In-utero cigarette smoke exposure and the risk of earlier menopause

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Honorato, Talita C; Haadsma, Maaike L; Land, Jolande A; Boezen, Marike H; Hoek, Annemieke; Groen, Henk

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for earlier menopause. Animal studies show that in-utero smoke exposure is toxic to developing ovaries. Our aim was to evaluate whether in-utero smoke exposed women reach menopause earlier compared with nonexposed women. METHODS: This is a cohort study

Viscoplastic-dynamic analyses of small-scale fracture tests to obtain crack arrest toughness values for PTS conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanninen, M.F.; Hudak, S.J. Jr; Dexter, R.J.; Couque, H.; O'Donoghue, P.E.; Polch, E.Z.

1988-01-01

Reliable predictions of crack arrest at the high upper shelf toughness conditions involved in postulated pressurized thermal shock (PTS) events require procedures beyond those utilized in conventional fracture mechanics treatments. To develop such a procedure, viscoplastic-dynamic fracture mechanics finite element analyses, viscoplastic material characterization testing, and small-scale crack propagation and arrest experimentation are being combines in this research. The approach couples SwRI's viscoplastic-dynamic fracture mechanics finite element code VISCRK with experiments using duplex 4340/A533B steel compact specimens. The experiments are simulated by VISCRK computations employing the Bodner-Partom viscoplastic constitutive relation and the nonlinear fracture mechanics parameter T. The goal is to develop temperature-dependent crack arrest toughness values for A533B steel. While only room temperature K Ia values have been obtained so far, these have been found to agree closely with those obtained from wide plate tests. (author)

Comparison of oxygen saturation values obtained from fingers on physically restrained or unrestrained sides of the body.

Science.gov (United States)

Korhan, Esra Akin; Yönt, Gülendam Hakverdioğlu; Khorshid, Leyla

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare semiexperimentally the pulse oximetry values obtained from a finger on restrained or unrestrained sides of the body. The pulse oximeter provides a noninvasive measurement of the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood. One of the procedures most frequently applied to patients in intensive care units is the application of physical restraint. Circulation problems are the most important complication in patients who are physically restrained. Evaluation of oxygen saturation from body parts in which circulation is impeded or has deteriorated can cause false results. The research sample consisted of 30 hospitalized patients who participated in the study voluntarily and who were concordant with the inclusion criteria of the study. Patient information and patient follow-up forms were used for data collection. Pulse oximetry values were measured simultaneously using OxiMax Nellcor finger sensors from fingers on the restrained and unrestrained sides of the body. Numeric and percentile distributions were used in evaluating the sociodemographic properties of patients. A significant difference was found between the oxygen saturation values obtained from a finger of an arm that had been physically restrained and a finger of an arm that had not been physically restrained. The mean oxygen saturation value measured from a finger of an arm that had been physically restrained was found to be 93.40 (SD, 2.97), and the mean oxygen saturation value measured from a finger of an arm that had not been physically restrained was found to be 95.53 (SD, 2.38). The results of this study indicate that nurses should use a finger of an arm that is not physically restrained when evaluating oxygen saturation values to evaluate them correctly.

Comparison of internal dose estimates obtained using organ-level, voxel S value, and Monte Carlo techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grimes, Joshua, E-mail: grimes.joshua@mayo.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V5Z 1L8 (Canada); Celler, Anna [Department of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V5Z 1L8 (Canada)

2014-09-15

Purpose: The authors’ objective was to compare internal dose estimates obtained using the Organ Level Dose Assessment with Exponential Modeling (OLINDA/EXM) software, the voxel S value technique, and Monte Carlo simulation. Monte Carlo dose estimates were used as the reference standard to assess the impact of patient-specific anatomy on the final dose estimate. Methods: Six patients injected with{sup 99m}Tc-hydrazinonicotinamide-Tyr{sup 3}-octreotide were included in this study. A hybrid planar/SPECT imaging protocol was used to estimate {sup 99m}Tc time-integrated activity coefficients (TIACs) for kidneys, liver, spleen, and tumors. Additionally, TIACs were predicted for {sup 131}I, {sup 177}Lu, and {sup 90}Y assuming the same biological half-lives as the {sup 99m}Tc labeled tracer. The TIACs were used as input for OLINDA/EXM for organ-level dose calculation and voxel level dosimetry was performed using the voxel S value method and Monte Carlo simulation. Dose estimates for {sup 99m}Tc, {sup 131}I, {sup 177}Lu, and {sup 90}Y distributions were evaluated by comparing (i) organ-level S values corresponding to each method, (ii) total tumor and organ doses, (iii) differences in right and left kidney doses, and (iv) voxelized dose distributions calculated by Monte Carlo and the voxel S value technique. Results: The S values for all investigated radionuclides used by OLINDA/EXM and the corresponding patient-specific S values calculated by Monte Carlo agreed within 2.3% on average for self-irradiation, and differed by as much as 105% for cross-organ irradiation. Total organ doses calculated by OLINDA/EXM and the voxel S value technique agreed with Monte Carlo results within approximately ±7%. Differences between right and left kidney doses determined by Monte Carlo were as high as 73%. Comparison of the Monte Carlo and voxel S value dose distributions showed that each method produced similar dose volume histograms with a minimum dose covering 90% of the volume (D90

Prescription stimulant use is associated with earlier onset of psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Lauren V; Masters, Grace A; Pingali, Samira; Cohen, Bruce M; Liebson, Elizabeth; Rajarethinam, R P; Ongur, Dost

2015-12-01

A childhood history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common in psychotic disorders, yet prescription stimulants may interact adversely with the physiology of these disorders. Specifically, exposure to stimulants leads to long-term increases in dopamine release. We therefore hypothesized that individuals with psychotic disorders previously exposed to prescription stimulants will have an earlier onset of psychosis. Age of onset of psychosis (AOP) was compared in individuals with and without prior exposure to prescription stimulants while controlling for potential confounding factors. In a sample of 205 patients recruited from an inpatient psychiatric unit, 40% (n = 82) reported use of stimulants prior to the onset of psychosis. Most participants were prescribed stimulants during childhood or adolescence for a diagnosis of ADHD. AOP was significantly earlier in those exposed to stimulants (20.5 vs. 24.6 years stimulants vs. no stimulants, p drugs of abuse, and family history of a first-degree relative with psychosis, the association between stimulant exposure and earlier AOP remained significant. There was a significant gender × stimulant interaction with a greater reduction in AOP for females, whereas the smaller effect of stimulant use on AOP in males did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion, individuals with psychotic disorders exposed to prescription stimulants had an earlier onset of psychosis, and this relationship did not appear to be mediated by IQ or cannabis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cardiac Complications, Earlier Treatment, and Initial Disease Severity in Kawasaki Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Joseph Y; Belay, Ermias D; Uehara, Ritei; Maddox, Ryan A; Schonberger, Lawrence B; Nakamura, Yosikazu

2017-09-01

To assess if observed higher observed risks of cardiac complications for patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) treated earlier may reflect bias due to confounding from initial disease severity, as opposed to any negative effect of earlier treatment. We used data from Japanese nationwide KD surveys from 1997 to 2004. Receipt of additional intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) (data available all years) or any additional treatment (available for 2003-2004) were assessed as proxies for initial disease severity. We determined associations between earlier or later IVIG treatment (defined as receipt of IVIG on days 1-4 vs days 5-10 of illness) and cardiac complications by stratifying by receipt of additional treatment or by using logistic modeling to control for the effect of receiving additional treatment. A total of 48 310 patients with KD were included in the analysis. In unadjusted analysis, earlier IVIG treatment was associated with a higher risk for 4 categories of cardiac complications, including all major cardiac complications (risk ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.06-1.15). Stratifying by receipt of additional treatment removed this association, and earlier IVIG treatment became protective against all major cardiac complications when controlling for any additional treatment in logistic regressions (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.80-1.00). Observed higher risks of cardiac complications among patients with KD receiving IVIG treatment on days 1-4 of the illness are most likely due to underlying higher initial disease severity, and patients with KD should continue to be treated with IVIG as early as possible. Published by Elsevier Inc.

[Study of personal best value of peak expiratory flow in patients with asthma--comparison of the highest value of daily PEF under good control and the highest value of daily PEF obtained after using repeated inhaled beta2-agonist during high-dose inhaled steroid treatment].

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Naoto; Makino, Sohei; Kihara, Norio; Fukuda, Takeshi

2008-12-01

In the guideline for asthma management, it is important to find the personal best value of peak expiratory flow (best PEF). Recently, we have substituted the highest value of PEF in daily life under good control (daily highest PEF) for the best PEF. In the present study, we considered whether the daily highest PEF could be used as the best PEF or not. Subjects were 30 asthmatics who were well controlled but whose baseline PEF values were less than 80 percent of predicted values. We compared the daily highest PEF and the highest of PEF obtained after repeated inhaled beta2-agonist (salbutamol MDI every 20 minutes three times). All subjects then received 1600 microg/day of beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) for 4 to 8 weeks. We studied the effect of high-dose inhaled steroid treatment on each PEF value and compared the daily highest PEF and the highest PEF obtained after using repeated salbutamol MDI during high dose inhaled steroid therapy on the examination day again. The baseline PEF, daily highest PEF and the highest PEF obtained after salbutamol MDI were significantly less than the each values obtained after high-dose BDP. The best PEF value of them was the value obtained after repeated salbutamol MDI during high dose BDP. We suggest that the daily highest PEF under good control is not a substitute for best PEF because it changes according to the degree of improvement of airway inflammation. We recommend that a course of high dose inhaled steroid is effective in finding the best value of PEF for each individual with moderate asthma.

Experimentally obtained values of electric field of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet impinging on a dielectric surface

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sobota, A.; Guaitella, O.; Garcia-Caurel, E.

2013-01-01

We report on experimentally obtained values of the electric field magnitude on a dielectric surface induced by an impinging atmospheric pressure plasma jet. The plasma plume was striking the dielectric surface at an angle of 45¿, at 5mm from the surface measured at the axis of the jet. The results

Cephalometric analysis for the diagnosis of sleep apnea: a comparative study between reference values and measurements obtained for Brazilian subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrícia Superbi Lemos Maschtakow

2013-06-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To verify if the reference values of Sleep Apnea cephalometric analysis of North American individuals are similar to the ones of Brazilian individuals presenting no craniofacial anomalies. The study also aimed to identify craniofacial alterations in Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS patients in relation to individuals without clinical characteristics of the disease through this cephalometric analysis. METHOD: It were used 55 lateral cephalograms consisting of 29 for the control group of adult individuals without clinical characteristics of OSAHS and 26 apneic adults. All radiographs were submitted to Sleep Apnea cephalometric analysis through Radiocef Studio 2.0. The standard values of this analysis were compared, by means of z test, to the ones obtained from the control group and these were compared to values from apneic group through Student's t test. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between values obtained from control group and standard values. On the group of OSAHS patients it was observed a decrease on the dimensions of upper airways and an increase on the soft palate length. CONCLUSIONS: The standard values of Sleep Apnea analysis can be used as reference in Brazilian individuals. Besides, through lateral cephalograms it was possible to identify craniofacial alterations in OSAHS patients.

To achieve an earlier IFN-γ response is not sufficient to control Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilaplana, Cristina; Prats, Clara; Marzo, Elena; Barril, Carles; Vegué, Marina; Diaz, Jorge; Valls, Joaquim; López, Daniel; Cardona, Pere-Joan

2014-01-01

The temporo-spatial relationship between the three organs (lung, spleen and lymph node) involved during the initial stages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has been poorly studied. As such, we performed an experimental study to evaluate the bacillary load in each organ after aerosol or intravenous infection and developed a mathematical approach using the data obtained in order to extract conclusions. The results showed that higher bacillary doses result in an earlier IFN-γ response, that a certain bacillary load (BL) needs to be reached to trigger the IFN-γ response, and that control of the BL is not immediate after onset of the IFN-γ response, which might be a consequence of the spatial dimension. This study may have an important impact when it comes to designing new vaccine candidates as it suggests that triggering an earlier IFN-γ response might not guarantee good infection control, and therefore that additional properties should be considered for these candidates.

Biological consequences of earlier snowmelt from desert dust deposition in alpine landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Steltzer, Heidi; Landry, Chris; Painter, Thomas H; Anderson, Justin; Ayres, Edward

2009-07-14

Dust deposition to mountain snow cover, which has increased since the late 19(th) century, accelerates the rate of snowmelt by increasing the solar radiation absorbed by the snowpack. Snowmelt occurs earlier, but is decoupled from seasonal warming. Climate warming advances the timing of snowmelt and early season phenological events (e.g., the onset of greening and flowering); however, earlier snowmelt without warmer temperatures may have a different effect on phenology. Here, we report the results of a set of snowmelt manipulations in which radiation-absorbing fabric and the addition and removal of dust from the surface of the snowpack advanced or delayed snowmelt in the alpine tundra. These changes in the timing of snowmelt were superimposed on a system where the timing of snowmelt varies with topography and has been affected by increased dust loading. At the community level, phenology exhibited a threshold response to the timing of snowmelt. Greening and flowering were delayed before seasonal warming, after which there was a linear relationship between the date of snowmelt and the timing of phenological events. Consequently, the effects of earlier snowmelt on phenology differed in relation to topography, which resulted in increasing synchronicity in phenology across the alpine landscape with increasingly earlier snowmelt. The consequences of earlier snowmelt from increased dust deposition differ from climate warming and include delayed phenology, leading to synchronized growth and flowering across the landscape and the opportunity for altered species interactions, landscape-scale gene flow via pollination, and nutrient cycling.

M1-E2 mixing ratios and B(E2) values for transitions in 131Xe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vijay Sai, K.; Deepa, S.; Ashish, T.; Venkataramaniah, K.; Madhusudan, K.

2012-01-01

The accuracies of M1-E2 mixing ratios calculated from the experimental conversion coefficients α i depend upon the accuracy with which the conversion coefficients are determined and also on the accuracy of the theoretical values. Recently a new calculation of ICCs by Band et al, BRICC has been published. The calculations are based on the relativistic DF method in which the exchange interactions between bound electrons and free electrons receding to infinity during the conversion process are treated exactly. Gerl et al showed that BRICC values are more closer to experimental values when compared to earlier theoretical values of Hager and Seltzer and Rosel. The availability of the BRICC values is expected to increase the accuracy with which the estimated quadrupole contents can be obtained

RESEARCH REGARDING SOME PHYSICAL QUALITY VALUES OF JAPANESE QUAIL EGGS OBTAINED AT THE MIDDLE OF THE LAYING STAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANCA TEUŞAN

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The Japanese quail is one of the smallest bird subspecies which has been tamed by man, being industrially raised in our days in many states over the world. This avian subspecies produces over 300 eggs, and though there are about 6 races and different varieties, there are very little data in the scientific literature regarding the quality values for eggs of Japanese quail hatching eggs collected from hens at the end of the laying – physical values (pH value of the eggs components, albumen index, yolk index The present paper wants to bring a series of data regarding some of these indicators. The pH values was determined with an portable pH-oximeter, and to establish the other two quality indexes we used a device fitted with callipers taking into account: height of the dense egg white (albumen, minimum and maximum diameter of the dense and fluid egg white, height and the diameter of the yolk. The albumen pH recorded values of 8.90, and the yolk pH values of 6.07. The statistical mean for the 130 values of albumen index taken in study was 0.048. The mean value of yolk index was 0.399. The obtained results are normal for the period of quail’s life.

Obtaining uranium and/or vanadium values from solutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vojkovic, M

1982-04-22

A process for the recovery of at least one of uranium and vanadium from an aqueous liquor is claimed. It comprises: (a) treating the liquor with a low molecular weight completely water-miscible solvent selected from the group consisting of methanol, iso-propyl alcohol or acetone to form at least two phases; (b) separating the phases; (c) recovering the solvent from the first phase as the azeotropic solvent/water mixture by simple, non-fractional distillation and recycling the mixture to step (a); and (d) recovering metal values from a second one of the phases.

Geochemical porosity values obtained in core samples from different clay-rocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, A.M.

2010-01-01

. The Cl porosity is lower than the total physical porosity, because clays have different types of water (interlayer water, adsorbed water and free water), and ions can be affected by anionic exclusion processes. The geochemical porosity includes only the free water and some of the diffuse layer and surface-sorbed water; while the total physical porosity includes both the external and interlayer water. In order to calculate the Cl or geochemical porosity (n cl ), a relationship was used, which relates leaching data and the chloride content of the pore water extracted by the squeezing technique. Aqueous leaching tests were performed at anoxic conditions in order to obtain the chloride inventory in different core samples from each argillaceous formation. Besides, the chemical composition of the pore water was obtained by squeezing at high pressures. Taking into account the measured physical properties of the rock samples, such as water content, dry density, total porosity and degree of saturation; the geochemical porosity was calculated by using the above relationship. For Boom Clay core samples, the mean Cl porosity/water loss porosity ratio is 0.81. In the case of Opalinus Clay, the mean Cl porosity/water loss porosity ratio is 0.59. In Mont Terri core samples, this ratio ranges from 0.5 to 0.7, although a value of 0.55 is frequently used. As conclusion, for indurated mud-rock formations (Callovo-Oxfordian and Opalinus Clay), the mean geochemical porosity obtained was around 8-10 %vol. (0.5-0.6 porosity ratio), whereas in the plastic Boom Clay the geochemical porosity was around 29 %vol. (0.8 porosity ratio)

Do BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier onset of natural menopause?

Science.gov (United States)

van Tilborg, Theodora C; Broekmans, Frank J; Pijpe, Anouk; Schrijver, Lieske H; Mooij, Thea M; Oosterwijk, Jan C; Verhoef, Senno; Gómez Garcia, Encarna B; van Zelst-Stams, Wendy A; Adank, Muriel A; van Asperen, Christi J; van Doorn, Helena C; van Os, Theo A; Bos, Anna M; Rookus, Matti A; Ausems, Margreet G

2016-08-01

It has been hypothesized that BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier age at natural menopause (ANM), although to date findings are inconclusive. This study assessed the influence of BRCA mutation status on ANM, and aimed to explore the reasons of inconsistency in the literature. Cross-sectional assessment from an ongoing nationwide cohort study among members of BRCA1/2 mutated families. Information was obtained by a standardized questionnaire. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed, and Cox regression was used to assess the association between BRCA1/2 mutation status and ANM. Adjustments were made for birth cohort, family, smoking, use of hormonal contraceptives, and parity. A total of 1,208 BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and 2,211 proven noncarriers were included. Overall, no association was found between BRCA1/2 mutation status and ANM (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.06 [95% CI, 0.87-1.30]). We examined if the null finding was due to informative censoring by uptake of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy. Indeed, within the oldest birth cohort, in which the percentage of surgical menopause events was lowest and comparable between carriers and noncarriers, the HR for earlier natural menopause in carriers was 1.45 (95% CI, 1.09-1.94). The second oldest birth cohort, however, demonstrated a decreased HR (0.67 [95% CI, 0.46-0.98]), and thus no trend over birth cohorts was found. Various types of selection bias hamper the comparison of ANM between BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and noncarriers, genetically tested in the clinic.

Later endogenous circadian temperature nadir relative to an earlier wake time in older people

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, J. F.; Dijk, D. J.; Klerman, E. B.; Czeisler, C. A.

1998-01-01

The contribution of the circadian timing system to the age-related advance of sleep-wake timing was investigated in two experiments. In a constant routine protocol, we found that the average wake time and endogenous circadian phase of 44 older subjects were earlier than that of 101 young men. However, the earlier circadian phase of the older subjects actually occurred later relative to their habitual wake time than it did in young men. These results indicate that an age-related advance of circadian phase cannot fully account for the high prevalence of early morning awakening in healthy older people. In a second study, 13 older subjects and 10 young men were scheduled to a 28-h day, such that they were scheduled to sleep at many circadian phases. Self-reported awakening from scheduled sleep episodes and cognitive throughput during the second half of the wake episode varied markedly as a function of circadian phase in both groups. The rising phase of both rhythms was advanced in the older subjects, suggesting an age-related change in the circadian regulation of sleep-wake propensity. We hypothesize that under entrained conditions, these age-related changes in the relationship between circadian phase and wake time are likely associated with self-selected light exposure at an earlier circadian phase. This earlier exposure to light could account for the earlier clock hour to which the endogenous circadian pacemaker is entrained in older people and thereby further increase their propensity to awaken at an even earlier time.

Clinical value of renal images obtained incidentally to bone scintigraphy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohishi, Y.; Machida, T.; Miki, M.; Kido, A.; Tanaka, A.

1982-01-01

Various studies were made on 400 renal (including 325 clinical cases) observed during whole-body bone scintigraphy using 99mTc-MDP. Asymmetrical renal images in bone scintigrams were obtained from 40% of the urologic patients and 7.5% of the nonurologic patients. Out of the asymmetrical images of the urologic patients, 50% provided nonvisualized kidneys and 35% showed unilateral renal high accumulation. It can be said from the above that renal images incidentally obtained during whole-body bone scintigraphy should not be overlooked

Perceptual sensitivity to spectral properties of earlier sounds during speech categorization.

Science.gov (United States)

Stilp, Christian E; Assgari, Ashley A

2018-02-28

Speech perception is heavily influenced by surrounding sounds. When spectral properties differ between earlier (context) and later (target) sounds, this can produce spectral contrast effects (SCEs) that bias perception of later sounds. For example, when context sounds have more energy in low-F 1 frequency regions, listeners report more high-F 1 responses to a target vowel, and vice versa. SCEs have been reported using various approaches for a wide range of stimuli, but most often, large spectral peaks were added to the context to bias speech categorization. This obscures the lower limit of perceptual sensitivity to spectral properties of earlier sounds, i.e., when SCEs begin to bias speech categorization. Listeners categorized vowels (/ɪ/-/ɛ/, Experiment 1) or consonants (/d/-/g/, Experiment 2) following a context sentence with little spectral amplification (+1 to +4 dB) in frequency regions known to produce SCEs. In both experiments, +3 and +4 dB amplification in key frequency regions of the context produced SCEs, but lesser amplification was insufficient to bias performance. This establishes a lower limit of perceptual sensitivity where spectral differences across sounds can bias subsequent speech categorization. These results are consistent with proposed adaptation-based mechanisms that potentially underlie SCEs in auditory perception. Recent sounds can change what speech sounds we hear later. This can occur when the average frequency composition of earlier sounds differs from that of later sounds, biasing how they are perceived. These "spectral contrast effects" are widely observed when sounds' frequency compositions differ substantially. We reveal the lower limit of these effects, as +3 dB amplification of key frequency regions in earlier sounds was enough to bias categorization of the following vowel or consonant sound. Speech categorization being biased by very small spectral differences across sounds suggests that spectral contrast effects occur

Smoking is associated with earlier time to revision of total knee arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Chin Tat; Goodman, Stuart B; Huddleston, James I; Harris, Alex H S; Bhowmick, Subhrojyoti; Maloney, William J; Amanatullah, Derek F

2017-10-01

Smoking is associated with early postoperative complications, increased length of hospital stay, and an increased risk of revision after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, the effect of smoking on time to revision TKA is unknown. A total of 619 primary TKAs referred to an academic tertiary center for revision TKA were retrospectively stratified according to the patient smoking status. Smoking status was then analyzed for associations with time to revision TKA using a Chi square test. The association was also analyzed according to the indication for revision TKA. Smokers (37/41, 90%) have an increased risk of earlier revision for any reason compared to non-smokers (274/357, 77%, p=0.031). Smokers (37/41, 90%) have an increased risk of earlier revision for any reason compared to ex-smokers (168/221, 76%, p=0.028). Subgroup analysis did not reveal a difference in indication for revision TKA (p>0.05). Smokers are at increased risk of earlier revision TKA when compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. The risk for ex-smokers was similar to that of non-smokers. Smoking appears to have an all-or-none effect on earlier revision TKA as patients who smoked more did not have higher risk of early revision TKA. These results highlight the need for clinicians to urge patients not to begin smoking and encourage smokers to quit smoking prior to primary TKA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Left ventricular filling rate change as an earlier indicator than ejection fraction of chemotherapeutic cardiotoxicity in cancer paptents' nuclear medicine MUGA scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miko, T.G.

2004-01-01

According to Wang Siegel has long suggested that an earlier indicator of damage to the hearts of cancer patients undergoing potentially cardiotoxic chemotherapy could be change in the left ventricular filling rate (LVFT) rather than dependence on the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as a measure for when to discontinue chemotherapy. Currently ejection fraction obtained by performing the nuclear medicine MUGA scan is the gold standard for determining further treatment of patients with these cardiotoxic agents. We are seeking to see if changes in filling rate (LVFR) are an earlier indicator of cardiotoxicity by performing a retrospective analysis of MUGA scans performed at our facility pre- and post-chemotherapy and performing a statistical analysis of changes in ejection fraction us filling rate in patients known to have cardiotoxic changes due to chemotherapy. (authors)

The earlier identification of the seedless characteristic of the wampee

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Jane

2010-12-13

Dec 13, 2010 ... the production of new seedless wampee cultivars in recent years were operated. ... increase burliness rate in hybridization. In order to earlier ... methods is greatly limited due to a long juvenile phase of ... Plant materials .... This fragment may be linked ... reduce high temperature which affected pollen germi-.

Earlier vegetation green-up has reduced spring dust storms.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Bihang; Guo, Li; Li, Ning; Chen, Jin; Lin, Henry; Zhang, Xiaoyang; Shen, Miaogen; Rao, Yuhan; Wang, Cong; Ma, Lei

2014-10-24

The observed decline of spring dust storms in Northeast Asia since the 1950s has been attributed to surface wind stilling. However, spring vegetation growth could also restrain dust storms through accumulating aboveground biomass and increasing surface roughness. To investigate the impacts of vegetation spring growth on dust storms, we examine the relationships between recorded spring dust storm outbreaks and satellite-derived vegetation green-up date in Inner Mongolia, Northern China from 1982 to 2008. We find a significant dampening effect of advanced vegetation growth on spring dust storms (r = 0.49, p = 0.01), with a one-day earlier green-up date corresponding to a decrease in annual spring dust storm outbreaks by 3%. Moreover, the higher correlation (r = 0.55, p storm outbreak ratio (the ratio of dust storm outbreaks to times of strong wind events) indicates that such effect is independent of changes in surface wind. Spatially, a negative correlation is detected between areas with advanced green-up dates and regional annual spring dust storms (r = -0.49, p = 0.01). This new insight is valuable for understanding dust storms dynamics under the changing climate. Our findings suggest that dust storms in Inner Mongolia will be further mitigated by the projected earlier vegetation green-up in the warming world.

Comprehensive methods for earlier detection and monitoring of forest decline

Science.gov (United States)

Jennifer Pontius; Richard Hallett

2014-01-01

Forested ecosystems are threatened by invasive pests, pathogens, and unusual climatic events brought about by climate change. Earlier detection of incipient forest health problems and a quantitatively rigorous assessment method is increasingly important. Here, we describe a method that is adaptable across tree species and stress agents and practical for use in the...

An approach to the estimation of the value of agricultural residues used as biofuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, A.; Purohit, P.; Rana, S.; Kandpal, T.C.

2002-01-01

A simple demand side approach for estimating the monetary value of agricultural residues used as biofuels is proposed. Some of the important issues involved in the use of biomass feedstocks in coal-fired boilers are briefly discussed along with their implications for the maximum acceptable price estimates for the agricultural residues. Results of some typical calculations are analysed along with the estimates obtained on the basis of a supply side approach (based on production cost) developed earlier. The prevailing market prices of some agricultural residues used as feedstocks for briquetting are also indicated. The results obtained can be used as preliminary indicators for identifying niche areas for immediate/short-term utilization of agriculture residues in boilers for process heating and power generation. (author)

Optimal HIV testing and earlier care: the way forward in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coenen, T; Lundgren, J; Lazarus, Jeff

2008-01-01

The articles in this supplement were developed from a recent pan-European conference entitled 'HIV in Europe 2007: Working together for optimal testing and earlier care', which took place on 26-27 November in Brussels, Belgium. The conference, organized by a multidisciplinary group of experts rep...

Polymorphism in ficolin-1 ( FCN1 ) gene is associated with an earlier ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

-1 (FCN1) gene is associated with an earlier onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents from northeast Brazil. ZILMA PEREIRA DOS ANJOSA MANUELLA MARIA SILVA SANTOS NATASSIA JAVORSKI RODRIGUES ...

Remote measurement of water color in coastal waters. [spectral radiance data used to obtain quantitative values for chlorophyll and turbidity

Science.gov (United States)

Weldon, J. W.

1973-01-01

An investigation was conducted to develop procedure to obtain quantitative values for chlorophyll and turbidity in coastal waters by observing the changes in spectral radiance of the backscattered spectrum. The technique under consideration consists of Examining Exotech model 20-D spectral radiometer data and determining which radiance ratios best correlated with chlorophyll and turbidity measurements as obtained from analyses of water samples and sechi visibility readings. Preliminary results indicate that there is a correlation between backscattered light and chlorophyll concentration and secchi visibility. The tests were conducted with the spectrometer mounted in a light aircraft over the Mississippi Sound at altitudes of 2.5K, 2.8K and 10K feet.

Prescription Stimulant Use is Associated with Earlier Onset of Psychosis

OpenAIRE

Moran, Lauren V.; Masters, Grace A.; Pingali, Samira; Cohen, Bruce M.; Liebson, Elizabeth; Rajarethinam, R.P.; Ongur, Dost

2015-01-01

A childhood history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common in psychotic disorders, yet prescription stimulants may interact adversely with the physiology of these disorders. Specifically, exposure to stimulants leads to long-term increases in dopamine release. We therefore hypothesized that individuals with psychotic disorders previously exposed to prescription stimulants will have an earlier onset of psychosis. Age of onset of psychosis (AOP) was compared in individuals...

Do financial conglomerates create or destroy value? Evidence for the EU

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Lelyveld, Iman; Knot, Klaas

2009-01-01

There is an ongoing debate about whether firm focus creates or destroys shareholder value. Earlier literature has shown significant diversification discounts: firms that engage in multiple activities are valued lower. Various factors are important in determining the size of the discount, for example

Diagnostic value of sectional images obtained by emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roucayrol, J.C.

1981-01-01

It is now possible to obtain clear images of the various planes in and around a structure with ultra-sounds (echotomography), X-rays (computerized tomography) and recently, gamma-rays from radioactive substances (emission tomography). Axial transverse tomography, which is described here, is to conventional scintigraphy what CT scan is to radiography. It provides images of any structure capable of concentrating sufficiently a radioactive substance administered intravenously. These images are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body. As shown by examples in the liver, lungs and myocardium, lesions which had passed unnoticed with other exploratory techniques can now be demonstrated, and the location, shape and extension of known lesions can be more accurately assessed. Emission tomography already has its place in modern diagnostic procedures side by side with echotomography and CT scan [fr

[Relationship between cocaine dependence treatment and personal values of openness to change and conservation].

Science.gov (United States)

Galdós, Jesús Saiz; Sánchez, Isabel Martínez

2010-01-01

To analyze the relationship between participation in a drug addiction treatment program and Schwartz's values of Openness to change (Self-direction, Stimulation and Hedonism) and Conservation (Tradition, Conformity and Security) in cocaine users. The present quasi-experimental study was carried out on a sample of 411 adult cocaine users, grouped according to whether they had begun treatment more than three months earlier or less than three months earlier or they were not receiving any treatment. Using Schwartz's Personal Values Questionnaire (PVQ), we measured the priority given by each of these groups to the values of Conservation and Openness to change. Participants who had initiated the treatment more than three months earlier tended to score lower in the values of Openness to change than those who were not in treatment, though there were no significant differences in these values between those who were not in treatment and those who had been in treatment for less than three months. On the other hand, it was observed that participants in treatment, regardless of the time spent in treatment, scored higher in values of Conservation than the cocaine users who were not in treatment. These results reveal the relationship between attendance on a cocaine-dependence treatment program and personal values, together with their potential importance in treatment and rehabilitation programs for cocaine users.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index values in 9-year-old rural Norwegian children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Resaland, G K; Mamen, A; Anderssen, S A

2009-01-01

AIM: To describe cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index (BMI) values in a representative population of 9-year-old Norwegian children in two rural communities and compare present values with previous findings. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty-nine 9-year-old children were invited, and 256......, children's BMI values seem to have increased substantially. This increase is most pronounced in girls. When assessing these differences using the PI, this increase is less marked. Comparing maximal oxygen uptake data with that in earlier Nordic studies, there is no evidence that fitness has declined among...... 9-year olds. However, the limitations of the few earlier studies make reliable comparisons difficult....

76 FR 55213 - Technical Amendments to Federal Employees' Retirement System; Present Value Conversion Factors...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-07

... Employees' Retirement System; Present Value Conversion Factors for Spouses of Deceased Separated Employees... to read as follows: Appendix A to Subpart C of Part 843--Present Value Conversion Factors for Earlier...

Insight Into Illness and Cognition in Schizophrenia in Earlier and Later Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerretsen, Philip; Voineskos, Aristotle N; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel; Menon, Mahesh; Pollock, Bruce G; Mamo, David C; Mulsant, Benoit H; Rajji, Tarek K

2017-04-01

Impaired insight into illness in schizophrenia is associated with illness severity and deficits in premorbid intellectual function, executive function, and memory. A previous study of patients aged 60 years and older found that illness severity and premorbid intellectual function accounted for variance in insight impairment. As such, we aimed to test whether similar relationships would be observed in earlier life. A retrospective analysis was performed on 1 large sample of participants (n = 171) with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of schizophrenia aged 19 to 79 years acquired from 2 studies: (1) a psychosocial intervention trial for older persons with schizophrenia (June 2008 to May 2014) and (2) a diffusion tensor imaging and genetics study of psychosis across the life span (February 2007 to December 2013). We assessed insight into illness using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) item G12 and explored its relationship to illness severity (PANSS total modified), premorbid intellectual function (Wechsler Test of Adult Reading [WTAR]), and cognition. Insight impairment was more severe in later life (≥ 60 years) than in earlier years (t = -3.75, P insight was explained by PANSS total modified (Exp[B] = 1.070, P insight, they did not independently contribute to its variance. However, the relationships between impaired insight and illness severity and between impaired insight and cognition, particularly working memory, were stronger in later life than in earlier life. These results suggest an opportunity for intervention may exist with cognitive-enhancing neurostimulation or medications to improve insight into illness in schizophrenia across the life span. Original study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT00832845). © Copyright 2017 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Reduction of Glucose Metabolism in Olfactory Bulb is an Earlier Alzheimer's Disease-related Biomarker in 5XFAD Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nai-An Xiao

2015-01-01

Conclusions: The decline of (18F-FDG uptake in the olfactory bulb occurs earlier than other incidents, serving as an earlier in vivo biological marker of AD in 5XFAD mice and making early diagnosis of AD possibly.

Estimation of optimal b-value sets for obtaining apparent diffusion coefficient free from perfusion in non-small cell lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Karki, Kishor; Hugo, Geoffrey D; Ford, John C; Olsen, Kathryn M; Saraiya, Siddharth; Groves, Robert; Weiss, Elisabeth

2015-10-21

The purpose of this study was to determine optimal sets of b-values in diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) for obtaining monoexponential apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) close to perfusion-insensitive intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model ADC (ADCIVIM) in non-small cell lung cancer. Ten subjects had 40 DW-MRI scans before and during radiotherapy in a 1.5 T MRI scanner. Respiratory triggering was applied to the echo-planar DW-MRI with TR ≈ 4500 ms, TE  =  74 ms, eight b-values of 0-1000 μs μm(-2), pixel size  =  1.98 × 1.98 mm(2), slice thickness  =  6 mm, interslice gap  =  1.2 mm, 7 axial slices and total acquisition time ≈6 min. One or more DW-MRI scans together covered the whole tumour volume. Monoexponential model ADC values using various b-value sets were compared to reference-standard ADCIVIM values using all eight b-values. Intra-scan coefficient of variation (CV) of active tumour volumes was computed to compare the relative noise in ADC maps. ADC values for one pre-treatment DW-MRI scan of each of the 10 subjects were computed using b-value pairs from DW-MRI images synthesized for b-values of 0-2000 μs μm(-2) from the estimated IVIM parametric maps and corrupted by various Rician noise levels. The square root of mean of squared error percentage (RMSE) of the ADC value relative to the corresponding ADCIVIM for the tumour volume of the scan was computed. Monoexponential ADC values for the b-value sets of 250 and 1000; 250, 500 and 1000; 250, 650 and 1000; 250, 800 and 1000; and 250-1000 μs μm(-2) were not significantly different from ADCIVIM values (p > 0.05, paired t-test). Mean error in ADC values for these sets relative to ADCIVIM were within 3.5%. Intra-scan CVs for these sets were comparable to that for ADCIVIM. The monoexponential ADC values for other sets-0-1000; 50-1000; 100-1000; 500-1000; and 250 and 800 μs μm(-2) were significantly different from the ADCIVIM values. From Rician noise

The adoption of sustainable innovations: The role of instrumental, environmental, and symbolic attributes for earlier and later adopters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Noppers, E.; Keizer, K.; Bockarjova, M.; Steg, L.

2015-01-01

We investigated motivations of potential earlier and later adopters for adopting sustainable innovations. A large questionnaire study revealed that potential earlier adopters of innovative cars evaluated the symbolic attributes of electric cars, but not the instrumental and environmental attributes,

Correlation of Lactic Acid and Base Deficit Values Obtained From Arterial and Peripheral Venous Samples in a Pediatric Population During Intraoperative Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Bordes, Brianne M; Walia, Hina; Sebastian, Roby; Martin, David; Tumin, Dmitry; Tobias, Joseph D

2017-12-01

Lactic acid and base deficit (BD) values are frequently monitored in the intensive care unit and operating room setting to evaluate oxygenation, ventilation, cardiac output, and peripheral perfusion. Although generally obtained from an arterial cannula, such access may not always be available. The current study prospectively investigates the correlation of arterial and peripheral venous values of BD and lactic acid. The study cohort included 48 patients. Arterial BD values ranged from -8 to 4 mEq/L and peripheral venous BD values ranged from -8 to 4 mEq/L. Arterial lactic acid values ranged from 0.36 to 2.45 μmol/L and peripheral venous lactic acid values ranged from 0.38 to 4 μmol/L. The arterial BD (-0.4 ± 2.2 mEq/L) was not significantly different from the peripheral venous BD (-0.6 ± 2.2 mEq/L). The arterial lactic acid (1.0 ± 0.5 μmol/L) was not significantly different from the peripheral venous lactic acid (1.1 ± 0.6 μmol/L). Pearson correlation coefficients demonstrated a very high correlation between arterial and peripheral venous BD ( r = .88, P lactic acid ( r = .67, P lactic acid corresponded to a 0.9-unit increase in peripheral venous lactic acid (95% CI: 0.6-1.2; P lactic acid and BD values.

Compulsive Buying: Earlier Illicit Drug Use, Impulse Buying, Depression, and Adult ADHD Symptoms

Science.gov (United States)

Brook, Judith S.; Zhang, Chenshu; Brook, David W.; Leukefeld, Carl G.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the association between psychosocial antecedents, including illicit drug use, and adult compulsive buying (CB) across a 29-year time period from mean age 14 to mean age 43. Participants originally came from a community-based random sample of residents in two upstate New York counties. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to study the relationship between the participant’s earlier psychosocial antecedents and adult CB in the fifth decade of life. The results of the multivariate linear regression analyses showed that gender (female), earlier adult impulse buying (IB), depressive mood, illicit drug use, and concurrent ADHD symptoms were all significantly associated with adult CB at mean age 43. It is important that clinicians treating CB in adults should consider the role of drug use, symptoms of ADHD, IB, depression, and family factors in CB. PMID:26165963

Obtaining value prior to pulping with diethyl oxalate and oxalic acid

Science.gov (United States)

W.R. Kenealy; E. Horn; C.J. Houtman; J. Laplaza; T.W. Jeffries

2007-01-01

Pulp and paper are converted to paper products with yields of paper dependent on the wood and the process used. Even with high yield pulps there are conversion losses and with chemical pulps the yields approach 50%. The portions of the wood that do not provide product are either combusted to generate power and steam or incur a cost in waste water treatment. Value prior...

Iterative schemes for obtaining dominant alpha-modes of the neutron diffusion equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, K.P.; Modak, R.S.; Degweker, S.B.; Singh, Kanchhi

2009-01-01

Two new methods of obtaining dominant prompt alpha-modes (sometimes referred to as time-eigenfunctions) of the multigroup neutron diffusion equation are discussed. In the first of these, we initially compute the dominant K-eigenfunctions and K-eigenvalues (denoted by λ 1 , λ 2 , λ 3 ...λ 1 being equal to the K eff ) for the given nuclear reactor model, by existing method based on sub-space iteration (SSI) which is an improved version of power iteration method. Subsequently, a uniformly distributed (positive or negative) 1/v absorber of sufficient concentration is added so as to make a particular eigenvalue λ i equal to unity. This gives ith alpha-mode. This procedure is repeated to find all the required alpha-modes. In the second method, we solve the alpha-eigenvalue problem directly by SSI method. This is clearly possible for a sub-critical reactor for which the inverse of the dominant alpha-eigenvalues are also the largest in magnitude as required by the SSI method. Here, the procedure is made applicable even to a super-critical reactor by making the reactor model sub-critical by the addition of a 1/v absorber. Results of these calculations for a 3-D two group PHWR test-case are given. These results are validated against the results as obtained by a completely different approach based on Orthomin(1) algorithm published earlier. The direct method based on the sub-space iteration strategy is found to be a simple and reliable method for obtaining any number of alpha-modes. Also comments have been made on the relationship between fundamental α and k values.

The associations of earlier trauma exposures and history of mental disorders with PTSD after subsequent traumas.

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, R C; Aguilar-Gaxiola, S; Alonso, J; Bromet, E J; Gureje, O; Karam, E G; Koenen, K C; Lee, S; Liu, H; Pennell, B-E; Petukhova, M V; Sampson, N A; Shahly, V; Stein, D J; Atwoli, L; Borges, G; Bunting, B; de Girolamo, G; Gluzman, S F; Haro, J M; Hinkov, H; Kawakami, N; Kovess-Masfety, V; Navarro-Mateu, F; Posada-Villa, J; Scott, K M; Shalev, A Y; Ten Have, M; Torres, Y; Viana, M C; Zaslavsky, A M

2017-09-19

Although earlier trauma exposure is known to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after subsequent traumas, it is unclear whether this association is limited to cases where the earlier trauma led to PTSD. Resolution of this uncertainty has important implications for research on pretrauma vulnerability to PTSD. We examined this issue in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys with 34 676 respondents who reported lifetime trauma exposure. One lifetime trauma was selected randomly for each respondent. DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition) PTSD due to that trauma was assessed. We reported in a previous paper that four earlier traumas involving interpersonal violence significantly predicted PTSD after subsequent random traumas (odds ratio (OR)=1.3-2.5). We also assessed 14 lifetime DSM-IV mood, anxiety, disruptive behavior and substance disorders before random traumas. We show in the current report that only prior anxiety disorders significantly predicted PTSD in a multivariate model (OR=1.5-4.3) and that these disorders interacted significantly with three of the earlier traumas (witnessing atrocities, physical violence victimization and rape). History of witnessing atrocities significantly predicted PTSD after subsequent random traumas only among respondents with prior PTSD (OR=5.6). Histories of physical violence victimization (OR=1.5) and rape after age 17 years (OR=17.6) significantly predicted only among respondents with no history of prior anxiety disorders. Although only preliminary due to reliance on retrospective reports, these results suggest that history of anxiety disorders and history of a limited number of earlier traumas might usefully be targeted in future prospective studies as distinct foci of research on individual differences in vulnerability to PTSD after subsequent traumas.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 19 September 2017; doi:10.1038/mp.2017.194.

A systematic review of the angular values obtained by computerized photogrammetry in sagittal plane: a proposal for reference values.

Science.gov (United States)

Krawczky, Bruna; Pacheco, Antonio G; Mainenti, Míriam R M

2014-05-01

Reference values for postural alignment in the coronal plane, as measured by computerized photogrammetry, have been established but not for the sagittal plane. The objective of this study is to propose reference values for angular measurements used for postural analysis in the sagittal plane for healthy adults. Electronic databases (PubMed, BVS, Cochrane, Scielo, and Science Direct) were searched using the following key words: evaluation, posture, photogrammetry, and software. Articles published between 2006 and 2012 that used the PAS/SAPO (postural assessment software) were selected. Another inclusion criterion was the presentation of, at least, one of the following measurements: head horizontal alignment, pelvic horizontal alignment, hip angle, vertical alignment of the body, thoracic kyphosis, and lumbar lordosis. Angle samples of the selected articles were grouped 2 by 2 in relation to an overall average, which made possible total average, variance, and SD calculations. Six articles were included, and the following average angular values were found: 51.42° ± 4.87° (head horizontal alignment), -12.26° ± 5.81° (pelvic horizontal alignment), -6.40° ± 3.86° (hip angle), and 1.73° ± 0.94° (vertical alignment of the body). None of the articles contained the measurements for thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis. The reference values can be adopted as reference for postural assessment in future researches if the same anatomical points are considered. Copyright © 2014 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Alcoholism. Earlier diagnosis and definition of the problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Girard, D E; Carlton, B E

1978-07-01

There are important measurements of alcoholism that are poorly understood by physicians. Professional attitudes toward alcoholic patients are often counterproductive. Americans spend about $30 billion on alcohol a year and most adults drink alcohol. Even though traditional criteria allow for recognition of the disease, diagnosis is often made late in the natural course, when intervention fails. Alcoholism is a major health problem and accounts for 10 percent of total health care costs. Still, this country's 10 million adult alcoholics come from a pool of heavy drinkers with well defined demographic characteristics. These social, cultural and familial traits, along with subtle signs of addiction, allow for earlier diagnosis. Although these factors alone do not establish a diagnosis of alcoholism, they should alert a physician that significant disease may be imminent. Focus must be directed to these aspects of alcoholism if containment of the problem is expected.

Earlier Right Ventricular Pacing in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy for a Patient with Right Axis Deviation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hattori, Yusuke; Ishibashi, Kohei; Noda, Takashi; Okamura, Hideo; Kanzaki, Hideaki; Anzai, Toshihisa; Yasuda, Satoshi; Kusano, Kengo

2017-09-01

We describe the case of a 37-year-old woman who presented with complete right bundle branch block and right axis deviation. She was admitted to our hospital due to severe heart failure and was dependent on inotropic agents. Cardiac resynchronization therapy was initiated but did not improve her condition. After the optimization of the pacing timing, we performed earlier right ventricular pacing, which led to an improvement of her heart failure. Earlier right ventricular pacing should be considered in patients with complete right bundle branch block and right axis deviation when cardiac resynchronization therapy is not effective.

Compulsive buying: Earlier illicit drug use, impulse buying, depression, and adult ADHD symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Brook, Judith S; Zhang, Chenshu; Brook, David W; Leukefeld, Carl G

2015-08-30

This longitudinal study examined the association between psychosocial antecedents, including illicit drug use, and adult compulsive buying (CB) across a 29-year time period from mean age 14 to mean age 43. Participants originally came from a community-based random sample of residents in two upstate New York counties. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to study the relationship between the participant's earlier psychosocial antecedents and adult CB in the fifth decade of life. The results of the multivariate linear regression analyses showed that gender (female), earlier adult impulse buying (IB), depressive mood, illicit drug use, and concurrent ADHD symptoms were all significantly associated with adult CB at mean age 43. It is important that clinicians treating CB in adults should consider the role of drug use, symptoms of ADHD, IB, depression, and family factors in CB. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Valuing inter-sectoral costs and benefits of interventions in the healthcare sector: methods for obtaining unit prices.

Science.gov (United States)

Drost, Ruben M W A; Paulus, Aggie T G; Ruwaard, Dirk; Evers, Silvia M A A

2017-02-01

There is a lack of knowledge about methods for valuing health intervention-related costs and monetary benefits in the education and criminal justice sectors, also known as 'inter-sectoral costs and benefits' (ICBs). The objective of this study was to develop methods for obtaining unit prices for the valuation of ICBs. By conducting an exploratory literature study and expert interviews, several generic methods were developed. The methods' feasibility was assessed through application in the Netherlands. Results were validated in an expert meeting, which was attended by policy makers, public health experts, health economists and HTA-experts, and discussed at several international conferences and symposia. The study resulted in four methods, including the opportunity cost method (A) and valuation using available unit prices (B), self-constructed unit prices (C) or hourly labor costs (D). The methods developed can be used internationally and are valuable for the broad international field of HTA.

Do BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier onset of natural menopause?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Tilborg, Theodora C.; Broekmans, Frank J.; Pijpe, Anouk; Schrijver, Lieske H.; Mooij, Thea M.; Oosterwijk, Jan C.; Verhoef, Senno; Garcia, Encarna B. Gomez; van Zelst-Stams, Wendy A.; Adank, Muriel A.; van Asperen, Christi J.; van Doorn, Helena C.; van Os, Theo A.; Bos, Anna M.; Rookus, Matti A.; Ausems, Margreet G.

Objective: It has been hypothesized that BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier age at natural menopause (ANM), although to date findings are inconclusive. This study assessed the influence of BRCA mutation status on ANM, and aimed to explore the reasons of inconsistency in the literature.

Daily Use, Especially of High-Potency Cannabis, Drives the Earlier Onset of Psychosis in Cannabis Users

Science.gov (United States)

Di Forti, Marta; Sallis, Hannah; Allegri, Fabio; Trotta, Antonella; Ferraro, Laura; Stilo, Simona A.; Marconi, Arianna; La Cascia, Caterina; Reis Marques, Tiago; Pariante, Carmine; Dazzan, Paola; Mondelli, Valeria; Paparelli, Alessandra; Kolliakou, Anna; Prata, Diana; Gaughran, Fiona; David, Anthony S.; Morgan, Craig; Stahl, Daniel; Khondoker, Mizanur; MacCabe, James H.; Murray, Robin M.

2014-01-01

Cannabis use is associated with an earlier age of onset of psychosis (AOP). However, the reasons for this remain debated. Methods: We applied a Cox proportional hazards model to 410 first-episode psychosis patients to investigate the association between gender, patterns of cannabis use, and AOP. Results: Patients with a history of cannabis use presented with their first episode of psychosis at a younger age (mean years = 28.2, SD = 8.0; median years = 27.1) than those who never used cannabis (mean years = 31.4, SD = 9.9; median years = 30.0; hazard ratio [HR] = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.16–1.74; P cannabis at age 15 or younger had an earlier onset of psychosis (mean years = 27.0, SD = 6.2; median years = 26.9) than those who had started after 15 years (mean years = 29.1, SD = 8.5; median years = 27.8; HR = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.06–1.84; P = .050). Importantly, subjects who had been using high-potency cannabis (skunk-type) every day had the earliest onset (mean years = 25.2, SD = 6.3; median years = 24.6) compared to never users among all the groups tested (HR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.50- 2.65; P cannabis had an onset an average of 6 years earlier than that of non-cannabis users. Conclusions: Daily use, especially of high-potency cannabis, drives the earlier onset of psychosis in cannabis users. PMID:24345517

Probing for the Multiplicative Term in Modern Expectancy-Value Theory: A Latent Interaction Modeling Study

Science.gov (United States)

Trautwein, Ulrich; Marsh, Herbert W.; Nagengast, Benjamin; Ludtke, Oliver; Nagy, Gabriel; Jonkmann, Kathrin

2012-01-01

In modern expectancy-value theory (EVT) in educational psychology, expectancy and value beliefs additively predict performance, persistence, and task choice. In contrast to earlier formulations of EVT, the multiplicative term Expectancy x Value in regression-type models typically plays no major role in educational psychology. The present study…

How Can Facilities Management Add Value To Organisations As Well As To Society?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jensen, P.A.; Sarasoja, A.L.; van der Voordt, D.J.M.; Coenen, C.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present lessons learnt from a 3 year collaborative research project on the added value of Facilities Management (FM) involving institutions in five European countries. The starting point was the so-called FM Value Map developed earlier by the leader of the research

Unified pH values of liquid chromatography mobile phases.

Science.gov (United States)

Suu, Agnes; Jalukse, Lauri; Liigand, Jaanus; Kruve, Anneli; Himmel, Daniel; Krossing, Ingo; Rosés, Martí; Leito, Ivo

2015-03-03

This work introduces a conceptually new approach of measuring pH of mixed-solvent liquid chromatography (LC) mobile phases. Mobile phase pH is very important in LC, but its correct measurement is not straightforward, and all commonly used approaches have deficiencies. The new approach is based on the recently introduced unified pH (pH(abs)) scale, which enables direct comparison of acidities of solutions made in different solvents based on chemical potential of the proton in the solutions. This work represents the first experimental realization of the pH(abs) concept using differential potentiometric measurement for comparison of the chemical potentials of the proton in different solutions (connected by a salt bridge), together with earlier published reference points for obtaining the pH(abs) values (referenced to the gas phase) or pH(abs)(H₂O) values (referenced to the aqueous solution). The liquid junction potentials were estimated in the framework of Izutsu's three-component method. pH(abs) values for a number of common LC and LC-MS mobile phases have been determined. The pH(abs) scale enables for the first time direct comparison of acidities of any LC mobile phases, with different organic additives, different buffer components, etc. A possible experimental protocol of putting this new approach into chromatographic practice has been envisaged and its applicability tested. It has been demonstrated that the ionization behavior of bases (cationic acids) in the mobile phases can be better predicted by using the pH(abs)(H₂O) values and aqueous pKa values than by using the alternative means of expressing mobile phase acidity. Description of the ionization behavior of acids on the basis of pH(abs)(H₂O) values is possible if the change of their pKa values with solvent composition change is taken into account.

Comparison of the T2-star Values of Placentas Obtained from Pre-eclamptic Patients with Those of a Control Group: an Ex-vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yurttutan, Nursel; Bakacak, Murat; Kızıldağ, Betül

2017-09-29

Endotel dysfunction, vasoconstriction, and oxidative stress are described in the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia, but its aetiology has not been revealed clearly. To examine whether there is a difference between the placentas of pre-eclamptic pregnant women and those of a control group in terms of their T2 star values. Case-control study. Twenty patients diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and 22 healthy controls were included in this study. The placentas obtained after births performed via Caesarean section were taken into the magnetic resonance imaging area in plastic bags within the first postnatal hour, and imaging was performed via modified DIXON-Quant sequence. Average values were obtained by performing T2 star measurements from four localisations on the placentas. T2 star values measured in the placentas of the control group were found to be significantly lower than those in the pre-eclampsia group (pstar value in the pre-eclamptic group was found to be 37.48 ms (standard deviation ± 11.3), this value was 28.74 (standard deviation ± 8.08) in the control group. The cut-off value for the T2 star value, maximising the accuracy of diagnosis, was 28.59 ms (area under curve: 0.741; 95% confidence interval: 0.592-0.890); sensitivity and specificity were 70% and 63.6%, respectively. This study, the T2 star value, which is an indicator of iron amount, was found to be significantly lower in the control group than in the pre-eclampsia group. This may be related to the reduction in blood flow to the placenta due to endothelial dysfunction and vasoconstriction, which are important in pre-eclampsia pathophysiology.

Obtaining the Iodine Value of Various Oils via Bromination with Pyridinium Tribromide

Science.gov (United States)

Simurdiak, Michael; Olukoga, Olushola; Hedberg, Kirk

2016-01-01

A laboratory exercise was devised that allows students to rapidly and fairly accurately determine the iodine value of oleic acid. This method utilizes the addition of elemental bromine to the unsaturated bonds in oleic acid, due to bromine's relatively fast reaction rate compared to that of the traditional Wijs solution method. This method also…

Earlier Pulmonary Valve Replacement in Down Syndrome Patients Following Tetralogy of Fallot Repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Rachel T; Frommelt, Peter C; Hill, Garick D

2017-08-01

The association between Down syndrome and pulmonary hypertension could contribute to more severe pulmonary regurgitation after tetralogy of Fallot repair and possibly earlier pulmonary valve replacement. We compared cardiac magnetic resonance measures of pulmonary regurgitation and right ventricular dilation as well as timing of pulmonary valve replacement between those with and without Down syndrome after tetralogy of Fallot repair. Review of our surgical database from 2000 to 2015 identified patients with tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary stenosis. Those with Down syndrome were compared to those without. The primary outcome of interest was time from repair to pulmonary valve replacement. Secondary outcomes included pulmonary regurgitation and indexed right ventricular volume on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. The cohort of 284 patients included 35 (12%) with Down syndrome. Transannular patch repair was performed in 210 (74%). Down syndrome showed greater degree of pulmonary regurgitation (55 ± 14 vs. 37 ± 16%, p = 0.01) without a significantly greater rate of right ventricular dilation (p = 0.09). In multivariable analysis, Down syndrome (HR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.5, p = 0.02) and transannular patch repair (HR 5.5, 95% CI 1.7-17.6, p = 0.004) were significant risk factors for valve replacement. Those with Down syndrome had significantly lower freedom from valve replacement (p = 0.03). Down syndrome is associated with an increased degree of pulmonary regurgitation and earlier pulmonary valve replacement after tetralogy of Fallot repair. These patients require earlier assessment by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to determine timing of pulmonary valve replacement and evaluation for and treatment of preventable causes of pulmonary hypertension.

Q Value of the Superallowed Decay of 46V and Its Influence on Vud and the Unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa Matrix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savard, G.; Buchinger, F.; Crawford, J.E.; Gulick, S.; Lee, J.K.P.; Clark, J.A.; Sharma, H.; Sharma, K.S.; Hardy, J.C.; Hecht, A.A.; Levand, A.F.; Scielzo, N.D.; Tanihata, I.; Villari, A.C.C.; Wang, Y.

2005-01-01

The masses of the radioactive nuclei 46 V and its decay daughter 46 Ti have been measured with the Canadian Penning Trap on-line Penning trap mass spectrometer to a precision of 1x10 -8 . A Q EC value of 7052.90(40) keV for the superallowed beta decay of 46 V is obtained from the difference of these two masses. With this precise Q value, the Ft value for this decay is determined with improved precision. An investigation of an earlier Q-value measurement for 46 V uncovers a set of 7 measurements that cannot be reconciled with modern data and affects previous evaluations of V ud from superallowed Fermi decays. A new evaluation, adding our new data and removing the discredited subset, yields new values for G V and V ud . When combined with recent results for V us , this yields modified constraints for the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix and other extensions of the standard model

Lagrange α-exponential stability and α-exponential convergence for fractional-order complex-valued neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jian, Jigui; Wan, Peng

2017-07-01

This paper deals with the problem on Lagrange α-exponential stability and α-exponential convergence for a class of fractional-order complex-valued neural networks. To this end, some new fractional-order differential inequalities are established, which improve and generalize previously known criteria. By using the new inequalities and coupling with the Lyapunov method, some effective criteria are derived to guarantee Lagrange α-exponential stability and α-exponential convergence of the addressed network. Moreover, the framework of the α-exponential convergence ball is also given, where the convergence rate is related to the parameters and the order of differential of the system. These results here, which the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium points need not to be considered, generalize and improve the earlier publications and can be applied to monostable and multistable fractional-order complex-valued neural networks. Finally, one example with numerical simulations is given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Axisymmetric capillary-gravity waves at the interface of two viscous, immiscible fluids - Initial value problem

Science.gov (United States)

Farsoiya, Palas Kumar; Dasgupta, Ratul

2017-11-01

When the interface between two radially unbounded, viscous fluids lying vertically in a stable configuration (denser fluid below) at rest, is perturbed, radially propagating capillary-gravity waves are formed which damp out with time. We study this process analytically using a recently developed linearised theory. For small amplitude initial perturbations, the analytical solution to the initial value problem, represented as a linear superposition of Bessel modes at time t = 0 , is found to agree very well with results obtained from direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations, for a range of initial conditions. Our study extends the earlier work by John W. Miles who studied this initial value problem analytically, taking into account, a single viscous fluid only. Implications of this study for the mechanistic understanding of droplet impact into a deep pool, will be discussed. Some preliminary, qualitative comparison with experiments will also be presented. We thank SERB Dept. Science & Technology, Govt. of India, Grant No. EMR/2016/000830 for financial support.

The Trend of Mean BMI Values of US Adults, Birth Cohorts 1882-1986 Indicates that the Obesity Epidemic Began Earlier than Hitherto Thought

OpenAIRE

John Komlos; Marek Brabec

2010-01-01

The trend in the BMI values of the US population has not been estimated accurately because time series data are unavailable and because the focus has been on calculating period effects. In contrast to the prevailing strategies, we estimate the trend and rate of change of BMI values by birth cohorts stratified by gender and ethnicity born 1882-1986. We use loess additive regression models to estimate age and trend effects of BMI values of US-born black and white adults measured between 1959 an...

Using the Climbing Drum Peel (CDP) Test to Obtain a G(sub IC) value for Core/Facesheet Bonds

Science.gov (United States)

Nettles, A. T.; Gregory, Elizabeth D.; Jackson, Justin R.

2006-01-01

A method of measuring the Mode I fracture toughness of core/facesheet bonds in sandwich Structures is desired, particularly with the widespread use of models that need this data as input. This study examined if a critical strain energy release rate, G(sub IC), can be obtained from the climbing drum peel (CDP) test. The CDP test is relatively simple to perform and does not rely on measuring small crack lengths such as required by the double cantilever beam (DCB) test. Simple energy methods were used to calculate G(sub IC) from CDP test data on composite facesheets bonded to a honeycomb core. Facesheet thicknesses from 2 to 5 plies were tested to examine the upper and lower bounds on facesheet thickness requirements. Results from the study suggest that the CDP test, with certain provisions, can be used to find the GIG value of a core/facesheet bond.

The North Atlantic marine reservoir effect in the Early Holocene: Implications for defining and understanding MRE values

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ascough, P.L. [School of Geography and Geosciences, Irvine Building, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: pla1@st-andrews.ac.uk; Cook, G.T. [Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 OQF (United Kingdom); Dugmore, A.J. [Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP (United Kingdom); Scott, E.M. [Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ (United Kingdom)

2007-06-15

The marine reservoir effect (MRE) is a {sup 14}C age offset between the oceanic and atmospheric carbon reservoirs. The MRE is neither spatially nor temporally constant and values may deviate significantly from the global model average provided by the Marine04 curve. Such a deviation is calculated as a {delta}R value and modern (pre-bomb) values show considerable spatial variations. There is also considerable evidence for temporal variability linked to paleoenvironmental changes identified in paleoclimatic proxy records. Seven new {delta}R values are presented for the North Atlantic, relating to the period c. 8430-3890 cal. BP (c. 6480-1940 BC). These were obtained from {sup 14}C analysis of multiple samples of terrestrial and marine material derived from seven individual archaeological deposits from Mainland Scotland, the Outer Hebrides and the Orkney Isles. The {delta}R values vary between 143 {+-} 20 {sup 14}C yr and -100 {+-} 15 {sup 14}C yr with the positive values all occurring in the earlier period (8430-5060 cal. BP), and the negative values all coming from later deposits (4820-3890 cal. BP). The nature of MRE values and the potential for spatial and temporal variation in values is the subject of current research interest and these data are placed in the context of (i) other estimates for UK coastal waters and (ii) important questions concerning current approaches to quantifying the MRE.

Evaluation of the safety of the operating nuclear power plants built to earlier standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menteseoglu, S.

2001-01-01

The objective of this paper is to provide practical assistance on judging the safety of a nuclear power plant, on the basis of a comparison with current safety standards and operational practices. For nuclear power plants built to earlier standards for which there are questions about the adequacy of the maintenance of the plant design and operational practices, a safety review against current standards and practices can be considered a high priority. The objective of reviewing nuclear power plants built to earlier standards against current standards and practices is to determine whether there are any deviations which would have an impact on plant safety. The safety significance of the issues identified should be judged according to their implications for plant design and operation in terms of basic safety concepts such as defence in depth and safety culture. In addition, this paper provides assistance on the prioritization of corrective measures and their implementation so as to approach an acceptable level of safety

A vantage from space can detect earlier drought onset: an approach using relative humidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Farahmand, Alireza; AghaKouchak, Amir; Teixeira, Joao

2015-02-25

Each year, droughts cause significant economic and agricultural losses across the world. The early warning and onset detection of drought is of particular importance for effective agriculture and water resource management. Previous studies show that the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), a measure of precipitation deficit, detects drought onset earlier than other indicators. Here we show that satellite-based near surface air relative humidity data can further improve drought onset detection and early warning. This paper introduces the Standardized Relative Humidity Index (SRHI) based on the NASA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) observations. The results indicate that the SRHI typically detects the drought onset earlier than the SPI. While the AIRS mission was not originally designed for drought monitoring, we show that its relative humidity data offers a new and unique avenue for drought monitoring and early warning. We conclude that the early warning aspects of SRHI may have merit for integration into current drought monitoring systems.

