Formal Analysis of Streaming Downloading Protocol for System Upgrading

For a PC-mobile download system which is embedded with streaming download protocol, there are problems that the data cannot be transmitted correctly from the PC to the mobile, or the transmission is unacceptably slow. To solve these problems, we carry out a formal analysis for the protocol with some timing parameters and a given probability of message loss and unordered data using a probabilistic model checking tool PRISM. We introduce a technique to reduce the state space of the system modeling the protocol which is a network of probabilistic timed automata. The experimental results in PRISM give us a clear explanation to the problems, and are helpful in identifying the optimal parameter settings to meet industrial requirements.     

A variational approach to magnetoelastic buckling problems for systems of superconducting tori

A variational principle for the magnetoelastic stability problem of superconductors is constructed. Independently, a pair of integral equations is derived, from which the initial and the perturbed field can be computed. The integral equations are solved for in-plane buckling of a slender pair of concentric tori, and out-of-plane buckling of a slender pair of equal coaxial tori. By using the variational principle, it is shown that both cases can become unstable when the currents on the two tori are equally directed, and the pertinent buckling values are calculated. The thus obtained buckling values are compared with the results of an alternative, mathematically less rigorous, method. A good correspondence between the two methods is found (at least as long as the two tori are not too near).     

A variational principle for magneto-elastic buckling

A variational principle that can serve as the basis for a magneto-elastic stability (or buckling) problem is constructed. For the two cases of soft ferromagnetic media and superconductors, respectively, it is shown how the variational principle directly yields an explicit expression for the buckling value. The formulation starts from a specific choice for a magneto-elastic Lagrangian L (associated with the so-called Maxwell-Minkowski model for magneto-elastic interactions). For the evaluation of the principle the first and second variations of L are calculated both inside and outside the solid magneto-elastic body. Thus, a general buckling criterion, consisting of an expression for the critical field value, together with a set of constraints for the field variables occurring in the right-hand side of this expression, is constructed. Finally, more detailed formulations are given for, successively, soft ferromagnetic bodies and superconductors. Applications to specific structures, yielding explicit numerical values for the magneto-elastic buckling fields, will be given in a forthcoming paper.     

Multitemporal passive microwave mapping in MACHYDRO'90

MACHYDR0'90 was an experiment conducted in Pennsylvania in 1990 to study the synergistic use of remote sensors in multitemporal hydrologic studies. As part of this mission the pushbroom microwave radiometer was flown and used to produce brightness temperature maps. Verification studies and vegetation algorithms for mixed land cover areas are described     

The case of Gary: In search of post-hoc quixotic flexibility.

Responds to M. F. Hoyt's (see record 1995-22250-001) commentary on T. F. Van Denburg and E. J. Van Denburg's (see record 1994-18427-001) response to Hoyt's (see record 1994-18395-001) commentary on Van Denburg and Van Denburg's (see record 1993-06526-001) article about a case of premature therapy termination. Issues related to limits and flexibility in treatment are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasis with chylothorax: a heterogeneous lymphatic vessel abnormality

We describe the generation of a new antipeptide antibody that binds to the centromeric region of human mitotic chromosomes. This antibody was raised against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the 481-493 amino acid sequence of the human CENP-B autoantigen. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that this anti-CENP-B serum showed an identical pattern to the human CREST anticentromere autoantibody in both mitotic cells and interphase nuclei. Immunoblotting showed that this antibody reacts with the recombinant human CENP-B autoantigen, indicating that it is directed to the 80-kDa centromere polypeptide. We have used this serum to determine, by indirect immunofluorescence, whether CENP-B is conserved in different mammalian species. Surprisingly, the human antipeptide antibody does not react with the centromeric proteins of cultured mouse, hamster, or Indian muntjac cells. Because the CENP-B gene has been cloned in human and mouse, our results suggest that the CENP-B epitope used as an immunogen in this study is not ubiquitous in mammalian cells, and that we have most probably established a monospecific antibody to the human centromere.     

