Parallel Deterministic and Stochastic Global Minimization of Functions with Very Many Minima

The optimization of three problems with high dimensionality and many local minima are investigated under five different optimization algorithms: DIRECT, simulated annealing, Spall’s SPSA algorithm, the KNITRO package, and QNSTOP, a new algorithm developed at Indiana University

A mediation meta-analysis of the role of maternal responsivity in the association between socioeconomic risk and children's language

This meta-analysis tested maternal responsivity as a mediator of the association between socioeconomic risk and children's preschool language abilities. The search included studies up to 2017 and meta-analytic structural equation modeling, allowed us to examine the magnitude of the indirect effect across 17 studies (k = 19). The meta-analysis included 6433 predominantly White, English speaking children (Mage  = 36 months; 50% female) from Western, industrialized countries. All paths in the model were statistically significant, notably, the indirect effect was significant (b = -.052), showing that maternal responsivity may be a proximal intervening variable between socioeconomic risk and children's language development. Moderator analyses found that the indirect effect was stronger for sensitive parenting than warmth and when parenting was assessed in the family home

Cytosolic recognition of flagellin by mouse macrophages restricts Legionella pneumophila infection.

To restrict infection by Legionella pneumophila, mouse macrophages require Naip5, a member of the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain leucine-rich repeat family of pattern recognition receptors, which detect cytoplasmic microbial products. We report that mouse macrophages restricted L. pneumophila replication and initiated a proinflammatory program of cell death when flagellin contaminated their cytosol. Nuclear condensation, membrane permeability, and interleukin-1beta secretion were triggered by type IV secretion-competent bacteria that encode flagellin. The macrophage response to L. pneumophila was independent of Toll-like receptor signaling but correlated with Naip5 function and required caspase 1 activity. The L. pneumophila type IV secretion system provided only pore-forming activity because listeriolysin O of Listeria monocytogenes could substitute for its contribution. Flagellin monomers appeared to trigger the macrophage response from perforated phagosomes: once heated to disassemble filaments, flagellin triggered cell death but native flagellar preparations did not. Flagellin made L. pneumophila vulnerable to innate immune mechanisms because Naip5+ macrophages restricted the growth of virulent microbes, but flagellin mutants replicated freely. Likewise, after intratracheal inoculation of Naip5+ mice, the yield of L. pneumophila in the lungs declined, whereas the burden of flagellin mutants increased. Accordingly, macrophages respond to cytosolic flagellin by a mechanism that requires Naip5 and caspase 1 to restrict bacterial replication and release proinflammatory cytokines that control L. pneumophila infection

Influence of Two Changes in the Composition of an Acrylic Bone Cement on its Handling, Thermal, Physical, and Mechanical Properties

This study is a contribution to the growing body of work on the influence of changes in the composition of an acrylic bone cement on various properties of the curing and cured material. The focus is on one commercially-available acrylic bone cement brand, Surgical Simplex®P, and three variants of it and a series of properties, namely, setting time, maximum exotherm temperature, activation energy and frequency factor for the polymerization reaction, diffusion coefficient for the uptake of phosphate buffered saline, at 37°C, ultimate compressive strength (UCS), plane-strain fracture toughness, fatigue life (under fully-reversed tension-compression stress), hardness (H) and elastic modulus (both determined using quasi-static nanoindentation), and the variation of the storage and loss moduli with frequency of the applied force in a dynamic nanoindentation test. It was found that (a) a 68% reduction in the volume of the activator, N,N dimethyl-4-toluidine, relative to the total volume of the liquid monomer (the amounts of all the constituents in the powder and of the hydroquinone in the liquid monomer remaining unchanged) led to, for example, a significant decrease in the rate of the polymerization reaction, at 37°C (c′) and a significant increase in H; and (b) the elimination of the pre-polymerized poly (methyl methacrylate) beads in the powder (the amounts of all the other powder constituents and those of the liquid monomer remaining unchanged) led to, for example, a significant drop in c′ and a significant increase in UCS. Thus, these findings suggest a strategy for optimizing the composition of an acrylic bone cement. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Measuring the Muon Flux of Neutrino Beams with a Novel Gas Cherenkov Detector

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment is a future long-baseline neutrino experiment that plans to make measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters. This experiment will require accurate estimates of the neutrino fluxes through the near and far detectors; however, these estimates rely heavily on Monte-Carlo models of hadronic interactions. In order to verify these Monte-Carlo flux estimates with physical data, the by-product muon beam can be observed using modest detectors. These measurements of the muon flux can then be used in conjunction with hadronic models to constrain predictions of the neutrino flux. In order to perform measurements of the muon flux of the future Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, a muon monitoring system will be implemented. As part of this muon monitoring system, a novel Cherenkov detector will perform measurements of the muon beam spectrum and divergence. This thesis describes the research and development efforts to determine this detector design\u27s capabilities that are currently being undertaken at the University of Colorado Boulder and at the Fermi National Accelerator Lab in Illinois

Comparison of an Experimental Bone Cement with a Commercial Control, Hydroset™

Glass polyalkenoate cements based on strontium calcium zinc silicate glasses (Zn-GPCs) and high molecular weight polyacrylic acids (PAA) (MW; 52,000-210,000) have been shown to exhibit mechanical properties and in vitro bioactivity suitable for arthroplasty applications. Unfortunately, these formulations exhibit working times and setting times which are too short for invasive surgical applications such as bone void filling and fracture fixation. In this study, Zn-GPCs were formulated using a low molecular weight PAA (MW; 12,700) and a modifying agent, trisodium citrate dihydrate (TSC), with the aim of improving the rheological properties of Zn-GPCs. These novel formulations were then compared with commercial self-setting calcium phosphate cement, Hydroset™, in terms of compressive strength, biaxial flexural strength and Young\u27s modulus, as well as working time, setting time and injectability. The novel Zn-GPC formulations performed well, with prolonged mechanical strength (39 MPa, compression) greater than both vertebral bone (18.4 MPa) and the commercial control (14 MPa). However, working times (2 min) and rheological properties of Zn-GPCs, though improved, require further modifications prior to their use in minimally invasive surgical techniques. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC