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Sample records for vh indices derived

  1. Characterization of a rabbit germ-line VH gene that is a candidate donor for VH gene conversion in mutant Alicia rabbits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, H T; Alexander, C B; Mage, R G

    1995-06-15

    Normal rabbits preferentially rearrange the 3'-most VH gene, VH1, to encode Igs with VHa allotypes, which constitute the majority of rabbit serum Igs. A gene conversion-like mechanism is employed to diversify the primary Ab repertoire. In mutant Alicia rabbits that derived from a rabbit with VHa2 allotype, the VH1 gene was deleted. Our previous studies showed that the first functional gene (VH4) or VH4-like genes were rearranged in 2- to 8-wk-old homozygous Alicia. The VH1a2-like sequences that were found in splenic mRNA from 6-wk and older Alicia rabbits still had some residues that were typical of VH4. The appearances of sequences resembling that of VH1a2 may have been caused by gene conversions that altered the sequences of the rearranged VH or there may have been rearrangement of upstream VH1a2-like genes later in development. To investigate this further, we constructed a cosmid library and isolated a VH1a2-like gene, VH12-1-6, with a sequence almost identical to VH1a2. This gene had a deleted base in the heptamer of its recombination signal sequence. However, even if this defect diminished or eliminated its ability to rearrange, the a2-like gene could have acted as a donor for gene-conversion-like alteration of rearranged VH genes. Sequence comparisons suggested that this gene or a gene like it could have acted as a donor for gene conversion in mutant Alicia and in normal rabbits.

  2. Contribution of V(H replacement products in mouse antibody repertoire.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Huang

    Full Text Available VH replacement occurs through RAG-mediated recombination between the cryptic recombination signal sequence (cRSS near the 3' end of a rearranged VH gene and the 23-bp RSS from an upstream unrearranged VH gene. Due to the location of the cRSS, VH replacement leaves a short stretch of nucleotides from the previously rearranged VH gene at the newly formed V-D junction, which can be used as a marker to identify VH replacement products. To determine the contribution of VH replacement products to mouse antibody repertoire, we developed a Java-based VH Replacement Footprint Analyzer (VHRFA program and analyzed 17,179 mouse IgH gene sequences from the NCBI database to identify VH replacement products. The overall frequency of VH replacement products in these IgH genes is 5.29% based on the identification of pentameric VH replacement footprints at their V-D junctions. The identified VH replacement products are distributed similarly in IgH genes using most families of VH genes, although different families of VH genes are used differentially. The frequencies of VH replacement products are significantly elevated in IgH genes derived from several strains of autoimmune prone mice and in IgH genes encoding autoantibodies. Moreover, the identified VH replacement footprints in IgH genes from autoimmune prone mice or IgH genes encoding autoantibodies preferentially encode positively charged amino acids. These results revealed a significant contribution of VH replacement products to the diversification of antibody repertoire and potentially, to the generation of autoantibodies in mice.

  3. VH repertoire in progeny of long term lymphoid-cultured cells used to reconstitute immunodeficient mice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Denis, K.A.; Timson, L.K.; Witte, O.N.

    1989-01-01

    VH gene utilization in the progeny of long term lymphoid-cultured cells used for reconstitution of severe combined immunodeficient mice under varying conditions was determined. Hybridomas made from the spleens of these animals were evaluated for clonality and donor origin and a panel of 146 independent hybridomas were subsequently examined for VH expression. Hybridomas derived from the spleens of SCID mice reconstituted with fresh cells, used as a control, utilized VH families in proportion to their numerical representation in the genome. However, hybridomas from the spleens of mice reconstituted with long term cultured cells utilized a predominance of the two VH gene families most proximal to JH, characteristic of cells early in B lymphocyte development. Coinjection of thymocytes with cultured fetal liver cells, to provide good levels of T lymphocytes, did not alter this pattern of VH utilization. Irradiation (3 Gy) of the mice before cultured cell injection, which leads to more complete reconstitution of the B cell compartment, was effective in removing this bias in the VH repertoire. Hybridomas derived from these mice expressed their VH genes more in proportion to family size, characteristic of cells later in B lymphocyte development. In this manner, long term lymphoid-cultured cells can be used to study the transitions that occur in VH repertoire expression which appear to be mediated by either B lymphocyte developmental microenvironment or population size

  4. Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma is associated with somatically hypermutated immunoglobulin variable genes and frequent use of VH1-69 and VH4-59 segments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez, M; Pacchiarotti, A; Frontani, M; Pescarmona, E; Caprini, E; Lombardo, G A; Russo, G; Faraggiana, T

    2010-03-01

    Accurate assessment of the somatic mutational status of clonal immunoglobulin variable region (IgV) genes is relevant in elucidating tumour cell origin in B-cell lymphoma; virgin B cells bear unmutated IgV genes, while germinal centre and postfollicular B cells carry mutated IgV genes. Furthermore, biases in the IgV repertoire and distribution pattern of somatic mutations indicate a possible antigen role in the pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies. This work investigates the cellular origin and antigenic selection in primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (PCBCL). We analysed the nucleotide sequence of clonal IgV heavy-chain gene (IgVH) rearrangements in 51 cases of PCBCL (25 follicle centre, 19 marginal zone and seven diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg-type) and compared IgVH sequences with their closest germline segment in the GenBank database. Molecular data were then correlated with histopathological features. We showed that all but one of the 51 IgVH sequences analysed exhibited extensive somatic hypermutations. The detected mutation rate ranged from 1.6% to 21%, with a median rate of 9.8% and was independent of PCBCL histotype. Calculation of antigen-selection pressure showed that 39% of the mutated IgVH genes displayed a number of replacement mutations and silent mutations in a pattern consistent with antigenic selection. Furthermore, two segments, VH1-69 (12%) and VH4-59 (14%), were preferentially used in our case series. Data indicate that neoplastic B cells of PBCBL have experienced germinal centre reaction and also suggest that the involvement of IgVH genes is not entirely random in PCBCL and that common antigen epitopes could be pathologically relevant in cutaneous lymphomagenesis.

  5. B lymphocyte selection and age-related changes in VH gene usage in mutant Alicia rabbits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, X; Boonthum, A; Zhai, S K; Knight, K L

    1999-09-15

    Young Alicia rabbits use VHa-negative genes, VHx and VHy, in most VDJ genes, and their serum Ig is VHa negative. However, as Alicia rabbits age, VHa2 allotype Ig is produced at high levels. We investigated which VH gene segments are used in the VDJ genes of a2 Ig-secreting hybridomas and of a2 Ig+ B cells from adult Alicia rabbits. We found that 21 of the 25 VDJ genes used the a2-encoding genes, VH4 or VH7; the other four VDJ genes used four unknown VH gene segments. Because VH4 and VH7 are rarely found in VDJ genes of normal or young Alicia rabbits, we investigated the timing of rearrangement of these genes in Alicia rabbits. During fetal development, VH4 was used in 60-80% of nonproductively rearranged VDJ genes, and VHx and VHy together were used in 10-26%. These data indicate that during B lymphopoiesis VH4 is preferentially rearranged. However, the percentage of productive VHx- and VHy-utilizing VDJ genes increased from 38% at day 21 of gestation to 89% at birth (gestation day 31), whereas the percentage of VH4-utilizing VDJ genes remained at 15%. These data suggest that during fetal development, either VH4-utilizing B-lineage cells are selectively eliminated, or B cells with VHx- and VHy-utilizing VDJ genes are selectively expanded, or both. The accumulation of peripheral VH4-utilizing a2 B cells with age indicates that these B cells might be selectively expanded in the periphery. We discuss the possible selection mechanisms that regulate VH gene segment usage in rabbit B cells during lymphopoiesis and in the periphery.

  6. Limited number of immunoglobulin VH regions expressed in the mutant rabbit "Alicia".

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiPietro, L A; Short, J A; Zhai, S K; Kelus, A S; Meier, D; Knight, K L

    1990-06-01

    A unique feature of rabbit Ig is the presence of VH region allotypic specificities. In normal rabbits, more than 80% of circulating immunoglobulin molecules bear the VHa allotypic specificities, al, a2 or a3; the remaining 10% to 20% of immunoglobulin molecules lack VHa allotypic specificities and are designated VHa-. A mutant rabbit designated Alicia, in contrast, has predominantly serum immunoglobulin molecules that lack the VHa allotypic specificities (Kelus and Weiss, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1986. 83: 4883). To study the nature and molecular complexity of VHa- molecules, we cloned and determined the nucleotide sequence of seven cDNA prepared from splenic RNA of an Alicia rabbit. Six of the clones appeared to encode VHa- molecules; the framework regions encoded by these clones were remarkably similar to each other, each having an unusual insertion of four amino acids at position 10. This insertion of four amino acids has been seen in only 2 of 54 sequenced rabbit VH genes. The similarity of the sequences of the six VHa- clones to each other and their dissimilarity to most other VH genes leads us to suggest that the VHa- molecules in Alicia rabbits are derived predominantly from one or a small number of very similar VH genes. Such preferential utilization of a small number of VH genes may explain the allelic inheritance of VH allotypes.

  7. VH gene expression and regulation in the mutant Alicia rabbit. Rescue of VHa2 allotype expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, H T; Alexander, C B; Young-Cooper, G O; Mage, R G

    1993-04-01

    Rabbits of the Alicia strain, derived from rabbits expressing the VHa2 allotype, have a mutation in the H chain locus that has a cis effect upon the expression of VHa2 and VHa- genes. A small deletion at the most J-proximal (3') end of the VH locus leads to low expression of all the genes on the entire chromosome in heterozygous ali mutants and altered relative expression of VH genes in homozygotes. To study VH gene expression and regulation, we used the polymerase chain reaction to amplify the VH genes expressed in spleens of young and adult wild-type and mutant Alicia rabbits. The cDNA from reverse transcription of splenic mRNA was amplified and polymerase chain reaction libraries were constructed and screened with oligonucleotides from framework regions 1 and 3, as well as JH. Thirty-three VH-positive clones were sequenced and analyzed. We found that in mutant Alicia rabbits, products of the first functional VH gene (VH4a2), (or VH4a2-like genes) were expressed in 2- to 8-wk-olds. Expression of both the VHx and VHy types of VHa- genes was also elevated but the relative proportions of VHx and VHy, especially VHx, decreased whereas the relative levels of expression of VH4a2 or VH4a2-like genes increased with age. Our results suggest that the appearance of sequences resembling that of the VH1a2, which is deleted in the mutant ali rabbits, could be caused by alterations of the sequences of the rearranged VH4a2 genes by gene conversions and/or rearrangement of upstream VH1a2-like genes later in development.

  8. Draft Genome Sequences of the Fish Pathogen Vibrio harveyi Strains VH2 and VH5

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Castillo, Daniel; D'Alvise, Paul; Middelboe, Mathias

    2015-01-01

    Vibrio harveyi is an important marine pathogen that is responsible for vibriosis outbreaks in cultured fish and invertebrates worldwide. Here, we announce the draft genome sequences of V. harveyi strains VH2 and VH5, isolated from farmed juvenile Seriola dumerili during outbreaks of vibriosis...... in Crete, Greece....

  9. Altered phenotypic expression of immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable-region (VH) genes in Alicia rabbits probably reflects a small deletion in the VH genes closest to the joining region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allegrucci, M; Newman, B A; Young-Cooper, G O; Alexander, C B; Meier, D; Kelus, A S; Mage, R G

    1990-07-01

    Rabbits of the Alicia strain have a mutation (ali) that segregates with the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (lgh) locus and has a cis effect upon the expression of heavy-chain variable-region (VH) genes encoding the a2 allotype. In heterozygous a1/ali or a3/ali rabbits, serum immunoglobulins are almost entirely the products of the normal a1 or a3 allele and only traces of a2 immunoglobulin are detectable. Adult homozygous ali/ali rabbits likewise have normal immunoglobulin levels resulting from increased production of a-negative immunoglobulins and some residual ability to produce the a2 allotype. By contrast, the majority of the immunoglobulins of wild-type a2 rabbits are a2-positive and only a small percentage are a-negative. Genomic DNAs from homozygous mutant and wild-type animals were indistinguishable by Southern analyses using a variety of restriction enzyme digests and lgh probes. However, when digests with infrequently cutting enzymes were analyzed by transverse alternating-field electrophoresis, the ali DNA fragments were 10-15 kilobases smaller than the wild type. These fragments hybridized to probes both for VH and for a region of DNA a few kilobases downstream of the VH genes nearest the joining region. We suggest that this relatively small deletion affects a segment containing 3' VH genes with important regulatory functions, the loss of which leads to the ali phenotype. These results, and the fact that the 3' VH genes rearrange early in B-cell development, indicate that the 3' end of the VH locus probably plays a key role in regulation of VH gene expression.

  10. Data of evolutionary structure change: 1JOEA-1VH2A [Confc[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ID>1VH2 A 1VH2A RDHLE----GVVDV ...>H ---- EEe> ATOM 480 CA ARG A 68 6.679 -2...entryIDChain> RDHLNGDSIEIIDI >H EE> 1VH2 A 1VH2A GHDQP--IPGVS ...e> -- > ATOM 806 CA GLY A 112 3.574 -8

  11. Side chain requirements for affinity and specificity in D5, an HIV-1 antibody derived from the VH1-69 germline segment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Alex; Harrison, Joseph S; Regula, Lauren K; Lai, Jonathan R

    2013-04-08

    Analysis of factors contributing to high affinity antibody-protein interactions provides insight into natural antibody evolution, and guides the design of antibodies with new or enhanced function. We previously studied the interaction between antibody D5 and its target, a designed protein based on HIV-1 gp41 known as 5-Helix, as a model system [Da Silva, G. F.; Harrison, J. S.; Lai, J. R., Biochemistry, 2010, 49, 5464-5472]. Antibody D5 represents an interesting case study because it is derived from the VH1-69 germline segment; this germline segment is characterized by a hydrophobic second heavy chain complementarity determining region (HCDR2) that constitutes the major functional paratope in D5 and several antibodies derived from the same progenitor. Here we explore side chain requirements for affinity and specificity in D5 using phage display. Two D5-based libraries were prepared that contained diversity in all three light chain complementarity determining regions (LCDRs 1-3), and in the third HCDR (HCDR3). The first library allowed residues to vary among a restricted set of six amino acids (Tyr/Ala/Asp/Ser/His/Pro; D5-Lib-I). The second library was designed based on a survey of existing VH1-69 antibody structures (D5-Lib-II). Both libraries were subjected to multiple rounds of selection against 5-Helix, and individual clones characterized. We found that selectants from D5-Lib-I generally had moderate affinity and specificity, while many clones from D5-Lib-II exhibited D5-like properties. Additional analysis of the D5-Lib-II functional population revealed position-specific biases for particular amino acids, many that differed from the identity of those side chains in D5. Together these results suggest that there is some permissiveness for alternative side chains in the LCDRs and HCDR3 of D5, but that replacement with a minimal set of residues is not tolerated in this scaffold for 5-Helix recognition. This work provides novel information about this high

  12. Fundamental characteristics of the expressed immunoglobulin VH and VL repertoire in different canine breeds in comparison with those of humans and mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steiniger, Sebastian C J; Dunkle, William E; Bammert, Gary F; Wilson, Thomas L; Krishnan, Abhiram; Dunham, Steven A; Ippolito, Gregory C; Bainbridge, Graeme

    2014-05-01

    Complementarity determining regions (CDR) are responsible for binding antigen and provide substantial diversity to the antibody repertoire, with VH CDR3 of the immunoglobulin variable heavy (VH) domain playing a dominant role. In this study, we examined 1200 unique canine VH and 500 unique variable light (VL) sequences of large and small canine breeds derived from peripheral B cells. Unlike the human and murine repertoire, the canine repertoire is heavily dominated by the Canis lupus familiaris IGHV1 subgroup, evolutionarily closest to the human IGHV3 subgroup. Our studies clearly show that the productive canine repertoire of all analyzed breeds shows similarities to both human and mouse; however, there are distinct differences in terms of VH CDR3 length and amino acid paratope composition. In comparison with the human and murine antibody repertoire, canine VH CDR3 regions are shorter in length than the human counterparts, but longer than the murine VH CDR3. Similar to corresponding human and mouse VH CDR3, the amino acids at the base of the VH CDR3 loop are strictly conserved. For identical CDR positions, there were significant changes in chemical paratope composition. Similar to human and mouse repertoires, the neutral amino acids tyrosine, glycine and serine dominate the canine VH CDR3 interval (comprising 35%) although the interval is nonetheless relatively depleted of tyrosine when compared to human and mouse. Furthermore, canine VH CDR3 displays an overrepresentation of the neutral amino acid threonine and the negatively charged aspartic acid while proline content is similar to that in the human repertoire. In general, the canine repertoire shows a bias towards small, negatively charged amino acids. Overall, this analysis suggests that functional canine therapeutic antibodies can be obtained from human and mouse sequences by methods of speciation and affinity maturation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Diversity and repertoire of IgW and IgM VH families in the newborn nurse shark.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rumfelt, Lynn L; Lohr, Rebecca L; Dooley, Helen; Flajnik, Martin F

    2004-05-06

    Adult cartilaginous fish express three immunoglobulin (Ig) isotypes, IgM, IgNAR and IgW. Newborn nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum, produce 19S (multimeric) IgM and monomeric/dimeric IgM1gj, a germline-joined, IgM-related VH, and very low amounts of 7S (monomeric) IgM and IgNAR proteins. Newborn IgNAR VH mRNAs are diverse in the complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) with non-templated nucleotide (N-region) addition, which suggests that, unlike in many other vertebrates, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) expressed at birth is functional. IgW is present in the lungfish, a bony fish sharing a common ancestor with sharks 460 million years ago, implying that the IgW VH family is as old as the IgM VH family. This nurse shark study examined the IgM and IgW VH repertoire from birth through adult life, and analyzed the phylogenetic relationships of these gene families. IgM and IgW VH cDNA clones isolated from newborn nurse shark primary and secondary lymphoid tissues had highly diverse and unique CDR3 with N-region addition and VDJ gene rearrangement, implicating functional TdT and RAG gene activity. Despite the clear presence of N-region additions, newborn CDR3 were significantly shorter than those of adults. The IgM clones are all included in a conventional VH family that can be classified into five discrete groups, none of which is orthologous to IgM VH genes in other elasmobranchs. In addition, a novel divergent VH family was orthologous to a published monotypic VH horn shark family. IgW VH genes have diverged sufficiently to form three families. IgM and IgW VH serine codons using the potential somatic hypermutation hotspot sequence occur mainly in VH framework 1 (FR1) and CDR1. Phylogenetic analysis of cartilaginous fish and lungfish IgM and IgW demonstrated they form two major ancient gene groups; furthermore, these VH genes generally diversify (duplicate and diverge) within a species. As in ratfish, sandbar and horn sharks, most nurse shark IgM VH

  14. Diversity and repertoire of IgW and IgM VH families in the newborn nurse shark

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dooley Helen

    2004-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Adult cartilaginous fish express three immunoglobulin (Ig isotypes, IgM, IgNAR and IgW. Newborn nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum, produce 19S (multimeric IgM and monomeric/dimeric IgM1gj, a germline-joined, IgM-related VH, and very low amounts of 7S (monomeric IgM and IgNAR proteins. Newborn IgNAR VH mRNAs are diverse in the complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3 with non-templated nucleotide (N-region addition, which suggests that, unlike in many other vertebrates, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT expressed at birth is functional. IgW is present in the lungfish, a bony fish sharing a common ancestor with sharks 460 million years ago, implying that the IgW VH family is as old as the IgM VH family. This nurse shark study examined the IgM and IgW VH repertoire from birth through adult life, and analyzed the phylogenetic relationships of these gene families. Results IgM and IgW VH cDNA clones isolated from newborn nurse shark primary and secondary lymphoid tissues had highly diverse and unique CDR3 with N-region addition and VDJ gene rearrangement, implicating functional TdT and RAG gene activity. Despite the clear presence of N-region additions, newborn CDR3 were significantly shorter than those of adults. The IgM clones are all included in a conventional VH family that can be classified into five discrete groups, none of which is orthologous to IgM VH genes in other elasmobranchs. In addition, a novel divergent VH family was orthologous to a published monotypic VH horn shark family. IgW VH genes have diverged sufficiently to form three families. IgM and IgW VH serine codons using the potential somatic hypermutation hotspot sequence occur mainly in VH framework 1 (FR1 and CDR1. Phylogenetic analysis of cartilaginous fish and lungfish IgM and IgW demonstrated they form two major ancient gene groups; furthermore, these VH genes generally diversify (duplicate and diverge within a species. Conclusion As in ratfish

  15. vh@nnlo-v2: new physics in Higgs Strahlung

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harlander, Robert V.; Klappert, Jonas; Liebler, Stefan; Simon, Lukas

    2018-05-01

    Introducing version 2 of the code vh@nnlo [1], we study the effects of a number of new-physics scenarios on the Higgs-Strahlung process. In particular, the cross section is evaluated within a general 2HDM and the MSSM. While the Drell-Yan-like contributions are consistently taken into account by a simple rescaling of the SM result, the gluon-initiated contribution is supplemented by squark-loop mediated amplitudes, and by the s-channel exchange of additional scalars which may lead to conspicuous interference effects. The latter holds as well for bottom-quark initiated Higgs Strahlung, which is also included in the new version of vh@nnlo. Using an orthogonal rotation of the three Higgs CP eigenstates in the 2HDM and the MSSM, vh@nnlo incorporates a simple means of CP mixing in these models. Moreover, the effect of vector-like quarks in the SM on the gluon-initiated contribution can be studied. Beyond concrete models, vh@nnlo allows to include the effect of higher-dimensional operators on the production of CP-even Higgs bosons. Transverse momentum distributions of the final state Higgs boson and invariant mass distributions of the Vϕ final state for the gluon- and bottom-quark initiated contributions can be studied. Distributions for the Drell-Yan-like component of Higgs Strahlung can be included through a link to MCFM. vh@nnlo can also be linked to FeynHiggs and 2HDMC for the calculation of Higgs masses and mixing angles. It can also read these parameters from an SLHA-file as produced by standard spectrum generators. Throughout the manuscript, we highlight new-physics effects in various numerical examples, both at the inclusive level and for distributions.

  16. Poloidal rotation and the evolution of H-mode and VH-mode profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinton, F.L.; Staebler, G.M.; Kim, Y.B.

    1993-12-01

    The physics which determines poloidal rotation, and its role in the development of profiles during H- and VH-modes, is discussed. A simple phenomenological transport model, which incorporates the rvec E x rvec B flow shear suppression of turbulence, is shown to predict profile evolution similar to that observed experimentally during H-mode and VH-mode

  17. Histidine at Position 195 is Essential for Association of Heme-b in Lcp1VH2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oetermann, Sylvia; Vivod, Robin; Hiessl, Sebastian; Hogeback, Jens; Holtkamp, Michael; Karst, Uwe; Steinbüchel, Alexander

    2018-03-01

    The latex clearing protein (Lcp) is the key enzyme of polyisoprene degradation in actinomycetes (Yikmis and Steinbüchel in Appl Environ Microbiol 78:4543-4551, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00001-12, 2012). In this study it was shown that Lcp from Gordonia polyisoprenivorans VH2 (Lcp1VH2) harbors a non-covalently bound heme b as cofactor, which was identified by pyridine hemochrome spectra and confirmed by LC/ESI-ToF-MS. It contains iron, most likely in the Fe3+ state. We focused on the characterization of the heme-cofactor, its accessibility with respect to the conformation of Lcp1VH2, and the identification of putative histidine residues involved in the coordination of heme. A change was detectable in UV/Vis-spectra of reduced Lcp1VH2 when imidazole was added, showing that Lcp1VH2 "as isolated" occurs in an open state, directly being accessible for external ligands. In addition, three highly conserved histidines (H195, H200 and H228), presumably acting as ligands coordinating the heme within the heme pocket, were replaced with alanines by site-directed mutagenesis. The effect of these changes on in vivo rubber-mineralization was investigated. The lcp- deletion mutant complemented with the H195A variant of lcp1 VH2 was unable to mineralize poly(cis-1,4-isoprene). In vitro analyses of purified, recombinant Lcp1VH2H195A confirmed the loss of enzyme activity, which could be ascribed to the loss of heme. Hence, H195 is essential for the association of heme-b in the central region of Lcp1VH2.

  18. Histidine at Position 195 is Essential for Association of Heme- b in Lcp1VH2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oetermann, Sylvia; Vivod, Robin; Hiessl, Sebastian; Hogeback, Jens; Holtkamp, Michael; Karst, Uwe; Steinbüchel, Alexander

    2018-05-01

    The latex clearing protein (Lcp) is the key enzyme of polyisoprene degradation in actinomycetes (Yikmis and Steinbüchel in Appl Environ Microbiol 78:4543-4551, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00001-12 , 2012). In this study it was shown that Lcp from Gordonia polyisoprenivorans VH2 (Lcp1VH2) harbors a non-covalently bound heme b as cofactor, which was identified by pyridine hemochrome spectra and confirmed by LC/ESI-ToF-MS. It contains iron, most likely in the Fe3+ state. We focused on the characterization of the heme-cofactor, its accessibility with respect to the conformation of Lcp1VH2, and the identification of putative histidine residues involved in the coordination of heme. A change was detectable in UV/Vis-spectra of reduced Lcp1VH2 when imidazole was added, showing that Lcp1VH2 "as isolated" occurs in an open state, directly being accessible for external ligands. In addition, three highly conserved histidines (H195, H200 and H228), presumably acting as ligands coordinating the heme within the heme pocket, were replaced with alanines by site-directed mutagenesis. The effect of these changes on in vivo rubber-mineralization was investigated. The lcp- deletion mutant complemented with the H195A variant of lcp1 VH2 was unable to mineralize poly( cis-1,4-isoprene). In vitro analyses of purified, recombinant Lcp1VH2H195A confirmed the loss of enzyme activity, which could be ascribed to the loss of heme. Hence, H195 is essential for the association of heme- b in the central region of Lcp1VH2.

  19. VH mode accessibility and global H-mode properties in previous and present JET configurations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jones, T T.C.; Ali-Arshad, S; Bures, M; Christiansen, J P; Esch, H P.L. de; Fishpool, G; Jarvis, O N; Koenig, R; Lawson, K D; Lomas, P J; Marcus, F B; Sartori, R; Schunke, B; Smeulders, P; Stork, D; Taroni, A; Thomas, P R; Thomsen, K [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking

    1994-07-01

    In JET VH modes, there is a distinct confinement transition following the cessation of ELMs, observed in a wide variety of tokamak operating conditions, using both NBI and ICRF heating methods. Important factors which influence VH mode accessibility such as magnetic configuration and vessel conditions have been identified. The new JET pumped divertor configuration has much improved plasma shaping control and power and particle exhaust capability and should permit exploitation of plasmas with VH confinement properties over an even wider range of operating regimes, particularly at high plasma current; first H-modes have been obtained in the 1994 JET operating period and initial results are reported. (authors). 7 refs., 6 figs.

  20. Impurity penetration and transport during VH-mode on DIII-D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lippmann, S.I.; Evans, T.E.; Jackson, G.L.; West, W.P.

    1992-05-01

    A new modeling effort is made in order to understand the observed relatively low levels of impurity contamination during the VH-mode phase on DIII-D, as compared to those observed during the H-mode phase of selected discharges. The key element is the inclusion of the real 2-D flux surface geometry in the prediction of impurity penetration of sputtered atoms through the scrape-off layer into the core plasma. Of the elements which determine the impurity content in the plasma: sputtering yield, penetration, and core transport, the penetration through the scrape-off layer is found to be the most determinative factor. The low impurity content in VH-mode is attributed to the development of a scrape-off layer with higher density and temperature properties than those normally obtained in H-mode

  1. Beta limits in H-modes and VH-modes in JET

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smeulders, P; Hender, T C; Huysmans, G; Marcus, F; Ali-Arshad, S; Alper, B; Balet, B; Bures, M; Deliyanakis, N; Esch, H de; Fshpool, G; Jarvis, O N; Jones, T T.C.; Ketner, W; Koenig, R; Lawson, K; Lomas, P; O` Brien, D; Sadler, G; Stok, D; Stubberfield, P; Thomas, P; Thomen, K; Wesson, J [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Nave, M F [Universidade Tecnica, Lisbon (Portugal). Inst. Superior Tecnico

    1994-07-01

    In Hot-ion H- and VH-modes, the highest achieved beta was about 10% below the Troyon value in the best case of discharge 26087. The operational space of the high beta discharges obtained before March 1992 has been explored as function of the parameters H{sub ITER89P}, {beta}{sub n}, q{sub 95}, I{sub p}. Also, a limiting envelope on the fusion reactivity as a function of the average plasma pressure and beta has been observed with R{sub DD} related to {beta}{sub {phi}}{sup 2}.B{sub {phi}}{sup 4}. MHD stability analysis shows that the JET VH modes at the edge are in the second region for ballooning mode stability. The dependence of ballooning stability and the n=1 external kink on the edge current density is analyzed. (authors). 6 figs., 6 refs.

  2. ATLAS searches for VH, HH, VV, V+$\\gamma$/$\\gamma\\gamma$ resonances

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00441490; The ATLAS collaboration

    2017-01-01

    The discovery of a Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider motivates searches for physics beyond the Standard Model in channels involving coupling to the Higgs boson. A search for massive resonances decaying into couples of bosons is described. The considered final states are: $HH$, $VH$, $VV$, $V\\gamma$ and $\\gamma\\gamma$ with $V$ indicating either the $W$ or the $Z$ boson. Final states with different number of leptons or photons and where, in many cases, at least one Higgs decays into a b-quark pair are studied using different jet reconstruction techniques which allow to optimize the signal acceptance for low or high Higgs boson transverse momentum. The most recent diboson resonance searches using LHC Run 2 data are described.

  3. Depth-dependent Vertical-to-Horizontal (V/H) Ratios of Free-Field Ground Motion Response Spectra for Deeply Embedded Nuclear Structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wei, X. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Braverman, J. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Miranda, M. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Rosario, M. E. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Costantino, C. J. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

    2015-02-01

    This report documents the results of a study to determine the depth-dependent V/H ratios of ground motion response spectra in the free field. The V/H ratios reported herein were developed from a worldwide database of surface and downhole acceleration recordings obtained from 45 vertical array stations. This database was specifically compiled for this project, and includes information from a diversity of active tectonic regions (California, Alaska, Taiwan, Japan), site conditions (rock to soft soil), ground motion intensity levels (PGAs between 0.01 g and 0.50 g), magnitudes (between ML 2.78 and JMA 8.1), epicentral distances (between 3.2 km and 812 km), and source depths (between 1.2 km and 112 km), as well as sensors at surface and at a wide range of depths relevant to the project. To study the significance of the depth effect, V/H ratios from all the records were sorted into a number of depth bins relevant to the project, and statistics (average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, 16th, 50th, and 84th percentiles) of the V/H ratios within each bin were computed. Similar analyses were repeated, controlling for different site conditions, ground motion intensity levels, array locations, and source depths, to study their relative effect on the V/H ratios. Our findings confirm the importance of the depth effect on the V/H ratios. The research findings in this report can be used to provide guidance on the significance of the depth effect, and the extent to which this effect should be considered in the seismic design of deeply embedded SMR structures and NPP structures in general.

  4. Magnetovoltage Measurements and Field Sweep Rate Dependence of V-H curves in Superconducting Polycrystalline Y1Ba2Cu3O7-x

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yetis, H; Altinkok, A; Olutas, M; Kilic, A; Kilic, K; Cetin, O

    2006-01-01

    Magnetovoltage measurements (V-H curves) were carried out in superconducting polycrystalline bulk Y 1 Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (YBCO) material as a function of current (I), temperature (T), field sweep rate (dH/dt) and field orientation with respect to the transport current. A relative decrease in the dissipation measured in V-H curves was observed as dH/dt is increased, which implies that the time spent to plot the whole cycle has an importance on the evolution of the V-H curves. Thus, it could be possible to observe the relaxation effects in magnetovoltage measurements. In addition, the several significant steps and plateaus in V-H curves evolve depending on the magnitude of the transport current and also dH/dt. These observations were attributed to locking of the flux lines to decrease or increase in size of the easy motion flow channels. The strong hysteresis effects in V-H curves were discussed mainly by means of the flux trapping within the granularity of sample and the different degree of the inhomogeneous flux motion with respect to the sweeping of the external magnetic field up and down

  5. Similarities in the immunoglobulin response and VH gene usage in rhesus monkeys and humans exposed to porcine hepatocytes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borie Dominic C

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The use of porcine cells and organs as a source of xenografts for human patients would vastly increase the donor pool; however, both humans and Old World primates vigorously reject pig tissues due to xenoantibodies that react with the polysaccharide galactose α (1,3 galactose (αGal present on the surface of many porcine cells. We previously examined the xenoantibody response in patients exposed to porcine hepatocytes via treatment(s with bioartficial liver devices (BALs, composed of porcine cells in a support matrix. We determined that xenoantibodies in BAL-treated patients are predominantly directed at porcine αGal carbohydrate epitopes, and are encoded by a small number of germline heavy chain variable region (VH immunoglobulin genes. The studies described in this manuscript were designed to identify whether the xenoantibody responses and the IgVH genes encoding antibodies to porcine hepatocytes in non-human primates used as preclinical models are similar to those in humans. Adult non-immunosuppressed rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta were injected intra-portally with porcine hepatocytes or heterotopically transplanted with a porcine liver lobe. Peripheral blood leukocytes and serum were obtained prior to and at multiple time points after exposure, and the immune response was characterized, using ELISA to evaluate the levels and specificities of circulating xenoantibodies, and the production of cDNA libraries to determine the genes used by B cells to encode those antibodies. Results Xenoantibodies produced following exposure to isolated hepatocytes and solid organ liver grafts were predominantly encoded by genes in the VH3 family, with a minor contribution from the VH4 family. Immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene (VH cDNA library screening and gene sequencing of IgM libraries identified the genes as most closely-related to the IGHV3-11 and IGHV4-59 germline progenitors. One of the genes most similar to IGHV3-11, VH3-11cyno, has

  6. A fully synthetic human Fab antibody library based on fixed VH/VL framework pairings with favorable biophysical properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiller, Thomas; Schuster, Ingrid; Deppe, Dorothée; Siegers, Katja; Strohner, Ralf; Herrmann, Tanja; Berenguer, Marion; Poujol, Dominique; Stehle, Jennifer; Stark, Yvonne; Heßling, Martin; Daubert, Daniela; Felderer, Karin; Kaden, Stefan; Kölln, Johanna; Enzelberger, Markus; Urlinger, Stefanie

    2013-01-01

    This report describes the design, generation and testing of Ylanthia, a fully synthetic human Fab antibody library with 1.3E+11 clones. Ylanthia comprises 36 fixed immunoglobulin (Ig) variable heavy (VH)/variable light (VL) chain pairs, which cover a broad range of canonical complementarity-determining region (CDR) structures. The variable Ig heavy and Ig light (VH/VL) chain pairs were selected for biophysical characteristics favorable to manufacturing and development. The selection process included multiple parameters, e.g., assessment of protein expression yield, thermal stability and aggregation propensity in fragment antigen binding (Fab) and IgG1 formats, and relative Fab display rate on phage. The framework regions are fixed and the diversified CDRs were designed based on a systematic analysis of a large set of rearranged human antibody sequences. Care was taken to minimize the occurrence of potential posttranslational modification sites within the CDRs. Phage selection was performed against various antigens and unique antibodies with excellent biophysical properties were isolated. Our results confirm that quality can be built into an antibody library by prudent selection of unmodified, fully human VH/VL pairs as scaffolds. PMID:23571156

  7. Redirecting Specificity of T cells Using the Sleeping Beauty System to Express Chimeric Antigen Receptors by Mix-and-Matching of VL and VH Domains Targeting CD123+ Tumors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radhika Thokala

    Full Text Available Adoptive immunotherapy infusing T cells with engineered specificity for CD19 expressed on B- cell malignancies is generating enthusiasm to extend this approach to other hematological malignancies, such as acute myelogenous leukemia (AML. CD123, or interleukin 3 receptor alpha, is overexpressed on most AML and some lymphoid malignancies, such as acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL, and has been an effective target for T cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs. The prototypical CAR encodes a VH and VL from one monoclonal antibody (mAb, coupled to a transmembrane domain and one or more cytoplasmic signaling domains. Previous studies showed that treatment of an experimental AML model with CD123-specific CAR T cells was therapeutic, but at the cost of impaired myelopoiesis, highlighting the need for systems to define the antigen threshold for CAR recognition. Here, we show that CARs can be engineered using VH and VL chains derived from different CD123-specific mAbs to generate a panel of CAR+ T cells. While all CARs exhibited specificity to CD123, one VH and VL combination had reduced lysis of normal hematopoietic stem cells. This CAR's in vivo anti-tumor activity was similar whether signaling occurred via chimeric CD28 or CD137, prolonging survival in both AML and ALL models. Co-expression of inducible caspase 9 eliminated CAR+ T cells. These data help support the use of CD123-specific CARs for treatment of CD123+ hematologic malignancies.

  8. Draft Genome Sequence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus VH3, Isolated from an Aquaculture Environment in Greece

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Castillo, Daniel; Jun, Jin Woo; D'Alvise, Paul

    2015-01-01

    Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important foodborne pathogen responsible for gastroenteritis outbreaks globally. It has also been identified as an important pathogen in aquatic organisms. Here, we report a draft genome sequence of V. parahaemolyticus, strain VH3, isolated from farmed juvenile greater...

  9. [Cloning of VH and VL Gene of Human anti-IL1RAP McAb and Construction of Recombinant Chimeric Receptor].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Ling-Ling; Ruan, Su-Hong; Tian, Yu; Zhao, Kai; Xu, Kai Lin

    2015-10-01

    To clone the variable region genes of human anti-IL1RAP (IL-1 receptor accessory protein) monoclonal antibodies (McAb) and to construct IL1RAP chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). The VH and VL DNA of IL1RAP single chain antibodies were amplified by RACE and overlap extension PCR from total RNA extracted from 3H6E10 and 10D8A7 hybridoma and ligated into specific IL1RAP single-chain variable fragments (scFv). CD8α transmembrane domain, CD137 intracellular domain, TCR ζ chain, human CD8α signal peptide and scFv-anti-IL1RAP were cloned into plasmid LV-lac. Recombinant lentiviruses were generated by co-transfection of recombinant plasmid LV-lac, pMD2. G, and psPAX2 helper vectors into 293FT packing cells. The VH and VL genes of 2 human anti-IL1RAP McAb were acquired. The 3H6E10 VH and VL genes consisted of 402 bp and 393 bp encoding 134 and 131 aminoacid residues, respectively; 10D8A7 VH and VL genes consisted of 423 bp and 381 bp encoding 141 and 127 amine acid residues, respectively. Recombinant expression vertors LV-3H6E10 scFv-ICD and LV-10D8A7 scFv-ICD (ICD: CD8α transmembrane domain-CD137 intracellular domain-TCR ζ chain) were constructed. The target fragments were demonstrated by sequencing analysis. Recombinant plasmids were transfected into 293FT cells and lentiviral particles were acquired. Human anti-IL1RAP recombinant receptors are constructed successfully and lay a good foundation for the construction of IL1RAP-CAR killer T cell vaccine.

  10. Fundamental characteristics of the immunoglobulin VH repertoire of chickens in comparison with those of humans, mice, and camelids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Leeying; Oficjalska, Katarzyna; Lambert, Matthew; Fennell, Brian J; Darmanin-Sheehan, Alfredo; Ní Shúilleabháin, Deirdre; Autin, Bénédicte; Cummins, Emma; Tchistiakova, Lioudmila; Bloom, Laird; Paulsen, Janet; Gill, Davinder; Cunningham, Orla; Finlay, William J J

    2012-01-01

    Examination of 1269 unique naive chicken V(H) sequences showed that the majority of positions in the framework (FW) regions were maintained as germline, with high mutation rates observed in the CDRs. Many FW mutations could be clearly related to the modulation of CDR structure or the V(H)-V(L) interface. CDRs 1 and 2 of the V(H) exhibited frequent mutation in solvent-exposed positions, but conservation of common structural residues also found in human CDRs at the same positions. In comparison with humans and mice, the chicken CDR3 repertoire was skewed toward longer sequences, was dominated by small amino acids (G/S/A/C/T), and had higher cysteine (chicken, 9.4%; human, 1.6%; and mouse, 0.25%) but lower tyrosine content (chicken, 9.2%; human, 16.8%; and mouse 26.4%). A strong correlation (R(2) = 0.97) was observed between increasing CDR3 length and higher cysteine content. This suggests that noncanonical disulfides are strongly favored in chickens, potentially increasing CDR stability and complexity in the topology of the combining site. The probable formation of disulfide bonds between CDR3 and CDR1, FW2, or CDR2 was also observed, as described in camelids. All features of the naive repertoire were fully replicated in the target-selected, phage-displayed repertoire. The isolation of a chicken Fab with four noncanonical cysteines in the V(H) that exhibits 64 nM (K(D)) binding affinity for its target proved these constituents to be part of the humoral response, not artifacts. This study supports the hypothesis that disulfide bond-constrained CDR3s are a structural diversification strategy in the restricted germline v-gene repertoire of chickens.

  11. Anatomical and Physiological Changes after Paclitaxel-Coated Balloon for Atherosclerotic De Novo Coronary Lesions: Serial IVUS-VH and FFR Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soe Hee Ann

    Full Text Available To assess the serial changes of de novo coronary lesions treated with paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCB using intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (IVUS-VH and fractional flow reserve (FFR.This prospective observational study enrolled 27 patients with coronary artery disease treated with PCB who underwent coronary angiography, IVUS-VH and FFR before, immediately after intervention and at 9 months. 28 de novo lesions were successfully treated with PCB. Angiographic late luminal loss was 0.02 ± 0.27 mm. Mean vessel and lumen areas showed increase at 9 months (12.0 ± 3.5 mm(2 to 13.2 ± 3.9 mm(2, p <0.001; and 5.4 ± 1.2 mm(2 to 6.5 ± 1.8 mm(2, p <0.001, respectively. Although mean plaque area was unchanged (6.6 ± 2.6 mm2 to 6.6 ± 2.4 mm(2, p = 0.269, percent atheroma volume decreased significantly (53.4 ± 7.9% to 49.5 ± 6.4%, p = 0.002. The proportion of plaque compositions including fibrous, fibrofatty, dense calcium and necrotic core by IVUS-VH was unchanged at 9 months. The FFR of the treated lesion was 0.71 ± 0.13 pre-procedure, 0.87 ± 0.06 post-procedure and 0.84 ± 0.06 at follow-up.De novo coronary lesions treated with PCB showed persistent anatomical and physiological patency with plaque redistribution and vessel remodeling without chronic elastic recoil or plaque compositional change during follow-up.

  12. Jet substructure and probes of CP violation in Vh production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Godbole, R.M. [Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science,Sir C.V. Raman Road, Bangalore 560012 (India); Miller, D.J. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, University of Glasgow,University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Mohan, K.A. [Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science,Sir C.V. Raman Road, Bangalore 560012 (India); White, C.D. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, University of Glasgow,University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom)

    2015-04-20

    We analyse the hVV (V=W,Z) vertex in a model independent way using Vh production. To that end, we consider possible corrections to the Standard Model Higgs Lagrangian, in the form of higher dimensional operators which parametrise the effects of new physics. In our analysis, we pay special attention to linear observables that can be used to probe CP violation in the same. By considering the associated production of a Higgs boson with a vector boson (W or Z), we use jet substructure methods to define angular observables which are sensitive to new physics effects, including an asymmetry which is linearly sensitive to the presence of CP odd effects. We demonstrate how to use these observables to place bounds on the presence of higher dimensional operators, and quantify these statements using a log likelihood analysis. Our approach allows one to probe separately the hZZ and hWW vertices, involving arbitrary combinations of BSM operators, at the Large Hadron Collider.

  13. Eh-pH diagrams of the V-H2O system at 25,60 and 1000C

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, F.T. da; Ogasawara, T.; Cassa, J.C.S.

    1987-01-01

    Free energies of the formation of vanadium ions in aqueous solutions at elevated temperatures were determined. Eh-pH diagrams at 25 0 C, 60 0 C and 100 0 C at different vanadium concentrations, using microcomputers were calculated and obtained. The effects of temperature and vanadium concentration on the predominance of vanadium species were examined. The Eh-pH diagrams for the V-H 2 O system were evaluated by comparisons with experimental data. (Author) [pt

  14. RNA:DNA Ratio and Other Nucleic Acid Derived Indices in Marine Ecology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Chícharo

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available Some of most used indicators in marine ecology are nucleic acid-derived indices. They can be divided by target levels in three groups: 1 at the organism level as ecophysiologic indicators, indicators such as RNA:DNA ratios, DNA:dry weight and RNA:protein, 2 at the population level, indicators such as growth rate, starvation incidence or fisheries impact indicators, and 3 at the community level, indicators such as trophic interactions, exergy indices and prey identification. The nucleic acids derived indices, especially RNA:DNA ratio, have been applied with success as indicators of nutritional condition, well been and growth in marine organisms. They are also useful as indicators of natural or anthropogenic impacts in marine population and communities, such as upwelling or dredge fisheries, respectively. They can help in understanding important issues of marine ecology such as trophic interactions in marine environment, fish and invertebrate recruitment failure and biodiversity changes, without laborious work of counting, measuring and identification of small marine organisms. Besides the objective of integrate nucleic acid derived indices across levels of organization, the paper will also include a general characterization of most used nucleic acid derived indices in marine ecology and also advantages and limitations of them. We can conclude that using indicators, such RNA:DNA ratios and other nucleic acids derived indices concomitantly with organism and ecosystems measures of responses to climate change (distribution, abundance, activity, metabolic rate, survival will allow for the development of more rigorous and realistic predictions of the effects of anthropogenic climate change on marine systems.

  15. Potential renal toxicity bio-markers indicating radiation injury after 177Lu-octreotate treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dalmo, J.; Forssell-Aronsson, E.; Westberg, E.; Toernqvist, M.; Svedborn, L.; Barregaerd, L.

    2015-01-01

    Full text of publication follows. The kidneys are one of the most exposed non-tumor tissues and regarded as one of the main dose-limiting organs in peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). [ 177 Lu-DOTA0, Tyr3]-octreotate ( 177 Lu-octreotate) has shown promising results in the treatment of somatostatin receptor over-expressing neuroendocrine tumors, but optimization is still needed. The ability to give each patient as much 177 Lu-octreotate as possible without inducing nephrotoxicity is necessary for an efficient treatment. However, due to large inter-individual differences in uptake and retention in the kidneys, there is a need for efficient methods that can indicate renal injury early. A possible way is to identify bio-markers for high risk of radiation nephrotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of using urinary retinol binding protein (RBP), and blood valinhydantoin (VH) as bio-markers of nephrotoxicity on adult mice after 177 Lu-octreotate treatment. BALB/c nude mice (n=6/group) were i.v. injected with 60 MBq or 120 MBq of 177 Lu-octreotate. The control group was mock treated with saline. Spot urine samples were collected before injection, and 14, 30, 60 and 90 days after injection. Analysis of RBP4 and creatinine was performed using Mouse RBP4 ELISA kit and Creatinine kit from R/D Systems, respectively. Erythrocytes were separated from whole blood samples collected 90 days after injection, and analysed for VH by LC-MS/MS. The ratio between VH and a volumetric standard was calculated. The RBP/creatinine level increased with time in both groups given 177 Lu-octreotate, with earlier and higher response for the 120 MBq group. No clear change in VH level between the different groups was observed. The results show that RBP may be a promising new bio-marker for radiation induced kidney toxicity. The presently used method based on VH was not sensitive enough to be used as kidney toxicity marker. Further studies on mice are ongoing to

  16. Syntheses of Azo-Imine Derivatives from Vanillin as an Acid Base Indicator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bambang Purwono

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Preparations of azo, imine and azo-imine derivatives from vanillin as an indicator of acid-base titration have been carried out. The azo derivative of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-(phenylazobenzaldehyde 2 was produced by diazotitation reaction of vanillin in 37.04% yield. The azo product was then refluxed with aniline in ethanol to yield azo-imine derivatives, 2-methoxy-6-(phenylazo-4-((phenyliminomethylphenol 1 in 82.21% yield. The imine derivative, 2-methoxy-4-((phenyliminomethyl-phenol 3 was obtained by refluxing of vanillin and aniline mixture in ethanol solvent and produced 82.17% yield. The imine product was then reacted with benzenediazonium chloride salt. However, the products indicated hydrolyzed product of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-(phenylazobenzaldehyde 2 in 22.15% yield. The 2-methoxy-4-((phenyliminomethylphenol 2 could be used as an indicator for titration of NaOH by H2C2O4 with maximum concentration of H2C2O4 0.1 M while the target compound 1 could be used as titration indicator for titration of NaOH with H2C2O4 with same result using phenolphthalein indicator.

  17. MODERN INDICATORS DERIVED FROM VALUE CREATION AND DISCOUNTED

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cican Simona

    2013-07-01

    In this article, we will present the connection between discounted cash flow methods and the indicators derived from value creation, based on the business finance theory, which says that firm value will increase if projects with positive net present value are accepted, while it will be destroyed if projects with negative net present value are accepted.

  18. Cloning and molecular characterization of the cDNAs encoding the variable regions of an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shanehbandi, Dariush; Majidi, Jafar; Kazemi, Tohid; Baradaran, Behzad; Aghebati-Maleki, Leili

    2017-01-01

    CD20-based targeting of B-cells in hematologic malignancies and autoimmune disorders is associated with outstanding clinical outcomes. Isolation and characterization of VH and VL cDNAs encoding the variable regions of the heavy and light chains of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) is necessary to produce next generation MAbs and their derivatives such as bispecific antibodies (bsAb) and single-chain variable fragments (scFv). This study was aimed at cloning and characterization of the VH and VL cDNAs from a hybridoma cell line producing an anti-CD20 MAb. VH and VL fragments were amplified, cloned and characterized. Furthermore, amino acid sequences of VH, VL and corresponding complementarity-determining regions (CDR) were determined and compared with those of four approved MAbs including Rituximab (RTX), Ibritumomab tiuxetan, Ofatumumab and GA101. The cloned VH and VL cDNAs were found to be functional and follow a consensus pattern. Amino acid sequences corresponding to the VH and VL fragments also indicated noticeable homologies to those of RTX and Ibritumomab. Furthermore, amino acid sequences of the relating CDRs had remarkable similarities to their counterparts in RTX and Ibritumomab. Successful recovery of VH and VL fragments encourages the development of novel CD20 targeting bsAbs, scFvs, antibody conjugates and T-cells armed with chimeric antigen receptors.

  19. Environmental Indicator Principium with Case References to Agricultural Soil, Water, and Air Quality and Model-Derived Indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, T Q; Zheng, Z M; Lal, R; Lin, Z Q; Sharpley, A N; Shober, A L; Smith, D; Tan, C S; Van Cappellen, P

    2018-03-01

    Environmental indicators are powerful tools for tracking environmental changes, measuring environmental performance, and informing policymakers. Many diverse environmental indicators, including agricultural environmental indicators, are currently in use or being developed. This special collection of technical papers expands on the peer-reviewed literature on environmental indicators and their application to important current issues in the following areas: (i) model-derived indicators to indicate phosphorus losses from arable land to surface runoff and subsurface drainage, (ii) glutathione-ascorbate cycle-related antioxidants as early-warning bioindicators of polybrominated diphenyl ether toxicity in mangroves, and (iii) assessing the effectiveness of using organic matrix biobeds to limit herbicide dissipation from agricultural fields, thereby controlling on-farm point-source pollution. This introductory review also provides an overview of environmental indicators, mainly for agriculture, with examples related to the quality of the agricultural soil-water-air continuum and the application of model-derived indicators. Current knowledge gaps and future lines of investigation are also discussed. It appears that environmental indicators, particularly those for agriculture, work efficiently at the field, catchment, and local scales and serve as valuable metrics of system functioning and response; however, these indicators need to be refined or further developed to comprehensively meet community expectations in terms of providing a consistent picture of relevant issues and/or allowing comparisons to be made nationally or internationally. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

  20. Distinguishing plant population and variety with UAV-derived vegetation indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oakes, Joseph; Balota, Maria

    2017-05-01

    Variety selection and seeding rate are two important choice that a peanut grower must make. High yielding varieties can increase profit with no additional input costs, while seeding rate often determines input cost a grower will incur from seed costs. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the effect that seeding rate has on different peanut varieties. With the advent of new UAV technology, we now have the possibility to use indices collected with the UAV to measure emergence, seeding rate, growth rate, and perhaps make yield predictions. This information could enable growers to make management decisions early in the season based on low plant populations due to poor emergence, and could be a useful tool for growers to use to estimate plant population and growth rate in order to help achieve desired crop stands. Red-Green-Blue (RGB) and near-infrared (NIR) images were collected from a UAV platform starting two weeks after planting and continued weekly for the next six weeks. Ground NDVI was also collected each time aerial images were collected. Vegetation indices were derived from both the RGB and NIR images. Greener area (GGA- the proportion of green pixels with a hue angle from 80° to 120°) and a* (the average red/green color of the image) were derived from the RGB images while Normalized Differential Vegetative Index (NDVI) was derived from NIR images. Aerial indices were successful in distinguishing seeding rates and determining emergence during the first few weeks after planting, but not later in the season. Meanwhile, these aerial indices are not an adequate predictor of yield in peanut at this point.

  1. Suitability Assessment of Satellite-Derived Drought Indices for Mongolian Grassland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheng Chang

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In Mongolia, drought is a major natural disaster that can influence and devastate large regions, reduce livestock production, cause economic damage, and accelerate desertification in association with destructive human activities. The objective of this article is to determine the optimal satellite-derived drought indices for accurate and real-time expression of grassland drought in Mongolia. Firstly, an adaptability analysis was performed by comparing nine remote sensing-derived drought indices with reference indicators obtained from field observations using several methods (correlation, consistency percentage (CP, and time-space analysis. The reference information included environmental data, vegetation growth status, and region drought-affected (RDA information at diverse scales (pixel, county, and region for three types of land cover (forest steppe, steppe, and desert steppe. Second, a meteorological index (PED, a normalized biomass (NorBio reference indicator, and the RDA-based drought CP method were adopted for describing Mongolian drought. Our results show that in forest steppe regions the normalized difference water index (NDWI is most sensitive to NorBio (maximum correlation coefficient (MAX_R: up to 0.92 and RDA (maximum CP is 87%, and is most consistent with RDA spatial distribution. The vegetation health index (VHI and temperature condition index (TCI are most correlated with the PED index (MAX_R: 0.75 and soil moisture (MAX_R: 0.58, respectively. In steppe regions, the NDWI is most closely related to soil moisture (MAX_R: 0.69 and the VHI is most related to the PED (MAX_R: 0.76, NorBio (MCC: 0.95, and RDA data (maximum CP is 89%, exhibiting the most consistency with RDA spatial distribution. In desert steppe areas, the vegetation condition index (VCI correlates best with NorBio (MAX_R: 0.92, soil moisture (MAX_R: 0.61, and RDA spatial distribution, while TCI correlates best with the PED (MAX_R: 0.75 and the RDA data (maximum CP is 79

  2. An Application of the Direct Coulomb Electron Pair Production Process to the Energy Measurement of the "VH-Group" in the "Knee" Region of the "All-Particle" Energy Spectrum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derrickson, J. H.; Wu, J.; Christl, M. J.; Fountain, W. F.; Parnell, T. A.

    1999-01-01

    The "all-particle" cosmic ray energy spectrum appears to be exhibiting a significant change in the spectral index just above approximately 3000 TeV. This could indicate (1) a change in the propagation of the cosmic rays in the galactic medium, and/or (2) the upper limit of the supernova shock wave acceleration mechanism, and/or (3) a new source of high-energy cosmic rays. Air shower and JACEE data indicate the spectral change is associated with a composition change to a heavier element mixture whereas DICE does not indicate this. A detector concept will be presented that utilizes the energy dependence of the production of direct Coulomb electron-positron pairs by energetic heavy ions. Monte Carlo simulations of a direct electron pair detector consisting of Pb target foils interleaved with planes of 1-mm square scintillating optical fibers will be discussed. The goal is to design a large area, non-saturating instrument to measure the energy spectrum of the individual cosmic ray elements in the "VH-group" for energies greater than 10 TeV/nucleon.

  3. Use of molecular modeling and site-directed mutagenesis to define the structural basis for the immune response to carbohydrate xenoantigens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yew Margaret

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Natural antibodies directed at carbohydrates reject porcine xenografts. They are initially expressed in germline configuration and are encoded by a small number of structurally-related germline progenitors. The transplantation of genetically-modified pig organs prevents hyperacute rejection, but delayed graft rejection still occurs, partly due to humoral responses. IgVH genes encoding induced xenoantibodies are predominantly, not exclusively, derived from germline progenitors in the VH3 family. We have previously identified the immunoglobulin heavy chain genes encoding VH3 xenoantibodies in patients and primates. In this manuscript, we complete the structural analysis of induced xenoantibodies by identifying the IgVH genes encoding the small proportion of VH4 xenoantibodies and the germline progenitors encoding xenoantibody light chains. This information has been used to define the xenoantibody/carbohydrate binding site using computer-simulated modeling. Results The VH4-59 gene encodes antibodies in the VH4 family that are induced in human patients mounting active xenoantibody responses. The light chain of xenoantibodies is encoded by DPK5 and HSIGKV134. The structural information obtained by sequencing analysis was used to create computer-simulated models. Key contact sites for xenoantibody/carbohydrate interaction for VH3 family xenoantibodies include amino acids in sites 31, 33, 50, 57, 58 and the CDR3 region of the IgVH gene. Site-directed mutagenesis indicates that mutations in predicted contact sites alter binding to carbohydrate xenoantigens. Computer-simulated modeling suggests that the CDR3 region directly influences binding. Conclusion Xenoantibodies induced during early and delayed xenograft responses are predominantly encoded by genes in the VH3 family, with a small proportion encoded by VH4 germline progenitors. This restricted group can be identified by the unique canonical structure of the light chain, heavy

  4. M-Polynomials and Topological Indices of Dominating David Derived Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kang Shin Min

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available There is a strong relationship between the chemical characteristics of chemical compounds and their molecular structures. Topological indices are numerical values associated with the chemical molecular graphs that help to understand the physical features, chemical reactivity, and biological activity of chemical compound. Thus, the study of the topological indices is important. M-polynomial helps to recover many degree-based topological indices for example Zagreb indices, Randic index, symmetric division idex, inverse sum index etc. In this article we compute M-polynomials of dominating David derived networks of the first type, second type and third type of dimension n and find some topological properties by using these M-polynomials. The results are plotted using Maple to see the dependence of topological indices on the involved parameters.

  5. The role of electric field shear stabilization of turbulence in the H-mode to VH-mode transition in DIII-D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burrell, K.H.; Osborne, T.H.; Groebner, R.J.; Rettig, C.L.

    1993-01-01

    VH-mode plasma exhibit energy confinement times up to 2.4 times the DIII-D/JET H-mode scaling relation and up to 3.9 times the value given by ITER89-P L-mode scaling. If this confinement improvement can be exploited in reactor plasmas, smaller prototype reactors with significantly lower unit cost can be produced. Accordingly, understanding and optimizing the confinement improvement is of significant interest. One of the possible explanations for this bulk confinement improvement is stabilization of turbulence by shear in the radial electric field, similar to the present explanation for the confinement improvement at the extreme plasma edge at the L to H transition. Preliminary measurements have shown that the region of the plasma where the electric field gradient is steepest broadens when the plasma goes from H-mode to VH-mode. More recent measurements have confirmed this broadening and have shown that the change in the electric field gradient occurs prior to the change in the thermal transport. In addition, transport analysis shows that the electric field shear increases in the same region between magnetic flux coordinate p=0.6 and 0.9 where the local thermal transport decreases. Furthermore, far infra-red (FIR) scattering measurements have detected density fluctuations in the region around p=0.8 which could be responsible for enhanced transport and which disappear at the time that the electric shear increases. These fluctuations appear as bursts of density fluctuations in the 0.5 to 1.5 MHz range. The time between bursts increases as the electric field shear increases. Once these bursts disappear, the major change in confinement takes place in most discharges. When isolated bursts occur, the heat and angular momentum pulse connected with the burst are detectable on the plasma profile diagnostics. (author) 13 refs., 4 figs

  6. Search for $VH\\rightarrow$ leptons + $b\\bar{b}$ with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2079589

    The search for a Higgs boson decaying to a $b\\bar{b}$ pair is one of the key analyses ongoing at the ATLAS experiment. Despite being the largest branching ratio decay for a Standard Model Higgs boson, a large dataset is necessary to perform this analysis because of the very large backgrounds affecting the measurement. To discriminate the electroweak $H\\rightarrow b\\bar{b}$ signal from the large QCD backgrounds, the associated production of the Higgs with a $W$ or a $Z$ boson decaying leptonically is used. Different techniques have been proposed to enhance the signal over background ratio in the $VH(b\\bar{b})$ channel, from dedicated kinematic cuts, to a single large radius jet to identify the two collimated $b$'s in the Higgs high transverse momentum regime, to multivariate techniques. The high-$p_{\\mathrm{T}}$ approach, using a large radius jet to identify the $b$'s coming from the Higgs decay, has been tested against an analysis based on kinematic cuts for a dataset of $4.7$ fb$^{-1}$ luminosity at $\\sqrt{s...

  7. CT-derived indices of canine osteosarcoma-affected antebrachial strength.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Tanya C; Steffey, Michele A; Zwingenberger, Allison L; Daniel, Leticia; Stover, Susan M

    2017-05-01

    To improve the prediction of fractures in dogs with bone tumors of the distal radius by identifying computed tomography (CT) indices that correlate with antebrachial bone strength and fracture location. Prospective experimental study. Dogs with antebrachial osteosarcoma (n = 10), and normal cadaver bones (n=9). Antebrachia were imaged with quantitative CT prior to biomechanical testing to failure. CT indices of structural properties were compared to yield force and maximum force using Pearson correlation tests. Straight beam failure (Fs), axial rigidity, curved beam failure (Fc), and craniocaudal bending moment of inertia (MOICrCd) CT indices most highly correlated (0.77 > R > 0.57) with yield and maximum forces when iOSA-affected and control bones were included in the analysis. Considering only OSA-affected bones, Fs, Fc, and axial rigidity correlated highly (0.85 > R > 0.80) with maximum force. In affected bones, the location of minimum axial rigidity and maximum MOICrCd correlated highly (R > 0.85) with the actual fracture location. CT-derived axial rigidity, Fs, and MOICrCd have strong linear relationships with yield and maximum force. These indices should be further evaluated prospectively in OSA-affected dogs that do, and do not, experience pathologic fracture. © 2017 The American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

  8. Continuous Autoregulatory Indices Derived from Multi-Modal Monitoring: Each One Is Not Like the Other.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeiler, Frederick A; Donnelly, Joseph; Menon, David K; Smielewski, Peter; Zweifel, Christian; Brady, Ken; Czosnyka, Marek

    2017-11-15

    We assess the relationships between various continuous measures of autoregulatory capacity in a cohort of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). We assessed relationships between autoregulatory indices derived from intracranial pressure (ICP: PRx, PAx, RAC), transcranial Doppler (TCD: Mx, Sx, Dx), brain tissue-oxygenation (ORx), and spatially resolved near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS resolved: TOx, THx). Relationships between indices were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient, Friedman test, principal component analysis (PCA), agglomerative hierarchal clustering (AHC) and k-means cluster analysis (KMCA). All analytic techniques were repeated for a range of temporal resolutions of data, including minute-by-minute averages, moving means of 30 samples, and grand mean for each patient. Thirty-seven patients were studied. The PRx displayed strong association with PAx/RAC across all the analytical techniques: Pearson correlation (r = 0.682/r = 0.677, p indices (Mx, Dx) were correlated and co-clustered on PCA, AHC, and KMCA. The Sx was found to be more closely associated with ICP-derived indices on Pearson correlation, PCA, AHC, and KMCA. The NIRS indices displayed variable correlation with each other and with indices derived from ICP and TCD signals. Of interest, TOx and THx co-cluster with ICP-based indices on PCA and AHC. The ORx failed to display any meaningful correlations with other indices in neither of the analytical method used. Thirty-minute moving average and minute-by-minute data set displayed similar results across all the methods. The RAC, Mx, and Sx were the strongest predictors of outcome at six months. Continuously updating autoregulatory indices are not all correlated with one another. Caution must be advised when utilizing less commonly described autoregulation indices (i.e., ORx) for the clinical assessment of autoregulatory capacity, because they appear to not be related to commonly measured/establish indices, such as PRx

  9. Calculating degree-based topological indices of dominating David derived networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Muhammad Saeed; Nazeer, Waqas; Kang, Shin Min; Imran, Muhammad; Gao, Wei

    2017-12-01

    An important area of applied mathematics is the Chemical reaction network theory. The behavior of real world problems can be modeled by using this theory. Due to applications in theoretical chemistry and biochemistry, it has attracted researchers since its foundation. It also attracts pure mathematicians because it involves interesting mathematical structures. In this report, we compute newly defined topological indices, namely, Arithmetic-Geometric index (AG1 index), SK index, SK1 index, and SK2 index of the dominating David derived networks [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

  10. Deriving Multidimensional Poverty Indicators: Methodological Issues and an Empirical Analysis for Italy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coromaldi, Manuela; Zoli, Mariangela

    2012-01-01

    Theoretical and empirical studies have recently adopted a multidimensional concept of poverty. There is considerable debate about the most appropriate degree of multidimensionality to retain in the analysis. In this work we add to the received literature in two ways. First, we derive indicators of multiple deprivation by applying a particular…

  11. The role of the radial electric field in confinement and transport in H-mode and VH-mode discharges in the DIII-D tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gohil, P.; Burrell, K.H.; Groebner, R.J.; Osborne, T.H.; Doyle, E.J.; Rettig, C.L.

    1993-08-01

    Measurements of the radial electric field, E r , with high spatial and high time resolution in H-mode and VH-mode discharges in the DIII-D tokamak have revealed the significant influence of the shear in E r on confinement and transport in these discharges. These measurements are made using the DIII-D Charge Exchange Recombination (CER) System. At the L-H transition in DIII-D plasmas, a negative well-like E r profile develops just within the magnetic separatrix. A region of shear in E r results, which extends 1 to 2 cm into the plasma from the separatrix. At the transition, this region of sheared E r exhibits the greatest increase in impurity ion poloidal rotation velocity and the greatest reduction in plasma fluctuations. A transport barrier is formed in this same region of E x B velocity shear as is signified by large increases in the observed gradients of the ion temperature, the carbon density, the electron temperature and electron density. The development of the region of sheared E r , the increase in impurity ion poloidal rotation, the reduction in plasma turbulence, and the transport barrier all occur simultaneously at the L-H transition. Measurements of the radial electric field, plasma turbulence, thermal transport, and energy confinement have been performed for a wide range of plasma conditions and configurations. The results support the supposition that the progression of improving confinement at the L-H transition, into the H-mode and then into the VH-mode can be explained by the hypothesis of the suppression of plasma turbulence by the increasing penetration of the region of sheared E x B velocity into the plasma interior

  12. SYNTHESIS OF AZO COMPOUNDS DERIVATIVE FROM EUGENOL AND ITS APPLICATION AS A TITRATION INDICATOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bambang Purwono

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The synthesis of azo compounds from eugenol has been carried out by diazotation reaction. The diazonium salt was produced by reaction of aniline and sodium nitrite in acid condition at 0-5 °C temperature to yield benzenediazonium chloride salt. The salt was then reacted with eugenol to produce the azo derivatives. The azo product was analyzed by IR, 1H-NMR, dan GC-MS spectrometer. The results showed that the reaction of benzenediazonium chloride with eugenol gave 4-allyl-2-methoxy-6-hydroxyazobenzene in 34.27% yield for 30 minutes reaction. The derivative of azo compound was dissolved in ethanol and then the color changing was observed in range of pH 9.8-11.1 from yellow to red. Application for titration indicator for acetic acid titrated with sodium hydroxide showed error less than 3.20% compared with phenol phtaline indicator.   Keywords: Eugenol, Azo compound, titration indicator

  13. Construction and sequencing analysis of scFv antibody fragment derived from monoclonal antibody against norfloxacin (Nor155

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Mala

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Norfloxacin belongs to the group of fluoroquinolone antibiotics which has been approved for treatment in animals. However, its residues in animal products can pose adverse side effects to consumer. Therefore, detection of the residue in different food matrices must be concerned. In this study, a single chain variable fragment (scFv that recognizes norfloxacin antibiotic was constructed. The cDNA was synthesized from total RNA of hybridoma cells against norfloxacin. Genes encoding VH and VL regions of monoclonal antibody against norfloxacin (Nor155 were amplified and size of VH and VL fragments was 402 bp and 363 bp, respectively. The scFv of Nor155 was constructed by an addition of (Gly4Ser3 as a linker between VH and VL regions and subcloned into pPICZαA, an expression vector of Pichia pastoris. The sequence of scFv Nor155 (GenBank No. AJG06891.1 was confirmed by sequencing analysis. The complementarity determining regions (CDR I, II, and III of VH and VL were specified by Kabat method. The obtained recombinant plasmid will be useful for production of scFv antibody against norfloxacin in P. pastoris and further engineer scFv antibody against fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

  14. No evidence for the use of DIR, D-D fusions, chromosome 15 open reading frames or VH replacement in the peripheral repertoire was found on application of an improved algorithm, JointML, to 6329 human immunoglobulin H rearrangements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ohm-Laursen, Line; Nielsen, Morten; Larsen, Stine R

    2006-01-01

    gene (VH) replacement. Safe conclusions require large, well-defined sequence samples and algorithms minimizing stochastic assignment of segments. Two computer programs were developed for analysis of heavy chain joints. JointHMM is a profile hidden Markow model, while JointML is a maximum...

  15. Revisiting the chemical reactivity indices as the state function derivatives. The role of classical chemical hardness

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malek, Ali; Balawender, Robert, E-mail: rbalawender@ichf.edu.pl [Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, PL-01-224 Warsaw (Poland)

    2015-02-07

    The chemical reactivity indices as the equilibrium state-function derivatives are revisited. They are obtained in terms of the central moments (fluctuation formulas). To analyze the role of the chemical hardness introduced by Pearson [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 105, 7512 (1983)], the relations between the derivatives up to the third-order and the central moments are obtained. As shown, the chemical hardness and the chemical potential are really the principal indices of the chemical reactivity theory. It is clear from the results presented here that the chemical hardness is not the derivative of the Mulliken chemical potential (this means also not the second derivative of the energy at zero-temperature limit). The conventional quadratic dependence of energy, observed at finite temperature, reduces to linear dependence on the electron number at zero-temperature limit. The chemical hardness plays a double role in the admixture of ionic states to the reference neutral state energy: it determines the amplitude of the admixture and regulates the damping of its thermal factor.

