* The use of tree crown variables in over-bark diameter and volume prediction models

Linear and nonlinear crown variable functions for 173 Brutian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) trees were incorporated into a well-known compatible volume and taper equation to evaluate their effect in model prediction accuracy. In addition, the same crown variables were also incorporated into three neural network (NN) types (Back-Propagation, Levenberg-Marquardt and Generalized Regression Neural Networks) to investigate their applicability in over-bark diameter and stem volume predictions. The inclusion of crown ratio and crown ratio with crown length variables resulted in a significant reduction of model sum of squared error, for all models. The incorporation of the crown variables to these models significantly improved model performance. According to results, non-linear regression models were less accurate than the three types of neural network models tested for both over-bark diameter and stem volume predictions in terms of standard error of the estimate and fit index. Specifically, the generated Levenberg-Marquardt Neural Network models outperformed the other models in terms of prediction accuracy. Therefore, this type of neural network model is worth consideration in over-bark diameter and volume prediction modeling, which are some of the most challenging tasks in forest resources management

Exact solution of Schrodinger equation for modified Kratzer's molecular potential with the position-dependent mass

Exact solutions of Schrodinger equation are obtained for the modified Kratzer and the corrected Morse potentials with the position-dependent effective mass. The bound state energy eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenfunctions are calculated for any angular momentum for target potentials. Various forms of point canonical transformations are applied. PACS numbers: 03.65.-w; 03.65.Ge; 12.39.Fd Keywords: Morse potential, Kratzer potential, Position-dependent mass, Point canonical transformation, Effective mass Schr\"{o}dinger equation.Comment: 9 page

An Overview and Assessment of Wireless Technologies and Co- existence of ZigBee, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Devices

AbstractWi-Fi, ZigBee and Bluetooth wireless communication systems utilize the Industrial Scientific and Medical-(ISM) Band, which results in a high mutual interference between these technologies since they all these systems operate at the same or very close frequency bands. The interference problem increases with an in-device Co-existence (technologies existing on same device). This is primarily due to the characteristics of each technology such as access mechanism, frame structure, peak transmit power and frequency of operation. This work describes the interference between the Wi-Fi mostly as an aggressor on Bluetooth and ZigBee wireless networks. So the experimental analysis of the coexistence of these three technologies in an assumed home environment is studied especially when ZigBee is enabled for a Home Automation Network where there could be close proximity of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices such as PDAs and mobile phones. The obtained result shows that there is severe degradation on ZigBee and Bluetooth packet transmission of packets as well as re-transmission of ZigBee packets when Wi-Fi is operating

p53 missense but not truncation mutations are associated with low levels of p21CIP1/WAF1 mRNA expression in primary human sarcomas

Many growth-suppressing signals converge to control the levels of the CDK inhibitor p21CIP1/WAF1. Some human cancers exhibit low levels of expression of p21CIP1/WAF1and mutations in p53 have been implicated in this down-regulation. To evaluate whether the presence of p53 mutations was related to the in vivo expression of p21CIP1/WAF1 mRNA in sarcomas we measured the p21CIP1/WAF1 mRNA levels for a group of 71 primary bone and soft tissue tumours with known p53 status. As expected, most tumours with p53 mutations expressed low levels of p21CIP1/WAF1 mRNA. However, we identified a group of tumours with p53 gene mutations that exhibited normal or higher levels of p21CIP1/WAF1 mRNA. The p53 mutations in the latter group were not the common missense mutations in exons 4–9, but were predominantly nonsense mutations predicted to result in truncation of the p53 protein. The results of this study suggest that different types of p53 mutations can have different effects on the expression of downstream genes such as p21CIP1/WAF1 in human sarcomas. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Chemical bonding structure of TiO 2 thin films grown on n-type Si

Titanium dioxide thin films were obtained by RF magnetron sputtering system with different Ar and O atmospheres. Chemical bonding structures of the thin films were investigated using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the range of 400-7500 cm - 1 for as-deposited and conventionally thermal annealed films at different temperature in air. These structural characterizations of the films were carried out by describing the low-frequency fluctuations of the FTIR spectra using the noninvasive (i.e. error controllable) procedure of the optimal linear smoothing. This approach is based on the criterion of the minimal relative error in selection of the proper smoothing window. It allows the receiving an optimal separation of a possible trend from the high-frequency fluctuations, defined as a random sequence of the relative fluctuations possessing zero trends. Thus, the noise can be read and extra information about the structures was then obtained by comparing with the experimental results. In the film annealed at 900 °C, the rutile phase was the dominant crystalline phase as revealed by infrared spectroscopy. At the annealing temperatures lower than 900 °C, both the anatase and the rutile phases were coexisting. In addition, symmetric and asymmetric Si-O-Si vibrations modes were observed at around 1000 cm - 1 and 800 cm - 1, respectively. These peaks suggest that a thin SiO 2 film was formed at the TiO 2/Si interface during the growth and the annealing of the TiO 2 films. It was also observed that the reactivity between TiO 2 film and Si substrate is increased with the increasing annealing temperature. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Analysis of skewed X-chromosome inactivation in females with rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune thyroid diseases

