Proceeding of 27th domestic symposium on trends in aging management and current status of aging degradation studies in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-11-01

As the 27th domestic symposium of Atomic Energy Research Committee, the Japan Welding Engineering Society, the symposium was held titled as 'Trends of aging managements and current status of aging effect studies in nuclear power plants'. Six speakers gave lectures titled as 'Present status of research on mechanism and prediction method of neutron irradiation embrittlement of pressure vessel steels', 'Present status of research on mechanism and prediction method of environmentally assisted cracking in the LWR environments', 'Domestic and overseas trends of aging management of the LWR plants', 'Trends of prediction/evaluation, inspection/monitoring and repair/replacement technologies for aging of the LWR plants', 'Present status of research on mechanism and prediction method of high cycle thermal fatigue due to the thermal fluid-structure interaction in the LWR environments' and Present status of research on very high cycle fatigue of structural materials'. (T. Tanaka)

Predictive Toxicology: Current Status and Future Outlook (EBI ...

Science.gov (United States)

Slide presentation at the EBI-EMBL Industry Programme Workshop on Predictive Toxicology and the currently status of Computational Toxicology activities at the US EPA. Slide presentation at the EBI-EMBL Industry Programme Workshop on Predictive Toxicology and the currently status of Computational Toxicology activities at the US EPA.

Weightbearing Versus Nonweightbearing After Meniscus Repair.

Science.gov (United States)

VanderHave, Kelly L; Perkins, Crystal; Le, Michael

2015-01-01

Optimal rehabilitation after meniscal repair remains controversial. To review the current literature on weightbearing status after meniscal repairs and to provide evidence-based recommendations for postoperative rehabilitation. MEDLINE (January 1, 1993 to July 1, 2014) and Embase (January 1, 1993 to July 1, 2014) were queried with use of the terms meniscus OR/AND repair AND rehabilitation. Included studies were those with levels of evidence 1 through 4, with minimum 2 years follow-up and in an English publication. Systematic review. Level 4. Demographics and clinical and radiographic outcomes of meniscus repair at a minimum of 2 years follow-up were extracted. Successful clinical outcomes ranged from 70% to 94% with conservative rehabilitation. More recent studies using an accelerated rehabilitation protocol with full weightbearing and early range of motion reported 64% to 96% good results. Outcomes after both conservative (restricted weightbearing) protocols and accelerated rehabilitation (immediate weightbearing) yielded similar good to excellent results; however, lack of similar objective criteria and consistency among surgical techniques and existing studies makes direct comparison difficult. © 2015 The Author(s).

The current status of mitigation, experience and repair regarding Alloy 600 issues on Japanese steam generator nozzles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiro, T.; Okabe, T.; Inoue, T.

2009-01-01

One conspicuous problem seen in aged PWR plants is the PWSCC, which is considered to be caused by three factors, which are environment, material and stress. The degradation caused by PWSCC on high nickel content alloy (Alloy 600) at dissimilar material weld joints of steam generator nozzles has became conspicuous in Japan. This paper describes the mitigation technique used for the PWSCC, recent experiences on PWSCC issues and repair techniques implemented on Japanese steam generator nozzles with Alloy 600 weld. As a countermeasure against the PWSCC, ultrasonic shot peening (USP) was planned and conducted on the SG nozzles as a preventive maintenance in Japan. It has been confirmed that the stress near the inner surface can be converted into compressive stress by applying plastic strain to the surface using collision force of the shot material during the shot peening. USP employs the ultrasonic-wave vibration. The effects of this peening technique were confirmed by qualified test if there were undetectable cracks by ECT on the surface of the material. In Japan, there were 15 plants with SG nozzles which had Alloy 600 welds and these SG nozzles were inspected by ECT or VT as a confirmatory inspection before conducting the USP operation from 2006 to 2008. In these inspections, defects have been found at 19 hot nozzles in 8 plants. In addition, the defect in one of the plants has been found at the safe-end base metal made from stainless steel. In the root cause investigation result, it was confirmed that these cracks were typical PWSCC induced by high residual stress. These nozzles with defects were repaired by replacing the Alloy 600 welding material on surfaces exposed to primary water with the Alloy 690 welding material which has excellent PWSCC resistance. These material replacements were performed by cladding or replacement of nozzle safe end joint. These techniques are used not only to repair but also as a preventive maintenance. These mitigation or repair

Teleradiology - current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baltadjiev, D.; Charakchiev

2000-01-01

Tele-radiology is a term becoming increasingly popular in the medical literature. Nevertheless, terminological definitions in this particular field are still rather vague. The scope of applications extend from simple image presenting via analogue telephone lines to transmission of 3-D medical images through a satellite. It is a matter of standards highly differing in terms of data transmission rates, safety, technical demands on the systems and the like. In this article new information technologies, technical aspects, as well as some major applications of tele-radiology are discussed. The current status of tele-medicine/tele-radiology in this country is likewise briefly outlined

Repair of Defective Composite Resin Restoration: Current Trend ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Repair of defective composite resins restorations is being increasingly recognized as a viable alternative to replacement. there is however no consensus yet on the treatment protocol. Objective: To determine the views and practice of specialists in Conservative Dentistry in Nigeria as regard to repair procedure ...

Rectocele repair using biomaterial augmentation: current documentation and clinical experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Altman, Daniel; Mellgren, Anders; Zetterström, Jan

2005-11-01

Although the etiology of rectocele remains debated, surgical innovations are currently promoted to improve anatomic outcome while avoiding dyspareunia and alleviating rectal emptying difficulties following rectocele surgery. Use of biomaterials in rectocele repair has become widespread in a short time, but the clinical documentation of their effectiveness and complications is limited. Medline and the Cochrane database were searched electronically from 1964 to May 2005 using the Pubmed and Ovid search engines. All English language publications including any of the search terms "rectocele," "implant," "mesh," "biomaterial," "prolapse," "synthetical," "pelvic floor," "biological," and "compatibility" were reviewed. This review outlines the basic principles for use of biomaterials in pelvic reconstructive surgery and provides a condensation of peer-reviewed articles describing clinical use of biomaterials in rectocele surgery. Historical and new concepts in rectocele surgery are discussed. Factors of importance for human in vivo biomaterial compatibility are presented together with current knowledge from clinical studies. Potential risks and problems associated with the use of biomaterials in rectocele and pelvic reconstructive surgery in general are described. Although use of biomaterials in rectocele and other pelvic organ prolapse surgery offers exciting possibilities, it raises treatment costs and may be associated with unknown and potentially severe complications at short and long term. Clinical benefits are currently unknown and need to be proven in clinical studies. Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Family Physicians After completion of this article, the reader should be able to explain that the objective of surgical treatment is to improve anatomic outcome and alleviate rectal emptying difficulties, describe the efficacy of biomaterials in rectocele repair, and summarize the potential risks and problems associated with use of biomaterials in rectocele and pelvic

Current surgical practices in cleft care: cleft palate repair techniques and postoperative care.

Science.gov (United States)

Katzel, Evan B; Basile, Patrick; Koltz, Peter F; Marcus, Jeffrey R; Girotto, John A

2009-09-01

The purpose of this study was to objectively report practices commonly used in cleft palate repair in the United States. This study investigates current surgical techniques, postoperative care, and complication rates for cleft palate repair surgery. All 803 surgeon members of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association were sent online and/or paper surveys inquiring about their management of cleft palate patients. Three-hundred six surveys were received, a 38 percent response rate. This represented responses of surgeons from 100 percent of American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association registered cleft teams. Ninety-six percent of respondents perform a one-stage repair. Eighty-five percent of surgeons perform palate surgery when the patient is between 6 and 12 months of age. The most common one-stage repair techniques are the Bardach style (two flaps) with intravelar veloplasty and the Furlow palatoplasty. After surgery, 39 percent of surgeons discharge patients within 24 hours. Another 43 percent discharge patients within 48 hours. During postoperative management, 92 percent of respondents implement feeding restrictions. Eighty-five percent of physicians use arm restraints. Surgeons' self-reported complications rates are minimal: 54 percent report a fistula in less than 5 percent of cases. The reported need for secondary speech surgery varies widely. The majority of respondents repair clefts in one stage. The most frequently used repair techniques are the Furlow palatoplasty and the Bardach style with intravelar veloplasty. After surgery, the majority of surgeons discharge patients in 1 or 2 days, and nearly all surgeons implement feeding restrictions and the use of arm restraints. The varying feeding protocols are reviewed in this article.

Current status of JMTR refurbishment project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaminaga, Masanori; Niimi, Motoji; Hori, Naohiko; Takahashi, Kunihiro; Kanno, Masaru; Nakagawa, Tetsuya; Nagao, Yoshiharu; Ishihara, Masahiro; Kawamura, Hiroshi

2010-02-01

The JMTR is a light water moderated and cooled, beryllium reflected tank- type reactor using LUE silicide plate-type fuels. Its thermal power is 50 MW, maximum thermal and fast neutron flux is 4x10 18 m -2 s -1 . First criticality was achieved in March 1968, and its operation was stopped from August, 2006 for the refurbishment. The refurbishment is scheduled from the beginning of FY2007 to the end of FY2010. The renewed and upgraded JMTR will be re-started from FY2011. An investigation on aged components (aged-investigation) was carried out for concrete structures of the JMTR reactor building, exhaust stack, etc., and for tanks in the primary cooling system, heat exchangers, pipes in the secondary cooling system, cooling tower, emergency generators and so on, in order to identify their integrity. The aged-investigation was carried out at the beginning of FY2007. As a result, some components were decided to replace from viewpoints of future maintenance and improvement of reliability, and some components or structures were decided to repair. A visual inspection of inner side of the pressure vessel was carried out using an underwater camera in FY2008, and no serious damage was observed. Up to now, refurbishment works are in progress according to the planned schedule. In FY2009, motors of primary cooling pumps, secondary cooling pumps, motors of drain pumps, pump in the primary water transfer line to the water purification system, beryllium reflector frame, low-voltage motor control centers are to be replaced. A nuclear instrumentation system, process control system, safety protection system and so on are to be replaced in FY2010. In this paper, current status of JMTR refurbishment project is presented. (author)

POSSIBILITIES OF CURRENT CELLULAR TECHNOLOGIES FOR ARTICULAR CARTILAGE REPAIR (ANALYTICAL REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. S. Bozhokin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Despite a wide variety of surgical procedures utilized in clinical practice for treatment of articular cartilage lesions, the search for other options of articular reconstruction remains a relevant and open issue at the current stage of medicine and biotechnologies development. The recent years demonstrated a strong belief in cellular methods of hyaline cartilage repair such as implantation of autologous chondrocytes (ACI or cultures of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC including techniques for genetic modification of cells.The purpose of presented review is to summarize the published scientific data on up to date results of perspective cellular technologies for articular cartilage repair that are being developed. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation originally performed by Swedish researchers in 1987 is considered the first clinically applied technique for restoration of hyaline cartilage using cellular technologies. However, the transplanted cell culture featured low proliferative capacity and inability to form a regenerate resistant to high physical activity. Another generation of methods originated at the turn of the century utilized mesenchymal stem cells instead of autologous chondrocytes. Preparation of MSCs is a less invasive procedure compared to chondrocytes harvesting and the culture is featured by a higher proliferative ability. Researchers use various biodegradable carriers (matrices to secure cell fixation. Despite good clinical mid-term outcomes the transplanted tissue-engineering structures deteriorate with time due to cellular de-differentiation. Next generation of techniques being currently under pre-clinical studies is featured by the preliminary chondrogenic modification of transplanted cell culture. Usage of various growth factors, modified cell product and gene-activated matrices allow to gain a stable regulatory and key proteins synthesis and achieve a focused influence on regenerate's chondrogenic proliferation and in result

Comparative long-term results of mitral valve repair in adults with chronic rheumatic disease and degenerative disease: is repair for "burnt-out" rheumatic disease still inferior to repair for degenerative disease in the current era?

Science.gov (United States)

Dillon, Jeswant; Yakub, Mohd Azhari; Kong, Pau Kiew; Ramli, Mohd Faizal; Jaffar, Norfazlina; Gaffar, Intan Fariza

2015-03-01

Mitral valve repair is perceived to be of limited durability for advanced rheumatic disease in adults. We aim to examine the long-term outcomes of repair for rheumatic disease, identify predictors of durability, and compare with repair for degenerative disease. Rheumatic and degenerative mitral valve repairs in patients aged 40 years or more were prospectively analyzed. The primary outcomes investigated were mortality, freedom from reoperation, and valve failure. Logistic regression analysis was performed to define predictors of poor outcome. Between 1997 and 2011, 253 rheumatic and 148 degenerative mitral valves were repaired. The age of patients in both groups was similar, with a mean of 54.1 ± 8.4 years versus 55.6 ± 7.3 years (P = .49). Freedom from reoperation for rheumatic valves at 5 and 10 years was 98.4%, comparable to 95.3% (P = .12) for degenerative valves. Freedom from valve failure at 5 and 10 years was 91.4% and 81.5% for rheumatic repairs and 82.5% and 75.4% for degenerative repairs, respectively (P = .15). The presence of residual mitral regurgitation greater than 2+ before discharge was the only significant independent predictor of reoperation, whereas residual mitral regurgitation greater than 2+ and leaflet procedures were significant risk factors for valve failure. The durability of rheumatic mitral valve repair in the current era has improved and is comparable to the outstanding durability of repairs for degenerative disease, even in the adult rheumatic population. Modifications of standard repair techniques, adherence to the importance of good leaflet coaptation, and strict quality control with stringent use of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography have all contributed to the improved long-term results. Copyright © 2015 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Current status of quantum electrical metrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urano, Chiharu; Kaneko, Nobuhisa; Kiryu, Shogo

2005-01-01

Physical background, current status of proof systems and researches of the next generation standards of Josephson voltage and Quantized Hall Resistance (QHR) standard system are described. Josephson effect, the principle and theory of quantized hall effect, usual voltage standard system, standard feed of direct current resistance, and researches of voltage standard and direct current resistance standard are explained. The current-voltage of Josephson element in the usual voltage standard proof system and bias method, outline of typical Josephson voltage standard proof system and GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure used as resistance standard are stated. Cryogenic Current Comparator (CCC) and Direct Current Comparator (DCC) proofread usual resistor. New Quantum Hall Array Resistance Standard (QHARS) is studied by BNM-LNE group in French, and the other new AC Quantized Hall Resistance (AC-QHR) by the European ACQHE Project. (S.Y.)

Current status and prospects for Chernobyl Ukritiye

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jampsin, B.

1996-01-01

Current status and prospects for Chernobyl Ukritiye (sarcophagus) are described, including the following issues: the accident; the sarcophagus; the radioactive inventory; the design basis criteria; the analysis of the present state; a way forward

Current Status of On-Site Wastewater Management

Science.gov (United States)

Senn, Charles L.

1978-01-01

Wastewater management is becoming an important environmental issue nationally. This article reports the history and current status of wastewater management. Regulatory programs are discussed with specific state examples. Needs assessment is also included. (MA)

The WIMP Paradigm: Current Status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Jonathan

2011-01-01

The WIMP paradigm is the glue that joins together much of the high energy and cosmic frontiers. It postulates that most of the matter in the Universe is made of weakly-interacting massive particles, with implications for a broad range of experiments and observations. I will review the WIMP paradigm's underlying motivations, its current status in view of rapid experimental progress on several fronts, and recent theoretical variations on the WIMP paradigm theme.

REMPAN at international level: current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souchkevitch, Guennadi

1997-01-01

This document describes the current status of the Radiation Emergency medical Preparedness and Assistance Network - REMPAN, for the promotion of radiation emergency medical and public health preparedness and for practical assistance and advising countries, in a case of overexposure from any sources of radiation, by initiative of the World Health Organization - WHO

Current status of ion source development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, Junzo

2001-01-01

In this report, the current status of ion source development will be discussed. In September 2001, the 9th International Conference on Ion Sources (ICIS01) was held in Oakland, U.S.A. Referring the talks presented at ICIS01, recent topics in the ion source research fields will be described. (author)

The current state of eukaryotic DNA base damage and repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Nicholas C; Corbett, Anita H; Doetsch, Paul W

2015-12-02

DNA damage is a natural hazard of life. The most common DNA lesions are base, sugar, and single-strand break damage resulting from oxidation, alkylation, deamination, and spontaneous hydrolysis. If left unrepaired, such lesions can become fixed in the genome as permanent mutations. Thus, evolution has led to the creation of several highly conserved, partially redundant pathways to repair or mitigate the effects of DNA base damage. The biochemical mechanisms of these pathways have been well characterized and the impact of this work was recently highlighted by the selection of Tomas Lindahl, Aziz Sancar and Paul Modrich as the recipients of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their seminal work in defining DNA repair pathways. However, how these repair pathways are regulated and interconnected is still being elucidated. This review focuses on the classical base excision repair and strand incision pathways in eukaryotes, considering both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and humans, and extends to some important questions and challenges facing the field of DNA base damage repair. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Six types Monte Carlo for estimating the current unavailability of Markov system with dependent repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Gang; Li Zhizhong

2004-01-01

Based on integral equaiton describing the life-history of Markov system, six types of estimators of the current unavailability of Markov system with dependent repair are propounded. Combining with the biased sampling of state transition time of system, six types of Monte Carlo for estimating the current unavailability are given. Two numerical examples are given to deal with the variances and efficiencies of the six types of Monte Carlo methods. (authors)

Distinct Clinicopathological Patterns of Mismatch Repair Status in Colorectal Cancer Stratified by KRAS Mutations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenbin Li

Full Text Available In sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC, the BRAFV600E mutation is associated with deficient mismatch repair (MMR status and inversely associated with to KRAS mutations. In contrast to deficient MMR (dMMR CRC, data on the presence of KRAS oncogenic mutations in proficient MMR (pMMR CRC and their relationship with tumor progression are scarce. We therefore examined the MMR status in combination with KRAS mutations in 913 Chinese patients and correlated the findings obtained with clinical and pathological features. The MMR status was determined based on detection of MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2 expression. KRAS mutation and dMMR status were detected in 36.9% and 7.5% of cases, respectively. Four subtypes were determined by MMR and KRAS mutation status: KRAS (+/pMMR (34.0%, KRAS (+/dMMR (2.9%, KRAS (-/pMMR (58.5% and KRAS (-/dMMR (4.6%. A higher percentage of pMMR tumors with KRAS mutation were most likely to be female (49.0%, proximal located (45.5%, a mucinous histology (38.4%, and to have increased lymph node metastasis (60.3%, compared with pMMR tumors without BRAFV600E and KRAS mutations (36.0%, 29.3%, 29.4% and 50.7%, respectively; all P < 0.01. To the contrary, compared with those with KRAS(-/dMMR tumors, patients with KRAS(+/dMMR tumors demonstrated no statistically significant differences in gender, tumor location, pT depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, pTNM stage, and histologic grade. This study revealed that specific epidemiologic and clinicopathologic characteristics are associated with MMR status stratified by KRAS mutation. Knowledge of MMR and KRAS mutation status may enhance molecular pathologic staging of CRC patients and metastatic progression in CRC can be estimated based on the combination of these biomarkers.

Current status of the AUSTRON project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rauch, H.; Regler, M.; Lechner, R.E.; Weber, H.

2001-01-01

The current status of the AUSTRON spallation source project is described with reference to the need for neutrons in Europe and - due to a certain West-East imbalance of large research facilities - especially in Central Europe. A short overview about technical aspects of proton accelerator, rapid cycling synchrotron, storage ring, target and instrumentation is presented. (author)

COHERENT Experiment: current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akimov, D; Belov, V; Bolozdynya, A; Burenkov, A; Albert, J B; Del Valle Coello, M; D’Onofrio, M; Awe, C; Barbeau, P S; Cervantes, M; Becker, B; Cabrera-Palmer, B; Collar, J I; Cooper, R J; Cooper, R L; Cuesta, C; Detwiler, J; Eberhardt, A; Dean, D; Dolgolenko, A G

2017-01-01

The COHERENT Collaboration is realizing a long term neutrino physics research program. The main goals of the program are to detect and study elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS). This process is predicted by Standard Model but it has never been observed experimentally because of the very low energy of the recoil nucleus. COHERENT is using different detector technologies: CsI[Na] and NaI scintillator crystals, a single-phase liquid Ar and a Ge detectors. The placement of all the detector setups is in the basement of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The current status of the COHERENT experimental program is presented. (paper)

CMS Data Analysis: Current Status and Future Strategy

CERN Document Server

Innocente, V

2003-01-01

We present the current status of CMS data analysis architecture and describe work on future Grid-based distributed analysis prototypes. CMS has two main software frameworks related to data analysis: COBRA, the main framework, and IGUANA, the interactive visualisation framework. Software using these frameworks is used today in the world-wide production and analysis of CMS data. We describe their overall design and present examples of their current use with emphasis on interactive analysis. CMS is currently developing remote analysis prototypes, including one based on Clarens, a Grid-enabled client-server tool. Use of the prototypes by CMS physicists will guide us in forming a Grid-enriched analysis strategy. The status of this work is presented, as is an outline of how we plan to leverage the power of our existing frameworks in the migration of CMS software to the Grid.

Current situation of transvaginal mesh repair for pelvic organ prolapse.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Lan; Zhang, Lei

2014-09-01

Surgical mesh is a metallic or polymeric screen intended to be implanted to reinforce soft tissue or bone where weakness exists. Surgical mesh has been used since the 1950s to repair abdominal hernias. In the 1970s, gynecologists began using surgical mesh products to indicate the repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), and in the 1990s, gynecologists began using surgical mesh for POP. Then the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first surgical mesh product specifically for use in POP. Surgical mesh materials can be divided into several categories. Most surgical mesh devices cleared for POP procedures are composed of non-absorbable synthetic polypropylene. Mesh can be placed in the anterior vaginal wall to aid in the correction of cystocele (anterior repair), in the posterior vaginal wall to aid in correction of rectocele (posterior repair), or attached to the top of the vagina to correct uterine prolapse or vaginal apical prolapse (apical repair). Over the past decades, surgical mesh products for transvaginal POP repair became incorporated into "kits" that included tools to aid in the delivery and insertion of the mesh. Surgical mesh kits continue to evolve, adding new insertion tools, tissue fixation anchors, surgical techniques, and ab- sorbable and biological materials. This procedure has been performed popularly. It was also performed increased in China. But this new technique met some trouble recently and let shake in urogynecology.

Health Status of Current National Guard Members

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Proctor, Susan P

2005-01-01

.... The objectives are to: 1) describe the current health status of this ARNG cohort, 2) examine to what extent the job strain of ARNG service affects the relationship between Civilian job strain and health and job performance outcomes and, 3...

Current status of fusion-relevant covariance data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muir, D.W.

1994-01-01

The following review of the current status of formatted data covariance files and their multigroup processing is a contribution to the IAEA Advisory Group Meeting on ''Improved Evaluations and Integral Data Testing for FENDL,'' to be held at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Garching, Germany, 12--16 September 1994. The draft agenda of this meeting lists as Item 6 the ''assessment of present status and role of uncertainty files, their processing and sensitivity studies related to FENDL.'' We conclude that this is an important and timely topic and recommend needed actions in this field

Current status of methods for shielding analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engle, W.W.

1980-01-01

Current methods used in shielding analysis and recent improvements in those methods are discussed. The status of methods development is discussed based on needs cited at the 1977 International Conference on Reactor Shielding. Additional areas where methods development is needed are discussed

Use of Adult Stem Cells for Cartilage Tissue Engineering: Current Status and Future Developments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine Baugé

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Due to their low self-repair ability, cartilage defects that result from joint injury, aging, or osteoarthritis, are the most often irreversible and are a major cause of joint pain and chronic disability. So, in recent years, researchers and surgeons have been working hard to elaborate cartilage repair interventions for patients who suffer from cartilage damage. However, current methods do not perfectly restore hyaline cartilage and may lead to the apparition of fibro- or hypertrophic cartilage. In the next years, the development of new strategies using adult stem cells, in scaffolds, with supplementation of culture medium and/or culture in low oxygen tension should improve the quality of neoformed cartilage. Through these solutions, some of the latest technologies start to bring very promising results in repairing cartilage from traumatic injury or chondropathies. This review discusses the current knowledge about the use of adult stem cells in the context of cartilage tissue engineering and presents clinical trials in progress, as well as in the future, especially in the field of bioprinting stem cells.

Current Status of Single-incision Laparoscopic Surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahmed, Irfan; Ciancio, Fabio; Ferrara, Vincenzo

2012-01-01

Recent advances in minimally invasive surgery have centered on reducing the number of incisions required, which has led to the development of the single-incision laparoscopic technique. A panel of European single-incision laparoscopy experts met to discuss the current status of, and the future...

Current status of Uganda Kob (Kobus Kob Thomasi Neumann) in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Current status of Uganda Kob (Kobus Kob Thomasi Neumann) in Toro Game Reserve, Uganda. ... As part of a biological assessment of Toro Game Reserve, the status of Uganda kob Kobus kob Thomasi ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Radiation processing. Current status and future possibilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woods, R.J.

2000-01-01

Radiation processing developed following the Second World War and employees gamma- or electron-irradiation to process polymers, cure alkene-based inks and coatings, sterilize medical supplies, irradiate food, and manage wastes. The current status of these applications is described with the probable direction of future developments. (author)

Current status of high-T{sub c} wire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vase, Per [Nordic Superconductor Technologies A/S, Priorparken 685, DK 2605 Broendby (Denmark); Fluekiger, Rene [Departement de Physique de la Matiere Condensee, Universite de Geneve (Switzerland); Leghissa, Martino [Siemens AG, Corporate Technology, Erlangen (Germany); Glowacki, Bartek [Department of Material Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QZ (United Kingdom)

2000-07-01

This paper is the result of the work of a SCENET (The European Network for Superconductivity) material working group's efforts on giving values for present and future expected performance of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wires and tapes. The purpose of the work is to give input to the design of HTS applications like power cables, motors, current leads, magnets, transformers and generators. The current status performance values are supposed to be used in the design of today's prototypes and the future values for the design of fully commercial HTS applications of the future. We focus on what is expected to be the relevant parameters for HTS application design. The most successful technique by far for making HTS tapes has been on the (Bi, Pb){sub 2}Sr{sub 2}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub x} (Bi-2223) material by the powder-in-tube (PIT) technique and this paper therefore focuses on giving the current status and expected future performance for Bi-2223 tapes. (author)

Current Status of HPV Vaccines

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Barbara; Roden, Richard; Wu, T.C.

2010-01-01

Cervical cancer is the second largest cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide, with ~500,000 diagnoses and 274,000 deaths annually. It remains a significant source of morbidity and mortality despite effective screening tools and treatments for its precursor high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Increased understanding of cervical pathogenesis has led to the identification of human papillomavirus (HPV) as the etiological agent for cervical cancer and the development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines targeting HPV antigens for the control of cervical cancer. Herein, we discuss the current status of HPV vaccines. PMID:20677402

Current status of neutron scattering in Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kornduangkaeo, Areeratt; Pongkasem, Somchai; Putchar, Suriya; Ampornrat, Pantip; Kajornrith, Varavuth; Chamchang, Jipawat

2006-01-01

The current neutron powder diffractometer at the Thai Research Reactor-1/Modification 1 (TRR-1/M1) has been modified from the obsolete neutron diffractometer which had been used during 1968-1975. The upgraded diffractometer has medium resolution and is appropriate for studying samples with small unit cell dimensions and training university students in the field of neutron scattering. This paper describes the current activities of neutron scattering research in Thailand, the current status of a new research reactor project at Ongkarak for enlarging the perspectives of its utilization in the future as well as the organizational reformation of the Office of Atomic Energy for Peace (OAEP). (author)

One-stage vs two-stage cartilage repair: a current review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Meyerkort

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Daniel Meyerkort, David Wood, Ming-Hao ZhengCenter for Orthopaedic Research, School of Surgery and Pathology, University of Western Australia, Perth, AustraliaIntroduction: Articular cartilage has a poor capacity for regeneration if damaged. Various methods have been used to restore the articular surface, improve pain, function, and slow progression to osteoarthritis.Method: A PubMed review was performed on 18 March, 2010. Search terms included “autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI” and “microfracture” or “mosaicplasty”. The aim of this review was to determine if 1-stage or 2-stage procedures for cartilage repair produced different functional outcomes.Results: The main procedures currently used are ACI and microfracture. Both first-generation ACI and microfracture result in clinical and functional improvement with no significant differences. A significant increase in functional outcome has been observed in second-generation procedures such as Hyalograft C, matrix-induced ACI, and ChondroCelect compared with microfracture. ACI results in a higher percentage of patients with clinical improvement than mosaicplasty; however, these results may take longer to achieve.Conclusion: Clinical and functional improvements have been demonstrated with ACI, microfracture, mosaicplasty, and synthetic cartilage constructs. Heterogeneous products and lack of good-quality randomized-control trials make product comparison difficult. Future developments involve scaffolds, gene therapy, growth factors, and stem cells to create a single-stage procedure that results in hyaline articular cartilage.Keywords: autologous chondrocyte implantation, microfracture, cartilage repair

Dark Matter Detection: Current Status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akerib, Daniel S.

2011-01-01

Overwhelming observational evidence indicates that most of the matter in the Universe consists of non-baryonic dark matter. One possibility is that the dark matter is Weakly-Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) that were produced in the early Universe. These relics could comprise the Milky Way's dark halo and provide evidence for new particle physics, such as Supersymmetry. This talk focuses on the status of current efforts to detect dark matter by testing the hypothesis that WIMPs exist in the galactic halo. WIMP searches have begun to explore the region of parameter space where SUSY particles could provide dark matter candidates.

ATM in Europe: analysis of current status

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

1999-01-01

This deliverable provides an overview of the current status of the European market for ATM services. The offer of ATM services by principal operators in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom is described. In addition, a number...... of international providers of ATM in Europe are presented....

Current status of accreditation for drug testing in hair.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Gail; Moeller, Manfred; Kronstrand, Robert

2008-03-21

At the annual meeting of the Society of Hair Testing in Vadstena, Sweden in 2006, a committee was appointed to address the issue of guidelines for hair testing and to assess the current status of accreditation amongst laboratories offering drug testing in hair. A short questionnaire was circulated amongst the membership and interested parties. Fifty-two responses were received from hair testing laboratories providing details on the amount and type of hair tests they offered and the status of accreditation within their facilities. Although the vast majority of laboratories follow current guidelines (83%), only nine laboratories were accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 for hair testing. A significant number of laboratories reporting that they were in the process of developing quality systems with a view to accrediting their methods within 2-3 years. This study provides an insight into the status of accreditation in hair testing laboratories and supports the need for guidelines to encourage best practice.

Current practices of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair: a population-based analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Trevisonno, M; Kaneva, P; Watanabe, Y; Fried, G M; Feldman, L S; Andalib, A; Vassiliou, M C

2015-10-01

The selection of a laparoscopic approach for inguinal hernias varies among surgeons. It is unclear what is being done in actual practice. The purpose of this study was to report practice patterns for treatment of inguinal hernias among Quebec surgeons, and to identify factors that may be associated with the choice of operative approach. We studied a population-based cohort of patients who underwent an inguinal hernia repair between 2007 and 2011 in Quebec, Canada. A generalized linear model was used to identify predictors associated with the selection of a laparoscopic approach. 49,657 inguinal hernias were repaired by 478 surgeons. Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR) was used in 8 % of all cases. LIHR was used to repair 28 % of bilateral hernias, 10 % of recurrent hernias, 6 % of unilateral hernias, and 4 % of incarcerated hernias. 268 (56 %) surgeons did not perform any laparoscopic repairs, and 11 (2 %) surgeons performed more than 100 repairs. These 11 surgeons performed 61 % of all laparoscopic cases. Patient factors significantly associated with having LIHR included younger age, fewer comorbidities, bilateral hernias, and recurrent hernias. An open approach is favored for all clinical scenarios, even for situations where published guidelines recommend a laparoscopic approach. Surgeons remain divided on the best technique for inguinal hernia repair: while more than half never perform LIHR, the small proportion who perform many use the technique for a large proportion of their cases. There appears to be a gap between the best practices put forth in guidelines and what surgeons are doing in actual practice. Identification of barriers to the broader uptake of LIHR may help inform the design of educational programs to train those who have the desire to offer this technique for certain cases, and have the volume to overcome the learning curve.

Radiobiological significance of DNA repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuzin, A.M.

1978-01-01

A short outline is given on the history of the problem relating to the repair of radiation injuries, specifically its molecular mechanisms. The most urgent problems which currently confront the researchers are noted. This is a further study on the role of DNA repair in post-radiation recovery, search for ways to activate and suppress DNA repair, investigations into the activity balance of various repair enzymes as well as the problem of errors in the structure of repairing DNA. An important role is attached to the investigations of DNA repair in solving a number of practical problems

Lung cancer: Current status and prospects for the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mountain, C.F.; Carr, D.T.

1986-01-01

This book contains 32 papers. Some of the titles are: Activation of cellular ras genes in human neoplasms; The valve of definitive radiation therapy of unresectable squamous cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma of the lung; Current concepts of chemotherapy and radiotherapy for small cell lung cancer, and Current status of immunotherapy for lung cancer

Chemical Reaction Engineering: Current Status and Future Directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudukovic, M. P.

1987-01-01

Describes Chemical Reaction Engineering (CRE) as the discipline that quantifies the interplay of transport phenomena and kinetics in relating reactor performance to operating conditions and input variables. Addresses the current status of CRE in both academic and industrial settings and outlines future trends. (TW)

The nonparametric bootstrap for the current status model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groeneboom, P.; Hendrickx, K.

2017-01-01

It has been proved that direct bootstrapping of the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the distribution function in the current status model leads to inconsistent confidence intervals. We show that bootstrapping of functionals of the MLE can however be used to produce valid

Job monitoring on the WLCG scope: Current status and new strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreeva, Julia; Casey, James; Gaidioz, Benjamin; Karavakis, Edward; Kokoszkiewicz, Lukasz; Lanciotti, Elisa; Maier, Gerhild; Rodrigues, Daniele Filipe Rocha Da Cuhna; Rocha, Ricardo; Saiz, Pablo; Sidorova, Irina; Boehm, Max; Belov, Sergey; Tikhonenko, Elena; Dvorak, Frantisek; Krenek, Ales; Mulac, Milas; Sitera, Jiri; Kodolova, Olga; Vaibhav, Kumar

2010-01-01

Job processing and data transfer are the main computing activities on the WLCG infrastructure. Reliable monitoring of the job processing on the WLCG scope is a complicated task due to the complexity of the infrastructure itself and the diversity of the currently used job submission methods. The paper will describe current status and the new strategy for the job monitoring on the WLCG scope, covering primary information sources, job status changes publishing, transport mechanism and visualization.

