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The Cumberland Sound Beluga is a threatened population of belugas and the assessment of the population is done by a manual review of aerial surveys. The time-consuming and labor-intensive nature of...

Although therapeutically efficacious, ipilimumab can exhibit dose-limiting toxicity that prevents maximal efficacious clinical outcomes and can lead to discontinuation of treatment. We hypothesized that an acidic pH-selective ipilimumab (pH Ipi), which preferentially and reversibly targets the acidic tumor microenvironment over the neutral periphery, may have a more favorable therapeutic index. While ipilimumab has pH-independent CTLA-4 affinity, pH Ipi variants have been engineered to have up to 50-fold enhanced affinity to CTLA-4 at pH 6.0 compared to pH 7.4. In hCTLA-4 knock-in mice, these variants have maintained anti-tumor activity and reduced peripheral activation, a surrogate marker for toxicity. pH-sensitive therapeutic antibodies may be a differentiating paradigm and a novel modality for enhanced tumor targeting and improved safety profiles.

This article examines why Asia-Pacific middle powers cooperate with each other on security issues. The article challenges the assumption that middle powers are primarily influenced by great-power s...

Opinions differ on the relationship between tar level and risk of smoking-related disease. However, except for lung cancer, few reviews have evaluated the epidemiological evidence. Here the relationship of tar level to risk of the four main smoking-related diseases is considered.Papers comparing risk of lung cancer, COPD, heart disease or stroke in smokers of lower and higher tar yield cigarettes were identified from reviews and searches, relative risk estimates being extracted comparing the lowest and highest tar groups. Meta-analyses investigated heterogeneity by various study characteristics.Twenty-six studies were identified, nine of prospective design and 17 case-control. Two studies grouped cigarettes by nicotine rather than tar. Seventeen studies gave results for lung cancer, 16 for heart disease, five for stroke and four for COPD. Preferring relative risks adjusted for daily amount smoked, where adjusted and unadjusted estimates were available, combined estimates for lowest versus highest tar (or nicotine) groups were 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.70-0.88) for lung cancer, 0.86 (0.81-0.91) for heart disease, 0.77 (0.62-0.95) for stroke and 0.81 (0.65-1.02) for COPD. Lower risks were generally evident in subgroups by publication period, gender, study design, location and extent of confounder adjustment. Estimates were similar preferring data unadjusted for amount smoked or excluding nicotine-based estimates.Despite evidence that smokers substantially compensate for reduced cigarette yields, the results clearly show lower risks in lower tar smokers. Limitations of the evidence are discussed, but seem unlikely to affect this conclusion.

This study examines how an open innovation program can be implemented in practice by a foreign company operating in China with due consideration of traditional supply chain management practices. A ...

Sea urchin’s teeth from four families of order Echinoida and from orders Temnopleuroida, Arbacioida and Cidaroida were studied with synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The high and very high Mg calcite phases of the teeth, i.e. the first and second stage mineral constituents, respectively, have the same crystallographic orientations. The co-orientation of first and second stage mineral, which the authors attribute to epitaxy, extends across the phylogenic width of the extant regular sea urchins and demonstrates that this is a primitive character of this group. The range of compositions Δx for the two phases of Ca1-xMgxCO3 is about 0.20 or greater and is consistent with a common biomineralization process.

When you look into the continuous casting mould you can see very little. Consequently, steelmakers have had to rely on plant trials, simulation experiments and physical property measurements on fluxes and steels to gain an understanding of the mechanisms responsible for process problems and product defects. However, in recent years, mathematical modelling has advanced to the stage where they can provide us with great insight into these mechanisms. As a non-mathematical modeller, I was initially sceptical of some of the predictions of the mathematical models. However, I have been completely won over by the ability of these models to simulate accurately the mechanisms responsible for various defects, such as slag entrapment, oscillation mark formation, etc. Mathematical modelling literally allows us to ‘see’ what is happening in the mould. It is a remarkable tool.

