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Background Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) is physiologically confined to gastric mucosa tight junctions; however, upon malignant transformation, perturbations in cell polarity lead to CLDN18.2 epitopes being exposed on the cancer cell surface. The first-in-class monoclonal antibody, zolbetuximab (formerly known as IMAB362), binds to CLDN18.2 and can induce immune-mediated lysis of CLDN18.2-positive cells. Patients and methods Patients with advanced gastric, gastro-oesophageal junction (GEJ) or oesophageal adenocarcinomas with moderate-to-strong CLDN18.2 expression in ≥50% of tumour cells received zolbetuximab intravenously every 2 weeks for five planned infusions. At least three patients were enrolled in two sequential cohorts (cohort 1300 mg/m2; cohort 2600 mg/m2); additional patients were enrolled into a dose-expansion cohort (cohort 3600 mg/m2). The primary end point was the objective response rate [ORR: complete and partial response (PR)]; secondary end points included clinical benefit [ORR+stable disease (SD)], progression-free survival, safety/tolerability, and zolbetuximab pharmacokinetic profile. Results From September 2010 to September 2012, 54 patients were enrolled (cohort 1, n = 4; cohort 2, n = 6; cohort 3, n = 44). Three patients in cohort 1 and 25 patients in cohorts 2/3 received at least 5 infusions. Antitumour activity data were available for 43 patients, of whom 4 achieved PR (ORR 9%) and 6 (14%) had SD for a clinical benefit rate of 23%. In a subgroup of patients with moderate-to-high CLDN18.2 expression in ≥70% of tumour cells, ORR was 14% (n = 4/29). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 81.5% (n = 44/54) patients; nausea (61%), vomiting (50%), and fatigue (22%) were the most frequent. Conclusions Zolbetuximab monotherapy was well tolerated and exhibited antitumour activity in patients with CLDN18.2-positive advanced gastric or GEJ adenocarcinomas, with response rates similar to those reported for single-agent targeted agents in gastric/GEJ cancer trials. ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01197885.

This study analyzed a design fire curve in accordance with of an ignition heat source in a compartment. For this purpose, a structure with a 1:3 reduced scale of the ISO 9705 room corner tester was fabricated using fireboard, and the time variant heat release rate was calculated according to the volume of a polyethylene foam combustible. To predict the design fire curve, the exponential equation proposed in a previous study was compared with the heat release rate measured in a fire experiment. The retard index, which is the main factor used to predicting the time required to reach the maximum heat release rate, decreased proportion to the ignition heat source. This relationship was presented in an empirical equation. Especially, the retard index decreased according to the size of the ignition heat source regardless of the volume of the polyethylene foam combustible. By establishing experimental data considering the type and change in the volume of combustibles, the findings of this study can be used to create improved design fire curve prediction models.

We present results from an international model comparison study involving a series of controlled fault activation experiments in Opalinus Clay at the Mont Terri Laboratory, Switzerland. The fault activation experiments were conducted in situ by water injection at variable pressure from boreholes targeting different parts of the Main Fault crossing several tunnels and galleries of the Mont Terri Laboratory. The model simulations focused on (1) an experiment activating a discontinuity (fracture or minor fault) within the damage zone of the main fault, and (2) an experiment activating discontinuities close to the core of the Main Fault. The experimental data consist of coupled hydraulic and mechanical responses monitored at an injection borehole and a monitoring borehole located a few meters away. After overcoming several modeling issues along with necessary model developments, a reasonably good agreement was achieved between the modeling results and the field observations. The fault activation experiments displayed an abrupt flow rate increase associated with a sudden fracture opening and rupture propagation after the injection pressure reached above the estimated normal stress on the fracture. This was followed by an abrupt flow rate decrease, indicating hydraulic closing, once the injection pressure decreases to an estimated 1–2 MPa below the stress normal to the opened fracture. The models were able to capture this abrupt hydromechanical behavior, including an observed dominant opening behavior along with the rupture propagation, while the spatial extent of the shear rupture and the quantity of peak injection flow were the most challenging to predict.

