Prediction of rehabilitation outcomes from psychometric parameters in left hemiplegics.

To test the proposition that an intake, multivariate battery of 42 psychometric predictors can predict duration of stay in rehabilitation and competence in ambulation and self-care, multiple-regression equations were computed for 54 Ss with left hemiplegia, and their retrospective outcome scores were highly accurately predicted. To reduce administration cost, redundant information was deleted. A compact battery of 27 variables was thus obtained, and the program was repeated. Resulting multiple correlations and predictive accuracy were only slightly less than those arrived at with the full battery. A cross-validation study on 15 new Ss yielded essentially identical results. It is concluded that the prediction of outcomes from psychometric measures, taken at the initiation of the rehabilitation program is highly feasible. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of under- and overexpressed CoEXG1-encoded exoglucanase secreted by Candida oleophila on the biocontrol of Penicillium digitatum

The yeast, Candida oleophila, is acknowledged for its biocontrol activity against postharvest moulds. However, the mechanism of this activity is not fully understood. One of the conjectured modes of action is associated with extracellular lytic enzymes, such as beta-exoglucanase. The relationship of beta-exoglucanase in the biocontrol activity of C. oleophila was investigated by generating C. oleophila CoEXG1-knockouts and double-CoEXG1 transformants. The knockout transformants secreted 0-13% of the exoglucanase activity detected in the medium of the untransformed yeast (depending on the medium), indicating that CoEXG1 is the main gene responsible for the production of the secreted exoglucanase. Correspondingly, the double-CoEXG1 transformants secreted approximately twice as much 1,3-beta-exoglucanase as the untransformed C. oleophila. The biocontrol activity of the CoEXG1-knockout and the double-CoEXG1 transformants against Penicillium digitatum did not differ from that of the untransformed C. oleophila on kumquats. These results imply that the 1,3-beta-exoglucanase encoded by the gene CoEXG1 is not involved in the biocontrol activity of C. oleophila against P. digitatum under these experimental terms. However, these findings do not rule out the possibilities, that the participation of CoEXG1 in biocontrol is dependent on the activity of other gene products, or that its effect may be manifested under altered environmental conditions.     

A Tri-State Oriented Parallel Processing System

An ``Alternating Sequential/Parallel' system, the Mopps was introduced a few years ago and is modified despite the fact that it solved satisfactorily a number of real-time problems. The new system, the ``Topps' is described and compared to Mopps in Section II and two applications are chosen to prove it to be superior. In Section III, the advantage of having a third basic, the ``ring' mode, is illustrated when solving sets of linear equations with band matrices. In Section IV, the advantage of having independent I/O for the slaves is illustrated for biomedical signal analysis.     

Determination of pretest probability for detection of a cardiovascular source of emboli by transesophageal echocardiography using clinical and transthoracic echocardiographic data

Transesophageal echocardiographic findings and their effect on disease management were evaluated in 216 patients with suspected cardiovascular source of emboli. Clinical and transesophageal echocardiographic findings were useful in defining pretest probability for finding a probable cardiovascular source of emboli on transesophageal echocardiography.     

Validation and calibration of a lateral confinement model for long-rod penetration at ordnance and high velocities

In designing targets for laboratory long-rod penetration tests, the question of lateral confinement often arises, “How wide should the target be to exert enough confinement?” For ceramic targets, the problem is enhanced as ceramics are usually weak in tension and therefore have less self-confinement capability. At high velocities the problem is enhanced even more as the crater radius and the extent of the plastic zone around it are larger. Recently we used the quasistatic cavity expansion model to estimate the resistance of ceramic targets and its dependence on impact velocity [1]. We validated the model by comparing it to computer simulations in which we used the same strength model. Here we use the same approach to address the problem of lateral confinement.

We solved the quasistatic cavity expansion problem in a cylinder with a finite outside radius “b” at which σ_r (b) = 0 (σ_r = radial stress component). We did this for three cases: ceramic targets, metal targets, and ceramic targets confined in a metal casing. Generally, σ_r (a) is a decreasing function of “a” (“a” = expanding cavity radius, and σ_r (a) = the stress needed to continue opening the cavity). In the usual cavity expansion problem b → ∞, σ_r (a) = const., R =−σ_r (a) (R = resistance to penetration). For finite “b” we estimate R by averaging σ_r (a) over a range o ≤ a ≤ a_r, (where a_r, the upper bound of the range, is calibrated from computer simulations).

