Mechanism of blood pressure and R-R variability: insights from ganglion blockade in humans

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rong; Iwasaki, Kenichi; Zuckerman, Julie H.; Behbehani, Khosrow; Crandall, Craig G.; Levine, Benjamin D.; Blomqvist, C. G. (Principal Investigator)

2002-01-01

Spontaneous blood pressure (BP) and R-R variability are used frequently as 'windows' into cardiovascular control mechanisms. However, the origin of these rhythmic fluctuations is not completely understood. In this study, with ganglion blockade, we evaluated the role of autonomic neural activity versus other 'non-neural' factors in the origin of BP and R-R variability in humans. Beat-to-beat BP, R-R interval and respiratory excursions were recorded in ten healthy subjects (aged 30 +/- 6 years) before and after ganglion blockade with trimethaphan. The spectral power of these variables was calculated in the very low (0.0078-0.05 Hz), low (0.05-0.15 Hz) and high (0.15-0.35 Hz) frequency ranges. The relationship between systolic BP and R-R variability was examined by cross-spectral analysis. After blockade, R-R variability was virtually abolished at all frequencies; however, respiration and high frequency BP variability remained unchanged. Very low and low frequency BP variability was reduced substantially by 84 and 69 %, respectively, but still persisted. Transfer function gain between systolic BP and R-R interval variability decreased by 92 and 88 % at low and high frequencies, respectively, while the phase changed from negative to positive values at the high frequencies. These data suggest that under supine resting conditions with spontaneous breathing: (1) R-R variability at all measured frequencies is predominantly controlled by autonomic neural activity; (2) BP variability at high frequencies (> 0.15 Hz) is mediated largely, if not exclusively, by mechanical effects of respiration on intrathoracic pressure and/or cardiac filling; (3) BP variability at very low and low frequencies (rhythmicity; and (4) the dynamic relationship between BP and R-R variability as quantified by transfer function analysis is determined predominantly by autonomic neural activity rather than other, non-neural factors.

Implementation of patient blood management remains extremely variable in Europe and Canada: the NATA benchmark project: An observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Van der Linden, Philippe; Hardy, Jean-François

2016-12-01

Preoperative anaemia is associated with increased postoperative morbidity and mortality. Patient blood management (PBM) is advocated to improve patient outcomes. NATA, the 'Network for the advancement of patient blood management, haemostasis and thrombosis', initiated a benchmark project with the aim of providing the basis for educational strategies to implement optimal PBM in participating centres. Prospective, observational study with online data collection in 11 secondary and tertiary care institutions interested in developing PBM. Ten European centres (Austria, Spain, England, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania, Greece, France, and Germany) and one Canadian centre participated between January 2010 and June 2011. A total of 2470 patients undergoing total hip (THR) or knee replacement, or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), were registered in the study. Data from 2431 records were included in the final analysis. Primary outcome measures were the incidence and volume of red blood cells (RBC) transfused. Logistic regression analysis identified variables independently associated with RBC transfusions. The incidence of transfusion was significantly different between centres for THR (range 7 to 95%), total knee replacement (range 3 to 100%) and CABG (range 20 to 95%). The volume of RBC transfused was significantly different between centres for THR and CABG. The incidence of preoperative anaemia ranged between 3 and 40% and its treatment between 0 and 40%, the latter not being related to the former. Patient characteristics, evolution of haemoglobin concentrations and blood losses were also different between centres. Variables independently associated with RBC transfusion were preoperative haemoglobin concentration, lost volume of RBC and female sex. Implementation of PBM remains extremely variable across centres. The relative importance of factors explaining RBC transfusion differs across institutions, some being patient related whereas others are related to

A variable angle slant-hole collimator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, R.H.; Alpert, N.M.; Strauss, H.W.

1983-01-01

A variable-angle slant-hole (VASH) collimator was constructed to show the feasibility of using multiple sliding plates to achieve a range of collimator channel inclinations. One hundred and sixty tungsten plates, 0.125 mm thick and 14 cm square, were photoetched to produce 3025 1.5-mm2 holes in each plate, separated by 0.8-mm septa. Along with the collimator holes, registration holes and positioning grooves were also etched. The plates were placed in a holder and stacked to form a collimator 2.0 cm high. The holder permitted the plates to be sheared to achieve viewing angles from 0 to 40 degrees from the vertical. Resolution and sensitivity were determined both across and along the shear directions. Resolution of a thin /sup 99m/Tc source, 1.24 mm diam and 7 cm long, located 5 cm from the collimator face in air, was 1.1 cm FWHM at 0 degree shear and remained unchanged with increasing slant. The resolution was similar both across and along the shear plane. Sensitivity was determined with a point source placed 7 cm from the collimator face. At 0 degree slant the sensitivity was 169 cps/MBq (6.24 csp/mu Ci). A general all purpose (GAP) collimator had a FWHM of 1 cm for the line source in air at 5 cm, and a sensitivity of 205 cps/MBq (7.58 cps/mu Ci) for the point source at 7 cm. The data suggest that a variable-angle slant-hole collimator can be constructed of laminated plates

Quantifying inter-laboratory variability in stable isotope analysis of ancient skeletal remains.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William J Pestle

Full Text Available Over the past forty years, stable isotope analysis of bone (and tooth collagen and hydroxyapatite has become a mainstay of archaeological and paleoanthropological reconstructions of paleodiet and paleoenvironment. Despite this method's frequent use across anthropological subdisciplines (and beyond, the present work represents the first attempt at gauging the effects of inter-laboratory variability engendered by differences in a sample preparation, and b analysis (instrumentation, working standards, and data calibration. Replicate analyses of a 14C-dated ancient human bone by twenty-one archaeological and paleoecological stable isotope laboratories revealed significant inter-laboratory isotopic variation for both collagen and carbonate. For bone collagen, we found a sizeable range of 1.8‰ for δ13Ccol and 1.9‰ for δ15Ncol among laboratories, but an interpretatively insignificant average pairwise difference of 0.2‰ and 0.4‰ for δ13Ccol and δ15Ncol respectively. For bone hydroxyapatite the observed range increased to a troublingly large 3.5‰ for δ13Cap and 6.7‰ for δ18Oap, with average pairwise differences of 0.6‰ for δ13Cap and a disquieting 2.0‰ for δ18Oap. In order to assess the effects of preparation versus analysis on isotopic variability among laboratories, a subset of the samples prepared by the participating laboratories were analyzed a second time on the same instrument. Based on this duplicate analysis, it was determined that roughly half of the isotopic variability among laboratories could be attributed to differences in sample preparation, with the other half resulting from differences in analysis (instrumentation, working standards, and data calibration. These findings have serious implications for choices made in the preparation and extraction of target biomolecules, the comparison of results obtained from different laboratories, and the interpretation of small differences in bone collagen and hydroxyapatite

Quantifying inter-laboratory variability in stable isotope analysis of ancient skeletal remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Pestle, William J; Crowley, Brooke E; Weirauch, Matthew T

2014-01-01

Over the past forty years, stable isotope analysis of bone (and tooth) collagen and hydroxyapatite has become a mainstay of archaeological and paleoanthropological reconstructions of paleodiet and paleoenvironment. Despite this method's frequent use across anthropological subdisciplines (and beyond), the present work represents the first attempt at gauging the effects of inter-laboratory variability engendered by differences in a) sample preparation, and b) analysis (instrumentation, working standards, and data calibration). Replicate analyses of a 14C-dated ancient human bone by twenty-one archaeological and paleoecological stable isotope laboratories revealed significant inter-laboratory isotopic variation for both collagen and carbonate. For bone collagen, we found a sizeable range of 1.8‰ for δ13Ccol and 1.9‰ for δ15Ncol among laboratories, but an interpretatively insignificant average pairwise difference of 0.2‰ and 0.4‰ for δ13Ccol and δ15Ncol respectively. For bone hydroxyapatite the observed range increased to a troublingly large 3.5‰ for δ13Cap and 6.7‰ for δ18Oap, with average pairwise differences of 0.6‰ for δ13Cap and a disquieting 2.0‰ for δ18Oap. In order to assess the effects of preparation versus analysis on isotopic variability among laboratories, a subset of the samples prepared by the participating laboratories were analyzed a second time on the same instrument. Based on this duplicate analysis, it was determined that roughly half of the isotopic variability among laboratories could be attributed to differences in sample preparation, with the other half resulting from differences in analysis (instrumentation, working standards, and data calibration). These findings have serious implications for choices made in the preparation and extraction of target biomolecules, the comparison of results obtained from different laboratories, and the interpretation of small differences in bone collagen and hydroxyapatite isotope values

The effects of heart rate variability biofeedback in patients with preterm labour.

Science.gov (United States)

Siepmann, Martin; Hennig, Una-Dorothea; Siepmann, Timo; Nitzsche, Katharina; Mück-Weymann, Michael; Petrowski, Katja; Weidner, Kerstin

2014-03-01

Preterm birth is a highly prevalent phenomenon that was shown to be associated with mental stress during pregnancy (Rich-Edwards and Grizzard in Am J Obstet Gynecol 192(5 Suppl):S30-S35, 2005). We aimed to assess the effects of heart rate variability (HRV)-biofeedback in patients with preterm labour. Therefore, we conducted a controlled randomized parallel group study in 48 female patients aged 19-38 years (median = 29) with preterm labour at gestational week 24th-32nd (median = 29th). In this study, one group (n = 24) attended six sessions of HRV-biofeedback over 2 weeks whereas patients of the other group (n = 24) were assigned to control sessions. In the HRV-biofeedback treated group, perception of chronic stress was decreased 4 weeks after completion of training compared to baseline (p biofeedback group, preterm birth was seen in 3 patients (13 %) whereas in the control group, preterm delivery occurred in 8 patients (33 %, p = n.s.). There was no difference in birth weight between groups and HRV remained unchanged. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that HRV-biofeedback can reduce chronic stress in patients with preterm labour when administered as an adjunct to routine care. However, it remains unclear whether stress reduction through HRV-biofeedback has a beneficial effect on preterm birth.

Changes in intracranial morphology, regional cerebral water content and vital physiological variables during epidural bleeding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganz, J.C.; Inst. of Surgical Research, National Hospital, Oslo; Thuomas, K.AA.; Inst. of Surgical Research, National Hospital, Oslo; Vlajkovic, S.; Inst. of Surgical Research, National Hospital, Oslo; Nilsson, P.; Inst. of Surgical Research, National Hospital, Oslo; Bergstroem, K.; Inst. of Surgical Research, National Hospital, Oslo; Ponten, U.; Inst. of Surgical Research, National Hospital, Oslo; Zwetnow, N.N.; Inst. of Surgical Research, National Hospital, Oslo

1993-01-01

Epidural bleeding was produced in 8 anaesthetised and heparinised dogs by an artificial system. Changes in vital physiological variables were related to intracranial shifts and tissue water content assessed with MR imaging. Six animals survived while 2 succumbed. In the surviving animals intracranial shifts and compressions remained unchanged from an early stage. The cerebral perfusion pressure was reduced from between 80 and 110 mm Hg to between 40 and 60 mm Hg. Some increase in supratentorial white matter tissue water was observed. In the lethal experiments cerebral perfusion pressure fell to less than 40 mm Hg. Moreover, secondary delayed anatomical changes were seen including hydrocephalus. Increase in cerebral tissue water was more intense and widespread than in the survivors. These findings indicate that the outcome of epidural bleeding is related to cerebral perfusion pressure with secondary deterioration resulting from additional volume loading from increased tissue water and hydrocephalus. (orig.)

Increased heart rate variability during nondirective meditation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nesvold, Anders; Fagerland, Morten W; Davanger, Svend; Ellingsen, Øyvind; Solberg, Erik E; Holen, Are; Sevre, Knut; Atar, Dan

2012-08-01

Meditation practices are in use for relaxation and stress reduction. Some studies indicate beneficial cardiovascular health effects of meditation. The effects on the autonomous nervous system seem to vary among techniques. The purpose of the present study was to identify autonomic nerve activity changes during nondirective meditation. Heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure variability (BPV), and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) were monitored in 27 middle-aged healthy participants of both genders, first during 20 min regular rest with eyes closed, thereafter practising Acem meditation for 20 min. Haemodynamic and autonomic data were collected continuously (beat-to-beat) and non-invasively. HRV and BPV parameters were estimated by power spectral analyses, computed by an autoregressive model. Spontaneous activity of baroreceptors were determined by the sequence method. Primary outcomes were changes in HRV, BPV, and BRS between rest and meditation. HRV increased in the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) bands during meditation, compared with rest (p = 0.014, 0.013, respectively). Power spectral density of the RR-intervals increased as well (p = 0.012). LF/HF ratio decreased non-significantly, and a reduction of LF-BPV power was observed during meditation (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in BRS. Respiration and heart rates remained unchanged. Blood pressure increased slightly during meditation. There is an increased parasympathetic and reduced sympathetic nerve activity and increased overall HRV, while practising the technique. Hence, nondirective meditation by the middle aged may contribute towards a reduction of cardiovascular risk.

Effects of visual feedback-induced variability on motor learning of handrim wheelchair propulsion.

Science.gov (United States)

Leving, Marika T; Vegter, Riemer J K; Hartog, Johanneke; Lamoth, Claudine J C; de Groot, Sonja; van der Woude, Lucas H V

2015-01-01

It has been suggested that a higher intra-individual variability benefits the motor learning of wheelchair propulsion. The present study evaluated whether feedback-induced variability on wheelchair propulsion technique variables would also enhance the motor learning process. Learning was operationalized as an improvement in mechanical efficiency and propulsion technique, which are thought to be closely related during the learning process. 17 Participants received visual feedback-based practice (feedback group) and 15 participants received regular practice (natural learning group). Both groups received equal practice dose of 80 min, over 3 weeks, at 0.24 W/kg at a treadmill speed of 1.11 m/s. To compare both groups the pre- and post-test were performed without feedback. The feedback group received real-time visual feedback on seven propulsion variables with instruction to manipulate the presented variable to achieve the highest possible variability (1st 4-min block) and optimize it in the prescribed direction (2nd 4-min block). To increase motor exploration the participants were unaware of the exact variable they received feedback on. Energy consumption and the propulsion technique variables with their respective coefficient of variation were calculated to evaluate the amount of intra-individual variability. The feedback group, which practiced with higher intra-individual variability, improved the propulsion technique between pre- and post-test to the same extent as the natural learning group. Mechanical efficiency improved between pre- and post-test in the natural learning group but remained unchanged in the feedback group. These results suggest that feedback-induced variability inhibited the improvement in mechanical efficiency. Moreover, since both groups improved propulsion technique but only the natural learning group improved mechanical efficiency, it can be concluded that the improvement in mechanical efficiency and propulsion technique do not always appear

Effects of visual feedback-induced variability on motor learning of handrim wheelchair propulsion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marika T Leving

Full Text Available It has been suggested that a higher intra-individual variability benefits the motor learning of wheelchair propulsion. The present study evaluated whether feedback-induced variability on wheelchair propulsion technique variables would also enhance the motor learning process. Learning was operationalized as an improvement in mechanical efficiency and propulsion technique, which are thought to be closely related during the learning process.17 Participants received visual feedback-based practice (feedback group and 15 participants received regular practice (natural learning group. Both groups received equal practice dose of 80 min, over 3 weeks, at 0.24 W/kg at a treadmill speed of 1.11 m/s. To compare both groups the pre- and post-test were performed without feedback. The feedback group received real-time visual feedback on seven propulsion variables with instruction to manipulate the presented variable to achieve the highest possible variability (1st 4-min block and optimize it in the prescribed direction (2nd 4-min block. To increase motor exploration the participants were unaware of the exact variable they received feedback on. Energy consumption and the propulsion technique variables with their respective coefficient of variation were calculated to evaluate the amount of intra-individual variability.The feedback group, which practiced with higher intra-individual variability, improved the propulsion technique between pre- and post-test to the same extent as the natural learning group. Mechanical efficiency improved between pre- and post-test in the natural learning group but remained unchanged in the feedback group.These results suggest that feedback-induced variability inhibited the improvement in mechanical efficiency. Moreover, since both groups improved propulsion technique but only the natural learning group improved mechanical efficiency, it can be concluded that the improvement in mechanical efficiency and propulsion technique do not

THE RHYTHM OF FAIRALL 9. I. OBSERVING THE SPECTRAL VARIABILITY WITH XMM-NEWTON AND NuSTAR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lohfink, A. M.; Pinto, C.; Alston, W.; Fabian, A. C.; Kara, E.; Parker, M. L. [Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom); Reynolds, C. S. [Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States); Boggs, S. E.; Craig, W. W. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 (United States); Christensen, F. E.; Hailey, C. J. [Danish Technical University, DK-2800 Lyngby (Denmark); Harrison, F. A. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Matt, G. [Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146 Roma (Italy); Stern, D.; Walton, D. [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Zhang, W. W., E-mail: alohfink@ast.cam.ac.uk [X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771 (United States)

2016-04-10

We present a multi-epoch X-ray spectral analysis of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Fairall 9. Our analysis shows that Fairall 9 displays unique spectral variability in that its ratio residuals to a simple absorbed power law in the 0.5–10 keV band remain constant with time in spite of large variations in flux. This behavior implies an unchanging source geometry and the same emission processes continuously at work at the timescale probed. With the constraints from NuSTAR on the broad-band spectral shape, it is clear that the soft excess in this source is a superposition of two different processes, one being blurred ionized reflection in the innermost parts of the accretion disk, and the other a continuum component such as a spatially distinct Comptonizing region. Alternatively, a more complex primary Comptonization component together with blurred ionized reflection could be responsible.

Remaining useful life estimation in heterogeneous fleets working under variable operating conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Dahidi, Sameer; Di Maio, Francesco; Baraldi, Piero; Zio, Enrico

2016-01-01

The availability of condition monitoring data for large fleets of similar equipment motivates the development of data-driven prognostic approaches that capitalize on the information contained in such data to estimate equipment Remaining Useful Life (RUL). A main difficulty is that the fleet of equipment typically experiences different operating conditions, which influence both the condition monitoring data and the degradation processes that physically determine the RUL. We propose an approach for RUL estimation from heterogeneous fleet data based on three phases: firstly, the degradation levels (states) of an homogeneous discrete-time finite-state semi-markov model are identified by resorting to an unsupervised ensemble clustering approach. Then, the parameters of the discrete Weibull distributions describing the transitions among the states and their uncertainties are inferred by resorting to the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) method and to the Fisher Information Matrix (FIM), respectively. Finally, the inferred degradation model is used to estimate the RUL of fleet equipment by direct Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. The proposed approach is applied to two case studies regarding heterogeneous fleets of aluminium electrolytic capacitors and turbofan engines. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in predicting the RUL and its superiority compared to a fuzzy similarity-based approach of literature. - Highlights: • The prediction of the remaining useful life for heterogeneous fleets is addressed. • A data-driven prognostics approach based on a Markov model is proposed. • The proposed approach is applied to two different heterogeneous fleets. • The results are compared with those obtained by a fuzzy similarity-based approach.

Experimental warming in a dryland community reduced plant photosynthesis and soil CO2 efflux although the relationship between the fluxes remained unchanged

Science.gov (United States)

Wertin, Timothy M.; Belnap, Jayne; Reed, Sasha C.

2016-01-01

1. Drylands represent our planet's largest terrestrial biome and, due to their extensive area, maintain large stocks of carbon (C). Accordingly, understanding how dryland C cycling will respond to climate change is imperative for accurately forecasting global C cycling and future climate. However, it remains difficult to predict how increased temperature will affect dryland C cycling, as substantial uncertainties surround the potential responses of the two main C fluxes: plant photosynthesis and soil CO2 efflux. In addition to a need for an improved understanding of climate effects on individual dryland C fluxes, there is also notable uncertainty regarding how climate change may influence the relationship between these fluxes.2. To address this important knowledge gap, we measured a growing season's in situphotosynthesis, plant biomass accumulation, and soil CO2 efflux of mature Achnatherum hymenoides (a common and ecologically important C3 bunchgrass growing throughout western North America) exposed to ambient or elevated temperature (+2°C above ambient, warmed via infrared lamps) for three years.3. The 2°C increase in temperature caused a significant reduction in photosynthesis, plant growth, and soil CO2 efflux. Of important note, photosynthesis and soil respiration appeared tightly coupled and the relationship between these fluxes was not altered by the elevated temperature treatment, suggesting C fixation's strong control of both above-ground and below-ground dryland C cycling. Leaf water use efficiency was substantially increased in the elevated temperature treatment compared to the control treatment.4. Taken together, our results suggest notable declines in photosynthesis with relatively subtle warming, reveal strong coupling between above- and below-ground C fluxes in this dryland, and highlight temperature's strong effect on fundamental components of dryland C and water cycles.

Unchanged thymidine triphosphate pools and thymidine metabolism in two lines of thymidine kinase 2-mutated fibroblasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Frangini, Miriam; Rampazzo, Chiara; Franzolin, Elisa; Lara, Mari-Carmen; Vilà, Maya R; Martí, Ramon; Bianchi, Vera

2009-02-01

Mitochondrial thymidine kinase (TK2) catalyzes the phosphorylation of thymidine in mitochondria. Its function becomes essential for dTTP synthesis in noncycling cells, where cytosolic dTTP synthesis via R1/R2 ribonucleotide reductase and thymidine kinase 1 is turned down. Mutations in the nuclear gene for TK2 cause a fatal mtDNA depletion syndrome. Only selected cell types are affected, suggesting that the other cells compensate for the TK2 deficiency by adapting the enzyme network that regulates dTTP synthesis outside S-phase. Here we looked for such metabolic adaptation in quiescent cultures of fibroblasts from two TK2-deficient patients with a slow-progressing syndrome. In cell extracts, we measured the activities of TK2, deoxycytidine kinase, thymidine phosphorylase, deoxynucleotidases and the amounts of the three ribonucleotide reductase subunits. Patient cells contained 40% or 5% TK2 activity and unchanged activities of the other enzymes. However, their mitochondrial and cytosolic dTTP pools were unchanged, and also the overall composition of the dNTP pools was normal. TK2-dependent phosphorylation of [(3)H]thymidine in intact cells and the turnover of the dTTP pool showed that even the fibroblasts with 5% residual TK2 activity synthesized dTTP at an almost normal rate. Normal fibroblasts apparently contain more TK2 than needed to maintain dTTP during quiescence, which would explain why TK2-mutated fibroblasts do not manifest mtDNA depletion despite their reduced TK2 activity.

Soliton interactions and Bäcklund transformation for a (2+1)-dimensional variable-coefficient modified Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation in fluid dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Zi-Jian; Tian, Bo; Sun, Yan

2018-01-01

In this paper, we investigate a (2+1)-dimensional variable-coefficient modified Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (mKP) equation in fluid dynamics. With the binary Bell-polynomial and an auxiliary function, bilinear forms for the equation are constructed. Based on the bilinear forms, multi-soliton solutions and Bell-polynomial-type Bäcklund transformation for such an equation are obtained through the symbolic computation. Soliton interactions are presented. Based on the graphic analysis, Parametric conditions for the existence of the shock waves, elevation solitons and depression solitons are given, and it is shown that under the condition of keeping the wave vectors invariable, the change of α(t) and β(t) can lead to the change of the solitonic velocities, but the shape of each soliton remains unchanged, where α(t) and β(t) are the variable coefficients in the equation. Oblique elastic interactions can exist between the (i) two shock waves, (ii) two elevation solitons, and (iii) elevation and depression solitons. However, oblique interactions between (i) shock waves and elevation solitons, (ii) shock waves and depression solitons are inelastic.

Effect of Oral Pre-Meal Administration of Betaglucans on Glycaemic Control and Variability in Subjects with Type 1 Diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Frid, Anders; Tura, Andrea; Pacini, Giovanni; Ridderstråle, Martin

2017-09-12

We conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover pilot study to investigate the effect of oat betaglucans (β-glucan) on glycaemic control and variability in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D; n = 14). Stomacol ® tablets (1.53 g of β-glucan) or placebo (Plac) were administered three times daily before meals for two weeks. Glucose levels were monitored during the second week by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). There was an increase in basic measures of glycaemic control (maximal glucose value 341 ± 15 vs. 378 ± 13 mg/dL for Plac and β-glucan, p = 0.004), and average daily risk range (62 ± 5 vs. 79 ± 4 mg/dL for Plac and β-glucan, p = 0.003) favouring Plac over β-glucan, but no increase in the M-value (the weighted average of the glucose values) or other more complex measures. Basic measures of glucose variability were also slightly increased during β-glucan treatment, with no difference in more complex measures. However, glycaemic variability increased between the first and last two CGM days on Plac, but remained unchanged on β-glucan. In conclusion, in this pilot study we were unable to demonstrate a general positive effect of β-glucan before meals on glucose control or variability in T1D.

Using Copulas in the Estimation of the Economic Project Value in the Mining Industry, Including Geological Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Krysa, Zbigniew; Pactwa, Katarzyna; Wozniak, Justyna; Dudek, Michal

2017-12-01

Geological variability is one of the main factors that has an influence on the viability of mining investment projects and on the technical risk of geology projects. In the current scenario, analyses of economic viability of new extraction fields have been performed for the KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. underground copper mine at Fore Sudetic Monocline with the assumption of constant averaged content of useful elements. Research presented in this article is aimed at verifying the value of production from copper and silver ore for the same economic background with the use of variable cash flows resulting from the local variability of useful elements. Furthermore, the ore economic model is investigated for a significant difference in model value estimated with the use of linear correlation between useful elements content and the height of mine face, and the approach in which model parameters correlation is based upon the copula best matched information capacity criterion. The use of copula allows the simulation to take into account the multi variable dependencies at the same time, thereby giving a better reflection of the dependency structure, which linear correlation does not take into account. Calculation results of the economic model used for deposit value estimation indicate that the correlation between copper and silver estimated with the use of copula generates higher variation of possible project value, as compared to modelling correlation based upon linear correlation. Average deposit value remains unchanged.

Spatial and temporal variability in fire occurrence within the Las Bayas Forestry Reserve, Durango, Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

S. A. Drury; T. T. Veblen

2008-01-01

Patterns of fire occurrence within the Las Bayas Forestry Reserve, Mexico are analyzed in relation to variability in climate, topography, and human land-use. Significantly more fires with shorter fire return intervals occurred from 1900 to 1950 than from 1950 to 2001. However, the frequency of widespread fire years (25% filter) was unchanged over time, as widespread...

Finding stability regions for preserving efficiency classification of variable returns to scale technology in data envelopment analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zamani, P.; Borzouei, M.

2016-12-01

This paper addresses issue of sensitivity of efficiency classification of variable returns to scale (VRS) technology for enhancing the credibility of data envelopment analysis (DEA) results in practical applications when an additional decision making unit (DMU) needs to be added to the set being considered. It also develops a structured approach to assisting practitioners in making an appropriate selection of variation range for inputs and outputs of additional DMU so that this DMU be efficient and the efficiency classification of VRS technology remains unchanged. This stability region is simply specified by the concept of defining hyperplanes of production possibility set of VRS technology and the corresponding halfspaces. Furthermore, this study determines a stability region for the additional DMU within which, in addition to efficiency classification, the efficiency score of a specific inefficient DMU is preserved and also using a simulation method, a region in which some specific efficient DMUs become inefficient is provided.

Underlying mechanisms leading to El Niño-to-La Niña transition are unchanged under global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Kyung-Sook; Yeh, Sang-Wook; Ha, Kyung-Ja

2018-05-01

El Niño's transitions play critical roles in modulating severe weather and climate events. Therefore, understanding the dynamic factors leading to El Niño's transitions and its future projection is a great challenge in predicting the diverse socioeconomic influences of El Niño over the globe. This study focuses on two dynamic factors controlling the El Niño-to-La Niña transition from the present climate and to future climate, using the observation, the historical and the RCP8.5 simulations of Coupled Model Intercomparison phase 5 climate models. The first is the inter-basin coupling between the Indian Ocean and the western North Pacific through the subtropical high variability. The second is the enhanced sensitivity between sea surface temperature and a deep tropical convection in the central tropical Pacific during the El Niño's developing phase. We show that the dynamic factors leading to El Niño-to-La Niña transition in the present climate are unchanged in spite of the increase of greenhouse gas concentrations. We argue that the two dynamic factors are strongly constrained by the climatological precipitation distribution over the central tropical Pacific and western North Pacific as little changed from the present climate to future climate. This implies that two dynamical processes leading to El Niño-to-La Niña transitions in the present climate will also play a robust role in global warming.

Iron and Lactoferrin Levels Remain Unchanged in Parkin Deficient Mouse Brains: Implications for Parkinson’s Disease Etiology

OpenAIRE

Baker, Hanan

2015-01-01

Parkinson’s disease is a devastating neurodegenerative disease in which loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta leads to a variety of motor and non-motor deficits. Mutations in the Park2 or parkin gene have been implicated in familial forms of Parkinson’s disease. Parkin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that plays a role in mitophagy, the degradation of damaged mitochondria. Defects in parkin are thought to impair mitophagy, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and an incr...

Health Benefits In 2016: Family Premiums Rose Modestly, And Offer Rates Remained Stable.

Science.gov (United States)

Claxton, Gary; Rae, Matthew; Long, Michelle; Damico, Anthony; Whitmore, Heidi; Foster, Gregory

2016-10-01

The annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust Employer Health Benefits Survey found that in 2016, average annual premiums (employer and worker contributions combined) were $6,435 for single coverage and $18,142 for family coverage. The family premium in 2016 was 3 percent higher than that in 2015. On average, workers contributed 18 percent of the premium for single coverage and 30 percent for family coverage. The share of firms offering health benefits (56 percent) and of workers covered by their employers' plans (62 percent) remained statistically unchanged from 2015. Employers continued to offer financial incentives for completing wellness or health promotion activities. Almost three in ten covered workers were enrolled in a high-deductible plan with a savings option-a significant increase from 2014. The 2016 survey included new questions on cost sharing for specialty drugs and on the prevalence of incentives for employees to seek care at alternative settings. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Beyond Race and Gender: Motivating Enlisted Personnel to Remain in Today's Military

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Moore, Brenda

2001-01-01

... to remain in the military than do the race, gender, or racial climate variables. Satisfaction with pay and benefits has a significant positive effect on the likelihood that respondents will stay in the military, but pride in service is more robust...

Genomic and clinical predictors for improving estimator precision in randomized trials of breast cancer treatments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prasad Patil

2016-08-01

Conclusions: Adjusting only for clinical variables led to substantial precision gains (at least 5% in three of the four data sets, with a 1% precision loss in the remaining data set. These gains were unchanged or increased when sample sizes were doubled in our simulations. The precision gains due to incorporating genomic information, beyond the gains from adjusting for clinical variables, were not substantial.

Method and apparatus to predict the remaining service life of an operating system

Science.gov (United States)

Greitzer, Frank L.; Kangas, Lars J.; Terrones, Kristine M.; Maynard, Melody A.; Pawlowski, Ronald A. , Ferryman; Thomas A.; Skorpik, James R.; Wilson, Bary W.

2008-11-25

A method and computer-based apparatus for monitoring the degradation of, predicting the remaining service life of, and/or planning maintenance for, an operating system are disclosed. Diagnostic information on degradation of the operating system is obtained through measurement of one or more performance characteristics by one or more sensors onboard and/or proximate the operating system. Though not required, it is preferred that the sensor data are validated to improve the accuracy and reliability of the service life predictions. The condition or degree of degradation of the operating system is presented to a user by way of one or more calculated, numeric degradation figures of merit that are trended against one or more independent variables using one or more mathematical techniques. Furthermore, more than one trendline and uncertainty interval may be generated for a given degradation figure of merit/independent variable data set. The trendline(s) and uncertainty interval(s) are subsequently compared to one or more degradation figure of merit thresholds to predict the remaining service life of the operating system. The present invention enables multiple mathematical approaches in determining which trendline(s) to use to provide the best estimate of the remaining service life.

Evidence for positive, but not negative, behavioral contrast with wheel-running reinforcement on multiple variable-ratio schedules.

Science.gov (United States)

Belke, Terry W; Pierce, W David

2016-12-01

Rats responded on a multiple variable-ratio (VR) 10 VR 10 schedule of reinforcement in which lever pressing was reinforced by the opportunity to run in a wheel for 30s in both the changed (manipulated) and unchanged components. To generate positive contrast, the schedule of reinforcement in the changed component was shifted to extinction; to generate negative contrast, the schedule was shifted to VR 3. With the shift to extinction in the changed component, wheel-running and local lever-pressing rates increased in the unchanged component, a result supporting positive contrast; however, the shift to a VR 3 schedule in the changed component showed no evidence of negative contrast in the unaltered setting, only wheel running decreased in the unchanged component. Changes in wheel-running rates across components were consistent in showing a compensation effect, depending on whether the schedule manipulation increased or decreased opportunities for wheel running in the changed component. These findings are the first to demonstrate positive behavioral contrast on a multiple schedule with wheel running as reinforcement in both components. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional Invasion of Human Glioblastoma Cells Remains Unchanged by X-ray and Carbon Ion Irradiation In Vitro

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eke, Iris; Storch, Katja; Kaestner, Ina; Vehlow, Anne [OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden (Germany); Faethe, Christina; Mueller-Klieser, Wolfgang [Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz (Germany); Taucher-Scholz, Gisela [Department of Biophysics, GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt (Germany); Temme, Achim; Schackert, Gabriele [Section of Experimental Neurosurgery/Tumor Immunology, Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden (Germany); Cordes, Nils, E-mail: Nils.Cordes@Oncoray.de [OncoRay-National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden (Germany); Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden (Germany)

2012-11-15

Purpose: Cell invasion represents one of the major determinants that treatment has failed for patients suffering from glioblastoma. Contrary findings have been reported for cell migration upon exposure to ionizing radiation. Here, the migration and invasion capability of glioblastoma cells on and in collagen type I were evaluated upon irradiation with X-rays or carbon ions. Methods and Materials: Migration on and invasion in collagen type I were evaluated in four established human glioblastoma cell lines exposed to either X-rays or carbon ions. Furthermore, clonogenic radiation survival, proliferation (5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine positivity), DNA double-strand breaks ({gamma}H2AX/53BP1-positive foci), and expression of invasion-relevant proteins (eg, {beta}1 integrin, FAK, MMP2, and MMP9) were explored. Migration and invasion assays for primary glioblastoma cells also were carried out with X-ray irradiation. Results: Neither X-ray nor carbon ion irradiation affected glioblastoma cell migration and invasion, a finding similarly observed in primary glioblastoma cells. Intriguingly, irradiated cells migrated unhampered, despite DNA double-strand breaks and reduced proliferation. Clonogenic radiation survival was increased when cells had contact with extracellular matrix. Specific inhibition of the {beta}1 integrin or proliferation-associated signaling molecules revealed a critical function of JNK, PI3K, and p38 MAPK in glioblastoma cell invasion. Conclusions: These findings indicate that X-rays and carbon ion irradiation effectively reduce proliferation and clonogenic survival without modifying the migration and invasion ability of glioblastoma cells in a collagen type I environment. Addition of targeted agents against members of the MAPK and PI3K signaling axis to conventional chemoradiation therapy seems potentially useful to optimize glioblastoma therapy.

Atazanavir intracellular concentrations remain stable during pregnancy in HIV-infected patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Focà, Emanuele; Calcagno, Andrea; Bonito, Andrea; Simiele, Marco; Domenighini, Elisabetta; D'Avolio, Antonio; Quiros Roldan, Eugenia; Trentini, Laura; Casari, Salvatore; Di Perri, Giovanni; Castelli, Francesco; Bonora, Stefano

2017-11-01

Atazanavir (300 mg) boosted by ritonavir (100 mg) is the preferred third drug in pregnancy. However, there is still discordance on atazanavir dose increase during the third trimester. To evaluate plasma and intracellular atazanavir and ritonavir concentrations in HIV-infected women during pregnancy and after delivery. This was an observational study. HIV-infected pregnant patients treated with atazanavir/ritonavir plus either tenofovir/emtricitabine or abacavir/lamivudine had been prospectively enrolled after having signed a written informed consent form. Plasma and intracellular atazanavir and ritonavir Ctrough (24 ± 3 h after drug intake) were measured at each visit during the first, second and third trimesters and post-partum using validated HPLC-MS and HPLC-photodiode array methods (with direct evaluation of cellular volume). Data are described as median (IQR) and compared through non-parametric tests. Twenty-five patients were enrolled; at baseline, the median age was 32 years (27-35). All patients had plasma HIV RNA  0.05). This is the first demonstration that intracellular atazanavir exposure remains unchanged during pregnancy supporting the standard 300/100 mg atazanavir/ritonavir dosing throughout pregnancy. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

11-Year Trends in Pregnancy-Related Health Indicators in Maine, 2000–2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David E. Harris

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to understand health and demographic trends among mothers and infants in Maine relative to the goals of Healthy People 2020. Pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system (PRAMS data from Maine for 2000–2010 were used to determine yearly values of pregnancy-related variables. Means (for continuous variables and percentages (for categorical variables were calculated using the survey procedures in SAS. Linear trend analysis was applied with study year as the independent variable. The slope and significance of the trend were then calculated. Over the study period, new mothers in Maine became better educated but the fraction of households with incomes <$20,000/year remained stagnant. Maternal prepregnancy BMI increased. Average pregnancy weight gain decreased but the number of women whose pregnancy weight gain was within the recommended range was unchanged. The rates of smoking and alcohol consumption (before and during pregnancy increased. The Caesarean section rate rose and the fraction of infants born premature (<37 wks gestation or underweight (<2500 gms remained unchanged. The fraction of infants who were breast-fed increased. These results suggest that, despite some positive trends, Maine faces significant challenges in meeting Healthy People 2020 goals.

ETFOD: a point model physics code with arbitrary input

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothe, K.E.; Attenberger, S.E.

1980-06-01

ETFOD is a zero-dimensional code which solves a set of physics equations by minimization. The technique used is different than normally used, in that the input is arbitrary. The user is supplied with a set of variables from which he specifies which variables are input (unchanging). The remaining variables become the output. Presently the code is being used for ETF reactor design studies. The code was written in a manner to allow easy modificaton of equations, variables, and physics calculations. The solution technique is presented along with hints for using the code

Compact tokamak reactors part 2 (numerical results)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiley, J.C.; Wootton, A.J.; Ross, D.W.

1996-01-01

The authors describe a numerical optimization scheme for fusion reactors. The particular application described is to find the smallest copper coil spherical tokamak, although the numerical scheme is sufficiently general to allow many other problems to be solved. The solution to the steady state energy balance is found by first selecting the fixed variables. The range of all remaining variables is then selected, except for the temperature. Within the specified ranges, the temperature which satisfies the power balance is then found. Tests are applied to determine that remaining constraints are satisfied, and the acceptable results then stored. Results are presented for a range of auxiliary current drive efficiencies and different scaling relationships; for the range of variables chosen the machine encompassing volume increases or remains approximately unchanged as the aspect ratio is reduced

[Hypothesis on the equilibrium point and variability of amplitude, speed and time of single-joint movement].

Science.gov (United States)

Latash, M; Gottleib, G

1990-01-01

Problems of single-joint movement variability are analysed in the framework of the equilibrium-point hypothesis (the lambda-model). Control of the movements is described with three parameters related to movement amplitude speed, and time. Three strategies emerge from this description. Only one of them is likely to lead to a Fitts' type speed-accuracy trade-off. Experiments were performed to test one of the predictions of the model. Subjects performed identical sets of single-joint fast movements with open or closed eyes and some-what different instructions. Movements performed with closed eyes were characterized with higher peak speeds and unchanged variability in seeming violation of the Fitt's law and in a good correspondence to the model.

Classical pathological variables recorded in the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group's register 1978-2006

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiaer, Henrik W; Laenkholm, Anne-Vibeke; Nielsen, Bernt B

2008-01-01

>50mm from 7 to 4%. The distribution of the histological subtypes of malignant breast tumours has been almost unchanged. We found however a significant increase in the number of high grade tumours. A large increase in the number of removed axillary lymph nodes from 1989-2001 is related to improved......The Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group's register containing data from about 75 000 patients undergoing surgery for primary invasive breast cancer from 1978-2006 has been examined for classical pathological variables. During that period the diagnostic approach of malignant breast tumours...

Future Warming Increases Global Maize Yield Variability with Implications for Food Markets

Science.gov (United States)

Tigchelaar, M.; Battisti, D. S.; Naylor, R. L.; Ray, D. K.

2017-12-01

If current trends in population growth and dietary shifts continue, the world will need to produce about 70% more food by 2050, while earth's climate is rapidly changing. Rising temperatures in particular are projected to negatively impact agricultural production, as the world's staple crops perform poorly in extreme heat. Theoretical models suggest that as temperatures rise above plants' optimal temperature for performance, not only will mean yields decline rapidly, but the variability of yields will increase, even as interannual variations in climate remain unchanged. Here we use global datasets of maize production and climate variability combined with CMIP5 temperature projections to quantify how yield variability will change in major maize producing countries under 2°C and 4°C of global warming. Maize is the world's most produced crop, and is linked to other staple crops through substitution in consumption and production. We find that in warmer climates - absent any breeding gains in heat tolerance - the Coefficient of Variation (CV) of maize yields increases almost everywhere, to values much larger than present-day. This increase in CV is due both to an increase in the standard deviation of yields, and a decrease in mean yields. In locations where crop failures become the norm under high (4°C) warming (mostly in tropical, low-yield environments), the standard deviation of yields ultimately decreases. The probability that in any given year the most productive areas in the top three maize producing countries (United States, China, Brazil) have simultaneous production losses greater than 10% is virtually zero under present-day climate conditions, but increases to 12% under 2°C warming, and 89% under 4°C warming. This has major implications for global food markets and staple crop prices, affecting especially the 2.5 billion people that comprise the world's poor, who already spend the majority of their disposable income on food and are particularly vulnerable

Direct dating of Early Upper Palaeolithic human remains from Mladec.

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Eva M; Teschler-Nicola, Maria; Kutschera, Walter; Steier, Peter; Trinkaus, Erik; Wanek, Wolfgang

2005-05-19

The human fossil assemblage from the Mladec Caves in Moravia (Czech Republic) has been considered to derive from a middle or later phase of the Central European Aurignacian period on the basis of archaeological remains (a few stone artefacts and organic items such as bone points, awls, perforated teeth), despite questions of association between the human fossils and the archaeological materials and concerning the chronological implications of the limited archaeological remains. The morphological variability in the human assemblage, the presence of apparently archaic features in some specimens, and the assumed early date of the remains have made this fossil assemblage pivotal in assessments of modern human emergence within Europe. We present here the first successful direct accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of five representative human fossils from the site. We selected sample materials from teeth and from one bone for 14C dating. The four tooth samples yielded uncalibrated ages of approximately 31,000 14C years before present, and the bone sample (an ulna) provided an uncertain more-recent age. These data are sufficient to confirm that the Mladec human assemblage is the oldest cranial, dental and postcranial assemblage of early modern humans in Europe and is therefore central to discussions of modern human emergence in the northwestern Old World and the fate of the Neanderthals.

Temporal variability of exchange between groundwater and surface water based on high-frequency direct measurements of seepage at the sediment-water interface

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberry, Donald O.; Sheibley, Rich W.; Cox, Stephen E.; Simonds, Frederic W.; Naftz, David L.

2013-01-01

Seepage at the sediment-water interface in several lakes, a large river, and an estuary exhibits substantial temporal variability when measured with temporal resolution of 1 min or less. Already substantial seepage rates changed by 7% and 16% in response to relatively small rain events at two lakes in the northeastern USA, but did not change in response to two larger rain events at a lake in Minnesota. However, seepage at that same Minnesota lake changed by 10% each day in response to withdrawals from evapotranspiration. Seepage increased by more than an order of magnitude when a seiche occurred in the Great Salt Lake, Utah. Near the head of a fjord in Puget Sound, Washington, seepage in the intertidal zone varied greatly from −115 to +217 cm d−1 in response to advancing and retreating tides when the time-averaged seepage was upward at +43 cm d−1. At all locations, seepage variability increased by one to several orders of magnitude in response to wind and associated waves. Net seepage remained unchanged by wind unless wind also induced a lake seiche. These examples from sites distributed across a broad geographic region indicate that temporal variability in seepage in response to common hydrological events is much larger than previously realized. At most locations, seepage responded within minutes to changes in surface-water stage and within minutes to hours to groundwater recharge associated with rainfall. Likely implications of this dynamism include effects on water residence time, geochemical transformations, and ecological conditions at and near the sediment-water interface.

Evaluation of an unsteady flamelet progress variable model for autoignition and flame development in compositionally stratified mixtures

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhopadhyay, Saumyadip; Abraham, John

2012-07-01

The unsteady flamelet progress variable (UFPV) model has been proposed by Pitsch and Ihme ["An unsteady/flamelet progress variable method for LES of nonpremixed turbulent combustion," AIAA Paper No. 2005-557, 2005] for modeling the averaged/filtered chemistry source terms in Reynolds averaged simulations and large eddy simulations of reacting non-premixed combustion. In the UFPV model, a look-up table of source terms is generated as a function of mixture fraction Z, scalar dissipation rate χ, and progress variable C by solving the unsteady flamelet equations. The assumption is that the unsteady flamelet represents the evolution of the reacting mixing layer in the non-premixed flame. We assess the accuracy of the model in predicting autoignition and flame development in compositionally stratified n-heptane/air mixtures using direct numerical simulations (DNS). The focus in this work is primarily on the assessment of accuracy of the probability density functions (PDFs) employed for obtaining averaged source terms. The performance of commonly employed presumed functions, such as the dirac-delta distribution function, the β distribution function, and statistically most likely distribution (SMLD) approach in approximating the shapes of the PDFs of the reactive and the conserved scalars is evaluated. For unimodal distributions, it is observed that functions that need two-moment information, e.g., the β distribution function and the SMLD approach with two-moment closure, are able to reasonably approximate the actual PDF. As the distribution becomes multimodal, higher moment information is required. Differences are observed between the ignition trends obtained from DNS and those predicted by the look-up table, especially for smaller gradients where the flamelet assumption becomes less applicable. The formulation assumes that the shape of the χ(Z) profile can be modeled by an error function which remains unchanged in the presence of heat release. We show that this

Aerosol pH buffering in the southeastern US: Fine particles remain highly acidic despite large reductions in sulfate

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, R. J.; Guo, H.; Russell, A. G.; Nenes, A.

2015-12-01

pH is a critical aerosol property that impacts many atmospheric processes, including biogenic secondary organic aerosol formation, gas-particle phase partitioning, and mineral dust or redox metal mobilization. Particle pH has also been linked to adverse health effects. Using a comprehensive data set from the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS) as the basis for thermodynamic modeling, we have shown that particles are currently highly acidic in the southeastern US, with pH between 0 and 2. Sulfate and ammonium are the main acid-base components that determine particle pH in this region, however they have different sources and their concentrations are changing. Over 15 years of network data show that sulfur dioxide emission reductions have resulted in a roughly 70 percent decrease in sulfate, whereas ammonia emissions, mainly link to agricultural activities, have been largely steady, as have gas phase ammonia concentrations. This has led to the view that particles are becoming more neutralized. However, sensitivity analysis, based on thermodynamic modeling, to changing sulfate concentrations indicates that particles have remained highly acidic over the past decade, despite the large reductions in sulfate. Furthermore, anticipated continued reductions of sulfate and relatively constant ammonia emissions into the future will not significantly change particle pH until sulfate drops to clean continental background levels. The result reshapes our expectation of future particle pH and implies that atmospheric processes and adverse health effects linked to particle acidity will remain unchanged for some time into the future.

Differential Decomposition Among Pig, Rabbit, and Human Remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Dautartas, Angela; Kenyhercz, Michael W; Vidoli, Giovanna M; Meadows Jantz, Lee; Mundorff, Amy; Steadman, Dawnie Wolfe

2018-03-30

While nonhuman animal remains are often utilized in forensic research to develop methods to estimate the postmortem interval, systematic studies that directly validate animals as proxies for human decomposition are lacking. The current project compared decomposition rates among pigs, rabbits, and humans at the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility across three seasonal trials that spanned nearly 2 years. The Total Body Score (TBS) method was applied to quantify decomposition changes and calculate the postmortem interval (PMI) in accumulated degree days (ADD). Decomposition trajectories were analyzed by comparing the estimated and actual ADD for each seasonal trial and by fuzzy cluster analysis. The cluster analysis demonstrated that the rabbits formed one group while pigs and humans, although more similar to each other than either to rabbits, still showed important differences in decomposition patterns. The decomposition trends show that neither nonhuman model captured the pattern, rate, and variability of human decomposition. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

A New Turbo-shaft Engine Control Law during Variable Rotor Speed Transient Process

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Wei; Miao, Lizhen; Zhang, Haibo; Huang, Jinquan

2015-12-01

A closed-loop control law employing compressor guided vanes is firstly investigated to solve unacceptable fuel flow dynamic change in single fuel control for turbo-shaft engine here, especially for rotorcraft in variable rotor speed process. Based on an Augmented Linear Quadratic Regulator (ALQR) algorithm, a dual-input, single-output robust control scheme is proposed for a turbo-shaft engine, involving not only the closed loop adjustment of fuel flow but also that of compressor guided vanes. Furthermore, compared to single fuel control, some digital simulation cases using this new scheme about variable rotor speed have been implemented on the basis of an integrated system of helicopter and engine model. The results depict that the command tracking performance to the free turbine rotor speed can be asymptotically realized. Moreover, the fuel flow transient process has been significantly improved, and the fuel consumption has been dramatically cut down by more than 2% while keeping the helicopter level fight unchanged.

Explaining why nurses remain in or leave bedside nursing: a critical ethnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahon, Paula; McPherson, Gladys

2014-09-01

To describe the application of critical ethnography to explain nurses' decisions to remain in or leave bedside nursing, and to describe researcher positioning and reflexivity. Enquiry into hospital nurses' decisions to remain in or leave bedside nursing positions has been conducted from a variety of theoretical perspectives by researchers adopting a range of methodological approaches. This research helps to explain how work environments can affect variables such as job satisfaction and turnover, but provides less insight into how personal and professional factors shape decisions to remain in or leave bedside nursing. A critical theoretical perspective was taken to examine the employment decisions made by nurses in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Data was collected from nurses (n=31) through semi-structured interviews and unobtrusive observation. The authors describe critical ethnography as a powerful research framework for enquiry that allowed them to challenge assumptions about why nurses remain in or leave their jobs, and to explore how issues of fairness and equity contribute to these decisions. Critical ethnography offers a powerful methodology for investigations into complex interactions, such as those between nurses in a PICU. In adopting this methodology, researchers should be sensitised to manifestations of power, attend to their stance and location, and reflexion. The greatest challenges from this research included how to make sense of the insider position, how to acknowledge assumptions and allow these to be challenged, and how to ensure that power relationships in the environment and in the research were attended to.

On use of radial evanescence remain term in kinematic hardening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geyer, P.

1995-01-01

This paper presents the interest which lies in non-linear kinematic hardening rule with radial evanescence remain term as proposed for modelling multiaxial ratchetting. From analytical calculations in the case of the tension/torsion test, this ratchetting is compared with that proposed by Armstrong and Frederick. A modification is then proposed for Chaboche's elastoplastic model with two non-linear kinematic variables, by coupling the two types of hardening by means of two scalar parameters. Identification of these two parameters returns to speculate on the directions of strain in order to adjust the ratchetting to experimental observations. Using biaxial ratchetting tests on stainless steel 316 L specimens at ambient temperature, it is shown that satisfactory modelling of multiaxial ratchetting is obtained. (author). 4 refs., 5 figs

Evolution of drug resistance in HIV infected patients remaining on a virologically failing cART regimen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cozzi-Lepri, A; Phillips, AN; Ruiz, L

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the extent of drug resistance accumulation in patients kept on a virologically failing regimen and its determinants in the clinical setting. DESIGN: The study focused on 110 patients of EuroSIDA on an unchanged regimen who had two genotypic tests performed at two time points...

The use of fish remains in sediments for the reconstruction of paleoproductivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drago, T; Santos, A M P; Pinheiro, J [Institute Nacional de Recursos Biologicos (INRB), L-IPIMAR, Av. 5 de Outubro s/n 8700-305 OLHaO (Portugal); Ferreira-Bartrina, V [Centra de Investigacion CientIfica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada- CICESE, Km. 107 Carretera Tijuana, C.P.22860, Ensenada, B.C. (Mexico)], E-mail: tdrago@ipimar.pt

2009-01-01

The majority of the works concerning fish productivity are based in fish landing records. However, in order to understand the causes of variability in fish productivity (natural and/or anthropogenic) it is essential to have information from periods when human impacts (e.g., fisheries) are considered unimportant. This can be achieved through the use of fish remains, i.e. scales, vertebrae and otoliths, from sediment records. The obtained data can be used to develop time series of fish stocks revealing the history of fish population dynamics over the last centuries or millennia. The majority of these works are located in Eastern Boundary Current Systems (e.g., Benguela, Peru-Humboldt, California), because these are associated with coastal upwelling and high productivity, which in some cases is at the origin of low bottom oxygen levels, leading to scale preservation. A search for fish remains in the Portuguese margin sediments is in progress in the context of the ongoing research project POPEI (High-resolution oceanic paleoproductivity and environmental changes; correlation with fish populations), which intend to fill the gap in studies of this type for the Canary Current System. In this paper we review some general ideas of the use of fish remains, related studies, methodologies and data processing, as well as presenting the first results of POPEI.

The History of Variable Stars: A Fresh Look

Science.gov (United States)

Hatch, R. A.

2012-06-01

(Abstract only) For historians of astronomy, variable stars are important for a simple reason - stars change. But good evidence suggests this is a very modern idea. Over the millennia, our species has viewed stars as eternal and unchanging, forever fixed in time and space - indeed, the Celestial Dance was a celebration of order, reason, and stability. But everything changed in the period between Copernicus and Newton. According to tradition, two New Stars announced the birth of the New Science. Blazing across the celestial stage, Tycho's Star (1572) and Kepler's Star (1604) appeared dramatically - and just as unexpectedly - disappeared forever. But variable stars were different. Mira Ceti, the oldest, brightest, and most controversial variable star, was important because it appeared and disappeared again and again. Mira was important because it did not go away. The purpose of this essay is to take a fresh look at the history of variable stars. In re-thinking the traditional narrative, I begin with the first sightings of David Fabricius (1596) and his contemporaries - particularly Hevelius (1662) and Boulliau (1667) - to new traditions that unfolded from Newton and Maupertuis to Herschel (1780) and Pigott (1805). The essay concludes with important 19th-century developments, particularly by Argelander (1838), Pickering (1888), and Lockyer (1890). Across three centuries, variable stars prompted astronomers to re-think all the ways that stars were no longer "fixed." New strategies were needed. Astronomers needed to organize, to make continuous observations, to track changing magnitudes, and to explain stellar phases. Importantly - as Mira suggested from the outset - these challenges called for an army of observers with the discipline of Spartans. But recruiting that army required a strategy, a set of theories with shared expectations. Observation and theory worked hand-in-hand. In presenting new historical evidence from neglected printed sources and unpublished

Time-series measurements of bubble plume variability and water column methane distribution above Southern Hydrate Ridge, Oregon

Science.gov (United States)

Philip, Brendan T.; Denny, Alden R.; Solomon, Evan A.; Kelley, Deborah S.

2016-03-01

An estimated 500-2500 gigatons of methane carbon is sequestered in gas hydrate at continental margins and some of these deposits are associated with overlying methane seeps. To constrain the impact that seeps have on methane concentrations in overlying ocean waters and to characterize the bubble plumes that transport methane vertically into the ocean, water samples and time-series acoustic images were collected above Southern Hydrate Ridge (SHR), a well-studied hydrate-bearing seep site ˜90 km west of Newport, Oregon. These data were coregistered with robotic vehicle observations to determine the origin of the seeps, the plume rise heights above the seafloor, and the temporal variability in bubble emissions. Results show that the locations of seep activity and bubble release remained unchanged over the 3 year time-series investigation, however, the magnitude of gas release was highly variable on hourly time scales. Bubble plumes were detected to depths of 320-620 m below sea level (mbsl), in several cases exceeding the upper limit of hydrate stability by ˜190 m. For the first time, sustained gas release was imaged at the Pinnacle site and in-between the Pinnacle and the Summit area of venting, indicating that the subseafloor transport of fluid and gas is not restricted to the Summit at SHR, requiring a revision of fluid-flow models. Dissolved methane concentrations above background levels from 100 to 300 mbsl are consistent with long-term seep gas transport into the upper water column, which may lead to the build-up of seep-derived carbon in regional subsurface waters and to increases in associated biological activity.

Change features and regional distribution of temperature trend and variability joint mode in mainland China

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xi; Li, Ning; Zhang, Zhengtao; Feng, Jieling; Wang, Ye

2018-05-01

Adaption for temperature should be suitable to local conditions for regional differences in temperature change features. This paper proposed to utilize nine temperature modes that joint the trend (increasing/decreasing/unchanged) with variability (intensifying/weakening/unchanged) to investigate features of temperature change in mainland China. Monthly temperature data over the period 1960-2013 were obtained from 522 national basic and reference meteorological stations. Here, temperature trend (TT) was reflected by the trend of mean annual temperature (MAT) and the uptrend (downtrend) of inter-monthly sliding standard deviation (SSD) series with a sliding length of 29 years (348 months) was used for representing the intensification (weakening) of temperature variability (TV). The Mann-Kendall method and the least squares method were applied to assess the significance and quantify the magnitude of trend in MAT and SSD time series, respectively. The results show that there is a consistent warming trend throughout the country except for only three stations in which a cooling trend is identified. Moreover, the overall increasing rate in the north of 35° N is the highest, over 0.4 °C/decade for most stations. TV is weakened for almost 98% of the stations, indicating the low instability of temperature at a national scale. Finally, temperature mode (TM), for more than 90% of the stations, is the combination of an increasing TT with a weakened TV (mode 8). So, it is more important for people to adapt to the increasing temperature in these regions. Compared to using annual temperature data to calculate SSD, monthly data can accurately reflect the inter-monthly change of temperature and reserve more initial characteristics of temperature.

Conspicuous plumage colours are highly variable

OpenAIRE

Delhey, Kaspar; Szecsenyi, Beatrice; Nakagawa, Shinichi; Peters, Anne

2017-01-01

Elaborate ornamental traits are often under directional selection for greater elaboration, which in theory should deplete underlying genetic variation. Despite this, many ornamental traits appear to remain highly variable and how this essential variation is maintained is a key question in evolutionary biology. One way to address this question is to compare differences in intraspecific variability across different types of traits to determine whether high levels of variation are associated wit...

The WFCAM multiwavelength Variable Star Catalog

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira Lopes, C. E.; Dékány, I.; Catelan, M.; Cross, N. J. G.; Angeloni, R.; Leão, I. C.; De Medeiros, J. R.

2015-01-01

Context. Stellar variability in the near-infrared (NIR) remains largely unexplored. The exploitation of public science archives with data-mining methods offers a perspective for a time-domain exploration of the NIR sky. Aims: We perform a comprehensive search for stellar variability using the optical-NIR multiband photometric data in the public Calibration Database of the WFCAM Science Archive (WSA), with the aim of contributing to the general census of variable stars and of extending the current scarce inventory of accurate NIR light curves for a number of variable star classes. Methods: Standard data-mining methods were applied to extract and fine-tune time-series data from the WSA. We introduced new variability indices designed for multiband data with correlated sampling, and applied them for preselecting variable star candidates, i.e., light curves that are dominated by correlated variations, from noise-dominated ones. Preselection criteria were established by robust numerical tests for evaluating the response of variability indices to the colored noise characteristic of the data. We performed a period search using the string-length minimization method on an initial catalog of 6551 variable star candidates preselected by variability indices. Further frequency analysis was performed on positive candidates using three additional methods in combination, in order to cope with aliasing. Results: We find 275 periodic variable stars and an additional 44 objects with suspected variability with uncertain periods or apparently aperiodic variation. Only 44 of these objects had been previously known, including 11 RR Lyrae stars on the outskirts of the globular cluster M 3 (NGC 5272). We provide a preliminary classification of the new variable stars that have well-measured light curves, but the variability types of a large number of objects remain ambiguous. We classify most of the new variables as contact binary stars, but we also find several pulsating stars, among which

Two methods for studying the X-ray variability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yan, Shu-Ping; Ji, Li; Méndez, Mariano; Wang, Na; Liu, Siming; Li, Xiang-Dong

2016-01-01

The X-ray aperiodic variability and quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) are the important tools to study the structure of the accretion flow of X-ray binaries. However, the origin of the complex X-ray variability from X-ray binaries remains yet unsolved. We proposed two methods for studying the X-ray

The role of socio demographic variables in predicting patients ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Radiological examination remains a vital and integral aspect of health services delivery and patient satisfaction with radiological service remains beneficial both to patients and hospitals. Aim: To evaluate the influence of patient's socio demographic variables on satisfaction with radiological services. Subjects ...

Negative plant-soil feedbacks increase with plant abundance, and are unchanged by competition.

Science.gov (United States)

Maron, John L; Laney Smith, Alyssa; Ortega, Yvette K; Pearson, Dean E; Callaway, Ragan M

2016-08-01

Plant-soil feedbacks and interspecific competition are ubiquitous interactions that strongly influence the performance of plants. Yet few studies have examined whether the strength of these interactions corresponds with the abundance of plant species in the field, or whether feedbacks and competition interact in ways that either ameliorate or exacerbate their effects in isolation. We sampled soil from two intermountain grassland communities where we also measured the relative abundance of plant species. In greenhouse experiments, we quantified the direction and magnitude of plant-soil feedbacks for 10 target species that spanned a range of abundances in the field. In soil from both sites, plant-soil feedbacks were mostly negative, with more abundant species suffering greater negative feedbacks than rare species. In contrast, the average response to competition for each species was unrelated with its abundance in the field. We also determined how competitive response varied among our target species when plants competed in live vs. sterile soil. Interspecific competition reduced plant size, but the strength of this negative effect was unchanged by plant-soil feedbacks. Finally, when plants competed interspecifically, we asked how conspecific-trained, heterospecific-trained, and sterile soil influenced the competitive responses of our target species and how this varied depending on whether target species were abundant or rare in the field. Here, we found that both abundant and rare species were not as harmed by competition when they grew in heterospecific-trained soil compared to when they grew in conspecific-cultured soil. Abundant species were also not as harmed by competition when growing in sterile vs. conspecific-trained soil, but this was not the case for rare species. Our results suggest that abundant plants accrue species-specific soil pathogens to a greater extent than rare species. Thus, negative feedbacks may be critical for preventing abundant species from

Variable stars in the Pegasus dwarf galaxy (DDO 216)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoessel, J.G.; Abbott, M.J.; Saha, A.; Mossman, A.E.; Danielson, G.E. (Washburn Observatory, Madison, WI (USA) Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD (USA) Palomar Observatory, Pasadena, CA (USA))

1990-10-01

Observations obtained over a period of five years of the resolved stars in the Pegasus dwarf irregular galaxy (DDO 216) have been searched for variable stars. Thirty-one variables were found, and periods established for 12. Two of these variable stars are clearly eclipsing variables, seven are very likely Cepheid variables, and the remaining three are probable Cepheids. The period-luminosity relation for the Cepheids indicates a distance modulus for Pegasus of m - M = 26.22 + or - 0.20. This places Pegasus very near the zero-velocity surface of the Local Group. 25 refs.

[PALEOPATHOLOGY OF HUMAN REMAINS].

Science.gov (United States)

Minozzi, Simona; Fornaciari, Gino

2015-01-01

Many diseases induce alterations in the human skeleton, leaving traces of their presence in ancient remains. Paleopathological examination of human remains not only allows the study of the history and evolution of the disease, but also the reconstruction of health conditions in the past populations. This paper describes the most interesting diseases observed in skeletal samples from the Roman Imperial Age necropoles found in urban and suburban areas of Rome during archaeological excavations in the last decades. The diseases observed were grouped into the following categories: articular diseases, traumas, infections, metabolic or nutritional diseases, congenital diseases and tumours, and some examples are reported for each group. Although extensive epidemiological investigation in ancient skeletal records is impossible, the palaeopathological study allowed to highlight the spread of numerous illnesses, many of which can be related to the life and health conditions of the Roman population.