Marine current energy devices: Current status and possible future applications in Ireland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rourke, Fergal O.; Boyle, Fergal; Reynolds, Anthony

2010-01-01

There is a growing demand for the use of renewable energy technologies to generate electricity due to concerns over climate change. The oceans provide a huge potential resource of energy. Energy extraction using marine current energy devices (MCEDs) offers a sustainable alternative to conventional sources and a predictable alternative to other renewable energy technologies. A MCED utilises the kinetic energy of the tides as opposed to the potential energy which is utilised by a tidal barrage. Over the past decade MCEDs have become an increasingly popular method of energy extraction. However, marine current energy technology is still not economically viable on a large scale due to its current stage of development. Ireland has an excellent marine current energy resource as it is an island nation and experiences excellent marine current flows. This paper reviews marine current energy devices, including a detailed up-to-date description of the current status of development. Issues such as network integration, economics, and environmental implications are addressed as well as the application and costs of MCEDs in Ireland. (author)

Structural Learning Theory: Current Status and New Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Scandura, Joseph M.

2001-01-01

Presents the current status and new perspectives on the Structured Learning Theory (SLT), with special consideration given to how SLT has been influenced by recent research in software engineering. Topics include theoretical constructs; content domains; structural analysis; cognition; assessing behavior potential; and teaching and learning issues,…

Neutrino astronomy current status, future prospects

CERN Document Server

Karle, Albrecht

2017-01-01

This review volume is motivated by the recent discovery of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos by IceCube. The aim of the book is to bring together chapters on the status of current and future neutrino observatories with chapters on the implications and possible interpretations of the present observations and their upper limits. Each chapter is a mini-review of one aspect of the subject by leading experts. Taken together, the chapters constitute an up-to-date review of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and their potential sources.

Treatment and Controversies in Paraesophageal Hernia Repair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Marco eFisichella

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Historically all paraesophageal hernias were repaired surgically, today intervention is reserved for symptomatic paraesophageal hernias. In this review, we describe the indications for repair and explore the controversies in paraesophageal hernia repair, which include a comparison of open to laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair, the necessity of complete sac excision, the routine performance of fundoplication, and the use of mesh for hernia repair.Methods: We searched Pubmed for papers published between 1980 and 2015 using the following keywords: hiatal hernias, paraesophageal hernias, regurgitation, dysphagia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, aspiration, GERD, endoscopy, manometry, pH monitoring, proton pump inhibitors, anemia, iron deficiency anemia, Nissen fundoplication, sac excision, mesh, mesh repair. Results: Indications for paraesophageal hernia repair have changed, and currently symptomatic paraesophageal hernias are recommended for repair. In addition, it is important not to overlook iron-deficiency anemia and pulmonary complaints, which tend to improve with repair. Current practice favors a laparoscopic approach, complete sac excision, primary crural repair with or without use of mesh, and a routine fundoplication.

Current status and installation of dental PACS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Chang Seo; Kim, Kee Deog; Park, Hyok; Jeong, Ho Gul

2004-01-01

Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is difficult to implement in the best of situations, but evidence is growing that the benefits are significant. The aims of this study are to analyze the current status of full PACS and establish successful installation standard of dental PACS. Materials and Methods were based on the investigation of current working status and installation standard of PACS, and observation of variable issues to installation of dental PACS. By September 30, 2004, full PACS implementations in their facilities were 88.1% in specialized general hospitals (37 installations out of total 42 hospitals), 59.8% in general hospitals (144 installations out of total 241 hospitals), 12.3% in medical hospitals (116 installations out of total 941 hospitals) and 3.6% in dental hospitals (4 installations out of total 110 hospitals). Only 4 university dental hospitals currently have installed and are operating full PACS. Major obstacle to wide spread of dental PACS is initial high investments. Clinical environments of dental PACS differed from medical situation. Because of characteristic dental practice, the initial investments for dental PACS are generally much greater than those of medical PACS. Also new economic crisis makes users scruple. The best way to overcome these limitations is to establish an economic installation standard for dental PACS. Also the clear technical communication between the customer and the supplier before both sides are committed to the obstacles are critical to its success.

DNA repair protocols

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjergbæk, Lotte

In its 3rd edition, this Methods in Molecular Biology(TM) book covers the eukaryotic response to genomic insult including advanced protocols and standard techniques in the field of DNA repair. Offers expert guidance for DNA repair, recombination, and replication. Current knowledge of the mechanisms...... that regulate DNA repair has grown significantly over the past years with technology advances such as RNA interference, advanced proteomics and microscopy as well as high throughput screens. The third edition of DNA Repair Protocols covers various aspects of the eukaryotic response to genomic insult including...... recent advanced protocols as well as standard techniques used in the field of DNA repair. Both mammalian and non-mammalian model organisms are covered in the book, and many of the techniques can be applied with only minor modifications to other systems than the one described. Written in the highly...

Early postoperative repair status after rotator cuff repair cannot be accurately classified using questionnaires of patient function and isokinetic strength evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Colliver, Jessica; Wang, Allan; Joss, Brendan; Ebert, Jay; Koh, Eamon; Breidahl, William; Ackland, Timothy

2016-04-01

This study investigated if patients with an intact tendon repair or partial-thickness retear early after rotator cuff repair display differences in clinical evaluations and whether early tendon healing can be predicted using these assessments. We prospectively evaluated 60 patients at 16 weeks after arthroscopic supraspinatus repair. Evaluation included the Oxford Shoulder Score, 11-item version of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand, visual analog scale for pain, 12-item Short Form Health Survey, isokinetic strength, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Independent t tests investigated clinical differences in patients based on the Sugaya MRI rotator cuff classification system (grades 1, 2, or 3). Discriminant analysis determined whether intact repairs (Sugaya grade 1) and partial-thickness retears (Sugaya grades 2 and 3) could be predicted. No differences (P repair was intact. The ability to discriminate between groups was enhanced with up to 5 variables entered; however, only 87% of the partial-retear group and 36% of the intact-repair group were correctly classified. No differences in clinical scores existed between patients stratified by the Sugaya MRI classification system at 16 weeks. An intact repair or partial-thickness retear could not be accurately predicted. Our results suggest that correct classification of healing in the early postoperative stages should involve imaging. Copyright © 2016 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Current Biomechanical Concepts of Suture Bridge Repair Technique for Rotator Cuff Tear

OpenAIRE

Ming-Long Yeh; Chih-Kai Hong; Wei-Ren Su; I-Ming Jou; Cheng-Li Lin; Chii-Jen Lin

2015-01-01

Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common disorders of the shoulder and can have significant effects on daily activities as a result of pain, loss of motion and strength. The goal of rotator cuff repair is aimed at anatomic restoration of the rotator cuff tendon to reduce pain and improve the joint function. Recently, arthroscopic repair has been widely accepted for treatment of rotator cuff tears due to its equal or better results than those from open repair. In 2006, a...

Influences of the current density on the performances of the chrome-plated layer in deterministic electroplating repair

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, H.; Shen, X. M.; Yang, X. C.; Xiong, Y.; Jiang, G. L.

2018-01-01

Deterministic electroplating repair is a novel method for rapidly repairing the attrited parts. By the qualitative contrast and quantitative comparison, influences of the current density on performances of the chrome-plated layer were concluded in this study. The chrome-plated layers were fabricated under different current densities when the other parameters were kept constant. Hardnesses, thicknesses and components, surface morphologies and roughnesses, and wearability of the chrome-plated layers were detected by the Vickers hardness tester, scanning electron microscope / energy dispersive X-ray detector, digital microscope in the 3D imaging mode, and the ball-milling instrument with profilograph, respectively. In order to scientifically evaluate each factor, the experimental data was normalized. A comprehensive evaluation model was founded to quantitative analyse influence of the current density based on analytic hierarchy process method and the weighted evaluation method. The calculated comprehensive evaluation indexes corresponding to current density of 40A/dm2, 45A/dm2, 50A/dm2, 55A/dm2, 60A/dm2, and 65A/dm2 were 0.2246, 0.4850, 0.4799, 0.4922, 0.8672, and 0.1381, respectively. Experimental results indicate that final optimal option was 60A/dm2, and the priority orders were 60A/dm2, 55A/dm2, 45A/dm2, 50A/dm2, 40A/dm2, and 65A/dm2.

Special Education History, Current Status and Future: India

Science.gov (United States)

Antony, Pavan John

2013-01-01

Education of all children in public schools, including those with disabilities, continues to be an unresolved issue in many countries around the globe. While education of all children is mandated by law and considered a basic human right in many countries, the current status of implementation varies. India, for example, is an ancient country that…

Current status of agricultural extension services for market oriented ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Current status of agricultural extension services for market oriented agricultural development in Ethiopia: Results from a household baseline ... Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. ... http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v10i3.1.

The ENIQ pilot study: current status

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemaitre, P; Eriksen, B; Crutzen, S [European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Petten (Netherlands); Hansch, M [Preussische Elektrizitaets-AG (Preussenelektra), Hannover (Germany); Whittle, J [AEA Technology, Warrington (United Kingdom)

1998-11-01

A pilot study is currently being carried out by ENIQ (European Network for Inspection Qualification) in order to explore the issues involved in inspection qualification applied along the general principles of the European methodology. The components selected for the pilot study are austenitic pipe to pipe and pipe to elbows welds typical of those in BWR recirculation loops. A range of defect parameters has been defined. A suitable inspection procedure designed to find the designated defects will be applied to geometrically representative test pieces. The procedure/equipment will be qualified through open trials and technical justification. The personnel qualification will be done in a blind way. Once all features of the inspection system will have been qualified an in-service inspection will be simulated in order to test the feasibility of the qualification approach followed. In this paper the current status of this pilot study is discussed. (orig.)

Brain tumor radiosurgery. Current status and strategies to enhance the effect of radiosurgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niranjan, A.; Lunsford, L.D.; Gobbel, G.T.; Kondziolka, D.; Maitz, A.; Flickinger, J.C.

2000-01-01

First, the current status of brain tumor radiosurgery is reviewed, and radiosurgery for brain tumors, including benign tumors, malignant tumors, primary glial tumors, and metastatic tumors, is described. Rapid developments in neuroimaging, stereotactic techniques, and robotic technology in the last decade have contributed to improved results and wider applications of radiosurgery. Radiosurgery has become the preferred management modality for many intracranial tumors, including schwannomas, meningiomas, and metastatic tumors. Although radiosurgery provides survival benefits in patients with diffuse malignant brain tumors, cure is still not possible. Microscopic tumor infiltration into surrounding normal tissue is the main cause of recurrence. Additional strategies are needed to specifically target tumor cells. Next, strategies to enhance the effect of radiosurgery are reviewed. Whereas the long-term clinical results of radiosurgery have established its role in the treatment of benign tumors, additional strategies are needed to improve cell killing in malignant brain tumors and to protect normal surrounding brain. The first strategy included the use of various agents to protect normal brain while delivering a high dose to the tumor cells, but finding an effective radioprotective agent has been problematic. Pentobarbital and 21-aminosteroid (21-AS) are presented as examples. The second strategy for radiation protection aimed at the repair of radiation-induced damage to the normal brain. The cause of radiation-induced breakdown of normal tissue is unclear. The white matter and the cerebral vasculature appear to be particularly susceptible to radiation. Oligodendrocytes and endothelial cells may be critical targets of radiation. The authors hypothesize that radiation-induced damage to these cell types can be repaired by neural stem cells. They also describe the use of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and neural stem cells as a means of enhancing the effect of

Current status of laparoscopic central pancreatectomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CAO Yang

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Central pancreatectomy is an ideal surgical procedure for the treatment of benign or low-grade malignant tumors in the pancreatic neck or the proximal body of the pancreas, and it can preserve more normal pancreatic tissue in order to reduce the incidence of endocrine and exocrine insufficiency after surgery. Although some clinical studies have demonstrated the feasibility and safety of this procedure, laparoscopic central pancreatectomy was technically challenging with a few number of cases. This article reviews the current status of laparoscopic central pancreatectomy and introduces our clinical experience of laparoscopic central pancreatectomy and pancreaticojejunostomy.

18.2.3 Current Concepts on Tissue Engineering for Meniscus Repair

OpenAIRE

Mandelbaum, B.; Roos, H.; Shive, M.S.; Hambly, K.; Mithoefer, K.; Della Villa, S.; Silvers, H.J.; Hambly, K.; Fontana, A.; Dalemans, W.; Celis, P.; Brittberg, M.; Marcacci, M.; Kon, E.; Delcogliano, M.

2009-01-01

Introduction Articular cartilage lesions are a common pathology of the knee joint and many patients could benefit from cartilage repair. Untreated, however, cartilage defects may lead to osteoarthritis (OA). Thus, surgical treatment options may offer a possibility for patients with cartilage defects to avoid OA or to delay the progression of OA. Therefore, cartilage repair techniques require sophisticated follow-up, if possible non-invasively. Although clinical findings are the primary criter...

Current status of pediatric minimal access surgery at Sultan Qaboos ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Keywords: current status, laparoscopy, minimal access surgery, thoracoscopy. Departments of ... Materials and methods ... procedures, the open technique was used for the creation ... operated for bilateral inguinal herniotomy had recurrence.

Current Therapeutic Strategies for Adipose Tissue Defects/Repair Using Engineered Biomaterials and Biomolecule Formulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher M. Mahoney

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Tissue engineered scaffolds for adipose restoration/repair has significantly evolved in recent years. Patients requiring soft tissue reconstruction, caused by defects or pathology, require biomaterials that will restore void volume with new functional tissue. The gold standard of autologous fat grafting (AFG is not a reliable option. This review focuses on the latest therapeutic strategies for the treatment of adipose tissue defects using biomolecule formulations and delivery, and specifically engineered biomaterials. Additionally, the clinical need for reliable off-the-shelf therapies, animal models, and challenges facing current technologies are discussed.

Current Therapeutic Strategies for Adipose Tissue Defects/Repair Using Engineered Biomaterials and Biomolecule Formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahoney, Christopher M; Imbarlina, Cayla; Yates, Cecelia C; Marra, Kacey G

2018-01-01

Tissue engineered scaffolds for adipose restoration/repair has significantly evolved in recent years. Patients requiring soft tissue reconstruction, caused by defects or pathology, require biomaterials that will restore void volume with new functional tissue. The gold standard of autologous fat grafting (AFG) is not a reliable option. This review focuses on the latest therapeutic strategies for the treatment of adipose tissue defects using biomolecule formulations and delivery, and specifically engineered biomaterials. Additionally, the clinical need for reliable off-the-shelf therapies, animal models, and challenges facing current technologies are discussed.

Current status of low energy EB machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toshiro Nishikimi; Shuichi Taniguchi; Kenichi Mizusawa

1999-01-01

Electron beam processing systems have been in use in a variety of applications such as curing of paints and printing inks, crosslinking of PE products, treating of rubber tire and so on. Low energy electron processing systems have become popular as self-shielded machines, which are compact and easy to use and do not require special facility as an irradiation room. This manuscript introduces the status of low energy EB (electron beam) machine through Nissin's products current

Regression analysis of informative current status data with the additive hazards model.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Shishun; Hu, Tao; Ma, Ling; Wang, Peijie; Sun, Jianguo

2015-04-01

This paper discusses regression analysis of current status failure time data arising from the additive hazards model in the presence of informative censoring. Many methods have been developed for regression analysis of current status data under various regression models if the censoring is noninformative, and also there exists a large literature on parametric analysis of informative current status data in the context of tumorgenicity experiments. In this paper, a semiparametric maximum likelihood estimation procedure is presented and in the method, the copula model is employed to describe the relationship between the failure time of interest and the censoring time. Furthermore, I-splines are used to approximate the nonparametric functions involved and the asymptotic consistency and normality of the proposed estimators are established. A simulation study is conducted and indicates that the proposed approach works well for practical situations. An illustrative example is also provided.

Helicopter Rotor Noise Prediction: Background, Current Status, and Future Direction

Science.gov (United States)

Brentner, Kenneth S.

1997-01-01

Helicopter noise prediction is increasingly important. The purpose of this viewgraph presentation is to: 1) Put into perspective the recent progress; 2) Outline current prediction capabilities; 3) Forecast direction of future prediction research; 4) Identify rotorcraft noise prediction needs. The presentation includes an historical perspective, a description of governing equations, and the current status of source noise prediction.

Current knowledge of US metal and nonmetal miner health: Current and potential data sources for analysis of miner health status

Science.gov (United States)

Yeoman, K. M.; Halldin, C. N.; Wood, J.; Storey, E.; Johns, D.; Laney, A. S.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Little is known about the current health status of US metal and nonmetal (MNM) miners, in part because no health surveillance systems exist for this population. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is developing a program to characterize burden of disease among MNM miners. This report discusses current knowledge and potential data sources of MNM miner health. Recent national surveys were analyzed, and literature specific to MNM miner health status was reviewed. No robust estimates of disease prevalence were identified, and national surveys did not provide information specific to MNM miners. Because substantial gaps exist in the understanding of MNM miners' current health status, NIOSH plans to develop a health surveillance program for this population to guide intervention efforts to reduce occupational and personal risks for chronic illness. PMID:25658684

Current status of radiation treatment of water and wastewater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pikaev, A.K.

1997-01-01

This is a brief review of the current status of radiation treatment of surface water, groundwater, wastewaters, and sewage sludges. Sources of ionizing radiation, and combination radiation methods for purification are described in some detail. Special attention is paid to pilot and industrial facilities. (author)

Functional health status of adults with tetralogy of Fallot: matched comparison with healthy siblings.

Science.gov (United States)

Knowles, Rachel; Veldtman, Gruschen; Hickey, Edward J; Bradley, Timothy; Gengsakul, Aungkana; Webb, Gary D; Williams, William G; McCrindle, Brian W

2012-07-01

Survival prospects for adults with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) are now excellent. Attention should therefore shift to assessing and improving functional health status and quality of life. We aimed to assess late functional health status of adults surviving TOF repair by matched comparison to their healthy siblings. All 1,693 TOF repairs performed at our institution between 1946 and 1990 were reviewed. A matched comparison was undertaken whereby presumed survivors and their healthy sibling were contacted and asked to complete the Ontario Health Survey 1990 and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. Both questionnaires were completed by 224 adult survivors and their sibling closest in age. Adults with repaired TOF had lower scores for self-perceived general health status (p health as good or excellent (p health (p = 0.001) than their siblings. However, patients reported similar satisfaction with their lives, similar levels of social participation and support, and were as likely to be in long-term partnerships. Worse physical and mental health scores were associated with older age at surgery and at time of questionnaire completion and recent requirement for noncardiac medication. Although reporting lower functional health status then their siblings, quality of life and life satisfaction for adults who underwent surgery for TOF during childhood is comparable to that of their siblings without heart defects. Follow-up of younger adults is required to understand current health outcomes attributable to improvements in the management of TOF. Copyright © 2012 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Current status and prospects of gene doping detection].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wenjun; Zhang, Sichun; Xu, Jingjuan; Xia, Xinghua; Tian, Yaping; Zhang, Xinrong; Chen, Hong-Yuan

2008-07-01

The fast development of biotechnology promotes the development of doping. From recombinant protein to gene doping, there is a great challenge to their detection. The improvement of gene therapy and potential to enhance athletic performance open the door for gene doping. After a brief introduction of the concept of gene doping, the current status and prospects of gene doping detection are reviewed.

Manipulating chromosome structure and metaphase status with ultraviolet light and repair synthesis inhibitors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mullinger, A.M.; Johnson, R.T. (Cambridge Univ. (UK). Dept. of Zoology)

1985-02-01

DNA repair occurs in metaphase-arrested cells in response to ultraviolet irradiation. In the presence of the repair synthesis inhibitors, hydroxyurea and 1-..beta..-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, the chromosomes of such cells are decondensed. The dose response of chromosome decondensation varies between different cell types. In human cells defective in excision repair there is much less chromosome decondensation in response to the same ultraviolet dose and time of repair inhibition. However, a simian virus 40-transformed muntjac cell displays pronounced chromosome decondensation but has limited incision ability. Both chromosome decondensation and single-strand break accumulation in the presence of inhibitors are reversed when DNA precursors are provided, but reversal after higher ultraviolet doses and longer period of incubation leads to recondensed chromosomes that are fragmented. Although the chromosomes of repair-inhibited metaphase cells are decondensed in fixed preparations, their morphology appears normal in intact cells. The cells also retain a capacity to induce prematurely condensed chromosomes (PCC) when fused with interphase cells: compared with control mitotic cells, the speed of induction is sometimes reduced but the final amount of PCC produced is similar.

Turbine repair process, repaired coating, and repaired turbine component

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Rupak; Delvaux, John McConnell; Garcia-Crespo, Andres Jose

2015-11-03

A turbine repair process, a repaired coating, and a repaired turbine component are disclosed. The turbine repair process includes providing a turbine component having a higher-pressure region and a lower-pressure region, introducing particles into the higher-pressure region, and at least partially repairing an opening between the higher-pressure region and the lower-pressure region with at least one of the particles to form a repaired turbine component. The repaired coating includes a silicon material, a ceramic matrix composite material, and a repaired region having the silicon material deposited on and surrounded by the ceramic matrix composite material. The repaired turbine component a ceramic matrix composite layer and a repaired region having silicon material deposited on and surrounded by the ceramic matrix composite material.

Distal protection in cardiovascular medicine: current status.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Onn Akbar; Bhindi, Ravinay; McMahon, Aisling C; Brieger, David; Kritharides, Leonard; Lowe, Harry C

2006-08-01

Iatrogenic and spontaneous downstream microembolization of atheromatous material is increasingly recognized as a source of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Devising ways of reducing this distal embolization using a variety of mechanical means--distal protection--is currently under intense and diverse investigation. This review therefore summarizes the present status of distal protection. It examines the problem of distal embolization, describes the available distal protection devices, reviews those areas of cardiovascular medicine where distal protection devices are being investigated, and discusses potential future developments.

Arrhythmias and sudden death among older children and young adults following tetralogy of Fallot repair in the current era: are previously reported risk factors still applicable?

Science.gov (United States)

Arya, Swati; Kovach, Julie; Singh, Harinder; Karpawich, Peter P

2014-01-01

Young adult patients (pts) with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) remain at risk for arrhythmias (Ar) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Based on past studies with earlier pt subsets, Ar/SCD events were associated with right ventricular (RV) systolic pressures >60 mm Hg, outflow tract gradients >20 mm Hg, and QRS duration >180 ms. However, there are limited recent studies to evaluate these risk factors in the current patient generation. Patients with TOF followed over the past 50 years were grouped by presence of any arrhythmias (group 1), absence of arrhythmias (group 2), and presence of SCD or significant ventricular arrhythmias (group 3) and correlated with current pt age, gender, age at repair, repair types, echocardiogram, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, electrocardiogram/Holter, hemodynamics, and electrophysiology findings. Of 109 pts, 52 were male aged 17-58 years. Of these, 59 (54%) had Ar, two of whom had SCD. These 59 pts were chronologically older at the time of analysis, with repair at an older age and wider QRS duration (78-240, mean 158 ms) when compared with those without Ar. However, there was no correlation with surgical era, surgical repair, gender, RV pressure >60 mm Hg, right ventricular outflow tract gradient >20 mm Hg, or RV end-diastolic volume on CMRI. Ar/SCD risk continues to correlate with repair age and advancing pt age. QRS duration is longer in these patients but at a shorter interval (mean 158 ms) and less RV pressure (mean 43 mm Hg) than previously reported. In the current TOF patient generation, neither surgical era, type of repair, RV outflow gradient nor RV volume correlate with Ar/SCD. Electrophysiologic testing to verify and identify arrhythmias remains clinically effective. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Use of Drosophila to study DNA repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyd, J.B.; Harris, P.V.; Sakaguchi, K.

1988-01-01

This paper discusses Drosophila, the premier metazoan organism for analyzing many fundamental features of eukaryotic gene regulation. The authors present adaptations of several approaches for studying DNA repair to an analysis of repair-defective mutants in Drosophila. A current understanding of Drosophila DNA repair is described

The current status of wind energy in Turkey and in the world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilkilic, Cumali; Aydin, Hueseyin; Behcet, Rasim

2011-01-01

The rapid increase in world energy demand, the depletion of conventional energy sources and the pollution caused by conventional fuels have increased the importance of developing new and renewable energy sources. Additionally, technological developments have resulted in increased energy demand for the entire world, including Turkey, especially for electrical energy. At present, wind energy is receiving considerable attention. This report focuses on the current status of wind energy in Turkey and in the world. An overview of wind energy in Turkey is presented, and its current status, application, support mechanisms and associated legislation in Turkey are described. Wind energy and its status in the world are also addressed. It can be concluded from this analysis that wind energy utilization in Turkey and throughout world has sharply increased. Turkey has an abundance of wind energy sources. - Research highlights: →The importance of wind energy utilization. →Wind energy status, potential, applications, legislations and supports in Turkey. →An overview of wind energy the world.

Cellular and molecular repair of X-ray-induced damage: dependence on oxygen tension and nutritional status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiro, I.J.; Kennedy, K.A.; Stickler, R.; Ling, C.C.

1985-01-01

Cellular and molecular repair was studied at 23 0 C using split-dose recovery and alkaline elution techniques, respectively, as a function of cellular oxygen and nutrient conditions. Hypoxic cells in full medium showed a partial reduction in the level of sublethal damage (SLD) repair relative to aerated cells; the respective repair kinetics were similar with a common repair half-time of 30 min. Similarly, hypoxic cells showed a slight reduction in strand break rejoining capacity compared to aerated cells. Under nutrient deprivation, anoxic cells displayed no SLD repair or strand break repair, while aerated cells exhibited the same level of SLD and strand break repair as for well-fed cells. In addition, nutrient deprived cells at low O 2 levels displayed normal SLD and strand break repair capability. These results indicate that both nutrient and O 2 deprivation are necessary for complete inhibition of cellular and molecular repair, and low levels of O 2 can effectively reverse this inhibition

Current status of neutron scattering in Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ampornrat, Pantip

2000-01-01

The neutron scattering experiments in Thailand have been done continuously since the start up of the reactor. In 1977, Thai research reactor was modified into TRIGA MARK III core. After that, the neutron spectrometer was installed again under a development program. Installation of upgrading spectrometer was delayed because of some problems involving the neutron intensity and instruments. However, these problems were solved and the setup is almost completed. The paper reports the current status of neutron spectrometer, the problems and plans for the experiments. (author)

DNA repair: a changing geography? (1964-2008).

Science.gov (United States)

Maisonobe, Marion; Giglia-Mari, Giuseppina; Eckert, Denis

2013-07-01

This article aims to explain the current state of DNA Repair studies' global geography by focusing on the genesis of the community. Bibliometric data is used to localize scientific activities related to DNA Repair at the city level. The keyword "DNA Repair" was introduced first by American scientists. It started to spread after 1964 that is to say, after P. Howard-Flanders (Yale University), P. Hanawalt (Stanford University) and R. Setlow (Oak Ridge Laboratories) found evidence for Excision Repair mechanisms. It was the first stage in the emergence of an autonomous scientific community. In this article, we will try to assess to what extent the geo-history of this scientific field is determinant in understanding its current geography. In order to do so, we will localize the places where the first "DNA Repair" publications were signed fifty years ago and the following spatial diffusion process, which led to the current geography of the field. Then, we will focus on the evolution of the research activity of "early entrants" in relation to the activity of "latecomers". This article is an opportunity to share with DNA Repair scientists some research results of a dynamic field in Science studies: spatial scientometrics. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Underwater inspection, repair and reconstitution of water reactor fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-06-01

On-site fuel examination plays an important role for evaluation of fuel irradiation performance under reactor operating conditions. Also fuel assembly repairs are economically very attractive for operating nuclear utilities. The status of the processes of examination and repair, equipment used and research plans in Member States are reviewed in these Proceedings. All presentations were divided into three sessions: inspection diagnostic: facilities, techniques, and programmes (8 papers); repair and reconstitution techniques (6 papers); power plant experience (6 papers). A separate abstract was prepared for each of these 20 papers. Refs, figs and tabs

IVS: Current Status and Future Plans

Science.gov (United States)

Behrend, D.; Nothnagel, A.; Petrachenko, W. T.; Tuccari, G.

2016-12-01

The International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) is a globally operating service that coordinates and performs Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) activities through its constituent components. The VLBI activities are associated with the creation, provision, dissemination, and archiving of relevant VLBI data and products. The products mostly pertain to the determination of the celestial and terrestrial reference frames, the Earth orientation parameters (EOP), atmospheric parameters as well as other ancillary parameters. The IVS observational network currently consists of about 40 radio telescopes worldwide. Subsets of these telescopes (8-12 stations) participate in 24-hour observing sessions that are run several times per week and in 1-hour intensive sessions for UT1 determination every day. The current VLBI network was developed mainly in the 1970s and 1980s. A number of factors, including aging infrastructure and demanding new scientific requirements, started to challenge its future sustainability and relevance. In response, the IVS and other groups developed and started implementing the next generation VLBI system, called VGOS (VLBI Global Observing System), at existing and new sites. The VGOS network is expected to reach maturity in the early 2020s. We describe the current status, progress, and anticipated prospects of geodetic/astrometric VLBI and the IVS.

Current status of presurgical infant orthopaedic treatment for cleft lip and palate patients: A critical review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P Priyanka Niranjane

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Rehabilitation of cleft lip and palate (CLP patients is a challenge for all the concerned members of the cleft team, and various treatment modalities have been attempted to obtain aesthetic results. Presurgical infant orthopaedics (PSIO was introduced to reshape alveolar and nasal segments prior to surgical repair of cleft lip. However, literature reports lot of controversy regarding the use of PSIO in patients with CLP. Evaluation of long-term results of PSIO can provide scientific evidence on the efficacy and usefulness of PSIO in CLP patients. The aim was to assess the scientific evidence on the efficiency of PSIO appliances in patients with CLP and to critically analyse the current status of PSIO. A PubMed search was performed using the terms PSIO, presurgical nasoalveolar moulding and its long-term results and related articles were selected for the review. The documented studies report no beneficial effect of PSIO on maxillary arch dimensions, facial aesthetics and in the subsequent development of dentition and occlusion in CLP patients. Nasal moulding seems to be more beneficial and effective in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients with better long-term results.

Current status of RCA projects and strategies for future implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyoung Pyo; Lee, Jeong Kong

1998-12-01

This report is intended to provide basic overall information about ways to promote technical cooperation within the framework of RCA to accelerate and coordinate cooperative activities in nuclear science and technology in Asia and the Pacific region through a thorough review on the current status and through suggesting future implementation strategies. The contents of this report include an overall introduction of RCA, guidelines and operating rules for RCA programmes, current status and future plans for RCA projects as well as the RCA vision for the next 25 years. By reviewing the current status and future implementation strategies for RCA projects, it will help to set up a national nuclear policy aimed at seeking maximum benefits from participation in RCA projects and to implement programmes for nuclear cooperation with Asian-Pacific countries. It is expected that as a lead country for the energy sector, which is one of five thematic areas for the year 1999 - 2000 cycle programmes, Korea will continue to make significant contributions towards the implementation of RCA programmes in the future. With this report, we plan to keep up with future developments as well as implement an effective cooperation with the countries in the region so that the opinion of Korea, one of the nuclear advanced countries in the region, can be fully reflected in the establishment of future plans for RCA programmes. (author). 3 refs., 5 tabs., 1 fig

Current Status of Yongbyon Nuclear Complex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, Yong Soo [Korea Institute of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Control, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

The DPRK has developed Yongbyon Nuclear Complex in Figure 1 since 1960's. Currently it is composed of the reactor facility, fuel fabrication facility including the enrichment center, and the radiochemistry center. Even though many facilities are not modern and economic in the western standards, Yongbyon Nuclear Complex is fully equipped with the entire life cycle of the nuclear installation. The key facilities have been added step by step. For example, the DPRK's nuclear reactor fleet started with the 2 MW IRT-2000 reactor in the middle of 80's. It started with a small scale radioactive isotope separation center nearby. But nowadays the DPRK is constructing a much more larger isotope separation center in the vicinity of its enrichment center along with a potential new UF6 conversion center. The general description over Yongbyon Nuclear Complex is given in this paper. More detailed context of the current status of the center will be discussed in the main symposium purely based on the open source information study.

Current status and future direction of the MONK software package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Nigel; Armishaw, Malcolm; Cooper, Andrew

2003-01-01

The current status of the MONK criticality software package is summarized in terms of recent and current developments and envisaged directions for the future. The areas of the discussion are physics modeling, geometry modeling, source modeling, nuclear data, validation, supporting tools and customer services. In future development plan, MONK continues to be focused on meeting the short and long-term needs of the code user community. (J.P.N.)

Recent advances in DNA repair and recombination.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanejko, L A; Jones, N J

1998-09-11

The subjects of the talks at this 1-day DNA Repair Network meeting, held at City University, London on December 15, 1997, encompassed a range of topics and reflected some of the current areas of research in the United Kingdom. Topics included DNA double-strand break repair, V(D)J recombination, DNA ligases, the RecQ family of helicases and Bloom's syndrome, UVB and immunosuppression, the repair of oxidative damage and mismatch repair mechanisms.

Cost Estimating in DoD: Current Status, Trends, and What the Future Holds

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Nussbaum, Daniel A

2005-01-01

(1) Current Status: Baseline analysis of current cost estimating community, including which organizations are responsible for developing and reviewing cost estimates, how many personnel there are, what...

Hardwood lumber supply chain: current status and market opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Urs Buehlmann; Matthew Bumgardner; Al Schuler; Mark Barford

2007-01-01

The membership of the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Association was surveyed in 2005 to determine the current status of large Appalachian sawmills. The primary focus was to assess the impacts of globalization on primary manufacturing, but attention was also paid to general issues affecting the hardwood lumber supply chain-from concerns over forest health and log...

Smart wearable systems: current status and future challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Marie; Estève, Daniel; Fourniols, Jean-Yves; Escriba, Christophe; Campo, Eric

2012-11-01

Extensive efforts have been made in both academia and industry in the research and development of smart wearable systems (SWS) for health monitoring (HM). Primarily influenced by skyrocketing healthcare costs and supported by recent technological advances in micro- and nanotechnologies, miniaturisation of sensors, and smart fabrics, the continuous advances in SWS will progressively change the landscape of healthcare by allowing individual management and continuous monitoring of a patient's health status. Consisting of various components and devices, ranging from sensors and actuators to multimedia devices, these systems support complex healthcare applications and enable low-cost wearable, non-invasive alternatives for continuous 24-h monitoring of health, activity, mobility, and mental status, both indoors and outdoors. Our objective has been to examine the current research in wearable to serve as references for researchers and provide perspectives for future research. Herein, we review the current research and development of and the challenges facing SWS for HM, focusing on multi-parameter physiological sensor systems and activity and mobility measurement system designs that reliably measure mobility or vital signs and integrate real-time decision support processing for disease prevention, symptom detection, and diagnosis. For this literature review, we have chosen specific selection criteria to include papers in which wearable systems or devices are covered. We describe the state of the art in SWS and provide a survey of recent implementations of wearable health-care systems. We describe current issues, challenges, and prospects of SWS. We conclude by identifying the future challenges facing SWS for HM. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mountain Plains Learning Experience Guide: Electric Motor Repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Ziller, T.

