Is there a difference in sound acoustics between aspirating versus non-aspirating swallows in children with dysphagia?

Cervical auscultation (CA) may be used to complement the clinical feeding examination when assessing for oropharyngeal aspiration (OPA). Data exists on the acoustic properties of normal and abnormal swallowing sounds in adults and children. However, there are no published paediatric studies comparing the acoustic properties of sounds comparing OPA with non-OPA swallows. We aimed to determine if there is an acoustic difference between modified barium swallow (MBS)-identified OPA and non-OPA swallow sounds in children.

Cybernetic modeling of adaptive prediction of environmental changes by microorganisms

Microorganisms exhibit varied regulatory strategies such as direct regulation, symmetric anticipatory regulation, asymmetric anticipatory regulation, etc. Current mathematical modeling frameworks for the growth of microorganisms either do not incorporate regulation or assume that the microorganisms utilize the direct regulation strategy. In the present study, we extend the cybernetic modeling framework to account for asymmetric anticipatory regulation strategy. The extended model accurately captures various experimental observations. We use the developed model to explore the fitness advantage provided by the asymmetric anticipatory regulation strategy and observe that the optimal extent of asymmetric regulation depends on the selective pressure that the microorganisms experience. We also explore the importance of timing the response in anticipatory regulation and find that there is an optimal time, dependent on the extent of asymmetric regulation, at which microorganisms should respond anticipatorily to maximize their fitness. We then discuss the advantages offered by the cybernetic modeling framework over other modeling frameworks in modeling the asymmetric anticipatory regulation strategy. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Optimal control analysis of the dynamic growth behavior of microorganisms

Understanding the growth behavior of microorganisms using modeling and optimization techniques is an active area of research in the fields of biochemical engineering and systems biology. In this paper, we propose a general modeling framework, based on Monad model, to model the growth of microorganisms. Utilizing the general framework, we formulate an optimal control problem with the objective of maximizing a long-term cellular goal and solve it analytically under various constraints for the growth of microorganisms in a two substrate batch environment. We investigate the relation between long term and short term cellular goals and show that the objective of maximizing cellular concentration at a fixed final time is equivalent to maximization of instantaneous growth rate. We then establish the mathematical connection between the generalized framework and optimal and cybernetic modeling frameworks and derive generalized governing dynamic equations for optimal and cybernetic models. We finally illustrate the influence of various constraints in the cybernetic modeling framework on the optimal growth behavior of microorganisms by solving several dynamic optimization problems using genetic algorithms. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Los determinantes de la rentabilidad primaria de los bonos de titulización hipotecaria: la influencia de las estructuras multitramo

[ES] Este artículo analiza los determinantes de la rentabilidad primaria de los bonos de titulización hipotecaria (conocidos en la literatura como mortgage backed securities, o MBS) emitidos en España durante el periodo 1993-2011, periodo en el que el mercado español llegó a convertirse en el más importante de Europa continental. Los resultados obtenidos sobre el análisis de la población completa de MBS emitidos (262 tramos configurados sobre 94 fondos de titulización) indican que la estructuración multitramo de los MBS ha ayudado a reducir el riesgo percibido global de las emisiones de MBS, mediante la generación de mercados más completos y la reducción de los problemas derivados de la existencia de asimetrías informativas implícitas en el proceso de selección de los activos transmitidos por parte de la entidad cedente. Esta reducción del riesgo percibido ha tenido un efecto directo sobre la rentabilidad ofrecida por los bonos de titulización emitidos. Además, no se encuentran evidencias de que la emisión de MBS persiga la transmisión efectiva de riesgos, más bien al contrario. Las Entidades de crédito, por lo general, han retenido los tramos de primeras pérdidas, lo que ha contribuido a mantener en niveles muy bajos (por debajo de la rentabilidad de la deuda soberana) la rentabilidad ofrecida por los MBS. Precisamente, el escaso diferencial ofrecido por los bonos de titulización se debe a que los tramos retenidos no han ofrecido primas de rentabilidad ajustadas al riesgo inherente.

