21 CFR 864.7900 - Thromboplastin generation test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Thromboplastin generation test. 864.7900 Section 864.7900 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Hematology Kits and Packages § 864.7900...

21 CFR 864.7900 - Thromboplastin generation test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Thromboplastin generation test. 864.7900 Section 864.7900 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Hematology Kits and Packages § 864.7900...

21 CFR 864.7900 - Thromboplastin generation test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Thromboplastin generation test. 864.7900 Section 864.7900 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Hematology Kits and Packages § 864.7900...

21 CFR 864.7900 - Thromboplastin generation test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Thromboplastin generation test. 864.7900 Section 864.7900 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Hematology Kits and Packages § 864.7900...

21 CFR 864.7900 - Thromboplastin generation test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Thromboplastin generation test. 864.7900 Section 864.7900 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Hematology Kits and Packages § 864.7900...

Qualification of a select one-stage activated partial thromboplastin time-based clotting assay and two chromogenic assays for the post-administration monitoring of nonacog beta pegol.

PubMed

Tiefenbacher, S; Bohra, R; Amiral, J; Bowyer, A; Kitchen, S; Lochu, A; Rosén, S; Ezban, M

2017-10-01

Essentials Nonacog beta pegol (N9-GP) is an extended half-life, recombinant human factor IX (FIX). One-stage clotting (OSC) and chromogenic FIX activity assays were assessed for N9-GP recovery. OSC STA ® -Cephascreen ® , ROX FIX and BIOPHEN FIX chromogenic assays were qualified for N9-GP. Other extended half-life factor products should be assessed in a similar way prior to approval. Background Nonacog beta pegol (N9-GP) is an extended half-life, glycoPEGylated recombinant human factor IX that is under development for the prophylaxis and treatment of bleeding episodes in hemophilia B patients. Considerable reagent-dependent variability has been observed when one-stage clotting assays are used to measure the recovery of recombinant FIX products, including N9-GP. Objective To qualify select one-stage clotting and chromogenic FIX activity assays for measuring N9-GP recovery. Methods The accuracy and precision of the one-stage clotting assay (with the STA-Cephascreen activated partial thromboplastin [APTT] reagent) and the ROX Factor IX and BIOPHEN Factor IX chromogenic assays for measuring N9-GP recovery were assessed in N9-GP-spiked hemophilia B plasma samples in a systematic manner at three independent sites, with manufacturer-recommended protocols and/or site-specific assay setups, including different instruments. Results For each of the three FIX activity assays qualified on five different reagent-instrument systems, acceptable intra-assay and interassay accuracy and precision, dilution integrity, reagent robustness and freeze-thaw and short-term sample stabilities were demonstrated. The STA-Cephascreen assay showed a limited reportable range at one of the three qualification sites, and the BIOPHEN Factor IX assay showed suspect low-end sensitivity at one of the three qualification sites. An individual laboratory would account for these limitations by adjusting the assay's reportable range; thus, these findings are not considered to impact the respective

[Significant decrease in factor VII activity by tissue thromboplastin derived from rabbit brain in a patient with congenital factor VII deficiency (FVII Padua)].

PubMed

Sekiya, Akiko; Morishita, Eriko; Maruyama, Keiko; Asakura, Hidesaku; Nakao, Shinji; Ohtake, Shigeki

2012-03-01

Congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a bleeding disorder that requires optimal hemostatic management for each case due to its wide variety of bleeding symptoms. We experienced a patient with inherited FVII deficiency who demonstrated different FVII activities depending on tissue thromboplastins used for assays. An 82-year-old woman without any episodes of abnormal bleeding was found to have different FVII activities of 1.4% and 32% when assayed using thromboplastins from rabbit brain and human placenta, respectively. DNA sequencing analysis revealed a homozygous missense mutation of G10828A (FVII Padua) that caused an amino acid substitution of Arg304 to Gln (R304Q). Carriers of 304Q alleles are usually clinically asymptomatic and do not require FVII replacement therapies even in cases of homozygotes. In case a prolonged prothrombin time or reduced FVII activity is detected, re-examination using thromboplastins of other sources can be helpful for preliminary diagnosis of R304Q, in order to prevent unnecessary FVII replacement therapies.

Progranulin inhibits platelet aggregation and prolongs bleeding time in rats.

PubMed

Al-Yahya, A M; Al-Masri, A A; El Eter, E A; Hersi, A; Lateef, R; Mawlana, O

2018-05-01

Several adipokines secreted by adipose tissue have an anti-thrombotic and anti-atherosclerotic function. Recently identified adipokine progranulin was found to play a protective role in atherosclerosis. Bearing in mind the central role of platelets in inflammation and atherosclerosis, we aimed, in this study, to examine the effect of progranulin on platelet function and coagulation profile in rats. Healthy male albino Wistar rats weighing (250-300 g) were divided into 4 groups. Three groups were given increasing doses of progranulin (0.001 µg, 0.01 µg, and 0.1 µg) intraperitoneally, while the control group received phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Bleeding time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time and platelet aggregation responses to adenosine diphosphate and arachidonic acid were assessed. Administration of progranulin resulted in a significant inhibition of platelet aggregation in response to both adenosine diphosphate, and arachidonic acid. Bleeding time, prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were significantly prolonged in all groups that received progranulin, in particular, the 0.1 µg dose, in comparison to the control group. This preliminary data is first suggesting that the antiplatelet and anticoagulant action of progranulin could have a physiological protective function against thrombotic disorders associated with obesity and atherosclerosis. However, these results merit further exploration.

Differences in the INR evaluation of two different thromboplastins in patients with positivity to lupus anticoagulant in ongoing oral anticoagulation.

PubMed

Ferrazzi, Paola; Colombo, Anna; Di Micco, Pierpaolo; Lodigiani, Corrado; Librè, Luca; Rota, Lidia Luciana; Montanelli, Alessandro; Quaglia, Ilaria

2010-01-01

A possible interference between lupus anticoagulant (LAC), a well characterized clotting inhibitor, in the International Normalized Ratio (INR) determination during oral anticoagulation (OA) has been reported in the literature. Few data are available about the relationship between this kind of interference and the daily clinical management of oral anticoagulation. The aim of the study is to evaluate the role of two different thromboplastins-RecombiPlasTin 2G and HepatoComplex-in the determination of INR values of several patients' ongoing OA for a previous thrombotic disorder with and without positivity to LAC, and to evaluate possible interferences in the daily therapeutic approach. We selected 16 patients (13 females and 3 males, mean age 59 ± 16 years) with LAC positivity ongoing OA and 11 control subjects (7 females and 4 males, mean age 58 ± 14.5 years) with similar characteristics (ie, ethnic background and weight) with LAC negativity ongoing OA. 165 assays for INR determination were analyzed from both groups. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA 10 software. P values were considered significant if <0.05. Mean values of INR for patients with LAC positivity were 3.79 ± 1.63 when tested with RecombiPlasTin 2G vs 3.18 ± 1.15 when tested with HepatoComplex (P < 0.001, s); while mean values of INR for patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) with LAC negativity were 3.54 ± 1.39 when tested with RecombiPlasTin 2G vs 3.23 ± 1.14 when tested with HepatoComplex (P < 0.002, s). An INR value > than 4.5 was found in 31/165 samples in 9 subjects, 8 patients with LAC positivity, and 1 control group subject with LAC negativity. There was a great difference in INR values in these subjects if we use the common thromboplastin (ie, RecombiPlasTin 2G) with a INR range varying from 5.14 ± 0.35 vs 3.79 ± 0.38 if we use another thromboplastin (ie, HepatoComplex) (P < 0.001, s). A change in the therapeutic approach for OA is possible in these cases because

Primary Hemostatic Capacity of Whole Blood: A Comprehensive Analysis of Pathogen Reduction and Refrigeration Effects Over Time

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

reduction and refrigeration is intriguing and suggests that PRT WB may complement the beneficial effects of the antifibrinolytic, tranexamic acid in...and ABBREVIATIONS: aPTT = activated partial thromboplastin time; ASPI = arachidonic acid agonist; COL = collagen; GPIba = glycoprotein Ib alpha; K...riboflavin and ultraviolet (UV) light to damage the nucleic acids of white blood cells (WBCs), parasites, bacteria, and viruses, is being consid- ered

In Vivo Gene Therapy of Hemophilia B: Sustained Partial Correction in Factor IX-Deficient Dogs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kay, Mark A.; Rothenberg, Steven; Landen, Charles N.; Bellinger, Dwight A.; Leland, Frances; Toman, Carol; Finegold, Milton; Thompson, Arthur R.; Read, M. S.; Brinkhous, Kenneth M.; Woo, Savio L. C.

1993-10-01

The liver represents a model organ for gene therapy. A method has been developed for hepatic gene transfer in vivo by the direct infusion of recombinant retroviral vectors into the portal vasculature, which results in the persistent expression of exogenous genes. To determine if these technologies are applicable for the treatment of hemophilia B patients, preclinical efficacy studies were done in a hemophilia B dog model. When the canine factor IX complementary DNA was transduced directly into the hepatocytes of affected dogs in vivo, the animals constitutively expressed low levels of canine factor IX for more than 5 months. Persistent expression of the clotting. factor resulted in reductions of whole blood clotting and partial thromboplastin times of the treated animals. Thus, long-term treatment of hemophilia B patients may be feasible by direct hepatic gene therapy in vivo.

Prognostic significance of blood coagulation tests in carcinoma of the lung and colon.

PubMed

Wojtukiewicz, M Z; Zacharski, L R; Moritz, T E; Hur, K; Edwards, R L; Rickles, F R

1992-08-01

Blood coagulation test results were collected prospectively in patients with previously untreated, advanced lung or colon cancer who entered into a clinical trial. In patients with colon cancer, reduced survival was associated (in univariate analysis) with higher values obtained at entry to the study for fibrinogen, fibrin(ogen) split products, antiplasmin, and fibrinopeptide A and accelerated euglobulin lysis times. In patients with non-small cell lung cancer, reduced survival was associated (in univariate analysis) with higher fibrinogen and fibrin(ogen) split products, platelet counts and activated partial thromboplastin times. In patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung, only higher activated partial thromboplastin times were associated (in univariate analysis) with reduced survival in patients with disseminated disease. In multivariate analysis, higher activated partial thromboplastin times were a significant independent predictor of survival for patients with non-small cell lung cancer limited to one hemithorax and with disseminated small cell carcinoma of the lung. Fibrin(ogen) split product levels were an independent predictor of survival for patients with disseminated non-small cell lung cancer as were both the fibrinogen and fibrinopeptide A levels for patients with disseminated colon cancer. These results suggest that certain tests of blood coagulation may be indicative of prognosis in lung and colon cancer. The heterogeneity of these results suggests that the mechanism(s), intensity, and pathophysiological significance of coagulation activation in cancer may differ between tumour types.

Thromboelastography as a Better Indicator of Postinjury Hypercoagulable State Than Prothrombin Time or Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

trauma 53 Yes 9 Acute desaturation and lung consolidation Abbreviation: DVT, deep venous thrombosis. a All patients were men. All had pulmonary embolism. J Trauma. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 August 09. ...pulmonary embolism indicated that our current prophylaxis regimen could be improved. Keywords deep vein thrombosis; pulmonary embolism...important to accurately evaluate an injured patient’s hemostatic status to assess the need for and efficacy of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis

Comparison of the behavior of normal factor IX and the factor IX Bm variant Hilo in the prothrombin time test using tissue factors from bovine, human, and rabbit sources.

PubMed

Lefkowitz, J B; Monroe, D M; Kasper, C K; Roberts, H R

1993-07-01

A subset of hemophilia B patients have a prolonged bovine-brain prothrombin time. These CRM+ patients are classified as having hemophilia Bm. The prolongation of the prothrombin time has been reported only with bovine brain (referred to as ox brain in some literature) as the source of thromboplastin; prothrombin times determined with thromboplastin from rabbit brain or human brain are not reported to be prolonged. Factor IX from a hemophilia Bm patient (factor IX Hilo) was isolated. The activity of factor IX Hilo was compared to that of normal factor IX in prothrombin time assays when the thromboplastin source was of bovine, rabbit, or human origin. Factor IX, either normal or Hilo, prolonged a prothrombin time regardless of the tissue factor source. However, unless thromboplastin was from a bovine source, this prolongation required high concentrations of factor IX. Further, factor IX normal was as effective as factor IX Hilo in prolonging the prothrombin time when rabbit or human thromboplastin was used. With bovine thromboplastin, factor IX Hilo was significantly better than factor IX normal at prolonging the prothrombin time. The amount of prolongation was dependent on the amount of factor IX Hilo added. In addition, the prolongation was dependent on the concentration of factor X present in the sample. The prothrombin time changed as much as 20 seconds when the factor X concentration was varied from 50% to 150% to normal (fixed concentration of factor IX Hilo). These results demonstrate the difficulty of classifying the severity of a hemophilia Bm patient based on the bovine brain prothrombin time unless both the factor IX and factor X concentrations are known.

What Are Anticoagulants and Antiplatelet Agents?

MedlinePlus

... activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) test. • Never take aspirin with anticoagulants unless your doctor tells you to. • ... before taking other medicines or supplements, such as aspirin, vitamins, cold medicine, pain medicine, sleeping pills or ...

Towards Just-In-Time Partial Evaluation of Prolog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolz, Carl Friedrich; Leuschel, Michael; Rigo, Armin

We introduce a just-in-time specializer for Prolog. Just-in-time specialization attempts to unify of the concepts and benefits of partial evaluation (PE) and just-in-time (JIT) compilation. It is a variant of PE that occurs purely at runtime, which lazily generates residual code and is constantly driven by runtime feedback.

Optimal moving grids for time-dependent partial differential equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wathen, A. J.

1989-01-01

Various adaptive moving grid techniques for the numerical solution of time-dependent partial differential equations were proposed. The precise criterion for grid motion varies, but most techniques will attempt to give grids on which the solution of the partial differential equation can be well represented. Moving grids are investigated on which the solutions of the linear heat conduction and viscous Burgers' equation in one space dimension are optimally approximated. Precisely, the results of numerical calculations of optimal moving grids for piecewise linear finite element approximation of partial differential equation solutions in the least squares norm.

Stable, Ultra-Low Residence Time Partial Oxidation

DOEpatents

Schmidt, Lanny D.; Hickman, Daniel A.

1997-07-15

A process for the catalytic partial oxidation of methane in gas phase at very short residence time (800,000 to 12,000,000 hr.sup.-1) by contacting a gas stream containing methane and oxygen with a metal supported catalyst, such as platinum deposited on a ceramic monolith.

Effect of reversal of neuromuscular blockade with sugammadex versus usual care on bleeding risk in a randomized study of surgical patients.

PubMed

Rahe-Meyer, Niels; Fennema, Hein; Schulman, Sam; Klimscha, Walter; Przemeck, Michael; Blobner, Manfred; Wulf, Hinnerk; Speek, Marcel; McCrary Sisk, Christine; Williams-Herman, Debora; Woo, Tiffany; Szegedi, Armin

2014-11-01

Previous studies show a prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time in healthy volunteers after treatment with sugammadex. The authors investigated the effect of sugammadex on postsurgical bleeding and coagulation variables. This randomized, double-blind trial enrolled patients receiving thromboprophylaxis and undergoing hip or knee joint replacement or hip fracture surgery. Patients received sugammadex 4 mg/kg or usual care (neostigmine or spontaneous recovery) for reversal of rocuronium- or vecuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel method, stratified by thromboprophylaxis and renal status, was used to estimate relative risk and 95% confidence interval (CI) of bleeding events with sugammadex versus usual care. Safety was further evaluated by prespecified endpoints and adverse event reporting. Of 1,198 patients randomized, 1,184 were treated (sugammadex n = 596, usual care n = 588). Bleeding events within 24 h (classified by an independent, blinded Adjudication Committee) were reported in 17 (2.9%) sugammadex and 24 (4.1%) usual care patients (relative risk [95% CI], 0.70 [0.38 to 1.29]). Compared with usual care, increases of 5.5% in activated partial thromboplastin time (P < 0.001) and 3.0% in prothrombin time (P < 0.001) from baseline with sugammadex occurred 10 min after administration and resolved within 60 min. There were no significant differences between sugammadex and usual care for other blood loss measures (transfusion, 24-h drain volume, drop in hemoglobin, and anemia), or risk of venous thromboembolism, and no cases of anaphylaxis. Sugammadex produced limited, transient (<1 h) increases in activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time but was not associated with increased risk of bleeding versus usual care.

Lovastatin decreases mortality and improves liver functions in fulminant hepatic failure from 90% partial hepatectomy in rats.

PubMed

Cai, S R; Motoyama, K; Shen, K J; Kennedy, S C; Flye, M W; Ponder, K P

2000-01-01

Liver insufficiency occurs when the liver cannot perform critical functions such as ammonia metabolism, gluconeogenesis, or production of coagulation factors The hypothesis of this study was that decreased function of existing hepatocytes may contribute to hepatic failure, and that the function of these cells might be increased pharmacologically. Lovastatin is a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase inhibitor that inhibits cholesterol biosynthesis and affects the activity of some signal transduction pathways and liver transcription factors. Changes in hepatic transcription factors during liver regeneration might result in decreased liver functions, and lovastatin might prevent these changes Rats received 90% partial hepatectomy (90% PH), and either lovastatin or vehicle alone daily. Survival and liver functions were assessed. Lovastatin increased survival to 58% (vs. 6% in controls that received 90% PH without drug), decreased the peak ammonia level to 427 microM (vs. 846 microM in controls), increased the nadir of glucose to 88 mg/dl (vs. 57 mg/dl in controls), decreased the peak prothrombin time to 23 s (vs 29 s in controls), and decreased the peak activated partial thromboplastin time to 29 s (vs. 39 s in controls). The full survival and metabolic benefits were observed when lovastatin was started at 30 min after 90% PH, but lovastatin was less efficacious when started at later times. Lovastatin increases the function of existing hepatocytes and might be used to improve liver function after extensive hepatic resection.

Synthesis and Anticoagulant Activity of Polyureas Containing Sulfated Carbohydrates

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Polyurea-based synthetic glycopolymers containing sulfated glucose, mannose, glucosamine, or lactose as pendant groups have been synthesized by step-growth polymerization of hexamethylene diisocyanate and corresponding secondary diamines. The obtained polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The nonsulfated polymers showed similar results to the commercially available biomaterial polyurethane TECOFLEX in a platelet adhesion assay. The average degree of sulfation after reaction with SO3 was calculated from elemental analysis and found to be between three and four −OSO3 groups per saccharide. The blood-compatibility of the synthetic polymers was measured using activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, thrombin time, anti-IIa, and anti-Xa assays. Activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and thrombin time results indicated that the mannose and lactose based polymers had the highest anticoagulant activities among all the sulfated polymers. The mechanism of action of the polymers appears to be mediated via an anti-IIa pathway rather than an anti-Xa pathway. PMID:25329742

Improvement of coagulation laboratory practice in Thailand: the first-year experience of the national external quality assessment scheme for blood coagulation.

PubMed

Tientadakul, Panutsaya; Opartkiattikul, Nisarat; Wongtiraporn, Wanida

2009-01-01

In Thailand until 2005 there had been no external quality assessment scheme at the national level for blood coagulation tests. Only a few laboratories had an external quality assessment for these tests. In the year 2005, the Thailand National External Quality Assessment Scheme for Blood Coagulation was founded. To describe the establishment of the Thailand National External Quality Assessment Scheme for Blood Coagulation (including problems encountered and solutions), its progression and expansion, and the improvement of coagulation laboratory practice in Thailand during 2 trial surveys and 4 formal surveys conducted in the first 1 1/2 years. Between 2005 and 2006, the external quality assessment samples for prothrombin time/international normalized ratio and activated partial thromboplastin time were distributed to the participants as well as the instructions and suggestions for the improvement of laboratory practice. From the data collected, the all-method coefficient of variation of the international normalized ratio and activated partial thromboplastin time was calculated for each survey. The number of participants increased during the first 1 1/2 years that the surveys were conducted, from 109 to 127. Survey data demonstrate an improvement in response rate and an increase in the number of laboratories that determine their own reference ranges and repeat this for every change of reagent lot, using the appropriate anticoagulant. The increased precision of tests is indicated by the decrease of the all-method coefficient of variation of the international normalized ratio and activated partial thromboplastin time. Examples of individual laboratory improvement through feedback are also described. The improvement of coagulation laboratory practice both through the instructions provided and liaison with participants was observed during the course of this scheme.

Establishment of reference values for various coagulation tests in healthy Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and evaluation of coagulation in debilitated manatees during rehabilitation.

PubMed

Gerlach, Trevor J; Bandt, Carsten; Conner, Bobbi; Ball, Ray L

2015-11-01

To establish reference ranges for coagulation parameters in healthy Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and compare results with those for debilitated manatees undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation facility. Prospective study. 29 healthy manatees and 45 debilitated manatees with various diseases. Manatees considered healthy on the basis of results of physical examination, CBC, and serum biochemical analysis underwent coagulation testing including measurement of prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, D-dimer concentration, platelet count, and fibrinogen concentration to establish reference ranges. For comparison, a group of manatees undergoing rehabilitation was also tested, and the results were compared. Thromboelastography was also performed on some animals. Values for D-dimer concentration were significantly higher in debilitated versus healthy animals. There was no significant difference for prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, platelet count, or fibrinogen concentration between groups. Thromboelastography was performed on 8 healthy animals. Reference ranges were established for various tests of coagulation that may assist clinicians during the initial evaluation and rehabilitation of Florida manatees. Future research to evaluate the effect of specific disease processes on the coagulation cascade is recommended.

Novel thrombolytic protease from edible and medicinal plant Aster yomena (Kitam.) Honda with anticoagulant activity: purification and partial characterization.

PubMed

Choi, Jun-Hui; Kim, Dae-Won; Park, Se-Eun; Choi, Bong-Suk; Sapkota, Kumar; Kim, Seung; Kim, Sung-Jun

2014-10-01

A thrombolytic protease named kitamase possessing anticoagulant property was purified from edible and medicinal plant Aster yomena (Kitam.) Honda. Kitamase showed a molecular weight of 50 kDa by SDS-PAGE and displayed a strong fibrin zymogram lysis band corresponding to the similar molecular mass. The enzyme was active at high temperatures (50°C). The fibrinolytic activity of kitamase was strongly inhibited by EDTA, EGTA, TPCK and PMSF, inhibited by Zn(2+). The Km and Vmax values for substrate S-2251 were determined as 4.31 mM and 23.81 mM/mg respectively. It dissolved fibrin clot directly and specifically cleaved the α, Aα and γ-γ chains of fibrin and fibrinogen. In addition, kitamase delayed the coagulation time and increased activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time. Kitamase exerted a significant protective effect against collagen and epinephrine induced pulmonary thromboembolism in mice. These results suggest that kitamase may have the property of metallo-protease like enzyme, novel fibrino(geno)lytic enzyme and a potential to be a therapeutic agent for thrombosis. Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methodical aspects of blood coagulation measurements in birds applying commercial reagents--a pilot study.

PubMed

Guddorf, Vanessa; Kummerfeld, Norbert; Mischke, Reinhard

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the suitability of commercially available reagents for measurements of coagulation parameters in citrated plasma from birds. Therefore, plasma samples of 17 healthy donor birds of different species were used to determine prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and thrombin time (TT) applying various commercial reagents which are routinely used in coagulation diagnostics in humans and mammals. A PT reagent based on human placental thromboplastin yielded not only shorter clotting times than a reagent containing recombinant human tissue factor (median 49 vs. 84 s), but also showed a minor range of distribution of values (43-55 s vs. 30-147 s, minimum-maximum, n = 5 turkeys). An aPTT reagent containing kaolin and phospholipids of animal origin delivered the shortest clotting times and the lowest range of variation in comparison to three other reagents of different composition. However, even when this reagent was used, aPTTs were partially extremely long (> 200 s). Thrombin time was 38 s (28-57 s, n = 5 chicken) when measured with bovine thrombin at a final concentration of 2 IU thrombin/ ml. Coefficients of variation for within-run precision analysis (20 repetitions) of PT was 8.0% and 4.7% for aPTT measurements using selected reagents of mammalian origin. In conclusion, of the commercially available reagents tested, a PT reagent based on human placental thromboplastin and an aPTT reagent including rabbit brain phospholipid and kaolin, show some promise for potential use in birds.

Optimal moving grids for time-dependent partial differential equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wathen, A. J.

1992-01-01

Various adaptive moving grid techniques for the numerical solution of time-dependent partial differential equations were proposed. The precise criterion for grid motion varies, but most techniques will attempt to give grids on which the solution of the partial differential equation can be well represented. Moving grids are investigated on which the solutions of the linear heat conduction and viscous Burgers' equation in one space dimension are optimally approximated. Precisely, the results of numerical calculations of optimal moving grids for piecewise linear finite element approximation of PDE solutions in the least-squares norm are reported.

Effects of partial time delays on phase synchronization in Watts-Strogatz small-world neuronal networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Xiaojuan; Perc, Matjaž; Kurths, Jürgen

2017-05-01

In this paper, we study effects of partial time delays on phase synchronization in Watts-Strogatz small-world neuronal networks. Our focus is on the impact of two parameters, namely the time delay τ and the probability of partial time delay pdelay, whereby the latter determines the probability with which a connection between two neurons is delayed. Our research reveals that partial time delays significantly affect phase synchronization in this system. In particular, partial time delays can either enhance or decrease phase synchronization and induce synchronization transitions with changes in the mean firing rate of neurons, as well as induce switching between synchronized neurons with period-1 firing to synchronized neurons with period-2 firing. Moreover, in comparison to a neuronal network where all connections are delayed, we show that small partial time delay probabilities have especially different influences on phase synchronization of neuronal networks.

Effects of partial time delays on phase synchronization in Watts-Strogatz small-world neuronal networks.

PubMed

Sun, Xiaojuan; Perc, Matjaž; Kurths, Jürgen

2017-05-01

In this paper, we study effects of partial time delays on phase synchronization in Watts-Strogatz small-world neuronal networks. Our focus is on the impact of two parameters, namely the time delay τ and the probability of partial time delay p delay , whereby the latter determines the probability with which a connection between two neurons is delayed. Our research reveals that partial time delays significantly affect phase synchronization in this system. In particular, partial time delays can either enhance or decrease phase synchronization and induce synchronization transitions with changes in the mean firing rate of neurons, as well as induce switching between synchronized neurons with period-1 firing to synchronized neurons with period-2 firing. Moreover, in comparison to a neuronal network where all connections are delayed, we show that small partial time delay probabilities have especially different influences on phase synchronization of neuronal networks.

A retrospective discussion of the prognostic value of combining prothrombin time(PT) and fibrinogen(Fbg) in patients with Hepatocellular carcinoma.

PubMed

Wang, Xue-Ping; Mao, Min-Jie; He, Zhong-Lian; Zhang, Lin; Chi, Pei-Dong; Su, Jia-Rui; Dai, Shu-Qin; Liu, Wan-Li

2017-01-01

Aims: The levels of coagulation system tests have been studied in various cancers. In this study, our aim is to evaluate the prognostic value of pretreatment plasma coagulation tests in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Patient and methods: A retrospective study was performed in 539 patients with HCC, and follow-up period was at least 60 months until recurrence or death. The prognostic significance of coagulation system tests (prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, fibrinogen) were determined by univariate and multivariate Cox hazard models. Then, according to the results of the multivariate analyses, we proposed the coagulation-Based Stage, which combined the independent risk factors (prothrombin time and fibrinogen). Results: Coagulation system tests including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen (Fbg) were analyzed. Patients with prolonged PT (≥12.1 sec) levels had significantly poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), not only in the entire cohort (HR: 1.661, 95%CI: 1.125-2.451, p= 0.011 vs. HR: 1.660, 95%CI: 1.125-2.451, p= 0.011), but also in the subgroups stratified by pathological stage (stage I-II and stage III-IV). Additionally, high Fbg (≥2.83 g/L) levels experienced significantly decreased OS and DFS (HR: 2.158, 95%CI: 1.427-3.263, p< 0.001 vs. HR: 2.161, 95%CI: 1.429-3.267, p< 0.001), not only in the entire cohort but also in the subgroups stratified by pathological stage (stage I-II and stage III-IV). All the patients were then stratified (based on combined PT and Fbg) into three groups, The OS for HCC patients were (41.37±17.76), (31.83±19.84) and (18.68±18.41) months, and the DFS for HCC patients were (41.15±17.88), (31.65±19.81) and (18.66±18.39) months. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the combination of plasma PT and Fbg levels should be evaluated as the valuable predictor of survival in patients with HCC.

Plasma thromboplastin antecedent (PTA, factor XI): a specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay. [/sup 125/I tracer technique

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saito, H.; Goldsmith, G.H. Jr.

A specific, sensitive, and reproducible radioimmunoassay for human plasma thromboplastin antecedent (PTA, factor XI) has been developed with purified PTA and monospecific rabbit antiserum. Precise measurements of PTA antigen were possible for concentrations as low as 0.3% of that in normal pooled plasma. Normal plasma contained approximately 6 ..mu..g PTA/ml. A good correlation (correlation coefficient 0.68) existed between the PTA procoagulant assays and radioimmunoassays among 50 normal adults (25 males and 25 females). PTA antigen was markedly reduced in plasma of 13 patients with congenital homozygous PTA deficiency (range <0.003-0.128 U/ml) and 9 patients with hepatic cirrhosis (0.35 +- 0.17more » U/ml), but was normal in those of 9 patients under treatment with warfarin, 8 patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation and 16 patients with other congenital clotting factor abnormalities, including prekallikrein deficiency (Fletcher trait) and high molecular weight kininogen deficiency (Fitzgerald trait).« less

Women with Red Hair Report A Slightly Increased Rate of Bruising, but Have Normal Coagulation Tests

PubMed Central

Liem, Edwin B.; Hollensead, Sandra C.; Joiner, Teresa V.

2005-01-01

There is an anecdotal impression that redheads experience more perioperative bleeding complications than those with other hair colors. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that perceived problems with hemostasis could be detected with commonly used coagulation tests. Se studied healthy female Caucasian volunteers, 18 to 40 years, comparable in terms of height, weight, and age, with natural bright red (n = 25) or black or dark brown (n = 26) hair. Volunteers were questioned about their bleeding history and the following tests were performed: complete blood count, prothrombin time/international normalized ratio, activated partial thromboplastin time, platelet function analysis (PFA-100), and platelet aggregation using standard turbidimetric methodology. Agonists for aggregation were adenosine diphosphate, arachidonic acid, collagen, epinephrine, and two concentrations of ristocetin. The red-haired volunteers reported significantly more bruising, but there were no significant differences between the red- and dark-haired groups in hemoglobin concentration, platelet numbers, prothrombin time/international normalized ratio, or activated partial thromboplastin time. Furthermore, no significant differences in platelet function, as measured with the PFA-100 or with platelet aggregometry, were observed. We conclude that if redheads have hemostasis abnormalities, they are subtle. PMID:16368849

Separation of Time-Based and Trial-Based Accounts of the Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect

PubMed Central

Bouton, Mark E.; Woods, Amanda M.; Todd, Travis P.

2013-01-01

Two appetitive conditioning experiments with rats examined time-based and trial-based accounts of the partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE). In the PREE, the loss of responding that occurs in extinction is slower when the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been paired with a reinforcer on some of its presentations (partially reinforced) instead of every presentation (continuously reinforced). According to a time-based or “time-accumulation” view (e.g., Gallistel & Gibbon, 2000), the PREE occurs because the organism has learned in partial reinforcement to expect the reinforcer after a larger amount of time has accumulated in the CS over trials. In contrast, according to a trial-based view (e.g., Capaldi, 1967), the PREE occurs because the organism has learned in partial reinforcement to expect the reinforcer after a larger number of CS presentations. Experiment 1 used a procedure that equated partially- and continuously-reinforced groups on their expected times to reinforcement during conditioning. A PREE was still observed. Experiment 2 then used an extinction procedure that allowed time in the CS and the number of trials to accumulate differentially through extinction. The PREE was still evident when responding was examined as a function of expected time units to the reinforcer, but was eliminated when responding was examined as a function of expected trial units to the reinforcer. There was no evidence that the animal responded according to the ratio of time accumulated during the CS in extinction over the time in the CS expected before the reinforcer. The results thus favor a trial-based account over a time-based account of extinction and the PREE. PMID:23962669

Comparative thermometric coagulation studies of plasmas from normal outbred Swiss Webster mice and persons.

PubMed

Tsang, V C; Wyatt, C R; Damian, R T

1979-06-01

The functional capabilities of a thermometric clot-timer have been demonstrated in a comparative study of human and mouse plasma coagulation. The influence of some variables on coagulation times of mouse and human plasmas were examined in activated partial thromboplastin time, one-stage prothrombin time, and Russell's viper venom time assays. Mouse plasma coagulation times were generally shorter and more reproducible than those of human plasma. Optimal assay conditions are also described.

[Influence of cytostatic combination therapy with vincristine sulphate and iphosphamide on blood coagulation].

PubMed

Neidhardt, B; Hartwich, G

1975-02-28

Disorders of blood coagulation were investigated before and during a cytostatic combination therapy with vincristine sulphate and iphosphamide (Asta Z 4942) in 12 patients with malignant tumours or haemoblastoses. Thromboplastin time, partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, heat-dependent fibrin, clot retraction, and clotting factors II, V, VIII, IX, X, and the platelet count were determined. A change in the plasmatic coagulation system attributable to the combination therapy could not be demonstrated in any patient. The influence of the cytostatic combination on the platelet-dependent haemostasis was small; a decrease in platelet count could be observed in only one patient, in whom an additional causative damage to thrombopoiesis due to the underlying disease could be assumed. Regardless of the cytostatic therapy there were indications of a hypercoagulability in 10 patients. This explains the increased susceptibility of such patients for thromboses or consumption coagulopathy.

Sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of four measures of laboratory turnaround time.

PubMed

Valenstein, P N; Emancipator, K

1989-04-01

The authors studied the performance of four measures of laboratory turnaround time: the mean, median, 90th percentile, and proportion of tests reported within a predetermined cut-off interval (proportion of acceptable tests [PAT]). Measures were examined with the use of turnaround time data from 11,070 stat partial thromboplastin times, 16,761 urine cultures, and 28,055 stat electrolyte panels performed by a single laboratory. For laboratories with long turnaround times, the most important quality of a turnaround time measure is high reproducibility, so that improvement in reporting speed can be distinguished from random variation resulting from sampling. The mean was found to be the most reproducible of the four measures, followed by the median. The mean achieved acceptable precision with sample sizes of 100-500 tests. For laboratories with normally rapid turnaround times, the most important quality of a measure is high sensitivity and specificity for detecting whether turnaround time has dropped below standards. The PAT was found to be the best measure of turnaround time in this setting but required sample sizes of at least 500 tests to achieve acceptable accuracy. Laboratory turnaround time may be measured for different reasons. The method of measurement should be chosen with an eye toward its intended application.

Separation of time-based and trial-based accounts of the partial reinforcement extinction effect.

PubMed

Bouton, Mark E; Woods, Amanda M; Todd, Travis P

2014-01-01

Two appetitive conditioning experiments with rats examined time-based and trial-based accounts of the partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE). In the PREE, the loss of responding that occurs in extinction is slower when the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been paired with a reinforcer on some of its presentations (partially reinforced) instead of every presentation (continuously reinforced). According to a time-based or "time-accumulation" view (e.g., Gallistel and Gibbon, 2000), the PREE occurs because the organism has learned in partial reinforcement to expect the reinforcer after a larger amount of time has accumulated in the CS over trials. In contrast, according to a trial-based view (e.g., Capaldi, 1967), the PREE occurs because the organism has learned in partial reinforcement to expect the reinforcer after a larger number of CS presentations. Experiment 1 used a procedure that equated partially and continuously reinforced groups on their expected times to reinforcement during conditioning. A PREE was still observed. Experiment 2 then used an extinction procedure that allowed time in the CS and the number of trials to accumulate differentially through extinction. The PREE was still evident when responding was examined as a function of expected time units to the reinforcer, but was eliminated when responding was examined as a function of expected trial units to the reinforcer. There was no evidence that the animal responded according to the ratio of time accumulated during the CS in extinction over the time in the CS expected before the reinforcer. The results thus favor a trial-based account over a time-based account of extinction and the PREE. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Associative and Temporal Learning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spectral methods for time dependent partial differential equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gottlieb, D.; Turkel, E.

1983-01-01

The theory of spectral methods for time dependent partial differential equations is reviewed. When the domain is periodic Fourier methods are presented while for nonperiodic problems both Chebyshev and Legendre methods are discussed. The theory is presented for both hyperbolic and parabolic systems using both Galerkin and collocation procedures. While most of the review considers problems with constant coefficients the extension to nonlinear problems is also discussed. Some results for problems with shocks are presented.

Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: Superiority over laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

PubMed

Shiroki, Ryoichi; Fukami, Naohiko; Fukaya, Kosuke; Kusaka, Mamoru; Natsume, Takahiro; Ichihara, Takashi; Toyama, Hiroshi

2016-02-01

Nephron-sparing surgery has been proven to positively impact the postoperative quality of life for the treatment of small renal tumors, possibly leading to functional improvements. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is still one of the most demanding procedures in urological surgery. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy sometimes results in extended warm ischemic time and severe complications, such as open conversion, postoperative hemorrhage and urine leakage. Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy exploits the advantages offered by the da Vinci Surgical System to laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, equipped with 3-D vision and a better degree in the freedom of surgical instruments. The introduction of the da Vinci Surgical System made nephron-sparing surgery, specifically robot-assisted partial nephrectomy, safe with promising results, leading to the shortening of warm ischemic time and a reduction in perioperative complications. Even for complex and challenging tumors, robotic assistance is expected to provide the benefit of minimally-invasive surgery with safe and satisfactory renal function. Warm ischemic time is the modifiable factor during robot-assisted partial nephrectomy to affect postoperative kidney function. We analyzed the predictive factors for extended warm ischemic time from our robot-assisted partial nephrectomy series. The surface area of the tumor attached to the kidney parenchyma was shown to significantly affect the extended warm ischemic time during robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. In cases with tumor-attached surface area more than 15 cm(2) , we should consider switching robot-assisted partial nephrectomy to open partial nephrectomy under cold ischemia if it is imperative. In Japan, a nationwide prospective study has been carried out to show the superiority of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy to laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in improving warm ischemic time and complications. By facilitating robotic technology, robot-assisted partial nephrectomy

Combining instruction prefetching with partial cache locking to improve WCET in real-time systems.

PubMed

Ni, Fan; Long, Xiang; Wan, Han; Gao, Xiaopeng

2013-01-01

Caches play an important role in embedded systems to bridge the performance gap between fast processor and slow memory. And prefetching mechanisms are proposed to further improve the cache performance. While in real-time systems, the application of caches complicates the Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) analysis due to its unpredictable behavior. Modern embedded processors often equip locking mechanism to improve timing predictability of the instruction cache. However, locking the whole cache may degrade the cache performance and increase the WCET of the real-time application. In this paper, we proposed an instruction-prefetching combined partial cache locking mechanism, which combines an instruction prefetching mechanism (termed as BBIP) with partial cache locking to improve the WCET estimates of real-time applications. BBIP is an instruction prefetching mechanism we have already proposed to improve the worst-case cache performance and in turn the worst-case execution time. The estimations on typical real-time applications show that the partial cache locking mechanism shows remarkable WCET improvement over static analysis and full cache locking.

Combining Instruction Prefetching with Partial Cache Locking to Improve WCET in Real-Time Systems

PubMed Central

Ni, Fan; Long, Xiang; Wan, Han; Gao, Xiaopeng

2013-01-01

Caches play an important role in embedded systems to bridge the performance gap between fast processor and slow memory. And prefetching mechanisms are proposed to further improve the cache performance. While in real-time systems, the application of caches complicates the Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) analysis due to its unpredictable behavior. Modern embedded processors often equip locking mechanism to improve timing predictability of the instruction cache. However, locking the whole cache may degrade the cache performance and increase the WCET of the real-time application. In this paper, we proposed an instruction-prefetching combined partial cache locking mechanism, which combines an instruction prefetching mechanism (termed as BBIP) with partial cache locking to improve the WCET estimates of real-time applications. BBIP is an instruction prefetching mechanism we have already proposed to improve the worst-case cache performance and in turn the worst-case execution time. The estimations on typical real-time applications show that the partial cache locking mechanism shows remarkable WCET improvement over static analysis and full cache locking. PMID:24386133

Biological and analytical variations of 16 parameters related to coagulation screening tests and the activity of coagulation factors.

PubMed

Chen, Qian; Shou, Weiling; Wu, Wei; Guo, Ye; Zhang, Yujuan; Huang, Chunmei; Cui, Wei

2015-04-01

To accurately estimate longitudinal changes in individuals, it is important to take into consideration the biological variability of the measurement. The few studies available on the biological variations of coagulation parameters are mostly outdated. We confirmed the published results using modern, fully automated methods. Furthermore, we added data for additional coagulation parameters. At 8:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 4:00 pm on days 1, 3, and 5, venous blood was collected from 31 healthy volunteers. A total of 16 parameters related to coagulation screening tests as well as the activity of coagulation factors were analyzed; these included prothrombin time, fibrinogen (Fbg), activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, international normalized ratio, prothrombin time activity, activated partial thromboplastin time ratio, fibrin(-ogen) degradation products, as well as the activity of factor II, factor V, factor VII, factor VIII, factor IX, and factor X. All intraindividual coefficients of variation (CVI) values for the parameters of the screening tests (except Fbg) were less than 5%. Conversely, the CVI values for the activity of coagulation factors were all greater than 5%. In addition, we calculated the reference change value to determine whether a significant difference exists between two test results from the same individual. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Impact of Partial Time Delay on Temporal Dynamics of Watts-Strogatz Small-World Neuronal Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Hao; Sun, Xiaojuan

2017-06-01

In this paper, we mainly discuss effects of partial time delay on temporal dynamics of Watts-Strogatz (WS) small-world neuronal networks by controlling two parameters. One is the time delay τ and the other is the probability of partial time delay pdelay. Temporal dynamics of WS small-world neuronal networks are discussed with the aid of temporal coherence and mean firing rate. With the obtained simulation results, it is revealed that for small time delay τ, the probability pdelay could weaken temporal coherence and increase mean firing rate of neuronal networks, which indicates that it could improve neuronal firings of the neuronal networks while destroying firing regularity. For large time delay τ, temporal coherence and mean firing rate do not have great changes with respect to pdelay. Time delay τ always has great influence on both temporal coherence and mean firing rate no matter what is the value of pdelay. Moreover, with the analysis of spike trains and histograms of interspike intervals of neurons inside neuronal networks, it is found that the effects of partial time delays on temporal coherence and mean firing rate could be the result of locking between the period of neuronal firing activities and the value of time delay τ. In brief, partial time delay could have great influence on temporal dynamics of the neuronal networks.

Next Generation Real-Time Systems: Investigating the Potential of Partial-Solution Tasks.

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-12-01

insufficient for dealing with the complexities of next-generation real - time systems . New methods of intelligent control must be developed for guaranteeing...on-time task completion for real - time systems that are faced with unpredictable and dynamically changing requirements. Implementing real-time...tasks by experimentally measuring the change in performance of 11 simulated real - time systems when converted from all-or-nothing tasks to partial

Optimal Timing for Early Excision in a Deep Partial Thickness Porcine Burn Model.

PubMed

Toussaint, Jimmy; Chung, Won Taek; Mc Clain, Steve; Raut, Vivek; Singer, Adam J

Many deep partial thickness burns require more than 3 weeks to heal resulting in disfiguring and dysfunctional scarring. Early excision of the eschar has been shown to improve outcomes in deep burns; however, the optimal timing of the excision remains controversial. We compared wound healing and scarring of deep partial thickness burns that were excised at different time points in a porcine model. Deep partial thickness burns (2.5 by 2.5 cm each) were created on the backs of six anesthetized pigs using a previously validated model. The burns were randomly assigned to excision at days 2, 4, or 7 using an electric dermatome. Full thickness 4-mm punch biopsies were obtained at several time points for determination of re-epithelialization and at day 28 for determination of scar depth. Digital imaging was used to calculate percentage wound contraction at day 28. There were no statistically significant differences in wound re-epithelialization at any of the studied time points. Scar depth and percentage wound contraction were also similar among the wounds excised at 2, 4, and 7 days (4.4 ± 1.1 mm vs 3.9 ± 1.1 mm vs 4.1 ± 1.2 mm and 52.9 ± 17.9% vs 52.6 ± 15.6% vs 52.5 ± 13.8%, respectively). Timing of eschar excision (at 2, 4, or 7 days) does not affect the rates of re-epithelialization and scarring in a deep partial thickness porcine burn model. Timing of eschar excision may not change outcomes if performed within the first 2 to 7 days after injury.

A higher order numerical method for time fractional partial differential equations with nonsmooth data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Yanyuan; Yan, Yubin

2018-03-01

Gao et al. [11] (2014) introduced a numerical scheme to approximate the Caputo fractional derivative with the convergence rate O (k 3 - α), 0 < α < 1 by directly approximating the integer-order derivative with some finite difference quotients in the definition of the Caputo fractional derivative, see also Lv and Xu [20] (2016), where k is the time step size. Under the assumption that the solution of the time fractional partial differential equation is sufficiently smooth, Lv and Xu [20] (2016) proved by using energy method that the corresponding numerical method for solving time fractional partial differential equation has the convergence rate O (k 3 - α), 0 < α < 1 uniformly with respect to the time variable t. However, in general the solution of the time fractional partial differential equation has low regularity and in this case the numerical method fails to have the convergence rate O (k 3 - α), 0 < α < 1 uniformly with respect to the time variable t. In this paper, we first obtain a similar approximation scheme to the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative with the convergence rate O (k 3 - α), 0 < α < 1 as in Gao et al. [11] (2014) by approximating the Hadamard finite-part integral with the piecewise quadratic interpolation polynomials. Based on this scheme, we introduce a time discretization scheme to approximate the time fractional partial differential equation and show by using Laplace transform methods that the time discretization scheme has the convergence rate O (k 3 - α), 0 < α < 1 for any fixed tn > 0 for smooth and nonsmooth data in both homogeneous and inhomogeneous cases. Numerical examples are given to show that the theoretical results are consistent with the numerical results.

Time Parallel Solution of Linear Partial Differential Equations on the Intel Touchstone Delta Supercomputer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toomarian, N.; Fijany, A.; Barhen, J.

1993-01-01

Evolutionary partial differential equations are usually solved by decretization in time and space, and by applying a marching in time procedure to data and algorithms potentially parallelized in the spatial domain.

Effects of Chitosan Derivative N-[(2-Hydroxy-3-Trimethylammonium)Propyl]Chloride on Anticoagulant Activity of Guinea Pig Plasma.

PubMed

Drozd, N N; Shagdarova, B Ts; Il'ina, A V; Varlamov, V P

2017-07-01

Intravenous injection of protamine sulfate or quarternized chitosan derivative to guinea pigs after injection of 70 aIIa U/kg non-fractionated heparin shortened plasma clotting time (shown by partial activated thromboplastin time, thrombin time, and prothrombin time). Intravenous injection of protamine sulfate or quarternized chitosan derivative to guinea pigs after injection of 1 mg/kg (100 aXa U/kg) low-molecular-weight heparin (clexane) led to shortening of plasma clotting time in the ReaClot Heparin test and to prolongation of plasma amidolytic activity in the factor Xa chromogenic substrate test.

Screening test for direct oral anticoagulants with the dilute Russell viper venom time.

PubMed

Pratt, Jackie; Crispin, Philip

2018-06-01

To evaluate the dilute Russell viper venom time (DRVVT) for the detection of direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and to investigate the effect of DOACS on coagulation assays. Patients with DOACs and controls had plasma levels determined by an anti-Xa assay and dilute thrombin clotting time (TCT). Levels were correlated with the DRVVT as well as TCT, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen, protein C, protein S and antithrombin levels. The utility of the DRVVT for detecting clinically significant levels of DOACs was evaluated. There were 44 samples from patients taking dabigatran, 83 with rivaroxaban, 18 with apixaban and 55 controls. The PT and APTT failed to detect clinically significant doses of anticoagulants adequately. The TCT was increased in patients taking dabigatran and normal in controls and patients on FXa inhibitors. There was a linear correlation with all DOAC levels and the DRVVT, with moderate precision, but it showed high sensitivity (95%) and specificity (90%) for clinically significant DOAC levels. The DRVVT detects clinically significant levels of DOACs and, in conjunction with the TCT, may be used as a screen for the presence and type of DOAC. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Further Results on Finite-Time Partial Stability and Stabilization. Applications to Nonlinear Control Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jammazi, Chaker

2009-03-05

The paper gives Lyapunov type sufficient conditions for partial finite-time and asymptotic stability in which some state variables converge to zero while the rest converge to constant values that possibly depend on the initial conditions. The paper then presents partially asymptotically stabilizing controllers for many nonlinear control systems for which continuous asymptotically stabilizing (in the usual sense) controllers are known not to exist.

Extending compile-time reverse mode and exploiting partial separability in ADIFOR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bischof, C.H.; El-Khadiri, M.

1992-10-01

The numerical methods employed in the solution of many scientific computing problems require the computation of the gradient of a function f: R[sup n] [yields] R. ADIFOR is a source translator that, given a collection of subroutines to compute f, generates Fortran 77 code for computing the derivative of this function. Using the so-called torsion problem from the MINPACK-2 test collection as an example, this paper explores two issues in automatic differentiation: the efficient computation of derivatives for partial separable functions and the use of the compile-time reverse mode for the generation of derivatives. We show that orders of magnitudesmore » of improvement are possible when exploiting partial separability and maximizing use of the reverse mode.« less

Underwater partial polarization signatures from the shallow water real-time imaging polarimeter (SHRIMP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, James S., Jr.; Davis, P. S.; Wolff, Lawrence B.

2003-09-01

Research has shown that naturally occurring light outdoors and underwater is partially linearly polarized. The polarized components can be combined to form an image that describes the polarization of the light in the scene. This image is known as the degree of linear polarization (DOLP) image or partial polarization image. These naturally occurring polarization signatures can provide a diver or an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) with more information to detect, classify, and identify threats such as obstacles and/or mines in the shallow water environment. The SHallow water Real-time IMaging Polarimeter (SHRIMP), recently developed under sponsorship of Dr. Tom Swean at the Office of Naval Research (Code 321OE), can measure underwater partial polarization imagery. This sensor is a passive, three-channel device that simultaneously measures the three components of the Stokes vector needed to determine the partial linear polarization of the scene. The testing of this sensor has been completed and the data has been analyzed. This paper presents performance results from the field-testing and quantifies the gain provided by the partial polarization signature of targets in the Very Shallow Water (VSW) and Surf Zone (SZ) regions.

Implementation of a microcontroller-based semi-automatic coagulator.

PubMed

Chan, K; Kirumira, A; Elkateeb, A

2001-01-01

The coagulator is an instrument used in hospitals to detect clot formation as a function of time. Generally, these coagulators are very expensive and therefore not affordable by a doctors' office and small clinics. The objective of this project is to design and implement a low cost semi-automatic coagulator (SAC) prototype. The SAC is capable of assaying up to 12 samples and can perform the following tests: prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and PT/APTT combination. The prototype has been tested successfully.

Numerical methods for large-scale, time-dependent partial differential equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turkel, E.

1979-01-01

A survey of numerical methods for time dependent partial differential equations is presented. The emphasis is on practical applications to large scale problems. A discussion of new developments in high order methods and moving grids is given. The importance of boundary conditions is stressed for both internal and external flows. A description of implicit methods is presented including generalizations to multidimensions. Shocks, aerodynamics, meteorology, plasma physics and combustion applications are also briefly described.

Effects of partial reinforcement and time between reinforced trials on terminal response rate in pigeon autoshaping.

PubMed

Gottlieb, Daniel A

2006-03-01

Partial reinforcement often leads to asymptotically higher rates of responding and number of trials with a response than does continuous reinforcement in pigeon autoshaping. However, comparisons typically involve a partial reinforcement schedule that differs from the continuous reinforcement schedule in both time between reinforced trials and probability of reinforcement. Two experiments examined the relative contributions of these two manipulations to asymptotic response rate. Results suggest that the greater responding previously seen with partial reinforcement is primarily due to differential probability of reinforcement and not differential time between reinforced trials. Further, once established, differences in responding are resistant to a change in stimulus and contingency. Secondary response theories of autoshaped responding (theories that posit additional response-augmenting or response-attenuating mechanisms specific to partial or continuous reinforcement) cannot fully accommodate the current body of data. It is suggested that researchers who study pigeon autoshaping train animals on a common task prior to training them under different conditions.

Moldy Sweetclover Poisoning in a Horse

PubMed Central

McDonald, G. K.

1980-01-01

A six year old Percheron mare was presented with a history of spontaneous unilateral epistaxis of 24 hours duration. The blood one stage prothrombin and partial thromboplastin times were markedly prolonged. A diagnosis of moldy sweetclover poisoning was made on the basis of the history and clinical and laboratory findings. A single whole blood transfusion and four daily intravenous injections of vitamin K3 proved to be a successful treatment. PMID:6159959

Effect of carprofen on hemostatic variables in dogs.

PubMed

Hickford, F H; Barr, S C; Erb, H N

2001-10-01

To evaluate the effect of carprofen on hemostatic variables in clinically normal dogs. 12 clinically normal Labrador Retrievers. 10 dogs (6 females, 4 males) received carprofen (2.2 mg/kg of body weight, PO, q 12 h) for 5 days. Two dogs (untreated control group; 1 female, 1 male) did not receive carprofen. Hemostatic variables (platelet count, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, fibrinogen, platelet aggregation, and bleeding time) were assessed for all dogs prior to treatment, on day 5 of treatment, and 2 and 7 days after discontinuation of the drug (days 7 and 12). Serum biochemical variables and Hct were assessed prior to treatment and on days 5 and 12. In dogs receiving carprofen, platelet aggregation was significantly decreased, and onset of aggregation was significantly delayed on days 5, 7, and 12, compared with pretreatment values. Activated partial thromboplastin time was significantly increased on days 5, 7, and 12 over pretreatment values in treated dogs, but values remained within reference ranges. Significant differences were not detected in buccal mucosal bleeding time, other serum biochemical and hemostatic variables, or Hct, compared with pretreatment values and the internal control group. Administration of carprofen for 5 days causes minor but not clinically important alterations in hemostatic and serum biochemical variables in clinically normal Labrador Retrievers. Carprofen is commonly used to treat osteoarthritis and chronic pain in dogs, but prior to this study, its effect on platelet aggregation and hemostatic variables was unknown.

Hemostatic abnormalities in Noonan syndrome.

PubMed

Artoni, Andrea; Selicorni, Angelo; Passamonti, Serena M; Lecchi, Anna; Bucciarelli, Paolo; Cerutti, Marta; Cianci, Paola; Gianniello, Francesca; Martinelli, Ida

2014-05-01

A bleeding diathesis is a common feature of Noonan syndrome, and various coagulation abnormalities have been reported. Platelet function has never been carefully investigated. The degree of bleeding diathesis in a cohort of patients with Noonan syndrome was evaluated by a validated bleeding score and investigated with coagulation and platelet function tests. If ratios of prothrombin time and/or activated partial thromboplastin time were prolonged, the activity of clotting factors was measured. Individuals with no history of bleeding formed the control group. The study population included 39 patients and 28 controls. Bleeding score was ≥2 (ie, suggestive of a moderate bleeding diathesis) in 15 patients (38.5%) and ≥4 (ie, suggestive of a severe bleeding diathesis) in 7 (17.9%). Abnormal coagulation and/or platelet function tests were found in 14 patients with bleeding score ≥2 (93.3%) but also in 21 (87.5%) of those with bleeding score <2. The prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were prolonged in 18 patients (46%) and partial deficiency of factor VII, alone or in combination with the deficiency of other vitamin K-dependent factors, was the most frequent coagulation abnormality. Moreover, platelet aggregation and secretion were reduced in 29 of 35 patients (82.9%, P < .01 for all aggregating agents). Nearly 40% of patients with the Noonan syndrome had a bleeding diathesis and >90% of them had platelet function and/or coagulation abnormalities. Results of these tests should be taken into account in the management of bleeding or invasive procedures in these patients. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The effect of different methods of leucoreduction on plasma coagulation factors.

PubMed

Aboul Enein, Azza A; Abdel Rahman, Hala A; Abdel Maged, Mohamed M M; El Sissy, Maha H

2017-03-01

Removal of leucocytes from blood products, namely leucoreduction, improves the safety of blood transfusion by reducing adverse events associated with the incidental transfusion of leucocytes. Coagulation factors might be compromised during leucoreduction because of exposure of plasma to a variety of filter materials. The aim of the current study was to assess the effect of different methods of prestorage leucofiltration (apheresis and whole blood filters) on prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, partial thromboplastin time and factors V and VIII. There was a significant prolongation of prothrombin time as well as elevation of international normalized ratio in plasma after leucoreduction (14.5 ± 0.7 s vs. 13.9 ± 0.7 s, P = 0.008 and 1.14 ± 0.07 vs. 1.09 ± 0.07, P = 0.005, respectively). Also, there was a statistically significant prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time in nonleucoreduced plasma (55.6 ± 9.9 s vs. 43.2 ± 12.8 s, P = 0.001). There was no significant filtration effect on factors V and VIII levels. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in factors V and VIII levels between plasma filtered by inline whole blood filters and apheresis machine. Leucodepleted plasma originating from both inline whole blood filter and apheresis machine maintained satisfactory levels of factors V and VIII.

An updated concept of coagulation with clinical implications.

PubMed

Romney, Gregory; Glick, Michael

2009-05-01

Over the past century, a series of models have been put forth to explain the coagulation mechanism. The coagulation cascade/waterfall model has gained the most widespread acceptance. This model, however, has problems when it is used in different clinical scenarios. A more recently proposed cell-based model better describes the coagulation process in vivo and provides oral health care professionals (OHCPs) with a better understanding of the clinical implications of providing dental care to patients with potentially increased bleeding tendencies. The authors conducted a literature search using the PubMed database. They searched for key words including "coagulation," "hemostasis," "bleeding," "coagulation factors," "models," "prothrombin time," "activated partial thromboplastin time," "international normalized ratio," "anticoagulation therapy" and "hemophilia" separately and in combination. The coagulation cascade/waterfall model is insufficient to explain coagulation in vivo, predict a patient's bleeding tendency, or correlate clinical outcomes with specific laboratory screening tests such as prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time and international normalized ratio. However, the cell-based model of coagulation that reflects the in vivo process of coagulation provides insight into the clinical ramifications of treating dental patients with specific coagulation factor deficiencies. Understanding the in vivo coagulation process will help OHCPs better predict a patient's bleeding tendency. In addition, applying the theoretical concept of the cell-based model of coagulation to commonly used laboratory screening tests for coagulation and bleeding will result in safer and more appropriate dental care.

A comparison of the fabrication times of all-ceramic partial crowns: Cerec 3D vs IPS Empress.

PubMed

Gozdowski, S; Reich, S

2009-01-01

Apart from precision, the time factor plays a decisive role in the fabrication of all-ceramic dental restorations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare two all-ceramic systems with regard to the time required for the fabrication of partial crowns [MODB]. The null hypothesis tested was that the fabrication times of CAD/CAM generated partial crowns are shorter than the fabrication times of partial crowns manufactured in the laboratory. In sixteen model pairs mounted in the articulator, which corresponded to different clinical situations, tooth 36 was prepared for an all-ceramic partial crown [MODB]. With the Cerec3D method [CHAIR], the fabrication of the restoration was simulated directly on the "phantom patient". The IPS Empress system [LAB] was used forthe indirectfabrication method via an impression of the phantom patient. Both methods were used for each preparation. The adhesive luting procedure was not simulated and, therefore, not measured. The mean processing times [hh:mm:ss] were 00:35:05 (SD +/- 03:27 min) for the Cerec method and 04:17:54 (SD +/- 26:01 min) for the Empress method. The mean time on the phantom patient for process-induced activities was 11:47 minutes (SD +/- 02:08 min) for the Cerec method and 03:58 minutes (SD +/- 02:50 min) for the Empress method. Time expenditure for fabrication is only one aspect in order to assess the suitability of a restoration system. Both methods enable the dentist to provide high quality all ceramic restorations. Although the Empress method showed a time advantage of 65% during the fitting phase and occlusal grinding-in on the phantom patient in comparison to the Cerec method, the time spent during the laboratory phase has to be considered as well.

Using the time-to-event continual reassessment method in the presence of partial orders

PubMed Central

Wages, Nolan A.; Conaway, Mark R.; O'Quigley, John

2012-01-01

The time-to-event continual reassessment method (TITE-CRM) was proposed to handle the problem of long trial duration in Phase 1 trials as a result of late-onset toxicities. Here, we implement the TITE-CRM in dose–finding trials of combinations of agents. When studying multiple agents, monotonicity of the dose-toxicity curve is not clearly defined. Therefore, the toxicity probabilities follow a partial order, meaning that there are pairs of treatments for which the ordering of the toxicity probabilities is not known at the start of the trial. A CRM design for partially ordered trials (PO-CRM) was recently proposed. Simulation studies show that extending the TITE-CRM to the partial order setting produces results similar to those of the PO-CRM in terms of maximum tolerated dose recommendation yet reduces the duration of the trial. PMID:22806898

Evaluation of thromboelastography in two factor XII-deficient cats.

PubMed

Blois, Shauna L; Holowaychuk, Marie K; Wood, R Darren

2015-01-01

The current report describes thromboelastography (TEG) findings in two cats with factor XII (FXII) deficiency. The first cat was diagnosed with bilateral perinephric pseudocysts; hemostatic testing was performed prior to performing renal aspirates. The second cat was healthy; hemostatic testing was performed prior to inclusion into a research project. Both cats had markedly prolonged partial thromboplastin times and hypocoagulable TEG tracings when samples were activated with kaolin. However, when tissue factor (TF) was used to activate the sample, both cats had normal-to-hypercoagulable TEG tracings. The cats each had a subnormal FXII level. TEG is becoming widely used to investigate hemostasis in veterinary patients, and TEG results in cats with FXII deficiency have not been previously reported. FXII deficiency is the most common hereditary hemostatic defect in cats. While FXII deficiency does not lead to in vivo hemorrhagic tendencies, it can lead to marked prolongation in activated partial thromboplastin and activated clotting times, and cannot be differentiated from true hemorrhagic diatheses without measuring individual factor activity. With the increased use of TEG to evaluate hemostasis in veterinary patients, it is important to recognize the effects of FXII deficiency on this testing modality. The finding of a hypocoagulable kaolin-activated TEG tracing and a concurrent normal TF-activated TEG tracing in samples should prompt clinicians to consider ruling out FXII deficiency.

Evaluation of thromboelastography in two factor XII-deficient cats

PubMed Central

Holowaychuk, Marie K; Wood, R Darren

2015-01-01

Case summary The current report describes thromboelastography (TEG) findings in two cats with factor XII (FXII) deficiency. The first cat was diagnosed with bilateral perinephric pseudocysts; hemostatic testing was performed prior to performing renal aspirates. The second cat was healthy; hemostatic testing was performed prior to inclusion into a research project. Both cats had markedly prolonged partial thromboplastin times and hypocoagulable TEG tracings when samples were activated with kaolin. However, when tissue factor (TF) was used to activate the sample, both cats had normal-to-hypercoagulable TEG tracings. The cats each had a subnormal FXII level. Relevance and novel information TEG is becoming widely used to investigate hemostasis in veterinary patients, and TEG results in cats with FXII deficiency have not been previously reported. FXII deficiency is the most common hereditary hemostatic defect in cats. While FXII deficiency does not lead to in vivo hemorrhagic tendencies, it can lead to marked prolongation in activated partial thromboplastin and activated clotting times, and cannot be differentiated from true hemorrhagic diatheses without measuring individual factor activity. With the increased use of TEG to evaluate hemostasis in veterinary patients, it is important to recognize the effects of FXII deficiency on this testing modality. The finding of a hypocoagulable kaolin-activated TEG tracing and a concurrent normal TF-activated TEG tracing in samples should prompt clinicians to consider ruling out FXII deficiency. PMID:28491358

Constructing and predicting solitary pattern solutions for nonlinear time-fractional dispersive partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arqub, Omar Abu; El-Ajou, Ahmad; Momani, Shaher

2015-07-01

Building fractional mathematical models for specific phenomena and developing numerical or analytical solutions for these fractional mathematical models are crucial issues in mathematics, physics, and engineering. In this work, a new analytical technique for constructing and predicting solitary pattern solutions of time-fractional dispersive partial differential equations is proposed based on the generalized Taylor series formula and residual error function. The new approach provides solutions in the form of a rapidly convergent series with easily computable components using symbolic computation software. For method evaluation and validation, the proposed technique was applied to three different models and compared with some of the well-known methods. The resultant simulations clearly demonstrate the superiority and potentiality of the proposed technique in terms of the quality performance and accuracy of substructure preservation in the construct, as well as the prediction of solitary pattern solutions for time-fractional dispersive partial differential equations.

Measuring Safety Performance: A Comparison of Whole, Partial, and Momentary Time-Sampling Recording Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvero, Alicia M.; Struss, Kristen; Rappaport, Eva

2008-01-01

Partial-interval (PIR), whole-interval (WIR), and momentary time sampling (MTS) estimates were compared against continuous measures of safety performance for three postural behaviors: feet, back, and shoulder position. Twenty-five samples of safety performance across five undergraduate students were scored using a second-by-second continuous…

In vivo antithrombotic properties of a heparin from the oocyte test cells of the sea squirt Styela plicata(Chordata-Tunicata).

