10Gbps monolithic silicon FTTH transceiver for PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Liow, T. Y.; Lo, G. Q.; Kwong, D. L.

2010-05-01

We propose a new passive optical network (PON) configuration and a novel silicon photonic transceiver architecture for optical network unit (ONU), eliminating the need for an internal laser source in ONU. We adopt dual fiber network configuration. The internal light source in each of the ONUs is eliminated. Instead, an extra seed laser source in the optical line termination (OLT) operates in continuous wave mode to serve the ONUs in the PON as a shared and centralized laser source. λ1 from OLT Tx and λ2 from the seed laser are combined by using a WDM combiner and connected to serve the multiple ONUs through the downstream fibers. The ONUs receive the data in λ1. Meanwhile, the ONUs encode and transmit data in λ2, which are sent back to OLT. The monolithic ONU transceiver contains a wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) filter component, a silicon modulator and a Ge photo-detector. The WDM in ONU selectively guides λ1 to the Ge-PD where the data in λ1 are detected and converted to electrical signals, and λ2 to the transmitter where the light is modulated by upstream data. The modulated optical signals in λ2 from ONUs are connected back to OLT through upstream fibers. The monolithic ONU transceiver chip size is only 2mm by 4mm. The crosstalk between the Tx and Rx is measured to be less than -20dB. The transceiver chip is integrated on a SFP+ transceiver board. Both Tx and Rx demonstrated data rate capabilities of up to 10Gbps. By implementing this scheme, the ONU transceiver size can be significantly reduced and the assembly processes will be greatly simplified. The results demonstrate the feasibility of mass manufacturing monolithic silicon ONU transceivers via low cost

An All-Optical Access Metro Interface for Hybrid WDM/TDM PON Based on OBS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Segarra, Josep; Sales, Vicent; Prat, Josep

2007-04-01

A new all-optical access metro network interface based on optical burst switching (OBS) is proposed. A hybrid wavelength-division multiplexing/time-division multiplexing (WDM/TDM) access architecture with reflective optical network units (ONUs), an arrayed-waveguide-grating outside plant, and a tunable laser stack at the optical line terminal (OLT) is presented as a solution for the passive optical network. By means of OBS and a dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) protocol, which polls the ONUs, the available access bandwidth is managed. All the network intelligence and costly equipment is located at the OLT, where the DBA module is centrally implemented, providing quality of service (QoS). To scale this access network, an optical cross connect (OXC) is then used to attain a large number of ONUs by the same OLT. The hybrid WDM/TDM structure is also extended toward the metropolitan area network (MAN) by introducing the concept of OBS multiplexer (OBS-M). The network element OBS-M bridges the MAN and access networks by offering all-optical cross connection, wavelength conversion, and data signaling. The proposed innovative OBS-M node yields a full optical data network, interfacing access and metro with a geographically distributed access control. The resulting novel access metro architectures are nonblocking and, with an improved signaling, provide QoS, scalability, and very low latency. Finally, numerical analysis and simulations demonstrate the traffic performance of the proposed access scheme and all-optical access metro interface and architectures.

Design of a mutual authentication based on NTRUsign with a perturbation and inherent multipoint control protocol frames in an Ethernet-based passive optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Aihan; Ding, Yisheng

2014-11-01

Identity-related security issues inherently present in passive optical networks (PON) still exist in the current (1G) and next-generation (10G) Ethernet-based passive optical network (EPON) systems. We propose a mutual authentication scheme that integrates an NTRUsign digital signature algorithm with inherent multipoint control protocol (MPCP) frames over an EPON system between the optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network unit (ONU). Here, a primitive NTRUsign algorithm is significantly modified through the use of a new perturbation so that it can be effectively used for simultaneously completing signature and authentication functions on the OLT and the ONU sides. Also, in order to transmit their individual sensitive messages, which include public key, signature, and random value and so forth, to each other, we redefine three unique frames according to MPCP format frame. These generated messages can be added into the frames and delivered to each other, allowing the OLT and the ONU to go ahead with a mutual identity authentication process to verify their legal identities. Our simulation results show that this proposed scheme performs very well in resisting security attacks and has low influence on the registration efficiency to to-be-registered ONUs. A performance comparison with traditional authentication algorithms is also presented. To the best of our knowledge, no detailed design of mutual authentication in EPON can be found in the literature up to now.

Demonstration of flexible multicasting and aggregation functionality for TWDM-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yuanxiang; Li, Juhao; Zhu, Paikun; Zhu, Jinglong; Tian, Yu; Wu, Zhongying; Peng, Huangfa; Xu, Yongchi; Chen, Jingbiao; He, Yongqi; Chen, Zhangyuan

2017-06-01

The time- and wavelength-division multiplexed passive optical network (TWDM-PON) has been recognized as an attractive solution to provide broadband access for the next-generation networks. In this paper, we propose flexible service multicasting and aggregation functionality for TWDM-PON utilizing multiple-pump four-wave-mixing (FWM) and cyclic arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). With the proposed scheme, multiple TWDM-PON links share a single optical line terminal (OLT), which can greatly reduce the network deployment expense and achieve efficient network resource utilization by load balancing among different optical distribution networks (ODNs). The proposed scheme is compatible with existing TDM-PON infrastructure with fixed-wavelength OLT transmitter, thus smooth service upgrade can be achieved. Utilizing the proposed scheme, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept experiment with 10-Gb/s OOK and 10-Gb/s QPSK orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal multicasting and aggregating to seven PON links. Compared with back-to-back (BTB) channel, the newly generated multicasting OOK signal and OFDM signal have power penalty of 1.6 dB and 2 dB at the BER of 10-3, respectively. For the aggregation of multiple channels, no obvious power penalty is observed. What is more, to verify the flexibility of the proposed scheme, we reconfigure the wavelength selective switch (WSS) and adjust the number of pumps to realize flexible multicasting functionality. One to three, one to seven, one to thirteen and one to twenty-one multicasting are achieved without modifying OLT structure.

In-service communication channel sensing based on reflectometry for TWDM-PON systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iida, Daisuke; Kuwano, Shigeru; Terada, Jun

2014-05-01

Many base stations are accommodated in TWDM-PON based mobile backhaul and fronthaul networks for future radio access, and failed connections in an optical network unit (ONU) wavelength channel severely degrade system performance. A cost effective in-service ONU wavelength channel monitor is essential to ensure proper system operation without failed connections. To address this issue we propose a reflectometry-based remote sensing method that provides wavelength channel information with the optical line terminal (OLT)-ONU distance. The method realizes real-time monitoring of ONU wavelength channels without signal quality degradation. Experimental results show it achieves wavelength channel distinction with high distance resolution.

Coherent UDWDM PON with joint subcarrier reception at OLT.

PubMed

Kottke, Christoph; Fischer, Johannes Karl; Elschner, Robert; Frey, Felix; Hilt, Jonas; Schubert, Colja; Schmidt, Daniel; Wu, Zifeng; Lankl, Berthold

2014-07-14

In this contribution, we report on the experimental investigation of an ultra-dense wavelength-division multiplexing (UDWDM) upstream link with up to 700 × 2.488 Gb/s polarization-division multiplexing differential quadrature phase-shift keying parallel upstream user channels transmitted over 80 km of standard single-mode fiber. We discuss challenges of the digital signal processing in the optical line terminal arising from the joint reception of several upstream user channels. We present solutions for resource and cost-efficient realization of the required channel separation, matched filtering, down-conversion and decimation as well as realization of the clock recovery and polarization demultiplexing for each individual channel.

A power-efficient switchable CML driver at 10 Gbps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peipei, Chen; Lei, Li; Huihua, Liu

2016-02-01

High static power limits the application of conventional current-mode logic(CML). This paper presents a power-efficient switchable CML driver, which achieves a significant current saving by 75% compared with conventional ones. Implemented in the 130 nm CMOS technology process, the proposed CML driver just occupies an area about 0.003 mm2 and provides a robust differential signal of 1600 mV for 10 Gbps optical line terminal (OLT) with a total current of 10 mA. The peak-to-peak jitter is about 4 ps (0.04TUI) and the offset voltage is 347.2 mV @ 1600 mVPP.

Simplified flexible-PON upstream transmission using pulse position modulation at ONU and DSP-enabled soft-combining at OLT for adaptive link budgets.

PubMed

Liu, Xiang; Effenberger, Frank; Chand, Naresh

2015-03-09

We demonstrate a flexible modulation and detection scheme for upstream transmission in passive optical networks using pulse position modulation at optical network unit, facilitating burst-mode detection with automatic decision threshold tracking, and DSP-enabled soft-combining at optical line terminal. Adaptive receiver sensitivities of -33.1 dBm, -36.6 dBm and -38.3 dBm at a bit error ratio of 10(-4) are respectively achieved for 2.5 Gb/s, 1.25 Gb/s and 625 Mb/s after transmission over a 20-km standard single-mode fiber without any optical amplification.

Pulsed laser-based optical frequency comb generator for high capacity wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network supporting 1.2 Tbps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullah, Rahat; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Qi; Saad Khan, Muhammad; Ahmad, Ibrar; Ali, Amjad; Khan, Razaullah; Tian, Qinghua; Yan, Cheng; Xin, Xiangjun

2016-09-01

An architecture for flattened and broad spectrum multicarriers is presented by generating 60 comb lines from pulsed laser driven by user-defined bit stream in cascade with three modulators. The proposed scheme is a cost-effective architecture for optical line terminal (OLT) in wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) system. The optical frequency comb generator consists of a pulsed laser in cascade with a phase modulator and two Mach-Zehnder modulators driven by an RF source incorporating no phase shifter, filter, or electrical amplifier. Optical frequency comb generation is deployed in the simulation environment at OLT in WDM-PON system supports 1.2-Tbps data rate. With 10-GHz frequency spacing, each frequency tone carries data signal of 20 Gbps-based differential quadrature phase shift keying (DQPSK) in downlink transmission. We adopt DQPSK-based modulation technique in the downlink transmission because it supports 2 bits per symbol, which increases the data rate in WDM-PON system. Furthermore, DQPSK format is tolerant to different types of dispersions and has a high spectral efficiency with less complex configurations. Part of the downlink power is utilized in the uplink transmission; the uplink transmission is based on intensity modulated on-off keying. Minimum power penalties have been observed with excellent eye diagrams and other transmission performances at specified bit error rates.

Impact of backreflections on single-fiber bidirectional wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical networks (WDM-PONs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Shiyu

With increased demand for bandwidth-hungry applications such as video-on-demand, wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) has become a strong contender in overcoming the last mile bottle neck. However, the wide-scale deployment of WDM-PONs has been delayed mainly due to the high cost of wavelength-specific optical components. To realize cost-effective WDM-PONs, various wavelength-independent, so called colorless architectures, have been developed so that all the subscribers can have identical optical network units (ONUs). In such WDM-PONs, however, single-fiber bidirectional transmission results in degradation of system performance caused by interference between the signals and backreflections. This thesis investigates the impact of backreflections on single-fiber bidirectional WDM-PONs. A WDM-PON with various optical line terminals (OLTs) and colorless ONU configurations is presented. The dependence of the power penalty, caused by backreflections, on a variety of parameters is investigated. This includes parameters such as the source linewidths, receiver bandwidth, transmission line loss (TLL), ONU gain, chirp effect at the ONU and optical return loss (ORL), in various WDM-PON configurations. The WDM-PON with continuous wave (CW) seed light and remodulation schemes are both presented and studied experimentally. The impacts of the backreflections on the single-fiber bidirectional WDM-PON with various OLT and ONU configurations are compared and analyzed accordingly.

Software defined multi-OLT passive optical network for flexible traffic allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shizong; Gu, Rentao; Ji, Yuefeng; Zhang, Jiawei; Li, Hui

2016-10-01

With the rapid growth of 4G mobile network and vehicular network services mobile terminal users have increasing demand on data sharing among different radio remote units (RRUs) and roadside units (RSUs). Meanwhile, commercial video-streaming, video/voice conference applications delivered through peer-to-peer (P2P) technology are still keep on stimulating the sharp increment of bandwidth demand in both business and residential subscribers. However, a significant issue is that, although wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology have been proposed to fulfil the ever-increasing bandwidth demand in access network, the bandwidth of optical fiber is not unlimited due to the restriction of optical component properties and modulation/demodulation technology, and blindly increase the wavelength cannot meet the cost-sensitive characteristic of the access network. In this paper, we propose a software defined multi-OLT PON architecture to support efficient scheduling of access network traffic. By introducing software defined networking technology and wavelength selective switch into TWDM PON system in central office, multiple OLTs can be considered as a bandwidth resource pool and support flexible traffic allocation for optical network units (ONUs). Moreover, under the configuration of the control plane, ONUs have the capability of changing affiliation between different OLTs under different traffic situations, thus the inter-OLT traffic can be localized and the data exchange pressure of the core network can be released. Considering this architecture is designed to be maximum following the TWDM PON specification, the existing optical distribution network (ODN) investment can be saved and conventional EPON/GPON equipment can be compatible with the proposed architecture. What's more, based on this architecture, we propose a dynamic wavelength scheduling algorithm, which can be deployed as an application on control plane and achieve effective scheduling OLT wavelength resources between different OLTs based on various traffic situation. Simulation results show that, by using the scheduling algorithm, network traffic between different OLTs can be optimized effectively, and the wavelength utilization of the multi-OLT system can be improved due to the flexible wavelength scheduling.

Integrated coding-aware intra-ONU scheduling for passive optical networks with inter-ONU traffic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yan; Dai, Shifang; Wu, Weiwei

2016-12-01

Recently, with the soaring of traffic among optical network units (ONUs), network coding (NC) is becoming an appealing technique for improving the performance of passive optical networks (PONs) with such inter-ONU traffic. However, in the existed NC-based PONs, NC can only be implemented by buffering inter-ONU traffic at the optical line terminal (OLT) to wait for the establishment of coding condition, such passive uncertain waiting severely limits the effect of NC technique. In this paper, we will study integrated coding-aware intra-ONU scheduling in which the scheduling of inter-ONU traffic within each ONU will be undertaken by the OLT to actively facilitate the forming of coding inter-ONU traffic based on the global inter-ONU traffic distribution, and then the performance of PONs with inter-ONU traffic can be significantly improved. We firstly design two report message patterns and an inter-ONU traffic transmission framework as the basis for the integrated coding-aware intra-ONU scheduling. Three specific scheduling strategies are then proposed for adapting diverse global inter-ONU traffic distributions. The effectiveness of the work is finally evaluated by both theoretical analysis and simulations.

A novel survivable architecture for hybrid WDM/TDM passive optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Yang; Chan, Chun-Kit

2014-02-01

A novel tree-ring survivable architecture, which consists of an organization of a wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) tree from optical line terminal (OLT) to remote nodes (RNs) and a time division multiplexing (TDM) ring in each RN, is proposed for hybrid WDM/TDM passive optical networks. By utilizing the cyclic property of arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) and the single-ring topology among a group of optical network units (ONUs) in the remote node, not only the feeder and distribution fibers, but also any fiber failures in the RN rings are protected simultaneously. Five-Gbit/s transmissions under both normal working and protection modes were experimentally demonstrated and a traffic restoration time was successfully measured.

A novel wavelength reused bidirectional RoF-WDM-PON architecture to mitigate reflection and Rayleigh backscattered noise in multi-Gb/s m-QAM OFDM SSB upstream and downstream transmission over a single fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Dhananjay; Dalal, U. D.

2017-05-01

A novel m-QAM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Single Sideband (SSB) architecture is proposed for centralized light source (CLS) bidirectional Radio over Fiber (RoF) - Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) - Passive Optical Network (PON). In bidirectional transmission with carrier reuse over the single fiber, the Rayleigh Backscattering (RB) noise and reflection (RE) interferences from optical components can seriously deteriorate the transmission performance of the fiber optic systems. These interferometric noises can be mitigated by utilizing the optical modulation schemes at the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and Optical Network Unit (ONU) such that the spectral overlap between the optical data spectrum and the RB and RE noise is minimum. A mathematical model is developed for the proposed architecture to accurately measure the performance of the transmission system and also to analyze the effect of interferometric noise caused by the RB and RE. The model takes into the account the different modulation schemes employed at the OLT and the ONU using a Mach Zehnder Modulator (MZM), the optical launch power and the bit-rates of the downstream and upstream signals, the gain of the amplifiers at the OLT and the ONU, the RB-RE noise, chromatic dispersion of the single mode fiber and optical filter responses. In addition, the model analyzes all the components of the RB-RE noise such as carrier RB, signal RB, carrier RE and signal RE, thus providing the complete representation of all the physical phenomena involved. An optical m-QAM OFDM SSB signal acts as a test signal to validate the model which provides excellent agreement with simulation results. The SSB modulation technique using the MZM at the OLT and the ONU differs in the data transmission technique that takes place through the first-order higher and the lower optical sideband respectively. This spectral gap between the downstream and upstream signals reduces the effect of Rayleigh backscattering and discrete reflections.

AWG-based WDM-PON monitoring system using an optical switch and a WDM filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liaw, S.-K.; Lai, Y.-T.; Chang, C.-L.; Shung, O.

2008-09-01

A new WDM-PON scheme with real-time monitoring based on a time-sharing method is proposed. It uses an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) to monitor multiple ports by integrating an optical switch (OSW) with a dense wavelength division multiplexer (DWDM) at the optical line terminal (OLT) site. Each downstream signal and its corresponding monitoring signal are separated by m times the free-space range (FSR) of an array waveguide grating (AWG). A bit error rate (BER) test in 2.5 Gb/s × 27 km is performed with and without turning on the OTDR. A small power penalty of 0.7 dB is observed compared to the back-to-back measurement.

Re-modulated technology of WDM-PON employing different DQPSK downstream signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Chao; Xin, Xiang-jun; Yu, Chong-xiu

2012-11-01

This paper proposes a kind of modulation architecture for wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDMPON) employing optical differential quadrature phase shift keying (DQPSK) downstream signals and two different modulation formats of re-modulated upstream signals. At the optical line terminal (OLT), 10 Gbit/s signal is modulated with DQPSK. At the optical network unit (ONU), part of the downstream signal is re-modulated with on-off keying (OOK) or inverse-return-to-zero (IRZ). Simulation results show the impact on the system employing NRZ, RZ and carrier-suppressed return-to-zero (CSRZ). The analyses also reflect that the architecture can restrain chromatic dispersion and channel crosstalk, which makes it the best architecture of access network in the future.

Sliceable transponders for metro-access transmission links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, C.; Madsen, P.; Spolitis, S.; Vegas Olmos, J. J.; Tafur Monroy, I.

2015-01-01

This paper presents a solution for upgrading optical access networks by reusing existing electronics or optical equipment: sliceable transponders using signal spectrum slicing and stitching back method after direct detection. This technique allows transmission of wide bandwidth signals from the service provider (OLT - optical line terminal) to the end user (ONU - optical network unit) over an optical distribution network (ODN) via low bandwidth equipment. We show simulation and experimental results for duobinary signaling of 1 Gbit/s and 10 Gbit/s waveforms. The number of slices is adjusted to match the lowest analog bandwidth of used electrical devices and scale from 2 slices to 10 slices. Results of experimental transmission show error free signal recovery by using post forward error correction with 7% overhead.

Colorless ONU implementation for WDM-PON using direct-detection optical OFDM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Min; Luo, Qing-long; Bai, Cheng-lin

2013-03-01

A novel architecture for the colorless optical network unit (ONU) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with direct-detection optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DDO-OFDM). In this architecture, polarization-division multiplexing is used to reduce the cost at ONU. In optical line terminal (OLT), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) intensity-modulated OFDM signal with x-polarization at 10 Gbit/s is transmitted as downstream. At each ONU, the optical OFDM signal is demodulated with direct detection, and γ-polarization signal is modulated for upstream on-off keying (OOK) data at 5 Gbit/s. Simulation results show that the power penalty is negligible for both optical OFDM downstream and the on-off keying upstream signals after over 50 km single-mode fiber (SMF) transmission.

Hierarchy Bayesian model based services awareness of high-speed optical access networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Hui-feng

2018-03-01

As the speed of optical access networks soars with ever increasing multiple services, the service-supporting ability of optical access networks suffers greatly from the shortage of service awareness. Aiming to solve this problem, a hierarchy Bayesian model based services awareness mechanism is proposed for high-speed optical access networks. This approach builds a so-called hierarchy Bayesian model, according to the structure of typical optical access networks. Moreover, the proposed scheme is able to conduct simple services awareness operation in each optical network unit (ONU) and to perform complex services awareness from the whole view of system in optical line terminal (OLT). Simulation results show that the proposed scheme is able to achieve better quality of services (QoS), in terms of packet loss rate and time delay.

Analysis of the influence of backscattered optical power over bidirectional PON links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez, J. J.; Garcés, I.; López, A.; Villafranca, A.; Losada, M. A.

2010-05-01

Our aim is to describe the behavior of non-linear scattering effects that arise in standard single mode fiber (SMF), specifically scattering effects that propagate optical power in the reverse direction of the source signal such as Rayleigh Scattering (RS) and Brillouin Scattering (BS). For this purpose, the effects of backscattering phenomena over a bidirectional data transmission in a passive optical network (PON) scheme have been assessed. The impact of these high optical power components over reception at the optical line terminal (OLT) side has been determined when both links use the same wavelength. Bit Error Rate (BER) measurements have been performed with different transmission rates, using several techniques to mitigate the influence of backscattering over the received signal and considering cases with filtered and unfiltered BS.

Optical frequency comb generation with high tone-to-noise ratio for large-capacity wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullah, Rahat; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Qi; Tian, Qinghua; Tian, Feng; Qu, Zhaowei; Yan, Cheng; Khan, Muhammad Saad; Ahmad, Ibrar; Xin, Xiangjun

2015-11-01

We propose a technique for the generation of optical frequency comb from a single source, which reduces the costs of optical access networks. Two Mach-Zehnder modulators are cascaded with one phase modulator driven by radiofrequency signals. With 10-GHz frequency spacing, the generated 40 optical multicarriers have good tone-to-noise ratio with least excursions in their comb lines. The laser array at the optical line terminal of the conventional wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) system has been replaced with optical frequency comb generator (OFCG), which may result in cost-effective optical line terminal (OLT) supporting a large-capacity WDM-PON system. Of 40 carriers generated, each carrier carries 10 Gbps data based on differential phase-shift keying. Four hundred Gbps multiplexed data from all channels are successfully transmitted through a fiber span of 25 km with negligible power penalties. Part of the downlink signal is used in uplink transmission at optical network unit where intensity-modulated on-off keying is deployed for remodulation. Theoretical analysis of the proposed WDM-PON system based on OFCG are in good agreement with simulation results. The metrics considered for the analysis of the proposed OFCG in a WDM-PON system are power penalties of the full-duplex transmission, eye diagrams, and bit error rate.

A novel design of optical CDMA system based on TCM and FFH

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Jun-Bin; Xu, Zhi-Hai; Huang, Hong-bin; Zheng, Liming; Chen, Shun-er; Liu, Wei-ping

2005-02-01

For the application in Passive Optical Network (PON), a novel design of OCDMA system scheme is proposed in this paper. There are two key components included in this scheme: a new kind of OCDMA encoder/decoder system based on TCM and FFH and an improved Optical Line Terminal (OLT) receiving system with improved anti-interference performance by the use of Long Period Fiber Grating (LPFG). In the encoder/decoder system, Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM) encoder is applied in front of the FFH modulator. Original signal firstly is encoded through TCM encoder, and then the redundant code out of the TCM encoder will be mapped into one of the FFH modulation signal subsets for transmission. On the receiver (decoder) side, transmitting signal is demodulated through FFH and decoded by trellis decoder. Owing to the fact that high coding gain can be acquired by TCM without adding transmitting band and reducing transmitting speed, TCM is utilized to ameliorate bit error performance and reduce multi-user interference. In the OLT receiving system, EDFA and LPFG are placed in front of decoder to get excellent gain flatness on a large bandwidth, and Optical Hard Limiter (OHL) is also deployed to improve detection performance, through which the anti-interference performance of receiving system can be greatly enhanced. At the same time, some software is used to simulate the system performance for further analysis and authentication. The related work in this paper provides a valuable reference to the research.

Hepatic encephalopathy before and neurological complications after liver transplantation have no impact on the employment status 1 year after transplantation

PubMed Central

Pflugrad, Henning; Tryc, Anita B; Goldbecker, Annemarie; Strassburg, Christian P; Barg-Hock, Hannelore; Klempnauer, Jürgen; Weissenborn, Karin

2017-01-01

AIM To investigate the impact of hepatic encephalopathy before orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and neurological complications after OLT on employment after OLT. METHODS One hundred and fourteen patients with chronic liver disease aged 18-60 years underwent neurological examination to identify neurological complications, neuropsychological tests comprising the PSE-Syndrome-Test yielding the psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score, the critical flicker frequency and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), completed a questionnaire concerning their occupation and filled in the short form 36 (SF-36) to assess health-related quality of life before OLT and 12 mo after OLT, if possible. Sixty-eight (59.6%) patients were recruited before OLT, while on the waiting list for OLT at Hannover Medical School [age: 48.7 ± 10.2 years, 45 (66.2%) male], and 46 (40.4%) patients were included directly after OLT. RESULTS Before OLT 43.0% of the patients were employed. The patients not employed before OLT were more often non-academics (employed: Academic/non-academic 16 (34.0%)/31 vs not employed 10 (17.6%)/52, P = 0.04), had more frequently a history of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) (yes/no; employed 15 (30.6%)/34 vs not employed 32 (49.2%)/33, P = 0.05) and achieved worse results in psychometric tests (RBANS sum score mean ± SD employed 472.1 ± 44.5 vs not employed 443.1 ± 56.7, P = 0.04) than those employed. Ten patients (18.2%), who were not employed before OLT, resumed work afterwards. The patients employed after OLT were younger [age median (range, min-max) employed 47 (42, 18-60) vs not employed 50 (31, 29-60), P = 0.01], achieved better results in the psychometric tests (RBANS sum score mean ± SD employed 490.7 ± 48.2 vs not employed 461.0 ± 54.5, P = 0.02) and had a higher health-related quality of life (SF 36 sum score mean ± SD employed 627.0 ± 138.1 vs not employed 433.7 ± 160.8; P < 0.001) compared to patients not employed after OLT. Employment before OLT (P < 0.001), age (P < 0.01) and SF-36 sum score 12 mo after OLT (P < 0.01) but not HE before OLT or neurological complications after OLT were independent predictors of the employment status after OLT. CONCLUSION HE before and neurological complications after OLT have no impact on the employment status 12 mo after OLT. Instead younger age and employment before OLT predict employment one year after OLT. PMID:28443157

[To evaluate the role of OLT on splenomegaly of portal hypertension by the radiological changes of splenic morphology and collaterals].

PubMed

Liang, Ying-ying; Wang, Jin; Shan, Hong; Yan, Rong-hua; Hu, Bing; Jiang, Zai-bo; He, Bing-jun; Liu, Jing-jing; Ren, Ling-lan; Shao, Shuo

2012-11-20

To explore the effect of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) on portal hypertension by observing the radiological changes of splenic volume and collaterals before and after OLT. In our hospital 56 patients performing OLT due to cirrhosis, portal hypertension and splenomegaly were classified into five groups according to their following-up time: A (≤3 months), B (>3-6 months), C (>6-12 months), D (>12-24 months), and E (>24 months). Twenty health people were chose as control group (F). The splenic width, thickness, length, volume, diameter of portal and splenic vein and collaterals were measured and observed in every patient of six groups before and after OLT respectively. After OLT, the splenic volume decreased by 25.4%, 27.8%, 21.9%, 25.2%, 27.7% in five groups respectively, which was still larger than the normal group (P<0.05). Gastroesophageal varices in 31 cases (81.6%, 31/36) became normal after OLT. The opened umbilical vein disappeared and the retroperitoneal varices persisted in five cases after OLT. Splenomegaly and opened collaterals can be relieved by OLT effectively. The splenic volume didn't change obviously until it decreased by 25% in the three months after OLT. Gastroesophageal varices can be removed in most of patients after OLT. The splenomegaly could last paralled with the splenic vein and retroperitoneal varices after OLT. After OLT, correct disposal of splenic and collateral changes could improve the success rate and the long-term treatment effect of OLT.

Anatomic feature of deltoid ligament attachment in posteromedial osteochondral lesion of talar dome.

PubMed

Nakasa, Tomoyuki; Sawa, Mikiya; Ikuta, Yasunari; Yoshikawa, Masahiro; Tsuyuguchi, Yusuke; Adachi, Nobuo

2018-03-01

Osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT) are recognized as being commonly associated with trauma. However, the etiology of OLT remains unclear. In the case of a posteromedial lesion of OLT (medial OLT), the deep layer of the deltoid ligament is located close to the medial OLT, and this relationship between a medial lesion and deltoid ligament could be a risk factor for medial OLT. The purpose of this study is to investigate the unique anatomic feature of the deep deltoid attachment to the talus in patients with medial OLT compared with patients with non-medial OLT. Forty ankles with medial OLT and 40 ankles without medial OLT were retrospectively reviewed in this study. On the coronal images of MRI, the attachment of deltoid ligament was measured. The continuity of the osteochondral fragment and its bed was evaluated on MRI and arthroscopic findings. Coronal MRI images showed that the attachment of the deep deltoid ligament to the medial OLT was broader and located more proximally than in non-medial OLT. The continuity of fibers from the insertion site of deltoid ligament to the talus to the osteochondral fragment was observed (76.7%). In the arthroscopic findings, the osteochondral fragment was obviously connected to the talus at the medial site in 85.2% of feet. The location of the deep deltoid ligament attachment to the medial OLT was more proximal and there was the possibility of these anatomic feature might contribute to the pathogenesis of medial OLT. Copyright © 2017 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy-efficient orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based passive optical network based on adaptive sleep-mode control and dynamic bandwidth allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chongfu; Xiao, Nengwu; Chen, Chen; Yuan, Weicheng; Qiu, Kun

2016-02-01

We propose an energy-efficient orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based passive optical network (OFDM-PON) using adaptive sleep-mode control and dynamic bandwidth allocation. In this scheme, a bidirectional-centralized algorithm named the receiver and transmitter accurate sleep control and dynamic bandwidth allocation (RTASC-DBA), which has an overall bandwidth scheduling policy, is employed to enhance the energy efficiency of the OFDM-PON. The RTASC-DBA algorithm is used in an optical line terminal (OLT) to control the sleep mode of an optical network unit (ONU) sleep and guarantee the quality of service of different services of the OFDM-PON. The obtained results show that, by using the proposed scheme, the average power consumption of the ONU is reduced by ˜40% when the normalized ONU load is less than 80%, compared with the average power consumption without using the proposed scheme.

Study on the capability of four-level partial response equalization in RSOA-based WDM-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Qi; Tran, An Vu

2010-12-01

The expected development of advanced video services with HDTV quality demands the delivery of more than Gb/s link to end users across the last mile connection. Future access networks are also required to have long reach for reduction in the number of central offices (CO). Fueled by those requirements, we propose a novel equalization scheme that increases the capacity and reach of the wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) based on a low bandwidth reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA). We investigate the characteristics of 10 Gb/s upstream transmission in WDM-PON using RSOA with only 1.2 GHz electrical bandwidth and various lengths of fiber. It is proven that the proposed four-level partial response equalizer (PRE) is capable of mitigating the impact of ISI in the received signals from optical network units (ONU) located 0 km to 75 km away from the optical line terminal (OLT).

Suppression of optical beat interference-noise in orthogonal frequency division multiple access-passive optical network link using self-homodyne balanced detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Won, Yong-Yuk; Jung, Sang-Min; Han, Sang-Kook

2014-08-01

A new technique, which reduces optical beat interference (OBI) noise in orthogonal frequency division multiple access-passive optical network (OFDMA-PON) links, is proposed. A self-homodyne balanced detection, which uses a single laser for the optical line terminal (OLT) as well as for the optical network unit (ONU), reduces OBI noise and also improves the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the discrete multi-tone (DMT) signal. The proposed scheme is verified by transmitting quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK)-modulated DMT signal over a 20-km single mode fiber. The optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR), that is required for BER of 10-5, is reduced by 2 dB in the balanced detection compared with a single channel due to the cancellation of OBI noise in conjunction with the local laser.

Power Budget Analysis of Colorless Hybrid WDM/TDM-PON Scheme Using Downstream DPSK and Re-modulated Upstream OOK Data Signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Yousaf; Afridi, Muhammad Idrees; Khan, Ahmed Mudassir; Rehman, Waheed Ur; Khan, Jahanzeb

2014-09-01

Hybrid wavelength-division multiplexed/time-division multiplexed passive optical access networks (WDM/TDM-PONs) combine the advance features of both WDM and TDM PONs to provide a cost-effective access network solution. We demonstrate and analyze the transmission performances and power budget issues of a colorless hybrid WDM/TDM-PON scheme. A 10-Gb/s downstream differential phase shift keying (DPSK) and remodulated upstream on/off keying (OOK) data signals are transmitted over 25 km standard single mode fiber. Simulation results show error free transmission having adequate power margins in both downstream and upstream transmission, which prove the applicability of the proposed scheme to future passive optical access networks. The power budget confines both the PON splitting ratio and the distance between the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and Optical Network Unit (ONU).

Three-mode mode-division-multiplexing passive optical network over 12-km low mode-crosstalk FMF using all-fiber mode MUX/DEMUX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Fang; Li, Juhao; Wu, Zhongying; Hu, Tao; Yu, Jinyi; Mo, Qi; He, Yongqi; Chen, Zhangyuan; Li, Zhengbin

2017-01-01

We propose three-mode mode-division-multiplexing passive optical network (MDM-PON) based on low mode-crosstalk few-mode fiber (FMF) and all-fiber mode multiplexer/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX). The FMF with step-index profile is designed and fabricated for effectively three-independent-spatial-mode transmission and low mode-crosstalk for MDM-PON transmission. The all-fiber mode MUX/DEMUX are composed of cascaded mode selective couplers (MSCs), which simultaneously multiplex or demultiplex multiple modes. Based on the low mode-crosstalk of the FMF and all-fiber mode MUX/DEMUX, each optical network unit (ONU) communicates with the optical line terminal (OLT) independently utilizing a different optical linearly polarized (LP) spatial mode in MDM-PON system. We experimentally demonstrate MDM-PON transmission of three independent-spatial-modes over 12-km FMF with 10-Gb/s optical on-off keying (OOK) signal and direct detection.

Adaptive upstream optical power adjustment depending on required power budget in PON access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, C. H.; Chow, C. W.; Liu, Y. L.

2012-11-01

According to the present passive optical network (PON) standard, the fiber transmission lengths are from 500 m to 20 km between the optical line terminal (OLT) and different optical network units (ONUs). It will result in difference power losses (ΔPloss) from 4 to 5 dB. Hence, we propose to adjust adaptively the output optical power of the upstream laser diode (LD) depending on the different fiber lengths. With the different fiber transmission lengths, we can properly adjust the bias current and modulation index of upstream LD for energy-saving. We characterize and analyze experimentally the relationship of output optical power and modulation amplitude Vamp under different fiber transmissions in PON access. Moreover, due to the adaptive power control of upstream signal, the optical upstream equalization also can be retrieved with power variation of 1.1 dB in this experiment.

A long-reach WDM passive optical network enabling broadcasting service with centralized light source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, D.; Tang, M.; Fu, S.; Liu, D.; Shum, P.

2012-02-01

We propose a long-reach wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) passive optical network (PON) to provide conventional point-to-point (P2P) data and downstream broadcasting service simultaneously by superimposing, for each WDM channel, the differential-phase-shift-keying (DPSK) broadcasting signal with the subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) modulated downstream P2P signal, at the optical line terminal (OLT). In the optical network units (ONUs), by re-modulating part of the downstream signal with a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA), we realize color-less ONUs for upstream data transmission. The proposed scheme is numerically verified with a 5 Gb/s downstream P2P signal and broadcasting services, as well as 2.5 Gb/s upstream data through a 60 km bidirectional fiber link. In particular, the influence of the downstream lightwave's optical carrier-subcarrier ratio (OCSR) on the system performance is also investigated.

TWC and AWG based optical switching structure for OVPN in WDM-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Hui-feng; Chen, Yu-xin; Wang, Qin

2015-03-01

With the rapid development of optical elements with large capacity and high speed, the network architecture is of great importance in determing the performance of wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON). This paper proposes a switching structure based on the tunable wavelength converter (TWC) and the arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) for WDM-PON, in order to provide the function of opitcal virtual private network (OVPN). Using the tunable wavelength converter technology, this switch structure is designed and works between the optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network units (ONUs) in the WDM-PON system. Moreover, the wavelength assignment of upstream/downstream can be realized and direct communication between ONUs is also allowed by privite wavelength channel. Simulation results show that the proposed TWC and AWG based switching structure is able to achieve OVPN function and to gain better performances in terms of bite error rate (BER) and time delay.

PAM4 based symmetrical 112-Gbps long-reach TWDM-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Liyu; Gao, Fan; Zhang, Minming; Fu, Songnian; Deng, Lei; Choi, Michael; Chang, Donald; Lei, Gordon K. P.; Liu, Deming

2018-02-01

We experimentally demonstrate cost effective symmetrical 112-Gbps long-reach passive optical network (LR-PON) over 70-km standard signal mode fiber (SSMF), based on pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)-4. Four 10G-class directly modulated lasers (DMLs) at C-band are used for achieving 4 × 28-Gbps downstream transmission, while two 18G-class DMLs at O-band are used to realize 2 × 56-Gbps upstream transmission, without any optical amplification in optical distributed network (ODN). Both dispersion compensation fiber (DCF) for downstream signal and praseodymium-doped fiber amplifier (PDFA) for upstream signal are equipped at optical line terminal (OLT). Meanwhile, sparse Volterra filter (SVF) equalizer is proposed to mitigate the transmission impairments with substantial reduction of computation complexity. Finally, we can successfully provide a loss budget of 33 dB per downstream wavelength channel, indicating of 64 optical network units (ONUs) with more than 1.25 Gbps per ONU.

Predictors of renal function recovery among patients undergoing renal replacement therapy following orthotopic liver transplantation.

PubMed

Andreoli, Maria Claudia Cruz; Souza, Nádia Karina Guimarães de; Ammirati, Adriano Luiz; Matsui, Thais Nemoto; Carneiro, Fabiana Dias; Ramos, Ana Claudia Mallet de Souza; Iizuca, Ilson Jorge; Coelho, Maria Paula Vilela; Afonso, Rogério Carballo; Ferraz-Neto, Ben-Hur; Almeida, Marcio Dias de; Durão, Marcelino; Batista, Marcelo Costa; Monte, Julio Cesar; Pereira, Virgílio Gonçalves; Santos, Oscar Pavão Dos; Santos, Bento Cardoso Dos

2017-01-01

Renal dysfunction frequently occurs during the periods preceding and following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), and in many cases, renal replacement therapy (RRT) is required. Information regarding the duration of RRT and the rate of kidney function recovery after OLT is crucial for transplant program management. We evaluated a sample of 155 stable patients undergoing post-intensive care hemodialysis (HD) from a patient population of 908 adults who underwent OLT. We investigated the average time to renal function recovery (duration of RRT required) and determined the risk factors for remaining on dialysis > 90 days after OLT. Log-rank tests were used for univariate analysis, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors associated with the risk of remaining on HD. The results of our analysis showed that of the 155 patients, 28% had pre-OLT diabetes mellitus, 21% had pre-OLT hypertension, and 40% had viral hepatitis. Among the patients, the median MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) score was 27 (interquartile range [IQR] 22-35). When they were listed for liver transplantation, 32% of the patients had serum creatinine (Scr) levels > 1.5 mg/dL or were on HD, and 50% had serum creatinine (Scr) levels > 1.5 mg/dL or were on HD at the time of OLT. Of the transplanted patients, 25% underwent pre-OLT intermittent HD, and 14% and 41% underwent continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) pre-OLT and post-OLT, respectively. At 90 days post-OLT, 118 (76%) patients had been taken off dialysis, and 16 (10%) patients had died while undergoing HD. The median recovery time of these post-OLT patients was 33 (IQR 27-39) days. In the multivariate analysis, fulminant hepatic failure as the cause of liver disease (p<0.001), the absence of pre-OLT hypertension (p = 0.016), a lower intraoperative fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion volume (p = 0.019) and not undergoing pre-OLT intermittent HD (p = 0.032) were associated with performing RRT for less than 90 days. Therefore, a high proportion of OLT patients showed improved renal function after OLT, and those who were diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure, had no pre-OLT hypertension, received a lower transfused volume of intraoperative FFP and did not undergo pre-OLT intermittent HD had a higher probability of recovery.

Predictors of renal function recovery among patients undergoing renal replacement therapy following orthotopic liver transplantation

PubMed Central

de Souza, Nádia Karina Guimarães; Ammirati, Adriano Luiz; Matsui, Thais Nemoto; Carneiro, Fabiana Dias; Ramos, Ana Claudia Mallet de Souza; Iizuca, Ilson Jorge; Afonso, Rogério Carballo; Ferraz-Neto, Ben-Hur; de Almeida, Marcio Dias; Durão, Marcelino; Batista, Marcelo Costa; Monte, Julio Cesar; Pereira, Virgílio Gonçalves; dos Santos, Oscar Pavão

2017-01-01

Renal dysfunction frequently occurs during the periods preceding and following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), and in many cases, renal replacement therapy (RRT) is required. Information regarding the duration of RRT and the rate of kidney function recovery after OLT is crucial for transplant program management. We evaluated a sample of 155 stable patients undergoing post-intensive care hemodialysis (HD) from a patient population of 908 adults who underwent OLT. We investigated the average time to renal function recovery (duration of RRT required) and determined the risk factors for remaining on dialysis > 90 days after OLT. Log-rank tests were used for univariate analysis, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors associated with the risk of remaining on HD. The results of our analysis showed that of the 155 patients, 28% had pre-OLT diabetes mellitus, 21% had pre-OLT hypertension, and 40% had viral hepatitis. Among the patients, the median MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) score was 27 (interquartile range [IQR] 22-35). When they were listed for liver transplantation, 32% of the patients had serum creatinine (Scr) levels > 1.5 mg/dL or were on HD, and 50% had serum creatinine (Scr) levels > 1.5 mg/dL or were on HD at the time of OLT. Of the transplanted patients, 25% underwent pre-OLT intermittent HD, and 14% and 41% underwent continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) pre-OLT and post-OLT, respectively. At 90 days post-OLT, 118 (76%) patients had been taken off dialysis, and 16 (10%) patients had died while undergoing HD. The median recovery time of these post-OLT patients was 33 (IQR 27–39) days. In the multivariate analysis, fulminant hepatic failure as the cause of liver disease (p<0.001), the absence of pre-OLT hypertension (p = 0.016), a lower intraoperative fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion volume (p = 0.019) and not undergoing pre-OLT intermittent HD (p = 0.032) were associated with performing RRT for less than 90 days. Therefore, a high proportion of OLT patients showed improved renal function after OLT, and those who were diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure, had no pre-OLT hypertension, received a lower transfused volume of intraoperative FFP and did not undergo pre-OLT intermittent HD had a higher probability of recovery. PMID:28574999

Clinical outcomes of liver transplantation for HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma: data from the NIH HBV OLT study.

PubMed

Han, Steven-Huy; Reddy, K Rajender; Keeffe, Emmet B; Soldevila-Pico, Consuelo; Gish, Robert; Chung, Raymond T; Degertekin, Bulent; Lok, Anna

2011-01-01

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an indication for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in patients with tumor stage within the United Network for Organ Sharing criteria. The number of patients listed for HBV-related HCC is increasing, while the number of patients listed for HBV-related cirrhosis is declining presumptively because of the availability of more effective oral nucleos(t)ide analogues. This study presents the final, long-term outcome of patients transplanted for HBV-related HCC in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HBV OLT Study Group. Ninety-eight patients (52.4%) in the NIH HBV OLT cohort underwent OLT for HBV-related HCC. With a mean follow-up of 36.5 months post-OLT, 12 (12.2%) patients developed recurrence of HCC. Multivariate analysis did not find a statistically significant role of gender, tumor stage at OLT, pre-OLT HCC treatment, recurrence of HBV, or duration of HCC diagnosis pre-OLT in predicting HCC recurrence. Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level >200 ng/mL at transplant was found to be statistically significant in predicting HCC recurrence (p=0.003). HCC recurrence was significantly associated with decreased post-OLT survival. HCC is the most common indication for OLT in patients with chronic hepatitis B in the era of more effective oral antivirals. Serum AFP at the time of OLT is significantly associated with HCC recurrence. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy for Morbid Obesity in Patients After Orthotopic Liver Transplant: a Matched Case-Control Study.

PubMed

Tsamalaidze, Levan; Stauffer, John A; Arasi, Lisa C; Villacreses, Diego E; Franco, Jose Salvador Serrano; Bowers, Steven; Elli, Enrique F

2018-02-01

Obesity is frequently encountered in patients with orthotopic liver transplant (OLT). The role of bariatric surgery is still unclear for this specific population. The aim of this study was to review our experience with laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) after OLT. We performed a retrospective case-control study of patients undergoing LSG after OLT from 2010 to 2016. OLT-LSG patients were matched by age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and year to non-OLT patients undergoing LSG. Demographics, operative variables, postoperative events, and long-term weight loss with comorbidity resolution were collected and compared between cases and controls. Of 303 patients undergoing LSG, 12 (4%) had previous OLT. They were matched to 36 non-OLT patients. No difference was found between groups in the American Society of Anesthesiologists class, mean operative time, or postoperative morbidity. The non-OLT group, however, had a significantly shorter mean hospital stay than the OLT group (1.7 vs 3.1 days; P < .001). There were no conversions to open procedures. For patients with long-term follow-up, change in BMI after LSG was similar between the groups, but the non-OLT patients had significantly more excess body weight loss at 2 years (53.7 vs 45.2%; P < .001). Similar resolution of comorbid conditions was noted in both groups. LSG caused no changes in dosage of immunosuppressive medications, and no liver complications occurred. LSG after OLT in appropriately selected patients appears to have similar outcomes to LSG in non-OLT patients.

Distribution and landscape controls of organic layer thickness and carbon within the Alaskan Yukon River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pastick, Neal J.; Rigge, Matthew B.; Wylie, Bruce K.; Jorgenson, M. Torre; Rose, Joshua R.; Johnson, Kristofer D.; Ji, Lei

2014-01-01

Understanding of the organic layer thickness (OLT) and organic layer carbon (OLC) stocks in subarctic ecosystems is critical due to their importance in the global carbon cycle. Moreover, post-fire OLT provides an indicator of long-term successional trajectories and permafrost susceptibility to thaw. To these ends, we 1) mapped OLT and associated uncertainty at 30 m resolution in the Yukon River Basin (YRB), Alaska, employing decision tree models linking remotely sensed imagery with field and ancillary data, 2) converted OLT to OLC using a non-linear regression, 3) evaluate landscape controls on OLT and OLC, and 4) quantified the post-fire recovery of OLT and OLC. Areas of shallow (2 = 0.68; OLC: R2 = 0.66), where an average of 16 cm OLT and 5.3 kg/m2 OLC were consumed by fires. Strong predictors of OLT included climate, topography, near-surface permafrost distributions, soil wetness, and spectral information. Our modeling approach enabled us to produce regional maps of OLT and OLC, which will be useful in understanding risks and feedbacks associated with fires and climate feedbacks.

Societal reintegration following cadaveric orthotopic liver transplantation.

PubMed

Kelly, Ryan; Hurton, Scott; Ayloo, Subhashini; Cwinn, Mathew; De Coutere-Bosse, Sarah; Molinari, Michele

2016-06-01

Studies on patients' societal reintegration following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are scarce. Between September 2006 and January 2008, all adults who were alive after 3 years post OLT were included in this prospective cohort study. Validated questionnaires were administered to all candidates with the primary aim of investigating the rate of their social re-integration following OLT and potential barriers they might have encountered. Among 157 eligible patients 110 (70%) participated. Mean participants' age was 57 years (SD 11.4) and 43% were females. Prior to OLT, 75% of patients were married and 6% were divorced. Following OLT there was no significant difference in marital status. Employment rate fell from 72% to 30% post-OLT. Patients who had been employed in either low-skill or advanced-skill jobs were less likely to return to work. After OLT, personal income fell an average of 4,363 Canadian dollars (CAN$) (SD 20,733) (P=0.03) but the majority of recipients (80%) reported high levels of satisfaction for their role in society. Although patients' satisfaction post-OLT is high, employment status is likely to be negatively affected for individuals who are not self-employed. Strategies to assist recipients in returning to their pre-OLT jobs should be developed to improve patients' economical status and societal ability to recoup resources committed for OLT.

Evaluation of joint position sense measured by inversion angle replication error in patients with an osteochondral lesion of the talus.

PubMed

Nakasa, Tomoyuki; Adachi, Nobuo; Shibuya, Hayatoshi; Okuhara, Atsushi; Ochi, Mitsuo

2013-01-01

The etiology of the osteochondral lesion of the talar dome (OLT) remains unclear. A joint position sense deficit of the ankle is reported to be a possible cause of ankle disorder. Repeated contact of the articular surface of the talar dome with the plafond during inversion might be a cause of OLT. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the joint position sense deficit by measuring the replication error of the inversion angle in patients with OLT. The replication error, which is the difference between the index angle and replication angle in inversion, was measured in 15 patients with OLT. The replication error in 15 healthy volunteers was evaluated as a control group. The side to side differences of the replication errors between the patients with OLT and healthy volunteers and the replication errors in each angle between the involved and uninvolved ankle in the patients with OLT were investigated. Finally, the side to side differences of the replication errors between the patients with OLT with a traumatic and nontraumatic history were compared. The side to side difference in the patients with OLT (1.3° ± 0.2°) was significantly greater than that in the healthy subjects (0.4° ± 0.7°) (p ≤ .05). Significant differences were found between the involved and uninvolved sides at 10°, 15°, 20°, and 25° in the patients with OLT. No significant difference (p > .05) was found between the patients with traumatic and nontraumatic OLT. The present study found that the patients with OLT have a joint position sense deficit during inversion movement, regardless of a traumatic history. Although various factors for the etiology of OLT have been reported, the joint position sense deficit in inversion might be a cause of OLT. Copyright © 2013 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predictors of renal recovery in patients with pre-orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) renal dysfunction.

PubMed

Iglesias, Jose; Frank, Elliot; Mehandru, Sushil; Davis, John M; Levine, Jerrold S

2013-07-13

Renal dysfunction occurs commonly in patients awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for end-stage liver disease. The use of simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation has increased in the MELD scoring era. As patients may recover renal function after OLT, identifying factors predictive of renal recovery is a critical issue, especially given the scarcity of available organs. Employing the UNOS database, we sought to identify donor- and patient-related predictors of renal recovery among 1720 patients with pre-OLT renal dysfunction and transplanted from 1989 to 2005. Recovery of renal function post-OLT was defined as a composite endpoint of serum creatinine (SCr) ≤1.5 mg/dL at discharge and survival ≥29 days. Pre-OLT renal dysfunction was defined as any of the following: SCr ≥2 mg/dL at any time while awaiting OLT or need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) at the time of registration and/or OLT. Independent predictors of recovery of renal function post-OLT were absence of hepatic allograft dysfunction, transplantation during MELD era, recipient female sex, decreased donor age, decreased recipient ALT at time of OLT, decreased recipient body mass index at registration, use of anti-thymocyte globulin as induction therapy, and longer wait time from registration. Contrary to popular belief, a requirement for RRT, even for prolonged periods in excess of 8 weeks, was not an independent predictor of failure to recover renal function post-OLT. These data indicate that the duration of renal dysfunction, even among those requiring RRT, is a poor way to discriminate reversible from irreversible renal dysfunction.

Predictors of renal recovery in patients with pre-orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) renal dysfunction

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Renal dysfunction occurs commonly in patients awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for end-stage liver disease. The use of simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation has increased in the MELD scoring era. As patients may recover renal function after OLT, identifying factors predictive of renal recovery is a critical issue, especially given the scarcity of available organs. Methods Employing the UNOS database, we sought to identify donor- and patient-related predictors of renal recovery among 1720 patients with pre-OLT renal dysfunction and transplanted from 1989 to 2005. Recovery of renal function post-OLT was defined as a composite endpoint of serum creatinine (SCr) ≤1.5 mg/dL at discharge and survival ≥29 days. Pre-OLT renal dysfunction was defined as any of the following: SCr ≥2 mg/dL at any time while awaiting OLT or need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) at the time of registration and/or OLT. Results Independent predictors of recovery of renal function post-OLT were absence of hepatic allograft dysfunction, transplantation during MELD era, recipient female sex, decreased donor age, decreased recipient ALT at time of OLT, decreased recipient body mass index at registration, use of anti-thymocyte globulin as induction therapy, and longer wait time from registration. Contrary to popular belief, a requirement for RRT, even for prolonged periods in excess of 8 weeks, was not an independent predictor of failure to recover renal function post-OLT. Conclusion These data indicate that the duration of renal dysfunction, even among those requiring RRT, is a poor way to discriminate reversible from irreversible renal dysfunction. PMID:23849513

128 Gb/s TWDM PON system using dispersion-supported transmission method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bindhaiq, Salem; Zulkifli, Nadiatulhuda; Supa'at, Abusahmah M.; Idrus, Sevia M.; Salleh, M. S.

2017-11-01

Time and wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (TWDM-PON) trend is considered as the most extraordinary trend of the next generation solution to accommodate exponential traffic growth for converged new services. In this paper, we briefly review recent progress on TWDM-PON system through the use of low cost directly modulated lasers (DMLs) transmission for various line rate transmissions to date. Furthermore, through simulation, we propose and evaluate a cost effective way to upgrade TWDM-PON up to a symmetric capacity of 128 Gb/s using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in optical line terminal (OLT) as a paramount dispersion manager in high speed light-wave systems in both upstream and downstream directions. A low cost and potential chirpless directed modulated grating laser (DMGL) is employed for downstream link and DML with a single delay-interferometer (DI) is employed for upstream link. After illustrating the demonstrated system architecture and configuration, we present the results and analysis to prove the system feasibility. The results show that a successful transmission is achieved over 40 km single mode fiber with a power budget of 33.7 dB, which could support 1:256 splitting ratio.

Recent progress in InP/polymer-based devices for telecom and data center applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleinert, Moritz; Zhang, Ziyang; de Felipe, David; Zawadzki, Crispin; Maese Novo, Alejandro; Brinker, Walter; Möhrle, Martin; Keil, Norbert

2015-02-01

Recent progress on polymer-based photonic devices and hybrid photonic integration technology using InP-based active components is presented. High performance thermo-optic components, including compact polymer variable optical attenuators and switches are powerful tools to regulate and control the light flow in the optical backbone. Polymer arrayed waveguide gratings integrated with InP laser and detector arrays function as low-cost optical line terminals (OLTs) in the WDM-PON network. External cavity tunable lasers combined with C/L band thinfilm filter, on-chip U-groove and 45° mirrors construct a compact, bi-directional and color-less optical network unit (ONU). A tunable laser integrated with VOAs, TFEs and two 90° hybrids builds the optical front-end of a colorless, dual-polarization coherent receiver. Multicore polymer waveguides and multi-step 45°mirrors are demonstrated as bridging devices between the spatialdivision- multiplexing transmission technology using multi-core fibers and the conventional PLCbased photonic platforms, appealing to the fast development of dense 3D photonic integration.

Hybrid scheduling mechanisms for Next-generation Passive Optical Networks based on network coding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jijun; Bai, Wei; Liu, Xin; Feng, Nan; Maier, Martin

2014-10-01

Network coding (NC) integrated into Passive Optical Networks (PONs) is regarded as a promising solution to achieve higher throughput and energy efficiency. To efficiently support multimedia traffic under this new transmission mode, novel NC-based hybrid scheduling mechanisms for Next-generation PONs (NG-PONs) including energy management, time slot management, resource allocation, and Quality-of-Service (QoS) scheduling are proposed in this paper. First, we design an energy-saving scheme that is based on Bidirectional Centric Scheduling (BCS) to reduce the energy consumption of both the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and Optical Network Units (ONUs). Next, we propose an intra-ONU scheduling and an inter-ONU scheduling scheme, which takes NC into account to support service differentiation and QoS assurance. The presented simulation results show that BCS achieves higher energy efficiency under low traffic loads, clearly outperforming the alternative NC-based Upstream Centric Scheduling (UCS) scheme. Furthermore, BCS is shown to provide better QoS assurance.

Performance investigation of optical multicast overlay system using orthogonal modulation format

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Simranjit; Singh, Sukhbir; Kaur, Ramandeep; Kaler, R. S.

2015-03-01

We proposed a bandwidth efficient wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network (WDM-PON) to simultaneously transmit 60 Gb/s unicast and 10 Gb/s multicast services with 10 Gb/s upstream. The differential phase shift keying (DPSK) multicast signal is superimposed onto multiplexed non-return to zero/polarization shift keying (NRZ/PolSK) orthogonal modulated data signals. Upstream amplitude shift keying (ASK) signals formed without use of any additional light source and superimposed onto received unicast NRZ/PolSK signal before being transmitted back to optical line terminal (OLT). We also investigated the proposed WDM-PON system for variable optical input power, transmission distance of single mode fiber in multicast enable and disable mode. The measured Quality factor for all unicast and multicast signal is in acceptable range (>6). The original contribution of this paper is to propose a bandwidth efficient WDM-PON system that could be projected even in high speed scenario at reduced channel spacing and expected to be more technical viable due to use of optical orthogonal modulation formats.

A cost-effective WDM-PON architecture simultaneously supporting wired, wireless and optical VPN services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yanzhi; Ye, Tong; Zhang, Liang; Hu, Xiaofeng; Li, Xinwan; Su, Yikai

2011-03-01

It is believed that next-generation passive optical networks (PONs) are required to provide flexible and various services to users in a cost-effective way. To address this issue, for the first time, this paper proposes and demonstrates a novel wavelength-division-multiplexed PON (WDM-PON) architecture to simultaneously support three types of services: 1) wireless access traffic, 2) optical virtual passive network (VPN) communications, and 3) conventional wired services. In the optical line terminal (OLT), we use two cascaded Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) on each wavelength channel to generate an optical carrier, and produce the wireless and the downstream traffic using the orthogonal modulation technique. In each optical network unit (ONU), the obtained optical carrier is modulated by a single MZM to provide the VPN and upstream communications. Consequently, the light sources in the ONUs are saved and the system cost is reduced. The feasibility of our proposal is experimentally and numerically verified.

Using Fabry-Perot laser diode and reflective semiconductor optical amplifier for long reach WDM-PON system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, C. H.; Chow, C. W.; Wu, Y. F.; Shih, F. Y.; Chi, S.

2011-10-01

In this investigation, we propose and investigate the simple self-injection locked Fabry-Perot laser diodes (FP-LDs) in optical line terminal (OLT); and wavelength-tunable optical network unit (ONU) using reflective optical semiconductor amplifier (RSOA) and FP-LD laser for downstream and upstream traffic in long reach (LR) wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network (WDM-PON) respectively. The output performance of the proposed two laser sources in terms of power and side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) has been discussed. Here, for the downstream traffic, the proposed optical transmitter can be directly modulated at 2.5 Gb/s on-off keying (OOK) format with nearly 0.4 dB power penalty at bit error rate (BER) of 10 -9 through 75 km single-mode fiber (SMF) transmission. Moreover, the proposed upstream transmitter can be directly modulated at 1.25 and 2.5 Gb/s with nearly 0.5 and 1.1 dB power penalty, respectively, at the BER of 10 -9.

Improving upstream transmission performance using a receiver with decision threshold level adjustment in a loopback WDM-PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Seung-Hyun; Lee, Sang-Soo; Shin, Dong-Wook

2010-06-01

We have experimentally demonstrated that the use of an optical receiver with decision threshold level adjustment (DTLA) improved the performance of an upstream transmission in reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)-based loopback wavelength division multiplexing-passive optical network (WDM-PON). Even though the extinction ratio (ER) of the downstream signal was as much as 9 dB and the injection power into the RSOA at the optical network unit was about -24 dBm, we successfully obtained error-free transmission results for the upstream signal through careful control of the decision threshold value in the optical receiver located at optical line terminal (OLT). Using an optical receiver with DTLA for upstream signal detection overcame significant obstacles related to the injection power into the RSOA and the ER of the downstream signal, which were previously considered limitations of the wavelength remodulation scheme. This technique is expected to provide flexibility for the optical link design in the practical deployment of a WDM-PON.

OSLG: A new granting scheme in WDM Ethernet passive optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razmkhah, Ali; Rahbar, Akbar Ghaffarpour

2011-12-01

Several granting schemes have been proposed to grant transmission window and dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) in passive optical networks (PON). Generally, granting schemes suffer from bandwidth wastage of granted windows. Here, we propose a new granting scheme for WDM Ethernet PONs, called optical network unit (ONU) Side Limited Granting (OSLG) that conserves upstream bandwidth, thus resulting in decreasing queuing delay and packet drop ratio. In OSLG instead of optical line terminal (OLT), each ONU determines its transmission window. Two OSLG algorithms are proposed in this paper: the OSLG_GA algorithm that determines the size of its transmission window in such a way that the bandwidth wastage problem is relieved, and the OSLG_SC algorithm that saves unused bandwidth for more bandwidth utilization later on. The OSLG can be used as granting scheme of any DBA to provide better performance in the terms of packet drop ratio and queuing delay. Our performance evaluations show the effectiveness of OSLG in reducing packet drop ratio and queuing delay under different DBA techniques.

Exposing Clinicians to Exposure: A Randomized Controlled Dissemination Trial of Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Disorders

PubMed Central

Harned, Melanie S.; Dimeff, Linda A.; Woodcock, Eric A.; Kelly, Tim; Zavertnik, Jake; Contreras, Ignacio; Danner, Sankirtana M.

2014-01-01

Objective The present study evaluated three technology-based methods of training mental health providers in exposure therapy (ET) for anxiety disorders. Training methods were designed to address common barriers to the dissemination of ET, including limited access to training, negative clinician attitudes toward ET, and lack of support during and following training. Method Clinicians naïve to ET (N=181, Mage = 37.4, 71.3% female, 72.1% Caucasian) were randomly assigned to: 1) an interactive, multimedia online training (OLT), 2) OLT plus a brief, computerized motivational enhancement intervention (OLT+ME), or 3) OLT + ME plus a web-based learning community (OLT+ME+LC). Assessments were completed at baseline, post-training, and 6 and 12 weeks following training. Outcomes include satisfaction, knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, self-reported clinical use, and observer-rated clinical proficiency. Results All three training methods led to large and comparable improvements in self-efficacy and clinical use of ET, indicating that OLT alone was sufficient for improving these outcomes. The addition of the ME intervention did not significantly improve outcomes in comparison to OLT alone. Supplementing the OLT with both the ME intervention and the LC significantly improved attitudes and clinical proficiency in comparison to OLT alone. The OLT+ME+LC condition was superior to both other conditions in increasing knowledge of ET. Conclusions Multi-component trainings that address multiple potential barriers to dissemination appear to be most effective in improving clinician outcomes. Technology-based training methods offer a satisfactory, effective, and scalable way to train mental health providers in evidence-based treatments such as ET. PMID:25311284

Collaborative video caching scheme over OFDM-based long-reach passive optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yan; Dai, Shifang; Chang, Xiangmao

2018-07-01

Long-reach passive optical networks (LR-PONs) are now considered as a desirable access solution for cost-efficiently delivering broadband services by integrating metro network with access network, among which orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based LR-PONs gain greater research interests due to their good robustness and high spectrum efficiency. In such attractive OFDM-based LR-PONs, however, it is still challenging to effectively provide video service, which is one of the most popular and profitable broadband services, for end users. Given that more video requesters (i.e., end users) far away from optical line terminal (OLT) are served in OFDM-based LR-PONs, it is efficiency-prohibitive to use traditional video delivery model, which relies on the OLT to transmit videos to requesters, for providing video service, due to the model will incur not only larger video playback delay but also higher downstream bandwidth consumption. In this paper, we propose a novel video caching scheme that to collaboratively cache videos on distributed optical network units (ONUs) which are closer to end users, and thus to timely and cost-efficiently provide videos for requesters by ONUs over OFDM-based LR-PONs. We firstly construct an OFDM-based LR-PON architecture to enable the cooperation among ONUs while caching videos. Given a limited storage capacity of each ONU, we then propose collaborative approaches to cache videos on ONUs with the aim to maximize the local video hit ratio (LVHR), i.e., the proportion of video requests that can be directly satisfied by ONUs, under diverse resources requirements and requests distributions of videos. Simulations are finally conducted to evaluate the efficiency of our proposed scheme.

Presence of intrahepatic (total and ccc) HBV DNA is not predictive of HBV recurrence after liver transplantation.

PubMed

Hussain, Munira; Soldevila-Pico, Consuelo; Emre, Sukru; Luketic, Velimir; Lok, Anna S F

2007-08-01

Previous studies reported that hepatitis B virus (HBV) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) can be detected in livers of patients who received transplants for hepatitis B despite the absence of serological markers of HBV recurrence. Quantification of HBV DNA was not performed and presence of covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA was not analyzed in most studies. We aimed to quantify total and ccc HBV DNA in explant liver and post-orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) biopsies and to correlate the values with HBV recurrence post-OLT. Frozen liver tissue from 34 patients (9 with explant liver only, 9 with explant liver and post-OLT liver biopsies, and 16 with post-OLT biopsies only) in the National Institutes of Health HBV-OLT study was examined using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Among the 18 patients with explant liver, 7 were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive, 8 had detectable serum HBV DNA, and 10 received antiviral therapy prior to OLT. Total and ccc HBV DNA was detected in explant livers of 17 and 16 patients, respectively. Of the 10 patients who received antiviral therapy pre-OLT, serum HBV DNA was undetectable in 8 at transplantation but 7 had detectable total and ccc HBV DNA in their explant liver. Of the 25 patients with post-OLT biopsies, total HBV DNA was detected in 83% and ccc DNA in 17% of 47 biopsies, although only 2 patients had HBV recurrence. In conclusion, total and ccc HBV DNA could be detected in explant livers of most patients despite antiviral therapy pre-OLT. Total but not ccc HBV DNA could be detected in post-OLT liver biopsies of most patients despite undetectable serum HBV DNA and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Our findings suggest that occult HBV reinfection occurs in most HBV patients after OLT and continued administration of appropriate prophylactic therapy is important in preventing overt HBV recurrence. Copyright (c) 2007 AASLD.

Factors influencing long-term quality of life and depression in German liver transplant recipients: a single-centre cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Zahn, Alexandra; Seubert, Lisa; Jünger, Jana; Schellberg, Dieter; Weiss, Karl Heinz; Schemmer, Peter; Stremmel, Wolfgang; Sauer, Peter; Gotthardt, Daniel Nils

2013-06-26

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has become increasingly important. Therefore, we aimed to identify factors affecting HRQOL after OLT. This cross-sectional, single-centre study surveyed 281 OLT patients. Survey tools included the Short Form (SF-36) Health Survey, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ9), and a self-designed employment questionnaire. Patient medical records were reviewed. Participants included 187 men (mean age at OLT: 50 [± 11; 13-69] years). Primary indications for OLT were viral hepatitis (28%), alcoholic liver disease (35%), cholestatic liver disease (11%), and others (26%). Follow-up ranged from 2 to 136 months. Clinical factors associated with improved HRQOL were age ≤ 45 years at OLT and current MELD score <=≤ 13. Time after OLT and indication for transplantation affected SF-36 HRQOL. SF-36 physical component summary scales plateaued at 3-years post-OLT and then stabilized. For the SF-36 HRQOL, scores were the lowest in all domains for OLT recipients transplanted for chronic viral hepatitis and for unemployed patients, whereas sex and number of transplantations showed no significant differences. The PHQ9 results showed that depression was significantly more frequent among patients with current MELD score ≥ 13 or impaired liver function and those transplanted for chronic viral hepatitis or unemployed patients. Age and sex did not influence PHQ9 results. Medical and psychosocial support is crucial for long-term HRQOL after OLT. Developing multidisciplinary interventions to address issues such as employment, age, MELD score, and liver function may improve long-term HRQOL in these patients.

The Effect of Bridging Locoregional Therapy and Sociodemographics on Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: A United Network for Organ Sharing Population Study.

PubMed

Magnetta, Michael J; Xing, Minzhi; Zhang, Di; Kim, Hyun S

2016-12-01

To investigate socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with transplantation outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with bridging locoregional therapy (LRT) before orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database was used to identify all patients in the United States with HCC who were listed for OLT between 2002 and 2013. Mean overall survival (OS) after OLT was stratified based on age, sex, ethnicity, transplant year, region, and insurance status. Kaplan-Meier estimation was used for survival analysis with log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards model to assess independent prognostic factors for OS. Of the 17,291 listed patients with HCC, 14,511 underwent OLT. Mean age was 57.4 years (76.8% male). Favorable sociodemographic factors were associated with increased rates of bridging LRT before OLT and longer wait time on the transplant list and were shown to be independent prognostic factors for prolonged OS after OLT using multivariate analysis. Favorable demographic factors included patient age < 60 years, donor age < 45 years, year of diagnosis between 2008 and 2013, UNOS regions 4 and 5, Asian ethnicity, high functional status, postgraduate education, private payer insurance, and employment at the time of OLT. Patients with favorable sociodemographics had higher rates of LRT before OLT performed for HCC cure. These patients had longer transplant wait times and longer OS after OLT. Copyright © 2016 SIR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On-Line Point Positioning with Single Frame Camera Data

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-03-15

tion algorithms and methods will be found in robotics and industrial quality control. 1. Project data The project has been defined as "On-line point...development and use of the OLT algorithms and meth- ods for applications in robotics , industrial quality control and autonomous vehicle naviga- tion...Of particular interest in robotics and autonomous vehicle navigation is, for example, the task of determining the position and orientation of a mobile

Permafrost and organic layer interactions over a climate gradient in a discontinuous permafrost zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Kristofer D.; Harden, Jennifer W.; McGuire, A. David; Clark, Mark; Yuan, Fengming; Finley, Andrew O.

2013-09-01

Permafrost is tightly coupled to the organic soil layer, an interaction that mediates permafrost degradation in response to regional warming. We analyzed changes in permafrost occurrence and organic layer thickness (OLT) using more than 3000 soil pedons across a mean annual temperature (MAT) gradient. Cause and effect relationships between permafrost probability (PF), OLT, and other topographic factors were investigated using structural equation modeling in a multi-group analysis. Groups were defined by slope, soil texture type, and shallow (<28 cm) versus deep organic (≥28 cm) layers. The probability of observing permafrost sharply increased by 0.32 for every 10-cm OLT increase in shallow OLT soils (OLTs) due to an insulation effect, but PF decreased in deep OLT soils (OLTd) by 0.06 for every 10-cm increase. Across the MAT gradient, PF in sandy soils varied little, but PF in loamy and silty soils decreased substantially from cooler to warmer temperatures. The change in OLT was more heterogeneous across soil texture types—in some there was no change while in others OLTs soils thinned and/or OLTd soils thickened at warmer locations. Furthermore, when soil organic carbon was estimated using a relationship with thickness, the average increase in carbon in OLTd soils was almost four times greater compared to the average decrease in carbon in OLTs soils across all soil types. If soils follow a trajectory of warming that mimics the spatial gradients found today, then heterogeneities of permafrost degradation and organic layer thinning and thickening should be considered in the regional carbon balance.

Permafrost and organic layer interactions over a climate gradient in a discontinuous permafrost zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Kristofer D.; Harden, Jennifer W.; McGuire, A. David; Clark, Mark; Yuan, Fengming; Finley, Andrew O.

2013-01-01

Permafrost is tightly coupled to the organic soil layer, an interaction that mediates permafrost degradation in response to regional warming. We analyzed changes in permafrost occurrence and organic layer thickness (OLT) using more than 3000 soil pedons across a mean annual temperature (MAT) gradient. Cause and effect relationships between permafrost probability (PF), OLT, and other topographic factors were investigated using structural equation modeling in a multi-group analysis. Groups were defined by slope, soil texture type, and shallow (<28 cm) versus deep organic (≥28 cm) layers. The probability of observing permafrost sharply increased by 0.32 for every 10-cm OLT increase in shallow OLT soils (OLTs) due to an insulation effect, but PF decreased in deep OLT soils (OLTd) by 0.06 for every 10-cm increase. Across the MAT gradient, PF in sandy soils varied little, but PF in loamy and silty soils decreased substantially from cooler to warmer temperatures. The change in OLT was more heterogeneous across soil texture types—in some there was no change while in others OLTs soils thinned and/or OLTd soils thickened at warmer locations. Furthermore, when soil organic carbon was estimated using a relationship with thickness, the average increase in carbon in OLTd soils was almost four times greater compared to the average decrease in carbon in OLTs soils across all soil types. If soils follow a trajectory of warming that mimics the spatial gradients found today, then heterogeneities of permafrost degradation and organic layer thinning and thickening should be considered in the regional carbon balance.