MYCN amplification and overexpression are common in neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). However, the impact of aberrant N-Myc expression in prostate tumorigenesis and the cellular origin of NEPC have not been established. We define N-Myc and activated AKT1 as oncogenic components sufficient to transform human prostate epithelial cells to prostate adenocarcinoma and NEPC with phenotypic and molecular features of aggressive, late-stage human disease. We directly show that prostate adenocarcinoma and NEPC can arise from a common epithelial clone. Further, N-Myc is required for tumor maintenance, and destabilization of N-Myc through Aurora A kinase inhibition reduces tumor burden. Our findings establish N-Myc as a driver of NEPC and a target for therapeutic intervention.

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. We numerically model the thermal-hydrological-mechanical (THM) processes within the rock mass surrounding a cavern used for thermal energy storage (TES). We consider a cylindrical rock cavern with a height of 50 m and a radius of 10 m storing thermal energy of 350 °C as a conceptual TES model, and simulate its operation for thirty years. At first, the insulator performance are not considered for the purpose of investigating the possible coupled THM behavior of the surrounding rock mass; then, the effects of an insulator are examined for different insulator thicknesses. The key concerns are hydro-thermal multiphase flow and heat transport in the rock mass around the thermal storage cavern, the effect of evaporation of rock mass, thermal impact on near the ground surface and the mechanical behavior of the surrounding rock mass. It is shown that the rock temperature around the cavern rapidly increases in the early stage and, consequently, evaporation of groundwater occurs, raising the fluid pressure. However, evaporation and multiphase flow does not have a significant effect on the heat transfer and mechanical behavior in spite of the high-temperature (350 °C) heat source. The simulations showed that large-scale heat flow around a cavern is expected to be conduction-dominated for a reasonable value of rock mass permeability. Thermal expansion as a result of the heating of the rock mass from the storage cavern leads to a ground surface uplift on the order of a few centimeters, and to the development of tensile stress above the storage cavern, increasing the potentials for shear and tensile failures after a few years of the operation. Finally, the analysis shows that high tangential stress in proximity of the storage cavern can some shear failure and local damage, although large rock wall failure could likely be controlled with appropriate insulators and reinforcement.

Background Despite treatment advances, gastric cancer (GC) remains a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Standard first-line chemotherapeutic regimen for advanced GC consists of fluoropyrimidine with platinum-based combinations, such as capecitabine + oxaliplatin (CAPOX). Recently, CLDN18.2 has emerged as a promising targetable biomarker. In healthy tissue, CLDN18.2 is confined to gastric mucosa tight junctions. Upon malignant transformation, cell polarity perturbations lead to exposure of CLDN18.2 on the cell surface. Zolbetuximab is a chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to CLDN18.2 and mediates cell death through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity. In a randomized phase II study (NCT01630083), patients (pts) with CLDN18.2+advanced GC/GEJ treated with zolbetuximab + epirubicin, oxaliplatin, and capecitabine (EOX) showed prolonged survival compared to EOX alone. Trial design This global, phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (NCT03653507) will enroll ∼500 adult pts with CLDN18.2+/HER2– locally advanced unresectable or metastatic GC or GEJ not previously treated with chemotherapy for advanced/metastatic disease. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive zolbetuximab + CAPOX or placebo + CAPOX. Zolbetuximab will be administered by IV infusion as an 800 mg/m2 loading dose (Cycle 1, Day 1) followed by 600 mg/m2 Q3W in combination with CAPOX. Tumor tissue will be collected at screening to determine CLDN18.2 and HER2 status (if unknown) by central testing; pts will be considered CLDN18.2+ if ≥ 75% of tumor cells demonstrate moderate-to-strong membranous IHC staining. The primary objective is to compare progression-free survival of zolbetuximab + CAPOX vs placebo + CAPOX; secondary efficacy objectives include comparison of overall survival, objective response rate, and duration of response. The safety/tolerability profile, effects on health-related quality-of-life, PK profile, and immunogenicity of zolbetuximab are other secondary endpoints. Clinical trial identification NCT03653507. Editorial acknowledgement Patrick Tucker of OPEN Health Medical Communications. Legal entity responsible for the study Astellas Pharma, Inc. Funding Astellas Pharma, Inc. Disclosure J.A. Ajani: Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (self): Astellas. S. Al-Batran: Advisory / Consultancy: BMS; Advisory / Consultancy, Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony, Research grant / Funding (institution): Celgene; Advisory / Consultancy, Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony, Research grant / Funding (institution): Lilly; Advisory / Consultancy: Merck; Advisory / Consultancy, Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony: Roche; Advisory / Consultancy: Servier; Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony: Nordic Bioscience; Research grant / Funding (institution): Hospira; Research grant / Funding (institution): Medac; Research grant / Funding (institution): Novartis; Research grant / Funding (institution): Vifor Pharma; Research grant / Funding (self): Roche Pharma AG. Y. Bang: Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): AstraZeneca; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Novartis; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Genentech/Roche; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): MSD; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Merck Serano; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Bayer; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): BMS; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Eli Lilly; Research grant / Funding (institution): GSK; Research grant / Funding (institution): Pfizer; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Taiho; Advisory / Consultancy: Daiich-Sankyo; Research grant / Funding (institution): Boehringer Ingelheim; Research grant / Funding (institution): MacroGenics; Research grant / Funding (institution): Boston Biomedical; Research grant / Funding (institution): FivePrime; Research grant / Funding (institution): Curis; Research grant / Funding (institution): Takeda; Research grant / Funding (institution): Ono; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Astellas; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): BieGene; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): GreenCross; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Genexine; Advisory / Consultancy: Samyang Biopharm; Advisory / Consultancy: Hanmi; Research grant / Funding (institution): CKD Pharma. D.V. Catenacci: Advisory / Consultancy: Astellas; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Merck; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: BMS; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Lilly; Honoraria (self): Gritstone; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Taiho; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Genentech/Roche; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Daiichi Sankyo. P. Enzinger: Advisory / Consultancy: Merck; Advisory / Consultancy: Astellas; Advisory / Consultancy: Celgene; Advisory / Consultancy: Lilly; Advisory / Consultancy: Loxo; Advisory / Consultancy: Taiho. D. Ilson: Advisory / Consultancy: Astellas. S. Kim: Honoraria (self): Merck. F. Lordick: Honoraria (self): Astellas; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: BMS; Honoraria (self): AstraZeneca; Advisory / Consultancy: Biontech; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Lilly; Honoraria (self): Elsevier; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Infomedica; Honoraria (self): Merck; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy, Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: MSD; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy, Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Roche; Honoraria (self): Servier; Honoraria (self): Amgen; Honoraria (self): Nordic Group; Honoraria (self): Ganymed Pharma; Research grant / Funding (institution): Boehringer Ingelheim; Research grant / Funding (institution): Fresenius Biotech; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Taiho Pharma. K. Shitara: Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Astellas Pharma; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Eli Lilly; Advisory / Consultancy: BMS; Advisory / Consultancy: Takeda; Advisory / Consultancy: Pfizer; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Ono Pharmaceutical; Honoraria (institution): Novartis; Honoraria (institution): AbbVie; Honoraria (institution): Yakult; Research grant / Funding (institution): Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma; Research grant / Funding (institution): Daiichi Sankyo; Research grant / Funding (institution): Taiho Pharmaceutical; Research grant / Funding (institution): Chugai pharma; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): MSD; Research grant / Funding (institution): Medi Science. E. Van Cutsem: Advisory / Consultancy: Astellas; Advisory / Consultancy: AstraZeneca; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Bayer; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Bristol-Myers Squibb; Research grant / Funding (institution): Boehringer Ingelheim; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Celgene; Advisory / Consultancy: Incyte; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Eli Lilly; Research grant / Funding (institution): Ipsen; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Merck Sharp & Dohme; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Merck KGaA; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Novartis; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Roche; Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution): Servier; Research grant / Funding (institution): Amgen. A. Arozullah: Full / Part-time employment: Astellas Pharma Global Development. J.W. Park: Full / Part-time employment: Astellas Pharma Global Development. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

This paper proposes the new hybrid energy storage system with the superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) and a lead-acid battery. The SMES is the most effective energy storage device due to its high power density, fast response, and high efficiency. However, its energy density is not higher than that of other batteries. Therefore, the proposed hybrid energy storage system combines these two energy storage devices. The optimal sizes of the SMES and battery are determined by considering the system cost, output power reference, and their proper efficiencies. Also, the new control algorithm is applied to share the charging and discharging powers effectively and therefore to manage the state-of-charge (SOC) in each energy storage device. Then, the performance of proposed hybrid energy storage system is evaluated on a residential photovoltaic (PV) system with respect to energy capacity, peak load leveling, and system efficiency.

Empirical models for the shear behavior of rock joints are suggested from the results of direct shear tests using a servo-controlled shear testing machine. Cement mortar replicas of rock joints are tested while varying the normal stiffness, initial normal stress, joint roughness coefficient and joint wall compressive strength. The test results are analyzed to investigate the effects of loading conditions and material properties on the surface resistance index and normal displacement behavior of the joints. In this study, the ratio of the shear stress to normal stress was defined as the surface resistance index because it shows friction-related characteristics between joint surfaces. Empirical models of the surface resistance index and normal displacement behavior are suggested. In the empirical models, dimensionless terms are adopted to avoid the scale effect and thus enhance the applicability of the suggested models. The suggested models can be applied to predict the shear behavior of rock joints, including pre-peak and post-peak shear stress levels, regardless of the loading condition. To verify the suggested models, additional shear tests of the rock joints and cement mortar replica specimens are carried out, and the performance of the models is compared with those of other models such as Barton׳s empirical model. The suggested models are applied to the test results of previous studies. The predictions of the suggested models corresponded well with the experimental results for the overall stress levels.

A numerical method to determine the contact areas of a rock joint under normal and shear loads is proposed. The method requires only three-dimensional surface coordinates at the initial stage before shearing, while some disparate materials are inserted between the joint surfaces or particular equipments are adopted for measurement of the contact areas during the test in other conventional methods. The joint surface is modeled as a group of triangular planes, and the contact condition of each plane is examined by calculating the relative displacements of both surfaces from their initial locations. To verify the method, a direct shear test on a rock joint was simulated using a bonded particle model in a discrete element code. The locations of the contact areas observed in the simulation showed good agreement with those determined using the proposed method. To characterize the roughness of the joint surface including the contact area, the concept of ‘active and inactive micro-slope angle’ was defined based on the apparent inclination of the triangular element to the shear direction. To apply these techniques, the experimental results of shear tests on replicas of rock joints were analyzed for the location, size and micro-slope angle of contact areas according to the following shearing stages: pre-peak, peak, post-peak and residual. The locations of the contact areas were closely correlated with the distribution of the micro-slope angle, which indicates that the joint roughness should be qualified with respect to the shear direction and the corresponding contact area. Additionally, the proposed method was applied to estimation of the distribution of aperture size within a rock joint.

This paper presents the design of a NAND flash based solid state disk (SSD), which can support various storage access patterns commonly observed in a PC environment. It is based on a hybrid model of high-performance SLC (single-level cell) NAND and low cost MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash memories. Typically, SLC NAND has a higher transfer rate and greater cell endurance than MLC NAND flash memory. MLC NAND, on the other hand, benefits from lower price and higher capacity. In order to achieve higher performance than traditional SSDs, an interleaving technique that places NAND flash chips in parallel is essential. However, using the traditional FTL (flash translation layer) on an SSD with only MLC NAND chips is inefficient because the size of a logical block becomes large as the mapping address unit grows. In this paper, we proposed a HFTL (hybrid flash translation layer) which makes use of chained-blocks, combining SLC NAND and MLC NAND flash memories in parallel. Experimental results show that for most of the traces studied, the HFTL in an SSD configuration composed of 80% MLC NAND and 20% SLC NAND memories can improve performance compared to other solid state disk configurations, composed of either SLC NAND or MLC NAND flash memory alone.

In order to guarantee both performance and programmability demands in 3D graphics applications, vector and multithreaded SIMD architectures have been employed in recent graphics processing units. This paper introduces a novel instruction-systolic array architecture, which transfers an instruction stream in a pipelined fashion to efficiently share the expensive functional resources of a graphics processor. Specifically, cache misses and dynamic branches can cause additional latencies and complicated management in these parallel architectures. To address this problem, we combine a systolic execution scheme with on-demand warp activation that handles cache miss latency and branch divergence efficiently without significantly increasing hardware resources, either in terms of logic or register space. Simulation indicates that the proposed architecture offers 25% better performance than a traditional SIMD architecture with the same resources, and requires significantly fewer resources to match the performance of a typical modern vector multi-threaded GPU architecture.