Synergies in the space of control variables within the equilibrium-point hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambike, S; Mattos, D; Zatsiorsky, V M; Latash, M L

2016-02-19

We use an approach rooted in the recent theory of synergies to analyze possible co-variation between two hypothetical control variables involved in finger force production based on the equilibrium-point (EP) hypothesis. These control variables are the referent coordinate (R) and apparent stiffness (C) of the finger. We tested a hypothesis that inter-trial co-variation in the {R; C} space during repeated, accurate force production trials stabilizes the fingertip force. This was expected to correspond to a relatively low amount of inter-trial variability affecting force and a high amount of variability keeping the force unchanged. We used the "inverse piano" apparatus to apply small and smooth positional perturbations to fingers during force production tasks. Across trials, R and C showed strong co-variation with the data points lying close to a hyperbolic curve. Hyperbolic regressions accounted for over 99% of the variance in the {R; C} space. Another analysis was conducted by randomizing the original {R; C} data sets and creating surrogate data sets that were then used to compute predicted force values. The surrogate sets always showed much higher force variance compared to the actual data, thus reinforcing the conclusion that finger force control was organized in the {R; C} space, as predicted by the EP hypothesis, and involved co-variation in that space stabilizing total force. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solar Variability and Planetary Climates

CERN Document Server

Calisesi, Y; Gray, L; Langen, J; Lockwood, M

2007-01-01

Variations in solar activity, as revealed by variations in the number of sunspots, have been observed since ancient times. To what extent changes in the solar output may affect planetary climates, though, remains today more than ever a subject of controversy. In 2000, the SSSI volume on Solar Variability and Climate reviewed the to-date understanding of the physics of solar variability and of the associated climate response. The present volume on Solar Variability and Planetary Climates provides an overview of recent advances in this field, with particular focus at the Earth's middle and lower atmosphere. The book structure mirrors that of the ISSI workshop held in Bern in June 2005, the collection of invited workshop contributions and of complementary introductory papers synthesizing the current understanding in key research areas such as middle atmospheric processes, stratosphere-troposphere dynamical coupling, tropospheric aerosols chemistry, solar storm influences, solar variability physics, and terrestri...

Stability of termite mound populations in a variable environment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Of all the climatic variables in the environment of termites in southern Kenya, only rainfall shows marked seasonality and unpredictability. But despite the great variability in rainfall patterns, the populations of termite mounds of various species in three well-separated study areas remained remarkably constant over a period ...

Role of Sediment Size and Biostratinomy on the Development of Biofilms in Recent Avian Vertebrate Remains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph E. Peterson

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Microscopic soft tissues have been identified in fossil vertebrate remains collected from various lithologies. However, the diagenetic mechanisms to preserve such tissues have remained elusive. While previous studies have described infiltration of biofilms in Haversian and Volkmann's canals, biostratinomic alteration (e.g., trampling, and iron derived from hemoglobin as playing roles in the preservation processes, the influence of sediment texture has not previously been investigated. This study uses a Kolmogorov Smirnov Goodness-of-Fit test to explore the influence of biostratinomic variability and burial media against the infiltration of biofilms in bone samples. Controlled columns of sediment with bone samples were used to simulate burial and subsequent groundwater flow. Sediments used in this study include clay-, silt-, and sand-sized particles modeled after various fluvial facies commonly associated with fossil vertebrates. Extant limb bone samples obtained from Gallus gallus domesticus (Domestic Chicken buried in clay-rich sediment exhibit heavy biofilm infiltration, while bones buried in sands and silts exhibit moderate levels. Crushed bones exhibit significantly lower biofilm infiltration than whole bone samples. Strong interactions between biostratinomic alteration and sediment size are also identified with respect to biofilm development. Sediments modeling crevasse splay deposits exhibit considerable variability; whole-bone crevasse splay samples exhibit higher frequencies of high-level biofilm infiltration, and crushed-bone samples in modeled crevasse splay deposits display relatively high frequencies of low-level biofilm infiltration. These results suggest that sediment size, depositional setting, and biostratinomic condition play key roles in biofilm infiltration in vertebrate remains, and may influence soft tissue preservation in fossil vertebrates.

Role of sediment size and biostratinomy on the development of biofilms in recent avian vertebrate remains

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Joseph E.; Lenczewski, Melissa E.; Clawson, Steven R.; Warnock, Jonathan P.

2017-04-01

Microscopic soft tissues have been identified in fossil vertebrate remains collected from various lithologies. However, the diagenetic mechanisms to preserve such tissues have remained elusive. While previous studies have described infiltration of biofilms in Haversian and Volkmann’s canals, biostratinomic alteration (e.g., trampling), and iron derived from hemoglobin as playing roles in the preservation processes, the influence of sediment texture has not previously been investigated. This study uses a Kolmogorov Smirnov Goodness-of-Fit test to explore the influence of biostratinomic variability and burial media against the infiltration of biofilms in bone samples. Controlled columns of sediment with bone samples were used to simulate burial and subsequent groundwater flow. Sediments used in this study include clay-, silt-, and sand-sized particles modeled after various fluvial facies commonly associated with fossil vertebrates. Extant limb bone samples obtained from Gallus gallus domesticus (Domestic Chicken) buried in clay-rich sediment exhibit heavy biofilm infiltration, while bones buried in sands and silts exhibit moderate levels. Crushed bones exhibit significantly lower biofilm infiltration than whole bone samples. Strong interactions between biostratinomic alteration and sediment size are also identified with respect to biofilm development. Sediments modeling crevasse splay deposits exhibit considerable variability; whole-bone crevasse splay samples exhibit higher frequencies of high-level biofilm infiltration, and crushed-bone samples in modeled crevasse splay deposits display relatively high frequencies of low-level biofilm infiltration. These results suggest that sediment size, depositional setting, and biostratinomic condition play key roles in biofilm infiltration in vertebrate remains, and may influence soft tissue preservation in fossil vertebrates.

Influence of forced respiration on nonlinear dynamics in heart rate variability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kanters, J K; Højgaard, M V; Agner, E

1997-01-01

Although it is doubtful whether the normal sinus rhythm can be described as low-dimensional chaos, there is evidence for inherent nonlinear dynamics and determinism in time series of consecutive R-R intervals. However, the physiological origin for these nonlinearities is unknown. The aim...... with a metronome set to 12 min(-1). Nonlinear dynamics were measured as the correlation dimension and the nonlinear prediction error. Complexity expressed as correlation dimension was unchanged from normal respiration, 9.1 +/- 0.5, compared with forced respiration, 9.3 +/- 0.6. Also, nonlinear determinism...... expressed as the nonlinear prediction error did not differ between spontaneous respiration, 32.3 +/- 3.4 ms, and forced respiration, 31.9 +/- 5.7. It is concluded that the origin of the nonlinear dynamics in heart rate variability is not a nonlinear input from the respiration into the cardiovascular...

Variability induced by the MR imager in dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging of the prostate.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunelle, S; Zemmour, C; Bratan, F; Mège-Lechevallier, F; Ruffion, A; Colombel, M; Crouzet, S; Sarran, A; Rouvière, O

2018-04-01

To evaluate the variability induced by the imager in discriminating high-grade (Gleason≥7) prostate cancers (HGC) using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI. We retrospectively selected 3T MRIs with temporal resolution<10 seconds and comprising T1 mapping from a prospective radiologic-pathologic database of patients treated by prostatectomy. Ktrans, Kep, Ve and Vp were calculated for each lesion seen on MRI using the Weinmann arterial input function (AIF) and three patient-specific AIFs measured in the right and left iliac arteries in pixels in the center of the lumen (psAIF-ST) or manually selected by two independent readers (psAIF-R1 and psAIF-R2). A total of 43 patients (mean age, 63.6±4.9 [SD]; range: 48-72 years) with 100 lesions on MRI (55 HGC) were selected. MRIs were performed on imager A (22 patients, 49 lesions) or B (21 patients, 51 lesions) from two different manufacturers. Using the Weinmann AIF, Kep (P=0.005), Ve (P=0.04) and Vp (P=0.01) significantly discriminated HCG. After adjusting on tissue classes, the imager significantly influenced the values of Kep (P=0.049) and Ve (P=0.007). Using patient-specific AIFs, Vp with psAIF-ST (P=0.008) and psAIF-R2 (P=0.04), and Kep with psAIF-R1 (P=0.03) significantly discriminated HGC. After adjusting on tissue classes, types of patient-specific AIF and side of measurement, the imager significantly influenced the values of Ktrans (P=0.0002), Ve (P=0.0072) and Vp (P=0.0003). For all AIFs, the diagnostic value of pharmacokinetic parameters remained unchanged after adjustment on the imager, with stable odds ratios. The imager induced variability in the absolute values of pharmacokinetic parameters but did not change their diagnostic performance. Copyright © 2018 Société française de radiologie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Robust cluster analysis and variable selection

CERN Document Server

Ritter, Gunter

2014-01-01

Clustering remains a vibrant area of research in statistics. Although there are many books on this topic, there are relatively few that are well founded in the theoretical aspects. In Robust Cluster Analysis and Variable Selection, Gunter Ritter presents an overview of the theory and applications of probabilistic clustering and variable selection, synthesizing the key research results of the last 50 years. The author focuses on the robust clustering methods he found to be the most useful on simulated data and real-time applications. The book provides clear guidance for the varying needs of bot

Hybrid PSO–SVM-based method for forecasting of the remaining useful life for aircraft engines and evaluation of its reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

García Nieto, P.J.; García-Gonzalo, E.; Sánchez Lasheras, F.; Cos Juez, F.J. de

2015-01-01

The present paper describes a hybrid PSO–SVM-based model for the prediction of the remaining useful life of aircraft engines. The proposed hybrid model combines support vector machines (SVMs), which have been successfully adopted for regression problems, with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique. This optimization technique involves kernel parameter setting in the SVM training procedure, which significantly influences the regression accuracy. However, its use in reliability applications has not been yet widely explored. Bearing this in mind, remaining useful life values have been predicted here by using the hybrid PSO–SVM-based model from the remaining measured parameters (input variables) for aircraft engines with success. A coefficient of determination equal to 0.9034 was obtained when this hybrid PSO–RBF–SVM-based model was applied to experimental data. The agreement of this model with experimental data confirmed its good performance. One of the main advantages of this predictive model is that it does not require information about the previous operation states of the engine. Finally, the main conclusions of this study are exposed. - Highlights: • A hybrid PSO–SVM-based model is built as a predictive model of the RUL values for aircraft engines. • The remaining physical–chemical variables in this process are studied in depth. • The obtained regression accuracy of our method is about 95%. • The results show that PSO–SVM-based model can assist in the diagnosis of the RUL values with accuracy

On use of radial evanescence remain term in kinematic hardening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geyer, P.

1995-10-01

A fine modelling of the material' behaviour can be necessary to study the mechanical strength of nuclear power plant' components under cyclic loads. Ratchetting is one of the last phenomena for which numerical models have to be improved. We discuss in this paper on use of radial evanescence remain term in kinematic hardening to improve the description of ratchetting in biaxial loading tests. It's well known that Chaboche elastoplastic model with two non linear kinematic hardening variables initially proposed by Armstrong and Frederick, usually over-predicts accumulation of ratchetting strain. Burlet and Cailletaud proposed in 1987 a non linear kinematic rule with a radial evanescence remain term. The two models lead to identical formulation for proportional loadings. In the case of a biaxial loading test (primary+secondary loading), Burlet and Cailletaud model leads to accommodation, when Chaboche one's leads to ratchetting with a constant increment of strain. So we can have an under-estimate with the first model and an over-estimate with the second. An easy method to improve the description of ratchetting is to combine the two kinematic rules. Such an idea is already used by Delobelle in his model. With analytical results in the case of tension-torsion tests, we show in a first part of the paper, the interest of radial evanescence remain term in the non linear kinematic rule to describe ratchetting: we give the conditions to get adaptation, accommodation or ratchetting and the value of the strain increment in the last case. In the second part of the paper, we propose to modify the elastoplastic Chaboche model by coupling the two types of hardening by means of two scalar parameters which can be identified independently on biaxial loading tests. Identification of these two parameters returns to speculate on the directions of strain in order to adjust the ratchetting to experimental observations. We use the experimental results on the austenitic steel 316L at room

Stereoselective determination of unchanged and glucuroconjugated eliprodil, a new anti-ischaemic drug, in human plasma and urine by precolumn derivatization and column-switching high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Malavasi, B; Ripamonti, M; Rouchouse, A; Ascalone, V

1996-04-05

An HPLC method was developed and validated for the determination in human plasma and urine of the enantiomers of eliprodil, (+/-)-alpha-(4-chlorophenyl)-4[(4-fluorophenyl) methyl]piperidine-1-ethanol hydrochloride, a new anti-ischaemic agent administered as a racemate. Both enantiomers are present in human plasma in unchanged and glucuroconjugated form, whereas only the glucuroconjugated form is excreted into urine; as a consequence, such metabolites in human plasma and urine should be submitted to enzymatic deconjugation with beta-glucuronidase (Escherichia coli) before being extracted. The general method involves a liquid-liquid extraction of eliprodil and internal standard from alkalinized plasma or urine with n-hexane, evaporation of the organic phase and derivatization with (S)-(+)-naphthylethyl isocyanate to give carbamate diastereoisomeric derivatives of (S)-(+)- and (R)-(-)-eliprodil and internal standard; after evaporation of the derivatizing mixture and dissolution of the residue in a small volume of phosphate buffer-acetonitrile (60:40, v/v), an aliquot is injected into a column-switching HPLC system. The derivatized sample extract is purified on a precolumn filled with C8-bonded silica material, which is flushed with acetonitrile-water, then diastereoisomers of eliprodil and the internal standard are automatically transferred by the mobile phase to the analytical column. The analytical column is a C8 type, specially deactivated for basic compounds, the mobile phase is 0.025 M phosphate buffer (pH 2.6)-methanol-acetonitrile (42:2:56) at a flow-rate of 1.2 ml min-1 and fluorimetric detector operating at lambda ex = 275 nm and lambda em = 336 nm is used. The retention times, under these conditions, are about 16 and 17 min for (S)-(+)- and (R)-(-)-eliprodil diastereoisomers, respectively, and about 19 min for the first-eluted diastereoisomer of the internal standard. During the analysis time, the precolumn, reset in a different path from that of the

Cell-specific CO2 fixation rates of two distinct groups of plastidic protists in the Atlantic Ocean remain unchanged after nutrient addition.

Science.gov (United States)

Grob, Carolina; Jardillier, Ludwig; Hartmann, Manuela; Ostrowski, Martin; Zubkov, Mikhail V; Scanlan, David J

2015-04-01

To assess the role of open-ocean ecosystems in global CO2 fixation, we investigated how picophytoplankton, which dominate primary production, responded to episodic increases in nutrient availability. Previous experiments have shown nitrogen alone, or in combination with phosphorus or iron, to be the proximate limiting nutrient(s) for total phytoplankton grown over several days. Much less is known about how nutrient upshift affects picophytoplankton CO2 fixation over the duration of the light period. To address this issue, we performed a series of small volume (8-60 ml) - short term (10-11 h) nutrient addition experiments in different regions of the Atlantic Ocean using NH4 Cl, FeCl3 , K medium, dust and nutrient-rich water from 300 m depth. We found no significant nutrient stimulation of group-specific CO2 fixation rates of two taxonomically and size-distinct groups of plastidic protists. The above was true regardless of the region sampled or nutrient added, suggesting that this is a generic phenomenon. Our findings show that at least in the short term (i.e. daylight period), nutrient availability does not limit CO2 fixation by the smallest plastidic protists, while their taxonomic composition does not determine their response to nutrient addition. © 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Clinical Implications of Glucose Variability: Chronic Complications of Diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hye Seung Jung

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Glucose variability has been identified as a potential risk factor for diabetic complications; oxidative stress is widely regarded as the mechanism by which glycemic variability induces diabetic complications. However, there remains no generally accepted gold standard for assessing glucose variability. Representative indices for measuring intraday variability include calculation of the standard deviation along with the mean amplitude of glycemic excursions (MAGE. MAGE is used to measure major intraday excursions and is easily measured using continuous glucose monitoring systems. Despite a lack of randomized controlled trials, recent clinical data suggest that long-term glycemic variability, as determined by variability in hemoglobin A1c, may contribute to the development of microvascular complications. Intraday glycemic variability is also suggested to accelerate coronary artery disease in high-risk patients.

Unchanged content of oxidative enzymes in fast-twitch muscle fibers and V˙O2 kinetics after intensified training in trained cyclists

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Peter Møller; Gunnarsson, Thomas Gunnar Petursson; Thomassen, Martin

2015-01-01

perturbation during INT. Pulmonary V˙O2 kinetics was determined in eight trained male cyclists (V˙O2-max: 59 ± 4 (means ± SD) mL min(-1) kg(-1)) during MOD (205 ± 12 W ~65% V˙O2-max) and INT (286 ± 17 W ~85% V˙O2-max) exercise before and after a 7-week HIT period (30-sec sprints and 4-min intervals) with a 50...... DW(-1) min(-1)) of CS (56 ± 8 post-HIT vs. 59 ± 10 pre-HIT), HAD (27 ± 6 vs. 29 ± 3) and PFK (340 ± 69 vs. 318 ± 105) and the capillary to fiber ratio (2.30 ± 0.16 vs. 2.38 ± 0.20) was unaltered following HIT. V˙O2 kinetics was unchanged with HIT and the speed of the primary response did not differ...... of oxidative enzymes in fast-twitch fibers, and did not change V˙O2 kinetics....

Understanding and forecasting polar stratospheric variability with statistical models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Blume

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The variability of the north-polar stratospheric vortex is a prominent aspect of the middle atmosphere. This work investigates a wide class of statistical models with respect to their ability to model geopotential and temperature anomalies, representing variability in the polar stratosphere. Four partly nonstationary, nonlinear models are assessed: linear discriminant analysis (LDA; a cluster method based on finite elements (FEM-VARX; a neural network, namely the multi-layer perceptron (MLP; and support vector regression (SVR. These methods model time series by incorporating all significant external factors simultaneously, including ENSO, QBO, the solar cycle, volcanoes, to then quantify their statistical importance. We show that variability in reanalysis data from 1980 to 2005 is successfully modeled. The period from 2005 to 2011 can be hindcasted to a certain extent, where MLP performs significantly better than the remaining models. However, variability remains that cannot be statistically hindcasted within the current framework, such as the unexpected major warming in January 2009. Finally, the statistical model with the best generalization performance is used to predict a winter 2011/12 with warm and weak vortex conditions. A vortex breakdown is predicted for late January, early February 2012.

Dispositional and situational variables related to evacuation at Three Mile Island

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, I.S.

1981-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore some of the factors influential in local residents' evacuating or remaining in the Three Mile Island area during the nuclear power plant accident of March, 1979. Investigated variables included individuals' behavioral dispositions to attend or to avoid threatening stimuli as well as situational concerns related to demographic characteristics and subjective experience. Investigation of situational variables also probed respondents' concerns about accident-related fears. Two main relationships were investigated. The first hypothesized that positive relationships existed both between dispositional attention to threat and evacuation and between dispositional avoidance of threat and remaining. The second investigation task of the research explored evacuation-related situational variables in regard to individuals' awareness of potential danger at TMI. No support was found for the hypothesized relationships between evacuation and dispositions relative to threat. Situational variables significantly related to evacuation included: specific directives to evacuate the area; disruption of telephone service during the week of the accident; and household proximity to TMI

Motivation for entry, occupational commitment and intent to remain: a survey regarding Registered Nurse retention.

Science.gov (United States)

Gambino, Kathleen M

2010-11-01

This paper is a report of a study of the relationships between Registered Nurses' motivation for entering the profession, occupational commitment and intent to remain with an employer until retirement. Identifying and supporting nurses who are strongly committed to their profession may be the single most influential intervention in combating the nursing shortage. An understanding of the characteristics these individuals possess could lead to a decline in the high attrition rates plaguing the profession. Using a survey design, Registered Nurses enrolled at the school of nursing and/or employed at the associated university medical centre of a large, not-for-profit state university were polled in 2008. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine how the variables of motivation for entry and occupational commitment could indicate intent to remain. The strongest indicators of intent to remain were normative commitment and age, with a 70% average rate of correctly estimating retention. Exp(B) values for normative commitment (1·09) and age (1·07) indicated that for each one-point increase on the normative commitment scale or one-point increase in age, the odds of remaining with an employer until retirement increased by 1·1%. Transformational changes in healthcare environments and nursing schools must be made to encourage loyalty and obligation, the hallmarks of normative commitment. Retention strategies should accommodate mature nurses as well as promote normative commitment in younger nurses. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Variable discrete ordinates method for radiation transfer in plane-parallel semi-transparent media with variable refractive index

Science.gov (United States)

Sarvari, S. M. Hosseini

2017-09-01

The traditional form of discrete ordinates method is applied to solve the radiative transfer equation in plane-parallel semi-transparent media with variable refractive index through using the variable discrete ordinate directions and the concept of refracted radiative intensity. The refractive index are taken as constant in each control volume, such that the direction cosines of radiative rays remain non-variant through each control volume, and then, the directions of discrete ordinates are changed locally by passing each control volume, according to the Snell's law of refraction. The results are compared by the previous studies in this field. Despite simplicity, the results show that the variable discrete ordinate method has a good accuracy in solving the radiative transfer equation in the semi-transparent media with arbitrary distribution of refractive index.

Periodic optical variability of radio-detected ultracool dwarfs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harding, L. K.; Golden, A.; Singh, Navtej; Sheehan, B.; Butler, R. F.; Hallinan, G.; Boyle, R. P.; Zavala, R. T.

2013-01-01

A fraction of very low mass stars and brown dwarfs are known to be radio active, in some cases producing periodic pulses. Extensive studies of two such objects have also revealed optical periodic variability, and the nature of this variability remains unclear. Here, we report on multi-epoch optical photometric monitoring of six radio-detected dwarfs, spanning the ∼M8-L3.5 spectral range, conducted to investigate the ubiquity of periodic optical variability in radio-detected ultracool dwarfs. This survey is the most sensitive ground-based study carried out to date in search of periodic optical variability from late-type dwarfs, where we obtained 250 hr of monitoring, delivering photometric precision as low as ∼0.15%. Five of the six targets exhibit clear periodicity, in all cases likely associated with the rotation period of the dwarf, with a marginal detection found for the sixth. Our data points to a likely association between radio and optical periodic variability in late-M/early-L dwarfs, although the underlying physical cause of this correlation remains unclear. In one case, we have multiple epochs of monitoring of the archetype of pulsing radio dwarfs, the M9 TVLM 513–46546, spanning a period of 5 yr, which is sufficiently stable in phase to allow us to establish a period of 1.95958 ± 0.00005 hr. This phase stability may be associated with a large-scale stable magnetic field, further strengthening the correlation between radio activity and periodic optical variability. Finally, we find a tentative spin-orbit alignment of one component of the very low mass binary, LP 349–25.

Periodic optical variability of radio-detected ultracool dwarfs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harding, L. K.; Golden, A.; Singh, Navtej; Sheehan, B.; Butler, R. F. [Centre for Astronomy, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway (Ireland); Hallinan, G. [Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, MC 249-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Boyle, R. P. [Vatican Observatory Research Group, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Zavala, R. T., E-mail: lkh@astro.caltech.edu [United States Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States)

2013-12-20

A fraction of very low mass stars and brown dwarfs are known to be radio active, in some cases producing periodic pulses. Extensive studies of two such objects have also revealed optical periodic variability, and the nature of this variability remains unclear. Here, we report on multi-epoch optical photometric monitoring of six radio-detected dwarfs, spanning the ∼M8-L3.5 spectral range, conducted to investigate the ubiquity of periodic optical variability in radio-detected ultracool dwarfs. This survey is the most sensitive ground-based study carried out to date in search of periodic optical variability from late-type dwarfs, where we obtained 250 hr of monitoring, delivering photometric precision as low as ∼0.15%. Five of the six targets exhibit clear periodicity, in all cases likely associated with the rotation period of the dwarf, with a marginal detection found for the sixth. Our data points to a likely association between radio and optical periodic variability in late-M/early-L dwarfs, although the underlying physical cause of this correlation remains unclear. In one case, we have multiple epochs of monitoring of the archetype of pulsing radio dwarfs, the M9 TVLM 513–46546, spanning a period of 5 yr, which is sufficiently stable in phase to allow us to establish a period of 1.95958 ± 0.00005 hr. This phase stability may be associated with a large-scale stable magnetic field, further strengthening the correlation between radio activity and periodic optical variability. Finally, we find a tentative spin-orbit alignment of one component of the very low mass binary, LP 349–25.

Survival analysis to explore the characteristics of employee assistance program (EAP) referrals that remain employed.

Science.gov (United States)

Macdonald, S; Albert, W; Maynard, M; French, P

1989-02-01

This study examined characteristics of referrals to employee assistance programs (EAP) associated with subsequent termination of employment. As well, relationships between characteristics of the referrals and program characteristics were explored. Longitudinal data were collected at several time periods for 163 referrals to EAPs from five organizations. Survival analysis was conducted to determine which variables were associated with termination of employment. Females, cohabitating couples, and employees who worked for the organization for 5 or more years were most likely to remain employed. One interesting finding was that people with alcohol problems were significantly more likely to be formal referrals.

Fish remains and humankind: part two

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew K G Jones

1998-07-01

Full Text Available The significance of aquatic resources to past human groups is not adequately reflected in the published literature - a deficiency which is gradually being acknowledged by the archaeological community world-wide. The publication of the following three papers goes some way to redress this problem. Originally presented at an International Council of Archaeozoology (ICAZ Fish Remains Working Group meeting in York, U.K. in 1987, these papers offer clear evidence of the range of interest in ancient fish remains across the world. Further papers from the York meeting were published in Internet Archaeology 3 in 1997.

Valoración de la expresión de Bcl2 y ki-67 en el carcinoma epidermoide de pulmón. Alteraciones génicas asociadas. Correlación con variables anatomoclínicas

OpenAIRE

Montejo Maillo, Beatriz

2011-01-01

[ES]Aparte del estudio clinico del tumor, escasos factores parecen influir en el pornóstico del carcinoma epidermoide de pulmón y en los úlitmos 20 años, apenas se ha modificado la supervivencia [EN]Apart from the clinical study of tumor, few factors appear to influence the porn squamous cell carcinoma of lung and in 20 years last article, has remained largely unchanged survival

Increased Short-Term Beat-To-Beat Variability of QT Interval in Patients with Acromegaly

Science.gov (United States)

Orosz, Andrea; Csajbók, Éva; Czékus, Csilla; Gavallér, Henriette; Magony, Sándor; Valkusz, Zsuzsanna; Várkonyi, Tamás T.; Nemes, Attila; Baczkó, István; Forster, Tamás; Wittmann, Tibor; Papp, Julius Gy.; Varró, András; Lengyel, Csaba

2015-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases, including ventricular arrhythmias are responsible for increased mortality in patients with acromegaly. Acromegaly may cause repolarization abnormalities such as QT prolongation and impairment of repolarization reserve enhancing liability to arrhythmia. The aim of this study was to determine the short-term beat-to-beat QT variability in patients with acromegaly. Thirty acromegalic patients (23 women and 7 men, mean age±SD: 55.7±10.4 years) were compared with age- and sex-matched volunteers (mean age 51.3±7.6 years). Cardiac repolarization parameters including frequency corrected QT interval, PQ and QRS intervals, duration of terminal part of T waves (Tpeak-Tend) and short-term variability of QT interval were evaluated. All acromegalic patients and controls underwent transthoracic echocardiographic examination. Autonomic function was assessed by means of five standard cardiovascular reflex tests. Comparison of the two groups revealed no significant differences in the conventional ECG parameters of repolarization (QT: 401.1±30.6 ms vs 389.3±16.5 ms, corrected QT interval: 430.1±18.6 ms vs 425.6±17.3 ms, QT dispersion: 38.2±13.2 ms vs 36.6±10.2 ms; acromegaly vs control, respectively). However, short-term beat-to-beat QT variability was significantly increased in acromegalic patients (4.23±1.03 ms vs 3.02±0.80, Pacromegaly in spite of unchanged conventional parameters of ventricular repolarization. This enhanced temporal QT variability may be an early indicator of increased liability to arrhythmia. PMID:25915951

The penalty points system in Ireland - Does it remain effective 14 years on?

Science.gov (United States)

Downey, C; Donnelly, M

2017-05-23

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading cause of trauma related mortality in Ireland. The penalty points system (PPS) was introduced in Ireland in 2002 to incentivise safer driving and reduce injury. Its early effect was studied previously 1 which concluded that there was a slight reduction in RTA related femoral shaft fractures (a sensitive indicator of high energy trauma) and a dramatic reduction in RTA related discharges. We hypothesized that over the following 14 years, the penalty points system might lose its effectiveness. Data was again collected from the same HIPE departments from six Dublin teaching hospitals and also University Hospital Waterford (to represent both an urban and a more rural population cohort respectively) examining RTA related femoral shaft fractures over an identical 6 month period (October-April). RTA related discharge data over an identical 6 month period was again acquired and analysed from Beaumont Hospital, Dublin (identical data source to previous study). These results were compared with the identical 6 month period in 2001/02 & 2002/03 (October-April). The total number of RTA related femoral shaft fracture discharges in Dublin decreased from 16 post introduction of PPS in the 2002/03 6-month period to 7 in 2015/16 6-month period. The number remained the same in the Waterford region (n = 5). The total RTA related discharges in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin decreased from 70 post PPS introduction to 57 in the 2015/16 6-month period. This represents an incidence rate of 4.5/1000 discharges (vs 6.9 post introduction) which was a statistically significant reduction (p = 0.014). The mean length of stay for these patients reduced from 13 to 7.7 days. There were consistent reductions in head injury (major & minor), lower limb fracture and facial fracture since the introduction of the PPS. The upper limb, pelvic/acetabular and thoracic injuries remained largely unchanged. Whilst RTA related spinal and abdominal injuries decreased

Variable Lifting Index (VLI): A New Method for Evaluating Variable Lifting Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Waters, Thomas; Occhipinti, Enrico; Colombini, Daniela; Alvarez-Casado, Enrique; Fox, Robert

2016-08-01

We seek to develop a new approach for analyzing the physical demands of highly variable lifting tasks through an adaptation of the Revised NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) Lifting Equation (RNLE) into a Variable Lifting Index (VLI). There are many jobs that contain individual lifts that vary from lift to lift due to the task requirements. The NIOSH Lifting Equation is not suitable in its present form to analyze variable lifting tasks. In extending the prior work on the VLI, two procedures are presented to allow users to analyze variable lifting tasks. One approach involves the sampling of lifting tasks performed by a worker over a shift and the calculation of the Frequency Independent Lift Index (FILI) for each sampled lift and the aggregation of the FILI values into six categories. The Composite Lift Index (CLI) equation is used with lifting index (LI) category frequency data to calculate the VLI. The second approach employs a detailed systematic collection of lifting task data from production and/or organizational sources. The data are organized into simplified task parameter categories and further aggregated into six FILI categories, which also use the CLI equation to calculate the VLI. The two procedures will allow practitioners to systematically employ the VLI method to a variety of work situations where highly variable lifting tasks are performed. The scientific basis for the VLI procedure is similar to that for the CLI originally presented by NIOSH; however, the VLI method remains to be validated. The VLI method allows an analyst to assess highly variable manual lifting jobs in which the task characteristics vary from lift to lift during a shift. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Temporal mode selectivity by frequency conversion in second-order nonlinear optical waveguides: Erratum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reddy, Dileep V.; Raymer, M. G.; Mckinstrie, C. J.

2017-01-01

We correct typographical errors in four equations showing the integral forms of the equations of motion and the corresponding perturbative approximation. Subsequently presented derivations, results, and conclusions remain unchanged.......We correct typographical errors in four equations showing the integral forms of the equations of motion and the corresponding perturbative approximation. Subsequently presented derivations, results, and conclusions remain unchanged....

U.S. Navy Ships Food Service Divisions: Modernizing Inventory Management

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-01

management procedures for receipt, inventory, stowage, and issue of provisions onboard ships have remained relatively unchanged for decades. Culinary ...improve the quality of life for Culinary Specialists 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 87 14. SUBJECT TERMS Inventory management , records keeper, stores onload...remained relatively unchanged for decades. Culinary Specialists are utilizing an antiquated and unreliable inventory management program (the Food

RADIO VARIABILITY IN SEYFERT NUCLEI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mundell, C. G.; Ferruit, P.; Nagar, N.; Wilson, A. S.

2009-01-01

Comparison of 8.4 GHz radio images of a sample of eleven, early-type Seyfert galaxies with previous observations reveals possible variation in the nuclear radio flux density in five of them over a seven year period. Four Seyferts (NGC 2110, NGC 3081, MCG -6-30-15, and NGC 5273) show a decline in their 8.4 GHz nuclear flux density between 1992 and 1999, while one (NGC 4117) shows an increase; the flux densities of the remaining six Seyferts (Mrk 607, NGC 1386, Mrk 620, NGC 3516, NGC 4968, and NGC 7465) have remained constant over this period. New images of MCG -5-23-16 are also presented. We find no correlation between radio variability and nuclear radio luminosity or Seyfert nuclear type, although the sample is small and dominated by type 2 Seyferts. Instead, a possible correlation between the presence of nuclear radio variability and the absence of hundred parsec-scale radio emission is seen, with four out of five marginally resolved or unresolved nuclei showing a change in nuclear flux density, while five out of six extended sources show no nuclear variability despite having unresolved nuclear sources. NGC 2110 is the only source in our sample with significant extended radio structure and strong nuclear variability (∼38% decline in nuclear flux density over seven years). The observed nuclear flux variability indicates significant changes are likely to have occurred in the structure of the nucleus on scales smaller than the VLA beam size (i.e., within the central ∼0.''1 (15 pc)), between the two epochs, possibly due to the appearance and fading of new components or shocks in the jet, consistent with previous detection of subparsec-scale nuclear structure in this Seyfert. Our results suggest that all Seyferts may exhibit variation in their nuclear radio flux density at 8.4 GHz, but that variability is more easily recognized in compact sources in which emission from the variable nucleus is not diluted by unresolved, constant flux density radio jet emission

Radiation therapy for age-related macular degeneration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takagi, Chikako; Mori, Hideo; Akuta, Keizou [Otsu Red Cross Hospital, Shiga (Japan); Yoshimura, Nagahisa

1998-04-01

We evaluated the effect of low-dose radiation on age-related macular degeneration in 8 affected eyes. Radiation was applied using photons at 4 MV. Each eye received 10 fractions of 2 Gy per day over 2 weeks. At 6 months after treatment, funduscopic or angiographic findings had either improved or remained unchanged in all the eyes. The visual acuity improved by 2 lines or more in 2 eyes (25%), remained unchanged in 5 eyes (63%) and deteriorated in 1 eye (13%). At the last examination, fundus findings had improved in 2 eyes (25%), remained unchanged in 1 eye (13%) and deteriorated in 5 eyes (63%). The visual acuity had improved or unchanged in 2 eyes each (25%) and deteriorated in 4 eyes (50%). There has been no negative side effects of radiation. Above findings show that low-dose radiation is potentially beneficial for subfoveal or juxtafoveal choroidal neovascularizations in age-related macular degeneration on a short term basis. (author)

Improved variable reduction in partial least squares modelling by Global-Minimum Error Uninformative-Variable Elimination.

Science.gov (United States)

Andries, Jan P M; Vander Heyden, Yvan; Buydens, Lutgarde M C

2017-08-22

The calibration performance of Partial Least Squares regression (PLS) can be improved by eliminating uninformative variables. For PLS, many variable elimination methods have been developed. One is the Uninformative-Variable Elimination for PLS (UVE-PLS). However, the number of variables retained by UVE-PLS is usually still large. In UVE-PLS, variable elimination is repeated as long as the root mean squared error of cross validation (RMSECV) is decreasing. The set of variables in this first local minimum is retained. In this paper, a modification of UVE-PLS is proposed and investigated, in which UVE is repeated until no further reduction in variables is possible, followed by a search for the global RMSECV minimum. The method is called Global-Minimum Error Uninformative-Variable Elimination for PLS, denoted as GME-UVE-PLS or simply GME-UVE. After each iteration, the predictive ability of the PLS model, built with the remaining variable set, is assessed by RMSECV. The variable set with the global RMSECV minimum is then finally selected. The goal is to obtain smaller sets of variables with similar or improved predictability than those from the classical UVE-PLS method. The performance of the GME-UVE-PLS method is investigated using four data sets, i.e. a simulated set, NIR and NMR spectra, and a theoretical molecular descriptors set, resulting in twelve profile-response (X-y) calibrations. The selective and predictive performances of the models resulting from GME-UVE-PLS are statistically compared to those from UVE-PLS and 1-step UVE, one-sided paired t-tests. The results demonstrate that variable reduction with the proposed GME-UVE-PLS method, usually eliminates significantly more variables than the classical UVE-PLS, while the predictive abilities of the resulting models are better. With GME-UVE-PLS, a lower number of uninformative variables, without a chemical meaning for the response, may be retained than with UVE-PLS. The selectivity of the classical UVE method

Average sperm count remains unchanged despite reduction in maternal smoking: results from a large cross-sectional study with annual investigations over 21 years.

Science.gov (United States)

Priskorn, L; Nordkap, L; Bang, A K; Krause, M; Holmboe, S A; Egeberg Palme, D L; Winge, S B; Mørup, N; Carlsen, E; Joensen, U N; Blomberg Jensen, M; Main, K M; Juul, A; Skakkebaek, N E; Jensen, T K; Jørgensen, N

2018-06-01

How are temporal trends in lifestyle factors, including exposure to maternal smoking in utero, associated to semen quality in young men from the general population? Exposure to maternal smoking was associated with lower sperm counts but no overall increase in sperm counts was observed during the study period despite a decrease in this exposure. Meta-analyses suggest a continuous decline in semen quality but few studies have investigated temporal trends in unselected populations recruited and analysed with the same protocol over a long period and none have studied simultaneous trends in lifestyle factors. Cross-sectional population-based study including ~300 participants per year (total number = 6386) between 1996 and 2016. The study is based on men from the Greater Copenhagen area, Denmark, with a median age of 19 years, and unselected with regard to fertility status and semen quality. The men delivered a semen sample, had a blood sample drawn and a physical examination performed and answered a comprehensive questionnaire, including information on lifestyle and the mother's pregnancy. Temporal trends in semen quality and lifestyle were illustrated graphically, and trends in semen parameters and the impact of prenatal and current lifestyle factors were explored in multiple regression analyses. Throughout the study period, 35% of the men had low semen quality. Overall, there were no persistent temporal trends in semen quality, testicular volume or levels of follicle-stimulating hormone over the 21 years studied. The men's alcohol intake was lowest between 2011 and 2016, whereas BMI, use of medication and smoking showed no clear temporal trends. Parental age increased, and exposure in utero to maternal smoking declined from 40% among men investigated in 1996-2000 to 18% among men investigated in 2011-2016. Exposure to maternal smoking was associated with lower sperm counts but no overall increase in sperm counts was observed despite the decrease in this exposure. Information of current and prenatal lifestyle was obtained by self-report, and the men delivered only one semen sample each. The significant decline in in utero exposure to maternal smoking, which was not reflected in an overall improvement of semen quality at the population level, suggest that other unknown adverse factors may maintain the low semen quality among Danish men. The study has received financial support from the ReproUnion; the Research fund of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital; the European Union (Contract numbers BMH4-CT96-0314,QLK4-CT-1999-01422, QLK4-CT-2002-00603, FP7/2007-2013, DEER Grant agreement no. 212844); the Danish Ministry of Health; the Danish Environmental Protection Agency; A.P. Møller and wife Chastine McKinney Møllers foundation; and Svend Andersens Foundation. None of the funders had any role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of data, writing of the paper or publication decisions. N/A.

On the concept of a linguistic variable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerre, E.

1996-01-01

The concept of a linguistic variable plays a crucial role in the representation of imprecise knowledge in information sciences. A variable is called linguistic as soon as its values are linguistic terms rather than numerical ones. The power of daily communication and common sense reasoning lies in the use of such linguistic values. Even when exact numerical values are available, experts tend to transform these values into linguistic ones. A physician will usually translate a numerical measurement of a blood pressure into linguistic specifications such as normal, very high, too low... Zadeh has argued that the set of values for a linguistic variable assumes a more-or-less fixed structure. Starting from an atomic value and its antonym all remaining values are constructed using logical connectives on the one hand and linguistic hedges on the other hand. In this paper we will describe how to represent the value set of a linguistic variable in general and of linguistic hedges in particular

High arterial compliance in cirrhosis is related to low adrenaline and elevated circulating calcitonin gene related peptide but not to activated vasoconstrictor systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Jens Henrik Sahl; Møller, S; Schifter, S

2001-01-01

catecholamines, renin activity, endothelin-1, and calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) at baseline and during oxygen inhalation. RESULTS: COMP(art) was significantly increased in cirrhotic patients compared with controls (1.32 v 1.06 ml/mm Hg; padrenaline levels (r=-0.......001) and central circulation time (r=-0.49; padrenaline (-16%; p... to COMP(art) disappeared. The relation of COMP(art) to CGRP and circulatory variables remained unchanged. CONCLUSION: Elevated arterial compliance in cirrhosis is related to low adrenaline, high CGRP, and systemic hyperdynamics but not to indicators of the activated vasoconstrictor systems (noradrenaline...

IUE observations of variability in winds from hot stars

Science.gov (United States)

Grady, C. A.; Snow, T. P., Jr.

1981-01-01

Observations of variability in stellar winds or envelopes provide an important probe of their dynamics. For this purpose a number of O, B, Be, and Wolf-Rayet stars were repeatedly observed with the IUE satellite in high resolution mode. In the course of analysis, instrumental and data handling effects were found to introduce spurious variability in many of the spectra. software was developed to partially compensate for these effects, but limitations remain on the type of variability that can be identified from IUE spectra. With these contraints, preliminary results of multiple observations of two OB stars, one Wolf-Rayet star, and a Be star are discussed.

Conspicuous plumage colours are highly variable.

Science.gov (United States)

Delhey, Kaspar; Szecsenyi, Beatrice; Nakagawa, Shinichi; Peters, Anne

2017-01-25

Elaborate ornamental traits are often under directional selection for greater elaboration, which in theory should deplete underlying genetic variation. Despite this, many ornamental traits appear to remain highly variable and how this essential variation is maintained is a key question in evolutionary biology. One way to address this question is to compare differences in intraspecific variability across different types of traits to determine whether high levels of variation are associated with specific trait characteristics. Here we assess intraspecific variation in more than 100 plumage colours across 55 bird species to test whether colour variability is linked to their level of elaboration (indicated by degree of sexual dichromatism and conspicuousness) or their condition dependence (indicated by mechanism of colour production). Conspicuous colours had the highest levels of variation and conspicuousness was the strongest predictor of variability, with high explanatory power. After accounting for this, there were no significant effects of sexual dichromatism or mechanisms of colour production. Conspicuous colours may entail higher production costs or may be more sensitive to disruptions during production. Alternatively, high variability could also be related to increased perceptual difficulties inherent to discriminating highly elaborate colours. Such psychophysical effects may constrain the exaggeration of animal colours. © 2017 The Author(s).

The variability of interconnected wind plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katzenstein, Warren; Fertig, Emily; Apt, Jay

2010-01-01

We present the first frequency-dependent analyses of the geographic smoothing of wind power's variability, analyzing the interconnected measured output of 20 wind plants in Texas. Reductions in variability occur at frequencies corresponding to times shorter than ∼24 h and are quantified by measuring the departure from a Kolmogorov spectrum. At a frequency of 2.8x10 -4 Hz (corresponding to 1 h), an 87% reduction of the variability of a single wind plant is obtained by interconnecting 4 wind plants. Interconnecting the remaining 16 wind plants produces only an additional 8% reduction. We use step change analyses and correlation coefficients to compare our results with previous studies, finding that wind power ramps up faster than it ramps down for each of the step change intervals analyzed and that correlation between the power output of wind plants 200 km away is half that of co-located wind plants. To examine variability at very low frequencies, we estimate yearly wind energy production in the Great Plains region of the United States from automated wind observations at airports covering 36 years. The estimated wind power has significant inter-annual variability and the severity of wind drought years is estimated to be about half that observed nationally for hydroelectric power.

Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Variability [version 1; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dennis Baldocchi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A growing literature is reporting on how the terrestrial carbon cycle is experiencing year-to-year variability because of climate anomalies and trends caused by global change. As CO2 concentration records in the atmosphere exceed 50 years and as satellite records reach over 30 years in length, we are becoming better able to address carbon cycle variability and trends. Here we review how variable the carbon cycle is, how large the trends in its gross and net fluxes are, and how well the signal can be separated from noise. We explore mechanisms that explain year-to-year variability and trends by deconstructing the global carbon budget. The CO2 concentration record is detecting a significant increase in the seasonal amplitude between 1958 and now. Inferential methods provide a variety of explanations for this result, but a conclusive attribution remains elusive. Scientists have reported that this trend is a consequence of the greening of the biosphere, stronger northern latitude photosynthesis, more photosynthesis by semi-arid ecosystems, agriculture and the green revolution, tropical temperature anomalies, or increased winter respiration. At the global scale, variability in the terrestrial carbon cycle can be due to changes in constituent fluxes, gross primary productivity, plant respiration and heterotrophic (microbial respiration, and losses due to fire, land use change, soil erosion, or harvesting. It remains controversial whether or not there is a significant trend in global primary productivity (due to rising CO2, temperature, nitrogen deposition, changing land use, and preponderance of wet and dry regions. The degree to which year-to-year variability in temperature and precipitation anomalies affect global primary productivity also remains uncertain. For perspective, interannual variability in global gross primary productivity is relatively small (on the order of 2 Pg-C y-1 with respect to a large and uncertain background (123 +/- 4 Pg-C y-1

Millijansky radio variability in SDSS stripe 82

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hodge, J. A.; Becker, R. H. [University of California, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 (United States); White, R. L. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Richards, G. T., E-mail: hodge@mpia.de [Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)

2013-06-01

We report on a blind survey for extragalactic radio variability that was carried out by comparing two epochs of data from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeters survey with a third epoch from a new 1.4 GHz survey of SDSS Stripe 82. The three epochs are spaced seven years apart and have an overlapping area of 60 deg{sup 2}. We uncover 89 variable sources down to the millijansky level, 75 of which are newly identified, and we find no evidence for transient phenomena. This new sample of variable sources allows us to infer an upper limit to the mean characteristic timescale of active galactic nucleus radio variability of 14 yr. We find that only 1% of extragalactic sources have fractional variability f {sub var} > 3, while 44% of Galactic sources vary by this much. The variable sample contains a larger fraction of quasars than a comparable non-variable control sample, though the majority of the variable sources appear to be extended galaxies in the optical. This implies that either quasars are not the dominant contributor to the variability of the sample, or that the deep optical data allow us to detect the host galaxies of some low-z quasars. We use the new, higher resolution data to report on the morphology of the variable sources. Finally, we show that the fraction of sources that are variable remains constant or increases at low flux densities. This may imply that next generation radio surveys with telescopes like Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder and MeerKAT will see a constant or even increasing fraction of variable sources down into the sub-millijansky regime.

Sonographic evolution of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with cirrhosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazzola, G.; Virdone, R.; Orlando, A.; Turri, A.; Caltagirone, M.; Fusco, G.; Parisi, P.; Cottone, M.

1989-01-01

To study the sonographic (US) evolution of hepatocellular carcinoma, 53 tumors in 45 untreated patients were observed regulary with real-time US for a period of 6 to 56 months. At the beginning, 25 tumors were hypoechoic, 18 isoechoic, 4 hyperechoic, and 6 had mixed hypo/hyper echopatterns. At the follow-up, 7 initially hypoechoic tumors had changed to hyperechoic or to mixed echopatterns; 8 hypoechoic tumors had becom isoechoic; 9 of the 25 initially hypoechoic neoplastic lesions had maintained the same echodensity. Ten of the 15 initially isoechoic tumors had changed to mixed echopatterns and 5 had remained unchanged. Three initially isoechoic lesions and a hypoechoic one had turned into diffuse patterns; 2 initially hyperechoic neoplastic lesions had remained unchanged; 1 had switched into hypoechoic, and 1 changed to mixed echopattern; 4 out of 6 tumors with echopattern had remained unchanged, 1 had become hyperechoic and 1 hypoechoic. The current study has proven variou tumors ≤3 cm in diameter to be isoechoic and most tumors >3 in diameter to have mixed hypo/hyper echopatterns. The echogenicity of small hepatocellular carcinomas increases with the tumor growth and remains unchanged when they do not increase in size

Between-centre variability versus variability over time in DXA whole body measurements evaluated using a whole body phantom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Louis, Olivia [Department of Radiology, AZ-VUB, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussel (Belgium)]. E-mail: olivia.louis@az.vub.ac.be; Verlinde, Siska [Belgian Study Group for Pediatric Endocrinology (Belgium); Thomas, Muriel [Belgian Study Group for Pediatric Endocrinology (Belgium); De Schepper, Jean [Department of Pediatrics, AZ-VUB, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussel (Belgium)

2006-06-15

This study aimed to compare the variability of whole body measurements, using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), among geographically distinct centres versus that over time in a given centre. A Hologic-designed 28 kg modular whole body phantom was used, including high density polyethylene, gray polyvinylchloride and aluminium. It was scanned on seven Hologic QDR 4500 DXA devices, located in seven centres and was also repeatedly (n = 18) scanned in the reference centre, over a time span of 5 months. The mean between-centre coefficient of variation (CV) ranged from 2.0 (lean mass) to 5.6% (fat mass) while the mean within-centre CV ranged from 0.3 (total mass) to 4.7% (total area). Between-centre variability compared well with within-centre variability for total area, bone mineral content and bone mineral density, but was significantly higher for fat (p < 0.001), lean (p < 0.005) and total mass (p < 0.001). Our results suggest that, even when using the same device, the between-centre variability remains a matter of concern, particularly where body composition is concerned.

Cardiac autonomic responses induced by mental tasks and the influence of musical auditory stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa, Juliana Cristina; Guida, Heraldo L; Fontes, Anne M G; Antonio, Ana M S; de Abreu, Luiz Carlos; Barnabé, Viviani; Marcomini, Renata S; Vanderlei, Luiz Carlos M; da Silva, Meire L; Valenti, Vitor E

2014-08-01

We investigated the acute effects of musical auditory stimulation on cardiac autonomic responses to a mental task in 28 healthy men (18-22 years old). In the control protocol (no music), the volunteers remained at seated rest for 10 min and the test was applied for five minutes. After the end of test the subjects remained seated for five more minutes. In the music protocol, the volunteers remained at seated rest for 10 min, then were exposed to music for 10 min; the test was then applied over five minutes, and the subjects remained seated for five more minutes after the test. In the control and music protocols the time domain and frequency domain indices of heart rate variability remained unchanged before, during and after the test. We found that musical auditory stimulation with baroque music did not influence cardiac autonomic responses to the mental task. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variability of Massive Young Stellar Objects in Cygnus-X

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Nancy H.; Hora, J. L.; Smith, H. A.

2013-01-01

Young stellar objects (YSOs) are stars in the process of formation. Several recent investigations have shown a high rate of photometric variability in YSOs at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. Theoretical models for the formation of massive stars (1-10 solar masses) remain highly idealized, and little is known about the mechanisms that produce the variability. An ongoing Spitzer Space Telescope program is studying massive star formation in the Cygnus-X region. In conjunction with the Spitzer observations, we have conducted a ground-based near-infrared observing program of the Cygnus-X DR21 field using PAIRITEL, the automated infrared telescope at Whipple Observatory. Using the Stetson index for variability, we identified variable objects and a number of variable YSOs in our time-series PAIRITEL data of DR21. We have searched for periodicity among our variable objects using the Lomb-Scargle algorithm, and identified periodic variable objects with an average period of 8.07 days. Characterization of these variable and periodic objects will help constrain models of star formation present. This work is supported in part by the NSF REU and DOD ASSURE programs under NSF grant no. 0754568 and by the Smithsonian Institution.

Kadav Moun PSA (:60) (Human Remains)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2010-02-18

This is an important public health announcement about safety precautions for those handling human remains. Language: Haitian Creole.  Created: 2/18/2010 by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).   Date Released: 2/18/2010.

Effects of intermittent theta burst stimulation on cerebral blood flow and cerebral vasomotor reactivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Pichiorri, Floriana; Vicenzini, Edoardo; Gilio, Francesca; Giacomelli, Elena; Frasca, Vittorio; Cambieri, Chiara; Ceccanti, Marco; Di Piero, Vittorio; Inghilleri, Maurizio

2012-08-01

To determine whether intermittent theta burst stimulation influences cerebral hemodynamics, we investigated changes induced by intermittent theta burst stimulation on the middle cerebral artery cerebral blood flow velocity and vasomotor reactivity to carbon dioxide (CO(2)) in healthy participants. The middle cerebral artery flow velocity and vasomotor reactivity were monitored by continuous transcranial Doppler sonography. Changes in cortical excitability were tested by transcranial magnetic stimulation. In 11 healthy participants, before and immediately after delivering intermittent theta burst stimulation, we tested cortical excitability measured by the resting motor threshold and motor evoked potential amplitude over the stimulated hemisphere and vasomotor reactivity to CO(2) bilaterally. The blood flow velocity was monitored in both middle cerebral arteries throughout the experimental session. In a separate session, we tested the effects of sham stimulation under the same experimental conditions. Whereas the resting motor threshold remained unchanged before and after stimulation, motor evoked potential amplitudes increased significantly (P = .04). During and after stimulation, middle cerebral artery blood flow velocities also remained bilaterally unchanged, whereas vasomotor reactivity to CO(2) increased bilaterally (P = .04). The sham stimulation left all variables unchanged. The expected intermittent theta burst stimulation-induced changes in cortical excitability were not accompanied by changes in cerebral blood flow velocities; however, the bilateral increased vasomotor reactivity suggests that intermittent theta burst stimulation influences the cerebral microcirculation, possibly involving subcortical structures. These findings provide useful information on hemodynamic phenomena accompanying intermittent theta burst stimulation, which should be considered in research aimed at developing this noninvasive, low-intensity stimulation technique for safe

Glyphosate-tolerant soybeans remain compositionally equivalent to conventional soybeans (Glycine max L.) during three years of field testing.

Science.gov (United States)

McCann, Melinda C; Liu, Keshun; Trujillo, William A; Dobert, Raymond C

2005-06-29

Previous studies have shown that the composition of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans (GTS) and selected processed fractions was substantially equivalent to that of conventional soybeans over a wide range of analytes. This study was designed to determine if the composition of GTS remains substantially equivalent to conventional soybeans over the course of several years and when introduced into multiple genetic backgrounds. Soybean seed samples of both GTS and conventional varieties were harvested during 2000, 2001, and 2002 and analyzed for the levels of proximates, lectin, trypsin inhibitor, and isoflavones. The measured analytes are representative of the basic nutritional and biologically active components in soybeans. Results show a similar range of natural variability for the GTS soybeans as well as conventional soybeans. It was concluded that the composition of commercial GTS over the three years of breeding into multiple varieties remains equivalent to that of conventional soybeans.

Meta-Statistics for Variable Selection: The R Package BioMark

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ron Wehrens

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Biomarker identification is an ever more important topic in the life sciences. With the advent of measurement methodologies based on microarrays and mass spectrometry, thousands of variables are routinely being measured on complex biological samples. Often, the question is what makes two groups of samples different. Classical hypothesis testing suffers from the multiple testing problem; however, correcting for this often leads to a lack of power. In addition, choosing α cutoff levels remains somewhat arbitrary. Also in a regression context, a model depending on few but relevant variables will be more accurate and precise, and easier to interpret biologically.We propose an R package, BioMark, implementing two meta-statistics for variable selection. The first, higher criticism, presents a data-dependent selection threshold for significance, instead of a cookbook value of α = 0.05. It is applicable in all cases where two groups are compared. The second, stability selection, is more general, and can also be applied in a regression context. This approach uses repeated subsampling of the data in order to assess the variability of the model coefficients and selects those that remain consistently important. It is shown using experimental spike-in data from the field of metabolomics that both approaches work well with real data. BioMark also contains functionality for simulating data with specific characteristics for algorithm development and testing.

The Annuity Puzzle Remains a Puzzle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peijnenburg, J.M.J.; Werker, Bas; Nijman, Theo

We examine incomplete annuity menus and background risk as possible drivers of divergence from full annuitization. Contrary to what is often suggested in the literature, we find that full annuitization remains optimal if saving is possible after retirement. This holds irrespective of whether real or

Meteorological fields variability over the Indian seas in pre and ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

insonde, aircraft, satellite data and delayed mode. GTS data its quality control and assimilation with four dimensioned data assimilation system that is kept unchanged over ..... the National Centre for Environmental Predic- tion/National Centre ...

Inter-annual variability of North Sea plaice spawning habitat

Science.gov (United States)

Loots, C.; Vaz, S.; Koubbi, P.; Planque, B.; Coppin, F.; Verin, Y.

2010-11-01

Potential spawning habitat is defined as the area where environmental conditions are suitable for spawning to occur. Spawning adult data from the first quarter (January-March) of the International Bottom Trawl Survey have been used to study the inter-annual variability of the potential spawning habitat of North Sea plaice from 1980 to 2007. Generalised additive models (GAM) were used to create a model that related five environmental variables (depth, bottom temperature and salinity, seabed stress and sediment type) to presence-absence and abundance of spawning adults. Then, the habitat model was applied each year from 1970 to 2007 to predict inter-annual variability of the potential spawning habitat. Predicted responses obtained by GAM for each year were mapped using kriging. A hierarchical classification associated with a correspondence analysis was performed to cluster spawning suitable areas and to determine how they evolved across years. The potential spawning habitat was consistent with historical spawning ground locations described in the literature from eggs surveys. It was also found that the potential spawning habitat varied across years. Suitable areas were located in the southern part of the North Sea and along the eastern coast of England and Scotland in the eighties; they expanded further north from the nineties. Annual survey distributions did not show such northward expansion and remained located in the southern North Sea. This suggests that this species' actual spatial distribution remains stable against changing environmental conditions, and that the potential spawning habitat is not fully occupied. Changes in environmental conditions appear to remain within plaice environmental ranges, meaning that other factors may control the spatial distribution of plaice spawning habitat.

Brachial plexus palsy and shoulder dystocia: obstetric risk factors remain elusive.

Science.gov (United States)

Ouzounian, Joseph G; Korst, Lisa M; Miller, David A; Lee, Richard H

2013-04-01

Shoulder dystocia (SD) and brachial plexus palsy (BPP) are complications of childbirth that can result in significant long-term sequelae. The purpose of the present study was to analyze risk factors in cases of SD and BPP. We performed a retrospective study of laboring women who delivered a singleton, term, live-born infant at the Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center from 1995 to 2004. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze risk factors among SD cases with and without BPP. Of the 13,998 deliveries that met inclusion criteria, 221 (1.6%) had SD. Of these, 42 (19.0%) had BPP. After testing for association with multiple potential risk factors, including maternal demographic variables, diabetes, hypertension, prior cesarean delivery, uterine abnormalities, induction of labor, prolonged second stage (adjusted by parity and epidural use), assisted vaginal delivery, and neonatal birth weight, no statistical association of BPP with any specific risk factor was identified. In the present study, we were unable to identify any reliable risk factors for BPP among deliveries with or without SD. SD and BPP remain unpredictable complications of childbirth. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Juveniles' Motivations for Remaining in Prostitution

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Shu-Ling; Bedford, Olwen

2004-01-01

Qualitative data from in-depth interviews were collected in 1990-1991, 1992, and 2000 with 49 prostituted juveniles remanded to two rehabilitation centers in Taiwan. These data are analyzed to explore Taiwanese prostituted juveniles' feelings about themselves and their work, their motivations for remaining in prostitution, and their difficulties…

Climate variability, farmland value, and farmers’ perceptions of climate change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arshad, Muhammad; Kächele, Harald; Krupnik, Timothy J.; Amjath-Babu, T.S.; Aravindakshan, Sreejith; Abbas, Azhar; Mehmood, Yasir; Müller, Klaus

2017-01-01

Many studies have examined the impact of climatic variability on agricultural productivity, although an understanding of these effects on farmland values and their relationship to farmers’ decisions to adapt and modify their land-use practices remains nascent in developing nations. We estimated

Indian monsoon variability on millennial-orbital timescales.

Science.gov (United States)

Kathayat, Gayatri; Cheng, Hai; Sinha, Ashish; Spötl, Christoph; Edwards, R Lawrence; Zhang, Haiwei; Li, Xianglei; Yi, Liang; Ning, Youfeng; Cai, Yanjun; Lui, Weiguo Lui; Breitenbach, Sebastian F M

2016-04-13

The Indian summer monsoon (ISM) monsoon is critical to billions of people living in the region. Yet, significant debates remain on primary ISM drivers on millennial-orbital timescales. Here, we use speleothem oxygen isotope (δ(18)O) data from Bittoo cave, Northern India to reconstruct ISM variability over the past 280,000 years. We find strong coherence between North Indian and Chinese speleothem δ(18)O records from the East Asian monsoon domain, suggesting that both Asian monsoon subsystems exhibit a coupled response to changes in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation (NHSI) without significant temporal lags, supporting the view that the tropical-subtropical monsoon variability is driven directly by precession-induced changes in NHSI. Comparisons of the North Indian record with both Antarctic ice core and sea-surface temperature records from the southern Indian Ocean over the last glacial period do not suggest a dominant role of Southern Hemisphere climate processes in regulating the ISM variability on millennial-orbital timescales.

Variability in blood flow and pO2 in tumors in response to carbogen breathing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanzen, Jennifer L.; Braun, Rod D.; Ong, Aqui L.; Dewhirst, Mark W.

1998-01-01

tumors remained unchanged, with a pO 2 of 7.3 ± 2.0 mm Hg on air and 7.3 ± 4.1 mm Hg (p = 0.995) during carbogen breathing. Conclusions: Carbogen had no consistent effect on blood flow and was ineffective at increasing tumor pO 2 . These results may partially explain why carbogen breathing failed to improve the efficacy of radiation in this tumor model when transplanted subcutaneously

Suppression of chaos at slow variables by rapidly mixing fast dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Abramov, R.

2012-04-01

One of the key questions about chaotic multiscale systems is how the fast dynamics affects chaos at the slow variables, and, therefore, impacts uncertainty and predictability of the slow dynamics. Here we demonstrate that the linear slow-fast coupling with the total energy conservation property promotes the suppression of chaos at the slow variables through the rapid mixing at the fast variables, both theoretically and through numerical simulations. A suitable mathematical framework is developed, connecting the slow dynamics on the tangent subspaces to the infinite-time linear response of the mean state to a constant external forcing at the fast variables. Additionally, it is shown that the uncoupled dynamics for the slow variables may remain chaotic while the complete multiscale system loses chaos and becomes completely predictable at the slow variables through increasing chaos and turbulence at the fast variables. This result contradicts the common sense intuition, where, naturally, one would think that coupling a slow weakly chaotic system with another much faster and much stronger mixing system would result in general increase of chaos at the slow variables.