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

Maleux, Geert; Pirenne, Jacques; Vaninbroukx, Johan

Our purpose was to assess the feasibility of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in patients priorly having undergone transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) with an expanded tetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE)-covered endoprosthesis. In 48 patients an e- PTFE-covered endoprosthesis was inserted to treat severe complications of portal hypertension. In 36 patients the endoprosthesis was inserted during TIPS creation (de novo TIPS); in the other 12 patients the endoprosthesis was placed to repermeabilize the previously created, but occluded bare stent (revision TIPS). Eight of them (5 de novo and 3 revision cases) later underwent an OLT. The hospital records of these patients were reviewed frommore » initial admission, through TIPS, the pre-OLT period, and OLT to current postoperative status. Five de novo and 3 revision cases underwent OLT 4-279 days (mean delay: 80.8 days) after TIPS procedure. All OLT's were performed under veno-venous bypass surgery. De visu surgical inspection confirmed correct positioning of the fully patent stent graft, starting in the portal vein and ending at the junction of the hepatic vein to the inferior caval vein. No surgical difficulty was observed during proximal or distal clamping or during resection of the diseased liver. Correctly positioned e-PTFE-covered nitinol endoprostheses do not interfere with a later OLT and may not be considered as a contraindication in patients who need a TIPS as a bridge to OLT.« less

Pretreatment of liver grafts in vivo by γ-aminobutyric acid receptor regulation reduces cold ischemia/warm reperfusion injury in rat

PubMed Central

Hori, Tomohide; Gardner, Lindsay B.; Hata, Toshiyuki; Chen, Feng; Baine, Ann-Marie T.; Uemoto, Shinji; Nguyen, Justin H.

2014-01-01

Summary Background: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is found throughout the body. The regulation of GABA receptor (GABAR) reduces oxidative stress (OS). Ischemia/reperfusion injury after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) causes OS-induced graft damage. The effects of GABAR regulation in donors in vivo were investigated. Material/Methods: Donor rats received saline, a GABAR agonist or GABAR antagonist 4 h before surgery. Recipient rats were divided into four groups according to the donor treatments: laparotomy, OLT with saline, OLT with GABAR agonist and OLT with GABAR antagonist. Histopathological, biochemical and immunohistological examinations were performed at 6, 12 and 24 h after OLT. Protein assays were performed at 6 h after OLT. The 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), ataxia-telangiectasia mutated kinase (ATM), phosphorylated histone H2AX (γH2AX), phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K), Akt and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were assessed by western blot analysis. Results: In the univariate analysis, histopathological and biochemical profiles verified that the GABAR agonist reduced graft damage. Immunohistology revealed that the GABAR agonist prevented the induction of apoptosis. Measurement of 4-4-HNE levels confirmed OS-induced damage after OLT, and the GABAR agonist improved this damage. In the γH2AX, PI3K, Akt and antioxidant enzymes (SODs), ATM and H2AX were greatly increased after OLT, and were reduced by the GABAR agonist. In the multivariate analyses between multiple groups, histopathological assessment, aspartate aminotransferase level, immunohistological examinations for apoptotic induction and γH2AX showed statistical differences. Conclusions: A specific agonist demonstrated regulation of GABAR in vivo in the liver. This activation in vivo reduced OS after OLT via the ATM/H2AX pathway. PMID:23792534

Change in hepatic function, hemodynamics, and morphology after liver transplant. Physiological effect of therapy.

PubMed

Millikan, W J; Henderson, J M; Stewart, M T; Warren, W D; Marsh, J W; Galloway, J R; Jennings, H; Kawasaki, S; Dodson, T F; Perlino, C A

1989-05-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has become standard therapy for patients with acute hepatic necrosis and end-stage liver disease. This study measured change in hepatic function (galactose elimination capacity [GEC]), liver blood flow (low dose galactose clearance: flow), hepatic volume (CT scan; volume) and morphology after OLT. The aim was to measure the physiologic response after OLT and compare this response with that after selective shunt (SS) and sclerotherapy (ES) to determine which patients should receive specific therapy. Between January 1987 and November 1988, 37 patients underwent OLT. Operative mortality was 18%, which was similar to that of SS in Child's C cirrhotics. GEC and volume were less in transplant patients than in cirrhotics treated with SS or ES. GEC, flow, and volume normalized after OLT; GEC was preserved after ES and SS, but volume decreased. Three preoperative patterns were observed that can aid in selection of OLT candidates. Patients with chronic cirrhosis (chronic active hepatitis; cryptogenic) need OLT when GEC is less than or equal to 225 mg/min and volume is less than or equal to 50% normal. Patients with Budd-Chiari Syndrome require OLT if cirrhosis has evolved. Patients with sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis qualify for transplants when complications of the portal hypertensive syndrome develop. The studies can also direct therapy for ES failures. Selective shunt is indicated in those patients with stable disease whose GEC is greater than or equal to 300 mg/min and liver volume is greater than 75% normal; OLT is indicated for cirrhotics with GEC that is less than 225 mg/min and liver volume that is less than 50% predicted normal.

Isotopic fingerprint of the middle Olt River basin, Romania.

PubMed

Popescu, Raluca; Costinel, Diana; Ionete, Roxana Elena; Axente, Damian

2014-01-01

One of the most important tributaries of the Danube River in Romania, the Olt River, was characterized in its middle catchment in terms of the isotopic composition using continuous flow-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS). Throughout a period of 10 months, from November 2010 to August 2011, water samples from the Olt River and its more important tributaries were collected in order to investigate the seasonal and spatial isotope patterns of the basin waters. The results revealed a significant difference between the Olt River and its tributaries, by the fact that the Olt River waters show smaller seasonal variations in the stable isotopic composition and are more depleted in (18)O and (2)H. The waters present an overall enrichment in heavy isotopes during the warm seasons.

Effects of an early referral system on liver transplantation for hepatoblastoma at Texas Children's Hospital.

PubMed

Kueht, Michael; Thompson, Patrick; Rana, Abbas; Cotton, Ronald; O'Mahony, Christine; Goss, John

2016-06-01

The purposes of this study were to analyze the effects of an ERS on time to transplantation and to describe our center's experience with OLT for HB. Patients who received OLT for HB between 2000 and 2013 were included. Patient and allograft characteristics, chemotherapy regimens, and prior surgical therapies were examined. The interval between diagnosis and OLT prior to and following the institution of an ERS for transplant was compared. Survival and tumor recurrence were analyzed. Nineteen patients received OLT for HB (mean age 33 months). All children received grafts from deceased donors. Two patients underwent prior resections. Tumor recurred in four patients (21.1%). Both patients who received salvage transplants experienced post-OLT recurrence. Three of the four recurrences occurred in spite of adjuvant chemotherapy. There were three deaths: two from metastatic disease. One- and five-yr survivals were 86.1% and 73.8%. After the institution of the ERS, the mean interval between tissue diagnosis and OLT was significantly reduced. Our series of 19 patients demonstrates a 21% recurrence of HB following OLT despite chemotherapy. Five-yr survival reached 73.8%. A system of early referral can effectively reduce times between diagnosis and transplant. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cardiovascular risk after orthotopic liver transplantation, a review of the literature and preliminary results of a prospective study.

PubMed

Pisano, Giuseppina; Fracanzani, Anna L; Caccamo, Lucio; Donato, Maria F; Fargion, Silvia

2016-10-28

Improved surgical techniques and greater efficacy of new anti-rejection drugs have significantly improved the survival of patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). This has led to an increased incidence of metabolic disorders as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases as causes of morbidity and mortality in OLT patients. In the last decade, several studies have examined which predisposing factors lead to increased cardiovascular risk ( i.e ., age, ethnicity, diabetes, NASH, atrial fibrillation, and some echocardiographic parameters) as well as which factors after OLT ( i.e ., weight gain, metabolic syndrome, immunosuppressive therapy, and renal failure) are linked to increased cardiovascular mortality. However, currently, there are no available data that evaluate the development of atherosclerotic damage after OLT. The awareness of high cardiovascular risk after OLT has not only lead to the definition of new but generally not accepted screening of high risk patients before transplantation, but also to the need for careful patient follow up and treatment to control metabolic and cardiovascular pathologies after transplant. Prospective studies are needed to better define the predisposing factors for recurrence and de novo occurrence of metabolic alterations responsible for cardiovascular damage after OLT. Moreover, such studies will help to identify the timing of disease progression and damage, which in turn may help to prevent morbidity and mortality for cardiovascular diseases. Our preliminary results show early occurrence of atherosclerotic damage, which is already present a few weeks following OLT, suggesting that specific, patient-tailored therapies should be started immediately post OLT.

Link Power Budget and Traffict QoS Performance Analysis of Gygabit Passive Optical Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ubaidillah, A.; Alfita, R.; Toyyibah

2018-01-01

Data service of telecommunication network is needed widely in the world; therefore extra wide bandwidth must be provided. For this case, PT. Telekomunikasi Tbk. applies GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) as optical fibre based on telecommunication network system. GPON is a point to a multipoint technology of FTTx (Fiber to The x) that transmits information signals to the subscriber over optical fibre. In GPON trunking system, from OLT (Optical Line Terminal), the network is split to many ONT (Optical Network Terminal) of the subscribers, so it causes path loss and attenuation. In this research, the GPON performance is measured from the link power budget system and the Quality of Service (QoS) of the traffic. And the observation result shows that the link power budget system of this GPON is in good condition. The link power budget values from the mathematical calculation and direct measurement are satisfy the ITU-T G984 Class B standard, that the power level must be between -8 dBm to -27 dBm. While from the traffic performance, the observation result shows that the network resource utility of the subscribers of the observed area is not optimum. The mean of subscriber utility rate is 27.985 bps for upstream and 79.687 bps for downstream. While maximally, It should be 60.800 bps for upstream and 486.400 bps for downstream.

Energy-saving framework for passive optical networks with ONU sleep/doze mode.

PubMed

Van, Dung Pham; Valcarenghi, Luca; Dias, Maluge Pubuduni Imali; Kondepu, Koteswararao; Castoldi, Piero; Wong, Elaine

2015-02-09

This paper proposes an energy-saving passive optical network framework (ESPON) that aims to incorporate optical network unit (ONU) sleep/doze mode into dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) algorithms to reduce ONU energy consumption. In the ESPON, the optical line terminal (OLT) schedules both downstream (DS) and upstream (US) transmissions in the same slot in an online and dynamic fashion whereas the ONU enters sleep mode outside the slot. The ONU sleep time is maximized based on both DS and US traffic. Moreover, during the slot, the ONU might enter doze mode when only its transmitter is idle to further improve energy efficiency. The scheduling order of data transmission, control message exchange, sleep period, and doze period defines an energy-efficient scheme under the ESPON. Three schemes are designed and evaluated in an extensive FPGA-based evaluation. Results show that whilst all the schemes significantly save ONU energy for different evaluation scenarios, the scheduling order has great impact on their performance. In addition, the ESPON allows for a scheduling order that saves ONU energy independently of the network reach.

Optical beat interference noise reduction in OFDMA optical access link using self-homodyne balanced detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Sang-Min; Won, Yong-Yuk; Han, Sang-Kook

2013-12-01

A Novel technique for reducing the OBI noise in optical OFDMA-PON uplink is presented. OFDMA is a multipleaccess/ multiplexing scheme that can provide multiplexing operation of user data streams onto the downlink sub-channels and uplink multiple access by means of dividing OFDM subcarriers as sub-channels. The main issue of high-speed, single-wavelength upstream OFDMA-PON arises from optical beating interference noise. Because the sub-channels are allocated dynamically to multiple access users over same nominal wavelength, it generates the optical beating interference among upstream signals. In this paper, we proposed a novel scheme using self-homodyne balanced detection in the optical line terminal (OLT) to reduce OBI noise which is generated in the uplink transmission of OFDMA-PON system. When multiple OFDMA sub-channels over the same nominal wavelength are received at the same time in the proposed architecture, OBI noises can be removed using balanced detection. Using discrete multitone modulation (DMT) to generate real valued OFDM signals, the proposed technique is verified through experimental demonstration.

Multicenter Study of Staging and Therapeutic Predictors of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recurrence following Transplantation.

PubMed

Welling, Theodore H; Eddinger, Kevin; Carrier, Kristen; Zhu, Danting; Kleaveland, Tyler; Moore, Derek E; Schaubel, Douglas E; Abt, Peter L

2018-05-05

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and resection are effective treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, optimizing OLT and limiting HCC recurrence remains a vexing problem. New HCC MELD and allocation algorithms provide greater observation of HCC patients, many while receiving local-regional treatments. Potential benefits of local-regional treatment for limiting HCC recurrence post-OLT remain incompletely understood. Therefore we aimed to define HCC specific prognostic factors affecting recurrence in a contemporary, multi-center cohort of HCC patients undergoing OLT and specifically whether local-regional therapies limited recurrence. We identified 441 patients undergoing OLT for HCC at three major transplant centers from 2008-2013. Cox regression was used to analyze covariate-adjusted recurrence and mortality rates post-OLT. "Bridging" or "down-staging" therapy was used in 238 patients (54%) with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) being used in 170 (71%) of treated patients. The survival rate post-OLT was 88% and 78% at 1 and 3 years, respectively, with HCC recurrence (28% of deaths) significantly increasing mortality rate (HR=19.87, p<0.0001). Tumor size, not tumor number, either at presentation or on explant independently predicted HCC recurrence (HR 1.36 and 1.73, respectively, p<0.05) with a threshold effect noted at 4.0 cm size. Local-regional therapy (TACE) reduced HCC recurrence by 64% when adjusting for presenting tumor size (HR 0.36, p<0.05). Explant tumor size and microvascular invasion predicted mortality (HR 1.19 and 1.51, respectively, p<0.05) and pathologic response to therapy (TACE or RFA) significantly decreased explant tumor size (0.56-1.62 cm diameter reduction, p<0.05). HCC tumor size at presentation or explant is the most important predictor for HCC recurrence post-OLT. Local-regional therapy to achieve a pathologic response (decreasing tumor size) can limit HCC recurrences post-OLT. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Differences in health-related quality of life scores after orthotopic liver transplantation with respect to selected socioeconomic factors.

PubMed

Saab, Sammy; Bownik, Hillary; Ayoub, Noel; Younossi, Zobair; Durazo, Francisco; Han, Steven; Hong, Johnny C; Farmer, Douglas; Busuttil, Ronald W

2011-05-01

One of the current ultimate goals of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the improvement of patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of this study was to look at the effects of socioeconomic and demographic differences on the short-term and long-term HRQOL outcomes of OLT recipients. Three hundred three adult OLT recipients who were seen at the University of California Los Angeles were administered the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36), the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ), and a demographic survey. A parsimonious model of 12 socioeconomic and demographic predictors was identified. Their simultaneous influence on each SF-36 and CLDQ HRQOL domain score was evaluated with multivariate linear regression and backward selection. Hepatitis C virus impaired HRQOL; this was shown in the SF-36 Vitality and Bodily Pain domains and in most CLDQ domains. Females experienced more HRQOL impairment only within the CLDQ Abdominal Symptoms domain. OLT recipients who were married had better SF-36 Role-Emotion domain scores. OLT recipients with more than 12 years of education had better SF-36 Physical Functioning scores. Employed OLT recipients had less HRQOL impairment; this was evidenced by better scores in multiple domains of the SF-36 and the CLDQ. OLT patients with health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization insurance had higher HRQOL scores within almost all SF-36 and CLDQ domains. Patients with a mix of public and private insurance had significantly higher HRQOL scores in comparison with those with only public insurance. Identifying patients at higher risk for worse HRQOL scores, less satisfaction with OLT results, and greater problems with fatigue or mental health stressors will assist transplant centers in using their medical teams to develop early interventions and multidisciplinary approaches to improve HRQOL outcomes after OLT. Copyright © 2011 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Circulating FoxP3+ Regulatory T and Interleukin17-Producing Th17 Cells Actively Influence HBV Clearance in De Novo Hepatitis B Virus Infected Patients after Orthotopic Liver Transplantation

PubMed Central

Li, Jin; Yang, Mei; Liu, Yuan; Guo, Xiaodong; Li, Hanwei; Liu, Zhenwen; Zhao, Jingmin

2015-01-01

Objective To longitudinally investigate the role of FoxP3+ Regulatory T cells (Treg) and interleukin17-producing T helper 17 cells (Th17) in De Novo Hepatitis B Virus infection after orthotopic Liver Transplantation (DNHB-OLT), and analyze the possible correlation between these cells and HBV clearance of the disease. Methods We enrolled 12 control cases after orthotopic Liver Transplantation (OLT) and 24 patients, including 12 diagnosed with DNHB-OLT and 12 diagnosed with Acute Hepatitis B Virus infection (AHB), into the study from the liver transplantation and research center at Beijing 302 Hospital. Flow cytometry was used to detect the frequencies of Treg and Th17, and ELISA was applied to detect the concentration of IL6, IL22, TGF-β and IL2 in peripheral blood. We also measured the gene expression level by real time-quantitative PCR and protein expression using immunohistochemistry and western-blot. Furthermore, we divided DNHB-OLT patients into the clearance and non-clearance groups and examined longitudinally Th17, Treg cells at different times. Results The percentage of Treg cells, expression of FoxP3 mRNA and related anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL2 and TGF-β1 in the DNHB-OLT group were significantly higher than that in the AHB and OLT groups. The percentage of Th17 cells, expression of RORγt mRNA and related pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL17 and IL22 in the DNHB-OLT group were significantly lower than that in the AHB group, but the levels of these cytokines are very similar to the OLT group. The ratios of Treg to Th17 in the DNHB-OLT group were significantly higher than that in the OLT and AHB groups. Treg frequencies significantly correlated with HBV DNA, whereas IL17 frequencies didn’t significantly correlate with ALT. In DNHB-OLT patients, the clearance group was accompanied by a rapid increase in the Th17 cells during the first 4th week and afterwards continuously decrease to the control group, together with a continuously decrease in Treg cells from the onset time point, which lead to a significant reduction in the ratios of Treg to Th17. The non-clearance group was accompanied by an increase in the Treg cells during the first 4th week and afterwards sharply decrease, together with a relatively stable and unchanged Th17 cells, which lead to a significant change in the ratios. In addition, compared to clearance group, the ratios of Treg to Th17 in non-clearance group were significantly higher at the onset point, 4th and 12th week, but no difference at 24th week. Conclusion DNHB-OLT patients possessed a favorable Treg differentiation environment, accompanied by a sustained higher preferentially Treg frequencies and up-regulation of related anti-inflammatory cytokines. The immune imbalance of the ratios between Treg and Th17 existed in DNHB-OLT patients. The changes of the ratios during the DNHB-OLT events were associated with HBV clearance, which suppressed immune inflammation reaction as well as inhibited ability of specific HBV clearance and led to immune escape and chronicity. PMID:26367459

A point-based prediction model for cardiovascular risk in orthotopic liver transplantation: The CAR-OLT score.

PubMed

VanWagner, Lisa B; Ning, Hongyan; Whitsett, Maureen; Levitsky, Josh; Uttal, Sarah; Wilkins, John T; Abecassis, Michael M; Ladner, Daniela P; Skaro, Anton I; Lloyd-Jones, Donald M

2017-12-01

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) complications are important causes of morbidity and mortality after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). There is currently no preoperative risk-assessment tool that allows physicians to estimate the risk for CVD events following OLT. We sought to develop a point-based prediction model (risk score) for CVD complications after OLT, the Cardiovascular Risk in Orthotopic Liver Transplantation risk score, among a cohort of 1,024 consecutive patients aged 18-75 years who underwent first OLT in a tertiary-care teaching hospital (2002-2011). The main outcome measures were major 1-year CVD complications, defined as death from a CVD cause or hospitalization for a major CVD event (myocardial infarction, revascularization, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, cardiac arrest, pulmonary embolism, and/or stroke). The bootstrap method yielded bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals for the regression coefficients of the final model. Among 1,024 first OLT recipients, major CVD complications occurred in 329 (32.1%). Variables selected for inclusion in the model (using model optimization strategies) included preoperative recipient age, sex, race, employment status, education status, history of hepatocellular carcinoma, diabetes, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, pulmonary or systemic hypertension, and respiratory failure. The discriminative performance of the point-based score (C statistic = 0.78, bias-corrected C statistic = 0.77) was superior to other published risk models for postoperative CVD morbidity and mortality, and it had appropriate calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow P = 0.33). The point-based risk score can identify patients at risk for CVD complications after OLT surgery (available at www.carolt.us); this score may be useful for identification of candidates for further risk stratification or other management strategies to improve CVD outcomes after OLT. (Hepatology 2017;66:1968-1979). © 2017 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Distinct enzyme profiles in patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis reflect heterogeneous causes with different outcomes after liver transplantation (OLT): a long-term documentation before and after OLT.

PubMed

Berg, Thomas; Neuhaus, Ruth; Klein, Reinhild; Leder, Korinna; Lobeck, Hartmut; Bechstein, Wolf-Otto; Müller, Andrea R; Wiedenmann, Bertram; Hopf, Uwe; Berg, Peter A; Neuhaus, Peter

2002-09-27

Sound information is lacking about the clinical presentation of cryptogenic cirrhosis and its outcome after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Among 856 patients who have been transplanted at our center, 40 patients had no evidence of any known etiologies and were therefore defined as suffering from cryptogenic cirrhosis. Their median follow-up period before OLT was 78 months (range, 1-264), and after OLT 97 months (range, 1-132). Laboratory and histological data were evaluated according to features being compatible either with a toxic, hepatitic, or cholestatic condition. The clinical and histological findings differed specifically between these three groups. The toxic-like group (GGT 4-18 x upper limit of normal [ULN]) expressed significantly higher IgA levels, had histologically more often fatty liver changes, and risk factors for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis predominated (56% compared with 3% in the other groups, P=0.01). The hepatitic-like group (ALT 2-18 x ULN) showed histologically features of chronic hepatitis or hepatitic cirrhosis, and only among these patients a median International Autoimmune Hepatitis (IAH) score of 13 was found suggesting autoimmune hepatitis (AiH). In the cholestatic group (AP 2-8 x ULN) histology was compatible with a non-toxic inflammatory process but IAH score excluded AiH in all. After OLT, actuarial graft and patients survival was 90% at 5 years. Mild or moderate graft hepatitis occurred in 9 patients (23%) and was significantly associated with a pre-OLT IAH score >or= 10 (P =0.008). This study provides arguments that cryptogenic cirrhosis is a heterogeneous disease in which autoimmune mechanisms might be predominately involved and being responsible for recurrence of chronic liver disease observed in some instances after OLT.

Out-of-Level Testing for Special Education Students with Mild Learning Handicaps.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Eric D.; And Others

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of out-of-level testing (OLT) when it is applied to the assessment of special education students with mild learning handicaps. This evaluation of OLT involved testing hypotheses related to: (1) the adequacy of vertical scaling, (2) the reliability and (3) the validity of OLT scores. Fifty-eight…

Improving the Performance of Online Learning Teams--A Discourse Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Ying Chieh; Burn, Janice M.

2007-01-01

This paper compares the processes of Face-To-Face (FTF) teams and Online Learning Teams (OLTs) and proposes methods to improve the performance of OLTs. An empirical study reviewed the performance of fifteen FTF teams and OLTs and their communication patterns were coded by the TEMPO system developed by Futoran et al. (1989) in order to develop a…

Employment after liver transplantation: a review.

PubMed

Huda, A; Newcomer, R; Harrington, C; Keeffe, E B; Esquivel, C O

2015-03-01

Return to productive employment is often an important milestone in the recovery and rehabilitation process after liver transplantation (OLT). This literature review identifies factors associated with employment in patients who underwent OLT. We searched PubMed for articles that addressed the various factors affecting employment after OLT. The studies demonstrated improvement in the quality of life and examined factors that predicted whether patients would return to work after OLT. Demographic variable associated with posttransplant employment included young age, male sex, college degree, Caucasian race, and pretransplant employment. Patients with alcohol-related liver disease had a significantly lower rate of employment than did those with other etiologies of liver disease. Recipients who were employed after transplantation had a significantly better posttransplant functional status than did those who were not employed. Economic pressures are increasing the expectation that patients who undergo successful OLT will return to work. Thus, transplant teams need to have a better understanding of posttransplant work outcomes for this vulnerable population, and greater attention must be paid to the full social rehabilitation of transplant recipients. Specific interventions for OLT recipients should be designed to evaluate and change their health perceptions and encourage their return to work. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Experimental demonstration of large capacity WSDM optical access network with multicore fibers and advanced modulation formats.

PubMed

Li, Borui; Feng, Zhenhua; Tang, Ming; Xu, Zhilin; Fu, Songnian; Wu, Qiong; Deng, Lei; Tong, Weijun; Liu, Shuang; Shum, Perry Ping

2015-05-04

Towards the next generation optical access network supporting large capacity data transmission to enormous number of users covering a wider area, we proposed a hybrid wavelength-space division multiplexing (WSDM) optical access network architecture utilizing multicore fibers with advanced modulation formats. As a proof of concept, we experimentally demonstrated a WSDM optical access network with duplex transmission using our developed and fabricated multicore (7-core) fibers with 58.7km distance. As a cost-effective modulation scheme for access network, the optical OFDM-QPSK signal has been intensity modulated on the downstream transmission in the optical line terminal (OLT) and it was directly detected in the optical network unit (ONU) after MCF transmission. 10 wavelengths with 25GHz channel spacing from an optical comb generator are employed and each wavelength is loaded with 5Gb/s OFDM-QPSK signal. After amplification, power splitting, and fan-in multiplexer, 10-wavelength downstream signal was injected into six outer layer cores simultaneously and the aggregation downstream capacity reaches 300 Gb/s. -16 dBm sensitivity has been achieved for 3.8 × 10^-3 bit error ratio (BER) with 7% Forward Error Correction (FEC) limit for all wavelengths in every core. Upstream signal from ONU side has also been generated and the bidirectional transmission in the same core causes negligible performance degradation to the downstream signal. As a universal platform for wired/wireless data access, our proposed architecture provides additional dimension for high speed mobile signal transmission and we hence demonstrated an upstream delivery of 20Gb/s per wavelength with QPSK modulation formats using the inner core of MCF emulating a mobile backhaul service. The IQ modulated data was coherently detected in the OLT side. -19 dBm sensitivity has been achieved under the FEC limit and more than 18 dB power budget is guaranteed.

Study of bidirectional broadband passive optical network (BPON) using EDFA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almalaq, Yasser

Optical line terminals (OLTs) and number of optical network units (ONUs) are two main parts of passive optical network (PON). OLT is placed at the central office of the service providers, the ONUs are located near to the end subscribers. When compared with point-to-point design, a PON decreases the number of fiber used and central office components required. Broadband PON (BPON), which is one type of PON, can support high-speed voice, data and video services to subscribers' residential homes and small businesses. In this research, by using erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), the performance of bi-directional BPON is experimented and tested for both downstream and upstream traffic directions. Ethernet PON (E-PON) and gigabit PON (G-PON) are the two other kinds of passive optical network besides BPON. The most beneficial factor of using BPON is it's reduced cost. The cost of the maintenance between the central office and the users' side is suitable because of the use of passive components, such as a splitter in the BPON architecture. In this work, a bidirectional BPON has been analyzed for both downstream and upstream cases by using bit error rate analyzer (BER). BER analyzers test three factors that are the maximum Q factor, minimum bit error rate, and eye height. In other words, parameters such as maximum Q factor, minimum bit error rate, and eye height can be analyzed utilized a BER tester. Passive optical components such as a splitter, optical circulator, and filters have been used in modeling and simulations. A 12th edition Optiwave simulator has been used in order to analyze the bidirectional BPON system. The system has been tested under several conditions such as changing the fiber length, extinction ratio, dispersion, and coding technique. When a long optical fiber above 40km was used, an EDFA was used in order to improve the quality of the signal.

Pathological Roles of Interleukin-22 in the Development of Recurrent Hepatitis C after Liver Transplantation

PubMed Central

Li, Jin; Cheung, Eddie; Li, Hanwei; Zhao, Jingmin; Liu, Hongling; Liu, Zhenwen; Zhang, Min

2016-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to longitudinally evaluate and analyze the role of interleukin-22-producing CD4 positive cells (IL-22) in the pathogenesis of Hepatitis C Virus recurrence after Orthotopic Liver Transplantation (HCV-OLT). Methods 15 HCV-OLT, 15 age- and gender- matched non-HCV post-OLT (OLT) and 15 hepatitis C virus infected (HCV) patients were enrolled into our study from the liver transplantation and research center at Beijing 302 Hospital. We determined the frequencies of IL-22 using flow cytometry and expression of IL-22 mRNA using PCR in peripheral blood and liver tissue. We also divided HCV-OLT patients into rapid fibrosis progression (RFP) and slow fibrosis progression (SFP), examined IL-22 cells and analyzed the correlations between IL-22 frequencies and liver injury, fibrosis and clinical parameters. Moreover, we investigated the role of IL-22 in Human Hepatic Stellate Cells (HSCs). Results The levels of serum IL-22, frequencies of IL-22 producing cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and expression of IL-22 mRNA and protein in the liver in the HCV-OLT group were significantly higher than that in the HCV and OLT groups. Furthermore, eight (53.3%) patients developed RFP after two years; another three patients were diagnosed liver cirrhosis. The frequencies of IL-22 were much higher in RFP compared with SFP, while no significant difference existed between OLT and SFP. Intrahepatic IL-22 positive cells were located in fibrotic areas and significantly correlated with α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and fibrosis staging scores, not with grading scores and HCRVNA. In vitro, IL-22 administration prevented HSCs apoptosis, promoted HSCs proliferation and activation, up-regulated the expression of HSC-sourced growth factors including α-SMA, TGF-β and TIMP-1, and increased the production of liver fibrosis markers including laminin, hyaluronic acid and collagen type IV. Conclusion Peripheral and intrahepatic IL-22 is up-regulated and plays a pathological role in exacerbating liver fibrosis by activating HSCs in HCV-OLT patients, which may predict RFP and serve as an attractive target for anti-fibrotic therapy. PMID:27123854

Incidence, risk factors and ERCP outcome for biliary complications after cadaveric OLT.

PubMed

Martins, Fernanda Prata; De Paulo, Gustavo Andrade; Conceição, Raquel Dilgerian; Zurstrassen, Maria Paula; Thomé, Tadeu; Ferraz-Neto, Ben-Hur; Ferrari, Angelo Paulo

2011-01-01

Biliary complications (BC) occur in up to 39.5% of patients after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), being an important source of post-transplant morbidity. The aim is to evaluate the incidence of BC after OLT, associated risk factors and outcome after endoscopic treatment. A retrospective case series between June 2005 and December 2008, including 195 patients that underwent 216 OLT from deceased donors. Thirty-one patients (14.3%) presented at least 1 BC, anastomotic stricture being the most frequent (83.8%). Non-anastomotic stricture was present in 1 (3.2%) and anastomotic fistula in 1. One patient presented anastomotic disconnection at ERCP. BC occurred 94.6 (7-487) days after OLT. Twenty-seven patients underwent endoscopic treatment, on average 2.6 ERCPs were performed per patient. Global endoscopic treatment success rate was 77.3%; being 73.7% for stenosis and 100% (3/3) for anastomotic fistula with stenosis. Recurrence of biliary stricture was observed in 3 patients, all referred to endoscopic re-treatment. ERCP complications: 2 (2.8%) stent migrations, 1 (1.4%) early stent occlusion, 1 (1.4%) respiratory distress and 1(1.4%) severe acute pancreatitis and death. There was no correlation between studied risk factors and BC's occurrence. ERCP was effective for the treatment of BC after OLT. Studied risk factors had no correlation with BC.

Operative Technique and Clinical Outcome in Endoscopic Core Decompression of Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Beck, Sascha; Claßen, Tim; Haversath, Marcel; Jäger, Marcus; Landgraeber, Stefan

2016-06-30

BACKGROUND Revitalizing the necrotic subchondral bone and preserving the intact cartilage layer by retrograde drilling is the preferred option for treatment of undetached osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT). We assessed the effectiveness of Endoscopic Core Decompression (ECD) in treatment of OLT. MATERIAL AND METHODS Seven patients with an undetached OLT of the medial talar dome underwent surgical treatment using an arthroscopically-guided transtalar drill meatus for core decompression of the lesion. Under endoscopic visualization the OLT was completely debrided while preserving the cartilage layer covering the defect. The drill tunnel and debrided OLT were filled using an injectable bone graft substitute. Various clinical scores, radiographic imaging, and MRI were evaluated after a mean follow-up of 24.1 months. RESULTS The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society Score significantly improved from 71.0±2.4 to 90.3±5.9, and the Foot and Ankle Disability Index improved from 71.8±11.1 to 91.7±4.8. Radiographically, we observed good bone remodelling of the medial talar dome contour within 3 months. In MRI, an alteration of the bony signal of the drill tunnel and the excised OLT remained for more than 12 months. CONCLUSIONS First follow-up results for the surgical technique described in this study are highly promising for treatment of undetached stable OLT grade II or transitional stage II-III according to the Pritsch classification. Even lesions larger than 150 mm2 showed good clinical scores, with full restoration of the medial talar dome contour in radiographic imaging.

[Long-term, tumor-free survival after radiotherapy combining hepatectomy-Whipple en bloc and orthotopic liver transplantation for early-stage hilar cholangiocarcinoma].

PubMed

Wu, You-min; Johlin, Frederick C; Rayhill, Stephen C; Jensen, Chris S; Jin, Xie; Mitros, Frank A

2009-08-01

To report the experience in surveillance and early detection of cholangiocarcinoma (CC) and in using en bloc total hepatectomy-pancreaticoduodenectomy-orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT-Whipple) to achieve complete eradication of early-stage CC complicating primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Asymptomatic PSC patients underwent surveillance using endoscopic ultrasound and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with multilevel brushings for cytological evaluation. Patients diagnosed with CC were treated with combined extra-beam radiotherapy, lesion-focused brachytherapy, and OLT-Whipple. Between January 1988 and February 2001, 42 of 119 PSC patients were followed according to the surveillance protocol. CC was detected in 8 patients, 6 of whom underwent OLT-Whipple. Of those 6 patients, 4 had stage I CC, and 2 had stage II CC. All 6 OLT-Whipple patients received combined external-beam and brachytherapy radiotherapy. The median time from diagnosis to OLT-Whipple was 144 days. One patient died 55 months post-transplant of an unrelated cause, without tumor recurrence. The other 5 were well without recurrence at 79, 82, 108, 128, 129 and 145 months. For patients with PSC, ERCP surveillance cytology and intralumenal endoscopic ultrasound examination allow for early detection of CC. Broad and lesion-focused radiotherapy combined with OLT-Whipple to remove the biliary epithelium en bloc offers promising long-term, tumor-free survival. All patients tolerated this extensive surgery well with good quality of life following surgery and recovery. These findings support consideration of the complete excision of an intact biliary tree via OLT-Whipple in patients with early-stage hilar CC complicating PSC.

Increased Risk of Death for Patients on the Waitlist for Liver Transplant Residing at Greater Distance From Specialized Liver Transplant Centers in the United States.

PubMed

Cicalese, Luca; Shirafkan, Ali; Jennings, Kristofer; Zorzi, Daria; Rastellini, Cristiana

2016-10-01

We have previously shown that patients listed for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in United Network for Organ Sharing Region 4 (Texas and Oklahoma) have higher waitlist mortality rates when residing more than 30 miles from specialized liver transplant centers (LTC). Considering that findings might only be exclusive for this region with its peculiarities in terms of having the highest land surface extensions, lowest population densities, and largest rural populations. We investigated the entire OLT patient population in the United States to assess if our previous regional findings are nationally validated and if a rural, micropolitan, or metropolitan residence location affects outcome of waitlisted OLT patients in the nation. Patients waiting for OLT in the United States from 2002 to 2012 were stratified by distance from the patients' residence to LTC and by Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes classification. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate risk of mortality on the waitlist and the likelihood to receive an OLT using a Cox proportional hazards model and a generalized additive model with a logistic link. Survival time and probability of death while on the waitlist for OLT using distance to LTC showed significant increased risk with the distance (P = 0.001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). At the same time, using RUCA classification as the variable did not show significance (P = 0.14 and P = 0.73, respectively). Distance from an LTC is a risk factor of mortality on the waitlist for OLT, whereas RUCA classification is not a significant factor.

Operative Technique and Clinical Outcome in Endoscopic Core Decompression of Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Beck, Sascha; Claßen, Tim; Haversath, Marcel; Jäger, Marcus; Landgraeber, Stefan

2016-01-01

Background Revitalizing the necrotic subchondral bone and preserving the intact cartilage layer by retrograde drilling is the preferred option for treatment of undetached osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT). We assessed the effectiveness of Endoscopic Core Decompression (ECD) in treatment of OLT. Material/Methods Seven patients with an undetached OLT of the medial talar dome underwent surgical treatment using an arthroscopically-guided transtalar drill meatus for core decompression of the lesion. Under endoscopic visualization the OLT was completely debrided while preserving the cartilage layer covering the defect. The drill tunnel and debrided OLT were filled using an injectable bone graft substitute. Various clinical scores, radiographic imaging, and MRI were evaluated after a mean follow-up of 24.1 months. Results The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society Score significantly improved from 71.0±2.4 to 90.3±5.9, and the Foot and Ankle Disability Index improved from 71.8±11.1 to 91.7±4.8. Radiographically, we observed good bone remodelling of the medial talar dome contour within 3 months. In MRI, an alteration of the bony signal of the drill tunnel and the excised OLT remained for more than 12 months. Conclusions First follow-up results for the surgical technique described in this study are highly promising for treatment of undetached stable OLT grade II or transitional stage II–III according to the Pritsch classification. Even lesions larger than 150 mm2 showed good clinical scores, with full restoration of the medial talar dome contour in radiographic imaging. PMID:27362485

Success and complications of an intra-ductal fully covered self-expanding metal stent (ID-FCSEMS) to treat anastomotic biliary strictures (AS) after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

PubMed

Aepli, Patrick; St John, Andrew; Gupta, Saurabh; Hourigan, Luke F; Vaughan, Rhys; Efthymiou, Marios; Kaffes, Arthur

2017-04-01

Anastomotic biliary strictures (AS) after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) belong to the most common biliary complications and cause the biggest morbidity burden after OLT. Metal stents for benign biliary strictures are gaining acceptance with many published series. Traditional metal stent designs seem to have poor durability in AS after OLT. Novel intra-ductal stents are showing promise in these strictures. As a result, we designed a special stent with an antimigration waist and a short stent length with a long removal string that rests in the duodenum for easy removal. This is a retrospective multi-centre Australian study of AS after OLT treated with a novel intra-ductal fully covered self-expanding metal stent. From August 2008 to October 2014, records from three liver transplant centres were reviewed. Totally 36 ID-FCSEMS were inserted in 31 cases to treat an AS after OLT. The mean age of the patients was 56 years, and 61 % were male. The mean time of AS presentation after OLT was 20.3 months. Eight out of our 31 patients were previously treated using multiple plastic stenting over time without any success. Treatment with the ID-FCSEMS was performed with an average treatment time of 3.8 months. Stricture resolution was achieved in 100 %. All attempted stents removals were successful without any difficulty. Complications were reported in 6.5 %. It was pleasing that only one case of stent migration (2.8 %) was seen. Follow-up showed seven cases of AS recurrence (24.1 %), and all were treated successfully with repeat ERCP and stenting (some metal, some plastic). This novel ID-FCSEMS has a high clinical success and low complication rate, and in particular, there was only one case of stent migration. As a result, this stent type is preferred to traditional metal stents for treating AS after OLT.

OTACT: ONU Turning with Adaptive Cycle Times in Long-Reach PONs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zare, Sajjad; Ghaffarpour Rahbar, Akbar

2015-01-01

With the expansion of PON networks as Long-Reach PON (LR-PON) networks, the problem of degrading the efficiency of centralized bandwidth allocation algorithms threatens this network due to high propagation delay. This is because these algorithms are based on bandwidth negotiation messages frequently exchanged between the optical line terminal (OLT) in the Central Office and optical network units (ONUs) near the users, which become seriously delayed when the network is extended. To solve this problem, some decentralized algorithms are proposed based on bandwidth negotiation messages frequently exchanged between the Remote Node (RN)/Local Exchange (LX) and ONUs near the users. The network has a relatively high delay since there are relatively large distances between RN/LX and ONUs, and therefore, control messages should travel twice between ONUs and RN/LX in order to go from one ONU to another ONU. In this paper, we propose a novel framework, called ONU Turning with Adaptive Cycle Times (OTACT), that uses Power Line Communication (PLC) to connect two adjacent ONUs. Since there is a large population density in urban areas, ONUs are closer to each other. Thus, the efficiency of the proposed method is high. We investigate the performance of the proposed scheme in contrast with other decentralized schemes under the worst case conditions. Simulation results show that the average upstream packet delay can be decreased under the proposed scheme.

New Learning Technologies and Media in Quebec: Profile and Positioning of the Main Stakeholders = Portrait et positionnement des intervenants en nouvelles technologies et nouveaux medias d'apprentissage au Quebec.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Human Resources Development Canada, Hull (Quebec). Office of Learning Technologies.

This document is the product of a study that was conducted to identify the target audience of Canada's Office of Learning Technologies (OLT), determine which stakeholders should be involved in developing the OLT's action program; and recommend specific actions for the OLT to take. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the study methodology, which…

The Lord’s Resistance Army Wicked Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-14

alarming proportions after the failure of the Juba Peace Talks and “Operation Lightning Thunder” ( OLT ). Consequently between September 2008 and December...phase, followed with an assault by ground forces.60 The planners of OLT had assumed that the air strikes would have a decisive effect on the morale...different capabilities. 18 During OLT , dozens of LRA officers were killed or captured or simply surrendered and LRA’s core fighters were reduced to

Algorithm for prioritization of patients on the waiting list for liver transplantation.

PubMed

Gambato, M; Senzolo, M; Canova, D; Germani, G; Tomat, S; Masier, A; Russo, F P; Perissinotto, E; Zanus, G; Cillo, U; Burra, P

2007-01-01

Prioritization of patients on the waiting list (WL) for OLT is still a critical issue. Numerous models have been developed to predict mortality before and after OLT. The aim of the study was to prospectively evaluate cirrhotics with and without hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) severity of liver disease on the WL and at transplant, mortality on the WL and after OLT, and their correlations. An algorithm based on seven patient variables (MELD, CTP, UNOS, HCC, BMI, waiting time, age) was created by software dedicated to prioritize patients on the waiting list. We evaluated 118 patients including 75 men and 43 women of age range 19 to 66 years, who underwent OLT from July 2004 to June 2006. Mean CTP and MELD at listing were 8.44 (range 6-12) and 13 (range 2-24), respectively. Overall mortality on the WL at 24 months was 13%, which was significantly higher among patients with MELD > 25 compared to patients with MELD 0 to 15 (P < .0001) or MELD 16 to 25 (P = .0007) at listing. Mean MELD at OLT was 15 (range 7-36), which was significantly lower in patients with than without HCC (MELD 12 vs 16; P = .0003). Six hundred-day patient survival was significantly lower among patients with MELD > 25 compared to patients with MELD < 25 at OLT (P = .017), whereas no difference in survival was observed between patients with and without HCC. The sickest patients are characterized by high mortality both on the waiting list and after liver transplantation. Patients with HCC are transplanted in better condition compared to patients without HCC with the same survival.

Bridging Locoregional Therapy Prolongs Survival in Patients Listed for Liver Transplant with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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

Xing, Minzhi; Sakaria, Sonali; Dhanasekaran, Renumathy

Background and AimsTo evaluate the long-term survival benefit of bridging locoregional therapy (LRT) prior to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within Milan criteria.MethodsOur transplant center registry was studied for all HCC patients within the Milan criteria who were listed for OLT from 1998 to 2013. Baseline clinical characteristics and median overall survival (OS) were calculated and stratified by LRT, OLT status, and wait times. Survival analysis was conducted using Kaplan–Meier estimation and log-rank test.ResultsOf 265 listed, 205 underwent OLT (mean follow-up 7.6 years). Of 205, 111 received bridging LRT (A), and 94 did not (B).more » Both were similar in demographics and tumor characteristics (p > 0.05). Median OS from HCC for A/B were 86.4 vs. 68.9 months (p = 0.01). Median OS from OLT for A/B were 74.6 vs. 63.6 months (p = 0.03). On multivariate analysis, independent predictors for survival from HCC were bridging LRT (p = 0.002) and high wait time (p = 0.008); independent predictors for survival from OLT were bridging LRT (p = 0.005) and high wait time (p = 0.005). Of 60 who were listed but did not undergo transplant, 44 received LRT (C) and 16 received best supportive care (D). Median OS from HCC for C/D were 37.1 vs. 24.8 months (p = 0.03).ConclusionsBridging LRT and high wait times were independent positive prognostic factors for survival from HCC diagnosis and OLT.« less

Primary non-function is frequently associated with fatty liver allografts and high mortality after re-transplantation.

PubMed

Kulik, Ulf; Lehner, Frank; Klempnauer, Jürgen; Borlak, Jürgen

2017-08-01

The shortage of liver donations demands the use of suboptimal grafts with steatosis being a frequent finding. Although ≤30% macrovesicular steatosis is considered to be safe the risk for primary non-function (PNF) and outcome after re-transplantation (re-OLT) is unknown. Among 1205 orthotopic liver transplantations performed at our institution the frequency, survival and reason of re-OLT were evaluated. PNF (group A) cases and those with initial transplant function but subsequent need for re-OLT (group B) were analysed. Histopathology and clinical judgement determined the cause of PNF and included an assessment of hepatic steatosis. Additionally, survival of fatty liver allografts (group C) not requiring re-OLT was considered in Kaplan-Meier and multivariate regression analysis. A total of 77 high urgency re-OLTs were identified and included 39 PNF cases. Nearly 70% of PNF cases were due to primary fatty liver allografts. The 3-month in-hospital mortality for PNF cases after re-OLT was 46% and the mean survival after re-OLT was 0.5 years as compared to 5.2 and 5.1 years for group B, C, respectively, (P<.008). In multivariate Cox regression analysis only hepatic steatosis was associated with an inferior survival (HR 4.272, P=.002). The MELD score, donor BMI, age, cold ischaemic time, ICU stay, serum sodium and transaminases did not influence overall survival. Our study highlights fatty liver allografts to be a major cause for PNF with excessive mortality after re-transplantation. The findings demand the development of new methods to predict risk for PNF of fatty liver allografts. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cost of achieving equivalent outcomes in sicker patients after liver transplant.

PubMed

Dhar, Vikrom K; Wima, Koffi; Kim, Young; Hoehn, Richard S; Jung, Andrew D; Ertel, Audrey E; Diwan, Tayyab S; Paterno, Flavio; Shah, Shimul A

2018-03-01

We aimed to characterize variability in cost after straightforward orthotopic liver transplant (OLT). Using the University HealthSystem Consortium and Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients databases, we identified patients who underwent OLT between 2011 and 2014. Patients meeting criteria for straightforward OLT, defined as length of stay < 14 days with discharge to home, were selected (n = 5763) and grouped into tertiles (low, medium, high) according to cost of perioperative stay. Patients undergoing straightforward OLT were of similar demographics regardless of cost. High cost patients were more likely to require preoperative hemodialysis, had higher severity of illness, and higher model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) (p < 0.01). High cost patients required greater utilization of resources including lab tests, blood transfusions, and opioids (p < 0.01). Despite having higher burden of disease and requiring increased resource utilization, high cost OLT patients with a straightforward perioperative course were shown to have identical 2-year graft and overall survival compared to lower cost patients (p = 0.82 and p = 0.63), respectively. Providing adequate perioperative care for OLT patients with higher severity of illness and disease burden requires increased cost and resource utilization; however, doing so provides these patients with long term survival equivalent to more routine patients. Copyright © 2017 International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extracorporeal albumin dialysis in patients with Amanita phalloides poisoning.

PubMed

Faybik, Peter; Hetz, Hubert; Baker, Amir; Bittermann, Clemens; Berlakovich, Gabriela; Werba, Alois; Krenn, Claus-Georg; Steltzer, Heinz

2003-01-01

Ingestion of Amanita phalloides is the most common cause of lethal mushroom poisoning. The relative late onset of symptoms is a distinct diagnostic feature of Amanita intoxication and also the main reason of failure for extracorporeal removal of Amanita-specific toxins from the gut and circulation. Extracorporeal albumin dialysis (ECAD) has been used on six consecutive patients admitted after A. phalloides poisoning with acute liver failure (ALF). Six patients, with mean age of 46 years (range: 9-70 years), underwent one to three ECAD treatments. The mean time from mushroom ingestion until the first ECAD treatment was 76 h. Two patients regenerated spontaneously under ECAD treatment and orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) could be avoided. Two patients were successfully bridged to OLT and one patient died because of cerebral herniation. One patient was treated with ECAD immediately after OLT because of the graft dysfunction and survived without re-transplantation. ECAD appeared to be a successful treatment perspective in supporting liver regeneration or in sufficient bridging to OLT and also in treatment of graft dysfunction after OLT in patients with A. phalloides poisoning.

A Hybrid OFDM-TDM Architecture with Decentralized Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation for PONs

PubMed Central

Cevik, Taner

2013-01-01

One of the major challenges of passive optical networks is to achieve a fair arbitration mechanism that will prevent possible collisions from occurring at the upstream channel when multiple users attempt to access the common fiber at the same time. Therefore, in this study we mainly focus on fair bandwidth allocation among users, and present a hybrid Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed/Time Division Multiplexed architecture with a dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme that provides satisfying service qualities to the users depending on their varying bandwidth requirements. Unnecessary delays in centralized schemes occurring during bandwidth assignment stage are eliminated by utilizing a decentralized approach. Instead of sending bandwidth demands to the optical line terminal (OLT) which is the only competent authority, each optical network unit (ONU) runs the same bandwidth demand determination algorithm. ONUs inform each other via signaling channel about the status of their queues. This information is fed to the bandwidth determination algorithm which is run by each ONU in a distributed manner. Furthermore, Light Load Penalty, which is a phenomenon in optical communications, is mitigated by limiting the amount of bandwidth that an ONU can demand. PMID:24194684

The transmission of symmetric 40 Gb/s TWDM-based NG-PON2 utilizing delay interferometer (DI) for RSOA bandwidth enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bindhaiq, Salem; Zulkifli, Nadiatulhuda; Supa'at, AbuSahmah M.

2016-07-01

Time and wavelength-division multiplexed passive optical network (TWDM-PON) has been finally selected as the pragmatic solution for the next-generation passive optical network stage 2 (NG-PON2). In this paper, we propose a symmetric 40 Gb/s TWDM-PON system with low cost reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) for both downstream and upstream directions. A single bi-pass delay interferometer (DI), deployed in the optical line terminal (OLT), is used to enhance the poor performance of the RSOA with respect to the low bandwidth induced by laser chirp. With the help of the 40 GHz free spectrum range (FSR) DI, we show a successful transmission of the proposed work through simulation study where an aggregate capacity of 40 Gb/s is transported over 40 km transmission distance with 32 splits. The TWDM-PON system at BER of 10-6 has shown a minimum receiver sensitivity of -22.78 dBm and -22.71 dBm for both downstream and upstream, respectively with maximum power penalty of 2 dB for downstream channel and 2.39 dB for upstream channel.

Impact of UCSF criteria according to pre- and post-OLT tumor features: analysis of 479 patients listed for HCC with a short waiting time.

PubMed

Decaens, Thomas; Roudot-Thoraval, Françoise; Hadni-Bresson, Solange; Meyer, Carole; Gugenheim, Jean; Durand, Francois; Bernard, Pierre-Henri; Boillot, Olivier; Sulpice, Laurent; Calmus, Yvon; Hardwigsen, Jean; Ducerf, Christian; Pageaux, Georges-Philippe; Dharancy, Sebastien; Chazouilleres, Olivier; Cherqui, Daniel; Duvoux, Christophe

2006-12-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) indication for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is currently based on the Milan criteria. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) recently proposed an expansion of the selection criteria according to tumors characteristics on the explanted liver. This study: 1) assessed the validity of these criteria in an independent large series and 2) tested for the usefulness of these criteria when applied to pre-OLT tumor evaluation. Between 1985 and 1998, 479 patients were listed for liver transplantation (LT) for HCC and 467 were transplanted. According to pre-OLT (imaging at date of listing) or post-OLT (explanted liver) tumor characteristics, patients were retrospectively classified according to both the Milan and UCSF criteria. The 5-yr survival statistics were assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. Pre-OLT UCSF criteria were analyzed according to an intention-to-treat principle. Based on the pre-OLT evaluation, 279 patients were Milan+, 44 patients were UCSF+ but Milan- (subgroup of patients that might benefit from the expansion), and 145 patients were UCSF- and Milan-. With a short median waiting time of 4 months, 5-yr survival was 60.1 +/- 3.0%, 45.6 +/- 7.8%, and 34.7 +/- 4.0%, respectively (P < 0.001). The 5-yr survival was arithmetically lower in UCSF+ Milan- patients compared to Milan+ but this difference was not significant (P = 0.10). Based on pathological features of the explanted liver, 5-yr survival was 70.4 +/- 3.4%, 63.6 +/- 7.8%, and 34.1 +/- 3.1%, in Milan+ patients (n = 184), UCSF+ Milan- patients (n = 39), and UCSF- Milan- patients (n = 238), respectively (P < 0.001). However, the 5-yr survival did not differ between Milan+ and UCSF+ Milan- patients (P = 0.33). In conclusion, these results show that when applied to pre-OLT evaluation, the UCSF criteria are associated with a 5-yr survival below 50%. Their applicability is therefore limited, despite similar survival rates compared to the Milan criteria, when the explanted liver is taken into account.

Donor age does not influence 12-month outcome after orthotopic liver transplantation.

PubMed

Faber, W; Seehofer, D; Puhl, G; Guckelberger, O; Bertram, C; Neuhaus, P; Bahra, M

2011-12-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the most effective treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease to date. The discrepancy between the numbers of donor livers and recipients has become a significant problem, resulting in a high patient mortality on the waiting list. Due to this, an expansion of the donor pool is necessary, for example, by accepting donor grafts from elderly donors. The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome after OLT depending on donor age. We retrospectively evaluated the outcome of 272 full-size cadaveric initial single OLTs within 12 months after OLT. The outcome was analyzed by dividing the collective into four donor age categories: donor age under 50, between 50 and 59, between 60 and 69, and 70 years or above. The outcome after OLT in these patients was retrospectively reviewed by using a prospective database. Patients positive for hepatitis C were excluded from the analysis. No increase of initial nonfunction was observed. Furthermore, no significant differences with regard to surgical complications and serum liver parameter were observed between the groups. Neither patient mortality rates nor rejection rates were different between the groups. However, ischemic-type biliary lesion rates increased significantly with donor age over 70 years (P<.05). The acceptance of liver grafts from older donors is a possible alternative to narrow the gap between donated and required organs. Safe use under optimal protocols is necessary to avoid a deterioration of post-OLT results. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diverse effects of FK506 on the apoptosis of hepatocytes and infiltrating lymphocytes in an allografted rat liver.

PubMed

Moriuchi, Hiroki; Kamohara, Yukio; Eguchi, Susumu; Gu, Weili; Fujioka, Hikaru; Yamamoto, Takao; Tajima, Yoshitsugu; Kanematsu, Takashi; Koji, Takehiko

2011-05-01

The current study investigated whether FK506 (FK) regulates the apoptotic systems in allografted rat liver and the contribution of Fas/Fas-ligand system and Bcl-2 family during acute rejection. The recipients were divided into three groups, the allo, the allo-FK, and the syn group. Rats were euthanized 1, 3, 5, and 7 d after OLT. Apoptotic activity was explored using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The expression of Fas/Fas-ligand and Bcl-2/Bax in the grafted livers was investigated by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The apoptotic index (AI) of hepatocytes in the allo-FK group was less than that in the allo group. Fas in the allo group was more intense than that in the allo-FK group in the periportal areas on day 1 and 3, while Bcl-2 in the allo group was less intense than that in the allo-FK group in the pericaval areas at all time-points after OLT. FK provides beneficial antiapoptotic effects on hepatocytes in the grafted rat livers through both the down-regulation of Fas expression in the periportal areas and the up-regulation of Bcl-2 expression in the pericaval areas. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of macrophage migration inhibitory factor and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin-2 to predict acute kidney injury after liver transplantation: An observational pilot study

PubMed Central

Schiefer, Judith; Miller, Edmund J.; Berlakovich, Gabriela A.

2017-01-01

Introduction Several biomarkers have been suggested as early predictors of acute kidney injury (AKI) after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin-2 (NGAL) appears to be a promising predictor of AKI after OLT, but the clinical benefit remains to be proven. Recently, systemic macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been proposed as early indicator for requirement of renal replacement therapy after OLT. The aim of this prospective, observational pilot study was to compare the predictive values of serum and urinary MIF for severe AKI after OLT to those of serum and urinary NGAL. Methods Concentrations of MIF and NGAL were measured in serum and urine samples collected from patients undergoing OLT. Acute kidney injury was classified according to the KDIGO criteria, with stages 2 and 3 summarized as severe AKI. Areas under the receiver operating curves (AUC) were calculated to assess predictive values of MIF and NGAL for the development of severe AKI. Results Forty-five patients (mean age 55±8 years) were included. Nineteen patients (38%) developed severe AKI within 48 hours after reperfusion. At the end of OLT, serum MIF was predictive of severe AKI (AUC 0.73; 95% confidence intervals, CI 0.55–0.90; P = 0.03), whereas urinary MIF, serum NGAL, and urinary NGAL were not. On the first postoperative day, serum MIF (AUC 0.78; CI 0.62–0.93; P = 0.006), urinary MIF (AUC 0.71; CI 0.53–0.88; P = 0.03), and urinary NGAL (AUC 0.79; CI 0.64–0.93; P = 0.02) were predictive for severe AKI, while serum NGAL was not. Conclusion In the setting of OLT, MIF and NGAL had similar predictive values for the development of severe AKI. PMID:28813470

Recipient’s Genetic R702W NOD2 Variant Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Bacterial Infections after Orthotopic Liver Transplantation

PubMed Central

van Hoek, Bart; van den Berg, Arie P.; Porte, Robert J.; Blokzijl, Hans; Coenraad, Minneke J.; Hepkema, Bouke G.; Schaapherder, Alexander F.; Ringers, Jan; Weersma, Rinse K.; Verspaget, Hein W.

2013-01-01

Introduction Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is accompanied by a significant postoperative infection risk. Immunosuppression to prevent rejection increases the susceptibility to infections, mainly by impairing the adaptive immune system. Genetic polymorphisms in the lectin complement pathway of the donor have recently been identified as important risk determinants of clinically significant bacterial infection (CSI) after OLT. Another genetic factor involved in innate immunity is NOD2, which was reported to be associated with increased risk of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhotic patients. Methods We assessed association of three genetic NOD2 variants (R702W, G908R and 3020insC) with increased risk of CSI after OLT. 288 OLT recipient-donor pairs from two tertiary referral centers were genotyped for the three NOD2 variants. The probability of CSI in relation to NOD2 gene variants was determined with cumulative incidence curves and log-rank analysis. Results The R702W NOD2 variant in the recipient was associated with CSI after OLT. Eight out of 15 (53.3%) individuals with a mutated genotype compared to 80/273 (29.3%) with wild type genotype developed CSI (p=0.027, univariate cox regression), illustrated by a higher frequency of CSI after OLT over time (p=0.0003, log rank analysis). Multivariate analysis (including the donor lectin complement pathway profile) showed independence of this R702W NOD2 association from other risk factors (HR 2.0; p=0.04). The other NOD2 variants, G908R and 3020insC, in the recipient were not associated with CSI. There was no association with CSI after OLT for any of the NOD2 variants in the donor. Conclusion The mutated NOD2 R702W genotype in the recipient is independently associated with an increased risk of bacterial infections after liver transplantation, indicating a predisposing role for this genetic factor impairing the recipient’s innate immune system. PMID:23977330

Structural shifts of fecal microbial communities in rats with acute rejection after liver transplantation.

PubMed

Xie, Yirui; Luo, Zhuanbo; Li, Zhengfeng; Deng, Min; Liu, Hao; Zhu, Biao; Ruan, Bing; Li, Lanjuan

2012-08-01

Bacterial translocation and the development of sepsis after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) may be promoted by immunological damage to the intestinal mucosa or by quantitative and qualitative changes in intestinal microbiota. This study monitored structural shifts of gut microbiota in rats with OLT using PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). RT-qPCR targets six major microorganisms (Domain Bacteria, Bacteroides, Bifidobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Lactobacillus and Clostridium leptum subgroup). Isograft, Allograft and Sham model were studied. Bacterial translocation to host organs and plasma endotoxin were determined. Alteration in gut microbiota was associated with the elevation of plasma endotoxin and a higher rate of bacterial translocation (BT) to liver in rats with acute rejection. Dynamic analysis of DGGE fingerprints showed that the gut microbiota structure of animals in the three groups was similar before the operation. But significant alterations in the composition of fecal microbiota in Allograft group were observed at 1 and 2 weeks after the OLT. The acute rejection was accompanied by the shifts of gut microbiota towards members of Bacteroides and Ruminococcus. Results from RT-qPCR indicated that Bacteroides significantly increased at 2 weeks after the OLT, whereas numbers of Bifidobacterium spp. decreased at 1 week and recovered at 2 weeks after the OLT. In summary, our data showed that rats with acute rejection after OLT exhibited significant structure shifts in the gut microbiota which dominant by overgrowth of Bacteroides and Ruminococcus, and these were associated with elevation of plasma endotoxin and higher rate of BT.

Rotational Thromboelastometry or Conventional Coagulation Tests in Liver Transplantation: Comparing Blood Loss, Transfusions, and Cost.

PubMed

Smart, Laura; Mumtaz, Khalid; Scharpf, Danielle; Gray, Nicole O'Bleness; Traetow, Daniel; Black, Sylvester; Michaels, Anthony J; Elkhammas, Elmahdi; Kirkpatrick, Robert; Hanje, A James

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) can be associated with significant bleeding requiring multiple blood product transfusions. Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) is a point-of-care device that has been used to monitor coagulation during OLT. Whether it reduces blood loss/transfusions during OLT remains controversial. We aim to compare ROTEM with conventional coagulation tests (aPTT, PT, INR, platelet count, fibrinogen) to guide transfusion of platelets, cryoprecipitate, and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) during OLT over 3 years. Thirty-four patients who had transfusions guided by ROTEM were compared to 34 controls who received transfusions guided by conventional coagulation tests (CCT). Intraoperative blood loss, type/ amount of blood products transfused, and direct costs were compared between the two groups. The ROTEM group had significantly less intra-operative blood loss (2.0 vs. 3.0 L, p = 0.04) and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion (4 units vs. 6.5 units, p = 0.015) compared to the CCT group (2.0L vs. 3.0L, p = 0.04). However, total number of patients transfused cryoprecipitate was increased in ROTEM (n = 25;73%) as compared to CCT (n = 19; 56%), p = 0.033. The direct cost of blood products plus testing was reduced in the ROTEM group ($113,142.89 vs. $127,814.77). In conclusion implementation of a ROTEM-guided transfusion algorithm resulted in a reduction in intra-operative blood loss, FFP transfusion and a decrease in direct cost during OLT. ROTEM is a useful and safe point of care device in OLT setting.

Malodor reductions and improved oral hygiene by toothbrushing and mouthrinsing.

PubMed

Nandlal, B; Shahikumar, P; Avinash, B S; Sreenivasan, P K; Subramanyam, R

2016-01-01

This clinical study compared the effects of an antibacterial regimen, comprising a triclosan toothpaste and a 0.075% cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) mouthrinse, on malodor, self-reported malodor, and oral hygiene measures such as dental plaque, gingivitis, and bleeding relative to brushing with a fluoride toothpaste. At baseline, 36 subjects were evaluated for malodor (9-point organoleptic scale [OLT]), dental plaque (Turesky modification of Quigley-Hein; PI), gingivitis (Lφe-Silness; GI) and bleeding (Ainamo and Bay; BI) and randomized to (1) tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste, or (2) a regimen comprising tooth brushing with a triclosan toothpaste and mouth rinsing with CPC mouthrinse. After the first use of assigned treatments, subjects were evaluated for malodor 2 h after breakfast (OLT-2 h) and used provided treatments for the next 14 days. On the 7 th and 14 th days, subjects refrained from oral hygiene for 12 h before evaluations (OLT, PI, GI, and BI) and then performed oral hygiene at the dental clinic. Subjects were evaluated for malodor 2 h after breakfast (OLT-2 h) and self-assessed their malodor on a 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS). Treatment groups demonstrated no significant differences in OLT, PI, GI, BI at baseline (P > 0.05). OLT-2 h scores after the first use of regimen and after tooth brushing alone were 5.94 and 6.21, respectively, and were statistically significantly different (P < 0.05). Correspondingly, the regimen demonstrated progressive reductions in OLT and OLT-2 h on the 7 th and 14 th day evaluations (5.81, 4.88, and 5.09, 4.20, respectively) and were significantly lower than after tooth brushing alone (6.49, 6.18, and 6.35, 5.99, respectively) (P < 0.05). From the 7 th to 14 th days, the regimen also demonstrated progressively lower PI, GI, BI, and self-reported malodor (VAS scores) which were significantly lower than tooth brushing alone (P < 0.05). Results from this study demonstrated that a regimen comprising a triclosan toothpaste and CPC mouthrinse demonstrated significant malodor reductions 2 h after the first use and progressively increasing reductions in malodor, dental plaque, gingivitis, bleeding and self-reported malodor from the 7 th to 14 th days than tooth brushing alone.

De-novo cholangiocarcinoma in native common bile duct remnant following OLT for primary sclerosing cholangitis.

PubMed

Landaverde, Carmen; Ng, Vivian; Sato, Alisa; Tabibian, James; Durazo, Francisco; Busuttil, Ronald

2009-01-01

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory and obstructive disease of the intra- and extra-hepatic bile ducts of unknown etiology. Currently, orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the only definitive treatment for PSC-related end-stage liver disease. However, PSC has been known to recur in the grafted liver. Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy is more commonly performed than choledochocholedochostomy for PSC, although choledochocholedochostomy has been found to be safe and efficacious for PSC if the distal common bile duct is uninvolved at the time of OLT. Our case is unique in that it describes a patient who developed de-novo cholangiocarcinoma in the remnant portion of the native common bile duct six years after OLT with choledochocholedochostomy for PSC-associated end-stage liver disease without having PSC recurrence. In conclusion, our case report indicates that choledochocholedochostomy may not be desirable in PSC due to an increased risk of developing cholangiocarcinoma in the native common bile duct. This risk exists as well with a Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy in the remaining intra-duodenal and intra-pancreatic biliary epithelium, although in theory to a lesser extent. Therefore, the risk of developing cholangiocarcinoma in the recipient common bile duct can only be completely eliminated by performing a Whipple procedure at the time of OLT.

Outcomes after liver transplantation of patients with Indo-Asian ethnicity.

PubMed

Rocha, Chiara; Perera, M Thamara; Roberts, Keith; Bonney, Glenn; Gunson, Bridget; Nightingale, Peter; Bramhall, Simon R; Isaac, John; Muiesan, Paolo; Mirza, Darius F

2015-04-01

The impact of ethnicity on outcomes after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is unclear. The British Indo-Asian population has a high incidence of liver disease but its contribution to the national deceased donor pool is small. We evaluated access to and outcomes of OLT in Indo-Asians. We compared 182 Indo-Asians with white patients undergoing OLT. Matching criteria were transplantation year, liver disease, age, sex. Donor and recipient characteristics, postoperative outcomes, including patient and graft survival, OLT era (early, 1987-2001; late, 2002-2011) were compared. Survival was also analyzed by underlying disease-acute liver failure (ALF) and chronic liver failure. Indo-Asians had higher diabetes incidence. There were no differences in waiting time for transplantation, despite smaller body size and more uncommon blood groups (B, AB) among Indo-Asians. In the early era, patient survival for Indo-Asians with ALF was worse when compared to whites. In the late era, graft and patient survival at 1, 2, and 5 years were similar between groups. This study demonstrates that Indo-Asian patients have equal access to OLT and comparable outcomes to whites in the United Kingdom. Survival has improved among Indo-Asian patients; this may be attributable to careful patient selection in case of ALF, though improvement of patient management may have contributed.

A 20-year period of orthotopic liver transplantation activity in a single center: a time series analysis performed using the R Statistical Software.

PubMed

Santori, G; Andorno, E; Morelli, N; Casaccia, M; Bottino, G; Di Domenico, S; Valente, U

2009-05-01

In many Western countries a "minimum volume rule" policy has been adopted as a quality measure for complex surgical procedures. In Italy, the National Transplant Centre set the minimum number of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) procedures/y at 25/center. OLT procedures performed in a single center for a reasonably large period may be treated as a time series to evaluate trend, seasonal cycles, and nonsystematic fluctuations. Between January 1, 1987 and December 31, 2006, we performed 563 cadaveric donor OLTs to adult recipients. During 2007, there were another 28 procedures. The greatest numbers of OLTs/y were performed in 2001 (n = 51), 2005 (n = 50), and 2004 (n = 49). A time series analysis performed using R Statistical Software (Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria), a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics, showed an incremental trend after exponential smoothing as well as after seasonal decomposition. The predicted OLT/mo for 2007 calculated with the Holt-Winters exponential smoothing applied to the previous period 1987-2006 helped to identify the months where there was a major difference between predicted and performed procedures. The time series approach may be helpful to establish a minimum volume/y at a single-center level.

Risk factors for alcohol relapse following orthotopic liver transplantation: a systematic review.

PubMed

Rustad, James K; Stern, Theodore A; Prabhakar, Maithri; Musselman, Dominique

2015-01-01

Each year, 5000-6000 individuals undergo orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in the United States, and of these, nearly 18% have alcoholic liver disease. Relapse to alcohol occurs in more than 40% of patients with OLT for alcoholic liver disease. We sought to identify factors that predict relapse to alcohol or medication nonadherence following OLT in patients with alcoholic liver disease and to review what randomized clinical interventions have addressed these factors following OLT. Our hypothesis was that there would be factors before and after OLT that predict relapse to alcohol following OLT, and that these, if targeted, might improve sobriety and associated outcomes of adherence with medications and appointments. We performed a review (focusing on articles published since 2004) with PubMed and MEDLINE searches using the following search terms: liver transplantation, recidivism, alcohol relapse, and predictors of alcohol relapse. We supplemented the online searches with manual reviews of article reference lists and selected relevant articles for further review by author consensus. In largely white populations, prospective studies document that shorter length of pretransplantation sobriety is a significant predictor of time to first drink and time to binge use. Presence of psychiatric comorbidity, high score on standardized High-risk Alcoholism Relapse Scale, and diagnosis of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) alcohol dependence are predictive of posttransplantation alcohol relapse. Pretransplantation alcohol use history variables (e.g., family history of alcoholism) reliably discriminate between complete abstainers and those who drink, while medical and psychosocial characteristics at early post-liver transplantation period (e.g., more bodily pain) maximally discriminate patterns of alcohol use. Alcoholic individuals with early-onset, rapidly accelerating moderate use and early-onset, continuously increasing heavy use have more than double the prevalence of steatohepatitis or rejection on biopsy and graft failure and more frequent mortality resulting from recurrent alcoholic liver disease than late-onset (i.e., peak of heaviest drinking at 6y posttransplantation) alcohol users do. Fortunately, pretransplantation screening combined with a structured pretransplantation management program and a 12-step program attendance reduced recidivism. No randomized clinical trials have been performed that target pretransplantation risk factors in individuals with alcoholic liver disease before or after OLT to improve post-OLT outcomes. Recent research findings suggest that screening can reveal individuals who are vulnerable to alcohol relapse and targeted intervention can prevent their relapse to alcohol. Based on existing addiction treatments (e.g., relapse prevention plan construction), randomized clinical trials tailored to post-OLT patients should be conducted to improve their survival and quality of life. Copyright © 2014 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intestinal microbial variation may predict early acute rejection after liver transplantation in rats.

PubMed

Ren, Zhigang; Jiang, Jianwen; Lu, Haifeng; Chen, Xinhua; He, Yong; Zhang, Hua; Xie, Haiyang; Wang, Weilin; Zheng, Shusen; Zhou, Lin

2014-10-27

Acute rejection (AR) remains a life-threatening complication after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and there are few available diagnostic biomarkers clinically for AR. This study aims to identify intestinal microbial profile and explore potential application of microbial profile as a biomarker for AR after OLT. The OLT models in rats were established. Hepatic graft histology, ultrastructure, function, and intestinal barrier function were tested. Ileocecal contents were collected for intestinal microbial analysis. Hepatic graft suffered from the ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury on day 1, initial AR on day 3, and severe AR on day 7 after OLT. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that genus Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Lactobacillus were decreased, whereas Clostridium bolteae was increased during AR. Notably, cluster analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles showed the 7AR and 3AR groups clustered together with 73.4% similarity, suggesting that intestinal microbiota was more sensitive than hepatic function in responding to AR. Microbial diversity and species richness were decreased during AR. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that most of the decreased key bacteria belonged to phylum Firmicutes, whereas increased key bacteria belonged to phylum Bacteroidetes. Moreover, intestinal microvilli loss and tight junction damage were noted, and intestinal barrier dysfunction during AR presented a decrease of fecal secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and increase of blood bacteremia, endotoxin, and tumor necrosis factor-α. We dynamically detail intestinal microbial characterization and find a high sensitivity of microbial change during AR after OLT, suggesting that intestinal microbial variation may predict AR in early phase and become an assistant therapeutic target to improve rejection after OLT.

