Stress-induced suppression of natural killer cell cytotoxicity in the rat: A naltrexone-insensitive paradigm.

The suppression of natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity by footshock stress can be attenuated by opioid antagonists, implicating endogenous opioids in its mediation. A stress paradigm that includes NK suppression that is not blocked by the opioid antagonist naltrexone is reported. This stress paradigm is also shown to cause analgesia and elevated plasma corticosterone levels that are not attenuated by naltrexone. In the first experiment, a significant suppression of NK cell cytotoxicity after forced swimming was demonstrated in Fischer 344 rats treated with either saline or naltrexone, compared with nonstressed controls. Significantly higher corticosterone levels were evident in both stressed groups. In the second experiment, the same stress paradigm was shown to cause significant analgesia in the tail-flick test. It is concluded that opioids need not always be involved in the suppression of NK cell cytotoxicity by stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A method for evaluating activities layout in dwelling units

A method for evaluating the quality of a layout of activities in dwelling units presented. The method is based upon the analysis of the mutual spatial relations between the locations of the activities. The components of the connection between activities which are privacy, affinity and disturbance are analysed as well, and are represented in a vector form. A general space of mutual relations between the locations of activities is defined. Correspondence between the vectors representing connections and elements of the space of mutual relations is formulated. This correspondence provides a key for evaluation of dwelling units. A detailed case study is given.     

Peer nomiations as a predictor of multistage promotions in a ramified organization.

Studied the validity of peer nominations (PNs) as a predictor of advancement in rank in the Israel Defense Forces on a population of 125 platoons encompassing 3897 soldiers. Results indicate that PNs obtained at early stages of training predicted promotion at several successive stages in the soldier's military career with a high degree of validity and correlations generally around .6 and .7. Predictions were valid for success within groups of different personnel, and with different purposes, and criteria for achievement. PNs were also found to contribute markedly to the predictive validity of conventional psychological screening measures, suggesting the value of combining psychometric and sociometric procedures for personnel selection. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computerized design and economic evaluation of an aqua-ammonia solar operated absorption system

A computerized simulation and design of solar operated NH₃---H₂O absorption refrigeration cycles is presented. The program receives input data and calculates the building, cooling and heating loads initially. Next the absorption cycle is designed along with the solar collectors and auxiliaries. Various economic parameters are also calculated from which the most favorable system may be selected. Two examples were run: one for the Knesset building in Jerusalem (Israeli parliament) and the other for an American office building. Results indicate the existence of various mininal operating parameters, e.g. collectors' outlet temperature, etc. For the Knesset building some 46 per cent of the annual heating and cooling demand may be provided by the solar system. At the 1979 rate of energy cost increase in Israel the system payback period was estimated at 9 yr with a present value total saving of $42.5 m. Yet higher values were obtained for the American office building at about 81 per cent solar fraction for the compound cooling and heating system.     

A simple linear heuristic for the service constrained random yield problem

We consider the problem of setting order quantities for purchased components subject to uncertainty in the delivery amounts. Assuming the periodic production volumes (demands)to be known and constant, we model this as a random yield problem with the objective of minimizing average inventory cost subject to a service level constraint over the infinite horizon. We first demonstrate that under conditions of random yield, conventional definitions of service can be inappropriate. Then we refine the definition of service for random yield cases and use this to formulate an optimization model. Exact solution of this model proves to be computationally impractical and, as we show, the common heuristic of inflating demands by a constant proportion is not robustly accurate. Therefore, we develop a new heuristic, which we term the linear inflation policy, that specifies a linear function for the inflation factors. Numerical tests indicate that this heuristic can substantially outperform the traditional constant inflation policy and works well relative to a lower bound on the optimal solution on a range of examples.     

Design of Capacitor Bank in Parallel to Photovoltaic Power Plant

The purpose of the paper is to develop a solution for application of PV （photovoltaic） generators in MV （medium voltage） distribution system without unacceptable voltage changes due to drops of PV power output. The proposed solution includes operation of PV with predetermined leading power factor and addition of a capacitor bank in parallel to PV plant in order to compensate the reactive power absorbed by the PV inverters. The analytical expression of required power factor angle is derived. Adding a capacitor bank in parallel to PV power plant may pose a problem because of space limitations. The dimensions and cost of small MV capacitor banks depend significantly on the capacitor bank protection against internal faults. Application of the developed negative-sequence current difference method for the unbalance protection of the capacitor banks enables to achieve a compact and cost-reduced design of the banks connected in parallel to PV power plants. A real-world example of operation of the PV plant in parallel to the capacitor bank with the novel protection scheme is described.     

关于王骏阳常州新项目的二、三事

长兴·秀江南会所是王骏阳的新作。本文不仅试图在中外建筑的广阔语境中对这一作品进行分析,而且也着重阐述了它在现象学层面所呈现出来的空间品质。     

Automatic MR-PET registration algorithm

We present an algorithm to automatically register magnetic resonance (MR) and positron emission tomographic (PET) images of the human brain. Our algorithm takes an integrated approach: we simultaneously segment the brain in both modalities and register the slices. The algorithm does not attempt to remove the skull from the MR image, but rather uses “templates” constructed from PET images to locate the boundary between the brain and the surrounding tissue in the MR images. The PET templates are a sequence of estimates of the boundary of the brain in the PET images. For each of the templates, the registration algorithm aligns the MR and PET images by minimizing an energy function. The energy function is designed to implicitly model the relevant anatomical structure in the MR image. The template with the lowest energy after registration is the PET brain boundary. The alignment of this template in the MR image marks the MR brain boundary and gives the transformation between the two images. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 9, 46–50, 1998     

Reliability Program Development and Implementation for a Remote Piloted Vehicle

This paper decribes the implementation of a Reliability Program from the definition of a major project throughout development, to operational flights. The Reliability Program enjoyed full support by IAI Engineering Division management without any outside (client) pressure and enabled the reliability group to prove its competence and usefulness to all levels of design engineers and prototype shop engineers and management. A life cycle cost analysis was used at the start of the program to determine reliability goals; systematic design reviews were conducted during the program; environmental testing was applied to all components and systems belonging to both the aircraft and the ground station; all failures were analysed and improvements were made whenever needed; prototype quality assurance was reorganized. All these were done while taking into account that the remote piloted aircraft was not manrated and had to fit quite tight cost levels. Reliability group was monitored during flight test and operational flight and significant improvements were achieved during these phases. In short, a text-book reliability program was successfully applied. The RPV is a most successful program from all points of view: proven operational capability, survivability and mission reliability. This project demonstrated that preliminary reliability evaluations can be achieved when there is a close partnership among project management, design engineering and reliability & maintainability engineering - and most important - full management support. The advantage of having a reliability and maintainability group completely dedicated to the project was proven.     

Stability of annular flow

A simple transient model using an unsteady state continuity equation and a quasi steady momentum equation is used to analyse the stability of co-current and counter-current annular flows. It is shown that unstable steady state solutions may take place in both cases. Application of the theory is demonstrated for the problem of flooding and flow reversal.