Reference values for electrooculography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrientos Castanno, Alberto; Herrera Mora, Maritza; Garcia Baez, Obel

2012-01-01

Obtain electrooculographic reference values based on the patterns set by the Standardization Committee of the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV). the lowest amplitude values of the potential ranged between 388 and 882 μv in the dark phase. The light peak was obtained between 9 and 10 minutes, and during this phase the potential reached an amplitude ranging between 808 and 1 963 μv. This amplitude variability may be related to the fact that the test was conducted without pupillary mydriasis. The reference value obtained for Arden index was 1,55 to 2,87

Values and beliefs of psychedelic drug users: a cross-cultural study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lerner, Michael; Lyvers, Michael

2006-06-01

Psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin are often claimed to be capable of inducing life-changing experiences described as mystical or transcendental, especially if high doses are taken. The present study examined possible enduring effects of such experiences by comparing users of psychedelic drugs (n = 88), users of nonpsychedelic illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana, amphetamines) (n = 29) and non illicit drug-using social drinkers (n = 66) on questionnaire measures of values, beliefs and emotional empathy. Samples were obtained from Israel (n = 110) and Australia (n = 73) in a cross-cultural comparison to see if values associated with psychedelic drug use transcended culture of origin. Psychedelic users scored significantly higher on mystical beliefs (e.g., oneness with God and the universe) and life values of spirituality and concern for others than the other groups, and lower on the value of financial prosperity, irrespective of culture of origin. Users of nonpsychedelic illegal drugs scored significantly lower on a measure of coping ability than both psychedelic users and non illicit drug users. Both groups of illegal drug users scored significantly higher on empathy than non illicit drug users. Results are discussed in the context of earlier findings from Pahnke (1966) and Doblin (1991) of the transformative effect of psychedelic experiences, although the possibility remains that present findings reflect predrug characteristics of those who chose to take psychedelic drugs rather than effects of the drugs themselves.

Light pollution is associated with earlier tree budburst across the United Kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Ffrench-Constant, Richard H; Somers-Yeates, Robin; Bennie, Jonathan; Economou, Theodoros; Hodgson, David; Spalding, Adrian; McGregor, Peter K

2016-06-29

The ecological impact of night-time lighting is of concern because of its well-demonstrated effects on animal behaviour. However, the potential of light pollution to change plant phenology and its corresponding knock-on effects on associated herbivores are less clear. Here, we test if artificial lighting can advance the timing of budburst in trees. We took a UK-wide 13 year dataset of spatially referenced budburst data from four deciduous tree species and matched it with both satellite imagery of night-time lighting and average spring temperature. We find that budburst occurs up to 7.5 days earlier in brighter areas, with the relationship being more pronounced for later-budding species. Excluding large urban areas from the analysis showed an even more pronounced advance of budburst, confirming that the urban 'heat-island' effect is not the sole cause of earlier urban budburst. Similarly, the advance in budburst across all sites is too large to be explained by increases in temperature alone. This dramatic advance of budburst illustrates the need for further experimental investigation into the impact of artificial night-time lighting on plant phenology and subsequent species interactions. As light pollution is a growing global phenomenon, the findings of this study are likely to be applicable to a wide range of species interactions across the world. © 2016 The Authors.

Earlier time to aerobic exercise is associated with faster recovery following acute sport concussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, David Wyndham; Richards, Doug; Comper, Paul; Hutchison, Michael G

2018-01-01

To determine whether earlier time to initiation of aerobic exercise following acute concussion is associated with time to full return to (1) sport and (2) school or work. A retrospective stratified propensity score survival analysis of acute (≤14 days) concussion was used to determine whether time (days) to initiation of aerobic exercise post-concussion was associated with, both, time (days) to full return to (1) sport and (2) school or work. A total of 253 acute concussions [median (IQR) age, 17.0 (15.0-20.0) years; 148 (58.5%) males] were included in this study. Multivariate Cox regression models identified that earlier time to aerobic exercise was associated with faster return to sport and school/work adjusting for other covariates, including quintile propensity strata. For each successive day in delay to initiation of aerobic exercise, individuals had a less favourable recovery trajectory. Initiating aerobic exercise at 3 and 7 days following injury was associated with a respective 36.5% (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.53-0.76) and 73.2% (HR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.16-0.45) reduced probability of faster full return to sport compared to within 1 day; and a respective 45.9% (HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.44-0.66) and 83.1% (HR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.10-0.30) reduced probability of faster full return to school/work. Additionally, concussion history, symptom severity, LOC deleteriously influenced concussion recovery. Earlier initiation of aerobic exercise was associated with faster full return to sport and school or work. This study provides greater insight into the benefits and safety of aerobic exercise within the first week of the injury.

Functional Upgrading and Value Capture of Multinational Subsidiaries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burger, Anže; Jindra, Björn; Marek, Philipp

2018-01-01

survey-based business function indicators with longitudinal accounting data for a representative sample of multinational subsidiaries located in six Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs), we assess the impact of functional upgrading on foreign subsidiaries' value capture. The results provide......This paper investigates the relationship between the value capture of multinational subsidiaries and functional upgrading, which is defined as a diversification of employment from primary business functions to higher value adding activities such as ICT, R&D, marketing or logistics. By combining...... robust evidence that the breadth as well as the scope of functional upgrading induces an upward shift of subsidiaries' value added. The effect of functional upgrading is stronger in the earlier phases after entry of the foreign investor, while the long-term growth trend remains unaffected....

A study of variational inequalities for set-valued mappings

OpenAIRE

Tarafdar Enayet; Yuan George Xian-Zhi; Tan Kok-Keong

1999-01-01

In this paper, Ky Fan's KKM mapping principle is used to establish the existence of solutions for simultaneous variational inequalities. By applying our earlier results together with Fan–Glicksberg fixed point theorem, we prove some existence results for implicit variational inequalities and implicit quasi-variational inequalities for set-valued mappings which are either monotone or upper semi-continuous.

WE-G-18C-02: Estimation of Optimal B-Value Set for Obtaining Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Free From Perfusion in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karki, K; Hugo, G; Ford, J; Saraiya, S; Weiss, E [Radiation Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (United States); Olsen, K; Groves, R [Radiology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) is increasingly being investigated for radiotherapy planning and response assessment. Selection of a limited number of b-values in DW-MRI is important to keep geometrical variations low and imaging time short. We investigated various b-value sets to determine an optimal set for obtaining monoexponential apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) close to perfusion-insensitive intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model ADC (ADC_IVIM) in nonsmall cell lung cancer. Methods: Seven patients had 27 DW-MRI scans before and during radiotherapy in a 1.5T scanner. Respiratory triggering was applied to the echo-planar DW-MRI with TR=4500ms approximately, TE=74ms, pixel size=1.98X1.98mm{sub 2}, slice thickness=4–6mm and 7 axial slices. Diffusion gradients were applied to all three axes producing traceweighted images with eight b-values of 0–1000μs/μm{sup 2}. Monoexponential model ADC values using various b-value sets were compared to ADC_IVIM using all b-values. To compare the relative noise in ADC maps, intra-scan coefficient of variation (CV) of active tumor volumes was computed. Results: ADC_IVIM, perfusion coefficient and perfusion fraction for tumor volumes were in the range of 880-1622 μm{sup 2}/s, 8119-33834 μm{sup 2}/s and 0.104–0.349, respectively. ADC values using sets of 250, 800 and 1000; 250, 650 and 1000; and 250–1000μs/μm{sup 2} only were not significantly different from ADC_IVIM(p>0.05, paired t-test). Error in ADC values for 0–1000, 50–1000, 100–1000, 250–1000, 500–1000, and three b-value sets- 250, 500 and 1000; 250, 650 and 1000; and 250, 800 and 1000μs/μm{sup 2} were 15.0, 9.4, 5.6, 1.4, 11.7, 3.7, 2.0 and 0.2% relative to the reference-standard ADC_IVIM, respectively. Mean intrascan CV was 20.2, 20.9, 21.9, 24.9, 32.6, 25.8, 25.4 and 24.8%, respectively, whereas that for ADC_IVIM was 23.3%. Conclusion: ADC values of two 3 b-value sets

Assessment of serology and spirometry and the combination of both to complement microbiological isolation for earlier detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in children with cystic fibrosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotnik Pirš, Ana; Krivec, Uroš; Simčič, Saša; Seme, Katja

2016-11-25

The aim of this study was to assess whether serology and spirometry and the combination of both can complement culture-based detection for earlier recognition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in children with cystic fibrosis. A 4 year longitudinal prospective study that included 67 Slovenian children with cystic fibrosis with a mean age of 10.5 years was conducted. Serology, spirometry and a scoring system combining serology and spirometry were assessed and compared. Infection was confirmed with isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from respiratory samples. There was a significantly positive correlation between serology and the combination of serology and spirometry and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolation (P spirometry and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolation (P spirometry the highest sensitivity (0.90). Both had a high negative predictive value (0.93 and 0.79 respectively). Using serology and the combination of serology and lung function measurement can be beneficial for earlier detection of infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in children with cystic fibrosis when done simultaneously with standard culture-based detection from respiratory samples.

Earlier nesting by generalist predatory bird is associated with human responses to climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Shawn H; Steenhof, Karen; McClure, Christopher J W; Heath, Julie A

2017-01-01

Warming temperatures cause temporal changes in growing seasons and prey abundance that drive earlier breeding by birds, especially dietary specialists within homogeneous habitat. Less is known about how generalists respond to climate-associated shifts in growing seasons or prey phenology, which may occur at different rates across land cover types. We studied whether breeding phenology of a generalist predator, the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), was associated with shifts in growing seasons and, presumably, prey abundance, in a mosaic of non-irrigated shrub/grasslands and irrigated crops/pastures. We examined the relationship between remotely-sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and abundance of small mammals that, with insects, constitute approximately 93% of kestrel diet biomass. We used NDVI to estimate the start of the growing season (SoGS) in irrigated and non-irrigated lands from 1992 to 2015 and tested whether either estimate of annual SoGS predicted the timing of kestrel nesting. Finally, we examined relationships among irrigated SoGS, weather and crop planting. NDVI was a useful proxy for kestrel prey because it predicted small mammal abundance and past studies showed that NDVI predicts insect abundance. NDVI-estimated SoGS advanced significantly in irrigated lands (β = -1·09 ± 0·30 SE) but not in non-irrigated lands (β = -0·57 ± 0·53). Average date of kestrel nesting advanced 15 days in the past 24 years and was positively associated with the SoGS in irrigated lands, but not the SoGS in non-irrigated lands. Advanced SoGS in irrigated lands was related to earlier planting of crops after relatively warm winters, which were more common in recent years. Despite different patterns of SoGS change between land cover types, kestrel nesting phenology shifted with earlier prey availability in irrigated lands. Kestrels may preferentially track prey in irrigated lands over non-irrigated lands because of higher quality prey on

Recent gestational diabetes was associated with mothers stopping predominant breastfeeding earlier in a multi-ethnic population.

Science.gov (United States)

Baerug, Anne; Sletner, Line; Laake, Petter; Fretheim, Atle; Løland, Beate Fossum; Waage, Christin W; Birkeland, Kåre I; Jenum, Anne Karen

2018-06-01

It has previously been shown that breastfeeding may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in mothers with recent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study compared the cessation of predominant breastfeeding in mothers with and without recent GDM in a multi-ethnic population. From May 2008 to May 2010, healthy pregnant women attending antenatal care provided by community health services in Eastern Oslo, Norway were recruited. We included 616 women-58% non-Western-and interviewed and examined them at a mean of 15 and 28 weeks of gestation and 14 weeks' postpartum. Cox regression models examined the association between GDM, as assessed by the 2013 World Health Organization criteria, and breastfeeding cessation. Overall, 190 of the 616 (31%) mothers had GDM and they ended predominant breastfeeding earlier than mothers without GDM, with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.33 and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 1.01-1.77. Mothers of South Asian origin ended predominant breastfeeding earlier than Western European mothers in the adjusted analysis (aHR 1.53, 95% CI: 1.04-2.25), but Middle Eastern mothers did not. Recent gestational diabetes was associated with earlier cessation of predominant breastfeeding in Western European and non-Western women. ©2018 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A New Method of Earlier Kick Assessment Using ANFIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatemeh Deregeh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The late detection of the kick (the entrance of underground fluids into oil wells leads to oil well blowouts. It causes human life loss and imposes a great deal of expenses on the petroleum industry. This paper presents the application of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system designed for an earlier kick detection using measurable drilling parameters. In order to generate the initial fuzzy inference system, subtractive clustering is utilized. The training set contains 50 data samples and there are 362 data samples for testing the proposed method. Also, ANFIS structure is examined at different radii (the parameter of subtractive clustering. Different conformations are tested to get the earliest detection and the lowest false alarms while facing kick. Eventually, ANFIS verifies the danger exposure depth of about 28.6 meters before the depth that the kick was sensed by crew. Such an assessment gives the rig crew enough time to prepare for the danger and stop the operation before being exposed to high pressure zones.

Clinical presentation of retinoblastoma in Alexandria: A step toward earlier diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Soliman, Sameh E; Eldomiaty, Wesam; Goweida, Mohamed B; Dowidar, Amgad

2017-01-01

To evaluate the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma in Alexandria, Egypt, correlate the timing of accurate diagnosis with the presence of advanced disease and identify causes of delayed presentation. Retrospective noncomparative single institution study reviews demographic and clinical data of all new children with retinoblastoma presenting to Alexandria Main University ocular oncology clinic (OOC) from January 2012 to June 2014. Diagnosis time was from initial parental complaint to retinoblastoma diagnosis and referral time was from retinoblastoma diagnosis to presentation to the Alexandria OCC. Delayed Diagnosis and referral were counted if >2 weeks. Advanced presentation is defined as clinical TNMH (8th edition) staging of cT2 or cT3 (international intraocular retinoblastoma classification group D or E) in at least one eye or the presence of extra-ocular disease (cT4). Seventy eyes of 47 children were eligible: 52% unilateral, 7% with family history and 96% presented with leukocorea. Sixty-four percent of children had advanced intraocular disease and none had extra-ocular disease. Delayed presentation occurred in 58% of children and was significantly associated with advanced disease in both unilaterally and bilaterally affected children (p = 0.003, 0.002 respectively). The delay in diagnosis was more in unilateral cases while the delay in referral was more in bilateral cases. The main cause of delayed presentation in unilateral retinoblastoma was misdiagnosis (30%) while parental shopping for second medical opinion (30%) was the main cause in bilateral children. Delayed diagnosis is a problem affecting retinoblastoma management. Better medical education and training, health education and earlier screening are recommended to achieve earlier diagnosis.

Radionuclide Data Centre. Tasks and problems of obtaining the most reliable values of the nuclear physics characteristics of radionuclides and radiation physics parameters of radionuclide sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chechev, V.P.

1994-01-01

Information is provided on the establishment of the Radionuclide Data Centre under the V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute. Its functions and areas of activity are discussed. The paper focuses on the procedure of obtaining the evaluated values of the decay and radiative characteristics of the widely used radionuclides. (author)

Intraocular pressure values obtained by ocular response analyzer, dynamic contour tonometry, and goldmann tonometry in keratokonic corneas.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayer, Atilla; Sahin, Afsun; Hürmeriç, Volkan; Ozge, Gökhan

2010-01-01

To determine the agreement between dynamic contour tonometer (DCT), Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT), and Ocular Response Analyzer (ORA) in keratoconic corneas and to find out the effect of corneal biomechanics on intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements obtained by these devices. IOP was measured with the ORA, DCT, and GAT in random order in 120 eyes of 61 keratoconus patients. Central corneal thickness (CCT) and keratometry were measured after all IOP determinations had been made. The mean IOP measurement by the ORA and DCT was compared with the measurement by the GAT, using Student t test. Bland-Altman analysis was performed to assess the clinical agreement between these methods. The effect of corneal hysteresis (CH), corneal resistance factor (CRF), and CCT on measured IOP was explored by multiple backward stepwise linear regression analysis. The mean±SD patient age was 30.6±11.2 years. The mean±SD IOP measurement obtained with GAT, ORA Goldmann-correlated IOP (IOPg), ORA corneal-compensated IOP (IOPcc), and DCT was 10.96±2.8, 10.23±3.5, 14.65±2.8, and 15.42±2.7 mm Hg, respectively. The mean±SD CCT was 464.08±58.4 microns. The mean difference between IOPcc and GAT (P<0.0001), IOPcc and DCT (P<0.001), GAT and DCT (P<0.0001), IOPg and GAT (P<0.002), and IOPg and DCT (P<0.0001), was highly statistically significant. In multivariable regression analysis, DCT IOP and GAT IOP measurements were significantly associated with CH and CRF (P<0.0001 for both). DCT seemed to be affected by CH and CRF, and the IOP values tended to be higher when compared with GAT. ORA-measured IOPcc was found to be independent of CCT and suitable in comparison to the DCT in keratoconic eyes.

The Value Premium on the Danish Stock Market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Risager, Ole

2005-01-01

research on this issue. The purpose of this paper is to report evidence for the Danish stock market and to test whether the value premium is a genuine long-term feature of the market or just a phenomenon that pops up now and then. To research this issue we have collected accounting and stock market data......A number of influential studies have documented a strong value premium for US stocks over the period 1963 to 1990 (Fama and French (1992), Lakonishok et al. (1994)). Stocks with low price-earnings multiples, price-book values and other measures of value are reported to have given a higher mean...... return than the high multiple growth firms. Work by Basu (1997) and others have shown that the value dominance is also a feature of the earlier market history of the United States. The value premium is reported also to exist in a number of other countries over the period 1975 to 1995 (Fama and French...

A study of variational inequalities for set-valued mappings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tarafdar Enayet

1999-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, Ky Fan's KKM mapping principle is used to establish the existence of solutions for simultaneous variational inequalities. By applying our earlier results together with Fan–Glicksberg fixed point theorem, we prove some existence results for implicit variational inequalities and implicit quasi-variational inequalities for set-valued mappings which are either monotone or upper semi-continuous.

Differences in liver stiffness values obtained with new ultrasound elastography machines and Fibroscan: A comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Piscaglia, Fabio; Salvatore, Veronica; Mulazzani, Lorenzo; Cantisani, Vito; Colecchia, Antonio; Di Donato, Roberto; Felicani, Cristina; Ferrarini, Alessia; Gamal, Nesrine; Grasso, Valentina; Marasco, Giovanni; Mazzotta, Elena; Ravaioli, Federico; Ruggieri, Giacomo; Serio, Ilaria; Sitouok Nkamgho, Joules Fabrice; Serra, Carla; Festi, Davide; Schiavone, Cosima; Bolondi, Luigi

2017-07-01

Whether Fibroscan thresholds can be immediately adopted for none, some or all other shear wave elastography techniques has not been tested. The aim of the present study was to test the concordance of the findings obtained from 7 of the most recent ultrasound elastography machines with respect to Fibroscan. Sixteen hepatitis C virus-related patients with fibrosis ≥2 and having reliable results at Fibroscan were investigated in two intercostal spaces using 7 different elastography machines. Coefficients of both precision (an index of data dispersion) and accuracy (an index of bias correction factors expressing different magnitudes of changes in comparison to the reference) were calculated. Median stiffness values differed among the different machines as did coefficients of both precision (range 0.54-0.72) and accuracy (range 0.28-0.87). When the average of the measurements of two intercostal spaces was considered, coefficients of precision significantly increased with all machines (range 0.72-0.90) whereas of accuracy improved more scatteredly and by a smaller degree (range 0.40-0.99). The present results showed only moderate concordance of the majority of elastography machines with the Fibroscan results, preventing the possibility of the immediate universal adoption of Fibroscan thresholds for defining liver fibrosis staging for all new machines. Copyright © 2017 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Creative Use of Companion Values in Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development: Exploring the Educative Moment

Science.gov (United States)

Garrison, Jim; Östman, Leif; Håkansson, Michael

2015-01-01

Our paper addresses the emergence and evolution of values in educational settings. It builds upon and extends earlier work on companion meanings to develop a theory of the creative use of companion values and meanings in education. The recognition of companion values in educational practices highlight epistemological, ethical, and aesthetic…

Earlier activity from XTE J1739-302/IGR J17391-3021 detected by INTEGRAL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chenevez, Jérôme; Beckmann, V.; Kuulkers, E.

2008-01-01

The recently reported outburst from the supergiant fast X-ray transient XTE J1739-302/IGR J17391-3021 (ATEL #1466) began already about five hours earlier than the Swift/BAT trigger on 2008-04-08. The INTEGRAL/JEM-X monitor detected a flare starting at 16:18 (UTC) on the same day during recent Gal...

Determination of wine authenticity and geographical origin by measuring non-exchangeable hydrogen stable isotopes in wine ethanol with EIM-IRMS® methodology in combination with δ18O values obtained from wine water.

Science.gov (United States)

Smajlovic, Ivan; Glavanovic, Mirko; Sparks, Kimberlee L.; Sparks, Jed P.; Jovic, Slobodan

2014-05-01

Wine consumption has grown significantly in the last two decades, with the United States being the leading consumer of wine in the world. It is also the second largest wine producer and importer after the European Union, which consists of 27 European countries. The world has seen a significant increase in production from new world countries, especially the United States, Australia and Chile, and wine imports have grown significantly with this globalization. The quality and authenticity of products have become critical concerns. With the amount of wine being imported the need for verifying wine authenticity and understanding procedures used in wine making has become more important than ever. Understanding the origin of consumed wine in rapidly expanding global economy has become fundamental in order to control quality and protect consumers. In our previous scientific work we have shown that EIM-IRMS®, Ethanol Isotope Measurement - Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (EIM-IRMS®), is capable of providing unique molecular fingerprint that cannot be reproduced or counterfeited. Today we know that δ18O value from the wine water is one of the most important parameters which can give information about wine geographical origin. Earlier we have suggested that grape juice or grape pulp is a closed biochemical system in which all chemical compounds stand in dynamic equilibrium and are in direct connection with each other. Taking that into consideration we have concluded that if system is genuine and if no water, or no sugar has been added to the grape must or grape juice prior to alcoholic fermentation, then ethanol which is made in process of alcoholic fermentation will have specific δD value of non-exchangeable hydrogen stable isotopes which will be in range from -205 to -215 ‰ vs. V-SMOW. In this work we will show that this value, which we named δDn (non-exchangeable hydrogen stable isotopes in ethanol), is very important because it can support or refute conclusions

Low protein content of drainage fluid is a good predictor for earlier chest tube removal after lobectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Olgac, Guven; Cosgun, Tugba; Vayvada, Mustafa; Ozdemir, Atilla; Kutlu, Cemal Asim

2014-10-01

postoperative day versus second and third days; P tubes were, respectively, removed on the first and second postoperative days in Group S, but only two of 34 (6%) and ten of 32 (31%) patients, respectively, had their chest tubes removed in Group C (two-tailed Fisher's exact test, P = 0.02 and 0.005 for the first and the second postoperative days, respectively). On the third postoperative day, daily drainage remained ≥250 ml in 22 (65%) patients, among whom, 17 (77%) would have their chest tubes removed on the PrRPl/B value in Group C. However, drains could not be removed due to the high protein content of draining fluid despite the acceptable volume of daily drainage in only three (27%) of 11 cases in Group S (McNemar's paired proportions test, P = 0.009). The mean chest tube removal time (2.1 ± 0.9 vs 2.9 ± 1.0 days; P tubes can safely be removed earlier than anticipated in most patients after lobectomy if the protein content of the draining fluid is low. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Accuracy Evaluation of the Unified P-Value from Combining Correlated P-Values

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Gelio; Yu, Yi-Kuo

2014-01-01

Meta-analysis methods that combine -values into a single unified -value are frequently employed to improve confidence in hypothesis testing. An assumption made by most meta-analysis methods is that the -values to be combined are independent, which may not always be true. To investigate the accuracy of the unified -value from combining correlated -values, we have evaluated a family of statistical methods that combine: independent, weighted independent, correlated, and weighted correlated -values. Statistical accuracy evaluation by combining simulated correlated -values showed that correlation among -values can have a significant effect on the accuracy of the combined -value obtained. Among the statistical methods evaluated those that weight -values compute more accurate combined -values than those that do not. Also, statistical methods that utilize the correlation information have the best performance, producing significantly more accurate combined -values. In our study we have demonstrated that statistical methods that combine -values based on the assumption of independence can produce inaccurate -values when combining correlated -values, even when the -values are only weakly correlated. Therefore, to prevent from drawing false conclusions during hypothesis testing, our study advises caution be used when interpreting the -value obtained from combining -values of unknown correlation. However, when the correlation information is available, the weighting-capable statistical method, first introduced by Brown and recently modified by Hou, seems to perform the best amongst the methods investigated. PMID:24663491

Family history of atrial fibrillation is associated with earlier-onset and more symptomatic atrial fibrillation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gundlund, Anna; Fosbøl, Emil Loldrup; Kim, Sunghee

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: We addressed whether patients with a family history of atrial fibrillation (AF) were diagnosed as having AF earlier in life, were more symptomatic, and had worse outcomes compared with those without a family history of AF. METHODS: Using the ORBIT-AF, we compared symptoms and disease...

Foraging Value, Risk Avoidance, and Multiple Control Signals: How the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Controls Value-based Decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Joshua W; Alexander, William H

2017-10-01

Recent work on the role of the ACC in cognition has focused on choice difficulty, action value, risk avoidance, conflict resolution, and the value of exerting control among other factors. A main underlying question is what are the output signals of ACC, and relatedly, what is their effect on downstream cognitive processes? Here we propose a model of how ACC influences cognitive processing in other brain regions that choose actions. The model builds on the earlier Predicted Response Outcome model and suggests that ACC learns to represent specifically the states in which the potential costs or risks of an action are high, on both short and long timescales. It then uses those cost signals as a basis to bias decisions to minimize losses while maximizing gains. The model simulates both proactive and reactive control signals and accounts for a variety of empirical findings regarding value-based decision-making.

Identified research directions for using manufacturing knowledge earlier in the product lifecycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedberg, Thomas D; Hartman, Nathan W; Rosche, Phil; Fischer, Kevin

2017-01-01

Design for Manufacturing (DFM), especially the use of manufacturing knowledge to support design decisions, has received attention in the academic domain. However, industry practice has not been studied enough to provide solutions that are mature for industry. The current state of the art for DFM is often rule-based functionality within Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems that enforce specific design requirements. That rule-based functionality may or may not dynamically affect geometry definition. And, if rule-based functionality exists in the CAD system, it is typically a customization on a case-by-case basis. Manufacturing knowledge is a phrase with vast meanings, which may include knowledge on the effects of material properties decisions, machine and process capabilities, or understanding the unintended consequences of design decisions on manufacturing. One of the DFM questions to answer is how can manufacturing knowledge, depending on its definition, be used earlier in the product lifecycle to enable a more collaborative development environment? This paper will discuss the results of a workshop on manufacturing knowledge that highlights several research questions needing more study. This paper proposes recommendations for investigating the relationship of manufacturing knowledge with shape, behavior, and context characteristics of product to produce a better understanding of what knowledge is most important. In addition, the proposal includes recommendations for investigating the system-level barriers to reusing manufacturing knowledge and how model-based manufacturing may ease the burden of knowledge sharing. Lastly, the proposal addresses the direction of future research for holistic solutions of using manufacturing knowledge earlier in the product lifecycle.

Comparison of the variability of apricot seedlings obtained from irradiated and non irradiated seeds of the same origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legave, J.M.

1985-01-01

Results of experiences of low intensity gamma-ray irradiation on apricot seedlings and comparison of the variability to the variability of a control population. The characteristics studied were: flowering, fructification, growth and vegetative spreading. Favourable and unfavourable results are observed (earlier ripening time, or low fruitfulness), meanwhile, for higher intensity irradiation, only unfavourable results are obtained [fr

47 CFR 54.615 - Obtaining services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... provided under § 54.621, that the requester cannot obtain toll-free access to an Internet service provider... thing of value; (6) If the service or services are being purchased as part of an aggregated purchase... submitted and select the most cost-effective alternative. (b) Receiving supported rate. Except with regard...

Skin-to-skin contact is associated with earlier breastfeeding attainment in preterm infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Oras, Paola; Thernström Blomqvist, Ylva; Hedberg Nyqvist, Kerstin; Gradin, Maria; Rubertsson, Christine; Hellström-Westas, Lena; Funkquist, Eva-Lotta

2016-07-01

This study investigated the effects of skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding attainment, duration and infant growth in preterm infants, as this has not been sufficiently explored. A prospective longitudinal study on Kangaroo mother care was carried out, comprising 104 infants with a gestational age of 28 + 0 to 33 + 6 and followed up to one year of corrected age. Parents and staff recorded the duration of skin-to skin contact during the stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Medical data were collected through patient records, and follow-up questionnaires were filled in by parents. The 53 infants who attained full breastfeeding in the NICU did so at a median (range) of 35 + 0 (32 + 1 to 37 + 5) weeks of postmenstrual age, and skin-to-skin contact was the only factor that influenced earlier attainment in the regression analysis (R(2) 0.215 p skin-to-skin contact during the stay in the NICU did not affect the duration of breastfeeding or infant growth after discharge. Furthermore, infant growth was not affected by the feeding strategy of exclusive, partial breastfeeding or no breastfeeding. A longer daily duration of skin-to-skin contact in the NICU was associated with earlier attainment of exclusive breastfeeding. ©2016 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Towards an Integrated Value Adding Management Model for FM and CREM

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Per Anker; van der Voordt, Theo

2016-01-01

Purpose : To present an integrated process model of adding value by Facilities Management (FM) and Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) that is a generalisation of existing conceptual frameworks and aims to be a basis for management of added value in practice. Background : The growing research...... frameworks are too complex and lack of common terminology and clear operationalisations of intervention-impact relationships. Approach (Theory/Methodology) :A generalised Value Adding Management process model is developed based on a common cause-effect model identified in existing conceptual frameworks...... aims at supporting the practical management and measurement of added value. A typology with six types of FM/CREM interventions is developed from earlier research. The concept of Value Adding Management is investigated and the 12 most important added value parameters are identified. Research limitations...

Manipulating potential wells in Logical Stochastic Resonance to obtain XOR logic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storni, Remo; Ando, Hiroyasu; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Murali, K.; Sinha, Sudeshna

2012-01-01

Logical Stochastic Resonance (LSR) is the application of Stochastic Resonance to logic computation, namely the phenomenon where a nonlinear system driven by weak signals representing logic inputs, under optimal noise, can yield logic outputs. We extend the existing results, obtained in the context of bistable systems, to multi-stable dynamical systems, allowing us to obtain XOR logic, in addition to the AND (NAND) and OR (NOR) logic observed in earlier studies. This strategy widens the scope of LSR from the application point of view, as XOR forms the basis of ubiquitous bit-by-bit addition, and conceptually, showing the ability to yield non-monotonic input–output logic associations. -- Highlights: ► We generalize Logical Stochastic Resonance from bistable to multi-stable systems. ► We propose a tristable dynamical system formed of piecewise linear functions. ► The system can correctly reproduce XOR logic behavior using the LSR principle. ► The system yields different logic behavior without the need to change the dynamics.

Value management : functional expression of the need and functional performance specification : requirements for expressing and validating the need to be satisfied within the process of purchasing or obtaining a product

CERN Document Server

Association Française de Normalisation. Paris

2013-01-01

Value management : functional expression of the need and functional performance specification : requirements for expressing and validating the need to be satisfied within the process of purchasing or obtaining a product

Advanced seasonal reproductive development in a male urban bird is reflected in earlier plasma luteinizing hormone rise but not energetic status.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Scott; Behbahaninia, Hirbod; Giraudeau, Mathieu; Meddle, Simone L; Waites, Kyle; Deviche, Pierre

2015-12-01

Urban animals inhabit an environment considerably different than do their non-urban conspecifics, and to persist urban animals must adjust to these novel environments. The timing of seasonal reproductive development (i.e., growth of gonads and secondary sex organs) is a fundamental determinant of the breeding period and is frequently advanced in urban bird populations. However, the underlying mechanism(s) by which birds adjust the timing of reproductive development to urban areas remain(s) largely unknown. Here, we compared the timing of vernal reproductive development in free-ranging urban and non-urban male Abert's Towhees, Melozone aberti, in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and tested the non-mutually exclusive hypotheses that earlier reproductive development is due to improved energetic status and/or earlier increase in endocrine activity of the reproductive system. We found that urban birds initiated testicular development earlier than non-urban birds, but this disparity was not associated with differences in body condition, fat stores, or innate immune performance. These results provide no support for the hypothesis that energetic constraints are responsible for delayed reproductive development of non-urban relative to urban male Abert's Towhees. Urban birds did, however, increase their plasma luteinizing hormone, but not plasma testosterone, earlier than non-urban birds. These findings suggest that adjustment to urban areas by Abert's Towhees involves increases in the endocrine activity of the anterior pituitary gland and/or hypothalamus earlier than non-urban towhees. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Obtaining and application of increased food and biological value iodinated products from lentils sprouted grain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. V. Antipova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The choice of research direction is related to the actual problem of production and distribution of functional purpose food products due to the spread of nutritional diseases and the lack of micronutrients in ordinary people and athletes diet. As an object for enrichment with iodine, it was suggested to use lentils, which is famous for its high protein content, low lipid and oligosaccharide content, and low inhibitory effect. The iodine accumulation occurs during germination, due to the use of a nutrient solution of the iodine inorganic form. In addition, the biochemical composition of the grain and the biological value of lentils are significantly improved: an increase in the content of total amino acids and vitamins is found to be 1.5-2.0 times, a mass fraction of the oligosaccharide fraction is observed. To determine the effect of technological processing on the degree of iodine conservation in lentils the grains were exposed to the following impact: grinding, extrusion, frying. An insignificant decrease in the amount of iodine during extrusion was noted and more significant one - during grinding. The obtained results of the determination of biological safety by the method of studying the effect of the investigated product on the growth response of ciliates allowed to confirm the safety of both fresh and dried sprouted grain of lentils. When studying the microbiology of grain by sowing on agarized selective diagnostic environments with subsequent identification of the qualitative and quantitative composition of microflora, including colony-forming units, deviations from the normative indices were not revealed. Experimental production of the extrudate was carried out, possible ways of its use in meat systems for improving the functional and technological properties of minced meat, as well as for independent use as snacks for the nutrition of athletes were suggested.

Use of metformin earlier in pregnancy predicts supplemental insulin therapy in women with gestational diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

McGrath, Rachel T; Glastras, Sarah J; Hocking, Samantha; Fulcher, Gregory R

2016-06-01

The use of metformin in gestational diabetes is safe and effective, yet some women require additional insulin therapy to achieve glycaemic targets. We found a significant association between earlier gestational age at initiation of metformin therapy and the necessity for supplemental insulin in women treated with metformin during pregnancy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disclosed Values of Option-Based Compensation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bechmann, Ken L.; Hjortshøj, Toke Lilhauge

New accounting standards require firms to expense the costs of option-based compensation (OBC), but the associated valuations offer many challenges for firms. Earlier research has documented that firms in the U.S. generally underreport the values of OBC by manipulating the inputs used for valuation......-Scholes parameters in their valuations. Furthermore, firms determine the expected time to maturity in a way that is generally consistent with the guidelines provided by the new accounting standards. The findings differ from those of the U.S., but is consistent with the more limited use of OBC and the lower level...

Development of the NAA Laboratory for an Accreditation Obtains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sri Wardani; Rina M, Th.; Sunarko, M.; Ratnawati, E.

2004-01-01

The evaluation of capability of the neutron activation analysis comparative method and laboratory equipment at P2TRR have been performed by analyzed a reference standard materials prepared by NIST, namely: SRM 1646a and SRM 1648 by a both of comparative and ko- NAA methods. From the analysis results used a comparative method shown that the method and laboratory equipment used at P2TRR obtained in a good precision, accuracy and high sensitivity. In this experiments a few elements could analyzed, namely: V, Ti, Mn, Cl, As, Sm, La, Na, Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Se, Br, In, Sb, Ba, Cs, Ce, W, U, and Zn. The deviation values results compared with certificate values (NIST) obtained in a range 2 - 12.5% with confidence levels in range 68 - 98%. While, a reference standard material of SRM 1648 analyzed by k 0 -NAA method shown that the method need more research and study continued. From the qualitatively analysis results for short-lived nuclides category analysis by k 0 -NAA could identified a few elements, namely: V, Cu, Na, As and U with standard deviation values in range 1- 11% and limit detection values are 1.6 (U), 6.4 (Cu), 11.2 (V), 73.3 (As) and 199.9 (Na) μg/g for a SRM 1648. For analysis of CRM 8 the results obtained on standard deviation values in range 1 - 13 % and limit detection of 0.71 (Cu), 1.2 (As), 2.4 (V) and 375.9 (Na) μg/g. (author)

Assumption and program of the earlier stage construction of L/ILW disposal site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xuequn; Chen Shi; Li Xinbang

1993-01-01

The authors analysed the production and treatment of low- and intermediate-level radwastes (L/ILW) in China. Some problems and situation in this field are introduced. Over the past ten years, preliminary efforts have been made by CNNC (China National Nuclear Corporation) in policy, law and rules, developing program, management system, siting, engineering techniques, and safety assessment for radwaste disposal. The investment of the earlier stage work of L/ILW disposal site construction is estimated, the program and assumption to disposal site construction of the L/ILW are reviewed

Water uptake in free films and coatings using the Brasher and Kingsbury equation: a possible explanation of the different values obtained by electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy and gravimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vosgien Lacombre, C.; Bouvet, G.; Trinh, D.; Mallarino, S.; Touzain, S.

2017-01-01

For many years, the water uptake in organic coatings was measured by EIS and/or gravimetry but differences in water content values were found in almost all studies. The Brasher-Kingsbury equation used in the electrochemical analysis (EIS) is often criticized because elementary assumptions may be unvalid. The origin of the discrepancy between both methods is still of interest because many questions remain open and this study aims to provide new insights to these questions. In this work, free films and coatings of a model epoxy-amine system were immersed in a 3 wt.% NaCl solution. The water uptake in free films was evaluated using gravimetric measurements and EIS, using the Basher-Kingsbury equation. The mass of free-films used in the EIS tests was measured and compare to gravimetric measurements while the water uptake (EIS) in free films was compared to that obtained with coatings. It was found that the mass increase of free films tested with EIS was in agreement with gravimetric measurements but was always lower than the water uptake obtained by EIS. Moreover, the water uptake in free films (EIS) was different from that obtained with coatings. In all cases, it was found that the Basher-Kingsbury equation overestimated the water uptake. It appears that the differences between EIS and gravimetric measurements can be analyzed in terms of geometrical effects. Indeed, the swelling in free films and coatings can be monitored by DMA and SECM during ageing. Finally, by mixing the experimental swelling data and the Brasher-Kingsbury equation, the same value of water uptake was obtained by EIS and gravimetry for coatings.

Estimation of Monetary Value of Information on the Internet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Nazari

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This research estimates the monetary value of internet information for each type of information and services by using Hedonic pricing method. The statistic social of this research is high-speed internet users in Tehran. Based on the results, high speed internet users of Tehran consider a positive monetary value for some information types in the internet, in descendent respect, such as film downloading, gaming, News, social network, and music. Also, the results indicates that people with higher education level and people who are subscribed to high speed internet earlier than other people consider more monetary value to use the internet. For generalizing the result of this research, it’s suggested to do this research at other cities of Iran. At last, some applicable suggestions made.

A test of the reward-value hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Alexandra E; Dalecki, Stefan J; Crystal, Jonathon D

2017-03-01

Rats retain source memory (memory for the origin of information) over a retention interval of at least 1 week, whereas their spatial working memory (radial maze locations) decays within approximately 1 day. We have argued that different forgetting functions dissociate memory systems. However, the two tasks, in our previous work, used different reward values. The source memory task used multiple pellets of a preferred food flavor (chocolate), whereas the spatial working memory task provided access to a single pellet of standard chow-flavored food at each location. Thus, according to the reward-value hypothesis, enhanced performance in the source memory task stems from enhanced encoding/memory of a preferred reward. We tested the reward-value hypothesis by using a standard 8-arm radial maze task to compare spatial working memory accuracy of rats rewarded with either multiple chocolate or chow pellets at each location using a between-subjects design. The reward-value hypothesis predicts superior accuracy for high-valued rewards. We documented equivalent spatial memory accuracy for high- and low-value rewards. Importantly, a 24-h retention interval produced equivalent spatial working memory accuracy for both flavors. These data are inconsistent with the reward-value hypothesis and suggest that reward value does not explain our earlier findings that source memory survives unusually long retention intervals.

7 CFR 765.353 - Determining market value.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Determining market value. 765.353 Section 765.353... Determining market value. (a) Security proposed for disposition. (1) The Agency will obtain an appraisal of... estimated value is less than $25,000. (b) Security remaining after disposition. The Agency will obtain an...

Time course of NMR images and T1 values associated with hypertensive intracerebral hematoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inao, Suguru; Furuse, Masahiro; Saso, Katsuyoshi; Yoshida, Kazuo; Motegi, Yoshimasa; Kaneoke, Yoshiki; Kamata, Noriko; Izawa, Akira

1986-01-01

The present study describes time courses in tissue T 1 values, as well as in NMR imagings, associated with hypertensive intracerebral hematoma (ICH). Non-operative 21 cases of ICH were examined by FONAR QED 80-α NMR system, which possessed dual modes of image display and focal T 1 measurement (static magnetic field : 433 gauss). As the first step of examination SSFP images are displayed and then, at the regions of interest, absolute values of T 1 are measured by field focusing technique. The extent of ICH was revealed as high density zone in NMR imaging, occasionally represented much wider extent of high density area than the finding on X-ray CT. Prolonged T 1 values were obtained from such high density zone. This widespread high density area was regarded to reflect the spread of perifocal brain edema. T 1 value of the hematoma itself was rather shortened in its initial phase within 2 weeks, thereafter followed by prolongation in the time lapse. This seemed to reflect the alterations in the properties of hematoma such as clot formation in earlier phase and resolution in later phase. On the contrary, T 1 in the brain tissue surrounded to hematoma was apparently prolonged in the early phase within 2 weeks, representing the maximal values of 312 msec arround 2 to 4 weeks after the onset, and then gradually normalized in the period over 1 month. This alteration in tissue T 1 likely represents the processes of edema formation and its regression in perifocal zone. T 1 values measured in perifocal region might be available for the evaluation of edema state in association with cerebrovascular accident. (author)

Nutritional potential of green banana flour obtained by drying in spouted bed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolina Vieira Bezerra

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This study evaluated the chemical composition of peeled and unpeeled green banana Cavendish (AAA flour obtained by drying in spouted bed, aiming at adding nutritional value to food products. The bananas were sliced and crushed to obtain a paste and fed to the spouted bed dryer (12 cm height and T = 80 ºC in order to obtain flour. The flours obtained were subjected to analysis of moisture, protein, ash, carbohydrates, total starch, resistant starch, fiber. The green banana flours, mainly unpeeled, are good sources of fiber and resistant starch with an average of 21.91g/100g and 68.02g/100g respectively. The protein content was found in an average of 4.76g/100g, being classified as a low biological value protein with lysine as the first limiting amino acid. The results showed that unpeeled green banana flour obtained by spouted bed drying can be a valuable tool to add nutritional value to products in order to increase their non-digestible fraction.

Left ventricle ejection fraction obtained by radioisotopic angiocardiography. Correlation between the values of the conventional ventriclegraphy. Fracao de ejecao do ventriculo esquerdo obtida por angiocardiografia radioisotopica. Correlacao com os valores fornecidos pela ventriculografia convencional

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ascer, E; Pimentel Filho, W A; Martins, L R.F.; Marioni Filho, H; Queiroga Filho, A F; Alonso, G; Germek, O A; Thom, A F; Souza, J E.M.R. [Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

1983-02-01

Forty-two patients with clinical signs of coronary insuficiency underwent cineangiographic and radioisotopic examinations with the purpose of analysing the correlation between the values of left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) obtained by both methods. The values of EF obtained by the hemodynamic method (HEMO) ranged from 0.14 to 0.85 (x-bar = 0.566) and by radioisotopic method (RM) from 0.22 to 0.89 (x-bar = 0.573). The Student T test did not demonstrate statistically significant differences between the two methods (mean of differences = 0.007; t = 0.38 and p {ge} 0.353). A regression equation was obtained in order to estimate the EF by HEMO deriving from results obtained by RM (y = 0.11 + 0.80x) and to estimate the EF through RN from the results obtained by HEMO (x = 0.08 + 0.86y), where y = hemodynamic method and x = radioisotopic method. The authors conclude that the calculation of the EF by the methods used showed a good correlation and that this fact is evidenced by the elevated Pearson's correlation coefficient (r = 0.833). (author).

A comparison of intraocular pressure values obtained with the Tono-Pachymeter NT530P, iCare® rebound tonometer and Goldmann applanation tonometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Rampersad

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to compare the intraocular pressure (IOP values measured with the Tono-Pachymeter NT530P (Tonopachy™ and the iCare® rebound tonometer (iCare® with those obtained by the Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT. The right eyes of 105 subjects aged 18 to 82 years (mean age = 29.27 ± 14.67 years were assessed with the three tonometers. Central corneal thickness (CCT was measured first using the Tonopachy™ and then IOP was measured by Tonopachy™, iCare® and GAT. The data was analyzed with descriptive statistics, paired  t-test, correlation and regression analysis. The Bland-Altman method of analysis was used to evaluate agreements between the sets of data from the three devices. The CCT values ranged from 440 µm to 606 µm (mean= 518.49 ± 33.01 µm. There was little or no correlation between CCT and IOP for any of the instruments used in this study (r = 0.29 for Tonopachy™, r = 0.22 for iCare®, r = 0.17 for GAT. The mean IOP measured with the Tonopachy™ was 14.31 ± 3.57 mmHg (range 8.7 mmHg to 31 mmHg and 16.64 ± 4.38 mmHg (range 8 mmHg to 32 mmHg using the iCare®. The mean IOP measured with the GAT was 14.79 ± 3.09 mmHg (range 8.7 mmHg to 29.7 mmHg. Using the Bland-Altman method, the upper and lower limits of agreement between the Tonopachy™ and GAT, iCare® and GAT, iCare® and Tonopachy™ were 5.1 mmHg and –4.2 mmHg, 8.6 mmHg and –4.9 mmHg, 7.5 mmHg and –2.8 mmHg respectively. In 79.1% of the eyes studied, the mean IOP difference between Tonopachy™ and GAT was less than 3 mmHg and in 20.9% of the eyes, the difference was greater than 3 mmHg. However, mean IOP differences of greater than 3 mmHg were obtained by iCare® in comparison with GAT (40% and Tonopachy™ (34.3% respectively. Findings of this study suggest that the Tonopachy™ yielded IOP readings that were consistent with those of GAT values while iCare® yielded higher IOP values compared to both GAT and Tonopachy™. (S Afr

The composition, heating value and renewable share of the energy content of mixed municipal solid waste in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horttanainen, M.; Teirasvuo, N.; Kapustina, V.; Hupponen, M.; Luoranen, M.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • New experimental data of mixed MSW properties in a Finnish case region. • The share of renewable energy of mixed MSW. • The results were compared with earlier international studies. • The average share of renewable energy was 30% and the average LHVar 19 MJ/kg. • Well operating source separation decreases the renewable energy content of MSW. - Abstract: For the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration it is essential to know the share of the renewable energy content of the combusted waste. The composition and heating value information is generally available, but the renewable energy share or heating values of different fractions of waste have rarely been determined. In this study, data from Finnish studies concerning the composition and energy content of mixed MSW were collected, new experimental data on the compositions, heating values and renewable share of energy were presented and the results were compared to the estimations concluded from earlier international studies. In the town of Lappeenranta in south-eastern Finland, the share of renewable energy ranged between 25% and 34% in the energy content tests implemented for two sample trucks. The heating values of the waste and fractions of plastic waste were high in the samples compared to the earlier studies in Finland. These high values were caused by good source separation and led to a low share of renewable energy content in the waste. The results showed that in mixed municipal solid waste the renewable share of the energy content can be significantly lower than the general assumptions (50–60%) when the source separation of organic waste, paper and cardboard is carried out successfully. The number of samples was however small for making extensive conclusions on the results concerning the heating values and renewable share of energy and additional research is needed for this purpose

The composition, heating value and renewable share of the energy content of mixed municipal solid waste in Finland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horttanainen, M., E-mail: mika.horttanainen@lut.fi; Teirasvuo, N.; Kapustina, V.; Hupponen, M.; Luoranen, M.

2013-12-15

Highlights: • New experimental data of mixed MSW properties in a Finnish case region. • The share of renewable energy of mixed MSW. • The results were compared with earlier international studies. • The average share of renewable energy was 30% and the average LHVar 19 MJ/kg. • Well operating source separation decreases the renewable energy content of MSW. - Abstract: For the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration it is essential to know the share of the renewable energy content of the combusted waste. The composition and heating value information is generally available, but the renewable energy share or heating values of different fractions of waste have rarely been determined. In this study, data from Finnish studies concerning the composition and energy content of mixed MSW were collected, new experimental data on the compositions, heating values and renewable share of energy were presented and the results were compared to the estimations concluded from earlier international studies. In the town of Lappeenranta in south-eastern Finland, the share of renewable energy ranged between 25% and 34% in the energy content tests implemented for two sample trucks. The heating values of the waste and fractions of plastic waste were high in the samples compared to the earlier studies in Finland. These high values were caused by good source separation and led to a low share of renewable energy content in the waste. The results showed that in mixed municipal solid waste the renewable share of the energy content can be significantly lower than the general assumptions (50–60%) when the source separation of organic waste, paper and cardboard is carried out successfully. The number of samples was however small for making extensive conclusions on the results concerning the heating values and renewable share of energy and additional research is needed for this purpose.

Restricted Hartree Fock using complex-valued orbitals: A long-known but neglected tool in electronic structure theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Small, David W.; Sundstrom, Eric J.; Head-Gordon, Martin [Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

2015-01-14

Restricted Hartree Fock using complex-valued orbitals (cRHF) is studied. We introduce an orbital pairing theorem, with which we obtain a concise connection between cRHF and real-valued RHF, and use it to uncover the close relationship between cRHF, unrestricted Hartree Fock, and generalized valence bond perfect pairing. This enables an intuition for cRHF, contrasting with the generally unintuitive nature of complex orbitals. We also describe an efficient computer implementation of cRHF and its corresponding stability analysis. By applying cRHF to the Be + H{sub 2} insertion reaction, a Woodward-Hoffmann violating reaction, and a symmetry-driven conical intersection, we demonstrate in genuine molecular systems that cRHF is capable of removing certain potential energy surface singularities that plague real-valued RHF and related methods. This complements earlier work that showed this capability in a model system. We also describe how cRHF is the preferred RHF method for certain radicaloid systems like singlet oxygen and antiaromatic molecules. For singlet O{sub 2}, we show that standard methods fail even at the equilibrium geometry. An implication of this work is that, regardless of their individual efficacies, cRHF solutions to the HF equations are fairly commonplace.

Earlier surgical intervention in congenital heart disease results in better outcome and resource utilization.

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Panni, Roheena Z; Ashfaq, Awais; Amanullah, Muhammad M

2011-12-29

Congenital heart disease (CHD) accounts for a major proportion of disease in the pediatric age group. The objective of the study was to estimate the cost of illness associated with CHD pre, intra and postoperatively; among patients referred to a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. This is the first study conducted to estimate the cost of managing CHD in Pakistan. A prevalence based cost of illness study design was used to estimate the cost of cardiac surgery (corrective & palliative) for congenital heart defects in children ≤ 5 years of age from June 2006 to June 2009. A total of 120 patients were enrolled after obtaining an informed consent and the data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. The mean age at the time of surgery in group A (1-12 mo age) was 6.08 ± 2.80 months and in group B (1-5 yrs) was 37.10 ± 19.94 months. The cost of surgical admission was found to be significantly higher in the older group, p = 0.001. The total number and cost of post-operative outpatient visits was also higher in group B, p = 0.003. Pre and post operative hospital admissions were not found to be significantly different among the two groups, p = 0.166 and 0.627, respectively. The number of complications were found to be different between the two groups (p = 0.019). Majority of these were contributed by hemorrhage and post-operative seizures. This study concluded that significant expenditure is incurred by people with CHD; with the implication that resources could be saved by earlier detection and awareness campaigns.

Earlier adolescent substance use onset predicts stronger connectivity between reward and cognitive control brain networks

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David G. Weissman

2015-12-01

Discussion: The regions that demonstrated significant positive linear relationships between the number of adolescent years using substances and connectivity with NAcc are nodes in the right frontoparietal network, which is central to cognitive control. The coupling of reward and cognitive control networks may be a mechanism through which earlier onset of substance use is related to brain function over time, a trajectory that may be implicated in subsequent substance use disorders.

Are cause of subfertility and in vitro fertilization treatment risk factors for an earlier start of menopauze?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Boer, E.J.; den Tonkelaar, I.; Burger, C.W.; van Leeuwen, F.E.

2005-01-01

Objective: To study whether women diagnosed with unexplained subfertility reach the menopause transition and natural menopause earlier than women with tubal subfertility, in an in vitro fertilization (FVF)-treated population, and to examine the influence of the number of FVT cycles on the occurrence

Preference-based measures to obtain health state utility values for use in economic evaluations with child-based populations: a review and UK-based focus group assessment of patient and parent choices.

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Wolstenholme, Jane L; Bargo, Danielle; Wang, Kay; Harnden, Anthony; Räisänen, Ulla; Abel, Lucy

2018-03-21

No current guidance is available in the UK on the choice of preference-based measure (PBM) that should be used in obtaining health-related quality of life from children. The aim of this study is to review the current usage of PBMs for obtaining health state utility values in child and adolescent populations, and to obtain information on patient and parent-proxy respondent preferences in completing PBMs in the UK. A literature review was conducted to determine which instrument is most frequently used for child-based economic evaluations and whether child or proxy responses are used. Instruments were compared on dimensions, severity levels, elicitation and valuation methods, availability of value sets and validation studies, and the range of utility values generated. Additionally, a series of focus groups of parents and young people (11-20 years) were convened to determine patient and proxy preferences. Five PBMs suitable for child populations were identified, although only the Health Utilities Index 2 (HUI2) and Child Heath Utility 9D (CHU-9D) have UK value sets. 45 papers used PBMs in this population, but many used non-child-specific PBMs. Most respondents were parent proxies, even in adolescent populations. Reported missing data ranged from 0.5 to 49.3%. The focus groups reported their experiences with the EQ-5D-Y and CHU-9D. Both the young persons' group and parent/proxy groups felt that the CHU-9D was more comprehensive but may be harder for a proxy to complete. Some younger children had difficulty understanding the CHU-9D questions, but the young persons' group nonetheless preferred responding directly. The use of PBMs in child populations is increasing, but many studies use PBMs that do not have appropriate value sets. Parent proxies are the most common respondents, but the focus group responses suggest it would be preferred, and may be more informative, for older children to self-report or for child-parent dyads to respond.

Earlier adolescent substance use onset predicts stronger connectivity between reward and cognitive control brain networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Weissman, David G; Schriber, Roberta A; Fassbender, Catherine; Atherton, Olivia; Krafft, Cynthia; Robins, Richard W; Hastings, Paul D; Guyer, Amanda E

2015-12-01

Early adolescent onset of substance use is a robust predictor of future substance use disorders. We examined the relation between age of substance use initiation and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the core reward processing (nucleus accumbens; NAcc) to cognitive control (prefrontal cortex; PFC) brain networks. Adolescents in a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth reported their substance use annually from ages 10 to 16 years. At age 16, 69 adolescents participated in a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Seed-based correlational analyses were conducted using regions of interest in bilateral NAcc. The earlier that adolescents initiated substance use, the stronger the connectivity between bilateral NAcc and right dorsolateral PFC, right dorsomedial PFC, right pre-supplementary motor area, right inferior parietal lobule, and left medial temporal gyrus. The regions that demonstrated significant positive linear relationships between the number of adolescent years using substances and connectivity with NAcc are nodes in the right frontoparietal network, which is central to cognitive control. The coupling of reward and cognitive control networks may be a mechanism through which earlier onset of substance use is related to brain function over time, a trajectory that may be implicated in subsequent substance use disorders. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Silicon dioxide obtained by Polymeric Precursor Method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, C.T.; Granado, S.R.; Lopes, S.A.; Cavalheiro, A.A.

2011-01-01

The Polymeric Precursor Method is able for obtaining several oxide material types with high surface area even obtained in particle form. Several MO 2 oxide types such as titanium, silicon and zirconium ones can be obtained by this methodology. In this work, the synthesis of silicon oxide was monitored by thermal analysis, XRD and surface area analysis in order to demonstrate the influence of the several synthesis and calcining parameters. Surface area values as higher as 370m2/g and increasing in the micropore volume nm were obtained when the material was synthesized by using ethylene glycol as polymerizing agent. XRD analysis showed that the material is amorphous when calcinated at 600°C in despite of the time of calcining, but the material morphology is strongly influenced by the polymeric resin composition. Using Glycerol as polymerizing agent, the pore size increase and the surface area goes down with the increasing in decomposition time, when compared to ethylene glycol. (author)

Meaning That Social Studies Teacher Candidates Give to Value Concept and Their Value Rankings

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Aysegül, Tural

2018-01-01

This work determines the role that value education plays in shaping people's personal and social life. This research aims to put forward meaning that social studies teacher candidates give to value concept and its value ranking. To achieve this aim, the opinions of 12 social studies teacher candidates were obtained. During the data collection…

Willingness to accept climate change strategies: the effect of values and norms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nilsson, A.; Borgstede, C. von; Biel, A. [Goeteborg Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Psychology

2004-09-15

The present study examined how values, organizational goals and norms influence willingness to accept climate change policy measures within organizations. Respondents were 356 decision makers within the public and private sectors in a metropolitan area of Sweden. Regression models were estimated to investigate the mediating effect of norms on the relationship between values and support of policy measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The results showed that for decision makers in the public sector, but not in the private sector, environmental values were important determinants of willingness to accept climate change policy measures. As hypothesized, these effects were mediated by norms. Together these findings corroborate earlier research on public support for environmental movement. (author)

Interval Continuous Plant Identification from Value Sets

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R. Hernández

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper shows how to obtain the values of the numerator and denominator Kharitonov polynomials of an interval plant from its value set at a given frequency. Moreover, it is proven that given a value set, all the assigned polynomials of the vertices can be determined if and only if there is a complete edge or a complete arc lying on a quadrant. This algorithm is nonconservative in the sense that if the value-set boundary of an interval plant is exactly known, and particularly its vertices, then the Kharitonov rectangles are exactly those used to obtain these value sets.

Diagnostic value of newborn foot length to predict gestational age

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Mutia Farah Fawziah

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Background  Identification of gestational age, especially within 48 hours of birth, is crucial for newborns, as the earlier preterm status is detected, the earlier the child can receive optimal management. Newborn foot length is an anthropometric measurement which is easy to perform, inexpensive, and potentially efficient for predicting gestational age. Objective  To analyze the diagnostic value of newborn foot length in predicting gestational age. Methods  This diagnostic study was performed between October 2016 and February 2017 in the High Care Unit of Neonates at Dr. Moewardi General Hospital, Surakarta. A total of 152 newborns were consecutively selected and underwent right foot length measurements before 96 hours of age. The correlation between newborn foot length to classify as full term and gestational age was analyzed with Spearman’s correlation test because of non-normal data distribution. The cut-off point of newborn foot length was calculated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve and diagnostic values of newborn foot length were analyzed by 2 x 2 table with SPSS 21.0 software. Results There were no significant differences between male and female newborns in terms of gestational age, birth weight, choronological age, and newborn foot length (P>0.05. Newborn foot length and gestational age had a significant correlation (r=0.53; P=0.000. The optimal cut-off newborn foot length to predict full term status was 7.1 cm. Newborn foot length below 7.1 cm had sensitivity 75%, specificity 98%, positive predictive value 94.3%, negative predictive value 90.6%, positive likelihood ratio 40.5, negative likelihood ratio 0.25, and post-test probability 94.29%, to predict preterm status in newborns. Conclusion  Newborn foot length can be used to predict gestational age, especially for the purpose of differentiating between preterm and full term newborns.

Determination of crack arrest toughness in A508 CL.3 forging steel from ASTM E1221-88 procedure. Comparison with the values obtained from thermal loading tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frund, J.M.; Difant, M.; Bethmont, M.

1994-01-01

A crack arrest study is under way at Electricite de France as part of the analysis of the risk of fast fracture of PWR vessels in emergency conditions. The first objective of this study is to evaluate the toughness which characterizes crack arrest through tests on reduced-size specimens. Some of the tests on a forging steel (A508 Cl.3) were conducted in conformity with two experimental methods. One method recommended by the ASTM calls for the use of an imposed-displacement mechanical loading on specimens kept under homogeneous temperature. Since the stress intensity factor K applied to the outside loading decreases along the crack growth, we can observe the arrest of the crack. In order to obtain brittle crack initiations in cleavage in the whole studied range of temperature and crack propagation of a sufficient length, the application of a weld point at the top of the notch is done. The other experimental method is based on a thermal loading. It requires the use of a disk or a cylinder with a longitudinal initial crack of the external surface. We dip this specimen in liquid nitrogen and we heat its internal surface with inducing current. There is a temperature gradient in the thickness of the specimen which produces a stress field which tends to open the crack. When the value of K is reached the crack initiation takes place. Several phenomena act to oppose the crack growth, they even go as far as stopping it. First the value of K, after increasing, gets steady then decreases, then, the rate of energy dissipated by plasticity at the top of the crack increases because the crack meets warmer and warmer areas on its way. The arrest toughness values which were obtained were then analyzed and compared to one another and with values proposed by RCC-m code. (authors). 12 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs

A Hepatocellular Carcinoma Case in a Patient Who had Immunity to Hepatitis B Virus Earlier.

Science.gov (United States)

Ates, Ihsan; Kaplan, Mustafa; Demirci, Selim; Altiparmak, Emin

2016-01-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common malignant tumor of the liver. Hepatitis B virus infection is one of the most important etilogical factors of HCC. In this case report, a patient with HCC previously infected and having ongoing immunity against hepatitis B virus will be discussed. Ates I, Kaplan M, Demirci S, Altiparmak E. A Hepatocellular Carcinoma Case in a Patient Who had Immunity to Hepatitis B Virus Earlier. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2016;6(1):82-83.

Normal Values of Tissue-Muscle Perfusion Indexes of Lower Limbs Obtained with a Scintigraphic Method.

Science.gov (United States)

Manevska, Nevena; Stojanoski, Sinisa; Pop Gjorceva, Daniela; Todorovska, Lidija; Miladinova, Daniela; Zafirova, Beti

2017-09-01

Introduction Muscle perfusion is a physiologic process that can undergo quantitative assessment and thus define the range of normal values of perfusion indexes and perfusion reserve. The investigation of the microcirculation has a crucial role in determining the muscle perfusion. Materials and method The study included 30 examinees, 24-74 years of age, without a history of confirmed peripheral artery disease and all had normal findings on Doppler ultrasonography and pedo-brachial index of lower extremity (PBI). 99mTc-MIBI tissue muscle perfusion scintigraphy of lower limbs evaluates tissue perfusion in resting condition "rest study" and after workload "stress study", through quantitative parameters: Inter-extremity index (for both studies), left thigh/right thigh (LT/RT) left calf/right calf (LC/RC) and perfusion reserve (PR) for both thighs and calves. Results In our investigated group we assessed the normal values of quantitative parameters of perfusion indexes. Indexes ranged for LT/RT in rest study 0.91-1.05, in stress study 0.92-1.04. LC/RC in rest 0.93-1.07 and in stress study 0.93-1.09. The examinees older than 50 years had insignificantly lower perfusion reserve of these parameters compared with those younger than 50, LC (p=0.98), and RC (p=0.6). Conclusion This non-invasive scintigraphic method allows in individuals without peripheral artery disease to determine the range of normal values of muscle perfusion at rest and stress condition and to clinically implement them in evaluation of patients with peripheral artery disease for differentiating patients with normal from those with impaired lower limbs circulation.