Although individual susceptibility to burnout within a similar structural context is well-documented in other helping professions, little is known about the relationship between personal attributes and burnout in social work. Furthermore, despite a large number of entering MSW students with prior work experience, there is a paucity of research documenting the burnout phenomenon among them. By using a sample of MSW students with prior work experience (N=60), the current study examined the effect of personal attributes on burnout (i.e., overidentification tendency, trait anxiety, and emotional contagion). Findings imply that burnout depends on personal attributes, rooted in cognitive role-taking levels, and that emotional contagion has a significant role in burnout. Implications for social work education and practice are discussed.

This study examined racial/ethnic differences in mothers' use of court-mandated family reunification services, including parent training, substance abuse treatment, and mental health treatment; and the influence of these services on racial/ethnic disparities on two permanency outcomes: family reunification and length of time in the child welfare system. Methods included a retrospective design using in-depth case record review and administrative data (N = 403). Results indicated racial/ethnic differences in service use and permanency outcomes. Across racial/ethnic groups, substance abuse treatment was associated with a shorter length of time in the child welfare system. Implications for child welfare services among racially/ethnically diverse families are discussed.

This research examined how American and Chinese participants differ when they respond to situations involving the emotional infidelity of their dating partners. It also assessed how different self-construal types influence relational response strategies. Four of the six culture-level hypotheses were supported. Overall, US respondents tend to prefer exit and anger voice responses more so than Chinese respondents. Comparatively, Chinese respondents tend to prefer loyalty, passive neglect, and third-party help responses. Both cultural groups, however, tend to use integrative voice responses to a high degree. This research marks a first attempt to modify and extend the existing Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect (EVLN) relationship typology.

The continuous casting (CC) mould may appear very peaceful when viewed from above, but the powder bed hides relentless fluctuations in the following phenomena: metal flow, thermal gradients, chemic ...

This paper explores the emergence of social work as a profession in Vietnam and the ways in which international collaboration can play a role in its development. The paper reviews the literature pertaining to the social issues that have accompanied recent rapid social and economic change in Vietnam. The authors then describe recent developments in social work and social work education in Vietnam in response to these emerging problems. The role of international collaboration is explored and examples of four recent collaborations are provided that illustrate exchanges of curriculum and related social work knowledge, capacity building, technical assistance, and teaching. Factors that influence successful international collaborations are delineated and conclusions about future opportunities for such collaborations in Vietnam are presented.

Metals are the oldest of biomedical implant materials and metallic alloys remain the material of choice for applications involving hard tissue replacement. Ti alloy scaffolds are deemed the best among all the metallic alloys. Recently, porous Ti alloy scaffolds have received increasing attention over other metallic counterparts, including monolithic alloys, due to advantages associated with an open porous structure. The main advantages of open porous structures are a low Young's moduli and enhanced bone ingrowth leading to better fixation with the host tissue. In this paper, the authors first review the suitability of Ti for biomedical applications and then explore the methods for producing highly porous Ti foams. The methods are assessed based on their ability to produce a macro-micro-structure appropriate for biomedical applications. The article concludes with a future outlook on porous Ti production.

In this article, we summarize a cross‐national research programme, the Living‐in‐History Project, investigating the impact of war, terrorism and natural disaster on the organization of autobiographical memory. More specifically, the aims of this project were: (a) to develop a method for assessing the impact of public events on autobiographical memory; (b) to determine whether there are systemic group differences in the relationship between these two types of knowledge; and (c) to identify factors that are present when personal memory and historical memory become intertwined. This method was used to collect data from 18 samples located in nine countries. We conclude that wars (e.g. the civil war in Bosnia; World War II) and natural disasters (e.g. the Izmit Earthquake) spawn Historically defined Autobiographic Periods (H‐DAPs), but terrorist attacks (e.g. 9/11, the Second Intifada) and nonviolent political upheaval (the fall of the Soviet Union) do not. We also conclude that autobiographical memory and his...

