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Existing System (existing + system)
Selected AbstractsInclusive Design in Apparel Product Development for Working Women With Physical DisabilitiesFAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Kate E. Carroll Consumers with physical limitations want apparel products and retail environments that work for them. Inclusive design is a framework for developing products to satisfy multiple consumers, regardless of their physical ability. This qualitative study reports on physical limitations and apparel preferences of working women (n = 9) with a variety of limitations. A prototype for a garment was developed, wear-tested, and evaluated using inclusive design criteria. Subsequently, manufacturers (n = 6) were interviewed regarding production and distribution within the existing system. Results indicate that (a) the effect of disability on the body supercedes clinical definition for apparel product development, (b) working women with various disabilities have similar apparel needs, (c) inclusive design can be a successful strategy for product development, and (d) current industry perceptions about disability present the greatest barrier to successful implementation. The researchers conclude that further studies should focus on industry "buy-in" of inclusive design as a framework for product development. [source] Collectivism versus individualism in Dutch employment relationsHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2004Jan De Leede From a very centralistic and collectivistic tradition after World War Two, Dutch employment relations now show a trend towards radical decentralisation and individualisation. What might be the consequences of this trend for labour relations? Do developments still fit within a movement towards ,organised decentralisation' or will the existing system of labour relations be hollowed out and destroyed? And what will be the consequences for ER management at company level? We present empirical data on how companies deal with their decentralised and individualised employment relations. It appears that, in the main areas such as labour contracts, working time arrangements, reward systems and development plans, decentralisation and individualisation are taking place. It has also become clear that management as well as workers support this and that a new form of negotiation between them is developing at workplace level, resulting in what we call ,third contracts' that are additional to the initial labour contract and the collective agreement. Our results also highlight the pragmatic way in which companies deal with these decentralised and individualised employment relations, which, nevertheless, remain linked to the national and collective levels of bargaining. Within the multilevel system of Dutch employment relations a new balance between collectivism and individualism is emerging. [source] Identification of evolutionary sequential systems,part 1: unified approachINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 9 2001Claude Baron Abstract Logical identification covers a wide range of applications dealing with constrained transformation processes between internal and external models of sequential systems. In this paper, we consider the differential identification approach whose purpose is to measure the influence of minor modifications of the internal or external models of an existing system. This class of identification is dedicated to sensitivity analysis: learning, redesign, diagnosis, etc. Thus, it reveals all its interest for the study of systems which have to adapt themselves to an evolving environment. This paper presents an overall view of the different differential identification approaches and their corresponding applications. We will propose a new resolution technique based on genetic simulation. In a second paper, we will focus on some experiments performed with a genetic identification tool. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A cost-effective operating strategy to reduce energy consumption in a HVAC systemINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 6 2008Nabil Nassif Abstract The operation of the building heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is a critical activity in terms of optimizing the building's energy consumption, ensuring the occupants' comfort, and preserving air quality. The performance of HVAC systems can be improved through optimized supervisory control strategies. Set points can be adjusted by the optimized supervisor to improve the operating efficiency. This paper presents a cost-effective building operating strategy to reduce energy costs associated with the operation of the HVAC system. The strategy determines the set points of local-loop controllers used in a multi-zone HVAC system. The controller set points include the supply air temperature, the supply duct static pressure, and the chilled water supply temperature. The variation of zone air temperatures around the set point is also considered. The strategy provides proper set points to controllers for minimum energy use while maintaining the required thermal comfort. The proposed technology is computationally simple and suitable for online implementation; it requires access to some data that are already measured and therefore available in most existing building energy management and control systems. The strategy is evaluated for a case study in an existing variable air volume system. The results show that the proposed strategy may be an excellent means of reducing utility costs associated with maintaining or improving indoor environmental conditions. It may reduce energy consumption by about 11% when compared with the actual strategy applied on the investigated existing system. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Life cycle assessment of a PPV plant applied to an existing SUW management systemINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 5 2003Francesco Di Maria Abstract The huge amount of wastes produced by modern and developed countries involves important aspects of economical, social and technical fields and also of the environment. For this reason, different technologies have been proposed for trying to reduce the impact of waste management and disposal. Generally waste management system consists of different steps like selective collection, recycling and reuse operation, energy recovery from waste and landfilling. A new technology proposed for thermal waste treatment is the plasma pyrolysis vetrification (PPV). This system seems to have interesting perspective due to the possibility of thermal treatment of dangerous slag or waste producing inactivate vetrified substances that can be landfilled or used as building materials with no impact on the environment. In this study, the effect of the application of a PPV plant on an existing waste management system was evaluated with a life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis. All the activities connected to the existing system have been carefully analysed by collecting a large quantity of experimental data. Some assumptions have been made, in particular, on the PPV plant performance. LCA analysis results illustrate how the environmental benefits arising from the adoption of the new technology, concerns only few aspects of the whole system. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The economic potential of precision nitrogen application with wheat based on plant sensingAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2009Jon T. Biermacher Nitrogen fertilizer; Precision agriculture; Stochastic plateau; Wheat Abstract Plant-based precision nitrogen fertilizer application technologies have been developed as a way to predict and precisely meet nitrogen needs. Equipment necessary for precision application of nitrogen, based on sensing of growing wheat plants in late winter, is available commercially, but adoption has been slow. This article determines the expected profit from using a plant-sensing system to determine winter wheat nitrogen requirements. We find that plant-sensing systems have the potential to be more profitable than traditional nonprecise systems, but the existing system simulated was roughly breakeven with a traditional system. [source] Guaranteed inconsistency avoidance during software evolutionJOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 6 2003Keith Gallagher Abstract The attempt to design and integrate consistent changes to an existing system is the essence of software maintenance. Software developers also confront similar problems: there are changes during testing and the release of new system builds. Whether in development or maintenance, changes to evolving systems must be made consistently; that is, without damaging correct computations. It is difficult for the programmer to ascertain the complete effect of a code change; the programmer may make a change to a program that is syntactically and semantically legal, but which has ripples into the parts of the program that were intended to remain unchanged. Using the standard denotational semantics for procedural programming languages, this paper formalizes decomposition slicing, which identifies interferences between software components and isolates the components to be changed. We enumerate the conditions for changing one component in ways that will guarantee that changes to it will not interact inconsistently and prove that changes made under these conditions are sound. Thus, the programmer can then execute changes secure in the knowledge that the semantics of the new system are guaranteed to be consistent with the projection of the semantics of the original for which it behaved correctly. Validating that the changes do not interfere not only guarantees consistency with respect to previous unchanging behaviors, but can also be achieved with a complexity proportional to the size of the change to be made. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Implementation of remote monitoring and diffraction evaluation systems at the Photon Factory macromolecular crystallography beamlinesJOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION, Issue 3 2008Yusuke Yamada Owing to recent advances in high-throughput technology in macromolecular crystallography beamlines, such as high-brilliant X-ray sources, high-speed readout detectors and robotics, the number of samples that can be examined in a single visit to the beamline has increased dramatically. In order to make these experiments more efficient, two functions, remote monitoring and diffraction image evaluation, have been implemented in the macromolecular crystallography beamlines at the Photon Factory (PF). Remote monitoring allows scientists to participate in the experiment by watching from their laboratories, without having to come to the beamline. Diffraction image evaluation makes experiments easier, especially when using the sample exchange robot. To implement these two functions, two independent clients have been developed that work specifically for remote monitoring and diffraction image evaluation. In the macromolecular crystallography beamlines at PF, beamline control is performed using STARS (simple transmission and retrieval system). The system adopts a client,server style in which client programs communicate with each other through a server process using the STARS protocol. This is an advantage of the extension of the system; implementation of these new functions required few modifications of the existing system. [source] The relative role of dispersal and local interactions for alpine plant community diversity under simulated climate warmingOIKOS, Issue 8 2007Kari Klanderud Most studies on factors determining diversity are conducted in temperate or warm regions, whereas studies in climatically harsh and low productivity areas, such as alpine regions, are rare. We examined the relative roles of seed availability and different biotic and abiotic factors for the diversity of an alpine plant community in southern Norway. Furthermore, because climate warming is predicted to be an important driver of alpine species diversity, we assessed how the relative impacts of dispersal and local interactions on diversity might change under experimental warming (open top chambers, OTCs). Addition of seeds from 27 regional species increased community diversity. The establishment of the species was negatively related both to the diversity of the existing system and the cover of the abundant dwarf shrub Dryas octopetala. These results show that both species dispersal limitation and local biotic interactions are important factors for alpine plant community diversity. Despite relatively harsh environmental conditions and low productivity, competition from the resident vegetation appeared to have a greater role for species establishment and diversity than facilitation and experimental warming. Higher temperature appeared to increase the negative relationship between resident species diversity and species establishment. This may suggest that climate warming can increase the role of interspecific competition for alpine plant community structure, and thus alter the long-term effects of biotic interactions on diversity. [source] Upgrading Patients with Chronic Defibrillator Leads to a Biventricular System and Reducing Patient Risk: Contralateral LV Lead PlacementPACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 9 2006DAVID J. FOX Increasing numbers of patients with indwelling single- or dual- chamber internal cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) will require upgrading of an existing system to a biventricular ICD providing cardiac resynchronization with back-up defibrillation. Upgrading, usually by the addition of a new left ventricular (LV) lead, can be technically challenging with central venous occlusion or stenosis often being the main obstacle to a successful procedure. We report a new technique of implanting a LV lead from the contralateral side to the existing ICD system to minimize the peri- and postoperative risk to the patient. [source] Pavement Deformation Monitoring in a Rolling Load FacilityTHE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC RECORD, Issue 97 2001Jon P. Mills This paper describes work undertaken to measure deformation of a pavement within the Newcastle University Rolling Load Facility (NUROLF). Precise three dimensional measurements of the pavement have been produced from stereo-imagery taken with diVerent cameras, using both analytical and digital photogrammetric instrumentation. The photogrammetric measurements, and those from the existing system consisting of an array of linear voltage displacement transducers, have been compared with measurements produced using a digital level. Encouraging results have been achieved and photogrammetry has been shown to be capable of producing a similar accuracy to the existing system. There are many advantages associated with a photogrammetric survey but attempts to establish a permanent, automated photogrammetric system for the rolling load facility at a reasonable cost have so far been unsuccessful. It is anticipated that, with the falling cost of high resolution digital sensors, such a system will soon be possible. [source] Absence of significant dissent should be sufficient for deceased donor organ procurement in New ZealandAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 