Ventral incisional hernia (VIH) repair after liver transplantation (OLT) with a biological mesh: experience in 3 cases.

PubMed

Schaffellner, S; Sereinigg, M; Wagner, D; Jakoby, E; Kniepeiss, D; Stiegler, P; Haybäck, J; Müller, H

2016-05-01

Hernias after orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) occur in about 30 % of cases. Predisposing factors in liver cirrhotic patients of cases are ascites, low abdominal muscle mass and cachexia before and immunosuppression after OLT. Standard operative transplant-technique even in small hernias is to implant a mesh. For patients after liver transplantation a porcine non-cross linked biological patch being less immunogenic than synthetic and cross-linked meshes is chosen for ventral incisional hernia repair. 3 patients (1 female, 2 male), OLT indications Hepatitis C, exogenous- toxic cirrhosis, median-age 53 (51 - 56) and median time to hernia occurrence after OLT were 10 month (6 - 18 m) are documented. 2 patients suffered from diabetes, 2 from chronic-obstructive lung disease. Maintenance immunosuppressions were Everolimus in 1 patient, Everolimus + MMF in the second and Everolimus +Tacrolimus in the third patient. The biological was chosen for hernia repair due to the preexisting risk- factors. Meshes, 10 × 16 cm were placed, in IPOM (Intra-Peritonel-Onlay-Mesh) -position by relaparatomy. Insolvable, monofile, interrupted sutures were used. All patients recovered primarily, and were dismissed within 10 d post OP. No wound healing disorders or signs of postoperative infections occurred. All are free of hernia recurrence in a mean observation time of 22 month (10 - 36). The usage of porcine non-cross-linked biological patches seems feasible for incisional hernia repair after OLT. Wound infections in these patients have been observed with other meshes. Further investigation is needed to prove potential superiority of this biological to the other meshes. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Extreme hepatic resections for the treatment of advanced hepatoblastoma: Are planned close margins an acceptable approach?

PubMed

Fonseca, Adriana; Gupta, Abha; Shaikh, Furqan; Ramphal, Raveena; Ng, Vicky; McGilvray, Ian; Gerstle, J Ted

2018-02-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is considered the standard for children with hepatoblastoma (HB) in whom complete surgical resection is not possible. However, OLT is not always available or feasible. To describe the outcome of children with HB who were initially deemed unresectable and underwent complex hepatectomy with planned close margins, and ultimately avoided OLT. Demographic data, surgical and pathologic details, and survival information were collected from children treated for HB between January 2010 to December 2015. Among six children (median age 12 months (3-41 months)), PRETEXT classification was III (n = 2), III/IV (n = 1), and IV (n = 3). Patients received a median of six cycles (range 4-7) of platinum-based induction chemotherapy; five received doxorubicin. Experienced pediatric surgeons performed extended right and left hepatectomy in five and one patients, respectively, with assistance of an experienced liver transplant surgeon (n = 4). Microscopic margins were positive (n = 2) and negative but close (n = 4; 2-5 mm). Two patients required vascular reconstruction of the vena cava. At median follow-up of 3.3 years (1.7-4.6 years), there was no evidence of local recurrence. One patient had recurrence of pulmonary disease 3 months after surgery. Patients with advanced HB treated with complex surgical resections with positive or close negative margins had good outcomes without OLT. We suggest that planned positive or close microscopic margins in highly selected HB patients may spare the morbidity of OLT and offer an alternative for those ineligible for OLT. Our experience illustrates the importance of a multidisciplinary team specialized in the management of liver tumors. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Intestinal Microbial Variation May Predict Early Acute Rejection after Liver Transplantation in Rats

PubMed Central

Ren, Zhigang; Jiang, Jianwen; Lu, Haifeng; Chen, Xinhua; He, Yong; Zhang, Hua; Xie, Haiyang; Wang, Weilin; Zheng, Shusen; Zhou, Lin

2014-01-01

Background Acute rejection (AR) remains a life-threatening complication after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and there are few available diagnostic biomarkers clinically for AR. This study aims to identify intestinal microbial profile and explore potential application of microbial profile as a biomarker for AR after OLT. Methods The OLT models in rats were established. Hepatic graft histology, ultrastructure, function, and intestinal barrier function were tested. Ileocecal contents were collected for intestinal microbial analysis. Results Hepatic graft suffered from the ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury on day 1, initial AR on day 3, and severe AR on day 7 after OLT. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that genus Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Lactobacillus were decreased, whereas Clostridium bolteae was increased during AR. Notably, cluster analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles showed the 7AR and 3AR groups clustered together with 73.4% similarity, suggesting that intestinal microbiota was more sensitive than hepatic function in responding to AR. Microbial diversity and species richness were decreased during AR. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that most of the decreased key bacteria belonged to phylum Firmicutes, whereas increased key bacteria belonged to phylum Bacteroidetes. Moreover, intestinal microvilli loss and tight junction damage were noted, and intestinal barrier dysfunction during AR presented a decrease of fecal secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and increase of blood bacteremia, endotoxin, and tumor necrosis factor-α. Conclusion We dynamically detail intestinal microbial characterization and find a high sensitivity of microbial change during AR after OLT, suggesting that intestinal microbial variation may predict AR in early phase and become an assistant therapeutic target to improve rejection after OLT. PMID:25321166

[Portopulmonary hypertension: Updated review].

PubMed

Rodríguez-Almendros, Nielzer; Toapanta-Yanchapaxi, Liz N; Aguirre Valadez, Jonathan; Espinola Zavaleta, Nilda; Muñoz-Martínez, Sergio G; García-Juárez, Ignacio

Portopulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a rare condition worldwide, although epidemiological data are unknown in Mexico. However, chronic liver diseases are very prevalent in Mexico. PPH is the 4th subtype in frequency in the group of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Its diagnosis is made within 2 scenarios: patients with suspected pulmonary hypertension and candidates for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Both echocardiogram and a right cardiac catheterisation are crucial for diagnosis in both cases. PPH is a challenge for OLT, since it can significantly increase perioperative mortality. The use of specific therapy is the cornerstone of this disease, as a measure to improve the outcome of those who become candidates for OLT with moderate to severe PPH. It is important to recognise that PPH can be a contraindication to OLT. The role of lung-liver transplantation or heart-lung-liver transplantation as a measure to heal pulmonary vascular disease in patients with PPH is still uncertain. Copyright © 2016 Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Research and emulation of ranging in BPON system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Guangxiang; Tao, Dexin; He, Yan

2005-12-01

Ranging is one of the key technologies in Broadband Passive Optical Network based on the ATM (BPON) system. It is complex for software designers and difficult to test. In order to simplify the ranging procedure, enhance its efficiency, and find an appropriate method to verify it, a new ranging procedure that completely satisfies the requirements specified in ITU-T G.983.1 and one verifying method is proposed in this paper. A kind of ranging procedure without serial number (SN) searching function, called one-by-one ranging are developed under the condition of cold PON, cold Optical Network Termination (ONU). The ranging procedure includes the use of OLT and ONU flow charts respectively. By using the network emulation software OPNET, the BPON system is modeled and the ranging procedure is simulated. The emulation experimental results show that the presented ranging procedure can effectively eliminate the collision of burst mode signals between ONUs, which can be ranged one-by-one under the controlling of OLT, while also enhancing the ranging efficiency. As all of the message formats used in this research conform with the ITU-T G.983.1, the ranging procedure can meet the protocol specifications with good interoperability, and is very compatible with products of other manufacturer. According to the present study of ranging procedures, guidelines and principles are provided, Also some design difficulties are eliminated in the software design.

The Lord’s Resistance Army: The U.S. Response

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-11

initiated “Operation Lightning Thunder” ( OLT ), a campaign intended to capture or kill senior LRA leaders in northeastern DRC, where they had...enlarged regional campaign is viewed as the continuation of OLT . While the UPDF has since succeeded in capturing or killing several LRA commanders

Post-operative imaging in liver transplantation: State-of-the-art and future perspectives

PubMed Central

Girometti, Rossano; Como, Giuseppe; Bazzocchi, Massimo; Zuiani, Chiara

2014-01-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) represents a major treatment for end-stage chronic liver disease, as well as selected cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and acute liver failure. The ever-increasing development of imaging modalities significantly contributed, over the last decades, to the management of recipients both in the pre-operative and post-operative period, thus impacting on graft and patients survival. When properly used, imaging modalities such as ultrasound, multidetector computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and procedures of direct cholangiography are capable to provide rapid and reliable recognition and treatment of vascular and biliary complications occurring after OLT. Less defined is the role for imaging in assessing primary graft dysfunction (including rejection) or chronic allograft disease after OLT, e.g., hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence. This paper: (1) describes specific characteristic of the above imaging modalities and the rationale for their use in clinical practice; (2) illustrates main imaging findings related to post-OLT complications in adult patients; and (3) reviews future perspectives emerging in the surveillance of recipients with HCV recurrence, with special emphasis on MRI. PMID:24876739

Epistaxis in end stage liver disease masquerading as severe upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

PubMed

Camus, Marine; Jensen, Dennis M; Matthews, Jason D; Ohning, Gordon V; Kovacs, Thomas O; Jutabha, Rome; Ghassemi, Kevin A; Machicado, Gustavo A; Dulai, Gareth S

2014-10-14

To describe the prevalence, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of end stage liver disease (ESLD) patients with severe epistaxis thought to be severe upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (UGIH). This observational single center study included all consecutive patients with ESLD and epistaxis identified from consecutive subjects hospitalized with suspected UGIH and prospectively enrolled in our databases of severe UGIH between 1998 and 2011. A total of 1249 patients were registered for severe UGIH in the data basis, 461 (36.9%) were cirrhotics. Epistaxis rather than UGIH was the bleeding source in 20 patients. All patients had severe coagulopathy. Epistaxis was initially controlled in all cases. Fifteen (75%) subjects required posterior nasal packing and 2 (10%) embolization in addition to correction of coagulopathy. Five (25%) patients died in the hospital, 12 (60%) received orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), and 3 (15%) were discharged without OLT. The mortality rate was 63% in patients without OLT. Severe epistaxis in patients with ESLD is (1) a diagnosis of exclusion that requires upper endoscopy to exclude severe UGIH; and (2) associated with a high mortality rate in patients not receiving OLT.

Investigating bang for your training buck: a randomized controlled trial comparing three methods of training clinicians in two core strategies of dialectical behavior therapy.

PubMed

Dimeff, Linda A; Harned, Melanie S; Woodcock, Eric A; Skutch, Julie M; Koerner, Kelly; Linehan, Marsha M

2015-05-01

The present study examined the efficacy of online training (OLT), instructor-led training (ILT), and a treatment manual (TM) in training mental health clinicians in two core strategies of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): chain analysis and validation. A randomized controlled trial compared OLT, ILT, and TM among clinicians naïve to DBT (N=172) who were assessed at baseline, post-training, and 30, 60, and 90 days following training. Primary outcomes included satisfaction, self-efficacy, motivation, knowledge, clinical proficiency, and clinical use. Overall, ILT outperformed OLT and TM in satisfaction, self-efficacy, and motivation, whereas OLT was the most effective method for increasing knowledge. The conditions did not differ in observer-rated clinical proficiency or self-reported clinical use, which both increased to moderate levels after training. In addition, ILT was particularly effective at improving motivation to use chain analysis, whereas OLT was particularly effective at increasing knowledge of validation strategies. These findings suggest that these types of brief, didactic trainings may be effective methods of increasing knowledge of new treatment strategies, but may not be sufficient to enable clinicians to achieve a high level of clinical use or proficiency. Additional research examining the possible advantages of matching training methods to types of treatment strategies may help to determine a tailored, more effective approach to training clinicians in empirically supported treatments. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Availability of anesthetic effect monitoring: utilization, intraoperative management and time to extubation in liver transplantation.

PubMed

Schumann, R; Hudcova, J; Bonney, I; Cepeda, M S

2010-12-01

Titration of volatile anesthetics to anesthetic effect monitoring using the bispectral index (BIS) has been shown to decrease anesthetic requirements and facilitate recovery from anesthesia unrelated to liver transplantation (OLT). To determine whether availability of such monitoring influences its utilization pattern and affect anesthetic care and outcomes in OLT, we conducted a retrospective analysis in recipients with and without such monitoring. We evaluated annual BIS utilization over a period of 7 years, and compared 41 BIS-monitored patients to 42 controls. All received an isoflurane/air/oxygen and opioid-based anesthetic with planned postoperative ventilation. Data collection included age, body mass index (BMI), gender, Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, and time to extubation (TtE). Mean preanhepatic, anhepatic, and postanhepatic end-tidal isoflurane concentrations were compared, as well as BIS values for each phase of OLT using the Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, respectively. The use of anesthetic effect monitoring when available increased steadily from 15% of cases in the first year to almost 93% by year 7. There was no significant difference in age, gender, BMI, MELD, or TtE between groups. The BIS group received less inhalational anesthetic during each phase of OLT compared to the control group. However, this difference was statistically significant only during the anhepatic phase (P = .026), and was clinically not impressive. Within the BIS group, the mean BIS value was 38.74 ± 5.25 (mean ± standard deviation), and there was no difference for the BIS value between different transplant phases. Availability of anesthetic effect monitoring as an optional monitoring tool during OLT results in its increasing utilization by anesthesia care teams over time. However, unless integrated into an intraoperative algorithm and an early extubation protocol for fast tracking of OLT recipients, this utilization does not appear to provide a clinical benefit but instead drives cost. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The needs and expectations of overseas liver transplant recipients' families in Taiwan: across different transplantation stages.

PubMed

Chen, H-M; Shih, F-Jong; Pan, Y-J; Shih, F J; Wang, S-S

2014-04-01

This study explored the needs and expectations of Taiwanese overseas liver transplant recipients' families (OLTRFs) across three liver transplantation stages. An exploratory qualitative method was applied to a purposive sample of OLTRFs who received guided face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Data were subjected to content analysis. Nineteen OLTRF members (15 females, 4 males) aged between 29 and 71 years (mean, 55.1 years) for 19 patients who had end-stage liver diseases were interviewed regarding overseas liver transplantation (OLT) across three stages: pre-departure (first stage), stay in mainland China (second stage), and re-entry into Taiwan (third stage). Five types of needs across OLT stages were reported: (a) knowing precise operation schedule in advance (first to second stages); (b) sharing the caring burdens (second to third stages); (c) knowing the updated health status if possible (all stages); (d) obtaining timely psychological support (all stages); and (e) effective communications between health professionals in Taiwan and mainland China to ensure the caring quality (all stages). Furthermore, five expectations were reported: (a) more donor sources (first stage); (b) comprehensive caring strategies for OLT (first stage); (c) a comprehensive consultation system and timely assistance channels for OLT recipients and their families (second to third stages); (d) a legal and accessible therapy process (all stages); and (e) the cooperation with foreign countries and allowed experience sharing for better quality of patient care (all stages). Most ethnic Chinese believe that family is an integrated system; moreover, there is close attachment between OLT recipients and their families. The needs and expectations of the recipients' family across three transplantation stages were first reported in this project. With this knowledge, the health providers of related countries are empowered by a better understanding of the family's needs and expectations of these OLT recipients at different stages. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Serious gaming for orthotopic liver transplant anesthesiology: A randomized control trial.

PubMed

Katz, Daniel; Zerillo, Jeron; Kim, Sang; Hill, Bryan; Wang, Ryan; Goldberg, Andrew; DeMaria, Samuel

2017-04-01

Anesthetic management of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is complex. Given the unequal distributions of liver transplant surgeries performed at different centers, anesthesiology providers receive relatively uneven OLT training and exposure. One well-suited modality for OLT training is the "serious game," an interactive application created for the purpose of imparting knowledge or skills, while leveraging the self-motivating elements of video games. We therefore developed a serious game designed to teach best practices for the anesthetic management of a standard OLT and determined if the game would improve resident performance in a simulated OLT. Forty-four residents on the liver transplant rotation were randomized to either the gaming group (GG) or the control group (CG) prior to their introductory simulation. Both groups were given access to the same educational materials and literature during their rotation, but the GG also had access to the OLT Trainer. Performance on the simulations were recorded on a standardized grading rubric. Both groups experienced an increase in score relative to baseline that was statistically significant at every stage. The improvements in scores were greater for the GG participants than the CG participants. Overall score improvement between the GG and CG (mean [standard deviation]) was statistically significant (GG, 7.95 [3.65]; CG, 4.8 [4.48]; P = 0.02), as were scores for preoperative assessment (GG, 2.67 [2.09]; CG, 1.17 [1.43]; P = 0.01) and anhepatic phase (GG, 1.62 [1.01]; CG, 0.75 [1.28]; P = 0.02). Of the residents with game access, 81% were "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the game overall. In conclusion, adding a serious game to an existing educational curriculum for liver transplant anesthesia resulted in significant learning gains for rotating anesthesia residents. The intervention was straightforward to implement and cost-effective. Liver Transplantation 23 430-439 2017 AASLD. © 2017 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Full duplex fiber link for alternative wired and wireless access based on SSB optical millimeter-wave with 4-PAM signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Jianxin; Zhang, Junjie

2015-03-01

A novel full-duplex fiber-wireless link based on single sideband (SSB) optical millimeter (mm)-wave with 10 Gbit/s 4-pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signal is proposed to provide alternative wired and 40 GHz wireless accesses for the user terminals. The SSB optical mm-wave with 4-PAM signal consists of two tones: one bears the 4-PAM signal and the other is unmodulated with high power. After transmission over the fiber to the hybrid optical network unit (HONU), the SSB optical mm-wave signal can be decomposed by fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) as the SSB optical mm-wave signal with reduced carrier-to-sideband ratio (the baseband 4-PAM optical signal) and the uplink optical carrier for the wireless (wired) access. This makes the HONU free from the laser source. For the uplink, since the wireless access signal is converted to the baseband by power detection, both the transmitter in the HONU and the receiver in optical line terminal (OLT) are co-shared for both wireless and wired accesses, which makes the full duplex link much simpler. In our scheme, the optical electrical field of the square-root increment level 4-PAM signal assures an equal level spacing receiving for both the downlink wired and wireless accesses. Since the downlink wireless signal is down-converted to the baseband by power detection, RF local oscillator is unnecessary. To confirm the feasibility of our proposed scheme, a simulation full duplex link with 40 GHz SSB optical mm-wave with 10 Gbit/s 4-PAM signal is built. The simulation results show that both down- and up-links for either wired or wireless access can keep good performance even if the link length of the SSMF is extended to 40 km.

Percutaneous osteoplasty for the treatment of a painful osteochondral lesion of the talus: a case report and literature review.

PubMed

Seo, Sung-Suk; Park, Joo-Yeon; Kim, Hae-Jin; Yoon, Ji-Wook; Park, Sang-Hyun; Kim, Kyung-Hoon

2012-01-01

An osteochondral lesion of the talus (OLT) is a lesion involving the talar articular cartilage and its subchondral bone. OLT is a known cause of chronic ankle pain after ankle sprains in the active population. The lesion causes deep ankle pain associated with weight-bearing, impaired function, limited range of motion, stiffness, catching, locking, and swelling. There are 2 common patterns of OLTs. Anterolateral talar dome lesions result from inversion and dorsiflexion injuries of the ankle at the area impacting against the fibula. Posteromedial lesions result from inversion, plantar flexion, and external rotation injuries of the ankle at the area impacting against the tibial ceiling of the ankle joint. Early diagnosis of an OLT is particularly important because the tibiotalar joint is exposed to more compressive load per unit area than any other joint in the body. Failure of diagnosis can lead to the evolution of a small, stable lesion into a larger lesion or an unstable fragment, which can result in chronic pain, joint instability, and premature osteoarthritis. A 43-year-old man, with a history of ankle sprain one year previously, visited our pain clinic for continuous right ankle pain after walking or standing for more than 30 minutes. There was a focal tenderness on the posteromedial area of the right talus. Imaging studies revealed a posteromedial OLT classified as having a geode form according to the FOG (fractures, osteonecroses, geodes) radiological classification and categorized as a stage 2a lesion on magnetic resonance imaging. The patient was scheduled for aspiration and osteoplasty with hydroxyapatite under arthroscopic and fluoroscopic guidance. A 26-gauge needle was inserted to infiltrate local anesthetics into the skin over the cyst and ankle joint. An arthroscope was placed into the joint to approach the OLT. The arthroscopic view showed that there was no connection between the OLT and the cyst of the talus body. A 13-gauge bone biopsy needle was inserted into the cyst, and aspiration was performed. Aspirated fluid from the cyst was originally white and clear; however, it changed to a blood-tinged, reddish color due to mixing with the incisional blood. After aspiration, contrast medium was injected, and the shape of the spread was observed. Bone cement comprising hydroxyapatite was injected to fill the bone defect of the cyst. A 1.5 mL volume of cement was injected into the talus under vigilant fluoroscopic and arthroscopic monitoring to prevent its dissemination into the joint. There was no cement leakage into the vessels or articular space. Postoperative fluoroscopy and computed tomography images showed bone cement filling of the defect. In the present case, arthroscopic and fluoroscopic guidance was used for aspiration of an OLT and for performing percutaneous osteoplasty with hydroxyapatite for one defect; this treatment decreased pain upon weight bearing and enabled a return to work without any restrictions one week after the procedure. The purpose of this report was to highlight the presence of OLT in chronic ankle pain and to review its management strategies.

Summative Evaluation of the Office of Learning Technologies. Final Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Human Resources Development Canada, 2002

2002-01-01

The Office of Learning Technologies (OLT) was launched by Human Resources Canada (HRDC) in 1996 as part of an education and training strategy for adult learners. It was established with an annual budget of $6 million. As a contributions program, the OLT encourages and supports initiatives of various public and private sector partners to expand…

Is there any difference in anesthetic management of different post-OLT stage patients undergoing nontransplant organ surgery?

PubMed

Feng, Zhi-Ying; Zhang, Jian; Zhu, Sheng-Mei; Zheng, Shu-Sen

2006-08-01

Little information is available about anesthesia management of nontransplant organ surgery of recipients after adult liver transplantation. The aim of this study was to discuss the anesthesia management of recipients for different stages after liver transplantation. The medical records of 16 patients were reviewed after OLT scheduled for elective nontransplant organ surgery at our institution from September 2002 to October 2005. The patients were divided into perioperative stage (group A) and mid-term and long-term stage (group B) groups according to post-OLT time. The data of 16 patients preoperation, intraoperation and postoperation were analyzed. The measurements of alanine transaminase (ALT), total bilirubin (TB), prothrombin time (PT), and lung infection were significantly higher in group A than in group B (P<0.05). The incidence of hyperglycaemia was significantly higher in group B than in group A (P<0.05). During operation the incidence of hypotension was significantly higher in group A than in group B (P<0.05). After operation, the number of patients in ICU was significantly larger and the extubation time was longer in group A than in group B. General anesthesia was induced in 14 patients, and regional anesthesia in 2 patients. Regional or general anesthesia can be safely delivered to adult OLT recipients except for contraindications. Special considerations include protection of the function of important organs, correction of hemodynamic instability in perioperative stage patients after OLT, and measurement of the side-effects of immunosuppression in mid-term and long-term stage patients.

Bone mineral density before and after OLT: long-term follow-up and predictive factors.

PubMed

Guichelaar, Maureen M J; Kendall, Rebecca; Malinchoc, Michael; Hay, J Eileen

2006-09-01

Fracturing after liver transplantation (OLT) occurs due to the combination of preexisting low bone mineral density (BMD) and early posttransplant bone loss, the risk factors for which are poorly defined. The prevalence and predictive factors for hepatic osteopenia and osteoporosis, posttransplant bone loss, and subsequent bone gain were studied by the long-term posttransplant follow-up of 360 consecutive adult patients with end-stage primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Only 20% of patients with advanced PBC or PSC have normal bone mass. Risk factors for low spinal BMD are low body mass index, older age, postmenopausal status, muscle wasting, high alkaline phosphatase and low serum albumin. A high rate of spinal bone loss occurred in the first 4 posttransplant months (annual rate of 16%) especially in those with younger age, PSC, higher pretransplant bone density, no inflammatory bowel disease, shorter duration of liver disease, current smoking, and ongoing cholestasis at 4 months. Factors favoring spinal bone gain from 4 to 24 months after transplantation were lower baseline and/or 4-month bone density, premenopausal status, lower cumulative glucocorticoids, no ongoing cholestasis, and higher levels of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone. Bone mass therefore improves most in patients with lowest pretransplant BMD who undergo successful transplantation with normal hepatic function and improved gonadal and nutritional status. Patients transplanted most recently have improved bone mass before OLT, and although bone loss still occurs early after OLT, these patients also have a greater recovery in BMD over the years following OLT.

All-optical virtual private network system in OFDM based long-reach PON using RSOA re-modulation technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Chang-Hun; Jung, Sang-Min; Kang, Su-Min; Han, Sang-Kook

2015-01-01

We propose an all-optical virtual private network (VPN) system in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based long reach PON (LR-PON). In the optical access network field, technologies based on fundamental upstream (U/S) and downstream (D/S) have been actively researched to accommodate explosion of data capacity. However, data transmission among the end users which is arisen from cloud computing, file-sharing and interactive game takes a large weight inside of internet traffic. Moreover, this traffic is predicted to increase more if Internet of Things (IoT) services are activated. In a conventional PON, VPN data is transmitted through ONU-OLT-ONU via U/S and D/S carriers. It leads to waste of bandwidth and energy due to O-E-O conversion in the OLT and round-trip propagation between OLT and remote node (RN). Also, it causes inevitable load to the OLT for electrical buffer, scheduling and routing. The network inefficiency becomes more critical in a LR-PON which has been researched as an effort to reduce CAPEX and OPEX through metro-access consolidation. In the proposed system, the VPN data is separated from conventional U/S and re-modulated on the D/S carrier by using RSOA in the ONUs to avoid bandwidth consumption of U/S and D/S unlike in previously reported system. Moreover, the transmitted VPN data is re-directed to the ONUs by wavelength selective reflector device in the RN without passing through the OLT. Experimental demonstration for the VPN communication system in an OFDM based LR-PON has been verified.

Isoflurane: An Ideal Anesthetic for Rodent Orthotopic Liver Transplantation Surgery?

PubMed

Cao, D; Liu, Y; Li, J; Gong, J

2016-10-01

Because the choice of anesthetic affects the rodent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) model, we compared the effects of isoflurane, ketamine, chloral hydrate, and pentobarbital on the OLT model. OLT was performed using the two-cuff technique. Two hundred male rats were randomly divided into five groups: control, isoflurane, ketamine, chloral hydrate, and pentobarbital groups. Rectal temperatures, respiratory rates, arterial blood values (pH, PaCO 2 , PaO 2 , and SatO 2 ), liver function tests and histopathology, recovery times, and anhepatic stage mortality rates were assessed. Compared with controls, respiratory rates decreased by 20% in the isoflurane group, and decreased by 40%-50% in the ketamine, chloral hydrate, and pentobarbital groups. The PaO 2 , SatO 2 , and pH levels in the ketamine, chloral hydrate, and pentobarbital groups were significantly lower than those in the isoflurane and control groups (P < .05). Only the pentobarbital group displayed significant liver histopathologic changes along with significantly higher levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and total bilirubin, but a significantly lower level of serum albumin, compared with the control group (P < .05). The isoflurane group had a 0% anhepatic stage mortality rate compared with rates of 30%-40% in the other anesthetic groups. Isoflurane should be the preferred anesthetic for rodent OLT surgery due to its minimal respiratory and hepatic physiological effects as well as its low anhepatic phase mortality rate. Secondary to isoflurane, ketamine and chloral hydrate may be administered as donor anesthetics. Pentobarbital use should be avoided entirely in rodent OLT surgery due to its significant hepatotoxic effects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NOISECHECK Procedures for Measuring Noise Exposure from Aircraft Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-11-01

in § afterburner , 8 min € MIL PVR, 8 min 6 80« rpm, and 20 min « idle). Aircraft Maintenance and Runup Log Procedure 1. Log every maintenance...OoMirtnat OltUnct »it« Profilt & SEL utt Eq. l Stipolt- « tnt I Fro» lorkihttt 7 NOISEFILE Sa ♦ 4 SEL Sltnt OltUnct WtSEFlLE SEL Mrtrift

Epistaxis in end stage liver disease masquerading as severe upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage

PubMed Central

Camus, Marine; Jensen, Dennis M; Matthews, Jason D; Ohning, Gordon V; Kovacs, Thomas O; Jutabha, Rome; Ghassemi, Kevin A; Machicado, Gustavo A; Dulai, Gareth S

2014-01-01

AIM: To describe the prevalence, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of end stage liver disease (ESLD) patients with severe epistaxis thought to be severe upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (UGIH). METHODS: This observational single center study included all consecutive patients with ESLD and epistaxis identified from consecutive subjects hospitalized with suspected UGIH and prospectively enrolled in our databases of severe UGIH between 1998 and 2011. RESULTS: A total of 1249 patients were registered for severe UGIH in the data basis, 461 (36.9%) were cirrhotics. Epistaxis rather than UGIH was the bleeding source in 20 patients. All patients had severe coagulopathy. Epistaxis was initially controlled in all cases. Fifteen (75%) subjects required posterior nasal packing and 2 (10%) embolization in addition to correction of coagulopathy. Five (25%) patients died in the hospital, 12 (60%) received orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), and 3 (15%) were discharged without OLT. The mortality rate was 63% in patients without OLT. CONCLUSION: Severe epistaxis in patients with ESLD is (1) a diagnosis of exclusion that requires upper endoscopy to exclude severe UGIH; and (2) associated with a high mortality rate in patients not receiving OLT. PMID:25320538

Urea cycle disorders: a case report of a successful treatment with liver transplant and a literature review.

PubMed

Foschi, Francesco Giuseppe; Morelli, Maria Cristina; Savini, Sara; Dall'Aglio, Anna Chiara; Lanzi, Arianna; Cescon, Matteo; Ercolani, Giorgio; Cucchetti, Alessandro; Pinna, Antonio Daniele; Stefanini, Giuseppe Francesco

2015-04-07

The urea cycle is the final pathway for nitrogen metabolism. Urea cycle disorders (UCDs) include a variety of genetic defects, which lead to inefficient urea synthesis. Elevated blood ammonium level is usually dominant in the clinical pattern and the primary manifestations affect the central nervous system. Herein, we report the case of a 17-year-old girl who was diagnosed with UCD at the age of 3. Despite a controlled diet, she was hospitalized several times for acute attacks with recurrent life risk. She came to our attention for a hyperammonemic episode. We proposed an orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) as a treatment; the patient and her family were in complete agreement. On February 28, 2007, she successfully received a transplant. Following the surgery, she has remained well, and she is currently leading a normal life. Usually for UCDs diet plays the primary therapeutic role, while OLT is often considered as a last resort. Our case report and the recent literature data on the quality of life and prognosis of traditionally treated patients vs OLT patients, support OLT as a primary intervention to prevent life-threatening acute episodes and chronic mental impairment.

An adaptive two-stage energy-efficiency mechanism for the doze mode in EPON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikoukar, AliAkbar; Hwang, I.-Shyan; Su, Yu-Min; Liem, Andrew Tanny

2016-07-01

Sleep and doze power-saving modes are the common ways to reduce power consumption of optical network units (ONUs) in Ethernet passive optical network (EPON). The doze mode turns off the ONU transmitter when there is no traffic in the upstream direction while the sleep mode turns off the ONU transmitter and receiver. As the result, the sleep mode is more efficient compared to the doze mode, but it introduces additional complexity of scheduling and signaling, losses the clock synchronization and requires long clock recovery time; furthermore, it requires the cooperation of the optical line terminal (OLT) in the downstream direction to queue frames. To improve the energy-saving in the doze mode, a new two-stage mechanism is introduced that the doze sleep duration is extended for longer time with acceptable quality-of-services (QoS) metrics when ONU is idle in the current cycle. By this way the ONU enters the doze mode even in the high load traffic; moreover, the green dynamic bandwidth allocation (GBA) is proposed to calculate the doze sleep duration based on the ONU queue state and incoming traffic ratio. Simulation results show that the proposed mechanism significantly improves the energy-saving 74% and 54% when traffic load is from the light load to the high load in different traffic situations, and also promises the QoS performance.

A simplified multivisceral transplantation procedure for patients with combined end-stage liver disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

He, Xiao-Shun; Fu, Shun-Jun; Zhao, Qiang; Zhu, Xiao-Feng; Wang, Dong-Ping; Han, Ming; Ju, Wei-Qiang; Ma, Yi; Jiao, Xing-Yuan; Yuan, Xiao-Peng; Hu, An-Bin; Guo, Zhi-Yong

2017-09-01

In liver transplant patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), the disease worsens after transplantation because of longterm use of diabetogenic immunosuppressive drugs, making management of those patients a great challenge. The objective of our study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a simplified multivisceral transplantation (SMT) procedure for the treatment of patients with end-stage liver disease and concurrent type 2 DM. Forty-four patients who had pretransplant type 2 DM were included. A total of 23 patients received SMT, and 21 patients received orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Patient and graft survivals, complications, diabetic control, and quality of life (QOL) were retrospectively analyzed in both groups. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year cumulative patient and graft survival rates were 91.5%, 75.4%, and 75.4% in the SMT group and were 94.4%, 64.4%, and 64.4% in the OLT group, respectively (P = 0.70). Interestingly, 95.7% (22/23) of patients achieved complete remission from DM after SMT compared with 16.7% (3/18) of patients after OLT. The occurrence of biliary complication was significantly higher in the OLT group than that in the SMT group (23.8% versus 0.0%; P = 0.01). Moreover, better QOL was observed in the SMT group than that in the OLT group. In conclusion, the SMT procedure we described here is a safe and viable option for patients with end-stage live disease and concurrent type 2 DM. This SMT procedure offers excellent transplant outcomes and QOL. Liver Transplantation 23 1161-1170 2017 AASLD. © 2017 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

The safety and efficacy of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir with or without ribavirin in the treatment of orthotopic liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C: real-world data.

PubMed

Pyrsopoulos, Nikolaos; Trilianos, Panagiotis; Lingiah, Vivek A; Fung, Phoenix; Punnoose, Merlin

2018-07-01

Recurrent hepatitis C (RHC) in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) population is associated with accelerated rates of fibrosis, low efficacy and decreased tolerability with traditional therapies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (LED/SOF) with or without ribavirin (RBV) in OLT patients with RHC. Patients at least 3 months post-OLT and with documented RHC were treated with LED/SOF with or without RBV for either 12 or 24 weeks. End-of-treatment and sustained virological response 12 weeks after the completion of treatment were documented. Patients were closely monitored for treatment-related adverse effects and the potential need for adjustment in their immunosuppression. Seventy-one patients were included in the study. Median age was 62 years. Median time from OLT was 55 months. Twenty-six (36.6%) patients were treatment-naive and 45 (63.4%) had previously failed interferon-based therapies. The majority of patients (57.7%) had stage F0-F2 fibrosis. Sixty-seven (94.3%) patients completed 12 weeks of LED/SOF with RBV, three patients completed 12 or 24 weeks of LED/SOF without RBV, and one patient completed only 8 weeks of LED/SOF without RBV owing to severe allograft dysfunction. Sustained virological response was near universal in our cohort (98.5%) regardless of genotype, fibrosis stage, and regimen or treatment duration. Most commonly reported side effects were malaise and gastrointestinal upset. No patient required adjustment in immunosuppression and no episodes of rejection were documented during treatment. The combination of LED/SOF with RBV for 12 weeks or LED/SOF for 24 weeks is very effective and safe in treating OLT recipients with RHC.

[Evolution of endemic tuberculosis in Olt county, Romania, between 1990 and 2008].

PubMed

Golli, Andreea-Loredana; Didilescu, C; Niţu, Mimi-Floarea; Eparu, Ion

2011-01-01

A world-wide recrudescence of tuberculosis has been seen, due to the deterioration of the health state of the population from many areas of the world, because of increasing number of homeless persons, and also the immigrants from countries with TB epidemic. The present epidemiological context draw attention to the necessity of early detection of the disease and the beginning of early directly observed treatment, preferably ambulatory, if the sick person doesn't have other complications, isn't infected with multidrog resistant bacili and lives in a properly social environment for his support. For the evaluation of tuberculosis epidemic in Olt county, the authors realised a retrospective study on a period of over 15 years (1990-2008), based on the analysis of the main epidemiological indices of TB epidemic in this county compared with Romania: global incidence both in adults and children, for new cases nd relapses apart, incidence of MDR-TB (multidrug resistant-tuberculosis) cases, mortality through tuberculosis. Global incidence of TB in Olt county almost doubled between 1990-2008, reaching 147, 4 per hundred thousand, with much higher values compared with the national ones. Olt county presents constant values over the national ones between 1995-2008, due to the global incidence and also to the new cases and relapses. The incidence of new cases in children in 2008 (20,4 per hundred thousand) was below the national level (28 per hundred thousand). The risk of illness for the 0-14 years old children from Olt county was significantly lower in 2008 compared with the previous year, which, toghether with a number of MDR-TB cases under 15, signifies a regress of the epidemic.

Recurrent Primary Biliary Cirrhosis: Peritransplant Factors and Ursodeoxycholic Acid Treatment Post-Liver Transplant

PubMed Central

Guy, Jennifer E.; Qian, Peiqing; Lowell, Jeffrey A.; Peters, Marion G.

2014-01-01

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) recurs after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in up to one-third of patients. These patients are typically asymptomatic, can be identified by abnormal liver biochemistries, and have evidence of histologic recurrence on liver biopsy. The effect of treatment on recurrence has not been determined. This pilot study evaluates the factors associated with recurrent PBC and describes our experience using ursodeoxycholic acid treatment in this patient population. Forty-eight patients with PBC were followed for at least 1 yr post-OLT, and 27 patients (56%) developed abnormal serum alkaline phosphatase. Seventeen patients (35%) had evidence of recurrent PBC by liver biopsy. Patients with recurrent PBC had a trend toward longer warm ischemia times and more episodes of acute cellular rejection in the first year posttransplant, but this was not significant in multivariate analysis. Donor or recipient age, donor and recipient cytomegalovirus status, and dose of immunosuppression did not correlate with recurrence of PBC. Those patients diagnosed with recurrent PBC were placed on ursodeoxycholic acid, 15 mg/kg daily, with improvement in serum alkaline phosphatase in the majority. In conclusion, recurrent PBC is not infrequent post-OLT, and ursodeoxycholic acid can be used with some benefit post-OLT. Treatment effects on long-term survival are not known. PMID:16184542

A comparison of operation, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography in biliary complications after hepatic transplantation.

PubMed

Kuo, P C; Lewis, W D; Stokes, K; Pleskow, D; Simpson, M A; Jenkins, R L

1994-08-01

Biliary complications (BC) remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). In an effort to determine the incidence of BC after OLT and the success of management options, 157 hepatic transplants performed from January 1987 to July 1991 were reviewed. The incidence of BC was 25 percent, with a one year mortality rate of 43.5 percent compared with 23.4 percent for patients in a control group (p < 0.05). Most BC occurring before postoperative day 30 presented as leaks, with a one year mortality rate of 50 percent (p < 0.03 versus control group). Biliary complications presenting after postoperative day 30 presented as strictures, with a one year mortality rate of 36.8 percent (p = NS versus control group). Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTHC), and operative treatment were analyzed to determine relative patency rates after intervention for BC. The analysis showed that ERCP and PTHC were equivalent, with a one year patency rate of 45 percent. Operative treatment had a patency rate of 89 percent (p < 0.05 compared to ERCP and PTHC). The results from ERCP and PTHC may be useful for delineation of rejection versus BC after OLT. However, operative treatment is significantly more effective for definitive treatment of BC after OLT.

Feature-space-based FMRI analysis using the optimal linear transformation.

PubMed

Sun, Fengrong; Morris, Drew; Lee, Wayne; Taylor, Margot J; Mills, Travis; Babyn, Paul S

2010-09-01

The optimal linear transformation (OLT), an image analysis technique of feature space, was first presented in the field of MRI. This paper proposes a method of extending OLT from MRI to functional MRI (fMRI) to improve the activation-detection performance over conventional approaches of fMRI analysis. In this method, first, ideal hemodynamic response time series for different stimuli were generated by convolving the theoretical hemodynamic response model with the stimulus timing. Second, constructing hypothetical signature vectors for different activity patterns of interest by virtue of the ideal hemodynamic responses, OLT was used to extract features of fMRI data. The resultant feature space had particular geometric clustering properties. It was then classified into different groups, each pertaining to an activity pattern of interest; the applied signature vector for each group was obtained by averaging. Third, using the applied signature vectors, OLT was applied again to generate fMRI composite images with high SNRs for the desired activity patterns. Simulations and a blocked fMRI experiment were employed for the method to be verified and compared with the general linear model (GLM)-based analysis. The simulation studies and the experimental results indicated the superiority of the proposed method over the GLM-based analysis in detecting brain activities.

Using old liver grafts for liver transplantation: where are the limits?

PubMed

Jiménez-Romero, Carlos; Caso Maestro, Oscar; Cambra Molero, Félix; Justo Alonso, Iago; Alegre Torrado, Cristina; Manrique Municio, Alejandro; Calvo Pulido, Jorge; Loinaz Segurola, Carmelo; Moreno González, Enrique

2014-08-21

The scarcity of ideal liver grafts for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has led transplant teams to investigate other sources of grafts in order to augment the donor liver pool. One way to get more liver grafts is to use marginal donors, a not well-defined group which includes mainly donors > 60 years, donors with hypernatremia or macrosteatosis > 30%, donors with hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B virus positive serologies, cold ischemia time > 12 h, non-heart-beating donors, and grafts from split-livers or living-related donations. Perhaps the most practical and frequent measure to increase the liver pool, and thus to reduce waiting list mortality, is to use older livers. In the past years the results of OLT with old livers have improved, mainly due to better selection and maintenance of donors, improvements in surgical techniques in donors and recipients, and intra- and post-OLT management. At the present time, sexagenarian livers are generally accepted, but there still exists some controversy regarding the use of septuagenarian and octogenarian liver grafts. The aim of this paper is to briefly review the aging process of the liver and reported experiences using old livers for OLT. Fundamentally, the series of septuagenarian and octogenarian livers will be addressed to see if there is a limit to using these aged grafts.

Using old liver grafts for liver transplantation: Where are the limits?

PubMed Central

Jiménez-Romero, Carlos; Caso Maestro, Oscar; Cambra Molero, Félix; Justo Alonso, Iago; Alegre Torrado, Cristina; Manrique Municio, Alejandro; Calvo Pulido, Jorge; Loinaz Segurola, Carmelo; Moreno González, Enrique

2014-01-01

The scarcity of ideal liver grafts for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has led transplant teams to investigate other sources of grafts in order to augment the donor liver pool. One way to get more liver grafts is to use marginal donors, a not well-defined group which includes mainly donors > 60 years, donors with hypernatremia or macrosteatosis > 30%, donors with hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B virus positive serologies, cold ischemia time > 12 h, non-heart-beating donors, and grafts from split-livers or living-related donations. Perhaps the most practical and frequent measure to increase the liver pool, and thus to reduce waiting list mortality, is to use older livers. In the past years the results of OLT with old livers have improved, mainly due to better selection and maintenance of donors, improvements in surgical techniques in donors and recipients, and intra- and post-OLT management. At the present time, sexagenarian livers are generally accepted, but there still exists some controversy regarding the use of septuagenarian and octogenarian liver grafts. The aim of this paper is to briefly review the aging process of the liver and reported experiences using old livers for OLT. Fundamentally, the series of septuagenarian and octogenarian livers will be addressed to see if there is a limit to using these aged grafts. PMID:25152573

Are drowned donors marginal donors? A single pediatric center experience.

PubMed

Kumm, Kayla R; Galván, N Thao N; Koohmaraie, Sarah; Rana, Abbas; Kueht, Michael; Baugh, Katherine; Hao, Liu; Yoeli, Dor; Cotton, Ronald; O'Mahony, Christine A; Goss, John A

2017-09-01

Drowning, a common cause of death in the pediatric population, is a potentially large donor pool for OLT. Anecdotally, transplant centers have deemed these organs high risk over concerns for infection and graft dysfunction. We theorized drowned donor liver allografts do not portend worse outcomes and therefore should not be excluded from the donation pool. We reviewed our single-center experience of pediatric OLTs between 1988 and 2015 and identified 33 drowned donor recipients. These OLTs were matched 1:2 to head trauma donor OLTs from our center. A chart review assessed postoperative peak AST and ALT, incidence of HAT, graft and recipient survival. Recipient survival at one year between patients with drowned donor vs head trauma donor allografts was not statistically significant (94% vs 97%, P=.63). HAT incidence was 6.1% in the drowned donor group vs 7.6% in the control group (P=.78). Mean postoperative peak AST and ALT was 683 U/L and 450 U/L for drowned donors vs 1119 U/L and 828 U/L in the matched cohort. These results suggest drowned donor liver allografts do not portend worse outcomes in comparison with those procured from head trauma donors. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Novel MDM-PON scheme utilizing self-homodyne detection for high-speed/capacity access networks.

PubMed

Chen, Yuanxiang; Li, Juhao; Zhu, Paikun; Wu, Zhongying; Zhou, Peng; Tian, Yu; Ren, Fang; Yu, Jinyi; Ge, Dawei; Chen, Jingbiao; He, Yongqi; Chen, Zhangyuan

2015-12-14

In this paper, we propose a cost-effective, energy-saving mode-division-multiplexing passive optical network (MDM-PON) scheme utilizing self-homodyne detection for high-speed/capacity access network based on low modal-crosstalk few-mode fiber (FMF) and all-fiber mode multiplexer/demultiplexer (MUX/DEMUX). In the proposed scheme, one of the spatial modes is used to transmit a portion of signal carrier (namely pilot-tone) as the local oscillator (LO), while the others are used for signal-bearing channels. At the receiver, the pilot-tone and the signal can be separated without strong crosstalk and sent to the receiver for coherent detection. The spectral efficiency (SE) is significantly enhanced when multiple spatial channels are used. Meanwhile, the self-homodyne detection scheme can effectively suppress laser phase noise, which relaxes the requirement for the lasers line-width at the optical line terminal or optical network units (OLT/ONUs). The digital signal processing (DSP) at the receiver is also simplified since it removes the need for frequency offset compensation and complex phase correction, which reduces the computational complexity and energy consumption. Polarization division multiplexing (PDM) that offers doubled SE is also supported by the scheme. The proposed scheme is scalable to multi-wavelength application when wavelength MUX/DEMUX is utilized. Utilizing the proposed scheme, we demonstrate a proof of concept 4 × 40-Gb/s orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission over 55-km FMF using low modal-crosstalk two-mode FMF and MUX/DEMUX with error free operation. Compared with back to back case, less than 1-dB Q-factor penalty is observed after 55-km FMF of the four channels. Signal power and pilot-tone power are also optimized to achieve the optimal transmission performance.

Does an injection of a stromal vascular fraction containing adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells influence the outcomes of marrow stimulation in osteochondral lesions of the talus? A clinical and magnetic resonance imaging study.

PubMed

Kim, Yong Sang; Lee, Ho Jin; Choi, Yun Jin; Kim, Yong Il; Koh, Yong Gon

2014-10-01

Marrow stimulation for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs) is controversial in patients with poor prognostic factors of OLTs. Currently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are expected to biologically augment the treatment of OLTs. To compare the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes between an injection of MSCs with marrow stimulation and marrow stimulation alone in patients with OLTs. Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. A total of 49 patients (50 ankles) with OLTs underwent follow-up MRI after arthroscopic treatment. Among these 50 ankles, 26 underwent marrow stimulation alone (conventional group), and 24 underwent marrow stimulation with an injection of a stromal vascular fraction (SVF) containing MSCs (MSC group). Clinical outcomes were evaluated according to the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle-Hindfoot Scale, and Tegner activity scale. The magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) score was used for the MRI evaluation of repaired lesions. The mean VAS score, AOFAS score, and Tegner score improved from 7.1 ± 1.2, 68.5 ± 5.6, and 3.4 ± 0.6 to 3.9 ± 0.8, 78.3 ± 4.9, and 3.5 ± 0.8, respectively, in the conventional group and from 7.1 ± 0.8, 67.7 ± 4.7, and 3.4 ± 0.5 to 3.2 ± 0.8, 83.3 ± 7.0, and 3.9 ± 0.7, respectively, in the MSC group. All clinical outcomes, including the VAS, AOFAS, and Tegner scores, improved significantly in the MSC group compared with the conventional group (P = .003, .009, and .041, respectively). There was a significant difference (P = .037) in the mean MOCART score between the conventional and MSC groups (49.4 ± 16.6 vs 62.1 ± 21.8, respectively), and significant correlations of the MOCART score with clinical outcomes were found in both groups (P < .05). Patient age (≥46.1 years), large lesion size (≥151.2 mm(2)), and the presence of subchondral cysts were associated with a worse MOCART score in the conventional group (P = .015, .004, and .013, respectively) but not in the MSC group. Clinical and MRI outcomes of an injection of an SVF containing MSCs with marrow stimulation were encouraging, compared with marrow stimulation alone, for the treatment of OLTs. Therefore, an injection of an SVF containing MSCs with marrow stimulation should be considered as a treatment for OLTs, even when poor prognostic factors, including older age, large-sized lesion, or the presence of subchondral cysts, exist. © 2014 The Author(s).

Piggyback technique in adult orthotopic liver transplantation: an analysis of 1067 liver transplants at a single center

PubMed Central

Nakamura, Noboru; Vaidya, Anil; Levi, David M.; Kato, Tomoaki; Nery, Jose R.; Madariaga, Juan R.; Molina, Enrique; Ruiz, Phillip; Gyamfi, Anthony; Tzakis, Andreas G.

2006-01-01

Background. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in adult patients has traditionally been performed using conventional caval reconstruction technique (CV) with veno-venous bypass. Recently, the piggyback technique (PB) without veno-venous bypass has begun to be widely used. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of routine use of PB on OLTs in adult patients. Patients and methods. A retrospective analysis was undertaken of 1067 orthotopic cadaveric whole liver transplantations in adult patients treated between June 1994 and July 2001. PB was used as the routine procedure. Patient demographics, factors including cold ischemia time (CIT), warm ischemia time (WIT), operative time, transfusions, blood loss, and postoperative results were assessed. The effects of clinical factors on graft survival were assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses.In all, 918 transplantations (86%) were performed with PB. Blood transfusion, WIT, and usage of veno-venous bypass were less with PB. Seventy-five (8.3%) cases with PB had refractory ascites following OLT (p=NS). Five venous outflow stenosis cases (0.54%) with PB were noted (p=NS). The liver and renal function during the postoperative periods was similar. Overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year patient survival rates were 85%, 78%, and 72% with PB. Univariate analysis showed that cava reconstruction method, CIT, WIT, amount of transfusion, length of hospital stay, donor age, and tumor presence were significant factors influencing graft survival. Multivariate analysis further reinforced the fact that CIT, donor age, amount of transfusion, and hospital stay were prognostic factors for graft survival. Conclusions. PB can be performed safely in the majority of adult OLTs. Results of OLT with PB are as same as for CV. Liver function, renal function, morbidity, mortality, and patient and graft survival are similar to CV. However, amount of transfusion, WIT, and use of veno-venous bypass are less with PB. PMID:18333273

Clinical values of AFP, GPC3 mRNA in peripheral blood for prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence following OLT: AFP, GPC3 mRNA for prediction of HCC.

PubMed

Wang, Yuliang; Shen, Zhongyang; Zhu, Zhijun; Han, Ruifa; Huai, Mingsheng

2011-03-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Annually, about 200,000 patients died of HCC in China. Liver transplantation (LT) holds great theoretical appeal in treating HCC. However, the high recurrence rate after transplantation is the most important limiting factor for long-term survival. To assess the value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) messenger RNA (mRNA), Glypican-3 (GPC3) mRNA-expressing cells in the peripheral blood (PB) for prediction of HCC recurrence following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). 29 patients with HCC who underwent OLT with a minimum clinical follow-up of 12 months were included in this retrospective study. We detected AFP mRNA, GPC3 mRNA-expressing cells in the PB by TaqMan real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), pre-, intra- and post-operatively. The early recurrence of patients was evaluated. 8 (28%), 15 (52%), and 9 (31%) patients had AFP mRNA detected pre-, intra-, and post-operatively, respectively. With 12 months of follow-up, HCC recurred in 7 (24%) patients. Univariate analysis revealed that positive pre- and post-operative AFP mRNA, TNM stage as well as vascular invasion were significant predictors for the HCC recurrence. Multivariate analysis revealed that being positive for AFP mRNA pre-operatively remained a significant risk factor for HCC recurrence after OLT. GPC3 mRNA was expressed in all PB samples. There was no significant difference in the expression levels of GPC3 mRNA between the HCC and control groups. There were no significant differences in GPC3 mRNA expression values between those patients with and without tumor recurrence. The pre-operative detection of circulating AFP mRNA-expressing cells could be a useful predictor for HCC recurrence following OLT. GPC3 mRNA-expressing cells in PB seem to have no diagnostic value.

The effect of prior upper abdominal surgery on outcomes after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: An analysis of the database of the organ procurement transplant network.

PubMed

Silva, Jack P; Berger, Nicholas G; Yin, Ziyan; Liu, Ying; Tsai, Susan; Christians, Kathleen K; Clarke, Callisia N; Mogal, Harveshp; Gamblin, T Clark

2018-05-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the preferred treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in select patients. Many patients listed for OLT have a history of prior upper abdominal surgery (UAS). Repeat abdominal surgery increases operative complexity and may cause a greater incidence of complication. This study sought to compare outcomes after liver transplantation for patients with and without prior UAS. Adult HCC patients undergoing OLT were identified using the database from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (1987-2015). Patients were separated by presence of prior UAS into 2 propensity-matched cohorts. Overall survival (OS) and graft survival (GS) were analyzed by log-rank test and graphed using Kaplan-Meier method. Recipient and donor demographic and clinical characteristics were also studied using Cox regression models. A total of 15,043 patients were identified, of whom 6,205 had prior UAS (41.2%). After 1:1 propensity score matching, cohorts (UAS versus no UAS) contained 4,669 patients. UAS patients experienced shorter GS (122 months vs 129 months; P < .001) and shorter OS (130 months vs 141 months; P < .001). Median duration of stay for both cohorts was 8 days. Multivariate Cox regression models revealed that prior UAS was associated with an increased hazard ratio (HR) for GS (HR 1.14; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.22; P < .001) and OS (HR 1.14; 95% CI 1.06-1.23; P < .001). Prior UAS is an independent negative predictor of GS and OS after OLT for HCC. OLT performed in patients with UAS remains a well-tolerated and effective treatment for select HCC patients but may alter expected outcomes and influence follow-up protocols. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predicting the discharge status after liver transplantation at a single center: a new approach for a new era.

PubMed

Kelly, Dympna M; Bennett, Renee; Brown, Nancy; McCoy, Judy; Boerner, Derek; Yu, Changhong; Eghtesad, Bijan; Barsoum, Wael; Fung, John J; Kattan, Michael W

2012-07-01

The aim of this study was to develop a tool for preoperatively predicting the need of a patient to attend an extended care facility after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). A multidisciplinary group, which included 2 transplant surgeons, 2 transplant nurses, 1 nurse manager, 2 physical therapists, 1 case manager, 1 home health care professional, 1 rehabilitation physician, and 1 statistician, met to identify preoperative factors relevant to discharge planning. The parameters that were examined as potential predictors of the discharge status were as follows: age, sex, language, Karnofsky score, OLT alone (versus a combined procedure), creatinine, bilirubin, international normalized ratio (INR), albumin, body mass index (BMI), Child-Turcotte-Pugh score, chemical Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, renal dialysis, location before transplantation, comorbidities (encephalopathy, ascites, hydrothorax, and hepatopulmonary syndrome), diabetes mellitus (DM), cardiac ejection fraction and right ventricular systolic pressure, sex and availability of the primary caregiver, donor risk index, and donor characteristics. Between January 2004 and April 2010, 730 of 777 patients (94%) underwent only liver transplantation, and 47 patients (6%) underwent combined procedures. Five hundred nineteen patients (67%) were discharged home, 215 (28%) were discharged to a facility, and 43 (6%) died early after OLT. A multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the following parameters as significantly influencing the discharge status: a low Karnofsky score, an older age, female sex, an INR of 2.0, a creatinine level of 2.0 mg/dL, DM, a high bilirubin level, a low albumin level, a low or high BMI, and renal dialysis before OLT. The nomogram was prospectively validated with a population of 126 OLT recipients with a concordance index of 0.813. In conclusion, a new approach to improving the efficiency of hospital care is essential. We believe that this tool will aid in reducing lengths of stay and improving the experience of patients by facilitating early discharge planning. Copyright © 2012 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Role of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Before Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: Retrospective Evaluation of Pathologic Response and Outcomes

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

Mannina, Edward Michael, E-mail: emmannina@gmail.com; Cardenes, Higinia Rosa; Lasley, Foster D.

Purpose: To analyze the results of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in patients with early-stage, localized hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent definitive orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Methods and Materials: The subjects of this retrospective report are 38 patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent SBRT per institutional phase 1 to 2 eligibility criteria, before definitive OLT. Pre-OLT radiographs were compared with pathologic gold standard. Analysis of treatment failures and deaths was undertaken. Results: With median follow-up of 4.8 years from OLT, 9 of 38 patients (24%) recurred, whereas 10 of 38 patients (26%) died. Kaplan-Meier estimates of 3-year overall survival and disease-free survivalmore » are 77% and 74%, respectively. Sum longest dimension of tumors was significantly associated with disease-free survival (hazard ratio 1.93, P=.026). Pathologic response rate (complete plus partial response) was 68%. Radiographic scoring criteria performed poorly; modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors produced highest concordance (κ = 0.224). Explants revealed viable tumor in 74% of evaluable patients. Treatment failures had statistically larger sum longest dimension of tumors (4.0 cm vs 2.8 cm, P=.014) and non–statistically significant higher rates of lymphovascular space invasion (44% vs 17%), cT2 disease (44% vs 21%), ≥pT2 disease (67% vs 34%), multifocal tumors at time of SBRT (44% vs 21%), and less robust mean α-fetoprotein response (−25 IU/mL vs −162 IU/mL). Conclusions: Stereotactic body radiation therapy before to OLT is a well-tolerated treatment providing 68% pathologic response, though 74% of explants ultimately contained viable tumor. Radiographic response criteria poorly approximate pathology. Our data suggest further stratification of patients according to initial disease burden and treatment response.« less

All-optical VPN utilizing DSP-based digital orthogonal filters access for PONs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaoling; Zhang, Chongfu; Chen, Chen; Jin, Wei; Qiu, Kun

2018-04-01

Utilizing digital filtering-enabled signal multiplexing and de-multiplexing, a cost-effective all-optical virtual private network (VPN) system is proposed, for the first time to our best knowledge, in digital filter multiple access passive optical networks (DFMA-PONs). Based on the DFMA technology, the proposed system can be easily designed to meet the requirements of next generation network's flexibility, elasticity, adaptability and compatibility. Through dynamic digital filter allocation and recycling, the proposed all-optical VPN system can provide dynamic establishments and cancellations of multiple VPN communications with arbitrary traffic volumes. More importantly, due to the employment of DFMA technology, the system is not limited to a fixed signal format and different signal formats such as pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) can be used. Moreover, one transceiver is sufficient to simultaneously transmit upstream (US)/VPN data to optical line terminal (OLT) or other VPN optical network units (ONUs), thus leading to great reduction in network constructions and operation expenditures. The proposed all-optical VPN system is demonstrated with the transceiver incorporating the formats of QAM and OFDM, which can be made transparent to downstream (DS), US and VPN communications. The bit error rates (BERs) of DS, US and VPN for OFDM signals are below the forward-error-correction (FEC) limit of 3 . 8 × 10-3 when the received optical powers are about -16.8 dBm, -14.5 dBm and -15.7 dBm, respectively.

Perioperative management in orthotopic liver transplantation: results of an Italian national survey.

PubMed

Biancofiore, G; Della Rocca, G

2012-06-01

No data are available on the perioperative approach during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in Italy, apart from sporadically single center studies. The Department of Anesthesia cooperating with each Italian licensed OLT center received a questionnaire regarding preoperative evaluation, intraoperative anesthesia management, anesthetic drugs, blood components therapy, perioperative monitoring, supportive therapies, postoperative care, staff and organization. Twenty-two centers were surveyed and 17 returned the questionnaire. Center specific protocols for OLT anesthesia exist in 12 centers. Balanced anesthesia (volatile anesthetic agents and continuous infusion of opioids) is the standard anesthetic method. In 14 cases a thromboelastogram is available; one center reported not to have a rapid infusion device available. Pulmonary artery catheterization with a continuous cardiac output device is the most used hemodynamic monitoring system; in case of hemodynamic instability, the combination of dopamine/noradrenaline resulted the first choice before vascular clamping whereas noradrenaline alone after graft's reperfusion. No difference about which intraoperative phase is mostly characterized by the use of blood components was reported. Postoperative care is provided on anesthesiological-guided Intensive Care Units (ICU) in all the surveyed centers and in three centers the ICU is dedicated only to transplant patients. The results of this survey show that in Italy the perioperative management of patients undergoing OLT is not homogeneous. This database allows to debate on the best practices and pathways for perioperative management of these patients, and to stimulate future clinical trials aimed to assess the different component and steps forwards of the whole process.

Epsilon-aminocaproic acid improves postrecirculation hemodynamics by reducing intraliver activated protein C consumption in orthotopic liver transplantation.

PubMed

Kong, H Y; Wen, X H; Huang, S Q; Zhu, S M

2014-01-01

Activated protein C (APC) is related to regulating the inflammatory response and hemodynamic stability upon reperfusion in cardiac operations and orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) is frequently used to treat fibrinolysis during OLT. It also has inhibitory effects related to the inflammatory response. However, it remains to be determined whether EACA can attenuate intraliver APC consumption and improve hemodynamic stability after reperfusion during OLT. Fifty-nine recipients were randomized to receive either EACA (150 mg kg(-1) given intravenously prior to incision, followed by 15 mg kg(-1) h(-1) infusion until 2 h after the graft reperfusion) or the same volume of saline. Blood samples to assess plasma APC and protein C were obtained immediately before and after reperfusion from the inferior caval effluent or the portal veins for calculation of transliver differences (Δ). Hemodynamics and vasoactive medication use during the reperfusion period were observed in both groups. No transhepatic changes in protein C were found in either group. Immediately after reperfusion, a marked intraliver consumption of APC was noted in all recipients (P < 0.001), and intraliver consumption of APC in the control group was greater than that in the EACA-treated group (P < 0.05). Fewer requirements for vasoactive medication use after reperfusion and better initial graft function were noted in the EACA-treated group (P < 0.05). EACA can attenuate intraliver APC consumption and improve hemodynamic stability after reperfusion and initial graft function during OLT.

Cardio-hepatic risk assessment by CMR imaging in liver transplant candidates.

PubMed

Reddy, Sahadev T; Thai, Ngoc L; Oliva, Jose; Tom, Kusum B; Dishart, Michael K; Doyle, Mark; Yamrozik, June A; Williams, Ronald B; Shah, Moneal; Wani, Adil; Singh, Anil; Maheswary, Rishi; Biederman, Robert W W

2018-03-02

The preoperative workup of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) patients is practically complex given the need for multiple imaging modalities. We recently demonstrated in our proof-of-concept study the value of a one-stop-shop approach using cardiovascular MRI (CMR) to address this complex problem. However, this approach requires further validation in a larger cohort, as detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as well as cardiovascular risk assessment is critically important in these patients. We hypothesized that coronary risk assessment and HCC detectability is acceptable using the one-stop-shop CMR approach. In this observational study, patients underwent CMRI evaluation including cardiac function, stress CMR, thoracoabdominal MRA, and abdominal MRI on a standard MRI scanner in one examination. Over 8 years, 252 OLT candidates underwent evaluation in the cardiac MRI suit. The completion rates for each segment of the CMR examination were 99% for function, 95% completed stress CMR, 93% completed LGE for viability, 85% for liver MRI, and 87% for MRA. A negative CMR stress examination had 100% CAD event-free survival at 12 months. A total of 63 (29%) patients proceeded to OLT. Explant pathology confirmed detection/exclusion of HCC. This study further defines the population suitable for the one-stop-shop CMR concept for preop evaluation of OLT candidates providing a road map for integrated testing in this complex patient population for evaluation of cardiac risk and detection of HCC lesions. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Applying psychological theories to evidence-based clinical practice: identifying factors predictive of placing preventive fissure sealants.

PubMed

Bonetti, Debbie; Johnston, Marie; Clarkson, Jan E; Grimshaw, Jeremy; Pitts, Nigel B; Eccles, Martin; Steen, Nick; Thomas, Ruth; Maclennan, Graeme; Glidewell, Liz; Walker, Anne

2010-04-08

Psychological models are used to understand and predict behaviour in a wide range of settings, but have not been consistently applied to health professional behaviours, and the contribution of differing theories is not clear. This study explored the usefulness of a range of models to predict an evidence-based behaviour -- the placing of fissure sealants. Measures were collected by postal questionnaire from a random sample of general dental practitioners (GDPs) in Scotland. Outcomes were behavioural simulation (scenario decision-making), and behavioural intention. Predictor variables were from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), Common Sense Self-regulation Model (CS-SRM), Operant Learning Theory (OLT), Implementation Intention (II), Stage Model, and knowledge (a non-theoretical construct). Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the predictive value of each theoretical model individually. Significant constructs from all theories were then entered into a 'cross theory' stepwise regression analysis to investigate their combined predictive value. Behavioural simulation - theory level variance explained was: TPB 31%; SCT 29%; II 7%; OLT 30%. Neither CS-SRM nor stage explained significant variance. In the cross theory analysis, habit (OLT), timeline acute (CS-SRM), and outcome expectancy (SCT) entered the equation, together explaining 38% of the variance. Behavioural intention - theory level variance explained was: TPB 30%; SCT 24%; OLT 58%, CS-SRM 27%. GDPs in the action stage had significantly higher intention to place fissure sealants. In the cross theory analysis, habit (OLT) and attitude (TPB) entered the equation, together explaining 68% of the variance in intention. The study provides evidence that psychological models can be useful in understanding and predicting clinical behaviour. Taking a theory-based approach enables the creation of a replicable methodology for identifying factors that may predict clinical behaviour and so provide possible targets for knowledge translation interventions. Results suggest that more evidence-based behaviour may be achieved by influencing beliefs about the positive outcomes of placing fissure sealants and building a habit of placing them as part of patient management. However a number of conceptual and methodological challenges remain.

Thyroid storm complicated by fulminant hepatic failure: case report and literature review.

PubMed

Hambleton, Catherine; Buell, Joseph; Saggi, Bob; Balart, Luis; Shores, Nathan J; Kandil, Emad

2013-11-01

Thyroid storm is a presentation of severe thyrotoxicosis that has a mortality rate of up to 20% to 30%. Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) entails encephalopathy with severe coagulopathy in the setting of liver disease. It carries a high mortality rate, with an approximately 60% rate of overall survival for patients who undergo orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Fulminant hepatic failure is a rare but serious complication of thyroid storm. There have been only 6 previously reported cases of FHF with thyroid storm. We present a patient from our institution with thyroid storm and FHF. A literature review was performed to analyze the outcomes of the 6 additional cases of concomitant thyroid storm and FHF. Our patient underwent thyroidectomy followed by OLT. Her serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone, triiodothyronine, thyroxine, and transaminase normalized, and she was ready for discharge within 10 days of surgery. She has survived without complication. There is a 40% mortality rate for the reported patients treated medically with these conditions. Of the 7 total cases of reported FHF and thyroid storm, 2 patients died. Only 2 of the 7 patients underwent thyroidectomy and OLT--both at our institution. Both patients survived without complications. Thyroid storm and FHF each independently carry high mortality rates, and managing patients with both conditions simultaneously is an extraordinary challenge. These cases should compel clinicians to investigate liver function in hyperthyroid patients and to be wary of its rapid decline in patients who present in thyroid storm with symptoms of liver dysfunction. Patients with rapidly progressing thyroid storm and FHF should be considered for total thyroidectomy and OLT.

An investigation of noise performance in optical lock-in thermography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajic, Nik; Antolis, Cedric

2017-12-01

An investigation into the noise performance of optical lock-in thermography (OLT) is described. The study aims to clarify the influence of infrared detector type and key inspection parameters such as illumination strength and lock-in duration on the quality of OLT amplitude and phase imagery. The study compares the performance of a state-of-the-art cooled photon detector with several lower-cost microbolometers. The results reveal a significant noise performance advantage to the photon detector. Under certain inspection regimes the advantage with respect to phase image quality is disproportionately high relative to detector sensitivities. This is shown to result from an explicit dependence in the phase signal variance on the ratio between the signal amplitude and the detector sensitivity. While this finding supports the preferred use of photon detectors for OLT inspections, it does not exclude microbolometers from a useful role. In cases where the significantly lower capital cost and improved practicality of microbolometers provide an advantage it is shown that performance shortfalls can be overcome with a relatively small factorial increase in optical illumination intensity.

N-acetylcysteine induces shedding of selectins from liver and intestine during orthotopic liver transplantation

PubMed Central

Taut, F J H; Schmidt, H; Zapletal, C M; Thies, J C; Grube, C; Motsch, J; Klar, E; Martin, E

2001-01-01

In orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduces ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, improves liver synthesis function and prevents primary nonfunction of the graft. To further elucidate the mechanisms of these beneficial effects of NAC, we investigated influence of high-dose NAC therapy on the pattern of adhesion molecule release from liver and intestine during OLT. Nine patients receiving allograft OLT were treated with 150 mg NAC/kg during the first hour after reperfusion; 10 patients received the carrier only. One hour after reperfusion, samples of arterial, portal venous and hepatic venous plasma were taken and blood flow in the hepatic artery and the portal vein was measured. Absolute concentrations of sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, sP-selectin and sE-selectin were not markedly different. However, balance calculations showed release of selectins from NAC-treated livers as opposed to net uptake in controls (P ≤ 0·02 for sP-selectin). This shedding of selectins might be a contributing factor to the decrease in leucocyte adherence and improved haemodynamics found experimentally with NAC-treatment. PMID:11422213

Novel toggle-rate based energy-efficient scheme for heavy load real-time IM-DD OFDM-PON with ONU LLID identification in time-domain using amplitude decision.

PubMed

Qin, Youxiang; Zhang, Junjie

2017-07-10

A novel low complexity and energy-efficient scheme by controlling the toggle-rate of ONU with time-domain amplitude identification is proposed for a heavy load downlink in an intensity-modulation and direct-detection orthogonal frequency division multiplexing passive optical network (IM-DD OFDM-PON). In a conventional OFDM-PON downlink, all ONUs have to perform demodulation for all the OFDM frames in a broadcast way no matter whether the frames are targeted to or not, which causes a huge energy waste. However, in our scheme, the optical network unit (ONU) logical link identifications (LLIDs) are inserted into each downlink OFDM frame in time-domain at the optical line terminal (OLT) side. At the ONU side, the LLID is obtained with a low complexity and high precision amplitude identification method. The ONU sets the toggle-rate of demodulation module to zero when the frames are not targeted to, which avoids unnecessary digital signal processing (DSP) energy consumption. Compared with the sleep-mode methods consisting of clock recovery and synchronization, toggle-rate shows its advantage in fast changing, which is more suitable for the heavy load scenarios. Moreover, for the first time to our knowledge, the characteristics of the proposed scheme are investigated in a real-time IM-DD OFDM system, which performs well at the received optical power as low as -21dBm. The experimental results show that 25.1% energy consumption can be saved in the receiver compared to the conventional configurations.

Genetic expression programming-based DBA for enhancing peer-assisted music-on-demand service in EPON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liem, Andrew Tanny; Hwang, I.-Shyan; Nikoukar, AliAkbar; Lee, Jhong-Yue

2015-03-01

Today, the popularity of peer-assisted music-on-demand (MoD) has increased significantly worldwide. This service allows users to access large music library tracks, listen to music, and share their playlist with other users. Unlike the conventional voice traffic, such an application maintains music quality that ranges from 160 kbps to 320 kbps, which most likely consumes more bandwidth than other traffics. In the access network, Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) is one of the best candidates for delivering such a service because of being cost-effective and with high bandwidth. To maintain music quality, a stutter needs to be prevented because of either network effects or when the due user was not receiving enough resources to play in a timely manner. Therefore, in this paper, we propose two genetic expression programming (GEP)-based dynamic bandwidth allocations (DBAs). The first DBA is a generic DBA that aims to find an optimum formula for voice, video, and data services. The second DBA aims to find optimum formulas so that Optical Line Terminal (OLT) can satisfy not only the voice and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) MoD traffics but also reduce the stutter. Optical Network Unit (ONU) traits such as REPORT and GATE messages, cycle time, and mean packet delay are set to be predictor variables. Simulation results show that our proposed DBAs can satisfy the voice and P2P MoD services packet delay and monitor other overall system performances such as expedited forwarding (EF) jitter, packet loss, bandwidth waste, and system throughputs.