A study was undertaken to provide data on growth, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and faecal discharge of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) fed three commercial diets used previously to culture this species in New Zealand. Fish were raised in tanks from 0.4 to 1.2 kg over the spring (water temperature 14–17°C) and summer (17–22°C) periods. There were considerable differences in volumetric and mass‐specific feed intake, and energy intake amongst diets. Daily crude protein intake was similar amongst diets, although it increased from the cold (4.05–4.50 g protein kg−1 day−1) to warm period (6.48–7.67 g protein kg−1 day−1). The biological and economical FCR varied with diet (BFCR 1.22–2.17, EFCR 1.30–2.62), as did the cost of feed per unit biomass produced (NZ$38–3.78 kg−1). Growth rates were broadly similar amongst diets, and the warmer summer temperature period greatly improved both growth (increase from 0.51–0.64% to 1.18–1.23% mass gain day−1) and BFCR (decrease from 1.37–2.17 to 1.22–1.46). The ...

The effect of homogenisation heat treatment and subsequent hot rolling on the evolution of porosity in a direct chill cast Al–6Mg (wt-%) alloy was studied. Porosity was quantified using conventional 2D optical metallography and X-ray microtomography (XMT) which allowed 3D imaging. Metallographic observations show an increase in maximum pore length during heat treatment and at the centre line during rolling. These observations together with the high temperatures might suggest a classical interpore Ostwald ripening mechanism is operative. However, XMT revealed that the pores have a highly tortuous shape, which when sectioned metallographically is not apparent and can lead to misinterpretation. X-ray microtomography observations proved that these tortuous 3D shapes spheroidised during homogenisation owing to localised coarsening of high curvatures within the complex, branching structure of each pore, termed intrapore coarsening. Accelerated centreline intrapore coarsening was observed during the init...

The literature is unclear regarding the appropriate medical and psychological treatment of intersexuality: people who have genital, gonadal, or chromosomal characteristics that are neither all female nor all male. Medical and psychosocial management of such individuals is being reevaluated. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), the most common cause of intersexual development among genetic females, is an inherited disorder that leads to varying degrees of masculinization of the external genitalia while internal genitals (ovaries, Fallopian tubes, and uterus) are typically female. The purpose of this study was to explore self-perceptions of adult women who have CAH and the impact of the condition on their relationships, sexuality, gender identity, gender roles, and self-concept. In addition, their perceptions of medical treatment were examined. Five women with CAH chose to participate. Participants reported: (a) a sense of isolation and embarrassment about sharing information concerning their cond...

The current investigation examined the experience of college challenges in 112 American-born, 121 early immigrant, and 110 late immigrant Chinese American students. Due to differential acculturation, it was hypothesized that late immigrants would encounter the most difficulties and American-born Chinese the least. Using the 13-domain Inventory of College Challenges for Ethnic Minority Students, we found that late immigrants reported more problems than American-born Chinese on six academic, social, and general living domains and experienced more problems than early immigrants on two academic and social domains. Additionally, early immigrants fared worse than American-born Chinese on two social and general living domains. Service implications, particularly for late immigrants, are discussed.

Lightweight glass ceramic foams have been produced from a mixture of silicate wastes, namely 20 wt-% coal pond ash and 80 wt-% bottle glass cullet. A powder sintering route with the incorporation of 2 wt-%SiC as foaming agent was used. The pore morphology achieved under different sintering conditions was investigated in detail using X-ray microtomography. The apparent density of the foams ranged from 0·2 to 0·4 g cm−3, and the porosity ranged from 70 to 90%. Other variables, such as pore wall thickness, pore size and roundness, all behaved consistently with sintering temperature. The optimum sintering temperature was found to be in the range 1000–1050°C, at which porosity was about 75% and was the most uniform. Foams produced under this condition exhibit satisfactory compressive strength of about 1·5 MPa and show relatively high thermal shock resistance, with compressive strength gradually decreasing as quenching temperature increases.