5 2009Thomas M. Douglas Abstract Objective: New Zealand's organ donation rates are among the lowest in the OECD. In a bid to increase organ availability, the New Zealand Human Tissue Act 2008 introduces new consent arrangements for deceased donor organ procurement. This article assesses these new arrangements and presents the case for further reform. Approach: Our assessment and arguments are based on philosophical analysis informed by empirical data on the effectiveness of alternative consent systems. We: 1) Identify widely held ethical judgments about policies and practices relevant to organ donation (e.g. those relating to coronial post-mortems), 2) Assess the implications of these judgments for the Human Tissue Act and the assumptions that underpin it, and 3) Derive policy recommendations that are consistent with the judgments. Conclusion: The Human Tissue Act 2008 retains a strong consent requirement for organ procurement: organs may not be transplanted unless either the deceased or the family consents. We argue that organ availability could and should be increased by shifting from a model that requires consent to one that requires the absence of significant dissent. Implications: We recommend that New Zealand adopt either 1) an organ donation system similar to the existing system for ordering coronial post-mortems, or 2) a variant of the ,opt-out' system already in place in several other countries. [source] Scoring corporate environmental and sustainability reports using GRI 2000, ISO 14031 and other criteriaCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002Prof. J. Emil Morhardt The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which current voluntary corporate environmental reports meet the requirements of two new sets of guidelines: (i) the Global Reporting Initiative GRI 2000 sustainability reporting guidelines and (ii) the ISO 14031 environmental performance evaluation standard. We converted them to comprehensiveness scoring systems then used them along with three existing comprehensiveness scoring systems to evaluate the 1999 reports of 40 of the largest global industrial companies. Many of the reports scored highly with the existing systems, but the GRI and ISO guidelines are much more detailed and comprehensive, and resulted in much lower scores. In particular, the economic and social topics that make up 42% of the potential GRI score and the environmental condition indicators that make up 22% of the ISO 14031 score were minimally addressed in all of the companies' environmental reports. Current reporting practices of the companies whose reports we examined here are well below the standards reflected in the GRI and ISO 14031 guidelines, even when the reports scored well with existing report scoring systems. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [source] Valuing health: a new proposalHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2010Daniel M. Hausman Abstract After criticizing existing systems of health measurement for their unargued commitment to evaluating health states in terms of preferences or well-being, this essay argues that public rather than private values of health states should help guide the allocation of health-related resources. Private evaluation of health states is relative to a prior individual choice of specific activities and goals, while public evaluation is relative to the whole range of important activities and goals. Public evaluation is concerned with securing a wide range of choices as well as with success given one's choice. A reasonable simplification from the public perspective is to focus on just two features of health states: the subjective feelings attached to health states and the limitations that health states imply on the range of important activities that individuals can pursue. Focusing on just these two dimensions permits the construction of a parsimonious classification of health states with regard to what matters most from the public perspective. This classification, which resembles those in the HALex and the Rosser and Kind Disability and Distress Index, might best be built on top of existing health-state classifications, by mapping the health states they define to activity-limitation/feeling pairs. To assign values to these pairs, I propose relying on deliberative groups to make comparisons among the pairs with respect to the relation ,is a more serious limitation on the range of objectives and good lives available to members of the population'. A ranking according to this property, is not a preference ranking, because it is not a ranking in terms of everything that matters to individuals. Working back from the weights attached to the activity-limitation/feeling pairs, one can impute weights for the health states in other classification systems that were mapped to those pairs. If those weights coincide roughly with current weights, then one legitimizes current weights and provides a vehicle for their public discussion and possible revision. If those weights do not coincide, then one has both an argument for revising current views of the cost effectiveness of treatments and policies and a method to carry out such a revision. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Does "Smarter" Lead to Safer?INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 4 2003An Assessment of the US Border Accords with Canada, Mexico The terrorist attacks of September 11 and their immediate aftermath along the US-Canadian and US-Mexican borders focused attention on border management strategies in ways previously unimaginable. Suddenly confronted by the fact that existing systems and processes were not particularly effective either at protecting security or facilitating legitimate traffic, the United States, in conjunction with the Canadian and Mexican Governments, demonstrated an uncharacteristic willingness to reconceptualize its approach to physical borders. While initiating a series of internal policy adjustments to secure themselves against terrorist threats, the US, Canadian, and Mexican Governments also signed two bilateral agreements , the 12 December 2001 United States-Canada Smart Border Declaration and the 22 March 2002 United States-Mexico Border Partnership Agreement. These agreements represent an important development in the US's relationship with each of its North American neighbours, acknowledging not only the deep economic, social, and cultural ties, but also the new reality that the United States cannot attain the additional security it desires through unilateral actions alone. Thus, while September 11 forced a reassessment of vulnerabilities, it simultaneously provided the United States an opportunity to work more systematically with its contiguous neighbours for security benefits, a realization likely to flow into other areas where the benefits of cooperation eclipse those of unilateralism. This paper analyses the first year of the two border accords, tracking their implementation and evaluating their successes and failures. Most importantly, the paper outlines outstanding challenges, highlights steps that the governments should take to achieve additional border security and efficiency, and draws conclusions regarding factors likely to make their efforts more, or less, successful. [source] "The principles of rational agriculture" by Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1752,1828).JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 6 2003An approach to the sustainability of cropping systems at the beginning of the 19th century Abstract The identification of quantitative fertility indicators for evaluating the sustainability of cropping and farming systems has become a major issue. This question has been extensively studied by the German agronomist Albrecht Daniel Thaer at the beginning of the 19h century. In this paper Thaer's work is set in its historical background, from the end of the 16th century (Palissy, 1580) to the middle of the 19th century (Liebig, 1840). Then the paper focuses on Thaer's quantitative and complex fertility scale (expressed in "fertility degrees"), which was based on soil properties, on the requirement of nutrients by plants, and on the cropping system (including crop rotation). Thaer expressed soil fertility and economic results as a function of rye production in "scheffel of rye per journal" (ca. 200 kg per hectare). He also proposed a scale to describe the intrinsic fertility of soil. Thaer used this approach to assess the effect of major German cropping systems on soil fertility. He applied it to eight theoretical systems and nine existing systems in a true modeling approach. Thaer completed the fertility evaluation for the nine existing systems with a detailed economical analysis commenting the limits and potentialities of each system. Thaer's approach was used with success during half a century as it combined numerous empirical findings on soils and fertilization with organic substances in a sophisticated model. Unfortunately and despite effective practical applications, the scientific foundations of Thaer's "Humus Theory" proved definitively false as soon as 1840 when Sprengel and Liebig published on mineral nutrition of plants. Thaer's work deserves to be rediscovered since it approaches the modern issue of the sustainability of cropping and farming systems. "Grundsätze der rationalen Landwirtschaft" von Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1752,1828). Ein Ansatz zur Nachhaltigkeit von Anbausystemen zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts Die Identifizierung von quantitativen Fruchtbarkeitsindikatoren, mit denen die Nachhaltigkeit von Anbau- und Bewirtschaftungssystemen evaluiert werden kann, ist ein wichtiges Thema geworden. Diese Frage wurde zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts von dem deutschen Agronomen Albrecht Daniel Thaer intensiv untersucht. In diesem Beitrag wird die Arbeit von Thaer in ihren historischen Zusammenhang gestellt, d.h. vom Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts (Palissy (1580)) bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts (Liebig (1840)). Anschließend wird Thaers komplexe quantitative Fruchtbarkeitsskala (ausgedrückt in "Fruchtbarkeitsgraden") vorgestellt, die auf Bodeneigenschaften, dem