Survival benefits of interferon-based therapy in patients with recurrent hepatitis C after orthotopic liver transplantation

PubMed Central

Zanaga, L.P.; Vigani, A.G.; Angerami, R.N.; Giorgetti, A.; Escanhoela, C.A.F.; Ataíde, E.C.; Boin, I.F.S.F.; Stucchi, R.S.B.

2017-01-01

Recurrent hepatitis C after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is universal and can lead to graft failure and, consequently, reduced survival. Hepatitis C treatment can be used to prevent these detrimental outcomes. The aim of this study was to describe rates of hepatitis C recurrence and sustained virological response (SVR) to interferon-based treatment after OLT and its relationship to survival and progression of liver disease through retrospective analysis of medical records of 127 patients who underwent OLT due to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma secondary to chronic hepatitis C between January 2002 and December 2013. Fifty-six patients were diagnosed with recurrent disease, 42 started interferon-based therapy and 37 completed treatment. Demographic, treatment- and outcome-related variables were compared between SVR and non-responders (non-SVR). There was an overall 54.1% SVR rate with interferon-based therapies. SVR was associated with longer follow-up after treatment (median 66.5 vs 37 months for non-SVR, P=0.03) and after OLT (median 105 vs 72 months, P=0.074), and lower rates of disease progression (15 vs 64.7%, P=0.0028) and death (5 vs 35.3%, P=0.033). Regardless of the result of therapy (SVR or non-SVR), there was a significant difference between treated and untreated patients regarding the occurrence of death (P<0.001) and months of survival (P<0.001). Even with suboptimal interferon-based therapies (compared to the new direct-acting antivirals) there is a 54.1% SVR rate to treatment. SVR is associated with improved survival and reduced risks of clinical decompensation, loss of the liver graft and death. PMID:28076451

An assessment of thromboelastometry to monitor blood coagulation and guide transfusion support in liver transplantation.

PubMed

Blasi, Annabel; Beltran, Joan; Pereira, Arturo; Martinez-Palli, Graciela; Torrents, Abiguei; Balust, Jaume; Zavala, Elizabeth; Taura, Pilar; Garcia-Valdecasas, Juan-Carlos

2012-09-01

Rotation thromboelastometry (TEM) has been proposed as a convenient alternative to standard coagulation tests in guiding the treatment of coagulopathy during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). This study was aimed at assessing the value of TEM in monitoring blood coagulation and guide transfusion support in OLT. Standard coagulation and TEM (EXTEM and FIBTEM) tests were performed at four preestablished intraoperative time points in 236 OLTs and prospectively recorded in a dedicated database together with the main operative and transfusion data. Transfusion thresholds were based on standard coagulation tests. Spearman's rank correlation (ρ), linear regression, and receiver operating characteristic curves were used when appropriate. EXTEM maximum clot firmness (MCF(EXTEM)) was the TEM variable that best correlated with the platelet (PLT) and fibrinogen levels (ρ = 0.62 and ρ = 0.69, respectively). MCF(FIBTEM) correlated with fibrinogen level (ρ = 0.70). EXTEM clot amplitude at 10 minutes (A10(EXTEM)) was a good linear predictor of MCF(EXTEM) (R(2) =0.93). The cutoff values that best predicted the transfusion threshold for PLTs and fibrinogen were A10(EXTEM) = 35 mm and A10(FIBTEM) = 8 mm. At these values, the negative and positive predictive accuracies of TEM to predict the transfusion thresholds were 95 and 27%, respectively. A10(EXTEM) is an adequate TEM variable to guide therapeutic decisions during OLT. Patients with A10(EXTEM) of greater than 35 mm are unlikely to bleed because of coagulation deficiencies, but using A10(EXTEM) of not more than 35 mm as the sole transfusion criterion can lead to unnecessary utilization of PLTs and fibrinogen-rich products. © 2012 American Association of Blood Banks.

Early diagnostic value of plasma PCT and BG assay for CRBSI after OLT.

PubMed

Chen, J; Wang, Y; Shen, Z; Zhu, Z; Song, Y; Han, R

2011-06-01

The aim was to evaluate the role of procalcitonin (PCT) and (1-3)-β-D-glucan (BG) tests for early detection or exclusion of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Fifty-five patients with clinically suspected CRBSI were assessed after OLT in this prospective study. On the day of clinical suspicion of CRBSI, blood samples were obtained from central venous catheters and a peripheral vein for blood cultures and from a peripheral vein for PCT and BG tests. Plasma PCT and BG values were measured by using an immunoluminometric assay and Fungitell BG assay, respectively. No prisoners or organs from prisoners were used in this study. Twenty-five patients (45%) were diagnosed with CRBIS. Among them, 13 (52%) displayed gram-positive bacteriemia, 11 (44%) gram-negative bacteriemia, and 1 (4%) fungemia. The PCT values were higher in CRBSI than in non-CRBSI patients (P = .003). CRBSI patients did not show significant increases in plasma BG values compared with non-CRBSI subjects (P = .051). PCT and BG area under receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.840 and 0.486, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of a PCT of ≥ 3.1 ng/mL for the diagnosis of CRBSI were 0.72, 0.87, 0.82, and 0.79, respectively. The figures for a BG of ≥ 83 pg/mL were 0.32, 0.90, 0.73, and 0.61, respectively. Among the 24 patients with bacteria infections, PCT was higher in patients with gram-negative than those with gram-positive bacterial infections (P = .022). We concluded that the PCT assay may be a useful rapid diagnostic adjunct for the diagnosis of suspected CRBSI in OLT patients. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of INF-gamma, TNF-alpha and dendritic cells to predict hepatitis C virus recurrence in liver transplant patients.

PubMed

Ocaña, L; Cos, J; Quer, J; Bilbao, I; Palou, E; Parra, R; Sauleda, S; Esteban, J I; Guàrdia, J; Massuet, L I; Margarit, C

2005-11-01

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease and the reason for more than 50% of liver transplantations (OLT). Recurrent HCV infection occurs in almost all transplant recipients and has an unfavorable course. Although immunosuppressive agents are necessary to avoid allograft rejection, these drugs may favor viral replication facilitating viral-mediated graft injury. To predict the evolution of two HCV(+) patients who underwent OLT, we studied INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production and the maturation capacity of dendritic cells (DCs) at three time points: before transplantation (Pre-Tx) and at 2 (2M) and 6 (6M) months after transplantation. Cytometric bead assays were used to quantify INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production in the supernates of mixed leukocyte reactions (MLR) between spleen cells from the liver donor and CD4(+) cells from the recipients. Immature and mature DCs were generated in vitro from patient monocytes. The one patient who experienced recurrent HCV showed loss of CD4(+) responses to donor antigens and INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production after OLT. In contrast, the other patient maintained detectable levels of these cytokines after OLT. It was possible to generate mature DCs from monocytes with the aid of CD40L in both cases, but decreased expression of HLA-DR, CD80, and CD86 markers was observed upon posttransplantation analyses in the patient with recurrent HCV. Loss of the proliferative response as well as INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production, together with a decreased HLA-DR, CD80, and CD86 (markers of mature DCs), indicated an inadequate immune response to viral progression in the liver transplant recipient with relapsing HCV infection.

Betel quid chewing leads to the development of unique de novo malignancies in liver transplant recipients, a retrospective single center study in Taiwan.

PubMed

Chen, Yi-Chan; Cheng, Chih-Hsien; Wang, Yu-Chao; Wu, Ting-Jun; Chou, Hong-Shiue; Chan, Kun-Ming; Lee, Wei-Chen; Lee, Chen-Fang; Soong, Ruey Shyang

2016-09-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the choice of treatment not only for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure but also for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The development of de novo malignancies after liver transplantation plays an important role in late mortality; the incidence of late mortality has increased owing to improved survival. The incidence of de novo malignancies is 2.3% to 25%, which is 2 to 3 times that of malignancies in the general population. The most commonly reported de novo malignancies in solid organs are skin cancer, Karposi sarcoma, and colon cancer according to the frequency of exposure to a specific carcinogen. We hypothesized that exposure to different carcinogens would change the distribution of de novo malignancies among patients after OLT. In Taiwan, 10% of the population is exposed to a unique carcinogen, the betel quid, which is associated with a high incidence of head and neck cancer (HNC) among the Taiwanese population.From 2004 to 2014, we retrospectively reviewed 484 cases post-OLT at our institution and 16 patients with 17 de novo malignancies were identified. Most of the patients had HNC, which is in contrast to previous literature reports.Univariate and multivariate analyses identified betel quid chewing as the main leading factor for HNC in the Taiwanese population.Routine screening of the oral mucosa in patients with the habit of betel quid chewing is recommended in Taiwan for the early detection of HNC. Routine screening with aggressive treatment after diagnosis of HNC in patients with the habit of chewing betel quid, who underwent OLT, resulted in good patient prognosis.

Septuagenarian and octogenarian donors provide excellent liver grafts for transplantation.

PubMed

Darius, T; Monbaliu, D; Jochmans, I; Meurisse, N; Desschans, B; Coosemans, W; Komuta, M; Roskams, T; Cassiman, D; van der Merwe, S; Van Steenbergen, W; Verslype, C; Laleman, W; Aerts, R; Nevens, F; Pirenne, J

2012-11-01

Wider utilization of liver grafts from donors ≥ 70 years old could substantially expand the organ pool, but their use remains limited by fear of poorer outcomes. We examined the results at our center of liver transplantation (OLT) using livers from donors ≥ 70 years old. From February 2003 to August 2010, we performed 450 OLT including 58 (13%) using donors ≥ 70 whose outcomes were compared with those using donors <70 years old. Cerebrovascular causes of death predominated among donors ≥ 70 (85% vs 47% in donors <70; P < .001). In contrast, traumatic causes of death predominated among donors <70 (36% vs 14% in donors ≥ 70; P = .002). Unlike grafts from donors <70 years old, grafts from older individuals had no additional risk factors (steatosis, high sodium, or hemodynamic instability). Both groups were comparable for cold and warm ischemia times. No difference was noted in posttransplant peak transaminases, incidence of primary nonfunction, hepatic artery thrombosis, biliary strictures, or retransplantation rates between groups. The 1- and 5-year patient survivals were 88% and 82% in recipients of livers <70 versus 90% and 84% in those from ≥ 70 years old (P = .705). Recipients of older grafts, who were 6 years older than recipients of younger grafts (P < .001), tended to have a lower laboratory Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score (P = .074). Short and mid-term survival following OLT using donors ≥ 70 yo can be excellent provided that there is adequate donor and recipient selection. Septuagenarians and octogenarians with cerebrovascular ischemic and bleeding accidents represent a large pool of potential donors whose wider use could substantially reduce mortality on the OLT waiting list. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

(LBA-and-WRM)-based DBA scheme for multi-wavelength upstream transmission supporting 10 Gbps and 1 Gbps in MAN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuchao; Gan, Chaoqin; Gou, Kaiyu; Xu, Anni; Ma, Jiamin

2018-01-01

DBA scheme based on Load balance algorithm (LBA) and wavelength recycle mechanism (WRM) for multi-wavelength upstream transmission is proposed in this paper. According to 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps line rates, ONUs are grouped into different VPONs. To facilitate wavelength management, resource pool is proposed to record wavelength state. To realize quantitative analysis, a mathematical model describing metro-access network (MAN) environment is presented. To 10G-EPON upstream, load balance algorithm is designed to ensure load distribution fairness for 10G-OLTs. To 1G-EPON upstream, wavelength recycle mechanism is designed to share remained wavelengths. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by simulation and analysis.

Changes in the Concentrations of Mediators of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Exhaled Breath Condensate During Liver Transplantation and Their Relations With Postoperative ARDS.

PubMed

Liu, Dezhao; Luo, Gangjian; Luo, Chenfang; Wang, Tao; Sun, Guoliang; Hei, Ziqing

2015-05-01

Oxidative stress and inflammatory responses are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of ARDS, which is one of the most serious complications of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The collection of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a noninvasive method for obtaining clinical samples from the lungs. However, the changes of mediators of inflammation and oxidative stress in EBC remain unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the changes of mediators in EBC from OLT subjects and the relations between these mediators and ARDS. The levels of mediators of oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase [SOD], malondialdehyde [MDA], H2O2, NO, and 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α) and of inflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor-α[TNF-α], interleukin [IL]-8, and IL-10) were measured in EBC and serum samples collected from 28 subjects before OLT surgery and at 2 and 4 h after the anhepatic phase. The diagnostic value for ARDS until the 3 days following transplantation was evaluated. Eighteen subjects developed ARDS after OLT. The concentrations of TNF-α, IL-8, MDA, NO, H2O2, and 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α were much higher in the ARDS group than in the control group, whereas the levels of IL-10 and SOD were lower in the ARDS group than in the control group. The serum levels of mediators of oxidative stress or inflammation were closely related to EBC levels. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that areas under the curves for MDA, NO, H2O2, 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α, TNF-α, IL-8, SOD, and IL-10 were 0.88, 0.88, 0.78, 0.84, 0.84, 0.94, 0.81, and 0.84 at 2 h after graft reperfusion and 0.98, 0.88, 0.92, 0.79, 0.95, 0.83, 0.88, and 0.97 at 4 h after graft reperfusion. EBC analysis is a noninvasive method for detecting mediators of inflammation and oxidative stress from the lungs. This method could be used to predict the higher incidence of ARDS induced by OLT. Copyright © 2015 by Daedalus Enterprises.

Predictive Value of Serum Creatinine, Blood Urea Nitrogen, Uric Acid, and β2-Microglobulin in the Evaluation of Acute Kidney Injury after Orthotopic Liver Transplantation.

PubMed

Lu, Hai-Yang; Ning, Xin-Yu; Chen, Ying-Qi; Han, Shu-Jun; Chi, Ping; Zhu, Sai-Nan; Yue, Yun

2018-05-05

As a major complication after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), the occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequently defined by serum creatinine (Cr); however, the accuracy of commonly used blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid (UA), and β 2 -microglobulin (β 2 -MG) remains to be explored. This retrospective study compared the accuracy of these parameters for post-OLT AKI evaluation. Patients who underwent OLT in three centers between July 2003 and December 2013 were enrolled. The postoperative AKI group was diagnosed by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria and classified by stage. Measurement data were analyzed using the t-test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test; enumerated data were analyzed using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Diagnostic reliability and predictive accuracy were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. This study excluded 976 cases and analyzed 697 patients (578 men and 119 women); the post-OLT AKI incidence was 0.409. Compared with the no-AKI group, the AKI group showed very significant differences in Model for End-stage Liver Disease score (14.74 ± 9.91 vs. 11.07 ± 9.54, Z = 5.404; P < 0.001), hepatic encephalopathy (45 [15.8%] vs. 30 [7.3%], χ 2 = 12.699; P < 0.001), hemofiltration (28 [9.8%] vs. 0 [0.0%], χ 2 = 42.171; P < 0.001), and 28-day mortality (23 [8.1%] vs. 9 [2.2%], χ 2 = 13.323; P <0.001). Moreover, mean values of Cr, BUN, UA, and β 2 -MG in the AKI group differed significantly at postoperative days 1, 3, and 7 (all P < 0.001). ROC curve area was 0.847 of Cr for the detection of AKI Stage 1 (sensitivity 80.1%, specificity 75.7%, cutoff value 88.23 μmol/L), 0.916 for Stage 2 (sensitivity 87.6%, specificity 82.6%, cutoff value 99.9 μmol/L), and 0.972 for Stage 3 (sensitivity 94.1%, specificity 88.2%, cutoff value 122.90 μmol/L). The sensitivity and specificity of serum Cr might be a high-value indicator for the diagnosis and grading of post-OLT AKI.

Why should we pay more for layout designers?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Samee U.

2003-12-01

In this paper, we discuss the Passive Optical Network (PON) deployment on an arbitrary grid with guarenteed p-1 equipment failure. We show that this problem in general is NP-hard. We propose an algorithm, which guarantees a solution of 4-approximation to the optimal deployment, and further argue that this is the best lower bound achievable in our case.A basic architecture of PON is shown in figure 1.The main component of PON is an optical splitter device. Depending on which direction the light is travelling, it splits the incoming light and distributes it to multiple fibers towards Optical Network Termination (ONT), or combines it into one towards Optical Line Terminal (OLT). The PON technology uses a double-star architecture. The first star topology centers at the OLT, and the second at the optical splitter. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: We can formulate the problem of optimal p-1 fault-tolerent PON Network Layout (PNL)as a graph theoretical problem. Consider a graph G(V,E), such that V represent the physical locations of the subscriber's, CO, and another location acquired by the CO to expand its network, and E represent the communication lines between two Vi's. If there is no direct communication line c(i,j) between Vi and Vj, we consider the shortest path between them measured in terms of simple distance or cost constraints. Without the loss of generality we assume that c(i,j)=c(j,i). For simplicity we do not further sub-divide V into the obvious categories that represent the locations of OLT, ONT, CO, optical splitters and the subscribers. We can now formulate the PNL problem as follows: "Given an undirected graph G, find the locations of ONTs and splitters such that the cost of the equipment is minimized and for QoS the maximum distance from an ONT to the pth splitter and from a splitter to the pth OLT is minimized". We assume that the OLT is residing inside the CO. The problem definition does not consider the optimization of ONT to the customer premises. This is due to the fact that the distance from ONT to the premises is negligibly small, and fault tolerance for a failed ONT can be answered by replacing the connection from a nearby ONT. We will treat ONT and ONU as more or less the same entity. GENERALIZED PNL IS NP-Hard: Essentially our problem definition consists of two major optimization steps, i.e. ONT to splitters and splitters to the OLT. Showing the hardness of the problem over one optimization step would be sufficient to show that the over all the problem is hard. If we consider the optimization of the first phase of the problem, i.e. minimize the maximum distance of ONTs to the splitters and reduce the cost of the equipment, this can be solved by associating cost to vertices V (equipment cost) and edges E (fiber cost). Thus the problem reduces to finding the smallest number of minimum cost edges from a splitter to an ONT, such that the chosen set of edges identify vertices that connect in a min-max fashion. Lemma 1 Let U be maximal k-independent set such that |U|>=k, then U is a k-dominating set in G^2. Proof (follows form def 1&2) Lemma 2 Let V be a k-dominating set in G, then |U|<=|V| holds for any k-independent set U in G^2. Proof For the two non-trivial cases of U subset V, a) U is not contained in V. Pick a node u at random such that u belongs U-V. Thus a set of nodes S can be defined such that the neighborhood of u N(u) is not contained in V, i.e. S=N(u) intersection V. Let L define the set of nodes that are adjacent to S, then any node v in SUL is contained in G^2 (definition 2) and is adjacent to at most k vertices in SUL. b) U is contained in V. If U is contained in V, then we can define a graph G containing vertices V-(SUL). Thus the lemma would hold, if V'=V-(SUL)=V-S, where V' is a k-dominating set in G. Pick a random node v in G not contained in V, then v belongs to V-V', and v has atleast k neighbors in G not present in V'. Since we assumed that V' is a k-dominating set in G, no neighbor belongs to G (by definition of G). Thus N(v) intersection V' is a subset of V'. Theorem 1 Assuming P!=NP, for any arbitrary fixed a<=p, there does not exist any polynomial time algorithm for PNL. Proof Suppose we have an algorithm A, which gives a solution for the PNL problem, then a solution for dominating set can be obtained. We will now give a polynomial time reduction from PNL to the dominating set problem. Let |V| be the pairwise neighborhood graph such that by picking any vertex v in V, N(v) intersection V is null. Thus the graph to find PNL (figure 2) can be computed by picking vertices as follows:(u,v)= 1 if u,v belongs V(u,v)= 1 if u belongs V and n belongs N(v) (u,v)= f(|V|)+ epsilon otherwise The choice of epsilon, exhibits the epsilon approximation factor in the final layout. If G has the dominating set of size d, then the solution for PNL has a set J such that dUN(v) is a set of nodes with cardinality d+(a-1), where a<=p. For a=1, the problem reduces to minimum k-center problem, so we will consider a>=2. Pick any node v in N(v). It is clear that v has only one neighbor in V', which is at a distance of 1 (triangle inequality). If it is not equal to 1, then it must be covered by a neibours within a distance of 1. Let Z=P intersection V such that Z is subset of V and contains d nodes such that d=|P|-(a-1)|V|, then any arbitrary node v belongs to V-Z must have atleast a nodes in P with a adistance of 1, but by definition and previous argument, only a-1 nodes can form the neighborhood. Thus, Z is a dominating set of size d, but by lemma 2, G cannot contain a dominating set of size d. OUR APPROACH: We assume that the edges of the graph G have the triangle inequality property. Let Si represent the set of weighted vertices w(v) such that once picked, they form a clique in graph G. PNL Algorithm Input: G Output: G' (Final PNL) 1. Construct G1^2,G2^2,....,Gm^2 2. Compute I, (Mi) in each Gi^2 3. Find the smallest index i, such that |Mi|<=k, say Mj 4. Input Mj for step 5. 5. Construct G1j^2,G2j^2,....,Gmj^2 6. Compute I, (Mij) in each Gij^2 7. Compute Si=si(u)|u belongs to Mij 8. Find the minimum index i such that w(Si)<= w(D) 9. Return Sj 10. Compute G'=min Mij belongs V [max si sum{i=0}^{|Sj|] 11. Return G' Theorem 2 The PNL algorithm is complete and will identify a solution, if there exists one. Proof (Trivial and not included due to space) Theorem 3 The PNL algorithm has a lower bound of 4-approximation to the optimal algorithm. Proof (Not included due to space, but the basic argument, is due to the fact that picking a node v with 2-epsilon in G^2, would required the neighbors to be picked in G^4, thus the PNL is no better than 4-epsilon, where epsilon >0) Experiments We made some initial experiments, which are showing promissing results with savings in fiber, equipment cost, due to space, and inital phase of the experiments, we are not including the results here. P.S. My appologies for exceeding the text limit. There is much more detail to the formal proof, I hope the idea is still conveyed. There are also 2 figures which will be faxed.

Grant management procedure for energy saving TDM-PONs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaelddin, Fuad Yousif Mohammed; Newaz, S. H. Shah; AL-Hazemi, Fawaz; Choi, Jun Kyun

2018-01-01

In order to minimize energy consumption in Time Division Multiplexing-Passive Optical Network (TDM-PON), IEEE and ITU-T have mandated sleep mode mechanism for Optical Network Units (ONUs) in the latest TDM-PON standards (e.g. IEEE P1904.1 SIEPON, ITU-T G.sup45). The sleep mode mechanism is a promising mean for maximizing energy saving in an ONU. An ONU in sleep mode flips between sleep and active state depending on the presence or absent of upstream and downstream frames. To ensure Quality of Service (QoS) of upstream frames, the recent TDM-PON standards introduced an early wake-up mechanism, in which an ONU is forced to leave the sleep state on upstream frame arrival. When the Optical Line Terminal (OLT) of a TDM-PON allows early wake-up of its connected ONUs, it allocates gratuitous grants for the sleeping ONUs along with allocating upstream grants for the ONUs in active state. Note that, the gratuitous grants control message sent periodically by the OLT on Inter-Gratuitous grant Interval (IGI) time. After leaving sleep state due to the arrival of upstream frame, the ONU uses its allocated gratuitous grant to send a control message mentioning the amount of upstream bandwidth (upstream grant) required in order to forward the remaining frames in its buffer. However, the existing early wake-up process of ONU can lead to increase the energy consumption of an ONU. It is because of the ONU wakes-up immediately from the sleep state on arrival of the upstream frame, but even so, it needs to wait for forwarding the frame until its allocated gratuitous grant period, resulting in spending energy unnecessarily. In addition, current energy saving solution for TDM-PONs do not provide a clear solution on how to manage different types of grants (e.g. listening grant, upstream transmission grant) within a Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) polling cycle. To address this problem, we propose a state-of-art Grant Management Procedure (GMP) in order to maximize energy saving in a TDM-PON with sleep mode enabled ONUs. GMP contributes in defining the location of the different types of grants during a DBA polling cycle. Furthermore, GMP devises a mechanism so as to allow an ONU to predict its assigned gratuitous grant control message arrival time, thereby allowing an ONU to remain its transceiver unit powered off until the arrival period of the next gratuitous grant control message, increasing the energy saving of the ONU. Results show that, with the increment of IGI, the energy saving performance of an ONU with GMP increases noticeably in compare to a conventional ONU (an ONU that does not use GMP) without imposing any additional upstream frame delay.

[Extracorporeal reconstruction of arteries of a transplant of the liver for its subsequent implantation and surgical aspects of arterial anatomy the hepatoduodenal area].

PubMed

Khubutiia, M Sh; Guliaev, V A; Novruzbekov, M S; Lemenev, V L; Driaev, V T

2014-01-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) remains the only and radical method of treating patients with terminal stages of chronic diffuse hepatic diseases (cirrhoses), of patients with various congenital metabolic lesions of the liver, autoimmune diseases characterized by lesions of bile ducts, as well as series of both primary and secondary tumorous hepatic lesions. Liver transplantation is one of the most complicated operative interventions. Difficulty of OLT is determined by multifactorial and well-coordinated work of various medical services at the pre-, intra- and postoperative stage of management. One of the important components of success in transplantation consists in providing adequate arterial blood flow of the transplanted organ, which is achieved by extracorporeal reconstruction of the transplant. Variants of arterial blood supply of the liver are observed in each third donor. These anatomical peculiarities increase probability of a surgical error, which is considerably higher if not taking into consideration the complicated anatomy of the donor organ and its misalignment with the anatomical peculiarities of the recipient. Surgeon's responsibility is especially great during taking out the liver from the donor, as well as during its preparation for implantation. Procurement of the liver and pancreas from the same donor for transplantation to two different recipients may be accompanied and followed by the so-called conflict of interests which the surgeon has to decide in favour of the both during procurement of the organ for its extracorporeal processing. The sequence of the presented surgical manipulations on hepatic and pancreatic vessels, as well as anatomical reference points make it possible to preserve the vessels of the maximum length for the both organs. A wide variety of the structure of hepatic vessels may be divided into three types, depending upon the number of the sources of arterial blood supply.

Prediction of early postoperative infections in pediatric liver transplantation by logistic regression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uzunova, Yordanka; Prodanova, Krasimira; Spassov, Lubomir

2016-12-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the only curative treatment for end-stage liver disease. Early diagnosis and treatment of infections after OLT are usually associated with improved outcomes. This study's objective is to identify reliable factors that can predict postoperative infectious morbidity. 27 children were included in the analysis. They underwent liver transplantation in our department. The correlation between two parameters (the level of blood glucose at 5th postoperative day and the duration of the anhepatic phase) and postoperative infections was analyzed, using univariate analysis. In this analysis, an independent predictive factor was derived which adequately identifies patients at risk of infectious complications after a liver transplantation.

The radio-on-fiber-wavelength-division-multiplexed-passive-optical network (WDM-RoF-PON) for wireless and wire layout with linearly-polarized dual-wavelength fiber laser and carrier reusing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Wei; Chang, Jun

2013-07-01

In this paper, we design a WDM-RoF-PON based on linearly-polarized dual-wavelength fiber laser and CSRZ-DPSK, which can achieve wire-line and wireless access synchronously. With the CSRZ-DPSK modulation, the wireless access in ONU can save RF source and the frequency of radio carrier can be controlled by OLT. The dual-wavelength fiber laser is the union light source of WDM-PON with polarization multiplexing. By the RSOA and downstream light source reusing, the ONU can save omit laser source and makes the WDM-PON to be colorless. The networking has the credible transmission property, including wireless access and fiber transmission. The networking also has excellent covering range.

Endoscopic treatment of bile duct complications after orthotopic liver transplantation.

PubMed

Polese, L; Cillo, U; Brolese, A; Boccagni, P; Neri, D; Bassi, D; Erroi, F; Zanus, G; D'Amico, D F; Norberto, L

2007-01-01

To assess the indications and results of endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) in patients who have undergone ortotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We reviewed data from 42 consecutive patients who underwent ERCP for biliary complications after OLT over an 8-year period, in particular recording indications and success of the treatment after a mean of 17 months follow-up. Cholangiograms performed in 33/42 patients (79%) displayed anastomotic strictures in 17 patients (52%), bile duct stones in 8 (24%), both bile duct stones and an anastomotic stricture in 2 (6%), papillary stenosis in 1 (3%), and anastomotic biliary leakage in 1 (3%). In contrast, the contrastogram was normal in four patients (12%). Stone extraction was completed in 9/10 patients (90%) with a mean of 1.2 sessions, while stricture dilation was achieved in 12/19 patients (63%) after a mean of 1.7 sessions, by stent positioning (n = 7), balloon dilation (n = 4), or Soehendra dilator (n = 1). Both biliary leakage and papillary stenosis were cured by ERCP. Only one procedure-related complication -- severe pancreatitis (2.4%) -- was observed and no mortality. ERCP is a safe and effective mode of management of bile duct complications after OLT. It should be attempted before a surgical approach. Better results are obtained for treatment of biliary stones than of anastomotic strictures.

A CLS-based survivable and energy-saving WDM-PON architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Min; Zhong, Wen-De; Zhang, Zhenrong; Luan, Feng

2013-11-01

We propose and demonstrate an improved survivable and energy-saving WDM-PON with colorless ONUs. It incorporates both energy-saving and self-healing operations. A simple effective energy-saving scheme is proposed by including an energy-saving control unit in the OLT and a control unit at each ONU. The energy-saving scheme realizes both dozing and sleep (offline) modes, which greatly improves the energy-saving efficiency for WDM-PONs. An intelligent protection switching scheme is designed in the OLT, which can distinguish if an ONU is in dozing/sleep (offline) state or a fiber is faulty. Moreover, by monitoring the optical power of each channel on both working and protection paths, the OLT can know the connection status of every fiber path, thus facilitating an effective protection switching and a faster failure recovery. The improved WDM-PON architecture not only significantly reduces energy consumption, but also performs self-healing operation in practical operation scenarios. The scheme feasibility is experimentally verified with 10 Gbit/s downstream and 1.25 Gbit/s upstream transmissions. We also examine the energy-saving efficiency of our proposed energy-saving scheme by simulation, which reveals that energy saving mainly arises from the dozing mode, not from the sleep mode when the ONU is in the online state.

KEAP1-NRF2 COMPLEX IN ISCHEMIA-INDUCED HEPATOCELLULAR DAMAGE OF MOUSE LIVER TRANSPLANTS

PubMed Central

Ke, Bibo; Shen, Xiu-Da; Zhang, Yu; Ji, Haofeng; Gao, Feng; Yue, Shi; Kamo, Naoko; Zhai, Yuan; Yamamoto, Masayuki; Busuttil, Ronald W.; Kupiec-Weglinski, Jerzy W.

2015-01-01

Background The Keap1-Nrf2 signaling pathway regulates host cell defense responses against oxidative stress and maintains the cellular redox balance. Aims&Methods: We investigated the function/molecular mechanisms by which Keap1-Nrf2 complex may influence liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) in a mouse model of hepatic cold storage (20h at 4 C) followed by orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Results The Keap1 hepatocyte-specific knock-out (HKO) in the donor liver ameliorated post-transplant IRI, evidenced by improved hepatocellular function and OLT outcomes (Keap1HKO Keap1HKO; 100% survival), as compared with controls (WT WT; 50% survival; p<0.01). In contrast, donor liver Nrf2 deficiency exacerbated IRI in transplant recipients (Nrf2KO Nrf2KO; 40% survival). Ablation of Keap1 signaling reduced macrophage/neutrophil trafficking, pro-inflammatory cytokine programs, and hepatocellular necrosis/apoptosis, while simultaneously promoting anti-apoptotic functions in OLTs. At the molecular level, Keap1HKO increased Nrf2 levels, stimulated Akt phosphorylation, and enhanced expression of anti-oxidant Trx1, HIF-1 , and HO-1. Pretreatment of liver donors with PI3K inhibitor (LY294002) disrupted Akt/HIF-1 signaling and recreated hepatocellular damage in otherwise IR-resistant Keap1HKO transplants. In parallel in vitro studies, hydrogen peroxide-stressed Keap1-deficient hepatocytes were characterized by enhanced expression of Nrf2, Trx1, and Akt phosphorylation, in association with decreased release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in cell culture supernatants. Conclusions Keap1-Nrf2 complex prevents oxidative injury in IR-stressed OLTs through Keap1 signaling, which negatively regulates Nrf2 pathway. Activation of Nrf2 induces Trx1 and promotes PI3K/Akt, crucial for HIF-1 activity. HIF-1 -mediated overexpression of HO-1/CyclinD1 facilitates cytoprotection by limiting hepatic inflammatory responses, and hepatocellular necrosis/apoptosis in PI3K-dependent manner. PMID:23867319

Prevention of hypothermia in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation using the humigard® open surgery humidification system: a prospective randomized pilot and feasibility clinical trial.

PubMed

Weinberg, Laurence; Huang, Andrew; Alban, Daniel; Jones, Robert; Story, David; McNicol, Larry; Pearce, Brett

2017-01-23

Perioperative thermal disturbances during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are common. We hypothesized that in patients undergoing OLT the use of a humidified high flow CO 2 warming system maintains higher intraoperative temperatures when compared to standardized multimodal strategies to maintain thermoregulatory homeostasis. We performed a randomized pilot study in adult patients undergoing primary OLT. Participants were randomized to receive either open wound humidification with a high flow CO 2 warming system in addition to standard care (Humidification group) or to standard care alone (Control group). The primary end point was nasopharyngeal core temperature measured 5 min immediately prior to reperfusion of the donor liver (Stage 3 - 5 min). Secondary endpoints included intraoperative PaCO 2 , minute ventilation and the use of vasoconstrictors. Eleven patients were randomized to each group. Both groups were similar for age, body mass index, MELD, SOFA and APACHE II scores, baseline temperature, and duration of surgery. Immediately prior to reperfusion (Stage 3 - 5 min) the mean (SD) core temperature was higher in the Humidification Group compared to the Control Group: 36.0 °C (0.13) vs. 35.4 °C (0.22), p = 0.028. Repeated measured ANOVA showed that core temperatures over time during the stages of the transplant were higher in the Humidification Group compared to the Control Group (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences in the ETCO 2 , PaCO 2 , minute ventilation, or inotropic support. The humidified high flow CO 2 warming system was superior to standardized multimodal strategies in maintaining normothermia in patients undergoing OLT. Use of the device was feasible and did not interfere with any aspects of surgery. A larger study is needed to investigate if the improved thermoregulation observed is associated with improved patient outcomes. ACTRN12616001631493 . Retrospectively registered 25 November 2016.

Analysis of opioid-mediated analgesia in Phase III studies of methylnaltrexone for opioid-induced constipation in patients with chronic noncancer pain

PubMed Central

Webster, Lynn R; Brenner, Darren M; Barrett, Andrew C; Paterson, Craig; Bortey, Enoch; Forbes, William P

2015-01-01

Background Subcutaneous methylnaltrexone is efficacious and well tolerated for opioid-induced constipation (OIC) but may theoretically disrupt opioid-mediated analgesia. Methods Opioid use, pain intensity, and opioid withdrawal (Objective Opioid Withdrawal Scale [OOWS] and Subjective Opiate Withdrawal Scale [SOWS] scores) were reported in a randomized, double-blind trial with an open-label extension (RCT) and an open-label trial (OLT) evaluating safety in adults with chronic noncancer pain. In the RCT, patients taking ≥50 mg of oral morphine equivalents daily with <3 rescue-free bowel movements weekly received methyl naltrexone 12 mg once daily (n=150), every other day (n=148), or placebo (n=162) for 4 weeks, followed by open-label methylnaltrexone 12 mg (as needed [prn]; n=364) for 8 weeks. In the OLT, patients (n=1,034) on stable opioid doses with OIC received methylnaltrexone 12 mg prn for up to 48 weeks. Results Minimal fluctuations of median morphine equivalent dose from baseline (BL) were observed in the RCT double-blind period (BL, 154.8–161.0 mg/d; range, 137.1–168.0 mg/d), RCT open-label period (BL, 156.3–174.6; range, 144.0–180.0) and OLT (BL, 120 mg/d; range, 117.3–121.1 mg/d). No significant change from BL in pain intensity score occurred in any group at weeks 2 or 4 (both P≥0.1) of the RCT double-blind period, and scores remained stable during the open-label period and in the OLT (mean change, −0.2 to 0.1). Changes from BL in OOWS and SOWS scores during the double-blind period were not significantly impacted by methylnaltrexone exposure at weeks 2 or 4 (P>0.05 for all). Conclusion Methylnaltrexone did not affect opioid-mediated analgesia in patients with chronic noncancer pain and OIC. PMID:26586963

A SIEPON based transmitter sleep mode energy-efficient mechanism in EPON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikoukar, AliAkbar; Hwang, I.-Shyan; Wang, Chien-Jung; Ab-Rahman, Mohammad Syuhaimi; Liem, Andrew Tanny

2015-06-01

The main energy consumption in computer networks is the access networks. The passive optical network (PON) has the least energy consumption among access network technologies. In addition, the time division multiplexing (TDM) Ethernet PON (EPON) is one of the best candidates to improve energy consumption by time utilization. The optical network unit (ONU) can utilize the time and save the energy in the EPON by turning off its transmitter/receiver when there is no upstream/downstream traffic. The ITU-T and IEEE organizations are published standards for energy-saving in the TDM-PON. Although their standards provide the framework to accomplish the energy-saving, the algorithms/criteria to generate events to accommodate various operational policies, time to wake up, parameter values for timers are out of scope of the standards. Many studies have proposed schemes for energy-saving in TDM-PON to achieve maximum energy saving. Even so, these schemes increase the mean packet delay and consequently, reduce the quality of service (QoS). In this paper, first we take a look to the state of the art for PON energy-saving. Additionally, a mechanism based on SIEPON standard in EPON with new components in the ONUs and optical line terminal (OLT) is proposed to save the transmitter energy and guarantee QoS. The proposed mechanism follows the SIEPON standard, considers the QoS first, and then saves the energy as far as possible. The ONU sleep controller unit (OSC) and green dynamic bandwidth allocation (GDBA) are used to calculate the ONU transmitter sleep (Tx) duration and grant the proper time to the ONUs. Simulation results show that the proposed energy-saving mechanism not only promises the QoS performance in terms of mean packet delay, packet loss, throughput, and jitter, but also saves energy in different maximum cycle times.

Symmetric 40-Gb/s TWDM-PON with 51-dB loss budget by using a single SOA as preamplifier, booster and format converter in ONU.

PubMed

Li, Zhengxuan; Yi, Lilin; Hu, Weisheng

2014-10-06

In this paper, we propose to use a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) in the optical network unit (ONU) to improve the loss budget in time and wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network (TWDM-PON) systems. The SOA boosts the upstream signal to increase the output power of the electro-absorption modulated laser (EML) and simultaneously pre-amplifies the downstream signal for sensitivity improvement. The penalty caused by cross gain modulation (XGM) effect is negligible due to the low extinction ratio (ER) of upstream signal and the large wavelength difference between upstream and downstream links. In order to achieve a higher output power, the SOA is driven into its saturation region, where the self-phase modulation (SPM) effect converts the intensity into phase information and realizes on-off-keying (OOK) to phase-shifted-keying (PSK) format conversion. In this way, the pattern effect is eliminated, which releases the requirement of gain-clamping on SOA. To further improve the loss budget of upstream link, an Erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is used in the optical line terminal (OLT) to pre-amplify the received signal. For the downstream direction, directly modulated laser (DML) is used as the laser source. Taking advantage of its carrier-less characteristic, directly modulated signal shows high tolerance to fiber nonlinearity, which could support a downstream launch power as high as + 16 dBm per channel. In addition, the signal is pre-amplified by the SOA in ONU before being detected, so the sensitivity limitation for downstream link is also removed. As a result, a truly passive symmetric 40-Gb/s TWDM-PON was demonstrated, achieving a link loss budget of 51 dB.

Filter line wiring designs in aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowe, Richard M.

1990-10-01

The paper presents a harness design using a filter-line wire technology and appropriate termination methods to help meet high-energy radiated electromagnetic field (HERF) requirements for protection against the adverse effects of EMI on electrical and avionic systems. Filter-line interconnect harnessing systems discussed consist of high-performance wires and cables; when properly wired they suppress conducted and radiated EMI above 100 MHz. Filter-line termination devices include backshell adapters, braid splicers, and shield terminators providing 360-degree low-impedance terminations and enhancing maintainability of the system.

Dose requirements of continuous infusion of rocuronium and atracurium throughout orthotopic liver transplantation in humans

PubMed Central

Weng, Xiao-chuan; Zhou, Liang; Fu, Yin-yan; Zhu, Sheng-mei; He, Hui-liang; Wu, Jian

2005-01-01

Objective: To compare the dose requirements of continuous infusion of rocuronium and atracurium throughout orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in humans. Methods: Twenty male patients undergoing liver transplantation were randomly assigned to two comparable groups of 10 patients each to receive a continuous infusion of rocuronium or atracurium under intravenous balanced anesthesia. The response of adductor pollicis to train-of-four (TOF) stimulation of unlar nerve was monitored. The infusion rates of rocuronium and atracurium were adjusted to maintain T1/Tc ratio of 2%~10%. The total dose of each drug given during each of the three phases of OLT was recorded. Results: Rocuronium requirement, which were (0.468±0.167) mg/(kg·h) during the paleohepatic phase, decreased significantly during the anhepatic phase to (0.303±0.134) mg/(kg·h) and returned to the initial values at the neohepatic period ((0.429±0.130) mg/(kg·h)); whereas atracuruim requirements remained unchanged during orthotopic liver transplantation. Conclusions: This study showed that the exclusion of the liver from the circulation results in the significantly reduced requirement of rocuronium while the requirement of atracurium was not changed, which suggests that the liver is of major importance in the clearance of rocuronium. A continuous infusion of atracurium with constant rate can provide stable neuromuscular blockade during the three stages of OLT. PMID:16130187

Intrahepatic bilioenteric anastomosis after biliary complications of liver transplantation: operative rescue of surgical failures.

PubMed

Mercado, Miguel Angel; Vilatobá, Mario; Chan, Carlos; Domínguez, Ismael; Leal, Rafael Paulino; Olivera, Marco Antonio

2009-03-01

Biliary complications after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are multifactorial in origin. In most series, the frequency of such complications ranges from 5-20%. Most can be treated by endoscopy and/or interventional radiology. For cases in which this option is not successful, surgical approach is indicated. We report the results of reoperation using an intrahepatic bilioenteric anastomosis. The medical charts of patients with biliary complications after OLT during a 10-year period (1997-2007), who failed to respond to nonsurgical treatment and were surgically treated, were reviewed. Roux-en-Y hepatojejunostomy was performed. Segments IV and V were partially removed after cutting the hilar plate, thus obtaining healthy ducts without ischemic or inflammatory reaction and allowing a wide hepatojejunostomy. Five cases (8.4%) with biliary complications after duct-to-duct anastomosis not amenable to further endoscopic management or interventional radiology were identified. Hepaticojejunostomy was achieved in all cases (wide, tension-free, nonischemic, fine hydrolyzable sutures), and segments IV and V were partially removed. No cholangitis, jaundice, and liver function test abnormalities were present in the postoperative. Mean follow-up was 24 months. Only one patient died of causes not related to bile duct reconstruction during follow-up. Intrahepatic hepatojejunostomy with partial resection of segments IV and V offers an excellent therapeutic alternative for biliary complications that require a surgical approach after OLT.

Assembly line termination in cylindrocyclophane biosynthesis: discovery of an editing type II thioesterase domain in a type I polyketide synthase† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Fig. S1–S12; Tables S1–S8, full experimental details and procedures, 1H and 13C NMR spectral data and HRMS data of compounds 10 and 11 and the internal standards. See DOI: 10.1039/c4sc03132f Click here for additional data file.

PubMed Central

Nakamura, H.; Wang, J. X.

2015-01-01

The termination step is an important source of structural diversity in polyketide biosynthesis. Most type I polyketide synthase (PKS) assembly lines are terminated by a thioesterase (TE) domain located at the C-terminus of the final module, while other PKS assembly lines lack a terminal TE domain and are instead terminated by a separate enzyme in trans. In cylindrocyclophane biosynthesis, the type I modular PKS assembly line is terminated by a freestanding type III PKS (CylI). Unexpectedly, the final module of the type I PKS (CylH) also possesses a C-terminal TE domain. Unlike typical type I PKSs, the CylH TE domain does not influence assembly line termination by CylI in vitro. Instead, this domain phylogenetically resembles a type II TE and possesses activity consistent with an editing function. This finding may shed light on the evolution of unusual PKS termination logic. In addition, the presence of related type II TE domains in many cryptic type I PKS and nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) assembly lines has implications for pathway annotation, product prediction, and engineering. PMID:29218151

Hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion (HOPE) for orthotopic liver transplantation of human liver allografts from extended criteria donors (ECD) in donation after brain death (DBD): a prospective multicentre randomised controlled trial (HOPE ECD-DBD).

PubMed

Czigany, Zoltan; Schöning, Wenzel; Ulmer, Tom Florian; Bednarsch, Jan; Amygdalos, Iakovos; Cramer, Thorsten; Rogiers, Xavier; Popescu, Irinel; Botea, Florin; Froněk, Jiří; Kroy, Daniela; Koch, Alexander; Tacke, Frank; Trautwein, Christian; Tolba, Rene H; Hein, Marc; Koek, Ger H; Dejong, Cornelis H C; Neumann, Ulf Peter; Lurje, Georg

2017-10-10

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has emerged as the mainstay of treatment for end-stage liver disease. In an attempt to improve the availability of donor allografts and reduce waiting list mortality, graft acceptance criteria were extended increasingly over the decades. The use of extended criteria donor (ECD) allografts is associated with a higher incidence of primary graft non-function and/or delayed graft function. As such, several strategies have been developed aiming at reconditioning poor quality ECD liver allografts. Hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion (HOPE) has been successfully tested in preclinical experiments and in few clinical series of donation after cardiac death OLT. HOPE ECD-DBD is an investigator-initiated, open-label, phase-II, prospective multicentre randomised controlled trial on the effects of HOPE on ECD allografts in donation after brain death (DBD) OLT. Human whole organ liver grafts will be submitted to 1-2 hours of HOPE (n=23) via the portal vein before implantation and are going to be compared with a control group (n=23) of patients transplanted after conventional cold storage. Primary (peak and Δ peak alanine aminotransferase within 7 days) and secondary (aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin and international normalised ratio, postoperative complications, early allograft dysfunction, duration of hospital and intensive care unit stay, 1-year patient and graft survival) endpoints will be analysed within a 12-month follow-up. Extent of ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury will be assessed using liver tissue, perfusate, bile and serum samples taken during the perioperative phase of OLT. The study was approved by the institutional review board of the RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany (EK 049/17). The current paper represent the pre-results phase. First results are expected in 2018. NCT03124641. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Alteration of terminal heterochromatin and chromosome rearrangements in derivatives of wheat-rye hybrids.

PubMed

Fu, Shulan; Lv, Zhenling; Guo, Xiang; Zhang, Xiangqi; Han, Fangpu

2013-08-20

Wheat-rye addition and substitution lines and their self progenies revealed variations in telomeric heterochromatin and centromeres. Furthermore, a mitotically unstable dicentric chromosome and stable multicentric chromosomes were observed in the progeny of a Chinese Spring-Imperial rye 3R addition line. An unstable multicentric chromosome was found in the progeny of a 6R/6D substitution line. Drastic variation of terminal heterochromatin including movement and disappearance of terminal heterochromatin occurred in the progeny of wheat-rye addition line 3R, and the 5RS ditelosomic addition line. Highly stable minichromosomes were observed in the progeny of a monosomic 4R addition line, a ditelosomic 5RS addition line and a 6R/6D substitution line. Minichromosomes, with and without the FISH signals for telomeric DNA (TTTAGGG)n, derived from a monosomic 4R addition line are stable and transmissible to the next generation. The results indicated that centromeres and terminal heterochromatin can be profoundly altered in wheat-rye hybrid derivatives. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Liver transplantation from hepatitis B surface antigen positive donors: a safe way to expand the donor pool.

PubMed

Loggi, Elisabetta; Micco, Lorenzo; Ercolani, Giorgio; Cucchetti, Alessandro; Bihl, Florian K; Grazi, Gian Luca; Gitto, Stefano; Bontadini, Andrea; Bernardi, Mauro; Grossi, Paolo; Costa, Alessandro Nanni; Pinna, Antonio Daniele; Brander, Christian; Andreone, Pietro

2012-03-01

The main limitation of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the scarcity of available donor organs. A possibility to increase the organ pool is to use grafts from hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) positive donors, but few data are currently available in this setting. We assessed the clinical, serovirological, and immunological outcomes of liver transplant from HBsAg positive donors in a single centre study. From 2005 to 2009 10 patients underwent OLT from HBsAg positive donors, for HBV-related disease (n=6) or HBV-unrelated disease (n=4). The median follow-up was 42 months (range 12-60). All recipients were HBcAb positive and were given antiviral prophylaxis. Patients transplanted for HBV-related disease never cleared HBsAg. Two HBsAg negative patients never tested positive for HBsAg, whereas the others experienced an HBsAg appearance, followed by spontaneous production of anti-HBs, allowing HBsAg clearance. No patient ever had any sign of HBV hepatitis. HBV replication was effectively controlled by antiviral therapy. The immunologic sub-study showed that a most robust anti-HBV specific T cell response was associated with the control of HBV infection. OLT from HBsAg positive donors seems to be a safe procedure in the era of highly effective antiviral therapy. Copyright © 2011 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dilemmas across different overseas liver transplant stages: Taiwan transplant recipient families' perspectives.

PubMed

Chen, H-M; Hu, R-H; Shih, F-Jong; Shih, F-J

2012-03-01

This study aimed to explore the dilemmas of Taiwanese overseas liver transplant recipient families (OLTRF) across three overseas liver transplant (OLT) stages in Taiwan and Mainland China. An exploratory qualitative method was employed using a purposive sample of OLTRF, who received guided face-to-face, semistructured interviews. Data were subjected to content analysis. Nineteen OLTRF (15 female, 4 male) aged between 29 and 71 years (mean 55.1) for 19 patients with end-stage liver diseases were interviewed. OLT stages including predeparture stage (first stage), stay in China stage (second stage), and reentry to Taiwan stage (third stage). Ten kinds of dilemmas were encountered: (1) unable to get transplantation immediately (first to second stages); (2) dilemma of choosing overseas transplantation (first to second stages); (3) uncertainty about the transplantation outcomes (second to third stages); (4) care pressure (second to third stages); (5) poor diet adaptation (second to third stages); (6) lack of trust in the medical care quality (second stage); (7) worry about not fulfilling family responsibilities (second stage); (8) lack of information (all stages); (9) financial pressure (all stages); and (10) frustration when seeking medical care (all stages). Taiwanese OLTRF's perspectives of their dilemmas through the OLT process were first revealed in this study. Both Western and Eastern health professionals might be empowered by better understanding of OLTRF's living experiences and concerns during the stages of overseas liver transplantation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Successful Pregnancies in Two Orthotopic Liver Transplant (OLT) Recipients in Iran; Two Case Reports.

PubMed

Zahra, Tayebi; Seyyed Alireza, Taqhavi; Shirin, Shahbazi

2009-10-01

Pregnancy and parenting have been part of human life throughout history and liver transplant recipients are not any exception. This paper reports successful pregnancies in two liver transplant recipients in Iran. The first case was a 34-year old woman who had undergone orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) at Shiraz Namazi Educational Hospital in 2002. She decided to get pregnant seven years after the operation. During pregnancy, immunosuppressive therapy continued, except Mycophenolate Mofetil which has an absolute contra-indication in pregnancy. The patient was followed up during pregnancy by the transplant team as well as a gynecologist. She faced no significant complications and the liver function was stable during pregnancy. She later underwent a Cesarean section in the 38(th) week of gestation and the newborn was a healthy girl weighing 2480g with an Apgar score of 8 at the time of birth. There were no evidences of prematurity or structural abnormalities in the newborn. The second case was a 31-year old primipara who had received an orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) in Shiraz in 2002. She had a smooth pregnancy without any complications and the newborn was a boy weighing 3100g with Apgar scores of 8 and 10 at the time of birth and 5 minutes thereafter, respectively. As the number of transplant recipients is growing along with the number of recipients who are in their fertility years, it is vital to ensure a proper medical care by a coordinated multidisciplinary team during pregnancy.

Management of end stage liver disease (ESLD): what is the current role of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT)?

PubMed

Miró, José M; Laguno, Montserrat; Moreno, Asuncion; Rimola, Antonio

2006-01-01

Liver disease due to chronic hepatitis B and C is now a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected patients in the developed world, where classical opportunistic complications of severe immunodeficiency have declined dramatically. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the only therapeutic option for patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Accumulated experience in North America and Europe in the last 5 years indicates that 3-year survival in selected HIV-infected recipients of liver transplants was similar to that of HIV-negative recipients. So, HIV infection by itself is not therefore a contraindication for liver transplantation. As survival of HIV-infected patients with ESLD is shorter than non-HIV-infected population, the evaluation for OLT should be made after the first liver decompensation. The current selection criteria for HIV-positive transplant candidates include: no history of opportunistic infections or HIV-related neoplasms, CD4 cell count > 100 cells/mm(3), and plasma HIV viral load suppressible with antiretroviral treatment. For drug abusers, a 2-year abstinence from heroin and cocaine is required, although patients can be in a methadone programme. The main problems in the post-transplant period are pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions between antiretrovirals and immunosuppressive drugs, and the management of relapse of HCV infection. Up to now, experience with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is scarce in this population. Currently, HCV re-infection is the main cause for concern.

Liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: the Hong Kong experience.

PubMed

Ng, Kelvin K; Lo, Chung Mau; Chan, See Ching; Chok, Kenneth S; Cheung, Tan-To; Fan, Sheung Tat

2010-09-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the best treatment option for selected patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with the background of cirrhosis since this treatment modality can cure both diseases at once. Over the years, the applicability of OLT for HCC has evolved. In Asia, including Hong Kong, a shortage of deceased donor liver grafts is a universal problem having to be faced in all transplant centers. Living-donor liver transplant (LDLT) has therefore been developed to counteract organ shortage and the high prevalence of HCC. The application of LDLT for HCC is a complex process involving donor voluntarism, selection criteria for the recipient and justification with respect to long-term survival in comparison to the result of deceased donor liver transplant. This article reviews the authors' experience with OLT for HCC patients in Hong Kong, with emphasis on the applicability and outcome of LDLT for HCC. Donor voluntarism has a significant impact on the application of LDLT. "Fast-track" LDLT in the setting of recurrence following curative treatment carries a high risk of recurrence even though the tumor stage fulfills the standard criteria. Although the survival outcome may be worse following LDLT than DDLT for HCC, LDLT is still the main treatment option for patients with transplantable HCC in Hong Kong, and a reasonable survival outcome can be achieved in selected patients with extended indications. It is particularly true that LDLT provides the only hope for patients with advanced HCC under the constricting problem of organ shortage.

Neutrophil extracellular traps are pathogenic in primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation.

PubMed

Sayah, David M; Mallavia, Beñat; Liu, Fengchun; Ortiz-Muñoz, Guadalupe; Caudrillier, Axelle; DerHovanessian, Ariss; Ross, David J; Lynch, Joseph P; Saggar, Rajan; Ardehali, Abbas; Ware, Lorraine B; Christie, Jason D; Belperio, John A; Looney, Mark R

2015-02-15

Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) causes early mortality after lung transplantation and may contribute to late graft failure. No effective treatments exist. The pathogenesis of PGD is unclear, although both neutrophils and activated platelets have been implicated. We hypothesized that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) contribute to lung injury in PGD in a platelet-dependent manner. To study NETs in experimental models of PGD and in lung transplant patients. Two experimental murine PGD models were studied: hilar clamp and orthotopic lung transplantation after prolonged cold ischemia (OLT-PCI). NETs were assessed by immunofluorescence microscopy and ELISA. Platelet activation was inhibited with aspirin, and NETs were disrupted with DNaseI. NETs were also measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and plasma from lung transplant patients with and without PGD. NETs were increased after either hilar clamp or OLT-PCI compared with surgical control subjects. Activation and intrapulmonary accumulation of platelets were increased in OLT-PCI, and platelet inhibition reduced NETs and lung injury, and improved oxygenation. Disruption of NETs by intrabronchial administration of DNaseI also reduced lung injury and improved oxygenation. In bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from human lung transplant recipients, NETs were more abundant in patients with PGD. NETs accumulate in the lung in both experimental and clinical PGD. In experimental PGD, NET formation is platelet-dependent, and disruption of NETs with DNaseI reduces lung injury. These data are the first description of a pathogenic role for NETs in solid organ transplantation and suggest that NETs are a promising therapeutic target in PGD.

High speed transient sampler

DOEpatents

McEwan, T.E.

1995-11-28

A high speed sampler comprises a meandered sample transmission line for transmitting an input signal, a straight strobe transmission line for transmitting a strobe signal, and a plurality of sampling gates along the transmission lines. The sampling gates comprise a four terminal diode bridge having a first strobe resistor connected from a first terminal of the bridge to the positive strobe line, a second strobe resistor coupled from the third terminal of the bridge to the negative strobe line, a tap connected to the second terminal of the bridge and to the sample transmission line, and a sample holding capacitor connected to the fourth terminal of the bridge. The resistance of the first and second strobe resistors is much higher than the signal transmission line impedance in the preferred system. This results in a sampling gate which applies a very small load on the sample transmission line and on the strobe generator. The sample holding capacitor is implemented using a smaller capacitor and a larger capacitor isolated from the smaller capacitor by resistance. The high speed sampler of the present invention is also characterized by other optimizations, including transmission line tap compensation, stepped impedance strobe line, a multi-layer physical layout, and unique strobe generator design. A plurality of banks of such samplers are controlled for concatenated or interleaved sample intervals to achieve long sample lengths or short sample spacing. 17 figs.

High speed transient sampler

DOEpatents

McEwan, Thomas E.

1995-01-01

A high speed sampler comprises a meandered sample transmission line for transmitting an input signal, a straight strobe transmission line for transmitting a strobe signal, and a plurality of sampling gates along the transmission lines. The sampling gates comprise a four terminal diode bridge having a first strobe resistor connected from a first terminal of the bridge to the positive strobe line, a second strobe resistor coupled from the third terminal of the bridge to the negative strobe line, a tap connected to the second terminal of the bridge and to the sample transmission line, and a sample holding capacitor connected to the fourth terminal of the bridge. The resistance of the first and second strobe resistors is much higher than the signal transmission line impedance in the preferred system. This results in a sampling gate which applies a very small load on the sample transmission line and on the strobe generator. The sample holding capacitor is implemented using a smaller capacitor and a larger capacitor isolated from the smaller capacitor by resistance. The high speed sampler of the present invention is also characterized by other optimizations, including transmission line tap compensation, stepped impedance strobe line, a multi-layer physical layout, and unique strobe generator design. A plurality of banks of such samplers are controlled for concatenated or interleaved sample intervals to achieve long sample lengths or short sample spacing.

The Use of Transcription Terminators to Generate Transgenic Lines of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells (CHO) with Stable and High Level of Reporter Gene Expression.

PubMed

Gasanov, N B; Toshchakov, S V; Georgiev, P G; Maksimenko, O G

2015-01-01

Mammalian cell lines are widely used to produce recombinant proteins. Stable transgenic cell lines usually contain many insertions of the expression vector in one genomic region. Transcription through transgene can be one of the reasons for target gene repression after prolonged cultivation of cell lines. In the present work, we used the known transcription terminators from the SV40 virus, as well as the human β- and γ-globin genes, to prevent transcription through transgene. The transcription terminators were shown to increase and stabilize the expression of the EGFP reporter gene in transgenic lines of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Hence, transcription terminators can be used to create stable mammalian cells with a high and stable level of recombinant protein production.

Efficacy of oral vancomycin in recurrent primary sclerosing cholangitis following liver transplantation

PubMed Central

Hey, Penelope; Lokan, Julie; Johnson, Paul; Gow, Paul

2017-01-01

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a liver disease that leads to progressive destruction and stricturing of the biliary tree. Unfortunately, apart from orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), there are no universally accepted therapies to treat this disease. Even following transplantation, recurrence of PSC is seen in approximately one quarter of patients and leads to high rates of graft failure. Oral vancomycin, through possible immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, has been shown in small-scale studies to be successful in improving liver function tests in patients with pretransplant PSC. We report the first case of an adult patient diagnosed with recurrent PSC 4 years after OLT who was treated with oral vancomycin leading to complete normalisation of his liver biochemistry. This case adds to the growing literature of a potential therapeutic role for this antibiotic in PSC and highlights interesting questions regarding mechanisms of disease. PMID:28951512

LIBRARY INFORMATION PROCESSING USING AN ON-LINE, REAL-TIME COMPUTER SYSTEM.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

HOLZBAUR, FREDERICK W.; FARRIS, EUGENE H.

DIRECT MAN-MACHINE COMMUNICATION IS NOW POSSIBLE THROUGH ON-LINE, REAL-TIME TYPEWRITER TERMINALS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO COMPUTERS. THESE TERMINAL SYSTEMS PERMIT THE OPERATOR, WHETHER ORDER CLERK, CATALOGER, REFERENCE LIBRARIAN OR TYPIST, TO INTERACT WITH THE COMPUTER IN MANIPULATING DATA STORED WITHIN IT. THE IBM ADMINISTRATIVE TERMINAL SYSTEM…

Flat battery

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

Waki, E.; Kobayashi, S.; Hashimoto, Y.

A flat battery is described comprising: an electrically insulative sheathing film including a first film portion and a second film portion on opposite sides of a fold line, the film having an outer surface and an inner surface opposite the outer surface, on both of the first and the second film portions. The fold line divides the inner surface into a first inner surface portion on the first film portion and a second inner surface portion on the second film portion, the film being folded along the fold line so that the first inner surface portion faces the second innermore » surface portion. The first and second film portions are sealed to one another along the entire peripheries thereof except along the fold line, the first film portion having first a first terminal hole and a second terminal hole formed therein; a first collector formed in a plane on the first inner surface portion and having a first terminal portion covering the first terminal hole, the first terminal portion being exposed to the exterior of the battery through the first terminal hole so as to define a first terminal; and a second collector consisting of a first part formed on the first inner surface portion and a second part continuous to the first part formed on the second inner surface portion. The second collector extends across and is folded along the fold line, the second part having a second terminal portion covering the second terminal hole, the second terminal portion being exposed to the exterior of the battery through the second terminal hole so as to define a second terminal. The second part is formed in the plane in spaced non-overlapping relation to the first collector, one of the first and second collectors consisting of a positive collector, the other of the first and second collectors consisting of a negative collector.« less

Effect of intestinal microbiota alteration on hepatic damage in rats with acute rejection after liver transplantation.

PubMed

Xie, Yirui; Chen, Huazhong; Zhu, Biao; Qin, Nan; Chen, Yunbo; Li, Zhengfeng; Deng, Min; Jiang, Haiyin; Xu, Xiangfei; Yang, Jiezuan; Ruan, Bing; Li, Lanjuan

2014-11-01

The previous studies all focus on the effect of probiotics and antibiotics on infection after liver transplantation. Here, we focus on the effect of gut microbiota alteration caused by probiotics and antibiotics on hepatic damage after allograft liver transplantation. Brown-Norway rats received saline, probiotics, or antibiotics via daily gavage for 3 weeks. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) was carried out after 1 week of gavage. Alteration of the intestinal microbiota, liver function and histopathology, serum and liver cytokines, and T cells in peripheral blood and Peyer's patch were evaluated. Distinct segregation of fecal bacterial diversity was observed in the probiotic group and antibiotic group when compared with the allograft group. As for diversity of intestinal mucosal microbiota and pathology of intestine at 2 weeks after OLT, antibiotics and probiotics had a significant effect on ileum and colon. The population of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the probiotic group was significantly greater than the antibiotic group and the allograft group. The liver injury was significantly reduced in the antibiotic group and the probiotic group compared with the allograft group. The CD4/CD8 and Treg cells in Peyer's patch were decreased in the antibiotic group. The intestinal Treg cell and serum and liver TGF-β were increased markedly while CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly decreased in the probiotic group. It suggested that probiotics mediate their beneficial effects through increase of Treg cells and TGF-β and deduction of CD4/CD8 in rats with acute rejection (AR) after OLT.

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Are Pathogenic in Primary Graft Dysfunction after Lung Transplantation

PubMed Central

Mallavia, Beñat; Liu, Fengchun; Ortiz-Muñoz, Guadalupe; Caudrillier, Axelle; DerHovanessian, Ariss; Ross, David J.; Lynch III, Joseph P.; Saggar, Rajan; Ardehali, Abbas; Ware, Lorraine B.; Christie, Jason D.; Belperio, John A.; Looney, Mark R.

2015-01-01

Rationale: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) causes early mortality after lung transplantation and may contribute to late graft failure. No effective treatments exist. The pathogenesis of PGD is unclear, although both neutrophils and activated platelets have been implicated. We hypothesized that neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) contribute to lung injury in PGD in a platelet-dependent manner. Objectives: To study NETs in experimental models of PGD and in lung transplant patients. Methods: Two experimental murine PGD models were studied: hilar clamp and orthotopic lung transplantation after prolonged cold ischemia (OLT-PCI). NETs were assessed by immunofluorescence microscopy and ELISA. Platelet activation was inhibited with aspirin, and NETs were disrupted with DNaseI. NETs were also measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and plasma from lung transplant patients with and without PGD. Measurements and Main Results: NETs were increased after either hilar clamp or OLT-PCI compared with surgical control subjects. Activation and intrapulmonary accumulation of platelets were increased in OLT-PCI, and platelet inhibition reduced NETs and lung injury, and improved oxygenation. Disruption of NETs by intrabronchial administration of DNaseI also reduced lung injury and improved oxygenation. In bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from human lung transplant recipients, NETs were more abundant in patients with PGD. Conclusions: NETs accumulate in the lung in both experimental and clinical PGD. In experimental PGD, NET formation is platelet-dependent, and disruption of NETs with DNaseI reduces lung injury. These data are the first description of a pathogenic role for NETs in solid organ transplantation and suggest that NETs are a promising therapeutic target in PGD. PMID:25485813

Epstein-Barr DNA serology and positron-emission tomography imaging of the head and neck in pediatric transplant recipients.

PubMed

Sidell, Douglas; Venick, Robert S; Shapiro, Nina L

2014-05-01

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is a potential precursor of post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) in the pediatric transplant patient. Positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging is increasingly utilized in this population to monitor for neoplasia and PTLD. We assess the association between EBV serum titers and Waldeyer's ring and cervical lymph node PET positivity in the pediatric transplant recipient. Retrospective analysis of EBV serology and PET imaging results in pediatric orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) recipients. Imaging results and laboratory data were reviewed for all pediatric OLT recipients from January 2005 to July 2011 at a single institution. Charts were evaluated for PET positivity at Waldeyer's ring or cervical lymphatics, and for EBV serology results. Demographic data extracted include patient sex and age at transplantation. A total of 122 pediatric OLT recipients were reviewed. Twelve patients (10%) underwent PET imaging. Overall, four patients (33%) had evidence of PET positivity at Waldeyer's ring or cervical lymphatics. Five patients (42%) had positive EBV serology. There was a significant association between PET imaging results and EBV DNA serology results (P = .01). PTLD surveillance in the pediatric transplant recipient is an important component of long-term care in this population. Although PET imaging is a new modality in monitoring pediatric transplant recipients for early signs of PTLD, an association between EBV serology and PET imaging results appears to exist. With increased implementation, PET imaging will likely prove valuable in its ability to monitor the transplant recipient at risk for PTLD. © 2013 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Symptomatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head after adult orthotopic liver transplantation.

PubMed

Li, Hua; Zhang, Jian; He, Ji-Wen; Wang, Kun; Wang, Gen-Shu; Jiang, Nan; Fu, Bin-Sheng; Wang, Guo-Ying; Yang, Yang; Chen, Gui-Hua

2012-07-01

With the increase of survival in liver transplantation recipients, more patients are at a high risk of developing osteonecrosis, especially in the femoral head, due to immunosuppressive treatment. The purpose of this study was to report the incidence, possible risk factors, and outcome of symptomatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) in adult patients with current immunosuppressive agents and individual protocol after liver transplantation in China. A retrospective analysis was performed on 226 adult patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) at a single liver transplantation institution between January 2004 and December 2008. The posttransplant survival time (or pre-retransplantation survival time) of all the patients were more than 24 months. The possible pre- and post-transplantation risk factors of symptomatic ONFH were investigated and the curative effects of the treatment were also reported. The incidence of ONFH was 1.33% in patients after OLT. ONFH occurred at a mean of (14 ± 6) months (range, 10 - 21 months) after transplantation. Male patients more often presented with osteonecrosis as a complication than female patients. The patients with lower pre-transplantation total bilirubin and direct bilirubin levels (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the cumulative dose of corticosteroids or tacrolimus between the patients with or without symptomatic ONFH. Patients were treated either pharmacologically or surgically. All patients showed a nice curative effect without major complications during the 18 - 63 months post-treatment follow up. The symptomatic ONFH does not occur commonly after adult OLT in the current individual immunosuppressive protocol in China.

Using stable isotopes in tracing contaminant sources in an industrial area: A case study on the hydrological basin of the Olt River, Romania.

PubMed

Popescu, Raluca; Mimmo, Tanja; Dinca, Oana Romina; Capici, Calogero; Costinel, Diana; Sandru, Claudia; Ionete, Roxana Elena; Stefanescu, Ioan; Axente, Damian

2015-11-15

Tracing pollution sources and transformation of nitrogen compounds in surface- and groundwater is an issue of great significance worldwide due to the increased human activity, translated in high demand of water resources and pollution. In this work, the hydrological basin of an important chemical industrial platform in Romania (Ramnicu Valcea industrial area) was characterized in terms of the physico-chemical and isotope composition of δ(18)O and δ(2)H in water samples and δ(15)N of the inorganic nitrogen species. Throughout a period of one year, water samples from the Olt River and its more important tributaries were collected monthly in the industrial area, when the seasonal and spatial isotope patterns of the surface waters and the main sources of pollution were determined. Higher inorganic nitrogen concentrations (up to 10.2 mg N L(-1)) were measured between November 2012 and April 2013, which were designated as anthropogenic additions using the mixing calculations. The main sources of pollution with inorganic nitrogen were agriculture and residential release. The inorganic nitrogen from the industrial waste water duct had a distinct δ(15)N fingerprint (mean of -8.6‰). Also, one industrial release into the environment was identified for Olt River, at Ionesti site, in November 2012. The mean precipitation samples had the lowest inorganic nitrogen concentrations (less than 5.5 mg N L(-1)) with a distinct δ(15)N fingerprint compared to the surface and industrial waters. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Early viral-specific T-cell testing predicts late Cytomegalovirus reactivation following Liver Transplantation.

PubMed

Sood, S; Haifer, C; Yu, L; Pavlovic, J; Gow, P J; Jones, R M; Visvanathan, K; Angus, P W; Testro, A G

2018-05-29

Although antiviral prophylaxis is effective in preventing early cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation following liver transplantation (OLT), it predisposes patients to late CMV after prophylaxis has ceased. QuantiFERON-CMV (QFN-CMV, Qiagen, The Netherlands) measures an individual's viral-specific immune response. Fifty-nine OLT recipients were prospectively monitored post-OLT in an observational cohort study. QFN-CMV was performed at regular time-points. An absolute QFN-CMV <0.1IU/mL was considered non-reactive. 50/59 (84.7%) had a reactive QFN-CMV by M6. 38/59 (64.4%) had antiviral prophylaxis or treatment before M6, with 31/38 (81.6%) developing a reactive QFN-CMV by 6 months. Over 90% already had a reactive result as early as 3 months post-transplant. 3 patients (5.08%) developed late CMV between 6-12 months (median 251 days) - all had a non-reactive M6 QFN-CMV. 2/3 experienced CMV disease. Non-reactive M6 QFN-CMV was significantly associated with late CMV (OR=54.4, PPV=0.33, NPV=1.00, p=0.003). Although only 5% of recipients developed late CMV, 2/3 suffered CMV disease. M6 QFN-CMV has an excellent NPV for late CMV, suggesting patients who exhibit a robust ex-vivo immune response at M6 can safely cease CMV monitoring. Furthermore, >90% already express viral-specific immunity as early as 3 months. Conceivably, antiviral prophylaxis could be discontinued early in these patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Network coding based joint signaling and dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme for inter optical network unit communication in passive optical networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Pei; Gu, Rentao; Ji, Yuefeng

2014-06-01

As an innovative and promising technology, network coding has been introduced to passive optical networks (PON) in recent years to support inter optical network unit (ONU) communication, yet the signaling process and dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) in PON with network coding (NC-PON) still need further study. Thus, we propose a joint signaling and DBA scheme for efficiently supporting differentiated services of inter ONU communication in NC-PON. In the proposed joint scheme, the signaling process lays the foundation to fulfill network coding in PON, and it can not only avoid the potential threat to downstream security in previous schemes but also be suitable for the proposed hybrid dynamic bandwidth allocation (HDBA) scheme. In HDBA, a DBA cycle is divided into two sub-cycles for applying different coding, scheduling and bandwidth allocation strategies to differentiated classes of services. Besides, as network traffic load varies, the entire upstream transmission window for all REPORT messages slides accordingly, leaving the transmission time of one or two sub-cycles to overlap with the bandwidth allocation calculation time at the optical line terminal (the OLT), so that the upstream idle time can be efficiently eliminated. Performance evaluation results validate that compared with the existing two DBA algorithms deployed in NC-PON, HDBA demonstrates the best quality of service (QoS) support in terms of delay for all classes of services, especially guarantees the end-to-end delay bound of high class services. Specifically, HDBA can eliminate queuing delay and scheduling delay of high class services, reduce those of lower class services by at least 20%, and reduce the average end-to-end delay of all services over 50%. Moreover, HDBA also achieves the maximum delay fairness between coded and uncoded lower class services, and medium delay fairness for high class services.

