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Propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT) polymers are synthesized using an oxidative polymerization route that results in methacrylate substituted poly(ProDOTs) having a Mn of 10–20 kDa wherein the methacrylate functionality constitutes from 6 to 60% of the total monomer units. Solutions of these polymers show excellent film forming abilities, with thin films prepared using both spray-casting and spin-coating. These polymers are demonstrated to crosslink upon UV irradiation at 350 nm, in the presence of an appropriate photoinitiator, to render the films insoluble to common organic solvents. Electrochemical, spectroelectrochemical, and colorimetric analyses of the crosslinked polymer films are performed to establish that they retain the same electrochromic qualities as the parent polymers with no detriment to the observed properties. To demonstrate applicability for multi-film processing and patterning, photolithographic patterning is shown, as is desired for fully solution processed and patterned devices.

We present a resistive network model, protein assay data, and outlook of the giant magnetoresistive (GMR) spin-valve magneto-nanosensor platform ideal for multiplexed detection of protein biomarkers in solutions. The magneto-nanosensors are designed to have optimal performance considering several factors such as sensor dimension, shape anisotropy, and magnetic nanoparticle tags. The resistive network model indicates that thinner spin-valve sensors with narrower width lead to higher signals from magnetic nanoparticle tags. Standard curves and real-time measurements showed a sensitivity of ~10 pM for phosphorylated-structural maintenance of chromosome 1 (phosphor-SMC1), ~53 fM for granulocyte colony stimulation factor (GCSF), and ~460 fM for interleukin-6 (IL6), which are among the representative biomarkers for radiation exposure and cancer.

Two terthiophenes incorporating the synthon 3,4-(1,2-phenylenedioxy)thiophene (PheDOT) have been developed. Specifically, 2,5-bisthienyl-3,4-(1,2-phenylenedioxy)thiophene (BTh-PheDOT 1) and 2,5-bisethylenedioxythienyl-3,4-(1,2-phenylenedioxy)thiophene (BEDOT-PheDOT 2) were electropolymerized to form electroactive polymer films (P1 and P2) that switched between two highly colored states with the more electron-rich EDOT derivative P2 observed to switch at a lower potential. Additionally, both P1 and P2 displayed moderate to low optical bandgaps of 1.8 and 1.6 eV, respectively. Crystal structures of BTh-PheDOT showed the monomer to be nearly planar with π -stacking observable between monomers. These findings demonstrate the potential of PheDOT as an electroactive synthon for the formation of well-ordered systems.

The typical hedge fund incentive contract stipulates that 20 per cent of the profits are kept for the manager as an incentive to perform well: that is, provide large, persistent positive returns to investors. Rather than focusing on maximising their investor's wealth, managers may subvert this incentive scheme and focus on maximising assets under management instead. By doing so, managers may generate profits for themselves, even if their returns to their investors are small and do not persist. The aim of this work is to understand how a surviving manager may maximise monthly asset in-flow and minimise out-flow, and hence, maximise overall asset growth. Surprisingly, we find that non-return-based performance characteristics like fund age, relative performance, and fund size are key factors when forecasting monthly asset flow. Furthermore, we find that different causes of in- and out-flows exist.

The coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei, is the most economically important insect pest of coffee worldwide. We present an analysis of the draft genome of the coffee berry borer, the third genome for a Coleopteran species. The genome size is ca. 163 Mb with 19,222 predicted protein-coding genes. Analysis was focused on genes involved in primary digestion as well as gene families involved in detoxification of plant defense molecules and insecticides, such as carboxylesterases, cytochrome P450, gluthathione S-transferases, ATP-binding cassette transporters and a gene that confers resistance to the insecticide dieldrin. A broad range of enzymes capable of degrading complex polysaccharides were identified. We also evaluated the pathogen defense system and found homologs to antimicrobial genes reported in the Drosophila genome. Ten cases of horizontal gene transfer were identified with evidence for expression, integration into the H. hampei genome and phylogenetic evidence that the sequences are more closely related to bacterial rather than eukaryotic genes. The draft genome analysis broadly expands our knowledge on the biology of a devastating tropical insect pest and suggests new pest management strategies.