Recent authoritative reviews consider smoking has no effect on breast cancer risk, but some studies report an increase from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). We reviewed the overall evidence on ETS and breast cancer in nonsmoking women. We extracted details of available studies, derived relative risk (RR) estimates with confidence intervals (CIs) for various ETS exposure indices and conducted meta-analyses. Using an index for each study most closely equivalent to "spouse ever smoked," a weak, but significant, association was seen (random-effects RR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.02-1.24, n = 22). However, the estimates were heterogeneous: close to 1.0 for prospective, North American and larger studies, and those adjusting for many potential confounders, but significantly (p.05) elevated in case-control, European, and smaller studies, and those accounting for fewer potential confounders. Risk was increased in premenopausal women (RR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.16-2.05, n = 10), but not postmenopausal women. Dose-response findings were similarly heterogeneous. No significant increase was seen for ETS in childhood or the workplace or from the spouse specifically, but an increase was seen for total exposure (RR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.17-2.04, n = 6). Increases mainly derive from case-control studies asking detailed ETS histories, where RRs depend heavily on who is classified in the totally unexposed reference group, and may be prone to recall bias. Results from prospective studies using similar histories are needed. Study weaknesses and possible publication bias also limit interpretation. Because of the inherent implausibility that ETS exposure might cause breast cancer, given the similar risks of smokers and nonsmokers, one cannot confidently conclude ETS exposure increases risk in nonsmokers.

Process models simulating the various stages of gas turbine disc manufacture have been integrated to simulate defect tracking throughout the entire manufacturing route: vacuum induction melting, vacuum arc remelting (VAR), homogenisation heat treatment, cogging, forging, final heat treatment and machining. An integrated complete manufacturing route model allows intrinsic or extrinsic defects entrained within the material during the initial VAR stage to be tracked through the subsequent processes. This enables determination of the motion of these defects during hot deformation stages as well as calculation of whether they might be removed during machining. If they remain in the final component, they may potentially serve as initiation sites for in service failure. The model was applied to a generic disc geometry and it was found that intrinsic defects formed (such as freckles and discrete white spots) during VAR at mid-radius spots are undesirable as they have a high probability of remaining in the...

Ab‐initio structure determination of Ni(BME‐DACH) · SO2 has been carried out by a combination of real space methods and Rietveld analysis from powder X‐ray diffraction patterns obtained from microgram quantities of the compound mounted on a nylon loop (space group. P21/c, a = 8.871(1), b = 14.480(1), c = 10.576(1) A, β = 95.98(1)°. The structure of Ni(BME‐DACH) · SO2 shows that Ni(BME‐DACH) complex remains intact and is related to the structure of Ni(BME‐DACH) · 2SO2, providing a platform for SO2 binding. We have also followed the desulfoxidation of the 2SO2 adduct by in‐situ micro‐powder X‐ray diffraction and, based on the results, a mechanism is proposed. We acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Foundation (Grants CHE 01‐11629 to MYD for this work and CHE 98‐07975 for the purchase of X‐ray equipment) and contributions from the Robert A. Welch Foundation. Use of the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, under ...

Recent research has shown that the distribution of biogenic nitrogen and sulfur compounds (in particular, N 2 O, DMS and dissolved DMSO) observed in five perennially ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, appear to lack obvious biogeochemical explanations. This study examined the hypothesis that the distribution of these compounds resulted from thermodynamic constraints on microbially mediated processes. The thermodynamic favorableness of a number of ecologically important redox reactions in these lakes was assessed using a simplified Nernst equation and mathematically modified E h measurements. Our qualitative analysis revealed that the relative dominance of denitrification and nitrification as formation and loss processes for N 2 O was a complex pattern that was related to the redox conditions present. The results indicate that nitrification was initially the sole pathway for the formation of N 2 O with denitrification being thermodynamically unfavorable. As the redox conditions becam...