Indentification and characterization of a novel CA^(2+)-binding protein in avian erythrocytes

A novel Ca^(2+)-binding protein with Mr of 23 K (designated p23) has been identified in avian erythrocytes and thrombocytes. p23 localizes to the marginal bands (MBs), centrosomes and discrete sites around the nuclear membrane in mature avian erythrocytes. p23 appears to bind Ca^(2+) directly and its interaction with subcellular organelles seems to be modulated by intracellular [Ca^(2+)]. However, its unique protein sequence lacks any known Ca^(2+)-binding motif. Developmental analysis reveals that p23 association to its target structures occurs only at very late stages of bone marrow definitive erythropoeisis. In primitive erythroid cells, p23 distributes diffusely in the cytoplasm and lacks any distinct localization. It is postulated that p23 association to subcellular structures may be induced in part by decreased intracellular [Ca^(2+)]. In vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that p23 does not appear to act as a classical microtubule-associated protein (MAP) but p23 homologues appear to be expressed in MB-containing cells of a variety of species from different vertebrate classes. It has been hypothesized that p23 may play a regulatory role in MB stabilization in a Ca^(2+)-dependent manner.

Binucleated (bnbn) turkey erythrocytes were found to express a truncated p23 variant (designated p21) with identical subcellular localization as p23 except immunostaining reveals the presence of multi-centrosomes in bnbn cells. The p21 sequence has a 62 amino acid deletion at the C-terminus and must therefore have an additional ~40 amino acids at the N-terminus. In addition, p21 seems to have lost the ability to bind Ca^(2+) and its supramolecular interactions are not modulated by intracellular [Ca^(2+)]. These apparent differences between p23 and p21 raised the possibility that the p23/p21 allelism could be the Bn/bn genotype. However, genetic analysis suggested that p23/p21 allelism had no absolute correlation with the Bn/bn genotype.

Construção e Validação da Escala de Crenças Conjugais (ECC)

As crenças conjugais podem ser entendidas como um conjunto de ideias acerca de como o casamento e o cônjuge devem ser. Observa-se que os padrões de crenças mantidos em relação ao casamento interferem na qualidade conjugal, de modo que crenças realistas estariam vinculadas a relações mais satisfatórias e crenças irrealistas estariam associadas à insatisfação com o casamento. Assim, evidencia-se a importância de conhecer quais os estilos de crenças mantidos no casamento, o que traz à tona a questão da avaliação. Em âmbito internacional foram identificados alguns instrumentos criados e validados para a avaliação de elementos cognitivos influentes nas relações entre casais. Todavia, no cenário nacional verificou-se a ausência de instrumentos sobre crenças no casamento construídos e validados para a população brasileira. Dessa lacuna metodológica surgiu o interesse de criar um instrumento de avaliação das crenças no casamento. Desse modo, o presente estudo objetivou a construção e a validação da Escala de Crenças Conjugais (ECC). Para tanto, esta pesquisa foi composta por dois estudos: 1) Estudo I Construção da Escala de Crenças Conjugais (ECC); 2) Estudo II Validação da Escala de Crenças Conjugais (ECC). O Estudo I correspondeu à criação da ECC, com a realização de entrevistas e pesquisa na literatura para obtenção das crenças mais comuns sobre o casamento, seguida pela avaliação da validade de conteúdo dos itens da ECC. Desse primeiro estudo, resultou uma versão da ECC composta por 33 itens, dentre crenças conjugais realistas e irrealistas. O Estudo II correspondeu à validação de construto da ECC. Para tanto a versão da escala resultante do Estudo I foi aplicada numa amostra de 333 participantes, com escolaridade a partir do ensino fundamental completo, dentre homens e mulheres, solteiros e casados. Para verificar a validade de construto da ECC foram realizados testes de análise fatorial (AF), em que o método escolhido para este estudo foi o método de máxima verossimilhança com rotação quartimax. Os resultados da AF revelaram a existência de dois Fatores para a ECC identificados como Comunicação Interpessoal e Compromisso (CIC) e Papéis Sociais (PS). Após a obtenção dos Fatores foi realizada a análise da consistência interna de cada Fator por meio do cálculo do coeficiente alfa de Cronbach (α), em que constatou-se que ambos os Fatores apresentaram níveis satisfatórios de confiabilidade: CIC (α = 0,81) e PS (α = 0,70). Testes adicionais acerca de eventuais contrastes nos resultados de acordo com as características da amostra também foram realizados, por meio do Teste t de Student, verificando-se que na amostra deste estudo, os indivíduos mais jovens apresentaram níveis mais elevados no Fator 2 (PS), os indivíduos que haviam concluído um curso superior possuíam níveis mais elevados no Fator 1 (CIC) e os indivíduos solteiros apresentaram níveis mais elevados no Fator 2 (PS). Os dois estudos resultaram numa medida inédita de avaliação das crenças conjugais a ser utilizada em pesquisas brasileiras. Espera-se que a ECC possa ser útil no estudo das relações entre casais, possibilitando a realização de novas pesquisas e quiçá novas intervenções terapêuticas.