This Electric Motor Repair Course is designed to provide the student with practical information for winding, repairing, and troubleshooting alternating current and direct current motors, and controllers. The course is comprised of eight units: (1) Electric Motor Fundamentals, (2) Rewinding, (3) Split-phase Induction Motors, (4) Capacitor Motors,…

Male infertility after mesh hernia repair: A prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallén, Magnus; Sandblom, Gabriel; Nordin, Pär; Gunnarsson, Ulf; Kvist, Ulrik; Westerdahl, Johan

2011-02-01

Several animal studies have raised concern about the risk for obstructive azoospermia owing to vasal fibrosis caused by the use of alloplastic mesh prosthesis in inguinal hernia repair. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of male infertility after bilateral mesh repair. In a prospective study, a questionnaire inquiring about involuntary childlessness, investigation for infertility and number of children was sent by mail to a group of 376 men aged 18-55 years, who had undergone bilateral mesh repair, identified in the Swedish Hernia Register (SHR). Questionnaires were also sent to 2 control groups, 1 consisting of 186 men from the SHR who had undergone bilateral repair without mesh, and 1 consisting of 383 men identified in the general population. The control group from the SHR was matched 2:1 for age and years elapsed since operation. The control group from the general population was matched 1:1 for age and marital status. The overall response rate was 525 of 945 (56%). Method of approach (anterior or posterior), type of mesh, and testicular status at the time of the repair had no significant impact on the answers to the questions. Nor did subgroup analysis of the men ≤40 years old reveal any significant differences. The results of this prospective study in men do not support the hypothesis that bilateral inguinal hernia repair with alloplastic mesh prosthesis causes male infertility at a significantly greater rate than those operated without mesh. Copyright © 2011 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Counseling in Malaysia: History, Current Status, and Future Trends

Science.gov (United States)

See, Ching Mey; Ng, Kok-Mun

2010-01-01

This article presents an overview of the history of counseling in Malaysia, provides an update of its current status, and discusses some anticipated future trends for the profession in light of recent developments in the country. Counseling in Malaysia began with school guidance in the 1960s and has now achieved recognition as a profession in…

Repair process and a repaired component

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberts, III, Herbert Chidsey; Simpson, Stanley F.

2018-02-20

Matrix composite component repair processes are disclosed. The matrix composite repair process includes applying a repair material to a matrix composite component, securing the repair material to the matrix composite component with an external securing mechanism and curing the repair material to bond the repair material to the matrix composite component during the securing by the external securing mechanism. The matrix composite component is selected from the group consisting of a ceramic matrix composite, a polymer matrix composite, and a metal matrix composite. In another embodiment, the repair process includes applying a partially-cured repair material to a matrix composite component, and curing the repair material to bond the repair material to the matrix composite component, an external securing mechanism securing the repair material throughout a curing period, In another embodiment, the external securing mechanism is consumed or decomposed during the repair process.

Current status of Pohang Neutron Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, G.N.; Lee, Y.S.; Cho, M.H. [Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, POSTECH, Pohang (KR)] [and others

2000-03-01

We present the current status of Pohang Neutron Facility, which is the pulsed neutron facility, based on the 70-MeV electron linear accelerator completed on Dec.1997. We have prepared the 15-m time-of-flight path, a Ta-target system, and the Data Acquisition System. Meanwhile we have measured the total cross-sections of Dy and Hf samples at the Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University and the neutron capture cross-sections of {sup 164}Dy isotope at Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology both in Japan. We also were participated the experiment at the 122-m flight path of the IBR-30 pulsed neutron source of Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. (author)

Instantaneous Project Controls: Current Status, State of the Art, Benefits, and Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Abbaszadegan, Amin

2016-01-01

Despite advancements in construction and construction-related technology, capital project performance deviations, typically overruns, remain endemic within the capital projects industry. Currently, management is generally unaware of the current status of their projects, and thus monitoring and control of projects are not achieved effectively. In…

DNA repair in non-mammalian animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitani, Hiroshi

1984-01-01

Studies on DNA repair have been performed using microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and cultured human and mammalian cells. However, it is well known that cultured organic cells differ from each other in many respects, although DNA repair is an extremely fundamental function of organisms to protect genetic information from environmental mutagens such as radiation and 0 radicals developing in the living body. To answer the question of how DNA repair is different between the animal species, current studies on DNA repair of cultured vertebrate cells using the methods similar to those in mammalian experiments are reviewed. (Namekawa, K.)

Histone displacement during nucleotide excision repair

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dinant, C.; Bartek, J.; Bekker-Jensen, S.

2012-01-01

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is an important DNA repair mechanism required for cellular resistance against UV light and toxic chemicals such as those found in tobacco smoke. In living cells, NER efficiently detects and removes DNA lesions within the large nuclear macromolecular complex called...... of histone variants and histone displacement (including nucleosome sliding). Here we review current knowledge, and speculate about current unknowns, regarding those chromatin remodeling activities that physically displace histones before, during and after NER....

DNA repair in Mycobacterium tuberculosis revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Dos Vultos, Tiago; Mestre, Olga; Tonjum, Tone; Gicquel, Brigitte

2009-05-01

Our understanding of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA repair mechanisms is still poor compared with that of other bacterial organisms. However, the publication of the first complete M. tuberculosis genome sequence 10 years ago boosted the study of DNA repair systems in this organism. A first step in the elucidation of M. tuberculosis DNA repair mechanisms was taken by Mizrahi and Andersen, who identified homologs of genes involved in the reversal or repair of DNA damage in Escherichia coli and related organisms. Genes required for nucleotide excision repair, base excision repair, recombination, and SOS repair and mutagenesis were identified. Notably, no homologs of genes involved in mismatch repair were identified. Novel characteristics of the M. tuberculosis DNA repair machinery have been found over the last decade, such as nonhomologous end joining, the presence of Mpg, ERCC3 and Hlr - proteins previously presumed to be produced exclusively in mammalian cells - and the recently discovered bifunctional dCTP deaminase:dUTPase. The study of these systems is important to develop therapeutic agents that can counteract M. tuberculosis evolutionary changes and to prevent adaptive events resulting in antibiotic resistance. This review summarizes our current understanding of the M. tuberculosis DNA repair system.

Patient selection, echocardiographic screening and treatment strategies for interventional tricuspid repair using the edge-to-edge repair technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Hausleiter, Jörg; Braun, Daniel; Orban, Mathias; Latib, Azeem; Lurz, Philipp; Boekstegers, Peter; von Bardeleben, Ralph Stephan; Kowalski, Marek; Hahn, Rebecca T; Maisano, Francesco; Hagl, Christian; Massberg, Steffen; Nabauer, Michael

2018-04-24

Severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has long been neglected despite its well known association with mortality. While surgical mortality rates remain high in isolated tricuspid valve surgery, interventional TR repair is rapidly evolving as an alternative to cardiac surgery in selected patients at high surgical risk. Currently, interventional edge-to-edge repair is the most frequently applied technique for TR repair even though the device has not been developed for this particular indication. Due to the inherent differences in tricuspid and mitral valve anatomy and pathology, percutaneous repair of the tricuspid valve is challenging due to a variety of factors including the complexity and variability of tricuspid valve anatomy, echocardiographic visibility of the valve leaflets, and device steering to the tricuspid valve. Furthermore, it remains to be clarified which patients are suitable for a percutaneous tricuspid repair and which features predict a successful procedure. On the basis of the available experience, we describe criteria for patient selection including morphological valve features, a standardized process for echocardiographic screening, and a strategy for clip placement. These criteria will help to achieve standardization of valve assessment and the procedural approach, and to further develop interventional tricuspid valve repair using either currently available devices or dedicated tricuspid edge-to-edge repair devices in the future. In summary, this manuscript will provide guidance for patient selection and echocardiographic screening when considering edge-to-edge repair for severe TR.

CT colonography: current status in Europe and future perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefere, P.; Gryspeerdt, S.; Yoshida, H.

2007-01-01

In this article, we review the current status of CT colonography (CTC) in Europe and future perspectives of CTC including fecal tagging and CAD. There are several large multi-centre studies that have been initiated. Fecal tagging has gradually become a prerequisite to perform state-of-the-art CTC. However, CAD for fecal-tagging CTC remains a subject for future research. (orig.)

Anterior cruciate ligament repair - past, present and future.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahapatra, Piyush; Horriat, Saman; Anand, Bobby S

2018-06-15

This article provides a detailed narrative review on the history and current concepts surrounding ligamentous repair techniques in athletic patients. In particular, we will focus on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) as a case study in ligament injury and ligamentous repair techniques. PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases for papers relating to primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction were searched by all participating authors. All relevant historical papers were included for analysis. Additional searches of the same databases were made for papers relating to biological enhancement of ligament healing. The poor capacity of the ACL to heal is one of the main reasons why the current gold standard surgical treatment for an ACL injury in an athletic patient is ACL reconstruction with autograft from either the hamstrings or patella tendon. It is hypothesised that by preserving and repairing native tissues and negating the need for autograft that primary ACL repair may represent a key step change in the treatment of ACL injuries. The history of primary ACL repair will be discussed and the circumstances that led to the near-abandonment of primary ACL repair techniques will be reviewed. There has been a recent resurgence in interest with regards to primary ACL repair. Improvements in imaging now allow for identification of tear location, with femoral-sided injuries, being more suitable for repair. We will discuss in details strategies for improving the mechanical and biological environment in order to allow primary healing to occur. In particular, we will explain mechanical supplementation such as Internal Brace Ligament Augmentation and Dynamic Intraligamentary Stabilisation techniques. These are novel techniques that aim to protect the primary repair by providing a stabilising construct that connects the femur and the tibia, thus bridging the repair. In addition, biological supplementation is being investigated as an adjunct and we will

Current status of application of Moessbauer effect in geology and mineralogy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Binfu

1995-01-01

The paper briefly introduces the current status of the application of Moessbauer effect in geology and mineralogy. It shows that geology and mineralogy are very active fields in the application of Moessbauer effect

Ethiopia's emerging domestic biogas sector : Current status, bottlenecks and drivers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamp, L.M.; Bermúdez Forn, Esteban

2016-01-01

Ethiopia experiences an energy and environmental crisis due to the sustained reliance on woody biomass to satisfy its energy needs. This situation could be improved by using biogas. This paper analyses the current status of the domestic biogas sector in Ethiopia and identifies barriers and

Edible vaccines: Current status and future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lal P

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Edible vaccines hold great promise as a cost-effective, easy-to-administer, easy-to-store, fail-safe and socioculturally readily acceptable vaccine delivery system, especially for the poor developing countries. It involves introduction of selected desired genes into plants and then inducing these altered plants to manufacture the encoded proteins. Introduced as a concept about a decade ago, it has become a reality today. A variety of delivery systems have been developed. Initially thought to be useful only for preventing infectious diseases, it has also found application in prevention of autoimmune diseases, birth control, cancer therapy, etc. Edible vaccines are currently being developed for a number of human and animal diseases. There is growing acceptance of transgenic crops in both industrial and developing countries. Resistance to genetically modified foods may affect the future of edible vaccines. They have passed the major hurdles in the path of an emerging vaccine technology. Various technical obstacles, regulatory and non-scientific challenges, though all seem surmountable, need to be overcome. This review attempts to discuss the current status and future of this new preventive modality.

Current status of Paragonimus and paragonimiasis in Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Calvopiña

2014-11-01

Full Text Available A review of national and international publications on paragonimiasis in Ecuador, epidemiological records from the Ministry of Public Health and unpublished research data was conducted to summarise the current status of the parasite/disease. The purpose of the review is to educate physicians, policy-makers and health providers on the status of the disease and to stimulate scientific investigators to conduct further research. Paragonimiasis was first diagnosed in Ecuador 94 years ago and it is endemic to both tropical and subtropical regions in 19 of 24 provinces in the Pacific Coast and Amazon regions. Paragonimus mexicanus is the only known species in the country, with the mollusc Aroapyrgus colombiensis and the crabs Moreirocarcinus emarginatus, Hypolobocera chilensis and Hypolobocera aequatorialis being the primary and secondary intermediate hosts, respectively. Recent studies found P. mexicanus metacercariae in Trichodactylus faxoni crabs of the northern Amazon. Chronic pulmonary paragonimiasis is commonly misdiagnosed and treated as tuberculosis and although studies have demonstrated the efficacy of praziquantel and triclabendazole for the treatment of human infections, neither drug is available in Ecuador. Official data recorded from 1978-2007 indicate an annual incidence of 85.5 cases throughout the 19 provinces, with an estimated 17.2% of the population at risk of infection. There are no current data on the incidence/prevalence of infection, nor is there a national control programme.

Parametric overdispersed frailty models for current status data.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Steven; Aerts, Marc; Molenberghs, Geert; Hens, Niel

2017-12-01

Frailty models have a prominent place in survival analysis to model univariate and multivariate time-to-event data, often complicated by the presence of different types of censoring. In recent years, frailty modeling gained popularity in infectious disease epidemiology to quantify unobserved heterogeneity using Type I interval-censored serological data or current status data. In a multivariate setting, frailty models prove useful to assess the association between infection times related to multiple distinct infections acquired by the same individual. In addition to dependence among individual infection times, overdispersion can arise when the observed variability in the data exceeds the one implied by the model. In this article, we discuss parametric overdispersed frailty models for time-to-event data under Type I interval-censoring, building upon the work by Molenberghs et al. (2010) and Hens et al. (2009). The proposed methodology is illustrated using bivariate serological data on hepatitis A and B from Flanders, Belgium anno 1993-1994. Furthermore, the relationship between individual heterogeneity and overdispersion at a stratum-specific level is studied through simulations. Although it is important to account for overdispersion, one should be cautious when modeling both individual heterogeneity and overdispersion based on current status data as model selection is hampered by the loss of information due to censoring. © 2017, The International Biometric Society.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cartilage Repair

Science.gov (United States)

Trattnig, Siegfried; Winalski, Carl S.; Marlovits, Stephan; Jurvelin, Jukka S.; Welsch, Goetz H.; Potter, Hollis G.

2011-01-01

Articular cartilage lesions are a common pathology of the knee joint, and many patients may benefit from cartilage repair surgeries that offer the chance to avoid the development of osteoarthritis or delay its progression. Cartilage repair surgery, no matter the technique, requires a noninvasive, standardized, and high-quality longitudinal method to assess the structure of the repair tissue. This goal is best fulfilled by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The present article provides an overview of the current state of the art of MRI of cartilage repair. In the first 2 sections, preclinical and clinical MRI of cartilage repair tissue are described with a focus on morphological depiction of cartilage and the use of functional (biochemical) MR methodologies for the visualization of the ultrastructure of cartilage repair. In the third section, a short overview is provided on the regulatory issues of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) regarding MR follow-up studies of patients after cartilage repair surgeries. PMID:26069565

The current implementation status of the integration of sports and physical activity into Dutch rehabilitation care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoekstra, Femke; Hettinga, Florentina J; Alingh, Rolinde A; Duijf, Marjo; Dekker, Rienk; van der Woude, Lucas H V; van der Schans, Cees P

PURPOSE: To describe the current status of the nationwide implementation process of a sports and physical activity stimulation programme to gain insight into how sports and physical activity were integrated into Dutch rehabilitation care. METHODS: The current implementation status of a sports and

Indirect dark matter searches: current status and perspectives

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2016-01-01

Many theoretical ideas for the particle nature of dark matter exist. The  most popular models often predict that dark matter particles self-annihilate or decay, giving rise to potentially detectable signatures in astronomical observations.  I will summarize the current status of searches for such signatures and critically reassess recent claims for dark matter signals.  I will further provide an outlook on anticipated developments in the next 10 years, and discuss new methods to facilitate strategy development.

ZnO growth technologies: current status and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lupan, Oleg

2011-01-01

Development of new technologies for ZnO nano materials and thin films is of critical importance for further fundamental investigations and practical applications. We discuss on the main technical control of the synthesis of zinc oxide and its properties, which are of significance in understanding the growth mechanism and further developing ZnO-based devices. Next, we present a brief summary of recent research activities, current status and progress in developing improved control of technological processes for zinc oxide as advanced material.

Investigation on Current Status of World Nuclear Education and Training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, J. Y.; Min, M. J.; Noh, B. C.

2010-04-01

All over the world, the interest of nuclear energy is increasing and the expectations of it are getting more as one of the most practical alternative energy resources. However, since 1990s, as a lot of nuclear specialists are being retired, now the problem of manpower shortage is taken into consideration for all of us and will be continued until 2011. In this point of view, the good quality of the professional nuclear training and education systems and the nuclear education centers are requested in order to breed and supply the next generation nuclear scientists and engineers. Thus, the objective of this study is to explore the current status of world nuclear education for both of nuclear power countries and potential nuclear power utilization countries in the near future. This report introduces the importance of nuclear energy, the current status of world nuclear power plants operation and the contribution of nuclear energy. Besides, it also includes the nuclear energy development plan of potential nuclear developing countries in the near future. In addition, this study also explores the nuclear training and education systems of the nuclear development countries and the current status of nuclear education in various fields such as government, industries, nuclear power plants ect. Especially, as considering the status of nuclear education classified such as Asia, the Americas, East and West Europe, the Middle East and Africa, it shows the different characteristics of nuclear education systems in each regions aimed to identify the good practices on the nuclear education systems. Finally, through observation of international cooperation and networks of the various nuclear organizations, this will be contributed to the development of nuclear education for member states and be suggested the various of the direction of development for nuclear education in Korea. The report presents in the basis of the recent status data of the world nuclear education systems collected

Current status of quantitative rotational spectroscopy for atmospheric research

Science.gov (United States)

Drouin, Brian J.; Wlodarczak, Georges; Colmont, Jean-Marcel; Rohart, Francois

2004-01-01

Remote sensing of rotational transitions in the Earth's atmosphere has become an important method for the retrieval of geophysical temperatures, pressures and chemical composition profiles that requires accurate spectral information. This paper highlights the current status of rotational data that are useful for atmospheric measurements, with a discussion of the types the rotational lineshape measurements that are not generally available in either online repository.

Review of the current status of radiation risk estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charles, M.W.; Little, M.P.

1988-10-01

This report reviews the current status of radiation risk estimation for low linear energy transfer radiation. Recent statements by various national and international organisations regarding risk estimates are critically discussed. The recently published revised population risk estimates from the study of Japanese bomb survivors are also reviewed and used with some unpublished data from Japan to calculate risk figures for a general work force. (author)

Current Diagnosis, Treatment and Etiology of Status Epilepticus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Çetin Kürşad Akpınar

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Status Epilepticus (SE is a medical emergency that causes significant morbidity and mortality and requires prompt diagnosis and treatment. Although SE can be divided into two subgroups as convulsive and nonconvulsive, treatment principles are generally similar. Treatment should be prompt and underlying cause should be corrected. Although intravenous lorazepam is the first-line treatment due to a lower risk of relapse, diazepam becomes the first choice since loeazepan is not available in our country. Even though intravenous benzodiazepine stops seizures, intravenous antiepileptic drug (phenytoin, etc. should be administered at a loading dose. Patients with refractory status epilepticus should be supported with respect to vital, respiratory, metabolic and hemodynamic aspects and followed up in an intensive care unit to monitor cerebral electrical activity. The most common cause in the etiology is the cessation of antiepileptic drugs. The aim of SE treatment is to stop seizures and prevent complications and recurrence. In this paper, current diagnosis, treatment and etiology of SE are reviewed.

Prevalence of Surgical Repair for Athletic Pubalgia and Impact on Performance in Football Athletes Participating in the National Football League Combine.

Science.gov (United States)

Knapik, Derrick M; Gebhart, Jeremy J; Nho, Shane J; Tanenbaum, Joseph E; Voos, James E; Salata, Michael J

2017-05-01

To examine the prevalence and impact of athletic pubalgia (AP) surgery in elite American football athletes participating in the National Football League (NFL) Combine. Results from 1,311 athletes participating in the Combine from 2012 to 2015 were evaluated. Athletes with a history of AP repair were identified using the NFL Combine Database. Athlete history and available imaging was reviewed. NFL performance based on draft status, games played, games started, and current status in the NFL was gathered using publicly available databases. Statistical analysis was performed to detect for significant associations between athlete history and NFL performance in the presence of AP repair and pelvic pathology on postsurgical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). AP repair was identified in 4.2% (n = 55) of athletes. MRI was performed in 35% (n = 19 of 55) with AP repair, of which 53% (n = 10 of 19) had positive pathology. Athletes with repair were not at risk of playing (P = .87) or starting (P = .45) fewer regular season games, going undrafted (P = .27), or not being on an active NFL roster (P = .51). Compared with athletes with negative imaging findings, positive pathology on MRI did not have a significant impact on games played (P = .74), games started (P = .48), draft status (P = .26), or being on an active roster (P = .74). Offensive linemen (P = .005) and athletes with a history of repair within 1 year of the Combine (P = .03) had a significantly higher risk of possessing positive pathology on MRI. Athletes with a history of successful AP surgery invited to the NFL Combine and those with persistent pathology on MRI are not at increased risk for diminished performance in the NFL. Offensive linemen and athletes less than 1 year out from surgery have a higher risk for positive MRI findings at the pubic symphysis. Level IV, prognostic study-case series. Copyright © 2017 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An apology for primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Arsdell, Glen; Yun, Tae-Jin

2005-01-01

The first repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) was 50 years ago, so it would seem that the details for optimal management strategies would be clear. Timing of repair and operative repair strategy for TOF are still a source of debate. Varying institutions have published excellent outcomes with a primary repair strategy or a selective staged repair strategy. In this article, the current and historic strategy for repair of TOF at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto is delineated along with associated outcomes. Data from our institution indicate a clear survival advantage for primary repair of TOF.

The Current Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examines the current status of teachers and the teaching sector in Tanzania. It draws on experiences of teachers, parents, and students in Dar es Salaam, Iringa and Mbeya regions. Informed by the qualitative inquiry, the paper is largely empirical in character. Data was sought through interviews and document ...

Regulation of DNA repair processes in mammalian cell

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bil'din, V.N.; Sergina, T.B.; Zhestyanikov, V.D.

1992-01-01

A study was made of the repair of ionizing radiation-induced DNA single-strand breaks (SSB) in proliferating and quiescent mouse Swiss 3T6 cells and in those stimulated from the quiet status by epidermal growth factor in combination with insulin, in the presence of specific inhibitors of DNA polymerase α and β (aphidicolin) and DNA polymerase β (2', 3'-dideoxythjymidine-5'-triphosphate). The repair of DNA SSB induced by X-ray-irradiation (10 Gy) or by γ-ray irradiation (150 Gy) is more sensitive to aphidicolin and mitogen-simulated cells three times stronger than in proliferating cells. The influence of 2', 3'-dideoxythymidine-5'-triphosphate on the rate of DNA SSB repair in cells of all the three types does not differ. Thus, the decrease in DNA repair efficiency in quiescent cells is connected with a decrease in the activity of aphidicolin-sensitive DNA polymerase, apparently DNA polymerase α

The Current Status of Sport Sociology within American and Canadian Colleges and Universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Dana D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of sport sociology within American and Canadian Colleges and Universities. The study investigated: (1) the number of graduate and undergraduate courses offered in sport sociology; (2) current research area(s) of interest within sport sociology; (3) current text used as reference and…

Corporate Blended Learning in Portugal: Current Status and Future Directions

Science.gov (United States)

Marcal, Julia; Caetano, Antonio

2010-01-01

The aim of this study is to characterize the current status of blended learning in Portugal, given that b-learning has grown exponentially in the Portuguese market over recent years. 38 organizations (representing 68% of all institutions certified to provide distance training by the Government Labour Office--DGERT-) participated in this study. The…

The current status of mango farming business in Ghana: A case ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The current status of mango farming business in Ghana: A case study of mango farming in the Dangme West District. ... Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a crop which is assuming great economic importance in Ghana. ... HOW TO USE AJOL.

Wound repair and regeneration: Mechanisms, signaling, and translation

Science.gov (United States)

Eming, Sabine A.; Martin, Paul; Tomic-Canic, Marjana

2015-01-01

The cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning tissue repair and its failure to heal are still poorly understood, and current therapies are limited. Poor wound healing after trauma, surgery, acute illness, or chronic disease conditions affects millions of people worldwide each year and is the consequence of poorly regulated elements of the healthy tissue repair response, including inflammation, angiogenesis, matrix deposition, and cell recruitment. Failure of one or several of these cellular processes is generally linked to an underlying clinical condition, such as vascular disease, diabetes, or aging, which are all frequently associated with healing pathologies. The search for clinical strategies that might improve the body’s natural repair mechanisms will need to be based on a thorough understanding of the basic biology of repair and regeneration. In this review, we highlight emerging concepts in tissue regeneration and repair, and provide some perspectives on how to translate current knowledge into viable clinical approaches for treating patients with wound-healing pathologies. PMID:25473038

Current and past menstrual status is an important determinant of femoral neck geometry in exercising women.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallinson, Rebecca J; Williams, Nancy I; Gibbs, Jenna C; Koehler, Karsten; Allaway, Heather C M; Southmayd, Emily; De Souza, Mary Jane

2016-07-01

Menstrual status, both past and current, has been established as an important determinant of bone mineral density (BMD) in young exercising women. However, little is known regarding the association between the cumulative effect of menstrual status and indices of bone health beyond BMD, such as bone geometry and estimated bone strength. This study explores the association between cumulative menstrual status and indices of bone health assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), including femoral neck geometry and strength and areal BMD (aBMD), in exercising women. 101 exercising women (22.0±0.4years, BMI 21.0±0.2kg/m(2), 520±40min/week of self-reported exercise) participated in this cross-sectional study. Women were divided into three groups as follows based on their self-reported current and past menstrual status: 1) current and past regular menstrual cycles (C+P-R) (n=23), 2) current and past irregular menstrual cycles (C+P-IR) (n=56), 3) and current or past irregular cycles (C/P-RIR) (n=22). Current menstrual status was confirmed using daily urinary metabolites of reproductive hormones. DXA was used to assess estimates of femoral neck geometry and strength from hip strength analysis (HSA), aBMD, and body composition. Cross-sectional moment of inertia (CSMI), cross-sectional area (CSA), strength index (SI), diameter, and section modulus (Z) were calculated at the femoral neck. Low CSMI, CSA, SI, diameter, and Z were operationally defined as values below the median. Areal BMD (g/cm(2)) and Z-scores were determined at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip. Low BMD was defined as a Z-score0.05). However, after controlling for confounding variables, cumulative menstrual status was not a significant predictor of low aBMD. In exercising women, the cumulative effect of current and past menstrual irregularity appears to be an important predictor of lower estimates of femoral neck geometry, as observed by smaller CSMI and CSA, which may serve as an

Thermoelectric microgenerators. Current status and prospects of application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Strutynska L. T.

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Analysis of current status and prospects of using thermoelectric microgenerators, including organic-fueled ones, is performed. Developments of thermoelectric microgenerators presented in this review demonstrate that their increasingly wide use forms a separate, very important line of thermoelectricity – micropower generation with growing potential of practical applications for charging batteries, mobile phones, digital cameras and photocameras, power supply to small radio stations, other portable devices, including medical. The ways of increasing the efficiency of such devices and relevant lines of their wide use in practice are determined.

Current status of the nuclear medicine in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torizuka, K.

1974-01-01

A brief survey of the current status of Japan nuclear medicine is given. The following data are described (from the material of the 11th Japan Conference of Radioisotopes): 1. the increase of the number of nuclear instruments between 1971 and 1973; 2. the total amount of the cobalt radiation apparatur (inclusive of the cesium apparatus) in the hospitals in 1971- and 1972; 3. the radioactive medicines and nuclids used in Japan; 4. the radioactive isotopes used generally in the therapeutics in 1971 and 1972; 5. the question of labour. (K.A.)

Mitral repair and the robot: a revolutionary tool or marketing ploy?

Science.gov (United States)

Ghoneim, Aly; Bouhout, Ismail; Makhdom, Fahd; Chu, Michael W A

2018-03-01

In this review, we discuss the current evidence supporting each minimally invasive mitral repair approach and their associated controversies. Current evidence demonstrates that minimally invasive mitral repair techniques yield similar mitral repair results to conventional sternotomy with the benefits of shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery, better cosmesis and improved patient satisfaction. Despite this, broad adoption of minimally invasive mitral repair is still not achieved. Two main approaches of minimally invasive mitral repair exist: endoscopic mini-thoracotomy and robotic-assisted approaches. Both minimally invasive approaches share many commonalities; however, most centres are strongly polarized to one approach over another creating controversy and debate about the most effective minimally invasive approach.

Controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic: current status and global challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thorsten eDemberg

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This review provides an overview of the current status of the global HIV pandemic and strategies to bring it under control. It updates numerous preventive approaches including behavioral interventions, male circumcision, pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis, vaccines, and microbicides. The manuscript summarizes current anti-retroviral treatment options, their impact in the western world, and difficulties faced by emerging and resource-limited nations in providing and maintaining appropriate treatment regimens. Current clinical and pre-clinical approaches towards a cure for HIV are described, including new drug compounds that target viral reservoirs and gene therapy approaches aimed at altering susceptibility to HIV infection. Recent progress in vaccine development is summarized, including novel approaches and new discoveries.

The Current Status of Classroom Inclusion Activities of Secondary Agriculture Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Hoerst, Caryn M.; Whittington, M. Susie

2009-01-01

The current status of classroom inclusion activities among agriculture teachers in comprehensive secondary agricultural education programs in Ohio is reported. The researchers describe secondary agriculture teachers' needs related to teaching learners with special needs in inclusion classes, given legislative mandates. Specifically, the…

Bruce unit 1 moderator to end shield cooling leak repairs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boucher, P; Ashton, A [Ontario Hydro, Tiverton, ON (Canada). Bruce Nuclear Generating Station-A

1996-12-31

In October 1994, a leak developed between the heavy water Moderator System and the light water End Shield Cooling System at Ontario Hydro`s Bruce A Generating Station Unit 1. The interface between these two systems consists of numerous reactor components all within the reactor vessel. This paper describes the initial discovery and determination of the leak source. The techniques used to pinpoint the leak location are described. The repair strategies and details are outlined. Flushing and refilling of the Moderator system are discussed. The current status of the Unit 1 End Shield Cooling System is given with possible remedial measures for clean-up. Recommendations and observations are provided for future references. (author). 7 figs.

Study of Grants, new Mexico, uranium miners: current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samet, J.M.; Morgan, M.V.; Buechley, R.W.; Key, C.R.; Valdivia, A.A.

1981-01-01

The Uranium Epidemiology Study at the University of New Mexico was initiated in 1977 with the objective of assessing health effects of uranium mining in the Grants, New Mexico, area. The planned approach was a cohort study of mortality that would capitalize on the availability of health records at the Grants Clinic. The first year's work confirmed the study's feasibility (Buechley, 1979). Subsequent efforts have focused on the health and exposure data base and comprehensive follow-up. A retrospective cohort study of early miners is in progress; a prospective cohort study of miners who began working under the current federal standard is planned. This report will summarize the current status of the Uranium Epidemiology Study

A case of acute ischemic colitis after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grigorios Voulalas

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Colonic ischemia is a recognized complication of either open or endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. The clinical difficulty in establishing the diagnosis, the severity of this complication and the patient's poor physiological status may lead to a fatal outcome. We presented a case of ischemic colitis in a patient with patent hypogastric arteries that occurred after an endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair as well as a review of the available literature. The patient's preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data were recorded. A thorough search through the Google data and Medline to review similar cases or any analyses that referred to ischemic colitis after endovascular abdominal aneurysm repair was conducted. A 76-year-old male was admitted to our department for an elective endovascular repair of an 8 cm in diameter abdominal aortic aneurysm. A Zenith bifurcation graft was implanted. The whole procedure was uneventful and the final angiogram showed an accurate deployment of the endograft without endoleaks and patency of both hypogastric arteries. During the 1st postoperative day, the patient developed symptoms of acute abdomen in combination with metabolic acidosis and oliguria. He underwent an exploratory laparotomy, which revealed necrosis of the sigmoid. A Hartmann's procedure was performed; the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit where he deceased after 24 h. Postoperative ischemic colitis has been described after open abdominal aneurysm repair. The description of this complication has been reported since the early phase of endovascular abdominal aneurysm repair development with a current incidence of 1.5%–3.0%. Possible mechanisms that may contribute to ischemic colitis in spite of the presence of patent hypogastric arteries include atheroembolization, shock, vasopressive drugs and inferior mesenteric artery occlusion.

Genetic variations in DNA repair genes, radiosensitivity to cancer and susceptibility to acute tissue reactions in radiotherapy-treated cancer patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chistiakov, Dimitry A.; Voronova, Natalia V.; Chistiakov, Pavel A.

2008-01-01

Ionizing radiation is a well established carcinogen for human cells. At low doses, radiation exposure mainly results in generation of double strand breaks (DSBs). Radiation-related DSBs could be directly linked to the formation of chromosomal rearrangements as has been proven for radiation-induced thyroid tumors. Repair of DSBs presumably involves two main pathways, non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). A number of known inherited syndromes, such as ataxia telangiectasia, ataxia-telangiectasia like-disorder, radiosensitive severe combined immunodeficiency, Nijmegen breakage syndrome, and LIG4 deficiency are associated with increased radiosensitivity and/or cancer risk. Many of them are caused by mutations in DNA repair genes. Recent studies also suggest that variations in the DNA repair capacity in the general population may influence cancer susceptibility. In this paper, we summarize the current status of DNA repair proteins as potential targets for radiation-induced cancer risk. We will focus on genetic alterations in genes involved in HR- and NHEJ-mediated repair of DSBs, which could influence predisposition to radiation-related cancer and thereby explain interindividual differences in radiosensitivity or radioresistance in a general population

Genetic variations in DNA repair genes, radiosensitivity to cancer and susceptibility to acute tissue reactions in radiotherapy-treated cancer patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chistiakov, Dimitry A. (Dept. of Pathology, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (US)); Voronova, Natalia V. (Dept. of Molecular Diagnostics, National Research Center GosNIIgenetika, Moscow (RU)); Chistiakov, Pavel A. (Dept. of Radiology, Cancer Research Center, Moscow (RU))

2008-06-15

Ionizing radiation is a well established carcinogen for human cells. At low doses, radiation exposure mainly results in generation of double strand breaks (DSBs). Radiation-related DSBs could be directly linked to the formation of chromosomal rearrangements as has been proven for radiation-induced thyroid tumors. Repair of DSBs presumably involves two main pathways, non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). A number of known inherited syndromes, such as ataxia telangiectasia, ataxia-telangiectasia like-disorder, radiosensitive severe combined immunodeficiency, Nijmegen breakage syndrome, and LIG4 deficiency are associated with increased radiosensitivity and/or cancer risk. Many of them are caused by mutations in DNA repair genes. Recent studies also suggest that variations in the DNA repair capacity in the general population may influence cancer susceptibility. In this paper, we summarize the current status of DNA repair proteins as potential targets for radiation-induced cancer risk. We will focus on genetic alterations in genes involved in HR- and NHEJ-mediated repair of DSBs, which could influence predisposition to radiation-related cancer and thereby explain interindividual differences in radiosensitivity or radioresistance in a general population

Inguinal hernia repair among men in relation to occupational mechanical exposures and lifestyle factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vad, Marie Vestergaard; Frost, Poul; Rosenberg, Jacob

2017-01-01

showed lower HRs for both repair types. Leisure-time physical activity and smoking status were not related to any of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Assuming a causal relationship, the results suggest that around 30% of all first-time lateral inguinal hernia repairs in the highest exposure category would...