  16. Revisiting the chemical reactivity indices as the state function derivatives. The role of classical chemical hardness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malek, Ali; Balawender, Robert

    2015-01-01

    The chemical reactivity indices as the equilibrium state-function derivatives are revisited. They are obtained in terms of the central moments (fluctuation formulas). To analyze the role of the chemical hardness introduced by Pearson [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 105, 7512 (1983)], the relations between the derivatives up to the third-order and the central moments are obtained. As shown, the chemical hardness and the chemical potential are really the principal indices of the chemical reactivity theory. It is clear from the results presented here that the chemical hardness is not the derivative of the Mulliken chemical potential (this means also not the second derivative of the energy at zero-temperature limit). The conventional quadratic dependence of energy, observed at finite temperature, reduces to linear dependence on the electron number at zero-temperature limit. The chemical hardness plays a double role in the admixture of ionic states to the reference neutral state energy: it determines the amplitude of the admixture and regulates the damping of its thermal factor

  17. Statistical test of reproducibility and operator variance in thin-section modal analysis of textures and phenocrysts in the Topopah Spring member, drill hole USW VH-2, Crater Flat, Nye County, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, L.M.; Byers, F.M. Jr.; Broxton, D.E.

    1989-06-01

    A thin-section operator-variance test was given to the 2 junior authors, petrographers, by the senior author, a statistician, using 16 thin sections cut from core plugs drilled by the US Geological Survey from drill hole USW VH-2 standard (HCQ) drill core. The thin sections are samples of Topopah Spring devitrified rhyolite tuff from four textural zones, in ascending order: (1) lower nonlithophysal, (2) lower lithopysal, (3) middle nonlithophysal, and (4) upper lithophysal. Drill hole USW-VH-2 is near the center of the Crater Flat, about 6 miles WSW of the Yucca Mountain in Exploration Block. The original thin-section labels were opaqued out with removable enamel and renumbered with alpha-numeric labels. The sliders were then given to the petrographer operators for quantitative thin-section modal (point-count) analysis of cryptocrystalline, spherulitic, granophyric, and void textures, as well as phenocryst minerals. Between operator variance was tested by giving the two petrographers the same slide, and within-operator variance was tested by the same operator the same slide to count in a second test set, administered at least three months after the first set. Both operators were unaware that they were receiving the same slide to recount. 14 figs., 6 tabs

  18. Correlations between retention indices and molecular structure of their benzoyl derivatives on phenyl substituted polysiloxane stationary phases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pias, J.B.; Gasco, L.

    1976-01-01

    The retention indices of aliphaticalcohols of carbon number up to Csub(g), and of their benzoyl derivatives up to C 7 , were determined in columns packed with Chromosorb G (AW-DMCS-HP) coated previously with 5% methyl, and methyl phenyl polysiloxanes with increasing polarity (SE-30, OV-3, OV-7; OV-11, OV-17 and OV-25). Correlations between retention indices and chain length for 1-alcohols, 2-alcohols, 3-alcohols, 1, on -3-alcohols, 2-methyl-1-alcohols and for their corresponding benzoyl derivatives were calculated at 100, 120 and 140 0 C. In alcohols, a -CH 2 - group increases I approximately 100 units, and in their benzoyl derivatives from 80 to 100 units. Dispersion indices ΔI, and positional and structural increments of I were evaluated for -OH and benzoyl groups in terms for phase polarity and chain length. Effects of chain length, chain branching and double bond location on retention parameters were also studied. (author)

  19. Evaluation of mental stress by physiological indices derived from finger plethysmography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minakuchi, Emiko; Ohnishi, Eriko; Ohnishi, Junji; Sakamoto, Shigeko; Hori, Miyo; Motomura, Miwa; Hoshino, Junichi; Murakami, Kazuo; Kawaguchi, Takayasu

    2013-10-12

    Quantitative evaluation of mental stress is important to prevent stress-related disorders. Finger plethysmography (FPG) is a simple noninvasive method to monitor peripheral circulation, and provides many physiological indices. Our purpose is to investigate how FPG-derived indices reflect on mental stress, and to clarify any association between these physiological indices and subjective indices of mental stress. Thirty-one healthy women (mean age, 22 years ± 2) participated. The participants rested by sitting on a chair for 10 min. They then performed a computerized version of the Stroop color-word conflict test (CWT) for 10 min. Finally, they rested for 10 min. FPG was recorded throughout the experiment. The participants completed a brief form of the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire before and after the test. Using the FPG data, we conducted chaos analysis and fast Fourier transform analysis, and calculated chaotic attractors, the largest Lyapunov exponent, a high-frequency (HF) component, a low-to-high-frequency (LF/HF) ratio, finger pulse rate and finger pulse wave amplitude. The HF component decreased and the LF/HF ratio increased significantly during the test (P stress. Our findings indicate that FPG is one of the easiest methods to evaluate mental stress quantitatively. In particular, the largest Lyapunov exponent and the LF/HF ratio might be associated with acute mental stress. Farther examination is needed to find any association between the physiological indices and various types of mental stress.

  20. Continuous Autoregulatory Indices Derived from Multi-modal Monitoring: Each One is Not Like the Other.

    OpenAIRE

    Zeiler, Frederick; Donnelly, Joseph; Menon, David Krishna; Smieleweski, P; Zweifel, C; Brady, K; Czosnyka, Marek

    2017-01-01

    We assess the relationships between various continuous measures of autoregulatory capacity in an adult TBI cohort. We assessed relationships between autoregulatory indices derived from intracranial pressure (ICP: PRx, PAx, RAC), Transcranial Doppler (TCD: Mx, Sx, Dx), brain tissue-oxygenation (ORx), and spatially resolved near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS resolved: TOx, THx). Relationships between indices were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient, Friedman (KW) test, Principle compon...

  1. Assessment of MODIS-derived indices (2001-2013) to drought across Taiwan's forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chung-Te; Wang, Hsueh-Ching; Huang, Cho-ying

    2017-12-01

    Tropical and subtropical ecosystems, the largest terrestrial carbon pools, are very susceptible to the variability of seasonal precipitation. However, the assessment of drought conditions in these regions is often overlooked due to the preconceived notion of the presence of high humidity. Drought indices derived from remotely sensed imagery have been commonly used for large-scale monitoring, but feasibility of drought assessment may vary across regions due to climate regimes and local biophysical conditions. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of 11 commonly used MODIS-derived vegetation/drought index in the forest regions of Taiwan through comparison with the station-based standardized precipitation index with a 3-month time scale (SPI3). The drought indices were further transformed (standardized anomaly, SA) to make them better delineate the spatiotemporal variations of drought conditions. The results showed that the Normalized Difference Infrared Index utilizing the near-infrared and shortwave infrared bands (NDII6) may be more superior to other indices in delineating drought patterns. Overall, the NDII6 SA-SPI3 pair yielded the highest correlation (mean r ± standard deviation = 0.31 ± 0.13) and was most significant in central and south Taiwan (r = 0.50-0.90) during the cold, dry season (January and April). This study illustrated that the NDII6 is suitable to delineate drought conditions in a relatively humid region. The results suggested the better performance of the NDII6 SA-SPI3 across the high climate gradient, especially in the regions with dramatic interannual amplifications of rainfall. This synthesis was conducted across a wide bioclimatic gradient, and the findings could be further generalized to a much broader geographical extent.

  2. Characterization of additional rabbit IgM allotypes and the effect of suppression of a VH locus allotypes on the expression of n Cμ locus allotype

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilman-Sachs, A.; Roux, K.H.; Horing, W.J.; Dray, S.

    1982-01-01

    Anti-allotype antisera were produced that identified eight rabbit IgM allotypic specificities, n80, n81, n82, n83, n84, n85, n86, and n87. The n locus Cμ genes controlling these IgM allotypic specificities are closely linked to the a (VH subgroup) locus. The genes controlling these allotypic specificities were found to be in the heavy chain chromosomal region and were assigned to 11 haplotypes present in our rabbit colony. The n locus and a locus genes appeared in the haplotypes in six combinations: a 1 n 81 , a 2 n/sup 81,n87/, a 1 n/sup 80,83/, a 2 n/sup 80,82,87/, a 3 n/sup 81,84,85/ and a 3 n/sup 80,84,86,87/. By radioprecipitation analysis, 70 to 80% of serum IgM reacts with the antiserum directed to each n locus allotypic specificity found encoded in one haplotype; thus, each allotypic specificity of the haplotype is present on the same IgM molecule. When sera from a locus allotype-suppressed homozygous rabbits were tested for expression of each n locus allotypic specificity, n80, n81, and n87 were still expressed, whereas n82, n83, n84, n85, and n86 were not. These data provide direct evidence that some IgM specificities are expressed independently of the a locus (i.e., ''true''), and other s are dependent on the expression of an a locus specificity (i.e., conformational). The expression of the ''true'' allotypic specificities probably reflects genetic control of the germline Cμ gene, and the expression of ''conformationally dependent'' allotypic specificities probably reflects the interaction of VH and Cμ gene segments. This distinction is important and must be recognized when evaluating the genetics and structure of the IgM molecule

  3. Relationship between thin cap fibroatheroma identified by virtual histology and angioscopic yellow plaque in quantitative analysis with colorimetry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Masanori; Takano, Masamichi; Okamatsu, Kentaro; Murakami, Daisuke; Inami, Shigenobu; Xie, Yong; Seimiya, Koji; Ohba, Takayoshi; Seino, Yoshihiko; Mizuno, Kyoichi

    2009-03-01

    Thin cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) is considered to be a vulnerable plaque. Virtual Histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) can precisely identify TCFA in vivo. Intense yellow plaque on angioscopy determined by quantitative colorimetry with L a b color space corresponds with histological TCFA; in particular, a plaque of color b value >23 indicates an atheroma with a fibrous cap thickness colorimetry was investigated. Fifty-seven culprit plaques in 57 patients were evaluated by VH-IVUS and angioscopy. VH-TCFA was defined as a plaque with a necrotic core >10% of plaque area without overlying fibrous tissue, and angioscopic TCFA was a plaque with b value >23. The frequency of angioscopic TCFA was higher in the VH-TCFA group than in the VH-non-TCFA group (74% vs 23%, P=0.0002). Moreover, yellow color intensity (b value) significantly correlated with plaque classification on VH-IVUS. When TCFA detected with angioscopy was used as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for TCFA with VH-IVUS was 68%, 81%, and 75%, respectively. VH-TCFA strongly correlated with angioscopic TCFA determined by a quantitative analysis with colorimetry.

  4. Incidence of vertical phoria on postural control during binocular vision: what perspective for prevention to nonspecific chronic pain management?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matheron, Eric; Kapoula, Zoï

    2015-01-01

    Vertical heterophoria (VH) is the latent vertical misalignment of the eyes when the retinal images are dissociated, vertical orthophoria (VO) when there is no misalignment. Studies on postural control, during binocular vision in upright stance, reported that healthy subjects with small VH vs. VO are less stable, but the experimental cancellation of VH with an appropriate prism improves postural stability. The same behavior was recorded in nonspecific chronic back pain subjects, all with VH. It was hypothesized that, without refraction problems, VH indicates a perturbation of the somaesthetic cues required in the sensorimotor loops involved in postural control and the capacity of the CNS to optimally integrate these cues, suggesting prevention possibilities. Sensorimotor conflict can induce pain and modify sensory perception in some healthy subjects; some nonspecific pain or chronic pain could result from such prolonged conflict in which VH could be a sign, with new theoretical and clinical implications.

  5. TriFabs—Trivalent IgG-Shaped Bispecific Antibody Derivatives: Design, Generation, Characterization and Application for Targeted Payload Delivery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klaus Mayer

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available TriFabs are IgG-shaped bispecific antibodies (bsAbs composed of two regular Fab arms fused via flexible linker peptides to one asymmetric third Fab-sized binding module. This third module replaces the IgG Fc region and is composed of the variable region of the heavy chain (VH fused to CH3 with “knob”-mutations, and the variable region of the light chain (VL fused to CH3 with matching “holes”. The hinge region does not contain disulfides to facilitate antigen access to the third binding site. To compensate for the loss of hinge-disulfides between heavy chains, CH3 knob-hole heterodimers are linked by S354C-Y349C disulphides, and VH and VL of the stem region may be linked via VH44C-VL100C disulphides. TriFabs which bind one antigen bivalent in the same manner as IgGs and the second antigen monovalent “in between” these Fabs can be applied to simultaneously engage two antigens, or for targeted delivery of small and large (fluorescent or cytotoxic payloads.

  6. Pre-conceptual-schema-based patterns for deriving key performance indicators from strategic objectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Mario Zapata Jaramillo

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Performance measurement is crucial for achieving business success. Moreover, such success is also related to the fulfillment of the organizational strategic objectives. Hence, an adequate determination of relevant performance indicators—or key performance indicators (KPIs—and their relationships to organizational objectives is needed. Even though several approaches for treating KPIs and objective-KPI relationships have been proposed, they exhibit some drawbacks associated with the lack of reusability and traceability. We attempt to fill this gap by proposing a set of patterns based on pre-conceptual schemas for supporting the systematic derivation of KPIs and their relationships to organizational objectives. In this way, the proposed patterns guarantee a reusable and traceable derivation process of a set of candidate KPIs from organizational strategic objectives. Lastly, we provide a lab study in order to illustrate the usefulness of this proposal.

  7. Hysterectomy for benign conditions in a university hospital in Saudi Arabia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sait, K.; Al-Khattabi, M.; Boker, A.; Al-Hashemi, J.

    2008-01-01

    Hysterectomy is a common surgical procedure among women with a lifetime prevalence of 10%. The indications and complications of this procedure have not been previously reported from a teaching institution in Saudi Arabia. We examined the indications for hysterectomy and the surgical morbidity for women undergoing hysterectomy at a university hospital in Saudi Arabia. We reviewed the records of women who underwent hysterectomies for benign gynecological conditions between January 1990 and December 2002, at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, comparing patient characteristics, indications for hysterectomy and the rate of complications in women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy (AH) versus vaginal hysterectomy (VH). Of 251 women 199 (79%) underwent AH and 52 (21%) underwent VH. An estimated blood loss of >=500 mL occurred in 104 patients (52.3%) in the AH group and in 20 patients (38.5%) in the VH group (difference not statistically significant). The most common indications for hysterectomy were uterine fibroids (n=107, 41.6%) and dysfunctional uterine bleeding (n=68, 27.1%). The most common indication for VH was uterine prolapsed (n=45, 86.5%). The overall complication rates were 33.5%, 15.4% and 30.4% in women who underwent the AH group and in 51 patients in the VH group (20.3%). Postoperative infection occurred in 42/199 (21.6%) in the AH group and 5/52 (9.6%) in the VH group (difference not statistically significant). We describe a large series of hysterectomies, which provides information for surgeons on the expected of complications following hysterectomy for benign conditions. We describe a large series of hysterectomies, which provides information for surgeons on the expected rate of complications following hysterectomy for benign conditions. We found that the rate of complications was not significantly higher than other centers internationally. (author)

  8. An automated system for access to derived climate indices in support of ecological impacts assessments and resource management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, J.; Morisette, J. T.; Talbert, C.; Blodgett, D. L.; Kunicki, T.

    2012-12-01

    A U.S. Geological Survey team is working with several providers to establish standard data services for the climate projection data they host. To meet the needs of climate adaptation science and landscape management communities, the team is establishing a set of climate index calculation algorithms that will consume data from various providers and provide directly useful data derivatives. Climate projections coming from various scenarios, modeling centers, and downscaling methods are increasing in number and size. Global change impact modeling and assessment, generally, requires inputs in the form of climate indices or values derived from raw climate projections. This requirement puts a large burden on a community not familiar with climate data formats, semantics, and processing techniques and requires storage capacity and computing resources out of the reach of most. In order to fully understand the implications of our best available climate projections, assessments must take into account an ensemble of climate projections and potentially a range of parameters for calculation of climate indices. These requirements around data access and processing are not unique from project to project, or even among projected climate data sets, pointing to the need for a reusable tool to generate climate indices. The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a pilot application and supporting web service framework that automates the generation of climate indices. The web service framework consists of standards-based data servers and a data integration broker. The resulting system allows data producers to publish and maintain ownership of their data and data consumers to access climate derivatives via a simple to use "data product ordering" workflow. Data access and processing is completed on enterprise "cloud" computing resources and only the relatively small, derived climate indices are delivered to the scientist or land manager. These services will assist the scientific and land

  9. The Search for VH → VWW Standard Model Higgs Production in the Trilepton Signature 5.9fb-1 of Data from p(bar p) Collisions at √s = 1.96 GeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nett, Jason Michael

    2010-01-01

    standard model cross section. We announce that the combination of this trilepton VH → VWW Higgs boson search and the previous CDF dilepton H → WW search achieves an expected median limit of 1.00 at 165 GeV/c 2 . The expected median limit of 1.00 indicates we anticipate a 50% probability of ruling out the existence of a Standard Model Higgs boson with a mass of 165 GeV/c 2 . This is the first time a single hadron collider experiment has achieved sensitivity to the production of a Standard Model Higgs boson. We do not see evidence for a significant signal of Higgs bosons in the data and place observed limits on the production of a Standard Model Higgs boson of 165 GeV/c 2 at 1.08 times Standard Model production cross section.

  10. Analysis of Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery in the Mediterranean Basin using MODIS Derived Vegetation Indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawtree, Daniel; San Miguel, Jesus; Sedano, Fernando; Kempeneers, Pieter

    2010-05-01

    The Mediterranean basin region is highly susceptible to wildfire, with approximately 60,000 individual fires and half a million ha of natural vegetation burnt per year. Of particular concern in this region is the impact of repeated wildfires on the ability of natural lands to return to a pre-fire state, and of the possibility of desertification of semi-arid areas. Given these concerns, understanding the temporal patterns of vegetation recovery is important for the management of environmental resources in the region. A valuable tool for evaluating these recovery patterns are vegetation indices derived from remote sensing data. Previous research on post-fire vegetation recovery conducted in this region has found significant variability in recovery times across different study sites. It is unclear what the primary variables are affecting the differences in the rates of recovery, and if any geographic patterns of behavior exist across the Mediterranean basin. This research has primarily been conducted using indices derived from Landsat imagery. However, no extensive analysis of vegetation regeneration for large regions has been published, and assessment of vegetation recovery on the basis of medium-spatial resolution imagery such as that of MODIS has not yet been analyzed. This study examines the temporal pattern of vegetation recovery in a number of fire sites in the Mediterranean basin, using data derived from MODIS 16 -day composite vegetation indices. The intent is to develop a more complete picture of the temporal sequence of vegetation recovery, and to evaluate what additional factors impact variations in the recovery sequence. In addition, this study evaluates the utility of using MODIS derived vegetation indices for regeneration studies, and compares the findings to earlier studies which rely on Landsat data. Wildfires occurring between the years 2000 and 2004 were considered as potential study sites for this research. Using the EFFIS dataset, all wildfires

  11. What do somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination teach us about chronic lymphocytic leukaemia pathogenesis?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oppezzo, P; Dighiero, G

    2005-01-01

    B-CLL cells express CD5 and IgM/IgD and thus have a mantle zone-like phenotype of naive cells, which, in normal conditions express unmutated Ig genes. However, recent studies have shown that 50%-70% of CLL harbour somatic mutations of VH genes, as if they had matured in a lymphoid follicle. Interestingly, the presence or absence of somatic hypermutation (SHM) process is associated with the use of particular VH genes. Particular alleles of the VH1-69 gene and the VH4-39 gene are preferentially expressed in an unmutated form, while VH4-34 or the majority of VH3 family genes frequently contain somatic mutations. The fact that some genes like VH1-69 and VH3-07 recombine this VH segment to particular JH segments and the restricted use of CDR3 sequences by CLLs expressing the VH4-39 gene suggest that the observed differences in BCR structure in B-CLL could result from selection by distinct antigenic epitopes. It is currently unclear whether this putative antigen-driven process could occur prior to leukaemic transformation and/or that the precursors were transformed into leukaemic cells at distinct maturational stages. The mutational profile of Ig genes has been shown to be associated with disease prognosis. These results could favour the idea that CLL could correspond to two different diseases that look alike in morphologic and phenotypic terms. In CLL with mutated Ig genes, the proliferating B cell may have transited through germinal centres, the physiologic site of hypermutation, whereas in CLL with unmutated Ig genes the malignant B cell may derive from a pre-germinal centre naïve B cell. Despite these clinical and molecular differences, recent studies on gene expression profiling of B-CLL cells showed that CLL is characterized by a common gene expression signature that is irrespective of Ig mutational status and differs from other lymphoid cancers and normal lymphoid subpopulations, suggesting that CLL cases share a common mechanism of transformation and/or cell of

  12. Resolution Enhancement of MODIS-Derived Water Indices for Studying Persistent Flooding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Underwood, L. W.; Kalcic, Maria; Fletcher, Rose

    2012-01-01

    Monitoring coastal marshes for persistent flooding and salinity stress is a high priority issue in Louisiana. Remote sensing can identify environmental variables that can be indicators of marsh habitat conditions, and offer timely and relatively accurate information for aiding wetland vegetation management. Monitoring activity accuracy is often limited by mixed pixels which occur when areas represented by the pixel encompasses more than one cover type. Mixtures of marsh grasses and open water in 250m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data can impede flood area estimation. Flood mapping of such mixtures requires finer spatial resolution data to better represent the cover type composition within 250m MODIS pixel. Fusion of MODIS and Landsat can improve both spectral and temporal resolution of time series products to resolve rapid changes from forcing mechanisms like hurricane winds and storm surge. For this study, using a method for estimating sub-pixel values from a MODIS time series of a Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), using temporal weighting, was implemented to map persistent flooding in Louisiana coastal marshes. Ordinarily NDWI computed from daily 250m MODIS pixels represents a mixture of fragmented marshes and water. Here, sub-pixel NDWI values were derived for MODIS data using Landsat 30-m data. Each MODIS pixel was disaggregated into a mixture of the eight cover types according to the classified image pixels falling inside the MODIS pixel. The Landsat pixel means for each cover type inside a MODIS pixel were computed for the Landsat data preceding the MODIS image in time and for the Landsat data succeeding the MODIS image. The Landsat data were then weighted exponentially according to closeness in date to the MODIS data. The reconstructed MODIS data were produced by summing the product of fractional cover type with estimated NDWI values within each cover type. A new daily time series was produced using both the reconstructed 250

  13. Factor Structure of Indices of the Second Derivative of the Finger Photoplethysmogram with Metabolic Components and Other Cardiovascular Risk Indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomoyuki Kawada

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundThe second derivative of the finger photoplethysmogram (SDPTG is an indicator of arterial stiffness. The present study was conducted to clarify the factor structure of indices of the SDPTG in combination with components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS, to elucidate the significance of the SDPTG among various cardiovascular risk factors.MethodsThe SDPTG was determined in the second forefinger of the left hand in 1,055 male workers (mean age, 44.2±6.4 years. Among 4 waves of SDPTG components, the ratios of the height of the "a" wave to that of the "b" and "d" waves were expressed as b/a and d/a, and used as SDPTG indices for the analysis.ResultsPrincipal axis factoring analysis was conducted using age, SDPTG indices, components of MetS, and the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP and uric acid. Three factors were extracted, and the SDPTG indices were categorized in combination with age as the third factor. Metabolic components and the SDPTG indices were independently categorized. These three factors explained 44.4% of the total variation. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed age, d/a, serum uric acid, serum CRP, and regular exercise as independent determinants of the risk of MetS. The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals were 1.08 (1.04 to 1.11, 0.10 (0.01 to 0.73, 1.24 (1.06 to 1.44, 3.59 (2.37 to 5.42, and 0.48 (0.28 to 0.82, respectively.ConclusionThe SDPTG indices were categorized in combination with age, and they differed in characteristics from components of MetS or inflammatory markers. In addition, this cross-sectional study also revealed decrease of the d/a as a risk factor for the development of MetS.

  14. Improving solubility and refolding efficiency of human V(H)s by a novel mutational approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanha, Jamshid; Nguyen, Thanh-Dung; Ng, Andy; Ryan, Shannon; Ni, Feng; Mackenzie, Roger

    2006-11-01

    The antibody V(H) domains of camelids tend to be soluble and to resist aggregation, in contrast to human V(H) domains. For immunotherapy, attempts have therefore been made to improve the properties of human V(H)s by camelization of a small set of framework residues. Here, we have identified through sequence comparison of well-folded llama V(H) domains an alternative set of residues (not typically camelid) for mutation. Thus, the solubility and thermal refolding efficiency of a typical human V(H), derived from the human antibody BT32/A6, were improved by introduction of two mutations in framework region (FR) 1 and 4 to generate BT32/A6.L1. Three more mutations in FR3 of BT32/A6.L1 further improved the thermal refolding efficiency while retaining solubility and cooperative melting profiles. To demonstrate practical utility, BT32/A6.L1 was used to construct a phage display library from which were isolated human V(H)s with good antigen binding activity and solubility. The engineered human V(H) domains described here may be useful for immunotherapy, due to their expected low immunogenicity, and in applications involving transient high temperatures, due to their efficient refolding after thermal denaturation.

  15. Characterization of DegQVh, a serine protease and a protective immunogen from a pathogenic Vibrio harveyi strain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Wei-wei; Sun, Kun; Cheng, Shuang; Sun, Li

    2008-10-01

    Vibrio harveyi is an important marine pathogen that can infect a number of aquaculture species. V. harveyi degQ (degQ(Vh)), the gene encoding a DegQ homologue, was cloned from T4, a pathogenic V. harveyi strain isolated from diseased fish. DegQ(Vh) was closely related to the HtrA family members identified in other Vibrio species and could complement the temperature-sensitive phenotype of an Escherichia coli strain defective in degP. Expression of degQ(Vh) in T4 was modulated by temperature, possibly through the sigma(E)-like factor. Enzymatic analyses demonstrated that the recombinant DegQ(Vh) protein expressed in and purified from E. coli was an active serine protease whose activity required the integrity of the catalytic site and the PDZ domains. The optimal temperature and pH of the recombinant DegQ(Vh) protein were 50 degrees C and pH 8.0. A vaccination study indicated that the purified recombinant DegQ(Vh) was a protective immunogen that could confer protection upon fish against infection by V. harveyi. In order to improve the efficiency of DegQ(Vh) as a vaccine, a genetic construct in the form of the plasmid pAQ1 was built, in which the DNA encoding the processed DegQ(Vh) protein was fused with the DNA encoding the secretion region of AgaV, an extracellular beta-agarase. The E. coli strain harboring pAQ1 could express and secrete the chimeric DegQ(Vh) protein into the culture supernatant. Vaccination of fish with viable E. coli expressing chimeric degQ(Vh) significantly (P < 0.001) enhanced the survival of fish against V. harveyi challenge, which was possibly due to the relatively prolonged exposure of the immune system to the recombinant antigen produced constitutively, albeit at a gradually decreasing level, by the carrier strain.

  16. Modelling and prediction of crop losses from NOAA polar-orbiting operational satellites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felix Kogan

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Weather-related crop losses have always been a concern for farmers, governments, traders, and policy-makers for the purpose of balanced food supply/demands, trade, and distribution of aid to the nations in need. Among weather disasters, drought plays a major role in large-scale crop losses. This paper discusses utility of operational satellite-based vegetation health (VH indices for modelling cereal yield and for early warning of drought-related crop losses. The indices were tested in Saratov oblast (SO, one of the principal grain growing regions of Russia. Correlation and regression analysis were applied to model cereal yield from VH indices during 1982–2001. A strong correlation between mean SO's cereal yield and VH indices were found during the critical period of cereals, which starts two–three weeks before and ends two–three weeks after the heading stage. Several models were constructed where VH indices served as independent variables (predictors. The models were validated independently based on SO cereal yield during 1982–2012. Drought-related cereal yield losses can be predicted three months in advance of harvest and six–eight months in advance of official grain production statistic is released. The error of production losses prediction is 7%–10%. The error of prediction drops to 3%–5% in the years of intensive droughts.

  17. Initial construct validity evidence of a virtual human application for competency assessment in breaking bad news to a cancer patient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guetterman TC

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Timothy C Guetterman,1 Frederick W Kron,1 Toby C Campbell,2 Mark W Scerbo,3 Amy B Zelenski,4 James F Cleary,5 Michael D Fetters1 1Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, 3Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 4Department of General Internal Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation, 5Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Clinical Science Center, Madison, WI, USA Background: Despite interest in using virtual humans (VHs for assessing health care ­communication, evidence of validity is limited. We evaluated the validity of a VH application, MPathic-VR, for assessing performance-based competence in breaking bad news (BBN to a VH patient.Methods: We used a two-group quasi-experimental design, with residents participating in a 3-hour seminar on BBN. Group A (n=15 completed the VH simulation before and after the seminar, and Group B (n=12 completed the VH simulation only after the BBN seminar to avoid the possibility that testing alone affected performance. Pre- and postseminar differences for Group A were analyzed with a paired t-test, and comparisons between Groups A and B were analyzed with an independent t-test.Results: Compared to the preseminar result, Group A’s postseminar scores improved significantly, indicating that the VH program was sensitive to differences in assessing performance-based competence in BBN. Postseminar scores of Group A and Group B were not significantly different, indicating that both groups performed similarly on the VH program.Conclusion: Improved pre–post scores demonstrate acquisition of skills in BBN to a VH patient. Pretest sensitization did not appear to influence posttest assessment. These results provide initial construct validity evidence that the VH program is effective for

  18. Correlations Between retention indices and molecular structure of aliphatic alcohols and of their benzoyl derivatives on phenyl substituted polysiloxane stationary phases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pias, J. B.; Gasco, L.

    1976-01-01

    The retention indices of aliphatic alcohols of carbon number up to C g , and of their benzoyl derivatives up to C 7 , were determined in columns packed with Chromo sorb G (AW-DMCS-HP) coated previously with 5% methyl, and methyl phenyl polysiloxanes with increasing polarity (SE-30, 0V-3, 0V-7, 0V-11, 0V-17 and OV-25). Correlations between retention indices and chain length for 1-alcohols, 2-alcohols, 3-alcohols, 1 , on -3-alcohols, 2-methyl-1-alcohols and for their corresponding benzoyl derivatives were calculated at 100, 120 and 140 degree centigree. In alcohols, a -CH 2 - group increases I approximately 100 units, and in their benzoyl derivatives from 80 to 100 units. Dispersion indices Δl , and positional and structural increments δI, were evaluated for -OH and benzoyl groups in terms of phase polarity and chain length. Effects of chain length, chain branching and double bond location on retention parameters were also studied. (Author) 23 refs

  19. GOES-derived fog and low cloud indices for coastal north and central California ecological analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torregrosa, Alicia; Cindy Combs,; Peters, Jeff

    2015-01-01

    Fog and low cloud cover (FLCC) changes the water, energy, and nutrient flux of coastal ecosystems. Easy-to-use FLCC data are needed to quantify the impacts of FLC on ecosystem dynamics during hot, dry Mediterranean climate summers. FLCC indices were generated from 26,000 hourly night and day FLCC maps derived from Geostationary Environmental Operational Satellite (GOES) data for June, July, August, and September, 1999- 2009 for coastal California, latitude 34.50°N, south of Monterey Bay, to latitude 41.95°N, north of Crescent City. Monthly FLCC average hours per day (h/d) range from d) to south (14 h/d) whereas FLCC over land is reversed. Over land, FLCC is highest where land juts into the prevailing NW winds and is lowest in the lee of major capes. FLCC advects furthest inland through low-lying NW ocean-facing valleys. At night hours of FLCC is higher more frequently on land than over the ocean. Interannual FLCC coefficient of variation shows long term geographic stability strongly associated with landform position. Contours delineating homogeneous zones of FLCC, derived from average decadal h/d FLCC, provide data to refine the commonly used term ‘fog belt.’ FLCC indices are available for download from the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative Climate Commons website. FLCC indices can be used to improve analyses of biogeographic and bioclimatic species distribution models, meteorological mechanisms driving FLCC patterns, ecohydrological investigations of evapotranspiration, solar energy feasibility studies, agricultural irrigation demand and viticultural ripening models.

  20. Metrics derived from fish assemblages as indicators of environmental degradation in Cerrado streams

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milton P. Ávila

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The development of effective monitoring tools depends on finding sensitive metrics that are capable of detecting the most important environmental impacts at a given region. We assessed if metrics derived from stream fish assemblages reflect physical habitat degradation and changes in land cover. We sampled the ichthyofauna and environmental characteristics of 16 stream sites of first and second order in the Upper Tocantins River basin. The streams were classified according to their environmental characteristics into reference (n = 5, intermediate (n = 4, and impacted (n = 7. A total of 4,079 individuals in five orders, 12 families, and 30 species were collected. Of the 20 metrics tested, eight were non-collinear and were tested for their performance in discriminating among groups of streams. Three metrics were sensitive to the gradient of degradation: Berger-Parker dominance index, percentage of characiform fish, and percentage of rheophilic individuals. Some commonly used metrics did not reflect the disturbances and many others were redundant with those that did. These results indicate that the metrics derived from fish assemblages may be informative for identifying the conservation status of streams, with the potential to be used in biomonitoring.

  1. Spontaneous and Evoked Activity from Murine Ventral Horn Cultures on Microelectrode Arrays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan J. Black

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Motor neurons are the site of action for several neurological disorders and paralytic toxins, with cell bodies located in the ventral horn (VH of the spinal cord along with interneurons and support cells. Microelectrode arrays (MEAs have emerged as a high content assay platform for mechanistic studies and drug discovery. Here, we explored the spontaneous and evoked electrical activity of VH cultures derived from embryonic mouse spinal cord on multi-well plates of MEAs. Primary VH cultures from embryonic day 15–16 mice were characterized by expression of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT by immunocytochemistry. Well resolved, all-or-nothing spontaneous spikes with profiles consistent with extracellular action potentials were observed after 3 days in vitro, persisting with consistent firing rates until at least day in vitro 19. The majority of the spontaneous activity consisted of tonic firing interspersed with coordinated bursting across the network. After 5 days in vitro, spike activity was readily evoked by voltage pulses where a minimum amplitude and duration required for excitation was 300 mV and 100 μs/phase, respectively. We characterized the sensitivity of spontaneous and evoked activity to a host of pharmacological agents including AP5, CNQX, strychnine, ω-agatoxin IVA, and botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT/A. These experiments revealed sensitivity of the cultured VH to both agonist and antagonist compounds in a manner consistent with mature tissue derived from slices. In the case of BoNT/A, we also demonstrated intoxication persistence over an 18-day period, followed by partial intoxication recovery induced by N- and P/Q-type calcium channel agonist GV-58. In total, our findings suggest that VH cultures on multi-well MEA plates may represent a moderate throughput, high content assay for performing mechanistic studies and for screening potential therapeutics pertaining to paralytic toxins and neurological disorders.

  2. Relevance of the immunoglobulin VH somatic mutation status in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) or related chemoimmunotherapy regimens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Katherine I; Tam, Constantine S; Keating, Michael J; Wierda, William G; O'Brien, Susan; Lerner, Susan; Coombes, Kevin R; Schlette, Ellen; Ferrajoli, Alessandra; Barron, Lynn L; Kipps, Thomas J; Rassenti, Laura; Faderl, Stefan; Kantarjian, Hagop; Abruzzo, Lynne V

    2009-04-02

    Although immunoglobulin V(H) mutation status (IgV(H) MS) is prognostic in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who are treated with alkylating agents or single-agent fludarabine, its significance in the era of chemoimmunotherapy is not known. We determined the IgV(H) somatic mutation status (MS) in 177 patients enrolled in a phase 2 study of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) and in 127 patients treated with subsequent chemoimmunotherapy protocols. IgV(H) MS did not impact significantly on the complete remission (CR) rate of patients receiving FCR or related regimens. However, CR duration was significantly shorter in patients with CLL that used unmutated IgV(H) than those whose CLL used mutated IgV(H) (TTP 47% vs 82% at 6 years, P IgV(H) MS emerged as the only determinant of remission duration (hazard ratio 3.8, P IgV(H) status.

  3. Clinical features of progressive vacuolar hepatopathy in Scottish Terriers with and without hepatocellular carcinoma: 114 cases (1980-2013).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortright, Catherine C; Center, Sharon A; Randolph, John F; McDonough, Sean P; Fecteau, Kellie A; Warner, Karen L; Chiapella, Ann M; Pierce, Rhonda L; Graham, A Heather; Wall, Linda J; Heidgerd, John H; Degen, Melisa A; Lucia, Patricia A; Erb, Hollis N

    2014-10-01

    To characterize signalment, clinical features, clinicopathologic variables, hepatic ultrasonographic characteristics, endocrinologic profiles, treatment response, and age at death of Scottish Terriers with progressive vacuolar hepatopathy (VH) with or without hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Retrospective case series. 114 Scottish Terriers with progressive VH. Electronic databases from 1980 to 2013 were searched for adult (age > 1 year) Scottish Terriers with histopathologic diagnoses of diffuse glycogen-like VH. Available sections of liver specimens were histologically reevaluated to confirm diffuse VH with or without HCC; 8 dogs with HCC only had neoplastic tissue available. Physical examination, clinicopathologic, treatment, and survival data were obtained. 39 of 114 (34%) dogs with VH had HCC detected at surgery or necropsy or by abdominal ultrasonography. Histologic findings indicated that HCC was seemingly preceded by dysplastic hepatocellular foci. No significant differences were found in clinicopathologic variables or age at death between VH-affected dogs with or without HCC. Fifteen of 26 (58%) dogs with high hepatic copper concentrations had histologic features consistent with copper-associated hepatopathy. Although signs consistent with hyperadrenocorticism were observed in 40% (46/114) of dogs, definitive diagnosis was inconsistently confirmed. Assessment of adrenal sex hormone concentrations before and after ACTH administration identified high progesterone and androstenedione concentrations in 88% (22/25) and 80% (20/25) of tested dogs, respectively. Results suggested that VH in Scottish Terriers may be linked to adrenal steroidogenesis and a predisposition to HCC. In dogs with VH, frequent serum biochemical analysis and ultrasonographic surveillance for early tumor detection are recommended.

  4. Assessing Viability and Sustainability: a Systems-based Approach for Deriving Comprehensive Indicator Sets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hartmut Bossel

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Performance assessment in holistic approaches such as integrated natural resource management has to deal with a complex set of interacting and self-organizing natural and human systems and agents, all pursuing their own "interests" while also contributing to the development of the total system. Performance indicators must therefore reflect the viability of essential component systems as well as their contributions to the viability and performance of other component systems and the total system under study. A systems-based derivation of a comprehensive set of performance indicators first requires the identification of essential component systems, their mutual (often hierarchical or reciprocal relationships, and their contributions to the performance of other component systems and the total system. The second step consists of identifying the indicators that represent the viability states of the component systems and the contributions of these component systems to the performance of the total system. The search for performance indicators is guided by the realization that essential interests (orientations or orientors of systems and actors are shaped by both their characteristic functions and the fundamental and general properties of their system environments (e.g., normal environmental state, scarcity of resources, variety, variability, change, other coexisting systems. To be viable, a system must devote an essential minimum amount of attention to satisfying the "basic orientors" that respond to the properties of its environment. This fact can be used to define comprehensive and system-specific sets of performance indicators that reflect all important concerns. Often, qualitative indicators and the study of qualitative systems are sufficient for reliable performance assessments. However, this approach can also be formalized for quantitative computer-assisted assessment. Examples are presented of indicator sets for the sustainable development of

  5. Physico-Chemical and Structural Interpretation of Discrete Derivative Indices on N-Tuples Atoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Santiago, Oscar; Marrero-Ponce, Yovani; Barigye, Stephen J.; Le Thi Thu, Huong; Torres, F. Javier; Zambrano, Cesar H.; Muñiz Olite, Jorge L.; Cruz-Monteagudo, Maykel; Vivas-Reyes, Ricardo; Vázquez Infante, Liliana; Artiles Martínez, Luis M.

    2016-01-01

    This report examines the interpretation of the Graph Derivative Indices (GDIs) from three different perspectives (i.e., in structural, steric and electronic terms). It is found that the individual vertex frequencies may be expressed in terms of the geometrical and electronic reactivity of the atoms and bonds, respectively. On the other hand, it is demonstrated that the GDIs are sensitive to progressive structural modifications in terms of: size, ramifications, electronic richness, conjugation effects and molecular symmetry. Moreover, it is observed that the GDIs quantify the interaction capacity among molecules and codify information on the activation entropy. A structure property relationship study reveals that there exists a direct correspondence between the individual frequencies of atoms and Hückel’s Free Valence, as well as between the atomic GDIs and the chemical shift in NMR, which collectively validates the theory that these indices codify steric and electronic information of the atoms in a molecule. Taking in consideration the regularity and coherence found in experiments performed with the GDIs, it is possible to say that GDIs possess plausible interpretation in structural and physicochemical terms. PMID:27240357

  6. Interplay between VEGF and Nrf2 regulates angiogenesis due to intracranial venous hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Liwen; Pan, Hao; Wang, Handong; Li, Xiang; Bu, Xiaomin; Wang, Qiang; Gao, Yongyue; Wen, Guodao; Zhou, Yali; Cong, Zixiang; Yang, Youqing; Tang, Chao; Liu, Zhengwei

    2016-11-21

    Venous hypertension(VH) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and is closely associated with the HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2) significantly influences angiogenesis; however, the interplay between Nrf2 and VEGF under VH in brain AVMs remains unclear. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the interplay between Nrf2 and VEGF due to VH in brain AVMs. Immunohistochemistry indicated that Nrf2 and VEGF were highly expressed in human brain AVM tissues. In vivo, we established a VH model in both wild-type (WT) and siRNA-mediated Nrf2 knockdown rats. VH significantly increased the expression of Nrf2 and VEGF. Loss of Nrf2 markedly inhibited the upregulation of VEGF, as determined by Western blot analysis and qRT-PCR. In vitro, primary brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) were isolated from WT and Nrf2 -/- mice, and a VEGF-Nrf2 positive feed-back loop was observed in BMECs. By trans well assay and angiogenesis assay, Nrf2 knockout significantly inhibited the migration and vascular tube formation of BMECs. These findings suggest that the interplay between Nrf2 and VEGF can contribute to VH-induced angiogenesis in brain AVMs pathogenesis.

  7. IgV(H) and bcl6 somatic mutation analysis reveals the heterogeneity of cutaneous B-cell lymphoma, and indicates the presence of undisclosed local antigens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franco, Renato; Camacho, Francisca I; Fernández-Vázquez, Amalia; Algara, Patrocinio; Rodríguez-Peralto, José L; De Rosa, Gaetano; Piris, Miguel A

    2004-06-01

    Our understanding of the ontology of B-cell lymphomas (BCL) has been improved by the study of mutational status of IgV(H) and bcl6 genes, but only a few cases of cutaneous BCL have been examined for this status. We analyzed IgV(H) and bcl6 somatic mutations in 10 cutaneous BCL, classified as follicular (three primary and one secondary), primary marginal zone (two cases), and diffuse large BCL (three primary and one secondary). We observed a lower rate (IgV(H) mutation in all marginal zone lymphomas, and a preferential usage of V(H)2-70 (one primary follicular and two primary diffuse large BCL). Fewer than expected replacement mutations in framework regions (FR) were observed in three primary follicular lymphomas (FLs) and in all diffuse large BCL, indicating a negative antigen selection pressure. Ongoing mutations were observed in eight of 10 cases. Only two primary FLs and two diffuse large BCL showed bcl6 somatic mutation. These data support the heterogeneous nature of the different cutaneous BCL, and specifically the distinction between cutaneous follicular and marginal zone lymphomas. The biased usage of V(H)2-70, the low rate of replacement mutation in the FR, and the presence of ongoing mutation imply that local antigens could modulate the growth of primary cutaneous BCL.

  8. Genomic analysis of a 1 Mb region near the telomere of Hessian fly chromosome X2 and avirulence gene vH13

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Ming-Shun

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To have an insight into the Mayetiola destructor (Hessian fly genome, we performed an in silico comparative genomic analysis utilizing genetic mapping, genomic sequence and EST sequence data along with data available from public databases. Results Chromosome walking and FISH were utilized to identify a contig of 50 BAC clones near the telomere of the short arm of Hessian fly chromosome X2 and near the avirulence gene vH13. These clones enabled us to correlate physical and genetic distance in this region of the Hessian fly genome. Sequence data from these BAC ends encompassing a 760 kb region, and a fully sequenced and assembled 42.6 kb BAC clone, was utilized to perform a comparative genomic study. In silico gene prediction combined with BLAST analyses was used to determine putative orthology to the sequenced dipteran genomes of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, and to infer evolutionary relationships. Conclusion This initial effort enables us to advance our understanding of the structure, composition and evolution of the genome of this important agricultural pest and is an invaluable tool for a whole genome sequencing effort.

  9. Exploring the QSAR's predictive truthfulness of the novel N-tuple discrete derivative indices on benchmark datasets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Santiago, O; Marrero-Ponce, Y; Vivas-Reyes, R; Rivera-Borroto, O M; Hurtado, E; Treto-Suarez, M A; Ramos, Y; Vergara-Murillo, F; Orozco-Ugarriza, M E; Martínez-López, Y

    2017-05-01

    Graph derivative indices (GDIs) have recently been defined over N-atoms (N = 2, 3 and 4) simultaneously, which are based on the concept of derivatives in discrete mathematics (finite difference), metaphorical to the derivative concept in classical mathematical analysis. These molecular descriptors (MDs) codify topo-chemical and topo-structural information based on the concept of the derivative of a molecular graph with respect to a given event (S) over duplex, triplex and quadruplex relations of atoms (vertices). These GDIs have been successfully applied in the description of physicochemical properties like reactivity, solubility and chemical shift, among others, and in several comparative quantitative structure activity/property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) studies. Although satisfactory results have been obtained in previous modelling studies with the aforementioned indices, it is necessary to develop new, more rigorous analysis to assess the true predictive performance of the novel structure codification. So, in the present paper, an assessment and statistical validation of the performance of these novel approaches in QSAR studies are executed, as well as a comparison with those of other QSAR procedures reported in the literature. To achieve the main aim of this research, QSARs were developed on eight chemical datasets widely used as benchmarks in the evaluation/validation of several QSAR methods and/or many different MDs (fundamentally 3D MDs). Three to seven variable QSAR models were built for each chemical dataset, according to the original dissection into training/test sets. The models were developed by using multiple linear regression (MLR) coupled with a genetic algorithm as the feature wrapper selection technique in the MobyDigs software. Each family of GDIs (for duplex, triplex and quadruplex) behaves similarly in all modelling, although there were some exceptions. However, when all families were used in combination, the results achieved were quantitatively

  10. On the Influence of the Data Sampling Interval on Computer-Derived K-Indices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Bernard

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The K index was devised by Bartels et al. (1939 to provide an objective monitoring of irregular geomagnetic activity. The K index was then routinely used to monitor the magnetic activity at permanent magnetic observatories as well as at temporary stations. The increasing number of digital and sometimes unmanned observatories and the creation of INTERMAGNET put the question of computer production of K at the centre of the debate. Four algorithms were selected during the Vienna meeting (1991 and endorsed by IAGA for the computer production of K indices. We used one of them (FMI algorithm to investigate the impact of the geomagnetic data sampling interval on computer produced K values through the comparison of the computer derived K values for the period 2009, January 1st to 2010, May 31st at the Port-aux-Francais magnetic observatory using magnetic data series with different sampling rates (the smaller: 1 second; the larger: 1 minute. The impact is investigated on both 3-hour range values and K indices data series, as a function of the activity level for low and moderate geomagnetic activity.

  11. Physico-Chemical and Structural Interpretation of Discrete Derivative Indices on N-Tuples Atoms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oscar Martínez-Santiago

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This report examines the interpretation of the Graph Derivative Indices (GDIs from three different perspectives (i.e., in structural, steric and electronic terms. It is found that the individual vertex frequencies may be expressed in terms of the geometrical and electronic reactivity of the atoms and bonds, respectively. On the other hand, it is demonstrated that the GDIs are sensitive to progressive structural modifications in terms of: size, ramifications, electronic richness, conjugation effects and molecular symmetry. Moreover, it is observed that the GDIs quantify the interaction capacity among molecules and codify information on the activation entropy. A structure property relationship study reveals that there exists a direct correspondence between the individual frequencies of atoms and Hückel’s Free Valence, as well as between the atomic GDIs and the chemical shift in NMR, which collectively validates the theory that these indices codify steric and electronic information of the atoms in a molecule. Taking in consideration the regularity and coherence found in experiments performed with the GDIs, it is possible to say that GDIs possess plausible interpretation in structural and physicochemical terms.

  12. The Manchester-Fothergill procedure versus vaginal hysterectomy with uterosacral ligament suspension: a matched historical cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tolstrup, Cæcilie Krogsgaard; Husby, Karen Ruben; Lose, Gunnar; Kopp, Tine Iskov; Viborg, Petra Hall; Kesmodel, Ulrik Schiøler; Klarskov, Niels

    2018-03-01

    This study compares vaginal hysterectomy with uterosacral ligament suspension (VH) with the Manchester-Fothergill procedure (MP) for treating pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in the apical compartment. Our matched historical cohort study is based on data from four Danish databases and the corresponding electronic medical records. Patients with POP surgically treated with VH (n = 295) or the MP (n = 295) in between 2010 and 2014 were matched for age and preoperative POP stage in the apical compartment. The main outcome was recurrent or de novo POP in any compartment. Secondary outcomes were recurrent or de novo POP in each compartment and complications. The risk of recurrent or de novo POP in any compartment was higher after VH (18.3%) compared with the MP (7.8%) (Hazard ratio, HR = 2.5, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-4.8). Recurrence in the apical compartment occurred in 5.1% after VH vs. 0.3% after the MP (hazard ratio (HR) = 10.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-78.1). In the anterior compartment, rates of recurrent or de novo POP were 11.2% after VH vs. 4.1% after the MP (HR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.4-8.7) and in the posterior compartment 12.9% vs. 4.7% (HR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.3-5.4), respectively. There were more perioperative complications (2.7 vs. 0%, p = 0.007) and postoperative intra-abdominal bleeding (2 vs. 0%, p = 0.03) after VH. This study shows that the MP is superior to VH; if there is no other indication for hysterectomy, the MP should be preferred to VH for surgical treatment of POP in the apical compartment.

  13. VH-92A Presidential Helicopter (VH-92A)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    provide safe, reliable, and timely transportation for the President, Vice President, Foreign Heads of State, and other official parties as directed by...the Director of the White House Military Office. Presidential helicopter transportation requirements are executed by Marine Helicopter Squadron One...Review Jul 2016 Jul 2016 Jan 2017 Jul 2016 Milestone C Jan 2019 Jan 2019 Jul 2019 Jan 2019 IOT &E Complete Mar 2020 Mar 2020 Sep 2020 Mar 2020 IOC Jul

  14. Neonatal exposure to phenobarbital potentiates schizophrenia-like behavioral outcomes in the rat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhardwaj, S K; Forcelli, P A; Palchik, G; Gale, K; Srivastava, L K; Kondratyev, A

    2012-06-01

    Previous work has indicated an association between seizures early in life and increased risk of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. However, because early-life seizures are commonly treated with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) such as phenobarbital, the possibility that drug treatment may affect later-life psychiatric outcomes needs to be evaluated. We therefore tested the hypothesis that phenobarbital exposure in the neonatal rat increases the risk of schizophrenia-like behavioral abnormalities in adulthood. Thus, in this study, we examined the effects of a single acute neonatal exposure to phenobarbital on adult behavioral outcomes in the rat neonatal ventral hippocampal (nVH) lesion model of schizophrenia. We compared these outcomes to those in rats a) without nVH lesions and b) with nVH lesions, without phenobarbital. The tasks used for behavioral evaluation were: amphetamine-induced locomotion, prepulse inhibition, elevated plus-maze, and novel object recognition task. We found that neonatal phenobarbital treatment (in the absence of nVH lesions) was sufficient to disrupt sensorimotor gating (as tested by prepulse inhibition) in adulthood to an extent equivalent to nVH lesions. Additionally, neonatal phenobarbital exposure enhanced the locomotor response to amphetamine in adult animals with and without nVH lesions. Our findings suggest that neonatal exposure to phenobarbital can predispose to schizophrenia-like behavioral abnormalities. Our findings underscore the importance of examining AED exposure early in life as a potential risk factor for later-life neuropsychiatric abnormalities in clinical populations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. The varying distribution of intra- and inter-vertebral height ratios determines the prevalence of vertebral fractures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zebaze, Roger Martin Djoumessi; Djoumessi, Roger Martin Zebaze; Maalouf, Ghassan; Wehbe, Joseph; Nehme, Alexandre; Maalouf, Naim; Seeman, Ego

    2004-08-01

    Credible inferences regarding the burden of vertebral fractures (VFs) cannot be made without a globally accepted quantitative definition of 'fracture'. Currently, differences in anterior, middle, or posterior vertebral heights (VHs) within a vertebra, or between adjacent vertebrae, are used to define 'fracture'. However, VH differences are essential for the construction of thoracolumbar curves, evolutionary adaptations that provide stability in bipedal stance and gait. As there is no reference standard to distinguish anatomical variation from fracture, approaches to defining a VF use a reference range of VH ratios derived in premenopausal women or derived by trimming, a method that iteratively removes the tails of a distribution of VH ratios to produce a normal distribution. From this, reference ranges of VH ratio means and standard deviations (SDs) are obtained and a nominal deviation of 15% or more, or 3 SD or more is regarded as a 'fracture'. We measured VHs by quantitative vertebral morphometry (QVM) and bone mineral density (BMD) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in 697 Lebanese women (age 20-89 years) to compare the prevalence of VF ascertained by published methods and a new method that uses the premenopausal range (without trimming) and requires two VH abnormalities. VF prevalence using published methods reached 60% to 70% in pre- and post-menopausal women, and in women with normal or high BMD because VH ratios were not normally distributed and cut-offs used to define VF fracture fell within the observed distribution of the data. The new method resulted in a VF prevalence of 3.3% in younger and 14% in older women, 7% (high), 10% (middle), and 20% (low) BMD tertiles consistent with the notion that the method detected VF due to bone fragility. We suggest that using a fixed trimming method to define reference range and cut-offs or applying fixed cut-offs to identify VFs in populations, where these ratios are not normally distributed, may result in the capture

  16. VP Ellipsis without Indices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hardt, Daniel; Asher, Nicholas; Hunter, Julie

    2013-01-01

    This paper compares two views on the status of indices in syntactic and logical representations. On a structural view, indices are syntactic formants on a par with node labels and phrase bracketings, and are thus a part of the logical forms that are derived from syntactic representations. On the ......This paper compares two views on the status of indices in syntactic and logical representations. On a structural view, indices are syntactic formants on a par with node labels and phrase bracketings, and are thus a part of the logical forms that are derived from syntactic representations...

  17. Casscf/ci Calculations for First Row Transition Metal Hydrides - the TIH(4-PHI), VH(5-DELTA), CRH(6-SIGMA-PLUS), MNH(7-SIGMA-PLUS), FEH(4,6-DELTA) and NIH(2-DELTA) States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walch, S. P.; Bauschlicher, C. W., Jr.

    1983-04-01

    Calculations are performed for the predicted ground states of TiH(4-phi), VH(5-delta), CrH(6-sigma-plus), MnH(7-sigma-plus), Fett(4,6-delta) and NiH(2-delta). For FeH both the 6-delta and 4-delta states are studied, since both are likely candidates for the ground state. The ground state symmetries are predicted based on a combination of atomic coupling arguments and coupling of 4s(2)3d(n) and 4s(1)3d(n+1) terms in the molecular system. Electron correlation is included by a CASSCF/CI (SD) treatment. The CASSCF includes near-degeneracy effects, while correlation of the 3d electrons in included at the CI level.

  18. Aerosol Indices Derived from MODIS Data for Indicating Aerosol-Induced Air Pollution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Junliang He

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Aerosol optical depth (AOD is a critical variable in estimating aerosol concentration in the atmosphere, evaluating severity of atmospheric pollution, and studying their impact on climate. With the assistance of the 6S radiative transfer model, we simulated apparent reflectancein relation to AOD in each Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS waveband in this study. The closeness of the relationship was used to identify the most and least sensitive MODIS wavebands. These two bands were then used to construct three aerosol indices (difference, ratio, and normalized difference for estimating AOD quickly and effectively. The three indices were correlated, respectively, with in situ measured AOD at the Aerosol Robotic NETwork (AERONET Lake Taihu, Beijing, and Xianghe stations. It is found that apparent reflectance of the blue waveband (band 3 is the most sensitive to AOD while the mid-infrared wavelength (band 7 is the least sensitive. The difference aerosol index is the most accurate in indicating aerosol-induced atmospheric pollution with a correlation coefficient of 0.585, 0.860, 0.685, and 0.333 at the Lake Taihu station, 0.721, 0.839, 0.795, and 0.629 at the Beijing station, and 0.778, 0.782, 0.837, and 0.643 at the Xianghe station in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. It is concluded that the newly proposed difference aerosol index can be used effectively to study the level of aerosol-induced air pollution from MODIS satellite imagery with relative ease.

  19. Modelling above Ground Biomass of Mangrove Forest Using SENTINEL-1 Imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Labadisos Argamosa, Reginald Jay; Conferido Blanco, Ariel; Balidoy Baloloy, Alvin; Gumbao Candido, Christian; Lovern Caboboy Dumalag, John Bart; Carandang Dimapilis, Lee, , Lady; Camero Paringit, Enrico

    2018-04-01

    Many studies have been conducted in the estimation of forest above ground biomass (AGB) using features from synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Specifically, L-band ALOS/PALSAR (wavelength 23 cm) data is often used. However, few studies have been made on the use of shorter wavelengths (e.g., C-band, 3.75 cm to 7.5 cm) for forest mapping especially in tropical forests since higher attenuation is observed for volumetric objects where energy propagated is absorbed. This study aims to model AGB estimates of mangrove forest using information derived from Sentinel-1 C-band SAR data. Combinations of polarisations (VV, VH), its derivatives, grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), and its principal components were used as features for modelling AGB. Five models were tested with varying combinations of features; a) sigma nought polarisations and its derivatives; b) GLCM textures; c) the first five principal components; d) combination of models a-c; and e) the identified important features by Random Forest variable importance algorithm. Random Forest was used as regressor to compute for the AGB estimates to avoid over fitting caused by the introduction of too many features in the model. Model e obtained the highest r2 of 0.79 and an RMSE of 0.44 Mg using only four features, namely, σ°VH GLCM variance, σ°VH GLCM contrast, PC1, and PC2. This study shows that Sentinel-1 C-band SAR data could be used to produce acceptable AGB estimates in mangrove forest to compensate for the unavailability of longer wavelength SAR.

  20. Retrieving hurricane wind speeds using cross-polarization C-band measurements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Zadelhoff, G.J.; Stoffelen, A.; Vachon, P.W.; Wolfe, J.; Horstmann, J.; Belmonte Rivas, M.

    2014-01-01

    Hurricane-force wind speeds can have a large societal impact and in this paper microwave C-band cross-polarized (VH) signals are investigated to assess if they can be used to derive extreme wind-speed conditions. European satellite scatterometers have excellent hurricane penetration capability at

  1. The prevalence of visual hallucinations in non-affective psychosis, and the role of perception and attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Ommen, M M; van Beilen, M; Cornelissen, F W; Smid, H G O M; Knegtering, H; Aleman, A; van Laar, T

    2016-06-01

    Little is known about visual hallucinations (VH) in psychosis. We investigated the prevalence and the role of bottom-up and top-down processing in VH. The prevailing view is that VH are probably related to altered top-down processing, rather than to distorted bottom-up processing. Conversely, VH in Parkinson's disease are associated with impaired visual perception and attention, as proposed by the Perception and Attention Deficit (PAD) model. Auditory hallucinations (AH) in psychosis, however, are thought to be related to increased attention. Our retrospective database study included 1119 patients with non-affective psychosis and 586 controls. The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences established the VH rate. Scores on visual perception tests [Degraded Facial Affect Recognition (DFAR), Benton Facial Recognition Task] and attention tests [Response Set-shifting Task, Continuous Performance Test-HQ (CPT-HQ)] were compared between 75 VH patients, 706 non-VH patients and 485 non-VH controls. The lifetime VH rate was 37%. The patient groups performed similarly on cognitive tasks; both groups showed worse perception (DFAR) than controls. Non-VH patients showed worse attention (CPT-HQ) than controls, whereas VH patients did not perform differently. We did not find significant VH-related impairments in bottom-up processing or direct top-down alterations. However, the results suggest a relatively spared attentional performance in VH patients, whereas face perception and processing speed were equally impaired in both patient groups relative to controls. This would match better with the increased attention hypothesis than with the PAD model. Our finding that VH frequently co-occur with AH may support an increased attention-induced 'hallucination proneness'.

  2. Derivation and validation of a multivariable model to predict when primary care physicians prescribe antidepressants for indications other than depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wong J

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Jenna Wong, Michal Abrahamowicz, David L Buckeridge, Robyn Tamblyn Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Objective: Physicians commonly prescribe antidepressants for indications other than depression that are not evidence-based and need further evaluation. However, lack of routinely documented treatment indications for medications in administrative and medical databases creates a major barrier to evaluating antidepressant use for indications besides depression. Thus, the aim of this study was to derive a model to predict when primary care physicians prescribe antidepressants for indications other than depression and to identify important determinants of this prescribing practice. Methods: Prediction study using antidepressant prescriptions from January 2003–December 2012 in an indication-based electronic prescribing system in Quebec, Canada. Patients were linked to demographic files, medical billings data, and hospital discharge summary data to create over 370 candidate predictors. The final prediction model was derived on a random 75% sample of the data using 3-fold cross-validation integrated within a score-based forward stepwise selection procedure. The performance of the final model was assessed in the remaining 25% of the data. Results: Among 73,576 antidepressant prescriptions, 32,405 (44.0% were written for indications other than depression. Among 40 predictors in the final model, the most important covariates included the molecule name, the patient’s education level, the physician’s workload, the prescribed dose, and diagnostic codes for plausible indications recorded in the past year. The final model had good discrimination (concordance (c statistic 0.815; 95% CI, 0.787–0.847 and good calibration (ratio of observed to expected events 0.986; 95% CI, 0.842–1.136. Conclusion: In the absence of documented treatment indications, researchers may be able to use

  3. Heart rate kinetics during very heavy and severe exercise performed after dietary manipulation. DOI: 10.5007/1980-0037.2011v13n1p52

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Rafaell Correia de Oliveira

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Little is known about heart rate (HR kinetics during exercise in the very heavy (VH and severe (SE intensity domains. The objective of this study was to describe mathematically the HR kinetics during exercise performed in these intensity domains and to compare the parameters derived from these models between situations of high (HCHO, low (LCHO and control (C carbohydrate availability. Twelve men performed three trials to exhaustion in the VH or SE domains after diet manipulation with HCHO, LCHO and C. The VH intensity was ΔLW75% (75% of the difference between VO2max and LL2 and SE was 115% of VO2max identified in a previous incremental test (20 W/3 min. HR responses were mathematically fitted by mono- and biexponential functions. In the VH domain, the residual sum of squares (RSS obtained with the biexponential model was significantly lower than that obtained with the monoexponential model (P 0.05. In the VH domain, there were no significant differences in biexponential parameters between the HCHO, LCHO and C conditions. In the SE domain, there were no significant differences in monoexponential parameters between the HCHO, LCHO and C conditions, although the time constant of the monoexponential model was significantly reduced in LCHO when compared to HCHO (51.5 ± 26.4 vs 65.4 ± 34.1 s; P < 0.05. The bi- and monoexponential mathematical models seem to be the best description of HR responses during exercise performed in the HV and SE intensity domains, respectively. In addition, carbohydrate availability only seems to affect HR kinetics during exercise performed at SE intensity.

  4. Heart rate kinetics during very heavy and severe exercise performed after dietary manipulation. DOI: 10.5007/1980-0037.2011v13n1p52

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Augusta Peduti Dal Molin Kiss

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Little is known about heart rate (HR kinetics during exercise in the very heavy (VH and severe (SE intensity domains. The objective of this study was to describe mathematically the HR kinetics during exercise performed in these intensity domains and to compare the parameters derived from these models between situations of high (HCHO, low (LCHO and control (C carbohydrate availability. Twelve men performed three trials to exhaustion in the VH or SE domains after diet manipulation with HCHO, LCHO and C. The VH intensity was ΔLW75% (75% of the difference between VO2max and LL2 and SE was 115% of VO2max identified in a previous incremental test (20 W/3 min. HR responses were mathematically fitted by mono- and biexponential functions. In the VH domain, the residual sum of squares (RSS obtained with the biexponential model was significantly lower than that obtained with the monoexponential model (P 0.05. In the VH domain, there were no significant differences in biexponential parameters between the HCHO, LCHO and C conditions. In the SE domain, there were no significant differences in monoexponential parameters between the HCHO, LCHO and C conditions, although the time constant of the monoexponential model was significantly reduced in LCHO when compared to HCHO (51.5 ± 26.4 vs 65.4 ± 34.1 s; P < 0.05. The bi- and monoexponential mathematical models seem to be the best description of HR responses during exercise performed in the HV and SE intensity domains, respectively. In addition, carbohydrate availability only seems to affect HR kinetics during exercise performed at SE intensity.

  5. Multidetector computed tomography virtual hysterosalpingography in the investigation of the uterus and fallopian tubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carrascosa, Patricia; Baronio, Mariano; Capunay, Carlos; Lopez, Elba Martin; Vallejos, Javier; Borghi, Mario; Sueldo, Carlos; Papier, Sergio

    2008-01-01

    Objective: To compare the efficacy of multidetector CT virtual hysterosalpingography (MDCT-VH) with conventional X-ray hysterosalpingography (HSG) in the evaluation of patients with diagnosis of infertility. Methods: Sixty patients with diagnosis of infertility scheduled to perform a HSG, were evaluated with 16-row (n = 50) and 64-row (n = 10) MDCT-VH. In 35 patients the examination was performed without a tenaculum. The HSGs were carried out using standard technique. The HSG and MDCT-VH findings were compared. The duration for both examinations and patient discomfort were documented. The sensitivity and specificity of MDCT-VH for the detection of uterine pathology and tubal obstruction were calculated using the exact binomial method. Agreement between the two methods was assessed by the Cohen's kappa method (k). Results: The mean duration for MDCT-VH (16 and 64-rows) was 5 ± 3 min, whereas for HSG was 28 ± 3. The MDCT-VH without a tenaculum was the procedure with less patient discomfort. Sensitivity, specificity and inter-method agreement for the detection of uterine pathology were 100%, 92% and k = 0.92 for 16-row MDCT-VH and 100%, 100% and k = 1 for 64-row MDCT-VH, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for detection of tubal obstruction were 80% and 80% for 16-row MDCT-VH and 100% and 100% for 64-row MDCT-VH, respectively; inter-method agreement for the visualization of the tubes was k = 0.54 for 16-row MDCT-VH and k = 1 for 64-row MDCT-VH. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of evaluating the female reproductive system by MDCT-VH. 64-Row MDCT-VH could be an alternative diagnostic technique in the infertility workup algorithm. A larger study is in progress to validate these encouraging results

  6. Multidetector computed tomography virtual hysterosalpingography in the investigation of the uterus and fallopian tubes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carrascosa, Patricia [Diagnostico Maipu, Av. Maipu 1668, Vicente Lopez B1602ABQ, Buenos Aires (Argentina)], E-mail: patriciacarrascosa@diagnosticomaipu.com.ar; Baronio, Mariano [CEGYR, Viamonte 1438, Capital Federal C1055ABB (Argentina); Capunay, Carlos; Lopez, Elba Martin; Vallejos, Javier [Diagnostico Maipu, Av. Maipu 1668, Vicente Lopez B1602ABQ, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Borghi, Mario; Sueldo, Carlos; Papier, Sergio [CEGYR, Viamonte 1438, Capital Federal C1055ABB (Argentina)

    2008-09-15

    Objective: To compare the efficacy of multidetector CT virtual hysterosalpingography (MDCT-VH) with conventional X-ray hysterosalpingography (HSG) in the evaluation of patients with diagnosis of infertility. Methods: Sixty patients with diagnosis of infertility scheduled to perform a HSG, were evaluated with 16-row (n = 50) and 64-row (n = 10) MDCT-VH. In 35 patients the examination was performed without a tenaculum. The HSGs were carried out using standard technique. The HSG and MDCT-VH findings were compared. The duration for both examinations and patient discomfort were documented. The sensitivity and specificity of MDCT-VH for the detection of uterine pathology and tubal obstruction were calculated using the exact binomial method. Agreement between the two methods was assessed by the Cohen's kappa method (k). Results: The mean duration for MDCT-VH (16 and 64-rows) was 5 {+-} 3 min, whereas for HSG was 28 {+-} 3. The MDCT-VH without a tenaculum was the procedure with less patient discomfort. Sensitivity, specificity and inter-method agreement for the detection of uterine pathology were 100%, 92% and k = 0.92 for 16-row MDCT-VH and 100%, 100% and k = 1 for 64-row MDCT-VH, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for detection of tubal obstruction were 80% and 80% for 16-row MDCT-VH and 100% and 100% for 64-row MDCT-VH, respectively; inter-method agreement for the visualization of the tubes was k = 0.54 for 16-row MDCT-VH and k = 1 for 64-row MDCT-VH. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of evaluating the female reproductive system by MDCT-VH. 64-Row MDCT-VH could be an alternative diagnostic technique in the infertility workup algorithm. A larger study is in progress to validate these encouraging results.

  7. The validated hypoallergenic cosmetics rating system: its 30-year evolution and effect on the prevalence of cosmetic reactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verallo-Rowell, Vermén M

    2011-01-01

    The validated hypoallergenic (vh) rating system was initiated in 1988 to try to objectively validate the "hypoallergenic" claim in cosmetics. To show how the system rates cosmetic hypoallergenicity and to compare the prevalence of cosmetic contact dermatitis (CCD) among users of regular cosmetics versus cosmetics with high VH numbers. (1) Made a VH list based on top allergens from patch-test results published by the North American Contact Dermatitis Group (NACDG) and the European Surveillance System on Contact Allergies (ESSCA); (2) reviewed global regulatory, cosmetic, drug, packaging, and manufacturing practices to show how allergens may contaminate products; (3) compared cosmetic ingredients lists against the VH list to obtain the VH rating (the more allergens absent, the higher the VH rating); and (4) obtained CCD prevalence among users of regular cosmetics versus users of cosmetics with high VH ratings. (1) Two VH lists (1988, 2003) included only cosmetic allergens in the NACDG surveys, the third (2007) included cosmetic and potential contaminant noncosmetic allergens, and the fourth (2010) adds ESSCA patch-test surveys. (2) CCD prevalence is 0.05 to 0.12% (average, 0.08%) among users of cosmetics with high VH ratings versus 2.4 to 36.3% among users of regular cosmetics. The VH rating system is shown to objectively validate the hypoallergenic cosmetics claim.