In building retrofit projects, dynamic simulations are performed to simulate building performance. Uncertainty may negatively affect model calibration and predicted lighting energy savings, which increases the chance of default on performance-based contracts. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop a simulation-based method that can analyze lighting performance risk in lighting retrofit decisions. The model uses a surrogate model, which is constructed by adaptively selecting sample points and generating approximation surfaces with fast computing time. The surrogate model is a replacement of the computation intensive process. A statistical method is developed to generate extreme weather profile based on the 20-year historical weather data. A stochastic occupancy model was created using actual occupancy data to generate realistic occupancy patterns. Energy usage of lighting, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is simulated using EnergyPlus. The method can evaluate the influence of different risk factors (e.g., variation of luminaire input wattage, varying weather conditions) on lighting and HVAC energy consumption and lighting electricity demand. Probability distributions are generated to quantify the risk values. A case study was conducted to demonstrate and validate the methods. The surrogate model is a good solution for quantifying the risk factors and probability distribution of the building performance.

To evaluate the indications and diagnoses made with 200 small bowel capsule endoscopies in an academic medical center.Wireless capsule endoscopy (PillCam SB) has recently become available as a new tool in the evaluation of patients with small bowel diseases. Its impact on patient care and usefulness in clinical practice has steadily been gaining ground, yet there are few studies that evaluate large numbers of patients.A retrospective review of wireless capsule endoscopies was performed between September 2003 and January 2005. Reviewed are the indications for the studies, number of complete and incomplete examinations, evaluation of gastric and small bowel transit times, findings made on examination, and the percent of diagnoses made and diagnoses suspected for each study indication.A total of 200 cases were reviewed. Indications included anemia (66% of cases), gastrointestinal hemorrhage (31% cases), abdominal pain (21% cases), diarrhea (11% cases), and other indications such as evaluation of abnormal radiographic findings or surveillance of inflammatory bowel disease (9% cases). The average patient age was 61.5 years (SD +/- 19.1 years). Males comprised 49% of patients. The wireless capsule endoscopy study completely evaluated the entire small bowel in 87% of cases. The most common cause for an incomplete examination was premature battery failure in 8% of cases. Only 9.5% of studies were normal without findings. Small bowel ulcerations were present in 38% of studies. Vascular ectasias were present in 23% of studies. Overall, a diagnosis was made in 23% of all studies, whereas a diagnosis was suspected based on the findings in an additional 31% of studies. The indication with the highest percentage of diagnoses made or suspected was gastrointestinal hemorrhage, with a diagnostic yield of 65%, followed by anemia 61%, diarrhea 36%, and pain 17%.Wireless capsule endoscopy is a valuable diagnostic tool in the evaluation of occult small bowel lesions, and was most effective in patients with gastrointestinal hemorrhage and anemia.

Due to the fluctuations in energy prices and the global warming effects as a result of pollution emission in the energy generation/conversion processes, energy conservation has gained much attention recently. The buildings in US consume significant amount of energy. Thus undertaking a building retrofitting project, in which new technology and features are added to the existing structure, can potentially both yield a good return on investment due to the future savings in energy consumption and reduce the negative environmental impact due to reduction in greenhouse gas emission. In this project, we study how to optimally perform energy retrofitting of existing building structures. Most existing methods either focus solely on minimizing energy consumption, while overlooking the financial incentives and occupant comfort, or aim at optimizing the energy related expenses under one particular deterministic setting and omitting the stochastic risks, such as volatility in energy pricing, weather uncertainties, in the operating environment. Hence, the building owners may not find the recommendation for building construction/recommendation relevant and profitable over its lifetime, and may not be willing to undertake such projects. This work proposes a novel risk management system on building energy retrofit, which uses a comprehensive optimization framework and considers both deterministic and stochastic factors. In one case study, we show that this system can improve the performance of the building under uncertainties while satisfying constraints imposed by occupant.

Today, most of the Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are monolithic, insufficiently configurable and difficult to modify. Using a distributed object-oriented technique, we will present a systematic approach, to develop a computer-integrated MES Framework which is open, modularized, distributed, configurable, interoperable, and maintainable. We start with the system analysis by collecting domain requirements and analysing domain knowledge. Our MES Framework is designed by the process of constructing an abstract object model based on domain knowledge, partitioning the application domain into components, identifying generic parts among components, defining framework messages, and developing design patterns for generic parts. After finishing the MES Framework design, we design a variety of functional components by inheriting appropriate design patterns of the Framework. An application can then be constructed by invoking corresponding methods of related components. The proposed MES Framework can be integra...

