case Reports

Science.gov (United States)

Peyrin, C.; Lallier, M.; Demonet, J. F.; Pernet, C.; Baciu, M.; Le Bas, J. F.; Valdois, S.

2012-01-01

A dissociation between phonological and visual attention (VA) span disorders has been reported in dyslexic children. This study investigates whether this cognitively-based dissociation has a neurobiological counterpart through the investigation of two cases of developmental dyslexia. LL showed a phonological disorder but preserved VA span whereas…

Implication of Ca2+ in the regulation of replicative life span of budding yeast.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsubakiyama, Ryohei; Mizunuma, Masaki; Gengyo, Anri; Yamamoto, Josuke; Kume, Kazunori; Miyakawa, Tokichi; Hirata, Dai

2011-08-19

In eukaryotic cells, Ca(2+)-triggered signaling pathways are used to regulate a wide variety of cellular processes. Calcineurin, a highly conserved Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase, plays key roles in the regulation of diverse biological processes in organisms ranging from yeast to humans. We isolated a mutant of the SIR3 gene, implicated in the regulation of life span, as a suppressor of the Ca(2+) sensitivity of zds1Δ cells in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Therefore, we investigated a relationship between Ca(2+) signaling and life span in yeast. Here we show that Ca(2+) affected the replicative life span (RLS) of yeast. Increased external and intracellular Ca(2+) levels caused a reduction in their RLS. Consistently, the increase in calcineurin activity by either the zds1 deletion or the constitutively activated calcineurin reduced RLS. Indeed, the shortened RLS of zds1Δ cells was suppressed by the calcineurin deletion. Further, the calcineurin deletion per se promoted aging without impairing the gene silencing typically observed in short-lived sir mutants, indicating that calcineurin plays an important role in a regulation of RLS even under normal growth condition. Thus, our results indicate that Ca(2+) homeostasis/Ca(2+) signaling are required to regulate longevity in budding yeast.

Examining the relationships between span of control and manager job and unit performance outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Carol A; Elliott-Miller, Pat; Laschinger, Heather; Cuddihy, Michael; Meyer, Raquel M; Keatings, Margaret; Burnett, Camille; Szudy, Natalie

2015-03-01

Our aim was to examine the combination of frontline manager (FLM) personal characteristics and span of control (SOC) on their job and unit performance outcomes. Healthcare downsizing and reform have contributed to larger spans for FLMs in Canadian hospitals and increased concerns about manager workload. Despite a heightened awareness of SOC issues among decision makers, there is limited empirical evidence related to the effects of SOC on outcomes. A non-experimental predictive survey design was used to examine FLM SOC in 14 Canadian academic hospitals. Managers (n = 121) completed an online survey of work characteristics and The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) SOC tool. Unit turnover data were collected from organisational databases. The combination of SOC and core self-evaluation significantly predicted role overload, work control and job satisfaction, but only SOC predicted unit adverse outcomes and neither significantly predicted unit turnover. The findings contribute to an understanding of connections between the combination of SOC and core self-evaluation and manager job and unit performance outcomes. Organisational strategies to create manageable FLM SOC are essential to ensure exemplary job and unit outcomes. Core self-evaluation is a personality characteristic that may enhance manager performance in the face of high spans of control. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Comparative Assessment of Aerodynamic Models for Buffeting and Flutter of Long-Span Bridges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Kavrakov

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Wind-induced vibrations commonly represent the leading criterion in the design of long-span bridges. The aerodynamic forces in bridge aerodynamics are mainly based on the quasi-steady and linear unsteady theory. This paper aims to investigate different formulations of self-excited and buffeting forces in the time domain by comparing the dynamic response of a multi-span cable-stayed bridge during the critical erection condition. The bridge is selected to represent a typical reference object with a bluff concrete box girder for large river crossings. The models are viewed from a perspective of model complexity, comparing the influence of the aerodynamic properties implied in the aerodynamic models, such as aerodynamic damping and stiffness, fluid memory in the buffeting and self-excited forces, aerodynamic nonlinearity, and aerodynamic coupling on the bridge response. The selected models are studied for a wind-speed range that is typical for the construction stage for two levels of turbulence intensity. Furthermore, a simplified method for the computation of buffeting forces including the aerodynamic admittance is presented, in which rational approximation is avoided. The critical flutter velocities are also compared for the selected models under laminar flow. Keywords: Buffeting, Flutter, Long-span bridges, Bridge aerodynamics, Bridge aeroelasticity, Erection stage

Proteomic profiles reveal age-related changes in coelomic fluid of sea urchin species with different life spans.