  8. Charge composition of cosmic rays between 4 and 100 GV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golden, R. L.; Adams, J. H.; Badhwar, G. D.; Deney, C. L.; Lindstrom, P. J.; Heckman, H. H.

    1974-01-01

    Balloon-flight measurements were used to determine ratios of cosmic-ray L nuclei (charge Z ranging from 3 to 5) to M nuclei (Z ranging from 6 to 8) and of VH nuclei (Z from 20 to 27) to M nuclei using a magnetic spectrometer. The purpose of the measurements was to establish whether both ratios vary with rigidity as this would provide evidence for more than one basic acceleration mechanism. The results provide no indication that the VH spectrum is steeper than the M spectrum.

  9. Investigation of mechanical properties of modern dental composites after artificial aging for one year.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahnel, Sebastian; Henrich, Anne; Bürgers, Ralf; Handel, Gerhard; Rosentritt, Martin

    2010-01-01

    This in vitro study investigated the aging behavior of dental composites with regard to surface roughness (SR), Vickers hardness (VH) and flexural strength (FS), and the study elucidated the impact of artificial aging parameters. One hundred and sixty-five rectangular specimens were prepared from five composites (Filtek Supreme XT, Filtek Silorane, CeramX, Quixfil, experimental ormocer) and subjected to various artificial aging protocols (storage in distilled water/ethanol/artificial saliva for 7, 90 and 365 days; thermal cycling, 2 x 3000 cycles 5/55 degrees C). SR, VH and FS were determined at baseline and after each aging treatment. Means and standard deviations were calculated; statistical analysis was performed using three-way ANOVA and the Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison test (alpha=.05). The results showed a significant influence in the composite and aging duration on mechanical parameters; the aging medium did not have a significant influence on VH and FS, but there was a significant influence on SR. The highest overall VH was found for theexperimental ormocer; Filtek Silorane yielded the lowest values. For FS, the significantly highest values were found for Filtek Silorane, and the lowest values were found for the experimental ormocer. Prolonged aging periods (90 or 365 days) or thermal cycling led to significant decreases in both VH and FS and significant increases in SR. The findings of the current study indicate that composites differ significantly for SR and its mechanical properties with regard to FS and VH, as well as in aging behavior. Generally, artificial aging leads to a significant decrease in mechanical properties, which underlines the relevance of continuous improvement of dental composites.

  10. A novel variable antibody fragment dimerized by leucine zippers with enhanced neutralizing potency against rabies virus G protein compared to its corresponding single-chain variable antibody fragment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zhuang; Cheng, Yue; Xi, Hualong; Gu, Tiejun; Yuan, Ruosen; Chen, Xiaoxu; Jiang, Chunlai; Kong, Wei; Wu, Yongge

    2015-12-01

    Fatal rabies can be prevented effectively by post-exposure prophylactic (PEP) with rabies immunoglobulin (RIG). Single-chain variable fragments (scFv), which are composed of a variable heavy chain (VH) and a variable light chain (VL) connected by a peptide linker, can potentially be used to replace RIG. However, in our previous study, a scFv (scFV57S) specific for the rabies virus (RV) G protein showed a lower neutralizing potency than that of its parent IgG due to lower stability and altered peptide assembly pattern. In monoclonal antibodies, the VH and VL interact non-covalently, while in scFvs the VH is connected covalently with the VL by the artificial linker. In this study, we constructed and expressed two peptides 57VL-JUN-HIS and 57VH-FOS-HA in Escherichia coli. The well-known Fos and Jun leucine zippers were utilized to dimerize VH and VL similarly to the IgG counterpart. The two peptides assembled to form zipFv57S in vitro. Due to the greater similarity in structure with IgG, the zipFv57S protein showed a higher binding ability and affinity resulting in notable improvement of in vitro neutralizing activity over its corresponding scFv. The zipFv57S protein was also found to be more stable and showed similar protective rate as RIG in mice challenged with a lethal dose of RV. Our results not only indicated zipFv57S as an ideal alternative for RIG in PEP but also offered a novel and efficient hetero-dimerization pattern of VH and VL leading to enhanced neutralizing potency. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  11. Ethyl glucuronide in vitreous humor and blood postmortem specimens: analysis by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry and interpreting results of neo-formation of ethanol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara Vezzoli

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. The determination of ethyl glucuronide (EtG, a stable and sensitive marker that is specific to alcohol intake, finds many applications both in the forensic toxicology and clinical fields. Aim. The aim of the study is to examine the possibility of using a cadaveric biological matrix, vitreous humor (VH, to determine EtG as a marker of recent ethanol use. Methods. The blood, taken from the femoral vein, and the VH were obtained from 63 autopsy cases. Analysis of the EtG was performed using an LC/MS/MS system. Analyses of the ethanol and putrefaction biomarkers, such as acetaldehyde and n-propanol, were performed using the HS-GC/FID technique in both the matrices. Results. In 17 cases, both ethanol and EtG were absent in both matrices.Nineteen cases presented ethanol in blood from 0.05 to 0.30 g/L, EtG-Blood concentration from 0.02 to 3.27 mg/L, and EtG-VH concentration from 0.01 mg/L to 2.88 mg/L. Thirteen cases presented ethanol in blood > 0.05 g/L but EtG concentration in blood and VH lower than 0.01 mg/L, are part of these 8 samples presented acetic aldehyde and n- propanol in blood or VH, means identification of putrefaction indicators. Fourteen cases presented ethanol in blood > 0.46 and EtG concentration in blood and VH higher than 0.01 mg/L. Conclusions. The determination of EtG in biological material is important in those cases where the intake of ethanol appears doubtful, as it allows us to exclude the possibility of any post-mortem formation of ethanol.

  12. Antibodies Targeting EMT

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-01

    these unusual antibodies can effectively be displayed on the cell surface. 5 Additionally, we successfully prepared cDNA from lymphocytes derived...from cow peripheral blood, spleen, and lymph nodes, amplified this cDNA by PCR with VH gene specific primers, and this “library” has been cloned into

  13. Body Image and Anti-Fat Attitudes: An Experimental Study Using a Haptic Virtual Reality Environment to Replicate Human Touch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tremblay, Line; Roy-Vaillancourt, Mélina; Chebbi, Brahim; Bouchard, Stéphane; Daoust, Michael; Dénommée, Jessica; Thorpe, Moriah

    2016-02-01

    It is well documented that anti-fat attitudes influence the interactions individuals have with overweight people. However, testing attitudes through self-report measures is challenging. In the present study, we explore the use of a haptic virtual reality environment to physically interact with overweight virtual human (VH). We verify the hypothesis that duration and strength of virtual touch vary according to the characteristics of VH in ways similar to those encountered from interaction with real people in anti-fat attitude studies. A group of 61 participants were randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions involving giving a virtual hug to a female or a male VH of either normal or overweight. We found significant associations between body image satisfaction and anti-fat attitudes and sex differences on these measures. We also found a significant interaction effect of the sex of the participants, sex of the VH, and the body size of the VH. Female participants hugged longer the overweight female VH than overweight male VH. Male participants hugged longer the normal-weight VH than the overweight VH. We conclude that virtual touch is a promising method of measuring attitudes, emotion and social interactions.

  14. Derivation of Nationally Consistent Indices Representing Urban Intensity Within and Across Nine Metropolitan Areas of the Conterminous United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cuffney, Thomas F.; Falcone, James A.

    2009-01-01

    Two nationally consistent multimetric indices of urban intensity were developed to support studies of the effects of urbanization on streams in nine metropolitan areas of the conterminous United States: Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin; Portland, Oregon; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Salt Lake City, Utah. These studies were conducted as a part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. These urban intensity indices were used to define gradients of urbanization and to interpret biological, physical, and chemical changes along these gradients. Ninety census, land-cover, and infrastructure variables obtained from nationally available databases were evaluated. Only variables that exhibited a strong and consistent linear relation with 2000 population density were considered for use in the indices. Housing-unit density (HUDEN), percentage of basin area in developed land (P_NLCD1_2), and road density (ROADDEN) were selected as the best representatives of census, land-cover, and infrastructure variables. The metropolitan area national urban intensity index (MA-NUII) was scaled to represent urban intensity within each metropolitan area and ranged from 0 (little or no urban) to 100 (maximum urban) for sites within each metropolitan area. The national urban intensity index (NUII) was scaled to represent urban intensity across all nine metropolitan areas and ranged from 0 to 100 for all sites. The rates at which HUDEN, P_NLCD1_2, and ROADDEN changed with changes in population density varied among metropolitan areas. Therefore, these variables were adjusted to obtain a more uniform rate of response across metropolitan areas in the derivation of the NUII. The NUII indicated that maximum levels of urban intensity occurred in the West and Midwest rather than in the East primarily because small inner-city streams in eastern metropolitan areas are

  15. Prompt Proxy Mapping of Flood Damaged Rice Fields Using MODIS-Derived Indices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Youngjoo Kwak

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Flood mapping, particularly hazard and risk mapping, is an imperative process and a fundamental part of emergency response and risk management. This paper aims to produce a flood risk proxy map of damaged rice fields over the whole of Bangladesh, where monsoon river floods are dominant and frequent, affecting over 80% of the total population. This proxy risk map was developed to meet the request of the government on a national level. This study represents a rapid, straightforward methodology for estimating rice-crop damage in flood areas of Bangladesh during the large flood from July to September 2007, despite the lack of primary data. We improved a water detection algorithm to achieve a better discrimination capacity to discern flood areas by using a modified land surface water index (MLSWI. Then, rice fields were estimated utilizing a hybrid rice field map from land-cover classification and MODIS-derived indices, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI and enhanced vegetation index (EVI. The results showed that the developed method is capable of providing instant, comprehensive, nationwide mapping of flood risks, such as rice field damage. The detected flood areas and damaged rice fields during the 2007 flood were verified by comparing them with the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS AVNIR-2 images (a 10 m spatial resolution and in situ field survey data with moderate agreement (K = 0.57.

  16. Analysis of IgG4-positive clones in affected organs of IgG4-related disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kakuchi, Yasushi; Yamada, Kazunori; Ito, Kiyoaki; Hara, Satoshi; Fujii, Hiroshi; Yamagishi, Masakazu; Kawano, Mitsuhiro

    2016-11-01

    We investigated class switch reaction (CSR) in affected organs and evaluated whether the same or genetically related clones exist in IgG4-RD. We studied three patients with IgG4-RD. Total cellular RNA was extracted from salivary glands and peripheral blood and lung tissue. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and immunoglobulin heavy chain third complementarity determining region (IgVH-CDR3) of IgM and IgG4 were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We analyzed the clonal relationship of infiltrating IgG4-positive cells, as compared with IgM. We determined the existence of common clones among organs and patients. AID was expressed in salivary glands of all patients and lung tissue in one. Closely related IgVH-CDR3 sequences in infiltrating IgG4-positive cells were detected in salivary glands and lung tissue. Identical IgVH-CDR3 sequence between IgM and IgG4 in salivary glands was detected in one patient, indicating CSR in salivary glands. Identical IgVH-CDR3 sequences of IgG4-positive cells were detected between salivary glands and peripheral blood in two patients. Four identical sequences of IgVH-CDR3 existed between patients. Interestingly, one of the four sequences was detected in all patients. Our results demonstrate the existence of common antigen(s) shared by patients with IgG4-RD.

  17. Cost-derived indices for building design and construction ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Also as multiples of gfi, substructure cost index, sci and roofing cost index, rci could predict componental costs of substructure and roofing for phased development purposes. Keywords: Cost Indices, Building Design, Building Construction Journal of Modeling, Design and Management of Engineering Systems, Vol.

  18. Characterization of calcium signals in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived dentate gyrus neuronal progenitors and mature neurons, stably expressing an advanced calcium indicator protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vőfély, Gergő; Berecz, Tünde; Szabó, Eszter; Szebényi, Kornélia; Hathy, Edit; Orbán, Tamás I; Sarkadi, Balázs; Homolya, László; Marchetto, Maria C; Réthelyi, János M; Apáti, Ágota

    2018-04-01

    Pluripotent stem cell derived human neuronal progenitor cells (hPSC-NPCs) and their mature neuronal cell culture derivatives may efficiently be used for central nervous system (CNS) drug screening, including the investigation of ligand-induced calcium signalization. We have established hippocampal NPC cultures derived from human induced PSCs, which were previously generated by non-integrating Sendai virus reprogramming. Using established protocols these NPCs were differentiated into hippocampal dentate gyrus neurons. In order to study calcium signaling without the need of dye loading, we have stably expressed an advanced calcium indicator protein (GCaMP6fast) in the NPCs using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system. We observed no significant effects of the long-term GCaMP6 expression on NPC morphology, gene expression pattern or neural differentiation capacity. In order to compare the functional properties of GCaMP6-expressing neural cells and the corresponding parental cells loaded with calcium indicator dye Fluo-4, a detailed characterization of calcium signals was performed. We found that the calcium signals induced by ATP, glutamate, LPA, or proteases - were similar in these two systems. Moreover, the presence of the calcium indicator protein allowed for a sensitive, repeatable detection of changes in calcium signaling during the process of neurogenesis and neuronal maturation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Screening Obesity by Direct and Derived Anthropometric Indices ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: The available information regarding the obesity pattern of the undergraduate female students of Kolkata is inadequate, though there are several reports which indicate the complications and/or awful consequences of obesity on female health particularly, during the reproductive years. Aim: The present ...

  20. Cross-Linked Amylose Bio-Plastic: A Transgenic-Based Compostable Plastic Alternative

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Domenico Sagnelli

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Bio-plastics and bio-materials are composed of natural or biomass derived polymers, offering solutions to solve immediate environmental issues. Polysaccharide-based bio-plastics represent important alternatives to conventional plastic because of their intrinsic biodegradable nature. Amylose-only (AO, an engineered barley starch with 99% amylose, was tested to produce cross-linked all-natural bioplastic using normal barley starch as a control. Glycerol was used as plasticizer and citrate cross-linking was used to improve the mechanical properties of cross-linked AO starch extrudates. Extrusion converted the control starch from A-type to Vh- and B-type crystals, showing a complete melting of the starch crystals in the raw starch granules. The cross-linked AO and control starch specimens displayed an additional wide-angle diffraction reflection. Phospholipids complexed with Vh-type single helices constituted an integrated part of the AO starch specimens. Gas permeability tests of selected starch-based prototypes demonstrated properties comparable to that of commercial Mater-Bi© plastic. The cross-linked AO prototypes had composting characteristics not different from the control, indicating that the modified starch behaves the same as normal starch. The data shows the feasibility of producing all-natural bioplastic using designer starch as raw material.

  1. Cross-Linked Amylose Bio-Plastic: A Transgenic-Based Compostable Plastic Alternative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagnelli, Domenico; Kemmer, Gerdi Christine; Holse, Mette; Hebelstrup, Kim H.; Bao, Jinsong; Stelte, Wolfgang; Bjerre, Anne-Belinda; Blennow, Andreas

    2017-01-01

    Bio-plastics and bio-materials are composed of natural or biomass derived polymers, offering solutions to solve immediate environmental issues. Polysaccharide-based bio-plastics represent important alternatives to conventional plastic because of their intrinsic biodegradable nature. Amylose-only (AO), an engineered barley starch with 99% amylose, was tested to produce cross-linked all-natural bioplastic using normal barley starch as a control. Glycerol was used as plasticizer and citrate cross-linking was used to improve the mechanical properties of cross-linked AO starch extrudates. Extrusion converted the control starch from A-type to Vh- and B-type crystals, showing a complete melting of the starch crystals in the raw starch granules. The cross-linked AO and control starch specimens displayed an additional wide-angle diffraction reflection. Phospholipids complexed with Vh-type single helices constituted an integrated part of the AO starch specimens. Gas permeability tests of selected starch-based prototypes demonstrated properties comparable to that of commercial Mater-Bi© plastic. The cross-linked AO prototypes had composting characteristics not different from the control, indicating that the modified starch behaves the same as normal starch. The data shows the feasibility of producing all-natural bioplastic using designer starch as raw material. PMID:28973963

  2. Cross-Linked Amylose Bio-Plastic: A Transgenic-Based Compostable Plastic Alternative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagnelli, Domenico; Hooshmand, Kourosh; Kemmer, Gerdi Christine; Kirkensgaard, Jacob J K; Mortensen, Kell; Giosafatto, Concetta Valeria L; Holse, Mette; Hebelstrup, Kim H; Bao, Jinsong; Stelte, Wolfgang; Bjerre, Anne-Belinda; Blennow, Andreas

    2017-09-30

    Bio-plastics and bio-materials are composed of natural or biomass derived polymers, offering solutions to solve immediate environmental issues. Polysaccharide-based bio-plastics represent important alternatives to conventional plastic because of their intrinsic biodegradable nature. Amylose-only (AO), an engineered barley starch with 99% amylose, was tested to produce cross-linked all-natural bioplastic using normal barley starch as a control. Glycerol was used as plasticizer and citrate cross-linking was used to improve the mechanical properties of cross-linked AO starch extrudates. Extrusion converted the control starch from A-type to Vh- and B-type crystals, showing a complete melting of the starch crystals in the raw starch granules. The cross-linked AO and control starch specimens displayed an additional wide-angle diffraction reflection. Phospholipids complexed with Vh-type single helices constituted an integrated part of the AO starch specimens. Gas permeability tests of selected starch-based prototypes demonstrated properties comparable to that of commercial Mater-Bi © plastic. The cross-linked AO prototypes had composting characteristics not different from the control, indicating that the modified starch behaves the same as normal starch. The data shows the feasibility of producing all-natural bioplastic using designer starch as raw material.

  3. Mapping SOC (Soil Organic Carbon) using LiDAR-derived vegetation indices in a random forest regression model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Will, R. M.; Glenn, N. F.; Benner, S. G.; Pierce, J. L.; Spaete, L.; Li, A.

    2015-12-01

    Quantifying SOC (Soil Organic Carbon) storage in complex terrain is challenging due to high spatial variability. Generally, the challenge is met by transforming point data to the entire landscape using surrogate, spatially-distributed, variables like elevation or precipitation. In many ecosystems, remotely sensed information on above-ground vegetation (e.g. NDVI) is a good predictor of below-ground carbon stocks. In this project, we are attempting to improve this predictive method by incorporating LiDAR-derived vegetation indices. LiDAR provides a mechanism for improved characterization of aboveground vegetation by providing structural parameters such as vegetation height and biomass. In this study, a random forest model is used to predict SOC using a suite of LiDAR-derived vegetation indices as predictor variables. The Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed (RCEW) is an ideal location for a study of this type since it encompasses a strong elevation/precipitation gradient that supports lower biomass sagebrush ecosystems at low elevations and forests with more biomass at higher elevations. Sagebrush ecosystems composed of Wyoming, Low and Mountain Sagebrush have SOC values ranging from .4 to 1% (top 30 cm), while higher biomass ecosystems composed of aspen, juniper and fir have SOC values approaching 4% (top 30 cm). Large differences in SOC have been observed between canopy and interspace locations and high resolution vegetation information is likely to explain plot scale variability in SOC. Mapping of the SOC reservoir will help identify underlying controls on SOC distribution and provide insight into which processes are most important in determining SOC in semi-arid mountainous regions. In addition, airborne LiDAR has the potential to characterize vegetation communities at a high resolution and could be a tool for improving estimates of SOC at larger scales.

  4. Screening obesity by direct and derived anthropometric indices with evaluation of physical efficiency among female college students of kolkata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sengupta, P; Chaudhuri, P; Bhattacharya, K

    2013-10-01

    The available information regarding the obesity pattern of the undergraduate female students of Kolkata is inadequate, though there are several reports which indicate the complications and/or awful consequences of obesity on female health particularly, during the reproductive years. The present investigation has thus been carried out to report their present physiological status along with the prevalence of obesity, based on their body mass index (BMI), some direct and derived anthropometric indices, and physical fitness. This small-scale cross-sectional study conducted in randomly selected 100 female students of different colleges of Kolkata with the age of 18-22 [mean age 20.4 (2.3)] years. Measurements of body composition included total 24 variables, with thirteen direct and eleven derived anthropometric variables; while physical efficiency parameters were physical fitness index, VO2max, energy expenditure and anaerobic power. The data of the experimental group were compared with those of the control group by t-test, using SPSS v.15.0 and MS-Excel v.2013. Analysis of collected data showed majority of the students have normal range of BMI (67.95%), but, 21.95% of students found to be overweight and 3.84% are obese. They also showed higher fat mass [14.40 (4.11)], but, lower waist-to-hip ratio and conicity index. They were found to have poor to moderate physical fitness [57.60 (3.90)] and higher energy expenditure [5.61 (0.72)]. The findings of the present obesity screening reports almost one of four female students (24 out of 100 participants) are overweight/obese, indicated higher body fat distribution and increased propensity of being obese with age. Thus, the overall data along with their low physical fitness points out to health risks among female undergraduates of Kolkata.

  5. Isolation of scFv antibody fragments against HER2 and CEA tumor antigens from combinatorial antibody libraries derived from cancer patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayat, Hoda; Burrone, Oscar R; Sadghizadeh, Majid; Jahanzad, Eissa; Rastgou, Nasrin; Moghadasi, Sarrira; Arbabi, Mehdi

    2013-11-01

    Tumor cells expressing HER-2/neu and CEA antigens are potentially ideal targets for antibody-targeted therapy. In this study, two large human combinatorial libraries have been generated from the lymph nodes of breast cancer patients that express HER2 and CEA antigens in their tumors. These 'immune' libraries have been constructed in two different formats of scFv, differing in the length of the peptide linker connecting the two variable VH and VL domains. Libraries derived from these patients may contain a larger pool of anti-tumor antigen antibodies and are useful repertoire for isolating scFvs against any tumor markers. The results of this study showed that we were successful in obtaining human scFvs against HER-2/neu and CEA. For HER-2, cell-panning strategy was performed and resulted in two scFv binders that detected the complete HER-2 receptor on the cell membrane and internalized to the cells. Also, preliminary ELISA data showed that several anti-CEA scFv binders were isolated by panning. Copyright © 2013 The International Alliance for Biological Standardization. All rights reserved.

  6. Global drought watch from space at work: Crop losses and food security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kogan, F.

    2012-12-01

    Drought is one of the most adverse environmental disasters. It affects countries economies, environment a very large number of people in the world. Only in the USA drought costs taxpayers nearly $6 billion each year. Drought is a very unusual phenomenon because unlike other environmental disaster it starts unnoticeably, develop cumulatively, the impact is also cumulative and by the time when the effect of drought is observable it is too late to mitigate the consequences. Therefore, it is difficult to mitigate droughts using in situ data. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developed new method for drought detection and monitoring from reflectance measured by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer flown on NOAA polar-orbiting operational environmental satellites. The method calculates Vegetation Health (VH) indices, which estimate vegetation condition (health) on a scale from extreme stress to favorable conditions based on intensity of greenness, vigor and thermal condition of vegetation canopy. The VH is estimated every week for each 4 by 4 km earth surface and is delivered to the NOAA/NESDIS web site in digital and color-coded form. The web site address is the following http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/vci/VH/index.php In addition to drought and vegetation health monitoring, the VH indices are applied in agriculture, forestry, mosquito-borne diseases, climate, invasive species and others. During the first seven months of 2009, drought was observed in the southern US (especially Texas), Argentina (very intensive drought), some of the countries of sub-Sahara Africa, India (central and eastern), Kazakhstan and Australia.

  7. [Influencing factors of visual hallucinations in patients with Parkinson's disease and its relationship with sleep disorders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, D D; Li, S H; Jin, L Y; Jin, Y; Cui, Y Y; Zhao, H; Liu, H J; Ma, X X; Su, W; Chen, H B

    2016-04-05

    To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of visual hallucinations in patients with Parkinson's disease(PD), and to analyze the relationship between visual hallucinations and sleep disorders. We recruited 187 patients with PD(H-Y Ⅰ-Ⅲ) from outpatient department in Beijing Hospital. The patients were investigated for general information and the use of medicine. The patients were divided into visual hallucination(VH) group and non-hallucination(non-VH) group. A comparison study was conducted between two groups. We investigated the sleep disorders of PD patients according to Non Motor Symptom Quest(NMSquest) and Parkinson's disease sleep scale(PDSS). Logistic stepwise multiple regression procedures were used to determine the best predictive model of visual hallucinations in patients with PD. (1) 42 cases(22.5%) of PD patients were accompanied by visual hallucinations; (2) the VH group and non-VH group had no difference in age, sex, duration of illness, the scores of Minimum Mental State Examination(MMSE) and levodopa equivalent doses (LED). The scores of Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(UPDRS) Ⅰ, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety(HAMA) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(HAMD) in VH group were significantly higher than those in non-VH group[3.5(2, 5) vs 2 (1, 3); 10(6.75, 15) vs 8(5, 11); 11(7.75, 17) vs 9(5, 13); Psleep behavior disorder(RBD) in VH group were significantly higher than those in non-VH group(61.9% vs 40.7%, 71.4% vs 47.6%, P0.05). The score of PDSS in VH group was significantly lower than that in non-VH group[111(92.75, 128.25) vs 123(109, 135), Psleep disorder are independently associated with VH in PD.

  8. Antispasmodic and Antidiarrheal Activities of Valeriana hardwickii Wall. Rhizome Are Putatively Mediated through Calcium Channel Blockade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bashir, Samra; Memon, Raafia; Gilani, Anwar H

    2011-01-01

    Valeriana hardwickii is indigenous to Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, where it is traditionally being used as an antispasmodic and antidiarrheal, besides its culinary use as spice. The aim of this paper was to provide pharmacological validation to these medicinal uses. The crude aqueous-methanolic extract of Valeriana hardwickii rhizome (Vh.Cr) was studied on isolated rabbit jejunum and castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice for spasmolytic and antidiarrheal properties, respectively. Vh.Cr caused concentration-dependent (0.01-1 mg/mL) relaxation of spontaneous contractions in isolated rabbit jejunum and inhibited K(+)-induced contractions (0.01-0.3 mg/mL), similar to verapamil, suggestive of calcium channel blockade (CCB). The CCB effect was confirmed when pretreatment of the jejunum preparations with Vh.Cr produced a concentration-dependent (0.03-0.1 mg/mL) rightward shift in the Ca(++) concentration-response curves, as caused by verapamil. Vh.Cr exhibited dose-dependent (100-300 mg/kg) protection against castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice. Loperamide, a standard antidiarrheal drug, similarly prevented the diarrhea. These data indicate the presence of CCB effect in the extract of Valeriana hardwickii rhizome, possibly mediating its antispasmodic and antidiarrheal activities and provide a scientific base for its traditional use in hyperactive gut disorders.

  9. Three monoclonal antibodies to the VHS virus glycoprotein: comparison of reactivity in relation to differences in immunoglobulin variable domain gene sequences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lorenzen, Niels; Cupit, P.M.; Secombes, C.J.

    2000-01-01

    and their neutralising activity was evident. Binding kinetic analyses by plasmon resonance identified differences in the dissociation rate constant (kd) as a possible explanation for the different reactivity levels of the MAbs. The Ig variable heavy (VH) and light (V kappa) domain gene sequences of the three hybridomas...... were compared. The inferred amino acid sequence of the two neutralising antibody VH domains differed by three amino acid residues (97% identity) and only one residue difference was evident in the Vk. domains. In contrast, IP1H3 shared only 38 and 39% identity with the 3F1A2 and 3F1H10 VH domains...... respectively and 49 and 50% identity with the 3F1A2 and 3F1H10 VK domains respectively. The neutralising antibodies were produced by hybridomas originating from the same fusion and the high nucleotide sequence homology of the variable Ig gene regions indicated that the plasma cell partners of the hybridomas...

  10. A Distinct Class of Antibodies May Be an Indicator of Gray Matter Autoimmunity in Early and Established Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ann J. Ligocki

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available * These authors contributed equally to the work in this manuscript.We have previously identified a distinct class of antibodies expressed by B cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF of early and established relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS patients that is not observed in healthy donors. These antibodies contain a unique pattern of mutations in six codons along VH4 antibody genes that we termed the antibody gene signature (AGS. In fact, patients who have such B cells in their CSF are identified as either having RRMS or developing RRMS in the future. As mutations in antibody genes increase antibody affinity for particular antigens, the goal for this study was to investigate whether AGS+ antibodies bind to brain tissue antigens. Single B cells were isolated from the CSF of 10 patients with early or established RRMS. We chose 32 of these B cells that expressed antibodies enriched for the AGS for further study. We generated monoclonal full-length recombinant human antibodies (rhAbs and used both immunological assays and immunohistochemistry to investigate the capacity of these AGS+ rhAbs to bind brain tissue antigens. AGS+ rhAbs did not recognize myelin tracts in the corpus callosum. Instead, AGS+ rhAbs recognized neuronal nuclei and/or astrocytes, which are prevalent in the cortical gray matter. This pattern was unique to the AGS+ antibodies from early and established RRMS patients, as AGS+ antibodies from an early neuromyelitis optica patient did not display the same reactivity. Prevalence of CSF-derived B cells expressing AGS+ antibodies that bind to these cell types may be an indicator of gray matter-directed autoimmunity in early and established RRMS patients.

  11. In a patient with biclonal Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia only one clone expands in three-dimensional culture and includes putative cancer stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirshner, Julia; Thulien, Kyle J; Kriangkum, Jitra; Motz, Sarah; Belch, Andrew R; Pilarski, Linda M

    2011-02-01

    A small percentage of cases of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) present with biclonality, defined here as the rearrangement of two distinct VDJ gene segments. Here we investigated the expansion of two clones from a patient with WM expressing molecularly detectable clonotypic gene rearrangements, one V(H)3 and one V(H)4. Biclonality was determined in blood and bone marrow mononuclear cells using real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR). V(H)4 expressing cells but not V(H)3 expressing cells underwent clonal expansion in 3-D culture of reconstructed WM bone marrow. After 3-D culture, secondary culture in a colony forming unit assay, and RQ-PCR, only the V(H)4 clone was shown to harbor a subpopulation with characteristics of cancer stem cells, including proliferative quiescence, self-regeneration, and the ability to generate clonotypic progeny, suggesting that the V(H)4, but not the V(H)3, clone is clinically significant. Enrichment of potential WM stem cells in 3-D cultures holds promise for monitoring their response to treatment and for testing new therapies.

  12. Dicty_cDB: VHD492 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHD492 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15308-1 - (Link to Original site) - - VHD492...Z 675 - - - - Show VHD492 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHD492 (Link to dicty...iol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHD4-D/VHD492Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID - (Link to ...Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHD492 (VHD492Q) /CSM/VH/VHD4-D/VHD492Q.Seq.d/ XXXXXXXXXXCTTCATC...xkiipink Homology vs CSM-cDNA Score E Sequences producing significant alignments: (bits) Value VHD492 (VHD492Q) /CSM/VH/VHD4-D/VHD492

  13. Transplantation of umbilical cord blood-derived cells for novel indications in regenerative therapy or immune modulation: a scoping review of clinical studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iafolla, Marco A J; Tay, Jason; Allan, David S

    2014-01-01

    Although used mainly for transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells in the treatment of blood disorders, umbilical cord blood (UCB)-based therapies are now being used increasingly for novel applications in nonhematopoietic diseases and as a form of cellular regenerative therapy or immune modulation. We performed a systematic scoping review by searching Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for published articles, and we searched www.clinicaltrials.com and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform to describe the breadth of published studies and ongoing clinical activity in umbilical cord-based cellular therapy for regenerative therapy and immune modulation. The most commonly published area of expertise in the use of UCB-derived cellular transplantation for novel indications is for neurological disorders and this remains the most active area of study in ongoing registered trials. An increasingly broad range of disorders, however, are reflected in ongoing registered trials, which suggests greater activity, interest, and investment in UCB-derived cellular therapy. Interestingly, adult patients compose the majority of patients reported in published reports and registered ongoing clinical studies continue to enroll predominantly adult subjects. Geographically, Asian countries appear most active in UCB-derived cellular therapy and our analysis of ongoing studies suggests this trend will likely continue. Regular assessment of published and ongoing activity in UCB transplantation for emerging novel indications will be critical for informing UCB banking establishments and funding agencies to guide changes in banking practices related to emerging trends in cell therapy. Copyright © 2014 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Optical indicators based on environment sensitive fluorophors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shakhsher, Z.M.; Seitz, W.R. (Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NC (USA))

    1990-01-01

    The authors are interested in the development of optical indicators based on environment sensitive fluorophors. The fluorophor is immobilized on a solid substrate. Interaction with analyte modifies the fluorophor environment, leading to a shift in the distribution of emission wavelengths. Because the indicator is based on spectral shift, it is possible to relate analyte concentration to a ratio of intensities at two different wavelengths. This parameter is insensitive to instrumental drift and slow loss of indicator. Two indicator systems have been investigated. Both involve dansyl derivation, i.e., derivatives of 5-dimethylamino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid.

  15. Deriving evaluation indicators for knowledge transfer and dialogue processes in the context of climate research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treffeisen, Renate; Grosfeld, Klaus; Kuhlmann, Franziska

    2017-12-01

    Knowledge transfer and dialogue processes in the field of climate science have captured intensive attention in recent years as being an important part of research activities. Therefore, the demand and pressure to develop a set of indicators for the evaluation of different activities in this field have increased, too. Research institutes are being asked more and more to build up structures in order to map these activities and, thus, are obliged to demonstrate the success of these efforts. This paper aims to serve as an input to stimulate further reflection on the field of evaluation of knowledge transfer and dialogue processes in the context of climate sciences. The work performed in this paper is embedded in the efforts of the German Helmholtz Association in the research field of earth and environment and is driven by the need to apply suitable indicators for knowledge transfer and dialogue processes in climate research center evaluations. We carry out a comparative analysis of three long-term activities and derive a set of indicators for measuring their output and outcome by balancing the wide diversity and range of activity contents as well as the different tools to realize them. The case examples are based on activities which are part of the regional Helmholtz Climate Initiative Regional Climate Change (REKLIM) and the Climate Office for Polar Regions and Sea Level Rise at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Both institutional units have been working on a wide range of different knowledge transfer and dialogue processes since 2008/2009. We demonstrate that indicators for the evaluation must be based on the unique objectives of the individual activities and the framework they are embedded in (e.g., research foci which provide the background for the performed knowledge transfer and dialogue processes) but can partly be classified in a principle two-dimensional scheme. This scheme might serve as a usable basis for climate

  16. Biomarker-indicated extent of oxidation of plant-derived organic carbon (OC) in relation to geomorphology in an arsenic contaminated Holocene aquifer, Cambodia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magnone, Daniel; Richards, Laura A; Polya, David A; Bryant, Charlotte; Jones, Merren; van Dongen, Bart E

    2017-10-12

    The poisoning of rural populations in South and Southeast Asia due to high groundwater arsenic concentrations is one of the world's largest ongoing natural disasters. It is important to consider environmental processes related to the release of geogenic arsenic, including geomorphological and organic geochemical processes. Arsenic is released from sediments when iron-oxide minerals, onto which arsenic is adsorbed or incorporated, react with organic carbon (OC) and the OC is oxidised. In this study we build a new geomorphological framework for Kandal Province, a highly studied arsenic affected region of Cambodia, and tie this into wider regional environmental change throughout the Holocene. Analyses shows that the concentration of OC in the sediments is strongly inversely correlated to grainsize. Furthermore, the type of OC is also related to grain size with the clay containing mostly (immature) plant derived OC and sand containing mostly thermally mature derived OC. Finally, analyses indicate that within the plant derived OC relative oxidation is strongly grouped by stratigraphy with the older bound OC more oxidised than younger OC.

  17. Preferrential rearrangement in normal rabbits of the 3' VHa allotype gene that is deleted in Alicia mutants; somatic hypermutation/conversion may play a major role in generating the heterogeneity of rabbit heavy chain variable region sequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allegrucci, M; Young-Cooper, G O; Alexander, C B; Newman, B A; Mage, R G

    1991-02-01

    The rabbit is unique in having well-defined allotypes in the variable region of the heavy chain. Products of the VHa locus, (with alleles a1, a2, and a3), account for the majority of the serum immunoglobulins. A small percentage of the serum immunoglobulins are a-negative. In 1986, Kelus and Weiss described a mutation that depressed the expression of the Ig VH a2 genes in an a1/a2 rabbit. From this animal the Alicia rabbit strain was developed and the mutation was termed ali. We previously showed, using Southern analysis and the transverse alternating field electrophoresis technique, that the difference between the ali rabbit and normal is a relatively small deletion including some of the most 3' VH genes. The most JH proximal 3' VH1 genes in DNA from normal rabbits of a1, a2 and a3 haplotypes encode a1, a2 and a3 molecules respectively, and it has been suggested that these genes are responsible for allelic inheritance of VHa allotypes. The present study suggests that the 3' end of the VH locus probably plays a key role in regulation of VH gene expression in rabbits because VH gene(s) in this region are the target(s) of preferential VDJ rearrangements. This raises the possibility that mechanisms such as somatic gene conversion and hypermutation are at work to generate the antibody repertoire in this species. Our data support the view that the 3' VH1 gene may be the preferred target for rearrangement in normal rabbits, and for the normal chromosome in heterozygous ali animals. However, homozygous ali rabbits with a deletion that removed the a2-encoding VH1 on both chromosomes do survive, rearrange other VH genes and produce normal levels of immunoglobulins as well as a significant percentage of B cells which bear the a2 allotype. This challenges the view that one VH gene, VH1, is solely responsible for the inheritance pattern of VHa allotypes.

  18. Probabilistic short-term volcanic hazard in phases of unrest: A case study for tephra fallout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selva, Jacopo; Costa, Antonio; Sandri, Laura; Macedonio, Giovanni; Marzocchi, Warner

    2014-12-01

    During volcanic crises, volcanologists estimate the impact of possible imminent eruptions usually through deterministic modeling of the effects of one or a few preestablished scenarios. Despite such an approach may bring an important information to the decision makers, the sole use of deterministic scenarios does not allow scientists to properly take into consideration all uncertainties, and it cannot be used to assess quantitatively the risk because the latter unavoidably requires a probabilistic approach. We present a model based on the concept of Bayesian event tree (hereinafter named BET_VH_ST, standing for Bayesian event tree for short-term volcanic hazard), for short-term near-real-time probabilistic volcanic hazard analysis formulated for any potential hazardous phenomenon accompanying an eruption. The specific goal of BET_VH_ST is to produce a quantitative assessment of the probability of exceedance of any potential level of intensity for a given volcanic hazard due to eruptions within restricted time windows (hours to days) in any area surrounding the volcano, accounting for all natural and epistemic uncertainties. BET_VH_ST properly assesses the conditional probability at each level of the event tree accounting for any relevant information derived from the monitoring system, theoretical models, and the past history of the volcano, propagating any relevant epistemic uncertainty underlying these assessments. As an application example of the model, we apply BET_VH_ST to assess short-term volcanic hazard related to tephra loading during Major Emergency Simulation Exercise, a major exercise at Mount Vesuvius that took place from 19 to 23 October 2006, consisting in a blind simulation of Vesuvius reactivation, from the early warning phase up to the final eruption, including the evacuation of a sample of about 2000 people from the area at risk. The results show that BET_VH_ST is able to produce short-term forecasts of the impact of tephra fall during a rapidly

  19. Dicty_cDB: VHK246 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK246 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16440-1 VHK246P (Link to Original site) VHK2...46F 617 VHK246Z 760 VHK246P 1357 - - Show VHK246 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK2...e URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-B/VHK246Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK2...46P (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK246 (VHK246Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-B/VHK2...y vs CSM-cDNA Score E Sequences producing significant alignments: (bits) Value VHK246 (VHK246Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-B/VHK2

  20. Crystal structure of a human single domain antibody dimer formed through V(H-V(H non-covalent interactions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toya Nath Baral

    Full Text Available Single-domain antibodies (sdAbs derived from human V(H are considered to be less soluble and prone to aggregate which makes it difficult to determine the crystal structures. In this study, we isolated and characterized two anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2 sdAbs, Gr3 and Gr6, from a synthetic human V(H phage display library. Size exclusion chromatography and surface plasmon resonance analyses demonstrated that Gr3 is a monomer, but that Gr6 is a strict dimer. To understand this different molecular behavior, we solved the crystal structure of Gr6 to 1.6 Å resolution. The crystal structure revealed that the homodimer assembly of Gr6 closely mimics the V(H-V(L heterodimer of immunoglobulin variable domains and the dimerization interface is dominated by hydrophobic interactions.

  1. Movement to outpatient hysterectomy for benign indications in the United States, 2008-2014.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaby Moawad

    Full Text Available The past decade has witnessed adoption of conservative gynecologic treatments, including minimally invasive surgery (MIS, alongside steady declines in inpatient hysterectomies. It remains unclear what factors have contributed to trends in outpatient benign hysterectomy (BH, as well as whether these trends exacerbate disparities.Retrospective cohort of 527,964 women ≥18 years old who underwent BH from 2008 to 2014. BH surgical approaches included: open/abdominal hysterectomy (AH, vaginal hysterectomy (VH, laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH, and robotic-assisted hysterectomy (RH. Quarterly frequencies were calculated by care setting and surgical approach. We used multilevel logistic regression (MLR using the most recent year of data (2014 to examine the influence of patient-, physician-, and hospital-level preoperative factors and surgical approaches on outpatient migration.From 2008-2014, surgical approaches for LH and RH increased, which coincided with decreases in VH and AH. Overall, a 44.2% shift was observed from inpatient to outpatient settings (P<0.0001. Among all outpatient visits MIS increased, particularly for RH (3.6% to 41.07%. We observed increases in the proportion of non-Hispanic Black and Medicaid patients who obtained MIS in 2014 vs. 2008 (P<0.001. Surgical approach (51.8% and physician outpatient MIS experience (19.9% had the greatest influence on predicting outpatient BH. Compared with LH, RH was associated with statistically significantly higher likelihood of outpatient BH overall (OR 1.23; 95% CI, 1.16-1.31, as well as in sub-analyses of more complex cases and hospitals that performed ≥1 RH (P<0.05.From 2008-2014, rates of LH and RH significantly increased. A significant shift from inpatient to outpatient setting was observed. These findings suggest that RH may facilitate the shift to outpatient BH, particularly for patients with complexities. The adoption of MIS in outpatient settings may improve access to disadvantaged

  2. Antispasmodic and Antidiarrheal Activities of Valeriana hardwickii Wall. Rhizome Are Putatively Mediated through Calcium Channel Blockade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samra Bashir

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Valeriana hardwickii is indigenous to Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, where it is traditionally being used as an antispasmodic and antidiarrheal, besides its culinary use as spice. The aim of this paper was to provide pharmacological validation to these medicinal uses. The crude aqueous-methanolic extract of Valeriana hardwickii rhizome (Vh.Cr was studied on isolated rabbit jejunum and castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice for spasmolytic and antidiarrheal properties, respectively. Vh.Cr caused concentration-dependent (0.01–1 mg/mL relaxation of spontaneous contractions in isolated rabbit jejunum and inhibited K+-induced contractions (0.01–0.3 mg/mL, similar to verapamil, suggestive of calcium channel blockade (CCB. The CCB effect was confirmed when pretreatment of the jejunum preparations with Vh.Cr produced a concentration-dependent (0.03–0.1 mg/mL rightward shift in the Ca++ concentration-response curves, as caused by verapamil. Vh.Cr exhibited dose-dependent (100–300 mg/kg protection against castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice. Loperamide, a standard antidiarrheal drug, similarly prevented the diarrhea. These data indicate the presence of CCB effect in the extract of Valeriana hardwickii rhizome, possibly mediating its antispasmodic and antidiarrheal activities and provide a scientific base for its traditional use in hyperactive gut disorders.

  3. The prevalence of visual hallucinations in non-affective psychosis, and the role of perception and attention

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ommen, van Marouska; van Beilen, M; Cornelissen, F W; Smid, H.G.O.M.; Knegtering, H; Aleman, A; van Laar, T

    Background. Little is known about visual hallucinations (VH) in psychosis. We investigated the prevalence and the role of bottom-up and top-down processing in VH. The prevailing view is that VH are probably related to altered top-down processing, rather than to distorted bottom-up processing.

  4. ORGANIC CARBON AND CARBON STOCK: RELATIONS WITH PHYSICAL INDICATORS AND SOIL AGGREGATION IN AREAS CULTIVATED WITH SUGAR CANE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Tolentino de Lima

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Soil organic carbon and carbon stock influence, directly or indirectly, most of soil aggregate stability indicators. The objective of this study was to quantify the production of dry biomass (DB, total organic carbon (TOC and carbon stock (CStk in soil, and to evaluate their influence on some indicators of aggregation in an Oxisol at a Cerrado biome in Uberaba-MG, Brazil. The design was completely randomized blocks, in two evaluation periods: three and six cuts, at six depths (0-0.1, 0.1-0.2, 0.2-0.3, 0.3-0.4, 0.4-0.5 and 0.5-0.6 m. It was evaluated: soil density (SD, volumetric humidity (VH, aggregate stability index (AEI, weighted mean diameter (WDA, mean diameter (GDA, index of aggregates with diameter greater than 2 mm (AI and sensitivity index (SI, replicated by 4. The best AEI of the soil and the highest TOC contents were found in the most superficial layers, 0 to 0.2 m, for both cuttings. The greater values of TOC and CStk, occurred at the sixth cut area, where there was a higher amount of DB on soil surface. The higher levels of organic matter did not provide higher AEI in the area of sixth cut, when compared to that of the third cut. The TOC and CStk levels in both areas generally had a positive influence on soil aggregation indicators for both cuts.

  5. Left-right functional asymmetry of ventral hippocampus depends on aversiveness of situations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakaguchi, Yukitoshi; Sakurai, Yoshio

    2017-05-15

    Many studies suggest that animals exhibit lateralized behaviors during aversive situations, and almost all animals exhibit right hemisphere-dominant behaviors associated with fear or anxiety. However, which brain structure in each hemisphere underlies such lateralized function is unclear. In this study, we focused on the hippocampus and investigated the effects of bilateral and unilateral lesions of the ventral hippocampus (VH) on anxiety-like behavior using the successive alleys test. We also examined the expression of c-fos in the VH, which was induced by an aversive situation. Results revealed that consistent right VH dominance trended with the anxiety level. Weaker anxiety induced both right and left VH functions, whereas stronger anxiety induced right VH function. From these results, we conclude that animals are able to adaptively regulate their behaviors to avoid aversive stimuli by changing the functional dominance of their left and right VH. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome with Ventricular Hypertrophy in a Brazilian Family.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Steld, Lenises de Paula; Campuzano, Oscar; Pérez-Serra, Alexandra; Moura de Barros Zamorano, Mabel; Sousa Matos, Selma; Brugada, Ramon

    2017-07-10

    BACKGROUND PRKAG2 syndrome diagnosis is already well-defined as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW), ventricular hypertrophy (VH) due to glycogen accumulation, and conduction system disease (CSD). Because of its rarity, there is a lack of literature focused on the treatment. The present study aimed to describe appropriate strategies for the treatment of affected family members with PRKAG2 syndrome with a long follow-up period. CASE REPORT We studied 60 selected individuals from 84 family members (32 males, 53.3%) (mean age 27±16 years). Patients with WPW and/or VH were placed in a group of 18 individuals, in which 11 (61.1%) had VH and WPW, 6 (33.3%) had isolated WPW, and 1 (5.6%) had isolated VH. Palpitations occurred in 16 patients (88.9%), chest pain in 11 (61.1%), dizziness in 13 (72.2%), syncope in 15 (83.3%), and dyspnea in 13 (72%). Sudden cardiac death (SCD) occurred in 2 (11.1%), and 2 patients with cardiac arrest (CA) had asystole and pre-excited atrial flutter-fibrillation (AFL and AF) as the documented mechanism. Transient ischemic attack (TIA) and learning/language disabilities with delayed development were observed. Genetic analysis identified a new missense pathogenic variant (p.K290I) in the PRKAG2 gene. Cardiac histopathology demonstrated the predominance of vacuoles containing glycogen derivative and fibrosis. The treatment was based on hypertension and diabetes mellitus (DM) control, antiarrhythmic drugs (AD), anticoagulation, and radiofrequency catheter ablation (RCA). Six patients (33.3%) underwent pacemaker implantation (PM). CONCLUSIONS The present study describes the clinical treatment for a rare cardiac syndrome caused by a PRKAG2 mutation.

  7. Quorum sensing influences Vibrio harveyi growth rates in a manner not fully accounted for by the marker effect of bioluminescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nackerdien, Zeena E; Keynan, Alexander; Bassler, Bonnie L; Lederberg, Joshua; Thaler, David S

    2008-02-27

    The light-emitting Vibrios provide excellent material for studying the interaction of cellular communication with growth rate because bioluminescence is a convenient marker for quorum sensing. However, the use of bioluminescence as a marker is complicated because bioluminescence itself may affect growth rate, e.g. by diverting energy. The marker effect was explored via growth rate studies in isogenic Vibrio harveyi (Vh) strains altered in quorum sensing on the one hand, and bioluminescence on the other. By hypothesis, growth rate is energy limited: mutants deficient in quorum sensing grow faster because wild type quorum sensing unleashes bioluminescence and bioluminescence diverts energy. Findings reported here confirm a role for bioluminescence in limiting Vh growth rate, at least under the conditions tested. However, the results argue that the bioluminescence is insufficient to explain the relationship of growth rate and quorum sensing in Vh. A Vh mutant null for all genes encoding the bioluminescence pathway grew faster than wild type but not as fast as null mutants in quorum sensing. Vh quorum sensing mutants showed altered growth rates that do not always rank with their relative increase or decrease in bioluminescence. In addition, the cell-free culture fluids of a rapidly growing Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) strain increased the growth rate of wild type Vh without significantly altering Vh's bioluminescence. The same cell-free culture fluid increased the bioluminescence of Vh quorum mutants. The effect of quorum sensing on Vh growth rate can be either positive or negative and includes both bioluminescence-dependent and independent components. Bioluminescence tends to slow growth rate but not enough to account for the effects of quorum sensing on growth rate.

  8. Quorum sensing influences Vibrio harveyi growth rates in a manner not fully accounted for by the marker effect of bioluminescence.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeena E Nackerdien

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available The light-emitting Vibrios provide excellent material for studying the interaction of cellular communication with growth rate because bioluminescence is a convenient marker for quorum sensing. However, the use of bioluminescence as a marker is complicated because bioluminescence itself may affect growth rate, e.g. by diverting energy.The marker effect was explored via growth rate studies in isogenic Vibrio harveyi (Vh strains altered in quorum sensing on the one hand, and bioluminescence on the other. By hypothesis, growth rate is energy limited: mutants deficient in quorum sensing grow faster because wild type quorum sensing unleashes bioluminescence and bioluminescence diverts energy. Findings reported here confirm a role for bioluminescence in limiting Vh growth rate, at least under the conditions tested. However, the results argue that the bioluminescence is insufficient to explain the relationship of growth rate and quorum sensing in Vh. A Vh mutant null for all genes encoding the bioluminescence pathway grew faster than wild type but not as fast as null mutants in quorum sensing. Vh quorum sensing mutants showed altered growth rates that do not always rank with their relative increase or decrease in bioluminescence. In addition, the cell-free culture fluids of a rapidly growing Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp strain increased the growth rate of wild type Vh without significantly altering Vh's bioluminescence. The same cell-free culture fluid increased the bioluminescence of Vh quorum mutants.The effect of quorum sensing on Vh growth rate can be either positive or negative and includes both bioluminescence-dependent and independent components. Bioluminescence tends to slow growth rate but not enough to account for the effects of quorum sensing on growth rate.

  9. Associations of Milk Consumption and Vitamin B2 and Β12 Derived from Milk with Fitness, Anthropometric and Biochemical Indices in Children. The Healthy Growth Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Moschonis

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The benefits of dairy consumption seem to extend beyond its significant contribution to ensuring nutrient intake adequacy as indicated by the favourable associations with several health outcomes reported by different studies. The aims of the present study were to examine the associations of milk consumption with fitness, anthropometric and biochemical indices in children and further explore whether the observed associations are attributed to vitamins B2 and B12 derived from milk. A representative subsample of 600 children aged 9–13 years participating in the Healthy Growth Study was examined. Data were collected on children’s dietary intake, using 24 h recalls, as well as on fitness, anthropometric and biochemical indices. Regression analyses were performed for investigating the research hypothesis, adjusting for potential confounders and for B-vitamin status indices (i.e., plasma riboflavin, methylmalonic acid and total homocysteine concentrations, dietary calcium intake and plasma zinc concentrations that could possibly act as effect modifiers. Milk consumption was positively associated with the number of stages performed in the endurance run test (ERT (β = 0.10; p = 0.017 and negatively with body mass index (BMI (β = −0.10; p = 0.014, after adjusting for several potential confounders and effect modifiers. Dietary intakes of vitamin B2 and B12 derived from milk were also positively associated with the number of ERT stages (β = 0.10; p = 0.015 and β = 0.10; p = 0.014 respectively. In conclusion, higher intake of milk as well as vitamin B2 and B12 derived from milk were independently associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness in Greek preadolescents. The key roles of these B-vitamins in substrate oxidation, energy production, haemoglobin synthesis and erythropoiesis could provide a basis for interpreting these associations. However, further research is needed to confirm this potential interpretation.

  10. Indicators and their functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, Henrik; Joumard, Robert; Aschemann, Ralf

    2010-01-01

    indicators? How can several indicators be jointly considered? And how can indicators be used in planning and decision making? Firstly we provide definition of 'indicator of environmental sustainability in transport'. The functions, strengths and weaknesses of indicators as measurement tools, and as decision...... for indicators and assessments. As the decision making context influences the perceived and actual needs for indicators and methods, we also analysed the dimensions and context of decision making. We derived criteria and methods for the assessment and selection of indicators of environmental sustainability......This report is the final report of the action COST 356 'EST - Towards the definition of a measurable environmentally sustainable transport'. It tries to answer the following questions: How can environmental impacts of transport be measured? How can measurements be transformed into operational...

  11. Dicty_cDB: VHK220 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK220 (Link to dictyBase) - - - - - (Link to Original site) VHK2...20F 530 - - - - - - Show VHK220 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK220 (Link to dictyBase) Atlas ID... - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig - Original site URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK2...20Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID - (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK2...20 (VHK220Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK220Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAAAAAAGTAAAGTACAAAATGGTTAATTTCA

  12. Dicty_cDB: VHK285 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK285 (Link to dictyBase) - - - - - (Link to Original site) VHK2...85F 531 - - - - - - Show VHK285 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK285 (Link to dictyBase) Atlas ID... - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig - Original site URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK2...85Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID - (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK2...85 (VHK285Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK285Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAAAAAAGTAAAGTACAAAATGGTTAATTTCA

  13. Poverty, health and satellite-derived vegetation indices: their inter-spatial relationship in West Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sedda, Luigi; Tatem, Andrew J.; Morley, David W.; Atkinson, Peter M.; Wardrop, Nicola A.; Pezzulo, Carla; Sorichetta, Alessandro; Kuleszo, Joanna; Rogers, David J.

    2015-01-01

    Background Previous analyses have shown the individual correlations between poverty, health and satellite-derived vegetation indices such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). However, generally these analyses did not explore the statistical interconnections between poverty, health outcomes and NDVI. Methods In this research aspatial methods (principal component analysis) and spatial models (variography, factorial kriging and cokriging) were applied to investigate the correlations and spatial relationships between intensity of poverty, health (expressed as child mortality and undernutrition), and NDVI for a large area of West Africa. Results This research showed that the intensity of poverty (and hence child mortality and nutrition) varies inversely with NDVI. From the spatial point-of-view, similarities in the spatial variation of intensity of poverty and NDVI were found. Conclusions These results highlight the utility of satellite-based metrics for poverty models including health and ecological components and, in general for large scale analysis, estimation and optimisation of multidimensional poverty metrics. However, it also stresses the need for further studies on the causes of the association between NDVI, health and poverty. Once these relationships are confirmed and better understood, the presence of this ecological component in poverty metrics has the potential to facilitate the analysis of the impacts of climate change on the rural populations afflicted by poverty and child mortality. PMID:25733559

  14. Do measures matter? Comparing surface-density-derived and census-tract-derived measures of racial residential segregation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Waller Lance A

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Racial residential segregation is hypothesized to affect population health by systematically patterning health-relevant exposures and opportunities according to individuals' race or income. Growing interest into the association between residential segregation and health disparities demands more rigorous appraisal of commonly used measures of segregation. Most current studies rely on census tracts as approximations of the local residential environment when calculating segregation indices of either neighborhoods or metropolitan areas. Because census tracts are arbitrary in size and shape, reliance on this geographic scale limits understanding of place-health associations. More flexible, explicitly spatial derivations of traditional segregation indices have been proposed but have not been compared with tract-derived measures in the context of health disparities studies common to social epidemiology, health demography, or medical geography. We compared segregation measured with tract-derived as well as GIS surface-density-derived indices. Measures were compared by region and population size, and segregation measures were linked to birth record to estimate the difference in association between segregation and very preterm birth. Separate analyses focus on metropolitan segregation and on neighborhood segregation. Results Across 231 metropolitan areas, tract-derived and surface-density-derived segregation measures are highly correlated. However overall correlation obscures important differences by region and metropolitan size. In general the discrepancy between measure types is greatest for small metropolitan areas, declining with increasing population size. Discrepancies in measures are greatest in the South, and smallest in Western metropolitan areas. Choice of segregation index changed the magnitude of the measured association between segregation and very preterm birth. For example among black women, the risk ratio for very

  15. Global quantitative indices reflecting provider process-of-care: data-base derivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, John L; Solomon, Patricia J

    2010-04-19

    Controversy has attended the relationship between risk-adjusted mortality and process-of-care. There would be advantage in the establishment, at the data-base level, of global quantitative indices subsuming the diversity of process-of-care. A retrospective, cohort study of patients identified in the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database, 1993-2003, at the level of geographic and ICU-level descriptors (n = 35), for both hospital survivors and non-survivors. Process-of-care indices were established by analysis of: (i) the smoothed time-hazard curve of individual patient discharge and determined by pharmaco-kinetic methods as area under the hazard-curve (AUC), reflecting the integrated experience of the discharge process, and time-to-peak-hazard (TMAX, in days), reflecting the time to maximum rate of hospital discharge; and (ii) individual patient ability to optimize output (as length-of-stay) for recorded data-base physiological inputs; estimated as a technical production-efficiency (TE, scaled [0,(maximum)1]), via the econometric technique of stochastic frontier analysis. For each descriptor, multivariate correlation-relationships between indices and summed mortality probability were determined. The data-set consisted of 223129 patients from 99 ICUs with mean (SD) age and APACHE III score of 59.2(18.9) years and 52.7(30.6) respectively; 41.7% were female and 45.7% were mechanically ventilated within the first 24 hours post-admission. For survivors, AUC was maximal in rural and for-profit ICUs, whereas TMAX (>or= 7.8 days) and TE (>or= 0.74) were maximal in tertiary-ICUs. For non-survivors, AUC was maximal in tertiary-ICUs, but TMAX (>or= 4.2 days) and TE (>or= 0.69) were maximal in for-profit ICUs. Across descriptors, significant differences in indices were demonstrated (analysis-of-variance, P variance, for survivors (0.89) and non-survivors (0.89), was maximized by combinations of indices demonstrating a low correlation with

  16. Difference of performance in response to disease admissions between daily time air quality indices and those derived from average and entropy functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Li-Wei; Cheng, Wan-Li

    2017-06-01

    Daily time air quality indices, which can reflect air quality in 1 day, are suitable for identifying daily exposure during conditions of poor air quality. The aim of this study is to compare the main effectiveness of four daily time indices in representing variation in the number of disease admissions. These indices include pollution standard index (PSI), air quality index (AQI) and their respective indices derived from mean and entropy functions: MEPSI and MEAQI. The hourly concentrations of fine particulate matter less than 10 μm in diameter (PM 10 ), PM 2.5 , O 3 , CO, NO 2 and SO 2 from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2010 were obtained from 14 air quality monitoring stations owned by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in the Kaoping region, Taiwan.Instead of circulatory system disease admissions, the indices were correlative with the number of respiratory disease admissions with correlative coefficients of 0.49 to 0.56 (P entropy functions improved their performance of reactive range and air pollution identification. The reactive range of MEPSI and MEAQI was 1.4-3 times that of the original indices. The MEPSI and MEAQI increased identification from 40 to 180 in index scale and revealed one to two additional categories of public health effect information. In comparison with other indices, MEAQI is more effective for application to pollution events with multiple air pollutants.

  17. Randomized comparison of total laparoscopic, laparoscopically assisted vaginal and vaginal hysterectomies for myomatous uteri.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sesti, Francesco; Cosi, Veronica; Calonzi, Francesca; Ruggeri, Velia; Pietropolli, Adalgisa; Di Francesco, Lucia; Piccione, Emilio

    2014-09-01

    To compare the operative data and early postoperative outcomes of total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH), laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) and vaginal hysterectomy (VH). One hundred and eight women requiring hysterectomy for enlarged myomatous uterus were randomly allocated into three treatment arms: TLH (n = 36); LAVH (n = 36); VH (n = 36). Randomization procedure was based on a computer-generated list. The primary outcome was the discharge time comparison. The secondary outcomes were operating time, blood loss, paralytic ileus time, intraoperative complications, postoperative pain, and early postoperative complications. The mean discharge time was shorter after VH than after LAVH and TLH (P = 0.001). Operating time significantly influenced the discharge time, considered as a dependent variable in general linear model analysis (P = 0.006). In contrast, blood loss did not influence the discharge time (P = 0.55).The mean operating time was significantly shorter in VH than in TLH and LAVH groups (P = 0.000).The intraoperative blood loss was greater during LAVH than during TLH and VH (P = 0.000).Paralytic ileus time was shorter after VH than after TLH and LAVH (P = 0.000). No intraoperative complications or conversion to laparotomy occurred. VH was the faster operative technique with smaller blood loss and shorter discharge time compared with the others two techniques. So, VH should be considered the preferred approach in patients with enlarged myomatous uteri. When VH is not feasible or salpingo-oophorectomy is required, LAVH or TLH should be considered as valid alternatives. It is necessary to continue prospective comparative studies between the various surgical options to identify the best approach for hysterectomy in each single woman.

  18. Post-Training Reversible Disconnection of the Ventral Hippocampal-Basolateral Amygdaloid Circuits Impairs Consolidation of Inhibitory Avoidance Memory in Rats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Gong-Wu; Liu, Jian; Wang, Xiao-Qin

    2017-01-01

    The ventral hippocampus (VH) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are both crucial in inhibitory avoidance (IA) memory. However, the exact role of the VH-BLA circuit in IA memory consolidation is unclear. This study investigated the effect of post-training reversible disconnection of the VH-BLA circuit in IA memory consolidation. Male Wistar rats…

  19. Immunoglobulin variable region sequences of two human monoclonal antibodies directed to an onco-developmental carbohydrate antigen, lactotetraosylceramide (LcOse4Cer).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yago, K; Zenita, K; Ohwaki, I; Harada, R; Nozawa, S; Tsukazaki, K; Iwamori, M; Endo, N; Yasuda, N; Okuma, M

    1993-11-01

    A human monoclonal antibody, 11-50, was generated and was shown to recognize an onco-developmental carbohydrate antigen, LcOse4Cer. The isotype of this antibody was IgM, lambda, similar to the previously known human anti-LcOse4 antibodies, such as IgMWOO and HMST-1. We raised a murine anti-idiotypic antibody G3 (IgG1, kappa) against 11-50, and tested its reactivity towards the affinity purified human polyclonal anti-LcOse4 antibodies prepared from pooled human sera using a Gal beta 1-->3GlcNAc beta-immobilized column. The results indicated that at least a part of the human polyclonal anti-LcOse4 antibodies shared the G3 idiotype with 11-50. We further analyzed the sequence of variable regions of the two anti-LcOse4 antibodies, 11-50 and HMST-1. Sequence analysis of the heavy chain variable regions indicated that the VH regions of these two antibodies were highly homologous to each other (93.5% at the nucleic acid level), and these antibodies utilized the germline genes VH1.9III and hv3005f3 as the VH segments, which are closely related germline genes of the VHIII family. It was noted that these germline VH genes are frequently utilized in fetal B cells. The JH region of both antibodies was encoded by the JH4 gene. For the light chain, the V lambda segments of the two antibodies were 96.3% homologous to each other at the nucleic acid level. The V lambda segments of both antibodies showed the highest homology to the rearranged V lambda gene called V lambda II.DS among reported V lambda genes, while the exact germline V lambda genes encoding the two antibodies were not yet registered in available sequence databanks. The amino acid sequences of the J lambda segments of both antibodies were identical. These results indicate that the two human antibodies recognizing the onco-developmental carbohydrate antigen Lc4 are encoded by the same or very homologous germline genes.

  20. 12 CFR 563.172 - Financial derivatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... underlying assets, indices, or reference rates. The most common types of financial derivatives are futures, forward commitments, options, and swaps. A mortgage derivative security, such as a collateralized mortgage... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Financial derivatives. 563.172 Section 563.172...

  1. FY1995 development of a novel rapid immunoassay technology; 1995 nendo shinkina kosoku men'eki sokutei gijutsu no kaihatsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    By utilizing the phenomenon that the antigen induces association of VH and VL, which are the antigen-recognizing fragments of antibody, develop a novel rapid immunoassay technology which will eliminate the defects of conventional immunoassays, such as long measuring time and requirement of expensive large automated apparatus. In addition, develop a methodology to make Fvs with low VH-VL affinity but that associate tightly in the presence of antigen. Using a model anti-hen egg lysozyme antibody HyHEL-10 Fv and BlAcore, we have clarified the kinetic basis of the Fv stabilization by HEL. By labeling HyHEL-10 VH, VL with succinimide esters of fluorescein and tetramethylrhodamin, respectively, at their N-termini, we could successfully detect VH-VL association by the increment of fluorescence resonance energy transfer. As a result, 1 {mu} g/ml of antigen could be detected homogeneously in less than 5 minutes. Some VH-VL association measurement systems were made by utilizing M13 phage display of VH fragments of HyHEL-10, anti-nitrophenacetyl, anti-digoxin antibodies. (NEDO)

  2. Global quantitative indices reflecting provider process-of-care: data-base derivation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solomon Patricia J

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Controversy has attended the relationship between risk-adjusted mortality and process-of-care. There would be advantage in the establishment, at the data-base level, of global quantitative indices subsuming the diversity of process-of-care. Methods A retrospective, cohort study of patients identified in the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database, 1993-2003, at the level of geographic and ICU-level descriptors (n = 35, for both hospital survivors and non-survivors. Process-of-care indices were established by analysis of: (i the smoothed time-hazard curve of individual patient discharge and determined by pharmaco-kinetic methods as area under the hazard-curve (AUC, reflecting the integrated experience of the discharge process, and time-to-peak-hazard (TMAX, in days, reflecting the time to maximum rate of hospital discharge; and (ii individual patient ability to optimize output (as length-of-stay for recorded data-base physiological inputs; estimated as a technical production-efficiency (TE, scaled [0,(maximum1], via the econometric technique of stochastic frontier analysis. For each descriptor, multivariate correlation-relationships between indices and summed mortality probability were determined. Results The data-set consisted of 223129 patients from 99 ICUs with mean (SD age and APACHE III score of 59.2(18.9 years and 52.7(30.6 respectively; 41.7% were female and 45.7% were mechanically ventilated within the first 24 hours post-admission. For survivors, AUC was maximal in rural and for-profit ICUs, whereas TMAX (≥ 7.8 days and TE (≥ 0.74 were maximal in tertiary-ICUs. For non-survivors, AUC was maximal in tertiary-ICUs, but TMAX (≥ 4.2 days and TE (≥ 0.69 were maximal in for-profit ICUs. Across descriptors, significant differences in indices were demonstrated (analysis-of-variance, P ≤ 0.0001. Total explained variance, for survivors (0.89 and non-survivors (0.89, was maximized by

  3. An IgE epitope of Bet v 1 and fagales PR10 proteins as defined by a human monoclonal IgE

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hecker, J.; Diethers, A.; Schulz, D.

    2012-01-01

    -reactivities predicted by primary structure analyses of different isoforms and PR10 proteins were verified by allergen chip-based analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results demonstrate that hybrid IgE repertoires represent a source for human antibodies with genuine paratopes. The IgE-derived information about the Ig...... generation and epitope delineation of a human monoclonal IgE against the prototypic allergen Bet v 1. METHODS: Phage-display scFv hybrid libraries of allergic donor-derived VH epsilon and synthetic VL were established from 107 mononuclear cells. An obtained scFv was converted into human immunoglobulin...

  4. Comparison of Midterm Efficiency and Complications of Tension-Free Vaginal Tape Alone and Tension-Free Vaginal Tape Performed with Vaginal Hysterectomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emre Sinan Güngör

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Aim: To evaluate and compare the results and complications of tension-free vaginal tape (TVT when performed alone or with vaginal hysterectomy (VH and to evaluate the mid-term success rates of TVT for both groups. Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 179 patients who had TVT alone for stress urinary incontinance (SUI or TVT with VH for SUI and vaginal prolapse. Demographic, outcome and complication data were obtained from medical records. The main outcome measures were postoperative SUI and voiding dysfunction. Results: The mean age of the patients who underwent TVT and TVT+VH were 50.2±6.8 and 52.2±8.1, respectively (p>0.05 and the mean parity was 4±2.07 and 4.15±2.02, respectively (p>0.05. The success rate was significantly higher in TVT alone group than in TVT+VH group (93.6% vs. 84.5%, p0.05. Overall complication rate was higher in TVT+VH group (4.2% vs. 9.5%, p<0.05. Postoperative residuel urine volumes were significantly higher than preoperative residuel urine volumes in both groups (p=0.001. Due to mesh rejection, second surgery was performed in one patient from both groups to reomove the mesh. Conclusion: Midterm success rates were significantly higher in TVT group than in TVT+VH group, but success rates in TVT+VH were acceptable. Overall complication rates were higher in TVT+VH group; requirement for a second surgery was similar for both groups.

