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Background Gut-directed hypnosis (GDH) is a complimentary therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), that can be learnt by patients to practice self-hypnosis. GDH in IBD has augmented remission and improved inflammation. GDH has a history of successful use for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In IBD it may also improve IBS-like symptoms in remission and recovery from surgery. GDH is suitable for youth and adult IBD patients. In hypnosis, a relaxed state is inducted then suggestions to subconscious mind processes are made. In IBD, the mechanism of action of GDH is unknown but may influence the disease stress response. Aims Aims are the development of a GDH self-hypnosis protocol for IBD, with appropriate target symptoms. Patients first learn to practice with a clinician, then as complimentary psychotherapy for remission augmentation, IBS-like symptoms, and surgery recovery. Methods GDH is practiced first with a clinician, and then by patients as self-hypnosis (table 1). Patients receive psycho-education on GDH for IBD. Next, appropriate treatment goals are made, based on target symptoms. Relaxation techniques induce patient to a deeply relaxed state. Therapeutic suggestions specific to patient goals are given: verbal suggestions, visualizations, and post-hypnotic suggestions. Suggestions can focus on having a healthy digestive system, inflammation and symptoms reduction, and achievement and sustainment of remission. Patients emerge from hypnosis, are debriefed, and encouraged to practice ongoing self-hypnosis. Results In IBD, GDH self-hypnosis can be learnt from clinicians and practiced by patients as a complimentary therapy. Patients’ achievement and sustainment of remission, with clinical markers of inflammation can be monitored. Patients can monitor subjective improvement of IBS-like symptoms and post surgery, recovery progress can be monitored. Conclusions GDH has a history of use for IBS. In IBD, it has been shown to modulate remission, and may improve IBS-like symptoms, and in surgery recovery. The mechanism of action of GDH in IBD may influence the disease stress response. Clinicians trained in GDH are limited currently. Patients may learn GDH self-hypnosis as a complimentary psychotherapy. Funding Agencies None

Formation control has been a popular research topic in recent years. This is primarily due to the the use of formation control to coordinate the movement of a swarm of robots. In this paper, with the primary objective of guaranteeing image overlap, a novel bird flocking inspired formation control algorithm was developed to control a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Our approach uses only stereo cameras, global positioning system (GPS), and inertial measurement units (IMUs), and removes the need of feature or pattern matching. By utilizing stereo cameras, virtual tracking points can be calculated. The convergence of these tracking points are chosen as the primary formation control goal because if the virtual tracking points are converged, it is guaranteed that the field of view of the cameras of the various UAVs always have some overlap. This allows for different types of stitching methods to be used to form a larger image with no gaps, depending on the configuration of tracking points. Five different control algorithms were developed: direct method, proportional integral derivative, bang-bang, short window model predictive, and long window model predictive. The formation controller was tested in three simulation environments to verify the robustness and the effectiveness of our algorithm.

Background: Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) has well documented systemic and local immunosuppressive mechanisms to escape immune surveillance and grow. GBM tumor cells as well as the microglia within it have a high incidence of PD-L1 surface expression which makes it more susceptible to anti-PD-L1 antagonism and ADCC through avelumab therapy. Methods: This is a single center, phase 2, open label, add-on, single dose study of 156 weeks duration in patients receiving standard therapy for newly diagnosed GBM. In total 30 patients will be entered into the study within 3 weeks of finishing their last day of combined radiotherapy/temozolomide. The following are the results of the first interim analysis completed when the first eight patients completed 52 weeks or an end of study visit. Results: 24 patients have so far started therapy. There as been no unexpected treatment emergent adverse event (TEAE). Two patients transiently withheld therapy because of immune related TEAE’s and none permanently. The objective response rate at week 52 for the first eight patients was 50% with 2 (25%) having a complete response and 1 (12.5%) a partial response. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that the addition of avelumab to standard therapy in patients with GBM is safe. Efficacy trends look promising.