Effect of leukocyte depletion on preservation of erythrocyte and platelet concentrates

PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy, dose-response relationship, and safety of 30, 60, and 90 mg of a single intravenous dose of an aminobisphosphonate, pamidronate (APD), for the treatment of moderate to severe hypercalcemia of malignancy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with histologically proven cancer and a corrected serum calcium level of at least 12.0 mg/dL after 48 hours of normal saline hydration were enrolled in a double-blind, multicenter, randomized clinical trial. Pamidronate in 30-, 60-, or 90-mg doses was administered as a single 24-hour infusion. Serum calcium corrected for albumin, urine hydroxyproline, and calcium excretion, and serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) (1-84) were determined before and after pamidronate therapy. RESULTS: Thirty-two men and 18 women entered the study. A dose-response relationship for normalization of corrected serum calcium was seen after pamidronate administration. Corrected serum calcium normalized in 40% of patients who received 30 mg, in 61% of patients who received 60 mg, and in 100% of patients who received 90 mg of pamidronate. The decline in the serum calcium level was associated with decreased osteoclastic skeletal resorption evidenced by a decrease in urine calcium and hydroxyproline excretion. Among those with a normalized corrected serum calcium level, the mean (median) duration of normalization of the corrected serum calcium value was 9.2 (4), 13.3 (5), and 10.8 (6) days in the 30-, 60-, and 90-mg treatment groups, respectively. The response of hypercalcemia to pamidronate was not significantly influenced by the presence of skeletal metastases. PTH 1-84, suppressed in patients on entry into this study, increased to a greater extent in those patients with osteolytic skeletal metastases compared with those with humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy. Clinical improvement, including improved mental status and decreased anorexia, accompanied the decline in the corrected serum calcium level in all three treatment groups. Side effects included low-grade fever, asymptomatic hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypophosphatemia. CONCLUSIONS: A single-dose infusion of 60 to 90 mg of pamidronate was highly effective and well tolerated and normalized corrected serum calcium in nearly all patients (61% to 100%) with hypercalcemia of malignancy.     

The C-terminus of c-ABL is required for proliferation and viability signaling in a c-ABL/erythropoietin receptor fusion protein

Activated ABL oncogenes cause B-cell leukemias in mice and chronic myelogenous leukemia in humans. However, the mechanism of transformation is complex and not well understood. A method to rapidly and reversibly activate c-ABL was created by fusing the extra-cytoplasmic and transmembrane domain of the erythropoietin (EPO) receptor with c-ABL (EPO R/ABL). When this chimeric receptor was expressed in Ba/F3 cells, the addition of EPO resulted in a dose-dependent activation of c-ABL tyrosine kinase and was strongly antiapoptotic and weakly mitogenic. To evaluate the contributions of various ABL domains to biochemical signaling and biological effects, chimeric receptors were constructed in which the ABL SH3 domain was deleted (triangle upSH3), the SH2 domain was deleted (triangle upSH2), the C-terminal actin-binding domain was deleted (triangle upABD), or kinase activity was eliminated by a point mutation, K290M (KD). The mutant receptors were stably expressed in Ba/F3 cells and analyzed for signaling defects, proliferation, viability, and EPO-induced leukemia in nude mice. When compared with the ability of the full-length EPO R/ABL receptor to induce proliferation and support viability in vitro, the triangle upSH3 mutant was equivalent, the triangle upSH2 mutant was moderately impaired, and the triangle upABD and KD mutants were profoundly impaired. None of these cell lines caused leukemia in mice in the absence of pharmacological doses of EPO. However, in mice treated with EPO (10 U/d), death from leukemia occurred rapidly with wild-type and triangle upSH3. However, time to death was prolonged by at least twofold for triangle upSH2 and greater than threefold for triangle upABD. This inducible model of ABL transformation provides a method to link specific signaling defects with specific biological defects and has shown an important role for the C-terminal actin-binding domain in proliferation and transformation in the context of this receptor/oncogene.