  5. Dicty_cDB: VHK273 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK273 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 - (Link to Original site) VHK2...73F 620 - - - - - - Show VHK273 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK273 (Link to dicty...iol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK273Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID - (Link to ...Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK273 (VHK273Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK273Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAAA...27874 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k23, 5' ... 1170 0.0 1 ( BJ42787

  6. Dicty_cDB: VHK256 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK256 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 - (Link to Original site) VHK2...56F 620 - - - - - - Show VHK256 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK256 (Link to dicty...iol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-C/VHK256Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID - (Link to ...Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK256 (VHK256Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-C/VHK256Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAAA...27874 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k23, 5' ... 1170 0.0 1 ( BJ42787

  7. State-of-the-Art for Assessing Earthquake Hazards in the United States. Report 25. Parameters for Specifying Intensity-Related Earthquake Ground Motions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1987-09-01

    and Sponheuer, W. 1969. Scale of Seismic Intensity: Proc. Fourth World Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, Santiago, Chile . Murphy, J. R., and O’Brien, L...Predom V/H el, V/I Vel V/H Displ V/H sec VIH Period Period Predom Accel cm/sec Vel cm Disp .05 Dur sec sec Period S11 2 0.48 MODIFIED MERCALLI INTENSITY...0.1 0. 0.16 142.20 Long. Vert Hor Vert Ratio Ratio Vert Ratio Vert r io Du r atio Predom Predom VIH Acce V/H Vel V /H Dspi V H sec 1, H Period Period

  8. Proof of the Wave Nature of Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, Orvin

    2008-03-01

    I assume plants operate with a set of frequencies. These frequencies and the means of these frequencies are equal in all directions. We can then write (vh/λ)avh=(vv/λ)avv where the subscripts h and v represent horizontal and vertical respectively and av is average,. or vv/vh=(1/λh)av/(1/λv)av. I use an internodal spacing as λ/2 or the the distance between adjacent branches, leaves, etc. The ratios, vv/vh, are ratios of small integers for sufficient samplings. For example, for Ponderosa pine the ratio is 3/1 or for delicious apple 4/3. Note that these ratios represent the shape of the tree or other plant and their interactions with gravity. These ratios are derivable by other means such as use the ratio of # of horizontal needles per unit length from a horizontal sample to the # of needles per unit length from a vertical sample from p-pine. Or measure the vertical and horizontal velocities. My literature provides many other proofs of the wave nature of plants. I suggest that the waves in and related waves outside of plants (outside 4.9 m/s) are a dark matter related since they travel at such low velocities. See my present web site at home.budget.net/˜oedphd.

  9. Production of a germline-humanized cetuximab scFv and evaluation of its activity in recognizing EGFR- overexpressing cancer cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banisadr, Arsham; Safdari, Yaghoub; Kianmehr, Anvarsadat; Pourafshar, Mahdieh

    2018-04-03

    The aim of this study was to produce a humanized single chain antibody (scFv) as a potential improved product design to target EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) overexpressing cancer cells. To this end, CDR loops of cetuximab (an FDA-approved anti-EGFR antibody) were grafted on framework regions derived from type 3 (VH3 and VL3 kappa) human germline sequences to obtain recombinant VH and VL domainslinked together with a flexible linker [(Gly 4 Ser) 3 ] to form a scFv. Codon optimized synthetic gene encoding the scFv (with NH2-VH-linker-VL-COOH orientation) was expressed in E. coli Origami™ 2(DE3) cells and the resultant scFv purified by using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The scFv, called cet.Hum scFv, was evaluated in ELISA and immunoblot to determine whether it can recognize EGFR. The scFv was able to recognize EGFR over-expressing cancer cells (A-431) but failed to detect cancer cells with low levels of EGFR (MCF-7 cells). Although the affinity of the scFv forA-431 cells was 9 fold lower than that of cetuximab, it was strong enough to recognize these cells. Considering its ability to bind EGFR molecules, the scFv may exhibit a potential application for the detection of EGFR-overexpressing cancer cells.

  10. Isotope-labelled folic acid derivatives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewin, N.; Wong, E.T.

    1976-01-01

    The suggestion deals with the production of folic acid derivatives suitable as indicators or tracers for analyses of serum folates. These folic acid derivatives contain folic acid which is bound by one or both carboxyl groups to the amino nitrogen of compounds such as, e.g., tyramine, glycyl tyrosine, tyrosine, or the methyl ester of tyrosine. The derivative obtained can be substituted by a gamma emitter, e.g. the iodine isotope I 125. The radioactive derivative is used in the method for the competitive protein bonding to determine endogenic folates in the serum. (UWI) [de

  11. NMDA-NO signaling in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus time-dependently modulates the behavioral responses to forced swimming stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diniz, Cassiano R A F; Casarotto, Plínio C; Joca, Sâmia R L

    2016-07-01

    Hodological and genetic differences between dorsal (DH) and ventral (VH) hippocampus may convey distinct behavioral roles. DH is responsible for mediating cognitive process, such as learning and memory, while VH modulates neuroendocrine and emotional-motivational responses to stress. Manipulating glutamatergic NMDA receptors and nitric oxide (NO) systems of the hippocampus induces important changes in behavioral responses to stress. Nevertheless, there is no study concerning functional differences between DH and VH in the modulation of behavioral responses induced by stress models predictive of antidepressant effects. Thus, this study showed that reversible blockade of the DH or VH of animals submitted to the forced swimming test (FST), by using cobalt chloride (calcium-dependent synaptic neurotransmission blocker), was not able to change immobility time. Afterwards, the NMDA-NO system was evaluated in the FST by means of intra-DH or intra-VH administration of NMDA receptor antagonist (AP7), NOS1 and sGC inhibitors (N-PLA and ODQ, respectively). Bilateral intra-DH injections after pretest or before test were able to induce antidepressant-like effects in the FST. On the other hand, bilateral VH administration of AP-7, N-PLA and ODQ induced antidepressant-like effects only when injected before the test. Administration of NO scavenger (C-PTIO) intra-DH, after pretest and before test, or intra-VH before test induced similar results. Increased NOS1 levels was associated to stress exposure in the DH. These results suggest that the glutamatergic-NO system of the DH and VH are both able to modulate behavioral responses in the FST, albeit with differential participation along time after stress exposure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Vitreous humor analysis for the detection of xenobiotics in forensic toxicology: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bévalot, Fabien; Cartiser, Nathalie; Bottinelli, Charline; Fanton, Laurent; Guitton, Jérôme

    2016-01-01

    Vitreous humor (VH) is a gelatinous substance contained in the posterior chamber of the eye, playing a mechanical role in the eyeball. It has been the subject of numerous studies in various forensic applications, primarily for the assessment of postmortem interval and for postmortem chemical analysis. Since most of the xenobiotics present in the bloodstream are detected in VH after crossing the selective blood-retinal barrier, VH is an alternative matrix useful for forensic toxicology. VH analysis offers particular advantages over other biological matrices: it is less prone to postmortem redistribution, is easy to collect, has relatively few interfering compounds for the analytical process, and shows sample stability over time after death. The present study is an overview of VH physiology, drug transport and elimination. Collection, storage, analytical techniques and interpretation of results from qualitative and quantitative points of view are dealt with. The distribution of xenobiotics in VH samples is thus discussed and illustrated by a table reporting the concentrations of 106 drugs from more than 300 case reports. For this purpose, a survey was conducted of publications found in the MEDLINE database from 1969 through April 30, 2015.

  13. Maslov indices and monodromy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dullin, H R; Robbins, J M; Waalkens, H; Creagh, S C; Tanner, G

    2005-01-01

    We prove that for a Hamiltonian system on a cotangent bundle that is Liouville-integrable and has monodromy the vector of Maslov indices is an eigenvector of the monodromy matrix with eigenvalue 1. As a corollary, the resulting restrictions on the monodromy matrix are derived. (letter to the editor)

  14. The Ventasso Horse: genetic characterization by microsatellites markers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Blasi

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available The genetic structure of Ventasso Horse (VH was investigated using 12 microsatellites. The analyses were carried out on 117 VH individuals and the results were compared with those obtained analysing 11 other breeds reared in Italy. All microsatellites were polymorphic in VH and in the other breeds. A total of 124 alleles (from 6 to 19 alleles per microsatellite were detected. Average heterozygosity was 0.743 in VH and ranged from 0.613 to 0.759 in the other breeds. The mean FST value had an average value of 0.0932. Genetic distances were calculated using Nei’s standard genetic distance (Ds. The smallest Ds values were found between VH and Anglo-Arab, Thoroughbred, Maremmano and Lipizzan horse breeds. Phylogenetic trees constructed using neighbour-joining method showed two clear separate clusters: the first includes Bardigiano, Haflinger and Italian Heavy Draught Horse, the second contains the other 9 breeds.

  15. Dicty_cDB: VHK209 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK209 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 VHK209P (Link to Original site) VHK2...09F 573 VHK209Z 765 VHK209P 1318 - - Show VHK209 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK2...e URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK209Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK2...09P (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK209 (VHK209Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK2...Sequences producing significant alignments: (bits) Value N ( BJ446805 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k2

  16. Dicty_cDB: VHK221 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK221 (Link to dictyBase) - - - - VHK221P (Link to Original site) VHK221F 603 VHK2...21Z 724 VHK221P 1307 - - Show VHK221 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK221 (Link... to dictyBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig - Original site URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2...-A/VHK221Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK221P (Link to... Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK221 (VHK221Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK221Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAA

  17. Dicty_cDB: VHK207 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK207 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 VHK207P (Link to Original site) VHK2...07F 371 VHK207Z 713 VHK207P 1064 - - Show VHK207 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK2...e URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK207Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK2...07P (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK207 (VHK207Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK2...ducing significant alignments: (bits) Value N ( BJ446805 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k21, 3'

  18. Dicty_cDB: VHK211 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK211 (Link to dictyBase) - - - - VHK211P (Link to Original site) VHK211F 605 VHK2...11Z 118 VHK211P 703 - - Show VHK211 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK211 (Link ...to dictyBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig - Original site URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2...-A/VHK211Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK211P (Link to ...Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK211 (VHK211Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK211Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAAA

  19. Dicty_cDB: VHK279 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK279 (Link to dictyBase) - - - - VHK279P (Link to Original site) VHK279F 619 VHK2...79Z 149 VHK279P 748 - - Show VHK279 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK279 (Link ...to dictyBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig - Original site URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2...-D/VHK279Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK279P (Link to ...Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK279 (VHK279Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK279Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAAA

  20. Dicty_cDB: VHK278 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK278 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 - (Link to Original site) VHK2...78F 533 - - - - - - Show VHK278 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK278 (Link to dicty...iol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK278Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID - (Link to ...Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK278 (VHK278Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK278Q.Seq.d/ AACTCTCGAGTGCAAAA...BJ427875 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k24, 5' ... 997 0.0 1 ( BJ427874 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k2

  1. Relationships of elevated systemic pentraxin-3 levels with high-risk coronary plaque components and impaired myocardial perfusion after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Shigeki; Inagaki, Hiroshi; Haraguchi, Go; Sugiyama, Tomoyo; Miyazaki, Toru; Hatano, Yu; Yoshikawa, Shunji; Ashikaga, Takashi; Isobe, Mitsuaki

    2014-01-01

    We aimed to assess the relationships of pentraxin-3 (PTX3) with coronary plaque components and myocardial perfusion after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in order to clarify the mechanisms underlying the prognostic function of PTX3 in ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. We enrolled 75 STEMI patients who underwent pre-PCI virtual histology (VH)-intravascular ultrasound. Relationships of the systemic pre-PCI PTX3 level with coronary plaque components and post-PCI myocardial blush grade (MBG) were evaluated. Lesions with elevated pre-PCI PTX3 (median ≥3.79ng/ml) had higher frequencies of VH-derived thin-cap fibroatheroma (65.8% vs. 24.3%, P2 on admission (hazard ratio, 5.356; 95% CI, 1.409-20.359; P=0.014) as independent predictors of adverse cardiac events during follow-up. Systemic pre-PCI PTX3 was associated with high-risk plaque components and impaired post-PCI myocardial perfusion. Thus, PTX3 may be a reliable predictor of outcome in STEMI patients.

  2. Analysis of the IgV(H) somatic mutations in splenic marginal zone lymphoma defines a group of unmutated cases with frequent 7q deletion and adverse clinical course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Algara, Patricia; Mateo, Marisol S; Sanchez-Beato, Margarita; Mollejo, Manuela; Navas, Immaculada C; Romero, Lourdes; Solé, Francesc; Salido, Marta; Florensa, Lourdes; Martínez, Pedro; Campo, Elias; Piris, Miguel A

    2002-02-15

    This study aimed to correlate the frequency of somatic mutations in the IgV(H) gene and the use of specific segments in the V(H) repertoire with the clinical and characteristic features of a series of 35 cases of splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL). The cases were studied by seminested polymerase chain reaction by using primers from the FR1 and J(H) region. The results showed unexpected molecular heterogeneity in this entity, with 49% unmutated cases (less than 2% somatic mutations). The 7q31 deletions and a shorter overall survival were more frequent in this group. Additionally a high percentage (18 of 40 sequences) of SMZL cases showed usage of the V(H)1-2 segment, thereby emphasizing the singularity of this neoplasia, suggesting that this tumor derives from a highly selected B-cell population and encouraging the search for specific antigens that are pathogenically relevant in the genesis or progression of this tumor.

  3. A comparison between plaque-based and vessel-based measurement for plaque component using volumetric intravascular ultrasound radiofrequency data analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Eun-Seok; Garcia-Garcia, Hector M; Garg, Scot; Serruys, Patrick W

    2011-04-01

    Although percent plaque components on plaque-based measurement have been used traditionally in previous studies, the impact of vessel-based measurement for percent plaque components have yet to be studied. The purpose of this study was therefore to correlate percent plaque components derived by plaque- and vessel-based measurement using intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (IVUS-VH). The patient cohort comprised of 206 patients with de novo coronary artery lesions who were imaged with IVUS-VH. Age ranged from 35 to 88 years old, and 124 patients were male. Whole pullback analysis was used to calculate plaque volume, vessel volume, and absolute and percent volumes of fibrous, fibrofatty, necrotic core, and dense calcium. The plaque and vessel volumes were well correlated (r = 0.893, P measurement was also highly correlated with vessel-based measurement. Therefore, the percent plaque component volume calculated by vessel volume could be used instead of the conventional percent plaque component volume calculated by plaque volume.

  4. Optimal sulfur amino acid to lysine ratio for post weaning piglets reared under clean or unclean sanitary conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roselyn Kahindi

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Two 14-day experiments, each with 90 (Duroc × [Yorkshire × Landrace]; 7.3 ± 0.6 kg piglets, were conducted to determine the optimum sulfur amino acid (SAA to lysine (Lys ratio (SAA:Lys for piglets when reared under clean or unclean sanitary conditions using performance and non-performance response criteria. Piglets were randomly assigned to the following dietary treatments. The basal diet contained 1.18% standardized ileal digestible (SID Lys, and the SAA:Lys was 52%. In diets 2 to 5, the basal diet was supplemented with 4 graded levels of dl-Met to make SAA:Lys of 56%, 60%, 64% and 68%. In Exp. 1, piglets were housed in disinfected clean room. In Exp. 2, piglets were housed in a room previously occupied by other pigs and was not disinfected. On the last day, blood was collected to measure plasma urea nitrogen (PUN and one pig per pen was euthanized to collect jejunal tissue to measure villus height (VH, crypt depth (CD, and VH:CD. In Exp. 1, increasing SAA:Lys linearly and quadratically increased VH and VH:CD (P < 0.05. In Exp. 2, increasing SAA:Lys linearly increased (P < 0.05 VH and VH:CD and linearly and quadratically decreased PUN (P < 0.05. Estimated PUN and VH-based optimum SAA:Lys requirements for clean and unclean sanitary condition were 60%, 63% and 66%, respectively.

  5. Is Seeing Believing? The Process of Change During Cognitive-behavioural Therapy for Distressing Visual Hallucinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Rea; Collerton, Daniel; Freeston, Mark; Christodoulides, Thomas; Dudley, Robert

    2016-07-01

    People with psychosis often report distressing visual hallucinations (VH). In contrast to auditory hallucinations, there is little empirical evidence on effective interventions. The effectiveness of a novel-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention for VH was explored using a multiple baseline single case design with four participants. Change to individual appraisals, emotional and behavioural responses to VH were measured with daily diaries kept throughout the baseline and intervention phase lasting up to 16 sessions. Maintenance of change was tracked during a follow-up period of one month. Changes in appraisals, distress and response in accordance with the theory was evident in two out of four of the cases. However, change occurred within the baseline phase that limited the conclusions that change could be attributed to CBT alone. There was some evidence of clinically significant change and reliable change for two out of four of the cases at follow-up on one of the standardized psychiatric assessments. The research reported here has theoretical and clinical implications for refinement of the model and interventions for distressing VH. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Distressing visual hallucinations (VH) are a relatively common symptom of psychosis. Visual hallucinations seem to be associated with greater impairment and disability. We have no specific treatment for VH. The appraisal of the visual experience and the behavioural response is important in maintaining the distress. Cognitive-behavioural therapy for VH at present has limited value. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. Chain inequivalence in bovine methemoglobin. Progress report, December 1, 1979-November 30, 1980

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilan, Y.A.; Ilan, Y.; Chevion, M.; Czapski, G.

    1980-01-01

    Using pulse-radiolysis, a single-heme in the tetramer of bovine methemoglobin was reduced to the ferro state, producing a valence hybrid (VH). The kinetics of oxygen binding to the VH as well as the re-oxidation of the ferro-heme to the ferric state were studied as a function of pH. The kinetics of the oxygenation revealed the existence of two species, characterized by high and low affinities for oxygen that are associated with two quaternary structures (R and T, respectivey). Above pH 7.7 only the R state could be observed, while below pH 6.5 the T state was dominant. The reaction between the VH and ferricyanide at pH 7.75 (R state) consisted of two equal contributions attributed to the β and α subunits within the tetramer, respectively. At pH 6.3 (T state) a similar phenomenon was observed indicating chain inequivalences both in the T and the R states of methemoglobin. In the presence of inositol hexaphosphate, the T → R transition was shifted up by about 0.35 pH units. Yet similar rate constants exhibiting similar chain inequivalences have been measured

  7. Technical indicators of financial performance in the dairy herd

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Erling Lundager; Østergaard, Søren; Krogh, Mogens Agerbo

    2008-01-01

    Monte Carlo simulation was used to predict the long-term financial performance related to the technical performance of dairy herds. The indicators addressed were derived from data collected routinely in the herd. They indicated technical performance that can be affected by the farmer...... or the consultant, and they were derived from expected cause-effect relations between technical performance and financial performance at the herd level. The study included the indicators shape of lactation curve, reproduction efficiency, heifer management, variation between cows in lactation curve persistency...... cow was analyzed as the measure of financial performance. The potential effects of the selected indicators on the gross margin were estimated by means of an ANOVA. The final model allowed estimation of the financial value of specific changes within the key performance indicators. This study indicated...

  8. Laparoscopic and vaginal approaches to hysterectomy in the obese.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogani, Giorgio; Cromi, Antonella; Serati, Maurizio; Di Naro, Edoardo; Casarin, Jvan; Pinelli, Ciro; Uccella, Stefano; Leone Roberti Maggiore, Umberto; Marconi, Nicola; Ghezzi, Fabio

    2015-06-01

    The aim of the study was to compare surgery-related outcomes between laparoscopic (LH) and vaginal (VH) hysterectomy, performed for benign uterine disease (other than pelvic organs prolapse) in obese women. Data of consecutive obese (BMI≥30) patients undergoing LH and VH, between 2000 and 2013, were compared using a propensity-matched analysis. One hundred propensity-matched patient pairs (200 patients) undergoing LH (n=100) and VH (n=100) represented the study group. Baseline demographic characteristics were similar between groups. Patients undergoing LH experienced similar operative time (87.5 (25-360) vs. 85 (25-240)min; p=0.28), slightly lower blood loss (100 (10-3200) vs. 150 (10-800)ml; p=0.006) and shorter length of hospital stay (1 (1-5) vs. 2 (1-5) days; p<0.001) than women undergoing VH. There was no statistically significant difference between LH and VH in complication rate (3% for VH vs. 10% for LH; OR: 3.4; 95%CI: 0.95-13.5; p=0.08). At multivariable analysis complication rates increased as BMI increase (OR: 1.01 (1.00-1.02) for 1-unit increase in BMI; p=0.05). Independently, LH correlated with reduced hospital stay (OR: 0.63 (95%CI: 0.49-0.82); p=0.001) and complication rates (OR: 0.91 (95%CI: 0.85-0.97); p=0.01). In obese women affected by benign uterine disease LH and VH should not be denied on the basis of the mere BMI, per se. In this setting, LH upholds effectiveness of VH, improving postoperative outcomes. However, complication rate increases as BMI increase, regardless surgical route. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Efficient visibility-driven medical image visualisation via adaptive binned visibility histogram.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Younhyun; Kim, Jinman; Kumar, Ashnil; Feng, David Dagan; Fulham, Michael

    2016-07-01

    'Visibility' is a fundamental optical property that represents the observable, by users, proportion of the voxels in a volume during interactive volume rendering. The manipulation of this 'visibility' improves the volume rendering processes; for instance by ensuring the visibility of regions of interest (ROIs) or by guiding the identification of an optimal rendering view-point. The construction of visibility histograms (VHs), which represent the distribution of all the visibility of all voxels in the rendered volume, enables users to explore the volume with real-time feedback about occlusion patterns among spatially related structures during volume rendering manipulations. Volume rendered medical images have been a primary beneficiary of VH given the need to ensure that specific ROIs are visible relative to the surrounding structures, e.g. the visualisation of tumours that may otherwise be occluded by neighbouring structures. VH construction and its subsequent manipulations, however, are computationally expensive due to the histogram binning of the visibilities. This limits the real-time application of VH to medical images that have large intensity ranges and volume dimensions and require a large number of histogram bins. In this study, we introduce an efficient adaptive binned visibility histogram (AB-VH) in which a smaller number of histogram bins are used to represent the visibility distribution of the full VH. We adaptively bin medical images by using a cluster analysis algorithm that groups the voxels according to their intensity similarities into a smaller subset of bins while preserving the distribution of the intensity range of the original images. We increase efficiency by exploiting the parallel computation and multiple render targets (MRT) extension of the modern graphical processing units (GPUs) and this enables efficient computation of the histogram. We show the application of our method to single-modality computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance

  10. Electronic structure of homoleptic transition metal hydrides: TiH4, VH4, CrH4, MnH4, FeH4, CoH4, and NiH4

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hood, D.M.; Pitzer, R.M.; Schaefer III, H.F.

    1979-01-01

    Ab initio molecular electronic structure theory has been applied to the family of transition metal tetrahydrides TiH 4 through NiH 4 . For the TiH 4 molecule a wide range of contracted Gaussian basis sets has been tested at the self-consistent-field (SCF) level of theory. The largest basis, labeled M(14s 11p 6d/10s 8p 3d), H(5s 1p/3s 1p), was used for all members of the series and should yield wave functions approaching true Hartree-Fock quality. Predicted SCF dissociation energies (relative to M+4H) and M--H bond distances are TiH 4 132 kcal, 1.70 A; VH 4 86 kcal, 1.64 A; CrH 4 65 kcal, 1.59 A; MnH 4 -- 36 kcal, 1.58 A; FeH 4 0 kcal, 1.58 A; CoH 4 27 kcal, 1.61 A; and NiH 4 18 kcal, 1.75 A. It should be noted immediately that each of these SCF dissociation energies will be increased by electron correlation effects by perhaps as much as 90 kcal. For all of these molecules except TiH 4 excited states have also been studied. One of the most interesting trends seen for these excited states is the shortening of the M--H bond as electrons are transferred from the antibonding 4t 2 orbital to the nonbonding 1e orbitals

  11. Dicty_cDB: VHK294 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK294 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15304-1 VHK294P (Link to Original site) VHK2...94F 611 VHK294Z 780 VHK294P 1371 - - Show VHK294 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK2...e URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK294Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK2...94P (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK294 (VHK294Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK2...yscfyw ns*i*ngsgyf**tfttti Homology vs CSM-cDNA Score E Sequences producing significant alignments: (bits) Value VHK294 (VHK2

  12. Dicty_cDB: VHK296 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK296 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 VHK296P (Link to Original site) VHK2...96F 531 VHK296Z 314 VHK296P 825 - - Show VHK296 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK2... URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK296Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK2...96P (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK296 (VHK296Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-D/VHK2... 5' ... 993 0.0 1 ( BJ427875 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k24, 5' ... 993 0.0 1 ( BJ427874 ) D

  13. Dicty_cDB: VHK202 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK202 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 VHK202P (Link to Original site) VHK2...02F 618 VHK202Z 741 VHK202P 1339 - - Show VHK202 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK2...e URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK202Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK2...02P (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK202 (VHK202Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-A/VHK2...446805 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k21, 3' ... 1449 0.0 1 ( BJ446732 ) Dictyostelium discoide

  14. Dicty_cDB: VHK254 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK254 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16260-1 VHK254P (Link to Original site) VHK2...54F 616 VHK254Z 744 VHK254P 1340 - - Show VHK254 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK2...e URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHK2-C/VHK254Q.Seq.d/ Representative seq. ID VHK2...54P (Link to Original site) Representative DNA sequence >VHK254 (VHK254Q) /CSM/VH/VHK2-C/VHK2...BJ446805 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv63k21, 3' ... 1455 0.0 1 ( BJ446732 ) Dictyostelium discoi

  15. Screening for Residual Disease in Pediatric Burkitt Lymphoma Using Consensus Primer Pools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melissa Agsalda

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Assessing molecular persistent or minimal residual disease (PD/MRD in childhood Burkitt lymphoma (BL is challenging because access to original tumor is usually needed to design patient-specific primers (PSPs. Because BL is characterized by rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgVH genes, IgVH primer pools from IgVH1–IgVH7 regions were tested to detect PD/MRD, thus eliminating the need for original tumor. The focus of the current study was to assess the feasibility of using IgVH primer pools to detect disease in clinical specimens. Fourteen children diagnosed with B-NHL had follow-up repository specimens available to assess PD/MRD. Of the 14 patients, 12 were PD/MRD negative after 2 months of therapy and remained in remission at the end of therapy; 2/14 patients were PD/MRD positive at 2-3 months and later relapsed. PSP-based assays from these 14 patients showed 100% concordance with the current assay. This feasibility study warrants further investigation to assess PD/MRD using IgVH primer pools, which could have clinical significance as a real-time assessment tool to monitor pediatric BL and possibly other B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma therapy.

  16. Optimization and in Vivo Validation of Peptide Vectors Targeting the LDL Receptor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacquot, Guillaume; Lécorché, Pascaline; Malcor, Jean-Daniel; Laurencin, Mathieu; Smirnova, Maria; Varini, Karine; Malicet, Cédric; Gassiot, Fanny; Abouzid, Karima; Faucon, Aude; David, Marion; Gaudin, Nicolas; Masse, Maxime; Ferracci, Géraldine; Dive, Vincent; Cisternino, Salvatore; Khrestchatisky, Michel

    2016-12-05

    Active targeting and delivery to pathophysiological organs of interest is of paramount importance to increase specific accumulation of therapeutic drugs or imaging agents while avoiding systemic side effects. We recently developed a family of new peptide ligands of the human and rodent LDL receptor (LDLR), an attractive cell-surface receptor with high uptake activity and local enrichment in several normal or pathological tissues (Malcor et al., J. Med. Chem. 2012, 55 (5), 2227). Initial chemical optimization of the 15-mer, all natural amino acid compound 1/VH411 (DSGL[CMPRLRGC] c DPR) and structure-activity relationship (SAR) investigation led to the cyclic 8 amino acid analogue compound 22/VH445 ([cMPRLRGC] c ) which specifically binds hLDLR with a K D of 76 nM and has an in vitro blood half-life of ∼3 h. Further introduction of non-natural amino acids led to the identification of compound 60/VH4106 ([(d)-"Pen"M"Thz"RLRGC] c ), which showed the highest K D value of 9 nM. However, this latter analogue displayed the lowest in vitro blood half-life (∼1.9 h). In the present study, we designed a new set of peptide analogues, namely, VH4127 to VH4131, with further improved biological properties. Detailed analysis of the hLDLR-binding kinetics of previous and new analogues showed that the latter all displayed very high on-rates, in the 10 6 s -1. M -1 range, and off-rates varying from the low 10 -2 s -1 to the 10 -1 s -1 range. Furthermore, all these new analogues showed increased blood half-lives in vitro, reaching ∼7 and 10 h for VH4129 and VH4131, respectively. Interestingly, we demonstrate in cell-based assays using both VH445 and the most balanced optimized analogue VH4127 ([cM"Thz"RLRG"Pen"] c ), showing a K D of 18 nM and a blood half-life of ∼4.3 h, that its higher on-rate correlated with a significant increase in both the extent of cell-surface binding to hLDLR and the endocytosis potential. Finally, intravenous injection of tritium-radiolabeled 3 H-VH

  17. Co-evolution of affinity and stability of grafted amyloid-motif domain antibodies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Julian, Mark C; Lee, Christine C; Tiller, Kathryn E; Rabia, Lilia A; Day, Evan K; Schick, Arthur J; Tessier, Peter M

    2015-10-01

    An attractive approach for designing lead antibody candidates is to mimic natural protein interactions by grafting peptide recognition motifs into the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs). We are using this approach to generate single-domain (VH) antibodies specific for amyloid-forming proteins such as the Alzheimer's Aβ peptide. Here, we use random mutagenesis and yeast surface display to improve the binding affinity of a lead VH domain grafted with Aβ residues 33-42 in CDR3. Interestingly, co-selection for improved Aβ binding and VH display on the surface of yeast yields antibody domains with improved affinity and reduced stability. The highest affinity VH domains were strongly destabilized on the surface of yeast as well as unfolded when isolated as autonomous domains. In contrast, stable VH domains with improved affinity were reliably identified using yeast surface display by replacing the display antibody that recognizes a linear epitope tag at the terminus of both folded and unfolded VH domains with a conformational ligand (Protein A) that recognizes a discontinuous epitope on the framework of folded VH domains. Importantly, we find that selection for improved stability using Protein A without simultaneous co-selection for improved Aβ binding leads to strong enrichment for stabilizing mutations that reduce antigen binding. Our findings highlight the importance of simultaneously optimizing affinity and stability to improve the rapid isolation of well-folded and specific antibody fragments. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. Neonatal ventral hippocampus lesion alters the dopamine content in the limbic regions in postpubertal rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alquicer, Glenda; Silva-Gómez, Adriana B; Peralta, Fernando; Flores, Gonzalo

    2004-04-01

    The neonatal ventral Hippocampus (nVH) lesion in rats has been used as a model to test the hypothesis that early neurodevelopmental abnormalities lead to behavioral changes putatively linked to schizophrenia. The schizophrenic patients tend to social isolation. In addition, considerable evidence from behavioral and neurochemistry studies strongly implicate the dopamine (DA) system and the medial part of the prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the pathophysiology of the social isolation syndrome. In order to assess effects of the postweaning social isolation (pwSI) on the DA system of the nVH lesions, we investigated the DA content and its metabolite, DOPAC in different limbic subregions in rats postpubertally at postnatal day (P) 78 following nVH lesions at P7 with and without pwSI for 8 weeks. The DA and DOPAC were measured by HPLC with electrochemical detection. The nVH lesion induces increase in the DA content in the hippocampus with no effect in the mPFC, nucleus accumbens and caudate-putamen, while the pwSI induces major increase in the DA content in limbic subregions such as the mPFC, nucleus accumbens and hipocampus with opposite effect in the caudate-putamen. These results suggest that while pwSI has an effect in the postpubertal content of DA in both sham and nVH lesions in rats, the nVH-lesioned rats appear to be affected to a greater extent than the sham animals underscoring the influence of pwSI differences in the development of behaviors in the nVH-lesioned animals.

  19. Societal health and urban sustainability indicators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Petrich, C.H.; Tonn, B.E.

    1996-08-27

    Without the social will, no city can successfully Undertake the planning and programs necessary for meaningful progress toward sustainability. Social will derives from wellsprings of vital societal health. This paper presents an approach to helping cities in APEC member economies initiate a program for developing indicators of sustainability. Representative indicators of social capital and other aspects of civic engagement, as proxies for societal health, are presented.

  20. Energy conservation indicators. 1982 annual report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Belzer, D.B.

    1982-09-01

    A series of Energy Conservation Indicators were developed for the Department of Energy to assist in the evaluation of current and proposed conservation strategies. As descriptive statistics that signify current conditions and trends related to efficiency of energy use, indicators provide a way of measuring, monitoring, or inferring actual responses by consumers in markets for energy services. Related sets of indicators are presented in some 40 one-page indicator summaries. Indicators are shown graphically, followed by several paragraphs that explain their derivation and highlight key findings. Indicators are classified according to broad end-use sectors: Aggregate (economy), Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Transportation and Electric Utilities. In most cases annual time series information is presented covering the period 1960 through 1981.

  1. Social indicators and outdoor recreation: the forgotten sector

    Science.gov (United States)

    John D. Peine; Robert W. Marans; Charles C. Harris

    1980-01-01

    Following a brief historical overview of the social indicators movement, outdoor recreation measures which can be considered as social indicators are discussed. Such indicators are largely derived from social surveys. Illustrative data from 53 such surveys are presented. Despite the availability of such data, there have been few attempts to adapt them as established...

  2. Visual Hallucinations in PD and Lewy Body Dementias: Old and New Hypotheses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Onofrj

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Visual Hallucinations (VH are a common non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s Disease (PD and the Lewy body dementias (LBD of Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB. The origin of VH in PD and LBD is debated: earlier studies considered a number of different possible mechanisms underlying VH including visual disorders, Rapid Eye Movement (REM Sleep Intrusions, dysfunctions of top down or bottom up visual pathways, and neurotransmitter imbalance.

  3. An unusual helix-turn-helix protease inhibitory motif in a novel trypsin inhibitor from seeds of Veronica (Veronica hederifolia L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conners, Rebecca; Konarev, Alexander V; Forsyth, Jane; Lovegrove, Alison; Marsh, Justin; Joseph-Horne, Timothy; Shewry, Peter; Brady, R Leo

    2007-09-21

    The storage tissues of many plants contain protease inhibitors that are believed to play an important role in defending the plant from invasion by pests and pathogens. These proteinaceous inhibitor molecules belong to a number of structurally distinct families. We describe here the isolation, purification, initial inhibitory properties, and three-dimensional structure of a novel trypsin inhibitor from seeds of Veronica hederifolia (VhTI). The VhTI peptide inhibits trypsin with a submicromolar apparent K(i) and is expected to be specific for trypsin-like serine proteases. VhTI differs dramatically in structure from all previously described families of trypsin inhibitors, consisting of a helix-turn-helix motif, with the two alpha helices tightly associated by two disulfide bonds. Unusually, the crystallized complex is in the form of a stabilized acyl-enzyme intermediate with the scissile bond of the VhTI inhibitor cleaved and the resulting N-terminal portion of the inhibitor remaining attached to the trypsin catalytic serine 195 by an ester bond. A synthetic, truncated version of the VhTI peptide has also been produced and co-crystallized with trypsin but, surprisingly, is seen to be uncleaved and consequently forms a noncovalent complex with trypsin. The VhTI peptide shows that effective enzyme inhibitors can be constructed from simple helical motifs and provides a new scaffold on which to base the design of novel serine protease inhibitors.

  4. Engineered Bovine Antibodies in the Development of Novel Therapeutics, Immunomodulators and Vaccines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madhuri Koti

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Some bovine antibodies across all classes are unique, such as the CDR3 of the variable heavy-domain (VH CDR3, which is exceptionally long (up to 66 amino acids, unlike most conventional antibodies where the VH CDR3 loops range from 10 to 25 amino acids. The exceptionally long VH CDR3 is encoded by unusually long germline IGHD genes together with insertion of novel “a” nucleotide rich conserved short nucleotide sequence (CSNS specifically at the IGH V-D junction. Such an exceptionally long VH CDR3 confers unique “knob and stalk” structural architecture where the knob, formed by intra-VH CDR3 disulfide bridges, is separated by 20 Å solvent exposed stalk composed of anti-parallel beta strands. The substitution of the knob with cytokines, such as, erythropoietin and granulocyte colony stimulating factor 3 (granulocyte colony stimulating factor, results in expression of functional fusion proteins with enhanced pharmacokinetics. The beta stranded stalk can be substituted with other rigid structures, for example, repeat alpha helices to form coiled-coil that mimics the beta-stranded stalk and, thus, opens opportunities for insertion of this structure in the CDRs of antibodies across species. Given the versatility of such a structural platform in bovine antibody VH CDR3, it provides the opportunity for the development of new generation of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines and immunomodulating drugs.

  5. Unpacking vertical and horizontal integration: childhood overweight/obesity programs and planning, a Canadian perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashley Lisa

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Increasingly, multiple intervention programming is being understood and implemented as a key approach to developing public health initiatives and strategies. Using socio-ecological and population health perspectives, multiple intervention programming approaches are aimed at providing coordinated and strategic comprehensive programs operating over system levels and across sectors, allowing practitioners and decision makers to take advantage of synergistic effects. These approaches also require vertical and horizontal (v/h integration of policy and practice in order to be maximally effective. Discussion This paper examines v/h integration of interventions for childhood overweight/obesity prevention and reduction from a Canadian perspective. It describes the implications of v/h integration for childhood overweight and obesity prevention, with examples of interventions where v/h integration has been implemented. An application of a conceptual framework for structuring v/h integration of an overweight/obesity prevention initiative is presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of vertical/horizontal integration for policy, research, and practice related to childhood overweight and obesity prevention multiple intervention programs. Summary Both v/h integration across sectors and over system levels are needed to fully support multiple intervention programs of the complexity and scope required by obesity issues. V/h integration requires attention to system structures and processes. A conceptual framework is needed to support policy alignment, multi-level evaluation, and ongoing coordination of people at the front lines of practice. Using such tools to achieve integration may enhance sustainability, increase effectiveness of prevention and reduction efforts, decrease stigmatization, and lead to new ways to relate the environment to people and people to the environment for better health for children.

  6. Unpacking vertical and horizontal integration: childhood overweight/obesity programs and planning, a Canadian perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maclean, Lynne M; Clinton, Kathryn; Edwards, Nancy; Garrard, Michael; Ashley, Lisa; Hansen-Ketchum, Patti; Walsh, Audrey

    2010-05-17

    Increasingly, multiple intervention programming is being understood and implemented as a key approach to developing public health initiatives and strategies. Using socio-ecological and population health perspectives, multiple intervention programming approaches are aimed at providing coordinated and strategic comprehensive programs operating over system levels and across sectors, allowing practitioners and decision makers to take advantage of synergistic effects. These approaches also require vertical and horizontal (v/h) integration of policy and practice in order to be maximally effective. This paper examines v/h integration of interventions for childhood overweight/obesity prevention and reduction from a Canadian perspective. It describes the implications of v/h integration for childhood overweight and obesity prevention, with examples of interventions where v/h integration has been implemented. An application of a conceptual framework for structuring v/h integration of an overweight/obesity prevention initiative is presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of vertical/horizontal integration for policy, research, and practice related to childhood overweight and obesity prevention multiple intervention programs. Both v/h integration across sectors and over system levels are needed to fully support multiple intervention programs of the complexity and scope required by obesity issues. V/h integration requires attention to system structures and processes. A conceptual framework is needed to support policy alignment, multi-level evaluation, and ongoing coordination of people at the front lines of practice. Using such tools to achieve integration may enhance sustainability, increase effectiveness of prevention and reduction efforts, decrease stigmatization, and lead to new ways to relate the environment to people and people to the environment for better health for children.

  7. Deriving common comorbidity indices from the MedDRA classification and exploring their performance on key outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putrik, Polina; Ramiro, Sofia; Lie, Elisabeth; Michaud, Kaleb; Kvamme, Maria K; Keszei, Andras P; Kvien, Tore K; Uhlig, Till; Boonen, Annelies

    2018-03-01

    To develop algorithms for calculating the Rheumatic Diseases Comorbidity Index (RDCI), Charlson-Deyo Index (CDI) and Functional Comorbidity Index (FCI) from the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA), and to assess how these MedDRA-derived indices predict clinical outcomes, utility and health resource utilization (HRU). Two independent researchers linked the preferred terms of the MedDRA classification into the conditions included in the RDCI, the CDI and the FCI. Next, using data from the Norwegian Register-DMARD study (a register of patients with inflammatory joint diseases treated with DMARDs), the explanatory value of these indices was studied in models adjusted for age, gender and DAS28. Model fit statistics were compared in generalized estimating equation (prediction of outcome over time) models using as outcomes: modified HAQ, HAQ, physical and mental component summary of SF-36, SF6D and non-RA related HRU. Among 4126 patients with RA [72% female, mean (s.d.) age 56 (14) years], median (interquartile range) of RDCI at baseline was 0.0 (1.0) [range 0-6], CDI 0.0 (0.0) [0-7] and FCI 0.0 (1.0) [0-6]. All the comorbidity indices were associated with each outcome, and differences in their performance were moderate. The RDCI and FCI performed better on clinical outcomes: modified HAQ and HAQ, hospitalization, physical and mental component summary, and SF6D. Any non-RA related HRU was best predicted by RDCI followed by CDI. An algorithm is now available to compute three commonly used comorbidity indices from MedDRA classification. Indices performed comparably well in predicting a variety of outcomes, with the CDI performing slightly worse when predicting outcomes reflecting functioning and health. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  8. Short-Term Estrogen Replacement Effects on Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Tolerance in At-Risk Cats for Feline Diabetes Mellitus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allison Wara

    Full Text Available Male domestic cats that are neutered and overweight are at an increased risk for developing a type-2-like diabetes mellitus. Beneficial effects of 17β-estradiol (E2 on glucose homeostasis may be lost with neutering and thereby account for increased diabetes risk. To evaluate this, adult male neutered overweight cats (n=6 were given daily E2 (1.0 μg/kg or vehicle (Vh; ethanol, 1.0 μL/kg in a single crossover trial of 14-day periods with a 7-day washout. The E2 and Vh were voluntarily ingested on food. The E2 dosage was determined in a pre-trial to significantly and transiently reduce food intake with no measurable change in plasma E2 concentration. During treatments, physical activity was assessed with collar-mounted accelerometers on days 9-11, and tests of intravenous insulin tolerance and intravenous glucose tolerance were conducted on days 13 and 14, respectively. Over the 14 days, E2 compared to Vh treatment reduced (p=0.03 food intake (- 22% but not enough to significantly reduce body weight; activity counts were not significantly changed. With E2 compared to Vh treatment, the late-phase plasma insulin response of the glucose tolerance test was less (p=0.03 by 31%, while glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity indexes were not significantly changed. The results indicate that oral E2 at a dosage that moderately affects food intake may reduce insulin requirement for achieving glucose homeostasis in neutered male cats. Further investigation is needed to identify the mechanism underlying the E2 effect.

  9. Interaction of blood coagulation factor Va with phospholipid vesicles examined by using lipophilic photoreagents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krieg, U.C.; Isaacs, B.S.; Yemul, S.S.; Esmon, C.T.; Bayley, H.; Johnson, A.E.

    1987-01-01

    Two different lipophilic photoreagents, [ 3 H]adamantane diazirine and 3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(m-[ 125 I]iodophenyl)diazirine (TID), have been utilized to examine the interactions of blood coagulation factor Va with calcium, prothrombin, factor Xa, and, in particular, phospholipid vesicles. With each of these structurally dissimilar reagents, the extent of photolabeling of factor Va was greater when the protein was bound to a membrane surface than when it was free in solution. Specifically, the covalent photoreaction with Vl, the smaller subunit of factor Va, was 2-fold higher in the presence of phosphatidylcholine/phosphatidylserine (PC/PS, 3:1) vesicles, to which factor Va binds, than in the presence of 100% PC vesicles, to which the protein does not bind. However, the magnitude of the PC/PS-dependent photolabeling was much less than has been observed previously with integral membrane proteins. It therefore appears that the binding of factor Va to the membrane surface exposes Vl to the lipid core of the bilayer, but that only a small portion of the Vl polypeptide is exposed to, or embedded in, the bilayer core. Addition of either prothrombin or active-site-blocked factor Xa to PC/PS-bound factor Va had little effect on the photolabeling of Vl with TID, but reduced substantially the covalent labeling of Vh, the larger subunit of factor Va. This indicates that prothrombin and factor Xa each cover nonpolar surfaces on Vh when the macromolecules associate on the PC/PS surface. It therefore seems likely that the formation of the prothrombinase complex involves a direct interaction between Vh and factor Xa and between Vh and prothrombin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  10. Virtual histology study of atherosclerotic plaque composition in patients with stable angina and acute phase of acute coronary syndromes without ST segment elevation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivanović Miloš

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. Rupture of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques is the cause of most acute coronary syndromes (ACS. Postmortem studies which compared stable coronary lesions and atherosclerotic plaques in patients who have died because of ACS indicated high lipid-core content as one of the major determinants of plaque vulnerability. Objective. Our primary goal was to assess the potential relations of plaque composition determined by IVUS-VH (Intravascular Ultrasound - Virtual Histology in patients with stable angina and subjects in acute phase of ACS without ST segment elevation. Methods. The study comprised of 40 patients who underwent preintervention IVUS examination. Tissue maps were reconstructed from radio frequency data using IVUS-VH software. Results. We analyzed 53 lesions in 40 patients. Stable angina was diagnosed in 24 patients (29 lesions, while acute phase of ACS without ST elevation was diagnosed in 16 patients (24 lesions. In the patients in acute phase of ACS without ST segment elevation IVUS-VH examination showed a significantly larger area of the necrotic core at the site of minimal lumen area and a larger mean of the necrotic core volume in the entire lesion comparing to stable angina subjects (1.84±0.90 mm2 vs. 0.96±0.69 mm2; p<0.001 and 20.94±15.79 mm3 vs. 11.54±14.15 mm3; p<0.05 respectively. Conclusion. IVUS-VH detected that the necrotic core was significantly larger in atherosclerotic lesions in patients in acute phase of ACS without ST elevation comparing to the stable angina subjects and that it could be considered as a marker of plaque vulnerability.

  11. Evaluation Indicators for Analysis of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Sustainability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jeong, Chang Joon; Ko, Won Il; Chang, Hong Lae

    2008-01-15

    In this report, an attempt was made to derive indicators for the evaluation of the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle, using the methodologies developed by the INPRO, OECD/NEA and Gen-IV. In deriving the indicators, the three main elements of the sustainability, i.e., economics, environmental impact, and social aspect, as well as the technological aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle, considering the importance of the safety, were selected as the main criteria. An evaluation indicator for each criterion was determined, and the contents and evaluation method of each indicator were proposed. In addition, a questionnaire survey was carried out for the objectivity of the selection of the indicators in which participated some experts of the Korea Energy Technology and Emergency Management Institute (KETEMI) . Although the proposed indicators do not satisfy the characteristics and requirements of general indicators, it is presumed that they can be used in the analysis of the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle because those indicators incorporate various expert judgment and public opinions. On the other hand, the weighting factor of each indicator should be complemented in the future, using the AHP method and expert advice/consultations.

  12. A triazole derivative as a new acid-base indicator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Volkan Numan Bulut

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In this study a new pH indicator, 3-benzyl-4-p-nitrobenzylidenamino-4,5-dihydro-1,2,4-triazole-5-on (BPNBAT, soluble in acetonitrile:water (1:4, was developed. The estimation of pH is possible either from the position of the absorption maxima or from the absorbance intensity at a constant wavelength. This feature allowed us to determine the basic transition range of the medium because BPNBAT is colorless at pH lower than 8.5 and showed strong yellow-green color with high extinction coefficient in the pH range of 8.5–10.1. pKa, pH at equivalent point and the molar absorptivity (in the aqueous medium at 380 nm of BPNBAT are determined as 9.3, 8.3 and 8.8 x 103 L.mol-1.cm-1, respectively. The color change at the transition range can be attributed to the resonance structures of BPNBAT. The triazole compound was compared with thymolphthalein for accuracy test.

  13. Sequences of the joining region genes for immunoglobulin heavy chains and their role in generation of antibody diversity.

    OpenAIRE

    Gough, N M; Bernard, O

    1981-01-01

    To assess the contribution to immunoglobulin heavy chain diversity made by recombination between variable region (VH) genes and joining region (JH) genes, we have determined the sequence of about 2000 nucleotides spanning the rearranged JH gene cluster associated with the VH gene expressed in plasmacytoma HPC76. The active VH76 gene has recombined with the second germ-line JH gene. The region we have studied contains two other JH genes, designated JH3 and JH4. No other JH gene was found withi...

  14. Minimum risk trigger indices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tingey, F.H.

    1979-01-01

    A viable safeguards system includes among other things the development and use of indices which trigger various courses of action. The usual limit of error calculation provides such an index. The classical approach is one of constructing tests which, under certain assumptions, make the likelihood of a false alarm small. Of concern also is the test's failure to indicate a loss (diversion) when in fact one has occurred. Since false alarms are usually costly and losses both costly and of extreme strategic sinificance, there remains the task of balancing the probability of false alarm and its consequences against the probability of undetected loss and its consequences. The application of other than classical hypothesis testing procedures are considered in this paper. Using various consequence models, trigger indices are derived which have certain optimum properties. Application of the techniques would enhance the material control function

  15. Prediction of the chemo- and regioselectivity of Diels-Alder reactions of o-benzoquinone derivatives with thiophenes by means of DFT-based reactivity indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghomri, Amina; Mekelleche, Sidi Mohamed

    2014-03-01

    Global and local reactivity indices derived from density functional theory were used to elucidate the regio- and chemoselectivity of Diels-Alder reactions of masked o-benzoquinones with thiophenes acting as dienophiles. The polarity of the studied reactions is evaluated in terms of the difference of electrophilicity powers between the diene and dienophile partners. Preferential cyclisation modes of these cycloadditions are predicted using Domingo's polar model based on the local electrophilicity index, ωk, of the electrophile and the local nucleophilicity index, Nuk, of the nucleophile. The theoretical calculations, carried out at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level of theory, are in good agreement with experimental findings.

  16. Inactivation of ventral hippocampus interfered with cued-fear acquisition but did not influence later recall or discrimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Veronica M; Foilb, Allison R; Christianson, John P

    2016-01-01

    The ventral hippocampus (VH) is involved in the both the acquisition and recall of conditioned fear. Here, we tested the role of VH in acquisition and recall of a conditioned fear discrimination. Intra-VH vehicle or muscimol injections were made 1h prior to a CS+/CS- conditioning or prior to later recall. Vehicle treated rats exhibited discrimination with significantly greater freezing to the CS+ than to the CS- whereas muscimol treated rats did not freeze. Injections made before recall had no effect as both treatment groups displayed equal freezing in response to the CS+, and discrimination. While these results are consistent with several reports, the failure to influence fear discrimination upon recall appears to contrast with the hypothesized role of VH in recall of extinguished conditioned fear cues. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Sterile DJH rearrangements reveal that distance between gene segments on the human Ig H chain locus influences their ability to rearrange

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Tina Østergaard; Lange, Anders Blaabjerg; Barington, Torben

    2015-01-01

    Rearrangement of the Ig locus occurs in two steps. First, a JH gene is rearranged to a D gene followed by a VH gene rearranging to the DJH rearrangement. By next generation sequencing, we analyzed 9969 unique DJH rearrangements and 5919 unique VHDJH rearrangements obtained from peripheral blood B...... frequently than JH locus distal D genes, whereas VH locus proximal D genes were observed more frequently in nonproductive VHDJH rearrangements. We further demonstrate that the distance between VH, D, and JH gene segments influence their ability to rearrange within the human Ig locus....

  18. Linear verrucous hemangioma-a rare case and dermoscopic clues to diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhanta, Aditi; Chauhan, Payal; Meena, Dilip; Hazarika, Neirita

    2018-01-01

    Verrucous hemangioma (VH) is a rare, congenital and localized vascular malformation, which usually presents as warty, bluish, vascular papules, plaques, or nodules, mainly on the lower extremities. Linear presentation of the disease is rare. A deep biopsy is necessary to confirm the clinical diagnosis by histopathological examination, with dermoscopy acting as a useful tool for evaluating the precise vascular structure. Here, we report on a 13-year-old female child with linear VH presenting over her foot since infancy and dermoscopic findings of VH along with the clinical-pathologic features.

  19. Impact of statin therapy on coronary plaque composition: A systematic review and meta-analysis of virtual histology intravascular ultrasound studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M. Banach (Maciej); C. Serban (Corina); A. Sahebkar (Amirhossein); D.P. Mikhailidis (Dimitri P.); S. Ursoniu (Sorin); K.K. Ray (Kausik K.); J. Rysz (Jacek); P.P. Toth (Peter); P. Muntner (Paul); S. Mosteoru (Svetlana); H.M. Garcia-Garcia (Hector); G.K. Hovingh (Kees); J.J.P. Kastelein (John); P.W.J.C. Serruys (Patrick)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractBackground: Virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) imaging is an innovative tool for the morphological evaluation of coronary atherosclerosis. Evidence for the effects of statin therapy on VH-IVUS parameters have been inconclusive. Consequently, we performed a systematic

  20. interRAI home care quality indicators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Morris, J.N.; Fries, B.E.; Frijters, D.H.M.; Hirdes, J.P.; Steel, R.K.

    2013-01-01

    Background: This paper describe the development of interRAI's second-generation home care quality indicators (HC-QIs). They are derived from two of interRAI's widely used community assessments: the Community Health Assessment and the Home Care Assessment. In this work the form in which the quality

  1. Indic Lexicon in the English/Creole of Trinidad

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lise Winer

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Examines the contemporary lexical component of the English/Creole of Trinidad (TEC that is derived from languages of India. Author focuses on the TEC as spoken among Indo-Trinidadians, but also pays attention to Indic words used in the TEC of Afro-Trinidadians and other groups. Author sketches the history of Indian immigration into Trinidad, explaining how most came from the Bihar province in northern India and spoke Bhojpuri, rather than (closely related Hindi, and how in the 20th c. Indian languages were replaced by English with education. She further focuses on retained Indic words incorporated in current-day TEC, and found 1844 of such words in usage. She discusses words misassigned locally as Indian-derived, but actually from other (European or African languages. Then, she describes most of the Indo-TEC lexicon, categorizing items by their semantic-cultural domain, with major domains for Indian-derived words: religious practice, music, dance and stickfighting, food preparation, agriculture, kinship, and behaviour or appearance. Further, the author discusses to what degree Indic words have been mainstreamed within the non-Indian population of Trinidad, sometimes via standard English, sometimes directly assimilated into TEC, and made salient through the press or street food selling.

  2. Pleurodeles Waltl Humoral Immune Response under Spaceflight Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bascove, Matthieu; Touche, Nadege; Frippiat, Jean-Pol

    2008-06-01

    The immune system is an important regulatory mechanism affected by spaceflights. In a previous work, we performed a first study of the humoral immune response induced by the immunization of Pleurodeles waltl during a 5 months stay onboard the Mir space station. This analysis indicated that heavy-chain variable domains of specific IgM are encoded by genes of the VHII and VHVI families. However, the contributions of these two families to IgM heavy-chains are different in flown animals [1]. To better understand this immune response modification, we have now determined how individual VH genes have been used to build specific IgM binding sites in animals immunized on earth or in space. This new study revealed quantitative and qualitative modifications in VH genes expression. These data confirm that a spaceflight might affect the humoral response.

  3. Impact of statin therapy on coronary plaque composition: a systematic review and meta-analysis of virtual histology intravascular ultrasound studies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Banach, Maciej; Serban, Corina; Sahebkar, Amirhossein; Mikhailidis, Dimitri P.; Ursoniu, Sorin; Ray, Kausik K.; Rysz, Jacek; Toth, Peter P.; Muntner, Paul; Mosteoru, Svetlana; García-García, Hector M.; Hovingh, G. Kees; Kastelein, John J. P.; Serruys, Patrick W.

    2015-01-01

    Virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) imaging is an innovative tool for the morphological evaluation of coronary atherosclerosis. Evidence for the effects of statin therapy on VH-IVUS parameters have been inconclusive. Consequently, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis

  4. NIRS and IVUS for characterization of atherosclerosis in patients undergoing coronary angiography

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brugaletta, Salvatore; Garcia-Garcia, Hector M.; Serruys, Patrick W.; de Boer, Sanneke; Ligthart, Jurgen; Gomez-Lara, Josep; Witberg, Karen; Diletti, Roberto; Wykrzykowska, Joanna; van Geuns, Robert-Jan; Schultz, Carl; Regar, Evelyn; Duckers, Henricus J.; van Mieghem, Nicolas; de Jaegere, Peter; Madden, Sean P.; Muller, James E.; van der Steen, Antonius F. W.; van der Giessen, Wim J.; Boersma, Eric

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to compare the findings of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) virtual histology (VH), and grayscale IVUS obtained in matched coronary vessel segments of patients undergoing coronary angiography. Intravascular ultrasound VH has been developed

  5. Regional and parametric sensitivity analysis of Sobol' indices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei, Pengfei; Lu, Zhenzhou; Song, Jingwen

    2015-01-01

    Nowadays, utilizing the Monte Carlo estimators for variance-based sensitivity analysis has gained sufficient popularity in many research fields. These estimators are usually based on n+2 sample matrices well designed for computing both the main and total effect indices, where n is the input dimension. The aim of this paper is to use such n+2 sample matrices to investigate how the main and total effect indices change when the uncertainty of the model inputs are reduced. For this purpose, the regional main and total effect functions are defined for measuring the changes on the main and total effect indices when the distribution range of one input is reduced, and the parametric main and total effect functions are introduced to quantify the residual main and total effect indices due to the reduced variance of one input. Monte Carlo estimators are derived for all the developed sensitivity concepts based on the n+2 samples matrices originally used for computing the main and total effect indices, thus no extra computational cost is introduced. The Ishigami function, a nonlinear model and a planar ten-bar structure are utilized for illustrating the developed sensitivity concepts, and for demonstrating the efficiency and accuracy of the derived Monte Carlo estimators. - Highlights: • The regional main and total effect functions are developed. • The parametric main and total effect functions are introduced. • The proposed sensitivity functions are all generalizations of Sobol' indices. • The Monte Carlo estimators are derived for the four sensitivity functions. • The computational cost of the estimators is the same as that of Sobol' indices

  6. Expression of Immunoglobulin Receptors with Distinctive Features Indicating Antigen Selection by Marginal Zone B Cells from Human Spleen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colombo, Monica; Cutrona, Giovanna; Reverberi, Daniele; Bruno, Silvia; Ghiotto, Fabio; Tenca, Claudya; Stamatopoulos, Kostas; Hadzidimitriou, Anastasia; Ceccarelli, Jenny; Salvi, Sandra; Boccardo, Simona; Calevo, Maria Grazia; De Santanna, Amleto; Truini, Mauro; Fais, Franco; Ferrarini, Manlio

    2013-01-01

    Marginal zone (MZ) B cells, identified as surface (s)IgMhighsIgDlowCD23low/−CD21+CD38− B cells, were purified from human spleens, and the features of their V(D)J gene rearrangements were investigated and compared with those of germinal center (GC), follicular mantle (FM) and switched memory (SM) B cells. Most MZ B cells were CD27+ and exhibited somatic hypermutations (SHM), although to a lower extent than SM B cells. Moreover, among MZ B-cell rearrangements, recurrent sequences were observed, some of which displayed intraclonal diversification. The same diversifying sequences were detected in very low numbers in GC and FM B cells and only when a highly sensitive, gene-specific polymerase chain reaction was used. This result indicates that MZ B cells could expand and diversify in situ and also suggested the presence of a number of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)-expressing B cells in the MZ. The notion of antigen-driven expansion/selection in situ is further supported by the VH CDR3 features of MZ B cells with highly conserved amino acids at specific positions and by the finding of shared (“stereotyped”) sequences in two different spleens. Collectively, the data are consistent with the notion that MZ B cells are a special subset selected by in situ antigenic stimuli. PMID:23877718

  7. Lipoprotein metabolism indicators improve cardiovascular risk prediction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schalkwijk, D.B. van; Graaf, A.A. de; Tsivtsivadze, E.; Parnell, L.D.; Werff-van der Vat, B.J.C. van der; Ommen, B. van; Greef, J. van der; Ordovás, J.M.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Cardiovascular disease risk increases when lipoprotein metabolism is dysfunctional. We have developed a computational model able to derive indicators of lipoprotein production, lipolysis, and uptake processes from a single lipoprotein profile measurement. This is the first study to

  8. Correlation between Plaque Composition as assessed by Virtual Histology and C-reactive Protein

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siqueira, Dimytri Alexandre de Alvim; Sousa, Amanda Guerra Moraes R.; Costa Junior, José de Ribamar; Costa, Ricardo Alves da; Staico, Rodolfo; Tanajura, Luis Fernando Leite; Centemero, Marinella Patrizia; Feres, Fausto; Abizaid, Alexandre Antonio Cunha; Sousa, J. Eduardo Moraes R.

    2013-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that coronary plaque composition plays a pivotal role in plaque instability, and imaging modalities and serum biomarkers have been investigated to identify vulnerable plaque. Virtual histology IVUS (VH-IVUS) characterizes plaque components as calcified, fibrotic, fibrofatty, or necrotic core. C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is an independent risk factor and a powerful predictor of future coronary events. However, a relationship between inflammatory response indicated by CRP and plaque characteristics in ACS patients remains not well established. To determine, by using VH-IVUS, the relation between coronary plaque components and plasma high-sensitivity CRP levels in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). 52 patients with ACS were enrolled in this prospective study. Electrocardiographically-gated VH-IVUS were performed in the culprit lesion before PCI. Blood sample was drawn from all patients before the procedure and after 24 hours, and hs-CRP levels were determined. Mean age was 55.3±4.9 years, 76.9% were men and 30.9% had diabetes. Mean MLA was 3.9±1.3 mm 2 , and plaque burden was 69±11.3%, as assessed by IVUS. VH-IVUS analysis at the minimum luminal site identified plaque components: fibrotic (59.6±15.8%), fibrofatty (7.6±8.2%), dense calcium (12.1±9.2%) and necrotic core (20.7±12.7%). Plasma hs-CRP (mean 16.02±18.07 mg/L) did not correlate with necrotic core (r=-0.089, p = 0.53) and other plaque components. In this prospective study with patients with ACS, the predominant components of the culprit plaque were fibrotic and necrotic core. Serum hs C-reactive protein levels did not correlate with plaque composition

  9. Correlation between Plaque Composition as assessed by Virtual Histology and C-reactive Protein

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Siqueira, Dimytri Alexandre de Alvim, E-mail: dimytri@cardiol.br; Sousa, Amanda Guerra Moraes R.; Costa Junior, José de Ribamar; Costa, Ricardo Alves da; Staico, Rodolfo; Tanajura, Luis Fernando Leite; Centemero, Marinella Patrizia; Feres, Fausto; Abizaid, Alexandre Antonio Cunha; Sousa, J. Eduardo Moraes R. [Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia, São Paulo, SP (Brazil)

    2013-07-15

    Previous studies have shown that coronary plaque composition plays a pivotal role in plaque instability, and imaging modalities and serum biomarkers have been investigated to identify vulnerable plaque. Virtual histology IVUS (VH-IVUS) characterizes plaque components as calcified, fibrotic, fibrofatty, or necrotic core. C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is an independent risk factor and a powerful predictor of future coronary events. However, a relationship between inflammatory response indicated by CRP and plaque characteristics in ACS patients remains not well established. To determine, by using VH-IVUS, the relation between coronary plaque components and plasma high-sensitivity CRP levels in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). 52 patients with ACS were enrolled in this prospective study. Electrocardiographically-gated VH-IVUS were performed in the culprit lesion before PCI. Blood sample was drawn from all patients before the procedure and after 24 hours, and hs-CRP levels were determined. Mean age was 55.3±4.9 years, 76.9% were men and 30.9% had diabetes. Mean MLA was 3.9±1.3 mm{sup 2}, and plaque burden was 69±11.3%, as assessed by IVUS. VH-IVUS analysis at the minimum luminal site identified plaque components: fibrotic (59.6±15.8%), fibrofatty (7.6±8.2%), dense calcium (12.1±9.2%) and necrotic core (20.7±12.7%). Plasma hs-CRP (mean 16.02±18.07 mg/L) did not correlate with necrotic core (r=-0.089, p = 0.53) and other plaque components. In this prospective study with patients with ACS, the predominant components of the culprit plaque were fibrotic and necrotic core. Serum hs C-reactive protein levels did not correlate with plaque composition.

  10. Anxiolytic-Like Effects and Increase in Locomotor Activity Induced by Infusions of NMDA into the Ventral Hippocampus in Rat: Interaction with GABAergic System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bina, Payvand; Rezvanfard, Mehrnaz; Ahmadi, Shamseddin; Zarrindast, Mohammad Reza

    2014-10-01

    In this study, we investigated the role of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the ventral hippocampus (VH) and their possible interactions with GABAA system on anxiety-like behaviors. We used an elevated-plus maze test (EPM) to assess anxiety-like behaviors and locomotor activity in male Wistar rats. The results showed that intra-VH infusions of different doses of NMDA (0.25 and 0.5 μg/rat) increased locomotor activity, and also induced anxiolytic-like behaviors, as revealed by a tendency to increase percentage of open arm time (%OAT), and a significant increase in percentage of open arm entries (%OAE). The results also showed that intra-VH infusions of muscimol (0.5 and 1 μg/rat) or bicuculline (0.5 and 1 μg/rat) did not significantly affect anxiety-like behaviors, but bicuculline at dose of 1 μg/rat increased locomotor activity. Intra-VH co-infusions of muscimol (0.5 μg/rat) along with low doses of NMDA (0.0625 and 0.125 μg/rat) showed a tendency to increase %OAT, %OAE and locomotor activity; however, no interaction was observed between the drugs. Interestingly, intra-VH co-infusions of bicuculline (0.5 μg/rat) along with effective doses of NMDA (0.25 and 0.5 μg/rat) decreased %OAT, %OAE and locomotor activity, and a significant interaction between two drugs was observed. It can be concluded that GABAergic system may mediate the anxiolytic-like effects and increase in locomotor activity induced by NMDA in the VH.

  11. A plant-like proton-pump partnership in the malaria parasite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allen, R.J.W.; Saliba, K.J.; Zissis, S.; Kirk, K.

    2001-01-01

    Full text: The 'intraerythrocytic' form of the human malaria parasite. Plasmodium falciparum contains an acidic 'digestive vacuole' which is believed to be the main site of haemoglobin degradation, and the major site of action of many antimalarial drugs. The mechanism/s by which this organelle is acidified have not been investigated. In plant cells, the internal acidic vacuole has on its membrane two types of H + -pumps which contribute to the generation of an acidic pH: a vacuolar-type H + -ATPase (V-H + -ATPase) and a vacuolar H + -pyrophosphatase (V-H + -PPase). The presence of a V-H + -ATPase on the digestive vacuole membrane of P. falciparum has been demonstrated by immuno-electron microscopy (J. Biol. Chem. (2000) 275: 34353-34358) but its functional activity on this organelle has not been demonstrated. Two V-H + -PPase genes have been shown to be expressed in the intraerythrocytic stage of the P. falciparum parasite (Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. (2001) 114: 183-195); however, immunological methods failed to detect either on the parasite digestive vacuole. In this study we use a combination of NMR spectroscopy and fluorescence techniques to show that (i) P. falciparum contains low levels of pyrophosphate, and (ii) that both ATP and pyrophosphate are able to energise the acidification of the parasite's digestive vacuole. We propose that, like many plant cells the digestive vacuole of P. falciparum parasites has, on its membrane, a V-H + -PPase as well as a V-H + -ATPaSe, and that both pumps contribute to the pH regulation of this organelle

  12. Neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal and ventral hippocampus impair acquisition and expression of trace-conditioned fear-potentiated startle in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trivedi, Mehul A; Coover, Gary D

    2006-04-03

    Pavlovian delay conditioning, in which a conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) co-terminate, is thought to reflect non-declarative memory. In contrast, trace conditioning, in which the CS and US are temporally separate, is thought to reflect declarative memory. Hippocampal lesions impair acquisition and expression of trace conditioning measured by the conditioned freezing and eyeblink responses, while having little effect on the acquisition of delay conditioning. Recent evidence suggests that lesions of the ventral hippocampus (VH) impair conditioned fear under conditions in which dorsal hippocampal (DH) lesions have little effect. In the present study, we examined the time-course of fear expression after delay and trace conditioning using the fear-potentiated startle (FPS) reflex, and the effects of pre- and post-training lesions to the VH and DH on trace-conditioned FPS. We found that both delay- and trace-conditioned rats displayed significant FPS near the end of the CS relative to the unpaired control group. In contrast, trace-conditioned rats displayed significant FPS throughout the duration of the trace interval, whereas FPS decayed rapidly to baseline after CS offset in delay-conditioned rats. In experiment 2, both DH and VH lesions were found to significantly reduce the overall magnitude of FPS compared to the control group, however, no differences were found between the DH and VH groups. These findings support a role for both the DH and VH in trace fear conditioning, and suggest that the greater effect of VH lesions on conditioned fear might be specific to certain measures of fear.

  13. Clinical presentation of acute gastroenteritis in children with functional gastrointestinal disorders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saps, Miguel; Mintjens, Stijn; Pusatcioglu, Cenk K.; Cohen, Daniel M.; Sternberg, Petra

    2017-01-01

    Visceral hypersensitivity (VH) and abnormal coping are common in children with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs). Thus, it would be expected that children with VH would report more pain if their gut is acutely inflamed. Aims- Compare clinical symptoms and somatization of children with and

  14. Investigating Reliabilities of Intraindividual Variability Indicators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lijuan; Grimm, Kevin J.

    2012-01-01

    Reliabilities of the two most widely used intraindividual variability indicators, "ISD[superscript 2]" and "ISD", are derived analytically. Both are functions of the sizes of the first and second moments of true intraindividual variability, the size of the measurement error variance, and the number of assessments within a burst. For comparison,…

  15. Optimal allocation of energy storage in a co-optimized electricity market: Benefits assessment and deriving indicators for economic storage ventures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krishnan, Venkat; Das, Trishna

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a framework for optimally allocating storage technologies in a power system. This decision support tool helps in quantitatively answering the questions on “where to and how much to install” considering the profits from arbitrage opportunities in a co-optimized electricity market. The developed framework is illustrated on a modified IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 24 bus RTS (Reliability Test System), and the framework finds the optimal allocation solution and the revenues storage earns at each of these locations. Bulk energy storage, CAES (compressed air energy storage) is used as the representative storage technology, and the benefits of optimally allocated storage integration onto the grid are compared with transmission expansion solution. The paper also discusses about system-level indicators to identify candidate locations for economical storage ventures, which are derived based on the optimal storage allocation solution; and applies the market price based storage venture indicators on MISO (Mid-continental Independent System Operator) and PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection) electricity markets. - Highlights: • Storage optimal allocation framework based on high-fidelity storage dispatch model. • Storage with transmission addresses energy and ancillary issues under high renewables. • Bulk storage earns higher revenues from co-optimization (∼10× energy only market). • Grid offers distributed opportunities for investing in a strategic mix of storage. • Storage opportunities depend on cross-arbitrage, as seen from MISO (Mid-continental Independent System Operator) and PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection) markets

  16. National tourism indicators : historical estimates, 1986-2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    In the 1997 edition, new and revised benchmarks were introduced for 1992 and 1988. The indicators are used to monitor supply, demand and employment for tourism in Canada on a timely basis. The annual tables are derived using the National Income and E...

