Mooring Analysis of Very Large Floating Structures in Malaysian South China Sea Waters

Very large floating structures (VLFS) are any structure of which the largest dimension is greater than its characteristic length. This technology has been studied over a long period of time in Japan, though not much interest has been shown in the rest of the world. As evident by the varied applications of VLFS in Japan, there are potentially limitless opportunities for the implementation of such technology in Malaysia. Having said that, little work has been done with respect to the implementation of this technology in Malaysian waters. This paper will be focusing on establish the relationship between vessel size, water depth and operating sea states (wave height and period, current speed, and wind speed) on fender forces. The scope of study for this paper has been limited to the region of Malaysian South China Sea waters which covers the East coast of Malaysia, stretching to the West coast of Sabah and Sarawak. Hence, the operating conditions which were considered, namely, wave height, wind speed and current speed will be in accordance with the conditions found in the aforementioned region only. In order to identify the correlation between the mooring requirements, vessel dimension and operating depth, a hydro dynamic analysis was first conducted, followed by a hydrodynamic time response analysis on ANSYS Aqwa

Benign breast diseases: experience at a teaching hospital in rural India

Background: Though benign breast diseases are very common with nearly 1/3 of women suffering some time during their life time, not many studies have focused on this entity, especially in rural areas. Our teaching hospital situated amongst the villages in rural part of India provided the right background for the study.  Objective: To determine the frequency of benign breast diseases in a teaching hospital situated in the rural setting and to analyze the role of triple assessment in assessing benign breast diseases.Study design: Prospective, descriptive study.Setting: MVJ Medical College and Research Hospital, Hoskote, Bangalore Rural district, Karnataka, India.Method of study: Data including age, complaints, clinical examination, radiological investigations and histopathological diagnosis was collected from patients presenting to the department of surgery with breast complaints. Patients with carcinoma of the breast were excluded from the study.Results: A total of 110 patients were studied between November 2009 to March 2011. Mean age of patients was 28.6 years. Fibroadenoma was the most common diagnosis in 56.4% followed by fibroadenosis in 20.9%. There was one case each of lipoma, tuberculosis and duct ectasia and two cases of atypical ductal hyperplasia. The sensitivity of clinical diagnosis in our study was 91.1% and FNAC was 100% accurate in all patients with fibroadenoma but had a sensitivity of only 78% in the diagnosis of fibroadenosis. Only 3.3% of cases of fibroadenoma were treated conservatively

Evaluation of sanguineous and crystalloid cardioplegic solutions during total heart-lung bypass in dogs

Twenty-four mongrel dogs were subjected to sanguineous and crystalloid cardioplegia for a period of thirty minutes at 20°C and 25°C systemic hypothermia during cardiopulmonary bypass. Cardioplegic solutions were administered at 4°C to induce cardioplegia. Physiological functions of the myocardium revealed that the cardiac function returned to normal sinus rhythm without any loss when blood cardioplegic solution was used at both hypothermic temperatures. The time taken for cardioplegia and cardiac electrical quiescence was achieved earlier at 20°C. Animals in sanguineous cardioplegic group revealed better functional return and revival of cardiac musculature in terms of lesser applications of defibrillator, lesser requirement of inotropic support and early cardiac contraction. This study revealed that sanguineous cardioplegic solution at a systemic temperature of 20°C was found to afford better myocardial protection during an arrest period of 30 minutes

Mooring Analysis of Very Large Floating Structures in Malaysian South China Sea Waters

Very large floating structures (VLFS) are any structure of which the largest dimension is greater than its characteristic length. This technology has been studied over a long period of time in Japan, though not much interest has been shown in the rest of the world. As evident by the varied applications of VLFS in Japan, there are potentially limitless opportunities for the implementation of such technology in Malaysia. Having said that, little work has been done with respect to the implementation of this technology in Malaysian waters. This paper will be focusing on establish the relationship between vessel size, water depth and operating sea states (wave height and period, current speed, and wind speed) on fender forces. The scope of study for this paper has been limited to the region of Malaysian South China Sea waters which covers the East coast of Malaysia, stretching to the West coast of Sabah and Sarawak. Hence, the operating conditions which were considered, namely, wave height, wind speed and current speed will be in accordance with the conditions found in the aforementioned region only. In order to identify the correlation between the mooring requirements, vessel dimension and operating depth, a hydro dynamic analysis was first conducted, followed by a hydrodynamic time response analysis on ANSYS Aqwa