75 FR 74768 - Madison Terminal Railway, LLC-Lease and Operation Exemption-Line of Railroad in Dane County, WI

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-01

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35433] Madison Terminal Railway, LLC--Lease and Operation Exemption-- Line of Railroad in Dane County, WI Madison Terminal Railway... Industrial Lead at milepost 78.02 in Madison, WI, and is located entirely within the property of ProBuild...

Response to Dietary Oxalate after Bariatric Surgery

PubMed Central

Froeder, Leila; Arasaki, Carlos Haruo; Malheiros, Carlos Alberto; Baxmann, Alessandra Calábria

2012-01-01

Summary Background and objectives Bariatric surgery (BS) may be associated with increased oxalate excretion and a higher risk of nephrolithiasis. This study aimed to investigate urinary abnormalities and responses to an acute oxalate load as an indirect assessment of the intestinal absorption of oxalate in this population. Design, setting, participants, & measurements Twenty-four–hour urine specimens were collected from 61 patients a median of 48 months after BS (post-BS) as well as from 30 morbidly obese (MO) participants; dietary information was obtained through 24-hour food recalls. An oral oxalate load test (OLT), consisting of 2-hour urine samples after overnight fasting and 2, 4, and 6 hours after consuming 375 mg of oxalate (spinach juice), was performed on 21 MO and 22 post-BS patients 12 months after BS. Ten post-BS patients also underwent OLT before surgery (pre-BS). Results There was a higher percentage of low urinary volume (<1.5 L/d) in post-BS versus MO (P<0.001). Hypocitraturia and hyperoxaluria (P=0.13 and P=0.36, respectively) were more frequent in BS versus MO patients. The OLT showed intragroup (P<0.001 for all periods versus baseline) and intergroup differences (P<0.001 for post-BS versus MO; P=0.03for post-BS versus pre-BS). The total mean increment in oxaluria after 6 hours of load, expressed as area under the curve, was higher in both post-BS versus MO and in post-BS versus pre-BS participants (P<0.001 for both). Conclusions The mean oxaluric response to an oxalate load is markedly elevated in post-bariatric surgery patients, suggesting that increased intestinal absorption of dietary oxalate is a predisposing mechanism for enteric hyperoxaluria. PMID:23024163

Natural History of Cirrhosis of Liver after First Decompensation: A Prospective Study in India.

PubMed

Shah, Apurva S; Amarapurkar, Deepak N

2018-03-01

As liver cirrhosis is a dynamic condition, it is possible to improve survival in decompensated cirrhosis. Hence, we planned a prospective study to determine the natural history of cirrhosis after first decompensation. We enrolled all patients of liver cirrhosis who presented with first episode of decompensation defined by the presence of ascites, either overt or detected by Ultrasonography (UD), Gastroesophageal Variceal Bleeding (GEVB), and Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE). All patients were followed up to death/liver transplant or at least for the period of 1 year. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyze the risk of failure (death or Orthotopic Liver Transplantation (OLT)). In total of 110 cirrhotic patients (93 males, mean age 50 ± 11 years), the most frequent etiology was alcohol (48%), followed by nonalcoholic steatohepatitis/cryptogenic (26%), hepatitis B (10%), autoimmune hepatitis (7%), and hepatitis C (6%). The distribution of CTP classes was: 4%, 56%, and 41% in class A, B, and C, respectively. Ascites was the most common decompensation found in 88 patients (80%) followed by HE (14%) and GEVB (6%). At 1-year follow up, transplant free survival was 78%, 2 underwent OLT, 4 developed hepatocellular carcinoma, and 24 died. Cumulative incidence of failure (death or OLT) by type of decompensation after 1 year was: 22% overt ascites, 50% GEVB, 28% UD ascites, 20% HE, and 33% ascites and GEVB concomitant. Patients with UD ascites do not have a negligible mortality rate as compared to overt ascites. Patients with cirrhosis after first decompensation have better transplant free survival with treatment of etiology and complications than previously mentioned in literature.

CXCR3+CD4+ T cells mediate innate immune function in the pathophysiology of liver ischemia/reperfusion injury.

PubMed

Zhai, Yuan; Shen, Xiu-da; Hancock, Wayne W; Gao, Feng; Qiao, Bo; Lassman, Charles; Belperio, John A; Strieter, Robert M; Busuttil, Ronald W; Kupiec-Weglinski, Jerzy W

2006-05-15

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), an innate immune-dominated inflammatory response, develops in the absence of exogenous Ags. The recently highlighted role of T cells in IRI raises a question as to how T lymphocytes interact with the innate immune system and function with no Ag stimulation. This study dissected the mechanism of innate immune-induced T cell recruitment and activation in rat syngeneic orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) model. Liver IRI was induced after cold storage (24-36 h) at 4 degrees C in University of Wisconsin solution. Gene products contributing to IRI were identified by cDNA microarray at 4-h posttransplant. IRI triggered increased intrahepatic expression of CXCL10, along with CXCL9 and 11. The significance of CXCR3 ligand induction was documented by the ability of neutralizing anti-CXCR3 Ab treatment to ameliorate hepatocellular damage and improve 14-day survival of 30-h cold-stored OLTs (95 vs 40% in controls; p < 0.01). Immunohistology analysis confirmed reduced CXCR3+ and CD4+ T cell infiltration in OLTs after treatment. Interestingly, anti-CXCR3 Ab did not suppress innate immune activation in the liver, as evidenced by increased levels of IL-1beta, IL-6, inducible NO synthase, and multiple neutrophil/monokine-targeted chemokine programs. In conclusion, this study demonstrates a novel mechanism of T cell recruitment and function in the absence of exogenous Ag stimulation. By documenting that the execution of innate immune function requires CXCR3+CD4+ T cells, it highlights the critical role of CXCR3 chemokine biology for the continuum of innate to adaptive immunity in the pathophysiology of liver IRI.

Scalable Active Optical Access Network Using Variable High-Speed PLZT Optical Switch/Splitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashizawa, Kunitaka; Sato, Takehiro; Tokuhashi, Kazumasa; Ishii, Daisuke; Okamoto, Satoru; Yamanaka, Naoaki; Oki, Eiji

This paper proposes a scalable active optical access network using high-speed Plumbum Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate (PLZT) optical switch/splitter. The Active Optical Network, called ActiON, using PLZT switching technology has been presented to increase the number of subscribers and the maximum transmission distance, compared to the Passive Optical Network (PON). ActiON supports the multicast slot allocation realized by running the PLZT switch elements in the splitter mode, which forces the switch to behave as an optical splitter. However, the previous ActiON creates a tradeoff between the network scalability and the power loss experienced by the optical signal to each user. It does not use the optical power efficiently because the optical power is simply divided into 0.5 to 0.5 without considering transmission distance from OLT to each ONU. The proposed network adopts PLZT switch elements in the variable splitter mode, which controls the split ratio of the optical power considering the transmission distance from OLT to each ONU, in addition to PLZT switch elements in existing two modes, the switching mode and the splitter mode. The proposed network introduces the flexible multicast slot allocation according to the transmission distance from OLT to each user and the number of required users using three modes, while keeping the advantages of ActiON, which are to support scalable and secure access services. Numerical results show that the proposed network dramatically reduces the required number of slots and supports high bandwidth efficiency services and extends the coverage of access network, compared to the previous ActiON, and the required computation time for selecting multicast users is less than 30msec, which is acceptable for on-demand broadcast services.

Impact of N-acetylcysteine on the hepatic microcirculation after orthotopic liver transplantation.

PubMed

Koeppel, T A; Lehmann, T G; Thies, J C; Gehrcke, R; Gebhard, M M; Herfarth, C; Otto, G; Post, S

1996-05-15

Recent observations showed an improvement of hepatic macro- and microhemodynamics as well as survival rates after warm ischemia of the liver following treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC). In this study we assessed the influence of NAC on the hepatic microcirculation after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) using intravital fluorescence microscopy. OLT with simultaneous arterialization was performed in 16 male Lewis rats following cold storage in University of Wisconsin solution for 24 hr. Within the experimental group (n = 8) donors received NAC (400 mg/kg) 25 min before hepatectomy. In addition, high-dose treatment of recipients with NAC (400 mg/kg) was started with reperfusion. Control animals (n = 8) received an equivalent amount of Ringer's solution. Intravital fluorescence microscopy was performed 30-90 min after reperfusion assessing acinar and sinusoidal perfusion, leukocyte-endothelium interaction, and phagocytic activity. Treatment with NAC reduced the number of nonperfused sinusoid from 52.4 +/- 0.8% to 15.7 +/- 0.5% (p = 0.0001) (mean +/- SEM). Furthermore, we achieved a significant reduction of leukocytes adhering to sinusoidal endothelium (per mm2 liver surface) from 351.9 +/- 13.0 in controls to 83.6 +/- 4.2 in the experimental group (P = 0.0001). In postsinusoidal venules, treatment with NAC decreased the number of sticking leukocytes (per mm2 endothelium) from 1098.5 +/- 59.6 to 425.9 +/- 37.7 (P = 0.0001). Moreover, bile flow was significantly increased after therapy with NAC (4.3 +/- 1.2 vs. 2.2 +/- 0.7 ml/90 min x 100g liver) (P < 0.05). Phagocytic activity was not influenced by application of NAC. We conclude that high-dose therapy with NAC in OLT attenuates manifestations of microvascular perfusion failure early after reperfusion and should be considered as a means to reduce reperfusion injury.

[Orthotopic liver transplantation in adult patients with cadaveric grafts. Experience of the Fundeni Center of General Surgery and Liver Transplantation].

PubMed

Popescu, I; Ionescu, M; Tulbure, D; Ciurea, S; Băilă, S; Braşoveanu, V; Hrehoreţ, D; Sârbu-Boeţi, P; Pietrăreanu, D; Alexandrescu, S; Dorobanţu, B; Gheorghe, L; Gheorghe, C; Mihăilă, M; Boroş, M; Croitoru, M; Herlea, V

2005-01-01

We analyze the experience of the Center of General Surgery and Liver Transplantation from the Fundeni Clinical Institute (Bucharest, Romania) regarding orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in adult recipients, with whole liver grafts from cadaveric donors, between April 2000 (when the first successful LT was performed in Romania) and December 2004. This series includes 37 OLTs in adult recipients (16 women and 21 men, aged between 29-57 years--average 46 years). Other two LT with whole liver cadaveric grafts and two reduced-size LT were performed in children; also, in the same period, due to the acute organ shortage, other methods of LT were performed in 28 patients (21 living donor LT, 6 split LT and one "do mino" LT), that were not included in the present series. The indications for OLT were HBV cirrhosis--10, HBV+HDV cirrhosis--4, HCV cirrhosis--11, HBV+HCV cirrhosis--2, biliary cirrhosis--5, Wilson disease--2, alcoholic cirrhosis--1, non-alcoholic liver disease--1, autoimmune cirrhosis--1. With three exceptions, in which the classical transplantation technique was used, the liver was grafted following the technique described by Belghiti. Local postoperative complications occurred in 15 patients (41%) and general complications in 17 (46%); late complications were registered in 18 patients (49%) and recurrence of the initial disease in 6 patients (16%). Intrao- and postoperative mortality was 8% (3/37). There were two patients (5%) who died because of immunosuppressive drug neurotoxicity at more than 30 days following LT. Four patients (11%) died lately because of PTLD, liver venoocclusive disease, recurrent autoimmune hepatitis and liver venoocclusive disease, myocardial infarction, respectively. Thirty-four patients survived the postoperative period (92%); according to Kaplan-Meier analysis, actuarial patient-survival rate at month 31 was 75%.

Adverse events affect sorafenib efficacy in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation: experience at a single center and review of the literature.

PubMed

Zavaglia, Claudio; Airoldi, Aldo; Mancuso, Andrea; Vangeli, Marcello; Viganò, Raffaella; Cordone, Gabriella; Gentiluomo, Maria; Belli, Luca Saverio

2013-02-01

The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of sorafenib, with or without everolimus, in the treatment of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after an orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We reviewed the outcome of our consecutive cohort series of patients. Eleven patients (nine men) with recurrent HCC after OLT were treated. Four patients received cyclosporine plus sorafenib at a starting dose of 400 mg twice daily; seven received the combination of sorafenib (same dosage) and everolimus. Sorafenib was reduced or stopped according to the drug label. The median time to recurrence was 12 months (range 2-66). The mean age at the start of treatment was 57 ± 9 years. Sorafenib was withdrawn because of intolerance or side-effects in four (36%) patients. Dose reduction because of adverse events or intolerance was required in 91% of patients after 26 ± 11 days from the start of treatment. The average length of treatment was 68 days (range 15-444). One patient died because of a massive gastrointestinal bleeding while receiving sorafenib and everolimus. The most frequent adverse events were fatigue (54%), skin toxicity (45%), and hypophosphatemia (36%). Two patients (18%) showed a radiological partial response, one (9%) had a stable disease, and six (54%) showed a progressive disease. None of the patients achieved a complete response. Treatment response could not be assessed in two (18%) patients. The overall median survival since the start of treatment was 5 months. One-year survival was 18%. Sorafenib, with or without mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors, is poorly tolerated and rarely effective in the treatment of recurrent HCC after OLT.

A reconfigurable all-optical VPN based on XGM effect of SOA in WDM PON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Liang; Cao, Pan; Wang, Tao; Su, Yikai

2010-12-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a reconfigurable all-optical VPN scheme enabling intercommunications among different ONUs in a WDM PON. Reconfiguration is realized by dynamically setting wavelength conversion of optical VPN signal using a SOA in the OLT.

Effect of mouth cleaning with hinokitiol-containing gel on oral malodor: a randomized, open-label pilot study.

PubMed

Iha, Kosaku; Suzuki, Nao; Yoneda, Masahiro; Takeshita, Toru; Hirofuji, Takao

2013-10-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of mouth cleaning with hinokitiol-containing gel on oral malodor. An open-label, randomized, controlled trial was conducted to assess oral malodor and clinical parameters related to oral malodor before and after mouth cleaning with hinokitiol-containing gel (n = 9) or with gel not including hinokitiol (n = 9). Mouth cleaning included the teeth, gingiva, and tongue and was carried out 3 times per day for 4 weeks. Organoleptic test (OLT) scores (P = .021), levels of hydrogen sulfide (P = .008) and methyl mercaptan (P = .020), frequency of bleeding on probing, average probing pocket depth, and plaque index significantly improved in the group using hinokitiol. In contrast, only the OLT score (P = .031) significantly improved in the control group after the treatment regimen. Mouth cleaning with hinokitiol-containing gel may be effective for reduction of oral malodor. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Magnetic resonance cholangiography in the assessment and management of biliary complications after OLT.

PubMed

Girometti, Rossano; Cereser, Lorenzo; Bazzocchi, Massimo; Zuiani, Chiara

2014-07-28

Despite advances in patient and graft management, biliary complications (BC) still represent a challenge both in the early and delayed period after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Because of unspecific clinical presentation, imaging is often mandatory in order to diagnose BC. Among imaging modalities, magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) has gained widespread acceptance as a tool to represent the reconstructed biliary tree noninvasively, using both the conventional technique (based on heavily T2-weighted sequences) and contrast-enhanced MRC (based on the acquisition of T1-weighted sequences after the administration of hepatobiliary contrast agents). On this basis, MRC is generally indicated to: (1) avoid unnecessary procedures of direct cholangiography in patients with a negative examination and/or identify alternative complications; and (2) provide a road map for interventional procedures or surgery. As illustrated in the review, MRC is accurate in the diagnosis of different types of biliary complications, including anastomotic strictures, non-anastomotic strictures, leakage and stones.

The Impact of Fire on Active Layer Thicknes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaefer, K. M.; Parsekian, A.; Natali, S.; Ludwig, S.; Michaelides, R. J.; Zebker, H. A.; Chen, J.

2016-12-01

Fire influences permafrost thermodynamics by darkening the surface to increase solar absorption and removing insulating moss and organic soil, resulting in an increase in Active Layer Thickness (ALT). The summer of 2015 was one of the worst fire years on record in Alaska with multiple fires in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK) Delta. To understand the impacts of fire on permafrost, we need large-scale, extensive measurements of ALT both within and outside the fire zones. In August 2016, we surveyed ALT across multiple fire zones in the YK Delta using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and mechanical probing. GPR uses pulsed, radio-frequency electromagnetic waves to noninvasively image the subsurface and is an effective tool to quickly map ALT over large areas. We supplemented this ALT data with measurements of Volumetric Water Content (VWC), Organic Layer Thickness (OLT), and burn severity. We quantified the impacts of fire by statistically comparing the measurements inside and outside the fire zones and statistically regressing ALT against VWC, change in OLT, and burn severity.

Efficacy of oral vancomycin in recurrent primary sclerosing cholangitis following liver transplantation.

PubMed

Hey, Penelope; Lokan, Julie; Johnson, Paul; Gow, Paul

2017-09-25

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a liver disease that leads to progressive destruction and stricturing of the biliary tree. Unfortunately, apart from orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), there are no universally accepted therapies to treat this disease. Even following transplantation, recurrence of PSC is seen in approximately one quarter of patients and leads to high rates of graft failure. Oral vancomycin, through possible immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, has been shown in small-scale studies to be successful in improving liver function tests in patients with pretransplant PSC. We report the first case of an adult patient diagnosed with recurrent PSC 4 years after OLT who was treated with oral vancomycin leading to complete normalisation of his liver biochemistry. This case adds to the growing literature of a potential therapeutic role for this antibiotic in PSC and highlights interesting questions regarding mechanisms of disease. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Evaluation of on-line pyrolysis coupled to isotope ratio mass spectrometry for the determination of position-specific (13)C isotope composition of short chain n-alkanes (C6-C12).

PubMed

Gilbert, Alexis; Yamada, Keita; Yoshida, Naohiro

2016-06-01

We measured (13)C intramolecular isotopic composition of commercially available short-chain hydrocarbons (n-C6-n-C12) using (13)C-NMR. Results show that the main variation is between the terminal and the sub-terminal C-atom positions. Site-preference (difference in δ(13)C values between terminal and sub-terminal C-atom positions) among all the samples varies between -12.2‰ and +8.4‰. Comparison of these results with those obtained using on-line pyrolysis coupled with GC-C-IRMS show that the thermal cracking of hydrocarbons occurs with a good isotopic fidelity between terminal and sub-terminal C-atom positions of the starting material and the related pyrolysis products (methane and ethylene). On-line pyrolysis coupled with GC-C-IRMS can thus be used for tracing hydrocarbons biogeochemical processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dual power, constant speed electric motor system

DOEpatents

Kirschbaum, H.S.

1984-07-31

A dual capacity permanent split capacitor electric motor system is provided with a stator having main and auxiliary windings. The main stator winding includes two winding sections which are connected in parallel with each other and across a pair of line terminals while the auxiliary winding is connected in series with a capacitor to form a circuit branch which is connected between the line terminals for operation at a first output power level. Switching means are provided to reconnect the main stator winding sections in series with each other and in series with a second capacitor to form a circuit branch which is connected between the line terminals while the stator auxiliary winding is connected directly between the line terminals for operation at a second output power level. Automatic rotation reversal occurs when the motor switches from the first to the second output power level. 6 figs.

Dual power, constant speed electric motor system

DOEpatents

Kirschbaum, Herbert S.

1984-01-01

A dual capacity permanent split capacitor electric motor system is provided with a stator having main and auxiliary windings. The main stator winding includes two winding sections which are connected in parallel with each other and across a pair of line terminals while the auxiliary winding is connected in series with a capacitor to form a circuit branch which is connected between the line terminals for operation at a first output power level. Switching means are provided to reconnect the main stator winding sections in series with each other and in series with a second capacitor to form a circuit branch which is connected between the line terminals while the stator auxiliary winding is connected directly between the line terminals for operation at a second output power level. Automatic rotation reversal occurs when the motor switches from the first to the second output power level.

PULSED INDICATOR CIRCUIT

DOEpatents

Linlor, W.I.; Kerns, Q.A.

1960-11-15

A system is given for detecting incremental changes in a transducer impedance terminating a transmission line. Principal novelty resides in the transducer impedance terminating the line in a mismatch and a pulse generator being provided to apply discrete pulses to the input end of the line. The amplitudes of the pulses reflected to the input end of the line from the mismatched transducer impedance are then observed as a very accurate measure of the instantaneous value of the latter.

Clinical impact and efficacy of lamivudine therapy in de novo hepatitis B infection after liver transplantation.

PubMed

Castells, Lluís; Vargas, Víctor; Rodríguez, Francisco; Allende, Helena; Buti, Maria; Sánchez-Avila, José F; Jardí, Rosendo; Margarit, Carlos; Pumarola, Tomás; Esteban, Rafael; Guardia, Jaime

2002-10-01

De novo hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in patients negative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is between 1.7% and 3.5% in areas with a low prevalence of HBV infection. The importance of this problem and the efficacy of lamivudine treatment has not been defined in areas with a high prevalence of positivity to antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (Anti-HBc). To define the characteristics and the clinical impact of de novo HBV infection in OLT recipients and to evaluate the efficacy of lamivudine treatment in this context, 229 HBsAg (-) donors (145 men, 84 women) were retrospectively evaluated between June 1994 and June 2000. Forty-eight recipients were excluded for various reasons. The final study population included 181 patients that were prospectively followed up for more than 6 months after OLT. When de novo HBV infection was detected, liver allograft biopsy was performed and treatment with lamivudine was indicated if patients were HBV-DNA-positive with elevated ALT levels. Survival time was defined as the interval between diagnosis of HBV infection and death or last follow-up visit. Thirty-one of 229 liver donors (13.5%) were anti-HBc(+). After a mean follow-up of 54.4+/-30 months, 9 of the 181 recipients (5%) developed de novo HBV infection; 8 of 27 recipients (29.6%) of livers from anti-HBc(+) donors as compared with only one of 154 recipients (0.6%) of livers from anti-HBc(-) donors P < 0.005). Liver biopsies performed in 8 of 9 cases showed chronic active hepatitis in 7 patients and acute hepatitis in one patient who cleared HBV spontaneously during the first 3 months. Seven patients were treated with lamivudine for a mean period of 24.5 months; HBV-DNA became negative in 5 of 7 (71.4%), and HBeAg became undetectable in 3 of 6 patients (50%). Patient actuarial survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 100%, 94.7%, and 81.2% for recipients of anti-HBc (+) livers and 95.2%, 83%, and 77.3% for recipients of anti-HBc (-) livers P = ns). In our area, the appearance of de novo HBV infection after OLT is related to grafting livers from anti-HBc (+) donors is associated with a benign outcome, with no liver failure or graft loss, and treatment with lamivudine is highly effective in the control of HBV replication.

M/A-COM Linkabit Eastern Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-03-31

Lincoln Laboratories speech codec for use in multimedia system development. Communication equipment included 1200-bps dial-up modems and a set of...connected to the DCN for use in[7, Page 4 general word-processing and network-testing applications.Additional modems and video terminals have also been...line 0) can be connected to a second terminal, a printer, or a modem . The standard configuration assumes this line is connected to a terminal or

Designing Journalism Capstone Units That Demonstrate Student Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cullen, Trevor

2016-01-01

There are considerable differences in the structure, content, and delivery of tertiary journalism degrees in Australia as identified in a 2014 Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) Innovation and Development Project report on graduate qualities and journalism curriculum renewal. To address this situation, the author argues for journalism capstone…

Waupaca Foundry, Inc. Plant No.5

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2015-09-10

... y 2 ,Qt:;" qq_, s- 2.0'J'"' 99, R" ·~ ~.0) /Olt ? I. 9 0 II I. '2 It' 8' I. ffj lr~rr q ., ?~ 1/(.C /0 /.10 IZ2 ' ... I (.., 67 r II '"';9( 1 i , II 8 I ' q. c-=r;.. '-t r 177 'I 6. l, 6 ;- ) -- ...

How do we manage post-OLT redundant bile duct?

PubMed

Torres, Victor; Martinez, Nicholas; Lee, Gabriel; Almeda, Jose; Gross, Glenn; Patel, Sandeep; Rosenkranz, Laura

2013-04-28

To address endoscopic outcomes of post-Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) patients diagnosed with a "redundant bile duct" (RBD). Medical records of patients who underwent OLT at the Liver Transplant Center, University Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Texas were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with suspected biliary tract complications (BTC) underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). All ERCP were performed by experienced biliary endoscopist. RBD was defined as a looped, sigmoid-shaped bile duct on cholangiogram with associated cholestatic liver biomarkers. Patients with biliary T-tube placement, biliary anastomotic strictures, bile leaks, bile-duct stones-sludge and suspected sphincter of oddi dysfunction were excluded. Therapy included single or multiple biliary stents with or without sphincterotomy. The incidence of RBD, the number of ERCP corrective sessions, and the type of endoscopic interventions were recorded. Successful response to endoscopic therapy was defined as resolution of RBD with normalization of associated cholestasis. Laboratory data and pertinent radiographic imaging noted included the pre-ERCP period and a follow up period of 6-12 mo after the last ERCP intervention. One thousand two hundred and eighty-two patient records who received OLT from 1992 through 2011 were reviewed. Two hundred and twenty-four patients underwent ERCP for suspected BTC. RBD was reported in each of the initial cholangiograms. Twenty-one out of 1282 (1.6%) were identified as having RBD. There were 12 men and 9 women, average age of 59.6 years. Primary indication for ERCP was cholestatic pattern of liver associated biomarkers. Nineteen out of 21 patients underwent endoscopic therapy and 2/21 required immediate surgical intervention. In the endoscopically managed group: 65 ERCP procedures were performed with an average of 3.4 per patient and 1.1 stent per session. Fifteen out of 19 (78.9%) patients were successfully managed with biliary stenting. All stents were plastic. Selection of stent size and length were based upon endoscopist preference. Stent size ranged from 7 to 11.5 Fr (average stent size 10 Fr); Stent length ranged from 6 to 15 cm (average length 9 cm). Concurrent biliary sphincterotomy was performed in 10/19 patients. Single ERCP session was sufficient in 6/15 (40.0%) patients, whereas 4/15 (26.7%) patients needed two ERCP sessions and 5/15 (33.3%) patients required more than two (average of 5.4 ERCP procedures). Single biliary stent was sufficient in 5 patients; the remaining patients required an average of 4.9 stents. Four out of 19 (21.1%) patients failed endotherapy (lack of resolution of RBD and recurrent cholestasis in the absence of biliary stent) and required either choledocojejunostomy (2/4) or percutaneous biliary drainage (2/4). Endoscopic complications included: 2/65 (3%) post-ERCP pancreatitis and 2/10 (20%) non-complicated post-sphincterotomy bleeding. No endoscopic related mortality was found. The medical records of the 15 successful endoscopically managed patients were reviewed for a period of one year after removal of all biliary stents. Eleven patients had continued resolution of cholestatic biomarkers (73%). One patient had recurrent hepatitis C, 2 patients suffered septic shock which was not associated with ERCP and 1 patient was transferred care to an outside provider and records were not available for our review. Although surgical biliary reconstruction techniques have improved, RBD represents a post-OLT complication. This entity is rare however, endoscopic management of RBD represents a reasonable initial approach.

A Fault Location Algorithm for Two-End Series-Compensated Double-Circuit Transmission Lines Using the Distributed Parameter Line Model

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

Kang, Ning; Gombos, Gergely; Mousavi, Mirrasoul J.

A new fault location algorithm for two-end series-compensated double-circuit transmission lines utilizing unsynchronized two-terminal current phasors and local voltage phasors is presented in this paper. The distributed parameter line model is adopted to take into account the shunt capacitance of the lines. The mutual coupling between the parallel lines in the zero-sequence network is also considered. The boundary conditions under different fault types are used to derive the fault location formulation. The developed algorithm directly uses the local voltage phasors on the line side of series compensation (SC) and metal oxide varistor (MOV). However, when potential transformers are not installedmore » on the line side of SC and MOVs for the local terminal, these measurements can be calculated from the local terminal bus voltage and currents by estimating the voltages across the SC and MOVs. MATLAB SimPowerSystems is used to generate cases under diverse fault conditions to evaluating accuracy. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is qualified for practical implementation.« less

On the impact of fjord geometry on grounding line stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Åkesson, H.; Nick, F. M.; Morlighem, M.; Nisancioglu, K. H.

2016-12-01

Observations and reconstructions of Antarctic and Greenland marine-terminating glaciers and their grounding lines show that their response to external forcings is highly dependent on the geometry of individual glaciers, such as fjord geometry. While recent retreat of these glaciers is broadly consistent with warmer atmospheric and oceanic conditions, we observe considerable spatial and temporal variability, with diverse glacier behavior within the same regions. The relatively short observational record of marine-terminating glaciers also needs to be placed in a long-term context. Reconstructions of marine-terminating glaciers, however, indicate highly asynchronous retreat histories despite being subject to similar climatic forcings. These lines of evidence suggest that regional climate forcing alone cannot explain marine-terminating glacier behavior, and that these glaciers cannot be used uncritically as indicators of past climates because of their heterogeneous response to climate change. Here we use a dynamic flowline model with a physical treatment of iceberg calving to assess the effect of fjord geometry on grounding line stability on decadal and longer time scales. The model includes driving and resistive stresses of ice flow and is applied to idealized fjord geometries representing different real-world glaciers. We find that the geometry can override the signal from the ambient forcing over multiple centuries, resulting in non-linear, rapid grounding line migration. In particular we highlight the importance of fjord width, which has received relatively little attention in terms of marine ice sheet instability. Our findings provide new insights into grounding line behavior and may explain some of the documented heterogeneous, asynchronous patterns of marine-terminating glaciers in Greenland, Antarctica, Alaska and elsewhere. Further, we investigate the geometric influence on the reversibility and hysteresis of grounding line migration, relevant for oscillatory glacier behavior, marine-terminating glacier retreat-advance cycles and Heinrich events. Finally, we present comparative, preliminary results using the 3-dimensional ice sheet model ISSM and discuss our findings in terms of ice shelf stability and buttressing.

"Bush Law 101": Realising Place Conscious Pedagogy in the Law Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Amanda; Mundy, Trish; Nielsen, Jennifer M.

2016-01-01

In 2012, a team of academics from six universities worked on an OLT-funded project, "Rethinking Law Curriculum: developing strategies to prepare law graduates for practice in rural and regional Australia." The project was motivated by the declining proportion of lawyers being attracted to and remaining in practice in rural and regional…

Postschool Goals and Transition Services for Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daviso, Alfred W.; Denney, Stephen C.; Baer, Robert M.; Flexer, Robert

2011-01-01

This article describes the initial findings for students with learning disabilities from the first year of The Ohio Longitudinal Transition Study (OLTS). The study included 416 participants with learning disabilities who were exiting high school. Data from an in-school survey were analyzed by sample demographics (e.g. school setting, school type,…

Living donor liver transplantation for congenital absence of the portal vein.

PubMed

Sanada, Y; Mizuta, K; Kawano, Y; Egami, S; Hayashida, M; Wakiya, T; Mori, M; Hishikawa, S; Morishima, K; Fujiwara, T; Sakuma, Y; Hyodo, M; Yasuda, Y; Kobayashi, E; Kawarasaki, H

2009-12-01

The congenital absence of the portal vein (CAPV) is a rare venous malformation in which mesenteric venous blood drains directly into the systemic circulation. Liver transplantation (OLT) may be indicated for patients with symptomatic CAPV refractory to medical treatment, especially due to hyperammonemia, portosystemic encephalopathy, hepatopulmonary syndrome, or hepatic tumors. Because portal hypertension and collateral circulation do not occur with CAPV, significant splanchnic congestion may occur when the portocaval shunt is totally clamped during portal vein (PV) reconstruction in OLT. This phenomenon results in severe bowel edema and hemodynamic instability, which negatively impact the patient's condition and postoperative recovery. We have successfully reconstructed the PV in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using a venous interposition graft, which was anastomosed end-to-side to the portocaval shunt by a partial side-clamp, using a patent round ligament of the liver, which was anastomosed end-to-end to the graft PV with preservation of both the portal and caval blood flows. Owing to the differences in anatomy among patients, at LDLT for CAPV liver transplant surgeons should seek to preserve both portal and caval blood flows.

Central projections of the lateral line and eighth nerves in the bowfin, Amia calva.

PubMed

McCormick, C A

1981-03-20

The first-order connections of the anterior and posterior lateral line nerves and of the eighth nerve were determined in the bowfin, Amia calva, using experimental degeneration and anterograde HRP transport techniques. The termination sites of these nerves define a dorsal lateralis cell column and a ventral octavus cell column. The anterior and posterior lateralis nerves distribute ipsilaterally to two medullary nuclei-nucleus medialis and nucleus caudalis. Nucleus medialis comprises the rostral two-thirds of the lateralis column and contains large, Purkinje-like cells dorsally and polygonal, granule, and fusiform cells ventrally. Nucleus caudalis is located posterior to nucleus medialis and consists of small, granule cells. Anterior lateralis fibers terminate ventrally to ventromedially in both nucleus medialis and nucleus caudalis. Posterior lateralis fibers terminate dorsally to dorsolaterally within these two nuclei. A sparse anterior lateralis input may also be present on the dendrites of one of the nuclei within the octavus cell column, nucleus magnocellularis. In contrast, the anterior and posterior rami of the eighth nerve each terminate within four medullary nuclei which comprise the octavus cell column: the anterior, magnocellular, descending, and posterior octavus nuclei. An eighth nerve projection to the medial reticular formation is also present. Some fibers of the lateralis and eighth nerves terminate within the ipsilateral eminentia granularis of the cerebellum. Lateralis fibers distribute to approximately the lateral half of this structure with posterior lateral line fibers terminating laterally and anterior lateral line fibers terminating medially. Eighth nerve fibers distribute to the medial half of the eminentia granularis.

Horizontal cryogenic bushing for the termination of a superconducting power-transmission line

DOEpatents

Minati, K.F.; Morgan, G.H.; McNerney, A.J.; Schauer, F.

1982-07-29

A termination for a superconducting power transmission line is disclosed which is comprised of a standard air entrance insulated vertical bushing with an elbow, a horizontal cryogenic bushing linking the pressurized cryogenic cable environment to the ambient temperature bushing and a stress cone which terminated the cable outer shield and transforms the large radial voltage gradient in the cable dielectric into a much lower radial voltage gradient in the high density helium coolant at the cold end of the cryogenic bushing.

Termination for a superconducting power transmission line including a horizontal cryogenic bushing

DOEpatents

Minati, Kurt F.; Morgan, Gerry H.; McNerney, Andrew J.; Schauer, Felix

1984-01-01

A termination for a superconducting power transmission line is disclosed which is comprised of a standard air entrance insulated vertical bushing with an elbow, a horizontal cryogenic bushing linking the pressurized cryogenic cable environment to the ambient temperature bushing and a stress cone which terminates the cable outer shield and transforms the large radial voltage gradient in the cable dielectric into a much lower radial voltage gradient in the high density helium coolant at the cold end of the cryogenic bushing.

Magnetic ring anastomosis of suprahepatic vena cava: novel technique for liver transplantation in rat.

PubMed

Shi, Yuan; Zhang, Wei; Deng, Yong-lin; Zhang, Ya-min; Zhang, Quan-sheng; Zhang, Wei-ye; Zheng, Hong; Pan, Cheng; Shen, Zhong-Yang

2015-01-01

To improve the technique of suprahepatic vena cava (SHVC) reconstruction in rat OLT, novel magnetic rings were designed and manufactured to facilitate reconstruction of SHVC and shorten the anhepatic time. One-hundred and twenty adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: rings group (n = 30), using magnetic rings for SHVC reconstruction; suture group (n = 30), 7/0 prolene suture was used for SHVC running anastomosis as control. Cuff techniques were used for portal vein and infrahepatic vena cava reconstruction as Kamada and Calne described. The bile duct was reconnected with a stent. The hepatic re-arterialization was omitted. In the rings group, the SHVC reconstruction took 0.91 ± 0.24 (mean ± SD) min; the anhepatic phase and the recipient operation time were 5.63 ± 0.65 min and 36.02 ± 8.02 min, respectively. In suture group, the anastomotic time of SHVC was 10.40 ± 2.11 min; the anhepatic phase and the recipient operation time were 17.76 ± 2.51 and 49.38 ± 12.06 min, respectively, and there was statistically significant difference between the two groups. The ALT levels reached peak at 24 h post-OLT (186.2 ± 32.5 IU/l) and restored to normal level at 96 h gradually. In the rings group, 29 of 30 rats survived at day 7 and 28 of 30 rats survived at day 30. In contrast, only 25 of 30 recipients in suture group remained alive at day 7 and 22 of 30 remained alive at day 30 (P < 0.05). Better anastomotic healing was founded in rings group by pathology and scanning electron microscope. The magnetic rings technique provides a novel, simple method for SHVC reconstruction of OLT in rat. It significantly shortens anhepatic phase, while the success rate of the operation is satisfactory. © 2014 Steunstichting ESOT.

Comparison of the WarmCloud and Bair Hugger Warming Devices for the Prevention of Intraoperative Hypothermia in Patients Undergoing Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: A Randomized Clinical Trial

PubMed Central

Pearce, Brett; Mattheyse, Linda; Ellard, Louise; Desmond, Fiona; Pillai, Param; Weinberg, Laurence

2018-01-01

Background The avoidance of hypothermia is vital during prolonged and open surgery to improve patient outcomes. Hypothermia is particularly common during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and associated with undesirable physiological effects that can adversely impact on perioperative morbidity. The KanMed WarmCloud (Bromma, Sweden) is a revolutionary, closed-loop, warm-air heating mattress developed to maintain normothermia and prevent pressure sores during major surgery. The clinical effectiveness of the WarmCloud device during OLT is unknown. Therefore, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether the WarmCloud device reduces hypothermia and prevents pressure injuries compared with the Bair Hugger underbody warming device. Methods Patients were randomly allocated to receive either the WarmCloud or Bair Hugger warming device. Both groups also received other routine standardized multimodal thermoregulatory strategies. Temperatures were recorded by nasopharyngeal temperature probe at set time points during surgery. The primary endpoint was nasopharyngeal temperature recorded 5 minutes before reperfusion. Secondary endpoints included changes in temperature over the predefined intraoperative time points, number of patients whose nadir temperature was below 35.5°C and the development of pressure injuries during surgery. Results Twenty-six patients were recruited with 13 patients randomized to each group. One patient from the WarmCloud group was excluded because of a protocol violation. Baseline characteristics were similar. The mean (standard deviation) temperature before reperfusion was 36.0°C (0.7) in the WarmCloud group versus 36.3°C (0.6) in the Bairhugger group (P = 0.25). There were no statistical differences between the groups for any of the secondary endpoints. Conclusions When combined with standardized multimodal thermoregulatory strategies, the WarmCloud device does not reduce hypothermia compared with the Bair Hugger device in patients undergoing OLT. PMID:29707629

Intraoperative Portal Flow of Less Than 1 Liter per Minute After Orthotopic Liver Transplantation Is Not Associated Per Se With an Increased Rate of Early Graft Dysfunction.

PubMed

Gastaca, M; Prieto, M; Valdivieso, A; Ruiz, P; Ventoso, A; Palomares, I; Matarranz, A; Martinez-Indart, L; Ortiz de Urbina, J

2016-09-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether a portal flow of <1,000 mL/min in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is associated with a higher incidence of early graft dysfunction (EGD) and graft loss. A retrospective study was performed of 540 OLTs carried out consecutively from December 2004 to December 2013. Patients were divided into 2 groups: group A, portal flow <1,000 mL/min; and group B, portal flow >1,000 mL/min. We studied the incidence of EGD and graft survival. A subanalysis was performed to define the minimum acceptable portal flow/100 g of liver weight to reduce the development EGD and graft loss. Group A included 29 patients and group B, 511 patients. Group A had significantly lower-weight donors and recipients, female recipients with cholestatic disease, lower MELD scores, and lower hepatic artery flow. EGD occurred in 7 patients in group A (24.1%) versus 101 patients in group B (19.8%; P = .43). No significant differences were found in 1- and 5-year graft survival. A portal flow of <80 mL/min/100 g of liver weight was related to a significantly higher risk of developing EGD (odds ratio, 4.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46-12.91; P = .008) and graft loss (hazard ratio, 4.05; 95% CI, 1.32-12.42; P = .014). Intraoperative portal flow of <1,000 mL/min in OLT was not related per se with a higher incidence of EGD or graft loss. Significantly higher risk of developing EGD and graft loss was associated with a portal flow of <80 mL/min/100 g of liver weight. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acute quadriplegic myopathy with myosin-deficient muscle fibres after liver transplantation: defining the clinical picture and delimiting the risk factors.

PubMed

Miró, O; Salmerón, J M; Masanés, F; Alonso, J R; Graus, F; Mas, A; Grau, J M

1999-04-27

In the last few years, rare cases of acute quadriplegic myopathy (AQM*) with myosin-deficient muscle fibres occurring after solid organ transplantation has been reported. The aim of the present study was to review all cases of AQM with myosin deficient fibres seen at our institution among a large series of patients after orthotopic liver transplants (OLT), with special attention to clinical aspects and associated risk factors. Additionally, an extensive review of all ultrastructurally demonstrated cases of AQM in transplant recipients is also included. Among patients involved in 281 consecutive liver transplant procedures performed in a 4-year period, 3 men and 1 woman developed an arreflexic, flaccid quadriplegia in the immediate postoperative period of OLT. After ruling out other causes of weakness, a muscle biopsy was performed and a loss of thick (myosin) filaments was confirmed by ultrastructural analysis in all cases. Accurate clinical, epidemiological, and evolutive data were recorded. Corticosteroids had been used at usual dosage given to liver transplant recipients; all four patients had several intra- and postoperative complications leading to receiving significantly higher amounts of hemoderivates, to develop renal failure in all cases, and to require a significantly higher number of reoperations within a few days after transplantation than our contemporaneous global series of liver transplant recipients. AQM patients required a significantly longer intensive care unit and hospital stay. Muscular recovery was the rule, but currently a mild myopathic gait remains in three patients. These and other reported cases of AQM do not histologically and clinically differ from AQM seen in other critically ill patients who have not had transplants. Patients with a complicated intra- and postoperative course of OLT who develop newly acquired acute muscle weakness should be suspected as having acute AQM with myosin-deficient muscle fibres. In this setting, differential diagnosis with other causes of weakness should be carried out, because the prognosis of this myopathy is good with early muscle rehabilitation therapy.

Model for end-stage liver disease dynamic stratification of survival benefit.

PubMed

Avolio, A W; Siciliano, M; Barone, M; Lai, Q; Caracciolo, G L; Barbarino, R; Nicolotti, N; Lirosi, M C; Gasbarrini, A; Agnes, S

2012-09-01

Only patients with Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores ≥18 or ≥17 experience a survival benefit (SB) at 12 and 36 months after liver transplantation (OLT). The SB calculation estimates the difference after stratification for risk categories between the survival rate of transplanted versus waiting list patients. The aim of this study was to perform a short- and long-term (60 months) SB analyses of a Italian OLT program. One-hundred seventy-one patients were stratified into four MELD classes (6-14, 15-18, 19-25, 26-40), and two groups: namely, waiting list (WL) and transplanted groups (TX). The median waiting time for transplanted patients was 4.4 months (range, 0-35). SB was expressed as mortality hazard ratio (MHR) as obtained through a Cox regression analysis using as a covariate the status of each patient in the waiting list (WL = 0, reference group) or the TX group (TX = 1). Values over 1 indicated the MHR in favor of the WL with the values below 1 indicating MHR in favor of Tx. In the MELD class 6 to 14, the MHR was above 1 at 3 and 6 months, indicating an SB in favor of WL; subsequently, the MHR dropped below 1, indicating an SB in favor of TX (P < .05). In the MELD class 15 to 18 the MHR was above 1 at 3 months, but below 1 subsequently (P < .05). For MELD classes 19 to 25 and 26 to 40, the MHR was always below 1 (P < .01). According to the SB approach, patients in the MELD class 6 to 14 could safely wait for at least 36 months; patients in the MELD class 15 to 18 should likely remain no longer than 12 months on the waiting list, and all the remaining patients with MELD > 18 should be transplanted as soon as possible. OLT should not be precluded but only postponed for MELD < 19 patients. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Changes in hemodynamics and oxygen metabolism of different Child-grade patients during orthotopic liver transplantation without veno-venous bypass].

PubMed

Zhao, Dong; Wang, Tian-long; Pan, Fang; Zhao, Lei; Zhang, Lian-feng; Yang, Ba-xian

2006-08-18

To investigate the changes in hemodynamics and oxygen metabolism of different Child-grade patients during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) without veno-venous bypass. Forty patients with end-stage liver disease undergoing non veno-venous OLT under general anesthesia were enrolled in this research. Swan-Ganz catheter was placed in the pulmonary artery via right internal jugular vein and right radial artery was cannulated to monitor mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and artery blood pressure (ABP) continuously. Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and central venous pressure (CVP) were also recorded. Cardiac output (CO) was recorded at several time points, such as, 30 min after induction (T1), when inferior vena cava and portal vein were clamped (T2), 30 min after portal vein was clamped (T3), 10 min after unclamping of portal vein (T4), 60 min after graft reperfusion (T5) and at the end of the operation (T6). Blood samples were taken from radial and pulmonary artery for blood gas analysis and hemodynamic parameters, such as, cardiac index (CI), stroke volume index (SVI), pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI), and system vascular resistance index (SVRI); oxygen delivery (DO2) and oxygen consumption (VO2) were also calculated at these time points. (1) The mPAP values were much higher in group C than in group A or B at all time points. CVP was significantly increased at T1 or T2 in group C as compared with those points of Child's B or C. PCWP was increased significantly after unclamping of portal vein in all three groups and was much higher at several points in Child's C than in Child's A or B. The SVRI value of T1 and the PVRI value of T3 were much lower in group C than those points in group A and the value of SVRI/PVRI was less than normal except at T3 point. And blood gas analysis elucidated that PaO2 was higher than 400 mm Hg at any points. (2) Oxygen consumption was significantly decreased during the operation due to less blood supply and was reverted to normal at the end point of the operation in all patients. Oxygen delivery was all at least 1,000 mL/min during OLT and there was no significant difference between different groups or different points. The hemodynamic state of high cardiac output with low peripheral resistance deteriorated when patients' Child-grade shifted from A to C. VO2 was less than normal value during OLT until the end point.

Permafrost and organic layer interactions over a climate gradient in a discontinuous permafrost zone

Treesearch

Kristofer D. Johnson; Jennifer W. Harden; A. David McGuire; Mark Clark; Fengming Yuan; Andrew O. Finley

2013-01-01

Permafrost is tightly coupled to the organic soil layer, an interaction that mediates permafrost degradation in response to regional warming. We analyzed changes in permafrost occurrence and organic layer thickness (OLT) using more than 3000 soil pedons across a mean annual temperature (MAT) gradient. Cause and effect relationships between permafrost probability (PF),...

U.S. EPA, Pesticide Product Label, FRUIT BUILDER'S FISH OIL PESTICIDE/STICKER-SPREADER, 11/06/1981

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2011-04-21

... 'E;'<1 .... : f''':.l ':, • 'l I,) ,Ih':i I:, th •. (~"I:"L'd t!:,..rl,;,]nt ~ldge of l)lLJ d·. Jt'icprnt..!It ,)! tll'~ ute of IL) ,) iLl" ·n~, ;)1 Olt I'f" 'I' J.JI!,Jr': .. 'j' .... n (j hi! ...

Valuing the Leadership Role of University Unit Coordinators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pepper, Coral; Roberts, Susan

2016-01-01

In this paper we describe the experiences of 64 unit coordinators across 15 Australian universities, gathered during 2011/2012 as part of an Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) project. Our intention was to gain insight into how unit coordinators (academics who coordinate a discrete unit of study) perceive their role as leaders of learning in…

CS-10 Verification Survey at Former McClellan AFB, Sacramento, CA

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-26

8217!11C’D ./ -k~>olY 3ə ’-Af" 4 \\I Olt te’o Q__li~\\ (G"d.07y r ,~ ’illi’ 󈧏󈧓 ’>, - c;;¥a’f’’i c""" I 16 Distribution A: Approved for public release

Exploring Staff Perceptions: Early Childhood Teacher Educators Examine Online Teaching and Learning Challenges and Dilemmas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Julie; Lennox, Sandra; Walker, Sue; Walsh, Kerryann

2007-01-01

Early Childhood teacher educators at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have been engaging with online teaching and learning since the mid 1990s. On campus students have lectures and tutorials supported by information and communication technologies via QUT's home grown learning management system, Online Learning and Teaching (OLT). We…

Suicide and Terminal Illness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marzuk, Peter M.

1994-01-01

Reviews epidemiology of suicide among terminally ill. Discusses clinical assessment and management of suicidal terminally ill, emphasizing differences from evaluation and treatment of other suicidal individuals. Focuses on methodological issues inherent in studying treatment and characteristics of this population. Suggests blurring of line between…

DISTRIBUTED AMPLIFIER INCORPORATING FEEDBACK

DOEpatents

Bell, P.R. Jr.

1958-10-21

An improved distributed amplifier system employing feedback for stabilization is presented. In accordance with the disclosed invention, a signal to be amplified is applled to one end of a suitable terminated grid transmission line. At intervals along the transmission line, the signal is fed to stable, resistance-capacitance coupled amplifiers incorporating feedback loops therein. The output current from each amplifier is passed through an additional tube to minimize the electrostatic capacitance between the tube elements of the last stage of the amplifier, and fed to appropriate points on an output transmission line, similar to the grid line, but terminated at the opposite (input) end. The output taken from the unterminated end of the plate transmission line is proportional to the input voltage impressed upon the grid line.

High Efficiency Automatic-Power-Controlled and Gain-Clamped EDFA for Broadband Passive Optical Networking Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Jyi-Lai; Wei, Shui-Ken; Lin, Chin-Yuan; Iong Li, Ssu; Huang, Chih-Chuan

2010-04-01

The configuration of a simple improved high efficiency automatic-power-controlled and gain-clamped EDFA (APC-GC-EDFA) for broadband passive optical networking systems (BPON) is presented here. In order to compensate the phase and amplitude variation due to the different distance between the optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network units (ONU), the APC-GC-EDFA need to be employed. A single 980 nm laser module is employed as the primary pump. To extend the bandwidth, all C-band ASE is recycled as the secondary pump to enhance the gain efficiency. An electrical feedback circuit is used as a multi-wavelength channel transmitter monitor for the automatic power control to improve the gain-flattened flatness for stable amplification. The experimental results prove that the EDFA system can provide flatter clamped gain in both C-band and L-band configurations. The gain flatness wavelength ranging from 1530 to 1610 nm is within 32.83 ± 0.64 dB, i.e. below 1.95 %. The gains are clamped at 33.85 ± 0.65 dB for the input signal power of -40 dBm to -10 dBm. The range of noise figure is between 6.37 and 6.56, which is slightly lower compared to that of unclamped amplifiers. This will be very useful for measuring the gain flatness of APC-GC-EDFA. Finally, we have also demonstrated the records of the overall simultaneous dynamics measurements for the new system stabilization. The carrier to noise ratio (CNR) is 49.5 to 50.8 dBc which is above the National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard of 43 dBc, and both composite second order (CSO) 69.2 to 71.5 dBc and composite triple beat (CTB) of 69.8 to 72.2 dBc are above 53 dBc. The recorded corresponding rise-time of 1.087 ms indicates that the system does not exhibit any overshoot of gain or ASE variation due to the signal at the beginning of the pulse.

The HSP terminator of Arabidopsis thaliana induces a high level of miraculin accumulation in transgenic tomatoes.

PubMed

Hirai, Tadayoshi; Kurokawa, Natsuko; Duhita, Narendra; Hiwasa-Tanase, Kyoko; Kato, Kazuhisa; Kato, Ko; Ezura, Hiroshi

2011-09-28

High-level accumulation of the target recombinant protein is a significant issue in heterologous protein expression using transgenic plants. Miraculin, a taste-modifying protein, was accumulated in transgenic tomatoes using an expression cassette in which the miraculin gene was expressed by the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter and the heat shock protein (HSP) terminator (MIR-HSP). The HSP terminator was derived from heat shock protein 18.2 in Arabidopsis thaliana . Using this HSP-containing cassette, the miraculin concentration in T0 transgenic tomato lines was 1.4-13.9% of the total soluble protein (TSP), and that in the T1 transgenic tomato line homozygous for the miraculin gene reached 17.1% of the TSP. The accumulation level of the target protein was comparable to levels observed with chloroplast transformation. The high-level accumulation of miraculin in T0 transgenic tomato lines achieved by the HSP terminator was maintained in the successive T1 generation, demonstrating the genetic stability of this accumulation system.

Comprehensive representation of the Lennard-Jones equation of state based on molecular dynamics simulation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pieprzyk, S.; Brańka, A. C.; Maćkowiak, Sz.; Heyes, D. M.

2018-03-01

The equation of state (EoS) of the Lennard-Jones fluid is calculated using a new set of molecular dynamics data which extends to higher temperature than in previous studies. The modified Benedict-Webb-Rubin (MBWR) equation, which goes up to ca. T ˜ 6, is reparametrized with new simulation data. A new analytic form for the EoS, which breaks the fluid range into two regions with different analytic forms and goes up to ca. T ≃ 35, is also proposed. The accuracy of the new formulas is at least as good as the MBWR fit and goes to much higher temperature allowing it to now encompass the Amagat line. The fitted formula extends into the high temperature range where the system can be well represented by inverse power potential scaling, which means that our specification of the equation of state covers the entire (ρ, T) plane. Accurate analytic fit formulas for the Boyle, Amagat, and inversion curves are presented. Parametrizations of the extrema loci of the isochoric, CV, and isobaric, CP, heat capacities are given. As found by others, a line maxima of CP terminates in the critical point region, and a line of minima of CP terminates on the freezing line. The line of maxima of CV terminates close to or at the critical point, and a line of minima of CV terminates to the right of the critical point. No evidence for a divergence in CV in the critical region is found.

The onset of the volcanism in the Ciomadul Volcanic Dome Complex (Eastern Carpathians): Eruption chronology and magma type variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molnár, Kata; Harangi, Szabolcs; Lukács, Réka; Dunkl, István; Schmitt, Axel K.; Kiss, Balázs; Garamhegyi, Tamás; Seghedi, Ioan

2018-04-01

Combined zircon U-Th-Pb and (U-Th)/He dating was applied to refine the eruption chronology of the last 2 Myr for the andesitic and dacitic Pilişca volcano and Ciomadul Volcanic Dome Complex (CVDC), the youngest volcanic area of the Carpathian-Pannonian region, located in the southernmost Harghita, eastern-central Europe. The proposed eruption ages, which are supported also by the youngest zircon crystallization ages, are much younger than the previously determined K/Ar ages. By dating every known eruption center in the CVDC, repose times between eruptive events were also accurately determined. Eruption of the andesite at Murgul Mare (1865 ± 87 ka) and dacite of the Pilişca volcanic complex (1640 ± 37 ka) terminated an earlier pulse of volcanic activity within the southernmost Harghita region, west of the Olt valley. This was followed by the onset of the volcanism in the CVDC, which occurred after several 100s kyr of eruptive quiescence. At ca. 1 Ma a significant change in the composition of erupted magma occurred from medium-K calc-alkaline compositions to high-K dacitic (Baba-Laposa dome at 942 ± 65 ka) and shoshonitic magmas (Malnaş and Bixad domes; 964 ± 46 ka and 907 ± 66 ka, respectively). Noteworthy, eruptions of magmas with distinct chemical compositions occurred within a restricted area, a few km from one another. These oldest lava domes of the CVDC form a NNE-SSW striking tectonic lineament along the Olt valley. Following a brief (ca. 100 kyr) hiatus, extrusion of high-K andesitic magma continued at Dealul Mare (842 ± 53 ka). After another ca. 200 kyr period of quiescence two high-K dacitic lava domes extruded (Puturosul: 642 ± 44 ka and Balvanyos: 583 ± 30 ka). The Turnul Apor lava extrusion occurred after a ca. 200 kyr repose time (at 344 ± 33 ka), whereas formation of the Haramul Mic lava dome (154 ± 16 ka) represents the onset of the development of the prominent Ciomadul volcano. The accurate determination of eruption dates shows that the volcanic eruptions were often separated by prolonged (ca. 100 to 200 kyr) quiescence periods. Demonstration of recurrence of volcanism even after such long dormancy has to be considered in assessing volcanic hazards, particularly in seemingly inactive volcanic areas, where no Holocene eruptions occurred. The term of 'volcanoes with Potentially Active Magma Storage' illustrates the potential of volcanic rejuvenation for such long-dormant volcanoes with the existence of melt-bearing crustal magma body.

The Effects of Aerodynamic Heating and Heat Transfer on the Surface Temperature of a Body of Revolution in Steady Supersonic Flight

DTIC Science & Technology

1947-07-01

HF..-I.T THA.:\\SFER 0.:\\ THE SnlfACE TDJPER.Hl’RE Of ... BODY OF RE’·OLt·TIO.:\\ 471 o~~---~~~--~~~~~--~~~~--~ 1.2 1.6 2.0 2,4 2.8 3.2 Moch number

Estimate carbon emissions from degraded permafrost with InSAR and a soil thermal model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Z.; Liu, L.

2016-12-01

Climate warming, tundra fire over past decades has caused degradation in permafrost widely and quickly. Recent studies indicate that an increase in degradation could switch permafrost from a carbon sink to a source, with the potential of creating a positive feedback to anthropogenic climate warming. Unfortunately, Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) emissions from degraded permafrost unquantified, and limit our ability to understand SOC losses in arctic environments. This work will investigate recent 10 years of data already collected at the Anaktuvuk River fire (both ground and remote sensed), and will employ a soil thermal model to estimate SOC emission in this region. The model converts the increases in Active Layer Thickness (ALT), as measured by InSAR, to changes in Organic Layer Thickness (OLT), and SOC. ALOS-1/2 L-band SAR dataset will be used to produce the ATL changes over the study area. Soil prosperities (e.g. temperature at different depth, bulk density) will be used in the soil thermal model to estimate OLT changes and SOC losses. Ground measurement will validate the InSAR results and the soil thermal model. A final estimation of SOC emission will be produced in Anaktuvuk River region.

[To the issue of postreperfusion syndrome predictors in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT)].

PubMed

Kiseleva, E A; Ushakova, I A; Kim, E F; Matveev, G P; Biriulina, N Iu; Vabishchevich, A V

2012-01-01

The aim of the study is revelation of postperfusion syndrome (pPS) predictors in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Was conducted a retrospective analysis of anesthesia maintainance protocols during orthotopic liver transplantation in 261 patients aged from 6 months to 60 years. Investigated the effect of various factors on the development of PPS by the application of methods of non-parametric statistics. Significantly more frequent development of the PPS is noted in the age group from 3 to 18 years (up to 30% of patients). In recipients older than 18 years the frequency of the development of the PPS does not depend on age, with an average of 14%. The development of the PPS does not depend on the recipient sex, the nature of the pathology which served as an indication to the OTP, the initial severity of the state, type of OTP (living related donor or cadaveric transplantation, primary or re-transplantation), the transplant warm ischemia duration, use, or the lack of venous-venous bypass, metabolic status of the patient. The obtained results do not contradict to the data of foreign publications. Among parameters available for screening, predictor of PPS was not detected.

Dynamic interactions between the promoter and terminator regions of the mammalian BRCA1 gene.

PubMed

Tan-Wong, Sue Mei; French, Juliet D; Proudfoot, Nicholas J; Brown, Melissa A

2008-04-01

The 85-kb breast cancer-associated gene BRCA1 is an established tumor suppressor gene, but its regulation is poorly understood. We demonstrate by gene conformation analysis in both human cell lines and mouse mammary tissue that gene loops are imposed on BRCA1 between the promoter, introns, and terminator region. Significantly, association between the BRCA1 promoter and terminator regions change upon estrogen stimulation and during lactational development. Loop formation is transcription-dependent, suggesting that transcriptional elongation plays an active role in BRCA1 loop formation. We show that the BRCA1 terminator region can suppress estrogen-induced transcription and so may regulate BRCA1 expression. Significantly, BRCA1 promoter and terminator interactions vary in different breast cancer cell lines, indicating that defects in BRCA1 chromatin structure may contribute to dysregulated expression of BRCA1 seen in breast tumors.

33 CFR 165.1710 - Port Valdez and Valdez Narrows, Valdez, Alaska-security zones.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... following areas are security zones: (1) Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) Valdez Terminal complex (Terminal), Valdez, Alaska and TAPS tank vessels. All waters enclosed within a line beginning on the southern... TAPS tank vessel maneuvering to approach, moor, unmoor or depart the TAPS Terminal or transiting...

JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Foreign Military Review, No. 8, August 1987

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-28

Hinkley Point (1.5 million) and Hartlepool (1.3 million). In recent years the country has begun building large hydro- electric pumped storage power ...antenna 6. Interface equipment 7. Data transmission line terminal 8. Computer 9. Power supply plant control station 10. Radio-relay station terminals... stations and data transmission line, interface equipment, and power distribution unit (Fig. 3). The parallel computer, which performs operations on

Solar Flare Termination shock and the Synthetic Fe XXI 1354.08 Å line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, L.; Li, G.; Reeves, K.; Raymond, J. C.

2017-12-01

Solar flares are one of the most energetic phenomena occurred in the solar system. In the standard solar flare model, a fast mode shock, which is often referred to as the flare termination shock (TS), can exist above the loop-top source of hard X-ray emissions. The existence of the termination shock has been recently related to spectral hardening of flare hard X-ray spectrum at energies > 300 keV. Observations of the Fe XXI 1354.08 Å line during solar flares by the IRIS spacecraft have found significant redshift with >100 km/s, which is consistent with a reconnection downflow. The ability to identify such a redshift by IRIS is made possible by IRIS's high time resolution, high spatial resolution, high sensitivity and cadence spectral observations. The ability to identify such a redshift by IRIS suggests that one may be able to use IRIS observations to identify flare termination shocks. Using a MHD simulation to model magnetic reconnection of a solar flare and assuming the existence of a TS in the downflow of the reconnection plasma, we model the synthetic emission of the Fe XXI 1354.08 Å line in this work. We show that the existence of the TS in the solar flare may manifest itself from the Fe XXI 1354.08 Å line.

Tirawa on the Terminator

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-07-04

Rhea sports an immense impact scar on its leading hemisphere, like several other major Saturnian moons. The impact basin, seen above center on the day-night dividing line, or terminator, is named Tirawa

An enhanced DWBA algorithm in hybrid WDM/TDM EPON networks with heterogeneous propagation delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chengjun; Guo, Wei; Jin, Yaohui; Sun, Weiqiang; Hu, Weisheng

2011-12-01

An enhanced dynamic wavelength and bandwidth allocation (DWBA) algorithm in hybrid WDM/TDM PON is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In addition to the fairness of bandwidth allocation, this algorithm also considers the varying propagation delays between ONUs and OLT. The simulation based on MATLAB indicates that the improved algorithm has a better performance compared with some other algorithms.

Serial volumetric assessment of large for size liver grafts after whole cadaveric liver transplant in adults: do large liver grafts shrink in size?

PubMed

Bekheit, Mohamed; Rajakannu, Muthukumarassamy; Bucur, Petru; Adam, Rene; SaCunha, Antonio; Castaing, Denis; Cherqui, Daniel; Vibert, Eric

2016-02-01

After whole graft orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), adaptation of the large grafts' volume to recipient weight is widely accepted despite the paucity of evidence on this subject. Thirty nine patients with GRWR > 2.5% were included in this study and subsequently divided into two groups with 3 ≥ GRWR > 3%. Patients had CT scans at three predetermined time points after OLT used for measuring the liver volume. The objective of this study is to evaluate the volumetric changes of whole large liver grafts after adult OLT. At LT, the mean graft recipient body weight ratio (GRWR) was 3.1 ± 0.4%. The mean liver weight was 1881 ± 68 g at LT, 2014 ± 99 ml at one week, 1725 ± 126 ml at 3 months, and 1632 ± 117 (ml) at >6 months. There is an initial increase at 1 week after LT and a subsequent decrease of liver volume on later measurements. None of the late volume measurements were significantly different from the initial graft volume at liver transplant in pair wise comparisons ANOVA repeated measures (p > 0.05). Similarly, the mean GRWR did not change significantly between the initial calculation at transplantation date and the subsequent measurements during the different study time points (F = 0.04, p = 0.96) with a mean of 3.1% (95% CI = 2.2-4.2). AUC ROC discriminated a cutoff of 3% for the initial GRWR above which grafts tend to decrease in size over time (c statistics = 0.74, p = 0.036). In a Clustered ANOVA repeated measures, there was no significant difference in the changes of liver volume between both groups. However, patients with GRWR > 3 showed a trend towards a latent reduction in volume over the tracing period. There was a tendency, but none significant; towards a higher bilirubin, AST, ALT levels over the first postoperative days in recipients with GRWR > 3. Large grafts do not significantly decrease in size. Nonetheless, grafts weighing >3% of the GRWR show a different trend towards decrease in size over time. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

75 FR 82426 - Big Four Terminal Railroad, LLC-Operation Exemption-RMW Ventures, LLC

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-30

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35454] Big Four Terminal Railroad, LLC--Operation Exemption--RMW Ventures, LLC Big Four Terminal Railroad, LLC (BFTR), has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to operate over 5.2 +/- miles of rail line between...

Development, Demonstration, and Control of a Testbed for Multiterminal HVDC System

DOE PAGES

Li, Yalong; Shi, Xiaojie M.; Liu, Bo; ...

2016-10-21

This paper presents the development of a scaled four-terminal high-voltage direct current (HVDC) testbed, including hardware structure, communication architecture, and different control schemes. The developed testbed is capable of emulating typical operation scenarios including system start-up, power variation, line contingency, and converter station failure. Some unique scenarios are also developed and demonstrated, such as online control mode transition and station re-commission. In particular, a dc line current control is proposed, through the regulation of a converter station at one terminal. By controlling a dc line current to zero, the transmission line can be opened by using relatively low-cost HVDC disconnectsmore » with low current interrupting capability, instead of the more expensive dc circuit breaker. Utilizing the dc line current control, an automatic line current limiting scheme is developed. As a result, when a dc line is overloaded, the line current control will be automatically activated to regulate current within the allowable maximum value.« less

Housing Operation Management System (HOMES). Volume 7. Assignments and Terminations User Manual.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-04-01

PAINTED. SANDED, AND COMPONENT REPLACED. ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING FUNCTIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE HEAR FUTURE WHEN THE HOMES ENGINEERING SUBSYSTEM IS...OPERATOR OFF- LINE PROCESS rTERMINATION HOMES 001 ENTER PFI B ATE PROVIDED- BY OCCUPANT SCHDUL HOMES 200 ENTER PFIO PRETERM . 1 INSPECTION PREPARE AOV...OPERATOR OFF-LINE PROCESS S INSPECTOR OBTAINS HAND RECEIPT I 8CHECK LIST INSPECTOR 1 OBTAINS LISTOF OUTSTANDING M&R REQMTS . INSPECTOR CONDUCTS PRETERM

Quadruples in the Four-Number Game with Large Termination Times

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yueh, Wen-Chyuan; Cheng, Sui Sun

2002-01-01

The discrete dynamical system of absolute differences defined by the map [psi]( x[subscript 1] , x[subscript 2] , x[subscript 3] , x[subscript 4] ) = ([vertical line] x[subscript 2] - x[subscript 1] [vertical line], [vertical line] x[subscript 3] - x[subscript 2] [vertical line], [vertical line] x[subscript 4] - x[subscript 3] [vertical line],…

Terminal drought-tolerant pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] have high leaf ABA and limit transpiration at high vapour pressure deficit

PubMed Central

Kholová, Jana; Hash, C. T.; Kumar, P. Lava; Yadav, Rattan S.; Kočová, Marie; Vadez, Vincent

2010-01-01

It was previously shown that pearl millet genotypes carrying a terminal drought tolerance quantitative trait locus (QTL) had a lower transpiration rate (Tr; g cm−2 d−1) under well-watered conditions than sensitive lines. Here experiments were carried out to test whether this relates to leaf abscisic acid (ABA) and Tr concentration at high vapour pressure deficit (VPD), and whether that leads to transpiration efficiency (TE) differences. These traits were measured in tolerant/sensitive pearl millet genotypes, including near-isogenic lines introgressed with a terminal drought tolerance QTL (NIL-QTLs). Most genotypic differences were found under well-watered conditions. ABA levels under well-watered conditions were higher in tolerant genotypes, including NIL-QTLs, than in sensitive genotypes, and ABA did not increase under water stress. Well-watered Tr was lower in tolerant than in sensitive genotypes at all VPD levels. Except for one line, Tr slowed down in tolerant lines above a breakpoint at 1.40–1.90 kPa, with the slope decreasing >50%, whereas sensitive lines showed no change in that Tr response across the whole VPD range. It is concluded that two water-saving (avoidance) mechanisms may operate under well-watered conditions in tolerant pearl millet: (i) a low Tr even at low VPD conditions, which may relate to leaf ABA; and (ii) a sensitivity to higher VPD that further restricts Tr, which suggests the involvement of hydraulic signals. Both traits, which did not lead to TE differences, could contribute to absolute water saving seen in part due to dry weight increase differences. This water saved would become critical for grain filling and deserves consideration in the breeding of terminal drought-tolerant lines. PMID:20142425

Terminal drought-tolerant pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] have high leaf ABA and limit transpiration at high vapour pressure deficit.

PubMed

Kholová, Jana; Hash, C T; Kumar, P Lava; Yadav, Rattan S; Kocová, Marie; Vadez, Vincent

2010-03-01

It was previously shown that pearl millet genotypes carrying a terminal drought tolerance quantitative trait locus (QTL) had a lower transpiration rate (Tr; g cm(-2) d(-1)) under well-watered conditions than sensitive lines. Here experiments were carried out to test whether this relates to leaf abscisic acid (ABA) and Tr concentration at high vapour pressure deficit (VPD), and whether that leads to transpiration efficiency (TE) differences. These traits were measured in tolerant/sensitive pearl millet genotypes, including near-isogenic lines introgressed with a terminal drought tolerance QTL (NIL-QTLs). Most genotypic differences were found under well-watered conditions. ABA levels under well-watered conditions were higher in tolerant genotypes, including NIL-QTLs, than in sensitive genotypes, and ABA did not increase under water stress. Well-watered Tr was lower in tolerant than in sensitive genotypes at all VPD levels. Except for one line, Tr slowed down in tolerant lines above a breakpoint at 1.40-1.90 kPa, with the slope decreasing >50%, whereas sensitive lines showed no change in that Tr response across the whole VPD range. It is concluded that two water-saving (avoidance) mechanisms may operate under well-watered conditions in tolerant pearl millet: (i) a low Tr even at low VPD conditions, which may relate to leaf ABA; and (ii) a sensitivity to higher VPD that further restricts Tr, which suggests the involvement of hydraulic signals. Both traits, which did not lead to TE differences, could contribute to absolute water saving seen in part due to dry weight increase differences. This water saved would become critical for grain filling and deserves consideration in the breeding of terminal drought-tolerant lines.

Hydrometeor Data and Analytical-Theoretical Investigations Pertaining to the SAMS Rain Erosion Program of the 1972-73 Season at Wallops Island, Virginia - AFGL/SAMS Report Number 5

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-07-05

Report No.5 1. INTRODUCTION The liquid-water-content values and other associated hydrometeorological information for the trajectories of the SAMS...Map Showin« Sitini; Locations of Rain ( Jauges and Oisdrometers Relative to the Missile Launch Pads 80 OltOftOMCTCR I |"fy/^n ^J^^^^^ 01 J I

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Transit timing variations on Qatar-1 (von Essen+, 2013)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Essen, C.; Schroter, S.; Agol, E.; Schmitt, J. H. M. M.