A method of producing micrometre sized TiB2 particles within an aluminium matrix is the salt reaction method, using KBF4 and K2TiF6 salts. The advantages of this in situ reactive process are a small particle size and good particle/matrix interfacial bonding. However, this method is limited to producing low particulate volume percentage material (< 6 vol.-%). To overcome this limitation, centrifugal casting has been investigated. A series of casts was made to observe the influence of centrifugal acceleration g on final TiB2distribution. This was done by casting at four different rotational speeds (rev min-1). The TiB2 particulate content was concentrated towards the outer radius with a clear interface between this region and the remaining unreinforced aluminium matrix. The final concentration of TiB2 particles increased with inreasing rotational speed and particle clustering was found to influence the settling behaviour of the TiB2 particles.The present paper demonstrates that centrifugal casting m...

A scalable, continuous variable, cellular automaton (CA) model for the quantitative simulation of normal grain growth is presented. The CA model is based on a discrete solution of the classical Turnbull rate equation for grain boundary motion on a mesoscopic scale. The domain is discretised using a regular cubic lattice considering the first and second nearest neighbourhoods. CA rules were usedto determine the state of each cellbased on the local driving force. The effects of both the boundary curvature and the misorientation of grains were incorporated. The driving force was used to determine the direction of the movement of each boundary cell, forming the basis of a continuous variable cell transition rule. The use of experimental grain boundary characteristics (e.g. energy and mobility) allows one to make predictions on industrially applicable spatial and temporal scales. The model was applied to quantitatively predict grain growth during the homogenisation heat treatment of vacuum arc remelted...

Aluminium castings are increasingly used as an alternative to steel and cast iron due to the weight savings. This is especially important in the automotive industry where the energy and environmental benefits are crucial. Computer simulation is facilitating the use of aluminium castings throughout the design and production processes, including casting simulations to optimise process yield and minimize defects.A multiscale model for correlating processing conditions to microstructure and hence mechanical properties is presented and applied to virtual design an automotive part, first at a macroscopic, then a microscopic level. The microstructure is simulated using a novel Cellular Automata-Finite Difference (CAFD) model and the defect levels it predicts are linked via empirical formulations to estimate the final mechanical properties for an A356-T6 (AC4CH) alloy. The simulation results are compared with results obtained from laboratory scale wedge castings and industrial brake-caliper castings.

Over the period 1951-1995, lung cancer rates in men aged 35-74 yr more than doubled in the United States but declined slightly in the United Kingdom. In women, rates rose about sevenfold in the United States but only about threefold in the United Kingdom. To investigate whether these very different trends in lung cancer risk could be explained by smoking habits, trends in smoking were compared in the two countries and a multistage model was used to predict lung cancer rates from detailed data on age of starting and stopping smoking, amount smoked per smoker, and sales-weighted average tar levels. In both countries, there was a similar switch to filter cigarettes, reduction in tar levels and the average age of starting to smoke, and decline in prevalence of smoking in women aged under 50 yr and in men. Although some differences were evident, most notably in older women where prevalence of smoking and consumption per adult has increased more in the United States, these trends do not appear to explain the markedly different trends in lung cancer, evident in both sexes and all age groups. The multistage analyses confirmed these tentative conclusions-the differing trends in smoking in the two countries could not explain the markedly differing trends in lung cancer. Lung cancer trends in the United Kingdom were found to be clearly more favorable than expected on the basis of smoking trends, while trends in the United States were less favorable. In sensitivity analyses, these conclusions were found not to be materially dependent on the precise methods used, including whether tar reduction was or was not assumed to be beneficial. The explanation for these findings must lie in changes over time, differing in the two countries, in aspects of smoking not considered in these analyses and/or in exposure to other risk factors. Evidence relating to a number of possible such smoking variables (including type of tobacco, curing, use of pesticides and additives, and butt length) or other risk factors (including air pollution, radon, asbestos, obesity, and marijuana) is discussed, but no clear explanation of the findings is offered. Further research is urgently needed to investigate the causes of these apparently anomalous trends in lung cancer and in smoking habits. Criticism is also presented of the views recently expressed by the authors of NCI Monograph 13 that tar reduction has been ineffective in lowering lung cancer risk and that trends in lung cancer in the United States fit in well with trends in smoking habits.