PubMed

Cardilo-Reis, L; Cavalcante, M C M; Silveira, C B M; Pavão, M S G

2006-11-01

In the ascidian Styela plicata, the oocytes are surrounded by two types of accessory cells named follicle cells and test cells. A heparin-like substance with an anticoagulant activity equivalent to 10% of mammalian heparin and about 5% as potent as the mammalian counterpart for the inhibition of thrombin by antithrombin was isolated from the oocyte test cells. In the present study, we compared the antithrombotic and hemorrhagic effects of sea squirt oocyte test cell heparin with those of porcine heparin in rat models of venous thrombosis and blood loss. Intravenous administration of the oocyte test cell heparin to Wistar rats (both sexes, weighing approximately 300 g, N = 4 in each group) at a dose of 5.0 mg/kg body weight, which produced a 1.8-fold increase in plasma activated partial thromboplastin time, inhibited thrombosis by 45 +/- 13.5% (mean +/- SD) without any bleeding effect. The same dose of porcine heparin inhibited thrombosis by 100 +/- 1.4%, but produced a blood loss three times greater than that of the saline-treated control. However, 10-fold reduction of the dose of porcine heparin to 0.5 mg/kg body weight, which produced a 5-fold increase in plasma-activated partial thromboplastin time, inhibited thrombosis by 70 +/- 13% without any bleeding effect. The antithrombotic properties of a new heparin isolated from test cells of the sea squirt S. plicata, reported here for the first time, indicate that, although sea squirt oocyte test cell heparin was a poor anticoagulant compared to porcine heparin, it had a significant antithrombotic effect without causing bleeding.

Coagulopathy induced by saw palmetto: a case report.

PubMed

Villanueva, Salvador; González, Jenniffer

2009-01-01

Saw palmetto is the most popular herbal supplement used to treat symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The safety and efficacy of saw palmetto has been established in the literature. While the majority of studies document the efficacy and safety of saw palmetto, some studies document the adverse side effects, including increased risk of bleeding. There are no reports in the literature about increased prothombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT) or international normalized ratio (INR) while using saw palmetto. We present a case of hematuria and coagulopathy in a patient who was using saw palmetto.

Coagulation Testing in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Taking Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants.

PubMed

Purrucker, Jan C; Haas, Kirsten; Rizos, Timolaos; Khan, Shujah; Poli, Sven; Kraft, Peter; Kleinschnitz, Christoph; Dziewas, Rainer; Binder, Andreas; Palm, Frederick; Jander, Sebastian; Soda, Hassan; Heuschmann, Peter U; Veltkamp, Roland

2017-01-01

In patients who present with acute ischemic stroke while on treatment with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), coagulation testing is necessary to confirm the eligibility for thrombolytic therapy. We evaluated the current use of coagulation testing in routine clinical practice in patients who were on NOAC treatment at the time of acute ischemic stroke. Prospective multicenter observational RASUNOA registry (Registry of Acute Stroke Under New Oral Anticoagulants; February 2012-2015). Results of locally performed nonspecific (international normalized ratio, activated partial thromboplastin time, and thrombin time) and specific (antifactor Xa tests, hemoclot assay) coagulation tests were documented. The implications of test results for thrombolysis decision-making were explored. In the 290 patients enrolled, nonspecific coagulation tests were performed in ≥95% and specific coagulation tests in 26.9% of patients. Normal values of activated partial thromboplastin time and international normalized ratio did not reliably rule out peak drug levels at the time of the diagnostic tests (false-negative rates 11%-44% [95% confidence interval 1%-69%]). Twelve percent of patients apparently failed to take the prescribed NOAC prior to the acute event. Only 5.7% (9/159) of patients in the 4.5-hour time window received thrombolysis, and NOAC treatment was documented as main reason for not administering thrombolysis in 52.7% (79/150) of patients. NOAC treatment currently poses a significant barrier to thrombolysis in ischemic stroke. Because nonspecific coagulation test results within normal range have a high false-negative rate for detection of relevant drug concentrations, rapid drug-specific tests for thrombolysis decision-making should be established. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01850797. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Spectral methods in time for a class of parabolic partial differential equations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ierley, G.; Spencer, B.; Worthing, R.

1992-09-01

In this paper, we introduce a fully spectral solution for the partial differential equation u[sub t] + uu[sub x] + vu[sub xx] + [mu]u[sub xxx] + [lambda]u[sub xxxx] = O. For periodic boundary conditions in space, the use of a Fourier expansion in x admits of a particularly efficient algorithm with respect to expansion of the time dependence in a Chebyshev series. Boundary conditions other than periodic may still be treated with reasonable, though lesser, efficiency. for all cases, very high accuracy is attainable at moderate computational cost relative to the expense of variable order finite difference methods in time.more » 14 refs., 9 figs.« less

Asphyxia by Drowning Induces Massive Bleeding Due To Hyperfibrinolytic Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation.

PubMed

Schwameis, Michael; Schober, Andreas; Schörgenhofer, Christian; Sperr, Wolfgang Reinhard; Schöchl, Herbert; Janata-Schwatczek, Karin; Kürkciyan, Erol Istepan; Sterz, Fritz; Jilma, Bernd

2015-11-01

To date, no study has systematically investigated the impact of drowning-induced asphyxia on hemostasis. Our objective was to test the hypothesis that asphyxia induces bleeding by hyperfibrinolytic disseminated intravascular coagulation. Observational study. A 2,100-bed tertiary care facility in Vienna, Austria, Europe. All cases of drowning-induced asphyxia (n=49) were compared with other patients with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (n=116) and to patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (n=83). Six drowning victims were investigated prospectively. To study the mechanism, a forearm-ischemia model was used in 20 volunteers to investigate whether hypoxia releases tissue plasminogen activator. None. Eighty percent of patients with drowning-induced asphyxia developed overt disseminated intravascular coagulation within 24 hours. When compared with nondrowning cardiac arrest patients, drowning patients had a 13 times higher prevalence of overt disseminated intravascular coagulation at admission (55% vs 4%; p<0.001). Despite comparable disseminated intravascular coagulation scores, acute promyelocytic leukemia patients had higher fibrinogen but lower d-dimer levels and platelet counts than drowning patients (p<0.001). Drowning victims had a three-fold longer activated partial thromboplastin time (124 s; p<0.001) than both nondrowning cardiac arrest and acute promyelocytic leukemia patients. Hyperfibrinolysis was reflected by up to 1,000-fold increased d-dimer levels, greater than 5-fold elevated plasmin antiplasmin levels, and a complete absence of thrombelastometric clotting patterns, which was reversed by antifibrinolytics and heparinase. Thirty minutes of forearm-ischemia increased tissue plasminogen activator 31-fold (p<0.001). The vast majority of drowning patients develops overt hyperfibrinolytic disseminated intravascular coagulation, partly caused by hypoxia induced tissue plasminogen activator release. Antifibrinolytics and heparinase partially reverse the

Global Regularity and Time Decay for the 2D Magnetohydrodynamic Equations with Fractional Dissipation and Partial Magnetic Diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Bo-Qing; Jia, Yan; Li, Jingna; Wu, Jiahong

2018-05-01

This paper focuses on a system of the 2D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations with the kinematic dissipation given by the fractional operator (-Δ )^α and the magnetic diffusion by partial Laplacian. We are able to show that this system with any α >0 always possesses a unique global smooth solution when the initial data is sufficiently smooth. In addition, we make a detailed study on the large-time behavior of these smooth solutions and obtain optimal large-time decay rates. Since the magnetic diffusion is only partial here, some classical tools such as the maximal regularity property for the 2D heat operator can no longer be applied. A key observation on the structure of the MHD equations allows us to get around the difficulties due to the lack of full Laplacian magnetic diffusion. The results presented here are the sharpest on the global regularity problem for the 2D MHD equations with only partial magnetic diffusion.

Effects of an antiandrogenic oral contraceptive pill compared with metformin on blood coagulation tests and endothelial function in women with the polycystic ovary syndrome: influence of obesity and smoking.

PubMed

Luque-Ramírez, Manuel; Mendieta-Azcona, Covandonga; del Rey Sánchez, José M; Matíes, Milagro; Escobar-Morreale, Héctor F

2009-03-01

To study the blood clotting tests and endothelial function of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients and non-hyperandrogenic women, and their changes during PCOS treatment, as a function of the presence of obesity and smoking. Case-control study followed by a randomized clinical trial. Blood clotting and endothelial function were analyzed in 40 PCOS patients and 20 non-hyperandrogenic women. Thirty-four PCOS women were randomized to an oral contraceptive containing 35 microg ethinyl-estradiol plus 2 mg cyproterone acetate (Diane(35)Diario) or metformin (850 mg twice daily), monitoring the changes on these parameters during 24 weeks of treatment. The influence of obesity and smoking was also analyzed. Blood clotting and endothelial function tests were similar among PCOS patients and controls with the exception of a higher platelet count in the former. Obesity increased circulating fibrinogen levels, prothrombin activity and platelet counts, and reduced prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin times. Smoking increased fibrinogen levels, platelet counts, and prothrombin activity, and reduced prothrombin time, in relation to the larger waist circumference of smokers. Irrespective of the treatment received, PCOS patients showed a decrease in prothrombin time and an increase in prothrombin activity, with a parallel increase in homocysteine levels in metformin users. The activated partial thromboplastin time decreased markedly in the patients treated with Diane(35)Diario. Finally, flow-mediated dilation improved in non-smokers irrespective of the drug received, but worsened in smokers. Oral contraceptives and metformin may exert deleterious effects on blood clotting tests of PCOS women, yet the effects of metformin appear to be milder. Because smoking potentiates some of these effects and deteriorates endothelial function, smoking cessation should be promoted in PCOS patients.

The effect of the perfluorocarbon emulsion Oxycyte on platelet count and function in the treatment of decompression sickness in a swine model.

PubMed

Cronin, William A; Senese, Angela L; Arnaud, Francoise G; Regis, David P; Auker, Charles R; Mahon, Richard T

2016-09-01

Decompression from elevated ambient pressure is associated with platelet activation and decreased platelet counts. Standard treatment for decompression sickness (DCS) is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Intravenous perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsion is a nonrecompressive therapy being examined that improves mortality in animal models of DCS. However, PFC emulsions are associated with a decreased platelet count. We used a swine model of DCS to study the effect of PFC therapy on platelet count, function, and hemostasis. Castrated male swine (n = 50) were fitted with a vascular port, recovered, randomized, and compressed to 180 feet of sea water (fsw) for 31 min followed by decompression at 30 fsw/min. Animals were observed for DCS, administered 100% oxygen, and treated with either emulsified PFC Oxycyte (DCS-PFC) or isotonic saline (DCS-NS). Controls underwent the same procedures, but were not compressed (Sham-PFC and Sham-NS). Measurements of platelet count, thromboelastometry, and coagulation were obtained 1 h before compression and 1, 24, 48, 96, 168 and 192 h after treatment. No significant changes in normalized platelet counts were observed. Prothrombin time was elevated in DCS-PFC from 48 to 192 h compared with DCS-NS, and from 96 to 192 h compared with Sham-PFC. Normalized activated partial thromboplastin time was also elevated in DCS-PFC from 168 to 192 h compared with Sham-PFC. No bleeding events were noted. DCS treated with PFC (Oxycyte) does not impact platelet numbers, whole blood clotting by thromboelastometry, or clinical bleeding. Late changes in prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time associated with PFC use in both DCS therapy and controls warrant further investigation.

First-passage times for pattern formation in nonlocal partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cáceres, Manuel O.; Fuentes, Miguel A.

2015-10-01

We describe the lifetimes associated with the stochastic evolution from an unstable uniform state to a patterned one when the time evolution of the field is controlled by a nonlocal Fisher equation. A small noise is added to the evolution equation to define the lifetimes and to calculate the mean first-passage time of the stochastic field through a given threshold value, before the patterned steady state is reached. In order to obtain analytical results we introduce a stochastic multiscale perturbation expansion. This multiscale expansion can also be used to tackle multiplicative stochastic partial differential equations. A critical slowing down is predicted for the marginal case when the Fourier phase of the unstable initial condition is null. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations to show the agreement with our theoretical predictions. Analytic results for the bifurcation point and asymptotic analysis of traveling wave-front solutions are included to get insight into the noise-induced transition phenomena mediated by invading fronts.

First-passage times for pattern formation in nonlocal partial differential equations.

PubMed

Cáceres, Manuel O; Fuentes, Miguel A

2015-10-01

We describe the lifetimes associated with the stochastic evolution from an unstable uniform state to a patterned one when the time evolution of the field is controlled by a nonlocal Fisher equation. A small noise is added to the evolution equation to define the lifetimes and to calculate the mean first-passage time of the stochastic field through a given threshold value, before the patterned steady state is reached. In order to obtain analytical results we introduce a stochastic multiscale perturbation expansion. This multiscale expansion can also be used to tackle multiplicative stochastic partial differential equations. A critical slowing down is predicted for the marginal case when the Fourier phase of the unstable initial condition is null. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations to show the agreement with our theoretical predictions. Analytic results for the bifurcation point and asymptotic analysis of traveling wave-front solutions are included to get insight into the noise-induced transition phenomena mediated by invading fronts.

The Antithrombotic and Fibrinolytic Effect of Natto in Hypercholesterolemia Rats

PubMed Central

Park, Kum-Ju; Kang, Jung Il; Kim, Tae-Seok; Yeo, Ik-Hyun

2012-01-01

Antithrombotic and fibrinolytic activity of natto was evaluated on platelet aggregation in vitro and in vivo. Natto showed inhibitory effects on platelet aggregation induced by adenosine 5′diphosphate (ADP) and collagen. Orally administered natto also showed fibrinolytic activity in hypercholesterolemia rats. Normal levels of natto, when administered for four weeks, shortened euglobulin clot lysis time (ECLT) and prolonged partial thromboplastin time (PATT) significantly compared to non-treated group. In addition, the natto treatment decreased total cholesterol in serum. These results showed that intake of normal levels of natto can elicit antithrombotic and fibrinolytic effects, suggesting its consumption may improve blood circulation. PMID:24471066

Prolonged Prothrombin Time After Recombinant Activated Factor VII Therapy in Critically Bleeding Trauma Patients Is Associated With Adverse Outcomes

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-01

using the FVII coagulant activity (FVII:C) assay, a one- stage assay using thromboplastin tissue factor , which quantifies FVII clotting activity in...and the resultant production of dysfunctional factors II, VII, and X. This study focused on PT specifically because this measure examines the TF...ORIGINAL ARTICLE Prolonged Prothrombin Time After Recombinant Activated Factor VII Therapy in Critically Bleeding Trauma Patients Is Associated With

Prediction-based control for LTI systems with uncertain time-varying delays and partial state knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Léchappé, V.; Moulay, E.; Plestan, F.

2018-06-01

The stability of a prediction-based controller for linear time-invariant (LTI) systems is studied in the presence of time-varying input and output delays. The uncertain delay case is treated as well as the partial state knowledge case. The reduction method is used in order to prove the convergence of the closed-loop system including the state observer, the predictor and the plant. Explicit conditions that guarantee the closed-loop stability are given, thanks to a Lyapunov-Razumikhin analysis. Simulations illustrate the theoretical results.

Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics during the transition from warfarin to rivaroxaban: a randomized study in healthy subjects

PubMed Central

Kubitza, Dagmar; Becka, Michael; Mück, Wolfgang; Krätzschmar, Jöern

2014-01-01

Aims This study investigated relevant pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic parameters during the transition from warfarin to rivaroxaban in healthy male subjects. Methods Ninety-six healthy men were randomized into the following three groups: warfarin [international normalized ratio (INR) 2.0–3.0] transitioned to rivaroxaban 20 mg once daily (od; group A); warfarin (INR 2.0–3.0) followed by placebo od (group B); and rivaroxaban alone 20 mg od (group C) for 4 days. Anti-factor Xa activity, inhibition of factor Xa activity, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time, HepTest, prothrombinase-induced clotting time, factor VIIa activity, factor IIa activity, endogenous thrombin potential and pharmacokinetics were measured. Results An additive effect was observed on the PT and PT/INR during the initial transition period. The mean maximal prolongation of PT was 4.39-fold [coefficient of variation (CV) 18.03%; range 3.39–6.50] of the baseline value in group A, compared with 1.88-fold (CV 10.35%; range 1.53–2.21) in group B and 1.57-fold (CV 9.98%; range 1.37–2.09) in group C. Rivaroxaban had minimal influence on the PT/INR at trough levels. Inhibition of factor Xa activity, activated partial thromboplastin time and endogenous thrombin potential were also enhanced, but to a lesser extent. In contrast, the effects of rivaroxaban on anti-factor Xa activity, HepTest and prothrombinase-induced clotting time were not affected by pretreatment with warfarin. Conclusions Changes in pharmacodynamics during the transition from warfarin to rivaroxaban vary depending on the test used. A supra-additive effect on PT/INR is expected during the initial period of transition, but pretreatment with warfarin does not influence the effect of rivaroxaban on anti-factor Xa activity. PMID:24528331

Detrended partial cross-correlation analysis of two nonstationary time series influenced by common external forces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Xi-Yuan; Liu, Ya-Min; Jiang, Zhi-Qiang; Podobnik, Boris; Zhou, Wei-Xing; Stanley, H. Eugene

2015-06-01

When common factors strongly influence two power-law cross-correlated time series recorded in complex natural or social systems, using detrended cross-correlation analysis (DCCA) without considering these common factors will bias the results. We use detrended partial cross-correlation analysis (DPXA) to uncover the intrinsic power-law cross correlations between two simultaneously recorded time series in the presence of nonstationarity after removing the effects of other time series acting as common forces. The DPXA method is a generalization of the detrended cross-correlation analysis that takes into account partial correlation analysis. We demonstrate the method by using bivariate fractional Brownian motions contaminated with a fractional Brownian motion. We find that the DPXA is able to recover the analytical cross Hurst indices, and thus the multiscale DPXA coefficients are a viable alternative to the conventional cross-correlation coefficient. We demonstrate the advantage of the DPXA coefficients over the DCCA coefficients by analyzing contaminated bivariate fractional Brownian motions. We calculate the DPXA coefficients and use them to extract the intrinsic cross correlation between crude oil and gold futures by taking into consideration the impact of the U.S. dollar index. We develop the multifractal DPXA (MF-DPXA) method in order to generalize the DPXA method and investigate multifractal time series. We analyze multifractal binomial measures masked with strong white noises and find that the MF-DPXA method quantifies the hidden multifractal nature while the multifractal DCCA method fails.

Time-to-Contact Judgments of an Approaching Object that Is Partially Concealed by an Occluder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeLucia, Patricia R.

2004-01-01

Prior studies of time-to-contact (TTC) focused on judgments of unoccluded approaching objects. P. R. DeLucia, M. K. Kaiser, J. M. Bush, L. E. Meyer, and B. T. Sweet (2003) showed that partial occlusion decreases an object's optical size and expansion rate and that the value of tau derived from the reduced optical size (relative rate of accretion;…

Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome in South Korea, 2013-2015.

PubMed

Choi, Seong Jin; Park, Sang-Won; Bae, In-Gyu; Kim, Sung-Han; Ryu, Seong Yeol; Kim, Hyun Ah; Jang, Hee-Chang; Hur, Jian; Jun, Jae-Bum; Jung, Younghee; Chang, Hyun-Ha; Kim, Young Keun; Yi, Jongyoun; Kim, Kye-Hyung; Hwang, Jeong-Hwan; Kim, Yeon-Sook; Jeong, Hye Won; Song, Kyoung-Ho; Park, Wan Beom; Kim, Eu Suk; Oh, Myoung-Don

2016-12-01

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease that was recently identified in China, South Korea and Japan. The objective of the study was to evaluate the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of SFTS in South Korea. SFTS is a reportable disease in South Korea. We included all SFTS cases reported to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) from January 2013 to December 2015. Clinical information was gathered by reviewing medical records, and epidemiologic characteristics were analyzed using both KCDC surveillance data and patient medical records. Risk factors for mortality in patients with SFTS were assessed. A total of 172 SFTS cases were reported during the study period. SFTS occurred throughout the country, except in urban areas. Hilly areas in the eastern and southeastern regions and Jeju island (incidence, 1.26 cases /105 person-years) were the main endemic areas. The yearly incidence increased from 36 cases in 2013 to 81 cases in 2015. Most cases occurred from May to October. The overall case fatality ratio was 32.6%. The clinical progression was similar to the 3 phases reported in China: fever, multi-organ dysfunction, and convalescence. Confusion, elevated C-reactive protein, and prolonged activated partial thromboplastin times were associated with mortality in patients with SFTS. Two outbreaks of nosocomial SFTS transmission were observed. SFTS is an endemic disease in South Korea, with a nationwide distribution and a high case-fatality ratio. Confusion, elevated levels of C-reactive protein, and prolonged activated partial thromboplastin times were associated with mortality in patients with SFTS.

Does the transition into daylight saving time really cause partial sleep deprivation?

PubMed

Toth Quintilham, Manoel Carlos; Adamowicz, Taísa; Pereira, Erico Felden; Pedrazzoli, Mario; Louzada, Fernando Mazzilli

2014-01-01

To identify possible changes in the sleep patterns according to chronotype in undergraduate students during the daylight saving time (DST) transition. A total of 378 students answered the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) to determine their chronotype and kept a diary about sleep-wake schedules 1 week before and after the DST transition. Oral mucosal cell samples were collected for genetic analysis. After the DST transition, intermediate types (I-types) delayed bedtime and increased their time in bed and all groups delayed their wake-up time. All groups presented a shorter phase angle between sunset and the bedtime after the DST transition. On the other hand, only E-types showed a tendency to reduce the phase angle between sunrise and wake-up time, while I-types and M-types kept the same phase angles between sunrise and wake-up time after the DST transition. The polymorphisms in the human genes CLOCK and PER3 were not associated with individual differences in sleep patterns, nor were they associated with an adjustment to the DST transition. Under the new set of social times determined by DST, the adjustment was only partial. I-types delayed bedtime and all groups delayed their wake-up times after the beginning of DST. Consequently, the time in bed after the DST transition was not reduced; Morning (M-types) and Evening-types (E-types) kept the same time in bed and I-types showed an increase on it.

Series expansion solutions for the multi-term time and space fractional partial differential equations in two- and three-dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, H.; Liu, F.; Turner, I.; Anh, V.; Burrage, K.

2013-09-01

Fractional partial differential equations with more than one fractional derivative in time describe some important physical phenomena, such as the telegraph equation, the power law wave equation, or the Szabo wave equation. In this paper, we consider two- and three-dimensional multi-term time and space fractional partial differential equations. The multi-term time-fractional derivative is defined in the Caputo sense, whose order belongs to the interval (1,2],(2,3],(3,4] or (0, m], and the space-fractional derivative is referred to as the fractional Laplacian form. We derive series expansion solutions based on a spectral representation of the Laplacian operator on a bounded region. Some applications are given for the two- and three-dimensional telegraph equation, power law wave equation and Szabo wave equation.

Laboratory heterogeneity of the lupus anticoagulant: a multicentre study using different clotting assays on a panel of 78 samples. Hemostasis Committee of the "Société Française de Biologie Clinique".

PubMed

1992-05-15

The laboratory heterogeneity of the lupus anticoagulant (LA) was investigated in a multicentre study using a panel of 78 plasma samples diagnosed as containing a LA. Consecutive samples were collected by 12 participants using various screening tests, and sent to 7 laboratories which performed one or more clotting assays among the following: activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), dilute Russell viper venom time, kaolin clotting time (KCT), dilute tissue thromboplastin time (dTTI) and a platelet neutralization test. For APTT and dTTI, 10 versions of these tests including standard and mixing procedures were carried out. They varied by reagents, phospholipid concentration or methodology. Cut-off times were determined for each test by comparing the results of the panel to those of a control population. When the data of all clotting assays were pooled, 70 of the 78 selected plasmas were considered to contain LA, 15 of them having a low-titer inhibitor. Sensitivity, defined as the proportion of positive results among LA-containing plasmas, varied from 62 to 100% and was positively related to responsiveness (defined as the mean ratio of clotting time to cut-off time). Laboratory heterogeneity of LA-containing plasma was illustrated by a star symbol plot analysis. Different populations of samples, with LA preferentially recognized by one assay (or group of assays) irrespective of the overall sensitivity of this assay, were identified. Multiple component analysis demonstrated the heterogeneity of low-titer inhibitors, which complicates their recognition in routine laboratory investigation.

Extending compile-time reverse mode and exploiting partial separability in ADIFOR. ADIFOR Working Note No. 7

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bischof, C.H.; El-Khadiri, M.

1992-10-01

The numerical methods employed in the solution of many scientific computing problems require the computation of the gradient of a function f: R{sup n} {yields} R. ADIFOR is a source translator that, given a collection of subroutines to compute f, generates Fortran 77 code for computing the derivative of this function. Using the so-called torsion problem from the MINPACK-2 test collection as an example, this paper explores two issues in automatic differentiation: the efficient computation of derivatives for partial separable functions and the use of the compile-time reverse mode for the generation of derivatives. We show that orders of magnitudesmore » of improvement are possible when exploiting partial separability and maximizing use of the reverse mode.« less

Partial polarizer filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Title, A. M. (Inventor)

1978-01-01

A birefringent filter module comprises, in seriatum. (1) an entrance polarizer, (2) a first birefringent crystal responsive to optical energy exiting the entrance polarizer, (3) a partial polarizer responsive to optical energy exiting the first polarizer, (4) a second birefringent crystal responsive to optical energy exiting the partial polarizer, and (5) an exit polarizer. The first and second birefringent crystals have fast axes disposed + or -45 deg from the high transmitivity direction of the partial polarizer. Preferably, the second crystal has a length 1/2 that of the first crystal and the high transmitivity direction of the partial polarizer is nine times as great as the low transmitivity direction. To provide tuning, the polarizations of the energy entering the first crystal and leaving the second crystal are varied by either rotating the entrance and exit polarizers, or by sandwiching the entrance and exit polarizers between pairs of half wave plates that are rotated relative to the polarizers. A plurality of the filter modules may be cascaded.

A sample-to-result system for blood coagulation tests on a microfluidic disk analyzer

PubMed Central

Lin, Chia-Hui; Liu, Cheng-Yuan; Shih, Chih-Hsin; Lu, Chien-Hsing

2014-01-01

In this report, we describe in detail a microfluidic analyzer, which is able to conduct blood coagulation tests using whole blood samples. Sample preparation steps, such as whole blood aliquoting and metering, plasma separation, decanting, and mixing with reagents were performed in sequence through microfluidic functions integrated on a disk. Both prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) were carried out on the same platform and the test results can be reported in 5 min. Fifty clinical samples were tested for both PT and aPTT utilizing the microfluidic disk analyzer and the instrument used in hospitals. The test results showed good correlation and agreement between the two instruments. PMID:25332733

Sulfonation and anticoagulant activity of botryosphaeran from Botryosphaeria rhodina MAMB-05 grown on fructose.

PubMed

Mendes, Simone Ferreira; dos Santos, Osvaldo; Barbosa, Aneli M; Vasconcelos, Ana Flora D; Aranda-Selverio, Gabriel; Monteiro, Nilson K; Dekker, Robert F H; Sá Pereira, Mariana; Tovar, Ana Maria F; Mourão, Paulo A de Souza; da Silva, Maria de Lourdes Corradi

2009-10-01

Botryosphaeran (EPS(FRU)), an exopolysaccharide of the beta-(1-->3,1-->6)-d-glucan type with 31% branching at C-6, is produced by the fungus Botryosphaeria rhodina MAMB-05 when grown on fructose as carbon source. Botryosphaeran was derivatized by sulfonation to induce anticoagulant activity. The effectiveness of the sulfonation reaction by chlorosulfonic acid in pyridine was monitored by the degree of substitution and FT-IR analysis of the sulfonated EPS(FRU) (once sulfonated, EPS(FRUSULF); and re-sulfonated, EPS(FRURESULF)). Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT) tests of EPS(FRURESULF) indicated significant in vitro anticoagulant activity that was dose-dependent. EPS(FRU) did not inhibit any of the coagulation tests.

Partial reinforcement (acquisition) effects within subjects

PubMed Central

Amsel, Abram; MacKinnon, John R.; Rashotte, Michael E.; Surridge, C. Thomas

1964-01-01

Acquisition performance of 22 rats in a straight alley runway was examined. The animals were subjected to partial reinforcement when the alley was black (B±) and continuous reinforcement when it was white (W+). The results indicated (a) higher terminal performance, for partial as against continuous reinforcement conditions, for starting-time and running-time measures, and (b) lower terminal performance under partial conditions for a goal-entry-time measure. These results confirm within subjects an effect previously demonstrated, in the runway, only in between-groups tests, where one group is run under partial reinforcement and a separate group is run under continuous reinforcement in the presence of the same external stimuli. Differences between the runway situation, employing a discrete-trial procedure and performance measures at three points in the response chain, and the Skinner box situation, used in its free-operant mode with a single performance measure, are discussed in relation to the present findings. PMID:14130088

PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT (ACQUISITION) EFFECTS WITHIN SUBJECTS.

PubMed

AMSEL, A; MACKINNON, J R; RASHOTTE, M E; SURRIDGE, C T

1964-03-01

Acquisition performance of 22 rats in a straight alley runway was examined. The animals were subjected to partial reinforcement when the alley was black (B+/-) and continuous reinforcement when it was white (W+). The results indicated (a) higher terminal performance, for partial as against continuous reinforcement conditions, for starting-time and running-time measures, and (b) lower terminal performance under partial conditions for a goal-entry-time measure. These results confirm within subjects an effect previously demonstrated, in the runway, only in between-groups tests, where one group is run under partial reinforcement and a separate group is run under continuous reinforcement in the presence of the same external stimuli. Differences between the runway situation, employing a discrete-trial procedure and performance measures at three points in the response chain, and the Skinner box situation, used in its free-operant mode with a single performance measure, are discussed in relation to the present findings.

[Factor XIII deficiency in burns].

PubMed

Burkhardt, H; Zellner, P R; Möller, I

1977-08-01

In 34 patients with severe burn injuries platelets, fibrinogen, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time and factor XIII were measured daily. Half of the patients were administered 15 000 IE of heparin per 24 hours. In the first 4 days there was a rapid fall of factor XIII to a value of approximately 30%. Values remained very low during the whole observation period of up to 20 days. However, in patients treated with heparin, values tended to be 10--15% higher. After an initial decline on the tenth day, the platelets had risen to the lowest normal level. Platelets were identical in both groups. The causes for the changes in these haemostasis parameters, their significance, and possible consequences of therapy are discussed.

Analytical solutions to time-fractional partial differential equations in a two-dimensional multilayer annulus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shanzhen; Jiang, Xiaoyun

2012-08-01

In this paper, analytical solutions to time-fractional partial differential equations in a multi-layer annulus are presented. The final solutions are obtained in terms of Mittag-Leffler function by using the finite integral transform technique and Laplace transform technique. In addition, the classical diffusion equation (α=1), the Helmholtz equation (α→0) and the wave equation (α=2) are discussed as special cases. Finally, an illustrative example problem for the three-layer semi-circular annular region is solved and numerical results are presented graphically for various kind of order of fractional derivative.

Monitoring of unfractionated heparin with rotational thrombelastometry using the prothrombinase-induced clotting time reagent (PiCT®).

PubMed

Schaden, E; Jilch, S; Hacker, S; Schober, A; Kozek-Langenecker, S

2012-12-24

To achieve sufficient and safe anticoagulation with unfractionated heparin (UFH) a close and reliable drug monitoring is necessary. In general, the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) is used for this purpose. In acute phase response, however, the APTT test procedure might be unreliable e.g. with false low results in the presence of elevated factor VIII. In this so called heparin resistance, measurement of anti-Xa activity is recommended over APTT to avoid potentially harmful dose escalation. A combination of anti-Xa measurement and global hemostatic testing with ROTEM® employing the anti-Xa sensitive PiCT® reagent showed high correlation with enoxaparin levels. This test modification could also be suitable for monitoring UFH. Aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between PiCT®-ROTEM® and levels of UFH. In this in-vitro study blood samples from healthy volunteers were spiked with UFH and subjected to different ROTEM® tests. There was a linear correlation between UFH level and clotting time (CT) in the PiCT®-ROTEM® test with an excellent correlation coefficient of 0.92. Additional endpoints showed similar results (PiCT®-ROTEM® MaxVel r = -0.85 and PiCT®-ROTEM® t_MaxVel r = 0.88). As a point-of-care applicable tool ROTEM® is immediately at hand. If further clinical studies confirm sensitivity in heparin resistance, PiCT®-ROTEM® could permit rapid UFH dose adjustments especially required in critical illness with acute phase response. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Managing the therapeutic dilemma: patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage and urgent need for anticoagulation.

PubMed

Bertram, M; Bonsanto, M; Hacke, W; Schwab, S

2000-03-01

Physicians face a therapeutic dilemma in patients with acute hemorrhagic stroke requiring long-term, high-intensity anticoagulants because this treatment increases the risk of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) 8- to 11-fold. We retrospectively studied 15 patients with ICH which occurred under anticoagulation with phenprocoumon, with an international norrmalized ratio (INR) of 2.5-6.5 on admission. Hemispheric, thalamic, cerebellar, intraventricular, or subarachnoid hemorrhage without aneurysm occurred. Absolute indications for anticoagulation were double, mitral, or aortic valve replacement, combined mitral valve failure with atrial fibrillation and atrial enlargement, internal carotid artery-jugular vein graft, frequently recurring deep vein thrombosis with risk of pulmonary embolism, and severe nontreatable ischemic heart disease. As soon as the diagnosis of ICH was established, INR normalization was attempted in all patients by administration of prothrombin complex, fresh frozen plasma, or vitamin K. After giving phenprocoumon antagonists (and neurosurgical therapy in four patients) heparin administration was started. Nine patients received full-dose intravenous and six low-dose subcutaneous heparin. The following observations were made: (a) All patients with effective, full-dose heparin treatment with a 1.5- to 2-fold elevation in partial thromboplastin time after normalization of the INR were discharged without complication. (b) Three of four of the patients with only incomplete correction of the INR (> 1.35) experienced relevant rebleeding within 3 days (all patients with an INR higher than 1.5), two of whom were on full-dose heparin. (c) Three of seven of the patients with normalized INR and without significant PTT elevation developed severe cerebral embolism. Although our data are based on a retrospective analysis, they support treatment with intravenous heparin (partial thromboplastin time 1.5-2 times baseline value) after normalization of the INR in patients

Acquired dysfibrinogenemia secondary to multiple myeloma.

PubMed

Kotlín, Roman; Sobotková, Alzbeta; Riedel, Tomás; Salaj, Peter; Suttnar, Jirí; Reicheltová, Zuzana; Májek, Pavel; Khaznadar, Tarek; Dyr, Jan E

2008-01-01

Abnormal coagulation properties indicative of a dysfibrinogen were found in the plasma of a 72-year-old male with multiple myeloma (IgGkappa, stage IIIA). The patient had high paraprotein concentration (85.75 g/l) and prolonged thrombin time (76.8 s), activated partial thromboplastin time (39.5 s), prothrombin time (23.5 s) and reptilase time (72.0 s). The fibrinogen level was increased. The fibrin polymerization induced by both thrombin and reptilase was impaired. Scanning electron microscopy revealed abnormal clot morphology. After six months of treatment, the paraprotein level decreased (19.48 g/l) and coagulation normalized as well as fibrin polymerization and fibrin clot morphology. It was found that the paraprotein interacts with the gamma-chain of fibrinogen. Acquired dysfibrinogenemia associated with multiple myeloma was diagnosed in the 72-year-old patient.

Soft sensor modelling by time difference, recursive partial least squares and adaptive model updating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Y.; Yang, W.; Xu, O.; Zhou, L.; Wang, J.

2017-04-01

To investigate time-variant and nonlinear characteristics in industrial processes, a soft sensor modelling method based on time difference, moving-window recursive partial least square (PLS) and adaptive model updating is proposed. In this method, time difference values of input and output variables are used as training samples to construct the model, which can reduce the effects of the nonlinear characteristic on modelling accuracy and retain the advantages of recursive PLS algorithm. To solve the high updating frequency of the model, a confidence value is introduced, which can be updated adaptively according to the results of the model performance assessment. Once the confidence value is updated, the model can be updated. The proposed method has been used to predict the 4-carboxy-benz-aldehyde (CBA) content in the purified terephthalic acid (PTA) oxidation reaction process. The results show that the proposed soft sensor modelling method can reduce computation effectively, improve prediction accuracy by making use of process information and reflect the process characteristics accurately.

Estimating the time and temperature relationship for causation of deep-partial thickness skin burns.

PubMed

Abraham, John P; Plourde, Brian; Vallez, Lauren; Stark, John; Diller, Kenneth R

2015-12-01

The objective of this study is to develop and present a simple procedure for evaluating the temperature and exposure-time conditions that lead to causation of a deep-partial thickness burn and the effect that the immediate post-burn thermal environment can have on the process. A computational model has been designed and applied to predict the time required for skin burns to reach a deep-partial thickness level of injury. The model includes multiple tissue layers including the epidermis, dermis, hypodermis, and subcutaneous tissue. Simulated exposure temperatures ranged from 62.8 to 87.8°C (145-190°F). Two scenarios were investigated. The first and worst case scenario was a direct exposure to water (characterized by a large convection coefficient) with the clothing left on the skin following the exposure. A second case consisted of a scald insult followed immediately by the skin being washed with cool water (20°C). For both cases, an Arrhenius injury model was applied whereby the extent and depth of injury were calculated and compared for the different post-burn treatments. In addition, injury values were compared with experiment data from the literature to assess verification of the numerical methodology. It was found that the clinical observations of injury extent agreed with the calculated values. Furthermore, inundation with cool water decreased skin temperatures more quickly than the clothing insulating case and led to a modest decrease in the burn extent. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

The partial-birth stratagem.

PubMed

1998-06-01

In Wisconsin, physicians stopped performing abortions when a Federal District Court Judge refused to issue a temporary restraining order against the state's newly enacted "partial birth" abortion ban that was couched in such vague language it actually covered all abortions. While ostensibly attempting to ban late-term "intact dilation and extraction," the language of the law did not refer to that procedure or to late terms. Instead, it prohibited all abortions in which a physician "partially vaginally delivers a living child, causes the death of the partially delivered child with the intent to kill the child and then completes the delivery of the child." The law also defined "child" as "a human being from the time of fertilization" until birth. It is clear that this abortion ban is unconstitutional under Row v. Wade, and this unconstitutionality is compounded by the fact that the law allowed no exception to protect a woman's health, which is required by Roe for abortion bans after fetal viability. Wisconsin is only one of about 28 states that have enacted similar laws, and only two have restricted the ban to postviability abortions. Many of these laws have been struck down in court, and President Clinton has continued to veto the Federal partial-birth bill. The Wisconsin Judge acknowledged that opponents of the ban will likely prevail when the case is heard, but his action in denying the temporary injunction means that many women in Wisconsin will not receive timely medical care. The partial birth strategy is really only another anti-abortion strategy.

A Comparison of Momentary Time Sampling and Partial-Interval Recording for Assessment of Effects of Social Skills Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Radley, Keith C.; O'Handley, Roderick D.; Labrot, Zachary C.

2015-01-01

Assessment in social skills training often utilizes procedures such as partial-interval recording (PIR) and momentary time sampling (MTS) to estimate changes in duration in social engagements due to intervention. Although previous research suggests PIR to be more inaccurate than MTS in estimating levels of behavior, treatment analysis decisions…

Evaluation of partial k-space strategies to speed up time-domain EPR imaging.

PubMed

Subramanian, Sankaran; Chandramouli, Gadisetti V R; McMillan, Alan; Gullapalli, Rao P; Devasahayam, Nallathamby; Mitchell, James B; Matsumoto, Shingo; Krishna, Murali C

2013-09-01

Narrow-line spin probes derived from the trityl radical have led to the development of fast in vivo time-domain EPR imaging. Pure phase-encoding imaging modalities based on the single-point imaging scheme have demonstrated the feasibility of three-dimensional oximetric images with functional information in minutes. In this article, we explore techniques to improve the temporal resolution and circumvent the relatively short biological half-lives of trityl probes using partial k-space strategies. There are two main approaches: one involves the use of the Hermitian character of the k-space by which only part of the k-space is measured and the unmeasured part is generated using the Hermitian symmetry. This approach is limited in success by the accuracy of numerical estimate of the phase roll in the k-space that corrupts the Hermiticy. The other approach is to measure only a judicially chosen reduced region of k-space (a centrosymmetric ellipsoid region) that more or less accounts for >70% of the k-space energy. Both of these aspects were explored in Fourier transform-EPR imaging with a doubling of scan speed demonstrated by considering ellipsoid geometry of the k-space. Partial k-space strategies help improve the temporal resolution in studying fast dynamics of functional aspects in vivo with infused spin probes. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluation of Partial k-space strategies to speed up Time-domain EPR Imaging

PubMed Central

Subramanian, Sankaran; Chandramouli, Gadisetti VR; McMillan, Alan; Gullapalli, Rao P; Devasahayam, Nallathamby; Mitchell, James B.; Matsumoto, Shingo; Krishna, Murali C

2012-01-01

Narrow-line spin probes derived from the trityl radical have led to the development of fast in vivo time-domain EPR imaging. Pure phase-encoding imaging modalities based on the Single Point Imaging scheme (SPI) have demonstrated the feasibility of 3D oximetric images with functional information in minutes. In this paper, we explore techniques to improve the temporal resolution and circumvent the relatively short biological half-lives of trityl probes using partial k-space strategies. There are two main approaches: one involves the use of the Hermitian character of the k-space by which only part of the k-space is measured and the unmeasured part is generated using the Hermitian symmetry. This approach is limited in success by the accuracy of numerical estimate of the phase roll in the k-space that corrupts the Hermiticy. The other approach is to measure only a judicially chosen reduced region of k-space (a centrosymmetric ellipsoid region) that more or less accounts for >70% of the k-space energy. Both of these aspects were explored in FT-EPR imaging with a doubling of scan speed demonstrated by considering ellipsoid geometry of the k-space. Partial k-space strategies help improve the temporal resolution in studying fast dynamics of functional aspects in vivo with infused spin probes. PMID:23045171

Real-Time Monitoring of Singlet Oxygen and Oxygen Partial Pressure During the Deep Photodynamic Therapy In Vitro.

PubMed

Li, Weitao; Huang, Dong; Zhang, Yan; Liu, Yangyang; Gu, Yueqing; Qian, Zhiyu

2016-09-01

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective noninvasive method for the tumor treatment. The major challenge in current PDT research is how to quantitatively evaluate therapy effects. To our best knowledge, this is the first time to combine multi-parameter detection methods in PDT. More specifically, we have developed a set of system, including the high-sensitivity measurement of singlet oxygen, oxygen partial pressure and fluorescence image. In this paper, the detection ability of the system was validated by the different concentrations of carbon quantum dots. Moreover, the correlation between singlet oxygen and oxygen partial pressure with laser irradiation was observed. Then, the system could detect the signal up to 0.5 cm tissue depth with 660 nm irradiation and 1 cm tissue depth with 980 nm irradiation by using up-conversion nanoparticles during PDT in vitro. Furthermore, we obtained the relationship among concentration of singlet oxygen, oxygen partial pressure and tumor cell viability under certain conditions. The results indicate that the multi-parameter detection system is a promising asset to evaluate the deep tumor therapy during PDT. Moreover, the system might be potentially used for the further study in biology and molecular imaging.

Study on extraction of agaropectin from Gelidium amansii and its anticoagulant activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Huimin; Li, Daxin; Zhang, Jingjing; Liu, Li; Zhang, Quanbin

2008-05-01

Gelidium amansii agar was fractionated on DEAE-cellulose and four fractions were obtained sequentially. The yields of 1.0 mol/L NaCl fraction and 2.5 mol/L NaCl fraction were 2.80% and 2.03%. They are highly sulfated agar, and named as agaropectin with sulfate content being 22.8% and 32.5%, respectively. The anticoagulant experiment results show that agaropectin could effectively prolong the coagulation time in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. Agaropection could be absorbed and effectively prolong the plasma coagulation time in vivo. After intragastric administration at the doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg·d in rats for 15 days, TT (thrombin time), CT (coagulation time), PT (prothrombin time), and APTT (activated partial thromboplastin time) could be effectively prolonged and the plasma Fib level could be significantly lowered.

Anatomic partial nephrectomy: technique evolution.

PubMed

Azhar, Raed A; Metcalfe, Charles; Gill, Inderbir S

2015-03-01

Partial nephrectomy provides equivalent long-term oncologic and superior functional outcomes as radical nephrectomy for T1a renal masses. Herein, we review the various vascular clamping techniques employed during minimally invasive partial nephrectomy, describe the evolution of our partial nephrectomy technique and provide an update on contemporary thinking about the impact of ischemia on renal function. Recently, partial nephrectomy surgical technique has shifted away from main artery clamping and towards minimizing/eliminating global renal ischemia during partial nephrectomy. Supported by high-fidelity three-dimensional imaging, novel anatomic-based partial nephrectomy techniques have recently been developed, wherein partial nephrectomy can now be performed with segmental, minimal or zero global ischemia to the renal remnant. Sequential innovations have included early unclamping, segmental clamping, super-selective clamping and now culminating in anatomic zero-ischemia surgery. By eliminating 'under-the-gun' time pressure of ischemia for the surgeon, these techniques allow an unhurried, tightly contoured tumour excision with point-specific sutured haemostasis. Recent data indicate that zero-ischemia partial nephrectomy may provide better functional outcomes by minimizing/eliminating global ischemia and preserving greater vascularized kidney volume. Contemporary partial nephrectomy includes a spectrum of surgical techniques ranging from conventional-clamped to novel zero-ischemia approaches. Technique selection should be tailored to each individual case on the basis of tumour characteristics, surgical feasibility, surgeon experience, patient demographics and baseline renal function.

Near real-time vaccine safety surveillance with partially accrued data.

PubMed

Greene, Sharon K; Kulldorff, Martin; Yin, Ruihua; Yih, W Katherine; Lieu, Tracy A; Weintraub, Eric S; Lee, Grace M

2011-06-01

The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) Project conducts near real-time vaccine safety surveillance using sequential analytic methods. Timely surveillance is critical in identifying potential safety problems and preventing additional exposure before most vaccines are administered. For vaccines that are administered during a short period, such as influenza vaccines, timeliness can be improved by undertaking analyses while risk windows following vaccination are ongoing and by accommodating predictable and unpredictable data accrual delays. We describe practical solutions to these challenges, which were adopted by the VSD Project during pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccine safety surveillance in 2009/2010. Adjustments were made to two sequential analytic approaches. The Poisson-based approach compared the number of pre-defined adverse events observed following vaccination with the number expected using historical data. The expected number was adjusted for the proportion of the risk window elapsed and the proportion of inpatient data estimated to have accrued. The binomial-based approach used a self-controlled design, comparing the observed numbers of events in risk versus comparison windows. Events were included in analysis only if they occurred during a week that had already passed for both windows. Analyzing data before risk windows fully elapsed improved the timeliness of safety surveillance. Adjustments for data accrual lags were tailored to each data source and avoided biasing analyses away from detecting a potential safety problem, particularly early during surveillance. The timeliness of vaccine and drug safety surveillance can be improved by properly accounting for partially elapsed windows and data accrual delays. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Clinical study of the influence of preoperative wearing time on postoperative effects in children with partially accommodative esotropia.

PubMed

Jiang, Danni; Han, Dong; Zhang, Jiahuan; Pei, Tianxu; Zhao, Qi

2018-05-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the preoperative wearing time on the postoperative effect in children with partially accommodative esotropia.Sixty children with partially accommodative esotropia who visited our hospital were placed in full cycloplegic refraction by using 1% Atropine eye gel and then wore full hyperopic correction glasses. Children were divided into groups A and B according to the preoperative wearing time. The visual acuity, eye position, and results of the synoptophore and Titmus stereoacuity tests were recorded before and half a year after the surgery in each group, and appropriate statistical analyses were conducted.Half a year after the operation, 54 cases achieved orthotropia when wearing full hyperopic correction glasses. One case was overcorrected. Five cases were undercorrected. The results of the synoptophore and Titmus stereoacuity test showed that there was no significant difference between postoperative outcomes for patients who wore glasses for half a year and for 1 year before the operation.For children with partially accommodative esotropia, surgery should be used to correct the eye position after wearing full hyperopic correction glasses for half a year to improve the eye position and binocular vision as early as possible. If the operation cannot be completed after the patient wears full hyperopic correction glasses for half a year due to various subjective and objective factors, a good postoperative effect can be obtained if the patients receive surgery after wearing full hyperopic correction glasses for 1 year.

Acquired antiprothrombin antibodies: an unusual cause of bleeding.

PubMed

Carvalho, Cristiana; Viveiro, Carolina; Maia, Paulo; Rezende, Teresa

2013-01-07

Acquired inhibitors of coagulation causing bleeding manifestations are rare in children. They emerge, normally in the context of autoimmune diseases or drug ingestion, but transient and self-limiting cases can occur after viral infection. We describe, an otherwise healthy, 7-year-old girl who had gingival bleeding after a tooth extraction. The prothrombin time (PT) and the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) were both prolonged with evidence of an immediate acting inhibitor (lupic anticoagulant). Further coagulation studies demonstrated prothrombin (FII) deficiency and prothrombin directed (FII) antibodies. The serological tests to detect an underlying autoimmune disease were all negative. The coagulation studies normalised alongside the disappearance of the antibody. This article presents lupus anticoagulant hypoprothrombinaemia syndrome (LAHS) as a rare case of acquired bleeding diathesis in childhood.

Real time groove characterization combining partial least squares and SVR strategies: application to eddy current testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, S.; Salucci, M.; Miorelli, R.; Anselmi, N.; Oliveri, G.; Calmon, P.; Reboud, C.; Massa, A.

2017-10-01

A quasi real-time inversion strategy is presented for groove characterization of a conductive non-ferromagnetic tube structure by exploiting eddy current testing (ECT) signal. Inversion problem has been formulated by non-iterative Learning-by-Examples (LBE) strategy. Within the framework of LBE, an efficient training strategy has been adopted with the combination of feature extraction and a customized version of output space filling (OSF) adaptive sampling in order to get optimal training set during offline phase. Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Support Vector Regression (SVR) have been exploited for feature extraction and prediction technique respectively to have robust and accurate real time inversion during online phase.

Molecular size is important for the safety and selective inhibition of intrinsic factor Xase for fucosylated chondroitin sulfate.

PubMed

Yan, Lufeng; Li, Junhui; Wang, Danli; Ding, Tian; Hu, Yaqin; Ye, Xingqian; Linhardt, Robert J; Chen, Shiguo

2017-12-15

Fucosylated chondroitin sulfate from sea cucumber Isostichopus badionotus (FCS-Ib) showed potent anticoagulant activities without selectivity. The present study focused on developing safe FCS-Ib oligomers showing selective inhibition of intrinsic factor Xase (anti-FXase) prepared through partial N-deacetylation-deaminative cleavage. The N-deacetylation degree was regulated by reaction time, controlling the resulting oligomer distribution. Structure analysis confirmed the selectivity of degradation, and 12 high purity fractions with trisaccharide-repeating units were separated. In vitro anticoagulant assays indicated a decrease in molecular weight (Mw) dramatically reduced activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), AT-dependent anti-FIIa and anti-FXa activities, while the oligomers retained potent anti-FXase activity until they fell below 3kDa. Meanwhile, human FXII activation and platelet aggregation were markedly reduced with decreasing Mw and were moderate when under 12.0kDa. Thus, fragments of 3-12.0kDa should be safe and effective as selective inhibitors of intrinsic tenase complex for application as clinical anticoagulants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Organophosphate Paraoxon and Its Antidote Obidoxime Inhibit Thrombin Activity and Affect Coagulation In Vitro

PubMed Central

Golderman, Valery; Shavit-Stein, Efrat; Tamarin, Ilia; Rosman, Yossi; Shrot, Shai; Rosenberg, Nurit

2016-01-01

Organophosphates (OPs) are potentially able to affect serine proteases by reacting with their active site. The potential effects of OPs on coagulation factors such as thrombin and on coagulation tests have been only partially characterized and potential interactions with OPs antidotes such as oximes and muscarinic blockers have not been addressed. In the current study, we investigated the in vitro interactions between coagulation, thrombin, the OP paraoxon, and its antidotes obidoxime and atropine. The effects of these substances on thrombin activity were measured in a fluorescent substrate and on coagulation by standard tests. Both paraoxon and obidoxime but not atropine significantly inhibited thrombin activity, and prolonged prothrombin time, thrombin time, and partial thromboplastin time. When paraoxon and obidoxime were combined, a significant synergistic effect was found on both thrombin activity and coagulation tests. In conclusion, paraoxon and obidoxime affect thrombin activity and consequently alter the function of the coagulation system. Similar interactions may be clinically relevant for coagulation pathways in the blood and possibly in the brain. PMID:27689805

Honey Bee Venom (Apis mellifera) Contains Anticoagulation Factors and Increases the Blood-clotting Time

PubMed Central

Zolfagharian, Hossein; Mohajeri, Mohammad; Babaie, Mahdi

2015-01-01

Objectives: Bee venom (BV) is a complex mixture of proteins and contains proteins such as phospholipase and melittin, which have an effect on blood clotting and blood clots. The mechanism of action of honey bee venom (HBV, Apis mellifera) on human plasma proteins and its anti-thrombotic effect were studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-coagulation effect of BV and its effects on blood coagulation and purification. Methods: Crude venom obtained from Apis mellifera was selected. The anti-coagulation factor of the crude venom from this species was purified by using gel filtration chromatography (sephadex G-50), and the molecular weights of the anti-coagulants in this venom estimated by using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Blood samples were obtained from 10 rabbits, and the prothrombin time (PT) and the partial thromboplastin time (PTT) tests were conducted. The approximate lethal dose (LD) values of BV were determined. Results: Crude BV increased the blood clotting time. For BV concentrations from 1 to 4 mg/mL, clotting was not observed even at more than 300 seconds, standard deviations (SDs) = ± 0.71; however, clotting was observed in the control group 13.8 s, SDs = ± 0.52. Thus, BV can be considered as containing anti-coagulation factors. Crude BV is composed 4 protein bands with molecular weights of 3, 15, 20 and 41 kilodalton (kDa), respectively. The LD50 of the crude BV was found to be 177.8 μg/mouse. Conclusion: BV contains anti-coagulation factors. The fraction extracted from the Iranian bees contains proteins that are similar to anti-coagulation proteins, such as phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and melittin, and that can increase the blood clotting times in vitro. PMID:26998384

Honey Bee Venom (Apis mellifera) Contains Anticoagulation Factors and Increases the Blood-clotting Time.

PubMed

Zolfagharian, Hossein; Mohajeri, Mohammad; Babaie, Mahdi

2015-12-01

Bee venom (BV) is a complex mixture of proteins and contains proteins such as phospholipase and melittin, which have an effect on blood clotting and blood clots. The mechanism of action of honey bee venom (HBV, Apis mellifera) on human plasma proteins and its anti-thrombotic effect were studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-coagulation effect of BV and its effects on blood coagulation and purification. Crude venom obtained from Apis mellifera was selected. The anti-coagulation factor of the crude venom from this species was purified by using gel filtration chromatography (sephadex G-50), and the molecular weights of the anti-coagulants in this venom estimated by using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Blood samples were obtained from 10 rabbits, and the prothrombin time (PT) and the partial thromboplastin time (PTT) tests were conducted. The approximate lethal dose (LD) values of BV were determined. Crude BV increased the blood clotting time. For BV concentrations from 1 to 4 mg/mL, clotting was not observed even at more than 300 seconds, standard deviations (SDs) = ± 0.71; however, clotting was observed in the control group 13.8 s, SDs = ± 0.52. Thus, BV can be considered as containing anti-coagulation factors. Crude BV is composed 4 protein bands with molecular weights of 3, 15, 20 and 41 kilodalton (kDa), respectively. The LD50 of the crude BV was found to be 177.8 μg/mouse. BV contains anti-coagulation factors. The fraction extracted from the Iranian bees contains proteins that are similar to anti-coagulation proteins, such as phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and melittin, and that can increase the blood clotting times in vitro.

Assessment of the relationships among coagulopathy, hyperfibrinolysis, plasma lactate, and protein C in dogs with spontaneous hemoperitoneum.

PubMed

Fletcher, Daniel J; Rozanski, Elizabeth A; Brainard, Benjamin M; de Laforcade, Armelle M; Brooks, Marjory B

2016-01-01

To relate coagulation and fibrinolysis derangements to shock severity as reflected by plasma lactate concentrations in dogs with spontaneous hemoperitoneum (SHP) and determine the impact on transfusions. Prospective, observational, case-control study. Three veterinary teaching hospitals. Twenty-eight client-owned dogs with SHP and 28 breed- and age-matched control dogs. None. Blood samples for platelet counts, coagulation, and anticoagulant assays (prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, antithrombin, and protein C, thromboelastography [TEG]), fibrinolysis testing (d-dimer and TEG lysis parameters with and without the addition of 50 U/mL of tissue plasminogen activator [TEG LY30 measured with the addition of 50 U/mL of tPA to the blood sample, LY3050 and TEG LY60 measured with the addition of 50 U/mL of tPA to the blood sample, LY6050 ; LY30 and LY60]), and plasma lactate as an indicator of severity of shock were collected from SHP dogs at the time of diagnosis. SHP dogs were hypocoagulable (prolonged prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, decreased TEG maximum amplitude) and hyperfibrinolytic (increased LY3050 and TEG LY6050 ) compared to controls. The severity of hypocoagulability was related to protein C activity, while the severity of hyperfibrinolysis was related to plasma lactate concentration. Among the 18 dogs discharged from the hospital, LY3050 was significantly associated with the dose of fresh frozen plasma administered, but none of the parameters were associated with the dose of red blood cells administered. Dogs with SHP have evidence of hypocoagulability, protein C deficiency, and hyperfibrinolysis. Parameters of hyperfibrinolysis were related to plasma lactate concentrations and volume of plasma transfused during hospitalization. These derangements resemble those found in people with acute coagulopathy of trauma and shock, and activation of protein C may be a common feature to both syndromes. �

Evaluation of coagulation parameters and liver enzymes among alcohol drinkers in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

PubMed

Adias, Teddy Charles; Egerton, Everton; Erhabor, Osaro

2013-01-01

Alcohol is a major contributor to the global burden of disease, disability, and death in high, middle, and low-income countries. Harmful use of alcohol is one of the main factors contributing to premature deaths and avoidable disease burden worldwide and has a major impact on public health. The aim of this present cross-sectional study was to investigate the effect of alcohol consumption on coagulation parameters and liver enzymes of subjects in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Two hundred adults consisting of 120 alcohol dependent subjects and 80 age, gender-matched nondrinkers aged 25-65 years (mean age 45.25 ± 11.50 years) were enrolled in this study. Of the 120 chronic alcohol drinkers, 37 were dependent on local dry gin, while 83 were dependent on other alcoholic beverages. The mean values of the liver enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase and gamma glutamyl transferase, were significantly higher (P = 0.002 and P = 0.02 respectively) among the chronic alcohol consumers compared with their nondrinker counterparts. Although the value of alanine aminotransferase was higher in the chronic drinkers, it did not reveal any significant difference (P = 0.11). The coagulation parameters, prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were investigated among chronic drinkers and nondrinkers. The mean value of prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time was significantly higher in the chronic alcohol drinkers compared to the nondrinkers (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02 respectively). We observed a positive and significant correlation between values of liver enzymes, serum gamma glutamyl transferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and values of prothrombin time among alcohol consumers (r = 0.72 and r = 0.68 respectively). The implementation of policies to target harm reduction strategies among alcoholics is urgently needed, alongside the building of a strong base of public awareness and community support required for the continuity and sustainability of alcohol

Evaluation of coagulation parameters and liver enzymes among alcohol drinkers in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

PubMed Central

Adias, Teddy Charles; Egerton, Everton; Erhabor, Osaro

2013-01-01

Alcohol is a major contributor to the global burden of disease, disability, and death in high, middle, and low-income countries. Harmful use of alcohol is one of the main factors contributing to premature deaths and avoidable disease burden worldwide and has a major impact on public health. The aim of this present cross-sectional study was to investigate the effect of alcohol consumption on coagulation parameters and liver enzymes of subjects in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Two hundred adults consisting of 120 alcohol dependent subjects and 80 age, gender-matched nondrinkers aged 25–65 years (mean age 45.25 ± 11.50 years) were enrolled in this study. Of the 120 chronic alcohol drinkers, 37 were dependent on local dry gin, while 83 were dependent on other alcoholic beverages. The mean values of the liver enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase and gamma glutamyl transferase, were significantly higher (P = 0.002 and P = 0.02 respectively) among the chronic alcohol consumers compared with their nondrinker counterparts. Although the value of alanine aminotransferase was higher in the chronic drinkers, it did not reveal any significant difference (P = 0.11). The coagulation parameters, prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were investigated among chronic drinkers and nondrinkers. The mean value of prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time was significantly higher in the chronic alcohol drinkers compared to the nondrinkers (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02 respectively). We observed a positive and significant correlation between values of liver enzymes, serum gamma glutamyl transferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and values of prothrombin time among alcohol consumers (r = 0.72 and r = 0.68 respectively). The implementation of policies to target harm reduction strategies among alcoholics is urgently needed, alongside the building of a strong base of public awareness and community support required for the continuity and sustainability of alcohol

Real-time characterization of partially observed epidemics using surrogate models.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Safta, Cosmin; Ray, Jaideep; Lefantzi, Sophia

We present a statistical method, predicated on the use of surrogate models, for the 'real-time' characterization of partially observed epidemics. Observations consist of counts of symptomatic patients, diagnosed with the disease, that may be available in the early epoch of an ongoing outbreak. Characterization, in this context, refers to estimation of epidemiological parameters that can be used to provide short-term forecasts of the ongoing epidemic, as well as to provide gross information on the dynamics of the etiologic agent in the affected population e.g., the time-dependent infection rate. The characterization problem is formulated as a Bayesian inverse problem, and epidemiologicalmore » parameters are estimated as distributions using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, thus quantifying the uncertainty in the estimates. In some cases, the inverse problem can be computationally expensive, primarily due to the epidemic simulator used inside the inversion algorithm. We present a method, based on replacing the epidemiological model with computationally inexpensive surrogates, that can reduce the computational time to minutes, without a significant loss of accuracy. The surrogates are created by projecting the output of an epidemiological model on a set of polynomial chaos bases; thereafter, computations involving the surrogate model reduce to evaluations of a polynomial. We find that the epidemic characterizations obtained with the surrogate models is very close to that obtained with the original model. We also find that the number of projections required to construct a surrogate model is O(10)-O(10{sup 2}) less than the number of samples required by the MCMC to construct a stationary posterior distribution; thus, depending upon the epidemiological models in question, it may be possible to omit the offline creation and caching of surrogate models, prior to their use in an inverse problem. The technique is demonstrated on synthetic data as well as

The effects of partial sleep restriction and altered sleep timing on olfactory performance.

PubMed

McNeil, J; Forest, G; Hintze, L J; Brunet, J-F; Doucet, É

2017-12-01

Olfaction can increase the drive to eat and may partially explain the consistent increases in energy intake (EI) following sleep restriction. We investigated the effects of 50% sleep restriction with altered sleep timing on olfactory performance. We also evaluated whether changes (Δ) in olfactory performance were associated with Δ24 h EI. Twelve men and six women (age: 23±4 years; BMI: 23±3 kg/m 2 ) completed three randomized cross-over conditions: habitual sleep duration, 50% sleep restriction with advanced wake-time, and 50% sleep restriction with delayed bedtime. Sleep was measured in-laboratory (polysomnography). Olfactory performance ('sniffin sticks') and 24 h EI (food menu) were evaluated the next day. A trend for a significant condition*sex interaction was noted for threshold-discrimination-identification (TDI) scores (P=0.09); TDI scores were lowest in women and highest in men, following sleep restriction with advanced wake-time. Δolfactory performance were not associated with Δ24 h EI. The impact of sleep restriction on olfactory performance may differ between sexes. Changes in olfactory performance were not associated with changes in 24 h EI. Studies investigating prolonged effects of sleep loss on the relationship between olfactory performance with EI are needed.

A fast direct method for block triangular Toeplitz-like with tri-diagonal block systems from time-fractional partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ke, Rihuan; Ng, Michael K.; Sun, Hai-Wei

2015-12-01

In this paper, we study the block lower triangular Toeplitz-like with tri-diagonal blocks system which arises from the time-fractional partial differential equation. Existing fast numerical solver (e.g., fast approximate inversion method) cannot handle such linear system as the main diagonal blocks are different. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a fast direct method for solving this linear system, and to illustrate that the proposed method is much faster than the classical block forward substitution method for solving this linear system. Our idea is based on the divide-and-conquer strategy and together with the fast Fourier transforms for calculating Toeplitz matrix-vector multiplication. The complexity needs O (MNlog2 ⁡ M) arithmetic operations, where M is the number of blocks (the number of time steps) in the system and N is the size (number of spatial grid points) of each block. Numerical examples from the finite difference discretization of time-fractional partial differential equations are also given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.

Semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth through reading.

PubMed

Wagovich, Stacy A; Hill, Margaret S; Petroski, Gregory F

2015-02-01

Incidental reading provides a powerful opportunity for partial word knowledge growth in the school-age years. The extent to which children of differing language abilities can use reading experiences to glean partial knowledge of words is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to compare semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth of children with higher language skills (HL group; overall language standard scores of 85 or higher) to that of children with relatively lower language skills (LL group; overall receptive or expressive standard score below 85). Thirty-two children, 16 per group, silently read stories containing unfamiliar nouns and verbs 3 times over a 1-week period. Semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth was assessed after each reading and 2-3 days later to assess retention. Over time, both groups showed significant partial word knowledge growth, with the HL group showing significantly more growth. In addition, both groups retained knowledge several days later. Regardless of language skill level, children benefit from multiple exposures to unfamiliar words in reading in their development and retention of semantic-syntactic partial word knowledge growth.

Differences in lupus anticoagulant final conclusion through clotting time or Rosner index for mixing test interpretation.

PubMed

Depreter, Barbara; Devreese, Katrien M J

2016-09-01

Lupus anticoagulant (LAC) testing includes a screening, mixing and confirmation step. Although recently published guidelines on LAC testing are a useful step towards standardization, a lack of consensus remains whether to express mixing tests in clotting time (CT) or index of circulating anticoagulant (ICA). The influence of anticoagulant therapy, e.g. vitamin K antagonists (VKA) or direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) on both methods of interpretation remains to be investigated. The objective of this study was to contribute to a simplification and standardization of the LAC three-step interpretation on the level of the mixing test. Samples from 148 consecutive patients with LAC request and prolonged screening step, and 77 samples from patients non-suspicious for LAC treated with VKA (n=37) or DOAC (n=30) were retrospectively evaluated. An activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and dilute Russell's viper venom time (dRVVT) were used for routine LAC testing. The supplemental anticoagulant samples were tested with dRVVT only. We focused on the interpretation differences for mixing tests expressed as CT or ICA and compared the final LAC conclusion within each distinct group of concordant and discordant mixing test results. Mixing test interpretation by CT resulted in 10 (dRVVT) and 16 (aPTT) more LAC positive patients compared to interpretation with ICA. Isolated prolonged dRVVT screen mix ICA results were exclusively observed in samples from VKA-treated patients without suspicion for LAC. We recommend using CT in respect to the 99th percentile cut-off for interpretation of mixing steps in order to reach the highest sensitivity and specificity in LAC detection.

A flowing liquid test system for assessing the linearity and time-response of rapid fibre optic oxygen partial pressure sensors.

PubMed

Chen, R; Hahn, C E W; Farmery, A D

2012-08-15

The development of a methodology for testing the time response, linearity and performance characteristics of ultra fast fibre optic oxygen sensors in the liquid phase is presented. Two standard medical paediatric oxygenators are arranged to provide two independent extracorporeal circuits. Flow from either circuit can be diverted over the sensor under test by means of a system of rapid cross-over solenoid valves exposing the sensor to an abrupt change in oxygen partial pressure, P O2. The system is also capable of testing the oxygen sensor responses to changes in temperature, carbon dioxide partial pressure P CO2 and pH in situ. Results are presented for a miniature fibre optic oxygen sensor constructed in-house with a response time ≈ 50 ms and a commercial fibre optic sensor (Ocean Optics Foxy), when tested in flowing saline and stored blood. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reliable Real-Time Solution of Parametrized Partial Differential Equations: Reduced-Basis Output Bound Methods. Appendix 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prudhomme, C.; Rovas, D. V.; Veroy, K.; Machiels, L.; Maday, Y.; Patera, A. T.; Turinici, G.; Zang, Thomas A., Jr. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

We present a technique for the rapid and reliable prediction of linear-functional outputs of elliptic (and parabolic) partial differential equations with affine parameter dependence. The essential components are (i) (provably) rapidly convergent global reduced basis approximations, Galerkin projection onto a space W(sub N) spanned by solutions of the governing partial differential equation at N selected points in parameter space; (ii) a posteriori error estimation, relaxations of the error-residual equation that provide inexpensive yet sharp and rigorous bounds for the error in the outputs of interest; and (iii) off-line/on-line computational procedures, methods which decouple the generation and projection stages of the approximation process. The operation count for the on-line stage, in which, given a new parameter value, we calculate the output of interest and associated error bound, depends only on N (typically very small) and the parametric complexity of the problem; the method is thus ideally suited for the repeated and rapid evaluations required in the context of parameter estimation, design, optimization, and real-time control.

Thin film devices used as oxygen partial pressure sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Canady, K. S.; Wortman, J. J.

1970-01-01

Electrical conductivity of zinc oxide films to be used in an oxygen partial pressure sensor is measured as a function of temperature, oxygen partial pressure, and other atmospheric constituents. Time response following partial pressure changes is studied as a function of temperature and environmental changes.

Dielectric permittivity change detects the process of blood coagulation: Comparative study of dielectric coagulometry with rotational thromboelastometry.

PubMed

Otaki, Yoichi; Ebana, Yusuke; Yoshikawa, Shunji; Isobe, Mitsuaki

2016-09-01

Intravascular thrombus formation causes various cardiovascular diseases. To monitor coagulation is important for screening native status, prevention from bleeding and maintaining it within its therapeutic range. The prothrombin time and the activated partial thromboplastin time are widely used for assessment and recognized as the conventional methods. Prothrombin time methods employ enhancement of coagulation with thromboplastin. Since the laboratory data depend on the production lot and/or the manufacturer, the accurate methods are required for evaluation. Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) is a method based on detection of the change in resistance to rotational movement during blood clotting, while dielectric blood coagulometry (DBCM) is a novel method for assessment of clotting by measuring the change of electrical permittivity. These methods are thus based on the technology for observation of different physical phenomena. The aim of this study was to compare parameters such as the clotting time obtained by ROTEM and DBCM to evaluate their clinical usefulness. ROTEM and DBCM parameters were measured in 128 patients. The ROTEM clotting time showed a significant positive correlation with the DBCM coagulation time (R=0.707, p<0.001). Comparison of the DBCM coagulation time between patients with and without anticoagulant therapy (including novel oral anticoagulants) revealed a significant difference (43.8±11.9min in the anticoagulant group vs 29.4±8.3min in the control group, p<0.001). Evaluation of coagulation was equivalent with DBCM and ROTEM. The present study suggested that DBCM, a novel method for measuring blood clotting, could provide the detail assessment for the status of anticoagulant therapy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Partial Discharge Ultrasound Detection Using the Sagnac Interferometer System

PubMed Central

Li, Xiaomin; Gao, Yan; Zhang, Hongjuan; Wang, Dong; Jin, Baoquan

2018-01-01

Partial discharge detection is crucial for electrical cable safety evaluation. The ultrasonic signals frequently generated in the partial discharge process contains important characteristic information. However, traditional ultrasonic transducers are easily subject to strong electromagnetic interference in environments with high voltages and strong magnetic fields. In order to overcome this problem, an optical fiber Sagnac interferometer system is proposed for partial discharge ultrasound detection. Optical fiber sensing and time-frequency analysis of the ultrasonic signals excited by the piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer is realized for the first time. The effective frequency band of the Sagnac interferometer system was up to 175 kHz with the help of a designed 10 kV partial discharge simulator device. Using the cumulative histogram method, the characteristic ultrasonic frequency band of the partial discharges was between 28.9 kHz and 57.6 kHz for this optical fiber partial discharge detection system. This new ultrasound sensor can be used as an ideal ultrasonic source for the intrinsically safe detection of partial discharges in an explosive environment. PMID:29734682

Model-based approach to partial tracking for musical transcription

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sterian, Andrew; Wakefield, Gregory H.

1998-10-01

We present a new method for musical partial tracking in the context of musical transcription using a time-frequency Kalman filter structure. The filter is based upon a model for the evolution of a partial behavior across a wide range of pitch from four brass instruments. Statistics are computed independently for the partial attributes of frequency and log-power first differences. We present observed power spectral density shapes, total powers, and histograms, as well as least-squares approximations to these. We demonstrate that a Kalman filter tracker using this partial model is capable of tracking partials in music. We discuss how the filter structure naturally provides quality-of-fit information about the data for use in further processing and how this information can be used to perform partial track initiation and termination within a common framework. We propose that a model-based approach to partial tracking is preferable to existing approaches which generally use heuristic rules or birth/death notions over a small time neighborhood. The advantages include better performance in the presence of cluttered data and simplified tracking over missed observations.

Anticoagulant, antiherpetic and antibacterial activities of sulphated polysaccharide from Indian medicinal plant Tridax procumbens L. (Asteraceae).

PubMed

Naqash, Shabeena Yousuf; Nazeer, R A

2011-10-01

The sulphated polysaccharide from the widespread Tridax procumbens plant was studied for the anticoagulant, antiherpetic and antibacterial activity. The anticoagulant activity was determined by the activated partial thromboplastin time assay. The sulphated polysaccharide from T. procumbens represented potent anticoagulant reaching the efficacy to heparin and chondroitin sulphate. Moreover, the sulphated polysaccharide extracted from T. procumbens was found non-toxic on Vero cell lines up to the concentration of 200 μg/ml. Sulphated polysaccharide exhibited detectable antiviral effect towards HSV-1 with IC(50) value 100-150 μg/ml. Furthermore, sulphated polysaccharide from T. procumbens was highly inhibitory against the bacterial strains Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio harveyi isolated from oil sardine.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome in a doctor working at the Prince of Wales Hospital.

PubMed

Wong, R S M

2003-06-01

Severe acute respiratory syndrome is a new disease that is highly contagious and is spreading in the local community and worldwide. This report is of a hospital medical officer with severe acute respiratory syndrome. He presented with sudden onset of fever, chills, myalgia, headache, and dizziness in early March 2003. He developed progressive respiratory symptoms and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates during the second week of his illness. Blood tests showed lymphopenia, mild thrombocytopenia, and prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time with normal d-dimer level. His chest condition gradually responded to ribavirin and corticosteroids, and serial chest X-ray showed resolving pulmonary infiltrates. The importance of early diagnosis lies in the potential for early treatment, leading to better response.

A PRESTO-SENSE sequence with alternating partial-Fourier encoding for rapid susceptibility-weighted 3D MRI time series.

PubMed

Klarhöfer, Markus; Dilharreguy, Bixente; van Gelderen, Peter; Moonen, Chrit T W

2003-10-01

A 3D sequence for dynamic susceptibility imaging is proposed which combines echo-shifting principles (such as PRESTO), sensitivity encoding (SENSE), and partial-Fourier acquisition. The method uses a moderate SENSE factor of 2 and takes advantage of an alternating partial k-space acquisition in the "slow" phase encode direction allowing an iterative reconstruction using high-resolution phase estimates. Offering an isotropic spatial resolution of 4 x 4 x 4 mm(3), the novel sequence covers the whole brain including parts of the cerebellum in 0.5 sec. Its temporal signal stability is comparable to that of a full-Fourier, full-FOV EPI sequence having the same dynamic scan time but much less brain coverage. Initial functional MRI experiments showed consistent activation in the motor cortex with an average signal change slightly less than that of EPI. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Robotic partial nephrectomy shortens warm ischemia time, reducing suturing time kinetics even for an experienced laparoscopic surgeon: a comparative analysis.

PubMed

Faria, Eliney F; Caputo, Peter A; Wood, Christopher G; Karam, Jose A; Nogueras-González, Graciela M; Matin, Surena F

2014-02-01

Laparoscopic and robotic partial nephrectomy (LPN and RPN) are strongly related to influence of tumor complexity and learning curve. We analyzed a consecutive experience between RPN and LPN to discern if warm ischemia time (WIT) is in fact improved while accounting for these two confounding variables and if so by which particular aspect of WIT. This is a retrospective analysis of consecutive procedures performed by a single surgeon between 2002-2008 (LPN) and 2008-2012 (RPN). Specifically, individual steps, including tumor excision, suturing of intrarenal defect, and parenchyma, were recorded at the time of surgery. Multivariate and univariate analyzes were used to evaluate influence of learning curve, tumor complexity, and time kinetics of individual steps during WIT, to determine their influence in WIT. Additionally, we considered the effect of RPN on the learning curve. A total of 146 LPNs and 137 RPNs were included. Considering renal function, WIT, suturing time, renorrhaphy time were found statistically significant differences in favor of RPN (p < 0.05). In the univariate analysis, surgical procedure, learning curve, clinical tumor size, and RENAL nephrometry score were statistically significant predictors for WIT (p < 0.05). RPN decreased the WIT on average by approximately 7 min compared to LPN even when adjusting for learning curve, tumor complexity, and both together (p < 0.001). We found RPN was associated with a shorter WIT when controlling for influence of the learning curve and tumor complexity. The time required for tumor excision was not shortened but the time required for suturing steps was significantly shortened.

A facile approach toward multifunctional polyethersulfone membranes via in situ cross-linked copolymerization.

PubMed

Sun, Chuangchao; Ji, Haifeng; Qin, Hui; Nie, Shengqiang; Zhao, Weifeng; Zhao, Changsheng

2015-01-01

In this study, multifunctional polyethersulfone (PES) membranes are prepared via in situ cross-linked copolymerization coupled with a liquid-liquid phase separation technique. Acrylic acid (AA) and N-vinylpyrrolidone (VP) are copolymerized in PES solution, and the solution is then directly used to prepare PES membranes. The infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy testing, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle measurements confirm the successful modification of pristine PES membrane. Protein adsorption, platelet adhesion, plasma recalcification time, and activated partial thromboplastin time assays convince that the modified PES membranes have a better biocompatibility than pristine PES membrane. In addition, the modified membranes showed good protein antifouling property and significant adsorption property of cationic dye. The loading of Ag nanoparticles into the modified membranes endows the composite membranes with antibacterial activity.

An Easy Method to Eliminate the Effect of Lupus Anticoagulants in the Coagulation Factor Assay.

PubMed

Tang, Ning; Yin, Shiyu

2016-07-01

To build and evaluate intrinsic coagulation factor assays which can eliminate the effect of lupus anticoagulants (LAC). Commercial silica clotting time confirmatory (SCT-C) reagent containing sufficient synthetic phospholipid and routine activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) reagent were each used for one-stage detection of FVIII, FIX, and FXI activities, in samples with or without LAC, and the results were compared. For samples without LAC, consistent results of FVIII, FIX, and FXI using both SCT-C reagent and APTT reagent were obtained. For samples with LAC, the assays with SCT-C reagent not only could eliminate the effect of strong lupus anticoagulants but also needed fewer dilutions than that with routine APTT reagent. The intrinsic factor detections by SCT-C reagent are credible and convenient to be used for samples with LAC.

Partially entangled states bridge in quantum teleportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Xiao-Fei; Yu, Xu-Tao; Shi, Li-Hui; Zhang, Zai-Chen

2014-10-01

The traditional method for information transfer in a quantum communication system using partially entangled state resource is quantum distillation or direct teleportation. In order to reduce the waiting time cost in hop-by-hop transmission and execute independently in each node, we propose a quantum bridging method with partially entangled states to teleport quantum states from source node to destination node. We also prove that the designed specific quantum bridging circuit is feasible for partially entangled states teleportation across multiple intermediate nodes. Compared to two traditional ways, our partially entanglement quantum bridging method uses simpler logic gates, has better security, and can be used in less quantum resource situation.

A unified partial likelihood approach for X-chromosome association on time-to-event outcomes.

PubMed

Xu, Wei; Hao, Meiling

2018-02-01

The expression of X-chromosome undergoes three possible biological processes: X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), escape of the X-chromosome inactivation (XCI-E), and skewed X-chromosome inactivation (XCI-S). Although these expressions are included in various predesigned genetic variation chip platforms, the X-chromosome has generally been excluded from the majority of genome-wide association studies analyses; this is most likely due to the lack of a standardized method in handling X-chromosomal genotype data. To analyze the X-linked genetic association for time-to-event outcomes with the actual process unknown, we propose a unified approach of maximizing the partial likelihood over all of the potential biological processes. The proposed method can be used to infer the true biological process and derive unbiased estimates of the genetic association parameters. A partial likelihood ratio test statistic that has been proved asymptotically chi-square distributed can be used to assess the X-chromosome genetic association. Furthermore, if the X-chromosome expression pertains to the XCI-S process, we can infer the correct skewed direction and magnitude of inactivation, which can elucidate significant findings regarding the genetic mechanism. A population-level model and a more general subject-level model have been developed to model the XCI-S process. Finite sample performance of this novel method is examined via extensive simulation studies. An application is illustrated with implementation of the method on a cancer genetic study with survival outcome. © 2017 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy versus laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: A propensity score-matched comparative analysis of surgical outcomes and preserved renal parenchymal volume.

PubMed

Tachibana, Hidekazu; Takagi, Toshio; Kondo, Tsunenori; Ishida, Hideki; Tanabe, Kazunari

2018-04-01

To compare surgical outcomes, including renal function and the preserved renal parenchymal volume, between robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy using propensity score-matched analyses. In total, 253 patients, with a normal contralateral kidney, who underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (n = 131) or robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (n = 122) with renal arterial clamping between 2010 and 2015, were included. Patients' background and tumor factors were adjusted by propensity score matching. Surgical outcomes, including postoperative renal function, complications, warm ischemia time and preserved renal parenchymal volume, evaluated by volumetric analysis, were compared between the surgical procedures. After matching, 64 patients were assigned to each group. The mean age was 56-57 years, and the mean tumor size was 22 mm. Approximately 50% of patients had low complexity tumors (RENAL nephrometry score 4-7). The incidence rate of acute kidney failure was significantly lower in the robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (11%) than laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (23%) group (P = 0.049), and warm ischemia time shorter in the robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (17 min) than laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (25 min) group (P < 0.0001). The preservation rate of renal function, measured by the estimated glomerular filtration rate, at 6 months post-surgery was 96% for robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy and 90% for laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (P < 0.0001). The preserved renal parenchymal volume was higher for robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (89%) than laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (77%; P < 0.0001). The rate of perioperative complications, surgical margin status and length of hospital stay were equivalent for both techniques. Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy allows to achieve better preservation of renal function and parenchymal volume

Primary hemostatic capacity of whole blood: a comprehensive analysis of pathogen reduction and refrigeration effects over time

PubMed Central

Pidcoke, Heather F.; McFaul, Steve J.; Ramasubramanian, Anand K.; Parida, Bijaya K.; Mora, Alex G.; Fedyk, Chriselda G.; Valdez-Delgado, Krystal K.; Montgomery, Robbie K.; Reddoch, Kristin M.; Rodriguez, Armando C.; Aden, James K.; Jones, John A.; Bryant, Ron S.; Scherer, Michael R.; Reddy, Heather L.; Goodrich, Raymond P.; Cap, Andrew P.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND Whole blood (WB) has been used in combat since World War I as it is readily available and replaces every element of shed blood. Component therapy has become standard; however, recent military successes with WB resuscitation have revived the debate regarding wider WB use. Characterization of optimal WB storage is needed. We hypothesized that refrigeration preserves WB function and that a pathogen reduction technology (PRT) based on riboflavin and ultraviolet light has no deleterious effect over 21 days of storage. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS WB units were stored for 21 days either at 4°C or 22°C. Half of each temperature group underwent PRT, yielding four final treatment groups (n = 8 each): CON 4 (WB at 4°C); CON 22 (WB at 22°C); PRT 4 (PRT WB at 4°C); and PRT 22 (PRT WB at 22°C). Testing was at baseline, Days 1–7, 10, 14, and 21. Assays included coagulation factors; platelet activation, aggregation, and adhesion; and thromboelastography (TEG). RESULTS Prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time increased over time; refrigeration attenuated the effects on PT (p ≤ 0.009). Aggregation decreased over time (p ≤ 0.001); losses were attenuated by refrigeration (p ≤ 0.001). Refrigeration preserved TEG parameters (p ≤ 0.001) and PRT 4 samples remained within normal limits throughout the study. Refrigeration in combination with PRT inhibited fibrinolysis (p ≤ 0.001) and microparticle formation (p ≤ 0.031). Cold storage increased shear-induced platelet aggregation and ristocetin-induced platelet agglutination (p ≥ 0.032), as well as GPIb-expressing platelets (p ≤ 0.009). CONCLUSION The in vitro hemostatic function of WB is largely unaffected by PRT treatment and better preserved by cold storage over 21 days. Refrigerated PRT WB may be suitable for trauma resuscitation. Clinical studies are warranted. PMID:23301966

[Effects of the adsorbent CAA for hemopurification on normal components of human plasma in removing methylene blue].

PubMed

Ma, Yu; Xia, Yun; Yang, Xiaolan; Yu, Ming'an

2003-06-01

Virus inactivation of plasma can be achieved by phototreatment with methylene blue (MB). Subsequently, elimination of MB may reduce the adverse effects of MB. This study examined the effects of adsorbing MB with the use of cross-linked agar bead entrapped attapulgite clay (CAA) on normal ingredients in MB-treated plasma units. The biomedical characteristics of CAA were assessed by determination of partial biochemical indexes, coagulation potency and some cationic concentration in a control sample and the MB-treated plasma eluted from CAA column. The biochemistry indexes or K+, Na+ in plasma were almost unaltered before and after CAA adsorption. In contrast, the concentrations of CA2+ and Mg2+ increased and the blood ammonium decreased obviously. The activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) was prolonged from 42 s to 53 s, and prothrombin time (PT) from 13 s to 14 s. The result indicates that CAA as an adsorbent for hemopurification retains the most important characters of human plasma. CAA can be useful for the elimination of MB in MB-treated plasma and does not bring on harmful alteration in clinical significance.

How to test for partially predictable chaos.

PubMed

Wernecke, Hendrik; Sándor, Bulcsú; Gros, Claudius

2017-04-24

For a chaotic system pairs of initially close-by trajectories become eventually fully uncorrelated on the attracting set. This process of decorrelation can split into an initial exponential decrease and a subsequent diffusive process on the chaotic attractor causing the final loss of predictability. Both processes can be either of the same or of very different time scales. In the latter case the two trajectories linger within a finite but small distance (with respect to the overall extent of the attractor) for exceedingly long times and remain partially predictable. Standard tests for chaos widely use inter-orbital correlations as an indicator. However, testing partially predictable chaos yields mostly ambiguous results, as this type of chaos is characterized by attractors of fractally broadened braids. For a resolution we introduce a novel 0-1 indicator for chaos based on the cross-distance scaling of pairs of initially close trajectories. This test robustly discriminates chaos, including partially predictable chaos, from laminar flow. Additionally using the finite time cross-correlation of pairs of initially close trajectories, we are able to identify laminar flow as well as strong and partially predictable chaos in a 0-1 manner solely from the properties of pairs of trajectories.

Feasibility of through-time spiral generalized autocalibrating partial parallel acquisition for low latency accelerated real-time MRI of speech.

PubMed

Lingala, Sajan Goud; Zhu, Yinghua; Lim, Yongwan; Toutios, Asterios; Ji, Yunhua; Lo, Wei-Ching; Seiberlich, Nicole; Narayanan, Shrikanth; Nayak, Krishna S

2017-12-01

To evaluate the feasibility of through-time spiral generalized autocalibrating partial parallel acquisition (GRAPPA) for low-latency accelerated real-time MRI of speech. Through-time spiral GRAPPA (spiral GRAPPA), a fast linear reconstruction method, is applied to spiral (k-t) data acquired from an eight-channel custom upper-airway coil. Fully sampled data were retrospectively down-sampled to evaluate spiral GRAPPA at undersampling factors R = 2 to 6. Pseudo-golden-angle spiral acquisitions were used for prospective studies. Three subjects were imaged while performing a range of speech tasks that involved rapid articulator movements, including fluent speech and beat-boxing. Spiral GRAPPA was compared with view sharing, and a parallel imaging and compressed sensing (PI-CS) method. Spiral GRAPPA captured spatiotemporal dynamics of vocal tract articulators at undersampling factors ≤4. Spiral GRAPPA at 18 ms/frame and 2.4 mm 2 /pixel outperformed view sharing in depicting rapidly moving articulators. Spiral GRAPPA and PI-CS provided equivalent temporal fidelity. Reconstruction latency per frame was 14 ms for view sharing and 116 ms for spiral GRAPPA, using a single processor. Spiral GRAPPA kept up with the MRI data rate of 18ms/frame with eight processors. PI-CS required 17 minutes to reconstruct 5 seconds of dynamic data. Spiral GRAPPA enabled 4-fold accelerated real-time MRI of speech with a low reconstruction latency. This approach is applicable to wide range of speech RT-MRI experiments that benefit from real-time feedback while visualizing rapid articulator movement. Magn Reson Med 78:2275-2282, 2017. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Expectation-maximization algorithms for learning a finite mixture of univariate survival time distributions from partially specified class values

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Youngrok

2013-05-15

Heterogeneity exists on a data set when samples from di erent classes are merged into the data set. Finite mixture models can be used to represent a survival time distribution on heterogeneous patient group by the proportions of each class and by the survival time distribution within each class as well. The heterogeneous data set cannot be explicitly decomposed to homogeneous subgroups unless all the samples are precisely labeled by their origin classes; such impossibility of decomposition is a barrier to overcome for estimating nite mixture models. The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm has been used to obtain maximum likelihood estimates ofmore » nite mixture models by soft-decomposition of heterogeneous samples without labels for a subset or the entire set of data. In medical surveillance databases we can find partially labeled data, that is, while not completely unlabeled there is only imprecise information about class values. In this study we propose new EM algorithms that take advantages of using such partial labels, and thus incorporate more information than traditional EM algorithms. We particularly propose four variants of the EM algorithm named EM-OCML, EM-PCML, EM-HCML and EM-CPCML, each of which assumes a specific mechanism of missing class values. We conducted a simulation study on exponential survival trees with five classes and showed that the advantages of incorporating substantial amount of partially labeled data can be highly signi cant. We also showed model selection based on AIC values fairly works to select the best proposed algorithm on each specific data set. A case study on a real-world data set of gastric cancer provided by Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program showed a superiority of EM-CPCML to not only the other proposed EM algorithms but also conventional supervised, unsupervised and semi-supervised learning algorithms.« less

Investigation of the anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects of chlorogenic acid.

PubMed

Choi, Jun-Hui; Kim, Seung

2017-03-01

Thrombosis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Thrombolytic agents are important for both the prevention and treatment of thrombosis. Fibrin clot and turbidity assays revealed that it was able to inhibit the formation of fibrin clot. Chlorogenic acid degraded blood clot and inhibited the enzymatic activity of procoagulant proteases, thrombin, activated factor X (FXa), and activated factor XIII (FXIIIa). Chlorogenic acid was found to delay activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and thrombin time. PFA-100 assays showed that it prolonged the closure time of citrated whole human blood. It demonstrated the antithrombotic effect in collagen and epinephrine-induced acute thromboembolism mice model. These antithrombotic profiles together with its anticoagulant and platelet disaggregation properties, and lack of toxicity to NIH-3T3 and 3T3-L1 cells, make it a potential agent for thrombotic treatment and prevention. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evaluation of the Ciba Corning Biotrack 512 coagulation monitor for the control of oral anticoagulation.

PubMed Central

Jennings, I; Luddington, R J; Baglin, T

1991-01-01

The Ciba Corning Biotrack 512 coagulation monitor requires a minimal degree of technical expertise to operate, and is already in use for near-patient testing. This study evaluated the monitor for possible use in decentralised control of oral anticoagulant treatment. The monitor compared well with Manchester Reagent, suggesting that it could be used in areas where this thromboplastin is used for centralised control. The inability of the monitor to allow for locally determined geometric mean normal prothrombin times in the calculation of the International Normalised Ratio (INR), and possibly the high International Sensitivity Index (ISI) of the thromboplastin used with the monitor, resulted in poor comparability with some other thromboplastins, particularly Thrombotest. These problems need to be addressed if the monitor is to be used for decentralised anticoagulant control. PMID:1752987

Assessing blood coagulation status with laser speckle rheology

PubMed Central

Tripathi, Markandey M.; Hajjarian, Zeinab; Van Cott, Elizabeth M.; Nadkarni, Seemantini K.

2014-01-01

We have developed and investigated a novel optical approach, Laser Speckle Rheology (LSR), to evaluate a patient’s coagulation status by measuring the viscoelastic properties of blood during coagulation. In LSR, a blood sample is illuminated with laser light and temporal speckle intensity fluctuations are measured using a high-speed CMOS camera. During blood coagulation, changes in the viscoelastic properties of the clot restrict Brownian displacements of light scattering centers within the sample, altering the rate of speckle intensity fluctuations. As a result, blood coagulation status can be measured by relating the time scale of speckle intensity fluctuations with clinically relevant coagulation metrics including clotting time and fibrinogen content. Our results report a close correlation between coagulation metrics measured using LSR and conventional coagulation results of activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time and functional fibrinogen levels, creating the unique opportunity to evaluate a patient’s coagulation status in real-time at the point of care. PMID:24688816

Partial wetting gas-liquid segmented flow microreactor.

PubMed

Kazemi Oskooei, S Ali; Sinton, David

2010-07-07

A microfluidic reactor strategy for reducing plug-to-plug transport in gas-liquid segmented flow microfluidic reactors is presented. The segmented flow is generated in a wetting portion of the chip that transitions downstream to a partially wetting reaction channel that serves to disconnect the liquid plugs. The resulting residence time distributions show little dependence on channel length, and over 60% narrowing in residence time distribution as compared to an otherwise similar reactor. This partial wetting strategy mitigates a central limitation (plug-to-plug dispersion) while preserving the many attractive features of gas-liquid segmented flow reactors.

Fabrication of anticoagulation layer on titanium surface by sequential immobilization of poly (ethylene glycol) and albumin.

PubMed

Pan, Chang-Jiang; Hou, Yan-Hua; Zhang, Bin-Bin; Zhang, Lin-Cai

2014-01-01

This paper presents a simple method to sequentially immobilize poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) and albumin on titanium surface to enhance the blood compatibility. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analysis indicated that PEG and albumin were successfully immobilized on the titanium surface. Water contact angle results showed a better hydrophilic surface after the immobilization. The immobilized PEG or albumin can not only obviously prevent platelet adhesion and activation but also prolong activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), leading to the improved anticoagulation. Moreover, immobilization of albumin on PEG-modified surface can further improve the anticoagulation. The approach in the present study provides an effective and efficient method to improve the anticoagulation of blood-contact biomedical devices such as coronary stents.

Hypofibrinogenemia induced by tigecycline: a potentially life-threatening coagulation disorder.

PubMed

Sabanis, Nikolaos; Paschou, Eleni; Gavriilaki, Eleni; Kalaitzoglou, Asterios; Vasileiou, Sotirios

2015-01-01

A 74-year-old female patient with end-stage renal disease, undergoing periodic hemodialysis, was hospitalized due to infection by multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii after hip replacement surgery. She was treated with tigecycline, a glycylcycline agent. Subsequently she developed coagulation disorders as substantiated by increased international normalized ratio (INR), prolonged partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and severe hypofibrinogenemia, followed by transaminasemia, cholestasis, and anemia. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed no underlying pathological entities. Tigecycline was discontinued and the patient underwent daily hemodialysis and received multiple fresh frozen plasma transfusions. Additionally, she was treated with colistin. Her clinical and laboratory status improved. We suggest that patients treated with tigecycline should be monitored for changes in INR, aPTT, and fibrinogen levels to avoid severe, life-threatening coagulation disturbances.

A practical approach to the prevention of miscarriage: part 5--antiphospholipid syndrome as a cause of spontaneous abortion.

PubMed

Check, J H

2011-01-01

To describe the diagnosis and treatment of antiphospholipid syndrome as it relates to spontaneous abortion. The relative importance of performing tests of antiphospholipid antibodies that prolong the partial thromboplastin time and other autoantibodies against phospholipids measured by ELISA are discussed. The most important diagnostic tests are the lupus anticoagulant, anticardiolipin antibody and antiphosphatidyl serine. Low molecular weight heparin and low dose aspirin are the two most important therapies. Women with recurrent miscarriages or even an unexplained miscarriage especially after ten weeks (but sometimes even early first trimester) or a history of thrombosis or intrauterine growth restriction and maybe preeclampsia are candidates for anticoagulant therapy, especially with the presence of significant levels of the lupus anticoagulant or anticardiolipin or antiphosphatidyl serine antibodies (> 40 pl units/ml).

The use of argatroban for carotid endarterectomy in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

PubMed

Hallman, Sarah E; Hebbar, Latha; Robison, Jay; Uber, Walter E

2005-04-01

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a major obstacle in cardiovascular surgeries. In this case report, we used argatroban, a direct thrombin inhibitor, to achieve and maintain anticoagulation for carotid endarterectomy. Unlike heparin, the direct thrombin inhibitors bind directly to thrombin, bypassing antithrombin III and the potential to precipitate HIT. A bolus of argatroban 150 microg/kg followed by an infusion of 5 microg . kg(-1) . min(-1) was used, and adequate anticoagulation was demonstrated with multiple laboratory tests (at 28 min, prothrombin time = 29.8 s, partial thromboplastin time = 69.1 s, international normalized ratio = 3.52 s, and activated clotting time = 220 s). The surgery was successful, and the patient was discharged the next day with no postoperative neurologic sequelae or other complications. We conclude that argatroban can be used safely and successfully for carotid endarterectomy in a patient with a history of HIT.

The effects of 7.5% NaCl/6% dextran 70 on coagulation and platelet aggregation in humans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hess, J. R.; Dubick, M. A.; Summary, J. J.; Bangal, N. R.; Wade, C. E.

1992-01-01

The combination solution of 7.5% NaCl/6% dextran 70 (HSD) administered IV gives hemodynamic improvement in the treatment of hemorrhagic hypotension. Since earlier dextran solutions were reported to interfere with blood coagulation, the effects of HSD on the prothrombin time (PT), the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), platelet aggregation, and platelet concentration were studied. The HSD mixed with human plasma (1:5 and 1:10) slightly prolonged PT, but had no effect on the APTT, compared with saline controls. The HSD also decreased human platelet aggregation at the 1:5 dilution. In separate mixing studies, the hypertonic saline component of HSD was associated with the prolongation of PT and decreased platelet aggregation. The data from these studies indicate that at its proposed therapeutic dose, HSD is expected to have minimal effect on blood coagulation.

Actor-critic-based optimal tracking for partially unknown nonlinear discrete-time systems.

PubMed

Kiumarsi, Bahare; Lewis, Frank L

2015-01-01

This paper presents a partially model-free adaptive optimal control solution to the deterministic nonlinear discrete-time (DT) tracking control problem in the presence of input constraints. The tracking error dynamics and reference trajectory dynamics are first combined to form an augmented system. Then, a new discounted performance function based on the augmented system is presented for the optimal nonlinear tracking problem. In contrast to the standard solution, which finds the feedforward and feedback terms of the control input separately, the minimization of the proposed discounted performance function gives both feedback and feedforward parts of the control input simultaneously. This enables us to encode the input constraints into the optimization problem using a nonquadratic performance function. The DT tracking Bellman equation and tracking Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) are derived. An actor-critic-based reinforcement learning algorithm is used to learn the solution to the tracking HJB equation online without requiring knowledge of the system drift dynamics. That is, two neural networks (NNs), namely, actor NN and critic NN, are tuned online and simultaneously to generate the optimal bounded control policy. A simulation example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Acquisition with partial and continuous reinforcement in pigeon autoshaping.

PubMed

Gottlieb, Daniel A

2004-08-01

Contemporary time accumulation models make the unique prediction that acquisition of a conditioned response will be equally rapid with partial and continuous reinforcement, if the time between conditioned stimuli is held constant. To investigate this, acquisition of conditioned responding was examined in pigeon autoshaping under conditions of 100% and 25% reinforcement, holding intertrial interval constant. Contrary to what was predicted, evidence for slowed acquisition in partially reinforced animals was observed with several response measures. However, asymptotic performance was superior with 25% reinforcement. A switching of reinforcement contingencies after initial acquisition did not immediately affect responding. After further sessions, partial reinforcement augmented responding, whereas continuous reinforcement did not, irrespective of an animal's reinforcement history. Subsequent training with a novel stimulus maintained the response patterns. These acquisition results generally support associative, rather than time accumulation, accounts of conditioning.

Dissociation between the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of once-daily rivaroxaban and twice-daily apixaban: a randomized crossover study.

PubMed

Kreutz, R; Persson, P B; Kubitza, D; Thelen, K; Heitmeier, S; Schwers, S; Becka, M; Hemmrich, M

2017-10-01

Essentials In this crossover study the anticoagulant effects of rivaroxaban and apixaban were compared. Healthy volunteers received rivaroxaban 20 mg once daily or apixaban 5 mg twice daily. Rivaroxaban was associated with more prolonged inhibition of thrombin generation than apixaban. Rivaroxaban induced a clear prolongation of prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time. Background The anticoagulant actions of the oral direct activated factor Xa inhibitors, rivaroxaban and apixaban, have not previously been directly compared. Objectives To compare directly the steady-state pharmacokinetics and anticoagulant effects of rivaroxaban and apixaban at doses approved for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Methods Twenty-four healthy Caucasian male volunteers were included in this open-label, two-period crossover, phase 1 study (EudraCT number: 2015-002612-32). Volunteers were randomized to receive rivaroxaban 20 mg once daily or apixaban 5 mg twice daily for 7 days, followed by a washout period of at least 7 days before they received the other treatment. Plasma concentrations and anticoagulant effects were measured at steady state and after drug discontinuation. Results Overall exposure was similar for both drugs: the geometric mean area under the plasma concentration-time curve for the 0-24-h interval was 1830 μg h L -1 for rivaroxaban and 1860 μg h L -1 for apixaban. Rivaroxaban was associated with greater inhibition of endogenous thrombin potential (geometric mean area under the curve relative to baseline during the 0-24-h interval: 15.5 h versus 17.5 h) and a more pronounced maximal prolongation relative to baseline of prothrombin time (PT) (1.66-fold versus 1.14-fold) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (1.43-fold versus 1.16-fold) at steady state than apixaban. Conclusions Despite similar exposure to both drugs, rivaroxaban 20 mg once daily was associated with greater and more

R-LESS partial nephrectomy trifecta outcome is inferior to multiport robotic partial nephrectomy: comparative analysis.

PubMed

Komninos, Christos; Shin, Tae Young; Tuliao, Patrick; Yoon, Young Eun; Koo, Kyo Chul; Chang, Chien-Hsiang; Kim, Sang Woon; Ha, Ji Yong; Han, Woong Kyu; Rha, Koon Ho

2014-09-01

Trifecta achievement in partial nephrectomy (PN) is defined as the combination of warm ischemia time ≤ 20 min, negative surgical margins, and no surgical complications. To compare trifecta achievement between robotic, laparoendoscopic, single-site (R-LESS) PN and multiport robotic PN (RPN). Data from 167 patients who underwent RPN from 2006 to 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Primary outcome measurement was trifecta achievement; secondary outcome was the perioperative and postoperative comparison between groups. The measurements were estimated and analyzed with SPSS v.18 using univariable, multivariable, and subgroup analyses. Eighty-nine patients were treated with RPN and 78 were treated with R-LESS PN. Baseline characteristics of both groups were similar. Trifecta was achieved in 38 patients (42.7%) in the multiport RPN group and 20 patients (25.6%) in the R-LESS PN group (p=0.021). Patients in the R-LESS PN group had longer mean operative time, warm ischemia time, and increased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) percentage change. No significant differences were found between the two groups in days of hospitalization, blood loss, postoperative eGFR, positive surgical margins, and surgical complications. Patients with increased PADUA and RENAL scores, infiltration of the collecting system, and renal sinus involvement had an increased probability of not achieving the trifecta. In regression analysis, the type of procedure and the tumor size could predict trifecta accomplishment (p=0.019 and 0.043, respectively). The retrospective study, the low number of series, and the controversial definition of trifecta were the main limitations. The trifecta was achieved in significantly more patients who underwent multiport RPN than those who underwent R-LESS PN. R-LESS PN could be an alternative option for patients with decreased tumor size, low PADUA and RENAL scores, and without renal sinus or collecting system involvement. In this study, we looked at the

Landsliding in partially saturated materials

USGS Publications Warehouse

Godt, J.W.; Baum, R.L.; Lu, N.

2009-01-01

[1] Rainfall-induced landslides are pervasive in hillslope environments around the world and among the most costly and deadly natural hazards. However, capturing their occurrence with scientific instrumentation in a natural setting is extremely rare. The prevailing thinking on landslide initiation, particularly for those landslides that occur under intense precipitation, is that the failure surface is saturated and has positive pore-water pressures acting on it. Most analytic methods used for landslide hazard assessment are based on the above perception and assume that the failure surface is located beneath a water table. By monitoring the pore water and soil suction response to rainfall, we observed shallow landslide occurrence under partially saturated conditions for the first time in a natural setting. We show that the partially saturated shallow landslide at this site is predictable using measured soil suction and water content and a novel unified effective stress concept for partially saturated earth materials. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Mechanism of partial agonism in AMPA-type glutamate receptors

PubMed Central

Salazar, Hector; Eibl, Clarissa; Chebli, Miriam; Plested, Andrew

2017-01-01

Neurotransmitters trigger synaptic currents by activating ligand-gated ion channel receptors. Whereas most neurotransmitters are efficacious agonists, molecules that activate receptors more weakly—partial agonists—also exist. Whether these partial agonists have weak activity because they stabilize less active forms, sustain active states for a lesser fraction of the time or both, remains an open question. Here we describe the crystal structure of an α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate receptor (AMPAR) ligand binding domain (LBD) tetramer in complex with the partial agonist 5-fluorowillardiine (FW). We validate this structure, and others of different geometry, using engineered intersubunit bridges. We establish an inverse relation between the efficacy of an agonist and its promiscuity to drive the LBD layer into different conformations. These results suggest that partial agonists of the AMPAR are weak activators of the receptor because they stabilize multiple non-conducting conformations, indicating that agonism is a function of both the space and time domains. PMID:28211453

Comparison of partially covered nitinol stents with partially covered stainless stents as a historical control in a multicenter study of distal malignant biliary obstruction: the WATCH study.

PubMed

Isayama, Hiroyuki; Mukai, Tsuyoshi; Itoi, Takao; Maetani, Iruru; Nakai, Yousuke; Kawakami, Hiroshi; Yasuda, Ichiro; Maguchi, Hiroyuki; Ryozawa, Shomei; Hanada, Keiji; Hasebe, Osamu; Ito, Kei; Kawamoto, Hirofumi; Mochizuki, Hitoshi; Igarashi, Yoshinori; Irisawa, Atsushi; Sasaki, Tamito; Togawa, Osamu; Hara, Taro; Kamada, Hideki; Toda, Nobuo; Kogure, Hirofumi

2012-07-01

Covered self-expandable metal stents (CSEMSs) were developed to prevent tumor ingrowth, but stent migration is one of the problems with CSEMSs. To evaluate a new, commercially available CSEMS with flared ends and low axial force compared with a commercially available CSEMS without the anti-migration system and high axial force. Multicenter, prospective study with a historical cohort. Twenty Japanese referral centers. This study involved patients with unresectable distal malignant biliary obstruction. Placement of a new, commercially available, partially covered SEMS. Recurrent biliary obstruction rate, time to recurrent biliary obstruction, stent-related complications, survival. Between April 2009 and March 2010, 141 patients underwent partially covered nitinol stent placement, and between May 2001 and January 2007, 138 patients underwent placement of partially covered stainless stents as a historical control. The silicone cover of the partially covered nitinol stents prevented tumor ingrowth. There were no significant differences in survival (229 vs 219 days; P = .250) or the rate of recurrent biliary obstruction (33% vs 38%; P = .385) between partially covered nitinol stents and partially covered stainless stents. Stent migration was less frequent (8% vs 17%; P = .019), and time to recurrent biliary obstruction was significantly longer (373 vs 285 days; P = .007) with partially covered nitinol stents. Stent removal was successful in 26 of 27 patients (96%). Nonrandomized, controlled trial. Partially covered nitinol stents with an anti-migration system and less axial force demonstrated longer time to recurrent biliary obstruction with no tumor ingrowth and less stent migration. Copyright © 2012 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Bounded influence function based inference in joint modelling of ordinal partial linear model and accelerated failure time model.

PubMed

Chakraborty, Arindom

2016-12-01

A common objective in longitudinal studies is to characterize the relationship between a longitudinal response process and a time-to-event data. Ordinal nature of the response and possible missing information on covariates add complications to the joint model. In such circumstances, some influential observations often present in the data may upset the analysis. In this paper, a joint model based on ordinal partial mixed model and an accelerated failure time model is used, to account for the repeated ordered response and time-to-event data, respectively. Here, we propose an influence function-based robust estimation method. Monte Carlo expectation maximization method-based algorithm is used for parameter estimation. A detailed simulation study has been done to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. As an application, a data on muscular dystrophy among children is used. Robust estimates are then compared with classical maximum likelihood estimates. © The Author(s) 2014.

Impact of different storage times at room temperature of unspun citrated blood samples on routine coagulation tests results. Results of a bicenter study and review of the literature.

PubMed

Toulon, P; Metge, S; Hangard, M; Zwahlen, S; Piaulenne, S; Besson, V

2017-10-01

A maximum delay between blood collection and coagulation testing of 4 hours is recommended by most guidelines. As information on optimal storage times is limited, we investigated the potential effect of different storage times of unspun tubes, that is, ≤2, 4, 6, and 8 hours, on routine coagulation test results. Four evacuated polymer tubes containing 0.109 mol/L tri-Na citrate were drawn from 144 patients, including 39 patients on vitamin K-antagonists. Except for storage time, all tubes underwent the same preanalytical process. Prothrombin time (PT)/international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), fibrinogen, factor V (FV), FVIII, and D-dimer were evaluated in two centers using the same technical conditions. Analytical comparison of aPTT, fibrinogen, FV, and FVIII results evaluated after prolonged storage times vs a <2-hours storage demonstrated significant difference, whereas PT/INR and D-dimer remained unchanged up to 8 hours. Mean bias between test results obtained after prolonged storage times remained below the desirable values for all studied parameters except for FVIII evaluated after 6- and 8-hours storages, but only in patients with FVIII above 100 IU/dL. Even though the corresponding bias of -5.2% and -8.5%, respectively, remained within the GEHT recommended limits of variation, its evaluation after an 8-hours storage could lead to significant underestimation of FVIII. These results suggest that, in the studied technical conditions, PT/INR, aPTT, fibrinogen, FV, and D-dimer can be reliably evaluated in tubes stored unspun at room temperature for up to 8 hours after blood collection. That optimal delay should be of 6 hours for FVIII. © 2017 The Authors. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Experts' understanding of partial derivatives using the partial derivative machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roundy, David; Weber, Eric; Dray, Tevian; Bajracharya, Rabindra R.; Dorko, Allison; Smith, Emily M.; Manogue, Corinne A.

2015-12-01

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Upper Division Physics Courses.] Partial derivatives are used in a variety of different ways within physics. Thermodynamics, in particular, uses partial derivatives in ways that students often find especially confusing. We are at the beginning of a study of the teaching of partial derivatives, with a goal of better aligning the teaching of multivariable calculus with the needs of students in STEM disciplines. In this paper, we report on an initial study of expert understanding of partial derivatives across three disciplines: physics, engineering, and mathematics. We report on the central research question of how disciplinary experts understand partial derivatives, and how their concept images of partial derivatives differ, with a focus on experimentally measured quantities. Using the partial derivative machine (PDM), we probed expert understanding of partial derivatives in an experimental context without a known functional form. In particular, we investigated which representations were cued by the experts' interactions with the PDM. Whereas the physicists and engineers were quick to use measurements to find a numeric approximation for a derivative, the mathematicians repeatedly returned to speculation as to the functional form; although they were comfortable drawing qualitative conclusions about the system from measurements, they were reluctant to approximate the derivative through measurement. On a theoretical front, we found ways in which existing frameworks for the concept of derivative could be expanded to include numerical approximation.

Elevated prothrombin time on routine preoperative laboratory results in a healthy infant undergoing craniosynostosis repair: Diagnosis and perioperative management of congenital factor VII deficiency.

PubMed

Jones, Kareen L; Greenberg, Robert S; Ahn, Edward S; Kudchadkar, Sapna R

2016-01-01

Congenital factor VII deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder with high phenotypic variability. It is critical that children with congenital Factor VII deficiency be identified early when high-risk surgery is planned. Cranial vault surgery is common for children with craniosynostosis, and these surgeries are associated with significant morbidity mostly secondary to the risk of massive blood loss. A two-month old infant who presented for elective craniosynostosis repair was noted to have an elevated prothrombin time (PT) with a normal activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) on preoperative labs. The infant had no clinical history or reported family history of bleeding disorders, therefore a multidisciplinary decision was made to repeat the labs under general anesthesia and await the results prior to incision. The results confirmed the abnormal PT and the case was canceled. Hematologic workup during admission revealed factor VII deficiency. The patient underwent an uneventful endoscopic strip craniectomy with perioperative administration of recombinant Factor VIIa. Important considerations for perioperative laboratory evaluation and management in children with factor VII deficiency are discussed. Anesthetic and surgical management of the child with factor VII deficiency necessitates meticulous planning to prevent life threatening bleeding during the perioperative period. A thorough history and physical examination with a high clinical suspicion are vital in preventing hemorrhage during surgeries in children with coagulopathies. Abnormal preoperative lab values should always be confirmed and addressed before proceeding with high-risk surgery. A multidisciplinary discussion is essential to optimize the risk-benefit ratio during the perioperative period. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

On-Chip Titration of an Anticoagulant Argatroban and Determination of the Clotting Time within Whole Blood or Plasma Using a Plug-Based Microfluidic System

PubMed Central

Song, Helen; Li, Hung-Wing; Munson, Matthew S.; Van Ha, Thuong G.; Ismagilov, Rustem F.

2006-01-01

This paper describes extending plug-based microfluidics to handling complex biological fluids such as blood, solving the problem of injecting additional reagents into plugs, and applying this system to measuring of clotting time in small volumes of whole blood and plasma. Plugs are droplets transported through microchannels by fluorocarbon fluids. A plug-based microfluidic system was developed to titrate an anticoagulant (argatroban) into blood samples and to measure the clotting time using the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) test. To carry out these experiments, the following techniques were developed for a plug-based system: (i) using Teflon AF coating on the microchannel wall to enable formation of plugs containing blood and transport of the solid fibrin clots within plugs, (ii) using a hydrophilic glass capillary to enable reliable merging of a reagent from an aqueous stream into plugs, (iii) using bright-field microscopy to detect the formation of a fibrin clot within plugs and using fluorescent microscopy to detect the production of thrombin using a fluorogenic substrate, and (iv) titration of argatroban (0–1.5 μg/mL) into plugs and measurement of the resulting APTTs at room temperature (23 °C) and physiological temperature (37 °C). APTT measurements were conducted with normal pooled plasma (platelet-poor plasma) and with donor’s blood samples (both whole blood and platelet-rich plasma). APTT values and APTT ratios measured by the plug-based microfluidic device were compared to the results from a clinical laboratory at 37 °C. APTT obtained from the on-chip assay were about double those from the clinical laboratory but the APTT ratios from these two methods agreed well with each other. PMID:16841902

Peptic ulcer bleeding patients with Rockall scores ≥6 are at risk of long-term ulcer rebleeding: A 3.5-year prospective longitudinal study.

PubMed

Yang, Er-Hsiang; Cheng, Hsiu-Chi; Wu, Chung-Tai; Chen, Wei-Ying; Lin, Meng-Ying; Sheu, Bor-Shyang

2018-01-01

Patients with high Rockall scores have increased risk of rebleeding and mortality within 30 days after peptic ulcer bleeding, but long-term outcomes deserve follow-up after cessation of proton pump inhibitors. The paper aimed to validate whether patients with high Rockall scores have more recurrent ulcer bleeding in a 3.5-year longitudinal cohort. Between August 2011 and July 2014, 368 patients with peptic ulcer bleeding were prospectively enrolled after endoscopic hemostasis to receive proton pump inhibitors for at least 8 to 16 weeks. These subjects were categorized into either a Rockall scores ≥6 group (n = 257) or a Rockall scores <6 group (n = 111) and followed up until July of 2015 to assess recurrent ulcer bleeding. The proportion of patients with rebleeding during the 3.5-year follow-up was higher in patients with Rockall scores ≥6 than in those with scores <6 (10.51 vs. 3.63 per 100 person-year, P = 0.004, log-rank test). Among patients with Rockall scores ≥6, activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged ≥1.5-fold (P = 0.045), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class ≥III (P = 0.02), and gastric ulcer (P = 0.04) were three additional independent factors found to increase rebleeding risk. The cumulative rebleeding rate was higher in patients with Rockall scores ≥6 with more than or equal to any two additional factors than in those with fewer than two additional factors (15.69 vs. 7.63 per 100 person-year, P = 0.012, log-rank test). Patients with Rockall scores ≥6 are at risk of long-term recurrent peptic ulcer bleeding. The risk can be independently increased by the presence of activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged ≥1.5-fold, American Society of Anesthesiologists class ≥III, and gastric ulcer in patients with Rockall scores ≥6. © 2017 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Experts' Understanding of Partial Derivatives Using the Partial Derivative Machine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roundy, David; Weber, Eric; Dray, Tevian; Bajracharya, Rabindra R.; Dorko, Allison; Smith, Emily M.; Manogue, Corinne A.

2015-01-01

Partial derivatives are used in a variety of different ways within physics. Thermodynamics, in particular, uses partial derivatives in ways that students often find especially confusing. We are at the beginning of a study of the teaching of partial derivatives, with a goal of better aligning the teaching of multivariable calculus with the needs of…

Long-term correction of canine hemophilia B by gene transfer of blood coagulation factor IX mediated by adeno-associated viral vector.

PubMed

Herzog, R W; Yang, E Y; Couto, L B; Hagstrom, J N; Elwell, D; Fields, P A; Burton, M; Bellinger, D A; Read, M S; Brinkhous, K M; Podsakoff, G M; Nichols, T C; Kurtzman, G J; High, K A

1999-01-01

Hemophilia B is a severe X-linked bleeding diathesis caused by the absence of functional blood coagulation factor IX, and is an excellent candidate for treatment of a genetic disease by gene therapy. Using an adeno-associated viral vector, we demonstrate sustained expression (>17 months) of factor IX in a large-animal model at levels that would have a therapeutic effect in humans (up to 70 ng/ml, adequate to achieve phenotypic correction, in an animal injected with 8.5x10(12) vector particles/kg). The five hemophilia B dogs treated showed stable, vector dose-dependent partial correction of the whole blood clotting time and, at higher doses, of the activated partial thromboplastin time. In contrast to other viral gene delivery systems, this minimally invasive procedure, consisting of a series of percutaneous intramuscular injections at a single timepoint, was not associated with local or systemic toxicity. Efficient gene transfer to muscle was shown by immunofluorescence staining and DNA analysis of biopsied tissue. Immune responses against factor IX were either absent or transient. These data provide strong support for the feasibility of the approach for therapy of human subjects.

Prospective study of robotic partial nephrectomy for renal cancer in Japan: Comparison with a historical control undergoing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

PubMed

Tanaka, Kazushi; Teishima, Jun; Takenaka, Atsushi; Shiroki, Ryoichi; Kobayashi, Yasuyuki; Hattori, Kazunori; Kanayama, Hiro-Omi; Horie, Shigeo; Yoshino, Yasushi; Fujisawa, Masato

2018-05-01

To evaluate the outcomes of robotic partial nephrectomy compared with those of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for T1 renal tumors in Japanese centers. Patients with a T1 renal tumor who underwent robotic partial nephrectomy were eligible for inclusion in the present study. The primary end-point consisted of three components: a negative surgical margin, no conversion to open or laparoscopic surgery and a warm ischemia time ≤25 min. We compared data from these patients with the data from a retrospective study of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy carried out in Japan. A total of 108 patients were registered in the present study; 105 underwent robotic partial nephrectomy. The proportion of patients who met the primary end-point was 91.3% (95% confidence interval 84.1-95.9%), which was significantly higher than 23.3% in the historical data. Major complications were seen in 19 patients (18.1%). The mean change in the estimated glomerular filtration rate in the operated kidney, 180 days postoperatively, was -10.8 mL/min/1.73 m 2 (95% confidence interval -12.3-9.4%). Robotic partial nephrectomy for patients with a T1 renal tumor is a safe, feasible and more effective operative method compared with laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. It can be anticipated that robotic partial nephrectomy will become more widely used in Japan in the future. © 2018 The Japanese Urological Association.

Preparation of carboxymethyl cellulose sulfates and its application as anticoagulant and wound dressing.

PubMed

Fan, Lihong; Zhou, Xiaoyu; Wu, Penghui; Xie, Weiguo; Zheng, Hua; Tan, Wang; Liu, Shuhua; Li, Qingyuan

2014-05-01

Tissue engineering is aiming to build an artificial environment or biological scaffold material that imitates the living environment of cells in the body. In this work, carboxymethyl cellulose sulfates were prepared by reacting carboxymethyl cellulose with N(SO3Na)3 which was synthesized by sodium bisulfite and sodium nitrite in aqueous solution. The reaction conditions affected the degree of substitution (DS) were measured by the barium sulfate nephelometry method. And the anticoagulant activity of carboxymethyl cellulose sulfates with different DS, concentration and molecular weights were investigated by the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT) and prothrombin time (PT). In addition, the effect of carboxymethyl cellulose sulfates on wound healing had been evaluated by the rate of wound healing and the histological examinations. The results indicated that the introduction of sulfate groups into the carboxymethyl cellulose sulfates improved its anticoagulant activity, and the wound dressings treated with carboxymethyl cellulose sulfates obviously promoted wound healing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In Situ Loading of Drugs into Mesoporous Silica SBA-15.

PubMed

Wan, Mi Mi; Li, Yan Yan; Yang, Tian; Zhang, Tao; Sun, Xiao Dan; Zhu, Jian Hua

2016-04-25

In a new strategy for loading drugs into mesoporous silica, a hydrophilic (heparin) or hydrophobic drug (ibuprofen) is encapsulated directly in a one-pot synthesis by evaporation-induced self-assembly. In situ drug loading significantly cuts down the preparation time and dramatically increases the loaded amount and released fraction of the drug, and appropriate drug additives favor a mesoporous structure of the vessels. Drug loading was verified by FTIR spectroscopy and release tests, which revealed much longer release with a larger amount of heparin or ibuprofen compared to postloaded SBA-15. Besides, the in vitro anticoagulation properties of the released heparin and the biocompatibility of the vessels were carefully assessed, including activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, hemolysis, platelet adhesion experiments, and the morphologies of red blood cells. A concept of new drug-release agents with soft core and hard shell is proposed and offers guidance for the design of novel drug-delivery systems. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Evaluation of the anticoagulant potential of polysaccharide-rich fractions extracted from macroalgae.

PubMed

Adrien, Amandine; Dufour, Delphine; Baudouin, Stanislas; Maugard, Thierry; Bridiau, Nicolas

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential anticoagulant activity of sulphated polysaccharide-containing extracts of six french edible marine macroalgae. Aqueous extracts of brown (Himanthalia elongata, Laminaria digitata, Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus vesiculosus), green (Ulva lactuca) and red (Chondrus crispus) macroalgae were prepared and their biochemical properties were determined, including major biomolecules, sulphate and ash contents. The anticoagulant activity of each extract was investigated using different scales from the specific antithrombin-dependent pathway (anti-Xa and anti-IIa) to the intrinsic and/or common (Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time, APTT), extrinsic (Prothrombin Time, PT) or common (Thrombin Time, TT) anticoagulant pathways, and compared with those of commercial anticoagulants, heparin and Lovenox®. Laminaria digitata, Fucus vesiculosus and Chondrus crispus extracts showed a significant APTT anticoagulant capacity, only 5-fold lower than that of Lovenox®, which is a pure low molecular weight heparin used as an anticoagulant agent to prevent pulmonary embolism in patients undergoing surgery.

Interactions of oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) from different sources with unfractionated heparin.

PubMed

Gray, Angel; Litinas, Evangelos; Jeske, Walter; Fareed, Jawed; Hoppensteadt, Debra

2012-01-01

In 2008, oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) was identified as the main contaminant in recalled heparin. Oversulfated chondroitin sulfate can be prepared from bovine (B), porcine (P), shark (Sh), or skate (S) origin and may produce changes in the antithrombotic, bleeding, and hemodynamic profile of heparins. This study examines the interactions of various OSCSs on heparin in animal models of thrombosis and bleeding, as well as on the anticoagulant and antiprotease effects in in vitro assays. Mixtures of 70% unfractionated heparin (UFH) with 30% OSCS from different sources were tested. In the in vitro activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) assay, all contaminant mixtures showed a decrease in clotting times. In addition, a significant increase in bleeding time compared to the control (UFH/saline) was observed. In the thrombosis model, no significant differences were observed. The OSCSs significantly increased anti-Xa activity in ex vivo blood samples. These results indicate that various sources of OSCS affect the hemostatic properties of heparin.

[Massive bleeding symptoms in two patients with factor V inhibitor and antiphospholipid antibodies after treatment with ciprofloxacin].

PubMed

Miesbach, Wolfgang; Voigt, Jochen; Peetz, Dirk; Scharrer, Inge

2003-06-15

The development of factor V inhibitor is very rare, especially in combination with antiphospholipid antibodies. The paper describes the course of two patients with factor V inhibitor, antiphospholipid antibodies and massive bleeding symptoms after treatment with ciprofloxacin. At that time, ciprofloxacin was the only new drug given. DIAGNOSIS AND CLINICAL COURSE: First changes of the coagulation system were detected 4 days after start of treatment. In one case, occurrence was transient, and normalization was observed after terminating ciprofloxacin treatment. The other case ended with massive muscular and visceral bleedings and cardiovascular failure. Factor V inhibitor and antiphospholipid antibodies could be demonstrated even after termination of ciprofloxacin therapy. The association of treatment with ciprofloxacin and development of factor V inhibitor and antiphospholipid antibodies is probably diagnosed to rarely. These two cases emphasize the necessity of meticulous clarification of a prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and a drop in prothrombin time (PT) during and after ciprofloxacin treatment.

Enhanced biocompatibility and antibacterial property of polyurethane materials modified with citric acid and chitosan.

PubMed

Liu, Tian-Ming; Wu, Xing-Ze; Qiu, Yun-Ren

2016-08-01

Citric acid (CA) and chitosan (CS) were covalently immobilized on polyurethane (PU) materials to improve the biocompatibility and antibacterial property. The polyurethane pre-polymer with isocyanate group was synthesized by one pot method, and then grafted with citric acid, followed by blending with polyethersulfone (PES) to prepare the blend membrane by phase-inversion method so that chitosan can be grafted from the membrane via esterification and acylation reactions eventually. The native and modified membranes were characterized by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, water contact angle measurement, and tensile strength test. Protein adsorption, platelet adhesion, hemolysis assay, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, thrombin time, and adsorption of Ca(2+) were executed to evaluate the blood compatibility of the membranes decorated by CA and CS. Particularly, the antibacterial activities on the modified membranes were evaluated based on a vitro antibacterial test. It could be concluded that the modified membrane had good anticoagulant property and antibacterial property.

Mice lacking the extracellular matrix protein MAGP1 display delayed thrombotic occlusion following vessel injury

PubMed Central

Werneck, Claudio C.; Vicente, Cristina P.; Weinberg, Justin S.; Shifren, Adrian; Pierce, Richard A.; Broekelmann, Thomas J.; Tollefsen, Douglas M.

2008-01-01

Mice lacking the extracellular matrix protein microfibril-associated glycoprotein-1 (MAGP1) display delayed thrombotic occlusion of the carotid artery following injury as well as prolonged bleeding from a tail vein incision. Normal occlusion times were restored when recombinant MAGP1 was infused into deficient animals prior to vessel wounding. Blood coagulation was normal in these animals as assessed by activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time. Platelet number was lower in MAGP1-deficient mice, but the platelets showed normal aggregation properties in response to various agonists. MAGP1 was not found in normal platelets or in the plasma of wild-type mice. In ligand blot assays, MAGP1 bound to fibronectin, fibrinogen, and von Willebrand factor, but von Willebrand factor was the only protein of the 3 that bound to MAGP1 in surface plasmon resonance studies. These findings show that MAGP1, a component of microfibrils and vascular elastic fibers, plays a role in hemostasis and thrombosis. PMID:18281502

Persistence of deep-tendon reflexes during partial cataplexy.

PubMed

Barateau, Lucie; Pizza, Fabio; Lopez, Régis; Antelmi, Elena; Plazzi, Giuseppe; Dauvilliers, Yves

2018-05-01

Deep-tendon reflexes are abolished during generalized cataplexy, but whether this is the case in partial cataplexy currently remains unknown. Partial cataplexy may mimic other neurologic/psychiatric phenomena, and knowledge of the reflexes status may provide information for differential diagnosis. We assessed whether deep-tendon reflexes are persistent during partial cataplexy. Five drug-free patients with typical diagnoses of narcolepsy and clear-cut partial cataplexy were diagnosed in Reference Narcolepsy Centers in France and Italy. Biceps and patellar reflexes were elicited by physicians in charge and video-documented during cataplexy. Reflexes were assessed several times for each patient in different conditions and for various localizations of cataplexy. The absence of tendon reflexes and complete loss of muscle tone during generalized cataplexy was confirmed, but the persistence of those reflexes during several partial cataplectic attacks at different ages, gender, localization of cataplexy (upper limbs, face) and reflexes (biceps, patellar) in drug-naive or withdrawal conditions was documented. The persistence of tendon reflexes during several partial cataplexy episodes contrasts with their absence during generalized cataplexy. This discovery has clinical implications: the persistence of tendon reflexes does not rule out cataplexy diagnosis for partial attacks, whereas their transient abolishment or persistence during generalized attacks indicates cataplexy or pseudocataplexy, respectively. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A New Method for Partial Correction of Residual Confounding in Time-Series and Other Observational Studies.