  17. Urban Density Indices Using Mean Shift-Based Upsampled Elevetion Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charou, E.; Gyftakis, S.; Bratsolis, E.; Tsenoglou, T.; Papadopoulou, Th. D.; Vassilas, N.

    2015-04-01

    Urban density is an important factor for several fields, e.g. urban design, planning and land management. Modern remote sensors deliver ample information for the estimation of specific urban land classification classes (2D indicators), and the height of urban land classification objects (3D indicators) within an Area of Interest (AOI). In this research, two of these indicators, Building Coverage Ratio (BCR) and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) are numerically and automatically derived from high-resolution airborne RGB orthophotos and LiDAR data. In the pre-processing step the low resolution elevation data are fused with the high resolution optical data through a mean-shift based discontinuity preserving smoothing algorithm. The outcome is an improved normalized digital surface model (nDSM) is an upsampled elevation data with considerable improvement regarding region filling and "straightness" of elevation discontinuities. In a following step, a Multilayer Feedforward Neural Network (MFNN) is used to classify all pixels of the AOI to building or non-building categories. For the total surface of the block and the buildings we consider the number of their pixels and the surface of the unit pixel. Comparisons of the automatically derived BCR and FAR indicators with manually derived ones shows the applicability and effectiveness of the methodology proposed.

  18. PAISAGEM RIPÁRIA FLUVIAL DOS RIOS PITANGUI E JOTUVA NO PRIMEIRO PLANALTO PARANAENSE, PONTA GROSSA, PR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiaro Katu Pereira

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Esta análise quantitativa de 3.739,7 ha de paisagens ripárias fluviais dos rios Pitangui e Jotuva considerou áreas de floresta higrófila (FH e de vegetação hidrófila (VH, delimitadas mediante interpretação de ortofotos de 2001. O Pitangui apresentou 3.180 ha de áreas ripárias em 35 polígonos de FH (13,8% e 168 de VH (86,2%. O Jotuva, com 559 ha, apresentou 19 poligonos de FH (42% e 47 de VH (58%. Demonstrou-se a importância de incluir a VH nas análises das zonas ripárias destes rios, notável no Pitangui, que para efeitos de conservação, parece reunir condições mais favoráveis à manutenção da biodiversidade do que no Jotuva. Foram observados distintos padrões de paisagem em função do relevo nos rios.

  19. An Approach for Automatically Deriving Key Performance Indicators from Ontological Enterprise Models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aksu, U.A.; Schunselaar, D.M.M.; Reijers, H.A.

    2017-01-01

    Organizations use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor whether they attain their goals. Software vendors that supply generic software provide predefined KPIs in their software products for these organizations. However, each organization wants KPIs to be tailored to its specific goals.Th

  20. Correlations Between retention indices and molecular structure of aliphatic alcohols and of their benzoyl derivatives on phenyl substituted polysiloxane stationary phases; Cromatografia en fase gaseosa sobre metilfenilpolisiloxanos. Estructura molecular y parametros de retencion para alcoholes y sus derivados benzoilados

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pias, J B; Gasco, L

    1976-07-01

    The retention indices of aliphatic alcohols of carbon number up to C{sub g}, and of their benzoyl derivatives up to C{sub 7}, were determined in columns packed with Chromo sorb G (AW-DMCS-HP) coated previously with 5% methyl, and methyl phenyl polysiloxanes with increasing polarity (SE-30, 0V-3, 0V-7, 0V-11, 0V-17 and OV-25). Correlations between retention indices and chain length for 1-alcohols, 2-alcohols, 3-alcohols, 1 , on -3-alcohols, 2-methyl-1-alcohols and for their corresponding benzoyl derivatives were calculated at 100, 120 and 140 degree centigree. In alcohols, a -CH{sub 2}- group increases I approximately 100 units, and in their benzoyl derivatives from 80 to 100 units. Dispersion indices {delta}l , and positional and structural increments {delta}I, were evaluated for -OH and benzoyl groups in terms of phase polarity and chain length. Effects of chain length, chain branching and double bond location on retention parameters were also studied. (Author) 23 refs.

  1. Impacts of a lengthening open water season on Alaskan coastal communities: deriving locally relevant indices from large-scale datasets and community observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rolph, Rebecca J.; Mahoney, Andrew R.; Walsh, John; Loring, Philip A.

    2018-05-01

    Using thresholds of physical climate variables developed from community observations, together with two large-scale datasets, we have produced local indices directly relevant to the impacts of a reduced sea ice cover on Alaska coastal communities. The indices include the number of false freeze-ups defined by transient exceedances of ice concentration prior to a corresponding exceedance that persists, false break-ups, timing of freeze-up and break-up, length of the open water duration, number of days when the winds preclude hunting via boat (wind speed threshold exceedances), the number of wind events conducive to geomorphological work or damage to infrastructure from ocean waves, and the number of these wind events with on- and along-shore components promoting water setup along the coastline. We demonstrate how community observations can inform use of large-scale datasets to derive these locally relevant indices. The two primary large-scale datasets are the Historical Sea Ice Atlas for Alaska and the atmospheric output from a regional climate model used to downscale the ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis. We illustrate the variability and trends of these indices by application to the rural Alaska communities of Kotzebue, Shishmaref, and Utqiaġvik (previously Barrow), although the same procedure and metrics can be applied to other coastal communities. Over the 1979-2014 time period, there has been a marked increase in the number of combined false freeze-ups and false break-ups as well as the number of days too windy for hunting via boat for all three communities, especially Utqiaġvik. At Utqiaġvik, there has been an approximate tripling of the number of wind events conducive to coastline erosion from 1979 to 2014. We have also found a delay in freeze-up and earlier break-up, leading to a lengthened open water period for all of the communities examined.

  2. Impacts of a lengthening open water season on Alaskan coastal communities: deriving locally relevant indices from large-scale datasets and community observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. J. Rolph

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Using thresholds of physical climate variables developed from community observations, together with two large-scale datasets, we have produced local indices directly relevant to the impacts of a reduced sea ice cover on Alaska coastal communities. The indices include the number of false freeze-ups defined by transient exceedances of ice concentration prior to a corresponding exceedance that persists, false break-ups, timing of freeze-up and break-up, length of the open water duration, number of days when the winds preclude hunting via boat (wind speed threshold exceedances, the number of wind events conducive to geomorphological work or damage to infrastructure from ocean waves, and the number of these wind events with on- and along-shore components promoting water setup along the coastline. We demonstrate how community observations can inform use of large-scale datasets to derive these locally relevant indices. The two primary large-scale datasets are the Historical Sea Ice Atlas for Alaska and the atmospheric output from a regional climate model used to downscale the ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis. We illustrate the variability and trends of these indices by application to the rural Alaska communities of Kotzebue, Shishmaref, and Utqiaġvik (previously Barrow, although the same procedure and metrics can be applied to other coastal communities. Over the 1979–2014 time period, there has been a marked increase in the number of combined false freeze-ups and false break-ups as well as the number of days too windy for hunting via boat for all three communities, especially Utqiaġvik. At Utqiaġvik, there has been an approximate tripling of the number of wind events conducive to coastline erosion from 1979 to 2014. We have also found a delay in freeze-up and earlier break-up, leading to a lengthened open water period for all of the communities examined.

  3. Tris-diamine-derived transition metal complexes of flurbiprofen as ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    admin

    butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitory activities. Method: Tris-diamine-derived transition metal complexes of Co(II), Ni(II), and Mn(II) were synthesized and characterized ... Conductance measurements indicated that diamine-derived metal complexes of ..... contributes to enhanced biological activity, and provides novel ...

  4. Usage of Smartphone Data to Derive an Indicator for Collaborative Mobility between Individuals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogdan Toader

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Thepotentialofgeospatialbigdatahasbeendrawingattentionfor afewyears. Despitethe larger and larger market penetration of portable technologies (nomadic and wearable devices like smartphones and smartwatches, their opportunities for travel behavior analysis are still relatively unexplored. The main objective of our study is to extract the human mobility patterns from GPS tracesin order toderivean indicatorfor enhancing CollaborativeMobility (CM betweenindividuals. The first step, extracting activity duration and location, is done using state-of-the-art automated recognition tools. Sensors data are used to reconstruct individual’s activity location and duration across time. For constructing the indicator, in a second step, we defined different variables and methods for specific case studies. Smartphone sensor data are being collected from a limited number of individuals and for one week. These data are used to evaluate the proposed indicator. Based on the value of the indicator, we analyzed the potential for identifying CM among groups of users, such as sharing traveling resources (e.g., carpooling, ridesharing, parking sharing and time (rescheduling and reordering activities.

  5. Cellular Repair of DNA–DNA Cross-Links Induced by 1,2,3,4-Diepoxybutane

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa N. Chesner

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Xenobiotic-induced interstrand DNA–DNA cross-links (ICL interfere with transcription and replication and can be converted to toxic DNA double strand breaks. In this work, we investigated cellular responses to 1,4-bis-(guan-7-yl-2,3-butanediol (bis-N7G-BD cross-links induced by 1,2,3,4-diepoxybutane (DEB. High pressure liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI+-MS/MS assays were used to quantify the formation and repair of bis-N7G-BD cross-links in wild-type Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79 and the corresponding isogenic clones V-H1 and V-H4, deficient in the XPD and FANCA genes, respectively. Both V-H1 and V-H4 cells exhibited enhanced sensitivity to DEB-induced cell death and elevated bis-N7G-BD cross-links. However, relatively modest increases of bis-N7G-BD adduct levels in V-H4 clones did not correlate with their hypersensitivity to DEB. Further, bis-N7G-BD levels were not elevated in DEB-treated human clones with defects in the XPA or FANCD2 genes. Comet assays and γ-H2AX focus analyses conducted with hamster cells revealed that ICL removal was associated with chromosomal double strand break formation, and that these breaks persisted in V-H4 cells as compared to control cells. Our findings suggest that ICL repair in cells with defects in the Fanconi anemia repair pathway is associated with aberrant re-joining of repair-induced double strand breaks, potentially resulting in lethal chromosome rearrangements.

  6. Comparing domain interactions within antibody Fabs with kappa and lambda light chains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toughiri, Raheleh; Wu, Xiufeng; Ruiz, Diana; Huang, Flora; Crissman, John W; Dickey, Mark; Froning, Karen; Conner, Elaine M; Cujec, Thomas P; Demarest, Stephen J

    2016-10-01

    IgG antibodies are multi-domain proteins with complex inter-domain interactions. Human IgG heavy chains (HCs) associate with light chains (LCs) of the κ or λ isotype to form mature antibodies capable of binding antigen. The HC/LC interaction involves 4 domains: VH and CH1 from the HC and VL and CL from the LC. Human Fabs with κ LCs have been well characterized for their unfolding behaviors and demonstrate a significant level of cooperativity and stabilization when all 4 domains are intact. Very little is known regarding the thermodynamic properties of human Fabs with λ LCs. Here, we dissect the domain contributions to Fab stability for both κ and λ LC-containing Fabs. We find the cooperativity of unfolding between the constant domains, CH1/Cλ, and variable domains, VH/Vλ, within λ LC-containing Fabs is significantly weaker than that of κ LC-containing Fabs. The data suggests there may not be an evolutionary necessity for strong variable/constant domain cooperativity within λ LC-containing Fabs. After investigating the biophysical properties of Fabs with mismatched variable and constant domain subunits (e.g., VH/Vκ paired with CH1/Cλ or T cell receptor Cα/Cβ), the major role of the constant domains for both κ- and λ-containing Fabs may be to reduce the hydrophobic exposure at the VH/VL interface. Even though Fabs with these non-native pairings were thermodynamically less stable, they secreted well from mammalian cells as well behaved monodisperse proteins, which was in contrast to what was observed with the VH/Vκ and VH/Vλ scFvs that secreted as a mixture of monomer and aggregates.

  7. WEATHER INDEX- THE BASIS OF WEATHER DERIVATIVES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Botos Horia Mircea

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper approaches the subject of Weather Derivatives, more exactly their basic element the weather index. The weather index has two forms, the Heating Degree Day (HDD and the Cooling Degree Day (CDD. We will try to explain their origin, use and the relationship between the two forms of the index. In our research we started from the analysis of the weather derivatives and what they are based on. After finding out about weather index, we were interested in understanding exactly how they work and how they influence the value of the contract. On the national level the research in the field is scares, but foreign materials available. The study for this paper was based firstly on reading about Weather Derivative, and then going in the meteorogical field and determining the way by which the indices were determined. After this, we went to the field with interest in the indices, such as the energy and gas industries, and figured out how they determined the weather index. For the examples we obtained data from the weather index database, and calculated the value for the period. The study is made on a period of five years, in 8 cities of the European Union. The result of this research is that we can now understand better the importance of the way the indices work and how they influence the value of the Weather Derivatives. This research has an implication on the field of insurance, because of the fact that weather derivative are at the convergence point of the stock markets and the insurance market. The originality of the paper comes from the personal touch given to the theoretical aspect and through the analysis of the HDD and CDD index in order to show their general behaviour and relationship.

  8. Indicators for Danish Greenhouse Gas Emissions from 1990 to 2007

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lyck, Erik; Nielsen, Malene; Nielsen, Ole-Kenneth

    This report describes and documents data origin and aggregation for the derivation of indicators according to EU Monitoring Mechanism decisions, which oblige EU member states to report indicators to the EU Commission. The decision was put in force February 11, 2004 and member states are to report...

  9. Predictors of mortality in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Variceal hemorrhage (VH) is a major complication of chronic liver disease. Several factors have been validated for the prediction of the outcome of an acute VH. The clinical risk characteristics reported in developed countries may be different from developing countries. Aim: The aim of this study was to ...

  10. Simultaneous quantification of cocaine, amphetamines, opiates and cannabinoids in vitreous humor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peres, Mariana Dadalto; Pelição, Fabrício Souza; Caleffi, Bruno; De Martinis, Bruno Spinosa

    2014-01-01

    A GC-MS method for simultaneous analysis of cocaine (COC), amphetamines (AMPs), opiates, cannabinoids and their metabolites in vitreous humor (VH) was developed and fully validated. VH samples were extracted using solid phase extraction and injected into the GC-MS, using a selected ion monitoring mode. Linearity ranged from 10 to 1000 ng/mL; the exception was anhydroecgonine methyl ester (AEME), for which linearity ranged from 10 to 750 ng/mL. Inter-assay imprecision lay from 1.2 to 10.0%, intra-assay imprecision was samples taken from individuals whose blood had screened positive for drugs of abuse. All the individuals screened positive for COC in the blood (seven samples) also had positive results in VH; COC concentration ranged from 30.81 to 283.97 ng/mL (mean 186.98 ng/mL) and benzoylecgonine concentration ranged from 11.47 to 460.98 ng/mL (mean 133.91 ng/mL). It was also noticed that, in five cases, cocaethylene was detected. AEME was also quantified in one case. The use of AMP detected by blood analysis was confirmed in the VH of one individual (24.31 ng/mL). However, samples taken from three individuals whose blood tested positive for carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol presented negative results. The results demonstrated that VH is a suitable alternative biological sample to determine COC, AMPs, opiates and their metabolites.

  11. Economic evaluation of three surgical interventions for menorrhagia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez, Hervé; Kobelt, Giséla; Gervaise, Amélie

    2003-03-01

    The study was carried out to compare the overall effectiveness and direct economic costs of vaginal hysterectomy (VH), endometrial ablation (EA) and thermo-coagulation (TC) for the treatment menorrhagia. We treated 50, 50 and 47 women with menorrhagia (>150 points on the Higham pictorial chart) by VH, EA and TC respectively. The patients were treated consecutively by the same surgeon and the choice between the three procedures depended on the desire of the patients. Resource utilization for the interventions was collected retrospectively from the hospital charts. A study questionnaire was mailed to the patients 24-36 months after the primary surgery. Patients who reported that they had undergone a second procedure or who were still menorrhagic were considered as treatment failures. As expected, the failure rate was lowest for VH. The total cost (without re-intervention for persistent menorrhagia) was 5315 Euros for VH, 1098 Euros for EA and 921 Euros for TC. The total cost with re-intervention was calculated based on therapeutic strategies used in 2001 and estimated at 5321 Euros for VH, 1263 Euros for EA and 1320 Euros for TC. The two out-patient procedures are very comparable in terms of success rates and costs. Choices will depend on budgeting considerations, surgeon skill and patient preference. The results may give guidance to investment decisions.

  12. Effect of β-1.3/1.6-D-glucan derived from oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus on biometrical, haematological, biochemical, and immunological indices in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobsikova, Radka; Blahova, Jana; Franc, Ales; Jakubik, Juraj; Mikulikova, Ivana; Modra, Helena; Novotna, Kamila; Svobodova, Zdenka

    2012-01-01

    Effect of long-term oral administration of three different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0%) of micronized β-1.3/1.6-D-glucan derived from oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus, Hiratake) on biometrical, haematological, biochemical, and immunological indices of half-year-old rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was assessed in the study. Rainbow trout were feed commercial feed pellets containing β-1.3/1.6-D-glucan in the concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% for 85 days. Biometrical indices consisted in total and standard length, body and liver weight, from which derived somatic parameters such as Fulton´s condition factor and hepatosomatic index were calculated. Haematological parameters were evaluated according to unified methods for haematological examination in fish. Plasma biochemical profile was analysed using biochemical analyser Konelab 20i and Easy Lyte Analyzer. A phagocyte cells metabolic activity (induced chemiluminescence of phagocytes) was determined as an immunological parameter by a microplate luminometric method on Immunotech LM-01T. No clinical signs of behavioral, respiratory, or neurologic distress were observed in rainbow trout. Fish showed normal feeding behavior. As for biometric parameters, no significant changes in total and standard length, body weight, liver weight, as well as in condition factor and hepatosomatic index of experimental and control fish were found. In the course of the study, weight gains in rainbow trout were similar and continuous. Shifts in PCV (pglucose, lactate, total protein, cholesterol, calcium, natrium, potassium (all p<0.05), albumins and chlorides (both p<0.01), as well as catalytic activities of ALT and AST (both p<0.05) were changed in the course of the study. A phagocyte cells metabolic activity (luminol-induced chemiluminescence) in rainbow trout was not altered by oyster mushroom β-1.3/1.6-D-glucan administration. After long-term oral administration of three concentrations of micronized β-1.3/1.6-D

  13. Geophysical and solar activity indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bossy, L.; Lemaire, J.

    1984-04-01

    A large number of geophysicists try to correlate their observations with one or even a series of different geophysical or solar activity indices. Yet the right choice of the most appropriate index with which to correlate depends mainly on our understanding of the physical cause-effect relationship between the new set of observations and the index chosen. This best choice will therefore depend on our good understanding of the methods of measurement and derivation of the adopted index in such correlative studies. It relies also on our awareness of the range of applicability of the indices presently available as well as on our understanding of their limitations. It was to achieve these goals that a series of general lectures on geophysical and solar activity indices was organized by L. Bossy and J. Lemaire (Institut d'Aeronomie Spatiale de Belgique (IASB), Brussels), March 26-29, 1984 at Han-sur-Lesse, Belgium.

  14. Design and Generation of Humanized Single-chain Fv Derived from Mouse Hybridoma for Potential Targeting Application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khantasup, Kannika; Chantima, Warangkana; Sangma, Chak; Poomputsa, Kanokwan; Dharakul, Tararaj

    2015-12-01

    Single-chain variable antibody fragments (scFvs) are attractive candidates for targeted immunotherapy in several human diseases. In this study, a concise humanization strategy combined with an optimized production method for humanizing scFvs was successfully employed. Two antibody clones, one directed against the hemagglutinin of H5N1 influenza virus, the other against EpCAM, a cancer biomarker, were used to demonstrate the validity of the method. Heavy chain (VH) and light chain (VL) variable regions of immunoglobulin genes from mouse hybridoma cells were sequenced and subjected to the construction of mouse scFv 3-D structure. Based on in silico modeling, the humanized version of the scFv was designed via complementarity-determining region (CDR) grafting with the retention of mouse framework region (FR) residues identified by primary sequence analysis. Root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) value between mouse and humanized scFv structures was calculated to evaluate the preservation of CDR conformation. Mouse and humanized scFv genes were then constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli. Using this method, we successfully generated humanized scFvs that retained the targeting activity of their respective mouse scFv counterparts. In addition, the humanized scFvs were engineered with a C-terminal cysteine residue (hscFv-C) for site-directed conjugation for use in future targeting applications. The hscFv-C expression was extensively optimized to improve protein production yield. The protocol yielded a 20-fold increase in production of hscFv-Cs in E. coli periplasm. The strategy described in this study may be applicable in the humanization of other antibodies derived from mouse hybridoma.

  15. The derivative based variance sensitivity analysis for the distribution parameters and its computation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Pan; Lu, Zhenzhou; Ren, Bo; Cheng, Lei

    2013-01-01

    The output variance is an important measure for the performance of a structural system, and it is always influenced by the distribution parameters of inputs. In order to identify the influential distribution parameters and make it clear that how those distribution parameters influence the output variance, this work presents the derivative based variance sensitivity decomposition according to Sobol′s variance decomposition, and proposes the derivative based main and total sensitivity indices. By transforming the derivatives of various orders variance contributions into the form of expectation via kernel function, the proposed main and total sensitivity indices can be seen as the “by-product” of Sobol′s variance based sensitivity analysis without any additional output evaluation. Since Sobol′s variance based sensitivity indices have been computed efficiently by the sparse grid integration method, this work also employs the sparse grid integration method to compute the derivative based main and total sensitivity indices. Several examples are used to demonstrate the rationality of the proposed sensitivity indices and the accuracy of the applied method

  16. Indicators of safety culture - selection and utilization of leading safety performance indicators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reiman, Teemu; Pietikaeinen, Elina (VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland (Finland))

    2010-03-15

    Safety indicators play a role in providing information on organizational performance, motivating people to work on safety and increasing organizational potential for safety. The aim of this report is to provide an overview on leading safety indicators in the domain of nuclear safety. The report explains the distinction between lead and lag indicators and proposes a framework of three types of safety performance indicators - feedback, monitor and drive indicators. Finally the report provides guidance for nuclear energy organizations for selecting and interpreting safety indicators. It proposes the use of safety culture as a leading safety performance indicator and offers an example list of potential indicators in all three categories. The report concludes that monitor and drive indicators are so called lead indicators. Drive indicators are chosen priority areas of organizational safety activity. They are based on the underlying safety model and potential safety activities and safety policy derived from it. Drive indicators influence control measures that manage the socio technical system; change, maintain, reinforce, or reduce something. Monitor indicators provide a view on the dynamics of the system in question; the activities taking place, abilities, skills and motivation of the personnel, routines and practices - the organizational potential for safety. They also monitor the efficacy of the control measures that are used to manage the socio technical system. Typically the safety performance indicators that are used are lagging (feedback) indicators that measure the outcomes of the socio technical system. Besides feedback indicators, organizations should also acknowledge the important role of monitor and drive indicators in managing safety. The selection and use of safety performance indicators is always based on an understanding (a model) of the socio technical system and safety. The safety model defines what risks are perceived. It is important that the safety

  17. Indicators of safety culture - selection and utilization of leading safety performance indicators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reiman, Teemu; Pietikaeinen, Elina

    2010-03-01

    Safety indicators play a role in providing information on organizational performance, motivating people to work on safety and increasing organizational potential for safety. The aim of this report is to provide an overview on leading safety indicators in the domain of nuclear safety. The report explains the distinction between lead and lag indicators and proposes a framework of three types of safety performance indicators - feedback, monitor and drive indicators. Finally the report provides guidance for nuclear energy organizations for selecting and interpreting safety indicators. It proposes the use of safety culture as a leading safety performance indicator and offers an example list of potential indicators in all three categories. The report concludes that monitor and drive indicators are so called lead indicators. Drive indicators are chosen priority areas of organizational safety activity. They are based on the underlying safety model and potential safety activities and safety policy derived from it. Drive indicators influence control measures that manage the socio technical system; change, maintain, reinforce, or reduce something. Monitor indicators provide a view on the dynamics of the system in question; the activities taking place, abilities, skills and motivation of the personnel, routines and practices - the organizational potential for safety. They also monitor the efficacy of the control measures that are used to manage the socio technical system. Typically the safety performance indicators that are used are lagging (feedback) indicators that measure the outcomes of the socio technical system. Besides feedback indicators, organizations should also acknowledge the important role of monitor and drive indicators in managing safety. The selection and use of safety performance indicators is always based on an understanding (a model) of the socio technical system and safety. The safety model defines what risks are perceived. It is important that the safety

  18. Offline fusion of co-registered intravascular ultrasound and frequency domain optical coherence tomography images for the analysis of human atherosclerotic plaques

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Räber, Lorenz; Heo, Jung Ho; Radu, Maria D

    2012-01-01

    To demonstrate the feasibility and potential usefulness of an offline fusion of matched optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)/virtual histology (IVUS-VH) images.......To demonstrate the feasibility and potential usefulness of an offline fusion of matched optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)/virtual histology (IVUS-VH) images....

  19. Dimensionality reduction of quality of life indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Jindrová

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Selecting indicators for assessing the quality of life at the regional level is not unambigous. Currently, there are no precisely defined indicators that would give comprehensive information about the quality of life on a local level. In this paper we focus on the determination (selection of groups of indicators that can be interpreted, on the basis of studied literature, as factors characterizing the quality of life. Furthermore, on the application of methods to reduce the dimensionality of these indicators, from the source of the database CULS KROK, which provides statistics on the regional and districts level. To reduce the number of indicators and the subsequent creation of derived variables that capture the relationships between selected indicators multivariate statistical analysis methods, especially method of principal components and factor analysis were used. This paper also indicates the methodology grant project “Methodological Approaches to assess Subjective Aspects of the life quality in regions of the Czech Republic”.

  20. Derivative criteria of plasticity anddurability of metal materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustov Yuriy Ivanovich

    Full Text Available Criteria of plasticity and durability derivative of standard indicators of plasticity (δ, ψ and durability (σ , σ are offered. Criteria К and К follow from the equation of relative indicators of durability and plasticity. The purpose of the researches is the establishment of interrelation of derivative criteria with the Page indicator. The values of derivative criteria were defined for steels 50X and 50XH after processing by cold, and also for steels 50G2 and 38HGN after sorbitizing. It was established that the sum of the offered derivative criteria of plasticity and durability С considered for the steels is almost equal to unit and corresponds to a square root of relative durability and plasticity criterion C . Both criteria testify to two-unity opposite processes of deformation and resistance to deformation. By means of the equations for S and С it is possible to calculate an indicator of uniform plastic deformation of σ and through it to estimate synergetic criteria - true tension and specific energy of deformation and destruction of metal materials. On the basis of the received results the expressions for assessing the uniform and concentrated components of plastic deformation are established. The preference of the dependence of uniform relative lengthening from a cubic root of criterion К , and also to work of the criteria of relative lengthening and relative durability is given. The advantage of the formulas consists in simplicity and efficiency of calculation, in ensuring necessary accuracy of calculation of the size δ for the subsequent calculation of structural and power (synergetic criteria of reliability of metals.

  1. Estimating daily climatologies for climate indices derived from climate model data and observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahlstein, Irina; Spirig, Christoph; Liniger, Mark A; Appenzeller, Christof

    2015-01-01

    Climate indices help to describe the past, present, and the future climate. They are usually closer related to possible impacts and are therefore more illustrative to users than simple climate means. Indices are often based on daily data series and thresholds. It is shown that the percentile-based thresholds are sensitive to the method of computation, and so are the climatological daily mean and the daily standard deviation, which are used for bias corrections of daily climate model data. Sample size issues of either the observed reference period or the model data lead to uncertainties in these estimations. A large number of past ensemble seasonal forecasts, called hindcasts, is used to explore these sampling uncertainties and to compare two different approaches. Based on a perfect model approach it is shown that a fitting approach can improve substantially the estimates of daily climatologies of percentile-based thresholds over land areas, as well as the mean and the variability. These improvements are relevant for bias removal in long-range forecasts or predictions of climate indices based on percentile thresholds. But also for climate change studies, the method shows potential for use. Key Points More robust estimates of daily climate characteristics Statistical fitting approach Based on a perfect model approach PMID:26042192

  2. A general theory of multimetric indices and their properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoolmaster, Donald R.; Grace, James B.; Schweiger, E. William

    2012-01-01

    1. Stewardship of biological and ecological resources requires the ability to make integrative assessments of ecological integrity. One of the emerging methods for making such integrative assessments is multimetric indices (MMIs). These indices synthesize data, often from multiple levels of biological organization, with the goal of deriving a single index that reflects the overall effects of human disturbance. Despite the widespread use of MMIs, there is uncertainty about why this approach can be effective. An understanding of MMIs requires a quantitative theory that illustrates how the properties of candidate metrics relates to MMIs generated from those metrics. 2. We present the initial basis for such a theory by deriving the general mathematical characteristics of MMIs assembled from metrics. We then use the theory to derive quantitative answers to the following questions: Is there an optimal number of metrics to comprise an index? How does covariance among metrics affect the performance of the index derived from those metrics? And what are the criteria to decide whether a given metric will improve the performance of an index? 3. We find that the optimal number of metrics to be included in an index depends on the theoretical distribution of signal of the disturbance gradient contained in each metric. For example, if the rank-ordered parameters of a metric-disturbance regression can be described by a monotonically decreasing function, then an optimum number of metrics exists and can often be derived analytically. We derive the conditions by which adding a given metric can be expected to improve an index. 4. We find that the criterion defining such conditions depends nonlinearly of the signal of the disturbance gradient, the noise (error) of the metric and the correlation of the metric errors. Importantly, we find that correlation among metric errors increases the signal required for the metric to improve the index. 5. The theoretical framework presented in this

  3. Indicators for sustainable mobility - a policy oriented approach

    OpenAIRE

    Borken, Jens

    2003-01-01

    Seven indicators are derived to measure transport´s most important environmental impacts. They are proposed for prospective analysis at the highest level of aggregation. With the aid of three valuation criteria adopted from life cycle analysis a transparent ranking and overall assessment can be established. A sensitivity analysis checks the validity of the results with resprect do data uncertainty and different value judgements. These elements can eually be applied as indicators for environme...

  4. Fabrication and Characterization of Nanoenergetic Hollow Spherical Hexanitrostibene (HNS Derivatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiong Cao

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The spherization of nanoenergetic materials is the best way to improve the sensitivity and increase loading densities and detonation properties for weapons and ammunition, but the preparation of spherical nanoenergetic materials with high regularization, uniform size and monodispersity is still a challenge. In this paper, nanoenergetic hollow spherical hexanitrostibene (HNS derivatives were fabricated via a one-pot copolymerization strategy, which is based on the reaction of HNS and piperazine in acetonitrile solution. Characterization results indicated the as-prepared reaction nanoenergetic products were HNS-derived oligomers, where a free radical copolymerization reaction process was inferred. The hollow sphere structure of the HNS derivatives was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, transmission electron microscope (TEM, and synchrotron radiation X-ray imaging technology. The properties of the nanoenergetic hollow spherical derivatives, including thermal decomposition and sensitivity are discussed in detail. Sensitivity studies showed that the nanoenergetic derivatives exhibited lower impact, friction and spark sensitivity than raw HNS. Thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimeter (TG-DSC results showed that continuous exothermic decomposition occurred in the whole temperature range, which indicated that nanoenergetic derivatives have a unique role in thermal applications. Therefore, nanoenergetic hollow spherical HNS derivatives could provide a new way to modify the properties of certain energetic compounds and fabricate spherical nanomaterials to improve the charge configuration.

  5. Physiological basis of clinically used coronary hemodynamic indices

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spaan, Jos A. E.; Piek, Jan J.; Hoffman, Julien I. E.; Siebes, Maria

    2006-01-01

    In deriving clinically used hemodynamic indices such as fractional flow reserve and coronary flow velocity reserve, simplified models of the coronary circulation are used. In particular, myocardial resistance is assumed to be independent of factors such as heart contraction and driving pressure.

  6. Role of various indices derived from an oral glucose tolerance test in the prediction of conversion from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Ye An; Ku, Eu Jeong; Khang, Ah Reum; Hong, Eun Shil; Kim, Kyoung Min; Moon, Jae Hoon; Choi, Sung Hee; Park, Kyong Soo; Jang, Hak Chul; Lim, Soo

    2014-11-01

    The clinical implications of prediabetes for development of type 2 diabetes may differ for Asian ethnicity. We investigated various indices derived from a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in people with prediabetes to predict their future risk of diabetes. We recruited 406 consecutive subjects with prediabetes from 2005 to 2006 and followed them up every 3-6 months for up to 9 years. Prediabetes was defined as isolated impaired fasting glucose (IFG), isolated impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), combined glucose intolerance (CGI), or isolated elevated HbA1c (5.7-6.4%, 39-46 mmol/mol) without IFG or IGT. The rate of diabetes conversion was compared between prediabetes categories. The association of glycemic indices with development of diabetes was also investigated. Eighty-one patients were diagnosed with diabetes during the 9-year follow-up (median 46.0 months). The rate of diabetes conversion was higher in subjects with CGI (31.9%), or isolated IGT (18.5%) than in those with isolated IFG (15.2%) or isolated elevated HbA1c (10.9%). Surrogate markers reflecting β-cell dysfunction were more closely associated with diabetes conversion than insulin resistance indices. Subjects with a 30-min postload glucose ≥ 165 mg/dL and a 30-min C-peptide prediabetic subjects. In Asians, at least Koreans, β-cell dysfunction seems to be the major determinant for diabetes conversion. A combination of high glucose and low C-peptide levels at 30 min after OGTT may be a good predictor for diabetes conversion in this population. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  7. Characteristics of virtual histology-intravascular unltrasound of infarction-related artery atheromatous plaque and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A level: a correlation study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Shaobo; Jiang Tiemin; Liang Guoqing; Zhao Jihong; Li Yuming

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To observe the characteristics of virtual histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) in 70 patients with acute ST segment elevated type myocardial infarction (AMI), the findings were compared with that in 70 patients with stable angina (control group), and to analyze the correlation between VH-IVUS characteristics and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPPA) level. Methods: Seventy patients with ST segment elevated AMI and 70 patients with stable angina, who received percutaneous coronary artery intervention and were encountered from Jan. 2008 to Dec. 2009, were involved in this study. After coronary angiography was completed,the plasma was aspirated from culprit coronary artery with ZEEK catheter. Then, IVUS examination to culprit lesion was carried out and grayscale and VH data were stored. The characteristics of VH-IVUS of culprit atheromatous plaque were observed and its correlation with PAPPA was analyzed. Results: The difference in age,gender, hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia between two groups was of no statistical significance, but statistically significant difference in VH-IVUS characteristics of the atheromatous plaque existed between two groups, more fibro-fatty tissue and necrotic tissue with less dense calcium were seen in AMI group. The ratio of necrotic tissue area to calcified tissue area was (3.62±1.46) in AMI group and(7.18±2.53) in control group (P<0.01). PAPPA in AMI group was significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.01). Parameters of VH-IVUS in AMI group were highly correlated with PAPPA (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: The characteristics of virtual histology-intravascular ultrasound of infarction-related artery atheromatous plaque include more necrotic tissue, higher ratio of necrotic tissue area to calcified tissue area and a closer correlation with PAPPA. (authors)

  8. Composite indicators for security of energy supply using ordered weighted averaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Costescu Badea, Anca; Rocco S, Claudio M.; Tarantola, Stefano; Bolado, Ricardo

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we propose to use an aggregation rule derived from the Group Decision Theory, and based on the ranks of a set of individual indicators, for building a family of composite indicators for the security of energy supply. This family of composite indicators depends on a parameter associated with the risk-averse level of the decision maker, which can hence vary continuously from risk-prone to risk-averse. It represents a valuable and objective instrument to evaluate the degree of security of energy supply of different countries without entering into controversial matters related to the choice of the weights. This methodology can be used to aggregate either ranks or normalized values of the individual indicators. We apply it to a set of individual indicators, accounting for different dimensions of the security of supply and derived from the outputs of an energy system model. We study the evolution in time of the countries' performances, as well as the propagation of the uncertainties associated with the individual indicators to the composite. We also studied the robustness of such composite indicators with respect to the risk-averse level.

  9. Bifunctional Anti-Non-Amyloid Component α-Synuclein Nanobodies Are Protective In Situ.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David C Butler

    Full Text Available Misfolding, abnormal accumulation, and secretion of α-Synuclein (α-Syn are closely associated with synucleinopathies, including Parkinson's disease (PD. VH14 is a human single domain intrabody selected against the non-amyloid component (NAC hydrophobic interaction region of α-Syn, which is critical for initial aggregation. Using neuronal cell lines, we show that as a bifunctional nanobody fused to a proteasome targeting signal, VH14PEST can counteract heterologous proteostatic effects of mutant α-Syn on mutant huntingtin Exon1 and protect against α-Syn toxicity using propidium iodide or Annexin V readouts. We compared this anti-NAC candidate to NbSyn87, which binds to the C-terminus of α-Syn. NbSyn87PEST degrades α-Syn as well or better than VH14PEST. However, while both candidates reduced toxicity, VH14PEST appears more effective in both proteostatic stress and toxicity assays. These results show that the approach of reducing intracellular monomeric targets with novel antibody engineering technology should allow in vivo modulation of proteostatic pathologies.

  10. DEVELOPMENT OF DERIVATIVE MARKET IN 2000-2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evgeniya V. Vasina

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available At the end of XIX century futures exchange emerged, in the early 70-ies XX century - option exchange of financial derivatives. These exchanges gave a huge boost to the development of market of the operations with derivative financial instruments. In fact, in the 1970-1980-ies a new market segment was actually formed - the stock and financial derivatives. Trade in financial derivatives began in the OTC market, which accounts for most of the trade of derivatives. Today volumes of the OTC market of derivatives are several times greater than the volume of world trade and world GDP. From 2000 to 2007 derivative OTC market grew rapidly. In 2007-2008 there is a decline in trade of derivatives, but already in 2009 the world market of OTC derivatives returned to pre-crisis growth rates. Among all the instruments of the OTC market of derivatives swaps on interest rates stand out in the volumes, which even in the crisis of2007-2008 slightly, but increased. Analysis of indicators of the global OTC market of derivatives reveals the predominance of instruments on interest rates: their share in the total world market in 2012 amounted to about 77%. If we consider the structure of the OTC market of derivatives on type contracts, in 2012 most of the contracts (66% belonged to the swaps. As regards the structure of the world market of exchange derivatives, in 2012 the options had the largest share - 54 %, futures accounted for 46 %. Among all the exchange instruments on interest rates held 92%.

  11. Development Of Derivative Market In 2000-2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evgeniya V. Vasina

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available At the end of XIX century futures exchange emerged, in the early 70-ies XX century - option exchange of financial derivatives. These exchanges gave a huge boost to the development of market of the operations with derivative financial instruments. In fact, in the 1970-1980-ies a new market segment was actually formed - the stock and financial derivatives. Trade in financial derivatives began in the OTC market, which accounts for most of the trade of derivatives. Today volumes of the OTC market of derivatives are several times greater than the volume of world trade and world GDP. From 2000 to 2007 derivative OTC market grew rapidly. In 2007-2008 there is a decline in trade of derivatives, but already in 2009 the world market of OTC derivatives returned to pre-crisis growth rates. Among all the instruments of the OTC market of derivatives swaps on interest rates stand out in the volumes, which even in the crisis of2007-2008 slightly, but increased. Analysis of indicators of the global OTC market of derivatives reveals the predominance of instruments on interest rates: their share in the total world market in 2012 amounted to about 77%. If we consider the structure of the OTC market of derivatives on type contracts, in 2012 most of the contracts (66% belonged to the swaps. As regards the structure of the world market of exchange derivatives, in 2012 the options had the largest share - 54 %, futures accounted for 46 %. Among all the exchange instruments on interest rates held 92%.

  12. Applicability of colour index calibrations to T Tauri stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schöning, T.; Ammler, M.

    2008-01-01

    We examine the applicability of effective temperature scales of several broad band colours to T Tauri stars (TTS). We take into account different colour systems as well as stellar parameters like metallicity and surface gravity which influence the conversion from colour indices or spectral type to effective temperature. For a large sample of TTS, we derive temperatures from broad band colour indices and check if they are consistent in a statistical sense with temperatures inferred from spectral types. There are some scales (for V-H, V-K, I-J, J-H, and J-K) which indeed predict the same temperatures as the spectral types and therefore can be at least used to confirm effective temperatures. Furthermore, we examine whether TTS with dynamically derived masses can be used for a test of evolutionary models and effective temperature calibrations. We compare the observed parameters of the eclipsing T Tauri binary V1642 Ori A to the predictions of evolutionary models in both the H-R and the Kiel diagram using temperatures derived with several colour index scales. We check whether the evolutionary models and the colour index scales are consistent with coevality and the dynamical masses of the binary components. It turns out that the Kiel diagram offers a stricter test than the H-R diagram. Only the evolutionary models of \\cite {BCAH98} with mixing length parameter α=1.9 and of \\cite{DM94,DM97} show consistent results in the Kiel diagram in combination with some conversion scales of \\cite{HBS00} and of \\cite{KH95}.

  13. The elasticity of substitution of superlative price indices

    OpenAIRE

    Petter Frenger

    2005-01-01

    Abstract: The paper presents a method for computing the curvature implicit in the use of superlative price indices. It extends the quadratic lemma and allows us to compute the elasticity of substitution of the underlying preferences in the direction of the observed price change for the Törnqvist and the quadratic mean of order r indices. It derives the expressions for the directional shadow elasticity of substitution and applies the results to the Norwegian CPI data base. Ke...

  14. Complexes of salicylic acid and its derivatives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tel' zhenskaya, P N; Shvarts, E M [AN Latvijskoj SSR, Riga. Inst. Neorganicheskoj Khimii

    1977-01-01

    A generalization and systematization have been made of literature data on complexing of various elements, including beryllium, cadmium, boron, indium, rare-earth elements, actinides, and transition elements with salicylic acid and it derivatives (amino-, nitro- and halosalicylic acids). The effect of the position and nature of the substitute, in the case of salicylic acid derivatives, on the complexing process is discussed. Certain physicochemical properties of the complexes under consideration are described along with data indicative of their stability.

  15. On computing Laplace's coefficients and their derivatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerasimov, I. A.; Vinnikov, E. L.

    The algorithm of computing Laplace's coefficients and their derivatives is proposed with application of recurrent relations. The A.G.M.-method is used for the calculation of values L0(0), L0(1). The FORTRAN-program corresponding to the algorithm is given. The precision control was provided with numerical integrating by Simpsons method. The behavior of Laplace's coefficients and their third derivatives whith varying indices K, n for fixed values of the α-parameter is presented graphically.

  16. Light curing through glass ceramics: effect of curing mode on micromechanical properties of dual-curing resin cements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flury, Simon; Lussi, Adrian; Hickel, Reinhard; Ilie, Nicoleta

    2014-04-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate micromechanical properties of five dual-curing resin cements after different curing modes including light curing through glass ceramic materials. Vickers hardness (VH) and indentation modulus (Y HU) of Panavia F2.0, RelyX Unicem 2 Automix, SpeedCEM, BisCem, and BeautiCem SA were measured after 1 week of storage (37 °C, 100 % humidity). The resin cements were tested following self-curing or light curing with the second-generation light-emitting diode (LED) curing unit Elipar FreeLight 2 in Standard Mode (1,545 mW/cm(2)) or with the third-generation LED curing unit VALO in High Power Mode (1,869 mW/cm(2)) or in XtraPower Mode (3,505 mW/cm(2)). Light curing was performed directly or through glass ceramic discs of 1.5 or 3 mm thickness of IPS Empress CAD or IPS e.max CAD. VH and Y HU were analysed with Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by pairwise Wilcoxon rank sum tests (α = 0.05). RelyX Unicem 2 Automix resulted in the highest VH and Y HU followed by BeautiCem SA, BisCem, SpeedCEM, and finally Panavia F2.0. Self-curing of RelyX Unicem 2 Automix and SpeedCEM lowered VH and Y HU compared to light curing whereas self-curing of Panavia F2.0, BisCem, and BeautiCem SA led to similar or significantly higher VH and Y HU compared to light curing. Generally, direct light curing resulted in similar or lower VH and Y HU compared to light curing through 1.5-mm-thick ceramic discs. Light curing through 3-mm-thick discs of IPS e.max CAD generally reduced VH and Y HU for all resin cements except SpeedCEM, which was the least affected by light curing through ceramic discs. The resin cements responded heterogeneously to changes in curing mode. The applied irradiances and light curing times adequately cured the resin cements even through 1.5-mm-thick ceramic discs. When light curing resin cements through thick glass ceramic restorations, clinicians should consider to prolong the light curing times even with LED curing units providing high

  17. Web indicators for research evaluation a practical guide

    CERN Document Server

    Thelwall, Michael

    2017-01-01

    In recent years there has been an increasing demand for research evaluation within universities and other research-based organisations. In parallel, there has been an increasing recognition that traditional citation-based indicators are not able to reflect the societal impacts of research and are slow to appear. This has led to the creation of new indicators for different types of research impact as well as timelier indicators, mainly derived from the Web. These indicators have been called altmetrics, webometrics or just web metrics. This book describes and evaluates a range of web indicators for aspects of societal or scholarly impact, discusses the theory and practice of using and evaluating web indicators for research assessment and outlines practical strategies for obtaining many web indicators. In addition to describing impact indicators for traditional scholarly outputs, such as journal articles and monographs, it also covers indicators for videos, datasets, software and other non-standard scholarly out...

  18. Assessing biodiversity in arable farmland by means of indicators: an overview

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bockstaller Christian

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Maintaining biodiversity is one of the key issues of sustainable agriculture. It is now stated that innovation to enhance biodiversity in arable land requires operational assessment tools like indicators. The goal of the article is to provide an overview of available indicators. Besides measured indicators and simple indicators based on management data, we focus on predictive indicators derived from operational models and adapted to ex ante assessment in innovative cropping design. The possibility of use for each indicator type is discussed.

  19. Integrating Methods for Developing Sustainability Indicators to Facilitate Learning and Action

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mark Reed

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Bossel's (2001 systems-based approach for deriving comprehensive indicator sets provides one of the most holistic frameworks for developing sustainability indicators. It ensures that indicators cover all important aspects of system viability, performance, and sustainability, and recognizes that a system cannot be assessed in isolation from the systems upon which it depends and which in turn depend upon it. In this reply, we show how Bossel's approach is part of a wider convergence toward integrating participatory and reductionist approaches to measure progress toward sustainable development. However, we also show that further integration of these approaches may be able to improve the accuracy and reliability of indicators to better stimulate community learning and action. Only through active community involvement can indicators facilitate progress toward sustainable development goals. To engage communities effectively in the application of indicators, these communities must be actively involved in developing, and even in proposing, indicators. The accuracy, reliability, and sensitivity of the indicators derived from local communities can be ensured through an iterative process of empirical and community evaluation. Communities are unlikely to invest in measuring sustainability indicators unless monitoring provides immediate and clear benefits. However, in the context of goals, targets, and/or baselines, sustainability indicators can more effectively contribute to a process of development that matches local priorities and engages the interests of local people.

  20. Urban Density Indices Using Mean Shift-Based Upsampled Elevetion Data

    OpenAIRE

    Charou, E.; Gyftakis, S.; Bratsolis, E.; Tsenoglou, T.; Papadopoulou, Th.; Vassilas, N.

    2015-01-01

    Urban density is an important factor for several fields, e.g. urban design, planning and land management. Modern remote sensors deliver ample information for the estimation of specific urban land classification classes (2D indicators), and the height of urban land classification objects (3D indicators) within an Area of Interest (AOI). In this research, two of these indicators, Building Coverage Ratio (BCR) and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) are numerically and automatically derived from hig...

  1. Vertebral hemangioma: an important differential in the evaluation of locally aggressive spinal lesions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Justin; Meir, Adam; Vrodos, Nikitas; Yau, Yun-Hom

    2010-08-15

    A case report and a discussion of recent published data. To highlight the importance of vertebral hemangioma (VH) as a differential diagnosis in the evaluation of locally aggressive spinal lesions. VH commonly occur as incidental findings, however, locally aggressive VH have been described. Difficulties in diagnosing these lesions are well reported and relate to changes in fat content causing uncharacteristic appearances on imaging. The management options for these lesions include a combination of observation, embolization, sclerotherapy, surgical decompression, or stabilization and radiotherapy. A 45-year-old patient who was previously well presented with back pain and rapidly progressive paraparesis. Imaging confirmed the presence of an extensive lesion centered within the right T3 vertebral pedicle with intrusion into the spinal canal. Urgent surgical decompression was undertaken and was complicated by extensive intraoperative hemorrhage requiring massive transfusion. Histologically, the lesion was shown to be a cavernous VH with no evidence of malignancy. Following radiation oncology review, he was offered adjuvant radiotherapy to minimize the risks of recurrence. He achieved a near full neurologic recovery within 2 weeks and had a full recovery by 12 months. VH should be considered in the evaluation of locally aggressive spinal lesions. Angiography is a useful adjunct in the evaluation of these lesions, both as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool. After diagnosed correctly a wide range of treatment options exist that may prevent the patient from undergoing major surgical resection and reconstruction procedures, which may be associated with high rates of morbidity.

  2. Persistent changes in ability to express long-term potentiation/depression in the rat hippocampus after juvenile/adult stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maggio, Nicola; Segal, Menahem

    2011-04-15

    The ventral hippocampus (VH) was recently shown to express lower magnitude long-term potentiation (LTP) compared with the dorsal hippocampus (DH). Exposure to acute stress reversed this difference, and VH slices from stressed rats expressed larger LTP than that produced in the DH, which was reduced by stress. Stressful experience in adolescence has been shown to produce long-lasting effects on animal behavior and on ability to express LTP/long-term depression (LTD) of reactivity to afferent stimulation in the adult. We are interested in possible interactions between juvenile and adult stress in their effects of adult plasticity. We studied the effects of a composite juvenile (28-30 days) stress, followed by a reminder stressful experience in the young adult (60 days) rat, on the ability to produce LTP and LTD in CA1 region of slices of the VH and DH. Juvenile or adult stress produced a transient decrease in ability to express LTP in DH and a parallel increase in LTP in VH. Stress in the young adult after juvenile stress produced a striking prolongation of the DH/VH disparity with respect to the ability to express both LTP and LTD into the adulthood of the rat. These results have important implications for the impact of juvenile stress on adult neuronal plasticity and on the understanding the functions of the different sectors of the hippocampus. Copyright © 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Parrotfish size: a simple yet useful alternative indicator of fishing effects on Caribbean reefs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallès, Henri; Oxenford, Hazel A

    2014-01-01

    There is great need to identify simple yet reliable indicators of fishing effects within the multi-species, multi-gear, data-poor fisheries of the Caribbean. Here, we investigate links between fishing pressure and three simple fish metrics, i.e. average fish weight (an estimate of average individual fish size), fish density and fish biomass, derived from (1) the parrotfish family, a ubiquitous herbivore family across the Caribbean, and (2) three fish groups of "commercial" carnivores including snappers and groupers, which are widely-used as indicators of fishing effects. We hypothesize that, because most Caribbean reefs are being heavily fished, fish metrics derived from the less vulnerable parrotfish group would exhibit stronger relationships with fishing pressure on today's Caribbean reefs than those derived from the highly vulnerable commercial fish groups. We used data from 348 Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) reef-surveys across the Caribbean to assess relationships between two independent indices of fishing pressure (one derived from human population density data, the other from open to fishing versus protected status) and the three fish metrics derived from the four aforementioned fish groups. We found that, although two fish metrics, average parrotfish weight and combined biomass of selected commercial species, were consistently negatively linked to the indices of fishing pressure across the Caribbean, the parrotfish metric consistently outranked the latter in the strength of the relationship, thus supporting our hypothesis. Overall, our study highlights that (assemblage-level) average parrotfish size might be a useful alternative indicator of fishing effects over the typical conditions of most Caribbean shallow reefs: moderate-to-heavy levels of fishing and low abundance of highly valued commercial species.

  4. Jordan Banks Financial Soundness Indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Imad Kutum

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research paper is to examine the Jordanian banks using financial soundness indicators. This is to establish if Jordanian banks were affected because of the 2007/2008 financial crisis and determine the underlying reasons. The research paper was conducted on 25 banks in Jordan listed in the countries securities exchange. The research methodology used consisted of examining the banks financial records in order to derive four crucial Basel III ratio such as the capital adequacy ratio, the leverage ratio, the liquidity ratio and finally the Total Provisions (As % Of Non-Performing Loans %. The results revealed that out of the four hypotheses under examination Jordan Banks do not meet Basel financial Indicators for Capital Adequacy Ratio, Jordan Banks does not meet Basel financial Indicators for Liquidity Ratio , Jordan Banks do not meet Basel financial Indicators for Leverage Ratio and Jordan Banks do not meet Basel financial Indicators for Total Provisions (As % Of Non-Performing Loans ratio. Only one hypothesis was accepted based on the research outcomes. The rest of the hypothesis was rejected since the average trend line did not go below the Basel III required ratio level. The general outcome of the research revealed that Jordanian banks were not affected significantly by the financial crisis.

  5. Analysis of the hygroscopic and volatile properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and unseeded SOA particles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, N. K.; Duplissy, J.; Gysel, M.; Metzger, A.; Dommen, J.; Weingartner, E.; Alfarra, M. R.; Prevot, A. S. H.; Fletcher, C.; Good, N.; McFiggans, G.; Jonsson, Â. M.; Hallquist, M.; Baltensperger, U.; Ristovski, Z. D.

    2009-01-01

    The volatile and hygroscopic properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and unseeded secondary organic aerosol (SOA) derived from the photo-oxidation of atmospherically relevant concentrations of α-pinene were studied. The seed particles were electrospray generated ammonium sulphate ((NH4)2SO4) having diameters of approximately 33 nm with a quasi-mono-disperse size distribution (geometric standard deviation σg=1.3). The volatile and hygroscopic properties of both seeded and unseeded SOA were simultaneously measured with a VH-TDMA (volatility - hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer). VH-TDMA measurements of unseeded SOA show a decrease in the hygroscopic growth (HGF) factor for increased volatilisation temperatures such that the more volatile compounds appear to be more hygroscopic. This is opposite to the expected preferential evaporation of more volatile but less hygroscopic material, but could also be due to enhanced oligomerisation occurring at the higher temperature in the thermodenuder. In addition, HGF measurements of seeded SOA were measured as a function of time at two relative humidities, below (RH 75%) and above (RH 85%) the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) of the pure ammonium sulphate seeds. As these measurements were conducted during the onset phase of photo-oxidation, during particle growth, they enabled us to find the dependence of the HGF as a function of the volume fraction of the SOA coating. HGF's measured at RH of 85% showed a continuous decrease as the SOA coating thickness increased. The measured growth factors show good agreements with ZSR predictions indicating that, at these RH values, there are only minor solute-solute interactions. At 75% RH, as the SOA fraction increased, a rapid increase in the HGF was observed indicating that an increasing fraction of the (NH4)2SO4 is subject to a phase transition, going into solution, with an increasing volume fraction of SOA. To our knowledge this is the first time that SOA derived

  6. Analysis of the hygroscopic and volatile properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and un-seeded SOA particles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, N. K.; Duplissy, J.; Gysel, M.; Metzger, A.; Dommen, J.; Weingartner, E.; Alfarra, M. R.; Fletcher, C.; Good, N.; McFiggans, G.; Jonsson, Ã. M.; Hallquist, M.; Baltensperger, U.; Ristovski, Z. D.

    2008-05-01

    The volatile and hygroscopic properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and un-seeded secondary organic aerosol (SOA) derived from the photo-oxidation of atmospherically relevant concentrations of α-pinene were studied. The seed particles were electrospray generated ammonium sulphate ((NH4)2SO4) having diameters of approximately 33 nm with a quasi-mono-disperse size distribution (geometric standard deviation σg=1.3). The volatile and hygroscopic properties of both seeded and unseeded SOA were simultaneously measured with a VH-TDMA (volatility - hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer). VH-TDMA measurements of unseeded SOA show a decrease in the hygroscopic growth (HGF) factor for increased volatilisation temperatures such that the more volatile compounds appear to be more hygroscopic. This is opposite to the expected preferential evaporation of more volatile but less hygroscopic material, but could also be due to enhanced oligomerisation occurring at the higher temperature in the thermodenuder. In addition, HGF measurements of seeded SOA were measured as a function of time at two relative humidities, below (RH 75%) and above (RH 85%) the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH) of the pure ammonium sulphate seeds. As these measurements were conducted during the onset phase of photo-oxidation, during particle growth, they enabled us to find the dependence of the HGF as a function of the volume fraction of the SOA coating. HGF's measured at RH of 85% showed a continuous decrease as the SOA coating thickness increased. The measured growth factors show good agreements with ZSR predictions indicating that, at these RH values, there are only minor solute-solute interactions. At 75% RH, as the SOA fraction increased, a rapid increase in the HGF was observed indicating that an increasing fraction of the (NH4)2SO4 is subject to a phase transition, going into solution, with an increasing volume fraction of SOA. To our knowledge this is the first time that SOA derived

  7. Strigolactones, a novel carotenoid-derived plant hormone

    KAUST Repository

    Al-Babili, Salim; Bouwmeester, Harro J.

    2015-01-01

    Strigolactones (SLs) are carotenoid-derived plant hormones and signaling molecules. When released into the soil, SLs indicate the presence of a host to symbiotic fungi and root parasitic plants. In planta, they regulate several developmental

  8. An indicator-based method for quantifying farm multifunctionality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Peter Stubkjær; Vejre, Henrik; Dalgaard, Tommy

    2013-01-01

    . The farm data that support the indicators is derived from an interview survey conducted in 2008. The aggregated function scores vary with farm size as well as farm type; smaller, hobby-based farms in general score highest in the residence function whereas bigger, full-time farms score highest...

  9. A metabolomic approach to animal vitreous humor topographical composition: a pilot study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emanuela Locci

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a (1H-NMR-based metabolomic approach to explore the metabolomic signature of different topographical areas of vitreous humor (VH in an animal model. Five ocular globes were enucleated from five goats and immediately frozen at -80 °C. Once frozen, three of them were sectioned, and four samples corresponding to four different VH areas were collected: the cortical, core, and basal, which was further divided into a superior and an inferior fraction. An additional two samples were collected that were representative of the whole vitreous body. (1H-NMR spectra were acquired for twenty-three goat vitreous samples with the aim of characterizing the metabolomic signature of this biofluid and identifying whether any site-specific patterns were present. Multivariate statistical analysis (MVA of the spectral data were carried out, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA, and Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA. A unique metabolomic signature belonging to each area was observed. The cortical area was characterized by lactate, glutamine, choline, and its derivatives, N-acetyl groups, creatine, and glycerol; the core area was characterized by glucose, acetate, and scyllo-inositol; and the basal area was characterized by branched-chain amino acids (BCAA, betaine, alanine, ascorbate, lysine, and myo-inositol. We propose a speculative approach on the topographic role of these molecules that are mainly responsible for metabolic differences among the as-identified areas. (1H-NMR-based metabolomic analysis has shown to be an important tool for investigating the VH. In particular, this approach was able to assess in the samples here analyzed the presence of different functional areas on the basis of a different metabolite distribution.

  10. Kinetics of dihydro-dibenz[b,f]azepine derivatives sublimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krongauz, V.V.; Ling, M.T.K.; Woo, L.; Purohit, U.

    2007-01-01

    Sublimation of dihydro-dibenz[b,f]azepine derivatives upon heating was studied and confirmed by thermogravimetry (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC was used to analyze thermodynamics of melting. The kinetics of dihydro-dibenz[b,f]azepine derivatives sublimation were monitored by TGA as a function of temperature. Activation energies of sublimation were deduced and correlated with melting enthalpies and molecular structure. The results indicated that the sublimation was controlled by intermolecular forces in the crystalline lattice of dihydro-dibenz[b,f]azepine derivatives

  11. Clean and Green Synthesis of New Benzothiazole Derivatives via Electrochemical Oxidation of Catechol Derivatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mansour Arab Chamjangali

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Electrochemical oxidation of the catechols 1a and 1b is studied in the presence of 6-methyl-2-thouracil (3b and 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (3a as nucleophiles in a phosphate buffer (0.15 mol L−1, pH = 6.8/DMF (95:5 solution using cyclic voltammetry and controlled-potential coulometry. The results obtained indicate that the quinones derived from the catechols participate in 1,4-Michael-addition reactions with the nucleophiles to form the corresponding new benzothiazole compounds. In this work, we derive a variety of products with good yields using controlled potential at graphite electrodes in an undivided cell. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

  12. The Policy Use of Environmental Indicators - Learning from Evaluation Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gudmundsson, H.

    2003-01-01

    indicators and monitoring systems are increasingly used, but what does the use of indicators mean for policymaking? The article exploits indicator theory and the evaluation research literature to develop an analytical framework so as to study the policy uses of indicators. The paper then provides...... system and partly to the lack of accountability mechanisms. The article concludes that the analytical framework and the concepts derived from evaluation research are useful starting points, but that further research should extend the analysis to other policy contexts (national or local) and broaden...

  13. The Manchester procedure versus vaginal hysterectomy in the treatment of uterine prolapse

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tolstrup, Cæcilie Krogsgaard; Lose, Gunnar; Klarskov, Niels

    2017-01-01

    INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Uterine prolapse is a common health problem and the number of surgical procedures is increasing. No consensus regarding the surgical strategy for repair of uterine prolapse exists. Vaginal hysterectomy (VH) is the preferred surgical procedure worldwide, but uterus......-intervention rate, complications and operative outcomes. METHODS: We systematically searched Embase, PubMed, the Cochrane databases, Clinicaltrials and Clinical trials register using the MeSh terms "uterine prolapse", "uterus prolapse", "vaginal prolapse" "pelvic organ prolapse", "prolapsed uterus", "Manchester...... procedure" and "vaginal hysterectomy". No limitations regarding language, study design or methodology were applied. In total, nine studies published from 1966 to 2014 comparing the MP to VH were included. RESULTS: The anatomical recurrence rate for the middle compartment was 4-7 % after VH, whereas...

  14. Evaluation of Stony Coral Indicators for Coral Reef Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colonies of reef-building stony corals at 57 stations around St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands were characterized by species, size and percentage of living tissue. Taxonomic, biological and physical indicators of coral condition were derived from these measurements and assessed for ...

  15. Use of Vegetation Health Data for Estimation of Aus Rice Yield in Bangladesh

    OpenAIRE

    Rahman, Atiqur; Roytman, Leonid; Krakauer, Nir Y.; Nizamuddin, Mohammad; Goldberg, Mitch

    2009-01-01

    Rice is a vital staple crop for Bangladesh and surrounding countries, with interannual variation in yields depending on climatic conditions. We compared Bangladesh yield of aus rice, one of the main varieties grown, from official agricultural statistics with Vegetation Health (VH) Indices [Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), Temperature Condition Index (TCI) and Vegetation Health Index (VHI)] computed from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data covering a period of 15 years (1991...

  16. Framework for Assessing Indicators of Environmental Impacts in the Transport Sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Joumard, Robert; Gudmundsson, Henrik; Folkeson, Lennart

    2011-01-01

    The following questions were addressed in this study: How can environmental impacts of transport be identified? How can the impacts be represented by operational indicators? How can several indicators be considered jointly? How can indicators be used in planning and decision making? First......, a definition of the phrase “indicator of environmental impacts in the transport sector” was derived. The concept of a chain of causality between a source and a final target was developed as a common reference for indicators and their assessment. Criteria and methods for the assessment and selection...

  17. Circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor and indices of metabolic and cardiovascular health: data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erin Golden

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Besides its well-established role in nerve cell survival and adaptive plasticity, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF is also involved in energy homeostasis and cardiovascular regulation. Although BDNF is present in the systemic circulation, it is unknown whether plasma BDNF correlates with circulating markers of dysregulated metabolism and an adverse cardiovascular profile.To determine whether circulating BDNF correlates with indices of metabolic and cardiovascular health, we measured plasma BDNF levels in 496 middle-age and elderly subjects (mean age approximately 70, in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Linear regression analysis revealed that plasma BDNF is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, regardless of age. In females, BDNF was positively correlated with BMI, fat mass, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol, and inversely correlated with folate. In males, BDNF was positively correlated with diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, free thiiodo-thyronine (FT3, and bioavailable testosterone, and inversely correlated with sex-hormone binding globulin, and adiponectin.Plasma BDNF significantly correlates with multiple risk factors for metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular dysfunction. Whether BDNF contributes to the pathogenesis of these disorders or functions in adaptive responses to cellular stress (as occurs in the brain remains to be determined.

  18. INTEGRATION OF IMAGE-DERIVED AND POS-DERIVED FEATURES FOR IMAGE BLUR DETECTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T.-A. Teo

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The image quality plays an important role for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV’s applications. The small fixed wings UAV is suffering from the image blur due to the crosswind and the turbulence. Position and Orientation System (POS, which provides the position and orientation information, is installed onto an UAV to enable acquisition of UAV trajectory. It can be used to calculate the positional and angular velocities when the camera shutter is open. This study proposes a POS-assisted method to detect the blur image. The major steps include feature extraction, blur image detection and verification. In feature extraction, this study extracts different features from images and POS. The image-derived features include mean and standard deviation of image gradient. For POS-derived features, we modify the traditional degree-of-linear-blur (blinear method to degree-of-motion-blur (bmotion based on the collinear condition equations and POS parameters. Besides, POS parameters such as positional and angular velocities are also adopted as POS-derived features. In blur detection, this study uses Support Vector Machines (SVM classifier and extracted features (i.e. image information, POS data, blinear and bmotion to separate blur and sharp UAV images. The experiment utilizes SenseFly eBee UAV system. The number of image is 129. In blur image detection, we use the proposed degree-of-motion-blur and other image features to classify the blur image and sharp images. The classification result shows that the overall accuracy using image features is only 56%. The integration of image-derived and POS-derived features have improved the overall accuracy from 56% to 76% in blur detection. Besides, this study indicates that the performance of the proposed degree-of-motion-blur is better than the traditional degree-of-linear-blur.

  19. IPM-compatibility of foliar insecticides for citrus: Indices derived from toxicity to beneficial insects from four orders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J.P. Michaud

    2003-07-01

    Full Text Available A series of compounds representing four major pesticide groups were tested for toxicity to beneficial insects representing four different insect orders: Coleoptera (Coccinellidae, Hemiptera (Anthocoridae, Hymenoptera (Aphelinidae, and Neuroptera (Chrysopidae. These materials included organophosphates (methidathion, esfenvalerate and phosmet, carbamates (carbofuran, methomyl and carbaryl, pyrethroids (bifenthrin, fenpropathrin, zeta-cypermethrin, cyfluthrin and permethrin and the oxadiazine indoxacarb. Toxicity to coccinellid and lacewing species was assessed by treating 1st instar larvae with the recommended field rate of commercial products, and two 10 fold dilutions of these materials, in topical spray applications. Adult Aphytis melinus Debach and 2nd instar Orius insidiosus (Say were exposed to leaf residues of the same concentrations for 24 h. ANOVA performed on composite survival indices derived from these data resolved significant differences among materials with respect to their overall toxicity to beneficial insects. Cyfluthrin, fenpropathrin and zeta-cypermethrin all increased the developmental time of the lacewing and one or more coccinellid species for larvae that survived topical applications. Bifenthrin increased developmental time for two coccinellid species and decreased it in a third. Indoxacarb (Avaunt® WG, DuPont Corp. ranked highest overall for safety to beneficial insects, largely because of its low dermal toxicity to all species tested. Zeta-cypermethrin (Super Fury®, FMC Corporation received the second best safety rating, largely because of its low toxicity as a leaf residue to A. melinus and O. insidiosus. Phosmet (Imidan® 70W, Gowan Co. and methidathion (Supracide® 25W, Gowan Co. ranked high for safety to coccinellid species, but compounds currently recommended for use in citrus such as fenpropathrin (Danitol® 2.4EC, Sumimoto Chem. Co. and carbaryl (Sevin® XLR EC, Rhone Poulenc Ag. Co. ranked very low for IPM

  20. Crossed products for interactions and graph algebras

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kwasniewski, Bartosz

    2014-01-01

    We consider Exel’s interaction (V,H) over a unital C*-algebra A, such that V(A) and H(A) are hereditary subalgebras of A. For the associated crossed product, we obtain a uniqueness theorem, ideal lattice description, simplicity criterion and a version of Pimsner–Voiculescu exact sequence. These r......We consider Exel’s interaction (V,H) over a unital C*-algebra A, such that V(A) and H(A) are hereditary subalgebras of A. For the associated crossed product, we obtain a uniqueness theorem, ideal lattice description, simplicity criterion and a version of Pimsner–Voiculescu exact sequence....... These results cover the case of crossed products by endomorphisms with hereditary ranges and complemented kernels. As model examples of interactions not coming from endomorphisms we introduce and study in detail interactions arising from finite graphs. The interaction (V,H) associated to a graph E acts...... on the core F_E of the graph algebra C*(E). By describing a partial homeomorphism dual to (V,H) we find the fundamental structure theorems for C*(E), such as Cuntz–Krieger uniqueness theorem, as results concerning reversible noncommutative dynamics on F_E . We also provide a new approach to calculation of K...

  1. Sensitivity of Landsat image-derived burn severity indices to immediate post-fire effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    A. T. Hudak; S. Lewis; P. Robichaud; P. Morgan; M. Bobbitt; L. Lentile; A. Smith; Z. Holden; J. Clark; R. McKinley

    2006-01-01

    The USFS Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC) and the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) produce Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) maps as a rapid, preliminary indication of burn severity on large wildfire events. Currently the preferred burn severity index is the delta Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR), which requires NBR values...

  2. Enabling Searches on Wavelengths in a Hyperspectral Indices Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piñuela, F.; Cerra, D.; Müller, R.

    2017-10-01

    Spectral indices derived from hyperspectral reflectance measurements are powerful tools to estimate physical parameters in a non-destructive and precise way for several fields of applications, among others vegetation health analysis, coastal and deep water constituents, geology, and atmosphere composition. In the last years, several micro-hyperspectral sensors have appeared, with both full-frame and push-broom acquisition technologies, while in the near future several hyperspectral spaceborne missions are planned to be launched. This is fostering the use of hyperspectral data in basic and applied research causing a large number of spectral indices to be defined and used in various applications. Ad hoc search engines are therefore needed to retrieve the most appropriate indices for a given application. In traditional systems, query input parameters are limited to alphanumeric strings, while characteristics such as spectral range/ bandwidth are not used in any existing search engine. Such information would be relevant, as it enables an inverse type of search: given the spectral capabilities of a given sensor or a specific spectral band, find all indices which can be derived from it. This paper describes a tool which enables a search as described above, by using the central wavelength or spectral range used by a given index as a search parameter. This offers the ability to manage numeric wavelength ranges in order to select indices which work at best in a given set of wavelengths or wavelength ranges.

  3. Generating and Visualizing Climate Indices using Google Earth Engine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erickson, T. A.; Guentchev, G.; Rood, R. B.

    2017-12-01

    Climate change is expected to have largest impacts on regional and local scales. Relevant and credible climate information is needed to support the planning and adaptation efforts in our communities. The volume of climate projections of temperature and precipitation is steadily increasing, as datasets are being generated on finer spatial and temporal grids with an increasing number of ensembles to characterize uncertainty. Despite advancements in tools for querying and retrieving subsets of these large, multi-dimensional datasets, ease of access remains a barrier for many existing and potential users who want to derive useful information from these data, particularly for those outside of the climate modelling research community. Climate indices, that can be derived from daily temperature and precipitation data, such as annual number of frost days or growing season length, can provide useful information to practitioners and stakeholders. For this work the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP) dataset was loaded into Google Earth Engine, a cloud-based geospatial processing platform. Algorithms that use the Earth Engine API to generate several climate indices were written. The indices were chosen from the set developed by the joint CCl/CLIVAR/JCOMM Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI). Simple user interfaces were created that allow users to query, produce maps and graphs of the indices, as well as download results for additional analyses. These browser-based interfaces could allow users in low-bandwidth environments to access climate information. This research shows that calculating climate indices from global downscaled climate projection datasets and sharing them widely using cloud computing technologies is feasible. Further development will focus on exposing the climate indices to existing applications via the Earth Engine API, and building custom user interfaces for presenting climate indices to a diverse set of

  4. Assessment of carotid plaque composition using fast-kV switching dual-energy CT with gemstone detector: comparison with extracorporeal and virtual histology-intravascular ultrasound

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shinohara, Yuki; Kuya, Keita; Ohta, Yasutoshi; Fujii, Shinya; Ogawa, Toshihide [Tottori University, Division of Radiology, Department of Pathophysiological and Therapeutic Science, Faculty of Medicine, Yonago (Japan); Sakamoto, Makoto; Watanabe, Takashi [Tottori University, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Yonago (Japan); Kishimoto, Junichi; Iwata, Naoki [Tottori University Hospital, Division of Clinical Radiology, Yonago (Japan)

    2015-09-15

    The present study compares the applicability of CT carotid plaque imaging using effective Z maps using gemstone spectral imaging (GSI) with that of conventional extracorporeal carotid ultrasound (US) and virtual histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS). We assessed stenosis in 31 carotid arteries of 30 patients. All patients underwent carotid CTA using GSI (Discovery CT750 HD, GE Healthcare). US and IVUS were examined with 25 and 8 vessels, respectively. We compared the effective Z values at noncalcified carotid plaque with the plaque components identified by US. We defined the plaque with low or low to iso intensity on US as vulnerable plaque and the plaque with iso, iso to high, and high intensity on US as stable plaque. We also performed visual assessment of color-coded effective Z maps in comparison with VH-IVUS and compared effective Z values with plaque components generated by VH-IVUS. The effective Z values at noncalcified carotid plaque were significantly lower for a group with vulnerable plaque, than with stable plaque on US (p < 0.05). Receiver operating curve analysis showed that AUC of effective Z values was 0.882 concerning the differentiation of these two groups on US. The interpretation of color-coded effective Z maps was essentially compatible with that of VH-IVUS for carotid plaque in all vessels. Effective Z values at noncalcified plaque showed significant negative correlation with the areas of fibro-fatty components generated by VH-IVUS (ρ = -0.874, p < 0.05). Effective Z maps generated by GSI can detect vulnerable carotid plaque materials. (orig.)

  5. Remote sensing and water quality indicators in the Korean West coast: Spatio-temporal structures of MODIS-derived chlorophyll-a and total suspended solids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hae-Cheol; Son, Seunghyun; Kim, Yong Hoon; Khim, Jong Seong; Nam, Jungho; Chang, Won Keun; Lee, Jung-Ho; Lee, Chang-Hee; Ryu, Jongseong

    2017-08-15

    The Yellow Sea is a shallow marginal sea with a large tidal range. In this study, ten areas located along the western coast of the Korean Peninsula are investigated with respect to remotely sensed water quality indicators derived from NASA MODIS aboard of the satellite Aqua. We found that there was a strong seasonal trend with spatial heterogeneity. In specific, a strong six-month phase-lag was found between chlorophyll-a and total suspended solid owing to their inversed seasonality, which could be explained by different dynamics and environmental settings. Chlorophyll-a concentration seemed to be dominantly influenced by temperature, while total suspended solid was largely governed by local tidal forcing and bottom topography. This study demonstrated the potential and applicability of satellite products in coastal management, and highlighted find that remote-sensing would be a promising tool in resolving orthogonality of large spatio-temporal scale variabilities when combining with proper time series analyses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Dicty_cDB: VHJ417 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHJ417 (Link to dictyBase) - G23450 DDB0202154 Contig-U12507-1...brary) Clone ID VHJ417 (Link to dictyBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID G23450 dictyBase ID DDB0202154 Link to Contig ...Contig-U12507-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/CSM/VH/VHJ4-...LLSAVSDSSVQSLSSSI--- ---IDEIKQSVFGATAIIGQSKYIMEGQLSLLKGVVASTKKDLFIYLFKDCIICTEINSN...QSKYIMEGQLSLLKGVVASTKKDLFIYLFKDCIICTEINSN YQKDGSNNNNNNNNNNSNNSNSNSSSNNSGSNNSSNNNSPNNLTPKKQTFKSLSTSSSTP NNLSQ

  7. Delayed Hydride Cracking Mechanism in Zirconium Alloys and Technical Requirements for In-Service Evaluation of Zr-2.5Nb Tubes with Flaws

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Young Suk

    2007-01-01

    In association with periodic inspection of CANDU nuclear power plant components, Canadian Standards Association issued CSA N285.8 in 2005 as technical requirements for in-service evaluation of zirconium alloy pressure tubes in CANDU reactors. This first version, CSA N285.8 involves procedures for, firstly, the evaluation of pressure tube flaws, secondly, the evaluation of pressure tube to calandria tube contact and, thirdly, the assessment of a reactor core, and material properties and derived quantities. The evaluation of pressure tube flaws includes delayed hydride cracking evaluation the procedures of which are stipulated based on the existing delayed hydride cracking models. For example, the evaluation of flaw-tip hydride precipitation during reactor cooldown involves a procedure to calculate the equilibrium hydrogen equivalent concentration in solution at the flaw tip, Htipas follows: Htip=Hfexp[- (VH delta no.)/RT], where Hf is the total bulk hydrogen equivalent concentration, VH partial molar volume of hydrogen in zirconium, δ a difference in hydrostatic stress between the bulk and the crack tip. When Htip ≥TSSP at temperature, then flaw-tip hydride is predicted to precipitate. Eq. (1) suggests that hydrogen concentration at the crack tip would increase due to an work energy given by the difference in the hydrostatic stress

  8. Predicting soil nitrogen content using narrow-band indices from ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Optimal fertiliser applications for sustainable forest stand productivity management, whilst protecting the environment, is vital. This study estimated soil nitrogen content using leaf-level narrow-band vegetation indices derived from a hand-held 350–2 500 nm spectroradiometer. Leaf-level spectral data were collected and ...

  9. Physics of turbulence control and transport barrier formation in DIII-D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doyle, E.J.; Burrell, K.H.; Carlstrom, T.N.

    1996-10-01

    This paper describes the physical mechanisms responsible for turbulence control and transport barrier formation on DIII-D as determined from a synthesis of results from different enhanced confinement regimes, including quantitative and qualitative comparisons to theory. A wide range of DIII-D data support the hypothesis that a single underlying physical mechanism, turbulence suppression via E x B shear flow is playing an essential, though not necessarily unique, role in reducing turbulence and transport in all of the following improved confinement regimes: H-mode, VH-mode, high-ell i modes, improved performance counter-injection L-mode discharges and high performance negative central shear (NCS) discharges. DIII-D data also indicate that synergistic effects are important in some cases, as in NCS discharges where negative magnetic shear also plays a role in transport barrier formation. This work indicates that in order to control turbulence and transport it is important to focus on understanding physical mechanisms, such as E x B shear, which can regulate and control entire classes of turbulent modes, and thus control transport. In the highest performance DIII-D discharges, NCS plasmas with a VH-mode like edge, turbulence is suppressed at all radii, resulting in neoclassical levels of ion transport over most of the plasma volume

  10. Lasting Differential Effects on Plasticity Induced by Prenatal Stress in Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gayane Grigoryan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Early life adversaries have a profound impact on the developing brain structure and functions that persist long after the original traumatic experience has vanished. One of the extensively studied brain structures in relation to early life stress has been the hippocampus because of its unique association with cognitive processes of the brain. While the entire hippocampus shares the same intrinsic organization, it assumes different functions in its dorsal and ventral sectors (DH and VH, resp., based on different connectivity with other brain structures. In the present review, we summarize the differences between DH and VH and discuss functional and structural effects of prenatal stress in the two sectors, with the realization that much is yet to be explored in understanding the opposite reactivity of the DH and VH to stressful stimulation.

  11. Pulmonary venous remodeling in COPD-pulmonary hypertension and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Kasper Hasseriis; Andersen, Claus Bøgelund; Gustafsson, Finn

    2017-01-01

    Pulmonary vascular arterial remodeling is an integral and well-understood component of pulmonary hypertension (PH). In contrast, morphological alterations of pulmonary veins in PH are scarcely described. Explanted lungs (n = 101) from transplant recipients with advanced chronic obstructive...... pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) were analyzed for venous vascular involvement according to a pre-specified, semi-quantitative grading scheme, which categorizes the intensity of venous remodeling in three groups of incremental severity: venous hypertensive (VH......) grade 0 = characterized by an absence of venous vascular remodeling; VH grade 1 = defined by a dominance of either arterialization or intimal fibrosis; and VH grade 2 = a substantial composite of arterialization and intimal fibrosis. Patients were grouped according to clinical and hemodynamic...

  12. Clinical application of multi-slice helical CT volumetric scanning in lumber spine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Ling; Ge Yinghui; Zhu Shaocheng; Zhang Ming; Cheng Tianming; Lei Zhidan; Lv Chuanjian; Sun Xiaoping; Wu Minghui; Guo Ying; Ma Qianli; Wen Zeying

    2008-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the clinical application value of multi-slice helical CT volumetric (VH) scanning in lumber spine. Methods: One thousand of patients with back and leg pain who underwent CT examinations were selected as subjects. We simulated the traditional protocol of single-slice(SS) discrete scanning for L3/4, L4/5, and L5/S1 intervertebral discs. The VH scanning mode was performed with 120 kV, 210 mAs, pitch of 1.5 and coverage of 97.5 mm. The simulated SS scanning mode was performed with 120 kV, 240 mAs and coverage of 45.0 mm. The diagnostic outcomes and the radiation doses were compared between the two scanning modes. Two groups doctors observed ten terms, including the osseous spinal stenosis, narrowed intervertebral space and so on in two scanning modes respectively. Then consistency analysis of the data was carded out. Results: The VH scanning mode showed far more features than the SS mode. The detection rates of the VH mode in the osseous spinal stenosis, narrowed intervertebral space, herniated nucleus pulposus, narrowed lateral recess, vertebral lesion, hypertrophy of L5 transverse process, abnormal direction of facet, facet degeneration, lumbar spondyloschisis, and paraspinal soft tissue were 11.8% (n=118), 38.5% (n=385), 9.3% (n=93), 46.8% (n=468), 31.4% (n=314), 5.7% (n= 57), 25.4% (n=254), 49.7% (n=497), 9.9% (n=99), and 0.6% (n=6) respectively, while the detection rates of the SS mode in ten terms were 5.6% (n=56), 0, 0.6% (n=6), 27.9% (n=279), 22.4% (n=224), 1.2% (n=12), 16.7% (n=167), 37.2% (n=372), 0.5% (n=5), and 0.2% (n=2) respectively. The difference between the two groups had statistically significance (average P 0.05). The detection rates of the VH mode were higher than the SS mode in the osseous spinal stenosis, narrowed intervertebral space, herniated nucleus pulposus, lumbar spondyloschisis, being 6.2% (n=62), 38.5% (n=385), 8.7% (n=87), and 9.4% (n=94), respectively. In addition, VH mode only partially showed the articular

  13. Review of sustainability indices and indicators: Towards a new City Sustainability Index (CSI)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mori, Koichiro, E-mail: kmori@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo (Japan); Christodoulou, Aris, E-mail: aris.christodoulou@ucl.ac.uk [Centre for Transport Studies, University College London (United Kingdom)

    2012-01-15

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss conceptual requirements for a City Sustainability Index (CSI) and to review existing major sustainability indices/indicators in terms of the requirements. The following indices are reviewed: Ecological Footprint (EF), Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), Dashboard of Sustainability (DS), Welfare Index, Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, City Development Index, emergy/exergy, Human Development Index (HDI), Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI), Environmental Policy Index (EPI), Living Planet Index (LPI), Environmentally-adjusted Domestic Product (EDP), Genuine Saving (GS), and some applications of composite indices or/and multivariate indicators to local or regional context as case studies. The key conceptual requirements for an adequate CSI are: (i) to consider environmental, economic and social aspects (the triple bottom line of sustainability) from the viewpoint of strong sustainability; (ii) to capture external impacts (leakage effects) of city on other areas beyond the city boundaries particularly in terms of environmental aspects; (iii) to create indices/indicators originally for the purpose of assessing city sustainability; and (iv) to be able to assess world cities in both developed and developing countries using common axes of evaluation. Based on the review, we conclude that it is necessary to create a new CSI that enables us to assess and compare cities' sustainability performance in order to understand the global impact of cities on the environment and human life as compared with their economic contribution. In the future, the CSI will be able to provide local authorities with guidance toward sustainable paths. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We derive the four key requirements for a new City Sustainability Index (CSI) system. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer First, the triple bottom line must be considered in terms of strong sustainability. Black

  14. Review of sustainability indices and indicators: Towards a new City Sustainability Index (CSI)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mori, Koichiro; Christodoulou, Aris

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss conceptual requirements for a City Sustainability Index (CSI) and to review existing major sustainability indices/indicators in terms of the requirements. The following indices are reviewed: Ecological Footprint (EF), Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), Dashboard of Sustainability (DS), Welfare Index, Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, City Development Index, emergy/exergy, Human Development Index (HDI), Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI), Environmental Policy Index (EPI), Living Planet Index (LPI), Environmentally-adjusted Domestic Product (EDP), Genuine Saving (GS), and some applications of composite indices or/and multivariate indicators to local or regional context as case studies. The key conceptual requirements for an adequate CSI are: (i) to consider environmental, economic and social aspects (the triple bottom line of sustainability) from the viewpoint of strong sustainability; (ii) to capture external impacts (leakage effects) of city on other areas beyond the city boundaries particularly in terms of environmental aspects; (iii) to create indices/indicators originally for the purpose of assessing city sustainability; and (iv) to be able to assess world cities in both developed and developing countries using common axes of evaluation. Based on the review, we conclude that it is necessary to create a new CSI that enables us to assess and compare cities' sustainability performance in order to understand the global impact of cities on the environment and human life as compared with their economic contribution. In the future, the CSI will be able to provide local authorities with guidance toward sustainable paths. - Highlights: ► We derive the four key requirements for a new City Sustainability Index (CSI) system. ► First, the triple bottom line must be considered in terms of strong sustainability. ► Second, environmental leakage effects beyond city boundaries should

  15. Light Scattering Study of Mixed Micelles Made from Elastin-Like Polypeptide Linear Chains and Trimers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terrano, Daniel; Tsuper, Ilona; Maraschky, Adam; Holland, Nolan; Streletzky, Kiril

    Temperature sensitive nanoparticles were generated from a construct (H20F) of three chains of elastin-like polypeptides (ELP) linked to a negatively charged foldon domain. This ELP system was mixed at different ratios with linear chains of ELP (H40L) which lacks the foldon domain. The mixed system is soluble at room temperature and at a transition temperature (Tt) will form swollen micelles with the hydrophobic linear chains hidden inside. This system was studied using depolarized dynamic light scattering (DDLS) and static light scattering (SLS) to determine the size, shape, and internal structure of the mixed micelles. The mixed micelle in equal parts of H20F and H40L show a constant apparent hydrodynamic radius of 40-45 nm at the concentration window from 25:25 to 60:60 uM (1:1 ratio). At a fixed 50 uM concentration of the H20F, varying H40L concentration from 5 to 80 uM resulted in a linear growth in the hydrodynamic radius from about 11 to about 62 nm, along with a 1000-fold increase in VH signal. A possible simple model explaining the growth of the swollen micelles is considered. Lastly, the VH signal can indicate elongation in the geometry of the particle or could possibly be a result from anisotropic properties from the core of the micelle. SLS was used to study the molecular weight, and the radius of gyration of the micelle to help identify the structure and morphology of mixed micelles and the tangible cause of the VH signal.

  16. Lipoprotein metabolism indicators improve cardiovascular risk prediction.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniël B van Schalkwijk

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease risk increases when lipoprotein metabolism is dysfunctional. We have developed a computational model able to derive indicators of lipoprotein production, lipolysis, and uptake processes from a single lipoprotein profile measurement. This is the first study to investigate whether lipoprotein metabolism indicators can improve cardiovascular risk prediction and therapy management. METHODS AND RESULTS: We calculated lipoprotein metabolism indicators for 1981 subjects (145 cases, 1836 controls from the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort in which NMR lipoprotein profiles were measured. We applied a statistical learning algorithm using a support vector machine to select conventional risk factors and lipoprotein metabolism indicators that contributed to predicting risk for general cardiovascular disease. Risk prediction was quantified by the change in the Area-Under-the-ROC-Curve (ΔAUC and by risk reclassification (Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI and Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI. Two VLDL lipoprotein metabolism indicators (VLDLE and VLDLH improved cardiovascular risk prediction. We added these indicators to a multivariate model with the best performing conventional risk markers. Our method significantly improved both CVD prediction and risk reclassification. CONCLUSIONS: Two calculated VLDL metabolism indicators significantly improved cardiovascular risk prediction. These indicators may help to reduce prescription of unnecessary cholesterol-lowering medication, reducing costs and possible side-effects. For clinical application, further validation is required.

  17. Liquidity effects and FFA returns in the international shipping derivatives market

    OpenAIRE

    Alizadeh, Amir H.; Kappou, K; Tsouknidis, Dimitris; Visvikis, Ilias

    2015-01-01

    The study examines the impact of liquidity risk on freight derivatives returns. The Amihud liquidity ratio and bid–ask spreads are utilized to assess the existence of liquidity risk in the freight derivatives market. Other macroeconomic variables are used to control for market risk. Results indicate that liquidity risk is priced and both liquidity measures have a significant role in determining freight derivatives returns. Consistent with expectations, both liquidity measures are found to hav...

  18. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Military Testing Association (22nd) held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 27-31 October 1980. Volume 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-12-01

    process. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance , 6, 573-592, 1971. Vroom , V.H. Organizational choice: A study of pre- and post- decision...processes. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance . 1, 212-225. 1966. Vroom , V.H. and Deci, E.L. The stability of post-decision dissonance: A follow...delay of incentive on actual performance and satisfaction . This suggests that organizations should act to reduce or eliminate delays of incentive of more

  19. Electric-drive tractability indicator integrated in hybrid electric vehicle tachometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamai, Goro; Zhou, Jing; Weslati, Feisel

    2014-09-02

    An indicator, system and method of indicating electric drive usability in a hybrid electric vehicle. A tachometer is used that includes a display having an all-electric drive portion and a hybrid drive portion. The all-electric drive portion and the hybrid drive portion share a first boundary which indicates a minimum electric drive usability and a beginning of hybrid drive operation of the vehicle. The indicated level of electric drive usability is derived from at least one of a percent battery discharge, a percent maximum torque provided by the electric drive, and a percent electric drive to hybrid drive operating cost for the hybrid electric vehicle.

  20. COMPARATIVE RESULTS OF LIVER TRANSPLANTATION IN PATIENTS WITH VIRAL CIRRHOSIS AND AUTOIMMUNE LIVER DISEASES AT A SINGLE CENTER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O.A Gerasimova

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Russian Scientist Centre for Radiology and Surgical Technology has sufficient experience of orthotopic liver transplantation (100 OLT, which allowed comparing the outcomes of the terminal stages of liver disease in the two most numerous groups of patients: viral cirrhosis (VH and autoimmune liver diseases (AILD. Despite the fact that patients with VH indicator of urgency performing OLT (MELD lower, rate of deaths on the waiting list higher than AILD, due to more favorable course of immune disease. After OLT significant differences during the early and last posttransplant periods were not found, although the recurrences of viral hepatitis are recorded much more frequently than AILD. One-year and a three-year survival rates were comparable. To prevent reinfection of the hepatitis B successfully used nucleoside analogues (telbivudine, which allowed minimizing recurrence of the disease. Prevention and treatment of hepatitis C after the OLT is a relevant problem, despite the low efficiency of antiviral therapy. Relapses AILD not represent a real threat to the life of the patients, because the modification of immunosuppressive therapy can limit the progression of the disease. 

  1. The evolution of galaxies at moderate redshift

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lilly, S.J.

    1987-01-01

    Optical and infrared photometric data on 53 galaxies in five clusters at 0.38 < z < 0.58 are described and analysed to produce the rest-frame (U-V) and (V-H) colours. The 36 red galaxies form a homogeneous population in each cluster. The colours of the 17 blue galaxies clearly distinguish between the normal spirals and the peculiar 'A-type' galaxies found in these Butcher-Oemler clusters and suggest for the latter a substantial intermediate age 1-Gyr population as indicated by optical spectra. The average colours of the red elliptical galaxies at z ∼ 0.45 are systematically 0.12 mag bluer in the rest-frame (U-V), as expected from conventional evolutionary models, but are about 0.1 mag redder in (V-H), which is not predicted by the models. It is shown, however, that inclusion of the evolution of the upper Asymptotic Giant Branch, which is usually neglected, into a simple evolutionary model can explain the observed evolution vector in the (U-V)/(V-H) plane. (author)

  2. Biochemical indicators of nephrotoxicity in blood serum of rats treated with novel 4-thiazolidinone derivatives or their complexes with polyethylene glycol-containing nanoscale polymeric carrier

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. I. Kоbylinska

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to compare the effect of new synthetic 4-thiazolidinone derivatives (potential anticancer compounds denoted as 3882, 3288 and 3833 and doxorubicin (positive control in free form and in their complexes with synthetic polyethylene glycol-containing nanoscale polymeric carrier on the biochemical indicators of nephrotoxicity in blood serum of rats. The concentration of total protein, urea, creatinine, glucose, ions of sodium, potassium, calcium, iron and chloride was measured. It was found that after injection of the investigated compounds, the concentration of sodium cations and chloride anions in blood serum was increased compared with control (untreated animals. Doxorubicin’s injection was accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of iron cations. The concentration of total protein, urea and creatinine decreased under the influence of the studied compounds. Complexation of these аntineoplastic substances with a synthetic polymeric nanocarrier lowered the concentration of the investigated metabolites substantially compared to the effect of these compounds in free form. The normalization of concentration of total protein, urea and creatinine in blood serum of rats treated with complexes of the studied compounds with the polymeric carrier comparing with increased concentration of these indicators at the introduction of such compounds in free form was found.

  3. DST Indices - Reflection Variations in the Magnetospheric Tail Current and Field-aligned Currents in the Magnetosphere

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The file is comprised of monthly DST indices. These indices are derived from a network of eight stations in the equatorial latitudes. Hourly DST indices provide an...

  4. Funding climate adaptation strategies with climate derivatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Richard Little

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Climate adaptation requires large capital investments that could be provided not only by traditional sources like governments and banks, but also by derivatives markets. Such markets would allow two parties with different tolerances and expectations about climate risks to transact for their mutual benefit and, in so doing, finance climate adaptation. Here we calculate the price of a derivative called a European put option, based on future sea surface temperature (SST in Tasmania, Australia, with an 18 °C strike threshold. This price represents a quantifiable indicator of climate risk, and forms the basis for aquaculture industries exposed to the risk of higher SST to finance adaptation strategies through the sale of derivative contracts. Such contracts provide a real incentive to parties with different climate outlooks, or risk exposure to take a market assessment of climate change.

  5. Using gene co-expression network analysis to predict biomarkers for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borlawsky Tara B

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL is the most common adult leukemia. It is a highly heterogeneous disease, and can be divided roughly into indolent and progressive stages based on classic clinical markers. Immunoglobin heavy chain variable region (IgVH mutational status was found to be associated with patient survival outcome, and biomarkers linked to the IgVH status has been a focus in the CLL prognosis research field. However, biomarkers highly correlated with IgVH mutational status which can accurately predict the survival outcome are yet to be discovered. Results In this paper, we investigate the use of gene co-expression network analysis to identify potential biomarkers for CLL. Specifically we focused on the co-expression network involving ZAP70, a well characterized biomarker for CLL. We selected 23 microarray datasets corresponding to multiple types of cancer from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO and used the frequent network mining algorithm CODENSE to identify highly connected gene co-expression networks spanning the entire genome, then evaluated the genes in the co-expression network in which ZAP70 is involved. We then applied a set of feature selection methods to further select genes which are capable of predicting IgVH mutation status from the ZAP70 co-expression network. Conclusions We have identified a set of genes that are potential CLL prognostic biomarkers IL2RB, CD8A, CD247, LAG3 and KLRK1, which can predict CLL patient IgVH mutational status with high accuracies. Their prognostic capabilities were cross-validated by applying these biomarker candidates to classify patients into different outcome groups using a CLL microarray datasets with clinical information.

  6. The role of shear stress and arteriogenesis in maintaining vascular homeostasis and preventing cerebral atherosclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Della-Morte

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Shear stress (SS is a biomechanical force that is determined by blood flow, vessel geometry, and fluid viscosity. Although a wide range of known vascular risk factors promote development of atherosclerosis, atherosclerotic changes occur predominately at specific sites within the arterial tree, suggesting a critical role for local factors within the vasculature. Atherosclerotic lesions develop predominantly at branches, bends, and bifurcations in the arterial tree because these sites are exposed to low or disturbed blood flow and low SS. Low SS predisposes arteries to atherosclerosis by causing endothelial dysfunction. A natural system of preexisting cerebral collateral arteries protects against ischemia by bypassing sites of arterial occlusion through a mechanism of arteriogenesis. The main trigger for arteriogenesis is impaired vascular homeostasis (VH in response to local changes in SS induced by ischemia. VH is a critical process for maintaining the physiological function of cerebral circulation. It is regulated through a complex biological system of blood flow hemodynamic and physiological responses to flow changes. Restoration of VH by increasing arteriogenesis and SS may provide a novel therapeutic target for stroke, especially in the elderly, who are more prone to VH impairment. In this review article, we discuss the mechanisms and structures necessary to maintain VH in brain circulation, the role of SS, and risk factors leading to atherosclerosis, including the effects of aging. We also discuss arteriogenesis as an adaptive and protective process in response to ischemic injury, the imaging techniques currently available to evaluate arterogenesis such as magnetic resonance imaging/positron emission tomography (MRI/PET, and the potential therapeutic approaches against ischemic injury that target arteriogenesis.

  7. MCM-2 expression differentiates potentially malignant verrucous lesions from oral carcinomas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niranjan, Kochli Channappa; Sarathy, Niharika Abhay; Alrani, Devendra

    2018-03-13

    Mcm-2 is a biomarker belonging to Mcm family of proteins which has rarely been used in oral potentially malignant and malignant lesions of the verrucous type. The objective of this study is to assess the expression of Mcm-2 in Normal Oral Mucosa (NM), Verrucous Hyperplasia (VH), Verrucous Carcinoma (VC) and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) and compare it with the clinicopathological characteristics. A total of 70 formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples (10 cases of Normal Mucosa NM- Group A, 10 cases of Verrucous Hyperplasia- VH without Dysplasia- Group B, 10 cases of Verrucous Hyperplasia- VH with Dysplasia- Group C, 20 cases of Verrucous Carcinoma VC-Group D, 20 cases of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma OSCC- Group E) were subjected to immunohistochemistry with Mcm-2 antibody. Statistical analysis was carried out with various tests like ANOVA, Tukey HSD, Chi-Square and Shapiro-Wilk test by using the SPSS software. There was a significant difference in Mcm-2 expression with quantitative analysis among all the groups (p Mcm-2 may be a sensitive proliferation marker in oral potentially malignant and malignant lesions which may be useful for differentiating between VH with/ without dysplasia, VC and OSCC. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  8. Partial characterization of a novel bacteriophage of Vibrio harveyi isolated from shrimp culture ponds in Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasharawipas, Tirasak; Thaikua, Surasak; Sriurairatana, Siriporn; Ruangpan, Lila; Direkbusarakum, Sataporn; Manopvisetcharean, Jaroon; Flegel, Timothy W

    2005-12-01

    A bacteriophage was isolated together with Vibrio harveyi (VH) 1114 a from a black tiger shrimp-rearing pond in Thailand. By negative staining transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the phage had an icosahedral head (diameter 60-62 nm), a rigid, non-contractile tail (9-10 nm x 100-120 nm) without a collar or terminal fibers and a genome of double stranded DNA of approximately 80 kb as determined by analysis of restriction enzyme digestion fragments. Since these features would place it in the family Siphoviridae, it was tentatively named V. harveyi siphoviridae-like phage or VHS1. VHS1 could also infect two VH reference strains LMD 22.30 and LMD 80.33 (=ATCC 14126) but yielded smaller plaques than with VH1114. The phage tolerated temperatures as high as 60 degrees C for up to 2h and overnight exposure to a broad range of pH. VHS1 lysogens of VH1114 were unstable, contained unaltered VHS1 DNA, were immune to VHS1 lysis and spontaneously released VHS1 in liquid cultures. Approximately 20 kb of the genome has been sequenced and deposited at GenBank but it mostly showed no significant homology with existing sequences in the database.

  9. Prediction of extubation outcome in preterm infants by composite extubation indices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimitriou, Gabriel; Fouzas, Sotirios; Vervenioti, Aggeliki; Tzifas, Sotirios; Mantagos, Stefanos

    2011-11-01

    To determine whether composite extubation indices can predict extubation outcome in preterm infants. Prospective observational study. Level III neonatal intensive care unit. Fifty-six preterm infants cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary teaching hospital during 2007 and 2008. None. The study consisted of two parts. In the first part, different extubation indices were evaluated in a group of 28 neonates (derivation group). These indices included the diaphragmatic pressure-time index, the respiratory muscle pressure-time index, the maximal transdiaphragmatic pressure, the maximal inspiratory pressure, the airway pressure generated 100 milliseconds after an occlusion/maximal transdiaphragmatic pressure ratio, the airway pressure generated 100 milliseconds after an occlusion/maximal inspiratory pressure ratio, the tidal volume, and the respiratory rate to tidal volume ratio. After exploratory analysis, the best performing indices and the optimal threshold values to predict extubation outcome were selected. In the second part of the study, these indices were validated at the predetermined threshold values in an additional group of 28 preterm neonates (validation group). Four infants (14.3%) in the derivation group and four in the validation group (14.3%) failed extubation. Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis revealed that a diaphragmatic pressure-time index of ≤0.12, a respiratory muscle pressure-time index ≤0.10, a airway pressure generated 100 milliseconds after an occlusion/maximal transdiaphragmatic pressure of ≤0.14, and a airway pressure generated 100 milliseconds after an occlusion/maximal inspiratory pressure of ≤0.09 were the most accurate predictors of extubation outcome in the derivation group. In the validation group, a diaphragmatic pressure-time index of ≤0.12 and a respiratory muscle pressure-time index of ≤0.10 both had zero false-positive results, predicting with accuracy successful extubation. Composite

  10. Novel VEGFR-2 kinase inhibitor identified by the back-to-front approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanphanya, Kingkan; Phowichit, Suwadee; Wattanapitayakul, Suvara K.; Fokin, Valery V.; Vajragupta, Opa

    2013-01-01

    Novel lead was developed as VEGFR-2 inhibitor by the back-to-front approach. Docking experiment guided that the 3-chloromethylphenylurea motif occupied the back pocket of the VEGFR-2 kinase. The attempt to enhance the binding affinity of 1 was made by expanding structure to access the front pocket using triazole as linker. A library of 1,4-(disubsituted)-1H-1,2,3-triazoles were screened in silico and one lead compound (VH02) was identified with enzymatic IC50 against VEGFR-2 of 0.56 μM. VH02 showed antiangiogenic effect by inhibiting the tube formation of HUVEC cells (EA.hy926) at 0.3 μM which was 13 times lower than its cytotoxic dose. The enzymatic and cellular activities suggested the potential of VH02 as a lead for further optimization. PMID:23562241

  11. Multicenter assessment of the reproducibility of volumetric radiofrequency-based intravascular ultrasound measurements in coronary lesions that were consecutively stented

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huisman, Jennifer; Egede, Rasmus; Rdzanek, Adam

    2012-01-01

    To assess in a multicenter design the between-center reproducibility of volumetric virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) measurements with a semi-automated, computer-assisted contour detection system in coronary lesions that were consecutively stented. To evaluate the reproducibility...... of volumetric VH-IVUS measurements, experienced analysts of 4 European IVUS centers performed independent analyses (in total 8,052 cross-sectional analyses) to obtain volumetric data of 40 coronary segments (length 20.0 ± 0.3 mm) from target lesions prior to percutaneous intervention that were performed...... in the setting of stable (65%) or unstable angina pectoris (35%). Geometric and compositional VH-IVUS measurements were highly correlated for the different comparisons. Overall intraclass correlation for vessel, lumen, plaque volume and plaque burden was 0.99, 0.92, 0.96, and 0.83, respectively; for fibrous...

  12. Sustainable Housing in the Urban Context: International Sustainable Development Indicator Sets and Housing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winston, Nessa; Pareja Eastaway, Montserrat

    2008-01-01

    Housing, an essential aspect of quality of life, is also significant for sustainable development (SD). All of the major international statements on SD refer to housing or settlement strategies. However, indicator sets derived from these statements often fail to include good indicators of sustainable housing. This article outlines the…

  13. Dicty_cDB: VHB478 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHB478 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16349-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHB478Z 556 - - - - Show VHB478 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHB478 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16349-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b...cid sequence ---ASGSVVXQCSSVDSISNLPTXMQLFAGIKSICTEMAMDGCEKCSGNSPTTTCDVLPV YSSLCMAMPDMSQCANWTKMCSSSGQLYNSQITT...xxcxlf*trknp*kyfrkkmdsqqkrfxr*xfn*vhlsl sgxy Frame C: ---ASGSVVXQCSSVDSISNLPTXMQLFAGIKSICTEMAMDGCEKCSGNSPTTT

  14. Evaluation and selection of indicators for land degradation and desertification monitoring: methodological approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosmas, C; Kairis, Or; Karavitis, Ch; Ritsema, C; Salvati, L; Acikalin, S; Alcala, M; Alfama, P; Atlhopheng, J; Barrera, J; Belgacem, A; Solé-Benet, A; Brito, J; Chaker, M; Chanda, R; Coelho, C; Darkoh, M; Diamantis, I; Ermolaeva, O; Fassouli, V; Fei, W; Feng, J; Fernandez, F; Ferreira, A; Gokceoglu, C; Gonzalez, D; Gungor, H; Hessel, R; Juying, J; Khatteli, H; Khitrov, N; Kounalaki, A; Laouina, A; Lollino, P; Lopes, M; Magole, L; Medina, L; Mendoza, M; Morais, P; Mulale, K; Ocakoglu, F; Ouessar, M; Ovalle, C; Perez, C; Perkins, J; Pliakas, F; Polemio, M; Pozo, A; Prat, C; Qinke, Y; Ramos, A; Ramos, J; Riquelme, J; Romanenkov, V; Rui, L; Santaloia, F; Sebego, R; Sghaier, M; Silva, N; Sizemskaya, M; Soares, J; Sonmez, H; Taamallah, H; Tezcan, L; Torri, D; Ungaro, F; Valente, S; de Vente, J; Zagal, E; Zeiliguer, A; Zhonging, W; Ziogas, A

    2014-11-01

    An approach to derive relationships for defining land degradation and desertification risk and developing appropriate tools for assessing the effectiveness of the various land management practices using indicators is presented in the present paper. In order to investigate which indicators are most effective in assessing the level of desertification risk, a total of 70 candidate indicators was selected providing information for the biophysical environment, socio-economic conditions, and land management characteristics. The indicators were defined in 1,672 field sites located in 17 study areas in the Mediterranean region, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Based on an existing geo-referenced database, classes were designated for each indicator and a sensitivity score to desertification was assigned to each class based on existing research. The obtained data were analyzed for the various processes of land degradation at farm level. The derived methodology was assessed using independent indicators, such as the measured soil erosion rate, and the organic matter content of the soil. Based on regression analyses, the collected indicator set can be reduced to a number of effective indicators ranging from 8 to 17 in the various processes of land degradation. Among the most important indicators identified as affecting land degradation and desertification risk were rain seasonality, slope gradient, plant cover, rate of land abandonment, land-use intensity, and the level of policy implementation.

  15. Comparison of the image-derived radioactivity and blood-sample radioactivity for estimating the clinical indicators of the efficacy of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT): 4-borono-2-18F-fluoro-phenylalanine (FBPA) PET study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isohashi, Kayako; Shimosegawa, Eku; Naka, Sadahiro; Kanai, Yasukazu; Horitsugi, Genki; Mochida, Ikuko; Matsunaga, Keiko; Watabe, Tadashi; Kato, Hiroki; Tatsumi, Mitsuaki; Hatazawa, Jun

    2016-12-01

    In boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), positron emission tomography (PET) with 4-borono-2- 18 F-fluoro-phenylalanine (FBPA) is the only method to estimate an accumulation of 10 B to target tumor and surrounding normal tissue after administering 10 B carrier of L-paraboronophenylalanine and to search the indication of BNCT for individual patient. Absolute concentration of 10 B in tumor has been estimated by multiplying 10 B concentration in blood during BNCT by tumor to blood radioactivity (T/B) ratio derived from FBPA PET. However, the method to measure blood radioactivity either by blood sampling or image data has not been standardized. We compared image-derived blood radioactivity of FBPA with blood sampling data and studied appropriate timing and location for measuring image-derived blood counts. We obtained 7 repeated whole-body PET scans in five healthy subjects. Arterialized venous blood samples were obtained from the antecubital vein, heated in a heating blanket. Time-activity curves (TACs) of image-derived blood radioactivity were obtained using volumes of interest (VOIs) over ascending aorta, aortic arch, pulmonary artery, left and right ventricles, inferior vena cava, and abdominal aorta. Image-derived blood radioactivity was compared with those measured by blood sampling data in each location. Both the TACs of blood sampling radioactivity in each subject, and the TACs of image-derived blood radioactivity showed a peak within 5 min after the tracer injection, and promptly decreased soon thereafter. Linear relationship was found between blood sampling radioactivity and image-derived blood radioactivity in all the VOIs at any timing of data sampling (p radioactivity measured in the left and right ventricles 30 min after injection showed high correlation with blood radioactivity. Image-derived blood radioactivity was lower than blood sampling radioactivity data by 20 %. Reduction of blood radioactivity of FBPA in left ventricle after 30 min of FBPA

  16. Towards Optimal Multi-Dimensional Query Processing with BitmapIndices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rotem, Doron; Stockinger, Kurt; Wu, Kesheng

    2005-09-30

    Bitmap indices have been widely used in scientific applications and commercial systems for processing complex, multi-dimensional queries where traditional tree-based indices would not work efficiently. This paper studies strategies for minimizing the access costs for processing multi-dimensional queries using bitmap indices with binning. Innovative features of our algorithm include (a) optimally placing the bin boundaries and (b) dynamically reordering the evaluation of the query terms. In addition, we derive several analytical results concerning optimal bin allocation for a probabilistic query model. Our experimental evaluation with real life data shows an average I/O cost improvement of at least a factor of 10 for multi-dimensional queries on datasets from two different applications. Our experiments also indicate that the speedup increases with the number of query dimensions.

  17. Global Derivatives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Torben Juul

    approaches to dealing in the global business environment." - Sharon Brown-Hruska, Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, USA. "This comprehensive survey of modern risk management using derivative securities is a fine demonstration of the practical relevance of modern derivatives theory to risk......" provides comprehensive coverage of different types of derivatives, including exchange traded contracts and over-the-counter instruments as well as real options. There is an equal emphasis on the practical application of derivatives and their actual uses in business transactions and corporate risk...... management situations. Its key features include: derivatives are introduced in a global market perspective; describes major derivative pricing models for practical use, extending these principles to valuation of real options; practical applications of derivative instruments are richly illustrated...

  18. Ferroquine and its derivatives: new generation of antimalarial agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wani, Waseem A; Jameel, Ehtesham; Baig, Umair; Mumtazuddin, Syed; Hun, Lee Ting

    2015-08-28

    Malaria has been teasing human populations from a long time. Presently, several classes of antimalarial drugs are available in market, but the issues of toxicity, lower efficacy and the resistance by malarial parasites have decreased their overall therapeutic indices. Thus, the search for new promising antimalarials continues, however, the battle against malaria is far from over. Ferroquine is a derivative of chloroquine with antimalarial properties. It is the most successful of the chloroquine derivatives. Not only ferroquine, but also its derivatives have shown promising potential as antimalarials of clinical interest. Presently, much research is dedicated to the development of ferroquine derivatives as safe alternatives to antimalarial chemotherapy. The present article describes the structural, chemical and biological features of ferroquine. Several classes of ferroquine derivatives including hydroxyferroquines, trioxaferroquines, chloroquine-bridged ferrocenophanes, thiosemicarbazone derivatives, ferrocene dual conjugates, 4-N-substituted derivatives, and others have been discussed. Besides, the mechanism of action of ferroquine has been discussed. A careful observation has been made into pharmacologically significant ferroquine derivatives with better or equal therapeutic effects to that of chloroquine and ferroquine. A brief discussion of the toxicities of ferroquine derivatives has been made. Finally, efforts have been made to discuss the current challenges and future perspectives of ferroquine-based antimalarial drug development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  19. Spatial patterns of primary productivity derived from the Dynamic Habitat Indices predict patterns of species richness and distributions in the tropics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suttidate, Naparat

    Humans are changing the Earth's ecosystems, which has profound consequences for biodiversity. To understand how species respond to these changes, biodiversity science requires accurate assessments of biodiversity. However, biodiversity assessments are still limited in tropical regions. The Dynamic Habitat Indices (DHIs), derived from satellite data, summarize dynamic patterns of annual primary productivity: (a) cumulative annual productivity, (b) minimum annual productivity, and (c) seasonal variation in productivity. The DHIs have been successfully used in temperate regions, but not yet in the tropics. My goal was to evaluate the importance of primary productivity measured via the DHIs for assessing patterns of species richness and distributions in Thailand. First, I assessed the relationships between the DHIs and tropical bird species richness. I also evaluated the complementarity of the DHIs and topography, climate, latitudinal gradients, habitat heterogeneity, and habitat area in explaining bird species richness. I found that among three DHIs, cumulative annual productivity was the most important factor in explaining bird species richness and that the DHIs outperformed other environmental variables. Second, I developed texture measures derive from DHI cumulative annual productivity, and compared them to habitat composition and fragmentation as predictors of tropical forest bird distributions. I found that adding texture measures to habitat composition and fragmentation models improved the prediction of tropical bird distributions, especially area- and edge-sensitive tropical forest bird species. Third, I predicted the effects of trophic interactions between primary productivity, prey, and predators in relation to habitat connectivity for Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris). I found that including trophic interactions improved habitat suitability models for tigers. However, tiger habitat is highly fragmented with few dispersal corridors. I also identified

  20. Partition coefficients of some purine derivatives and its application to pharmacokinetics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chrzanowska, M; Sobiak, J; Kuehn, M; Dorawa, E; Hermann, T

    2009-12-01

    Metazathioprine (MAZA), a methylated derivative of azathioprine (AZA), demonstrated the greatest values of apparent and specific partition coefficients in n-octanol/phosphate buffer at pH 5.7 and pH 7.4 among purine derivatives such as 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), 6-thioguanine (6-TG) and AZA. Introduction of a methyl group into the imidazole ring of AZA increases lipophilic properties of MAZA compared to AZA. Mass balance of purine derivatives in n-octanol and in phosphate buffer indicated their chemical stability in those media.

  1. Electricity derivative markets: Investment valuation, production planning and hedging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naesaekkaelae, E.

    2005-01-01

    This thesis studies electricity derivative markets from a view point of an electricity producer. The traditionally used asset pricing methods, based on the no arbitrage principle, are extended to take into account electricity specific features: the non storability of electricity and the variability in the load process. The sources of uncertainty include electricity forward curve, prices of resources used to generate electricity, and the size of the future production. Also the effects of competitors' actions are considered. The thesis illustrates how the information in the derivative prices can be used in investment and production planning. In addition, the use of derivatives as a tool to stabilize electricity dependent cash flows is considered. The results indicate that the information about future electricity prices and their uncertainty, obtained from derivative markets, is important in investment analysis and production planning. (orig.)

  2. Electricity derivative markets: Investment valuation, production planning and hedging

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naesaekkaelae, E.

    2005-07-01

    This thesis studies electricity derivative markets from a view point of an electricity producer. The traditionally used asset pricing methods, based on the no arbitrage principle, are extended to take into account electricity specific features: the non storability of electricity and the variability in the load process. The sources of uncertainty include electricity forward curve, prices of resources used to generate electricity, and the size of the future production. Also the effects of competitors' actions are considered. The thesis illustrates how the information in the derivative prices can be used in investment and production planning. In addition, the use of derivatives as a tool to stabilize electricity dependent cash flows is considered. The results indicate that the information about future electricity prices and their uncertainty, obtained from derivative markets, is important in investment analysis and production planning. (orig.)

  3. A variable-order fractal derivative model for anomalous diffusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Xiaoting

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper pays attention to develop a variable-order fractal derivative model for anomalous diffusion. Previous investigations have indicated that the medium structure, fractal dimension or porosity may change with time or space during solute transport processes, results in time or spatial dependent anomalous diffusion phenomena. Hereby, this study makes an attempt to introduce a variable-order fractal derivative diffusion model, in which the index of fractal derivative depends on temporal moment or spatial position, to characterize the above mentioned anomalous diffusion (or transport processes. Compared with other models, the main advantages in description and the physical explanation of new model are explored by numerical simulation. Further discussions on the dissimilitude such as computational efficiency, diffusion behavior and heavy tail phenomena of the new model and variable-order fractional derivative model are also offered.

  4. Evaluation of Pulsed Doppler-Versus Tissue Doppler-Derived Tei Index of Right and Left Ventricle in Fetuses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid Amoozgar

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The myocardial performance index (MPI, also known as the Tei index, was introduced by Tei et al. to evaluate cardiac function in adults with dilated cardiomyopathy. This index is defined as the sum of isovolumic contraction time (ICT and isovolumic relaxation time (IRT, divided by ejection time (ET. Objectives: To determine the correlation between pulsed Doppler (PD- and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI-derived Tei indices in fetuses. Patients and Methods: Right and left ventricle PD and TDI echocardiographic data were obtained from 59 fetuses (11 pregnant women who were positive for anti-SSA-Ro or anti-SSB-La antibodies, 18 women who were referred due to dysrhythmia, and 30 women who had normal clinical findings. Results: Mean fetal gestational age was 27 ± 6.4 weeks. Mean PD Tei index of the mitral and tricuspid valve was 0.58 ± 0.05 and 0.53 ± 0.08, respectively. Mean TDI indices for the mitral and tricuspid valve were 0.56 ± 0.09 and 0.55 ± 0.08, respectively. There were no significant differences between mitral and tricuspid PD- and TDI-derived Tei indices (P = 0.87, P= 0.21, but the Bland-Altman diagrams showed no fine agreement between the indices (the mean difference ± 1 standard deviation of the right ventricular PD- and TDI-derived Tei indices was 0.24 ± 0.02 and 0.29 ± 0.04 for the left ventricle. There were no significant differences in PD- and TDI-derived Tei indexes between groups of evaluated fetuses (Mitral valve: PD-Tei P=0.69, TDI-Tei P=0.49; Tricuspid valve: PD-Tei P=0.41, TDI-Tei P=0.36. Conclusions: Although the mean values of the two indices did not differ significantly, the TDI-derived and PD-derived Tei indices did not have fine agreement.

  5. Influence of curing time, overlay material and thickness on three light-curing composites used for luting indirect composite restorations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Arcangelo, Camillo; De Angelis, Francesco; Vadini, Mirco; Carluccio, Fabio; Vitalone, Laura Merla; D'Amario, Maurizio

    2012-08-01

    To assess the microhardness of three resin composites employed in the adhesive luting of indirect composite restorations and examine the influence of the overlay material and thickness as well as the curing time on polymerization rate. Three commercially available resin composites were selected: Enamel Plus HRI (Micerium) (ENA), Saremco ELS (Saremco Dental) (SAR), Esthet-X HD (Dentsply/DeTrey) (EST-X). Post-polymerized cylinders of 6 different thicknesses were produced and used as overlays: 2 mm, 3 mm, 3.5 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, and 6 mm. Two-mm-thick disks were produced and employed as underlays. A standardized amount of composite paste was placed between the underlay and the overlay surfaces which were maintained at a fixed distance of 0.5 mm. Light curing of the luting composite layer was performed through the overlays for 40, 80, or 120 s. For each specimen, the composite to be cured, the cured overlay, and the underlay were made out of the same batch of resin composite. All specimens were assigned to three experimental groups on the basis of the resin composite used, and to subgroups on the basis of the overlay thickness and the curing time, resulting in 54 experimental subgroups (n = 5). Forty-five additional specimens, 15 for each material under investigation, were produced and subjected to 40, 80, or 120 s of light curing using a microscope glass as an overlay; they were assigned to 9 control subgroups (n = 5). Three Vicker's hardness (VH) indentations were performed on each specimen. Means and standard deviations were calculated. Data were statistically analyzed using 3-way ANOVA. Within the same material, VH values lower than 55% of control were not considered acceptable. The used material, the overlay thickness, and the curing time significantly influenced VH values. In the ENA group, acceptable hardness values were achieved with 3.5-mm or thinner overlays after 120 or 80 s curing time (VH 41.75 and 39.32, respectively), and with 2-mm overlays after 40 s (VH 54

  6. First Total Syntheses and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Penicimonoterpene, a Marine-Derived Monoterpenoid, and Its Various Derivatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian-Chun Zhao

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The first total synthesis of marine-derived penicimonoterpene (±-1 has been achieved in four steps from 6-methylhept-5-en-2-one using a Reformatsky reaction as the key step to construct the basic carbon skeleton. A total of 24 new derivatives of 1 have also been designed and synthesized. Their structures were characterized by analysis of their 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRESIMS data. Some of them showed significant antibacterial activity against Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio anguillarum, V. harveyi and/or V. parahaemolyticus, and some showed activity against plant-pathogenic fungi (Alternaria brassicae, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and/or Fusarium graminearum. Some of the derivatives exhibited antimicrobial MIC values ranging from 0.25 to 4 μg/mL, which were stronger than those of the positive control. Notably, Compounds 3b and 10 showed extremely high selectively against plant-pathogenic fungus F. graminearum (MIC 0.25 μg/mL and pathogenic bacteria E. coli (MIC 1 μg/mL, implying their potential as antimicrobial agents. SAR analysis of 1 and its derivatives indicated that modification of the carbon-carbon double bond at C-6/7, of groups on the allylic methylene unit and of the carbonyl group at C-1, effectively enhanced the antimicrobial activity.

  7. Derivation of the canopy conductance from surface temperature and spectral indices for estimating evapotranspiration in semiarid vegetation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morillas, L.; Garcia, M.; Zarco-Tejada, P.; Ladron de Guevara, M.; Villagarcia, L.; Were, A.; Domingo, F.

    2009-01-01

    This work evaluates the possibilities for estimating stomata conductance (C) and leaf transpiration (Trf) at the ecosystem scale from radiometric indices and surface temperature. The relationships found between indices and the transpiration component of the water balance in a semiarid tussock ecosystem in SE Spain are discussed. Field data were collected from spring 2008 until winter 2009 in order to observe the annual variability of the relationships and the behaviour of spectral indices and surface temperature. (Author) 11 refs.

  8. Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived neurons respond to convulsant drugs when co-cultured with hiPSC-derived astrocytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishii, Misawa Niki; Yamamoto, Koji; Shoji, Masanobu; Asami, Asano; Kawamata, Yuji

    2017-08-15

    activity in response to convulsant drugs. Our study indicates the possibility that co-culture system of hiPSC-derived neurons with hiPSC-derived astrocytes could be useful in the risk assessment of drug-induced seizure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Effect of conditions of air-lift type reactor work on cadmium adsorption

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Filipkowska, Urszula; Szymczyk, Paula Szymczyk; Kuczajowska-Zadrozna, Malgorzata; Joezwiak, Tomasz

    2015-01-01

    We investigated cadmium sorption by activated sludge immobilized in 1.5% sodium alginate with 0.5% polyvinyl alcohol. Experiments were conducted in an air-lift type reactor at the constant concentration of biosorbent reaching 5 d.m./dm 3 , at three flow rates: 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 V/h, and at three concentrations of the inflowing cadmium solution: 10, 25 and 50mg/dm 3 . Analyses determined adsorption capacity of activated sludge immobilized in alginate as well as reactor's work time depending on flow rate and initial concentration of the solution. Results achieved were described with the use of Thomas model. The highest adsorption capacity of the sorbent (determined from the Thomas model), i.e., 200.2mg/g d.m. was obtained at inflowing solution concentration of 50mg/dm 3 and flow rate of 0.1V/h, whereas the lowest one reached 53.69mg/g d.m. at the respective values of 10mg/dm 3 and 0.1 V/h. Analyses were also carried out to determine the degree of biosorbent adsorption capacity utilization at the assumed effectiveness of cadmium removal - at the breakthrough point (C=0.05*C 0 ) and at adsorption capacity depletion point (C−0.9*C0). The study demonstrated that the effectiveness of adsorption capacity utilization was influenced by both the concentration and flow rate of the inflowing solution. The highest degree of sorbent capacity utilization was noted at inflowing solution concentration of 50mg/dm 3 and flow rate of 0.1 V/h, whereas the lowest one at the respective values of 10mg/dm 3 and 0.1 V/h. The course of the process under dynamic conditions was evaluated using coefficients of tangent inclination - a, at point C/C 0 =1/2. A distinct tendency was demonstrated in changes of tangent slope a as affected by the initial concentration of cadmium and flow rate of the solution. The highest values of a coefficient were achieved at the flow rate of 0.1 V/h and initial cadmium concentration of 50mg/dm 3 .

  10. Presence of Vaccine-Derived Newcastle Disease Viruses in Wild Birds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea J Ayala

    Full Text Available Our study demonstrates the repeated isolation of vaccine-derived Newcastle disease viruses from different species of wild birds across four continents from 1997 through 2014. The data indicate that at least 17 species from ten avian orders occupying different habitats excrete vaccine-derived Newcastle disease viruses. The most frequently reported isolates were detected among individuals in the order Columbiformes (n = 23, followed in frequency by the order Anseriformes (n = 13. Samples were isolated from both free-ranging (n = 47 and wild birds kept in captivity (n = 7. The number of recovered vaccine-derived viruses corresponded with the most widely utilized vaccines, LaSota (n = 28 and Hitchner B1 (n = 19. Other detected vaccine-derived viruses resembled the PHY-LMV2 and V4 vaccines, with five and two cases, respectively. These results and the ubiquitous and synanthropic nature of wild pigeons highlight their potential role as indicator species for the presence of Newcastle disease virus of low virulence in the environment. The reverse spillover of live agents from domestic animals to wildlife as a result of the expansion of livestock industries employing massive amounts of live virus vaccines represent an underappreciated and poorly studied effect of human activity on wildlife.

  11. Presence of Vaccine-Derived Newcastle Disease Viruses in Wild Birds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayala, Andrea J.; Dimitrov, Kiril M.; Becker, Cassidy R.; Goraichuk, Iryna V.; Arns, Clarice W.; Bolotin, Vitaly I.; Ferreira, Helena L.; Gerilovych, Anton P.; Goujgoulova, Gabriela V.; Martini, Matheus C.; Muzyka, Denys V.; Orsi, Maria A.; Scagion, Guilherme P.; Silva, Renata K.; Solodiankin, Olexii S.; Stegniy, Boris T.; Miller, Patti J.; Afonso, Claudio L.

    2016-01-01

    Our study demonstrates the repeated isolation of vaccine-derived Newcastle disease viruses from different species of wild birds across four continents from 1997 through 2014. The data indicate that at least 17 species from ten avian orders occupying different habitats excrete vaccine-derived Newcastle disease viruses. The most frequently reported isolates were detected among individuals in the order Columbiformes (n = 23), followed in frequency by the order Anseriformes (n = 13). Samples were isolated from both free-ranging (n = 47) and wild birds kept in captivity (n = 7). The number of recovered vaccine-derived viruses corresponded with the most widely utilized vaccines, LaSota (n = 28) and Hitchner B1 (n = 19). Other detected vaccine-derived viruses resembled the PHY-LMV2 and V4 vaccines, with five and two cases, respectively. These results and the ubiquitous and synanthropic nature of wild pigeons highlight their potential role as indicator species for the presence of Newcastle disease virus of low virulence in the environment. The reverse spillover of live agents from domestic animals to wildlife as a result of the expansion of livestock industries employing massive amounts of live virus vaccines represent an underappreciated and poorly studied effect of human activity on wildlife. PMID:27626272

  12. Computing derivative-based global sensitivity measures using polynomial chaos expansions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sudret, B.; Mai, C.V.

    2015-01-01

    In the field of computer experiments sensitivity analysis aims at quantifying the relative importance of each input parameter (or combinations thereof) of a computational model with respect to the model output uncertainty. Variance decomposition methods leading to the well-known Sobol' indices are recognized as accurate techniques, at a rather high computational cost though. The use of polynomial chaos expansions (PCE) to compute Sobol' indices has allowed to alleviate the computational burden though. However, when dealing with large dimensional input vectors, it is good practice to first use screening methods in order to discard unimportant variables. The derivative-based global sensitivity measures (DGSMs) have been developed recently in this respect. In this paper we show how polynomial chaos expansions may be used to compute analytically DGSMs as a mere post-processing. This requires the analytical derivation of derivatives of the orthonormal polynomials which enter PC expansions. Closed-form expressions for Hermite, Legendre and Laguerre polynomial expansions are given. The efficiency of the approach is illustrated on two well-known benchmark problems in sensitivity analysis. - Highlights: • Derivative-based global sensitivity measures (DGSM) have been developed for screening purpose. • Polynomial chaos expansions (PC) are used as a surrogate model of the original computational model. • From a PC expansion the DGSM can be computed analytically. • The paper provides the derivatives of Hermite, Legendre and Laguerre polynomials for this purpose

  13. Effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles derived from ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Increased manufacture of TiO2 nano-products has caused concern about the potential toxicity of these products to the environment and in public health. Identification and confirmation of the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles derived from consumer products as opposed to industrial TiO2 NPs warrants examination in exploring the significance of their release and resultant impacts on the environment. To this end we examined the significance of the release of these particles and their toxic effect on the marine diatom algae Thalassiosira pseudonana. Our results indicate that nano-TiO2 sunscreen and toothpaste exhibit more toxicity in comparison to industrial TiO2, and inhibited the growth of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. This inhibition was proportional to the exposure time and concentrations of nano-TiO2. Our findings indicate a significant effect, and therefore further research is warranted in evaluation and assessment of the toxicity of modified nano-TiO2 derived from consumer products and their physicochemical properties. Submit to journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

  14. Comparing Multipollutant Emissions-Based Mobile Source Indicators to Other Single Pollutant and Multipollutant Indicators in Different Urban Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle M. Oakes

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available A variety of single pollutant and multipollutant metrics can be used to represent exposure to traffic pollutant mixtures and evaluate their health effects. Integrated mobile source indicators (IMSIs that combine air quality concentration and emissions data have recently been developed and evaluated using data from Atlanta, Georgia. IMSIs were found to track trends in traffic-related pollutants and have similar or stronger associations with health outcomes. In the current work, we apply IMSIs for gasoline, diesel and total (gasoline + diesel vehicles to two other cities (Denver, Colorado and Houston, Texas with different emissions profiles as well as to a different dataset from Atlanta. We compare spatial and temporal variability of IMSIs to single-pollutant indicators (carbon monoxide (CO, nitrogen oxides (NOx and elemental carbon (EC and multipollutant source apportionment factors produced by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF. Across cities, PMF-derived and IMSI gasoline metrics were most strongly correlated with CO (r = 0.31–0.98, while multipollutant diesel metrics were most strongly correlated with EC (r = 0.80–0.98. NOx correlations with PMF factors varied across cities (r = 0.29–0.67, while correlations with IMSIs were relatively consistent (r = 0.61–0.94. In general, single-pollutant metrics were more correlated with IMSIs (r = 0.58–0.98 than with PMF-derived factors (r = 0.07–0.99. A spatial analysis indicated that IMSIs were more strongly correlated (r > 0.7 between two sites in each city than single pollutant and PMF factors. These findings provide confidence that IMSIs provide a transferable, simple approach to estimate mobile source air pollution in cities with differing topography and source profiles using readily available data.

  15. Approximate *-derivations and approximate quadratic *-derivations on C*-algebras

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Park Choonkil

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In this paper, we prove the stability of *-derivations and of quadratic *-derivations on Banach *-algebras. We moreover prove the superstability of *-derivations and of quadratic *-derivations on C*-algebras. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 39B52; 47B47; 46L05; 39B72.

  16. Dicty_cDB: VHL364 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHL364 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16205-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHL364Z 668 - - - - Show VHL364 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHL364 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16205-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b...mino Acid sequence ---KKVTIAEAKEIFEKQYRDLYTVSQDVTKLAIQSAEQNGIVFLDEIDKICTSRESIKN GGDASTDGVQRDLLPIVEGCMVSTKYGQ...itwyh*tyrrgykf*lxys*r*nscfrysrh*ktfk Frame B: ---KKVTIAEAKEIFEKQYRDLYTVSQDVTKLAIQSAEQNGIVFLDEIDKICTSRESIKN G

  17. Dicty_cDB: VHK472 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK472 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16349-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHK472Z 392 - - - - Show VHK472 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK472 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16349-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b....10 Translated Amino Acid sequence ---CSSVDSISNLPTXMQLFAGIKSICTEMAMDGCEKCSGNSPTTT...wstlqlsnhirllcrlcc*rrsnhenvlshwylglypl*ilgtk n*psicwfmv Frame B: ---CSSVDSISNLPTXMQLFAGIKSICTEMAMDGCEKCSGNSP

  18. Dicty_cDB: VHA365 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHA365 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16349-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHA365Z 352 - - - - Show VHA365 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHA365 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16349-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b...TTGGGTACCAAGAACTGACCGTCAATTTGCTGGTTCATGGTTT sequence update 2002. 9.10 Translated Amino Acid sequence ---QLFAGIKSICT...wfmv Frame C: ---QLFAGIKSICTEMAMDGCEKCSGNSPTTTCDVLPVYSSLCMAMPDMSQCANWTKMCS SSGQLY

  19. Dicty_cDB: VHC776 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHC776 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15722-1 VHC776P (Link... to Original site) VHC776F 593 VHC776Z 895 VHC776P 1468 - - Show VHC776 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHC776 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15722-1 Original site URL http://dict...CDNNTGNCTCHNEXFGNSCEFTRCP LDCSTPNGTCDNNXGNCTCHNEHFGNGCEFTQCPLYCSTPNGTCDINSGICTCDN...XFGNSCEFTRCP LDCSTPNGTCDNNXGNCTCHNEHFGNGCEFTQCPLYCSTPNGTCDINSGICTCDNEHIGN GCEIKFIECKHKCSTKHGICDNDSGNCKCDTQTK

  20. Dicty_cDB: VHK477 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHK477 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U11536-1 VHK477P (Link... to Original site) VHK477F 685 VHK477Z 794 VHK477P 1459 - - Show VHK477 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHK477 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U11536-1 Original site URL http://dict...QIGTYSFEGKFIKKAIINGNRIVTINN KLLNENQLNSNSTITKEKDSSNQLSSFISIEIPHYDSNVLLDPSFSVLLDSNESYKNSEN SICTSKKSSKLTTAQIIAI...NQLSSFISIEIPHYDSNVLLDPSFSVLLDSNESYKNSEN SICTSKKSSKLTTAQIIAIVIVSVVFVIILALFIIVKFSKS

  1. Dicty_cDB: VHI141 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHI141 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15722-1 VHI141P (Link... to Original site) VHI141F 635 VHI141Z 922 VHI141P 1537 - - Show VHI141 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHI141 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15722-1 Original site URL http://dict...LDCSTPNGTCDNNTGNCTCHNEHFGNSC EFTRCPLDCSTPNGTCDNNTGNCTCHNEHFGNGCEFTQCPLYCSTPNGTCDINSGICTCD NEHIGNGCEIKFIECKHK...PNGTCDNNTGNCTCHNEHFGNGCEFTQCPLYCSTPNGTCDINSGICTCD NEHIGNGCEIKFIECKHKCSTKHGICDNDSG

  2. Dicty_cDB: VHC263 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHC263 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16349-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHC263Z 429 - - - - Show VHC263 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHC263 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16349-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b...ATGG ACTCCCAAC sequence update 2002. 9.10 Translated Amino Acid sequence ---QLFAGIKSICT...kyfrkkmdsq Frame B: ---QLFAGIKSICTXMAMDGCEKCSGNSPTTTCDVLPVYSSLCMAMPDMSQCANWTKMCS

  3. Dicty_cDB: VHO201 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHO201 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U12425-1 VHO201P (Link... to Original site) VHO201F 596 VHO201Z 398 VHO201P 974 - - Show VHO201 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHO201 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U12425-1 Original site URL http://dict...SGSQMEIQNRRGIVNLGDYSTSR DDNPHVLTVLLKQFLRDLPEPICTNALYDLFLAASDQINFQQCKENGFEVLKKLINS...CKREXMELRIPTFVSNILNTLFLHSLGVEGLFRISGSQMEIQNRRGIVNLGDYSTSR DDNPHVLTVLLKQFLRDLPEPICT

  4. Dicty_cDB: VHL434 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHL434 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16336-1 VHL434P (Link... to Original site) VHL434F 546 VHL434Z 778 VHL434P 1304 - - Show VHL434 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHL434 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16336-1 Original site URL http://dict...EVMSCNKFSSKRIGYLAASQSFNEGTDVIVLATHQIRKDFLS SNQSEAYLALNCLSNICTTDLARELANDILTLLSTQKTHILKRAITVLYKIFLRYPES-- - --...GFDISWASFKIVEVMSCNKFSSKRIGYLAASQSFNEGTDVIVLATHQIRKDFLS SNQSEAYLALNCLSNICTTDLARELANDILTLLSTQKTHILKRAITVLYKIFL

  5. Dicty_cDB: VHH831 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHH831 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15722-1 VHH831P (Link... to Original site) VHH831F 586 VHH831Z 930 VHH831P 1496 - - Show VHH831 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHH831 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15722-1 Original site URL http://dict...HFGNGCEFTQCPLYCSTPNGTCDINSGICTC DNEHIGNGCEIKFIECKHKCSTKHGICDNDSGNCKCDTQTKGLTCEESRLLIESLDSINS KGGTINIIGYFGNTT...STPNGTCDNNTGNCTCHNEHFGNG CEFTRCPLDCSTPNGTCDNNTGNCTCHNEHFGNGCEFTQCPLYCSTPNGTCDINSGICTC DNEHIGNGCEIKFIECKHKCST

  6. Local Chromatin Features Including PU.1 and IKAROS Binding and H3K4 Methylation Shape the Repertoire of Immunoglobulin Kappa Genes Chosen for V(D)J Recombination

    OpenAIRE

    Louise S. Matheson; Daniel J. Bolland; Peter Chovanec; Felix Krueger; Simon Andrews; Hashem Koohy; Anne E. Corcoran

    2017-01-01

    V(D)J recombination is essential for the generation of diverse antigen receptor (AgR) repertoires. In B cells, immunoglobulin kappa (Igκ) light chain recombination follows immunoglobulin heavy chain (Igh) recombination. We recently developed the DNA-based VDJ-seq assay for the unbiased quantitation of Igh VH and DH repertoires. Integration of VDJ-seq data with genome-wide datasets revealed that two chromatin states at the recombination signal sequence (RSS) of VH genes are highly predictive o...

  7. Head to head comparison of optical coherence tomography, intravascular ultrasound echogenicity and virtual histology for the detection of changes in polymeric struts over time

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brugaletta, Salvatore; Gomez-Lara, Josep; Bruining, Nico

    2012-01-01

    To analyse and to compare the changes in the various optical coherence tomography (OCT), echogenicity and intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (VH) of the everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold (ABSORB) degradation parameters during the first 12 months after ABSORB implantation. In the A......To analyse and to compare the changes in the various optical coherence tomography (OCT), echogenicity and intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (VH) of the everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold (ABSORB) degradation parameters during the first 12 months after ABSORB implantation...

  8. On the interpretation of pulsar braking indices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blandford, R.D.; Romani, R.W.

    1988-01-01

    Timing observations of the Crab pulsar rotation frequency of sufficient accuracy and duration to allow a 10 per cent estimate of the third frequency derivative have been reported (Lyne et al. 1988. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc., 233, 667). This measurement is consistent with both non-dipolar electromagnetic models and a secular change in the dipole moment. A more accurate determination may discriminate between these two possibilities. Measurements of braking indices in other young pulsars may reveal similar variations. (author)

  9. Vitreous haemorrhage in massive hemorrhagic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes: Vitreous hemorrhage in PCV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narayanan, Raja; Mithal, Kopal; Jalali, Subhadra; Chhablani, Jay Kumar; Mathai, Annie; Ali, Md Hasnat

    2015-01-01

    To report the outcomes of vitreous hemorrhage (VH) associated with hemorrhagic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). A retrospective study of 28 eyes of 27 consecutive patients of hemorrhagic PCV with VH, which were managed surgically between January 2003 and December 2011, was performed. All patients underwent pars plana vitrectomy for VH associated with PCV. The main outcome measure was best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at baseline, at 1, 3 and 6 months post operatively and at last follow up. The visual acuity measured on early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) chart improved in 16 eyes (57.1 %) by two or more lines, remained unchanged in nine eyes (32.1 %) and decreased in three (10.7 %) after surgery when compared to baseline VA. The mean baseline VA was 2.69 ± 0.57 logMAR units (hemorrhagic PCV have sustained improvement in visual acuity following surgery.

  10. Spectral data based vegetation indices to characterise crop growth parameters and radiation interception in brassica

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kar, G.; Chakravarty, N.V.K.

    2001-01-01

    Four spectral data based vegetation indices viz., infra-red/red (IR/R) ratio, normalized difference (N.D.), greenness index (GNI) and brightness index (BNI) were derived to characterise leaf area index, above ground biomass production and intercepted photosynthetically active radiation in Brassica oilseed crop. It was found from correlation study among different spectral indices, plant growth parameters and radiation interception that there was strong relationship between infrared/red and normalized difference with green area index for all the three Brassica cultivars whereas these spectral were not significantly correlated with above ground biomass. On the other hand, the brightness and greenness indices were closely correlated with above groundry biomass as compared to infrared/red ratio and normalized difference. All the four spectral indices were correlated with intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (IP AR). The best fit equations relating them were derived, which can be incorporated in the algorithms of crop growth simulation model to estimate plant growth parameters and radiation interception using spectral indices

  11. Vaccatides: Antifungal Glutamine-Rich Hevein-Like Peptides from Vaccaria hispanica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ka H. Wong

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Hevein and hevein-like peptides are disulfide-constrained chitin-binding cysteine-rich peptides. They are divided into three subfamilies, 6C-, 8C-, and 10C-hevein-like peptides, based on the number of cysteine residues. In addition, hevein-like peptides can exist in two forms, short and long. The long C-terminal form found in hevein and 10C-hevein-like peptides contain a C-terminal protein cargo. In contrast, the short form without a protein cargo is found in all three subfamilies. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of two novel glutamine-rich and protein cargo-free 8C-hevein-like peptides, vaccatides vH1 and vH2, from Vaccaria hispanica of the Caryophyllaceae family. Proteomic analyses showed that the vaccatides are 40–41 amino acids in length and contain a chitin-binding domain. NMR determination revealed that vaccatide vH2 displays a highly compact structure with a N-terminal cystine knot and an addition C-terminal disulfide bond. Stability studies showed that this compact structure renders vaccatide vH2 resistant to thermal, chemical and proteolytic degradation. The chitin-binding vH2 was shown to inhibit the mycelium growth of four phyto-pathogenic fungal strains with IC50 values in the micromolar range. Our findings show that vaccatides represent a new family of 8C-hevein-like peptides, which are protein cargo-free and glutamine-rich, characteristics that differentiate them from the prototypic hevein and the 10C-hevein-like peptides. In summary, this study enriches the existing library of hevein-like peptides and provides insight into their molecular diversity in sequence, structure and biosynthesis. Additionally, their highly disulfide-constrained structure could be used as a scaffold for developing metabolically and orally active peptidyl therapeutics.

  12. Structural considerations for functional anti-EGFR × anti-CD3 bispecific diabodies in light of domain order and binding affinity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asano, Ryutaro; Nagai, Keisuke; Makabe, Koki; Takahashi, Kento; Kumagai, Takashi; Kawaguchi, Hiroko; Ogata, Hiromi; Arai, Kyoko; Umetsu, Mitsuo; Kumagai, Izumi

    2018-03-02

    We previously reported a functional humanized bispecific diabody (bsDb) that targeted EGFR and CD3 (hEx3-Db) and enhancement of its cytotoxicity by rearranging the domain order in the V domain. Here, we further dissected the effect of domain order in bsDbs on their cross-linking ability and binding kinetics to elucidate general rules regarding the design of functional bsDbs. Using Ex3-Db as a model system, we first classified the four possible domain orders as anti-parallel (where both chimeric single-chain components are variable heavy domain (VH)-variable light domain (VL) or VL-VH order) and parallel types (both chimeric single-chain components are mixed with VH-VL and VL-VH order). Although anti-parallel Ex3-Dbs could cross-link the soluble target antigens, their cross-linking ability between soluble targets had no correlation with their growth inhibitory effects. In contrast, the binding affinity of one of the two constructs with a parallel-arrangement V domain was particularly low, and structural modeling supported this phenomenon. Similar results were observed with E2x3-Dbs, in which the V region of the anti-EGFR antibody clone in hEx3 was replaced with that of another anti-EGFR clone. Only anti-parallel types showed affinity-dependent cancer inhibitory effects in each molecule, and E2x3-LH (both components in VL-VH order) showed the most intense anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo . Our results showed that, in addition to rearranging the domain order of bsDbs, increasing their binding affinity may be an ideal strategy for enhancing the cytotoxicity of anti-parallel constructs and that E2x3-LH is particularly attractive as a candidate next-generation anti-cancer drug.

  13. Chronic Stress Triggers Expression of Immediate Early Genes and Differentially Affects the Expression of AMPA and NMDA Subunits in Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampus of Rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anibal Pacheco

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies in rats have demonstrated that chronic restraint stress triggers anhedonia, depressive-like behaviors, anxiety and a reduction in dendritic spine density in hippocampal neurons. In this study, we compared the effect of repeated stress on the expression of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA receptor subunits in dorsal and ventral hippocampus (VH. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control and stressed groups, and were daily restrained in their motion (2.5 h/day during 14 days. We found that chronic stress promotes an increase in c-Fos mRNA levels in both hippocampal areas, although it was observed a reduction in the immunoreactivity at pyramidal cell layer. Furthermore, Arc mRNAs levels were increased in both dorsal and VH, accompanied by an increase in Arc immunoreactivity in dendritic hippocampal layers. Furthermore, stress triggered a reduction in PSD-95 and NR1 protein levels in whole extract of dorsal and VH. Moreover, a reduction in NR2A/NR2B ratio was observed only in dorsal pole. In synaptosomal fractions, we detected a rise in NR1 in dorsal hippocampus (DH. By indirect immunofluorescence we found that NR1 subunits rise, especially in neuropil areas of dorsal, but not VH. In relation to AMPA receptor (AMPAR subunits, chronic stress did not trigger any change, either in dorsal or ventral hippocampal areas. These data suggest that DH is more sensitive than VH to chronic stress exposure, mainly altering the expression of NMDA receptor (NMDAR subunits, and probably favors changes in the configuration of this receptor that may influence the function of this area.

  14. NESS038C6, a novel selective CB1 antagonist agent with anti-obesity activity and improved molecular profile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mastinu, Andrea; Pira, Marilena; Pani, Luca; Pinna, Gérard Aimè; Lazzari, Paolo

    2012-10-01

    The present work aims to study the effects induced by a chronic treatment with a novel CB1 antagonist (NESS038C6) in C57BL/6N diet-induced obesity (DIO) mice. Mice treated with NESS038C6 and fed with a fat diet (NESS038C6 FD) were compared with the following three reference experimental groups: DIO mice fed with the same fat diet used for NESS038C6 and treated with vehicle or the reference CB1 antagonist/inverse agonist rimonabant, "VH FD" and "SR141716 FD", respectively; DIO mice treated with vehicle and switched to a normal diet (VH ND). NESS038C6 chronic treatment (30 mg/kg/day for 31 days) determined a significant reduction in DIO mice weight relative to that of VH FD. The entity of the effect was comparable to that detected in both SR141716 FD and VH ND groups. Moreover, if compared to VH FD, NESS038C6 FD evidenced: (i) improvement of cardiovascular risk factors; (ii) significant decrease in adipose tissue leptin expression; (iii) increase in mRNA expression of hypothalamic orexigenic peptides and a decrease of anorexigenic peptides; (iv) expression increase of metabolic enzymes and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α in the liver; (v) normalization of monoaminergic transporters and neurotrophic expression in mesolimbic area. However, in contrast to the case of rimonabant, the novel CB1 antagonist improved the disrupted expression profile of genes linked to the hunger-satiety circuit, without altering monoaminergic transmission. In conclusion, the novel CB1 antagonist compound NESS038C6 may represent a useful candidate agent for the treatment of obesity and its metabolic complications, without or with reduced side effects relative to those instead observed with rimonabant. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Using spectrotemporal indices to improve the fruit-tree crop classification accuracy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña, M. A.; Liao, R.; Brenning, A.

    2017-06-01

    This study assesses the potential of spectrotemporal indices derived from satellite image time series (SITS) to improve the classification accuracy of fruit-tree crops. Six major fruit-tree crop types in the Aconcagua Valley, Chile, were classified by applying various linear discriminant analysis (LDA) techniques on a Landsat-8 time series of nine images corresponding to the 2014-15 growing season. As features we not only used the complete spectral resolution of the SITS, but also all possible normalized difference indices (NDIs) that can be constructed from any two bands of the time series, a novel approach to derive features from SITS. Due to the high dimensionality of this "enhanced" feature set we used the lasso and ridge penalized variants of LDA (PLDA). Although classification accuracies yielded by the standard LDA applied on the full-band SITS were good (misclassification error rate, MER = 0.13), they were further improved by 23% (MER = 0.10) with ridge PLDA using the enhanced feature set. The most important bands to discriminate the crops of interest were mainly concentrated on the first two image dates of the time series, corresponding to the crops' greenup stage. Despite the high predictor weights provided by the red and near infrared bands, typically used to construct greenness spectral indices, other spectral regions were also found important for the discrimination, such as the shortwave infrared band at 2.11-2.19 μm, sensitive to foliar water changes. These findings support the usefulness of spectrotemporal indices in the context of SITS-based crop type classifications, which until now have been mainly constructed by the arithmetic combination of two bands of the same image date in order to derive greenness temporal profiles like those from the normalized difference vegetation index.

  16. Metal complex derivatives of hydrogen uranyl phosphate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grohol, D.; Blinn, E.L.

    1994-01-01

    Derivatives of hydrogen uranyl phosphate were prepared by incorporating transition metal complexes into the uranyl phosphate matrix. The transition metal complexes employed include bis(ethylenediamine)copper(II), bis(1,3-propanediamine)copper(II) chloride, (triethylenetetramine)copper(II), (1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane)copper(II), (1,4,8,12-tetraazacyclopentadecane)copper(II), (1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane)nickel(II) chloride, (triethylenetetramine)nickel(II) and others. The chemical analyses of these derivatives indicated that the incorporation of the transition metal complexes into the uranyl phosphate matrix via ion exchange was not stoichiometric. The extent of ion exchange is dependent on the size and structure of the transition metal complex. All complexes were characterized by X-ray powder diffractometry, electronic and infrared spectra, thermal analyses and chemical analysis. An attempt was made to correlate the degree of quenching of the luminescence of the uranyl ion to the spacing between the uranyl phosphate layers in the derivatives

  17. Analysis of the hygroscopic and volatile properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and unseeded SOA particles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. K. Meyer

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The volatile and hygroscopic properties of ammonium sulphate seeded and unseeded secondary organic aerosol (SOA derived from the photo-oxidation of atmospherically relevant concentrations of α-pinene were studied. The seed particles were electrospray generated ammonium sulphate ((NH42SO4 having diameters of approximately 33 nm with a quasi-mono-disperse size distribution (geometric standard deviation σg=1.3. The volatile and hygroscopic properties of both seeded and unseeded SOA were simultaneously measured with a VH-TDMA (volatility – hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer. VH-TDMA measurements of unseeded SOA show a decrease in the hygroscopic growth (HGF factor for increased volatilisation temperatures such that the more volatile compounds appear to be more hygroscopic. This is opposite to the expected preferential evaporation of more volatile but less hygroscopic material, but could also be due to enhanced oligomerisation occurring at the higher temperature in the thermodenuder. In addition, HGF measurements of seeded SOA were measured as a function of time at two relative humidities, below (RH 75% and above (RH 85% the deliquescence relative humidity (DRH of the pure ammonium sulphate seeds. As these measurements were conducted during the onset phase of photo-oxidation, during particle growth, they enabled us to find the dependence of the HGF as a function of the volume fraction of the SOA coating. HGF's measured at RH of 85% showed a continuous decrease as the SOA coating thickness increased. The measured growth factors show good agreements with ZSR predictions indicating that, at these RH values, there are only minor solute-solute interactions. At 75% RH, as the SOA fraction increased, a rapid increase in the HGF was observed indicating that an increasing fraction of the (NH42SO4 is subject to a phase transition, going into solution, with an

  18. Multiscale analysis of the CMB temperature derivatives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marcos-Caballero, A.; Martínez-González, E.; Vielva, P., E-mail: marcos@ifca.unican.es, E-mail: martinez@ifca.unican.es, E-mail: vielva@ifca.unican.es [Instituto de Física de Cantabria, CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain. (Spain)

    2017-02-01

    We study the Planck CMB temperature at different scales through its derivatives up to second order, which allows one to characterize the local shape and isotropy of the field. The problem of having an incomplete sky in the calculation and statistical characterization of the derivatives is addressed in the paper. The analysis confirms the existence of a low variance in the CMB at large scales, which is also noticeable in the derivatives. Moreover, deviations from the standard model in the gradient, curvature and the eccentricity tensor are studied in terms of extreme values on the data. As it is expected, the Cold Spot is detected as one of the most prominent peaks in terms of curvature, but additionally, when the information of the temperature and its Laplacian are combined, another feature with similar probability at the scale of 10{sup o} is also observed. However, the p -value of these two deviations increase above the 6% when they are referred to the variance calculated from the theoretical fiducial model, indicating that these deviations can be associated to the low variance anomaly. Finally, an estimator of the directional anisotropy for spinorial quantities is introduced, which is applied to the spinors derived from the field derivatives. An anisotropic direction whose probability is <1% is detected in the eccentricity tensor.

  19. Treating autoimmune disorders with venom-derived peptides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Bingzheng; Cao, Zhijian; Li, Wenxin; Sabatier, Jean-Marc; Wu, Yingliang

    2017-09-01

    The effective treatment of autoimmune diseases remains a challenge. Voltage-gated potassium Kv1.3 channels, which are expressed in lymphocytes, are a new therapeutic target for treating autoimmune disease. Consequently, Kv1.3 channel-inhibiting venom-derived peptides are a prospective resource for new drug discovery and clinical application. Area covered: Preclinical and clinical studies have produced a wealth of information on Kv1.3 channel-inhibiting venom-derived peptides, especially from venomous scorpions and sea anemones. This review highlights the advances in screening and design of these peptides with diverse structures and potencies. It focuses on representative strategies for improving peptide selectivity and discusses the preclinical research on those venom-derived peptides as well as their clinical developmental status. Expert opinion: Encouraging results indicate that peptides isolated from the venom of venomous animals are a large resource for discovering immunomodulators that act on Kv1.3 channels. Since the structural diversity of venom-derived peptides determines the variety of their pharmacological activities, the design and optimization of venom-peptides for improved Kv1.3 channel-specificity has been advanced through some representative strategies, such as peptide chemical modification, amino acid residue truncation and binding interface modulation. These advances should further accelerate research, development and the future clinical application of venom-derived peptides selectively targeting Kv1.3 channels.

  20. Fusion of optimized indicators from Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for driver drowsiness detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daza, Iván García; Bergasa, Luis Miguel; Bronte, Sebastián; Yebes, Jose Javier; Almazán, Javier; Arroyo, Roberto

    2014-01-09

    This paper presents a non-intrusive approach for monitoring driver drowsiness using the fusion of several optimized indicators based on driver physical and driving performance measures, obtained from ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistant Systems) in simulated conditions. The paper is focused on real-time drowsiness detection technology rather than on long-term sleep/awake regulation prediction technology. We have developed our own vision system in order to obtain robust and optimized driver indicators able to be used in simulators and future real environments. These indicators are principally based on driver physical and driving performance skills. The fusion of several indicators, proposed in the literature, is evaluated using a neural network and a stochastic optimization method to obtain the best combination. We propose a new method for ground-truth generation based on a supervised Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS). An extensive evaluation of indicators, derived from trials over a third generation simulator with several test subjects during different driving sessions, was performed. The main conclusions about the performance of single indicators and the best combinations of them are included, as well as the future works derived from this study.

  1. Fusion of Optimized Indicators from Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS for Driver Drowsiness Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iván G. Daza

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a non-intrusive approach for monitoring driver drowsiness using the fusion of several optimized indicators based on driver physical and driving performance measures, obtained from ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistant Systems in simulated conditions. The paper is focused on real-time drowsiness detection technology rather than on long-term sleep/awake regulation prediction technology. We have developed our own vision system in order to obtain robust and optimized driver indicators able to be used in simulators and future real environments. These indicators are principally based on driver physical and driving performance skills. The fusion of several indicators, proposed in the literature, is evaluated using a neural network and a stochastic optimization method to obtain the best combination. We propose a new method for ground-truth generation based on a supervised Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS. An extensive evaluation of indicators, derived from trials over a third generation simulator with several test subjects during different driving sessions, was performed. The main conclusions about the performance of single indicators and the best combinations of them are included, as well as the future works derived from this study.

  2. Evaluation of Stony Coral Indicators for Coral Reef ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colonies of reef-building stony corals at 57 stations around St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands were characterized by species, size and percentage of living tissue. Taxonomic, biological and physical indicators of coral condition were derived from these measurements and assessed for their response to gradients of human disturbance. The purpose of the study was to identify indicators that could be used for regulatory assessments under authority of the Clean Water Act--this requires that indicators distinguish anthropogenic disturbances from natural variation. Stony coral indicators were tested for correlation with human disturbance across gradients located on three different sides of the island. At the most intensely disturbed location, five of eight primary indicators were highly correlated with distance from the source of disturbance: Coral taxa richness, average colony size, the coefficient of variation of colony size (an indicator of colony size heterogeneity), total topographic coral surface area, and live coral surface area. An additional set of exploratory indicators related to rarity, reproductive and spawning mode, and taxonomic identity were also screened for association with disturbance at the same location. For the other two locations, there were no significant changes in indicator values and therefore no discernible effects of human activity. Coral indicators demonstrated sufficient precision to detect levels of change that would be applicable in a regio

  3. Are biodiversity indices of spontaneous grass covers in olive orchards good indicators of soil degradation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taguas, E. V.; Arroyo, C.; Lora, A.; Guzmán, G.; Vanderlinden, K.; Gómez, J. A.

    2015-03-01

    Spontaneous grass covers are an inexpensive soil erosion control measure in olive orchards. Olive farmers allow grass to grow on sloping terrain to comply with the basic environmental standards derived from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, to date there are very few studies assessing the environmental quality and extent of such covers. In this study, we described and compared the biodiversity indicators associated to herbaceous vegetation in two contrasting olive orchards in order to evaluate its relevance and quality. In addition, biodiversity patterns and their relationships with environmental factors such as soil type and properties, precipitation, topography and soil management were analyzed. Different grass cover biodiversity indices were evaluated in two olive orchard catchments under conventional tillage and no tillage with grass cover, during 3 hydrological years (2011-2013). Seasonal samples of vegetal material and pictures in a permanent grid (4 samples ha-1) were taken to characterize the temporal variations of the number of species, frequency, diversity and transformed Shannon's and Pielou's indices. Sorensen's index obtained in the two olive orchard catchments showed notable differences in composition, probably linked with the different site conditions. The catchment with the best site conditions (deeper soil and higher precipitation), with average annual soil losses over 10 t ha-1 and a more intense management, presented the highest biodiversity indices. In absolute terms, the diversity indices were reasonably high in both catchments, despite the fact that agricultural activity usually severely limits the landscape and the variety of species. Finally, a significantly higher content of organic matter in the first 10 cm of soil was found in the catchment with the worst site conditions, average annual soil losses of 2 t ha-1 and the least intense management. Therefore, the biodiversity indicators associated to weeds were not found to be

  4. Effects of feeding blends of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on small intestinal morphology of turkeys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girish, C K; Smith, T K

    2008-06-01

    An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on morphometric indices of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum in turkeys. The possible preventative effect of a polymeric glucomannan mycotoxin adsorbent (GMA) was also determined. Three hundred 1-d-old male turkey poults were fed wheat, corn, and soybean meal-based starter (0 to 3 wk), grower (4 to 6 wk), developer (7 to 9 wk), and finisher (10 to 12 wk) diets formulated with control grains, contaminated grains, and contaminated grains + 0.2% GMA. Morphometric indices were measured at the end of each growth phase and included villus height (VH), crypt depth, villus width, thicknesses of submucosa and muscularis, villus-to-crypt ratio, and apparent villus surface area (AVSA). At the end of the starter phase, feedborne mycotoxins significantly decreased the VH in the duodenum, and supplementation of the contaminated diet with GMA prevented this effect. The feeding of contaminated grains also reduced (P effects in jejunum and ileum. No effects of diets were seen on morphometric variables at the end of the developer and finisher phases. It was concluded that consumption of grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins results in adverse effects on intestinal morphology during early growth phases of turkeys, and GMA can prevent many of these effects.

  5. Changes of Retina Are Not Involved in the Genesis of Visual Hallucinations in Parkinson’s Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleš Kopal

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Parkinson’s disease (PD is characterized by motor and nonmotor symptoms. Nonmotor symptoms include primarily visual hallucinations (VH. The aim of our study was to establish whether patients with PD and visual hallucinations (PDH+ have structural changes of retina detected by an optical coherence tomography (OCT in comparison with PD patients without visual hallucinations (PDH−. We examined 52 PD patients (18 with VH, 34 without VH and 15 age and sex matched healthy controls. Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL thickness and macular thickness and volume were assessed by OCT. Functional impairment of retina was assessed using 2.5% contrast sensitivity test. For OCT outcomes we analyzed 15 PDH+ and 15 PDH− subjects matched for age, gender, and PD duration. For contrast sensitivity we analyzed 8 pairs of patients matched for age, gender, and visual acuity. There was no significant difference in RNFL thickness and macular thickness and macular volume between 15 PDH+ and 15 PDH− subjects, and also between a group of 44 PD patients (both PDH+ and PDH− and 15 age and gender matched healthy controls. No significant difference was found for 2.5% contrast sensitivity test values between PDH+ and PDH− subjects. Therefore we conclude that functional and structural changes in retina play no role in genesis of VH in PD.

  6. Las plantas vasculares de los afloramientos rocosos de Suesca, Cordillera Oriental colombiana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolina Avellaneda Cadena

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Se muestrearon las plantas vasculares presentes en tres tipos de afloramientos rocosos del municipio de Suesca, departamento de Cundinamarca (Colombia, ubicados entre 2.800 y 3.000 m de altitud. Estos sitios se denominaron Valle de los Halcones (VH, Farallones de Suesca (FS y Los Monolitos (LM. Cada planta fue recolectada, determinada y se le anotó la superficie en la que crecía (placa, repisa o fisura y el hábito de crecimiento (erecta, colgante o perpendicular a la superficie. Se encontraron 97 especies, correspondientes a 38 familias y 70 géneros. La familia más diversa fue Asteraceae, seguida de Poaceae, Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae y Polypodiaceae. El género con más especies fue Tillandsia, seguido de Polypodium. Los sitos de muestreo con mayor diversidad fueron VH y FS. En LM las familias con más especies fueron Asteraceae y Poaceae, en FS Poaceae y Asteraceae y en VH Asteraceae y Orchidaceae. En VH las placas fue la superficie con mayor número de especies, mientras que en LM fueron las repisas y en FS las placas y las repisas. La mayoría de las especies encontradas en todos los sitos fueron erectas, seguidas de las perpendiculares a la superficie. Los tres sitios de muestreo mostraron alta similitud florística entre sí.

  7. Characterization of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) in Shanghai, China: molecular and cytogenetic characteristics, IgV gene restriction and hypermutation patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irons, Richard D; Le, Anh; Bao, Liming; Zhu, Xiongzeng; Ryder, John; Wang, Xiao Qin; Ji, Meirong; Chen, Yan; Wu, Xichun; Lin, Guowei

    2009-12-01

    The clinical, cytogenetic and molecular features of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), a disease previously considered to be rare in Asia, were examined in consecutive series of 70 cases diagnosed by our laboratory over a 30-month period. Clonal abnormalities were observed in 80% of CLL/SLL cases using a combination of conventional cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. Those involving 14q32/IGH were the most frequent (24 cases), followed by trisomy 12 and 11q abnormalities. IgV(H) gene usage was non-random with over-representation of V(H)4-34, V(H)3-23 and a previously unreported increase in V(H)3-48 gene use. Somatic hypermutation (SHM) of IgV(H) germline sequences was observed in 56.5% of cases with stereotyped patterns of SHM observed in V(H)4-34 heavy chain complimentary-determining (HCDR1) and framework region CFR2 sequences. These findings in a Chinese population suggest subtle geographical differences in IgV(H) gene usage while the remarkably specific pattern of SHM suggest that a relatively limited set of antigens may be involved in the development of this disease worldwide. IgV(H) gene mutation status was a significant predictor of initial survival in CLL/SLL. However, an influence of karyotype on prognosis was not observed.

  8. Synthesis of Various Polyaniline / Clay Nanocomposites Derived from Aniline and Substituted Aniline Derivatives by Mechanochemical Intercalation Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Kalaivasan

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Polyaniline clay nanocomposite can be prepared by mechano-chemical method in which intercalation of anilinium ion into the clay lattices accomplished by mechanical grinding of sodium montmorillonite (Na+MMT in presence of anilinium hydrochloride at room temperature using mortar & pestle for about 30 min and subsequent grinding with oxidizing agent, ammonium peroxysulfate. The appearance of green colour indicates the formation of polyaniline/clay nanocomposite (PANI/Clay. Similarly aniline derivatives like o-toludine and o-anisidine in the form of HCl salt can form intercalation into the clay lattices. The intercalated aniline derivatives were ground mechanically in presence of oxidizing agent ammonium peroxysulfate lead to formation of substituted polyaniline/ clay nanocomposites. The characteristics of various polyaniline-clay nanocomposites were investigated using UV-Visible, FT-IR, cyclic voltammetry studies.

  9. Uncertainties and applications of satellite-derived coastal water quality products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Guangming; DiGiacomo, Paul M.

    2017-12-01

    Recent and forthcoming launches of a plethora of ocean color radiometry sensors, coupled with increasingly adopted free and open data policies are expected to boost usage of satellite ocean color data and drive the demand to use these data in a quantitative and routine manner. Here we review factors that introduce uncertainties to various satellite-derived water quality products and recommend approaches to minimize the uncertainty of a specific product. We show that the regression relationships between remote-sensing reflectance and water turbidity (in terms of nephelometric units) established for different regions tend to converge and therefore it is plausible to develop a global satellite water turbidity product derived using a single algorithm. In contrast, solutions to derive suspended particulate matter concentration are much less generalizable; in one case it might be more accurate to estimate this parameter based on satellite-derived particulate backscattering coefficient, whereas in another the nonagal particulate absorption coefficient might be a better proxy. Regarding satellite-derived chlorophyll concentration, known to be subject to large uncertainties in coastal waters, studies summarized here clearly indicate that the accuracy of classical reflectance band-ratio algorithms depends largely on the contribution of phytoplankton to total light absorption coefficient as well as the degree of correlation between phytoplankton and the dominant nonalgal contributions. Our review also indicates that currently available satellite-derived water quality products are restricted to optically significant materials, whereas many users are interested in toxins, nutrients, pollutants, and pathogens. Presently, proxies or indicators for these constituents are inconsistently (and often incorrectly) developed and applied. Progress in this general direction will remain slow unless, (i) optical oceanographers and environmental scientists start collaborating more closely

  10. Inter-comparison of statistical downscaling methods for projection of extreme flow indices across Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hundecha, Yeshewatesfa; Sunyer Pinya, Maria Antonia; Lawrence, Deborah

    2016-01-01

    The effect of methods of statistical downscaling of daily precipitation on changes in extreme flow indices under a plausible future climate change scenario was investigated in 11 catchments selected from 9 countries in different parts of Europe. The catchments vary from 67 to 6171km2 in size...... catchments to simulate daily runoff. A set of flood indices were derived from daily flows and their changes have been evaluated by comparing their values derived from simulations corresponding to the current and future climate. Most of the implemented downscaling methods project an increase in the extreme...... flow indices in most of the catchments. The catchments where the extremes are expected to increase have a rainfall-dominated flood regime. In these catchments, the downscaling methods also project an increase in the extreme precipitation in the seasons when the extreme flows occur. In catchments where...

  11. HNO3 fluxes to a deciduous forest derived using gradient and REA methods

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pryor, S.C.; Barthelmie, R.J.; Jensen, B.

    2002-01-01

    Summertime nitric acid concentrations over a deciduous forest in the midwestern United States are reported, which range between 0.36 and 3.3 mug m(-3). Fluxes to the forest are computed using the relaxed eddy accumulation technique and gradient methods. In accord with previous studies, the results...... indicate substantial uncertainties in the gradient-based calculations. The relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) derived fluxes are physically reasonable and are shown to be of similar magnitude to dry deposition estimates from gradient sampling. The REA derived mean deposition velocity is approximately 3 cm s......(-1), which is also comparable to growing season estimates derived by Meyers et al. for a similar deciduous forest. Occasional inverted concentration gradients and fluxes are observed but most are not statistically significant. Data are also presented that indicate substantial through canopy...

  12. Generating relations of multi-variable Tricomi functions of two indices using Lie algebra representation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nader Ali Makboul Hassan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an attempt to stress the usefulness of the multi-variable special functions. In this paper, we derive certain generating relations involving 2-indices 5-variables 5-parameters Tricomi functions (2I5V5PTF by using a Lie-algebraic method. Further, we derive certain new and known generating relations involving other forms of Tricomi and Bessel functions as applications.

  13. Electronic and conformational properties of 2,3-benzodiazepine derivates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pelaggi, M.; Girlanda, R.; Chimirri, A.; Gitto, R.

    1996-01-01

    The molecular geometric and electronic structures of 2,3-benzodiazepine derivates have been studied by means of the MNDO-PM3 method. A number of electronic properties have been computed and examined in order to find indication of the role of the electronic characteristics of the different molecules and their pharmacological properties. Theoretical data indicate that both electronic and structural properties appear responsible for the varying degree of anticonvulsant activity exhibited by compounds 1-4

  14. Electronic and conformational properties of 2,3-benzodiazepine derivates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pelaggi, M.; Girlanda, R. [Messina Univ. (Italy). Dip. di Fisica della Materia e Fisica dell`Ambiente; Chimirri, A.; Gitto, R. [Messina Univ. (Italy). Dip. Farmaco-Chimico

    1996-04-01

    The molecular geometric and electronic structures of 2,3-benzodiazepine derivates have been studied by means of the MNDO-PM3 method. A number of electronic properties have been computed and examined in order to find indication of the role of the electronic characteristics of the different molecules and their pharmacological properties. Theoretical data indicate that both electronic and structural properties appear responsible for the varying degree of anticonvulsant activity exhibited by compounds 1-4.

  15. Dicty_cDB: VHA622 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHA622 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15767-1 VHA622P (Link... to Original site) VHA622F 458 VHA622Z 778 VHA622P 1216 - - Show VHA622 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHA622 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15767-1 Original site URL http://dict...HVQVTCGGCETCSYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHEGILDGLP QGNCSNTPVDCGANDEDKCKTWSCDPTKGGCQSTPVVCEDKGKCLVGTCQPSTGQCEYSD...qisnqkmrenlf*lrelsnqilikkkefqf*ivwmpmil*ik rqelvgqmvlsiflxitklviqnlpnlvk--- ---ACNEDEKXITHVQVTCGGCETCSYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICT

  16. Dicty_cDB: VHP253 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHP253 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16349-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHP253Z 355 - - - - Show VHP253 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHP253 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16349-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b...CTTGGGTACCAAGAACTGACCGTCAATTTGCTGGTTCATGGTTTGC sequence update 2002. 9.10 Translated Amino Acid sequence ---MQLFAGIKSICT...VPIMRMYFHTGILDYILFKSWVPRTDRQFAGSWF Translated Amino Acid sequence (All Frames) Frame A: ---MQLFAGIKSICTEMAMD

  17. Dicty_cDB: VHP243 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHP243 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16236-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) VHP243F 134 - - - - - - Show VHP243 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHP243 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16236-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b...AXXXXXXXXXX sequence update 2002.10.25 Translated Amino Acid sequence CWPTGIXKTTICT...kilsif*ynfkyyqqpkkk--- Frame B: llaywyxqnnnlyqyyyyfyl*kyflsfniilniinnpkk--- Frame C: CWPTGIXKTTICTNTTIISICKN

  18. Dicty_cDB: VHM522 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHM522 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15767-1 VHM522P (Link... to Original site) VHM522F 575 VHM522Z 747 VHM522P 1302 - - Show VHM522 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHM522 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15767-1 Original site URL http://dict...PV--- ---ITHVQVTCGGCETCSYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHEGILDGLPQGNCSNTP VDCGANDEDKCKTWSCDPTKGGCQSTPVVCEDKGKCLVGTC...rtrf q*cklss--- ---ITHVQVTCGGCETCSYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHEGILDGLPQGNCSNTP VDCGANDEDKCKTWSCDPTKGGCQSTPVVCE

  19. Dicty_cDB: VHE138 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHE138 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15767-1 VHE138P (Link... to Original site) VHE138F 569 VHE138Z 621 VHE138P 1170 - - Show VHE138 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHE138 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15767-1 Original site URL http://dict...FVDNQAGDSXSAKSGKNLPIQRDIELNWNGEAYEYSNSNYFPINGQGF NDVSYP--- ---QVTCGGCETCSYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICT...rsi*i**fkllpn*rtrf q*ckls--- ---QVTCGGCETCSYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHEGILDGLPQGNCSNTPVDCG ANDEDKCKTWSCDPTKGG

  20. Dicty_cDB: VHD652 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHD652 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15722-1 VHD652P (Link... to Original site) VHD652F 573 VHD652Z 707 VHD652P 1260 - - Show VHD652 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHD652 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15722-1 Original site URL http://dict...NYTIPCGSNSNNVLCGSYHSTVPRKYLSLGFVNGSTHSYSKDGLMITYISQDTTNDNDC KRYTTNV--- ---LVIIILVIVHAIMNILVMVVNSLNAHSIVQPPNGTCDINSGICT...i*vlflql viilflvvvivimycvdhiiqlfhasifhwdllmavhiviaktd***hiyhriqqmimia kdiqqm*--- ---LVIIILVIVHAIMNILVMVVNSLNAHSIVQPPNGTCDINSGICT

  1. A Single Residue in Ebola Virus Receptor NPC1 Influences Cellular Host Range in Reptiles

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-09-07

    VH-2) is resistant to infection in an NPC1-36   dependent manner . We found that VH-2 cells are resistant to EBOV infection because the Rus-37...infection in a host species-dependent manner (24). Here, we demonstrate that an adjacent 89   residue, 503, highly conserved in the domain C of NPC1...Tyr sequence 194   change at residue 503 might influence EBOV GPCL–NPC1 binding in a bidirectional manner . 195   Accordingly, we expressed and

  2. Dicty_cDB: VHL663 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHL663 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15767-1 VHL663P (Link... to Original site) VHL663F 574 VHL663Z 702 VHL663P 1256 - - Show VHL663 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHL663 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15767-1 Original site URL http://dict...WPDGFKYFFVDNQAGDSESAKSGKNLPIQRDIELNWNGEAYEYSNSNYFPINGQG FNDVSYPV--- ---SYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHEGILDGLPQG...ik rqelvgqmvlsifl*itklviqnlpnlvkifqfkeiss*igmekhmniviqitsqltdkv smm*aiq--- ---SYATGKCEPDSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHEGI

  3. Structure, Content, and Bioactivity of Food-Derived Peptides in the Body.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Kenji

    2018-03-28

    Orally administered peptides are assumed to be degraded into amino acids in the body. However, our recent studies revealed some food-derived prolyl and pyroglutamyl peptides with 2-3 amino acid residues in the blood of humans and animals, while most of the peptides in the endoproteinase digest of food protein are degraded by exopeptidase. Some food-derived dipeptides in the body display in vitro and in vivo biological activities. These facts indicate that the biological activities of food-derived peptides in the body rather than those in food are crucial to understanding the mechanism of the beneficial effects of orally administered peptides.

  4. Systemic T Cells Immunosuppression of Glioma Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes Is Mediated by Monocytic Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rossana Domenis

    Full Text Available A major contributing factor to glioma development and progression is its ability to evade the immune system. Nano-meter sized vesicles, exosomes, secreted by glioma-stem cells (GSC can act as mediators of intercellular communication to promote tumor immune escape. Here, we investigated the immunomodulatory properties of GCS-derived exosomes on different peripheral immune cell populations. Healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs stimulated with anti-CD3, anti-CD28 and IL-2, were treated with GSC-derived exosomes. Phenotypic characterization, cell proliferation, Th1/Th2 cytokine secretion and intracellular cytokine production were analysed by distinguishing among effector T cells, regulatory T cells and monocytes. In unfractionated PBMCs, GSC-derived exosomes inhibited T cell activation (CD25 and CD69 expression, proliferation and Th1 cytokine production, and did not affect cell viability or regulatory T-cell suppression ability. Furthermore, exosomes were able to enhance proliferation of purified CD4+ T cells. In PBMCs culture, glioma-derived exosomes directly promoted IL-10 and arginase-1 production and downregulation of HLA-DR by unstimulated CD14+ monocytic cells, that displayed an immunophenotype resembling that of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (Mo-MDSCs. Importantly, the removal of CD14+ monocytic cell fraction from PBMCs restored T-cell proliferation. The same results were observed with exosomes purified from plasma of glioblastoma patients. Our results indicate that glioma-derived exosomes suppress T-cell immune response by acting on monocyte maturation rather than on direct interaction with T cells. Selective targeting of Mo-MDSC to treat glioma should be considered with regard to how immune cells allow the acquirement of effector functions and therefore counteracting tumor progression.

  5. Spontaneous indices are inconsistent with arterial baroreflex gain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipman, Ruth D; Salisbury, Julie K; Taylor, J Andrew

    2003-10-01

    Spontaneously occurring, parallel fluctuations in arterial pressure and heart period are frequently used as indices of baroreflex function. Despite the convenience of spontaneous indices, their relation to the arterial baroreflex remains unclear. Therefore, in 97 volunteers, we derived 5 proposed indices (sequence method, alpha-index, transfer function, low-frequency transfer function, and impulse response function), compared them with arterial baroreflex gain (by the modified Oxford pharmacologic technique), and examined their relation to carotid distensibility and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. The subjects comprised men and women (n=41) aged 25 to 86 years, 30% of whom had established coronary artery disease. Generally, the indices were correlated with each other (except alpha-index and low-frequency transfer function) and with baroreflex gain. However, the Bland-Altman method demonstrated that the spontaneous indices had limits of agreement as large as the baroreflex gain itself. Even in individuals within the lowest tertile of baroreflex gain for whom baroreflex gain appears to be the most clinically relevant, spontaneous indices failed to relate to baroreflex gain. In fact, for these individuals, there was no correlation between any index and baroreflex gain. Forward stepwise linear regression showed that all spontaneous indices and baroreflex gain were related to respiratory sinus arrhythmia, but only baroreflex gain was related to carotid distensibility. Therefore, these data suggest that spontaneous indices are inadequate estimates of gain and are inconsistent with arterial baroreflex function.

  6. Synthesis of Phthalimide Derivatives as Potential PPAR-γ Ligands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    So Hyeon Eom

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Paecilocin A, a phthalide derivative isolated from the jellyfish-derived fungus Paecilomyces variotii, activates PPAR-γ (Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in rat liver Ac2F cells. Based on a SAR (Structure-activity relationships study and in silico analysis of paecilocin A-mimetic derivatives, additional N-substituted phthalimide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for PPAR-γ agonistic activity in both murine liver Ac2F cells and in human liver HepG2 cells by luciferase assay, and for adipogenic activity in 3T3-L1 cells. Docking simulation indicated PD6 was likely to bind most strongly to the ligand binding domain of PPAR-γ by establishing crucial H-bonds with key amino acid residues. However, in in vitro assays, PD1 and PD2 consistently displayed significant PPAR-γ activation in Ac2F and HepG2 cells, and adipogenic activity in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes.

  7. Benzoxazole derivatives suppress lipopolysaccharide-induced mast cell activation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Kyung-Ah; Park, Minhwa; Kim, Yu-Hee; Choo, Hea-Young Park; Lee, Kyung Ho

    2018-05-01

    Mast cells are central regulators of allergic inflammation that function by releasing various proallergic inflammatory mediators, including histamine, eicosanoids and proinflammatory cytokines. Occasionally, bacterial infections may initiate or worsen allergic inflammation. A number of studies have indicated that activation of lipoxygenase in mast cells positive regulates allergic inflammatory responses by generating leukotrienes and proinflammatory cytokines. In the present study, the effects of benzoxazole derivatives on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‑induced expression of proinflammatory cytokines, production of histamine and surface expression of co‑stimulatory molecules on bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) were studied. The benzoxazole derivatives significantly reduced the expression of interleukin (IL)‑1β, IL‑6, IL‑13, tumor necrosis factor‑α, perilipin (PLIN) 2, and PLIN3 in BMMCs treated with LPS. Furthermore, histamine production was suppressed in BMMCs treated with LPS, or treated with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate/ionomycin. Benzoxazole derivatives marginally affected the surface expression of cluster of differentiation (CD)80 and CD86 on BMMCs in the presence of LPS, although LPS alone did not increase the expression of those proteins. Therefore, benzoxazole derivatives inhibited the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in mast cells and may be potential candidate anti‑allergic agents to suppress mast cell activation.

  8. A comparison of three indices of fishing power on some demersal fisheries of the North Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Marchal, P.; Ulrich, C.; Korsbrekke, K.; Pastoors, M.A.; Rackham, B.

    2002-01-01

    The scope of this study is to identify temporal dynamics in fishing power, by deriving three different indices (IFP1, IFP2, IFP3) based on three independent methods. IFP1 is derived from the GLM analysis of the relationship between fishing mortality and fishing effort, assuming that total fishing

  9. Quantifying tolerance indicator values for common stream fish species of the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meador, M.R.; Carlisle, D.M.

    2007-01-01

    The classification of fish species tolerance to environmental disturbance is often used as a means to assess ecosystem conditions. Its use, however, may be problematic because the approach to tolerance classification is based on subjective judgment. We analyzed fish and physicochemical data from 773 stream sites collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program to calculate tolerance indicator values for 10 physicochemical variables using weighted averaging. Tolerance indicator values (TIVs) for ammonia, chloride, dissolved oxygen, nitrite plus nitrate, pH, phosphorus, specific conductance, sulfate, suspended sediment, and water temperature were calculated for 105 common fish species of the United States. Tolerance indicator values for specific conductance and sulfate were correlated (rho = 0.87), and thus, fish species may be co-tolerant to these water-quality variables. We integrated TIVs for each species into an overall tolerance classification for comparisons with judgment-based tolerance classifications. Principal components analysis indicated that the distinction between tolerant and intolerant classifications was determined largely by tolerance to suspended sediment, specific conductance, chloride, and total phosphorus. Factors such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH may not be as important in distinguishing between tolerant and intolerant classifications, but may help to segregate species classified as moderate. Empirically derived tolerance classifications were 58.8% in agreement with judgment-derived tolerance classifications. Canonical discriminant analysis revealed that few TIVs, primarily chloride, could discriminate among judgment-derived tolerance classifications of tolerant, moderate, and intolerant. To our knowledge, this is the first empirically based understanding of fish species tolerance for stream fishes in the United States.

  10. Development of Mental Health Indicators in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Hyeree; Ahn, Dong Hyun; Song, Jinhee; Hwang, Tae Yeon

    2012-01-01

    Objective Promoting mental health and preventing mental health problems are important tasks for international organizations and nations. Such goals entail the establishment of active information networks and effective systems and indicators to assess the mental health of populations. This being said, there is a need in Korea develop ways to measure the state of mental health in Korea. Methods This paper reviews the mental health indicator development policies and practices of seven organizations, countries, and regions: WHO, OECD, EU, United States, Australia, UK, and Scotland. Using Delphi method, we conducted two surveys of mental health indicators for experts in the field of mental health. The survey questionnaire included 5 domains: mental health status, mental health factor, mental health system, mental health service, and quality of mental health services. We considered 124 potential mental health indicators out of more than 600 from indicators of international organizations and foreign countries. Results We obtained the top 30 mental health indicators from the surveys. Among them, 10 indicators belong to the mental health system. The most important five mental health indicators are suicide rate, rate of increase in mental disorder treatment, burden caused by mental disorders, adequacy of identifying problems of mental health projects and deriving solutions, and annual prevalence of mental disorders. Conclusion Our study provides information about the process for indicator development and the use of survey results to measure the mental health status of the Korean population. The aim of mental health indicator development is to improve the mental health system by better grasping the current situation. We suggest these mental health indicators can monitor progress in efforts to implement reform policies, provide community services, and involve users, families and other stakeholders in mental health promotion, prevention, care and rehabilitation. PMID:23251193

  11. Appraisal of active tectonics in Hindu Kush: Insights from DEM derived geomorphic indices and drainage analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Syed Amer Mahmood

    2012-07-01

    The results obtained from these indices were combined to yield an index of relative active tectonics (IRAT using GIS. The average of the seven measured geomorphic indices was used to evaluate the distribution of relative tectonic activity in the study area. We defined four classes to define the degree of relative tectonic activity: class 1__very high (1.0 ≤ IRAT < 1.3; class 2__high (1.3 ≥ IRAT < 1.5; class 3—moderate (1.5 ≥ IRAT < 1.8; and class 4—low (1.8 ≥ IRAT. In view of the results, we conclude that this combined approach allows the identification of the highly deformed areas related to active tectonics. Landsat imagery and field observations also evidence the presence of active tectonics based on the deflected streams, deformed landforms, active mountain fronts and triangular facets. The indicative values of IRAT are consistent with the areas of known relative uplift rates, landforms and geology.

  12. Potent and selective chemical probe of hypoxic signalling downstream of HIF-α hydroxylation via VHL inhibition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frost, Julianty; Galdeano, Carles; Soares, Pedro; Gadd, Morgan S.; Grzes, Katarzyna M.; Ellis, Lucy; Epemolu, Ola; Shimamura, Satoko; Bantscheff, Marcus; Grandi, Paola; Read, Kevin D.; Cantrell, Doreen A.; Rocha, Sonia; Ciulli, Alessio

    2016-11-01

    Chemical strategies to using small molecules to stimulate hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) activity and trigger a hypoxic response under normoxic conditions, such as iron chelators and inhibitors of prolyl hydroxylase domain (PHD) enzymes, have broad-spectrum activities and off-target effects. Here we disclose VH298, a potent VHL inhibitor that stabilizes HIF-α and elicits a hypoxic response via a different mechanism, that is the blockade of the VHL:HIF-α protein-protein interaction downstream of HIF-α hydroxylation by PHD enzymes. We show that VH298 engages with high affinity and specificity with VHL as its only major cellular target, leading to selective on-target accumulation of hydroxylated HIF-α in a concentration- and time-dependent fashion in different cell lines, with subsequent upregulation of HIF-target genes at both mRNA and protein levels. VH298 represents a high-quality chemical probe of the HIF signalling cascade and an attractive starting point to the development of potential new therapeutics targeting hypoxia signalling.

  13. Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY): 1995 Cohort Derived Variables. Technical Report 69

    Science.gov (United States)

    National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), 2012

    2012-01-01

    This technical report details the derived variables developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data. The derived variables fall into the categories education, employment and social, and help to simplify the complexity of the LSAY data by providing useful indicators for analysis. To help LSAY data users understand…

  14. Estimation of Mangrove Forest Aboveground Biomass Using Multispectral Bands, Vegetation Indices and Biophysical Variables Derived from Optical Satellite Imageries: Rapideye, Planetscope and SENTINEL-2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balidoy Baloloy, Alvin; Conferido Blanco, Ariel; Gumbao Candido, Christian; Labadisos Argamosa, Reginal Jay; Lovern Caboboy Dumalag, John Bart; Carandang Dimapilis, Lee, , Lady; Camero Paringit, Enrico

    2018-04-01

    Aboveground biomass estimation (AGB) is essential in determining the environmental and economic values of mangrove forests. Biomass prediction models can be developed through integration of remote sensing, field data and statistical models. This study aims to assess and compare the biomass predictor potential of multispectral bands, vegetation indices and biophysical variables that can be derived from three optical satellite systems: the Sentinel-2 with 10 m, 20 m and 60 m resolution; RapidEye with 5m resolution and PlanetScope with 3m ground resolution. Field data for biomass were collected from a Rhizophoraceae-dominated mangrove forest in Masinloc, Zambales, Philippines where 30 test plots (1.2 ha) and 5 validation plots (0.2 ha) were established. Prior to the generation of indices, images from the three satellite systems were pre-processed using atmospheric correction tools in SNAP (Sentinel-2), ENVI (RapidEye) and python (PlanetScope). The major predictor bands tested are Blue, Green and Red, which are present in the three systems; and Red-edge band from Sentinel-2 and Rapideye. The tested vegetation index predictors are Normalized Differenced Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil-adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Green-NDVI (GNDVI), Simple Ratio (SR), and Red-edge Simple Ratio (SRre). The study generated prediction models through conventional linear regression and multivariate regression. Higher coefficient of determination (r2) values were obtained using multispectral band predictors for Sentinel-2 (r2 = 0.89) and Planetscope (r2 = 0.80); and vegetation indices for RapidEye (r2 = 0.92). Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS) models performed better than the linear regression models with r2 ranging from 0.62 to 0.92. Based on the r2 and root-mean-square errors (RMSE's), the best biomass prediction model per satellite were chosen and maps were generated. The accuracy of predicted biomass maps were high for both Sentinel-2 (r2 = 0

  15. Electrophysiological properties of neurosensory progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Needham

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In severe cases of sensorineural hearing loss where the numbers of auditory neurons are significantly depleted, stem cell-derived neurons may provide a potential source of replacement cells. The success of such a therapy relies upon producing a population of functional neurons from stem cells, to enable precise encoding of sound information to the brainstem. Using our established differentiation assay to produce sensory neurons from human stem cells, patch-clamp recordings indicated that all neurons examined generated action potentials and displayed both transient sodium and sustained potassium currents. Stem cell-derived neurons reliably entrained to stimuli up to 20 pulses per second (pps, with 50% entrainment at 50 pps. A comparison with cultured primary auditory neurons indicated similar firing precision during low-frequency stimuli, but significant differences after 50 pps due to differences in action potential latency and width. The firing properties of stem cell-derived neurons were also considered relative to time in culture (31–56 days and revealed no change in resting membrane potential, threshold or firing latency over time. Thus, while stem cell-derived neurons did not entrain to high frequency stimulation as effectively as mammalian auditory neurons, their electrical phenotype was stable in culture and consistent with that reported for embryonic auditory neurons.

  16. Measuring health indicators and allocating health resources: a DEA-based approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Chih-Ching

    2016-02-03

    This paper suggests new empirical DEA models for the measurement of health indicators and the allocation of health resources. The proposed models were developed by first suggesting a population-based health indicator. By introducing the suggested indicator into DEA models, a new approach that solves the problem of health resource allocation has been developed. The proposed models are applied to an empirical study of Taiwan's health system. Empirical findings show that the suggested indicator can successfully accommodate the differences in health resource demands between populations, providing more reliable performance information than traditional indicators such as physician density. Using our models and a commonly used allocation mechanism, capitation, to allocate medical expenditures, it is found that the proposed model always obtains higher performance than those derived from capitation, and the superiority increases as allocated expenditures rise.

  17. Hamilton's indicators of the force of selection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baudisch, Annette

    2005-01-01

    To quantify the force of selection, Hamilton [Hamilton, W. D. (1966) J. Theor. Biol. 12, 12-45] derived expressions for the change in fitness with respect to age-specific mutations. Hamilton's indicators are decreasing functions of age. He concluded that senescence is inevitable: survival...... and fertility decline with age. I show that alternative parameterizations of mutational effects lead to indicators that can increase with age. I then consider the case of deleterious mutations with age-specific effects. In this case, it is the balance between mutation and selection pressure that determines...... the equilibrium number of mutations in a population. In this balance, the effects of different parameterizations cancel out, but only to a linear approximation. I show that mutation accumulation has little impact at ages when this linear approximation holds. When mutation accumulation matters, nonlinear effects...

  18. Myeloma-Derived Light Chain Paired with a Diagnostic Monoclonal Antibody Hinders Immunoassay Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tu, Bailin; Tieman, Bryan; Moore, Jeffrey; Pan, You; Muerhoff, A Scott

    2017-06-01

    Monoclonal antibodies are widely used as the capture and detection reagents in diagnostic immunoassays. In the past, myeloma fusion partners expressing endogenous heavy and/or light chains were often used to generate hybridoma cell lines. As a result, mixed populations of antibodies were produced that can cause inaccurate test results, poor antibody stability, and significant lot-to-lot variability. We describe one such scenario where the P3U1 (P3X63Ag8U.1) myeloma fusion partner was used in the generation of a hybridoma producing protein induced vitamin K absence/antagonist-II (PIVKA II) antibody. The hybridoma produces three subpopulations of immunoglobulin as determined by ion exchange (IEx) chromatography that exhibit varying degrees of immunoreactivity (0%, 50%, or 100%) to the target antigen as determined by Surface Plasmon Resonance. To produce an antibody with the highest possible sensitivity and specificity, the antigen-specific heavy and light chain variable domains (VH and VL) were cloned from the hybridoma and tethered to murine IgG1 and kappa scaffolds. The resulting recombinant antibody was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and is compatible for use in a diagnostic immunoassay.

  19. Empirical Productivity Indices and Indicators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    B.M. Balk (Bert)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractThe empirical measurement of productivity change (or difference) by means of indices and indicators starts with the ex post profit/loss accounts of a production unit. Key concepts are profit, leading to indicators, and profitability, leading to indices. The main task for the productivity

  20. A Study of Parameters Related to the Etch Rate for a Dry Etch Process Using NF3/O2 and SF6/O2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seon-Geun Oh

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The characteristics of the dry etching of SiNx:H thin films for display devices using SF6/O2 and NF3/O2 were investigated using a dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (CCP-RIE system. The investigation was carried out by varying the RF power ratio (13.56 MHz/2 MHz, pressure, and gas flow ratio. For the SiNx:H film, the etch rates obtained using NF3/O2 were higher than those obtained using SF6/O2 under various process conditions. The relationships between the etch rates and the usual monitoring parameters—the optical emission spectroscopy (OES intensity of atomic fluorine (685.1 nm and 702.89 nm and the voltages VH and VL—were investigated. The OES intensity data indicated a correlation between the bulk plasma density and the atomic fluorine density. The etch rate was proportional to the product of the OES intensity of atomic fluorine (I(F and the square root of the voltages (Vh+Vl on the assumption that the velocity of the reactive fluorine was proportional to the square root of the voltages.

  1. Kinetics of the histological, serological and symptomatic responses to gluten challenge in adults with coeliac disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leffler, Daniel; Schuppan, Detlef; Pallav, Kumar; Najarian, Robert; Goldsmith, Jeffery D; Hansen, Joshua; Kabbani, Toufic; Dennis, Melinda; Kelly, Ciarán P

    2013-07-01

    Coeliac disease is defined by gluten responsiveness, yet there are few data on gluten challenge (GC) in adults on a gluten-free diet. Lack of data regarding the kinetics of responses to gluten is a limitation in clinical practice and research when GC is performed. 20 adults with biopsy-proven coeliac disease participated. The study included two run-in visits followed by a 14-day GC at a randomly assigned dose of 3 or 7.5 g of gluten/day. Study visits occurred 3, 7, 14 and 28 days after starting GC. Duodenal biopsy was performed during the run-in and at days 3 and 14 of GC. Villous height to crypt depth ratio (Vh:Cd) and intraepithelial lymphocyte (IEL) count/100 enterocytes were measured by two pathologists. Antibodies to tissue transglutaminase and deamidated gliadin peptides, lactulose to mannitol ratio (LAMA) and symptoms were assessed at each visit. Significant reduction in Vh:Cd (2.2-1.1, padults with coeliac disease. These data permit accurate design of clinical trials and indicate that many individuals will meet coeliac diagnostic criteria after a 2-week GC.

  2. Narrowband Bio-Indicator Monitoring of Temperate Forest Carbon Fluxes in Northeastern China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quanzhou Yu

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Developments in hyperspectral remote sensing techniques during the last decade have enabled the use of narrowband indices to evaluate the role of forest ecosystem variables in estimating carbon (C fluxes. In this study, narrowband bio-indicators derived from EO-1 Hyperion data were investigated to determine whether they could capture the temporal variation and estimate the spatial variability of forest C fluxes derived from eddy covariance tower data. Nineteen indices were divided into four categories of optical indices: broadband, chlorophyll, red edge, and light use efficiency. Correlation tests were performed between the selected vegetation indices, gross primary production (GPP, and ecosystem respiration (Re. Among the 19 indices, five narrowband indices (Chlorophyll Index RedEdge 710, scaled photochemical reflectance index (SPRI*enhanced vegetation index (EVI, SPRI*normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, MCARI/OSAVI[705, 750] and the Vogelmann Index, and one broad band index (EVI had R-squared values with a good fit for GPP and Re. The SPRI*NDVI has the highest significant coefficients of determination with GPP and Re (R2 = 0.86 and 0.89, p < 0.0001, respectively. SPRI*NDVI was used in atmospheric inverse modeling at regional scales for the estimation of C fluxes. We compared the GPP spatial patterns inversed from our model with corresponding results from the Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM, the Boreal Ecosystems Productivity Simulator model, and MODIS MOD17A2 products. The inversed GPP spatial patterns from our model of SPRI*NDVI had good agreement with the output from the VPM model. The normalized difference nitrogen index was well correlated with measured C net ecosystem exchange. Our findings indicated that narrowband bio-indicators based on EO-1 Hyperion images could be used to predict regional C flux variations for Northeastern China’s temperate broad-leaved Korean pine forest ecosystems.

  3. Derivation of Two New Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines from Nonviable Human Embryos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Svetlana Gavrilov

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available We report the derivation and characterization of two new human embryonic stem cells (hESC lines (CU1 and CU2 from embryos with an irreversible loss of integrated organismic function. In addition, we analyzed retrospective data of morphological progression from embryonic day (ED 5 to ED6 for 2480 embryos not suitable for clinical use to assess grading criteria indicative of loss of viability on ED5. Our analysis indicated that a large proportion of in vitro fertilization (IVF embryos not suitable for clinical use could be used for hESC derivation. Based on these combined findings, we propose that criteria commonly used in IVF clinics to determine optimal embryos for uterine transfer can be employed to predict the potential for hESC derivation from poor quality embryos without the destruction of vital human embryos.

  4. Framework and indicator testing protocol for developing and piloting quality indicators for the UK quality and outcomes framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Burke Martyn

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Quality measures should be subjected to a testing protocol before being used in practice using key attributes such as acceptability, feasibility and reliability, as well as identifying issues derived from actual implementation and unintended consequences. We describe the methodologies and results of an indicator testing protocol (ITP using data from proposed quality indicators for the United Kingdom Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF. Methods The indicator testing protocol involved a multi-step and methodological process: 1 The RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method, to test clarity and necessity, 2 data extraction from patients' medical records, to test technical feasibility and reliability, 3 diaries, to test workload, 4 cost-effectiveness modelling, and 5 semi-structured interviews, to test acceptability, implementation issues and unintended consequences. Testing was conducted in a sample of representative family practices in England. These methods were combined into an overall recommendation for each tested indicator. Results Using an indicator testing protocol as part of piloting was seen as a valuable way of testing potential indicators in 'real world' settings. Pilot 1 (October 2009-March 2010 involved thirteen indicators across six clinical domains and twelve indicators passed the indicator testing protocol. However, the indicator testing protocol identified a number of implementation issues and unintended consequences that can be rectified or removed prior to national roll out. A palliative care indicator is used as an exemplar of the value of piloting using a multiple attribute indicator testing protocol - while technically feasible and reliable, it was unacceptable to practice staff and raised concerns about potentially causing actual patient harm. Conclusions This indicator testing protocol is one example of a protocol that may be useful in assessing potential quality indicators when adapted to specific country health

  5. Mechanism of transfer of LDL-derived free cholesterol to HDL subfractions in human plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miida, T.; Fielding, C.J.; Fielding, P.E.

    1990-01-01

    The transfer of [ 3 H]cholesterol in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to different high-density lipoprotein (HDL) species in native human plasma was determined by using nondenaturing two-dimensional electrophoresis. Transfer from LDL had a t 1/2 at 37 degree C of 51 ± 8 min and an activation energy of 18.0 kCal mol -1 . There was unexpected specificity among HDL species as acceptors of LDL-derived labeled cholesterol. The largest fraction of the major α-migrating class (HDL 2b ) was the major initial acceptor of LDL-derived cholesterol. Kinetic analysis indicated a rapid secondary transfer from HDL 2b to smaller αHDL (particularly HDL 3 ) driven enzymatically by the lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase reaction. Rates of transfer among αHDL were most rapid from the largest αHDL fraction (HDL 2b ), suggesting possible protein-mediated facilitation. Simultaneous measurements of the transport of LDL-derived and cell-derived isotopic cholesterol indicated that the former preferably utilized the αHDL pathyway, with little label in pre-βHDL. The same experiments confirmed earlier data that cell-derived cholesterol is preferentially channeled through pre-βHDL. The authors suggest that the functional heterogeneity of HDL demonstrated here includes the ability to independently process cell- and LDL-derived free cholesterol

  6. Dicty_cDB: VHH756 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHH756 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15767-1 VHH756P (Link... to Original site) VHH756F 658 VHH756Z 686 VHH756P 1324 - - Show VHH756 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHH756 (Link to dict...yBase) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15767-1 Original site URL http://dict...YEYSNSNYFPINGQGF NDVSYPVPRGYVPISGESWTSMSTSTSLKGNNYNFC--- ---DSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHEGILDGLPQGNCSNTPVDCGANDEDKCKTW...*psw*fricqiw*kssnskryrvklewrsi*i**fkllpn*rtrfq *cklssskrlctnfwrildinvnfnfikg**l*fl--- ---DSSLCNDNNICTIDICVHE

  7. Generalised derived limits for radioisotopes of iodine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hughes, J.S.; Haywood, S.M.; Simmonds, J.R.

    1984-04-01

    Generalised Derived Limits (GDLs) are evaluated for iodine-125,129,131,132,133,134,135 in selected materials from the terrestrial and aquatic environments and for discharge to atmosphere. They are intended for use as convenient reference levels against which the results of environmental monitoring can be compared and atmospheric discharges assessed. GDLs are intended for use when the environmental contamination or discharge to atmosphere is less than about 5% of the GDL. If the level of environmental contamination or discharge to the atmosphere exceeds this percentage of the GDL it does not necessarily mean that the dose equivalents to members of the public are approaching the dose equivalent limit. It is rather an indication that it may be appropriate to obtain a more specific derived limit for the particular situation by reviewing the values of the parameters involved in the calculation. GDL values are specified for iodine radionuclides in water, soil, grass, sediments and various foodstuffs derived from the terrestrial and aquatic environments. GDLs are also given for iodine radionuclides on terrestrial surfaces and for their discharge to atmosphere. (author)

  8. Derivation of ozone flux-yield relationships for lettuce: A key horticultural crop

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goumenaki, Eleni [Environmental and Molecular Plant Physiology, Institute for Research on the Environment and Sustainability, School of Biology and Psychology, Division of Biology, Devonshire Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom); School of Agricultural Technology, Technological Education Institute of Crete, P.O. Box 1939, 71004 Heraklion (Greece); Fernandez, Ignacio Gonzalez [Environmental and Molecular Plant Physiology, Institute for Research on the Environment and Sustainability, School of Biology and Psychology, Division of Biology, Devonshire Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom); CIEMAT, Ecotoxicology of Air Pollution, Avda. Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Papanikolaou, Antigoni [School of Agricultural Technology, Technological Education Institute of Crete, P.O. Box 1939, 71004 Heraklion (Greece); Papadopoulou, Despoina [School of Agricultural Technology, Technological Education Institute of Crete, P.O. Box 1939, 71004 Heraklion (Greece); Askianakis, Christos [School of Agricultural Technology, Technological Education Institute of Crete, P.O. Box 1939, 71004 Heraklion (Greece); Kouvarakis, George [Environmental and Chemical Processes Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 1470, 71409 Heraklion (Greece); Barnes, Jeremy [Environmental and Molecular Plant Physiology, Institute for Research on the Environment and Sustainability, School of Biology and Psychology, Division of Biology, Devonshire Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: j.d.barnes@ncl.ac.uk

    2007-04-15

    Ozone flux-response relationships were derived for lettuce, employing a multiplicative approach to model the manner in which stomatal conductance is influenced by key environmental variables, using a dataset collected during field experimentation in Crete and yield-response relationships derived from parallel open-top chamber experiments. Regional agronomic practices were adopted throughout. Computed versus measured data revealed that the derived model explained 51% (P < 0.001) of the observed variation in stomatal conductance. Concentration-based indices were compared with flux-based indices. Analyses revealed a significant relationship between accumulated stomatal ozone flux and yield employing flux threshold cut-offs up to 4 nmol m{sup -2} s{sup -1}. Regressions employing very low or zero flux thresholds resulted in the strongest yield-flux relationships (explaining {approx}80% (P < 0.05) of the variation in the dataset). - Establishment of ozone flux-yield relationships for a commercially-important horticultural crop grown widely in the Mediterranean.

  9. The Contribution of a Geophysical Data Service: The International Service of Geomagnetic Indices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Menvielle

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Geomagnetic indices are basic data in Solar-Terrestrial physics and in operational Space Weather activities. The International Service of Geomagnetic Indices (ISGI is in charge of the derivation and dissemination of the geomagnetic indices that are acknowledged by the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA, an IUGG association. Institutes that are not part of ISGI started early in the Internet age to circulate on-line preliminary values of geomagnetic indices. In the absence of quality stamping, this resulted in a very confusing situation. The ISGI label was found to be the simplest and the safest way to insure quality stamping of circulated geomagnetic indices.

  10. Comparison Of Quantitative Precipitation Estimates Derived From Rain Gauge And Radar Derived Algorithms For Operational Flash Flood Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Streubel, D. P.; Kodama, K.

    2014-12-01

    To provide continuous flash flood situational awareness and to better differentiate severity of ongoing individual precipitation events, the National Weather Service Research Distributed Hydrologic Model (RDHM) is being implemented over Hawaii and Alaska. In the implementation process of RDHM, three gridded precipitation analyses are used as forcing. The first analysis is a radar only precipitation estimate derived from WSR-88D digital hybrid reflectivity, a Z-R relationship and aggregated into an hourly ¼ HRAP grid. The second analysis is derived from a rain gauge network and interpolated into an hourly ¼ HRAP grid using PRISM climatology. The third analysis is derived from a rain gauge network where rain gauges are assigned static pre-determined weights to derive a uniform mean areal precipitation that is applied over a catchment on a ¼ HRAP grid. To assess the effect of different QPE analyses on the accuracy of RDHM simulations and to potentially identify a preferred analysis for operational use, each QPE was used to force RDHM to simulate stream flow for 20 USGS peak flow events. An evaluation of the RDHM simulations was focused on peak flow magnitude, peak flow timing, and event volume accuracy to be most relevant for operational use. Results showed RDHM simulations based on the observed rain gauge amounts were more accurate in simulating peak flow magnitude and event volume relative to the radar derived analysis. However this result was not consistent for all 20 events nor was it consistent for a few of the rainfall events where an annual peak flow was recorded at more than one USGS gage. Implications of this indicate that a more robust QPE forcing with the inclusion of uncertainty derived from the three analyses may provide a better input for simulating extreme peak flow events.

  11. Synthesis and fluorosolvatochromism of 3-arylnaphtho[1,2-b]quinolizinium derivatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phil M. Pithan

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Cationic biaryl derivatives were synthesized by Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of 3-bromonaphtho[1,2-b]quinolizinium bromide with arylboronic acids. The resulting cationic biaryl derivatives exhibit pronounced fluorosolvatochromic properties. First photophysical studies in different solvents showed that the emission energy of the biaryl derivatives decreases with increasing solvent polarity. This red-shifted emission in polar solvents is explained by a charge shift (CS in the excited state and subsequent solvent relaxation. Furthermore, the polarity of protic polar and aprotic polar solvents affects the emission energy to different extent, which indicates a major influence of hydrogen bonding on the stabilization of the ground and excited states.

  12. Use of derivatives to assess preservation of hydrocarbon deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koshkin, K. A.; Melkishev, O. A.

    2018-05-01

    The paper considers the calculation of derivatives along the surface of a modern and paleostructure map of a Tl2-b formation top used to forecast the preservation of oil and gas deposits in traps according to 3D seismic survey via statistical methods. It also suggests a method to evaluate morphological changes of the formation top by calculating the difference between derivatives. The proposed method allows analyzing structural changes of the formation top in time towards primary migration of hydrocarbons. The comprehensive use of calculated indicators allowed ranking the prepared structures in terms of preservation of hydrocarbon deposits.

  13. Evaluation of antituberculosis activity and DFT study on dipyrromethane-derived hydrazone derivatives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rawat, Poonam; Singh, R. N.; Niranjan, Priydarshni; Ranjan, Alok; Holguín, Norma Rosario Flores

    2017-12-01

    This paper evaluates the anti-tubercular activity of dipyrromethane-derived hydrazones derivatives (3a-d) against strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The newly synthesized compounds have been obtained in good yield based on the condensation of aromatic aldehyde derivatives with pyrrole hydrazone in presence of catalyst and well characterized with spectroscopic methods (1H, 13C NMR, Mass spectrometry) and elemental analysis. The singlet observed in the experimental 1H and 13C NMR spectra in the range of 5.3-5.7 ppm and 30-33.86 ppm, respectively, indicating that two pyrrole units are joined at meso position. The electronic transitions observed in the experimental spectra are n→π* and π →π* in nature. Experimental and theoretical findings corroborate well with each other. The substitution of acceptor group (-NO2) at ortho- and meta-positions of benzene ring, present at meso-position of dipyrromethane is responsible for variation in β0 values. The calculated NLO of (3a-d) are much greater than those of p-nitroaniline (PNA). The solvent induced effects on the non-linear optical properties were studied and found to enhance NLO properties of the molecules as dielectric constants of the solvents increases. On the basis of results it is anticipated that these dipyrromethanes will be useful for both antimicrobial and non-linear optical (NLO) applications. With the help of Microplate Alamar Blue assay (MABA) method all (3a-d) compounds were screened for their anti-tubercular activity and found that 3b and 3d have higher inhibitory activity against strain of M. tuberculosis H37Rv.

  14. Measurement and application of purine derivatives: Creatinine ratio in spot urine samples of ruminants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, X.B.; Jayasuriya, M.C.N.; Makkar, H.P.S.

    2004-01-01

    The daily excretion of purine derivatives in urine has been used to estimate the supply of microbial protein to ruminant animals. The method provides a simple and non-invasive tool to indicate the nutritional status of farm animals. However due to the need for complete collection of urine the potential application at farm level is restricted. Research conducted under the FAO/IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project has indicated that it is possible to use the purine derivatives:creatinine ratio measured in several spot urine samples collected within a day, as an index of microbial protein supply in a banding system for farm application. Some theoretical and experimental aspects in the measurement of purine derivatives:creatinine ratio in spot urine samples and the possible application of the banding system at the farm level are discussed. (author)

  15. The antimicrobial activity of lapachol and its thiosemicarbazone and semicarbazone derivatives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Azevedo Souza

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Lapachol was chemically modified to obtain its thiosemicarbazone and semicarbazone derivatives. These compounds were tested for antimicrobial activity against several bacteria and fungi by the broth microdilution method. The thiosemicarbazone and semicarbazone derivatives of lapachol exhibited antimicrobial activity against the bacteria Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs of 0.05 and 0.10 µmol/mL, respectively. The thiosemicarbazone and semicarbazone derivatives were also active against the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus gattii (MICs of 0.10 and 0.20 µmol/mL, respectively. In addition, the lapachol thiosemicarbazone derivative was active against 11 clinical isolates of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, with MICs ranging from 0.01-0.10 µmol/mL. The lapachol-derived thiosemicarbazone was not cytotoxic to normal cells at the concentrations that were active against fungi and bacteria. We synthesised, for the first time, thiosemicarbazone and semicarbazone derivatives of lapachol. The MICs for the lapachol-derived thiosemicarbazone against S. aureus, E. faecalis, C. gattii and several isolates of P. brasiliensis indicated that this compound has the potential to be developed into novel drugs to treat infections caused these microbes.

  16. Performance indicators and indices of sludge management in urban wastewater treatment plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, C; Saldanha Matos, J; Rosa, M J

    2016-12-15

    Sludge (or biosolids) management is highly complex and has a significant cost associated with the biosolids disposal, as well as with the energy and flocculant consumption in the sludge processing units. The sludge management performance indicators (PIs) and indices (PXs) are thus core measures of the performance assessment system developed for urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The key PIs proposed cover the sludge unit production and dry solids concentration (DS), disposal/beneficial use, quality compliance for agricultural use and costs, whereas the complementary PIs assess the plant reliability and the chemical reagents' use. A key PI was also developed for assessing the phosphorus reclamation, namely through the beneficial use of the biosolids and the reclaimed water in agriculture. The results of a field study with 17 Portuguese urban WWTPs in a 5-year period were used to derive the PI reference values which are neither inherent to the PI formulation nor literature-based. Clusters by sludge type (primary, activated, trickling filter and mixed sludge) and by digestion and dewatering processes were analysed and the reference values for sludge production and dry solids were proposed for two clusters: activated sludge or biofilter WWTPs with primary sedimentation, sludge anaerobic digestion and centrifuge dewatering; activated sludge WWTPs without primary sedimentation and anaerobic digestion and with centrifuge dewatering. The key PXs are computed for the DS after each processing unit and the complementary PXs for the energy consumption and the operating conditions DS-determining. The PX reference values are treatment specific and literature based. The PI and PX system was applied to a WWTP and the results demonstrate that it diagnosis the situation and indicates opportunities and measures for improving the WWTP performance in sludge management. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Interactions of TLR4 and PPARγ, Dependent on AMPK Signalling Pathway Contribute to Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Vaccariae Hypaphorine in Endothelial Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haijian Sun

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Background /Aims: Accumulating evidence indicates that endothelial inflammation is one of the critical determinants in pathogenesis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Our previous studies had demonstrated that Vaccariae prevented high glucose or oxidative stress-triggered endothelial dysfunction in vitro. Very little is known about the potential effects of hypaphorine from Vaccariae seed on inflammatory response in endothelial cells. Methods: In the present study, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of Vaccariae hypaphorine (VH on lipopolysaccharide (LPS-challenged endothelial EA.hy926 cells. The inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α, interleukin-1β (IL-1β, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1 and vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1 were measured by real-time PCR (RT-PCR. The expressions of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ were detected by Western blotting or immunofluorescence. Results: We showed that LPS stimulated the expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β, MCP-1, VCAM-1 and TLR4, but attenuated the phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC as well as PPARγ protein levels, which were reversed by VH pretreatment. Moreover, we observed that LPS-upregulated TLR4 protein expressions were inhibited by PPARγ agonist pioglitazone, and the downregulated PPARγ expressions in response to LPS were partially restored by knockdown of TLR4. The negative regulation loop between TLR4 and PPARγ response to LPS was modulated by AMPK agonist AICAR (5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside or acadesine or A769662. Conclusions: Taken together, our results suggested that VH ameliorated LPS-induced inflammatory cytokines production in endothelial cells via inhibition of TLR4 and activation of PPARγ, dependent on AMPK signalling pathway.

  18. [Evaluating the activity of the Italian Mental Health Services inpatient and residential facilities: the PRISM (Process Indicator System for Mental health) indicators].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picardi, Angelo; Tarolla, Emanuele; de Girolamo, Giovanni; Gigantesco, Antonella; Neri, Giovanni; Rossi, Elisabetta; Biondi, Massimo

    2014-01-01

    This article describes the activities of a project aimed at developing a system of process and process/outcome indicators suitable to monitor over time the quality of psychiatric care of Italian inpatient and residential psychiatric facilities. This system, named PRISM (Process Indicator System for Mental health), was developed by means of a standardized evaluation made by a panel of experts and a consecutive pilot study in 17 inpatient and 13 residential psychiatric facilities. A total of 28 indicators were selected from a set of 251 candidate indicators developed by the most relevant and qualified Italian and international authorities. These indicators are derived by data from medical records and information about characteristics of facilities, and they cover processes of care, operational equipment of facilities, staff training and working, relationships with external agencies, and sentinel events. The procedure followed for the development of the indicator system was reliable and innovative. The data collected from the pilot study suggested a favourable benefit-cost ratio between the workload associated with regular use of the indicators into the context of daily clinical activities and the advantages related to the information gathered through regular use of the indicators. CONCLUSIONS.:The PRISM system provides additional information about the healthcare processes with respect to the information gathered via routine information systems, and it might prove useful for both continuous quality improvement programs and health services research.

  19. A parameterization study for elastic VTI Full Waveform Inversion of hydrophone components: synthetic and North Sea field data examples

    KAUST Repository

    Guitton, Antoine; Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2017-01-01

    Choosing the right parameterization to describe a transversely isotropic medium with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) allows us to match the scattering potential of these parameters to the available data in a way that avoids potential tradeoff and focus on the parameters to which the data are sensitive. For 2-D elastic full waveform inversion in VTI media of pressure components and for data with a reasonable range of offsets (as with those found in conventional streamer data acquisition systems), assuming that we have a kinematically accurate NMO velocity (vnmo) and anellipticity parameter η (or horizontal velocity, vh) obtained from tomographic methods, a parameterization in terms of horizontal velocity vh, η and ε is preferred to the more conventional parameterization in terms of vh, δ and ε. In the vh, η, ε parameterization and for reasonable scattering angles (<60o), ε acts as a “garbage collector” and absorbs most of the amplitude discrepancies; between modeled and observed data, more so when density ρ and shear-wave velocity vs are not inverted for (a standard practice with streamer data). On the contrary, in the vv, δ, ε parameterization, ε is mostly sensitive to large scattering angles, leaving vv exposed to strong leakages from ρ mainly. There assertions will be demonstrated on the synthetic Marmousi II as well as a North Sea OBC dataset, where inverting for the horizontal velocity rather than the vertical velocity yields more accurate models and migrated images.

  20. A parameterization study for elastic VTI Full Waveform Inversion of hydrophone components: synthetic and North Sea field data examples

    KAUST Repository

    Guitton, Antoine

    2017-08-15

    Choosing the right parameterization to describe a transversely isotropic medium with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) allows us to match the scattering potential of these parameters to the available data in a way that avoids potential tradeoff and focus on the parameters to which the data are sensitive. For 2-D elastic full waveform inversion in VTI media of pressure components and for data with a reasonable range of offsets (as with those found in conventional streamer data acquisition systems), assuming that we have a kinematically accurate NMO velocity (vnmo) and anellipticity parameter η (or horizontal velocity, vh) obtained from tomographic methods, a parameterization in terms of horizontal velocity vh, η and ε is preferred to the more conventional parameterization in terms of vh, δ and ε. In the vh, η, ε parameterization and for reasonable scattering angles (<60o), ε acts as a “garbage collector” and absorbs most of the amplitude discrepancies; between modeled and observed data, more so when density ρ and shear-wave velocity vs are not inverted for (a standard practice with streamer data). On the contrary, in the vv, δ, ε parameterization, ε is mostly sensitive to large scattering angles, leaving vv exposed to strong leakages from ρ mainly. There assertions will be demonstrated on the synthetic Marmousi II as well as a North Sea OBC dataset, where inverting for the horizontal velocity rather than the vertical velocity yields more accurate models and migrated images.

  1. Clinical and cognitive correlates of visual hallucinations in dementia with Lewy bodies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cagnin, Annachiara; Gnoato, Francesca; Jelcic, Nela; Favaretto, Silvia; Zarantonello, Giulia; Ermani, Mario; Dam, Mauro

    2013-05-01

    The presence of recurrent complex visual hallucinations (VHs) is a core feature of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The aim of this study was to investigate which clinical and neuropsychological characteristics are associated with VHs and their predictive value over a 1 year follow-up. 81 DLB patients, 41 with (VH+) and 36 without (VH-) VHs, and 45 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), were enrolled. All participants underwent extensive neuropsychological testing. Visual-spatial and perceptual abilities were evaluated with the Visual and Object Space Perception (VOSP) battery. Fluctuations in attention, rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) symptoms, extrapyramidal signs and behavioural disturbances were studied with dedicated clinical scales. The presence of VHs was associated with older age and later disease onset, but not with disease duration or with fluctuations, RBD or parkinsonism severity. Cognitive correlates of VHs were deficits in visual attention (digit cancellation: pspan forward: pVisual-perceptual and visual-spatial deficits were significantly worse in DLB than in AD patients (VOSP subtests scores 1, 6, 7 and 8) but were not different in DLB VH+ and VH-, except for subtest 6. Poor performance in the visual attention task was an independent predictor of VHs. Impairment of visual-spatial and perceptual abilities in DLB represents a disease related cognitive signature, independent of the presence of VHs, for which it may represent a predisposing condition. Visual attention, instead, is the main cognitive determinant for the genesis of VHs.

  2. Manchester-Fothergill procedure versus vaginal hysterectomy with uterosacral ligament suspension: an activity-based costing analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husby, Karen Ruben; Tolstrup, Cæcilie Krogsgaard; Lose, Gunnar; Klarskov, Niels

    2018-02-26

    Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common diagnosis that imposes high and ever-growing costs to the healthcare economy. Numerous surgical techniques for the treatment of POP exist, but there is no consensus about which is the ideal technique for treating apical prolapse. The aim of this study was to estimate hospital costs for the most frequently performed operation, vaginal hysterectomy with uterosacral ligament suspension (VH) and the uterus-preserving Manchester-Fothergill procedure (MP), when including costs of postoperative activities. The study was based on a historical matched cohort including 590 patients (295 pairs) who underwent VH or MP during 2010-2014 owing to apical prolapse. The patients were matched according to age and preoperative prolapse stage and followed for a minimum of 20 months. Data were collected from four national registries and electronic medical records. Unit costs were obtained from relevant departments, hospital administration, calculated, or estimated by experts. The hospital perspective was applied for costing the resource use. Total costs for the first 20 months after operation were 3,514 € per VH patient versus 2,318 € per MP patient. The cost difference between the techniques was 898 € (95% confidence interval [CI]: 818-982) per patient when analyzing the primary operation only and 1,196 € (CI: 927-1,465) when including subsequent activities within 20 months (p costs can be reduced by one third if MP is preferred over VH in the treatment of apical prolapse.

  3. Effects of different levels of protein supplements in the diet of early-weaned yaks on growth performance, intestinal development, and immune response to tuberculosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haibo Zhang

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted to determine the effects of different levels of crude protein (CP supplements to the diet of early-weaned yaks on their growth performance, intestinal development, and immune response. Forty 3-month-old weaned yaks were selected and assigned to four dietary groups (Control, 17, 19 and 21% CP. Dietary CP supplements had a significant effect on average daily gain (ADG, crypt depth (CD (duodenum, jejunum and ileum, villous height (VH (duodenum, jejunum and ileum and CD/VH (jejunum and ileum. Average daily gain, CD (duodenum, jejunum and ileum and VH (ileum showed quadratic increases as the dietary CP increased, whereas CD/VH (jejunum and ileum ratios showed quadratic decreases. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN, glucose (GLU, immunoglobulin G (IgG, IgM, interleukin-1 (IL-1, IL-2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α, and interferon (IFN-γ concentrations increased significantly, whereas albumin (ALB, alanine aminotransferase (ALT and aspartate aminotransferase (AST decreased significantly with dietary CP supplements. Dietary CP supplements significantly increased the concentrations of IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ and the nuclear factor of activated T cell transcription factor (NFAT for gene expression. As the dietary CP supplements increased, IL-6, IFN-γ and NF-AT gene expression showed quadratic increases. These results showed that the appropriate dietary CP supplementation improved the growth performance and intestinal development of earlyweaned yaks and thus that the CP supplements were beneficial and enhanced the humoral immunity response of yaks.

  4. A theoretical derivation of the condensed history algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larsen, E.W.

    1992-01-01

    Although the Condensed History Algorithm is a successful and widely-used Monte Carlo method for solving electron transport problems, it has been derived only by an ad-hoc process based on physical reasoning. In this paper we show that the Condensed History Algorithm can be justified as a Monte Carlo simulation of an operator-split procedure in which the streaming, angular scattering, and slowing-down operators are separated within each time step. Different versions of the operator-split procedure lead to Ο(Δs) and Ο(Δs 2 ) versions of the method, where Δs is the path-length step. Our derivation also indicates that higher-order versions of the Condensed History Algorithm may be developed. (Author)

  5. Wave packets, Maslov indices, and semiclassical quantization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Littlejohn, R.G.

    1989-01-01

    The Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization condition, as refined by Keller and Maslov, reads I=(n+m/4)h, where I is the classical action, n is the quantum number, and where m is the Maslov index, an even integer. The occurrence of the integers n and m in this formula is a reflection of underlying topological features of semiclassical quantization. In particular, the work of Arnold and others has shown that m/2 is a winding number of closed curves on the classical symplectic group manifold, Sp(2N). Wave packets provide a simple and elegant means of establishing the connection between semiclassical quantization and the homotopy classes of Sp(2N), as well as a practical way of calculating Maslov indices in complex problems. Topological methods can also be used to derive general formulas for the Maslov indices of invariant tori in the classical phase space corresponding to resonant motion. (orig.)

  6. Comparative dermal carcinogenesis of shale and petroleum-derived distillates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, C R; Walter, M K; Ferguson, P W; Katchen, M

    1988-03-01

    Ten test materials derived from petroleum or hydrotreated shale oils were applied 3 times/week for up to 105 weeks to the shaved skin of 25 male and 25 female C3H/HeN mice per group. Mineral oil and benzo(a) pyrene (0.15%) were control materials. Clinical observations were recorded during the study. At death, histopathologic examination was conducted on skin, internal organs and any gross lesions. Exposures to some materials were ended midway in the study due to severe irritation. Chronic toxicity of all materials was limited to inflammatory and degenerative skin changes. Significant increases over control incidence of skin tumors (squamous cell carcinoma and fibrosarcoma) occurred with both petroleum and shale-derived naphtha (21%, 50%), Jet A (26%, 28%), JP-4 (26%, 50%), and crude oils (84%, 54%). Severely hydrotreated shale oil and petroleum and shale-derived diesel distillates were not considered tumorigenic. Results indicate that toxicity of comparable petroleum and shale-derived fractions was qualitatively similar and confirm earlier findings that hydrotreating reduces or eliminates carcinogenicity of raw shale oil.

  7. Derivation of quantitative parameters from salivary scintigraphy and their utility in the diagnosis of xerostomia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Booker, J.A.; Sutherland, D.C.; Howarth, D.M.; Taylor, L.; Tan, P.

    2002-01-01

    Full text: Xerostomia may be due to salivary dysfunction from a variety of causes and can be clinically variable ranging from halitosis to overt xerostomia. Semi-quantitative indices may be derived from salivary scintigraphy and may aid both clinical diagnosis and response to treatment. The objective of this study was to determine whether semi-quantitative indices were able to distinguish normal from abnormal salivary function and to be clinically useful. 56 consecutive patients with xerostomia (including a subset of 10 patients with clinical Sjogrens syndrome) and 25 healthy volunteers underwent salivary scintigraphy. Semi-quantitative analysis of time activity curves was performed deriving 6 different indices for each of the four major salivary glands. These indices included percent uptake (%UP), uptake ratios(UR),maximum accumulation (MA), pre-stimulatory oral radioactivity index (PRI), post-stimulatory oral radioactivity index (POI) and ejection fraction (EF). The 95% confidence interval around the mean values was used to compare normal volunteers and xerostomia patients. Wide reference limits were obtained for all indices derived from normal volunteers. No significant difference was found between normal volunteers and patients using any of the six indices. UR and EF showed the greatest difference between the groups. Allowing for Type Two (Beta) error, none of the above indices allow patients with xerostomia who have salivary dysfunction to be distinguished from normal subjects. Copyright (2002) The Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine Inc

  8. Dicty_cDB: VHA386 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHA386 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U11201-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHA386Z 730 - - - - Show VHA386 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHA386 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U11201-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b...Homology vs DNA Score E Sequences producing significant alignments: (bits) Value N L08646 |L08646.1 Dict...19 1 CX835130 |AF255664_1 major vault protein [Ictalurus punctatus], mRNA sequenc

  9. Bio-Detergent oil derivative used frying

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfonso Jesús Torres Ortega

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Currently, the global trend towards sustainable development for environmental friendly products such as biosurfactants shows an excellent performance. Anionic surface active agents can be produced from renewable natural raw materials such as vegetable oils mainly derived from palm oil. Methyl ester sulfonate is an active component of highly biodegradable detergents, one advantage compared with detergents derived from petrochemicals which generate a high pollutant load. This paper proposes the study of sulfonation with sulfur trioxide of esters derived from waste cooking oil which main component is palm oil. The falling film reactor allows determining the conditions of the process at pilot scale. The experimentation allowed an enhancement of empirical equations in the equipment implemented for this purpose and to determine some physicochemical properties. The comparison obtained for this same process with petrochemicals compounds indicates that the model could be applied to any film sulfonation but adjusting the parameters and specific conditions, such as the physicochemical properties of the compounds used, since the sulfonation process described in this work is one of the more complicated cases. The technological development presented here seeks to contribute with the industrial needs to promote green chemical industry for the production of biosurfactant from waste frying oil.

  10. Assessment of sustained effects of levosimendan and dobutamine on left ventricular systolic functions by using novel tissue Doppler derived indices in patients with advanced heart failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oner, Ender; Erturk, Mehmet; Birant, Ali; Kurtar Mansıroglu, Aslı; Akturk, Ibrahim Faruk; Karakurt, Huseyin; Yalcin, Ahmet Arif; Uzun, Fatih; Somuncu, Mustafa Umut; Yildirim, Aydin

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies comparing levosimendan vs. dobutamine have revealed that levosimendan is better in relieving symptoms. Echocardiographic studies have been done using second measurements immediately following a dobutamine infusion or while it was still being administered. The aim of our study was assessment of sustained effects of 24 h levosimendan and dobutamine infusions on left ventricular systolic functions. A total of 61 patients with acutely decompensated heart failure with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV symptoms were randomized to receive either levosimendan or dobutamine 2:1 in an open label fashion. Before and 5 days after the initiation of infusions, functional class was assessed, N-terminal prohormone of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), mitral inflow peak E and A wave velocity, and E/A ratios were measured; using tissue Doppler imaging, isovolumic myocardial acceleration (IVA), peak myocardial velocity during isovolumic contraction (IVV), peak systolic velocity during ejection period (Sa), early (E') and late (A') diastolic velocities, and E'/A' and E/E' ratios were measured. The NYHA class improved in both groups, but improvements were prominent in the levosimendan group. NT-proBNP levels were significantly reduced in the levosimendan group. Improvements in LVEF and diastolic indices were significant in the levosimendan group. Tissue Doppler-derived systolic indices of IVV and IVA increased significantly in the levosimendan group. Improvements in left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions continue after a levosimendan infusion.

  11. Towards optimal dosing of coumarin derivatives: the role of pharmacogenetics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Schie, R.M.F.

    2013-01-01

    Coumarin derivatives are effective in the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic diseases. Examples of indications are atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism. Although coumarins are on the market for decades, it is still challenging to find the optimal dosage for each patient since

  12. Financial Derivatives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wigan, Duncan

    2013-01-01

    Contemporary derivatives mark the development of capital and constitute a novel form of ownership. By reconfiguring the temporal, spatial and legal character of ownership derivatives present a substantive challenge to the tax collecting state. While fiscal systems are nationally bounded...... and inherently static, capital itself is unprecedentedly mobile, fluid and fungible. As such derivatives raise the specter of ‘financial weapons of mass destruction’....

  13. Interest rate derivatives

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svenstrup, Mikkel

    This Ph.D. thesis consists of four self-contained essays on valuation of interest rate derivatives. In particular derivatives related to management of interest rate risk care are considered.......This Ph.D. thesis consists of four self-contained essays on valuation of interest rate derivatives. In particular derivatives related to management of interest rate risk care are considered....

  14. Safety and performance indicators for repositories in salt and clay formations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolf, Jens; Ruebel, Andre; Noseck, Ulrich; Becker, Dirk

    2008-07-01

    The GRS (Gesellschaft fuer Reaktorsicherheit) study aims to the identification of suitable indicators for repositories in salt and clay formation. It is not intended to compare the two formations with respect to the safe disposal of radioactive waste. A first set of safety and performance indicators for both host rocks has been derived on the basis of results of the SPIN project. Reference values for the safety indicators have been determined. The suitability of the indicators and their significance for different time frames Is demonstrated by means of deterministic model calculations and external parameter variations of previous studies. The safety indicators considered in the report are the effective dose rate (Sv/a), the radiotoxicity concentration in the biosphere water (Sv/m 3 ) and the radiotoxicity flux from the geosphere (overlying rock) (Sv/a). The performance indicators considered in the study are the radiotoxicity inventory in different compartments (S), radiotoxicity fluxes from compartments and the integrated radiotoxicity fluxes from compartments (Sv).

  15. Assessment of the indicator of sustainable development for radioactive waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, J. H.; Park, W. J.

    2003-01-01

    As a follow up to the agenda 21's policy statement for safe management of radioactive waste adopted at Rio Conference held in 1992, the UN invited the IAEA to develop and implement indicators of sustainable development for the management of radioactive waste. The IAEA finalized the indicators in 2002, and is planning to calculate the member states' values of indicator in connection with operation of its Net-Enabled Waste Management Database system. In this paper, the basis for introducing the indicators into the radioactive waste management was analyzed, and calculation methodology and standard assessment procedure were simply depicted. According to the proposed standard procedure, the indicators for some countries including Korea were calculated and compared, by use of each country's radioactive waste management framework and its practices. In addition, a series of measures increasing the values of the indicators was derived so as to enhance the sustainability of domestic radioactive waste management program

  16. The spin project: safety and performance indicators in different time frames

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Storck, R.; Becker, D.A.

    2002-01-01

    Safety and performance indicators have been under discussion for many years in several countries and international organisations. If those indicators refer to the long term safety of the total disposal system, they are often called safety indicators. If they refer to the performance of subsystems or the total system from a more technical point of view, they are sometimes called performance indicators. The need for indicators other than dose rates derives e.g. from the long time frames involved in safety assessments of waste disposal systems and the increasing uncertainty in dose rate calculations over time due to uncertainty in evolution of the surface environment and of behaviour of man. Before introducing additional indicators into a safety case of a potential repository site, the applicability and usefulness of different indicators have to be investigated and evaluated. The systematic analysis and testing of safety and performance indicators for use in different time horizons after closure of the disposal facility is the task of the SPIN project. This is done by re-calculating four recent studies concerning repository projects in granite formations. (authors)

  17. A novel earth observation based ecological indicator for cyanobacterial blooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anttila, Saku; Fleming-Lehtinen, Vivi; Attila, Jenni; Junttila, Sofia; Alasalmi, Hanna; Hällfors, Heidi; Kervinen, Mikko; Koponen, Sampsa

    2018-02-01

    Cyanobacteria form spectacular mass occurrences almost annually in the Baltic Sea. These harmful algal blooms are the most visible consequences of marine eutrophication, driven by a surplus of nutrients from anthropogenic sources and internal processes of the ecosystem. We present a novel Cyanobacterial Bloom Indicator (CyaBI) targeted for the ecosystem assessment of eutrophication in marine areas. The method measures the current cyanobacterial bloom situation (an average condition of recent 5 years) and compares this to the estimated target level for 'good environmental status' (GES). The current status is derived with an index combining indicative bloom event variables. As such we used seasonal information from the duration, volume and severity of algal blooms derived from earth observation (EO) data. The target level for GES was set by using a remote sensing based data set named Fraction with Cyanobacterial Accumulations (FCA; Kahru & Elmgren, 2014) covering years 1979-2014. Here a shift-detection algorithm for time series was applied to detect time-periods in the FCA data where the level of blooms remained low several consecutive years. The average conditions from these time periods were transformed into respective CyaBI target values to represent target level for GES. The indicator is shown to pass the three critical factors set for marine indicator development, namely it measures the current status accurately, the target setting can be scientifically proven and it can be connected to the ecosystem management goal. An advantage of the CyaBI method is that it's not restricted to the data used in the development work, but can be complemented, or fully applied, by using different types of data sources providing information on cyanobacterial accumulations.

  18. Proportion of root-derived acid phosphomonoesterase in total soil acid phosphomonoesterase in different forests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ladislav Holík

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Enzyme acid phosphomonoesterase (APM plays an important role in phosphorus mineralization in different type of terrestrial ecosystems. This enzyme is of great agronomic significance because it hydrolyses organic phosphorus to different forms of inorganic phosphorus which are assimilable by plants. APM may also indicate changes in the quantity and quality of phosphorylated substrates in soil and is a good indicator of its biological state as well as presence of pollutants. APM may be produced by plant roots and soil microorganisms and both of these sources may play different role in phosphorus mineralization in different ecosystems. The aim of this work was determine acid phosphomonoesterase (APM activity location in soil of different forest ecosystems. The APM activity location determination was performed on the basis of root-derived and soil-derived APM and expression of proportion of those root-derived in total soil APM up to 13 cm depth. The results of this preliminary study showed that root-derived APM formed 21–34 % of total soil APM in pine and oak forest.

  19. The organic fraction of bubble-generated, accumulation mode Sea Spray Aerosol (SSA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. L. Modini

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies have detected a dominant accumulation mode (~100 nm in the Sea Spray Aerosol (SSA number distribution. There is evidence to suggest that particles in this mode are composed primarily of organics. To investigate this hypothesis we conducted experiments on NaCl, artificial SSA and natural SSA particles with a Volatility-Hygroscopicity-Tandem-Differential-Mobility-Analyser (VH-TDMA. NaCl particles were atomiser generated and a bubble generator was constructed to produce artificial and natural SSA particles. Natural seawater samples for use in the bubble generator were collected from biologically active, terrestrially-affected coastal water in Moreton Bay, Australia. Differences in the VH-TDMA-measured volatility curves of artificial and natural SSA particles were used to investigate and quantify the organic fraction of natural SSA particles. Hygroscopic Growth Factor (HGF data, also obtained by the VH-TDMA, were used to confirm the conclusions drawn from the volatility data. Both datasets indicated that the organic fraction of our natural SSA particles evaporated in the VH-TDMA over the temperature range 170–200 °C. The organic volume fraction for 71–77 nm natural SSA particles was 8±6%. Organic volume fraction did not vary significantly with varying water residence time (40 s to 24 h in the bubble generator or SSA particle diameter in the range 38–173 nm. At room temperature we measured shape- and Kelvin-corrected HGF at 90% RH of 2.46±0.02 for NaCl, 2.35±0.02 for artifical SSA and 2.26±0.02 for natural SSA particles. Overall, these results suggest that the natural accumulation mode SSA particles produced in these experiments contained only a minor organic fraction, which had little effect on hygroscopic growth. Our measurement of 8±6% is an order of magnitude below two previous measurements of the organic fraction in SSA particles of comparable sizes. We stress that our results were obtained using coastal seawater and

  20. Certain properties of some special functions of two variables and two indices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, Subuhi

    2002-07-01

    In this paper, we derive a result concerning eigenvector and eigenvalue for a quadratic combination of four operators defined on a Lie algebra of endomorphisms of a vector space. Further, using this result, we deduce certain properties of some special functions of two variables and two indices. (author)

  1. Mono- and bis(pyrrolo)tetrathiafulvalene derivatives tethered to C60

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vico Solano, Marta; Della Pia, Eduardo Antonio; Jevric, Martyn

    2014-01-01

    -functionalized MPTTF/BPTTF derivatives, two different tailor-made amino acids, and C-60. Electronic communication between the MPTTF/BPTTF units and the C-60 moieties was studied by a variety of techniques including cyclic voltammetry and absorption spectroscopy. These solution-based studies indicated no observable...

  2. Description of future drought indices in Virginia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hyunwoo Kang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This article presents projected future drought occurrences in five river basins in Virginia. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5 climate models were used to derive input variables of multiple drought indices, such as the Standardized Soil Moisture index (SSI, the Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (MSDI, and the Modified Palmer Drought Severity Index (MPDSI for both historic and future periods. The results of SSI indicate that there was an overall increase in agricultural drought occurrences and that these were caused by increases in evapotranspiration and runoff. However, the results of the MSDI and MPDSI projected a decrease in drought occurrences in future periods due to a greater increase in precipitation in the future. Furthermore, GCM-downscaled products (precipitation and temperature were verified using comparisons with historic observations, and the results of uncertainty analyses suggest that the lower and upper bounds of future drought projections agree with historic conditions.

  3. Theoretical study of GC+/GC base pair derivatives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meng Fancui; Wang Huanjie; Xu Weiren; Liu Chengbu

    2005-01-01

    The geometries of R (R=CH 3 , CH 3 O, F, NO 2 ) substituted GC base pair derivatives and their cations have been optimized at B3LYP/6-31G* level and the substituent effects on the neutral and cationic geometric structures and energies have been discussed. The inner reorganization energies of various base pair derivatives and the native GC base pair have been calculated to discuss the substituent effects on the reorganization energy. NBO (natural bond orbital) analysis has been carried out on both the neutral and the cationic systems to investigate the differences of the charge distributions and the electronic structures. The outcomes indicate that 8-CH 3 O-G:C has the greatest reorganization energy and 8-NO 2 -G:C has the least, while the other substituted base pairs have a reorganization energy close to that of G:C. The one charge is mostly localized on guanine part after ionization and as high as 0.95e. The bond distances of N1-N3'andN2-O2' in the cationic base pair derivatives shortened and that of O6-N4' elongated as compared with the corresponding bond distances of the neutral GC base pair derivatives

  4. Flux Dynamics and Time Effects in a Carved out Superconducting Polycrystalline Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O Sample

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olutas, M [Abant Izzet Baysal University, Department of Physics, Turgut Gulez Research Laboratory 14280 Bolu (Turkey); Yetis, H [Abant Izzet Baysal University, Department of Physics, Turgut Gulez Research Laboratory 14280 Bolu (Turkey); Altinkok, A [Abant Izzet Baysal University, Department of Physics, Turgut Gulez Research Laboratory 14280 Bolu (Turkey); Soezeri, H [National Metrology Institute TUBITAK PO Box 21, 41470, Gebze-Kocaeli (Turkey); Kilic, K [Abant Izzet Baysal University, Department of Physics, Turgut Gulez Research Laboratory 14280 Bolu (Turkey); Kilic, A [Abant Izzet Baysal University, Department of Physics, Turgut Gulez Research Laboratory 14280 Bolu (Turkey); Cetin, O [Abant Izzet Baysal University, Department of Physics, Turgut Gulez Research Laboratory 14280 Bolu (Turkey)

    2006-06-01

    Systematic slow transport relaxation (V-t curves) and magnetovoltage measurements (V-H curves) have been carried out in a carved out superconducting polycrystalline Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O sample as a function of current (I), temperature (T), and external field (H). The V-t curves reveal the details of the time evolution of the penetrated state within the granular structure of the sample and also give a direct evidence of the relaxation of the flux trapped inside the drilled hole on the time scale of the experiment. On the other hand, V-H curves exhibit several unusual interesting properties upon cycling of the external magnetic field in forward and reverse directions, and, in addition to irreversibilities, strong reversible effects are observed, which is associated with the trapping of the macroscopic flux bundles in the drilled hole. It is also observed that the field sweep rate influences dramatically the reversible and irreversible behavior of V-H curves. The experimental results were mainly interpreted in terms of current and field induced organization of the vortices.

  5. Flux Dynamics and Time Effects in a Carved out Superconducting Polycrystalline Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O Sample

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olutas, M; Yetis, H; Altinkok, A; Soezeri, H; Kilic, K; Kilic, A; Cetin, O

    2006-01-01

    Systematic slow transport relaxation (V-t curves) and magnetovoltage measurements (V-H curves) have been carried out in a carved out superconducting polycrystalline Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O sample as a function of current (I), temperature (T), and external field (H). The V-t curves reveal the details of the time evolution of the penetrated state within the granular structure of the sample and also give a direct evidence of the relaxation of the flux trapped inside the drilled hole on the time scale of the experiment. On the other hand, V-H curves exhibit several unusual interesting properties upon cycling of the external magnetic field in forward and reverse directions, and, in addition to irreversibilities, strong reversible effects are observed, which is associated with the trapping of the macroscopic flux bundles in the drilled hole. It is also observed that the field sweep rate influences dramatically the reversible and irreversible behavior of V-H curves. The experimental results were mainly interpreted in terms of current and field induced organization of the vortices

  6. Combining ability estimates for earliness in cotton leaf curl virus resistant inbred parents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baloch, M.J.; Baloch, Q.B.

    2005-01-01

    Four female cotton leaf curl virus-resistant resistant (cclv) parents consisting of advance strains and commercial varieties (VH-137, FH-901, CRIS-467 and Cyto-51) and four male parents, all clcv resistant Punjab varieties (FH-945, CIM-707, CIM-473 and FH-1000) were mated in a cross classification Design-II fashion. The results show that genetic variances due to additive genes were higher than the dominant variances, yet both types of variances were substantial, implying that significant improvement could reliably be made from segregating populations. The general combining ability (gca) estimates by and large suggested that for improvement in the appearance of first white flower and 1st sympodial branch node number, parents FH-945 and VH-137 whereas for 1st effective boll setting, parents FH-1000 and FH-901 and for percent of open bolls at 120 days after planting, parents CIM-707 and CRIS-467 may be given preference. However, for hybrid cotton development regarding earliness, hybrids CRIS-467 x CIM-707, VH-137 x FH-945 and Cyto-51 x FH-1000 may be chosen. (author)

  7. The defects influence on domain wall propagation in bistable glass-coated microwires

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodionova, V.; Zhukova, V.; Ilyn, M.; Ipatov, M.; Perov, N.; Zhukov, A.

    2012-01-01

    We studied the domain wall (DW) dynamics of magnetically bistable amorphous glass-coated Fe 74 B 13 Si 11 C 2 microwires. In according to our experimental results magnetic field dependences of DW velocity of studied microwires can be divided into two groups: with uniform or uniformly accelerated DW propagation along the microwire. Strong correlation between the type of the magnetic field dependence of domain wall velocity, v(H), and the distribution of the local nucleation fields has been observed. Moreover, we observed abrupt increasing of DW velocity (jump) on the magnetic field dependences of the domain wall velocity, v(H), for the both types of the v(H) dependences. At the same time usual linear increasing of the domain wall velocity with magnetic field persists below these jumps. It was found that the jump height correlates with the location of nucleation place of the new domain wall. We have measured local nucleation field distribution in all the microwires. From local nucleation field distribution we have obtained the DW nucleation locations and estimated the jump height

  8. The defects influence on domain wall propagation in bistable glass-coated microwires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodionova, V. [Magnetism Division, Faculty of Physics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991 (Russian Federation); Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad 236041 (Russian Federation); Dpto. Fisica de Materiales, Fac. Quimicas, UPV/EHU, San Sebastian 20018 (Spain); Zhukova, V., E-mail: valentina.zhukova@ehu.es [Dpto. Fisica de Materiales, Fac. Quimicas, UPV/EHU, San Sebastian 20018 (Spain); Ilyn, M.; Ipatov, M. [Dpto. Fisica de Materiales, Fac. Quimicas, UPV/EHU, San Sebastian 20018 (Spain); Perov, N. [Magnetism Division, Faculty of Physics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991 (Russian Federation); Zhukov, A. [Dpto. Fisica de Materiales, Fac. Quimicas, UPV/EHU, San Sebastian 20018 (Spain); IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao 48011 (Spain)

    2012-05-01

    We studied the domain wall (DW) dynamics of magnetically bistable amorphous glass-coated Fe{sub 74}B{sub 13}Si{sub 11}C{sub 2} microwires. In according to our experimental results magnetic field dependences of DW velocity of studied microwires can be divided into two groups: with uniform or uniformly accelerated DW propagation along the microwire. Strong correlation between the type of the magnetic field dependence of domain wall velocity, v(H), and the distribution of the local nucleation fields has been observed. Moreover, we observed abrupt increasing of DW velocity (jump) on the magnetic field dependences of the domain wall velocity, v(H), for the both types of the v(H) dependences. At the same time usual linear increasing of the domain wall velocity with magnetic field persists below these jumps. It was found that the jump height correlates with the location of nucleation place of the new domain wall. We have measured local nucleation field distribution in all the microwires. From local nucleation field distribution we have obtained the DW nucleation locations and estimated the jump height.

  9. Characteristics of the scrape-off layer in DIII-D high-performance negative central magnetic shear discharges

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lasnier, C.J. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Maingi, R. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Leonard, A.W. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Allen, S.L. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Buchenauer, D.A. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Burrell, K.H. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Casper, T.A. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Cuthbertson, J.W. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Fenstermacher, M.E. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Hill, D.N. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Jong, R.A. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Lao, L.L. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Lazarus, E.A. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Moyer, R.A. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Petrie, T.W. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Porter, G.D. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Rice, B.W. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Stallard, B.W. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Taylor, T.S. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States); Watkins, J.G. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)

    1997-02-01

    In this paper we present measurements of the global power and particle balance in the high-performance phase of negative central magnetic shear (NCS) discharges and compare with reference VH-mode discharges. The principal differences observed are that NCS has a much lower fraction of the total input power flowing into the boundary, less core radiation, and larger rate of stored energy increase as a fraction of total power. Scrape-off layer (SOL) temperature and divertor heat flux profiles, and radiation profiles at the midplane, are similar to VH-mode. Due to the good core particle confinement and efficient fueling by neutral beam injection (NBI), with little gas puffing, the gas load on the walls and the recycling are very low during the NCS discharges. This results in a rate of density rise relative to beam fueling at the L to H transition time which is 1/3 of the value for VH transitions, which is in turn 1/2 that for L-to-ELMing-H-mode transitions. (orig.).

  10. Weak scale from the maximum entropy principle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamada, Yuta; Kawai, Hikaru; Kawana, Kiyoharu

    2015-03-01

    The theory of the multiverse and wormholes suggests that the parameters of the Standard Model (SM) are fixed in such a way that the radiation of the S3 universe at the final stage S_rad becomes maximum, which we call the maximum entropy principle. Although it is difficult to confirm this principle generally, for a few parameters of the SM, we can check whether S_rad actually becomes maximum at the observed values. In this paper, we regard S_rad at the final stage as a function of the weak scale (the Higgs expectation value) vh, and show that it becomes maximum around vh = {{O}} (300 GeV) when the dimensionless couplings in the SM, i.e., the Higgs self-coupling, the gauge couplings, and the Yukawa couplings are fixed. Roughly speaking, we find that the weak scale is given by vh ˜ T_{BBN}2 / (M_{pl}ye5), where ye is the Yukawa coupling of electron, T_BBN is the temperature at which the Big Bang nucleosynthesis starts, and M_pl is the Planck mass.

  11. Frequency Domain Multi-parameter Full Waveform Inversion for Acoustic VTI Media

    KAUST Repository

    Djebbi, Ramzi

    2017-05-26

    Multi-parameter full waveform inversion (FWI) for transversely isotropic (TI) media with vertical axis of symmetry (VTI) suffers from the trade-off between the parameters. The trade-off results in the leakage of one parameter\\'s update into the other during the inversion. It affects the accuracy and convergence of the inversion. The sensitivity analyses suggested a parameterisation using the horizontal velocity vh, epsilon and eta to reduce the trade-off for surface recorded seismic data.We test the (vh, epsilon, eta) parameterisation for acoustic VTI media using a scattering integral (SI) based inversion. The data is modeled in frequency domain and the model is updated using a preconditioned conjugate gradient method. We applied the method to the VTI Marmousi II model and in the inversion, we keep eta parameter fixed as the background initial model and we invert simultaneously for both vh and epsilon. The results show the suitability of the parameterisation for multi-parameter VTI acoustic inversion as well as the accuracy of the inversion approach.

  12. Financial Derivatives

    OpenAIRE

    Janečková, Alena

    2011-01-01

    1 Abstract/ Financial derivatives The purpose of this thesis is to provide an introduction to financial derivatives which has been, from the legal perspective, described in a not satisfactory manner as quite little literature that can be found about this topic. The main objectives of this thesis are to define the term "financial derivatives" and its particular types and to analyse legal nature of these financial instruments. The last objective is to try to draft future law regulation of finan...

  13. A Tat-grafted anti-nucleic acid antibody acquires nuclear-localization property and a preference for TAR RNA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Jong-Geun; Kim, Dong-Sik; Kim, Yong-Sung; Kwon, Myung-Hee

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → We generate ' H3 Tat-3D8' by grafting Tat 48-60 peptide to VH CDR of 3D8 scFv antibody. → H3 Tat-3D8 antibody retains nucleic acid binding and hydrolyzing activities. → H3 Tat-3D8 acquires a preference for TAR RNA structure. → Properties of Tat 48-60 is transferred to an antibody via Tat-grafting into a CDR. -- Abstract: The 3D8 single chain variable fragment (3D8 scFv) is an anti-nucleic acid antibody that can hydrolyze nucleic acids and enter the cytosol of cells without reaching the nucleus. The Tat peptide, derived from the basic region of the HIV-1 Tat protein, translocates to cell nuclei and has TAR RNA binding activity. In this study, we generated a Tat-grafted antibody ( H3 Tat-3D8) by replacing complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) within the VH domain of the 3D8 scFv with a Tat 48-60 peptide (GRKKRRQRRRPPQ). H3 Tat-3D8 retained the DNA-binding and DNA-hydrolyzing activity of the scFv, and translocated to the nuclei of HeLa cells and preferentially recognized TAR RNA. Thus, the properties associated with the Tat peptide were transferred to the antibody via Tat-grafting without loss of the intrinsic DNA-binding and hydrolyzing activities of the 3D8 scFv antibody.

  14. Moisture convergence using satellite-derived wind fields - A severe local storm case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Negri, A. J.; Vonder Haar, T. H.

    1980-01-01

    Five-minute interval 1-km resolution SMS visible channel data were used to derive low-level wind fields by tracking small cumulus clouds on NASA's Atmospheric and Oceanographic Information Processing System. The satellite-derived wind fields were combined with surface mixing ratios to derive horizontal moisture convergence in the prestorm environment of April 24, 1975. Storms began developing in an area extending from southwest Oklahoma to eastern Tennessee 2 h subsequent to the time of the derived fields. The maximum moisture convergence was computed to be 0.0022 g/kg per sec and areas of low-level convergence of moisture were in general indicative of regions of severe storm genesis. The resultant moisture convergence fields derived from two wind sets 20 min apart were spatially consistent and reflected the mesoscale forcing of ensuing storm development. Results are discussed with regard to possible limitations in quantifying the relationship between low-level flow and between low-level flow and satellite-derived cumulus motion in an antecedent storm environment.

  15. Effect of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on the formation of psycho-vegetative syndrome with brain injury

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selyanina N.V.

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Aim: to determine the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the formation and forecasting of psycho-vegetative syndrome in patients with cerebral mild to moderate injury. Material and Methods. There have been 150 patients with contusion of the brain, examined. Indicators of neurological, psycho-vegetative status, quantitative content of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF and nerve growth factor (NGF in the serum were studied. Results. At patients with brain contusion neurological, psycho-vegetative disturbances and decrease neurotrophic factors are determined. It was found to depend of the content of BDNF and psycho-vegetative indicators. Conclusion. The level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor serum (less than 300 pg/ml is a predictor of psycho-vegetative syndrome in the long term of the brain injury.

  16. Food Derived Bioactive Peptides and Intestinal Barrier Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Martínez-Augustin

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available A wide range of food-derived bioactive peptides have been shown to exert health-promoting actions and are therefore considered functional foods or nutraceuticals. Some of these actions are related to the maintenance, reinforcement or repairment of the intestinal barrier function (IBF whose role is to selectively allow the absorption of water, nutrients and ions while preventing the influx of microorganisms from the intestinal lumen. Alterations in the IBF have been related to many disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease or metabolic syndrome. Components of IBF are the intestinal epithelium, the mucus layer, secretory immunoglobulin A and cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Here we review the effects of food derived bioactive peptides on these IBF components. In vitro and in vivo effects, both in healthy and disease states, have been reviewed. Although limited, the available information indicates a potential for food-derived peptides to modify IBF and to contribute to disease treatment, but further research is needed to better isolate responsible peptides, and to help define their mode of action.

  17. Formation of vacancy clusters in tungsten crystals under hydrogen-rich condition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kato, Daiji, E-mail: kato.daiji@nifs.ac.jp [National Institute for Fusion Science, 322-6 Oroshi-cho, Toki, Gifu 509-5292 (Japan); Iwakiri, Hirotomo, E-mail: iwakiri@edu.u-ryukyu.ac.jp [University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213 (Japan); Morishita, Kazunori, E-mail: morishita@iae.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, Kyoto 611-0011 (Japan)

    2011-10-01

    Di-vacancy formation assisted by hydrogen trapping is studied in terms of nucleation free-energies evaluated with density functional theory. Calculations give binding energies for single hydrogen atom as first- and second-nearest-neighbor of di-vacancies of 1.80 and 2.15 eV, respectively, which are significantly larger than that for mono-vacancies. At elevated atomic concentrations of interstitial hydrogen atoms, evaluated nucleation free-energies indicate that the hydrogen assisted di-vacancy formation becomes more favorable. It is suggested that the formation would be preceded by VH cluster formation.

  18. Formation of vacancy clusters in tungsten crystals under hydrogen-rich condition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kato, Daiji; Iwakiri, Hirotomo; Morishita, Kazunori

    2011-01-01

    Di-vacancy formation assisted by hydrogen trapping is studied in terms of nucleation free-energies evaluated with density functional theory. Calculations give binding energies for single hydrogen atom as first- and second-nearest-neighbor of di-vacancies of 1.80 and 2.15 eV, respectively, which are significantly larger than that for mono-vacancies. At elevated atomic concentrations of interstitial hydrogen atoms, evaluated nucleation free-energies indicate that the hydrogen assisted di-vacancy formation becomes more favorable. It is suggested that the formation would be preceded by VH cluster formation.

  19. Anthraquinone derivatives as organic stabilizers for rigid poly (vinyl chloride) against photo-degradation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabaa, M.W.; Mohamed, R.R.

    2005-01-01

    Anthraquinone derivatives have been prepared and investigated as photo-stabilizers for rigid PVC by measuring the extent of weight loss (%), the amount of gel formation as well as the intrinsic viscosity of the soluble fractions of the degraded polymer. The results indicated a reasonable stabilizing effect of these derivatives compared with UV-commorcially used stabilizers. A synergistic effect is achieved when the Anthraquinone derivatives are mixed with UV-absorbers in a weight ratio of 75 % of investigated organic stabilizer and 25 % of reference stabilizer. A probable radical mechanism is proposed to account for the stabilizing action of the organic investigated materials

  20. Key indicators for the monitoring and evaluation of control programmes of human African trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouchet, B; Legros, D; Lee, E

    1998-06-01

    Very little research has been devoted to the design of epidemiological tools for the monitoring and evaluation of National Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) Control Programmes and daily management decisions are made in the absence of accurate knowledge of the situation. This paper identifies key indicators necessary to make decisions in the field and constantly adjust control activities to changing situations. Examples are derived from the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) HAT Control Programme in Adjumani, Uganda. Based on the principles of quality assurance, the focus is placed on process indicators. A conceptual framework derived from a system view/planning cycle perspective is also described for the construction of indicators. Finally, some specific challenging aspects of the epidemiology of HAT are presented and the limitations of the interpretation of the indicators discussed.

  1. Use of Combined Observational- and Model-Derived Photochemical Indicators to Assess the O3-NOx-VOC System Sensitivity in Urban Areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edson R. Carrillo-Torres

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Tropospheric levels of O3 have historically exceeded the official annual Mexican standards within the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA in NE Mexico. High-frequency and high-precision measurements of tropospheric O3, NOy, NO2, NO, CO, SO2, PM10 and PM2.5 were made at the Obispado monitoring site near the downtown MMA from September 2012 to August 2013. The seasonal cycles of O3 and NOy are driven by changes in meteorology and to a lesser extent by variations in primary emissions. The NOy levels were positively correlated with O3 precursors and inversely correlated with O3 and wind speed. Recorded data were used to assess the O3-Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC-NOx system’s sensitivity through an observational-based approach. The photochemical indicator O3/NOy was derived from measured data during the enhanced O3 production period (12:00–18:00 Central Daylight Time (CDT, GMT-0500. The O3/NOy ratios calculated for this time period showed that the O3 production within the MMA is VOC sensitive. A box model simulation of production rates of HNO3 (PHNO3 and total peroxides (Pperox carried out for O3 episodes in fall and spring confirmed the VOC sensitivity within the MMA environment. No significant differences were observed in O3/NOy from weekdays to weekends or for PHNO3/Pperox ratios, confirming the limiting role of VOCs in O3 production within the MMA. The ratified photochemical regime observed may allow the environmental authorities to revise and verify the current policies for air quality control within the MMA.

  2. El baile de las que sobran. Interrogando la violencia homofóbica en un liceo público chileno

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clive Echagüe

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available En este artículo, reportamos un estudio sobre cómo se articula la violencia homofóbica (VH dirigida hacia mujeres en instituciones escolares. Conceptos como bullying homofóbico o VH, sostienen comúnmente la idea de que la victimización responde a relaciones hostiles que acontecen en mayor medida entre estudiantes. Realizamos una etnografía de 6 meses en un establecimiento público de enseñanza media en la ciudad de Antofagasta, Chile. Analizamos nuestras anotaciones de campo, entrevistas a estudiantes, directivos y profesores, y reglamentos internos, con análisis crítico del discurso. Como principales hallazgos encontramos que el cambio actual de las políticas educativas incidió en la organización del establecimiento, desde poner en práctica complejos ejercicios de tolerancia, hasta vigilancia, y regulación de las relaciones afectivas entre las jóvenes. Además de eso se promocionan una serie de prácticas que incorporan la imposición de la feminidad heterosexual. Concluimos que la heterosexualidad opera como sistema de gestión político en las escuelas produciendo espacios de exclusión y reforzando jerarquías sociales. Argumentamos que, para comprender la articulación de VH, es necesario entenderla como ensamblaje y sistema, dado que dicha violencia incluye otros ejercicios de violencia como la de género y clase, así como también se debe entender la VH en ejercicios de regulación heterosexual.

  3. A safety analysis of food waste-derived animal feeds from three typical conversion techniques in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ting; Jin, Yiying; Shen, Dongsheng

    2015-11-01

    This study was based on the food waste to animal feed demonstration projects in China. A safety analysis of animal feeds from three typical treatment processes (i.e., fermentation, heat treatment, and coupled hydrothermal treatment and fermentation) was presented. The following factors are considered in this study: nutritive values characterized by organoleptic properties and general nutritional indices; the presence of bovine- and sheep-derived materials; microbiological indices for Salmonella, total coliform (TC), total aerobic plate counts (TAC), molds and yeast (MY), Staphylococcus Aureus (SA), and Listeria; chemical contaminant indices for hazardous trace elements such as Cr, Cd, and As; and nitrite and organic contaminants such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH). The present study reveals that the feeds from all three conversion processes showed balanced nutritional content and retained a certain feed value. The microbiological indices and the chemical contaminant indices for HCH, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), nitrite, and mercury all met pertinent feed standards; however, the presence of bovine- and sheep-derived materials and a few chemical contaminants such as Pb were close to or might exceed the legislation permitted values in animal feeding. From the view of treatment techniques, all feed retained part of the nutritional values of the food waste after the conversion processes. Controlled heat treatment can guarantee the inactivation of bacterial pathogens, but none of the three techniques can guarantee the absence of cattle- and sheep-derived materials and acceptable levels of certain contaminants. The results obtained in this research and the feedstuffs legislation related to animal feed indicated that food waste-derived feed could be considered an adequate alternative to be used in animal diets, while the feeding action should be changed with the different qualities of the products, such as restrictions on the application

  4. 21 CFR 184.1685 - Rennet (animal-derived) and chymosin preparation (fermentation-derived).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... (fermentation-derived). 184.1685 Section 184.1685 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF... (animal-derived) and chymosin preparation (fermentation-derived). (a)(1) Rennet and bovine rennet are... clear solution containing the active enzyme chymosin (E.C. 3.4.23.4). It is derived, via fermentation...

  5. Involvement of multiple myeloma cell-derived exosomes in osteoclast differentiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raimondi, Lavinia; De Luca, Angela; Amodio, Nicola; Manno, Mauro; Raccosta, Samuele; Taverna, Simona; Bellavia, Daniele; Naselli, Flores; Fontana, Simona; Schillaci, Odessa; Giardino, Roberto; Fini, Milena; Tassone, Pierfrancesco; Santoro, Alessandra; De Leo, Giacomo; Giavaresi, Gianluca; Alessandro, Riccardo

    2015-01-01

    Bone disease is the most frequent complication in multiple myeloma (MM) resulting in osteolytic lesions, bone pain, hypercalcemia and renal failure. In MM bone disease the perfect balance between bone-resorbing osteoclasts (OCs) and bone-forming osteoblasts (OBs) activity is lost in favour of OCs, thus resulting in skeletal disorders. Since exosomes have been described for their functional role in cancer progression, we here investigate whether MM cell-derived exosomes may be involved in OCs differentiation. We show that MM cells produce exosomes which are actively internalized by Raw264.7 cell line, a cellular model of osteoclast formation. MM cell-derived exosomes positively modulate pre-osteoclast migration, through the increasing of CXCR4 expression and trigger a survival pathway. MM cell-derived exosomes play a significant pro-differentiative role in murine Raw264.7 cells and human primary osteoclasts, inducing the expression of osteoclast markers such as Cathepsin K (CTSK), Matrix Metalloproteinases 9 (MMP9) and Tartrate-resistant Acid Phosphatase (TRAP). Pre-osteoclast treated with MM cell-derived exosomes differentiate in multinuclear OCs able to excavate authentic resorption lacunae. Similar results were obtained with exosomes derived from MM patient's sera. Our data indicate that MM-exosomes modulate OCs function and differentiation. Further studies are needed to identify the OCs activating factors transported by MM cell-derived exosomes. PMID:25944696

  6. Trophic state changes can affect the importance of methane-derived carbon in aquatic food webs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schilder, Jos; van Hardenbroek, Maarten; Bodelier, Paul; Kirilova, Emiliya P; Leuenberger, Markus; Lotter, André F; Heiri, Oliver

    2017-06-28

    Methane-derived carbon, incorporated by methane-oxidizing bacteria, has been identified as a significant source of carbon in food webs of many lakes. By measuring the stable carbon isotopic composition (δ 13 C values) of particulate organic matter, Chironomidae and Daphnia spp. and their resting eggs (ephippia), we show that methane-derived carbon presently plays a relevant role in the food web of hypertrophic Lake De Waay, The Netherlands. Sediment geochemistry, diatom analyses and δ 13 C measurements of chironomid and Daphnia remains in the lake sediments indicate that oligotrophication and re-eutrophication of the lake during the twentieth century had a strong impact on in-lake oxygen availability. This, in turn, influenced the relevance of methane-derived carbon in the diet of aquatic invertebrates. Our results show that, contrary to expectations, methane-derived relative to photosynthetically produced organic carbon became more relevant for at least some invertebrates during periods with higher nutrient availability for algal growth, indicating a proportionally higher use of methane-derived carbon in the lake's food web during peak eutrophication phases. Contributions of methane-derived carbon to the diet of the investigated invertebrates are estimated to have ranged from 0-11% during the phase with the lowest nutrient availability to 13-20% during the peak eutrophication phase. © 2017 The Author(s).

  7. Computational Study on Substituted s-Triazine Derivatives as Energetic Materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vikas D. Ghule

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available s-Triazine is the essential candidate of many energetic compounds due to its high nitrogen content, enthalpy of formation and thermal stability. The present study explores s-triazine derivatives in which different -NO2, -NH2 and -N3 substituted azoles are attached to the triazine ring via C-N linkage. The density functional theory is used to predict geometries, heats of formation and other energetic properties. Among the designed compounds, -N3 derivatives show very high heats of formation. The densities for designed compounds were predicted by using the crystal packing calculations. Introduction of -NO2 group improves density as compared to -NH2 and -N3, their order of increasing density can be given as NO2>N3>NH2. Analysis of the bond dissociation energies for C-NO2, C-NH2 and C-N3 bonds indicates that substitutions of the -N3 and -NH2 group are favorable for enhancing the thermal stability of s-triazine derivatives. The nitro and azido derivatives of triazine are found to be promising candidates for the synthetic studies.

  8. New Systematic CFD Methods to Calculate Static and Single Dynamic Stability Derivatives of Aircraft

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bai-gang Mi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Several new systematic methods for high fidelity and reliability calculation of static and single dynamic derivatives are proposed in this paper. Angle of attack step response is used to obtain static derivative directly; then translation acceleration dynamic derivative and rotary dynamic derivative can be calculated by employing the step response motion of rate of the angle of attack and unsteady motion of pitching angular velocity step response, respectively. Longitudinal stability derivative calculations of SACCON UCAV are taken as test cases for validation. Numerical results of all cases achieve good agreement with reference values or experiments data from wind tunnel, which indicate that the proposed methods can be considered as new tools in the process of design and production of advanced aircrafts for their high efficiency and precision.

  9. Properties of the Water Column and Bottom Derived from AVIRIS Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Zhong-Ping; Carder, Kendall L.; Chen, F. Robert; Peacock, Thomas G.

    2001-01-01

    Using AVIRIS data as an example, we show in this study that the optical properties of the water column and bottom of a large, shallow area can be adequately retrieved using a model-driven optimization technique. The simultaneously derived properties include bottom depth, bottom albedo, and water absorption and backscattering coefficients, which in turn could be used to derive concentrations of chlorophyll, dissolved organic matter, and suspended sediments. The derived bottom depths were compared with a bathymetry chart and a boat survey and were found to agree very well. Also, the derived bottom-albedo image shows clear spatial patterns, with end members consistent with sand and seagrass. The image of absorption and backscattering coefficients indicates that the water is quite horizontally mixed. These results suggest that the model and approach used work very well for the retrieval of sub-surface properties of shallow-water environments even for rather turbid environments like Tampa Bay, Florida.

  10. On the usage of geomagnetic indices for data selection in internal field modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kauristie, K.; Morschhauser, A.; Olsen, Nils

    2017-01-01

    are primarily used in data selection criteria for weak magnetic activity.The publicly available extensive data bases of index values are used to derive joint conditional Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) for different pairs of indices in order to investigate their mutual consistency in describing quiet......) as derived from solar wind observations. We use in our PDF analysis the PC-index as a proxy for MEF and estimate the magnetic activity level at auroral latitudes with the AL-index. With these boundary conditions we conclude that the quiet time conditions that are typically used in main field modelling (PC...

  11. Dicty_cDB: VHI285 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHI285 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U16073-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) VHI285F 136 - - - - - - Show VHI285 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHI285 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U16073-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b... DNA Score E Sequences producing significant alignments: (bits) Value N ( BJ423035 ) Dict...yostelium discoideum cDNA clone:ddv47i22, 5' ... 72 2e-27 3 ( BJ419916 ) Dictyostelium discoideum cD

  12. Dicty_cDB: VHH893 [Dicty_cDB

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available VH (Link to library) VHH893 (Link to dictyBase) - - - Contig-U15693-1 - (Link to Or...iginal site) - - VHH893Z 385 - - - - Show VHH893 Library VH (Link to library) Clone ID VHH893 (Link to dicty...Base) Atlas ID - NBRP ID - dictyBase ID - Link to Contig Contig-U15693-1 Original site URL http://dictycdb.b... Homology vs DNA Score E Sequences producing significant alignments: (bits) Value N AF188717 |AF188717.1 Dict...anio rerio alanyl-tRNA synthetase... 48 9e-05 DQ353802_1( DQ353802 |pid:none) Ictalurus punctatus isolate C1

  13. Visual Hallucinations as Incidental Negative Effects of Virtual Reality on Parkinson’s Disease Patients: A Link with Neurodegeneration?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giovanni Albani

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We followed up a series of 23 Parkinson’s disease (PD patients who had performed an immersive virtual reality (VR protocol eight years before. On that occasion, six patients incidentally described visual hallucinations (VH with occurrences of images not included in the virtual environment. Curiously, in the following years, only these patients reported the appearance of VH later in their clinical history, while the rest of the group did not. Even considering the limited sample size, we may argue that VR immersive systems can induce unpleasant effects in PD patients who are predisposed to a cognitive impairment.

  14. Concussion guidelines step 1: systematic review of prevalent indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carney, Nancy; Ghajar, Jamshid; Jagoda, Andy; Bedrick, Steven; Davis-OʼReilly, Cynthia; du Coudray, Hugo; Hack, Dallas; Helfand, Nora; Huddleston, Amy; Nettleton, Tracie; Riggio, Silvana

    2014-09-01

    Currently, there is no evidence-based definition for concussion that is being uniformly applied in clinical and research settings. To conduct a systematic review of the highest-quality literature about concussion and to assemble evidence about the prevalence and associations of key indicators of concussion. The goal was to establish an evidence-based foundation from which to derive, in future work, a definition, diagnostic criteria, and prognostic indicators for concussion. Key questions were developed, and an electronic literature search from 1980 to 2012 was conducted to acquire evidence about the prevalence of and associations among signs, symptoms, and neurologic and cognitive deficits in samples of individuals exposed to potential concussive events. Included studies were assessed for potential for bias and confound and rated as high, medium, or low potential for bias and confound. Those rated as high were excluded from the analysis. Studies were further triaged on the basis of whether the definition of a case of concussion was exclusive or inclusive; only those with wide, inclusive case definitions were used in the analysis. Finally, only studies reporting data collected at fixed time points were used. For a study to be included in the conclusions, it was required that the presence of any particular sign, symptom, or deficit be reported in at least 2 independent samples. From 5437 abstracts, 1362 full-text publications were reviewed, of which 231 studies were included in the final library. Twenty-six met all criteria required to be used in the analysis, and of those, 11 independent samples from 8 publications directly contributed data to conclusions. Prevalent and consistent indicators of concussion are (1) observed and documented disorientation or confusion immediately after the event, (2) impaired balance within 1 day after injury, (3) slower reaction time within 2 days after injury, and/or (4) impaired verbal learning and memory within 2 days after injury

  15. Transesophageal Doppler measurement of renal arterial blood flow velocities and indices in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zabala, Luis; Ullah, Sana; Pierce, Carol D'Ann; Gautam, Nischal K; Schmitz, Michael L; Sachdeva, Ritu; Craychee, Judith A; Harrison, Dale; Killebrew, Pamela; Bornemeier, Renee A; Prodhan, Parthak

    2012-06-01

    Doppler-derived renal blood flow indices have been used to assess renal pathologies. However, transesophageal ultrasonography (TEE) has not been previously used to assess these renal variables in pediatric patients. In this study, we (a) assessed whether TEE allows adequate visualization of the renal parenchyma and renal artery, and (b) evaluated the concordance of TEE Doppler-derived renal blood flow measurements/indices compared with a standard transabdominal renal ultrasound (TAU) in children. This prospective cohort study enrolled 28 healthy children between the ages of 1 and 17 years without known renal dysfunction who were undergoing atrial septal defect device closure in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. TEE was used to obtain Doppler renal artery blood velocities (peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, mean diastolic velocity, resistive index, and pulsatility index), and these values were compared with measurements obtained by TAU. Concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) was used to determine clinically significant agreement between the 2 methods. The Bland-Altman plots were used to determine whether these 2 methods agree sufficiently to be used interchangeably. Statistical significance was accepted at P ≤ 0.05. Obtaining 2-dimensional images of kidney parenchyma and Doppler-derived measurements using TEE in children is feasible. There was statistically significant agreement between the 2 methods for all measurements. The CCC between the 2 imaging techniques was 0.91 for the pulsatility index and 0.66 for the resistive index. These coefficients were sensitive to outliers. When the highest and lowest data points were removed from the analysis, the CCC between the 2 imaging techniques was 0.62 for the pulsatility index and 0.50 for the resistive index. The 95% confidence interval (CI) for pulsatility index was 0.35 to 0.98 and for resistive index was 0.21 to 0.89. The Bland-Altman plots indicate good agreement between the 2 methods; for the

  16. On the Toxicity of the Aromatic Diamines and their Tetramethylcarboxylic Acid Derivatives

    OpenAIRE

    Gili, Pedro; Mederos, Alfredo

    2000-01-01

    The use of the theoretical PALLAS 3.0 program, to study the toxic behaviour of tetramethylcarboxylic acids, potential pharmaceuticals derived from o-phenylenediamines, indicates that o-phenylenediamines are highly toxic (level 1), while the tetramethycarboxylic acid derivatives (o-PhDTA and 3,4-TDTA) are slightly toxic, similar to EDTA (level 3). Therefore these ligands o-PhDTA and 3,4-TDTA, similar to EDTA, can be used as sequestering agents of toxic metals and overload of essential metals i...

  17. Indicator Organisms: Learner's Guide for a Critical Path in Water Quality Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glazer, Richard B.; And Others

    This learner's guide on indicator organisms is derived from a water monitoring curriculum developed at Ulster County Community College. There are 37 modules in this guide; each is introduced with a statement of purpose and then broken down into units of instruction. These units contain an objective, learning conditions, and a performance level.…

  18. (±-Pestalachloride D, an Antibacterial Racemate of Chlorinated Benzophenone Derivative from a Soft Coral-Derived Fungus Pestalotiopsis sp.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dong-Sheng Deng

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available A new antibacterial chlorinated benzophenone derivative, (±-pestalachloride D (1, along with a related analog, (±-pestalachloride C (2, was recently isolated from the marine-derived fungus Pestalotiopsis sp. isolated from a soft coral Sarcophyton sp. collected from Yongxing Island in the South China Sea. Both chiral HPLC analysis and single-crystal X-ray data indicated that 1 is a racemic mixture. Interestingly, 1 did not exhibit any effect in the zebrafish embryo teratogenicity assay, while 2 led to abnormal growth. The potential impact on zebrafish embryo growth is discussed based on their crystal structures. The main difference of crystal structures between 1 and 2 is that the six-member non-aromatic ring (O4, C10, C9, C8, C2′, and C3′ in 1 exhibits a distorted chair conformation, while 2 shows a distorted boat conformation. Moreover, compounds 1 and 2 both exhibited moderate antibacterial activity.

  19. IDIOS: An innovative index for evaluating dental imaging-based osteoporosis screening indices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barngkgei, Imad; Al Haffar, Iyad; Khattab, Razan [Faculty of Dentistry, Damascus University, Damascus (Syrian Arab Republic); Halboub, Esam; Almashraqi, Abeer Abdulkareem [Dept. of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, Jazan (Saudi Arabia)

    2016-09-15

    The goal of this study was to develop a new index as an objective reference for evaluating current and newly developed indices used for osteoporosis screening based on dental images. Its name; IDIOS, stands for Index of Dental-imaging Indices of Osteoporosis Screening. A comprehensive PubMed search was conducted to retrieve studies on dental imaging-based indices for osteoporosis screening. The results of the eligible studies, along with other relevant criteria, were used to develop IDIOS, which has scores ranging from 0 (0%) to 15 (100%). The indices presented in the studies we included were then evaluated using IDIOS. The 104 studies that were included utilized 24, 4, and 9 indices derived from panoramic, periapical, and computed tomographic/cone-beam computed tomographic techniques, respectively. The IDIOS scores for these indices ranged from 0 (0%) to 11.75 (78.32%). IDIOS is a valuable reference index that facilitates the evaluation of other dental imaging-based osteoporosis screening indices. Furthermore, IDIOS can be utilized to evaluate the accuracy of newly developed indices.

  20. IDIOS: An innovative index for evaluating dental imaging-based osteoporosis screening indices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barngkgei, Imad; Halboub, Esam; Almashraqi, Abeer Abdulkareem; Khattab, Razan; Al Haffar, Iyad

    2016-09-01

    The goal of this study was to develop a new index as an objective reference for evaluating current and newly developed indices used for osteoporosis screening based on dental images. Its name; IDIOS, stands for Index of Dental-imaging Indices of Osteoporosis Screening. A comprehensive PubMed search was conducted to retrieve studies on dental imaging-based indices for osteoporosis screening. The results of the eligible studies, along with other relevant criteria, were used to develop IDIOS, which has scores ranging from 0 (0%) to 15 (100%). The indices presented in the studies we included were then evaluated using IDIOS. The 104 studies that were included utilized 24, 4, and 9 indices derived from panoramic, periapical, and computed tomographic/cone-beam computed tomographic techniques, respectively. The IDIOS scores for these indices ranged from 0 (0%) to 11.75 (78.32%). IDIOS is a valuable reference index that facilitates the evaluation of other dental imaging-based osteoporosis screening indices. Furthermore, IDIOS can be utilized to evaluate the accuracy of newly developed indices.