The Changing Role of Salespeople and the Unchanging Feeling toward Selling: Implications for the HEI Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Ballestra, Luca Vincenzo; Cardinali, Silvio; Palanga, Paola; Pacelli, Graziella

2017-01-01

Over the past five decades, several studies have shown that students' reticence toward choosing a sales career has remained constant. Their lack of awareness and misconceptions regarding a sales job are two reasons behind this negative perception and lack of students' "work readiness." Using a conceptual model on student intention to…

A Hybrid PCA-CART-MARS-Based Prognostic Approach of the Remaining Useful Life for Aircraft Engines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Sánchez Lasheras

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Prognostics is an engineering discipline that predicts the future health of a system. In this research work, a data-driven approach for prognostics is proposed. Indeed, the present paper describes a data-driven hybrid model for the successful prediction of the remaining useful life of aircraft engines. The approach combines the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS technique with the principal component analysis (PCA, dendrograms and classification and regression trees (CARTs. Elements extracted from sensor signals are used to train this hybrid model, representing different levels of health for aircraft engines. In this way, this hybrid algorithm is used to predict the trends of these elements. Based on this fitting, one can determine the future health state of a system and estimate its remaining useful life (RUL with accuracy. To evaluate the proposed approach, a test was carried out using aircraft engine signals collected from physical sensors (temperature, pressure, speed, fuel flow, etc.. Simulation results show that the PCA-CART-MARS-based approach can forecast faults long before they occur and can predict the RUL. The proposed hybrid model presents as its main advantage the fact that it does not require information about the previous operation states of the input variables of the engine. The performance of this model was compared with those obtained by other benchmark models (multivariate linear regression and artificial neural networks also applied in recent years for the modeling of remaining useful life. Therefore, the PCA-CART-MARS-based approach is very promising in the field of prognostics of the RUL for aircraft engines.

Remaining lifetime modeling using State-of-Health estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Beganovic, Nejra; Söffker, Dirk

2017-08-01

Technical systems and system's components undergo gradual degradation over time. Continuous degradation occurred in system is reflected in decreased system's reliability and unavoidably lead to a system failure. Therefore, continuous evaluation of State-of-Health (SoH) is inevitable to provide at least predefined lifetime of the system defined by manufacturer, or even better, to extend the lifetime given by manufacturer. However, precondition for lifetime extension is accurate estimation of SoH as well as the estimation and prediction of Remaining Useful Lifetime (RUL). For this purpose, lifetime models describing the relation between system/component degradation and consumed lifetime have to be established. In this contribution modeling and selection of suitable lifetime models from database based on current SoH conditions are discussed. Main contribution of this paper is the development of new modeling strategies capable to describe complex relations between measurable system variables, related system degradation, and RUL. Two approaches with accompanying advantages and disadvantages are introduced and compared. Both approaches are capable to model stochastic aging processes of a system by simultaneous adaption of RUL models to current SoH. The first approach requires a priori knowledge about aging processes in the system and accurate estimation of SoH. An estimation of SoH here is conditioned by tracking actual accumulated damage into the system, so that particular model parameters are defined according to a priori known assumptions about system's aging. Prediction accuracy in this case is highly dependent on accurate estimation of SoH but includes high number of degrees of freedom. The second approach in this contribution does not require a priori knowledge about system's aging as particular model parameters are defined in accordance to multi-objective optimization procedure. Prediction accuracy of this model does not highly depend on estimated SoH. This model

Two decades of ocean CO2 sink and variability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quere, C. Le; Bopp, L.; Heimann, M.; Prentice, I.C.; Aumont, O.; Bousquet, P.; Ciais, P.; Francey, R.; Rayner, P.J.; Keeling, C.D.; Keeling, R.F.; Piper, S.C.; Kheshgi, H.; Peyliln, P.

2003-01-01

Atmospheric CO 2 has increased at a nearly identical average rate of 3.3 and 3.2 Pg C/yr for the decades of the 1980s and the 1990s, in spite of a large increase in fossil fuel emissions from 5.4 to 6.3 Pg C/yr. Thus, the sum of the ocean and land CO 2 sinks was 1 Pg C/yr larger in the 1990s than in to the 1980s. Here we quantify the ocean and land sinks for these two decades using recent atmospheric inversions and ocean models. The ocean and land sinks are estimated to be, respectively, 0.3 (0.1 to 0.6) and 0.7 (0.4 to 0.9) Pg C/yr larger in the 1990s than in the 1980s. When variability less than 5 yr is removed, all estimates show a global oceanic sink more or less steadily increasing with time, and a large anomaly in the land sink during 1990-1994. For year-to-year variability, all estimates show 1/3 to 1/2 less variability in the ocean than on land, but the amplitude and phase of the oceanic variability remain poorly determined. A mean oceanic sink of 1.9 Pg C/yr for the 1990s based on O 2 observations corrected for ocean outgassing is supported by these estimates, but an uncertainty on the mean value of the order of ±0.7 Pg C/yr remains. The difference between the two decades appears to be more robust than the absolute value of either of the two decades

Neuronal variability during handwriting: lognormal distribution.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valery I Rupasov

Full Text Available We examined time-dependent statistical properties of electromyographic (EMG signals recorded from intrinsic hand muscles during handwriting. Our analysis showed that trial-to-trial neuronal variability of EMG signals is well described by the lognormal distribution clearly distinguished from the Gaussian (normal distribution. This finding indicates that EMG formation cannot be described by a conventional model where the signal is normally distributed because it is composed by summation of many random sources. We found that the variability of temporal parameters of handwriting--handwriting duration and response time--is also well described by a lognormal distribution. Although, the exact mechanism of lognormal statistics remains an open question, the results obtained should significantly impact experimental research, theoretical modeling and bioengineering applications of motor networks. In particular, our results suggest that accounting for lognormal distribution of EMGs can improve biomimetic systems that strive to reproduce EMG signals in artificial actuators.

Effects of temporal changes in climate variables on crop production ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Climate variability and change have been implicated to have significant impacts on global and regional food production particularly the common stable food crops performance in tropical sub-humid climatic zone. However, the extent and nature of these impacts still remain uncertain. In this study, records of crop yields and ...

Induced variability for quantitative characters in Triticum aestivum L

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khamankar, Y.G.

1989-01-01

Comparable doses of gamma rays, hydroxylamine, ethylmethane sulphonate and hydrazine have been compared for the magnitude of induced variability and their effects of mean. It was found that all the mutagenic treatments were effective in inducing variability for plant height, number of effective tillers/plant, 100-seed weight and single plant yield. Gamma rays were found to be most effective. While hydroxylamine and ethylmethane sulphonate were found to be equally effective, hydrazine was found to be least effective. Although, all the four characters showed increased variability, the mean for the characters of plant height and 100-grain weight remained unaltered. However, the mean for the characters number of effective tillers and single plant yield showed reduction. The greater effectiveness of gamma rays have been attributed to its characteristic mode of action and the polyploid nature of the wheat. (author). 9 refs., 2 tabs

Forensic considerations when dealing with incinerated human dental remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Reesu, Gowri Vijay; Augustine, Jeyaseelan; Urs, Aadithya B

2015-01-01

Establishing the human dental identification process relies upon sufficient post-mortem data being recovered to allow for a meaningful comparison with ante-mortem records of the deceased person. Teeth are the most indestructible components of the human body and are structurally unique in their composition. They possess the highest resistance to most environmental effects like fire, desiccation, decomposition and prolonged immersion. In most natural as well as man-made disasters, teeth may provide the only means of positive identification of an otherwise unrecognizable body. It is imperative that dental evidence should not be destroyed through erroneous handling until appropriate radiographs, photographs, or impressions can be fabricated. Proper methods of physical stabilization of incinerated human dental remains should be followed. The maintenance of integrity of extremely fragile structures is crucial to the successful confirmation of identity. In such situations, the forensic dentist must stabilise these teeth before the fragile remains are transported to the mortuary to ensure preservation of possibly vital identification evidence. Thus, while dealing with any incinerated dental remains, a systematic approach must be followed through each stage of evaluation of incinerated dental remains to prevent the loss of potential dental evidence. This paper presents a composite review of various studies on incinerated human dental remains and discusses their impact on the process of human identification and suggests a step by step approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Short-term variability and mass loss in Be stars. II. Physical taxonomy of photometric variability observed by the Kepler spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Rivinius, Th.; Baade, D.; Carciofi, A. C.

2016-09-01

Context. Classical Be stars have been established as pulsating stars. Space-based photometric monitoring missions contributed significantly to that result. However, whether Be stars are just rapidly rotating SPB or β Cep stars, or whether they have to be understood differently, remains debated in the view of their highly complex power spectra. Aims: Kepler data of three known Be stars are re-visited to establish their pulsational nature and assess the properties of additional, non-pulsational variations. The three program stars turned out to be one inactive Be star, one active, continuously outbursting Be star, and one Be star transiting from a non-outbursting into an outbursting phase, thus forming an excellent sample to distill properties of Be stars in the various phases of their life-cycle. Methods: The Kepler data was first cleaned from any long-term variability with Lomb-Scargle based pre-whitening. Then a Lomb-Scargle analysis of the remaining short-term variations was compared to a wavelet analysis of the cleaned data. This offers a new view on the variability, as it enables us to see the temporal evolution of the variability and phase relations between supposed beating phenomena, which are typically not visualized in a Lomb-Scargle analysis. Results: The short-term photometric variability of Be stars must be disentangled into a stellar and a circumstellar part. The stellar part is on the whole not different from what is seen in non-Be stars. However, some of the observed phenomena might be to be due to resonant mode coupling, a mechanism not typically considered for B-type stars. Short-term circumstellar variability comes in the form of either a group of relatively well-defined, short-lived frequencies during outbursts, which are called Štefl frequencies, and broad bumps in the power spectra, indicating aperiodic variability on a time scale similar to typical low-order g-mode pulsation frequencies, rather than true periodicity. Conclusions: From a

Born Fat: The Relations between Weight Changeability Beliefs and Health Behaviors and Physical Health

Science.gov (United States)

Parent, Mike C.; Alquist, Jessica L.

2016-01-01

Although some popular press and nonscholarly sources have claimed that weight is largely unchangeable, the relationship between this belief and objective measures of health remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that people who believe weight is unchangeable will have poorer objective and subjective health, and fewer exercise behaviors and…

Improved variable reduction in partial least squares modelling based on predictive-property-ranked variables and adaptation of partial least squares complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Andries, Jan P M; Vander Heyden, Yvan; Buydens, Lutgarde M C

2011-10-31

The calibration performance of partial least squares for one response variable (PLS1) can be improved by elimination of uninformative variables. Many methods are based on so-called predictive variable properties, which are functions of various PLS-model parameters, and which may change during the variable reduction process. In these methods variable reduction is made on the variables ranked in descending order for a given variable property. The methods start with full spectrum modelling. Iteratively, until a specified number of remaining variables is reached, the variable with the smallest property value is eliminated; a new PLS model is calculated, followed by a renewed ranking of the variables. The Stepwise Variable Reduction methods using Predictive-Property-Ranked Variables are denoted as SVR-PPRV. In the existing SVR-PPRV methods the PLS model complexity is kept constant during the variable reduction process. In this study, three new SVR-PPRV methods are proposed, in which a possibility for decreasing the PLS model complexity during the variable reduction process is build in. Therefore we denote our methods as PPRVR-CAM methods (Predictive-Property-Ranked Variable Reduction with Complexity Adapted Models). The selective and predictive abilities of the new methods are investigated and tested, using the absolute PLS regression coefficients as predictive property. They were compared with two modifications of existing SVR-PPRV methods (with constant PLS model complexity) and with two reference methods: uninformative variable elimination followed by either a genetic algorithm for PLS (UVE-GA-PLS) or an interval PLS (UVE-iPLS). The performance of the methods is investigated in conjunction with two data sets from near-infrared sources (NIR) and one simulated set. The selective and predictive performances of the variable reduction methods are compared statistically using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The three newly developed PPRVR-CAM methods were able to retain

Role of tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans variability on ENSO

Science.gov (United States)

Prodhomme, Chloé; Terray, Pascal; Masson, Sebastien; Boschat, Ghyslaine

2014-05-01

There are strong evidences of an interaction between tropical Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Nevertheless, these interactions remain deeply controversial. While some authors claim the tropical Indian and Atlantic oceans only play a passive role with respect to ENSO, others suggest a driving role for these two basins on ENSO. The mecanisms underlying these relations are not fully understood and, in the Indian Ocean, the possible role of both modes of tropical variability (the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and the Indian Ocean Basin mode (IOB)) remain unclear. To better quantify and understand how the variability of the tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans impact ENSO variability, we performed two sensitivity experiments using the SINTEX-F2 coupled model. For each experiment, we suppressed the variability of SST and the air-sea coupling in either the tropical Indian Ocean or tropical Atlantic Ocean by applying a strong nudging of the SST to the observed SST climatology. In both experiments, the ENSO periodicity increases. In the Atlantic experiment, our understanding of this increased periodicity is drastically limited by the strongly biased mean state in this region. Conversely, in the Indian Ocean experiment, the increase of ENSO periodicity is related to the absence of the IOB following the El Niño peak, which leads to a decrease of westerly winds in the western Pacific during late winter and spring after the peak. These weaker westerlies hinders the transition to a La Niña phase and thus increase the duration and periodicity of the event.

Fishing elevates variability in the abundance of exploited species.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Chih-Hao; Reiss, Christian S; Hunter, John R; Beddington, John R; May, Robert M; Sugihara, George

2006-10-19

The separation of the effects of environmental variability from the impacts of fishing has been elusive, but is essential for sound fisheries management. We distinguish environmental effects from fishing effects by comparing the temporal variability of exploited versus unexploited fish stocks living in the same environments. Using the unique suite of 50-year-long larval fish surveys from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations we analyse fishing as a treatment effect in a long-term ecological experiment. Here we present evidence from the marine environment that exploited species exhibit higher temporal variability in abundance than unexploited species. This remains true after accounting for life-history effects, abundance, ecological traits and phylogeny. The increased variability of exploited populations is probably caused by fishery-induced truncation of the age structure, which reduces the capacity of populations to buffer environmental events. Therefore, to avoid collapse, fisheries must be managed not only to sustain the total viable biomass but also to prevent the significant truncation of age structure. The double jeopardy of fishing to potentially deplete stock sizes and, more immediately, to amplify the peaks and valleys of population variability, calls for a precautionary management approach.

Cerebral water and ion balance remains stable when humans are exposed to acute hypoxic exercise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Avnstorp, Magnus B; Rasmussen, Peter; Brassard, Patrice

2015-01-01

both circumstances. No cerebral net exchange of Na(+) or K(+) was evident. Likewise, no significant net-exchange of water over the brain was demonstrated and the arterial and jugular venous hemoglobin concentrations were similar. CONCLUSION: Challenging exercise in hypoxia for 30 min affected muscle......Avnstorp, Magnus B., Peter Rasmussen, Patrice Brassard, Thomas Seifert, Morten Overgaard, Peter Krustrup, Niels H. Secher, and Nikolai B. Nordsborg. Cerebral water and ion balance remains stable when humans are exposed to acute hypoxic exercise. High Alt Med Biol 16:000-000, 2015.-Background...... intense exercise is carried out in hypoxia and monitored the influence of muscle metabolism for changes in arterial variables. METHODS: On two separate days, in random order, 30 min cycling exercise was performed in either hypoxia (10% O2) or normoxia at an intensity that was exhaustive in the hypoxic...

An On-Board Remaining Useful Life Estimation Algorithm for Lithium-Ion Batteries of Electric Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoyu Li

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Battery remaining useful life (RUL estimation is critical to battery management and performance optimization of electric vehicles (EVs. In this paper, we present an effective way to estimate RUL online by using the support vector machine (SVM algorithm. By studying the characteristics of the battery degradation process, the rising of the terminal voltage and changing characteristics of the voltage derivative (DV during the charging process are introduced as the training variables of the SVM algorithm to determine the battery RUL. The SVM is then applied to build the battery degradation model and predict the battery real cycle numbers. Experimental results prove that the built battery degradation model shows higher accuracy and less computation time compared with those of the neural network (NN method, thereby making it a potential candidate for realizing online RUL estimation in a battery management system (BMS.

Prognostic utility of sestamibi lung uptake does not require adjustment for stress-related variables: A retrospective cohort study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leslie, William D; Yogendran, Marina S; Ward, Linda M; Nour, Khaled A; Metge, Colleen J

2006-01-01

Increased 99m Tc-sestamibi stress lung-to-heart ratio (sLHR) has been shown to predict cardiac outcomes similar to pulmonary uptake of thallium. Peak heart rate and use of pharmacologic stress affect the interpretation of lung thallium uptake. The current study was performed to determine whether 99m Tc-sestamibi sLHR measurements are affected by stress-related variables, and whether this in turn affects prognostic utility. sLHR was determined in 718 patients undergoing 99m Tc-sestamibi SPECT stress imaging. sLHR was assessed in relation to demographics, hemodynamic variables and outcomes (mean follow up 5.6 ± 1.1 years). Mean sLHR was slightly greater in males than in females (P < 0.01) and also showed a weak negative correlation with age (P < 0.01) and systolic blood pressure (P < 0.01), but was unrelated to stress method or heart rate at the time of injection. In patients undergoing treadmill exercise, sLHR was also positively correlated with peak workload (P < 0.05) but inversely with double product (P < 0.05). The combined explanatory effect of sex, age and hemodynamic variables on sLHR was less than 10%. The risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or death increased by a factor of 1.7–1.8 for each SD increase in unadjusted sLHR, and was unaffected by adjustment for sex, age and hemodynamic variables (hazard ratios 1.6–1.7). The area under the ROC curve for the unadjusted sLHR was 0.65 (95% CI 0.59–0.71, P < 0.0001) and was unchanged for the adjusted sLHR (0.65, 95% CI 0.61–0.72, P < 0.0001). Stress-related variables have only a weak effect on measured sLHR. Unadjusted and adjusted sLHR provide equivalent prognostic information for prediction of AMI or death

Confirming theoretical pay constructs of a variable pay scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sibangilizwe Ncube

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Orientation: Return on the investment in variable pay programmes remains controversial because their cost versus contribution cannot be empirically justified. Research purpose: This study validates the findings of the model developed by De Swardt on the factors related to successful variable pay programmes. Motivation for the study: Many organisations blindly implement variable pay programmes without any means to assess the impact these programmes have on the company’s performance. This study was necessary to validate the findings of an existing instrument that validates the contribution of variable pay schemes. Research design, approach and method: The study was conducted using quantitative research. A total of 300 completed questionnaires from a non-purposive sample of 3000 participants in schemes across all South African industries were returned and analysed. Main findings: Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, it was found that the validation instrument developed by De Swardt is still largely valid in evaluating variable pay schemes. The differences between the study and the model were reported. Practical/managerial implications: The study confirmed the robustness of an existing model that enables practitioners to empirically validate the use of variable pay plans. This model assists in the design and implementation of variable pay programmes that meet critical success factors. Contribution/value-add: The study contributed to the development of a measurement instrument that will assess whether a variable pay plan contributes to an organisation’s success.

Development of a remaining lifetime management system for NPPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galvan, J.C.; Regano, M.; Hevia Ruperez, F.

1994-01-01

The interest evinced by Spain nuclear power plants in providing a tool to support remaining lifetime management led to UNESA's application to OCIDE in 1992, and the latter's approval, for financing the project to develop a Remaining Lifetime Evaluation System for LWR nuclear power plants. This project is currently being developed under UNESA leadership, and the collaboration of three Spanish engineering companies and a research centre. The paper will describe its objectives, activities, current status and prospects. The project is defined in two phases, the first consisting of the identification and analysis of the main ageing phenomena and their significant parameters and specification of the Remaining Lifetime Evaluation System (RLES), and the second implementation of a pilot application of the RLES to verify its effectiveness. (Author)

Linking global climate and temperature variability to widespread amphibian declines putatively caused by disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Rohr, Jason R; Raffel, Thomas R

2010-05-04

The role of global climate change in the decline of biodiversity and the emergence of infectious diseases remains controversial, and the effect of climatic variability, in particular, has largely been ignored. For instance, it was recently revealed that the proposed link between climate change and widespread amphibian declines, putatively caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), was tenuous because it was based on a temporally confounded correlation. Here we provide temporally unconfounded evidence that global El Niño climatic events drive widespread amphibian losses in genus Atelopus via increased regional temperature variability, which can reduce amphibian defenses against pathogens. Of 26 climate variables tested, only factors associated with temperature variability could account for the spatiotemporal patterns of declines thought to be associated with Bd. Climatic predictors of declines became significant only after controlling for a pattern consistent with epidemic spread (by temporally detrending the data). This presumed spread accounted for 59% of the temporal variation in amphibian losses, whereas El Niño accounted for 59% of the remaining variation. Hence, we could account for 83% of the variation in declines with these two variables alone. Given that global climate change seems to increase temperature variability, extreme climatic events, and the strength of Central Pacific El Niño episodes, climate change might exacerbate worldwide enigmatic declines of amphibians, presumably by increasing susceptibility to disease. These results suggest that changes to temperature variability associated with climate change might be as significant to biodiversity losses and disease emergence as changes to mean temperature.

Quantitative assessment of drivers of recent global temperature variability: an information theoretic approach

Science.gov (United States)

Bhaskar, Ankush; Ramesh, Durbha Sai; Vichare, Geeta; Koganti, Triven; Gurubaran, S.

2017-12-01

Identification and quantification of possible drivers of recent global temperature variability remains a challenging task. This important issue is addressed adopting a non-parametric information theory technique, the Transfer Entropy and its normalized variant. It distinctly quantifies actual information exchanged along with the directional flow of information between any two variables with no bearing on their common history or inputs, unlike correlation, mutual information etc. Measurements of greenhouse gases: CO2, CH4 and N2O; volcanic aerosols; solar activity: UV radiation, total solar irradiance ( TSI) and cosmic ray flux ( CR); El Niño Southern Oscillation ( ENSO) and Global Mean Temperature Anomaly ( GMTA) made during 1984-2005 are utilized to distinguish driving and responding signals of global temperature variability. Estimates of their relative contributions reveal that CO2 ({˜ } 24 %), CH4 ({˜ } 19 %) and volcanic aerosols ({˜ }23 %) are the primary contributors to the observed variations in GMTA. While, UV ({˜ } 9 %) and ENSO ({˜ } 12 %) act as secondary drivers of variations in the GMTA, the remaining play a marginal role in the observed recent global temperature variability. Interestingly, ENSO and GMTA mutually drive each other at varied time lags. This study assists future modelling efforts in climate science.

Formation of amyloid fibers by monomeric light chain variable domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Brumshtein, Boris; Esswein, Shannon R; Landau, Meytal; Ryan, Christopher M; Whitelegge, Julian P; Phillips, Martin L; Cascio, Duilio; Sawaya, Michael R; Eisenberg, David S

2014-10-03

Systemic light chain amyloidosis is a lethal disease characterized by excess immunoglobulin light chains and light chain fragments composed of variable domains, which aggregate into amyloid fibers. These fibers accumulate and damage organs. Some light chains induce formation of amyloid fibers, whereas others do not, making it unclear what distinguishes amyloid formers from non-formers. One mechanism by which sequence variation may reduce propensity to form amyloid fibers is by shifting the equilibrium toward an amyloid-resistant quaternary structure. Here we identify the monomeric form of the Mcg immunoglobulin light chain variable domain as the quaternary unit required for amyloid fiber assembly. Dimers of Mcg variable domains remain stable and soluble, yet become prone to assemble into amyloid fibers upon disassociation into monomers. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Remaining life assessment of a high pressure turbine rotor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, Ninh; Little, Alfie

2012-01-01

This paper describes finite element and fracture mechanics based modelling work that provides a useful tool for evaluation of the remaining life of a high pressure (HP) steam turbine rotor that had experienced thermal fatigue cracking. An axis-symmetrical model of a HP rotor was constructed. Steam temperature, pressure and rotor speed data from start ups and shut downs were used for the thermal and stress analysis. Operating history and inspection records were used to benchmark the damage experienced by the rotor. Fracture mechanics crack growth analysis was carried out to evaluate the remaining life of the rotor under themal cyclic loading conditions. The work confirmed that the fracture mechanics approach in conjunction with finite element modelling provides a useful tool for assessing the remaining life of high temperature components in power plants.

Postmortem Scavenging of Human Remains by Domestic Cats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ananya Suntirukpong, M.D.

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Objective: Crime scene investigators, forensic medicine doctors and pathologists, and forensic anthropologists frequently encounter postmortem scavenging of human remains by household pets. Case presentation: The authors present a case report of a partially skeletonized adult male found dead after more than three months in his apartment in Thailand. The body was in an advanced stage of decomposition with nearly complete skeletonization of the head, neck, hands, and feet. The presence of maggots and necrophagous (flesh eating beetles on the body confirmed that insects had consumed much of the soft tissues. Examination of the hand and foot bones revealed canine tooth puncture marks. Evidence of chewing indicated that one or more of the decedent’s three house cats had fed on the body after death. Recognizing and identifying carnivore and rodent activity on the soft flesh and bones of human remains is important in interpreting and reconstructing postmortem damage. Thorough analysis may help explain why skeletal elements are missing, damaged, or out of anatomical position. Conclusion: This report presents a multi-disciplinary approach combining forensic anthropology and forensic medicine in examining and interpreting human remains.

What happens to the pleural space affected by malignant effusion after bedside pleurodesis?

Science.gov (United States)

de Araujo, Pedro H X N; Terra, Ricardo M; da Silva Santos, Thiago; Chate, Rodrigo C; de Paiva, Antonio F L; Pêgo-Fernandes, Paulo M

2018-03-24

Evaluate radiological characteristics of postpleurodesis pleural space of patients with recurrent malignant pleural effusion(RMPE). Prospective cohort study including patients with RPME treated with bedside pleurodesis. We used CT scans to calculate pleural cavity volume immediately before pleurodesis(iCT) and 30 days after(CT30). Radiological evolution was calculated by the difference between pleural volumes on CT30 and iCT(Δvolume). We categorized initial pleural volume as small(space(≥500 mL) and Δvolume as positive(>254.49 mL), unchanged(≥-268.77-≤ 254.49 mL), or negative(space(62.06%) and 33 large(37.93%). Clinical failure occurred in 7.4% of small space group and in 24.6% of large(P = 0.051, OR4.0(CI:1.098-14.570)). In small space group, 27.77% evolved with positive, 66.66% with unchanged and 5.55% with negative Δvolume. In the large space group these numbers were respectively 21.21%, 27.27%, and 51.51%. There is significant variability on pleural space volume. However, pleural volume remains unchanged in many cases. Besides that, more than half patients with initial large space coursed with relevant reduction. Finally, patients with initial small space presented a greater chance of clinical success. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Explosives remain preferred methods for platform abandonment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pulsipher, A.; Daniel, W. IV; Kiesler, J.E.; Mackey, V. III

1996-01-01

Economics and safety concerns indicate that methods involving explosives remain the most practical and cost-effective means for abandoning oil and gas structures in the Gulf of Mexico. A decade has passed since 51 dead sea turtles, many endangered Kemp's Ridleys, washed ashore on the Texas coast shortly after explosives helped remove several offshore platforms. Although no relationship between the explosions and the dead turtles was ever established, in response to widespread public concern, the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) implemented regulations limiting the size and timing of explosive charges. Also, more importantly, they required that operators pay for observers to survey waters surrounding platforms scheduled for removal for 48 hr before any detonations. If observers spot sea turtles or marine mammals within the danger zone, the platform abandonment is delayed until the turtles leave or are removed. However, concern about the effects of explosives on marine life remains

Decomposition Technique for Remaining Useful Life Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Bhaskar (Inventor); Goebel, Kai F. (Inventor); Saxena, Abhinav (Inventor); Celaya, Jose R. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

The prognostic tool disclosed here decomposes the problem of estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of a component or sub-system into two separate regression problems: the feature-to-damage mapping and the operational conditions-to-damage-rate mapping. These maps are initially generated in off-line mode. One or more regression algorithms are used to generate each of these maps from measurements (and features derived from these), operational conditions, and ground truth information. This decomposition technique allows for the explicit quantification and management of different sources of uncertainty present in the process. Next, the maps are used in an on-line mode where run-time data (sensor measurements and operational conditions) are used in conjunction with the maps generated in off-line mode to estimate both current damage state as well as future damage accumulation. Remaining life is computed by subtracting the instance when the extrapolated damage reaches the failure threshold from the instance when the prediction is made.

Cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome and oxidative stress: an innovative approach beyond current treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mantovani, Giovanni; Madeddu, Clelia; Macciò, Antonio; Gramignano, Giulia; Lusso, Maria Rita; Massa, Elena; Astara, Giorgio; Serpe, Roberto

2004-10-01

Cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome and oxidative stress play a key role in the progression and outcome of neoplastic disease. On the basis of our previously published studies and clinical experience, we have developed an innovative approach consisting of diet with high polyphenol content (400 mg), p.o. pharmaconutritional support enriched with n - 3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) 2 cans (237 mL each) per day, medroxiprogesterone acetate 500 mg/d, antioxidant treatment with alpha-lipoic acid 300 mg/d plus carbocysteine lysine salt 2.7 g/d plus vitamin E 400 mg/d plus vitamin A 30,000 IU/d plus vitamin C 500 mg/d, and selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor Celecoxib 200 mg/d. The treatment is administered for 16 weeks. The following variables are evaluated: (a) clinical variables (stage and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status); (b) nutritional variables (lean body mass, appetite, and resting energy expenditure); (c) laboratory variables (serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines, C-reactive protein, and leptin and blood levels of reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzymes); and (d) quality of life variables (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30, EQ-5Dindex, and EQ-5DVAS). A phase II nonrandomized study has been designed to enroll 40 patients with advanced cancer at different sites with symptoms of cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome and oxidative stress. As of January 2004, 28 patients have been enrolled: 25 patients were evaluable and 14 of them have completed the treatment (20 patients have completed 2 months of treatment). As for clinical response, five patients improved, three patients remained unchanged, and six patients worsened. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (grade) 1 remained unchanged. As for nutritional/functional variables, the lean body mass increased significantly at 2 and 4 months. As for laboratory variables, reactive oxygen species

Zooxanthellae Harvested by Ciliates Associated with Brown Band Syndrome of Corals Remain Photosynthetically Competent▿

Science.gov (United States)

Ulstrup, Karin E.; Kühl, Michael; Bourne, David G.

2007-01-01

Brown band syndrome is a new coral affliction characterized by a local accumulation of yet-unidentified ciliates migrating as a band along the branches of coral colonies. In the current study, morphologically intact zooxanthellae (= Symbiodinium) were observed in great numbers inside the ciliates (>50 dinoflagellates per ciliate). Microscale oxygen measurements and variable chlorophyll a fluorescence analysis along with microscopic observations demonstrated that zooxanthellae within the ciliates are photosynthetically competent and do not become compromised during the progression of the brown band zone. Zooxanthellae showed similar trends in light acclimation in a comparison of rapid light curve and steady-state light curve measures of variable chlorophyll a fluorescence. Extended light exposure of steady-state light curves resulted in higher quantum yields of photosystem II. The brown band tissue exhibited higher photosynthetically active radiation absorptivity, indicating more efficient light absorption due to a higher density of zooxanthellae in the ciliate-dominated zone. This caused relatively higher gross photosynthesis rates in the zone with zooxanthella-containing ciliates compared to healthy coral tissue. The observation of photosynthetically active intracellular zooxanthellae in the ciliates suggests that the latter can benefit from photosynthates produced by ingested zooxanthellae and from photosynthetic oxygen production that alleviates diffusion limitation of oxic respiration in the densely populated brown band tissue. It remains to be shown whether the zooxanthellae form a stable symbiotic association with the ciliate or are engulfed incidentally during grazing on coral tissue and then maintained as active inside the ciliate for a period before being digested and replaced by new zooxanthellae. PMID:17259357

Zooxanthellae harvested by ciliates associated with brown band syndrome of corals remain photosynthetically competent.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulstrup, Karin E; Kühl, Michael; Bourne, David G

2007-03-01

Brown band syndrome is a new coral affliction characterized by a local accumulation of yet-unidentified ciliates migrating as a band along the branches of coral colonies. In the current study, morphologically intact zooxanthellae (= Symbiodinium) were observed in great numbers inside the ciliates (>50 dinoflagellates per ciliate). Microscale oxygen measurements and variable chlorophyll a fluorescence analysis along with microscopic observations demonstrated that zooxanthellae within the ciliates are photosynthetically competent and do not become compromised during the progression of the brown band zone. Zooxanthellae showed similar trends in light acclimation in a comparison of rapid light curve and steady-state light curve measures of variable chlorophyll a fluorescence. Extended light exposure of steady-state light curves resulted in higher quantum yields of photosystem II. The brown band tissue exhibited higher photosynthetically active radiation absorptivity, indicating more efficient light absorption due to a higher density of zooxanthellae in the ciliate-dominated zone. This caused relatively higher gross photosynthesis rates in the zone with zooxanthella-containing ciliates compared to healthy coral tissue. The observation of photosynthetically active intracellular zooxanthellae in the ciliates suggests that the latter can benefit from photosynthates produced by ingested zooxanthellae and from photosynthetic oxygen production that alleviates diffusion limitation of oxic respiration in the densely populated brown band tissue. It remains to be shown whether the zooxanthellae form a stable symbiotic association with the ciliate or are engulfed incidentally during grazing on coral tissue and then maintained as active inside the ciliate for a period before being digested and replaced by new zooxanthellae.

Student throughput variables and properties: Varying cohort sizes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas C.A. Stoop

2017-11-01

Full Text Available A recent research paper described how student throughput variables and properties combine to explain the behaviour of stationary or simplified throughput systems. Such behaviour can be understood in terms of the locus of a point in the triangular admissible region of the H-S plane, where H represents headcounts and S successful credits, each depending on the system properties at that point. The efficiency of the student throughput process is given by the ratio S/H. Simplified throughput systems are characterised by stationary graduation and dropout patterns of students as well as by annual intakes of student cohorts of equal size. The effect of varying the size of the annual intakes of student cohorts is reported on here. The observations made lead to the establishment of a more generalised student throughput theory which includes the simplified theory as a special case. The generalised theory still retains the notion of a triangular admissible region in the H-S plane but with the size and shape of the triangle depending on the size of the student cohorts. The ratio S/H again emerges as the process efficiency measure for throughput systems in general with unchanged roles assigned to important system properties. This theory provides for a more fundamental understanding of student throughput systems encountered in real life. Significance: A generalised stationary student throughput theory through varying cohort sizes allows for a far better understanding of real student throughput systems.

Increasing plasma fibrinogen, but unchanged levels of intraplatelet cyclic nucleotides, plasma endothelin-1, factor VII, and neopterin during cholesterol lowering with fluvastatin.

Science.gov (United States)

Gottsäter, A; Anwaar, I; Lind, P; Mattiasson, I; Lindgärde, F

1999-04-01

Lipid-lowering statin treatment reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and improves endothelial function in patients with hypercholesterolemia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate plasma levels of fibrinogen, factor VII, and the macrophage-derived inflammatory mediator neopterin during lipid lowering. In addition, the endothelial production of platelet antiaggregatory and vasodilatory factors such as nitric oxide and prostacyclin, and vasoconstrictive factors such as endothelin-1, was assessed. Plasma fibrinogen, factor VII, endothelin-1, and the neopterin and intraplatelet nitric oxide and prostacyclin mediators cyclic 3'-5'guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and cyclic 3'-5'adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) were measured before and 6 months after the institution of treatment with fluvastatin in 17 patients (eight men and nine women, median age 60 years) with vascular disease and previously untreated hypercholesterolemia. After 6 months, a decrease of 1.62 mmol/l [1.26-2.18 (19%); P factor VII [from 1.14 IE/ml (0.58-1.38) to 1.22 IE/ml (0.96-1.46); NS], or plasma neopterin [from 8.6 nmol/l (7.1-11.5) to 8.7 nmol/l (7.9-11.3); NS]. In conclusion, during cholesterol-lowering treatment with fluvastatin, plasma levels of fibrinogen increased whereas intraplatelet cyclic nucleotide levels and plasma endothelin-1, factor VII and neopterin levels were unchanged.

Loop quantum cosmology with self-dual variables

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson-Ewing, Edward

2015-12-01

Using the complex-valued self-dual connection variables, the loop quantum cosmology of a closed Friedmann space-time coupled to a massless scalar field is studied. It is shown how the reality conditions can be imposed in the quantum theory by choosing a particular inner product for the kinematical Hilbert space. While holonomies of the self-dual Ashtekar connection are not well defined in the kinematical Hilbert space, it is possible to introduce a family of generalized holonomylike operators of which some are well defined; these operators in turn are used in the definition of the Hamiltonian constraint operator where the scalar field can be used as a relational clock. The resulting quantum theory is closely related, although not identical, to standard loop quantum cosmology constructed from the Ashtekar-Barbero variables with a real Immirzi parameter. Effective Friedmann equations are derived which provide a good approximation to the full quantum dynamics for sharply peaked states whose volume remains much larger than the Planck volume, and they show that for these states quantum gravity effects resolve the big-bang and big-crunch singularities and replace them by a nonsingular bounce. Finally, the loop quantization in self-dual variables of a flat Friedmann space-time is recovered in the limit of zero spatial curvature and is identical to the standard loop quantization in terms of the real-valued Ashtekar-Barbero variables.

Why Agricultural Educators Remain in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Crutchfield, Nina; Ritz, Rudy; Burris, Scott

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe factors that are related to agricultural educator career retention and to explore the relationships between work engagement, work-life balance, occupational commitment, and personal and career factors as related to the decision to remain in the teaching profession. The target population for…

Quantitative assessment of drivers of recent climate variability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhaskar, Ankush; Ramesh, Durbha Sai; Vichare, Geeta

2016-01-01

Identification and quantification of possible drivers of recent climate variability remain a challenging task. This important issue is addressed adopting a non-parametric information theory technique, the Transfer Entropy and its normalized variant. It distinctly quantifies actual information...... exchanged along with the directional flow of information between any two variables with no bearing on their common history or inputs, unlike correlation, mutual information etc. Measurements of greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4, and N2O; volcanic aerosols; solar activity: UV radiation, total solar irradiance (TSI...... ) and cosmic ray flux (CR); El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Global Mean Temperature Anomaly (GMTA) made during 1984-2005 are utilized to distinguish driving and responding climate signals. Estimates of their relative contributions reveal that CO 2 (~24%), CH 4 (~19%) and volcanic aerosols (~23...

The human vascular endothelial cell line HUV-EC-C harbors the integrated HHV-6B genome which remains stable in long term culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Shioda, Setsuko; Kasai, Fumio; Ozawa, Midori; Hirayama, Noriko; Satoh, Motonobu; Kameoka, Yousuke; Watanabe, Ken; Shimizu, Norio; Tang, Huamin; Mori, Yasuko; Kohara, Arihiro

2018-02-01

Human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) is a common human pathogen that is most often detected in hematopoietic cells. Although human cells harboring chromosomally integrated HHV-6 can be generated in vitro, the availability of such cell lines originating from in vivo tissues is limited. In this study, chromosomally integrated HHV-6B has been identified in a human vascular endothelial cell line, HUV-EC-C (IFO50271), derived from normal umbilical cord tissue. Sequence analysis revealed that the viral genome was similar to the HHV-6B HST strain. FISH analysis using a HHV-6 DNA probe showed one signal in each cell, detected at the distal end of the long arm of chromosome 9. This was consistent with a digital PCR assay, validating one copy of the viral DNA. Because exposure of HUV-EC-C to chemicals did not cause viral reactivation, long term cell culture of HUV-EC-C was carried out to assess the stability of viral integration. The growth rate was altered depending on passage numbers, and morphology also changed during culture. SNP microarray profiles showed some differences between low and high passages, implying that the HUV-EC-C genome had changed during culture. However, no detectable change was observed in chromosome 9, where HHV-6B integration and the viral copy number remained unchanged. Our results suggest that integrated HHV-6B is stable in HUV-EC-C despite genome instability.

Kidney function in normal man during short-term growth hormone infusion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parving, H H; Noer, I; Mogensen, C E

1978-01-01

Kidney function was studied in 9 normal males before and during a 2 h growth hormone (GH) infusion of 50 ng/kg/min. The following variables were measured during each 20 min clearance period: glomerular filtration rate, GFR, effective renal plasma flow, RPF (steady state infusion technique...... with urinary collections using [125I]iothalamate and [131I]iodohippurate), and urinary albumin and beta2-microglobulin excretion rates (radioimmunoassays). The GH infusion resulted in a 10-fold increase in plasma GH concentration. All the above mentioned variables remained practically unchanged during...... the infusion except for a small (-5%) but significant decrease in renal plasma flow (P less than 0.01). Our negative results contrast to the findings of increased GFR and RPF during prolonged GH administration and suggest that GH requires several hours or days for its renal effects to become manifest....

On the Use of Variability Operations in the V-Modell XT Software Process Line

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kuhrmann, Marco; Méndez Fernández, Daniel; Ternité, Thomas

2016-01-01

. In this article, we present a study on the feasibility of variability operations to support the development of software process lines in the context of the V-Modell XT. We analyze which variability operations are defined and practically used. We provide an initial catalog of variability operations...... as an improvement proposal for other process models. Our findings show that 69 variability operation types are defined across several metamodel versions of which, however, 25 remain unused. The found variability operations allow for systematically modifying the content of process model elements and the process......Software process lines provide a systematic approach to develop and manage software processes. It defines a reference process containing general process assets, whereas a well-defined customization approach allows process engineers to create new process variants, e.g., by extending or modifying...

Fuel element production at BWX technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pace, Brett

1997-01-01

Effective July 1, 1997, the Government Group portion of the Babcock and Wilcox company was incorporated separately to become BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Babcock and Wilcox Company. The names of the divisions and other business units of the former Babcock and Wilcox Government Group (Advanced Systems Operations, Naval Nuclear Fuel Division, and Nuclear Equipment Division) will remain unchanged, but they are now known as divisions or business units of BWXT. The management of all units and their reporting relationships will likewise remain unchanged. (author)

Implications of unchanged detection criteria with CAD as second reader of mammograms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bornefalk, Hans

2006-01-01

In this paper we address the use of computer-aided detection (CAD) systems as second readers in mammography. The approach is based on Bayesian decision theory and its implication for the choice of optimal operating points. The choice of a certain operating point along an ROC curve corresponds to a particular tradeoff between false positives and missed cancers. By minimizing a total risk function given this tradeoff, we determine optimal decision thresholds for the radiologist and CAD system when CAD is used as a second reader. We show that under very general circumstances, the performance of the sequential system is improved if the decision threshold of the latent human decision variable is increased compared to what it would have been in the absence of the CAD system. This means that an initial stricter decision criterion should be applied by the radiologist when CAD is used as a second reader than otherwise. First and foremost, the results in this paper should be interpreted qualitatively, but an attempt is made at quantifying the effect by tuning the model to a prospective study evaluating the use of CAD as a second reader. By making some necessary and plausible assumptions, we are able to estimate the effect of the resulting suboptimal operating point. In this study of 12 860 women, we estimate that a 15% reduction in callbacks for masses could have been achieved with only about a 1.5% relative decrease in sensitivity compared to that without using a stricter initial criterion by the radiologist. For microcalcifications the corresponding values are 7% and 0.2%

Quintessential inflation from a variable cosmological constant in a 5D vacuum

Science.gov (United States)

Membiela, Agustin; Bellini, Mauricio

2006-10-01

We explore an effective 4D cosmological model for the universe where the variable cosmological constant governs its evolution and the pressure remains negative along all the expansion. This model is introduced from a 5D vacuum state where the (space-like) extra coordinate is considered as noncompact. The expansion is produced by the inflaton field, which is considered as nonminimally coupled to gravity. We conclude from experimental data that the coupling of the inflaton with gravity should be weak, but variable in different epochs of the evolution of the universe.

Quintessential inflation from a variable cosmological constant in a 5D vacuum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Membiela, Agustin [Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, 7600 Mar del Plata (Argentina)]. E-mail: membiela@argentina.com; Bellini, Mauricio [Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, 7600 Mar del Plata (Argentina) and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONICET) (Argentina)]. E-mail: mbellini@mdp.edu.ar

2006-10-05

We explore an effective 4D cosmological model for the universe where the variable cosmological constant governs its evolution and the pressure remains negative along all the expansion. This model is introduced from a 5D vacuum state where the (space-like) extra coordinate is considered as noncompact. The expansion is produced by the inflaton field, which is considered as nonminimally coupled to gravity. We conclude from experimental data that the coupling of the inflaton with gravity should be weak, but variable in different epochs of the evolution of the universe.

Quintessential inflation from a variable cosmological constant in a 5D vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Membiela, Agustin; Bellini, Mauricio

2006-01-01

We explore an effective 4D cosmological model for the universe where the variable cosmological constant governs its evolution and the pressure remains negative along all the expansion. This model is introduced from a 5D vacuum state where the (space-like) extra coordinate is considered as noncompact. The expansion is produced by the inflaton field, which is considered as nonminimally coupled to gravity. We conclude from experimental data that the coupling of the inflaton with gravity should be weak, but variable in different epochs of the evolution of the universe

A preliminary investigation of daily variability of stuttering in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Constantino, Christopher D; Leslie, Paula; Quesal, Robert W; Yaruss, J Scott

2016-01-01

Variability in frequency of stuttering has made the results of treatment outcome studies difficult to interpret. Many factors that affect variability have been investigated; yet the typical range of variability experienced by speakers remains unknown. This study examined the day-to-day variability in the percentage of syllables containing stuttered and nonstuttered disfluencies in the speech of six adult speakers in three spontaneous speaking situations and two reading tasks. The frequency of moments stuttering during the tasks were compared within and between speakers and days to document the degree of variability in stuttering frequency and explore whether there were any consistent patterns. The Stuttering Severity Instrument-Fourth Edition (SSI-4) and Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering for Adults (OASES-A) were also tested for day-to-day variability. Correlations between frequency, severity, and life impact were made. The primary result of this study was the large range over which frequency of stuttering varied from day to day for the same individual. This variability did not correlate with any measures of stuttering severity but did correlate with life impact as measured by the OASES-A. No global pattern was detected in variability from day to day within or between participants. However, there were significantly more nonstuttered disfluencies present during the spontaneous speaking tasks than during the reading tasks. The day-to-day variability in the life impact of the disorder (OASES-A) was less than the day-to-day variability in observable stuttering behavior (percentage of syllables stuttered and SSI-4). Frequency of stuttering varies significantly from situation to situation and day to day, with observed variability exceeding the degree of change often reported in treatment outcomes studies from before to after treatment. This variability must be accounted for in future clinical and scientific work. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc

Globular Cluster Variable Stars—Atlas and Coordinate Improvement using AAVSOnet Telescopes (Abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Welch, D.; Henden, A.; Bell, T.; Suen, C.; Fare, I.; Sills, A.

2015-12-01

(Abstract only) The variable stars of globular clusters have played and continue to play a significant role in our understanding of certain classes of variable stars. Since all stars associated with a cluster have the same age, metallicity, distance and usually very similar (if not identical reddenings), such variables can produce uniquely powerful constraints on where certain types of pulsation behaviors are excited. Advanced amateur astronomers are increasingly well-positioned to provide long-term CCD monitoring of globular cluster variable star but are hampered by a long history of poor or inaccessible finder charts and coordinates. Many of variable-rich clusters have published photographic finder charts taken in relatively poor seeing with blue-sensitive photographic plates. While useful signal-to-noise ratios are relatively straightforward to achieve for RR Lyrae, Type 2 Cepheids, and red giant variables, correct identification remains a difficult issue—particularly when images are taken at V or longer wavelengths. We describe the project and report its progress using the OC61, TMO61, and SRO telescopes of AAVSOnet after the first year of image acquisition and demonstrate several of the data products being developed for globular cluster variables.

Increased variability of tornado occurrence in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Harold E; Carbin, Gregory W; Marsh, Patrick T

2014-10-17

Whether or not climate change has had an impact on the occurrence of tornadoes in the United States has become a question of high public and scientific interest, but changes in how tornadoes are reported have made it difficult to answer it convincingly. We show that, excluding the weakest tornadoes, the mean annual number of tornadoes has remained relatively constant, but their variability of occurrence has increased since the 1970s. This is due to a decrease in the number of days per year with tornadoes combined with an increase in days with many tornadoes, leading to greater variability on annual and monthly time scales and changes in the timing of the start of the tornado season. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A Bayesian Framework for Remaining Useful Life Estimation

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The estimation of remaining useful life (RUL) of a faulty component is at the center of system prognostics and health management. It gives operators a potent tool in...

STEPWISE SELECTION OF VARIABLES IN DEA USING CONTRIBUTION LOADS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Fernandez-Palacin

Full Text Available ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a new methodology for variable selection in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA. The methodology is based on an internal measure which evaluates the contribution of each variable in the calculation of the efficiency scores of DMUs. In order to apply the proposed method, an algorithm, known as “ADEA”, was developed and implemented in R. Step by step, the algorithm maximizes the load of the variable (input or output which contribute least to the calculation of the efficiency scores, redistributing the weights of the variables without altering the efficiency scores of the DMUs. Once the weights have been redistributed, if the lower contribution does not reach a previously given critical value, a variable with minimum contribution will be removed from the model and, as a result, the DEA will be solved again. The algorithm will stop when all variables reach a given contribution load to the DEA or until no more variables can be removed. In this way and contrary to what is usual, the algorithm provides a clear stop rule. In both cases, the efficiencies obtained from the DEA will be considered suitable and rightly interpreted in terms of the remaining variables, indicating the load themselves; moreover, the algorithm will provide a sequence of alternative nested models - potential solutions - that could be evaluated according to external criterion. To illustrate the procedure, we have applied the methodology proposed to obtain a research ranking of Spanish public universities. In this case, at each step of the algorithm, the critical value is obtained based on a simulation study.

Patterns of intraspecific variability in the response to caloric restriction

Science.gov (United States)

Gribble, Kristin E.; Kaido, Oksana; Jarvis, George; Mark Welch, David B.

2014-01-01

Caloric restriction (CR) is cited as the most robust means of increasing lifespan across a range of taxa, yet there is a high degree of variability in the response to CR, both within and between species. To examine the intraspecific evolutionary conservation of lifespan extension by CR, we tested the effects of chronic caloric restriction (CCR) at multiple food levels and of intermittent fasting (IF) in twelve isolates from the Brachionus plicatilis species complex of monogonont rotifers. While CCR generally increased or did not change lifespan and total fecundity, IF caused increased, unchanged, or decreased lifespan, depending upon the isolate, and decreased total fecundity in all but one isolate. Lifespan under ad libitum (AL) feeding varied among isolates and predicted the lifespan response to CR: longer-lived isolates under AL were less likely to have a significant increase in lifespan under CCR and were more likely to have a significantly shortened lifespan under IF. Lifespan under AL conditions and the response to CR were not correlated with hydroperiodicity of native habitat or with time in culture. Lack of trade-off between lifespan and fecundity under CCR, and differences in lifespan and fecundity under CCR and IF, even when average food intake was similar, suggest that longevity changes are not always directly determined by energy intake and that CCR and IF regimens extend lifespan through diverse genetic mechanisms. PMID:24384399

Temporal variability in phosphorus transfers: classifying concentration–discharge event dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Haygarth

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The importance of temporal variability in relationships between phosphorus (P concentration (Cp and discharge (Q is linked to a simple means of classifying the circumstances of Cp–Q relationships in terms of functional types of response. New experimental data at the upstream interface of grassland soil and catchment systems at a range of scales (lysimeters to headwaters in England and Australia are used to demonstrate the potential of such an approach. Three types of event are defined as Types 1–3, depending on whether the relative change in Q exceeds the relative change in Cp (Type 1, whether Cp and Q are positively inter-related (Type 2 and whether Cp varies yet Q is unchanged (Type 3. The classification helps to characterise circumstances that can be explained mechanistically in relation to (i the scale of the study (with a tendency towards Type 1 in small scale lysimeters, (ii the form of P with a tendency for Type 1 for soluble (i.e., p–Q relationships that can be developed further to contribute to future models of P transfer and delivery from slope to stream. Studies that evaluate the temporal dynamics of the transfer of P are currently grossly under-represented in comparison with models based on static/spatial factors. Keywords: phosphorus, concentration, discharge, lysimeters, temporal dynamics, overland flow

Review of the Dinosaur Remains from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland, UK

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Neil D. L. Clark

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Dinosaurs are rare from the Middle Jurassic worldwide. The Isle of Skye, is the only place in Scotland thus far to have produced dinosaur remains. These remains consist mainly of footprints, but also several bones and teeth. These Bajocian and Bathonian remains represent an important collection of a basal eusauropod, early examples of non-neosauropod and possible basal titanosauriform eusauropods, and theropod remains that may belong to an early coelurosaur and a possible megalosaurid, basal tyrannosauroid, or dromaeosaurid. The footprints from here also suggest a rich and diverse dinosaur fauna for which further better diagnosable remains are likely to be found.

VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY IN BRAZILIAN CHILDREN AND ASSOCIATED VARIABLES.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Daniela Braga; Damiani, Lucas Petri; Fujimori, Elizabeth

2018-03-29

To analyze the variables associated with vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in Brazilian children aged 6 to 59 months, considering a hierarchical model of determination. This is part of the National Survey on Demography and Health of Women and Children, held in 2006. Data analysis included 3,417 children aged from six to 59 months with retinol data. Vitamin A deficiency was defined as serum retinol Poisson regression analysis were performed, with significance level set at 5%, using a hierarchical model of determination that considered three conglomerates of variables: those linked to the structural processes of community (socioeconomic-demographic variables); to the immediate environment of the child (maternal variables, safety and food consumption); and individual features (biological characteristics of the child). Data were expressed in prevalence ratio (PR). After adjustment for confounding variables, the following remained associated with VAD: living in the Southeast [PR=1,59; 95%CI 1,19-2,17] and Northeast [PR=1,56; 95%CI 1,16-2,15]; in urban area [RP=1,31; 95%CI 1,02-1,72]; and mother aged ≥36 years [RP=2,28; 95%CI 1,37-3,98], the consumption of meat at least once in the last seven days was a protective factor [PR=0,24; 95%CI 0,13-0,42]. The main variables associated with VAD in the country are related to structural processes of society and to the immediate, but not individual, environment of the child.

The discovery of timescale-dependent color variability of quasars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Yu-Han; Wang, Jun-Xian; Chen, Xiao-Yang [CAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Zheng, Zhen-Ya, E-mail: sunyh92@mail.ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: jxw@ustc.edu.cn [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (United States)

2014-09-01

Quasars are variable on timescales from days to years in UV/optical and generally appear bluer while they brighten. The physics behind the variations in fluxes and colors remains unclear. Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey g- and r-band photometric monitoring data for quasars in Stripe 82, we find that although the flux variation amplitude increases with timescale, the color variability exhibits the opposite behavior. The color variability of quasars is prominent at timescales as short as ∼10 days, but gradually reduces toward timescales up to years. In other words, the variable emission at shorter timescales is bluer than that at longer timescales. This timescale dependence is clearly and consistently detected at all redshifts from z = 0 to 3.5; thus, it cannot be due to contamination to broadband photometry from emission lines that do not respond to fast continuum variations. The discovery directly rules out the possibility that simply attributes the color variability to contamination from a non-variable redder component such as the host galaxy. It cannot be interpreted as changes in global accretion rate either. The thermal accretion disk fluctuation model is favored in the sense that fluctuations in the inner, hotter region of the disk are responsible for short-term variations, while longer-term and stronger variations are expected from the larger and cooler disk region. An interesting implication is that one can use quasar variations at different timescales to probe disk emission at different radii.

Remaining life diagnosis method and device for nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Michiyoshi.

1996-01-01

A neutron flux measuring means is inserted from the outside of a reactor pressure vessel during reactor operation to forecast neutron-degradation of materials of incore structural components in the vicinity of portions to be measured based on the measured values, and the remaining life of the reactor is diagnosed by the forecast degraded state. In this case, the neutron fluxes to be measured are desirably fast and/or medium neutron fluxes. As the positions where the measuring means is to be inserted, for example, the vicinity of the structural components at the periphery of the fuel assembly is selected. Aging degradation characteristics of the structural components are determined by using the aging degradation data for the structural materials. The remaining life is analyzed based on obtained aging degradation characteristics and stress evaluation data of the incore structural components at portions to be measured. Neutron irradiation amount of structural components at predetermined positions can be recognized accurately, and appropriate countermeasures can be taken depending on the forecast remaining life thereby enabling to improve the reliability of the reactor. (N.H.)

Industry remains stuck in a transitional mode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garb, F.A.

1991-01-01

The near future for industry remains foggy for several obvious reasons. The shake-up of the Soviet Union and how the pieces will reform remains unclear. How successful efforts are to privatize government oil company operations around the world has yet to be determined. A long sought peace in the Middle East seems to be inching closer, but will this continue? If it does continue, what impact will it have on world energy policy? Will American companies, which are now transferring their attention to foreign E and P, also maintain an interest in domestic activities? Is the U.S. economy really on the upswing? We are told that the worst of the recession is over, but try telling this to thousands of workers in the oil patch who are being released monthly by the big players in domestic operations. This paper reports that 1992 should be a better year than 1991, if measured in opportunity. There are more exploration and acquisition options available, both domestically and internationally, than there have been in years. Probably more opportunities exist than there are players-certainly more than can be funded with current financial resources

Data-driven remaining useful life prognosis techniques stochastic models, methods and applications

CERN Document Server

Si, Xiao-Sheng; Hu, Chang-Hua

2017-01-01

This book introduces data-driven remaining useful life prognosis techniques, and shows how to utilize the condition monitoring data to predict the remaining useful life of stochastic degrading systems and to schedule maintenance and logistics plans. It is also the first book that describes the basic data-driven remaining useful life prognosis theory systematically and in detail. The emphasis of the book is on the stochastic models, methods and applications employed in remaining useful life prognosis. It includes a wealth of degradation monitoring experiment data, practical prognosis methods for remaining useful life in various cases, and a series of applications incorporated into prognostic information in decision-making, such as maintenance-related decisions and ordering spare parts. It also highlights the latest advances in data-driven remaining useful life prognosis techniques, especially in the contexts of adaptive prognosis for linear stochastic degrading systems, nonlinear degradation modeling based pro...

Weighting Mean and Variability during Confidence Judgments

Science.gov (United States)

de Gardelle, Vincent; Mamassian, Pascal

2015-01-01

Humans can not only perform some visual tasks with great precision, they can also judge how good they are in these tasks. However, it remains unclear how observers produce such metacognitive evaluations, and how these evaluations might be dissociated from the performance in the visual task. Here, we hypothesized that some stimulus variables could affect confidence judgments above and beyond their impact on performance. In a motion categorization task on moving dots, we manipulated the mean and the variance of the motion directions, to obtain a low-mean low-variance condition and a high-mean high-variance condition with matched performances. Critically, in terms of confidence, observers were not indifferent between these two conditions. Observers exhibited marked preferences, which were heterogeneous across individuals, but stable within each observer when assessed one week later. Thus, confidence and performance are dissociable and observers’ confidence judgments put different weights on the stimulus variables that limit performance. PMID:25793275

Work-related factors influencing home care nurse intent to remain employed.

Science.gov (United States)

Tourangeau, Ann E; Patterson, Erin; Saari, Margaret; Thomson, Heather; Cranley, Lisa

Health care is shifting out of hospitals into community settings. In Ontario, Canada, home care organizations continue to experience challenges recruiting and retaining nurses. However, factors influencing home care nurse retention that can be modified remain largely unexplored. Several groups of factors have been identified as influencing home care nurse intent to remain employed including job characteristics, work structures, relationships and communication, work environment, responses to work, and conditions of employment. The aim of this study was to test and refine a model that identifies which factors are related to home care nurse intentions to remain employed for the next 5 years with their current home care employer organization. A cross-sectional survey design was implemented to test and refine a hypothesized model of home care nurse intent to remain employed. Logistic regression was used to determine which factors influence home care nurse intent to remain employed. Home care nurse intent to remain employed for the next 5 years was associated with increasing age, higher nurse-evaluated quality of care, having greater variety of patients, experiencing greater meaningfulness of work, having greater income stability, having greater continuity of client care, experiencing more positive relationships with supervisors, experiencing higher work-life balance, and being more satisfied with salary and benefits. Home care organizations can promote home care nurse intent to remain employed by (a) ensuring nurses have adequate training and resources to provide quality client care, (b) improving employment conditions to increase income stability and satisfaction with pay and benefits, (c) ensuring manageable workloads to facilitate improved work-life balance, and (d) ensuring leaders are accessible and competent.

Red Assembly: the work remains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie Witz

installed. What to do at this limit, at the transgressive encounter between saying yes and no to history, remains the challenge. It is the very challenge of what insistently remains.

Sub-polyhedral scheduling using (unit-)two-variable-per-inequality polyhedra

OpenAIRE

Upadrasta , Ramakrishna; Cohen , Albert

2013-01-01

International audience; Polyhedral compilation has been successful in the design and implementation of complex loop nest optimizers and parallelizing compilers. The algorithmic complexity and scalability limitations remain one important weakness. We address it using sub-polyhedral under-aproximations of the systems of constraints resulting from affine scheduling problems. We propose a sub-polyhedral scheduling technique using (Unit-)Two-Variable-Per-Inequality or (U)TVPI Polyhedra. This techn...

Variability Bugs:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melo, Jean

. Although many researchers suggest that preprocessor-based variability amplifies maintenance problems, there is little to no hard evidence on how actually variability affects programs and programmers. Specifically, how does variability affect programmers during maintenance tasks (bug finding in particular......)? How much harder is it to debug a program as variability increases? How do developers debug programs with variability? In what ways does variability affect bugs? In this Ph.D. thesis, I set off to address such issues through different perspectives using empirical research (based on controlled...... experiments) in order to understand quantitatively and qualitatively the impact of variability on programmers at bug finding and on buggy programs. From the program (and bug) perspective, the results show that variability is ubiquitous. There appears to be no specific nature of variability bugs that could...

Building essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) of species distribution and abundance at a global scale

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kissling, W.D.; Ahumada, J.A.; Bowser, A.; Fernandez, M.; Fernández, N.; Garcia, E.A.; Guralnick, R.P.; Isaac, N.J.B.; Kelling, S.; Los, W.; McRae, L.; Mihoub, J.-B.; Obst, M.; Santamaria, M.; Skidmore, A.K.; Williams, K.J.; Agosti, D.; Amariles, D.; Arvanitidis, C.; Bastin, L.; De Leo, F.; Egloff, W.; Elith, J.; Hobern, D.; Martin, D.; Pereira, H.M.; Pesole, G.; Peterseil, J.; Saarenmaa, H.; Schigel, D.; Schmeller, D.S.; Segata, N.; Turak, E.; Uhlir, P.F.; Wee, B.; Hardisty, A.R.

2018-01-01

Much biodiversity data is collected worldwide, but it remains challenging to assemble the scattered knowledge for assessing biodiversity status and trends. The concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) was introduced to structure biodiversity monitoring globally, and to harmonize and

Hydration level is an internal variable for computing motivation to obtain water rewards in monkeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Minamimoto, Takafumi; Yamada, Hiroshi; Hori, Yukiko; Suhara, Tetsuya

2012-05-01

In the process of motivation to engage in a behavior, valuation of the expected outcome is comprised of not only external variables (i.e., incentives) but also internal variables (i.e., drive). However, the exact neural mechanism that integrates these variables for the computation of motivational value remains unclear. Besides, the signal of physiological needs, which serves as the primary internal variable for this computation, remains to be identified. Concerning fluid rewards, the osmolality level, one of the physiological indices for the level of thirst, may be an internal variable for valuation, since an increase in the osmolality level induces drinking behavior. Here, to examine the relationship between osmolality and the motivational value of a water reward, we repeatedly measured the blood osmolality level, while 2 monkeys continuously performed an instrumental task until they spontaneously stopped. We found that, as the total amount of water earned increased, the osmolality level progressively decreased (i.e., the hydration level increased) in an individual-dependent manner. There was a significant negative correlation between the error rate of the task (the proportion of trials with low motivation) and the osmolality level. We also found that the increase in the error rate with reward accumulation can be well explained by a formula describing the changes in the osmolality level. These results provide a biologically supported computational formula for the motivational value of a water reward that depends on the hydration level, enabling us to identify the neural mechanism that integrates internal and external variables.