PubMed

Flanders, W Dana; Strickland, Matthew J; Klein, Mitchel

2017-05-15

Methods exist to detect residual confounding in epidemiologic studies. One requires a negative control exposure with 2 key properties: 1) conditional independence of the negative control and the outcome (given modeled variables) absent confounding and other model misspecification, and 2) associations of the negative control with uncontrolled confounders and the outcome. We present a new method to partially correct for residual confounding: When confounding is present and our assumptions hold, we argue that estimators from models that include a negative control exposure with these 2 properties tend to be less biased than those from models without it. Using regression theory, we provide theoretical arguments that support our claims. In simulations, we empirically evaluated the approach using a time-series study of ozone effects on asthma emergency department visits. In simulations, effect estimators from models that included the negative control exposure (ozone concentrations 1 day after the emergency department visit) had slightly or modestly less residual confounding than those from models without it. Theory and simulations show that including the negative control can reduce residual confounding, if our assumptions hold. Our method differs from available methods because it uses a regression approach involving an exposure-based indicator rather than a negative control outcome to partially correct for confounding. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Characterization of bioactive chitosan and sulfated chitosan from Doryteuthis singhalensis (Ortmann, 1891).

PubMed

Ramasamy, Pasiyappazham; Subhapradha, Namasivayam; Thinesh, Thangadurai; Selvin, Joseph; Selvan, Kanagaraj Muthamizh; Shanmugam, Vairamani; Shanmugam, Annaian

2017-06-01

Chitosan was extracted from the pen of squid Doryteuthis singhalensis and characterized using FT-IR, NMR, CHN, SEM and DSC analysis. Purified chitosan was sulfated with chlorosulfonic acid in N,N-dimethylformamide and the added sulfate group was confirmed with FT-IR analysis. The molecular weight and degree of deacetylation (DDA) of chitosan was found 226.6kDa and 83.76% respectively. Chitosan exhibited potent antioxidant activity evidenced by reducing power, chelating ability on ferrous ions and scavenging activity on DPPH, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals. The anticoagulant assay using activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT) showed chitosan as a strong anticoagulant. The results of this study showed possibility of using D. singhalensis pen as a non-conventional source of natural antioxidants and anticoagulant which can be incorporated in functional food formulations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection of mild inherited disorders of blood coagulation: current options and personal recommendations.

PubMed

Lippi, Giuseppe; Pasalic, Leonardo; Favaloro, Emmanuel J

2015-08-01

Although assessment of prior personal and familial bleeding history is an important aspect of the diagnosis of bleeding disorders, patients with mild inherited bleeding disorders are sometimes clinically asymptomatic until presented with a hemostatic challenge. However, bleeding may occur after incursion of trauma or surgery, so detection of these conditions reflects an important facet of clinical and laboratory practice. Mild bleeding disorders may be detected as a result of family studies or following identification of abnormal values in first-line screening tests such as activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, fibrinogen and global platelet function screen testing, such as the platelet function analyzer. Following determination of abnormal screening tests, subsequent investigation should follow a systematic approach that targets specific diagnostic tests, and including factor assays, full platelet function assays and more extensive specialized hemostasis testing. The current report provides a personal overview on inherited disorders of blood coagulation and their detection.

Evaluation of off-label recombinant activated factor VII for multiple indications in children.

PubMed

Reiter, Pamela D; Valuck, Robert J; Taylor, Ruston S

2007-07-01

Despite a paucity of safety and efficacy data, the use of recombinant activated factor VII in children for off-label indications has now surpassed its use in hemophilia. A retrospective chart review was conducted of 46 subjects (age, 6.7 +/- 6 years; weight, 26 +/- 20 kg) who received recombinant activated factor VII for nonhemophiliac indications between January 1, 2004, and September 1, 2005. Indications for use included prevention (n = 6) or treatment (n = 40) of bleeding due to general surgery, hepatic failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, severe traumatic brain injury, bone marrow transplant, cardiac, acetaminophen overdose, and multiorgan system failure. Decreases in prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and international normalized ratio were observed. No inappropriate thrombotic events were noted. Administration of recombinant activated factor VII was associated with a reduction in coagulation markers without obvious adverse thrombotic events at cost of $4189 per dose. These findings should be confirmed in a prospective trial.

Structural characterization of coagulant Moringa oleifera Lectin and its effect on hemostatic parameters.

PubMed

Luz, Luciana de Andrade; Silva, Mariana Cristina Cabral; Ferreira, Rodrigo da Silva; Santana, Lucimeire Aparecida; Silva-Lucca, Rosemeire Aparecida; Mentele, Reinhard; Oliva, Maria Luiza Vilela; Paiva, Patricia Maria Guedes; Coelho, Luana Cassandra Breitenbach Barroso

2013-07-01

Lectins are carbohydrate recognition proteins. cMoL, a coagulant Moringa oleifera Lectin, was isolated from seeds of the plant. Structural studies revealed a heat-stable and pH resistant protein with 101 amino acids, 11.67 theoretical pI and 81% similarity with a M. oleifera flocculent protein. Secondary structure content was estimated as 46% α-helix, 12% β-sheets, 17% β-turns and 25% unordered structures belonging to the α/β tertiary structure class. cMoL significantly prolonged the time required for blood coagulation, activated partial thromboplastin (aPTT) and prothrombin times (PT), but was not so effective in prolonging aPTT in asialofetuin presence. cMoL acted as an anticoagulant protein on in vitro blood coagulation parameters and at least on aPTT, the lectin interacted through the carbohydrate recognition domain. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anticoagulant activity of marine green and brown algae collected from Jeju Island in Korea.

PubMed

Athukorala, Yasantha; Lee, Ki-Wan; Kim, Se-Kwon; Jeon, You-Jin

2007-07-01

Twenty-two algal species were evaluated for their potential anticoagulant activities. Hot water extracts from selected species, Codium fragile and Sargassum horneri showed high activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). Ultraflo extract of C. fragile and S. horneri exhibited the most potent anticoagulant activity. Furthermore, in both algal species, active compounds were mainly concentrated in >30kDa faction. The crude polysaccharide fraction (>30kDa; CpoF) of C. fragile composed of approximately 80% carbohydrate and approximately 19% of protein; the crude polysaccharide fraction (>30kDa; CpoF) of S. horneri was composed of 97% of carbohydrate and approximately 2% of protein. Therefore, most probably the active compound, or compounds of the algal species were related to high molecular weight polysaccharide, or a complex form with carbohydrate and protein (proteoglycan).

Partial tooth gear bearings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vranish, John M. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A partial gear bearing including an upper half, comprising peak partial teeth, and a lower, or bottom, half, comprising valley partial teeth. The upper half also has an integrated roller section between each of the peak partial teeth with a radius equal to the gear pitch radius of the radially outwardly extending peak partial teeth. Conversely, the lower half has an integrated roller section between each of the valley half teeth with a radius also equal to the gear pitch radius of the peak partial teeth. The valley partial teeth extend radially inwardly from its roller section. The peak and valley partial teeth are exactly out of phase with each other, as are the roller sections of the upper and lower halves. Essentially, the end roller bearing of the typical gear bearing has been integrated into the normal gear tooth pattern.

In-Source Fragmentation and the Sources of Partially Tryptic Peptides in Shotgun Proteomics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Jong-Seo; Monroe, Matthew E.; Camp, David G.

2013-02-01

Partially tryptic peptides are often identified in shotgun proteomics using trypsin as the proteolytic enzyme; however, it has been controversial regarding the sources of such partially tryptic peptides. Herein we investigate the impact of in-source fragmentation on shotgun proteomics using three biological samples, including a standard protein mixture, a mouse brain tissue homogenate, and a mouse plasma sample. Since the in-source fragments of a peptide retain the same elution time with its parent fully tryptic peptide, the partially tryptic peptides from in-source fragmentation can be distinguished from the other partially tryptic peptides by plotting the observed retention times against themore » computationally predicted retention times. Most partially tryptic in-source fragmentation artifacts were misaligned from the linear distribution of fully tryptic peptides. The impact of in-source fragmentation on peptide identifications was clearly significant in a less complex sample such as a standard protein digest, where ~60 % of unique peptides were observed as partially tryptic peptides from in-source fragmentation. In mouse brain or mouse plasma samples, in-source fragmentation contributed to 1-3 % of all identified peptides. The other major source of partially tryptic peptides in complex biological samples is presumably proteolytic processing by endogenous proteases in the samples. By filtering out the in-source fragmentation artifacts from the identified partially tryptic or non-tryptic peptides, it is possible to directly survey in-vivo proteolytic processing in biological samples such as blood plasma.« less

Distinguishing between direct and indirect directional couplings in large oscillator networks: Partial or non-partial phase analyses?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rings, Thorsten; Lehnertz, Klaus

2016-09-01

We investigate the relative merit of phase-based methods for inferring directional couplings in complex networks of weakly interacting dynamical systems from multivariate time-series data. We compare the evolution map approach and its partialized extension to each other with respect to their ability to correctly infer the network topology in the presence of indirect directional couplings for various simulated experimental situations using coupled model systems. In addition, we investigate whether the partialized approach allows for additional or complementary indications of directional interactions in evolving epileptic brain networks using intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from an epilepsy patient. For such networks, both direct and indirect directional couplings can be expected, given the brain's connection structure and effects that may arise from limitations inherent to the recording technique. Our findings indicate that particularly in larger networks (number of nodes ≫10 ), the partialized approach does not provide information about directional couplings extending the information gained with the evolution map approach.

Lupus anticoagulants: first French interlaboratory Etalonorme survey.

PubMed

Roussi, J; Roisin, J P; Goguel, A

1996-06-01

In 1994, the, French National Quality Control Group for Hematology, Etalonorme, conducted a large-scale interlaboratory survey concerning the detection of lupus anticoagulants (LA) involving all the 4,500 French laboratories. Each laboratory received the same batch of a lyophilized citrated plasma (94B3) prepared from a patient with LA that had been confirmed by all the techniques used in the intralaboratory study. In the interlaboratory survey, the screening test was activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT); mean APTT calculated from the results reported by 4,029 labs was prolonged (clotting ratio = 1.44) with a large dispersion (coefficients of variation = 18.8%). APTT of the mixture 94B3 + normal plasma were performed by 2,698 laboratories. No correction of APTT was obtained (R = 1.36, Rosner index = 24) with a wide variation between reagents (17 < Rosner index < 39). Only 15% of the participants performed confirmatory tests; dilute tissue thromboplastin inhibition test (TTI) performed by 509 laboratories gave 75% positive results. Tests with an increased amount of phospholipids (Staclot LA and Staclot PNP from Diagnostica Stago), used by 116 and 72 laboratories, gave 88% and 61% positive results, respectively. A total of 1,862 laboratories made the diagnosis of LA. The majority of those who failed in diagnosing LA used an APTT reagent largely used in France, containing kaolin. This survey allowed Etalonorme to inform French biologists and draft an educational program for the biologic detection of LA and the identification of its mechanism of action.

Isostable reduction with applications to time-dependent partial differential equations.

PubMed

Wilson, Dan; Moehlis, Jeff

2016-07-01

Isostables and isostable reduction, analogous to isochrons and phase reduction for oscillatory systems, are useful in the study of nonlinear equations which asymptotically approach a stationary solution. In this work, we present a general method for isostable reduction of partial differential equations, with the potential power to reduce the dimensionality of a nonlinear system from infinity to 1. We illustrate the utility of this reduction by applying it to two different models with biological relevance. In the first example, isostable reduction of the Fokker-Planck equation provides the necessary framework to design a simple control strategy to desynchronize a population of pathologically synchronized oscillatory neurons, as might be relevant to Parkinson's disease. Another example analyzes a nonlinear reaction-diffusion equation with relevance to action potential propagation in a cardiac system.

New advances in the partial-reflection-drifts experiment using microprocessors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruggerio, R. L.; Bowhill, S. A.

1982-01-01

Improvements to the partial reflection drifts experiment are completed. The results of the improvements include real time processing and simultaneous measurements of the D region with coherent scatter. Preliminary results indicate a positive correlation between drift velocities calculated by both methods during a two day interval. The possibility now exists for extended observations between partial reflection and coherent scatter. In addition, preliminary measurements could be performed between partial reflection and meteor radar to complete a comparison of methods used to determine velocities in the D region.

Transient Dupuit Interface Flow with partially penetrating features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakker, Mark

1998-11-01

A comprehensive potential is presented for Dupuit interface flow in coastal aquifers where both the fresh water and salt water are moving. The resulting potential flow problem may be solved, for incompressible confined aquifers, using analytic functions. The vertical velocity of the interface may then be computed analytically and the change of the position of the interface may be simulated by numerical integration through time, starting with a known (or estimated) initial position. The upconing of the interface below a partially penetrating ditch or well may be studied if Dupuit solutions for such features are available. A new Dupuit solution is derived for a ditch that penetrates the aquifer partially from above; a Dupuit solution for a partially penetrating well may be obtained following a similar derivation. The new Dupuit solution is combined with the interface solution to simulate the upconing of an initially horizontal interface below a series of partially penetrating ditches; the interface converges to the known steady state position.

Dissecting the space-time structure of tree-ring datasets using the partial triadic analysis.

PubMed

Rossi, Jean-Pierre; Nardin, Maxime; Godefroid, Martin; Ruiz-Diaz, Manuela; Sergent, Anne-Sophie; Martinez-Meier, Alejandro; Pâques, Luc; Rozenberg, Philippe

2014-01-01

Tree-ring datasets are used in a variety of circumstances, including archeology, climatology, forest ecology, and wood technology. These data are based on microdensity profiles and consist of a set of tree-ring descriptors, such as ring width or early/latewood density, measured for a set of individual trees. Because successive rings correspond to successive years, the resulting dataset is a ring variables × trees × time datacube. Multivariate statistical analyses, such as principal component analysis, have been widely used for extracting worthwhile information from ring datasets, but they typically address two-way matrices, such as ring variables × trees or ring variables × time. Here, we explore the potential of the partial triadic analysis (PTA), a multivariate method dedicated to the analysis of three-way datasets, to apprehend the space-time structure of tree-ring datasets. We analyzed a set of 11 tree-ring descriptors measured in 149 georeferenced individuals of European larch (Larix decidua Miller) during the period of 1967-2007. The processing of densitometry profiles led to a set of ring descriptors for each tree and for each year from 1967-2007. The resulting three-way data table was subjected to two distinct analyses in order to explore i) the temporal evolution of spatial structures and ii) the spatial structure of temporal dynamics. We report the presence of a spatial structure common to the different years, highlighting the inter-individual variability of the ring descriptors at the stand scale. We found a temporal trajectory common to the trees that could be separated into a high and low frequency signal, corresponding to inter-annual variations possibly related to defoliation events and a long-term trend possibly related to climate change. We conclude that PTA is a powerful tool to unravel and hierarchize the different sources of variation within tree-ring datasets.

Dynamical Casimir-Polder force on a partially dressed atom near a conducting wall

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Messina, Riccardo; Vasile, Ruggero; Passante, Roberto

2010-12-15

We study the time evolution of the Casimir-Polder force acting on a neutral atom in front of a perfectly conducting plate, when the system starts its unitary evolution from a partially dressed state. We solve the Heisenberg equations for both atomic and field quantum operators, exploiting a series expansion with respect to the electric charge and an iterative technique. After discussing the behavior of the time-dependent force on an initially partially dressed atom, we analyze a possible experimental scheme to prepare the partially dressed state and the observability of this new dynamical effect.

Measuring partial fluorescence yield using filtered detectors.

PubMed

Boyko, T D; Green, R J; Moewes, A; Regier, T Z

2014-07-01

Typically, X-ray absorption near-edge structure measurements aim to probe the linear attenuation coefficient. These measurements are often carried out using partial fluorescence yield techniques that rely on detectors having photon energy discrimination improving the sensitivity and the signal-to-background ratio of the measured spectra. However, measuring the partial fluorescence yield in the soft X-ray regime with reasonable efficiency requires solid-state detectors, which have limitations due to the inherent dead-time while measuring. Alternatively, many of the available detectors that are not energy dispersive do not suffer from photon count rate limitations. A filter placed in front of one of these detectors will make the energy-dependent efficiency non-linear, thereby changing the responsivity of the detector. It is shown that using an array of filtered X-ray detectors is a viable method for measuring soft X-ray partial fluorescence yield spectra without dead-time. The feasibility of this technique is further demonstrated using α-Fe2O3 as an example and it is shown that this detector technology could vastly improve the photon collection efficiency at synchrotrons and that these detectors will allow experiments to be completed with a much lower photon flux reducing X-ray-induced damage.

Residual oxygen time model for oxygen partial pressure near 130 kPa (1.3 atm).

PubMed

Shykoff, Barbara E

2015-01-01

A two-part residual oxygen time model predicts the probability of detectible pulmonary oxygen toxicity P(P[O2tox]) after dives with oxygen partial pressure (PO2) approximately 130 kPa, and provides a tool to plan dive series with selected risk of P[O2tox]. Data suggest that pulmonary oxygen injury at this PO2 is additive between dives. Recovery begins after a delay and continues during any following dive. A logistic relation expresses P(P[O2tox]) as a function of dive duration (T(dur)) [hours]: P(P[O2tox]) = 100/[1+exp (3.586-0.49 x T(dur))] This expression maps T(dur) to P(P[O2tox]) or, in the linear mid-portion of the curve, P(P[O2tox]) usefully to T(dur). For multiple dives or during recovery, it maps to an equivalent dive duration, T(eq). T(eq) was found after second dives of duration T(dur 2). Residual time from the first dive t(r) = T(eq) - T(dur2). With known t(r), t and T(dur) a recovery model was fitted. t(r) = T(dur) x exp [-k x((t-5)/T(dur)2], where t = t - 5 hours, k = 0.149 for resting, and 0.047 for exercising divers, and t represents time after surfacing. The fits were assessed for 1,352 man-dives. Standard deviations of the residuals were 8.5% and 18.3% probability for resting or exercise dives, respectively.

Preoperative planning and real-time assisted navigation by three-dimensional individual digital model in partial nephrectomy with three-dimensional laparoscopic system.

PubMed

Wang, Dongwen; Zhang, Bin; Yuan, Xiaobin; Zhang, Xuhui; Liu, Chen

2015-09-01

To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of preoperative planning and real-time assisted surgical navigation for three-dimensional laparoscopic partial nephrectomy under the guidance of three-dimensional individual digital model (3D-IDM) created using three-dimensional medical image reconstructing and guiding system (3D-MIRGS). Between May 2012 and February 2014, 44 patients with cT1 renal tumors underwent retroperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) using a three-dimensional laparoscopic system. The 3D-IDMs were created using the 3D-MIRGS in 21 patients (3D-MIRGS group) between February 2013 and February 2014. After preoperative planning, operations were real-time assisted using composite 3D-IDMs, which were fused with two-dimensional retrolaparoscopic images. The remaining 23 patients underwent surgery without 3D-MIRGS between May 2012 and February 2013; 14 of these patients were selected as a control group. Preoperative aspects and dimensions used for an anatomical score, "radius; exophytic/endophytic; nearness; anterior/posterior; location" nephrometry score, tumor size, operative time (OT), segmental renal artery clamping (SRAC) time, estimated blood loss (EBL), postoperative hospitalization, the preoperative serum creatinine level and ipsilateral glomerular filtration rate (GFR), as well as postoperative 6-month data were compared between groups. All the SRAC procedures were technically successful, and each targeted tumor was excised completely; final pathological margin results were negative. The OT was shorter (159.0 vs. 193.2 min; p < 0.001), and EBL (148.1 vs. 176.1 mL; p < 0.001) was reduced in the 3D-MIRGS group compared with controls. No statistically significant differences in SRAC time or postoperative hospitalization were found between the groups. Neither group showed any statistically significant increases in serum creatinine level or decreases in ipsilateral GFR postoperatively. Preoperative planning and real-time assisted surgical

Current controversies and challenges in robotic-assisted, laparoscopic, and open partial nephrectomies.

PubMed

Laviana, Aaron A; Hu, Jim C

2014-06-01

Recent studies demonstrate that partial versus radical nephrectomy confers a survival advantage while lowering the risk of severe chronic kidney disease. Open partial nephrectomy remains the gold standard, but the use of minimally invasive approaches is expanding. Using a MEDLINE literature search, we reviewed all relevant literature between 2000 and 2014. Fifty-one articles were left for review after filtering for inclusion of trends, learning curve, perioperative outcomes, warm ischemia time, and costs. Partial nephrectomy use has increased over the past decade accounting for 24.7 % of all surgeries performed for the treatment of organ-confined renal masses in 2008. The introduction of robotic technology has continued to alter the landscape accounting for 47 % of all partial nephrectomies at academic US centers in 2011, though a center bias and publication bias likely exist. A slower adoption rate has been seen at non-academic centers and those in low-income areas. The learning curve for robotic-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy has been shorter than for laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, explaining, in part, why the rate of partial nephrectomy remained relatively stagnant before the robotic-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy, despite an increase in the detection of small renal masses. Operative and warm ischemia time remain shortest for open partial nephrectomy, though it is associated with the highest blood loss and longest hospital stay. Finally, open partial nephrectomy remains the least costly modality. Each approach to partial nephrectomy has its advantages and disadvantages, and continued effort must be applied to comparative effectiveness research for nephron-sparing treatments for renal cell carcinoma.

Staged Catalytic Partial Oxidation (SCPO) System - The State of Art Integrated Short Contact Time Hydrogen Generator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ke Liu; Jin Ki Hong; Wei Wei

Research and development on hydrogen and syngas production have great potential in addressing the following challenges in energy arena: (1) produce more clean fuels to meet the increasing demands for clean liquid and gaseous fuels for transportation and electricity generation, (2) increase the efficiency of energy utilization for fuels and electricity production, and (3) eliminate the pollutants and decouple the link between energy utilization and greenhouse gas emissions in end-use systems [Song, 2006, Liu, Song & Subramani 2009]. In this project, GE Global Research (GEGR) collaborated with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and the University of Minnesota (UoMn), developed and demonstratedmore » a low cost, compact staged catalytic partial oxidation (SCPO) technology for distributed hydrogen generation. GEGR analyzed different reforming system designs, and developed the SCPO reforming system which is a unique technology staging and integrating 3 different short contact time catalysts in a single, compact reactor: catalytic partial oxidation (CPO), steam methane reforming (SMR) and water-gas shift (WGS). This integration is demonstrated via the fabrication of a prototype scale unit of each key technology. Approaches for key technical challenges of the program includes: · Analyzed different system designs · Designed the SCPO hydrogen production system · Developed highly active and sulfur tolerant CPO catalysts · Designed and built different pilot-scale reactors to demonstrate each key technology · Evaluated different operating conditions · Quantified the efficiency and cost of the system · Developed process design package (PDP) for 1500 kg H2/day distributed H2 production unit. SCPO met the Department of Energy (DOE) and GE’s cost and efficiency targets for distributed hydrogen production.« less

Coagulation disorders in dogs with hepatic disease.

PubMed

Prins, M; Schellens, C J M M; van Leeuwen, M W; Rothuizen, J; Teske, E

2010-08-01

Liver disease has been associated with abnormalities in haemostasis. In this study, coagulation times, platelet counts, platelet activity parameters, activities of individual coagulation factors, D-dimers, antithrombin (AT) and protein C activity were measured in 42 dogs with histologically confirmed liver disease. Outcome was correlated with histological diagnosis. One or more coagulation abnormalities were present in 57% of dogs with hepatic disease. Activated partial thromboplastin time was significantly prolonged in dogs with chronic hepatitis (CH), with or without cirrhosis. Mean platelet numbers, AT and factor IX activity were significantly lower in dogs with CH plus cirrhosis, compared to dogs with other hepatopathies. D-dimers were not significantly increased in any group. Only three dogs, all with different histological diagnoses, satisfied the criteria for disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Haemostatic abnormalities were primarily seen in dogs with cirrhosis and this may be due to reduced synthesis rather than increased consumption of coagulation factors. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Super-Anticoagulant Heparin-Mimicking Hydrogel Thin Film Attached Substrate Surfaces to Improve Hemocompatibility.

PubMed

He, Min; Cui, Xiaofei; Jiang, Huiyi; Huang, Xuelian; Zhao, Weifeng; Zhao, Changsheng

2017-02-01

In this study, heparin-mimicking hydrogel thin films are covalently attached onto poly(ether sulfone) membrane surfaces to improve anticoagulant property. The hydrogel films display honeycomb-like porous structure with well controlled thickness and show long-term stability. After immobilizing the hydrogel films, the membranes show excellent anticoagulant property confirmed by the activated partial thromboplastin time values exceeding 600 s. Meanwhile, the thrombin time values increase from 20 to 61 s as the sodium allysulfonate proportions increase from 0 to 80 mol%. In vitro investigations of protein adsorption and blood-related complement activation also confirm that the membranes exhibit super-anticoagulant property. Furthermore, gentamycin sulfate is loaded into the hydrogel films, and the released drug shows significant inhibition toward E. coli bacteria. It is believed that the surface attached heparin-mimicking hydrogel thin films may show high potential for the applications in various biological fields, such as blood contacting materials and drug loading materials. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A PK-PD model-based assessment of sugammadex effects on coagulation parameters.

PubMed

Bosch, Rolien; van Lierop, Marie-José; de Kam, Pieter-Jan; Kruithof, Annelieke C; Burggraaf, Jacobus; de Greef, Rik; Visser, Sandra A G; Johnson-Levonas, Amy O; Kleijn, Huub-Jan

2016-03-10

Exposure-response analyses of sugammadex on activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time international normalized ratio (PT(INR)) were performed using data from two clinical trials in which subjects were co-treated with anti-coagulants, providing a framework to predict these responses in surgical patients on thromboprophylactic doses of low molecular weight or unfractionated heparin. Sugammadex-mediated increases in APTT and PT(INR) were described with a direct effect model, and this relationship was similar in the presence or absence of anti-coagulant therapy in either healthy volunteers or surgical patients. In surgical patients on thromboprophylactic therapy, model-based predictions showed 13.1% and 22.3% increases in respectively APTT and PT(INR) within 30min after administration of 16mg/kg sugammadex. These increases remain below thresholds seen following treatment with standard anti-coagulant therapy and were predicted to be short-lived paralleling the rapid decline in sugammadex plasma concentrations. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical characteristics and antithrombotic effect of chondroitin sulfates from sturgeon skull and sturgeon backbone.

PubMed

Gui, Meng; Song, Juyi; Zhang, Lu; Wang, Shun; Wu, Ruiyun; Ma, Changwei; Li, Pinglan

2015-06-05

Chondroitin sulfates (CSs) were extracted from sturgeon skull and backbone, and their chemical composition, anticoagulant, anti-platelet and thrombolysis activities were evaluated. The average molecular weights of CS from sturgeon skull and backbone were 38.5kDa and 49.2kDa, respectively. Disaccharide analysis indicated that the sturgeon backbone CS was primarily composed of disaccharide monosulfated in position four of the GalNAc (37.8%) and disaccharide monosulfated in position six of the GalNAc (59.6%) while sturgeon skull CS was primarily composed of nonsulfated disaccharide (74.2%). Sturgeon backbone CS showed stronger antithrombotic effect than sturgeon skull CS. Sturgeon backbone CS could significantly prolong activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT), inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation and dissolved platelet plasma clots in vitro. The results suggested that sturgeon backbone CS can be explored as a functional food with antithrombotic function. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Myelofibrosis and acquired hemophilia A: a case report.

PubMed

Wrobel, Marie; Comio, Emilie; Gay, Valerie; Baroudi, Noureddine; Meyer, Pascal; Chuniaud-Louche, Christine; Hacini, Maya; Pica, Gian Matteo

2016-05-07

Myelofibrosis and acquired hemophilia A is a rare association. To the best of our knowledge only one case of myelofibrosis and acquired hemophilia A has been previously described. A 66-year-old Caucasian man diagnosed with myelofibrosis evolving in acute myeloid leukemia was referred to us for postoperative bleeding. Hemostatic studies showed prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time, decreased factor VIII coagulation, and a high factor VIII inhibitor titer; these findings led to a diagnosis of acquired hemophilia A for which he was treated with methylprednisolone and recombinant activated factor VII on admission. Due to a lack of response he was subsequently treated with rituximab combined with activated prothrombin complex concentrates. Furthermore, he received azacytidine to treat the underlying hematological malignancies. Immunosuppressive rituximab therapy resolved acquired hemophilia A with marked efficacy. Rapid and accurate diagnosis, effective hemostatic therapy, and timely treatment for underlying disease are important in the management of acquired hemophilia A secondary to hematological malignancy.

[Prognostic value of the lethal triad among patients with multiple trauma].

PubMed

González Balverde, María; Ramírez Lizardo, Ernesto J; Cardona Muñoz, Ernesto G; Totsuka Sutto, Sylvia E; García Benavides, Leonel

2013-11-01

Patients who have suffered multiple traumatic injuries, have a serious risk for death. Hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy are three complications in these patients, whose presence is known as lethal triad and indicates bad prognosis. To determine if the lethal triad in multiple trauma patients is associated with higher mortality and Injury Score Severity (ISS). One hundred multiple trauma patients aged 26 to 56 years (90 males), admitted to an emergency room, were studied. Body temperature, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, platelet count and blood gases were determined on admission. Twenty six patients had the lethal triad and 15% died in the emergency room within the first 6 hours. No death was recorded among the 74 patients without the lethal triad. The mean ISS among patients with and without the lethal triad was 31.7 and 25.6, respectively (p < 0.05). The presence of the lethal triad among patients with multiple trauma is associated with a higher mortality and ISS.

Routine admission laboratory testing for general medical patients.

PubMed

Hubbell, F A; Frye, E B; Akin, B V; Rucker, L

1988-06-01

We evaluated the usefulness of commonly ordered routine admission laboratory tests in 301 patients admitted consecutively to the internal medicine wards of a university teaching hospital. Using a consensus analysis approach, three Department of Medicine faculty members reviewed the charts of admitted patients to determine the impact of the test results on patient care. The evaluated tests were the urinalysis, hematocrit, white blood cell count, platelet count, six-factor automated multiple analysis (serum sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, glucose, and blood urea nitrogen), prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, chest x-ray, and electrocardiogram. Forty-five percent of the 3,684 tests were ordered for patients without recognizable medical indications. Twelve percent of these routine tests were abnormal, 5% led to additional laboratory testing, but only 0.5% led to change in the treatment of patients. We conclude that the impact of routine admission laboratory testing on patient care is very small and that there is little justification for ordering tests solely because of hospital admission.

Partial (focal) seizure

MedlinePlus

... Jacksonian seizure; Seizure - partial (focal); Temporal lobe seizure; Epilepsy - partial seizures ... Abou-Khalil BW, Gallagher MJ, Macdonald RL. Epilepsies. In: Daroff ... Practice . 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 101. ...

Extended causal modeling to assess Partial Directed Coherence in multiple time series with significant instantaneous interactions.

PubMed

Faes, Luca; Nollo, Giandomenico

2010-11-01

The Partial Directed Coherence (PDC) and its generalized formulation (gPDC) are popular tools for investigating, in the frequency domain, the concept of Granger causality among multivariate (MV) time series. PDC and gPDC are formalized in terms of the coefficients of an MV autoregressive (MVAR) model which describes only the lagged effects among the time series and forsakes instantaneous effects. However, instantaneous effects are known to affect linear parametric modeling, and are likely to occur in experimental time series. In this study, we investigate the impact on the assessment of frequency domain causality of excluding instantaneous effects from the model underlying PDC evaluation. Moreover, we propose the utilization of an extended MVAR model including both instantaneous and lagged effects. This model is used to assess PDC either in accordance with the definition of Granger causality when considering only lagged effects (iPDC), or with an extended form of causality, when we consider both instantaneous and lagged effects (ePDC). The approach is first evaluated on three theoretical examples of MVAR processes, which show that the presence of instantaneous correlations may produce misleading profiles of PDC and gPDC, while ePDC and iPDC derived from the extended model provide here a correct interpretation of extended and lagged causality. It is then applied to representative examples of cardiorespiratory and EEG MV time series. They suggest that ePDC and iPDC are better interpretable than PDC and gPDC in terms of the known cardiovascular and neural physiologies.

Preparation and anticoagulant activity of N-succinyl chitosan sulfates.

PubMed

Wang, Tan; Zhou, Yue; Xie, Weiguo; Chen, Lingyun; Zheng, Hua; Fan, Lihong

2012-12-01

In order to develop a promising substitute for heparin, N-succinyl chitosan (NSC) was chemically modified by sulfating agent N(SO(3)Na)(3), which were synthesized with sodium bisulfite and sodium nitrite in aqueous solution. The N-succinyl chitosan sulfates (NSCS) products were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and (13)C NMR. The degree of substitution (DS) of NSCS depended on the ratio of sulfating agent to N-succinyl chitosan, reaction temperature, reaction time and pH of sulfation agent. N-succinyl chitosan sulfates with DS of 1.97 were obtained under optimal conditions. The in vitro coagulation assay of NSCS was determined by activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT) and thrombin time (TT) assays. The results showed that NSCS obviously prolonged APTT. The anticoagulant activity strongly depended on DS, molecular weight (M(w)) and concentration of NSCS. The anticoagulant activity of NSCS promoted with the increase of DS and concentration, and NSCS exhibited the best anticoagulant activity with the M(w) of 1.37×10(4). Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A Novel Factor Xa-Inhibiting Peptide from Centipedes Venom.

PubMed

Kong, Yi; Shao, Yu; Chen, Hao; Ming, Xin; Wang, Jin-Bin; Li, Zhi-Yu; Wei, Ji-Fu

2013-01-01

Centipedes have been used as traditional medicine for thousands of years in China. Centipede venoms consist of many biochemical peptides and proteins. Factor Xa (FXa) is a serine endopeptidase that plays the key role in blood coagulation, and has been used as a new target for anti-thrombotic drug development. A novel FXa inhibitor, a natural peptide with the sequence of Thr-Asn-Gly-Tyr-Thr (TNGYT), was isolated from the venom of Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans using a combination of size-exclusion and reverse-phase chromatography. The molecular weight of the TNGYT peptide was 554.3 Da measured by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The amino acid sequence of TNGYT was determined by Edman degradation. TNGYT inhibited the activity of FXa in a dose-dependent manner with an IC 50 value of 41.14 mg/ml. It prolonged the partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time in both in vitro and ex vivo assays. It also significantly prolonged whole blood clotting time and bleeding time in mice. This is the first report that an FXa inhibiting peptide was isolated from centipedes venom.

The Intrinsic Pathway of Coagulation as a Target for Antithrombotic Therapy

PubMed Central

Wheeler, Allison P.; Gailani, David

2016-01-01

Plasma coagulation in the activated partial thromboplastin time assay is initiated by sequential activation of coagulation factors XII, XI and IX – the classical intrinsic pathway of coagulation. It is well recognized that this series of proteolytic reactions is not an accurate model for hemostasis in vivo, as factor XII deficiency does not cause abnormal bleeding, and fXI deficiency causes a relatively mild propensity to bleed excessively with injury. Despite their limited roles in hemostasis, there is mounting evidence that fXI and fXII contribute to thrombosis, and that inhibiting them can produce an antithrombotic effect with a relatively small effect on hemostasis. In this chapter the contributions of components of the intrinsic pathway to thrombosis in animal models and humans are discussed, and results of early clinical trials of drugs targeting factors IX, XI and XII are presented. PMID:27637310

In vitro studies of PBT Nonwoven Fabrics adsorbent for the removal of low density lipoprotein from hyperlipemia plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Ye; Wang, Hong; Yang, Chao; Zhong, Rui; Lei, Yu; Sun, Kang; Liu, Jiaxin

2011-06-01

Polyanion ligands such as acrylic acid (AA) and heparin were grafted on PBT Nonwoven Fabrics (PBTNF) to study their effect on the adsorption of low density lipoprotein (LDL). These modified PBTNFs were characterized by Horizontal Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy. The blood compatibilities of the modified PBTNFs were examined using in vitro hemolysis rate (HR), platelet adhesion, total protein (TP) and activated partial thromboplastin time. The results showed that direct immobilized heparin could improve PBTNF-PAA's blood compatibility and decrease the adsorption capability of useful high density lipoprotein, but would possess so low bioactivity that could not further improve the absorption of LDL and TC. Since the PBTNF-PAA55-Heparin adsorbent had quite good adsorption selectivity for these proteins, it can be an excellent candidate for depletion of LDL with good blood compatibility.

Effects of Regularisation Priors and Anatomical Partial Volume Correction on Dynamic PET Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caldeira, Liliana L.; Silva, Nuno da; Scheins, Jürgen J.; Gaens, Michaela E.; Shah, N. Jon

2015-08-01

Dynamic PET provides temporal information about the tracer uptake. However, each PET frame has usually low statistics, resulting in noisy images. Furthermore, PET images suffer from partial volume effects. The goal of this study is to understand the effects of prior regularisation on dynamic PET data and subsequent anatomical partial volume correction. The Median Root Prior (MRP) regularisation method was used in this work during reconstruction. The quantification and noise in image-domain and time-domain (time-activity curves) as well as the impact on parametric images is assessed and compared with Ordinary Poisson Ordered Subset Expectation Maximisation (OP-OSEM) reconstruction with and without Gaussian filter. This study shows the improvement in PET images and time-activity curves (TAC) in terms of noise as well as in the parametric images when using prior regularisation in dynamic PET data. Anatomical partial volume correction improves the TAC and consequently, parametric images. Therefore, the use of MRP with anatomical partial volume correction is of interest for dynamic PET studies.

Magnetic Field Observations of Partial Ring Current during Storm Recovery Phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Le, Guan; Russell, C. T.; Slavin, J. A.; Lucek, E. A.

2007-01-01

We present results of an extensive survey of the magnetic field observations in the inner magnetosphere using 30 years of magnetospheric magnetic field data from Polar, Cluster, ISEE, and AMPTE/CCE missions. The purpose of this study is to understand the magnetic field evolution during the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms, and its implication to the ring current recovery and loss mechanisms of ring current particles. Our previous work on global ring current distribution [Le et al., 2004] has shown that a significant partial ring current is always present at all Dst levels (regardless of storm phases) even for quiet time ring current. The total current carried by the partial ring current is much stronger than (during stormtime) or at least comparable to (during quiet time) the symmetric ring current. It is now commonly believed that a strong partial ring current is formed during the storm main phase due to the enhanced earthward convection of energetic ions from nightside plasma sheet. But the presence of a strong partial ring current throughout the recovery phase remains controversial. The magnetic field generated by the ring current inflates the inner magnetosphere and causes magnetic field depressions in the equatorial magnetosphere. During the storm recovery phase, we find that the distribution of the equatorial magnetic field depression exhibits similar local time dependence as the ring current distribution obtained from the combined dataset in the earlier study. It shows that a strong partial ring current is a permanent feature throughout the recovery phase. In the early recovery phase, the partial ring current peaks near the dusk terminator as indicated by the peak of the magnetic field depression. As the recovery phase progresses, the partial ring current decays most quickly near the dusk and results in a dusk-to-midnight moving of the peak of the partial ring current. Thus the loss mechanisms work most effectively near the dusk. The magnetic field

Mobility Effect on Poroelastic Seismic Signatures in Partially Saturated Rocks With Applications in Time-Lapse Monitoring of a Heavy Oil Reservoir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Luanxiao; Yuan, Hemin; Yang, Jingkang; Han, De-hua; Geng, Jianhua; Zhou, Rui; Li, Hui; Yao, Qiuliang

2017-11-01

Conventional seismic analysis in partially saturated rocks normally lays emphasis on estimating pore fluid content and saturation, typically ignoring the effect of mobility, which decides the ability of fluids moving in the porous rocks. Deformation resulting from a seismic wave in heterogeneous partially saturated media can cause pore fluid pressure relaxation at mesoscopic scale, thereby making the fluid mobility inherently associated with poroelastic reflectivity. For two typical gas-brine reservoir models, with the given rock and fluid properties, the numerical analysis suggests that variations of patchy fluid saturation, fluid compressibility contrast, and acoustic stiffness of rock frame collectively affect the seismic reflection dependence on mobility. In particular, the realistic compressibility contrast of fluid patches in shallow and deep reservoir environments plays an important role in determining the reflection sensitivity to mobility. We also use a time-lapse seismic data set from a Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage producing heavy oil reservoir to demonstrate that mobility change coupled with patchy saturation possibly leads to seismic spectral energy shifting from the baseline to monitor line. Our workflow starts from performing seismic spectral analysis on the targeted reflectivity interface. Then, on the basis of mesoscopic fluid pressure diffusion between patches of steam and heavy oil, poroelastic reflectivity modeling is conducted to understand the shift of the central frequency toward low frequencies after the steam injection. The presented results open the possibility of monitoring mobility change of a partially saturated geological formation from dissipation-related seismic attributes.

The effects of partial sleep restriction and altered sleep timing on appetite and food reward.

PubMed

McNeil, Jessica; Forest, Geneviève; Hintze, Luzia Jaeger; Brunet, Jean-François; Finlayson, Graham; Blundell, John E; Doucet, Éric

2017-02-01

We examined the effects of partial sleep restriction (PSR) with an advanced wake-time or delayed bedtime on measures of appetite, food reward and subsequent energy intake (EI). Twelve men and 6 women (age: 23 ± 4 years, body fat: 18.8 ± 10.1%) participated in 3 randomized crossover sessions: control (habitual bed- and wake-time), 50% PSR with an advanced wake-time and 50% PSR with a delayed bedtime. Outcome variables included sleep architecture (polysomnography), ad libitum EI (validated food menu), appetite sensations (visual analogue scales), satiety quotient (SQ; mm/100 kcal) and food reward (Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire and the relative-reinforcing value (RRV) of preferred food task). Increased fasting and post-standard breakfast appetite ratings were noted following PSR with an advanced wake-time compared to the control and PSR with a delayed bedtime sessions (Fasting hunger ratings: 77 ± 16 vs. 65 ± 18 and 64 ± 16; P = 0.01; Post-meal hunger AUC: 5982 ± 1781 vs. 4508 ± 2136 and 5198 ± 2201; P = 0.03). Increased explicit wanting and liking for high- relative to low-fat foods were also noted during the advanced wake-time vs. control session (Explicit wanting: -3.5 ± 12.5 vs. -9.3 ± 8.9, P = 0.01; Explicit liking: -1.6 ± 8.5 vs. -7.8 ± 9.6, P = 0.002). No differences in the RRV of preferred food, SQ and ad libitum lunch intake were noted between sessions. These findings suggest that appetite sensations and food reward are increased following PSR with an advanced wake-time, rather than delayed bedtime, vs. However, this did not translate into increased EI during a test meal. Given the increasing prevalence of shift workers and incidences of sleep disorders, additional studies are needed to evaluate the prolonged effects of voluntary sleep restriction with altered sleep timing on appetite and EI measurements. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microlaparoscopic technique for partial salpingectomy using bipolar electrocoagulation.

PubMed

Siegle, J C; Cartmell, L W; Rayburn, W F

2001-07-01

To describe a technique of performing a partial salpingectomy using a small-diameter (2-mm) laparoscope and bipolar electrocoagulation. Sixty consecutive women desiring permanent sterilization underwent laparoscopic partial salpingectomy using a 2-mm transumbilical laparoscope and secondary midline sites suprapubically and midway above the pubis. A midportion of the tube was coagulated using Kleppinger forceps, transected with scissors and removed using grasping forceps. Additional time to remove both coagulated tubal segments averaged 4 minutes (range, 3-10). Each segment (mean, 1.5 cm; range, 0.9-2.4 cm) was confirmed in the operating room, then histologically. The transected tubal edges were separated with no thermal injury to nearby structures and with no mesosalpingeal hemorrhage. No cases required conversion from microlaparoscopy to a traditional method, and recovery time was not prolonged. The puncture sites healed well without sutures. Successful removal of electrocoagulated tubal segments with histologic confirmation was undertaken microlaparoscopically, with minimal additional operative time.

Real time flaw detection and characterization in tube through partial least squares and SVR: Application to eddy current testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Shamim; Miorelli, Roberto; Calmon, Pierre; Anselmi, Nicola; Salucci, Marco

2018-04-01

This paper describes Learning-By-Examples (LBE) technique for performing quasi real time flaw localization and characterization within a conductive tube based on Eddy Current Testing (ECT) signals. Within the framework of LBE, the combination of full-factorial (i.e., GRID) sampling and Partial Least Squares (PLS) feature extraction (i.e., GRID-PLS) techniques are applied for generating a suitable training set in offine phase. Support Vector Regression (SVR) is utilized for model development and inversion during offine and online phases, respectively. The performance and robustness of the proposed GIRD-PLS/SVR strategy on noisy test set is evaluated and compared with standard GRID/SVR approach.

Nationwide survey of partial fundoplication in Korea: comparison with total fundoplication.

PubMed

Lee, Chang Min; Park, Joong-Min; Lee, Han Hong; Jun, Kyong Hwa; Kim, Sungsoo; Seo, Kyung Won; Park, Sungsoo; Kim, Jong-Han; Kim, Jin-Jo; Han, Sang-Uk

2018-06-01

Laparoscopic total fundoplication is the standard surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease. However, partial fundoplication may be a viable alternative. Here, we conducted a nationwide survey of partial fundoplication in Korea. The Korean Anti-Reflux Surgery study group recorded 32 cases of partial fundoplication at eight hospitals between September 2009 and January 2016. The surgical outcomes and postoperative adverse symptoms in these cases were evaluated and compared with 86 cases of total fundoplication. Anterior partial fundoplication was performed in 20 cases (62.5%) and posterior in 12 (37.5%). In most cases, partial fundoplication was a secondary procedure after operations for other conditions. Half of patients who underwent partial fundoplication had typical symptoms at the time of initial diagnosis, and most of them showed excellent (68.8%), good (25.0%), or fair (6.3%) symptom resolution at discharge. Compared to total fundoplication, partial fundoplication showed no difference in the resolution rate of typical and atypical symptoms. However, adverse symptoms such as dysphagia, difficult belching, gas bloating and flatulence were less common after partial fundoplication. Although antireflux surgery is not popular in Korea and total fundoplication is the primary surgical choice for gastroesophageal reflux disease, partial fundoplication may be useful in certain conditions because it has less postoperative adverse symptoms but similar efficacy to total fundoplication.

Factor IX assay

MedlinePlus

... factor assay; Serum factor IX; Hemophilic factor B; Plasma thromboplastin component; PTC ... BJ. Factor IX (Christmas factor, hemophilic factor B, plasma thromboplastin component, PTC) - blood. In: Chernecky CC, Berger ...

Antithrombotic effect and mechanism of Rubus spp. Blackberry.

PubMed

Xie, Pingyao; Zhang, Yong; Wang, Xuebiao; Wei, Jinfeng; Kang, Wenyi

2017-05-24

The compounds of Rubus spp. Blackberry (RSB) were isolated and identified by a bioassay-guided method, and their antithrombotic effects and mechanism were investigated with the acute blood stasis rat model. The RSB extract was evaluated by activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), prothrombin time (PT), and fibrinogen (FIB) assays in vitro. Results indicated that RSB extract exhibited anticoagulant activity. In addition to compounds 1 and 6, the other compounds also exhibited anticoagulant activity in vitro. Therefore, the in vivo antithrombosis effects of RSB extract were investigated by measuring whole blood viscosity (WBV), plasma viscosity (PV), APTT, PT, TT, and FIB. Meanwhile, the levels of thromboxane B2 (TXB 2 ), 6-keto prostaglandin F1α (6-keto-PGF1α), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and ET-1 (endothelin-1) were measured. Results suggested that RSB extract had inhibitory effects on thrombus formation, and its antithrombotic effects were associated with the regulation of vascular endothelium active substance, activation of blood flow and an anticoagulation effect.

Effect of oral administration of unfractionated heparin (UFH) on coagulation parameters in plasma and levels of urine and fecal heparin in dogs

PubMed Central

Erickson, Malathi; Hiebert, Linda M.; Carr, Anthony P.; Stickney, Jocelyn D.

2014-01-01

The effects of heparin administration, by the oral route, were evaluated in dogs. In single and multiple dose studies (single 7.5 mg/kg, multiple 3 × 7.5 mg/kg per 48 h), plasma, urine, and fecal samples were collected at various times up to 120 h after oral administration of unfractionated heparin. Changes in plasma and urine anti-Xa activity, plasma and urine anti-IIa activity, plasma activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and antithrombin (ATIII), and chemical heparin in urine and feces were examined with time. There was support for heparin absorption, with significant differences in APTT, heparin in plasma as determined by anti-Xa activity (Heptest) in the single dose study and plasma anti-Xa activity, anti-IIa activity and ATIII; and chemical heparin in urine in the multiple dose study. No clinical evidence of bleeding was detected in any dog during the studies. Oral heparin therapy may be applicable for thromboembolic disease in animals. Further studies are warranted to determine the effects of oral heparin at the endothelial level in the dog. PMID:24982550

Effects of ketoprofen and diclofenac potassium on blood coagulation tests after removal of third molars.

PubMed

Naclério-Homem, Maria da Graça; Deboni, Maria Christina Zindel; Rapoport, Abrăo; Chin, Veronica Kei Len

2009-04-01

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit platelet aggregation and increase bleeding time; however, they are required to control pain and swelling following dental surgery. The objective of this study was to evaluate possible changes on blood coagulation tests by using ketoprofen and diclofenac potassium after removal of mandibular third molars. Fifty-one subjects between 16 and 30 years old, with no history of gastrointestinal disorders or allergy to anti-inflammatory components, were randomly assigned to 2 groups: 27 patients received 50 mg of ketoprofen, and 24 patients received 25 mg of diclofenac potassium. Subjects started the oral medication 2 hours before surgery and continued taking it every 8 hours for 5 days. Blood samples were collected preoperatively and on the final day of the drug regime to evaluate prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, clot retraction, and platelet count. Student t test for matched pairs did not show a significant difference between pre- and posttreatment variables for both anti-inflammatory drugs. These results suggest that the safety of ketoprofen and diclofenac potassium is comparable to their anticoagulation effect.

A small amount can make a difference: a prospective human study of the paradoxical coagulation characteristics of hemothorax.

PubMed

Smith, W Zachary; Harrison, Hannah B; Salhanick, Marc A; Higgins, Russell A; Ortiz, Alfonso; Olson, John D; Schwacha, Martin G; Harrison, Chantal R; Aydelotte, Jayson D; Stewart, Ronald M; Dent, Daniel L

2013-12-01

The evacuated hemothorax has been poorly described because it varies with time, it has been found to be incoagulable, and its potential effect on the coagulation cascade during autotransfusion is largely unknown. This is a prospective descriptive study of adult patients with traumatic chest injury necessitating tube thoracostomy. Pleural and venous samples were analyzed for coagulation, hematology, and electrolytes at 1 to 4 hours after drainage. Pleural samples were also analyzed for their effect on the coagulation cascade via mixing studies. Thirty-four subjects were enrolled with a traumatic hemothorax. The following measured coagulation factors were significantly depleted compared with venous blood: international normalized ratio (>9 vs 1.1) (P < .001) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) (>180 vs 24.5 seconds) (P < .001). Mixing studies showed a dose-dependent increase in coagulation dilutions through 1:8 (P < .05). An evacuated hemothorax does not vary in composition significantly with time and is incoagulable alone. Mixing studies with hemothorax plasma increased coagulation, raising safety concerns. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Purification and Antithrombotic Potential of a Fibrinolytic Enzyme from Shiitake Culinary- Medicinal Mushroom, Lentinus edodes GNA01 (Agaricomycetes).

PubMed

Choi, Jun-Hui; Kim, Kyung-Je; Kim, Seung

2018-01-01

We purified Lentinus edodes GNA01 fibrinolytic enzyme (LEFE) and identified it as a novel metalloprotease. LEFE was purified to homogeneity through a 2-step procedure, with an 8.28-fold increase in specific activity and 5.3% recovery. The molecular mass of LEFE was approximately 38 kDa, based on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Its optimal pH, optimal temperature, pH stability, and thermal stability were 5, 30°C, 6-7, and 40°C, respectively. LEFE was inhibited by zinc and magnesium ions, and by EDTA and EGTA, indicating that LEFE is a metalloprotease. The protease exhibited fibrinolytic activity and a degradative effect on clot formation and blood clots. The protease prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and coagulation time as induced by platelet aggregators (collagen and epinephrine). Taken together, our results indicate that L. edodes GNA01 produces a metalloprotease/fibrinolytic enzyme and that this enzyme might be applied as a new thrombolytic and antithrombotic agent for thrombosis-related cardiovascular disorders.

Purification, characterization and in vitro anticoagulant activity of polysaccharides from Gentiana scabra Bunge roots.

PubMed

Cai, Weirong; Xu, Huiling; Xie, Liangliang; Sun, Jian; Sun, Taotao; Wu, Xiaoyan; Fu, Qinbao

2016-04-20

Three water-soluble polysaccharide fractions (GSP-1, GSP-2 and GSP-3) were obtained from Gentiana scabra Bunge roots by DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B and Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography. Their chemical characterizations were determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), high performance anion exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer. Moreover, their in vitro anticoagulant activities were evaluated by activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT) and prothrombin time (PT) assays. GSP-1 and GSP-2 were composed of rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, glucose and galacturonic acid, while GSP-3 consisted of rhamnose, arabinose, galactose and galacturonic acid with a weight-average molecular weight of 5.8×10(4)Da. In comparison with the control group (saline), GSP, GSP-1, GSP-2 and GSP-3 could prolong APTT and TT, but not PT. Overall, GSP-3 exhibited potent anticoagulant activity and would be expected to be a potential source of anticoagulant. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physically-enhanced data visualisation: towards real time solution of Partial Differential Equations in 3D domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zlotnik, Sergio

2017-04-01

Information provided by visualisation environments can be largely increased if the data shown is combined with some relevant physical processes and the used is allowed to interact with those processes. This is particularly interesting in VR environments where the user has a deep interplay with the data. For example, a geological seismic line in a 3D "cave" shows information of the geological structure of the subsoil. The available information could be enhanced with the thermal state of the region under study, with water-flow patterns in porous rocks or with rock displacements under some stress conditions. The information added by the physical processes is usually the output of some numerical technique applied to solve a Partial Differential Equation (PDE) that describes the underlying physics. Many techniques are available to obtain numerical solutions of PDE (e.g. Finite Elements, Finite Volumes, Finite Differences, etc). Although, all these traditional techniques require very large computational resources (particularly in 3D), making them useless in a real time visualization environment -such as VR- because the time required to compute a solution is measured in minutes or even in hours. We present here a novel alternative for the resolution of PDE-based problems that is able to provide a 3D solutions for a very large family of problems in real time. That is, the solution is evaluated in a one thousands of a second, making the solver ideal to be embedded into VR environments. Based on Model Order Reduction ideas, the proposed technique divides the computational work in to a computationally intensive "offline" phase, that is run only once in a life time, and an "online" phase that allow the real time evaluation of any solution within a family of problems. Preliminary examples of real time solutions of complex PDE-based problems will be presented, including thermal problems, flow problems, wave problems and some simple coupled problems.

The origin of the concept of partial epilepsy.

PubMed

Eadie

1999-03-01

The International League Against Epilepsy has devised classifications which subdivide both epileptic seizures and the epilepsies and epileptic syndromes into two main types: generalized and partial. Epileptogenesis in the partial variety is believed to originate in a localized part of the cerebral cortex and results in clinical manifestations which appear to commence in only a restricted part of the sufferer's body. Use of the term 'partial' in relation to these entities has often been said to date back to James Cowles Prichard (1786-1849) who was the author of the second major work on epilepsy to be written in the UK. While Prichard certainly described 'partial epilepsy', he stated that he intended the words to refer to the fact that the disorder he described under that designation was only partly, and not fully, epileptic in nature. He did not refer to the fact that it affected only part of the body as his basis for using the term. In the absence of knowledge of localization of function in the cerebral cortex at Prichard's time of writing, he had no basis for deducing that the underlying epileptic process arose in only part of the brain. However, there is an earlier mention of the use of the word 'partial' in relation to epilepsy. This is to be found in the writings of the great Scottish physician William Cullen (1710-1790), and there is reason to believe that Prichard should have been aware of this. Cullen used 'partial' with an intention similar to the modern one, employing the word to refer to seizures which affected only part of the body. Credit for the origin of the idea of a 'partial' epilepsy should belong to Cullen; not only did he have priority over Prichard but his concept was closer to the modern one than was Prichard's. Copyright 1999 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Partial oxidation catalyst

DOEpatents

Krumpelt, Michael; Ahmed, Shabbir; Kumar, Romesh; Doshi, Rajiv

2000-01-01

A two-part catalyst comprising a dehydrogenation portion and an oxide-ion conducting portion. The dehydrogenation portion is a group VIII metal and the oxide-ion conducting portion is selected from a ceramic oxide crystallizing in the fluorite or perovskite structure. There is also disclosed a method of forming a hydrogen rich gas from a source of hydrocarbon fuel in which the hydrocarbon fuel contacts a two-part catalyst comprising a dehydrogenation portion and an oxide-ion conducting portion at a temperature not less than about 400.degree. C. for a time sufficient to generate the hydrogen rich gas while maintaining CO content less than about 5 volume percent. There is also disclosed a method of forming partially oxidized hydrocarbons from ethanes in which ethane gas contacts a two-part catalyst comprising a dehydrogenation portion and an oxide-ion conducting portion for a time and at a temperature sufficient to form an oxide.

Efficient estimation of the distribution of time to composite endpoint when some endpoints are only partially observed

PubMed Central

Daniel, Rhian M.; Tsiatis, Anastasios A.

2014-01-01

Two common features of clinical trials, and other longitudinal studies, are (1) a primary interest in composite endpoints, and (2) the problem of subjects withdrawing prematurely from the study. In some settings, withdrawal may only affect observation of some components of the composite endpoint, for example when another component is death, information on which may be available from a national registry. In this paper, we use the theory of augmented inverse probability weighted estimating equations to show how such partial information on the composite endpoint for subjects who withdraw from the study can be incorporated in a principled way into the estimation of the distribution of time to composite endpoint, typically leading to increased efficiency without relying on additional assumptions above those that would be made by standard approaches. We describe our proposed approach theoretically, and demonstrate its properties in a simulation study. PMID:23722304

CS-duration and partial-reinforcement effects counteract overshadowing in select situations

PubMed Central

Urushihara, Kouji; Miller, Ralph R.

2008-01-01

Two experiments used rats in a conditioned lick suppression preparation to investigate how the conditioned stimulus (CS)-duration and partial-reinforcement effects (i.e., weakened responding due to conditioning with a CS of longer duration and presenting nonreinforced CSs intermingled with CS-unconditioned stimulus [US] pairings, respectively) interact with overshadowing. Experiment 1 found that when overshadowing treatment was combined with either extended CS duration or partial reinforcement, the response deficit was weaker than when either of these three treatments was administered alone. In Experiment 2, the generality of the findings in Experiment 1 was investigated by replicating it with various US-US intervals. This time counteraction was observed only when both the absolute duration of total CS exposure and the US-US interval were short. The results support neither the view that the ratio between the total CS exposure and total time in the context determines the CS-duration and the partial-reinforcement effects nor the view that these two effects arise from a loss of effectiveness of the excitatory CS-US association during CS-alone exposures in partial reinforcement or early periods of CS exposure with long CSs. PMID:18047218

The partially filled viscous ring damper.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alfriend, K. T.

1973-01-01

The problem of a spinning satellite with a partially filled viscous ring damper is investigated. It is shown that there are two distinct modes of motion, the nutation-synchronous mode and spin-synchronous mode. From an approximate solution of the equations of motion a time constant is obtained for each mode. From a consideration of the fluid dynamics several methods are developed for determining the damping constant.

Textural evolution of partially-molten planetary materials in microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, E. B.

1987-01-01

Recent Earth-based experiments examining the textural evolution of partially-molten rocks have revealed two important ways in which surface energy considerations affect magma. An initial experimental program addressing surface-energy effects on partially-molten materials in microgravity would involve simple, isothermal treatment of natural samples (meteorites, perioditic komatiite) at preselected temperatures in the melting range. Textural evolution would be assessed by time studies in which the only experiment variable would be run duration. Textural characterization of each sample would be done by quenching, recover, and sectioning for generally later, computer-aided interpretation of features.

Monitoring of anticoagulant therapy in heart disease: considerations for the current assays.

PubMed

Boroumand, Mohammadali; Goodarzynejad, Hamidreza

2010-01-01

Clinicians should be aware of new developments to familiarize themselves with pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of new anticoagulant agents to appropriately and safely use them. For the moment, cardiologists and other clinicians also require to master currently available drugs, realizing the mechanism of action, side effects, and laboratory monitoring to measure their anticoagulant effects. Warfarin and heparin have narrow therapeutic window with high inter- and intra-patient variability, thereby the use of either drug needs careful laboratory monitoring and dose adjustment to ensure proper antithrombotic protection while minimizing the bleeding risk. The prothrombin time (PT) and the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) are laboratory tests commonly used to monitor warfarin and heparin, respectively. These two tests depend highly on the combination of reagent and instrument utilized. Results for a single specimen tested in different laboratories are variable; this is mostly attributable to the specific reagents and to a much lesser degree to the instrument used. The PT stands alone as the single coagulation test that has undergone the most extensive attempt at assay standardization. The international normalized ratio (INR) was introduced to "normalize" all PT reagents to a World Health Organization (WHO) reference thromboplastin preparation standard, such that a PT measured anywhere in the world would result in an INR value similar to that which would have been achieved had the WHO reference thromboplastin been utilized. However, INRs are reproducible between laboratories for only those patients who are stably anticoagulated with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) (i.e., at least 6 weeks of VKA therapy), and are not reliable or reproducible between laboratories for patients for whom VKA therapy has recently been started or any other clinical conditions associated with a prolonged PT such as liver disease, disseminated intravascular coagulation

Inhibitory Effects of Medium Molecular Weight Heparinyl Amino Acid Derivatives on Ischemic Paw Edema in Mice.

PubMed

Takeda, Seiichi; Toda, Takao; Nakamura, Kazuki

2016-01-01

We investigated the radical-scavenging effects of heparin (HE), medium molecular weight heparinyl phenylalanine (MHF), and medium molecular weight heparinyl leucine (MHL) using ischemic paw edema in mice. We also examined the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) of mice that were administered these compounds as an index of their side-effects. HE had a preventative effect and significant reduced ischemic paw edema. However, its effect was not dose-dependent and the dose-response curve was bell-shaped. The effective dose of HE also exhibited a prolonged APTT. Pretreatment using MHF and MHL were effective against ischemic paw edema without a prolonged APTT. Remarkably, the action of MHF was not only preventively, but also therapeutically active. These results suggest that MHF and MHL are superior to HE as safe radical scavengers in vivo. Copyright © 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Influence of hydrostatic pressure on dynamics and spatial distribution of protein partial molar volume: time-resolved surficial Kirkwood-Buff approach.

PubMed

Yu, Isseki; Tasaki, Tomohiro; Nakada, Kyoko; Nagaoka, Masataka

2010-09-30

The influence of hydrostatic pressure on the partial molar volume (PMV) of the protein apomyoglobin (AMb) was investigated by all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Using the time-resolved Kirkwood-Buff (KB) approach, the dynamic behavior of the PMV was identified. The simulated time average value of the PMV and its reduction by 3000 bar pressurization correlated with experimental data. In addition, with the aid of the surficial KB integral method, we obtained the spatial distributions of the components of PMV to elucidate the detailed mechanism of the PMV reduction. New R-dependent PMV profiles identified the regions that increase or decrease the PMV under the high pressure condition. The results indicate that besides the hydration in the vicinity of the protein surface, the outer space of the first hydration layer also significantly influences the total PMV change. These results provide a direct and detailed picture of pressure induced PMV reduction.

Robot-assisted partial cystectomy of a bladder pheochromocytoma.

PubMed

Kang, Sung Gu; Kang, Seok Ho; Choi, Hoon; Ko, Young Hwii; Park, Hong Seok; Cheon, Jun

2011-01-01

Pheochromocytoma of the urinary bladder is an unusual tumor that typically presents with hypertensive crises related to micturition. We report here an unusual case of bladder pheochromocytoma that was treated by robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial cystectomy. A 35-year-old male patient presented with headache and hypertension related to micturition. The patient, who had a 3.5 × 4 cm solitary bladder tumor in the bladder dome, underwent robot-assisted partial cystectomy. The whole procedure was successfully performed using the robot without conversion to open surgery. The total operative time was 120 min and the estimated blood loss was 30 ml. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Partially Observed Mixtures of IRT Models: An Extension of the Generalized Partial-Credit Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Von Davier, Matthias; Yamamoto, Kentaro

2004-01-01

The generalized partial-credit model (GPCM) is used frequently in educational testing and in large-scale assessments for analyzing polytomous data. Special cases of the generalized partial-credit model are the partial-credit model--or Rasch model for ordinal data--and the two parameter logistic (2PL) model. This article extends the GPCM to the…

Comparison of effectiveness of electrocautery and phenol application in partial matricectomy after partial nail extraction in the treatment of ingrown nails.

PubMed

Misiak, Piotr; Terlecki, Artur; Rzepkowska-Misiak, Beata; Wcisło, Szymon; Brocki, Marian

2014-02-01

Ingrowing nail also known as onychocryptosis is a common health problem. This disease mostly affects young people, often carrying a considerable amount of socio-economic implications. It's foot problem that usually manifests as inflammation of tissue along the side of a toenail. The aim of the study was to asses and to compare effectiveness of electrocautery and phenol application in partial matrixectomy after partial nail extraction in the treatment of ingrown toenails. The group of 60 patients with ingrowing toenail which was randomized into two groups underwent partial matrixectomy in surgical outpatient clinic between 2009-2013. This group of patients was under surgical observation for 100 days in outpatient clinic. In all operated patients we obtained surgical success however we had 13 recurrences during the follow up period, 5 in the phenolization group and 8 in the electrocoagulation group. There was statistically significant difference between these two techniques, which indicated that matrix phenolization is connected with shortened healing time vs the matrix electrocoagulation.