A meta-analysis of clinical and radiographic outcomes of posterior horn medial meniscus root repairs.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Kyu Sung; Ha, Jeong Ku; Ra, Ho Jong; Kim, Jin Goo

2016-05-01

Although interest in medial meniscus posterior root tear (MMPRT) repair has increased, few case series have been reported. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the clinical and radiological effects of MMPRT repair by pooling pre- and post-operative data from case-series reports. A literature search was performed using MEDLINE/PubMed, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE databases. Pre- and post-operative data were pooled to investigate the effects of MMPRT repair, including the Lysholm score improvement, meniscal extrusion (mm) reduction, progression of the Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grade, and cartilage status according to the Outerbridge classification. Treatment effects included paired standardized mean differences (difference in the pre- and post-operative mean outcomes divided by the standard deviation) for the Lysholm score and meniscal extrusion, as well as the pooled event rates of progression of K-L grade and cartilage status. As treatment effects, the Lysholm score increased by as much as 3.675 (P meniscus extrusion was not reduced (n.s.). The overall pooled event rates of progression of K-L grade and cartilage status were 10.6 and 17.3 % (P meniscus extrusion was not reduced. Considering the occurrence of progression of K-L grade and cartilage status, it did not prevent the progression of arthrosis completely. Based on these results, repair results in favourable outcomes for MMPRT. Meta-analysis, Level IV.

Curriculum leadership in the postgraduate: Gap between current and optimal status.

Science.gov (United States)

Avizhgan, Maryam; Jafari, Ebrahim Mirshah; Nasr, Ahmad Reza; Changiz, Tahereh

2015-04-01

Identifying the strengths and weakness points is one of the effective methods to analyze current status, and prioritizing actions based on the gap between current and optimal status is necessary for short-term and long-term planning in departments and colleges. The aim of this study was to determine the gap between current and optimal status of curriculum leadership in the postgraduate courses in two Iranian universities. In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 212 faculty members from the two Iranian universities (one medical and one nonmedical) was randomly selected through stratified random sampling method. Data were collected by using a researcher-made questionnaire, with 55 items categorized in four areas of main dimensions in curriculum leadership. The validity of the questionnaire was determined by curriculum studies scholars, and the reliability was confirmed as the Cronbach's alpha calculated 0.969. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics according to the variables. There was a gap in all dimensions and roles. The maximum gap (-1.70) with the highest frequency (98%) were related to "improving the educational atmosphere" dimension. As for items, the maximum gap (-2.41) was related to "society needs and expectations and the labor market" in "curriculum development and revision" dimension. The negative gap between all dimensions of curriculum leadership implies faculty members' dissatisfaction. Curriculum leadership at universities, colleges and departments of the study in all aspects need to be improved. Hence, it is necessary for managers to make use of the viewpoints of the faculty members to decrease the gap.

Prognostics and Health Management of Wind Turbines: Current Status and Future Opportunities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sheng, Shuangwen

2016-10-04

This presentation was given at the 2016 Annual Conference of the Prognostics and Health Management Society. It covers the current status and challenges and opportunities of prognostics and health management of wind turbines.

Repair welding and online radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nuding, W.; Grimm, R.; Link, R.; Schroeder, P.; Schroeder, G.

1990-01-01

The status of a joint project is reported, which is to develop a computerized testing and welding system for repair work in turbine blades. An X-ray radiographic testing device consisting of microfocus tube, manipulator and image processing system, is modified for this purpose so as to offer a greater number of image points scanned for image processing, and to thus achieve a better resolution for reliable detection of even very small defects. The consistency of the X-ray tube performance, which is a pre-requisite for automation, is to be achieved by a wa tercooled, high-duty tube head. The recording of defect coordinates in the repair zone is done for input into a welding robot to be developed by other partners in the project, so as to allow automated welding work. (orig.) [de

The incidence of symptomatic malrotation post gastroschisis repair.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Abdelhafeez, A

2011-12-01

Gastroschisis is known to be associated with abnormal bowel rotation. Currently, the broadly accepted practice is not to perform Ladd\\'s procedure routinely at the time of closure of gastroschisis defects. However the incidence of symptomatic malrotation and volvulus post gastroschisis repair is unknown; this incidence is important in view of the current practice of bedside gastroschisis closure. This study examined the incidence of symptomatic malrotation and volvulus following gastroschisis repair.

Current status and perspectives of cysticercosis and taeniasis in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamasaki, Hiroshi

2013-02-01

This mini-review describes recent epidemiological trends in cysticercosis and taeniasis in Japan. Some of the topics discussed herein were presented at the first symposium on "Current perspectives of Taenia asiatica researches", that was held in Osong in Chungbuk Province, South Korea, in October 2011 and organized by Prof. K. S. Eom, Chungbuk National University School of Medicine. To better understand the trends in the occurrence of cysticercosis and taeniasis in Japan, clinical cases reported in 2005 have been updated. In addition, the current status of Taenia asiatica infections successively occurring in Japan since 2010 is also discussed.

Calculating when elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair improves survival for individual patients: development of the Aneurysm Repair Decision Aid and economic evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Stuart W; Sperrin, Matthew; Carlson, Eric; Chinai, Natasha; Ntais, Dionysios; Hamilton, Matthew; Dunn, Graham; Buchan, Iain; Davies, Linda; McCollum, Charles N

2015-04-01

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair aims to prevent premature death from AAA rupture. Elective repair is currently recommended when AAA diameter reaches 5.5 cm (men) and 5.0 cm (women). Applying population-based indications may not be appropriate for individual patient decisions, as the optimal indication is likely to differ between patients based on age and comorbidities. To develop an Aneurysm Repair Decision Aid (ARDA) to indicate when elective AAA repair optimises survival for individual patients and to assess the cost-effectiveness and associated uncertainty of elective repair at the aneurysm diameter recommended by the ARDA compared with current practice. The UK Vascular Governance North West and National Vascular Database provided individual patient data to develop predictive models for perioperative mortality and survival. Data from published literature were used to model AAA growth and risk of rupture. The cost-effectiveness analysis used data from published literature and from local and national databases. A combination of systematic review methods and clinical registries were used to provide data to populate models and inform the structure of the ARDA. Discrete event simulation (DES) was used to model the patient journey from diagnosis to death and synthesised data were used to estimate patient outcomes and costs for elective repair at alternative aneurysm diameters. Eight patient clinical scenarios (vignettes) were used as exemplars. The DES structure was validated by clinical and statistical experts. The economic evaluation estimated costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) from the NHS, social care provider and patient perspective over a lifetime horizon. Cost-effectiveness acceptability analyses and probabilistic sensitivity analyses explored uncertainty in the data and the value for money of ARDA-based decisions. The ARDA outcome measures include perioperative mortality risk, annual risk of

Grand Research Plan for Neural Circuits of Emotion and Memory--current status of neural circuit studies in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yuan-Gui; Cao, He-Qi; Dong, Er-Dan

2013-02-01

During recent years, major advances have been made in neuroscience, i.e., asynchronous release, three-dimensional structural data sets, saliency maps, magnesium in brain research, and new functional roles of long non-coding RNAs. Especially, the development of optogenetic technology provides access to important information about relevant neural circuits by allowing the activation of specific neurons in awake mammals and directly observing the resulting behavior. The Grand Research Plan for Neural Circuits of Emotion and Memory was launched by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. It takes emotion and memory as its main objects, making the best use of cutting-edge technologies from medical science, life science and information science. In this paper, we outline the current status of neural circuit studies in China and the technologies and methodologies being applied, as well as studies related to the impairments of emotion and memory. In this phase, we are making efforts to repair the current deficiencies by making adjustments, mainly involving four aspects of core scientific issues to investigate these circuits at multiple levels. Five research directions have been taken to solve important scientific problems while the Grand Research Plan is implemented. Future research into this area will be multimodal, incorporating a range of methods and sciences into each project. Addressing these issues will ensure a bright future, major discoveries, and a higher level of treatment for all affected by debilitating brain illnesses.

Current status of studies on temperature fluctuation phenomena in LMFRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohshima, H.; Muramatsu, T.; Kobayashi, J.; Yamaguchi, A.

1994-01-01

This paper describes the current status of studies being performed in PNC on temperature fluctuation phenomena occurring in fast reactors. The studies concentrate on four problems: thermal stratification, thermal striping, core-plenum interaction and free surface sloshing. Both experimental and analytical approaches to reveal these phenomena and to establish design and safety evaluation methods are presented together with future works. (author)

MONK and MCBEND: Current status and recent developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richards, Simon D.; Baker, Chris M.J.; Bird, Adam J.; Cowan, Pat; Davies, Nigel; Dobson, Geoff P.; Fry, Tim C.; Kyrieleis, Albrecht; Smith, Paul N.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We describe recent developments to the Monte Carlo codes MONK and MCBEND. • MONK is a Monte Carlo code for nuclear criticality and reactor physics analyses. • MCBEND is a Monte Carlo code for radiation shielding and dosimetry analyses. • Improvements include input; physics; scoring; variance reduction; and visualisation. • Parallelisation of MONK and multi-physics coupling are described. - Abstract: MONK® and MCBEND are Monte Carlo software packages for: nuclear criticality and reactor physics; and radiation shielding and dosimetry applications, respectively. The codes are actively developed, maintained and supported by AMEC’s ANSWERS® Software Service in line with the ANSWERS vision of providing easy-to-use software that meets the current and emerging needs of the user community. This paper summarises the current status of MONK and MCBEND and the recent developments which have been carried out to the codes, and their supporting nuclear data libraries and visualisation package

Polycystic ovary syndrome: current status and future perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Barthelmess, Erin K.; Naz, Rajesh K.

2015-01-01

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a widespread reproductive disorder that encompasses many associated health conditions and has an impact on various metabolic processes. PCOS is depicted by hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovaries, and anovulation. It increases the risk of insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. The etiology of the disease remains unclear, and the subjective phenotype makes a united diagnosis difficult among physicians. It seems to be a familial genetic syndrome caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. It can be linked with metabolic disorders in first-degree family members. PCOS is the cause of up to 30% of infertility in couples seeking treatment. Currently, there is no cure for PCOS. Despite the growing incidence of this syndrome, limited research has been done that encompasses the entirety of PCOS spectrum. In this review, the current status and possible future perspective will be discussed. PMID:24389146

Imaging of cartilage repair procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanghvi, Darshana; Munshi, Mihir; Pardiwala, Dinshaw

2014-01-01

The rationale for cartilage repair is to prevent precocious osteoarthritis in untreated focal cartilage injuries in the young and middle-aged population. The gamut of surgical techniques, normal postoperative radiological appearances, and possible complications have been described. An objective method of recording the quality of repair tissue is with the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) score. This scoring system evaluates nine parameters that include the extent of defect filling, border zone integration, signal intensity, quality of structure and surface, subchondral bone, subchondral lamina, and records presence or absence of synovitis and adhesions. The five common techniques of cartilage repair currently offered include bone marrow stimulation (microfracture or drilling), mosaicplasty, synthetic resorbable scaffold grafts, osteochondral allograft transplants, and autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). Complications of cartilage repair procedures that may be demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) include plug loosening, graft protuberance, graft depression, and collapse in mosaicplasty, graft hypertrophy in ACI, and immune response leading to graft rejection, which is more common with synthetic grafts and cadaveric allografts

Current status of endoscopic simulation in gastroenterology fellowship training programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Jirapinyo, Pichamol; Thompson, Christopher C

2015-07-01

Recent guidelines have encouraged gastroenterology and surgical training programs to integrate simulation into their core endoscopic curricula. However, the role that simulation currently has within training programs is unknown. This study aims to assess the current status of simulation among gastroenterology fellowship programs. This questionnaire study consisted of 38 fields divided into two sections. The first section queried program directors' experience on simulation and assessed the current status of simulation at their institution. The second portion surveyed their opinion on the potential role of simulation on the training curriculum. The study was conducted at the 2013 American Gastroenterological Association Training Directors' Workshop in Phoenix, Arizona. The participants were program directors from Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited gastroenterology training programs, who attended the workshop. The questionnaire was returned by 69 of 97 program directors (response rate of 71%). 42% of programs had an endoscopic simulator. Computerized simulators (61.5%) were the most common, followed by mechanical (30.8%) and animal tissue (7.7%) simulators, respectively. Eleven programs (15%) required fellows to use simulation prior to clinical cases. Only one program has a minimum number of hours fellows have to participate in simulation training. Current simulators are deemed as easy to use (76%) and good educational tools (65%). Problems are cost (72%) and accessibility (69%). The majority of program directors believe that there is a need for endoscopic simulator training, with only 8% disagreeing. Additionally, a majority believe there is a role for simulation prior to initiation of clinical cases with 15% disagreeing. Gastroenterology fellowship program directors widely recognize the importance of simulation. Nevertheless, simulation is used by only 42% of programs and only 15% of programs require that trainees use simulation prior to

Is laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair more effective than open repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aly, O.; Green, A.; Joy, M.; Wong, C.H.; Malik, M

2011-01-01

To systematically review randomized controlled trials, (RCT) evidence comparing Lichtenstein to total extraperitoneal (TEP) hernia repair in terms of clinical and cost effectiveness. Study Design: Case series. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at University of Abderdeen, U.K. Methodology: A comprehensive online literature search was undertaken using databases such as MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE and Springerlink. Studies were then short listed according to the selection criteria (RCT with over 100 subject and English language publications from 1995 onwards) and appraised using the SIGN Methodology Checklist. A meta analysis of the data was also performed using RevMan software. Results: Analysis of reported data shows that TEP has less postoperative pain and return to work than Lichtenstein method. Operation time is shown to be longer in the TEP but this difference is shortened with increasing surgeon experience. The meta-analysis of the data on complications shows that there are no significant differences between the two types of procedures. TEP causes more short-term recurrences which are attributed to the learning curve effect. Long term recurrence rates on the other hand show no significant differences. At present TEP is slightly more expensive than Lichtenstein repair. Conclusion: Both TEP and Lichtenstein repair are clinically effective procedures. The choice between them should be made on a case-by-case basis; which depends on the patient's preference and characteristics such as age, work and health status. (author)

Current Progress in Bioactive Ceramic Scaffolds for Bone Repair and Regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Chengde; Deng, Youwen; Feng, Pei; Mao, Zhongzheng; Li, Pengjian; Yang, Bo; Deng, Junjie; Cao, Yiyuan; Shuai, Cijun; Peng, Shuping

2014-01-01

Bioactive ceramics have received great attention in the past decades owing to their success in stimulating cell proliferation, differentiation and bone tissue regeneration. They can react and form chemical bonds with cells and tissues in human body. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the application of bioactive ceramics for bone repair and regeneration. The review systematically summarizes the types and characters of bioactive ceramics, the fabrication methods for nanostructure and hierarchically porous structure, typical toughness methods for ceramic scaffold and corresponding mechanisms such as fiber toughness, whisker toughness and particle toughness. Moreover, greater insights into the mechanisms of interaction between ceramics and cells are provided, as well as the development of ceramic-based composite materials. The development and challenges of bioactive ceramics are also discussed from the perspective of bone repair and regeneration. PMID:24646912

The knee meniscus: structure-function, pathophysiology, current repair techniques, and prospects for regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Makris, Eleftherios A.; Hadidi, Pasha; Athanasiou, Kyriacos A.

2011-01-01

Extensive scientific investigations in recent decades have established the anatomical, biomechanical, and functional importance that the meniscus holds within the knee joint. As a vital part of the joint, it acts to prevent the deterioration and degeneration of articular cartilage, and the onset and development of osteoarthritis. For this reason, research into meniscus repair has been the recipient of particular interest from the orthopedic and bioengineering communities. Current repair techniques are only effective in treating lesions located in the peripheral vascularized region of the meniscus. Healing lesions found in the inner avascular region, which functions under a highly demanding mechanical environment, is considered to be a significant challenge. An adequate treatment approach has yet to be established, though many attempts have been undertaken. The current primary method for treatment is partial meniscectomy, which commonly results in the progressive development of osteoarthritis. This drawback has shifted research interest towards the fields of biomaterials and bioengineering, where it is hoped that meniscal deterioration can be tackled with the help of tissue engineering. So far, different approaches and strategies have contributed to the in vitro generation of meniscus constructs, which are capable of restoring meniscal lesions to some extent, both functionally as well as anatomically. The selection of the appropriate cell source (autologous, allogeneic, or xenogeneic cells, or stem cells) is undoubtedly regarded as key to successful meniscal tissue engineering. Furthermore, a large variation of scaffolds for tissue engineering have been proposed and produced in experimental and clinical studies, although a few problems with these (e.g., byproducts of degradation, stress shielding) have shifted research interest towards new strategies (e.g., scaffoldless approaches, self-assembly). A large number of different chemical (e.g., TGF-β1, C-ABC) and

Repair technology for steam generator tubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Seung Ho; Jung, Hyun Kyu; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Chang Hoi; Jung, Young Moo; Seo, Yong Chil; Kim, Jung Su; Seo, Moo Hong

2001-02-01

The most commonly used sleeving materials are thermally treated Alloy 600 and thermally treated Alloy 690 Alloy. Currently, thermally treated Alloy 690 and Alloy 800 are being offered although Alloy 800 has not been licensed in the US. To install sleeve, joint strength, leak tightness, PWSCC resistance, evaluation on process parameter range and the effect of equipments and procedures on repair plan and radiation damage have to be investigated before sleeving. ABB CE provides three type of leak tight Alloy 690 TIG welded and PLUSS sleeve. Currently, Direct Tube Repair technique using Nd:YAG laser has been developed by ABB CE and Westinghouse. FTI has brazed and kinetic sleeve designs for recirculating steam generator and hydraulic and rolled sleeve designs for one-through steam generators. Westinghouse provides HEJ, brazed and laser welded sleeve design. When sleeve is installed in order to repair the damaged S/G tubes, it is certain that defects can be occurred due to the plastic induced stress and thermal stress. Therefore it is important to minimize the residual stress. FTI provides the electrosleeve technique as a future repair candidate using electroplating.

Repair technology for steam generator tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seung Ho; Jung, Hyun Kyu; Jung, Seung Ho; Kim, Chang Hoi; Jung, Young Moo; Seo, Yong Chil; Kim, Jung Su; Seo, Moo Hong

2001-02-01

The most commonly used sleeving materials are thermally treated Alloy 600 and thermally treated Alloy 690 Alloy. Currently, thermally treated Alloy 690 and Alloy 800 are being offered although Alloy 800 has not been licensed in the US. To install sleeve, joint strength, leak tightness, PWSCC resistance, evaluation on process parameter range and the effect of equipments and procedures on repair plan and radiation damage have to be investigated before sleeving. ABB CE provides three type of leak tight Alloy 690 TIG welded and PLUSS sleeve. Currently, Direct Tube Repair technique using Nd:YAG laser has been developed by ABB CE and Westinghouse. FTI has brazed and kinetic sleeve designs for recirculating steam generator and hydraulic and rolled sleeve designs for one-through steam generators. Westinghouse provides HEJ, brazed and laser welded sleeve design. When sleeve is installed in order to repair the damaged S/G tubes, it is certain that defects can be occurred due to the plastic induced stress and thermal stress. Therefore it is important to minimize the residual stress. FTI provides the electrosleeve technique as a future repair candidate using electroplating

Current status and technology development tendency of research reactors in china

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ke Guotu; Shen Feng; Zhao Shouzhi; Zhang Weiguo; Yuan Luzheng

2009-01-01

The current status and development history of domestic and abroad research reactors (RRs) are mentioned. The representative RRs and their respective technology characteristics are introduced. The utilizations of China's RRs, mainly included as nuclear engineering technology, basic research applications of nuclear technology, teaching and personnel training, are explained. (authors)

The influence of dose per fraction on repair kinetics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rojas, A.; Joiner, M.C.

1989-01-01

The use of multiple fractions per day (MFD) in radiotherapy requires information about the rate of repair of radiation injury. It is important to know the minimum interval between fractions necessary for maximum sparing of normal tissue damage, whether rate of repair is dependent on the size of dose per fraction and if it is different in early and late responding tissues and in tumours. To address these questions, the rate of repair between radiation dose fractions was measured in mouse skin (acute damage), mouse kidney (late damage) and a mouse tumour (carcinoma NT). Skin and kidney measurements were made using multiple split doses of X-rays, followed by a neutron top-up. For skin, faster recovery was obtained with 4.4 Gy fractions (t1/2 = 3.46 ± 0.88 h). In contrast kidney showed slower recovery at a low dose per fraction of 2 Gy (t1/2 = 1.69 ± 0.39 h) than at a higher dose of 7 Gy per fraction (t1/2 = 0.92 ± 0.1h). These data show that repair rate is dependent on the size of dose per fraction, but not in a simple way. T1/2 values now available for many different tissues generally lie in the range of 1-2h, and are not correlated with proliferation status or early versus late response to treatment. At the doses used currently in clinical MFD treatments, these data indicate that damage in almost all normal tissues would increase if interfraction intervals less than 6 h were used. The t1/2 for CaNT (0.31 ± 0.15 h) is less than for any normal tissue. This underlines that the excess morbidity resulting from interfraction intervals < 6 h will not be paralleled by an increased effect in tumours. (author). 25 refs.; 7 figs

The association between alcohol exposure and self-reported health status: the effect of separating former and current drinkers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenbin Liang

Full Text Available To investigate the direction and degree of potential bias introducedto analyses of drinking and health status which exclude former drinkers from exposure groups.Pooled analysis of 14 waves (1997-2010 of the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS.General population-based study.404,462 participants, from 14 waves of the NHIS, who had knownself-reported health status and alcohol consumption status.Self-reported health status was used as the indicatorof health. Two approaches were used to classify alcohol consumption: (i separation of former drinkers and current drinkers, and (ii combined former and current drinkers. The prevalence of fair/poor health by alcohol use, gender and age with 95% confidence intervals was estimated. The difference in prevalence of fair/poor health status for lifetime abstainers, former drinkers, current drinkers and drinkers (former drinkers and current drinkers combined were compared using Poisson regression with robust estimations of variance.Excluding former drinkers from drinker groups exaggerates the difference in health status between abstainers and drinkers, especially for males.In cohort study analyses, former drinkers should be assigned to a drinking category based on their previous alcohol consumption patterns and not treated as a discrete exposure group.

Additive Manufacturing in Offsite Repair of Consumer Electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Chekurov, Sergei; Salmi, Mika

Spare parts for products that are at the end of their life cycles, but still under warranty, are logistically difficult because they are commonly not stored in the central warehouse. These uncommon spare parts occupy valuable space in smaller inventories and take a long time to be transported to the point of need, thus delaying the repair process. This paper proposes that storing the spare parts on a server and producing them with additive manufacturing (AM) on demand can shorten the repair cycle by simplifying the logistics. Introducing AM in the repair supply chain lowers the number of products that need to be reimbursed to the customer due to lengthy repairs, improves the repair statistics of the repair shops, and reduces the number of items that are held in stock. For this paper, the functionality of the concept was verified by reverse engineering a memory cover of a portable computer and laser sintering it from polyamide 12. The additively manufactured component fit well and the computer operated normally after the replacement. The current spare part supply chain model and models with AM machinery located at the repair shop, the centralized spare part provider, and the original equipment manufacturer were provided. The durations of the repair process in the models were compared by simulating two scenarios with the Monte Carlo method. As the biggest improvement, the model with the AM machine in the repair shop reduced the duration of the repair process from 14 days to three days. The result points to the conclusion that placing the machine as close to the need as possible is the best option, if there is enough demand. The spare parts currently compatible with AM are plastic components without strict surface roughness requirements, but more spare parts will become compatible with the development of AM.

Access to Posthospitalization Acute Care Facilities is Associated with Payer Status for Open Abdominal Aortic Repair and Open Lower Extremity Revascularization in the Vascular Quality Initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulloa, Jesus G; Woo, Karen; Tseng, Chi-Hong; Maggard-Gibbons, Melinda; Rigberg, David

2017-07-01

Uninsured patients may not have access to postacute care facilities that play an important role in clinical recovery, and functional outcomes after vascular surgery. We sought to determine whether discharge disposition is associated with insurance status. We retrospectively reviewed data from the Vascular Quality Initiative ® for patients who underwent open abdominal aortic repair, infrainguinal bypass, or suprainguinal bypass (SB) between January 2012 and July 2015. Mixed-effects logistic regression analysis with clustering at the surgeon and facility level was used to calculate 95% confidence intervals for discharge disposition to home, skilled nursing facility (SNF) or rehabilitation (Rehab) facility by payer status (Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial, Military/Veterans Affairs, Non-US Insurance, or Self-pay), with adjustment for patient, operative, and postoperative characteristics. The study cohort comprised 18,478 procedures (open abdominal aortic repair = 2,817; infrainguinal bypass = 11,572; suprainguinal bypass = 4,089) after we excluded procedures with missing data and in-hospital deaths. Twenty-four percent of the cohort was discharged to an SNF or Rehab site. On univariate analysis, the odds ratio (OR) of discharge home was 4.38 (95% CI: 3.33-5.77) for self-pay as compared to Medicare. On mixed-effects analysis, the adjusted odds of discharge home for self-pay as compared to Medicare remained high (OR = 3.09; 95% CI: 2.23-4.26), after adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, preoperative ambulatory status, number of comorbidities, case urgency, total operative time, presence of a postoperative complication, procedure type, and length of stay. Adjusted odds for discharge to SNF (OR = 0.26; 95% CI: 0.15-0.46) and Rehab (OR = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.35-0.72) were lowest for self-pay status. Access to postacute care facilities is associated with insurance status. Self-pay (uninsured) patients are less likely to have access to discharge services that may

Marine renewable energy in China: Current status and perspectives

OpenAIRE

Yong-liang Zhang; Zheng Lin; Qiu-lin Liu

2014-01-01

Based on a general review of marine renewable energy in China, an assessment of the development status and amount of various marine renewable energy resources, including tidal energy, tidal current energy, wave energy, ocean thermal energy, and salinity gradient energy in China's coastal seas, such as the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, is presented. We have found that these kinds of marine renewable energy resources will play an important role in meeti...

Current status of quality assurance of treatment planning systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mijnheer, B.J.

1997-01-01

A review is given of the current status of quality assurance of treatment planning systems. At this moment only one comprehensive report is available. In order to review national activities a questionnaire has been distributed amongst national societies of medical physicists. From the 23 responding countries, 8 indicated that only limited efforts are underway, 8 answered that a working group is evaluating their specific national requirements while in 5 countries a document is drafted. The highlights of these reports have been summarized. (author)

Nuclear liability legislation in Russia - current status and expected developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karpov, A. E.; Borisov, D. G.

2000-01-01

Present report is provided by the experts of the Russian insurance business, a company member of the Russian Nuclear Pool, and not the experts of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russian Federation (RF Minatom). Considering the above, the following document will outline the current status of nuclear liability legislation and insurance in Russia from a viewpoint of the insurance companies and not RF Minatom. (author)

Alpha particle induced DNA damage and repair in normal cultured thyrocytes of different proliferation status

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lyckesvärd, Madeleine Nordén, E-mail: madeleine.lyckesvard@oncology.gu.se [Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg (Sweden); Delle, Ulla; Kahu, Helena [Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg (Sweden); Lindegren, Sture [Department of Radiation Physics, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg (Sweden); Jensen, Holger [The PET and Cyclotron Unit Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet (Denmark); Bäck, Tom [Department of Radiation Physics, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg (Sweden); Swanpalmer, John [Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg (Sweden); Elmroth, Kecke [Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg (Sweden)

2014-07-15

Highlights: • We study DNA damage response to low-LET photons and high-LET alpha particles. • Cycling primary thyrocytes are more sensitive to radiation than stationary cells. • Influence of radiation quality varies due to cell cycle status of normal cells. • High-LET radiation gives rise to a sustained DNA damage response. - Abstract: Childhood exposure to ionizing radiation increases the risk of developing thyroid cancer later in life and this is suggested to be due to higher proliferation of the young thyroid. The interest of using high-LET alpha particles from Astatine-211 ({sup 211}At), concentrated in the thyroid by the same mechanism as {sup 131}I [1], in cancer treatment has increased during recent years because of its high efficiency in inducing biological damage and beneficial dose distribution when compared to low-LET radiation. Most knowledge of the DNA damage response in thyroid is from studies using low-LET irradiation and much less is known of high-LET irradiation. In this paper we investigated the DNA damage response and biological consequences to photons from Cobolt-60 ({sup 60}Co) and alpha particles from {sup 211}At in normal primary thyrocytes of different cell cycle status. For both radiation qualities the intensity levels of γH2AX decreased during the first 24 h in both cycling and stationary cultures and complete repair was seen in all cultures but cycling cells exposed to {sup 211}At. Compared to stationary cells alpha particles were more harmful for cycling cultures, an effect also seen at the pChk2 levels. Increasing ratios of micronuclei per cell nuclei were seen up to 1 Gy {sup 211}At. We found that primary thyrocytes were much more sensitive to alpha particle exposure compared with low-LET photons. Calculations of the relative biological effectiveness yielded higher RBE for cycling cells compared with stationary cultures at a modest level of damage, clearly demonstrating that cell cycle status influences the relative

Summary of the Current Status of Lessons Learned From Fukushima Accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasamehmetoglu, Kemal

2013-01-01

This presentation introduced the current status of the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, and in particular, the recommendations released by a NRC Near-term Task Force to enhance reactor safety in the 21. century. The near-term recommendations are focused on emergency power and emergency cooling availability during station blackout accidents

Systems Maintenance Automated Repair Tasks (SMART)

Science.gov (United States)

Schuh, Joseph; Mitchell, Brent; Locklear, Louis; Belson, Martin A.; Al-Shihabi, Mary Jo Y.; King, Nadean; Norena, Elkin; Hardin, Derek

2010-01-01

SMART is a uniform automated discrepancy analysis and repair-authoring platform that improves technical accuracy and timely delivery of repair procedures for a given discrepancy (see figure a). SMART will minimize data errors, create uniform repair processes, and enhance the existing knowledge base of engineering repair processes. This innovation is the first tool developed that links the hardware specification requirements with the actual repair methods, sequences, and required equipment. SMART is flexibly designed to be useable by multiple engineering groups requiring decision analysis, and by any work authorization and disposition platform (see figure b). The organizational logic creates the link between specification requirements of the hardware, and specific procedures required to repair discrepancies. The first segment in the SMART process uses a decision analysis tree to define all the permutations between component/ subcomponent/discrepancy/repair on the hardware. The second segment uses a repair matrix to define what the steps and sequences are for any repair defined in the decision tree. This segment also allows for the selection of specific steps from multivariable steps. SMART will also be able to interface with outside databases and to store information from them to be inserted into the repair-procedure document. Some of the steps will be identified as optional, and would only be used based on the location and the current configuration of the hardware. The output from this analysis would be sent to a work authoring system in the form of a predefined sequence of steps containing required actions, tools, parts, materials, certifications, and specific requirements controlling quality, functional requirements, and limitations.

Elementary particle physics and cosmology: current status and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rubakov, Valerii A

1999-01-01

The current status of elementary particle physics can be briefly summarized as follows: the Standard Model of elementary particles is perfectly (at the level of radiation effects!) adequate in describing all the available experimental data except for the recent indications of neutrino oscillations. At the same time, much (and possibly most) of today's cosmology is not encompassed by the Standard Model - a fact which, together with intrinsic theoretical difficulties and the neutrino oscillation challenge, strongly indicates that the Standard Model is incomplete. It is expected that in the current decade a 'new physics', i.e. particles and interactions beyond the Standard Model, will emerge. Major advances in cosmology, both in terms of qualitatively improved observations and theoretical analysis of the structure and evolution of the Universe, are expected as well. (special issue)

[Homeostasis and Disorder of Musculoskeletal System.Enthesis formation and repair:Current understanding and perspectives for the future regenerative therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Tokunaga, Takuya; Arimura, Hitoshi; Mizuta, Hiroshi; Hiraki, Yuji; Shukunami, Chisa

Tendons and ligaments are dense fibrous connective tissues mainly composed of type I collagen, aligned in highly ordered arrays along the axis of the tendon and ligament. The enthesis is defined as the attachment site of a tendon, ligament, joint capsule, or fascia to bone. During morphogenesis, the cell population co-expressing Scleraxis(Scx)and the SRY-box containing gene 9(Sox9)contributes to the formation of fibrocartilaginous entheses. Scx regulates tendon and ligament maturation, while Sox9 is a key regulatory factor for cartilage formation. The considerable mechanical forces transmitted through the enthesis and avascular properties of the tissue make it more prone to injuries and degenerative changes. Thus, integration of tendons or ligaments with bone following surgical repair remains a clinical challenge. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the formation, maintenance, damage, and repair of fibrocartilaginous entheses, focusing on the rotator cuff tendon-to-bone attachment sites.

Cellular repair and its importance for UV-induced mutations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Slamenova, D [Slovenska Akademia Vied, Bratislava (Czechoslovakia). Vyskumny Ustav Onkologicky

1975-01-01

Current knowledge is briefly surveyed of the mechanism of the biological repair of injuries induced in DNA cells by the action of various factors, mainly ultraviolet radiation. Genetic loci determining the sensitivity of cells to UV radiation are defined and principal reparation processes are explained; excision repair is described more fully. The role of biological repair is discussed in view of UV-induced mutations in DNA cells.

Targeting DNA repair systems in antitubercular drug development.