IN BANGLADESH DIABETES STARTS EARLIER NOW THAN 10 YEARS BACK: A BIRDEM STUDY

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Parvin Akter Khanam

2008-01-01

Full Text Available BIRDEM is the largest referral center of diabetes in the world. It registered more than 300,000 diabetic patients from 1956 to 2005. This retrospective study compared the biophysical characteristics of diabetic patients registered in 1995 to those registered in 2005. Information on social (income, education, clinical (height, weight, blood pressure and oral glucose tolerance (OGTT of patients registered in 1995 and 2005 were retrieved from the BIRDEM registry. The age group ³ 20y was considered eligible. Overall, there were 11489 patients for 1995 and 19580 for 2005. Compared with the registry of 1995, a significant increase of registry for female patients were observed (39.5 vs. 46.7%, p<0.001 and also the rural population (31.9 vs. 47.4%, p<0.001. Likewise, the number of poor social class was also found higher in 2005 (5.2 vs. 25.5%, p<0.001. Young aged (<40y registry was also significantly higher in 2005 (34.4 vs. 37.1%, p<0.001. Compared with the registered patients of 1995, adjusted for sex and area, those of 2005 had a significantly higher BMI, higher FPG and higher 2hPG (for all, p<0.001. In contrast, a significantly lower age, lower height and lower blood pressure were observed in those of 2005. We conclude that the age at registration for diabetes has decreased significantly in 2005 compared to that in 1995 indicating an earlier onset of diabetes. Significantly higher obesity in the year 2005 than 1995 indicates that there has been an increase in obesity that might be an important contributing factor for earlier onset of diabetes. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2008; 2(1: 1-3

Comparison of the biometric values obtained by two different A-mode ultrasound devices (Eye Cubed vs. PalmScan): a transversal, descriptive, and comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Velez-Montoya, Raul; Shusterman, Eugene Mark; López-Miranda, Miriam Jessica; Mayorquin-Ruiz, Mariana; Salcedo-Villanueva, Guillermo; Quiroz-Mercado, Hugo; Morales-Cantón, Virgilio

2010-03-24

To assess the reliability of the measurements obtained with the PalmScan, when compared with another standardized A-mode ultrasound device, and assess the consistency and correlation between the two methods. Transversal, descriptive, and comparative study. We recorded the axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD) and lens thickness (LT) obtained with two A-mode ultrasounds (PalmScan A2000 and Eye Cubed) using an immersion technique. We compared the measurements with a two-sample t-test. Agreement between the two devices was assessed with Bland-Altman plots and 95% limits of agreement. 70 eyes of 70 patients were enrolled in this study. The measurements with the Eye Cubed of AL and ACD were shorter than the measurements taken by the PalmScan. The differences were not statistically significant regarding AL (p < 0.4) but significant regarding ACD (p < 0.001). The highest agreement between the two devices was obtained during LT measurement. The PalmScan measurements were shorter, but not statistically significantly (p < 0.2). The values of AL and LT, obtained with both devices are not identical, but within the limits of agreement. The agreement is not affected by the magnitude of the ocular dimensions (but only between range of 20 mm to 27 mm of AL and 3.5 mm to 5.7 mm of LT). A correction of about 0.5 D could be considered if an intraocular lens is being calculated. However due to the large variability of the results, the authors recommend discretion in using this conversion factor, and to adjust the power of the intraocular lenses based upon the personal experience of the surgeon.

The Earlier the Better? Taking the AP® in 10th Grade. Research Report No. 2012-10

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Awilda; McKillip, Mary E. M.; Niu, Sunny X.

2013-01-01

In this report, the authors examine the impact of scoring a 1 or 2 on an AP® Exam in 10th grade on later AP Exam participation and performance. As access to AP courses increases within and across schools, a growing number of students are taking AP courses and exams in the earlier grades of high school. Using a matched sample of AP and no-AP…

Visual Perception Studies in CT images obtained lo low dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adame Brooks, D.; Miller-Clemente, R. A.

2015-01-01

This paper has as aims to describe a strategy to evaluate the diagnostic quality of obtained images of method for dose reduction, with the purpose of determining the dose value or values from which the image quality is significantly degraded making it insufficient for the diagnostic. To complement and have an estimate of the quality of the images we established a group of measures of objective type, and the diagnostic quality of the images was evaluated through a group of observers using the analysis ROC and LROC. For ROC and LROC analyzes the behavior of the area under the curve in relation to the four proposed dose levels was obtained. For high dose levels, detection was good. The values of area under the curve decreased as the dose rate decreased, falling to values indicating low accuracy in diagnosis. This result indicates that the area under the curve decreases by the dose rate. We conclude that the objective quality measures selected are representative of the changes that occur in the resulting image and provided information on changes in the perception of observers. The experiments ROC and LROC allowed determine the range of dose values from which the image degradation causes a low accuracy in the diagnostic. (Author)

An Improved Cambridge Filter Pad Extraction Methodology to Obtain More Accurate Water and “Tar” Values: In Situ Cambridge Filter Pad Extraction Methodology

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Ghosh David

2014-07-01

conventional cigarettes is required the in situ extraction methodology must be used for the aerosol of the PMI HTP to obtain accurate NFDPM/”tar” values. This would be for example the case if there were a need to print “tar” yields on packs or compare yields to ceilings. Failure to use the in situ extraction methodology will result in erroneous and overestimated NFDPM/”tar” values.

Study of energetic electrons in the outer radiation-belt regions using data obtained by the LLL spectrometer on OGO-5 in 1968

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, H.I. Jr.; Buck, R.M.; Davidson, G.

1979-01-01

An account is given of measurements of electrons made by the LLL magnetic electron spectrometer (60 to 3000 keV in seven differential energy channels) on the Ogo-5 satellite in the earth's outer-belt regions during 1968 and early 1969. The data were analyzed specifically to determine pitch-angle diffusion lifetimes as a function of energy in the L-range 2 to 5. As a part of this effort, the general dynamics of these regions were studied in terms of the time-dependent energy spectra, and pitch-angle distributions for the seven energy groups were obtained as a function of L with representative values presented for L = 2.5 to 6. The pitch-angle-diffusion results were used to analyze the dynamics of the electrons injected following the intense storms on October 31 and November 1, 1968, in terms of radial diffusion; the derived diffusion coefficients provide a quite reasonable picture of electron transport in the radiation belts. Both the radial- and pitch-angle-diffusion results are compared with earlier results. 53 references

Ab Initio Values of the Thermophysical Properties of Helium as Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Hurly, John J.; Moldover, Michael R.

2000-01-01

Recent quantum mechanical calculations of the interaction energy of pairs of helium atoms are accurate and some include reliable estimates of their uncertainty. We combined these ab initio results with earlier published results to obtain a helium-helium interatomic potential that includes relativistic retardation effects over all ranges of interaction. From this potential, we calculated the thermophysical properties of helium, i.e., the second virial coefficients, the dilute-gas viscosities, and the dilute-gas thermal conductivities of 3He, 4He, and their equimolar mixture from 1 K to 104 K. We also calculated the diffusion and thermal diffusion coefficients of mixtures of 3He and 4He. For the pure fluids, the uncertainties of the calculated values are dominated by the uncertainties of the potential; for the mixtures, the uncertainties of the transport properties also include contributions from approximations in the transport theory. In all cases, the uncertainties are smaller than the corresponding experimental uncertainties; therefore, we recommend the ab initio results be used as standards for calibrating instruments relying on these thermophysical properties. We present the calculated thermophysical properties in easy-to-use tabular form. PMID:27551630

Shock initiation sensitivity and Hugoniot-based equation of state of Composition B obtained using in situ electromagnetic gauging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibson, L L; Bartram, B D; Sheffield, S A; Gustavsen, R L; Brown, G W; Sandstrom, M M; Giambra, A M; Dattelbaum, D M; Handley, C A

2014-01-01

A series of gas gun-driven plate impact experiments were performed on vacuum melt-cast Composition B to obtain new Hugoniot states and shock sensitivity (run-distance-to-detonation) information. The Comp B (ρ 0 = 1.713 g/cm 3 ) consisted of 59.5% RDX, 39.5% TNT, and 1% wax, with ∼ 6.5% HMX in the RDX. The measured Hugoniot states were found to be consistent with earlier reports, with the compressibility on the shock adiabat softer than that of a 63% RDX material reported by Marsh.[4] The shock sensitivity was found to be more sensitive (shorter run distance to detonation at a given shock input condition) than earlier reports for Comp B-3 and a lower density (1.68-1.69 g/cm 3 ) Comp B formulation. The reactive flow during the shock-to-detonation transition was marked by heterogeneous, hot spot-driven growth both in and behind the leading shock front.

Do emotional support and classroom organization earlier in the year set the stage for higher quality instruction?

Science.gov (United States)

Curby, Timothy W; Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E; Abry, Tashia

2013-10-01

Many teachers believe that providing greater emotional and organizational supports in the beginning of the year strengthens their ability to teach effectively as the year progresses. Some interventions, such as the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, explicitly embed this sequence into professional development efforts. We tested the hypothesis that earlier emotional and organizational supports set the stage for improved instruction later in the year in a sample of third- and fourth-grade teachers enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the RC approach. Further, we examined the extent to which the model generalized for teachers using varying levels of RC practices as well as whether or not teachers were in the intervention or control groups. Teachers' emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions were observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) on five occasions throughout the year. Results indicated a reciprocal relation between emotional and instructional supports. Specifically, higher levels of emotional support earlier in the year predicted higher instructional support later in the year. Also, higher levels of instructional support earlier in the year predicted higher emotional support later in the year. Classroom organization was not found to have longitudinal associations with the other domains across a year. This pattern was robust when controlling for the use of RC practices as well as across intervention and control groups. Further, teachers' use of RC practices predicted higher emotional support and classroom organization throughout the year, suggesting the malleability of this teacher characteristic. Discussion highlights the connection between teachers' emotional and instructional supports and how the use of RC practices improves teachers' emotionally supportive interactions with students. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Partitioned key-value store with atomic memory operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary

2017-02-07

A partitioned key-value store is provided that supports atomic memory operations. A server performs a memory operation in a partitioned key-value store by receiving a request from an application for at least one atomic memory operation, the atomic memory operation comprising a memory address identifier; and, in response to the atomic memory operation, performing one or more of (i) reading a client-side memory location identified by the memory address identifier and storing one or more key-value pairs from the client-side memory location in a local key-value store of the server; and (ii) obtaining one or more key-value pairs from the local key-value store of the server and writing the obtained one or more key-value pairs into the client-side memory location identified by the memory address identifier. The server can perform functions obtained from a client-side memory location and return a result to the client using one or more of the atomic memory operations.

Natural selection for earlier male arrival to breeding grounds through direct and indirect effects in a migratory songbird

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velmala, William; Helle, Samuli; Ahola, Markus P.; Klaassen, M.R.J.; Lehikoinen, Esa; Rainio, Kalle; Sirkia, Paivi M.; Laaksonen, Toni

2015-01-01

For migratory birds, the earlier arrival of males to breeding grounds is often expected to have fitness benefits. However, the selection differential on male arrival time has rarely been decomposed into the direct effect of male arrival and potential indirect effects through female traits. We

Computational Techniques for Model Predictive Control of Large-Scale Systems with Continuous-Valued and Discrete-Valued Inputs

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Koichi Kobayashi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We propose computational techniques for model predictive control of large-scale systems with both continuous-valued control inputs and discrete-valued control inputs, which are a class of hybrid systems. In the proposed method, we introduce the notion of virtual control inputs, which are obtained by relaxing discrete-valued control inputs to continuous variables. In online computation, first, we find continuous-valued control inputs and virtual control inputs minimizing a cost function. Next, using the obtained virtual control inputs, only discrete-valued control inputs at the current time are computed in each subsystem. In addition, we also discuss the effect of quantization errors. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is shown by a numerical example. The proposed method enables us to reduce and decentralize the computation load.

Accounting for Co-Teaching: A Guide for Policymakers and Developers of Value-Added Models

Science.gov (United States)

Isenberg, Eric; Walsh, Elias

2015-01-01

We outline the options available to policymakers for addressing co-teaching in a value-added model. Building on earlier work, we propose an improvement to a method of accounting for co-teaching that treats co-teachers as teams, with each teacher receiving equal credit for co-taught students. Hock and Isenberg (2012) described a method known as the…

Record Values of a Pareto Distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahsanullah, M.

The record values of the Pareto distribution, labelled Pareto (II) (alpha, beta, nu), are reviewed. The best linear unbiased estimates of the parameters in terms of the record values are provided. The prediction of the sth record value based on the first m (s>m) record values are obtained. A classical Pareto distribution provides reasonably…

Comparison between total lung capacity and residual volume values obtained by pletysmography and single breath methods with methane

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Ricardo Marques Dias

2006-11-01

Full Text Available We analyzed pulmonary function tests of twenty asthmatic patients from Gaffrée e Guinle University Hospital, classified according to Brazilian Guidelines for Asthma (2002, similar to GINA, into mild persistent or moderate (9 or severe (11 asthma. We obtained parameters from spirometry, plethysmograph(PL and single breath technique for diffusion capacity (SB, with methane. Total lung capacity and residual volume were called TLCPL and RVPL when measured by pletysmography and TLCSB and RVSB when determined by single breath test. There were 13 women and 7 men with mean age of 47.6 years. The pulmonary dysfunction degree to FEV1/FVC was 58.8% with CI95=53.9 to 63.6. The mean values in litres for TLCPL (5.94 and RVPL (2.55 were significantly higher than for TLCSB (4.73 and RVSB (1.66. Multiple regression equations were determined for TLCPL e RVPL using only single breath values, TLCSB or RVSB, and spirographic parameters, with significant regression coefficients. However, the inclusion of spirometric parameters, except for FVC, did not improve the predicted capacity for the equations. Considering only the TLCSB, r2=0.79, the equation is: TLCPL=(TLCSB*1.025+1.088, with EPE=0.64. The regression for RVPL, r2=0.23, is: RVPL=(RVSB*0.9268+1.012. The results obtained after bronchodilation with 400 mcg of salbutamol did not improve the regression. We concluded that the SB technique did not obtain the same results as pletysmography for TLC and RV, but for TLC this difference can be predicted. Resumo: Foram analisados exames de função pulmonar de 20 asmáticos, em acompanhamento no HU Gaffrée Guinle, classificados, segundo o Consenso Brasileiro (2002, em asma leve persistente ou moderada (9 e grave (11. Foram obtidos os valores dos parâmetros da espirografia, da pletismografia e da técnica de respiração única, com metano, para a medida da difusão pulmonar (DLco. Assim, a capacidade pulmonar total e o volume residual, quando

EFFECT OF THE PRODUCTION SEASON ON NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND TECHNOLOGICAL SUITABILITY OF MILK OBTAINED FROM INTENSIVE (TMR AND TRADITIONAL FEEDING SYSTEM OF COWS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aneta Brodziak

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The seasonal variations in milk yield and its chemical composition arise mainly from changes in feeding of the cattle in different seasons of the year. A constant quantity of production and a similar quality of the raw material supply farms, where the feeding of cows is uniform throughout the year (TMR and PMR. The study included 1211 samples of milk obtained in the summer season (663 and in the winter season (548 from cows maintained in traditional and intensive (TMR system of production. Following parameters were determined: content of fat, protein, casein, lactose and dry matter; acidity (pH value; heat stability; rennet coagulation time; content of α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, bovine serum albumin, lactoferrin, lysozyme and fatty acid profiles. Cows fed in the TMR system produced significantly (P≤0.01 more milk and of a better chemical composition regardless of the season of production. Milk obtained from cows fed traditionally had the most profitable protein to fat ratio (0,90 and the shortest time of rennet coagulation (3:26 min. It contained significantly (P≤0.01 more whey proteins and had better fatty acid profiles for health. In addition the differences were usually larger in the summer season than in the winter season. It is possible to state that in summer season, when the animals are maintained on the pasture, milk obtained from cows fed traditionally is more suitable for processing and contains more biologically active substances. The daily milk yield and other important quality features of milk, significant interactions between season of production and system of feeding were revealed.

Decreased length of stay and earlier oral feeding associated with standardized postoperative clinical care for total gastrectomies at a cancer center.

Science.gov (United States)

Selby, Luke V; Rifkin, Marissa B; Yoon, Sam S; Ariyan, Charlotte E; Strong, Vivian E

2016-09-01

Standardization of postoperative care has been shown to decrease postoperative length of stay. In June 2009, we standardized postoperative care for all gastrectomies at our institution. Four years' worth of total gastrectomies (2 years prior to standardization and 2 years after standardization) were reviewed to determine the effect of standardization on postoperative care, length of stay, complications, and readmissions. Between June 2007 and July 2011, 99 patients underwent curative intent open total gastrectomy: 51 patients prior to standardization, and 48 patients poststandardization. Patients were predominantly male (70%); median age was 63; and median body mass index was 26. Standardization of postoperative care was associated with a decrease in median time to beginning both clear liquids and a postgastrectomy diet, earlier removal of epidural catheters, earlier use of oral pain medication, less time receiving intravenous fluids, and decreased length of stay (all P Care Center, or readmission. Institution of standardized postoperative orders for total gastrectomy was associated with a significantly decreased length of stay and earlier oral feeding without increasing postoperative complications, early postoperative outpatient visits, or readmissions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Wastewaters obtained from Hatay Tanneries

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Şana Sungur

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The leather tanning industry is one of the most significant pollutants in terms of both conventional and toxic parameters. On the other hand, leather industry has an important economic role both in Turkey and in the World. In this study, wastewater samples were taken from 15 different tanneries in the Hatay Region. Wastewaters obtained from liming process and chromium tanning process was analyzed. Sulfide, chromium (III, chromium (VI, oil and grease, total suspended solids (TSS, organic matters, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, chemical oxygen demand (COD, pH and alkalinity were determined according to Turkish Standard Methods. The determined averages values belong to wastewaters obtained from liming process were as following: pH 11.71; COD 16821 mg L-1; BOD 4357 mg L-1; TSS 39023 mg L-1; oil and grease 364 mg L-1; S-2 concentration 802 mg L-1; alkalinity 2115 mg L-1. The determined averages values belong to wastewaters obtained from chromium tanning process were also as following: pH 4.23; COD 6740 mg L-1; BOD 377 mg L-1; Cr+3 concentrations 372 mg L-1; Cr+6 concentrations 127 mg L-1; TSS 14553 mg L-1; oil and grease 343 mg L-1. The results of all analyzes were higher than wastewater discharge standards. As a result, it’s necessary to use more effective treatments in order to reduce the negative impacts of leather tanning industry that affect environment, natural water resources and at last human health and welfare.

Revalidation and rationale for high pKa values of unconjugated bilirubin

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Ostrow J Donald

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Our prior solvent partition analysis, published in 1992, yielded pKa values for unconjugated bilirubin of about 8.1 and 8.4, but these results have been challenged and studies by other methods have suggested pKa values below 5.0. Methods We repeated our published solvent partition studies, using 14C-unconjugated bilirubin highly purified by extraction of residual labeled impurities from CHCl3 into an aqueous buffer, pH 7.0. Partition ratios at six pH values from 5.0 to 9.0 were determined by radioassay and compared with our prior values obtained by diazo assay. Results At pH values ranging from 4.8 to 9.2, stable aqueous/chloroform 14C-partition ratios did not differ significantly from our published partition ratios based on diazo assay. Conclusion These results support the high pKa values of unconjugated bilirubin, above 8.0, derived from our earlier solvent partition study. In both studies, our measurements were based on the rapid analysis of clearly under-saturated solutions of highly-purified bilirubin over a wide pH range, using properly purified and preserved solvents. No previous direct estimate of the aqueous pKa values of unconjugated bilirubin meets all these preconditions. Three theoretical factors acting in combination, each related to the unique, extensive internal H-bonding of the -COOH groups, are proposed to support high pKa values of unconjugated bilirubin in water: a donation of an H-bond from the -OH moiety of the -COOH group, which is broken on ionization; b hindered solvation of the -COO- group after ionization; and c restricted rotation of the -COO- and -COOH groups. Our findings and rationale rebut methodological and theoretical criticisms leveled against our prior work. High pKa values for unconjugated bilirubin dictate that: a bilirubin diacid, which readily diffuses across membranes and can cause neurotoxicity, is the dominant unbound bilirubin species of unconjugated bilirubin in plasma at

Superconducting materials fabrication process and materials obtained

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lafon, M.O.; Magnier, C.

1989-01-01

The preparation process of a fine powder of YBaCuO type superconductors of easy sintering comprises: mixing in presence of alcohol an aqueous solution of rare earth nitrate or acetate, alkaline earth nitrate or acetate and copper nitrate or acetate and an oxalic acid solution, the pH value of the mixture is comprised between 2 and 4, the obtained precipitate is separated, dried, calcined and eventually crushed [fr

Dipole-dipole van der Waals interaction in alkali halides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thakur, B.N.; Thakur, K.P.

1978-01-01

Values of van der Waals dipole-dipole constants and interaction energetics of alkali halides are reported using the recent data. The values obtained are somewhat larger than those of earlier workers. (orig.) [de

The Role of Mythical Form of Thinking Embedded into Earlier and Recent Computer Games in Teaching Religious and Ethical Values

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Hülya ALTUNYA

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In the world of eastern thought, narration of exemplary events is common through methods of mythical expression such as fairy tales, stories, myths etc. In these discourses, it is aimed at giving moral advice and thus educating the audience. It is stated in these discourses in which surreal events are told people who stand up against distress and difficulties retain their happiness. In such narrative texts, on one hand hope is being kept alive; on the other hand, such messages as patience, clinging to honesty under harsh times and possessing stamina are conveyed to the audience. Likewise, today, surreal events; namely, mythical fictions are animated in cartoons, animation and computer games. In these games, it is told that the most brutal battles are carried out through the most merciless weapons and only the most powerful one wins. These games, causing youth to grow up as aggressive, merciless and likely to try each way to seize power, should be examined in terms of education as well as that way of thinking. In this article, the form of thinking in the stories in which surreal events in the past were narrated is compared in terms of ethical values with the form of thinking in recent computer games in which surreal events are embedded.

Optical properties of Cd Se thin films obtained by pyrolytic dew

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez G, A.M.; Tepantlan, C.S.; Renero C, F.

2006-01-01

In this paper the optical properties of Cd Se thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis are presented. The films are prepared by Sodium Seleno sulphate (Na 2 SSeO 3 ) and Cadmium Chloride (CdC 12 ) mixing in aqueous environment. Optical parameters of the films (refractive index, absorption coefficient and optical ban gap) were calculated from transmittance spectra. The obtained values of the optical ban gap are compared with the result obtained by other deposition method. (Author)

Microbial quality evaluation and effective decontamination of nutraceutically valued lotus seeds by electron beams and gamma irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhat, Rajeev; Sridhar, K.R.; Karim, A.A.

2010-01-01

Lotus seeds are nutraceutically valued natural plant produce, which succumbs to microbial contamination, predominantly to toxigenic moulds. Results of the present study revealed seed coat portion to harbor higher proportion of microbial load, particularly fungi than cotyledon portion. Among the mycotoxins analyzed, aflatoxins (B 1 , B 2 , G 1 and G 2 ) were below detectable limits, while the seeds were devoid of Ochratoxin-A (OTA). Application of different doses of electron beam and gamma irradiation (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15 and 30 kGy) for decontamination purpose revealed significant dose-dependent decrease in the fungal contaminants (P<0.05). However, the contaminant yeasts could survive up to 10 kGy dose, which could be completely eliminated at 15 kGy. From the results obtained, a dose range between 10 and 15 kGy is recommended for complete decontamination, as these doses have also been shown earlier to have minimal effects on nutritional and functional properties of lotus seeds.

Earlier (late Pliocene) first appearance of the Caribbean reef-building coral Acropora palmata: Stratigraphic and evolutionary implications

Science.gov (United States)

McNeill, Donald F.; Budd, Ann F.; Borne, Pamela F.

1997-10-01

An integrated stratigraphic study of reefal deposits on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus of Panama (Limon, Costa Rica) has discovered a significantly earlier first appearance of the major reef-building coral Acropora palmata. A. palmata is here reported from the early late Pliocene, constrained in age to within the Gauss chron (ca. 3.6 2.6 Ma). This coral was previously thought to have originated in the earliest Pleistocene and has subsequently been used as a Quaternary marker throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas. An earlier appearance in the southern Caribbean implies a diachronous first appearance datum relative to the northern Caribbean. This older age also places A. palmata well within the transition phase of a Pliocene (4 1 Ma) faunal turnover that was marked by widespread extinction and origination of Caribbean coral species. An early late Pliocene origination is coincident with formation of the Isthmus, climate reorganization, and frequent sea-level changes associated with onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciations. The rapid growth and accumulation rates that characterize A. palmata may therefore be adaptive to these fluctuating environmental conditions, enabling its success during the subsequent Pleistocene glacial cycles.

Decision and Inhibitory Rule Optimization for Decision Tables with Many-valued Decisions

KAUST Repository

Alsolami, Fawaz

2016-04-25

‘If-then’ rule sets are one of the most expressive and human-readable knowledge representations. This thesis deals with optimization and analysis of decision and inhibitory rules for decision tables with many-valued decisions. The most important areas of applications are knowledge extraction and representation. The benefit of considering inhibitory rules is connected with the fact that in some situations they can describe more knowledge than the decision ones. Decision tables with many-valued decisions arise in combinatorial optimization, computational geometry, fault diagnosis, and especially under the processing of data sets. In this thesis, various examples of real-life problems are considered which help to understand the motivation of the investigation. We extend relatively simple results obtained earlier for decision rules over decision tables with many-valued decisions to the case of inhibitory rules. The behavior of Shannon functions (which characterize complexity of rule systems) is studied for finite and infinite information systems, for global and local approaches, and for decision and inhibitory rules. The extensions of dynamic programming for the study of decision rules over decision tables with single-valued decisions are generalized to the case of decision tables with many-valued decisions. These results are also extended to the case of inhibitory rules. As a result, we have algorithms (i) for multi-stage optimization of rules relative to such criteria as length or coverage, (ii) for counting the number of optimal rules, (iii) for construction of Pareto optimal points for bi-criteria optimization problems, (iv) for construction of graphs describing relationships between two cost functions, and (v) for construction of graphs describing relationships between cost and accuracy of rules. The applications of created tools include comparison (based on information about Pareto optimal points) of greedy heuristics for bi-criteria optimization of rules

Rangeland ecosystem goods and services: Values and evaluation of opportunities for ranchers and land managers

Science.gov (United States)

Kristie Maczko; John A. Tanaka; Robert Breckenridge; Lori Hidinger; H. Theodore Heintz; William E. Fox; Urs P. Kreuter; Clifford S. Duke; John E. Mitchell; Daniel W. McCollum

2011-01-01

Although the US Department of Agriculture's 2005 public commitment to use market-based incentives for environmental stewardship and cooperative conservation focused land managers' attention on the concept of ecosystem goods and services (EGS), this was not a new idea. Much earlier in the 20th century, Aldo Leopold embraced the value of open space, calling for...

Clinical utility of apparent diffusion coefficient values obtained using high b-value when diagnosing prostate cancer using 3 tesla MRI: comparison between ultra-high b-value (2000 s/mm²) and standard high b-value (1000 s/mm²).

Science.gov (United States)

Kitajima, Kazuhiro; Takahashi, Satoru; Ueno, Yoshiko; Yoshikawa, Takeshi; Ohno, Yoshiharu; Obara, Makoto; Miyake, Hideaki; Fujisawa, Masato; Sugimura, Kazuro

2012-07-01

To determine whether the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) obtained using b = 2000 s/mm(2) upon 3 Tesla (T) diffusion-weighted MRI is superior to b = 1000 s/mm(2) for discriminating malignant from normal prostate tissue and predicting the aggressiveness of prostate cancer, using histopathological findings of radical prostatectomy as a reference. Eighty prostate cancer patients underwent preoperative 3T MRI including diffusion weighted imaging with b-values of 0, 1000, and 2000 s/mm(2) . ADCs were measured for malignant lesions and normal sites on three sets of ADC maps calculated with monoexponential fitting between b = 0 and 1000, 0 and 2000, and 1000 and 2000, respectively. The relationship between the ADC and Gleason score was evaluated. The areas under the ROC curves for b = 0,1000, b = 0,2000, and b = 1000,2000 were 0.896, 0.937, and 0.857, respectively, in the peripheral zone (PZ) and 0.877, 0.889, and 0.731, respectively, in the transition zone (TZ). The difference between b = 0,1000 and b = 0,2000 was significant in PZ (P = 0.033), but not in TZ (P = 0.84). Weak but significant negative correlations were identified between ADCs and Gleason score in both PZ and TZ cancer at b = 0,1000 and b = 0,2000 (r = -0.323 to -0.341). For 3T MRI, ADCs using b = 0,2000 are more accurate than b = 0,1000 for diagnosing PZ cancer, and as accurate for TZ cancer. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Onset of rigor mortis is earlier in red muscle than in white muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, M; Takatori, T; Nakajima, M; Sakurada, K; Hatanaka, K; Ikegaya, H; Matsuda, Y; Iwase, H

2000-01-01

Rigor mortis is thought to be related to falling ATP levels in muscles postmortem. We measured rigor mortis as tension determined isometrically in three rat leg muscles in liquid paraffin kept at 37 degrees C or 25 degrees C--two red muscles, red gastrocnemius (RG) and soleus (SO) and one white muscle, white gastrocnemius (WG). Onset, half and full rigor mortis occurred earlier in RG and SO than in WG both at 37 degrees C and at 25 degrees C even though RG and WG were portions of the same muscle. This suggests that rigor mortis directly reflects the postmortem intramuscular ATP level, which decreases more rapidly in red muscle than in white muscle after death. Rigor mortis was more retarded at 25 degrees C than at 37 degrees C in each type of muscle.

Earlier flowering did not alter pollen limitation in an early flowering shrub under short-term experimental warming

OpenAIRE

Pan, Cheng-Chen; Feng, Qi; Zhao, Ha-Lin; Liu, Lin-De; Li, Yu-Lin; Li, Yu-Qiang; Zhang, Tong-Hui; Yu, Xiao-Ya

2017-01-01

In animal pollinated plants, phenological shifts caused by climate change may have important ecological consequences. However, no empirical evidence exists at present on the consequences that flowering phenology shifts have on the strength of pollen limitation under experimental warming. Here, we investigated the effects of experimental warming on flowering phenology, flower density, reproductive success, and pollen limitation intensity in Caragana microphylla and evaluated whether earlier fl...

Earlier anal sexarche and co-occurring sexual risk are associated with current HIV-related risk behaviors among an online sample of men who have sex with men in Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Doug H.; Suharlim, Christian; Guadamuz, Thomas E.; Lim, Sin How; Koe, Stuart; Wei, Chongyi

2014-01-01

Studies of heterosexual populations across the globe and men who have sex with men (MSM) in a few developed countries showed that earlier sexual debut (sexarche) was associated with higher levels of co-occurring and subsequent HIV risk behaviors. We examined the relationships between earlier anal sexarche, unprotected earlier anal sexarche and current HIV risks among MSM from Asia. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among MSM (N = 10,826) in Asia in 2010. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify co-occurring (i.e., sexual experiences during sexarche) and current HIV-related risk factors (i.e., past six months) associated with earlier anal sexarche (before the age of 18) and unprotected earlier anal sexarche, respectively. Earlier anal sexarche was significantly associated with lack of condom use, being anal receptive or both receptive and insertive, and having a partner who were older during sexarche. It was also associated with current HIV-related risk behaviors including having multiple male sexual partners, having been paid for sex, and increased frequencies of recreational drug use. Unprotected earlier anal sexarche was significantly associated with inconsistent condom use in the past the six months. Improved and culturally sensitive sex education at schools should be included in national and regional HIV/AIDS prevention programming and policies in Asia. Such sex education programs should incorporate curriculum that address sexuality, sexual orientation, and sexual behaviors beyond those related to reproductive health. PMID:24920344

Effective cross section values for well-moderated thermal reactor spectra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Westcott, C H

1970-11-15

This document replaces the earlier versions (CRRP-680 and CRRP-787) and now employs the {sigma} (E) information contained in Supplement 1 (1960) of the 2nd edition of BNL-325 and other data privately collected to a cut-off date of April 1, 1960. The compilation is also enlarged to include higher temperatures (thus superseding CRRP-862) and for the first time also includes s-factors calculated using the epithermal cut-off functions exhibiting a maximum at just above the cut-off energy, which have recently been indicated by Swedish and U.K. measurements, as well as by analysis of some calculated spectra. As in the earlier compilation, the notation of the author's Geneva Conference (1958) paper is used, the effective cross section {sigma} being given in terms of the 2200 m/sec. value {sigma}{sub o} by the relation {sigma} {sigma}{sub o} (g + rs), where g and s are the factors listed in this compilation and r is a measure of the proportion of epithermal neutrons in the reactor spectrum. (author)

Effective cross section values for well-moderated thermal reactor spectra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Westcott, C.H

1970-11-15

This document replaces the earlier versions (CRRP-680 and CRRP-787) and now employs the {sigma} (E) information contained in Supplement 1 (1960) of the 2nd edition of BNL-325 and other data privately collected to a cut-off date of April 1, 1960. The compilation is also enlarged to include higher temperatures (thus superseding CRRP-862) and for the first time also includes s-factors calculated using the epithermal cut-off functions exhibiting a maximum at just above the cut-off energy, which have recently been indicated by Swedish and U.K. measurements, as well as by analysis of some calculated spectra. As in the earlier compilation, the notation of the author's Geneva Conference (1958) paper is used, the effective cross section {sigma} being given in terms of the 2200 m/sec. value {sigma}{sub o} by the relation {sigma} {sigma}{sub o} (g + rs), where g and s are the factors listed in this compilation and r is a measure of the proportion of epithermal neutrons in the reactor spectrum. (author)

Effective cross section values for well-moderated thermal reactor spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westcott, C.H.

1970-11-01

This document replaces the earlier versions (CRRP-680 and CRRP-787) and now employs the σ (E) information contained in Supplement 1 (1960) of the 2nd edition of BNL-325 and other data privately collected to a cut-off date of April 1, 1960. The compilation is also enlarged to include higher temperatures (thus superseding CRRP-862) and for the first time also includes s-factors calculated using the epithermal cut-off functions exhibiting a maximum at just above the cut-off energy, which have recently been indicated by Swedish and U.K. measurements, as well as by analysis of some calculated spectra. As in the earlier compilation, the notation of the author's Geneva Conference (1958) paper is used, the effective cross section σ being given in terms of the 2200 m/sec. value σ o by the relation σ σ o (g + rs), where g and s are the factors listed in this compilation and r is a measure of the proportion of epithermal neutrons in the reactor spectrum. (author)

Evaluation of ACE inhibitors lipophilicity using in silico and chromatographically obtained hydrophobicity parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Odović Jadranka V.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to compare different calculation methods to determine lipophilicity, expressed as logP value, of seven ACE inhibitors (enalapril, quinapril, fosinopril, lisinopril, cilazapril, ramipril, and benazapril with significantly different structure. Experimentally determined n-octanol/water partition coefficients, logPO/W values, were obtained from relevant literature. The correlations between all collected logP values were studied and the best agreements between calculated logP and experimentally determined logPO/W values, were observed for KOWWINlogP or MilogP values (r = 0.999 or r = 0.974, respectively. The correlations between all collected logP values and chromatographically (reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography obtained hydrophobicity parameters, RM0 and C0, were established. The good correlations (r > 0.90 were obtained in the majority of relationships. The KOWWINlogP was established as the most suitable hydrophobicity parameter of investigated group of ACE inhibitors with r = 0.981 for correlation with RM0 and r = 0.977 for correlation with C0 parameters (water-methanol mobile phase. Using multiple linear regressions, it was established that application of two selected logP, calculated by different mathematical approaches, led to very good correlation due to the benefits of both calculation methods. The good relationships indicate that the computed logP, with careful selection of method calculation, can be useful in ACE inhibitors lipophilicity evaluation, as high-throughput screening technique.

RESEARCHES REGARDING COW-MILK’S QUALITY OBTAINED IN THREE FARMS FORM ALBA COUNTY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. JURCO

2008-10-01

Full Text Available In the selection process, along with the milk quantity obtained from an animal, an important part is the milk quality, which has a big influence in the recalculated milk quantity and also in its nutritive, energetic and biological value which the milk contains both as food and as feed. Hygienic milk must fulfill two quality indicators: total bacterial count (TBC and somatic cell count (SCC both reffering to 1 ml of milk, extracted from the farmer’s milk tank. To fulfill the sanitary and veterinary inspection and to be considered a high-quality merchandise TBC must be situated at the maximum limit of 100,000/ml and SCC must not rise above 400,000/ml. By evaluating the milk quality on the basis of determining total bacterial count and somatic cell count, there were obtained very good values of these two indicators. The total bacterial count (TBC obtained in the 33 examined samples had values between 10x1000 cfu/ml and 930x1000 cfu/ml, and the somatic cell count has been situated between the values of 13000 cells/ml and 2184000 cells/ml.

Analysis of radioactive corrosion test specimens by means of ICP-MS. Comparison with earlier methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsyth, Roy

1997-07-01

In June 1992, an ICP-MS instrument (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry) was commissioned for use with radioactive sample solutions at Studsvik Nuclear's Hot Cell Laboratory. For conventional environmental samples the instrument permits the simultaneous analysis of many trace elements, but the software used in evaluation of the mass spectra is based on a library of isotopic compositions relevant only for elements in the lithosphere. Fission products and actinides, however, have isotopic compositions which are significantly different from the natural elements, and which also vary with the burnup of the nuclear fuel specimen. Consequently, a spread-sheet had to be developed which could evaluate the mass spectra with these isotopic compositions. Following these preparations, a large number of samples (about 200) from SKB's experimental programme for the study of spent fuel corrosion have been analyzed by the ICP-MS technique. Many of these samples were archive solutions of samples which had been taken earlier in the programme. This report presents a comparison of the analytical results for uranium, plutonium, cesium, strontium and technetium by both the ICP-MS technique, and the previously used analytical methods. For three products, a satisfactory agreement between the results from the various methods was obtained, but for uranium and plutonium the ICP-MS method gave results which were 10-20% higher than the conventional methods. The comparison programme has also shown, not unexpectedly, that significant losses of plutonium from solution had occurred, by precipitation and/or absorption, in the archive solutions during storage. It can be expected that such losses also occur for the other actinides, and consequently, all the analytical results for actinides in older archive solutions must be treated with great caution. 9 refs

How can Facilities Management Add Value to Organisations as well as to Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Per Anker; Sarasoja, Anna-Liisa; van der Voordt, Theo

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to present lessons learnt from a 3 year collaborative research project on the added value of Facilities Management (FM) involving institutions in five European countries. The starting point was the so-called FM Value Map developed earlier by the leader of the research...... group. The project applied three basic theoretical perspectives: FM, Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) and Business to Business (B2B) marketing and started with a major literature review on added value based on each of these perspectives. The collaboration included a series of workshops...... and preparation of research papers covering theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects. The results were published as an anthology in May 2012. The three basic perspectives of FM, CREM and B2B marketing provide both overlapping and complementary focus areas in relation to adding value. Four conceptual...

Age of diagnosis of breast cancer in china: almost 10 years earlier than in the United States and the European union.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Qing-Kun; Li, Jing; Huang, Rong; Fan, Jin-Hu; Zheng, Rong-Shou; Zhang, Bao-Ning; Zhang, Bin; Tang, Zhong-Hua; Xie, Xiao-Ming; Yang, Hong-Jian; He, Jian-Jun; Li, Hui; Li, Jia-Yuan; Qiao, You-Lin; Chen, Wan-Qing

2014-01-01

The study aimed to describe the age distribution of breast cancer diagnosis among Chinese females for comparison with the United States and the European Union, and provide evidence for the screening target population in China. Median age was estimated from hospital databases from 7 tertiary hospitals in China. Population-based data in China, United States and European Union was extracted from the National Central Cancer Registry, SEER program and GLOBOCAN 2008, respectively. Age-standardized distribution of breast cancer at diagnosis in the 3 areas was estimated based on the World Standard Population 2000. The median age of breast cancer at diagnosis was around 50 in China, nearly 10 years earlier than United States and European Union. The diagnosis age in China did not vary between subgroups of calendar year, region and pathological characteristics. With adjustment for population structure, median age of breast cancer at diagnosis was 50~54 in China, but 55~59 in United States and European Union. The median diagnosis age of female breast cancer is much earlier in China than in the United States and the European Union pointing to racial differences in genetics and lifestyle. Screening programs should start at an earlier age for Chinese women and age disparities between Chinese and Western women warrant further studies.

Patterns of Wildlife Value Orientations

Science.gov (United States)

Harry C. Zinn; Michael J. Manfredo; Susan C. Barro

2002-01-01

Public value orientations toward wildlife may be growing less utilitarian and more protectionist. To better understand one aspect of this trend, we investigated patterns of wildlife value orientations within families. Using a mail survey, we sampled Pennsylvania and Colorado hunting license holders 50 or older; obtaining a 54% response rate (n = 599). Males (94% of...

Incidence of Artifacts and Deviating Values in Research Data Obtained from an Anesthesia Information Management System in Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoorweg, Anne-Lee J; Pasma, Wietze; van Wolfswinkel, Leo; de Graaff, Jurgen C

2018-02-01

Vital parameter data collected in anesthesia information management systems are often used for clinical research. The validity of this type of research is dependent on the number of artifacts. In this prospective observational cohort study, the incidence of artifacts in anesthesia information management system data was investigated in children undergoing anesthesia for noncardiac procedures. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of artifacts among deviating and nondeviating values, among the anesthesia phases, and among different anesthetic techniques. We included 136 anesthetics representing 10,236 min of anesthesia time. The incidence of artifacts was 0.5% for heart rate (95% CI: 0.4 to 0.7%), 1.3% for oxygen saturation (1.1 to 1.5%), 7.5% for end-tidal carbon dioxide (6.9 to 8.0%), 5.0% for noninvasive blood pressure (4.0 to 6.0%), and 7.3% for invasive blood pressure (5.9 to 8.8%). The incidence of artifacts among deviating values was 3.1% for heart rate (2.1 to 4.4%), 10.8% for oxygen saturation (7.6 to 14.8%), 14.1% for end-tidal carbon dioxide (13.0 to 15.2%), 14.4% for noninvasive blood pressure (10.3 to 19.4%), and 38.4% for invasive blood pressure (30.3 to 47.1%). Not all values in anesthesia information management systems are valid. The incidence of artifacts stored in the present pediatric anesthesia practice was low for heart rate and oxygen saturation, whereas noninvasive and invasive blood pressure and end-tidal carbon dioxide had higher artifact incidences. Deviating values are more often artifacts than values in a normal range, and artifacts are associated with the phase of anesthesia and anesthetic technique. Development of (automatic) data validation systems or solutions to deal with artifacts in data is warranted.

The reinitiation of fracture at the tip of an arrested crack in a reactor pressure vessel: The effect of ligaments on the reinitiation K value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, E.

1986-01-01

During a hypothetical thermal shock event involving a water-cooled nuclear reactor steel pressure vessel, it is possible for a crack to propagate deep into the reactor vessel thickness by a series of run-arrest-reinitiation events. Furthermore, within the transition temperature regime, crack propagation and arrest are associated with a combination of cleavage and ductile rupture processes, the latter being manifested by ligaments that are normal to the crack plane and parallel to the direction of crack propagation. Earlier work by the author has modelled the effect of ligaments on the reinitiation of fracture at the tip of an arrested crack. Proceeding from the basis that the ligaments fail by a ductile rupture process, reinitiation K values were calculated. These values were appreciably higher than the experimental reinitiation K values for cracks in model vessels subject to thermal shock; it was therefore argued that the ligaments, which are present at arrest, are unlikely to fail entirely by ductile rupture prior to the reinitiation of fracture at an arrested crack tip. Instead it was suggested that the ligaments fail by cleavage, and consequently do not markedly affect the reinitiation K value, which therefore correlates with Ksub(IC). This paper's theoretical analysis extends the earlier work by relaxing a key assumption in the earlier work that, when calculating the reinitiation K value on the basis that the ligaments fail by ductile rupture, they should disappear completely prior to reinitiation. The new results, however, show that the predicted reinitiation K values are still so much greater than the model test reinitiation K values, that it is unlikely that the ligaments fail solely by ductile rupture prior to reinitiation. The view that the ligaments can fail by cleavage is therefore reinforced. (orig.)

Correlation of the Condylar Guidance Obtained by Protrusive Interocclusal Record and Panoramic Radiographs in Completely Edentulous Patients: An in Vivo Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khyati Shah

2014-01-01

Results: The results showed statistically significant difference between the condylar guidance values obtained from Orthopantomograph (Radiograph and the condylar guidance values obtained at the stage of jaw relation. Conclusion: Within the limitations of the study, it can be concluded that the condylar guidance values obtained from the Radiographs were higher than those obtained at the stage of jaw relation recording stage.

Personal values and value systems of humanities students and workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucie Křeménková

2015-01-01

= .433.Subsequently we analyzed the preference of values depending on the student´s school results. Pearson’s ?2analyses indicated that there si no significant differences among students divided into groups according to the school results, ?2 (12 = 10.695, p = .555. Finally we analyzed the preference of values depending on the type of work. Pearson’s ?2analyses indicated that there si no significant differences among workers divided into groups according to the type of work, ?2 (12 = 12.456, p = .410. Discussion: Analysis confirmed differences in the preference of values depending on the gender and type of employment. These correspond with the results of earlier studies (cf. Rokeach, 1973; Broek & Moor, 1994; Inglehart, 1997; Hitlin & Piliavin, 2004; Schwartz & Rubel-Lifschitz, 2005, 2009; Schwartz, 2006; Hofmann-Towfigh, 2007. It appears that differences in the values ranking in relation to gender are conditioned by various social conditions, education and individual experiences. The last two research questions were focused on the preference of values depending on the study results and the type of employment. In both cases, the mentioned groups showed no significant differences. Thus, we assume that these factors do not affect the preference of specific values. Value orientation is thus more likely to be tied to a deeper personal characteristics or external determinants in socialization. The study results, as well as the choice of a particular job has probably been effected by different motivational factors than those who activate behavior in the direction of preference selected values. Conclussion: The concept of values is still an important issue in contemporary psychology. Although today's Western society is very focused on performance and the current trend tends to support other than the humanities, we believe that the analysis of the structure of values and value system of the humanities is also important because of the large number of students and staff

Recoil momenta distributions in the double photoionization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amusia, M Ya; Liverts, E Z; Drukarev, E G; Mikhai, A I

2014-01-01

We calculate the distributions in recoil momenta for the high energy double photoionization of helium caused by quasifree mechanism. The distributions obtain local maxima at small values of the recoil momenta. This agrees with earlier predictions and recent experimental data. Angular correlations which reach the largest value for 'back-to-back' configuration of photoelectrons are also obtained.

A Comparison of EQ-5D-3L Index Scores Using Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, and UK Value Sets in Indonesian Cervical Cancer Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Endarti, Dwi; Riewpaiboon, Arthorn; Thavorncharoensap, Montarat; Praditsitthikorn, Naiyana; Hutubessy, Raymond; Kristina, Susi Ari

2018-05-01

To gain insight into the most suitable foreign value set among Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai, and UK value sets for calculating the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire index score (utility) among patients with cervical cancer in Indonesia. Data from 87 patients with cervical cancer recruited from a referral hospital in Yogyakarta province, Indonesia, from an earlier study of health-related quality of life were used in this study. The differences among the utility scores derived from the four value sets were determined using the Friedman test. Performance of the psychometric properties of the four value sets versus visual analogue scale (VAS) was assessed. Intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots were used to test the agreement among the utility scores. Spearman ρ correlation coefficients were used to assess convergent validity between utility scores and patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. With respect to known-group validity, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine the differences in utility according to the stages of cancer. There was significant difference among utility scores derived from the four value sets, among which the Malaysian value set yielded higher utility than the other three value sets. Utility obtained from the Malaysian value set had more agreements with VAS than the other value sets versus VAS (intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plot tests results). As for the validity, the four value sets showed equivalent psychometric properties as those that resulted from convergent and known-group validity tests. In the absence of an Indonesian value set, the Malaysian value set was more preferable to be used compared with the other value sets. Further studies on the development of an Indonesian value set need to be conducted. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Earlier Age of Onset of Chronic Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus After a Hypertensive Disorder of Pregnancy or Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Heida, Karst Y; Franx, Arie; van Rijn, Bas B; Eijkemans, Marinus J C; Boer, Jolanda M A; Verschuren, Monique W M; Oudijk, Martijn A; Bots, Michiel L; van der Schouw, Yvonne T

2015-12-01

A prospective cohort study was conducted to assess the impact of a history of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on the risk and age of onset of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life, independent of hypertension and T2D. Between 1993 and 1997, 22 265 ever-pregnant women were included from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-NL study, aged 20 to 70 years at baseline. Details on complications of pregnancy and known hypertension were obtained by questionnaire. Blood pressure was measured at enrollment. Participants were followed for the occurrence of CVD events. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA, multivariable logistic regression, and Cox proportional hazard (with HDP and GDM as time-dependent variables for T2D and CVD) models. At enrollment, women with a HDP reported diagnosis of hypertension 7.7 years earlier (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.9-8.5) and women with GDM reported diagnosis of T2D 7.7 years earlier (95% CI 5.8-9.6) than women without pregnancy complications. After adjustment for potential confounders, HDP was associated with presence of hypertension at enrollment (odds ratio 2.12, 95% CI 1.98-2.28) and onset of CVD later in life (hazard ratio 1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.32). After including the intermediates hypertension and T2D in the model, the risk of CVD later in life decreased (hazard ratio 1.09, 95% CI 1.00-1.20). GDM was associated with an increased risk of developing T2D later in life (hazard ratio 3.68, 95% CI 2.77-4.90), but not with risk of CVD. HDP and GDM have a substantial impact on the risk of CVD and are potentially important indicators for preventive cardiovascular risk management. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Marginal and internal fit of zirconia copings obtained using different digital scanning methods

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Lorena Oliveira PEDROCHE

Full Text Available Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the marginal and internal fit of zirconia copings obtained with different digital scanning methods. A human mandibular first molar was set in a typodont with its adjacent and antagonist teeth and prepared for an all-ceramic crown. Digital impressions were made using an intraoral scanner (3Shape. Polyvinyl siloxane impressions and Type IV gypsum models were also obtained and scanned with a benchtop laboratory scanner (3Shape D700. Ten zirconia copings were fabricated for each group using CAD-CAM technology. The marginal and internal fit of the zirconia copings was assessed by the silicone replica technique. Four sections of each replica were obtained, and each section was evaluated at four points: marginal gap (MG, axial wall (AW, axio-occlusal edge (AO and centro-occlusal wall (CO, using an image analyzing software. The data were submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test (α = 0.05. They showed statistically significant differences for MG, AO and CO. Regarding MG, intraoral scanning showed lower gap values, whereas gypsum model scanning showed higher gap values. Regarding AO and CO, intraoral digital scanning showed lower gap values. Polyvinyl siloxane impression scanning and gypsum model scanning showed higher gap values and were statistically similar. It can be concluded that intraoral digital scanning provided a lower mean gap value, in comparison with conventional impressions and gypsum casts scanned with a standard benchtop laboratory scanner.

Estimating the impact of somatic cell count on the value of milk utilising parameters obtained from the published literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Geary, Una; Lopez-Villalobos, Nicolas; O'Brien, Bernadette; Garrick, Dorian J; Shalloo, Laurence

2014-05-01

The impact of mastitis on milk value per litre independent of the effect of mastitis on milk volume, was quantified for Ireland using a meta-analysis and a processing sector model. Changes in raw milk composition, cheese processing and composition associated with increased bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC) were incorporated into the model. Processing costs and market values were representative of current industry values. It was assumed that as BMSCC increased (i) milk fat and milk protein increased and milk lactose decreased, (ii) fat and protein recoveries decreased, (iii) cheese protein decreased and cheese moisture increased. Five BMSCC categories were examined from ⩽100 000 to >400 000 cells/ml. The analysis showed that as BMSCC increased the production quantities reduced. An increase in BMSCC from 100 000 to >400 000 cells/ml saw a reduction in net revenue of 3·2% per annum (€51·3 million) which corresponded to a reduction in the value of raw milk of €0·0096 cents/l.

Pre-Licensed Nursing Students Rate Professional Values

Science.gov (United States)

Garee, Denise L.

2016-01-01

Ethical decision making of new nurses relies on professional values and moral development obtained during training. This descriptive, comparative study demonstrated the importance values attributed to the items of the Nurses' Professional Values Scale-Revised (Weis & Schank, 2009), by a sample of senior ADN and BSN students from across the…

Net present value analysis of the economic production quantity

OpenAIRE

Disney, Stephen Michael; Warburton, R. D. H.; Zhong, Q. C.

2013-01-01

Using Laplace transforms we extend the economic production quantity (EPQ) model by analysing cash flows from a net present value (NPV) viewpoint. We obtain an exact expression for the present value of the cash flows in the EPQ problem. From this, we are able to derive the optimal batch size. We obtain insights into the monotonicity and convexity of the present value of each of the cash flows, and show that there is a unique minimum in the present value of the sum of the cash flows in the exte...

Company Value Anatomy

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Luiz Nelson Guedes de Carvalho

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The seminal propositions by Modigliani and Miller started a new study area in modern finance theory. Over time, their basic assumptions were relaxed, to the extent that, nowadays, situations in which they can be fully applied, with consistent and satisfactory results, are rare. On the other hand, as this simple set of propositions became known worldwide and was easily applicable, it was adopted as a rule of thumb for general enterprise valuation. However, in situations without methodological bias, the resulting enterprise values obtained by traditional methodologies are abstruse and do not allow for the analysis and management of the individual values that make up the firm and own capital values. In order to avoid this kind of abstruseness in company valuation, this study theoretically deducts an alternative valuation methodology, which permits the identification of assets’ value independently of their financing; moreover, we identify the gain on debt value that the debt provides to the shareholders, the debt tax shield and the value loss of assets and tax shield due to the increase in shareholder risk because of the leverage capital structure.

Multi-valued fields

CERN Document Server

Ershov, Yuri L

2001-01-01

For more than 30 years, the author has studied the model-theoretic aspects of the theory of valued fields and multi-valued fields. Many of the key results included in this book were obtained by the author whilst preparing the manuscript. Thus the unique overview of the theory, as developed in the book, has been previously unavailable. The book deals with the theory of valued fields and mutli-valued fields. The theory of Prüfer rings is discussed from the `geometric' point of view. The author shows that by introducing the Zariski topology on families of valuation rings, it is possible to distinguish two important subfamilies of Prüfer rings that correspond to Boolean and near Boolean families of valuation rings. Also, algebraic and model-theoretic properties of multi-valued fields with near Boolean families of valuation rings satisfying the local-global principle are studied. It is important that this principle is elementary, i.e., it can be expressed in the language of predicate calculus. The most important...

In Silico Genomic Fingerprints of the Bacillus anthracis Group Obtained by Virtual Hybridization

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Hueman Jaimes-Díaz

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this study we evaluate the capacity of Virtual Hybridization to identify between highly related bacterial strains. Eight genomic fingerprints were obtained by virtual hybridization for the Bacillus anthracis genome set, and a set of 15,264 13-nucleotide short probes designed to produce genomic fingerprints unique for each organism. The data obtained from each genomic fingerprint were used to obtain hybridization patterns simulating a DNA microarray. Two virtual hybridization methods were used: the Direct and the Extended method to identify the number of potential hybridization sites and thus determine the minimum sensitivity value to discriminate between genomes with 99.9% similarity. Genomic fingerprints were compared using both methods and phylogenomic trees were constructed to verify that the minimum detection value is 0.000017. Results obtained from the genomic fingerprints suggest that the distribution in the trees is correct, as compared to other taxonomic methods. Specific virtual hybridization sites for each of the genomes studied were also identified.

Have the Guests Perceived Superior Value?

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Levyda Levyda

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to describe guests’ perceived value by using a multidimensional approach. From previous research, guests’ perceived value consisted of some functional value, emotional value, and social value. Based on guest experience, and functional value consisted of physical evidence, guest room, food and beverage, hotel staff, and price. This research was conducted in four-star hotels in Jakarta. The respondents were the guests who had stayed in four-star hotels. The number of the respondent was 405. The data were obtained by using self-administered questionnaires. This research shows that guests have not perceived superior value. Some of the values and the necessary efforts need to be improved.

Distribution of stoneflies of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera) in the Czech Republic: earlier data, new records and recent distributional changes

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bojková, J.; Soldán, Tomáš; Špaček, J.; Straka, M.

2011-01-01

Roč. 60, č. 3 (2011), s. 239-258 ISSN 1211-3026 Grant - others:Czech Science Foundation(CZ) GAP505/10/P302 Program:GP Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50070508 Keywords : Plecoptera * Taeniopterygidae * historical and earlier data Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

Effects of earlier sea ice breakup on survival and population size of polar bears in western Hudson Bay

Science.gov (United States)

Regehr, E.V.; Lunn, N.J.; Amstrup, Steven C.; Stirling, I.

2007-01-01

Some of the most pronounced ecological responses to climatic warming are expected to occur in polar marine regions, where temperature increases have been the greatest and sea ice provides a sensitive mechanism by which climatic conditions affect sympagic (i.e., with ice) species. Population-level effects of climatic change, however, remain difficult to quantify. We used a flexible extension of Cormack-Jolly-Seber capture-recapture models to estimate population size and survival for polar bears (Ursus maritimus), one of the most ice-dependent of Arctic marine mammals. We analyzed data for polar bears captured from 1984 to 2004 along the western coast of Hudson Bay and in the community of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The Western Hudson Bay polar bear population declined from 1,194 (95% CI = 1,020-1,368) in 1987 to 935 (95% CI = 794-1,076) in 2004. Total apparent survival of prime-adult polar bears (5-19 yr) was stable for females (0.93; 95% CI = 0.91-0.94) and males (0.90; 95% CI = 0.88-0.91). Survival of juvenile, subadult, and senescent-adult polar bears was correlated with spring sea ice breakup date, which was variable among years and occurred approximately 3 weeks earlier in 2004 than in 1984. We propose that this correlation provides evidence for a causal association between earlier sea ice breakup (due to climatic warming) and decreased polar bear survival. It may also explain why Churchill, like other communities along the western coast of Hudson Bay, has experienced an increase in human-polar bear interactions in recent years. Earlier sea ice breakup may have resulted in a larger number of nutritionally stressed polar bears, which are encroaching on human habitations in search of supplemental food. Because western Hudson Bay is near the southern limit of the species' range, our findings may foreshadow the demographic responses and management challenges that more northerly polar bear populations will experience if climatic warming in the Arctic continues as

Two Values for Transferable Utility Games with Coalition and Graph Structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Brink, J.R.; van der Laan, G.; Moes, N.

2015-01-01

In this paper we introduce and characterize two new values for cooperative transferable utility games with graph restricted communication and a priori unions. Both values are obtained by applying the Shapley value to an associated TU-game. The graph-partition restricted TU-game is obtained by taking

Dielectric Properties and Characterisation of Titanium Dioxide Obtained by Different Chemistry Methods

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Aleksandra Wypych

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We made comparison of titanium dioxide powders obtained from three syntheses including sol-gel and precipitation methods as well as using layered (tetramethylammonium titanate as a source of TiO2. The obtained precursors were subjected to step annealing at elevated temperatures to transform into rutile form. The transformation was determined by Raman measurements in each case. The resulting products were characterised using Raman spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The main goal of the studies performed was to compare the temperature of the transformation in three titania precursors obtained by different methods of soft chemistry routes and to evaluate dielectric properties of rutile products by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Different factors affecting the electrical properties of calcinated products were discussed. It was found that sol-gel synthesis provided rutile form after annealing at 850°C with the smallest particles size about 20 nm, the highest value of dielectric permittivity equal to 63.7, and loss tangent equal to 0.051 at MHz frequencies. The other powders transformed to rutile at higher temperature, that is, 900°C, exhibit lower value of dielectric permittivity and had a higher value of particles size. The correlation between the anatase-rutile transformation temperature and the size of annealed particles was proposed.

Values of some topographic parameters of optic nerve head obtained by Heidelberg retina tomograph II in volunteers and different stage primary open-angle glaucoma patients

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B. Anguelov

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: То assess the values of the top five topographic parameters of optic nerve head (ONH obtained by Heidelberg retina tomograph (HRT II in volunteers and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG patients with different stage of perimetric changes.Methods: 73 eyes (38 volunteers at the age of 56 years ±13, 11 men and 27 women and 170 eyes (90 patients at the age of 66 years ±12, 33 men and 57 women were examined. We performed the comprehensive ophthalmic examination, standard automated perimetry and measurement of the top five topographic parameters of ONH — rim area, rim volume, cup shape measure, height variation contour и mean RNFL thickness. For the purpose of this study we used HRT II.Results: We determine the values of the investigated topographic parameters of the ONH for healthy volunteers (rim area = 1.68±0.22 mm2, rim volume = 0.44±0.07 mm3, cup shape measure = –0.2±0.06, height variation contour = 0.38±0.08 mm and mean RNFL thickness = 0.24±0.03 mm and for the patients in different perimetric glaucoma stages (early stage: rim area = 1.52±0.47 mm2, rim volume = 0.38±0.17 mm3, cup shape measure = –0.14±0.1, height variation contour = 0.36±0.09 mm and mean RNFL thickness = 0.22±0.11 mm; moderate stage: rim area = 1.21±0.46 mm2, rim volume = 0.27±0.17 mm3, cup shape measure = –0.09±0.1, height variation contour = 0.36±0.17 mm and mean RNFL thickness = 0.16±0.12 mm; severe stage: rim area = 0.97±0.01 mm2, rim volume = 0.18±0.17 mm3, cup shape measure = –0.06±0.1, height variation contour = 0.28±0.11 mm and mean RNFL thickness = 0.17±0.11 mm. Hodapp-Parrish-Anderson (H-P-A ’s staging system includes three separate levels (early, moderate and severe of glaucoma according to visual field defects. Each stage is additionally characterized by the values of the top five topographic parameters of the ONH.Conclusion: Early diagnosis, staging and follow-up of POAG are based on both function and

Fluctuations of physical values in statistical mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaripov, R.G.

1999-01-01

The new matrix inequalities for the boundary of measurement accuracy of physical values in the ensemble of quantum systems were obtained. The multidimensional thermodynamical parameter measurement is estimated. The matrix inequalities obtained are quantum analogs of the Cramer-Rao information inequalities in mathematical statistics. The quantity of information in quantum mechanical measurement, connected with the boundaries of jointly measurable values in one macroscopic experiment was determined. The lower boundary of the variance of estimation of multidimensional quantum mechanical parameter was found. (author)

Lunar tidal acceleration obtained from satellite-derived ocean tide parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Goad, C. C.; Douglas, B. C.

1978-01-01

One hundred sets of mean elements of GEOS-3 computed at 2-day intervals yielded observation equations for the M sub 2 ocean tide from the long periodic variations of the inclination and node of the orbit. The 2nd degree Love number was given the value k sub 2 = 0.30 and the solid tide phase angle was taken to be zero. Combining obtained equations with results for the satellite 1967-92A gives the M sub 2 ocean tide parameter values. Under the same assumption of zero solid tide phase lag, the lunar tidal acceleration was found mostly due to the C sub 22 term in the expansion of the M sub 2 tide with additional small contributions from the 0 sub 1 and N sub 2 tides. Using Lambeck's (1975) estimates for the latter, the obtained acceleration in lunar longitudal in excellent agreement with the most recent determinations from ancient and modern astronomical data.

Obtaining the Bunch Shape in a Linac from Beam Spectrum Measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bane, Karl LF

1999-01-01

In linacs with high single-bunch charge, and tight tolerances for energy spread and emittance growth, controlling the short-range wakefield effects becomes extremely important. The effects of the wakefields, in turn, depend on the bunch length and also on the bunch shape. It was shown in the linac of the Stanford Linear Collider (SLC), for example, that by shaping the bunch, the final rms energy spread could be greatly reduced, compared to for the standard Gaussian bunch shape[1]. Therefore, in machines with high single-bunch charge, a method of measuring bunch shape can be an important beam diagnostic. In a linac with low single-bunch charge, the longitudinal bunch shape can be obtained relatively easily from a single measurement of the beam's final energy spectrum, provided that the final to initial energy ratio is large. One merely shifts the average phase of the beam, so that it rides off-crest sufficiently to induce an energy variation that is monotonic with longitudinal position. Then, by knowing the initial and final energies, the rf wave number, and the average beam phase, one can directly map the spectrum into the bunch shape. In a linac with high single-bunch charge, however, due to the effect of the longitudinal wakefield, this method either does not work at all, or it requires such a large shift in beam phase as to become impractical. In earlier work[2],[3] it was shown that, even when wakefields are important, if one measures the final beam spectrum for two different (properly chosen) values of beam phase, then one can again obtain the bunch shape, and--as a by-product--also the form of the wakefield induced voltage; this method was then illustrated using data from the linac of the SLC. These SLC measurements, however, had been performed with the machine in a special configuration, where the current was low; in addition, the noise the data was low and the measured spectra were smooth distributions. Under normal SLC conditions, however, the currents

Obtaining and Characterization of Flux-Based Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosmina Maria Bogăţean

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of creating this assortment was to remind the public of a long forgotten sugar based product, with a high energy value and which can be easily associated both with plain or mineral water consumption. Also we have taken into consideration the well-known '' home-made'' and ''vintage'' concepts. The purpose of this scientific research is to obtain a laboratory created product, as well as obtaining both the cocoa and the lemon sorbet. In the technological process this type of products can be redefined under a new form. The great advantage comes with the fact that it dosen't currently exit on the market and so it can be considered as being a brand new product. The anbalyses both on the raw materials and on the final deliverable product were done in the Faculty's laboratories and it was proven to meet the standars.

Analysis of reproducibility of the single photon tomography reconstruction by the method of singular value decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devaux, J.Y.; Mazelier, L.; Lefkopoulos, D.