Human Vulnerability to Climate Variability in the Sahel: Farmers' Adaptation Strategies in Northern Burkina Faso

Science.gov (United States)

Barbier, Bruno; Yacouba, Hamma; Karambiri, Harouna; Zoromé, Malick; Somé, Blaise

2009-05-01

In this study, the authors investigate farmers’ vulnerability to climate variability and evaluate local adoption of technology and farmers’ perceptions of adaptation strategies to rainfall variability and policies. A survey was conducted in a community in northern Burkina Faso following the crop failure of 2004. In 2006, following a better harvest, another survey was conducted to compare farmers’ actions and reactions during two contrasted rainy seasons. The results confirm that farmers from this community have substantially changed their practices during the last few decades. They have adopted a wide range of techniques that are intended to simultaneously increase crop yield and reduce yield variability. Micro water harvesting (Zaï) techniques have been widely adopted (41%), and a majority of fields have been improved with stone lines (60%). Hay (48%) and sorghum residues are increasingly stored to feed animals during the dry season, making bull and sheep fattening now a common practice. Dry season vegetable production also involves a majority of the population (60%). According to farmers, most of the new techniques have been adopted because of growing land scarcity and new market opportunities, rather than because of climate variability. Population pressure has reached a critical threshold, while land scarcity, declining soil fertility and reduced animal mobility have pushed farmers to intensify agricultural production. These techniques reduce farmers’ dependency on rainfall but are still insufficient to reduce poverty and vulnerability. Thirty-nine percent of the population remains vulnerable after a good rainy season. Despite farmers’ desire to remain in their own communities, migrations are likely to remain a major source of regular income and form of recourse in the event of droughts.

Evidence for a time-invariant phase variable in human ankle control.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert D Gregg

Full Text Available Human locomotion is a rhythmic task in which patterns of muscle activity are modulated by state-dependent feedback to accommodate perturbations. Two popular theories have been proposed for the underlying embodiment of phase in the human pattern generator: a time-dependent internal representation or a time-invariant feedback representation (i.e., reflex mechanisms. In either case the neuromuscular system must update or represent the phase of locomotor patterns based on the system state, which can include measurements of hundreds of variables. However, a much simpler representation of phase has emerged in recent designs for legged robots, which control joint patterns as functions of a single monotonic mechanical variable, termed a phase variable. We propose that human joint patterns may similarly depend on a physical phase variable, specifically the heel-to-toe movement of the Center of Pressure under the foot. We found that when the ankle is unexpectedly rotated to a position it would have encountered later in the step, the Center of Pressure also shifts forward to the corresponding later position, and the remaining portion of the gait pattern ensues. This phase shift suggests that the progression of the stance ankle is controlled by a biomechanical phase variable, motivating future investigations of phase variables in human locomotor control.

An analysis of the alleged skeletal remains of Carin Göring.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Kjellström

Full Text Available In 1991, treasure hunters found skeletal remains in an area close to the destroyed country residence of former Nazi leader Hermann Göring in northeastern Berlin. The remains, which were believed to belong to Carin Göring, who was buried at the site, were examined to determine whether it was possible to make a positive identification. The anthropological analysis showed that the remains come from an adult woman. The DNA analysis of several bone elements showed female sex, and a reference sample from Carin's son revealed mtDNA sequences identical to the remains. The profile has one nucleotide difference from the Cambridge reference sequence (rCRS, the common variant 263G. A database search resulted in a frequency of this mtDNA sequence of about 10% out of more than 7,000 European haplotypes. The mtDNA sequence found in the ulna, the cranium and the reference sample is, thus, very common among Europeans. Therefore, nuclear DNA analysis was attempted. The remains as well as a sample from Carin's son were successfully analysed for the three nuclear markers TH01, D7S820 and D8S1179. The nuclear DNA analysis of the two samples revealed one shared allele for each of the three markers, supporting a mother and son relationship. This genetic information together with anthropological and historical files provides an additional piece of circumstantial evidence in our efforts to identify the remains of Carin Göring.

Does hypertension remain after kidney transplantation?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gholamreza Pourmand

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Hypertension is a common complication of kidney transplantation with the prevalence of 80%. Studies in adults have shown a high prevalence of hypertension (HTN in the first three months of transplantation while this rate is reduced to 50- 60% at the end of the first year. HTN remains as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, lower graft survival rates and poor function of transplanted kidney in adults and children. In this retrospective study, medical records of 400 kidney transplantation patients of Sina Hospital were evaluated. Patients were followed monthly for the 1st year, every two months in the 2nd year and every three months after that. In this study 244 (61% patients were male. Mean ± SD age of recipients was 39.3 ± 13.8 years. In most patients (40.8% the cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD was unknown followed by HTN (26.3%. A total of 166 (41.5% patients had been hypertensive before transplantation and 234 (58.5% had normal blood pressure. Among these 234 individuals, 94 (40.2% developed post-transplantation HTN. On the other hand, among 166 pre-transplant hypertensive patients, 86 patients (56.8% remained hypertensive after transplantation. Totally 180 (45% patients had post-transplantation HTN and 220 patients (55% didn't develop HTN. Based on the findings, the incidence of post-transplantation hypertension is high, and kidney transplantation does not lead to remission of hypertension. On the other hand, hypertension is one of the main causes of ESRD. Thus, early screening of hypertension can prevent kidney damage and reduce further problems in renal transplant recipients.

Spatial variability of surface fuels in treated and untreated ponderosa pine forests of the southern Rocky Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Emma Vakili; Chad M. Hoffman; Robert E. Keane; Wade T. Tinkham; Yvette Dickinson

2016-01-01

There is growing consensus that spatial variability in fuel loading at scales down to 0.5 m may govern fire behaviour and effects. However, there remains a lack of understanding of how fuels vary through space in wildland settings. This study quantifies surface fuel loading and its spatial variability in ponderosa pine sites before and after fuels treatment in the...

Daily commuting to work is not associated with variables of health.

Science.gov (United States)

Mauss, Daniel; Jarczok, Marc N; Fischer, Joachim E

2016-01-01

Commuting to work is thought to have a negative impact on employee health. We tested the association of work commute and different variables of health in German industrial employees. Self-rated variables of an industrial cohort (n = 3805; 78.9 % male) including absenteeism, presenteeism and indices reflecting stress and well-being were assessed by a questionnaire. Fasting blood samples, heart-rate variability and anthropometric data were collected. Commuting was grouped into one of four categories: 0-19.9, 20-44.9, 45-59.9, ≥60 min travelling one way to work. Bivariate associations between commuting and all variables under study were calculated. Linear regression models tested this association further, controlling for potential confounders. Commuting was positively correlated with waist circumference and inversely with triglycerides. These associations did not remain statistically significant in linear regression models controlling for age, gender, marital status, and shiftwork. No other association with variables of physical, psychological, or mental health and well-being could be found. The results indicate that commuting to work has no significant impact on well-being and health of German industrial employees.

A Validated Smartphone-Based Assessment of Gait and Gait Variability in Parkinson's Disease.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert J Ellis

Full Text Available A well-established connection exists between increased gait variability and greater fall likelihood in Parkinson's disease (PD; however, a portable, validated means of quantifying gait variability (and testing the efficacy of any intervention remains lacking. Furthermore, although rhythmic auditory cueing continues to receive attention as a promising gait therapy for PD, its widespread delivery remains bottlenecked. The present paper describes a smartphone-based mobile application ("SmartMOVE" to address both needs.The accuracy of smartphone-based gait analysis (utilizing the smartphone's built-in tri-axial accelerometer and gyroscope to calculate successive step times and step lengths was validated against two heel contact-based measurement devices: heel-mounted footswitch sensors (to capture step times and an instrumented pressure sensor mat (to capture step lengths. 12 PD patients and 12 age-matched healthy controls walked along a 26-m path during self-paced and metronome-cued conditions, with all three devices recording simultaneously.Four outcome measures of gait and gait variability were calculated. Mixed-factorial analysis of variance revealed several instances in which between-group differences (e.g., increased gait variability in PD patients relative to healthy controls yielded medium-to-large effect sizes (eta-squared values, and cueing-mediated changes (e.g., decreased gait variability when PD patients walked with auditory cues yielded small-to-medium effect sizes-while at the same time, device-related measurement error yielded small-to-negligible effect sizes.These findings highlight specific opportunities for smartphone-based gait analysis to serve as an alternative to conventional gait analysis methods (e.g., footswitch systems or sensor-embedded walkways, particularly when those methods are cost-prohibitive, cumbersome, or inconvenient.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION VARIABILITY IN THE Uncaria tomentosa (cat’s claw WILD POPULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evelyn Maribel Condori Peñaloza

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Uncaria tomentosa (cat's claw is a vine widely distributed throughout the South-American rainforest. Many studies investigating the chemical composition of cat's claw have focused on the pentacyclic (POA and tetracyclic oxindole alkaloids (TOA, quinovic acid glycosides (QAG, and polyphenols (PPH. Nevertheless, it is still uncertain how environmental factors affect chemical groups. The aim of this work was to better understand the influence of environmental factors (geographic origin, altitude, and season on cat's claw chemical composition. Stem bark, branches and leaf samples were extracted and analyzed by HPLC-PDA. The data obtained were explored by multivariate analysis (HCA and PCA. Higher amounts of oxindole alkaloids and PPH were found in leaves, followed by stem bark and branches. No clear relationship was verified among geographic origin or altitude and chemical composition, which remained unchanged regardless of season (dry or rainy. However, three oxindole alkaloid chemotypes were clearly recognized: chemotype I (POA with cis D/E ring junction; chemotype II (POA with trans D/E ring junction; and chemotype III (TOA. Thus, environmental factors appear to have only a minor influence on the chemical heterogeneity of the cat's claw wild population. Nevertheless, the occurrence of different chemotypes based on alkaloid profiles seems to be clear.

Behavioral Variability and Somatic Mosaicism: A Cytogenomic Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Vorsanova, Svetlana G; Zelenova, Maria A; Yurov, Yuri B; Iourov, Ivan Y

2018-04-01

Behavioral sciences are inseparably related to genetics. A variety of neurobehavioral phenotypes are suggested to result from genomic variations. However, the contribution of genetic factors to common behavioral disorders (i.e. autism, schizophrenia, intellectual disability) remains to be understood when an attempt to link behavioral variability to a specific genomic change is made. Probably, the least appreciated genetic mechanism of debilitating neurobehavioral disorders is somatic mosaicism or the occurrence of genetically diverse (neuronal) cells in an individual's brain. Somatic mosaicism is assumed to affect directly the brain being associated with specific behavioral patterns. As shown in studies of chromosome abnormalities (syndromes), genetic mosaicism is able to change dynamically the phenotype due to inconsistency of abnormal cell proportions. Here, we hypothesize that brain-specific postzygotic changes of mosaicism levels are able to modulate variability of behavioral phenotypes. More precisely, behavioral phenotype variability in individuals exhibiting somatic mosaicism might correlate with changes in the amount of genetically abnormal cells throughout the lifespan. If proven, the hypothesis can be used as a basis for therapeutic interventions through regulating levels of somatic mosaicism to increase functioning and to improve overall condition of individuals with behavioral problems.

And the Dead Remain Behind

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Read

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In most cultures the dead and their living relatives are held in a dialogic relationship. The dead have made it clear, while living, what they expect from their descendants. The living, for their part, wish to honour the tombs of their ancestors; at the least, to keep the graves of the recent dead from disrepair. Despite the strictures, the living can fail their responsibilities, for example, by migration to foreign countries. The peripatetic Chinese are one of the few cultures able to overcome the dilemma of the wanderer or the exile. With the help of a priest, an Australian Chinese migrant may summon the soul of an ancestor from an Asian grave to a Melbourne temple, where the spirit, though removed from its earthly vessel, will rest and remain at peace. Amongst cultures in which such practices are not culturally appropriate, to fail to honour the family dead can be exquisitely painful. Violence is the cause of most failure.

Molecular genetic identification of skeletal remains of apartheid ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission made significant progress in examining abuses committed during the apartheid era in South Africa. Despite information revealed by the commission, a large number of individuals remained missing when the commission closed its proceedings. This provided the impetus for the ...

Palmar, Patellar, and Pedal Human Remains from Pavlov

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Trinkaus, E.; Wojtal, P.; Wilczyński, J.; Sázelová, Sandra; Svoboda, Jiří

2017-01-01

Roč. 2017, June (2017), s. 73-101 ISSN 1545-0031 Institutional support: RVO:68081758 Keywords : Gravettian * human remains * isolated bones * anatomically modern humans * Upper Paleolithic Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology OBOR OECD: Archaeology http://paleoanthro.org/media/journal/content/PA20170073.pdf

Robotics to enable older adults to remain living at home.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, Alan J; Adair, Brooke; Miller, Kimberly; Ozanne, Elizabeth; Said, Catherine; Santamaria, Nick; Morris, Meg E

2012-01-01

Given the rapidly ageing population, interest is growing in robots to enable older people to remain living at home. We conducted a systematic review and critical evaluation of the scientific literature, from 1990 to the present, on the use of robots in aged care. The key research questions were as follows: (1) what is the range of robotic devices available to enable older people to remain mobile, independent, and safe? and, (2) what is the evidence demonstrating that robotic devices are effective in enabling independent living in community dwelling older people? Following database searches for relevant literature an initial yield of 161 articles was obtained. Titles and abstracts of articles were then reviewed by 2 independent people to determine suitability for inclusion. Forty-two articles met the criteria for question 1. Of these, 4 articles met the criteria for question 2. Results showed that robotics is currently available to assist older healthy people and people with disabilities to remain independent and to monitor their safety and social connectedness. Most studies were conducted in laboratories and hospital clinics. Currently limited evidence demonstrates that robots can be used to enable people to remain living at home, although this is an emerging smart technology that is rapidly evolving.

Robotics to Enable Older Adults to Remain Living at Home

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan J. Pearce

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Given the rapidly ageing population, interest is growing in robots to enable older people to remain living at home. We conducted a systematic review and critical evaluation of the scientific literature, from 1990 to the present, on the use of robots in aged care. The key research questions were as follows: (1 what is the range of robotic devices available to enable older people to remain mobile, independent, and safe? and, (2 what is the evidence demonstrating that robotic devices are effective in enabling independent living in community dwelling older people? Following database searches for relevant literature an initial yield of 161 articles was obtained. Titles and abstracts of articles were then reviewed by 2 independent people to determine suitability for inclusion. Forty-two articles met the criteria for question 1. Of these, 4 articles met the criteria for question 2. Results showed that robotics is currently available to assist older healthy people and people with disabilities to remain independent and to monitor their safety and social connectedness. Most studies were conducted in laboratories and hospital clinics. Currently limited evidence demonstrates that robots can be used to enable people to remain living at home, although this is an emerging smart technology that is rapidly evolving.

Choice between variable and fixed cocaine injections in male rhesus monkeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Huskinson, S L; Freeman, K B; Petry, N M; Rowlett, J K

2017-08-01

The schedule of drug availability may enhance choice of a drug. In non-human subjects, reinforcers are chosen more often when available under variable schedules of reinforcement relative to fixed schedules. To determine whether variable-drug access is an important determinant of cocaine choice by manipulating the schedule, drug dose, and combination of schedule + dose. Four male rhesus monkeys chose between cocaine doses (0.025-0.4 mg/kg/injection). In control conditions, the schedule and dose of each drug delivery were fixed. In other conditions, the reinforcement schedule (i.e., variable-ratio schedule), dose of each cocaine delivery, or both were variable on one lever while all aspects on the other lever remained fixed. When cocaine dose was equal on average (0.1 mg/kg/injection), 2 of 4 subjects chose cocaine associated with the variable schedule more than the fixed schedule. All subjects chose the variable dose that was equal on average to the fixed dose, and this difference was statistically significant. Three of 4 subjects chose cocaine associated with the variable combination over the fixed option (when the dose was equal on average). During dose-response determinations (when dose on the variable and fixed options were not equal), making the schedule, dose, or both variable generally did not alter cocaine's potency as a reinforcer. While many factors contribute to drug choice, unpredictable drug access is a feature that may be common in the natural environment and could play a key role in the allocation of behavior to drug alternatives by patients with substance-use disorders.

A New Predictive Model Based on the ABC Optimized Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines Approach for Predicting the Remaining Useful Life in Aircraft Engines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulino José García Nieto

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Remaining useful life (RUL estimation is considered as one of the most central points in the prognostics and health management (PHM. The present paper describes a nonlinear hybrid ABC–MARS-based model for the prediction of the remaining useful life of aircraft engines. Indeed, it is well-known that an accurate RUL estimation allows failure prevention in a more controllable way so that the effective maintenance can be carried out in appropriate time to correct impending faults. The proposed hybrid model combines multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS, which have been successfully adopted for regression problems, with the artificial bee colony (ABC technique. This optimization technique involves parameter setting in the MARS training procedure, which significantly influences the regression accuracy. However, its use in reliability applications has not yet been widely explored. Bearing this in mind, remaining useful life values have been predicted here by using the hybrid ABC–MARS-based model from the remaining measured parameters (input variables for aircraft engines with success. A correlation coefficient equal to 0.92 was obtained when this hybrid ABC–MARS-based model was applied to experimental data. The agreement of this model with experimental data confirmed its good performance. The main advantage of this predictive model is that it does not require information about the previous operation states of the aircraft engine.

Dinosaur remains from the type Maastrichtian: An update

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weishampel, David B.; Mulder, Eric W A; Dortangs, Rudi W.; Jagt, John W M; Jianu, Coralia Maria; Kuypers, Marcel M M; Peeters, Hans H G; Schulp, Anne S.

1999-01-01

Isolated cranial and post-cranial remains of hadrosaurid dinosaurs have been collected from various outcrops in the type area of the Maastrichtian stage during the last few years. In the present contribution, dentary and maxillary teeth are recorded from the area for the first time. Post-cranial

Decontamination and management of human remains following incidents of hazardous chemical release.

Science.gov (United States)

Hauschild, Veronique D; Watson, Annetta; Bock, Robert

2012-01-01

To provide specific guidance and resources for systematic and orderly decontamination of human remains resulting from a chemical terrorist attack or accidental chemical release. A detailed review and health-based decision criteria protocol is summarized. Protocol basis and logic are derived from analyses of compound-specific toxicological data and chemical/physical characteristics. Guidance is suitable for civilian or military settings where human remains potentially contaminated with hazardous chemicals may be present, such as sites of transportation accidents, terrorist operations, or medical examiner processing points. Guidance is developed from data-characterizing controlled experiments with laboratory animals, fabrics, and materiel. Logic and specific procedures for decontamination and management of remains, protection of mortuary affairs personnel, and decision criteria to determine when remains are sufficiently decontaminated are presented. Established procedures as well as existing materiel and available equipment for decontamination and verification provide reasonable means to mitigate chemical hazards from chemically exposed remains. Unique scenarios such as those involving supralethal concentrations of certain liquid chemical warfare agents may prove difficult to decontaminate but can be resolved in a timely manner by application of the characterized systematic approaches. Decision criteria and protocols to "clear" decontaminated remains for transport and processing are also provided. Once appropriate decontamination and verification have been accomplished, normal procedures for management of remains and release can be followed.

76 FR 14057 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-15

...: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, Laramie, WY AGENCY: National Park... Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, Laramie, WY. The human remains and associated funerary... the human remains was made by University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository...

Eyewitness Accounts on Climate Variability and the Responses: Perspectives from Farmers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiban Mani Poudel

2012-06-01

Full Text Available People with different socio-cultural arrangements havedifferent experiences and responses to climatic variability. The place specific experiences and responses at community level still remain a little explored issue in the discourse of climate change research. This paper deals with local experiences of climatic variability which have been monitoring by locals in their lifetime, on the one hand, and, on the other, explore their responses or coping mechanisms which they have been practicing to mitigate with climatic risks. Moreover, farmers’ experiences were documented in term of observed climatic variability in their lifetime focusing on qualitative data. I have used eyewitness accounts and hearsays to document their experiences of climatic variability. Moreover, farmers have developed various coping mechanisms such as indigenous knowledge, utilize kinship based social network, environment friendly cropping practices, and use of alternative sources of water (water-tanker, well-water for irrigation, arrange rain-making ritual to cope with climatic uncertainty in their lifetime.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v5i0.6362Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 5, 2011: 171-90

Individual Movement Variability Magnitudes Are Explained by Cortical Neural Variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Haar, Shlomi; Donchin, Opher; Dinstein, Ilan

2017-09-13

Humans exhibit considerable motor variability even across trivial reaching movements. This variability can be separated into specific kinematic components such as extent and direction that are thought to be governed by distinct neural processes. Here, we report that individual subjects (males and females) exhibit different magnitudes of kinematic variability, which are consistent (within individual) across movements to different targets and regardless of which arm (right or left) was used to perform the movements. Simultaneous fMRI recordings revealed that the same subjects also exhibited different magnitudes of fMRI variability across movements in a variety of motor system areas. These fMRI variability magnitudes were also consistent across movements to different targets when performed with either arm. Cortical fMRI variability in the posterior-parietal cortex of individual subjects explained their movement-extent variability. This relationship was apparent only in posterior-parietal cortex and not in other motor system areas, thereby suggesting that individuals with more variable movement preparation exhibit larger kinematic variability. We therefore propose that neural and kinematic variability are reliable and interrelated individual characteristics that may predispose individual subjects to exhibit distinct motor capabilities. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neural activity and movement kinematics are remarkably variable. Although intertrial variability is rarely studied, here, we demonstrate that individual human subjects exhibit distinct magnitudes of neural and kinematic variability that are reproducible across movements to different targets and when performing these movements with either arm. Furthermore, when examining the relationship between cortical variability and movement variability, we find that cortical fMRI variability in parietal cortex of individual subjects explained their movement extent variability. This enabled us to explain why some subjects

Determinants of cell-to-cell variability in protein kinase signaling.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeschke, Matthias; Baumgärtner, Stephan; Legewie, Stefan

2013-01-01

Cells reliably sense environmental changes despite internal and external fluctuations, but the mechanisms underlying robustness remain unclear. We analyzed how fluctuations in signaling protein concentrations give rise to cell-to-cell variability in protein kinase signaling using analytical theory and numerical simulations. We characterized the dose-response behavior of signaling cascades by calculating the stimulus level at which a pathway responds ('pathway sensitivity') and the maximal activation level upon strong stimulation. Minimal kinase cascades with gradual dose-response behavior show strong variability, because the pathway sensitivity and the maximal activation level cannot be simultaneously invariant. Negative feedback regulation resolves this trade-off and coordinately reduces fluctuations in the pathway sensitivity and maximal activation. Feedbacks acting at different levels in the cascade control different aspects of the dose-response curve, thereby synergistically reducing the variability. We also investigated more complex, ultrasensitive signaling cascades capable of switch-like decision making, and found that these can be inherently robust to protein concentration fluctuations. We describe how the cell-to-cell variability of ultrasensitive signaling systems can be actively regulated, e.g., by altering the expression of phosphatase(s) or by feedback/feedforward loops. Our calculations reveal that slow transcriptional negative feedback loops allow for variability suppression while maintaining switch-like decision making. Taken together, we describe design principles of signaling cascades that promote robustness. Our results may explain why certain signaling cascades like the yeast pheromone pathway show switch-like decision making with little cell-to-cell variability.

Methodology for Extraction of Remaining Sodium of Used Sodium Containers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Minhwan; Kim, Jongman; Cho, Youngil; Jeong, Jiyoung

2014-01-01

Sodium used as a coolant in the SFR (Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor) reacts easily with most elements due to its high reactivity. If sodium at high temperature leaks outside of a system boundary and makes contact with oxygen, it starts to burn and toxic aerosols are produced. In addition, it generates flammable hydrogen gas through a reaction with water. Hydrogen gas can be explosive within the range of 4.75 vol%. Therefore, the sodium should be handled carefully in accordance with standard procedures even though there is a small amount of target sodium remainings inside the containers and drums used for experiment. After the experiment, all sodium experimental apparatuses should be dismantled carefully through a series of draining, residual sodium extraction, and cleaning if they are no longer reused. In this work, a system for the extraction of the remaining sodium of used sodium drums has been developed and an operation procedure for the system has been established. In this work, a methodology for the extraction of remaining sodium out of the used sodium container has been developed as one of the sodium facility maintenance works. The sodium extraction system for remaining sodium of the used drums was designed and tested successfully. This work will contribute to an establishment of sodium handling technology for PGSFR. (Prototype Gen-IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor)

Variability in Galactomannan detection by platelia Aspergillus EIA™ according to the Aspergillus species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melissa Orzechowski Xavier

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Here we investigate the extent to which different Aspergillus species release galactomannan (GM in vitro. Marked variability was observed in GM reactivity between and within Aspergillus species, with A. terreus strains showing the highest GM indexes. The in vivo significance of these findings remains to be determined.

Risky Choice in Pigeons: Preference for Amount Variability Using a Token-Reinforcement System

Science.gov (United States)

Lagorio, Carla H.; Hackenberg, Timothy D.

2012-01-01

Pigeons were given repeated choices between variable and fixed numbers of token reinforcers (stimulus lamps arrayed above the response keys), with each earned token exchangeable for food. The number of tokens provided by the fixed-amount option remained constant within blocks of sessions, but varied parametrically across phases, assuming values of…

The brain map of gait variability in aging, cognitive impairment and dementia. A systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Qu; Chastan, Nathalie; Bair, Woei-Nan; Resnick, Susan M.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Studenski, Stephanie A.

2017-01-01

While gait variability may reflect subtle changes due to aging or cognitive impairment (CI), associated brain characteristics remain unclear. We summarize structural and functional neuroimaging findings associated with gait variability in older adults with and without CI and dementia. We identified 17 eligible studies; all were cross-sectional; few examined multiple brain areas. In older adults, temporal gait variability was associated with structural differences in medial areas important for lower limb coordination and balance. Both temporal and spatial gait variability were associated with structural and functional differences in hippocampus and primary sensorimotor cortex and structural differences in anterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia, association tracts, and posterior thalamic radiation. In CI or dementia, some associations were found in primary motor cortex, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. In older adults, gait variability may be associated with areas important for sensorimotor integration and coordination. To comprehend the neural basis of gait variability with aging and CI, longitudinal studies of multiple brain areas are needed. PMID:28115194

Robotics to Enable Older Adults to Remain Living at Home

OpenAIRE

Pearce, Alan J.; Adair, Brooke; Miller, Kimberly; Ozanne, Elizabeth; Said, Catherine; Santamaria, Nick; Morris, Meg E.

2012-01-01

Given the rapidly ageing population, interest is growing in robots to enable older people to remain living at home. We conducted a systematic review and critical evaluation of the scientific literature, from 1990 to the present, on the use of robots in aged care. The key research questions were as follows: (1) what is the range of robotic devices available to enable older people to remain mobile, independent, and safe? and, (2) what is the evidence demonstrating that robotic devices are effec...

Hawkmoth flight performance in tornado-like whirlwind vortices.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega-Jimenez, Victor Manuel; Mittal, Rajat; Hedrick, Tyson L

2014-06-01

Vertical vortex systems such as tornadoes dramatically affect the flight control and stability of aircraft. However, the control implications of smaller scale vertically oriented vortex systems for small fliers such as animals or micro-air vehicles are unknown. Here we examined the flapping kinematics and body dynamics of hawkmoths performing hovering flights (controls) and maintaining position in three different whirlwind intensities with transverse horizontal velocities of 0.7, 0.9 and 1.2 m s(-1), respectively, generated in a vortex chamber. The average and standard deviation of yaw and pitch were respectively increased and reduced in comparison with hovering flights. Average roll orientation was unchanged in whirlwind flights but was more variable from wingbeat to wingbeat than in hovering. Flapping frequency remained unchanged. Wingbeat amplitude was lower and the average stroke plane angle was higher. Asymmetry was found in the angle of attack between right and left wings during both downstroke and upstroke at medium and high vortex intensities. Thus, hawkmoth flight control in tornado-like vortices is achieved by a suite of asymmetric and symmetric changes to wingbeat amplitude, stroke plane angle and principally angle of attack.

Hawkmoth flight performance in tornado-like whirlwind vortices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortega-Jimenez, Victor Manuel; Hedrick, Tyson L; Mittal, Rajat

2014-01-01

Vertical vortex systems such as tornadoes dramatically affect the flight control and stability of aircraft. However, the control implications of smaller scale vertically oriented vortex systems for small fliers such as animals or micro-air vehicles are unknown. Here we examined the flapping kinematics and body dynamics of hawkmoths performing hovering flights (controls) and maintaining position in three different whirlwind intensities with transverse horizontal velocities of 0.7, 0.9 and 1.2 m s −1 , respectively, generated in a vortex chamber. The average and standard deviation of yaw and pitch were respectively increased and reduced in comparison with hovering flights. Average roll orientation was unchanged in whirlwind flights but was more variable from wingbeat to wingbeat than in hovering. Flapping frequency remained unchanged. Wingbeat amplitude was lower and the average stroke plane angle was higher. Asymmetry was found in the angle of attack between right and left wings during both downstroke and upstroke at medium and high vortex intensities. Thus, hawkmoth flight control in tornado-like vortices is achieved by a suite of asymmetric and symmetric changes to wingbeat amplitude, stroke plane angle and principally angle of attack. (papers)

Mummified remains from the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Croatia - Reviewing peculiarities and limitations of human and non-human radiological identification and analysis in mummified remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Petaros, Anja; Janković, Ivor; Cavalli, Fabio; Ivanac, Gordana; Brkljačić, Boris; Čavka, Mislav

2015-10-01

Forensic protocols and medico-legal techniques are increasingly being employed in investigations of museological material. The final findings of such investigations may reveal interesting facts on historical figures, customs and habits, as well as provide meaningful data for forensic use. Herein we present a case review where forensic experts were requested to identify taxonomic affinities, stage of preservation and provide skeletal analysis of mummified non-human archaeological remains, and verify whether two mummified hands are human or not. The manuscript offers a short review on the process and particularities of radiological species identification, the impact of post-mortem changes in the analysis and imaging of mummified remains as well as the macroscopical interpretation of trauma, pathology and authenticity in mummified remains, which can all turn useful when dealing with forensic cases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Fatty liver incidence and predictive variables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuneto, Akira; Seto, Shinji; Maemura, Koji; Hida, Ayumi; Sera, Nobuko; Imaizumi, Misa; Ichimaru, Shinichiro; Nakashima, Eiji; Akahoshi, Masazumi

2010-01-01

Although fatty liver predicts ischemic heart disease, the incidence and predictors of fatty liver need examination. The objective of this study was to determine fatty liver incidence and predictive variables. Using abdominal ultrasonography, we followed biennially through 2007 (mean follow-up, 11.6±4.6 years) 1635 Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors (606 men) without fatty liver at baseline (November 1990 through October 1992). We examined potential predictive variables with the Cox proportional hazard model and longitudinal trends with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. In all, 323 (124 men) new fatty liver cases were diagnosed. The incidence was 19.9/1000 person-years (22.3 for men, 18.6 for women) and peaked in the sixth decade of life. After controlling for age, sex, and smoking and drinking habits, obesity (relative risk (RR), 2.93; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.33-3.69, P<0.001), low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (RR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.42-2.47; P<0.001), hypertriglyceridemia (RR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.96-3.15; P<0.001), glucose intolerance (RR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.09-2.10; P=0.013) and hypertension (RR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.30-2.04; P<0.001) were predictive of fatty liver. In multivariate analysis including all variables, obesity (RR, 2.55; 95% CI, 1.93-3.38; P<0.001), hypertriglyceridemia (RR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.41-2.62; P<0.001) and hypertension (RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.01-1.71; P=0.046) remained predictive. In fatty liver cases, body mass index and serum triglycerides, but not systolic or diastolic blood pressure, increased significantly and steadily up to the time of the diagnosis. Obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and, to a lesser extent, hypertension might serve as predictive variables for fatty liver. (author)

Heart Rate Variability - A Historical Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George E Billman

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Heart rate variability (HRV, the beat-to-beat variation in either heart rate or the duration of the R-R interval – the heart period, has become a popular clinical and investigational tool. The temporal fluctuations in heart rate exhibit a marked synchrony with respiration (increasing during inspiration and decreasing during expiration – the so called respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA and are widely believed to reflect changes in cardiac autonomic regulation. Although the exact contributions of the parasympathetic and the sympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system to this variability are controversial and remain the subject of active investigation and debate, a number of time and frequency domain techniques have been developed to provide insight into cardiac autonomic regulation in both health and disease. It is the purpose of this essay to provide an historical overview of the evolution in the concept of heart rate variability. Briefly, pulse rate was first measured by ancient Greek physicians and scientists. However, it was not until the invention of the Physician’s Pulse Watch (a watch with a second hand that could be stopped in 1707 that changes in pulse rate could be accurately assessed. The Rev. Stephen Hales (1733 was the first to note that pulse varied with respiration and in 1847 Carl Ludwig was the first to record RSA. With the measurement of the ECG (1895 and advent of digital signal processing techniques in the 1960’s, investigation of HRV and its relationship to health and disease has exploded. This essay will conclude with a brief description of time domain, frequency domain, and non-linear dynamic analysis techniques (and their limitations that are commonly used to measure heart rate variability.

About the relationships among variables observed in the real world

Science.gov (United States)

Petkov, Boyan H.

2018-06-01

Since a stationary chaotic system is determined by nonlinear equations connecting its components, the appurtenance of two variables to such a system has been considered a sign of nontrivial relationships between them including also other quantities. These relationships could remain hidden for the approach usually employed in the research analyses, which is based on the extent of the correlation that characterises the dependence of one variable on the other. The appurtenance to the same system can be hypothesized if the topological features of the attractors reconstructed from two time series representing the evolution of the corresponding variables are close to each other. However, the possibility that both attractors represent different systems with similar behaviour cannot be excluded. For that reason, an approach allowing the reconstruction of the attractor by using jointly two time series was proposed and the conclusion about the common origin of the variables under study can be made if this attractor is topologically similar to those built separately from the two time series. In the present study, the features of the attractors were presented by the correlation dimension and the largest Lyapunov exponent and the proposed algorithm has been tested on numerically generated sequences obtained from various maps. It is believed that this approach could be used to reveal connections among the variables observed in experiments or field measurements.

Statistical variability of hydro-meteorological variables as indicators ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Statistical variability of hydro-meteorological variables as indicators of climate change in north-east Sokoto-Rima basin, Nigeria. ... water resources development including water supply project, agriculture and tourism in the study area. Key word: Climate change, Climatic variability, Actual evapotranspiration, Global warming ...

Career Motivation in Newly Licensed Registered Nurses: What Makes Them Remain

Science.gov (United States)

Banks, Zarata Mann; Bailey, Jessica H.

2010-01-01

Despite vast research on newly licensed registered nurses (RNs), we don't know why some newly licensed registered nurses remain in their current jobs and others leave the nursing profession early in their career. Job satisfaction, the most significant factor emerging from the literature, plays a significant role in nurses' decisions to remain in…

Chronic alcoholism in rats induces a compensatory response, preserving brain thiamine diphosphate, but the brain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenases are inactivated despite unchanged coenzyme levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Parkhomenko, Yulia M; Kudryavtsev, Pavel A; Pylypchuk, Svetlana Yu; Chekhivska, Lilia I; Stepanenko, Svetlana P; Sergiichuk, Andrej A; Bunik, Victoria I

2011-06-01

Thiamine-dependent changes in alcoholic brain were studied using a rat model. Brain thiamine and its mono- and diphosphates were not reduced after 20 weeks of alcohol exposure. However, alcoholism increased both synaptosomal thiamine uptake and thiamine diphosphate synthesis in brain, pointing to mechanisms preserving thiamine diphosphate in the alcoholic brain. In spite of the unchanged level of the coenzyme thiamine diphosphate, activities of the mitochondrial 2-oxoglutarate and pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes decreased in alcoholic brain. The inactivation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex was caused by its increased phosphorylation. The inactivation of 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (OGDHC) correlated with a decrease in free thiols resulting from an elevation of reactive oxygen species. Abstinence from alcohol following exposure to alcohol reactivated OGDHC along with restoration of the free thiol content. However, restoration of enzyme activity occurred before normalization of reactive oxygen species levels. Hence, the redox status of cellular thiols mediates the action of oxidative stress on OGDHC in alcoholic brain. As a result, upon chronic alcohol consumption, physiological mechanisms to counteract the thiamine deficiency and silence pyruvate dehydrogenase are activated in rat brain, whereas OGDHC is inactivated due to impaired antioxidant ability. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Neurochemistry © 2011 International Society for Neurochemistry.

On the achievable performance using variable geometry active secondary suspension systems in commercial vehicles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, W.J.; Besselink, I.G.M.; Teerhuis, A.P.; Nijmeijer, H.

2011-01-01

There is a need to further improve driver comfort in commercial vehicles. The variable geometry active suspension offers an interesting option to achieve this in an energy efficient way. However, the optimal control strategy and the overal performance potential remains unclear. The aim of this paper

Temporal variability in phosphorus transfers: classifying concentration-discharge event dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Haygarth, P.; Turner, B. L.; Fraser, A.; Jarvis, S.; Harrod, T.; Nash, D.; Halliwell, D.; Page, T.; Beven, K.

The importance of temporal variability in relationships between phosphorus (P) concentration (Cp) and discharge (Q) is linked to a simple means of classifying the circumstances of Cp-Q relationships in terms of functional types of response. New experimental data at the upstream interface of grassland soil and catchment systems at a range of scales (lysimeters to headwaters) in England and Australia are used to demonstrate the potential of such an approach. Three types of event are defined as Types 1-3, depending on whether the relative change in Q exceeds the relative change in Cp (Type 1), whether Cp and Q are positively inter-related (Type 2) and whether Cp varies yet Q is unchanged (Type 3). The classification helps to characterise circumstances that can be explained mechanistically in relation to (i) the scale of the study (with a tendency towards Type 1 in small scale lysimeters), (ii) the form of P with a tendency for Type 1 for soluble (i.e., <0.45 μm P forms) and (iii) the sources of P with Type 3 dominant where P availability overrides transport controls. This simple framework provides a basis for development of a more complex and quantitative classification of Cp-Q relationships that can be developed further to contribute to future models of P transfer and delivery from slope to stream. Studies that evaluate the temporal dynamics of the transfer of P are currently grossly under-represented in comparison with models based on static/spatial factors.

Statistical conditional sampling for variable-resolution video compression.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Wong

Full Text Available In this study, we investigate a variable-resolution approach to video compression based on Conditional Random Field and statistical conditional sampling in order to further improve compression rate while maintaining high-quality video. In the proposed approach, representative key-frames within a video shot are identified and stored at full resolution. The remaining frames within the video shot are stored and compressed at a reduced resolution. At the decompression stage, a region-based dictionary is constructed from the key-frames and used to restore the reduced resolution frames to the original resolution via statistical conditional sampling. The sampling approach is based on the conditional probability of the CRF modeling by use of the constructed dictionary. Experimental results show that the proposed variable-resolution approach via statistical conditional sampling has potential for improving compression rates when compared to compressing the video at full resolution, while achieving higher video quality when compared to compressing the video at reduced resolution.

Fossil human remains from Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain).

Science.gov (United States)

Arsuaga, Juan Luis; Fernández Peris, Josep; Gracia-Téllez, Ana; Quam, Rolf; Carretero, José Miguel; Barciela González, Virginia; Blasco, Ruth; Cuartero, Felipe; Sañudo, Pablo

2012-05-01

Systematic excavations carried out since 1989 at Bolomor Cave have led to the recovery of four Pleistocene human fossil remains, consisting of a fibular fragment, two isolated teeth, and a nearly complete adult parietal bone. All of these specimens date to the late Middle and early Late Pleistocene (MIS 7-5e). The fibular fragment shows thick cortical bone, an archaic feature found in non-modern (i.e. non-Homo sapiens) members of the genus Homo. Among the dental remains, the lack of a midtrigonid crest in the M(1) represents a departure from the morphology reported for the majority of Neandertal specimens, while the large dimensions and pronounced shoveling of the marginal ridges in the C(1) are similar to other European Middle and late Pleistocene fossils. The parietal bone is very thick, with dimensions that generally fall above Neandertal fossils and resemble more closely the Middle Pleistocene Atapuerca (SH) adult specimens. Based on the presence of archaic features, all the fossils from Bolomor are attributed to the Neandertal evolutionary lineage. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conventional heart rate variability analysis of ambulatory electrocardiographic recordings fails to predict imminent ventricular fibrillation

Science.gov (United States)

Vybiral, T.; Glaeser, D. H.; Goldberger, A. L.; Rigney, D. R.; Hess, K. R.; Mietus, J.; Skinner, J. E.; Francis, M.; Pratt, C. M.

1993-01-01

OBJECTIVES. The purpose of this report was to study heart rate variability in Holter recordings of patients who experienced ventricular fibrillation during the recording. BACKGROUND. Decreased heart rate variability is recognized as a long-term predictor of overall and arrhythmic death after myocardial infarction. It was therefore postulated that heart rate variability would be lowest when measured immediately before ventricular fibrillation. METHODS. Conventional indexes of heart rate variability were calculated from Holter recordings of 24 patients with structural heart disease who had ventricular fibrillation during monitoring. The control group consisted of 19 patients with coronary artery disease, of comparable age and left ventricular ejection fraction, who had nonsustained ventricular tachycardia but no ventricular fibrillation. RESULTS. Heart rate variability did not differ between the two groups, and no consistent trends in heart rate variability were observed before ventricular fibrillation occurred. CONCLUSIONS. Although conventional heart rate variability is an independent long-term predictor of adverse outcome after myocardial infarction, its clinical utility as a short-term predictor of life-threatening arrhythmias remains to be elucidated.

Sleep variability and fatigue in adolescents: Associations with school-related features.

Science.gov (United States)

Matos, M G; Gaspar, T; Tomé, G; Paiva, T

2016-10-01

This study aims to evaluate the influences of sleep duration and sleep variability (SleepV), upon adolescents' school-related situations. The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey is based on a self-completed questionnaire. The participants were 3164 pupils (53.7% girls), attending the 8th and 10th grades, 14.9 years old, and were inquired about subjective sleep duration during the week and weekends, SleepV, fatigue, difficulties in sleep initiation, school achievement, feelings towards schools, pressure with school work and skipping classes. Multiple regression models used, as dependent variables: (a) school achievement, (b) disliking school, (c) pressure with school work and (d) skipping classes, using as independent variables, each of the remaining school-related variables, fatigue, total sleep duration and difficulties in sleep initiation. The average sleep duration in the week and during weekdays was lower than recommended for these age groups, and almost half of students had high SleepV between weekdays and weekends. A logistic model revealed that the absence of SleepV was associated with lower perception of school work pressure, less frequent skipping classes, more infrequent fatigue and more infrequent difficulties in sleep initiation. Poor sleep quality, SleepV and insufficient sleep duration affected negatively school-related variables. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Dynamical and biogeochemical control on the decadal variability of ocean carbon fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Séférian

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Several recent observation-based studies suggest that ocean anthropogenic carbon uptake has slowed down due to the impact of anthropogenic forced climate change. However, it remains unclear whether detected changes over the recent time period can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change or rather to natural climate variability (internal plus naturally forced variability alone. One large uncertainty arises from the lack of knowledge on ocean carbon flux natural variability at the decadal time scales. To gain more insights into decadal time scales, we have examined the internal variability of ocean carbon fluxes in a 1000 yr long preindustrial simulation performed with the Earth System Model IPSL-CM5A-LR. Our analysis shows that ocean carbon fluxes exhibit low-frequency oscillations that emerge from their year-to-year variability in the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. In our model, a 20 yr mode of variability in the North Atlantic air-sea carbon flux is driven by sea surface temperature variability and accounts for ~40% of the interannual regional variance. The North Pacific and the Southern Ocean carbon fluxes are also characterised by decadal to multi-decadal modes of variability (10 to 50 yr that account for 20–40% of the interannual regional variance. These modes are driven by the vertical supply of dissolved inorganic carbon through the variability of Ekman-induced upwelling and deep-mixing events. Differences in drivers of regional modes of variability stem from the coupling between ocean dynamics variability and the ocean carbon distribution, which is set by large-scale secular ocean circulation.

On random age and remaining lifetime for populations of items

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Finkelstein, M.; Vaupel, J.

2015-01-01

We consider items that are incepted into operation having already a random (initial) age and define the corresponding remaining lifetime. We show that these lifetimes are identically distributed when the age distribution is equal to the equilibrium distribution of the renewal theory. Then we...... develop the population studies approach to the problem and generalize the setting in terms of stationary and stable populations of items. We obtain new stochastic comparisons for the corresponding population ages and remaining lifetimes that can be useful in applications. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley...

Short timescale variability in the faint sky variability survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morales-Rueda, L.; Groot, P.J.; Augusteijn, T.; Nelemans, G.A.; Vreeswijk, P.M.; Besselaar, E.J.M. van den

2006-01-01

We present the V-band variability analysis of the Faint Sky Variability Survey (FSVS). The FSVS combines colour and time variability information, from timescales of 24 minutes to tens of days, down to V = 24. We find that �1% of all point sources are variable along the main sequence reaching �3.5%

Evolution of drug resistance in HIV infected patients remaining on a virologically failing cART regimen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cozzi-Lepri, A; Phillips, AN; Ruiz, L

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the extent of drug resistance accumulation in patients kept on a virologically failing regimen and its determinants in the clinical setting. DESIGN: The study focused on 110 patients of EuroSIDA on an unchanged regimen who had two genotypic tests performed at two time points...... (t0 and t1) when viral load was > 400 copies/ml. METHODS: Accumulation of resistance between t0 and t1 was measured using genotypic susceptibility scores (GSS) obtained by counting the total number of active drugs (according to the Rega system v6.4.1) among all licensed antiretrovirals as of 1...... January 2006. Patients were grouped according to the number of active drugs in the failing regimen at t0 (GSS_f-t0). RESULTS: At t0, patients had been on the failing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) for a median of 11 months (range, 6-50 months). Even patients with extensive resistance...

Arctic sea ice trends, variability and implications for seasonal ice forecasting.

Science.gov (United States)

Serreze, Mark C; Stroeve, Julienne

2015-07-13

September Arctic sea ice extent over the period of satellite observations has a strong downward trend, accompanied by pronounced interannual variability with a detrended 1 year lag autocorrelation of essentially zero. We argue that through a combination of thinning and associated processes related to a warming climate (a stronger albedo feedback, a longer melt season, the lack of especially cold winters) the downward trend itself is steepening. The lack of autocorrelation manifests both the inherent large variability in summer atmospheric circulation patterns and that oceanic heat loss in winter acts as a negative (stabilizing) feedback, albeit insufficient to counter the steepening trend. These findings have implications for seasonal ice forecasting. In particular, while advances in observing sea ice thickness and assimilating thickness into coupled forecast systems have improved forecast skill, there remains an inherent limit to predictability owing to the largely chaotic nature of atmospheric variability. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Intraindividual variability in reaction time predicts cognitive outcomes 5 years later.

Science.gov (United States)

Bielak, Allison A M; Hultsch, David F; Strauss, Esther; Macdonald, Stuart W S; Hunter, Michael A

2010-11-01

Building on results suggesting that intraindividual variability in reaction time (inconsistency) is highly sensitive to even subtle changes in cognitive ability, this study addressed the capacity of inconsistency to predict change in cognitive status (i.e., cognitive impairment, no dementia [CIND] classification) and attrition 5 years later. Two hundred twelve community-dwelling older adults, initially aged 64-92 years, remained in the study after 5 years. Inconsistency was calculated from baseline reaction time performance. Participants were assigned to groups on the basis of their fluctuations in CIND classification over time. Logistic and Cox regressions were used. Baseline inconsistency significantly distinguished among those who remained or transitioned into CIND over the 5 years and those who were consistently intact (e.g., stable intact vs. stable CIND, Wald (1) = 7.91, p < .01, Exp(β) = 1.49). Average level of inconsistency over time was also predictive of study attrition, for example, Wald (1) = 11.31, p < .01, Exp(β) = 1.24. For both outcomes, greater inconsistency was associated with a greater likelihood of being in a maladaptive group 5 years later. Variability based on moderately cognitively challenging tasks appeared to be particularly sensitive to longitudinal changes in cognitive ability. Mean rate of responding was a comparable predictor of change in most instances, but individuals were at greater relative risk of being in a maladaptive outcome group if they were more inconsistent rather than if they were slower in responding. Implications for the potential utility of intraindividual variability in reaction time as an early marker of cognitive decline are discussed. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Mineral remains of early life on Earth? On Mars?

Science.gov (United States)

Iberall, Robbins E.; Iberall, A.S.

1991-01-01

The oldest sedimentary rocks on Earth, the 3.8-Ga Isua Iron-Formation in southwestern Greenland, are metamorphosed past the point where organic-walled fossils would remain. Acid residues and thin sections of these rocks reveal ferric microstructures that have filamentous, hollow rod, and spherical shapes not characteristic of crystalline minerals. Instead, they resemble ferric-coated remains of bacteria. Because there are no earlier sedimentary rocks to study on Earth, it may be necessary to expand the search elsewhere in the solar system for clues to any biotic precursors or other types of early life. A study of morphologies of iron oxide minerals collected in the southern highlands during a Mars sample return mission may therefore help to fill in important gaps in the history of Earth's earliest biosphere. -from Authors

A Study on Generic Representation of Skeletal Remains Replication of Prehistoric Burial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C.-W. Shao

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Generic representation of skeletal remains from burials consists of three dimensions which include physical anthropologists, replication technicians, and promotional educators. For the reason that archaeological excavation is irreversible and disruptive, detail documentation and replication technologies are surely needed for many purposes. Unearthed bones during the process of 3D digital scanning need to go through reverse procedure, 3D scanning, digital model superimposition, rapid prototyping, mould making, and the integrated errors generated from the presentation of colours and textures are important issues for the presentation of replicate skeleton remains among professional decisions conducted by physical anthropologists, subjective determination of makers, and the expectations of viewers. This study presents several cases and examines current issues on display and replication technologies for human skeletal remains of prehistoric burials. This study documented detail colour changes of human skeleton over time for the reference of reproduction. The tolerance errors of quantification and required technical qualification is acquired according to the precision of 3D scanning, the specification requirement of rapid prototyping machine, and the mould making process should following the professional requirement for physical anthropological study. Additionally, the colorimeter is adopted to record and analyse the “colour change” of the human skeletal remains from wet to dry condition. Then, the “colure change” is used to evaluate the “real” surface texture and colour presentation of human skeletal remains, and to limit the artistic presentation among the human skeletal remains reproduction. The“Lingdao man No.1”, is a well preserved burial of early Neolithic period (8300 B.P. excavated from Liangdao-Daowei site, Matsu, Taiwan , as the replicating object for this study. In this study, we examined the reproduction procedures step by

Quantifying uncertainty, variability and likelihood for ordinary differential equation models

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Weisse, Andrea Y

2010-10-28

Abstract Background In many applications, ordinary differential equation (ODE) models are subject to uncertainty or variability in initial conditions and parameters. Both, uncertainty and variability can be quantified in terms of a probability density function on the state and parameter space. Results The partial differential equation that describes the evolution of this probability density function has a form that is particularly amenable to application of the well-known method of characteristics. The value of the density at some point in time is directly accessible by the solution of the original ODE extended by a single extra dimension (for the value of the density). This leads to simple methods for studying uncertainty, variability and likelihood, with significant advantages over more traditional Monte Carlo and related approaches especially when studying regions with low probability. Conclusions While such approaches based on the method of characteristics are common practice in other disciplines, their advantages for the study of biological systems have so far remained unrecognized. Several examples illustrate performance and accuracy of the approach and its limitations.

Shotgun microbial profiling of fossil remains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Der Sarkissian, Clio; Ermini, Luca; Jónsson, Hákon

2014-01-01

the specimen of interest, but instead reflect environmental organisms that colonized the specimen after death. Here, we characterize the microbial diversity recovered from seven c. 200- to 13 000-year-old horse bones collected from northern Siberia. We use a robust, taxonomy-based assignment approach...... to identify the microorganisms present in ancient DNA extracts and quantify their relative abundance. Our results suggest that molecular preservation niches exist within ancient samples that can potentially be used to characterize the environments from which the remains are recovered. In addition, microbial...... community profiling of the seven specimens revealed site-specific environmental signatures. These microbial communities appear to comprise mainly organisms that colonized the fossils recently. Our approach significantly extends the amount of useful data that can be recovered from ancient specimens using...

Market values summary/October market review/current market data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

This article is the October uranium market summary. During this period, volume increased to 2.2 Mlb U3O8 on the spot concentrates market. The unrestricted and restricted exchange values remained steady at $7.00 and $9.05 per pound U3O8 respectively. There were two UF6 deals during this period, and with supply more than adequate to meet the demand, the restricted UF6 price remained unchanged at $29.00 per kgU as UF6. The unrestricted value increased slightly to $24.50. The conversion value was unchanged, and the enrichment services market/prices weakened. Both active supply and demand decreased during this period

High-resolution regional climate model evaluation using variable-resolution CESM over California

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, X.; Rhoades, A.; Ullrich, P. A.; Zarzycki, C. M.

2015-12-01

Understanding the effect of climate change at regional scales remains a topic of intensive research. Though computational constraints remain a problem, high horizontal resolution is needed to represent topographic forcing, which is a significant driver of local climate variability. Although regional climate models (RCMs) have traditionally been used at these scales, variable-resolution global climate models (VRGCMs) have recently arisen as an alternative for studying regional weather and climate allowing two-way interaction between these domains without the need for nudging. In this study, the recently developed variable-resolution option within the Community Earth System Model (CESM) is assessed for long-term regional climate modeling over California. Our variable-resolution simulations will focus on relatively high resolutions for climate assessment, namely 28km and 14km regional resolution, which are much more typical for dynamically downscaled studies. For comparison with the more widely used RCM method, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model will be used for simulations at 27km and 9km. All simulations use the AMIP (Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project) protocols. The time period is from 1979-01-01 to 2005-12-31 (UTC), and year 1979 was discarded as spin up time. The mean climatology across California's diverse climate zones, including temperature and precipitation, is analyzed and contrasted with the Weather Research and Forcasting (WRF) model (as a traditional RCM), regional reanalysis, gridded observational datasets and uniform high-resolution CESM at 0.25 degree with the finite volume (FV) dynamical core. The results show that variable-resolution CESM is competitive in representing regional climatology on both annual and seasonal time scales. This assessment adds value to the use of VRGCMs for projecting climate change over the coming century and improve our understanding of both past and future regional climate related to fine

Determinants of cell-to-cell variability in protein kinase signaling.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Jeschke

Full Text Available Cells reliably sense environmental changes despite internal and external fluctuations, but the mechanisms underlying robustness remain unclear. We analyzed how fluctuations in signaling protein concentrations give rise to cell-to-cell variability in protein kinase signaling using analytical theory and numerical simulations. We characterized the dose-response behavior of signaling cascades by calculating the stimulus level at which a pathway responds ('pathway sensitivity' and the maximal activation level upon strong stimulation. Minimal kinase cascades with gradual dose-response behavior show strong variability, because the pathway sensitivity and the maximal activation level cannot be simultaneously invariant. Negative feedback regulation resolves this trade-off and coordinately reduces fluctuations in the pathway sensitivity and maximal activation. Feedbacks acting at different levels in the cascade control different aspects of the dose-response curve, thereby synergistically reducing the variability. We also investigated more complex, ultrasensitive signaling cascades capable of switch-like decision making, and found that these can be inherently robust to protein concentration fluctuations. We describe how the cell-to-cell variability of ultrasensitive signaling systems can be actively regulated, e.g., by altering the expression of phosphatase(s or by feedback/feedforward loops. Our calculations reveal that slow transcriptional negative feedback loops allow for variability suppression while maintaining switch-like decision making. Taken together, we describe design principles of signaling cascades that promote robustness. Our results may explain why certain signaling cascades like the yeast pheromone pathway show switch-like decision making with little cell-to-cell variability.

USING CONDITION MONITORING TO PREDICT REMAINING LIFE OF ELECTRIC CABLES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LOFARO, R.; SOO, P.; VILLARAN, M.; GROVE, E.

2001-01-01

Electric cables are passive components used extensively throughout nuclear power stations to perform numerous safety and non-safety functions. It is known that the polymers commonly used to insulate the conductors on these cables can degrade with time; the rate of degradation being dependent on the severity of the conditions in which the cables operate. Cables do not receive routine maintenance and, since it can be very costly, they are not replaced on a regular basis. Therefore, to ensure their continued functional performance, it would be beneficial if condition monitoring techniques could be used to estimate the remaining useful life of these components. A great deal of research has been performed on various condition monitoring techniques for use on electric cables. In a research program sponsored by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, several promising techniques were evaluated and found to provide trendable information on the condition of low-voltage electric cables. These techniques may be useful for predicting remaining life if well defined limiting values for the aging properties being measured can be determined. However, each technique has advantages and limitations that must be addressed in order to use it effectively, and the necessary limiting values are not always easy to obtain. This paper discusses how condition monitoring measurements can be used to predict the remaining useful life of electric cables. The attributes of an appropriate condition monitoring technique are presented, and the process to be used in estimating the remaining useful life of a cable is discussed along with the difficulties that must be addressed

Neanderthal infant and adult infracranial remains from Marillac (Charente, France).

Science.gov (United States)

Dolores Garralda, María; Maureille, Bruno; Vandermeersch, Bernard

2014-09-01

At the site of Marillac, near the Ligonne River in Marillac-le-Franc (Charente, France), a remarkable stratigraphic sequence has yielded a wealth of archaeological information, palaeoenvironmental data, as well as faunal and human remains. Marillac must have been a sinkhole used by Neanderthal groups as a hunting camp during MIS 4 (TL date 57,600 ± 4,600BP), where Quina Mousterian lithics and fragmented bones of reindeer predominate. This article describes three infracranial skeleton fragments. Two of them are from adults and consist of the incomplete shafts of a right radius (Marillac 24) and a left fibula (Marillac 26). The third fragment is the diaphysis of the right femur of an immature individual (Marillac 25), the size and shape of which resembles those from Teshik-Tash and could be assigned to a child of a similar age. The three fossils have been compared with the remains of other Neanderthals or anatomically Modern Humans (AMH). Furthermore, the comparison of the infantile femora, Marillac 25 and Teshik-Tash, with the remains of several European children from the early Middle Ages clearly demonstrates the robustness and rounded shape of both Neanderthal diaphyses. Evidence of peri-mortem manipulations have been identified on all three bones, with spiral fractures, percussion pits and, in the case of the radius and femur, unquestionable cutmarks made with flint implements, probably during defleshing. Traces of periostosis appear on the fibula fragment and on the immature femoral diaphysis, although their aetiology remains unknown. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Emotional variables, dropout and academic performance in Spanish nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Roso-Bas, Fátima; Pades Jiménez, Antonia; García-Buades, Esther

2016-02-01

The dropout of university studies is a main concern in many countries, also for Health Sciences degrees. The reviews on dropout in all university degrees as well as nursing generally show multidimensional causes with factors related both to institutional and students' characteristics. Regarding the personal variables of students, researchers have focused on financial, family and personality features. Far less attention has been devoted to emotional variables. This study aims to explore whether individual variables of the emotional domain such as perceived emotional intelligence, dispositional optimism/pessimism and depressive rumination are related and/or can predict students' intention to dropout and academic performance. Using a cross-correlational approach, data were obtained from a sample of 144 nursing students. Students with a pessimistic disposition revealed a greater tendency to drop out. The remaining variables correlated significantly with pessimism but had no predictive value on dropout. Our results suggest that students with low levels of emotional clarity and repair and high depressive rumination have pessimistic expectations, so they are more likely to leave studies. No significant results were found in relation to academic performance. We conclude with an identification of strategies to increase retention and academic success. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal barriers constrain microbial elevational range size via climate variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jianjun; Soininen, Janne

2017-08-01

Range size is invariably limited and understanding range size variation is an important objective in ecology. However, microbial range size across geographical gradients remains understudied, especially on mountainsides. Here, the patterns of range size of stream microbes (i.e., bacteria and diatoms) and macroorganisms (i.e., macroinvertebrates) along elevational gradients in Asia and Europe were examined. In bacteria, elevational range size showed non-significant phylogenetic signals. In all taxa, there was a positive relationship between niche breadth and species elevational range size, driven by local environmental and climatic variables. No taxa followed the elevational Rapoport's rule. Climate variability explained the most variation in microbial mean elevational range size, whereas local environmental variables were more important for macroinvertebrates. Seasonal and annual climate variation showed negative effects, while daily climate variation had positive effects on community mean elevational range size for all taxa. The negative correlation between range size and species richness suggests that understanding the drivers of range is key for revealing the processes underlying diversity. The results advance the understanding of microbial species thermal barriers by revealing the importance of seasonal and diurnal climate variation, and highlight that aquatic and terrestrial biota may differ in their response to short- and long-term climate variability. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Variable Stars in (Not Only) Dwarf Galaxies : Key Tools to Constrain Distances and Stellar Content

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fiorentino, G.; Koleva, M; Prugniel, P; Vauglin,

2011-01-01

The important role of Cepheid and RR Lyrae variable stars and what they teach us about dwarf galaxies is discussed. Despite ever improving star formation histories of Local Group dwarf galaxies uncertainties remain, in particular in the identification and characterisation of the oldest stellar

Comparison of decomposition rates between autopsied and non-autopsied human remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Lennon N; Wescott, Daniel J

2016-04-01

Penetrating trauma has been cited as a significant factor in the rate of decomposition. Therefore, penetrating trauma may have an effect on estimations of time-since-death in medicolegal investigations and on research examining decomposition rates and processes when autopsied human bodies are used. The goal of this study was to determine if there are differences in the rate of decomposition between autopsied and non-autopsied human remains in the same environment. The purpose is to shed light on how large incisions, such as those from a thorocoabdominal autopsy, effect time-since-death estimations and research on the rate of decomposition that use both autopsied and non-autopsied human remains. In this study, 59 non-autopsied and 24 autopsied bodies were studied. The number of accumulated degree days required to reach each decomposition stage was then compared between autopsied and non-autopsied remains. Additionally, both types of bodies were examined for seasonal differences in decomposition rates. As temperature affects the rate of decomposition, this study also compared the internal body temperatures of autopsied and non-autopsied remains to see if differences between the two may be leading to differential decomposition. For this portion of this study, eight non-autopsied and five autopsied bodies were investigated. Internal temperature was collected once a day for two weeks. The results showed that differences in the decomposition rate between autopsied and non-autopsied remains was not statistically significant, though the average ADD needed to reach each stage of decomposition was slightly lower for autopsied bodies than non-autopsied bodies. There was also no significant difference between autopsied and non-autopsied bodies in the rate of decomposition by season or in internal temperature. Therefore, this study suggests that it is unnecessary to separate autopsied and non-autopsied remains when studying gross stages of human decomposition in Central Texas

Vortex variable range hopping in a conventional superconducting film

Science.gov (United States)

Percher, Ilana M.; Volotsenko, Irina; Frydman, Aviad; Shklovskii, Boris I.; Goldman, Allen M.

2017-12-01

The behavior of a disordered amorphous thin film of superconducting indium oxide has been studied as a function of temperature and magnetic field applied perpendicular to its plane. A superconductor-insulator transition has been observed, though the isotherms do not cross at a single point. The curves of resistance versus temperature on the putative superconducting side of this transition, where the resistance decreases with decreasing temperature, obey two-dimensional Mott variable-range hopping of vortices over wide ranges of temperature and resistance. To estimate the parameters of hopping, the film is modeled as a granular system and the hopping of vortices is treated in a manner analogous to hopping of charges. The reason the long-range interaction between vortices over the range of magnetic fields investigated does not lead to a stronger variation of resistance with temperature than that of two-dimensional Mott variable-range hopping remains unresolved.

Variable Selection in Time Series Forecasting Using Random Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hristos Tyralis

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Time series forecasting using machine learning algorithms has gained popularity recently. Random forest is a machine learning algorithm implemented in time series forecasting; however, most of its forecasting properties have remained unexplored. Here we focus on assessing the performance of random forests in one-step forecasting using two large datasets of short time series with the aim to suggest an optimal set of predictor variables. Furthermore, we compare its performance to benchmarking methods. The first dataset is composed by 16,000 simulated time series from a variety of Autoregressive Fractionally Integrated Moving Average (ARFIMA models. The second dataset consists of 135 mean annual temperature time series. The highest predictive performance of RF is observed when using a low number of recent lagged predictor variables. This outcome could be useful in relevant future applications, with the prospect to achieve higher predictive accuracy.

