The Gateway System: Uniform Web Based Access to Remote Resources

Exploiting our experience developing the WebFlow system, we designed the Gateway system to provide seamless and secure access to computational resources at ASC MSRC. The Gateway follows our commodity components strategy, and it is implemented as a modern three-tier system. Tier 1 is a high-level front-end for visual programming, steering, run-time data analysis and visualization, built on top of the Web and OO commodity standards. Distributed object-based, scalable, and reusable Web server and Object broker middleware forms Tier 2. Back-end services comprise Tier 3. In particular, access to high performance computational resources is provided by implementing the emerging standard for metacomputing API

Systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving in older adults with personality disorders:A pilot study

Background: Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) is a cognitive behavioural therapy-based group treatment programme for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). STEPPS has demonstrated its effectiveness for (younger) adults. However, there are no studies into the effects of STEPPS for older adults. Aim: The aim was to explore the outcome of STEPPS in older adults with personality disorders. Method: In this naturalistic pre- vs post-treatment study, older patients with a personality disorder, reporting emotion regulation difficulties, were included. The primary outcome was BPD symptoms. Secondary outcomes included psychological distress and maladaptive personality functioning. Results: Twenty-four patients, with a mean age of 63.9 years (SD=4.6), completed the 19-week programme. Nine patients (23.1%) did not complete the treatment. There were no significant differences in age, gender or global severity between completers and patients dropping out. There was a significant pre- vs post-treatment decrease of BPD symptoms, with a large effect size (Cohen’s d=1.577). Self-control improved significantly and demonstrated a large effect size (r=.576). Furthermore, identity integration improved significantly, with a medium effect size (Cohen’s d=.509). No significant differences were reported for most domains of psychological distress and maladaptive interpersonal personality functioning. Conclusions: The findings in this pilot study suggest STEPPS is a feasible treatment programme for older adults with personality disorders and emotion regulation difficulties. Adaptations to the program, for a better fit for older adults, however, might be needed

Eddy-Current Measurements of Corrosion-Related Thinning in Aluminuium Lap Splices

The aging commercial aviation fleet requires new methods for detecting and characterizing corrosion. In particular, the need exists for a rapid and reliable method of nondestructively detecting and characterizing corrosion in layered aircraft skins. Aircraft skin consists of thin aluminum sheet. There are many joints at which these sheets are overlapped and attached to the airframe by fasteners that extend through the sheets and into the substructure. The overlapping aluminum sheets are generally separated by a thin gap, which may be filled with a sealant. Because of the overlapping nature of such joints, the second sheet and the substructure are not directly accessible from the surface

Prognostic factors of perioperative FLOT regimen in operable gastric and gastroesophageal junction tumors: real-life data (Turkish Oncology Group)

Background/aim: Perioperative FLOT regimen is a standard of care in locally advanced operable gastric and GEJ adenocarcinoma. We aimed to determine the efficacy, prognostic factors of perioperative FLOT chemotherapy in real-life gastric and GEJ tumors. Materials and methods: The data of patients who were treated with perioperative FLOT chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed from 34 different oncology centers in Turkey. Baseline clinical and demographic characteristics, pretreatment laboratory values, histological and molecular characteristics were recorded. Results: A total of 441 patients were included in the study. The median of age our study population was 60 years. The majority of patients with radiological staging were cT3-4N(+) (89.9%, n = 338). After median 13.5 months (IQR: 8.5–20.5) follow-up, the median overall survival was NR (95% CI, NR to NR), and median disease free survival was 22.9 (95% CI, 18.6 to 27.3) months. The estimated overall survival at 24 months was 62%. Complete pathological response (pCR) and near pCR was achieved in 23.8% of all patients. Patients with lower NLR or PLR have significantly longer median OS (p = 0.007 and p = 0.033, respectively), and patients with lower NLR have significantly longer median DFS (p = 0.039), but PLR level did not affect DFS (p = 0.062). The OS and DFS of patients with better ECOG performance scores and those who could receive FLOT as adjuvant chemotherapy instead of other regimens were found to be better. NLR was found to be independent prognostic factor for OS in the multivariant analysis. At least one adverse event reported in 57.6% of the patients and grade 3–4 toxicity was seen in 23.6% patients. Conclusion: Real-life perioperative FLOT regimen in operable gastric and GEJ tumors showed similar oncologic outcomes compared to clinical trials. Better performance status, receiving adjuvant chemotherapy as same regimen, low grade and low NLR and PLR improved outcomes in real-life. However, in multivariate analysis, only NLR affected OS. © TÜBİTAK

Systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving for borderline personality disorder:A systematic review

Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) is a group treatment program for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The program was intended to be highly accessible, both for patients and therapists. During STEPPS, patients are taught emotion regulation and behavior management skills. This systematic review synthesizes the current empirical status of STEPPS, focusing on research designs, quality of studies, target groups, protocols, and outcome. We selected 20 studies, with three randomized controlled trials. Patients with BPD, subthreshold BPD, and patients with BPD and comorbid antisocial personality disorder were investigated. One study was conducted in adolescents. There were no studies in older adults. Results demonstrated STEPPS to be associated with reduced BPD symptoms, improved quality of life, decreased depressive symptoms, and decreased negative affectivity. Mixed results were found for impulsivity and suicidal behaviors. STEPPS has both been studied as an add-on therapy to patients' ongoing treatment, and, with the addition of individual STEPPS sessions, as a stand-alone treatment. High attrition rates were found in patients attending STEPPS, complicating the generalizability of the results. Although the evidence for STEPPS is promising, further research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn. Recommendations for future research are discussed

Space-Based Telemetry And Range Safety Flight Demonstration #1

The basic ability of STARS to maintain a satellite communications link with TDRSS satellites during dynamic aircraft flights was successfully demonstrated during FD 1. The Range Safety and Range User systems' link margins were measured. The ability to acquire/reacquire and maintain lock between a high-dynamic vehicle and a satellite-based system was demonstrated. The Range Safety system simultaneously received and processed command links from space and ground transmitters and provided near real-time Range Safety telemetry to DFRC, which then sent it in near real time to KSC, GSFC, and WFF for monitoring. The GPS receiver maintained track except during extremely dynamic maneuvers. The Range User system sent data at three different data rates. There were excellent cooperation and support from the different Centers, contractors, and Ranges. A large amount of data was recorded and extensive post-flight analysis was performed. The Range User TDRSS link margin met or exceeded the predicted performance at three different data rates. The Range Safety launch-head link margins generally agreed with the predicted performance. The UPS positions and velocities agreed with those from tracking radar to within about 20 m and a few rn/s. The link margins for the Range Safety TDRSS telemetry link were less than expected. The link margin for one TDRSS command link LPT channel was occasionally much less than the other. Additional post-flight testing has yet to identify the root causes of these results. There were many lessons learned from this first set of test flights. The most important one is that more time and testing are needed for each step to deal with the inevitable problems. It is vital that these lessons be among the primary areas of study that will carry over from FD#1 to FD#2, which is currently scheduled for early FY05 at DFRC and will use a specially designed Ku-band phased array antenna for the Range User system. The next series of flight demonstrations scheduled for late 2004 at DFRC will incorporate many lessons learned from FD#1. A specially designed Ku-band phased array antenna will be used with the Range User system. A test flight on a hypersonic vehicle is planned by the end of 2006

Biomedical Efficacy of Garlic-Extract-Loaded Core-Sheath Plasters for Natural Antimicrobial Wound Care

This work explores the application of Allium sativum (Garlic) extract, in the creation of novel polymeric core-sheath fibers for wound therapy applications. The core-sheath pressurized gyration (CS PG) technology is utilized to mass-produce fibers with a polycaprolactone (PCL) core and a polyethylene oxide (PEO) sheath, loaded with garlic extract. The produced fibers maintain structural integrity, long-term stability and provide a cell-friendly surface with rapid antibacterial activity. The physical properties, morphology, therapeutic delivery, cytotoxicity, thermal and chemical stability of PCL, PEO, PEO/Garlic, Core-Sheath (CS) PEO/PCL and PEO/Garlic/PCL fibers are analyzed. Findings show that the addition of garlic extract greatly increases the fibers’ thermal durability, while decreasing their diameter, thus improving cell adhesion and proliferation. In-vitro release tests reveal a rapid release of garlic extract, which has significant antibacterial action against both Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria species. Cell viability experiments validate the fiber samples' biocompatibility and nontoxicity, making them appropriate for integrative medicine applications. These core-sheath structures emphasize the potential of combining natural therapeutic agents with advanced material technologies to develop cost-effective, sustainable and highly effective wound dressings, offering a promising solution to the growing concerns associated with conventional synthetic antibacterial agents

