869 research outputs found
Development of group method of data handling based on genetic algorithm to predict incipient motion in rigid rectangular storm water channel
Sediment transport is a prevalent vital process in uvial and coastalenvironments, and \incipient motion" is an issue inseparably bound to this topic. Thisstudy utilizes a novel hybrid method based on Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH)and Genetic Algorithm (GA) to design GMDH structural (GMDH-GA). Also, SingularValue Decomposition (SVD) was utilized to compute the linear coefficient vectors. Inorder to predict the densimetric Froude number (Fr), the ratio of median diameter ofparticle size to hydraulic radius (d=R) and the ratio of sediment deposit thickness tohydraulic radius (ts=R) are utilized as e ective parameters. Using three di erent sources ofexperimental data and GMDH-GA model, a new equation is proposed to predict incipientmotion. The performance of development equation is compared using GMDH-GA andtraditional equations . The results indicate that the presented equation is more accurate(RMSE= 0:18 andMAPE= 6:48%) than traditional methods. Also, a sensitivityanalysis is presented to study the performance of each input combination in predictingincipient motion (15) Development of Group Method of Data Handling based on Genetic Algorithm to predict incipient motion in rigid rectangular storm water channel
EFFECT OF POST-EXERCISE COLD WATER IMMERSION ON MOLECULAR RESPONSES TO HIGH-INTENSITY INTERMITTENT EXERCISE
The balance between the stress of training and competition and sufficient recovery is critical within the development of athletic performance. This stems from the need to recover between successive intense periods of exercise and provide sufficient time through which to adapt to the prescribed training stimulus. Cold water immersion (CWI) is now widely used by athletes to enhance the rate of recovery following training and competition. However, little information currently exists with respect to its influence on skeletal muscle adaptation. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to investigate the impact of CWI on acute markers of adaptation in human skeletal muscle following low-damaging high-intensity intermittent exercise.The aim of study 1 (Chapter 4) was to devise a low-damaging high-intensity intermittent running protocol which would be used as the criterion mode of exercise in future studies within the thesis. The exercise was comprised of 60-min of high-intensity intermittent exercise (8 × 3-min bouts at 90% V ̇O2max interspersed with 3-min recovery) on a motorised treadmill. No significant reduction in maximal voluntary contraction of the quadriceps was observed immediately following completion of the exercise protocol or during the subsequent 7 d period compared to pre-exercise values (P = 0.59). Creatine Kinase (CK) concentrations remained similar to baseline following exercise (P = 0.96). Myoglobin (Mb) content increased following exercise (P = 0.01). However, values returned to baseline after 24 h (P = 0.32). These results suggest the high-intensity intermittent running protocol induced changes in physiological and subjective indices consistent with the effects of low muscle damaging as opposed to those changes normally associated with exercise-induced severe muscle damage.The purpose of the second study (Chapter 5) was to examine the effects of CWI (2 × 5-min (8oC)) on acute markers of skeletal muscle adaptation at rest. Rectal temperature remained similar throughout the CWI protocol (P = 0.36). However, significant reductions in skin (thigh and calf) and muscle temperature were observed immediately post-immersion and the post-immersion period (P 0.05), however, skin (thigh and calf) and muscle temperature were reduced in the CWI condition compared to Cont (P 0.05). These results indicate that increasing the repeated post-exercise CWI does not further increases the expression of upstream signalling pathways associated with mitochondrial biogenesis and angiogenesis in human skeletal muscle.This thesis provides novel findings concerning the influence of high-intensity intermittent exercise and post-exercise CWI on cellular and molecular adaptations in human skeletal muscle. These findings may offer important insights for athletes wishing to maximize training adaptations
Inhomogeneous superconductivity in organic conductors: role of disorder and magnetic field
Several experimental studies have shown the presence of spatially
inhomogeneous phase coexistence of superconducting and non superconducting
domains in low dimensional organic superconductors. The superconducting
properties of these systems are found to be strongly dependent on the amount of
disorder introduced in the sample regardless of its origin. The suppression of
the superconducting transition temperature shows clear discrepancy with
the result expected from the Abrikosov-Gor'kov law giving the behavior of
with impurities. Based on the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory, we derive
a model to account for the striking feature of in organic superconductors
for different types of disorder by considering the segregated texture of the
system. We show that the calculated quantitatively agrees with
experiments. We also focus on the role of superconducting fluctuations on the
upper critical fields of layered superconductors showing slab
structure where superconducting domains are sandwiched by non-superconducting
regions. We found that may be strongly enhanced by such fluctuations.Comment: to appear in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte
Resistance of MLL–AFF1-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia to tumor necrosis factor-alpha is mediated by S100A6 upregulation
Mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL)–AFF1 (MLL–AF4)-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is associated with poor prognosis, even after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The resistance to graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects may be responsible for the poor effect of allo-HSCT on MLL–AFF1-positive ALL. Cytotoxic effector mechanisms mediated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) was reported to contribute to the GVL effect. We showed that MLL–AFF1-positive ALL cell lines are resistant to TNF-α. To examine the mechanism of resistance to TNF-α of MLL–AFF1-positive leukemia, we focused on S100A6 as a possible factor. Upregulation of S100A6 expression and inhibition of the p53–caspase 8–caspase 3 pathway were observed only in MLL–AFF1-positive ALL cell lines in the presence of TNF-α. The effect of S100A6 on resistance to TNF-α by inhibition of the p53–caspase 8–caspase 3 pathway of MLL–AFF1-positive ALL cell lines were also confirmed by analysis using small interfering RNA against S100A6. This pathway was also confirmed in previously established MLL–AFF1 transgenic mice. These results suggest that MLL–AFF1-positive ALL escapes from TNF-α-mediated apoptosis by upregulation of S100A6 expression, followed by interfering with p53–caspase 8–caspase 3 pathway. These results suggest that S100A6 may be a promising therapeutic target for MLL–AFF1-positive ALL in combination with allo-HSCT