Remaining useful life estimation based on discriminating shapelet extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malinowski, Simon; Chebel-Morello, Brigitte; Zerhouni, Noureddine

2015-01-01

In the Prognostics and Health Management domain, estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of critical machinery is a challenging task. Various research topics including data acquisition, fusion, diagnostics and prognostics are involved in this domain. This paper presents an approach, based on shapelet extraction, to estimate the RUL of equipment. This approach extracts, in an offline step, discriminative rul-shapelets from an history of run-to-failure data. These rul-shapelets are patterns that are selected for their correlation with the remaining useful life of the equipment. In other words, every selected rul-shapelet conveys its own information about the RUL of the equipment. In an online step, these rul-shapelets are compared to testing units and the ones that match these units are used to estimate their RULs. Therefore, RUL estimation is based on patterns that have been selected for their high correlation with the RUL. This approach is different from classical similarity-based approaches that attempt to match complete testing units (or only late instants of testing units) with training ones to estimate the RUL. The performance of our approach is evaluated on a case study on the remaining useful life estimation of turbofan engines and performance is compared with other similarity-based approaches. - Highlights: • A data-driven RUL estimation technique based on pattern extraction is proposed. • Patterns are extracted for their correlation with the RUL. • The proposed method shows good performance compared to other techniques

Spatial and temporal variability of rainfall and their effects on hydrological response in urban areas - a review

Science.gov (United States)

Cristiano, Elena; ten Veldhuis, Marie-claire; van de Giesen, Nick

2017-07-01

In urban areas, hydrological processes are characterized by high variability in space and time, making them sensitive to small-scale temporal and spatial rainfall variability. In the last decades new instruments, techniques, and methods have been developed to capture rainfall and hydrological processes at high resolution. Weather radars have been introduced to estimate high spatial and temporal rainfall variability. At the same time, new models have been proposed to reproduce hydrological response, based on small-scale representation of urban catchment spatial variability. Despite these efforts, interactions between rainfall variability, catchment heterogeneity, and hydrological response remain poorly understood. This paper presents a review of our current understanding of hydrological processes in urban environments as reported in the literature, focusing on their spatial and temporal variability aspects. We review recent findings on the effects of rainfall variability on hydrological response and identify gaps where knowledge needs to be further developed to improve our understanding of and capability to predict urban hydrological response.

All varieties of encoding variability are not created equal: Separating variable processing from variable tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Huff, Mark J.; Bodner, Glen E.

2014-01-01

Whether encoding variability facilitates memory is shown to depend on whether item-specific and relational processing are both performed across study blocks, and whether study items are weakly versus strongly related. Variable-processing groups studied a word list once using an item-specific task and once using a relational task. Variable-task groups’ two different study tasks recruited the same type of processing each block. Repeated-task groups performed the same study task each block. Recall and recognition were greatest in the variable-processing group, but only with weakly related lists. A variable-processing benefit was also found when task-based processing and list-type processing were complementary (e.g., item-specific processing of a related list) rather than redundant (e.g., relational processing of a related list). That performing both item-specific and relational processing across trials, or within a trial, yields encoding-variability benefits may help reconcile decades of contradictory findings in this area. PMID:25018583

Voluntary reduction of force variability via modulation of low-frequency oscillations.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Seoung Hoon; Casamento-Moran, Agostina; Yacoubi, Basma; Christou, Evangelos A

2017-09-01

Visual feedback can influence the force output by changing the power in frequencies below 1 Hz. However, it remains unknown whether visual guidance can help an individual reduce force variability voluntarily. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to determine whether an individual can voluntarily reduce force variability during constant contractions with visual guidance, and whether this reduction is associated with a decrease in the power of low-frequency oscillations (0-1 Hz) in force and muscle activity. Twenty young adults (27.6 ± 3.4 years) matched a force target of 15% MVC (maximal voluntary contraction) with ankle dorsiflexion. Participants performed six visually unrestricted contractions, from which we selected the trial with the least variability. Following, participants performed six visually guided contractions and were encouraged to reduce their force variability within two guidelines (±1 SD of the least variable unrestricted trial). Participants decreased the SD of force by 45% (P  0.2). The decrease in force variability was associated with decreased low-frequency oscillations (0-1 Hz) in force (R 2  = 0.59), which was associated with decreased low-frequency oscillations in EMG bursts (R 2  = 0.35). The reduction in low-frequency oscillations in EMG burst was positively associated with power in the interference EMG from 35 to 60 Hz (R 2  = 0.47). In conclusion, voluntary reduction of force variability is associated with decreased low-frequency oscillations in EMG bursts and consequently force output. We provide novel evidence that visual guidance allows healthy young adults to reduce force variability voluntarily likely by adjusting the low-frequency oscillations in the neural drive.

Pleistocene Indian Monsoon Rainfall Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Yirgaw, D. G.; Hathorne, E. C.; Giosan, L.; Collett, T. S.; Sijingeo, A. V.; Nath, B. N.; Frank, M.

2014-12-01

The past variability of the Indian Monsoon is mostly known from records of wind strength over the Arabian Sea. Here we investigate proxies for fresh water input and runoff in a region of strong monsoon precipitation that is a major moisture source for the east Asian Monsoon. A sediment core obtained by the IODP vessel JOIDES Resolution and a gravity core from the Alcock Seamount complex in the Andaman Sea are used to examine the past monsoon variability on the Indian sub-continent and directly over the ocean. The current dataset covers the last glacial and deglacial but will eventually provide a Pleistocene record. We utilise the ecological habitats of G. sacculifer and N. dutertrei to investigate the freshwater-induced stratification with paired Mg/Ca and δ18O analyses to estimate seawater δ18O (δ18Osw). During the last 60 kyrs, Ba/Ca ratios and δ18Osw values generally agree well between the two cores and suggest the weakest surface runoff and monsoon during the LGM and strongest monsoon during the Holocene. The difference in δ18O between the species, interpreted as a proxy for upper ocean stratification, implies stratification developed around 37 ka and remained relatively constant during the LGM, deglacial and Holocene. To investigate monsoon variability for intervals in the past, single shell Mg/Ca and δ18O analyses have been conducted. Mg/Ca ratios from individual shells of N. dutertrei suggest relatively small changes in temperature. However, individual N. dutertrei δ18O differ greatly between the mid-Holocene and samples from the LGM and a nearby core top. The mid-Holocene individuals have a greater range and large skew towards negative values indicating greater fresh water influence.

Robustness of MEK-ERK Dynamics and Origins of Cell-to-Cell Variability in MAPK Signaling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Filippi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Cellular signaling processes can exhibit pronounced cell-to-cell variability in genetically identical cells. This affects how individual cells respond differentially to the same environmental stimulus. However, the origins of cell-to-cell variability in cellular signaling systems remain poorly understood. Here, we measure the dynamics of phosphorylated MEK and ERK across cell populations and quantify the levels of population heterogeneity over time using high-throughput image cytometry. We use a statistical modeling framework to show that extrinsic noise, particularly that from upstream MEK, is the dominant factor causing cell-to-cell variability in ERK phosphorylation, rather than stochasticity in the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of ERK. We furthermore show that without extrinsic noise in the core module, variable (including noisy signals would be faithfully reproduced downstream, but the within-module extrinsic variability distorts these signals and leads to a drastic reduction in the mutual information between incoming signal and ERK activity.

Highly efficient DNA extraction method from skeletal remains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena Zupanič Pajnič

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Background: This paper precisely describes the method of DNA extraction developed to acquire high quality DNA from the Second World War skeletal remains. The same method is also used for molecular genetic identification of unknown decomposed bodies in routine forensic casework where only bones and teeth are suitable for DNA typing. We analysed 109 bones and two teeth from WWII mass graves in Slovenia. Methods: We cleaned the bones and teeth, removed surface contaminants and ground the bones into powder, using liquid nitrogen . Prior to isolating the DNA in parallel using the BioRobot EZ1 (Qiagen, the powder was decalcified for three days. The nuclear DNA of the samples were quantified by real-time PCR method. We acquired autosomal genetic profiles and Y-chromosome haplotypes of the bones and teeth with PCR amplification of microsatellites, and mtDNA haplotypes 99. For the purpose of traceability in the event of contamination, we prepared elimination data bases including genetic profiles of the nuclear and mtDNA of all persons who have been in touch with the skeletal remains in any way. Results: We extracted up to 55 ng DNA/g of the teeth, up to 100 ng DNA/g of the femurs, up to 30 ng DNA/g of the tibias and up to 0.5 ng DNA/g of the humerus. The typing of autosomal and YSTR loci was successful in all of the teeth, in 98 % dekalof the femurs, and in 75 % to 81 % of the tibias and humerus. The typing of mtDNA was successful in all of the teeth, and in 96 % to 98 % of the bones. Conclusions: We managed to obtain nuclear DNA for successful STR typing from skeletal remains that were over 60 years old . The method of DNA extraction described here has proved to be highly efficient. We obtained 0.8 to 100 ng DNA/g of teeth or bones and complete genetic profiles of autosomal DNA, Y-STR haplotypes, and mtDNA haplotypes from only 0.5g bone and teeth samples.

Increasing viscosity and inertia using a robotically-controlled pen improves handwriting in children

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-Pazi, Hilla; Ishihara, Abraham; Kukke, Sahana; Sanger, Terence D

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of mechanical properties of the pen on the quality of handwriting in children. Twenty two school aged children, ages 8–14 years wrote in cursive using a pen attached to a robot. The robot was programmed to increase the effective weight (inertia) and stiffness (viscosity) of the pen. Speed, frequency, variability, and quality of the two handwriting samples were compared. Increased inertia and viscosity improved handwriting quality in 85% of children (pHandwriting quality did not correlate with changes in speed, suggesting that improvement was not due to reduced speed. Measures of movement variability remained unchanged, suggesting that improvement was not due to mechanical smoothing of pen movement by the robot. Since improvement was not explained by reduced speed or mechanical smoothing, we conclude that children alter handwriting movements in response to pen mechanics. Altered movement could be caused by changes in proprioceptive sensory feedback. PMID:19794098

"SINCE I MUST PLEASE THOSE BELOW": HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS RESEARCH AND THE LAW.

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Thomas D

2015-01-01

The ethics of non-invasive scientific research on human skeletal remains are poorly articulated and lack a single, definitive analogue in western law. Laws governing invasive research on human fleshed remains, as well as bio-ethical principles established for research on living subjects, provide effective models for the establishment of ethical guidelines for non-invasive research on human skeletal remains. Specifically, non-invasive analysis of human remains is permissible provided that the analysis and collection of resulting data (1) are accomplished with respect for the dignity of the individual, (2) do not violate the last-known desire of the deceased, (3) do not adversely impact the right of the next of kin to perform a ceremonious and decent disposal of the remains, and (4) do not unduly or maliciously violate the privacy interests of the next of kin.

Competency-Based, Time-Variable Education in the Health Professions: Crossroads.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucey, Catherine R; Thibault, George E; Ten Cate, Olle

2018-03-01

Health care systems around the world are transforming to align with the needs of 21st-century patients and populations. Transformation must also occur in the educational systems that prepare the health professionals who deliver care, advance discovery, and educate the next generation of physicians in these evolving systems. Competency-based, time-variable education, a comprehensive educational strategy guided by the roles and responsibilities that health professionals must assume to meet the needs of contemporary patients and communities, has the potential to catalyze optimization of educational and health care delivery systems. By designing educational and assessment programs that require learners to meet specific competencies before transitioning between the stages of formal education and into practice, this framework assures the public that every physician is capable of providing high-quality care. By engaging learners as partners in assessment, competency-based, time-variable education prepares graduates for careers as lifelong learners. While the medical education community has embraced the notion of competencies as a guiding framework for educational institutions, the structure and conduct of formal educational programs remain more aligned with a time-based, competency-variable paradigm.The authors outline the rationale behind this recommended shift to a competency-based, time-variable education system. They then introduce the other articles included in this supplement to Academic Medicine, which summarize the history of, theories behind, examples demonstrating, and challenges associated with competency-based, time-variable education in the health professions.

Concurrent variable-interval variable-ratio schedules in a dynamic choice environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Matthew C; Baum, William M

2017-11-01

Most studies of operant choice have focused on presenting subjects with a fixed pair of schedules across many experimental sessions. Using these methods, studies of concurrent variable- interval variable-ratio schedules helped to evaluate theories of choice. More recently, a growing literature has focused on dynamic choice behavior. Those dynamic choice studies have analyzed behavior on a number of different time scales using concurrent variable-interval schedules. Following the dynamic choice approach, the present experiment examined performance on concurrent variable-interval variable-ratio schedules in a rapidly changing environment. Our objectives were to compare performance on concurrent variable-interval variable-ratio schedules with extant data on concurrent variable-interval variable-interval schedules using a dynamic choice procedure and to extend earlier work on concurrent variable-interval variable-ratio schedules. We analyzed performances at different time scales, finding strong similarities between concurrent variable-interval variable-interval and concurrent variable-interval variable- ratio performance within dynamic choice procedures. Time-based measures revealed almost identical performance in the two procedures compared with response-based measures, supporting the view that choice is best understood as time allocation. Performance at the smaller time scale of visits accorded with the tendency seen in earlier research toward developing a pattern of strong preference for and long visits to the richer alternative paired with brief "samples" at the leaner alternative ("fix and sample"). © 2017 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure during one-lung ventilation of patients with pulmonary hyperinflation. Influence of low respiratory rate with unchanged minute volume.

Science.gov (United States)

Szegedi, L L; Barvais, L; Sokolow, Y; Yernault, J C; d'Hollander, A A

2002-01-01

We measured lung mechanics and gas exchange during one-lung ventilation (OLV) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, using three respiratory rates (RR) and unchanged minute volume. We studied 15 patients about to undergo lung surgery, during anaesthesia, and placed in the lateral position. Ventilation was with constant minute volume, inspiratory flow and FIO2. For periods of 15 min, RR of 5, 10, and 15 bpm were applied in a random sequence and recordings were made of lung mechanics and an arterial blood gas sample was taken. Data were analysed with the repeated measures ANOVA and paired t-test with Bonferroni correction. PaO2 changes were not significant. At the lowest RR, PaCO2 decreased (from 42 (SD 4) mm Hg at RR 15-41 (4) mm Hg at RR 10 and 39 (4) mm Hg at RR 5, P<0.01), and end-tidal carbon dioxide increased (from 33 (5) mm Hg at RR 15 to 35 (5) mm Hg at RR 10 and 36 (6) mm Hg at RR 5, P<0.01). Intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPi) was reduced even with larger tidal volumes (from 6 (4) cm H2O at RR 15-5 (4) cm H2O at RR 10, and 3 (3) cm H2O at RR 5, P<0.01), most probably caused by increased expiratory time at the lowest RR. A reduction in RR reduces PEEPi and hypercapnia during OLV in anaesthetized patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.

Study of electron pair and photon production in lead-gold collisions

CERN Multimedia

Ravinovich, I; Fraenkel, Z; Gnaenski, A

2002-01-01

This is a continuation of the NA45 experiment dedicated to the measurement of electron-positron pairs and direct photons produced in Pb-Pb collisions at SPS energies. The main goal remains as outlined in NA45. The strong enhancement of low-mass pairs, over the expected yield from hadronic sources, observed in S-Au collisions by NA45, adds considerably to the physics potential and to the interest in the measurement of these variables. \\\\\\\\The figure shows the layout of the CERES spectrometer which has been upgraded to cope with the higher multiplicities and background of central Pb-Pb collisions. The basic spectrometer remains unchanged, namely two Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors (RICH), one situated before the other after a short superconducting double solenoid. The main elements of the upgrade are additional detectors, two silicon radial-drift chambers (instead of one in the original set-up) and a pad chamber (a large MWPC with pad readout) located behind the spectrometer. They allow real tracking and help...

Investigation of load reduction for a variable speed, variable pitch, and variable coning wind turbine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pierce, K. [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

1997-12-31

A two bladed, variable speed and variable pitch wind turbine was modeled using ADAMS{reg_sign} to evaluate load reduction abilities of a variable coning configuration as compared to a teetered rotor, and also to evaluate control methods. The basic dynamic behavior of the variable coning turbine was investigated and compared to the teetered rotor under constant wind conditions as well as turbulent wind conditions. Results indicate the variable coning rotor has larger flap oscillation amplitudes and much lower root flap bending moments than the teetered rotor. Three methods of control were evaluated for turbulent wind simulations. These were a standard IPD control method, a generalized predictive control method, and a bias estimate control method. Each control method was evaluated for both the variable coning configuration and the teetered configuration. The ability of the different control methods to maintain the rotor speed near the desired set point is evaluated from the RMS error of rotor speed. The activity of the control system is evaluated from cycles per second of the blade pitch angle. All three of the methods were found to produce similar results for the variable coning rotor and the teetered rotor, as well as similar results to each other.

Quantifying center of pressure variability in chondrodystrophoid dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Blau, S R; Davis, L M; Gorney, A M; Dohse, C S; Williams, K D; Lim, J-H; Pfitzner, W G; Laber, E; Sawicki, G S; Olby, N J

2017-08-01

The center of pressure (COP) position reflects a combination of proprioceptive, motor and mechanical function. As such, it can be used to quantify and characterize neurologic dysfunction. The aim of this study was to describe and quantify the movement of COP and its variability in healthy chondrodystrophoid dogs while walking to provide a baseline for comparison to dogs with spinal cord injury due to acute intervertebral disc herniations. Fifteen healthy adult chondrodystrophoid dogs were walked on an instrumented treadmill that recorded the location of each dog's COP as it walked. Center of pressure (COP) was referenced from an anatomical marker on the dogs' back. The root mean squared (RMS) values of changes in COP location in the sagittal (y) and horizontal (x) directions were calculated to determine the range of COP variability. Three dogs would not walk on the treadmill. One dog was too small to collect interpretable data. From the remaining 11 dogs, 206 trials were analyzed. Mean RMS for change in COPx per trial was 0.0138 (standard deviation, SD 0.0047) and for COPy was 0.0185 (SD 0.0071). Walking speed but not limb length had a significant effect on COP RMS. Repeat measurements in six dogs had high test retest consistency in the x and fair consistency in the y direction. In conclusion, COP variability can be measured consistently in dogs, and a range of COP variability for normal chondrodystrophoid dogs has been determined to provide a baseline for future studies on dogs with spinal cord injury. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disease in a more variable and unpredictable climate

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, T. A.; Raffel, T.; Rohr, J. R.; Halstead, N.; Venesky, M.; Romansic, J.

2014-12-01

Global climate change is shifting the dynamics of infectious diseases of humans and wildlife with potential adverse consequences for disease control. Despite this, the role of global climate change in the decline of biodiversity and the emergence of infectious diseases remains controversial. Climate change is expected to increase climate variability in addition to increasing mean temperatures, making climate less predictable. However, few empirical or theoretical studies have considered the effects of climate variability or predictability on disease, despite it being likely that hosts and parasites will have differential responses to climatic shifts. Here we present a theoretical framework for how temperature variation and its predictability influence disease risk by affecting host and parasite acclimation responses. Laboratory experiments and field data on disease-associated frog declines in Latin America support this framework and provide evidence that unpredictable temperature fluctuations, on both monthly and diurnal timescales, decrease frog resistance to the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Furthermore, the pattern of temperature-dependent growth of the fungus on frogs was inconsistent with the pattern of Bd growth in culture, emphasizing the importance of accounting for the host-parasite interaction when predicting climate-dependent disease dynamics. Consistent with our laboratory experiments, increased regional temperature variability associated with global El Niño climatic events was the best predictor of widespread amphibian losses in the genus Atelopus. Thus, incorporating the effects of small-scale temporal variability in climate can greatly improve our ability to predict the effects of climate change on disease.

About hidden influence of predictor variables: Suppressor and mediator variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milovanović Boško

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper procedure for researching hidden influence of predictor variables in regression models and depicting suppressor variables and mediator variables is shown. It is also shown that detection of suppressor variables and mediator variables could provide refined information about the research problem. As an example for applying this procedure, relation between Atlantic atmospheric centers and air temperature and precipitation amount in Serbia is chosen. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47007

Criteria for genuine N -partite continuous-variable entanglement and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering

Science.gov (United States)

Teh, R. Y.; Reid, M. D.

2014-12-01

Following previous work, we distinguish between genuine N -partite entanglement and full N -partite inseparability. Accordingly, we derive criteria to detect genuine multipartite entanglement using continuous-variable (position and momentum) measurements. Our criteria are similar but different to those based on the van Loock-Furusawa inequalities, which detect full N -partite inseparability. We explain how the criteria can be used to detect the genuine N -partite entanglement of continuous variable states generated from squeezed and vacuum state inputs, including the continuous-variable Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state, with explicit predictions for up to N =9 . This makes our work accessible to experiment. For N =3 , we also present criteria for tripartite Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering. These criteria provide a means to demonstrate a genuine three-party EPR paradox, in which any single party is steerable by the remaining two parties.

Emergent constraint on equilibrium climate sensitivity from global temperature variability

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Peter M.; Huntingford, Chris; Williamson, Mark S.

2018-01-01

Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) remains one of the most important unknowns in climate change science. ECS is defined as the global mean warming that would occur if the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration were instantly doubled and the climate were then brought to equilibrium with that new level of CO2. Despite its rather idealized definition, ECS has continuing relevance for international climate change agreements, which are often framed in terms of stabilization of global warming relative to the pre-industrial climate. However, the ‘likely’ range of ECS as stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has remained at 1.5-4.5 degrees Celsius for more than 25 years. The possibility of a value of ECS towards the upper end of this range reduces the feasibility of avoiding 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, as required by the Paris Agreement. Here we present a new emergent constraint on ECS that yields a central estimate of 2.8 degrees Celsius with 66 per cent confidence limits (equivalent to the IPCC ‘likely’ range) of 2.2-3.4 degrees Celsius. Our approach is to focus on the variability of temperature about long-term historical warming, rather than on the warming trend itself. We use an ensemble of climate models to define an emergent relationship between ECS and a theoretically informed metric of global temperature variability. This metric of variability can also be calculated from observational records of global warming, which enables tighter constraints to be placed on ECS, reducing the probability of ECS being less than 1.5 degrees Celsius to less than 3 per cent, and the probability of ECS exceeding 4.5 degrees Celsius to less than 1 per cent.

Emergent constraint on equilibrium climate sensitivity from global temperature variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Peter M; Huntingford, Chris; Williamson, Mark S

2018-01-17

Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) remains one of the most important unknowns in climate change science. ECS is defined as the global mean warming that would occur if the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration were instantly doubled and the climate were then brought to equilibrium with that new level of CO 2 . Despite its rather idealized definition, ECS has continuing relevance for international climate change agreements, which are often framed in terms of stabilization of global warming relative to the pre-industrial climate. However, the 'likely' range of ECS as stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has remained at 1.5-4.5 degrees Celsius for more than 25 years. The possibility of a value of ECS towards the upper end of this range reduces the feasibility of avoiding 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, as required by the Paris Agreement. Here we present a new emergent constraint on ECS that yields a central estimate of 2.8 degrees Celsius with 66 per cent confidence limits (equivalent to the IPCC 'likely' range) of 2.2-3.4 degrees Celsius. Our approach is to focus on the variability of temperature about long-term historical warming, rather than on the warming trend itself. We use an ensemble of climate models to define an emergent relationship between ECS and a theoretically informed metric of global temperature variability. This metric of variability can also be calculated from observational records of global warming, which enables tighter constraints to be placed on ECS, reducing the probability of ECS being less than 1.5 degrees Celsius to less than 3 per cent, and the probability of ECS exceeding 4.5 degrees Celsius to less than 1 per cent.

Habitat variability does not generally promote metabolic network modularity in flies and mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Takemoto, Kazuhiro

2016-01-01

The evolution of species habitat range is an important topic over a wide range of research fields. In higher organisms, habitat range evolution is generally associated with genetic events such as gene duplication. However, the specific factors that determine habitat variability remain unclear at higher levels of biological organization (e.g., biochemical networks). One widely accepted hypothesis developed from both theoretical and empirical analyses is that habitat variability promotes network modularity; however, this relationship has not yet been directly tested in higher organisms. Therefore, I investigated the relationship between habitat variability and metabolic network modularity using compound and enzymatic networks in flies and mammals. Contrary to expectation, there was no clear positive correlation between habitat variability and network modularity. As an exception, the network modularity increased with habitat variability in the enzymatic networks of flies. However, the observed association was likely an artifact, and the frequency of gene duplication appears to be the main factor contributing to network modularity. These findings raise the question of whether or not there is a general mechanism for habitat range expansion at a higher level (i.e., above the gene scale). This study suggests that the currently widely accepted hypothesis for habitat variability should be reconsidered. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

SPIN SUSCEPTIBILITY IN HIGH - TC SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

2012-07-05

Jul 5, 2012 ... remains unchanged as a result of which the oxygen site will remain deficient ... kinetic energy, a hole's spin hooks up with the random Cu moment to form a ... reach out to each other magnetically to form spin singlet pairs with ...

Work disability remains a major problem in rheumatoid arthritis in the 2000s: data from 32 countries in the QUEST-RA study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sokka, Tuulikki; Kautiainen, Hannu; Pincus, Theodore; Verstappen, Suzanne M M; Aggarwal, Amita; Alten, Rieke; Andersone, Daina; Badsha, Humeira; Baecklund, Eva; Belmonte, Miguel; Craig-Müller, Jürgen; da Mota, Licia Maria Henrique; Dimic, Alexander; Fathi, Nihal A; Ferraccioli, Gianfranco; Fukuda, Wataru; Géher, Pál; Gogus, Feride; Hajjaj-Hassouni, Najia; Hamoud, Hisham; Haugeberg, Glenn; Henrohn, Dan; Horslev-Petersen, Kim; Ionescu, Ruxandra; Karateew, Dmitry; Kuuse, Reet; Laurindo, Ieda Maria Magalhaes; Lazovskis, Juris; Luukkainen, Reijo; Mofti, Ayman; Murphy, Eithne; Nakajima, Ayako; Oyoo, Omondi; Pandya, Sapan C; Pohl, Christof; Predeteanu, Denisa; Rexhepi, Mjellma; Rexhepi, Sylejman; Sharma, Banwari; Shono, Eisuke; Sibilia, Jean; Sierakowski, Stanislaw; Skopouli, Fotini N; Stropuviene, Sigita; Toloza, Sergio; Valter, Ivo; Woolf, Anthony; Yamanaka, Hisashi

2010-01-01

Work disability is a major consequence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), associated not only with traditional disease activity variables, but also more significantly with demographic, functional, occupational, and societal variables. Recent reports suggest that the use of biologic agents offers potential for reduced work disability rates, but the conclusions are based on surrogate disease activity measures derived from studies primarily from Western countries. The Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with RA (QUEST-RA) multinational database of 8,039 patients in 86 sites in 32 countries, 16 with high gross domestic product (GDP) (>24K US dollars (USD) per capita) and 16 low-GDP countries (<11K USD), was analyzed for work and disability status at onset and over the course of RA and clinical status of patients who continued working or had stopped working in high-GDP versus low-GDP countries according to all RA Core Data Set measures. Associations of work disability status with RA Core Data Set variables and indices were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses. At the time of first symptoms, 86% of men (range 57%-100% among countries) and 64% (19%-87%) of women <65 years were working. More than one third (37%) of these patients reported subsequent work disability because of RA. Among 1,756 patients whose symptoms had begun during the 2000s, the probabilities of continuing to work were 80% (95% confidence interval (CI) 78%-82%) at 2 years and 68% (95% CI 65%-71%) at 5 years, with similar patterns in high-GDP and low-GDP countries. Patients who continued working versus stopped working had significantly better clinical status for all clinical status measures and patient self-report scores, with similar patterns in high-GDP and low-GDP countries. However, patients who had stopped working in high-GDP countries had better clinical status than patients who continued working in low-GDP countries. The most significant identifier of work disability in

Short-term blood pressure variability over 24 h and target organ damage in middle-aged men and women.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Madden, J M

2015-03-19

Blood pressure variability (BPV) has been associated with cardiovascular events; however, the prognostic significance of short-term BPV remains uncertain. As uncertainty also remains as to which measure of variability most accurately describes short-term BPV, this study explores different indices and investigates their relationship with subclinical target organ damage (TOD). We used data from the Mitchelstown Study, a cross-sectional study of Irish adults aged 47-73 years (n=2047). A subsample (1207) underwent 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). As measures of short-term BPV, we estimated the s.d., weighted s.d. (wSD), coefficient of variation (CV) and average real variability (ARV). TOD was documented by microalbuminuria and electrocardiogram (ECG) left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). There was no association found between any measure of BPV and LVH in both unadjusted and fully adjusted logistic regression models. Similar analysis found that ARV (24 h, day and night), s.d. (day and night) and wSD were all univariately associated with microalbuminuria and remained associated after adjustment for age, gender, smoking, body mass index (BMI), diabetes and antihypertensive treatment. However, when the models were further adjusted for the mean BP the association did not persist for all indices. Our findings illustrate choosing the appropriate summary measure, which accurately captures that short-term BPV is difficult. Despite discrepancies in values between the different measures, there was no association between any indexes of variability with TOD measures after adjustment for the mean BP.Journal of Human Hypertension advance online publication, 19 March 2015; doi:10.1038\\/jhh.2015.18.

The World of Journalism – The World of Public Relations Assessment of Changes in Relations Between Journalists and PR Managers in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gawroński Sławomir

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a comparative look at the results of similar studies relating to the diagnosis of cooperation between the journalists and representatives of the PR industry in Poland. Comparable subjects, arising from the similarity of used research tools, as well as comparable attempts of the research on both environments provide good opportunities of drawing overlapping conclusions from the two research projects. Although standardization of the cooperation between journalists and PR professionals is very difficult and its description is limited by a number of variables and differentiating factors, comparing both studies makes it possible to draw conclusions about some changes or elements that have remained unchanged in relations PR managers - journalists in Poland over the last 11 years.

A Novel Ropes-DrivenWideband Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinhui Zhang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (PVEH in which a high-frequency generating beam (HFGB is driven by an array of low-frequency driving beams (LFDBs using ropes. Two mechanisms based on frequency upconversion and multimodal harvesting work together to broaden the frequency bandwidth of the proposed vibration energy harvester (VEH. The experimental results show that the output power of generating beam (GB remains unchanged with the increasing number of driving beams (DBs, compared with the traditional arrays of beams vibration energy harvester (AB-VEH, and the output power and bandwidth behavior can be adjusted by parameters such as acceleration, rope margin, and stiffness of LFDBs, which shows the potential to achieve unlimited wideband vibration energy-harvesting for a variable environment.

Cytological investigations in populations of D. melanogaster exposed to radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wienberg, J.

1983-01-01

The study described was carried out to investigate structural changes in the chromosomes of irradiated populations of D.melanogaster that can be analysed on the basis of cytological methods. It mainly dealt with two particular aspects of this subject: I. Different types of chromosomes (polytene chromosomes, mitotic and meiotic chromosomes) were used to examine whether and to which extent chromosomal variability would alter or remain unchanged under the influence of mutation. II. The prophase of the first division of female cells was analysed with respect to the role of resistance factor rar-2. In this connection, it was of interest whether the prophase of meiosis would show visible cytological changes in the interchromosomal structure that are caused by factor rar-2. (orig./MG) [de

Variable importance in latent variable regression models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kvalheim, O.M.; Arneberg, R.; Bleie, O.; Rajalahti, T.; Smilde, A.K.; Westerhuis, J.A.

2014-01-01

The quality and practical usefulness of a regression model are a function of both interpretability and prediction performance. This work presents some new graphical tools for improved interpretation of latent variable regression models that can also assist in improved algorithms for variable

Predicting the Remaining Useful Life of Rolling Element Bearings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hooghoudt, Jan Otto; Jantunen, E; Yi, Yang

2018-01-01

Condition monitoring of rolling element bearings is of vital importance in order to keep the industrial wheels running. In wind industry this is especially important due to the challenges in practical maintenance. The paper presents an attempt to improve the capability of prediction of remaining...

Using variable combination population analysis for variable selection in multivariate calibration.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Yong-Huan; Wang, Wei-Ting; Deng, Bai-Chuan; Lai, Guang-Bi; Liu, Xin-bo; Ren, Da-Bing; Liang, Yi-Zeng; Fan, Wei; Xu, Qing-Song

2015-03-03

Variable (wavelength or feature) selection techniques have become a critical step for the analysis of datasets with high number of variables and relatively few samples. In this study, a novel variable selection strategy, variable combination population analysis (VCPA), was proposed. This strategy consists of two crucial procedures. First, the exponentially decreasing function (EDF), which is the simple and effective principle of 'survival of the fittest' from Darwin's natural evolution theory, is employed to determine the number of variables to keep and continuously shrink the variable space. Second, in each EDF run, binary matrix sampling (BMS) strategy that gives each variable the same chance to be selected and generates different variable combinations, is used to produce a population of subsets to construct a population of sub-models. Then, model population analysis (MPA) is employed to find the variable subsets with the lower root mean squares error of cross validation (RMSECV). The frequency of each variable appearing in the best 10% sub-models is computed. The higher the frequency is, the more important the variable is. The performance of the proposed procedure was investigated using three real NIR datasets. The results indicate that VCPA is a good variable selection strategy when compared with four high performing variable selection methods: genetic algorithm-partial least squares (GA-PLS), Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination by PLS (MC-UVE-PLS), competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and iteratively retains informative variables (IRIV). The MATLAB source code of VCPA is available for academic research on the website: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/authors/498750. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Incorporating Latent Variables into Discrete Choice Models - A Simultaneous Estimation Approach Using SEM Software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dirk Temme

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV models represent a promising new class of models which merge classic choice models with the structural equation approach (SEM for latent variables. Despite their conceptual appeal, applications of ICLV models in marketing remain rare. We extend previous ICLV applications by first estimating a multinomial choice model and, second, by estimating hierarchical relations between latent variables. An empirical study on travel mode choice clearly demonstrates the value of ICLV models to enhance the understanding of choice processes. In addition to the usually studied directly observable variables such as travel time, we show how abstract motivations such as power and hedonism as well as attitudes such as a desire for flexibility impact on travel mode choice. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to estimate such a complex ICLV model with the widely available structural equation modeling package Mplus. This finding is likely to encourage more widespread application of this appealing model class in the marketing field.

Work, work environments and other factors influencing nurse faculty intention to remain employed: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tourangeau, Ann; Saari, Margaret; Patterson, Erin; Ferron, Era Mae; Thomson, Heather; Widger, Kimberley; MacMillan, Kathleen

2014-06-01

Given the role nurse faculty have in educating nurses, little is known about what influences their intention to remain employed (ITR) in academic settings. Findings from a nurse faculty survey administered to test a conceptual model of factors hypothesized as influencing nurse faculty ITR are reported. A cross-sectional survey design was employed. We included colleges and universities in Ontario, Canada. The population of Ontario nurse faculty who reported being employed as nurse faculty with the College of Nurses of Ontario (Canada) was included. Of the 1328 nurse faculty who were surveyed, 650 participated. Participants completed a questionnaire with measures of work, work environment, job satisfaction, burnout and ITR. Regression analyses were conducted to test the model. Ten of 26 independent variables explained 25.4% of variance in nurse faculty ITR for five years. These variables included: proximity to retirement, quality of relationships with colleagues, being employed full time, having dependents, satisfaction with work-life balance, quality of education, satisfaction with job status, access to financial support for education from organization, access to required human resources and being unionized. Although not all influencing factors are modifiable, academic leadership should develop strategies that encourage nurse faculty ITR. Strategies that support collegial relationships among faculty, increase the number of full time positions, promote work-life balance, engage faculty in assessing and strengthening education quality, support faculty choice between full-time and part-time work, and ensure adequate human resources required to teach effectively will lead to heightened nurse faculty ITR. © 2013.

The effect of simulating porcelain firing on the elemental composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties of electroformed gold restorations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youssef S. Al Jabbari

2016-09-01

Conclusion: Although microstructure and elemental composition of electroformed Au crowns remain unchanged, the mechanical properties are significantly affected by the thermal treatment of porcelain firing.

Screw Remaining Life Prediction Based on Quantum Genetic Algorithm and Support Vector Machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaochen Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To predict the remaining life of ball screw, a screw remaining life prediction method based on quantum genetic algorithm (QGA and support vector machine (SVM is proposed. A screw accelerated test bench is introduced. Accelerometers are installed to monitor the performance degradation of ball screw. Combined with wavelet packet decomposition and isometric mapping (Isomap, the sensitive feature vectors are obtained and stored in database. Meanwhile, the sensitive feature vectors are randomly chosen from the database and constitute training samples and testing samples. Then the optimal kernel function parameter and penalty factor of SVM are searched with the method of QGA. Finally, the training samples are used to train optimized SVM while testing samples are adopted to test the prediction accuracy of the trained SVM so the screw remaining life prediction model can be got. The experiment results show that the screw remaining life prediction model could effectively predict screw remaining life.

Authentic leadership: becoming and remaining an authentic nurse leader.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Lin G

2012-11-01

This article explores how chief nurse executives became and remained authentic leaders. Using narrative inquiry, this qualitative study focused on the life stories of participants. Results demonstrate the importance of reframing, reflection in alignment with values, and the courage needed as nurse leaders progress to authenticity.

Correlations between Learners' Initial EFL Proficiency and Variables of Clicker-Aided Flipped EFL Class

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Zhonggen; Yu, Liheng

2017-01-01

Although the flipped class has been hotly discussed, the clicker-aided flipped EFL class (CFEC) still remains a mystery for most scholars. This study aims to determine the correlations between the initial EFL proficiency and other variables of the clicker-aided EFL flipped class. The sample was made up of randomly selected 79 participants (Female…

Radiocaesium variability in upland sheep flocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beresford, N.A

2002-07-01

Following the 1986 Chernobyl accident large areas of uplands in the United Kingdom were contaminated by radiocaesium. Consequently, the level of radiocaesium in the tissues of some sheep exceeded 1000 Bq kg{sup -1} fresh weight This is the limit adopted within the UK above which meat cannot enter the food chain. In 1986, restrictions were placed on the movement and slaughter of sheep in areas of west Cumbria, north Wales and Scotland. Whilst the number of farms under restriction has reduced considerably, some still remain restricted in 2002. Although a number of workers had noted considerable variability between the radiocaesium activities of individuals within sheep flocks there had been no analyses of causal effects. The work described here, combined studies on three upland farms within west Cumbria with controlled feeding experiments, to systematically assess the parameters which may contribute to such variability. Results from all three farms demonstrate a temporally consistent ranking of the {sup 137}Cs activity concentration of individual sheep within the study flocks. As there was also a correlation between the {sup 137}Cs activity concentration of ewes and their pre-weaned lambs it is likely that the same ewes are producing lambs in excess of the intervention limit in subsequent years. It is difficult to generalise as to which factors will contribute to {sup 137}Cs variability within a given upland flock; factors contributing to variation were not consistent between the study farms. However, the location grazed and/or vegetation selected by animals was a causal factor to the observed variability at all three farms. The transfer of radiocaesium from the diet to muscle of sheep was found to be determined by live-weight change and dry matter intake. Subsequent studies have suggested that protein turnover may be a potential mechanism for the relationship between dry matter intake and radiocaesium transfer. This hypothesis is supported by current understanding

Radiocaesium variability in upland sheep flocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beresford, N.A.

2002-01-01

Following the 1986 Chernobyl accident large areas of uplands in the United Kingdom were contaminated by radiocaesium. Consequently, the level of radiocaesium in the tissues of some sheep exceeded 1000 Bq kg -1 fresh weight This is the limit adopted within the UK above which meat cannot enter the food chain. In 1986, restrictions were placed on the movement and slaughter of sheep in areas of west Cumbria, north Wales and Scotland. Whilst the number of farms under restriction has reduced considerably, some still remain restricted in 2002. Although a number of workers had noted considerable variability between the radiocaesium activities of individuals within sheep flocks there had been no analyses of causal effects. The work described here, combined studies on three upland farms within west Cumbria with controlled feeding experiments, to systematically assess the parameters which may contribute to such variability. Results from all three farms demonstrate a temporally consistent ranking of the 137 Cs activity concentration of individual sheep within the study flocks. As there was also a correlation between the 137 Cs activity concentration of ewes and their pre-weaned lambs it is likely that the same ewes are producing lambs in excess of the intervention limit in subsequent years. It is difficult to generalise as to which factors will contribute to 137 Cs variability within a given upland flock; factors contributing to variation were not consistent between the study farms. However, the location grazed and/or vegetation selected by animals was a causal factor to the observed variability at all three farms. The transfer of radiocaesium from the diet to muscle of sheep was found to be determined by live-weight change and dry matter intake. Subsequent studies have suggested that protein turnover may be a potential mechanism for the relationship between dry matter intake and radiocaesium transfer. This hypothesis is supported by current understanding of protein-dry matter

20 CFR 408.330 - How long will your application remain in effect?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... effect? 408.330 Section 408.330 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION SPECIAL BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN WORLD WAR II VETERANS Filing Applications Filing Your Application § 408.330 How long will your application remain in effect? Your application for SVB will remain in effect from the date it is filed until...

Structural remains at the early mediaeval fort at Raibania, Orissa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bratati Sen

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The fortifications of mediaeval India occupy an eminent position in the history of military architecture. The present paper deals with the preliminary study of the structural remains at the early mediaeval fort at Raibania in the district of Balasore in Orissa. The fort was built of stone very loosely kept together. The three-walled fortification interspersed by two consecutive moats, a feature evidenced at Raibania, which is unparallel in the history of ancient and mediaeval forts and fortifications in India. Several other structures like the Jay-Chandi Temple Complex, a huge well, numerous tanks and remains of an ancient bridge add to the uniqueness of the Fort in the entire eastern region.

Spatial and temporal variability of rainfall and their effects on hydrological response in urban areas – a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Cristiano

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In urban areas, hydrological processes are characterized by high variability in space and time, making them sensitive to small-scale temporal and spatial rainfall variability. In the last decades new instruments, techniques, and methods have been developed to capture rainfall and hydrological processes at high resolution. Weather radars have been introduced to estimate high spatial and temporal rainfall variability. At the same time, new models have been proposed to reproduce hydrological response, based on small-scale representation of urban catchment spatial variability. Despite these efforts, interactions between rainfall variability, catchment heterogeneity, and hydrological response remain poorly understood. This paper presents a review of our current understanding of hydrological processes in urban environments as reported in the literature, focusing on their spatial and temporal variability aspects. We review recent findings on the effects of rainfall variability on hydrological response and identify gaps where knowledge needs to be further developed to improve our understanding of and capability to predict urban hydrological response.

76 FR 14058 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-15

...: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, Laramie, WY AGENCY: National Park... in the possession and control of the University of Wyoming Anthropology Department, Human Remains... made by University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, professional staff in...

Evolution of drug resistance in HIV-infected patients remaining on a virologically failing combination antiretroviral therapy regimen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cozzi-Lepri, Alessandro; Phillips, Andrew N; Ruiz, Lidia

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the extent of drug resistance accumulation in patients kept on a virologically failing regimen and its determinants in the clinical setting. DESIGN: The study focused on 110 patients of EuroSIDA on an unchanged regimen who had two genotypic tests performed at two time points...... (t0 and t1) when viral load was > 400 copies/ml. METHODS: Accumulation of resistance between t0 and t1 was measured using genotypic susceptibility scores (GSS) obtained by counting the total number of active drugs (according to the Rega system v6.4.1) among all licensed antiretrovirals as of 1...... January 2006. Patients were grouped according to the number of active drugs in the failing regimen at t0 (GSS_f-t0). RESULTS: At t0, patients had been on the failing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) for a median of 11 months (range, 6-50 months). Even patients with extensive resistance...

76 FR 34122 - Missouri Disaster Number MO-00048

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-10

... Injury Loans Only): Missouri: Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Iron, Madison, Sainte Genevieve, Washington... remains unchanged. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) James E. Rivera...

76 FR 33395 - Tennessee Disaster Number TN-00051

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-08

... Counties: (Physical Damage and Economic Injury Loans): Carroll, Crockett, Hardin, Henry, Madison... remains unchanged. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) James E. Rivera...

75 FR 27009 - Tennessee Disaster Number TN-00039

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-13

..., Houston, Madison, Obion. Contiguous Counties: (Economic Injury Loans Only): Tennessee: Henry, Weakley... remains unchanged. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) James E. Rivera...

Drivers and barriers for bioenergy trade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Junginger, Martin; Schouwenberg, Peter Paul; Nikolaisen, Lars; Andrade, Onofre

2014-01-01

There are several drivers responsible for the strong increase in biomass trade over the past decade: concerns regarding the effects of climate change remain unchanged, and policy targets for renewable energy for 2020 have so far remained (largely) intact despite the economic crisis. At the same

Variable intertidal temperature explains why disease endangers black abalone

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-Horin, Tal; Lenihan, Hunter S.; Lafferty, Kevin D.

2013-01-01

Epidemiological theory suggests that pathogens will not cause host extinctions because agents of disease should fade out when the host population is driven below a threshold density. Nevertheless, infectious diseases have threatened species with extinction on local scales by maintaining high incidence and the ability to spread efficiently even as host populations decline. Intertidal black abalone (Haliotis cracherodii), but not other abalone species, went extinct locally throughout much of southern California following the emergence of a Rickettsiales-like pathogen in the mid-1980s. The rickettsial disease, a condition known as withering syndrome (WS), and associated mortality occur at elevated water temperatures. We measured abalone body temperatures in the field and experimentally manipulated intertidal environmental conditions in the laboratory, testing the influence of mean temperature and daily temperature variability on key epizootiological processes of WS. Daily temperature variability increased the susceptibility of black abalone to infection, but disease expression occurred only at warm water temperatures and was independent of temperature variability. These results imply that high thermal variation of the marine intertidal zone allows the pathogen to readily infect black abalone, but infected individuals remain asymptomatic until water temperatures periodically exceed thresholds modulating WS. Mass mortalities can therefore occur before pathogen transmission is limited by density-dependent factors.

Political, energy events will remain interwoven

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, D.P.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that it is possible to discuss the significance of political and energy events separately, but, in truth, they are intricately interwoven. Furthermore, there are those who will argue that since the two are inseparable, the future is not predictable; so why bother in the endeavor. It is possible that the central point of the exercise may have been missed-yes, the future is unpredictable exclamation point However, the objective of prediction is secondary. The objective of understanding the dynamic forces of change is primary exclamation point With this view of recent history, it is perhaps appropriate to pause and think about the future of the petroleum industry. The future as shaped by political, energy, economic, environmental and technological forces will direct our lives and markets during this decade. Most importantly, what will be the direction that successful businesses take to remain competitive in a global environment? These are interesting issues worthy of provocative thoughts and innovative ideas

Some remaining problems in HCDA analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Y.W.

1981-01-01

The safety assessment and licensing of liquid-metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs) requires an analysis on the capability of the reactor primary system to sustain the consequences of a hypothetical core-disruptive accident (HCDA). Although computational methods and computer programs developed for HCDA analyses can predict reasonably well the response of the primary containment system, and follow up the phenomena of HCDA from the start of excursion to the time of dynamic equilibrium in the system, there remain areas in the HCDA analysis that merit further analytical and experimental studies. These are the analysis of fluid impact on reactor cover, three-dimensional analysis, the treatment of the perforated plates, material properties under high strain rates and under high temperatures, the treatment of multifield flows, and the treatment of prestressed concrete reactor vessels. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the structural mechanics of HCDA analysis in these areas where improvements are needed

Elevated dopamine alters consummatory pattern generation and increases behavioral variability during learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark A. Rossi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The role of dopamine in controlling behavior remains poorly understood. In this study we examined licking behavior in an established hyperdopaminergic mouse model—dopamine transporter knockout (DAT KO mice. DAT KO mice showed higher rates of licking, which is due to increased perseveration of licking in a bout. By contrast, they showed increased individual lick durations, and reduced inter-lick-intervals. During extinction, both KO and control mice transiently increased variability in lick pattern generation while reducing licking rate, yet they showed very different behavioral patterns. Control mice gradually increased lick duration as well as variability. By contrast, DAT KO mice exhibited more immediate (within 10 licks adjustments—an immediate increase in lick duration variability, as well as more rapid extinction. These results suggest that the level of dopamine can modulate the persistence and pattern generation of a highly stereotyped consummatory behavior like licking, as well as new learning in response to changes in environmental feedback. Increased dopamine in DAT KO mice not only increased perseveration of bouts and individual lick duration, but also increased the behavioral variability in response to the extinction contingency and the rate of extinction.

Pathogen prevalence predicts human cross-cultural variability in individualism/collectivism.

Science.gov (United States)

Fincher, Corey L; Thornhill, Randy; Murray, Damian R; Schaller, Mark

2008-06-07

Pathogenic diseases impose selection pressures on the social behaviour of host populations. In humans (Homo sapiens), many psychological phenomena appear to serve an antipathogen defence function. One broad implication is the existence of cross-cultural differences in human cognition and behaviour contingent upon the relative presence of pathogens in the local ecology. We focus specifically on one fundamental cultural variable: differences in individualistic versus collectivist values. We suggest that specific behavioural manifestations of collectivism (e.g. ethnocentrism, conformity) can inhibit the transmission of pathogens; and so we hypothesize that collectivism (compared with individualism) will more often characterize cultures in regions that have historically had higher prevalence of pathogens. Drawing on epidemiological data and the findings of worldwide cross-national surveys of individualism/collectivism, our results support this hypothesis: the regional prevalence of pathogens has a strong positive correlation with cultural indicators of collectivism and a strong negative correlation with individualism. The correlations remain significant even when controlling for potential confounding variables. These results help to explain the origin of a paradigmatic cross-cultural difference, and reveal previously undocumented consequences of pathogenic diseases on the variable nature of human societies.

Safety provision for nuclear power plants during remaining running time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossnagel, Alexander; Hentschel, Anja

2012-01-01

With the phasing-out of the industrial use of nuclear energy for the power generation, the risk of the nuclear power plants has not been eliminated in principle, but only for a limited period of time. Therefore, the remaining nine nuclear power plants must also be used for the remaining ten years according to the state of science and technology. Regulatory authorities must substantiate the safety requirements for each nuclear power plant and enforce these requirements by means of various regulatory measures. The consequences of Fukushima must be included in the assessment of the safety level of nuclear power plants in Germany. In this respect, the regulatory authorities have the important tasks to investigate and assess the security risks as well as to develop instructions and orders.

Partitioning the impacts of spatial and climatological rainfall variability in urban drainage modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Peleg, Nadav; Blumensaat, Frank; Molnar, Peter; Fatichi, Simone; Burlando, Paolo

2017-03-01

The performance of urban drainage systems is typically examined using hydrological and hydrodynamic models where rainfall input is uniformly distributed, i.e., derived from a single or very few rain gauges. When models are fed with a single uniformly distributed rainfall realization, the response of the urban drainage system to the rainfall variability remains unexplored. The goal of this study was to understand how climate variability and spatial rainfall variability, jointly or individually considered, affect the response of a calibrated hydrodynamic urban drainage model. A stochastic spatially distributed rainfall generator (STREAP - Space-Time Realizations of Areal Precipitation) was used to simulate many realizations of rainfall for a 30-year period, accounting for both climate variability and spatial rainfall variability. The generated rainfall ensemble was used as input into a calibrated hydrodynamic model (EPA SWMM - the US EPA's Storm Water Management Model) to simulate surface runoff and channel flow in a small urban catchment in the city of Lucerne, Switzerland. The variability of peak flows in response to rainfall of different return periods was evaluated at three different locations in the urban drainage network and partitioned among its sources. The main contribution to the total flow variability was found to originate from the natural climate variability (on average over 74 %). In addition, the relative contribution of the spatial rainfall variability to the total flow variability was found to increase with longer return periods. This suggests that while the use of spatially distributed rainfall data can supply valuable information for sewer network design (typically based on rainfall with return periods from 5 to 15 years), there is a more pronounced relevance when conducting flood risk assessments for larger return periods. The results show the importance of using multiple distributed rainfall realizations in urban hydrology studies to capture the

76 FR 32387 - Tennessee Disaster Number TN-00053

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-06

... Only): Tennessee: Carroll, Haywood, Madison. All other information in the original declaration remains unchanged. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) James E. Rivera, Associate...

Aging increases cell-to-cell transcriptional variability upon immune stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Jimenez, Celia Pilar; Eling, Nils; Chen, Hung-Chang; Vallejos, Catalina A; Kolodziejczyk, Aleksandra A; Connor, Frances; Stojic, Lovorka; Rayner, Timothy F; Stubbington, Michael J T; Teichmann, Sarah A; de la Roche, Maike; Marioni, John C; Odom, Duncan T

2017-03-31

Aging is characterized by progressive loss of physiological and cellular functions, but the molecular basis of this decline remains unclear. We explored how aging affects transcriptional dynamics using single-cell RNA sequencing of unstimulated and stimulated naïve and effector memory CD4 + T cells from young and old mice from two divergent species. In young animals, immunological activation drives a conserved transcriptomic switch, resulting in tightly controlled gene expression characterized by a strong up-regulation of a core activation program, coupled with a decrease in cell-to-cell variability. Aging perturbed the activation of this core program and increased expression heterogeneity across populations of cells in both species. These discoveries suggest that increased cell-to-cell transcriptional variability will be a hallmark feature of aging across most, if not all, mammalian tissues. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The experiences of remaining nurse tutors during the transformation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The transformation of public services and education in South Africa is part of the political and socioeconomic transition to democracy. Changes are occurring in every fi eld, including that of the health services. A qualitative study was undertaken to investigate the experiences of the remaining nurse tutors at a school of ...

Pulsating variables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-01-01

The study of stellar pulsations is a major route to the understanding of stellar structure and evolution. At the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) the following stellar pulsation studies were undertaken: rapidly oscillating Ap stars; solar-like oscillations in stars; 8-Scuti type variability in a classical Am star; Beta Cephei variables; a pulsating white dwarf and its companion; RR Lyrae variables and galactic Cepheids. 4 figs

How ocean lateral mixing changes Southern Ocean variability in coupled climate models

Science.gov (United States)

Pradal, M. A. S.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Thomas, J. L.

2016-02-01

The lateral mixing of tracers represents a major uncertainty in the formulation of coupled climate models. The mixing of tracers along density surfaces in the interior and horizontally within the mixed layer is often parameterized using a mixing coefficient ARedi. The models used in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 exhibit more than an order of magnitude range in the values of this coefficient used within the Southern Ocean. The impacts of such uncertainty on Southern Ocean variability have remained unclear, even as recent work has shown that this variability differs between different models. In this poster, we change the lateral mixing coefficient within GFDL ESM2Mc, a coarse-resolution Earth System model that nonetheless has a reasonable circulation within the Southern Ocean. As the coefficient varies from 400 to 2400 m2/s the amplitude of the variability varies significantly. The low-mixing case shows strong decadal variability with an annual mean RMS temperature variability exceeding 1C in the Circumpolar Current. The highest-mixing case shows a very similar spatial pattern of variability, but with amplitudes only about 60% as large. The suppression of mixing is larger in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean relatively to the Pacific sector. We examine the salinity budgets of convective regions, paying particular attention to the extent to which high mixing prevents the buildup of low-saline waters that are capable of shutting off deep convection entirely.

Numerical investigation on the variation of welding stresses after material removal from a thick titanium alloy plate joined by electron beam welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Chuan; Zhang, Jianxun; Wu, Bing; Gong, Shuili

2012-01-01

Highlights: → After less materials removal from the top, stresses on the bottom remain unchanged. → The transverse stress within the weld decreases significantly with material removal. → Local material removal does not influence the longitudinal stress significantly. -- Abstract: The stress modification after material removal from a 50 mm thick titanium alloy plate jointed by electron beam welding (EBW) was investigated through the finite element method (FEM). The welding experiment and milling process were carried out to experimentally determine the stresses induced by EBW and their modification after local material removal. The modification of as-welded stresses due to the local material removal method and the whole layer removal method was discussed with the finite element analysis. Investigated results showed that with less materials removal from the top, the stresses on the bottom surface remain almost unchanged; after material removal from the top and bottom part, the transverse stress on the newly-formed surface decreases significantly as compared to the as-welded stresses at the same locations; however, the stress modification only occurs at the material removal region in the case of local region removal method; the longitudinal stress decreases with the whole layer removal method while remains almost unchanged with the local region removal method.

Optimization of DNA recovery and amplification from non-carbonized archaeobotanical remains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wales, Nathan; Andersen, Kenneth; Cappellini, Enrico

2014-01-01

Ancient DNA (aDNA) recovered from archaeobotanical remains can provide key insights into many prominent archaeological research questions, including processes of domestication, past subsistence strategies, and human interactions with the environment. However, it is often difficult to isolate a...... extracted from non-charred ancient plant remains. Based upon the criteria of resistance to enzymatic inhibition, behavior in quantitative real-time PCR, replication fidelity, and compatibility with aDNA damage, we conclude these polymerases have nuanced properties, requiring researchers to make educated...... on the interactions between humans and past plant communities....

Effects of antithrombotic drugs in patients with left ventricular thrombi: assessment with indium-111 platelet imaging and two-dimensional echocardiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stratton, J.R.; Ritchie, J.L.

1984-01-01

Patients with left ventricular thrombi not caused by recent myocardial infarction were prospectively studied by indium-111 platelet imaging and two-dimensional echocardiography to determine the reproducibility of these techniques and the short-term effects of sulfinpyrazone (200 mg four times daily), aspirin (325 mg three times daily) plus dipyridamole (75 mg three times daily), and full-dose warfarin. At baseline, all patients underwent indium-111 platelet imaging and echocardiography, and the results were positive for thrombus. In six patients on no antithrombotic drug therapy, repeat platelet scans and echocardiographic studies at 6.0 +/- 3.3 weeks remained positive and were unchanged. In seven patients studied on sulfinpyrazone, three platelet scans became negative, two became equivocal, and two were unchanged; the presence and size of thrombus was constant by echocardiography in all seven patients. Of the six patients studied on aspirin plus dipyridamole, one platelet scan became negative, those of three became equivocal, and two were unchanged; all echocardiographic findings remained positive, but one patient had decreased thrombus size. Among four warfarin-treated patients, three had resolution of platelet deposition and one was unchanged; by echocardiography, thrombus resolved in one patient, was decreased in size in one, and was unchanged in two. We conclude that, in the absence of antithrombotic drug therapy, platelet imaging and echocardiographic findings are stable in patients with left ventricular thrombi not caused by recent myocardial infarction. Sulfinpyrazone, aspirin plus dipyridamole, and warfarin all interrupt platelet deposition in some patients with chronic left ventricular thrombi

Thoracic spine disc-related abnormalities: longitudinal MR imaging assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Girard, Charles J.; Schweitzer, Mark E.; Morrison, William B.; Parellada, Joan A. [TJUH Radiology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States); Carrino, J.A. [Department of Radiology ASB-1, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women' s Hospital, L1, Room 002B, 75 Francis Street, MA 02115, Boston (United States)

2004-04-01

To describe and characterize the temporal changes in disc-related disorders of the thoracic spine using MR imaging. A retrospective longitudinal cohort study was carried out of 40 patients with two sequential thoracic spine MR images at variable intervals. The images were assessed for baseline presence of, new incidence of and changes in disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, endplate marrow signal alteration and Schmorl nodes. The range of follow-up was 4-149 weeks. Baseline presence was: disc herniation, 10% (49/480); degenerative disc disease, 14% (66/480); endplate marrow signal alteration, 2.3% (11/480); Schmorl nodes 9.6% (46/480). Most pre-existing lesions tended to remain unchanged. Herniations showed the most change, tending to improve in 27%. New incidence was: disc herniation, 1.5% (7/480), degenerative disc disease, 2% (10/480); endplate marrow signal alteration, 1.6% (8/480); Schmorl nodes, 2.1% (10/480). Disc degeneration was first visible at an 11-week interval and once established almost never changed over many weeks to months. Endplate signal alterations (Modic changes) were uncommon. Schmorl nodes show no change from baseline for up to 2 1/2 years. All findings predominated in the lower intervertebral levels from T6 to T10. The most prevalent thoracic spine disc-related findings are degeneration and herniation. Disc herniations predominate in the lower segments and are a dynamic phenomenon. Disc degeneration can be rapidly evolving but tends to remain unchanged after occurrence. Endplate marrow signal changes were an uncommon manifestation of thoracic disc disease. Schmorl nodes showed the least change over time. (orig.)

Dhatakyadi Varti - An effective local treatment for Upapluta Yonivyapad (vulvovaginitis during pregnancy): A standard controlled randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, Nilofar Mohamad Shafi; Dei, Laxmipriya; Donga, Shilpa

2016-01-01

Pregnant women are more prone to vulvovaginitis which is a great challenge for obstetricians today. In Ayurveda , Upapluta Yonivyapad described by Acharya Charaka , Sharangadhara , and both Vagbhata can be compared to vulvovaginitis during pregnancy. The present study aimed to evaluate efficacy of Dhatakyadi Varti in the management of Upapluta Yonivyapad (vulvovaginitis during pregnancy). A total of 80 female patients in the age group of 19-40 years were registered and divided into two groups. In Group A ( n = 46), Dhatakyadi Varti was inserted intravaginally, and in Group B ( n = 34), Clingen vaginal suppository was inserted intravaginally once at bed time for 14 days. The effect of therapy was assessed on the basis of relief in subjective and objective criteria, i.e., vaginal smear test. In subjective parameters, such as Yoni Srava , Yoni Kandu , Yoni Vedana , Yoni Daha and Yoni Daurgandhya , better result was observed in trial Group A receiving Dhatakyadi Varti . Highly significant relief ( P < 0.001) was observed in fungal infection, and significant relief ( P = 0.005) was observed in Gram - negative bacterial infection and pus cells in Group A. In Group A, 34.88% patients had complete remission, marked improvement was found in 34.88% cases, and only 2.32% patients remained unchanged, while in Group B, 33.33% patients reported complete remission, marked improvement was found in 10% cases, and 20% patients remained unchanged. It was concluded from the clinical trial that Dhatakyadi Varti is highly effective in reducing subjective and objective variables of Upapluta Yonivyapad and can be introduced as a safe herbal therapy of vaginal discharge during pregnancy.

Effects of Tibetan Music on Neuroendocrine and Autonomic Functions in Patients Waiting for Surgery: A Randomized, Controlled Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotoia, Antonella; Dibello, Floriana; Moscatelli, Fiorenzo; Sciusco, Alberto; Polito, Pietro; Modolo, Alberto; Gallo, Crescenzio; Cibelli, Giuseppe; Cinnella, Gilda

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of listening to Tibetan music on anxiety and endocrine, autonomic, cognitive responses in patients waiting for urologic surgery. Sixty patients waiting for surgery were enrolled to the study. They were randomized in music (M) and control (C) groups. The M group listened to a low-frequency Tibetan music for 30 min (T 0 -T 30 ) through headphones, and the C group wore headphones with no sound. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory Questionnaire (STAI) Y-1 was administered at T 0 and T 30 . Normalized low (LFnu) and high frequencies (HFnu) of heart rate variability, LF/HF ratio, and galvanic skin response (GRS) data were analyzed at T 0 , T 10 , T 20 , T 30 , and T 35 . The salivary α -amylase (sAA) samples were collected at T 0 , T 35 , and T 45 . In the M group, the STAI Y-1 score decreased at T 30 versus baseline ( p < 0.001), sAA levels decreased at T 35 versus T 0 ( p =0.004), and GSR remained unchanged. In the C group, the STAI Y-1 score remained unchanged, sAA level increased at T 35 versus T 0 ( p < 0.001), and GSR slightly increased at T 35 versus baseline ( p =0.359). LFnu was lower, and HFnu was significantly higher (T 10 -T 30 ) in M versus C group. Mean LF/HF ratio slightly reduced in the M group. Our results suggest that preoperative listening to relaxing Tibetan music might be a useful strategy to manage preoperative anxiety.