The creation and progress of OAK-TREE (One-of-a-Kind Traffic Research and Education Experiment) are chronicled. OAK-TREE is a traffic educational laboratory experiment that was developed and conducted at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) during the spring quarter of 1996. This project involved a cooperative effort between the academic community and public-sector transportation operating agencies in developing a comprehensive field and laboratory educational experience for undergraduate students in transportation engineering. The agencies involved in this effort were the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California at Irvine, the Advanced Traffic Surveillance and Control Center of the city of Los Angeles, the Transportation Management Center of the city of Anaheim, and the Irvine Traffic Research and Control Center of the city of Irvine. These agencies were instrumental in creating an innovative laboratory experience for academic training in the use of state-of-the-practice resources and methods for traffic engineering. The results were the development of a state-of-the-art traffic-control educational laboratory at UCI and the genesis of a unique traffic-control course that fulfilled the requirements of both fundamental academic education and rigorous professional training.

We report on the optimization of the capacitive behavior of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) films as polymeric electrodes in flexible, Type I electrochemical supercapacitors (ESCs) utilizing ionic liquid (IL) and organic gel electrolytes. The device performance was assessed based on figures of merit that are critical to evaluating the practical utility of electroactive polymer ESCs. PEDOT/IL devices were found to be highly stable over hundreds of thousands of cycles and could be reversibly charged/discharged at scan rates between 500 mV/s and 2 V/s depending on the polymer loading. Furthermore, these devices exhibit leakage currents and self-discharge rates that are comparable to state of the art electrochemical double-layer ESCs. Using an IL as device electrolyte allowed an extension of the voltage window of Type I ESCs by 60%, resulting in a 2.5-fold increase in the energy density obtained. The efficacies of tjese PEDOT ESCs were assessed by using them as a power source for a high-contrast and fast-switching electrochromic device, demonstrating their applicability in small organic electronic-based devices.

Acupuncture analgesia has been a common modality for management of acute and chronic pain. Acupuncture analgesia was based on the traditional Chinese medicine theory of the balance of Yin and Yang to regulate the Qi (energy) and blood. The Qi travels through various channels in the body via meridians. Although it is difficult to translate and poorly understood in Western scientific terms, both basic and clinical research on acupuncture analgesia has begun to expose substantial progress. There are correlations between acupuncture analgesia and the neural pathways such as afferent peripheral transduction and nerve transmission, ascending and descending modulation pathways, interpretation and central processing in the brain. Ongoing animal study models have yielded insight into acupuncture analgesia starting from behavioral observation and then dissect into the molecular level. Newer imaging techniques, e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scan have gradually revealed varying levels of neural modulation throughout central nervous system. Despite the deficiency of a vibrant consensus exploring the mechanism of its effect on analgesia, acupuncture has been shown to be beneficial in management of acute and chronic pain. Basic and clinical research has explored and compared electroacupuncture to manual acupuncture. There were greater analgesia and less intense pain during a brief period of electrical stimulation versus manual acupuncture. The clinical assessment and application of diverse frequencies and duration of electroacupuncture versus manual acupuncture may provide effective and systematic benefit. Further ongoing research is still in great demand in order to better elucidate the mechanism of acupuncture analgesia.

Epidural steroid injections (ESIs) are now increasing in popularity with regard to the management of chronic lumbar radiculopathy. While ESIs have been shown to be effective in relieving low back and radicular pain, adverse reactions have also been reported, notably abnormal vaginal bleeding.We present a case series of four women, both pre- and postmenopausal, with chronic lumbar radiculopathy and corresponding pathology who developed abnormal vaginal bleeding after receiving either ESIs or facet medial branch blocks (MBBs) for pain management. Setting. University of California, Los Angeles.Four women, both pre- and postmenopausal.We discuss the potential effects of corticosteroids on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis and highlight our patients' risk factors for abnormal vaginal bleeding, both exogenous and endogenous, as well as focus on the technical approaches to corticosteroid administration utilized in our patients' procedures. We acknowledge that because this is a small case series, further prospective investigation is warranted regarding the above topics. Until then, it may be beneficial to consider whether patients, both pre- and postmenopausal, have risk factors for abnormal uterine bleeding prior to undergoing interventional pain management strategies, specifically ESI and MBB, and to inform all women upon consent that abnormal vaginal bleeding is a potential risk following procedures with corticosteroids.