Rock joints were numerically simulated, and an extensive series of direct shear tests were carried out using the code PFC3D. The feasibility of reproducing a rock joint using the contact bond model was demonstrated, and the effects of the geometrical features and the micro-properties of a joint on its shear behavior were examined. Asperity failure was observed from the micro-cracks and contact force distribution, as well as the stresses and displacements in shear and normal directions. A rough joint with a joint roughness coefficient (JRC) value ranging from 10 to 20 was produced in an intact sample by defining the joint-contacts along a predefined joint surface. To simulate a decrease in joint wall strength (JCS) caused by weathering and alterations, the bond strength between particles involved in the joint-contacts was reduced by up to 70%. The shear behavior and failure progress at a given stress corresponded well to those observed in laboratory tests. The friction coefficient was the most important factor governing the shear strength and dilation angle. The variation in joint roughness and contact bond strength had a larger effect on the cohesion than peak friction angle. In addition, a new approach to represent JRC and JCS values of a joint was proposed for practical use. A numerical 3D-profile scanning technique was developed to evaluate the actual JRC of the simulated joint, and the relationship between the JCS and the contact bond strength was investigated.

Oil price shocks have a statistically significant impact on real stock returns contemporaneously and/or within the following month in the U.S. and 13 European countries over 1986:1–2005:12. Norway as an oil exporter shows a statistically significantly positive response of real stock returns to an oil price increase. The median result from variance decomposition analysis is that oil price shocks account for a statistically significant 6% of the volatility in real stock returns. For many European countries, but not for the U.S., increased volatility of oil prices significantly depresses real stock returns. The contribution of oil price shocks to variability in real stock returns in the U.S. and most other countries is greater than that of interest rate. An increase in real oil price is associated with a significant increase in the short-term interest rate in the U.S. and eight out of 13 European countries within one or two months. Counter to findings for the U.S. and for Norway, there is little evidence of asymmetric effects on real stock returns of positive and negative oil price shocks for oil importing European countries.

This paper presents the design of an infinite horizon nonlinear optimal neurocontroller that replaces the conventional automatic voltage regulator and the turbine governor (CONVC) for the control of a synchronous generator connected to an electric power grid. The neurocontroller design uses the novel optimization neuro-dynamic programming algorithm based on dual heuristic programming (DHP), which has the most robust control capability among the adaptive critic designs family. The radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) is used as the function approximator to implement the DHP technique. The DHP based optimal neurocontroller (DHPNC) using the RBFNN shows improved dynamic damping compared to the CONVC even when a power system stabilizer is added. Also, the DHPNC provides a robust feedback loop in real-time operation without the need for continual on-line training, thus reducing any risk of possible instability associated with the neural network based controllers.

This paper proposes a data cache with small space for low power, but high performance on multimedia applications. The basic architecture is a split-cache consisting of a direct-mapped cache with small block size (DMC) and a fully-associative buffer with large block size (FAB). To overcome the disadvantage caused by small cache areas, two hardware mechanisms are enhanced considering the operational behaviors of multimedia applications: an adaptive multi-block prefetching to initiate various fetch sizes for FAB and an efficient block filtering to remove the data likely to be rarely reused for DMC. The simulations on MediaBench show that the proposed 5kB cache can achieve up to 57% and 50% of power saving while providing almost equal and better performance compared with the 16kB 4-way set associative cache and 17kB stream caches, respectively.

This paper discusses the preparation and characterization of porous pellet filters for a diesel particulate filter (DPF). The process for creating the porous ceramic pellets was developed using simple gelcasting and a bubble-in-water-in-oil type of pseudo-double-emulsion. The pellets, consisting of a foamed cordierite suspension, were dispersed and consolidated in spherical shapes in liquid paraffin as gelation progressed, and were prepared by a conventional mechanical foaming method combined with gelcasting. In comparison with a wall-flow filter, the pellet filter has the advantages of being free of cracks during regeneration and having a flexible shape. Experiments were conducted in a test simulation of diesel engine exhaust conditions. Pressure drop and particle loading rate were compared using two pellet filters having porosities of 70% and 0%, respectively. Regeneration capability was also tested. The filter which mixed 1 and 2 mm pellets demonstrated feasibility as a DPF.