The screens culture: impact on ADHD
Children’s use of electronic media, including Internet and video gaming, has increased dramatically to an average in the general population of roughly 3 h per day. Some children cannot control their Internet use leading to increasing research on “internet addiction.” The objective of this article is to review the research on ADHD as a risk factor for Internet addiction and gaming, its complications, and what research and methodological questions remain to be addressed. The literature search was done in PubMed and Psychinfo, as well as by hand. Previous research has demonstrated rates of Internet addiction as high as 25% in the population and that it is addiction more than time of use that is best correlated with psychopathology. Various studies confirm that psychiatric disorders, and ADHD in particular, are associated with overuse, with severity of ADHD specifically correlated with the amount of use. ADHD children may be vulnerable since these games operate in brief segments that are not attention demanding. In addition, they offer immediate rewards with a strong incentive to increase the reward by trying the next level. The time spent on these games may also exacerbate ADHD symptoms, if not directly then through the loss of time spent on more developmentally challenging tasks. While this is a major issue for many parents, there is no empirical research on effective treatment. Internet and off-line gaming overuse and addiction are serious concerns for ADHD youth. Research is limited by the lack of measures for youth or parents, studies of children at risk, and studies of impact and treatment
Seroprevalence of Bordetella pertussis antibodies in adults in Hungary: results of an epidemiological cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND: Pertussis (whooping cough) is well known to be underreported, particularly among adults, who can act as an infectious reservoir, potentially putting susceptible newborns at risk of serious illness. The purpose of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of pertussis in adults in Hungary. METHODS: This epidemiological, cross-sectional study was conducted in adults in five general practitioners' practices in Hungary. Serum anti-pertussis toxin immunoglobulin G (anti-PT IgG) antibody levels were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Sera were classified following manufacturer's instructions as: strongly indicative of current/recent infection (>/=1.5 optical density [OD] units); indicative of current/recent infection (>/=1.0 OD units); seropositive (>0.3 OD units); or seronegative (/=60 years (odds ratio [OR], 1.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39-2.80; p = .0002) or 18-29 years (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.13-2.46; p = .0094) vs. 45-59 years; former smoker (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.08-1.97; p = .014) or current smoker (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.01-1.89; p = .045) vs. never smoker; and male (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.01-1.68; p = .041) vs. female. Also, between increased rates of probable current/recent infection and current smoker (OR, 7.50; 95% CI, 2.32-24.31; p = .0008) or former smoker (OR, 4.07; 95% CI, 1.21-13.64; p = .023) vs. never smoker. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 85% of the adults studied were seronegative and therefore susceptible to pertussis infection. Approximately 1% had anti-PT IgG levels indicative of current/recent pertussis infection, which could potentially be transmitted to susceptible young infants. Vaccination of adults is a key way to indirectly protect infants. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.gov NCT02014519 . Prospectively registered 12 December 2013
Production of phi mesons at mid-rapidity in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC
We present the first results of meson production in the K^+K^- decay channel
from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as measured at mid-rapidity by
the PHENIX detector at RHIC. Precision resonance centroid and width values are
extracted as a function of collision centrality. No significant variation from
the PDG accepted values is observed. The transverse mass spectra are fitted
with a linear exponential function for which the derived inverse slope
parameter is seen to be constant as a function of centrality. These data are
also fitted by a hydrodynamic model with the result that the freeze-out
temperature and the expansion velocity values are consistent with the values
previously derived from fitting single hadron inclusive data. As a function of
transverse momentum the collisions scaled peripheral.to.central yield ratio RCP
for the is comparable to that of pions rather than that of protons. This result
lends support to theoretical models which distinguish between baryons and
mesons instead of particle mass for explaining the anomalous proton yield.Comment: 326 authors, 24 pages text, 23 figures, 6 tables, RevTeX 4. To be
submitted to Physical Review C as a regular article. Plain text data tables
for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications
are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
D* Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA
This paper presents measurements of D^{*\pm} production in deep inelastic
scattering from collisions between 27.5 GeV positrons and 820 GeV protons. The
data have been taken with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The decay channel
(+ c.c.) has been used in the study. The
cross section for inclusive D^{*\pm} production with
and is 5.3 \pms 1.0 \pms 0.8 nb in the kinematic region
{ GeV and }. Differential cross
sections as functions of p_T(D^{*\pm}), and are
compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on the photon-gluon
fusion production mechanism. After an extrapolation of the cross section to the
full kinematic region in p_T(D^{*\pm}) and (D^{*\pm}), the charm
contribution to the proton structure function is
determined for Bjorken between 2 10 and 5 10.Comment: 17 pages including 4 figure
Observation of Scaling Violations in Scaled Momentum Distributions at HERA
Charged particle production has been measured in deep inelastic scattering
(DIS) events over a large range of and using the ZEUS detector. The
evolution of the scaled momentum, , with in the range 10 to 1280
, has been investigated in the current fragmentation region of the Breit
frame. The results show clear evidence, in a single experiment, for scaling
violations in scaled momenta as a function of .Comment: 21 pages including 4 figures, to be published in Physics Letters B.
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