Designing for comfort in shared and automated vehicles (SAV): a conceptual framework

To date, automotive design and research is heavily biased towards the driver. However, with the rapid advance of vehicle automation, the driving task will increasingly being taken over by a machine. Automation by itself, however, will not be able to tackle the transport challenges we are facing and the need for shared mobility is now widely recognized. Future mobility solutions are therefore expected to consist of Shared and Automated Vehicles (SAV). This means that the passenger experience will take center stage in the design of future road vehicles. Whereas at first sight this may not appear to be different to the experience in other modes of transport, automation and shared mobility introduce different psychological, physical and physiological challenges. These are related to the fact that the occupant is no longer in control, has to put his or her life in the hands of a computer, while at the same time expects such future vehicles to render travel time more efficient or pleasurable and engage in so-called non-driving related tasks. Taking inspiration from work conducted in the field of aircraft passenger comfort experience, we discuss major comfort factors in the context of SAV and highlight both similarities and differences between transport modes. We present a human centered design framework to assist both the research agenda and the development of safe, usable, comfortable, and desirable future mobility solutions

Maple-Swarm: programming collective behavior for ensembles by extending HTN-planning

Programming goal-oriented behavior in collective adaptive systems is complex, requires high effort, and is failure-prone. If the system's user wants to deploy it in a real-world environment, hurdles get even higher: Programs urgently require to be situation-aware. With our framework Maple, we previously presented an approach for easing the act of programming such systems on the level of particular robot capabilities. In this paper, we extend our approach for ensemble programming with the possibility to address virtual swarm capabilities encapsulating collective behavior to whole groups of agents. By using the respective concepts in an extended version of hierarchical task networks and by adapting our self-organization mechanisms for executing plans resulting thereof, we can achieve that all agents, any agent, any other set of agents, or a swarm of agents execute (swarm) capabilities. Moreover, we extend the possibilities of expressing situation awareness during planning by introducing planning variables that can get modified at design-time or run-time as needed. We illustrate the possibilities with examples each. Further, we provide a graphical front-end offering the possibility to generate mission-specific problem domain descriptions for ensembles including a lightweight simulation for validating plans

Evaluation of rate law approximations in bottom-up kinetic models of metabolism

BACKGROUND: The mechanistic description of enzyme kinetics in a dynamic model of metabolism requires specifying the numerical values of a large number of kinetic parameters. The parameterization challenge is often addressed through the use of simplifying approximations to form reaction rate laws with reduced numbers of parameters. Whether such simplified models can reproduce dynamic characteristics of the full system is an important question. RESULTS: In this work, we compared the local transient response properties of dynamic models constructed using rate laws with varying levels of approximation. These approximate rate laws were: 1) a Michaelis-Menten rate law with measured enzyme parameters, 2) a Michaelis-Menten rate law with approximated parameters, using the convenience kinetics convention, 3) a thermodynamic rate law resulting from a metabolite saturation assumption, and 4) a pure chemical reaction mass action rate law that removes the role of the enzyme from the reaction kinetics. We utilized in vivo data for the human red blood cell to compare the effect of rate law choices against the backdrop of physiological flux and concentration differences. We found that the Michaelis-Menten rate law with measured enzyme parameters yields an excellent approximation of the full system dynamics, while other assumptions cause greater discrepancies in system dynamic behavior. However, iteratively replacing mechanistic rate laws with approximations resulted in a model that retains a high correlation with the true model behavior. Investigating this consistency, we determined that the order of magnitude differences among fluxes and concentrations in the network were greatly influential on the network dynamics. We further identified reaction features such as thermodynamic reversibility, high substrate concentration, and lack of allosteric regulation, which make certain reactions more suitable for rate law approximations. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our work generally supports the use of approximate rate laws when building large scale kinetic models, due to the key role that physiologically meaningful flux and concentration ranges play in determining network dynamics. However, we also showed that detailed mechanistic models show a clear benefit in prediction accuracy when data is available. The work here should help to provide guidance to future kinetic modeling efforts on the choice of rate law and parameterization approaches. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12918-016-0283-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users