Science.gov (United States)

Minias, Alina; Brzostek, Anna; Dziadek, Jaroslaw

2018-01-28

Infections with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, are difficult to treat using currently available chemotherapeutics. Clinicians agree on the urgent need for novel drugs to treat tuberculosis. In this mini review, we summarize data that prompts the consideration of DNA repair-associated proteins as targets for the development of new antitubercular compounds. We discuss data, including gene expression data, that highlight the importance of DNA repair genes during the pathogenic cycle as well as after exposure to antimicrobials currently in use. Specifically, we report experiments on determining the essentiality of DNA repair-related genes. We report the availability of protein crystal structures and summarize discovered protein inhibitors. Further, we describe phenotypes of available gene mutants of M. tuberculosis and model organisms Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium smegmatis. We summarize experiments regarding the role of DNA repair-related proteins in pathogenesis and virulence performed both in vitro and in vivo during the infection of macrophages and animals. We detail the role of DNA repair genes in acquiring mutations, which influence the rate of drug resistance acquisition. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

History, Current Status, and Future Prospects of Counseling in South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang Min; Suh, Suhyun; Yang, Eunjoo; Jang, Yoo Jin

2012-01-01

Although the counseling profession was introduced to South Korea in the 1950s by American delegates of education, counseling has been only lately recognized as a specialized field that requires distinctive knowledge and skills. In this article, the authors describe the history and the current status of counseling in South Korea and then discuss…

Epigenetic changes of DNA repair genes in cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahtz, Christoph; Pfeifer, Gerd P

2011-02-01

'Every Hour Hurts, The Last One Kills'. That is an old saying about getting old. Every day, thousands of DNA damaging events take place in each cell of our body, but efficient DNA repair systems have evolved to prevent that. However, our DNA repair system and that of most other organisms are not as perfect as that of Deinococcus radiodurans, for example, which is able to repair massive amounts of DNA damage at one time. In many instances, accumulation of DNA damage has been linked to cancer, and genetic deficiencies in specific DNA repair genes are associated with tumor-prone phenotypes. In addition to mutations, which can be either inherited or somatically acquired, epigenetic silencing of DNA repair genes may promote tumorigenesis. This review will summarize current knowledge of the epigenetic inactivation of different DNA repair components in human cancer.

Online-coupled meteorology and chemistry models: history, current status, and outlook

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Zhang

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The climate-chemistry-aerosol-cloud-radiation feedbacks are important processes occurring in the atmosphere. Accurately simulating those feedbacks requires fully-coupled meteorology, climate, and chemistry models and presents significant challenges in terms of both scientific understanding and computational demand. This paper reviews the history and current status of the development and application of online-coupled meteorology and chemistry models, with a focus on five representative models developed in the US including GATOR-GCMOM, WRF/Chem, CAM3, MIRAGE, and Caltech unified GCM. These models represent the current status and/or the state-of-the science treatments of online-coupled models worldwide. Their major model features, typical applications, and physical/chemical treatments are compared with a focus on model treatments of aerosol and cloud microphysics and aerosol-cloud interactions. Aerosol feedbacks to planetary boundary layer meteorology and aerosol indirect effects are illustrated with case studies for some of these models. Future research needs for model development, improvement, application, as well as major challenges for online-coupled models are discussed.

CKM Phenomenology and B-mesons physics-present status and current issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, A.

2004-01-01

We review the status of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements and the CP-violating phases in the CKM-unitarity triangle. The emphasis in these lecture notes is on B-meson physics, through we also review the current status and issues in the light quark sector of this matrix. Selected applications of theoretical methods in QCD used in the interpretation of data are given and some of the issues restricting the theoretical precision on the CKM matrix elements discussed. The overall consistency of the CKM theory with the available data in flavour physics is impressive and we quantify this consistency. Current data also show some anomalies which, however, are not yet statistically significant. They are discussed briefly. some benchmark measurements that remain to be done in experiments at the B-factories and hadron colliders are listed. Together with the already achieved results, they will provide unprecedented test of the CKM theory and by the same token may lead to the discovery of new physics. (Author) 284 refs

Low-dose antibiotics: current status and outlook for the future

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antimicrobial therapy is a key factor in our success against pathogens poised to ravage at risk or infected individuals. However, we are currently at a watershed point as we face a growing crisis of antibiotic resistance among diverse pathogens. One area of intense interest is the impact of the a......Antimicrobial therapy is a key factor in our success against pathogens poised to ravage at risk or infected individuals. However, we are currently at a watershed point as we face a growing crisis of antibiotic resistance among diverse pathogens. One area of intense interest is the impact...... of the application of antibiotics for uses other than the treatment of patients and the association with such utilization with emerging drug resistance. This Research Topic “Low- dose antibiotics: current status and outlook for the future” in Frontiers in Microbiology: Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy...

Nuclear translocation contributes to regulation of DNA excision repair activities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Nina Østergaard; Andersen, Sofie Dabros; Lützen, Anne

2009-01-01

for regulation of nuclear import that is necessary for proper localization of the repair proteins. This review summarizes the current knowledge on nuclear import mechanisms of DNA excision repair proteins and provides a model that categorizes the import by different mechanisms, including classical nuclear import......DNA mutations are circumvented by dedicated specialized excision repair systems, such as the base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), and mismatch repair (MMR) pathways. Although the individual repair pathways have distinct roles in suppressing changes in the nuclear DNA......, it is evident that proteins from the different DNA repair pathways interact [Y. Wang, D. Cortez, P. Yazdi, N. Neff, S.J. Elledge, J. Qin, BASC, a super complex of BRCA1-associated proteins involved in the recognition and repair of aberrant DNA structures, Genes Dev. 14 (2000) 927-939; M. Christmann, M...

A biomechanical evaluation of all-inside 2-stitch meniscal repair devices with matched inside-out suture repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramappa, Arun J; Chen, Alvin; Hertz, Benjamin; Wexler, Michael; Grimaldi Bournissaint, Leandro; DeAngelis, Joseph P; Nazarian, Ara

2014-01-01

Many all-inside suture-based devices are currently available, including the Meniscal Cinch, FasT-Fix, Ultra FasT-Fix, RapidLoc, MaxFire, and CrossFix System. These different devices have been compared in various configurations, but to our knowledge, the Sequent meniscal repair device, which applies running sutures, has not been compared with the Ultra FasT-Fix, nor has it been compared with its suture, No. 0 Hi-Fi, using an inside-out repair technique. To assess the quality of the meniscal repair, all new devices should be compared with the gold standard: the inside-out repair. To that end, this study aims to compare the biomechanical characteristics of running sutures delivered by the Sequent meniscal repair device with 2 vertical mattress sutures applied using the Ultra FasT-Fix device and with 2 vertical mattress sutures using an inside-out repair technique with No. 0 Hi-Fi suture. Controlled laboratory study. Paired (medial and lateral), fresh-frozen porcine menisci were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: Sequent (n = 17), Ultra FasT-Fix (n = 19), and No. 0 Hi-Fi inside-out repair (n = 20). Bucket-handle tears were created in all menisci and were subjected to repair according to their grouping. Once repaired, the specimens were subjected to cyclic loading (100, 300, and 500 cycles), followed by loading to failure. The Sequent and Ultra FasT-Fix device repairs and the suture repair exhibited low initial displacements. The Sequent meniscal repair device demonstrated the lowest displacement in response to cyclic loading. No. 0 Hi-Fi suture yielded the highest load to failure. With the development of the next generation of all-inside meniscal repair devices, surgeons may use these findings to select the method best suited for their patients. The Sequent meniscal repair device displays the least amount of displacement during cyclic loading but has a similar failure load to other devices.

Biceps tenodesis is a viable option for salvage of failed SLAP repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, Brian C; Pehlivan, Hakan C; Hart, Joseph M; Lyons, Matthew L; Gilmore, C Jan; Garrett, Cara B; Carson, Eric W; Diduch, David R; Miller, Mark D; Brockmeier, Stephen F

2014-08-01

Outcomes of arthroscopic superior labral anterior-posterior (SLAP) repairs have been well reported with generally favorable outcomes. Unfortunately, a percentage of patients remain dissatisfied or suffer further injury after SLAP repair and may seek additional treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcomes of biceps tenodesis for failed SLAP repairs. A retrospective review of all patients undergoing biceps tenodesis was completed. Inclusion criteria were previous SLAP repair and subsequent revision biceps tenodesis. Exclusion criteria were additional shoulder procedures including rotator cuff repair, instability procedures, and preoperative frozen shoulder. Objective outcomes were postoperative assessments with Constant score, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation, Simple Shoulder Test, and Veterans RAND 36-Item Health Survey. Physical examination was conducted to determine postoperative range of motion and strength compared with the nonoperative shoulder. A cohort of 24 patients was identified, and of these, 17 patients (71%) completed the study at 2 years' follow-up. The average postoperative Constant score was 84.4; American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, 75.5; Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, 73.1%; Simple Shoulder Test score, 9.2; and Veterans RAND 36-Item Health Survey score, 76.1. Postoperative range of motion of the operative shoulder returned to near that of the asymptomatic nonoperative shoulder. Workers' compensation status led to inferior results. Options for patients with a failed prior SLAP repair are limited. As a salvage operation for failed SLAP repair, biceps tenodesis serves the majority of patients well, with favorable outcomes by validated measures and excellent shoulder range of motion and elbow strength at 2 years' follow-up. Workers' compensation status may predispose patients to poorer outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board

Endometrial tumour BRAF mutations and MLH1 promoter methylation as predictors of germline mismatch repair gene mutation status: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Metcalf, Alexander M; Spurdle, Amanda B

2014-03-01

Colorectal cancer (CRC) that displays high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) can be caused by either germline mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes, or non-inherited transcriptional silencing of the MLH1 promoter. A correlation between MLH1 promoter methylation, specifically the 'C' region, and BRAF V600E status has been reported in CRC studies. Germline MMR mutations also greatly increase risk of endometrial cancer (EC), but no systematic review has been undertaken to determine if these tumour markers may be useful predictors of MMR mutation status in EC patients. Endometrial cancer cohorts meeting review inclusion criteria encompassed 2675 tumours from 20 studies for BRAF V600E, and 447 tumours from 11 studies for MLH1 methylation testing. BRAF V600E mutations were reported in 4/2675 (0.1%) endometrial tumours of unknown MMR mutation status, and there were 7/823 (0.9%) total sequence variants in exon 11 and 27/1012 (2.7%) in exon 15. Promoter MLH1 methylation was not observed in tumours from 32 MLH1 mutation carriers, or for 13 MSH2 or MSH6 mutation carriers. MMR mutation-negative individuals with tumour MLH1 and PMS2 IHC loss displayed MLH1 methylation in 48/51 (94%) of tumours. We have also detailed specific examples that show the importance of MLH1 promoter region, assay design, and quantification of methylation. This review shows that BRAF mutations occurs so infrequently in endometrial tumours they can be discounted as a useful marker for predicting MMR-negative mutation status, and further studies of endometrial cohorts with known MMR mutation status are necessary to quantify the utility of tumour MLH1 promoter methylation as a marker of negative germline MMR mutation status in EC patients.

Current status of multi-detector row helical CT in imaging of adult ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Current status of multi-detector row helical CT in imaging of adult acquired pancreatic diseases and assessing surgical neoplastic resectability. ... The presence of inflammation, masses, and vascular invasion was evaluated and interpreted images were obtained during each phase. Results were compared with surgery, ...

Australian shellfish ecosystems: Past distribution, current status and future direction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris L Gillies

Full Text Available We review the status of marine shellfish ecosystems formed primarily by bivalves in Australia, including: identifying ecosystem-forming species, assessing their historical and current extent, causes for decline and past and present management. Fourteen species of bivalves were identified as developing complex, three-dimensional reef or bed ecosystems in intertidal and subtidal areas across tropical, subtropical and temperate Australia. A dramatic decline in the extent and condition of Australia's two most common shellfish ecosystems, developed by Saccostrea glomerata and Ostrea angasi oysters, occurred during the mid-1800s to early 1900s in concurrence with extensive harvesting for food and lime production, ecosystem modification, disease outbreaks and a decline in water quality. Out of 118 historical locations containing O. angasi-developed ecosystems, only one location still contains the ecosystem whilst only six locations are known to still contain S. glomerata-developed ecosystems out of 60 historical locations. Ecosystems developed by the introduced oyster Crasostrea gigas are likely to be increasing in extent, whilst data on the remaining 11 ecosystem-forming species are limited, preventing a detailed assessment of their current ecosystem-forming status. Our analysis identifies that current knowledge on extent, physical characteristics, biodiversity and ecosystem services of Australian shellfish ecosystems is extremely limited. Despite the limited information on shellfish ecosystems, a number of restoration projects have recently been initiated across Australia and we propose a number of existing government policies and conservation mechanisms, if enacted, would readily serve to support the future conservation and recovery of Australia's shellfish ecosystems.

Australian shellfish ecosystems: Past distribution, current status and future direction

Science.gov (United States)

Gillies, Chris L.; McLeod, Ian M.; Alleway, Heidi K.; Cook, Peter; Crawford, Christine; Creighton, Colin; Diggles, Ben; Ford, John; Hamer, Paul; Heller-Wagner, Gideon; Lebrault, Emma; Le Port, Agnès; Russell, Kylie; Sheaves, Marcus; Warnock, Bryn

2018-01-01

We review the status of marine shellfish ecosystems formed primarily by bivalves in Australia, including: identifying ecosystem-forming species, assessing their historical and current extent, causes for decline and past and present management. Fourteen species of bivalves were identified as developing complex, three-dimensional reef or bed ecosystems in intertidal and subtidal areas across tropical, subtropical and temperate Australia. A dramatic decline in the extent and condition of Australia’s two most common shellfish ecosystems, developed by Saccostrea glomerata and Ostrea angasi oysters, occurred during the mid-1800s to early 1900s in concurrence with extensive harvesting for food and lime production, ecosystem modification, disease outbreaks and a decline in water quality. Out of 118 historical locations containing O. angasi-developed ecosystems, only one location still contains the ecosystem whilst only six locations are known to still contain S. glomerata-developed ecosystems out of 60 historical locations. Ecosystems developed by the introduced oyster Crasostrea gigas are likely to be increasing in extent, whilst data on the remaining 11 ecosystem-forming species are limited, preventing a detailed assessment of their current ecosystem-forming status. Our analysis identifies that current knowledge on extent, physical characteristics, biodiversity and ecosystem services of Australian shellfish ecosystems is extremely limited. Despite the limited information on shellfish ecosystems, a number of restoration projects have recently been initiated across Australia and we propose a number of existing government policies and conservation mechanisms, if enacted, would readily serve to support the future conservation and recovery of Australia’s shellfish ecosystems. PMID:29444143

Review of the current status of linear hybrid reactor concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schultz, K.R.

1977-07-01

A review was made of the current status of linear fusion-fission hybrid reactor design studies in the USA. The linear hybrid reactor concepts reviewed include the linear theta-pinch hybrid reactor being studied at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, the electron beam-heated solenoid hybrid reactor under development at Physics International Co., the laser-heated solenoid hybrid reactor being investigated at Mathematical Sciences Northwest, Inc., and the linear fusion waste burning reactor being studied at General Atomic Company. The discussion addresses confinement and heating mechanisms for each concept, as well as the hybrid blanket designs. The current state of the four reactor designs is summarized and the performance of the various concepts compared

DNA repair , cell repair and radiosensitivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhestyanikov, V.D.

1983-01-01

Data obtained in laboratory of radiation cytology and literature data testifying to a considerable role of DNA repair in cell sensitivity to radiation and chemical DNA-tropic agents have been considered. Data pointing to the probability of contribution of inducible repair of DNA into plant cells sensitivity to X-rays are obtained. Certain violations of DNA repair do not result in the increase of radiosensitivity. It is assumed that in the cases unknown mechanisms of DNA repair operate

Folate and Colorectal Cancer in Rodents: A Model of DNA Repair Deficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rita Rosati

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Fortification of grains has resulted in a positive public health outcome vis-a-vis reduced incidence of neural tube defects. Whether folate has a correspondingly beneficial effect on other disease outcomes is less clear. A role for dietary folate in the prevention of colorectal cancer has been established through epidemiological data. Experimental data aiming to further elucidate this relationship has been somewhat equivocal. Studies report that folate depletion increases DNA damage, mutagenesis, and chromosomal instability, all suggesting inhibited DNA repair. While these data connecting folate depletion and inhibition of DNA repair are convincing, we also present data demonstrating that genetic inhibition of DNA repair is protective in the development of preneoplastic colon lesions, both when folate is depleted and when it is not. The purpose of this paper is to (1 give an overview of the data demonstrating a DNA repair defect in response to folate depletion, and (2 critically compare and contrast the experimental designs utilized in folate/colorectal cancer research and the corresponding impact on tissue folate status and critical colorectal cancer endpoints. Our analysis suggests that there is still an important need for a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of differential dietary prescriptions on blood and tissue folate status.

Income Inequality and Health Status in the United States: Evidence from the Current Population Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellor, Jennifer M.; Milyo, Jeffrey

2002-01-01

Current Population Survey data on self-reported health status and income for the general population and those in poverty were analyzed. No consistent association was found between income inequality and individual health status. Previous findings of such an association were attributed to ecological fallacy or failure to control for individual…

Current status of the Fastbus Micro-Vax

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siskind, E.J.

1985-01-01

The present hardware, firmware, and software design and status of the Fastbus Micro-VAX, a two board Fastbus module packaging of the DEC Micro-VAX II computing system, is described. The hardware currently features an Intel 80186, equipped with 64 kB of ROM, 32 kB of RAM, and an 82586/82501 Ethernet port, as a front end I/O processor, plus a high bandwidth Fastbus interface implemented in semi-custom ECL 100K VLSI with the Motorola MCA2500ECL macrocell array. Standard 80186 firmware implements multiple Fastbus segment drivers and interrupt receivers software compatible with the UPI, a limited Fastbus interprocessor network, and emulations of the DEC DEQNA Ethernet interface and an MSCP disk interface. Software includes device drivers for the non-DEC devices, plus appropriate standard access subroutines for the Fastbus and network devices

67 Ambulatory Surgery: Current Status and Future Trends

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

selected patients to hospital for a planned, non emergency, surgical procedure, returning home on the same day. Minor outpatient ... Some examples of the procedures of the basket are the following: • Hernia repair,. • Varicose vein surgery,. • Mastectomy,. • Cataract surgery,. • Tonsillectomy,. • Knee arthroscopy and ...

Current status of the IREN project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furman, W.I.

1997-01-01

A current status and a corrected time-schedule of the project of the new Intense Resonance Neutron pulsed source (IREN) realized in JINR (Dubna) for experiments dealing with fundamental and applied nuclear physics studies are discussed. This source is the upgraded variant of the existing IBR-30 pulsed booster. It consists of the 200 MeV electron linac and supplying by an electron beam the photo-neutron converter placed in the center of the very fast multiplying subcritical core. The existing buildings and beam infrastructure are planned to adopt for the new IREN source. The aim of the project is to improve essentially an energy resolution of the time-of-flight spectrometer and to increase twice (up to 10 15 n/sec) an integral neutron yield. An implementation of the IREN project has started in June 1994 with the planned end in December 1997. But due to mainly insufficient financing the approved time-schedule is shifted. Now most optimistic time of start-up of the neutron source is the end of 1999

Role of DNA repair in repair of cytogenetic damages. Slowly repaired DNA injuries involved in cytogenetic damages repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaichkina, S.I.; Rozanova, O.M.; Aptikaev, G.F.; Ganassi, E.Eh.

1989-01-01

Caffeine was used to study the kinetics of cytogenetic damages repair in Chinese hamster fibroblasts. Its half-time (90 min) was shown to correlate with that of repair of slowly repaired DNA damages. The caffeine-induced increase in the number of irreparable DNA damages, attributed to inhibition of double-strand break repair, is in a quantitative correlation with the effect of the cytogenetic damage modification

Current Status of Family Medicine Faculty Development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Paul R; Chege, Patrick; Dahlman, Bruce; Gibson, Christine; Evensen, Ann; Colon-Gonzalez, Maria C; Onguka, Stephanie; Lamptey, Roberta; Cayley, William E; Nguyen, Bich-May; Johnson, Brian; Getnet, Sawra; Hasnain, Memoona

2017-03-01

Reducing the shortage of primary care physicians in sub-Saharan Africa requires expansion of training programs in family medicine. Challenges remain in preparing, recruiting, and retaining faculty qualified to teach in these pioneering programs. Little is known about the unique faculty development needs of family medicine faculty within the sub-Saharan African context. The purpose of this study was to assess the current status and future needs for developing robust family medicine faculty in sub-Saharan Africa. The results are reported in two companion articles. A cross-sectional study design was used to conduct a qualitative needs assessment comprising 37 in-depth, semi-structured interviews of individual faculty trainers from postgraduate family medicine training programs in eight sub-Saharan African countries. Data were analyzed according to qualitative description. While faculty development opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa were identified, current faculty note many barriers to faculty development and limited participation in available programs. Faculty value teaching competency, but institutional structures do not provide adequate support. Sub-Saharan African family physicians and postgraduate trainee physicians value good teachers and recognize that clinical training alone does not provide all of the skills needed by educators. The current status of limited resources of institutions and individuals constrain faculty development efforts. Where faculty development opportunities do exist, they are too infrequent or otherwise inaccessible to provide trainers the necessary skills to help them succeed as educators.

Mammalian DNA Repair. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, Richard D.

2003-01-24

The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Mammalian DNA Repair was held at Harbortown Resort, Ventura Beach, CA. Emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field.

Chronic wound repair and healing in older adults: current status and future research.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Lisa; Abadir, Peter; Brem, Harold; Carter, Marissa; Conner-Kerr, Teresa; Davidson, Jeff; DiPietro, Luisa; Falanga, Vincent; Fife, Caroline; Gardner, Sue; Grice, Elizabeth; Harmon, John; Hazzard, William R; High, Kevin P; Houghton, Pamela; Jacobson, Nasreen; Kirsner, Robert S; Kovacs, Elizabeth J; Margolis, David; McFarland Horne, Frances; Reed, May J; Sullivan, Dennis H; Thom, Stephen; Tomic-Canic, Marjana; Walston, Jeremy; Whitney, Jo Anne; Williams, John; Zieman, Susan; Schmader, Kenneth

2015-03-01

Older adults are more likely to have chronic wounds than younger people, and the effect of chronic wounds on quality of life is particularly profound in this population. Wound healing slows with age, but the basic biology underlying chronic wounds and the influence of age-associated changes on wound healing are poorly understood. Most studies have used in vitro approaches and various animal models, but observed changes translate poorly to human healing conditions. The effect of age and accompanying multimorbidity on the effectiveness of existing and emerging treatment approaches for chronic wounds is also unknown, and older adults tend to be excluded from randomized clinical trials. Poorly defined outcomes and variables; lack of standardization in data collection; and variations in the definition, measurement, and treatment of wounds also hamper clinical studies. The Association of Specialty Professors, in conjunction with the National Institute on Aging and the Wound Healing Society, held a workshop, summarized in this article, to explore the current state of knowledge and research challenges, engage investigators across disciplines, and identify research questions to guide future study of age-associated changes in chronic wound healing. © 2015 by the American Geriatrics Society and the Wound Healing Society.

Chronic Wound Repair and Healing in Older Adults: Current Status and Future Research

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Lisa; Abadir, Peter; Brem, Harold; Carter, Marissa; Conner-Kerr, Teresa; Davidson, Jeff; DiPietro, Luisa; Falanga, Vincent; Fife, Caroline; Gardner, Sue; Grice, Elizabeth; Harmon, John; Hazzard, William R.; High, Kevin P.; Houghton, Pamela; Jacobson, Nasreen; Kirsner, Robert S.; Kovacs, Elizabeth J.; Margolis, David; Horne, Frances McFarland; Reed, May J.; Sullivan, Dennis H.; Thom, Stephen; Tomic-Canic, Marjana; Walston, Jeremy; Whitney, Jo Anne; Williams, John; Zieman, Susan; Schmader, Kenneth

2015-01-01

Older adults are more likely to have chronic wounds than younger people, and the effect of chronic wounds on quality of life is particularly profound in this population. Wound healing slows with age, but the basic biology underlying chronic wounds and the influence of age-associated changes on wound healing are poorly understood. Most studies have used in vitro approaches and various animal models, but observed changes translate poorly to human healing conditions. The effect of age and accompanying multimorbidity on the effectiveness of existing and emerging treatment approaches for chronic wounds is also unknown, and older adults tend to be excluded from randomized clinical trials. Poorly defined outcomes and variables; lack of standardization in data collection; and variations in the definition, measurement, and treatment of wounds also hamper clinical studies. The Association of Specialty Professors, in conjunction with the National Institute on Aging and the Wound Healing Society, held a workshop, summarized in this article, to explore the current state of knowledge and research challenges, engage investigators across disciplines, and identify research questions to guide future study of age-associated changes in chronic wound healing. PMID:25753048

Current Status of HbA1c Biosensors

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hua; Yi, Jun

2017-01-01

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is formed via non-enzymatic glycosylation reactions at the α–amino group of βVal1 residues in the tetrameric Hb, and it can reflect the ambient glycemic level over the past two to three months. A variety of HbA1c detection methods, including chromatography, immunoassay, enzymatic measurement, electrochemical sensor and capillary electrophoresis have been developed and used in research laboratories and in clinics as well. In this review, we summarize the current status of HbA1c biosensors based on the recognition of the sugar moiety on the protein and also their applications in the whole blood sample measurements. PMID:28777351

Mathematical models of blast induced TBI: current status, challenges and prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raj K Gupta

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Blast induced traumatic brain injury (TBI has become a signature wound of recent military activities and is the leading cause of death and long-term disability among U.S. soldiers. The current limited understanding of brain injury mechanisms impedes the development of protection, diagnostic and treatment strategies. We believe mathematical models of blast wave brain injury biomechanics and neurobiology, complemented with in vitro and in vivo experimental studies, will enable a better understanding of injury mechanisms and accelerate the development of both protective and treatment strategies. The goal of this paper is to review the current state of the art in mathematical and computational modeling of blast induced TBI, identify research gaps and recommend future developments. A brief overview of blast wave physics, injury biomechanics and the neurobiology of brain injury is used as a foundation for a more detailed discussion of multiscale mathematical models of primary biomechanics and secondary injury and repair mechanisms. The paper also presents a discussion of model development strategies, experimental approaches to generate benchmark data for model validation and potential applications of the model for prevention and protection against blast wave TBI.

Autologous chondrocyte implantation: superior biologic properties of hyaline cartilage repairs.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Ian; Lavigne, Patrick; Valenzuela, Herminio; Oakes, Barry

2007-02-01

Information regarding the quality of autologous chondrocyte implantation repair is needed to determine whether the current autologous chondrocyte implantation surgical technology and the subsequent biologic repair processes are capable of reliably forming durable hyaline or hyaline-like cartilage in vivo. We report and analyze the properties and qualities of autologous chondrocyte implantation repairs. We evaluated 66 autologous chondrocyte implantation repairs in 57 patients, 55 of whom had histology, indentometry, and International Cartilage Repair Society repair scoring at reoperation for mechanical symptoms or pain. International Knee Documentation Committee scores were used to address clinical outcome. Maximum stiffness, normalized stiffness, and International Cartilage Repair Society repair scoring were higher for hyaline articular cartilage repairs compared with fibrocartilage, with no difference in clinical outcome. Reoperations revealed 32 macroscopically abnormal repairs (Group B) and 23 knees with normal-looking repairs in which symptoms leading to arthroscopy were accounted for by other joint disorders (Group A). In Group A, 65% of repairs were either hyaline or hyaline-like cartilage compared with 28% in Group B. Autologous chondrocyte repairs composed of fibrocartilage showed more morphologic abnormalities and became symptomatic earlier than hyaline or hyaline-like cartilage repairs. The hyaline articular cartilage repairs had biomechanical properties comparable to surrounding cartilage and superior to those associated with fibrocartilage repairs.

Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Tanzania: Current Status and Challenges

OpenAIRE

Kilonzo, Semvua B.; Gunda, Daniel W.; Mpondo, Bonaventura C. T.; Bakshi, Fatma A.; Jaka, Hyasinta

2018-01-01

Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world with high prevalence in most of sub-Saharan Africa countries. The complexity in its diagnosis and treatment poses a significant management challenge in the resource-limited settings including Tanzania, where most of the tests and drugs are either unavailable or unaffordable. This mini review aims at demonstrating the current status of the disease in the country and discussing the concomitant challenges in diagnosis, treatm...

Current status of nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behnke, W.B.

1984-01-01

The decision to devote the 1984 conference to nuclear power is timely and appropriate. Illinois has a long, and distinguished history in the development of civilian nuclear power. The concept was born at the University of Chicago, developed at Argonne National Laboratory and demonstrated on the Commonwealth Edison system at our pioneer Dresden Nuclear Station. Today, Illinois ranks number one in the nation in nuclear generation. With over a quarter century of commercial operating experience, nuclear power has proven its worth and become a significant and growing component of electric power supply domestically and throughout the world. Despite its initial acceptance, however, the nuclear power industry in the U.S. is now in the midst of a difficult period of readjustment stemming largely from the economic and regulatory problems of the past decade. As a result, the costs of plants under construction have increased dramatically, causing serious financial difficulties for several projects and their owners. At the same time, the U.S. is facing hard choices concerning its future energy supplies. Conferences such as this have an important role in clarifying the issues and helping to find solutions to today's pressing energy problems. This paper summarizes the status of nuclear power both here and abroad, discussing the implications of current events in the context of national energy policy and economic development here in Illinois

A Probabilistic Tool that Aids Logistics Engineers in the Establishment of High Confidence Repair Need-Dates at the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot

Science.gov (United States)

Bullington, J. V.; Winkler, J. C.; Linton, D. G.; Khajenoori, S.

1995-01-01

The NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot (NSLD) is tasked with the responsibility for repair and manufacture of Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) hardware and components to support the Space Shuttle Orbiter. Due to shrinking budgets, cost effective repair of LRU's becomes a primary objective. To achieve this objective, is imperative that resources be assigned to those LRU's which have the greatest expectation of being needed as a spare. Forecasting the times at which spares are needed requires consideration of many significant factors including: failure rate, flight rate, spares availability, and desired level of support, among others. This paper summarizes the results of the research and development work that has been accomplished in producing an automated tool that assists in the assignment of effective repair start-times for LRU's at the NSLD. This system, called the Repair Start-time Assessment System (RSAS), uses probabilistic modeling technology to calculate a need date for a repair that considers the current repair pipeline status, as well as, serviceable spares and projections of future demands. The output from the system is a date for beginning the repair that has significantly greater confidence (in the sense that a desired probability of support is ensured) than times produced using other techniques. Since an important output of RSAS is the longest repair turn-around time that will ensure a desired probability of support, RSAS has the potential for being applied to operations at any repair depot where spares are on-hand and repair start-times are of interest. In addition, RSAS incorporates tenants of Just-in-Time (JIT) techniques in that the latest repair start-time (i.e., the latest time at which repair resources must be committed) may be calculated for every failed unit This could reduce the spares inventory for certain items, without significantly increasing the risk of unsatisfied demand.

Safety of repair for severe duodenal injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Velmahos, George C; Constantinou, Constantinos; Kasotakis, George

2008-01-01

There is ongoing debate about the management of severe duodenal injuries (SDIs), and earlier studies have recommended pyloric exclusion. The objective of this study was to compare primary repair with pyloric exclusion to examine if primary repair can be safely used in SDIs. The medical records of 193 consecutive patients who were admitted between August 1992 and January 2004 with duodenal injuries were reviewed. After excluding early deaths (n = 50), low-grade duodenal injuries (n = 81), and pancreatoduodenectomies for catastrophic trauma (n = 12), a total of 50 patients with SDIs (grade III, IV, or V) were analyzed. Primary repair (PR--simple duodenorrhaphy or resection and primary anastomosis) was performed in 34 (68%) and pyloric exclusion (PE) in 16 (32%). Characteristics and outcomes of these two groups were compared. PE and PR patients were similar for age, injury severity score, abdominal abbreviated injury score, physiologic status on admission, time to operation, and most abdominal organs injured. PE patients had more pancreatic injuries (63% vs. 24%, p duodenum (79% vs. 42%, p = 0.02), and a nonsignificant trend toward more grade IV and V injuries (37% vs. 18%, p = 0.11). There was no difference in morbidity (including complications specific to the duodenal repair), mortality, and intensive care unit and hospital length of stay between the two groups. Pyloric exclusion is not necessary for all patients with SDIs, as previously suggested. Selected SDI patients can be safely managed by simple primary repair.

Novel Repair Concept for Composite Materials by Repetitive Geometrical Interlock Elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Zaremba

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Material adapted repair technologies for fiber-reinforced polymers with thermosetting matrix systems are currently characterized by requiring major efforts for repair preparation and accomplishment in all industrial areas of application. In order to allow for a uniform distribution of material and geometrical parameters over the repair zone, a novel composite interlock repair concept is introduced, which is based on a repair zone with undercuts prepared by water-jet technology. The presented numerical and experimental sensitivity analyses make a contribution to the systematic development of the interlock repair technology with respect to material and geometrical factors of influence. The results show the ability of the novel concept for a reproducible and automatable composite repair.

[ADVANCES IN ANATOMICAL REPAIR OF CHRONIC LATERAL ANKLE INSTABILITY].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Liang, Xiaojun

2016-12-08

To summarize the current status and progress of the treatment of chronic lateral ankle instability (CLAI). The literature about the anatomical repair of CLAI at home and abroad was reviewed and summarized. Broström and its modified operations are the most common surgical treatment of CLAI. The operations showed satisfactory clinical outcomes in the short-, medium-, and long-term follow-up and low complication rate. Suture anchor technique and arthroscopic techniques are gradually used in Broström and its modified operations with satisfactory short-term effectiveness, but long-term effectiveness needs further observation because of the limitation of the short clinical application time. Broström and its modified operations are effective, convenient, and safe to treat CLAI. Based on the researches of biomechanics and dynamic anatomy, the more personalized design of the rehabilitation program is the further research direction.

[Molecular imaging; current status and future prospects in USA].

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Hisataka

2007-02-01

The goal of this review is to introduce the definition, current status, and future prospects of the molecular imaging, which has recently been a hot topic in medicine and the biological science in USA. In vivo imaging methods to visualize the molecular events and functions in organs or animals/humans are overviewed and discussed especially in combinations of imaging modalities (machines) and contrast agents(chemicals) used in the molecular imaging. Next, the close relationship between the molecular imaging and the nanotechnology, an important part of nanomedicine, is stressed from the aspect of united multidisciplinary sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine.

Interventional Radiology of Male Varicocele: Current Status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iaccarino, Vittorio; Venetucci, Pietro

2012-01-01

Varicocele is a fairly common condition in male individuals. Although a minor disease, it may cause infertility and testicular pain. Consequently, it has high health and social impact. Here we review the current status of interventional radiology of male varicocele. We describe the radiological anatomy of gonadal veins and the clinical aspects of male varicocele, particularly the physical examination, which includes a new clinical and ultrasound Doppler maneuver. The surgical and radiological treatment options are also described with the focus on retrograde and antegrade sclerotherapy, together with our long experience with these procedures. Last, we compare the outcomes, recurrence and persistence rates, complications, procedure time and cost-effectiveness of each method. It clearly emerges from this analysis that there is a need for randomized multicentre trials designed to compare the various surgical and percutaneous techniques, all of which are aimed at occlusion of the anterior pampiniform plexus.

Current Status of Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) Technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Philipps, Simon P. [Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg (Germany); Bett, Andreas W. [Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg (Germany); Horowitz, Kelsey [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kurtz, Sarah [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-12-01

This report summarizes the status of the concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) market and industry as well as current trends in research and technology. This report is intended to guide research agendas for Fraunhofer ISE, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and other R&D organizations. Version 1.1 of this report includes recent progress in CPV. The recent record module efficiency of 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve. 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve. 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve. 38.9% at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions (CSTC) is an impressive result, demonstrating the continuing opportunity for CPV technology to improve.