Science.gov (United States)

Bodnar, Andrea

2013-05-01

Sea urchins have a different life history from humans and traditional model organisms used to study the process of aging. Sea urchins grow indeterminately, reproduce throughout their life span and some species have been shown to exhibit negligible senescence with no increase in mortality rate at advanced ages. Despite these properties, different species of sea urchins are reported to have very different natural life spans providing a unique model to investigate cellular mechanisms underlying life span determination and negligible senescence. To gain insight into the biological changes that accompany aging in these animals, proteomic profiles were examined in coelomic fluid from young and old sea urchins of three species with different life spans: short-lived Lytechinus variegatus, long-lived Strongylocentrotus franciscanus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus which has an intermediate life span. The proteomic profiles of cell-free coelomic fluid were complex with many proteins exhibiting different forms and extensive post-translational modifications. Approximately 20% of the protein spots on 2-D gels showed more than two-fold change with age in each of the species. Changes that are consistent with age in all three species may prove to be useful biomarkers for age-determination for these commercially fished marine invertebrates and also may provide clues to mechanisms of negligible senescence. Among the proteins that change with age, the ectodomain of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 4 (LRP4) was significantly increased in the coelomic fluid of all three sea urchin species suggesting that the Wnt signaling pathway should be further investigated for its role in negligible senescence. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Corrigendum: Childhood Adversity, Self-Esteem, and Diurnal Cortisol Profiles Across the Life Span.

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Original article: Zilioli, S., Slatcher, R. B., Chi, P., Li, X., Zhao, J., & Zhao, G. (2016). Childhood adversity, self-esteem, and diurnal cortisol profiles across the life span. Psychological Science, 27, 1249-1265. doi:10.1177/0956797616658287.

Effect of shear span-to-depth ratio on the shear behavior of BFRP-RC deep beams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alhamad Siyam

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the shear behavior of deep concrete beams reinforced with basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP bars for flexure without web reinforcements. The experimental testing performed herein consisted of a total of 4 short beams, three of which were reinforced with BFRP and one beam was reinforced with steel bars. The primary test variable was the shear-span-to-effective-depth ratio (a/d and its influence on the beams’ mid-span deflections, shear capacity, load-deformation relationships and the failure modes.

Quantifying the Structure of Free Association Networks across the Life Span

Science.gov (United States)

Dubossarsky, Haim; De Deyne, Simon; Hills, Thomas T.

2017-01-01

We investigate how the mental lexicon changes over the life span using free association data from over 8,000 individuals, ranging from 10 to 84 years of age, with more than 400 cue words per age group. Using network analysis, with words as nodes and edges defined by the strength of shared associations, we find that associative networks evolve in a…

Minimal Spanning Tree Graphs and Power Like Scaling in FOREX Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Górski, A. Z.; Kwapień, J.; Oświęcimka, P.; Drożdż, S.

2008-09-01

Correlation matrices of foreign exchange rate time series are investigated for 60 world currencies. Minimal spanning tree graphs for the gold, silver and platinum are presented. Inverse power like scaling is discussed for these graphs as well as for four distinct currency groups (major, liquid, less liquid and non-tradable). The worst scaling was found for USD and related currencies.

Differences of Mentoring Experiences across Grade Span among Principals, Mentors, and Mentees

Science.gov (United States)

Frels, Rebecca K.; Zientek, Linda Reichwein; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this mixed research study was to examine mentoring experiences specific to grade span through the perspective of principals, mentors, and mentees. An instrument containing items on demographics, administrative support, and mentoring program components was administered to first-year teachers (n = 998), mentors (n = 791), and…

Flexible pavement rehabilitation design based on pavement service life time span left

OpenAIRE

Gamelyak, I.; Shevchuk, V.

2005-01-01

The design of flexible pavement rehabilitation is analysed in terms of durability-cost. A notion of the remaining service life span is described. the model of rehabilitation strategy selection is presented for both design project and operation stages. the results can be used in the pavement management system.