III-V族半导体低维结构与新型合金材料的光学性质

Submitted by zhangdi (zhangdi@red.semi.ac.cn) on 2009-04-13T11:45:31Z

核壳结构改性剂增韧聚氯乙烯的机理及性能优化

我国是世界上聚氯乙烯产量最大的国家。由于在氯乙烯分子中氯的含量大于50%，而氯又是制碱工业的必然副产物，因此聚氯乙烯工业成为氯碱平衡中的主要杠杆。随着近年来世界石油资源的日益短缺和价格的上涨及国内聚氯乙烯产能过剩，开发聚氯乙烯的新用途，发展聚氯乙烯树脂的改性具有深远的意义。本工作的目的是以开发PVC核壳结构改性剂MBS和注塑级PVC/ABS合金为背景，对核壳粒子改性的聚氯乙烯的屈服机理和改性剂性能优化进行了研究。 对于增韧剂的研究，人们总是希望用最少的增韧剂用量来达到最好的增韧效果，即提高增韧剂的增韧效率，而且MBS改性的PVC在应用时还需要保持较高的透光率和具有一定的抗应力发白的能力。为此我们成功开发了具有高增韧效率、高透明及抗应力发白的MBS增韧剂，并研究了MBS结构特性对PVC/MBS共混物力学性能及屈服机理的影响。结果表明：粒径范围在80nm~280nm的橡胶粒子均能有效地对PVC进行增韧。大粒径的MBS通过空洞化释放三维静张应力引发基体的屈服来吸收能量，而小粒径的MBS不能产生空洞，但同样能引起基体的屈服起到增韧的作用。为了兼顾PVC/MBS共混物的韧性和透明性，我们在制备MBS时将一部分苯乙烯单体与丁二烯共聚结合来提高丁苯胶乳的折光指数与PVC基体相匹配，而另一部分苯乙烯单体以接枝的方式结合，这样可以保持MBS的弹性，并且制备的PVC/MBS共混物具有高韧性和高透明；同时我们发现MBS的内包容物及多层结构都会削弱PVC/MBS共混物的透光率。研究表明橡胶粒子的空洞化是引发共混物应力发白的主要原因。为此通过制备小粒径及具有一定交联程度的MBS来抑制空洞的产生，制备了兼有抗应力发白和韧性的MBS。成功开发了多个牌号的MBS产品，并在吉化集团公司建成了年产5000吨的生产车间，实现了MBS的工业化生产。 由于PVC的熔体流动性较差，通过与熔体流动性好的ABS树脂共混，成功开发了注塑级PVC/ABS合金。ABS树脂是SAN树脂和PB-g-SAN的共混物，在PVC中加入ABS使增韧对象由PVC基体转化为PVC/SAN共混基体，并研究了基体性质的改变对增韧效果的影响。结果表明随着PVC/ABS共混体系基体中PVC含量的增加共混物的冲击强度显著增加，形变机理发生了由银纹向剪切屈服的转变。