Interventional Radiology of Male Varicocele: Current Status

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iaccarino, Vittorio, E-mail: vittorio.iaccarino@unina.it; Venetucci, Pietro [University of Naples ' Federico II' , Diagnostic Imaging Department-Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, School of Medicine (Italy)

2012-12-15

Varicocele is a fairly common condition in male individuals. Although a minor disease, it may cause infertility and testicular pain. Consequently, it has high health and social impact. Here we review the current status of interventional radiology of male varicocele. We describe the radiological anatomy of gonadal veins and the clinical aspects of male varicocele, particularly the physical examination, which includes a new clinical and ultrasound Doppler maneuver. The surgical and radiological treatment options are also described with the focus on retrograde and antegrade sclerotherapy, together with our long experience with these procedures. Last, we compare the outcomes, recurrence and persistence rates, complications, procedure time and cost-effectiveness of each method. It clearly emerges from this analysis that there is a need for randomized multicentre trials designed to compare the various surgical and percutaneous techniques, all of which are aimed at occlusion of the anterior pampiniform plexus.

Guidelines for the Design and Conduct of Clinical Studies in Knee Articular Cartilage Repair

Science.gov (United States)

Mithoefer, Kai; Saris, Daniel B.F.; Farr, Jack; Kon, Elizaveta; Zaslav, Kenneth; Cole, Brian J.; Ranstam, Jonas; Yao, Jian; Shive, Matthew; Levine, David; Dalemans, Wilfried; Brittberg, Mats

2011-01-01

Objective: To summarize current clinical research practice and develop methodological standards for objective scientific evaluation of knee cartilage repair procedures and products. Design: A comprehensive literature review was performed of high-level original studies providing information relevant for the design of clinical studies on articular cartilage repair in the knee. Analysis of cartilage repair publications and synopses of ongoing trials were used to identify important criteria for the design, reporting, and interpretation of studies in this field. Results: Current literature reflects the methodological limitations of the scientific evidence available for articular cartilage repair. However, clinical trial databases of ongoing trials document a trend suggesting improved study designs and clinical evaluation methodology. Based on the current scientific information and standards of clinical care, detailed methodological recommendations were developed for the statistical study design, patient recruitment, control group considerations, study endpoint definition, documentation of results, use of validated patient-reported outcome instruments, and inclusion and exclusion criteria for the design and conduct of scientifically sound cartilage repair study protocols. A consensus statement among the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) and contributing authors experienced in clinical trial design and implementation was achieved. Conclusions: High-quality clinical research methodology is critical for the optimal evaluation of current and new cartilage repair technologies. In addition to generally applicable principles for orthopedic study design, specific criteria and considerations apply to cartilage repair studies. Systematic application of these criteria and considerations can facilitate study designs that are scientifically rigorous, ethical, practical, and appropriate for the question(s) being addressed in any given cartilage repair research project

Triple negative breast cancers have a reduced expression of DNA repair genes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enilze Ribeiro

Full Text Available DNA repair is a key determinant in the cellular response to therapy and tumor repair status could play an important role in tailoring patient therapy. Our goal was to evaluate the mRNA of 13 genes involved in different DNA repair pathways (base excision, nucleotide excision, homologous recombination, and Fanconi anemia in paraffin embedded samples of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC compared to luminal A breast cancer (LABC. Most of the genes involved in nucleotide excision repair and Fanconi Anemia pathways, and CHK1 gene were significantly less expressed in TNBC than in LABC. PARP1 levels were higher in TNBC than in LABC. In univariate analysis high level of FANCA correlated with an increased overall survival and event free survival in TNBC; however multivariate analyses using Cox regression did not confirm FANCA as independent prognostic factor. These data support the evidence that TNBCs compared to LABCs harbour DNA repair defects.

Robotic technology in surgery: current status in 2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Declan G; Hall, Rohan; Tong, Raymond; Goel, Rajiv; Costello, Anthony J

2008-12-01

There is increasing patient and surgeon interest in robotic-assisted surgery, particularly with the proliferation of da Vinci surgical systems (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) throughout the world. There is much debate over the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of these systems. The currently available robotic surgical technology is described. Published data relating to the da Vinci system are reviewed and the current status of surgical robotics within Australia and New Zealand is assessed. The first da Vinci system in Australia and New Zealand was installed in 2003. Four systems had been installed by 2006 and seven systems are currently in use. Most of these are based in private hospitals. Technical advantages of this system include 3-D vision, enhanced dexterity and improved ergonomics when compared with standard laparoscopic surgery. Most procedures currently carried out are urological, with cardiac, gynaecological and general surgeons also using this system. The number of patients undergoing robotic-assisted surgery in Australia and New Zealand has increased fivefold in the past 4 years. The most common procedure carried out is robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Published data suggest that robotic-assisted surgery is feasible and safe although the installation and recurring costs remain high. There is increasing acceptance of robotic-assisted surgery, especially for urological procedures. The da Vinci surgical system is becoming more widely available in Australia and New Zealand. Other surgical specialties will probably use this technology. Significant costs are associated with robotic technology and it is not yet widely available to public patients.

Current Status and Application of Hazard Definition Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, George C.

1997-01-01

A research is performed: to define wake non-encounter & hazard, to provide requirements for sensors, and to obtain input from the user community. This research includes: validating wake encounter simulation models, establishing a metric to quantify the upset potential of a wake encounter, applying hazard metric and simulation models to the commercial fleet for development of candidate acceptable encounter limits, and applying technology to near term problems to evaluate current status of technology. The following lessons are learned from this project: technology is not adequate to determine absolute spacing requirements; time, not distance, determines the duration of the wake hazard; Optimum standards depend on the traffic; Wing span is an important parameter for characterizing both generator and follower; and Short span "biz jets" are easily rolled.

Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Tanzania: Current Status and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Bakshi, Fatma A.; Jaka, Hyasinta

2018-01-01

Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world with high prevalence in most of sub-Saharan Africa countries. The complexity in its diagnosis and treatment poses a significant management challenge in the resource-limited settings including Tanzania, where most of the tests and drugs are either unavailable or unaffordable. This mini review aims at demonstrating the current status of the disease in the country and discussing the concomitant challenges in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. PMID:29666656

Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Tanzania: Current Status and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Semvua B. Kilonzo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world with high prevalence in most of sub-Saharan Africa countries. The complexity in its diagnosis and treatment poses a significant management challenge in the resource-limited settings including Tanzania, where most of the tests and drugs are either unavailable or unaffordable. This mini review aims at demonstrating the current status of the disease in the country and discussing the concomitant challenges in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

Role of DNA repair in repair of cytogenetic damages. Contribution of repair of single-strand DNA breaks to cytogenetic damages repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozanova, O.M.; Zaichkina, S.I.; Aptikaev, G.F.; Ganassi, E.Eh.

1989-01-01

The comparison was made between the results of the effect of poly(ADP-ribosylation) ingibitors (e.g. nicotinamide and 3-aminobenzamide) and a chromatin proteinase ingibitor, phenylmethylsulfonylfluoride, on the cytogenetic damages repair, by a micronuclear test, and DNA repair in Chinese hamster fibroblasts. The values of the repair half-periods (5-7 min for the cytogenetic damages and 5 min for the rapidly repaired DNA damages) and a similar modyfying effect with regard to radiation cytogenetic damages and kynetics of DNA damages repair were found to be close. This confirms the contribution of repair of DNA single-strand breaks in the initiation of structural damages to chromosomes

Double-row vs single-row rotator cuff repair: a review of the biomechanical evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Lindley B; Keener, Jay D; Brophy, Robert H

2009-01-01

A review of the current literature will show a difference between the biomechanical properties of double-row and single-row rotator cuff repairs. Rotator cuff tears commonly necessitate surgical repair; however, the optimal technique for repair continues to be investigated. Recently, double-row repairs have been considered an alternative to single-row repair, allowing a greater coverage area for healing and a possibly stronger repair. We reviewed the literature of all biomechanical studies comparing double-row vs single-row repair techniques. Inclusion criteria included studies using cadaveric, animal, or human models that directly compared double-row vs single-row repair techniques, written in the English language, and published in peer reviewed journals. Identified articles were reviewed to provide a comprehensive conclusion of the biomechanical strength and integrity of the repair techniques. Fifteen studies were identified and reviewed. Nine studies showed a statistically significant advantage to a double-row repair with regards to biomechanical strength, failure, and gap formation. Three studies produced results that did not show any statistical advantage. Five studies that directly compared footprint reconstruction all demonstrated that the double-row repair was superior to a single-row repair in restoring anatomy. The current literature reveals that the biomechanical properties of a double-row rotator cuff repair are superior to a single-row repair. Basic Science Study, SRH = Single vs. Double Row RCR.

DNA repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Setlow, R.

1978-01-01

Some topics discussed are as follows: difficulty in extrapolating data from E. coli to mammalian systems; mutations caused by UV-induced changes in DNA; mutants deficient in excision repair; other postreplication mechanisms; kinds of excision repair systems; detection of repair by biochemical or biophysical means; human mutants deficient in repair; mutagenic effects of UV on XP cells; and detection of UV-repair defects among XP individuals

Civilian Power Program. Part 1, Summary, Current status of reactor concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Author, Not Given

1959-09-01

This study group covered the following: delineation of the specific objectives of the overall US AEC civilian power reactor program, technical objectives of each reactor concept, preparation of a chronological development program for each reactor concept, evaluation of the economic potential of each reactor type, a program to encourage the the development, and yardsticks for measuring the development. Results were used for policy review by AEC, program direction, authorization and appropriation requests, etc. This evaluation encompassed civilian power reactors rated at 25 MW(e) or larger and related experimental facilities and R&D. This Part I summarizes the significant results of the comprehensive effort to determine the current technical and economic status for each reactor concept; it is based on the 8 individual technical status reports (Part III).

Financial implications of ventral hernia repair: a hospital cost analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Drew; Davenport, Daniel L; Korosec, Ryan L; Roth, J Scott

2013-01-01

Complicated ventral hernias are often referred to tertiary care centers. Hospital costs associated with these repairs include direct costs (mesh materials, supplies, and nonsurgeon labor costs) and indirect costs (facility fees, equipment depreciation, and unallocated labor). Operative supplies represent a significant component of direct costs, especially in an era of proprietary synthetic meshes and biologic grafts. We aim to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of complex abdominal wall hernia repair at a tertiary care referral facility. Cost data on all consecutive open ventral hernia repairs (CPT codes 49560, 49561, 49565, and 49566) performed between 1 July 2008 and 31 May 2011 were analyzed. Cases were analyzed based upon hospital status (inpatient vs. outpatient) and whether the hernia repair was a primary or secondary procedure. We examined median net revenue, direct costs, contribution margin, indirect costs, and net profit/loss. Among primary hernia repairs, cost data were further analyzed based upon mesh utilization (no mesh, synthetic, or biologic). Four-hundred and fifteen patients underwent ventral hernia repair (353 inpatients and 62 outpatients); 173 inpatients underwent ventral hernia repair as the primary procedure; 180 inpatients underwent hernia repair as a secondary procedure. Median net revenue ($17,310 vs. 10,360, p costs for cases performed without mesh were $5,432; median direct costs for those using synthetic and biologic mesh were $7,590 and 16,970, respectively (p financial loss was $8,370. Outpatient ventral hernia repairs, with and without synthetic mesh, resulted in median net losses of $1,560 and 230, respectively. Ventral hernia repair is associated with overall financial losses. Inpatient synthetic mesh repairs are essentially budget neutral. Outpatient and inpatient repairs without mesh result in net financial losses. Inpatient biologic mesh repairs result in a negative contribution margin and striking net financial losses. Cost

Current status of ITER EC design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bosia, G.

2003-01-01

The ITER-FEAT Electron Cyclotron System employs one equatorial launcher and three upper port launchers to inject 20 + 20 MW of mm-wave power at 170 GHz through slots in the plasma-facing neutron and radiation shield. The equatorial launcher includes 3 sets of toroidally steer-able mirrors, each collecting 8 RF beams from 24 circular cross-section corrugated wave-guides. In the upper-port launcher, eight beams, reflected in pairs by four toroidally angled (∼30 angle) and poloidally steer-able (∼ 10 angle) mirrors focus of the RF power on the plasma m = 2 and m = 3/2 plasma flux rational surfaces, for neo-classical tearing mode(s) (NTM) control. Conceptual studies of remote steering that would possibly allow removing the beam- steering equipment from the vacuum vessel and locating them in more protected positions have been carried out. All EC wave transmission is based on low losses circular cross section corrugated and evacuated wave guides each connected to a 170 GHz, 1 MW CW Gyrotron tube oscillator featuring an overall efficiency of ∼ 50%, obtained by depressed-collector energy recovery. In the paper, requirements, issues and the current status of the design is reviewed. (authors)

Present status of DNA repair mechanisms in uv irradiated yeast taken as a model eukaryotic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moustacchi, E.; Waters, R.; Heude, M.; Chanet, R.

1975-01-01

The repair mechanisms of altered DNA are generally less well understood for eukaryotes than they are for prokaryotes and bacteriophages. For mammalian cell lines cultured in vitro the specific labelling of DNA has allowed the biochemical analysis of some of the steps of the repair processes whereas the determination of their genetic controls is, with a few exceptions, obviously difficult. On the other hand, with fungi and more specifically with yeast taken as a model unicellular eukaryotic system, the genetic approach has been extensively explored: radiosensitive mutants are readily detected and genetically analyzed, double and multiple mutants can be constructed and from their responses to irradiation the number of repair pathways involved can be suggested. The lack of thymidine kinase in these organisms has hampered for a certain time the biochemical analysis of repair. However, the recent isolation of yeast strains capable of taking up and incorporating thymidine 5'-monophosphate into their DNA opens new possibilities for the future. In spite of this difficulty, attempts to measure the induction and removal of uv-induced pyrimidine dimers were performed by several groups during the last three years. The two main repair pathways described for E. coli, i.e., the excision-resynthesis and post-replicative recombinational repair pathways, do exist in yeast. The existence of the former pathway is supported not only by indirect evidence but also by biochemical analysis. The rad 1 and rad 2 mutants for instance have been shown to be blocked in the excision of uv-induced pyrimidine dimers. Other loci are epistatic to rad 1 and rad 2 (rad 3 , rad 4 ) and are likely to act on this excision pathway. The genetic control of the mitochondrial response to a uv treatment involves nuclear genes and mitochondrial determinants

Tele-yoga for Chronic Pain: Current Status and Future Directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathersul, Danielle C; Mahoney, Louise A; Bayley, Peter J

2018-01-01

Pain is a pervasive, debilitating disorder that is resistant to long-term pharmacological interventions. Although psychological therapies such as cognitive behavior therapy demonstrate moderate efficacy, many individuals continue to have ongoing difficulties following treatment. There is a current trend to establish complementary and integrative health interventions for chronic pain, for which yoga has been found to have exciting potential. Nevertheless, an important consideration within the field is accessibility to adequate care. Telehealth can be used to provide real-time interactive video conferencing leading to increased access to health care for individuals located remotely or who otherwise have difficulty accessing services, perhaps through issues of mobility or proximity of adequate services. This article assesses the current status and feasibility of implementing tele-yoga for chronic pain. Methodological limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The Japanese artificial organs scene: current status.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitamura, Yoshinori; Murabayashi, Shun

2005-08-01

Artificial organs and regenerative medicine are the subjects of very active research and development (R&D) in Japan and various artificial organs are widely used in patients. Results of the R&D are presented at the annual conference of the Japanese Society for Artificial Organs (JSAO). Progress in the fields of artificial organs and regenerative medicine are reviewed annually in the Japanese Journal of Artificial Organs. The official English-language journal of JSAO, Journal of Artificial Organs, also publishes many original articles by Japanese researchers. Although the annual conference and the publications of JSAO provide the world with update information on artificial organs and regenerative medicine in Japan, the information is not always understood appropriately in the rest of the world, mainly due to language problems. This article therefore introduces the current status of artificial organs and regenerative medicine in Japan. Artificial hearts and metabolic support systems are reviewed here and other interesting areas such as regenerative medicine can be found elsewhere.

Current status of GALS setup in JINR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zemlyanoy, S., E-mail: zemlya@jinr.ru; Avvakumov, K., E-mail: kavvakumov@jinr.ru [Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (Russian Federation); Fedosseev, V. [CERN (Switzerland); Bark, R. [Nat. Research Foundation, iThemba LABS (South Africa); Blazczak, Z. [A. Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Physics (Poland); Janas, Z. [University of Warsaw, Faculty of Physics (Poland)

2017-11-15

This is a brief report on the current status of the new GAs cell based Laser ionization Setup (GALS) at the Flerov Laboratory for Nuclear Reactions (FLNR) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna. GALS will exploit available beams from the U-400M cyclotron in low energy multi-nucleon transfer reactions to study exotic neutron-rich nuclei located in the “north-east” region of nuclear map. Products from 4.5 to 9 MeV/nucleon heavy-ion collisions, such as {sup 136}Xe on {sup 208}Pb, are thermalized and neutralized in a high pressure gas cell and subsequently selectively laser re-ionized. In order to choose the best scheme of ion extraction the results of computer simulations of two different systems are presented. The first off- and online experiment will be performed on osmium atoms that is regarded as a most convenient element for producing isotopes with neutron number in the vicinity of the magic N = 126.

Current status of large-scale cryogenic gravitational wave telescope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuroda, K; Ohashi, M; Miyoki, S; Uchiyama, T; Ishitsuka, H; Yamamoto, K; Kasahara, K; Fujimoto, M-K; Kawamura, S; Takahashi, R; Yamazaki, T; Arai, K; Tatsumi, D; Ueda, A; Fukushima, M; Sato, S; Nagano, S; Tsunesada, Y; Zhu, Zong-Hong; Shintomi, T; Yamamoto, A; Suzuki, T; Saito, Y; Haruyama, T; Sato, N; Higashi, Y; Tomaru, T; Tsubono, K; Ando, M; Takamori, A; Numata, K; Aso, Y; Ueda, K-I; Yoneda, H; Nakagawa, K; Musha, M; Mio, N; Moriwaki, S; Somiya, K; Araya, A; Kanda, N; Telada, S; Tagoshi, H; Nakamura, T; Sasaki, M; Tanaka, T; Oohara, K; Takahashi, H; Miyakawa, O; Tobar, M E

2003-01-01

The large-scale cryogenic gravitational wave telescope (LCGT) project is the proposed advancement of TAMA, which will be able to detect the coalescences of binary neutron stars occurring in our galaxy. LCGT intends to detect the coalescence events within about 240 Mpc, the rate of which is expected to be from 0.1 to several events in a year. LCGT has Fabry-Perot cavities of 3 km baseline and the mirrors are cooled down to a cryogenic temperature of 20 K. It is planned to be built in the underground of Kamioka mine. This paper overviews the revision of the design and the current status of the R and D

CT myocardial perfusion imaging: current status and future perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Dong Hyun; Kim, Young-Hak

2017-07-01

Computed tomography myocardial perfusion (CTP) combined with coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) may constitute a "1-stop shop" for the noninvasive diagnosis of hemodynamically significant coronary stenosis during a single CT examination. CTP shows high diagnostic performance and provides incremental value over CCTA for the detection of hemodynamically significant coronary stenosis in patients with a high Agatston calcium score or coronary artery stents. Future studies should determine the optimal protocol and clinical value of CTP for guiding revascularization strategy and prognostication. In this article, we review the current status and future perspectives of CTP, focusing on technical considerations, clinical applications, and future research topics.

History and current status of nuclear fuel reprocessing technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Funasaka, Hideyuki; Nagai, Toshihisa; Washiya, Tadahiro

2008-01-01

History and present state of fast breeder reactor was reviewed in series. As a history and current status of nuclear fuel reprocessing technology, this ninth lecture presented the progress of the FBR fuel reprocessing technology and advanced reprocessing processes. FBR fuel reprocessing technology had been developed to construct the reprocessing equipment test facilities (RETF) based on PUREX process technologies. With economics, reduction of environmental burdens and proliferation resistance taken into consideration, advanced aqueous method for nuclear fuel cycle activities has been promoted as the government's basic policy. Innovative technologies on mechanical disassembly, continuous rotary dissolver, crystallizer, solvent extraction and actinides recovery have been mainly studied. (T. Tanaka)

Community-based dental education: history, current status, and future.

Science.gov (United States)

Formicola, Allan J; Bailit, Howard L

2012-01-01

This article examines the history, current status, and future direction of community-based dental education (CBDE). The key issues addressed include the reasons that dentistry developed a different clinical education model than the other health professions; how government programs, private medical foundations, and early adopter schools influenced the development of CBDE; the societal and financial factors that are leading more schools to increase the time that senior dental students spend in community programs; the impact of CBDE on school finances and faculty and student perceptions; and the reasons that CBDE is likely to become a core part of the clinical education of all dental graduates.

Early Childhood Inclusion in the United States: Goals, Current Status, and Future Directions

Science.gov (United States)

Guralnick, Michael J.; Bruder, Mary Beth

2016-01-01

The current status and future directions of early childhood inclusion in the United States are discussed from the perspective of 4 key goals: access, accommodations and feasibility, developmental progress, and social integration. Recommendations are put forward to promote inclusion goals emphasizing administrative structures, personnel…

[Current approaches to evaluating the anatomic and functional status of the cornea].

Science.gov (United States)

Avetisov, S E; Borodina, N V; Kobzova, M V; Musaeva, G M

2010-01-01

The review provides data on current methods for evaluating the anatomic and functional status of the cornea (light refraction, light transmission, and biomechanical properties, in particular). It analyzes the main advantages and disadvantages of basic (biomicroscopy, endothelial microscopy, ophthalmometry, topography, and pachymetry) and special (confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography, ultrasound biomicroscopy, aberrometry, bidirectional corneal applanation, and keratoesthesiometry) studies.

Current status towards JMTR reoperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izumo, Hironobu; Imaizumi, Tomomi; Takemoto, Noriyuki; Hori, Naohiko

2012-01-01

Due to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR), as a light-water-moderated cooling type irradiation test reactor, had to conduct the soundness confirmation of the reactor facilities after earthquake (equipment inspection, and earthquake response analysis). JMTR has been working on soundness confirmation with the aim of reoperation in November 2011. However, in order to perform the detailed investigation on the equipment and machinery, such as the repair of partial deformation of the roof truss of reactor building block, change in operation plan was applied again. In the future, the authors will accurately judge the social situation after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and plan the reoperation under safe and stable state, aiming at the world top class operation rate. In addition, our efforts will be directed to the improvement of the facilities by use of external funds based on expanded utilization, and the continuous aggressive activities aiming for JMTR becoming the international hub. (A.O.)

Tissue engineering of functional articular cartilage : the current status

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kock, L.M.; Donkelaar, van C.C.; Ito, K.

2012-01-01

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease characterized by pain and disability. It involves all ages and 70% of people aged >65 have some degree of osteoarthritis. Natural cartilage repair is limited because chondrocyte density and metabolism are low and cartilage has no blood supply. The

Fuel Cell Buses in U.S. Transit Fleets: Current Status 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eudy, L.; Chandler, K.; Gikakis, C.

2011-11-01

This status report, fifth in a series of annual status reports from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), discusses the achievements and challenges of fuel cell propulsion for transit and summarizes the introduction of fuel cell transit buses in the United States. Progress this year includes an increase in the number of fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs), from 15 to 25, operating at eight transit agencies, as well as increased diversity of the fuel cell design options for transit buses. The report also provides an analysis of the combined results from fuel cell transit bus demonstrations evaluated by NREL with a focus on the most recent data through July 2011 including fuel cell power system reliability and durability; fuel economy; roadcall; and hydrogen fueling results. These evaluations cover 22 of the 25 FCEBs currently operating.

CrowdAidRepair: A Crowd-Aided Interactive Data Repairing Method

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Jian

2016-03-25

Data repairing aims at discovering and correcting erroneous data in databases. Traditional methods relying on predefined quality rules to detect the conflict between data may fail to choose the right way to fix the detected conflict. Recent efforts turn to use the power of crowd in data repairing, but the crowd power has its own drawbacks such as high human intervention cost and inevitable low efficiency. In this paper, we propose a crowd-aided interactive data repairing method which takes the advantages of both rule-based method and crowd-based method. Particularly, we investigate the interaction between crowd-based repairing and rule-based repairing, and show that by doing crowd-based repairing to a small portion of values, we can greatly improve the repairing quality of the rule-based repairing method. Although we prove that the optimal interaction scheme using the least number of values for crowd-based repairing to maximize the imputation recall is not feasible to be achieved, still, our proposed solution identifies an efficient scheme through investigating the inconsistencies and the dependencies between values in the repairing process. Our empirical study on three data collections demonstrates the high repairing quality of CrowdAidRepair, as well as the efficiency of the generated interaction scheme over baselines.

Inducibility of error-prone DNA repair in yeast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siede, W.; Eckardt, F.

1984-01-01

Whereas some experimental evidence suggests that mutagenesis in yeast after treatment with DNA-damaging agents involves inducible functions, a general-acting error-prone repair activity analogous to the SOS system of Escherichia coli has not yet been demonstrated. The current literature on the problem of inducibility of mutagenic repair in yeast is reviewed with emphasis on the differences in the experimental procedures applied. (orig.)

Current status on techniques for determining paleo-temperature using geothermometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanazawa, Sunao; Oikawa, Teruki; Umeda, Koji; Tomiyama, Shingo

2005-01-01

Development of the research technologies for geotectonic events has been carried out to evaluate the long-term stability of geological environment. In terms of the effects of geothermal activity, it is necessary to estimate the geothermal regime and thermal history on any given site. This paper describes the current status on techniques for determining paleo-temperature using geothermometer, and presents a concept of the systematic research techniques. The application of geothermometer, especially thermochronology, has been effective in the studies on the cooling history of geological body and the paleo-geothermal structure at depth. (author)

Three-Dimensional Printed Prosthesis for Repair of Superior Canal Dehiscence.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozin, Elliott D; Remenschneider, Aaron K; Cheng, Song; Nakajima, Hideko Heidi; Lee, Daniel J

2015-10-01

Outcomes following repair of superior canal dehiscence (SCD) are variable, and surgery carries a risk of persistent or recurrent SCD symptoms, as well as a risk of hearing loss and vestibulopathy. Poor outcomes may occur from inadequate repair of the SCD or mechanical insult to the membranous labyrinth. Repair of SCD using a customized, fixed-length prosthesis may address current operative limitations and improve surgical outcomes. We aim to 3-dimensionally print customized prostheses to resurface or occlude bony SCD defects. Dehiscences were created along the arcuate eminence of superior semicircular canals in cadaveric temporal bones. Prostheses were designed and created using computed tomography and a 3-dimensional printer. The prostheses occupied the superior semicircular canal defect, reflected in postrepair computed tomography scans. This novel approach to SCD repair could have advantages over current techniques. Refinement of prosthesis design and materials will be important if this approach is translated into clinical use. © American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

WISM - A Wideband Instrument for Snow Measurement: Past Accomplishments, Current Status, and Path Forward

Science.gov (United States)

Bonds, Quenton; Racette, Paul; Durham, Tim (Principal Investigator)

2016-01-01

Presented are the prior accomplishments, current status and path forward for GSFC's Wideband Instrument for Snow Measurement (WISM). This work is a high level overview of the project, presented via Webinar to the IEEE young professionals.

Psychological Therapies for Auditory Hallucinations (Voices): Current Status and Key Directions for Future Research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomas, N.; Hayward, M.; Peters, E; van der Gaag, M.; Bentall, R.P.; Jenner, J.; Strauss, C.; Sommer, I.E.; Johns, L.C.; Varese, F.; Gracia-Montes, J.M.; Waters, F.; Dodgson, G.; McCarthy-Jones, S.

2014-01-01

This report from the International Consortium on Hallucinations Research considers the current status and future directions in research on psychological therapies targeting auditory hallucinations (hearing voices). Therapy approaches have evolved from behavioral and coping-focused interventions,

DNA repair in cancer: emerging targets for personalized therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbotts, Rachel; Thompson, Nicola; Madhusudan, Srinivasan

2014-01-01

Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is under constant threat from endogenous and exogenous DNA damaging agents. Mammalian cells have evolved highly conserved DNA repair machinery to process DNA damage and maintain genomic integrity. Impaired DNA repair is a major driver for carcinogenesis and could promote aggressive cancer biology. Interestingly, in established tumors, DNA repair activity is required to counteract oxidative DNA damage that is prevalent in the tumor microenvironment. Emerging clinical data provide compelling evidence that overexpression of DNA repair factors may have prognostic and predictive significance in patients. More recently, DNA repair inhibition has emerged as a promising target for anticancer therapy. Synthetic lethality exploits intergene relationships where the loss of function of either of two related genes is nonlethal, but loss of both causes cell death. Exploiting this approach by targeting DNA repair has emerged as a promising strategy for personalized cancer therapy. In the current review, we focus on recent advances with a particular focus on synthetic lethality targeting in cancer

MDSplus integration at TCABR tokamak: Current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sá, W.P. de; Ronchi, G.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The implementation of MDSplus in TCABR tokamak, current status. • Interfaces between the system already installed and the MDSplus. • Web MDSplus interface. - Abstract: Experimental data for the TCABR tokamak is currently stored in MDSplus (Model Driven System Plus) database. The access to the data recorded during the experiments is performed using tools and libraries available by MDSplus system. The MDSplus system is widely used in different physics experiments, especially in plasmas physics and nuclear fusion. This standardized environment enables easy interaction among scientists of different experiments in different countries without the need to understand the particular characteristics of control, data acquisition and analysis, and remote access (CODAS) customized in each laboratory. In the first phase of implementation, intermediate interfaces had been developed between the legacy proprietary system and the MDSplus. In a second phase, the new diagnostic systems had been directly included in the created MDSplus system in the laboratory. After three years of use, the system installed on TCABR proved extremely efficient and significantly increased productivity in data analysis by involved scientists, regardless of whether they are locally at the TCABR, or accessing the system remotely from their home laboratories. The third phase, and subject of this article, are the development and implementation of the following systems: (i) web tools for the visualization of data, integrated with the experiment logbook, (ii) integration of MDSplus with applications (LabVIEW + MDSplus) and newer data acquisition hardware.

MDSplus integration at TCABR tokamak: Current status

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sá, W.P. de, E-mail: pires@if.usp.br; Ronchi, G., E-mail: gronchi@if.usp.br

2016-11-15

Highlights: • The implementation of MDSplus in TCABR tokamak, current status. • Interfaces between the system already installed and the MDSplus. • Web MDSplus interface. - Abstract: Experimental data for the TCABR tokamak is currently stored in MDSplus (Model Driven System Plus) database. The access to the data recorded during the experiments is performed using tools and libraries available by MDSplus system. The MDSplus system is widely used in different physics experiments, especially in plasmas physics and nuclear fusion. This standardized environment enables easy interaction among scientists of different experiments in different countries without the need to understand the particular characteristics of control, data acquisition and analysis, and remote access (CODAS) customized in each laboratory. In the first phase of implementation, intermediate interfaces had been developed between the legacy proprietary system and the MDSplus. In a second phase, the new diagnostic systems had been directly included in the created MDSplus system in the laboratory. After three years of use, the system installed on TCABR proved extremely efficient and significantly increased productivity in data analysis by involved scientists, regardless of whether they are locally at the TCABR, or accessing the system remotely from their home laboratories. The third phase, and subject of this article, are the development and implementation of the following systems: (i) web tools for the visualization of data, integrated with the experiment logbook, (ii) integration of MDSplus with applications (LabVIEW + MDSplus) and newer data acquisition hardware.

Nuclear power for sustainable development. Current status and future prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamantiades, A.; Kessides, I.

2009-01-01

Interest in nuclear power has been revived as a result of volatile fossil fuel prices, concerns about the security of energy supplies, and global climate change. This paper describes the current status and future plans for expansion of nuclear power, the advances in nuclear reactor technology, and their impacts on the associated risks and performance of nuclear power. Advanced nuclear reactors have been designed to be simpler and safer, and to have lower costs than currently operating reactors. By addressing many of the public health and safety risks that plagued the industry since the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, these reactors may help break the current deadlock over nuclear power. In that case, nuclear power could make a significant contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, significant issues persist, fueling reservations among the public and many decision makers. Nuclear safety, disposal of radioactive wastes, and proliferation of nuclear explosives need to be addressed in an effective and credible way if the necessary public support is to be obtained. (author)

Quantitative self-assessment of exposure to solvents among shoe repair men

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hertsenberg, S.; Brouwer, D.; Lurvink, M.; Rubingh, C.; Rijnders, E.; Tielemans, E.

2007-01-01

Self-assessment of exposure (SAE) refers to any exposure assessment methodology wherein the worker takes an active role in establishing his or her exposure status. The objective of this study was to investigate the reliability and feasibility of SAE approaches among shoe repair workers collecting

Free Biceps Tendon Autograft to Augment Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair

OpenAIRE

Obma, Padraic R.

2013-01-01

Arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs have become the standard of treatment for all sizes of tears over the past several years. Current healing rates reported in the literature are quite good, but improving the healing potential of rotator cuff repairs remains a challenging problem. There has been an increase recently in the use of augmentation of rotator cuff repairs with xenografts or synthetics for large and massive tears. Biceps tenodesis is often indicated as part of the treatment plan while...

Current Status and Future Agenda for the Theory, Research, and Practice of Childhood Career Development

Science.gov (United States)

Schultheiss, Donna E. Palladino

2008-01-01

This article reviews the current status and a future agenda for childhood career development theory, research, and practice. The fragmented nature of the current state of the literature is noted, and a call is made for a reexamination and reconsideration of the childhood developmental pathways of life's work. It is suggested that the study of…

Status of high temperature superconductor cable and fault current limiter projects at American Superconductor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maguire, J.F.; Yuan, J.

2009-01-01

This paper will describe the status of three key programs currently underway at American Superconductor Corp. The first program is the LIPA project which is a transmission voltage high temperature superconducting cable program, with funding support from the US Department of Energy. The 600 m cable, capable of carrying 574 MVA, was successfully installed and commissioned in LIPA grid on April 22, 2008. An overview of the project, system level design details and operational data will be provided. In addition, the status of the newly awarded LIPA II project will be described. The second program is Project Hydra, with funding support from the US Department of Homeland Security, to design, develop and demonstrate an HTS cable with fault current limiting functionality. The cable is 300 m long and is being designed to carry 96 MVA at a distribution level voltage of 13.8 kV. The cable will be permanently installed and energized in Manhattan, New York in 2010. The initial status of Project Hydra will be presented. The final program to be discussed is a transmission voltage, high temperature superconducting fault current limiter funded by the US DOE. The project encompasses the design, construction and test of a 115 kV FCL for power transmission within a time frame of 4-5 years. Installation and testing are planned for a Southern California Edison substation. A project overview and progress under the first phase will be reported.