Data-driven discovery of partial differential equations

PubMed Central

Rudy, Samuel H.; Brunton, Steven L.; Proctor, Joshua L.; Kutz, J. Nathan

2017-01-01

We propose a sparse regression method capable of discovering the governing partial differential equation(s) of a given system by time series measurements in the spatial domain. The regression framework relies on sparsity-promoting techniques to select the nonlinear and partial derivative terms of the governing equations that most accurately represent the data, bypassing a combinatorially large search through all possible candidate models. The method balances model complexity and regression accuracy by selecting a parsimonious model via Pareto analysis. Time series measurements can be made in an Eulerian framework, where the sensors are fixed spatially, or in a Lagrangian framework, where the sensors move with the dynamics. The method is computationally efficient, robust, and demonstrated to work on a variety of canonical problems spanning a number of scientific domains including Navier-Stokes, the quantum harmonic oscillator, and the diffusion equation. Moreover, the method is capable of disambiguating between potentially nonunique dynamical terms by using multiple time series taken with different initial data. Thus, for a traveling wave, the method can distinguish between a linear wave equation and the Korteweg–de Vries equation, for instance. The method provides a promising new technique for discovering governing equations and physical laws in parameterized spatiotemporal systems, where first-principles derivations are intractable. PMID:28508044

Data-driven discovery of partial differential equations.

PubMed

Rudy, Samuel H; Brunton, Steven L; Proctor, Joshua L; Kutz, J Nathan

2017-04-01

We propose a sparse regression method capable of discovering the governing partial differential equation(s) of a given system by time series measurements in the spatial domain. The regression framework relies on sparsity-promoting techniques to select the nonlinear and partial derivative terms of the governing equations that most accurately represent the data, bypassing a combinatorially large search through all possible candidate models. The method balances model complexity and regression accuracy by selecting a parsimonious model via Pareto analysis. Time series measurements can be made in an Eulerian framework, where the sensors are fixed spatially, or in a Lagrangian framework, where the sensors move with the dynamics. The method is computationally efficient, robust, and demonstrated to work on a variety of canonical problems spanning a number of scientific domains including Navier-Stokes, the quantum harmonic oscillator, and the diffusion equation. Moreover, the method is capable of disambiguating between potentially nonunique dynamical terms by using multiple time series taken with different initial data. Thus, for a traveling wave, the method can distinguish between a linear wave equation and the Korteweg-de Vries equation, for instance. The method provides a promising new technique for discovering governing equations and physical laws in parameterized spatiotemporal systems, where first-principles derivations are intractable.

T-scale as a novel vector of topological descriptors for amino acids and its application in QSARs of peptides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Feifei; Zhou, Peng; Li, Zhiliang

2007-03-01

In this paper, a new topological descriptor T-scale is derived from principal component analysis (PCA) on the collected 67 kinds of structural and topological variables of 135 amino acids. Applying T-scale to three peptide panels as 58 angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, 20 thromboplastin inhibitors (TI) and 28 bovine lactoferricin-(17-31)-pentadecapeptides (LFB), the resulting QSAR models, constructed by partial least squares (PLS), are all superior to reference reports, with correlative coefficient r2 and cross-validated q2 of 0.845, 0.786; 0.996, 0.782 (0.988, 0.961); 0.760, 0.627, respectively.

An improved thermo-time domain reflectometry method for determination of ice contents in partially frozen soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Zhengchao; Ren, Tusheng; Kojima, Yuki; Lu, Yili; Horton, Robert; Heitman, Joshua L.

2017-12-01

Measuring ice contents (θi) in partially frozen soils is important for both engineering and environmental applications. Thermo-time domain reflectometry (thermo-TDR) probes can be used to determine θi based on the relationship between θi and soil heat capacity (C). This approach, however, is accurate in partially frozen soils only at temperatures below -5 °C, and it performs poorly on clayey soils. In this study, we present and evaluate a soil thermal conductivity (λ)-based approach to determine θi with thermo-TDR probes. Bulk soil λ is described with a simplified de Vries model that relates λ to θi. From this model, θi is estimated using inverse modeling of thermo-TDR measured λ. Soil bulk density (ρb) and thermo-TDR measured liquid water content (θl) are also needed for both C-based and λ-based approaches. A theoretical analysis is performed to quantify the sensitivity of C-based and λ-based θi estimates to errors in these input parameters. The analysis indicates that the λ-based approach is less sensitive to errors in the inputs (C, λ, θl, and ρb) than is the C-based approach when the same or the same percentage errors occur. Further evaluations of the C-based and λ-based approaches are made using experimentally determined θi at different temperatures on eight soils with various textures, total water contents, and ρb. The results show that the λ-based thermo-TDR approach significantly improves the accuracy of θi measurements at temperatures ≤-5 °C. The root mean square errors of λ-based θi estimates are only half those of C-based θi. At temperatures of -1 and -2 °C, the λ-based thermo-TDR approach also provides reasonable θi, while the C-based approach fails. We conclude that the λ-based thermo-TDR method can reliably determine θi even at temperatures near the freezing point of water (0 °C).

Retinoschisis and hyperopia associated with partial monosomy of 6q and partial trisomy of 11q.

PubMed

Bagheri, Nika; Bahl, Reecha S; Singh, Arun D; Rychwalski, Paul J

2014-06-01

Retinoschisis, or retinal lamellar splitting, can occur in a number of hereditary conditions. The most common cause of congenital or childhood onset retinoschisis is the clinical entity known as juvenile retinoschsis, which is caused by mutations in the X-linked retinoschisis 1 gene. Genes other than X-linked retinoschisis 1 gene have rarely been implicated in association with hereditary retinoschisis. We describe a 9-year-old male who presented with several phenotypic features associated with partial monosomy of chromosome 6q and partial trisomy of chromosome 11q, including myelomeningocele, mental and growth retardation, seizures, microcephaly, scoliosis, and facial dysmorphisms, as well as novel ocular findings including bilateral retinoschisis and hyperopia. This case report highlights the necessity for a detailed ophthalmic examination of patients with both 6q deletions as well as 11q duplications to ensure accurate and timely diagnosis and treatment of the complications associated with the described ocular conditions.

Apparatus for generating partially coherent radiation

DOEpatents

Naulleau, Patrick P.

2004-09-28

The effective coherence of an undulator beamline can be tailored to projection lithography requirements by using a simple single moving element and a simple stationary low-cost spherical mirror. The invention is particularly suited for use in an illuminator device for an optical image processing system requiring partially coherent illumination. The illuminator includes: (i) source of coherent or partially coherent radiation which has an intrinsic coherence that is higher than the desired coherence; (ii) a reflective surface that receives incident radiation from said source; (iii) means for moving the reflective surface through a desired range of angles in two dimensions wherein the rate of the motion is fast relative to integration time of said image processing system; and (iv) a condenser optic that re-images the moving reflective surface to the entrance plane of said image processing system, thereby, making the illumination spot in said entrance plane essentially stationary.

Robot-assisted approach improves surgical outcomes in obese patients undergoing partial nephrectomy.

PubMed

Malkoc, Ercan; Maurice, Matthew J; Kara, Onder; Ramirez, Daniel; Nelson, Ryan J; Caputo, Peter A; Mouracade, Pascal; Stein, Robert; Kaouk, Jihad H

2017-02-01

To assess the impact of approach on surgical outcomes in otherwise healthy obese patients undergoing partial nephrectomy for small renal masses. Using our institutional partial nephrectomy database, we abstracted data on otherwise healthy (Charlson comorbidity score ≤1 and bilateral kidneys), obese patients (body mass index >30 kg/m 2 ) with small renal masses (<4 cm) treated between 2011 and 2015. The primary outcomes were intra-operative transfusion, operating time, length of hospital stay (LOS), and postoperative complications. The association between approach, open (OPN) vs robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN), and outcomes was assessed by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Covariates included age, gender, obesity severity, tumour size and tumour complexity. Of 237 obese patients undergoing partial nephrectomy, 25% underwent OPN and 75% underwent RAPN. Apart from larger tumour size in the OPN group (2.8 vs 2.5 cm; P = 0.02), there was no significant difference between groups. The rate of intra-operative blood transfusion (1.1 vs 10%; P = 0.01), the median operating time (180 vs 207 min; P < 0.01) and the median ischaemia time (19.5 vs 27 min; P < 0.01) were all greater for OPN. The LOS was significantly shorter for RAPN (3 vs 4 days; P < 0.01). While the overall complication rate was higher for OPN (15.8 vs 31.7%; P < 0.01), major complications were not significantly different (5.6 vs 1.7%; P = 0.20). On multivariable analyses, OPN independently predicted longer operating time, longer length of stay, and more overall complications. At a high-volume centre, the robot-assisted approach offers less blood transfusion, shorter operating time, faster recovery, and fewer peri-operative complications compared with the open approach in obese patients undergoing partial nephrectomy for small renal masses. In this setting, RAPN may be a preferable treatment option. © 2016 The Authors BJU International © 2016 BJU International Published by

A weighted multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method for multiphase flows and its application to partial coalescence cascades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fakhari, Abbas; Bolster, Diogo; Luo, Li-Shi

2017-07-01

We present a lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with a weighted multiple-relaxation-time (WMRT) collision model and an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) algorithm for direct numerical simulation of two-phase flows in three dimensions. The proposed WMRT model enhances the numerical stability of the LBM for immiscible fluids at high density ratios, particularly on the D3Q27 lattice. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed WMRT-LBM-AMR is validated through simulations of (a) buoyancy-driven motion and deformation of a gas bubble rising in a viscous liquid; (b) the bag-breakup mechanism of a falling drop; (c) crown splashing of a droplet on a wet surface; and (d) the partial coalescence mechanism of a liquid drop at a liquid-liquid interface. The numerical simulations agree well with available experimental data and theoretical approximations where applicable.

Retrograde renal hilar dissection and segmental arterial clamping: a simple modification to achieve super-selective robotic partial nephrectomy.

PubMed

Greene, Richard N; Sutherland, Douglas E; Tausch, Timothy J; Perez, Deo S

2014-03-01

Super-selective vascular control prior to robotic partial nephrectomy (also known as 'zero-ischemia') is a novel surgical technique that promises to reduce warm ischemia time. The technique has been shown to be feasible but adds substantial technical complexity and cost to the procedure. We present a simplified retrograde dissection of the renal hilum to achieve selective vascular control during robotic partial nephrectomy. Consecutive patients with stage 1 solid and complex cystic renal masses underwent robotic partial nephrectomies with selective vascular control using a modification to previously described super-selective robotic partial nephrectomy. In each case, the renal arterial branch supplying the mass and surrounding parenchyma was dissected in a retrograde fashion from the tumor. Intra-renal dissection of the interlobular artery was not performed. Intra-operative immunofluorescence was not utilized as assessment of parenchymal ischemia was documented before partial nephrectomy. Data was prospectively collected in an IRB-approved partial nephrectomy database. Operative variables between patients undergoing super-selective versus standard robotic partial nephrectomy were compared. Super-selective partial nephrectomy with retrograde hilar dissection was successfully completed in five consecutive patients. There were no complications or conversions to traditional partial nephrectomy. All were diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma and surgical margins were all negative. Estimated blood loss, warm ischemia time, operative time and length of stay were all comparable between patients undergoing super-selective and standard robotic partial nephrectomy. Retrograde hilar dissection appears to be a feasible and safe approach to super-selective partial nephrectomy without adding complex renovascular surgical techniques or cost to the procedure.

Robotic partial nephrectomy for complex renal tumors: surgical technique.

PubMed

Rogers, Craig G; Singh, Amar; Blatt, Adam M; Linehan, W Marston; Pinto, Peter A

2008-03-01

Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy requires advanced training to accomplish tumor resection and renal reconstruction while minimizing warm ischemia times. Complex renal tumors add an additional challenge to a minimally invasive approach to nephron-sparing surgery. We describe our technique, illustrated with video, of robotic partial nephrectomy for complex renal tumors, including hilar, endophytic, and multiple tumors. Robotic assistance was used to resect 14 tumors in eight patients (mean age: 50.3 yr; range: 30-68 yr). Three patients had hereditary kidney cancer. All patients had complex tumor features, including hilar tumors (n=5), endophytic tumors (n=4), and/or multiple tumors (n=3). Robotic partial nephrectomy procedures were performed successfully without complications. Hilar clamping was used with a mean warm ischemia time of 31 min (range: 24-45 min). Mean blood loss was 230 ml (range: 100-450 ml). Histopathology confirmed clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (n=3), hybrid oncocytic tumor (n=2), chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (n=2), and oncocytoma (n=1). All patients had negative surgical margins. Mean index tumor size was 3.6 cm (range: 2.6-6.4 cm). Mean hospital stay was 2.6 d. At 3-mo follow-up, no patients experienced a statistically significant change in serum creatinine or estimated glomerular filtration rate and there was no evidence of tumor recurrence. Robotic partial nephrectomy is safe and feasible for select patients with complex renal tumors, including hilar, endophytic, and multiple tumors. Robotic assistance may facilitate a minimally invasive, nephron-sparing approach for select patients with complex renal tumors who might otherwise require open surgery or total nephrectomy.

Partial volume correction of brain perfusion estimates using the inherent signal data of time-resolved arterial spin labeling.

PubMed

Ahlgren, André; Wirestam, Ronnie; Petersen, Esben Thade; Ståhlberg, Freddy; Knutsson, Linda

2014-09-01

Quantitative perfusion MRI based on arterial spin labeling (ASL) is hampered by partial volume effects (PVEs), arising due to voxel signal cross-contamination between different compartments. To address this issue, several partial volume correction (PVC) methods have been presented. Most previous methods rely on segmentation of a high-resolution T1 -weighted morphological image volume that is coregistered to the low-resolution ASL data, making the result sensitive to errors in the segmentation and coregistration. In this work, we present a methodology for partial volume estimation and correction, using only low-resolution ASL data acquired with the QUASAR sequence. The methodology consists of a T1 -based segmentation method, with no spatial priors, and a modified PVC method based on linear regression. The presented approach thus avoids prior assumptions about the spatial distribution of brain compartments, while also avoiding coregistration between different image volumes. Simulations based on a digital phantom as well as in vivo measurements in 10 volunteers were used to assess the performance of the proposed segmentation approach. The simulation results indicated that QUASAR data can be used for robust partial volume estimation, and this was confirmed by the in vivo experiments. The proposed PVC method yielded probable perfusion maps, comparable to a reference method based on segmentation of a high-resolution morphological scan. Corrected gray matter (GM) perfusion was 47% higher than uncorrected values, suggesting a significant amount of PVEs in the data. Whereas the reference method failed to completely eliminate the dependence of perfusion estimates on the volume fraction, the novel approach produced GM perfusion values independent of GM volume fraction. The intra-subject coefficient of variation of corrected perfusion values was lowest for the proposed PVC method. As shown in this work, low-resolution partial volume estimation in connection with ASL perfusion

Area estimation using multiyear designs and partial crop identification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sielken, R. L., Jr.

1984-01-01

Statistical procedures were developed for large area assessments using both satellite and conventional data. Crop acreages, other ground cover indices, and measures of change were the principal characteristics of interest. These characteristics are capable of being estimated from samples collected possibly from several sources at varying times, with different levels of identification. Multiyear analysis techniques were extended to include partially identified samples; the best current year sampling design corresponding to a given sampling history was determined; weights reflecting the precision or confidence in each observation were identified and utilized, and the variation in estimates incorporating partially identified samples were quantified.

Effects of Oxygen Partial Pressure on the Surface Tension of Liquid Nickel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

SanSoucie, Michael P.; Rogers, Jan R.; Gowda, Vijaya Kumar Malahalli Shankare; Rodriguez, Justin; Matson, Douglas M.

2015-01-01

The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's electrostatic levitation (ESL) laboratory has been recently upgraded with an oxygen partial pressure controller. This system allows the oxygen partial pressure within the vacuum chamber to be measured and controlled, theoretically in the range from 10-36 to 100 bar. The oxygen control system installed in the ESL laboratory's main chamber consists of an oxygen sensor, oxygen pump, and a control unit. The sensor is a potentiometric device that determines the difference in oxygen activity in two gas compartments (inside the chamber and the air outside of the chamber) separated by an electrolyte, which is yttria-stabilized zirconia. The pump utilizes coulometric titration to either add or remove oxygen. The system is controlled by a desktop control unit, which can also be accessed via a computer. The controller performs temperature control for the sensor and pump, PID-based current loop, and a control algorithm. Oxygen partial pressure has been shown to play a significant role in the surface tension of liquid metals. Oxide films or dissolved oxygen may lead to significant changes in surface tension. The effects of oxygen partial pressure on the surface tension of undercooled liquid nickel will be analyzed, and the results will be presented. The surface tension will be measured at several different oxygen partial pressures while the sample is undercooled. Surface tension will be measured using the oscillating drop method. While undercooled, each sample will be oscillated several times consecutively to investigate how the surface tension behaves with time while at a particular oxygen partial pressure.

Partial lesions of the intratemporal segment of the facial nerve: graft versus partial reconstruction.

PubMed

Bento, Ricardo F; Salomone, Raquel; Brito, Rubens; Tsuji, Robinson K; Hausen, Mariana

2008-09-01

In cases of partial lesions of the intratemporal segment of the facial nerve, should the surgeon perform an intraoperative partial reconstruction, or partially remove the injured segment and place a graft? We present results from partial lesion reconstruction on the intratemporal segment of the facial nerve. A retrospective study on 42 patients who presented partial lesions on the intratemporal segment of the facial nerve was performed between 1988 and 2005. The patients were divided into 3 groups based on the procedure used: interposition of the partial graft on the injured area of the nerve (group 1; 12 patients); keeping the preserved part and performing tubulization (group 2; 8 patients); and dividing the parts of the injured nerve (proximal and distal) and placing a total graft of the sural nerve (group 3; 22 patients). Fracture of the temporal bone was the most frequent cause of the lesion in all groups, followed by iatrogenic causes (p < 0.005). Those who obtained results lower than or equal to III on the House-Brackmann scale were 1 (8.3%) of the patients in group 1, none (0.0%) of the patients in group 2, and 15 (68.2%) of the patients in group 3 (p <0.001). The best surgical technique for therapy of a partial lesion of the facial nerve is still questionable. Among these 42 patients, the best results were those from the total graft of the facial nerve.

Pre-operative labs: Wasted dollars or predictors of post-operative cardiac and septic events in orthopaedic trauma patients?

PubMed

Lakomkin, Nikita; Sathiyakumar, Vasanth; Dodd, Ashley C; Jahangir, A Alex; Whiting, Paul S; Obremskey, William T; Sethi, Manish K

2016-06-01

As US healthcare expenditures continue to rise, there is significant pressure to reduce the cost of inpatient medical services. Studies have estimated that over 70% of routine labs may not yield clinical benefits while adding over $300 in costs per day for every inpatient. Although orthopaedic trauma patients tend to have longer inpatient stays and hip fractures have been associated with significant morbidity, there is a dearth of data examining pre-operative labs in predicting post-operative adverse events in these populations. The purpose of this study was to assess whether pre-operative labs significantly predict post-operative cardiac and septic complications in orthopaedic trauma and hip fracture patients. Between 2006 and 2013, 56,336 (15.6%) orthopaedic trauma patients were identified and 27,441 patients (7.6%) were diagnosed with hip fractures. Pre-operative labs included sodium, BUN, creatinine, albumin, bilirubin, SGOT, alkaline phosphatase, white count, hematocrit, platelet count, prothrombin time, INR, and partial thromboplastin time. For each of these labs, patients were deemed to have normal or abnormal values. Patients were noted to have developed cardiac or septic complications if they sustained (1) myocardial infarction (MI), (2) cardiac arrest, or (3) septic shock within 30 days after surgery. Separate regressions incorporating over 40 patient characteristics including age, gender, pre-operative comorbidities, and labs were performed for orthopaedic trauma patients in order to determine whether pre-operative labs predicted adverse cardiac or septic outcomes. 749 (1.3%) orthopaedic trauma patients developed cardiac complications and 311 (0.6%) developed septic shock. Multivariate regression demonstrated that abnormal pre-operative platelet values were significantly predictive of post-operative cardiac arrest (OR: 11.107, p=0.036), and abnormal bilirubin levels were predictive (OR: 8.487, p=0.008) of the development of septic shock in trauma

SAGUARO: a finite-element computer program for partially saturated porous flow problems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eaton, R.R.; Gartling, D.K.; Larson, D.E.

1983-06-01

SAGUARO is a finite element computer program designed to calculate two-dimensional flow of mass and energy through porous media. The media may be saturated or partially saturated. SAGUARO solves the parabolic time-dependent mass transport equation which accounts for the presence of partially saturated zones through the use of highly non-linear material characteristic curves. The energy equation accounts for the possibility of partially saturated regions by adjusting the thermal capacitances and thermal conductivities according to the volume fraction of water present in the local pores. Program capabilities, user instructions and a sample problem are presented in this manual.

Partial quantum information.

PubMed

Horodecki, Michał; Oppenheim, Jonathan; Winter, Andreas

2005-08-04

Information--be it classical or quantum--is measured by the amount of communication needed to convey it. In the classical case, if the receiver has some prior information about the messages being conveyed, less communication is needed. Here we explore the concept of prior quantum information: given an unknown quantum state distributed over two systems, we determine how much quantum communication is needed to transfer the full state to one system. This communication measures the partial information one system needs, conditioned on its prior information. We find that it is given by the conditional entropy--a quantity that was known previously, but lacked an operational meaning. In the classical case, partial information must always be positive, but we find that in the quantum world this physical quantity can be negative. If the partial information is positive, its sender needs to communicate this number of quantum bits to the receiver; if it is negative, then sender and receiver instead gain the corresponding potential for future quantum communication. We introduce a protocol that we term 'quantum state merging' which optimally transfers partial information. We show how it enables a systematic understanding of quantum network theory, and discuss several important applications including distributed compression, noiseless coding with side information, multiple access channels and assisted entanglement distillation.

Feasibility and accuracy of computational robot-assisted partial nephrectomy planning by virtual partial nephrectomy analysis.

PubMed

Isotani, Shuji; Shimoyama, Hirofumi; Yokota, Isao; China, Toshiyuki; Hisasue, Shin-ichi; Ide, Hisamitsu; Muto, Satoru; Yamaguchi, Raizo; Ukimura, Osamu; Horie, Shigeo

2015-05-01

To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of virtual partial nephrectomy analysis, including a color-coded three-dimensional virtual surgical planning and a quantitative functional analysis, in predicting the surgical outcomes of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. Between 2012 and 2014, 20 patients underwent virtual partial nephrectomy analysis before undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. Virtual partial nephrectomy analysis was carried out with the following steps: (i) evaluation of the arterial branch for selective clamping by showing the vascular-supplied area; (ii) simulation of the optimal surgical margin in precise segmented three-dimensional model for prediction of collecting system opening; and (iii) detailed volumetric analyses and estimates of postoperative renal function based on volumetric change. At operation, the surgeon identified the targeted artery and determined the surgical margin according to the virtual partial nephrectomy analysis. The surgical outcomes between the virtual partial nephrectomy analysis and the actual robot-assisted partial nephrectomy were compared. All 20 patients had negative cancer surgical margins and no urological complications. The tumor-specific renal arterial supply areas were shown in color-coded three-dimensional model visualization in all cases. The prediction value of collecting system opening was 85.7% for sensitivity and 100% for specificity. The predicted renal resection volume was significantly correlated with actual resected specimen volume (r(2) = 0.745, P < 0.001). The predicted estimated glomerular filtration rate was significantly correlated with actual postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (r(2) = 0.736, P < 0.001). Virtual partial nephrectomy analysis is able to provide the identification of tumor-specific renal arterial supply, prediction of collecting system opening and prediction of postoperative renal function. This technique might allow urologists to compare

Partial Discharge Monitoring in Power Transformers Using Low-Cost Piezoelectric Sensors

PubMed Central

Castro, Bruno; Clerice, Guilherme; Ramos, Caio; Andreoli, André; Baptista, Fabricio; Campos, Fernando; Ulson, José

2016-01-01

Power transformers are crucial in an electric power system. Failures in transformers can affect the quality and cause interruptions in the power supply. Partial discharges are a phenomenon that can cause failures in the transformers if not properly monitored. Typically, the monitoring requires high-cost corrective maintenance or even interruptions of the power system. Therefore, the development of online non-invasive monitoring systems to detect partial discharges in power transformers has great relevance since it can reduce significant maintenance costs. Although commercial acoustic emission sensors have been used to monitor partial discharges in power transformers, they still represent a significant cost. In order to overcome this drawback, this paper presents a study of the feasibility of low-cost piezoelectric sensors to identify partial discharges in mineral insulating oil of power transformers. The analysis of the feasibility of the proposed low-cost sensor is performed by its comparison with a commercial acoustic emission sensor commonly used to detect partial discharges. The comparison between the responses in the time and frequency domain of both sensors was carried out and the experimental results indicate that the proposed piezoelectric sensors have great potential in the detection of acoustic waves generated by partial discharges in insulation oil, contributing for the popularization of this noninvasive technique. PMID:27517931

Partial Discharge Monitoring in Power Transformers Using Low-Cost Piezoelectric Sensors.

PubMed

Castro, Bruno; Clerice, Guilherme; Ramos, Caio; Andreoli, André; Baptista, Fabricio; Campos, Fernando; Ulson, José

2016-08-10

Power transformers are crucial in an electric power system. Failures in transformers can affect the quality and cause interruptions in the power supply. Partial discharges are a phenomenon that can cause failures in the transformers if not properly monitored. Typically, the monitoring requires high-cost corrective maintenance or even interruptions of the power system. Therefore, the development of online non-invasive monitoring systems to detect partial discharges in power transformers has great relevance since it can reduce significant maintenance costs. Although commercial acoustic emission sensors have been used to monitor partial discharges in power transformers, they still represent a significant cost. In order to overcome this drawback, this paper presents a study of the feasibility of low-cost piezoelectric sensors to identify partial discharges in mineral insulating oil of power transformers. The analysis of the feasibility of the proposed low-cost sensor is performed by its comparison with a commercial acoustic emission sensor commonly used to detect partial discharges. The comparison between the responses in the time and frequency domain of both sensors was carried out and the experimental results indicate that the proposed piezoelectric sensors have great potential in the detection of acoustic waves generated by partial discharges in insulation oil, contributing for the popularization of this noninvasive technique.

Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for renal tumor: Nagoya experience.

PubMed

Yoshikawa, Yoko; Ono, Yoshinari; Hattori, Ryohei; Gotoh, Momokazu; Yoshino, Yasushi; Katsuno, Satoshi; Katoh, Masashi; Ohshima, Shinichi

2004-08-01

To clarify the indication for a vascular clamp during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, the clinical results of 17 patients who underwent the procedure for small renal tumors were reviewed. Seventeen patients with renal tumors were enrolled in our laparoscopic partial nephrectomy program between October 1999 and November 2003. During laparoscopy, a vascular clamp was used to remove the tumor mass and suture the incised renal parenchyma and urinary collecting system in 8 patients who had less-than-1-cm-thick renal parenchyma between the mass and the renal sinus or calices. In the remaining 9 patients, who had 1-cm-or-more-thick renal parenchyma between the mass and sinus or calices, renal bleeding was controlled using ultrasonic scissors, gauze tampon, argon beam coagulator, and fibrin glue. Sixteen patients were successfully treated with laparoscopy; one required conversion to open surgery because of uncontrollable bleeding. The average operative time was 4.5 hours, and average estimated bleeding volume was 301 mL. In the 8 patients requiring vascular clamping by forceps, the average ischemic time was 25 minutes. In all patients, the tumor mass was completely removed with negative surgical margins, and renal function was preserved. Three patients had prolonged urinary leakage for a mean of 21 days. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy offers many advantages, including surgery that is both nephron sparing and minimally invasive. A vascular clamp was indicated for patients with less-than-1-cm-thick renal parenchyma between the tumor mass and renal sinus or calices.

Stability enhanced, repeatability improved Parylene-C passivated on QCM sensor for aPTT measurement.

PubMed

Yang, Yuchen; Zhang, Wei; Guo, Zhen; Zhang, Zhiqi; Zhu, Hongnan; Yan, Ruhong; Zhou, Lianqun

2017-12-15

Determination of blood clotting time is essential in monitoring therapeutic anticoagulants. In this work, Parylene-C passivated on quartz crystal microbalance (P-QCM) was developed for the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) measurement. Compared with typical QCM, P-QCM possessed a hydrophobic surface and sensitive frequency response to viscoelastic variations on electrode surface. Fibrin could be adsorbed effectively, due to the hydrophobicity of the P-QCM surface. Comparing with typical QCM, the peak-to-peak value (PPV) of P-QCM was increased by 1.94% ± 0.63%, which indicated enhancement of signal-to-noise ratio. For P-QCM, the coefficient of variation (CV) of frequency decrease and aPTT were 2.58% and 1.24% separately, which demonstrated improvement of stability and reproducibility. Moreover, compared with SYSMEX CS 2000i haematology analyzer, clinical coefficient index (R 2 ) was 0.983. In conclusion, P-QCM exhibited potential for improving stability, reproducibility and linearity of piezoelectric sensors, and might be more promising for point of care testing (POCT) applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hemostatic, antibacterial biopolymers from Acacia arabica (Lam.) Willd. and Moringa oleifera (Lam.) as potential wound dressing materials.

PubMed

Bhatnagar, Monica; Parwani, Laxmi; Sharma, Vinay; Ganguli, Jhuma; Bhatnagar, Ashish

2013-10-01

Acacia arabica and Moringa oleifera are credited with a number of medicinal properties. Traditionally gum of Acacia plant is used in the treatment of skin disorders to soothe skin rashes, soreness, inflammation and burns while Moringa seed extracts are known to have antibacterial activity. In the present study the potential of the polymeric component of aqueous extracts of gum acacia (GA) and the seeds of M. oleifera (MSP) in wound management was evaluated. The results revealed that both biopolymers were hemostatic and hasten blood coagulation. They showed shortening of activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time and were non-cytotoxic in nature. Both showed antibacterial activity against organisms known to be involved in wound infections with MIC ranging from 500-600 microg mL(-1) for GA and 300-700 microg mL(-1) for MSP. They were biodegradable and exhibited water absorption capacity in the range of 415 to 935%. The hemostatic character coupled to these properties envisions their potential in preparation of dressings for bleeding and profusely exuding wounds. The biopolymers have been further analysed for their composition by Gas chromatography.

Warfarin hypersensitivity due to gluten-sensitive enteropathy: a case study.

PubMed

Kwolek, Sara; Deming, Paula

2012-01-01

A 53 year old female who was maintained on long-term warfarin therapy due to history of pulmonary embolism, repeatedly presents with an abnormally prolonged Prothrombin Time (PT) and Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT). After many asymptomatic episodes were corrected with Vitamin K therapy to temporarily reverse the effects of the warfarin, the cause of the apparent coagulopathy was further investigated. Factor Activity Assays of the common pathway factors II, IX, and X all revealed critically low values; below the threshold even a loading dose of warfarin is typically capable of eliciting. The patient tested strongly positive for Tissue Transglutaminase IgA, which is highly suggestive of a gluten-sensitive enteropathy. One effect of this condition is malabsorption due to flattened intestinal villi. The patient was determined to have an acquired vitamin K deficiency secondary to gluten-sensitive enteropathy. Her condition was exacerbated by the long-term warfarin therapy, resulting in the prolonged PT and PTT. The patient was treated with vitamin K therapy, which reversed the deficiency and corrected her abnormal coagulation results.

Evaluation of antioxidant activities and chemical analysis of sulfated chitosan from Sepia prashadi.

PubMed

Seedevi, Palaniappan; Moovendhan, Meivelu; Vairamani, Shanmugam; Shanmugam, Annaian

2017-06-01

The chitin and chitosan of S. prashadi was prepared through demineralization, deproteinzation, deacetylation process and sulfation were carried by chlorosulfonic acid in N,N-dimethylformamide. The sulfate content in chitosan was found to be 18.9%. The carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen composition of the sulfated chitosan were recorded 39.09%, 6.95% and 6.58% respectively. The structural analysis was done by using FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy technique. The DSC curves of sulfated chitosan showed a large endothermic peak resolved with T o value of 54.57°C and T P value of 97.46°C. The morphology of sulfated chitin and sulfated chitosan were studied by SEM. The Further in vitro antioxidant activity of sulfated chitosan was screened by scavenging activity of superoxide radical assay, hydroxyl radical scavenging assay, metal-ion chelating effect and reducing power. Its anticoagulant activity was tested for human plasma with respect to Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) and Prothrombin Time (PT). Results prove that sulfated chitosan has potent antioxidant and anticoagulant activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Long-Term Behavior of Simulated Partial Lead Service Line Replacements

PubMed Central

St. Clair, Justin; Cartier, Clement; Triantafyllidou, Simoni; Clark, Brandi; Edwards, Marc

2016-01-01

Abstract In this 48-month pilot study, long-term impacts of copper:lead galvanic connections on lead release to water were assessed without confounding differences in pipe exposure prehistory or disturbances arising from cutting lead pipe. Lead release was tracked from three lead service line configurations, including (1) 100% lead, (2) traditional partial replacement with 50% copper upstream of 50% lead, and (3) 50% lead upstream of 50% copper as a function of flow rate, connection types, and sampling methodologies. Elevated lead from galvanic corrosion worsened with time, with 140% more lead release from configurations representing traditional partial replacement configurations at 14 months compared to earlier data in the first 8 months. Even when sampled consistently at moderate flow rate (8 LPM) and collecting all water passing through service lines, conditions representing traditional partial service line configurations were significantly worse (≈40%) when compared to 100% lead pipe. If sampled at a high flow rate (32 LPM) and collecting 2 L samples from service lines, 100% of samples collected from traditional partial replacement configurations exceeded thresholds posing an acute health risk versus a 0% risk for samples from 100% lead pipe. Temporary removal of lead accumulations near Pb:Cu junctions and lead deposits from other downstream plastic pipes reduced risk of partial replacements relative to that observed for 100% lead. When typical brass compression couplings were used to connect prepassivated lead pipes, lead release spiked up to 10 times higher, confirming prior concerns raised at bench and field scale regarding adverse impacts of crevices and service line disturbances on lead release. To quantify semirandom particulate lead release from service lines in future research, whole-house filters have many advantages compared to other approaches. PMID:26989344

Design of a fast computer-based partial discharge diagnostic system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oliva, Jose R.; Karady, G. G.; Domitz, Stan

1991-01-01

Partial discharges cause progressive deterioration of insulating materials working in high voltage conditions and may lead ultimately to insulator failure. Experimental findings indicate that deterioration increases with the number of discharges and is consequently proportional to the magnitude and frequency of the applied voltage. In order to obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms of deterioration produced by partial discharges, instrumentation capable of individual pulse resolution is required. A new computer-based partial discharge detection system was designed and constructed to conduct long duration tests on sample capacitors. This system is capable of recording large number of pulses without dead time and producing valuable information related to amplitude, polarity, and charge content of the discharges. The operation of the system is automatic and no human supervision is required during the testing stage. Ceramic capacitors were tested at high voltage in long duration tests. The obtained results indicated that the charge content of partial discharges shift towards high levels of charge as the level of deterioration in the capacitor increases.

Partial splenic embolization to permit continuation of systemic chemotherapy.

PubMed

Luz, Jose Hugo M; Luz, Paula M; Marchiori, Edson; Rodrigues, Leonardo A; Gouveia, Hugo R; Martin, Henrique S; Faria, Igor M; Souza, Roberto R; Gil, Roberto de Almeida; Palladino, Alexandre de M; Pimenta, Karina B; de Souza, Henrique S

2016-10-01

Systemic chemotherapy treatments, commonly those that comprise oxaliplatin, have been linked to the appearance of distinctive liver lesions that evolves to portal hypertension, spleen enlargement, platelets sequestration, and thrombocytopenia. This outcome can interrupt treatment or force dosage reduction, decreasing efficiency of cancer therapy. We conducted a prospective phase II study for the evaluation of partial splenic embolization in patients with thrombocytopenia that impeded systemic chemotherapy continuation. From August 2014 through July 2015, 33 patients underwent partial splenic embolization to increase platelets count and allow their return to treatment. Primary endpoint was the accomplishment of a thrombocyte level superior to 130 × 10 9 /L and the secondary endpoints were the return to chemotherapy and toxicity. Partial splenic embolization was done 36 times in 33 patients. All patients presented gastrointestinal cancer and colorectal malignancy was the commonest primary site. An average of 6.4 cycles of chemotherapy was done before splenic embolization and the most common regimen was Folfox. Mean platelet count prior to embolization was 69 × 10 9 /L. A total of 94% of patients achieved primary endpoint. All patients in need reinitiated treatment and median time to chemotherapy return was 14 days. No grade 3 or above adverse events were identified. Aiming for a 50% to 70% infarction area may be sufficient to achieve success without the complications associated with more extensive infarction. Combined with the better safety profile, partial splenic embolization is an excellent option in the management of thrombocytopenia, enabling the resumption of systemic chemotherapy with minimal procedure-related morbidity. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Measurement of time-dependent CP asymmetries and constraints on sin(2beta+gamma) with partial reconstruction of B0-->D*-/+pi+/- decays.

PubMed

Aubert, B; Barate, R; Boutigny, D; Couderc, F; Gaillard, J-M; Hicheur, A; Karyotakis, Y; Lees, J P; Robbe, P; Tisserand, V; Zghiche, A; Palano, A; Pompili, A; Chen, J C; Qi, N D; Rong, G; Wang, P; Zhu, Y S; Eigen, G; Ofte, I; Stugu, B; Abrams, G S; Borgland, A W; Breon, A B; Brown, D N; Button-Shafer, J; Cahn, R N; Charles, E; Day, C T; Gill, M S; Gritsan, A V; Groysman, Y; Jacobsen, R G; Kadel, R W; Kadyk, J; Kerth, L T; Kolomensky, Yu G; Kukartsev, G; LeClerc, C; Levi, M E; Lynch, G; Mir, L M; Oddone, P J; Orimoto, T J; Pripstein, M; Roe, N A; Romosan, A; Ronan, M T; Shelkov, V G; Telnov, A V; Wenzel, W A; Ford, K; Harrison, T J; Hawkes, C M; Knowles, D J; Morgan, S E; Penny, R C; Watson, A T; Watson, N K; Goetzen, K; Held, T; Koch, H; Lewandowski, B; Pelizaeus, M; Peters, K; Schmuecker, H; Steinke, M; Boyd, J T; Chevalier, N; Cottingham, W N; Kelly, M P; Latham, T E; Mackay, C; Wilson, F F; Abe, K; Cuhadar-Donszelmann, T; Hearty, C; Mattison, T S; McKenna, J A; Thiessen, D; Kyberd, P; McKemey, A K; Teodorescu, L; Blinov, V E; Bukin, A D; Golubev, V B; Ivanchenko, V N; Kravchenko, E A; Onuchin, A P; Serednyakov, S I; Skovpen, Yu I; Solodov, E P; Yushkov, A N; Best, D; Bruinsma, M; Chao, M; Kirkby, D; Lankford, A J; Mandelkern, M; Mommsen, R K; Roethel, W; Stoker, D P; Buchanan, C; Hartfiel, B L; Gary, J W; Layter, J; Shen, B C; Wang, K; del Re, D; Hadavand, H K; Hill, E J; MacFarlane, D B; Paar, H P; Rahatlou, Sh; Sharma, V; Berryhill, J W; Campagnari, C; Dahmes, B; Levy, S L; Long, O; Lu, A; Mazur, M A; Richman, J D; Verkerke, W; Beck, T W; Beringer, J; Eisner, A M; Heusch, C A; Lockman, W S; Schalk, T; Schmitz, R E; Schumm, B A; Seiden, A; Spradlin, P; Turri, M; Walkowiak, W; Williams, D C; Wilson, M G; Albert, J; Chen, E; Dubois-Felsmann, G P; Dvoretskii, A; Erwin, R J; Hitlin, D G; Narsky, I; Piatenko, T; Porter, F C; Ryd, A; Samuel, A; Yang, S; Jayatilleke, S; Mancinelli, G; Meadows, B T; Sokoloff, M D; Abe, T; Blanc, F; Bloom, P; Chen, S; Clark, P J; Ford, W T; Nauenberg, U; Olivas, A; Rankin, P; Roy, J; Smith, J G; van Hoek, W C; Zhang, L; Harton, J L; Hu, T; Soffer, A; Toki, W H; Wilson, R J; Zhang, J; Altenburg, D; Brandt, T; Brose, J; Colberg, T; Dickopp, M; Dubitzky, R S; Hauke, A; Lacker, H M; Maly, E; Müller-Pfefferkorn, R; Nogowski, R; Otto, S; Schubert, J; Schubert, K R; Schwierz, R; Spaan, B; Wilden, L; Bernard, D; Bonneaud, G R; Brochard, F; Cohen-Tanugi, J; Grenier, P; Thiebaux, Ch; Vasileiadis, G; Verderi, M; Khan, A; Lavin, D; Muheim, F; Playfer, S; Swain, J E; Andreotti, M; Azzolini, V; Bettoni, D; Bozzi, C; Calabrese, R; Cibinetto, G; Luppi, E; Negrini, M; Piemontese, L; Sarti, A; Treadwell, E; Baldini-Ferroli, R; Calcaterra, A; de Sangro, R; Falciai, D; Finocchiaro, G; Patteri, P; Piccolo, M; Zallo, A; Buzzo, A; Capra, R; Contri, R; Crosetti, G; Lo Vetere, M; Macri, M; Monge, M R; Passaggio, S; Patrignani, C; Robutti, E; Santroni, A; Tosi, S; Bailey, S; Morii, M; Won, E; Bhimji, W; Bowerman, D A; Dauncey, P D; Egede, U; Eschrich, I; Gaillard, J R; Morton, G W; Nash, J A; Taylor, G P; Grenier, G J; Lee, S-J; Mallik, U; Cochran, J; Crawley, H B; Lamsa, J; Meyer, W T; Prell, S; Rosenberg, E I; Yi, J; Davier, M; Grosdidier, G; Höcker, A; Laplace, S; Diberder, F Le; Lepeltier, V; Lutz, A M; Petersen, T C; Plaszczynski, S; Schune, M H; Tantot, L; Wormser, G; Brigljević, V; Cheng, C H; Lange, D J; Simani, M C; Wright, D M; Bevan, A J; Coleman, J P; Fry, J R; Gabathuler, E; Gamet, R; Kay, M; Parry, R J; Payne, D J; Sloane, R J; Touramanis, C; Back, J J; Harrison, P F; Shorthouse, H W; Vidal, P B; Brown, C L; Cowan, G; Flack, R L; Flaecher, H U; George, S; Green, M G; Kurup, A; Marker, C E; McMahon, T R; Ricciardi, S; Salvatore, F; Vaitsas, G; Winter, M A; Brown, D; Davis, C L; Allison, J; Barlow, N R; Barlow, R J; Hart, P A; Hodgkinson, M C; Jackson, F; Lafferty, G D; Lyon, A J; Weatherall, J H; Williams, J C; Farbin, A; Jawahery, A; Kovalskyi, D; Lae, C K; Lillard, V; Roberts, D A; Blaylock, G; Dallapiccola, C; Flood, K T; Hertzbach, S S; Kofler, R; Koptchev, V B; Moore, T B; Saremi, S; Staengle, H; Willocq, S; Cowan, R; Sciolla, G; Taylor, F; Yamamoto, R K; Mangeol, D J J; Patel, P M; Robertson, S H; Lazzaro, A; Palombo, F; Bauer, J M; Cremaldi, L; Eschenburg, V; Godang, R; Kroeger, R; Reidy, J; Sanders, D A; Summers, D J; Zhao, H W; Brunet, S; Cote-Ahern, D; Taras, P; Nicholson, H; Cartaro, C; Cavallo, N; De Nardo, G; Fabozzi, F; Gatto, C; Lista, L; Paolucci, P; Piccolo, D; Sciacca, C; Baak, M A; Raven, G; LoSecco, J M; Gabriel, T A; Brau, B; Gan, K K; Honscheid, K; Hufnagel, D; Kagan, H; Kass, R; Pulliam, T; Wong, Q K; Brau, J; Frey, R; Igonkina, O; Potter, C T; Sinev, N B; Strom, D; Torrence, E; Colecchia, F; Dorigo, A; Galeazzi, F; Margoni, M; Morandin, M; Posocco, M; Rotondo, M; Simonetto, F; Stroili, R; Tiozzo, G; Voci, C; Benayoun, M; Briand, H; Chauveau, J; David, P; de la Vaissière, Ch; Del Buono, L; Hamon, O; John, M J J; Leruste, Ph; Ocariz, J; Pivk, M; Roos, L; Stark, J; T'Jampens, S; Therin, G; Manfredi, P F; Re, V; Behera, P K; Gladney, L; Guo, Q H; Panetta, J; Anulli, F; Biasini, M; Peruzzi, I M; Pioppi, M; Angelini, C; Batignani, G; Bettarini, S; Bondioli, M; Bucci, F; Calderini, G; Carpinelli, M; Del Gamba, V; Forti, F; Giorgi, M A; Lusiani, A; Marchiori, G; Martinez-Vidal, F; Morganti, M; Neri, N; Paoloni, E; Rama, M; Rizzo, G; Sandrelli, F; Walsh, J; Haire, M; Judd, D; Paick, K; Wagoner, D E; Danielson, N; Elmer, P; Lu, C; Miftakov, V; Olsen, J; Smith, A J S; Tanaka, H A; Varnes, E W; Bellini, F; Cavoto, G; Faccini, R; Ferrarotto, F; Ferroni, F; Gaspero, M; Mazzoni, M A; Morganti, S; Pierini, M; Piredda, G; SafaiTehrani, F; Voena, C; Christ, S; Wagner, G; Waldi, R; Adye, T; De Groot, N; Franek, B; Geddes, N I; Gopal, G P; Olaiya, E O; Xella, S M; Aleksan, R; Emery, S; Gaidot, A; Ganzhur, S F; Giraud, P-F; Hamel de Monchenault, G; Kozanecki, W; Langer, M; Legendre, M; London, G W; Mayer, B; Schott, G; Vasseur, G; Yeche, Ch; Zito, M; Purohit, M V; Weidemann, A W; Yumiceva, F X; Aston, D; Bartoldus, R; Berger, N; Boyarski, A M; Buchmueller, O L; Convery, M R; Cristinziani, M; Dong, D; Dorfan, J; Dujmic, D; Dunwoodie, W; Elsen, E E; Field, R C; Glanzman, T; Gowdy, S J; Grauges-Pous, E; Hadig, T; Halyo, V; Hryn'ova, T; Innes, W R; Jessop, C P; Kelsey, M H; Kim, P; Kocian, M L; Langenegger, U; Leith, D W G S; Libby, J; Luitz, S; Luth, V; Lynch, H L; Marsiske, H; Messner, R; Muller, D R; O'Grady, C P; Ozcan, V E; Perazzo, A; Perl, M; Petrak, S; Ratcliff, B N; Roodman, A; Salnikov, A A; Schindler, R H; Schwiening, J; Simi, G; Snyder, A; Soha, A; Stelzer, J; Su, D; Sullivan, M K; Va'vra, J; Wagner, S R; Weaver, M; Weinstein, A J R; Wisniewski, W J; Wright, D H; Young, C C; Burchat, P R; Edwards, A J; Meyer, T I; Petersen, B A; Roat, C; Ahmed, M; Ahmed, S; Alam, M S; Ernst, J A; Saeed, M A; Saleem, M; Wappler, F R; Bugg, W; Krishnamurthy, M; Spanier, S M; Eckmann, R; Kim, H; Ritchie, J L; Schwitters, R F; Izen, J M; Kitayama, I; Lou, X C; Ye, S; Bianchi, F; Bona, M; Gallo, F; Gamba, D; Borean, C; Bosisio, L; Della Ricca, G; Dittongo, S; Grancagnolo, S; Lanceri, L; Poropat, P; Vitale, L; Vuagnin, G; Panvini, R S; Banerjee, Sw; Brown, C M; Fortin, D; Jackson, P D; Kowalewski, R; Roney, J M; Band, H R; Dasu, S; Datta, M; Eichenbaum, A M; Johnson, J R; Kutter, P E; Li, H; Liu, R; Di Lodovico, F; Mihalyi, A; Mohapatra, A K; Pan, Y; Prepost, R; Sekula, S J; von Wimmersperg-Toeller, J H; Wu, J; Wu, S L; Yu, Z; Neal, H

2004-06-25

We present a measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in decays of neutral B mesons to the final states D(*-/+)pi(+/-), using approximately 82x10(6) BBmacr; events recorded by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II e(+)e(-) storage ring. Events containing these decays are selected with a partial reconstruction technique, in which only the high-momentum pi(+/-) from the B decay and the low-momentum pi(-/+) from the D(*-/+) decay are used. We measure the amplitude of the asymmetry to be -0.063+/-0.024(stat)+/-0.014(syst) and compute bounds on |sin((2beta+gamma)|.

Screwless fixed detachable partial overdenture treatment for atrophic partial edentulism of the anterior maxilla.

PubMed

Flanagan, Dennis

2008-01-01

This is a case report of the restoration of a partially edentulous atrophic anterior maxilla and atrophic mandibular posterior ridges. This case report demonstrates one method for successful treatment of partial edentulism at No. 7 to 10, where interlock attachments on natural cuspids and mini dental implants support an acrylic-based screwless fixed detachable partial denture to provide lip support and masticatory function in the anterior maxilla. The presenting qualities of this case were similar to combination syndrome.

Partial Data Traces: Efficient Generation and Representation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mueller, F; De Supinski, B R; McKee, S A

2001-08-20

Binary manipulation techniques are increasing in popularity. They support program transformations tailored toward certain program inputs, and these transformations have been shown to yield performance gains beyond the scope of static code optimizations without profile-directed feedback. They even deliver moderate gains in the presence of profile-guided optimizations. In addition, transformations can be performed on the entire executable, including library routines. This work focuses on program instrumentation, yet another application of binary manipulation. This paper reports preliminary results on generating partial data traces through dynamic binary rewriting. The contributions are threefold. First, a portable method for extracting precise data traces formore » partial executions of arbitrary applications is developed. Second, a set of hierarchical structures for compactly representing these accesses is developed. Third, an efficient online algorithm to detect regular accesses is introduced. The authors utilize dynamic binary rewriting to selectively collect partial address traces of regions within a program. This allows partial tracing of hot paths for only a short time during program execution in contrast to static rewriting techniques that lack hot path detection and also lack facilities to limit the duration of data collection. Preliminary results show reductions of three orders of a magnitude of inline instrumentation over a dual process approach involving context switching. They also report constant size representations for regular access patters in nested loops. These efforts are part of a larger project to counter the increasing gap between processor and main memory speeds by means of software optimization and hardware enhancements.« less

Effect of rivaroxaban on preventing deep vein thrombosis in aged diabetics with femoral neck fractures after hip replacement

PubMed Central

Jiang, Xin; Sun, Yan-Shan

2017-01-01

The present study estimates the effect of rivaroxaban on preventing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in aged diabetics with femoral neck fractures after hip replacement. Our study consisted of 236 aged diabetics with femoral neck fractures, which were divided into the rivaroxaban and control groups. Reaction time (R time), clot formation time (K time), α angle (α), maximum amplitude (MA), clot elasticity (G) and coagulation index (CI), prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) were measured. DVT was diagnosed by color duplex Doppler ultrasound (CDDU). The risk factors of DVT were analysed by logistic regression analysis. Compared with the control group, in the rivaroxaban group, R time and K time were extended and α, MA and G decreased 1 day before operation. One day after operation, the rivaroxaban group had less PT and APPT and lower incidence of DVT than the control group. In the two groups, preoperative and postoperative PT and APPT significantly differed. Body mass index (BMI) ≥25, abnormal coagulation indicators, use of cemented femoral hip prosthesis, high haemoglobin content and non-ankle pump exercise after operation were the risk factors for DVT. Rivaroxaban could prevent DVT in aged diabetics with femoral neck fractures after hip replacement. PMID:28442600

Partial Granger causality--eliminating exogenous inputs and latent variables.

PubMed

Guo, Shuixia; Seth, Anil K; Kendrick, Keith M; Zhou, Cong; Feng, Jianfeng

2008-07-15

Attempts to identify causal interactions in multivariable biological time series (e.g., gene data, protein data, physiological data) can be undermined by the confounding influence of environmental (exogenous) inputs. Compounding this problem, we are commonly only able to record a subset of all related variables in a system. These recorded variables are likely to be influenced by unrecorded (latent) variables. To address this problem, we introduce a novel variant of a widely used statistical measure of causality--Granger causality--that is inspired by the definition of partial correlation. Our 'partial Granger causality' measure is extensively tested with toy models, both linear and nonlinear, and is applied to experimental data: in vivo multielectrode array (MEA) local field potentials (LFPs) recorded from the inferotemporal cortex of sheep. Our results demonstrate that partial Granger causality can reveal the underlying interactions among elements in a network in the presence of exogenous inputs and latent variables in many cases where the existing conditional Granger causality fails.

Use of near infrared fluorescence during robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

PubMed

Cornejo-Dávila, V; Nazmy, M; Kella, N; Palmeros-Rodríguez, M A; Morales-Montor, J G; Pacheco-Gahbler, C

2016-04-01

Partial nephrectomy is the treatment of choice for T1a tumours. The open approach is still the standard method. Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery offers advantages that are applicable to partial nephrectomy, such as the use of the Firefly® system with near-infrared fluorescence. To demonstrate the implementation of fluorescence in nephron-sparing surgery. This case concerned a 37-year-old female smoker, with obesity. The patient had a right kidney tumour measuring 31 mm, which was found using tomography. She therefore underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, with a warm ischaemia time of 22 minutes and the use of fluorescence with the Firefly® system to guide the resection. There were no complications. The tumour was a pT1aN0M0 renal cell carcinoma, with negative margins. Robot-assisted renal laparoscopic surgery is employed for nephron-sparing surgery, with good oncological and functional results. The combination of the Firefly® technology and intraoperative ultrasound can more accurately delimit the extent of the lesion, increase the negative margins and decrease the ischaemia time. Near-infrared fluorescence in robot-assisted partial nephrectomy is useful for guiding the tumour resection and can potentially improve the oncological and functional results. Copyright © 2015 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Comparison of clamping technique in robotic partial nephrectomy: does unclamped partial nephrectomy improve perioperative outcomes and renal function?

PubMed

Krane, L Spencer; Mufarrij, Patrick W; Manny, Theodore B; Hemal, Ashok K

2013-02-01

Partial nephrectomy without renal vascular occlusion has been introduced to improve outcomes in patients undergoing robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN). We prospectively evaluated unclamped RPN at our institution and compared this to other clamping techniques in a non-randomized fashion. Ninety-five consecutive patients who successfully completed RPN between June 2010 and October 2011 are included in this analysis. All RPNs were performed by a single surgeon. Clamping technique was artery and vein (AV), artery alone (AO) or unclamped (U) without hypotensive anesthesia. Clamping decision was based on surgeon preference and feasibility of minimizing ischemia. All patients had bilateral functional renal units. Eighteen (19%), 58 (61%) and 19 (20%) patients had AV, AO and U technique respectively. Preoperative characteristics including age (p = 0.43), body mass index (p = 0.40) and RENAL nephromety distribution (p = 0.10) were similar. In AV and AO, mean warm ischemia time were 19 and 17 minutes and similar between the two cohorts (p = 0.39). Mean glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and overall percentage decrease in GFR at time of at last follow up were (64, 69, 81, p = 0.12) and (6%, 6%,and 2%,p = 0.79) for AV, AO and U respectively. Median follow up for last serum creatinine was 113 days and was similar between all cohorts (p = 0.37). Complication rate (p = 0.37), positive margin rate (p = 0.84), and change in hemoglobin concentration postoperatively (p = 0.94) were similar between cohorts. Unclamped partial nephrectomy is possible in patients undergoing RPN. In this study, it does not significantly alter perioperative or postoperative renal function or change rate of complications. Minimal ischemia, irrespective of clamping technique, in patients with bilateral renal units does not appear to adversely effect intermediate term renal function in these patients.

The efficacy of incorporating partial squats in maximal strength training.

PubMed

Bazyler, Caleb D; Sato, Kimitake; Wassinger, Craig A; Lamont, Hugh S; Stone, Michael H

2014-11-01

The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of 2 different training methods on dynamic and isometric measures of maximal strength. Seventeen recreationally trained men (1 repetition maximum [1RM] squat: 146.9 ± 22.4 kg) were assigned to 2 groups: full range of motion (ROM) squat (F) and full ROM with partial ROM squat (FP) for the 7-week training intervention. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that there was a statistically significant group-by-time interaction for impulse scaled at 50, 90, and 250 milliseconds at 90° of knee flexion and rate of force development at 200 milliseconds with 120° of knee flexion (p ≤ 0.05). There was also a statistically significant time effect (p ≤ 0.05) for the 1RM squat, 1RM partial squat, isometric squat peak force allometrically scaled (IPFa) 90°, IPFa 120°, and impulse allometrically scaled at 50, 90, 200, and 250 milliseconds at 90° and 120° of knee flexion. Additionally, the FP group achieved statistically larger relative training intensities (%1RM) during the final 3 weeks of training (p ≤ 0.05). There was a trend for FP to improve over F in 1RM squat (+3.1%, d = 0.53 vs. 0.32), 1RM partial squat (+4.7%, d = 0.95 vs. 0.69), IPFa 120° (+5.7%, d = 0.52 vs. 0.12), and impulse scaled at 50, 90, 200, and 250 milliseconds at 90° (+6.3 to 13.2%, d = 0.50-1.01 vs. 0.30-0.57) and 120° (+3.4 to 16.8%, d = 0.45-1.11 vs. 0.08-0.37). These larger effect sizes in the FP group can likely be explained their ability to train at larger relative training intensities during the final 3 weeks of training resulting in superior training adaptations. Our findings suggest that partial ROM squats in conjunction with full ROM squats may be an effective training method for improving maximal strength and early force-time curve characteristics in men with previous strength training experience. Practically, partial squats may be beneficial for strength and power athletes during a strength-speed mesocycle while peaking

Purification, structural characterization and anticoagulant properties of fucosylated chondroitin sulfate isolated from Holothuria mexicana.

PubMed

Mou, Jiaojiao; Wang, Cong; Li, Wenjing; Yang, Jie

2017-05-01

A novel fucosylated chondroitin sulfate (HmG) was isolated from sea cucumber Holothuria mexicana, the structure of which was characterized by monosaccharide composition, disaccharide composition, IR, 1 H and 13 C NMR spectrum, additionally with two dimensional NMR spectrum of degraded HmG (DHmG). The backbone of HmG was identified as chondroitin 6-O sulfate, while the major O-4 sulfated fucose branches linked to O-3 position of glucuronic acid in almost every disaccharide unit. The anticoagulant activities of HmG and DHmG were assessed and compared with heparin and low molecular weight heparin. The results indicated that HmG and DHmG both could significantly prolong the activated partial thrombo-plastin time, and the properties were well related to its molecular weight. DHmG showed similar anticoagulant properties to low molecular weight heparin with less bleeding risks, making it a safer anticoagulant drug. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Christmas disease: diagnosis and management of a haemorrhagic diathesis following dentofacial trauma

PubMed Central

Tamagond, Sridevi B; Hugar, Santosh I; Patil, Anil; Huddar, SandhyaRani

2015-01-01

Haemorrhagic diathesis has been of much concern to health professionals including dentists. It is not infrequent that a dentist becomes the first person to diagnose a bleeding disorder while performing dental treatment. Haemophilia is an X linked disorder with a frequency of about 1:10 000 births. Haemophilia B is much less common than haemophilia A, and affects only 1:300 000 males born alive. The clinical features of haemophilia B are very similar to those of haemophilia A with a prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time. This case report describes the dental management of a patient with an uncommon haematological disorder, namely, factor IX deficiency, which remained undiagnosed until the patient had to undergo dentofacial trauma with unexpected severe haemorrhage. Preventive dentistry remains vital to young haemophiliacs. Surgical dental procedures may be performed for haemophiliacs but they must be judiciously coordinated by dental and medical health professionals. PMID:25568261

Antiphospholipid antibody-associated non-infective mitral valve endocarditis successfully treated with medical therapy.

PubMed

Contractor, Tahmeed; Bell, Adrian; Khasnis, Atul; Silverberg, Bruce J; Martinez, Matthew W

2013-01-01

Non-bacterial endocarditis lesions associated with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) in the absence of other criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosus is termed an aPL-associated cardiac valve disease. Evidence regarding the management of this condition is sparse. A rare case is described of a 20-year-old female who presented with an incidental finding of 'vegetations on a heart valve'. Echocardiography revealed mitral valve leaflet thickening and echodensities with moderate mitral regurgitation. She had an elevated partial thromboplastin time that did not correct with a mixing study, and elevated levels of antiocardiolipin antibodies. Hence, a diagnosis of aPL-associated cardiac valve disease was made, and the patient commenced on warfarin, hydroxychloroquine, and a short course of oral prednisone. At one year after diagnosis the patient remained symptom-free, and follow up echocardiography revealed resolution of the vegetations with minimal mitral regurgitation. Further evidence is needed to guide the therapy of this rare condition.

Place of partial cutting in old-growth stands of the Douglas-fir region.

Treesearch

Leo A. Isaac

1956-01-01

During the early 1930's, as use of the logging truck and tractor increased, a form of partial harvesting mature and overmature virgin stands developed in the Douglas-fir region (2). The cutting pattern varied from taking a few scattered high-grade trees per acre to clear cutting small areas. Partial harvesting caught on quickly because at that time only the high-...

Human Health Countermeasures - Partial-Gravity Analogs Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barr, Yael; Clement, Gilles; Norsk, Peter

2016-01-01

The experimental conditions that were deemed the most interesting by the HHC Element lead scientists are those permitting studies of the long-term effects of exposure to (a) chronic rotation when supine or in head down tilt (ground-based); and (b) long-radius centrifugation (space based). It is interesting to note that chronic ground based slow rotation room studies have not been performed since the 1960's, when the USA and USSR were investigating the potential use of AG for long-duration space missions. On the other hand, the other partial gravity analogs, i.e., parabolic flight, HUT, suspension, and short-radius centrifugation, have been regularly used in the last three decades (see review in Clément et al. 2015). Based on the workshop evaluations and the scores by the HHC scientific disciplines indicated in tables 3 and 4, simulation of partial G between 0 and 1 should be prioritized as follows: Priority 1. Chronic space-based partial-G analogs: a. Chronic space-based long-radius centrifugation. The ideal scenario would be chronic long-radius centrifugation of cells, animals and humans in a translational research approach - ideally beyond low earth orbit under deep space environmental effects and at various rotations - to obtain different G-effects. In this scenario, all physiological systems could be evaluated and the relationship between physiological response and G level established. This would be the most integrative way of defining, for the first time ever, G-thresholds for each physiological system. b. Chronic space-based centrifugation of animals. Chronic centrifugation of rodents at various G levels in space would allow for determination of AG thresholds of protection for each physiological system. In this case, all physiological systems will be of interest. Intermittent centrifugation will be of secondary interest. c. Chronic space-based centrifugation of cell cultures (RWV). Bioreactor studies of cells and cell cultures of various tissues at various G

Using partial reconfiguration for SoC design and implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krasteva, Yana E.; Portilla, Jorge; Tobajas Guerrero, Félix; de la Torre, Eduardo

2009-05-01

Most reconfigurable systems rely on FPGA technology. Among these ones, those which permit dynamic and partial reconfiguration, offer added benefits in flexibility, in-field device upgrade, improved design and manufacturing time, and even, in some cases, power consumption reductions. However, dynamic reconfiguration is a complex task, and the real benefits of its use in real applications have been often questioned. This paper presents an overview of the partial reconfiguration technique application, along with four original applications. The main goal of these applications is to test several architectures with different flexibility and, to search for the partial reconfiguration "killing application", that is, the application that better demonstrates the benefits of today reconfigurable systems based on commercial FPGAs. Therefore, the presented applications are rather a proof of concept, than fully operative and closed systems. First, a brief introduction to the partial reconfigurable systems application topic has been included. After that, the descriptions of the created reconfigurable systems are presented: first, an on-chip communications emulation framework, second, an on chip debugging system, third, a wireless sensor network reconfigurable node and finally, a remote reconfigurable client-server device. Each application is described in a separate section of the paper along with some test and results. General conclusions are included at the end of the paper.

Design of partially supervised classifiers for multispectral image data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeon, Byeungwoo; Landgrebe, David

1993-01-01

A partially supervised classification problem is addressed, especially when the class definition and corresponding training samples are provided a priori only for just one particular class. In practical applications of pattern classification techniques, a frequently observed characteristic is the heavy, often nearly impossible requirements on representative prior statistical class characteristics of all classes in a given data set. Considering the effort in both time and man-power required to have a well-defined, exhaustive list of classes with a corresponding representative set of training samples, this 'partially' supervised capability would be very desirable, assuming adequate classifier performance can be obtained. Two different classification algorithms are developed to achieve simplicity in classifier design by reducing the requirement of prior statistical information without sacrificing significant classifying capability. The first one is based on optimal significance testing, where the optimal acceptance probability is estimated directly from the data set. In the second approach, the partially supervised classification is considered as a problem of unsupervised clustering with initially one known cluster or class. A weighted unsupervised clustering procedure is developed to automatically define other classes and estimate their class statistics. The operational simplicity thus realized should make these partially supervised classification schemes very viable tools in pattern classification.