含油污泥清洗剂的合成及其性能评价

含油污泥已作为危险废物列入《国家危险废物名录》（HW08），其处理问题已成为环保领域研究的热点。热洗技术是含油污泥处理的主流技术，而清洗药剂作为该技术的核心，直接影响含油污泥的处理指标与效率。目前，适合热洗处理的化学药剂很少，迫切需要开发专用药剂技术。针对含油污泥清洗效率的难题，本文合成了一种新型高效的含油污泥清洗剂。 本文以甲基丙烯酸（MAA）、丙烯酸丁酯（BA）和苯乙烯（St）为混合单体，偶氮二异丁腈（AIBN）为引发剂，通过溶液聚合的方法探索合成了一种高分子聚合物（命名为MBS）。分析讨论了MBS关键单体的选择、合成设计及方法，检测了MBS有关物理化学性能，考察了单体、引发剂用量及清洗条件对MBS脱油性能的影响，探讨了MBS对含油污泥中原油不同组分的去除效率，并用红外光谱证实了MBS结构的官能团。 MBS在单体质量比为MAA：BA：St=21：62：17，引发剂AIBN为单体总量的1.2%时，含油污泥脱油率可达84%以上。MBS对于含油污泥中芳烃去除率最高，为93.0%；其次是烷烃，去除率为87.4%；沥青质、胶质最低，去除率为71.8%，具有良好的处理效果。 本文还针对目前国内尚无评价含油污泥清洗剂的标准方法，对清洗剂性能评价进行了初探，采用统一标准的模拟含油污泥进行清洗剂性能评价，并提出了制备方法，同时验证了在此基础上所建立的性能评价方法。结果证明，模拟含油污泥能够真实体现清洗剂的脱油性能，所建立的评价方法可以作为一种通用规范的含油污泥清洗剂性能评价的基本方法。

数值摄动算法及其CFD格式

数值摄动算法将流体动力学效应耦合进NS方程组和对流扩散(CD)方程离散的数学基本格式(MBS),特别是耦合进最简单的一阶迎风和二阶中心格式之中,由此构建成一系列新的摄动格式(PS).构建PS的主要步骤是将MBS中的通量重构为步长的幂级数,利用空间分裂和导出的高阶流体动力学线性关系式,并引入下游不影响上游的对流运动规律,通过消除重构格式修正微分方程的截断误差诸项求出幂级数的待定系数,由此获得非线性PS.PS的项是MBS中对应项与R△x(及λR△x)之简单多项式的乘积,R△x和λ分别是网格Reynolds数和网格CFL数.PS和MBS使用相同结点,简单性彼此相当,但PS精度高,稳定范围大,例如PS包含了许多绝对稳定高阶迎风和中心有限差分(FD)格式和绝对正型有限体积(FV)格式,这些格式对网格Reynolds数的任意值均为不振荡格式.数值摄动算法因此是构建高精度不振荡CFD格式的新方法.PS用于计算不可压缩流,可压缩流,液滴萃取传质,微通道两相流等,均获得良好数值结果或与已有Benchmark解一致的数值结果.已有文献称数值摄动算法为新型高精度方法和高算法,文中也讨论了一些值得进一步研究的课题

A study on reduction behaviors of the supported platinum-iron catalysts

The reduction behaviors of the supported platinum-iron catalysts and their comparison with supported iron catalysts were studied by TPR (temperature-programmed reduction)-in situ Fe-57 MBS (Mossbauer spectroscopy). The results indicated that the TPR processes of all Fe-containing catalysts were different from that of bulk alpha-Fe2O3. There were interactions between Pt, Fe and the gamma-Al2O3 or SiO2 support for the Pt-Fe/gamma-Al2O3 and Pt-Fe/SiO2 catalysts. All the iron-containing catalysts show that Fe3+ was highly dispersed on the support (gamma-Al2O3 and SiO2) before reduction. No Fe-0 was found in the reduction processes. The Fe3+ was reduced to Fe2+ in tetrahedral vacancy first for the reduction of the Pt-Fe/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst. No Fe2+ in octahedral vacancy was found in the reduction of the Pt-Fe/SiO2 catalyst. Adding Pt to Fe/support (gamma-Al2O3 or SiO2) could promote the reduction of the Fe species. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Crianças Respiradoras Bucais e possíveis tratamentos Ortodônticos

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Medicina Dentária

Impact of antenna choices on the reliability of mobile broadband transmission at millimetre - wave frequencies

This paper deals with the impact of several antenna chices on the radio transmission performance within a cellular Mobile Broaband System (MBS) currently under research in Europe. Several antenna types are considered, namely switchable-beam antennas and adaptive antennas employing a phased array approach.

Impact of antenna choices on the reliability of mobile broadband transmission at mm-wave frequencies

This paper deals with the impact of several antenna choices on the radio transmission performance within a cellular Mobile Broaband System (MBS) currently under research in Europe. Several antenna types are considered, namely switchble-beam antennas and adaptive antennas employing a phased array approach.

Croissance du tube pollinique chez Papaver rhoeas : de nouveaux rôles pour le cytosquelette

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal