Weatherford College

In this paper, we derive some local a priori estimates for the Ricci flow.This gives rise to some strong uniqueness theorems.As a corollary, let g(t) be a smooth complete solution to the Ricci flow on R 3 , with the canonical Euclidean metric E as initial data, then g(t) is trivial, i.e. g(t) ≡ E.

I. THE CHILING TEMPERATURE CONCEPT A. Thermodynamic Approach The Gibbs free energy of a system at temperature T is defined as were H is the enthalpy and S the entropy of the system. The free energy change for any polymerization will be, therefore, When the polymer has a lower free energy than the initial monomer, a polymerization can occur spontaneously, and the sign of ΔG is negative. A positive sign for ΔG signifies, therefore, that the polymerization is not spontaneous. When the system is in equilibrium at a certain critical temperature, there is no tendency for polymerization, and, hence, ΔG = 0 [1–3]. This temperature is known as the ceiling temperature. These three possible conditions for free energy change of polymerization may be summarized as follows: At the ceiling temperature, Tc, ΔG is zero, so that where ΔHp and ΔSp are the enthalpy and entropy changes per monomer unit.

Drawing from a large, diverse body of work, this survey presents a comprehensive and unified introduction to the mathematics underlying the prevalent logarithmic distribution of significant digits and significands, often referred to as Benford’s Law (BL) or, in a special case, as the First Digit Law. The invariance properties that characterize BL are developed in detail. Special attention is given to the emergence of BL in a wide variety of deterministic and random processes. Though mainly expository in nature, the article also provides strengthened versions of, and simplified proofs for, many key results in the literature. Numerous intriguing problems for future research arise naturally.

The Lewis formula and nomogram, published in widely distributed textbooks, are used to calculate power output from vertical jump-and- reach distance and body weight. Despite the fact that the method has never been supported by a refereed journal publication and the texts never revealed whether peak or average power was being estimated, the test has become increasingly used by physical educators, coaches and researchers. Theoretical analysis has raised questions about the formula's validity, In order to evaluate the test, Lewis formula derived power output was compared to peak power and average power generated by 17 male subjects jumping vertically from a computer-intefaced force plate. Lewis power, peak power and average power (mean ± SD) were 1,107 ± 144, 3,767 ± 686 and 1,325 ± 341 watt (W), respectively. The low standard deviation for Lewis power suggests the formula minimizes individual differences. Lewis power respectively correlated 0.83 and 0.72 with peak and average power but underestimated them by 70.1 ± 3.5 percent and 12.4 ± 18 percent. The following regression-derived equations whose respective r's were 0.88 and 0.73 better estimate peak and average power then does the Lewis formula and produce respective standard deviations of 603 watts, which more closely reflect actual inter-subject variability: Peak power (W) = 61.9 · jump height (cm) + 36.0 body mass (kg) + 1,822. Average power (W) = 21.2 · jump height (cm) + 23.0 body mass (kg) − 1,393. The Lewis formula does not provide accurate estimates of either peak or average power produced by the muscles. While the force-platform technique remains the methos of choice for precise jumping-power determiations in the laboratory, the above equaltions can be used in conjunction with other tests to screen applicants for athletic teams and physically demanding jobs, and to monitor progress among participants in physical training programs.

Raised BMI is an established risk factor for death from vascular causes, cancer, and several other diseases, but uncertainties persist about whether reported associations with specific diseases have been affected by weight loss resulting from preexisting disease or by inadequate control of confounding variables. This observational study, a Prospective Studies Collaboration report, examined the association of BMI with overall and cause-specific mortality in a population of 894,576 individuals from 57 prospective studies, conducted mainly in Western Europe and North America. Data on individual patients were obtained from medical records. The study population was 61% (n = 541,452) male. The mean recruitment was at age 46 and mean BMI was 24.8 kg/m2. Enrolment of patients occurred during the 1970s or 1980s. Associations were adjusted by Cox regression for study, sex, age at risk, and smoking. To limit effects of preexisting disease on baseline BMI, the first 5 years of follow-up were excluded. During a mean of 8 ± 6 years of further follow-up, 66,552 deaths of known cause were identified. The mean age of death was 67 years. Specific causes of death were vascular, diabetic, renal, hepatic, liver, neoplastic, and respiratory. Overall mortality in both sexes was lowest at about 22.5 to 25 kg/m2. Above this minimum range, positive associations were found for several specific causes and there were no inverse association. Throughout the range 15 to 35 kg/m2, the absolute excess risks for higher BMI and smoking were roughly additive; there were minimal data for the range 35 to 50 kg/m2 for this association. Above the minimum range 22.5 to 25 kg/m2, each 5 kg/m2 rise in BMI was associated on average with 30% higher all-cause mortality; a 40% higher vascular mortality; a 60% to 120% increase in diabetic, renal, and hepatic mortality; 10% increase in neoplastic mortality; and a 20% increase in respiratory and all other mortality. No specific cause of death was inversely associated with BMI in the lower range (15–25 kg/m2). There was an overall inverse association with BMI predominantly due to strong inverse associations for smoking-related respiratory disease (including lung and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). These inverse associations were much steeper in smokers than in nonsmokers; interestingly, cigarettes smoked per day had little effect on BMI. These findings show that BMI is a strong predictor of overall mortality both above and below the apparent optimum of about 22.5 to 25 kg/m2. Above this range, the absolute excess mortality is mainly due to vascular disease whereas below this range, the primary cause is smoking-related diseases. Median survival in both sexes is reduced by 2 to 4 years at BMI 30 to 35 kg/m2 and by about 8 to 10 years at BMI 40 to 45 kg/m2.

Outcomes of opioid therapy for noncancer pain remain to be more fully explored. Loss of work is among these outcomes. Especially when work loss becomes "chronic" (persists >or=90 days), it has profound psycho-social repercussions that compound suffering of those already in pain. Furthermore, costs escalate as work loss persists. We thus explored associations between opioid therapy for back pain and chronic work loss. Data consisted of workers compensation claims for nonspecific low back pain. We used multivariate analyses to control for diverse covariates. Workers with no opioid prescriptions constituted the reference group. Findings included the following: compared with the (no opioid) reference group, odds of chronic work loss were six times greater for claimants with schedule II ("strong") opioids; compared with the reference group, odds of chronic work loss were 11-14 times greater for claimants with opioid prescriptions of any type during a period of >or=90 days; and three years after injury, costs of claimants with schedule II opioids averaged $19,453 higher than costs of claimants in the reference group. Our analysis was not designed to ascertain antecedent causes, or why chronic work loss occurred in the first place. Rather, we focused on an ensuing consequence of opioid therapy, i.e., the outcome of chronic work loss, which occurred far removed in time (>or=90 days) after the worker's recorded date of back injury. The strong associations observed suggest that for most workers opioid therapy did not arrest the cycle of work loss and pain.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of supplementing chitin, chitosan, and cellulose in the diet on the growth of red sea bream, Japanese eel, and yellowtail. The growth rate of all fishes fed with the 10% chitin supplemented diet recorded the highest value indicating diet super-iority. The feed efficiency in the red sea bream and Japanese eel which were fed with the 10 chitin supplemented diet also recorded the highest values. All fishes fed with the chitosan sup-plemented diet had the lowest growth rates and feed efficiencies indicating that the inclusion of 10% chitosan in the diet must have inhibited the processes involved with the digestion, absorption, and assimilation of the basal diet. The growth rates and feed efficiencies of red sea bream and yellowtail fed with the 10% cellulose supplemented diet were slightly higher than the values recorded for the control diet. Chitinase, chitosanase, and cellulase activity in the stomach of the three types of fishes which were fed with the aforesaid diet were measured and only chitinase activity was detected. The level of chitinase activity in the stomach of these three fishes were in proportion to the rate of growth when fed with the chitin supplemented diet. These results suggested that in fishes which possess high activity of chitinase in their digestive gland, chitin is digested and utilized.

Prolonged training leads to changes in autonomic cardiac balance. This sympathetic and parasympathetic balance can now be studied using heart rate variability (HRV). Studies have shown that endurance athletes have an elevated level of parasympathetic tone in comparison to sedentary people. The effect of resistance training on autonomic tone is less clear. We hypothesized a significant difference in HRV indices in endurance-trained vs. power-trained track-and-field athletes. One hundred forty-five athletes (58 women) were tested prior to the 2004 U.S.A. Olympic Trials. Heart rate variability data were collected using the Omegawave Sport Technology System. Subjects were grouped according to training emphasis and gender. The mean age of the athletes was 24.8 years in each group. There were significant (p < 0.01) differences by sex in selected frequency domain variables (HFnu, LFnu, LH, LHnu) and for PNN50 (p < 0.04) for the time domain variables. Two-factor analyses of variance showed differences for only the main effect of sex and not for any other grouping method or interaction. Elite athletes have been shown to have higher parasympathetic tone than recreational athletes and nonathletes. Our data show differences by sex, but not between aerobically and power-based athletes. Whether this is due to an aerobic component of resistance training, an overall prolonged training effect, or some genetic difference remains unclear. Further study is needed to assess the impact of resistance training programs on autonomic tone and cardiovascular fitness. This information will be valuable for the practitioner to use in assessing an athlete's response to a prescribed training regimen.

An essential requisite for transmission of Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, is the successful completion of a complex developmental cycle in its mosquito vector. Of hundreds of ookinetes that form in the mosquito midgut, only few transform into oocysts, a loss attributed to the action of the mosquito immune system. However, once oocysts form, they appear to be resistant to mosquito defences. During oocyst development, a thick capsule forms around the parasite and appears to function as a protective cover. Little information is available about the composition of this capsule. Here we report on the identification and partial characterization of the first Plasmodium oocyst capsule protein (PbCap380). Genetic analysis indicates that the gene is essential and that PbCap380(-) mutant parasites form oocysts in normal numbers but are gradually eliminated. As a result, mosquitoes infected with PbCap380(-) parasites do not transmit malaria. Targeting of the oocyst capsule may provide a new strategy for malaria control.

Lipid deterioration and its inhibition in the Japanese oyster Crassostrea gigas during frozen storage were investigated. The shelled oyster were treated with antioxidants such as dibutylhy-droxytoluene and natural vitamin E, and then stored at -20°C for 12 months and the effect of deoxygenizer was examined similarly. Untreated oyster were also stored either at -20°C or at -35°C. During storage, changes in TBA value, POV, and fatty acid and class compositions of lipids were determined to evaluate the quality of oyster. The color and taste of cooked oysters were also evaluated. POV in all the samples increased gradually with the duration of storage. Contents of phos-phatidylcholine (PC) and triglyceride decreased in varied degrees, while those of free fatty acid, lyso-PC (LPC) increased. These changes in lipid classes proceeded at a higher rate in the samples stored at -20°C than in the sample stored at -35°C. Percentages of polyenoic acids in lipids decreased in all the samples during storage, whereas those of saturated and monoenoic acids in-creased. Decreasing rates in the percentages of polyenoic acids were highest in the untreated sample (-20°C) and lowest in the sample with enclosed deoxygenizer. Sensory scores of the untreated sample (-35°C) and the sample with enclosed deoxygenizer almost did not decrease during storage over 12 months. These results clearly indicated that the lipid deteriorations of oyster were inhibited effectively by storing at -35°C as well as by storing with enclosed deoxygenizer at -20°C.

Petaflops systems will have tens to hundreds of thousands of compute nodes which increases the likelihood of faults. Applications use checkpoint/restart to recover from these faults, but even under ideal conditions, applications running on more than 30,000 nodes will likely spend more than half of their total run time saving checkpoints, restarting, and redoing work that was lost. We created a library that performs redundant computations on additional nodes allocated to the application. An active node and its redundant partner form a node bundle which will only fail, and cause an application restart, when both nodes in the bundle fail. The goal of this library is to learn whether this can be done entirely at the user level, what requirements this library places on a Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) system, and what its impact on performance and run time is. We find that our redundant MPI layer library imposes a relatively modest performance penalty for applications, but that it greatly reduces the number of applications interrupts. This reduction in interrupts leads to huge savings in restart and rework time. For large-scale applications the savings compensate for the performance loss and the additional nodes required for redundant computations.

The international AKTIV register presents a detailed description of out- and inpatients with COVID-19 in the Eurasian region. It was found that hospitalized patients had more comorbidities. In addition, these patients were older and there were more men than among outpatients. Among the traditional risk factors, obesity and hypertension had a significant negative effect on prognosis, which was more significant for patients 60 years of age and older. Among comorbidities, CVDs had the maximum negative effect on prognosis, and this effect was more significant for patients 60 years of age and older. Among other comorbidities, type 2 and 1 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer and anemia had a negative impact on the prognosis. This effect was also more significant (with the exception of type 1 diabetes) for patients 60 years and older. The death risk in patients with COVID-19 depended on the severity and type of multimorbidity. Clusters of diseases typical for deceased patients were identified and their impact on prognosis was determined. The most unfavorable was a cluster of 4 diseases, including hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and diabetes mellitus. The data obtained should be taken into account when planning measures for prevention (vaccination priority groups), treatment and rehabilitation of COVID-19 survivors.

We present an updated cosmic-ray mass composition analysis in the energy range ${10}^{16.8}$ to ${10}^{18.3}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ from 334 air showers measured with the LOFAR radio telescope and selected for minimal bias. In this energy range, the origin of cosmic rays is expected to shift from galactic to extragalactic sources. The analysis is based on an improved method to infer the depth of the maximum ${X}_{\mathrm{max}}$ of extensive air showers from radio measurements and air shower simulations. We show results of the average and standard deviation of ${X}_{\mathrm{max}}$ versus primary energy and analyze the ${X}_{\mathrm{max}}$ dataset at the distribution level to estimate the cosmic ray mass composition. Our approach uses an unbinned maximum likelihood analysis, making use of existing parametrizations of the ${X}_{\mathrm{max}}$ distributions per element. The analysis has been repeated for three main models of hadronic interactions. Results are consistent with a significant light-mass fraction, at best fit 23% to 39% protons plus helium, depending on the choice of hadronic interaction model. The fraction of the intermediate-mass nuclei dominates. This confirms earlier results from LOFAR, with systematic uncertainties on ${X}_{\mathrm{max}}$ now lowered to 7 to $9\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{g}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. We find agreement in mass composition compared to results from Pierre Auger Observatory, within statistical and systematic uncertainties. However, in line with earlier LOFAR results, we find a slightly lower average ${X}_{\mathrm{max}}$. The values are in tension with those found at Pierre Auger Observatory but agree with results from other cosmic ray observatories based in the northern hemisphere.

Dental sexual dimorphism was observed in the stingray Dasyatis akajei. There was no difference between sexes in dentition at the juvenile stage. However, mature males had a pointed cusp for each tooth while mature females had virtually flat teeth with irregular surfaces. Sexual dental dimorphism occurred between a disc width of 350 and 400mm for males collected in Tokyo Bay, Japan. This size range was almost identical to the size at maturity for males, estimated from abrupt increments in clasper length and testis weight. Food habits expressed by frequency of occurrence of prey items showed no large difference between sexes. The main food items were crustaceans and fishes. The findings suggest that sexual heterodonty is closely related to the mating behavior of male stingrays. Another form of sexual dimorphism was found in size at maturity, i.e. smaller in males than females by a disc width of approximately 200mm.

コナラ林から採集した土壌をプランターにまきだして埋土種子の発芽試験を約1年間行つた。試験開始初期に総発芽個体数の約半数が発芽し, その後は季節ごとに特徴のある発芽がみられた。発芽した個体には耕作地等に生育する草本が多く含まれていたが, 同時に管理されたコナラ林に生育する種も含まれていた。また, 埋土種子は, 同一調査区の試料の間でも不均一な分布をした。これらの結果をもとに, コナラ林の植生管理における埋土種子の役割を検討した。