The purpose of this study is to use existing simulation tools to quantify the energy savings benefits of integrated control in office buildings. An EnergyPlus medium office benchmark simulation model (V1.0_3.0) developed by the Department of Energy (DOE) was used as a baseline model for this study. The baseline model was modified to examine the energy savings benefits of three possible control strategies compared to a benchmark case across 16 DOE climate zones. Two controllable subsystems were examined: (1) dimming of electric lighting, and (2) controllable window transmission. Simulation cases were run in EnergyPlus V3.0.0 for building window-to-wall ratios (WWR) of 33% and 66%. All three strategies employed electric lighting dimming resulting in lighting energy savings in building perimeter zones ranging from 64% to 84%. Integrated control of electric lighting and window transmission resulted in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) energy savings ranging from −1% to 40%. Control of electric lighting and window transmission with HVAC integration (seasonal schedule of window transmission control) resulted in HVAC energy savings ranging from 3% to 43%. HVAC energy savings decreased moving from warm climates to cold climates and increased when moving from humid, to dry, to marine climates.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of a computed tomography (CT) scanner environment on the positional accuracy of an AC electromagnetic tracking system, the second generation NDI Aurora. A three-axis positioning robot was used to move an electromagnetically tracked needle above the CT table throughout a 30cm by 30cm axial plane sampled in 2.5cm steps. The corresponding position data was captured from the Aurora and was registered to the positioning system data using a rigid body transformation minimizing the least squares L2-norm. Data was sampled at varying distances from the CT gantry (three feet, two feet, and one foot) and with the CT table in a nominal position and lowered by 10cm. A coordinate system was defined with the x axis normal to the CT table and the origin at the center of the CT table, and the z axis spanning the table in the lateral direction with the origin at the center of the CT table. In this coordinate system, the positional relationships of each sampled point, the CT table, and the Aurora field generator are clearly defined. This allows error maps to be displayed in accurate spatial relationship to the CT scanner as well as to a representative patient anatomy. By quantifying the distortions in relation to the position of CT scanner components and the Aurora field generator, the optimal working field of view and recommended guidelines for operation can be determined such that targeting inside human anatomy can be done with reasonable expectations of desired performance.

biliary stricture (62%) and choledocholithiasis (21%). Other indications included pancreatic duct stones, evaluation of IPMN, suspected biliary mass, and surveillance for cholangiocarcinoma. The clinical diagnosis was altered by Spyglass in 24% of indeterminate biliary stricture cases, most commonly from suspected malignant stricture to benign stricture. One patient with biliary obstruction caused by a hepatic lesion suspicious for metastasis, was found to have a hepatic abscess that was treated endoscopically. Management of stones (8 biliary, 1 pancreatic) with laser or electrohydraulic lithotripsy was successful in all cases. Complete clearance in a single session was achieved in all but one case, in which a heavy stone burden necessitated additional sessions. Cholangioscopic visualization alone was adequate for diagnosis in only 7% of cases, while pancreatoscopic visualization alone was adequate in 2/3 cases. Biopsy was performed in 24 cases, and yielded adequate tissue for histologic evaluation in 88%. The endoscopists’ impression was that the Spyglass procedure contributed meaningfully to patient management in 86% of cases. Procedure related complications occurred in 5 patients: 1) hemorrhage following sphincterotomy; 2) post-ERCP cholecystitis; 3) pancreatitis following pancreatoscopy; 4) post-procedure abdominal pain; and 5) congestive heart failure. Conclusions: The Spyglass system allows single-operator choledochoscopy and pancreatoscopy, high yield, endoscopically directed tissue sampling.and facilitates biliary and pancreatic lithotripsy. The nature and frequency of complications are within the spectrum of those reported with other interventional pancreaticobiliary procedures

In building retrofit projects, numerous sources of uncertainty about building performance need to be addressed. Deterministic simulations are usually used to estimate the potential performance difference from a baseline building. This approach needs building model calibration. Varying uncertain building parameters could lead to orders of magnitude simulation times. For example, in a lighting retrofit project, uncertainty (e.g., lamp input wattage, and varying weather conditions may negatively affect model calibration and lighting energy savings, which increases the chance of default on performance contract. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop a method that can conduct risk analysis based on building model (e.g., building information modelling). A stochastic occupancy model is used to simulate the occupancy pattern. Two lighting control strategies (occupancy and daylight controls) and two luminaire types (LED and fluorescent) are considered. Historical weather data is analyzed using statistical analysis, and the extreme weather conditions are generated to evaluate the impact of weather conditions on the lighting and HVAC energy usage. Then, EnergyPlus is used to simulate the energy usage based on different lamp types, control strategies, occupancy patterns, and weather conditions. A surrogate model is developed by using a small sample size of simulation data to construct an approximation surface to enable fast computing time. This method can evaluate impact of uncertainty of risk factors (e.g., occupancy level, luminaire type, weather) on lighting and HVAC energy usage and lighting electricity demand. This method can also prioritize risk factors based on sensitivity analysis on building performance and help users to choose different lamp types to minimize risks.