Global variability of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Makkonen, Risto; Krüger, Olaf

2017-04-01

Atmospheric aerosols can influence cloud optical and dynamical processes by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Globally, these indirect aerosol effects are significant to the radiative budget as well as a source of high uncertainty in anthropogenic radiative forcing. While historically many global climate models have fixed CCN concentrations to a certain level, most state-of-the-art models calculate aerosol-cloud interactions with sophisticated methodologies based on interactively simulated aerosol size distributions. However, due to scarcity of atmospheric observations simulated global CCN concentrations remain poorly constrained. Here we assess global CCN variability with a climate model, and attribute potential trends during 2000-2010 to changes in emissions and meteorological fields. Here we have used ECHAM5.5-HAM2 with model M7 microphysical aerosol model. The model has been upgraded with a secondary organic aerosol (SOA) scheme including ELVOCs. Dust and sea salt emissions are calculated online, based on wind speed and hydrology. Each experiment is 11 years, analysed after a 6-month spin-up period. The MODIS CCN product (Terra platform) is used to evaluate model performance throughout 2000-2010. While optical remote observation of CCN column includes several deficiencies, the products serves as a proxy for changes during the simulation period. In our analysis we utilize the observed and simulated vertical column integrated CCN concentration, and limit our analysis only over marine regions. Simulated annual CCN column densities reach 2ṡ108 cm-2 near strong source regions in central Africa, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and China sea. The spatial concentration gradient in CCN(0.2%) is steep, and column densities drop to coasts. While the spatial distribution of CCN at 0.2% supersaturation is closer to that of MODIS proxy, as opposed to 1.0% supersaturation, the overall column integrated CCN are too low. Still, we can compare the relative response of CCN

Chloroquine resistant P. falciparum prevalence is low and unchanged between 1990 and 2005 in Guinea-Bissau

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ursing, Johan; Schmidt, Berit Aydin; Lebbad, Marianne

2007-01-01

Chloroquine resistant malaria was first reported in Guinea-Bissau in 1990 but chloroquine remains the most commonly used antimalarial in the country. Since 1990, we have conducted nearly annual standardized WHO in vitro micro-tests to assess chloroquine resistance. We have identified pfcrt 76T...... and other genetic polymorphisms in samples from 1992, 1993, 1995, 2004 and 2005. We have also monitored drug prescriptions for febrile illnesses. The mean proportion of in vitro tests indicating chloroquine resistance was 33% (range 14-54%) with the exception of an outlying value year 2000. The proportion...... of chloroquine resistant P. falciparum detected by in vitro testing did not increase over time. Pfcrt 76T was associated with chloroquine resistance but pfmdr1 86Y was not. The mean pfcrt 76T prevalence varied between 13% and 38%. The prevalence of SNPs at Pfcrt positions 76, 271, 326 and pfmdr1 position 86 did...

The Artificial Leaf: Recent Progress and Remaining Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark D Symes

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The prospect of a device that uses solar energy to split water into H2 and O2 is highly attractive in terms of producing hydrogen as a carbon-neutral fuel. In this mini review, key research milestones that have been reached in this field over the last two decades will be discussed, with special focus on devices that use earth-abundant materials. Finally, the remaining challenges in the development of such “artificial leaves” will be highlighted.

Study on remain actinides recovery in pyro reprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suharto, Bambang

1996-01-01

The spent fuel reprocessing by dry process called pyro reprocessing have been studied. Most of U, Pu and MA (minor actinides) from the spent fuel will be recovered and be fed back to the reactor as new fuel. Accumulation of remain actinides will be separated by extraction process with liquid cadmium solvent. The research was conducted by computer simulation to calculate the stage number required. The calculation's results showed on the 20 stages extractor more than 99% actinides can be separated. (author)

New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Hawks, John; Elliott, Marina; Schmid, Peter; Churchill, Steven E; de Ruiter, Darryl J; Roberts, Eric M; Hilbert-Wolf, Hannah; Garvin, Heather M; Williams, Scott A; Delezene, Lucas K; Feuerriegel, Elen M; Randolph-Quinney, Patrick; Kivell, Tracy L; Laird, Myra F; Tawane, Gaokgatlhe; DeSilva, Jeremy M; Bailey, Shara E; Brophy, Juliet K; Meyer, Marc R; Skinner, Matthew M; Tocheri, Matthew W; VanSickle, Caroline; Walker, Christopher S; Campbell, Timothy L; Kuhn, Brian; Kruger, Ashley; Tucker, Steven; Gurtov, Alia; Hlophe, Nompumelelo; Hunter, Rick; Morris, Hannah; Peixotto, Becca; Ramalepa, Maropeng; van Rooyen, Dirk; Tsikoane, Mathabela; Boshoff, Pedro; Dirks, Paul HGM; Berger, Lee R

2017-01-01

The Rising Star cave system has produced abundant fossil hominin remains within the Dinaledi Chamber, representing a minimum of 15 individuals attributed to Homo naledi. Further exploration led to the discovery of hominin material, now comprising 131 hominin specimens, within a second chamber, the Lesedi Chamber. The Lesedi Chamber is far separated from the Dinaledi Chamber within the Rising Star cave system, and represents a second depositional context for hominin remains. In each of three collection areas within the Lesedi Chamber, diagnostic skeletal material allows a clear attribution to H. naledi. Both adult and immature material is present. The hominin remains represent at least three individuals based upon duplication of elements, but more individuals are likely present based upon the spatial context. The most significant specimen is the near-complete cranium of a large individual, designated LES1, with an endocranial volume of approximately 610 ml and associated postcranial remains. The Lesedi Chamber skeletal sample extends our knowledge of the morphology and variation of H. naledi, and evidence of H. naledi from both recovery localities shows a consistent pattern of differentiation from other hominin species. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24232.001 PMID:28483039

Ancient remains and the first peopling of the Americas: Reassessing the Hoyo Negro skull.

Science.gov (United States)

de Azevedo, Soledad; Bortolini, Maria C; Bonatto, Sandro L; Hünemeier, Tábita; Santos, Fabrício R; González-José, Rolando

2015-11-01

A noticeably well-preserved ∼12.500 years-old skeleton from the Hoyo Negro cave, Yucatán, México, was recently reported, along with its archaeological, genetic and skeletal characteristics. Based exclusively on an anatomical description of the skull (HN5/48), Chatters and colleagues stated that this specimen can be assigned to a set of ancient remains that differ from modern Native Americans, the so called "Paleoamericans". Here, we aim to further explore the morphological affinities of this specimen with a set of comparative cranial samples covering ancient and modern periods from Asia and the Americas. Images published in the original article were analyzed using geometric morphometrics methods. Shape variables were used to perform Principal Component and Discriminant analysis against the reference samples. Even thought the Principal Component Analysis suggests that the Hoyo Negro skull falls in a subregion of the morphospace occupied by both "Paleoamericans" and some modern Native Americans, the Discriminant analyses suggest greater affinity with a modern Native American sample. These results reinforce the idea that the original population that first occupied the New World carried high levels of within-group variation, which we have suggested previously on a synthetic model for the settlement of the Americas. Our results also highlight the importance of developing formal classificatory test before deriving settlement hypothesis purely based on macroscopic descriptions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

25 CFR 291.15 - How long do Class III gaming procedures remain in effect?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How long do Class III gaming procedures remain in effect... ENTERPRISES CLASS III GAMING PROCEDURES § 291.15 How long do Class III gaming procedures remain in effect? Class III gaming procedures remain in effect for the duration specified in the procedures or until...

Adaptive antibody diversification through N-linked glycosylation of the immunoglobulin variable region.

Science.gov (United States)

van de Bovenkamp, Fleur S; Derksen, Ninotska I L; Ooijevaar-de Heer, Pleuni; van Schie, Karin A; Kruithof, Simone; Berkowska, Magdalena A; van der Schoot, C Ellen; IJspeert, Hanna; van der Burg, Mirjam; Gils, Ann; Hafkenscheid, Lise; Toes, René E M; Rombouts, Yoann; Plomp, Rosina; Wuhrer, Manfred; van Ham, S Marieke; Vidarsson, Gestur; Rispens, Theo

2018-02-20

A hallmark of B-cell immunity is the generation of a diverse repertoire of antibodies from a limited set of germline V(D)J genes. This repertoire is usually defined in terms of amino acid composition. However, variable domains may also acquire N -linked glycans, a process conditional on the introduction of consensus amino acid motifs ( N -glycosylation sites) during somatic hypermutation. High levels of variable domain glycans have been associated with autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis, as well as certain follicular lymphomas. However, the role of these glycans in the humoral immune response remains poorly understood. Interestingly, studies have reported both positive and negative effects on antibody affinity. Our aim was to elucidate the role of variable domain glycans during antigen-specific antibody responses. By analyzing B-cell repertoires by next-generation sequencing, we demonstrate that N -glycosylation sites are introduced at positions in which glycans can affect antigen binding as a result of a specific clustering of progenitor glycosylation sites in the germline sequences of variable domain genes. By analyzing multiple human monoclonal and polyclonal (auto)antibody responses, we subsequently show that this process is subject to selection during antigen-specific antibody responses, skewed toward IgG4, and positively contributes to antigen binding. Together, these results highlight a physiological role for variable domain glycosylation as an additional layer of antibody diversification that modulates antigen binding.

The potential and biological test on cloned cassava crop remains on local sheep

Science.gov (United States)

Ginting, R.; Umar, S.; Hanum, C.

2018-02-01

This research aims at knowing the potential of cloned cassava crop remains dry matter and the impact of the feeding of the cloned cassava crop remains based complete feed on the consumption, the body weight gain, and the feed conversion of the local male sheep with the average of initial body weight of 7.75±1.75 kg. The design applied in the first stage research was random sampling method with two frames of tile and the second stage research applied Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three (3) treatments and four (4) replicates. These treatments consisted of P1 (100% grass); P2 (50% grass, 50% complete feed pellet); P3 (100% complete feed from the raw material of cloned cassava crop remaining). Statistical tests showed that the feeding of complete feed whose raw material was from cloned cassava crop remains gave a highly significant impact on decreasing feed consumption, increasing body weight, lowering feed conversion, and increasing crude protein digestibility. The conclusion is that the cloned cassava crop remains can be used as complete sheep feed to replace green grass and can give the best result.

Modeling intraindividual variability with repeated measures data methods and applications

CERN Document Server

Hershberger, Scott L

2013-01-01

This book examines how individuals behave across time and to what degree that behavior changes, fluctuates, or remains stable.It features the most current methods on modeling repeated measures data as reported by a distinguished group of experts in the field. The goal is to make the latest techniques used to assess intraindividual variability accessible to a wide range of researchers. Each chapter is written in a ""user-friendly"" style such that even the ""novice"" data analyst can easily apply the techniques.Each chapter features:a minimum discussion of mathematical detail;an empirical examp

Intraspecific carbon and nitrogen isotopic variability in foxtail millet (Setaria italica).

Science.gov (United States)

Lightfoot, Emma; Przelomska, Natalia; Craven, Martha; O Connell, Tamsin C; He, Lu; Hunt, Harriet V; Jones, Martin K

2016-07-15

Isotopic palaeodietary studies generally focus on bone collagen from human and/or animal remains. While plant remains are rarely analysed, it is known that plant isotope values can vary as a result of numerous factors, including soil conditions, the environment and type of plant. The millets were important food crops in prehistoric Eurasia, yet little is known about the isotopic differences within millet species. Here we compare the stable isotope ratios within and between Setaria italica plants grown in a controlled environment chamber. Using homogenised samples, we compare carbon isotope ratios of leaves and grains, and nitrogen isotope ratios of grains, from 29 accessions of Setaria italica. We find significant isotopic variability within single leaves and panicles, and between leaves and panicles within the same plant, which must be considered when undertaking plant isotope studies. We find that the leaves and grains from the different accessions have a ca 2‰ range in δ(13) C values, while the nitrogen isotope values in the grains have a ca 6‰ range. We also find an average offset of 0.9‰ between leaves and grains in their δ(13) C values. The variation found is large enough to have archaeological implications and within- and between-plant isotope variability should be considered in isotope studies. The range in δ(15) N values is particularly significant as it is larger than the typical values quoted for a trophic level enrichment, and as such may lead to erroneous interpretations of the amount of animal protein in human or animal diets. It is therefore necessary to account for the variability in plant stable isotope values during palaeodietary reconstructions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An agent-based model of cellular dynamics and circadian variability in human endotoxemia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tung T Nguyen

Full Text Available As cellular variability and circadian rhythmicity play critical roles in immune and inflammatory responses, we present in this study an agent-based model of human endotoxemia to examine the interplay between circadian controls, cellular variability and stochastic dynamics of inflammatory cytokines. The model is qualitatively validated by its ability to reproduce circadian dynamics of inflammatory mediators and critical inflammatory responses after endotoxin administration in vivo. Novel computational concepts are proposed to characterize the cellular variability and synchronization of inflammatory cytokines in a population of heterogeneous leukocytes. Our results suggest that there is a decrease in cell-to-cell variability of inflammatory cytokines while their synchronization is increased after endotoxin challenge. Model parameters that are responsible for IκB production stimulated by NFκB activation and for the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines have large impacts on system behaviors. Additionally, examining time-dependent systemic responses revealed that the system is least vulnerable to endotoxin in the early morning and most vulnerable around midnight. Although much remains to be explored, proposed computational concepts and the model we have pioneered will provide important insights for future investigations and extensions, especially for single-cell studies to discover how cellular variability contributes to clinical implications.

Freshwater ecosystems and resilience of Pacific salmon: Habitat Management based on natural variability

Science.gov (United States)

Bisson, P.A.; Dunham, J.B.; Reeves, G.H.

2009-01-01

In spite of numerous habitat restoration programs in fresh waters with an aggregate annual funding of millions of dollars, many populations of Pacific salmon remain significantly imperiled. Habitat restoration strategies that address limited environmental attributes and partial salmon life-history requirements or approaches that attempt to force aquatic habitat to conform to idealized but ecologically unsustainable conditions may partly explain this lack of response. Natural watershed processes generate highly variable environmental conditions and population responses, i.e., multiple life histories, that are often not considered in restoration. Examples from several locations underscore the importance of natural variability to the resilience of Pacific salmon. The implication is that habitat restoration efforts will be more likely to foster salmon resilience if they consider processes that generate and maintain natural variability in fresh water. We identify three specific criteria for management based on natural variability: the capacity of aquatic habitat to recover from disturbance, a range of habitats distributed across stream networks through time sufficient to fulfill the requirements of diverse salmon life histories, and ecological connectivity. In light of these considerations, we discuss current threats to habitat resilience and describe how regulatory and restoration approaches can be modified to better incorporate natural variability. ?? 2009 by the author(s).

Freshwater Ecosystems and Resilience of Pacific Salmon: Habitat Management Based on Natural Variability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter A. Bisson

2009-06-01

Full Text Available In spite of numerous habitat restoration programs in fresh waters with an aggregate annual funding of millions of dollars, many populations of Pacific salmon remain significantly imperiled. Habitat restoration strategies that address limited environmental attributes and partial salmon life-history requirements or approaches that attempt to force aquatic habitat to conform to idealized but ecologically unsustainable conditions may partly explain this lack of response. Natural watershed processes generate highly variable environmental conditions and population responses, i.e., multiple life histories, that are often not considered in restoration. Examples from several locations underscore the importance of natural variability to the resilience of Pacific salmon. The implication is that habitat restoration efforts will be more likely to foster salmon resilience if they consider processes that generate and maintain natural variability in fresh water. We identify three specific criteria for management based on natural variability: the capacity of aquatic habitat to recover from disturbance, a range of habitats distributed across stream networks through time sufficient to fulfill the requirements of diverse salmon life histories, and ecological connectivity. In light of these considerations, we discuss current threats to habitat resilience and describe how regulatory and restoration approaches can be modified to better incorporate natural variability.

Suppression of chaos at slow variables by rapidly mixing fast dynamics through linear energy-preserving coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Abramov, R. V.

2011-12-01

Chaotic multiscale dynamical systems are common in many areas of science, one of the examples being the interaction of the low-frequency dynamics in the atmosphere with the fast turbulent weather dynamics. One of the key questions about chaotic multiscale systems is how the fast dynamics affects chaos at the slow variables, and, therefore, impacts uncertainty and predictability of the slow dynamics. Here we demonstrate that the linear slow-fast coupling with the total energy conservation property promotes the suppression of chaos at the slow variables through the rapid mixing at the fast variables, both theoretically and through numerical simulations. A suitable mathematical framework is developed, connecting the slow dynamics on the tangent subspaces to the infinite-time linear response of the mean state to a constant external forcing at the fast variables. Additionally, it is shown that the uncoupled dynamics for the slow variables may remain chaotic while the complete multiscale system loses chaos and becomes completely predictable at the slow variables through increasing chaos and turbulence at the fast variables. This result contradicts the common sense intuition, where, naturally, one would think that coupling a slow weakly chaotic system with another much faster and much stronger chaotic system would result in general increase of chaos at the slow variables.

An Investigation of the Hydroclimate Variability of Eastern Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, K. A.; Semazzi, F. H. M.

2015-12-01

The flow of the Victoria Nile, and the productivity of the dams along it, is determined by the level of Lake Victoria, which is primarily dictated by the rainfall and temperature variability over the Lake Victoria Basin. Notwithstanding the indisputable decline of water resources over the lake basin during the Long Rains of March - May, there is a strong indication based on IPCC climate projections that this trend, which has persisted for several decades, will reverse in the next few decades. This phenomenon has come to be known as the Eastern-Central African climate change paradox and could have profound implications on sustainable development for the next few decades in Lake Victoria Basin. The purpose of this study is to investigate the climate variability associated with the East African Climate Change Paradox for the recent decades. This research analyzes observations to understand the sources of variability and potential physical mechanisms related to the decline in precipitation over Eastern Africa. We then investigate the hydrological factors involved in the decline of Lake Victoria levels in the context of the decline in rainfall. While East Africa has been experiencing persistent decline of the Long Rains for multiple decades, this same decline is not seen in annual rainfall. The remaining seasons show an increase in rainfall which is compensating for the decline of the Long Rains. It is possible that the Long Rains season is shifting in such a way that the season starts earlier, in February, and ending sooner. The corresponding annual Lake Victoria levels modeled using observed rainfall do not decline in the recent decades, except when the Long Rains seasonal variability is considered without variability from other seasons. This shift could impact hydroelectric power planning on a monthly or seasonal time scale, and could potentially have a large impact on agriculture, since it would shift the growing season in the region.

Population cycles: generalities, exceptions and remaining mysteries

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-01

Population cycles are one of nature's great mysteries. For almost a hundred years, innumerable studies have probed the causes of cyclic dynamics in snowshoe hares, voles and lemmings, forest Lepidoptera and grouse. Even though cyclic species have very different life histories, similarities in mechanisms related to their dynamics are apparent. In addition to high reproductive rates and density-related mortality from predators, pathogens or parasitoids, other characteristics include transgenerational reduced reproduction and dispersal with increasing-peak densities, and genetic similarity among populations. Experiments to stop cyclic dynamics and comparisons of cyclic and noncyclic populations provide some understanding but both reproduction and mortality must be considered. What determines variation in amplitude and periodicity of population outbreaks remains a mystery. PMID:29563267

Variable mechanical ventilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fontela, Paula Caitano; Prestes, Renata Bernardy; Forgiarini, Luiz Alberto; Friedman, Gilberto

2017-01-01

To review the literature on the use of variable mechanical ventilation and the main outcomes of this technique. Search, selection, and analysis of all original articles on variable ventilation, without restriction on the period of publication and language, available in the electronic databases LILACS, MEDLINE®, and PubMed, by searching the terms "variable ventilation" OR "noisy ventilation" OR "biologically variable ventilation". A total of 36 studies were selected. Of these, 24 were original studies, including 21 experimental studies and three clinical studies. Several experimental studies reported the beneficial effects of distinct variable ventilation strategies on lung function using different models of lung injury and healthy lungs. Variable ventilation seems to be a viable strategy for improving gas exchange and respiratory mechanics and preventing lung injury associated with mechanical ventilation. However, further clinical studies are necessary to assess the potential of variable ventilation strategies for the clinical improvement of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.

Intersubunit distances in full-length, dimeric, bacterial phytochrome Agp1, as measured by pulsed electron-electron double resonance (PELDOR) between different spin label positions, remain unchanged upon photoconversion.

Science.gov (United States)

Kacprzak, Sylwia; Njimona, Ibrahim; Renz, Anja; Feng, Juan; Reijerse, Edward; Lubitz, Wolfgang; Krauss, Norbert; Scheerer, Patrick; Nagano, Soshichiro; Lamparter, Tilman; Weber, Stefan

2017-05-05

Bacterial phytochromes are dimeric light-regulated histidine kinases that convert red light into signaling events. Light absorption by the N-terminal photosensory core module (PCM) causes the proteins to switch between two spectrally distinct forms, Pr and Pfr, thus resulting in a conformational change that modulates the C-terminal histidine kinase region. To provide further insights into structural details of photoactivation, we investigated the full-length Agp1 bacteriophytochrome from the soil bacterium Agrobacterium fabrum using a combined spectroscopic and modeling approach. We generated seven mutants suitable for spin labeling to enable application of pulsed EPR techniques. The distances between attached spin labels were measured using pulsed electron-electron double resonance spectroscopy to probe the arrangement of the subunits within the dimer. We found very good agreement of experimental and calculated distances for the histidine-kinase region when both subunits are in a parallel orientation. However, experimental distance distributions surprisingly showed only limited agreement with either parallel- or antiparallel-arranged dimer structures when spin labels were placed into the PCM region. This observation indicates that the arrangements of the PCM subunits in the full-length protein dimer in solution differ significantly from that in the PCM crystals. The pulsed electron-electron double resonance data presented here revealed either no or only minor changes of distance distributions upon Pr-to-Pfr photoconversion. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Tropical Indian Ocean Variability Driving Southeast Australian Droughts

Science.gov (United States)

Ummenhofer, C. C.; England, M. H.; McIntosh, P. C.; Meyers, G. A.; Pook, M. J.; Risbey, J. S.; Sen Gupta, A.; Taschetto, A. S.

2009-04-01

Variability in the tropical Indian Ocean has widespread effects on rainfall in surrounding countries, including East Africa, India and Indonesia. The leading mode of tropical Indian Ocean variability, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), is a coupled ocean-atmosphere mode characterized by sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies of opposite sign in the east and west of the basin with an associated large-scale atmospheric re-organisation. Earlier work has often focused on the positive phase of the IOD. However, we show here that the negative IOD phase is an important driver of regional rainfall variability and multi-year droughts. For southeastern Australia, we show that it is actually a lack of the negative IOD phase, rather than the positive IOD phase or Pacific variability, that provides the most robust explanation for recent drought conditions. Since 1995, a large region of Australia has been gripped by the most severe drought in living memory, the so-called "Big Dry". The ramifications for affected regions are dire, with acute water shortages for rural and metropolitan areas, record agricultural losses, the drying-out of two of Australia's major river systems and far-reaching ecosystem damage. Yet the drought's origins have remained elusive. For Southeast Australia, we show that the "Big Dry" and other iconic 20th Century droughts, including the Federation Drought (1895-1902) and World War II drought (1937-1945), are driven by tropical Indian Ocean variability, not Pacific Ocean conditions as traditionally assumed. Specifically, a conspicuous absence of characteristic Indian Ocean temperature conditions that are conducive to enhanced tropical moisture transport has deprived southeastern Australia of its normal rainfall quota. In the case of the "Big Dry", its unprecedented intensity is also related to recent above-average temperatures. Implications of recent non-uniform warming trends in the Indian Ocean and how that might affect ocean characteristics and climate in

Gene variants associated with antisocial behaviour: a latent variable approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, Mary Jane; Lin, Haiqun; Fernandez, Thomas V; Lee, Maria; Yrigollen, Carolyn M; Pakstis, Andrew J; Katsovich, Liliya; Olds, David L; Grigorenko, Elena L; Leckman, James F

2013-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine if a latent variable approach might be useful in identifying shared variance across genetic risk alleles that is associated with antisocial behaviour at age 15 years. Using a conventional latent variable approach, we derived an antisocial phenotype in 328 adolescents utilizing data from a 15-year follow-up of a randomized trial of a prenatal and infancy nurse-home visitation programme in Elmira, New York. We then investigated, via a novel latent variable approach, 450 informative genetic polymorphisms in 71 genes previously associated with antisocial behaviour, drug use, affiliative behaviours and stress response in 241 consenting individuals for whom DNA was available. Haplotype and Pathway analyses were also performed. Eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from eight genes contributed to the latent genetic variable that in turn accounted for 16.0% of the variance within the latent antisocial phenotype. The number of risk alleles was linearly related to the latent antisocial variable scores. Haplotypes that included the putative risk alleles for all eight genes were also associated with higher latent antisocial variable scores. In addition, 33 SNPs from 63 of the remaining genes were also significant when added to the final model. Many of these genes interact on a molecular level, forming molecular networks. The results support a role for genes related to dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, glutamate, opioid and cholinergic signalling as well as stress response pathways in mediating susceptibility to antisocial behaviour. This preliminary study supports use of relevant behavioural indicators and latent variable approaches to study the potential 'co-action' of gene variants associated with antisocial behaviour. It also underscores the cumulative relevance of common genetic variants for understanding the aetiology of complex behaviour. If replicated in future studies, this approach may allow the identification of a

Prognostic modelling options for remaining useful life estimation by industry

Science.gov (United States)

Sikorska, J. Z.; Hodkiewicz, M.; Ma, L.

2011-07-01

Over recent years a significant amount of research has been undertaken to develop prognostic models that can be used to predict the remaining useful life of engineering assets. Implementations by industry have only had limited success. By design, models are subject to specific assumptions and approximations, some of which are mathematical, while others relate to practical implementation issues such as the amount of data required to validate and verify a proposed model. Therefore, appropriate model selection for successful practical implementation requires not only a mathematical understanding of each model type, but also an appreciation of how a particular business intends to utilise a model and its outputs. This paper discusses business issues that need to be considered when selecting an appropriate modelling approach for trial. It also presents classification tables and process flow diagrams to assist industry and research personnel select appropriate prognostic models for predicting the remaining useful life of engineering assets within their specific business environment. The paper then explores the strengths and weaknesses of the main prognostics model classes to establish what makes them better suited to certain applications than to others and summarises how each have been applied to engineering prognostics. Consequently, this paper should provide a starting point for young researchers first considering options for remaining useful life prediction. The models described in this paper are Knowledge-based (expert and fuzzy), Life expectancy (stochastic and statistical), Artificial Neural Networks, and Physical models.

Study of testacean assemblages (Protozoa: Rhizopoda in touristic waterfall regions of Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, Mato Grosso State, Brazil - doi: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v32i4.7456 Study of testacean assemblages (Protozoa: Rhizopoda in touristic waterfall regions of Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, Mato Grosso State, Brazil - doi: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v32i4.7456

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márcia Teixeira de Oliveira

2010-11-01

Full Text Available An evaluation was made of the effect of temporal variations on an assembly of Testaceae in several water bodies located in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park. A sampling point was selected at each study site, where 4 samplings were collected per season, considering the climatic conditions of the dry and rainy periods. The findings revealed 80 infrageneric taxa, 05 families and 12 genera. Pearson’s correlation between the second axis of the DCA and the first axis of the PCA was significant, even after applying Bonferroni’s correction for multiple significance tests (r = 0.683; p = 0.014. Thus, the temporal variation of the limnological data, which showed higher values of turbidity, total solids, color and temperature for the rainy period and higher concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus during the dry season, was significantly correlated with the biotic data. The second axis of the PCA indicated that the variables remained unchanged during the seasonal periods under study.An evaluation was made of the effect of temporal variations on an assembly of Testaceae in several water bodies located in Chapada dos Guimarães National Park. A sampling point was selected at each study site, where 4 samplings were collected per season, considering the climatic conditions of the dry and rainy periods. The findings revealed 80 infrageneric taxa, 05 families and 12 genera. Pearson’s correlation between the second axis of the DCA and the first axis of the PCA was significant, even after applying Bonferroni’s correction for multiple significance tests (r = 0.683; p = 0.014. Thus, the temporal variation of the limnological data, which showed higher values of turbidity, total solids, color and temperature for the rainy period and higher concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus during the dry season, was significantly correlated with the biotic data. The second axis of the PCA indicated that the variables remained unchanged during the seasonal periods

A Design-Adaptive Local Polynomial Estimator for the Errors-in-Variables Problem

KAUST Repository

Delaigle, Aurore

2009-03-01

Local polynomial estimators are popular techniques for nonparametric regression estimation and have received great attention in the literature. Their simplest version, the local constant estimator, can be easily extended to the errors-in-variables context by exploiting its similarity with the deconvolution kernel density estimator. The generalization of the higher order versions of the estimator, however, is not straightforward and has remained an open problem for the last 15 years. We propose an innovative local polynomial estimator of any order in the errors-in-variables context, derive its design-adaptive asymptotic properties and study its finite sample performance on simulated examples. We provide not only a solution to a long-standing open problem, but also provide methodological contributions to error-invariable regression, including local polynomial estimation of derivative functions.

Does the social gradient remain in the dietary habits of a health-conscious population? A study of Seventh-Day Adventists in West Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Min Min; Chan, Carina K Y; Reidpath, Daniel D

2017-12-01

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a strong predictor of health, and individuals with higher SES generally have better health than those with lower SES. One of the pathways that SES influences health is through health behaviors, such as dietary intake, and a higher SES has been associated with a better diet. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a social gradient in dietary habits among the Seventh-Day Adventists, a group of conservative Christians, where healthy eating is part of the doctrinal teaching. Data from a survey of 574 Adventists residing in West Malaysia, aged 18-80 years, were analyzed. Dietary habits were measured using the Nutrition subscale of Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II. Education and income were significantly associated with dietary habits before and after controlling for demographics. There was a gradient of association; a higher level of education and higher income were associated with better dietary habits. However, only education remained significantly associated with dietary habits when the other two socioeconomic variables were included. Employment was not significantly associated with dietary habits before or after controlling for demographic variables and the other two sociodemographic variables. This study showed that education is the strongest predictor of healthy diet, and a social gradient in dietary habits still exists even among health-conscious population. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Cataclysmic variables, Hubble-Sandage variables and eta Carinae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bath, G.T.

1980-01-01

The Hubble-Sandage variables are the most luminous stars in external galaxies. They were first investigated by Hubble and Sandage (1953) for use as distance indicators. Their main characteristics are high luminosity, blue colour indices, and irregular variability. Spectroscopically they show hydrogen and helium in emission with occasionally weaker FeII and [FeII], and no Balmer jump (Humphreys 1975, 1978). In this respect they closely resemble cataclysmic variables, particularly dwarf novae. In the quiescent state dwarf novae show broad H and HeI, together with a strong UV continuum. In contrast to the spectroscopic similarities, the luminosities could hardly differ more. Rather than being the brightest stars known, quiescent dwarf novae are as faint or fainter than the sun. It is suggested that the close correspondence between the spectral appearance of the two classes combined with the difference in luminosity is well accounted for by a model of Hubble-Sandage variables in which the same physical processes are occurring, but on a larger scale. (Auth.)

Inter-annual climate variability and zooplankton: applying teleconnection indices to two deep subalpine lakes in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Manca

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Investigating relation between meteo-climatic indices and between-year variation in Daphnia population density and phenology is crucial for e.g. predicting impact of climate change on lake ecosystem structure and functioning. We tested whether and how two teleconnection indices calculated for the winter period, namely the East Atlantic pattern (EADJF and the Eastern Mediterranean Pattern (EMPDJF were correlated with Daphnia population growth in two Italian subalpine lakes, Garda and Maggiore. We investigated between-lake temporal coherence in: i water temperature within the water layer in which Daphnia is distributed; ii timing of Daphnia initial and spring maximum population density peak and iii the level of Daphnia spring maximum population density peak over an eleven-year period (1998-2008 of unchanged predation pressure by fish and invertebrates, and of common oligotrophy. Between-lake temporal coherence was high for an earlier start, an earlier, and lower, Daphnia population spring density peak after milder winters. Peak density level was coherently, positively correlated with soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP concentration. We hypothesized that Daphnia peak densities were related to atmospheric modes of variability in winter and to the degree of late winter mixing promoting replenishment of algal nutrients into upper water layers and phytoplankton growth, enhancing food availability and Daphnia fecundity, promoting Daphnia peak. 

Temporal dynamics of hot desert microbial communities reveal structural and functional responses to water input.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, Alacia; Valverde, Angel; Ramond, Jean-Baptiste; Makhalanyane, Thulani P; Jansson, Janet K; Hopkins, David W; Aspray, Thomas J; Seely, Mary; Trindade, Marla I; Cowan, Don A

2016-09-29

The temporal dynamics of desert soil microbial communities are poorly understood. Given the implications for ecosystem functioning under a global change scenario, a better understanding of desert microbial community stability is crucial. Here, we sampled soils in the central Namib Desert on sixteen different occasions over a one-year period. Using Illumina-based amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, we found that α-diversity (richness) was more variable at a given sampling date (spatial variability) than over the course of one year (temporal variability). Community composition remained essentially unchanged across the first 10 months, indicating that spatial sampling might be more important than temporal sampling when assessing β-diversity patterns in desert soils. However, a major shift in microbial community composition was found following a single precipitation event. This shift in composition was associated with a rapid increase in CO 2 respiration and productivity, supporting the view that desert soil microbial communities respond rapidly to re-wetting and that this response may be the result of both taxon-specific selection and changes in the availability or accessibility of organic substrates. Recovery to quasi pre-disturbance community composition was achieved within one month after rainfall.

Temporal dynamics of hot desert microbial communities reveal structural and functional responses to water input

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Armstrong, Alacia; Valverde, Angel; Ramond, Jean-Baptiste; Makhalanyane, Thulani P.; Jansson, Janet K.; Hopkins, David W.; Aspray, Thomas J.; Seely, Mary; Trindade, Marla I.; Cowan, Don A.

2016-09-29

The temporal dynamics of desert soil microbial communities are poorly understood. Given the implications for ecosystem functioning under a global change scenario, a better understanding of desert microbial community stability is crucial. Here, we sampled soils in the central Namib Desert on sixteen different occasions over a one-year period. Using Illumina-based amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, we found that α-diversity (richness) was more variable at a given sampling date (spatial variability) than over the course of one year (temporal variability). Community composition remained essentially unchanged across the first 10 months, indicating that spatial sampling might be more important than temporal sampling when assessing β-diversity patterns in desert soils. However, a major shift in microbial community composition was found following a single precipitation event. This shift in composition was associated with a rapid increase in CO2 respiration and productivity, supporting the view that desert soil microbial communities respond rapidly to re-wetting and that this response may be the result of both taxon-specific selection and changes in the availability or accessibility of organic substrates. Recovery to quasi pre-disturbance community composition was achieved within one month after rainfall.

Efforts to standardize wildlife toxicity values remain unrealized.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayfield, David B; Fairbrother, Anne

2013-01-01

Wildlife toxicity reference values (TRVs) are routinely used during screening level and baseline ecological risk assessments (ERAs). Risk assessment professionals often adopt TRVs from published sources to expedite risk analyses. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) developed ecological soil screening levels (Eco-SSLs) to provide a source of TRVs that would improve consistency among risk assessments. We conducted a survey and evaluated more than 50 publicly available, large-scale ERAs published in the last decade to evaluate if USEPA's goal of uniformity in the use of wildlife TRVs has been met. In addition, these ERAs were reviewed to understand current practices for wildlife TRV use and development within the risk assessment community. The use of no observed and lowest observed adverse effect levels culled from published compendia was common practice among the majority of ERAs reviewed. We found increasing use over time of TRVs established in the Eco-SSL documents; however, Eco-SSL TRV values were not used in the majority of recent ERAs and there continues to be wide variation in TRVs for commonly studied contaminants (e.g., metals, pesticides, PAHs, and PCBs). Variability in the toxicity values was driven by differences in the key studies selected, dose estimation methods, and use of uncertainty factors. These differences result in TRVs that span multiple orders of magnitude for many of the chemicals examined. This lack of consistency in TRV development leads to highly variable results in ecological risk assessments conducted throughout the United States. Copyright © 2012 SETAC.

Integrating Ecological and Social Ranges of Variability in Conservation of Biodiversity: Past, Present, and Future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sally L. Duncan

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Historical range of variability has been proposed as a concept that can be used by forest land managers to guide conservation of ecosystem functions and biodiversity conservation. The role of humans in historical range of variability has remained somewhat murky and unsettled, even though it is clear that humans have been, are, and will continue to be forces of disturbance and recovery in forested landscapes. We attempt to develop concepts that integrate the ecological and social forces affecting landscape variability. Toward that end, we present a conceptual framework that places "range of variability" into a broader context and integrates the ecological and social forces affecting landscapes past, present, and future. We use two terms to aid us in understanding the utility of historical range of variability as a context and future range of variability as a point of comparison: (1 the ecological range of variability is the estimated range of some ecological condition as a function of the biophysical and social forces affecting the area and (2 the social range of variability is the range of an ecological condition that society finds acceptable at a given time. We find it is important to recognize that future range of variability represents a constantly emerging and changing set of conditions, and that the more humans push a system to depart from its historical range of variabiloity domain, the less likely it becomes that historical range of variability processes will prove useful as benchmarks in recovering a system.

Quintessential inflation from a variable cosmological constant in a 5D vacuum

OpenAIRE

Membiela, Agustin; Bellini, Mauricio

2006-01-01

We explore an effective 4D cosmological model for the universe where the variable cosmological constant governs its evolution and the pressure remains negative along all the expansion. This model is introduced from a 5D vacuum state where the (space-like) extra coordinate is considered as noncompact. The expansion is produced by the inflaton field, which is considered as nonminimally coupled to gravity. We conclude from experiental data that the coupling of the inflaton with gravity should be...

Sequence variability is correlated with weak immunogenicity in Streptococcus pyogenes M protein

Science.gov (United States)

Lannergård, Jonas; Kristensen, Bodil M; Gustafsson, Mattias C U; Persson, Jenny J; Norrby-Teglund, Anna; Stålhammar-Carlemalm, Margaretha; Lindahl, Gunnar

2015-01-01

The M protein of Streptococcus pyogenes, a major bacterial virulence factor, has an amino-terminal hypervariable region (HVR) that is a target for type-specific protective antibodies. Intriguingly, the HVR elicits a weak antibody response, indicating that it escapes host immunity by two mechanisms, sequence variability and weak immunogenicity. However, the properties influencing the immunogenicity of regions in an M protein remain poorly understood. Here, we studied the antibody response to different regions of the classical M1 and M5 proteins, in which not only the HVR but also the adjacent fibrinogen-binding B repeat region exhibits extensive sequence divergence. Analysis of antisera from S. pyogenes-infected patients, infected mice, and immunized mice showed that both the HVR and the B repeat region elicited weak antibody responses, while the conserved carboxy-terminal part was immunodominant. Thus, we identified a correlation between sequence variability and weak immunogenicity for M protein regions. A potential explanation for the weak immunogenicity was provided by the demonstration that protease digestion selectively eliminated the HVR-B part from whole M protein-expressing bacteria. These data support a coherent model, in which the entire variable HVR-B part evades antibody attack, not only by sequence variability but also by weak immunogenicity resulting from protease attack. PMID:26175306

VariableR Reclustering in Multiple Top Quark and W Boson Events

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hyde, Jeremy [SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

2015-08-14

VariableR jet reclustering is an innovative technique that allows for the reconstruction of boosted object over a wide range of kinematic regimes. Such capability enables the efficient identification of events with multiple boosted top quarks which is a typical signature for new physics processes such as the production of the supersymmetric partner of the gluon. In order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm, the VariableR reclustered jets are compared with fixed radius reclustered jets. The flexibility of the algorithm is tested by reconstructing both boosted top quarks and boosted W bosons. The VariableR reclustering method is found to be more efficient than the fixed radius algorithm at identifying top quarks and W bosons in events with four top quarks, therefore enhancing the sensitivity for gluino searches.

Clarifying the role of mean centring in multicollinearity of interaction effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Shieh, Gwowen

2011-11-01

Moderated multiple regression (MMR) is frequently employed to analyse interaction effects between continuous predictor variables. The procedure of mean centring is commonly recommended to mitigate the potential threat of multicollinearity between predictor variables and the constructed cross-product term. Also, centring does typically provide more straightforward interpretation of the lower-order terms. This paper attempts to clarify two methodological issues of potential confusion. First, the positive and negative effects of mean centring on multicollinearity diagnostics are explored. It is illustrated that the mean centring method is, depending on the characteristics of the data, capable of either increasing or decreasing various measures of multicollinearity. Second, the exact reason why mean centring does not affect the detection of interaction effects is given. The explication shows the symmetrical influence of mean centring on the corrected sum of squares and variance inflation factor of the product variable while maintaining the equivalence between the two residual sums of squares for the regression of the product term on the two predictor variables. Thus the resulting test statistic remains unchanged regardless of the obvious modification of multicollinearity with mean centring. These findings provide a clear understanding and demonstration on the diverse impact of mean centring in MMR applications. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Low-Frequency Temporal Variability in Mira and Semiregular Variables

Science.gov (United States)

Templeton, Matthew R.; Karovska, M.; Waagen, E. O.

2012-01-01

We investigate low-frequency variability in a large sample of Mira and semiregular variables with long-term visual light curves from the AAVSO International Database. Our aim is to determine whether we can detect and measure long-timescale variable phenomena in these stars, for example photometric variations that might be associated with supergranular convection. We analyzed the long-term light curves of 522 variable stars of the Mira and SRa, b, c, and d classes. We calculated their low-frequency time-series spectra to characterize rednoise with the power density spectrum index, and then correlate this index with other observable characteristics such as spectral type and primary pulsation period. In our initial analysis of the sample, we see that the semiregular variables have a much broader range of spectral index than the Mira types, with the SRb subtype having the broadest range. Among Mira variables we see that the M- and S-type Miras have similarly wide ranges of index, while the C-types have the narrowest with generally shallower slopes. There is also a trend of steeper slope with larger amplitude, but at a given amplitude, a wide range of slopes are seen. The ultimate goal of the project is to identify stars with strong intrinsic red noise components as possible targets for resolved surface imaging with interferometry.

Variable Emittance Electrochromics Using Ionic Electrolytes and Low Solar Absorptance Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasekhar, Prasanna

2011-01-01

One of the last remaining technical hurdles with variable emittance devices or skins based on conducting polymer electrochromics is the high solar absorptance of their top surfaces. This high solar absorptance causes overheating of the skin when facing the Sun in space. Existing technologies such as mechanical louvers or loop heat pipes are virtually inapplicable to micro (solar absorption to Alpha(s) of between 0.30 and 0.46. Coupled with the emittance properties of the variable emittance skins, this lowers the surface temperature of the skins facing the Sun to between 30 and 60 C, which is much lower than previous results of 100 C, and is well within acceptable satellite operations ranges. The performance of this technology is better than that of current new technologies such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), electrostatics, and electrophoretics, especially in applications involving micro and nano spacecraft. The coatings are deposited inside a high vacuum, layering multiple coatings onto the top surfaces of variable emittance skins. They are completely transparent in the entire relevant infrared region (about 2 to 45 microns), but highly reflective in the visible-NIR (near infrared) region of relevance to solar absorptance.

Cellular and circuit mechanisms maintain low spike co-variability and enhance population coding in somatosensory cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng eLy

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The responses of cortical neurons are highly variable across repeated presentations of a stimulus. Understanding this variability is critical for theories of both sensory and motor processing, since response variance affects the accuracy of neural codes. Despite this influence, the cellular and circuit mechanisms that shape the trial-to-trial variability of population responses remain poorly understood. We used a combination of experimental and computational techniques to uncover the mechanisms underlying response variability of populations of pyramidal (E cells in layer 2/3 of rat whisker barrel cortex. Spike trains recorded from pairs of E-cells during either spontaneous activity or whisker deflected responses show similarly low levels of spiking co-variability, despite large differences in network activation between the two states. We developed network models that show how spike threshold nonlinearities dilutes E-cell spiking co-variability during spontaneous activity and low velocity whisker deflections. In contrast, during high velocity whisker deflections, cancelation mechanisms mediated by feedforward inhibition maintain low E-cell pairwise co-variability. Thus, the combination of these two mechanisms ensure low E-cell population variability over a wide range of whisker deflection velocities. Finally, we show how this active decorrelation of population variability leads to a drastic increase in the population information about whisker velocity. The canonical cellular and circuit components of our study suggest that low network variability over a broad range of neural states may generalize across the nervous system.

Silicon photonics: some remaining challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, G. T.; Topley, R.; Khokhar, A. Z.; Thompson, D. J.; Stanković, S.; Reynolds, S.; Chen, X.; Soper, N.; Mitchell, C. J.; Hu, Y.; Shen, L.; Martinez-Jimenez, G.; Healy, N.; Mailis, S.; Peacock, A. C.; Nedeljkovic, M.; Gardes, F. Y.; Soler Penades, J.; Alonso-Ramos, C.; Ortega-Monux, A.; Wanguemert-Perez, G.; Molina-Fernandez, I.; Cheben, P.; Mashanovich, G. Z.

2016-03-01

This paper discusses some of the remaining challenges for silicon photonics, and how we at Southampton University have approached some of them. Despite phenomenal advances in the field of Silicon Photonics, there are a number of areas that still require development. For short to medium reach applications, there is a need to improve the power consumption of photonic circuits such that inter-chip, and perhaps intra-chip applications are viable. This means that yet smaller devices are required as well as thermally stable devices, and multiple wavelength channels. In turn this demands smaller, more efficient modulators, athermal circuits, and improved wavelength division multiplexers. The debate continues as to whether on-chip lasers are necessary for all applications, but an efficient low cost laser would benefit many applications. Multi-layer photonics offers the possibility of increasing the complexity and effectiveness of a given area of chip real estate, but it is a demanding challenge. Low cost packaging (in particular, passive alignment of fibre to waveguide), and effective wafer scale testing strategies, are also essential for mass market applications. Whilst solutions to these challenges would enhance most applications, a derivative technology is emerging, that of Mid Infra-Red (MIR) silicon photonics. This field will build on existing developments, but will require key enhancements to facilitate functionality at longer wavelengths. In common with mainstream silicon photonics, significant developments have been made, but there is still much left to do. Here we summarise some of our recent work towards wafer scale testing, passive alignment, multiplexing, and MIR silicon photonics technology.

Green business will remain green

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcan, P.

2008-01-01

It all started with two words. Climate change. The carbon dioxide trading scheme, which was the politicians' idea on solving the number one global problem, followed. Four years ago, when the project was begun, there was no data for project initiation. Quotas for polluters mainly from energy production and other energy demanding industries were distributed based on spreadsheets, maximum output and expected future development of economies. Slovak companies have had a chance to profit from these arrangements since 2005. Many of them took advantage of the situation and turned the excessive quotas into an extraordinary profit which often reached hundreds of million Sk. The fact that the price of free quotas offered for sale dropped basically to 0 in 2006 only proved that the initial distribution was too generous. And the market reacted to the first official measurements of emissions. Slovak companies also contributed to this development. However, when planning the maximum emission volumes for 2008-2012 period, in spite of the fact that actual data were available, their expectations were not realistic. A glance at the figures in the proposal of the Ministry of Environment is sufficient to realize that there will be no major change in the future. And so for many Slovak companies business with a green future will remain green for the next five years. The state decided to give to selected companies even more free space as far as emissions are concerned. The most privileged companies can expect quotas increased by tens of percent. (author)

An analysis of prediction skill of monthly mean climate variability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Arun; Chen, Mingyue; Wang, Wanqiu [Climate Prediction Center, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (CPC/NCEP), Camp Springs, MD (United States)

2011-09-15

In this paper, lead-time and spatial dependence in skill for prediction of monthly mean climate variability is analyzed. The analysis is based on a set of extensive hindcasts from the Climate Forecast System at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The skill characteristics of initialized predictions is also compared with the AMIP simulations forced with the observed sea surface temperature (SST) to quantify the role of initial versus boundary conditions in the prediction of monthly means. The analysis is for prediction of monthly mean SST, precipitation, and 200-hPa height. The results show a rapid decay in skill with lead time for the atmospheric variables in the extratropical latitudes. Further, after a lead-time of approximately 30-40 days, the skill of monthly mean prediction is essentially a boundary forced problem, with SST anomalies in the tropical central/eastern Pacific playing a dominant role. Because of the larger contribution from the atmospheric internal variability to monthly time-averages (compared to seasonal averages), skill for monthly mean prediction associated with boundary forcing is also lower. The analysis indicates that the prospects of skillful prediction of monthly means may remain a challenging problem, and may be limited by inherent limits in predictability. (orig.)

The wealth, health and wellbeing of Ireland's older people before and during the economic crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, A; O'Sullivan, V

2014-07-03

The economic crisis of 2008/9 was felt more acutely in Ireland relative to elsewhere and culminated in the international bailout in 2010. Given the economic collapse, Ireland provides an ideal case-study of the link between wealth collapses and movements in variables such as health and well-being. Using nationally-representative samples of older people collected before and during the crisis, we show that mean net assets fell by 45 percent between 2006/7 and 2012/13. In spite of this massive fall in wealth, measures of health and well-being remained broadly unchanged. However, expectations about future living standards became less optimistic. The results tend to support the findings of other recent studies that recessions do not have widespread negative effects on health and well-being.

Deformed conformal and super-Poincare symmetries in the non- (anti-) commutative spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banerjee, R.; Lee, C.; Siwach, S.

2006-01-01

Generators of the super-Poincare algebra in the non- (anti-) commutative superspace are represented using appropriate higher derivative operators defined in this quantum superspace. Also discussed are the analogous representations of the conformal and superconformal symmetry generators in the deformed spaces. This construction is obtained by generalizing the recent work of Wess et al. on the Poincare generators in the θ-deformed Minkowski space, or by using the substitution rules we derived on the basis of the phase-space structures of non- (anti-) commutative-space variables. Even with the non-zero deformation parameters the algebras remain unchanged although the comultiplication rules are deformed. The transformation of the fields under deformed symmetry is also discussed. Our construction can be used for systematic development of field theories in the deformed spaces. (orig.)

Resistance Torque Based Variable Duty-Cycle Control Method for a Stage II Compressor

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Meipeng; Zheng, Shuiying

2017-07-01

The resistance torque of a piston stage II compressor generates strenuous fluctuations in a rotational period, and this can lead to negative influences on the working performance of the compressor. To restrain the strenuous fluctuations in the piston stage II compressor, a variable duty-cycle control method based on the resistance torque is proposed. A dynamic model of a stage II compressor is set up, and the resistance torque and other characteristic parameters are acquired as the control targets. Then, a variable duty-cycle control method is applied to track the resistance torque, thereby improving the working performance of the compressor. Simulated results show that the compressor, driven by the proposed method, requires lower current, while the rotating speed and the output torque remain comparable to the traditional variable-frequency control methods. A variable duty-cycle control system is developed, and the experimental results prove that the proposed method can help reduce the specific power, input power, and working noise of the compressor to 0.97 kW·m-3·min-1, 0.09 kW and 3.10 dB, respectively, under the same conditions of discharge pressure of 2.00 MPa and a discharge volume of 0.095 m3/min. The proposed variable duty-cycle control method tracks the resistance torque dynamically, and improves the working performance of a Stage II Compressor. The proposed variable duty-cycle control method can be applied to other compressors, and can provide theoretical guidance for the compressor.

Cataclysmic Variable Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Hellier, Coel

2001-01-01

Cataclysmic variable stars are the most variable stars in the night sky, fluctuating in brightness continually on timescales from seconds to hours to weeks to years. The changes can be recorded using amateur telescopes, yet are also the subject of intensive study by professional astronomers. That study has led to an understanding of cataclysmic variables as binary stars, orbiting so closely that material transfers from one star to the other. The resulting process of accretion is one of the most important in astrophysics. This book presents the first account of cataclysmic variables at an introductory level. Assuming no previous knowledge of the field, it explains the basic principles underlying the variability, while providing an extensive compilation of cataclysmic variable light curves. Aimed at amateur astronomers, undergraduates, and researchers, the main text is accessible to those with no mathematical background, while supplementary boxes present technical details and equations.

Effects of radiotherapy on immunity in patients with localized carcinoma of the cervix uteri

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hancock, B.W.; Bruce, L.; Heath, J.; Sugden, P.; Ward, A.M.

1979-01-01

To assess the effects of radiotherapy on immune status, a wide range of assessments have been performed on patients with localized carcinoma of the cervix uteri undergoing and initially responding clinically to radical pelvic radiotherapy. neutrophil function was essentially unchanged by treatment. Absolute neutrophil and lymphocyte counts fell after treatment and remained depressed 3 and 12 months following treatment. The proportions of T and B cells dropped with treatment but recovered to near-presentation levels during the follow-up period even though absolute counts remained depressed. In vitro tests of cellular immunity were depressed by treatment and remained so 3 and 12 months following treatment whereas skin test responses remained normal throughout the assessments. Inhibitory plasma effects were observed in photohaemagglutinin lymphocyte transformation studies on 4 untreated patients; at follow-up these effects were not evident. A variable response in immune indices has therefore been observed in patients in remission after treatment of localized carcinoma cervix stressing the importance of assessing several aspects of immune function and implying that persistent depression of certain indices does not adversely affect the host tumor response. In two patients relapsing after apparently good initial response, all aspects of immunological assessment (except serum immunoglobulin levels and neutrophil function) deteriorated

Impact of Subsurface Temperature Variability on Meteorological Variability: An AGCM Study

Science.gov (United States)

Mahanama, S. P.; Koster, R. D.; Liu, P.

2006-05-01

Anomalous atmospheric conditions can lead to surface temperature anomalies, which in turn can lead to temperature anomalies deep in the soil. The deep soil temperature (and the associated ground heat content) has significant memory -- the dissipation of a temperature anomaly may take weeks to months -- and thus deep soil temperature may contribute to the low frequency variability of energy and water variables elsewhere in the system. The memory may even provide some skill to subseasonal and seasonal forecasts. This study uses two long-term AGCM experiments to isolate the contribution of deep soil temperature variability to variability elsewhere in the climate system. The first experiment consists of a standard ensemble of AMIP-type simulations, simulations in which the deep soil temperature variable is allowed to interact with the rest of the system. In the second experiment, the coupling of the deep soil temperature to the rest of the climate system is disabled -- at each grid cell, the local climatological seasonal cycle of deep soil temperature (as determined from the first experiment) is prescribed. By comparing the variability of various atmospheric quantities as generated in the two experiments, we isolate the contribution of interactive deep soil temperature to that variability. The results show that interactive deep soil temperature contributes significantly to surface temperature variability. Interactive deep soil temperature, however, reduces the variability of the hydrological cycle (evaporation and precipitation), largely because it allows for a negative feedback between evaporation and temperature.

Within-species digestive tract flexibility in rufous-collared sparrows and the climatic variability hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Maldonado, Karin; Bozinovic, Francisco; Rojas, José M; Sabat, Pablo

2011-01-01

The climatic variability hypothesis (CVH) states that species are geographically more widespread at higher latitudes because individuals have a broader range of physiological tolerance or phenotypic flexibility as latitude and climatic variability increase. However, it remains unclear to what extent climatic variability or latitude, acting on the phenotype, account for any observed geographical gradient in mean range size. In this study, we analyzed the physiological flexibility within the CVH framework by using an intraspecific population experimental approach. We tested for a positive relationship between digestive-tract flexibility (i.e., morphology and enzyme activities) and latitude and climatic and natural diet variability in populations of rufous-collared sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis) captured in desert (27°S), Mediterranean (33°S), and cold-temperate (41°S) sites in Chile. In accordance with the CVH, we observed a positive relationship between the magnitude of digestive-tract flexibility and environmental variability but not latitude. The greatest digestive flexibility was observed in birds at middle latitudes, which experience the most environmental variability (a Mediterranean climate), whereas individuals from the most stable climates (desert and cold-temperate) exhibited little or no digestive-tract flexibility in response to experimental diets. Our findings support the idea that latitudinal gradients in geographical ranges may be strongly affected by the action of regional features, which makes it difficult to find general patterns in the distribution of species.

Variable selection in multivariate calibration based on clustering of variable concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrokhnia, Maryam; Karimi, Sadegh

2016-01-01

Recently we have proposed a new variable selection algorithm, based on clustering of variable concept (CLoVA) in classification problem. With the same idea, this new concept has been applied to a regression problem and then the obtained results have been compared with conventional variable selection strategies for PLS. The basic idea behind the clustering of variable is that, the instrument channels are clustered into different clusters via clustering algorithms. Then, the spectral data of each cluster are subjected to PLS regression. Different real data sets (Cargill corn, Biscuit dough, ACE QSAR, Soy, and Tablet) have been used to evaluate the influence of the clustering of variables on the prediction performances of PLS. Almost in the all cases, the statistical parameter especially in prediction error shows the superiority of CLoVA-PLS respect to other variable selection strategies. Finally the synergy clustering of variable (sCLoVA-PLS), which is used the combination of cluster, has been proposed as an efficient and modification of CLoVA algorithm. The obtained statistical parameter indicates that variable clustering can split useful part from redundant ones, and then based on informative cluster; stable model can be reached. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ghost Remains After Black Hole Eruption

Science.gov (United States)

2009-05-01

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost" lurking around a distant supermassive black hole. This is the first detection of such a high-energy apparition, and scientists think it is evidence of a huge eruption produced by the black hole. This discovery presents astronomers with a valuable opportunity to observe phenomena that occurred when the Universe was very young. The X-ray ghost, so-called because a diffuse X-ray source has remained after other radiation from the outburst has died away, is in the Chandra Deep Field-North, one of the deepest X-ray images ever taken. The source, a.k.a. HDF 130, is over 10 billion light years away and existed at a time 3 billion years after the Big Bang, when galaxies and black holes were forming at a high rate. "We'd seen this fuzzy object a few years ago, but didn't realize until now that we were seeing a ghost", said Andy Fabian of the Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. "It's not out there to haunt us, rather it's telling us something - in this case what was happening in this galaxy billions of year ago." Fabian and colleagues think the X-ray glow from HDF 130 is evidence for a powerful outburst from its central black hole in the form of jets of energetic particles traveling at almost the speed of light. When the eruption was ongoing, it produced prodigious amounts of radio and X-radiation, but after several million years, the radio signal faded from view as the electrons radiated away their energy. HDF 130 Chandra X-ray Image of HDF 130 However, less energetic electrons can still produce X-rays by interacting with the pervasive sea of photons remaining from the Big Bang - the cosmic background radiation. Collisions between these electrons and the background photons can impart enough energy to the photons to boost them into the X-ray energy band. This process produces an extended X-ray source that lasts for another 30 million years or so. "This ghost tells us about the black hole's eruption long after

43 CFR 10.11 - Disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... AMERICAN GRAVES PROTECTION AND REPATRIATION REGULATIONS Human Remains, Funerary Objects, Sacred Objects, or... religious leaders of all Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations: (i) From whose tribal lands, at... objects; (ii) The names and appropriate methods to contact any traditional religious leaders who should be...

Photometric Variability in the Faint Sky Variability Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morales-Rueda, L.; Groot, P.J.; Augusteijn, T.; Nelemans, G.A.; Vreeswijk, P.M.; Besselaar, E.J.M. van den

2005-01-01

The Faint Sky Variability Survey (FSVS) is aimed at finding photometric and/or astrometric variable objects between 16th and 24th mag on time-scales between tens of minutes and years with photometric precisions ranging from 3 millimag to 0.2 mag. An area of ~23 deg², located at mid and

Variability, plot size and border effect in lettuce trials in protected environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Santos

2018-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The variability within rows of cultivation may reduce the accuracy of experiments conducted in a complete randomized block design if the rows are considered as blocks, however, little is known about this variability in protected environments. Thus, our aim was to study the variability of the fresh mass in lettuce shoot, growing in protected environment, and to verify the border effect and size of the experimental unit in minimizing the productive variability. Data from two uniformity trials carried out in a greenhouse in autumn and spring growing seasons were used. In the statistical analyses, it was considered the existence of parallel cultivation rows the lateral openings of the greenhouse and of columns perpendicular to these openings. Different scenarios were simulated by excluding rows and columns to generate several borders arrangements and also to use different sizes of the experimental unit. For each scenario, homogeneity test of variances between remaining rows and columns was performed, and it was calculated the variance and coefficient of variation. There is variability among rows in trials with lettuce in plastic greenhouses and the border use does not bring benefits in terms of reduction of the coefficient of variation or minimizing the cases of heterogeneous variances among rows. In experiments with lettuce in a plastic greenhouse, the use of an experimental unit size greater than or equal to two plants provides homogeneity of variances among rows and columns and, therefore, allows the use of a completely randomized design.

Bounding the conservatism in flaw-related variables for pressure vessel integrity analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foulds, J.R.; Kennedy, E.L.

1993-01-01

The fracture mechanics-based integrity analysis of a pressure vessel, whether performed deterministically or probabilistically, requires use of one or more flaw-related input variables, such as flaw size, number of flaws, flaw location, and flaw type. The specific values of these variables are generally selected with the intent to ensure conservative predictions of vessel integrity. These selected values, however, are largely independent of vessel-specific inspection results, or are, at best, deduced by ''conservative'' interpretation of vessel-specific inspection results without adequate consideration of the pertinent inspection system performance (reliability). In either case, the conservatism associated with the flaw-related variables chosen for analysis remains examination (NDE) technology and the recently formulated ASME Code procedures for qualifying NDE system capability and performance (as applied to selected nuclear power plant components) now provides a systematic means of bounding the conservatism in flaw-related input variables for pressure vessel integrity analyses. This is essentially achieved by establishing probabilistic (risk)-based limits on the assigned variable values, dependent upon the vessel inspection results and on the inspection system unreliability. Described herein is this probabilistic method and its potential application to: (i) defining a vessel-specific ''reference'' flaw for calculating pressure-temperature limit curves in the deterministic evaluation of pressurized water reactor (PWR) reactor vessels, and (ii) limiting the flaw distribution input to a PWR reactor vessel-specific, probabilistic integrity analysis for pressurized thermal shock loads

Do physiological and pathological stresses produce different changes in heart rate variability?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea eBravi

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Although physiological (e.g. exercise and pathological (e.g. infection stress affecting the cardiovascular system have both been documented to be associated with a reduction in overall heart rate variability (HRV, it remains unclear if loss of HRV is ubiquitously similar across different domains of variability analysis or if distinct patterns of altered HRV exist depending on the stressor. Using Continuous Individualized Multiorgan Variability Analysis (CIMVATM software, heart rate (HR and four selected measures of variability were measured over time (windowed analysis from two datasets, a set (n=13 of patients who developed systemic infection (i.e. sepsis after bone marrow transplant, and a matched set of healthy subjects undergoing physical exercise under controlled conditions. HR and the four HRV measures showed similar trends in both sepsis and exercise. The comparison through Wilcoxon sign-rank test of the levels of variability at baseline and during the stress (i.e. exercise or after days of sepsis development showed similar changes, except for LF/HF, ratio of power at low and high frequencies (associated with sympathovagal modulation, which was affected by exercise but did not show any change during sepsis. Furthermore, HRV measures during sepsis showed a lower level of correlation with each other, as compared to HRV during exercise. In conclusion, this exploratory study highlights similar responses during both exercise and infection, with differences in terms of correlation and inter-subject fluctuations, whose physiologic significance merits further investigation.