2013-06-01

The OLT data were taken between March 2011 and October 2012 using an Apogee Alta U9000 CCD with a 9'x9' field of view. The PTST data were taken between May and August 2012 using a Santa Barbara CCD with a 30'x30' field of view in a 3x3 binning and a Baade R-band filter setup. (2 data files).

77 FR 27279 - Waybill Compliance Survey; Request for Comments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-09

... waybills terminating on its lines. The information in the Waybill Sample is used to monitor traffic flows... Survey--information on carloads of traffic terminated each year by U.S. railroads--in order to determine...

Persistent Hg contamination and occurrence of Hg-methylating transcript (hgcA) downstream of a chlor-alkali plant in the Olt River (Romania).

PubMed

Bravo, Andrea G; Loizeau, Jean-Luc; Dranguet, Perrine; Makri, Stamatina; Björn, Erik; Ungureanu, Viorel Gh; Slaveykova, Vera I; Cosio, Claudia

2016-06-01

Chlor-alkali plants using mercury (Hg) cell technology are acute point sources of Hg pollution in the aquatic environment. While there have been recent efforts to reduce the use of Hg cells, some of the emitted Hg can be transformed to neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg). Here, we aimed (i) to study the dispersion of Hg in four reservoirs located downstream of a chlor-alkali plant along the Olt River (Romania) and (ii) to track the activity of bacterial functional genes involved in Hg methylation. Total Hg (THg) concentrations in water and sediments decreased successively from the initial reservoir to downstream reservoirs. Suspended fine size particles and seston appeared to be responsible for the transport of THg into downstream reservoirs, while macrophytes reflected the local bioavailability of Hg. The concentration and proportion of MeHg were correlated with THg, but were not correlated with bacterial activity in sediments, while the abundance of hgcA transcript correlated with organic matter and Cl(-) concentration, indicating the importance of Hg bioavailability in sediments for Hg methylation. Our data clearly highlights the importance of considering Hg contamination as a legacy pollutant since there is a high risk of continued Hg accumulation in food webs long after Hg-cell phase out.

Prevalence and awareness of halitosis in a sample of Jordanian population

PubMed Central

Hammad, Mohammad M.; Darwazeh, Azmi MG.; Al-Waeli, Haider; Tarakji, Bassel; Alhadithy, Teeb T.

2014-01-01

Objectives: This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and awareness of halitosis among the subjects of a population, and also to compare the results of Halimeter® readings to self-estimation of halitosis and to assess the relationship between halitosis and oral health. Materials and Methods: A sample of 205 employees from the Jordan University for Science and Technology (JUST) were selected as study subjects. A standardized questionnaire focusing on dental hygiene, self-reported halitosis, and smoking was filled by all participants. In the clinical examination, the objective values for assessment of oral health and the presence of halitosis were gathered through an organoleptic test (OLT) and the measurement of volatile sulfur compound (VSC) level by Halimeter for each participant. Results: The prevalence of halitosis was 78%, with low rate of awareness (20.5%). The amount of TC played the most important role in increasing the concentration of VSCs in mouth air (P < 0.001). Conclusion: A statistically significant correlation was found between OLT and Halimeter values (P < 0.001). Subjective patients’ opinion did not correlate with the objective evaluation of halitosis. TC scores and smoking were the factors significantly associated to halitosis. The Halimeter showed promising characteristics regarding diagnosis of halitosis for clinical setting and field surveys. PMID:25625076

Caffeine suppresses exercise-enhanced long-term and location memory in middle-aged rats: Involvement of hippocampal Akt and CREB signaling.

PubMed

Cechella, José L; Leite, Marlon R; da Rocha, Juliana T; Dobrachinski, Fernando; Gai, Bibiana M; Soares, Félix A A; Bresciani, Guilherme; Royes, Luiz F F; Zeni, Gilson

2014-11-05

The cognitive function decline is closely related with brain changes generated by age. The ability of caffeine and exercise to prevent memory impairment has been reported in animal models and humans. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether swimming exercise and caffeine administration enhance memory in middle-aged Wistar rats. Male Wistar rats (18months) received caffeine at a dose of 30mg/kg, 5days per week by a period of 4weeks. Animals were subjected to swimming training with a workload (3% of body weight, 20min per day for 4weeks). After 4weeks, the object recognition test (ORT) and the object location test (OLT) were performed. The results of this study demonstrated that caffeine suppressed exercise-enhanced long-term (ORT) and spatial (OLT) memory in middle-aged and this effect may be related to a decrease in hippocampal p-CREB signaling. This study also provided evidence that the effects of this protocol on memory were not accompanied by alterations in the levels of activated Akt. The [(3)H] glutamate uptake was reduced in hippocampus of rats administered with caffeine and submitted to swimming protocol. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

33 CFR 165.1156 - Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... § 165.1156 Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA. (a) Location. The following area is a safety zone: All waters of Santa Monica Bay, from surface to bottom, enclosed by a line beginning at... Terminal, El Segundo, CA. 165.1156 Section 165.1156 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT...

33 CFR 165.1156 - Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... § 165.1156 Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA. (a) Location. The following area is a safety zone: All waters of Santa Monica Bay, from surface to bottom, enclosed by a line beginning at... Terminal, El Segundo, CA. 165.1156 Section 165.1156 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT...

33 CFR 165.1156 - Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... § 165.1156 Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA. (a) Location. The following area is a safety zone: All waters of Santa Monica Bay, from surface to bottom, enclosed by a line beginning at... Terminal, El Segundo, CA. 165.1156 Section 165.1156 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT...

33 CFR 165.1156 - Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... § 165.1156 Safety Zone; Offshore Marine Terminal, El Segundo, CA. (a) Location. The following area is a safety zone: All waters of Santa Monica Bay, from surface to bottom, enclosed by a line beginning at... Terminal, El Segundo, CA. 165.1156 Section 165.1156 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT...

Response of wheat restricted-tillering and vigorous growth traits to variables of climate change.

PubMed

Dias de Oliveira, Eduardo A; Siddique, Kadambot H M; Bramley, Helen; Stefanova, Katia; Palta, Jairo A

2015-02-01

The response of wheat to the variables of climate change includes elevated CO2, high temperature, and drought which vary according to the levels of each variable and genotype. Independently, elevated CO2, high temperature, and terminal drought affect wheat biomass and grain yield, but the interactive effects of these three variables are not well known. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of elevated CO2 when combined with high temperature and terminal drought on the high-yielding traits of restricted-tillering and vigorous growth. It was hypothesized that elevated CO2 alone, rather than combined with high temperature, ameliorates the effects of terminal drought on wheat biomass and grain yield. It was also hypothesized that wheat genotypes with more sink capacity (e.g. high-tillering capacity and leaf area) have more grain yield under combined elevated CO2, high temperature, and terminal drought. Two pairs of sister lines with contrasting tillering and vigorous growth were grown in poly-tunnels in a four-factor completely randomized split-plot design with elevated CO2 (700 µL L(-1)), high day time temperature (3 °C above ambient), and drought (induced from anthesis) in all combinations to test whether elevated CO2 ameliorates the effects of high temperature and terminal drought on biomass accumulation and grain yield. For biomass and grain yield, only main effects for climate change variables were significant. Elevated CO2 significantly increased grain yield by 24-35% in all four lines and terminal drought significantly reduced grain yield by 16-17% in all four lines, while high temperature (3 °C above the ambient) had no significant effect. A trade-off between yield components limited grain yield in lines with greater sink capacity (free-tillering lines). This response suggests that any positive response to predicted changes in climate will not overcome the limitations imposed by the trade-off in yield components. © 2014 Commonwealth of Australia. Global Change Biology © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Thirty Percent of Female Footballers Terminate Their Careers Due to Injury - A Retrospective Study Among Former Polish Players.

PubMed

Grygorowicz, Monika; Michałowska, Martyna; Jurga, Paulina; Piontek, Tomasz; Jakubowska, Honorata; Kotwicki, Tomasz

2017-09-27

Female football is becoming an increasingly popular women's team sports discipline around the world. The Women's Football Committee in Polish Football Association (WFC_PFA) has developed a long-term strategic plan to popularize the discipline across the country and enhance girls' participation. On one hand, it is postulated to increase the number of female footballers, and on the other hand it is crucial to decrease the number of girls quitting football prematurely. To find the reasons for sports career termination among female football players. cross-sectional with retrospective information about reasons of career termination. On-line questionnaire was filled out by on-line access. Ninety-three former female footballers. factors leading to career termination. Participants completed the on-line questionnaire. The analysis was performed referring to two groups: "injury group" - in which the injury was the main reason for quitting football, and "other group" - in which the female player stopped playing football due to all other factors. Thirty percent of former Polish female football players terminated their career due to a long-term treatment for an injury. Over 27 percent (27.7%) females had ended their careers because they were not able to reconcile sports with work/studying. Over 10 percent (10.8%) of former football players reported that becoming a wife and/or mother was the reason for career termination. Losing motivation and interest in sport was reported by 9.2%(n=6) of present study participants who decided to terminate the career due to non-injury reasons. The results clearly show that more effort is needed to support female football players, especially after an injury, so that they do not quit the sport voluntarily.

Hybrid proline-rich proteins: novel players in plant cell elongation?

PubMed Central

Dvořáková, Lenka; Srba, Miroslav; Opatrny, Zdenek; Fischer, Lukas

2012-01-01

Background and Aims Hybrid proline-rich proteins (HyPRPs) represent a large family of putative cell-wall proteins characterized by the presence of a variable N-terminal domain and a conserved C-terminal domain that is related to non-specific lipid transfer proteins. The function of HyPRPs remains unclear, but their widespread occurrence and abundant expression patterns indicate that they may be involved in a basic cellular process. Methods To elucidate the cellular function of HyPRPs, we modulated the expression of three HyPRP genes in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) BY-2 cell lines and in potato (Solanum tuberosum) plants. Key Results In BY-2 lines, over-expression of the three HyPRP genes with different types of N-terminal domains resulted in similar phenotypic changes, namely increased cell elongation, both in suspension culture and on solid media where the over-expression resulted in enhanced calli size. The over-expressing cells showed increased plasmolysis in a hypertonic mannitol solution and accelerated rate of protoplast release, suggesting loosening of the cell walls. In contrast to BY-2 lines, no phenotypic changes were observed in potato plants over-expressing the same or analogous HyPRP genes, presumably due to more complex compensatory mechanisms in planta. Conclusions Based on the results from BY-2 lines, we propose that HyPRPs, more specifically their C-terminal domains, represent a novel group of proteins involved in cell expansion. PMID:22028464

75 FR 29812 - Notice and Request for Comments; Waybill Compliance Survey

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-27

... waybills terminating on its lines. The information in the Waybill Sample is used to monitor traffic flows... Survey--information on carloads of traffic terminated each year by U.S. railroads--in order to determine...

Nebulette interacts with filamin C.

PubMed

Holmes, William B; Moncman, Carole L

2008-02-01

The actin-binding proteins, nebulette, and nebulin, are comprised of a four-domain layout containing an acidic N-terminal region, a repeat domain, a serine-rich-linker region, and a Src homology-3 domain. Both proteins contain homologous N-terminal regions that are predicted to be in different environments within the sarcomere. The nebulin acidic N-terminal region is found at the distal ends of the thin filaments. Nebulette, however, is predicted to extend 150 nm from the center of the Z-line. To dissect out the functions of the N-terminal domain of nebulette, we have performed a yeast two-hybrid screen using nebulette residues 1-86 as bait. We have identified filamin-C, ZASP-1, and tropomyosin-1 as binding partners. Characterization of the nebulette-filamin interaction indicates that filamin-C predominantly interacts with the modules. These data suggest that filamin-C, a known component of striated muscle Z-lines, interacts with nebulette modules. Copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for the evaluation of the C-terminal lysine distribution of a recombinant monoclonal antibody.

PubMed

Lazar, Alexandru C; Kloczewiak, Marek A; Mazsaroff, Istvan

2004-01-01

Recombinant monoclonal antibodies produced using mammalian cell lines contain multiple chemical modifications. One specific modification resides on the C-terminus of the heavy chain. Enzymes inside the cell can cleave the C-terminal lysine from the heavy-chain molecules, and variants with and without C-terminal lysine can be produced. In order to fully characterize the protein, there is a need for analytical methods that are able to account for the different product variants. Conventional analytical methods used for the measurement of the distribution of the two different variants are based on chemical or enzymatic degradation of the protein followed by chromatographic separation of the degradation products. Chromatographic separations with gradient elution have long run times, and analyses of multiple samples are time-consuming. This paper reports development of a novel method for the determination of the relative amounts of the two C-terminal heavy-chain variants based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOFMS) measurements of the cyanogen bromide degraded recombinant monoclonal antibody products. The distribution of the variants is determined from the MALDI-TOF mass spectra by measuring the peak areas of the two C-terminal peptides. The assay was used for the assessment of the C-terminal lysine distribution in different development lots. The method was able to differentiate between the products obtained using the same cell line as well as between products obtained from different cell lines. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Design and implementation of a telecommunication interface for the TAATM/TCV real-time experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nolan, J. D.

1981-01-01

The traffic situation display experiment of the terminal configured vehicle (TCV) research program requires a bidirectional data communications tie line between an computer complex. The tie line is used in a real time environment on the CYBER 175 computer by the terminal area air traffic model (TAATM) simulation program. Aircraft position data are processed by TAATM with the resultant output sent to the facility for the generation of air traffic situation displays which are transmitted to a research aircraft.

49 CFR 192.375 - Service lines: Plastic.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Service lines: Plastic. 192.375 Section 192.375... § 192.375 Service lines: Plastic. (a) Each plastic service line outside a building must be installed... terminate above ground level and outside the building, if— (i) The above ground level part of the plastic...

49 CFR 192.375 - Service lines: Plastic.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Service lines: Plastic. 192.375 Section 192.375... § 192.375 Service lines: Plastic. (a) Each plastic service line outside a building must be installed... terminate above ground level and outside the building, if— (i) The above ground level part of the plastic...

49 CFR 192.375 - Service lines: Plastic.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Service lines: Plastic. 192.375 Section 192.375... § 192.375 Service lines: Plastic. (a) Each plastic service line outside a building must be installed... terminate above ground level and outside the building, if— (i) The above ground level part of the plastic...

49 CFR 192.375 - Service lines: Plastic.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Service lines: Plastic. 192.375 Section 192.375... § 192.375 Service lines: Plastic. (a) Each plastic service line outside a building must be installed... terminate above ground level and outside the building, if— (i) The above ground level part of the plastic...

49 CFR 192.375 - Service lines: Plastic.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Service lines: Plastic. 192.375 Section 192.375... § 192.375 Service lines: Plastic. (a) Each plastic service line outside a building must be installed... terminate above ground level and outside the building, if— (i) The above ground level part of the plastic...

VizieR Online Data Catalog: TrES-2b multi-band transit observations (Mislis+, 2010)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mislis, D.; Schroeter, S.; Schmitt, J. H. M. M.; Cordes, O.; Reif, K.

2010-02-01

The OLT data were taken on 11 April 2009 using a 3Kx3K CCD with a 1x1 FOV and an I-band filter as in our previous observing run (Paper I, Mislis & Schmitt, 2009, Cat. ). The Calar Alto data were taken on 28 May 2009 using BUSCA and the 2.2m telescope. (1 data file).

A Novel Reliable WDM-PON System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Benyang; Gan, Chaoqin; Qi, Yongqian; Xia, Lei

2011-12-01

In this paper, a reliable Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing Passive Optical Network (WDM-PON) system is proposed. It can provide the protection against both the feeder fiber failure and the distribution fiber failure. When the fiber failure occurs, the corresponding switches in the OLT and in the ONU can switch to the protection link without affecting the users in normal status. That is to say, the protection for one ONU is independent of the other ONUs.

Photonic integrated transmitter and receiver for NG-PON2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavares, Ana; Lopes, Ana; Rodrigues, Cláudio; Mãocheia, Paulo; Mendes, Tiago; Brandão, Simão.; Rodrigues, Francisco; Ferreira, Ricardo; Teixeira, António

2014-08-01

In this paper the authors present a monolithic Photonic Integrated Circuit which includes a transmitter and a receiver for NG-PON2. With this layout it is possible to build an OLT and, by redesigning some filters, also an ONU. This technology allows reducing the losses in the transmitter and in the receiver, increasing power budget, and also reducing the OEO conversions, which has been a major problem that operators want to surpass.

Finding the Sweet Spot: Bridging X3D, S1000D, and SCORM for Embedded Performance Assessment and Life Cycle Training Content Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-14

f\\11 eL1&iled.i’m:COilPI: Io) d< olt <llllllt e\\’CDI: re<ci\\oifi’Om XJD KCD!: f71 10Ucl!C«~~~:ItttO nl’liTOIIdledAI (I’R.ooicnRes>ocl t\\’t:U r«d\\’ed

Studies of a full-scale mechanical prototype line for the ANTARES neutrino telescope and tests of a prototype instrument for deep-sea acoustic measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ageron, M.; Aguilar, J. A.; Albert, A.; Ameli, F.; Anghinolfi, M.; Anton, G.; Anvar, S.; Ardellier-Desages, F.; Aslanides, E.; Aubert, J.-J.; Auer, R.; Barbarito, E.; Basa, S.; Battaglieri, M.; Bazzotti, M.; Becherini, Y.; Béthoux, N.; Beltramelli, J.; Bertin, V.; Bigi, A.; Billault, M.; Blaes, R.; de Botton, N.; Bouwhuis, M. C.; Bruijn, R.; Brunner, J.; Burgio, G. F.; Busto, J.; Cafagna, F.; Caillat, L.; Calzas, A.; Capone, A.; Caponetto, L.; Carmona, E.; Carr, J.; Castel, D.; Castorina, E.; Cavasinni, V.; Cecchini, S.; Ceres, A.; Charvis, P.; Chauchot, P.; Chiarusi, T.; Circella, M.; Coail, J.-Y.; Colnard, C.; Compére, C.; Coniglione, R.; Cottini, N.; Coyle, P.; Cuneo, S.; Cussatlegras, A.-S.; Damy, G.; van Dantzig, R.; Debonis, G.; de Marzo, C.; de Vita, R.; Dekeyser, I.; Delagnes, E.; Denans, D.; Deschamps, A.; Dessa, J.-X.; Destelle, J.-J.; Dinkespieler, B.; Distefano, C.; Donzaud, C.; Drogou, J.-F.; Druillole, F.; Durand, D.; Ernenwein, J.-P.; Escoffier, S.; Falchini, E.; Favard, S.; Fehr, F.; Feinstein, F.; Fiorello, C.; Flaminio, V.; Fratini, K.; Fuda, J.-L.; Galeotti, S.; Gallone, J.-M.; Giacomelli, G.; Girard, N.; Gojak, C.; Goret, Ph.; Graf, K.; Guilloux, F.; Hallewell, G.; Harakeh, M. N.; Hartmann, B.; Heijboer, A.; Heine, E.; Hello, Y.; Hernández-Rey, J. J.; Hößl, J.; Hoffman, C.; Hogenbirk, J.; Hubbard, J. R.; Jaquet, M.; Jaspers, M.; de Jong, M.; Jouvenot, F.; Kalantar-Nayestanaki, N.; Kappes, A.; Karg, T.; Katz, U.; Keller, P.; Kneib, J. P.; Kok, E.; Kok, H.; Kooijman, P.; Kopper, C.; Kouchner, A.; Kretschmer, W.; Kruijer, A.; Kuch, S.; Lagier, P.; Lahmann, R.; Lamanna, G.; Lamare, P.; Lambard, G.; Languillat, J. C.; Laschinsky, H.; Lavalle, J.; Le Guen, Y.; Le Provost, H.; Le van Suu, A.; Lefévre, D.; Legou, T.; Lelaizant, G.; Lim, G.; Lo Presti, D.; Loaec, G.; Loehner, H.; Loucatos, S.; Louis, F.; Lucarelli, F.; Lyashuk, V.; Mangano, S.; Marcelin, M.; Margiotta, A.; Masullo, R.; Mazéas, F.; Mazure, A.; Megna, R.; Melissas, M.; Migneco, E.; Mongelli, M.; Montaruli, T.; Morganti, M.; Moscoso, L.; Motz, H.; Musumeci, M.; Naumann, C.; Naumann-Godo, M.; Niess, V.; Noble, A.; Olivetto, C.; Ostasch, R.; Palanque-Delabrouille, N.; Payre, P.; Peek, H. Z.; Perez, A.; Petta, C.; Piattelli, P.; Pillet, R.; Pineau, J.-P.; Poinsignon, J.; Popa, V.; Pradier, T.; Racca, C.; Randazzo, N.; van Randwijk, J.; Real, D.; Regnier, M.; van Rens, B.; Réthoré, F.; Rewiersma, P.; Riccobene, G.; Rigaud, V.; Ripani, M.; Roca, V.; Roda, C.; Rolin, J. F.; Rostovtsev, A.; Roux, J.; Ruppi, M.; Russo, G. V.; Rusydi, G.; Salesa, F.; Salomon, K.; Sapienza, P.; Schmitt, F.; Schuller, J.-P.; Shanidze, R.; Sokalski, I.; Spona, T.; Spurio, M.; van der Steenhoven, G.; Stolarczyk, T.; Streeb, K.; Sulak, L.; Taiuti, M.; Tamburini, C.; Tao, C.; Tasca, L.; Terreni, G.; Urbano, F.; Valdy, P.; Valente, V.; Vallage, B.; Vaudaine, G.; Venekamp, G.; Verlaat, B.; Vernin, P.; van Wijk, R.; Wijnker, G.; Wobbe, G.; de Wolf, E.; Yao, A.-F.; Zaborov, D.; Zaccone, H.; Zornoza, J. D.; Zúñiga, J.

2007-11-01

A full-scale mechanical prototype line was deployed to a depth of 2500 m to test the leak tightness of the electronics containers and the pressure-resistant properties of an electromechanical cable under evaluation for use in the ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope. During a month-long immersion study, line parameter data were taken using miniature autonomous data loggers and shore-based optical time domain reflectometry. Details of the mechanical prototype line, the electromechanical cable and data acquisition are presented. Data taken during the immersion study revealed deficiencies in the pressure resistance of the electromechanical cable terminations at the entry points to the electronics containers. The improvements to the termination, which have been integrated into subsequent detection lines, are discussed. The line also allowed deep-sea acoustic measurements with a prototype hydrophone system. The technical setup of this system is described, and the first results of the data analysis are presented.

Programmable data communications controller requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The design requirements for a Programmable Data Communications Controller (PDCC) that reduces the difficulties in attaching data terminal equipment to a computer are presented. The PDCC is an interface between the computer I/O channel and the bit serial communication lines. Each communication line is supported by a communication port that handles all line control functions and performs most terminal control functions. The port is fabricated on a printed circuit board that plugs into a card chassis, mating with a connector that is joined to all other card stations by a data bus. Ports are individually programmable; each includes a microprocessor, a programmable read-only memory for instruction storage, and a random access memory for data storage.

A Systematic Approach to Terminal Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheffield, John

1980-01-01

Describes the systematic approach used by the training department of the Canada Trust Company to develop a training program for operators of the new terminals for the online banking system to which the bank was converting, the Canadian On-Line Financial Information System (COFIS). (JD)

Safety and immunogenicity of a Vi polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (Typbar-TCV) in healthy infants, children, and adults in typhoid endemic areas: a multicenter, 2-cohort, open-label, double-blind, randomized controlled phase 3 study.

PubMed

Mohan, Vadrevu Krishna; Varanasi, Vineeth; Singh, Anit; Pasetti, Marcela F; Levine, Myron M; Venkatesan, Ramasamy; Ella, Krishna M

2015-08-01

Enteric fever caused by Salmonella Typhi remains a major public health problem in developing countries. Typbar-TCV is a single-dose typhoid Vi polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine for persons ≥6 months of age. Six hundred fifty-four healthy subjects aged 2-45 years enrolled in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) received a single dose of Typbar-TCV or comparator "Vi polysaccharide" (Typbar), and 327 healthy subjects aged 6-23 months received a single dose of Typbar-TCV in an open-label trial (OLT); both received single- or multidose presentations from different lots. After 2 years, subsets in each group received a booster dose. The primary objective included analysis of geometric mean titer (GMTs) and 4-fold rise of anti-Vi serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay titers over baseline (seroconversion [SCN]) 42 days after immunization. Typbar-TCV recipients in the RCT attained higher anti-Vi IgG GMTs 42 days after immunization (SCN, 97%; GMT, 1293 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1153-1449]) than recipients of Typbar (SCN, 93%; GMT, 411 [95% CI, 359-471]) (P < .001). Typbar-TCV was highly immunogenic in the OLT (SCN, 98%; GMT, 1937 [95% CI, 1785-2103]). Two years after vaccination, anti-Vi titers remained higher in Typbar-TCV subjects (GMT, 82 [95% CI, 73-92]); and exhibited higher avidity (geometric mean avidity index [GMAI], 60%) than in Typbar recipients (GMT, 46 [95% CI, 40-53]; GMAI 46%) in the RCT (P < .001). OLT Typbar-TCV recipients achieved GMT of 48 (95% CI, 42-55) and GMAI of 57%. Typbar-TCV induced multiple IgG subclasses and strong booster responses in all ages. No serious vaccine-attributable adverse events were observed. Single-dose Typbar-TCV is well tolerated and induces robust and long-lasting serum anti-Vi IgG across age groups. CTRI/2011/08/001957, CTRI/2014/01/004341. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Characterization of a Merkel Cell Polyomavirus-Positive Merkel Cell Carcinoma Cell Line CVG-1.

PubMed

Velásquez, Celestino; Amako, Yutaka; Harold, Alexis; Toptan, Tuna; Chang, Yuan; Shuda, Masahiro

2018-01-01

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) plays a causal role in ∼80% of Merkel cell carcinomas (MCC). MCV is clonally integrated into the MCC tumor genome, which results in persistent expression of large T (LT) and small T (sT) antigen oncoproteins encoded by the early locus. In MCV-positive MCC tumors, LT is truncated by premature stop codons or deletions that lead to loss of the C-terminal origin binding (OBD) and helicase domains important for replication. The N-terminal Rb binding domain remains intact. MCV-positive cell lines derived from MCC explants have been valuable tools to study the molecular mechanism of MCV-induced Merkel cell carcinogenesis. Although all cell lines have integrated MCV and express truncated LT antigens, the molecular sizes of the LT proteins differ between cell lines. The copy number of integrated viral genome also varies across cell lines, leading to significantly different levels of viral protein expression. Nevertheless, these cell lines share phenotypic similarities in cell morphology, growth characteristics, and neuroendocrine marker expression. Several low-passage MCV-positive MCC cell lines have been established since the identification of MCV. We describe a new MCV-positive MCV cell line, CVG-1, with features distinct from previously reported cell lines. CVG-1 tumor cells grow in more discohesive clusters in loose round cell suspension, and individual cells show dramatic size heterogeneity. It is the first cell line to encode an MCV sT polymorphism resulting in a unique leucine (L) to proline (P) substitution mutation at amino acid 144. CVG-1 possesses a LT truncation pattern near identical to that of MKL-1 cells differing by the last two C-terminal amino acids and also shows an LT protein expression level similar to MKL-1. Viral T antigen knockdown reveals that, like other MCV-positive MCC cell lines, CVG-1 requires T antigen expression for cell proliferation.

Elevated CO2 Reduced Floret Death in Wheat Under Warmer Average Temperatures and Terminal Drought

PubMed Central

Dias de Oliveira, Eduardo; Palta, Jairo A.; Bramley, Helen; Stefanova, Katia; Siddique, Kadambot H. M.

2015-01-01

Elevated CO2 often increases grain yield in wheat by enhancing grain number per ear, which can result from an increase in the potential number of florets or a reduction in the death of developed florets. The hypotheses that elevated CO2 reduces floret death rather than increases floret development, and that grain size in a genotype with more grains per unit area is limited by the rate of grain filling, were tested in a pair of sister lines contrasting in tillering capacity (restricted- vs. free-tillering). The hypotheses were tested under elevated CO2, combined with +3°C above ambient temperature and terminal drought, using specialized field tunnel houses. Elevated CO2 increased net leaf photosynthetic rates and likely the availability of carbon assimilates, which significantly reduced the rates of floret death and increased the potential number of grains at anthesis in both sister lines by an average of 42%. The restricted-tillering line had faster grain-filling rates than the free-tillering line because the free-tillering line had more grains to fill. Furthermore, grain-filling rates were faster under elevated CO2 and +3°C above ambient. Terminal drought reduced grain yield in both lines by 19%. Elevated CO2 alone increased the potential number of grains, but a trade-off in yield components limited grain yield in the free-tillering line. This emphasizes the need for breeding cultivars with a greater potential number of florets, since this was not affected by the predicted future climate variables. PMID:26635837

Design and implementation for integrated UAV multi-spectral inspection system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, X.; Li, X.; Yan, F.

2018-04-01

In order to improve the working efficiency of the transmission line inspection and reduce the labour intensity of the inspectors, this paper presents an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) inspection system architecture for the transmission line inspection. In this document, the light-duty design for different inspection equipment and processing terminals is completed. It presents the reference design for the information-processing terminal, supporting the inspection and interactive equipment accessing, and obtains all performance indicators of the inspection information processing through the tests. Practical application shows that the UAV inspection system supports access and management of different types of mainstream fault detection equipment, and can implement the independent diagnosis of the detected information to generate inspection reports in line with industry norms, which can meet the fast, timely, and efficient requirements for the power line inspection work.

The Anatomy of the Young Protostellar Outflow HH 211: Strong Evidence for CO v = 1-0 Fundamental Band Emission from Dense Gas in the Terminal Shock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tappe, Achim; Forbrich, J.; Martín, S.; Lada, C. J.

2011-05-01

We present Spitzer Space Telescope 5-37 µm spectroscopic mapping observations toward the southeastern lobe of the young protostellar outflow HH 211 (part of IC 348 in Perseus, 260 pc). The terminal shock of the outflow shows a rich atomic and molecular spectrum with emission lines from OH, H2O, HCO+, CO2, H2, HD, [Fe II], [Si II], [Ne II], [S I], and [Cl I]. The spectrum also shows a rising continuum towards 5 µm, which we interpret as unresolved emission lines from highly excited rotational levels of the CO v=1-0 fundamental band. This interpretation is confirmed by a strong excess flux observed in the Spitzer IRAC 4-5 µm channel 2 image. We also observed the terminal outflow shock of this lobe with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and detected pure rotational emission from CO 2-1, HCO+ 3-2, and HCN 3-2. The rotationally excited CO traces the collimated outflow and the terminal shock, whereas the vibrationally excited CO seen with Spitzer follows the continuation of the collimated outflow backbone in the terminal shock. The extremely high critical densities of the CO v=1-0 rovibrational lines indicate terminal shock jet densities larger than 107 cm-3. The unique combination of mid-infrared, submillimeter, and previous near-infrared observations allow us to gain detailed insights into the interaction of one of the youngest known protostellar outflows with its surrounding molecular cloud. Our results help to understand the nature of some of the so-called `green fuzzies’ (Extended Green Objects) identified by their Spitzer IRAC channel 2 excess and association with star-forming regions. They also provide a critical observational test to models of pulsed protostellar jets.

Environmental Impact Research Program. Osprey Nest Platforms. Section 5.1.6, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-07-01

34"x 0treated pole, with 101, olts5" min. top diam. 518"x 7" hardwood dowel,6’O set 1- 112" deep, glued TOP VIEW I r 2’-,9 Some as dinam . of pole usedI I...added strength ; these are described in the section entitled Tripod Support. Pole supports. Two designs are suggested for attaching the solid base

The Development of Decision Aids for Counter-Terrorist Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-01

I.D. AM OLT of PLO A14YOLP of PLO Agua Sandinist TPLF of Turkey 0 TERORISTS 3 4 25 2 GROUP CAPABILITY Unknown Unknown Auto Weapons Sten Gun "DEADLINE...of any terrorist group to different situ - ations are not independent, but reflect a coherent policy regarding violence and willingness to negotiate...importance in this stage is the need to deter future terrorist activities with- out jeopardizing our credibility in future negotiation situ - ations. I8

Protein C activity and postoperative metabolic liver function after liver transplantation.

PubMed

Wagener, G; Diaz, G; Guarrera, J V; Minhaz, M; Renz, J F; Sladen, R N

2012-06-01

Protein C is a natural thrombin antagonist produced by hepatocytes. Its levels are low in liver failure and predispose patients to increased risk for thrombosis. Little is known about the relationship between protein C activity and hepatic function after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We measured protein C activity of 41 patients undergoing liver transplantation by the Staclot method (normal range, 70%-130%) preoperatively and then daily on postoperative days (POD) 0-5. The mean protein C activity was low before OLT (34.3 ± 4.3%) and inversely correlated with the preoperative Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score (Spearman's r = -0.643; P < .0001). Mean activity increased significantly on POD 1 (58.9 ± 4.5%), and remained above preoperative levels through POD 5. Ten patients developed metabolic liver dysfunction defined by a serum total bilirubin >5 mg/dL on POD 7. These patients had significantly lower protein C activity from POD 3 (47.2 ± 9.6% vs 75.9 ± 5.8%; P = .01) to POD 5. Preoperative protein C activity correlated inversely with the severity of liver failure as indicated by preoperative MELD score. Protein C activity recovered rapidly in patients with good allograft function but remained significantly lower in patients who had limited metabolic function as evidenced by increased total bilirubin levels. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lack of Clinical Relevance of ANA and ASMA Positivity in Patients with Liver Transplantation without a History of Autoimmune Diseases.

PubMed

Pellegrini, Lucienne; Parrilli, Gianpaolo; Santonicola, Antonella; Cinquanta, Luigi; Caputo, Cesare; Ciacci, Carolina; Zingone, Fabiana

2017-01-01

The relevance of isolated autoimmunity elevation in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) patients is unknown. Our aim was to analyse how serum autoantibodies change in time and to evaluate their clinical relevance in OLT patients. Patients were invited to provide samples to evaluate ANA, AMA, ASMA, and LKM at the time of enrolment ( T 0), after 6 months ( T 6), and after 12 months ( T 12). We included 114 patients in the study (76% males, median age 62.5 years), finding isolated elevation of at least one serum antibody in up to 80% of them. We described fluctuating positive autoantibodies in the one year of observation, with only 45.6% of patients positive for ANA and less than 2% positive for ASMA, at all three times. Isolated elevation of tissue antibodies was not related to gender, age, HCC at transplant, early rejection, cause of transplantation, immunotherapy taken, and age at the time of the study. We did not detect a higher prevalence of positive autoimmunity in patients with signs of liver injury. ANA and ASMA evaluation in patients with liver transplantation and no history of autoimmune disease has no clinical relevance, since it varies in time and is not related to any risk factors or liver injury. Routine autoimmunity evaluation should be avoided.

Lack of Clinical Relevance of ANA and ASMA Positivity in Patients with Liver Transplantation without a History of Autoimmune Diseases

PubMed Central

Pellegrini, Lucienne; Parrilli, Gianpaolo; Santonicola, Antonella; Cinquanta, Luigi; Caputo, Cesare

2017-01-01

The relevance of isolated autoimmunity elevation in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) patients is unknown. Our aim was to analyse how serum autoantibodies change in time and to evaluate their clinical relevance in OLT patients. Patients were invited to provide samples to evaluate ANA, AMA, ASMA, and LKM at the time of enrolment (T0), after 6 months (T6), and after 12 months (T12). We included 114 patients in the study (76% males, median age 62.5 years), finding isolated elevation of at least one serum antibody in up to 80% of them. We described fluctuating positive autoantibodies in the one year of observation, with only 45.6% of patients positive for ANA and less than 2% positive for ASMA, at all three times. Isolated elevation of tissue antibodies was not related to gender, age, HCC at transplant, early rejection, cause of transplantation, immunotherapy taken, and age at the time of the study. We did not detect a higher prevalence of positive autoimmunity in patients with signs of liver injury. ANA and ASMA evaluation in patients with liver transplantation and no history of autoimmune disease has no clinical relevance, since it varies in time and is not related to any risk factors or liver injury. Routine autoimmunity evaluation should be avoided. PMID:28337446

GSK3β and VDAC Involvement in ER Stress and Apoptosis Modulation during Orthotopic Liver Transplantation

PubMed Central

Zaouali, Mohamed Amine; Panisello, Arnau; Lopez, Alexandre; Castro, Carlos; Folch, Emma; Carbonell, Teresa; Rolo, Anabela; Palmeira, Carlos Marques; Garcia-Gil, Agustin; Adam, René; Roselló-Catafau, Joan

2017-01-01

We investigated the involvement of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) and the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) in livers subjected to cold ischemia–reperfusion injury (I/R) associated with orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Rat livers were preserved in University of Wisconsin (UW) and Institute Georges Lopez (IGL-1) solution, the latter enriched or not with trimetazidine, and then subjected to OLT. Transaminase (ALT) and HMGB1 protein levels, glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), and oxidative stress (MDA) were measured. The AKT protein kinase and its direct substrates, GSK3β and VDAC, as well as caspases 3, 9, and cytochrome C and reticulum endoplasmic stress-related proteins (GRP78, pPERK, ATF4, and CHOP), were determined by Western blot. IGL-1+TMZ significantly reduced liver injury. We also observed a significant phosphorylation of AKT, which in turn induced the phosphorylation and inhibition of GSK3β. In addition, TMZ protected the mitochondria since, in comparison with IGL-1 alone, we found reductions in VDAC phosphorylation, apoptosis, and GLDH release. All these results were correlated with decreased ER stress. Addition of TMZ to IGL-1 solution increased the tolerance of the liver graft to I/R injury through inhibition of GSK3β and VDAC, contributing to ER stress reduction and cell death prevention. PMID:28282906

76 FR 75600 - Port Rail Link, Inc.-Acquisition and Operation Exemption-Rail Lines of Union Pacific Railroad...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-02

... Charles Harbor and Terminal District Port Rail Link, Inc. (PRL), a noncarrier, has filed a verified notice... Charles; and (2) acquire by lease from The Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District (the District), operator [[Page 75601

Internet Connections: Understanding Your Access Options.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Notess, Greg R.

1994-01-01

Describes levels of Internet connectivity, physical connections, and connection speeds. Compares options for connecting to the Internet, including terminal accounts, dial-up terminal accounts, direct connections through a local area network, and direct connections using SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) or PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol). (eight…

Optimization of Online Searching by Pre-Recording the Search Statements: A Technique for the HP-2645A Terminal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oberhauser, O. C.; Stebegg, K.

1982-01-01

Describes the terminal's capabilities, ways to store and call up lines of statements, cassette tapes needed during searches, and master tape's use for login storage. Advantages of the technique and two sources are listed. (RBF)

Armored umbilical apparatus for towing a marine seismic air gun sub array

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

Burrage, E.C.

1985-06-25

An armored umbilical and termination housing is disclosed for towing a sub-array of seismic air guns used in marine seismic surveying comprising a single air hose for supplying all the high pressure air to the individual air guns surrounded by all the electrical control cables needed to operate the air guns in the sub-array. Protective coatings are applied around the electrical control cables and stress members for carrying the load of towing the sub-array are incorporated within the umbilical. A termination housing is provided on the end of the umbilical for terminating the single air hose and all the electricalmore » control lines to common connectors so that individual electrical control lines and air hoses can run from the termination housing to each individual air gun in the sub-array. Air shut off valves are provided so that the high pressure air can be shut off to the individual air guns within the sub-array remotely from the survey vessel.« less

Atmospheric-Fade-Tolerant Tracking and Pointing in Wireless Optical Communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ortiz, Gerardo; Lee, Shinhak

2003-01-01

An acquisition, tracking, and pointing (ATP) system, under development at the time of reporting the information for this article, is intended to enable a terminal in a free-space optical communication system to continue to aim its transmitting laser beam toward a receiver at a remote terminal when the laser beacon signal from the remote terminal temporarily fades or drops out of sight altogether. Such fades and dropouts can be caused by adverse atmospheric conditions (e.g., rain or clouds). They can also occur when intervening objects block the line of sight between terminals as a result of motions of those objects or of either or both terminals

30 CFR 7.64 - Technical requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... produce the required firing current is attained. (d) Firing switch. The switch used to initiate the... current is available to the blasting circuit. (e) Firing line terminals. The terminals used to connect the blasting circuit to the blasting unit shall— (1) Provide a secure, low-resistance connection to the...

30 CFR 7.64 - Technical requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... produce the required firing current is attained. (d) Firing switch. The switch used to initiate the... current is available to the blasting circuit. (e) Firing line terminals. The terminals used to connect the blasting circuit to the blasting unit shall— (1) Provide a secure, low-resistance connection to the...

Parallel line analysis: multifunctional software for the biomedical sciences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swank, P. R.; Lewis, M. L.; Damron, K. L.; Morrison, D. R.

1990-01-01

An easy to use, interactive FORTRAN program for analyzing the results of parallel line assays is described. The program is menu driven and consists of five major components: data entry, data editing, manual analysis, manual plotting, and automatic analysis and plotting. Data can be entered from the terminal or from previously created data files. The data editing portion of the program is used to inspect and modify data and to statistically identify outliers. The manual analysis component is used to test the assumptions necessary for parallel line assays using analysis of covariance techniques and to determine potency ratios with confidence limits. The manual plotting component provides a graphic display of the data on the terminal screen or on a standard line printer. The automatic portion runs through multiple analyses without operator input. Data may be saved in a special file to expedite input at a future time.

The Partition Between Terminal Speed and Mass Loss: Thin, Thick, and Rotating Line-Driven Winds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gayley, K. G.; Onifer, A. J.

2003-01-01

Steady-state supersonic line-driven winds are important contributors to wind-blown bubbles in star forming regions. The key input to the bubble in the energy-conserving phase is the wind kinetic-energy flux, which involves both the mass-loss rate and the terminal speed. However, these quantities are themselves self-consistent parameters of the line-driving process, so relate to each other and to the resulting wind optical depth. This complex interrelation between optical depth, mass-loss, and wind speed lies at the heart of line-driven wind theory. Drawing on the successes and insights of ``CAK'' theory, I will convey a simplified view of how to unite these processes using the concept of effective opacity, with attention to the ramifications for nonspherical nebular and wind-blown structures. Recent extensions to nongray optically thick environments such as Wolf-Rayet winds and supernovae are also discussed.

On-Line Library Housekeeping Systems. A Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAllister, Caryl

1971-01-01

A general discussion of on-line procedures, batch and real-time updating, types of files and indexes, terminals, and the use of a general-purpose data management system as a vehicle for on-line operation is followed by an Appendix giving detailed information on each on the known systems. (14 references) (Author/NH)

ASCIIGenome: a command line genome browser for console terminals.

PubMed

Beraldi, Dario

2017-05-15

Current genome browsers are designed to work via graphical user interfaces (GUIs), which, however intuitive, are not amenable to operate within console terminals and therefore are difficult to streamline or integrate in scripts. To circumvent these limitations, ASCIIGenome runs exclusively via command line interface to display genomic data directly in a terminal window. By following the same philosophy of UNIX tools, ASCIIGenome aims to be easily integrated with the command line, including batch processing of data, and therefore enables an effective exploration of the data. ASCIIGenome is written in Java. Consequently, it is a cross-platform tool and requires minimal or no installation. Some of the common genomic data types are supported and data access on remote ftp servers is possible. Speed and memory footprint are comparable to or better than those of common genome browsers. Software and source code (MIT License) are available at https://github.com/dariober/ASCIIGenome with detailed documentation at http://asciigenome.readthedocs.io . Dario.beraldi@cruk.cam.ac.uk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Linear ablation of right atrial free wall flutter: demonstration of bidirectional conduction block as an endpoint associated with long-term success.

PubMed

Snowdon, Richard L; Balasubramaniam, Richard; Teh, Andrew W; Haqqani, Haris M; Medi, Caroline; Rosso, Raphael; Vohra, Jitendra K; Kistler, Peter M; Morton, Joseph B; Sparks, Paul B; Kalman, Jonathan M

2010-05-01

Ablation for atypical atrial flutter (AFL) is often performed during tachycardia, with termination or noninducibility of AFL as the endpoint. Termination alone is, however, an inadequate endpoint for typical AFL ablation, where incomplete isthmus block leads to high recurrence rates. We assessed conduction block across a low lateral right atrial (RA) ablation line (LRA) from free wall scar to the inferior vena cava (IVC) or tricuspid annulus in 11 consecutive patients with atypical RA free wall flutter. LRA block was assessed following termination of AFL, by pacing from the ablation catheter in the low lateral RA posterior to the ablation line and recording the sequence and timing of activation anterior to the line with a duodecapole catheter, and vice versa for bidirectional block. LRA block resulted in a high to low activation pattern on the halo and a mean conduction time of 201 +/- 48 ms to distal halo. LRA conduction block was present in only 2 out of 6 patients after termination of AFL by ablation. Ablation was performed during sinus rhythm (SR) in 9 patients to achieve LRA conduction block. No recurrence of AFL was observed at long-term follow-up (22 +/- 12 months); 3 patients developed AF. Termination of right free wall flutter is often associated with persistent LRA conduction and additional radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in SR is usually required. Low RA pacing may be used to assess LRA conduction block and offers a robust endpoint for atypical RA free wall flutter ablation, which results in a high long-term cure rate.

Use of a remote computer terminal during field checking of Landsat digital maps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robinove, Charles J.; Hutchinson, C.F.

1978-01-01

Field checking of small-scale land classification maps made digitally from Landsat data is facilitated by use of a remote portable teletypewriter terminal linked by teleplume to the IDIMS (Interactive Digital Image Manipulation System) at the EDC (EROS Data Center), Sioux Falls, S. Dak. When field checking of maps 20 miles northeast of Baker, Calif., during the day showed that changes in classification were needed, the terminal was used at night to combine image statistical files, remap portions of images, and produce new alphanumeric maps for field checking during the next day. The alphanumeric maps can be used without serious difficulty in location in the field even though the scale is distorted, and statistical files created during the field check can be used for full image classification and map output at the EDC. This process makes field checking faster than normal, provides interaction with the statistical data while in the field, and reduces to a minimum the number of trips needed to work interactively with the IDIMS at the EDC, thus saving significant amounts of time and money. The only significant problem is using telephone lines which at times create spurious characters in the printout or prevent the line feed (paper advance) signal from reaching the terminal, thus overprinting lines which should be sequential. We recommend that maps for field checking be made with more spectral classes than are expected because in the field it is much easier to group classes than to reclassify or separate classes when only the remote terminal is available for display.

A Large Scale Computer Terminal Output Controller.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Paul Thomas

This paper describes the design and implementation of a large scale computer terminal output controller which supervises the transfer of information from a Control Data 6400 Computer to a PLATO IV data network. It discusses the cost considerations leading to the selection of educational television channels rather than telephone lines for…

76 FR 55161 - Boston and Maine Corporation-Abandonment Exemption-Middlesex County, Mass.; Springfield Terminal...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-06

...\\ Docket No. AB 355; Sub-No. 39X] Boston and Maine Corporation--Abandonment Exemption--Middlesex County, Mass.; Springfield Terminal Railway Company; Discontinuance of Service Exemption; Middlesex County, MA... Middlesex County, Mass. The line traverses United States Postal Service Zip Codes 02471 and 02138...

Shock Tunnel Tests of Arched Wall Panels

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-07-01

NCNOR « LOT S/W ETC lOLT ANCMO« NOO IEE DETAIL* / tELOW , , METAL TIE* / I*" 0. C. VERT -HAiONRT «ALL...same as shown in Table 2-1. 2-6 m^ Table 2-1 SPACING OF WALL TIES i Moiimuffl Dittonc« Moiimum Spocing ef No 4 Gogt Wall Typ. I K«twHn Lot ...sides free to move), the flexural cracking occurs at the top, botton \\ and center, and the resistance to motion, induced by ’ wedging"or geometric

Installation Restoration Program. Phase II. Confirmation/Quantification. Stage 1 for Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. Volume 2. Appendices,

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

Special Olt 9-; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ J -..-- w--- ’- V - V --y a - . . . . . . RADIAN APPENDIX A Definitions, Nomenclatures and Units A- i . -- 5. . -, - - STAGED...contaminatg ed 11 a thei±r~ iMei S-t.r-roundlin. Review the u f -r Ai Force investigationa. These *r-esu I.ts shall~ I & prvie une eatcvr B-5 -9 V q M I ...results or highly complicated nonlinear mathematical modeling , should * be precise, clear and technically defendable. This section should clearly

Recent Selected Papers of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Two Parts. Part I. 1979.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-20

pressure coefficient is calculated by the exact Bernoulli equation. Two numerical examples are included, and the results agree fairly well with known... Bernoulli equation is applied to cal- culate the pressure coefficient: ft. 2 2, Lq32) In the above expression, all the derivatives are calculated by...0.14: R Olt(6) The real part on the unit circle in ecuation (2) is used. Making use of equations (5) and (6), both sides of equation (2) are expanded

A Descriptive Study of the DoD-Managed Freight Forwarder Concept.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-09-01

AFLC/PMPO AMSAC-OL/ 7 AFLC ILC/ AWST MTMCEA/ ITEL AFLC ILC/EC MTMC-ITX AFLC ILC/GB USN/OP-632B AF IT! LSM USN/SUP-07C DISAM/DIC USASAC-NCAD (OL/T) SAAC...commercial insurance coverage for the protection of all purchaser-owned FMS materiel while in custody of the freight forwarder. r . Process FMS customer...export for each shipment. r . Provide export boxing and marking if required. s. Carry out freight rate negotiations as required. t. Retrieve freight from

BROWSER: An Automatic Indexing On-Line Text Retrieval System. Annual Progress Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, J. H., Jr.

The development and testing of the Browsing On-line With Selective Retrieval (BROWSER) text retrieval system allowing a natural language query statement and providing on-line browsing capabilities through an IBM 2260 display terminal is described. The prototype system contains data bases of 25,000 German language patent abstracts, 9,000 English…

78 FR 2483 - Ohio Terminal Railway Company-Operation Exemption-Hannibal Real Estate, LLC

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-11

... Railway Company--Operation Exemption--Hannibal Real Estate, LLC Ohio Terminal Railway Company (OTRC),\\1\\ a... near Hannibal, in Monroe County, Ohio (the Line), pursuant to an operating agreement with Hannibal Real Estate, LLC (Hannibal). \\1\\ OTRC is a wholly owned, corporate subsidiary of Carload Express, Inc. (CEI...

78 FR 43203 - Ocean Transportation Intermediary License Revocations and Terminations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-19

... revoked or terminated for the reason shown pursuant to section 19 of the Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C... Line. Address: 1225 Greenbriar Drive, Suite E, Addison, IL 60101. Date Revoked: May 30, 2013. Reason... Feeder South. Centerville, TX 75833. Date Revoked: June 1, 2013. Reason: Voluntary Surrender of License...

Characterization of the biosynthesis, processing, and sorting of human HBP/CAP37/azurocidin.

PubMed

Lindmark, A; Garwicz, D; Rasmussen, P B; Flodgaard, H; Gullberg, U

1999-10-01

Azurocidin is a multifunctional endotoxin-binding serine protease homolog synthesized during the promyelocytic stage of neutrophil development. To characterize the biosynthesis and processing of azurocidin, cDNA encoding human preproazurocidin was stably transfected to the rat basophilic leukemia cell line RBL-1 and the murine myeloblast-like cell line 32D cl3; cell lines previously utilized to study the related proteins cathepsin G and proteinase 3. After 30 min of pulse radiolabeling, two forms of newly synthesized proazurocidin (34.5 and 37 kDa), differing in carbohydrate content but with protein cores of identical sizes, were recognized. With time, the 34.5-kDa form disappeared, while the 37-kDa form was further processed proteolytically, as judged by digestion with N-glycosidase F. Conversion of high-mannose oligosaccharides into complex forms was shown by acquisition of complete resistance to endoglycosidase H. Radiosequence analysis demonstrated that the amino-terminal seven amino acid propeptide of proazurocidin was removed in a stepwise manner during processing; initial removal of five amino acids was followed by cleavage of a dipeptide. Presence of the protease inhibitors Gly-Phe-diazomethyl ketone, bestatin, or leupeptin inhibited only the cleavage of the dipeptide, thus indicating the involvement of at least two amino-terminal processing enzymes. Translocation of azurocidin to granules was shown by subcellular fractionation. Similar results, with efficient biosynthesis, processing, and targeting to granules in both cell lines, were obtained with a mutant form of human preproazurocidin lacking the amino-terminal heptapropeptide. In conclusion, this investigation is an important addition to our previous studies on related azurophil granule proteins, and provides novel information concerning the biosynthesis and distinctive amino-terminal processing of human azurocidin.

Retinoic acid-induced differentiation of retrovirus-infected HL-60 cells is associated with enhanced transcription from the viral long terminal repeat

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

Collins, S.J.

1988-11-01

The author infected different human leukemic cell lines with an amphotropic retrovirus vector (designated PA317/N2) which confers G418 resistance and contains the Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat. In retrovirus-infected G418-resistant HL-60 cells, induction of granulocyte differentiation by retinoic acid was invariably accompanied by a marked increase (5- to 10-fold) in the transcriptional activity of the integrated retroviral long terminal repeat.

Biofilm composition in the Olt River (Romania) reservoirs impacted by a chlor-alkali production plant.

PubMed

Dranguet, P; Cosio, C; Le Faucheur, S; Hug Peter, D; Loizeau, J-L; Ungureanu, V-Gh; Slaveykova, V I

2017-05-24

Freshwater biofilms can be useful indicators of water quality and offer the possibility to assess contaminant effects at the community level. The present field study examines the effects of chlor-alkali plant effluents on the community composition of biofilms grown in the Olt River (Romania) reservoirs. The relationship between ambient water quality variables and community composition alterations was explored. Amplicon sequencing revealed a significant modification of the composition of microalgal, bacterial and fungal communities in the biofilms collected in the impacted reservoirs in comparison with those living in the uncontaminated control reservoir. The abundance corrected Simpson index showed lower richness and diversity in biofilms collected in the impacted reservoirs than in the control reservoir. The biofilm bacterial communities of the impacted reservoirs were characterized by the contaminant-tolerant Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes, whereas microalgal communities were predominantly composed of Bacillariophyta and fungal communities of Lecanoromycetes and Paraglomycetes. A principal component analysis revealed that major contaminants present in the waste water of the chlor-alkali production plant, i.e. Na + , Ca 2+ , Cl - and Hg, were correlated with the alteration of biofilm community composition in the impacted reservoirs. However, the biofilm composition was also influenced by water quality variables such as NO 3 - , SO 4 2- , DOC and Zn from unknown sources. The results of the present study imply that, even when below the environmental quality standards, typical contaminants of chlor-alkali plant releases may affect biofilm composition and that their impacts on the microbial biodiversity might be currently overlooked.

Angiogenesis and proliferation of bile duct enhances ischemic tolerance in rats with cirrhosis

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhiqiang; Li, Zhennan; Zou, Chen; Zhang, Jingjing; Zhu, Yi; Miao, Yi

2015-01-01

Background/aims: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), an autoimmune disease of the liver, is marked by slow progressive destruction of bile ducts. These patients with PBC often undergo orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Ischemic bile duct lesion (IBDL) is a major source of morbidity and even mortality after OLT. Cirrhosis of the liver has a higher tolerance to ischemia than a normal liver, but the mechanism remains unknown. Angiogenesis and proliferation of bile duct often responses in bile duct ischemia, which may enhance ischemic tolerance in patients with cirrhosis. Methodology: To test the hypothesis, a rat model with cirrhosis was established. Biochemical indexes of ischemic severity were measured including total bilirubin (TBIL) and direct bilirubin (DBIL). Immunohistochemical assay was performed for Ki67 (a biomarker for the proliferation of bile duct) and CD34 (a biomarker of angiogenesis). Results: The levels were lower for TBIL and DBIL in the bile duct from rat model with cirrhosis than that from a normal rat after ischemic surgery (P < 0.05). The levels were higher for Ki67 and CD34 from a rat model with cirrhosis than that from a normal rat after ischemic surgery (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The results suggest that a liver with cirrhosis has a better ischemic tolerance than a normal liver. Angiogenesis and proliferation of bile duct enhances ischemic tolerance in rats with cirrhosis. More research on the pathogenesis of IBDLs is needed for developing more specific preventive or therapeutic strategies. PMID:26550120

SIPT: a seismic refraction inverse modeling program for timeshare terminal computer systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Scott, James Henry

1977-01-01

SIPB is an interactive Fortran computer program that was developed for use with a timeshare computer system with program control information submitted from a remote terminal, and output data displayed on the terminal or printed on a line printer. The program is an upgraded version of FSIPI (Scott, Tibbetts, and Burdick, 1972) with several major improvements in addition to .its adaptation to timeshare operation. The most significant improvement was made in the procedure for handling data from in-line offset shotpoints beyond the end shotpoints of the geophone spread. The changes and improvements are described, user's instructions are outlined, examples of input and output data for a test problem are presented, and the Fortran program is listed in this report. An upgraded batch-mode program, SIPB, is available for users who do not have a timeshare computer system available (Scott, 1977).

EMI survey for maritime satellite, L-band, shipboard terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, R. E.; Brandel, D. L.; Hill, J. S.

1975-01-01

The paper presents results of an onboard EMI survey of an L-band shipboard terminal for operation with two geostationary maritime satellites. Significant EMC results include: (1) antenna noise temperature measurements indicate a maximum of 70 K steady background component at 1.6 GHz at sea for elevation angles of 5 degrees and higher; (2) field intensity measurements from 1-10 GHz show that a L-band terminal can operate simultaneously with onboard S-band and X-band navigation radar; (3) radar transmitter case emissions, below deck, in-band from 1535-1660 MHz, at 1 m distance from the cabinet, are equivalent, or greater than above-deck emissions in the same frequency range; and (4) conducted-emission tests of a ship's power lines to both radars show both narrow band and broad band emissions are 15 dB to 50 dB higher than equivalent U.S. commercial power lines from 150 kHz to 32 MHz.

Two mooring dolphin concept for exposed tanker terminals

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

Khanna, J.; Birt, C.

1978-02-01

The conventional design of a tanker terminal provides for two or more mooring dolphins on each side of the breasting dolphins. Head and stern lines are attached to the outer mooring dolphins and breast lines to the inner mooring dolphins. In exposed locations, the expense of construction may be significantly reduced if a way can be found to reduce the number of mooring dolphins required for the safe mooring of ships at a fixed berth. A study based on plans for a proposed terminal for tankers from 25,000 to 100,000 dwt in the Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada considersmore » the possibility of reducing the total number of mooring dolphins from four to two. Results of a static analysis of mooring loads due to wind and current and a hydraulic model test for mooring loads due to waves are presented.« less

The Anatomy of the Young Protostellar Outflow HH 211

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tappe, A.; Forbrich, J.; Martín, S.; Yuan, Y.; Lada, C. J.

2012-05-01

We present Spitzer Space Telescope 5-36 μm mapping observations toward the southeastern lobe of the young protostellar outflow HH 211. The southeastern terminal shock of the outflow shows a rich mid-infrared spectrum including molecular emission lines from OH, H2O, HCO+, CO2, H2, and HD. The spectrum also shows a rising infrared continuum toward 5 μm, which we interpret as unresolved emission lines from highly excited rotational levels of the CO v = 1-0 fundamental band. This interpretation is supported by a strong excess flux observed in the Spitzer/IRAC 4-5 μm channel 2 image compared to the other IRAC channels. The extremely high critical densities of the CO v = 1-0 ro-vibrational lines and a comparison to H2 and CO excitation models suggest jet densities larger than 106 cm-3 in the terminal shock. We also observed the southeastern terminal outflow shock with the Submillimeter Array and detected pure rotational emission from CO 2-1, HCO+ 3-2, and HCN 3-2. The rotationally excited CO traces the collimated outflow backbone as well as the terminal shock. HCN traces individual dense knots along the outflow and in the terminal shock, whereas HCO+ solely appears in the terminal shock. The unique combination of our mid-infrared and submillimeter observations with previously published near-infrared observations allow us to study the interaction of one of the youngest known protostellar outflows with its surrounding molecular cloud. Our results help us to understand the nature of some of the so-called green fuzzies (Extended Green Objects), and elucidate the physical conditions that cause high OH excitation and affect the chemical OH/H2O balance in protostellar outflows and young stellar objects. In an appendix to this paper, we summarize our Spitzer follow-up survey of protostellar outflow shocks to find further examples of highly excited OH occurring together with H2O and H2.

Structural model of FeoB, the iron transporter from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, predicts a cysteine lined, GTP-gated pore

PubMed Central

Seyedmohammad, Saeed; Fuentealba, Natalia Alveal; Marriott, Robert A.J.; Goetze, Tom A.; Edwardson, J. Michael; Barrera, Nelson P.; Venter, Henrietta

2016-01-01

Iron is essential for the survival and virulence of pathogenic bacteria. The FeoB transporter allows the bacterial cell to acquire ferrous iron from its environment, making it an excellent drug target in intractable pathogens. The protein consists of an N-terminal GTP-binding domain and a C-terminal membrane domain. Despite the availability of X-ray crystal structures of the N-terminal domain, many aspects of the structure and function of FeoB remain unclear, such as the structure of the membrane domain, the oligomeric state of the protein, the molecular mechanism of iron transport, and how this is coupled to GTP hydrolysis at the N-terminal domain. In the present study, we describe the first homology model of FeoB. Due to the lack of sequence homology between FeoB and other transporters, the structures of four different proteins were used as templates to generate the homology model of full-length FeoB, which predicts a trimeric structure. We confirmed this trimeric structure by both blue-native-PAGE (BN-PAGE) and AFM. According to our model, the membrane domain of the trimeric protein forms a central pore lined by highly conserved cysteine residues. This pore aligns with a central pore in the N-terminal GTPase domain (G-domain) lined by aspartate residues. Biochemical analysis of FeoB from Pseudomonas aeruginosa further reveals a putative iron sensor domain that could connect GTP binding/hydrolysis to the opening of the pore. These results indicate that FeoB might not act as a transporter, but rather as a GTP-gated channel. PMID:26934982

Effects of Tadalafil Once-Daily or On-Demand vs Placebo on Return to Baseline Erectile Function After Bilateral Nerve-Sparing Radical Prostatectomy--Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial (REACTT).

PubMed

Mulhall, John P; Brock, Gerald; Oelke, Matthias; Fode, Mikkel; Probst, Kai A; Henneges, Carsten; d'Anzeo, Gianluca; Rossi, Andrea; Büttner, Hartwig

2016-04-01

The multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled REACTT trial suggested that treatment with tadalafil once daily (OaD) started early after bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (nsRP) for prostate cancer may contribute to erectile function (EF)-recovery, which was predefined as achieving an International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-EF score ≥22. Here, we report descriptive post-hoc analyses, using the more strict definition for EF-recovery of returning back to the pre-surgery IIEF-EF-level ("back-to-baseline analysis"). REACTT included 422 men <68 years with adenocarcinoma of the prostate and preoperative IIEF-EF ≥22 who underwent nsRP at 50 centers from 9 European countries and Canada. Patients were randomized post-nsRP 1:1:1 to 9-month double-blind treatment (DBT) with tadalafil 5 mg OaD (n = 139), tadalafil 20 mg on-demand (pro-re-nata, PRN; n = 142), or placebo (n = 141), followed by 6-week drug-free washout (DFW) and 3-month open-label tadalafil OaD treatment (OLT). Proportion of patients returning to their preoperative IIEF-EF category (22-25 or ≥26) at the end of DBT, DFW, and OLT. Overall, 92.4% of patients had pre-surgery (baseline) IIEF-EF scores ≥26 (tadalafil OaD 94.2%, PRN 91.6%, placebo 91.5%), 7.4% had IIEF-EF 22-25. At the end of DBT, 22.3% of patients on tadalafil OaD had achieved "back-to-baseline" IIEF-EF, compared with 11.3% on tadalafil PRN and 7.8% on placebo. Of all 58 patients "back-to-baseline" at the end of DBT, only 1 PRN-group patient had started from a baseline IIEF-EF <26. The treatment-group difference at the end of DBT was not maintained after DFW. After 3 months of OLT with tadalafil OaD, the proportion of patients with "back-to-baseline" IIEF-EF had almost doubled in all 3 groups. Changing the definition for EF-recovery from IIEF-EF ≥22 to the more strict definition of "returning back-to-baseline IIEF-EF" had no major impact. Tadalafil OaD started early after nsRP improved drug-assisted EF, but had no effect on unassisted EF following treatment cessation after 9 months. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential BPFs with Multiple Transmission Zeros Based on Terminated Coupled Lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Yiming; Yang, Guo; Wu, Wen

2018-04-01

Differential bandpass filters (BPFs) named Filter A and Filter B based on Terminated Coupled Lines (TCLs) are proposed in this letter. The TCLs contributes to not only three poles in differential-mode (DM) for wideband filtering response but also multiple zeros in both DM and common-mode (CM) offering wide DM out-of-band rejection and good CM suppression. Fabricated filters centred at 3.5 GHz with wide DM passband and wideband CM suppression have been designed and measured. The filters improved the noise suppression capability of the communication and radiometer systems. The simulated and measured results are in good agreement.

Myeloblastic leukemia cells conditionally blocked by myc-estrogen receptor chimeric transgenes for terminal differentiation coupled to growth arrest and apoptosis.

PubMed

Selvakumaran, M; Liebermann, D; Hoffman-Liebermann, B

1993-05-01

Conditional mutants of the myeloblastic leukemic M1 cell line, expressing the chimeric mycer transgene, have been established. It is shown that M1 mycer cells, like M1, undergo terminal differentiation coupled to growth arrest and programmed cell death (apoptosis) after treatment with the physiologic differentiation inducer interleukin-6. However, when beta-estradiol is included in the culture medium, M1 mycer cells respond to differentiation inducers like M1 myc cell lines, where the differentiation program is blocked at an intermediate stage. By manipulating the function of the mycer transgene product, it is shown that there is a 10-hour window during myeloid differentiation, from 30 to 40 hours after the addition of the differentiation inducer, when the terminal differentiation program switches from being dependent on c-myc suppression to becoming c-myc suppression independent, where activation of c-myc has no apparent effect on mature macrophages. M1 mycer cell lines provide a powerful tool to increase our understanding of the role of c-myc in normal myelopoiesis and in leukemogenesis, also providing a strategy to clone c-myc target genes.

Flow downstream of the heliospheric terminal shock: Magnetic field line topology and solar cycle imprint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nerney, Steven; Suess, S. T.; Schmahl, E. J.

1995-01-01

The topology of the magnetic field in the heliosheath is illustrated using plots of the field lines. It is shown that the Archimedean spiral inside the terminal shock is rotated back in the heliosheath into nested spirals that are advected in the direction of the interstellar wind. The 22-year solar magnetic cycle is imprinted onto these field lines in the form of unipolar magnetic envelopes surrounded by volumes of strongly mixed polarity. Each envelope is defined by the changing tilt of the heliospheric current sheet, which is in turn defined by the boundary of unipolar high-latitude regions on the Sun that shrink to the pole at solar maximum and expand to the equator at solar minimum. The detailed shape of the envelopes is regulated by the solar wind velocity structure in the heliosheath.

SLAC-standard CAMAC branch terminator (Engineering Materials)

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

Not Available

1980-04-04

The drawings listed on the drawing list provide the data and specifications for constructing a Branch Terminator for the SLAC standard CAMAC units. This is a device for matching the cables and other branch lines in the system. This unit is designed for a certain group of SLAC CAMAC units which are referred to as SLAC-Standard CAMAC Units.

33 CFR 164.76 - Towline and terminal gear for towing alongside and pushing ahead.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... towing alongside and pushing ahead. 164.76 Section 164.76 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD... Towline and terminal gear for towing alongside and pushing ahead. The owner, master, or operator of each vessel towing alongside or pushing ahead shall ensure that the face wires, spring lines, and push gear...

Proceedings of the Meeting of the Coordinating Group on Modern Control Theory (4th) Held at Rochester, Michigan, on 27-28 October 1982. Part II,

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

DCUMNTATON AGEREAD INSTRUCTIONS ______ REPORT___DOCUMENTATION _____PAGE_ BEFORE COMPLETKNG FORM 1REPORT NUMBER ILGOVT ACCESSION No. 3 . RECIPIENT’S...Herbert E. Cohen) control 0900 - Endgame Performance Study of a Special Class of Interceptors by Dr. Jonathan Korn ALPHATECH, Inc. 3 New England Executive...tactile/force feedback sensor applications. 3 L i7 TYPICAL GRIPPER FACE (NOT IN GRIPPER B3OLTS 00 BASE SLIP Nm mSENSORS "o 0 TORQUE, GRIP 0 fie d e

PowerFilm PowerShade Fixed Site Solar System Cost Reduction Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-31

2337 230’^ St Ames, lA 50014 JL’Olt^lO:pi𔄁oq7 j pageii Executive summary Power film and its partners have developed a Generation II PowerShade...which meets or exceeds the goals of this development contract, increasing power and improving the ROI of the power shade significantly while improving a...number of the human factors. Comparing the Gen II 1.8 KW PowerShade to the equivalent power Gen I unit (Gen I Medium), The cost has been reduced

Computer-aided Instructional System for Transmission Line Simulation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reinhard, Erwin A.; Roth, Charles H., Jr.

A computer-aided instructional system has been developed which utilizes dynamic computer-controlled graphic displays and which requires student interaction with a computer simulation in an instructional mode. A numerical scheme has been developed for digital simulation of a uniform, distortionless transmission line with resistive terminations and…

Isolation, immortalization, and characterization of a human breast epithelial cell line with stem cell properties

PubMed Central

Gudjonsson, Thorarinn; Villadsen, René; Nielsen, Helga Lind; Rønnov-Jessen, Lone; Bissell, Mina J.; Petersen, Ole William

2002-01-01

The epithelial compartment of the human breast comprises two distinct lineages: the luminal epithelial and the myoepithelial lineage. We have shown previously that a subset of the luminal epithelial cells could convert to myoepithelial cells in culture signifying the possible existence of a progenitor cell. We therefore set out to identify and isolate the putative precursor in the luminal epithelial compartment. Using cell surface markers and immunomagnetic sorting, we isolated two luminal epithelial cell populations from primary cultures of reduction mammoplasties. The major population coexpresses sialomucin (MUC+) and epithelial-specific antigen (ESA+) whereas the minor population has a suprabasal position and expresses epithelial specific antigen but no sialomucin (MUC−/ESA+). Two cell lines were further established by transduction of the E6/E7 genes from human papilloma virus type 16. Both cell lines maintained a luminal epithelial phenotype as evidenced by expression of the tight junction proteins, claudin-1 and occludin, and by generation of a high transepithelial electrical resistance on semipermeable filters. Whereas in clonal cultures, the MUC+/ESA+ epithelial cell line was luminal epithelial restricted in its differentiation repertoire, the suprabasal-derived MUC−/ESA+ epithelial cell line was able to generate itself as well as MUC+/ESA+ epithelial cells and Thy-1+/α-smooth muscle actin+ (ASMA+) myoepithelial cells. The MUC−/ESA+ epithelial cell line further differed from the MUC+/ESA+ epithelial cell line by the expression of keratin K19, a feature of a subpopulation of epithelial cells in terminal duct lobular units in vivo. Within a reconstituted basement membrane, the MUC+/ESA+ epithelial cell line formed acinus-like spheres. In contrast, the MUC−/ESA+ epithelial cell line formed elaborate branching structures resembling uncultured terminal duct lobular units both by morphology and marker expression. Similar structures were obtained by inoculating the extracellular matrix-embedded cells subcutaneously in nude mice. Thus, MUC−/ESA+ epithelial cells within the luminal epithelial lineage may function as precursor cells of terminal duct lobular units in the human breast. PMID:11914275

CTF User's Manual

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

Avramova, Maria; Blyth, Taylor S.; Salko, Robert K.

This document describes how to make a CTF input deck. A CTF input deck is organized into Card Groups and Cards. A Card Group is a collection of Cards. A Card is defined as a line of input. Each Card may contain multiple data. A Card is terminated by making a new line.

Searching for Spectroscopic Signs of Termination Shocks in Solar Flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galan, G.; Polito, V.; Reeves, K.

2017-12-01

The standard flare model predicts the presence of a termination shock located above the flare loop tops, however terminations shocks have not yet been well observed. We analyze flare observations by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), which provides cotemporal UV imaging and spectral data. Specifically, we study plasma emissions in the Fe XXI line, formed at the very hot plasma temperatures in flares (> 10 MK). Imaging observations that point to shocks include fast hot reconnection downflows above the loop tops and localized dense, bright plasma at the loop tops; spectral signatures that suggest shocks in the locality of the loop tops include redshifts and nonthermal broadening of the Fe XXI line. We identify possibly significant redshifts in some on-disk flare events observed by IRIS. Redshifts are observed in the vicinity of the bright loop top source that is thought to coincide with the site of the shock. In these events, the Fe XXI emissions at the time of the redshifted structures are dominated by at the at-rest components. The much more less intense redshifted components are broader, with velocities of 200 km/s. The spatial location of these shifts might indicate plasma motions and speeds indicative of termination shocks. This work is supported by the NSF-REU solar physics program at SAO, grant number AGS-1560313, and by NASA Grant NNX15AJ93G. Keywords: Solar flares, Solar magnetic reconnection, Termination shocks

Development of a character, line and point display system. [for medical records

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owen, E. W.