We ran 14 computer simulations with the CTH wavecode and used the results to calibrate a_r for the different cases and to establish the overall validity of our approach.

We show that generally for D_t/D_p > 30, the degree of confinement is higher than 95% (D_t = target diameter; D_p = projectile diameter; and degree of CONFINEMENT = R/R_∞; R∞ = resistance of a laterally infinite target). We also show the tensile strength of ceramic targets (represented by the spall strength P_min) has a significant effect on the degree of confinement, while other material parameters have only a minor effect.     

Photodynamics of Small Aliphatic Ketones in a Supersonic Jet Expansion

The photodynamics of acetone and some other simple aliphatic ketones in the nπ* state are discussed in the light of recent results obtained in seeded supersonic beams. The Born-Oppenheimer approximation is used to describe the sequence of events beginning with light absorption and ending in molecular fragmentation. Intersystem crossing is shown to be an important process even for the isolated molecule. Its rate increases with the internal energy and may be related to the density of states in the triplet state. For all molecules studied so far, the results can be rationalized by assuming that dissociation takes place on the triplet surface, the S₁ surface being stable in the energy range pertinent to these experiments (up to 35,000 cm⁻¹ above the ground state). Fluorescence spectroscopy may be used also to detect small clusters. In the case of acetone, their presence is indicated by the decrease in the intensity of some spectral lines as a function of cooling efficiency. The results are used to estimate an upper limit for the van der Waals binding energies.     

Stratified turbulent-turbulent gas-liquid flow in horizontal and inclined pipes

A two-dimensional model for stratified turbulent-turbulent gas-liquid flow in inclined pipes is proposed. The gas phase is treated as bulk flow, but an exact solution is carried out for the liquid phase, applying the eddy viscosity theory to model the turbulent viscosity. The interfacial structure is taken into consideration using appropriate correlations for the interfacial shear stress. The model is capable of predicting the liquid velocity field, holdup and pressure drop given gas and liquid flow rates, physical properties, pipe size, and angle of inclination. The results are substantially better than the prediction of Lockhart and Martinelli (1949) correlation and better than the Taitel and Dukler (1976) model for stratified flow.     

High-Tc Superconducting Memory Cell

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - In this paper, operational principles of a cryogenic memory cell that utilizes high-temperature superconductors (high-Tc) are presented. Such a...     

Gene Variant of Barrier to Autointegration Factor 2 (Banf2w) Is Concordant with Female Determination in Cichlids

Oreochromis fishes exhibit variability of sex-determination (SD) genes whose characterization contributes to understanding of the sex differentiation network, and to effective tilapia farming, which requires all-male culture. However, O. niloticus (On) amh is the only master-key regulator (MKR) of SD that has been mapped (XY/XX SD-system on LG23). In O. aureus (Oa), LG3 controls a WZ/ZZ SD-system that has recently been delimited to 9.2 Mbp, with an embedded interval rich with female-specific variation, harboring two paics genes and banf2. Developing genetic markers within this interval and using a hybrid Oa stock that demonstrates no recombination repression in LG3, we mapped the critical SD region to 235 Kbp on the orthologous On physical map (p < 1.5 × 10⁻²⁶). DNA-seq assembly and peak-proportion analysis of variation based on Sanger chromatograms allowed the characterization of copy-number variation (CNV) of banf2. Oa males had three exons capable of encoding 90-amino-acid polypeptides, yet in Oa females, we found an extra copy with an 89-amino-acid polypeptide and three non-conservative amino acid substitutions, designated as banf2w. CNV analysis suggested the existence of two to five copies of banf2 in diploidic Cichlidae. Disrupting the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (p < 4.2 × 10⁻³), banf2w was concordant with female determination in Oa and in three cichlids with LG3 WZ/ZZ SD-systems (O. tanganicae, O. hornorum and Pelmatolapia mariae). Furthermore, exclusive RNA-seq expression in Oa females strengthened the candidacy of banf2w as the long-sought LG3 SD MKR. As banf genes mediate nuclear assembly, chromatin organization, gene expression and gonad development, banf2w may play a fundamental role inducing female nucleus formation that is essential for WZ/ZZ SD.