Imitation in Large Games

In games with a large number of players where players may have overlapping objectives, the analysis of stable outcomes typically depends on player types. A special case is when a large part of the player population consists of imitation types: that of players who imitate choice of other (optimizing) types. Game theorists typically study the evolution of such games in dynamical systems with imitation rules. In the setting of games of infinite duration on finite graphs with preference orderings on outcomes for player types, we explore the possibility of imitation as a viable strategy. In our setup, the optimising players play bounded memory strategies and the imitators play according to specifications given by automata. We present algorithmic results on the eventual survival of types

Propositional Dynamic Logic for Message-Passing Systems

We examine a bidirectional propositional dynamic logic (PDL) for finite and infinite message sequence charts (MSCs) extending LTL and TLC-. By this kind of multi-modal logic we can express properties both in the entire future and in the past of an event. Path expressions strengthen the classical until operator of temporal logic. For every formula defining an MSC language, we construct a communicating finite-state machine (CFM) accepting the same language. The CFM obtained has size exponential in the size of the formula. This synthesis problem is solved in full generality, i.e., also for MSCs with unbounded channels. The model checking problem for CFMs and HMSCs turns out to be in PSPACE for existentially bounded MSCs. Finally, we show that, for PDL with intersection, the semantics of a formula cannot be captured by a CFM anymore

Metavinculin modulates force transduction in cell adhesion sites

Vinculin is a ubiquitously expressed protein, crucial for the regulation of force transduction in cells. Muscle cells express a vinculin splice-isoform called metavinculin, which has been associated with cardiomyopathies. However, the molecular function of metavinculin has remained unclear and its role for heart muscle disorders undefined. Here, we have employed a set of piconewton-sensitive tension sensors to probe metavinculin mechanics in cells. Our experiments reveal that metavinculin bears higher molecular forces but is less frequently engaged as compared to vinculin, leading to altered force propagation in cell adhesions. In addition, we have generated knockout mice to investigate the consequences of metavinculin loss in vivo. Unexpectedly, these animals display an unaltered tissue response in a cardiac hypertrophy model. Together, the data reveal that the transduction of cell adhesion forces is modulated by expression of metavinculin, yet its role for heart muscle function seems more subtle than previously thought. Muscle cells express an adhesion molecule called metavinculin, which has been associated with cardiomyopathies. Here, the authors employed molecular tension sensors to reveal that metavinculin expression modulates cell adhesion mechanics and they develop a mouse model to demonstrate that the presence of metavinculin is not as critical for heart muscle function as previously thought

A P-loop Mutation in Gα Subunits Prevents Transition to the Active State: Implications for G-protein Signaling in Fungal Pathogenesis

Heterotrimeric G-proteins are molecular switches integral to a panoply of different physiological responses that many organisms make to environmental cues. The switch from inactive to active Gαβγ heterotrimer relies on nucleotide cycling by the Gα subunit: exchange of GTP for GDP activates Gα, whereas its intrinsic enzymatic activity catalyzes GTP hydrolysis to GDP and inorganic phosphate, thereby reverting Gα to its inactive state. In several genetic studies of filamentous fungi, such as the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, a G42R mutation in the phosphate-binding loop of Gα subunits is assumed to be GTPase-deficient and thus constitutively active. Here, we demonstrate that Gα(G42R) mutants are not GTPase deficient, but rather incapable of achieving the activated conformation. Two crystal structure models suggest that Arg-42 prevents a typical switch region conformational change upon Gαi1(G42R) binding to GDP·AlF4− or GTP, but rotameric flexibility at this locus allows for unperturbed GTP hydrolysis. Gα(G42R) mutants do not engage the active state-selective peptide KB-1753 nor RGS domains with high affinity, but instead favor interaction with Gβγ and GoLoco motifs in any nucleotide state. The corresponding Gαq(G48R) mutant is not constitutively active in cells and responds poorly to aluminum tetrafluoride activation. Comparative analyses of M. oryzae strains harboring either G42R or GTPase-deficient Q/L mutations in the Gα subunits MagA or MagB illustrate functional differences in environmental cue processing and intracellular signaling outcomes between these two Gα mutants, thus demonstrating the in vivo functional divergence of G42R and activating G-protein mutants

Probabilistic Algorithmic Knowledge

The framework of algorithmic knowledge assumes that agents use deterministic knowledge algorithms to compute the facts they explicitly know. We extend the framework to allow for randomized knowledge algorithms. We then characterize the information provided by a randomized knowledge algorithm when its answers have some probability of being incorrect. We formalize this information in terms of evidence; a randomized knowledge algorithm returning ``Yes'' to a query about a fact \phi provides evidence for \phi being true. Finally, we discuss the extent to which this evidence can be used as a basis for decisions.Comment: 26 pages. A preliminary version appeared in Proc. 9th Conference on Theoretical Aspects of Rationality and Knowledge (TARK'03