Introduction: The majority of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) are characterized by a striking female predominance superimposed on a predisposing genetic background. The role of extremely skewed X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) has been questioned in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases. Methods: We examined XCI profiles of females affected with RA (n = 106), AITDs (n = 145) and age-matched healthy women (n = 257). XCI analysis was performed by enzymatic digestion of DNA with a methylation sensitive enzyme (HpaII) followed by PCR of a polymorphic CAG repeat in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. The XCI pattern was classified as skewed when 80% or more of the cells preferentially inactivated the same X-chromosome. Results: Skewed XCI was observed in 26 of the 76 informative RA patients (34.2%), 26 of the 100 informative AITDs patients (26%), and 19 of the 170 informative controls (11.2%) (P 90% inactivation of one allele, was present in 17 RA patients (22.4%), 14 AITDs patients (14.0%), and in only seven controls (4.1%, P 0.05). Conclusions: These results suggest a possible role for XCI mosaicism in the pathogenesis of RA and AITDs and may in part explain the female preponderance of these diseases. © 2009 Chabchoub et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Frequent demonstration of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in bone marrow biopsy samples from Turkish patients with multiple myeloma (MM)

In order to investigate the frequency of HHV-8 in MM patients from another geographic location, we obtained fresh bone marrow (BM) biopsies from Turkish patients with MM (n = 21), monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) (n = 2), plasmacytoma (n = 1) with BM plasma cell infiltration, various hematological disorders (n = 6), and five healthy Turkish controls. The frequency of HHV-8 was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in two independent laboratories in the USA and in Turkey. Using fresh BM biopsies, 17/21 MM patients were positive for HHV-8 whereas all five healthy controls, and six patients with other hematological disorders were negative. Two patients with MGUS, and one patient with a solitary plasmacytoma were also negative. The data from the two laboratories were completely concordant. Also using primer pairs for v IRF and v IL-8R confirmed the results observed with the KS330233 primers. Furthermore, sequence analysis demonstrated a C3 strain pattern in the ORF26 region which was also found in MM patients from the US. Thus, HHV-8 is present in the majority of Turkish MM patients, and the absence of the virus in healthy controls further supports its role in the pathogenesis of MM

Recovery of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, through mixing with styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene

Recovery of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) through mixing with styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene (SEBS) has been studied in this paper. To simulate recycled ABS, virgin ABS was processed through 5 cycles, at extreme processing temperatures, 220 degrees C and 260 degrees C. The virgin ABS, the virgin SEBS, the recycled ABS and the mixtures were mechanically, thermally and rheologically characterized after the various cycles of reprocessing in order to evaluate their corresponding properties and correlate them with the number of cycles undergone. With these data and using Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) the injection process was simulated by obtaining the optimal injection process parameters. Mixtures were injected at two temperatures in a sensorised mold correlating the shrinkage of the parts with temperature. The results show that tensile strength of ABS remains practically constant as the number of reprocessing cycles increases, while in the material injected with SEBS the tensile strength decreases. Concerning the Charpy notched impact strength; the values of the ABS reprocessed at 220 degrees C remain more or less unchanged, while the values for 260 C show a significant decrease. The adhesion of the SEBS causes, in both cases, an increase in impact strength. DSC techniques enabled us to observe how the glass transition temperature (T-g) remains more or less constant regardless of the number of cycles or the temperature, whereas the crosslinking is much greater in the samples reprocessed at 260 C. Finally, the viscosity decreases with each cycle and this decrease becomes even more noticeable with the addition of SEBS, and also that the parts molded at lower temperatures have less shrinkage. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.We would like to thank the Vice-Directorate of Research, Development and Innovation of the Polytechnic University of Valencia for the help granted to the project: "Ternary systems research applied to polymeric materials for the upgrading of waste styrene", Ref: 20091056 within the program of First Projects of Investigation (PAID 06-09) where this work is framed.Peydro, MA.; Parres, F.; Crespo Amorós, JE.; Navarro Vidal, R. (2013). Recovery of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, through mixing with styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene. Journal of Materials Processing Technology. 213(8):1268-1283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2013.02.012S12681283213