(1) 粉砕した茶葉400mgをアセトン抽出→メチルイソブチルケトン溶解→メタノール溶解→ODS処理によりカテキン類を調製し,高速液体クロマトグラフィー(HPLC)を行った.(2) 抹茶,高級煎茶,普通煎茶,番茶,焙じ茶など5種類の日本茶について調べたところ,(-)-エピガロカテキン-3-ガレート(-EGCg),(-)-エピカテキン-3-ガレート(-ECg),(-)-エピガロカテキン(-EGC),(-)-エピカテキン(-EC)など4種類の主要カテキン類含有量が,総カテキン類の殆どを占めていた.また熱変化生成カテキン類(エピメル化物)である(-)-ガロカテキン-3-ガレート(-GCg),(-)-カテキン-3-ガレート(-Cg),(-)-ガロカテキン(-GC),(-)-カテキン(-C)も少量であるが検出された.特に焙じ茶には多く存在した.(3) 中国緑茶(竜井茶,雲南茶,ガンパウダー),ベトナム緑茶,インド緑茶(ダージリン茶,ダージリン・シルバーチップ)など6種類の外国産緑茶には,日本茶よりも総カテキン量が多く,主要4カテキン類特に(-)-エピガロカテキン-3-ガレートが多かった.4種類の熱変化生成カテキン類も存在した.また少量成分として(-)-エピガロカテキン-3-メトキシガレート(-EGCmetg),(-)-エピカテキン-3-メトキシガレート(-ECmetg),(-)-エピガロカテキン-3,5-ジガレート(-EGCgg),(-)-エピカテキン-3,5-ジガレート(-ECgg)などの存在が確認された.以上のことから,日本茶,外国産緑茶からはFig.1に示した全てのカテキン類と,熱変化生成カテキン類4種類がHPLCにより確認された.(4) -EGCg/-EGC,-ECg/-ECの比率は製茶原料用茶生葉の葉位,成熟度などの情報を与えるものと考察した.熱変化生成カテキン類は焙じ茶製造時に生成したと考えられる.2種類のジガレート(-EGCgg,-ECgg),2種類のメトキシガレート(-EGCmetg,-ECmetg)はそれぞれアッサム種,中国種の特有成分と推定した.

The changes in content of ATP and its related compounds, free amino acids, polyamines, and D-and L-lactic acids were investigated in the muscle of disk abalone during storage at 0, 5, and 10°C in relation to freshness. ATP culminated on the 1st day of storage at 5 and 10°C. Then, a remarkable decrease in ATP and ADP was observed together with the accumulation of AMP. ATP degradation in the muscle stored at 0°C was faster than those stored at 5 or 10°C. The accumulation of AMP was most remarkable during storage at 0°C. IMP and adenosine were detected in small amounts, indicating that AMP was decomposed through two pathways. The total amounts of free amino acids in the muscle of live disk abalone ranged from 3, 600 to 4, 200mg/100g. During storage the total amounts of free amino acids increased once and thereafter decreased markedly. Though the level of L-lactic acid remained low during storage, D-lactic acid increased remarkably. D-Lactic acid was considered to be one of the main end-products in the glycolytic pathway. D-Lactic acid also ap-peared to be useful as a potential index for the freshness of disk abalone, and at the stage of initial decomposition D-lactic acid was detected at the level of 10 to 12μmol/g.

The present case-control study was designed mainly to estimate the risk of gastric cancer associated with consumption of alcoholic beverages. Seventy-four cases were selected from patients undergoing endoscopy with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of gastric cancer and matched by age and sex to a pool of controls (193) from three different sources, at the same hospital ward. After adjustment for several confounders, consumption of more than one bottle of red wine per day 20 years prior to the interview showed an odds ratio (OR) = 2.61 (P = 0.049), with a dose-response relationship increasing from 1.36 for those consuming less than one glass of wine per meal, up to 3.67 if the daily consumption exceeded one bottle of red wine. Other statistically significant determinants of the disease occurrence were low education level (OR = 4.33; P = 0.0008) and low social class (OR = 2.77; P = 0.016), as well as the regular practice of preserving food by smoke at home (OR = 1.91; P = 0.032).

Egg size change of Japanese anchovy dependent upon sea water temperature is described. Length of chorion was selected as the representative egg size character based on comparisons with some other characters, and referred to as egg diameter. Egg diameter changed seasonally and geographically. Mean egg diameter of net samples had significant negative correlation with surface water temperature. This correlation seemed to be universal regardless of time and locality. Spawning experiments confirmed the effect of temperature on egg size. Yearly variation of egg size spawned in an aquarium corresponded to trend of temperature anomalies of each year. Egg size could be experimentally enlarged by cooling rearing water. Stability of the anchovy population was discussed in connection with reproductive strategy. Egg size change through temperature information seemed to be beneficial to reproduction from the viewpoint of abundance of food and predator and size of food organisms. The strategy regard-ed as the key to stability was that reproductive energy was invested dispersally to long spawning season. This strategy was based on the ability to accumulate reproductive energy quickly and on the eurythermal nature of the species.