Microarchitecture is difficult to be evaluated on the silicon level, due to the time and cost. Accordingly, most researches rely on cycle-accurate simulators to evaluate the performance. At the time of development, the cycle-accurate simulator must have been validated. However, off-the-shelf processors have been continuously improved, since the cycle-accurate simulator was developed. Thus, the improved features should be implemented into the simulator for accurate performance evaluation. In order to explore the accuracy of the cycle-accurate simulator, we modified the cycle-accurate model (Sim-Outorder) of Simplescalar suite to adopt off-the-shelf processor (ARM1136) features. The difference between the IPC (instruction per cycle) of the modified model (Sim-ARM1136) and the IPC of the original model (Sim-Outorder) is 19%, on average. Furthermore, it is difficult to find a relation between the simulation results from Sim-ARM1136 and those from Sim-Outorder, which might mislead to different conclusions.

The aim of this study was to compare the volume and the pH level of preoperative gastric contents and serum gastrin concentrations between pregnant and nonpregnant women.This prospective controlled study was conducted in a single blind manner.One hundred pregnant women scheduled for elective cesarean delivery (pregnant group) and 100 nonpregnant women who underwent gynecologic surgery (nonpregnant group) were enrolled.Gastric content was aspirated gently with 14-F multiorificed nasogastric tube before the induction of anesthesia.The volume and the pH level of the aspirated gastric contents were measured, and serum gastrin concentration was measured by the double antibody gastrin method.The gastric volume in the pregnant group was greater than in the nonpregnant group (0.49 +/- 0.4 vs 0.24 +/- 0.2 mL/kg, P.05). The gastric pH level in the pregnant group was lower than in the nonpregnant group (2.4 +/- 1.4 vs 3.0 +/- 1.9, P.05). The number of patients at risk was 45 (45.5%) in the pregnant group and 16 (16.7%) in the nonpregnant group (P.05). The serum gastrin levels of the 2 groups were not significantly different (32.1 +/- 12.3 vs 28.2 +/- 8.3 pg/mL). The preoperative anxiety level of the pregnant group was higher than in the nonpregnant group (4.4 +/- 2.1 vs 3.8 +/- 2.2, P.05).We confirmed that pregnant women have much greater and more acidic gastric contents than the nonpregnant patients preoperatively, and it is not because of serum gastrin concentration.

In this paper, the dual heuristic programming (DHP) optimization algorithm is applied for the design of two LOCAL nonlinear optimal neuro-controllers on a practical multi-machine power system. One neuro-controller is designed to replace the conventional linear controllers, which are the automatic voltage regulator (AVR) and speed-governor (GOV), for a synchronous generator. The other is a new external neuro-controller for the series capacitive reactance compensator (SCRC), flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS) device. The PSCAD/EMTDC^(R) simulation results show that interactions of two DHP neuro-controllers with different control objectives improve the system performance more effectively compared to when each one operates without the presence of the other one.

An indirect adaptive neurocontrol scheme for a Static Compensator connected to a power system using two Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is presented in this paper. The ANNs are trained online and there is no need for offline data. The neurocontroller has a better performance in adaptively controlling the Static Compensator and damping the system transients, compared to conventional controllers. Preliminary results are provided to show the performance of the neurocontroller for large disturbances.

This paper presents the design of an infinite horizon optimal neurocontroller to replace the conventional controllers such as the automatic voltage regulator and governor for the control of a synchronous generator connected to an electric power grid. The neurocontroller design uses the dual heuristic programming (DHP) algorithm, which provides the most robust control capability among the adaptive critic designs (ACDs) family. The radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) is used as the function approximator to implement the DHP. The performances of the proposed optimal neurocontroller are evaluated and its stability issue in real-time operation is analysed.

We have developed a numerical code for simulating fully three-dimensional vesicle membranes. We will test candidate mathematical models of membranes and generate pictures and movies for comparison with microscopy experiment of red blood cells. Membrane shape changes as a dynamic process are based on physical principles, the Navier-Stokes fluid flow equations, and phase field method. Through our simulations, we will determine the strength of the shear flow conditions that compromise the integrity of a cell membrane. One beneficial application of this simulation is in the field of hematology. Since hematology deals with the behavior of red blood cells, the numerical experiment provides quantitative and visual data, which is challenging to extract experimentally. This project will become an important computational tool for understanding membrane fusion.