1977-01-01

A compact graphics terminal for use as the input to a computerized medical records system is described. The principal mode of communication between the terminal and the records system is by checklists and menu selection. However, the terminal accepts short, handwritten messages as well as conventional alphanumeric input. The terminal consists of an electronic tablet, a display, a microcomputer controller, a character generator, and a refresh memory for the display. An Intel SBC 80/10 microcomputer controls the flow of information and a 16 kilobyte memory stores the point-by-point array of information to be displayed. A specially designed interface continuously generates the raster display without the intervention of the microcomputer.

EMI survey for maritime satellite 1535-1645-MHz shipboard terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, R. E.; Brandel, D. L.; Hill, J. S.

1977-01-01

A 15,690-ton commercial container ship was selected as lead ship for an onboard electromagnetic-interference (EMI) survey prior to installation of 1535-1645-MHz (L-Band) shipboard terminals for communication via a maritime satellite. In general, the EMI survey revealed tolerable interference levels on board ship. Radiometer measurements indicate antenna-noise temperatures less than 70 K at elevation angles of 5 deg and greater at 1559 MHz at the output terminals of the 1.2-m diameter parabolic-dish antenna for the L-band shipboard terminal. Other EMI measurements include field intensity from 3-cm and 10-cm wavelength pulse radars, and conducted-emission tests of primary power lines to both onboard radars.

A guidance law for hypersonic descent to a point

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

Eisler, G.R.; Hull, D.G.

1992-05-01

A neighboring external control problem is formulated for a hypersonic glider to execute a maximum-terminal-velocity descent to a stationary target. The resulting two-part, feedback control scheme initially solves a nonlinear algebraic problem to generate a nominal trajectory to the target altitude. Secondly, a neighboring optimal path computation about the nominal provides a lift and side-force perturbations necessary to achieve the target downrange and crossrange. On-line feedback simulations of the proposed scheme and a form of proportional navigation are compared with an off-line parameter optimization method. The neighboring optimal terminal velocity compares very well with the parameter optimization solution and ismore » far superior to proportional navigation. 8 refs.« less

A guidance law for hypersonic descent to a point

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

Eisler, G.R.; Hull, D.G.

1992-01-01

A neighboring external control problem is formulated for a hypersonic glider to execute a maximum-terminal-velocity descent to a stationary target. The resulting two-part, feedback control scheme initially solves a nonlinear algebraic problem to generate a nominal trajectory to the target altitude. Secondly, a neighboring optimal path computation about the nominal provides a lift and side-force perturbations necessary to achieve the target downrange and crossrange. On-line feedback simulations of the proposed scheme and a form of proportional navigation are compared with an off-line parameter optimization method. The neighboring optimal terminal velocity compares very well with the parameter optimization solution and ismore » far superior to proportional navigation. 8 refs.« less

Second Line of Defense, Port of Buenos Aires and Exolgan Container Terminal Operational Testing and Evaluation Plan, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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

Roberts, Bryan W.

2012-08-23

The Office of the Second Line of Defense (SLD) Megaports project team for Argentina will conduct operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) at Exolgan Container Terminal at the Port of Dock Sud from July 16-20, 2012; and at the Port of Buenos Aires from September 3-7, 2012. SLD is installing radiation detection equipment to screen export, import, and transshipment containers at these locations. The purpose of OT&E is to validate and baseline an operable system that meets the SLD mission and to ensure the system continues to perform as expected in an operational environment with Argentina Customs effectively adjudicating alarms.

Prevalence of genetically modified rice, maize, and soy in Saudi food products.

PubMed

Elsanhoty, Rafaat M; Al-Turki, A I; Ramadan, Mohamed Fawzy

2013-10-01

Qualitative and quantitative DNA-based methods were applied to detect genetically modified foods in samples from markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Two hundred samples were collected from Al-Qassim, Riyadh, and Mahdina in 2009 and 2010. GMOScreen 35S and NOS test kits for the detection of genetically modified organism varieties in samples were used. The positive results obtained from GMOScreen 35S and NOS were identified using specific primer pairs. The results indicated that all rice samples gave negative results for the presence of 35S and NOS terminator. About 26 % of samples containing soybean were positive for 35S and NOS terminator and 44 % of samples containing maize were positive for the presence of 35S and/or NOS terminator. The results showed that 20.4 % of samples was positive for maize line Bt176, 8.8 % was positive for maize line Bt11, 8.8 % was positive for maize line T25, 5.9 % was positive for maize line MON 810, and 5.9 % was positive for StarLink maize. Twelve samples were shown to contain <3 % of genetically modified (GM) soy and 6 samples >10 % of GM soy. Four samples containing GM maize were shown to contain >5 % of GM maize MON 810. Four samples containing GM maize were shown to contain >1 % of StarLink maize. Establishing strong regulations and certified laboratories to monitor GM foods or crops in Saudi market is recommended.

Feasibility analysis of a novel hybrid-type superconducting circuit breaker in multi-terminal HVDC networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Umer Amir; Lee, Jong-Geon; Seo, In-Jin; Amir, Faisal; Lee, Bang-Wook

2015-11-01

Voltage source converter-based HVDC systems (VSC-HVDC) are a better alternative than conventional thyristor-based HVDC systems, especially for developing multi-terminal HVDC systems (MTDC). However, one of the key obstacles in developing MTDC is the absence of an adequate protection system that can quickly detect faults, locate the faulty line and trip the HVDC circuit breakers (DCCBs) to interrupt the DC fault current. In this paper, a novel hybrid-type superconducting circuit breaker (SDCCB) is proposed and feasibility analyses of its application in MTDC are presented. The SDCCB has a superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) located in the main current path to limit fault currents until the final trip signal is received. After the trip signal the IGBT located in the main line commutates the current into a parallel line where DC current is forced to zero by the combination of IGBTs and surge arresters. Fault simulations for three-, four- and five-terminal MTDC were performed and SDCCB performance was evaluated in these MTDC. Passive current limitation by SFCL caused a significant reduction of fault current interruption stress in the SDCCB. It was observed that the DC current could change direction in MTDC after a fault and the SDCCB was modified to break the DC current in both the forward and reverse directions. The simulation results suggest that the proposed SDCCB could successfully suppress the DC fault current, cause a timely interruption, and isolate the faulty HVDC line in MTDC.

Sodium Velocity Maps on Mercury

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potter, A. E.; Killen, R. M.

2011-01-01

The objective of the current work was to measure two-dimensional maps of sodium velocities on the Mercury surface and examine the maps for evidence of sources or sinks of sodium on the surface. The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope and the Stellar Spectrograph were used to measure Mercury spectra that were sampled at 7 milliAngstrom intervals. Observations were made each day during the period October 5-9, 2010. The dawn terminator was in view during that time. The velocity shift of the centroid of the Mercury emission line was measured relative to the solar sodium Fraunhofer line corrected for radial velocity of the Earth. The difference between the observed and calculated velocity shift was taken to be the velocity vector of the sodium relative to Earth. For each position of the spectrograph slit, a line of velocities across the planet was measured. Then, the spectrograph slit was stepped over the surface of Mercury at 1 arc second intervals. The position of Mercury was stabilized by an adaptive optics system. The collection of lines were assembled into an images of surface reflection, sodium emission intensities, and Earthward velocities over the surface of Mercury. The velocity map shows patches of higher velocity in the southern hemisphere, suggesting the existence of sodium sources there. The peak earthward velocity occurs in the equatorial region, and extends to the terminator. Since this was a dawn terminator, this might be an indication of dawn evaporation of sodium. Leblanc et al. (2008) have published a velocity map that is similar.

A voice-actuated wind tunnel model leak checking system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Larson, William E.

1989-01-01

A computer program has been developed that improves the efficiency of wind tunnel model leak checking. The program uses a voice recognition unit to relay a technician's commands to the computer. The computer, after receiving a command, can respond to the technician via a voice response unit. Information about the model pressure orifice being checked is displayed on a gas-plasma terminal. On command, the program records up to 30 seconds of pressure data. After the recording is complete, the raw data and a straight line fit of the data are plotted on the terminal. This allows the technician to make a decision on the integrity of the orifice being checked. All results of the leak check program are stored in a database file that can be listed on the line printer for record keeping purposes or displayed on the terminal to help the technician find unchecked orifices. This program allows one technician to check a model for leaks instead of the two or three previously required.

Optimization of immunosuppressive therapy based on a multiparametric mixed lymphocyte reaction assay reduces infectious complications and mortality in living donor liver transplant recipients.

PubMed

Tanaka, Y; Tashiro, H; Onoe, T; Ide, K; Ishiyama, K; Ohdan, H

2012-03-01

We investigated the clinical relevance of immune monitoring by a multiparametric mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay, wherein the number and phenotype of alloreactive precursors can be quantified by combining the results of carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester labeling and flow cytometry analysis. In 51 adult patients undergoing living donor liver transplantation (OLT), immunosuppressive drugs were dosed on the basis of immune monitoring by the MLR assay (optimized protocol: group O). In 64 other patients, the agents were prescribed according to empirical regimens (empirical protocol: group E). In group O, MLR assays were performed at 2- to 4-week intervals until 3 months after OLT and thereafter at 3- to 6-month intervals. Therapeutic adjustments for immunosuppressants were determined by tapering the doses in cases of anti-donor hyporesponsiveness for both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets. The 1-year patient and graft survivals in groups O versus E were 90.2% versus 76.6%, respectively. The incidence of acute rejection episodes (ARE) among group O (13.7%) were lower than in cohort E (28.1%). None of the patients in group O while four patients (3%) in group E already have shown chronic rejection to date. The incidences of bacteremia and fungal infections in group O (9.8% and 7.5%, respectively) were lower than in cohort E (18.8% and 12.6%, respectively). A multiparametric MLR assay may facilitate the development of adequate immunosuppressive regimens. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of curcumin on short-term spatial and recognition memory, adult neurogenesis and neuroinflammation in a streptozotocin-induced rat model of dementia of Alzheimer's type.

PubMed

Bassani, Taysa B; Turnes, Joelle M; Moura, Eric L R; Bonato, Jéssica M; Cóppola-Segovia, Valentín; Zanata, Silvio M; Oliveira, Rúbia M M W; Vital, Maria A B F

2017-09-29

Curcumin is a natural polyphenol with evidence of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. Recent evidence also suggests that curcumin increases cognitive performance in animal models of dementia, and this effect would be related to its capacity to enhance adult neurogenesis. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that curcumin treatment would be able to preserve cognition by increasing neurogenesis and decreasing neuroinflammation in the model of dementia of Alzheimer's type induced by an intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin (ICV-STZ) in Wistar rats. The animals were injected with ICV-STZ or vehicle and curcumin treatments (25, 50 and 100mg/kg, gavage) were performed for 30days. Four weeks after surgery, STZ-lesioned animals exhibited impairments in short-term spatial memory (Object Location Test (OLT) and Y maze) and short-term recognition memory (Object Recognition Test - ORT), decreased cell proliferation and immature neurons (Ki-67- and doublecortin-positive cells, respectively) in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and dentate gyrus (DG) of hippocampus, and increased immunoreactivity for the glial markers GFAP and Iba-1 (neuroinflammation). Curcumin treatment in the doses of 50 and 100mg/kg prevented the deficits in recognition memory in the ORT, but not in spatial memory in the OLT and Y maze. Curcumin treatment exerted only slight improvements in neuroinflammation, resulting in no improvements in hippocampal and subventricular neurogenesis. These results suggest a positive effect of curcumin in object recognition memory which was not related to hippocampal neurogenesis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Classical Notions of Coagulation Revisited in Relation with Blood Losses, Transfusion Rate for 700 Consecutive Liver Transplantations.

PubMed

Massicotte, Luc; Thibeault, Lynda; Roy, André

2015-07-01

During the last decade, improved surgical and anesthetic management, such as better understanding of coagulation defects and the use of the phlebotomy, has reduced intraoperative blood product transfusions during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The goal of this study was to look at the impact of initial conventional coagulation tests on blood loss and blood product requirement and to evaluate the role of the phlebotomy during liver transplantations. A total of 700 consecutive OLTs were studied. The group of patients was split into two according to the median of starting international normalized ratio to study blood losses and transfusion rate. Logistic regression was used to determine the main predictors of blood loss, intraoperative blood transfusion, and survival. There was no intergroup difference for demographic characteristics. The mean blood loss was 1,184 mL with a median of 920 mL. Overall, 77.4% of the patients did not receive any blood product and the mean transfusion rate of red blood cells (RBCs) was 0.5 ± 1.4 units per patient. Severity of recipients' disease did not correlate with blood loss or transfusion rate. Starting hemoglobin value was the only biochemical variable linked to RBC transfusions. Phlebotomy was linked to decrease in blood loss, RBC transfusions, and increased survival rate. It is concluded that bleeding did not correlate with traditional coagulation defects or the severity of recipient's disease. Preemptive phlebotomy was linked to a decreased blood loss, a decreased transfusion rate, and an increased 1-year survival rate. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Liver transplantation from anti-hepatitis C virus-positive donors: our experience.

PubMed

Álvaro, E; Abradelo, M; Fuertes, A; Manrique, A; Colina, F; Alegre, C; Calvo, J; García, M; García-Sesma, A; Cambra, F; Sanabria, R; Moreno, E; Jimenez, C

2012-01-01

Hepatitis C (HCV) is among the most common causes of end-stage liver disease worldwide. The donor shortage leads us to consider alternative organ sources such as HCV-positive donors. The outcomes of these transplants must be evaluated thoroughly since there is universal recurrence of disease among HCV-positive liver transplant recipients. From January 2005 to April 2011, we performed 143 liver transplants (OLT) to treat end-stage liver disease secondary to HCV infection. Thirteen patients (9,1%) received livers from HCV-positive donors. A control group consisted of 130 HCV-positive patients who underwent OLT during the same period with organs from HCV-negative donors. Donor HCV status was assessed by 2 tests: HCV antibodies and viral load. Not only recipient and graft survivals were analyzed, but also frequency, timing and severity of hepatitis recurrence. Among 143 transplants performed in HCV-positive recipients during a 6-year period from January 1, 2005, to April 30, 2011, 9.1% of patients received an organ from an anti-HCV-positive donor, 72.7% of whom showed a negative viral load. The vast majority (80%) of our patients suffered hepatitis during their follow-up, 22.4% of which were severe cases. No significant difference in patient or graft survival was observed between the 2 groups. A high percentage of grafts with initial positive serology for HCV showed no viral replication. Grafts from HCV-positive donors can be considered to be a safe, effective source for liver donation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Localized Optogenetic Targeting of Rotors in Atrial Cardiomyocyte Monolayers.

PubMed

Feola, Iolanda; Volkers, Linda; Majumder, Rupamanjari; Teplenin, Alexander; Schalij, Martin J; Panfilov, Alexander V; de Vries, Antoine A F; Pijnappels, Daniël A

2017-11-01

Recently, a new ablation strategy for atrial fibrillation has emerged, which involves the identification of rotors (ie, local drivers) followed by the localized targeting of their core region by ablation. However, this concept has been subject to debate because the mode of arrhythmia termination remains poorly understood, as dedicated models and research tools are lacking. We took a unique optogenetic approach to induce and locally target a rotor in atrial monolayers. Neonatal rat atrial cardiomyocyte monolayers expressing a depolarizing light-gated ion channel (Ca 2+ -translocating channelrhodopsin) were subjected to patterned illumination to induce single, stable, and centralized rotors by optical S1-S2 cross-field stimulation. Next, the core region of these rotors was specifically and precisely targeted by light to induce local conduction blocks of circular or linear shapes. Conduction blocks crossing the core region, but not reaching any unexcitable boundary, did not lead to termination. Instead, electric waves started to propagate along the circumference of block, thereby maintaining reentrant activity, although of lower frequency. If, however, core-spanning lines of block reached at least 1 unexcitable boundary, reentrant activity was consistently terminated by wave collision. Lines of block away from the core region resulted merely in rotor destabilization (ie, drifting). Localized optogenetic targeting of rotors in atrial monolayers could lead to both stabilization and destabilization of reentrant activity. For termination, however, a line of block is required reaching from the core region to at least 1 unexcitable boundary. These findings may improve our understanding of the mechanisms involved in rotor-guided ablation. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Neurotensin may function as a regulatory peptide in small cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Davis, T P; Crowell, S; McInturff, B; Louis, R; Gillespie, T

1991-01-01

Neurotensin (NT) has been postulated to act as a modulatory agent in the central nervous system. Besides its presence in mammalian brain, NT is produced by small cell carcinoma of the lung (SCLC) and cell lines derived from these tumors. Receptors have also been characterized in some SCLC cell lines leading to the suggestion that NT could regulate the growth of SCLC in an autocrine fashion similar to bombesin/GRP. Previously, we had reported that a 10 nM dose of NT and NT(8-13), but not NT(1-8), elevated cytosolic Ca2+, indicating that SCLC NT receptors may use Ca2+ as a second messenger. Using intact SCLC cells we report that time-course incubations with NT lead to the formation of the amino-terminal fragment NT(1-8) and small amounts of the C-terminal fragment NT(9-13). These fragments are formed by metalloendopeptidase 3.4.24.15 cleaving enzyme at the Arg8-Arg9 bond of NT. Significant levels of soluble 3.4.24.15 (10-17 nmoles/mg Pr-/min) are present in SCLC cell lines. Using the in vitro clonogenic assay we tested the effect of 0.5, 5.0 and 10.0 nM doses of NT, NT(1-8) and NT(8-13) on SCLC clonal growth. NT and the C-terminal fragment NT(8-13) stimulated colony formation whereas the N-terminal fragment did not. In summary, NT may function as a regulatory peptide in SCLC through the formation of peptide fragments.

The Escherichia coli Subtilase Cytotoxin A Subunit Specifically Cleaves Cell-surface GRP78 Protein and Abolishes COOH-terminal-dependent Signaling

PubMed Central

Ray, Rupa; de Ridder, Gustaaf G.; Eu, Jerry P.; Paton, Adrienne W.; Paton, James C.; Pizzo, Salvatore V.

2012-01-01

GRP78, a molecular chaperone with critical endoplasmic reticulum functions, is aberrantly expressed on the surface of cancer cells, including prostate and melanoma. Here it functions as a pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic signaling receptor via NH2-terminal domain ligation. Auto-antibodies to this domain may appear in cancer patient serum where they are a poor prognostic indicator. Conversely, GRP78 COOH-terminal domain ligation is pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative. There is no method to disrupt cell-surface GRP78 without compromising the total GRP78 pool, making it difficult to study cell-surface GRP78 function. We studied six cell lines representing three cancer types. One cell line per group expresses high levels of cell-surface GRP78, and the other expresses low levels (human hepatoma: Hep3B and HepG2; human prostate cancer: PC3 and 1-LN; murine melanoma: B16F0 and B16F1). We investigated the effect of Escherichia coli subtilase cytoxin catalytic subunit (SubA) on GRP78. We report that SubA specifically cleaves cell-surface GRP78 on HepG2, 1-LN, and B16F1 cells without affecting intracellular GRP78. B16F0 cells (GRP78low) have lower amounts of cleaved cell-surface GRP78. SubA has no effect on Hep3B and PC3 cells. The predicted 28-kDa GRP78 COOH-terminal fragment is released into the culture medium by SubA treatment, and COOH-terminal domain signal transduction is abrogated, whereas pro-proliferative signaling mediated through NH2-terminal domain ligation is unaffected. These experiments clarify cell-surface GRP78 topology and demonstrate that the COOH-terminal domain is necessary for pro-apoptotic signal transduction occurring upon COOH-terminal antibody ligation. SubA is a powerful tool to specifically probe the functions of cell-surface GRP78. PMID:22851173

The Escherichia coli subtilase cytotoxin A subunit specifically cleaves cell-surface GRP78 protein and abolishes COOH-terminal-dependent signaling.

PubMed

Ray, Rupa; de Ridder, Gustaaf G; Eu, Jerry P; Paton, Adrienne W; Paton, James C; Pizzo, Salvatore V

2012-09-21

GRP78, a molecular chaperone with critical endoplasmic reticulum functions, is aberrantly expressed on the surface of cancer cells, including prostate and melanoma. Here it functions as a pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic signaling receptor via NH(2)-terminal domain ligation. Auto-antibodies to this domain may appear in cancer patient serum where they are a poor prognostic indicator. Conversely, GRP78 COOH-terminal domain ligation is pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative. There is no method to disrupt cell-surface GRP78 without compromising the total GRP78 pool, making it difficult to study cell-surface GRP78 function. We studied six cell lines representing three cancer types. One cell line per group expresses high levels of cell-surface GRP78, and the other expresses low levels (human hepatoma: Hep3B and HepG2; human prostate cancer: PC3 and 1-LN; murine melanoma: B16F0 and B16F1). We investigated the effect of Escherichia coli subtilase cytoxin catalytic subunit (SubA) on GRP78. We report that SubA specifically cleaves cell-surface GRP78 on HepG2, 1-LN, and B16F1 cells without affecting intracellular GRP78. B16F0 cells (GRP78(low)) have lower amounts of cleaved cell-surface GRP78. SubA has no effect on Hep3B and PC3 cells. The predicted 28-kDa GRP78 COOH-terminal fragment is released into the culture medium by SubA treatment, and COOH-terminal domain signal transduction is abrogated, whereas pro-proliferative signaling mediated through NH(2)-terminal domain ligation is unaffected. These experiments clarify cell-surface GRP78 topology and demonstrate that the COOH-terminal domain is necessary for pro-apoptotic signal transduction occurring upon COOH-terminal antibody ligation. SubA is a powerful tool to specifically probe the functions of cell-surface GRP78.

Modeling and experimental characterization of electromigration in interconnect trees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, C. V.; Hau-Riege, S. P.; Andleigh, V. K.

1999-11-01

Most modeling and experimental characterization of interconnect reliability is focussed on simple straight lines terminating at pads or vias. However, laid-out integrated circuits often have interconnects with junctions and wide-to-narrow transitions. In carrying out circuit-level reliability assessments it is important to be able to assess the reliability of these more complex shapes, generally referred to as `trees.' An interconnect tree consists of continuously connected high-conductivity metal within one layer of metallization. Trees terminate at diffusion barriers at vias and contacts, and, in the general case, can have more than one terminating branch when they include junctions. We have extended the understanding of `immortality' demonstrated and analyzed for straight stud-to-stud lines, to trees of arbitrary complexity. This leads to a hierarchical approach for identifying immortal trees for specific circuit layouts and models for operation. To complete a circuit-level-reliability analysis, it is also necessary to estimate the lifetimes of the mortal trees. We have developed simulation tools that allow modeling of stress evolution and failure in arbitrarily complex trees. We are testing our models and simulations through comparisons with experiments on simple trees, such as lines broken into two segments with different currents in each segment. Models, simulations and early experimental results on the reliability of interconnect trees are shown to be consistent.

Amine terminated bisaspartimide polymer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kumar, D. (Inventor); Fohlen, G. M. (Inventor); Parker, J. A. (Inventor)

1986-01-01

Novel amine terminated bisaspartimides are prepared by a Michael-type reaction of an aromatic bismalteimide and an aromatic diamine in an aprotic solvent. These bisaspartimides are thermally polymerized to yield tough, resinous polymers cross-lined through -NH- groups. Such polymers are useful in applications requiring materials with resistance to change at elevated temperatures, e.g., as lightweight laminates with graphite cloth, molding material prepregs, adhesives and insulating material.

Efficacy and Safety of Second-Line 5-Day Dactinomycin in Case of Methotrexate Failure for Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia.

PubMed

Prouvot, Catherine; Golfier, François; Massardier, Jérôme; You, Benoit; Lotz, Jean-Pierre; Patrier, Sophie; Devouassoux, Mojgan; Schott, Anne-Marie; Hajri, Touria; Bolze, Pierre-Adrien

2018-06-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients treated for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) with second-line 5-day dactinomycin after failed first-line 8-day methotrexate. From 1999 to 2017, patients with methotrexate resistant GTN treated with second line dactinomycin were identified at the French Trophoblastic Disease Reference Center. Using univariate and multivariate analysis, we identified significant predictive factors of second line dactinomycin failure. A total of 877 GTN patients were treated with first-line 8-day methotrexate, of which 103 required second-line 5-day dactinomycin for methotrexate failure. Complete response was observed in 78 patients (75.7% [95% confidence interval, 66.3-83.6]; P < 0.0001), whereas 25 needed third-line treatment, 13 for dactinomycin resistance and 12 for post-dactinomycin relapse. Overall survival of patients treated with dactinomycin was 100%. An interval of greater than or equal to 7 months between antecedent pregnancy termination and methotrexate initiation was a predictive factor significantly associated with second-line dactinomycin failure in multivariate analysis (exact odds ratio, 9.17 [95% confidence interval, 1.98-50.70]; P = 0.0029). No grades 4 and 5 adverse effects were experienced and the most common toxicity being grade 1 nausea (14.6%). Given a 75.7% complete response rate in methotrexate failed low-risk GTN patients treated with second-line dactinomycin and an overall survival rate of 100% after third-line treatment, the use of dactinomycin should be favored as second-line, regardless of human chorionic gonadotropin level at the time of dactinomycin initiation. However, an interval between the termination of the antecedent pregnancy and methotrexate initiation longer than 6 months should encourage considering alternative therapeutic strategies.

Cell lines for the production of monoclonal antibodies to human glycophorin A

DOEpatents

Bigbee, William L.; Fong, Stella S. N.; Jensen, Ronald H.; Vanderlaan, Martin; Langlois, Richard G.

1988-01-01

Cloned mouse hybridoma cell lines have been established which continuously produce antibodies that differentiate between the M and N forms of human glycophorin A. These antibodies have potential application as human blood group reagents, as markers for terminally differentiated erythroid cells and as immunofluorescent labels of somatically variant human erythrocytes.

78 FR 60375 - Rogue Valley Terminal Railroad Corporation-Corporate Family Transaction Exemption

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-01

... approximately 14 miles of rail line located in the Medford Industrial Park in White City, Or., where it connects... corporate affiliate, Medford Industrial Trainline Management LLC (Medford), to which Rogue Valley will... will use the line to train new railroad train and engineer personnel and will not interfere with Rogue...

Impedance Analysis of Ovarian Cancer Cells upon Challenge with C-terminal Clostridium Perfringens Enterotoxin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, Geoffrey; Lo, Chun-Min

2007-03-01

Both in vitro and animal studies in breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers have shown that clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE), which binds to CLDN4, may have an important therapeutic benefit, as it is rapidly cytotoxic in tissues overexpressing CLDN4. This study sought to evaluate the ability of C-terminal clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (C-CPE), a CLDN4-targetting molecule, to disrupt tight junction barrier function. Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) was used to measure both junctional resistance and average cell-substrate separation of ovarian cancer cell lines after exposure to C-CPE. A total of 14 ovarian cancer cell lines were used, and included cell lines derived from serous, mucinous, and clear cells. Our results showed that junctional resistance increases as CLDN4 expression increases. In addition, C-CPE is non-cytotoxic in ovarian cancer cells expressing CLDN4. However, exposure to C-CPE results in a significant (p<0.05) dose- and CLDN4-dependent decrease in junctional resistance and an increase in cell-substrate separation. Treatment of ovarian cancer cell lines with C-CPE disrupts tight junction barrier function.

Interim Service ISDN Satellite (ISIS) hardware experiment development for advanced ISDN satellite designs and experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pepin, Gerard R.

1992-01-01

The Interim Service Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) Satellite (ISIS) Hardware Experiment Development for Advanced Satellite Designs describes the development of the ISDN Satellite Terminal Adapter (ISTA) capable of translating ISDN protocol traffic into Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signals for use by a communications satellite. The ISTA connects the Type 1 Network Termination (NT1) via the U-interface on the line termination side of the CPE to the RS-499 interface for satellite uplink. The same ISTA converts in the opposite direction the RS-499 to U-interface data with a simple switch setting.

Interim Service ISDN Satellite (ISIS) hardware experiment design for advanced ISDN satellite design and experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pepin, Gerard R.

1992-01-01

The Interim Service Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) Satellite (ISIS) Hardware Experiment Design for Advanced Satellite Designs describes the design of the ISDN Satellite Terminal Adapter (ISTA) capable of translating ISDN protocol traffic into time division multiple access (TDMA) signals for use by a communications satellite. The ISTA connects the Type 1 Network Termination (NT1) via the U-interface on the line termination side of the CPE to the V.35 interface for satellite uplink. The same ISTA converts in the opposite direction the V.35 to U-interface data with a simple switch setting.

Incidence of DAA failure and the clinical impact of retreatment in real-life patients treated in the advanced stage of liver disease: Interim evaluations from the PITER network

PubMed Central

Gaeta, Giovanni Battista; Brunetto, Maurizia Rossana; Di Leo, Alfredo; Iannone, Andrea; Santantonio, Teresa Antonia; Giammario, Adele; Raimondo, Giovanni; Filomia, Roberto; Coppola, Carmine; Amoruso, Daniela Caterina; Blanc, Pierluigi; Del Pin, Barbara; Chemello, Liliana; Cavalletto, Luisa; Morisco, Filomena; Donnarumma, Laura; Rumi, Maria Grazia; Gasbarrini, Antonio; Siciliano, Massimo; Massari, Marco; Corsini, Romina; Coco, Barbara; Madonia, Salvatore; Cannizzaro, Marco; Zignego, Anna Linda; Monti, Monica; Russo, Francesco Paolo; Zanetto, Alberto; Persico, Marcello; Masarone, Mario; Villa, Erica; Bernabucci, Veronica; Taliani, Gloria; Biliotti, Elisa; Chessa, Luchino; Pasetto, Maria Cristina; Andreone, Pietro; Margotti, Marzia; Brancaccio, Giuseppina; Ieluzzi, Donatella; Borgia, Guglielmo; Zappulo, Emanuela; Calvaruso, Vincenza; Petta, Salvatore; Falzano, Loredana; Quaranta, Maria Giovanna; Weimer, Liliana Elena; Rosato, Stefano; Vella, Stefano; Giannini, Edoardo Giovanni

2017-01-01

Background Few data are available on the virological and clinical outcomes of advanced liver disease patients retreated after first-line DAA failure. Aim To evaluate DAA failure incidence and the retreatment clinical impact in patients treated in the advanced liver disease stage. Methods Data on HCV genotype, liver disease severity, and first and second line DAA regimens were prospectively collected in consecutive patients who reached the 12-week post-treatment and retreatment evaluations from January 2015 to December 2016 in 23 of the PITER network centers. Results Among 3,830 patients with advanced fibrosis (F3) or cirrhosis, 139 (3.6%) failed to achieve SVR. Genotype 3, bilirubin levels >1.5mg/dl, platelet count <120,000/mm3 and the sofosbuvir+ribavirin regimen were independent predictors of failure by logistic regression analysis. The failure rate was 7.6% for patients treated with regimens that are no longer recommended or considered suboptimal (sofosbuvir+ribavirin or simeprevir+sofosbuvir±ribavirin), whereas 1.4% for regimens containing sofosbuvir combined with daclatasvir or ledipasvir or other DAAs. Of the patients who failed to achieve SVR, 72 (51.8%) were retreated with a second DAA regimen, specifically 38 (52.7%) with sofosbuvir+daclatasvir, 27 (37.5%) with sofosbuvir+ledipasvir, and 7 (9.7%) with other DAAs ±ribavirin. Among these, 69 (96%) patients achieved SVR12 and 3 (4%) failed. During a median time of 6 months (range: 5–14 months) between failure and the second DAA therapy, the Child-Pugh class worsened in 12 (16.7%) patients: from A to B in 10 patients (19.6%) and from B to C in 2 patients (10.5%), whereas it did not change in the remaining 60 patients. Following the retreatment SVR12 (median time of 6 months; range: 3–12 months), the Child-Pugh class improved in 17 (23.6%) patients: from B to A in 14 (19.4%) patients, from C to A in 1 patient (1.4%) and from C to B in 2 (2.9%) patients; it remained unchanged in 53 patients (73.6%) and worsened in 2 (2.8%) patients. Of patients who were retreated, 3 (4%) had undergone OLT before retreatment (all reached SVR12 following retreatment) and 2 (2.8%) underwent OLT after having achieved retreatment SVR12. Two (70%) of the 3 patients who failed to achieve SVR12 after retreatment, and 2 (2.8%) of the 69 patients who achieved retreatment SVR12 died from liver failure (Child-Pugh class deteriorated from B to C) or HCC complications. Conclusions Failure rate following the first DAA regimen in patients with advanced disease is similar to or lower than that reported in clinical trials, although the majority of patients were treated with suboptimal regimens. Interim findings showed that worsening of liver function after failure, in terms of Child Pugh class deterioration, was improved by successful retreatment in about one third of retreated patients within a short follow-up period; however, in some advanced liver disease patients, clinical outcomes (Child Pugh class, HCC development, liver failure and death) were independent of viral eradication. PMID:28977040

Incidence of DAA failure and the clinical impact of retreatment in real-life patients treated in the advanced stage of liver disease: Interim evaluations from the PITER network.

PubMed

Kondili, Loreta A; Gaeta, Giovanni Battista; Brunetto, Maurizia Rossana; Di Leo, Alfredo; Iannone, Andrea; Santantonio, Teresa Antonia; Giammario, Adele; Raimondo, Giovanni; Filomia, Roberto; Coppola, Carmine; Amoruso, Daniela Caterina; Blanc, Pierluigi; Del Pin, Barbara; Chemello, Liliana; Cavalletto, Luisa; Morisco, Filomena; Donnarumma, Laura; Rumi, Maria Grazia; Gasbarrini, Antonio; Siciliano, Massimo; Massari, Marco; Corsini, Romina; Coco, Barbara; Madonia, Salvatore; Cannizzaro, Marco; Zignego, Anna Linda; Monti, Monica; Russo, Francesco Paolo; Zanetto, Alberto; Persico, Marcello; Masarone, Mario; Villa, Erica; Bernabucci, Veronica; Taliani, Gloria; Biliotti, Elisa; Chessa, Luchino; Pasetto, Maria Cristina; Andreone, Pietro; Margotti, Marzia; Brancaccio, Giuseppina; Ieluzzi, Donatella; Borgia, Guglielmo; Zappulo, Emanuela; Calvaruso, Vincenza; Petta, Salvatore; Falzano, Loredana; Quaranta, Maria Giovanna; Weimer, Liliana Elena; Rosato, Stefano; Vella, Stefano; Giannini, Edoardo Giovanni

2017-01-01

Few data are available on the virological and clinical outcomes of advanced liver disease patients retreated after first-line DAA failure. To evaluate DAA failure incidence and the retreatment clinical impact in patients treated in the advanced liver disease stage. Data on HCV genotype, liver disease severity, and first and second line DAA regimens were prospectively collected in consecutive patients who reached the 12-week post-treatment and retreatment evaluations from January 2015 to December 2016 in 23 of the PITER network centers. Among 3,830 patients with advanced fibrosis (F3) or cirrhosis, 139 (3.6%) failed to achieve SVR. Genotype 3, bilirubin levels >1.5mg/dl, platelet count <120,000/mm3 and the sofosbuvir+ribavirin regimen were independent predictors of failure by logistic regression analysis. The failure rate was 7.6% for patients treated with regimens that are no longer recommended or considered suboptimal (sofosbuvir+ribavirin or simeprevir+sofosbuvir±ribavirin), whereas 1.4% for regimens containing sofosbuvir combined with daclatasvir or ledipasvir or other DAAs. Of the patients who failed to achieve SVR, 72 (51.8%) were retreated with a second DAA regimen, specifically 38 (52.7%) with sofosbuvir+daclatasvir, 27 (37.5%) with sofosbuvir+ledipasvir, and 7 (9.7%) with other DAAs ±ribavirin. Among these, 69 (96%) patients achieved SVR12 and 3 (4%) failed. During a median time of 6 months (range: 5-14 months) between failure and the second DAA therapy, the Child-Pugh class worsened in 12 (16.7%) patients: from A to B in 10 patients (19.6%) and from B to C in 2 patients (10.5%), whereas it did not change in the remaining 60 patients. Following the retreatment SVR12 (median time of 6 months; range: 3-12 months), the Child-Pugh class improved in 17 (23.6%) patients: from B to A in 14 (19.4%) patients, from C to A in 1 patient (1.4%) and from C to B in 2 (2.9%) patients; it remained unchanged in 53 patients (73.6%) and worsened in 2 (2.8%) patients. Of patients who were retreated, 3 (4%) had undergone OLT before retreatment (all reached SVR12 following retreatment) and 2 (2.8%) underwent OLT after having achieved retreatment SVR12. Two (70%) of the 3 patients who failed to achieve SVR12 after retreatment, and 2 (2.8%) of the 69 patients who achieved retreatment SVR12 died from liver failure (Child-Pugh class deteriorated from B to C) or HCC complications. Failure rate following the first DAA regimen in patients with advanced disease is similar to or lower than that reported in clinical trials, although the majority of patients were treated with suboptimal regimens. Interim findings showed that worsening of liver function after failure, in terms of Child Pugh class deterioration, was improved by successful retreatment in about one third of retreated patients within a short follow-up period; however, in some advanced liver disease patients, clinical outcomes (Child Pugh class, HCC development, liver failure and death) were independent of viral eradication.

An introduction to the Marshall information retrieval and display system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

An on-line terminal oriented data storage and retrieval system is presented which allows a user to extract and process information from stored data bases. The use of on-line terminals for extracting and displaying data from the data bases provides a fast and responsive method for obtaining needed information. The system consists of general purpose computer programs that provide the overall capabilities of the total system. The system can process any number of data files via a Dictionary (one for each file) which describes the data format to the system. New files may be added to the system at any time, and reprogramming is not required. Illustrations of the system are shown, and sample inquiries and responses are given.

A note on the cracked plates reinforced by a line stiffener

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yahsi, O. S.; Erdogan, F.

1983-01-01

The problem of a cracked plate reinforced by a line stiffener is reconsidered. The original solution of this problem was given in the literature. Also, a variation of the problem with debonding between the plate and the stiffener near the cracked region was reported in the literature. However, the special case of the problem in which the crack tip terminates at the stiffener does not appear to have been studied. In practice, the solution may be necessary in order to assess the crack arrest effectiveness of the stiffener. The problem of a stiffened plate with a crack is reformulated, the asymptotic stress state near the crack tip terminating at the stiffener is examined, and numerical results are given for various stiffness constants.

Rapid grounding line migration induced by internal variability of a marine-terminating ice stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robel, A.; Schoof, C.; Tziperman, E.

2013-12-01

Numerous studies have found significant variability in the velocity of ice streams to be a prominent feature of geomorphologic records in the Siple Coast (Catania et al. 2012) and other regions in West Antarctica (Dowdeswell et al. 2008). Observations indicate that grounding line position is strongly influenced by ice stream variability, producing rapid grounding line migration in the recent past (Catania et al. 2006) and the modern (Joughin & Tulaczyk 2002). We analyze the interaction of grounding line mass flux and position in a marine-terminating ice stream using a stretch-coordinate flowline model. This model is based on that described in Schoof (2007), with a mesh refined near the grounding line to ensure accurate resolution of the mechanical transition zone. Here we have added lateral shear stress (Dupont & Alley 2005) and an undrained plastic bed (Tulaczyk et al. 2000). The parameter dependence of ice stream variability seen in this model compares favorably to both simpler (Robel et al. 2013) and more complex (van der Wel et al. 2013) models, though with some key differences. We find that thermally-induced internal ice stream variability can cause very rapid grounding line migration even in the absence of retrograde bed slopes or external forcing. Activation waves propagate along the ice stream length and trigger periods of rapid grounding line migration. We compare the behavior of the grounding line due to internal ice stream variability to changes triggered externally at the grounding line such as the rapid disintegration of buttressing ice shelves. Implications for Heinrich events and the Marine Ice Sheet Instability are discussed.

Multipurpose Arcade Combat Simulator (MACS) Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-10-01

that shooters are aiming at the center of mass of each target to the best of their abilities. It then computes the central point of the three-round shot...group, measures the distance between this central point and the actual center of the target, and uses this distance as a constant offset value, which...WAE LIto, SIT 3 CLA HO CHANGE 151100 CM? $111 ,10-Im6%AAG ISE LEST30 IF$ SCREEN OCO ias NEXT 2 syltJ4 NSK L91T1)S Olt ?ILA ,r6 SORDERA COLo0 410 Ltx7 2

SPERTI Terminal Building (PER604) is under construction in foreground, with ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

SPERT-I Terminal Building (PER-604) is under construction in foreground, with vertical metal siding partially affixed to gable end of building. Utility lines are laid in shallow trench to Reactor Pit and Instrument Cell Buildings also under construction in distance. Photographer: R.G. Larsen. Date: April 22, 1955. INEEL negative no. 55-1001 - Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, SPERT-I & Power Burst Facility Area, Scoville, Butte County, ID

Analysis of Requirements of On-Line Network Cataloging Services for Small, Academic, Public, School and Other Libraries: A Demonstration Project using the OCLC System. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markuson, Barbara Evans

This report results from a project using the OCLC system to provide catalog services to small libraries. Alternatives described include: centralized cataloging, centralized book processing, sharing of OCLC terminals, and use of dial-up terminals. The OCLC data base was found useful for all types of small libraries. It is recommended that network…

Ada Compiler Validation Summary Report: Certificate Number 890711W1. 10109 Concurrent Computer Corporation C(3) Ada, Version R02-02.00 Concurrent Computer Corporation 3280 MPS

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-07-11

applicable because this implementation does not support temporary files with names. ag . EE2401D is inapplicable because this implementation does not...buffer. No spanned records with ASCII.NUL are output. A line terminator followed by a page terminator may be represented as: ASC::. CR ASCU :.FF ASCII.CR if

Timing and nature of AMOC recovery across Termination 2 and magnitude of deglacial CO2 change.

PubMed

Deaney, Emily L; Barker, Stephen; van de Flierdt, Tina

2017-02-27

Large amplitude variations in atmospheric CO 2 were associated with glacial terminations of the Late Pleistocene. Here we provide multiple lines of evidence suggesting that the ∼20 p.p.m.v. overshoot in CO 2 at the end of Termination 2 (T2) ∼129 ka was associated with an abrupt (≤400 year) deepening of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). In contrast to Termination 1 (T1), which was interrupted by the Bølling-Allerød (B-A), AMOC recovery did not occur until the very end of T2, and was characterized by pronounced formation of deep waters in the NW Atlantic. Considering the variable influences of ocean circulation change on atmospheric CO 2 , we suggest that the net change in CO 2 across the last 2 terminations was approximately equal if the transient effects of deglacial oscillations in ocean circulation are taken into account.

Comparison of volume, security, and biomechanical strength of square and Aberdeen termination knots tied with 4-0 polyglyconate and used for termination of intradermal closures in canine cadavers.

PubMed

Regier, Penny J; Smeak, Daniel D; Coleman, Kristin; McGilvray, Kirk C

2015-08-01

To compare volumes of square knots and Aberdeen knots in vitro and evaluate security of these knot types when used as buried terminal knots for continuous intradermal wound closures in canine cadavers. Experimental study. 24 surgically closed, full-thickness, 4-cm, epidermal wounds in 4 canine cadavers and 80 knots tied in vitro. Continuous intradermal closures were performed with 4-0 polyglyconate and completed with a buried knot technique. Surgeon (intern or experienced surgeon) and termination knot type (4-throw square knot or 2 + 1 Aberdeen knot; 12 each) were randomly assigned. Closed wounds were excised, and a servohydraulic machine applied tensile load perpendicular to the long axis of the suture line. A load-displacement curve was generated for each sample; maximum load, displacement, stiffness, and mode of construct failure were recorded. Volumes of 2 + 1 Aberdeen (n = 40) and 4-throw square knots (40) tied on a suture board were measured on the basis of a cylindrical model. Aberdeen knots had a mean smaller volume (0.00045 mm(3)) than did square knots (0.003838 mm(3)). Maximum load and displacement did not differ between construct types. Mean stiffness of Aberdeen knot constructs was greater than that of square knots. The 2 + 1 Aberdeen knot had a smaller volume than the 4-throw square knot and was as secure. Although both knots may be reliably used in a clinical setting as the termination knot at the end of a continuous intradermal line, the authors advocate use of the Aberdeen terminal knot on the basis of ease of burying the smaller knot.

Method and cell lines for the production of monoclonal antibodies to human glycophorin A

DOEpatents

Bigbee, W.L.; Fong, S.S.N.; Jensen, R.H.; Vanderlaan, M.

Cloned mouse hybridoma cell lines have been established which continuously produce antibodies that differentiate between the M and N forms of human glycophorin A. These antibodies have potential application as human blood group reagents, as markers for terminally differentiated erythroid cells and as immunofluorescent labels of somatically variant human erythrocytes.

Provirus Integration at the 3 Region of N‐myc in Cell Lines Established from Thymic Lymphomas Spontaneously Formed in AKR Mice and a [(BALB/c × B6)F1AKR] Bone Marrow Chimera

PubMed Central

Yano, Yoko; Kobayashi, Seiichi; Yasumizu, Ryoji; Tamaki, Junko; Kubo, Mitsumasa; Sasaki, Akio; Hasan, Shahid; Okuyama, Harue; Inaba, Muneo; Ikehara, Susumu; Hiai, Hiroshi; Kakinuma, Mitsuaki

1991-01-01

Among 18 thymic leukemia cell lines which have been established from spontaneous thymic lym‐phomas in AKR mice as well as in bone marrow chimeras which were constructed by transplanting allogeneic bone marrow cells into irradiated AKR mice, three proviral integration sites were identified; near c‐myc, N‐myc and pim‐l loci. No integration site specific for chimeric leukemia cell lines was found. In three thymic leukemia cell lines which contained rearranged N‐myc, genes, insertions of long terminal repeats (LTRs) of murine leukemia viruses were detected at 18 or 20 bp downstream of the translational termination codon. These results demonstrate that the 3’region of the N‐myc gene is one of the integration targets for murine leukemia viruses in spontaneous thymic lymphomas. In these three cell lines, N‐myc mRNA was stably transcribed and transcription of c‐myc mRNA was down‐regulated. The integrated murine leukemia viruses in AKR thymic leukemia were most likely AKV, though the DNA sequence of the LTR inserted in the genome of a leukemic cell line from [(BALB/c × B6)F1‐AKR], CAK20, was different from LTRs of murine leukemia viruses so far reported. PMID:1900822

Solar Flare Termination Shock and Synthetic Emission Line Profiles of the Fe xxi 1354.08 Å Line

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

Guo, Lijia; Li, Gang; Reeves, Kathy

Solar flares are among the most energetic phenomena that occur in the solar system. In the standard solar flare model, a fast mode shock, often referred to as the flare termination shock (TS), can exist above the loop-top source of hard X-ray emissions. The existence of the TS has been recently related to spectral hardening of a flare’s hard X-ray spectra at energies >300 keV. Observations of the Fe xxi 1354.08 Å line during solar flares by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph ( IRIS ) spacecraft have found significant redshifts with >100 km s{sup −1}, which is consistent with amore » reconnection downflow. The ability to detect such a redshift with IRIS suggests that one may be able to use IRIS observations to identify flare TSs. Using a magnetohydrodynamic simulation to model magnetic reconnection of a solar flare and assuming the existence of a TS in the downflow of the reconnection plasma, we model the synthetic emission of the Fe xxi 1354.08 line in this work. We show that the existence of the TS in the solar flare may manifest itself in the Fe xxi 1354.08 Å line.« less

Biallelic insertion of a transcriptional terminator via the CRISPR/Cas9 system efficiently silences expression of protein-coding and non-coding RNA genes.

PubMed

Liu, Yangyang; Han, Xiao; Yuan, Junting; Geng, Tuoyu; Chen, Shihao; Hu, Xuming; Cui, Isabelle H; Cui, Hengmi

2017-04-07

The type II bacterial CRISPR/Cas9 system is a simple, convenient, and powerful tool for targeted gene editing. Here, we describe a CRISPR/Cas9-based approach for inserting a poly(A) transcriptional terminator into both alleles of a targeted gene to silence protein-coding and non-protein-coding genes, which often play key roles in gene regulation but are difficult to silence via insertion or deletion of short DNA fragments. The integration of 225 bp of bovine growth hormone poly(A) signals into either the first intron or the first exon or behind the promoter of target genes caused efficient termination of expression of PPP1R12C , NSUN2 (protein-coding genes), and MALAT1 (non-protein-coding gene). Both NeoR and PuroR were used as markers in the selection of clonal cell lines with biallelic integration of a poly(A) signal. Genotyping analysis indicated that the cell lines displayed the desired biallelic silencing after a brief selection period. These combined results indicate that this CRISPR/Cas9-based approach offers an easy, convenient, and efficient novel technique for gene silencing in cell lines, especially for those in which gene integration is difficult because of a low efficiency of homology-directed repair. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

A-E Services to Perform a Cathodic Protection Survey of the Bulk Fuel Terminals at N.S.C. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Volume I.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-06-01

20) From VC-D to VC-E a. 8" Avgas Line - Coated Steel (21) From FC -E to Victor Dock #1 a. 12" Avgas Line - Coated Steel (22) From Air Force Scraper...14. Bldg. S776 3" Ballast Line to VC-2 - 775 3" Ballast Line to Loading Rack - 775 15. 6" Water Line, 10’ N of Bldg. S776 - 745 6" AFFF Line, N of...S776 3" Ballast line to VC-2 - 740 - 775 35 3" Ballast line to Loading Rack - 740 - 775 35 15. 6" Water line 10’ N of Bldg. S776 - 710 - 745 35 6" AFFF

A New Terminal Cyano Group-containing Benzodiazepine Alkaloid from the Mangrove Endophytic Fungus Penicillium sp. .

PubMed

Li, Jing; Zhong, Yi-sheng; Yuan, Jie; Zhu, Xun; Lu, Yong-jun; Lin, Yong-cheng; Liu, Lan

2015-09-01

A new benzodiazepine alkaloid containing terminal cyano group has been isolated from a mangrove endophytic fungus, Penicillium 299#. Structure elucidation was determined by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and the absolute configuration was determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD). The new compound showed no cytotoxic activities in vitro against human cancer lines MDA-MB-435, HepG2, HCT-116, and Calu-3.

An Assessment of Early Competitive Prototyping for Major Defense Acquisition Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-30

with 20/80 share ratio for EMD; CPFF for test execution. o Percent change in PAUC from development baseline. -2.3%. 3. FAB -T–FET. The Air Force’s...Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals ( FAB -T) provides for survivable terminals for communicating strategic nuclear execution orders via...jam-resistant, low probability of intercept waveforms through the Milstar and Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite constellations. FAB

Development of marker-free transgenic lettuce resistant to Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus.

PubMed

Kawazu, Yoichi; Fujiyama, Ryoi; Imanishi, Shunsuke; Fukuoka, Hiroyuki; Yamaguchi, Hirotaka; Matsumoto, Satoru

2016-10-01

Lettuce big-vein disease caused by Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus (MLBVV) is found in major lettuce production areas worldwide, but highly resistant cultivars have not yet been developed. To produce MLBVV-resistant marker-free transgenic lettuce that would have a transgene with a promoter and terminator of lettuce origin, we constructed a two T-DNA binary vector, in which the first T-DNA contained the selectable marker gene neomycin phosphotransferase II, and the second T-DNA contained the lettuce ubiquitin gene promoter and terminator and inverted repeats of the coat protein (CP) gene of MLBVV. This vector was introduced into lettuce cultivars 'Watson' and 'Fuyuhikari' by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Regenerated plants (T0 generation) that were CP gene-positive by PCR analysis were self-pollinated, and 312 T1 lines were analyzed for resistance to MLBVV. Virus-negative plants were checked for the CP gene and the marker gene, and nine lines were obtained which were marker-free and resistant to MLBVV. Southern blot analysis showed that three of the nine lines had two copies of the CP gene, whereas six lines had a single copy and were used for further analysis. Small interfering RNAs, which are indicative of RNA silencing, were detected in all six lines. MLBVV infection was inhibited in all six lines in resistance tests performed in a growth chamber and a greenhouse, resulting in a high degree of resistance to lettuce big-vein disease. Transgenic lettuce lines produced in this study could be used as resistant cultivars or parental lines for breeding.

Predicting propagation limits of laser-supported detonation by Hugoniot analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimamura, Kohei; Ofosu, Joseph A.; Komurasaki, Kimiya; Koizumi, Hiroyuki

2015-01-01

Termination conditions of a laser-supported detonation (LSD) wave were investigated using control volume analysis with a Shimada-Hugoniot curve and a Rayleigh line. Because the geometric configurations strongly affect the termination condition, a rectangular tube was used to create the quasi-one-dimensional configuration. The LSD wave propagation velocity and the pressure behind LSD were measured. Results reveal that the detonation states during detonation and at the propagation limit are overdriven detonation and Chapman-Jouguet detonation, respectively. The termination condition is the minimum velocity criterion for the possible detonation solution. Results were verified using pressure measurements of the stagnation pressure behind the LSD wave.

Electric Mars: A Large Trans-Terminator Electric Potential Drop on Closed Magnetic Field Lines Above Utopia Planitia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collinson, Glyn; Mitchell, David; Xu, Shaosui; Glocer, Alex; Grebowsky, Joseph; Hara, Takuya; Lillis, Robert; Espley, Jared; Mazelle, Christian; Sauvaud, Jean-Andre

2017-01-01

Abstract Parallel electric fields and their associated electric potential structures play a crucial role inionospheric-magnetospheric interactions at any planet. Although there is abundant evidence that parallel electric fields play key roles in Martian ionospheric outflow and auroral electron acceleration, the fields themselves are challenging to directly measure due to their relatively weak nature. Using measurements by the Solar Wind Electron Analyzer instrument aboard the NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN(MAVEN) Mars Scout, we present the discovery and measurement of a substantial (Phi) Mars 7.7 +/-0.6 V) parallel electric potential drop on closed magnetic field lines spanning the terminator from day to night above the great impact basin of Utopia Planitia, a region largely free of crustal magnetic fields. A survey of the previous 26 orbits passing over a range of longitudes revealed similar signatures on seven orbits, with a mean potential drop (Phi) Mars of 10.9 +/- 0.8 V, suggestive that although trans-terminator electric fields of comparable strength are not ubiquitous, they may be common, at least at these northerly latitudes.

Bridging locoregional therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma prior to liver transplantation.

PubMed

Heckman, Jason T; Devera, Michael B; Marsh, J Wallis; Fontes, Paulo; Amesur, Nikhil B; Holloway, Shane E; Nalesnik, Michael; Geller, David A; Steel, Jennifer L; Gamblin, T Clark

2008-11-01

The impact of locoregional therapy prior to liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma utilizing either transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), yttrium-90 ((90)Y), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), or resection prior to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is largely unknown. We sought to examine locoregional therapies and their effect on survival compared with transplantation alone. A retrospective review of a prospectively collected database. 123 patients were included. Patients were analyzed in two groups. Group I consisted of 50 patients that received therapy (20 TACE; 16 (90)Y; 13 RFA, 3 resections). Group II consisted of 73 patients transplanted without therapy. Median list time was 28 days (range 2-260 days ) in group I, and 24 days (range 1-380 days) in group II. Median time from therapy to OLT was 3.8 months (range 9 days to 68 months). Twelve patients (24%) were successfully downstaged (8 TACE, 2 (90)Y, 2 RFA/resection). Overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival were 81%, 74%, and 74%, respectively. Survival was not statistically significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.53). The 12 patients downstaged did not have a significant difference in survival as compared with the patients who received therapy but did not respond or the patients who were transplanted without therapy (P = 0.76). Our report addresses locoregional therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma as a bridge to transplant. There was no statistical difference in overall survival between patients treated and those not treated prior to transplant. We provide further evidence that locoregional therapy is a safe tool for patients on the transplant list, does not impact survival, and can downstage selected patients to allow life-saving liver transplantation.

Gene Therapy for Liver Transplantation Using Adenoviral Vectors: CD40–CD154 Blockade by Gene Transfer of CD40Ig Protects Rat Livers from Cold Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury

PubMed Central

Ke, Bibo; Shen, Xiu-Da; Gao, Feng; Busuttil, Ronald W.; Löwenstein, Pedro R.; Castro, Maria G.; Kupiec-Weglinski, Jerzy W.

2010-01-01

Liver injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is the prime factor in delayed or loss graft function following transplantation. CD4+ T lymphocytes are key cellular mediators of antigen-independent inflammatory response triggered by I/R. We attempted to modulate rat liver I/R injury by targeted gene therapy with CD40Ig, which blocks the CD40–CD154 costimulation pathway. One hundred percent of Ad-CD40Ig-pretreated orthotopic liver transplants (OLTs) subjected to 24 h of cold (4°C) ischemia survived >14 days (vs 50% in untreated/Ad-β-gal groups). Ad-CD40Ig treatment decreased sGOT levels and depressed neutrophil infiltration, compared with controls. These functional data correlated with histological Suzuki’s grading of hepatic injury, which in untreated/Ad-β-gal groups showed severe necrosis (>60%) and moderate to severe sinusoidal congestion; the Ad-CD40Ig-pretreated group revealed minimal sinusoidal congestion/necrosis. Unlike in controls, OLT expression of mRNA coding for IL-2/IFN-γ remained depressed, whereas that of IL-4/IL-13 reciprocally increased in the Ad-CD40Ig group. Ad-CD40Ig reduced frequency of TUNEL+ cells and proapoptotic Caspase-3, but enhanced antioxidant HO-1 and antiapoptotic Bcl-2/Bcl-xl expression. Thus, prolonged blockade of CD40–CD154 by CD40Ig exerts potent cytoprotection against hepatic I/R injury. These results provide the rationale for a novel gene therapy approach to maximize the organ donor pool through the safer use of liver transplants exposed to prolonged cold ischemia. PMID:14741776

Menstrual blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells differentiate into functional hepatocyte-like cells*

PubMed Central

Mou, Xiao-zhou; Lin, Jian; Chen, Jin-yang; Li, Yi-fei; Wu, Xiao-xing; Xiang, Bing-yu; Li, Cai-yun; Ma, Ju-ming; Xiang, Charlie

2013-01-01

Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the only proven effective treatment for both end-stage and metabolic liver diseases. Hepatocyte transplantation is a promising alternative for OLT, but the lack of available donor livers has hampered its clinical application. Hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) differentiated from many multi-potential stem cells can help repair damaged liver tissue. Yet almost suitable cells currently identified for human use are difficult to harvest and involve invasive procedures. Recently, a novel mesenchymal stem cell derived from human menstrual blood (MenSC) has been discovered and obtained easily and repeatedly. In this study, we examined whether the MenSCs are able to differentiate into functional HLCs in vitro. After three weeks of incubation in hepatogenic differentiation medium containing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), fibroblast growth factor-4 (FGF-4), and oncostain M (OSM), cuboidal HLCs were observed, and cells also expressed hepatocyte-specific marker genes including albumin (ALB), α-fetoprotein (AFP), cytokeratin 18/19 (CK18/19), and cytochrome P450 1A1/3A4 (CYP1A1/3A4). Differentiated cells further demonstrated in vitro mature hepatocyte functions such as urea synthesis, glycogen storage, and indocyanine green (ICG) uptake. After intrasplenic transplantation into mice with 2/3 partial hepatectomy, the MenSC-derived HLCs were detected in recipient livers and expressed human ALB protein. We also showed that MenSC-derived HLC transplantation could restore the serum ALB level and significantly suppressed transaminase activity of liver injury animals. In conclusion, MenSCs may serve as an ideal, easily accessible source of material for tissue engineering and cell therapy of liver tissues. PMID:24190442

Repeated Neck Restraint Stress Bidirectionally Modulates Excitatory Transmission in the Dentate Gyrus and Performance in a Hippocampus-dependent Memory Task.

PubMed

Spyrka, Jadwiga; Hess, Grzegorz

2018-05-21

The consequences of stress depend on characteristics of the stressor, including the duration of exposure, severity, and predictability. Exposure of mice to repeated neck restraint has been shown to bidirectionally modulate the potential for long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate gyrus (DG) in a manner dependent on the number of restraint repetitions, but the influence of repeated brief neck restraint on electrophysiology of single DG neurons has not yet been investigated. Here, we aimed at finding the effects of 1, 3, 7, 14, or 21 daily neck restraint sessions lasting 10 min on electrophysiological characteristics of DG granule cells as well as excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs to these neurons. While the excitability of DG granule cells and inhibitory synaptic transmission were unchanged, neck restraint decreased the frequency of spontaneous excitatory currents after three repetitions but enhanced it after 14 and 21 repetitions. The consequences of repeated neck restraint on hippocampus-dependent memory were investigated using the object location test (OLT). Neck restraint stress impaired cognitive performance in the OLT after three repetitions but improved it after 14 and 21 repetitions. Mice subjected to three neck restraint sessions displayed an increase in the measures of depressive and anxiety-like behaviors, however, prolongation of the exposure to neck restraint resulted in a gradual decline in the intensity of these measures. These data indicate that stress imposed by an increasing number of repeated neck restraint episodes bidirectionally modulates both excitatory synaptic transmission in the DG and cognitive performance in the object location memory task. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Cause of death after liver transplantation: an analysis of 41 cases in 382 patients].

PubMed

Rayes, N; Bechstein, W O; Keck, H; Blumhardt, G; Lohmann, R; Neuhaus, P

1995-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyse the causes of death after liver transplantation in order to find and to avoid preventable fatal complications if possible. Between September 1988 and September 1993 415 orthotopic liver transplantations in 382 patients were performed at the Rudolf Virchow University Hospital in Berlin. During the same interval 41 (10.7%) of these patients died. Their clinical records were reviewed. The main cause of death was infection (29.3%), followed by recurrent malignancy (21.9%). Less patients died because of hepatitis B-reinfection (14.6%), chronic rejection (7.3%), hemorrhage (7.3%), cardiac failure (7.3%), trauma (4.8%), hypoxia (4.8%) and recurrence of alcoholic liver disease (4.8%). There was a wide spectrum of opportunistic infectious agents with CMV and Pneumocystis carinii being the most important pathogenic organisms. Only one isolated bacterial infection as principle cause of death was found. In all fatal infections the lung was the primary site of infection, 7 patients additionally developed sepsis. Altogether 75 patients (19.6%) with hepatitis B-cirrhosis were transplanted. Six of them (8%) developed a fatal hepatitis B-reinfection. Malignancy was the indication for OLT in 41 patients (10.7%). Six of these patients (14.6%) died because of recurrent tumor. Regarding the whole series, most deaths occurred four to twelve months (58.5%) and only five (12.2%) during the first month after OLT. Recurrence of primary disease is an important factor regarding total mortality. Therefore it is necessary to practise a careful selection of liver transplant recipients. In the future more attention needs to be drawn towards prevention, identification and management of opportunistic infections.

Optimal Utilization of Donor Grafts With Extended Criteria

PubMed Central

Cameron, Andrew M.; Ghobrial, R Mark; Yersiz, Hasan; Farmer, Douglas G.; Lipshutz, Gerald S.; Gordon, Sherilyn A.; Zimmerman, Michael; Hong, Johnny; Collins, Thomas E.; Gornbein, Jeffery; Amersi, Farin; Weaver, Michael; Cao, Carlos; Chen, Tony; Hiatt, Jonathan R.; Busuttil, Ronald W.

2006-01-01

Objective: Severely limited organ resources mandate maximum utilization of donor allografts for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). This work aimed to identify factors that impact survival outcomes for extended criteria donors (ECD) and developed an ECD scoring system to facilitate graft-recipient matching and optimize utilization of ECDs. Methods: Retrospective analysis of over 1000 primary adult OLTs at UCLA. Extended criteria (EC) considered included donor age (>55 years), donor hospital stay (>5 days), cold ischemia time (>10 hours), and warm ischemia time (>40 minutes). One point was assigned for each extended criterion. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used for multivariate analysis. Results: Of 1153 allografts considered in the study, 568 organs exhibited no extended criteria (0 score), while 429, 135 and 21 donor allografts exhibited an EC score of 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Overall 1-year patient survival rates were 88%, 82%, 77% and 48% for recipients with EC scores of 0, 1, 2 and 3 respectively (P < 0.001). Adjusting for recipient age and urgency at the time of transplantation, multivariate analysis identified an ascending mortality risk ratio of 1.4 and 1.8 compared to a score of 0 for an EC score of 1, and 2 (P < 0.01) respectively. In contrast, an EC score of 3 was associated with a mortality risk ratio of 4.5 (P < 0.001). Further, advanced recipient age linearly increased the death hazard ratio, while an urgent recipient status increased the risk ratio of death by 50%. Conclusions: Extended criteria donors can be scored using readily available parameters. Optimizing perioperative variables and matching ECD allografts to appropriately selected recipients are crucial to maintain acceptable outcomes and represent a preferable alternative to both high waiting list mortality and to a potentially futile transplant that utilizes an ECD for a critically ill recipient. PMID:16772778

Hepcidin expression does not rescue the iron-poor phenotype of Kupffer cells in Hfe-null mice after liver transplantation.

PubMed

Garuti, Cinzia; Tian, Yinghua; Montosi, Giuliana; Sabelli, Manuela; Corradini, Elena; Graf, Rolf; Ventura, Paolo; Vegetti, Alberto; Clavien, Pierre-Alain; Pietrangelo, Antonello

2010-07-01

Hemochromatosis is a common hereditary disease caused by mutations in HFE and characterized by increased absorption of iron in the intestine. However, the intestine does not appear to be the site of mutant HFE activity in the disease; we investigated the role of the liver-the source of the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin-in pathogenesis in mice. We exchanged livers between Hfe wild-type (+/+) and Hfe null (-/-) mice by orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and assessed histopathology, serum and tissue iron parameters, and hepatic hepcidin messenger RNA expression. At 6-8 months after OLT, Hfe(-/-) mice that received Hfe(-/-) livers maintained the hemochromatosis phenotype: iron accumulation in hepatocytes but not Kupffer cells (KC), increased transferrin levels, and low levels of iron in the spleen. Hfe(+/+) mice that received Hfe(-/-) livers had increased levels of iron in serum and liver and low levels of iron in spleen. However, they did not develop the iron-poor KCs that characterize hemochromatosis: KCs appeared iron rich, although hepatic hepcidin expression was low. Transplantation of Hfe(+/+) livers into Hfe(-/-) mice prevented hepatic iron accumulation but did not return spleen and plasma levels of iron to normal; KCs still appeared to be iron poor, despite normal hepcidin expression. In Hfe(-/-) mice, transplantation of livers from Hfe(+/+) mice reversed the iron-loading phenotype associated with hemochromatosis (regardless of Hfe expression in intestine). However, KCs still had low levels of iron that were not affected by hepatic hepcidin expression. These findings indicate an independent, iron-modifying effect of HFE in KCs. Copyright 2010 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Monolithic microwave integrated circuit devices for active array antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mittra, R.

1984-01-01

Two different aspects of active antenna array design were investigated. The transition between monolithic microwave integrated circuits and rectangular waveguides was studied along with crosstalk in multiconductor transmission lines. The boundary value problem associated with a discontinuity in a microstrip line is formulated. This entailed, as a first step, the derivation of the propagating as well as evanescent modes of a microstrip line. The solution is derived to a simple discontinuity problem: change in width of the center strip. As for the multiconductor transmission line problem. A computer algorithm was developed for computing the crosstalk noise from the signal to the sense lines. The computation is based on the assumption that these lines are terminated in passive loads.

A note on the cracked plates reinforced by a line stiffener

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yahsi, O. S.; Erdogan, F.

1983-01-01

The problem of a cracked plate reinforced by a line stiffener is reconsidered. The original solution of this problem was given in the literature. Also, a variation of the problem with debonding between the plate and the stiffener near the cracked region was reported in the literature. However, the special case of the problem in which the crack tip terminates at the stiffener does not appear to have been studied. In practice, the solution may be necessary in order to assess the crack arrest effectiveness of the stiffener. The problem of a stiffened plate with a crack is reformulated, the asymptotic stress state near the crack tip terminating at the stiffener is examined, and numerical results are given for various stiffness constants. Previously announced in STAR as N83-21388

High-precision laser distance measurement in support of lunar laser ranging at Haleakala, Maui, 1976-1977

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, E.; Carter, J. A.; Harris, D.; Laurila, S. H.; Schenck, B. E.; Sutton, G. H.; Wolfe, J. E.; Cushman, S. E.

1978-01-01

The Hawaii Institute of Geophysics has implemented a comprehensive geodetic-geophysical support program to monitor local and regional crustal deformation on the island of Maui. Presented are the actual laser-measured line lengths and new coordinate computations of the line terminals, and the internal consistency of the measured line lengths is discussed. Several spacial chord lengths have been reduced to a Mercator plane, and conditioned adjustments on that plane have been made.

Vertical distribution of ozone at the terminator on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maattanen, Anni; Lefevre, Franck; Guilbon, Sabrina; Listowski, Constantino; Montmessin, Franck

2016-10-01

The SPICAM/Mars Express UV solar occultation dataset gives access to the ozone vertical distribution via the ozone absorption in the Hartley band (220-280 nm). We present the retrieved ozone profiles and compare them to the LMD Mars Global Climate Model (LMD-MGCM) results.Due to the photochemical reactivity of ozone, a classical comparison of local density profiles is not appropriate for solar occultations that are acquired at the terminator, and we present here a method often used in the Earth community. The principal comparison is made via the slant profiles (integrated ozone concentration on the line-of-sight), since the spherical symmetry hypothesis made in the onion-peeling vertical inversion method is not valid for photochemically active species (e.g., ozone) around terminator. For each occultation, we model the ozone vertical and horizontal distribution with high solar zenith angle (or local time) resolution around the terminator and then integrate the model results following the lines-of-sight of the occultation to construct the modeled slant profile. We will also discuss the difference of results between the above comparison method and a comparison using the local density profiles, i.e., the observed ones inverted by using the spherical symmetry hypothesis and the modeled ones extracted from the LMD-MGCM exactly at the terminator. The method and the results will be presented together with the full dataset.SPICAM is funded by the French Space Agency CNES and this work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme (H2020-Compet-08-2014) under grant agreement UPWARDS-633127.

Catheterized plasma X-ray source

DOEpatents

Derzon, Mark S.; Robinson, Alex; Galambos, Paul C.

2017-06-20

A radiation generator useful for medical applications, among others, is provided. The radiation generator includes a catheter; a plasma discharge chamber situated within a terminal portion of the catheter, a cathode and an anode positioned within the plasma discharge chamber and separated by a gap, and a high-voltage transmission line extensive through the interior of the catheter and terminating on the cathode and anode so as to deliver, in operation, one or more voltage pulses across the gap.

The apoptotic effects of silibinin on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells.

PubMed

Bayram, D; Çetin, E S; Kara, M; Özgöçmen, M; Candan, I A

2017-06-01

Silibinin is a bioactive flavonolignan extracted from milk thistle, known as Silybum marianum. Silibinin exerts strong antiproliferative, proapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects. Many studies have shown that silibinin inhibits experimentally induced malignancies of the liver, prostate, skin, and colon as well as promotes inhibition of the proliferation of cancer cell lines in vitro. This study aimed to investigate the effects of silibinin on the human breast carcinoma cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 in monolayer and spheroid cultures. The MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines were cultured in both monolayer and spheroid cultures. Cells were treated with silibinin at 24, 48, and 72 h of incubation. The 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine labeling index was used to determine the cells of the synthesis phase. Poly-ADP-ribose-polimerase immunohistochemical staining and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick and labeling assay were used to determine the death of cells in both the monolayer and spheroid cultures. An half maximal inhibitory concentration dose of silibinin in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells was 100 µM/mL at 24, 48, and 72 h of incubation. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick and labeling positive cells and active poly-ADP-ribose-polimerase were detected after treatment with silibinin in both the monolayer and spheroid cultures. The dead cell count was higher in the MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines with silibinin applied than in the controls. Our study demonstrated that silibinin applications enhanced terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick and labeling positive cells and active poly-ADP-ribose-polimerase in comparison to the control in both the monolayer and spheroid cultures.

FT-Raman, FT-IR spectroscopic and DFT studies of hexaphenoxycyclotriphosphazene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furer, V. L.; Vandyukov, A. E.; Padie, C.; Majoral, J. P.; Caminade, A. M.; Kovalenko, V. I.

