Fiber,hypercholesteremia, and atherosclerosis

Epidemiological data suggest that populations subsisting on high fiber diets are free of a number of the diseases of Western civilization, among them coronary heart disease. Studies in animals and man show that each type of fiber exerts it own specific influence. Thus, in man bran has no effect on serum lipids, but pectin lowers cholesterol levels. In animals fed atherogenic diets, alfalfa and pectin exert some measure of protection, but cellulose does not. To fully understand the mode of action of dietary fiber, it is necessary to ascertain the mechanism(s) of action of each chemical component of that fiber.     

Concrete crack detection using context‐aware deep semantic segmentation network

Computer‐vision and deep‐learning techniques are being increasingly applied to inspect, monitor, and assess infrastructure conditions including detection of cracks. Traditional vision‐based methods to detect cracks lack accuracy and generalization to work on complicated infrastructural conditions. This paper presents a novel context‐aware deep convolutional semantic segmentation network to effectively detect cracks in structural infrastructure under various conditions. The proposed method applies a pixel‐wise deep semantic segmentation network to segment the cracks on images with arbitrary sizes without retraining the prediction network. Meanwhile, a context‐aware fusion algorithm that leverages local cross‐state and cross‐space constraints is proposed to fuse the predictions of image patches. This method is evaluated on three datasets: CrackForest Dataset (CFD) and Tomorrows Road Infrastructure Monitoring, Management Dataset (TRIMMD) and a Customized Field Test Dataset (CFTD) and achieves Boundary F1 (BF) score of 0.8234, 0.8252, and 0.7937 under 2‐pixel error tolerance margin in CFD, TRIMMD, and CFTD, respectively. The proposed method advances the state‐of‐the‐art performance of BF score by approximately 2.71% in CFD, 1.47% in TRIMMD, and 4.14% in CFTD. Moreover, the averaged processing time of the proposed system is 0.7 s on a typical desktop with Intel^® Quad‐Core? i7‐7700 CPU@3.6 GHz Processor, 16GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GPU for an image of size 256 × 256 pixels.     

Reducing Water Seepage with Anionic Polyacrylamide: Application Methods and Turbidity Effects

Researchers used column and flume experiments with uniform silica sand with and without suspended solids to examine the extent and longevity of hydraulic conductivity reduction (HCR) resulting from three anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) application methods, liquid injection, slurry surface, and granular surface application. Low turbidity (0.4 NTU) liquid injection column tests showed 20–65% HCR, likely caused by an extensional viscosity mechanism. HCR increased as turbidity increased, especially at low PAM concentrations. High turbidity (100 NTU) liquid injection column tests showed 66–77% HCR, likely through surficial PAM–clay aggregate filtration. Column and adsorption tests strongly suggest PAM–sand adsorption does not cause substantial HCR. In low turbidity flume tests, PAM slurry application to the sand surface produced up to 100% HCR, likely through a viscosity mechanism, and granular application to the media surface produced up to 100% HCR, likely through fixed surficial polymer gel formation. Hydraulic conductivity returned to control-adjusted pretreatment levels following PAM application in all tests except granular surface application at high mass loads or with high turbidity.     

Vocal-tract modeling: fractional elongation of segment lengths in a waveguide model with half-sample delays

Digital waveguide models are commonly used for simulating vocal-tract acoustics based on physiological data. In particular, waveguide models with half-sample delays are known to be well suited for speech production research. This paper presents enhancements to such a model, aimed at improved accuracy in mapping physiological vocal-tract data (shape and length of the airway) to waveguide parameters. The enhancements allow the length of the vocal tract to be continuously varied, thus enabling more realistic synthesis. This is achieved by smoothly varying the individual segment lengths of a piecewise-cylindrical representation of the airway, without altering the system sampling frequency. Fractional-delay filters are used for spatial interpolation of the digital waveguide model. The algorithms are validated by modeling the protrusion of lips, lowering of larynx and lengthening of intermediate segments for a static vowel shape.     