1997-01-01

We have earlier shown that the method of singular value decomposition (SVD) allows the image reconstruction in single-photon-tomography with precision higher than the classical method of filtered back-projections. Actually, the establishing of an elementary response matrix which incorporates both the photon attenuation phenomenon, the scattering, the translation non-invariance principle and the detector response, allows to take into account the totality of physical parameters of acquisition. By an non-consecutive optimized truncation of the singular values we have obtained a significant improvement in the efficiency of the regularization of bad conditioning of this problem. The present study aims at verifying the stability of this truncation under modifications of acquisition conditions. Two series of parameters were tested, first, those modifying the geometry of acquisition: the influence of rotation center, the asymmetric disposition of the elementary-volume sources against the detector and the precision of rotation angle, and secondly, those affecting the correspondence between the matrix and the space to be reconstructed: the effect of partial volume and a noise propagation in the experimental model. For the parameters which introduce a spatial distortion, the alteration of reconstruction has been, as expected, comparable to that observed with the classical reconstruction and proportional with the amplitude of shift from the normal one. In exchange, for the effect of partial volume and of noise, the study of truncation signature revealed a variation in the optimal choice of the conserved singular values but with no effect on the global precision of reconstruction

Comparison of accelerator and radiometric radiocarbon measurements obtained from Late Devensian Lateglacial lake sediments from Llyn Gwernan, North Wales, UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowe, J.J.; Lowe, S.; Fowler, A.J.

1988-01-01

Accelerator mass spectrometry measurements of the radiocarbon activity of various chemical fractions prepared from Late Devensian Lateglacial lake sediments from the site of Llyn Gwernan, near Cader Idris. North Wales are presented and assessed. These are compared with radiocarbon measurements obtained by radiometric (decay) counting which were reported earlier from the same site and are considered in the light of pollen-stratigraphic information. The potensial advantages of accelerator radiocarbon measurements to the assessment of the chronology and correlation of Lateglacial lake sediments are evaluated

Prefrontal and striatal activity related to values of objects and locations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soyoun eKim

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The value of an object acquired by a particular action often determines the motivation to produce that action. Previous studies found neural signals related to the values of different objects or goods in the orbitofrontal cortex, while the values of outcomes expected from different actions are broadly represented in multiple brain areas implicated in movement planning. However, how the brain combines the values associated with various objects and the information about their locations is not known. In this study, we tested whether the neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC and striatum in rhesus monkeys might contribute to translating the value signals between multiple frames of reference. Monkeys were trained to perform an oculomotor intertemporal choice in which the color of a saccade target and the number of its surrounding dots signaled the magnitude of reward and its delay, respectively. In both DLPFC and striatum, temporally discounted values associated with specific target colors and locations were encoded by partially overlapping populations of neurons. In the DLPFC, the information about reward delays and temporally discounted values of rewards available from specific target locations emerged earlier than the corresponding signals for target colors. Similar results were reproduced by a simple network model built to compute temporally discounted values of rewards in different locations. Therefore, DLPFC might play an important role in estimating the values of different actions by combining the previously learned values of objects and their present locations.

Public values associated with nuclear waste disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maynard, W.S.; Nealey, S.M.; Hebert, J.A.; Lindell, M.K.

1976-06-01

This report presents the major findings from a study designed to assess public attitudes and values associated with nuclear waste disposal. The first objective was to obtain from selected individuals and organizations value and attitude information which would be useful to decision-makers charged with deciding the ultimate disposal of radioactive waste materials. A second research objective was to obtain information that could be structured and quantified for integration with technical data in a computer-assisted decision model. The third general objective of this research was to test several attitude-value measurement procedures for their relevance and applicability to nuclear waste disposal. The results presented in this report are based on questionnaire responses from 465 study participants

Intrinsic magnetic properties of L1(0) FeNi obtained from meteorite NWA 6259

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poirier, E; Pinkerton, FE; Kubic, R; Mishra, RK; Bordeaux, N; Mubarok, A; Lewis, LH; Goldstein, JI; Skomski, R; Barmak, K

2015-05-07

FeNi having the tetragonal L1(0) crystal structure is a promising new rare-earth-free permanent magnet material. Laboratory synthesis is challenging, however, tetragonal L1(0) FeNi-the mineral "tetrataenite"-has been characterized using specimens found in nickel-iron meteorites. Most notably, the meteorite NWA 6259 recovered from Northwest Africa is 95 vol.% tetrataenite with a composition of 43 at.% Ni. Hysteresis loops were measured as a function of sample orientation on a specimen cut from NWA 6259 in order to rigorously deduce the intrinsic hard magnetic properties of its L1(0) phase. Electron backscatter diffraction showed that NWA 6259 is strongly textured, containing L1(0) grains oriented along any one of the three equivalent cubic directions of the parent fcc structure. The magnetic structure was modeled as a superposition of the three orthonormal uniaxial variants. By simultaneously fitting first-quadrant magnetization data for 13 different orientations of the sample with respect to the applied field direction, the intrinsic magnetic properties were estimated to be saturation magnetization 4 pi M-s = 14.7 kG and anisotropy field H-a = 14.4 kOe. The anisotropy constant K = 0.84 MJ/m(3) is somewhat smaller than the value K = 1.3 MJ/m(3) obtained by earlier researchers from nominally equiatomic FeNi prepared by neutron irradiation accompanied by annealing in a magnetic field, suggesting that higher Ni content (fewer Fe antisite defects) may improve the anisotropy. The fit also indicated that NWA 6259 contains one dominant variant (62% by volume), the remainder of the sample being a second variant, and the third variant being absent altogether. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Theoretical calculation of G-value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Shin

1979-01-01

The slowing down spectra of secondary electrons seem to be the most important concept in the case of considering the initial process of radiation chemistry. This paper is described on the consideration for it and the approximation method used. G-value can be determined by the result of integration of the product of the whole slowing down spectrum and the total production cross section of a product to be determined over electron energy. After the relation of G-value to electron beam irradiation and γ-ray decomposition are described, the calculated and experimental values are compared, unexpected agreement is obtained. The reason why the plausible G-values were obtained to such extent by rough calculation is not known. From these G-values, the production of O 3 from O 2 , the radiolysis of NO, the chemical ionization of excited acetylene and others were estimated. The most interesting object in radiation chemistry is the condensing phase. A simple but important problem in radiation chemistry is the definition of the ionization in condensing phase. That is, it is of problem that what distance electrons have to come away from their original molecule to regard as the ionization. The considerations on the size of spur produced in water by γ-irradiation, the distribution of ion pairs in a spur, and Jesse effect are also made. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

The economic value of an investment in physiotherapy education: a net present value analysis

OpenAIRE

George Rivers; Jonathan Foo; Dragan Ilic; Peter Nicklen; Scott Reeves; Kieran Walsh; Stephen Maloney

2015-01-01

Questions: What is the economic value for an individual to invest in physiotherapy undergraduate education in Australia? How is this affected by increased education costs or decreased wages? Design: A cost-benefit analysis using a net present value (NPV) approach was conducted and reported in Australian dollars. In relation to physiotherapy education, the NPV represents future earnings as a physiotherapist minus the direct and indirect costs in obtaining the degree. Sensitivity analyses were ...

INVESTIGATION OF THE POSSIBILITY OF OBTAINING DRY BASES FROM PROCESSED FISH PRODUCTS OF LITTLE VALUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. P. Dvoryaninova

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Summary. Competitive advantages of this direction of researches are in justification of actions and offers on a technical provision of production of a dry fish basis from meat- and bone residue of pond fishes that will allow to produce fast foods of high quality and biological value (broths, soups, sauces, to expand the assortment taking into account market demand, to introduce the new forms of food convenient in storage and use at home and outside as well as for special food. The first courses on dry fish broth are easily digestible, with the high contents of micro and macro elements in the quantity of them they surpass meat broths. Their other advantage is the content of the polynonsaturated fatty acids neutralizing negative impact of substances, destroying tendons, ligaments and cartilage in the human body, thereby eliminating joint pains that is especially important for the determined groups of the population, for example, the military personnel, sportsmen, etc. In addition, this technology includes sparing modes of processing of raw materials, keeping thereby native properties of useful substances (protein, fat as much as possible. Researches on selection of an optimum ratio of the heads and the bones providing high organoleptic rates of broths on their basis were carried out to produce dry fish bases. Conditions and parameters of convective drying of little value products of cutting of silver carp and cod are determined. The results allow to draw a preliminary conclusion on the possibility of creation a new technology of powdery products for broths fast preparation. The developed technology is of great importance in the creation of waste-free and low-waste production at the enterprises of fishery industry of the Russian Federation.

Intrinsic magnetic properties of L10 FeNi obtained from meteorite NWA 6259

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poirier, Eric; Pinkerton, Frederick E.; Kubic, Robert; Mishra, Raja K.; Bordeaux, Nina; Lewis, Laura H.; Mubarok, Arif; Goldstein, Joseph I.; Skomski, Ralph; Barmak, Katayun

2015-01-01

FeNi having the tetragonal L1 0 crystal structure is a promising new rare-earth-free permanent magnet material. Laboratory synthesis is challenging, however, tetragonal L1 0 FeNi—the mineral “tetrataenite”—has been characterized using specimens found in nickel-iron meteorites. Most notably, the meteorite NWA 6259 recovered from Northwest Africa is 95 vol. % tetrataenite with a composition of 43 at. % Ni. Hysteresis loops were measured as a function of sample orientation on a specimen cut from NWA 6259 in order to rigorously deduce the intrinsic hard magnetic properties of its L1 0 phase. Electron backscatter diffraction showed that NWA 6259 is strongly textured, containing L1 0 grains oriented along any one of the three equivalent cubic directions of the parent fcc structure. The magnetic structure was modeled as a superposition of the three orthonormal uniaxial variants. By simultaneously fitting first-quadrant magnetization data for 13 different orientations of the sample with respect to the applied field direction, the intrinsic magnetic properties were estimated to be saturation magnetization 4πM s  = 14.7 kG and anisotropy field H a  = 14.4 kOe. The anisotropy constant K = 0.84 MJ/m 3 is somewhat smaller than the value K = 1.3 MJ/m 3 obtained by earlier researchers from nominally equiatomic FeNi prepared by neutron irradiation accompanied by annealing in a magnetic field, suggesting that higher Ni content (fewer Fe antisite defects) may improve the anisotropy. The fit also indicated that NWA 6259 contains one dominant variant (62% by volume), the remainder of the sample being a second variant, and the third variant being absent altogether

Partial Adaptation of Obtained and Observed Value Signals Preserves Information about Gains and Losses.

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Christopher J; Baddeley, Michelle; Tobler, Philippe N; Schultz, Wolfram

2016-09-28

Given that the range of rewarding and punishing outcomes of actions is large but neural coding capacity is limited, efficient processing of outcomes by the brain is necessary. One mechanism to increase efficiency is to rescale neural output to the range of outcomes expected in the current context, and process only experienced deviations from this expectation. However, this mechanism comes at the cost of not being able to discriminate between unexpectedly low losses when times are bad versus unexpectedly high gains when times are good. Thus, too much adaptation would result in disregarding information about the nature and absolute magnitude of outcomes, preventing learning about the longer-term value structure of the environment. Here we investigate the degree of adaptation in outcome coding brain regions in humans, for directly experienced outcomes and observed outcomes. We scanned participants while they performed a social learning task in gain and loss blocks. Multivariate pattern analysis showed two distinct networks of brain regions adapt to the most likely outcomes within a block. Frontostriatal areas adapted to directly experienced outcomes, whereas lateral frontal and temporoparietal regions adapted to observed social outcomes. Critically, in both cases, adaptation was incomplete and information about whether the outcomes arose in a gain block or a loss block was retained. Univariate analysis confirmed incomplete adaptive coding in these regions but also detected nonadapting outcome signals. Thus, although neural areas rescale their responses to outcomes for efficient coding, they adapt incompletely and keep track of the longer-term incentives available in the environment. Optimal value-based choice requires that the brain precisely and efficiently represents positive and negative outcomes. One way to increase efficiency is to adapt responding to the most likely outcomes in a given context. However, too strong adaptation would result in loss of precise

Working harder to obtain more snack foods when wanting to eat less.

Science.gov (United States)

Giesen, Janneke C A H; Havermans, Remco C; Nederkoorn, Chantal; Strafaci, Silvana; Jansen, Anita

2009-01-01

This study investigates individual differences in the reinforcing value of snack food. More specifically, it was investigated whether differences in restraint status are associated with differences in working for high-caloric snack food. Thirty-six unrestrained non-dieters, twenty restrained non-dieters and fifteen current dieters performed a concurrent schedules task in which they had the option to work for points for either snack food or fruit and vegetables. By progressively increasing the "price" of the snack foods (i.e., the amount of work required to obtain extra snack points) the relative reinforcing value of snack food was determined. As hypothesized, restrained non-dieters worked harder and current dieters worked less hard to obtain snack food as compared to unrestrained non-dieters.

An overview of results obtained in intercomparison exercises for determination of actinides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benedik, L.

2013-01-01

In recent years the Jožef Stefan Institute participated in numerous intercomparison exercises for determination of natural and man-made radionuclides. The reported values were mostly in good agreement with the resulting reference values. This paper describes an analysis of the measurement results obtained in intercomparison exercises for determination of actinides in the period from 2009 to 2011, organised by the National Physical Laboratory and the Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz. The review covers neptunium, plutonium and americium radioisotopes over this period. - Highlights: • The goal of this study is an overview of results obtained in intercomparison exercises for determination of actinides. • The disagreement of results for Np-237 was evaluated. • Improvements in separation procedures were done

Integer-valued trawl processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole E.; Lunde, Asger; Shephard, Neil

2014-01-01

the probabilistic properties of such processes in detail and, in addition, study volatility modulation and multivariate extensions within the new modelling framework. Moreover, we describe how the parameters of a trawl process can be estimated and obtain promising estimation results in our simulation study. Finally......This paper introduces a new continuous-time framework for modelling serially correlated count and integer-valued data. The key component in our new model is the class of integer-valued trawl processes, which are serially correlated, stationary, infinitely divisible processes. We analyse...

A comparison of specific effective energies values obtained for some radioactive element using 3 different decay data banks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nascimento, J.E.C.; Bertelli Neto, L.

1990-01-01

The Specific Effective Energies (SEE) are the dose equivalents received by each of the body organs (targets organs) per nuclear transformation of a radionuclide deposited in an organ or tissue (source organ) after an intake of this isotope. The SEE values were calculated on basis of the dosimetric concepts of Publication 30 of the International Comission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The results were evaluated using two of the three most known decay data banks. This study shows considerables discrepancies in the evaluation of the SEE values for some radionuclides. In theses cases it is recommended the use of the most complete and detailed decay data bank to perform the SEE calculations. (author) [pt

Hemodynamic parameters change earlier than tissue oxygen tension in hemorrhage.

Science.gov (United States)

Pestel, Gunther J; Fukui, Kimiko; Kimberger, Oliver; Hager, Helmut; Kurz, Andrea; Hiltebrand, Luzius B

2010-05-15

Untreated hypovolemia results in impaired outcome. This study tests our hypothesis whether general hemodynamic parameters detect acute blood loss earlier than monitoring parameters of regional tissue beds. Eight pigs (23-25 kg) were anesthetized and mechanically ventilated. A pulmonary artery catheter and an arterial catheter were inserted. Tissue oxygen tension was measured with Clark-type electrodes in the jejunal and colonic wall, in the liver, and subcutaneously. Jejunal microcirculation was assessed by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Intravascular volume was optimized using difference in pulse pressure (dPP) to keep dPP below 13%. Sixty minutes after preparation, baseline measurements were taken. At first, 5% of total blood volume was withdrawn, followed by another 5% increment, and then in 10% increments until death. After withdrawal of 5% of estimated blood volume, dPP increased from 6.1% +/- 3.0% to 20.8% +/- 2.7% (P < 0.01). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) decreased with a blood loss of 10% (P < 0.01). Cardiac output (CO) changed after a blood loss of 20% (P < 0.05). Tissue oxygen tension in central organs, and blood flow in the jejunal muscularis decreased (P < 0.05) after a blood loss of 20%. Tissue oxygen tension in the skin, and jejunal mucosa blood flow decreased (P < 0.05) after a blood loss of 40% and 50%, respectively. In this hemorrhagic pig model systemic hemodynamic parameters were more sensitive to detect acute hypovolemia than tissue oxygen tension measurements or jejunal LDF measurements. Acute blood loss was detected first by dPP. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An inhibitor of polyamine synthesis arrests cells at an earlier stage of G1 than does calcium deprivation.

OpenAIRE

Cheetham, B F

1983-01-01

Methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) completely inhibits the induction of thymidine kinase after serum stimulation of quiescent fibroblasts only if added within 3 h after serum, whereas calcium deprivation blocks this induction up to 12 h after serum stimulation. Experiments in which one of these blocks was imposed as the other was released confirmed that cells blocked by methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) are arrested at an earlier stage in G1 than cells blocked by calcium deprivation.

Optimizing Methods of Obtaining Stellar Parameters for the H3 Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Ivory, KeShawn; Conroy, Charlie; Cargile, Phillip

2018-01-01

The Stellar Halo at High Resolution with Hectochelle Survey (H3) is in the process of observing and collecting stellar parameters for stars in the Milky Way's halo. With a goal of measuring radial velocities for fainter stars, it is crucial that we have optimal methods of obtaining this and other parameters from the data from these stars.The method currently developed is The Payne, named after Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, a code that uses neural networks and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to utilize both spectra and photometry to obtain values for stellar parameters. This project was to investigate the benefit of fitting both spectra and spectral energy distributions (SED). Mock spectra using the parameters of the Sun were created and noise was inserted at various signal to noise values. The Payne then fit each mock spectrum with and without a mock SED also generated from solar parameters. The result was that at high signal to noise, the spectrum dominated and the effect of fitting the SED was minimal. But at low signal to noise, the addition of the SED greatly decreased the standard deviation of the data and resulted in more accurate values for temperature and metallicity.

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN THE FORMATION OF VALUES AND VALUE ORIENTATIONS AMONG ADOLESCENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aneta Barakoska

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper is reviewed the concept of values and value orientations, as to the role of education in the process of their forming among adolescents from middle and late adolescence. Presented and discussed are the results of a larger research regarding the differences in values and value orientations in adolescents with different kind of education and: а adolescents learning religious subjects and ethics b adolescents learning ethics and c adolescents learning neither religious subjects, nor ethics.The findings obtained testify for the presence of differences in the system of values in adolescents with different education type as regarding to the following instrumental values: cooperation, honesty, determination, capability, assistance, clarity, generosity, logics and competing. There are also differences regarding the terminal values: exciting life, peace in the world, self-respecting, peace of mind, equality, economic welfare, pleasure and social justice. As regarding to the examined life styles, differences are found between the examined groups of adolescents in the following value orientations: family, altruistic, utilitary, popular and individual, as to religious, hedonism and power.

Anomalous vacuum expectation values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, H.

1986-01-01

The anomalous vacuum expectation value is defined as the expectation value of a quantity that vanishes by means of the field equations. Although this value is expected to vanish in quantum systems, regularization in general produces a finite value of this quantity. Calculation of this anomalous vacuum expectation value can be carried out in the general framework of field theory. The result is derived by subtraction of divergences and by zeta-function regularization. Various anomalies are included in these anomalous vacuum expectation values. This method is useful for deriving not only the conformal, chiral, and gravitational anomalies but also the supercurrent anomaly. The supercurrent anomaly is obtained in the case of N = 1 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in four, six, and ten dimensions. The original form of the energy-momentum tensor and the supercurrent have anomalies in their conservation laws. But the modification of these quantities to be equivalent to the original one on-shell causes no anomaly in their conservation laws and gives rise to anomalous traces

Nanocrystalline and ultrafine grain copper obtained by mechanical attrition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodolfo Rodríguez Baracaldo

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents a method for the sample preparation and characterisation of bulk copper having grain size lower than 1 μm (ultra-fine grain and lower than 100 nm grain size (nanocrystalline. Copper is initially manufactured by a milling/alloying me- chanical method thereby obtaining a powder having a nanocrystalline structure which is then consolidated through a process of warm compaction at high pressure. Microstructural characterisation of bulk copper samples showed the evolution of grain size during all stages involved in obtaining it. The results led to determining the necessary conditions for achieving a wide range of grain sizes. Mechanical characterisation indicated an increase in microhardness to values of around 3.40 GPa for unconsolida- ted nanocrystalline powder. Compressivee strength was increased by reducing the grain size, thereby obtaining an elastic limit of 650 MPa for consolidated copper having a ~ 62 nm grain size.

Magnetic susceptibility measurements of boring cores obtained from regional hydrological study project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Ken

2010-02-01

We measured the magnetic susceptibility of boring cores obtained from the Regional Hydrological Study Project to interpret the aeromagnetic survey data which was carried out in Tono area with about 40km square surrounding Tono Geoscience Center. The result of measurements indicates that the magnetic susceptibility of the Toki Granite is not distributed uniformly and the maximum value becomes two orders in magnitude larger than its minimum value. (author)

Water based suspensions of iron oxide obtained by laser target evaporation for biomedical applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Novoselova, I.P. [Ural Federal University, Department of Magnetism and Magnetic Nanomaterials, Lenin Ave. 51, 620083 Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Science and Technology Park “Fabrica”, Gaidara St. 6, 236022 Kaliningrad (Russian Federation); Safronov, A.P. [Ural Federal University, Department of Magnetism and Magnetic Nanomaterials, Lenin Ave. 51, 620083 Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Institute of Electrophysics UD RAS, Amundsena St. 106, 620016 Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Samatov, O.M. [Institute of Electrophysics UD RAS, Amundsena St. 106, 620016 Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Beketov, I.V.; Medvedev, A.I. [Ural Federal University, Department of Magnetism and Magnetic Nanomaterials, Lenin Ave. 51, 620083 Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Institute of Electrophysics UD RAS, Amundsena St. 106, 620016 Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Kurlyandskaya, G.V. [Ural Federal University, Department of Magnetism and Magnetic Nanomaterials, Lenin Ave. 51, 620083 Yekaterinburg (Russian Federation); Universidad del País Vasco, UPV/EHU, Dpto. de Electricidad y Electrónica, P.O. Box 644, Bilbao 48080 (Spain)

2016-10-01

In this work spherical magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of iron oxide were obtained by laser target evaporation technique (LTE). Water based suspensions were prepared on the basis of obtained MNPs and their properties were also studied including inductive heat capacity. Their structure and properties were studied by a number of techniques including magnetometry and heat capacity measurements. Magnetic induction heating experiment show the specific loss power (SLP) value in the narrow range from 1.30 to 1.45 W/g for all samples under consideration when using alternating magnetic field of 1.7 kA/m and frequency of 210 kHz. These parameters insure that LTE MNPs are interesting materials promising for magnetic fluid hyperthermia. - Highlights: • Spheric oxide nanoparticles obtained by productive laser target evaporation method. • Experiment shows the specific loss power value in the narrow range for all samples. • Obtained results insure these objects as interesting material for hyperthermia.

Water based suspensions of iron oxide obtained by laser target evaporation for biomedical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novoselova, I.P.; Safronov, A.P.; Samatov, O.M.; Beketov, I.V.; Medvedev, A.I.; Kurlyandskaya, G.V.

2016-01-01

In this work spherical magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of iron oxide were obtained by laser target evaporation technique (LTE). Water based suspensions were prepared on the basis of obtained MNPs and their properties were also studied including inductive heat capacity. Their structure and properties were studied by a number of techniques including magnetometry and heat capacity measurements. Magnetic induction heating experiment show the specific loss power (SLP) value in the narrow range from 1.30 to 1.45 W/g for all samples under consideration when using alternating magnetic field of 1.7 kA/m and frequency of 210 kHz. These parameters insure that LTE MNPs are interesting materials promising for magnetic fluid hyperthermia. - Highlights: • Spheric oxide nanoparticles obtained by productive laser target evaporation method. • Experiment shows the specific loss power value in the narrow range for all samples. • Obtained results insure these objects as interesting material for hyperthermia.

The Owen Value of Stochastic Cooperative Game

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Guo E

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We consider stochastic cooperative game and give it the definition of the Owen value, which is obtained by extending the classical case. Then we provide explicit expression for the Owen value of the stochastic cooperative game and discuss its existence and uniqueness.

Prenatal Care: Medicaid Recipients and Uninsured Women Obtain Insufficient Care. Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations, Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives.

Science.gov (United States)

General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Div. of Human Resources.

Women who had no health insurance or who were enrolled in Medicaid were interviewed to determine the extent of their prenatal care. Those most likely to obtain insufficient care were the women who were uninsured, poorly educated, Black or Hispanic, or teenagers from large urban areas. Barriers to earlier or more frequent prenatal care were the…

Factors contributing to risk for cancer among HIV-infected individuals, and evidence that earlier combination antiretroviral therapy will alter this risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borges, Alvaro Humberto Diniz; Dubrow, Robert; Silverberg, Michael J

2014-01-01

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To critically appraise recent published literature about factors associated with cancer risk likely to be influenced by combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in HIV-infected individuals, and the potential of earlier cART initiation to reduce this risk. RECENT FINDINGS: Fact...

tracing uganda's global primary organic pineapple value chain

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ACSS

2016-02-22

Feb 22, 2016 ... methods were used to validate results obtained from the .... TABLE 2. Agronomic information on organic pineapple production in Uganda ..... management, which makes the value chain expensive ..... A handbook for value ...

An inhibitor of polyamine synthesis arrests cells at an earlier stage of G1 than does calcium deprivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheetham, B F

1983-01-01

Methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) completely inhibits the induction of thymidine kinase after serum stimulation of quiescent fibroblasts only if added within 3 h after serum, whereas calcium deprivation blocks this induction up to 12 h after serum stimulation. Experiments in which one of these blocks was imposed as the other was released confirmed that cells blocked by methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) are arrested at an earlier stage in G1 than cells blocked by calcium deprivation. PMID:6843551

[Trial digitalization of analog-data obtained from the AutoAnalyzer].

Science.gov (United States)

Omori, S

2000-10-01

The AutoAnalzer(Basic Model) manufactured on Technicon corporation was a very useful instrument for clinical laboratory automation, but it was necessary to convert the data obtained from the instrument to digital values used the chart reader. This was very troublesome and there was apprehension that there would be errors in A-D conversion. We tried converting data obtained from the AutoAnalzer to a digital value by on-line connection of the instruments with minicomputers(LINC-8 and FACOM-R). The output of the recorder was converted to voltage(0 to 100 V) using a potentiometer, quantitated(0 to 1.000) by the A-D converter attached to LINC-8, and processed by the minicomputer. The control-box was an experimental device mainly designed for the convenience of users. The functions of the control-box were designated analytical items, No. of A-D converters, start and stop of the AutoAnalzer operation to the minicomputer. Employing the control-box, a technician operated this system freely, without direct computer operation. We established a generally satisfactory system for clinical laboratory automation using the minicomputer.

Nanostructured MgTiO{sub 3} thick films obtained by electrophoretic deposition from nanopowders prepared by solar PVD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Apostol, Irina [S.C. IPEE Amiral Trading Impex S.A., 115300 Curtea de Arges (Romania); Mahajan, Amit [Department of Materials and Ceramics Engineering, Centre for Research in Ceramics and Composite Materials, CICECO, University of Aveiro, 3810-093 Aveiro (Portugal); Monty, Claude J.A. [CNRS-PROMES Laboratory, 66120 Font Romeu Odeillo (France); Venkata Saravanan, K., E-mail: venketvs@cutn.ac.in [Department of Materials and Ceramics Engineering, Centre for Research in Ceramics and Composite Materials, CICECO, University of Aveiro, 3810-093 Aveiro (Portugal); Department of Physics, School of Basic and Applied Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur 61010 (India)

2015-12-15

Highlights: • Obtaining nano-crystalline magnesium titanium oxide powders by solar physical vapor deposition (SPVD) process. And using these nano-powders to obtain thick films on conducting substrates by electrophoretic deposition (EPD). • SPVD is a core innovative, original and environmentally friendly process to prepare nano-materials in a powder form. • Sintered thick films exhibited dielectric constant, ε{sub r} ∼18.3 and dielectric loss, tan δ ∼0.0012 at 1 MHz, which is comparable to the values reported earlier. • New contributions to the pool of information on the preparation of nano-structured MgTiO{sub 3} thick films at low temperatures. • A considerable decrease in synthesis temperature of pure MgTiO{sub 3} thick film was observed by the combination of SPVD and EPD. - Abstract: A novel combination of solar physical vapor deposition (SPVD) and electrophoretic deposition (EPD) that was developed to grow MgTiO{sub 3} nanostructured thick films is presented. Obtaining nanostructured MgTiO{sub 3} thick films, which can replace bulk ceramic components, a major trend in electronic industry, is the main objective of this work. The advantage of SPVD is direct synthesis of nanopowders, while EPD is simple, fast and inexpensive technique for preparing thick films. SPVD technique was developed at CNRS-PROMES Laboratory, Odeillo-Font Romeu, France, while the EPD was performed at University of Aveiro – DeMAC/CICECO, Portugal. The nanopowders with an average crystallite size of about 30 nm prepared by SPVD were dispersed in 50 ml of acetone in basic media with addition of triethanolamine. The obtained well-dispersed and stable suspensions were used for carrying out EPD on 25 μm thick platinum foils. After deposition, films with thickness of about 22–25 μm were sintered in air for 15 min at 800, 900 and 1000 °C. The structural and microstructural characterization of the sintered thick films was carried out using XRD and SEM, respectively. The

Field testing existence values for riparian ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

John W. Duffield; Chris J. Neher; David A. Patterson; Patricia A. Champ

2007-01-01

This paper presents preliminary findings on a cash and contingent valuation (cv) experiment. The study replicates major elements of an earlier (1990) experiment, which solicited hypothetical and actual donations to benefit instream flows for Montana fisheries. Extensions of the earlier work include: repeat contacts to increase response rate, follow-up of the contingent...

Association of Previous Clinical Breast Examination With Reduced Delays and Earlier-Stage Breast Cancer Diagnosis Among Women in Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Romanoff, Anya; Constant, Tara Hayes; Johnson, Kay M; Guadiamos, Manuel Cedano; Vega, Ana María Burga; Zunt, Joseph; Anderson, Benjamin O

2017-11-01

Mammographic screening is impractical in most of the world where breast cancers are first identified based on clinical signs and symptoms. Clinical breast examination may improve early diagnosis directly by finding breast cancers at earlier stages or indirectly by heightening women's awareness of breast health concerns. To investigate factors that influence time to presentation and stage at diagnosis among patients with breast cancer to determine whether history of previous clinical breast examination is associated with earlier presentation and/or earlier cancer stage at diagnosis. In this cross-sectional analysis of individual patient interviews using a validated Breast Cancer Delay Questionnaire, 113 (71.1%) of 159 women with breast cancer treated at a federally funded tertiary care referral cancer center in Trujillo, Peru, from February 1 through May 31, 2015, were studied. Method of breast cancer detection and factors that influence time to and stage at diagnosis. Of 113 women with diagnosed cancer (mean [SD] age, 54 [10.8] years; age range, 32-82 years), 105 (92.9%) had self-detected disease. Of the 93 women for whom stage was documented, 45 (48.4%) were diagnosed with early-stage disease (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] stage 0, I, or II), and 48 (51.6%) were diagnosed with late-stage disease (AJCC stage III or IV). Mean (SD) total delay from symptom onset to initiation of treatment was 407 (665) days because of patient (mean [SD], 198 [449] days) and health care system (mean [SD], 241 [556] days) delay. Fifty-two women (46.0%) had a history of clinical breast examination, and 23 (20.4%) had undergone previous mammography. Women who underwent a previous clinical breast examination were more likely to have shorter delays from symptom development to presentation compared with women who had never undergone a previous clinical breast examination (odds ratio, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.30-6.60; P = .01). Women diagnosed with shorter patient delay were more

Outcomes of arthroscopic lateral epicondylitis release: Should we treat earlier?

Science.gov (United States)

Soeur, L; Desmoineaux, P; Devillier, A; Pujol, N; Beaufils, P

2016-10-01

When managed conservatively, lateral epicondylitis often subsides only after considerable time, during which social and occupational activities are severely disrupted. If conservative management fails, a recently introduced option is arthroscopic release of the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB). The primary objective of this study was to compare clinical outcomes of this procedure according to preoperative symptom duration. Earlier arthroscopic release is associated with better functional outcomes. Consecutive patients with arthroscopically managed lateral epicondylitis were included in a retrospective study. Arthroscopy was performed only after at least 6 months of conservative treatment. The criteria to evaluate the clinical outcomes were the Nirschl and Quick-DASH scores, muscle strength, time to pain relief, and percentage of functional recovery. Thirty-five patients were evaluated at a median of 4 years (range: 1-12 years) after surgery. Mean preoperative symptom duration was 18 months (range: 6-106 months) with a mean sick leave duration of 2.3±4.9 months. Postoperatively, mean time to recovery was 37.5 days (range: 7 days to 5 years) and mean sick leave duration was 2.4±2.4 months. The mean Quick-DASH score was 15.9±19.1. The Nirschl score improved significantly, from 26.4±7.9 to 66.3±16.3. The initial muscle strength deficit was 10.1±33.2% and muscle strength at last follow-up was increased by 4.3±30.3%. Symptom duration showed no correlations with any of the clinical outcome measures. Outcomes after arthroscopic release were not associated with symptom duration in this study. Nevertheless, the good clinical outcomes support treatment with arthroscopic release after only 6 months of conservative management. IV, retrospective study. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Value dimensions of corporate culture of state-owned enterprise employees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Požega Željko

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines value dimensions of the organizational culture of employees in Hrvatska elektroprivreda d.d., a joint stock company wholly owned by the government of the Republic of Croatia, with the aim of identifying the corporate culture and value differences within the company in relation to employee gender, age and type of workplace. Hofstede’s research on organizational culture value dimensions forms the theoretical framework of this paper. Descriptive statistical methods, i.e., frequencies, comparison of means and ranking were used in the analysis. The results show a difference in values between older and younger employees, as well as between employees working in an office and those working in the field which leads to the conclusion that in this company there are different sub-cultural elements within a single corporate culture. Moreover, the results show that value dimensions of employees in Hrvatska elektroprivreda d.d. are somewhat different from earlier findings of Hofstede’s research into value dimensions of employees in the Republic of Croatia in that the power distance is lower; uncertainty avoidance remains relatively high; individualism of employees has risen considerably, the culture is still impregnated with feminine values and there is a high degree of long-term orientation of employees. The analysis of respondents’ answers indicates that personal time and family time are highly valued. In addition, physical working conditions, good working relations with immediate supervisors and good cooperation with colleagues were also rated high on the scale of importance. It was also found that the most important work objective was job security, and that personal steadiness, stability and persistence were most valued personal traits.

Maximal isometric muscle strength values obtained By hand-held dynamometry in children between 6 and 15 years of age.

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, Raul G; Munoz, Karin T; Dominguez, Angelica; Banados, Pamela; Bravo, Maria J

2017-01-01

In this study we aimed to determine the maximal isometric muscle strength of a healthy, normal-weight, pediatric population between 6 and 15 years of age using hand-held dynamometry to establish strength reference values. The secondary objective was determining the relationship between strength and anthropometric parameters. Four hundred normal-weight Chilean children, split into 10 age groups, separated by 1-year intervals, were evaluated. Each age group included between 35 and 55 children. The strength values increased with increasing age and weight, with a correlation of 0.83 for age and 0.82 for weight. The results were similar to those reported in previous studies regarding the relationships among strength, age, and anthropometric parameters, but the reported strength differed. These results provide normal strength parameters for healthy and normal-weight Chilean children between 6 and 15 years of age and highlight the relevance of ethnicity in defining reference values for muscle strength in a pediatric population. Muscle Nerve 55: 16-22, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exact finite volume expectation values of local operators in excited states

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pozsgay, B. [MTA-BME “Momentum” Statistical Field Theory Research Group,Budafoki út 8, 1111 Budapest (Hungary); Szécsényi, I.M. [Department of Mathematical Sciences, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Institute of Theoretical Physics, Eötvös Loránd University,Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, 1117 Budapest (Hungary); Takács, G. [MTA-BME “Momentum” Statistical Field Theory Research Group,Budafoki út 8, 1111 Budapest (Hungary); Department of Theoretical Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics,Budafoki út 8, 1111 Budapest (Hungary)

2015-04-07

We present a conjecture for the exact expression of finite volume expectation values in excited states in integrable quantum field theories, which is an extension of an earlier conjecture to the case of general diagonal factorized scattering with bound states and a nontrivial bootstrap structure. The conjectured expression is a spectral expansion which uses the exact form factors and the excited state thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz as building blocks. The conjecture is proven for the case of the trace of the energy-moment tensor. Concerning its validity for more general operators, we provide numerical evidence using the truncated conformal space approach. It is found that the expansion fails to be well-defined for small values of the volume in cases when the singularity structure of the TBA equations undergoes a non-trivial rearrangement under some critical value of the volume. Despite these shortcomings, the conjectured expression is expected to be valid for all volumes for most of the excited states, and as an expansion above the critical volume for the rest.

Exact finite volume expectation values of local operators in excited states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pozsgay, B.; Szécsényi, I.M.; Takács, G.

2015-01-01

We present a conjecture for the exact expression of finite volume expectation values in excited states in integrable quantum field theories, which is an extension of an earlier conjecture to the case of general diagonal factorized scattering with bound states and a nontrivial bootstrap structure. The conjectured expression is a spectral expansion which uses the exact form factors and the excited state thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz as building blocks. The conjecture is proven for the case of the trace of the energy-moment tensor. Concerning its validity for more general operators, we provide numerical evidence using the truncated conformal space approach. It is found that the expansion fails to be well-defined for small values of the volume in cases when the singularity structure of the TBA equations undergoes a non-trivial rearrangement under some critical value of the volume. Despite these shortcomings, the conjectured expression is expected to be valid for all volumes for most of the excited states, and as an expansion above the critical volume for the rest.

Earlier Snowmelt Changes the Ratio Between Early and Late Season Forest Productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Knowles, J. F.; Molotch, N. P.; Trujillo, E.; Litvak, M. E.

2017-12-01

Future projections of declining snowpack and increasing potential evaporation associated with climate warming are predicted to advance the timing of snowmelt in mountain ecosystems globally. This scenario has direct implications for snowmelt-driven forest productivity, but the net effect of temporally shifting moisture dynamics is unknown with respect to the annual carbon balance. Accordingly, this study uses both satellite- and tower-based observations to document the forest productivity response to snowpack and potential evaporation variability between 1989 and 2012 throughout the southern Rocky Mountain ecoregion, USA. These results show that a combination of low snow accumulation and record high potential evaporation in 2012 resulted in the 34-year minimum ecosystem productivity that could be indicative of future conditions. Moreover, early and late season productivity were significantly and inversely related, suggesting that future shifts toward earlier or reduced snowmelt could increase late-season moisture stress to vegetation and thus restrict productivity despite a longer growing season. This relationship was further subject to modification by summer precipitation, and the controls on the early/late season productivity ratio are explored within the context of ecosystem carbon storage in the future. Any perturbation to the carbon cycle at this scale represents a potential feedback to climate change since snow-covered forests represent an important global carbon sink.

Analysis of arrhythmic events is useful to detect lead failure earlier in patients followed by remote monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishii, Nobuhiro; Miyoshi, Akihito; Kubo, Motoki; Miyamoto, Masakazu; Morimoto, Yoshimasa; Kawada, Satoshi; Nakagawa, Koji; Watanabe, Atsuyuki; Nakamura, Kazufumi; Morita, Hiroshi; Ito, Hiroshi

2018-03-01

Remote monitoring (RM) has been advocated as the new standard of care for patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). RM has allowed the early detection of adverse clinical events, such as arrhythmia, lead failure, and battery depletion. However, lead failure was often identified only by arrhythmic events, but not impedance abnormalities. To compare the usefulness of arrhythmic events with conventional impedance abnormalities for identifying lead failure in CIED patients followed by RM. CIED patients in 12 hospitals have been followed by the RM center in Okayama University Hospital. All transmitted data have been analyzed and summarized. From April 2009 to March 2016, 1,873 patients have been followed by the RM center. During the mean follow-up period of 775 days, 42 lead failure events (atrial lead 22, right ventricular pacemaker lead 5, implantable cardioverter defibrillator [ICD] lead 15) were detected. The proportion of lead failures detected only by arrhythmic events, which were not detected by conventional impedance abnormalities, was significantly higher than that detected by impedance abnormalities (arrhythmic event 76.2%, 95% CI: 60.5-87.9%; impedance abnormalities 23.8%, 95% CI: 12.1-39.5%). Twenty-seven events (64.7%) were detected without any alert. Of 15 patients with ICD lead failure, none has experienced inappropriate therapy. RM can detect lead failure earlier, before clinical adverse events. However, CIEDs often diagnose lead failure as just arrhythmic events without any warning. Thus, to detect lead failure earlier, careful human analysis of arrhythmic events is useful. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The hardness of synthetic products obtained from cooled and crystallized basaltic melts (in Romanian)

OpenAIRE

Daniela Ogrean

2001-01-01

The Hardness of Synthetic Products Obtained from Cooled and Crystallized Basaltic Melts. Hardness is one of the main properties of the products obtained from cooled and crystallized basaltic melts under a controlled thermal regime. It influences the abrasion tear resistance of the resulted material. The microhardness measurements on the samples (bricks, boards, gutters, armour plates, tubes) indicated Vickers hardness value between 757–926 for the materials obtained from Şanovita basalts (Tim...

Evaluation of biodiesel obtained from cottonseed oil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rashid, Umer [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040 (Pakistan); Department of Industrial Chemistry, Government College University, Faisalabad-38000 (Pakistan); Anwar, Farooq [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040 (Pakistan); Knothe, Gerhard [United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL 61604 (United States)

2009-09-15

Esters from vegetable oils have attracted a great deal of interest as substitutes for petrodiesel to reduce dependence on imported petroleum and provide a fuel with more benign environmental properties. In this work biodiesel was prepared from cottonseed oil by transesterification with methanol, using sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium methoxide and potassium methoxide as catalysts. A series of experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the effects of reaction variables such as methanol/oil molar ratio (3:1-15:1), catalyst concentration (0.25-1.50%), temperature (25-65 C), and stirring intensity (180-600 rpm) to achieve the maximum yield and quality. The optimized variables of 6:1 methanol/oil molar ratio (mol/mol), 0.75% sodium methoxide concentration (wt.%), 65 C reaction temperature, 600 rpm agitation speed and 90 min reaction time offered the maximum methyl ester yield (96.9%). The obtained fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and {sup 1}H NMR spectroscopy. The fuel properties of cottonseed oil methyl esters (COME), cetane number, kinematic viscosity, oxidative stability, lubricity, cloud point, pour point, cold filter plugging point, flash point, ash content, sulfur content, acid value, copper strip corrosion value, density, higher heating value, methanol content, free and bound glycerol were determined and are discussed in the light of biodiesel standards such as ASTM D6751 and EN 14214. (author)

Why should correction values be better known than the measurand true value?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavese, Franco

2013-01-01

Since the beginning of the history of modern measurement science, the experimenters faced the problem of dealing with systematic effects, as distinct from, and opposed to, random effects. Two main schools of thinking stemmed from the empirical and theoretical exploration of the problem, one dictating that the two species should be kept and reported separately, the other indicating ways to combine the two species into a single numerical value for the total uncertainty (often indicated as 'error'). The second way of thinking was adopted by the GUM, and, generally, adopts the method of assuming that their expected value is null by requiring, for all systematic effects taken into account in the model, that corresponding 'corrections' are applied to the measured values before the uncertainty analysis is performed. On the other hand, about the value of the measurand intended to be the object of measurement, classical statistics calls it 'true value', admitting that a value should exist objectively (e.g. the value of a fundamental constant), and that any experimental operation aims at obtaining an ideally exact measure of it. However, due to the uncertainty affecting every measurement process, this goal can be attained only approximately, in the sense that nobody can ever know exactly how much any measured value differs from the true value. The paper discusses the credibility of the numerical value attributed to an estimated correction, compared with the credibility of the estimate of the location of the true value, concluding that the true value of a correction should be considered as imprecisely evaluable as the true value of any 'input quantity', and of the measurand itself. From this conclusion, one should derive that the distinction between 'input quantities' and 'corrections' is not justified and not useful

The Amenity Value of Climate to German Households

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehdanz, K.; Maddison, D.

2004-03-01

This study uses the hedonic approach to measure the amenity value of climate in Germany. Unlike in earlier research separate hedonic wage and house price regressions are estimated for relatively small geographic areas and formal tests undertaken to determine whether the coefficients describing the impact of climate variables are homogenous across these areas. Evidence suggests that German households are compensated for climate amenities mainly through hedonic housing markets. Given that climate is largely unproductive to industry and few industries spend more on land than labour this is consistent with what theory would predict. Throughout Germany house prices are higher in areas with higher January temperatures, lower July temperatures and lower January precipitation. In East Germany wages are higher in areas with higher January precipitation. The full implicit price of climate variables however is very uncertain

Special values of the hypergeometric series

CERN Document Server

Ebisu, Akihito

2017-01-01

In this paper, the author presents a new method for finding identities for hypergeoemtric series, such as the (Gauss) hypergeometric series, the generalized hypergeometric series and the Appell-Lauricella hypergeometric series. Furthermore, using this method, the author gets identities for the hypergeometric series F(a,b;c;x) and shows that values of F(a,b;c;x) at some points x can be expressed in terms of gamma functions, together with certain elementary functions. The author tabulates the values of F(a,b;c;x) that can be obtained with this method and finds that this set includes almost all previously known values and many previously unknown values.

Prospective study on the behaviour of values obtained by organ function studies, in particular scintiscan studies of pulmonary perfusion, during treatment of little to moderately advanced tuberculosis, shown by X-rays to involve one lobe of the lung

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaffartzik, W.

1987-01-01

Prospective study on the behaviour of values obtained by organ function studies, in particular scintiscan studies of pulmonary perfusion, during treatment of little to moderately advanced tuberculosis, shown by X-rays to involve one lobe of the lung. This prospective study analyses features of global and regional pulmonary function in 14 patients with little to moderately pronounced tuberculosis, shown by X-rays to involve one lobe of the lung. At the beginning of treatment, the global function values were not different from the values generally accepted as normal. Disturbed perfusion was determined in pulmonary sections where the X-ray pictures had revealed the presence of tuberculous foci. After therapy and inactivation of the tuberculosis the values were seen to remain unchanged. (MBC) [de

Preoperative left ventricular internal dimension in end-diastole as earlier identification of early patent ductus arteriosus operation and postoperative intensive care in very low birth weight infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Saida, Ken; Nakamura, Tomohiko; Hiroma, Takehiko; Takigiku, Kiyohiro; Yasukochi, Satoshi

2013-10-01

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is common in premature infants. In very low birth weight infants (VLBWI), PDA requires surgical therapy in many cases. It is unclear to know at-risk infants showing cardio-dysfunction after PDA surgery. The purpose of this study was to identify at-risk infants showing cardio-dysfunction after surgery for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). We examined the relationship between left ventricular (LV) performance before and after PDA ligation in a retrospective observational cohort study. We studied 64 preterm neonates with symptomatic PDA before and after surgical ligation. Echocardiographic examinations were performed pre- and postoperatively. M-mode measurements included left ventricular internal dimension in end-diastole (LVIDd) and LV fractional shortening (FS). All cases showed decreased LVFS after PDA closure. Most cases (49/64, 77%) showed postoperative FS decreased to below normal (<28%). Preoperative relative LVIDd was significantly larger in abnormal FS infants (137 ± 18%) than in normal FS infants (118 ± 11%; p<0.01). A cut-off value of preoperative relative LVIDd (absolute LVIDd/normal value) for predicting postoperative cardio-dysfunction was 127.4% (sensitivity, 0.735; specificity, 0.933; area under curve, 0.817). Determination of preoperative LVIDd might facilitate earlier identification of infants needing early PDA surgery and postoperative intensive care. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Value system for distruptive innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Jizhen; Zhang, Si; Hu, Yimei

After reviewing the theory of disruptive innovation, this paper forms a new framework for analyzing disruptive innovation from the perspective of value system, which suggests that the technology per se is the value source, industrial Ecosystem is the carrier, business model is the instrument...... and the market trajectory is the terminal, through the coordination of the elements in the value system the success of firms in disruptive innovation could be obtained and sustained. In other words, with the understanding of how value system works in disruptive innovation, the failure of incumbent firms may...... hopefully find its root. According to the framework, it summarizes different types of disruption that LED brings to traditional lighting industry in Guangdong Province, and proposes policy recommendations to accelerate the development of LED lighting industry in Guangdong Province....

Obtaining of Peracetic Cellulose from Oat Straw for Paper Manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tetyana V. Zelenchuk

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background. Development of technology for obtaining peracetic pulp from oat straw and its use in the production of one of the paper mass types. Objective. Determination of peracetic cooking technological parameters’ optimal values for oat straw peracetic cellulose quality indicators. Methods. The oat straw cooking was carried out with peracetic acid at 95 ± 1 °C from 90 to 180 min for hydromodulus 8:1 and 7:1, using a sodium tungstate catalyst. To determine the oat straw peracetic cellulose mechanical indexes, laboratory samples of paper weighing 70 g/m2 were made. Results. Technological parameters’ optimum values (temperature, cooking duration, hydromodulus, hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid concentration for the oat straw delignification process were established. It is shown that the sodium tungstate catalyst addition to the cooking solution at a rate of up to 1 % of the plant raw material weight helps to reduce the lignin content in cellulose to 15 %. A diagram of the cellulose yield dependence on its residual lignin content for various methods of non-wood plant material species delignification is constructed. The high efficiency of the peracetic method for obtaining cellulose from non-wood plant raw materials, in particular from oat straw, has been confirmed. It is determined that the obtained peracetic cellulose from oat straw has high mechanical indexes. Conclusions. Oat straw peracetic cellulose can be used for the production of paper and cardboard mass types, in particular wrapping paper.

Geochemical Background and Baseline Values Determination and Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metal Pollution in Soils of the Andes Mountain Range (Cajamarca-Huancavelica, Peru)

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Francés, Fernando; Alonso Rojo, Pilar; García Sánchez, Antonio

2017-01-01

Concentrations of seven heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and one metalloid (As) as well as various parameters (pH, organic carbon, granulometric analysis and cation exchange capacity) were analyzed in 77 soil samples collected in the mining areas of La Zanja and Colquirrumi (Department of Cajamarca) and Julcani (Department of Huancavelica). Our study proposed geochemical baseline values for heavy metals in a natural region (La Zanja) from samples collected during the period of the environmental impact study (2006), that is, from an earlier period which occurred at the beginning of the exploitation of the current gold mine. The baseline values obtained were as follows: 8.26 mg·kg−1 for Cr; 56.97 mg·kg−1 for Ni; 22, 20 mg·kg−1 for the Cu; 47.42 mg·kg−1 for Zn; 27.50 mg·kg−1 for As; 4.36 mg·kg−1 for Cd; 4.89 mg·kg−1 for Hg, and 44.87 mg·kg−1 for Pb. Through the use of different indices of heavy metal contamination (geo-accumulation index (Igeo), improved Nemerow index (IIN) and potential ecological risk index (RI)), the degree of pollution caused by mining activities in two areas, Colquirrumi and Julcani, which have a high density of mining sites in operation, was determined. The values obtained from these indices indicated that the Colquirrumi region was the most contaminated, followed by Julcani. The area of La Zanja, despite being free of mining operations, presented slight diffuse pollution. Several positive correlations were obtained, with a high level of significance, between pH, organic carbon content, cation exchange capacity, and the Cr, Pb and Ni concentrations of the soils. The spatial distribution of the heavy metals was realized by means of the interpolation method of ordinary kriging. The results obtained and the experience gained in this work were necessary to facilitate the identification of soil contamination processes in high altitude areas of the Andes Western Cordillera (Peru) as a basis for taking appropriate

Geochemical Background and Baseline Values Determination and Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metal Pollution in Soils of the Andes Mountain Range (Cajamarca-Huancavelica, Peru).

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Francés, Fernando; Martinez-Graña, Antonio; Alonso Rojo, Pilar; García Sánchez, Antonio

2017-07-31

Concentrations of seven heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and one metalloid (As) as well as various parameters (pH, organic carbon, granulometric analysis and cation exchange capacity) were analyzed in 77 soil samples collected in the mining areas of La Zanja and Colquirrumi (Department of Cajamarca) and Julcani (Department of Huancavelica). Our study proposed geochemical baseline values for heavy metals in a natural region (La Zanja) from samples collected during the period of the environmental impact study (2006), that is, from an earlier period which occurred at the beginning of the exploitation of the current gold mine. The baseline values obtained were as follows: 8.26 mg kg-1 for Cr; 56.97 mg kg-1 for Ni; 22, 20 mg kg-1 for the Cu; 47.42 mg kg-1 for Zn; 27.50 mg kg-1 for As; 4.36 mg kg-1 for Cd; 4.89 mg kg-1 for Hg, and 44.87 mg kg-1 for Pb. Through the use of different indices of heavy metal contamination (geo-accumulation index (Igeo), improved Nemerow index (IIN) and potential ecological risk index (RI)), the degree of pollution caused by mining activities in two areas, Colquirrumi and Julcani, which have a high density of mining sites in operation, was determined. The values obtained from these indices indicated that the Colquirrumi region was the most contaminated, followed by Julcani. The area of La Zanja, despite being free of mining operations, presented slight diffuse pollution. Several positive correlations were obtained, with a high level of significance, between pH, organic carbon content, cation exchange capacity, and the Cr, Pb and Ni concentrations of the soils. The spatial distribution of the heavy metals was realized by means of the interpolation method of ordinary kriging. The results obtained and the experience gained in this work were necessary to facilitate the identification of soil contamination processes in high altitude areas of the Andes Western Cordillera (Peru) as a basis for taking appropriate measures when restoring

HIV Cell-to-Cell Spread Results in Earlier Onset of Viral Gene Expression by Multiple Infections per Cell.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikaël Boullé

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Cell-to-cell spread of HIV, a directed mode of viral transmission, has been observed to be more rapid than cell-free infection. However, a mechanism for earlier onset of viral gene expression in cell-to-cell spread was previously uncharacterized. Here we used time-lapse microscopy combined with automated image analysis to quantify the timing of the onset of HIV gene expression in a fluorescent reporter cell line, as well as single cell staining for infection over time in primary cells. We compared cell-to-cell spread of HIV to cell-free infection, and limited both types of transmission to a two-hour window to minimize differences due to virus transit time to the cell. The mean time to detectable onset of viral gene expression in cell-to-cell spread was accelerated by 19% in the reporter cell line and by 35% in peripheral blood mononuclear cells relative to cell-free HIV infection. Neither factors secreted by infected cells, nor contact with infected cells in the absence of transmission, detectably changed onset. We recapitulated the earlier onset by infecting with multiple cell-free viruses per cell. Surprisingly, the acceleration in onset of viral gene expression was not explained by cooperativity between infecting virions. Instead, more rapid onset was consistent with a model where the fastest expressing virus out of the infecting virus pool sets the time for infection independently of the other co-infecting viruses.

Transfer factor values of 137 Cs from latosoils to vegetables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wasserman, Maria Angelica Moreira; Belem, Lilia Maria Juacaba

1996-01-01

Transfer Factor values for black beams, radish and carrot were obtained for soils artificially and accidentally contaminated in Goiania during 1987. Differences of 137 Cs-soil-to-plant transfer were discussed in the light of pedology and crop type. These values were about one order of magnitude higher than mean values reported by IUR for temperature climate for the same crops. These results advertising for the peculiar dynamics of 137 Cs in tropical soils and for needs to obtain regional data to be used in assessment dose models. (author)

Does menopause start earlier in smokers? Evidence from the Pro-Saude Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula de Holanda Mendes

2013-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: cigarette smoking has been the modifiable risk factor most consistently associated with earlier menopause. This preliminary study based on cross-sectional data aimed to analyze the association between smoking status and age of onset of menopause in a Brazilian population. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was carried out with 1,222 female employees of Rio de Janeiro university campuses aged over 35 years who were at risk of natural menopause. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the association between smoking status and age at the onset of menopause, adjusting for education, parity and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: current smokers showed a 56% increase in the risk of menopause, being 1.8 years younger at menopause onset compared with women who had never smoked. However, no differences were observed between former smokers and women who had never smoked. The adjusted median age at menopause was 49.5 years for current smokers and 51.3 years for women who had never smoked (p<0.05. CONCLUSIONS: the results suggest a deleterious but potentially reversible effect of smoking on the age of onset of menopause, which should receive greater attention in tobacco control efforts. Longitudinal analyses of this association will be carried out in the future in a follow-up study of this population.

Integrals of operator-valued functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raimond A. Struble

1988-01-01

Full Text Available Mikusinski-type expansions of operator-valued functions are discussed in some detail. As a natural part of the development, a “kernel” concept for operators is proposed and an elaborate system of convolution quotients in one and two variables is obtained.

Earlier visual N1 latencies in expert video-game players: a temporal basis of enhanced visuospatial performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, Andrew J; Patston, Lucy L M; Westermann, Christine; Kirk, Ian J; Tippett, Lynette J

2013-01-01

Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that expert video game players (VGPs) show enhanced visual attention and visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. We administered the Poffenberger paradigm with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG) recording to assess occipital N1 latencies and interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) in expert VGPs. Participants comprised 15 right-handed male expert VGPs and 16 non-VGP controls matched for age, handedness, IQ and years of education. Expert VGPs began playing before age 10, had a minimum 8 years experience, and maintained playtime of at least 20 hours per week over the last 6 months. Non-VGPs had little-to-no game play experience (maximum 1.5 years). Participants responded to checkerboard stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Expert VGPs responded significantly more quickly than non-VGPs. Expert VGPs also had significantly earlier occipital N1s in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented). IHTT was calculated by comparing the latencies of occipital N1 components between hemispheres. No significant between-group differences in electrophysiological estimates of IHTT were found. Shorter N1 latencies may enable expert VGPs to discriminate attended visual stimuli significantly earlier than non-VGPs and contribute to faster responding in visual tasks. As successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood, these differences may reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise, but training studies are needed to test this prediction.

Earlier visual N1 latencies in expert video-game players: a temporal basis of enhanced visuospatial performance?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew J Latham

Full Text Available Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that expert video game players (VGPs show enhanced visual attention and visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. We administered the Poffenberger paradigm with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG recording to assess occipital N1 latencies and interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT in expert VGPs. Participants comprised 15 right-handed male expert VGPs and 16 non-VGP controls matched for age, handedness, IQ and years of education. Expert VGPs began playing before age 10, had a minimum 8 years experience, and maintained playtime of at least 20 hours per week over the last 6 months. Non-VGPs had little-to-no game play experience (maximum 1.5 years. Participants responded to checkerboard stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Expert VGPs responded significantly more quickly than non-VGPs. Expert VGPs also had significantly earlier occipital N1s in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented. IHTT was calculated by comparing the latencies of occipital N1 components between hemispheres. No significant between-group differences in electrophysiological estimates of IHTT were found. Shorter N1 latencies may enable expert VGPs to discriminate attended visual stimuli significantly earlier than non-VGPs and contribute to faster responding in visual tasks. As successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood, these differences may reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise, but training studies are needed to test this prediction.

Accuracy of total oxidant measurement as obtained by the phenolphthalin method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Louw, C W; Halliday, E C

1963-01-01

The phenolphthalin method of Haagen-Smit and Brunelle (1958) was chosen for a preliminary survey of total oxidant level in Pretoria air, because of its sensitivity. Difficulty, however, was encountered in obtaining reliable standard curves. Some improvement was obtained when conducting all operations except photometer measurements at the temperature of melting ice. It was also found that when the sequence of adding the reagents was changed, so as to simulate conditions during actual sampling, a standard curve approximating a straight line and differing considerably from that of McCabe (1953) was obtained. It follows that values of total oxidant obtained by any experimentor will depend to a certain extent upon the method of standard curve preparation he uses, and when comparisons are made between measurements by experimentors in different towns or countries this factor should be taken into consideration. The accuracy (95% confidence) obtained by the phenolphthalin method, using the mean of three successive samples, was shown to be in the region of 30% for very low amounts of oxidant.

Parasite dispersal risk tolerance is mediated by its reproductive value.

Science.gov (United States)

Nolan, Maxcy P; Delaplane, Keith S

2017-10-01

Parasite dispersal theory draws heavily upon epidemiological SIR models in which host status (susceptible (S), infected (I), or recovered (R)) is used to study parasite dispersal evolution. In contrast to these extrinsically host-centric drivers, in this study we focus on an intrinsic driver, the parasite's reproductive value (predicted future offspring) as a regulator of the extent to which the individual will engage in risky dispersal behaviour. As a model system we use the honeybee Apis mellifera and its ectoparasite, the mite Varroa destructor . Mite reproduction happens exclusively inside cells of bee brood, and newly emerged fecund mites may parasitize either a homocolonial brood cell (low risk dispersal) or emigrate to a new bee colony via phoretic attachment to mature forager bees (high risk dispersal). In an empirical bioassay, prepartum mites (high reproductive value) and postpartum mites (low reproductive value) were offered a choice of newly emerged homocolonial worker bees (low risk), homocolonial pollen forager bees (high risk), or heterocolonial pollen foragers (high risk). A preference for newly emerged bees was earlier and more strongly sustained among prepartum mites. This suggests comparatively greater dispersal risk tolerance among postpartum mites with lower reproductive value. A dangerous bid for dispersal may be adaptive if the individual has already successfully reproduced and the rewards for successful dispersal are sufficiently large.

High value carbon materials from PET recycling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parra, J.B.; Ania, C.O.; Arenillas, A.; Rubiera, F.; Pis, J.J.

2004-01-01

Poly(ethylene) terephthalate (PET), has become one of the major post-consumer plastic waste. In this work special attention was paid to minimising PET residues and to obtain a high value carbon material. Pyrolysis and subsequent activation of PET from post-consumer soft-drink bottles was performed. Activation was carried out at 925 deg. C under CO 2 atmosphere to different burn-off degrees. Textural characterisation of the samples was carried out by performing N 2 adsorption isotherms at -196 deg. C. The obtained carbons materials were mainly microporous, presenting low meso and macroporosity, and apparent BET surface areas of upto 2500 m 2 g -1 . The capacity of these materials for phenol adsorption and PAHs removal from aqueous solutions was measured and compared with that attained with commercial active carbons. Preliminary tests also showed high hydrogen uptake values, as good as the results obtained with high-tech carbon materials

A Validity and Reliability Study on the Development of the Values Scale in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Dilmac, Bulent; Aricak, Osman Tolga; Cesur, Sevim

2014-01-01

The purpose of the present study is to examine the initial psychometric properties of the Values Scale for adults. While developing the first stage of the Values Scale, open-ended data on the values held by 216 university students were obtained. During the second stage, the validity and reliability studies of the 60-item Values Scale obtained by…

Thermoluminescence properties of zinc oxide obtained by solution combustion synthesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orante B, V. R.; Escobar O, F. M.; Cruz V, C. [Universidad de Sonora, Departamento de Investigacion en Polimeros y Materiales, Apdo. Postal 130, 83000 Hermosillo, Sonora (Mexico); Bernal, R., E-mail: victor.orante@polimeros.uson.mx [Universidad de Sonora, Departamento de Investigacion en Fisica, Apdo. Postal 5-088, 83190 Hermosillo, Sonora (Mexico)

2014-08-15

High-dose thermoluminescence dosimetry properties of novel zinc oxide obtained by solution combustion synthesis in a glycine-nitrate process, with a non-stoichiometric value of the elemental stoichiometric coefficient (Φ{sub c}) are presented in this work. Zn O powder samples obtained were annealed afterwards at 900 grades C during 2 h in air. Sintered particles of sizes between ∼ 0.5 and ∼ 2 μm were obtained, according to scanning electron microscopy results. X-ray diffraction indicates the presence of the hexagonal phase of Zn O for the powder samples obtained, before and after thermal annealing, without any remaining nitrate peaks observed. Thermoluminescence glow curves of Zn O obtained after being exposed to beta radiation consists of two maxima; one located at ∼ 149 grades C and another at ∼ 308 grades C, being the latter the dosimetric component of the curve. Dosimetric characterization of non-stoichiometric zinc oxide provided experimental evidence like asymptotic behavior of the Tl signal fading for times greater than 16 h between irradiation and the corresponding Tl readout, as well as the linear behaviour of the dose response without saturation in the dose interval studied (from 12.5 up to 400 Gy). Such characteristics place Zn O phosphors obtained in this work as a promising material for high-dose radiation dosimetry applications (e.g., radiotherapy and food industry). (author)

Thermoluminescence properties of zinc oxide obtained by solution combustion synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orante B, V. R.; Escobar O, F. M.; Cruz V, C.; Bernal, R.

2014-08-01

High-dose thermoluminescence dosimetry properties of novel zinc oxide obtained by solution combustion synthesis in a glycine-nitrate process, with a non-stoichiometric value of the elemental stoichiometric coefficient (Φ c ) are presented in this work. Zn O powder samples obtained were annealed afterwards at 900 grades C during 2 h in air. Sintered particles of sizes between ∼ 0.5 and ∼ 2 μm were obtained, according to scanning electron microscopy results. X-ray diffraction indicates the presence of the hexagonal phase of Zn O for the powder samples obtained, before and after thermal annealing, without any remaining nitrate peaks observed. Thermoluminescence glow curves of Zn O obtained after being exposed to beta radiation consists of two maxima; one located at ∼ 149 grades C and another at ∼ 308 grades C, being the latter the dosimetric component of the curve. Dosimetric characterization of non-stoichiometric zinc oxide provided experimental evidence like asymptotic behavior of the Tl signal fading for times greater than 16 h between irradiation and the corresponding Tl readout, as well as the linear behaviour of the dose response without saturation in the dose interval studied (from 12.5 up to 400 Gy). Such characteristics place Zn O phosphors obtained in this work as a promising material for high-dose radiation dosimetry applications (e.g., radiotherapy and food industry). (author)

Research Regarding Milk Quality Parameters Obtained in Eight Farms from Alba County

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eugen claudiu Jurco

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this investigation was to determine the milk quality in terms of somatic cell count (SCC and total germ number (TGN obtained in eight farms from Alba county. The milk for evaluating quality was monthly harvested in sterile tubes and were examined at the Foundation for milk's quality control. Average value per farm of somatic cell count (SCC, the lowest values were on the farm SC Vitis Augusta SRL with 114670 SCC/ml, and the highest average values ​​were recorded on the  farm SC Zooagro SRL with 277330 SCC/ml. Average values per farm of the total germs number (TGN, the lowest values occurred in SC Biotera SRL with 15.83 x1000 germs/ml and SC Vitis Augusta SRL with 17.25 x1000 of germs/ml farms, and the highest average values ​​were recorded in the farms of PFA Munteanu Cornel with 77.75 x1000 germs/ml and SC Zooagro SRL with 93.33 x1000 germs/ml.

Whey-derived valuable products obtained by microbial fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pescuma, Micaela; de Valdez, Graciela Font; Mozzi, Fernanda

2015-08-01

Whey, the main by-product of the cheese industry, is considered as an important pollutant due to its high chemical and biological oxygen demand. Whey, often considered as waste, has high nutritional value and can be used to obtain value-added products, although some of them need expensive enzymatic synthesis. An economical alternative to transform whey into valuable products is through bacterial or yeast fermentations and by accumulation during algae growth. Fermentative processes can be applied either to produce individual compounds or to formulate new foods and beverages. In the first case, a considerable amount of research has been directed to obtain biofuels able to replace those derived from petrol. In addition, the possibility of replacing petrol-derived plastics by biodegradable polymers synthesized during bacterial fermentation of whey has been sought. Further, the ability of different organisms to produce metabolites commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical industries (i.e., lactic acid, lactobionic acid, polysaccharides, etc.) using whey as growth substrate has been studied. On the other hand, new low-cost functional whey-based foods and beverages leveraging the high nutritional quality of whey have been formulated, highlighting the health-promoting effects of fermented whey-derived products. This review aims to gather the multiple uses of whey as sustainable raw material for the production of individual compounds, foods, and beverages by microbial fermentation. This is the first work to give an overview on the microbial transformation of whey as raw material into a large repertoire of industrially relevant foods and products.

Fungicidal values of bio-oils and their lignin-rich fractions obtained from wood/bark fast pyrolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohan, Dinesh; Shi, Jenny; Nicholas, Darrel D; Pittman, Charles U; Steele, Philip H; Cooper, Jerome E

2008-03-01

Pine wood, pine bark, oak wood and oak bark were pyrolyzed in an auger reactor. A total of 16 bio-oils or pyrolytic oils were generated at different temperatures and residence times. Two additional pine bio-oils were produced at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in a fluidized-bed reactor at different temperatures. All these bio-oils were fractionated to obtain lignin-rich fractions which consist mainly of phenols and neutrals. The pyrolytic lignin-rich fractions were obtained by liquid-liquid extraction. Whole bio-oils and their lignin-rich fractions were studied as potential environmentally benign wood preservatives to replace metal-based CCA and copper systems that have raised environmental concerns. Each bio-oil and several lignin-rich fractions were tested for antifungal properties. Soil block tests were conducted using one brown-rot fungus (Gloeophyllum trabeum) and one white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor). The lignin-rich fractions showed greater fungal inhibition than whole bio-oils for a impregnation solution 10% concentration level. Water repellence tests were also performed to study wood wafer swelling behavior before and after bio-oil and lignin-rich fraction treatments. In this case, bio-oil fractions did not exhibit higher water repellency than whole bio-oils. Comparison of raw bio-oils in soil block tests, with unleached wafers, at 10% and 25% bio-oil impregnation solution concentration levels showed excellent wood preservation properties at the 25% level. The good performance of raw bio-oils at higher loading levels suggests that fractionation to generate lignin-rich fractions is unnecessary. At this more effective 25% loading level in general, the raw bio-oils performed similarly. Prevention of leaching is critically important for both raw bio-oils and their fractions to provide decay resistance. Initial tests of a polymerization chemical to prevent leaching showed some success.

Intrinsic magnetic properties of L1{sub 0} FeNi obtained from meteorite NWA 6259

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poirier, Eric [MEDA Engineering and Technical Services, Southfield, Michigan 48075 (United States); Pinkerton, Frederick E., E-mail: frederick.e.pinkerton@gm.com; Kubic, Robert; Mishra, Raja K. [Chemical Sciences and Materials Systems Lab, GM R and D Center, Warren, Michigan 48090 (United States); Bordeaux, Nina; Lewis, Laura H. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 (United States); Mubarok, Arif; Goldstein, Joseph I. [Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 (United States); Skomski, Ralph [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588 (United States); Barmak, Katayun [Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)

2015-05-07

FeNi having the tetragonal L1{sub 0} crystal structure is a promising new rare-earth-free permanent magnet material. Laboratory synthesis is challenging, however, tetragonal L1{sub 0} FeNi—the mineral “tetrataenite”—has been characterized using specimens found in nickel-iron meteorites. Most notably, the meteorite NWA 6259 recovered from Northwest Africa is 95 vol. % tetrataenite with a composition of 43 at. % Ni. Hysteresis loops were measured as a function of sample orientation on a specimen cut from NWA 6259 in order to rigorously deduce the intrinsic hard magnetic properties of its L1{sub 0} phase. Electron backscatter diffraction showed that NWA 6259 is strongly textured, containing L1{sub 0} grains oriented along any one of the three equivalent cubic directions of the parent fcc structure. The magnetic structure was modeled as a superposition of the three orthonormal uniaxial variants. By simultaneously fitting first-quadrant magnetization data for 13 different orientations of the sample with respect to the applied field direction, the intrinsic magnetic properties were estimated to be saturation magnetization 4πM{sub s} = 14.7 kG and anisotropy field H{sub a} = 14.4 kOe. The anisotropy constant K = 0.84 MJ/m{sup 3} is somewhat smaller than the value K = 1.3 MJ/m{sup 3} obtained by earlier researchers from nominally equiatomic FeNi prepared by neutron irradiation accompanied by annealing in a magnetic field, suggesting that higher Ni content (fewer Fe antisite defects) may improve the anisotropy. The fit also indicated that NWA 6259 contains one dominant variant (62% by volume), the remainder of the sample being a second variant, and the third variant being absent altogether.

DEXTRINIZED SYRUPS OBTAINING THROUGH THE ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS OF SORGHUM STARCH

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Leyanis Rodríguez Rodríguez

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this work was the production of syrups dextrinized by enzymatic hydrolysis of starch red sorghum CIAPR-132 using α-amylase on solutions at different concentrations, with different concentrations of enzyme and enzyme hydrolysis time. The response variable was the dextrose equivalent in each obtained syrup (ED using the modified Lane-Eynon method. In some of the experiments, we used a full factorial design 23 and in others we worked with intermediate concentration and higher hydrolysis time with different levels of enzyme. The obtained products were syrups dextrinized ED between 10,25 and 33,97% (values we can find within the established ones for these types of syrups, which can be used for their functional properties as intermediates syrups or as raw material for different processes of the food industry. This allows you to set a pattern for the use of sorghum feedstock in unconventional obtaining products from its starch.

Methods for obtaining distributions of uranium occurrence from estimates of geologic features

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, C.E.; McLaren, R.A.

1980-04-01

The problem addressed in this paper is the determination of a quantitative estimate of a resource from estimates of fundamental variables which describe the resource. Due to uncertainty about the estimates, these basic variables are stochastic. The evaluation of random equations involving these variables is the core of the analysis process. The basic variables are originally described in terms of a low and a high percentile (the 5th and 95th, for example) and a central value (the mode, mean or median). The variable thus described is then generally assumed to be represented by a three-parameter lognormal distribution. Expressions involving these variables are evaluated by computing the first four central moments of the random functions (which are usually products and sums of variables). Stochastic independence is discussed. From the final set of moments a Pearson distribution is obtained; the high values of skewness and kurtosis resulting from uranium data require obtaining Pearson curves beyond those described in published tables. A cubic spline solution to the Pearson differential equation accomplishes this task. A sample problem is used to illustrate the application of the process; sensitivity to the estimated values of the basic variables is discussed. Appendices contain details of the methods and descriptions of computer programs

Methods for obtaining distributions of uranium occurrence from estimates of geologic features

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, C.E.; McLaren, R.A.

1980-04-01

The problem addressed in this report is the determination of a quantitative estimate of a resource from estimates of fundamental variables which describe the resource. Due to uncertainty about the estimates, these basic variables are stochastic. The evaluation of random equations involving these variables is the core of the analysis process. The basic variables are originally described in terms of a low and a high percentile (the 5th and 95th, for example) and a central value (the mode, mean or median). The variable thus described is then generally assumed to be represented by a three-parameter lognormal distribution. Expressions involving these variables are evaluated by computing the first four central moments of the random functions (which are usually products and sums of variables). Stochastic independence is discussed. From the final set of moments a Pearson distribution is obtained; the high values of skewness and kurtosis resulting from uranium data requires obtaining Pearson curves beyond those described in published tables. A cubic spline solution to the Pearson differential equation accomplishes this task. A sample problem is used to illustrate the application of the process; sensitivity to the estimated values of the basic variables is discussed. Appendices contain details of the methods and descriptions of computer programs

Human reliability analysis data obtainment through fuzzy logic in nuclear plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nascimento, C.S. do; Mesquita, R.N. de

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Human Error Probability estimates from operator's reactions to emergency situations. ► Human Reliability Analysis input data obtainment through fuzzy logic inference. ► Performance Shaping Factors evaluation influence level onto the operator's actions. - Abstract: Human error has been recognized as an important factor for many industrial and nuclear accidents occurrence. Human error data is scarcely available for different reasons among which, lapses in historical database registry methodology is an important one. Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) is an usual tool employed to estimate the probability that an operator will reasonably perform a system required task in required time without degrading the system. This meta-analysis requires specific Human Error Probability estimates for most of its procedure. This work obtains Human Error Probability (HEP) estimates from operator's actions in response to emergency situations hypothesis on Research Reactor IEA-R1 from IPEN, Brazil. Through this proposed methodology HRA should be able to be performed even with shortage of related human error statistical data. A Performance Shaping Factors (PSF's) evaluation in order to classify and estimate their influence level onto the operator's actions and to determine their actual state over the plant was also done. Both HEP estimation and PSF evaluation were done based on expert judgment using interviews and questionnaires. Expert group was established based on selected IEA-R1 operators, and their evaluation were put into a knowledge representation system which used linguistic variables and group evaluation values that were obtained through Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy Set theory. HEP obtained values show good agreement with literature published data corroborating the proposed methodology as a good alternative to be used on HRA.

High value carbon materials from PET recycling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parra, J.B.; Ania, C.O.; Arenillas, A.; Rubiera, F.; Pis, J.J

2004-11-15

Poly(ethylene) terephthalate (PET), has become one of the major post-consumer plastic waste. In this work special attention was paid to minimising PET residues and to obtain a high value carbon material. Pyrolysis and subsequent activation of PET from post-consumer soft-drink bottles was performed. Activation was carried out at 925 deg. C under CO{sub 2} atmosphere to different burn-off degrees. Textural characterisation of the samples was carried out by performing N{sub 2} adsorption isotherms at -196 deg. C. The obtained carbons materials were mainly microporous, presenting low meso and macroporosity, and apparent BET surface areas of upto 2500 m{sup 2} g{sup -1}. The capacity of these materials for phenol adsorption and PAHs removal from aqueous solutions was measured and compared with that attained with commercial active carbons. Preliminary tests also showed high hydrogen uptake values, as good as the results obtained with high-tech carbon materials.

Value of apparent diffusion coefficients in patients with brain tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Luca, Silvina; Stoisa, Daniela; Mondello, Eduardo; Vietti, Julio; Casas, Gabriel; Florenzano, Nestor; Eyheremendy, Eduardo; Martinez Boero, Macarena

2004-01-01

Purpose: To determine the utility of ADC values for the diagnosis of encephalic tumors. Material and method: Forty patients with encephalic tumors histopathologically confirmed, have been studied by conventional MR, diffusion and ADC maps. The intensities were measured in the solid tumor portion and the normal white matter, ratios were obtained and correlated in 13 patients with their respective cellularity indexes. Results: Seventeen were glial tumors, with lower ADC values in cases of greater malignancy. In 12 patients the diagnosis was secondary lesions in which the lowest ADC values were obtained. This feature was shared by the epidermoid cyst. The hamartomas, neurinomas, oligodendrogliomas and ependymomas have shown intermediate ADC values. Conclusion: The ADC map is a complement of conventional MR which provides additional information for the diagnosis of encephalic tumors. Low ADC values correlated with high grade malignant tumors. (author)

Patients’ Perspective on the Value of Medication Management Appointments

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Mario Cruz

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Objectives: There is ongoing concern that psychiatric medication management appointments add little value to care. The present study attempted to address this concern by capturing depressed patients’ views and opinions about the value of psychiatric medication management appointments. Methods: Seventy-eight semi-structured interviews were performed with white and African American depressed patients post medication management appointments. These interviews tapped patients’ views and opinions about the value of attending medication management appointments. Analysis: An iterative thematic analysis was performed. Findings: Patients reported greater appointment value when appointments included obtaining medications, discussing the need for medication changes or dose adjustments, and discussing the impact of medications on their illness. Additionally, greater appointment value was perceived by patients when there were non-medical conversations about life issues, immediate outcomes from the appointment such as motivation to continue in care, and specific qualities of providers that were appealing to patients. Conclusions: Patients’ perceived value of psychiatric medication management appointments is complex. Though important patient outcomes are obtaining medicine and perceiving improvement in their mental health, there are other valued appointment and provider factors. Some of these other valued factors embedded within medication management appointments could have therapeutic properties. These findings have implications for future clinical research and service delivery.

Safety of reactors built according to earlier standards (WWER 440/V230 type)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misak, J.; Rohar, S.

1995-01-01

The problems of safety of WWER-440/V-230 type reactors are discussed, and the following conclusions are made. (1) The reactors have a very good operational record. (2) The reactors have serious design shortcomings, which should be eliminated by safety upgrading. Core damage frequency should be further reduced. (3) PSA methods constitute an appropriate tool for assessment of plant vulnerability to some initiating events and malfunctions, for prioritization of upgrading measures and for tolerability of deviations from current safety standards. (4) The most important safety merits, such as a large thermal inertia and low rupture probability, should be properly taken into account in the analysis. (5) Extensive safety upgrading is feasible and can lead to a considerable risk reduction. In certain circumstances such upgrading is the least expensive option even though the total cost is much higher than the initial plant construction cost. (6) Properly upgraded, the reactor units may be operable until better power resources are available within the country. (7) The existing gap between the technological and political judgements of nuclear safety should be reduced continuously by information exchange improvements. (8) A unified approach to nuclear safety should be adopted for all nuclear reactors (not just WWERs) built to earlier standards. 5 tabs., 1 fig

The value chain and e-business in exporting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hinson, Robert

2010-01-01

that could be most strategically leveraged using e-business are customer service, sales and marketing, operations, logistics and procurement, in that order. Originality/value: The study is one of a few studies that aim to build on the existing value chain theories in relation to e-business. This study......Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the possibilities and challenges facing the application of e-business in the Ghanaian exporting sector. The paper also ascertains, from a value chain perspective, the extent of e-business usages within two export organizations...... knowledge, especially in areas that are characterized by rapid changes. It was also chosen because it is useful for analysing contemporary events. The primary source of data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with senior management personnel in the firms we studied. The data obtained...

What value do users derive from social networking applications?

OpenAIRE

Neale, Larry; Russell-Bennett, Rebekah

2009-01-01

Why do users of social networking sites recommend some applications to their friends while rejecting others? What value do they obtain from applications? This exploratory study investigates the value users derive from ‘cool’ Facebook applications, and explores the features that either encourage or discourage users to recommend applications to their friends. Our qualitative data reveal consumers derive a combination of functional value along with either social or emotional value from the app...

Variability of bronchial measurements obtained by sequential CT using two computer-based methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brillet, Pierre-Yves; Fetita, Catalin I.; Mitrea, Mihai; Preteux, Francoise; Capderou, Andre; Dreuil, Serge; Simon, Jean-Marc; Grenier, Philippe A.

2009-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the variability of lumen (LA) and wall area (WA) measurements obtained on two successive MDCT acquisitions using energy-driven contour estimation (EDCE) and full width at half maximum (FWHM) approaches. Both methods were applied to a database of segmental and subsegmental bronchi with LA > 4 mm 2 containing 42 bronchial segments of 10 successive slices that best matched on each acquisition. For both methods, the 95% confidence interval between repeated MDCT was between -1.59 and 1.5 mm 2 for LA, and -3.31 and 2.96 mm 2 for WA. The values of the coefficient of measurement variation (CV 10 , i.e., percentage ratio of the standard deviation obtained from the 10 successive slices to their mean value) were strongly correlated between repeated MDCT data acquisitions (r > 0.72; p 2 , whereas WA values were lower for bronchi with WA 2 ; no systematic EDCE underestimation or overestimation was observed for thicker-walled bronchi. In conclusion, variability between CT examinations and assessment techniques may impair measurements. Therefore, new parameters such as CV 10 need to be investigated to study bronchial remodeling. Finally, EDCE and FWHM are not interchangeable in longitudinal studies. (orig.)

Biochemical Characterization of Lipases Obtained from Acinetobacter psychrotolerans Strains

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Şule SEREN

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, extracellular lipases obtained from Acinetobacter psychrotolerans strains (Xg1 and Xg2 were characterized. The effects of varying pH values (3.0-10.0 and various temperatures (10-90 °C on lipase activities were examined. Also the effects of different metal ions, organic solvents and detergents on lipases were studied. The extracellular crude lipases were concentrated using ultrafiltration. Zymogram analysis of these lipases was performed. Lipases exhibited maximum activity at pH 8 and 30 °C.  While lipase obtained from the Xg1 strain exhibited the highest stability in the presence of various organic solvents, including hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and N,N dietil formamide, lipase obtained from the Xg2 strain was sensitive in the presence of isopropanol, acetonitrile, and butan-1-ol. The lipases of the Xg1 and Xg2 strains were inhibited in the presence of Cu2+ and Zn2+. Also, the lipase of the Xg1 strain was inhibited in the presence of Fe3+. In the presence of EDTA, the lipase activities of the Xg1 and Xg2 strains were partially inhibited. In presence of SDS, they were exactly inhibited. According to the zymogram results, the molecular weights of the lipases obtained from the Acinetobacter psychrotolerans Xg1 and Xg2 strains have been found approximately 37 and 30 kDa, respectively.

Does Book Values and Earnings Affect Equity Values of Corporate Entities in Nigeria?

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Edirin Jeroh

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: In this study, we appraised the effect which book values and earnings would have on equity values of quoted corporate entities in Nigeria. In view of this, we obtained secondary data from the published reports of 105 firms selected for this study. The study period was 10 years (2005–2014. Methodology/methods: The regression technique was employed to scrutinize the data sourced from sampled entities’ annual accounts. Additionally, the Breusch-Pagan/ Cook-Weisberg Test was employed along with the VIF Test to verify whether the sourced data were normally distributed or whether there was the presence or otherwise of multicollinearity amid the explanatory (independent variables. Scientific aim: This study aims to empirically establish with available statistics, the extent in which variations in equity values of quoted corporate entities in Nigeria could be accounted for by changes in book values and earnings. Findings: Results from our analysis revealed inter alia, that book value per share and earnings jointly had significant and positive effect on equity values of Nigerian quoted firms. Conclusion: Since earnings was significant in attempting to ascertain equity values of Nigerian firms, it was thus recommend that regulatory bodies like the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria among others should develop enforceable strategies and sanctions that would discourage and eliminate all forms of earnings manipulation that may distort the information reported in the financial statements of quoted corporate entities in Nigeria

CASSAVA BREEDING I: THE VALUE OF BREEDING VALUE

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Hernán Ceballos

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Breeding cassava relies on several selection stages (single row trial-SRT; preliminary; advanced; and uniform yield trials - UYT. This study uses data from 14 years of evaluations. From more than 20,000 genotypes initially evaluated only 114 reached the last stage. The objective was to assess how the data at SRT could be used to predict the probabilities of genotypes reaching the UYT. Phenotypic data from each genotype at SRT was integrated into the selection index (SIN used by the cassava breeding program. Average SIN from all the progenies derived from each progenitor was then obtained. Average SIN is an approximation of the breeding value of each progenitor. Data clearly suggested that some genotypes were better progenitors than others (e.g. high number of their progenies reaching the UYT, suggesting important variation in breeding values of progenitors. However, regression of average SIN of each parental genotype on the number of their respective progenies reaching UYT resulted in a negligible coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.05. Breeding value (e.g. average SIN at SRT was not efficient predicting which genotypes were more likely to reach the UYT stage. Number of families and progenies derived from a given progenitor were more efficient predicting the probabilities of the progeny from a given parent reaching the UYT stage. Large within-family genetic variation tends to mask the true breeding value of each progenitor. The use of partially inbred progenitors (e.g. S1 or S2 genotypes would reduce the within-family genetic variation thus making the assessment of breeding value more accurate. Moreover, partial inbreeding of progenitors can improve the breeding value of the original (S0 parental material and sharply accelerate genetic gains. For instance, homozygous S1 genotypes for the dominant resistance to cassava mosaic disease could be generated and selected. All gametes from these selected S1 genotypes would carry the desirable allele

Electric field in the magnetotail depending on the geomagnetic activity level and intensity Esub(y) in the solar wind

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pudovkin, M.I.; Osipov, V.V.; Shukhtina, M.A.; Zajtseva, S.A.; AN SSSR, Vladivostok. Dal'nevostochnyh Nauchnyj Tsentr)

1982-01-01

The value of the large-scale electric field in the near magnetotail on AE-index variations delay in relation to interplanetary electric field variations is estimated. It is obtained that the electric field value in a tail increases with magnetic activity level. The solar wind electric field under strong magnetic disturbance penetrates into the magnetosphere practically without weakening and is essentially weakened in magneto-quit conditions. Calculated values of the electric field magnitude in the magnetotail (0.01-1mBm) are in agreement with those obtained earlier [ru

Everyday value conflicts and integrative complexity of thought.

Science.gov (United States)

Myyry, Liisa

2002-12-01

This study examined the value pluralism model in everyday value conflicts, and the effect of issue context on complexity of thought. According to the cognitive manager model we hypothesized that respondents would obtain a higher level of integrative complexity on personal issues that on professional and general issues. We also explored the relations of integrative complexity to value priorities, measured by the Schwartz Value Survey, and to emotional empathy. The value pluralism model was not supported by the data collected from 126 university students from social science, business and technology. The cognitive manager model was partially confirmed by data from females but not from males. Concerning value priorities, more complex respondents had higher regard for self-transcendence values, and less complex respondents for self-enhancement values Emotional empathy was also significantly related to complexity score.

A study of biorthogonal multiple vector-valued wavelets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Jincang; Cheng Zhengxing; Chen Qingjiang

2009-01-01

The notion of vector-valued multiresolution analysis is introduced and the concept of biorthogonal multiple vector-valued wavelets which are wavelets for vector fields, is introduced. It is proved that, like in the scalar and multiwavelet case, the existence of a pair of biorthogonal multiple vector-valued scaling functions guarantees the existence of a pair of biorthogonal multiple vector-valued wavelet functions. An algorithm for constructing a class of compactly supported biorthogonal multiple vector-valued wavelets is presented. Their properties are investigated by means of operator theory and algebra theory and time-frequency analysis method. Several biorthogonality formulas regarding these wavelet packets are obtained.

Ellipsoids and matrix-valued valuations

OpenAIRE

Ludwig, Monika

2003-01-01

We obtain a classification of Borel measurable, GL(n) covariant, symmetric-matrix-valued valuations on the space of n-dimensional convex polytopes. The only ones turn out to be the moment matrix corresponding to the classical Legendre ellipsoid and the matrix corresponding to the ellipsoid recently discovered by E. Lutwak, D. Yang, and G. Zhang.

Human reliability analysis data obtainment through fuzzy logic in nuclear plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nascimento, C.S. do, E-mail: claudio.souza@ctmsp.mar.mil.br [Centro Tecnologico da Marinha em Sao Paulo (CTMSP), Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2468, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Mesquita, R.N. de, E-mail: rnavarro@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN - SP), Av. Professor Lineu Prestes 2242, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2012-09-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Human Error Probability estimates from operator's reactions to emergency situations. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Human Reliability Analysis input data obtainment through fuzzy logic inference. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Performance Shaping Factors evaluation influence level onto the operator's actions. - Abstract: Human error has been recognized as an important factor for many industrial and nuclear accidents occurrence. Human error data is scarcely available for different reasons among which, lapses in historical database registry methodology is an important one. Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) is an usual tool employed to estimate the probability that an operator will reasonably perform a system required task in required time without degrading the system. This meta-analysis requires specific Human Error Probability estimates for most of its procedure. This work obtains Human Error Probability (HEP) estimates from operator's actions in response to emergency situations hypothesis on Research Reactor IEA-R1 from IPEN, Brazil. Through this proposed methodology HRA should be able to be performed even with shortage of related human error statistical data. A Performance Shaping Factors (PSF's) evaluation in order to classify and estimate their influence level onto the operator's actions and to determine their actual state over the plant was also done. Both HEP estimation and PSF evaluation were done based on expert judgment using interviews and questionnaires. Expert group was established based on selected IEA-R1 operators, and their evaluation were put into a knowledge representation system which used linguistic variables and group evaluation values that were obtained through Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy Set theory. HEP obtained values show good agreement with literature published data corroborating the proposed methodology as a good alternative to be used on HRA.

Value of the biological data in the sonographic diagnosis of neoplastic biliary obstruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrari, F; Fagioli Zucchi, A; Rappuoli, G; Guercia, M; Terrosi Vagnoli, P

1988-01-01

The authors' purpose is to demonstrate the possibility of improving US reliability in the diagnosis of neoplastic obstructions of the bile ducts, basing their study on the hematic alkaline phosphates level (AP), wich is an earlier sign of obstruction than bilirubine values. All 368 patients observed had AP levels above the threshold of 270 IU/l. The 34 patients with neoplastic obstruction (including 13 without jaundice) had more than twice the normal level of AP, and presented with at least one dilated bile duct in the biliary tree. Coronal scans of the main bile duct are fundamental in the diagnosis of the level of obstruction. It seems thus possible to affirm that US diagnosis of the biliary obstruction, together with high AP values (more than twice the normal), provides with reliable information as to the neoplastic nature of the biliary obstruction, even if jaundice is not present.

Value of the biological data in the sonographic diagnosis of neoplastic biliary obstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrari, F.; Fagioli Zucchi, A.; Rappuoli, G.; Guercia, M.; Terrosi Vagnoli, P.

1988-01-01

The authors' purpose is to demonstrate the possibility of improving US reliability in the diagnosis of neoplastic obstructions of the bile ducts, basing their study on the hematic alkaline phosphates level (AP), wich is an earlier sign of obstruction than bilirubine values. All 368 patients observed had AP levels above the threshold of 270 IU/l. The 34 patients with neoplastic obstruction (including 13 without jaundice) had more than twice the normal level of AP, and presented with at least one dilated bile duct in the biliary tree. Coronal scans of the main bile duct are fundamental in the diagnosis of the level of obstruction. It seems thus possible to affirm that US diagnosis of the biliary obstruction, together with high AP values (more than twice the normal), provides with reliable information as to the neoplastic nature of the biliary obstruction, even if jaundice is not present

Conservation law of plants' energy value dependence of plants ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The plants differences in biochemical composition are analyzed, and the conservation law of energy value in plants is obtained. The link between the need for the nutrients and the plants biochemical composition is examined, Liebig's law is specified. Keywords: plant's biochemical composition, biochemistry, energy value in ...

CIE L*a*b*: comparison of digital images obtained photographically by manual and automatic modes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabiana Takatsui

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to analyze the color alterations performed by the CIE L*a*b* system in the digital imaging of shade guide tabs, which were obtained photographically according to the automatic and manual modes. This study also sought to examine the observers' agreement in quantifying the coordinates. Four Vita Lumin Vaccum shade guide tabs were used: A3.5, B1, B3 and C4. An EOS Canon digital camera was used to record the digital images of the shade tabs, and the images were processed using Adobe Photoshop software. A total of 80 observations (five replicates of each shade according to two observers in two modes, specifically, automatic and manual were obtained, leading to color values of L*, a* and b*. The color difference (ΔE between the modes was calculated and classified as either clinically acceptable or unacceptable. The results indicated that there was agreement between the two observers in obtaining the L*, a* and b* values related to all guides. However, the B1, B3, and C4 shade tabs had ΔE values classified as clinically acceptable (ΔE = 0.44, ΔE = 2.04 and ΔE = 2.69, respectively. The A3.5 shade tab had a ΔE value classified as clinically unacceptable (ΔE = 4.17, as it presented higher values for luminosity in the automatic mode (L* = 54.0 than in the manual mode (L* = 50.6. It was concluded that the B1, B3 and C4 shade tabs can be used at any of the modes in digital camera (manual or automatic, which was a different finding from that observed for the A3.5 shade tab.

The effect of rapid screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on the identification and earlier isolation of MRSA-positive patients.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Creamer, Eilish

2010-04-01

(1) To determine whether rapid screening with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays leads to the earlier isolation of patients at risk for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization, (2) to assess compliance with routine MRSA screening protocols, (3) to confirm the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MRSA real-time PCR assay (Cepheid) by comparison with culture, and (4) to compare turnaround times for PCR assay results with those for culture results.

Personal and professional values held by baccalaureate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaya, Hülya; Işik, Burçin; Şenyuva, Emine; Kaya, Nurten

2017-09-01

Values are ideals and beliefs that individuals and groups uphold and lie at the core of the diverse world of human behaviour and are expressed in every human decision and action, both consciously and unconsciously. They represent basic beliefs of what is right, good or desirable and motivate both personal and professional behaviour. In the context of nursing profession, values are essential in order to maintain high standards of the nursing care. This study was planned to examine changes in nursing students' personal and professional values between entering and graduating from an undergraduate nursing programme. Ethical considerations: Measures to protect participants included obtaining Deaconship of Nursing Faculty approval, obtaining signed informed consent and maintaining confidentiality. This study was designed as longitudinal quality. The research population included 143 students registered at a first grade of a nursing faculty for the 2009-2010 academic year. Data were collected with a Questionnaire Form, the Value Preferences Scale, the Professional Values Precedence Scale and the Nursing Professional Values Scale. According to the results, social values have statistical differences in 4-year nursing education. Nursing students in second class have higher score in terms of social values than those in third class. Also, majority of students ranked human dignity as first and justice as second and third from first to fourth classes, and they have very high scores on Nursing Professional Values Scale and its subscales and stated that all items of Nursing Professional Values Scale are very important. As a result, nursing education has vital role in acquiring and maintaining professional values.

Stabilization of kerosene/water emulsions using bioemulsifiers obtained by fermentation of hemicellulosic sugars with Lactobacillus pentosus.

Science.gov (United States)

Portilla-Rivera, Oscar Manuel; Torrado, Ana María; Domínguez, José Manuel; Moldes, Ana Belén

2010-09-22

The results of the present study show that Lactobacillus pentosus can produce extracellular bioemulsifiers by utilizing hemicellulosic sugars from grape marc as a source of carbon. The effectiveness of these bioemulsifiers (LPEM) was studied by preparing kerosene/water (K/W) emulsions in the presence and absence of these emulsifiers. Various parameters such as relative emulsion volume (EV), stabilizing capacity (ES), viscosity, and droplet size of K/W emulsions were measured. The EV values for K/W emulsions stabilized by concentrated LPEM were approximately 74.5% after 72 h of emulsion formation, with ES values of 97%. These values were higher than those obtained with dodecyl sodium sulfate as emulsifier (EV=62.3% and ES=87.7%). Additionally, K/W emulsions stabilized by LPEM produced polydisperse emulsions containing droplets of radius between 10 and 40 μm, which were smaller than those obtained for K/W emulsions without LPEM (droplet radius=60-100 μm). Moreover, the viscosity values of the K/W emulsions without and with LPEM were approximately 236 and 495 cP, respectively.

Generalized Energy-Dependent Q Values for Fission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogt, R

2010-03-31

We extend Madland's parameterization of the energy release in fission to obtain the dependence of the fission Q value for major and minor actinides on the incident neutron energies in the range 0 {le} E{sub n} {le} 20 MeV. Our parameterization is based on the actinide evaluations recommended for the ENDF/B-VII.1 release. This paper describes the calculation of energydependent fission Q values based on the calculation of the prompt energy release in fission by Madland. This calculation was adopted for use in the LLNL ENDL database and then generalized to obtain the prompt fission energy release for all actinides. Here the calculation is further generalized to the total energy release in fission. There are several stages in a fission event, depending on the time scale. Neutrons and gammas may be emitted at any time during the fission event.While our discussion here is focussed on compound nucleus creation by an incident neutron, similar parameterizations could be obtained for incident gammas or spontaneous fission.

Values and Technologies in Energy Savings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgård, Jørgen Stig

2000-01-01

of this saving can cause what is called the rebound effect, which reduces the savings obtained from the technology. Ways to avoid this effect are suggested, and they require value changes, primarly around frugality, consumption, and hard-working. There are indications that some of the necessary changes are well......The chapter is based on the assumption, that technology improvement is not sufficient to achieve a sustainable world community. Changes in people´s values are necessary. A simple model suggest how values, together with basic needs and with the environmental and societal frames, determine people......´s behavioural pattern and lifestyles. Deliberate changes in social values are illustrated by a historical example. From the side of technology the basic principles in the economy of energy savings are briefly described. The marginally profitable energy savings provides an economic saving. The application...

Research of Influence of Noise Pollution on the Value of the Threshold Current Tangible

Science.gov (United States)

Khanzhina, Olga; Sidorov, Alexander; Zykina, Ekaterina

2017-12-01

Stable safety while working on electrical installations can be achieved by following the rules of the electrical safety. Today maximum permissible levels of touch voltage and electric current flow through any part of a person’s body are established by Russian Federation GOST system 12.1.038-82. Unfortunately, recommended by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) maximum allowable amount of electric current and voltage level do not take into account interaction between said electric current and other physical factors; noise, in particular. The influence of sound frequency and its pressure level on body resistance has been proven earlier in thesis by V.V. Katz. Studies of the noise effects on the value of the threshold current tangible have been renewed in laboratories of Life Safety Department in South Ural State University. To obtain reliable results, testing facility that includes anechoic chamber, sources of simulated voltages and noise and a set of recording instruments was designed and built. As a rule, noise influence on electrotechnical personnel varies depending on noise level or/and the duration of its impact. According to modern theories, indirect noise influence on various organs and systems through central nervous system has to be considered. Differential evaluation of noise pollution and its correlation with emerged effects can be obtained with the usage of the dose approach. First of all, there were conducted studies, in which frequency of the applied voltage (f) was to 50 Hz. Voltages and currents that caused sensations before and during 97 dB noise affections were measured. Obtained dependence led to questioning previous researches results of the necessity of reducing the amperage of tripping protection devices. At the same time electrical resistance changes of human body were being studied. According to those researches, no functional dependence between fluctuations in the magnitude of the resistance of human body to electric current flow

Value of αs from deep-inelastic-scattering data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alekhin, S.I.

2003-01-01

We report the value of α s obtained from QCD analysis of existing data on deep-inelastic scattering of charged leptons off proton and deuterium and estimate its theoretical uncertainties with particular attention paid to impact of the high-twist contribution to the deep-inelastic-scattering structure functions. Taking into account the major uncertainties the value αNNLO s (M Z )=0.1143±0.0014(exp.)±0.0013(theor.) is obtained. An extrapolation of the LO-NLO-NNLO results to the higher orders makes it possible to estimate αN 3 LO s (M Z )∼0.113. (author)

Porphyromonas crevioricanis is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Porphyromonas cansulci and has priority.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakamoto, Mitsuo; Ohkuma, Moriya

2013-02-01

A DNA-DNA hybridization experiment was carried out to clarify the relationship between Porphyromonas crevioricanis and Porphyromonas cansulci. The taxonomic standing of these two species was unclear so far because of the high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value (99.9 %). The DNA-DNA relatedness values between P. crevioricanis JCM 15906(T) and P. cansulci JCM 13913(T) were above 91 % (91-99 %). In addition, P. crevioricanis JCM 15906(T) exhibited high hsp60 gene sequence similarity with P. cansulci JCM 13913(T) (100 %). The hsp60 gene sequence analysis and the DNA-DNA relatedness values demonstrated that P. crevioricanis JCM 15906(T) and P. cansulci JCM 13913(T) are a single species. Based on these data, we propose Porphyromonas cansulci as a later heterotypic synonym of Porphyromonas crevioricanis.

Propagation of stress-corrosion cracks in unirradiated zircaloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norring, K.; Haag, Y.; Wikstroem, C.

1982-01-01

Propagation of iodine-induced stress-corrosion cracks in Zircaloy was studied using pre-cracked and internally pressurized cladding tubes. These were recrystallized at different temperatures, to obtain grain sizes between 4 μm and 10 μm. No statistically significant difference in propagation rate due to the difference in grain size was observed. If the obtained data, with Ksub(I) values ranging from 4 to 11 MNmsup(-3/2), were log-log plotted (da/dt = CKsub(I)sup(N)), as usual, they fell within the scatter-band of data reported earlier. But from this plot it could also be seen that the Ksub(I) interval can be divided into two separate parts having different da/dt-Ksub(I) relations. The transition takes place at a Ksub(I) value of about 8 MNmsup(-3/2). The region with lower Ksub(I) values shows a substantially lower n value than the upper region (2.4 and 9.8 respectively), and earlier reported values (n = 7 to 10). This transition is in good agreement with a transition from an intergranular to a transgranular propagation mode of the stress-corrosion crack. (orig.)

Improving the corn-ethanol industry: studying protein separation techniques to obtain higher value added product options for distillers grains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brehmer, B.; Bals, B.; Sanders, J.P.M.; Dale, B.

2008-01-01

Currently in America the biofuel ethanol is primarily being produced by the dry grind technique to obtain the starch contained in the corn grains and subsequently subjected to fermentation. This so-called 1st generation technology has two setbacks; first the lingering debate whether its life cycle

Ozonation and sol-gel method to obtain Cu/Cu O nanoparticles from cyanidation wastewater

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soria A, M. J.; Puente S, D. M.; Carrillo P, F. R. [Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila, Facultad de Metalurgia, Carretera 57 Km 4.5, 25710 Monclova, Coahuila (Mexico); Garcia C, L. A. [Centro de Investigacion en Quimica Aplicada, Blvd. Enrique Reyna No. 140, Col. Los Pinos, 25253 Saltillo, Coahuila (Mexico); Velazquez S, J., E-mail: frrcarrillo@yahoo.com.mx [University of Texas at San Antonio, Department of Physics and Astronomy, San Antonio TX 78249 (United States)

2015-07-01

The extraction process of gold and silver by cyanidation generates large amounts of effluent which also contain contaminants such as cyanide and significant metal values such as copper. This paper presents the results of the removal and recovery of copper from ozonation treatment of a residual aqueous cyanide. The residual solution was treated by ozonation-precipitation to obtain a precipitate of copper. From this, copper nano composites obtained by Pechini modified sol-gel method were obtained. The compounds obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction, showing a dependence of the type of compounds formed over time of ozonation and heat treatment of the gel. The particle size was measured by scanning electron microscopy and calculated by the Scherrer equation, being between 50 and 120 nm. (Author)

Bioindicative values of microfungi in starch and possible deficiencies of the new Serbian regulation on food hygiene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uzelac Ema D.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The results of tests on the presence of yeasts and molds in cornstarch [AD ‘IPOK’ Zrenjanin, 2007-2008, made at the time when previous Regulations were valid] were analyzed in terms of bioindicative values of microfungi as indicators of quality and safety of raw material or final food products. Microbiological analysis was used to detect the presence of a number of microorganisms MMI-0001, and a questionnaire was designed at the Department of Public Health in Zrenjanin town (Republic of Serbia, where the anal­yses were done, regarding the microbiological tests on starch. In order to rationalize the analyses and make them more economical, several areas of product quality control (water, food, raw materials, space were recommended either to be excluded or regarded as optional. Thus, analysis of presence of microfungi as indicators of product quality was categorized as optional. The results obtained from this research suggest a different conclusion because the bacteria in the samples indicated ˮmicrobiologically“, namely bacteriologically, safe samples of food, while, on the contrary, the presence of some microfungi as distinct xerophilous or xerotolerant microorganisms, indicated that the food was mycologically non-safe. The obtained data are crucial for questioning the decision to exclude the earlier required (mycological analysis of the samples (in the production of starch, or end products, etc. and categorize such analyses in new Regulations as optional, depending on the manufacturer’s preference. Bioindicative values of microfungi as indicators of the quality of starch, clearly point to the shortsightedness of the new Regulations on food hygiene and safety, where tests on certain microorganisms (in this case, yeasts and molds are not legally defined as mandatory, but the Law leaves manufacturers a possibility to choose (or not to choose the testing and frequency of testing on the presence (absence of microorganisms, which can be

Task 5. Grid interconnection of building integrated and other dispersed photovoltaic power systems. Grid-connected photovoltaic power systems: power value and capacity value of PV systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Groppi, F.

2002-02-15

This report for the International Energy Agency (IEA) made by Task 5 of the Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPS) programme takes a look at the power value and capacity value of photovoltaic power systems. The mission of the Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme is to enhance the international collaboration efforts which accelerate the development and deployment of photovoltaic solar energy. Task 5 deals with issues concerning grid-interconnection and dispersed PV power systems. This report summarises the results of a study aimed to assess the benefits that may be obtained when distributed PV production systems are present in a low-voltage grid. The basic aspects concerning the power-value and those related to the capacity-value are discussed. Data obtained from simulations are presented and discussed. A simple concept shows that great variation occurs if varying load patterns are taken into account. The power-value of PV generation in the grid varies instant by instant depending on the current level of power production and on the surrounding load conditions. Although the three case-studies considered do not cover all the possibilities of coupling between PV and loads, the results obtained show a good differentiation among users with PV production which leads to interesting conclusions.

Limit values for Downlink Mobile Telephony in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Gert Frølund

2012-01-01

The purpose of this report is to set limits on the minimum average field-strength need in the downlink (from the mobile base-station to the mobile phone) for the mobile systems GSM900 and GSM1800 as well as the CDMA based UMTS900 and UMTS2100 systems in Denmark. The main assumptions made...... is obtained largely by the measured bodyloss for the most popular phones in the network, here taken as the most sold phones in 2011 [Mob12]. 6. The limits given can be used both for outdoor, in a car and indoor but values given by the mobile operators are often given for outdoor radio coverage only...... called the bodyloss. The basic sensitivity requirements of e.g. the GSM system for the mobile terminals are -102 dBm but here the measured values will be used for the phones in talk mode. The measured values will be obtained with the phone placed next to the head and a hand holding the phone....

Evaluation of marginal and internal gaps of metal ceramic crowns obtained from conventional impressions and casting techniques with those obtained from digital techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Rai, Rathika; Kumar, S Arun; Prabhu, R; Govindan, Ranjani Thillai; Tanveer, Faiz Mohamed

2017-01-01

Accuracy in fit of cast metal restoration has always remained as one of the primary factors in determining the success of the restoration. A well-fitting restoration needs to be accurate both along its margin and with regard to its internal surface. The aim of the study is to evaluate the marginal fit of metal ceramic crowns obtained by conventional inlay casting wax pattern using conventional impression with the metal ceramic crowns obtained by computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technique using direct and indirect optical scanning. This in vitro study on preformed custom-made stainless steel models with former assembly that resembles prepared tooth surfaces of standardized dimensions comprised three groups: the first group included ten samples of metal ceramic crowns fabricated with conventional technique, the second group included CAD/CAM-milled direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) crowns using indirect scanning, and the third group included DMLS crowns fabricated by direct scanning of the stainless steel model. The vertical marginal gap and the internal gap were evaluated with the stereomicroscope (Zoomstar 4); post hoc Turkey's test was used for statistical analysis. One-way analysis of variance method was used to compare the mean values. Metal ceramic crowns obtained from direct optical scanning showed the least marginal and internal gap when compared to the castings obtained from inlay casting wax and indirect optical scanning. Indirect and direct optical scanning had yielded results within clinically acceptable range.

Inculcation of Values across the School Curriculum: Development and Validation of Teachers' Orientation Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamad Sahari

1999-12-01

Full Text Available Teacher orientation to the inculcation of values across school curriculum-a function of the teacher knowledge and attitudes-has been conceptualised as his or her (1 identification with the goals of the curriculum, and (2 conformity with the predetermined instructional behaviours. Based on this framework, the study explored the construct of teacher orientation to the inculcation of values across school subjects. More specifically, the study examined the likelihood of two underlying dimensions explaining the presence of variability in teacher orientation and the reliability of the dimensions. Using a 15-item instrument developed earlier for a descriptive inquiry, the present study measured and analysed responses from 103 secondary school teachers from two randomly selected schools. To arrive at the conclusions, the study applied principal component analysis and Cronbach's alpha procedures. The results suggested that teacher orientation to value inculcation is a multidimensional construct. The more reliable dimensions of Teacher Orientation were found to be goal identification, conformity to planning tasks, and conformity to delivery tasks. The results add new information to, and may serve as a guide for future research.

The interfacial tension of the mercury —1 M HClO4− solution interface at high potentials; comparison with double-layer capacitance measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sluyters-Rehbach, M.; Woittiez, W.J.A.; Sluyters, J.H.

Interfacial tension values have been measured in order to calculate the electrical charge density as a function of potential. The results are in accordance with those obtained from double-layer capacitance data reported earlier2,3, also at highly positive potentials.

RANGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF TECHNETIUM KD VALUES IN THE SRS SUBSURFACE ENVIRONMENT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaplan, D.

2008-01-01

layers: Upper Vadose Zone (11 to 30 ft depth), Lower Vadose Zone (30 to 51 ft depth), and aquifer (51 to 95 ft depth). The Upper Vadose Zone generally contains more clay than the Lower Vadose Zone, and the Aquifer tends to be made up of mostly sand layers with clay strata. The mean K d values of each of these zones did not differ significantly and the K d values from each zone were not from the Normal distribution. The ranges of values were greatest in the Upper Vadose Zone and least in the Lower Vadose Zone. Previous Best Estimate Tc K d values for Sandy Sediment and Clayey Sediment were 0.1 and 0.2 mL/g, respectively (Kaplan 2007a). A more thorough review indicates that the Best Estimates for Sandy Sediment is 0.1 mL/g and for Clayey Sediment is 0.8 mL/g (Kaplan 2007b). This current dataset greatly increases the number of Tc K d values measured with SRS sediments, but perhaps more importantly, provides a better estimate for E-Area sediments, and provides a measure of Tc K d distributions. Based on this dataset, the best overall Tc K d value for E-Area is the mean, 3.4 mL/g, with a log-normal distribution between the 95 percentile values of 2.4 to 4.4 mL/g. This document version differs from the earlier version, SRNS-STI-2008-00286, in that it includes some editorial corrections. This version does not contain any technical changes or changes to the conclusions presented in the earlier version

VALUE STREAM MAPPINGIN THE ROMANIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sorin BRICIU

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Cost reduction, productivity increase and creating value for the client are just a few of the arguments that managers use when they adopt Lean philosophy. Businesses’ concern is to create products that have value in the eyes of the client, continuously analyzing the existing value stream in order to improve it. Value stream mapping (VSM is a technique used to visually present the chain of processes, within the company, necessary to obtain the product. Due to the many advantages and to the ease of use experienced by Toyota since the ’80, VSM use has constantly increased as this activity improvement technique was discovered by managers. The article presents a case study of the application of VSM in footwear industry.

Normal thyroid function values in Ethiopians

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wassie, Emnetu; Abdulkadir, Jemal

1990-01-01

Thyroid function values were determined in 56 healthy nongoitrous adult Ethiopians. The mean triiodothyronine (T3) values for 20 males and 36 females were 1.42+-0.32 nmol/L and 1.51+-0.25 nmol/L, and thyroxine (T4) values were 119 22 nmol/L and 116+21 nmol/L respectively. The mean thyrotropin (TSH) values for males and females were identical at 1.86+-0.94 mu/L. Radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU) at 2 hours was 8.6+-4.4% in males and 11.3+-4.3% in females, and at 24 hours 31.7+-11.7% and 38.9+-11.1% respectively. The difference between males and females were significant at both 2 and 24 hours (P<0.05). The ranges for the 3 hormones derived from the mean 2SD values are close to these supplied with the kits but the Ethiopian RAIU values are higher than the values currently applicable in developed countries, probably indicative of the lower level of dietary iodine available to the population here. The values obtained in this study are offered to serve as normal reference for the interpretation of thyroid function results in Ethiopian patients. A strategy for the rational utilization of the available in vitro tests is suggested

Analysis of Calorific Value of Tibarau Cane Briquette

Science.gov (United States)

Nurdin, H.; Hasanuddin, H.; Darmawi, D.; Prasetya, F.

2018-04-01

The development of product diversification through tibarau cane briquettes as an effort in obtaining alternative fuels. Tibarau cane is one of the potential materials of renewable energy sources that can be processed into briquette. So as to reduce dependence on energy fuel oil, which for the middle to lower class is the main requirement. Efforts and innovations tibarau cane briquettes in producing fuel that has quality and performance can be measured with calorific value. Prior to development of this potential required the existence of test and evaluation stages according to the order of the flow of new material product development. Through process technology of briquette product making with compaction and optimization of composition content on tapioca adhesive and mesh particles suitable to get optimum calorific value. The results obtained in this research are the development of tibarau cane briquette model which is recommended as replacement fuel. Where the calorific value of tibarau cane briquette is 11.221,72 kJ / kg at composition percentage 80: 20 and its density is 0,565 gr/cm3. The comparison of mass tibarau with tapioca, particle size, pressure force (compaction), can affect the calorific value and density of tibarau cane briquette.

Complementary functions of the two brain hemispheres: comparisons with earlier conceptions and implications for individual and society.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeier, H

1989-07-01

The concept of different functions for the left and right cerebral hemispheres coincides in an astonishing way with earlier philosophical and psychological work which divided the human mind into two complementary functions without having a neurophysiological explanation. Representative are the ideas of Fichte, Hegel and Jung. The latter postulated the two subsystems Ego and Self and associated the conscious functions of the Ego with the intellect, the capacity for rational thought, and the Self with the mind, which also includes the emotional feelings. For the harmonic development and self-realization of man the functions of both systems in complementary interaction are required. Therefore, the current overaccentuation of the intellect and of progress directed technical-scientific thinking should be corrected by making better use of the much neglected functions of the right hemisphere.

The cation inversion and magnetization in nanopowder zinc ferrite obtained by soft mechanochemical processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milutinović, A.; Lazarević, Z.; Jovalekić, Č.; Kuryliszyn-Kudelska, I.; Romčević, M.; Kostić, S.; Romčević, N.

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Nano powder of ZnFe 2 O 4 prepared by a soft mechanochemical route after 18 h milling. • Phase formation controlled by XRD, Raman spectroscopy and magnetic measurements. • Size, strain and cation inversion degree determined by Rietveld refinement. • We were able to estimate the degree of inversion at most 0.348 and 0.4. • Obtained extremely high values of saturation magnetizations at T = 4.5 K. - Abstract: Two zinc ferrite nanoparticle materials were prepared by the same method – soft mechanochemical synthesis, but starting from different powder mixtures: (1) Zn(OH) 2 /α-Fe 2 O 3 and (2) Zn(OH) 2 /Fe(OH) 3 . In both cases a single phase system was obtained after 18 h of milling. The progress of the synthesis was controlled by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, TEM and magnetic measurements. Analysis of the XRD patterns by Rietveld refinement allowed determination of the cation inversion degree for both obtained single phase ZnFe 2 O 4 samples. The sample obtained from mixture (1) has the cation inversion degree 0.3482 and the sample obtained from mixture (2) 0.400. Magnetization measurements were confirmed that the degrees of the inversion were well estimated. Comparison with published data shows that used method of synthesis gives nano powder samples with extremely high values of saturation magnetizations: sample (1) 78.3 emu g −1 and sample (2) 91.5 emu g −1 at T = 4.5 K

Analysis of high-throughput biological data using their rank values.

Science.gov (United States)

Dembélé, Doulaye

2018-01-01

High-throughput biological technologies are routinely used to generate gene expression profiling or cytogenetics data. To achieve high performance, methods available in the literature become more specialized and often require high computational resources. Here, we propose a new versatile method based on the data-ordering rank values. We use linear algebra, the Perron-Frobenius theorem and also extend a method presented earlier for searching differentially expressed genes for the detection of recurrent copy number aberration. A result derived from the proposed method is a one-sample Student's t-test based on rank values. The proposed method is to our knowledge the only that applies to gene expression profiling and to cytogenetics data sets. This new method is fast, deterministic, and requires a low computational load. Probabilities are associated with genes to allow a statistically significant subset selection in the data set. Stability scores are also introduced as quality parameters. The performance and comparative analyses were carried out using real data sets. The proposed method can be accessed through an R package available from the CRAN (Comprehensive R Archive Network) website: https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/fcros .

RED WINE EXTRACT OBTAINED BY MEMBRANE-BASED SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION: PRELIMINARY CHARACTERIZATION OF CHEMICAL PROPERTIES.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Silva

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This study aims to obtain an extract from red wine by using membrane-based supercritical fluid extraction. This technique involves the use of porous membranes as contactors during the dense gas extraction process from liquid matrices. In this work, a Cabernet Sauvignon wine extract was obtained from supercritical fluid extraction using pressurized carbon dioxide as solvent and a hollow fiber contactor as extraction setup. The process was continuously conducted at pressures between 12 and 18 MPa and temperatures ranged from 30 to 50ºC. Meanwhile, flow rates of feed wine and supercritical CO2 varied from 0.1 to 0.5 mL min-1 and from 60 to 80 mL min-1 (NCPT, respectively. From extraction assays, the highest extraction percentage value obtained from the total amount of phenolic compounds was 14% in only one extraction step at 18MPa and 35ºC. A summarized chemical characterization of the obtained extract is reported in this work; one of the main compounds in this extract could be a low molecular weight organic acid with aromatic structure and methyl and carboxyl groups. Finally, this preliminary characterization of this extract shows a remarkable ORAC value equal to 101737 ± 5324 µmol Trolox equivalents (TE per 100 g of extract.

Value of Crowding on Public Transport in Ile-de-France

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kroes, E.P.; Kouwenhoven, M.; Debrincat, L.; Pauget, N.

2014-01-01

This paper describes the results of a research project that aimed to establish passenger values of crowding on public transport services in the Paris region. Qualitative research, stated preference (SP) experiments, and passenger counts and surveys were conducted to obtain such values. A simple

Measuring the Multinational Business Value – An indexing Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge MONGAY HURTADO

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The research project aims to present a comparative analysis of countries related to the value of their MNCs in the global arena. The study works in secondary data analysis using as a platform the Forbes Global 2000 list, which is maybe the best source explaining the presence of MNCs by country. This research goes beyond the information provided by the original list, offering an index and information about the number of corporations per country as well as their value (number of corpora-tions per country, their position in the ranking and the weight obtained by each company expressed in numerical value. Also the index obtained has been adjusted to the population of each country to determine which one should be the expected value per country from a more realistic perspective. An analysis of cultural clus-ters and trading zones has been applied as well. Finally, a calculation of the dif-ferent sectors where MNCs operate give the index the possibility to estimate the % of penetration or importance of the services and financial sector in each country and in the world.

GENERAL ASPECTS ON THE ACCOUNTING ESTIMATION- FAIR VALUE REPORT

OpenAIRE

Claudiu Serban; Dalia Simion; Sabin Armaselu

2013-01-01

In the current context of the global economy, marked by profound changes, obtain as accurate a picture through financial reports is of undeniable importance and significance of the value is very complex. The result of the evaluation, the purpose of financial reporting, is, most often to express a numerical value for the item assessed. The fair value resulted because of the need satisfaction, expressed by users of financial statements, in that it had found a valuation model elements supporting...

The Thomas-Fermi model: momentum expectation values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dmitrieva, I.K.; Plindov, G.I.

1983-01-01

Within the Thomas-Fermi model including the exchange interaction and contributions of strongly bound electrons, analytical expressions are obtained for all momentum expectation values and for some of the expectation values of powers of the electron density for an atom with an arbitrary degree of ionization. It is shown that a correct treatment of strongly bound electrons gives a quantitative estimate of and within 3 - 1 expansion coefficients for and are given as an explicit function of the electron number

Diagramming Transactive Building Business Cases: Using Principles of e3 Value to Document Valuation Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hammerstrom, Donald J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Makhmalbaf, Atefe [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Marinovici, Maria C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-12-30

Energy management in buildings is becoming more transactive. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office recently defined innovative use cases wherein market-like mechanisms are used to manage energy within buildings, between buildings, and between buildings and third-party entities, such as power utilities. A next step toward defining a set of transactive use cases in the buildings domain is to carefully diagram the corresponding business cases to capture details of transactions among all stakeholders and their economic value propositions. The principles of e3-value diagramming are applied in this report toward creating business value diagrams. These principles are extended to be consistent with Universal Modeling Language use-case diagrams. Example diagrams are presented for a subset of buildings-domain use cases that were introduced in an earlier Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report. The diagrams are intended to clearly represent an understanding of the transactions through which individual entities accumulate value in their respective use cases, and the diagrams should therefore support economic valuation studies. The report reviews some of the foundational principles of e3 value and includes authors’ insights concerning the formulation of these diagrams using Universal Modeling Language as a more systematic modeling approach.

Predictive value of mutant p53 expression index obtained from nonenhanced computed tomography measurements for assessing invasiveness of ground-glass opacity nodules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang W

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Wei Wang,1 Jian Li,2 Ransheng Liu,1 Aixu Zhang,1 Zhiyong Yuan1 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiology, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China Purpose: To predict p53 expression index (p53-EI based on measurements from computed tomography (CT for preoperatively assessing pathologies of nodular ground-glass opacities (nGGOs. Methods: Information of 176 cases with nGGOs on high-resolution CT that were pathologically confirmed adenocarcinoma was collected. Diameters, total volumes (TVs, maximum (MAX, average (AVG, and standard deviation (STD of CT attenuations within nGGOs were measured. p53-EI was evaluated through immunohistochemistry with Image-Pro Plus 6.0. A multiple linear stepwise regression model was established to calculate p53-EI prediction from CT measurements. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to compare the diagnostic performance of variables in differentiating preinvasive adenocarcinoma (PIA, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA, and invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC. Results: Diameters, TVs, MAX, AVG, and STD showed significant differences among PIAs, MIAs, and IACs (all P-values <0.001, with only MAX being incapable to differentiate MIAs from IACs (P=0.106. The mean p53-EIs of PIAs, MIAs, and IACs were 3.4±2.0, 7.2±1.9, and 9.8±2.7, with significant intergroup differences (all P-values <0.001. An equation was established by multiple linear regression as: p53-EI prediction =0.001* TVs +0.012* AVG +0.022* STD +9.345, through which p53-EI predictions were calculated to be 4.4%±1.0%, 6.8%±1.3%, and 8.5%±1.4% for PIAs, MIAs, and IACs (Kruskal–Wallis test P<0.001; Tamhane’s T2 test: PIA vs MIA P<0.001, MIA vs IAC P<0.001, respectively. Although not significant, p53-EI prediction

Application of histogram analysis for the evaluation of vascular permeability in glioma by the K2 parameter obtained with the dynamic susceptibility contrast method: Comparisons with Ktrans obtained with the dynamic contrast enhance method and cerebral blood volume.

Science.gov (United States)

Taoka, Toshiaki; Kawai, Hisashi; Nakane, Toshiki; Hori, Saeka; Ochi, Tomoko; Miyasaka, Toshiteru; Sakamoto, Masahiko; Kichikawa, Kimihiko; Naganawa, Shinji

2016-09-01

The "K2" value is a factor that represents the vascular permeability of tumors and can be calculated from datasets obtained with the dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) method. The purpose of the current study was to correlate K2 with Ktrans, which is a well-established permeability parameter obtained with the dynamic contrast enhance (DCE) method, and determine the usefulness of K2 for glioma grading with histogram analysis. The subjects were 22 glioma patients (Grade II: 5, III: 6, IV: 11) who underwent DSC studies, including eight patients in which both DSC and DCE studies were performed on separate days within 10days. We performed histogram analysis of regions of interest of the tumors and acquired 20th percentile values for leakage-corrected cerebral blood volume (rCBV20%ile), K2 (K220%ile), and for patients who underwent a DCE study, Ktrans (Ktrans20%ile). We evaluated the correlation between K220%ile and Ktrans20%ile and the statistical difference between rCBV20%ile and K220%ile. We found a statistically significant correlation between K220%ile and Ktrans20%ile (r=0.717, pK220%ile showed a statistically significant (pK2 value calculated from the DSC dataset, which can be obtained with a short acquisition time, showed a correlation with Ktrans obtained with the DCE method and may be useful for glioma grading when analyzed with histogram analysis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On two special values of temperature factor in hypersonic flow stagnation point

Science.gov (United States)

Bilchenko, G. G.; Bilchenko, N. G.

2018-03-01

The hypersonic aircraft permeable cylindrical and spherical surfaces laminar boundary layer heat and mass transfer control mathematical model properties are investigated. The nonlinear algebraic equations systems are obtained for two special values of temperature factor in the hypersonic flow stagnation point. The mappings bijectivity between heat and mass transfer local parameters and controls is established. The computation experiments results are presented: the domains of allowed values “heat-friction” are obtained.

Patent Value: A Business Perspective for Technology Startups

OpenAIRE

Angela de Wilton

2011-01-01

In the last year, news headlines have highlighted record patent infringement settlements, multibillion dollar auctions of large corporate patent portfolios, and ongoing patent battles between key technology industry players. Despite this acknowledgment of the significant value of patents for large corporations, many small technology companies are understandably more focused on the near-term costs of obtaining a patent rather than future value. Costs may seem prohibitive to an early stage tech...

Image Denoising Using Singular Value Difference in the Wavelet Domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Singular value (SV difference is the difference in the singular values between a noisy image and the original image; it varies regularly with noise intensity. This paper proposes an image denoising method using the singular value difference in the wavelet domain. First, the SV difference model is generated for different noise variances in the three directions of the wavelet transform and the noise variance of a new image is used to make the calculation by the diagonal part. Next, the single-level discrete 2-D wavelet transform is used to decompose each noisy image into its low-frequency and high-frequency parts. Then, singular value decomposition (SVD is used to obtain the SVs of the three high-frequency parts. Finally, the three denoised high-frequency parts are reconstructed by SVD from the SV difference, and the final denoised image is obtained using the inverse wavelet transform. Experiments show the effectiveness of this method compared with relevant existing methods.

Evaluation of marginal and internal gaps of metal ceramic crowns obtained from conventional impressions and casting techniques with those obtained from digital techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rathika Rai

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Accuracy in fit of cast metal restoration has always remained as one of the primary factors in determining the success of the restoration. A well-fitting restoration needs to be accurate both along its margin and with regard to its internal surface. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the marginal fit of metal ceramic crowns obtained by conventional inlay casting wax pattern using conventional impression with the metal ceramic crowns obtained by computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM technique using direct and indirect optical scanning. Materials and Methods: This in vitro study on preformed custom-made stainless steel models with former assembly that resembles prepared tooth surfaces of standardized dimensions comprised three groups: the first group included ten samples of metal ceramic crowns fabricated with conventional technique, the second group included CAD/CAM-milled direct metal laser sintering (DMLS crowns using indirect scanning, and the third group included DMLS crowns fabricated by direct scanning of the stainless steel model. The vertical marginal gap and the internal gap were evaluated with the stereomicroscope (Zoomstar 4; post hoc Turkey's test was used for statistical analysis. One-way analysis of variance method was used to compare the mean values. Results and Conclusion: Metal ceramic crowns obtained from direct optical scanning showed the least marginal and internal gap when compared to the castings obtained from inlay casting wax and indirect optical scanning. Indirect and direct optical scanning had yielded results within clinically acceptable range.

Multi-valued LSI/VLSI logic design

Science.gov (United States)

Santrakul, K.

A procedure for synthesizing any large complex logic system, such as LSI and VLSI integrated circuits is described. This scheme uses Multi-Valued Multi-plexers (MVMUX) as the basic building blocks and the tree as the structure of the circuit realization. Simple built-in test circuits included in the network (the main current), provide a thorough functional checking of the network at any time. In brief, four major contributions are made: (1) multi-valued Algorithmic State Machine (ASM) chart for describing an LSI/VLSI behavior; (2) a tree-structured multi-valued multiplexer network which can be obtained directly from an ASM chart; (3) a heuristic tree-structured synthesis method for realizing any combinational logic with minimal or nearly-minimal MVMUX; and (4) a hierarchical design of LSI/VLSI with built-in parallel testing capability.

Assessing cardiac preload by the Initial Systolic Time Interval obtained from impedance cardiography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan H Meijer

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The Initial Systolic Time Interval (ISTI, obtained from the electrocardiogram (ECG and impedance cardiogram (ICG, is considered to be a measure for the time delay between the electrical and mechanical activity of the heart and reflects an early active period of the cardiac cycle. The clinical relevance of this time interval is subject of study. This paper presents preliminary results of a pilot study investigating the use of ISTI in evaluating and predicting the circulatory response to fluid administration in patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, by comparing ISTI with cardiac output (CO responsiveness. Also the use of the pulse transit time (PTT, earlier recommended for this purpose, is investigated. The results show an inverse relationship between ISTI and CO at all moments of fluid administration and also an inverse relationship between the changes ΔISTI and ΔCO before and after full fluid administration. No relationships between PTT and CO or ΔPTT and ΔCO were found. It is concluded that ISTI is dependent upon preload, and that ISTI has the potential to be used as a clinical parameter assessing preload.

Contrast reference values in panoramic radiographic images using an arch-form phantom stand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Jae Myung; Lee, Che Na; Kim, Jo Eun; Huh, Kyung Hoe; Yi, Won Jin; Heo, Min Suk; Choi, Soon Chul; Lee, Sam Sun

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate appropriate contrast reference values (CRVs) by comparing the contrast in phantom and clinical images. Phantom contrast was measured using two methods: (1) counting the number of visible pits of different depths in an aluminum plate, and (2) obtaining the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for 5 tissue-equivalent materials (porcelain, aluminum, polytetrafluoroethylene [PTFE], polyoxymethylene [POM], and polymethylmethacrylate [PMMA]). Four panoramic radiographs of the contrast phantom, embedded in the 4 different regions of the arch-form stand, and 1 real skull phantom image were obtained, post-processed, and compared. The clinical image quality evaluation chart was used to obtain the cut-off values of the phantom CRV corresponding to the criterion of being adequate for diagnosis. The CRVs were obtained using 4 aluminum pits in the incisor and premolar region, 5 aluminum pits in the molar region, and 2 aluminum pits in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) region. The CRVs obtained based on the CNR measured in the anterior region were: porcelain, 13.95; aluminum, 9.68; PTFE, 6.71; and POM, 1.79. The corresponding values in the premolar region were: porcelain, 14.22; aluminum, 8.82; PTFE, 5.95; and POM, 2.30. In the molar region, the following values were obtained: porcelain, 7.40; aluminum, 3.68; PTFE, 1.27; and POM, - 0.18. The CRVs for the TMJ region were: porcelain, 3.60; aluminum, 2.04; PTFE, 0.48; and POM, - 0.43. CRVs were determined for each part of the jaw using the CNR value and the number of pits observed in phantom images

Contrast reference values in panoramic radiographic images using an arch-form phantom stand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Jae Myung [Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Goyang (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Che Na; Kim, Jo Eun; Huh, Kyung Hoe; Yi, Won Jin; Heo, Min Suk; Choi, Soon Chul; Lee, Sam Sun [Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and Dental Research Institute, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-09-15

The purpose of this study was to investigate appropriate contrast reference values (CRVs) by comparing the contrast in phantom and clinical images. Phantom contrast was measured using two methods: (1) counting the number of visible pits of different depths in an aluminum plate, and (2) obtaining the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for 5 tissue-equivalent materials (porcelain, aluminum, polytetrafluoroethylene [PTFE], polyoxymethylene [POM], and polymethylmethacrylate [PMMA]). Four panoramic radiographs of the contrast phantom, embedded in the 4 different regions of the arch-form stand, and 1 real skull phantom image were obtained, post-processed, and compared. The clinical image quality evaluation chart was used to obtain the cut-off values of the phantom CRV corresponding to the criterion of being adequate for diagnosis. The CRVs were obtained using 4 aluminum pits in the incisor and premolar region, 5 aluminum pits in the molar region, and 2 aluminum pits in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) region. The CRVs obtained based on the CNR measured in the anterior region were: porcelain, 13.95; aluminum, 9.68; PTFE, 6.71; and POM, 1.79. The corresponding values in the premolar region were: porcelain, 14.22; aluminum, 8.82; PTFE, 5.95; and POM, 2.30. In the molar region, the following values were obtained: porcelain, 7.40; aluminum, 3.68; PTFE, 1.27; and POM, - 0.18. The CRVs for the TMJ region were: porcelain, 3.60; aluminum, 2.04; PTFE, 0.48; and POM, - 0.43. CRVs were determined for each part of the jaw using the CNR value and the number of pits observed in phantom images.

2011 Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Enrollments: Enrollments Decline, Reversing the Increase of a Year Earlier, and Suggesting Slow Growth for Future

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Lee B.; Vlad, Tudor; Kalpen, Konrad

2012-01-01

Enrollments in journalism and mass communication programs declined in the autumn of 2011, compared to a year earlier. Enrollments were down slightly at the senior and junior levels and substantially at the freshman level. Enrollment increased at the sophomore level. The majority of administrators say they have made curricular changes in the past…

Obtaining of inulin acetate

OpenAIRE

Khusenov, Arslonnazar; Rakhmanberdiev, Gappar; Rakhimov, Dilshod; Khalikov, Muzaffar

2014-01-01

In the article first obtained inulin ester inulin acetate, by etherification of inulin with acetic anhydride has been exposed. Obtained product has been studied using elementary analysis and IR spectroscopy.

Evaluation of gels obtained from acetylation of chitosan in heterogeneous medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, Rosangela Balaban; Silva, Dayse Luzia Pinheiro da; Costa, Marta

2008-01-01

Chitosan was acetylated during 2, 5 and 10 h and physical gels were obtained at different polymer concentrations in N,N-dimethylacetamide containing 5% of LiCl. Acetylation was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy and 13 C NMR, and degrees of acetylation in the range of 0.82-0.91 were determined by NMR. The O-acetylation degree (0.12-0.15) was exclusively determined by a volumetric method. Rheological studies showed that the storage modulus values were smaller for the more acetylated samples and increased with the temperature and the polymer concentration. All the gels presented storage modulus superior to loss modulus, evidencing more elastic than viscous characteristics. The results obtained in this work suggest a gelation process based on a balance between O and N-acetylation and intermolecular bonds. (author)

Semantic verbal fluency in elderly Mexican adults: Reference values.

Science.gov (United States)

Chávez-Oliveros, M; Rodríguez-Agudelo, Y; Acosta-Castillo, I; García-Ramírez, N; Rojas de la Torre, G; Sosa-Ortiz, A L

2015-05-01

The semantic verbal fluency test (SVF) is sensitive to detecting cognitive decline. It is fast and easy to use in any cultural context; therefore, it is included in most of the neuropsychological assessment protocols. To estimate normative values for the SVF test (animals), in an elderly population aged 65 years and over. 1233 subjects who were healthy, cognitively preserved, residents of two areas (rural and urban) of Mexico were assessed. A neurological and neuropsychological exploration battery was applied, including SVF. The age average was 73+6 and schooling was 4.0+3.9 years, with 59% women. The average of the words generated in the SVF test was 14+5, and a correlation of 0.16 of these scores with age, education, and gender was found (pimportant contribution provided by this study was that the data analysis enabled normative values to be obtained for an elderly Mexican population aged 65 years and over. It was also confirmed, as other neuropsychological assessment studies have done, that the SVF test is influenced by socio-demographic variables, such as age and education, aspects to be considered at the time of obtaining normative values. Finally, it was noted that the average scores obtained were lower than other published reference values, due to the low educational level of our sample. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

THE TECHNOLOGY OF PASTE FROM SUGAR BEET OBTAINING

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M. G. Magomedov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We considered a new technology for processing sugar beet into intermediate product for the food industry. Nowadays sugar beet is mainly used for processing into granulated sugar. In the granulated sugar obtaining sugar beet undergoes deep extraction of all nutrients: proteins, minerals, pectin, organic acids, preventing the crystallization process, and then the refined product (granulated sugar with a mass fraction of sucrose not less than 99.75% is obtained. We developed a technology for producing a sugar beet paste, which allows to preserve both sucrose, and almost all useful for human food substances containing in beet. A sugar beet paste is a valuable food product. Carbohydrates, organic acids, minerals, proteins, dietary fibers and vitamins are found in it. The block diagram of a sugar beet paste is given in the article. Technology of obtaining a sugar beet paste was tested under production conditions at the cannery (Joint Stock Company "Sadovoye" Liskinsky district,. Storozhevoe village, Voronezh region. The chemical composition of the paste (Dry Substances = 40% was determined, the degree of meeting of daily requirement for nutrients was calculated. 100 g of the product satisfy the daily requirement for dietary fiber by 42.5%, organic acids by 27.5% potassium by 24.0%, magnesium by 40.0%, iron by 26.7%. The sugar beet paste can be used as a semi-finished product in the confectionery, bakery, food concentrates industry, for products with increased nutritional value, as well as the finished product instead of marmalade and jam.

Selection for earlier flowering crop associated with climatic variations in the Sahel.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yves Vigouroux

Full Text Available Climate changes will have an impact on food production and will require costly adaptive responses. Adapting to a changing environment will be particularly challenging in sub-Saharan Africa where climate change is expected to have a major impact. However, one important phenomenon that is often overlooked and is poorly documented is the ability of agro-systems to rapidly adapt to environmental variations. Such an adaptation could proceed by the adoption of new varieties or by the adaptation of varieties to a changing environment. In this study, we analyzed these two processes in one of the driest agro-ecosystems in Africa, the Sahel. We performed a detailed study in Niger where pearl millet is the main crop and covers 65% of the cultivated area. To assess how the agro-system is responding to recent recurrent drought, we analyzed samples of pearl millet landraces collected in the same villages in 1976 and 2003 throughout the entire cultivated area of Niger. We studied phenological and morphological differences in the 1976 and 2003 collections by comparing them over three cropping seasons in a common garden experiment. We found no major changes in the main cultivated varieties or in their genetic diversity. However, we observed a significant shift in adaptive traits. Compared to the 1976 samples, samples collected in 2003 displayed a shorter lifecycle, and a reduction in plant and spike size. We also found that an early flowering allele at the PHYC locus increased in frequency between 1976 and 2003. The increase exceeded the effect of drift and sampling, suggesting a direct effect of selection for earliness on this gene. We conclude that recurrent drought can lead to selection for earlier flowering in a major Sahelian crop. Surprisingly, these results suggest that diffusion of crop varieties is not the main driver of short term adaptation to climatic variation.

Positive solutions for a fourth order boundary value problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Yang

2005-02-01

Full Text Available We consider a boundary value problem for the beam equation, in which the boundary conditions mean that the beam is embedded at one end and free at the other end. Some new estimates to the positive solutions to the boundary value problem are obtained. Some sufficient conditions for the existence of at least one positive solution for the boundary value problem are established. An example is given at the end of the paper to illustrate the main results.

Best-practice life expectancy: An extreme value approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Medford

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Whereas the rise in human life expectancy has been extensively studied, the evolution of maximum life expectancies, i.e., the rise in best-practice life expectancy in a group of populations, has not been examined to the same extent. The linear rise in best-practice life expectancy has been reported previously by various authors. Though remarkable, this is simply an empirical observation. Objective: We examine best-practice life expectancy more formally by using extreme value theory. Methods: Extreme value distributions are fit to the time series (1900 to 2012 of maximum life expectancies at birth and age 65, for both sexes, using data from the Human Mortality Database and the United Nations. Conclusions: Generalized extreme value distributions offer a theoretically justified way to model best-practice life expectancies. Using this framework one can straightforwardly obtain probability estimates of best-practice life expectancy levels or make projections about future maximum life expectancy. Comments: Our findings may be useful for policymakers and insurance/pension analysts who would like to obtain estimates and probabilities of future maximum life expectancies.

Determination of reference values of thyroid hormones in newborn children (Riobamba Hospitals)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvarez, Silvio.

1989-09-01

'Reference values of thyroid hormones in newborn children' was determined by this research. The work was carried out in two hospitals: Policlinic and Social Security at Riobamba city. The data was compared with international values and healthy adults. It was used 248 samples of umbilical cord blood and 38 samples of vessel blood from adults. The thyroid perfil (T3, T4, TSH and T3, RU) was determined through radioimmunoassay, RIAPC, LOTUS 123 and CHARTMASTER. The following values were obtained in newborn children: T4(ug/dl) = 10,8 + - 3,1 ; T3(ng/dl) = 41,8 + - 26,9; TSH(uUI/ml) 7,2 + - 6,5; <<<<< T3RU() = 22,6 + - 7,9. The data obtained were no significantly different from the international values. If we compare newborns with adults there is a high significant difference; so the values are quite distinct. Since the referencial values found were trusty it was recommended to use them in medical diagnosis

Method for calculating the variance and prediction intervals for biomass estimates obtained from allometric equations

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kirton, A

2010-08-01

Full Text Available for calculating the variance and prediction intervals for biomass estimates obtained from allometric equations A KIRTON B SCHOLES S ARCHIBALD CSIR Ecosystem Processes and Dynamics, Natural Resources and the Environment P.O. BOX 395, Pretoria, 0001, South... intervals (confidence intervals for predicted values) for allometric estimates can be obtained using an example of estimating tree biomass from stem diameter. It explains how to deal with relationships which are in the power function form - a common form...

Thermoelectric generator based on composites obtained by sintering of detonation nanodiamonds

Science.gov (United States)

Eidelman, E. D.; Meilakhs, A. P.; Semak, B. V.; Shakhov, F. M.

2017-11-01

A model of a thermoelectric generator is proposed, in which composite materials obtained by sintering diamond nanoparticles are used as the main component. To increase the useful conversion of heat into electric current, it is proposed to use the effect of electron drag by ballistic phonons. To reduce the ineffective heat spread, it is proposed to use the effect of thermal resistance of the boundaries between the graphite-like and diamond-like phases of the composite. An experimental confirmation of the existence of an optimal volume ratio between graphite-like and diamond-like phases of the composite is predicted and obtained. The highest achieved value of thermoelectric coefficient in the actual structure is 80 µV K-1 (which means 20 times increase compared to that of composites not of the optimal structure), with a thermal conductivity of 50 W m-1 K-1. These results were obtained with constant electrical conductivity. The combined influence of these two effects in case of the ideal composite structure should result in an increase of the thermoelectric efficiency parameter by three orders of magnitude.

Analytical and numerical comparisons of the α parameter obtained from several expressions versus reactivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minguez, E.

1983-01-01

A review of the analytical expressions between α-parameter and reactivity (rho) has been done in this article. Finally, several lineal approximations have been obtained for two important points of values. The analytical expansion has been made using only one family of precursors from delayed neutrons; diffusion equation in one energy groups; neutron flux separability with known spatial function. Numerical results have been obtained using typical data from fast and thermal reactors; considering and homogeneous media of Pu 239 in the first case, and U-235 in the second one. (author)

Value Retention, Service Life, Use Intensity and Long-Term Productivity of Wood Chippers as Obtained from Contractor Records

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raffaele Spinelli

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Acknowledging the absence of up-to-date empirical data on the value retention, service life and annual use of chipping machinery, in 2017 the authors surveyed the records kept by 50 contractors offering biomass chipping services. The machine fleet and operations in this survey could be taken as representative for most of Europe, where the biomass sector is well established and is facing further expansion. Data collection included the whole chipping unit, comprised of chipper, carrier and loader. Manually-fed units were excluded from the survey. The data pointed at a service life up to and exceeding 10,000 h and 10 years, which relieved any concerns about poor durability. Value retention was good, and may exceed that of other mainstream forestry equipment. Engine power was the main explanatory variable in any models to predict purchase price and productivity. The effect of this variable could explain most of the variability (>80% in the purchase price and productivity data. Results also pointed at the essential equivalence in price and productivity between PTO-driven (i.e., tractor powered and independent-engine chippers, once differences in engine power are accounted for. However, the distribution of purchase price between different components of the chipping unit was different between the two unit types, with the chipper accounting for a larger proportion of the total investment in independent-engine units. Machine power was also different, with most PTO-driven units being significantly smaller than independent-engine units, due to the limitations of existing tractors. Furthermore, half of the carriers assigned to a PTO-driven unit were subject to flexible use, i.e., they were not solely used for chipping work.

Traditional Values, Socio-Cultural Factors and Human Resource ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... Values, Socio-Cultural Factors and Human Resource Management Practices in ... Ghanaian worker in general and the HR manager in particular is influenced ... face -to-face interview methods were used to obtain information for the study.

Generic clearance values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bossio, M.C.; Muniz, C.C.

2009-01-01

This paper analyzes the Generic Clearance Values established for natural and artificial radionuclides with the objective of evaluating their degree of conservatism in views of adopting them into the regulatory body. Generic clearance values for natural radionuclides have been chosen by experts judgments as the optimum boundary between, on one hand, the ubiquitous unmodified soil concentrations and, on the other hand, activity concentrations in ores, mineral sands, industrial residues and wastes. For artificial radionuclides the clearance levels have been derived from the scenarios postulated in the document 'Safety Reports Series Nr 44' of the IAEA considering quantitative exemption criteria. A set of 8 scenarios were postulated covering external, ingestion and inhalation exposure pathways. For each radionuclide, the generic clearance level was derived as the more restrictive value obtained from the scenarios, that is the lowest ratio between the applicable individual dose and the dose per unit activity concentration (Bq/g). The individual dose was calculated by a formula depending on each scenario and pathway, with different parameters, such as exposure time, dosimetric factors, dilution factor, density of the material, geometric factors, etc. It was concluded that the basis and parameters used for the derivation of the generic clearance levels are quite conservative and therefore its the adoption in Argentina has been recommended. It is expected that their implementation will contribute to optimize the regulatory management system. (author)

Generic Clearance Values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bossio, M.C.; Muniz, C.C.

2010-01-01

This paper analyzes the Generic Clearance Values established for natural and artificial radionuclides with the objective of evaluating their degree of conservatism in views of adopting them into the regulatory body. Generic clearance values for natural radionuclides have been chosen by experts judgments as the optimum boundary between, on the one hand, the ubiquitous unmodified soil concentrations and, on the other hand, activity concentrations in ores, mineral sands, industrial residues and wastes. For artificial radionuclides the clearance levels have been derived from the scenarios postulated in the document Safety Reports Series 44 of the IAEA considering quantitative exemption criteria. A set of 8 scenarios were postulated covering external, ingestion and inhalation exposure pathways. For each radionuclide, the generic clearance level was derived as the more restrictive value obtained from the scenarios, that is the lowest ratio between the applicable individual dose and the dose per unit activity concentration (Bq/g). The individual dose was calculated by a formula depending on each scenario and pathway, with different parameters, such as exposure time, dosimetric factors, dilution factor, density of the material, geometric factors, etc. It was concluded that the basis and parameters used for the derivation of the generic clearance levels are quite conservative and therefore its the adoption in Argentina has been recommended. It is expected that their implementation will contribute to optimize the regulatory management system. (authors) [es

Weak values in collision theory

Science.gov (United States)

de Castro, Leonardo Andreta; Brasil, Carlos Alexandre; Napolitano, Reginaldo de Jesus

2018-05-01

Weak measurements have an increasing number of applications in contemporary quantum mechanics. They were originally described as a weak interaction that slightly entangled the translational degrees of freedom of a particle to its spin, yielding surprising results after post-selection. That description often ignores the kinetic energy of the particle and its movement in three dimensions. Here, we include these elements and re-obtain the weak values within the context of collision theory by two different approaches, and prove that the results are compatible with each other and with the results from the traditional approach. To provide a more complete description, we generalize weak values into weak tensors and use them to provide a more realistic description of the Stern-Gerlach apparatus.

A numerical solution of a singular boundary value problem arising in boundary layer theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jiancheng

2016-01-01

In this paper, a second-order nonlinear singular boundary value problem is presented, which is equivalent to the well-known Falkner-Skan equation. And the one-dimensional third-order boundary value problem on interval [Formula: see text] is equivalently transformed into a second-order boundary value problem on finite interval [Formula: see text]. The finite difference method is utilized to solve the singular boundary value problem, in which the amount of computational effort is significantly less than the other numerical methods. The numerical solutions obtained by the finite difference method are in agreement with those obtained by previous authors.

Physicochemical characteristics of ozonated sunflower oils obtained by different procedures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diaz, M. F.; Sanchez, Y.; Gomez, M.; Hernandez, F.; Veloso, M. C.; Pereira, P. A.; Mangrich, A. S.; Andrade, J. B.

2012-07-01

Two ozonation procedures for sunflower oils at different applied ozone dosages were carried out. Ozone was obtained from medicinal oxygen and from air. Peroxide, acidity, and iodine indexes, along with density, viscosity and antimicrobial activity were determined. The fatty acid compositions of the samples were analyzed using GC. The content of oxygen was determined using an elemental analysis. Electronic Paramagnetic Resonance was used to measure the organic free radicals. The reactions were achieved up to peroxide index values of 658 and 675 mmolequiv kg1 using medicinal oxygen and air for 5 and 8 hours, respectively. The samples of ozonized sunflower oil did not present organic free radicals, which is a very important issue if these oils are to be used as drugs. The ozonation reaction is more rapid with medicinal oxygen (5 hours) than with air (8 hours). Ozonized sunflower oil with oxygen as an ozone source was obtained with high potential for antimicrobial activity. (Author) 34 refs.

Determination of Kd-values from diffusion experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meier, H.; Hecker, W.; Zimmerhackl, E.; Zeitler, G.; Menge, P.

1986-01-01

Results of diffusion measurements are reported, obtained with aqueous solutions of U-233, Ra-226, Ni-63, and Se-75 in contact with solid rock samples of the Konrad mine overlying rock. The subsequent derivation of K d -values and the method applied are explained. (orig.) [de

Boundary-value problems for first and second order functional differential inclusions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shihuang Hong

2003-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions to boundary-value problems of first and second order multi-valued differential equations in Banach spaces. Our results obtained using fixed point theorems, and lead to new existence principles.

Evaluation of random errors in Williams’ series coefficients obtained with digital image correlation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lychak, Oleh V; Holyns’kiy, Ivan S

2016-01-01

The use of the Williams’ series parameters for fracture analysis requires valid information about their error values. The aim of this investigation is the development of the method for estimation of the standard deviation of random errors of the Williams’ series parameters, obtained from the measured components of the stress field. Also, the criteria for choosing the optimal number of terms in the truncated Williams’ series for derivation of their parameters with minimal errors is proposed. The method was used for the evaluation of the Williams’ parameters, obtained from the data, and measured by the digital image correlation technique for testing a three-point bending specimen. (paper)

The hardness of synthetic products obtained from cooled and crystallized basaltic melts (in Romanian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Ogrean

2001-04-01

Full Text Available The Hardness of Synthetic Products Obtained from Cooled and Crystallized Basaltic Melts. Hardness is one of the main properties of the products obtained from cooled and crystallized basaltic melts under a controlled thermal regime. It influences the abrasion tear resistance of the resulted material. The microhardness measurements on the samples (bricks, boards, gutters, armour plates, tubes indicated Vickers hardness value between 757–926 for the materials obtained from Şanovita basalts (Timiş district and between 539–958 respectively, in case of the Racoş basalts (Braşov district. There is a certain variation of the hardness within the same sample, in various measurement points, within the theoretical limits of the hardnesses of the pyroxenes and that of the spinels.

Earlier saccades to task-relevant targets irrespective of relative gain between peripheral and foveal information.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Christian; Schütz, Alexander C

2017-06-01

Saccades bring objects of interest onto the fovea for high-acuity processing. Saccades to rewarded targets show shorter latencies that correlate negatively with expected motivational value. Shorter latencies are also observed when the saccade target is relevant for a perceptual discrimination task. Here we tested whether saccade preparation is equally influenced by informational value as it is by motivational value. We defined informational value as the probability that information is task-relevant times the ratio between postsaccadic foveal and presaccadic peripheral discriminability. Using a gaze-contingent display, we independently manipulated peripheral and foveal discriminability of the saccade target. Latencies of saccades with perceptual task were reduced by 36 ms in general, but they were not modulated by the information saccades provide (Experiments 1 and 2). However, latencies showed a clear negative linear correlation with the probability that the target is task-relevant (Experiment 3). We replicated that the facilitation by a perceptual task is spatially specific and not due to generally heightened arousal (Experiment 4). Finally, the facilitation only emerged when the perceptual task is in the visual but not in the auditory modality (Experiment 5). Taken together, these results suggest that saccade latencies are not equally modulated by informational value as by motivational value. The facilitation by a perceptual task only arises when task-relevant visual information is foveated, irrespective of whether the foveation is useful or not.

Study on the chloride migration coefficient obtained following different Rapid Chloride Migration (RCM) test guidelines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spiesz, P.R.; Brouwers, H.J.H.; Uzoegbo, H.C.; Schmidt, W.

2013-01-01

This work presents the differences in the available Rapid Chloride Migration (RCM) test guidelines, and their influence on the values of the chloride migration coefficients DRCM, obtained following these guidelines. It is shown that the differences between the guidelines are significant and concern

Initial value problem for colliding gravitational plane waves. III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hauser, I.; Ernst, F.J.

1990-01-01

The development of a homogeneous Hilbert problem (HHP) approach to the initial value problem (IVP) for colliding gravitational plane waves with noncollinear polarization that began in two earlier papers [I. Hauser and F. J. Ernst, J. Math. Phys. 30, 872 (1989) and 30, 2322 (1989)] is continued. After formulating the HHP, the description of how one can apply it to generate a new family of solutions of the colliding wave problem that generalizes a three-parameter family constructed by Ernst, Garcia, and Hauser [J. Math. Phys. 29, 681 (1988)] using a double-Harrison transformation is given. Then the proof that the solution of the new HHP indeed solves the IVP that is posed is presented. A matrix Fredholm equation of the second kind that is equivalent to the HHP is also deduced. This will be used in a sequel to complete the proof of existence of solutions of the HHP and the proof that certain assumed differentiability hypotheses are in fact valid

Value of freedom to choose encoded by the human brain

Science.gov (United States)

Fujiwara, Juri; Usui, Nobuo; Park, Soyoung Q.; Williams, Tony; Iijima, Toshio; Taira, Masato; Tsutsui, Ken-Ichiro

2013-01-01

Humans and animals value the opportunity to choose by preferring alternatives that offer more rather than fewer choices. This preference for choice may arise not only from an increased probability of obtaining preferred outcomes but also from the freedom it provides. We used human neuroimaging to investigate the neural basis of the preference for choice as well as for the items that could be chosen. In each trial, participants chose between two options, a monetary amount option and a “choice option.” The latter consisted of a number that corresponded to the number of everyday items participants would subsequently be able to choose from. We found that the opportunity to choose from a larger number of items was equivalent to greater amounts of money, indicating that participants valued having more choice; moreover, participants varied in the degree to which they valued having the opportunity to choose, with some valuing it more than the increased probability of obtaining preferred items. Neural activations in the mid striatum increased with the value of the opportunity to choose. The same region also coded the value of the items. Conversely, activation in the dorsolateral striatum was not related to the value of the items but was elevated when participants were offered more choices, particularly in those participants who overvalued the opportunity to choose. These data suggest a functional dissociation of value representations within the striatum, with general representations in mid striatum and specific representations of the value of freedom provided by the opportunity to choose in dorsolateral striatum. PMID:23864380

Image quality and dose in mammographic images obtained in Mexico City hospitals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruiz-Trejo, C.; Brandan, M.-E.; Verdejo, M.; Flores, A.; Guevara, M.; Martin, J.; Madero-Preciado, L.

2001-01-01

The performance of three mammographic systems in large Mexican hospitals has been evaluated, as well as the image quality and associated dose. Quality control tests include examination of X-ray equipment, darkroom conditions, film processor, and viewboxes. Systems referred to as '1', '2', and '3' passed 50%, 75% and 75% of these tests, respectively. Quality image is assessed using five images obtained under similar nominal conditions in each X-ray equipment. System 1 generates no image of acceptable quality, while equipment 2 and 3 produce one and two, respectively. The mean glandular dose for the best images obtained in each service with an accreditation phantom has been measured, and the values are 1.4 mGy, 1.6 mGy, and 1.0 mGy, respectively. (author)

Characterization of cellulose acetate obtained from sugarcane bagasse by 1H-NMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cerqueira, Daniel A.; Rodrigues Filho, Guimes; Carvalho, Rui A.; Valente, Artur J.M.

2009-01-01

Cellulose from sugarcane bagasse was used for synthesizing cellulose acetate with different degrees of substitution, which were characterized by 1 H-NMR through the relationship between the peak areas of the hydrogen atoms present at the acetate groups (-(C=O)OCH 3 ) and the peaks of the hydrogen bonded to the carbon atoms of the glycosidic rings. Suppression was carried out in order to remove the peak of residual water in the materials and the peak related to impurities in cellulose triacetate. Degree of substitution values obtained through the resonance deconvolution were compared to those obtained by chemical determination through an acid-base titration. The determined degrees of substitution of the cellulose samples were 2.94 and 2.60. (author)

Polymorphism in ficolin-1 (FCN1) gene is associated with an earlier ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

ZILMA PEREIRA DOS ANJOSA1

up based on the manufacture's protocol using 7500 Real-. Time PCR instrument ... tection against T1D onset (P value: 0.0003, OR: 0.53, 95%. CI = 0.38–0.75) as .... recruitment of leucocytes that produce a smaller quantity of ficolin 1 could ...

Concretes of low environmental impact obtained by geopolymerization of Metakaolin

Science.gov (United States)

Sandoval, D. C.; Montaño, A. M.; González, C. P.; Gutiérrez, J.

2018-04-01

This work shows results of partial replacement of Portland Type I cement®, by geopolymers obtained through alkaline activation of Metakaolin, in concrete mixtures. Replacement was made with 10%, 20% and 30% of geopolymers at 7, 14, 28 and 90 days of setting. Cement samples was mechanical and electrically tested. Mechanical resistance to compression assay shows that the best percentage of replacement is 10% for every setting time; highest value is 26.75MPa at 90 days. Nyquist diagrams at different times of immersion exhibit same trend: decreasing of electrical resistance as time of assay goes by.

Variational multi-valued velocity field estimation for transparent sequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramírez-Manzanares, Alonso; Rivera, Mariano; Kornprobst, Pierre

2011-01-01

Motion estimation in sequences with transparencies is an important problem in robotics and medical imaging applications. In this work we propose a variational approach for estimating multi-valued velocity fields in transparent sequences. Starting from existing local motion estimators, we derive...... a variational model for integrating in space and time such a local information in order to obtain a robust estimation of the multi-valued velocity field. With this approach, we can indeed estimate multi-valued velocity fields which are not necessarily piecewise constant on a layer –each layer can evolve...

Supply chain integration scales validation and benchmark values

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan A. Marin-Garcia

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The clarification of the constructs of the supply chain integration (clients, suppliers, external and internal, the creation of a measurement instrument based on a list of items taken from earlier papers, the validation of these scales and a preliminary benchmark to interpret the scales by percentiles based on a set of control variables (size of the plant, country, sector and degree of vertical integration. Design/methodology/approach: Our empirical analysis is based on the HPM project database (2005-2007 timeframe. The international sample is made up of 266 plants across ten countries: Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden and the USA. In each country. We analized the descriptive statistics, internal consistency testing to purify the items (inter-item correlations, Cronbach’s alpha, squared multiple correlation, corrected item-total correlation, exploratory factor analysis, and finally, a confirmatory factor analysis to check the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. The analyses will be done with the SPSS and EQS programme using the maximum likelihood parameter estimation method. Findings: The four proposed scales show excellent psychometric properties. Research limitations/implications: with a clearer and more concise designation of the supply chain integration measurement scales more reliable and accurate data could be taken to analyse the relations between these constructs with other variables of interest to the academic l fields. Practical implications: providing scales that are valid as a diagnostic tool for best practices, as well as providing a benchmark with which to compare the score for each individual plant against a collection of industrial companies from the machinery, electronics and transportation sectors. Originality/value: supply chain integration may be a major factor in explaining the performance of companies. The results are nevertheless inconclusive, the vast range

The gap values in the profile matching method by fuzzy logic

Science.gov (United States)

Sitepu, S. A.; Efendi, S.; Situmorang, Z.

2018-03-01

In this research, the determination of the appropriate values of Gap for the assessment of promotion criteria of position in an institution / company. In this study the authors use Fuzzy Sugeno logic on the determination of Gap values used in Profile Matching method. Test results of 5 employees obtained the eligibility of promotion with the position of Z* values between in 3.20 to 4.11.

Happiness in the Context of European Human Values

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paun Maria

2016-07-01

Full Text Available When we think about our values, we think about what is important in our lives (security, independence, wisdom, success, goodness, pleasure. This article has as its starting point the assumption that happiness is the result of manifestation of human values. The first part deals with the concept of human values, and the second part is focused on the analysis of secondary sources (data obtained from the investigation conducted by the European Social Survey. Data was retrieved and processed by me in Excel, and SPSS. In order to test research hypotheses correlation was used. To support the argument we used a series of tables and representative images.

Exploring experiential value in online mobile gaming adoption.

Science.gov (United States)

Okazaki, Shintaro

2008-10-01

Despite the growing importance of the online mobile gaming industry, little research has been undertaken to explain why consumers engage in this ubiquitous entertainment. This study attempts to develop an instrument to measure experiential value in online mobile gaming adoption. The proposed scale consists of seven first-order factors of experiential value: intrinsic enjoyment, escapism, efficiency, economic value, visual appeal, perceived novelty, and perceived risklessness. The survey obtained 164 usable responses from Japanese college students. The empirical data fit our first-order model well, indicating a high level of reliability as well as convergent and discriminant validity. The single second-order model also shows an acceptable model fit.

Characteristics of Biochar Obtained by Hydrothermal Carbonization of Cellulose for Renewable Energy

OpenAIRE

Daegi Kim; Kunio Yoshikawa; Ki Young Park

2015-01-01

The effect of hydrothermal carbonization on the properties of cellulose present in lignocellulosic biomass was investigated for converting it into a renewable energy resource with high energy recovery efficiency. The biochar obtained from cellulose subjected to hydrothermal carbonization showed a significant increase in its carbon content and a calorific value. 13C NMR spectroscopy showed that when raw cellulose was subjected to hydrothermal carbonization above 220 °C, the resulting biochar h...

THE APPLICATION OF BIMATRIX GAMES IN THE HARMONIZATION OF PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS' VALUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Тигран Георгиевич ГРИГОРЯН

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The problem of project stakeholders interests harmonization is described. The problem of project stakeholders interests harmonization, as a solution of the noncooperative game between two players - the project team led by a manager and stakeholders, grouped by similar interests, is stated. The concept of the operation of the value balancing and the harmonization of values and the model integrating these concepts on the basis of bimatrix games are presented. The connection between the application of the proposed model with the project, product and value life cycle is showed. The developed model allows obtaining the probabilities of the use of recommended strategies taking into account stakeholders' value guidelines to ensure the sustainability of the project, necessary for its implementation and finalization. The alternatives for the typical players' strategies, allowing to typify situations in real projects and reduce the diversity of possible situations in value-oriented stakeholder' values balancing to a finite set of combination of enough low power are presented. The conclusions about the use of the proposed model obtained results and further research tasks have been made.

Pathways to diagnosis: exploring the experiences of problem recognition and obtaining a dementia diagnosis among Anglo-Canadians.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Karen K; Finlay, Juli; Silvius, James L; Koehn, Sharon; McCleary, Lynn; Cohen, Carole A; Hum, Susan; Garcia, Linda; Dalziel, William; Emerson, Victor F; Pimlott, Nicholas J G; Persaud, Malini; Kozak, Jean; Drummond, Neil

2011-07-01

Increasing evidence suggests that early diagnosis and management of dementia-related symptoms may improve the quality of life for patients and their families. However, individuals may wait from 1-3 years from the onset of symptoms before receiving a diagnosis. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of problem recognition, and the process of obtaining a diagnosis among individuals with early-stage dementia and their primary carers. From 2006-2009, six Anglo-Canadians with dementia and seven of their carers were recruited from the Alzheimer's Society of Calgary to participate in semi-structured interviews. Using an inductive, thematic approach to the analysis, five major themes were identified: becoming aware of memory problems, attributing meanings to symptoms, initiating help-seeking, acknowledging the severity of cognitive changes and finally obtaining a definitive diagnosis. Individuals with dementia reported noticing memory difficulties earlier than their carers. However, initial symptoms were perceived as ambiguous, and were normalised and attributed to concurrent health problems. The diagnostic process was typically characterised by multiple visits and interactions with health professionals, and a diagnosis was obtained as more severe cognitive deficits emerged. Throughout the diagnostic pathway, carers played dynamic roles. Carers initially served as a source of encouragement to seek help, but they eventually became actively involved over concerns about alternative diagnoses and illness management. A better understanding of the pre-diagnosis period, and the complex interactions between people's beliefs and attributions about symptoms, may elucidate some of the barriers as well as strategies to promote a timelier dementia diagnosis. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Dose estimation in CT exams of the abdomen based on values of DLP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kikuti, C.F.; Medeiros, R.B.; Salvadori, P.S.; Costa, D.M.C; D'lppolito, G.

2013-01-01

One of the challenges of multidetector computerized tomography is to minimize the risk of ionizing radiation using optimized protocols since higher doses are necessary to obtain high image quality. It was also noted that, due to the geometry in image acquisition using MDCT becomes necessary to estimate dose values consistent with the hypothesis clinically and with the specificities of the tomographic equipment. The aim of this study was to estimate the doses in abdomen exams from the data recorded on the MDCT console and dimensions obtained from DICOM images of patients undergoing different clinical protocols. Were collected, from the image DICOM of 101 exams, values of the dose length product (DLP) provided by Philips Health Care - Brilliance 64 equipment console, in order to relate them with the dose values obtained by means of thermoluminescent dosimeters ( TLD ) of CasSo 4 :Mn placed on the surface of a cylindrical simulator abdomen acrylic manufactured under the technical - operational conditions for a typical abdomen exam. From the data obtained, it was possible to find a factor of 1.16 ( 5 % ) indicating that the DLP values Brilliance 64 console underestimate the doses and this should be used with correction factor to estimate the total dose of the patient. (author)

Revised and new national reference values for X-ray diagnostic examinations per 2010

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

NRPA has revised the national reference values given in the Guide 5b and established reference values for 10 new investigations. The revision / creation is based on new national dose distributions obtained in the period 2006-2009. Reference values are effective from 27 April 2010. (AG)

Cholesteatoma has a high prevalence in Turner syndrome, highlighting the need for earlier diagnosis and the potential benefits of otoscopy training for paediatricians.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, D B N; Gault, E J; Kubba, H; Morrissey, M S C; Wynne, D M; Donaldson, M D C

2014-07-01

Girls with Turner syndrome are prone to cholesteatoma, a serious suppurative middle ear disease. We aimed to confirm its high prevalence in Turner syndrome, identify risk factors and suggest possible strategies for earlier detection. We reviewed 179 girls with Turner syndrome between 1989 and 2012 to identify cases of cholesteatoma. Seven girls (3.9%) had cholesteatoma (index girls) and each was compared with three age-matched girls without cholesteatoma (comparison girls). All the index girls had either the 45,X or 45,X/46X,i(Xq) karyotypes. Nine ears were initially affected, with three recurrences in two girls. Median age at first cholesteatoma presentation was 11.9 years (range: 7.5-15.2), with otorrhoea for three (range: one to seven) months in all 12 affected ears. Index girls had a significantly higher proportion of previous recurrent acute (p = 0.007) and chronic otitis media (p = 0.008), chronic perforation (p = 0.038) aural polyps (p Turner syndrome. Risk factors include 45,X and 46,XiXq karyotypes; a history of chronic otitis media, tympanic membrane retraction and persistent otorrhoea; and older age. Earlier recognition of ear disease is needed and otoscopy training for paediatricians caring for Turner syndrome patients may be beneficial. ©2014 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Utilization of Weibull equation to obtain soil-water diffusivity in horizontal infiltration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerrini, I.A.

1982-06-01

Water movement was studied in horizontal infiltration experiments using laboratory columns of air-dry and homogeneous soil to obtain a simple and suitable equation for soil-water diffusivity. Many water content profiles for each one of the ten soil columns utilized were obtained through gamma-ray attenuation technique using a 137 Cs source. During the measurement of a particular water content profile, the soil column was held in the same position in order to measure changes in time and so to reduce the errors in water content determination. The Weibull equation utilized was excellent in fitting water content profiles experimental data. The use of an analytical function for ν, the Boltzmann variable, according to Weibull model, allowed to obtain a simple equation for soil water diffusivity. Comparisons among the equation here obtained for diffusivity and others solutions found in literature were made, and the unsuitability of a simple exponential variation of diffusivity with water content for the full range of the latter was shown. The necessity of admitting the time dependency for diffusivity was confirmed and also the possibility fixing that dependency on a well known value extended to generalized soil water infiltration studies was found. Finally, it was shown that the soil water diffusivity function given by the equation here proposed can be obtained just by the analysis of the wetting front advance as a function of time. (Author) [pt

Interpretation of acoustic parameters obtained by EMAR measurement for non-destructive hydrogen concentration measurement in Zr alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakatsuka, Masafumi; Uchida, Katsuya; Miyazaki, Akihiro; Ishii, Yoshiaki

2007-01-01

An obvious quantitative relation between hydrogen concentrations in zirconium alloy and acoustic anisotropy parameters obtained by the electromagnetic acoustic resonance (EMAR) method was reported. To elucidate the mechanism, the acoustic parameters were calculated based on the elastic theory and the equation of motion. The acoustic parameters of obtained by the EMAR method were interpreted quantitatively using the anisotropic elastic constants of the specimen, and value calculated from texture data for non-hydrogen charged specimens showed good agreement with those obtained by the EMAR method. Calculated temperature dependence of the acoustic anisotropy for the non-hydrogen charged specimen also agreed well with that by the EMAR method. The consistencies demonstrated that the absolute values of the acoustic parameters for non-hydrogen charged specimen can be calculated from both the texture data of (0002) pole figure and the elastic constants of the specimen. Hydrogen addition up to approximately 650ppm was found not to change the original (0002) pole figure and, correspondingly, no hydrogen concentration dependence of the acoustic parameters was obtained from the calculation. These results implied that the zirconium hydride itself played an important role for the change in the acoustic parameters of the hydrogen charged specimens, and the importance of obtaining the information on the elastic constants of the zirconium hydride was pointed out. (author)

Computing pKa Values in Different Solvents by Electrostatic Transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossini, Emanuele; Netz, Roland R; Knapp, Ernst-Walter

2016-07-12

We introduce a method that requires only moderate computational effort to compute pKa values of small molecules in different solvents with an average accuracy of better than 0.7 pH units. With a known pKa value in one solvent, the electrostatic transform method computes the pKa value in any other solvent if the proton solvation energy is known in both considered solvents. To apply the electrostatic transform method to a molecule, the electrostatic solvation energies of the protonated and deprotonated molecular species are computed in the two considered solvents using a dielectric continuum to describe the solvent. This is demonstrated for 30 molecules belonging to 10 different molecular families by considering 77 measured pKa values in 4 different solvents: water, acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, and methanol. The electrostatic transform method can be applied to any other solvent if the proton solvation energy is known. It is exclusively based on physicochemical principles, not using any empirical fetch factors or explicit solvent molecules, to obtain agreement with measured pKa values and is therefore ready to be generalized to other solute molecules and solvents. From the computed pKa values, we obtained relative proton solvation energies, which agree very well with the proton solvation energies computed recently by ab initio methods, and used these energies in the present study.

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS COMPARING CARDIOPULMONARY EXERCISE TEST VALUES OBTAINED FROM THE ARM CYCLE AND THE LEG CYCLE RESPECTIVELY IN HEALTHY ADULTS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Rasmus Tolstrup; Christensen, Jan; Tang, Lars Hermann

2016-01-01

a systematic review and meta-analysis of the difference in VO2max achieved by AC compared to LC in healthy adults and to explore factors that may be predictive of this difference. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PEDro were searched in April 2015. The differences in VO2max (ACLCdiff) were pooled across....../min with a mean ACLCratio of 0.70. The ACLCdiff was lower in studies with higher mean age and lower aerobic capacity. CONCLUSION: There is linear association between the AC and LC values in healthy adults. The AC values were on average 70% of the LC values. The magnitude of this difference appeared to be reduced...

Insights of the periodic reviews regarding the physical protection of nuclear power plants designed to earlier standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagemann, A.

2001-01-01

Among other prerequisites for licensing a nuclear activity, the German Atomic Energy Act stipulates that the necessary physical protection against malevolent acts has to be approved before granting a license. This is required for nuclear power plants in paragraph 7 of the Atomic Energy Act. The licenses for nuclear power plants designed to earlier standards were granted about 20 years ago and more. All NPPs are under the supervision of the Supervisory Authority in order to ensure that all conditions of the license are met during the whole plant operation period. The 'Periodic Safety Review', PSR, is designated to provide the Supervisory Authority with additional information on the safety status. One part of the PSR is the 'Deterministic Security Analysis', DSA. The subject of the DSA is the actual physical protection of a NPP. The following document outlines the experiences gained during the evaluation of DSA reports by GRS as an external expert organisation under contract of the Supervisory Authorities. (author)

Insights of the periodic reviews regarding the physical protection of nuclear power plants designed to earlier standards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hagemann, A. [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH, Cologne (Germany)

2001-07-01

Among other prerequisites for licensing a nuclear activity, the German Atomic Energy Act stipulates that the necessary physical protection against malevolent acts has to be approved before granting a license. This is required for nuclear power plants in paragraph 7 of the Atomic Energy Act. The licenses for nuclear power plants designed to earlier standards were granted about 20 years ago and more. All NPPs are under the supervision of the Supervisory Authority in order to ensure that all conditions of the license are met during the whole plant operation period. The 'Periodic Safety Review', PSR, is designated to provide the Supervisory Authority with additional information on the safety status. One part of the PSR is the 'Deterministic Security Analysis', DSA. The subject of the DSA is the actual physical protection of a NPP. The following document outlines the experiences gained during the evaluation of DSA reports by GRS as an external expert organisation under contract of the Supervisory Authorities. (author)

Value-orientation of the law vs. legal positivism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trajković Marko

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The law cannot squeeze out values. Thus, it comes as an imperative of our reality to set the place for the law in the world of values. The world of values is not apart from our reality. In our reality the world of values is the purpose of everything that exists. Actually, it is about the demand to bring values into our reality. The meaning of values is absolute. The eternity of values immediately points to the absolute order of values, which as such has its 'homeland' in Creator. The issue of finding the place of the law in the world of values is a 'pre-legal' issue. Thereby the world of values is becoming the assumption of the existence and development of the law. Legal norm then becomes the formulation of values. Legal norm is not precious in itself, but only if it expresses fundamental values. Legal norm has to be the logical formulation, that is to say, it has to deliver the contents of value correctly and appropriately. As an expression of the value dimension legal norm obtains the binding power. Keeping in mind the legal norm defined in such a way, nobody can deny its necessity in reality. The law then expresses the contents of value and proposes the model of the ideal behavior. The fact that values have 'creating power' is thus proved to be true.

Metamorphosis Is Ancestral for Crown Euarthropods, and Evolved in the Cambrian or Earlier.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Joanna M

2017-09-01

Macroevolutionary developmental biology employs fossilized ontogenetic data and phylogenetic comparative methods to probe the evolution of development at ancient nodes. Despite the prevalence of ecologically differentiated larval forms in marine invertebrates, it has been frequently presumed that the ancestors of arthropods were direct developers, and that metamorphosis may not have evolved until the Ordovician or later. Using fossils and new dated phylogenies, I infer that metamorphosis was likely ancestral for crown arthropods, contradicting this assumption. Based on a published morphological dataset encompassing 217 exceptionally preserved fossil and 96 extant taxa, fossils were directly incorporated into both the topology and age estimates, as in "tip dating" analyses. Using data from post-embryonic fossils representing 25 species throughout stem and crown arthropod lineages (as well as most of the 96 extant taxa), characters for metamorphosis were assigned based on inferred ecological changes in development (e.g., changes in habitat and adaptive landscape). Under all phylogenetic hypotheses, metamorphosis was supported as most likely ancestral to both ecdysozoans and euarthropods. Care must be taken to account for potential drastic post-embryonic morphological changes in evolutionary analyses. Many stem group euarthrpods may have had ecologically differentiated larval stages that did not preserve in the fossil record. Moreover, a complex life cycle and planktonic ecology may have evolved in the Ediacaran or earlier, and may have typified the pre-Cambrian explosion "wormworld" prior to the origin of crown group euarthropods. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

GORJ – TOURISM POTENTIAL VALUED FOR ROMANIA

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SANDA GABRIEL

2014-05-01

Full Text Available A significant part of the economy is based on the work Gorj Oltenia Energy Complex, mining and electricity generating absorbing much of the county's workforce employed. But the economic crisis that hit the global economy more than five years ago, has left its mark on the economy Gorj heavy, almost mono-industrial economy, as noted earlier. It is therefore time to identify other sectors than those already traditional work force to absorb the county and create this surplus value. In this article we would like to make some assessments on how they could develop tourism in the county in order to become an alternative to the mining industry, create jobs for young people and fewer young residents of the county and to attract as more money on these lands. Because tourism can be practiced in many purposes, and because we want to make a more detailed analysis of how the ways of development of this economic sector in formulating our proposals we start by identifying the main poles of tourism that can be practiced in Gorj, taking into account here and tourists on services desired options.

Determination of antioxidant activity of bioactive peptide fractions obtained from yogurt.

Science.gov (United States)

Aloğlu, H Sanlıdere; Oner, Z

2011-11-01

In this study, physicochemical and microbiological properties of traditional and commercial yogurt samples were determined during 4 wk of storage. Proteolytic activity, which occurs during the storage period of yogurt samples, was also determined. Peptide fractions obtained from yogurts were investigated and the effect of proteolysis on peptide release during storage was determined. The antioxidant activities of peptides released from yogurt water-soluble extracts (WSE) and from HPLC fractions were determined by 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods. The antioxidant activity of WSE from traditional yogurt was greater than that of WSE from commercial yogurts. In analysis by the ABTS method, mean values increased from 7.697 to 8.739 mM Trolox/g in commercial yogurts, and from 10.115 to 13.182 mM Trolox/g in traditional yogurts during storage. Antioxidant activities of peptides released from HPLC fractions of selected yogurt samples increased 10 to 200 times. In all yogurt samples, the greatest antioxidant activity was shown in the F2 fraction. After further fractionation of yogurt samples, the fractions coded as F2.2, F2.3, F4.3, and F4.4 had the highest antioxidant activity values. Total antioxidant activity of yogurts was low but after purification of peptides by fractionation in HPLC, peptide fractions with high antioxidant activity were obtained. Copyright © 2011 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of Random Values for Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hou-Ping Dai

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm is generally improved by adaptively adjusting the inertia weight or combining with other evolution algorithms. However, in most modified PSO algorithms, the random values are always generated by uniform distribution in the range of [0, 1]. In this study, the random values, which are generated by uniform distribution in the ranges of [0, 1] and [−1, 1], and Gauss distribution with mean 0 and variance 1 ( U [ 0 , 1 ] , U [ − 1 , 1 ] and G ( 0 , 1 , are respectively used in the standard PSO and linear decreasing inertia weight (LDIW PSO algorithms. For comparison, the deterministic PSO algorithm, in which the random values are set as 0.5, is also investigated in this study. Some benchmark functions and the pressure vessel design problem are selected to test these algorithms with different types of random values in three space dimensions (10, 30, and 100. The experimental results show that the standard PSO and LDIW-PSO algorithms with random values generated by U [ − 1 , 1 ] or G ( 0 , 1 are more likely to avoid falling into local optima and quickly obtain the global optima. This is because the large-scale random values can expand the range of particle velocity to make the particle more likely to escape from local optima and obtain the global optima. Although the random values generated by U [ − 1 , 1 ] or G ( 0 , 1 are beneficial to improve the global searching ability, the local searching ability for a low dimensional practical optimization problem may be decreased due to the finite particles.

Common Fixed Points of Generalized Cocyclic Mappings in Complex Valued Metric Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mujahid Abbas

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We present fixed point results of mappings satisfying generalized contractive conditions in complex valued metric spaces. As an application, we obtain a common fixed point of a pair of weakly compatible mappings. Some common fixed point results of generalized contractive-type mappings involved in cocyclic representation of a nonempty subset of a complex valued metric space are also obtained. Some examples are also presented to support the results proved herein. These results extend and generalize many results in the existing literature.

A Revision of Clausius Work on the Second Law. 2. On the Values of Clausius Transformations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José C. Iñiguez

1999-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The values associated to Clausius transformations are obtained through an analysis different to that of Clausius inasmuch it does not introduce any assumption or condition as to what the combined value of the transformations in a reversible cyclical process should be. The values thus obtained allow for the identification of the flaw in Clausius work leading to the inconsistency discussed in part I of this series.

Earlier onset of motor deficits in mice with double mutations in Dyt1 and Sgce.

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoi, Fumiaki; Yang, Guang; Li, Jindong; DeAndrade, Mark P; Zhou, Tong; Li, Yuqing

2010-10-01

DYT1 early-onset generalized torsion dystonia is an inherited movement disorder caused by mutations in DYT1 coding for torsinA with ∼30% penetrance. Most of the DYT1 dystonia patients exhibit symptoms during childhood and adolescence. On the other hand, DYT1 mutation carriers without symptoms during these periods mostly do not exhibit symptoms later in their life. Little is known about what controls the timing of the onset, a critical issue for DYT1 mutation carriers. DYT11 myoclonus-dystonia is caused by mutations in SGCE coding for ε-sarcoglycan. Two dystonia patients from a single family with double mutations in DYT1 and SGCE exhibited more severe symptoms. A recent study suggested that torsinA contributes to the quality control of ε-sarcoglycan. Here, we derived mice carrying mutations in both Dyt1 and Sgce and found that these double mutant mice showed earlier onset of motor deficits in beam-walking test. A novel monoclonal antibody against mouse ε-sarcoglycan was developed by using Sgce knock-out mice to avoid the immune tolerance. Western blot analysis suggested that functional deficits of torsinA and ε-sarcoglycan may independently cause motor deficits. Examining additional mutations in other dystonia genes may be beneficial to predict the onset in DYT1 mutation carriers.

Exhaled nitric oxide levels in asthma: Personal best versus reference values.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Andrew D; Cowan, Jan O; Taylor, D Robin

2009-10-01

Factors affecting the fraction of nitric oxide in exhaled air (FE(NO)) are multiple. Interpreting values when assessing airways disease may be problematic. Clinically optimum levels have not been defined. We aimed to establish the relationship between predicted values for FE(NO) obtained from equations by Olin et al, Travers et al, and Dressel et al, and normalized levels after oral prednisone. We also compared postprednisone FE(NO) levels with those obtained during optimized treatment with inhaled fluticasone. Data were obtained before and after a trial of oral prednisone (30mg/d for 14 days), and also from a previously published study in which patients had their dose of inhaled corticosteroid adjusted using either FE(NO) or symptoms/lung function to optimize treatment. Seventy-three patients completed the study. The geometric mean FE(NO) after prednisone (17.7 parts per billion [ppb]; 95% CI, 15.5-20.2) was significantly lower than mean FE(NO) at the optimized fluticasone dose (20.2 ppb; 95% CI, 17.1-23.8; P=.04) and at loss of control (27.6 ppb; 95% CI, 22.8-33.4; P values of Olin et al (16.8 ppb, 95% CI, 16.0-17.5; P=.44), but were significantly lower than values of Travers et al (predicted, 21.5 ppb; 95% CI, 20.9-22.2; P=.005) and Dressel et al (predicted, 27.8 ppb; 95% CI, 26.7-28.9; P values from the reference equation by Olin et al. However, at optimized doses of inhaled corticosteroid, although FE(NO) levels were higher than predicted, asthma was well controlled. Targeting FE(NO) on reference values is not justified.

Diagonal Pade approximations for initial value problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reusch, M.F.; Ratzan, L.; Pomphrey, N.; Park, W.

1987-06-01

Diagonal Pade approximations to the time evolution operator for initial value problems are applied in a novel way to the numerical solution of these problems by explicitly factoring the polynomials of the approximation. A remarkable gain over conventional methods in efficiency and accuracy of solution is obtained. 20 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

Radiochemical schemes of obtaining 89Sr and 90Y radionuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usarov, Z. O.

2010-03-01

Key words: strontium-89, yttrium-90, extraction and extraction-chromatographic purification of radionuclides, radiopharmaceuticals. Subjects of research: strontium-89 and yttrium-90 radionuclides and their chloride forms. Purpose of work is developing of radiochemical technologies on obtaining of 89 Sr and 90 Y on the WWR-SM reactor with high radionuclide purity. Methods of research: extraction and extraction-chromatographic methods of radionuclides separation, beta- and gamma-spectrometric methods of activity measuring. The results obtained and their novelty: Were determined the conformity to laws of Y and Sr distribution in two-phase systems TBP-HNO 3 , TBP-NH 4 NO 3 , TBP-HCI, HDEHP-NO 3 , HDEHP-NH 4 NO 3 and HDEHP-HCI. Were determined the conformity to laws of Y and Sr distribution in systems with craun ethers DB-18K-6 and DTBDB-18K-6 from water solutions of HNO 3 . Radiochemical technologies on obtaining of 89 Sr and 90 Y radionuclides including radiochemical process of yttrium target with using the systems TBP-HNO 3 and HDEHP/Teflone were developed. Practical value: the radiochemical technology of obtaining 89 Sr with high radionuclide purity was developed. The method of preparation a chloride compound of 89 SrCl 2 which is used as a drug form for preparation of 89 Sr- 'Metastron' was developed. The relatively simple method of on the way obtaining 90 Y in the reactor with high radionuclidic purity that is useful for follow using in medical practice was offered. Degree of embed and economic effectivity: the developed technologies have approbation in manufacturing conditions in Radiopreparat Enterprise of INP AS RU and were offered for receiving of domestic preparations against of import foreign analogues. The statement about using the invention by obtained patent is attached to dissertation. Field of application: the received results will be introduced in manufacture at Radiopreparat Enterprise of INP AS RU for receiving of domestic preparations

The economic value of an investment in physiotherapy education: a net present value analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivers, George; Foo, Jonathan; Ilic, Dragan; Nicklen, Peter; Reeves, Scott; Walsh, Kieran; Maloney, Stephen

2015-07-01

What is the economic value for an individual to invest in physiotherapy undergraduate education in Australia? How is this affected by increased education costs or decreased wages? A cost-benefit analysis using a net present value (NPV) approach was conducted and reported in Australian dollars. In relation to physiotherapy education, the NPV represents future earnings as a physiotherapist minus the direct and indirect costs in obtaining the degree. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to consider varying levels of experience, public versus private sector, and domestic versus international student fees. Comparable calculations were made for educational investments in medicine and nursing/midwifery. Assuming an expected discount rate of 9.675%, investment in education by domestic students with approximately 34 years of average work experience yields a NPV estimated at $784,000 for public sector physiotherapists and $815,000 for private sector therapists. In relation to international students, the NPV results for an investment and career as a physiotherapist is estimated at $705,000 in the public sector and $736,000 in the private sector. With an approximate payback period of 4 years, coupled with strong and positive NPV values, physiotherapy education in Australia is a financially attractive prospect and a viable value proposition for those considering a career in this field. Copyright © 2015 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Method and apparatus for determining the dose value of neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgkhardt, B.; Piesch, E.

1976-01-01

A method is provided for determining the dose value of neutrons leaving a body as thermal and intermediate neutrons after having been scattered in the body. A first dose value of thermal and intermediate neutrons is detected on the surface of the body by means of a first detector for neutrons which is shielded against thermal and intermediate neutrons not emerging from the body. A second detector is used to measure a second dose value of the thermal and intermediate neutrons not emerging from the body. A first correction factor based on the first and second values is obtained from a calibration diagram and is applied to the first dose value to determine a first corrected first dose value. 21 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures

Value of Forecaster in the Loop

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-01

forecast system IFR instrument flight rules IMC instrument meteorological conditions LAMP Localized Aviation Model Output Statistics Program METOC...obtaining valuable experience. Additional factors have impacted the Navy weather forecast process. There has been a the realignment of the meteorology...forecasts that are assessed, it may be a relatively small number that have direct impact on the decision-making process. Whether the value is minimal or

A Numerical Simulation for a Deterministic Compartmental ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this work, an earlier deterministic mathematical model of HIV/AIDS is revisited and numerical solutions obtained using Eulers numerical method. Using hypothetical values for the parameters, a program was written in VISUAL BASIC programming language to generate series for the system of difference equations from the ...

Nursing ethical values and definitions: A literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahriari, Mohsen; Mohammadi, Eesa; Abbaszadeh, Abbas; Bahrami, Masoud

2013-01-01

Ethical values offer a framework for behavior assessment, and nursing values influence nurses' goals, strategies, and actions. A literature review was adopted in order to determine and define ethical values for nurses. This literature review was conducted based on the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidelines. The key words used to search relevant sources were nursing, ethics, ethical values, and nursing values. The search of articles in English was carried out in Medline, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, and Proquest databases. The search of articles in Persian was conducted in databases of Magiran, SID, and Irandoc publications. After assessing and analyzing the obtained data, 17 articles which had a distinct definition of ethical values were chosen and subjected to a thorough study. The search yielded 10 nursing ethical values: Human dignity, privacy, justice, autonomy in decision making, precision and accuracy in caring, commitment, human relationship, sympathy, honesty, and individual and professional competency. This study showed that common ethical values are generally shared within the global community. However, in several areas, influences of social, cultural, and economical status and religious beliefs on values result in a different definition of these values. This study revealed that based on humanistic nature of nursing, common values in nursing protect human dignity and respect to the patients. Recognizing and definition of ethical values can help to improve nursing practice and develop codes of ethics.

A new way of obtaining analytic approximations of Chandrasekhar's H function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vukanic, J.; Arsenovic, D.; Davidovic, D.

2007-01-01

Applying the mean value theorem for definite integrals in the non-linear integral equation for Chandrasekhar's H function describing conservative isotropic scattering, we have derived a new, simple analytic approximation for it, with a maximal relative error below 2.5%. With this new function as a starting-point, after a single iteration in the corresponding integral equation, we have obtained a new, highly accurate analytic approximation for the H function. As its maximal relative error is below 0.07%, it significantly surpasses the accuracy of other analytic approximations

Matching Value Propositions with Varied Customer Needs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heikka, Eija-Liisa; Frandsen, Thomas; Hsuan, Juliana

2018-01-01

Organizations seek to manage varied customer segments using varied value propositions. The ability of a knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) provider to formulate value propositions into attractive offerings to varied customers becomes a competitive advantage. In this specific business based...... on often highly abstract service offerings, this requires the provider to have a clear overview of its knowledge and resources and how these can be configured to obtain the desired customization of services. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how a KIBS provider can match value propositions...... with varied customer needs utilizing service modularity. To accomplish this purpose, a qualitative multiple case study is organized around 5 projects allowing within-case and cross-case comparisons. Our findings describe how through the configuration of knowledge and resources a sustainable competitive...

The concept of average LET values determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makarewicz, M.

1981-01-01

The concept of average LET (linear energy transfer) values determination, i.e. ordinary moments of LET in absorbed dose distribution vs. LET of ionizing radiation of any kind and any spectrum (even the unknown ones) has been presented. The method is based on measurement of ionization current with several values of voltage supplying an ionization chamber operating in conditions of columnar recombination of ions or ion recombination in clusters while the chamber is placed in the radiation field at the point of interest. By fitting a suitable algebraic expression to the measured current values one can obtain coefficients of the expression which can be interpreted as values of LET moments. One of the advantages of the method is its experimental and computational simplicity. It has been shown that for numerical estimation of certain effects dependent on LET of radiation it is not necessary to know the dose distribution but only a number of parameters of the distribution, i.e. the LET moments. (author)

Statistical evaluation of the data obtained from the K East Basin Sandfilter Backwash Pit samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Welsh, T.L.