Effects of relational coordination among colleagues and span of control on work engagement among home-visiting nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Naruse, Takashi; Sakai, Mahiro; Nagata, Satoko

2016-04-01

Home-visiting nursing agencies are required to foster staff nurse's work engagement; thus, the factors related to work engagement require identification. This study examined relational coordination among colleagues and agency span of control on the work engagement of home-visiting nurses. Cross-sectional data from 93 staff nurses in 31 home-visiting nursing agencies were collected via a survey and analyzed using mixed linear regression. There was no significant main effect of relational coordination among nurse colleagues on work engagement. In large agencies with a large span of control, relational coordination among nursing colleagues predicted work engagement. Nursing managers' relational coordination was found to be positively associated with staff nurse work engagement. Agency span of control is a moderating factor on the positive effect of relational coordination with nursing colleagues on staff nurse work engagement. © 2016 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

Strand Tension Control in Anchor Span for Suspension Bridge Using Dynamic Balance Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Da Wang

Full Text Available Abstract Strand tension control is essential in suspension bridge safety. However, few quantitative studies have examined the bending rigidity and boundary condition behavior of strands in the anchor span of suspension bridges because of their special structure and complex configuration. In this paper, a new calculation method for strand tension is explored by using dynamic balance theory to determine the effect of bending rigidity and boundary conditions. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method are tested and confirmed with verification examples and application on Nanxi Yangtze Suspension Bridge in China. The results indicated that only low-order frequency calculation could be used to calculate the strand tension without considering the effect of bending rigidity to ensure control accuracy. The influence of bending rigidity on the control precision is related to the tension and the length of the strands, which is significantly determined by the specific value between the stress rigidity and the bending rigidity. The uncertain boundary conditions of the anchor span cable, which are fixed between consolidated and hinged, also have a major effect on the control accuracy. To improve the accuracy of strand tension control, the least squares method is proposed during the tension construction control of the anchor span. This approach can significantly improve the accuracy of the tension control of the main cable strand. Some recommendations for future bridge analysis are provided based on the results of this study.

Design and evaluation of a single-span bridge using ultra-high performance concrete.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

"Research presented herein describes an application of a newly developed material called Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) to a : single-span bridge. The two primary objectives of this research were to develop a shear design procedure for possib...

A Theoretical Analysis of the Perceptual Span based on SWIFT Simulations of the n + 2 Boundary Paradigm

OpenAIRE

Risse, Sarah; Hohenstein, Sven; Kliegl, Reinhold; Engbert, Ralf

2014-01-01

Eye-movement experiments suggest that the perceptual span during reading is larger than the fixated word, asymmetric around the fixation position, and shrinks in size contingent on the foveal processing load. We used the SWIFT model of eye-movement control during reading to test these hypotheses and their implications under the assumption of graded parallel processing of all words inside the perceptual span. Specifically, we simulated reading in the boundary paradigm and analysed the effects ...

Life spans of planktonic foraminifers: New sight through sediment traps

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Nigam, R.; Saraswat, R.; Mazumder, A.

), indicated by black arrows are remarkably present for all three trap locations. (Modified after Curry et l.t 1992). 2002; Eguchi, Ujiie, Kawahata and Taira 2003), (ii) all the traps can not stop functioning simultaneously and that for the same time... estimates of the life spans of planktonic foraminifera based on extrapolation of lab culture observations. According to Be et al (1981), an inverse relationship exists between feeding frequency and survival time, and that planktonic foraminifers under...

SPAN: spike pattern association neuron for learning spatio-temporal sequences

OpenAIRE

Mohemmed, A; Schliebs, S; Matsuda, S; Kasabov, N

2012-01-01

Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) were shown to be suitable tools for the processing of spatio-temporal information. However, due to their inherent complexity, the formulation of efficient supervised learning algorithms for SNN is difficult and remains an important problem in the research area. This article presents SPAN — a spiking neuron that is able to learn associations of arbitrary spike trains in a supervised fashion allowing the processing of spatio-temporal information encoded in the prec...

Does the Visual Attention Span Play a Role in Reading in Arabic?