Nährstoffbedarf der Pflanzen und dem Anbausystem (einschließlich der Fruchtfolge) basierte. Thaer formulierte die Bodenfruchtbarkeit und ökonomische Resultate einer Kultur oder einer Fruchtfolge in "Scheffel Roggen pro Morgen" (ca. 200 kg pro Hektar). Thaer schlug auch eine Skala vor, um den inhärenten Wert des Bodens zu beschreiben. Er benutzte diesen Ansatz, um die Auswirkungen von in Deutschland verbreiteten Anbausystemen auf die Bodenfruchtbarkeit zu bestimmen. Er wandte diesen Ansatz auf acht theoretische und neun reale Systeme an, d.h. mit einem echten Modellierungs-Ansatz. Er vervollständigte die Beurteilung der Fruchtbarkeit der neun existierenden Systeme mit einer detaillierten wirtschaftlichen Analyse, wobei er die Grenzen und die Leistungsfähigkeit jedes Systems kommentierte. Thaers Ansatz wurde ein halbes Jahrhundert lang mit Erfolg benutzt, da er zahlreiche empirische Beobachtungen über Böden und Düngung mit organischen Substanzen in einem komplexen Modell vereinigt. Trotz erfolgreicher praktischer Anwendung erwiesen sich die wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen von Thaers "Humustheorie" schon 1840 definitiv als falsch, als Sprengel und Liebig ihre Arbeiten über die mineralische Ernährung der Pflanzen veröffentlichten. Thaers Werk verdient es, neu entdeckt zu werden, da es die aktuelle Frage nach der Nachhaltigkeit von Anbau- und Bewirtschaftungssystemen behandelt. [source] Search-based many-to-one component substitutionJOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 5 2008Nicolas Desnos Abstract In this paper, we present a search-based automatic many-to-one component substitution mechanism. When a component is removed from an assembly to overcome component obsolescence, failure or unavailability, most existing systems perform component-to-component (one-to-one) substitution. Thus, they only handle situations where a specific candidate component is available. As this is not the most frequent case, it would be more flexible to allow a single component to be replaced by a whole component assembly (many-to-one component substitution). We propose such an automatic substitution mechanism, which does not require the possible changes to be anticipated and which preserves the quality of the assembly. This mechanism requires components to be enhanced with ports, which provide synthetic information on components' assembling capabilities. Such port-enhanced components then constitute input data for a search-based mechanism that looks for possible assemblies using various heuristics to tame complexity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Measuring and Reporting CompetenciesNEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 110 2001Trudy H. Bers Measuring and reporting competencies requires the implementation of new and innovative processes that often conflict with existing systems of measuring and reporting learning outcomes. Examining the ways that some institutions have addressed these issues can be a useful starting point for educators as they begin planning competency-based programs. [source] Single-step affinity purification of recombinant proteins using a self-excising module from Neisseria meningitidis FrpCPROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 10 2008Lenka Sadilkova Abstract Purification of recombinant proteins is often a challenging process involving several chromatographic steps that must be optimized for each target protein. Here, we developed a self-excising module allowing single-step affinity chromatography purification of untagged recombinant proteins. It consists of a 250-residue-long self-processing module of the Neisseria meningitidis FrpC protein with a C-terminal affinity tag. The N terminus of the module is fused to the C terminus of a target protein of interest. Upon binding of the fusion protein to an affinity matrix from cell lysate and washing out contaminating proteins, site-specific cleavage of the Asp,Pro bond linking the target protein to the self-excising module is induced by calcium ions. This results in the release of the target protein with only a single aspartic acid residue added at the C terminus, while the self-excising affinity module remains trapped on the affinity matrix. The system was successfully tested with several target proteins, including glutathione-S-transferase, maltose-binding protein, ,-galactosidase, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, and adenylate cyclase, and two different affinity tags, chitin-binding domain or poly-His. Moreover, it was demonstrated that it can be applied as an alternative to two currently existing systems, based on the self-splicing intein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and sortase A of Staphylococcus aureus. [source] Cyclic olefin homopolymer-based microfluidics for protein crystallization and in situ X-ray diffractionACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 9 2009Soheila Emamzadah Microfluidics is a promising technology for the rapid identification of protein crystallization conditions. However, most of the existing systems utilize silicone elastomers as the chip material