1994-01-01

Samples were obtained from different locations from the K Each Sandfilter Backwash Pit to characterize the sludge material. These samples were analyzed chemically for elements, radionuclides, and residual compounds. The analytical results were statistically analyzed to determine the mean analyte content and the associated variability for each mean value

Indigenous environmental values as human values

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Gratani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The claim that in natural resource management (NRM a change from anthropocentric values and ethics to eco-centric ones is necessary to achieve sustainability leads to the search for eco-centric models of relationship with the environment. Indigenous cultures can provide such models; hence, there is the need for multicultural societies to further include their values in NRM. In this article, we investigate the environmental values placed on a freshwater environment of the Wet Tropics by a community of indigenous Australians. We discuss their environmental values as human values, and so as beliefs that guide communities’ understanding of how the natural world should be viewed and treated by humans. This perspective represents a step forward in our understanding of indigenous environmental values, and a way to overcome the paradigm of indigenous values as valued biophysical attributes of the environment or processes happening in landscapes. Our results show that the participant community holds biospheric values. Restoring these values in the NRM of the Wet Tropics could contribute to sustainability and environmental justice in the area.

[Correlation and interconversion between erythrocyte cholinesterase values obtained by the Michel and the EQM techniques].

Science.gov (United States)

Carmona-Fonseca, Jaime

2006-12-01

Several techniques are available to measure red cell cholinesterase; therefore, evaluations with several methods provide a measure of concordance. An equation was formulated to transform native data of reference values to reference units of cholinesterase activity as measured by Michel and EQM tests. The experimental design was descriptive, transversal and prospective. The group sampled was a representative adult working population, aged 18-75, without previous exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors pesticides. The individuals were affiliated to the Social Security System and resided in Valle de Aburrá and Cercano Oriente Antioqueño (Antioquia Province, northwestern Colombia). Of 827 individuals, quantitative erythrocytes (Michel y EQM) tests exhibited "r" coefficients between 0.67 and R2 coefficient of 44%.,This indicated that one test explained the results in other test in 44% of the cases. The corelation was higher in Aburrá than in Oriente. The linear model for the 827 individuals was as follows: EQM U/g oxy-hemoglobin = 9.575 U/ g oxy-hemoglobin + 29.791 (Michel delta pH/hour). Michel delta pH/hr = 0.3312 delta pH/hour + 0.0149 (EQM U/g oxy-hemoglobin), where EQM was expressed in U/g oxy-hemoglobin and Michel pH change/hr. Inter-sections (coefficient a) and inclines (coefficient b) were significant in this model. In the adjusted equations, after exclusion of 12 extreme data (1.5% of 827), the r coefficient increased from 0.67 to 0.72 The adjusted equations were as follows: EQM U/g oxy-hemoglobin = 8.1884 U/g oxy-hemoglobin + 31.3920 (Michel delta pH/hour); Michel delta pH/hr = 0.2925 delta pH/hr + 0.0161 (EQM U/g oxy-hemoglobin). This system of linear equations permitted the transformation of Michel (delta PH/ hr) units to EQM (U/g oxy-hemoglobin) units and vice versa. This will facilitate data comparisons by clinicians and epidemiologists who are using these methods of cholinesterase measurement.

Some consideration of Japanese standard man value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshizawa, Yasuo; Kusama, Tomoko

1976-01-01

Numerical values of standard man or reference man is important problem in the field of radiation protection and safety. The standard man values given by ICRP were obtained from European and North American adult data. For that reason, there are some theoretical problems in the application of standard man values to Japanese. The purpose of the present paper is to consider the difference of values between Japanese and standard man. The standard man values are divided into three categories. The first category is the size and weight of the body or organ, the second is the values of elementary composition, and the third is the numerical factors related to metabolic kinetics. It is natural that some values of the second and the third categories have little difference between Japanese and European. On the other hand, there are some differences in the value of the first category, but the differences can calculation in proportional allotment to the body weight. The values concerning the thyroid gland and iodine metabolism are important for radiation protection. It has been foreseen that these values of Japanese are significantly different from standard man. A survey of past reports was carried out with a view to search for normal values of the weight, iodine content, and iodine uptake rate of the thyroid of Japanese. The result of the survey showed that the weight of thyroid are about 19g for adult male and 17g for adult female and that the iodine contents are 12-22mg and iodine uptake rate (fw) is about 0.2. (auth.)

Multiple zeta values and application to the Lacunary recurrence formulas of Bernoulli numbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Y-H

2008-01-01

This paper obtains a recurrence related to multiple zeta function, which generalizes the Newton recurrence for multiple zeta values for period 1. Moreover, we obtain some new Lacunary recurrence formulas of Bernoulli numbers

Highly ordered amorphous silicon-carbon alloys obtained by RF PECVD

CERN Document Server

Pereyra, I; Carreno, M N P; Prado, R J; Fantini, M C A

2000-01-01

We have shown that close to stoichiometry RF PECVD amorphous silicon carbon alloys deposited under silane starving plasma conditions exhibit a tendency towards c-Si C chemical order. Motivated by this trend, we further explore the effect of increasing RF power and H sub 2 dilution of the gaseous mixtures, aiming to obtain the amorphous counterpart of c-Si C by the RF-PECVD technique. Doping experiments were also performed on ordered material using phosphorus and nitrogen as donor impurities and boron and aluminum as acceptor ones. For nitrogen a doping efficiency close to device quality a-Si:H was obtained, the lower activation energy being 0,12 eV with room temperature dark conductivity of 2.10 sup - sup 3 (OMEGA.cm). Nitrogen doping efficiency was higher than phosphorous for all studied samples. For p-type doping, results indicate that, even though the attained conductivity values are not device levels, aluminum doping conducted to a promising shift in the Fermi level. Also, aluminum resulted a more efficie...

Automatic processing of isotopic dilution curves obtained by precordial detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verite, J.C.

1973-01-01

Dilution curves pose two distinct problems: that of their acquisition and that of their processing. A study devoted to the latter aspect only was presented. It was necessary to satisfy two important conditions: the treatment procedure, although applied to a single category of curves (isotopic dilution curves obtained by precordial detection), had to be as general as possible; to allow dissemination of the method the equipment used had to be relatively modest and inexpensive. A simple method, considering the curve processing as a process identification, was developed and should enable the mean heart cavity volume and certain pulmonary circulation parameters to be determined. Considerable difficulties were encountered, limiting the value of the results obtained though not condemning the method itself. The curve processing question raised the problem of their acquisition, i.e. the number of these curves and their meaning. A list of the difficulties encountered is followed by a set of possible solutions, a solution being understood to mean a curve processing combination where the overlapping between the two aspects of the problem is accounted for [fr

Pitfalls in urinary stone identification using CT attenuation values: Are we getting the same information on different scanner models?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grosjean, Romain, E-mail: r.grosjean@chu-nancy.fr [IADI Laboratory, INSERM-U947, Nancy-University, Allée du Morvan, 54500 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy (France); Daudon, Michel, E-mail: michel.daudon@tnn.aphp.fr [IADI Laboratory, INSERM-U947, Nancy-University, Allée du Morvan, 54500 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy (France); Chammas, Mario F., E-mail: mariochammas@usp.br [University of Sao Paulo – Division of Urology, Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 255, 7" o Andar – s. 7123, São Paulo (Brazil); Claudon, Michel, E-mail: m.claudon@chu-nancy.fr [IADI Laboratory, INSERM-U947, Nancy-University, Allée du Morvan, 54500 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy (France); Eschwege, Pascal, E-mail: peschwege@yahoo.com [Department of Urology, Brabois Hospital, University Hospital of Nancy, Allée du Morvan, 54511 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy (France); Felblinger, Jacques, E-mail: j.felblinger@chu-nancy.fr [IADI Laboratory, INSERM-U947, Nancy-University, Allée du Morvan, 54500 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy (France); Hubert, Jacques, E-mail: j.hubert@chu-nancy.fr [Department of Urology, Brabois Hospital, University Hospital of Nancy, Allée du Morvan, 54511 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy (France)

2013-08-15

Introduction: Evaluate the capability of different Computed Tomography scanners to determine urinary stone compositions based on CT attenuation values and to evaluate potential differences between each model. Methods: 241 human urinary stones were obtained and their biochemical composition determined. Four different CT scanners (Siemens, Philips, GEMS and Toshiba) were evaluated. Mean CT-attenuation values and the standard deviation were recorded separately and compared with a t-paired test. Results: For all tested CT scanners, when the classification of the various types of stones was arranged according to the mean CT-attenuation values and to the confidence interval, large overlappings between stone types were highlighted. The t-paired test showed that most stone types could not be identified. Some types of stones presented mean CT attenuation values significantly different from one CT scanner to another. At 80 kV, the mean CT attenuation values obtained with the Toshiba Aquilion were significantly different from those obtained with the Siemens Sensation. On the other hand, mean values obtained with the Philips Brilliance were all significantly equal to those obtained with the Siemens Sensation and with the Toshiba Aquilion. At 120 kV mean CT attenuation values of uric acid, cystine and struvite stones obtained with the Philips model are significantly different from those obtained with the Siemens and the Toshiba but equal to those obtained with the GE 64. Conclusions: According to our study, there is a great variability when different brands and models of scanners are compared directly. Furthermore, the CT scan analysis and HU evaluation appears to gather insufficient information in order to characterize and identify the composition of renal stones.

Pitfalls in urinary stone identification using CT attenuation values: Are we getting the same information on different scanner models?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grosjean, Romain; Daudon, Michel; o Andar – s. 7123, São Paulo (Brazil))" data-affiliation=" (University of Sao Paulo – Division of Urology, Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 255, 7o Andar – s. 7123, São Paulo (Brazil))" >Chammas, Mario F.; Claudon, Michel; Eschwege, Pascal; Felblinger, Jacques; Hubert, Jacques

2013-01-01

Introduction: Evaluate the capability of different Computed Tomography scanners to determine urinary stone compositions based on CT attenuation values and to evaluate potential differences between each model. Methods: 241 human urinary stones were obtained and their biochemical composition determined. Four different CT scanners (Siemens, Philips, GEMS and Toshiba) were evaluated. Mean CT-attenuation values and the standard deviation were recorded separately and compared with a t-paired test. Results: For all tested CT scanners, when the classification of the various types of stones was arranged according to the mean CT-attenuation values and to the confidence interval, large overlappings between stone types were highlighted. The t-paired test showed that most stone types could not be identified. Some types of stones presented mean CT attenuation values significantly different from one CT scanner to another. At 80 kV, the mean CT attenuation values obtained with the Toshiba Aquilion were significantly different from those obtained with the Siemens Sensation. On the other hand, mean values obtained with the Philips Brilliance were all significantly equal to those obtained with the Siemens Sensation and with the Toshiba Aquilion. At 120 kV mean CT attenuation values of uric acid, cystine and struvite stones obtained with the Philips model are significantly different from those obtained with the Siemens and the Toshiba but equal to those obtained with the GE 64. Conclusions: According to our study, there is a great variability when different brands and models of scanners are compared directly. Furthermore, the CT scan analysis and HU evaluation appears to gather insufficient information in order to characterize and identify the composition of renal stones

Comparison between dosimeter films and electronic dosimeters results obtained in F-18 production practices at IEN/CNEN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paulo, Osvaldir; Carlos, Luiz R.J.; Mendes, Milton

2008-01-01

Full text: The aim of the present work is the comparison of the dose rates values obtained from dosimeter films with the values obtained from electronic dosimeters used by radiological protection technician involved in practices with fluorine-18 production in CV-28 cyclotron at IEN/CNEN. The motivation for this work was the increase on the demand of this radiopharmaceutical. Nowadays there is an increase demand on the number of clinics and hospitals which had started to use the technique of radiodiagnostic using positron-emission tomography (PET). Therefore, the produced radionuclide activities (physics quantity) and also the complexity of the practices of radiological protection in the areas of that facility had increased a lot. The conventional statistical methods will be used to evaluate the results obtained in the analysis of the data obtained in the reading of the dosimeters. This comparative method is however a first step to taking decisions regarding radiological protection service. Therefore that the radiometric surveys of routine are taken in consideration, as well as the information from the technician of radiological protection that is working in those areas. All this data will give support to improve and implement methods and practices on the accelerators' facilities. In addition, the use of these electronic dosimeters will makes possible the technician read these dose rates received immediately during the practices and use these information you make decisions. In case of dose rates values to present above the expected the practice will be ploughed. Another point to be considered is that this work will propitiate the future updates of the procedures designated to those practices and to conduct at the radiological protection optimization. (author)

Tomato farmers adoption level of postharvest value addition ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined tomato farmers' adoption level of postharvest value addition technology and its constraints in Surulere Area of Oyo state. 160 tomato farmers were randomly selected and interviewed through structured interview schedule. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. Results ...

Atlas of photoneutron cross sections obtained with monoenergetic photons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dietrich, S.S.; Berman, B.L.

1988-01-01

Photoneutron cross-section and integrated cross-section data obtained with monoenergetic photons are presented in a uniform format. All of the measured partial photoneutron cross sections, the total photoneutron cross section, and the photoneutron yield cross section are plotted as functions of the incident photon energy, as are the integrated photoneutron cross sections and their first and second moments. The values of the integrated cross sections and the moments of the integrated total cross section up to the highest photon energy for which they were measured are tabulated, as are the parameters of Lorentz curves fitted to the total photoneutron cross-section data for medium and heavy nuclei (A>50). This compilation is current as of June 1987. copyright 1988 Academic Press, Inc

Family History of Early Infant Death Correlates with Earlier Age at Diagnosis But Not Shorter Time to Diagnosis for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency

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Anderson Dik Wai Luk

2017-07-01

Full Text Available BackgroundSevere combined immunodeficiency (SCID is fatal unless treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Delay in diagnosis is common without newborn screening. Family history of infant death due to infection or known SCID (FH has been associated with earlier diagnosis.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to identify the clinical features that affect age at diagnosis (AD and time to the diagnosis of SCID.MethodsFrom 2005 to 2016, 147 SCID patients were referred to the Asian Primary Immunodeficiency Network. Patients with genetic diagnosis, age at presentation (AP, and AD were selected for study.ResultsA total of 88 different SCID gene mutations were identified in 94 patients, including 49 IL2RG mutations, 12 RAG1 mutations, 8 RAG2 mutations, 7 JAK3 mutations, 4 DCLRE1C mutations, 4 IL7R mutations, 2 RFXANK mutations, and 2 ADA mutations. A total of 29 mutations were previously unreported. Eighty-three of the 94 patients fulfilled the selection criteria. Their median AD was 4 months, and the time to diagnosis was 2 months. The commonest SCID was X-linked (n = 57. A total of 29 patients had a positive FH. Candidiasis (n = 27 and bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG vaccine infection (n = 19 were the commonest infections. The median age for candidiasis and BCG infection documented were 3 months and 4 months, respectively. The median absolute lymphocyte count (ALC was 1.05 × 109/L with over 88% patients below 3 × 109/L. Positive FH was associated with earlier AP by 1 month (p = 0.002 and diagnosis by 2 months (p = 0.008, but not shorter time to diagnosis (p = 0.494. Candidiasis was associated with later AD by 2 months (p = 0.008 and longer time to diagnosis by 0.55 months (p = 0.003. BCG infections were not associated with age or time to diagnosis.ConclusionFH was useful to aid earlier diagnosis but was overlooked by clinicians and not by parents. Similarly, typical clinical features of

Event generator tunes obtained from underlying event and multiparton scattering measurements

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Khachatryan, Vardan; Tumasyan, Armen; Adam, Wolfgang; Aşılar, Ece; Bergauer, Thomas; Brandstetter, Johannes; Brondolin, Erica; Dragicevic, Marko; Erö, Janos; Flechl, Martin; Friedl, Markus; Fruehwirth, Rudolf; Ghete, Vasile Mihai; Hartl, Christian; Hörmann, Natascha; Hrubec, Josef; Jeitler, Manfred; Knünz, Valentin; König, Axel; Krammer, Manfred; Krätschmer, Ilse; Liko, Dietrich; Matsushita, Takashi; Mikulec, Ivan; Rabady, Dinyar; Rahbaran, Babak; Rohringer, Herbert; Schieck, Jochen; Schöfbeck, Robert; Strauss, Josef; Treberer-Treberspurg, Wolfgang; Waltenberger, Wolfgang; Wulz, Claudia-Elisabeth; Mossolov, Vladimir; Shumeiko, Nikolai; Suarez Gonzalez, Juan; Alderweireldt, Sara; Cornelis, Tom; De Wolf, Eddi A; Janssen, Xavier; Knutsson, Albert; Lauwers, Jasper; Luyckx, Sten; Van De Klundert, Merijn; Van Haevermaet, Hans; Van Mechelen, Pierre; Van Remortel, Nick; Van Spilbeeck, Alex; Abu Zeid, Shimaa; Blekman, Freya; D'Hondt, Jorgen; Daci, Nadir; De Bruyn, Isabelle; Deroover, Kevin; Heracleous, Natalie; 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Caudron, Adrien; Ceard, Ludivine; Da Silveira, Gustavo Gil; Delaere, Christophe; Favart, Denis; Forthomme, Laurent; Giammanco, Andrea; Hollar, Jonathan; Jafari, Abideh; Jez, Pavel; Komm, Matthias; Lemaitre, Vincent; Mertens, Alexandre; Musich, Marco; Nuttens, Claude; Perrini, Lucia; Pin, Arnaud; Piotrzkowski, Krzysztof; Popov, Andrey; Quertenmont, Loic; Selvaggi, Michele; Vidal Marono, Miguel; Beliy, Nikita; Hammad, Gregory Habib; Aldá Júnior, Walter Luiz; Alves, Fábio Lúcio; Alves, Gilvan; Brito, Lucas; Correa Martins Junior, Marcos; Hamer, Matthias; Hensel, Carsten; Moraes, Arthur; Pol, Maria Elena; Rebello Teles, Patricia; Belchior Batista Das Chagas, Ewerton; Carvalho, Wagner; Chinellato, Jose; Custódio, Analu; Melo Da Costa, Eliza; De Jesus Damiao, Dilson; De Oliveira Martins, Carley; Fonseca De Souza, Sandro; Huertas Guativa, Lina Milena; Malbouisson, Helena; Matos Figueiredo, Diego; Mora Herrera, Clemencia; Mundim, Luiz; Nogima, Helio; Prado Da Silva, Wanda Lucia; Santoro, Alberto; Sznajder, Andre; Tonelli Manganote, Edmilson José; Vilela Pereira, Antonio; Ahuja, Sudha; Bernardes, Cesar Augusto; De Souza Santos, Angelo; Dogra, Sunil; Tomei, Thiago; De Moraes Gregores, Eduardo; Mercadante, Pedro G; Moon, Chang-Seong; Novaes, Sergio F; Padula, Sandra; Romero Abad, David; Ruiz Vargas, José Cupertino; Aleksandrov, Aleksandar; Hadjiiska, Roumyana; Iaydjiev, Plamen; Rodozov, Mircho; Stoykova, Stefka; Sultanov, Georgi; Vutova, Mariana; Dimitrov, Anton; Glushkov, Ivan; Litov, Leander; Pavlov, Borislav; Petkov, Peicho; Ahmad, Muhammad; Bian, Jian-Guo; Chen, Guo-Ming; Chen, He-Sheng; Chen, Mingshui; Cheng, Tongguang; Du, Ran; Jiang, Chun-Hua; Plestina, Roko; Romeo, Francesco; Shaheen, Sarmad Masood; Spiezia, Aniello; Tao, Junquan; Wang, Chunjie; Wang, Zheng; Zhang, Huaqiao; Asawatangtrakuldee, Chayanit; Ban, Yong; Li, Qiang; Liu, Shuai; Mao, Yajun; Qian, Si-Jin; Wang, Dayong; Xu, Zijun; Avila, Carlos; Cabrera, Andrés; Chaparro Sierra, Luisa Fernanda; Florez, Carlos; Gomez, Juan Pablo; Gomez Moreno, Bernardo; Sanabria, Juan Carlos; Godinovic, Nikola; Lelas, Damir; Puljak, Ivica; Ribeiro Cipriano, Pedro M; Antunovic, Zeljko; Kovac, Marko; Brigljevic, Vuko; Kadija, Kreso; Luetic, Jelena; Micanovic, Sasa; Sudic, Lucija; Attikis, Alexandros; Mavromanolakis, Georgios; Mousa, Jehad; Nicolaou, Charalambos; Ptochos, Fotios; Razis, Panos A; Rykaczewski, Hans; Bodlak, Martin; Finger, Miroslav; Finger Jr, Michael; Abdelalim, Ahmed Ali; Awad, Adel; Mahrous, Ayman; Mohammed, Yasser; Radi, Amr; Calpas, Betty; Kadastik, Mario; Murumaa, Marion; Raidal, Martti; Tiko, Andres; Veelken, Christian; Eerola, Paula; Pekkanen, Juska; Voutilainen, Mikko; Härkönen, Jaakko; Karimäki, Veikko; Kinnunen, Ritva; Lampén, Tapio; Lassila-Perini, Kati; Lehti, Sami; Lindén, Tomas; Luukka, Panja-Riina; Mäenpää, Teppo; Peltola, Timo; Tuominen, Eija; Tuominiemi, Jorma; Tuovinen, Esa; Wendland, Lauri; Talvitie, Joonas; Tuuva, Tuure; Besancon, Marc; Couderc, Fabrice; Dejardin, Marc; Denegri, Daniel; Fabbro, Bernard; Faure, Jean-Louis; Favaro, Carlotta; Ferri, Federico; Ganjour, Serguei; Givernaud, Alain; Gras, Philippe; Hamel de Monchenault, Gautier; Jarry, Patrick; Locci, Elizabeth; Machet, Martina; Malcles, Julie; Rander, John; Rosowsky, André; Titov, Maksym; Zghiche, Amina; Antropov, Iurii; Baffioni, Stephanie; Beaudette, Florian; Busson, Philippe; Cadamuro, Luca; Chapon, Emilien; Charlot, Claude; Dahms, Torsten; Davignon, Olivier; Filipovic, Nicolas; Granier de Cassagnac, Raphael; Jo, Mihee; Lisniak, Stanislav; Mastrolorenzo, Luca; Miné, Philippe; Naranjo, Ivo Nicolas; Nguyen, Matthew; Ochando, Christophe; Ortona, Giacomo; Paganini, Pascal; Pigard, Philipp; Regnard, Simon; Salerno, Roberto; Sauvan, Jean-Baptiste; Sirois, Yves; Strebler, Thomas; Yilmaz, Yetkin; Zabi, Alexandre; Agram, Jean-Laurent; Andrea, Jeremy; Aubin, Alexandre; Bloch, Daniel; Brom, Jean-Marie; Buttignol, Michael; Chabert, Eric Christian; Chanon, Nicolas; Collard, Caroline; Conte, Eric; Coubez, Xavier; Fontaine, Jean-Charles; Gelé, Denis; Goerlach, Ulrich; Goetzmann, Christophe; Le Bihan, Anne-Catherine; Merlin, Jeremie Alexandre; Skovpen, Kirill; Van Hove, Pierre; Gadrat, Sébastien; Beauceron, Stephanie; Bernet, Colin; Boudoul, Gaelle; Bouvier, Elvire; Carrillo Montoya, Camilo Andres; Chierici, Roberto; Contardo, Didier; Courbon, Benoit; Depasse, Pierre; El Mamouni, Houmani; Fan, Jiawei; Fay, Jean; Gascon, Susan; Gouzevitch, Maxime; Ille, Bernard; Lagarde, Francois; Laktineh, Imad Baptiste; Lethuillier, Morgan; Mirabito, Laurent; Pequegnot, Anne-Laure; Perries, Stephane; Ruiz Alvarez, José David; Sabes, David; Sgandurra, Louis; Sordini, Viola; Vander Donckt, Muriel; Verdier, Patrice; Viret, Sébastien; Toriashvili, Tengizi; Lomidze, David; Autermann, Christian; Beranek, Sarah; Edelhoff, Matthias; Feld, Lutz; Heister, Arno; Kiesel, Maximilian Knut; Klein, Katja; Lipinski, Martin; Ostapchuk, Andrey; Preuten, Marius; Raupach, Frank; Schael, Stefan; Schulte, Jan-Frederik; Verlage, Tobias; Weber, Hendrik; Wittmer, Bruno; Zhukov, Valery; Ata, Metin; Brodski, Michael; Dietz-Laursonn, Erik; Duchardt, Deborah; Endres, Matthias; Erdmann, Martin; Erdweg, Sören; Esch, Thomas; Fischer, Robert; Güth, Andreas; Hebbeker, Thomas; Heidemann, Carsten; Hoepfner, Kerstin; Knutzen, Simon; Kreuzer, Peter; Merschmeyer, Markus; Meyer, Arnd; Millet, Philipp; Olschewski, Mark; Padeken, Klaas; Papacz, Paul; Pook, Tobias; Radziej, Markus; Reithler, Hans; Rieger, Marcel; Scheuch, Florian; Sonnenschein, Lars; Teyssier, Daniel; Thüer, Sebastian; Cherepanov, Vladimir; Erdogan, Yusuf; Flügge, Günter; Geenen, Heiko; Geisler, Matthias; Hoehle, Felix; Kargoll, Bastian; Kress, Thomas; Kuessel, Yvonne; Künsken, Andreas; Lingemann, Joschka; Nehrkorn, Alexander; Nowack, Andreas; Nugent, Ian Michael; Pistone, Claudia; Pooth, Oliver; Stahl, Achim; Aldaya Martin, Maria; Asin, Ivan; Bartosik, Nazar; Behnke, Olaf; Behrens, Ulf; Bell, Alan James; Borras, Kerstin; Burgmeier, Armin; Campbell, Alan; Choudhury, Somnath; Costanza, Francesco; Diez Pardos, Carmen; Dolinska, Ganna; Dooling, Samantha; Dorland, Tyler; Eckerlin, Guenter; Eckstein, Doris; Eichhorn, Thomas; Flucke, Gero; Gallo, Elisabetta; Garay Garcia, Jasone; Geiser, Achim; Gizhko, Andrii; Gunnellini, Paolo; Hauk, Johannes; Hempel, Maria; Jung, Hannes; Kalogeropoulos, Alexis; Karacheban, Olena; Kasemann, Matthias; Katsas, Panagiotis; Kieseler, Jan; Kleinwort, Claus; Korol, Ievgen; Lange, Wolfgang; Leonard, Jessica; Lipka, Katerina; Lobanov, Artur; Lohmann, Wolfgang; Mankel, Rainer; Marfin, Ihar; Melzer-Pellmann, Isabell-Alissandra; Meyer, Andreas Bernhard; Mittag, Gregor; Mnich, Joachim; Mussgiller, Andreas; Naumann-Emme, Sebastian; Nayak, Aruna; Ntomari, Eleni; Perrey, Hanno; Pitzl, Daniel; Placakyte, Ringaile; Raspereza, Alexei; Roland, Benoit; Sahin, Mehmet Özgür; Saxena, Pooja; Schoerner-Sadenius, Thomas; Schröder, Matthias; Seitz, Claudia; Spannagel, Simon; Trippkewitz, Karim Damun; Walsh, Roberval; Wissing, Christoph; Blobel, Volker; Centis Vignali, Matteo; Draeger, Arne-Rasmus; Erfle, Joachim; Garutti, Erika; Goebel, Kristin; Gonzalez, Daniel; Görner, Martin; Haller, Johannes; Hoffmann, Malte; Höing, Rebekka Sophie; Junkes, Alexandra; Klanner, Robert; Kogler, Roman; Kovalchuk, Nataliia; Lapsien, Tobias; Lenz, Teresa; Marchesini, Ivan; Marconi, Daniele; Meyer, Mareike; Nowatschin, Dominik; Ott, Jochen; Pantaleo, Felice; Peiffer, Thomas; Perieanu, Adrian; Pietsch, Niklas; Poehlsen, Jennifer; Rathjens, Denis; Sander, Christian; Scharf, Christian; Schettler, Hannes; Schleper, Peter; Schlieckau, Eike; Schmidt, Alexander; Schwandt, Joern; Sola, Valentina; Stadie, Hartmut; Steinbrück, Georg; Tholen, Heiner; Troendle, Daniel; Usai, Emanuele; Vanelderen, Lukas; Vanhoefer, Annika; Vormwald, Benedikt; Barth, Christian; Baus, Colin; Berger, Joram; Böser, Christian; Butz, Erik; Chwalek, Thorsten; Colombo, Fabio; De Boer, Wim; Descroix, Alexis; Dierlamm, Alexander; Fink, Simon; Frensch, Felix; Friese, Raphael; Giffels, Manuel; Gilbert, Andrew; Haitz, Dominik; Hartmann, Frank; Heindl, Stefan Michael; Husemann, Ulrich; Katkov, Igor; Kornmayer, Andreas; Lobelle Pardo, Patricia; Maier, Benedikt; Mildner, Hannes; Mozer, Matthias Ulrich; Müller, Thomas; Müller, Thomas; Plagge, Michael; Quast, Gunter; Rabbertz, Klaus; Röcker, Steffen; Roscher, Frank; Sieber, Georg; Simonis, Hans-Jürgen; Stober, Fred-Markus Helmut; Ulrich, Ralf; Wagner-Kuhr, Jeannine; Wayand, Stefan; Weber, Marc; Weiler, Thomas; Williamson, Shawn; Wöhrmann, Clemens; Wolf, Roger; Anagnostou, Georgios; Daskalakis, Georgios; Geralis, Theodoros; Giakoumopoulou, Viktoria Athina; Kyriakis, Aristotelis; Loukas, Demetrios; Psallidas, Andreas; Topsis-Giotis, Iasonas; Agapitos, Antonis; Kesisoglou, Stilianos; Panagiotou, Apostolos; Saoulidou, Niki; Tziaferi, Eirini; Evangelou, Ioannis; Flouris, Giannis; Foudas, Costas; Kokkas, Panagiotis; Loukas, Nikitas; Manthos, Nikolaos; Papadopoulos, Ioannis; Paradas, Evangelos; Strologas, John; Bencze, Gyorgy; Hajdu, Csaba; Hazi, Andras; Hidas, Pàl; Horvath, Dezso; Sikler, Ferenc; Veszpremi, Viktor; Vesztergombi, Gyorgy; Zsigmond, Anna Julia; Beni, Noemi; Czellar, Sandor; Karancsi, János; Molnar, Jozsef; Szillasi, Zoltan; Bartók, Márton; Makovec, Alajos; Raics, Peter; Trocsanyi, Zoltan Laszlo; Ujvari, Balazs; Mal, Prolay; Mandal, Koushik; Sahoo, Deepak Kumar; Sahoo, Niladribihari; Swain, Sanjay Kumar; Bansal, Sunil; Beri, Suman Bala; Bhatnagar, Vipin; Chawla, Ridhi; Gupta, Ruchi; Bhawandeep, Bhawandeep; Kalsi, Amandeep Kaur; Kaur, Anterpreet; Kaur, Manjit; Kumar, Ramandeep; Mehta, Ankita; Mittal, Monika; Singh, Jasbir; Walia, Genius; Kumar, Ashok; Bhardwaj, Ashutosh; Choudhary, Brajesh C; Garg, Rocky Bala; Kumar, Ajay; Malhotra, Shivali; Naimuddin, Md; Nishu, Nishu; Ranjan, Kirti; Sharma, Ramkrishna; Sharma, Varun; Bhattacharya, Satyaki; Chatterjee, Kalyanmoy; Dey, Sourav; Dutta, Suchandra; Jain, Sandhya; Majumdar, Nayana; Modak, Atanu; Mondal, Kuntal; Mukherjee, Swagata; Mukhopadhyay, Supratik; Roy, Ashim; Roy, Debarati; Roy Chowdhury, Suvankar; Sarkar, Subir; Sharan, Manoj; Abdulsalam, Abdulla; Chudasama, Ruchi; Dutta, Dipanwita; Jha, Vishwajeet; Kumar, Vineet; Mohanty, Ajit Kumar; Pant, Lalit Mohan; Shukla, Prashant; Topkar, Anita; Aziz, Tariq; Banerjee, Sudeshna; Bhowmik, Sandeep; Chatterjee, Rajdeep Mohan; Dewanjee, Ram Krishna; Dugad, Shashikant; Ganguly, Sanmay; Ghosh, Saranya; Guchait, Monoranjan; Gurtu, Atul; Kole, Gouranga; Kumar, Sanjeev; Mahakud, Bibhuprasad; Maity, Manas; Majumder, Gobinda; Mazumdar, Kajari; Mitra, Soureek; Mohanty, Gagan Bihari; Parida, Bibhuti; Sarkar, Tanmay; Sur, Nairit; Sutar, Bajrang; Wickramage, Nadeesha; Chauhan, Shubhanshu; Dube, Sourabh; Kapoor, Anshul; Kothekar, Kunal; Sharma, Seema; Bakhshiansohi, Hamed; Behnamian, Hadi; Etesami, Seyed Mohsen; Fahim, Ali; Goldouzian, Reza; Khakzad, Mohsen; Mohammadi Najafabadi, Mojtaba; Naseri, Mohsen; Paktinat Mehdiabadi, Saeid; Rezaei Hosseinabadi, Ferdos; Safarzadeh, Batool; Zeinali, Maryam; Felcini, Marta; Grunewald, Martin; Abbrescia, Marcello; Calabria, Cesare; Caputo, Claudio; Colaleo, Anna; Creanza, Donato; Cristella, Leonardo; De Filippis, Nicola; De Palma, Mauro; Fiore, Luigi; Iaselli, Giuseppe; Maggi, Giorgio; Maggi, Marcello; Miniello, Giorgia; My, Salvatore; Nuzzo, Salvatore; Pompili, Alexis; Pugliese, Gabriella; Radogna, Raffaella; Ranieri, Antonio; Selvaggi, Giovanna; Silvestris, Lucia; Venditti, Rosamaria; Verwilligen, Piet; Abbiendi, Giovanni; Battilana, Carlo; Benvenuti, Alberto; Bonacorsi, Daniele; Braibant-Giacomelli, Sylvie; Brigliadori, Luca; Campanini, Renato; Capiluppi, Paolo; Castro, Andrea; Cavallo, Francesca Romana; Chhibra, Simranjit Singh; Codispoti, Giuseppe; Cuffiani, Marco; Dallavalle, Gaetano-Marco; Fabbri, Fabrizio; Fanfani, Alessandra; Fasanella, Daniele; Giacomelli, Paolo; Grandi, Claudio; Guiducci, Luigi; Marcellini, Stefano; Masetti, Gianni; Montanari, Alessandro; Navarria, Francesco; Perrotta, Andrea; Rossi, Antonio; Rovelli, Tiziano; Siroli, Gian Piero; Tosi, Nicolò; Travaglini, Riccardo; Cappello, Gigi; Chiorboli, Massimiliano; Costa, Salvatore; Di Mattia, Alessandro; Giordano, Ferdinando; Potenza, Renato; Tricomi, Alessia; Tuve, Cristina; Barbagli, Giuseppe; Ciulli, Vitaliano; Civinini, Carlo; D'Alessandro, Raffaello; Focardi, Ettore; Gonzi, Sandro; Gori, Valentina; Lenzi, Piergiulio; Meschini, Marco; Paoletti, Simone; Sguazzoni, Giacomo; Tropiano, Antonio; Viliani, Lorenzo; Benussi, Luigi; Bianco, Stefano; Fabbri, Franco; Piccolo, Davide; Primavera, Federica; Calvelli, Valerio; Ferro, Fabrizio; Lo Vetere, Maurizio; Monge, Maria Roberta; Robutti, Enrico; Tosi, Silvano; Brianza, Luca; Dinardo, Mauro Emanuele; Fiorendi, Sara; Gennai, Simone; Gerosa, Raffaele; Ghezzi, Alessio; Govoni, Pietro; Malvezzi, Sandra; Manzoni, Riccardo Andrea; Marzocchi, Badder; Menasce, Dario; Moroni, Luigi; Paganoni, Marco; Pedrini, Daniele; Ragazzi, Stefano; Redaelli, Nicola; Tabarelli de Fatis, Tommaso; Buontempo, Salvatore; Cavallo, Nicola; Di Guida, Salvatore; Esposito, Marco; Fabozzi, Francesco; Iorio, Alberto Orso Maria; Lanza, Giuseppe; Lista, Luca; Meola, Sabino; Merola, Mario; Paolucci, Pierluigi; Sciacca, Crisostomo; Thyssen, Filip; Azzi, Patrizia; Bacchetta, Nicola; Benato, Lisa; Bisello, Dario; Boletti, Alessio; Branca, Antonio; Carlin, Roberto; Checchia, Paolo; Dall'Osso, Martino; Dorigo, Tommaso; Dosselli, Umberto; Fantinel, Sergio; Fanzago, Federica; Gasparini, Fabrizio; Gasparini, Ugo; Gozzelino, Andrea; Kanishchev, Konstantin; Lacaprara, Stefano; Margoni, Martino; Meneguzzo, Anna Teresa; Pazzini, Jacopo; Pozzobon, Nicola; Ronchese, Paolo; Simonetto, Franco; Torassa, Ezio; Tosi, Mia; Zanetti, Marco; Zotto, Pierluigi; Zucchetta, Alberto; Braghieri, Alessandro; Magnani, Alice; Montagna, Paolo; Ratti, Sergio P; Re, Valerio; Riccardi, Cristina; Salvini, Paola; Vai, Ilaria; Vitulo, Paolo; Alunni Solestizi, Luisa; Bilei, Gian Mario; Ciangottini, Diego; Fanò, Livio; Lariccia, Paolo; Mantovani, Giancarlo; Menichelli, Mauro; Saha, Anirban; Santocchia, Attilio; Androsov, Konstantin; Azzurri, Paolo; Bagliesi, Giuseppe; Bernardini, Jacopo; Boccali, Tommaso; Castaldi, Rino; Ciocci, Maria Agnese; Dell'Orso, Roberto; Donato, Silvio; Fedi, Giacomo; Foà, Lorenzo; Giassi, Alessandro; Grippo, Maria Teresa; Ligabue, Franco; Lomtadze, Teimuraz; Martini, Luca; Messineo, Alberto; Palla, Fabrizio; Rizzi, Andrea; Savoy-Navarro, Aurore; Serban, Alin Titus; Spagnolo, Paolo; Tenchini, Roberto; Tonelli, Guido; Venturi, Andrea; Verdini, Piero Giorgio; Barone, Luciano; Cavallari, Francesca; D'imperio, Giulia; Del Re, Daniele; Diemoz, Marcella; Gelli, Simone; Jorda, Clara; Longo, Egidio; Margaroli, Fabrizio; Meridiani, Paolo; Organtini, Giovanni; Paramatti, Riccardo; Preiato, Federico; Rahatlou, Shahram; Rovelli, Chiara; Santanastasio, Francesco; Traczyk, Piotr; Amapane, Nicola; Arcidiacono, Roberta; Argiro, Stefano; Arneodo, Michele; Bellan, Riccardo; Biino, Cristina; Cartiglia, Nicolo; Costa, Marco; Covarelli, Roberto; Degano, Alessandro; Demaria, Natale; Finco, Linda; Kiani, Bilal; Mariotti, Chiara; Maselli, Silvia; Migliore, Ernesto; Monaco, Vincenzo; Monteil, Ennio; Obertino, Maria Margherita; Pacher, Luca; Pastrone, Nadia; Pelliccioni, Mario; Pinna Angioni, Gian Luca; Ravera, Fabio; Romero, Alessandra; Ruspa, Marta; Sacchi, Roberto; Solano, Ada; Staiano, Amedeo; Belforte, Stefano; Candelise, Vieri; Casarsa, Massimo; Cossutti, Fabio; Della Ricca, Giuseppe; Gobbo, Benigno; La Licata, Chiara; Marone, Matteo; Schizzi, Andrea; Zanetti, Anna; Kropivnitskaya, Anna; Nam, Soon-Kwon; Kim, Dong Hee; Kim, Gui Nyun; Kim, Min Suk; Kong, Dae Jung; Lee, Sangeun; Oh, Young Do; Sakharov, Alexandre; Son, Dong-Chul; Brochero Cifuentes, Javier Andres; Kim, Hyunsoo; Kim, Tae Jeong; Song, Sanghyeon; Choi, Suyong; Go, Yeonju; Gyun, Dooyeon; Hong, Byung-Sik; Kim, Hyunchul; Kim, Yongsun; Lee, Byounghoon; Lee, Kisoo; Lee, Kyong Sei; Lee, Songkyo; Park, Sung Keun; Roh, Youn; Yoo, Hwi Dong; Choi, Minkyoo; Kim, Hyunyong; Kim, Ji Hyun; Lee, Jason Sang Hun; Park, Inkyu; Ryu, Geonmo; Ryu, Min Sang; Choi, Young-Il; Goh, Junghwan; Kim, Donghyun; Kwon, Eunhyang; Lee, Jongseok; Yu, Intae; Dudenas, Vytautas; Juodagalvis, Andrius; Vaitkus, Juozas; Ahmed, Ijaz; Ibrahim, Zainol Abidin; Komaragiri, Jyothsna Rani; Md Ali, Mohd Adli Bin; Mohamad Idris, Faridah; Wan Abdullah, Wan Ahmad Tajuddin; Yusli, Mohd Nizam; Casimiro Linares, Edgar; Castilla-Valdez, Heriberto; De La Cruz-Burelo, Eduard; Heredia-De La Cruz, Ivan; Hernandez-Almada, Alberto; Lopez-Fernandez, Ricardo; Sánchez Hernández, Alberto; Carrillo Moreno, Salvador; Vazquez Valencia, Fabiola; Pedraza, Isabel; Salazar Ibarguen, Humberto Antonio; Morelos Pineda, Antonio; Krofcheck, David; Butler, Philip H; Ahmad, Ashfaq; Ahmad, Muhammad; Hassan, Qamar; Hoorani, Hafeez R; Khan, Wajid Ali; Khurshid, Taimoor; Shoaib, Muhammad; Bialkowska, Helena; Bluj, Michal; Boimska, Bożena; Frueboes, Tomasz; Górski, Maciej; Kazana, Malgorzata; Nawrocki, Krzysztof; Romanowska-Rybinska, Katarzyna; Szleper, Michal; Zalewski, Piotr; Brona, Grzegorz; Bunkowski, Karol; Byszuk, Adrian; Doroba, Krzysztof; Kalinowski, Artur; Konecki, Marcin; Krolikowski, Jan; Misiura, Maciej; Olszewski, Michal; Walczak, Marek; Bargassa, Pedrame; Beirão Da Cruz E Silva, Cristóvão; Di Francesco, Agostino; Faccioli, Pietro; Ferreira Parracho, Pedro Guilherme; Gallinaro, Michele; Leonardo, Nuno; Lloret Iglesias, Lara; Nguyen, Federico; Rodrigues Antunes, Joao; Seixas, Joao; Toldaiev, Oleksii; Vadruccio, Daniele; Varela, Joao; Vischia, Pietro; Afanasiev, Serguei; Bunin, Pavel; Gavrilenko, Mikhail; Golutvin, Igor; Gorbunov, Ilya; Kamenev, Alexey; Karjavin, Vladimir; Konoplyanikov, Viktor; Lanev, Alexander; Malakhov, Alexander; Matveev, Viktor; Moisenz, Petr; Palichik, Vladimir; Perelygin, Victor; Shmatov, Sergey; Shulha, Siarhei; Skatchkov, Nikolai; Smirnov, Vitaly; Zarubin, Anatoli; Golovtsov, Victor; Ivanov, Yury; Kim, Victor; Kuznetsova, Ekaterina; Levchenko, Petr; Murzin, Victor; Oreshkin, Vadim; Smirnov, Igor; Sulimov, Valentin; Uvarov, Lev; Vavilov, Sergey; Vorobyev, Alexey; Andreev, Yuri; Dermenev, Alexander; Gninenko, Sergei; Golubev, Nikolai; Karneyeu, Anton; Kirsanov, Mikhail; Krasnikov, Nikolai; Pashenkov, Anatoli; Tlisov, Danila; Toropin, Alexander; Epshteyn, Vladimir; Gavrilov, Vladimir; Lychkovskaya, Natalia; Popov, Vladimir; Pozdnyakov, Ivan; Safronov, Grigory; Spiridonov, Alexander; Vlasov, Evgueni; Zhokin, Alexander; Bylinkin, Alexander; Andreev, Vladimir; Azarkin, Maksim; Dremin, Igor; Kirakosyan, Martin; Leonidov, Andrey; Mesyats, Gennady; Rusakov, Sergey V; Baskakov, Alexey; Belyaev, Andrey; Boos, Edouard; Dubinin, Mikhail; Dudko, Lev; Ershov, Alexander; Gribushin, Andrey; Klyukhin, Vyacheslav; Kodolova, Olga; Lokhtin, Igor; Miagkov, Igor; Obraztsov, Stepan; Petrushanko, Sergey; Savrin, Viktor; Snigirev, Alexander; Azhgirey, Igor; Bayshev, Igor; Bitioukov, Sergei; Kachanov, Vassili; Kalinin, Alexey; Konstantinov, Dmitri; Krychkine, Victor; Petrov, Vladimir; Ryutin, Roman; Sobol, Andrei; Tourtchanovitch, Leonid; Troshin, Sergey; Tyurin, Nikolay; Uzunian, Andrey; Volkov, Alexey; Adzic, Petar; Cirkovic, Predrag; Milosevic, Jovan; Rekovic, Vladimir; Alcaraz Maestre, Juan; Calvo, Enrique; Cerrada, Marcos; Chamizo Llatas, Maria; Colino, Nicanor; De La Cruz, Begona; Delgado Peris, Antonio; Escalante Del Valle, Alberto; Fernandez Bedoya, Cristina; Fernández Ramos, Juan Pablo; Flix, Jose; Fouz, Maria Cruz; Garcia-Abia, Pablo; Gonzalez Lopez, Oscar; Goy Lopez, Silvia; Hernandez, Jose M; Josa, Maria Isabel; Navarro De Martino, Eduardo; Pérez-Calero Yzquierdo, Antonio María; Puerta Pelayo, Jesus; Quintario Olmeda, Adrián; Redondo, Ignacio; Romero, Luciano; Santaolalla, Javier; Senghi Soares, Mara; Albajar, Carmen; de Trocóniz, Jorge F; Missiroli, Marino; Moran, Dermot; Cuevas, Javier; Fernandez Menendez, Javier; Folgueras, Santiago; Gonzalez Caballero, Isidro; Palencia Cortezon, Enrique; Vizan Garcia, Jesus Manuel; Cabrillo, Iban Jose; Calderon, Alicia; Castiñeiras De Saa, Juan Ramon; De Castro Manzano, Pablo; Fernandez, Marcos; Garcia-Ferrero, Juan; Gomez, Gervasio; Lopez Virto, Amparo; Marco, Jesus; Marco, Rafael; Martinez Rivero, Celso; Matorras, Francisco; Piedra Gomez, Jonatan; Rodrigo, Teresa; Rodríguez-Marrero, Ana Yaiza; Ruiz-Jimeno, Alberto; Scodellaro, Luca; Trevisani, Nicolò; Vila, Ivan; Vilar Cortabitarte, Rocio; Abbaneo, Duccio; Auffray, Etiennette; Auzinger, Georg; Bachtis, Michail; Baillon, Paul; Ball, Austin; Barney, David; Benaglia, Andrea; Bendavid, Joshua; Benhabib, Lamia; Benitez, Jose F; Berruti, Gaia Maria; Bloch, Philippe; Bocci, Andrea; Bonato, Alessio; Botta, Cristina; Breuker, Horst; Camporesi, Tiziano; Castello, Roberto; Cerminara, Gianluca; D'Alfonso, Mariarosaria; D'Enterria, David; Dabrowski, Anne; Daponte, Vincenzo; David Tinoco Mendes, Andre; De Gruttola, Michele; De Guio, Federico; De Roeck, Albert; De Visscher, Simon; Di Marco, Emanuele; Dobson, Marc; Dordevic, Milos; Dorney, Brian; Du Pree, Tristan; Duggan, Daniel; Dünser, Marc; Dupont, Niels; Elliott-Peisert, Anna; Franzoni, Giovanni; Fulcher, Jonathan; Funk, Wolfgang; Gigi, Dominique; Gill, Karl; Giordano, Domenico; Girone, Maria; Glege, Frank; Guida, Roberto; Gundacker, Stefan; Guthoff, Moritz; Hammer, Josef; Harris, Philip; Hegeman, Jeroen; Innocente, Vincenzo; Janot, Patrick; Kirschenmann, Henning; Kortelainen, Matti J; Kousouris, Konstantinos; Krajczar, Krisztian; Lecoq, Paul; Lourenco, Carlos; Lucchini, Marco Toliman; Magini, Nicolo; Malgeri, Luca; Mannelli, Marcello; Martelli, Arabella; Masetti, Lorenzo; Meijers, Frans; Mersi, Stefano; Meschi, Emilio; Moortgat, Filip; Morovic, Srecko; Mulders, Martijn; Nemallapudi, Mythra Varun; Neugebauer, Hannes; Orfanelli, Styliani; Orsini, Luciano; Pape, Luc; Perez, Emmanuelle; Peruzzi, Marco; Petrilli, Achille; Petrucciani, Giovanni; Pfeiffer, Andreas; Piparo, Danilo; Racz, Attila; Reis, Thomas; Rolandi, Gigi; Rovere, Marco; Ruan, Manqi; Sakulin, Hannes; Schäfer, Christoph; Schwick, Christoph; Seidel, Markus; Sharma, Archana; Silva, Pedro; Simon, Michal; Sphicas, Paraskevas; Steggemann, Jan; Stieger, Benjamin; Stoye, Markus; Takahashi, Yuta; Treille, Daniel; Triossi, Andrea; Tsirou, Andromachi; Veres, Gabor Istvan; Wardle, Nicholas; Wöhri, Hermine Katharina; Zagoździńska, Agnieszka; Zeuner, Wolfram Dietrich; Bertl, Willi; Deiters, Konrad; Erdmann, Wolfram; Horisberger, Roland; Ingram, Quentin; Kaestli, Hans-Christian; Kotlinski, Danek; Langenegger, Urs; Renker, Dieter; Rohe, Tilman; Bachmair, Felix; Bäni, Lukas; Bianchini, Lorenzo; Casal, Bruno; Dissertori, Günther; Dittmar, Michael; Donegà, Mauro; Eller, Philipp; Grab, Christoph; Heidegger, Constantin; Hits, Dmitry; Hoss, Jan; Kasieczka, Gregor; Lustermann, Werner; Mangano, Boris; Marionneau, Matthieu; Martinez Ruiz del Arbol, Pablo; Masciovecchio, Mario; Meister, Daniel; Micheli, Francesco; Musella, Pasquale; Nessi-Tedaldi, Francesca; Pandolfi, Francesco; Pata, Joosep; Pauss, Felicitas; Perrozzi, Luca; Quittnat, Milena; Rossini, Marco; Starodumov, Andrei; Takahashi, Maiko; Tavolaro, Vittorio Raoul; Theofilatos, Konstantinos; Wallny, Rainer; Aarrestad, Thea Klaeboe; Amsler, Claude; Caminada, Lea; Canelli, Maria Florencia; Chiochia, Vincenzo; De Cosa, Annapaola; Galloni, Camilla; Hinzmann, Andreas; Hreus, Tomas; Kilminster, Benjamin; Lange, Clemens; Ngadiuba, Jennifer; Pinna, Deborah; Robmann, Peter; Ronga, Frederic Jean; Salerno, Daniel; Yang, Yong; Cardaci, Marco; Chen, Kuan-Hsin; Doan, Thi Hien; Jain, Shilpi; Khurana, Raman; Konyushikhin, Maxim; Kuo, Chia-Ming; Lin, Willis; Lu, Yun-Ju; Yu, Shin-Shan; Kumar, Arun; Bartek, Rachel; Chang, Paoti; Chang, You-Hao; Chang, Yu-Wei; Chao, Yuan; Chen, Kai-Feng; Chen, Po-Hsun; Dietz, Charles; Fiori, Francesco; Grundler, Ulysses; Hou, George Wei-Shu; Hsiung, Yee; Liu, Yueh-Feng; Lu, Rong-Shyang; Miñano Moya, Mercedes; Petrakou, Eleni; Tsai, Jui-fa; Tzeng, Yeng-Ming; Asavapibhop, Burin; Kovitanggoon, Kittikul; Singh, Gurpreet; Srimanobhas, Norraphat; Suwonjandee, Narumon; Adiguzel, Aytul; Bakirci, Mustafa Numan; Cerci, Salim; Demiroglu, Zuhal Seyma; Dozen, Candan; Eskut, Eda; Gecit, Fehime Hayal; Girgis, Semiray; Gokbulut, Gul; Guler, Yalcin; Gurpinar, Emine; Hos, Ilknur; Kangal, Evrim Ersin; Onengut, Gulsen; Ozcan, Merve; Ozdemir, Kadri; Polatoz, Ayse; Sunar Cerci, Deniz; Topakli, Huseyin; Vergili, Mehmet; Zorbilmez, Caglar; Akin, Ilina Vasileva; Bilin, Bugra; Bilmis, Selcuk; Isildak, Bora; Karapinar, Guler; Yalvac, Metin; Zeyrek, Mehmet; Gülmez, Erhan; Kaya, Mithat; Kaya, Ozlem; Yetkin, Elif Asli; Yetkin, Taylan; Cakir, Altan; Cankocak, Kerem; Sen, Sercan; Vardarlı, Fuat Ilkehan; Grynyov, Boris; Levchuk, Leonid; Sorokin, Pavel; Aggleton, Robin; Ball, Fionn; Beck, Lana; Brooke, James John; Clement, Emyr; Cussans, David; Flacher, Henning; Goldstein, Joel; Grimes, Mark; Heath, Greg P; Heath, Helen F; Jacob, Jeson; Kreczko, Lukasz; Lucas, Chris; Meng, Zhaoxia; Newbold, Dave M; Paramesvaran, Sudarshan; Poll, Anthony; Sakuma, Tai; Seif El Nasr-storey, Sarah; Senkin, Sergey; Smith, Dominic; Smith, Vincent J; Bell, Ken W; Belyaev, Alexander; Brew, Christopher; Brown, Robert M; Calligaris, Luigi; Cieri, Davide; Cockerill, David JA; Coughlan, John A; Harder, Kristian; Harper, Sam; Olaiya, Emmanuel; Petyt, David; Shepherd-Themistocleous, Claire; Thea, Alessandro; Tomalin, Ian R; Williams, Thomas; Worm, Steven; Baber, Mark; Bainbridge, Robert; Buchmuller, Oliver; Bundock, Aaron; Burton, Darren; Casasso, Stefano; Citron, Matthew; Colling, David; Corpe, Louie; Cripps, Nicholas; Dauncey, Paul; Davies, Gavin; De Wit, Adinda; Della Negra, Michel; Dunne, Patrick; Elwood, Adam; Ferguson, William; Futyan, David; Hall, Geoffrey; Iles, Gregory; Kenzie, Matthew; Lane, Rebecca; Lucas, Robyn; Lyons, Louis; Magnan, Anne-Marie; Malik, Sarah; Nash, Jordan; Nikitenko, Alexander; Pela, Joao; Pesaresi, Mark; Petridis, Konstantinos; Raymond, David Mark; Richards, Alexander; Rose, Andrew; Seez, Christopher; Tapper, Alexander; Uchida, Kirika; Vazquez Acosta, Monica; Virdee, Tejinder; Zenz, Seth Conrad; Cole, Joanne; Hobson, Peter R; Khan, Akram; Kyberd, Paul; Leggat, Duncan; Leslie, Dawn; Reid, Ivan; Symonds, Philip; Teodorescu, Liliana; Turner, Mark; Borzou, Ahmad; Call, Kenneth; Dittmann, Jay; Hatakeyama, Kenichi; Liu, Hongxuan; Pastika, Nathaniel; Charaf, Otman; Cooper, Seth; Henderson, Conor; Rumerio, Paolo; Arcaro, Daniel; Avetisyan, Aram; Bose, Tulika; Fantasia, Cory; Gastler, Daniel; Lawson, Philip; Rankin, Dylan; Richardson, Clint; Rohlf, James; St John, Jason; Sulak, Lawrence; Zou, David; Alimena, Juliette; Berry, Edmund; Bhattacharya, Saptaparna; Cutts, David; Dhingra, Nitish; Ferapontov, Alexey; Garabedian, Alex; Hakala, John; Heintz, Ulrich; Laird, Edward; Landsberg, Greg; Mao, Zaixing; Narain, Meenakshi; Piperov, Stefan; Sagir, Sinan; Syarif, Rizki; Breedon, Richard; Breto, Guillermo; Calderon De La Barca Sanchez, Manuel; Chauhan, Sushil; Chertok, Maxwell; Conway, John; Conway, Rylan; Cox, Peter Timothy; Erbacher, Robin; Funk, Garrett; Gardner, Michael; Ko, Winston; Lander, Richard; Mulhearn, Michael; Pellett, Dave; Pilot, Justin; Ricci-Tam, Francesca; Shalhout, Shalhout; Smith, John; Squires, Michael; Stolp, Dustin; Tripathi, Mani; Wilbur, Scott; Yohay, Rachel; Bravo, Cameron; Cousins, Robert; Everaerts, Pieter; Farrell, Chris; Florent, Alice; Hauser, Jay; Ignatenko, Mikhail; Saltzberg, David; Schnaible, Christian; Takasugi, Eric; Valuev, Vyacheslav; Weber, Matthias; Burt, Kira; Clare, Robert; Ellison, John Anthony; Gary, J William; Hanson, Gail; Heilman, Jesse; Ivova PANEVA, Mirena; Jandir, Pawandeep; Kennedy, Elizabeth; Lacroix, Florent; Long, Owen Rosser; Luthra, Arun; Malberti, Martina; Olmedo Negrete, Manuel; Shrinivas, Amithabh; Wei, Hua; Wimpenny, Stephen; Yates, Brent; Branson, James G; Cerati, Giuseppe Benedetto; Cittolin, Sergio; D'Agnolo, Raffaele Tito; Derdzinski, Mark; Holzner, André; Kelley, Ryan; Klein, Daniel; Letts, James; Macneill, Ian; Olivito, Dominick; Padhi, Sanjay; Pieri, Marco; Sani, Matteo; Sharma, Vivek; Simon, Sean; Tadel, Matevz; Vartak, Adish; Wasserbaech, Steven; Welke, Charles; Würthwein, Frank; Yagil, Avraham; Zevi Della Porta, Giovanni; Bradmiller-Feld, John; Campagnari, Claudio; Dishaw, Adam; Dutta, Valentina; Flowers, Kristen; Franco Sevilla, Manuel; Geffert, Paul; George, Christopher; Golf, Frank; Gouskos, Loukas; Gran, Jason; Incandela, Joe; Mccoll, Nickolas; Mullin, Sam Daniel; Richman, Jeffrey; Stuart, David; Suarez, Indara; West, Christopher; Yoo, Jaehyeok; Anderson, Dustin; Apresyan, Artur; Bornheim, Adolf; Bunn, Julian; Chen, Yi; Duarte, Javier; Mott, Alexander; Newman, Harvey B; Pena, Cristian; Pierini, Maurizio; Spiropulu, Maria; Vlimant, Jean-Roch; Xie, Si; Zhu, Ren-Yuan; Andrews, Michael Benjamin; Azzolini, Virginia; Calamba, Aristotle; Carlson, Benjamin; Ferguson, Thomas; Paulini, Manfred; Russ, James; Sun, Menglei; Vogel, Helmut; Vorobiev, Igor; Cumalat, John Perry; Ford, William T; Gaz, Alessandro; Jensen, Frank; Johnson, Andrew; Krohn, Michael; Mulholland, Troy; Nauenberg, Uriel; Stenson, Kevin; Wagner, Stephen Robert; Alexander, James; Chatterjee, Avishek; Chaves, Jorge; Chu, Jennifer; Dittmer, Susan; Eggert, Nicholas; Mirman, Nathan; Nicolas Kaufman, Gala; Patterson, Juliet Ritchie; Rinkevicius, Aurelijus; Ryd, Anders; Skinnari, Louise; Soffi, Livia; Sun, Werner; Tan, Shao Min; Teo, Wee Don; Thom, Julia; Thompson, Joshua; Tucker, Jordan; Weng, Yao; Wittich, Peter; Abdullin, Salavat; Albrow, Michael; Apollinari, Giorgio; Banerjee, Sunanda; Bauerdick, Lothar AT; Beretvas, Andrew; Berryhill, Jeffrey; Bhat, Pushpalatha C; Bolla, Gino; Burkett, Kevin; Butler, Joel Nathan; Cheung, Harry; Chlebana, Frank; Cihangir, Selcuk; Elvira, Victor Daniel; Fisk, Ian; Freeman, Jim; Gottschalk, Erik; Gray, Lindsey; Green, Dan; Grünendahl, Stefan; Gutsche, Oliver; Hanlon, Jim; Hare, Daryl; Harris, Robert M; Hasegawa, Satoshi; Hirschauer, James; Hu, Zhen; Jayatilaka, Bodhitha; Jindariani, Sergo; Johnson, Marvin; Joshi, Umesh; Jung, Andreas Werner; Klima, Boaz; Kreis, Benjamin; Lammel, Stephan; Linacre, Jacob; Lincoln, Don; Lipton, Ron; Liu, Tiehui; Lopes De Sá, Rafael; Lykken, Joseph; Maeshima, Kaori; Marraffino, John Michael; Martinez Outschoorn, Verena Ingrid; Maruyama, Sho; Mason, David; McBride, Patricia; Merkel, Petra; Mishra, Kalanand; Mrenna, Stephen; Nahn, Steve; Newman-Holmes, Catherine; O'Dell, Vivian; Pedro, Kevin; Prokofyev, Oleg; Rakness, Gregory; Sexton-Kennedy, Elizabeth; Soha, Aron; Spalding, William J; Spiegel, Leonard; Strobbe, Nadja; Taylor, Lucas; Tkaczyk, Slawek; Tran, Nhan Viet; Uplegger, Lorenzo; Vaandering, Eric Wayne; Vernieri, Caterina; Verzocchi, Marco; Vidal, Richard; Weber, Hannsjoerg Artur; Whitbeck, Andrew; Acosta, Darin; Avery, Paul; Bortignon, Pierluigi; Bourilkov, Dimitri; Carnes, Andrew; Carver, Matthew; Curry, David; Das, Souvik; Field, Richard D; Furic, Ivan-Kresimir; Gleyzer, Sergei V; Hugon, Justin; Konigsberg, Jacobo; Korytov, Andrey; Kotov, Khristian; Low, Jia Fu; Ma, Peisen; Matchev, Konstantin; Mei, Hualin; Milenovic, Predrag; Mitselmakher, Guenakh; Rank, Douglas; Rossin, Roberto; Shchutska, Lesya; Snowball, Matthew; Sperka, David; Terentyev, Nikolay; Thomas, Laurent; Wang, Jian; Wang, Sean-Jiun; Yelton, John; Hewamanage, Samantha; Linn, Stephan; Markowitz, Pete; Martinez, German; Rodriguez, Jorge Luis; Ackert, Andrew; Adams, Jordon Rowe; Adams, Todd; Askew, Andrew; Bein, Samuel; Bochenek, Joseph; Diamond, Brendan; Haas, Jeff; Hagopian, Sharon; Hagopian, Vasken; Johnson, Kurtis F; Khatiwada, Ajeeta; Prosper, Harrison; Weinberg, Marc; Baarmand, Marc M; Bhopatkar, Vallary; Colafranceschi, Stefano; Hohlmann, Marcus; Kalakhety, Himali; Noonan, Daniel; Roy, Titas; Yumiceva, Francisco; Adams, Mark Raymond; Apanasevich, Leonard; Berry, Douglas; Betts, Russell Richard; Bucinskaite, Inga; Cavanaugh, Richard; Evdokimov, Olga; Gauthier, Lucie; Gerber, Cecilia Elena; Hofman, David Jonathan; Kurt, Pelin; O'Brien, Christine; Sandoval Gonzalez, Irving Daniel; Silkworth, Christopher; Turner, Paul; Varelas, Nikos; Wu, Zhenbin; Zakaria, Mohammed; Bilki, Burak; Clarida, Warren; Dilsiz, Kamuran; Durgut, Süleyman; Gandrajula, Reddy Pratap; Haytmyradov, Maksat; Khristenko, Viktor; Merlo, Jean-Pierre; Mermerkaya, Hamit; Mestvirishvili, Alexi; Moeller, Anthony; Nachtman, Jane; Ogul, Hasan; Onel, Yasar; Ozok, Ferhat; Penzo, Aldo; Snyder, Christina; Tiras, Emrah; Wetzel, James; Yi, Kai; Anderson, Ian; Barnett, Bruce Arnold; Blumenfeld, Barry; Eminizer, Nicholas; Fehling, David; Feng, Lei; Gritsan, Andrei; Maksimovic, Petar; Martin, Christopher; Osherson, Marc; Roskes, Jeffrey; Cocoros, Alice; Sarica, Ulascan; Swartz, Morris; Xiao, Meng; Xin, Yongjie; You, Can; Baringer, Philip; Bean, Alice; Benelli, Gabriele; Bruner, Christopher; Kenny III, Raymond Patrick; Majumder, Devdatta; Malek, Magdalena; Murray, Michael; Sanders, Stephen; Stringer, Robert; Wang, Quan; Ivanov, Andrew; Kaadze, Ketino; Khalil, Sadia; Makouski, Mikhail; Maravin, Yurii; Mohammadi, Abdollah; Saini, Lovedeep Kaur; Skhirtladze, Nikoloz; Toda, Sachiko; Lange, David; Rebassoo, Finn; Wright, Douglas; Anelli, Christopher; Baden, Drew; Baron, Owen; Belloni, Alberto; Calvert, Brian; Eno, Sarah Catherine; Ferraioli, Charles; Gomez, Jaime; Hadley, Nicholas John; Jabeen, Shabnam; Kellogg, Richard G; Kolberg, Ted; Kunkle, Joshua; Lu, Ying; Mignerey, Alice; Shin, Young Ho; Skuja, Andris; Tonjes, Marguerite; Tonwar, Suresh C; Apyan, Aram; Barbieri, Richard; Baty, Austin; Bierwagen, Katharina; Brandt, Stephanie; Busza, Wit; Cali, Ivan Amos; Demiragli, Zeynep; Di Matteo, Leonardo; Gomez Ceballos, Guillelmo; Goncharov, Maxim; Gulhan, Doga; Iiyama, Yutaro; Innocenti, Gian Michele; Klute, Markus; Kovalskyi, Dmytro; Lai, Yue Shi; Lee, Yen-Jie; Levin, Andrew; Luckey, Paul David; Marini, Andrea Carlo; Mcginn, Christopher; Mironov, Camelia; Narayanan, Siddharth; Niu, Xinmei; Paus, Christoph; Ralph, Duncan; Roland, Christof; Roland, Gunther; Salfeld-Nebgen, Jakob; Stephans, George; Sumorok, Konstanty; Varma, Mukund; Velicanu, Dragos; Veverka, Jan; Wang, Jing; Wang, Ta-Wei; Wyslouch, Bolek; Yang, Mingming; Zhukova, Victoria; Dahmes, Bryan; Evans, Andrew; Finkel, Alexey; Gude, Alexander; Hansen, Peter; Kalafut, Sean; Kao, Shih-Chuan; Klapoetke, Kevin; Kubota, Yuichi; Lesko, Zachary; Mans, Jeremy; Nourbakhsh, Shervin; Ruckstuhl, Nicole; Rusack, Roger; Tambe, Norbert; Turkewitz, Jared; Acosta, John Gabriel; Oliveros, Sandra; Avdeeva, Ekaterina; Bloom, Kenneth; Bose, Suvadeep; Claes, Daniel R; Dominguez, Aaron; Fangmeier, Caleb; Gonzalez Suarez, Rebeca; Kamalieddin, Rami; Keller, Jason; Knowlton, Dan; Kravchenko, Ilya; Meier, Frank; Monroy, Jose; Ratnikov, Fedor; Siado, Joaquin Emilo; Snow, Gregory R; Alyari, Maral; Dolen, James; George, Jimin; Godshalk, Andrew; Harrington, Charles; Iashvili, Ia; Kaisen, Josh; Kharchilava, Avto; Kumar, Ashish; Rappoccio, Salvatore; Roozbahani, Bahareh; Alverson, George; Barberis, Emanuela; Baumgartel, Darin; Chasco, Matthew; Hortiangtham, Apichart; Massironi, Andrea; Morse, David Michael; Nash, David; Orimoto, Toyoko; Teixeira De Lima, Rafael; Trocino, Daniele; Wang, Ren-Jie; Wood, Darien; Zhang, Jinzhong; Hahn, Kristan Allan; Kubik, Andrew; Mucia, Nicholas; Odell, Nathaniel; Pollack, Brian; Pozdnyakov, Andrey; Schmitt, Michael Henry; Stoynev, Stoyan; Sung, Kevin; Trovato, Marco; Velasco, Mayda; Brinkerhoff, Andrew; Dev, Nabarun; Hildreth, Michael; Jessop, Colin; Karmgard, Daniel John; Kellams, Nathan; Lannon, Kevin; Marinelli, Nancy; Meng, Fanbo; Mueller, Charles; Musienko, Yuri; Planer, Michael; Reinsvold, Allison; Ruchti, Randy; Smith, Geoffrey; Taroni, Silvia; Valls, Nil; Wayne, Mitchell; Wolf, Matthias; Woodard, Anna; Antonelli, Louis; Brinson, Jessica; Bylsma, Ben; Durkin, Lloyd Stanley; Flowers, Sean; Hart, Andrew; Hill, Christopher; Hughes, Richard; Ji, Weifeng; Ling, Ta-Yung; Liu, Bingxuan; Luo, Wuming; Puigh, Darren; Rodenburg, Marissa; Winer, Brian L; Wulsin, Howard Wells; Driga, Olga; Elmer, Peter; Hardenbrook, Joshua; Hebda, Philip; Koay, Sue Ann; Lujan, Paul; Marlow, Daniel; Medvedeva, Tatiana; Mooney, Michael; Olsen, James; Palmer, Christopher; Piroué, Pierre; Saka, Halil; Stickland, David; Tully, Christopher; Zuranski, Andrzej; Malik, Sudhir; Barnes, Virgil E; Benedetti, Daniele; Bortoletto, Daniela; Gutay, Laszlo; Jha, Manoj; Jones, Matthew; Jung, Kurt; Miller, David Harry; Neumeister, Norbert; Radburn-Smith, Benjamin Charles; Shi, Xin; Shipsey, Ian; Silvers, David; Sun, Jian; Svyatkovskiy, Alexey; Wang, Fuqiang; Xie, Wei; Xu, Lingshan; Parashar, Neeti; Stupak, John; Adair, Antony; Akgun, Bora; Chen, Zhenyu; Ecklund, Karl Matthew; Geurts, Frank JM; Guilbaud, Maxime; Li, Wei; Michlin, Benjamin; Northup, Michael; Padley, Brian Paul; Redjimi, Radia; Roberts, Jay; Rorie, Jamal; Tu, Zhoudunming; Zabel, James; Betchart, Burton; Bodek, Arie; de Barbaro, Pawel; Demina, Regina; Eshaq, Yossof; Ferbel, Thomas; Galanti, Mario; Garcia-Bellido, Aran; Han, Jiyeon; Harel, Amnon; Hindrichs, Otto; Khukhunaishvili, Aleko; Petrillo, Gianluca; Tan, Ping; Verzetti, Mauro; Arora, Sanjay; Barker, Anthony; Chou, John Paul; Contreras-Campana, Christian; Contreras-Campana, Emmanuel; Ferencek, Dinko; Gershtein, Yuri; Gray, Richard; Halkiadakis, Eva; Hidas, Dean; Hughes, Elliot; Kaplan, Steven; Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, Raghav; Lath, Amitabh; Nash, Kevin; Panwalkar, Shruti; Park, Michael; Salur, Sevil; Schnetzer, Steve; Sheffield, David; Somalwar, Sunil; Stone, Robert; Thomas, Scott; Thomassen, Peter; Walker, Matthew; Foerster, Mark; Riley, Grant; Rose, Keith; Spanier, Stefan; York, Andrew; Bouhali, Othmane; Castaneda Hernandez, Alfredo; Celik, Ali; Dalchenko, Mykhailo; De Mattia, Marco; Delgado, Andrea; Dildick, Sven; Eusebi, Ricardo; Gilmore, Jason; Huang, Tao; Kamon, Teruki; Krutelyov, Vyacheslav; Mueller, Ryan; Osipenkov, Ilya; Pakhotin, Yuriy; Patel, Rishi; Perloff, Alexx; Rose, Anthony; Safonov, Alexei; Tatarinov, Aysen; Ulmer, Keith; Akchurin, Nural; Cowden, Christopher; Damgov, Jordan; Dragoiu, Cosmin; Dudero, Phillip Russell; Faulkner, James; Kunori, Shuichi; Lamichhane, Kamal; Lee, Sung Won; Libeiro, Terence; Undleeb, Sonaina; Volobouev, Igor; Appelt, Eric; Delannoy, Andrés G; Greene, Senta; Gurrola, Alfredo; Janjam, Ravi; Johns, Willard; Maguire, Charles; Mao, Yaxian; Melo, Andrew; Ni, Hong; Sheldon, Paul; Snook, Benjamin; Tuo, Shengquan; Velkovska, Julia; Xu, Qiao; Arenton, Michael Wayne; Cox, Bradley; Francis, Brian; Goodell, Joseph; Hirosky, Robert; Ledovskoy, Alexander; Li, Hengne; Lin, Chuanzhe; Neu, Christopher; Sinthuprasith, Tutanon; Sun, Xin; Wang, Yanchu; Wolfe, Evan; Wood, John; Xia, Fan; Clarke, Christopher; Harr, Robert; Karchin, Paul Edmund; Kottachchi Kankanamge Don, Chamath; Lamichhane, Pramod; Sturdy, Jared; Belknap, Donald; Carlsmith, Duncan; Cepeda, Maria; Dasu, Sridhara; Dodd, Laura; Duric, Senka; Gomber, Bhawna; Grothe, Monika; Hall-Wilton, Richard; Herndon, Matthew; Hervé, Alain; Klabbers, Pamela; Lanaro, Armando; Levine, Aaron; Long, Kenneth; Loveless, Richard; Mohapatra, Ajit; Ojalvo, Isabel; Perry, Thomas; Pierro, Giuseppe Antonio; Polese, Giovanni; Ruggles, Tyler; Sarangi, Tapas; Savin, Alexander; Sharma, Archana; Smith, Nicholas; Smith, Wesley H; Taylor, Devin; Woods, Nathaniel