A heavily pretreated patient with triple negative breast cancer distinguished by cutaneous metastases received p53MVA vaccine in combination with pembrolizumab. Her cutaneous metastases regressed and after 2 cycles of therapy, a skin biopsy showed a complete pathological response. Systemic response was confirmed with restaging CT and bone scans. Activation of p53-specific T cell responses and elevation of multiple immune response genes in peripheral blood correlated with the rapid clinical response which lasted for 6 months after the initiation of combined therapy.

Strontium is added to many aluminium-silicon casting alloys at the level of a few hundred parts per million in order to modify the structure of the eutectic. However, the addition of strontium also...

A new robust decentralised process control strategy based on the sector stability theorem is proposed in this paper. The interaction between sub-systems is measured by a revised passivity index, wh...

Summary This investigation examined the attitudes and behavior regarding academic achievement from the perspective of 153 Asian American adolescents who participated in an essay contest entitles “Growing Up Asian American.” Less than half the adolescents (42.5%) reported a positive attitude toward academic achievement, while over half expressed either negative attitude (13.1%) or mixed positive/negative attitude (44.4%). In contrast, an overwhelming majority (83%) of the adolescents exhibited embracing behavior toward academic achievement, while only 1.3% rejected and 15.7% showed mixed embracing/rejecting behavior. In addition, attitude and behavior were significantly correlated. All of the adolescents with positive attitudes exhibited embracing behavior. Adolescents with non-positive attitudes (negative or mixed) were more likely to show embracing behavior (70.5%) than non-embracing (rejecting or mixed) behavior (29.5%). The findings suggest significant distress among Asian American adolescents even tho...

Summary This investigation examined the network composition, social integration, and sense of coherence in a group of 353 Chinese American students at a public university. About half (55.5%) of the sample had a Chinese-only (ethnically same) network while the remainder had either ethnically and/or racially mixed networks. Late immigrants (arriving after age 12) were more likely to have close relationships with other Chinese only, and American-borns and early immigrants (arriving before or at age 12) were more likely to have non-Chinese Asian and non-Asian members in their network. Greater racial/ ethnic similarity among network members was associated with greater network integration. Individuals with a racially/ethnically mixed network enjoyed the highest sense of coherence, followed by those with an ethnically same network, and those with either a racially-same or mixed network reported the lowest sense of coherence. Altogether, the findings suggest ethnically/racially similar networks afford a sense of ...

Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) is an ubiquitous, albeit poorly understood, component of the marine sulfur cycle. Conventionally, the accepted formation pathways are the photochemical and microbial oxidation of dimethylsulfide (DMS). The principal loss mechanism is thought to be via microbial transformation, either consumption or reduction to DMS. The interactions between DMSO and DMS are likely to be important in controlling sea surface concentrations of DMS, and thus DMSO could influence the role played by DMS in global climate regulation. This review examines current knowledge of the distribution of DMSO in aquatic environments and the possible link between DMSO, DMS and global climate control. Mechanisms for the formation and loss of DMSO are also considered in addition to some of the factors influencing these processes. The review also considers that DMSO may be biosynthesized by phytoplankton, representing a non‐DMS source for DMSO, and that DMSO can undergo photochemical oxidation, a potential lo...

Background—A review by Glantz and Parmley published in 1995 and subsequently widely cited claims to demonstrate that passive smoke exposure increases the risk of heart disease. We have critically examined this claim in the light of the published evidence which they cite and of more recent publications. Methods and results—An updated review of the epidemiological evidence reveals no association between heart disease and ETS exposure in the workplace. Claims of an association with spousal smoking are weakened by the existence of various forms of bias in the studies. They are also undermined by recent reports from three large studies without evident major weaknesses which find essentially no association with spousal smoking. Interpretation of the experimental clinical studies is problematic because it is not possible to expose humans to ETS without their knowledge. For several reasons, short-term effects of exposure to unrealistically high concentrations of ETS throw no useful light on risk of coronary ather...