Partial Deconvolution with Inaccurate Blur Kernel.

PubMed

Ren, Dongwei; Zuo, Wangmeng; Zhang, David; Xu, Jun; Zhang, Lei

2017-10-17

Most non-blind deconvolution methods are developed under the error-free kernel assumption, and are not robust to inaccurate blur kernel. Unfortunately, despite the great progress in blind deconvolution, estimation error remains inevitable during blur kernel estimation. Consequently, severe artifacts such as ringing effects and distortions are likely to be introduced in the non-blind deconvolution stage. In this paper, we tackle this issue by suggesting: (i) a partial map in the Fourier domain for modeling kernel estimation error, and (ii) a partial deconvolution model for robust deblurring with inaccurate blur kernel. The partial map is constructed by detecting the reliable Fourier entries of estimated blur kernel. And partial deconvolution is applied to wavelet-based and learning-based models to suppress the adverse effect of kernel estimation error. Furthermore, an E-M algorithm is developed for estimating the partial map and recovering the latent sharp image alternatively. Experimental results show that our partial deconvolution model is effective in relieving artifacts caused by inaccurate blur kernel, and can achieve favorable deblurring quality on synthetic and real blurry images.Most non-blind deconvolution methods are developed under the error-free kernel assumption, and are not robust to inaccurate blur kernel. Unfortunately, despite the great progress in blind deconvolution, estimation error remains inevitable during blur kernel estimation. Consequently, severe artifacts such as ringing effects and distortions are likely to be introduced in the non-blind deconvolution stage. In this paper, we tackle this issue by suggesting: (i) a partial map in the Fourier domain for modeling kernel estimation error, and (ii) a partial deconvolution model for robust deblurring with inaccurate blur kernel. The partial map is constructed by detecting the reliable Fourier entries of estimated blur kernel. And partial deconvolution is applied to wavelet-based and learning

Methods for producing partially digested restriction DNA fragments and for producing a partially modified PCR product

DOEpatents

Wong, Kwong-Kwok

2000-01-01

The present invention is an improved method of making a partially modified PCR product from a DNA fragment with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In a standard PCR process, the DNA fragment is combined with starting deoxynucleoside triphosphates, a primer, a buffer and a DNA polymerase in a PCR mixture. The PCR mixture is then reacted in the PCR producing copies of the DNA fragment. The improvement of the present invention is adding an amount of a modifier at any step prior to completion of the PCR process thereby randomly and partially modifying the copies of the DNA fragment as a partially modified PCR product. The partially modified PCR product may then be digested with an enzyme that cuts the partially modified PCR product at unmodified sites thereby producing an array of DNA restriction fragments.

Methanol partial oxidation reformer

DOEpatents

Ahmed, Shabbir; Kumar, Romesh; Krumpelt, Michael

1999-01-01

A partial oxidation reformer comprising a longitudinally extending chamber having a methanol, water and an air inlet and an outlet. An igniter mechanism is near the inlets for igniting a mixture of methanol and air, while a partial oxidation catalyst in the chamber is spaced from the inlets and converts methanol and oxygen to carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Controlling the oxygen to methanol mole ratio provides continuous slightly exothermic partial oxidation reactions of methanol and air producing hydrogen gas. The liquid is preferably injected in droplets having diameters less than 100 micrometers. The reformer is useful in a propulsion system for a vehicle which supplies a hydrogen-containing gas to the negative electrode of a fuel cell.

Methanol partial oxidation reformer

DOEpatents

Ahmed, Shabbir; Kumar, Romesh; Krumpelt, Michael

2001-01-01

A partial oxidation reformer comprising a longitudinally extending chamber having a methanol, water and an air inlet and an outlet. An igniter mechanism is near the inlets for igniting a mixture of methanol and air, while a partial oxidation catalyst in the chamber is spaced from the inlets and converts methanol and oxygen to carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Controlling the oxygen to methanol mole ratio provides continuous slightly exothermic partial oxidation reactions of methanol and air producing hydrogen gas. The liquid is preferably injected in droplets having diameters less than 100 micrometers. The reformer is useful in a propulsion system for a vehicle which supplies a hydrogen-containing gas to the negative electrode of a fuel cell.

Magnetic properties of partially oxidized Fe films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Miguel Angel; Lopez-Dominguez, Victor; Hernando, Antonio

Hybrid magnetic nanostructures exhibit appealing properties due to interface and proximity effects. A simple and interesting system of hybrid magnetic nanomaterials are partially oxidized ferromagnetic films. We have fabricated Fe films by thermal evaporation and performed a partial oxidation to magnetite (Fe3O4) by annealing in air at different times and temperatures. The magnetic properties of the films evolve from those of pure metallic iron to pure magnetite, showing intermediate states where the proximity effects control the magnetic behavior. At some stages, the magnetization curves obtained by SQUID and MOKE magnetometry exhibit important differences due to the dissimilar contribution of both phases to the magneto-optical response of the system This work has been supported by the Ministerio Español de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) MAT2013-48009-C4-1. V.L.D and M.A.G. acknowledges financial support from BBVA foundation.

Dissipative instability in a partially ionised prominence plasma slab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballai, I.; Pintér, B.; Oliver, R.; Alexandrou, M.

2017-07-01

Aims: We aim to investigate the nature of dissipative instability appearing in a prominence planar thread filled with partially ionised plasma in the incompressible limit. The importance of partial ionisation is investigated in terms of the ionisation factor and the wavelength of sausage and kink waves propagating in the slab. Methods: In order to highlight the role of partial ionisation, we have constructed models describing various situations we can meet in solar prominence fine structure. Matching the solutions for the transversal component of the velocity and total pressure at the interfaces between the prominence slab and surrounding plasmas, we derived a dispersion relation whose imaginary part describes the evolution of the instability. Results were obtained in the limit of weak dissipation. We have investigated the appearance of instabilities in prominence dark plumes using single and two-fluid approximations. Results: Using simple analytical methods, we show that dissipative instabilities appear for flow speeds that are less than the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability threshold. The onset of instability is determined by the equilibrium flow strength, the ionisation factor of the plasma, the wavelength of waves and the ion-neutral collisional rate. For a given wavelength and for ionisation degrees closer to a neutral gas, the propagating waves become unstable for a narrow band of flow speeds, meaning that neutrals have a stabilising effect. Our results show that the partially ionised plasma describing prominence dark plumes becomes unstable only in a two-fluid (charged particles-neutrals) model, that is for periods that are smaller than the ion-neutral collision time. Conclusions: The present study improves our understanding of the complexity of dynamical processes and stability of solar prominences and the role partial ionisation in destabilising the plasma. We showed the necessity of two-fluid approximation when discussing the nature of instabilities: waves in

Use of partial least squares regression to impute SNP genotypes in Italian cattle breeds.

PubMed

Dimauro, Corrado; Cellesi, Massimo; Gaspa, Giustino; Ajmone-Marsan, Paolo; Steri, Roberto; Marras, Gabriele; Macciotta, Nicolò P P

2013-06-05

The objective of the present study was to test the ability of the partial least squares regression technique to impute genotypes from low density single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) panels i.e. 3K or 7K to a high density panel with 50K SNP. No pedigree information was used. Data consisted of 2093 Holstein, 749 Brown Swiss and 479 Simmental bulls genotyped with the Illumina 50K Beadchip. First, a single-breed approach was applied by using only data from Holstein animals. Then, to enlarge the training population, data from the three breeds were combined and a multi-breed analysis was performed. Accuracies of genotypes imputed using the partial least squares regression method were compared with those obtained by using the Beagle software. The impact of genotype imputation on breeding value prediction was evaluated for milk yield, fat content and protein content. In the single-breed approach, the accuracy of imputation using partial least squares regression was around 90 and 94% for the 3K and 7K platforms, respectively; corresponding accuracies obtained with Beagle were around 85% and 90%. Moreover, computing time required by the partial least squares regression method was on average around 10 times lower than computing time required by Beagle. Using the partial least squares regression method in the multi-breed resulted in lower imputation accuracies than using single-breed data. The impact of the SNP-genotype imputation on the accuracy of direct genomic breeding values was small. The correlation between estimates of genetic merit obtained by using imputed versus actual genotypes was around 0.96 for the 7K chip. Results of the present work suggested that the partial least squares regression imputation method could be useful to impute SNP genotypes when pedigree information is not available.

Partially converted stereoscopic images and the effects on visual attention and memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sanghyun; Morikawa, Hiroyuki; Mitsuya, Reiko; Kawai, Takashi; Watanabe, Katsumi

2015-03-01

This study contained two experimental examinations of the cognitive activities such as visual attention and memory in viewing stereoscopic (3D) images. For this study, partially converted 3D images were used with binocular parallax added to a specific region of the image. In Experiment 1, change blindness was used as a presented stimulus. The visual attention and impact on memory were investigated by measuring the response time to accomplish the given task. In the change blindness task, an 80 ms blank was intersected between the original and altered images, and the two images were presented alternatingly for 240 ms each. Subjects were asked to temporarily memorize the two switching images and to compare them, visually recognizing the difference between the two. The stimuli for four conditions (2D, 3D, Partially converted 3D, distracted partially converted 3D) were randomly displayed for 20 subjects. The results of Experiment 1 showed that partially converted 3D images tend to attract visual attention and are prone to remain in viewer's memory in the area where moderate negative parallax has been added. In order to examine the impact of a dynamic binocular disparity on partially converted 3D images, an evaluation experiment was conducted that applied learning, distraction, and recognition tasks for 33 subjects. The learning task involved memorizing the location of cells in a 5 × 5 matrix pattern using two different colors. Two cells were positioned with alternating colors, and one of the gray cells was moved up, down, left, or right by one cell width. Experimental conditions was set as a partially converted 3D condition in which a gray cell moved diagonally for a certain period of time with a dynamic binocular disparity added, a 3D condition in which binocular disparity was added to all gray cells, and a 2D condition. The correct response rates for recognition of each task after the distraction task were compared. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the correct

Hidden physics models: Machine learning of nonlinear partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raissi, Maziar; Karniadakis, George Em

2018-03-01

While there is currently a lot of enthusiasm about "big data", useful data is usually "small" and expensive to acquire. In this paper, we present a new paradigm of learning partial differential equations from small data. In particular, we introduce hidden physics models, which are essentially data-efficient learning machines capable of leveraging the underlying laws of physics, expressed by time dependent and nonlinear partial differential equations, to extract patterns from high-dimensional data generated from experiments. The proposed methodology may be applied to the problem of learning, system identification, or data-driven discovery of partial differential equations. Our framework relies on Gaussian processes, a powerful tool for probabilistic inference over functions, that enables us to strike a balance between model complexity and data fitting. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a variety of canonical problems, spanning a number of scientific domains, including the Navier-Stokes, Schrödinger, Kuramoto-Sivashinsky, and time dependent linear fractional equations. The methodology provides a promising new direction for harnessing the long-standing developments of classical methods in applied mathematics and mathematical physics to design learning machines with the ability to operate in complex domains without requiring large quantities of data.

An Ultrasonic Clamp for Bloodless Partial Nephrectomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lafon, Cyril; Bouchoux, Guillaume; Murat, François Joseph; Birer, Alain; Theillère, Yves; Chapelon, Jean Yves; Cathignol, Dominique

2007-05-01

Maximum conservation of the kidney is preferable through partial nephrectomy for patients at risk of disease recurrence of renal cancers. Haemostatic tools are needed in order to achieve bloodless surgery and reduce post surgery morbidity. Two piezo-ceramic transducers operating at a frequency of 4 MHz were mounted on each arm of a clamp. When used for coagulation purposes, two transducers situated on opposite arms of the clamp were driven simultaneously. Heat delivery was optimized as each transducers mirrored back to targeted tissues the wave generated by the opposite transducer. Real-time treatment monitoring with an echo-based technique was also envisaged with this clamp. Therapy was periodically interrupted so one transducer could generate a pulse. The echo returning from the opposite transducer was treated. Coagulation necroses were obtained in vitro on substantial thicknesses (23-38mm) of pig liver over exposure durations ranging from 30s to 130s, and with acoustic intensities of less than 15W/cm2 per transducer. Both kidneys of two pigs were treated in vivo with the clamp (14.5W/cm2 for 90s), and the partial nephrectomies performed proved to be bloodless. In vitro and in vivo, wide transfixing lesions corresponded to an echo energy decrease superior to -10dB and parabolic form of the time of flight versus treatment time. In conclusion, this ultrasound clamp has proven to be an excellent mean for achieving monitored haemostasis in kidney.

Application of partial inversion pulse to ultrasonic time-domain correlation method to measure the flow rate in a pipe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wada, Sanehiro; Furuichi, Noriyuki; Shimada, Takashi

2017-11-01

This paper proposes the application of a novel ultrasonic pulse, called a partial inversion pulse (PIP), to the measurement of the velocity profile and flow rate in a pipe using the ultrasound time-domain correlation (UTDC) method. In general, the measured flow rate depends on the velocity profile in the pipe; thus, on-site calibration is the only method of checking the accuracy of on-site flow rate measurements. Flow rate calculation using UTDC is based on the integration of the measured velocity profile. The advantages of this method compared with the ultrasonic pulse Doppler method include the possibility of the velocity range having no limitation and its applicability to flow fields without a sufficient amount of reflectors. However, it has been previously reported that the measurable velocity range for UTDC is limited by false detections. Considering the application of this method to on-site flow fields, the issue of velocity range is important. To reduce the effect of false detections, a PIP signal, which is an ultrasound signal that contains a partially inverted region, was developed in this study. The advantages of the PIP signal are that it requires little additional hardware cost and no additional software cost in comparison with conventional methods. The effects of inversion on the characteristics of the ultrasound transmission were estimated through numerical calculation. Then, experimental measurements were performed at a national standard calibration facility for water flow rate in Japan. The experimental results demonstrate that measurements made using a PIP signal are more accurate and yield a higher detection ratio than measurements using a normal pulse signal.

Application of partially coherent modes for studying generation of a Gaussian partially coherent laser beam

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suvorov, A A

2010-10-15

The problem of steady-state generation of a Gaussian partially coherent beam in a stable-cavity laser is considered within the framework of the method of expansion of the radiation coherence function in partially coherent modes. We discuss the conditions whose fulfilment makes it possible to neglect the intermode beatings of the radiation field and the effect of the gain dispersion on the steady-state generation of multimode partially coherent radiation. Based on the simplified model, we solve the self-consistent problem of generation of a Gaussian partially coherent beam for the given laser pump conditions and the resonator parameters. The dependence of themore » beam characteristics (power, radius, etc.) on the active medium properties and the resonator parameters is obtained. (laser beams)« less

Edible bird’s nest attenuates procoagulation effects of high-fat diet in rats

PubMed Central

Yida, Zhang; Imam, Mustapha Umar; Ismail, Maznah; Ismail, Norsharina; Hou, Zhiping

2015-01-01

Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is popular in Asia, and has long been used traditionally as a supplement. There are, however, limited evidence-based studies on its efficacy. EBN has been reported to improve dyslipidemia, which is closely linked to hypercoagulation states. In the present study, the effects of EBN on high-fat diet- (HFD-) induced coagulation in rats were evaluated. Rats were fed for 12 weeks with HFD alone or in combination with simvastatin or EBN. Food intake was estimated, and weight measurements were made during the experimental period. After sacrifice, serum oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), adiponectin, leptin, von willibrand factor, prostacyclin, thromboxane and lipid profile, and whole blood coagulation indices (bleeding time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, red blood count count, and platelet count) were estimated. Furthermore, hepatic expression of coagulation-related genes was evaluated using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated that EBN could attenuate HFD-induced hypercholesterolemia and coagulation similar to simvastatin, partly through transcriptional regulation of coagulation-related genes. The results suggested that EBN has the potential for lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease-related hypercoagulation due to hypercholesterolemia. PMID:26251574

International Council for Standardization in Haematology (ICSH) Recommendations for Laboratory Measurement of Direct Oral Anticoagulants.

PubMed

Gosselin, Robert C; Adcock, Dorothy M; Bates, Shannon M; Douxfils, Jonathan; Favaloro, Emmanuel J; Gouin-Thibault, Isabelle; Guillermo, Cecilia; Kawai, Yohko; Lindhoff-Last, Edelgard; Kitchen, Steve

2018-03-01

This guidance document was prepared on behalf of the International Council for Standardization in Haematology (ICSH) for providing haemostasis-related guidance documents for clinical laboratories. This inaugural coagulation ICSH document was developed by an ad hoc committee, comprised of international clinical and laboratory direct acting oral anticoagulant (DOAC) experts. The committee developed consensus recommendations for laboratory measurement of DOACs (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban), which would be germane for laboratories assessing DOAC anticoagulation. This guidance document addresses all phases of laboratory DOAC measurements, including pre-analytical (e.g. preferred time sample collection, preferred sample type, sample stability), analytical (gold standard method, screening and quantifying methods) and post analytical (e.g. reporting units, quality assurance). The committee addressed the use and limitations of screening tests such as prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time as well as viscoelastic measurements of clotting blood and point of care methods. Additionally, the committee provided recommendations for the proper validation or verification of performance of laboratory assays prior to implementation for clinical use, and external quality assurance to provide continuous assessment of testing and reporting method. Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart.

Differential action of medically important Indian BIG FOUR snake venoms on rodent blood coagulation.

PubMed

Hiremath, Vilas; Nanjaraj Urs, A N; Joshi, Vikram; Suvilesh, K N; Savitha, M N; Urs Amog, Prathap; Rudresha, G V; Yariswamy, M; Vishwanath, B S

2016-02-01

Snakebite is a global health problem affecting millions of people. According to WHO, India has the highest mortality and/or morbidity due to snakebite. In spite of commendable research on Indian BIG FOUR venomous species; Naja naja and Bungarus caeruleus (elapid); Daboia russelii and Echis carinatus (viperid), no significant progress has been achieved in terms of diagnosis and management of biting species with appropriate anti-snake venom. Major hurdle is identification of offending species. Present study aims at differentiation of Indian BIG FOUR snake venoms based on their distinguish action on rodent blood coagulation. Assessment of coagulation alterations by elapid venoms showed negligible effect on re-calcification time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time and factors assay (I, II, V, VIII and X) both in vitro and in vivo. However, viperid venoms demonstrated significant anticoagulant status due to their remarkable fibrinogen degradation potentials as supported by fibrinogenolytic activity, fibrinogen zymography and rotational thromboelastometry. Though results provide hint on probable alterations of Indian BIG FOUR snake venoms on blood coagulation, the study however needs validation from human victim's samples to ascertain its reliability for identification of biting snake species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A New Route of Fucoidan Immobilization on Low Density Polyethylene and Its Blood Compatibility and Anticoagulation Activity

PubMed Central

Ozaltin, Kadir; Lehocký, Marián; Humpolíček, Petr; Pelková, Jana; Sáha, Petr

2016-01-01

Beside biomaterials’ bulk properties, their surface properties are equally important to control interfacial biocompatibility. However, due to the inadequate interaction with tissue, they may cause foreign body reaction. Moreover, surface induced thrombosis can occur when biomaterials are used for blood containing applications. Surface modification of the biomaterials can bring enhanced surface properties in biomedical applications. Sulfated polysaccharide coatings can be used to avoid surface induced thrombosis which may cause vascular occlusion (blocking the blood flow by blood clot), which results in serious health problems. Naturally occurring heparin is one of the sulfated polysaccharides most commonly used as an anticoagulant, but its long term usage causes hemorrhage. Marine sourced sulfated polysaccharide fucoidan is an alternative anticoagulant without the hemorrhage drawback. Heparin and fucoidan immobilization onto a low density polyethylene surface after functionalization by plasma has been studied. Surface energy was demonstrated by water contact angle test and chemical characterizations were carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Surface morphology was monitored by scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope. Finally, their anticoagulation activity was examined for prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and thrombin time (TT). PMID:27294915

An apparent case of brodifacoum toxicosis in a whelping dog.

PubMed

Fitzgerald, Scott D; Martinez, Jennifer; Buchweitz, John P

2018-01-01

A 7-y-old Weimaraner bitch was presented to emergency service after 3 h of active labor with no puppies produced. Hemoabdomen and hemothorax were present at the time of surgery; prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) were both found to be within normal ranges. Surgical cesarean section was performed; 4 dead puppies and 5 live puppies were delivered. Because hemostasis was difficult to achieve, a hysterectomy was performed; however, the dog died as the operation was being completed. At autopsy, the pleural cavity contained 1.5 L of unclotted blood; the peritoneal cavity was relatively normal, and no obvious hemorrhage was associated with the surgical sites. All 4 dead fetuses were opened, and their pleural cavities were filled with unclotted blood. An anticoagulant screen was performed, and brodifacoum was identified in the liver of the bitch. This case is unusual in that the PT and aPTT were within reference intervals, but brodifacoum was present in sufficient amounts to potentially result in this dog bleeding to death, and also is suspected to have crossed the placenta and caused hemothorax and death in 4 of 9 puppies in utero.

Pharmacological Differentiation of Thrombomodulin Alfa and Activated Protein C on Coagulation and Fibrinolysis In Vitro.

PubMed

Tanaka, Kosuke; Tawara, Shunsuke; Tsuruta, Kazuhisa; Hoppensteadt, Debra; Fareed, Jawed

2018-01-01

Although thrombomodulin alfa (TM alfa), recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin, exerts antithrombogenic effects through activated protein C (APC), clinical trials suggested that TM alfa has a lower bleeding risk than does recombinant human APC. To address the mechanism explaining this difference, effects of TM alfa and APC on thrombogenic, coagulation, and fibrinolytic processes were compared in vitro. TM alfa and APC inhibited generation of thrombogenic markers, thrombin, and prothrombin fragment F1+2 and prolonged coagulation parameters, activated clotting time (ACT), and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). Concentrations of TM alfa effective for thrombin and F1+2 generation inhibition were comparable to those of APC. However, effects of TM alfa on ACT and APTT were clearly weaker than those of APC. TM alfa significantly prolonged clot lysis time (CLT) and decreased LY30, a parameter of degree of fibrinolysis in thromboelastography, whereas APC significantly shortened CLT and increased LY30. These results suggested that while the antithrombogenic effects of TM alfa were similar to those of APC, its anticoagulant effects were lower. In addition, effects of TM alfa were antifibrinolytic, while those of APC were profibrinolytic.

Wind selectivity and partial compensation for wind drift among nocturnally migrating passerines

PubMed Central

McLaren, James D.

2012-01-01

A migrating bird’s response to wind can impact its timing, energy expenditure, and path taken. The extent to which nocturnal migrants select departure nights based on wind (wind selectivity) and compensate for wind drift remains unclear. In this paper, we determine the effect of wind selectivity and partial drift compensation on the probability of successfully arriving at a destination area and on overall migration speed. To do so, we developed an individual-based model (IBM) to simulate full drift and partial compensation migration of juvenile Willow Warblers (Phylloscopus trochilus) along the southwesterly (SW) European migration corridor to the Iberian coast. Various degrees of wind selectivity were tested according to how large a drift angle and transport cost (mechanical energy per unit distance) individuals were willing to tolerate on departure after dusk. In order to assess model results, we used radar measurements of nocturnal migration to estimate the wind selectivity and proportional drift among passerines flying in SW directions. Migration speeds in the IBM were highest for partial compensation populations tolerating at least 25% extra transport cost compared to windless conditions, which allowed more frequent departure opportunities. Drift tolerance affected migration speeds only weakly, whereas arrival probabilities were highest with drift tolerances below 20°. The radar measurements were indicative of low drift tolerance, 25% extra transport cost tolerance and partial compensation. We conclude that along migration corridors with generally nonsupportive winds, juvenile passerines should not strictly select supportive winds but partially compensate for drift to increase their chances for timely and accurate arrival. PMID:22936843

Wind selectivity and partial compensation for wind drift among nocturnally migrating passerines.

PubMed

McLaren, James D; Shamoun-Baranes, Judy; Bouten, Willem

2012-09-01

A migrating bird's response to wind can impact its timing, energy expenditure, and path taken. The extent to which nocturnal migrants select departure nights based on wind (wind selectivity) and compensate for wind drift remains unclear. In this paper, we determine the effect of wind selectivity and partial drift compensation on the probability of successfully arriving at a destination area and on overall migration speed. To do so, we developed an individual-based model (IBM) to simulate full drift and partial compensation migration of juvenile Willow Warblers (Phylloscopus trochilus) along the southwesterly (SW) European migration corridor to the Iberian coast. Various degrees of wind selectivity were tested according to how large a drift angle and transport cost (mechanical energy per unit distance) individuals were willing to tolerate on departure after dusk. In order to assess model results, we used radar measurements of nocturnal migration to estimate the wind selectivity and proportional drift among passerines flying in SW directions. Migration speeds in the IBM were highest for partial compensation populations tolerating at least 25% extra transport cost compared to windless conditions, which allowed more frequent departure opportunities. Drift tolerance affected migration speeds only weakly, whereas arrival probabilities were highest with drift tolerances below 20°. The radar measurements were indicative of low drift tolerance, 25% extra transport cost tolerance and partial compensation. We conclude that along migration corridors with generally nonsupportive winds, juvenile passerines should not strictly select supportive winds but partially compensate for drift to increase their chances for timely and accurate arrival.

An EOQ model of time quadratic and inventory dependent demand for deteriorated items with partially backlogged shortages under trade credit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Pushpinder; Mishra, Nitin Kumar; Singh, Vikramjeet; Saxena, Seema

2017-07-01

In this paper a single buyer, single supplier inventory model with time quadratic and stock dependent demand for a finite planning horizon has been studied. Single deteriorating item which suffers shortage, with partial backlogging and some lost sales is considered. Model is divided into two scenarios, one with non permissible delay in payment and other with permissible delay in payment. Latter is called, centralized system, where supplier offers trade credit to retailer. In the centralized system cost saving is shared amongst the two. The objective is to study the difference in minimum costs borne by retailer and supplier, under two scenarios including the above mentioned parameters. To obtain optimal solution of the problem the model is solved analytically. Numerical example and a comparative study are then discussed supported by sensitivity analysis of each parameter.

Effects of tranexamic acid on coagulation indexes of patients undergoing heart valve replacement surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass

PubMed Central

Liu, Fei; Xu, Dong; Zhang, Kefeng; Zhang, Jian

2016-01-01

This study aims to explore the effects of tranexamic acid on the coagulation indexes of patients undergoing heart valve replacement surgery under the condition of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). One hundred patients who conformed to the inclusive criteria were selected and divided into a tranexamic acid group and a non-tranexamic acid group. They all underwent heart valve replacement surgery under CPB. Patients in the tranexamic acid group were intravenously injected with 1 g of tranexamic acid (100 mL) at the time point after anesthesia induction and before skin incision and at the time point after the neutralization of heparin. Patients in the non-tranexamic acid group were given 100 mL of normal saline at corresponding time points, respectively. Then the coagulation indexes of the two groups were analyzed. The activated blood clotting time (ACT) of the two groups was within normal scope before CPB, while four coagulation indexes including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), international normalized ratio (INR), and fibrinogen (FIB) had significant increases after surgery; the PT and INR of the tranexamic acid group had a remarkable decline after surgery. All the findings suggest that the application of tranexamic acid in heart valve replacement surgery under CPB can effectively reduce intraoperative and postoperative blood loss. PMID:27694613

Partial reinforcement of avoidance and resistance to extinction in humans.

PubMed

Xia, Weike; Dymond, Simon; Lloyd, Keith; Vervliet, Bram

2017-09-01

In anxiety, maladaptive avoidance behavior provides for near-perfect controllability of potential threat. There has been little laboratory-based treatment research conducted on controllability as a contributing factor in the transition from adaptive to maladaptive avoidance. Here, we investigated for the first time whether partial reinforcement rate, or the reliability of avoidance at controlling or preventing contact with an aversive event, influences subsequent extinction of avoidance in humans. Five groups of participants were exposed to different partial reinforcement rates where avoidance cancelled upcoming shock on 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% or 0% of trials. During extinction, all shocks were withheld. Avoidance behavior, online shock expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were measured throughout. We found that avoidance was a function of relative controllability: higher reinforcement rate groups engaged in significantly more extinction-resistant avoidance than lower reinforcement groups, and shock expectancy was inversely related with reinforcement rate during avoidance acquisition. Partial reinforcement effects were not evident in SCRs. Overall, the current study highlights the clinical relevance of laboratory-based treatment research on partial reinforcement or controllability effects on extinction of avoidance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of partial knowledge in statistical word learning

PubMed Central

Fricker, Damian C.; Yu, Chen; Smith, Linda B.

2013-01-01

A critical question about the nature of human learning is whether it is an all-or-none or a gradual, accumulative process. Associative and statistical theories of word learning rely critically on the later assumption: that the process of learning a word's meaning unfolds over time. That is, learning the correct referent for a word involves the accumulation of partial knowledge across multiple instances. Some theories also make an even stronger claim: Partial knowledge of one word–object mapping can speed up the acquisition of other word–object mappings. We present three experiments that test and verify these claims by exposing learners to two consecutive blocks of cross-situational learning, in which half of the words and objects in the second block were those that participants failed to learn in Block 1. In line with an accumulative account, Re-exposure to these mis-mapped items accelerated the acquisition of both previously experienced mappings and wholly new word–object mappings. But how does partial knowledge of some words speed the acquisition of others? We consider two hypotheses. First, partial knowledge of a word could reduce the amount of information required for it to reach threshold, and the supra-threshold mapping could subsequently aid in the acquisition of new mappings. Alternatively, partial knowledge of a word's meaning could be useful for disambiguating the meanings of other words even before the threshold of learning is reached. We construct and compare computational models embodying each of these hypotheses and show that the latter provides a better explanation of the empirical data. PMID:23702980

Immediate Partial Breast Reconstruction with Endoscopic Latissimus Dorsi Muscle Flap Harvest

PubMed Central

Yang, Chae Eun; Roh, Tai Suk; Yun, In Sik; Lew, Dae Hyun

2014-01-01

Background Currently, breast conservation therapy is commonly performed for the treatment of early breast cancer. Depending on the volume excised, patients may require volume replacement, even in cases of partial mastectomy. The use of the latissimus dorsi muscle is the standard method, but this procedure leaves an unfavorable scar on the donor site. We used an endoscope for latissimus dorsi harvesting to minimize the incision, thus reducing postoperative scars. Methods Ten patients who underwent partial mastectomy and immediate partial breast reconstruction with endoscopic latissimus dorsi muscle flap harvest were reviewed retrospectively. The total operation time, hospital stay, and complications were reviewed. Postoperative scarring, overall shape of the reconstructed breast, and donor site deformity were assessed using a 10-point scale. Results In the mean follow-up of 11 weeks, no tumor recurrence was reported. The mean operation time was 294.5 (±38.2) minutes. The postoperative hospital stay was 11.4 days. Donor site seroma was reported in four cases and managed by office aspiration and compressive dressing. Postoperative scarring, donor site deformity, and the overall shape of the neobreast were acceptable, scoring above 7. Conclusions Replacement of 20% to 40% of breast volume in the upper and the lower outer quadrants with a latissimus dorsi muscle flap by using endoscopic harvesting is a good alternative reconstruction technique after partial mastectomy. Short incision benefits from a very acceptable postoperative scar, less pain, and early upper extremity movement. PMID:25276643

Methanol partial oxidation reformer

DOEpatents

Ahmed, S.; Kumar, R.; Krumpelt, M.

1999-08-17

A partial oxidation reformer is described comprising a longitudinally extending chamber having a methanol, water and an air inlet and an outlet. An igniter mechanism is near the inlets for igniting a mixture of methanol and air, while a partial oxidation catalyst in the chamber is spaced from the inlets and converts methanol and oxygen to carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Controlling the oxygen to methanol mole ratio provides continuous slightly exothermic partial oxidation reactions of methanol and air producing hydrogen gas. The liquid is preferably injected in droplets having diameters less than 100 micrometers. The reformer is useful in a propulsion system for a vehicle which supplies a hydrogen-containing gas to the negative electrode of a fuel cell. 7 figs.

Methanol partial oxidation reformer

DOEpatents

Ahmed, S.; Kumar, R.; Krumpelt, M.

1999-08-24

A partial oxidation reformer is described comprising a longitudinally extending chamber having a methanol, water and an air inlet and an outlet. An igniter mechanism is near the inlets for igniting a mixture of methanol and air, while a partial oxidation catalyst in the chamber is spaced from the inlets and converts methanol and oxygen to carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Controlling the oxygen to methanol mole ratio provides continuous slightly exothermic partial oxidation reactions of methanol and air producing hydrogen gas. The liquid is preferably injected in droplets having diameters less than 100 micrometers. The reformer is useful in a propulsion system for a vehicle which supplies a hydrogen-containing gas to the negative electrode of a fuel cell. 7 figs.

Oxygen partial pressure sensor

DOEpatents

Dees, D.W.

1994-09-06

A method for detecting oxygen partial pressure and an oxygen partial pressure sensor are provided. The method for measuring oxygen partial pressure includes contacting oxygen to a solid oxide electrolyte and measuring the subsequent change in electrical conductivity of the solid oxide electrolyte. A solid oxide electrolyte is utilized that contacts both a porous electrode and a nonporous electrode. The electrical conductivity of the solid oxide electrolyte is affected when oxygen from an exhaust stream permeates through the porous electrode to establish an equilibrium of oxygen anions in the electrolyte, thereby displacing electrons throughout the electrolyte to form an electron gradient. By adapting the two electrodes to sense a voltage potential between them, the change in electrolyte conductivity due to oxygen presence can be measured. 1 fig.

Oxygen partial pressure sensor

DOEpatents

Dees, Dennis W.

1994-01-01

A method for detecting oxygen partial pressure and an oxygen partial pressure sensor are provided. The method for measuring oxygen partial pressure includes contacting oxygen to a solid oxide electrolyte and measuring the subsequent change in electrical conductivity of the solid oxide electrolyte. A solid oxide electrolyte is utilized that contacts both a porous electrode and a nonporous electrode. The electrical conductivity of the solid oxide electrolyte is affected when oxygen from an exhaust stream permeates through the porous electrode to establish an equilibrium of oxygen anions in the electrolyte, thereby displacing electrons throughout the electrolyte to form an electron gradient. By adapting the two electrodes to sense a voltage potential between them, the change in electrolyte conductivity due to oxygen presence can be measured.

Photogenic partial seizures.

PubMed

Hennessy, M J; Binnie, C D

2000-01-01

To establish the incidence and symptoms of partial seizures in a cohort of patients investigated on account of known sensitivity to intermittent photic stimulation and/or precipitation of seizures by environmental visual stimuli such as television (TV) screens or computer monitors. We report 43 consecutive patients with epilepsy, who had exhibited a significant EEG photoparoxysmal response or who had seizures precipitated by environmental visual stimuli and underwent detailed assessment of their photosensitivity in the EEG laboratory, during which all were questioned concerning their ictal symptoms. All patients were considered on clinical grounds to have an idiopathic epilepsy syndrome. Twenty-eight (65%) patients reported visually precipitated attacks occurring initially with maintained consciousness, in some instances evolving to a period of confusion or to a secondarily generalized seizure. Visual symptoms were most commonly reported and included positive symptoms such as coloured circles or spots, but also blindness and subjective symptoms such as "eyes going funny." Other symptoms described included nonspecific cephalic sensations, deja-vu, auditory hallucinations, nausea, and vomiting. No patient reported any clear spontaneous partial seizures, and there were no grounds for supposing that any had partial epilepsy excepting the ictal phenomenology of some or all of the visually induced attacks. These findings provide clinical support for the physiological studies that indicate that the trigger mechanism for human photosensitivity involves binocularly innervated cells located in the visual cortex. Thus the visual cortex is the seat of the primary epileptogenic process, and the photically triggered discharges and seizures may be regarded as partial with secondary generalization.

Purified polysaccharides of Geoffroea spinosa barks have anticoagulant and antithrombotic activities devoid of hemorrhagic risks.

PubMed

Souza, Racquel O S; Assreuy, Ana M S; Madeira, Juliana C; Chagas, Francisco D S; Parreiras, Luane A; Santos, Gustavo R C; Mourão, Paulo A S; Pereira, Maria G

2015-06-25

Polysaccharides were extracted from the barks of Geoffroea spinosa, purified using anion exchange chromatography and characterized by chemical and methylation analysis, complemented by infrared and NMR spectroscopies. These polysaccharides were tested for their anticoagulant, antithrombotic and antiplatelet activities and also for their effects on bleeding. Unfractionated polysaccharide contains low levels of protein and high levels of carbohydrate (including hexuronic acid). The purified polysaccharides (fractions FII and FIII) are composed of arabinose (Ara), rhamnose (Rha), hexuronic acid, small amounts of galactose, but no sulfate ester. They have highly complex structure, which was partially characterized. NMR and methylation analysis indicate that the polysaccharides have a core of α-Rhap and branches of 5-linked α-Araf. Residues of 4-linked α-GalpA are also found in the structure. The unfractionated (TPL) and fraction FIII, but not fractions FI and FII, prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). TPL, FII and FIII inhibited the platelet aggregation induced by ADP. More significantly, both unfractionated and purified fractions exhibited potent antithrombotic effect (31-60%) and the fractions did not modify the bleeding tendency. These plant polysaccharides could be alternative source of new anticoagulant, antiplatelet and antithrombotic compounds devoid of the undesirable risk of hemorrhage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating Partial Polarization into a Metal-Ferroelectric-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

MacLeod, Todd C.; Ho, Fat Duen

1999-01-01

The ferroelectric channel in a Metal-Ferroelectric-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MFSFET) can partially change its polarization when the gate voltage near the polarization threshold voltage. This causes the MFSFET Drain current to change with repeated pulses of the same gate voltage near the polarization threshold voltage. A previously developed model [11, based on the Fermi-Dirac function, assumed that for a given gate voltage and channel polarization, a sin-le Drain current value would be generated. A study has been done to characterize the effects of partial polarization on the Drain current of a MFSFET. These effects have been described mathematically and these equations have been incorporated into a more comprehensive mathematical model of the MFSFET. The model takes into account the hysteresis nature of the MFSFET and the time dependent decay as well as the effects of partial polarization. This model defines the Drain current based on calculating the degree of polarization from previous gate pulses, the present Gate voltage, and the amount of time since the last Gate volta-e pulse.

Influence of habitat and number of nestlings on partial brood loss in red-cockaded woodpeckers

Treesearch

James R. McCormick; Richard N. Conner; D. Brent Burt; Daniel Saenz

2004-01-01

Partial brood loss in red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) was studied during 2 breeding seasons in eastern Texas. The timing of partial brood loss, group size, number of initial nestlings, number of birds fledged, and habitat characteristics of the group's cavity-tree cluster were examined for 37 woodpecker groups in loblolly- (

Partially massless fields during inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumann, Daniel; Goon, Garrett; Lee, Hayden; Pimentel, Guilherme L.

2018-04-01

The representation theory of de Sitter space allows for a category of partially massless particles which have no flat space analog, but could have existed during inflation. We study the couplings of these exotic particles to inflationary perturbations and determine the resulting signatures in cosmological correlators. When inflationary perturbations interact through the exchange of these fields, their correlation functions inherit scalings that cannot be mimicked by extra massive fields. We discuss in detail the squeezed limit of the tensor-scalar-scalar bispectrum, and show that certain partially massless fields can violate the tensor consistency relation of single-field inflation. We also consider the collapsed limit of the scalar trispectrum, and find that the exchange of partially massless fields enhances its magnitude, while giving no contribution to the scalar bispectrum. These characteristic signatures provide clean detection channels for partially massless fields during inflation.

Energetics and mechanics for partial gravity locomotion.

PubMed

Newman, D J; Alexander, H L; Webbon, B W

1994-09-01

The role of gravitational acceleration on human locomotion is not clearly understood. It is hypothesized that the mechanics and energetics of locomotion depend upon the prevailing gravity level. A unique human-rated underwater treadmill and an adjustable ballasting harness were used to stimulate partial gravity environments. This study has two research aspects, biomechanics and energetics. Vertical forces which are exerted by subjects on the treadmill-mounted, split-plate force platform show that peak vertical force and stride frequency significantly decrease (p < 0.05) as the gravity level is reduced, while ground contact time is independent of gravity level. A loping gait is employed over a wide range of speeds (approximately 1.5 m/s to approximately 2.3 m/s) suggesting a change in the mechanics for lunar (1/6 G) and Martian (3/8 G) locomotion. As theory predicts, locomotion energy requirements for partial gravity levels are significantly less than at 1 G (p < 0.05).

Ultrasound-assisted endoscopic partial plantar fascia release.

PubMed

Ohuchi, Hiroshi; Ichikawa, Ken; Shinga, Kotaro; Hattori, Soichi; Yamada, Shin; Takahashi, Kazuhisa

2013-01-01

Various surgical treatment procedures for plantar fasciitis, such as open surgery, percutaneous release, and endoscopic surgery, exist. Skin trouble, nerve disturbance, infection, and persistent pain associated with prolonged recovery time are complications of open surgery. Endoscopic partial plantar fascia release offers the surgeon clear visualization of the anatomy at the surgical site. However, the primary medial portal and portal tract used for this technique have been shown to be in close proximity to the posterior tibial nerves and their branches, and there is always the risk of nerve damage by introducing the endoscope deep to the plantar fascia. By performing endoscopic partial plantar fascia release under ultrasound assistance, we could dynamically visualize the direction of the endoscope and instrument introduction, thus preventing nerve damage from inadvertent insertion deep to the fascia. Full-thickness release of the plantar fascia at the ideal position could also be confirmed under ultrasound imaging. We discuss the technique for this new procedure.

Ultrasound-Assisted Endoscopic Partial Plantar Fascia Release

PubMed Central

Ohuchi, Hiroshi; Ichikawa, Ken; Shinga, Kotaro; Hattori, Soichi; Yamada, Shin; Takahashi, Kazuhisa

2013-01-01

Various surgical treatment procedures for plantar fasciitis, such as open surgery, percutaneous release, and endoscopic surgery, exist. Skin trouble, nerve disturbance, infection, and persistent pain associated with prolonged recovery time are complications of open surgery. Endoscopic partial plantar fascia release offers the surgeon clear visualization of the anatomy at the surgical site. However, the primary medial portal and portal tract used for this technique have been shown to be in close proximity to the posterior tibial nerves and their branches, and there is always the risk of nerve damage by introducing the endoscope deep to the plantar fascia. By performing endoscopic partial plantar fascia release under ultrasound assistance, we could dynamically visualize the direction of the endoscope and instrument introduction, thus preventing nerve damage from inadvertent insertion deep to the fascia. Full-thickness release of the plantar fascia at the ideal position could also be confirmed under ultrasound imaging. We discuss the technique for this new procedure. PMID:24265989

Partially Ionized Plasmas in Astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballester, José Luis; Alexeev, Igor; Collados, Manuel; Downes, Turlough; Pfaff, Robert F.; Gilbert, Holly; Khodachenko, Maxim; Khomenko, Elena; Shaikhislamov, Ildar F.; Soler, Roberto; Vázquez-Semadeni, Enrique; Zaqarashvili, Teimuraz

2018-03-01

Partially ionized plasmas are found across the Universe in many different astrophysical environments. They constitute an essential ingredient of the solar atmosphere, molecular clouds, planetary ionospheres and protoplanetary disks, among other environments, and display a richness of physical effects which are not present in fully ionized plasmas. This review provides an overview of the physics of partially ionized plasmas, including recent advances in different astrophysical areas in which partial ionization plays a fundamental role. We outline outstanding observational and theoretical questions and discuss possible directions for future progress.

Prospective study on laser-assisted laparascopic partial nephrectomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sroka, Ronald; Hennig, Georg; Zilinberg, Katja; Khoder, Wael Y.

2012-02-01

Introduction: Developments in laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) opened a demand for surgical tools compatible with laparoscopic manipulations to make laser assisted technique safe, feasible and reproducible. Warm ischemia and bleeding during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy place technical constraints on surgeons. Therefore it was the aim to develop a safe and effective laser assisted partial nephrectomy technique without need for ischemia. Patients and methods: A diode laser emitting light at 1318nm in cw mode was coupled into a bare fibre (core diameter 600 μm) thus able to transfer up to 100W to the tissue. After dry lab experience, a total of 10 patients suffering from kidney malformations underwent laparoscopic/retroperitoneoscopic partial nephrectomy. Clinically, postoperative renal function and serum c-reactive protein (CRP) were monitored. Laser induced coagulation depth and effects on resection margins were evaluated. Demographic, clinical and follow-up data are presented. Using a commercial available fibre guidance instrument for lanringeal intervention, the demands on an innovative laser fibre guidance instrument for the laser assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LLPN) are summarized. Results: Overall, all laparascopic intervention were succesfull and could be performed without conversion to open surgery. Mean operative time and mean blood loss were comparable to conventional open and laparascopic approaches. Laser assisted resection of the kidney tissue took max 15min. After extirpation of the tumours all patients showed clinical favourable outcome during follow up period. Tumour sizes were measured to be up 5cm in diameter. The depth of the coagulation on the removed tissue ranged between <1 to 2mm without effect on histopathological evaluation of tumours or resection margin. As the surface of the remaining kidney surface was laser assisted coagulated after removal. The sealing of the surface was induced by a slightly larger coagulation

Direct medical costs for partial refractory epilepsy in Mexico.

PubMed

García-Contreras, Fernando; Constantino-Casas, Patricia; Castro-Ríos, Angélica; Nevárez-Sida, Armando; Estrada Correa, Gloria del Carmen; Carlos Rivera, Fernando; Guzmán-Caniupan, Jorge; Torres-Arreola, Laura del Pilar; Contreras-Hernández, Iris; Mould-Quevedo, Joaquin; Garduño-Espinosa, Juan

2006-04-01

The aim was to determine the direct medical costs in patients with partial refractory epilepsy at the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in Mexico. We carried out a multicenter, retrospective-cohort partial-economic evaluation study of partial refractory epilepsy (PRE) diagnosed patients and analyzed patient files from four secondary- and tertiary-level hospitals. PRE patients >12 years of age with two or more antiepileptic drugs and follow-up for at least 1 year were included. The perspective was institutional (IMSS). Only direct healthcare costs were considered, and the timeline was 1 year. Cost techniques were microcosting, average per-service cost, and per-day cost, all costs expressed in U.S. dollars (USD, 2004). We reviewed 813 files of PRE patients: 133 had a correct diagnosis, and only 72 met study inclusion criteria. Fifty eight percent were females, 64% were <35 years of age, 47% were students, in 73% maximum academic level achieved was high school, and 53% were single. Fifty one percent of cases experienced simple partial seizures and 94% had more than one monthly seizure. Annual healthcare cost of the 72 patients was 190,486 USD, ambulatory healthcare contributing 76% and hospital healthcare with 24%. Annual mean healthcare cost per PRE patient was 2,646 USD; time of disease evolution and severity of the patient's illness did not affect costs significantly.

Non-Linearity in Wide Dynamic Range CMOS Image Sensors Utilizing a Partial Charge Transfer Technique.

PubMed

Shafie, Suhaidi; Kawahito, Shoji; Halin, Izhal Abdul; Hasan, Wan Zuha Wan

2009-01-01

The partial charge transfer technique can expand the dynamic range of a CMOS image sensor by synthesizing two types of signal, namely the long and short accumulation time signals. However the short accumulation time signal obtained from partial transfer operation suffers of non-linearity with respect to the incident light. In this paper, an analysis of the non-linearity in partial charge transfer technique has been carried, and the relationship between dynamic range and the non-linearity is studied. The results show that the non-linearity is caused by two factors, namely the current diffusion, which has an exponential relation with the potential barrier, and the initial condition of photodiodes in which it shows that the error in the high illumination region increases as the ratio of the long to the short accumulation time raises. Moreover, the increment of the saturation level of photodiodes also increases the error in the high illumination region.

Partial differential equation models in macroeconomics.

PubMed

Achdou, Yves; Buera, Francisco J; Lasry, Jean-Michel; Lions, Pierre-Louis; Moll, Benjamin

2014-11-13

The purpose of this article is to get mathematicians interested in studying a number of partial differential equations (PDEs) that naturally arise in macroeconomics. These PDEs come from models designed to study some of the most important questions in economics. At the same time, they are highly interesting for mathematicians because their structure is often quite difficult. We present a number of examples of such PDEs, discuss what is known about their properties, and list some open questions for future research. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Impact of partial sleep deprivation on immune markers.

PubMed

Wilder-Smith, A; Mustafa, F B; Earnest, A; Gen, L; Macary, P A

2013-10-01

Sleep quality is considered to be an important predictor of immunity. Lack of sleep therefore may reduce immunity, thereby increasing the susceptibility to respiratory pathogens. A previous study showed that reduced sleep duration was associated with an increased likelihood of the common cold. It is important to understand the role of sleep in altering immune responses to understand how sleep deprivation leads to an increased susceptibility to the common cold or other respiratory infections. We sought to examine the impact of partial sleep deprivation on various immune markers. Fifty-two healthy volunteers were partially sleep deprived for one night. We took blood samples before the sleep deprivation, immediately after, and 4 and 7 days after sleep deprivation. We measured various immune markers and used a generalized estimating equation (GEE) to examine the differences in the repeated measures. CD4, CD8, CD14, and CD16 all showed significant time-dependent changes, but CD3 did not. The most striking time-dependent change was observed for the mitogen proliferation assay and for HLA-DR. There was a significant decrease in the mitogen proliferation values and HLA-DR immediately after the sleep deprivation experiment, which started to rise again on day 4 and normalized by day 7. The transiently impaired mitogen proliferation, the decreased HLA-DR, the upregulated CD14, and the variations in CD4 and CD8 that we observed in temporal relationship with partial sleep deprivation could be one possible explanation for the increased susceptibility to respiratory infections reported after reduced sleep duration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Partially coherent isodiffracting pulsed beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koivurova, Matias; Ding, Chaoliang; Turunen, Jari; Pan, Liuzhan

2018-02-01

We investigate a class of isodiffracting pulsed beams, which are superpositions of transverse modes supported by spherical-mirror laser resonators. By employing modal weights that, for stationary light, produce a Gaussian Schell-model beam, we extend this standard model to pulsed beams. We first construct the two-frequency cross-spectral density function that characterizes the spatial coherence in the space-frequency domain. By assuming a power-exponential spectral profile, we then employ the generalized Wiener-Khintchine theorem for nonstationary light to derive the two-time mutual coherence function that describes the space-time coherence of the ensuing beams. The isodiffracting nature of the laser resonator modes permits all (paraxial-domain) calculations at any propagation distance to be performed analytically. Significant spatiotemporal coupling is revealed in subcycle, single-cycle, and few-cycle domains, where the partial spatial coherence also leads to reduced temporal coherence even though full spectral coherence is assumed.

Associations between partial sickness benefit and disability pensions: initial findings of a Finnish nationwide register study.

PubMed

Kausto, Johanna; Virta, Lauri; Luukkonen, Ritva; Viikari-Juntura, Eira

2010-06-23

Timely return to work after longterm sickness absence and the increased use of flexible work arrangements together with partial health-related benefits are tools intended to increase participation in work life. Although partial sickness benefit and partial disability pension are used in many countries, prospective studies on their use are largely lacking. Partial sickness benefit was introduced in Finland in 2007. This register study aimed to investigate the use of health-related benefits by subjects with prolonged sickness absence, initially on either partial or full sick leave. Representative population data (13 375 men and 16 052 women either on partial or full sick leave in 2007) were drawn from national registers and followed over an average of 18 months. The registers provided information on the study outcomes: diagnoses and days of payment for compensated sick leaves, and the occurrence of disability pension. Survival analysis and multinomial regression were carried out using sociodemographic variables and prior sickness absence as covariates. Approximately 60% of subjects on partial sick leave and 30% of those on full sick leave had at least one recurrent sick leave over the follow up. A larger proportion of those on partial sick leave (16%) compared to those on full sick leave (1%) had their first recurrent sick leave during the first month of follow up. The adjusted risks of the first recurrent sick leave were 1.8 and 1.7 for men and women, respectively, when subjects on partial sick leave were compared with those on full sick leave. There was no increased risk when those with their first recurrent sick leave in the first month were excluded from the analyses. The risks of a full disability pension were smaller and risks of a partial disability pension approximately two-fold among men and women initially on partial sick leave, compared to subjects on full sick leave. This is the first follow up study of the newly adopted partial sickness benefit in

Associations between partial sickness benefit and disability pensions: initial findings of a Finnish nationwide register study

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Timely return to work after longterm sickness absence and the increased use of flexible work arrangements together with partial health-related benefits are tools intended to increase participation in work life. Although partial sickness benefit and partial disability pension are used in many countries, prospective studies on their use are largely lacking. Partial sickness benefit was introduced in Finland in 2007. This register study aimed to investigate the use of health-related benefits by subjects with prolonged sickness absence, initially on either partial or full sick leave. Methods Representative population data (13 375 men and 16 052 women either on partial or full sick leave in 2007) were drawn from national registers and followed over an average of 18 months. The registers provided information on the study outcomes: diagnoses and days of payment for compensated sick leaves, and the occurrence of disability pension. Survival analysis and multinomial regression were carried out using sociodemographic variables and prior sickness absence as covariates. Results Approximately 60% of subjects on partial sick leave and 30% of those on full sick leave had at least one recurrent sick leave over the follow up. A larger proportion of those on partial sick leave (16%) compared to those on full sick leave (1%) had their first recurrent sick leave during the first month of follow up. The adjusted risks of the first recurrent sick leave were 1.8 and 1.7 for men and women, respectively, when subjects on partial sick leave were compared with those on full sick leave. There was no increased risk when those with their first recurrent sick leave in the first month were excluded from the analyses. The risks of a full disability pension were smaller and risks of a partial disability pension approximately two-fold among men and women initially on partial sick leave, compared to subjects on full sick leave. Conclusions This is the first follow up study of the newly

Reduced Attention Allocation during Short Periods of Partially Automated Driving: An Event-Related Potentials Study

PubMed Central

Solís-Marcos, Ignacio; Galvao-Carmona, Alejandro; Kircher, Katja

2017-01-01

Research on partially automated driving has revealed relevant problems with driving performance, particularly when drivers’ intervention is required (e.g., take-over when automation fails). Mental fatigue has commonly been proposed to explain these effects after prolonged automated drives. However, performance problems have also been reported after just a few minutes of automated driving, indicating that other factors may also be involved. We hypothesize that, besides mental fatigue, an underload effect of partial automation may also affect driver attention. In this study, such potential effect was investigated during short periods of partially automated and manual driving and at different speeds. Subjective measures of mental demand and vigilance and performance to a secondary task (an auditory oddball task) were used to assess driver attention. Additionally, modulations of some specific attention-related event-related potentials (ERPs, N1 and P3 components) were investigated. The mental fatigue effects associated with the time on task were also evaluated by using the same measurements. Twenty participants drove in a fixed-base simulator while performing an auditory oddball task that elicited the ERPs. Six conditions were presented (5–6 min each) combining three speed levels (low, comfortable and high) and two automation levels (manual and partially automated). The results showed that, when driving partially automated, scores in subjective mental demand and P3 amplitudes were lower than in the manual conditions. Similarly, P3 amplitude and self-reported vigilance levels decreased with the time on task. Based on previous studies, these findings might reflect a reduction in drivers’ attention resource allocation, presumably due to the underload effects of partial automation and to the mental fatigue associated with the time on task. Particularly, such underload effects on attention could explain the performance decrements after short periods of automated

A Comparison of Robotic, Laparoscopic and Open Partial Nephrectomy

PubMed Central

Lucas, Steven M.; Mellon, Matthew J.; Erntsberger, Luke

2012-01-01

Introduction: Comparison of treatments for partial nephrectomy is limited by case selection. We compared robotic (RPN), laparoscopic (LPN), and open partial nephrectomy (OPN), controlling for tumor size, patient age, sex, and nephrometry score. Methods: RPN, LPN, and OPN procedures between March 2003 and March 2010 were reviewed. All RPN and LPN were included, and 2 OPN were matched for each RPN in tumor size (±0.5cm), patient age (±10 y), sex, and nephrometry score. Perioperative outcomes were compared. Results: Ninety-six partial nephrectomy procedures were reviewed: 27 RPN, 15 LPN, and 54 OPN. RPN, LPN, and OPN had similar median tumor size (2.4, 2.2, and 2.3cm, respectively), nephrometry score (6.0 each), and preoperative glomerular filtration rate (71.5, 84.6, and 77.0 mL/min/1.73m2, respectively). Blood loss was higher for OPN (250 mL) than for RPN or LPN (100 mL), P < .001. Operative time was shorter in OPN (147 min) than in RPN (190 min) or LPN (195 min), P < .001. Median warm ischemia time was shorter for OPN (12.0 min) than for RPN (25.0 min) or LPN (29.5 min), P < .05. Cold ischemia time for OPN was 25.0 min. A 10% glomerular filtration rate decline occurred in 10 RPN, 5 LPN, and 29 OPN cases (P = .252). Median hospital stay for LPN and RPN was 2.0 d versus 3.0 d for OPN (P < .001). Urine leak occurred in 1 RPN and 3 OPN cases. Postoperative complications occurred in 4 RPN (3 were Clavien grade 2 or less), 1 LPN (grade 1), and 7 OPN (6 were grade 2 or less) cases. Conclusion: Renal function preservation and complications are similar for each treatment modality. OPN offers faster operative and ischemia times at the expense of greater blood loss and hospital stay. PMID:23484568

Auto-Detection of Partial Discharges in Power Cables by Descrete Wavelet Transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasuda, Yoh; Hara, Takehisa; Urano, Koji; Chen, Min

One of the serious problems that may happen in power XLPE cables is destruction of insulator. The best and conventional way to prevent such a crucial accident is generally supposed to ascertain partial corona discharges occurring at small void in organic insulator. However, there are some difficulties to detect those partial discharges because of existence of external noises in detected data, whose patterns are hardly identified at a glance. By the reason of the problem, there have been a number of researches on the way of development to accomplish detecting partial discharges by employing neural network (NN) system, which is widely known as the system for pattern recognition. We have been developing the NN system of the auto-detection for partial discharges, which we actually input numerical data of waveform itself into and obtained appropriate performance from. In this paper, we employed Descrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) to acquire more detailed transformed data in order to put them into the NN system. Employing DWT, we became able to express the waveform data in time-frequency space, and achieved effective detectiton of partial discharges by NN system. We present here the results using DWT analysis for partial discharges and noise signals which we obtained actually. Moreover, we present results out of the NN system which were dealt with those transformed data.

Foraging behavior of pileated woodpeckers in partial cut and uncut bottomland hardwood forest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Newell, P.; King, Sammy L.; Kaller, Michael D.

2009-01-01

In bottomland hardwood forests, partial cutting techniques are increasingly advocated and used to create habitat for priority wildlife like Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and Neotropical migrants. Although partial cutting may be beneficial to some species, those that use dead wood may be negatively affected since large diameter and poor quality trees (deformed, moribund, or dead) are rare, but normally targeted for removal. On the other hand, partial cutting can create dead wood if logging slash is left on-site. We studied foraging behavior of pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) in one- and two-year-old partial cuts designed to benefit priority species and in uncut forest during winter, spring, and summer of 2006 and 2007 in Louisiana. Males and females did not differ in their use of tree species, dbh class, decay class, foraging height, use of foraging tactics or substrate types; however, males foraged on larger substrates than females. In both partial cut and uncut forest, standing live trees were most frequently used (83% compared to 14% for standing dead trees and 3% for coarse woody debris); however, dead trees were selected (i.e. used out of proportion to availability). Overcup oak (Quercus lyrata) and bitter pecan (Carya aquatica) were also selected and sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) avoided. Pileated woodpeckers selected trees >= 50 cm dbh and avoided trees in smaller dbh classes (10-20 cm). Density of selected foraging substrates was the same in partial cut and uncut forest. Of the foraging substrates, woodpeckers spent 54% of foraging time on live branches and boles, 37% on dead branches and boles, and 9% on vines. Of the foraging tactics, the highest proportion of foraging time was spent excavating (58%), followed by pecking (14%), gleaning (14%), scaling (7%), berry-eating (4%), and probing (3%). Woodpecker use of foraging tactics and substrates, and foraging height and substrate

Foraging behavior of pileated woodpeckers in partial cut and uncut bottomland hardwood forest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Newell, P.; King, S.; Kaller, M.

2009-01-01

In bottomland hardwood forests, partial cutting techniques are increasingly advocated and used to create habitat for priority wildlife like Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and Neotropical migrants. Although partial cutting may be beneficial to some species, those that use dead wood may be negatively affected since large diameter and poor quality trees (deformed, moribund, or dead) are rare, but normally targeted for removal. On the other hand, partial cutting can create dead wood if logging slash is left on-site. We studied foraging behavior of pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) in one- and two-year-old partial cuts designed to benefit priority species and in uncut forest during winter, spring, and summer of 2006 and 2007 in Louisiana. Males and females did not differ in their use of tree species, dbh class, decay class, foraging height, use of foraging tactics or substrate types; however, males foraged on larger substrates than females. In both partial cut and uncut forest, standing live trees were most frequently used (83% compared to 14% for standing dead trees and 3% for coarse woody debris); however, dead trees were selected (i.e. used out of proportion to availability). Overcup oak (Quercus lyrata) and bitter pecan (Carya aquatica) were also selected and sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) avoided. Pileated woodpeckers selected trees ???50 cm dbh and avoided trees in smaller dbh classes (10-20 cm). Density of selected foraging substrates was the same in partial cut and uncut forest. Of the foraging substrates, woodpeckers spent 54% of foraging time on live branches and boles, 37% on dead branches and boles, and 9% on vines. Of the foraging tactics, the highest proportion of foraging time was spent excavating (58%), followed by pecking (14%), gleaning (14%), scaling (7%), berry-eating (4%), and probing (3%). Woodpecker use of foraging tactics and substrates, and foraging height and substrate

The Effect of Patient and Surgical Characteristics on Renal Function After Partial Nephrectomy.

PubMed

Winer, Andrew G; Zabor, Emily C; Vacchio, Michael J; Hakimi, A Ari; Russo, Paul; Coleman, Jonathan A; Jaimes, Edgar A

2018-06-01

The purpose of the study was to identify patient and disease characteristics that have an adverse effect on renal function after partial nephrectomy. We conducted a retrospective review of 387 patients who underwent partial nephrectomy for renal tumors between 2006 and 2014. A line plot with a locally weighted scatterplot smoothing was generated to visually assess renal function over time. Univariable and multivariable longitudinal regression analyses incorporated a random intercept and slope to evaluate the association between patient and disease characteristics with renal function after surgery. Median age was 60 years and most patients were male (255 patients [65.9%]) and white (343 patients [88.6%]). In univariable analysis, advanced age at surgery, larger tumor size, male sex, longer ischemia time, history of smoking, and hypertension were significantly associated with lower preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). In multivariable analysis, independent predictors of reduced renal function after surgery included advanced age, lower preoperative eGFR, and longer ischemia time. Length of time from surgery was strongly associated with improvement in renal function among all patients. Independent predictors of postoperative decline in renal function include advanced age, lower preoperative eGFR, and longer ischemia time. A substantial number of subjects had recovery in renal function over time after surgery, which continued past the 12-month mark. These findings suggest that patients who undergo partial nephrectomy can experience long-term improvement in renal function. This improvement is most pronounced among younger patients with higher preoperative eGFR. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Partial covariance based functional connectivity computation using Ledoit-Wolf covariance regularization.

PubMed

Brier, Matthew R; Mitra, Anish; McCarthy, John E; Ances, Beau M; Snyder, Abraham Z

2015-11-01

Functional connectivity refers to shared signals among brain regions and is typically assessed in a task free state. Functional connectivity commonly is quantified between signal pairs using Pearson correlation. However, resting-state fMRI is a multivariate process exhibiting a complicated covariance structure. Partial covariance assesses the unique variance shared between two brain regions excluding any widely shared variance, hence is appropriate for the analysis of multivariate fMRI datasets. However, calculation of partial covariance requires inversion of the covariance matrix, which, in most functional connectivity studies, is not invertible owing to rank deficiency. Here we apply Ledoit-Wolf shrinkage (L2 regularization) to invert the high dimensional BOLD covariance matrix. We investigate the network organization and brain-state dependence of partial covariance-based functional connectivity. Although RSNs are conventionally defined in terms of shared variance, removal of widely shared variance, surprisingly, improved the separation of RSNs in a spring embedded graphical model. This result suggests that pair-wise unique shared variance plays a heretofore unrecognized role in RSN covariance organization. In addition, application of partial correlation to fMRI data acquired in the eyes open vs. eyes closed states revealed focal changes in uniquely shared variance between the thalamus and visual cortices. This result suggests that partial correlation of resting state BOLD time series reflect functional processes in addition to structural connectivity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Partial covariance based functional connectivity computation using Ledoit-Wolf covariance regularization

PubMed Central

Brier, Matthew R.; Mitra, Anish; McCarthy, John E.; Ances, Beau M.; Snyder, Abraham Z.

2015-01-01

Functional connectivity refers to shared signals among brain regions and is typically assessed in a task free state. Functional connectivity commonly is quantified between signal pairs using Pearson correlation. However, resting-state fMRI is a multivariate process exhibiting a complicated covariance structure. Partial covariance assesses the unique variance shared between two brain regions excluding any widely shared variance, hence is appropriate for the analysis of multivariate fMRI datasets. However, calculation of partial covariance requires inversion of the covariance matrix, which, in most functional connectivity studies, is not invertible owing to rank deficiency. Here we apply Ledoit-Wolf shrinkage (L2 regularization) to invert the high dimensional BOLD covariance matrix. We investigate the network organization and brain-state dependence of partial covariance-based functional connectivity. Although RSNs are conventionally defined in terms of shared variance, removal of widely shared variance, surprisingly, improved the separation of RSNs in a spring embedded graphical model. This result suggests that pair-wise unique shared variance plays a heretofore unrecognized role in RSN covariance organization. In addition, application of partial correlation to fMRI data acquired in the eyes open vs. eyes closed states revealed focal changes in uniquely shared variance between the thalamus and visual cortices. This result suggests that partial correlation of resting state BOLD time series reflect functional processes in addition to structural connectivity. PMID:26208872

Observation of Bs-Bsbar Oscillations Using Partially Reconstructed Hadronic Bs Decays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miles, Jeffrey Robert

2008-02-01

This thesis describes the contribution of partially reconstructed hadronic decays in the world's first observation of Bmore » $$0\\atop{s}$$-$$\\bar{B}$$$0\\atop{s}$$ oscillations. The analysis is a core member of a suite of closely related studies whose combined time-dependent measurement of the B$$0\\atop{s}$$-$$\\bar{B}$$$0\\atop{s}$$ oscillation frequency Δm s is of historic significance. Using a data sample of 1 fb -1 of p$$\\bar{p}$$ collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF-II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron, they find signals of 3150 partially reconstructed hadronic B s decays from the combined decay channels B$$0\\atop{s}$$ → D*$$-\\atop{s}$$ π + and B$$0\\atop{s}$$ → D$$-\\atop{s}$$ ρ + with D$$-\\atop{s}$$ → Φπ -. These events are analyzed in parallel with 2000 fully reconstructed B$$0\\atop{s}$$ → D$$-\\atop{s}$$ π + (D$$-\\atop{s}$$ → Φπ -) decays. The treatment of the data is developed in stages of progressive complexity, using high-statistics samples of hadronic B 0and B + decays to study the attributes of partially reconstructed events. The analysis characterizes the data in mass and proper decay time, noting the potential of the partially reconstructed decays for precise measurement of B branching fractions and lifetimes, but consistently focusing on the effectiveness of the model for the oscillation measurement. They efficiently incorporate the measured quantities of each decay into a maximum likelihood fitting framework, from which they extract amplitude scans and a direct measurement of the oscillation frequency. The features of the amplitude scans are consistent with expected behavior, supporting the correctness of the calibrations for proper time uncertainty and flavor tagging dilution. The likelihood allows for the smooth combination of this analysis with results from other data samples, including 3500 fully reconstructed hadronic B s events and 61,500 partially reconstructed semileptonic B s events. The

Computational Analysis of Intra-Ventricular Flow Pattern Under Partial and Full Support of BJUT-II VAD.

PubMed

Zhang, Qi; Gao, Bin; Chang, Yu

2017-02-27

BACKGROUND Partial support, as a novel support mode, has been widely applied in clinical practice and widely studied. However, the precise mechanism of partial support of LVAD in the intra-ventricular flow pattern is unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, a patient-specific left ventricular geometric model was reconstructed based on CT data. The intra-ventricular flow pattern under 3 simulated conditions - "heart failure", "partial support", and "full support" - were simulated by using fluid-structure interaction (FSI). The blood flow pattern, wall shear stress (WSS), time-average wall shear stress (TAWSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI), and relative residence time (RRT) were calculated to evaluate the hemodynamic effects. RESULTS The results demonstrate that the intra-ventricular flow pattern is significantly changed by the support level of BJUT-II VAD. The intra-ventricular vortex was enhanced under partial support and was eliminated under full support, and the high OSI and RRT regions changed from the septum wall to the cardiac apex. CONCLUSIONS In brief, the support level of the BJUT-II VAD has significant effects on the intra-ventricular flow pattern. The partial support mode of BJUT-II VAD can enhance the intra-ventricular vortex, while the distribution of high OSI and RRT moved from the septum wall to the cardiac apex. Hence, the partial support mode of BJUT-II VAD can provide more benefit for intra-ventricular flow pattern.

Imprecise results: Utilizing partial computations in real-time systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Kwei-Jay; Natarajan, Swaminathan; Liu, Jane W.-S.

1987-01-01

In real-time systems, a computation may not have time to complete its execution because of deadline requirements. In such cases, no result except the approximate results produced by the computations up to that point will be available. It is desirable to utilize these imprecise results if possible. Two approaches are proposed to enable computations to return imprecise results when executions cannot be completed normally. The milestone approach records results periodically, and if a deadline is reached, returns the last recorded result. The sieve approach demarcates sections of code which can be skipped if the time available is insufficient. By using these approaches, the system is able to produce imprecise results when deadlines are reached. The design of the Concord project is described which supports imprecise computations using these techniques. Also presented is a general model of imprecise computations using these techniques, as well as one which takes into account the influence of the environment, showing where the latter approach fits into this model.

Magnetic Field Observations of Partial Ring Current during Storm Recovery Phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Le, G.; Russell, C. T.; Slavin, J. A.; Lucek, E. A.

2008-01-01

We present results of an extensive survey of the magnetic field observations in the inner magnetosphere using 30 years of magnetospheric magnetic field data from Polar, Cluster, ISEE, and AMPTE/CCE missions. The purpose of this study is to understand the magnetic field evolution during the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms, and its implication to the ring current recovery and loss mechanisms of ring current particles. It is now commonly believed that a strong partial ring current is formed during the storm main phase due to the enhanced earthward convection of energetic ions from nightside plasma sheet. But the presence of a strong partial ring current throughout the recovery phase remains controversial. The magnetic field generated by the ring current inflates the inner magnetosphere and causes magnetic field depressions in the equatorial magnetosphere. During the storm recovery phase, we find that the distribution of the equatorial magnetic field depression exhibits similar local time dependence as the ring current distribution obtained from the combined dataset in the earlier study. It shows that a strong partial ring current is a permanent feature throughout the recovery phase. In the early recovery phase, the partial ring current peaks near the dusk terminator as indicated by the peak of the magnetic field depression. As the recovery phase progresses, the partial ring current decays most quickly near the dusk and results in a dusk-to-midnight moving of the peak of the partial ring current. Thus the loss mechanisms work most effectively near the dusk. The magnetic field depression increases the gyroradius of ring current protons to a scale greater or comparable to the thickness of the magnetopause, which increases the chance of ion drift loss near the dusk magnetopause at larger L-shell (L greater than 5). But the drift loss mechanism alone cannot explain the loss of ring current ions especially in the smaller L-shell (L less than 5). The precipitation loss

Partial-reflection studies of D-region winter variability. [electron density measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denny, B. W.; Bowhill, S. A.

1973-01-01

D-region electron densities were measured from December, 1972, to July, 1973, at Urbana, Illinois (latitude 40.2N) using the partial-reflection technique. During the winter, electron densities at altitudes of 72, 76.5, and 81 km show cyclical changes with a period of about 5 days that are highly correlated between these altitudes, suggesting that the mechanism responsible for the winter anomaly in D-region ionization applies throughout this height region. From January 13 to February 3, a pronounced wave-like variation occurred in the partial-reflection measurements, apparently associated with a major stratospheric warming that developed in that period. During the same time period, a traveling periodic variation is observed in the 10-mb height; it is highly correlated with the partial-reflection measurements. Electron density enhancements occur approximately at the same time as increases in the 10-mb height. Comparison of AL and A3 absorption measurements with electron density measurements below 82 km indicates that the winter anomaly in D-region ionization is divided into two types. Type 1, above about 82 km, extends horizontally for about 200 km while type 2, below about 82 km, extends for a horizontal scale of at least 1000 km.

Partially coherent polarized atmospheric transmission characteristics and application technology research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Qiang; Gao, Duorui; Liu, Zhi; Chen, Chunyi; Lou, Yan; Jiang, Huilin

2014-11-01

Based on partially coherent polarized light transmission characteristics of the atmosphere, an intensity expression of completely coherent flashing light is derived from Andrews scale modulation method. According to the generalized Huygens-Fresnel principle and Rytov theory, the phase fluctuation structure function is obtained on condition that the refractive index profile in the atmosphere meet Von Karman spectrum, then get the arrival Angle fluctuation variance. Through the RMS beam width of gaussian beams in turbulent atmosphere, deviation angle formula of fully coherent gaussian beams in turbulence atmosphere is attained, then get the RMS beam width of partially coherent and derivation angle expression of GSM beam in turbulent atmosphere. Combined with transmission properties of radial polarized laser beam, cross spectral density matrix of partially coherent radially polarized light can be gained by using generalized huygens-fresnel principle. And light intensity and polarization after transmission can be known according to the unity of coherence and polarization theory. On the basis of the analysis model and numerical simulation, the simulation results show that: the light spot caused by atmospheric turbulence of partially coherent polarization will be superior to completely polarized light.Taking advantage of this feature, designed a new wireless suppression technology of atmospheric turbulence, that is the optimization criterion of initial degree of coherent light beam. The optimal initial degree of coherent light beam will change along with the change of atmospheric turbulence conditions,make control the beam's initial degree of coherence to realize the initial degree of coherence of light beam in real time and dynamic control. A spatial phase screen before emission aperture of fully coherent light is to generate the partially coherent light, liquid crystal spatial light modulator is is a preferable way to realize the dynamic random phase. Finally look

Impact of removable partial denture prosthesis on chewing efficiency

PubMed Central

BESSADET, Marion; NICOLAS, Emmanuel; SOCHAT, Marine; HENNEQUIN, Martine; VEYRUNE, Jean-Luc

2013-01-01

Removable partial denture prostheses are still being used for anatomic, medical and economic reasons. However, the impact on chewing parameters is poorly described. Objectives The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of removable partial denture prosthesis on masticatory parameters. Material and Methods Nineteen removable partial denture prosthesis (RPDP) wearers participated in the study. Among them, 10 subjects were Kennedy Class III partially edentulous and 9 with posterior edentulism (Class I). All presented a complete and full dentate opposing arch. The subjects chewed samples of carrots and peanuts with and without their prosthesis. The granulometry of the expectorated boluses from carrot and peanuts was characterized by median particle size (D50), determined at the natural point of swallowing. Number of chewing cycles (CC), chewing time (CT) and chewing frequency (CF=CC/CT) were video recorded. Results With RPDP, the mean D50 values for carrot and peanuts were lower [Repeated Model Procedures (RMP), F=15, p<0.001] regardless of the type of Kennedy Class. For each food, mean CC, CT and CF values recorded decreased (RMP, F=18, F=9, and F=20 respectively, p<0.01). With or without RPD, the boluses' granulometry values were above the masticatory normative index (MNI) determined as 4,000 µm. Conclusion RPDP rehabilitation improves the ability to reduce the bolus particle size, but does not reestablish fully the masticatory function. Clinical relevance This study encourages the clinical improvement of oral rehabilitation procedure. PMID:24212983

Partial gravity habitat study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Capps, Stephen; Lorandos, Jason; Akhidime, Eval; Bunch, Michael; Lund, Denise; Moore, Nathan; Murakawa, Kiosuke

1989-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate comprehensive design requirements associated with designing habitats for humans in a partial gravity environment, then to apply them to a lunar base design. Other potential sites for application include planetary surfaces such as Mars, variable-gravity research facilities, and a rotating spacecraft. Design requirements for partial gravity environments include locomotion changes in less than normal earth gravity; facility design issues, such as interior configuration, module diameter, and geometry; and volumetric requirements based on the previous as well as psychological issues involved in prolonged isolation. For application to a lunar base, it is necessary to study the exterior architecture and configuration to insure optimum circulation patterns while providing dual egress; radiation protection issues are addressed to provide a safe and healthy environment for the crew; and finally, the overall site is studied to locate all associated facilities in context with the habitat. Mission planning is not the purpose of this study; therefore, a Lockheed scenario is used as an outline for the lunar base application, which is then modified to meet the project needs. The goal of this report is to formulate facts on human reactions to partial gravity environments, derive design requirements based on these facts, and apply the requirements to a partial gravity situation which, for this study, was a lunar base.

Development of Partial Discharging Simulation Test Equipment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kai, Xue; Genghua, Liu; Yan, Jia; Ziqi, Chai; Jian, Lu

2017-12-01

In the case of partial discharge training for recruits who lack of on-site work experience, the risk of physical shock and damage of the test equipment may be due to the limited skill level and improper operation by new recruits. Partial discharge simulation tester is the use of simulation technology to achieve partial discharge test process simulation, relatively true reproduction of the local discharge process and results, so that the operator in the classroom will be able to get familiar with and understand the use of the test process and equipment.The teacher sets up the instrument to display different partial discharge waveforms so that the trainees can analyze the test results of different partial discharge types.

Radial flow to a partially penetrating well with storage in an anisotropic confined aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Phoolendra Kumar; Vesselinov, Velimir V.; Neuman, Shlomo P.

2012-07-01

SummaryDrawdowns generated by extracting water from large diameter (e.g. water supply) well are affected by wellbore storage. We present an analytical solution in Laplace transformed space for drawdown in a uniform anisotropic aquifer caused by withdrawing water at a constant rate from partially penetrating well with storage. The solution is back transformed into the time domain numerically. When the pumping well is fully penetrating our solution reduces to that of Papadopulos and Cooper (1967); Hantush (1964) when the pumping well has no wellbore storage; Theis (1935) when both conditions are fulfilled and Yang (2006) when the pumping well is partially penetrating, has finite radius but lacks storage. Newly developed solution is then used to explore graphically the effects of partial penetration, wellbore storage and anisotropy on time evolutions of drawdown in the pumping well and in observation wells. We concluded after validating the developed analytical solution using synthetic pumping test.

Sensitized luminescence from water-soluble LaF3:Eu nanocrystals via partially-capped 1,10-phenanthroline: time-gated emission and multiple lifetimes.

PubMed

Irfanullah, Mir; Bhardwaj, Navneet; Chowdhury, Arindam

2016-08-02

Water dispersible citrate-capped LaF3:Eu(5%) nanocrystals (NCs) have been partially surface-functionalized by 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) via a ligand exchange method to produce novel water dispersed citrate/phen-capped LaF3:Eu(5%) NCs in which citrate ligands preserve the water dispersibility of the NCs and phen ligands act as sensitizers of surface Eu(3+)-dopant sites. The partial ligand exchange and the formation of water dispersed NCs have been monitored by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, as well as luminescence measurements at different time intervals during the reaction. These NCs display a distinct phen-sensitized Eu(3+)-emission profile with enhanced intensity in water as compared to the emission profile and intensity obtained upon direct excitation. Time-resolved (or time-gated) emission spectroscopy (TRES) has been used to probe PL dynamics of Eu(3+)-sites of LaF3:Eu(5%) NCs by taking advantage of selectively sensitizing surface Eu(3+)-dopant sites by phen ligands as well as by exciting all the Eu(3+)-sites in the NCs upon direct excitation. TRES upon direct excitation of the citrate-capped LaF3:Eu(5%) NCs reveals that Eu(3+)-dopants occupy at least three different sites, each with a different emission profile and lifetime, and emission from purely interior Eu(3+)-sites has been resolved due to their long lifetime as compared to the lifetime of purely surface and near surface Eu(3+)-sites. In contrast, the phen-sensitized emission from citrate/phen-capped LaF3:Eu(5%) NCs displays similar emission profiles and lifetimes in TRES measurements, which reveal that phen truly sensitizes purely surface dopant sites of the NCs in water, all of which have nearly the same local environment. The phen-sensitized Eu(3+)-emission of the NCs in water remains stable even upon addition of various buffer solutions at physiological pH, as well as upon addition of water-miscible organic solvents. Furthermore, the two-photon excitation (λex. = 720 nm) of these water-soluble phen

Additive hazards regression and partial likelihood estimation for ecological monitoring data across space.

PubMed

Lin, Feng-Chang; Zhu, Jun

2012-01-01

We develop continuous-time models for the analysis of environmental or ecological monitoring data such that subjects are observed at multiple monitoring time points across space. Of particular interest are additive hazards regression models where the baseline hazard function can take on flexible forms. We consider time-varying covariates and take into account spatial dependence via autoregression in space and time. We develop statistical inference for the regression coefficients via partial likelihood. Asymptotic properties, including consistency and asymptotic normality, are established for parameter estimates under suitable regularity conditions. Feasible algorithms utilizing existing statistical software packages are developed for computation. We also consider a simpler additive hazards model with homogeneous baseline hazard and develop hypothesis testing for homogeneity. A simulation study demonstrates that the statistical inference using partial likelihood has sound finite-sample properties and offers a viable alternative to maximum likelihood estimation. For illustration, we analyze data from an ecological study that monitors bark beetle colonization of red pines in a plantation of Wisconsin.

Synthesis and anticoagulant activity of the quaternary ammonium chitosan sulfates.

PubMed

Fan, Lihong; Wu, Penghui; Zhang, Jinrong; Gao, Song; Wang, Libo; Li, Mingjia; Sha, Mingming; Xie, Weiguo; Nie, Min

2012-01-01

Quaternary ammonium chitosan sulfates with diverse degrees of substitution (DS) ascribed to sulfate groups between 0.52 and 1.55 were synthesized by reacting quaternary ammonium chitosan with an uncommon sulfating agent (N(SO(3)Na)(3)) that was prepared from sodium bisulfite (NaHSO(3)) through reaction with sodium nitrite (NaNO(2)) in the aqueous system homogeneous. The structures of the derivatives were characterized by FTIR, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. The factors affecting DS of quaternary ammonium chitosan sulfates which included the molar ratio of NaNO(2) to quaternary ammonium chitosan, sulfated temperature, sulfated time and pH of sulfated reaction solution were investigated in detail. Its anticoagulation activity in vitro was determined by an activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) assay, a thrombin time (TT) assay and a prothrombin time (PT) assay. Results of anticoagulation assays showed quaternary ammonium chitosan sulfates significantly prolonged APTT and TT, but not PT, and demonstrated that the introduction of sulfate groups into the quaternary ammonium chitosan structure improved its anticoagulant activity obviously. The study showed its anticoagulant properties strongly depended on its DS, concentration and molecular weight. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Critical values in hematology of 862 institutions in China.

PubMed

Ye, Y Y; Zhao, H J; Fei, Y; Wang, W; He, F L; Zhong, K; Yuan, S; Wang, Z G

2017-10-01

A national survey on critical values in hematology of China laboratories was conducted to determine the current practice and assess the quality indicators so as to obtain a quality improvement. Laboratories participating were asked to submit the general information, the practice of critical value reporting, and the status of timeliness of critical value reporting. A total of 862 laboratories submitted the results. The majority of participants have included white blood cell count, blood platelet count, hemoglobin, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time in their critical value lists. Many sources are used for establishing a critical value policy, and some of the laboratories consult with clinicians. The unreported critical value rate, late critical value reporting rate, and clinically unacknowledged rate in China are relatively low, and the median of critical value reporting time is 8-9 minutes. There exists a wide variety for critical value reporting in hematology in China. Laboratories should establish a policy of critical value reporting suited for their own situations and consult with clinicians to set critical value lists. Critical values are generally reported in a timely manner in China, but some measures should be taken to further improve the timeliness of critical value reporting. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Opposite effects of Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb aqueous extracts on blood coagulation function

PubMed Central

Yuan, Wufeng; Jiang, Lei; Wang, Huan

2017-01-01

Background Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb (APL) has showed anticoagulant and antithrombotic activities in some studies, whereas its actual effects on blood coagulation are still unclear. This study was designed to observe the in vitro effects of APL aqueous extracts on blood coagulation, as well as to investigate the underlying mechanisms. Methods Studies were divided into four groups: 0, 4, 20, and 80 g/L of APL aqueous extracts mixed with plasma or whole blood samples. Clotting time of whole blood, plasma coagulation tests, activities of plasma coagulation factors, plasma calcium ion, platelet aggregation test, and platelet fibrinogen receptor as well as the blood viscosity were measured. Results It was observed that the APL aqueous extracts in 4 g/L significantly prolonged the whole blood clotting time and activated partial thromboplastin time, shortened prothrombin time, decreased activities of coagulation factor VIII, IX and XI, and levels of platelet aggregation and fibrinogen receptor expression. However, coagulation factor VII activity, and blood viscosity were increased after the extracts treatment. And the effects of APL extracts were in a concentration-dependent manner (0–80 g/L). Conclusions The results suggest that APL aqueous extracts have a total anticoagulant activity, whereas they exhibit opposite effects of greater anticoagulant activity than pro-coagulant activity. PMID:28480193

Interaction between the LMWH reviparin and aspirin in healthy volunteers

PubMed Central

Klinkhardt, Ute; Breddin, Hans Klaus; Esslinger, Heinz Ulrich; Haas, Silvia; Kalatzis, Andreas; Harder, Sebastian

2000-01-01

Aims To investigate potential interactions between reviparin and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA 300 mg o.d. from day 1–5). Methods In an open, randomized, three-way-cross over study nine healthy volunteers received reviparin (s.c. injection of 6300 anti-Xa units) or placebo from days 3 to 5 and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA 300 mg) or placebo from days 1 to 5. Assessments included bleeding time (BT), collagen (1 µg ml−1) induced platelet aggregation (CAG), heptest, plasma antifactor Xa-activity and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Results Median bleeding time at day 5 was 5.5 min after reverparin alone and after ASA alone and was 9.6 min after the combination of reviparin and ASA. ASA treatment reduced CAG from 84% to 40 to 50% of Amax; values after combined treatment of reviparin with ASA were not different from those after ASA alone. aPTT was prolonged to 32 s after reviparin; this effect was not modified if subjects received ASA. Combined treatment with ASA and reviparin had no effect on plasma anti-Xa-activity and heptest compared with reviparin alone. Conclusions We could not entirely exclude a small interaction between reviparin and ASA on bleeding time, but the effect is probably without clinical significance. PMID:10759689

42 CFR 488.715 - Partial extended surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 42 Public Health 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Partial extended surveys. 488.715 Section 488.715... (CONTINUED) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION SURVEY, CERTIFICATION, AND ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES Survey and Certification of Home Health Agencies § 488.715 Partial extended surveys. A partial extended survey is conducted...

42 CFR 488.715 - Partial extended surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 42 Public Health 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Partial extended surveys. 488.715 Section 488.715... (CONTINUED) STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION SURVEY, CERTIFICATION, AND ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES Survey and Certification of Home Health Agencies § 488.715 Partial extended surveys. A partial extended survey is conducted...

The Approximability of Partial Vertex Covers in Trees.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mkrtchyan, Vahan; Parekh, Ojas D.; Segev, Danny

Motivated by applications in risk management of computational systems, we focus our attention on a special case of the partial vertex cover problem, where the underlying graph is assumed to be a tree. Here, we consider four possible versions of this setting, depending on whether vertices and edges are weighted or not. Two of these versions, where edges are assumed to be unweighted, are known to be polynomial-time solvable (Gandhi, Khuller, and Srinivasan, 2004). However, the computational complexity of this problem with weighted edges, and possibly with weighted vertices, has not been determined yet. The main contribution of this papermore » is to resolve these questions, by fully characterizing which variants of partial vertex cover remain intractable in trees, and which can be efficiently solved. In particular, we propose a pseudo-polynomial DP-based algorithm for the most general case of having weights on both edges and vertices, which is proven to be NPhard. This algorithm provides a polynomial-time solution method when weights are limited to edges, and combined with additional scaling ideas, leads to an FPTAS for the general case. A secondary contribution of this work is to propose a novel way of using centroid decompositions in trees, which could be useful in other settings as well.« less

Exp-function method for solving fractional partial differential equations.

PubMed

Zheng, Bin

2013-01-01

We extend the Exp-function method to fractional partial differential equations in the sense of modified Riemann-Liouville derivative based on nonlinear fractional complex transformation. For illustrating the validity of this method, we apply it to the space-time fractional Fokas equation and the nonlinear fractional Sharma-Tasso-Olver (STO) equation. As a result, some new exact solutions for them are successfully established.

Investigations on blood coagulation in the green iguana (Iguana iguana).

PubMed

Kubalek, S; Mischke, R; Fehr, M

2002-05-01

The prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time, kaolin clotting time (KCT), dilute Russell's viper venom time (DRVVT) and reptilase time, as well as five different plasma fibrinogen assays [gravimetry, Jacobsson method (extinction at 280 nm), Millar method (heat precipitation), kinetic turbidometry, Clauss method] and resonance thrombography were performed in 26 clinically healthy green iguanas. All assays were carried out in comparison with pooled normal canine plasma. In iguana plasma, the PT [median (x0.50) = 453-831 s, dependent on the reagent], APTT (x0.50 = 170-242 s, dependent on the reagent), thrombin time (x0.50 = 118 - > 1000 s, dependent on thrombin activity), KCT (x0.50 = 274 s), DRVVT (x0.50 = 349 s) and reptilase time (all samples > 1000 s) were widely scattered at the limit of measurability. Only fibrinogen concentrations measured using the Jacobsson method (x0.50 = 4.40 g/l) correlated well (r = 0.91) with gravimetry (x0.50 = 4.22 g/l). The results of this study indicate a limited suitability and a confined diagnostic significance of the selected methods in the green iguana. This may be caused by the species specificity of certain components of the reagents used, as well as a less optimal test system, i.e. relationship of test reagent to clotting factor concentrations in iguana plasma.

14 CFR 151.61 - Grant payments: Partial.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... payments: Partial. (a) Subject to the final determination of allowable project costs as provided in § 151.63 partial grant payments for project costs may be made to a sponsor upon application. Unless... partial payments to the estimated United States share of the project costs of the airport development...

14 CFR 151.61 - Grant payments: Partial.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... payments: Partial. (a) Subject to the final determination of allowable project costs as provided in § 151.63 partial grant payments for project costs may be made to a sponsor upon application. Unless... partial payments to the estimated United States share of the project costs of the airport development...

14 CFR 151.61 - Grant payments: Partial.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... payments: Partial. (a) Subject to the final determination of allowable project costs as provided in § 151.63 partial grant payments for project costs may be made to a sponsor upon application. Unless... partial payments to the estimated United States share of the project costs of the airport development...

Robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: initial experience in Brazil and a review of the literature.

PubMed

Passerotti, Carlo Camargo; Pessoa, Rodrigo; da Cruz, Jose Arnaldo Shiomi; Okano, Marcelo Takeo; Antunes, Alberto Azoubel; Nesrallah, Adriano Joao; Dall'oglio, Marcos Francisco; Andrade, Enrico; Srougi, Miguel

2012-01-01

Partial nephrectomy has become the standard of care for renal tumors less than 4 cm in diameter. Controversy still exists, however, regarding the best surgical approach, especially when minimally invasive techniques are taken into account. Robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN) has emerged as a promising technique that helps surgeons achieve the standards of open partial nephrectomy care while offering a minimally invasive approach. The objective of the present study was to describe our initial experience with robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy and extensively review the pertinent literature. Between August 2009 and February 2010, eight consecutive selected patients with contrast enhancing renal masses observed by CT were submitted to RALPN in a private institution. In addition, we collected information on the patients ' demographics, preoperative tumor characteristics and detailed operative, postoperative and pathological data. In addition, a PubMed search was performed to provide an extensive review of the robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy literature. Seven patients had RALPN on the left or right sides with no intraoperative complications. One patient was electively converted to a robotic-assisted radical nephrectomy. The operative time ranged from 120 to 300 min, estimated blood loss (EBL) ranged from 75 to 400 mL and, in five cases, the warm ischemia time (WIT) ranged from 18 to 32 min. Two patients did not require any clamping. Overall, no transfusions were necessary, and there were no intraoperative complications or adverse postoperative clinical events. All margins were negative, and all patients were disease-free at the 6-month follow-up. Robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is a feasible and safe approach to small renal cortical masses. Further prospective studies are needed to compare open partial nephrectomy with its minimally invasive counterparts.

Effects of partial sleep deprivation on reaction time in anesthesiologists.

PubMed

Saadat, Haleh; Bissonnette, Bruno; Tumin, Dmitry; Raman, Vidya; Rice, Julie; Barry, N'Diris; Tobias, Joseph

2017-04-01

Fatigue in anesthesiologists may have implications that extend beyond individual well-being. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of sleep deprivation on the reaction time in anesthesiologists either after an overnight call or regular working hours. Moderation of this effect by coping strategies was observed. Psychomotor vigilance test was used to assess reaction time in 23 anesthesiologists at two time-points: (i) on a regular non-call day and (ii) after a 17-h in-house call. Student's paired t-test was used to compare Psychomotor Vigilance Task data at these two moments. Change score regression was performed to determine the association between coping strategies, assessed using the Coping Strategy Indicator instrument, and decline in reaction time after night call. Twenty-one colleagues completed the psychomotor vigilance test measurements after two decided to end their participation for personal reasons. Post-call psychomotor vigilance test mean reaction time decreased by an average of 31.2 ms (95% CI: 0.5, 61.9; P = 0.047) when compared to regular day. Reliance on specific coping mechanisms, indicated by Coping Strategy Indicator scale scores, included problem-solving (28 ± 4), followed by seeking social support (23 ± 5) and avoidance (19 ± 4). The change score regression model (r 2 = 0.48) found that greater reliance on avoidance was associated with greater increase in reaction time after night call. Reaction time increased considerably in anesthesiologists after a night call duty. Greater subjective reliance on avoidance as a coping strategy was associated with greater deterioration in performance. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Antithrombotic effect of repeated doses of the ethanolic extract of local olive (Olea europaea L.) leaves in rabbits.

PubMed

Dub, Abdallah M; Dugani, Aisha M

2013-01-01

The incidence of thromboembolic diseases is increasing, and they are a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Mediterranean diet is known for its high content of olive products, especially olive oil, which has known cardiovascular health benefits, including those on blood pressure, cholesterol level, and thrombogenesis. All previous animal and clinical studies investigating the beneficial antithrombotic effects of olives have focused on olive oil and a few on olive leaves (OLEs). In this study, the ethanolic extract of OLE was evaluated for its antithrombotic activity in the rabbit model of thrombosis induced by ligature of the vena cava and intravenous administration of tissue thromboplastin. Pre-treatment with 100 or 200 mg/kg per day of the ethanolic extract for 8 weeks significantly prolonged the prothrombin time (PT) in comparison to the control group (12.10±0.35 sec and 14.38±0.29 sec vs. 10.8±0.32 sec, p<0.05 and 0.001, respectively). In comparison to the control group, the same doses had no statistically significant effect on thrombus weight (16.85±0.67 mg, 16.32±0.35 mg, and 17.81±0.75 mg; p=0.18 and 0.06) or on activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (19.17±0.33 sec, 19.12±0.73 sec, and 18.97±0.41 sec; p=0.36 and 0.43, respectively). One important finding in this study concerns thrombus morphology. In the extract treatment groups, the thrombus was filament-like and did not adhere to blood vessel walls, whereas in the control group the thrombus was thick and almost completely occluded the vein. Therefore, these results suggest that OLE ethanolic extract can modify the extrinsic coagulation pathway as evidenced by the prolongation of PT and changes in thrombus morphology, enough to justify further research to evaluate its possible antithrombotic effects.

Antithrombotic effect of repeated doses of the ethanolic extract of local olive (Olea europaea L.) leaves in rabbits.

PubMed

Dub, Abdallah M; Dugani, Aisha M

2013-05-22

The incidence of thromboembolic diseases is increasing, and they are a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Mediterranean diet is known for its high content of olive products, especially olive oil, which has known cardiovascular health benefits, including those on blood pressure, cholesterol level, and thrombogenesis. All previous animal and clinical studies investigating the beneficial antithrombotic effects of olives have focused on olive oil and a few on olive leaves (OLEs). In this study, the ethanolic extract of OLE was evaluated for its antithrombotic activity in the rabbit model of thrombosis induced by ligature of the vena cava and intravenous administration of tissue thromboplastin. Pre-treatment with 100 or 200 mg/kg per day of the ethanolic extract for 8 weeks significantly prolonged the prothrombin time (PT) in comparison to the control group (12.10 ± 0.35 sec and 14.38 ± 0.29 sec vs. 10.8 ± 0.32 sec, p < 0.05 and 0.001, respectively). In comparison to the control group, the same doses had no statistically significant effect on thrombus weight (16.85 ± 0.67 mg, 16.32 ± 0.35 mg, and 17.81 ± 0.75 mg; p = 0.18 and 0.06) or on activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (19.17 ± 0.33 sec, 19.12 ± 0.73 sec, and 18.97 ± 0.41 sec; p = 0.36 and 0.43, respectively). One important finding in this study concerns thrombus morphology. In the extract treatment groups, the thrombus was filament-like and did not adhere to blood vessel walls, whereas in the control group the thrombus was thick and almost completely occluded the vein. Therefore, these results suggest that OLE ethanolic extract can modify the extrinsic coagulation pathway as evidenced by the prolongation of PT and changes in thrombus morphology, enough to justify further research to evaluate its possible antithrombotic effects.

Antithrombotic effect of repeated doses of the ethanolic extract of local olive (Olea europaea L.) leaves in rabbits

PubMed Central

Dub, Abdallah M.; Dugani, Aisha M.

2013-01-01

The incidence of thromboembolic diseases is increasing, and they are a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Mediterranean diet is known for its high content of olive products, especially olive oil, which has known cardiovascular health benefits, including those on blood pressure, cholesterol level, and thrombogenesis. All previous animal and clinical studies investigating the beneficial antithrombotic effects of olives have focused on olive oil and a few on olive leaves (OLEs). In this study, the ethanolic extract of OLE was evaluated for its antithrombotic activity in the rabbit model of thrombosis induced by ligature of the vena cava and intravenous administration of tissue thromboplastin. Pre-treatment with 100 or 200 mg/kg per day of the ethanolic extract for 8 weeks significantly prolonged the prothrombin time (PT) in comparison to the control group (12.10±0.35 sec and 14.38±0.29 sec vs. 10.8±0.32 sec, p<0.05 and 0.001, respectively). In comparison to the control group, the same doses had no statistically significant effect on thrombus weight (16.85±0.67 mg, 16.32±0.35 mg, and 17.81±0.75 mg; p=0.18 and 0.06) or on activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) (19.17±0.33 sec, 19.12±0.73 sec, and 18.97±0.41 sec; p=0.36 and 0.43, respectively). One important finding in this study concerns thrombus morphology. In the extract treatment groups, the thrombus was filament-like and did not adhere to blood vessel walls, whereas in the control group the thrombus was thick and almost completely occluded the vein. Therefore, these results suggest that OLE ethanolic extract can modify the extrinsic coagulation pathway as evidenced by the prolongation of PT and changes in thrombus morphology, enough to justify further research to evaluate its possible antithrombotic effects. PMID:23702352

Evaluation of metal-polymeric fixed partial prosthesis using optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinescu, C.; Negrutiu, M. L.; Duma, V. F.; Marcauteanu, C.; Topala, F. I.; Rominu, M.; Bradu, A.; Podoleanu, A. Gh.

2013-11-01

Metal-Polymeric fixed partial prosthesis is the usual prosthetic treatment for many dental patients. However, during the mastication the polymeric component of the prosthesis is fractured and will be lost. This fracture is caused by the material defects or by the fracture lines trapped inside the esthetic components of the prosthesis. This will finally lead to the failure of the prosthetic treatment. Nowadays, there is no method of identification and forecast for the materials defects of the polymeric materials. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the capability of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) as a non-invasive clinical method that can be used for the evaluation of metal-polymeric fixed partial prostheses. Twenty metal-polymeric fixed partial prostheses were used for this study. The esthetic component of the prostheses has been Adoro (Ivoclar). Optical investigations of the metal prostheses have revealed no material defects or fracture lines. All the prostheses were temporary cemented in the oral cavities of the patients for six month. The non-invasive method used for the investigations was OCT working in Time Domain mode at 1300 nm. The evaluations of the prostheses were performed before and after their cementation in the patient mouths. All the imagistic results were performed in 2D and than in 3D, after the reconstruction. The results obtained after the OCT evaluation allowed for the identification of 4 metal-polymeric fixed partial prostheses with material defects immediately after finishing the technological procedures. After 6 month in the oral environment other 3 fixed partial prostheses revealed fracture lines. In conclusion, OCT proved to be a valuable tool for the noninvasive evaluation of the metal-polymeric fixed partial prostheses.

Ultrasound-Based Guidance for Partial Breast Irradiation Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

and also are inexpensive. b. Collect US data from patient before the PBI treatment at the same time that CT is collected (months 2-14). We...introduces minimal divergence from the original workflow of PBI treatment. We have an approved institutional review board (IRB) protocol to obtain B...irradiation of only the in- volved area of the breast, partial breast irradiation ( PBI ), is as effective as whole breast irradiation [1]. Benefits of PBI

Inferring Weighted Directed Association Network from Multivariate Time Series with a Synthetic Method of Partial Symbolic Transfer Entropy Spectrum and Granger Causality

PubMed Central

Hu, Yanzhu; Ai, Xinbo

2016-01-01

Complex network methodology is very useful for complex system explorer. However, the relationships among variables in complex system are usually not clear. Therefore, inferring association networks among variables from their observed data has been a popular research topic. We propose a synthetic method, named small-shuffle partial symbolic transfer entropy spectrum (SSPSTES), for inferring association network from multivariate time series. The method synthesizes surrogate data, partial symbolic transfer entropy (PSTE) and Granger causality. A proper threshold selection is crucial for common correlation identification methods and it is not easy for users. The proposed method can not only identify the strong correlation without selecting a threshold but also has the ability of correlation quantification, direction identification and temporal relation identification. The method can be divided into three layers, i.e. data layer, model layer and network layer. In the model layer, the method identifies all the possible pair-wise correlation. In the network layer, we introduce a filter algorithm to remove the indirect weak correlation and retain strong correlation. Finally, we build a weighted adjacency matrix, the value of each entry representing the correlation level between pair-wise variables, and then get the weighted directed association network. Two numerical simulated data from linear system and nonlinear system are illustrated to show the steps and performance of the proposed approach. The ability of the proposed method is approved by an application finally. PMID:27832153

Damage-control laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy with an endoscopic linear stapler.

PubMed

Özçınar, Beyza; Memişoğlu, Ecem; Gök, Ali Fuat Kaan; Ağcaoğlu, Orhan; Yanar, Fatih; İlhan, Mehmet; Yanar, Hakan Teoman; Günay, Kayıhan

2017-01-01

Several damage-control procedures have been described in the literature in case of severe Calot's triangle inflammation and fibrosis. In this report, we describe patients who underwent laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy using an endoscopic linear stapler. Five patients with acute cholecystitis underwent laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy in our clinic between January - December 2011. All patients had severe fibrosis and inflammation of Calot's triangle. The anterior and posterior walls of the gallbladder were totally resected if possible. The gallbladder was transected at its neck or Hartmann's pouch, leaving a remnant gallbladder pouch behind. Five patients had laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy with an endoscopic linear stapler. The main symptom of all patients on admission to the emergency room was abdominal pain. The mean time for the surgical procedure was 140 minutes (range, 120-180 minutes). Inflammation and fibrosis of Calot's triangle was detected in all patients during surgery and a phlegmonous gallbladder was detected in one patient. Surgical drains were used in all patients and no biliary leakage was detected. Remnant common bile duct calculi were detected in one patient and this patient underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography one month after surgery. When a reliable view of Calot's triangle cannot be obtained due to severe inflammation and fibrosis during laparoscopy, laparoscopic partial cholecystectomy seems to be a safe and feasible alternative to open surgery with an acceptable morbidity rate.

Phylogenetic search through partial tree mixing

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Recent advances in sequencing technology have created large data sets upon which phylogenetic inference can be performed. Current research is limited by the prohibitive time necessary to perform tree search on a reasonable number of individuals. This research develops new phylogenetic algorithms that can operate on tens of thousands of species in a reasonable amount of time through several innovative search techniques. Results When compared to popular phylogenetic search algorithms, better trees are found much more quickly for large data sets. These algorithms are incorporated in the PSODA application available at http://dna.cs.byu.edu/psoda Conclusions The use of Partial Tree Mixing in a partition based tree space allows the algorithm to quickly converge on near optimal tree regions. These regions can then be searched in a methodical way to determine the overall optimal phylogenetic solution. PMID:23320449

The mineralogical transformation of a polymetallic sulfide ore during partial roasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evrard, Louis

2001-12-01

A partial desulfurization roasting process has been tested on a typical copper-zinc sulfide concentrate in a Nichols Herreshoff monohearth pilot furnace. In this process, the sulfur is partially removed and iron, to a certain degree, is preferentially oxidized. The mineralogical characterizations of the reaction products at different residence times enable the recognition of a sequence of reactions and various textural relationships during the roasting. The testing showed that a controlled desulfurization at a temperature as low as 650°C can lead to the decomposition of chalcopyrite, resulting in the formation of discrete particles of Cu2S having a size ranging from five to 20 micrometers or more.

Bulk YBa2Cu3O(x) superconductors through pressurized partial melt growth processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hu, S.; Hojaji, H.; Barkatt, A.; Boroomand, M.; Hung, M.; Buechele, A. C.; Thorpe, A. N.; Davis, D. D.; Alterescu, S.

1992-01-01

A novel pressurized partial melt growth process has been developed for producing large pieces of bulk Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductors. During long-time partial melt growth stage, an additional driving force for solidification is obtained by using pressurized oxygen gas. The microstructure and superconducting properties of the resulting samples were investigated. It was found that this new technique can eliminate porosity and inhomogeneity, promote large-scale grain-texturing, and improve interdomain coupling as well.

Model-based dose selection for phase III rivaroxaban study in Japanese patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

PubMed

Tanigawa, Takahiko; Kaneko, Masato; Hashizume, Kensei; Kajikawa, Mariko; Ueda, Hitoshi; Tajiri, Masahiro; Paolini, John F; Mueck, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

The global ROCKET AF phase III trial evaluated rivaroxaban 20 mg once daily (o.d.) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF). Based on rivaroxaban pharmacokinetics in Japanese subjects and lower anticoagulation preferences in Japan, particularly in elderly patients, the optimal dose regimen for Japanese AF patients was considered. The aim of this analysis was dose selection for Japanese patients from a pharmacokinetic aspect by comparison of simulated exposure in Japanese patients with those in Caucasian patients. As a result of population pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics analyses, a one-compartment pharmacokinetic model with first-order absorption and direct link pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic models optimally described the plasma concentration and pharmacodynamic models (Factor Xa activity, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and HepTest), which were also consistent with previous works. Steady-state simulations indicated 15 mg rivaroxaban o.d. doses in Japanese patients with AF would yield exposures comparable to the 20 mg o.d. dose in Caucasian patients with AF. In conclusion, in the context of the lower anticoagulation targets in Japanese practice, the population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling supports 15 mg o.d. as the principal rivaroxaban dose in J-ROCKET AF.

Neurotoxic envenoming by South American coral snake (Micrurus lemniscatus helleri): case report from eastern Ecuador and review.

PubMed

Manock, Stephen R; Suarez, German; Graham, David; Avila-Aguero, María L; Warrell, David A

2008-11-01

A man bitten by a large coral snake (Micrurus lemniscatus helleri) in the Amazon basin of Ecuador developed persistent excruciating pain in the bitten arm. On admission to hospital less than 30 min later, he had a polymorphonuclear leucocytosis, thrombocytopenia and mildly prolonged prothrombin time/partial thromboplastin time. Not until 14 h after the bite did he develop the first signs of neurotoxicity. Despite treatment with specific antivenom 50 h after the bite, he required oxygen for respiratory failure 60 h, and 6 h of mechanical ventilation 72 h, after the bite. Over the next 38 h, he required two further intubations and periods of assisted ventilation before being airlifted to a tertiary referral hospital. Complications included bacterial pneumonia, pneumothorax, bronchial obstruction by mucus plugs and mild rhabdomyolysis. He was discharged from hospital 15 days after the bite with persistent limb weakness and urinary incontinence but eventually recovered. The interesting and unusual features of this case (severe local pain, very slow evolution of neurotoxic envenoming, persistent thrombocytopenia and mild coagulopathy) are discussed in the context of what is known of the composition of Micrurus venoms and the small clinical literature on envenoming from their bites.

Sodium citrate vacuum tubes validation: preventing preanalytical variability in routine coagulation testing.

PubMed

Lima-Oliveira, Gabriel; Lippi, Giuseppe; Salvagno, Gian Luca; Montagnana, Martina; Picheth, Geraldo; Guidi, Gian Cesare

2013-04-01

Sometimes in-vitro diagnostic devices (e.g. blood collection tubes) are not validated before use or when the producer's brand is changed. The aim of this study was to validate five brands of sodium citrate vacuum tubes. Blood specimens from 50 volunteers were collected in five different tube brands (I: Venosafe, II: VACUETTE, III: BD Vacutainer, IV: LABOR IMPORT and V: S-Monovette). Routine coagulation tests [activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT), and fibrinogen (FIB)] were performed on ACL TOP instrument using HemosIL reagents. The significance of the differences between samples was assessed by paired Student's t-test, set at P < 0.005. Significant differences were observed for: PT when comparing I vs. II, I vs. III, I vs. V, II vs. III, II vs. IV, II vs. V, III vs. IV, III vs. V and IV vs. V; aPTT when comparing I vs. II, I vs. III, I vs. IV, II vs. IV, III vs. IV and IV vs. V. No differences were observed among brands for FIB determination. We suggest that every laboratory management should both standardize the procedures and frequently evaluate the quality of in-vitro diagnostic devices.

Importance of fibrinogen in dilutional coagulopathy after neurosurgical procedures: A descriptive study.

PubMed

Nair, Shalini; Nair, Bijesh Ravindran; Vidyasagar, Ajay; Joseph, Mathew

2016-08-01

The routine management of coagulopathy during surgery involves assessing haemoglobin, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and platelets. Correction of these parameters involves administration of blood, fresh frozen plasma and platelet concentrates. The study was aimed at identifying the most common coagulation abnormality during neurosurgical procedures and the treatment of dilutional coagulopathy with blood components. During 2 years period, all adult patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures who were transfused two or more units of red cells were prospectively evaluated for the presence of a coagulopathy. PT, aPTT, platelet count and fibrinogen levels were estimated before starting a component therapy. After assessing PT, aPTT, platelet count and fibrinogen levels following two or more blood transfusions, thirty patients were found to have at least one abnormal parameter that required administration of a blood product. The most common abnormality was a low fibrinogen level, seen in 26 patients; this was the only abnormality in three patients. No patient was found to have an abnormal PT or aPTT without either the fibrinogen concentration or platelet count or both being low. Low fibrinogen concentration was the most common coagulation abnormality found after blood transfusions for neurosurgical procedures.

The effects of a low-dose monophasic preparation of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol on coagulation and other hemostatic factors.

PubMed

Archer, D F; Mammen, E F; Grubb, G S

1999-11-01

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects on hemostatic factors of a low-dose preparation of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol in a 12-cycle study. Thirty healthy women began taking 100 microg levonorgestrel and 20 microg ethinyl estradiol on the first day of the menstrual cycle, continued to take the preparation for the next 21 days, and then took placebo for 7 days. Mean changes in prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and levels of factors VII and X, antithrombin, plasminogen, fibrinogen, protein S, thrombin-antithrombin complexes, and D-dimer were analyzed at baseline and at cycles 3, 6, and 12 with paired Student t tests. Factor X, plasminogen antigen and activity, and D-dimer levels were significantly increased (P

The Kallikrein Inhibitor from Bauhinia bauhinioides (BbKI) shows antithrombotic properties in venous and arterial thrombosis models.

PubMed

Brito, Marlon V; de Oliveira, Cleide; Salu, Bruno R; Andrade, Sonia A; Malloy, Paula M D; Sato, Ana C; Vicente, Cristina P; Sampaio, Misako U; Maffei, Francisco H A; Oliva, Maria Luiza V

2014-05-01

The Bauhinia bauhinioides Kallikrein Inhibitor (BbKI) is a Kunitz-type serine peptidase inhibitor of plant origin that has been shown to impair the viability of some tumor cells and to feature a potent inhibitory activity against human and rat plasma kallikrein (Kiapp 2.4 nmol/L and 5.2 nmol/L, respectively). This inhibitory activity is possibly responsible for an effect on hemostasis by prolonging activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Because the association between cancer and thrombosis is well established, we evaluated the possible antithrombotic activity of this protein in venous and arterial thrombosis models. Vein thrombosis was studied in the vena cava ligature model in Wistar rats, and arterial thrombosis in the photochemical induced endothelium lesion model in the carotid artery of C57 black 6 mice. BbKI at a concentration of 2.0 mg/kg reduced the venous thrombus weight by 65% in treated rats in comparison to rats in the control group. The inhibitor prolonged the time for total artery occlusion in the carotid artery model mice indicating that this potent plasma kallikrein inhibitor prevented thrombosis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimal Variational Asymptotic Method for Nonlinear Fractional Partial Differential Equations.

PubMed

Baranwal, Vipul K; Pandey, Ram K; Singh, Om P

2014-01-01

We propose optimal variational asymptotic method to solve time fractional nonlinear partial differential equations. In the proposed method, an arbitrary number of auxiliary parameters γ 0, γ 1, γ 2,… and auxiliary functions H 0(x), H 1(x), H 2(x),… are introduced in the correction functional of the standard variational iteration method. The optimal values of these parameters are obtained by minimizing the square residual error. To test the method, we apply it to solve two important classes of nonlinear partial differential equations: (1) the fractional advection-diffusion equation with nonlinear source term and (2) the fractional Swift-Hohenberg equation. Only few iterations are required to achieve fairly accurate solutions of both the first and second problems.

Partial Thermalization of Correlations in pA and AA collisionss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gavin, Sean; Moschelli, George; Zin, Christopher

2017-09-01

Correlations born before the onset of hydrodynamic flow can leave observable traces on the final state particles. Measurement of these correlations can yield important information on the isotropization and thermalization process. Starting with Israel-Stewart hydrodynamics and Boltzmann-like kinetic theory in the presence of dynamic Langevin noise, we derive new partial differential equations for two-particle correlation functions. To illustrate how these equations can be used, we study the effect of thermalization on long range correlations. We show quite generally that two particle correlations at early times depend on S, the average probability that a parton suffers no interactions. We extract S from transverse momentum fluctuations measured in Pb+Pb collisions and predict the degree of partial thermalization in pA experiments. NSF-PHY-1207687.

Evaluation of analytical performance based on partial order methodology.

PubMed

Carlsen, Lars; Bruggemann, Rainer; Kenessova, Olga; Erzhigitov, Erkin

2015-01-01

Classical measurements of performances are typically based on linear scales. However, in analytical chemistry a simple scale may be not sufficient to analyze the analytical performance appropriately. Here partial order methodology can be helpful. Within the context described here, partial order analysis can be seen as an ordinal analysis of data matrices, especially to simplify the relative comparisons of objects due to their data profile (the ordered set of values an object have). Hence, partial order methodology offers a unique possibility to evaluate analytical performance. In the present data as, e.g., provided by the laboratories through interlaboratory comparisons or proficiency testings is used as an illustrative example. However, the presented scheme is likewise applicable for comparison of analytical methods or simply as a tool for optimization of an analytical method. The methodology can be applied without presumptions or pretreatment of the analytical data provided in order to evaluate the analytical performance taking into account all indicators simultaneously and thus elucidating a "distance" from the true value. In the present illustrative example it is assumed that the laboratories analyze a given sample several times and subsequently report the mean value, the standard deviation and the skewness, which simultaneously are used for the evaluation of the analytical performance. The analyses lead to information concerning (1) a partial ordering of the laboratories, subsequently, (2) a "distance" to the Reference laboratory and (3) a classification due to the concept of "peculiar points". Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An evolutionary strategy based on partial imitation for solving optimization problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javarone, Marco Alberto

2016-12-01

In this work we introduce an evolutionary strategy to solve combinatorial optimization tasks, i.e. problems characterized by a discrete search space. In particular, we focus on the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), i.e. a famous problem whose search space grows exponentially, increasing the number of cities, up to becoming NP-hard. The solutions of the TSP can be codified by arrays of cities, and can be evaluated by fitness, computed according to a cost function (e.g. the length of a path). Our method is based on the evolution of an agent population by means of an imitative mechanism, we define 'partial imitation'. In particular, agents receive a random solution and then, interacting among themselves, may imitate the solutions of agents with a higher fitness. Since the imitation mechanism is only partial, agents copy only one entry (randomly chosen) of another array (i.e. solution). In doing so, the population converges towards a shared solution, behaving like a spin system undergoing a cooling process, i.e. driven towards an ordered phase. We highlight that the adopted 'partial imitation' mechanism allows the population to generate solutions over time, before reaching the final equilibrium. Results of numerical simulations show that our method is able to find, in a finite time, both optimal and suboptimal solutions, depending on the size of the considered search space.

The partial fission of fast spinning asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tardivel, Simon; Sanchez, Paul; Scheeres, Daniel J.

2016-10-01

The spin rates of asteroids systematically change over time due the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect. Above a certain spin rate that depends on the body's density, regions of an asteroid can enter in tension, with components held to the body by cohesive forces. When the body fails, deformation or fission can occur. Catastrophic fission leading to complete disruption has been directly observed in active asteroid P/2013 R3. Partial fission, the loss of only part of the body, has been proposed as a mechanism for the formation of binaries and is explored here.The equatorial cavities of (341843) 2008 EV5 and of (185851) 2000 DP107 (a binary system) are consistent with a localized partial fission of the body (LPSC 2016 #1036). The examination of the gravity field of these bodies reveals that a mass placed within these cavities could be shed. In this mechanism, the outward pull of inertial forces creates an average stress at the cavity interface of ≈1 Pa for 2008 EV5 and ≈3 Pa for 2000 DP107 at spin periods of ≈3.15 h for the assumed densities of 1.3 g/cm3.This work continues the study of this partial, localized fission. Specifically, it addresses the issue of the low cohesion necessary to the mechanism. These cohesion values are typically lower than global strength values inferred on other asteroids (10 - 200 Pa), meaning that partial fission may occur prior to larger-scale deformations. Yet, several processes can explain the discrepancy, as they can naturally segregate particles by size. For instance, landslides or granular convection (Brazil nut effect) could bring larger boulders to the equator of the body, while finer particles are left at higher latitudes or sink to the center. Conversely, failure of the interior could bring boulders to the surface. The peculiar profile shape of these asteroids, shared by many binaries (e.g. 1999 KW4, 1996 FG3) may also be a clue of this heterogeneity, as this "spin top" shape is obtained in simulations with

Pregabalin monotherapy in patients with partial-onset seizures

PubMed Central

Kwan, Patrick; Fakhoury, Toufic; Pitman, Verne; DuBrava, Sarah; Knapp, Lloyd; Yurkewicz, Lorraine

2014-01-01

Objective: To assess pregabalin monotherapy for partial-onset seizures using a historical-controlled conversion-to-monotherapy design. Methods: Adults with inadequately controlled partial-onset seizures while receiving 1 or 2 antiepileptic drugs during an 8-week prospective baseline were randomized to double-blind monotherapy with pregabalin 600 or 150 mg/d (4:1) for 20 weeks (8-week conversion and 12-week monotherapy period). The primary endpoint was the seizure-related exit rate for pregabalin 600 mg/d, based on discontinuations due to predefined criteria. Efficacy was declared if the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval for the exit rate was below a historical-control threshold of 74%, with stepwise evaluation using a threshold of 68%. Results: The trial was stopped early for positive efficacy after an interim analysis in 125 patients. The full study population included 161 patients, with 148 evaluable for efficacy. The mean time since epilepsy diagnosis was 14 years. Overall, 54.3% (600 mg/d) and 46.9% (150 mg/d) of patients completed 20 weeks of double-blind treatment. Seizure-related exit rate in the 600 mg/d group (27.5%; 95% confidence interval, 17.8%–37.2%) was significantly below the 74% and 68% thresholds (p < 0.001 for both). Eight patients on 600 mg/d and 2 on 150 mg/d were seizure-free throughout pregabalin monotherapy. Pregabalin's overall safety profile was consistent with prior trials. Conclusions: Pregabalin monotherapy was safe and efficacious for patients with inadequately controlled partial-onset seizures. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class III evidence that patients with inadequately controlled partial-onset seizures switched to pregabalin monotherapy have fewer seizure-related exit events compared with historical controls switched to pseudo-placebo monotherapy. PMID:24415567

Adjoint-based constant-mass partial derivatives

DOE PAGES

Favorite, Jeffrey A.

2017-09-01

In transport theory, adjoint-based partial derivatives with respect to mass density are constant-volume derivatives. Likewise, adjoint-based partial derivatives with respect to surface locations (i.e., internal interface locations and the outer system boundary) are constant-density derivatives. This study derives the constant-mass partial derivative of a response with respect to an internal interface location or the outer system boundary and the constant-mass partial derivative of a response with respect to the mass density of a region. Numerical results are given for a multiregion two-dimensional (r-z) cylinder for three very different responses: the uncollided gamma-ray flux at an external detector point, k effmore » of the system, and the total neutron leakage. Finally, results from the derived formulas compare extremely well with direct perturbation calculations.« less

Partial pressure analysis in space testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilford, Charles R.

1994-01-01

For vacuum-system or test-article analysis it is often desirable to know the species and partial pressures of the vacuum gases. Residual gas or Partial Pressure Analyzers (PPA's) are commonly used for this purpose. These are mass spectrometer-type instruments, most commonly employing quadrupole filters. These instruments can be extremely useful, but they should be used with caution. Depending on the instrument design, calibration procedures, and conditions of use, measurements made with these instruments can be accurate to within a few percent, or in error by two or more orders of magnitude. Significant sources of error can include relative gas sensitivities that differ from handbook values by an order of magnitude, changes in sensitivity with pressure by as much as two orders of magnitude, changes in sensitivity with time after exposure to chemically active gases, and the dependence of the sensitivity for one gas on the pressures of other gases. However, for most instruments, these errors can be greatly reduced with proper operating procedures and conditions of use. In this paper, data are presented illustrating performance characteristics for different instruments and gases, operating parameters are recommended to minimize some errors, and calibrations procedures are described that can detect and/or correct other errors.

Functional network connectivity analysis based on partial correlation in Alzheimer's disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Nan; Guan, Xiaoting; Zhang, Yumei; Li, Jingjing; Chen, Hongyan; Chen, Kewei; Fleisher, Adam; Yao, Li; Wu, Xia

2009-02-01

Functional network connectivity (FNC) measures the temporal dependency among the time courses of functional networks. However, the marginal correlation between two networks used in the classic FNC analysis approach doesn't separate the FNC from the direct/indirect effects of other networks. In this study, we proposed an alternative approach based on partial correlation to evaluate the FNC, since partial correlation based FNC can reveal the direct interaction between a pair of networks, removing dependencies or influences from others. Previous studies have demonstrated less task-specific activation and less rest-state activity in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We applied present approach to contrast FNC differences of resting state network (RSN) between AD and normal controls (NC). The fMRI data under resting condition were collected from 15 AD and 16 NC. FNC was calculated for each pair of six RSNs identified using Group ICA, thus resulting in 15 (2 out of 6) pairs for each subject. Partial correlation based FNC analysis indicated 6 pairs significant differences between groups, while marginal correlation only revealed 2 pairs (involved in the partial correlation results). Additionally, patients showed lower correlation than controls among most of the FNC differences. Our results provide new evidences for the disconnection hypothesis in AD.

Shear Banding in a Partially Molten Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alisic, L.; Rudge, J. F.; Wells, G.; Katz, R. F.; Rhebergen, S.

2013-12-01

We investigate the nonlinear behaviour of partially molten mantle material under shear. Numerical models of compaction and advection-diffusion of a porous matrix with a spherical inclusion are built using the automated code generation package FEniCS. The time evolution of melt distribution with increasing shear in these models is compared to laboratory experiments that show high-porosity shear banding in the medium and pressure shadows around the inclusion. We focus on understanding the interaction between these shear bands and pressure shadows as a function of rheological parameters.

An observational and thermodynamic investigation of carbonate partial melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Floess, David; Baumgartner, Lukas P.; Vonlanthen, Pierre

2015-01-01

Melting experiments available in the literature show that carbonates and pelites melt at similar conditions in the crust. While partial melting of pelitic rocks is common and well-documented, reports of partial melting in carbonates are rare and ambiguous, mainly because of intensive recrystallization and the resulting lack of criteria for unequivocal identification of melting. Here we present microstructural, textural, and geochemical evidence for partial melting of calcareous dolomite marbles in the contact aureole of the Tertiary Adamello Batholith. Petrographic observations and X-ray micro-computed tomography (X-ray μCT) show that calcite crystallized either in cm- to dm-scale melt pockets, or as an interstitial phase forming an interconnected network between dolomite grains. Calcite-dolomite thermometry yields a temperature of at least 670 °C, which is well above the minimum melting temperature of ∼600 °C reported for the CaO-MgO-CO2-H2O system. Rare-earth element (REE) partition coefficients (KDcc/do) range between 9-35 for adjacent calcite-dolomite pairs. These KD values are 3-10 times higher than equilibrium values between dolomite and calcite reported in the literature. They suggest partitioning of incompatible elements into a melt phase. The δ18O and δ13C isotopic values of calcite and dolomite support this interpretation. Crystallographic orientations measured by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) show a clustering of c-axes for dolomite and interstitial calcite normal to the foliation plane, a typical feature for compressional deformation, whereas calcite crystallized in pockets shows a strong clustering of c-axes parallel to the pocket walls, suggesting that it crystallized after deformation had stopped. All this together suggests the formation of partial melts in these carbonates. A Schreinemaker analysis of the experimental data for a CO2-H2O fluid-saturated system indeed predicts formation of calcite-rich melt between 650-880 °C, in

Linear algebraic theory of partial coherence: discrete fields and measures of partial coherence.

PubMed

Ozaktas, Haldun M; Yüksel, Serdar; Kutay, M Alper

2002-08-01

A linear algebraic theory of partial coherence is presented that allows precise mathematical definitions of concepts such as coherence and incoherence. This not only provides new perspectives and insights but also allows us to employ the conceptual and algebraic tools of linear algebra in applications. We define several scalar measures of the degree of partial coherence of an optical field that are zero for full incoherence and unity for full coherence. The mathematical definitions are related to our physical understanding of the corresponding concepts by considering them in the context of Young's experiment.

Evidence from a partial report task for forgetting in dynamic spatial memory.

PubMed

Gugerty, L

1998-09-01

G. Sperling (1960) and others have investigated memory for briefly presented stimuli by using a partial versus whole report technique in which participants sometimes reported part of a stimulus array and sometimes reported all of it. For simple, static stimulus displays, the partial report technique showed that participants could recall most of the information in the stimulus array but that this information faded quickly when participants engaged in whole report recall. An experiment was conducted that applied the partial report method to a task involving complex displays of moving objects. In the experiment, 26 participants viewed cars in a low-fidelity driving simulator and then reported the locations of some or all of the cars in each scene. A statistically significant advantage was found for the partial report trials. This finding suggests that detailed spatial location information was forgotten from dynamic spatial memory over the 14 s that it took participants to recall whole report trials. The experiment results suggest better ways of measuring situation awareness. Partial report recall techniques may give a more accurate measure of people's momentary situation awareness than whole report techniques. Potential applications of this research include simulator-based measures of situation awareness ability that can be part of inexpensive test batteries to select people for real-time tasks (e.g., in a driver licensing battery) and to identify people who need additional training.

Thermal ablation for partial splenectomy hemostasis, spleen trauma, splenic metastasis and hypersplenism.

PubMed

Duan, Ya-Qi; Liang, Ping

2013-05-01

Many studies have been conducted on splenic thermal ablation for partial splenectomy hemostasis, spleen trauma, splenic metastasis and hypersplenism. In this article, we review the evolution and current status of radiofrequency and microwave ablation in the treatment of spleen diseases. All publications from 1990 to 2011 on radiofrequency and microwave ablation for partial splenectomy hemostasis, spleen trauma, splenic metastasis and hypersplenism were retrieved by searching PubMed. Thermal ablation in the spleen for partial splenectomy hemostasis, spleen trauma, splenic metastasis and hypersplenism can preserve part of the spleen and maintain splenic immunologic function. Thermal ablation for assisting hemostasis in partial splenectomy minimizes blood loss during operation. Thermal ablation for spleen trauma reduces the number of splenectomy and the amount of blood transfusion. Thermal ablation for splenic metastasis is minimally invasive and can be done under the guidance of an ultrasound, which helps shorten the recovery time. Thermal ablation for hypersplenism increases platelet (PLT) and white blood cell (WBC) counts and improves liver function. It also helps to maintain splenic immunologic function and even improves splenic immunologic function in the short-term. In conclusion, thermal ablative approaches are promising for partial splenectomy hemostasis, spleen trauma, splenic metastasis and hypersplenism. In order to improve therapeutic effects, directions for future studies may include standardized therapeutic indications, prolonged observation periods and enlarged sample sizes.

Third Partial and 3.0L Second Partial and 2.0L Partial and Amended Consent Decree

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The settlement partially resolves allegations that Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) by the sale of approximately 500,000 model year 2009 to 2015 motor vehicles containing 2.0 liter diesel engines equipped with “defeat devices” (“CAA 2.0 liter.

Hearing results in otosclerosis surgery after partial stapedectomy, total stapedectomy and stapedotomy.

PubMed

Persson, P; Harder, H; Magnuson, B

1997-01-01

Hearing results in a consecutive series of 407 patients with otosclerosis undergoing primary stapes surgery were analysed (437 operated ears). Partial stapedectomy was performed in 70 ears (16%), total stapedectomy in 205 ears (47%), in both groups using the House steel wire prosthesis on fascia in the oval window. The remaining 162 ears (37%) underwent stapedotomy using the Fisch 0.4 mm teflon-platinum piston. No case of cochlear loss (> 15 dB) occurred in the total series. The comparison between the three groups one year postoperatively showed that the air-bone gap was smaller for partial and total stapedectomy for all frequencies except 4 kHz. The air-bone gap was calculated as the difference between the preoperative bone conduction and the postoperative air conduction thresholds. Partial and total stapedectomy also showed larger improvements of bone conduction thresholds compared with stapedotomy for all frequencies but 4 kHz. At the 3-year follow-up, the hearing gain for all frequencies (250-8000 Hz) was larger for partial and total stapedectomy. Yet, when comparing the decline of hearing from 1 to 3 year postoperatively, the hearing gain achieved with partial and total stapedectomy seemed to deteriorate at a higher rate, which was considered to be caused by impaired sensorineural function. Our results show that in the short-term perspective partial or total stapedectomy can still compete for better hearing results even at higher frequencies, but stapedotomy seems to yield more stable hearing results over time and should therefore be considered as the method of choice.

On-line Monitoring Device for High-voltage Switch Cabinet Partial Discharge Based on Pulse Current Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Y Tao, S.; Zhang, X. Z.; Cai, H. W.; Li, P.; Feng, Y.; Zhang, T. C.; Li, J.; Wang, W. S.; Zhang, X. K.

2017-12-01

The pulse current method for partial discharge detection is generally applied in type testing and other off-line tests of electrical equipment at delivery. After intensive analysis of the present situation and existing problems of partial discharge detection in switch cabinets, this paper designed the circuit principle and signal extraction method for partial discharge on-line detection based on a high-voltage presence indicating systems (VPIS), established a high voltage switch cabinet partial discharge on-line detection circuit based on the pulse current method, developed background software integrated with real-time monitoring, judging and analyzing functions, carried out a real discharge simulation test on a real-type partial discharge defect simulation platform of a 10KV switch cabinet, and verified the sensitivity and validity of the high-voltage switch cabinet partial discharge on-line monitoring device based on the pulse current method. The study presented in this paper is of great significance for switch cabinet maintenance and theoretical study on pulse current method on-line detection, and has provided a good implementation method for partial discharge on-line monitoring devices for 10KV distribution network equipment.

Arthroscopic partial wrist fusion.

PubMed

Ho, Pak-Cheong

2008-12-01

The wide intraarticular exposure of the wrist joint under arthroscopic view provides an excellent ground for various forms of partial wrist fusion. Combining with percutaneous fixation technique, arthroscopic partial wrist fusion can potentially generate the best possible functional outcome by preserving the maximal motion pertained with each type of partial wrist fusion because the effect of extraarticular adhesion associated with open surgery can be minimized. From November 1997 to May 2008, the author had performed 12 cases of arthroscopic partial wrist fusion, including scaphotrapeziotrapezoid fusion in 3, scaphoidectomy and 4-corner fusion in 4, radioscapholunate fusion in 3, radiolunate fusion in 1, and lunotriquetral fusion in 1 case. Through the radiocarpal or midcarpal joint, the corresponding articular surfaces were denuded of cartilage using arthroscopic burr and curette. Carpal bones involved in the fusion process were then transfixed with K wires percutaneously after alignment corrected and confirmed under fluoroscopic control. Autogenous cancellous bone graft or bone substitute were inserted and impacted to the fusion site through cannula under direct arthroscopic view. Final fixation could be by multiple K wires or cannulated screw system. Early mobilization was encouraged. Surgical complications were minor, including pin tract infection, skin burn, and delay union in 1 case. Uneventful radiologic union was obtained in 9 cases, stable fibrous union in 2, and nonunion in 1. The average follow-up period was 70 months. Symptom was resolved or improved, and functional motion was gained in all cases. All surgical scars were almost invisible, and aesthetic outcome was excellent.

Improving maximum power point tracking of partially shaded photovoltaic system by using IPSO-BELBIC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Alim El-Garhy, M. Abd; Mubarak, R. I.; El-Bably, M.

2017-08-01

Solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays in remote applications are often related to the rapid changes in the partial shading pattern. Rapid changes of the partial shading pattern make the tracking of maximum power point (MPP) of the global peak through the local ones too difficult. An essential need to make a fast and efficient algorithm to detect the peaks values which always vary as the sun irradiance changes. This paper presents two algorithms based on the improved particle swarm optimization technique one of them with PID controller (IPSO-PID), and the other one with Brain Emotional Learning Based Intelligent Controller (IPSO-BELBIC). These techniques improve the maximum power point (MPP) tracking capabilities for photovoltaic (PV) system under partial shading circumstances. The main aim of these improved algorithms is to accelerate the velocity of IPSO to reach to (MPP) and increase its efficiency. These algorithms also improve the tracking time under complex irradiance conditions. Based on these conditions, the tracking time of these presented techniques improves to 2 msec, with an efficiency of 100%.

Oculomotor impairment during chronic partial sleep deprivation.

PubMed

Russo, M; Thomas, M; Thorne, D; Sing, H; Redmond, D; Rowland, L; Johnson, D; Hall, S; Krichmar, J; Balkin, T

2003-04-01

The effects of chronic partial sleep (sleep deprivation) and extended sleep (sleep augmentation) followed by recovery sleep on oculomotor function were evaluated in normal subjects to explore the usefulness of oculomotor assessment for alertness monitoring in fitness-for-duty testing. Sixty-six commercial drivers (24-62 years, 50m/16f) participated in a 15 day study composed of 3 training days with 8h time in bed per night, 7 experimental days with subjects randomly assigned to either 3, 5, 7, or 9h time in bed, and 3 recovery nights with 8h time in bed. Data from 57 subjects were used. Saccadic velocity (SV), initial pupil diameter (IPD), latency to pupil constriction (CL), and amplitude of pupil constriction (CA) were assessed and correlated with the sleep latency test (SLT), the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS), and simulated driving performance. Regression analyses showed that SV slowed significantly in the 3 and 5h groups, IPD decreased significantly in the 9h group, and CL increased significantly in the 3h group. SLT and SSS significantly correlated with SV, IPD, CL, and driving accidents for the 3h group, and with CL for the 5h group. Analyses also showed a significant negative correlation between decreasing SV and increasing driving accidents in the 3h group and a significant negative correlation between IPD and driving accidents for the 7h group. The results demonstrate a sensitivity primarily of SV to sleepiness, and a correlation of SV and IPD to impaired simulated driving performance, providing evidence for the potential utility of oculomotor indicators in the detection of excessive sleepiness and deterioration of complex motor performance with chronic partial sleep restriction. This paper shows a relationship between sleep deprivation and oculomotor measures, and suggests a potential utility for oculometrics in assessing operational performance readiness under sleep restricted conditions.

Effects of tranexamic acid on coagulation indexes of patients undergoing heart valve replacement surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass.

PubMed

Liu, Fei; Xu, Dong; Zhang, Kefeng; Zhang, Jian

2016-12-01

This study aims to explore the effects of tranexamic acid on the coagulation indexes of patients undergoing heart valve replacement surgery under the condition of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). One hundred patients who conformed to the inclusive criteria were selected and divided into a tranexamic acid group and a non-tranexamic acid group. They all underwent heart valve replacement surgery under CPB. Patients in the tranexamic acid group were intravenously injected with 1 g of tranexamic acid (100 mL) at the time point after anesthesia induction and before skin incision and at the time point after the neutralization of heparin. Patients in the non-tranexamic acid group were given 100 mL of normal saline at corresponding time points, respectively. Then the coagulation indexes of the two groups were analyzed. The activated blood clotting time (ACT) of the two groups was within normal scope before CPB, while four coagulation indexes including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), international normalized ratio (INR), and fibrinogen (FIB) had significant increases after surgery; the PT and INR of the tranexamic acid group had a remarkable decline after surgery. All the findings suggest that the application of tranexamic acid in heart valve replacement surgery under CPB can effectively reduce intraoperative and postoperative blood loss. © The Author(s) 2016.

Partial oxidation power plant with reheating and method thereof

DOEpatents

Newby, R.A.; Yang, W.C.; Bannister, R.L.

1999-08-10

A system and method are disclosed for generating power having an air compression/partial oxidation system, a turbine, and a primary combustion system. The air compression/partial oxidation system receives a first air stream and a fuel stream and produces a first partially oxidized fuel stream and a first compressed air stream therefrom. The turbine expands the first partially oxidized fuel stream while being cooled by the first compressed air stream to produce a heated air stream. The heated air stream is injected into the expanding first partially oxidized fuel stream, thereby reheating it in the turbine. A second partially oxidized fuel stream is emitted from the turbine. The primary combustion system receives said second partially oxidized fuel stream and a second air stream, combusts said second partially oxidized fuel stream, and produces rotating shaft power and an emission stream therefrom. 2 figs.

Partial oxidation power plant with reheating and method thereof

DOEpatents

Newby, Richard A.; Yang, Wen-Ching; Bannister, Ronald L.

1999-01-01

A system and method for generating power having an air compression/partial oxidation system, a turbine, and a primary combustion system. The air compression/partial oxidation system receives a first air stream and a fuel stream and produces a first partially oxidized fuel stream and a first compressed air stream therefrom. The turbine expands the first partially oxidized fuel stream while being cooled by the first compressed air stream to produce a heated air stream. The heated air stream is injected into the expanding first partially oxidized fuel stream, thereby reheating it in the turbine. A second partially oxidized fuel stream is emitted from the turbine. The primary combustion system receives said second partially oxidized fuel stream and a second air stream, combusts said second partially oxidized fuel stream, and produces rotating shaft power and an emission stream therefrom.

Partial reinforcement, extinction, and placebo analgesia

PubMed Central

Yeung, Siu Tsin Au; Colagiuri, Ben; Lovibond, Peter F.; Colloca, Luana

2014-01-01

Numerous studies indicate that placebo analgesia can be established via conditioning procedures. However, these studies have exclusively involved conditioning under continuous reinforcement. Thus, it is currently unknown whether placebo analgesia can be established under partial reinforcement and how durable any such effect would be. We tested this possibility using electro-cutaneous pain in healthy volunteers. Sixty undergraduates received placebo treatment (activation of a sham electrode) under the guise of an analgesic trial. The participants were randomly allocated to different conditioning schedules, namely continuous reinforcement (CRF), partial reinforcement (PRF), or control (no conditioning). Conditioning was achieved by surreptitiously reducing pain intensity during training when the placebo was activated compared with when it was inactive. For the CRF group, the placebo was always followed by a surreptitious reduction in pain during training. For the PRF group, the placebo was followed by a reduction in pain stimulation on 62.5% of trials only. In the test phase, pain stimulation was equivalent across placebo and no placebo trials. Both continuous and partial reinforcement produced placebo analgesia, with the magnitude of initial analgesia being larger following continuous reinforcement. However, while the placebo analgesia established under continuous reinforcement extinguished during test phase, the placebo analgesia established under partial reinforcement did not. These findings indicate that partial reinforcement can induce placebo analgesia and that these effects are more resistant to extinction than those established via continuous reinforcement. Partial reinforcement may, therefore, reflect a novel way of enhancing clinical outcomes via the placebo effect. PMID:24602997

Marangoni-flow-induced partial coalescence of a droplet on a liquid/air interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Kai; Zhang, Peng; Che, Zhizhao; Wang, Tianyou

2018-02-01

The coalescence of a droplet and a liquid/air interface of lower surface tension was numerically studied by using the lattice Boltzmann phase-field method. The experimental phenomenon of droplet ejection observed by Blanchette et al. [Phys. Fluids 21, 072107 (2009), 10.1063/1.3177339] at sufficiently large surface tension differences was successfully reproduced for the first time. Furthermore, the emergence, disappearance, and re-emergence of "partial coalescence" with increasing surface tension difference was observed and explained. The re-emergence of partial coalescence under large surface tension differences is caused by the remarkable lifting motion of the Marangoni flow, which significantly retards the vertical collapse. Two different modes of partial coalescence were identified by the simulation, namely peak injection occurs at lower Ohnesorge numbers and bottom pinch-off at higher Ohnesorge numbers. By comparing the characteristic timescales of the upward Marangoni flow with that of the downward flow driven by capillary pressure, a criterion for the transition from partial to total coalescence was derived based on scaling analysis and numerically validated.

Does partial Granger causality really eliminate the influence of exogenous inputs and latent variables?

PubMed

Roelstraete, Bjorn; Rosseel, Yves

2012-04-30

Partial Granger causality was introduced by Guo et al. (2008) who showed that it could better eliminate the influence of latent variables and exogenous inputs than conditional G-causality. In the recent literature we can find some reviews and applications of this type of Granger causality (e.g. Smith et al., 2011; Bressler and Seth, 2010; Barrett et al., 2010). These articles apparently do not take into account a serious flaw in the original work on partial G-causality, being the negative F values that were reported and even proven to be plausible. In our opinion, this undermines the credibility of the obtained results and thus the validity of the approach. Our study is aimed to further validate partial G-causality and to find an answer why negative partial Granger causality estimates were reported. Time series were simulated from the same toy model as used in the original paper and partial and conditional causal measures were compared in the presence of confounding variables. Inference was done parametrically and using non-parametric block bootstrapping. We counter the proof that partial Granger F values can be negative, but the main conclusion of the original article remains. In the presence of unknown latent and exogenous influences, it appears that partial G-causality will better eliminate their influence than conditional G-causality, at least when non-parametric inference is used. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of complete and partial removable dentures on chewing movements.

PubMed

Gonçalves, T M S V; Vilanova, L S R; Gonçalves, L M; Rodrigues Garcia, R C M

2014-03-01

Partial or complete edentulism impairs mastication. However, it is unclear how the chewing cycle is affected by prosthetics. We evaluated the chewing movements of patients fitted with complete (CD) or removable partial denture (RPD). A total of 29 subjects were kinesiographically evaluated during chewing of peanuts and Optocal portions in a random sequence. The subjects were divided into two groups according to prosthesis type. Group RPD was composed of 14 partially edentulous patients using a lower distal extension RPD (mean age 61 ± 8 years), and group CD contained 15 completely edentulous patients using CD (mean age 65·9 ± 7·9 years) in both jaws. Opening, closing, occlusal and masticatory cycle times, movement angle (opening and closing), maximum velocity (opening and closing), total area and chewing cycle amplitudes were evaluated. The results were subjected to anova and Tukey's HSD test at a significance level of 5%. The RPD group exhibited shorter opening and closing phases and masticatory cycle time (P < 0·05). Maximum velocities were also higher in the RPD group, irrespective of the test material (P < 0·05). The area and amplitude of the chewing envelope was smaller in the CD group (P < 0·0001). The test material did not influence chewing cycles in any of the parameters evaluated (P > 0·05). RPD wearers use a faster chewing sequence with greater vertical and lateral jaw excursions compared with CD wearers. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Resolution in partially accomodative esotropia during occlusion treatment for amblyopia.

PubMed

Koc, F; Ozal, H; Yasar, H; Firat, E

2006-03-01

To evaluate alignment changes in partially accommodative esotropia during occlusion treatment for amblyopia. Changes at the deviation angles of 63 partially accommodative esotropia patients, who had occlusion treatment for amblyopia, were evaluated retrospectively. Mean deviation angle at the start of therapy without glasses was 45 PD (10-90 PD) and became 27 PD (5-70 PD) after at least 2 months with glasses. During 12 (2-36) months of occlusion period, mean manifest deviation angle with glasses decreased to 11 PD (0-50) (P < 0.001) and amblyopia resolved in 71.5% of the cases. After termination of amblyopia treatment 24 (38%) cases had surgery for the residual deviation but if we had planned surgery before amblyopia treatment, 81% of the patients would have had surgery. Should amblyopia be treated initially or should we operate first in patients with strabismus and amblyopia together? Our research suggests that we should not hurry to operate in high hypermetropic partially accommodative cases, which have amblyopia and a long-term history of strabismus. Initial amblyopia treatment in these cases allows time for resolution of the nonaccomodative component in strabismus and can significantly decrease the necessity for surgery.

Power counting in peripheral partial waves: The singlet channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valderrama, M. Pavón; Sánchez, M. Sánchez; Yang, C.-J.; Long, Bingwei; Carbonell, J.; van Kolck, U.

2017-05-01

We analyze the power counting of the peripheral singlet partial waves in nucleon-nucleon scattering. In agreement with conventional wisdom, we find that pion exchanges are perturbative in the peripheral singlets. We quantify from the effective field theory perspective the well-known suppression induced by the centrifugal barrier in the pion-exchange interactions. By exploring perturbation theory up to fourth order, we find that the one-pion-exchange potential in these channels is demoted from leading to subleading order by a given power of the expansion parameter that grows with the orbital angular momentum. We discuss the implications of these demotions for few-body calculations: though higher partial waves have been known for a long time to be irrelevant in these calculations (and are hence ignored), here we explain how to systematize the procedure in a way that is compatible with the effective field theory expansion.

A System for Incubations at High Gas Partial Pressure

PubMed Central

Sauer, Patrick; Glombitza, Clemens; Kallmeyer, Jens

2012-01-01

High-pressure is a key feature of deep subsurface environments. High partial pressure of dissolved gasses plays an important role in microbial metabolism, because thermodynamic feasibility of many reactions depends on the concentration of reactants. For gases, this is controlled by their partial pressure, which can exceed 1 MPa at in situ conditions. Therefore, high hydrostatic pressure alone is not sufficient to recreate true deep subsurface in situ conditions, but the partial pressure of dissolved gasses has to be controlled as well. We developed an incubation system that allows for incubations at hydrostatic pressure up to 60 MPa, temperatures up to 120°C, and at high gas partial pressure. The composition and partial pressure of gasses can be manipulated during the experiment. To keep costs low, the system is mainly made from off-the-shelf components with only very few custom-made parts. A flexible and inert PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) incubator sleeve, which is almost impermeable for gases, holds the sample and separates it from the pressure fluid. The flexibility of the incubator sleeve allows for sub-sampling of the medium without loss of pressure. Experiments can be run in both static and flow-through mode. The incubation system described here is usable for versatile purposes, not only the incubation of microorganisms and determination of growth rates, but also for chemical degradation or extraction experiments under high gas saturation, e.g., fluid–gas–rock-interactions in relation to carbon dioxide sequestration. As an application of the system we extracted organic compounds from sub-bituminous coal using H2O as well as a H2O–CO2 mixture at elevated temperature (90°C) and pressure (5 MPa). Subsamples were taken at different time points during the incubation and analyzed by ion chromatography. Furthermore we demonstrated the applicability of the system for studies of microbial activity, using samples from the Isis mud volcano. We could

Severe Coagulopathy after Ingestion of "Snake Wine".

PubMed

Moon, Jeong Mi; Chun, Byeong Jo

2016-06-01

This report describes a patient who developed coagulopathy after ingesting snake wine, which is an alcoholic libation containing an entire venomous snake. A 68-year-old man was admitted to the hospital 19 h after ingesting snake wine. The laboratory features upon admission included unmeasurable activated partial thromboplastin (aPTT) values, prolonged prothrombin time (PT) values, increased fibrinogen levels, modestly elevated fibrin degradation product and D-dimer values, uncorrected aPTT and PT values after a mixing test, and normal levels of aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase. No pesticides, warfarin, or superwarfarin in the patient's blood or urine were detected. His coagulation profile normalized on the 6(th) day after admission after antivenom treatment. He was discharged 10 days later without sequelae. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: The physician should be aware that ingesting snake wine may lead to systemic envenomation. As for coagulopathy, which may develop by ingesting snake venom, related laboratory findings may differ from the features observed after direct envenomation by snakebite. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization of surface modified polyester fabric.

PubMed

Joseph, Roy; Shelma, R; Rajeev, A; Muraleedharan, C V

2009-12-01

Woven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric has been used in the construction of vascular grafts and sewing ring of prosthetic heart valves. In an effort to improve haemocompatibility and tissue response to PET fabric, a fluoropolymer, polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF), was coated on PET fabric by dip coating technique. The coating was found to be uniform and no significant changes occurred on physical properties such as water permeability and burst strength. Cell culture cytotoxicity studies showed that coated PET was non-cytotoxic to L929 fibroblast cell lines. In vitro studies revealed that coating improved haemocompatibility of PET fabric material. Coating reduced platelet consumption of PET fabric by 50%. Upon surface modification leukocyte consumption of PET was reduced by 24%. About 60% reduction in partial thromboplastin time (PTT) observed when PET was coated with PVDF. Results of endothelial cell proliferation studies showed that surface coating did not have any substantial impact on cell proliferation. Overall results indicate that coating has potential to improve haemocompatibility of PET fabric without affecting its mechanical performance.

A case report of idiopathic iliopsoas hematoma which occurred soon after transfer to the wheelchair after total hip arthroplasty.

PubMed

Okumura, Tomoo; Fujita, Hiroshi; Harada, Hideto; Nishimura, Ryuuichi; Tominaga, Tomohiro

2017-02-01

A 79-year-old woman was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the left hip and scheduled for total hip arthroplasty. As two lesions were detected in branches of the coronary arteries, she was treated with catheter treatment. The patient was receiving anticoagulant treatment, which was suspended eight days before the operation; however, heparin was started at 6 days before the operation and was stopped 9 hours before the operation. On the 2nd postoperative day soon after transfer to the wheel chair, she was feeling unwell and was suffering from severe pain in her left buttock and left thigh. Her blood pressure had decreased to 70 mmHg. During abdominal contrast-enhanced CT, a hematoma was detected in the left iliopsoas muscle. Catheter therapy was started by the cardiovascular department and bleeding had stopped spontaneously. The patient was able to walk with a cane and was discharged on the 40th postoperative day. THA: total hip arthroplasty, CT: computed tomography, JOA score: Japanese Orthopaedic Association hip score, HA: hydroxyapatite, PMMA: polymethyl-methacrylate, APTT: activated partial thromboplastin time.

Comparative effects of a contraceptive vaginal ring delivering a nonandrogenic progestin and continuous ethinyl estradiol and a combined oral contraceptive containing levonorgestrel on hemostasis variables.

PubMed

Rad, Mandana; Kluft, Cornelis; Ménard, Joël; Burggraaf, Jacobus; de Kam, Marieke L; Meijer, Piet; Sivin, Irving; Sitruk-Ware, Regine L

2006-07-01

This study aimed to compare the effects on hemostasis variables of a contraceptive vaginal ring with those of an oral contraceptive. Twenty-three and 22 healthy premenopausal women were randomized to the contraceptive vaginal ring (150 microg Nestorone and 15 microg ethinyl estradiol) or Stediril 30 during 3 cycles. Analysis of covariance was performed with baseline values as covariate. The contraceptive vaginal ring changed most hemostasis variables similarly but raised (95% confidence intervals of percent treatment differences) Factor VIIt (28% to 49%), extrinsic activated protein C resistance (14% to 65%), and sex hormone-binding globulin (117% to 210%) and lowered Protein S (-32% to -16%) and the global activated partial thromboplastin time-based activated protein C resistance (-12% to -2%) more than the oral contraceptive. The contraceptive vaginal ring affected some measured hemostasis variables and sex hormone-binding globulin differently from the oral contraceptive, most likely because of difference in androgenicity of the progestins. The results suggest that the contraindications for oral contraceptive use would also apply to the tested contraceptive vaginal ring.

Accidental fatal aflatoxicosis due to contaminated commercial diet in 50 dogs.

PubMed

Bruchim, Y; Segev, G; Sela, U; Bdolah-Abram, T; Salomon, A; Aroch, I

2012-08-01

Aflatoxins, produced by Aspergillus spp., are toxic contaminants of stored grain. This study describes 50 dogs presented with foodborne aflatoxicosis. Common clinical signs included lethargy (78%), vomiting (76%), anorexia (74%), icterus (66%), depression (66%), melena (60%), haematuria (36%) and diarrhoea (36%). Common laboratory abnormalities included increased activities of aspartate aminotransferase (86%), alkaline phosphatase (84%) and alanine aminotransferase (79%), hypoantithrombinaemia (86%), prolonged prothrombin (PT, 82%) and activated partial thromboplastin times (aPTT, 80%), hyperbilirubinaemia (73%), hypocholesterolaemia (60%) hypoalbuminemia (47%) and thrombocytopenia (42%). Non-survivors had longer PT and aPTT and lower antithrombin (P<0.001) at presentation compared to survivors (23.8s vs.10.5; 37.9 vs.17.6s and 5% vs. 54%, respectively). Hyperbilirubinaemia (>56.6 μmol/L) and albumin concentration <32.5 g/L at presentation were risk factors for mortality (P<0.0001). Common complications included disseminated intravascular coagulation (58%), hepatic encephalopathy (35%) and acute kidney injury (4%). The mortality rate was 68%, suggesting that dogs with aflatoxicosis have poor prognosis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two Cases of Partial Trisomy 4p and Partial Trisomy 14q

PubMed Central

Kim, Yeo-Hyang; Kim, Heung-Sik; Ryoo, Nam-Hee

2013-01-01

We present clinical and cytogenetic data on 2 cases of partial trisomy 4p and partial trisomy 14q. Both patients had an extra der(14)t(4;14)(p15.31;q12) chromosome due to a 3:1 segregation from a balanced translocation carrier mother. Array analyses indicated that their chromosomal breakpoints were similar, but there was no relationship between the 2 families. Both patients showed prominent growth retardation and psychomotor developmental delay. Other phenotypic manifestations were generally mild and variable; for example, patient 1 had a short palpebral fissure and low-set ears whereas patient 2 had a round face, asymmetric eyes, small ears, a short neck, finger/toe abnormalities, and behavioral problems. PMID:23301226

21 CFR 175.260 - Partial phosphoric acid esters of polyester resins.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... section, partial phosphoric acid esters of polyester resins are prepared by the reaction of trimellitic anhydride with 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol followed by reaction of the resin thus produced with phosphoric... characterizing the type of food and under the conditions of time and temperature characterizing the conditions of...

Partial aphid resistance in lettuce negatively affects parasitoids.

PubMed

Lanteigne, Marie-Eve; Brodeur, Jacques; Jenni, Sylvie; Boivin, Guy

2014-10-01

This study investigated the effects of partial plant resistance on the lettuce aphid Nasonovia ribisnigri (Mosley) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a major pest of cultivated lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), and one of its parasitoids, Aphidius ervi Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Aphids were reared on susceptible (L. sativa variety Estival; S) or partially resistant (Lactuca serriola L. PI 491093; PR) lettuce, and next parasitized by A. ervi females. Fitness proxies were measured for both aphids and parasitoids. Developmental time to adult stage took longer for alate and apterous aphids (an average of 3.5 and 1.5 additional days, respectively) on PR than on S lettuce, and fecundity of alate aphids reared on PR lettuce was reduced by 37.8% relative to those reared on S lettuce. Size (tibia length) and weight of aphids reared on PR lettuce were lower than for aphids reared on S lettuce from the third and second instar onward, respectively. Parasitism of aphids reared on PR plants resulted in lower parasitoid offspring emergence (-49.9%), lower adult female (-30.3%) and male (-27.5%) weight, smaller adult female (-17.5%) and male (-11.9%) size, and lower female fecundity (37.8% fewer eggs) than when parasitoids developed from aphids reared on S plants. Our results demonstrate that partial aphid resistance in lettuce negatively affects both the second and third trophic levels. Host plant resistance in cultivated lettuce may therefore create an ecological sink for aphid parasitoids.

Performance Evaluation of the Sysmex CS-5100 Automated Coagulation Analyzer.

PubMed

Chen, Liming; Chen, Yu

2015-01-01

Coagulation testing is widely applied clinically, and laboratories increasingly demand automated coagulation analyzers with short turn-around times and high-throughput. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Sysmex CS-5100 automated coagulation analyzer for routine use in a clinical laboratory. The prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (Fbg), and D-dimer were compared between the Sysmex CS-5100 and Sysmex CA-7000 analyzers, and the imprecision, comparison, throughput, STAT function, and performance for abnormal samples were measured in each. The within-run and between-run coefficients of variation (CV) for the PT, APTT, INR, and D-dimer analyses showed excellent results both in the normal and pathologic ranges. The correlation coefficients between the Sysmex CS-5100 and Sysmex CA-7000 were highly correlated. The throughput of the Sysmex CS-5100 was faster than that of the Sysmex CA-7000. There was no interference at all by total bilirubin concentrations and triglyceride concentrations in the Sysmex CS-5100 analyzer. We demonstrated that the Sysmex CS-5100 performs with satisfactory imprecision and is well suited for coagulation analysis in laboratories processing large sample numbers and icteric and lipemic samples.

A photoacoustic tool for therapeutic drug monitoring of heparin (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Junxin; Hartanto, James; Jokerst, Jesse V.

2017-03-01

Heparin is used broadly in cardiac, pulmonary, surgical, and vascular medicine to treat thrombotic disorders with over 500 million doses per year globally. Despite this widespread use, it has a narrow therapeutic window and is one of the top three medication errors. The active partial thromboplastin time (PTT) monitors heparin, but this blood test suffers from long turnaround times, a variable reference range, and limited utility with low molecular weight heparin. Here, we describe an imaging technique that can monitor heparin concentration and activity in real time using photoacoustic spectroscopy via methylene blue as a simple and Federal Drug Agency-approved contrast agent. We found a strong correlation between heparin concentration and photoacoustic signal measured in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and blood (R2>0.90). Clinically relevant concentrations were detected in blood with a heparin detection limit of 0.28 U/mL and a low molecular weight heparin (enoxaparin) detection limit of 72 μg/mL. We validated this imaging approach by correlation to the PTT (Pearson's r = 0.86; p<0.05) as well as with protamine sulfate treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to use imaging data to monitor anticoagulation.

Prediction of thrombophilia in patients with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss using a statistical model.

PubMed

Wang, Tongfei; Kang, Xiaomin; He, Liying; Liu, Zhilan; Xu, Haijing; Zhao, Aimin

2017-09-01

To establish a statistical model to predict thrombophilia in patients with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (URPL). A retrospective case-control study was conducted at Ren Ji Hospital, Shanghai, China, from March 2014 to October 2016. The levels of D-dimer (DD), fibrinogen degradation products (FDP), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen (Fg), and platelet aggregation in response to arachidonic acid (AA) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) were collected. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to analyze data from 158 UPRL patients (≥3 previous first trimester pregnancy losses with unexplained etiology) and 131 non-RPL patients (no history of recurrent pregnancy loss). A logistic regression model (LRM) was built and the model was externally validated in another group of patients. The LRM included AA, DD, FDP, TT, APTT, and PT. The overall accuracy of the LRM was 80.9%, with sensitivity and specificity of 78.5% and 78.3%, respectively. The diagnostic threshold of the possibility of the LRM was 0.6492, with a sensitivity of 78.5% and a specificity of 78.3%. Subsequently, the LRM was validated with an overall accuracy of 83.6%. The LRM is a valuable model for prediction of thrombophilia in URPL patients. © 2017 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

The effect of intravenous safflower oil emulsion on the clotting mechanism.

PubMed

Van Way, C W; Dunn, E L; Hamstra, R D

1983-08-01

A new fat emulsion for intravenous use, derived from safflower oil (Abbott Laboratories), was studied. The clotting mechanism was compared with a battery of tests performed during the infusion of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) using glucose alone and during infusion of TPN using both glucose and fat. Five adult surgical patients underwent TPN with 7.0 per cent amino acid solution for ten days, receiving glucose as their only nonprotein calorie source on days one, two, nine, and ten (40 kcal/kg/day). On days three through eight, 10 per cent fat emulsion (600-900 ml/day) was given each day to provide one-third of the nonprotein calories. Simplate bleeding time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen (Biuret method), platelet count, platelet aggregation, serum functional antithrombin, and viscoelastic curves were measured on days one, three, six, and ten. Some of these studies were abnormal at baseline and during the study. No significant changes were seen with fat emulsion infusion. The patients did not exhibit any evidence of clinical bleeding. This new intravenous fat emulsion did not appear to be associated with alterations in the clotting mechanism. However, two of five patients showed increases in serum triglycerides and one patient died during the study.

The Usefulness of Clinical-Practice-Based Laboratory Data in Facilitating the Diagnosis of Dengue Illness

PubMed Central

Liu, Jien-Wei; Lee, Ing-Kit; Wang, Lin; Chen, Rong-Fu; Yang, Kuender D.

2013-01-01

Alertness to dengue and making a timely diagnosis is extremely important in the treatment of dengue and containment of dengue epidemics. We evaluated the complementary role of clinical-practice-based laboratory data in facilitating suspicion/diagnosis of dengue. One hundred overall dengue (57 dengue fever [DF] and 43 dengue hemorrhagic fever [DHF]) cases and another 100 nondengue cases (78 viral infections other than dengue, 6 bacterial sepsis, and 16 miscellaneous diseases) were analyzed. We separately compared individual laboratory variables (platelet count [PC] , prothrombin time [PT], activated partial thromboplastin time [APTT], alanine aminotransferase [ALT], and aspartate aminotransferase [AST]) and varied combined variables of DF and/or DHF cases with the corresponding ones of nondengue cases. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) in the diagnosis of DF and/or DHF were measured based on these laboratory variables. While trade-off between sensitivity and specificity, and/or suboptimal PPV/NPV was found at measurements using these variables, prolonged APTT + normal PT + PC < 100 × 109 cells/L had a favorable sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV in diagnosis of DF and/or DHF. In conclusion, these data suggested that prolonged APTT + normal PT + PC < 100 × 109 cells/L is useful in evaluating the likelihood of DF and/or DHF. PMID:24455678

Antiplatelet, anticoagulant, and profibrinolytic activities of withaferin A.

PubMed

Ku, Sae-Kwang; Bae, Jong-Sup

2014-03-01

Withaferin A (WFA), an active compound from Withania somnifera, is widely researched for its anti-inflammatory, cardioactive and central nervous system effects. However, antiplatelet, anticoagulant, and profibrinolytic properties of WFA have not been studied. In this study, the anticoagulant activities of WFA were measured by monitoring activated partial thromboplastin-time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT), fibrin polymerization, platelet aggregation, thrombus formation, and the activities of cell-based thrombin and activated factor X (FXa). The effects of WFA on the expressions of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) were also tested in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) activated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Our data showed that WFA inhibited thrombin-catalyzed fibrin polymerization and platelet aggregation, FeCl3-induced thrombus formation, prolonged aPTT and PT significantly and inhibited the activities and production of thrombin and FXa. WFA prolonged in vivo and ex vivo bleeding time and inhibited TNF-α induced PAI-1 production. Furthermore, PAI-1/t-PA ratio was significantly decreased by WFA. Collectively, these results indicate that WFA possesses antithrombotic activities and suggest that the current study could provide bases for the development of new anticoagulant agents. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Role of Vascular Endothelial Cells in Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation Induced by Seawater Immersion in a Rat Trauma Model

PubMed Central

Zhang, Dajin; Qu, Jia; Xiong, Ming; Qiao, Yuanyuan; Wang, Dapeng; Liu, Fengjiao; Li, Dandan; Hu, Ming; Zhang, Jiashu

2017-01-01

Trauma complicated by seawater immersion is a complex pathophysiological process with higher mortality than trauma occurring on land. This study investigated the role of vascular endothelial cells (VECs) in trauma development in a seawater environment. An open abdominal injury rat model was used. The rat core temperatures in the seawater (SW, 22°C) group and normal sodium (NS, 22°C) group declined equivalently. No rats died within 12 hours in the control and NS groups. However, the median lethal time of the rats in the SW group was only 260 minutes. Among the 84 genes involved in rat VEC biology, the genes exhibiting the high expression changes (84.62%, 11/13) on a qPCR array were associated with thrombin activity. The plasma activated partial thromboplastin time and fibrinogen and vWF levels decreased, whereas the prothrombin time and TFPI levels increased, indicating intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathway activation and inhibition, respectively. The plasma plasminogen, FDP, and D-dimer levels were elevated after 2 hours, and those of uPA, tPA, and PAI-1 exhibited marked changes, indicating disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Additionally, multiorgan haemorrhagia was observed. It indicated that seawater immersion during trauma may increase DIC, elevating mortality. VECs injury might play an essential role in this process. PMID:28744465

Life-threatening bleeding in a case of autoantibody-induced factor VII deficiency.

PubMed

Okajima, K; Ishii, M

1999-02-01

A male patient presented with life-threatening bleeding induced by autoantibody-induced factor VII (F.VII) deficiency. This patient had macroscopic hematuria, skin ecchymosis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and a neck hematoma that was causing disturbed respiration. He developed acute renal failure and acute hepatic failure, probably due to obstruction of the ureters and the biliary tract, respectively. Although activated partial thromboplastin time was normal, prothrombin time (PT) was remarkably prolonged at 71.8 seconds compared to 14.0 seconds in a normal control. Both the immunoreactive level of F.VII antigen and the F.VII activity of the patient's plasma samples were < 1.0% of normal. Although an equal part of normal plasma was added to the patient's plasma, PT was not corrected. The patient's plasma inhibited F.VII activity. These findings suggested the presence of a plasma inhibitor for F.VII. After administration of large doses of methylprednisolone, PT was gradually shortened and plasma levels of F.VII increased over time. Bleeding, acute renal failure, and acute hepatic failure improved markedly following the steroid treatment. These observations suggest that life-threatening bleeding can be induced by autoantibody-induced F.VII deficiency and that immunosuppressive therapy using large doses of steroid can be successful in inhibiting the production of the autoantibody.

The role of leukotoxin (9,10-epoxy-12-octadecenoate) in the genesis of coagulation abnormalities.

PubMed

Sugiyama, S; Hayakawa, M; Hanaki, Y; Hieda, N; Asai, J; Ozawa, T

1988-01-01

This study was designed to clarify whether or not leukotoxin (9, 10-epoxy-12-octadecenoate), which is biosynthesized by neutrophils, might be involved in the genesis of coagulating abnormalities. Twelve dogs were divided into 2 groups. In the test group (n = 6), 100 mumol/kg of leukotoxin was injected intravenously, and in the control group (n = 6), 100 mumol/kg of linoleate was injected. In each group, a series of blood samples were collected and used for coagulation studies. After the end of the experimental period, a histological study was performed on organs removed from the dogs. In the leukotoxin group, fibrin and fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) was increased time-dependently. Fibrinogen was decreased, and prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were prolonged in parallel with the increase in FDP. A decrease in number of platelets was also observed. Intravascular coagulation was observed in sections of lung. These data were compatible with a diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). No significant changes in these parameters were observed in the linoleate group. Leukotoxin has been confirmed to show antifungal and antibacterial activity, and its production might be a defensive response to infection. Over-production of leukotoxin associated with severe infection might therefore account for infection-induced DIC.

Influence of Acute Normobaric Hypoxia on Hemostasis in Volunteers with and without Acute Mountain Sickness

PubMed Central

Schaber, Marc; Leichtfried, Veronika; Fries, Dietmar; Wille, Maria; Gatterer, Hannes; Faulhaber, Martin; Würtinger, Philipp; Schobersberger, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

Introduction. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a 12-hour exposure in a normobaric hypoxic chamber would induce changes in the hemostatic system and a procoagulant state in volunteers suffering from acute mountain sickness (AMS) and healthy controls. Materials and Methods. 37 healthy participants were passively exposed to 12.6% FiO2 (simulated altitude hypoxia of 4,500 m). AMS development was investigated by the Lake Louise Score (LLS). Prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, and platelet count were measured and specific methods (i.e., thromboelastometry and a thrombin generation test) were used. Results. AMS prevalence was 62.2% (LLS cut off of 3). For the whole group, paired sample t-tests showed significant increase in the maximal concentration of generated thrombin. ROTEM measurements revealed a significant shortening of coagulation time and an increase of maximal clot firmness (InTEM test). A significant increase in maximum clot firmness could be shown (FibTEM test). Conclusions. All significant changes in coagulation parameters after exposure remained within normal reference ranges. No differences with regard to measured parameters of the hemostatic system between AMS-positive and -negative subjects were observed. Therefore, the hypothesis of the acute activation of coagulation by hypoxia can be rejected. PMID:26451374

Coagulation profiles of healthy Andalusian donkeys are different than those of healthy horses.

PubMed

Mendoza, F J; Perez-Ecija, R A; Monreal, L; Estepa, J C

2011-01-01

Coagulation disorders are frequently diagnosed, especially in hospitalized equidae, and result in increased morbidity and mortality. However, hemostatic reference intervals have not been established for donkeys yet. To determine whether the most common coagulation parameters used in equine practice are different between healthy donkeys and horses. Thirty-eight healthy donkeys and 29 healthy horses. Blood samples were collected to assess both coagulation and fibrinolytic systems by determination of platelet count, fibrinogen concentration, clotting times (prothrombin time [PT] and activated partial thromboplastin time [aPTT]), fibrin degradation products (FDP) and D-Dimer concentrations. PT and aPTT in donkeys were significantly (P < .05) shorter than those of horses. In contrast, FDP and D-Dimer concentrations were significantly (P < .05) higher in donkeys than in horses. The coagulation parameters most commonly determined in equine practice are different in donkeys compared with horses. Thus, the use of normal reference ranges reported previously for healthy horses in donkeys might lead to a misdiagnosis of coagulopathy in healthy donkeys, and unnecessary treatments in sick donkeys. This is the first report of normal coagulation profile results in donkeys, and further studies are warranted to elucidate the physiological mechanisms of the differences observed between donkeys and horses. Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Influence of Acute Normobaric Hypoxia on Hemostasis in Volunteers with and without Acute Mountain Sickness.

PubMed

Schaber, Marc; Leichtfried, Veronika; Fries, Dietmar; Wille, Maria; Gatterer, Hannes; Faulhaber, Martin; Würtinger, Philipp; Schobersberger, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a 12-hour exposure in a normobaric hypoxic chamber would induce changes in the hemostatic system and a procoagulant state in volunteers suffering from acute mountain sickness (AMS) and healthy controls. 37 healthy participants were passively exposed to 12.6% FiO2 (simulated altitude hypoxia of 4,500 m). AMS development was investigated by the Lake Louise Score (LLS). Prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, and platelet count were measured and specific methods (i.e., thromboelastometry and a thrombin generation test) were used. AMS prevalence was 62.2% (LLS cut off of 3). For the whole group, paired sample t-tests showed significant increase in the maximal concentration of generated thrombin. ROTEM measurements revealed a significant shortening of coagulation time and an increase of maximal clot firmness (InTEM test). A significant increase in maximum clot firmness could be shown (FibTEM test). All significant changes in coagulation parameters after exposure remained within normal reference ranges. No differences with regard to measured parameters of the hemostatic system between AMS-positive and -negative subjects were observed. Therefore, the hypothesis of the acute activation of coagulation by hypoxia can be rejected.

Surface properties and cytocompatibillity of silk fibroin films cast from aqueous solutions in different concentrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lian, Xiao-Jie; Wang, Song; Zhu, He-Sun

2010-03-01

Silk fibroin film (SFF) has been widely used in biomaterials. SFF is usually prepared from a regenerated silk aqueous solution and its properties depend remarkably on the preparation conditions. However, the effect of the silk fibroin concentration ( C 0) on the SFF surface properties as well as the cytocompatibility has rarely been investigated. In this work we prepared a series of Bombyx mori SFFs by casting SF aqueous solutions with the concentration from 10° to 102 mg/mL on TCPS substrate at 60°C. The test results of atomic force microscopy, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared and contact angles analysis showed that the film surface roughness and β-sheet structure increased with the increase of C 0, whereas the surface hydrophilicity increased with the decrease of C 0. The in vitro clotting time measurement results revealed that the SFFs prepared from the thinner solution showed a longer APTT (activated partial thromboplastin time) and TT (thrombin time). The results of microscopy and MTT assay also revealed that cell adhesion and growth were enhanced on the SFF cast from lower C 0 for fibroblasts. In contrast, endothelial cells showed a similar behavior on all those films that were prepared from the solution in different concentrations.

Identifying coagulopathies in the pathophysiology of cold stress syndrome in the Florida manatee Trichechus manatus latirostris.

PubMed

Barratclough, Ashley; Conner, Bobbi J; Brooks, Marjory B; Pontes Stablein, Alyssa; Gerlach, Trevor J; Reep, Roger L; Ball, Ray L; Floyd, Ruth Francis

2017-08-09

Cold stress syndrome (CSS) in the Florida manatee Trichechus manatus latirostris has been defined as morbidity and mortality resulting from prolonged exposure to water temperatures <20°C. The pathophysiology is described as multifactorial, involving nutritional, immunological and metabolic disturbances; however, the exact mechanisms are unknown. We hypothesized that thromboembolic complications contribute to the pathophysiology of CSS in addition to the previously described factors. During the winter of 2014-2015, 10 Florida manatees with clinical signs of CSS were presented to Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, FL, USA. Thromboelastography (TEG) and coagulation panels were performed at admission. In addition, coagulation panel data from 23 retrospective CSS cases were included in the analyses. There were numerous differences between mean values of TEG and coagulation parameters for healthy manatees and those for CSS cases. Among TEG parameters, reaction time (R), clot formation time (K) and percentage of clot lysed after 30 min (LY30) values were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the 2 groups. CSS cases also had significantly higher mean D-dimer concentration and coagulation factor XI activity, prolonged mean activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and significantly decreased mean antithrombin activity. These combined abnormalities include clinicopathologic criteria of disseminated intravascular coagulation, indicating an increased risk of thromboembolic disease associated with manatee CSS.

Time, frequency, and time-varying Granger-causality measures in neuroscience.

PubMed

Cekic, Sezen; Grandjean, Didier; Renaud, Olivier

2018-05-20

This article proposes a systematic methodological review and an objective criticism of existing methods enabling the derivation of time, frequency, and time-varying Granger-causality statistics in neuroscience. The capacity to describe the causal links between signals recorded at different brain locations during a neuroscience experiment is indeed of primary interest for neuroscientists, who often have very precise prior hypotheses about the relationships between recorded brain signals. The increasing interest and the huge number of publications related to this topic calls for this systematic review, which describes the very complex methodological aspects underlying the derivation of these statistics. In this article, we first present a general framework that allows us to review and compare Granger-causality statistics in the time domain, and the link with transfer entropy. Then, the spectral and the time-varying extensions are exposed and discussed together with their estimation and distributional properties. Although not the focus of this article, partial and conditional Granger causality, dynamical causal modelling, directed transfer function, directed coherence, partial directed coherence, and their variant are also mentioned. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Clustering stocks using partial correlation coefficients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Sean S.; Chang, Woojin

2016-11-01

A partial correlation analysis is performed on the Korean stock market (KOSPI). The difference between Pearson correlation and the partial correlation is analyzed and it is found that when conditioned on the market return, Pearson correlation coefficients are generally greater than those of the partial correlation, which implies that the market return tends to drive up the correlation between stock returns. A clustering analysis is then performed to study the market structure given by the partial correlation analysis and the members of the clusters are compared with the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). The initial hypothesis is that the firms in the same GICS sector are clustered together since they are in a similar business and environment. However, the result is inconsistent with the hypothesis and most clusters are a mix of multiple sectors suggesting that the traditional approach of using sectors to determine the proximity between stocks may not be sufficient enough to diversify a portfolio.

75 FR 82429 - Determinations Concerning Need for Error Correction, Partial Approval and Partial Disapproval...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-30

...EPA is correcting its previous full approval of Texas's Clean Air Act (CAA) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program to be a partial approval and partial disapproval. The state did not address, or provide adequate legal authority for, the program's application to all pollutants that would become newly subject to regulation in the future, including non-National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) pollutants, among them greenhouse gases (GHGs). Further, EPA is promulgating a federal implementation plan (FIP), as required following the partial disapproval, to establish a PSD permitting program in Texas for GHG-emitting sources. EPA is taking this action through interim final rulemaking, effective upon publication, to ensure the availability of a permitting authority-- EPA--in Texas for GHG-emitting sources when they become subject to PSD on January 2, 2011. This will allow those sources to proceed with plans to construct or expand. This rule will expire on April 30, 2011. EPA is also proposing a notice-and-comment rulemaking that mirrors this rulemaking.

Integrating robotic partial nephrectomy to an existing robotic surgery program.

PubMed

Yuh, Bertram; Muldrew, Shantel; Menchaca, Anita; Yip, Wesley; Lau, Clayton; Wilson, Timothy; Josephson, David

2012-04-01

As more centers develop robotic proficiency, progressing to a successful robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) program depends on a number of factors. We describe our technique, results, and analysis of program setup for RAPN. Between 2005 and 2011, 92 RAPNs were performed following maturation of a robotic prostatectomy program. Operating rooms and supply rooms were outfitted for efficient robotic throughput. Tilepro and intraoperative ultrasound were used for all cases. Training and experiential learning for surgeons, anesthesia and nursing staff was a high priority. An onsite robotic technician helped troubleshoot, prepare the room and staff prior to starting surgery, and provide assistance with different robotic models. Average operative time decreased over time from 235 min to 199 min (p = .03). Warm ischemia time decreased from 26 minutes to 23 minutes (p = .02) despite an increased complexity of tumors and operations on multiple tumors. Median estimated blood loss was 150 mL. Average length of hospital stay was 3 days (range 1-9). Average size of lesions was 2.7 cm (range 0.7-8.6). Final pathology demonstrated 71 (77%) malignant lesions and 21 (23%) benign lesions. The addition of a robot-assisted partial nephrectomy program to an institutional robotic program can be coordinated with several key steps. Outcomes from an operational, oncologic, and renal functional standpoint are acceptable. Despite increased complexity of tumors and treatment of multiple lesions, operative and warm ischemia times showed a decrease over time. An organizational model that involves the surgeons, anesthesia, nursing staff, and possibly a robotic technical specialist helps to overcome the learning curve.

A comparison of the Method of Lines to finite difference techniques in solving time-dependent partial differential equations. [with applications to Burger equation and stream function-vorticity problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurtz, L. A.; Smith, R. E.; Parks, C. L.; Boney, L. R.

1978-01-01

Steady state solutions to two time dependent partial differential systems have been obtained by the Method of Lines (MOL) and compared to those obtained by efficient standard finite difference methods: (1) Burger's equation over a finite space domain by a forward time central space explicit method, and (2) the stream function - vorticity form of viscous incompressible fluid flow in a square cavity by an alternating direction implicit (ADI) method. The standard techniques were far more computationally efficient when applicable. In the second example, converged solutions at very high Reynolds numbers were obtained by MOL, whereas solution by ADI was either unattainable or impractical. With regard to 'set up' time, solution by MOL is an attractive alternative to techniques with complicated algorithms, as much of the programming difficulty is eliminated.

A comparative cost analysis of robot-assisted versus traditional laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

PubMed

Hyams, Elias; Pierorazio, Philip; Mullins, Jeffrey K; Ward, Maryann; Allaf, Mohamad

2012-07-01

Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN) is supplanting traditional laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) as the technique of choice for minimally invasive nephron-sparing surgery. This evolution has resulted from potential clinical benefits, as well as proliferation of robotic systems and patient demand for robot-assisted surgery. We sought to quantify the costs associated with the use of robotics for minimally invasive partial nephrectomy. A cost analysis was performed for 20 consecutive robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN) and LPN patients at our institution from 2009 to 2010. Data included actual perioperative and hospitalization costs as well as professional fees. Capital costs were estimated using purchase costs and amortization of two robotic systems from 2001 to 2009, as well as maintenance contract costs. The estimated cost/case was obtained using total robotic surgical volume during this period. Total estimated costs were compared between groups. A separate analysis was performed assuming "ideal" robotic utilization during a comparable period. RALPN had a cost premium of +$1066/case compared with LPN, assuming actual robot utilization from 2001 to 2009. Assuming "ideal" utilization during a comparable period, this premium decreased to +$334; capital costs per case decreased from $1907 to $1175. Tumor size, operative time, and length of stay were comparable between groups. RALPN is associated with a small to moderate cost premium depending on assumptions regarding robotic surgical volume. Saturated utilization of robotic systems decreases attributable capital costs and makes comparison with laparoscopy more favorable. Purported clinical benefits of RPN (eg, decreased warm ischemia time, increased utilization of nephron-sparing surgery) need further study, because these may have cost implications.

Multidisciplinary approach to restoring anterior maxillary partial edentulous area using an IPS Empress 2 fixed partial denture: a clinical report.

PubMed

Dundar, Mine; Gungor, M Ali; Cal, Ebru

2003-04-01

Esthetics is a major concern during restoration of anterior partial edentulous areas. All-ceramic fixed partial dentures may provide better esthetics and biocompatibility in the restoration of anterior teeth. This clinic report describes a multidisciplinary approach and treatment procedures with an IPS Empress 2 fixed partial denture to restore missing anterior teeth.

Prolonged partial upper airway obstruction during sleep – an underdiagnosed phenotype of sleep-disordered breathing

PubMed Central

Anttalainen, Ulla; Tenhunen, Mirja; Rimpilä, Ville; Polo, Olli; Rauhala, Esa; Himanen, Sari-Leena; Saaresranta, Tarja

2016-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a well-recognized disorder conventionally diagnosed with an elevated apnea–hypopnea index. Prolonged partial upper airway obstruction is a common phenotype of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), which however is still largely underreported. The major reasons for this are that cyclic breathing pattern coupled with arousals and arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation are easy to detect and considered more important than prolonged episodes of increased respiratory effort with increased levels of carbon dioxide in the absence of cycling breathing pattern and repetitive arousals. There is also a growing body of evidence that prolonged partial obstruction is a clinically significant form of SDB, which is associated with symptoms and co-morbidities which may partially differ from those associated with OSAS. Partial upper airway obstruction is most prevalent in women, and it is treatable with the nasal continuous positive pressure device with good adherence to therapy. This review describes the characteristics of prolonged partial upper airway obstruction during sleep in terms of diagnostics, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and comorbidity to improve recognition of this phenotype and its timely and appropriate treatment. PMID:27608271

Biochemical, sensory and microbiological attributes of bream (Megalobrama amblycephala) during partial freezing and chilled storage.

PubMed

Song, Yongling; Luo, Yongkang; You, Juan; Shen, Huixing; Hu, Sumei

2012-01-15

Bream is one of the main farmed freshwater fish species in China. This study aimed to examine the nucleotide degradation of bream during partial freezing and chilled storage and to assess the possible usefulness of nucleotide ratios (K, Ki, H, P, Fr and G values) as freshness indices in comparison with sensory assessment and total viable counts. Total viable counts were 5.74 and 4.66 log(colony-forming units g(-1)) on the day of sensory rejection under chilled storage and partial freezing storage respectively. The inosine 5-monophosphate decrease and inosine increase were faster in chilled storage than in partial freezing storage. Hypoxanthine levels increased continuously with time under both storage regimes. Among the nucleotide ratios, the K, Ki, P, G and Fr values were superior to the H value and provided useful freshness indicators for both storage conditions. Bream in chilled storage were sensorially acceptable only up to 10 days, compared with 33 days for bream in partial freezing storage. Partial freezing delayed the nucleotide degradation of bream. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

[Cost comparison of open and robot-assisted partial nephrectomy in treatment of renal tumor].

PubMed

Abd El Fattah, V; Chevrot, A; Meusy, A; Mercier, G; Wagner, L; Soustelle, L; Boukaram, M; Thuret, R; Costa, P; Droupy, S

2016-04-01

Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy rapidly took on among urologists, even though studies showing its superiority over other techniques are still scarce and its costs hard to evaluate, especially in the French medical system. To evaluate the cost overrun of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy compared to that of open partial nephrectomy. From January 2010 to December 2013, 77 patients underwent a partial nephrectomy, 46 of which by robot-assisted laparoscopy and the remaining 31 by lombotomy. The two groups were similar in composition. Economic data regarding the staff, the consumables and the premises involved have been analyzed. Costs are significantly higher in the NPR group (9253.21 euros vs. 7448.42 euros) due to higher consumable expenses as well as the costs pertaining to the amortization and maintenance of the robot. Yet, that difference tends to diminish as the duration of the experiment increases. No significant difference was found in warm ischemia times, operation duration and renal function a month after the operation. On the other hand, patients from the NPR group spent a significantly smaller amount of time in recovery room (159 minutes vs. 205 minutes, P=0.004), presented fewer complications and were discharged faster (6.1 days vs. 8.1 days, P=0.04). To be profitable for the hospital in the French GHS system, robot-assisted partial nephrectomy must take place in a complex where at least 300 robot-assisted interventions are performed annually, in the framework of a hospitalization lasting four days or less, the use of a single needle holder and no systematic use of a haemostatic agent. 4. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Sequential resection of lung metastasis following partial hepatectomy for colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Ike, H; Shimada, H; Togo, S; Yamaguchi, S; Ichikawa, Y; Tanaka, K

2002-09-01

Multiple organ metastases from colorectal carcinoma may be considered incurable, but long survival after both liver and lung resection for metastases has been reported. A retrospective analysis of 48 patients who underwent lung resection for metastatic colorectal cancer between 1992 and 1999 was undertaken. Twenty-seven patients had lung metastasis alone, 15 had previous partial hepatectomy, and six had previous resection of local or lymph node recurrence. The relationship of clinical variables to survival was assessed. Survival was calculated from the time of first pulmonary resection. Five-year survival rates after resection of lung metastasis were 73 per cent in patients without preceding recurrence, 50 per cent following previous partial hepatectomy and zero after resection of previous local recurrence. Independent prognostic variables that significantly affected survival after thoracotomy were primary tumour histology and type of preceding recurrence. There was no significant difference in survival after lung resection between patients who had sequential liver and lung resection versus those who had lung resection alone. Sequential lung resection after partial hepatectomy for metastatic colorectal cancer may lead to long-term survival.

Induction of Liver Cell Adenomata in the Rat by a Single Treatment with N-Methyl-N-Nitrosourea given at Various Times after Partial Hepatectomy

PubMed Central

Craddock, V. M.; Frei, J. V.

1974-01-01

A single treatment of adult animals with the potent carcinogen NMU was known to induce tumours in a wide variety of organs, with the notable exception of liver. Administration of NMU after partial hepatectomy gave rise to the first liver cell adenomata ever observed in rats due to this carcinogen. The tumours were induced when NMU was given during the period of increased DNA synthesis but not when given early in the pre-replicative period. Although tumours were induced in other organs, the incidence of these did not correlate with the timing of NMU administration. It is suggested that replication of damaged DNA may be a relevant event in carcinogenesis. ImagesFig.p507-a PMID:4614856

Time multiplexing for increased FOV and resolution in virtual reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miñano, Juan C.; Benitez, Pablo; Grabovičkić, Dejan; Zamora, Pablo; Buljan, Marina; Narasimhan, Bharathwaj

2017-06-01

We introduce a time multiplexing strategy to increase the total pixel count of the virtual image seen in a VR headset. This translates into an improvement of the pixel density or the Field of View FOV (or both) A given virtual image is displayed by generating a succession of partial real images, each representing part of the virtual image and together representing the virtual image. Each partial real image uses the full set of physical pixels available in the display. The partial real images are successively formed and combine spatially and temporally to form a virtual image viewable from the eye position. Partial real images are imaged through different optical channels depending of its time slot. Shutters or other schemes are used to avoid that a partial real image be imaged through the wrong optical channels or at the wrong time slot. This time multiplexing strategy needs real images be shown at high frame rates (>120fps). Available display and shutters technologies are discussed. Several optical designs for achieving this time multiplexing scheme in a compact format are shown. This time multiplexing scheme allows increasing the resolution/FOV of the virtual image not only by increasing the physical pixel density but also by decreasing the pixels switching time, a feature that may be simpler to achieve in certain circumstances.

Value of Nephrometry Score Constituents on Perioperative Outcomes and Split Renal Function in Patients Undergoing Minimally Invasive Partial Nephrectomy.

PubMed

Watts, Kara L; Ghosh, Propa; Stein, Solomon; Ghavamian, Reza

2017-01-01

To assess the relationship between individual nephrometry score (NS) constituents (RENAL) on perioperative outcomes and renal function of the surgical kidney in patients undergoing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy or robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy. Two hundred forty-five patients who underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy or robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy between 2005 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Each renal mass' NS was calculated from preoperative computed tomography imaging. Multivariate regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of NS variables on perioperative outcomes and change in overall renal function (as estimated by glomerular filtration rate) from preoperative to 1-year postoperative. A cohort analysis assessed the effect of NS variables on change in split renal function of the surgical kidney from pre- to postoperative based on nuclear medicine renal scintigraphy. Tumor radius (R), endophytic nature (E), and nearness to collecting system (N) variables significantly and incrementally predicted a longer operative time and warm ischemia time. Overall renal function based on glomerular filtration rate was not affected by any NS variable. However, percent function of the surgical kidney by renal scintigraphy significantly decreased postoperatively as R and E values increased. R, E, and N were associated with significant changes in warm ischemia time and operative time. R and E were associated with a significant decrease in split renal function of the surgical kidney at 1 year after surgery but not with overall renal function. R, E, and N are the NS constituents most relevant to perioperative outcomes and postoperative differential renal function after partial nephrectomy. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Inter-costal Liver Ablation Under Real Time MR-Thermometry With Partial Activation Of A HIFU Phased Array Transducer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quesson, Bruno; Merle, Mathilde; Köhler, Max; Mougenot, Charles; Roujol, Sebastien; de Senneville, Baudouin Denis; Moonen, Chrit

2010-03-01

HIFU ablation of tumours located inside the liver is hampered by the rib cage, which partially obstructs the beam path and may create adverse effects such as skin burns. This study presents a method for selectively deactivating the transducer elements causing undesired temperature increases near the bones. A manual segmentation of the bones visualized on 3D anatomical MR images acquired prior to sonication was performed to identify the beam obstruction. The resulting mask was projected (ray tracing starting from the focal point) on the transducer and elements with more than 50% obstruction of their active surface were deactivated. The effectiveness of the method for HIFU ablations is demonstrated ex vivo and in vivo in the liver of pigs with real-time MR thermometry, using the proton resonant frequency (PRF) method. For both ex vivo and in vivo experiments, the temperature increase near the bones was significantly reduced when the elements located in front of the ribs were deactivated. The temperature evolution at the focal point were similar, indicative of the absence of loss of heating efficacy when the elements were deactivated. This method is simple, rapid and reliable and allows to perform intercostal MRgHIFU ablation of the liver while sparing the ribs.

Reciprocal links among differential parenting, perceived partiality, and self-worth: a three-wave longitudinal study.

PubMed

Shebloski, Barbara; Conger, Katherine J; Widaman, Keith F

2005-12-01

This study examined reciprocal links between parental differential treatment, siblings' perception of partiality, and self-worth with 3 waves of data from 384 adolescent sibling dyads. Results suggest that birth-order status was significantly associated with self-worth and perception of maternal and paternal differential treatment. There was a consistent across-time effect of self-worth on perception of parental partiality for later born siblings, but not earlier born siblings, and a consistent effect of differential treatment on perception of partiality for earlier born but not later born siblings. The results contribute new insight into the associations between perception of differential parenting and adolescents' adjustment and the role of birth order. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Increased Efficacy of Antivenom Combined with Hyperbaric Oxygen on Deinagkistrodon acutus Envenomation in Adult Rats

PubMed Central

Li, Mo; Xie, Zhi-Hui; Yu, An-Yong; He, Dong-Po

2018-01-01

Background: Snakebites are a neglected threat to global human health with a high morbidity rate. The present study explored the efficacy of antivenom with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) intervention on snakebites, which could provide the experimental basis for clinical adjuvant therapy. Methods: Male Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 96) were randomized into four groups: the poison model was established by injecting Deinagkistrodon acutus (D. acutus) venom (0.8 LD50) via the caudal vein; the antivenom group was injected immediately with specific antivenom via the caudal vein after successful establishment of the envenomation model; and the antivenom + HBO group was exposed to HBO environment for 1 h once at predetermined periods of 0 h, 4 h, 12 h, and 23 h after antivenin administration. Each HBO time point had six rats; the control group was left untreated. The rats in the experimental group were euthanized at the corresponding time points after HBO therapy, and brain tissue and blood were harvested immediately. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to investigate the pathological changes in the rat brain. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of Nestin mRNA and protein in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the brain. The levels of coagulation function (prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time [APTT], and fibrinogen) and oxidation/antioxidation index (malondialdehyde [MDA] and superoxide dismutase [SOD]) were analyzed. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. Results: The brain tissue from rats in the poison model was observed for pathological changes using H&E staining. Tissues showed edema, decreased cell number, and disordered arrangement in the SVZ in the snake venom group. The antivenom − HBO intervention significantly alleviated these observations and was more prominent in the antivenom + HBO group. The serum levels of SOD and MDA in the snake

Influence of apixaban on commonly used coagulation assays: results from the Belgian national External Quality Assessment Scheme.

PubMed

Van Blerk, M; Bailleul, E; Chatelain, B; Demulder, A; Devreese, K; Douxfils, J; Jacquemin, M; Jochmans, K; Mullier, F; Wijns, W; China, B; Vernelen, K; Soumali, M R

2017-08-01

The Belgian national External Quality Assessment Scheme performed a survey to assess the effect of the direct oral anticoagulant apixaban on the coagulation assays prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), fibrinogen and antithrombin as performed with a large number of reagent/instrument combinations. Four lyophilized plasma samples spiked with apixaban (0, 41, 94 and 225 ng/mL) were sent to the 195 Belgian and Luxembourg clinical laboratories performing coagulation testing. PT and aPTT were barely influenced at the concentrations tested. At 225 ng/mL apixaban, PT and aPTT clotting times were only 1.15 times longer than at 0 ng/mL. Among PT reagents, RecombiPlasTin 2G ® showed a slightly higher sensitivity with 225 ng/mL apixaban prolonging the PT clotting time 1.3-fold. Among aPTT reagents, there was no appreciable difference in sensitivity. Fibrinogen results were unaffected by the presence of apixaban, but antithrombin activity was considerably overestimated when measured with a FXa-based assay. At 225 ng/mL apixaban, the median percentage increase in antithrombin level was 31% when measured with the Liquid Antithrombin ® reagent and 44% with the Innovance Antithrombin ® reagent. Our data provide clinical laboratories with useful information on the impact of apixaban on their routine coagulation assays. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.