The cyberspace dimension adds to the four dimensions traditionally associated with United States defense. Threats to cyberspace connote real threats to U.S. security interests. The nation's electric grid is one of the nation's critical infrastructures that is subject to cyber threats. The authors explore what institutional efforts have been taken to address these threats and conclude that a practice of information sharing would help normalize cyberwar toward a more traditional deterrence. In the twenty-first century, bits and bytes are as threatening as bullets and bombs… - William J. Lynn 1

The growing diversity of energy sources and an emerging and clearly established set of national security threats to the grid make its safekeeping a national imperative. Nationalizing the transmission grid cures the capital planning paralysis that plagues the new technology and infrastructure investments required to keep pace with the increasing demand and the evolving threats to the electrical grid.

A novel linear-dendritic block copolymer has been synthesized and evaluated for targeted delivery. The use of the dendron as the micellar exterior block in this architecture allows the presentation of a relatively small quantity of ligands in clusters for enhanced targeting, thus maintaining a long circulation time of these “patchy” micelles. The polypeptide linear hydrophobic block drives formation of micelles that carry core-loaded drugs, and their unique design gives them extremely high stability in vivo. We have found that these systems lead to extended time periods of increased accumulation in the tumor (up to 5 days) compared with nontargeted vehicles. We also demonstrate a fourfold increase in efficacy of paclitaxel when delivered in the targeted nanoparticle systems, while significantly decreasing in vivo toxicity of the chemotherapy treatment., National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.), National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (R01EB008082-01A2)

Errors in power system topology are difficult to handle with classical methods based on state estimation. This paper proposes a pre-processing method for detecting and identifying topology errors and bad measurements before a state estimator solution. Two algorithms are described. These are used at the substation level or at the substation voltage level. The first algorithm is more suited to systems (substations) where no switch flow measurements are available. Therefore, it does not require any additional measurements other than the ones currently used by the state estimator. The topology error detection uses a bus-branch model. The model relies on the connectivity information and on the impedance values of the non-zero impedance branches. The second algorithm is more suited to systems (substations) where some switch flow measurements are available. Even if these are not required by the algorithm, using them add redundancy and provides a more reliable solution. The topology error detection uses a bus section—switch device model. The model uses only branch connectivity. The first algorithm provides better results when no switch flow measurements are available. The second one is superior when some switch flow measurements are available. These algorithms complement each other and they can be use together to cover a much broader scope of the topology error detection and identification problem.

This paper proposes a coupled sliding-surface method for the design of trajectory control of a flexible-link robot. First, a sliding surface, coupling the joint velocity with the link bending moment at the joint, is defined based on the energy dynamics of the flexible link. Then a new trajectory–tracking control scheme is designed based on the coupled sliding surface, and extended to an adaptive scheme to cope with parametric uncertainties, where the Lyapunov stability theorem is used as a mathematical design tool. The proposed control is a collocated control designed based on a distributed-parameter dynamic model and hence is free from the so-called spillover instability. Using only the joint actuator, the proposed control guarantees stability throughout the entire trajectory control and asymptotic stability at desired goal positions. The proposed control is a PID control for the rigid dynamics and a proportional control for the flexible dynamics, with feed-forward and dynamics compensation. As a result,...

The urban world in which many of us live does not lend itself to the metric of Euclidean geometry. Assuming that the avenues are perpendicular to the streets in a city, the distance from “fifth and fifty-first” to “seventh and thirty-fourth” is not the familiar Euclidean distance found by applying the Pythagorean theorem. The distance must instead be measured in blocks from fifth to seventh avenues and then from fifty-first to thirty-fourth streets. This taxicab metric, one of several me tries used in mathematics (Eisenberg and Khabbaz 1992), is practical for many applications and helps students pursue interesting investigations while deepening their understanding of familiar topics.

The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) represents an interesting source of carbohydrate because of its high fructose content (75 % of total carbohydrates). An experiment on storage of two varieties of the Jerusalem artichoke tubers ('Kharkov' and 'Violet de Rennes') showed that the quality of tubers was preserved during the first 7 weeks of cold storage. Beyond this period, the loss in total carbohydrate content was evaluated at 0.19% for the 'Kharkov' and 0.26% for the 'Violet de Rennes' variety of the fresh matter/week. Between the seventh and the thirteenth week of cold storage the tubers lost about 16.7 % and 19.1 %, respectively, of their initial carbohydrates. From this study we came to the conclusion that storage at 4°C for the two varieties ('Kharkov' and 'Violet de Rennes') beyond 7 weeks would cause a decrease of general reserves in tubers.