2016-07-01

The FTIR and FT Raman measurements of zero Gc0‧ -H and first Gc1‧ -H generations of phosphorus dendrimer built from cyclotriphosphazene core with phenoxy and deuterophenoxy terminal groups have been performed. In order to evaluate how much the frequencies, shift when changing the electronics of the system the FTIR and FT Raman spectra of phosphorus‒containing dendron with five terminal oxybenzaldehyde and one ester function Gci‧ have been also studied. Structural optimization and normal mode analysis were obtained for Gc0‧ -H and Gc0‧ -D by the density functional theory (DFT). It is discovered that dendrimer molecule exists in a stable conformation with six phenoxy terminal groups spaced above and below the flat cyclotriphosphazene core. Optimized geometric bond length and angles obtained by DFT show good agreement with a previously-published X-ray study. The phenoxy terminal groups are characterized by the well-defined line at 993 cm-1 in the experimental Raman spectrum of Gc0‧ -H and by line at 960 cm-1 in the Raman spectrum of Gc0‧ -D. Relying on DFT calculations a complete vibrational assignment is proposed for the studied dendrimers. The frequencies and relative intensity of the bands at 1589, 1487 cm-1 in the IR spectra show marked difference in dependence of the substituents on the aromatic ring.

Identification of human somatostatin receptor 2 domains involved in internalization and signaling in QGP-1 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cell line.

PubMed

Cambiaghi, Valeria; Vitali, Eleonora; Morone, Diego; Peverelli, Erika; Spada, Anna; Mantovani, Giovanna; Lania, Andrea Gerardo

2017-04-01

Somatostatin exerts inhibitory effects on hormone secretion and cell proliferation via five receptor subtypes (SST1-SST5), whose internalization is regulated by β-arrestins. The receptor domains involved in these effects have been only partially elucidated. The aim of the study is to characterize the molecular mechanism and determinants responsible for somatostatin receptor 2 internalization and signaling in pancreatic neuroendocrine QGP-1 cell line, focusing on the third intracellular loop and carboxyl terminal domains. We demonstrated that in cells transfected with somatostatin receptor 2 third intracellular loop mutant, no differences in β-arrestins recruitment and receptor internalization were observed after somatostatin receptor 2 activation in comparison with cells bearing wild-type somatostatin receptor 2. Conversely, the truncated somatostatin receptor 2 failed to recruit β-arrestins and to internalize after somatostatin receptor 2 agonist (BIM23120) incubation. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of BIM23120 on cell proliferation, cyclin D1 expression, P-ERK1/2 levels, apoptosis and vascular endothelial growth factor secretion was completely lost in cells transfected with either third intracellular loop or carboxyl terminal mutants. In conclusion, we demonstrated that somatostatin receptor 2 internalization requires intact carboxyl terminal while the effects of SS on cell proliferation, angiogenesis and apoptosis mediated by somatostatin receptor 2 need the integrity of both third intracellular loop and carboxyl terminal.

Blocking an N-terminal acetylation–dependent protein interaction inhibits an E3 ligase

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

Scott, Daniel C.; Hammill, Jared T.; Min, Jaeki

N-terminal acetylation is an abundant modification influencing protein functions. Because ~80% of mammalian cytosolic proteins are N-terminally acetylated, this modification is potentially an untapped target for chemical control of their functions. Structural studies have revealed that, like lysine acetylation, N-terminal acetylation converts a positively charged amine into a hydrophobic handle that mediates protein interactions; hence, this modification may be a druggable target. We report the development of chemical probes targeting the N-terminal acetylation–dependent interaction between an E2 conjugating enzyme (UBE2M or UBC12) and DCN1 (DCUN1D1), a subunit of a multiprotein E3 ligase for the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8. The inhibitors aremore » highly selective with respect to other protein acetyl-amide–binding sites, inhibit NEDD8 ligation in vitro and in cells, and suppress anchorage-independent growth of a cell line with DCN1 amplification. Overall, our data demonstrate that N-terminal acetyl-dependent protein interactions are druggable targets and provide insights into targeting multiprotein E2–E3 ligases.« less

Terminator Disparity Contributes to Stereo Matching for Eye Movements and Perception

PubMed Central

Optican, Lance M.; Cumming, Bruce G.

2013-01-01

In the context of motion detection, the endings (or terminators) of 1-D features can be detected as 2-D features, affecting the perceived direction of motion of the 1-D features (the barber-pole illusion) and the direction of tracking eye movements. In the realm of binocular disparity processing, an equivalent role for the disparity of terminators has not been established. Here we explore the stereo analogy of the barber-pole stimulus, applying disparity to a 1-D noise stimulus seen through an elongated, zero-disparity, aperture. We found that, in human subjects, these stimuli induce robust short-latency reflexive vergence eye movements, initially in the direction orthogonal to the 1-D features, but shortly thereafter in the direction predicted by the disparity of the terminators. In addition, these same stimuli induce vivid depth percepts, which can only be attributed to the disparity of line terminators. When the 1-D noise patterns are given opposite contrast in the two eyes (anticorrelation), both components of the vergence response reverse sign. Finally, terminators drive vergence even when the aperture is defined by a texture (as opposed to a contrast) boundary. These findings prove that terminators contribute to stereo matching, and constrain the type of neuronal mechanisms that might be responsible for the detection of terminator disparity. PMID:24285893

Terminator disparity contributes to stereo matching for eye movements and perception.

PubMed

Quaia, Christian; Optican, Lance M; Cumming, Bruce G

2013-11-27

In the context of motion detection, the endings (or terminators) of 1-D features can be detected as 2-D features, affecting the perceived direction of motion of the 1-D features (the barber-pole illusion) and the direction of tracking eye movements. In the realm of binocular disparity processing, an equivalent role for the disparity of terminators has not been established. Here we explore the stereo analogy of the barber-pole stimulus, applying disparity to a 1-D noise stimulus seen through an elongated, zero-disparity, aperture. We found that, in human subjects, these stimuli induce robust short-latency reflexive vergence eye movements, initially in the direction orthogonal to the 1-D features, but shortly thereafter in the direction predicted by the disparity of the terminators. In addition, these same stimuli induce vivid depth percepts, which can only be attributed to the disparity of line terminators. When the 1-D noise patterns are given opposite contrast in the two eyes (anticorrelation), both components of the vergence response reverse sign. Finally, terminators drive vergence even when the aperture is defined by a texture (as opposed to a contrast) boundary. These findings prove that terminators contribute to stereo matching, and constrain the type of neuronal mechanisms that might be responsible for the detection of terminator disparity.

Cognitive and Temperament Predictors of Executive Ability: Principles for Developing Leadership Capacity

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-01

experience essays. Salmoni, A. W ., Schmidt, R. A., & Walter , C. B. (1985). Knowledge of results and motor learning: A review and critical reappraisal...Individuals as producers of their own development: A life-span perspective. New York: Academic Press. Tornow , W . W ., & Pinto, P. R. (1976). The development of...0a S C c -0 0 o 0, olt z - 1:.- 6 is a E 3 0: 060 ac g C : a o , ’ V1 0~ ~ OON g ~ ow aa Ab w .2 c C - too U0b 0b a- - 0 0 C O X WE-- 0 c a0 a = Cc

WDM/TDM PON experiments using the AWG free spectral range periodicity to transmit unicast and multicast data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bock, Carlos; Prat, Josep

2005-04-01

A hybrid WDM/TDM PON architecture implemented by means of two cascaded Arrayed Waveguide Gratings (AWG) is presented. Using the Free Spectral Range (FSR) periodicity of AWGs we transmit unicast and multicast traffic on different wavelengths to each Optical Network Unit (ONU). The OLT is equipped with two laser stacks, a tunable one for unicast transmission and a fixed one for multicast transmission. We propose the ONU to be reflective in order to avoid any light source at the Costumer Premises Equipment (CPE). Optical transmission tests demonstrate correct transmission at 2.5 Gbps up to 30 km.

Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis (CAMD) System Version 1.0 Technical Manual.

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-10-01

Asaasasa S " "ft Mo Q0r "Ma.. @ ffM ’ 0e= 1aw- 0ý K. O - ^0e’O.t-,ý 4V .4 0;P S&. co *;:c Olt 0-oZo6.06-c v- f ’*-IA S0 . N Ml t* Q.0. L . ii a ,I...M& N.-2 1NNNNa N1ý*m N NN NNNNNN NN-NNNNNNN W.9 co 2 ;:N 2 .0 al .0-w -lI -, a? S -J w a a ( ( acca (a *. (a m. a a *.mo i-W - U - - - - U - 4--’- a-W

Bidirectional and simultaneous FTTX/Ethernet services using RSOA based remodulation and polarization multiplexing technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Anindya S.; Patra, Ardhendu S.

2015-08-01

A bidirectional and simultaneous transmission of Ethernet, FTTX services through single optical carrier wavelength employing polarization multiplexing technique in the transmitter end and the user end. 10 Gbps and 2.5 Gbps datarates are transmitted over 50 km single mode fiber employing POLMUX technique at OLT and ONU to provide Ethernet and FTTX services concurrently to the user. Reflective semiconductor optical amplifier is used to reuse and remodulate the downlink signal to uplink transmission. The upstream and the downstream transmission performances are observed by the bit error rate values and the eye diagrams obtained by the BER analyzer.

Space Shuttle Endeavour Move

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-10-12

The driver of the Over Land Transporter (OLT) is seen as he maneuvers the space shuttle Endeavour on the streets of Los Angeles as it heads to its new home at the California Science Center, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. Endeavour, built as a replacement for space shuttle Challenger, completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit, and orbited Earth 4,671 times while traveling 122,883,151 miles. Beginning Oct. 30, the shuttle will be on display in the CSC's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, embarking on its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

STS-43 Earth observation of a colorful sunrise

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-08-11

STS-43 Earth observation taken aboard Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, captures the Earth's limb at sunrise with unusual cloud patterns silhouetted by the sunlight and rising into the terminator lines.

18 CFR 367.3970 - Account 397, Communication equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... items: (1) Amplifiers. (2) Antennae. (3) Booths. (4) Cables. (5) Carrier terminal equipment. (6...) Remote control equipment and lines. (23) Sending keys. (24) Storage batteries. (25) Switchboards. (26... and cable wires. ...

18 CFR 367.3970 - Account 397, Communication equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... items: (1) Amplifiers. (2) Antennae. (3) Booths. (4) Cables. (5) Carrier terminal equipment. (6...) Remote control equipment and lines. (23) Sending keys. (24) Storage batteries. (25) Switchboards. (26... and cable wires. ...

18 CFR 367.3970 - Account 397, Communication equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... items: (1) Amplifiers. (2) Antennae. (3) Booths. (4) Cables. (5) Carrier terminal equipment. (6...) Remote control equipment and lines. (23) Sending keys. (24) Storage batteries. (25) Switchboards. (26... and cable wires. ...

18 CFR 367.3970 - Account 397, Communication equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... items: (1) Amplifiers. (2) Antennae. (3) Booths. (4) Cables. (5) Carrier terminal equipment. (6...) Remote control equipment and lines. (23) Sending keys. (24) Storage batteries. (25) Switchboards. (26... and cable wires. ...

18 CFR 367.3970 - Account 397, Communication equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... items: (1) Amplifiers. (2) Antennae. (3) Booths. (4) Cables. (5) Carrier terminal equipment. (6...) Remote control equipment and lines. (23) Sending keys. (24) Storage batteries. (25) Switchboards. (26... and cable wires. ...

Timing and nature of AMOC recovery across Termination 2 and magnitude of deglacial CO2 change

PubMed Central

Deaney, Emily L.; Barker, Stephen; van de Flierdt, Tina

2017-01-01

Large amplitude variations in atmospheric CO2 were associated with glacial terminations of the Late Pleistocene. Here we provide multiple lines of evidence suggesting that the ∼20 p.p.m.v. overshoot in CO2 at the end of Termination 2 (T2) ∼129 ka was associated with an abrupt (≤400 year) deepening of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). In contrast to Termination 1 (T1), which was interrupted by the Bølling-Allerød (B-A), AMOC recovery did not occur until the very end of T2, and was characterized by pronounced formation of deep waters in the NW Atlantic. Considering the variable influences of ocean circulation change on atmospheric CO2, we suggest that the net change in CO2 across the last 2 terminations was approximately equal if the transient effects of deglacial oscillations in ocean circulation are taken into account. PMID:28239149

Shadows on Ice

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-01-17

Canyons and mountain peaks snake along the terminator on the crater-covered, icy moon Dione. With the Sun at a low angle on their local horizon, the line of mountain ridges above center casts shadows toward the east

Barriers and dispersal surfaces in minimum-time interception. [for optimizing aircraft flight paths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajan, N.; Ardema, M. D.

1984-01-01

A method is proposed for mapping the barrier, dispersal, and control-level surfaces for a class of minimum-time interception and pursuit-evasion problems. Minimum-time interception of a target moving in a horizontal plane is formulated in a coordinate system whose origin is at the interceptor's terminal position and whose x-axis is along the terminal line of sight. This approach makes it possible to discuss the nature of the interceptor's extremals, using its extremal trajectory maps (ETMs), independently of target motion. The game surfaces are constructed by drawing sections of the isochrones, or constant minimum-time loci, from the interceptor and target ETMs. In this way, feedback solutions for the optimal controls are obtained. An example involving the interception of a target moving in a straight line at constant speed is presented.

Second Line of Defense Megaports Initiative Operational Testing and Evaluation Plan - Kingston Container Terminal, Port of Kingston, Jamaica

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

Deforest, Thomas J.; VanDyke, Damon S.

2012-03-01

Operational Testing and Evaluation Plan - Kingston Container Terminal, Port of Kingston, Jamaica was written for the Second Line of Defense Megaports Initiative. The purpose of the Operational Testing and Evaluation (OT&E) phase of the project is to prepare for turnover of the Megaports system supplied by U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) located at the Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) of the Port of Kingston, Jamaica to the Government of Jamaica (GOJ). Activities conducted during the OT&E phase must demonstrate that the Megaports system can be operated effectively in real time by Jamaica Customs and KCT personnel tomore » the satisfaction of the DOE/NNSA. These activities will also determine if the Megaports system, as installed and accepted, is performing according to the Megaports Program objectives such that the system is capable of executing the mission of the Second Line of Defense Megaports Initiative. The OT&E phase of the project also provides an opportunity to consider potential improvements to the system and to take remedial action if performance deficiencies are identified during the course of evaluation. Changes to the system should be considered under an appropriate change-control process. DOE/NNSA will determine that OT&E is complete by examining whether the Megaports system is performing as intended and that the GOJ is fully capable of operating the system independently without continued onsite support from the U.S. team.« less

Structural basis for substrate recognition by the human N-terminal methyltransferase 1

DOE PAGES

Dong, Cheng; Mao, Yunfei; Tempel, Wolfram; ...

2015-11-05

α-N-terminal methylation represents a highly conserved and prevalent post-translational modification, yet its biological function has remained largely speculative. The recent discovery of α-N-terminal methyltransferase 1 (NTMT1) and its physiological substrates propels the elucidation of a general role of α-N-terminal methylation in mediating DNA-binding ability of the modified proteins. The phenotypes, observed from both NTMT1 knockdown in breast cancer cell lines and knockout mouse models, suggest the potential involvement of α-N-terminal methylation in DNA damage response and cancer development. In this study, we report the first crystal structures of human NTMT1 in complex with cofactor S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH) and six substrate peptides,more » respectively, and reveal that NTMT1 contains two characteristic structural elements (a β hairpin and an N-terminal extension) that contribute to its substrate specificity. Our complex structures, coupled with mutagenesis, binding, and enzymatic studies, also present the key elements involved in locking the consensus substrate motif XPK (X indicates any residue type other than D/E) into the catalytic pocket for α-N-terminal methylation and explain why NTMT1 prefers an XPK sequence motif. We propose a catalytic mechanism for α-N-terminal methylation. Overall, this study gives us the first glimpse of the molecular mechanism of α-N-terminal methylation and potentially contributes to the advent of therapeutic agents for human diseases associated with deregulated α-N-terminal methylation.« less

Multigene Expression In Vivo: Supremacy of Large Versus Small Terminators for T7 RNA Polymerase

PubMed Central

Du, Liping; Villarreal, Seth; Forster, Anthony C.

2012-01-01

Designing and building multigene constructs is commonplace in synthetic biology. Yet functional successes at first attempts are rare because the genetic parts are not fully modular. In order to improve the modularity of transcription, we previously showed that transcription termination in vitro by bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase could be made more efficient by substituting the standard, single, TΦ large (class I) terminator with adjacent copies of the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) small (class II) terminator. However, in vitro termination at the downstream VSV terminator was less efficient than at the upstream VSV terminator, and multigene overexpression in vivo was complicated by unexpectedly inefficient VSV termination within E. coli cells. Here, we address hypotheses raised in that study by showing that VSV or preproparathyroid hormone (PTH) small terminators spaced further apart can work independently (i.e. more efficiently) in vitro, and that VSV and PTH terminations are severely inhibited in vivo. Surprisingly, the difference between class II terminator function in vivo versus in vitro is not due to differences in plasmid supercoiling, as supercoiling had a minimal effect on termination in vitro. We therefore turned to TΦ terminators for “BioBrick” synthesis of a pentameric gene construct suitable for overexpression in vivo. This indeed enabled coordinated overexpression and copurification of five His-tagged proteins using the first construct attempted, indicating that this strategy is more modular than other strategies. An application of this multigene overexpression and protein copurification method is demonstrated by supplying five of the six E. coli translation factors required for reconstitution of translation from a single cell line via copurification, greatly simplifying the reconstitution. PMID:22094962

Burkholderia Mallei tssM Encodes a Secreted Deubiquitinase that is Expressed Inside Infected RAW 264.7 Murine Macrophages

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-13

Furthermore, the encoded protein of this gene is only 30 kDa. A potential GTG start codon at position 625 also encodes a protein that is too small...horizontal bar and putative alternate translation initiation sites (ATG, GTG , and TTG) are indicated. The sizes and locations of the proteins encoded... gray line with rounded rectangles showing sequence features and motifs, including the Ala- and Pro-rich N-terminal region and the C-terminal Cys and

Line-driven winds revisited in the context of Be stars: Ω-slow solutions with high k values

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

Silaj, J.; Jones, C. E.; Curé, M.

2014-11-01

The standard, or fast, solutions of m-CAK line-driven wind theory cannot account for slowly outflowing disks like the ones that surround Be stars. It has been previously shown that there exists another family of solutions—the Ω-slow solutions—that is characterized by much slower terminal velocities and higher mass-loss rates. We have solved the one-dimensional m-CAK hydrodynamical equation of rotating radiation-driven winds for this latter solution, starting from standard values of the line force parameters (α, k, and δ), and then systematically varying the values of α and k. Terminal velocities and mass-loss rates that are in good agreement with those foundmore » in Be stars are obtained from the solutions with lower α and higher k values. Furthermore, the equatorial densities of such solutions are comparable to those that are typically assumed in ad hoc models. For very high values of k, we find that the wind solutions exhibit a new kind of behavior.« less

Redstone Scientific Information Center (RSIC) UTS400 Terminal Users Guide.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-06-04

will cause the cursor to be moved to the third space in the second line. Now press the normal keys H and 0 respectively. 7. Completion of Item 5 and 6...the normal keys D and 1. 4. Press Tab Forward key once. This will cause the cursor to be moved to the third space in the second line. Now press the...cause the cursor to be moved to the third space in the second line. Now press the normal keys H and 0. r. Now the cursor should be resting under the

Remote Monitor Alarm System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stute, Robert A. (Inventor); Galloway, F. Houston (Inventor); Medelius, Pedro J. (Inventor); Swindle, Robert W. (Inventor); Bierman, Tracy A. (Inventor)

1996-01-01

A remote monitor alarm system monitors discrete alarm and analog power supply voltage conditions at remotely located communications terminal equipment. A central monitoring unit (CMU) is connected via serial data links to each of a plurality of remote terminal units (RTUS) that monitor the alarm and power supply conditions of the remote terminal equipment. Each RTU can monitor and store condition information of both discrete alarm points and analog power supply voltage points in its associated communications terminal equipment. The stored alarm information is periodically transmitted to the CMU in response to sequential polling of the RTUS. The number of monitored alarm inputs and permissible voltage ranges for the analog inputs can be remotely configured at the CMU and downloaded into programmable memory at each RTU. The CMU includes a video display, a hard disk memory, a line printer and an audio alarm for communicating and storing the alarm information received from each RTU.

Line of Craters

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-06-04

NASA Cassini spacecraft takes a close look at a row of craters on Saturn moon Tethys during the spacecraft April 14, 2012, flyby of the moon. Three large craters are visible along the terminator between day and night on Tethys.

Line pilot perspectives on complexity of terminal instrument flight procedures

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-07-25

Instrument flight procedures (IFPs) based on RNAV and RNP offer safety enhancements along with new levels of flexibility to negotiate terrain, airspace, and environmental considerations. However, operational implementation of performance-based IFPs d...

Search asymmetry: a diagnostic for preattentive processing of separable features.

PubMed

Treisman, A; Souther, J

1985-09-01

The search rate for a target among distractors may vary dramatically depending on which stimulus plays the role of target and which that of distractors. For example, the time required to find a circle distinguished by an intersecting line is independent of the number of regular circles in the display, whereas the time to find a regular circle among circles with lines increases linearly with the number of distractors. The pattern of performance suggests parallel processing when the target has a unique distinguishing feature and serial self-terminating search when the target is distinguished only by the absence of a feature that is present in all the distractors. The results are consistent with feature-integration theory (Treisman & Gelade, 1980), which predicts that a single feature should be detected by the mere presence of activity in the relevant feature map, whereas tasks that require subjects to locate multiple instances of a feature demand focused attention. Search asymmetries may therefore offer a new diagnostic to identify the primitive features of early vision. Several candidate features are examined in this article: Colors, line ends or terminators, and closure (in the sense of a partly or wholly enclosed area) appear to be functional features; connectedness, intactness (absence of an intersecting line), and acute angles do not.

Sequence and expression pattern of the germ line marker vasa in honey bees and stingless bees

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Queens and workers of social insects differ in the rates of egg laying. Using genomic information we determined the sequence of vasa, a highly conserved gene specific to the germ line of metazoans, for the honey bee and four stingless bees. The vasa sequence of social bees differed from that of other insects in two motifs. By RT-PCR we confirmed the germ line specificity of Amvasa expression in honey bees. In situ hybridization on ovarioles showed that Amvasa is expressed throughout the germarium, except for the transition zone beneath the terminal filament. A diffuse vasa signal was also seen in terminal filaments suggesting the presence of germ line cells. Oocytes showed elevated levels of Amvasa transcripts in the lower germarium and after follicles became segregated. In previtellogenic follicles, Amvasa transcription was detected in the trophocytes, which appear to supply its mRNA to the growing oocyte. A similar picture was obtained for ovarioles of the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata, except that Amvasa expression was higher in the oocytes of previtellogenic follicles. The social bees differ in this respect from Drosophila, the model system for insect oogenesis, suggesting that changes in the sequence and expression pattern of vasa may have occurred during social evolution. PMID:21637523

Changes in RNA polymerase II progression influence somatic hypermutation of Ig-related genes by AID

PubMed Central

Kodgire, Prashant; Mukkawar, Priyanka; Ratnam, Sarayu; Martin, Terence E.

2013-01-01

Somatic hypermutation (SHM) of Ig genes is initiated by the activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), and requires target gene transcription. We previously proposed that AID may associate with the RNA polymerase II (Pol). Here, to determine aspects of the transcription process required for SHM, we knocked-in a transcription terminator into an Ig gene variable region in DT40 chicken B cell line. We found that the human β-globin terminator was an efficient inhibitor of downstream transcription in these cells. The terminator reduced mutations downstream of the poly(A) signal, suggesting that the process of transcription is essential for efficient SHM and that AID has better access to its target when Pol is in the elongating rather than terminating mode. Mutations upstream of the poly(A) site were almost doubled in the active terminator clones compared with an inactivated terminator, and this region showed more single-stranded DNA, indicating that Pol pausing assists SHM. Moreover, the nontranscribed DNA strand was the preferred SHM target upstream of the active terminator. Pol pausing during poly(A) site recognition may facilitate persistence of negative supercoils, exposing the coding single strand and possibly allowing the nascent RNA intermittent reannealing with the template strand, for prolonged access of AID. PMID:23752228

Boundary layer models for calving marine outlet glaciers

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

Schoof, Christian; Davis, Andrew D.; Popa, Tiberiu V.

We consider the flow of marine-terminating outlet glaciers that are laterally confined in a channel of prescribed width. In that case, the drag exerted by the channel side walls on a floating ice shelf can reduce extensional stress at the grounding line. If ice flux through the grounding line increases with both ice thickness and extensional stress, then a longer shelf can reduce ice flux by decreasing extensional stress. Consequently, calving has an effect on flux through the grounding line by regulating the length of the shelf. In the absence of a shelf, it plays a similar role by controllingmore » the above-flotation height of the calving cliff. Using two calving laws, one due to Nick et al. (2010) based on a model for crevasse propagation due to hydrofracture and the other simply asserting that calving occurs where the glacier ice becomes afloat, we pose and analyse a flowline model for a marine-terminating glacier by two methods: direct numerical solution and matched asymptotic expansions. The latter leads to a boundary layer formulation that predicts flux through the grounding line as a function of depth to bedrock, channel width, basal drag coefficient, and a calving parameter. By contrast with unbuttressed marine ice sheets, we find that flux can decrease with increasing depth to bedrock at the grounding line, reversing the usual stability criterion for steady grounding line location. Stable steady states can then have grounding lines located on retrograde slopes. We show how this anomalous behaviour relates to the strength of lateral versus basal drag on the grounded portion of the glacier and to the specifics of the calving law used.« less

Boundary layer models for calving marine outlet glaciers

DOE PAGES

Schoof, Christian; Davis, Andrew D.; Popa, Tiberiu V.

2017-10-05

We consider the flow of marine-terminating outlet glaciers that are laterally confined in a channel of prescribed width. In that case, the drag exerted by the channel side walls on a floating ice shelf can reduce extensional stress at the grounding line. If ice flux through the grounding line increases with both ice thickness and extensional stress, then a longer shelf can reduce ice flux by decreasing extensional stress. Consequently, calving has an effect on flux through the grounding line by regulating the length of the shelf. In the absence of a shelf, it plays a similar role by controllingmore » the above-flotation height of the calving cliff. Using two calving laws, one due to Nick et al. (2010) based on a model for crevasse propagation due to hydrofracture and the other simply asserting that calving occurs where the glacier ice becomes afloat, we pose and analyse a flowline model for a marine-terminating glacier by two methods: direct numerical solution and matched asymptotic expansions. The latter leads to a boundary layer formulation that predicts flux through the grounding line as a function of depth to bedrock, channel width, basal drag coefficient, and a calving parameter. By contrast with unbuttressed marine ice sheets, we find that flux can decrease with increasing depth to bedrock at the grounding line, reversing the usual stability criterion for steady grounding line location. Stable steady states can then have grounding lines located on retrograde slopes. We show how this anomalous behaviour relates to the strength of lateral versus basal drag on the grounded portion of the glacier and to the specifics of the calving law used.« less

Western Canadian coals to eastern markets: to and through Thunder Bay terminal

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

Michaud, M.; Farrugia, M.A.

Remoteness of western Canadian coals has always been a barrier to the use of Canadian coals domestically. However, the world energy crunch, increased mining costs, stricter environmental controls, labor shortages, etc., are such that by 1980 a shortfall from traditional U.S. sources will prevail. Of necessity, Canada must then bring western coals east, requiring major new transportation initiatives. CN, CP Rail and Neptune Terminals are proceeding jointly with the design of a $30 million, fully automated, coal terminal at Thunder Bay. This element forms part of a $400 million integral transportation system to open new lines, improve trackage, acquire rollingmore » stock and ships, for an initial capacity of 3 million tpy.« less

76 FR 67379 - Importation of Dracaena Plants From Costa Rica

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-01

... rooting zone for plants produced by air layering) to the farthest terminal growing point. Paragraph (y)(2... the soil line (or top of the rooting zone for plants produced by air layering) to the farthest...

Line pilot perspectives on complexity of terminal instrument flight procedures

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-09-01

Many new Performance Based Navigation (PBN) Instrument Flight Procedures (IFPs) are being developed as the United States transforms its airspace to improve safety and efficiency. Despite significant efforts to prepare for operational implementation o...

Overload-protector/fault-indicator circuit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paluka, J. R.; Moore, S. F.

1977-01-01

Circuit incorporates three-terminal current limiter (78M24) to increase overall reliability and to eliminate transistor burnouts resulting from shorted interconnection lines and other overloads. Fact-acting light emitting diodes across the limiters show status of transistor output circuits.

Buzzards Bay commuter rail extension feasibility study.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-01

At present, the nearest commuter rail service to points in Barnstable County is provided at the outer terminals of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Kingston and Middleborough/Lakeville lines. These are each about 20 miles north o...

Computer graphics application in the engineering design integration system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glatt, C. R.; Abel, R. W.; Hirsch, G. N.; Alford, G. E.; Colquitt, W. N.; Stewart, W. A.

1975-01-01

The computer graphics aspect of the Engineering Design Integration (EDIN) system and its application to design problems were discussed. Three basic types of computer graphics may be used with the EDIN system for the evaluation of aerospace vehicles preliminary designs: offline graphics systems using vellum-inking or photographic processes, online graphics systems characterized by direct coupled low cost storage tube terminals with limited interactive capabilities, and a minicomputer based refresh terminal offering highly interactive capabilities. The offline line systems are characterized by high quality (resolution better than 0.254 mm) and slow turnaround (one to four days). The online systems are characterized by low cost, instant visualization of the computer results, slow line speed (300 BAUD), poor hard copy, and the early limitations on vector graphic input capabilities. The recent acquisition of the Adage 330 Graphic Display system has greatly enhanced the potential for interactive computer aided design.

Shielding effectiveness of multiple-shield cables with arbitrary terminations via transmission line analysis

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

Campione, Salvatore; Basilio, Lorena I.; Warne, Larry Kevin

Our paper reports on a transmission-line model for calculating the shielding effectiveness of multiple-shield cables with arbitrary terminations. Since the shields are not perfect conductors and apertures in the shields permit external magnetic and electric fields to penetrate into the interior regions of the cable, we use this model to estimate the effects of the outer shield current and voltage (associated with the external excitation and boundary conditions associated with the external conductor) on the inner conductor current and voltage. It is commonly believed that increasing the number of shields of a cable will improve the shielding performance. But thismore » is not always the case, and a cable with multiple shields may perform similar to or worse than a cable with a single shield. Furthermore, we want to shed more light on these situations, which represent the main focus of this paper.« less

Shielding effectiveness of multiple-shield cables with arbitrary terminations via transmission line analysis

DOE PAGES

Campione, Salvatore; Basilio, Lorena I.; Warne, Larry Kevin; ...

2016-06-25

Our paper reports on a transmission-line model for calculating the shielding effectiveness of multiple-shield cables with arbitrary terminations. Since the shields are not perfect conductors and apertures in the shields permit external magnetic and electric fields to penetrate into the interior regions of the cable, we use this model to estimate the effects of the outer shield current and voltage (associated with the external excitation and boundary conditions associated with the external conductor) on the inner conductor current and voltage. It is commonly believed that increasing the number of shields of a cable will improve the shielding performance. But thismore » is not always the case, and a cable with multiple shields may perform similar to or worse than a cable with a single shield. Furthermore, we want to shed more light on these situations, which represent the main focus of this paper.« less

SIPB: a seismic refraction inverse modeling program for batch computer systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Scott, James Henry

1977-01-01

SIPB is an interactive Fortran computer program that was developed for use with a timeshare computer system with program control information submitted from a remote terminal, and output data displayed on the terminal or printed on a line printer. The program is an upgraded version of FSIPI (Scott, Tibbetts, and Burdick, 1972) with several major improvements in addition to .its adaptation to timeshare operation. The most significant improvement was made in the procedure for handling data from in-line offset shotpoints beyond the end shotpoints of the geophone spread. The changes and improvements are described, user's instructions are outlined, examples of input and output data for a test problem are presented, and the Fortran program is listed in this report. An upgraded batch-mode program, SIPB, is available for users who do not have a timeshare computer system available (Scott, 1977).

Engineering fire blight resistance into the apple cultivar 'Gala' using the FB_MR5 CC-NBS-LRR resistance gene of Malus × robusta 5.

PubMed

Broggini, Giovanni A L; Wöhner, Thomas; Fahrentrapp, Johannes; Kost, Thomas D; Flachowsky, Henryk; Peil, Andreas; Hanke, Maria-Viola; Richter, Klaus; Patocchi, Andrea; Gessler, Cesare

2014-08-01

The fire blight susceptible apple cultivar Malus × domestica Borkh. cv. 'Gala' was transformed with the candidate fire blight resistance gene FB_MR5 originating from the crab apple accession Malus × robusta 5 (Mr5). A total of five different transgenic lines were obtained. All transgenic lines were shown to be stably transformed and originate from different transgenic events. The transgenic lines express the FB_MR5 either driven by the constitutive CaMV 35S promoter and the ocs terminator or by its native promoter and terminator sequences. Phenotyping experiments were performed with Mr5-virulent and Mr5-avirulent strains of Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight. Significantly less disease symptoms were detected on transgenic lines after inoculation with two different Mr5-avirulent E. amylovora strains, while significantly more shoot necrosis was observed after inoculation with the Mr5-virulent mutant strain ZYRKD3_1. The results of these experiments demonstrated the ability of a single gene isolated from the native gene pool of apple to protect a susceptible cultivar from fire blight. Furthermore, this gene is confirmed to be the resistance determinant of Mr5 as the transformed lines undergo the same gene-for-gene interaction in the host-pathogen relationship Mr5-E. amylovora. © 2014 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Distinct compartmentalization of dentin matrix protein 1 fragments in mineralized tissues and cells.

PubMed

Maciejewska, Izabela; Qin, Disheng; Huang, Bingzhen; Sun, Yao; Mues, Gabrielle; Svoboda, Kathy; Bonewald, Lynda; Butler, William T; Feng, Jerry Q; Qin, Chunlin

2009-01-01

Dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1) has been shown to be critical for the formation of dentin and bone. However, the precise pathway by which DMP1 participates in dentinogenesis and osteogenesis remains to be clarified. DMP1 is present in the extracellular matrix of dentin and bone as processed NH(2)- and COOH-terminal fragments. The NH(2)-terminal fragment occurs as a proteoglycan, whereas the COOH-terminal fragment is highly phosphorylated. The differences in biochemical properties suggest that these fragments may have different tissue and cell distribution in association with distinct functions. In this study, we analyzed the distribution of the NH(2)- and COOH-terminal fragments of DMP1 in tooth, bone, osteocytes as well as MC3T3-E1 and HEK-293 cells. Immunohistochemical analyses were performed using antibodies specific to the NH(2)- or COOH-terminal region of DMP1. Clear differences in the distribution of these fragments were observed. In the teeth and bone, the NH(2)-terminal fragment was primarily located in the nonmineralized predentin and cartilage of the growth plate, while the COOH-terminal fragment accumulated in the mineralized zones. In osteocytes, the NH(2)-terminal fragment appeared more abundant along cell membrane and processes of osteocytes, while the COOH-terminal fragment was often found in the nuclei. This pattern of distribution in cellular compartments was further confirmed by analyses on MC3T3-E1 and HEK-293 cells transfected with a construct containing DMP1 cDNA. In these cell lines, the COOH-terminal fragment accumulated in cell nuclei, while the NH(2)-terminal fragment was in the cytosol. The different distribution of DMP1 fragments indicates that these DMP1 variants must perform distinct functions. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Intracranial tuberculoma in a liver transplant patient: first reported case and review of the literature.

PubMed

Henderson, Corey; Meyers, Burt; Humayun Gultekin, S; Liu, Bin; Zhang, David Y

2003-01-01

A 66-year-old female who had undergone an orthotopic liver transplant two years before admission was admitted with fever and neurological symptoms of several days' duration. Following an extensive work-up, which revealed positive intracranial lesions on computed typography and magnetic resonance imaging, the patient was begun on broad spectrum antimicrobials including corticosteroids. The patient responded though the etiology of infection remained unclear. After a stereotactic biopsy was performed revealing granulomas and acid-fast bacilli, the patient was started on antituberculous medications. A review of the literature reveals that the rare occurrence of intracranial tuberculoma should be considered in an orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) patient with central nervous system pathology.

Reference system for scanning probe tip fingerprinting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turansky, Robert; Bamidele, Joseph; Sugawara, Yasuhiro; Kantorovitch, Lev; Stich, Ivan

2012-02-01

Knowledge of the chemical structure of the tip asperity in Non-Contact Atomic Force Microscopy (NC-AFM) is crucial as controlled manipulation of atoms and/or molecules on surfaces can only be performed if this information is available. However, a simple and robust protocol for ensuring a specific tip termination has not yet been developed. We propose a procedure for chemical tip finger printing and an example of a reference system, the oxygen-terminated Cu(110) surface, that enables one to ensure a specific tip termination with Si, Cu, or O atoms. To follow this up and unambiguously determine tip types, we performed a theoretical DFT study of the line scans with the tip models in question and found that the tip characterization made based on experimental results (Cu/O-terminated tip imaging Cu/O atoms) is in fact incorrect and the opposite is true (Cu/O-terminated tip imaging O/Cu atoms). This protocol allows the tip asperity's chemical structure to be verified and established both before as well as at any stage of the manipulation experiment when numerous tip changes may take place.

Adaptive Critic Neural Network-Based Terminal Area Energy Management and Approach and Landing Guidance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grantham, Katie

2003-01-01

Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) have different mission requirements than the Space Shuttle, which is used for benchmark guidance design. Therefore, alternative Terminal Area Energy Management (TAEM) and Approach and Landing (A/L) Guidance schemes can be examined in the interest of cost reduction. A neural network based solution for a finite horizon trajectory optimization problem is presented in this paper. In this approach the optimal trajectory of the vehicle is produced by adaptive critic based neural networks, which were trained off-line to maintain a gradual glideslope.

LANDSAT technology transfer to the private and public sectors through community colleges and other locally available institutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogers, R. H. (Principal Investigator)

1980-01-01

The results achieved during the first eight months of a program to transfer LANDSAT technology to practicing professionals in the private and public sectors (grass roots) through community colleges and other locally available institutions are reported. The approach offers hands-on interactive analysis training and demonstrations through the use of color desktop computer terminals communicating with a host computer by telephone lines. The features of the terminals and associated training materials are reviewed together with plans for their use in training and demonstration projects.

Brake wear warning device: A concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hawkins, S. F.

1973-01-01

Heat-insulated wire is introduced through brake shoe and partially into brake lining. Wire is connected to positive terminal and light bulb. When brakes wear to critical point, contact between wire and wheel drum grounds circuit and turns on warning light.

North suburban commuter-oriented transit opportunities study phase II.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-09-01

At present, the nearest commuter rail service to points in Barnstable County is provided at the outer terminals of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Kingston and Middleborough/Lakeville lines. These are each about 20 miles north o...

Observational study of intravenous lacosamide in patients with convulsive versus non-convulsive status epilepticus.

PubMed

Moreno Morales, Eros Yamel; Fernandez Peleteiro, Manuel; Bondy Peña, Ernesto Carlo; Domínguez Lorenzo, Jose Maria; Pardellas Santiago, Elva; Fernández, Anxo

2015-07-01

Status epilepticus (SE) is an important emergency situation associated with high morbidity and mortality. The goal of pharmacological therapy-rapid seizure termination-is only achieved in just over half of patients with first-line anti-epileptic drug (AED) therapy and many patients require second and higher lines of AEDs to achieve seizure termination; therefore, there is a clear need for more effective treatment options. Lacosamide is a relatively new AED and the intravenous formulation has shown promise for treatment of SE. The aim of the current study was to compare electroencephalographic (EEG) response and seizure termination with intravenous lacosamide (±other AEDs) in patients with convulsive versus non-convulsive SE, in a Spanish intensive care setting. In this prospective, observational study, patients with convulsive or non-convulsive SE who received intravenous lacosamide 400 mg/day for 8 days were compared in terms of EEG response and seizure termination. Adverse events were not specifically assessed. Fifty-three patients (69.8 % male; mean age 55.2 years) were treated with lacosamide (mean dose 390.6 mg) as first- (20.8 %), second- (34 %), third (22.6 %) or fourth-line (22.6 %) treatment for convulsive (n = 23, 43.4 %) or non-convulsive (n = 30, 56.6 %) SE. The majority of patients (73.6 %) had a comorbid condition, predominantly hypertension (35.8 %), and most (79.2 %) received at least one concomitant AED, including midazolam (54.7 %), valproic acid (52.8 %), and levetiracetam (30.2 %). Patient characteristics and treatment received did not differ significantly between the convulsive and non-convulsive SE groups. EEG recordings following lacosamide treatment demonstrated the elimination of paroxysmal activity (disappearance and/or attenuation of epileptiform activity in >60 % of recording time) in 56.6 % of patients; 69.6 % of convulsive and 46.7 % of non-convulsive SE groups. Among all patients, 90.6 % showed some EEG improvement (disappearance of epileptiform activity in <30 % total recording time or disappearance and/or attenuation of epileptiform activity in 30-60 % total recording time); and there was no significant between-group difference for achievement of seizure termination (90.0 vs. 91.3 % for non-convulsive vs. convulsive SE). Intravenous lacosamide (±other AEDs) was similarly effective in patients with convulsive or non-convulsive SE. Further investigation into the use of lacosamide in the treatment of SE is warranted.

QTL controlling grain filling under terminal drought stress in a set of wild barley introgression lines.

PubMed

Honsdorf, Nora; March, Timothy J; Pillen, Klaus

2017-01-01

Drought is a major abiotic stress impeding the yield of cereal crops globally. Particularly in Mediterranean environments, water becomes a limiting factor during the reproductive developmental stage, causing yield losses. The wild progenitor of cultivated barley Hordeum vulgare ssp spontaneum (Hsp) is a potentially useful source of drought tolerance alleles. Wild barley introgression lines like the S42IL library may facilitate the introduction of favorable exotic alleles into breeding material. The complete set of 83 S42ILs was genotyped with the barley 9k iSelect platform in order to complete genetic information obtained in previous studies. The new map comprises 2,487 SNPs, spanning 989.8 cM and covering 94.5% of the Hsp genome. Extent and positions of introgressions were confirmed and new information for ten additional S42ILs was collected. A subset of 49 S42ILs was evaluated for drought response in four greenhouse experiments. Plants were grown under well-watered conditions until ten days post anthesis. Subsequently drought treatment was applied by reducing the available water. Several morphological and harvest parameters were evaluated. Under drought treatment, trait performance was reduced. However, there was no interaction effect between genotype and treatment, indicating that genotypes, which performed best under control treatment, also performed best under drought treatment. In total, 40 QTL for seven traits were detected in this study. For instance, favorable Hsp effects were found for thousand grain weight (TGW) and number of grains per ear under drought stress. In particular, line S42IL-121 is a promising candidate for breeding improved malting cultivars, displaying a TGW, which was increased by 17% under terminal drought stress due to the presence of an unknown wild barley QTL allele on chromosome 4H. The introgression line showed a similar advantage in previous field experiments and in greenhouse experiments under early drought stress. We, thus, recommend using S42IL-121 in barley breeding programs to enhance terminal drought tolerance.

Dynamics in the Modern Upper Atmosphere of Venus: Zonal Wind Transition to Subsolar-to-Antisolar Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Livengood, T. A.; Kostiuk, T.; Hewagama, T.; Fast, K. E.

2017-12-01

We observed Venus on 19-23 Aug 2010 (UT) to investigate equatorial wind velocities from above the cloud tops through the lower thermosphere. Measurements were made from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility using the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Heterodyne Instrument for Planetary Winds and Composition. High-resolution spectra were acquired on a CO2 pressure-broadened absorption feature that probes the lower mesosphere ( 70 km altitude) with a non-LTE core emission of the same transition that probes the lower thermosphere ( 110 km). The resolving power of λ/Δλ≈3×107 determines line-of-sight velocity from Doppler shifts to high precision. The altitude differential between the features enables investigating the transition from zonal wind flow near the cloud tops to subsolar-to-antisolar flow in the thermosphere. The fully-resolved carbon dioxide transition was measured near 952.8808 cm-1 (10.494 µm) rest frequency at the equator with 1 arcsec field-of-view on Venus (24 arcsec diameter) distributed about the central meridian and across the terminator at ±15° intervals in longitude. The non-LTE emission is solar-pumped and appears only on the daylight side, probing subsolar-to-antisolar wind velocity vector flowing radially from the subsolar point through the terminator, which was near the central meridian in these observations and had zero line-of-sight wind projection at the terminator. The velocity of the zonal flow is approximately uniform, with maximum line-of-sight projection at the limb, and can be measured by the frequency of the absorption line on both the daylight and dark side. Variations in Doppler shift between the observable features and the differing angular dependence of the contributing wind phenomena thus provide independent mechanisms to distinguish the dynamical processes at the altitude of each observed spectral feature. Winds up to >100 m/s were determined in previous investigations with uncertainties of order 10 m/s or less.

Reprogrammable read only variable threshold transistor memory with isolated addressing buffer

DOEpatents

Lodi, Robert J.

1976-01-01

A monolithic integrated circuit, fully decoded memory comprises a rectangular array of variable threshold field effect transistors organized into a plurality of multi-bit words. Binary address inputs to the memory are decoded by a field effect transistor decoder into a plurality of word selection lines each of which activates an address buffer circuit. Each address buffer circuit, in turn, drives a word line of the memory array. In accordance with the word line selected by the decoder the activated buffer circuit directs reading or writing voltages to the transistors comprising the memory words. All of the buffer circuits additionally are connected to a common terminal for clearing all of the memory transistors to a predetermined state by the application to the common terminal of a large magnitude voltage of a predetermined polarity. The address decoder, the buffer and the memory array, as well as control and input/output control and buffer field effect transistor circuits, are fabricated on a common substrate with means provided to isolate the substrate of the address buffer transistors from the remainder of the substrate so that the bulk clearing function of simultaneously placing all of the memory transistors into a predetermined state can be performed.

High-level accumulation of recombinant miraculin protein in transgenic tomatoes expressing a synthetic miraculin gene with optimized codon usage terminated by the native miraculin terminator.

PubMed

Hiwasa-Tanase, Kyoko; Nyarubona, Mpanja; Hirai, Tadayoshi; Kato, Kazuhisa; Ichikawa, Takanari; Ezura, Hiroshi

2011-01-01

In our previous study, a transgenic tomato line that expressed the MIR gene under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter and the nopaline synthase terminator (tNOS) produced the taste-modifying protein miraculin (MIR). However, the concentration of MIR in the tomatoes was lower than that in the MIR gene's native miracle fruit. To increase MIR production, the native MIR terminator (tMIR) was used and a synthetic gene encoding MIR protein (sMIR) was designed to optimize its codon usage for tomato. Four different combinations of these genes and terminators (MIR-tNOS, MIR-tMIR, sMIR-tNOS and sMIR-tMIR) were constructed and used for transformation. The average MIR concentrations in MIR-tNOS, MIR-tMIR, sMIR-tNOS and sMIR-tMIR fruits were 131, 197, 128 and 287 μg/g fresh weight, respectively. The MIR concentrations using tMIR were higher than those using tNOS. The highest MIR accumulation was detected in sMIR-tMIR fruits. On the other hand, the MIR concentration was largely unaffected by sMIR-tNOS. The expression levels of both MIR and sMIR mRNAs terminated by tMIR tended to be higher than those terminated by tNOS. Read-through mRNA transcripts terminated by tNOS were much longer than those terminated by tMIR. These results suggest that tMIR enhances mRNA expression and permits the multiplier effect of optimized codon usage.

The study of microstrip antenna arrays and related problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lo, Y. T.

1986-01-01

In February, an initial computer program to be used in analyzing the four-element array module was completed. This program performs the analysis of modules composed of four rectangular patches which are corporately fed by a microstrip line network terminated in four identical load impedances. Currently, a rigorous full-wave analysis of various types of microstrip line feed structures and patches is being performed. These tests include the microstrip line feed between layers of different electrical parameters. A method of moments was implemented for the case of a single dielectric layer and microstrip line fed rectangular patches in which the primary source is assumed to be a magnetic current ribbon across the line some distance from the patch. Measured values are compared with those computed by the program.

A novel intermediate in processing of murine leukemia virus envelope glycoproteins. Proteolytic cleavage in the late Golgi region.

PubMed

Bedgood, R M; Stallcup, M R

1992-04-05

The intracellular processing of the murine leukemia virus envelope glycoprotein precursor Pr85 to the mature products gp70 and p15e was analyzed in the mouse T-lymphoma cell line W7MG1. Kinetic (pulse-chase) analysis of synthesis and processing, coupled with endoglycosidase (endo H) and neuraminidase digestions revealed the existence of a novel high molecular weight processing intermediate, gp95, containing endo H-resistant terminally glycosylated oligosaccharide chains. In contrast to previously published conclusions, our data indicate that proteolytic cleavage of the envelope precursor occurs after the acquisition of endo H-resistant chains and terminal glycosylation and thus after the mannosidase II step. In the same W7MG1 cell line, the type and order of murine leukemia virus envelope protein processing events was identical to that for the mouse mammary tumor virus envelope protein. Interestingly, complete mouse mammary tumor virus envelope protein processing requires the addition of glucocorticoid hormone, whereas murine leukemia virus envelope protein processing occurs constitutively in these W7MG1 cells. We propose that all retroviral envelope proteins share a common processing pathway in which proteolytic processing is a late event that follows acquisition of endo H resistance and terminal glycosylation.

Line of sight pointing technology for laser communication system between aircrafts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xin; Liu, Yunqing; Song, Yansong

2017-12-01

In space optical communications, it is important to obtain the most efficient performance of line of sight (LOS) pointing system. The errors of position (latitude, longitude, and altitude), attitude angles (pitch, yaw, and roll), and installation angle among a different coordinates system are usually ineluctable when assembling and running an aircraft optical communication terminal. These errors would lead to pointing errors and make it difficult for the LOS system to point to its terminal to establish a communication link. The LOS pointing technology of an aircraft optical communication system has been researched using a transformation matrix between the coordinate systems of two aircraft terminals. A method of LOS calibration has been proposed to reduce the pointing error. In a flight test, a successful 144-km link was established between two aircrafts. The position and attitude angles of the aircraft have been obtained to calculate the pointing angle in azimuth and elevation provided by using a double-antenna GPS/INS system. The size of the field of uncertainty (FOU) and the pointing accuracy are analyzed based on error theory, and it has been also measured using an observation camera installed next to the optical LOS. Our results show that the FOU of aircraft optical communications is 10 mrad without a filter, which is the foundation to acquisition strategy and scanning time.

The t(10;11)(p13;q14) in the U937 cell line results in the fusion of the AF10 gene and CALM, encoding a new member of the AP-3 clathrin assembly protein family.

PubMed Central

Dreyling, M H; Martinez-Climent, J A; Zheng, M; Mao, J; Rowley, J D; Bohlander, S K

1996-01-01

The translocation t(10;11)(p13;q14) is a recurring chromosomal abnormality that has been observed in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia as well as acute myeloid leukemia. We have recently reported that the monocytic cell line U937 has a t(10;11)(p13;q14) translocation. Using a combination of positional cloning and candidate gene approach, we cloned the breakpoint and were able to show that AF10 is fused to a novel gene that we named CALM (Clathrin Assembly Lymphoid Myeloid leukemia gene) located at 11q14. AF10, a putative transcription factor, had recently been cloned as one of the fusion partners of MLL. CALM has a very high homology in its N-terminal third to the murine ap-3 gene which is one of the clathrin assembly proteins. The N-terminal region of ap-3 has been shown to bind to clathrin and to have a high-affinity binding site for phosphoinositols. The identification of the CALM/AF10 fusion gene in the widely used U937 cell line will contribute to our understanding of the malignant phenotype of this line. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 3 PMID:8643484

Identification and Functional Characterization of N-Terminally Acetylated Proteins in Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Gerrits, Bertran; Roschitzki, Bernd; Mohanty, Sonali; Niederer, Eva M.; Laczko, Endre; Timmerman, Evy; Lange, Vinzenz; Hafen, Ernst; Aebersold, Ruedi; Vandekerckhove, Joël; Basler, Konrad; Ahrens, Christian H.; Gevaert, Kris; Brunner, Erich

2009-01-01

Protein modifications play a major role for most biological processes in living organisms. Amino-terminal acetylation of proteins is a common modification found throughout the tree of life: the N-terminus of a nascent polypeptide chain becomes co-translationally acetylated, often after the removal of the initiating methionine residue. While the enzymes and protein complexes involved in these processes have been extensively studied, only little is known about the biological function of such N-terminal modification events. To identify common principles of N-terminal acetylation, we analyzed the amino-terminal peptides from proteins extracted from Drosophila Kc167 cells. We detected more than 1,200 mature protein N-termini and could show that N-terminal acetylation occurs in insects with a similar frequency as in humans. As the sole true determinant for N-terminal acetylation we could extract the (X)PX rule that indicates the prevention of acetylation under all circumstances. We could show that this rule can be used to genetically engineer a protein to study the biological relevance of the presence or absence of an acetyl group, thereby generating a generic assay to probe the functional importance of N-terminal acetylation. We applied the assay by expressing mutated proteins as transgenes in cell lines and in flies. Here, we present a straightforward strategy to systematically study the functional relevance of N-terminal acetylations in cells and whole organisms. Since the (X)PX rule seems to be of general validity in lower as well as higher eukaryotes, we propose that it can be used to study the function of N-terminal acetylation in all species. PMID:19885390

Protection against β-amyloid neurotoxicity by a non-toxic endogenous N-terminal β-amyloid fragment and its active hexapeptide core sequence.

PubMed

Forest, Kelly H; Alfulaij, Naghum; Arora, Komal; Taketa, Ruth; Sherrin, Tessi; Todorovic, Cedomir; Lawrence, James L M; Yoshikawa, Gene T; Ng, Ho-Leung; Hruby, Victor J; Nichols, Robert A

2018-01-01

High levels (μM) of beta amyloid (Aβ) oligomers are known to trigger neurotoxic effects, leading to synaptic impairment, behavioral deficits, and apoptotic cell death. The hydrophobic C-terminal domain of Aβ, together with sequences critical for oligomer formation, is essential for this neurotoxicity. However, Aβ at low levels (pM-nM) has been shown to function as a positive neuromodulator and this activity resides in the hydrophilic N-terminal domain of Aβ. An N-terminal Aβ fragment (1-15/16), found in cerebrospinal fluid, was also shown to be a highly active neuromodulator and to reverse Aβ-induced impairments of long-term potentiation. Here, we show the impact of this N-terminal Aβ fragment and a shorter hexapeptide core sequence in the Aβ fragment (Aβcore: 10-15) to protect or reverse Aβ-induced neuronal toxicity, fear memory deficits and apoptotic death. The neuroprotective effects of the N-terminal Aβ fragment and Aβcore on Aβ-induced changes in mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, and apoptotic neuronal death were demonstrated via mitochondrial membrane potential, live reactive oxygen species, DNA fragmentation and cell survival assays using a model neuroblastoma cell line (differentiated NG108-15) and mouse hippocampal neuron cultures. The protective action of the N-terminal Aβ fragment and Aβcore against spatial memory processing deficits in amyloid precursor protein/PSEN1 (5XFAD) mice was demonstrated in contextual fear conditioning. Stabilized derivatives of the N-terminal Aβcore were also shown to be fully protective against Aβ-triggered oxidative stress. Together, these findings indicate an endogenous neuroprotective role for the N-terminal Aβ fragment, while active stabilized N-terminal Aβcore derivatives offer the potential for therapeutic application. © 2017 International Society for Neurochemistry.

Implantability, Complications, and Follow-Up After Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Stent-Shunt Creation With the 6F Self-Expanding Sinus-SuperFlex-Visual Stent.

PubMed

Spira, Daniel; Wiskirchen, Jakub; Lauer, Ulrich; Ketelsen, Dominik; Nikolaou, Konstantin; Wiesinger, Benjamin

2016-07-01

The transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent-shunt (TIPSS) builds a shortcut between the portal vein and a liver vein, and represents a sophisticated alternative to open surgery in the management of portal hypertension or its complications. To describe clinical experiences with a low-profile nitinol stent system in TIPSS creation, and to assess primary and long-term success. Twenty-six patients (5 females, 21 males; mean age 54.6 years) were treated using a low-profile 6F self-expanding sinus-SuperFlex-Visual stent system. The indication for TIPSS creation was refractory bleeding in 9 of the 26 patients, refractory ascites in 18 patients, and acute thrombosis of the portal vein confluence in one patient. Portosystemic pressure gradients before and after TIPSS, periprocedural and long-term complications, and the time to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) or death were recorded. The portosystemic pressure gradient was significantly reduced, from 20.9 ± 6.3 mmHg before to 8.2 ± 2.3 mmHg after TIPSS creation (P < 0.001). Procedure-related complications included acute tract occlusion (n = 2), liver hematoma (n = 1), hepatic encephalopathy (n = 1), and cardiac failure (n = 1). Three of the 26 patients had late-onset TIPSS occlusion (at 12, 12, and 39 months after TIPSS creation). Three patients died within one week after the procedure due to their poor general condition (multiorgan failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, necrotizing pancreatitis, and aspiration pneumonia). Another four patients succumbed to their underlying advanced liver disease within one year after TIPSS insertion. Seven patients underwent OLT at a mean time of 9.4 months after TIPSS creation. The sinus-SuperFlex-Visual stent system can be safely deployed as a TIPSS device. The pressure gradient reduction was clinically sufficient to treat the patients' symptoms, and periprocedural complications were due to the TIPSS procedure per se rather than to the particular stent system employed in this study.

Comparison of hepatic MDCT, MRI, and DSA to explant pathology for the detection and treatment planning of hepatocellular carcinoma.

PubMed

Ladd, Lauren M; Tirkes, Temel; Tann, Mark; Agarwal, David M; Johnson, Matthew S; Tahir, Bilal; Sandrasegaran, Kumaresan

2016-12-01

The diagnosis and treatment plan for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be made from radiologic imaging. However, lesion detection may vary depending on the imaging modality. This study aims to evaluate the sensitivities of hepatic multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in the detection of HCC and the consequent management impact on potential liver transplant patients. One hundred and sixteen HCC lesions were analyzed in 41 patients who received an orthotopic liver transplant (OLT). All of the patients underwent pretransplantation hepatic DSA, MDCT, and/or MRI. The imaging results were independently reviewed retrospectively in a blinded fashion by two interventional and two abdominal radiologists. The liver explant pathology was used as the gold standard for assessing each imaging modality. The sensitivity for overall HCC detection was higher for cross-sectional imaging using MRI (51.5%, 95% confidence interval [CI]=36.2-58.4%) and MDCT (49.8%, 95% CI=43.7-55.9%) than for DSA (41.7%, 95% CI=36.2-47.3%) ( P =0.05). The difference in false-positive rate was not statistically significant between MRI (22%), MDCT (29%), and DSA (29%) ( P =0.67). The sensitivity was significantly higher for detecting right lobe lesions than left lobe lesions for all modalities (MRI: 56.1% vs. 43.1%, MDCT: 55.0% vs. 42.0%, and DSA: 46.9% vs. 33.9%; all P <0.01). The sensitivities of the three imaging modalities were also higher for lesions ≥2 cm vs. <2 cm (MRI: 73.4% vs. 32.7%, MDCT: 66.9% vs. 33.8%, and DSA: 62.2% vs. 24.1%; all P <0.01). The interobserver correlation was rated as very good to excellent. The sensitivity for detecting HCC is higher for MRI and MDCT than for DSA, and so cross-sectional imaging modalities should be used to evaluate OLT candidacy.

Autoimmune conditions are associated with perioperative thrombotic complications in liver transplant recipients: A UNOS database analysis.

PubMed

Bezinover, Dmitri; Iskandarani, Khaled; Chinchilli, Vernon; McQuillan, Patrick; Saner, Fuat; Kadry, Zakiyah; Riley, Thomas R; Janicki, Piotr K

2016-05-21

End stage liver disease (ESLD) is associated with significant thrombotic complications. In this study, we attempted to determine if patients with ESLD, due to oncologic or autoimmune diseases, are susceptible to thrombosis to a greater extent than patients with ESLD due to other causes. In this retrospective study, we analyzed the UNOS database to determine the incidence of thrombotic complications in orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) recipients with autoimmune and oncologic conditions. Between 2000 and 2012, 65,646 OLTs were performed. We found 4,247 cases of preoperative portal vein thrombosis (PVT) and 1,233 cases of postoperative vascular thrombosis (VT) leading to graft failure. Statistical evaluation demonstrated that patients with either hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or autoimmune hepatitis (AIC) had a higher incidence of PVT (p = 0.05 and 0.03 respectively). Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and AIC had a higher incidence of postoperative VT associated with graft failure (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, p = 0.05 respectively). Patients with preoperative PVT had a higher incidence of postoperative VT (p < 0.0001). Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that patients with AIC, and BMI ≥40, having had a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, and those with diabetes mellitus were more likely to have preoperative PVT: odds ratio (OR)(1.36, 1.19, 1.78, 1.22 respectively). Patients with PSC, PBC, AIC, BMI ≤18, or with a preoperative PVT were more likely to have a postoperative VT: OR (1.93, 2.09, 1.64, 1.60, and 2.01, respectively). Despite the limited number of variables available in the UNOS database potentially related to thrombotic complications, this analysis demonstrates a clear association between autoimmune causes of ESLD and perioperative thrombotic complications. Perioperative management of patients at risk should include strategies to reduce the potential for these complications.

A gating grid driver for time projection chambers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tangwancharoen, S.; Lynch, W. G.; Barney, J.; Estee, J.; Shane, R.; Tsang, M. B.; Zhang, Y.; Isobe, T.; Kurata-Nishimura, M.; Murakami, T.; Xiao, Z. G.; Zhang, Y. F.; SπRIT Collaboration

2017-05-01

A simple but novel driver system has been developed to operate the wire gating grid of a Time Projection Chamber (TPC). This system connects the wires of the gating grid to its driver via low impedance transmission lines. When the gating grid is open, all wires have the same voltage allowing drift electrons, produced by the ionization of the detector gas molecules, to pass through to the anode wires. When the grid is closed, the wires have alternating higher and lower voltages causing the drift electrons to terminate at the more positive wires. Rapid opening of the gating grid with low pickup noise is achieved by quickly shorting the positive and negative wires to attain the average bias potential with N-type and P-type MOSFET switches. The circuit analysis and simulation software SPICE shows that the driver restores the gating grid voltage to 90% of the opening voltage in less than 0.20 μs, for small values of the termination resistors. When tested in the experimental environment of a time projection chamber larger termination resistors were chosen so that the driver opens the gating grid in 0.35 μs. In each case, opening time is basically characterized by the RC constant given by the resistance of the switches and terminating resistors and the capacitance of the gating grid and its transmission line. By adding a second pair of N-type and P-type MOSFET switches, the gating grid is closed by restoring 99% of the original charges to the wires within 3 μs.

Reducing the beam impedance of the kicker at the 3-GeV rapid cycling synchrotron of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shobuda, Yoshihiro; Chin, Yong Ho; Hayashi, Naoki; Irie, Yoshiro; Takayanagi, Tomohiro; Togashi, Tomohito; Toyama, Takeshi; Yamamoto, Kazami; Yamamoto, Masanobu

2018-06-01

The present four-terminal kicker at the rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS) at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex has the power-saving benefit that it allows beam extraction by doubling the excitation currents with two shorted ends. In this configuration, two terminals of the kicker are connected to the pulse-forming line while the other two are terminated in a short circuit. On the other hand, beam instabilities are excited in the RCS by the kicker beam impedances, which result from the short-circuit termination of the kicker. In this paper, we describe a scheme to reduce the beam impedance of the kicker using diodes (nonlinear devices), while retaining the benefit of the doubled kicker excitation currents. We employ a simulation technique to determine the beam impedance of the kicker, even when such nonlinear devices and long cables are included. The characteristic of beam impedance measured using the accelerated beams is well explained by that obtained from the simulation.

C-terminal substance P fragments elicit histamine release from a murine mast cell line.

PubMed

Krumins, S A; Broomfield, C A

1993-01-01

Incubation of mouse mast cells with C-terminal substance P fragments in the micromolar range caused a release of histamine. Maximum release was observed with the tetrapeptide SP(8-11), followed by the tripeptide SP(9-11). SP(6-11) and SP(5-11) were nearly equipotent, while SP(4-11) caused only a slight histamine release. The substance P parent molecule and the N-terminal substance P fragments SP(1-4), SP(1-6) and SP(1-7) evoked no release of histamine. In confirmation of our previous findings, incubation with neurokinin A caused a release comparable to that of SP(8-11). Whereas neurokinin A-induced release was partially preventable by pretreating the cells with the NK2 receptor-selective antagonist cyclo(Gln-Trp-Phe-(R)Gly[ANC-2]Leu-Met), SP(8-11)-induced release was completely abolished by such treatment. The results provide the first evidence for the involvement of NK2 tachykinin receptors in the release of histamine by C-terminal substance P fragments.

Morphology and innervation of the vestibular lagena in pigeons

PubMed Central

Mridha, Zakir; Wu, Le-Qing; Dickman, J. David

2012-01-01

The morphological characteristics of the pigeon lagena were examined using histology, scanning electron microscopy, and biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) neural tracers. The lagena epithelium was observed to lie partially in a parasagittal plane, but was also U-shaped with orthogonal (lateral) directed tips. Hair cell planar polarities were oriented away from a central reversal line that ran nearly the length of the epithelium. Similar to the vertebrate utricle and saccule, three afferent classes were observed based upon their terminal innervation pattern, which include calyx, dimorph, and bouton fibers. Calyx and dimorph afferents innervated the striola region of the lagena, while bouton afferents innervated the extrastriola and a small region of the central striola known as the type II band. Calyx units had large calyceal terminal structures that innervated only type I hair cells. Dimorph afferents innervated both type I and II hair cells, with calyx and bouton terminals. Bouton afferents had the largest most complex innervation patterns and the greatest terminal areas contacting many hair cells. PMID:22387112

Nature of shocks revealed by SOFIA OI observations in the Cepheus E protostellar outflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusdorf, A.; Anderl, S.; Lefloch, B.; Leurini, S.; Wiesemeyer, H.; Güsten, R.; Benedettini, M.; Codella, C.; Godard, B.; Gómez-Ruiz, A. I.; Jacobs, K.; Kristensen, L. E.; Lesaffre, P.; Pineau des Forêts, G.; Lis, D. C.

2017-06-01

Context. Protostellar jets and outflows are key features of the star-formation process, and primary processes of the feedback of young stars on the interstellar medium. Understanding the underlying shocks is necessary to explain how jet and outflow systems are launched, and to quantify their chemical and energetic impacts on the surrounding medium. Aims: We performed a high-spectral resolution study of the [OI]63μm emission in the outflow of the intermediate-mass Class 0 protostar Cep E-mm. The goal is to determine the structure of the outflow, to constrain the chemical conditions in the various components, and to understand the nature of the underlying shocks, thus probing the origin of the mass-loss phenomenon. Methods: We present observations of the O I 3P1 → 3P2, OH between 2Π1/2J = 3/2 and J = 1/2 at 1837.8 GHz, and CO (16-15) lines with the GREAT receiver onboard SOFIA towards three positions in the Cep E protostellar outflow: Cep E-mm (the driving protostar), Cep E-BI (in the southern lobe), and Cep E-BII (the terminal position in the southern lobe). Results: The CO (16-15) line is detected at all three positions. The [OI]63μm line is detected in Cep E-BI and BII, whereas the OH line is not detected. In Cep E-BII, we identify three kinematical components in O I and CO. These were already detected in CO transitions and relate to spatial components: the jet, the HH377 terminal bow-shock, and the outflow cavity. We measure line temperature and line integrated intensity ratios for all components. The O I column density is higher in the outflow cavity than in the jet, which itself is higher than in the terminal shock. The terminal shock is the region where the abundance ratio of O I to CO is the lowest (about 0.2), whereas the jet component is atomic (N(O I)/N(CO) 2.7). In the jet, we compare the [OI]63μm observations with shock models that successfully fit the integrated intensity of 10 CO lines. We find that these models most likely do not fit the [OI]63μm data. Conclusions: The high intensity of O I emission points towards the propagation of additional dissociative or alternative FUV-irradiated shocks, where the illumination comes from the shock itself. A picture emerges from the sample of low-to-high mass protostellar outflows, where similar observations have been performed, with the effects of illumination increasing with the mass of the protostar. These findings need confirmation with more observational constraints and a larger sample. This article uses Herschel-PACS data; Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.All spectra shown in Fig. 2 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/602/A8

Regulation of presynaptic Ca2+, synaptic plasticity and contextual fear conditioning by a N-terminal β-amyloid fragment.

PubMed

Lawrence, James L M; Tong, Mei; Alfulaij, Naghum; Sherrin, Tessi; Contarino, Mark; White, Michael M; Bellinger, Frederick P; Todorovic, Cedomir; Nichols, Robert A

2014-10-22

Soluble β-amyloid has been shown to regulate presynaptic Ca(2+) and synaptic plasticity. In particular, picomolar β-amyloid was found to have an agonist-like action on presynaptic nicotinic receptors and to augment long-term potentiation (LTP) in a manner dependent upon nicotinic receptors. Here, we report that a functional N-terminal domain exists within β-amyloid for its agonist-like activity. This sequence corresponds to a N-terminal fragment generated by the combined action of α- and β-secretases, and resident carboxypeptidase. The N-terminal β-amyloid fragment is present in the brains and CSF of healthy adults as well as in Alzheimer's patients. Unlike full-length β-amyloid, the N-terminal β-amyloid fragment is monomeric and nontoxic. In Ca(2+) imaging studies using a model reconstituted rodent neuroblastoma cell line and isolated mouse nerve terminals, the N-terminal β-amyloid fragment proved to be highly potent and more effective than full-length β-amyloid in its agonist-like action on nicotinic receptors. In addition, the N-terminal β-amyloid fragment augmented theta burst-induced post-tetanic potentiation and LTP in mouse hippocampal slices. The N-terminal fragment also rescued LTP inhibited by elevated levels of full-length β-amyloid. Contextual fear conditioning was also strongly augmented following bilateral injection of N-terminal β-amyloid fragment into the dorsal hippocampi of intact mice. The fragment-induced augmentation of fear conditioning was attenuated by coadministration of nicotinic antagonist. The activity of the N-terminal β-amyloid fragment appears to reside largely in a sequence surrounding a putative metal binding site, YEVHHQ. These findings suggest that the N-terminal β-amyloid fragment may serve as a potent and effective endogenous neuromodulator. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3414210-09$15.00/0.

Natural radioactivity in stream sediments of Oltet River, Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ion, Adriana

2017-04-01

The concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides (U-238, Th-232 and K-40) in stream sediments of the Oltet River was measured in order to establish the primary sources of radionuclides, the transport pathways and the geochemical factors favouring their mobilisation and concentration in the existing geological context. The Oltet River has a length of 185 Km and crosses the southern central part of the country, being the right tributary of the Olt River. The range in elevation of the watercourse varies between 1963 m in the springs area (Parîng Mountains) and 200 m at the confluence with the Olt River, whereas the relief of the Oltet Basin has a varied character, manifested by the presence of diverse forms of relief, starting with major mountainous heights and ending with low-lying plains regions. In cross section from North to South, the Olteț River cuts metamorphic rocks (schist, gneisses, quartzite, marble, mica-schist's), magmatic rocks (granite and granitoid massifs - intruded by veins of microgranite, aplite, pegmatite and lamprophyre) and limestone, followed by deposits composed of clays, marls, sands and gravels, that are characterized by the presence of lignite seams. 44 stream sediment samples were collected in summer of 2016 from sampling points distributed along the river with an equidistance of about 4 - 5 km. The activity concentrations of the U-238, Th-232 and K-40 were measured by gamma ray spectrometry using HPGe detector (ORTEC) with 26% relative efficiency in multilayer shielding. The reference materials used were IAEA - RGK-1 and IAEA - 314. Analysis was performed on the <2 mm fraction of sediment sample, each sample was counted for 24,000 s. U-238 specific activity in the stream sediments varies between 6.18 and 68.76 Bq/Kg and Th-232 specific activity from 8.12 to 89.28 Bq/Kg, whereas the K-40 specific activity in sediments ranges from 99.01 to 312.16 Bq/Kg. In the upper sector of the Oltet River, concentrations of U-238, Th-232 and K-40 show a good correlation between them and reflect the lithological features, the mechanical degradation of the rocks overcomes their chemical decomposition. In the middle part of the river as result of almost abrupt passage between mountain and hilly terrains increases and concentration of radionuclides; effect of large quantities of clastic material deposited by torrents. The mechanical migration of resistant uranium, thorium and potassium bearing mineral determines the movement of rock particles under moving water effect, and redistribution in alluvial sediments with preservation of the native features. In this zone under the action of biochemical processes and other chemical weathering agents, uranium is released from rocks and penetrates in the superficial circulation area or groundwater. Through this geochemical process the amounts of thorium and potassium released are modest, leaching of uranium being the dominant feature (uranyl ion). The downstream lignite seams are the secondary geochemical barriers in accumulation of uranium; the radiometric data obtained for stream sediments emphasize this enrichment.

47 CFR 73.664 - Determining operating power.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

....664 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES RADIO... indications of a calibrated transmission line meter (responsive to peak power) located at the RF output terminals of the transmitter. The indications of the calibrated meter are used to observe and maintain the...