which, despite its many benefits, is highly permeable to water vapour. This limits the time available for protein crystallization to less than a week. Here, the use of a cyclic olefin homopolymer-based microfluidics system for protein crystallization and in situ X-ray diffraction is described. Liquid handling in this system is performed in 2,mm thin transparent cards which contain 500 chambers, each with a volume of 320,nl. Microbatch, vapour-diffusion and free-interface diffusion protocols for protein crystallization were implemented and crystals were obtained of a number of proteins, including chicken lysozyme, bovine trypsin, a human p53 protein containing both the DNA-binding and oligomerization domains bound to DNA and a functionally important domain of Arabidopsis Morpheus' molecule 1 (MOM1). The latter two polypeptides have not been crystallized previously. For X-ray diffraction analysis, either the cards were opened to allow mounting of the crystals on loops or the crystals were exposed to X-rays in situ. For lysozyme, an entire X-ray diffraction data set at 1.5,Å resolution was collected without removing the crystal from the card. Thus, cyclic olefin homopolymer-based microfluidics systems have the potential to further automate protein crystallization and structural genomics efforts. [source] Predictive and discriminating three-risk-group prognostic scoring system for staging Hodgkin lymphomasCANCER, Issue 2 2007Delphine Maucort-Boulch MD Abstract BACKGROUND. Several 3-stage Ann Arbor classification-derived prognostic systems were constructed since 1980 to identify the prognosis of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Modern statistical tools were applied to 955 patients treated between 1981 and 1996 to build a 3-stage prognostic scoring system (PSS). METHODS. Each variable associated with 10-year overall survival (10-year OS) was assigned to 2 (0 or 1) or 3 (0, 1 or 3) values. By summing the values attributed to each variable, 3 stages were defined. 10-year OS, 5-year event-free survival (5-year EFS), and freedom from progression (5-year FFP) rates of the PSS and of other existing systems were then compared. RESULTS. Four variables were associated with 10-year OS: age (<40 = 0, ,40 = 1), number of involved lymphoid areas (1,2 = 0, 3,4 = 1, ,5 = 2), visceral disease (no = 0, yes = 1), and systemic symptoms (no = 0, yes = 1). Scores 0 and 1, 2 and 3, and ,4 were attributed to 59.7%, 30.9%, and 9.4% of the patients who had 10-year OS rates of 93.5, 75.7, and 53.4% and 5-year EFS / 5-year FFP rates of 91.2%/90.3%, 78.1%/76.3%, and 54.1%/52.6%, respectively. The discrimination and prediction abilities of the PSS were better than those of the other systems tested; moreover, the PSS adequately identified the few patients with a worse prognosis without resorting to the International Prognostic Score for advanced stages. The PSS was also highly predictive for 489 patients treated between 1997 and 2002. CONCLUSION. PSS is a useful alternative to the existing prognostic systems for evaluating HL patients. Cancer 2007. © 2006 American Cancer Society. [source] CO2 and SnII Adducts of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes as Delayed-Action Catalysts for Polyurethane SynthesisCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 13 2009Bhasker Bantu Abstract Catalytic rivals: Both CO2 -protected tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ylidene-based N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and SnII -1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene, as well as SnII -1,3-dimesitylimidazolin-2-ylidene complexes (example displayed), have been identified as truly latent catalysts for polyurethane (PUR) synthesis rivaling all existing systems both in activity and latency. A series of CO2 -protected pyrimidin-2-ylidenes as well as 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene and dimesitylimidazolin-2-ylidene complexes of SnII have been prepared. Selected single-crystal X-ray structures are reported. The new compounds were investigated for their catalytic behavior in polyurethane (PUR) synthesis. All compounds investigated showed excellent catalytic activity, rivaling the industrially most relevant catalyst dibutyltin dilaurate. Even more important, all compounds displayed pronounced latent behavior, in selected cases rivaling and exceeding the industrially relevant latent catalyst phenylmercury neodecanoate both in terms of latency and catalytic activity. This allows for creating one-component PUR systems with improved pot lifetimes. Pseudo-second-order kinetics were found for both CO2 -protected tetrahyropyrimidin-2-ylidenes and for [SnCl2(1,3-dimesityldihydroimidazol-2-ylidene)], indicating a fast pre-catalyst decomposition prior to polyurethane formation. 1,3-Di(2-propyl)tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ylidene was additionally found to be active in the cyclotrimerization of various isocyanates, offering access to a broad variability in polymer structure, that is, creating both urethane and isocyanurate moieties within the same polymer. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||