A new view of teaching is emerging from the work of the constructivists and mathematics education reform leaders. In particular, we examine here four aspects of teaching that must change: task selection, guidance of classroom discourse, setting the learning environment, and the analysis of teaching and learning. Several national curriculum projects are working to effect these changes and examples of their work are provided. This work has motivated individual teachers to similarly design investigations that engage students in the study of significant mathematics, and two examples are included. Assessment must also change and students must learn to become less dependent on “authority” for the correctness of answers. Finally, our present understanding of constructivism and its implications for teaching/learning must not be static; though that view now may be at the center, we must listen to those who are on the edges and expect to be changed again and again in the years ahead.

Management of dental trauma in children sometimes requires the use of a dental splint. This can be constructed with composite materials, kevlar, fiberglass, wire and composite or orthodontic wires and brackets. However, there have been no studies of the control of dental movement when orthodontic materials are used for a dental splint. The purpose of this study was to determine the forces exerted by an orthodontic appliance used as a dental splint. To measure such forces, a transducer with a detection of 0.01 N (+/- 5%) was inserted into a maxillary dental arch model. The results showed that the orthodontic wire was rarely passive and the forces developed ranged from 0 to 27 x 10(-2) N. The force developed was independent of the length of the dental splint (p < 0.05) and wire size (p < 0.05). The mean force developed by nickel-titanium wires (14.27 x 10(-2) N) was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the mean force developed by stainless steel and cobalt-chromium wires. Moreover, the mean force developed by rectangular wires (12.07 x 10(-2) N) was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the mean force developed by square and round wires. The results suggested that stainless steel or cobalt-chromium, square or round wires should be used for construction of a dental splint.

The inclusive Kn, ¶, and {Mathematical expression} production has been studied in a {Mathematical expression} experiment performed in the Mirabelle bubble chamber at an incident beam momentum of 32.1 GeV/c. Total, topological and differential cross sections are presented and compared with those obtained at other energies. The invariant structure functions have been parametrised in the fragmentation region by a power law and are consistent with the expectations based on quark counting rules. © 1981 Springer-Verlag.

Heat treatment of sunflower oil resulted in the formation of linoleic geometrical and positional isomers. These isomers were isolated using a combination of column chromatography, urea fractionation, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C18 reverse phase column and silver nitrate thin layer chromatography (TLC). Each component was submitted to hydrazine reduction and the resulting monoenes to AgNO3-TLC. The resultingcis andtrans fractions were submitted to ozonolysis in BF3-MeOH in order to determine the position of the ethylenic bonds. The major isomers were thecis, trans andtrans, cis 18∶2 Δ9, 12, thetrans, trans 18∶2 Δ9, 12 and somecis, trans, trans, cis andtrans, trans 18∶2 conjugated dienes. Thecis, trans andtrans, cis conjugated dienes were the Δ9, 11, Δ10, 12, Δ11, 13 and Δ12, 14 while thetrans, trans isomers were the Δ9, 11, Δ10, 12 and Δ11, 13. These C18∶2 isomers also were detected in oils collected from restaurants and market vendors.

The simple form of interaction between [111] rows deduced from pseudo-potential theory is used to compute the core structure, the Peierls stress and the glide plane of a a/2 [111] screw dislocation at 0 K in b.c.c. lithium. Particular attention is given to the influence of the cut-off radius of the row interaction. It is found that the unstressed core structure and the stresses producing a movement of the dislocation are only weakly dependent on the cut-off radius. The glide plane is either {112} twinning or {112} antitwinning depending on the range of row interaction so that one cannot forecast what it could be if interactions are taken into account completely. On a utilise la forme simple de l'interaction entre rangees [111] deduite de la theorie des pseudopotentiels pour calculer, dans le lithium cubique centre, la structure de coeur, la contrainte de Peierls et le plan de glissement de la dislocation vis a/2 [111], a 0 K. One s'est particulierement interesse a 'influence du rayon de coupure de l'interaction entre rangees. On trouve que la structure de coeur en l'absence de contrainte et les contraintes produisant un mouvement de la dislocation dependent peu du rayon de coupure. Le plan de glissement est soit {112} maclage, soit {112} anti-maclage suivant la portee des interactions entre rangees, si bien qu'on ne peut pas prevoir ce qu'il serait en tenant compte completement des interactions.