Science.gov (United States)

Lallier, Marie; Abu Mallouh, Reem; Mohammed, Ahmed M.; Khalifa, Batoul; Perea, Manuel; Carreiras, Manuel

2018-01-01

It is unclear whether the association between the visual attention (VA) span and reading differs across languages. Here we studied this relationship in Arabic, where the use of specific reading strategies depends on the amount of diacritics on words: reading vowelized and nonvowelized Arabic scripts favor sublexical and lexical strategies,…

Do supervised weekly exercise programs maintain functional exercise capacity and quality of life, twelve months after pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alison Jennifer A

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Pulmonary rehabilitation programs have been shown to increase functional exercise capacity and quality of life in COPD patients. However, following the completion of pulmonary rehabilitation the benefits begin to decline unless the program is of longer duration or ongoing maintenance exercise is followed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine if supervised, weekly, hospital-based exercise compared to home exercise will maintain the benefits gained from an eight-week pulmonary rehabilitation program in COPD subjects to twelve months. Methods Following completion of an eight-week pulmonary rehabilitation program, COPD subjects will be recruited and randomised (using concealed allocation in numbered envelopes into either the maintenance exercise group (supervised, weekly, hospital-based exercise or the control group (unsupervised home exercise and followed for twelve months. Measurements will be taken at baseline (post an eight-week pulmonary rehabilitation program, three, six and twelve months. The exercise measurements will include two six-minute walk tests, two incremental shuttle walk tests, and two endurance shuttle walk tests. Oxygen saturation, heart rate and dyspnoea will be monitored during all these tests. Quality of life will be measured using the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Participants will be excluded if they require supplemental oxygen or have neurological or musculoskeletal co-morbidities that will prevent them from exercising independently. Discussion Pulmonary rehabilitation plays an important part in the management of COPD and the results from this study will help determine if supervised, weekly, hospital-based exercise can successfully maintain functional exercise capacity and quality of life following an eight-week pulmonary rehabilitation program in COPD subjects in Australia.

Sadhana | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

... Committee on Scientific Values · Project Lifescape · Scientific Data of Public Interest ... Viaduct roads have wide application in big cities with high traffic loads, ... technique, finite elements analysis, experimentally and neural networks (NN).

Gender Differences in Symptom Reporting on Baseline Sport Concussion Testing Across the Youth Age Span.

Science.gov (United States)

Moser, Rosemarie Scolaro; Olek, Lauren; Schatz, Philip

2018-02-06

Little is known regarding gender differences in concussion symptom reporting developmentally across the age span, specifically in pre-adolescent athletes. The present study asks: Do boys and girls differ in symptom reporting across the pre-adolescent to post-adolescent age span? This retrospective study utilized baseline assessments from 11,695 10-22 year-old athletes assigned to 3 independent groups: Pre-adolescent 10-12 year olds (n = 1,367; 12%), Adolescent 13-17 year olds (n = 2,974; 25%), and Late Adolescent 18-22 year olds (n = 7,354; 63%). Males represented 60% of the sample. Baseline ImPACT composite scores and Post-Concussion Symptom Scale scores (Total, Physical, Cognitive, Emotional, Sleep) were analyzed for the effects of age and gender. Statistically significant main effects were found for age and gender on all ImPACT composites, Total Symptoms, and Symptom factors. Significant interaction effects were noted between age and gender for all ImPACT composites, Total Symptoms, and Symptom factors. Total Symptoms and all Symptom factors were highest in adolescents (ages 13-17) for males and females. In the 10-12 age group, females displayed lower Total Symptoms, Physical, and Sleep factors than males. The notion of females being more likely than males to report symptoms does not appear to apply across the developmental age span, particularly prior to adolescence. Females show greater emotional endorsement across the youth age span (10-22 years). Adolescence (13-17 years) appears to be a time of increased symptomatology that may lessen after the age of 18. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Homogeneous spectral spanning of terahertz semiconductor lasers with radio frequency modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, W J; Li, H; Zhou, T; Cao, J C

2017-03-08

Homogeneous broadband and electrically pumped semiconductor radiation sources emitting in the terahertz regime are highly desirable for various applications, including spectroscopy, chemical sensing, and gas identification. In the frequency range between 1 and 5 THz, unipolar quantum cascade lasers employing electron inter-subband transitions in multiple-quantum-well structures are the most powerful semiconductor light sources. However, these devices are normally characterized by either a narrow emission spectrum due to the narrow gain bandwidth of the inter-subband optical transitions or an inhomogeneous broad terahertz spectrum from lasers with heterogeneous stacks of active regions. Here, we report the demonstration of homogeneous spectral spanning of long-cavity terahertz semiconductor quantum cascade lasers based on a bound-to-continuum and resonant phonon design under radio frequency modulation. At a single drive current, the terahertz spectrum under radio frequency modulation continuously spans 330 GHz (~8% of the central frequency), which is the record for single plasmon waveguide terahertz lasers with a bound-to-continuum design. The homogeneous broadband terahertz sources can be used for spectroscopic applications, i.e., GaAs etalon transmission measurement and ammonia gas identification.

Span: spike pattern association neuron for learning spatio-temporal spike patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohemmed, Ammar; Schliebs, Stefan; Matsuda, Satoshi; Kasabov, Nikola

2012-08-01

Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) were shown to be suitable tools for the processing of spatio-temporal information. However, due to their inherent complexity, the formulation of efficient supervised learning algorithms for SNN is difficult and remains an important problem in the research area. This article presents SPAN - a spiking neuron that is able to learn associations of arbitrary spike trains in a supervised fashion allowing the processing of spatio-temporal information encoded in the precise timing of spikes. The idea of the proposed algorithm is to transform spike trains during the learning phase into analog signals so that common mathematical operations can be performed on them. Using this conversion, it is possible to apply the well-known Widrow-Hoff rule directly to the transformed spike trains in order to adjust the synaptic weights and to achieve a desired input/output spike behavior of the neuron. In the presented experimental analysis, the proposed learning algorithm is evaluated regarding its learning capabilities, its memory capacity, its robustness to noisy stimuli and its classification performance. Differences and similarities of SPAN regarding two related algorithms, ReSuMe and Chronotron, are discussed.

Measuring the genetic influence on human life span: gene-environment interaction and sex-specific genetic effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tan, Qihua; De Benedictis, G; Yashin, Annatoli

2001-01-01

New approaches are needed to explore the different ways in which genes affect the human life span. One needs to assess the genetic effects themselves, as well as gene–environment interactions and sex dependency. In this paper, we present a new model that combines both genotypic and demographicinf......New approaches are needed to explore the different ways in which genes affect the human life span. One needs to assess the genetic effects themselves, as well as gene–environment interactions and sex dependency. In this paper, we present a new model that combines both genotypic...

Radiation sensitivity and DNA repair in Caenorhabditis elegans strains with different mean life spans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartman, P S; Simpson, V J; Johnson, T; Mitchell, D

1988-06-01

The sensitivities to three DNA damaging agents (UV and ..gamma..-radiation, methyl methanesulfonate) were measured in four recombinant inbred (RI) strains of Caenorhabditis elegans with mean life spans ranging from 13 to 30.9 days, as well as in the wild-type strains used to derive these RI's. Sensitivities at several stages in the developmental cycle were tested. There were no significant correlations between mean life span and the lethal effects of these 3 agents. Excision of two UV-radiation-induced DNA photoproducts was also measured. Long-lived strains were no more repair competent than shorter-lived strains. These data indicate that DNA repair plays at best a minor role in the aging process of C. elegans. 33 refs.; 4 figs.

Analysis of the Suppression Device as Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV Reducer on Free Span using Finite Element Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwi Priyanta

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Subsea pipeline is a transportation infrastructure of oil and gas as an alternative for ship tanker. The uneven topography surface of the sea floor resulting the pipe undergoes free span. The free span is a condition endured by the pipe where the pipe position has  distance or gap with the seabed supported by two pivot. The free span is at risk of experiencing a vibration caused by the presence of dynamic load that is current and the wave. The vibration that occurs is the impact of the presence of the phenomenon of Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV. The Phenomenon Of VIV occur on a cylindrical component caused by ocean currents, causing the occurrence of vibration by the movement of fluid on the pipe so that it raises the vortex at the rear of the direction of oncoming flow. One way to dampen or reduce the impact of VIV is by adding suppresion device. VIV suppression device is a tool that is installed on the pipeline on offshore piping installationcthat serves to dampen or reduce the impact of VIV. One of the simulations used to know the characteristics of a fluid is to use (CFD Computational Fluid Dynamic. With the addition of suppression device can add the rest of the operating time on a free span of affected VIV, on the condition of free span critical exposed VIV (Vortex Induced Vibration value has a life time on plain pipe 44.21 years, on pipe with 53.09 years and Fairing on the pipe with the Helical strike 52.95 year.

Deleting the 14-3-3 protein Bmh1 extends life span in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by increasing stress response.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chen; Skinner, Craig; Easlon, Erin; Lin, Su-Ju

2009-12-01

Enhanced stress response has been suggested to promote longevity in many species. Calorie restriction (CR) and conserved nutrient-sensing target of rapamycin (TOR) and protein kinase A (PKA) pathways have also been suggested to extend life span by increasing stress response, which protects cells from age-dependent accumulation of oxidative damages. Here we show that deleting the yeast 14-3-3 protein, Bmh1, extends chronological life span (CLS) by activating the stress response. 14-3-3 proteins are highly conserved chaperone-like proteins that play important roles in many cellular processes. bmh1Delta-induced heat resistance and CLS extension require the general stress-response transcription factors Msn2, Msn4, and Rim15. The bmh1Delta mutant also displays a decreased reactive oxygen species level and increased heat-shock-element-driven transcription activity. We also show that BMH1 genetically interacts with CR and conserved nutrient-sensing TOR- and PKA-signaling pathways to regulate life span. Interestingly, the level of phosphorylated Ser238 on Bmh1 increases during chronological aging, which is delayed by CR or by reduced TOR activities. In addition, we demonstrate that PKA can directly phosphorylate Ser238 on Bmh1. The status of Bmh1 phosphorylation is therefore likely to play important roles in life-span regulation. Together, our studies suggest that phosphorylated Bmh1 may cause inhibitory effects on downstream longevity factors, including stress-response proteins. Deleting Bmh1 may eliminate the inhibitory effects of Bmh1 on these longevity factors and therefore extends life span.

Recovery of cognitive function soon after stroke: a study of visual neglect, attention span and verbal recall.

OpenAIRE

Wade, D T; Wood, V A; Hewer, R L

1988-01-01

Sixty two consecutive patients admitted to hospital and surviving 6 months were tested regularly over the first 3 months after their stroke to plot recovery in three aspects of cognition: visual neglect, assessed using a cancellation task, attention span assessed using digit span, and verbal recall, tested by counting number of words remembered from a list of 10 words. Normative data were collected for the cancellation test. Fifteen patients showed recovery from visual neglect, 10 improvement...

A major QTL affects temperature sensitive adult lethality and inbreeding depression in life span in Drosophila melanogaster.

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vermeulen, Corneel J.; Bijlsma, R.; Loeschcke, Volker

2008-01-01

of inbreeding effects in specific traits, such as age-specific mortality and life span, provide a good starting point, as a limited set of genes is expected to be involved. Results Here we report on a QTL mapping study on inbreeding related and temperature sensitive lethality in male Drosophila melanogaster...... and the molecular properties of genes that give rise to or modulate its deleterious effects is lacking. These questions warrant the detailed study of genetic loci giving rise to inbreeding depression. However, the complex and polygenic nature of general inbreeding depression makes this a daunting task. Study...... simple, being due mainly to a single recessive QTL on the left arm of chromosome 2. This locus colocalised with a QTL that conditioned variation in female life span, acting as an overdominant locus for this trait. Male life span was additionally affected by variation at the X-chromosome. Conclusion...

Networks and Spanning Trees: The Juxtaposition of Prüfer and Boruvka

Science.gov (United States)

Lodder, Jerry

2014-01-01

This paper outlines a method for teaching topics in undergraduate mathematics or computer science via historical curricular modules. The contents of one module, "Networks and Spanning Trees," are discussed from the original work of Arthur Cayley, Heinz Prüfer, and Otakar Boruvka that motivates the enumeration and application of trees in…

Working memory span in mild cognitive impairment. Influence of processing speed and cognitive reserve.

Science.gov (United States)

Facal, David; Juncos-Rabadán, Onésimo; Pereiro, Arturo X; Lojo-Seoane, Cristina

2014-04-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) often includes episodic memory impairment, but can also involve other types of cognitive decline. Although previous studies have shown poorer performance of MCI patients in working memory (WM) span tasks, different MCI subgroups were not studied. In the present exploratory study, 145 participants underwent extensive cognitive evaluation, which included three different WM span tasks, and were classified into the following groups: multiple-domain amnestic MCI (mda-MCI), single-domain amnestic MCI (sda-MCI), and controls. General linear model was conducted by considering the WM span tasks as the within-subject factor; the group (mda-MCI, sda-MCI, and controls) as the inter-subject factor; and processing speed, vocabulary and age as covariates. Multiple linear regression models were also used to test the influence of processing speed, vocabulary, and other cognitive reserve (CR) proxies. Results indicate different levels of impairment of WM, with more severe impairment in mda-MCI patients. The differences were still present when processing resources and CR were controlled. Between-group differences can be understood as a manifestation of the greater severity and widespread memory impairment in mda-MCI patients and may contribute to a better understanding of continuum from normal controls to mda-MCI patients. Processing speed and CR have a limited influence on WM scores, reducing but not removing differences between groups.

Mortality pattern and life span in case of combined effect of incorporated radioisotopes, smoking and ethanol in the experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kupriyanova, V.M.

1988-01-01

It is established that life span and mortality pattern of animals subjected to chronic intake of 90 Sr, to the effect of ethanol, and smoking depend on the intensity of radiation and radiation doses, character of harmful factors, age and sex dependences. The mean life span of animals subjected to the combined effect of 90 Sr(10 -3 LD50/30) of ethanol and smoking was by 18-22 % lower in comparison with intact animals. Alongside with the mean life span decrease latent period of carcinogenesis is shortened. A high tendency to metastases formation was noted in case of combined action of these factors than in comparison with isolated effect of them. 3 refs.; 1 tab

A Hybrid Optimized Weighted Minimum Spanning Tree for the Shortest Intrapath Selection in Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matheswaran Saravanan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor network (WSN consists of sensor nodes that need energy efficient routing techniques as they have limited battery power, computing, and storage resources. WSN routing protocols should enable reliable multihop communication with energy constraints. Clustering is an effective way to reduce overheads and when this is aided by effective resource allocation, it results in reduced energy consumption. In this work, a novel hybrid evolutionary algorithm called Bee Algorithm-Simulated Annealing Weighted Minimal Spanning Tree (BASA-WMST routing is proposed in which randomly deployed sensor nodes are split into the best possible number of independent clusters with cluster head and optimal route. The former gathers data from sensors belonging to the cluster, forwarding them to the sink. The shortest intrapath selection for the cluster is selected using Weighted Minimum Spanning Tree (WMST. The proposed algorithm computes the distance-based Minimum Spanning Tree (MST of the weighted graph for the multihop network. The weights are dynamically changed based on the energy level of each sensor during route selection and optimized using the proposed bee algorithm simulated annealing algorithm.

Research on the Best Root Span of 500kV Substation Frame Based on Finite Element

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hao; Fang, Qing; Chen, Haoyuan

2018-01-01

A-shaped and steel tube structures have been widely applied when designing 500kV substation frame in China. While, compared with steel tube, angle steels have an advantage of easy-transporting, especially in oversea projects. However, researches on substation frame with angle steel were not enough. In order to find out the best root span of 500kV substation frame under similar engineering conditions, using the overseas project substation frame as an example, the substation frames with different root span have been detailed calculated, to find the best root span according to the cost of it. When the height of column is about 30m, the root suggestion value is 6.1m×3.1m. And then, the buckling analysis of the overall structure has been carried out by ANSYS, to find out that the weak part of the structure is in the middle of it. The structural adjustment is carried out for the weak part, including adjusting the web members and the chord members, to obtain a higher bearing capacity of the structure.

77 FR 64249 - Track Safety Standards; Improving Rail Integrity

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-19

... Transportation Officials (AASHTO); American Chemistry Council; American Petrochemical Institute; American Public... (ASRSM); BMWED; Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET); Brotherhood of Railroad...