Status of high temperature superconductor cable and fault current limiter projects at American Superconductor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maguire, J.F., E-mail: jmaguire@amsc.co [American Superconductor Co., 64 Jackson Road, Devens, MA 01434 (United States); Yuan, J. [American Superconductor Co., 64 Jackson Road, Devens, MA 01434 (United States)

2009-10-15

This paper will describe the status of three key programs currently underway at American Superconductor Corp. The first program is the LIPA project which is a transmission voltage high temperature superconducting cable program, with funding support from the US Department of Energy. The 600 m cable, capable of carrying 574 MVA, was successfully installed and commissioned in LIPA grid on April 22, 2008. An overview of the project, system level design details and operational data will be provided. In addition, the status of the newly awarded LIPA II project will be described. The second program is Project Hydra, with funding support from the US Department of Homeland Security, to design, develop and demonstrate an HTS cable with fault current limiting functionality. The cable is 300 m long and is being designed to carry 96 MVA at a distribution level voltage of 13.8 kV. The cable will be permanently installed and energized in Manhattan, New York in 2010. The initial status of Project Hydra will be presented. The final program to be discussed is a transmission voltage, high temperature superconducting fault current limiter funded by the US DOE. The project encompasses the design, construction and test of a 115 kV FCL for power transmission within a time frame of 4-5 years. Installation and testing are planned for a Southern California Edison substation. A project overview and progress under the first phase will be reported.

Status of high temperature superconductor cable and fault current limiter projects at American Superconductor

Science.gov (United States)

Maguire, J. F.; Yuan, J.

2009-10-01

This paper will describe the status of three key programs currently underway at American Superconductor Corp. The first program is the LIPA project which is a transmission voltage high temperature superconducting cable program, with funding support from the US Department of Energy. The 600 m cable, capable of carrying 574 MVA, was successfully installed and commissioned in LIPA grid on April 22, 2008. An overview of the project, system level design details and operational data will be provided. In addition, the status of the newly awarded LIPA II project will be described. The second program is Project Hydra, with funding support from the US Department of Homeland Security, to design, develop and demonstrate an HTS cable with fault current limiting functionality. The cable is 300 m long and is being designed to carry 96 MVA at a distribution level voltage of 13.8 kV. The cable will be permanently installed and energized in Manhattan, New York in 2010. The initial status of Project Hydra will be presented. The final program to be discussed is a transmission voltage, high temperature superconducting fault current limiter funded by the US DOE. The project encompasses the design, construction and test of a 115 kV FCL for power transmission within a time frame of 4-5 years. Installation and testing are planned for a Southern California Edison substation. A project overview and progress under the first phase will be reported.

Current status of chirality in agrochemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeschke, Peter

2018-04-27

The agrochemical industry is continuously searching for new pesticides to develop products with optimal efficacy, lower application rates in the field, increased selectivity, favorable toxicological and environmental safety, enhanced user friendliness and better economic viability. One strategy to achieve these ambitious goals makes use of the unique properties of molecules containing asymmetric centers. In the past, many natural products and their congeners have been a source of inspiration for designing new active ingredients, and the molecular structure of the resulting molecules have become increasingly complex. 30% contain fragments with asymmetric centers. However, despite the enormous progress that has been made in catalytic asymmetric processes over the last decade, only few agrochemicals are produced in enantiomerically pure or enriched form on an industrial scale. Since 2007, around 43% of the 44 launched products (insecticides, acaricides, fungicides, nematicides, and herbicides) contain one or more asymmetric centers in the molecule (≈ 47 %) and most of them were launched as racemic mixtures of enantiomers or diastereomers. This review gives an overview of the current status of chiral agrochemicals launched over the past 10 years and describes the inherently connected challenges of modern agricultural chemistry by managing important aspects resulting from stereochemistry of these innovative products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Current status of JENDL-3.3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hasegawa, Akira [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

1998-03-01

Current status of JENDL-3.3 is presented. Reevaluation work toward JENDL-3.3 has started last April for three years project to supply a consolidated new versions of JENDL by JAERI NDC (Nuclear Data center) with the cooperation of JNDC (Japanese Nuclear Data Committee). The working schedule has been fixed by the careful review of the summary report, `The problems of JENDL-3.2`, submitted to JNDC last March after one year discussions by a small advisory group: `Identifying the problems of JENDL-3.2`. To cope with the problems, two new subgroups are set up in the Subcommittee of Nuclear Data of JNDC. One is Heavy Mass Elements Evaluation Working Group for the re-evaluation of major actinides (Th-232, U-233,235,236,238, Pu-236,239,241,242). The other is Intermediate Mass Elements Evaluation Working Group for solving the inconsistencies between calculations and integral experiments relating to the fields of fusion neutronics and shielding applications as well as new evaluations such as Er elements. Supplying covariance data for important nuclides are one of the main feature of JENDL-3.3. Re-evaluated data will be released as JENDL-3.3 in the individual bases after the reviewing process by the experts. (author)

Radio Astronomy in Malaysia: Current Status and Outreach Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Hashim, N.; Abidin, Z. Z.; Ibrahim, U. F. S. U.; Umar, R.; Hassan, M. S. R.; Rosli, Z.; Hamidi, Z. S.; Ibrahim, Z. A.

2011-12-01

In this paper, we will present the current status of radio astronomical research and outreach in Malaysia. We will also present a short history of our research group, which is currently the only radio astronomical facility in Malaysia. Our group is called the Radio Cosmology Research Lab and was established in 2005 by Dr Zamri Zainal Abidin and Prof Dr Zainol Abidin Ibrahim. We will discuss the future plans for this group including our keen interest in being part of a more global network of radio astronomers. We are already an active member of the South-East Asia Astronomy Network (SEAAN) and aims to have a radio astronomical facility in order to join the Global Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) as well becoming a research hub for the future Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project. We will also present some of the scientific goals of our group including providing a platform for radio astronomers to be able to do observations of weak and high red-shifted radio objects such as galaxy clusters and supernovae.

Current status of food irradiation in overseas (2013). From the meeting report of RCA food irradiation project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todoriki, Setsuko

2013-01-01

The report introduces the activity of RCA (Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and Pacific) food irradiation project (RAS/5/057) and information obtained at the two workshops on current status of Asia and Pacific areas together with EU, USA and Japan. Also current trends of RAS/5/057 Implementing Best Practices for food irradiation for plant sanitary and phytosanitary purposes are described. Amount of food irradiation products of RCA member countries, minimum adopted doses for quarantine harmful insects (70 to 232 Gy) and import amount of fruits of USA (79 to 5500 tons) are tabulated. Finally current status of Japan is explained. (S. Ohno)

Biomaterials based strategies for rotator cuff repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Song; Su, Wei; Shah, Vishva; Hobson, Divia; Yildirimer, Lara; Yeung, Kelvin W K; Zhao, Jinzhong; Cui, Wenguo; Zhao, Xin

2017-09-01

Tearing of the rotator cuff commonly occurs as among one of the most frequently experienced tendon disorders. While treatment typically involves surgical repair, failure rates to achieve or sustain healing range from 20 to 90%. The insufficient capacity to recover damaged tendon to heal to the bone, especially at the enthesis, is primarily responsible for the failure rates reported. Various types of biomaterials with special structures have been developed to improve tendon-bone healing and tendon regeneration, and have received considerable attention for replacement, reconstruction, or reinforcement of tendon defects. In this review, we first give a brief introduction of the anatomy of the rotator cuff and then discuss various design strategies to augment rotator cuff repair. Furthermore, we highlight current biomaterials used for repair and their clinical applications as well as the limitations in the literature. We conclude this article with challenges and future directions in designing more advanced biomaterials for augmentation of rotator cuff repair. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Research Experience in Psychiatry Residency Programs Across Canada: Current Status

Science.gov (United States)

Shanmugalingam, Arany; Ferreria, Sharon G; Norman, Ross M G; Vasudev, Kamini

2014-01-01

Objective: To determine the current status of research experience in psychiatry residency programs across Canada. Method: Coordinators of Psychiatric Education (COPE) resident representatives from all 17 psychiatry residency programs in Canada were asked to complete a survey regarding research training requirements in their programs. Results: Among the 17 COPE representatives, 15 completed the survey, representing 88% of the Canadian medical schools that have a psychiatry residency program. Among the 15 programs, 11 (73%) require residents to conduct a scholarly activity to complete residency. Some of these programs incorporated such a requirement in the past 5 years. Ten respondents (67%) reported availability of official policy and (or) guidelines on resident research requirements. Among the 11 programs that have a research requirement, 10 (91%) require residents to complete 1 scholarly activity; 1 requires completion of 2 scholarly activities. Eight (53%) residency programs reported having a separate research track. All of the programs have a research coordinator and 14 (93%) programs provide protected time to residents for conducting research. The 3 most common types of scholarly activities that qualify for the mandatory research requirement are a full independent project (10 programs), a quality improvement project (8 programs), and assisting in a faculty project (8 programs). Six programs expect their residents to present their final work in a departmental forum. None of the residency programs require publication of residents’ final work. Conclusions: The current status of the research experience during psychiatry residency in Canada is encouraging but there is heterogeneity across the programs. PMID:25565474

Radiopharmaceuticals in China. Current status and prospects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jia, Hong-Mei; Liu, Bo-Li [Beijing Normal Univ. (China). Key Laboratory of Radiopharmaceuticals

2014-04-01

The review provides an overview of the current status of radiopharmaceuticals in China for in vivo clinical use and also describes some important advances in the past three decades. Development of the diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals as well as basic research on radiopharmaceutical chemistry are being introduced. The radiotracers developed in China include: (1) Brain perfusion imaging agents and CNS radiotracers for β-amyloid plaques, σ{sub 1} receptors, and dopamine D{sub 2} or D{sub 4} receptors; (2) {sup 99m}Tc- and {sup 18}F-labeled myocardial perfusion imaging agents; (3) tumor imaging agents including integrin-targeting radiotracer, novel sentinel lymph node imaging agents, hypoxia imaging agents, {sup 99m}Tc-labeled glucose derivatives, σ{sub 2} receptor imaging agents, folate receptor imaging agents, and potential radiotracers for imaging of human telomerase reverse transcriptase expression; (4) Potential infection imaging agents; (5) Potential asialoglycoprotein receptor imaging agents; (6) Other imaging agents. Moreover, some prospects of research and development of radiopharmaceuticals in the near future are discussed. (orig.)

High performance repairing of reinforced concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iskhakov, I.; Ribakov, Y.; Holschemacher, K.; Mueller, T.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Steel fibered high strength concrete is effective for repairing concrete elements. ► Changing fibers’ content, required ductility of the repaired element is achieved. ► Experiments prove previously developed design concepts for two layer beams. -- Abstract: Steel fibered high strength concrete (SFHSC) is an effective material that can be used for repairing concrete elements. Design of normal strength concrete (NSC) elements that should be repaired using SFHSC can be based on general concepts for design of two-layer beams, consisting of SFHSC in the compressed zone and NSC without fibers in the tensile zone. It was previously reported that such elements are effective when their section carries rather large bending moments. Steel fibers, added to high strength concrete, increase its ultimate deformations due to the additional energy dissipation potential contributed by fibers. When changing the fibers’ content, a required ductility level of the repaired element can be achieved. Providing proper ductility is important for design of structures to dynamic loadings. The current study discusses experimental results that form a basis for finding optimal fiber content, yielding the highest Poisson coefficient and ductility of the repaired elements’ sections. Some technological issues as well as distribution of fibers in the cross section of two-layer bending elements are investigated. The experimental results, obtained in the frame of this study, form a basis for general technological provisions, related to repairing of NSC beams and slabs, using SFHSC.

Current Status of Operation and Management of Dental School Clinics.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhardt, John W

2017-08-01

This article summarizes the current status of the operation and management of dental school clinics as schools strive to provide excellent patient-centered care in an environment that is educationally sound, efficient, and financially strong. Clinical education is a large component of dental education and an area in which many dental schools have an opportunity to enhance revenue. Clinical efficiencies and alternative models of clinical education are evolving in U.S. dental schools, and this article describes some of those evolutionary changes. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21 st Century."

Ontology Alignment Repair through Modularization and Confidence-Based Heuristics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuel Santos

Full Text Available Ontology Matching aims at identifying a set of semantic correspondences, called an alignment, between related ontologies. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in efficient and effective matching methods for large ontologies. However, alignments produced for large ontologies are often logically incoherent. It was only recently that the use of repair techniques to improve the coherence of ontology alignments began to be explored. This paper presents a novel modularization technique for ontology alignment repair which extracts fragments of the input ontologies that only contain the necessary classes and relations to resolve all detectable incoherences. The paper presents also an alignment repair algorithm that uses a global repair strategy to minimize both the degree of incoherence and the number of mappings removed from the alignment, while overcoming the scalability problem by employing the proposed modularization technique. Our evaluation shows that our modularization technique produces significantly small fragments of the ontologies and that our repair algorithm produces more complete alignments than other current alignment repair systems, while obtaining an equivalent degree of incoherence. Additionally, we also present a variant of our repair algorithm that makes use of the confidence values of the mappings to improve alignment repair. Our repair algorithm was implemented as part of AgreementMakerLight, a free and open-source ontology matching system.

Ontology Alignment Repair through Modularization and Confidence-Based Heuristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Emanuel; Faria, Daniel; Pesquita, Catia; Couto, Francisco M

2015-01-01

Ontology Matching aims at identifying a set of semantic correspondences, called an alignment, between related ontologies. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in efficient and effective matching methods for large ontologies. However, alignments produced for large ontologies are often logically incoherent. It was only recently that the use of repair techniques to improve the coherence of ontology alignments began to be explored. This paper presents a novel modularization technique for ontology alignment repair which extracts fragments of the input ontologies that only contain the necessary classes and relations to resolve all detectable incoherences. The paper presents also an alignment repair algorithm that uses a global repair strategy to minimize both the degree of incoherence and the number of mappings removed from the alignment, while overcoming the scalability problem by employing the proposed modularization technique. Our evaluation shows that our modularization technique produces significantly small fragments of the ontologies and that our repair algorithm produces more complete alignments than other current alignment repair systems, while obtaining an equivalent degree of incoherence. Additionally, we also present a variant of our repair algorithm that makes use of the confidence values of the mappings to improve alignment repair. Our repair algorithm was implemented as part of AgreementMakerLight, a free and open-source ontology matching system.

Current status of electron beam treatment of flue gas in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhiguang

2006-01-01

Fossil resource especially coal will remain the main energy resource in China over the next 3 ∼4 decades. Pollution of flue gas from fossil power station is one problem being desiderated to solve since 1990's. Electron beam treatment of flue gas as an advanced technique has been developed and used by some institutes and industries in China. The current status of flue gas treatment using electron beam and the development of electron accelerator in China are reviewed. (author)

Environmental Programs: Status of Work and Current Priorities for FY13

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Patricia [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-08-17

Presentation outline is: Mission/overview, Regulatory framework, Current status of cleanup, Shift in priorities to address highest risk, Removal of above-ground waste, Continued focus on protecting water resources, and Priorities for fiscal year 2013. LANL's Environmental Mission is to: (1) Repack and ship legacy transuranic waste containers; (2) Investigate and remediate Cold War (legacy) hazardous and radioactive waste areas; (3) Demolish unused buildings; (4) Disposition solid waste from Laboratory operations; and (5) Lifecycle cost nearly $3 billion.

Current status of relativistic core collapse simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Font, Jose A [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Universidad de Valencia, Dr. Moliner 50, 46100 Burjassot (Valencia) (Spain)

2007-05-15

With the first generation of ground-based gravitational wave laser interferometers already taking data, the availability of reliable waveform templates from astrophysical sources, which may help extract the signal from the anticipated noisy data, is urgently required. Gravitational stellar core collapse supernova has traditionally been considered among the most important astrophysical sources of potentially detectable gravitational radiation. Only very recently the first multidimensional simulations of relativistic rotational core collapse have been possible (albeit for models with simplified input physics), thanks to the use of conservative formulations of the hydrodynamics equations and advanced numerical methodology, as well as stable formulations of Einstein's equations. In this paper, the current status of relativistic core collapse simulations is discussed, with the emphasis given to the modelling of the collapse dynamics and to the computation of the gravitational radiation in the existing numerical approaches. Work employing the conformally-flat approximation (CFC) of the 3+1 Einstein's equations is reported, as well as extensions of this approximation (CFC+) and investigations within the framework of the so-called BSSN formulation of the 3+1 gravitational field equations (with no approximation for the spacetime dynamics). On the other hand, the incorporation of magnetic fields and the MHD equations in numerical codes to improve the realism of core collapse simulations in general relativity, is currently an emerging field where significant progress is bound to be soon achieved. The paper also contains a brief discussion of magneto-rotational simulations of core collapse, aiming at addressing the effects of magnetic fields on the collapse dynamics and on the gravitational waveforms.

Current status of relativistic core collapse simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Font, Jose A

2007-01-01

With the first generation of ground-based gravitational wave laser interferometers already taking data, the availability of reliable waveform templates from astrophysical sources, which may help extract the signal from the anticipated noisy data, is urgently required. Gravitational stellar core collapse supernova has traditionally been considered among the most important astrophysical sources of potentially detectable gravitational radiation. Only very recently the first multidimensional simulations of relativistic rotational core collapse have been possible (albeit for models with simplified input physics), thanks to the use of conservative formulations of the hydrodynamics equations and advanced numerical methodology, as well as stable formulations of Einstein's equations. In this paper, the current status of relativistic core collapse simulations is discussed, with the emphasis given to the modelling of the collapse dynamics and to the computation of the gravitational radiation in the existing numerical approaches. Work employing the conformally-flat approximation (CFC) of the 3+1 Einstein's equations is reported, as well as extensions of this approximation (CFC+) and investigations within the framework of the so-called BSSN formulation of the 3+1 gravitational field equations (with no approximation for the spacetime dynamics). On the other hand, the incorporation of magnetic fields and the MHD equations in numerical codes to improve the realism of core collapse simulations in general relativity, is currently an emerging field where significant progress is bound to be soon achieved. The paper also contains a brief discussion of magneto-rotational simulations of core collapse, aiming at addressing the effects of magnetic fields on the collapse dynamics and on the gravitational waveforms

Seismic proving test of ultimate piping strength (current status of preliminary tests)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, K.; Namita, Y.; Abe, H.; Ichihashi, I.; Suzuki, K.; Ishiwata, M.; Fujiwaka, T.; Yokota, H.

2001-01-01

In 1998 Fiscal Year, the 6 year program of piping tests was initiated with the following objectives: i) to clarify the elasto-plastic response and ultimate strength of nuclear piping, ii) to ascertain the seismic safety margin of the current seismic design code for piping, and iii) to assess new allowable stress rules. In order to resolve extensive technical issues before proceeding on to the seismic proving test of a large-scale piping system, a series of preliminary tests of materials, piping components and simplified piping systems is intended. In this paper, the current status of the material tests and the piping component tests is reported. (author)

Feedwater connection repair and modification at GKN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Witteman, C; Klees, J E

1985-03-01

From January to March 1983 the feedwater connection of GKN was repaired using a boring lathe, spark machining and semi-automatic welding. Nondestructive examination was performed by ultrasonic and eddy-current testing.

Feedwater connection repair and modification at GKN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witteman, C.; Klees, J.E.

1985-01-01

From Jan. to March 1983 the feedwater connection of GKN was repaired using a boring lathe, spark machining and semi-automatic welding. Nondestructive examination was performed by ultrasonic and eddy-current testing

Strategic Inventory Positioning of Navy Depot Level Repairable

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Burton, Larry

2005-01-01

... the benefits in modifying their current inventory positioning policy for repairable items. NAVICP wishes to incorporate a strategic inventory positioning policy that reduces transportation costs...

Current status of cerebral glioma surgery in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jin-song; Zhang, Jie; Zhuang, Dong-xiao; Yao, Cheng-jun; Qiu, Tian-ming; Lu, Jun-feng; Zhu, Feng-ping; Mao, Ying; Zhou, Liang-fu

2011-09-01

The treatment of gliomas is highly individualized. Surgery for gliomas is essentially for histological diagnosis, to alleviate mass effect, and most importantly, to favor longer survival expectancy. During the past two decades, many surgical techniques and adjuvants have been applied to glioma surgery in China, which lead to a rapid development in the field of cerebral glioma surgery. This article broadly and critically reviewed the existing studies on cerebral glioma surgery and to portrait the current status of glioma surgery in China. A literature search was conducted covering major innovative surgical techniques and adjuvants for glioma surgery in China. The following databases were searched: the Pubmed (January 1995 to date); China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database (January 1995 to date) and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (January 1995 to date). A selection criterion was established to exclude duplicates and irrelevant studies. The outcome measures were extracted from included studies. A total of 3307 articles were initially searched. After excluded by abstracts and full texts, 69 studies conducted in the mainland of China were included and went through further analysis. The philosophy of surgical strategies for cerebral gliomas in China is undergoing tremendous change. Nowadays Chinese neurosurgeons pay more attention to the postoperative neurofunctional status of the patients. The aim of the glioma surgery is not only the more extensive tumor resection but also the maximal safety of intervention. The well balance of longer overall survival and higher quality of life should be judged with respect to each individual patient.

Mesh Plug Repair of Inguinal Hernia; Single Surgeon Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Serdar Karaca

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Aim: Mesh repair of inguinal hernia repairs are shown to be an effective and reliable method. In this study, a single surgeon%u2019s experience with plug-mesh method performs inguinal hernia repair have been reported. Material and Method: 587 patients with plug-mesh repair of inguinal hernia, preoperative age, body / mass index, comorbid disease were recorded in terms of form. All of the patients during the preoperative and postoperative hernia classification of information, duration of operation, antibiotics, perioperative complications, and later, the early and late postoperative complications, infection, recurrence rates and return to normal daily activity, verbal pain scales in terms of time and postoperative pain were evaluated. Added to this form of long-term pain ones. The presence of wound infection was assessed by the presence of purulent discharge from the incision. Visual analog scale pain status of the patients was measured. Results: 587 patients underwent repair of primary inguinal hernia mesh plug. One of the patients, 439 (74% of them have adapted follow-ups. Patients%u2019 ages ranged from 18-86. Was calculated as the mean of 47±18:07. Follow-up period of the patients was found to be a minimum of 3 months, maximum 55 months. Found an average of 28.2±13.4 months. Mean duration of surgery was 35.07±4.00 min (min:22mn-max:52mn, respectively. When complication rates of patients with recurrence in 2 patients (0.5%, hematoma development (1.4% in 6 patients, the development of infection in 11 patients (2.5% and long-term groin pain in 4 patients (0.9% appeared. Discussion: In our experience, the plug-mesh repair of primary inguinal hernia repair safe, effective low recurrence and complication rates can be used.

Current status of managing food allergies in schools in Seoul, Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Soyoung; Yoon, Jihyun; Kwon, Sooyoun; Kim, Jihyun; Han, Youngshin

2012-12-01

Recently the need to manage food allergies in schools has been growing. This study aimed to examine the current status of managing food allergies in schools in Seoul, Korea. A questionnaire survey was conducted in cooperation with the School Dietician Association during April 2009. Among the participating 154 schools, a total of 109 (71%) were determining students' food allergy status through parental surveys based on self-reported food allergies. A total of 72 (47%) had experienced student visits to a school health room due to food allergies within one year before the survey. Over 80 percent of the schools relied on self-care only without any school-wide measures for food allergies in place. Among the 890 menu items most frequently served in school lunch programs, a total of 664 (75%) were found to contain more than one food allergen. It is highly suggested that preventive plans and treatment measures should be established to manage food allergies in schools.

Current status and future outlook for bonded neodymium permanent magnets (invited)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Croat, J.J.

1997-01-01

Bonded neodymium magnets can provide significant size and weight reduction and/or performance enhancement over sintered and, particularly, bonded ferrite permanent magnets and, moreover, provide these benefits at reasonable cost. Primarily for these reasons, these bonded magnets are now used in a wide and growing range of computer peripheral, office automation, and consumer electronic applications and now constitute the fastest growing segment of the permanent magnet market. The current status of these materials will be reviewed. Included is a brief overview of the manufacture of these magnetically isotropic magnets and a discussion of their unique properties and features from the perspective of both bonded magnet producer and user. Major applications are discussed as are some of the factors that will drive the market for these materials in the future. New technical developments, including the status and outlook for anisotropic bonded materials, high remanance isotropic materials and high temperature bonded magnets will also be discussed. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

Current status of thermoluminescence studies on minerals and rocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sankaran, A.V.; Nambi, K.S.V.; Sunta, C.M.

1982-01-01

The usefulness of thermoluminescence (TL) in geological studies is being increasingly recognized, as may be judged from the considerable volume of literature accumulated over the past couple of decades; besides, a number of seminars, conferences and specialists' meetings have also been held on the subject of applied TL. However, these publications lie scattered over several periodicals and conference proceedings and an interested worker finds it difficult to obtain the gist of the contributions in one place. The present authors felt a need for this and have, therefore, attempted to bring together in this Report the current status of TL research about different minerals; applications in the fields of geochronology, ore-prospecting, stratigraphic correlation, geothermometry and other useful areas are also included. (author)

Cobalt 60 gamma irradiation current status, trends and insights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corley, John T.

1998-01-01

This paper discusses the current status, trends and insights into the continued, safe use of cobalt 60 gamma irradiation. Also presented are some of the many initiatives undertaken at MDS Nordion. Topics covered include our investment for the future supply of raw materials and the latest news from source production. Briefly presented are the tasks associated with the safe transport of cobalt 60 around the world. Discussed is cobalt 60 usage at the customer site; more specifically maintaining source integrity, source utilization and irradiator design trends. Highlighted are industry trends for North America, Europe and the rest of the world. Finally presented are the challenges and opportunities for the industry. Stressed in the paper is the need to work together

Artificial-Crack-Behavior Test Evaluation of the Water-Leakage Repair Materials Used for the Repair of Water-Leakage Cracks in Concrete Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soo-Yeon Kim

2016-09-01

Full Text Available There are no existing standard test methods at home and abroad that can verify the performance of water leakage repair materials, and it is thus very difficult to perform quality control checks in the field of water leakage repair. This study determined that the key factors that have the greatest impact on the water leakage repair materials are the micro-behaviors of cracks, and proposed an artificial-crack-behavior test method for the performance verification of the repair materials. The performance of the 15 kinds of repair materials that are currently being used in the field of water leakage repair was evaluated by applying the proposed test method. The main aim of such a test method is to determine if there is water leakage by injecting water leakage repair materials into a crack behavior test specimen with an artificial 5-mm crack width, applying a 2.5 mm vertical behavior load at 100 cycles, and applying 0.3 N/mm2 constant water pressure. The test results showed that of the 15 kinds of repair materials, only two effectively sealed the crack and thus stopped the water leakage. The findings of this study confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed artificial-crack-behavior test method and suggest that it can be used as a performance verification method for checking the responsiveness of the repair materials being used in the field of water leakage repair to the repetitive water leakage behaviors that occur in concrete structures. The study findings further suggest that the use of the proposed test method makes it possible to quantify the water leakage repair quality control in the field.

Current status of diuretic renography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Reilly, P.H.

1987-01-01

Percutaneous antegrade perfusion studies constitute a valuable contribution to the investigation of obstructive uropathy. In 1978, the first report of application of diuretic renogram techniques to this problem appeared in the literature. This was the first systematic report of a standardized protocol to be applied to a specific surgical problem. The purpose of the procedure, as with perfusion pressure-flow studies, is to help distinguish between a dilated urinary tract that is obstructed and requires surgery and a nonobstructed system in which urographic dilation and stasis mimic obstruction, but no genuine impedance to urine flow exists, and surgery is not required. The technique provides dual information. It gives quantitative data on individual renal function that perfusion pressure-flow studies do not, and it gives time-activity curves reflecting the urodynamics through the individual upper urinary tracts at normal and high urinary flow rates. In the early days, this information was obtained from probe studies, but the procedure is now almost exclusively performed using the gamma camera, images from which give additional information on the site of any suspected obstruction. In some ways, the development of diuretic renography and that of perfusion pressure-flow studies have proceeded in a competitive fashion, both attempting to answer the same questions by different means. In practice, however, the two tests would be regarded as complementary, as will be shown later in this chapter. The following sections describe the technique of diuretic renography, its current clinical application and status in surgical and nuclear medicine practice, and its role in comparison with other available tests for management of the dilated upper urinary tract

Current status of research and development on remote maintenance for fusion components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi

2008-01-01

There is a growing attention to remote maintenance of nuclear fusion reactors. Remote maintenance is planned in ITER tokamak to keep the health of in-vessel components like blankets and divertors. In this article, current status of the development in the remote maintenance equipments and methods, especially for ITER tokamak are reviewed. The newly developed vehicle type and boom type maintenance devices, manipulator, and transfer cask are illustrated. (J.P.N.)

WIMP dark matter candidates and searches—current status and future prospects

Science.gov (United States)

Roszkowski, Leszek; Sessolo, Enrico Maria; Trojanowski, Sebastian

2018-06-01

We review several current aspects of dark matter theory and experiment. We overview the present experimental status, which includes current bounds and recent claims and hints of a possible signal in a wide range of experiments: direct detection in underground laboratories, gamma-ray, cosmic ray, x-ray, neutrino telescopes, and the LHC. We briefly review several possible particle candidates for a weakly interactive massive particle (WIMP) and dark matter that have recently been considered in the literature. We pay particular attention to the lightest neutralino of supersymmetry as it remains the best motivated candidate for dark matter and also shows excellent detection prospects. Finally we briefly review some alternative scenarios that can considerably alter properties and prospects for the detection of dark matter obtained within the standard thermal WIMP paradigm.

WIMP dark matter candidates and searches-current status and future prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Roszkowski, Leszek; Sessolo, Enrico Maria; Trojanowski, Sebastian

2018-06-01

We review several current aspects of dark matter theory and experiment. We overview the present experimental status, which includes current bounds and recent claims and hints of a possible signal in a wide range of experiments: direct detection in underground laboratories, gamma-ray, cosmic ray, x-ray, neutrino telescopes, and the LHC. We briefly review several possible particle candidates for a weakly interactive massive particle (WIMP) and dark matter that have recently been considered in the literature. We pay particular attention to the lightest neutralino of supersymmetry as it remains the best motivated candidate for dark matter and also shows excellent detection prospects. Finally we briefly review some alternative scenarios that can considerably alter properties and prospects for the detection of dark matter obtained within the standard thermal WIMP paradigm.

Regulatory Challenges for Cartilage Repair Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

McGowan, Kevin B; Stiegman, Glenn

2013-01-01

In the United States, few Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved options exist for the treatment of focal cartilage and osteochondral lesions. Developers of products for cartilage repair face many challenges to obtain marketing approval from the FDA. The objective of this review is to discuss the necessary steps for FDA application and approval for a new cartilage repair product. FDA Guidance Documents, FDA Panel Meetings, scientific organization recommendations, and clinicaltrials.gov were reviewed to demonstrate the current thinking of FDA and the scientific community on the regulatory process for cartilage repair therapies. Cartilage repair therapies can receive market approval from FDA as medical devices, drugs, or biologics, and the specific classification of product can affect the nonclinical, clinical, and regulatory strategy to bring the product to market. Recent FDA guidance gives an outline of the required elements to bring a cartilage repair product to market, although these standards are often very general. As a result, companies have to carefully craft their study patient population, comparator group, and clinical endpoint to best showcase their product's attributes. In addition, regulatory strategy and manufacturing process validation need to be considered early in the clinical study process to allow for timely product approval following the completion of clinical study. Although the path to regulatory approval for a cartilage repair therapy is challenging and time-consuming, proper clinical trial planning and attention to the details can eventually save companies time and money by bringing a product to the market in the most expeditious process possible.

Low Zinc Status and Absorption Exist in Infants with Jejunostomies or Ileostomies Which Persists after Intestinal Repair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven A. Abrams

2012-09-01

Full Text Available There is very little data regarding trace mineral nutrition in infants with small intestinal ostomies. Here we evaluated 14 infants with jejunal or ileal ostomies to measure their zinc absorption and retention and biochemical zinc and copper status. Zinc absorption was measured using a dual-tracer stable isotope technique at two different time points when possible. The first study was conducted when the subject was receiving maximal tolerated feeds enterally while the ostomy remained in place. A second study was performed as soon as feasible after full feeds were achieved after intestinal repair. We found biochemical evidence of deficiencies of both zinc and copper in infants with small intestinal ostomies at both time points. Fractional zinc absorption with an ostomy in place was 10.9% ± 5.3%. After reanastamosis, fractional zinc absorption was 9.4% ± 5.7%. Net zinc balance was negative prior to reanastamosis. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that infants with a jejunostomy or ileostomy are at high risk for zinc and copper deficiency before and after intestinal reanastamosis. Additional supplementation, especially of zinc, should be considered during this time period.

Magnetic resonance imaging in psoriatic arthritis -- update on current status and future perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Mikkel; Poggenborg, René Panduro

2012-01-01

and future development of MRI and other modern imaging modalities in PsA. This review, presented at the GRAPPA 2010 annual meeting, describes the current status of MRI in PsA, with a focus on its use in diagnosis, monitoring, and prediction of the disease course and treatment response. Important areas...... for future research are also outlined....

Current status and requirements for position-sensitive detectors in medicine

CERN Document Server

Speller, R

2002-01-01

This review considers the current status of detector developments for medical imaging using ionising radiation. This field is divided into two major areas; the use of X-rays for transmission imaging and the use of radioactive tracers in emission imaging (nuclear medicine). Until recently, most detector developments were for applications in nuclear medicine. However, in the past 5 years new developments in large area, X-ray-sensitive detectors have meant that both application domains are equally served. In X-ray imaging, work in CT and mammography are chosen as examples of sensor developments. Photodiode arrays in multi-slice spiral CT acquisitions are described and for mammography the use of amorphous silicon flat panel arrays is considered. The latter is an excellent example where new detector developments have required a re-think of traditional imaging methods. In gamma-ray imaging the recent developments in small area, task-specific cameras are described. Their limitations and current proposals to overcome...

An automated repair method of water pipe infrastructure using carbon fiber bundles

Science.gov (United States)

Wisotzkey, Sean; Carr, Heath; Fyfe, Ed

2011-04-01

The United States water pipe infrastructure is made up of over 2 million miles of pipe. Due to age and deterioration, a large portion of this pipe is in need of repair to prevent catastrophic failures. Current repair methods generally involve intrusive techniques that can be time consuming and costly, but also can cause major societal impacts. A new automated repair method incorporating innovative carbon fiber technology is in development. This automated method would eliminate the need for trenching and would vastly cut time and labor costs, providing a much more economical pipe repair solution.

Genetic and physiological factors affecting repair and mutagenesis in yeast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemontt, J.F.