A tracking problem in the presence of disturbances for a class of nonlinear systems is considered. A connection between the exponential stability of the undisturbed system and the exponential tracking property of the disturbed system is established. With this connection, a new controller and its computation scheme are proposed based on the Lfinite gain framework. The new controller can make the closed2 loop system exponentially track a step signal and attenuate disturbances. Finally, an example in process control is given to demonstrate the method.

One feature of George Eliot's life omitted from Derek Ball's interesting article in the latest BSHM Bulletin is her friendship with Sonja (or Sofya) Kovalevskaya, who became Professor of Mathematic...

Performance on cognitive tasks cycled at ultradian frequencies for 24 males over a test period of eight hours. The verbal task of written word production cycled at 80 minutes; the spatial task of locating points in space cycled at 96 minutes. Multiple cycles were seen for a perceptual speed task that factor loads on both the verbal and spatial task. Replication of the results for the first 12 and second 12 subjects demonstrated their robustness. The verbal and spatial tasks were chosen to reflect specialized functions of the left and right cerebral hemispheres, respectively. Accordingly, the results are interpreted as evidence that specialized task performances are associated with independent neurochemical systems. In addition, blood samples were taken at task performance to assess cyclicity of hormone levels. Luteinizing hormone had a period of 120 minutes, testosterone and cortisol were inconsistent and none seemed to be related to the cognitive tasks. However when subjects were divided according to a winter or summer testing schedule, the spatial periodicity was absent for the summer group and the verbal periodicity was absent for the winter peak.

These studies were conducted to determine the effects of altitude on endogenous blood carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) concentrations and on COHb concentrations produced by breathing carbon monoxide (CO). COHb concentrations were determined at sea level (SL) and at altitude (HA) in human volunteers breathing ambient air (group I) or 9 ppm CO for 1 hr (group II). Breath CO measurements were also made in both groups. The first measurements were made at College Station, Texas (elevation 330 ft) and the second at Hoosier Pass, Colorado (elevation 11,540 ft) after 20 hr at altitude. Blood drawn from the finger was immediately frozen for COHb and hemoglobin analysis in Lubbock, Texas. Alveolar air samples, collected in aluminized Mylar bags, were analyzed for CO in Warren, Michigan. In group 1 subjects, COHb levels increased significantly (p

In this paper, the robust stability of Generic Model Control (GMC) is analyzed under the condition that the explicit control law is available. This anslysis is performed by finding a strict Lyapunov function for the nominal process and applying a perturbation theorem. Based on the passivity theorem, a procedure to synthesize a robust stable GMC controller is proposed for a given set of orocesses. The significance of this aonroach is discussed as well as its disadvantages.

The performance of control systems on industrial processes is often constrained—constraints on the process inputs and outputs. Effective control algorithms must be cognizant of the presence of these constraints. Generic Model Control (GMC) is a model-based control framework for both linear and nonlinear systems without explicit constraint handling. In this paper, it is shown that an adaptive approach can be incorporated within GMC to accommodate the constraints by adapting one of the two GMC parameters during the control procedure. Adaptation is determined to be necessary when the predicted process state and output variables as calculated by the process model violate their constrained values. The adaption is achieved through assessing the sensitivities of the constraints to the GMC parameters. Two non-linear examples are presented which demonstrate the efficiency of the approach.

A new multivariate deadtime control algorithm was designed in a previous paper. This algorithm, while very efficient, was developed under the restriction that the deadtimes on the diagonal of the transfer function matrix are less than the others in each row. In this paper, we further investigate this restriction's effect on the performance of the control system, and show that this restriction can be achieved by rearranging the order of the input variables and adding artificial delays. Several examples demonstrate the significance of the results.

This paper presents a new method for multivariable dead-time compensation for a wide class of chemical engineering process control problems. The method utilizes the powerful performance-following p...

Objective Randomized controlled trials have shown that growth hormone (GH) therapy has effects on growth, metabolism, and body composition. GH therapy is prescribed for children with growth failure and adults with GH deficiency. Carefully conducted observational study of GH treatment affords the opportunity to assess long-term treatment outcomes and the clinical factors and variables affecting those outcomes, in patients receiving GH therapy in routine clinical practice.