Isolated papillary muscles have often been used in myocardial mechanical function studies. The objective of the present study was to compare the mechanical function of papillary muscle isolated from left ventricle between Wistar (W) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats of different ages (1, 3, 6 and 12 months), in order to examine whether there is a difference in intrinsic mechanical properties of muscl...

Starch content in leaves of HLB (Huanglongbing or citrus greening)-affected branches increases sharply compared to those from non-HLB trees. Starch not only over-accumulates in photosynthetic cells, but starch grains become prominent in vascular parenchyma and sieve elements as well. These observations imply strong disturbances in starch metabolism and photoassimilate partitioning in HLB-affect...

We give new approximation algorithms for robot routing problems that are variants of the classical traveling salesperson problem (TSP). We are to find a path for a robot, moving at speed at most s, to visit a set V = {v1, . . . , vn} of sites, each having an associated time window of availability, [ri, di], between a release time ri and a deadline di. In the time-window prize collecting problem...

[1] As a response to the Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) “Global Radiation Belt Modeling Challenge,” a 3D diffusion model is used to simulate the radiation belt electron dynamics during two intervals of the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) mission, 15 August to 15 October 1990 and 1 February to 31 July 1991. The 3D diffusion model, developed as part of the Dynamic Ra...

INTRODUCTION The improvement of technology has increased noise levels in hospital Wards to higher than international standard levels (35-45 dB). Higher noise levels than the maximum level result in patient's instability and dissatisfaction. Moreover, it will have serious negative effects on the staff's health and the quality of their services. The purpose of this survey is to analyze the level ...

The two-dimensional non-oriented bin packing problem with due dates packs a set of rectangular items, which may be rotated by 90 degrees, into identical rectangular bins. The bins have equal processing times. An item’s lateness is the difference between its due date and the completion time of its bin. The problem packs all items without overlap as to minimize maximum lateness Lmax. The paper pr...

This study compares the crossbridge kinetics of intact and skinned preparations from ferret cardiac muscles at 20 degrees C to determine whether skinning causes any alteration in the crossbridge response to an imposed length change. A papillary or trabecular muscle was isolated from the right ventricle, the muscle length adjusted to give the maximum twitch tension (Lmax), and the preparation wa...

We use a multiannulus planetesimal accretion code to investigate the growth of icy planets in the outer regions of a planetesimal disk. In a quiescent minimum mass solar nebula, icy planets grow to sizes of 1000–3000 km on a timescale tP ≈ 15 − 20 Myr (a/30 AU), where a is the distance from the central star. Planets form faster in more massive nebulae. Newly-formed planets stir up leftover plan...

26 27 The causal relationship between atrial and ventricular activities during human atrial fibrillation (AF) 28 is poorly understood. 29 This study analyzed the effects of an increase in atrial rate on the link between atrial and ventricular 30 activities during AF. Atrial and ventricular time series were determined in fourteen patients during 31 the spontaneous acceleration of the atrial rhyt...

Annoyance and sleep disturbance are generally accepted effects of environmental noise. Traffic noise is the most important source of noise induced annoyance. Long-term derogation of the recovery function of sleep by traffic noise has the potential to increase the sensitivity to daytime noise annoyance as well as the risk of cardiovascular and several other diseases. Noise induced arousal and se...