2016-03-17

New sets of parameters (``tunes'') for the underlying-event (UE) modeling of the PYTHIA8, PYTHIA6 and HERWIG++ Monte Carlo event generators are constructed using different parton distribution functions. Combined fits to CMS UE data at $\\sqrt{s} =$ 7 TeV and to UE data from the CDF experiment at lower $\\sqrt{s}$, are used to study the UE models and constrain their parameters, providing thereby improved predictions for proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV. In addition, it is investigated whether the values of the parameters obtained from fits to UE observables are consistent with the values determined from fitting observables sensitive to double-parton scattering processes. Finally, comparisons of the UE tunes to ``minimum bias'' (MB) events, multijet, and Drell--Yan ($ \\mathrm{ q \\bar{q} } \\rightarrow \\mathrm{Z} / \\gamma^* \\rightarrow$ lepton-antilepton + jets) observables at 7 and 8 TeV are presented, as well as predictions of MB and UE observables at 13 TeV.

Various Extraction Methods for Obtaining Stilbenes from Grape Cane of Vitis vinifera L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivo Soural

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Grape cane, leaves and grape marc are waste products from viticulture, which can be used to obtain secondary stilbene derivatives with high antioxidant value. The presented work compares several extraction methods: maceration at laboratory temperature, extraction at elevated temperature, fluidized-bed extraction, Soxhlet extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, and accelerated solvent extraction. To obtain trans-resveratrol, trans-ε-viniferin and r2-viniferin from grape cane of the V. vinifera variety Cabernet Moravia, various conditions were studied: different solvents, using powdered versus cut cane material, different extraction times, and one-step or multiple extractions. The largest concentrations found were 6030 ± 680 µg/g dry weight (d.w. for trans-resveratrol, 2260 ± 90 µg/g d.w. for trans-ε-viniferin, and 510 ± 40 µg/g d.w. for r2-viniferin. The highest amounts of stilbenes (8500 ± 1100 µg/g d.w. were obtained using accelerated solvent extraction in methanol.

Cortical hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in shaken-baby (shaken impact) syndrome: value of diffusion-weighted MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parizel, Paul M.; Oezsarlak, Oezkan; Goethem, Johan W. van; Ceulemans, Berten; Laridon, Annick; Jorens, Philippe G.

2003-01-01

Shaken-baby syndrome (SBS) is a type of child abuse caused by violent shaking of an infant, with or without impact, and characterized by subdural hematomas, retinal hemorrhages, and occult bone fractures. Parenchymal brain lesions in SBS may be missed or underestimated on CT scans, but can be detected at an earlier stage with diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) as areas of restricted diffusion. We demonstrate the value of DW-MRI in a 2-month-old baby boy with suspected SBS. The pattern of diffusion abnormalities indicates that the neuropathology of parenchymal lesions in SBS is due to hypoxic-ischemic brain injuries, and not to diffuse axonal injury. (orig.)

Cortical hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in shaken-baby (shaken impact) syndrome: value of diffusion-weighted MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parizel, Paul M.; Oezsarlak, Oezkan; Goethem, Johan W. van [Department of Radiology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650, Edegem (Belgium); Ceulemans, Berten; Laridon, Annick [Department of Pediatric Neurology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650, Edegem (Belgium); Jorens, Philippe G. [Department of Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650, Edegem (Belgium)

2003-12-01

Shaken-baby syndrome (SBS) is a type of child abuse caused by violent shaking of an infant, with or without impact, and characterized by subdural hematomas, retinal hemorrhages, and occult bone fractures. Parenchymal brain lesions in SBS may be missed or underestimated on CT scans, but can be detected at an earlier stage with diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) as areas of restricted diffusion. We demonstrate the value of DW-MRI in a 2-month-old baby boy with suspected SBS. The pattern of diffusion abnormalities indicates that the neuropathology of parenchymal lesions in SBS is due to hypoxic-ischemic brain injuries, and not to diffuse axonal injury. (orig.)

Work Values of Lithuanian University Students: Internal Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincentas Lamanauskas

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Individual’s work values define his/her career purposefulness. Individual’s chosen work values allow foreseeing what activity context and career model is important for him/her, seeking to successfully realize oneself in professional activity. Planning his/her professional career an individual is searching for the activity sphere, which could conform not only to his/her personal features, but also to his/her value orientations. Work values important for the individual allow realizing if they form conditions for planning modern career (successfully solve constantly changing activity problems and to correspond to always new raised requirements for a person in the organisation or in labour market, the realisation of which in today’s constantly changing labour market and social context becomes more and more problematic. Empiric research was carried out seeking to discover the work (activity value structure. The research instrument was created by the authors of the research. Two hundred sixty five first-year students from three Lithuanian universities participated in the research. These are the main higher education institutions, preparing teachers in Lithuania. The obtained results show that work value structure of the first year students studying in social and humanitarian science programmes can be expressed by 6 main factors: responsible activity values, active work values, harmony values, reward values, activity style values, and social status values. Also, the main differences were ascertained between female and male work value structure. Responsible activity values, active work values and harmony values were much more important for female than male students.

Adverse childhood experiences predict earlier age of drinking onset: results from a representative US sample of current or former drinkers.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothman, Emily F; Edwards, Erika M; Heeren, Timothy; Hingson, Ralph W

2008-08-01

Our goal was to determine whether adverse childhood experiences predicted the age at which drinking was initiated and drinking motives in a representative sample of current or former drinkers in the United States. In 2006, a probability sample of 3592 US current or former drinkers aged 18 to 39 were surveyed. Multinomial logistic regression examined whether each of 10 adverse childhood experiences was associated with earlier ages of drinking onset, controlling for demographics, parental alcohol use, parental attitudes toward drinking, and peers' drinking in adolescence. We also examined whether there was a graded relationship between the number of adverse childhood experiences and age of drinking onset and whether adverse childhood experiences were related to self-reported motives for drinking during the first year that respondents drank. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported >or=1 adverse childhood experiences, and 19% reported experiencing >or=4. The most commonly reported adverse childhood experiences were parental separation/divorce (41.3%), living with a household member who was a problem drinker (28.7%), mental illness of a household member (24.8%), and sexual abuse (19.1%). Of the 10 specific adverse childhood experiences assessed, 5 were significantly associated with initiating drinking at or=21 years of age) after adjustment for confounders, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, having a mentally ill household member, substance abuse in the home, and parental discord or divorce. Compared with those without adverse childhood experiences, respondents with adverse childhood experiences were substantially more likely to report that they drank to cope during the first year that they used alcohol. Results suggest that children with particular adverse childhood experiences may initiate drinking earlier than their peers and that they may be more likely to drink to cope with problems (rather than for pleasure or to be social).

The Contribution of Intellectual Capital to Value Creation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Shakina

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the marginal contribution of intellectual capital (IC components to company value using a hedonic pricing framework. The ANOVA is used to identify group differences among different national markets and industries. Two models have been developed to reflect the time effect: one related to the immediate creation of value and another for the long term. As could be expected, the contribution of IC to companies’ value creation differs significantly between countries and industries. Both models, short- and long-term, are significant and with a normal explanatory power. We have found both positive and negative coefficients. Human capital plays a critical positive role in value creation in the short term. Structural and relational capital becomes more relevant in the long term. However, in the long term, the results obtained regarding the effect of human capital are unclear.

Critical values in hematology of 862 institutions in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Y Y; Zhao, H J; Fei, Y; Wang, W; He, F L; Zhong, K; Yuan, S; Wang, Z G

2017-10-01

A national survey on critical values in hematology of China laboratories was conducted to determine the current practice and assess the quality indicators so as to obtain a quality improvement. Laboratories participating were asked to submit the general information, the practice of critical value reporting, and the status of timeliness of critical value reporting. A total of 862 laboratories submitted the results. The majority of participants have included white blood cell count, blood platelet count, hemoglobin, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time in their critical value lists. Many sources are used for establishing a critical value policy, and some of the laboratories consult with clinicians. The unreported critical value rate, late critical value reporting rate, and clinically unacknowledged rate in China are relatively low, and the median of critical value reporting time is 8-9 minutes. There exists a wide variety for critical value reporting in hematology in China. Laboratories should establish a policy of critical value reporting suited for their own situations and consult with clinicians to set critical value lists. Critical values are generally reported in a timely manner in China, but some measures should be taken to further improve the timeliness of critical value reporting. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reference values and clinical application of magnetic peripheral nerve stimulation in cats

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Soens, Iris; Struys, Michel M. R. F.; Bhatti, Sofie F. M.; Van Ham, Luc M. L.

Magnetic stimulation of radial (RN) and sciatic (SN) nerves was performed bilaterally in 40 healthy cats. Reference values for onset latency and peak-to-peak amplitude of magnetic motor evoked potentials (MMEPs) were obtained and compared with values of electric motor evoked potentials (EMEPs) in

Prosociality: the contribution of traits, values, and self-efficacy beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Caprara, Gian Vittorio; Alessandri, Guido; Eisenberg, Nancy

2012-06-01

The present study examined how agreeableness, self-transcendence values, and empathic self-efficacy beliefs predict individuals' tendencies to engage in prosocial behavior (i.e., prosociality) across time. Participants were 340 young adults, 190 women and 150 men, age approximately 21 years at Time 1 and 25 years at Time 2. Measures of agreeableness, self-transcendence, empathic self-efficacy beliefs, and prosociality were collected at 2 time points. The findings corroborated the posited paths of relations, with agreeableness directly predicting self-transcendence and indirectly predicting empathic self-efficacy beliefs and prosociality. Self-transcendence mediated the relation between agreeableness and empathic self-efficacy beliefs. Empathic self-efficacy beliefs mediated the relation of agreeableness and self-transcendence to prosociality. Finally, earlier prosociality predicted agreeableness and empathic self-efficacy beliefs assessed at Time 2. The posited conceptual model accounted for a significant portion of variance in prosociality and provides guidance to interventions aimed at promoting prosociality. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Monte-Carlo code calculation of 3D reactor core model with usage of burnt fuel isotopic compositions, obtained by engineering codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aleshin, Sergey S.; Gorodkov, Sergey S.; Shcherenko, Anna I. [National Research Centre ' Kurchatov Institute' , Moscow (Russian Federation)

2016-09-15

A burn-up calculation of large systems by Monte-Carlo code (MCU) is complex process and it requires large computational costs. Previously prepared isotopic compositions are proposed to be used for the Monte-Carlo code calculations of different system states with burnt fuel. Isotopic compositions are calculated by an approximation method. The approximation method is based on usage of a spectral functionality and reference isotopic compositions, that are calculated by the engineering codes (TVS-M, BIPR-7A and PERMAK-A). The multiplication factors and power distributions of FAs from a 3-D reactor core are calculated in this work by the Monte-Carlo code MCU using earlier prepared isotopic compositions. The separate conditions of the burnt core are observed. The results of MCU calculations were compared with those that were obtained by engineering codes.

The study of stiffness modulus values for AC-WC pavement

Science.gov (United States)

Lubis, AS; Muis, Z. A.; Iskandar, T. D.

2018-02-01

One of the parameters of the asphalt mixture in order for the strength and durability to be achieved as required is the stress-and-strain showing the stiffness of a material. Stiffness modulus is a very necessary factor that will affect the performance of asphalt pavements. If the stiffness modulus value decreases there will be a cause of aging asphalt pavement crack easily when receiving a heavy load. The high stiffness modulus asphalt concrete causes more stiff and resistant to bending. The stiffness modulus value of an asphalt mixture material can be obtained from the theoretical (indirect methods) and laboratory test results (direct methods). For the indirect methods used Brown & Brunton method, and Shell Bitumen method; while for the direct methods used the UMATTA tool. This study aims to determine stiffness modulus values for AC-WC pavement. The tests were conducted in laboratory that used 3 methods, i.e. Brown & Brunton Method, Shell Bitumen Method and Marshall Test as a substitute tool for the UMATTA tool. Hotmix asphalt made from type AC-WC with pen 60/70 using a mixture of optimum bitumen content was 5.84% with a standard temperature variation was 60°C and several variations of temperature that were 30, 40, 50, 70 and 80°C. The stiffness modulus value results obtained from Brown & Brunton Method, Shell Bitumen Method and Marshall Test which were 1374,93 Mpa, 235,45 Mpa dan 254,96 Mpa. The stiffness modulus value decreases with increasing temperature of the concrete asphalt. The stiffness modulus value from the Bitumen Shell method and the Marshall Test has a relatively similar value.The stiffness modulus value from the Brown & Brunton method is greater than the Bitumen Shell method and the Marshall Test, but can not measure the stiffness modulus value at temperature above 80°C.

Stakeholder Value Matrix - Die VErbindung zwischen Shareholder Value und Stakeholder Value

OpenAIRE

Frank Figge

2004-01-01

Die Studie zeigt, was unter Stakeholder Value verstanden werden kann, wie Shareholder Value und Stakeholder Value gemessen werden können und welche Verbindung zwischen beiden Konzepten besteht. In dieser Studie wird erstmals die Wertbeitragsanalyse von Stakeholderbeziehungen vorgestellt. Anhand der Stakeholder Value Matrix lässt sich zeigen, welche Stakeholdergruppen zusammen positiv zum Unternehmenswert beitragen.

Model for dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and quark condensate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nekrasov, M.L.; Rochev, V.E.

1986-01-01

In the framework of the model, proposed earlier to describe nonperturbative QCD, the singularity of the type 1/k 4 in the gluon propagator is shown to result in dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and appearance of quark condensate. The value, obtained for quark condensate, is close to the phenomenological one

P-T-x phase diagrams of MeF-UF4(Me=Li-Cs) systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korenev, Yu.M.; Rykov, A.N.; Varkov, M.V.; Novoselova, A.V.

1988-01-01

Vapor composition and general pressure at three-phase equilibria in the MeF-UF 4 (Me=Li-Cs) systems are calculated using the values of independent component activities obtained earlier together with the data on fusibility diagrams. P-T and T-x projections of phase diagrams of these systems are constructed

Evaluation of w values for carbon beams in air, using a graphite calorimeter.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakama, Makoto; Kanai, Tatsuaki; Fukumura, Akifumi; Abe, Kyoko

2009-03-07

Despite recent progress in carbon therapy, accurate values for physical data such as the w value in air or stopping power ratios for ionization chamber dosimetry have not been obtained. The absorbed dose to graphite obtained with the graphite calorimeter was compared with that obtained using the ionization chambers following the IAEA protocol in order to evaluate the w values in air for mono-energetic carbon beams of 135, 290, 400 and 430 MeV/n. Two cylindrical chambers (PTW type 30001 and PTW type 30011, Farmer) and two plane-parallel chambers (PTW type 23343, Markus and PTW type 34001, Roos) calibrated by the absorbed dose to graphite and exposure to the (60)Co photon beam were used. The comparisons to our calorimeter measurements revealed that, using the ionization chambers, the absorbed dose to graphite comes out low by 2-6% in this experimental energy range and with these chamber types and calibration methods. In the therapeutic energy range, the w values in air for carbon beams indicated a slight energy dependence; we, however, assumed these values to be constant for practical use because of the large uncertainty and unknown perturbation factors of the ionization chambers. The w values in air of the carbon beams were evaluated to be 35.72 J C(-1) +/- 1.5% in the energy range used in this study. This value is 3.5% larger than that recommended by the IAEA TRS 398 for heavy-ion beams. Using this evaluated result, the absorbed dose to water in the carbon beams would be increased by the same amount.

Multi-stage IT project evaluation: The flexibility value obtained by implementing and resolving Berk, Green and Naik (2004) model

Science.gov (United States)

Abid, Fathi; Guermazi, Dorra

2009-11-01

In this paper, we evaluate a multi-stage information technology investment project, by implementing and resolving Berk, Green and Naik's (2004) model, which takes into account specific features of IT projects and considers the real option to suspend investment at each stage. We present a particular case of the model where the project value is the solution of an optimal control problem with a single state variable. In this case, the model is more intuitive and tractable. The case study confirms the practical potential of the model and highlights the importance of the real-option approach compared to classical discounted cash flow techniques in the valuation of IT projects.

Uncertainty in estimated values of forestry project: a case study of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The information obtained were analyzed using Net Present Value, Benefit-Cost Ratio, Economic Rate of Return and Sensitivity Analysis. The results of this study indicate that the NPV and B/C ratio were sensitive to increase in discount factor. The values of estimates for a direct and taungya plantatiomn at Ago-Owu forest ...

MATERIAL BALANCE FOR OBTAINING MUSSEL AND OYSTER CANS IN OWN JUICE AND OIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CARMEN NICOLAE

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Seafood could be presented as food products with a great nourishing value and aspecial contribution to human nutrition optimization, but also as raw material forthe processing unit. After the end of the Second World War, seafood production andconsumption have followed and increasing trajectory. Thus, their productionincreased from 19 millions tons in 1950 to 39 millions tons in 1961, but 130 millionstons in 2002. The present study proposed itself the analyze of processing 100kg/day mussels andoysters having in view the obtaining of two canned sorts (in own juice and oilestablishing the material balance for each sort. Upon the balance it can concludethat by processing the same amount of seafood it is obtained a larger amount of cansin oil.

Agreement between direct and indirect blood pressure measurements obtained from anesthetized Hispaniolan Amazon parrots.

Science.gov (United States)

Acierno, Mark J; da Cunha, Anderson; Smith, Julie; Tully, Thomas N; Guzman, David Sanchez-Migallon; Serra, Verna; Mitchell, Mark A

2008-11-15

To determine the level of agreement between direct and indirect blood pressure measurements obtained from healthy Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) anesthetized with isoflurane. Validation study. 16 healthy adult Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. Parrots were anesthetized, and a 26-gauge, 19-mm catheter was placed percutaneously in the superficial ulnar artery for direct measurement of systolic, mean, and diastolic arterial pressures. Indirect blood pressure measurements were obtained with a Doppler ultrasonic flow detector and an oscillometric unit. The Bland-Altman method was used to compare direct and indirect blood pressure values. There was substantial disagreement between direct systolic arterial blood pressure and indirect blood pressure measurements obtained with the Doppler detector from the wing (bias, 24 mm Hg; limits of agreement, -37 to 85 mm Hg) and from the leg (bias, 14 mm Hg; limits of agreement, -14 to 42 mm Hg). Attempts to obtain indirect blood pressure measurements with the oscillometric unit were unsuccessful. Results suggested that there was substantial disagreement between indirect blood pressure measurements obtained with a Doppler ultrasonic flow detector in anesthetized Hispaniolan Amazon parrots and directly measured systolic arterial blood pressure.

Image enhancement by spatial frequency post-processing of images obtained with pupil filters

Science.gov (United States)

Estévez, Irene; Escalera, Juan C.; Stefano, Quimey Pears; Iemmi, Claudio; Ledesma, Silvia; Yzuel, María J.; Campos, Juan

2016-12-01

The use of apodizing or superresolving filters improves the performance of an optical system in different frequency bands. This improvement can be seen as an increase in the OTF value compared to the OTF for the clear aperture. In this paper we propose a method to enhance the contrast of an image in both its low and its high frequencies. The method is based on the generation of a synthetic Optical Transfer Function, by multiplexing the OTFs given by the use of different non-uniform transmission filters on the pupil. We propose to capture three images, one obtained with a clear pupil, one obtained with an apodizing filter that enhances the low frequencies and another one taken with a superresolving filter that improves the high frequencies. In the Fourier domain the three spectra are combined by using smoothed passband filters, and then the inverse transform is performed. We show that we can create an enhanced image better than the image obtained with the clear aperture. To evaluate the performance of the method, bar tests (sinusoidal tests) with different frequency content are used. The results show that a contrast improvement in the high and low frequencies is obtained.

Record values from a family of J-shaped distributions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad A. Zghoul

2013-05-01

Full Text Available A family of J-shaped distributions has applications in life testing modeling. In this paper we study record values from this family of distributions. Based on lower records, recurrence relations and bounds as well as expressions for moments and product moments of record values are obtained, the maximum likelihood estimator of the shape parameter is derived and shown to be consistent, sufficient, complete and UMVU estimator. In addition, an application in reliability is given.

Stable aqueous ZnS quantum dots obtained using (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane as a capping molecule

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Hui; Shih, Wan Y; Shih, W-H

2007-01-01

We have examined the synthesis and stability of ZnS quantum dots (QDs) using an all-aqueous route at pH = 12 with (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPS) as the capping molecule. The MPS-capped ZnS QDs obtained were well dispersed with a particle size around 5 nm and a cubic zinc blende crystalline structure. The QDs exhibited optimal photoluminescence (PL) emission when the MPS:Zn:S ratio was between 1/4:2:1 and 1/2:2:1. Compared with the earlier obtained ZnS QDs capped with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), the MPS-capped ZnS QDs exhibited a similar, high quantum yield, 42% and 25% for MPS:Zn:S 1/2:2:1 and 1/4:2:1, respectively, but much better photostability. With the MPS:Zn:S ratio of 1/4:2:1, we showed that at room temperature and under the normal laboratory lighting conditions, the MPS-capped QDs were able to maintain their PL intensity for more than 50 days without degradation. We further showed that the MPS-capped QDs were stable not only in their synthesis solution but also in deionized (DI) water and in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution. The QDs with MPS:Zn:S=1/2:2:1 were able to stay at 50 deg. C for more than 20 h without degrading the PL intensity. They were also stable under continuous UV exposure for 3 h. With the high quantum yield and significantly improved photostability, the MPS-capped ZnS QDs could be good imaging tools for many biological applications

Determination of the fine structure in the ionization plots obtained from a mass spectrometer with a large energy dispersion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deruaz, Daniel.

1974-01-01

The precise determination of ionization potentials, fragment ion appearance potentials and different excited state levels of the positive ions formed, together with phenomena due to an electron impact, were studied from ionization efficiency curves obtained by mass spectrometry. A standard ion source and an analytical method of electron energy dispersion reduction were used to study fine structures of ionization efficiency curves. Since the mass spectrometer was not adapted for the acquisition of ionization efficiency curve data an electronic system was designed to record these curves automatically. A precise stepwise potential variation of 45+-0.04mV was obtained, and for each step an intensity proportional to the number of ions created by the fragment considered, the additional gain being 4.4 and the linearity greater than 1% over a 13-volt region. Before each set of measurements the scattering was determined by calculation of the second derivative of a logistic function deduced from the cubic regression of the experimental helium function ionization efficiency curve values. The precision, given by the variance analysis SNEDECOR F test, is higher than 1/1000. For each series of recordings the numerical values were processed by a computer to raise by twenty the signal to noise ratio and calculate the ionization efficiency curve values by the energy difference method and the iterative unfolding method. In this way a high sensitivity was obtained for the determination of the curves near the ionization threshold, and a precision below 50MeV (at least equivalent to that given by ionization cells with quasi-monoenergetic electron beams) for the values of the ionization potentials, the appearance potentials and the excited state energy levels. In order to judge the reliability of the technique the ionization potentials of a set of eleven complex molecules were determined and compared with the results obtained by photoionization and photoelectron spectrometry [fr

The U.S. dollar value of gasoline: Currency crisis in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

The recent currency crisis in Europe puts the possibility of European economic union in further jeopardy after the Maastricht Treaty was not approved by the Netherlands earlier this Summer. The increased value of European currencies relative to the US dollar during the past Summer had little effect upon national currency gasoline prices. However, the recent currency devaluations in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, already struggling with weak economies, definitely reduce consumer buying power. Governments may use the high taxes imposed on gasoline as a buffer against higher prices, but still, consumers may buy less gasoline as their money doesn't go as far as it once did. This issue also presents the following: (1) the ED Refining Netback Data Series for the US Gulf and West Coasts, Rotterdam, and Singapore as of Sept. 25, 1992; and (2) the ED Refining Netback Data Series for countries of the Eastern Hemisphere, Sept. 1992 Edition

Caudate Microstimulation Increases Value of Specific Choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Santacruz, Samantha R; Rich, Erin L; Wallis, Joni D; Carmena, Jose M

2017-11-06

Value-based decision-making involves an assessment of the value of items available and the actions required to obtain them. The basal ganglia are highly implicated in action selection and goal-directed behavior [1-4], and the striatum in particular plays a critical role in arbitrating between competing choices [5-9]. Previous work has demonstrated that neural activity in the caudate nucleus is modulated by task-relevant action values [6, 8]. Nonetheless, how value is represented and maintained in the striatum remains unclear since decision-making in these tasks relied on spatially lateralized responses, confounding the ability to generalize to a more abstract choice task [6, 8, 9]. Here, we investigate striatal value representations by applying caudate electrical stimulation in macaque monkeys (n = 3) to bias decision-making in a task that divorces the value of a stimulus from motor action. Electrical microstimulation is known to induce neural plasticity [10, 11], and caudate microstimulation in primates has been shown to accelerate associative learning [12, 13]. Our results indicate that stimulation paired with a particular stimulus increases selection of that stimulus, and this effect was stimulus dependent and action independent. The modulation of choice behavior using microstimulation was best modeled as resulting from changes in stimulus value. Caudate neural recordings (n = 1) show that changes in value-coding neuron activity are stimulus value dependent. We argue that caudate microstimulation can differentially increase stimulus values independent of action, and unilateral manipulations of value are sufficient to mediate choice behavior. These results support potential future applications of microstimulation to correct maladaptive plasticity underlying dysfunctional decision-making related to neuropsychiatric conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterisation of Aronia powders obtained by different drying processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Horszwald, Anna; Julien, Heritier; Andlauer, Wilfried

2013-12-01

Nowadays, food industry is facing challenges connected with the preservation of the highest possible quality of fruit products obtained after processing. Attention has been drawn to Aronia fruits due to numerous health promoting properties of their products. However, processing of Aronia, like other berries, leads to difficulties that stem from the preparation process, as well as changes in the composition of bioactive compounds. Consequently, in this study, Aronia commercial juice was subjected to different drying techniques: spray drying, freeze drying and vacuum drying with the temperature range of 40-80 °C. All powders obtained had a high content of total polyphenols. Powders gained by spray drying had the highest values which corresponded to a high content of total flavonoids, total monomeric anthocyanins, cyaniding-3-glucoside and total proanthocyanidins. Analysis of the results exhibited a correlation between selected bioactive compounds and their antioxidant capacity. In conclusion, drying techniques have an impact on selected quality parameters, and different drying techniques cause changes in the content of bioactives analysed. Spray drying can be recommended for preservation of bioactives in Aronia products. Powder quality depends mainly on the process applied and parameters chosen. Therefore, Aronia powders production should be adapted to the requirements and design of the final product. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A mathematical model for maximizing the value of phase 3 drug development portfolios incorporating budget constraints and risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Nitin R; Ankolekar, Suresh; Antonijevic, Zoran; Rajicic, Natasa

2013-05-10

We describe a value-driven approach to optimizing pharmaceutical portfolios. Our approach incorporates inputs from research and development and commercial functions by simultaneously addressing internal and external factors. This approach differentiates itself from current practices in that it recognizes the impact of study design parameters, sample size in particular, on the portfolio value. We develop an integer programming (IP) model as the basis for Bayesian decision analysis to optimize phase 3 development portfolios using expected net present value as the criterion. We show how this framework can be used to determine optimal sample sizes and trial schedules to maximize the value of a portfolio under budget constraints. We then illustrate the remarkable flexibility of the IP model to answer a variety of 'what-if' questions that reflect situations that arise in practice. We extend the IP model to a stochastic IP model to incorporate uncertainty in the availability of drugs from earlier development phases for phase 3 development in the future. We show how to use stochastic IP to re-optimize the portfolio development strategy over time as new information accumulates and budget changes occur. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Benefits of obtaining log data in horizontal wells in the WCSB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spratt, D. [Reeves Wireline Technologies Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2001-11-01

A Compact Memory Logging (CML) system developed by Reeves Wireline Technologies was presented. It can be used to obtain log data from horizontal wells to get a better understanding of how to enhance production or completion techniques. The methods that are commonly used to obtain data from horizontal wells include measurement while drilling (MWD), logging while drilling (LWD), wet connect pipe conveyed wireline logging and CML. Each method has its unique benefits that range from information on lithology, rock parameters and fluid interfaces. Reeves has been using wireless pipe conveyed CML over the past two years. The log data includes array induction, dual spaced neutron and photo density porosity, Pe, gamma ray, compensated sonic and hose size caliper. Reeves CML is smaller, easily conveyed and has an unprecedented capability to bend and is considered to be well suited for both newly and previously drilled horizontal wells that require remedial assessment. The tool can be used to determine reservoir quality and boundaries, establish zone structures, or identify fluid interfaces for strategic planning of completions and stimulations. This paper presented examples of logs on some horizontal wells that indicate the value of obtaining log data. Reeves CML is considered to be economically and operationally ideal, particularly since data from the CML includes depth of investigation. 5 figs.

Nutrition factors predict earlier acquisition of motor and language milestones among young children in Haiti.

Science.gov (United States)

Iannotti, Lora; Jean Louis Dulience, Sherlie; Wolff, Patricia; Cox, Katherine; Lesorogol, Carolyn; Kohl, Patricia

2016-09-01

To examine the nutrition-related factors associated with motor and language development among young children living in a poor urban area of Haiti. Children aged 6-11 months (n = 583) were enrolled and followed monthly for one year. World Health Organization motor developmental milestones and vowel and consonant counts were assessed. Longitudinal regression models were applied to assess the association of anthropometric, dietary intake, infectious disease morbidity and socio-economic and demographic factors on developmental outcomes. At baseline, 9.4% were stunted or length-for-age Z score < -2, and 30.2% were mild-to-moderately stunted or length-for-age Z score < -1. Stunting status was significantly associated with motor and phonetic language acquisition at each time point during infancy. Several nutrition factors significantly predicted earlier achievement of motor and language development outcomes in longitudinal models: child anthropometry; breastfeeding and complementary feeding frequencies; dietary diversity; egg and oil intake; and reduced infectious disease morbidities. Increases in the length-for-age Z score significantly predicted all motor and language outcomes and yielded the best fit models compared to other anthropometric indicators (p < 0.001). Child development interventions may be enhanced by incorporating nutrition strategies such as improved diet quality, breastfeeding promotion and diarrhoeal disease mitigation. ©2016 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Fox and the Grapes-How Physical Constraints Affect Value Based Decision Making.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jörg Gross

Full Text Available One fundamental question in decision making research is how humans compute the values that guide their decisions. Recent studies showed that people assign higher value to goods that are closer to them, even when physical proximity should be irrelevant for the decision from a normative perspective. This phenomenon, however, seems reasonable from an evolutionary perspective. Most foraging decisions of animals involve the trade-off between the value that can be obtained and the associated effort of obtaining. Anticipated effort for physically obtaining a good could therefore affect the subjective value of this good. In this experiment, we test this hypothesis by letting participants state their subjective value for snack food while the effort that would be incurred when reaching for it was manipulated. Even though reaching was not required in the experiment, we find that willingness to pay was significantly lower when subjects wore heavy wristbands on their arms. Thus, when reaching was more difficult, items were perceived as less valuable. Importantly, this was only the case when items were physically in front of the participants but not when items were presented as text on a computer screen. Our results suggest automatic interactions of motor and valuation processes which are unexplored to this date and may account for irrational decisions that occur when reward is particularly easy to reach.

The Fox and the Grapes-How Physical Constraints Affect Value Based Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Jörg; Woelbert, Eva; Strobel, Martin

2015-01-01

One fundamental question in decision making research is how humans compute the values that guide their decisions. Recent studies showed that people assign higher value to goods that are closer to them, even when physical proximity should be irrelevant for the decision from a normative perspective. This phenomenon, however, seems reasonable from an evolutionary perspective. Most foraging decisions of animals involve the trade-off between the value that can be obtained and the associated effort of obtaining. Anticipated effort for physically obtaining a good could therefore affect the subjective value of this good. In this experiment, we test this hypothesis by letting participants state their subjective value for snack food while the effort that would be incurred when reaching for it was manipulated. Even though reaching was not required in the experiment, we find that willingness to pay was significantly lower when subjects wore heavy wristbands on their arms. Thus, when reaching was more difficult, items were perceived as less valuable. Importantly, this was only the case when items were physically in front of the participants but not when items were presented as text on a computer screen. Our results suggest automatic interactions of motor and valuation processes which are unexplored to this date and may account for irrational decisions that occur when reward is particularly easy to reach.

Use value, exchange value, and resource scarcity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stern, D.I.

1999-01-01

The literature on natural resource scarcity indicators is reviewed. Scarcity indicators can be classified by what is being measured: value of the resource stock or value of extracted resource commodities; whose value is considered: social vs. private scarcity; and by the mode of valuation considered: exchange value and use value. Prices and rents are common measures of exchange value or indicators of ''exchange scarcity'' and unit costs can be seen as use value indicators or indicators of u se scarcity . The major aim of this paper is to demonstrate the links between productivity indicators such as unit costs and the classical concept of use value. The two classes of indicator relate to John Commons' discussions of scarcity and efficiency, and a marginal vs. a non-marginal approach to value and scarcity. The classical use value concept also has wider relevance for issues of valuation in energy, resource, and environmental policy. (author)

Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying value-based decision-making: from core values to economic value.

Science.gov (United States)

Brosch, Tobias; Sander, David

2013-01-01

VALUE PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN PRACTICALLY EVERY ASPECT OF HUMAN LIFE THAT REQUIRES A DECISION: whether we choose between different consumer goods, whether we decide which person we marry or which political candidate gets our vote, we choose the option that has more value to us. Over the last decade, neuroeconomic research has mapped the neural substrates of economic value, revealing that activation in brain regions such as ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventral striatum or posterior cingulate cortex reflects how much an individual values an option and which of several options he/she will choose. However, while great progress has been made exploring the mechanisms underlying concrete decisions, neuroeconomic research has been less concerned with the questions of why people value what they value, and why different people value different things. Social psychologists and sociologists have long been interested in core values, motivational constructs that are intrinsically linked to the self-schema and are used to guide actions and decisions across different situations and different time points. Core value may thus be an important determinant of individual differences in economic value computation and decision-making. Based on a review of recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural representation of core values and their interactions with neural systems representing economic value, we outline a common framework that integrates the core value concept and neuroeconomic research on value-based decision-making.

Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying value-based decision-making: from core values to economic value

Science.gov (United States)

Brosch, Tobias; Sander, David

2013-01-01

Value plays a central role in practically every aspect of human life that requires a decision: whether we choose between different consumer goods, whether we decide which person we marry or which political candidate gets our vote, we choose the option that has more value to us. Over the last decade, neuroeconomic research has mapped the neural substrates of economic value, revealing that activation in brain regions such as ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventral striatum or posterior cingulate cortex reflects how much an individual values an option and which of several options he/she will choose. However, while great progress has been made exploring the mechanisms underlying concrete decisions, neuroeconomic research has been less concerned with the questions of why people value what they value, and why different people value different things. Social psychologists and sociologists have long been interested in core values, motivational constructs that are intrinsically linked to the self-schema and are used to guide actions and decisions across different situations and different time points. Core value may thus be an important determinant of individual differences in economic value computation and decision-making. Based on a review of recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural representation of core values and their interactions with neural systems representing economic value, we outline a common framework that integrates the core value concept and neuroeconomic research on value-based decision-making. PMID:23898252

The enthalpy of sublimation of cubane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bashir-Hashemi, A.; Chickos, James S.; Hanshaw, William; Zhao Hui; Farivar, Behzad S.; Liebman, Joel F.

2004-01-01

The sublimation enthalpy of cubane, a key reference material for force field and quantum mechanical computations, was measured by combining the vaporization enthalpy at T = 298.15 K to the sum of the fusion enthalpy measured at T = 405 K and a solid-solid phase transition that occurs at T 394 K. The fusion and solid-solid phase transitions were measured previously. A sublimation enthalpy value of (55.2 ± 2.0) kJ mol -1 at T = 298.15 K was obtained. This value compares quite favorably the value obtained by comparing the sublimation enthalpy of similar substances as a function of their molar masses but is at odds with earlier measurements

The enthalpy of sublimation of cubane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bashir-Hashemi, A.; Chickos, James S.; Hanshaw, William; Zhao Hui; Farivar, Behzad S.; Liebman, Joel F

2004-12-15

The sublimation enthalpy of cubane, a key reference material for force field and quantum mechanical computations, was measured by combining the vaporization enthalpy at T = 298.15 K to the sum of the fusion enthalpy measured at T = 405 K and a solid-solid phase transition that occurs at T 394 K. The fusion and solid-solid phase transitions were measured previously. A sublimation enthalpy value of (55.2 {+-} 2.0) kJ mol{sup -1} at T = 298.15 K was obtained. This value compares quite favorably the value obtained by comparing the sublimation enthalpy of similar substances as a function of their molar masses but is at odds with earlier measurements.

Comparison of Americium-Beryllium neutron spectrum obtained using activation foil detectors and NE-213 spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sunny, Sunil; Subbaiah, K.V.; Selvakumaran, T.S.

1999-01-01

Neutron spectrum of Americium - Beryllium (α,n) source is measured with two different spectrometers vis-a-vis activation foils (foil detectors) and NE-213 organic scintillator. Activity induced in the foils is measured with 4π-β-γ sodium iodide detector by integrating counts under photo peak and the saturation activity is found by correcting to elapsed time before counting. The data on calculated activity is fed into the unfolding code, SAND-II to obtain neutron spectrum. In the case of organic scintillator, the pulse height spectrum is obtained using MCA and this is processed with unfolding code DUST in order to get neutron spectrum. The Americium - Beryllium (α,n) neutron spectrum thus obtained by two different methods is compared. It is inferred that the NE-213 scintillator spectrum is in excellent agreement with the values beyond 1MeV. Neutron spectrum obtained by activation foils depends on initial guess spectrum and is found to be in reasonable agreement with NE-213 spectrum. (author)

Coulomb sums for 7Li nucleus at 3-momentum transfers q=1,250...1,625 fm-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buki, A.Yu.; Shevchenko, N.G.; Timchenko, I.S.

2009-01-01

The experimental response functions of 7 Li nucleus at effective 3-momentum transfers q = 1.250; 1.375; 1.500 and 1.625 fm -1 are presented. The longitudinal response functions were used to evaluate the Coulomb sum values. The Coulomb sums for 6 Li obtained by us earlier were applied to analyze these data. The Coulomb sums of lithium isotopes were compared with the well-known Coulomb sums values of the other nuclei

On the Kumar formulation for the temperature dependence of thermal expansivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, C.P.; Chauhan, R.S.

2004-01-01

The expression for interionic separation obtained earlier by Kumar [Physica. B, Condensed Matter 205 (1995) 175] has been corrected so as to make it compatible with the value of the thermal expansivity at the initial temperature. The values of the interionic separations as a function of temperature calculated for NaCl and KCl using the modified formulation are found to present improved agreement with the experimental data at high temperatures up to the melting temperatures

A general formula for the WACC

OpenAIRE

Farber, André; Gillet, Roland; Szafarz, Ariane

2005-01-01

Recent controversies testify that the tax shield valuation remains a hot topic in the financial literature. Basically, two methods have been proposed to incorporate the tax benefit of debt in the present value computation: The adjusted present value(APV), and the classical weighted average cost of capital (WACC). This note clarifies the relationship between these two apparently different approaches by offering a general formula for the WACC. This formula encompasses earlier results obtained b...

Phi-value analysis of a linear, sequential reaction mechanism: theory and application to ion channel gating.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yu; Pearson, John E; Auerbach, Anthony

2005-12-01

We derive the analytical form of a rate-equilibrium free-energy relationship (with slope Phi) for a bounded, linear chain of coupled reactions having arbitrary connecting rate constants. The results confirm previous simulation studies showing that Phi-values reflect the position of the perturbed reaction within the chain, with reactions occurring earlier in the sequence producing higher Phi-values than those occurring later in the sequence. The derivation includes an expression for the transmission coefficients of the overall reaction based on the rate constants of an arbitrary, discrete, finite Markov chain. The results indicate that experimental Phi-values can be used to calculate the relative heights of the energy barriers between intermediate states of the chain but provide no information about the energies of the wells along the reaction path. Application of the equations to the case of diliganded acetylcholine receptor channel gating suggests that the transition-state ensemble for this reaction is nearly flat. Although this mechanism accounts for many of the basic features of diliganded and unliganded acetylcholine receptor channel gating, the experimental rate-equilibrium free-energy relationships appear to be more linear than those predicted by the theory.

Value-based distributed generator placements for service quality improvements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teng, Jen-Hao; Chen, Chi-Fa [Department of Electrical Engineering, I-Shou University, No. 1, Section 1, Syuecheng Road, Dashu Township, Kaohsiung Country 840 (Taiwan); Liu, Yi-Hwa [Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei (Taiwan); Chen, Chia-Yen [Department of Computer Science, The University of Auckland (New Zealand)

2007-03-15

Distributed generator (DG) resources are small, self-contained electric generating plants that can provide power to homes, businesses or industrial facilities in distribution feeders. They can be used to reduce power loss and improve service reliability. However, the values of DGs are largely dependent on their types, sizes and locations as they were installed in distribution feeders. A value-based method is proposed in this paper to enhance the reliability and obtain the benefits for DG placement. The benefits of DG placement described in this paper include power cost saving, power loss reduction, and reliability enhancement. The costs of DG placement include the investment, maintenance and operating costs. The proposed value-based method tries to find the best tradeoff between the costs and benefits of DG placement and then find the optimal types of DG and their corresponding locations and sizes in distribution feeders. The derived formulations are solved by a genetic algorithm based method. Test results show that with proper types, sizes and installation site selection, DG placement can be used to improve system reliability, reduce customer interruption costs and save power cost; as well as enabling electric utilities to obtain the maximal economical benefits. (author)

Changes in alt, ast and alp values of plasma and serum samples ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Blood samples were obtained from a total of 20 patients that presented with cases of liver malfunction at the Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Nigeria. The enzyme assays were carried out immediately upon sample collection and separation to obtain the baseline value (BV), and thereafter at specified ...

Microbiological quality of five potato products obtained at retail markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Duran, A P; Swartzentruber, A; Lanier, J M; Wentz, B A; Schwab, A H; Barnard, R J; Read, R B

1982-01-01

The microbiological quality of frozen hash brown potatoes, dried hash brown potatoes with onions, frozen french fried potatoes, dried instant mashed potatoes, and potato salad was determined by a national sampling at the retail level. A wide range of results was obtained, with most sampling units of each products having excellent microbiological quality. Geometric mean aerobic plate counts were as follows: dried hash brown potatoes, 270/g; frozen hash brown potatoes with onions, 580/g; frozen french fried potatoes 78/g; dried instant mashed potatoes, 1.1 x 10(3)/g; and potato salad, 3.6 x 10(3)/g. Mean values of coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus were less than 10/g. PMID:6758695

Predictive Value of Respiratory Rate Thresholds in Pneumonia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A study was carried out to determine the predictive value of respiratory rate in the clinical diagnosis of pneumonia in 101 children with respiratory symptoms of <28 days duration. Clinical, demographic and anthropometric variables were obtained at presentation while confirmation of the diagnosis was by a chest x-ray in ...

Nutritional value of quinua (chenopodium quinoa) seeds improved by radioinduced mutagenesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De La Cruz, T. E.; Avila R, S.; Garcia R, A.

2006-01-01

Quinua (Chenopodium quinoa), a pseudo cereal considered as an alternative crop for areas with marginal agricultural conditions has been subjected since 1990 to a radioinduced mutagenesis programme aiming to obtain lines with low saponin content, good yields and high nutritional value. Seeds obtained from lines grown in M7 generation which exhibited yields averaging 1.5 ton/ha, were analyzed regarding grain quality and nutritive value. Evaluated parameters were diameter and thickness of the seed, weight of 100 seeds and density. Regarding to bromatological analysis, determinations were made of moisture, ash, raw fiber, proteins, oil content and carbohydrates, following the procedures indicated in Official Mexican Norms (NOM). Evaluated genotypes were the varieties Sajama, Barandales and Amarilla de Marangani and the mutant lines 20R110, 94, 20R333, 20R227, 20R342, 20R37 and the advanced line obtained by selection 640304. Mutant genotypes 20R333 and 20R342 exhibited outstanding characteristics regarding to grain quality (diameter 2.0 mm, thickness 1.2mm, weight of 100 seeds 0.42 and 0.22 g respectively and density 710 and 686 grams per liter). In the bromatological analysis the protein content ranged from 11.82 % (genotype 20 R227) to 16.8% in mutant 20R333 while mutant 20R342 exhibited 15.6%. The lipid content was minimum on Barandales and 20R333 both with 3.8%, having the genotype 20R110 the highest value among evaluated genotypes with 4.35%, line 20R342 exhibited 4.2%.. The high percentages of proteins and lipids, found among some analyzed mutants exhibit the feasibility to obtain, through radioinduced mutagenesis, lines with low saponins and high nutritive value

Prognostic significance of contrast-enhanced CT attenuation value in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asayama, Yoshiki [Kyushu University, Department of Advanced Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Nishie, Akihiro; Ishigami, Kousei; Ushijima, Yasuhiro; Takayama, Yukihisa; Okamoto, Daisuke; Fujita, Nobuhiro; Honda, Hiroshi [Kyushu University, Departments of Clinical Radiology, Fukuoka (Japan); Ohtsuka, Takao [Kyushu University, Departments of Surgery and Oncology, Fukuoka (Japan); Yoshizumi, Tomoharu [Kyushu University, Departments of Surgery and Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Aishima, Shinichi [Saga University, Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Saga (Japan); Kyushu University, Departments of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan); Oda, Yoshinao [Kyushu University, Departments of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan)

2017-06-15

To determine whether washout characteristics of dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) could predict survival in patients with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (EHC). This study collected 46 resected cases. All cases were examined by dynamic contrast study on multidetector-row CT. Region-of-interest measurements were obtained at the non-enhanced, portal venous phase and delayed phase in the tumour and were used to calculate the washout ratio as follows: [(attenuation value at portal venous phase CT - attenuation value at delayed enhanced CT)/(attenuation value at portal venous phase CT - attenuation value at unenhanced CT)] x 100. On the basis of the median washout ratio, we classified the cases into two groups, a high-washout group and low-washout group. Associations between overall survival and various factors including washout rates were analysed. The median washout ratio was 29.4 %. Univariate analysis revealed that a lower washout ratio, venous invasion, lymphatic permeation and lymph node metastasis were associated with shorter survival. Multivariate analysis identified the lower washout ratio as an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio, 3.768; p value, 0.027). The washout ratio obtained from the contrast-enhanced CT may be a useful imaging biomarker for the prediction of survival of patients with EHC. (orig.)

Bivariate value-at-risk

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Giuseppe Arbia

2007-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper we extend the concept of Value-at-risk (VaR to bivariate return distributions in order to obtain measures of the market risk of an asset taking into account additional features linked to downside risk exposure. We first present a general definition of risk as the probability of an adverse event over a random distribution and we then introduce a measure of market risk (b-VaR that admits the traditional b of an asset in portfolio management as a special case when asset returns are normally distributed. Empirical evidences are provided by using Italian stock market data.

The value of urography after angiocardiography. A survey of 300 cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pyle, R.; Goebel, N.; Krayenbuehl, H.P.; Zurich Univ.

1980-01-01

Routine films were taken of the kidneys after contrast studies of the heart and great vessels in 300 consecutive patients using the Sircam 100-mm camera. A significant amount of information was obtained at low cost and with minimal radiation of the patient. A standard was established for normal sizes of kidneys using this format. There were 56 abnormalities, including 26 pairs of kidneys that differed significantly in size (19% and 9%). There were 2 tumors, 2 cysts, 19 congenital abnormalities, 1 renal artery stenosis, 4 renal and 1 biliary stone. One of the tumors, undetected at a previous angiographic examination, was inoperable, and earlier detection would have undoubtedly benefited and may have offered a possible cure to this patient. The authors feel that the addition of this examination, trifling in the expenditure of time and money, is of definite benefit to the patient. (orig.) [de

Recoil corrected bag model calculations for semileptonic weak decays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lie-Svendsen, Oe.; Hoegaasen, H.

1987-02-01

Recoil corrections to various model results for strangeness changing weak decay amplitudes have been developed. It is shown that the spurious reference frame dependence of earlier calculations is reduced. The second class currents are generally less important than obtained by calculations in the static approximation. Theoretical results are compared to observations. The agreement is quite good, although the values for the Cabibbo angle obtained by fits to the decay rates are somewhat to large

Neurocognitive Mechanisms Underlying Value-Based Decision-Making: From Core Values to Economic Value

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Tobias eBrosch

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Value plays a central role in practically every aspect of human life that requires a decision: whether we choose between different consumer goods, whether we decide which person we marry or which political candidate gets our vote, we choose the option that has more value to us. Over the last decade, neuroeconomic research has mapped the neural substrates of economic value, revealing that activation in brain regions such as ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC, ventral striatum or posterior cingulate cortex reflects how much an individual values an option and which of several options he/she will choose. However, while great progress has been made exploring the mechanisms underlying concrete decisions, neuroeconomic research has been less concerned with the questions of why people value what they value, and why different people value different things. Social psychologists and sociologists have long been interested in core values, motivational constructs that are intrinsically linked to the self-schema and are used to guide actions and decisions across different situations and different time points. Core value may thus be an important determinant of individual differences in economic value computation and decision-making. Based on a review of recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural representation of core values and their interactions with neural systems representing economic value, we outline a common framework that integrates the core value concept and neuroeconomic research on value-based decision-making.

Valuing fire planning alternatives in forest restoration: using derived demand to integrate economics with ecological restoration.

Science.gov (United States)

Rideout, Douglas B; Ziesler, Pamela S; Kernohan, Nicole J

2014-08-01

Assessing the value of fire planning alternatives is challenging because fire affects a wide array of ecosystem, market, and social values. Wildland fire management is increasingly used to address forest restoration while pragmatic approaches to assessing the value of fire management have yet to be developed. Earlier approaches to assessing the value of forest management relied on connecting site valuation with management variables. While sound, such analysis is too narrow to account for a broad range of ecosystem services. The metric fire regime condition class (FRCC) was developed from ecosystem management philosophy, but it is entirely biophysical. Its lack of economic information cripples its utility to support decision-making. We present a means of defining and assessing the deviation of a landscape from its desired fire management condition by re-framing the fire management problem as one of derived demand. This valued deviation establishes a performance metric for wildland fire management. Using a case study, we display the deviation across a landscape and sum the deviations to produce a summary metric. This summary metric is used to assess the value of alternative fire management strategies on improving the fire management condition toward its desired state. It enables us to identify which sites are most valuable to restore, even when they are in the same fire regime condition class. The case study site exemplifies how a wide range of disparate values, such as watershed, wildlife, property and timber, can be incorporated into a single landscape assessment. The analysis presented here leverages previous research on environmental capital value and non-market valuation by integrating ecosystem management, restoration, and microeconomics. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Evaluation of thermal comfort in a student population: predictive value of an integrated index (Fanger's predicted mean value].

Science.gov (United States)

Catenacci, G; Terzi, R; Marcaletti, G; Tringali, S

1989-01-01

Practical applications and predictive values of a thermal comfort index (Fanger's PRV) were verified on a sample school population (1236 subjects) by studying the relationships between thermal sensations (subjective analysis), determined by means of an individual questionnaire, and the values of thermal comfort index (objective analysis) obtained by calculating the PMV index individually in the subjects under study. In homogeneous conditions of metabolic expenditure rate and thermal impedence from clothing, significant differences were found between the two kinds of analyses. At 22 degrees C mean radiant and operative temperature, the PMV values averaged 0 and the percentage of subjects who experienced thermal comfort did not exceed 60%. The high level of subjects who were dissatisfied with their environmental thermal conditions confirms the doubts regarding the use of the PMV index as a predictive indicator of thermal comfort, especially considering that the negative answers were not homogeneous nor attributable to the small thermal fluctuations (less than 0.5 degree C) measured in the classrooms.

Obtaining Competitiveness Through Reverse Logistics: A Case Study in a Wood Industry

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Patricia Guarnieri

2006-10-01

Full Text Available The reverse logistics make possible the return of residues to productive and/or business cycle. The present study has as objective to analyse the practices of a wood industry regarding to the residues and the ecological, lawful, and economic returns, obtained with the application of the reverse logistics concepts in the business environment. The technical procedure adopted was the case study. The data collection was made through the direct observation and interviews with the people in charge of the production and logistics sectors. The main results found were: the residues generated returns to the productive cycle obeying the environmental legislation, transforming itself in raw material again. The lawful revaluing of wood residues obtain competitiveness to company, because solve the residues destination problem providing the return for productive and business cycle, thus aggregating economic, lawful and ecological value to the wood residues.

Iterative method for obtaining the prompt and delayed alpha-modes of the diffusion equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, K.P.; Degweker, S.B.; Modak, R.S.; Singh, Kanchhi

2011-01-01

Highlights: → A method for obtaining α-modes of the neutron diffusion equation has been developed. → The difference between the prompt and delayed modes is more pronounced for the higher modes. → Prompt and delayed modes differ more in reflector region. - Abstract: Higher modes of the neutron diffusion equation are required in some applications such as second order perturbation theory, and modal kinetics. In an earlier paper we had discussed a method for computing the α-modes of the diffusion equation. The discussion assumed that all neutrons are prompt. The present paper describes an extension of the method for finding the α-modes of diffusion equation with the inclusion of delayed neutrons. Such modes are particularly suitable for expanding the time dependent flux in a reactor for describing transients in a reactor. The method is illustrated by applying it to a three dimensional heavy water reactor model problem. The problem is solved in two and three neutron energy groups and with one and six delayed neutron groups. The results show that while the delayed α-modes are similar to λ-modes they are quite different from prompt modes. The difference gets progressively larger as we go to higher modes.

The boundary value problem for discrete analytic functions

KAUST Repository

Skopenkov, Mikhail

2013-06-01

This paper is on further development of discrete complex analysis introduced by R.Isaacs, J.Ferrand, R.Duffin, and C.Mercat. We consider a graph lying in the complex plane and having quadrilateral faces. A function on the vertices is called discrete analytic, if for each face the difference quotients along the two diagonals are equal.We prove that the Dirichlet boundary value problem for the real part of a discrete analytic function has a unique solution. In the case when each face has orthogonal diagonals we prove that this solution uniformly converges to a harmonic function in the scaling limit. This solves a problem of S.Smirnov from 2010. This was proved earlier by R.Courant-K.Friedrichs-H.Lewy and L.Lusternik for square lattices, by D.Chelkak-S.Smirnov and implicitly by P.G.Ciarlet-P.-A.Raviart for rhombic lattices.In particular, our result implies uniform convergence of the finite element method on Delaunay triangulations. This solves a problem of A.Bobenko from 2011. The methodology is based on energy estimates inspired by alternating-current network theory. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Reformation of Taxation of Income and Added Value in the Context of Legalisation of Financial Flows

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Paientko Tetiana V.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the study of the potential of taxation tools of legalisation of financial flows. The goal of the article is justification of directions of reformation of taxation of income and added value in the context of legalisation of financial flows in Ukraine. Pursuant to results of the study the article shows that using taxation tools it is possible to legalise and increase both taxation financial flows and a part of the financial flows earlier moved to the shadow sector of economy. First of all, budget receipts from income tax could be increased by means of reduction of this tax evasion. This could be achieved with the help of the mechanism of differentiation of income taxation, namely: application of a reduced income tax rate, which is directed at investments into the fixed capital, and a standard rate for the income distributed for other purposes. This would create conditions when tax evasion becomes unprofitable for tax payers. Second, reducing VAT evasion would result in its growth in budget receipts. To do this it is recommended to use the reduced rate during taxation of food supplies and public transportation services, which would allow reduction of the VAT evasion degree in the sphere of small and medium businesses (not connected with export that are engaged in these types of activity. The size of the reduced rate is identified by elasticity of the shadow added value and VAT multiplier. Third, it is possible to increase financial flows by means of attraction of a part of financial flows, earlier moved into the shadow economy, into economy and mobilisation into the budget using the mechanism of tax amnesty. Using foreign experience the article justifies optimal conditions of amnesty and size of the rate of income legalisation.

Term value/band-gap energy correlations for solid rare gas excitons