The inclusive production ofK *±(890), ρρ(770), ω0(780) andf 0(1,270) mesons is studied in $$\bar pp$$ experiment at 32GeV/c in the MIRABELLE bubble chamber by the analysis of (K 0π±) and (π+π−) invariant mass distributions. The inclusive cross sections are σ(K *±)=2.45±0.30 mb, σ(ρ0)=8.8 ±0.9 mb, σ(ω+)≃6.2 mb, and σ(f 0)=2.2±0.7 mb. The C.M. longitudinal distribution of theK *±(890) is slightly shifted to the primary particles fragmentation regions; the ρ0 is produced more centrally. The studied mesons alone are responsible for 40% of final state poins. The production features of various resonances are compared with quark models predictions.

The effect of exogenous proline on the activity of the glycolate pathway in Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi n.c. An exogenous proline supply in the light provokes an increase in free glycine concentration in apical tissues or in leaf disks of vegetative Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi n.c. This does not occur in the equivalent tissues of tobacco plants after floral induction, these being naturally rich in proline. In vegetative tobacco, we have tried to determine this specific action of exogenous proline. With 14C glycine, 14CO2 experiments (Pulse-chase) and glycine decarboxylase activity determinations, we observed that glycine-serine transformation was inhibited by proline supply. Presently it is important to determine if endogenous proline acts on the same reaction.

Linseed and sunflower oils were heated at 275 C for 12 hr under nitrogen. The sunflower oil was also heated in a commercial fryer at 200 C for 48 hr using a 2-hr daily cycle. The cyclic fatty acid monomers (CFAM) formed during the heat treatment of the linseed oil were isolated by a combination of saponification, esterification, column chromatography on silicic acid and urea fractionation. The isolated CFAM fraction was 99% pure, the balance being some 12:2ω6. Another step was necessary to isolate the CFAM from heated sunflower oils. The urea adduct fractionation resulted in the isolation of a nonurea adduct fraction which contained a mixture of CFAM and 18:2ω6. These were further separated using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C18 reverse phase column. Each fraction was analyzed by gas liquid chromatography and hydrogenated to determine the content of the C18 straight chain fatty acids.

Demonstration of amines connected with cellular structures in Nicotiana tabacum and Lycopersicum esculentum. The level of free and bound amines in various tissues of Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi was investigated. After acid hydrolysis of different pellets from ethanol or buffer extractions, three aliphatic polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine) and one aromatic monoamine (tyramine) were found in different proportions according to the nature of the tissue. Roots contain high quantities of insoluble tyramine bound very strongly to cellular structures. On the contrary, there were only traces of bound tyramine in leaves and stem. After extraction and purification of cell structures, tyramine was shown to be bound to one component of the cell wall. Addition of pronase or cellulase to the extract did not break the tyramine complex. In tobacco roots, insoluble tyramine concentration increased with plant development. High content of bound tyramine was also found in Lycopersicum esculentum roots. The possibility that tyramine binds with lignin is discussed.

Results of an epidemiology study of populations living near a freeway and in the high desert area of Southern California for levels of platinum, palladium and lead are presented. Three age groups (children, young adults, and mature adults) were sampled twice for blood, urine, hair, and feces. Air, water, and soil samples were collected in the areas of the residences of the two populations. The primary objective of this study was to obtain baseline levels of these metals prior to the introduction of the catalytic muffler. The samples were collected in September 1974.

An epidemiological survey was conducted in Houston, Texas on five trace metals in policemen, parking garage attendants, women living near freeways and three control groups of subjects. The controls were matched with the exposed groups for covariate information such as age, sex, smoking habits, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, hair color, and education. Each subject was sampled four times for blood, urine, hair, and feces, and these samples were analyzed for lead, cadmium, zinc, manganese, and copper. Lead and cadmium were correlated with airborne exposures but zinc, manganese and copper were not. The second part of this paper deals with a market study of platinum and palladium markets and a design of an epidemiology survey of individuals occupationally and nonoccupationally exposed to these two metals. The market survey shows that although the catalytic muffler will have a major impact on the market, it is predicted that producers can meet these demands.