An experimental study of the job demand-control model with measures of heart rate variability and salivary alpha-amylase: Evidence of increased stress responses to increased break autonomy.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, Emma; Landolt, Kathleen; Hazi, Agnes; Dragano, Nico; Wright, Bradley J

2015-01-01

We assessed in an experimental design whether the stress response towards a work task was moderated by the autonomy to choose a break during the assigned time to complete the task. This setting is defined in accordance with the theoretical framework of the job-demand-control (JDC) model of work related stress. The findings from naturalistic investigations of a stress-buffering effect of autonomy (or 'buffer hypothesis') are equivocal and the experimental evidence is limited, especially with relation to physiological indices of stress. Our objective was to investigate if increased autonomy in a particular domain (break time control) was related with adaptive physiology using objective physiological markers of stress; heart rate variability (HRV) and salivary alpha amylase (sAA). We used a within-subject design and the 60 female participants were randomly assigned to an autonomy (free timing of break) and standard conditions (fixed timing of break) of a word processing task in a simulated office environment in a random order. Participants reported increased perceptions of autonomy, no difference in demand and performed worse in the task in the break-time autonomy versus the standard condition. The results revealed support for the manipulation of increased autonomy, but in the opposing direction. Increased autonomy was related with dysregulated physiological reactivity, synonymous with typical increased stress responses. Potentially, our findings may indicate that autonomy is not necessary a resource but could become an additional stressor when it adds additional complexity while the amount of work (demands) remains unchanged. Further, our findings underscore the need to collect objective physiological evidence of stress to supplement self-reported information. Self-report biases may partially explain the inconsistent findings with the buffer hypothesis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity of Climate Change Detection and Attribution to the Characterization of Internal Climate Variability

KAUST Repository

Imbers, Jara; Lopez, Ana; Huntingford, Chris; Allen, Myles

2014-01-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) "very likely" statement that anthropogenic emissions are affecting climate is based on a statistical detection and attribution methodology that strongly depends on the characterization of internal climate variability. In this paper, the authors test the robustness of this statement in the case of global mean surface air temperature, under different representations of such variability. The contributions of the different natural and anthropogenic forcings to the global mean surface air temperature response are computed using a box diffusion model. Representations of internal climate variability are explored using simple stochastic models that nevertheless span a representative range of plausible temporal autocorrelation structures, including the short-memory first-order autoregressive [AR(1)] process and the long-memory fractionally differencing process. The authors find that, independently of the representation chosen, the greenhouse gas signal remains statistically significant under the detection model employed in this paper. The results support the robustness of the IPCC detection and attribution statement for global mean temperature change under different characterizations of internal variability, but they also suggest that a wider variety of robustness tests, other than simple comparisons of residual variance, should be performed when dealing with other climate variables and/or different spatial scales. © 2014 American Meteorological Society.

Sensitivity of Climate Change Detection and Attribution to the Characterization of Internal Climate Variability

KAUST Repository

Imbers, Jara

2014-05-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change\\'s (IPCC) "very likely" statement that anthropogenic emissions are affecting climate is based on a statistical detection and attribution methodology that strongly depends on the characterization of internal climate variability. In this paper, the authors test the robustness of this statement in the case of global mean surface air temperature, under different representations of such variability. The contributions of the different natural and anthropogenic forcings to the global mean surface air temperature response are computed using a box diffusion model. Representations of internal climate variability are explored using simple stochastic models that nevertheless span a representative range of plausible temporal autocorrelation structures, including the short-memory first-order autoregressive [AR(1)] process and the long-memory fractionally differencing process. The authors find that, independently of the representation chosen, the greenhouse gas signal remains statistically significant under the detection model employed in this paper. The results support the robustness of the IPCC detection and attribution statement for global mean temperature change under different characterizations of internal variability, but they also suggest that a wider variety of robustness tests, other than simple comparisons of residual variance, should be performed when dealing with other climate variables and/or different spatial scales. © 2014 American Meteorological Society.

Updated Estimates of the Remaining Market Potential of the U.S. ESCO Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsen, Peter H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Div.; Carvallo Bodelon, Juan Pablo [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Div.; Goldman, Charles A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Div.; Murphy, Sean [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Div.; Stuart, Elizabeth [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Div.

2017-04-01

The energy service company (ESCO) industry has a well-established track record of delivering energy and economic savings in the public and institutional buildings sector, primarily through the use of performance-based contracts. The ESCO industry often provides (or helps arrange) private sector financing to complete public infrastructure projects with little or no up-front cost to taxpayers. In 2014, total U.S. ESCO industry revenue was estimated at $5.3 billion. ESCOs expect total industry revenue to grow to $7.6 billion in 2017—a 13% annual growth rate from 2015-2017. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) were asked by the U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to update and expand our estimates of the remaining market potential of the U.S. ESCO industry. We define remaining market potential as the aggregate amount of project investment by ESCOs that is technically possible based on the types of projects that ESCOS have historically implemented in the institutional, commercial, and industrial sectors using ESCO estimates of current market penetration in those sectors. In this analysis, we report U.S. ESCO industry remaining market potential under two scenarios: (1) a base case and (2) a case “unfettered” by market, bureaucratic, and regulatory barriers. We find that there is significant remaining market potential for the U.S. ESCO industry under both the base and unfettered cases. For the base case, we estimate a remaining market potential of $92-$201 billion ($2016). We estimate a remaining market potential of $190-$333 billion for the unfettered case. It is important to note, however, that there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the estimates for both the base and unfettered cases.

Developing a spatial-statistical model and map of historical malaria prevalence in Botswana using a staged variable selection procedure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mabaso Musawenkosi LH

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Several malaria risk maps have been developed in recent years, many from the prevalence of infection data collated by the MARA (Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa project, and using various environmental data sets as predictors. Variable selection is a major obstacle due to analytical problems caused by over-fitting, confounding and non-independence in the data. Testing and comparing every combination of explanatory variables in a Bayesian spatial framework remains unfeasible for most researchers. The aim of this study was to develop a malaria risk map using a systematic and practicable variable selection process for spatial analysis and mapping of historical malaria risk in Botswana. Results Of 50 potential explanatory variables from eight environmental data themes, 42 were significantly associated with malaria prevalence in univariate logistic regression and were ranked by the Akaike Information Criterion. Those correlated with higher-ranking relatives of the same environmental theme, were temporarily excluded. The remaining 14 candidates were ranked by selection frequency after running automated step-wise selection procedures on 1000 bootstrap samples drawn from the data. A non-spatial multiple-variable model was developed through step-wise inclusion in order of selection frequency. Previously excluded variables were then re-evaluated for inclusion, using further step-wise bootstrap procedures, resulting in the exclusion of another variable. Finally a Bayesian geo-statistical model using Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation was fitted to the data, resulting in a final model of three predictor variables, namely summer rainfall, mean annual temperature and altitude. Each was independently and significantly associated with malaria prevalence after allowing for spatial correlation. This model was used to predict malaria prevalence at unobserved locations, producing a smooth risk map for the whole country. Conclusion We have

The nebular variables

CERN Document Server

Glasby, John S

1974-01-01

The Nebular Variables focuses on the nebular variables and their characteristics. Discussions are organized by type of nebular variable, namely, RW Aurigae stars, T Orionis stars, T Tauri stars, and peculiar nebular objects. Topics range from light variations of the stars to their spectroscopic and physical characteristics, spatial distribution, interaction with nebulosity, and evolutionary features. This volume is divided into four sections and consists of 25 chapters, the first of which provides general information on nebular variables, including their stellar associations and their classifi

Remaining childless : Causes and consequences from a life course perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keizer, R.

2010-01-01

Little is know about childless individuals in the Netherlands, although currently one out of every five Dutch individuals remains childless. Who are they? How did they end up being childless? How and to what extent are their life outcomes influenced by their childlessness? By focusing on individual

Postinfarction Ventricular Septal Rupture – A Rare Complication Remains Challenge for Cardiac Surgical Team

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vilém Rohn

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The incidence of post infarction ventricular septal rupture (PIVSR is decreasing in the last years due to aggressive treatment of myocardial infarction with early percutaneous coronary interventions. As a consequence patients with PIVSR are referred to surgery more often with significant heart failure. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the influence of these on the operative results and to identify the risk factors of operative mortality. A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of patients with the PIVSR admitted to our center from November 2004 to February 2012 was performed. Variables were analyzed using two-dimensional correspondence analysis. There were 25 patients (12 males and 13 females with mean age 70.2 years (47–82 operated on; 17 (68% presented with anterior and 8 (32% with posterior PIVSR. Eighteen patients (72% had acute heart failure, 13 (52% presented with cardiogenic shock. Before surgery, intraaortic balloon pump (IABP had 20 (80% patients; in 4 (16% a ventricular assist device was used, either Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO or centrifugal pumps as biventricular assist. Operative mortality was 40% (10 pts.. Four patients (12% had small non-significant recurrent shunt on postoperative echocardiography. Although majority of patients with PIVSR have significant heart failure prior to surgery the operative mortality remains comparable to older studies. Predictors of perioperative death were concomitant surgical reconstruction of the left ventricle, renal impairment before operation, male gender, history of coronary artery disease, PIVSR location posterior, and shock at surgery.

Risk-based management of remaining life of power plant components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roos, E.; Jovanovic, A.S.; Maile, K.; Auerkari, P.

1999-01-01

The paper describes application of different modules of the MPA-System ALIAS in risk-based management of remaining life of power plant components. The system allows comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the remaining life management, including also the risk analysis and risk management. In addition, thanks to the modular character of the system it is also possible to implement new methods: In the case described here, a new (probabilistic) method for determination of the next inspection time for the components exposed to creep loading has been developed and implemented in the system. Practical application of the method has shown (a) that the mean values obtained by the method fall into the range of results obtained by other methods (based on expert knowledge), and (b) that it is possible to quantify the probability of aberration from the mean values. This in turn allows quantifying the additional risks linked to e.g. prolonging of inspection intervals. (orig.) [de

1-(Benzofuran-2-yl)-2-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)aminopentane HCl, 3-F-BPAP, antagonizes the enhancer effect of (-)-BPAP in the shuttle box and leaves the effect of (-)-deprenyl unchanged.

Science.gov (United States)

Knoll, Joseph; Miklya, Ildikó; Knoll, Berta; Yasusa, Takuya; Shimazu, Seiichiro; Yoneda, Fumio

2002-09-13

The subcutaneous administration of 1 mg/kg tetrabenazine, once daily for 5 days, which depletes the catecholamine stores in the brain, significantly inhibits in rats the acquisition of a two-way conditioned avoidance reflex in the shuttle box. Enhancer substances, the tryptamine-derived selective and highly potent enhancer, R-(-)-1-(benzofuran-2-yl)-2-propylaminopentane HCl [(-)-BPAP] (0.05-10 mg/kg), the beta-phenylethylamine (PEA)-derived enhancer, (-)-deprenyl (1-5 mg/kg) and the (-)-deprenyl analogue, free of MAO-B inhibitory potency, (-)-1-phenyl-2-propylaminopentane HCl [(-)-PPAP], (1-5 mg/kg), antagonize in a dose-dependent manner the inhibition of learning caused by tetrabenazine. 1-(Benzofuran 2 yl)-2-(3,3,3-trifluoropropyl)aminopentane HCl [3 F BPAP], a newly synthetized analogue of (-)-BPAP with low specific activity, significantly antagonized the enhancer effect of (-)-BPAP but left the effect of (-)-deprenyl and (-)-PPAP unchanged. This is the first proof for a difference in the mechanism of action between a PEA-derived enhancer substance and its tryptamine-derived peer.

A method for defleshing human remains using household bleach.

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Robert W; Berryman, Hugh E

2012-03-01

Medical examiners and forensic anthropologists are often faced with the difficult task of removing soft tissue from the human skeleton without damaging the bones, teeth and, in some cases, cartilage. While there are a number of acceptable methods that can be used to remove soft tissue including macerating in water, simmering or boiling, soaking in ammonia, removing with scissors, knife, scalpel or stiff brush, and dermestid beetles, each has its drawback in time, safety, or potential to damage bone. This technical report using the chest plate of a stabbing victim presents a safe and effective alternative method for removing soft tissue from human remains, in particular the chest plate, following autopsy, without damaging or separating the ribs, sternum, and costal cartilage. This method can be used to reveal subtle blunt force trauma to bone, slicing and stabbing injuries, and other forms of trauma obscured by overlying soft tissue. Despite the published cautionary notes, when done properly household bleach (3-6% sodium hypochlorite) is a quick, safe, and effective method for examining cartilage and exposing skeletal trauma by removing soft tissue from human skeletal remains. 2011 American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Published 2011. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the U.S.A.

Determination of Remaining Useful Life of Gas Turbine Blade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meor Said Mior Azman

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to determine the remaining useful life of gas turbine blade, using service-exposed turbine blades. This task is performed using Stress Rupture Test (SRT under accelerated test conditions where the applied stresses to the specimen is between 400 MPa to 600 MPa and the test temperature is 850°C. The study will focus on the creep behaviour of the 52000 hours service-exposed blades, complemented with creep-rupture modelling using JMatPro software and microstructure examination using optical microscope. The test specimens, made up of Ni-based superalloy of the first stage turbine blades, are machined based on International Standard (ISO 24. The results from the SRT will be analyzed using these two main equations – Larson-Miller Parameter and Life Fraction Rule. Based on the results of the remaining useful life analysis, the 52000h service-exposed blade has the condition to operate in the range of another 4751 hr to 18362 hr. The microstructure examinations shows traces of carbide precipitation that deteriorate the grain boundaries that occurs during creep process. Creep-rupture life modelling using JMatPro software has shown good agreement with the accelerated creep rupture test with minimal error.

Factors contributing to radiocaesium variability in upland sheep flocks in west Cumbria (United Kingdom)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beresford, N.A.; Barnett, C.L.; Wright, S.M.; Howard, B.J.; Crout, N.M.J.

2007-01-01

Following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, restrictions were placed on the movement and slaughter of sheep within upland areas of the UK because radiocaesium activity concentrations in their meat exceeded 1000 Bq kg -1 fresh weight. Some farms remain under restriction in 2007. From 1991 to 1993 detailed studies were conducted on three sheep farms within the restricted area of west Cumbria to systematically assess the various parameters which may contribute to the observed variability in radiocaesium activity concentrations within sheep flocks. This paper reports the spatial variation in soil and vegetation activity concentrations across the grazed areas at these farms and determines the influence of grazing behaviour on variability in 137 Cs activity concentrations between individual sheep within the flocks. Together with previously reported results, these new data are used to draw conclusions on the factors determining variability within the three flocks. However, the factors are too site specific to be able to generalise the findings to other farms within the restricted areas of the UK

New paleoradiological investigations of ancient human remains from North West Lombardy archaeological excavations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Licata, Marta; Borgo, Melania; Armocida, Giuseppe; Nicosia, Luca; Ferioli, Elena [University of Insubria (Varese), Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Varese (Italy)

2016-03-15

Since its birth in 1895, radiology has been used to study ancient mummies. The purpose of this article is to present paleoradiological investigations conducted on several medieval human remains in Varese province. Anthropological (generic identification) and paleopathological analyses were carried out with the support of diagnostic imaging (X-ray and CT scans). Human remains were discovered during excavations of medieval archaeological sites in northwest Lombardy. Classical physical anthropological methods were used for the macroscopic identification of the human remains. X-ray and CT scans were performed on the same scanner (16-layer Hitachi Eclos 16 X-ray equipment). Radiological analysis permitted investigating (1) the sex, (2) age of death, (3) type of trauma, (4) therapeutic interventions and (5) osteomas in ancient human remains. In particular, X-ray and CT examinations showed dimorphic facial traits on the mummified skull, and the same radiological approaches allowed determining the age at death from a mummified lower limb. CT analyses allow investigating different types of traumatic lesions in skulls and postcranial skeleton portions and reconstructing the gait and functional outcomes of a fractured femur. Moreover, one case of possible Gardner's syndrome (GS) was postulated from observing multiple osteomas in an ancient skull. Among the medical tests available to the clinician, radiology is the most appropriate first-line procedure for a diagnostic approach to ancient human remains because it can be performed without causing any significant damage to the specimen. (orig.)

New paleoradiological investigations of ancient human remains from North West Lombardy archaeological excavations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Licata, Marta; Borgo, Melania; Armocida, Giuseppe; Nicosia, Luca; Ferioli, Elena

2016-01-01

Since its birth in 1895, radiology has been used to study ancient mummies. The purpose of this article is to present paleoradiological investigations conducted on several medieval human remains in Varese province. Anthropological (generic identification) and paleopathological analyses were carried out with the support of diagnostic imaging (X-ray and CT scans). Human remains were discovered during excavations of medieval archaeological sites in northwest Lombardy. Classical physical anthropological methods were used for the macroscopic identification of the human remains. X-ray and CT scans were performed on the same scanner (16-layer Hitachi Eclos 16 X-ray equipment). Radiological analysis permitted investigating (1) the sex, (2) age of death, (3) type of trauma, (4) therapeutic interventions and (5) osteomas in ancient human remains. In particular, X-ray and CT examinations showed dimorphic facial traits on the mummified skull, and the same radiological approaches allowed determining the age at death from a mummified lower limb. CT analyses allow investigating different types of traumatic lesions in skulls and postcranial skeleton portions and reconstructing the gait and functional outcomes of a fractured femur. Moreover, one case of possible Gardner's syndrome (GS) was postulated from observing multiple osteomas in an ancient skull. Among the medical tests available to the clinician, radiology is the most appropriate first-line procedure for a diagnostic approach to ancient human remains because it can be performed without causing any significant damage to the specimen. (orig.)

Intraindividual variability is related to cognitive change in older adults: evidence for within-person coupling.

Science.gov (United States)

Bielak, Allison A M; Hultsch, David F; Strauss, Esther; MacDonald, Stuart W S; Hunter, Michael A

2010-09-01

In this study, the authors addressed the longitudinal nature of intraindividual variability over 3 years. A sample of 304 community-dwelling older adults, initially between the ages of 64 and 92 years, completed 4 waves of annual testing on a battery of accuracy- and latency-based tests covering a wide range of cognitive complexity. Increases in response-time inconsistency on moderately and highly complex tasks were associated with increasing age, but there were significant individual differences in change across the entire sample. The time-varying covariation between cognition and inconsistency was significant across the 1-year intervals and remained stable across both time and age. On occasions when intraindividual variability was high, participants' cognitive performance was correspondingly low. The strength of the coupling relationship was greater for more fluid cognitive domains such as memory, reasoning, and processing speed than for more crystallized domains such as verbal ability. Variability based on moderately and highly complex tasks provided the strongest prediction. These results suggest that intraindividual variability is highly sensitive to even subtle changes in cognitive ability. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Scientific Management Still Endures in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Ireh, Maduakolam

2016-01-01

Some schools in America have changed, while others remain unchanged due largely to the accretion of small adjustments in what remains a very traditional enterprise. The problem is rooted in the propagation and adoption of scientific management by educators who applied and/or continues to apply it to education to restore order and for…

The Rhythm of Fairall 9. I. Observing the Spectral Variability with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lohfink, A. M.; Reynolds, C. S.; Pinto, C.

2016-01-01

. This behavior implies an unchanging source geometry and the same emission processes continuously at work at the timescale probed. With the constraints from NuSTAR on the broad-band spectral shape, it is clear that the soft excess in this source is a superposition of two different processes, one being blurred...

HOW NORMAL IS VARIABLE, OR HOW VARIABLE IS NORMAL

NARCIS (Netherlands)

TOUWEN, BCL

Variability is an important property of the central nervous system, and it shows characteristic changes during infancy and childhood. The large amount of variations in the performance of sensomotor functions in infancy is called indiscriminate or primary variability. During toddling age the child

Response-rate differences in variable-interval and variable-ratio schedules: An old problem revisited

OpenAIRE

Cole, Mark R.

1994-01-01

In Experiment 1, a variable-ratio 10 schedule became, successively, a variable-interval schedule with only the minimum interreinforcement intervals yoked to the variable ratio, or a variable-interval schedule with both interreinforcement intervals and reinforced interresponse times yoked to the variable ratio. Response rates in the variable-interval schedule with both interreinforcement interval and reinforced interresponse time yoking fell between the higher rates maintained by the variable-...

Seasonal variability of the M2 tide in the seas adjacent to Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Sok Kuh; Chung, Jong-yul; Lee, Sang-Ryong; Yum, Ki-Dat

1995-08-01

Seasonal variability of the M2 tidal harmonic constants is revealed through analyses of monthly tidal data at 12 representative tidal stations in the seas adjacent to the Korean peninsula. The variability remain systematic over the 9 years (1965-1973) of data analysis with a range comparable to that of the 18.6 year nodal modulation. Spatial inhomogeneity of the seasonal variability in the observed harmonic constants is found to exist. The largest seasonal variability in M2 appears in the stations located along the Korea Strait. This variability is not explained by the equilibrium theory of tides, and such a variability or irregularities in the harmonic constants are considered as either a noise as done by Cartwright and Amin (1986), Deutsch Hydrography Zeitschrift, 39, 235-253, or a manifestation of frictional interaction as done by Godin and Gutierrez (1986) Continental Shelf Research, 5, 379-402 for the Bay of Fundy. Considering the opposite relation between monthly mean sea level differences in Izuhara-Pusan section and tidal characteristics in the Korea Strait, it is hypothesized that the interaction between the predominant tidal currents and oceanic currents varying with the seasons might be the main cause of the observed temporal variability in the M2 tide. The nonlinear effect of the Kuroshio is investigated along the shelf break region through scale analyses, which show that the presence of a mean current increases the non-linear terms in the momentum balance by about one order of magnitude. The seasonally different damping effect of the Tsushima Current to the M2 tide is also discussed to explain the process of dominant seasonal variability along the Korea Strait based on the actual current data, but further thorough investigation, considering the advection effect of the mean current, is required to investigate the associated dynamics more completely.

Lama guanicoe remains from the Chaco ecoregion (Córdoba, Argentina): An osteological approach to the characterization of a relict wild population.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Thiago; Barri, Fernando

2018-01-01

Guanacos (Lama guanicoe) are large ungulates that have been valued by human populations in South America since the Late Pleistocene. Even though they were very abundant until the end of the 19th century (before the high deforestation rate of the last decades), guanacos have nearly disappeared in the Gran Chaco ecoregion, with relicts and isolated populations surviving in some areas, such as the shrubland area near the saline depressions of Córdoba province, Argentina. In this report, we present the first data from a locally endangered guanaco wild population, through the study of skeletal remains recovered in La Providencia ranch. Our results showed that most of the elements belonged to adults aged between 36 and 96 months; sex evaluation showed similar numbers of males and females. Statistical analysis of the body size of modern samples from Córdoba demonstrated that guanacos from the Chaco had large dimensions and presented lower size variability than the modern and archaeological specimens in our database. Moreover, they exhibited dimensions similar to those of modern guanacos from Patagonia and San Juan, and to archaeological specimens from Ongamira and Cerro Colorado, although further genetic studies are needed to corroborate a possible phylogenetic relationship. Finally, we used archaeozoological techniques to provide a first characterization of a relict guanaco population from the Chaco ecoregion, demonstrating its value to the study of modern skeletal remains and species conservation biology.

"Recent" macrofossil remains from the Lomonosov Ridge, central Arctic Ocean

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Le Duc, Cynthia; de Vernal, Anne; Archambault, Philippe; Brice, Camille; Roberge, Philippe

2016-04-01

The examination of surface sediment samples collected from 17 sites along the Lomonosov Ridge at water depths ranging from 737 to 3339 meters during Polarstern Expedition PS87 in 2014 (Stein, 2015), indicates a rich biogenic content almost exclusively dominated by calcareous remains. Amongst biogenic remains, microfossils (planktic and benthic foraminifers, pteropods, ostracods, etc.) dominate but millimetric to centrimetric macrofossils occurred frequently at the surface of the sediment. The macrofossil remains consist of a large variety of taxa, including gastropods, bivalvia, polychaete tubes, scaphopods, echinoderm plates and spines, and fish otoliths. Among the Bivalvia, the most abundant taxa are Portlandia arctica, Hyalopecten frigidus, Cuspidaria glacilis, Policordia densicostata, Bathyarca spp., and Yoldiella spp. Whereas a few specimens are well preserved and apparently pristine, most mollusk shells displayed extensive alteration features. Moreover, most shells were covered by millimeter scale tubes of the serpulid polychaete Spirorbis sp. suggesting transport from low intertidal or subtidal zone. Both the ecological affinity and known geographic distribution of identified bivalvia as named above support the hypothesis of transportation rather than local development. In addition to mollusk shells, more than a hundred fish otoliths were recovered in surface sediments. The otoliths mostly belong to the Gadidae family. Most of them are well preserved and without serpulid tubes attached to their surface, suggesting a local/regional origin, unlike the shell remains. Although recovered at the surface, the macrofaunal assemblages of the Lomonosov Ridge do not necessarily represent the "modern" environments as they may result from reworking and because their occurrence at the surface of the sediment may also be due to winnowing of finer particles. Although the shells were not dated, we suspect that their actual ages may range from modern to several thousands of

Studies on protozoa in ancient remains - A Review

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Liesbeth Frías

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Paleoparasitological research has made important contributions to the understanding of parasite evolution and ecology. Although parasitic protozoa exhibit a worldwide distribution, recovering these organisms from an archaeological context is still exceptional and relies on the availability and distribution of evidence, the ecology of infectious diseases and adequate detection techniques. Here, we present a review of the findings related to protozoa in ancient remains, with an emphasis on their geographical distribution in the past and the methodologies used for their retrieval. The development of more sensitive detection methods has increased the number of identified parasitic species, promising interesting insights from research in the future.

A DESCRIPTION OF QUASAR VARIABILITY MEASURED USING REPEATED SDSS AND POSS IMAGING

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacLeod, Chelsea L.; Ivezić, Željko; Becker, Andrew C.; Anderson, Scott F.; Sesar, Branimir; De Vries, Wim; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Kelly, Brandon C.; Lupton, Robert H.; Hall, Patrick B.; Richards, Gordon T.; Schneider, Donald P.

2012-01-01

We provide a quantitative description and statistical interpretation of the optical continuum variability of quasars. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has obtained repeated imaging in five UV-to-IR photometric bands for 33,881 spectroscopically confirmed quasars. About 10,000 quasars have an average of 60 observations in each band obtained over a decade along Stripe 82 (S82), whereas the remaining ∼25,000 have 2-3 observations due to scan overlaps. The observed time lags span the range from a day to almost 10 years, and constrain quasar variability at rest-frame time lags of up to 4 years, and at rest-frame wavelengths from 1000 Å to 6000 Å. We publicly release a user-friendly catalog of quasars from the SDSS Data Release 7 that have been observed at least twice in SDSS or once in both SDSS and the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, and we use it to analyze the ensemble properties of quasar variability. Based on a damped random walk (DRW) model defined by a characteristic timescale and an asymptotic variability amplitude that scale with the luminosity, black hole mass, and rest wavelength for individual quasars calibrated in S82, we can fully explain the ensemble variability statistics of the non-S82 quasars such as the exponential distribution of large magnitude changes. All available data are consistent with the DRW model as a viable description of the optical continuum variability of quasars on timescales of ∼5-2000 days in the rest frame. We use these models to predict the incidence of quasar contamination in transient surveys such as those from the Palomar Transient Factory and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Contribution of geodiversity, climate and spatial variables for biodiversity across a gradient of human influence

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Tukiainen, Helena; Alahuhta, Janne; Ala-Hulkko, Terhi; Field, Richard; Lampinen, Raino; Hjort, Jan

2016-04-01

Implementation of geodiversity may provide new perspectives for nature conservation. The relation between geodiversity and biodiversity has been established in recent studies but remains underexplored in environments with high human pressure. In this study, we explored the effect of geodiversity (i.e. geological, hydrological and geomorphological diversity), climate and spatial variables on biodiversity (vascular plant species richness) in environments with different human impact. The study area ranged trough the boreal vegetation zone in Finland and included altogether 1401 1-km2 grid cells from urban, rural and natural environments. The contribution of environmental variable groups for species diversity in different environments was statistically analyzed with variation partitioning method. According to the results, the contribution of geodiversity decreased and the contribution of climate and spatial variables increased as the land use became more human-induced. Hence, the connection between geodiversity and species richness was most pronounced in natural state environments.

Clinical significance of mobile health assessed sleep duration and variability in bipolar disorder.

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Kaufmann, Christopher N; Gershon, Anda; Eyler, Lisa T; Depp, Colin A

2016-10-01

Sleep disturbances are prevalent, persistent, and impairing features of bipolar disorder. However, the near-term and cumulative impact of the severity and variability of sleep disturbances on symptoms and functioning remains unclear. We examined self-reported daily sleep duration and variability in relation to mood symptoms, medication adherence, cognitive functioning, and concurrent daily affect. Forty-one outpatients diagnosed with bipolar disorder were asked to provide daily reports of sleep duration and affect collected via ecological momentary assessment with smartphones over eleven weeks. Measures of depressive and manic symptoms, medication adherence, and cognitive function were collected at baseline and concurrent assessment of affect were collected daily. Analyses examined whether sleep duration or variability were associated with baseline measures and changes in same-day or next-day affect. Greater sleep duration variability (but not average sleep duration) was associated with greater depressive and manic symptom severity, and lower medication adherence at baseline, and with lower and more variable ratings of positive affect and higher ratings of negative affect. Sleep durations shorter than 7-8 h were associated with lower same-day ratings of positive and higher same-day ratings of negative affect, however this did not extend to next-day affect. Greater cumulative day-to-day sleep duration variability, but not average sleep duration, was related to more severe mood symptoms, lower self-reported medication adherence and higher levels of negative affect. Bouts of short- or long-duration sleep had transient impact on affect. Day-to-day sleep variability may be important to incorporate into clinical assessment of sleep disturbances in bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Decline in Response Variability Improves Neural Signal Detection during Auditory Task Performance.

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von Trapp, Gardiner; Buran, Bradley N; Sen, Kamal; Semple, Malcolm N; Sanes, Dan H

2016-10-26

The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity, but a sensory neuron's response is rarely identical to successive presentations of the same stimulus. Large trial-to-trial variability would limit the central nervous system's ability to reliably detect a stimulus, presumably affecting perceptual performance. However, if response variability were to decrease while firing rate remained constant, then neural sensitivity could improve. Here, we asked whether engagement in an auditory detection task can modulate response variability, thereby increasing neural sensitivity. We recorded telemetrically from the core auditory cortex of gerbils, both while they engaged in an amplitude-modulation detection task and while they sat quietly listening to the identical stimuli. Using a signal detection theory framework, we found that neural sensitivity was improved during task performance, and this improvement was closely associated with a decrease in response variability. Moreover, units with the greatest change in response variability had absolute neural thresholds most closely aligned with simultaneously measured perceptual thresholds. Our findings suggest that the limitations imposed by response variability diminish during task performance, thereby improving the sensitivity of neural encoding and potentially leading to better perceptual sensitivity. The detection of a sensory stimulus arises from a significant change in neural activity. However, trial-to-trial variability of the neural response may limit perceptual performance. If the neural response to a stimulus is quite variable, then the response on a given trial could be confused with the pattern of neural activity generated when the stimulus is absent. Therefore, a neural mechanism that served to reduce response variability would allow for better stimulus detection. By recording from the cortex of freely moving animals engaged in an auditory detection task, we found that variability

Impact of Hydrologic and Micro-topographic Variabilities on Spatial Distribution of Mean Soil-Nitrogen Age

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Woo, D.; Kumar, P.

2015-12-01

Excess reactive nitrogen in soils of intensively managed agricultural fields causes adverse environmental impact, and continues to remain a global concern. Many novel strategies have been developed to provide better management practices and, yet, the problem remains unresolved. The objective of this study is to develop a 3-dimensional model to characterize the spatially distributed ``age" of soil-nitrogen (nitrate and ammonia-ammonium) across a watershed. We use the general theory of age, which provides an assessment of the elapsed time since nitrogen is introduced into the soil system. Micro-topographic variability incorporates heterogeneity of nutrient transformations and transport associated with topographic depressions that form temporary ponds and produce prolonged periods of anoxic conditions, and roadside agricultural ditches that support rapid surface movement. This modeling effort utilizes 1-m Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. We find a significant correlation between hydrologic variability and mean nitrate age that enables assessment of preferential flow paths of nitrate leaching. The estimation of the mean nitrogen age can thus serve as a tool to disentangle complex nitrogen dynamics by providing the analysis of the time scales of soil-nitrogen transformation and transport processes without introducing additional parameters.

Partitioning the variability of fasting plasma glucose levels in pedigrees. Genetic and environmental factors.

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Boehnke, M; Moll, P P; Kottke, B A; Weidman, W H

1987-04-01

Fasting plasma glucose measurements made in 1972-1977 on normoglycemic individuals in three-generation Caucasian pedigrees from Rochester, Minnesota were analyzed. The authors determined the contributions of polygenic loci and environmental factors to fasting plasma glucose variability in these pedigrees. To that end, fasting plasma glucose measurements were normalized by an inverse normal scores transformation and then regressed separately for males and females on measured concomitants including age, body mass index (weight/height2), season of measurement, sex hormone use, and diuretic use. The authors found that 27.7% of the variability in normalized fasting plasma glucose in these pedigrees is explained by these measured concomitants. Subsequent variance components analysis suggested that unmeasured polygenic loci and unmeasured shared environmental factors together account for at least an additional 36.7% of the variability in normalized fasting plasma glucose, with genes alone accounting for at least 27.3%. These results are consistent with the known familiality of diabetes, for which fasting plasma glucose level is an important predictor. Further, these familial factors provide an explanation for at least half the variability in normalized fasting plasma glucose which remains after regression on known concomitants.

Cognitive Variability

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Siegler, Robert S.

2007-01-01

Children's thinking is highly variable at every level of analysis, from neural and associative levels to the level of strategies, theories, and other aspects of high-level cognition. This variability exists within people as well as between them; individual children often rely on different strategies or representations on closely related problems…

75 FR 5108 - Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-01

... Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository, Laramie, WY AGENCY: National Park Service... funerary objects in the possession and control of the University of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human... of Wyoming, Anthropology Department, Human Remains Repository professional staff in consultation with...

The impact of increased interconnection on electricity systems with large penetrations of wind generation. A case study of Ireland and Great Britain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Denny, E.; Tuohy, A.; Keane, A.; Flynn, D.; O'Malley, M.; Meibom, P.; Mullane, A.

2010-01-01

Increased interconnection has been highlighted as potentially facilitating the integration of wind generation in power systems by increasing the flexibility to balance the variable wind output. This paper utilizes a stochastic unit commitment model to simulate the impacts of increased interconnection for the island of Ireland with large penetrations of wind generation. The results suggest that increased interconnection should reduce average prices in Ireland, and the variability of those prices. The simulations also suggest that while increased interconnection may reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Ireland, Great Britain would experience an increase in emissions, resulting in total emissions remaining almost unchanged. The studies suggest that increased interconnection would not reduce excess wind generation. This is because under unit commitment techniques which incorporate wind power forecasts in the scheduling decisions, wind curtailment is minimal even with low levels of interconnection. As would be expected an increase in interconnection should improve system adequacy considerably with a significant reduction in the number of hours when the load and reserve constraints are not met. (author)

Effect of toe extension on EMG of triceps surae muscles during isometric dorsiflexion.

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Siddiqi, Ariba; Arjunan, Sridhar P; Kumar, Dinesh

2016-12-01

The protocol for estimating force of contraction by triceps surae (TS) muscles requires the immobilization of the ankle during dorsiflexion and plantar flexion. However, large variability in the results has been observed. To identify the cause of this variability, experiments were conducted where ankle dorsiflexion force and electromyogram (EMG) of the TS were recorded under two conditions: (i) toes were strapped and (ii) toes were unstrapped, with all other conditions such as immobilization of the ankle remaining unchanged. The root mean square (RMS) of the EMG and the force were analyzed and one-tail Student's t-test was performed for significance between the two conditions. The RMS of the EMG from TS muscles was found to be significantly higher (~55%) during dorsiflexion with toes unstrapped compared with when the toes were strapped. The torque corresponding to dorsiflexion was also higher with toes unstrapped. Our study has shown that it is important to strap the toes when measuring the torque at the ankle and EMG of the TS muscles.

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Some Operating Diesel Engine Variables on Emitted Particulate Matters (PM

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Adel M. Saleh

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The diesel engine is the most efficient prime mover commonly available today. Diesel engines move a large portion of the world’s goods, power much of the world’s equipment, and generate electricity more economically than any other device in their size range. But the diesel is one of the largest contributors to environmental pollution problems worldwide, and will remain so, with large increases expected in vehicle population. This experimental study has been conducted with direct injection diesel engine and particulate matters (PM concentrations were measured at variable operating variables. The results show that PM concentrations influence by changing equivalence ratio, load, engine speed and injection timing

Environmental variability uncovers disruptive effects of species' interactions on population dynamics.

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Gudmundson, Sara; Eklöf, Anna; Wennergren, Uno

2015-08-07

How species respond to changes in environmental variability has been shown for single species, but the question remains whether these results are transferable to species when incorporated in ecological communities. Here, we address this issue by analysing the same species exposed to a range of environmental variabilities when (i) isolated or (ii) embedded in a food web. We find that all species in food webs exposed to temporally uncorrelated environments (white noise) show the same type of dynamics as isolated species, whereas species in food webs exposed to positively autocorrelated environments (red noise) can respond completely differently compared with isolated species. This is owing to species following their equilibrium densities in a positively autocorrelated environment that in turn enables species-species interactions to come into play. Our results give new insights into species' response to environmental variation. They especially highlight the importance of considering both species' interactions and environmental autocorrelation when studying population dynamics in a fluctuating environment. © 2015 The Author(s).

30-day mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting and valve surgery has greatly improved over the last decade, but the 1-year mortality remains constant

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Laura Sommer Hansen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation (EuroSCORE is a valuable tool in control of the quality of cardiac surgery. However, the validity of the risk score for the individual patient may be questioned. The present study was carried out to investigate whether the continued fall in short-term mortality reflects an actual improvement in late mortality, and subsequently, to investigate EuroSCORE as predictor of 1-year mortality. Methods: A population-based cohort study of 25,602 patients from a 12-year period from three public university hospitals undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG or valve surgery. Analysis was carried out based on EuroSCORE, age and co-morbidity factors (residual EuroSCORE. Results: During the period the average age increased from 65.1 ± 10.0 years to 68.9 ± 10.7 years (P < 0.001, one-way ANOVA, and the number of females increased from 26.0% to 28.2% (P = 0.0012, Chi-square test. The total EuroSCORE increased from 4.67 to 5.68 while the residual EuroSCORE decreased from 2.64 to 1.83. Thirty-day mortality decreased from 4.07% in 1999-2000 to 2.44% in 2011-2012 (P = 0.0056; Chi-square test, while 1-year mortality was unchanged (6.50% in 1999-2000 vs. 6.25% in 2011-2012 [P = 0.8086; Chi-square test]. Discussion: The study demonstrates that both co-morbidity and age has a great impact on 30-day mortality. However, with time the impact of co-morbidity seems less. Thus, age is more important than co-morbidity in late mortality. The various developments in short and long-term mortality are not readily explained. Conclusion: Although 30-day mortality of CABG and valve surgery patients has decreased during the 12-year period, the 1-year mortality remains the same.

Productive variability, border use and plot size in trials with cherry tomato

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Daniel Santos

2018-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Knowing the productive variability within protected environments is crucial for choosing the experimental design to be used in that conditions. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the variability of fruit production in protected environment cultivated with cherry tomatoes and to verify the border effect and plot size in reducing this variability. To this, data from an uniformity test carried out in a greenhouse with cherry tomato cv. ‘Lili’ were used. Total fresh mass of fruits per plant was considered being these plants arranged in cropping rows parallel to the lateral openings of the greenhouse and also the same plants arranged in columns perpendicular to these openings. To generate the borders, different scenarios were designed by excluding rows and columns and using different plot sizes. In each scenario, homogeneity of variances among the remaining rows and columns was tested. There is no variability of fruit production among rows or columns in trials with cherry tomatoes carried out in greenhouses and the use of border does not bring benefits in terms of reduction of coefficient of variation or reduction of cases of variance heterogeneity among rows or columns. Plots with a size equal to or greater than two plants make possible to use the completely randomized design in the cherry tomato trials in greenhouses.

Sequence variability is correlated with weak immunogenicity in Streptococcus pyogenes M protein.

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Lannergård, Jonas; Kristensen, Bodil M; Gustafsson, Mattias C U; Persson, Jenny J; Norrby-Teglund, Anna; Stålhammar-Carlemalm, Margaretha; Lindahl, Gunnar

2015-10-01

The M protein of Streptococcus pyogenes, a major bacterial virulence factor, has an amino-terminal hypervariable region (HVR) that is a target for type-specific protective antibodies. Intriguingly, the HVR elicits a weak antibody response, indicating that it escapes host immunity by two mechanisms, sequence variability and weak immunogenicity. However, the properties influencing the immunogenicity of regions in an M protein remain poorly understood. Here, we studied the antibody response to different regions of the classical M1 and M5 proteins, in which not only the HVR but also the adjacent fibrinogen-binding B repeat region exhibits extensive sequence divergence. Analysis of antisera from S. pyogenes-infected patients, infected mice, and immunized mice showed that both the HVR and the B repeat region elicited weak antibody responses, while the conserved carboxy-terminal part was immunodominant. Thus, we identified a correlation between sequence variability and weak immunogenicity for M protein regions. A potential explanation for the weak immunogenicity was provided by the demonstration that protease digestion selectively eliminated the HVR-B part from whole M protein-expressing bacteria. These data support a coherent model, in which the entire variable HVR-B part evades antibody attack, not only by sequence variability but also by weak immunogenicity resulting from protease attack. © 2015 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A code of ethics for evidence-based research with ancient human remains.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreissl Lonfat, Bettina M; Kaufmann, Ina Maria; Rühli, Frank

2015-06-01

As clinical research constantly advances and the concept of evolution becomes a strong and influential part of basic medical research, the absence of a discourse that deals with the use of ancient human remains in evidence-based research is becoming unbearable. While topics such as exhibition and excavation of human remains are established ethical fields of discourse, when faced with instrumentalization of ancient human remains for research (i.e., ancient DNA extractions for disease marker analyses) the answers from traditional ethics or even more practical fields of bio-ethics or more specific biomedical ethics are rare to non-existent. The Centre for Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich solved their needs for discursive action through the writing of a self-given code of ethics which was written in dialogue with the researchers at the Institute and was published online in Sept. 2011: http://evolutionäremedizin.ch/coe/. The philosophico-ethical basis for this a code of conduct and ethics and the methods are published in this article. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Initial experience with the unrestricted introduction of sugammadex at a large academic medical center: a retrospective observational study examining postoperative mechanical ventilation and efficiency outcomes.

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Reilly-Shah, Vikas N O'; Lynde, Grant C; Mitchell, Matthew L; Maffeo, Carla L; Jabaley, Craig S; Wolf, Francis A

2018-05-30

Sugammadex can rapidly reverse deep neuromuscular blockade, but due to cost questions remain as to its optimal utilization. After introduction for unrestricted use at an academic medical center, we hypothesized that reductions would be demonstrated in the primary outcome of post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) mechanical ventilation (MV) and secondary outcomes of PACU length of stay (LOS), and emergence time (surgery end to anesthesia end time in PACU). We conducted a retrospective observational study of patients undergoing general anesthesia over a 12-month period. Using multiple variable penalized logistic regression in a one group before-and-after design, we compared categorized rates of PACU MV to examine the effect of sugammadex introduction following a post-hoc chart review to ascertain the reason for postoperative MV. Additionally, multiple variable linear regression was used to assess for differences in PACU LOS and emergence time within a propensity matched set of patients receiving neostigmine or sugammadex. 7,217 cases met inclusion criteria: 3,798 before and 3,419 after the introduction of sugammadex. The incidence of PACU MV was 2.3% before and 1.8% after (p=0.118). PACU MV due to residual neuromuscular blockade (rNMB) decreased from 0.63% to 0.20% (p=0.005). Ventilation due to other causes was unchanged. PACU LOS and emergence time were unchanged in a propensity matched set of 1,444 cases. We identified rNMB as an important contributor to PACU MV utilization and observed a significant decrease after sugammadex was introduced. The selected efficiency measures may not have been sufficiently granular to identify improvements following introduction.

Some social and forensic aspects of exhumation and reinterment of industrial revolution remains.

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Duff, E J; Johnson, J S

1974-03-23

The aetiological aspects of exhumed remains from two burial sites were examined using 1839 and 1879 as years of comparison. We tried to discover whether the sample of recovered remains was representative of those buried. The state of the remains varied according to the type of soil and coffin material in which they were buried. At the earlier date most deaths were caused by infectious lesions rather than degenerative ones and 76% of those who died were below employable age-whereas in 1879 the commonest causes of death were tuberculosis ("phthisis") and bronchitis, and 42% died before they could be employed. The registration of deaths were recorded more accurately at the later date, and it was easier to build up a picture of the age, sex, and occupation of the people who died.

Cataclysmic Variables as Supernova Ia Progenitors

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Stella Kafka

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Although the identification of the progenitors of type Ia supernovae (SNeIa remains controversial, it is generally accepted that they originate from binary star systems in which at least one component is a carbon-oxygen white dwarf (WD; those systems are grouped under the wide umbrella of cataclysmic variables. Current theories for SNeIa progenitors hold that, either via Roche lobe overflow of the companion or via a wind, the WD accumulates hydrogen or helium rich material which is then burned to C and O onto the WD’s surface. However, the specifics of this scenario are far from being understood or defined, allowing for a wealth of theories fighting for attention and a dearth of observations to support them. I discuss the latest attempts to identify and study those controversial SNeIa progenitors. I also introduce the most promising progenitor in hand and I present observational diagnostics that can reveal more members of the category.

Nationwide Macroeconomic Variables and the Growth Rate of Bariatric Surgeries in Brazil.

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Cazzo, Everton; Ramos, Almino Cardoso; Pareja, José Carlos; Chaim, Elinton Adami

2018-06-06

The effect of nationwide economic issues on the necessary expansion in the number of bariatric procedures remains unclear. This study aims to determine whether there are correlations between the growth rate in the number of bariatric surgeries and the major macroeconomic variables over time in Brazil. It is a nationwide analysis regarding the number of bariatric surgeries in Brazil and the main national macroeconomic variables from 2003 through 2016: gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rate, and the unemployment rate, as well as the evolution in the number of registered bariatric surgeons. There were significant positive correlations of the growth rate of surgeries with the early variations of the GDP (R = 0.5558; p = 0.04863) and of the overall health expenditure per capita (R = 0.78322; p = 0.00259). The growth rate of the number of bariatric surgeries was not correlated with the unemployment and inflation rates, as well as with the growth rate of available bariatric surgeons. There were direct relationships between the growth rate of bariatric surgeries and the evolutions of the GDP and health care expenditure per capita. These variables appear to influence the nationwide offer of bariatric surgery.

Dhatakyadi Varti – An effective local treatment for Upapluta Yonivyapad (vulvovaginitis during pregnancy): A standard controlled randomized clinical trial

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, Nilofar Mohamad Shafi; Dei, Laxmipriya; Donga, Shilpa

2016-01-01

Background: Pregnant women are more prone to vulvovaginitis which is a great challenge for obstetricians today. In Ayurveda, Upapluta Yonivyapad described by Acharya Charaka, Sharangadhara, and both Vagbhata can be compared to vulvovaginitis during pregnancy. Aims: The present study aimed to evaluate efficacy of Dhatakyadi Varti in the management of Upapluta Yonivyapad (vulvovaginitis during pregnancy). Materials and Methods: A total of 80 female patients in the age group of 19–40 years were registered and divided into two groups. In Group A (n = 46), Dhatakyadi Varti was inserted intravaginally, and in Group B (n = 34), Clingen vaginal suppository was inserted intravaginally once at bed time for 14 days. The effect of therapy was assessed on the basis of relief in subjective and objective criteria, i.e., vaginal smear test. Results: In subjective parameters, such as Yoni Srava, Yoni Kandu, Yoni Vedana, Yoni Daha and Yoni Daurgandhya, better result was observed in trial Group A receiving Dhatakyadi Varti. Highly significant relief (P < 0.001) was observed in fungal infection, and significant relief (P = 0.005) was observed in Gram - negative bacterial infection and pus cells in Group A. In Group A, 34.88% patients had complete remission, marked improvement was found in 34.88% cases, and only 2.32% patients remained unchanged, while in Group B, 33.33% patients reported complete remission, marked improvement was found in 10% cases, and 20% patients remained unchanged. Conclusion: It was concluded from the clinical trial that Dhatakyadi Varti is highly effective in reducing subjective and objective variables of Upapluta Yonivyapad and can be introduced as a safe herbal therapy of vaginal discharge during pregnancy. PMID:29200747

Different yet similar: Examining race and ethnicity in treatment-seeking adults with binge eating disorder.

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Lydecker, Janet A; Grilo, Carlos M

2016-01-01

This study examined racial/ethnic differences in demographic variables and the clinical presentation of treatment-seeking adults with binge eating disorder (BED) who participated in treatment research at a medical school-based program. Participants were 775 (n = 195 men, n = 560 women) treatment-seeking adults with DSM-IV-defined BED who self-identified as Black (n = 121), Hispanic (n = 54), or White (n = 580). Doctoral-level research clinicians assessed participants for BED and for eating disorder psychopathology using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders and the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) interview, and measured height and weight. Participants also completed established self-report measures. Black participants had a greater proportion of women than White participants and White participants had higher education than Black and Hispanic participants. Black participants had higher body mass index (BMI) and reported more frequent binge eating episodes than White participants but eating-disorder psychopathology (EDE scales and Global Severity) did not significantly differ across racial/ethnic groups. Black participants had lower levels of depression than Hispanic and White participants. These differences in clinical presentation remained unchanged after adjusting for age, education, sex, and BMI. White participants had younger ages of onset for dieting, binge eating, and obesity, but not BED, than Black and Hispanic participants. There are some racial/ethnic differences in the developmental trajectories and clinical presentation of treatment-seeking adults with BED that remain unchanged after adjusting for demographic differences. Black participants presented for treatment with higher BMI and binge eating frequency than White participants and with lower depression than White and Hispanic groups, but associated eating disorder psychopathology levels were similar across racial/ethnic groups. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of Tibetan Music on Neuroendocrine and Autonomic Functions in Patients Waiting for Surgery: A Randomized, Controlled Study

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Antonella Cotoia

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of listening to Tibetan music on anxiety and endocrine, autonomic, cognitive responses in patients waiting for urologic surgery. Methods. Sixty patients waiting for surgery were enrolled to the study. They were randomized in music (M and control (C groups. The M group listened to a low-frequency Tibetan music for 30 min (T0–T30 through headphones, and the C group wore headphones with no sound. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory Questionnaire (STAI Y-1 was administered at T0 and T30. Normalized low (LFnu and high frequencies (HFnu of heart rate variability, LF/HF ratio, and galvanic skin response (GRS data were analyzed at T0, T10, T20, T30, and T35. The salivary α-amylase (sAA samples were collected at T0, T35, and T45. Results. In the M group, the STAI Y-1 score decreased at T30 versus baseline p<0.001, sAA levels decreased at T35 versus T0p=0.004, and GSR remained unchanged. In the C group, the STAI Y-1 score remained unchanged, sAA level increased at T35 versus T0p<0.001, and GSR slightly increased at T35 versus baseline p=0.359. LFnu was lower, and HFnu was significantly higher (T10–T30 in M versus C group. Mean LF/HF ratio slightly reduced in the M group. Conclusions. Our results suggest that preoperative listening to relaxing Tibetan music might be a useful strategy to manage preoperative anxiety.

Increasing importance of precipitation variability on global livestock grazing lands

Science.gov (United States)

Sloat, Lindsey L.; Gerber, James S.; Samberg, Leah H.; Smith, William K.; Herrero, Mario; Ferreira, Laerte G.; Godde, Cécile M.; West, Paul C.

2018-03-01

Pastures and rangelands underpin global meat and milk production and are a critical resource for millions of people dependent on livestock for food security1,2. Forage growth, which is highly climate dependent3,4, is potentially vulnerable to climate change, although precisely where and to what extent remains relatively unexplored. In this study, we assess climate-based threats to global pastures, with a specific focus on changes in within- and between-year precipitation variability (precipitation concentration index (PCI) and coefficient of variation of precipitation (CVP), respectively). Relating global satellite measures of vegetation greenness (such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index; NDVI) to key climatic factors reveals that CVP is a significant, yet often overlooked, constraint on vegetation productivity across global pastures. Using independent stocking data, we found that areas with high CVP support lower livestock densities than less-variable regions. Globally, pastures experience about a 25% greater year-to-year precipitation variation (CVP = 0.27) than the average global land surface area (0.21). Over the past century, CVP has generally increased across pasture areas, although both positive (49% of pasture area) and negative (31% of pasture area) trends exist. We identify regions in which livestock grazing is important for local food access and economies, and discuss the potential for pasture intensification in the context of long-term regional trends in precipitation variability.

Relations between zero-inflated variables in trials with horticultural crops

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro D. Lúcio

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Certain characteristics of some vegetable crops allow multiple harvests during the production cycle; however, to our knowledge, no study has described the behavior of fruit production with progression of the production cycle in vegetable crops with multiple harvests that present data overdispersion. We aimed to characterize the data overdispersion of zero-inflated variables and identify the behavior of these variables during the production cycle of several vegetable crops with multiple harvests. Data from 11 uniformity trials were used without applying treatments; these comprise the database from the Experimental Plants Group at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil. The trials were conducted using four horticultural species grown during different cultivation seasons, cultivation environments, and experimental structures. Although at each harvest, a larger number of basic units with harvest fruit was observed than units without harvest fruit, the basic unit percentage without fruit was high, generating an overdispersion within each individual harvest. The variability within each harvest was high and increased with the evolution of the production cycle of Capsicum annuum, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Cucurbita pepo species. However, the correlation coefficient between the mean weight and number of harvest fruits tended to remain constant during the crop production cycle. These behaviors show that harvest management should be done individually, at each harvest, such that data overdispersion is reduced.

Relations between zero-inflated variables in trials with horticultural crops

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lúcio, A.D.; Nunes, L.F.; Rego, F.; Pasini, M.P.B.

2016-11-01

Certain characteristics of some vegetable crops allow multiple harvests during the production cycle; however, to our knowledge, no study has described the behavior of fruit production with progression of the production cycle in vegetable crops with multiple harvests that present data overdispersion. We aimed to characterize the data overdispersion of zero-inflated variables and identify the behavior of these variables during the production cycle of several vegetable crops with multiple harvests. Data from 11 uniformity trials were used without applying treatments; these comprise the database from the Experimental Plants Group at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil. The trials were conducted using four horticultural species grown during different cultivation seasons, cultivation environments, and experimental structures. Although at each harvest, a larger number of basic units with harvest fruit was observed than units without harvest fruit, the basic unit percentage without fruit was high, generating an overdispersion within each individual harvest. The variability within each harvest was high and increased with the evolution of the production cycle of Capsicum annuum, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Cucurbita pepo species. However, the correlation coefficient between the mean weight and number of harvest fruits tended to remain constant during the crop production cycle. These behaviors show that harvest management should be done individually, at each harvest, such that data overdispersion is reduced. (Author)

Effect of Climate Variability on Crop Income in Central Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arega Shumetie Ademe

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Ethiopian agriculture is a vulnerable sector from effects of climate variability. This study identified how strong is the effect of climate variability on smallholders’ crop income in Central highlands and Arssi grain plough farming systems of the country. The unbalanced panel data (1994-2014 of the study collected for eight rounds analysed through fixed effect regression. The model result shows that successive increment of crop season rainfall keeping the temperature constant has negative and significant effect on households’ crop income in the study area. The crop income responds similarly for temperature increment if the rainfall remains constant. Given this, simultaneous increment of the two climate related inputs has positive and significant effect on crop income. Other variables like flood, frost, storm, and rainfall inconsistency in the onset and cessation time affected households’ crop income negatively and significantly. Similarly, draught power and human labour, which are critical inputs in the crop production of Ethiopian smallholders, have positive and significant effect on crop income as to the model result. Thus, this study recommended that there should be supplementing the rainfall through irrigation, check dam and other activities to have consistent water supply for the crop production that enable smallholders to collect better income. Additionally, negative effect of temperature increment should be curved through adopting long lasting strategies like afforestation.

Viscous dark energy models with variable G and Λ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arbab, Arbab I.

2008-01-01

We consider a cosmological model with bulk viscosity η and variable cosmological A ∝ ρ -α , alpha = const and gravitational G constants. The model exhibits many interesting cosmological features. Inflation proceeds due to the presence of bulk viscosity and dark energy without requiring the equation of state p=-ρ. During the inflationary era the energy density ρ does not remain constant, as in the de-Sitter type. Moreover, the cosmological and gravitational constants increase exponentially with time, whereas the energy density and viscosity decrease exponentially with time. The rate of mass creation during inflation is found to be very huge suggesting that all matter in the universe is created during inflation. (author)

Cryptanalysis of a spatiotemporal chaotic cryptosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhouma, Rhouma; Belghith, Safya

2009-01-01

This paper proposes three different attacks on a recently proposed chaotic cryptosystem in [Li P, Li Z, Halang WA, Chen G. A stream cipher based on a spatiotemporal chaotic system. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 2007;32:1867-76]. The cryptosystem under study displays weakness in the generation of the keystream. The encryption is made by generating a keystream mixed with blocks generated from the plaintext. The so obtained keystream remains unchanged for every encryption procedure. Moreover, its generation does neither depend on the plaintext nor on the ciphertext, that's to say, the keystream remains unchangeable for every plaintext with the same length. Guessing the keystream leads to guessing the key. This paper presents three possible attacks able to break the whole cryptosystem based on this drawback in generating the keystream.

Effects of prolonged recombinant human erythropoietin administration on muscle membrane transport systems and metabolic marker enzymes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juel, C; Thomsen, J J; Rentsch, R L

2007-01-01

on the expression of muscle membrane transport proteins. Likewise, improvements in performance may involve upregulation of metabolic enzymes. Since Epo is known to augment performance we tested the effect of rHuEpo on some marker enzymes that are related to aerobic capacity. For these purposes eight subjects...... performance by approximately 54%. Membrane transport systems and carbonic anhydrases involved in pH regulation remained unchanged. Of the Na(+), K(+)-pump isoforms only the density of the alpha2 subunit was decreased (by 22%) after treatment. The marker enzymes cytochrom c and hexokinase remained unchanged......Adaptations to chronic hypoxia involve changes in membrane transport proteins. The underlying mechanism of this response may be related to concomitant occurring changes in erythropoietin (Epo) levels. We therefore tested the direct effects of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) treatment...

Improved glucose tolerance after high-load strength training in patients undergoing dialysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mølsted, Stig; Harrison, Adrian Paul; Eidemak, Inge

2013-01-01

glucose tolerance (n = 9). Conclusion: The conducted strength training was associated with a significant improvement in glucose tolerance in patients with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes undergoing dialysis. The effect was apparently not associated with muscle hypertrophy, whereas the muscle...... a week. Muscle fiber size, composition and capillary density were analyzed in biopsies obtained in the vastus lateralis muscle. Glucose tolerance and the insulin response were measured by a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test. Results: All outcome measures remained unchanged during the control period....... After strength training the relative area of type 2X fibers was decreased. Muscle fiber size and capillary density remained unchanged. After the strength training, insulin concentrations were significantly lower in patients with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes (n = 14) (fasting insulin...

Nuclear remains an economic and ecologic asset

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Ngoc, Boris

2015-01-01

The author herein outlines the several benefits of nuclear energy and nuclear industry for France. He first outlines that France possesses 97 per cent of de-carbonated electricity thanks to nuclear energy (77 pc) and renewable energies (20 pc, mainly hydraulic), and that renewable energies must be developed in the building and transport sectors to be able to get rid of the environmentally and financially costly fossil energies. He outlines that reactor maintenance and the nuclear fuel cycle industry are fields of technological leadership for the French nuclear industry which is, after motor industry and aircraft industry, the third industrial sector in France. He indicates that nuclear electricity is to remain the most competitive one, and that nuclear energy and renewable energies must not be opposed to it but considered as complementary in the struggle against climate change, i.e. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to get rid of the prevalence of fossil energies

ANTI-CORRELATED OPTICAL FLUX AND POLARIZATION VARIABILITY IN BL LAC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaur, Haritma [Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007 (India); Gupta, Alok C. [Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Manora Peak, Nainital 263 129 (India); Wiita, Paul J. [Department of Physics, The College of New Jersey, P.O. Box 7718, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718 (United States); Uemura, Makoto; Itoh, Ryosuke; Sasada, Mahito, E-mail: haritma@iucaa.ernet.in [Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama 1-3-1, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526 (Japan)

2014-01-20

We present the results of photometric (V band) and polarimetric observations of the blazar BL Lac during 2008-2010 using TRISPEC attached to the KANATA 1.5 m telescope in Japan. The data reveal a great deal of variability ranging from days to months with detection of strong variations in fractional polarization. The V band flux strongly anticorrelates with the degree of polarization during the first of two observing seasons but not during the second. The direction of the electric vector, however, remained roughly constant during all of our observations. These results are consistent with a model with at least two emission regions being present, with the more variable component having a polarization direction nearly perpendicular to that of the relatively quiescent region so that a rising flux can produce a decline in degree of polarization. We also computed models involving helical jet structures and single transverse shocks in jets and show that they might also be able to agree with the anticorrelations between flux and fractional polarization.

The first Neanderthal remains from an open-air Middle Palaeolithic site in the Levant.

Science.gov (United States)

Been, Ella; Hovers, Erella; Ekshtain, Ravid; Malinski-Buller, Ariel; Agha, Nuha; Barash, Alon; Mayer, Daniella E Bar-Yosef; Benazzi, Stefano; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Levin, Lihi; Greenbaum, Noam; Mitki, Netta; Oxilia, Gregorio; Porat, Naomi; Roskin, Joel; Soudack, Michalle; Yeshurun, Reuven; Shahack-Gross, Ruth; Nir, Nadav; Stahlschmidt, Mareike C; Rak, Yoel; Barzilai, Omry

2017-06-07

The late Middle Palaeolithic (MP) settlement patterns in the Levant included the repeated use of caves and open landscape sites. The fossil record shows that two types of hominins occupied the region during this period-Neandertals and Homo sapiens. Until recently, diagnostic fossil remains were found only at cave sites. Because the two populations in this region left similar material cultural remains, it was impossible to attribute any open-air site to either species. In this study, we present newly discovered fossil remains from intact archaeological layers of the open-air site 'Ein Qashish, in northern Israel. The hominin remains represent three individuals: EQH1, a nondiagnostic skull fragment; EQH2, an upper right third molar (RM 3 ); and EQH3, lower limb bones of a young Neandertal male. EQH2 and EQH3 constitute the first diagnostic anatomical remains of Neandertals at an open-air site in the Levant. The optically stimulated luminescence ages suggest that Neandertals repeatedly visited 'Ein Qashish between 70 and 60 ka. The discovery of Neandertals at open-air sites during the late MP reinforces the view that Neandertals were a resilient population in the Levant shortly before Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens populated the region.

Mammalian remains from an Indian site on Curaçao

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hooijer, D.A.

1963-01-01

The animal remains (mostly of shells, fish, and turtles) collected by Mr. H. R. VAN HEEKEREN and Mr. C. J. DU RY at the Indian site Sint Jan II, Curaçao, in March, 1960, include a few specimens of mammals. As was the case with the Indian site Santa Cruz, on Aruba (HOOIJER, 1960), several forms are

RHM 1(2).indb

African Journals Online (AJOL)

mike

Research in Hospitality Management 2012, 1(2): 53–63 ... Strategies used to incorporate source materials also remained largely unchanged, with learners ..... score (as is the case in IELTS). ...... Introduction: situating the concept of practice.

Flexural vibrations of finite composite poroelastic cylinders

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We know from daily experience that many man-made structures consist of ..... The physical parameters of these composite cylinders following Eq. (38) are given in ... Titanium implants remain virtually unchanged in appearance, which offers ...

When to trust our learners? Clinical teachers' perceptions of decision variables in the entrustment process.