Age-related changes in the lipid metabolism of Fisher 344 rats

Lipid metabolism of male Fisher 344 rats aged 2–24 months was studied. Serum and liver cholesterol levels did not display the age-related gradual increase seen in other rat strains. An increase in the serum plus liver cholesterol pool from 2 to 6 months was followed by a plateau through 18 months and then another increase at 24 months of age. The triglyceride pool increased from 2 to 6 months and then remained unchanged through 24 months of age. Cholesterol synthesis from acetate decreased 50% between 2 and 9 months and fell only slightly through 24 months of age. Assay of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl Coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase showed a similar pattern but did not decrease further after 9 months of age. Cholesterol 7α hydroxylase activity was not significantly altered by age. These age- and strain-related differences present an opportunity for a comparative study of the aging process using the parameters of lipid metabolism as indicators.     

"Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples" by Cynthia A. Berg, Timothy W. Smith, Kelly J. Ko, Nancy J. M. Henry, Paul Florsheim, Gale Pearce, Bert N. Uchino, Michelle A. Skinner, Ryan M. Beveridge, Nathan Story and Kelly Glazer (Psychology and Aging, 2007[Sep], Vol 22[3], 420-427). Due to an editing mistake, the order of authorship was incorrect. The correct order is as follows: Berg, Smith, Ko, Beveridge, Story, Henry, Florsheim, Pearce, Uchino, Skinner, & Glazer. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-13103-002.) Collaborative problem solving may be used by older couples to optimize cognitive functioning, with some suggestion that older couples exhibit greater collaborative expertise. The study explored age differences in 2 aspects of collaborative expertise: spouses' knowledge of their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities and the ability to fit task control to these cognitive abilities. The participants were 300 middle-aged and older couples who completed a hypothetical errand task. The interactions were coded for control asserted by husbands and wives. Fluid intelligence was assessed, and spouses rated their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities. The results revealed no age differences in couple expertise, either in the ability to predict their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities or in the ability to fit task control to abilities. However, gender differences were found. Women fit task control to their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities; men only fit task control to their spouse's cognitive abilities. For women only, the fit between control and abilities was associated with better performance. The results indicate no age differences in couple expertise but point to gender as a factor in optimal collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Kinetics of oxidation of carbonaceous materials by CO2 and H2O between 1300 °C and 1500 °C

The kinetics of the oxidation of graphite, metallurgical coke, and glassy carbon by CO₂ and H₂O were investigated at temperatures between 1300 °C and 1500 °C. The experimental technique employed a lance-crucible geometry with continuous gas analysis to measure the reaction rate. The experiments were designed to ensure that the carbon reaction behavior was in the limited mixed regime, where only a small volume of material close to the surface is reacting, and external gas phase mass transfer was fast. The results demonstrated the importance of internal pore structure, particularly as it develops in the reacted layer during the course of the reaction. This was believed to be responsible for the higher rates measured in graphite than in coke and the time-dependent rate increase that was observed in nonporous glassy carbon during experiments. For a commercial grade graphite and metallurgical coke, the rate constants depended strongly upon the carrier gas species, indicating that molecular diffusion was the primary transport mechanism in the pores of these materials. In contrast, for a specially purified graphite, the rate constant was found to be independent of the carrier gas species, which suggested Knudsen diffusion control dominates in this carbon. The results are in good agreement with extrapolations of previous work carried out at lower temperatures.     

Transient Inclusion Evolution During Modification of Alumina Inclusions by Calcium in Liquid Steel: Part II. Results and Discussion

The formation of intermediate reaction products after calcium addition to aluminum-killed steel was studied. Steel samples were taken from laboratory and industrial heats before and at various times after calcium treatment. Inclusions were characterized by automated and manual scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis of polished cross sections and inclusions extracted by dissolution of the steel. Industrial and laboratory melts containing more than 40 parts per million (by mass) of dissolved sulfur showed calcium sulfide as the main reaction product after calcium injection, with calcium aluminates appearing later. It is proposed that the calcium aluminates are formed by reaction between the calcium sulfide and the alumina. A laboratory heat containing 7 parts per million of sulfur showed calcium oxide as the main initial calcium reaction product. A simple mechanism is proposed for the modification of alumina inclusions by calcium, considering transient CaO and CaS formation.