A minimum spanning forest based classification method for dedicated breast CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pike, Robert; Sechopoulos, Ioannis; Fei, Baowei

2015-01-01

Purpose: To develop and test an automated algorithm to classify different types of tissue in dedicated breast CT images. Methods: Images of a single breast of five different patients were acquired with a dedicated breast CT clinical prototype. The breast CT images were processed by a multiscale bilateral filter to reduce noise while keeping edge information and were corrected to overcome cupping artifacts. As skin and glandular tissue have similar CT values on breast CT images, morphologic processing is used to identify the skin based on its position information. A support vector machine (SVM) is trained and the resulting model used to create a pixelwise classification map of fat and glandular tissue. By combining the results of the skin mask with the SVM results, the breast tissue is classified as skin, fat, and glandular tissue. This map is then used to identify markers for a minimum spanning forest that is grown to segment the image using spatial and intensity information. To evaluate the authors’ classification method, they use DICE overlap ratios to compare the results of the automated classification to those obtained by manual segmentation on five patient images. Results: Comparison between the automatic and the manual segmentation shows that the minimum spanning forest based classification method was able to successfully classify dedicated breast CT image with average DICE ratios of 96.9%, 89.8%, and 89.5% for fat, glandular, and skin tissue, respectively. Conclusions: A 2D minimum spanning forest based classification method was proposed and evaluated for classifying the fat, skin, and glandular tissue in dedicated breast CT images. The classification method can be used for dense breast tissue quantification, radiation dose assessment, and other applications in breast imaging

Verbal and Visual-Spatial Working Memory: What Develops over a Life Span?

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, H. Lee

2017-01-01

This study investigates whether age-related changes in the structure of 5 complex working memory (WM) tasks (a) reflect a general or domain specific system, (b) follows a similar trajectory across different age spans, and (c) contribute domain general or domain specific resources to achievement measures. The study parsed the sample (N = 2,471)…

The life span-prolonging effect of sirtuin-1 is mediated by autophagy.

Science.gov (United States)

Morselli, Eugenia; Maiuri, Maria Chiara; Markaki, Maria; Megalou, Evgenia; Pasparaki, Angela; Palikaras, Konstantinos; Criollo, Alfredo; Galluzzi, Lorenzo; Malik, Shoaib Ahmad; Vitale, Ilio; Michaud, Mickael; Madeo, Frank; Tavernarakis, Nektarios; Kroemer, Guido

2010-01-01

The life span of various model organisms can be extended by caloric restriction as well as by autophagy-inducing pharmacological agents. Life span-prolonging effects have also been observed in yeast cells, nematodes and flies upon the overexpression of the deacetylase Sirtuin-1. Intrigued by these observations and by the established link between caloric restriction and Sirtuin-1 activation, we decided to investigate the putative implication of Sirtuin-1 in the response of human cancer cells and Caenorhabditis elegans to multiple triggers of autophagy. Our data indicate that the activation of Sirtuin-1 (by the pharmacological agent resveratrol and/or genetic means) per se ignites autophagy, and that Sirtuin-1 is required for the autophagic response to nutrient deprivation, in both human and nematode cells, but not for autophagy triggered by downstream signals such as the inhibition of mTOR or p53. Since the life spanextending effects of Sirtuin-1 activators are lost in autophagy-deficient C. elegans, our results suggest that caloric restriction and resveratrol extend longevity, at least in experimental settings, by activating autophagy.

The specific relation of visual attention span with reading and spelling in Dutch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Den Boer, Madelon; Van Bergen, Elsje; de Jong, Peter F.

2015-01-01

Visual attention span, the number of orthographic units that can be processed at a glance, has been shown to predict reading performance in orthographically opaque languages (i.e., French and English), independent from phonological awareness. Whether this relation is also found in Dutch, a more

Architecture and engineering in Alcoy. 90 years of the bridge of San Jorge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. F. Picó Silvestre

2017-04-01

Full Text Available At the end of 1925 the construction of Saint Jorge’s bridge began in Alcoy. This was one of the first large viaduct built entirely of reinforced concrete in Spain, but it also constitutes one of the unique overwhelming examples that the language of Art Deco used in its elements. The 90th anniversary of this bridge may serve to commemorate the success of a close collaboration between engineering and architecture. This viaduct had peculiar problems and important modifications during the construction that were resolved satisfactorily in a period of history where culture was heading towards modernity. In the present case, the work of the engineer and architect, duly selected by a shrewd and effective construction company in their building abilities, resulted in a magnificent forgotten structure that should be rehabilitated in the collective memory.