Science.gov (United States)

Duijn, Chantal C M A; Welink, Lisanne S; Bok, Harold G J; Ten Cate, Olle T J

2018-06-01

Clinical training programs increasingly use entrustable professional activities (EPAs) as focus of assessment. However, questions remain about which information should ground decisions to trust learners. This qualitative study aimed to identify decision variables in the workplace that clinical teachers find relevant in the elaboration of the entrustment decision processes. The findings can substantiate entrustment decision-making in the clinical workplace. Focus groups were conducted with medical and veterinary clinical teachers, using the structured consensus method of the Nominal Group Technique to generate decision variables. A ranking was made based on a relevance score assigned by the clinical teachers to the different decision variables. Field notes, audio recordings and flip chart lists were analyzed and subsequently translated and, as a form of axial coding, merged into one list, combining the decision variables that were similar in their meaning. A list of 11 and 17 decision variables were acknowledged as relevant by the medical and veterinary teacher groups, respectively. The focus groups yielded 21 unique decision variables that were considered relevant to inform readiness to perform a clinical task on a designated level of supervision. The decision variables consisted of skills, generic qualities, characteristics, previous performance or other information. We were able to group the decision variables into five categories: ability, humility, integrity, reliability and adequate exposure. To entrust a learner to perform a task at a specific level of supervision, a supervisor needs information to support such a judgement. This trust cannot be credited on a single case at a single moment of assessment, but requires different variables and multiple sources of information. This study provides an overview of decision variables giving evidence to justify the multifactorial process of making an entrustment decision.

Skeletal Indicators of Shark Feeding on Human Remains: Evidence from Florida Forensic Anthropology Cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, Michala K; Winburn, Allysha P; Burgess, George H

2017-11-01

This research examines a series of six Florida forensic anthropology cases that exhibit taphonomic evidence of marine deposition and shark-feeding activities. In each case, we analyzed patterns of trauma/damage on the skeletal remains (e.g., sharp-force bone gouges and punctures) and possible mechanisms by which they were inflicted during shark predation/scavenging. In some cases, shark teeth were embedded in the remains; in the absence of this evidence, we measured interdental distance from defects in the bone to estimate shark body length, as well as to draw inferences about the potential species responsible. We discuss similarities and differences among the cases and make comparisons to literature documenting diagnostic shark-inflicted damage to human remains from nearby regions. We find that the majority of cases potentially involve bull or tiger sharks scavenging the remains of previously deceased, adult male individuals. This scavenging results in a distinctive taphonomic signature including incised gouges in cortical bone. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Cognitive bias in forensic anthropology: visual assessment of skeletal remains is susceptible to confirmation bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakhaeizadeh, Sherry; Dror, Itiel E; Morgan, Ruth M

2014-05-01

An experimental study was designed to examine cognitive biases within forensic anthropological non-metric methods in assessing sex, ancestry and age at death. To investigate examiner interpretation, forty-one non-novice participants were semi randomly divided into three groups. Prior to conducting the assessment of the skeletal remains, two of the groups were given different extraneous contextual information regarding the sex, ancestry and age at death of the individual. The third group acted as a control group with no extraneous contextual information. The experiment was designed to investigate if the interpretation and conclusions of the skeletal remains would differ amongst participants within the three groups, and to assess whether the examiners would confirm or disagree with the given extraneous context when establishing a biological profile. The results revealed a significant biasing effect within the three groups, demonstrating a strong confirmation bias in the assessment of sex, ancestry and age at death. In assessment of sex, 31% of the participants in the control group concluded that the skeleton remains were male. In contrast, in the group that received contextual information that the remains were male, 72% concluded that the remains were male, and in the participant group where the context was that the remains were of a female, 0% of the participants concluded that the remains were male. Comparable results showing bias were found in assessing ancestry and age at death. These data demonstrate that cognitive bias can impact forensic anthropological non-metric methods on skeletal remains and affects the interpretation and conclusions of the forensic scientists. This empirical study is a step in establishing an evidence base approach for dealing with cognitive issues in forensic anthropological assessments, so as to enhance this valuable forensic science discipline. Copyright © 2013 Forensic Science Society. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights

Using of microvertebrate remains in reconstruction of late quaternary (Holocene paleoclimate, Eastern Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mansour Aliabadian

2015-09-01

Full Text Available   Introduction   Study of quaternary microvertebrate remains in eastern Iran, according to a few of the sediments is very important. Reconstruction of quaternary climate in many parts of West and North West of Iran as the biggest karst state is possible, such as cave Kani Mikaiel (Hashemi et al. 2005, 2006, 2007ab, 2008 2010, Jangjoo et al . 2010, Yafteh cave (Otte et al. 2007, Hashemi et al. 2015. However, such studies were very poor in eastern and north-eastern Iran (Hashemi and darvish 2006 Hashemi et al. 2008, 2015. Investigation of taxonomic identification quantification and distribution of micromammals revealed that these remains are useful in paleontology and archaeological research, because their abundance is useful for paleobiostratigraphy and dating of continental sediments. The recent research is about reconstruction of paleoclimate in two archeological sites of Konar sandal (KS (Jiroft and Tapeh Naderi (TN (Mashhad based on the microvertebrate and especially Tatera indica species. In these sites we attempted to solve the palaeoenvironment condition by analysis of rodent remains which hold the greatest potential to monitoring of ecological parameters (Hoover et al. 1977 Getz 1961 Reig 1970 Merritt 1974. Combining of a rich network of data with using of morphological and morphometric methods reconstruction of paleoenvironment documentation and investigation of their relationship with the environment is the main result of this research .       Material & Methods   In both zooarchaeological samples which are composed of juveniles and young individual rodent, (KS, NISP=800 and TN, NISP=3 cranial and postcranial remains were sorted anatomically and washed with water. Dental pattern of mandible and maxillary tooth rows were drowns using a drawing tube connecting to a stereomicroscope (Olympus SZH-10. All recovered teeth fragments were measured based on the greatest dental length and width of the upper and lower jaw molars

Using of microvertebrate remains in reconstruction of late quaternary (Holocene paleoclimate, Eastern Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narges Hashemi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction   Study of quaternary microvertebrate remains in eastern Iran, according to a few of the sediments is very important. Reconstruction of quaternary climate in many parts of West and North West of Iran as the biggest karst state is possible, such as cave Kani Mikaiel (Hashemi et al. 2005, 2006, 2007a;b, 2008; 2010, Jangjoo et al . 2010, Yafteh cave (Otte et al. 2007, Hashemi et al. 2015. However, such studies were very poor in eastern and north-eastern Iran (Hashemi and darvish 2006; Hashemi et al. 2008, 2015. Investigation of taxonomic identification; quantification and distribution of micromammals revealed that these remains are useful in paleontology and archaeological research, because their abundance is useful for paleobiostratigraphy and dating of continental sediments. The recent research is about reconstruction of paleoclimate in two archeological sites of Konar sandal (KS (Jiroft and Tapeh Naderi (TN (Mashhad based on the microvertebrate and especially Tatera indica species. In these sites we attempted to solve the palaeoenvironment condition by analysis of rodent remains which hold the greatest potential to monitoring of ecological parameters (Hoover et al. 1977; Getz 1961; Reig 1970; Merritt 1974. Combining of a rich network of data with using of morphological and morphometric methods; reconstruction of paleoenvironment; documentation and investigation of their relationship with the environment is the main result of this research .       Material & Methods   In both zooarchaeological samples which are composed of juveniles and young individual rodent, (KS, NISP=800 and TN, NISP=3 cranial and postcranial remains were sorted anatomically and washed with water. Dental pattern of mandible and maxillary tooth rows were drowns using a drawing tube connecting to a stereomicroscope (Olympus SZH-10. All recovered teeth fragments were measured based on the greatest dental length and width of the upper and lower jaw molars when

Generation-specific incentives and disincentives for nurse faculty to remain employed.

Science.gov (United States)

Tourangeau, Ann E; Wong, Matthew; Saari, Margaret; Patterson, Erin

2015-05-01

The aims of this paper are to: (1) describe work characteristics that nurse faculty report encourage them to remain in or leave their academic positions; and (2) determine if there are generational differences in work characteristics selected. Nurse faculty play key roles in preparing new nurses and graduate nurses. However, educational institutions are challenged to maintain full employment in faculty positions. A cross-sectional, descriptive survey design was employed. Ontario nurse faculty were asked to select, from a list, work characteristics that entice them to remain in or leave their faculty positions. Respondent data (n = 650) were collected using mailed surveys over four months in 2011. While preferred work characteristics differed across generations, the most frequently selected incentives enticing nurse faculty to stay were having: a supportive director/dean, reasonable workloads, supportive colleagues, adequate resources, manageable class sizes and work/life balance. The most frequently selected disincentives included: unmanageable workloads, unsupportive organizations, poor work environments, exposure to bullying, belittling and other types of incivility in the workplace and having an unsupportive director/dean. This research yields new and important knowledge about work characteristics that nurse faculty report shape their decisions to remain in or leave their current employment. Certain work characteristics were rated as important among all generations. Where similarities exist, broad strategies addressing work characteristics may effectively promote nurse faculty retention. However, where generational differences exist, retention-promoting strategies should target generation-specific preferences. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Human Remains from HMS Pandora

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.P. Steptoe

2002-04-01

Full Text Available In 1977 the wreck of HMS Pandora (the ship that was sent to re-capture the Bounty mutineers was discovered off the north coast of Queensland. Since 1983, the Queensland Museum Maritime Archaeology section has carried out systematic excavation of the wreck. During the years 1986 and 1995-1998, more than 200 human bone and bone fragments were recovered. Osteological investigation revealed that this material represented three males. Their ages were estimated at approximately 17 +/-2 years, 22 +/-3 years and 28 +/-4 years, with statures of 168 +/-4cm, 167 +/-4cm, and 166cm +/-3cm respectively. All three individuals were probably Caucasian, although precise determination of ethnicity was not possible. In addition to poor dental hygiene, signs of chronic diseases suggestive of rickets and syphilis were observed. Evidence of spina bifida was seen on one of the skeletons, as were other skeletal anomalies. Various taphonomic processes affecting the remains were also observed and described. Compact bone was observed under the scanning electron microscope and found to be structurally coherent. Profiles of the three skeletons were compared with historical information about the 35 men lost with the ship, but no precise identification could be made. The investigation did not reveal the cause of death. Further research, such as DNA analysis, is being carried out at the time of publication.

A Time-Dependent Λ and G Cosmological Model Consistent with Cosmological Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Kantha

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The prevailing constant Λ-G cosmological model agrees with observational evidence including the observed red shift, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN, and the current rate of acceleration. It assumes that matter contributes 27% to the current density of the universe, with the rest (73% coming from dark energy represented by the Einstein cosmological parameter Λ in the governing Friedmann-Robertson-Walker equations, derived from Einstein’s equations of general relativity. However, the principal problem is the extremely small value of the cosmological parameter (~10−52 m2. Moreover, the dark energy density represented by Λ is presumed to have remained unchanged as the universe expanded by 26 orders of magnitude. Attempts to overcome this deficiency often invoke a variable Λ-G model. Cosmic constraints from action principles require that either both G and Λ remain time-invariant or both vary in time. Here, we propose a variable Λ-G cosmological model consistent with the latest red shift data, the current acceleration rate, and BBN, provided the split between matter and dark energy is 18% and 82%. Λ decreases (Λ~τ-2, where τ is the normalized cosmic time and G increases (G~τn with cosmic time. The model results depend only on the chosen value of Λ at present and in the far future and not directly on G.

DNA analyses of the remains of the Prince Branciforte Barresi family.

Science.gov (United States)

Rickards, O; Martínez-Labarga, C; Favaro, M; Frezza, D; Mallegni, F

2001-01-01

The five skeletons found buried in the church of Militello di Catania, Sicily, were tentatively identified by morphological analysis and historical reports as the remains of Prince Branciforte Barresi, two of his children, his brother and another juvenile member of the family (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). In order to attempt to clarify the degree of relationships of the five skeletons, sex testing and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analysis of the hypervariable segments I and II (HV1 and HV2) of control region were performed. Moreover, the 9 bp-deletion marker of region V (COII/tRNAlys) was examined. Molecular genetic analyses were consistent with historical expectations, although they did not directly demonstrate that these are in fact the remains of the Prince and his relatives, due to the impossibility of obtaining DNA from living maternal relatives of the Prince.

Enhanced Contaminated Human Remains Pouch: initial development and preliminary performance assessments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iseli, A.M.; Kwen, H.D.; Ul-Alam, M.; Balasubramanian, M.; Rajagopalan, S.

2011-11-07

The objective is to produce a proof of concept prototype Enhanced Contaminated Human Remains Pouch (ECHRP) with self-decontamination capability to provide increased protection to emergency response personnel. The key objective was to decrease the concentration of toxic chemicals through the use of an absorbent and reactive nanocellulose liner. Additionally, nanomaterials with biocidal properties were developed and tested as a 'stand-alone' treatment. The setting was a private company research laboratory. The main outcome measures were production of a functional prototype. A functional prototype capable of mitigating the threats due to sulfur mustard, Soman, and a large variety of liquid and vapor toxic industrial chemicals was produced. Stand-alone biocidal treatment efficacy was validated. The ECHRP provides superior protection from both chemical and biological hazards to various emergency response personnel and human remains handlers.

Residual and Past Entropy for Concomitants of Ordered Random Variables of Morgenstern Family

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. M. Mohie EL-Din

2015-01-01

Full Text Available For a system, which is observed at time t, the residual and past entropies measure the uncertainty about the remaining and the past life of the distribution, respectively. In this paper, we have presented the residual and past entropy of Morgenstern family based on the concomitants of the different types of generalized order statistics (gos and give the linear transformation of such model. Characterization results for these dynamic entropies for concomitants of ordered random variables have been considered.

PknB remains an essential and a conserved target for drug development in susceptible and MDR strains of M. Tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Anamika; Pal, Sudhir K; Pandey, Divya; Fakir, Najneen A; Rathod, Sunita; Sinha, Dhiraj; SivaKumar, S; Sinha, Pallavi; Periera, Mycal; Balgam, Shilpa; Sekar, Gomathi; UmaDevi, K R; Anupurba, Shampa; Nema, Vijay

2017-08-18

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) protein kinase B (PknB) which is now proved to be essential for the growth and survival of M.tb, is a transmembrane protein with a potential to be a good drug target. However it is not known if this target remains conserved in otherwise resistant isolates from clinical origin. The present study describes the conservation analysis of sequences covering the inhibitor binding domain of PknB to assess if it remains conserved in susceptible and resistant clinical strains of mycobacteria picked from three different geographical areas of India. A total of 116 isolates from North, South and West India were used in the study with a variable profile of their susceptibilities towards streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and ofloxacin. Isolates were also spoligotyped in order to find if the conservation pattern of pknB gene remain consistent or differ with different spoligotypes. The impact of variation as found in the study was analyzed using Molecular dynamics simulations. The sequencing results with 115/116 isolates revealed the conserved nature of pknB sequences irrespective of their susceptibility status and spoligotypes. The only variation found was in one strains wherein pnkB sequence had G to A mutation at 664 position translating into a change of amino acid, Valine to Isoleucine. After analyzing the impact of this sequence variation using Molecular dynamics simulations, it was observed that the variation is causing no significant change in protein structure or the inhibitor binding. Hence, the study endorses that PknB is an ideal target for drug development and there is no pre-existing or induced resistance with respect to the sequences involved in inhibitor binding. Also if the mutation that we are reporting for the first time is found again in subsequent work, it should be checked with phenotypic profile before drawing the conclusion that it would affect the activity in any way. Bioinformatics analysis in our study

Effects of short-term variability of meteorological variables on soil temperature in permafrost regions

Science.gov (United States)

Beer, Christian; Porada, Philipp; Ekici, Altug; Brakebusch, Matthias

2018-03-01

Effects of the short-term temporal variability of meteorological variables on soil temperature in northern high-latitude regions have been investigated. For this, a process-oriented land surface model has been driven using an artificially manipulated climate dataset. Short-term climate variability mainly impacts snow depth, and the thermal diffusivity of lichens and bryophytes. These impacts of climate variability on insulating surface layers together substantially alter the heat exchange between atmosphere and soil. As a result, soil temperature is 0.1 to 0.8 °C higher when climate variability is reduced. Earth system models project warming of the Arctic region but also increasing variability of meteorological variables and more often extreme meteorological events. Therefore, our results show that projected future increases in permafrost temperature and active-layer thickness in response to climate change will be lower (i) when taking into account future changes in short-term variability of meteorological variables and (ii) when representing dynamic snow and lichen and bryophyte functions in land surface models.

Properties and effects of remaining carbon from waste plastics gasifying on iron scale reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chongmin; Chen, Shuwen; Miao, Xincheng; Yuan, Hao

2011-06-01

The carbonous activities of three kinds of carbon-bearing materials gasified from plastics were tested with coal coke as reference. The results showed that the carbonous activities of these remaining carbon-bearing materials were higher than that of coal-coke. Besides, the fractal analyses showed that the porosities of remaining carbon-bearing materials were higher than that of coal-coke. It revealed that these kinds of remaining carbon-bearing materials are conducive to improve the kinetics conditions of gas-solid phase reaction in iron scale reduction. Copyright © 2011 The Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of remaining horizontal instability in high-grade acromioclavicular joint injuries surgically managed.

Science.gov (United States)

Cisneros, Luis Natera; Reiriz, Juan Sarasquete

2017-04-01

To determine the prevalence of remaining horizontal instability in high-grade acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) injuries surgically managed by means of four different surgical strategies and to assess its relation to the clinical outcomes and the quality of life. In this multicentric non-randomized retrospective study, 53 patients with high-grade ACJ injuries surgically managed (by means of open or arthroscopic surgery) were clinically and radiographically assessed at 24 months or more after shoulder surgery. The presence of post-surgical remaining horizontal instability was evaluated by means of Alexander or axillary X-ray views. The study population was divided into two groups: patients with evidence of post-surgical remaining horizontal instability and patients without evidence of post-surgical remaining horizontal instability at the last follow-up visit. The relationship between remaining horizontal instability and the quality-of-life questionnaires was analyzed. 18.87% (10/53) of the Alexander or axillary X-rays views showed post-surgical remaining horizontal instability at the last follow-up visit (INSTAB-group). Results of the questionnaires were: (1) physical SF36 score (INSTAB-group 57.02 ± 3.17  and NO-INSTAB-group 57.66 ± 3.30, p = 0.583); (2) mental SF36 score (INSTAB-group 53.95 ± 3.98  and NO-INSTAB-group 55.71 ± 3.30, p = 0.150); (3) NRS for pain (INSTAB-group 1.30 ± 1.49 and NO-INSTAB-group 0.83  ± 1.08, p = 0.260); (4) DASH questionnaire (INSTAB-group 5.27 ± 5.42 and NO-INSTAB-group 3.06 ± 2.30, p = 0.049); (5) Constant score (INSTAB-group 93.4 ± 3.5 and NO-INSTAB-group 94.83  ± 4.3, p = 0.333); and Global satisfaction (INSTAB-group 8.7  ± 0.95 and NO-INSTAB-group 8.64 ± 1.03, p = 0.874). Independently of the type of procedure, post-surgical remaining horizontal instability was present in almost one-fifth of the patients, and this group of patients showed a significantly worse DASH score. The

Reactive Oxygen is a Major Factor Regulating Cell Division and Angiogenesis in Breast Cancer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Arnold, Rebecca

2001-01-01

.... We investigated the generation of the H2O2 and O2%. While O2 levels appeared to remain unchanged, 11202 levels increased significantly over control cell lines in several of the tumor cell lines...

Stochastic modeling of the Fermi/LAT γ-ray blazar variability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sobolewska, M. A.; Siemiginowska, A. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Kelly, B. C. [Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93107 (United States); Nalewajko, K., E-mail: malgosia@camk.edu.pl [JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, 440 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)

2014-05-10

We study the γ-ray variability of 13 blazars observed with the Fermi/Large Area Telescope (LAT). These blazars have the most complete light curves collected during the first four years of the Fermi sky survey. We model them with the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process or a mixture of the OU processes. The OU process has power spectral density (PSD) proportional to 1/f {sup α} with α changing at a characteristic timescale, τ{sub 0}, from 0 (τ >> τ{sub 0}) to 2 (τ << τ{sub 0}). The PSD of the mixed OU process has two characteristic timescales and an additional intermediate region with 0 < α < 2. We show that the OU model provides a good description of the Fermi/LAT light curves of three blazars in our sample. For the first time, we constrain a characteristic γ-ray timescale of variability in two BL Lac sources, 3C 66A and PKS 2155-304 (τ{sub 0} ≅ 25 days and τ{sub 0} ≅ 43 days, respectively, in the observer's frame), which are longer than the soft X-ray timescales detected in blazars and Seyfert galaxies. We find that the mixed OU process approximates the light curves of the remaining 10 blazars better than the OU process. We derive limits on their long and short characteristic timescales, and infer that their Fermi/LAT PSD resemble power-law functions. We constrain the PSD slopes for all but one source in the sample. We find hints for sub-hour Fermi/LAT variability in four flat spectrum radio quasars. We discuss the implications of our results for theoretical models of blazar variability.

International standards to document remaining autonomic function after spinal cord injury

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krassioukov, Andrei; Biering-Sørensen, Fin; Donovan, William

2012-01-01

This is the first guideline describing the International Standards to document remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI). This guideline should be used as an adjunct to the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) including the ...

Variability in large-scale wind power generation: Variability in large-scale wind power generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiviluoma, Juha [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo Finland; Holttinen, Hannele [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo Finland; Weir, David [Energy Department, Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Oslo Norway; Scharff, Richard [KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Electric Power Systems, Stockholm Sweden; Söder, Lennart [Royal Institute of Technology, Electric Power Systems, Stockholm Sweden; Menemenlis, Nickie [Institut de recherche Hydro-Québec, Montreal Canada; Cutululis, Nicolaos A. [DTU, Wind Energy, Roskilde Denmark; Danti Lopez, Irene [Electricity Research Centre, University College Dublin, Dublin Ireland; Lannoye, Eamonn [Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto California USA; Estanqueiro, Ana [LNEG, Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia, UESEO, Lisbon Spain; Gomez-Lazaro, Emilio [Renewable Energy Research Institute and DIEEAC/EDII-AB, Castilla-La Mancha University, Albacete Spain; Zhang, Qin [State Grid Corporation of China, Beijing China; Bai, Jianhua [State Grid Energy Research Institute Beijing, Beijing China; Wan, Yih-Huei [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Transmission and Grid Integration Group, Golden Colorado USA; Milligan, Michael [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Transmission and Grid Integration Group, Golden Colorado USA

2015-10-25

The paper demonstrates the characteristics of wind power variability and net load variability in multiple power systems based on real data from multiple years. Demonstrated characteristics include probability distribution for different ramp durations, seasonal and diurnal variability and low net load events. The comparison shows regions with low variability (Sweden, Spain and Germany), medium variability (Portugal, Ireland, Finland and Denmark) and regions with higher variability (Quebec, Bonneville Power Administration and Electric Reliability Council of Texas in North America; Gansu, Jilin and Liaoning in China; and Norway and offshore wind power in Denmark). For regions with low variability, the maximum 1 h wind ramps are below 10% of nominal capacity, and for regions with high variability, they may be close to 30%. Wind power variability is mainly explained by the extent of geographical spread, but also higher capacity factor causes higher variability. It was also shown how wind power ramps are autocorrelated and dependent on the operating output level. When wind power was concentrated in smaller area, there were outliers with high changes in wind output, which were not present in large areas with well-dispersed wind power.

Composite optical vortices in noncollinear Laguerre–Gaussian beams and their propagation in free space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Ke; Liu Pusheng; Lü Baida

2008-01-01

Taking two Laguerre—Gaussian beams with topological charge l = ± 1 as an example, this paper studies the composite optical vortices formed by two noncollinear Laguerre—Gaussian beams with different phases, amplitudes, waist widths, off-axis distances, and their propagation in free space. It is shown by detailed numerical illustrative examples that the number and location of composite vortices at the waist plane are variable by varying the relative phase β, amplitude ratio η, waist width ratio ζ, or off-axis distance ratio μ. The net topological charge l net is not always equal to the sum l sum of charges of the two component beams. The motion, creation and annihilation of composite vortices take place in the free-space propagation, and the net charge during the propagation remains unchanged and equals to the net charge at the waist plane

Trends in breeding phenology across ten decades show varying adjustments to environmental changes in four wader species

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meltofte, Hans; Amstrup, Ole; Petersen, Troels Leuenhagen

2018-01-01

Capsule: During 1928–2016, initiation of egg-laying advanced in two wader species, remained unchanged in one, and was delayed in one species. The changes across years and variation among species can be explained by climatic variables and differences in migratory strategies. Aims: To document...... possible changes in initiation of egg-laying in common Danish wader species since the early part of the 20th century and seek possible correlations between egg-laying, timing of arrival and environmental factors. Methods: Annual records of the first eggs and chicks found on the scientific reserve...... of Tipperne in western Denmark 1928–2016 were analysed using linear regression to determine patterns in timing of egg-laying, pre-breeding length and influence of climate factors. Results: Two short/medium-distance migrant wader species, Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus and Common Redshank Tringa totanus...

Does media governance restrict corporate overinvestment behavior? Evidence from Chinese listed firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huili Zhang

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Using China’s A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2011, this paper empirically tests how media governance affects firms’ levels of overinvestment and whether external supervision and informal institutional mechanisms reduce these levels. We find that media governance and overinvestment are significantly negatively related. When firms are located in a district with a stronger media governance environment their levels of overinvestment are lower, indicating that media governance significantly restricts overinvestment behavior. When internal corporate governance efficiency is low, the negative relationship between the media environment and overinvestment behavior is significantly enhanced, indicating that when internal governance or formal systems have reduced efficacy, an important complementary role is played by external supervision and the informal institutional environment. After considering endogeneity and different measures of overinvestment and other related variables, the conclusions remain unchanged.

Pre-task music improves swimming performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Smirmaul, B P; Dos Santos, R V; Da Silva Neto, L V

2015-12-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of pre-task music on swimming performance and other psychological variables. A randomized counterbalanced within-subjects (experimental and control condition) design was employed. Eighteen regional level male swimmers performed two 200-m freestyle swimming time trials. Participants were exposed to either 5 minutes of self-selected music (pre-task music condition) or 5 minutes of silence (control condition) and, after 1 minute, performed the swimming task. Swimming time was significantly shorter (-1.44%) in the pre-task music condition. Listening to pre-task music increased motivation to perform the swimming task, while arousal remained unchanged. While fatigue increased after the swimming task in both conditions, vigor, ratings of perceived exertion and affective valence were unaltered. It is concluded, for the first time, that pre-task music improves swimming performance.

Leprosy: ancient disease remains a public health problem nowadays.

Science.gov (United States)

Noriega, Leandro Fonseca; Chiacchio, Nilton Di; Noriega, Angélica Fonseca; Pereira, Gilmayara Alves Abreu Maciel; Vieira, Marina Lino

2016-01-01

Despite being an ancient disease, leprosy remains a public health problem in several countries -particularly in India, Brazil and Indonesia. The current operational guidelines emphasize the evaluation of disability from the time of diagnosis and stipulate as fundamental principles for disease control: early detection and proper treatment. Continued efforts are needed to establish and improve quality leprosy services. A qualified primary care network that is integrated into specialized service and the development of educational activities are part of the arsenal in the fight against the disease, considered neglected and stigmatizing.

Phylogenetic assemblage structure of North American trees is more strongly shaped by glacial–interglacial climate variability in gymnosperms than in angiosperms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ma, Ziyu; Sandel, Brody Steven; Svenning, Jens-Christian

2016-01-01

and tropical niche conservatism. However, the role of glacial-interglacial climate variability remains to be determined, and little is known about any of these relationships for gymnosperms. Moreover, phylogenetic edemism, patterns of unique lineages in restricted ranges is also related to glacial...... to recolonization to quantify glacial-interglacial climate variability. We found: i) Current climate is the dominant factor explaining the overall patterns, with more clustered angiosperm assemblages towards lower temperature, consistent with tropical niche conservatism. ii) Long-term climate stability...

Near-shore Antarctic pH variability has implications for the design of ocean acidification experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Kapsenberg, Lydia; Kelley, Amanda L.; Shaw, Emily C.; Martz, Todd R.; Hofmann, Gretchen E.

2015-01-01

Understanding how declining seawater pH caused by anthropogenic carbon emissions, or ocean acidification, impacts Southern Ocean biota is limited by a paucity of pH time-series. Here, we present the first high-frequency in-situ pH time-series in near-shore Antarctica from spring to winter under annual sea ice. Observations from autonomous pH sensors revealed a seasonal increase of 0.3 pH units. The summer season was marked by an increase in temporal pH variability relative to spring and early winter, matching coastal pH variability observed at lower latitudes. Using our data, simulations of ocean acidification show a future period of deleterious wintertime pH levels potentially expanding to 7–11 months annually by 2100. Given the presence of (sub)seasonal pH variability, Antarctica marine species have an existing physiological tolerance of temporal pH change that may influence adaptation to future acidification. Yet, pH-induced ecosystem changes remain difficult to characterize in the absence of sufficient physiological data on present-day tolerances. It is therefore essential to incorporate natural and projected temporal pH variability in the design of experiments intended to study ocean acidification biology.

Understanding the Spatiotemporal Variability of Inherent Water Use Efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Boese, Sven; Jung, Martin; Carvalhais, Nuno; Reichstein, Markus

2015-04-01

The global carbon and water cycles are coupled via plant physiology. However, the resulting spatial and temporal covariability of both fluxes on a global scale lacks sufficient understanding. This is required to estimate the impact of atmospheric drought on photosynthesis in water-limited ecosystems. Water use efficiency (WUE) is an essential ecosystem diagnostic defined as the ratio between gross primary productivity (GPP) and transpiration (T). WUE is known to vary with vapour-pressure deficit (VPD) and therefore also in time. The inherent water use efficiency (iWUE) accounts for the VPD effect on WUE and aims at representing a largely time-invariant ecosystem property. However, different ways of describing the functional response of iWUE to VPD are found in the literature. One established iWUE definition was proposed by Beer et al. (2009) and takes the form of iWUE = GPP--VPD- . T (1) A similar definition can be derived from stomatal conductance theories such as Katul et al. (2010) and takes the form of √ -- GPP---VPD- iWUE = T . (2) Here, we use eddy covariance measurements from the FLUXNET database to evaluate both approaches for a globally representative set of biomes including tropical, temperate and semi-arid ecosystems. Testing both definitions in a model-data fusion setup indicated that (2) is more consistent with FLUXNET observations than (1). However, there still remains considerable temporal variability of iWUE which is linked to seasonal changes in VPD. To explore up to which extent the temporal variability of iWUE may be related to the prescribed functional responses to VPD, we treated the exponent of VPD as a global parameter, here termed γ. When γ = 1 the functional response is equivalent to (1), while when γ = 0.5 it corresponds to formulation of model (2)). The global estimate was found to be significantly lower than 0.5, which would have been expected from stomatal conductance theory at leaf level. We assessed whether adding γ as site

Cognitive functioning in elderly people and the influence of the socio-educative variables - Results from the ELES Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mª Feli González

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Cognitive functioning changes in elderly people. The degree of decline varies across different cognitive abilities and other variables, such as educational level and life-time professional activity, can slow down this process. This study investigates the pattern of cognitive performance in people over 50 years old, taking into account the influence of educational level and profession. Research data were collected during the pilot study of the Longitudinal Aging Study in Spain (ELES in which a representative sample of non-institutionalized Spanish older people was assessed. The following cognitive variables were evaluated: general cognitive functioning, verbal memory, working memory span, visuomotor speed, and language. Differences were found in all cognitive variables in the different age groups, and according to educational level and profession. These differences remained after controlling for the age variable. Population studies provide a global perspective of cognitive performance in older people and help to identify the role of the different associated factors.

Understanding Brown Dwarf Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Marley, Mark S.

2013-01-01

Surveys of brown dwarf variability continue to find that roughly half of all brown dwarfs are variable. While variability is observed amongst all types of brown dwarfs, amplitudes are typically greatest for L-T transition objects. In my talk I will discuss the possible physical mechanisms that are responsible for the observed variability. I will particularly focus on comparing and contrasting the effects of changes in atmospheric thermal profile and cloud opacity. The two different mechanisms will produce different variability signatures and I will discuss the extent to which the current datasets constrain both mechanisms. By combining constraints from studies of variability with existing spectral and photometric datasets we can begin to construct and test self-consistent models of brown dwarf atmospheres. These models not only aid in the interpretation of existing objects but also inform studies of directly imaged giant planets.

Common variants at 6q22 and 17q21 are associated with intracranial volume

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.A. Ikram (Arfan); M. Fornage (Myriam); G.D. Smith; S. Seshadri (Sudha); R. Schmidt (Reinhold); S. Debette (Stéphanie); H.A. Vrooman (Henri); S. Sigurdsson (Stefan); S. Ropele (Stefan); H.R. Taal (Rob); D.O. Mook-Kanamori (Dennis); L.H. Coker (Laura); W.T. Longstreth Jr; W.J. Niessen (Wiro); A.L. DeStefano (Anita); A. Beiser (Alexa); A.P. Zijdenbos; M.V. Struchalin (Maksim); C.R. Jack Jr. (Clifford); F. Rivadeneira Ramirez (Fernando); A.G. Uitterlinden (André); D.S. Knopman (David); A.L. Hartikainen; C.E. Pennell (Craig); E. Thiering (Eelisabeth); E.A.P. Steegers (Eric); H. Hakonarson (Hakon); J. Heinrich (Joachim); C. Palmer (Cameron); M.-R. Jarvelin (Marjo-Riitta); M.I. McCarthy (Mark); S.F.A. Grant (Struan); B.S. Pourcain (Beate); N.J. Timpson (Nicholas); G.D. Smith; U. Sovio (Ulla); M.A. Nalls (Michael); R. Au (Rhoda); A. Hofman (Albert); H. Gudnason (Haukur); A. van der Lugt (Aad); T.B. Harris (Tamara); W.M. Meeks (William); M.W. Vernooij (Meike); M.A. van Buchem (Mark); D.J. Catellier (Diane); V.W.V. Jaddoe (Vincent); V. Gudnason (Vilmundur); B.G. Windham (B Gwen); P.A. Wolf (Philip); C.M. van Duijn (Cornelia); T.H. Mosley (Thomas); R. Schmidt (Reinhold); L.J. Launer (Lenore); M.M.B. Breteler (Monique); C. DeCarli (Charles); L.S. Adair (Linda); W.Q. Ang (Wei); M. Atalay (Mustafa); C.E.M. van Beijsterveldt (Toos); N.E. Bergen (Nienke); P.J. Benke (Paul); D. Berry (Diane); L. Coin (Lachlan); O.S.P. Davis (Oliver S.); P. Elliott (Paul); C. Flexeder (Claudia); T.M. Frayling (Timothy); R. Gaillard (Romy); M. Groen-Blokhuis (Maria); L.-K. Goh; C.M.A. Haworth (Claire M.); D. Hadley (David); J. Hedebrand (Johannes); A. Hinney (Anke); J.N. Hirschhorn (Joel); J.W. Holloway (John); J.J. Holst; J.J. Hottenga (Jouke Jan); M. Horikoshi (Momoko); V. Huikari (Ville); E. Hypponen (Elina); T.O. Kilpeläinen (Tuomas); M. Kirin (Mirna); M. Kowgier (Matthew); T.A. Lakka (Timo); L.A. Lange (Leslie); D.A. Lawlor (Debbie); T. Lehtimäki (Terho); A. Lewin (Alex); C.M. Lindgren (Cecilia); V. Lindi (Virpi); R. Maggi (Reedik); J.A. Marsh (Julie); C.M. Middeldorp (Christel); I.Y. Millwood (Iona); J.C. Murray (Jeffrey); M. Nivard (Michel); C. Nohr (Christian); I. Ntalla (Ioanna); E. Oken (Emily); K. Panoutsopoulou (Kalliope); J. Pararajasingham (Jennifer); A. Rodriguez (Alfredo Chapin); R.M. Salem (Rany); S. Sebert (Sylvain); N. Siitonen (Niina); D.P. Strachan (David); Y.Y. Teo (Yik Ying); B. Valcárcel (Beatriz); G.A.H.M. Willemsen (Gonneke); E. Zeggini (Eleftheria); D.I. Boomsma (Dorret); C. Cooper (Charles); M.H. Gillman (Matthew); B. Hocher (Berthold); T.A. Lakka (Timo); K.L. Mohlke (Karen); G.V. Dedoussis (George); K.K. Ong (Ken); E. Pearson (Ewan); T.S. Price (Thomas); C. Power (Christopher); O. Raitakari (Olli); S-M. Saw (Seang-Mei); A. Scherag (Andre); O. Simell (Olli); T.I.A. Sørensen (Thorkild); J.F. Wilson (James)

2012-01-01

textabstractDuring aging, intracranial volume remains unchanged and represents maximally attained brain size, while various interacting biological phenomena lead to brain volume loss. Consequently, intracranial volume and brain volume in late life reflect different genetic influences. Our

Developing criteria for performance-based concrete specifications.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-01

For more than 50 years now, concrete technology has advanced, but CDOT specifications for durability have : remained mostly unchanged. The minimum cement content for a given strength is derived from mix design : guidelines that were developed before ...

Structural remains at the early mediaeval fort at Raibania, Orissa

OpenAIRE

Sen, Bratati

2013-01-01

The fortifications of mediaeval India occupy an eminent position in the history of military architecture. The present paper deals with the preliminary study of the structural remains at the early mediaeval fort at Raibania in the district of Balasore in Orissa. The fort was built of stone very loosely kept together. The three-walled fortification interspersed by two consecutive moats, a feature evidenced at Raibania, w...

SMART POINT CLOUD: DEFINITION AND REMAINING CHALLENGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Poux

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Dealing with coloured point cloud acquired from terrestrial laser scanner, this paper identifies remaining challenges for a new data structure: the smart point cloud. This concept arises with the statement that massive and discretized spatial information from active remote sensing technology is often underused due to data mining limitations. The generalisation of point cloud data associated with the heterogeneity and temporality of such datasets is the main issue regarding structure, segmentation, classification, and interaction for an immediate understanding. We propose to use both point cloud properties and human knowledge through machine learning to rapidly extract pertinent information, using user-centered information (smart data rather than raw data. A review of feature detection, machine learning frameworks and database systems indexed both for mining queries and data visualisation is studied. Based on existing approaches, we propose a new 3-block flexible framework around device expertise, analytic expertise and domain base reflexion. This contribution serves as the first step for the realisation of a comprehensive smart point cloud data structure.

Macroeconomic variables and food price inflation, nonfood price inflation and overall inflation: A case of an emerging market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raphael T Mpofu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the association between certain macroeconomic variables and food price inflation, non-food price inflation and overall inflation in Zimbabwe, and also seeks to determine the level of association between these variables, given food security implications and overall well-being of its citizens. The study reveals that during the 2010 to 2016 period, Zimbabwe experienced stable food prices—annual food price inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages averaged a relatively low growth rate of 0.12% monthly, while non-food inflation monthly growth rate was 0.09% and overall inflation growth rate was 0.11%. Although inflation from 2010 had been declining, of late, the increase in annual inflation has been underpinned by a rise in non-food inflation. Zimbabwe’s annual inflation remains lower than inflation rates in other countries in the region. Despite the increases lately in overall inflation, it remained below zero in January 2016, mostly driven by the depreciation of the South African rand and declining international oil prices. It should also be noted that domestic demand continued to decline in 2015, leading to the observed decline in both food and non-food prices. While food inflation has remained relatively low, it should be noted that non-food expenditures is significant component of the household budget and the rising prices result often lead to declining purchasing power and force households to make difficult choices in terms of their purchases. The findings of the study are food inflation has a low association with the independent variables under study; Zimbabwe broad money supply, rand-dollar exchange rates and the South Africa food inflation. There is, however, a very strong association between non-food inflation and these independent variables, as well as between overall inflation and the independent variables. Given the mostly rural population and the high level of unemployment in Zimbabwe, it can be surmised that

Shippingport Spent Fuel Canister (SSFC) Design Report Project W-518

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

JOHNSON, D.M.

2000-01-01

The SSFC Design Report Describes A spent fuel canister for Shippingport Core 2 blanket fuel assemblies. The design of the SSFC is a minor modification of the MCO. The modification is limited to the Shield Plug which remains unchanged with regard to interfaces with the canister shell. The performance characteristics remain those for the MCO, which bounds the payload of the SSFC

Amplification factor variable amplifier

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akitsugu, Oshita; Nauta, Bram

2007-01-01

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an amplification factor variable amplifier capable of achieving temperature compensation of an amplification factor over a wide variable amplification factor range. ; SOLUTION: A Gilbert type amplification factor variable amplifier 11 amplifies an input signal and

Can we identify non-stationary dynamics of trial-to-trial variability?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emili Balaguer-Ballester

Full Text Available Identifying sources of the apparent variability in non-stationary scenarios is a fundamental problem in many biological data analysis settings. For instance, neurophysiological responses to the same task often vary from each repetition of the same experiment (trial to the next. The origin and functional role of this observed variability is one of the fundamental questions in neuroscience. The nature of such trial-to-trial dynamics however remains largely elusive to current data analysis approaches. A range of strategies have been proposed in modalities such as electro-encephalography but gaining a fundamental insight into latent sources of trial-to-trial variability in neural recordings is still a major challenge. In this paper, we present a proof-of-concept study to the analysis of trial-to-trial variability dynamics founded on non-autonomous dynamical systems. At this initial stage, we evaluate the capacity of a simple statistic based on the behaviour of trajectories in classification settings, the trajectory coherence, in order to identify trial-to-trial dynamics. First, we derive the conditions leading to observable changes in datasets generated by a compact dynamical system (the Duffing equation. This canonical system plays the role of a ubiquitous model of non-stationary supervised classification problems. Second, we estimate the coherence of class-trajectories in empirically reconstructed space of system states. We show how this analysis can discern variations attributable to non-autonomous deterministic processes from stochastic fluctuations. The analyses are benchmarked using simulated and two different real datasets which have been shown to exhibit attractor dynamics. As an illustrative example, we focused on the analysis of the rat's frontal cortex ensemble dynamics during a decision-making task. Results suggest that, in line with recent hypotheses, rather than internal noise, it is the deterministic trend which most likely underlies

Exploratory factor analysis for differentiating sensory and mechanical variables related to muscle-tendon unit elongation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauro H. Chagas

2016-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Background Stretching exercises are able to promote adaptations in the muscle-tendon unit (MTU, which can be tested through physiological and biomechanical variables. Identifying the key variables in MTU adaptations is crucial to improvements in training. Objective To perform an exploratory factor analysis (EFA involving the variables often used to evaluate the response of the MTU to stretching exercises. Method Maximum joint range of motion (ROMMAX, ROM at first sensation of stretching (FSTROM, peak torque (torqueMAX, passive stiffness, normalized stiffness, passive energy, and normalized energy were investigated in 36 participants during passive knee extension on an isokinetic dynamometer. Stiffness and energy values were normalized by the muscle cross-sectional area and their passive mode assured by monitoring the EMG activity. Results EFA revealed two major factors that explained 89.68% of the total variance: 53.13% was explained by the variables torqueMAX, passive stiffness, normalized stiffness, passive energy, and normalized energy, whereas the remaining 36.55% was explained by the variables ROMMAX and FSTROM. Conclusion This result supports the literature wherein two main hypotheses (mechanical and sensory theories have been suggested to describe the adaptations of the MTU to stretching exercises. Contrary to some studies, in the present investigation torqueMAX was significantly correlated with the variables of the mechanical theory rather than those of the sensory theory. Therefore, a new approach was proposed to explain the behavior of the torqueMAX during stretching exercises.

Enhanced temporal variability of amygdala-frontal functional connectivity in patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Jing-Li; Li, Peng; Shi, Le; Lin, Xiao; Sun, Hong-Qiang; Lu, Lin

2018-01-01

The "dysconnectivity hypothesis" was proposed 20 years ago. It characterized schizophrenia as a disorder with dysfunctional connectivity across a large range of distributed brain areas. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) data have supported this theory. Previous studies revealed that the amygdala might be responsible for the emotion regulation-related symptoms of schizophrenia. However, conventional methods oversimplified brain activities by assuming that it remained static throughout the entire scan duration, which may explain why inconsistent results have been reported for the same brain region. An emerging technique is sliding time window analysis, which is used to describe functional connectivity based on the temporal variability of regions of interest (e.g., amygdala) in patients with schizophrenia. Conventional analysis of the static functional connectivity between the amygdala and whole brain was also conducted. Static functional connectivity between the amygdala and orbitofrontal region was impaired in patients with schizophrenia. The variability of connectivity between the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex was enhanced (i.e., greater dynamics) in patients with schizophrenia. A negative relationship was found between the variability of connectivity and information processing efficiency. A positive correlation was found between the variability of connectivity and symptom severity. The findings suggest that schizophrenia was related to abnormal patterns of fluctuating communication among brain areas that are involved in emotion regulations. Unveiling the temporal properties of functional connectivity could disentangle the inconsistent results of previous functional connectivity studies.

Northern Hemisphere moisture variability during the Last Glacial period

Science.gov (United States)

Asmerom, Y.; Polyak, V. J.; Lachniet, M. S.

2013-12-01

It was previously shown that large oxygen isotope variability related to changing moisture sources in the southwestern United States (SW) match the Greenland ice core temperature record. The variations were attributed to changes in the ratio of winter to summer precipitation delivered to the SW, with lighter winter δ18O values compared to summer monsoon rainfall, due to meridonial shifts in the position of the polar jet stream, which directs winter storm tracks. Cold stadial δ18O excursions are associated with strongly negative values, while interstadials have higher than average δ18O values. Although these data documented moisture source variability to the SW, the question of effective moisture variability remains unanswered. Here we present new high-resolution δ18O and δ13C isotopic data from a precisely dated speleothem, FS-AH1, from Fort Stanton Cave, New Mexico USA. The sample grew continuously between 47.6 and 11.1 kyr. The new chronology is more precise than previous work due to high sample growth rate, new gains in efficiency provided by our upgraded Neptune MC-ICPMS and new more precise determinations of the half-lives of 230Th and 234U. The FS-AH1 δ18O and the Greenland δ18O data (on the GICC05 time scale) show a remarkable match, both with respect to stadials/interstadial amplitudes and variability, and in the overall long-term trend. Our interpretation of the δ18O data remains the same, an indicator of moisture source variability. The δ18O and δ13C isotopic data show no correlation (R2 effective moisture in the soil zone overlying the cave, with low δ13C attributed to high soil productivity, high effective moisture, and wet conditions. The stadial and interstadial events are expressed mutely, if at all, in the δ13C data, while the secular variation follows the change in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation (insolation), similar to other Northern Hemisphere data, such as the strength of the East Asian summer monsoon as recorded in the Hulu

Regulatory perspective on remaining challenges for utilization of pharmacogenomics-guided drug developments.

Science.gov (United States)

Otsubo, Yasuto; Ishiguro, Akihiro; Uyama, Yoshiaki

2013-01-01

Pharmacogenomics-guided drug development has been implemented in practice in the last decade, resulting in increased labeling of drugs with pharmacogenomic information. However, there are still many challenges remaining in utilizing this process. Here, we describe such remaining challenges from the regulatory perspective, specifically focusing on sample collection, biomarker qualification, ethnic factors, codevelopment of companion diagnostics and means to provide drugs for off-target patients. To improve the situation, it is important to strengthen international harmonization and collaboration among academia, industries and regulatory agencies, followed by the establishment of an international guideline on this topic. Communication with a regulatory agency from an early stage of drug development is also a key to success.

Quantum Dots for Cancer Research: Current Status, Remaining Issues, and Future Perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang, Min; Peng, Chun-wei; Pang, Dai-Wen; Li, Yan

2012-01-01

Cancer is a major threat to public health in the 21st century because it is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The mechanisms of carcinogenesis, cancer invasion, and metastasis remain unclear. Thus, the development of a novel approach for cancer detection is urgent, and real-time monitoring is crucial in revealing its underlying biological mechanisms. With the optical and chemical advantages of quantum dots (QDs), QD-based nanotechnology is helpful in constructing a biomedical imaging platform for cancer behavior study. This review mainly focuses on the application of QD-based nanotechnology in cancer cell imaging and tumor microenvironment studies both in vivo and in vitro, as well as the remaining issues and future perspectives

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in precision medicine: Unraveling the factors that contribute to individual variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, John D; Cherrington, Nathan J

2015-07-01

There are numerous factors in individual variability that make the development and implementation of precision medicine a challenge in the clinic. One of the main goals of precision medicine is to identify the correct dose for each individual in order to maximize therapeutic effect and minimize the occurrence of adverse drug reactions. Many promising advances have been made in identifying and understanding how factors such as genetic polymorphisms can influence drug pharmacokinetics (PK) and contribute to variable drug response (VDR), but it is clear that there remain many unidentified variables. Underlying liver diseases such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) alter absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) processes and must be considered in the implementation of precision medicine. There is still a profound need for clinical investigation into how NASH-associated changes in ADME mediators, such as metabolism enzymes and transporters, affect the pharmacokinetics of individual drugs known to rely on these pathways for elimination. This review summarizes the key PK factors in individual variability and VDR and highlights NASH as an essential underlying factor that must be considered as the development of precision medicine advances. A multifactorial approach to precision medicine that considers the combination of two or more risk factors (e.g. genetics and NASH) will be required in our effort to provide a new era of benefit for patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Amplification factor variable amplifier

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akitsugu, Oshita; Nauta, Bram

2010-01-01

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an amplification factor variable amplifier capable of achieving temperature compensation of an amplification factor over a wide variable amplification factor range. ;SOLUTION: A Gilbert type amplification factor variable amplifier 11 amplifies an input signal and can

Bidecadal North Atlantic ocean circulation variability controlled by timing of volcanic eruptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Swingedouw, Didier; Ortega, Pablo; Mignot, Juliette; Guilyardi, Eric; Masson-Delmotte, Valérie; Butler, Paul G; Khodri, Myriam; Séférian, Roland

2015-03-30

While bidecadal climate variability has been evidenced in several North Atlantic paleoclimate records, its drivers remain poorly understood. Here we show that the subset of CMIP5 historical climate simulations that produce such bidecadal variability exhibits a robust synchronization, with a maximum in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) 15 years after the 1963 Agung eruption. The mechanisms at play involve salinity advection from the Arctic and explain the timing of Great Salinity Anomalies observed in the 1970s and the 1990s. Simulations, as well as Greenland and Iceland paleoclimate records, indicate that coherent bidecadal cycles were excited following five Agung-like volcanic eruptions of the last millennium. Climate simulations and a conceptual model reveal that destructive interference caused by the Pinatubo 1991 eruption may have damped the observed decreasing trend of the AMOC in the 2000s. Our results imply a long-lasting climatic impact and predictability following the next Agung-like eruption.

Using variable speed drives technology to reap rewards of efficient HVAC design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1999-01-01

Electric motors are continuously running at full speed with vanes and throttles used to modulate the output, in most HVAC applications. This results in an excessive wastage of electrical energy, and the solution is the variable speed drive, which can save vast amounts of energy in fans, pumps and compressors across the HVAC system. Users of traditional control methods will not benefit from the energy savings that are possible through variable speed drives because the motor speed remains the same, with the result that some, and in some cases most, of the energy drawn will be wasted. Variable speed drives are more efficient because they control output by regulating the motor speed, rather than run the motor at full speed and use restrictions to reduce the flow. Recently, small so-called micro-drives have been launched, cutting the cost for most variable speed operation. Variable speed motors can also introduce new features to the HVAC system. An example of how drives can save money and improve the indoor climate is cited for Heathrow airport. There, the gateroom was earlier controlled by modulating valves in both heater and cooler coils, with two fans that operated continuously at rated speed. This system was very inefficient because the occupancy of the gateroom varied between zero and maximum several times daily. A new system was installed using two AC drives, in which one drive controls the supply air fan and the other the return air fan. The energy savings amounted to 89% during two tests and 77% in a third. A pump installation in the district heating system of Strasbourg, Germany, showed the savings that are possible in pump applications

Variability of zooplankton communities at Condor seamount and surrounding areas, Azores (NE Atlantic)

Science.gov (United States)

Carmo, Vanda; Santos, Mariana; Menezes, Gui M.; Loureiro, Clara M.; Lambardi, Paolo; Martins, Ana

2013-12-01

Seamounts are common topographic features around the Azores archipelago (NE Atlantic). Recently there has been increasing research effort devoted to the ecology of these ecosystems. In the Azores, the mesozooplankon is poorly studied, particularly in relation to these seafloor elevations. In this study, zooplankton communities in the Condor seamount area (Azores) were investigated during March, July and September 2010. Samples were taken during both day and night with a Bongo net of 200 µm mesh that towed obliquely within the first 100 m of the water column. Total abundance, biomass and chlorophyll a concentrations did not vary with sampling site or within the diel cycle but significant seasonal variation was observed. Moreover, zooplankton community composition showed the same strong seasonal pattern regardless of spatial or daily variability. Despite seasonal differences, the zooplankton community structure remained similar for the duration of this study. Seasonal variability better explained our results than mesoscale spatial variability. Spatial homogeneity is probably related with island proximity and local dynamics over Condor seamount. Zooplankton literature for the region is sparse, therefore a short review of the most important zooplankton studies from the Azores is also presented.

Distinguishing Land Change from Natural Variability and Uncertainty in Central Mexico with MODIS EVI, TRMM Precipitation, and MODIS LST Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zachary Christman

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Precipitation and temperature enact variable influences on vegetation, impacting the type and condition of land cover, as well as the assessment of change over broad landscapes. Separating the influence of vegetative variability independent and discrete land cover change remains a major challenge to landscape change assessments. The heterogeneous Lerma-Chapala-Santiago watershed of central Mexico exemplifies both natural and anthropogenic forces enacting variability and change on the landscape. This study employed a time series of Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI composites from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectoradiometer (MODIS for 2001–2007 and per-pixel multiple linear regressions in order to model changes in EVI as a function of precipitation, temperature, and elevation. Over the seven-year period, 59.1% of the variability in EVI was explained by variability in the independent variables, with highest model performance among changing and heterogeneous land cover types, while intact forest cover demonstrated the greatest resistance to changes in temperature and precipitation. Model results were compared to an independent change uncertainty assessment, and selected regional samples of change confusion and natural variability give insight to common problems afflicting land change analyses.

Common variants at 6q22 and 17q21 are associated with intracranial volume

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arfan Ikram, M.; Fornage, M.; Smith, A.V.; Seshadri, S.; Schmidt, R.; Debette, S.; Vrooman, H.A.; Sigurdsson, S.; Ropele, S.; Taal, H.R.; Mook-Kanamori, D.O.; Coker, L.H.; Longstreth, Jr. W.T.; Niessen, W.J.; DeStefano, A.L.; Beiser, A.; Zijdenbos, A.P.; Struchalin, M.; Jack, C.R.; Rivadeneira, F.; Uitterlinden, A.G.; Knopman, D.S.; Hartikainen, A.-L.; Pennell, C.E.; Thiering, E.; Steegers, E.A.P.; Hakonarson, H.; Heinrich, J.; Palmer, L.J.; Jarvelin, M.-R.; McCarthy, M.I.; Grant, S.F.A.; St Pourcain, B.; Timpson, N.J.; Smith, G.D.; Sovio, U.; van Beijsterveldt, C.E.M.; Groen-Blokhuis, M.M.; Hottenga, J.J.; Middeldorp, C.M.; Nivard, M.G.; Willemsen, G.; Boomsma, D.I.; Nalls, M.A.; Au, R.; Hofman, A.; Gudnason, H.; van der Lugt, A.; Harris, T.B.; Meeks, W.M.; Vernooij, M.W.; van Buchem, M.A.; Catellier, D.; Jaddoe, V.W.V.; Gudnason, V.; Windham, B.G.; Wolf, P.A.; van Duijn, C.M.; Mosley, T.H.; Schmidt, H.; Launer, L.J.; Breteler, M.M.B.; DeCarli, C.S.

2012-01-01

During aging, intracranial volume remains unchanged and represents maximally attained brain size, while various interacting biological phenomena lead to brain volume loss. Consequently, intracranial volume and brain volume in late life reflect different genetic influences. Our genome-wide

A multidisciplinary reconstruction of Palaeolithic nutrition that holds promise for the prevention and treatment of diseases of civilisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuipers, Remko S.; Joordens, Josephine C. A.; Muskiet, Frits A. J.

Evolutionary medicine acknowledges that many chronic degenerative diseases result from conflicts between our rapidly changing environment, our dietary habits included, and our genome, which has remained virtually unchanged since the Palaeolithic era. Reconstruction of the diet before the

Acidification of the osteoclastic resorption compartment provides insight into the coupling of bone formation to bone resorption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karsdal, M.A.; Henriksen, K.; Sorensen, M.G.

2005-01-01

Patients with defective osteoclastic acidification have increased numbers of osteoclasts, with decreased resorption, but bone formation that remains unchanged. We demonstrate that osteoclast survival is increased when acidification is impaired, and that impairment of acidification results in inhi...

76 FR 32387 - Kentucky Disaster Number KY-00040

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-06

... Damage and Economic Injury Loans): Ballard, Daviess, Henderson, Lawrence, McLean, Pike. Contiguous..., Morgan, Muhlenberg, Ohio. Illinois: Alexander. Indiana: Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick. Virginia: Buchanan, Dickenson, Wise. West Virginia: Mingo. All other information in the original declaration remains unchanged...

The predicted CLARREO sampling error of the inter-annual SW variability

Science.gov (United States)

Doelling, D. R.; Keyes, D. F.; Nguyen, C.; Macdonnell, D.; Young, D. F.

2009-12-01

The NRC Decadal Survey has called for SI traceability of long-term hyper-spectral flux measurements in order to monitor climate variability. This mission is called the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) and is currently defining its mission requirements. The requirements are focused on the ability to measure decadal change of key climate variables at very high accuracy. The accuracy goals are set using anticipated climate change magnitudes, but the accuracy achieved for any given climate variable must take into account the temporal and spatial sampling errors based on satellite orbits and calibration accuracy. The time period to detect a significant trend in the CLARREO record depends on the magnitude of the sampling calibration errors relative to the current inter-annual variability. The largest uncertainty in climate feedbacks remains the effect of changing clouds on planetary energy balance. Some regions on earth have strong diurnal cycles, such as maritime stratus and afternoon land convection; other regions have strong seasonal cycles, such as the monsoon. However, when monitoring inter-annual variability these cycles are only important if the strength of these cycles vary on decadal time scales. This study will attempt to determine the best satellite constellations to reduce sampling error and to compare the error with the current inter-annual variability signal to ensure the viability of the mission. The study will incorporate Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) (Monthly TOA/Surface Averages) SRBAVG product TOA LW and SW climate quality fluxes. The fluxes are derived by combining Terra (10:30 local equator crossing time) CERES fluxes with 3-hourly 5-geostationary satellite estimated broadband fluxes, which are normalized using the CERES fluxes, to complete the diurnal cycle. These fluxes were saved hourly during processing and considered the truth dataset. 90°, 83° and 74° inclination precessionary orbits as

Beyond Race and Gender: Motivating Enlisted Personnel to Remain in Today's Military

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Moore, Brenda

2001-01-01

.... Data from the Armed Forces 1996 Equal Opportunity Survey reveal that both the pay and benefits and pride in service variables have stronger effects on the propensity of junior-enlisted personnel...

Variable Operative Experience in Hand Surgery for Plastic Surgery Residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Silvestre, Jason; Lin, Ines C; Levin, Lawrence Scott; Chang, Benjamin

Efforts to standardize hand surgery training during plastic surgery residency remain challenging. We analyze the variability of operative hand experience at U.S. plastic surgery residency programs. Operative case logs of chief residents in accredited U.S. plastic surgery residency programs were analyzed (2011-2015). Trends in fold differences of hand surgery case volume between the 10th and 90th percentiles of residents were assessed graphically. Percentile data were used to calculate the number of residents achieving case minimums in hand surgery for 2015. Case logs from 818 plastic surgery residents were analyzed of which a minority were from integrated (35.7%) versus independent/combined (64.3%) residents. Trend analysis of fold differences in case volume demonstrated decreasing variability among procedure categories over time. By 2015, fold differences for hand reconstruction, tendon cases, nerve cases, arthroplasty/arthrodesis, amputation, arterial repair, Dupuytren release, and neoplasm cases were below 10-fold. Congenital deformity cases among independent/combined residents was the sole category that exceeded 10-fold by 2015. Percentile data suggested that approximately 10% of independent/combined residents did not meet case minimums for arterial repair and congenital deformity in 2015. Variable operative experience during plastic surgery residency may limit adequate exposure to hand surgery for certain residents. Future studies should establish empiric case minimums for plastic surgery residents to ensure hand surgery competency upon graduation. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A stochastic analysis of the influence of soil and climatic variability on the estimate of pesticide ground water polution potential

Science.gov (United States)

Jury, William A.; Gruber, Joachim

1989-12-01

Soil and climatic variability contribute in an unknown manner to the leaching of pesticides below the surface soil zone where degradation occurs at maximum levels. In this paper we couple the climatic variability model of Eagleson (1978) to the soil variability transport model of Jury (1982) to produce a probability density distribution of residual mass fraction (RMF) remaining after leaching below the surface degradation zone. Estimates of the RMF distribution are shown to be much more sensitive to soil variability than climatic variability, except when the residence time of the chemical is shorter than one year. When soil variability dominates climatic variability, the applied water distribution may be replaced by a constant average water application rate without serious error. Simulations of leaching are run with 10 pesticides in two climates and in two representative soil types with a range of soil variability. Variability in soil or climate act to produce a nonnegligible probability of survival of a small value of residual mass even for relatively immobile compounds which are predicted to degrade completely by a simple model which neglects variability. However, the simpler model may still be useful for screening pesticides for groundwater pollution potential if somewhat larger residual masses of a given compound are tolerated. Monte Carlo simulations of the RMF distribution agreed well with model predictions over a wide range of pesticide properties.

Mild traumatic brain injury diagnosis frequently remains unrecorded in subjects with craniofacial fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Puljula, Jussi; Cygnel, Hanna; Mäkinen, Elina; Tuomivaara, Veli; Karttunen, Vesa; Karttunen, Ari; Hillbom, Matti

2012-12-01

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in subjects with craniofacial fractures are usually diagnosed by emergency room physicians. We investigated how often TBI remains unrecorded in these subjects, and whether diagnostic accuracy has improved after the implementation of new TBI guidelines. All subjects with craniofacial fractures admitted to Oulu University Hospital in 1999 and in 2007 were retrospectively identified. New guidelines for improving the diagnostic accuracy of TBI were implemented between 2000 and 2006. Clinical symptoms of TBI were gathered from notes on hospital charts and compared to the recorded diagnoses at discharge. Logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors for TBI to remain unrecorded. Of 194 subjects with craniofacial fracture, 111(57%) had TBI, 40 in 1999 and 71 in 2007. Fifty-one TBIs (46%) remained unrecorded at discharge, 48 being mild and 3 moderate-to-severe. Subjects with unrecorded TBI were significantly less frequently referred to follow-up visits. Failures to record the TBI diagnosis were less frequent (29/71, 41%) in 2007 than in 1999 (22/40, 55%), but the difference was not statistically significant. The most significant independent predictor for this failure was the clinical specialty (other than neurology/neurosurgery) of the examining physician (palcohol intoxication did not hamper the diagnosis of TBI. TBIs remain frequently unrecorded in subjects with craniofacial fractures. Recording of mild TBI slightly but insignificantly improved after the implementation of new guidelines. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eternity Variables to Simulate Specifications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselink, WH; Boiten, EA; Moller, B

2002-01-01

Simulation of specifications is introduced as a unification and generalization of refinement mappings, history variables, forward simulations, prophecy variables, and backward simulations. Eternity variables are introduced as a more powerful alternative for prophecy variables and backward

Yellow Fever Remains a Potential Threat to Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasconcelos, Pedro F C; Monath, Thomas P

2016-08-01

Yellow fever (YF) remains a serious public health threat in endemic countries. The recent re-emergence in Africa, initiating in Angola and spreading to Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, with imported cases in China and Kenya is of concern. There is such a shortage of YF vaccine in the world that the World Health Organization has proposed the use of reduced doses (1/5) during emergencies. In this short communication, we discuss these and other problems including the risk of spread of YF to areas free of YF for decades or never before affected by this arbovirus disease.

Tuberculosis remains a challenge despite economic growth in Panama.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarajia, M; Goodridge, A

2014-03-01