The mechanisms by which blast pressure waves cause mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are an open question. Possibilities include acceleration of the head, direct passage of the blast wave via the cranium, and propagation of the blast wave to the brain via a thoracic mechanism. The hypothesis that the blast pressure wave reaches the brain via a thoracic mechanism is considered in li...

The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) is arguably the most widely used program in bioinformatics. By sacrificing sensitivity for speed, it makes sequence comparison practical on huge sequence databases currently available. The original version of BLAST was developed in 1990. Since then it has spawned a variant of specialized programs. This chapter surveys the development of BLAST and BL...

Military personnel are at high risk of exposure to blasts during military service, both during combat and training. Evidence continues to build that supports exposure to blasts, particularly when repetitive, are associated with brain dysfunction which is usually transient but can be prolonged or permanent. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a consequence to repetitive brain injury noted in...

This paper is a survey of the BLAST, which is a software model checker for C programs developed at Berkeley. Based on the popular abstract-check-refine paradigm, the concept of lazy abstraction is introduced in the BLAST project. Lazy abstraction is a new idea for the optimization of the abstract-check-refine loop. We present the lazy abstraction concept and the implementation framework of BLAS...

Introduction The physical damage inflicted by blast waves is called primary blast injury, and lungs are vulnerable to blast waves [1]. Blast lung injuries (BLI) can be extremely critical during the super-acute phase, and hypotension is supposed to be the main cause of death (1), but its etiology has not been elucidated. Recent studies have demonstrated that hypotension is mediated by the absenc...

AIM To describe a new toxic inhalation syndrome in blast furnace workers. METHODS Fourteen workers developed acute respiratory symptoms shortly after exposure to "air blast" from blast furnace tuyeres. These included chest tightness, dyspnoea, rigors, and diaphoresis. Chest radiographs showed pulmonary infiltrates, and lung function a restrictive abnormality. This report includes a descriptio...

In this paper the influence of the moisture content on the flow characteristics of blast furnace dust is investigated. The flowability of granular material is essential for the design and operation of dust separators, transport equipment and storage silos. Two blast furnace dust samples from different blast furnaces were investigated. The moisture content was adapted for measurement with the sh...

Embryonic stem cell-derived embryoid bodies contain a unique precursor population which, in response to vascular endothelial growth factor, gives rise to blast colonies in semi-solid medium. Upon transfer to liquid culture with appropriate cytokines, these blast colonies generate both hematopoietic and adherent, stromal-type cells. Cells within the adherent population display characteristics of...

Detonation of a high-explosive produces shock-blast wave, shrapnel, and gaseous products. While direct exposure to blast is a concern near the epicenter, shock-blast can affect subjects, even at farther distances. When a pure shock-blast wave encounters the subject, in the absence of shrapnels, fall, or gaseous products the loading is termed as primary blast loading and is the subject of this p...

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) is the "signature wound" of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, with no objective information of relative blast exposure, warfighters with bTBI may not receive appropriate medical care and are at risk of being returned to the battlefield. Accordingly, we have created a colorimetric blast injury dosimeter (BID) that exploits material fai...