1979-01-01

Current views of DNA repair and mutagenesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are discussed in the light of recent data, and with emphasis on the isolation and characterization of genetically well-defined mutations that affect DNA metabolism in general (including replication and recombination). Various pathways of repair are described particularly in relation to their involvement in mutagenic mechanisms. In addition to genetic control, certain physiological factors such as cell age, DNA replication, and the regulatory state of the mating-type locus, are shown to also play a role in repair and mutagenesis

Genetic and physiological factors affecting repair and mutagenesis in yeast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemontt, J.F.

1979-01-01

Current views of DNA repair and mutagenesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are discussed in the light of recent data and with emphasis on the isolation and characterization of genetically well-defined mutations that affect DNA metabolism in general (including replication and recombination). Various pathways of repair are described, particularly in relation to their imvolvement in mutagenic mechanisms. In addition to genetic control, certain physiological factors such as cell age, DNA replication, and the regulatory state of the mating-type locus are shown to also play a role in repair and mutagenesis

Genetic and physiological factors affecting repair and mutagenesis in yeast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemontt, J F

1979-01-01

Current views of DNA repair and mutagenesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are discussed in the light of recent data, and with emphasis on the isolation and characterization of genetically well-defined mutations that affect DNA metabolism in general (including replication and recombination). Various pathways of repair are described particularly in relation to their involvement in mutagenic mechanisms. In addition to genetic control, certain physiological factors such as cell age, DNA replication, and the regulatory state of the mating-type locus, are shown to also play a role in repair and mutagenesis.

Genetic and physiological factors affecting repair and mutagenesis in yeast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemontt, J F

1979-01-01

Current views of DNA repair and mutagenesis in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are discussed in the light of recent data and with emphasis on the isolation and characterization of genetically well-defined mutations that affect DNA metabolism in general (including replication and recombination). Various pathways of repair are described, particularly in relation to their imvolvement in mutagenic mechanisms. In addition to genetic control, certain physiological factors such as cell age, DNA replication, and the regulatory state of the mating-type locus are shown to also play a role in repair and mutagenesis.

Plutonium metal exchange program : current status and statistical analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tandon, L. (Lav); Eglin, J. L. (Judith Lynn); Michalak, S. E. (Sarah E.); Picard, R. R.; Temer, D. J. (Donald J.)

2004-01-01

The Rocky Flats Plutonium (Pu) Metal Sample Exchange program was conducted to insure the quality and intercomparability of measurements such as Pu assay, Pu isotopics, and impurity analyses. The Rocky Flats program was discontinued in 1989 after more than 30 years. In 2001, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) reestablished the Pu Metal Exchange program. In addition to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston, six Department of Energy (DOE) facilities Argonne East, Argonne West, Livermore, Los Alamos, New Brunswick Laboratory, and Savannah River are currently participating in the program. Plutonium metal samples are prepared and distributed to the sites for destructive measurements to determine elemental concentration, isotopic abundance, and both metallic and nonmetallic impurity levels. The program provides independent verification of analytical measurement capabilies for each participating facility and allows problems in analytical methods to be identified. The current status of the program will be discussed with emphasis on the unique statistical analysis and modeling of the data developed for the program. The discussion includes the definition of the consensus values for each analyte (in the presence and absence of anomalous values and/or censored values), and interesting features of the data and the results.

Current status and some aspects of the future energy strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antic, D. P.; Sokcic-Kostic, M. S. . E-mail address of corresponding author: dragon@vin.bg.ac.yu; Antic, D.)

2005-01-01

Current status of the energy production and of the energy sources in the world, European Union, Serbia and Montenegro and the Balkan states is analyzed. Some trends in the energy consumption and productions in some European states are analyzed. Some problems of the Serbia and Montenegro energy production system are compared with situation in neighbor states, Germany, and European Union. At present, anywhere in the world, the nuclear power in on the defensive. In some countries it has been even outlawed. Some parameters show that nuclear power, on the global scale and during this century at least, is absolutely essential and reasons for revival of nuclear energy are realistic. (author)

Repairable-conditionally repairable damage model based on dual Poisson processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, B K; Persson, L M; Edgren, M R; Hedlöf, I; Brahme, A

2003-09-01

The advent of intensity-modulated radiation therapy makes it increasingly important to model the response accurately when large volumes of normal tissues are irradiated by controlled graded dose distributions aimed at maximizing tumor cure and minimizing normal tissue toxicity. The cell survival model proposed here is very useful and flexible for accurate description of the response of healthy tissues as well as tumors in classical and truly radiobiologically optimized radiation therapy. The repairable-conditionally repairable (RCR) model distinguishes between two different types of damage, namely the potentially repairable, which may also be lethal, i.e. if unrepaired or misrepaired, and the conditionally repairable, which may be repaired or may lead to apoptosis if it has not been repaired correctly. When potentially repairable damage is being repaired, for example by nonhomologous end joining, conditionally repairable damage may require in addition a high-fidelity correction by homologous repair. The induction of both types of damage is assumed to be described by Poisson statistics. The resultant cell survival expression has the unique ability to fit most experimental data well at low doses (the initial hypersensitive range), intermediate doses (on the shoulder of the survival curve), and high doses (on the quasi-exponential region of the survival curve). The complete Poisson expression can be approximated well by a simple bi-exponential cell survival expression, S(D) = e(-aD) + bDe(-cD), where the first term describes the survival of undamaged cells and the last term represents survival after complete repair of sublethal damage. The bi-exponential expression makes it easy to derive D(0), D(q), n and alpha, beta values to facilitate comparison with classical cell survival models.

Current status of brachytherapy in Korea: a national survey of radiation oncologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Haeyoung; Kim, Joo Young; Kim, Juree; Park, Won; Kim, Young Seok; Kim, Hak Jae; Kim, Yong Bae

2016-07-01

The aim of the present study was to acquire information on brachytherapy resources in Korea through a national survey of radiation oncologists. Between October 2014 and January 2015, a questionnaire on the current status of brachytherapy was distributed to all 86 radiation oncology departments in Korea. The questionnaire was divided into sections querying general information on human resources, brachytherapy equipment, and suggestions for future directions of brachytherapy policy in Korea. The response rate of the survey was 88.3%. The average number of radiation oncologists per center was 2.3. At the time of survey, 28 centers (36.8%) provided brachytherapy to patients. Among the 28 brachytherapy centers, 15 (53.5%) were located in in the capital Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan areas. All brachytherapy centers had a high-dose rate system using (192)Ir (26 centers) or (60)Co (two centers). Among the 26 centers using (192)Ir sources, 11 treated fewer than 40 patients per year. In the two centers using (60)Co sources, the number of patients per year was 16 and 120, respectively. The most frequently cited difficulties in performing brachytherapy were cost related. A total of 21 centers had a plan to sustain the current brachytherapy system, and four centers noted plans to upgrade their brachytherapy system. Two centers stated that they were considering discontinuation of brachytherapy due to cost burdens of radioisotope source replacement. The present study illustrated the current status of brachytherapy in Korea. Financial difficulties were the major barriers to the practice of brachytherapy.

Tissue repair capacity and repair kinetics deduced from multifractionated or continuous irradiation regimens with incomplete repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thames, H.D. Jr.; Peters, L.J.

1984-01-01

A model is proposed for cell survival after multiple doses, when the interfraction interval is insufficient for complete Elkind repair. In the limit of ever-increasing number of ever-smaller fractional doses, the model transforms into the accumulation model of survival after continuous irradiation. When adapted to describe tissue responses to isoeffective multifractionated regimens, wherein repair is incomplete, a generalization of the usually linear plot of reciprocal total dose versus dose per fraction is obtained, in which downward curvature is evident. There is an advantage in studying tissue responses to multifractionated regimens with incomplete repair in the interfraction intervals, or continuous exposures at various dose rates since, in addition to determination of repair capacity, there is an estimate of repair kinetics. Results of analyses of previously published data are presented as illustration. Estimated from the response of three acutely responding normal tissues in the mouse (jejunum, colon and bone marrow), repair halftimes ranged from 0.3-0.9 h and values of β/delta were approximately 0.1 Gy -1 . From the response of mouse lung (LD50 for pneumonitis) to multifractionated regimens with incomplete repair, the repair halftime was estimated at 1.5 h and β/delta was 0.27 Gy -1 . In the rat spinal cord β/delta was 0.7 Gy -1 and Tsub(1/2) was 1.5 h. (U.K.)

Skin appendage-derived stem cells: cell biology and potential for wound repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Jiangfan; Yao, Bin; Han, Yutong; Huang, Sha; Fu, Xiaobing

2016-01-01

Stem cells residing in the epidermis and skin appendages are imperative for skin homeostasis and regeneration. These stem cells also participate in the repair of the epidermis after injuries, inducing restoration of tissue integrity and function of damaged tissue. Unlike epidermis-derived stem cells, comprehensive knowledge about skin appendage-derived stem cells remains limited. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of skin appendage-derived stem cells, including their fundamental characteristics, their preferentially expressed biomarkers, and their potential contribution involved in wound repair. Finally, we will also discuss current strategies, future applications, and limitations of these stem cells, attempting to provide some perspectives on optimizing the available therapy in cutaneous repair and regeneration.

Mechanical characterization of composite repairs for fiberglass wind turbine blades

Science.gov (United States)

Chawla, Tanveer Singh

While in service, wind turbine blades experience various modes of loading. An example is impact loading in the form of hail or bird strikes, which might lead to localized damage or formation of cracks a few plies deep on the blade surface. One of the methods to conduct repairs on wind turbine blades that are damaged while in service is hand lay-up of the repair part after grinding out the damaged portion and some of its surrounding area. The resin used for such repairs usually differs from the parent plate resin in composition and properties such as gel time, viscosity, etc. As a result the properties of the repaired parts are not the same as that of the undamaged blades. Subsequent repetitive loading can be detrimental to weak repairs to such an extent so as to cause delamination at the parent-repair bondline causing the repairs to eventually fall off the blade. Thus the strength and toughness of the repair are of critical importance. Initial part of this work consists of an effort to increase repair strength by identifying an optimum hand layup repair resin for fiberglass wind turbine blades currently being manufactured by a global company. As delamination of the repair from the parent blade is a major concern and unidirectional glass fibers along with a polymer resin are used to manufacture blades under consideration, testing method detailed in ASTM D 5528 (Test Method for Mode I Interlaminar Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites) was followed to determine propagation fracture toughness values of the prospective vinyl ester repair resin candidates. These values were compared to those for a base polyester repair resin used by the company. Experimental procedure and results obtained from the above mentioned testing using double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens are detailed. Three new repair resins were shortlisted through mode I testing. It was also found that variation in the depth of the ground top ply of the parent part

[Current status and potential perspectives in classical radiotherapy technology].

Science.gov (United States)

Dabić-Stanković, Kata M; Stanković, Jovan B; Radosević-Jelić, Ljiljana M

2004-01-01

After purchase of radiotherapy equipment in 2003, classic radiation therapy in Serbia will reach the highest world level. In order to define the highest standards in radiation technology, we analyzed the current status and potential perspectives of radiation therapy. An analysis of present situation in the USA, assumed as the most developed in the world, was done. Available data, collected in the last 3 years (equipment assortment, therapy modalities, workload and manpower) for 284 radiotherapy centers, out of potential 2050, were analyzed. Results were presented as crude percentage and matched to point current status. The analysis showed that CLINAC accelerators are the most popular (82.7%), as well as, ADAC (43.7%) and Focus (CMS) (27.4%) systems for therapy planning. Movement towards virtual simulation is evident (59.3%), although classic "simulation" is not fully eliminated from the radiotherapy chain. The most popular brachytherapy afterloader is Microselectron HDR (71%). About 64.4% centers use IMPAC communication/verification/record system that seems more open than Varis. All centers practice modern radiotherapy modalities and techniques (CPRT, IMRT, SRS/SRT, TBI, IORT, IVBHRT, HDR BHRT, etc.). CT and MRI availability is out of question, but PET is available in 3% of centers, however this percentage is rapidly growing. Up to 350 new patients per year are treated by one accelerator (about 35 pts. a day). Centers are relatively small and utilize 2-3 accelerators on average. Average FTE staffing norm is 4 radiation oncologists, 2-3 medical radiotherapy physicists, about 3 certified medical dosimetrists and about 6 radiotherapy technologists. In the past 5 years relative stagnation in classic radiotherapy has been observed. In spite of substantial investments in technology and consequent improvements, as well as wide introduction of computers in radiotherapy, radiotherapy results have not changed significantly. Vendor developement strategies do not point that

EG-15THE METHYLATION STATUS OF MGMT IN MEDULLOBLASTOMA

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Yuzaburo; Kurimoto, Tomoko; Kondo, Akihide; Arai, Hajime

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Medulloblastoma is a highly malignant brain tumor in childhood. Some studies reported that alkylating chemotherapeutic drugs are effective agents in the treatment of patients with medulloblastoma. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is one of the DNA repair enzymes and plays a significant role in tumor resistance to alkylating agents. Low MGMT expression or MGMT promoter methylation have been found to be associated with favorable outcomes in malignant glioma patients treated with alkylating agents such as temozolomide. However, impact of MGMT status on clinical outcomes in medulloblastoma patients is not fully evaluated. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between MGMT status and the response for chemotherapy in pediatric patients with medulloblastoma. METHODS: Patients with medulloblastoma treated at our institution between 1995 and 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. Relevant clinical information including current disease status, tumor response to chemotherapy was obtained from the hospital charts. To evaluate the MGMT status, we performed bisulfite sequencing analysis to determine the methylation status of the MGMT promoter. RESULTS: Tumor material and detailed clinical information were available in 22 patients. Of them, 13 patients were alive (11 in CR), seven died of disease and two were lost to follow up. Five patients were with dissemination at diagnosis. We succeeded to evaluate both the MGMT status of tumors and the number of methylation sites in MGMT promoter. CONCLUSIONS: We studied the prognostic value of MGMT promoter methylation in medulloblastoma children.

Comparing Biomechanical Properties, Repair Times, and Value of Common Core Flexor Tendon Repairs.

Science.gov (United States)

Chauhan, Aakash; Schimoler, Patrick; Miller, Mark C; Kharlamov, Alexander; Merrell, Gregory A; Palmer, Bradley A

2018-05-01

The aim of the study was to compare biomechanical strength, repair times, and repair values for zone II core flexor tendon repairs. A total of 75 fresh-frozen human cadaveric flexor tendons were harvested from the index through small finger and randomized into one of 5 repair groups: 4-stranded cross-stitch cruciate (4-0 polyester and 4-0 braided suture), 4-stranded double Pennington (2-0 knotless barbed suture), 4-stranded Pennington (4-0 double-stranded braided suture), and 6-stranded modified Lim-Tsai (4-0 looped braided suture). Repairs were measured in situ and their repair times were measured. Tendons were linearly loaded to failure and multiple biomechanical values were measured. The repair value was calculated based on operating room costs, repair times, and suture costs. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey post hoc statistical analysis were used to compare repair data. The braided cruciate was the strongest repair ( P > .05) but the slowest ( P > .05), and the 4-stranded Pennington using double-stranded suture was the fastest ( P > .05) to perform. The total repair value was the highest for braided cruciate ( P > .05) compared with all other repairs. Barbed suture did not outperform any repairs in any categories. The braided cruciate was the strongest of the tested flexor tendon repairs. The 2-mm gapping and maximum load to failure for this repair approached similar historical strength of other 6- and 8-stranded repairs. In this study, suture cost was negligible in the overall repair cost and should be not a determining factor in choosing a repair.

Current status in diabetic macular edema treatments

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Pedro; Romero-Aroca

2013-01-01

Diabetes is a serious chronic condition,which increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases,kidney failure and nerve damage leading to amputation.Furthermore the ocular complications include diabetic macular edema,is the leading cause of blindness among adults in the industrialized countries.Today,blindness from diabetic macular edema is largely preventable with timely detection and appropriate interventional therapy.The treatment should include an optimized control of glycemia,arterial tension,lipids and renal status.The photocoagulation laser is currently restricted to focal macular edema in some countries,but due the high cost of intravitreal drugs,the use of laser treatment for focal and diffuse diabetic macular edema(DME),can be valid as gold standard in many countries.The intravitreal anti vascular endothelial growth factor drugs(ranibizumab and bevacizumab),are indicated in the treatment of all types of DME,but the correct protocol for administration should be defined for the different Retina Scientific Societies.The corticosteroids for diffuse DME,has a place in pseudophakic patients,but its complications restricted the use of these drugs for some patients.Finally the intravitreal interface plays an important role and its exploration is mandatory in all DME patients.

Current status of uranium enrichment by way of chemical exchange reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El Basyouny, A.; Bechthold, H.C.; Knoechel, A.; Vollmer, H.J.

1985-04-01

For this report, conference proceedings, patents and other types of literature have been collected to present an account of the current status of uranium enrichment by way of chemical exchange reactions. The report further presents a new concept along with the relevant process strategy developed by the authors. The principal process of the new concept is a chemical exchange process with crown ethers, complexed or free, playing an important part in the reactions. The authors also describe their experiments carried out for establishing suitable chemical systems. (orig./PW) [de

Dynamic Software Updating with Gosh! Current Status and the Road Ahead

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gregersen, Allan Raundahl; Rasmussen, Michael; Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard

2013-01-01

Any non-trivial software system has to be upgraded regularly to incorporate bug fixes and security patches or simply to keep up with the inevitable evolution in end-user requirements. Software upgrading is challenging, especially when it comes to online upgrading of running systems. In this paper......, we present the current status of Gosh!, a dynamic-software-updating system for Java, which provides comprehensive support for changing class definitions of live objects, including adding, removing and moving fields, methods, classes and interfaces anywhere in the inheritance hierarchy. Prior...

Similar failure rate in immediate post-operative weight bearing versus protected weight bearing following meniscal repair on peripheral, vertical meniscal tears.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Bryan; Gronbeck, Kyle R; Yue, Ruixian Alexander; Tompkins, Marc A

2017-08-16

Post-operative weight bearing after meniscal repair is a point of debate among physicians. This study sought to evaluate whether patients adhering to an immediate WBAT rehabilitation programme have a higher failure rate compared to those adhering to a more traditional, protected, NWB status following meniscal repair. The null hypothesis was that there would be no difference in failure between the two groups. A retrospective review of meniscal repair patients greater than 5 years from surgery was performed for patients receiving meniscal repair treatment. Patients were categorized by post-surgical weight-bearing status, either NWB or WBAT, and then analysed for failure of repair. Failure was defined as re-operation on the torn meniscus. The study controlled for variables including age at surgery, sex, height, weight, and BMI, classification of tear type, acuity of the tear, repair location (medial or lateral), repair location within the meniscus, repair technique, and concomitant procedures. Re-operations were performed in 61 of 157 patients [38.9%]. There was no difference between weight-bearing groups for failure of meniscus repair (n.s.). The tears were acute vertical tears located in the posterior horn and body. For the 61 patients with re-operation, the average time to re-operation was 2.2 years with 10 [16%] > 5 years from surgery, 17 [28%] 2-5 years from surgery, and 34 [56%] bearing groups for rate of re-operation (n.s.). Weight bearing as tolerated after meniscal repair for peripheral, vertical tears does not result in a higher failure rate than traditional, non-weight bearing over a five-year follow-up period. The clinical relevance is that, based on these data, it may be appropriate to allow weight bearing as tolerated following meniscal repair of peripheral, vertical tears. Retrospective cohort study, Level III.

Plasma membrane wounding and repair in pulmonary diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Cong, Xiaofei; Hubmayr, Rolf D; Li, Changgong; Zhao, Xiaoli

2017-03-01

Various pathophysiological conditions such as surfactant dysfunction, mechanical ventilation, inflammation, pathogen products, environmental exposures, and gastric acid aspiration stress lung cells, and the compromise of plasma membranes occurs as a result. The mechanisms necessary for cells to repair plasma membrane defects have been extensively investigated in the last two decades, and some of these key repair mechanisms are also shown to occur following lung cell injury. Because it was theorized that lung wounding and repair are involved in the pathogenesis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), in this review, we summarized the experimental evidence of lung cell injury in these two devastating syndromes and discuss relevant genetic, physical, and biological injury mechanisms, as well as mechanisms used by lung cells for cell survival and membrane repair. Finally, we discuss relevant signaling pathways that may be activated by chronic or repeated lung cell injury as an extension of our cell injury and repair focus in this review. We hope that a holistic view of injurious stimuli relevant for ARDS and IPF could lead to updated experimental models. In addition, parallel discussion of membrane repair mechanisms in lung cells and injury-activated signaling pathways would encourage research to bridge gaps in current knowledge. Indeed, deep understanding of lung cell wounding and repair, and discovery of relevant repair moieties for lung cells, should inspire the development of new therapies that are likely preventive and broadly effective for targeting injurious pulmonary diseases. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Current status of the HAL/S compiler on the Modcomp classic 7870 computer

Science.gov (United States)

Lytle, P. J.

1981-01-01

A brief history of the HAL/S language, including the experience of other users of the language at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is presented. The current status of the compiler, as implemented on the Modcomp 7870 Classi computer, and future applications in the Deep Space Network (DSN) are discussed. The primary applications in the DSN will be in the Mark IVA network.

The current status of the Korean student health examination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hye-Jung Shin

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Recent trends place an emphasis on school health care, the ultimate goal of which is to protect,maintain, and promote students’ health. School health care is a program that integrates health careservices, health education, health counseling, and local social health services. The student healthexamination (SHE system is a part of school health care and schools and communities must beavailable to provide professional health services. Pediatricians also have important roles as experts inboth school health care and the SHE system. In this article, the history of school health care, its legalbasis, and the current status of the SHE system in Korea are reviewed. Furthermore, sample surveysfrom the past few years are reviewed. Through this holistic approach, future directions are proposed forthe improvement of SHE and school health care.

Current Status of Mechanical Circulatory Support: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyriakos Spiliopoulos

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Heart failure is a major public health problem and its management requires a significant amount of health care resources. Even with administration of the best available medical treatment, the mortality associated with the disease remains high. As therapeutical strategies for heart failure have been refined, the number of patients suffering from the disease has expanded dramatically. Although heart transplantation still represents the gold standard therapeutical approach, the implantation of mechanical circulatory support devices (MCSDs evolved to a well-established management for this disease. The limited applicability of heart transplantation caused by a shortage of donor organs and the concurrent expand of the patient population with end-stage heart failure led to a considerable utilization of MCSDs. This paper outlines the current status of mechanical circulatory support.

Marine renewable energy in China: Current status and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong-liang Zhang

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Based on a general review of marine renewable energy in China, an assessment of the development status and amount of various marine renewable energy resources, including tidal energy, tidal current energy, wave energy, ocean thermal energy, and salinity gradient energy in China's coastal seas, such as the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, is presented. We have found that these kinds of marine renewable energy resources will play an important role in meeting China's future energy needs. Additionally, considering the uneven distribution of China's marine renewable energy and the influences of its exploitation on the environment, we have suggested several sites with great potential for each kind of marine energy. Furthermore, perspectives on and challenges related with marine renewable energy in China are addressed.

Neurovirulence safety testing of mumps vaccines--historical perspective and current status.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubin, S A; Afzal, M A

2011-04-05

Many live, attenuated viral vaccines are derived from wild type viruses with known neurovirulent properties. To assure the absence of residual neurotoxicity, pre-clinical neurovirulence safety testing of candidate vaccines is performed. For mumps virus, a highly neurotropic virus, neurovirulence safety testing is performed in monkeys. However, laboratory studies suggest an inability of this test to correctly discern among virus strains of varying neurovirulence potential in man, and, further, some vaccines found to be neuroattenuated in monkeys were later found to be neurovirulent in humans when administered in large numbers. Over the past decade, concerted efforts have been made to replace monkey-based neurovirulence safety testing with more informative, alternative methods. This review summarizes the current status of mumps vaccine neurovirulence safety testing and insights into models currently approved and those under development. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Current Status of Bioinks for Micro-Extrusion-Based 3D Bioprinting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amit Panwar

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in 3D printing technologies and design have been nothing short of spectacular. Parallel to this, development of bioinks has also emerged as an active research area with almost unlimited possibilities. Many bioinks have been developed for various cells types, but bioinks currently used for 3D printing still have challenges and limitations. Bioink development is significant due to two major objectives. The first objective is to provide growth- and function-supportive bioinks to the cells for their proper organization and eventual function and the second objective is to minimize the effect of printing on cell viability, without compromising the resolution shape and stability of the construct. Here, we will address the current status and challenges of bioinks for 3D printing of tissue constructs for in vitro and in vivo applications.

DNA single-strand breaks during repair of uv damage in human fibroblasts and abnormalities of repair in xeroderma pigmentosum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fornace, A.J. Jr.; Kohn, K.W.; Kann, H.E. Jr.

1976-01-01

The method of DNA alkaline elution was applied to a study of the formation and resealing of DNA single-strand breaks after irradiation of human fibroblasts with ultraviolet light (UV). The general features of the results were consistent with current concepts of DNA excision repair, in that breaks appeared rapidly after uv, and resealed slowly in normal fibroblasts, whereas breaks did not appear in those cells of patients with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) that are known to have defects in DNA repair synthesis. The appearance of breaks required a short post-uv incubation, consistent with the expected action of an endonuclease. Cells of the variant form of XP characterized by normal DNA repair synthesis exhibited normal production of breaks after uv, but were slower than normal cells in resealing these breaks. This difference was enhanced by caffeine. A model is proposed to relate this finding with a previously described defect in post-replication repair in these XP variant cells. DNA crosslinking appears to cause an underestimate in the measurement of DNA breakage after uv

Biomaterial-mediated strategies targeting vascularization for bone repair.

Science.gov (United States)

García, José R; García, Andrés J

2016-04-01

Repair of non-healing bone defects through tissue engineering strategies remains a challenging feat in the clinic due to the aversive microenvironment surrounding the injured tissue. The vascular damage that occurs following a bone injury causes extreme ischemia and a loss of circulating cells that contribute to regeneration. Tissue-engineered constructs aimed at regenerating the injured bone suffer from complications based on the slow progression of endogenous vascular repair and often fail at bridging the bone defect. To that end, various strategies have been explored to increase blood vessel regeneration within defects to facilitate both tissue-engineered and natural repair processes. Developments that induce robust vascularization will need to consolidate various parameters including optimization of embedded therapeutics, scaffold characteristics, and successful integration between the construct and the biological tissue. This review provides an overview of current strategies as well as new developments in engineering biomaterials to induce reparation of a functional vascular supply in the context of bone repair.

A vision on the future of articular cartilage repair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Cucchiarini

2014-05-01

Full Text Available An AO Foundation (Davos, Switzerland sponsored workshop "Cell Therapy in Cartilage Repair" from the Symposium "Where Science meets Clinics" (September 5-7, 2013, Davos gathered leaders from medicine, science, industry, and regulatory organisations to debate the vision of cell therapy in articular cartilage repair and the measures that could be taken to narrow the gap between vision and current practice. Cell-based therapy is already in clinical use to enhance the repair of cartilage lesions, with procedures such as microfracture and articular chondrocyte implantation. However, even though long term follow up is good from a clinical perspective and some of the most rigorous randomised controlled trials in the regenerative medicine/orthopaedics field show beneficial effect, none of these options have proved successful in restoring the original articular cartilage structure and functionality in patients so far. With the remarkable recent advances in experimental research in cell biology (new sources for chondrocytes, stem cells, molecular biology (growth factors, genes, biomaterials, biomechanics, and translational science, a combined effort between scientists and clinicians with broad expertise may allow development of an improved cell therapy for cartilage repair. This position paper describes the current state of the art in the field to help define a procedure adapted to the clinical situation for upcoming translation in the patient.

Primary repair of colon injuries: clinical study of nonselective approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazovic, Ranko G; Barisic, Goran I; Krivokapic, Zoran V

2010-12-02

This study was designed to determine the role of primary repair and to investigate the possibility of expanding indications for primary repair of colon injuries using nonselective approach. Two groups of patients were analyzed. Retrospective (RS) group included 30 patients managed by primary repair or two stage surgical procedure according to criteria published by Stone (S/F) and Flint (Fl). In this group 18 patients were managed by primary repair. Prospective (PR) group included 33 patients with primary repair as a first choice procedure. In this group, primary repair was performed in 30 cases. Groups were comparable regarding age, sex, and indexes of trauma severity. Time between injury and surgery was shorter in PR group, (1.3 vs. 3.1 hours). Stab wounds were more frequent in PR group (9:2), and iatrogenic lesions in RS group (6:2). Associated injuries were similar, as well as segmental distribution of colon injuries. S/F criteria and Flint grading were similar.In RS group 15 primary repairs were successful, while in two cases relaparotomy and colostomy was performed due to anastomotic leakage. One patient died. In PR group, 25 primary repairs were successful, with 2 immediate and 3 postoperative (7-10 days) deaths, with no evidence of anastomotic leakage. Results of this study justify more liberal use of primary repair in early management of colon injuries. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN94682396.

The current status of orphan drug development in Europe and the US

OpenAIRE

Hall, Anthony K; Carlson, Marilyn R

2014-01-01

Orphan drug legislation has been introduced in a number of countries in order to stimulate the development of treatments for rare diseases by introducing commercial incentives for companies wishing to undertake that development. In order to navigate the maze of regulatory regulations and procedures so that companies can make proper use of the orphan drug incentives, specialist knowledge is required. This article will review the current status of orphan drug development in the EU and the US, e...

Nuclear power in the Asia-Pacific region. Current status and future perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao, Jia; Otsuki, Takashi; Irie, Kazutomo

2017-01-01

This paper presents the current status and future perspective of nuclear power in the APEC region. We design three scenarios, including Low-nuclear Scenario, Business-as-Usual Scenario (BAU) as well as High-nuclear Scenario, in order to quantitatively evaluate contribution of nuclear power to the low-carbon energy system. Preliminary results from the modeling are presented in the paper, and the drivers and challenges for nuclear power development in the APEC region are discussed. (author)

The cutting edges in DNA repair, licensing, and fidelity: DNA and RNA repair nucleases sculpt DNA to measure twice, cut once.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsutakawa, Susan E; Lafrance-Vanasse, Julien; Tainer, John A

2014-07-01

To avoid genome instability, DNA repair nucleases must precisely target the correct damaged substrate before they are licensed to incise. Damage identification is a challenge for all DNA damage response proteins, but especially for nucleases that cut the DNA and necessarily create a cleaved DNA repair intermediate, likely more toxic than the initial damage. How do these enzymes achieve exquisite specificity without specific sequence recognition or, in some cases, without a non-canonical DNA nucleotide? Combined structural, biochemical, and biological analyses of repair nucleases are revealing their molecular tools for damage verification and safeguarding against inadvertent incision. Surprisingly, these enzymes also often act on RNA, which deserves more attention. Here, we review protein-DNA structures for nucleases involved in replication, base excision repair, mismatch repair, double strand break repair (DSBR), and telomere maintenance: apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1), Endonuclease IV (Nfo), tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase (TDP2), UV Damage endonuclease (UVDE), very short patch repair endonuclease (Vsr), Endonuclease V (Nfi), Flap endonuclease 1 (FEN1), exonuclease 1 (Exo1), RNase T and Meiotic recombination 11 (Mre11). DNA and RNA structure-sensing nucleases are essential to life with roles in DNA replication, repair, and transcription. Increasingly these enzymes are employed as advanced tools for synthetic biology and as targets for cancer prognosis and interventions. Currently their structural biology is most fully illuminated for DNA repair, which is also essential to life. How DNA repair enzymes maintain genome fidelity is one of the DNA double helix secrets missed by James Watson and Francis Crick, that is only now being illuminated though structural biology and mutational analyses. Structures reveal motifs for repair nucleases and mechanisms whereby these enzymes follow the old carpenter adage: measure twice, cut once. Furthermore, to measure

The effect of double-row fixation on initial repair strength in rotator cuff repair: a biomechanical study.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Steven W; Meier, Jeffrey D

2006-11-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the initial mechanical strength of 3 rotator cuff repair techniques. A total of 30 fresh-frozen cadaveric shoulders were prepared, and full-thickness supraspinatus tears were created. Specimens were randomized and placed into 3 groups: (1) transosseous suture technique (group I: TOS, n = 10, 6F/4M), (2) single-row suture anchor fixation (group II: SRSA, n = 10, 6F/4M), and (3) double-row suture anchor fixation (group III: DRSA, n = 10, 6F/4M). Each specimen underwent cyclic load testing from 5 N to 180 N at a rate of 33 mm/sec. The test was stopped when complete failure (repair site gap of 10 mm) or a total of 5,000 cycles was attained. Group I (TOS) failed at an average of 75.3 +/- 22.49 cycles, and group II (SRSA) at an average of 798.3 +/- 73.28 cycles; group III (DRSA) had no failures because all samples were stopped when 5,000 cycles had been completed. Fixation strength of the DRSA technique proved to be significantly greater than that of SRSA (P row suture anchor fixation was significantly stronger than was single-row repair. Therefore, double-row fixation may be superior to other techniques in that it provides a substantially stronger repair that could lead to improved biologic healing. A high incidence of incomplete healing occurs in rotator cuff repair. Use of double-row fixation may help the clinician to address some deficiencies in current methods by increasing the strength of the repair, potentially leading to improved healing rates.

Sports hernia repair with adductor tenotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Harr, J N; Brody, F

2017-02-01

Sports hernias, or athletic pubalgia, is common in athletes, and primarily involves injury to the fascia, muscles, and tendons of the inguinal region near their insertion onto the pubic bone. However, management varies widely, and rectus and adductor tenotomies have not been adequately described. The purpose of this manuscript is to demonstrate a suture repair and a rectus and adductor longus tenotomy technique for sports hernias. After magnetic-resonance-imaging confirmation of sports hernias with rectus and adductor tendonitis, 22 patients underwent a suture herniorrhaphy with adductor tenotomy. The procedure is performed through a 4-cm incision, and a fascial release of the rectus abdominis and adductor tenotomy is performed to relieve the opposing vector forces on the pubic bone. All 22 patients returned to their respective sports and regained their ability to perform at a high level, including professional status. No further surgery was required. In athletes with MRI confirmation of rectus and adductor longus injuries, tenotomies along with a herniorraphy may improve outcomes. A suture repair to reinforce the inguinal floor prevents mesh-related complications, especially in young athletes.

Influence of interface and strain hardening cementitious composite (SHCC) properties on the performance of concrete repairs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lukovic, M.

2016-01-01

In the construction industry the demand for repair and maintenance of concrete structures constantly increases. Still, the performance of current concrete repairs is not satisfactory and there is an urgent need for improvement. Understanding the damage development in a repair system, and how to

Brain aneurysm repair

Science.gov (United States)

... aneurysm repair; Dissecting aneurysm repair; Endovascular aneurysm repair - brain; Subarachnoid hemorrhage - aneurysm ... Your scalp, skull, and the coverings of the brain are opened. A metal clip is placed at ...

Rapid road repair vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Mara, Leo M.

1998-01-01

Disclosed is a rapid road repair vehicle capable of moving over a surface to be repaired at near normal posted traffic speeds to scan for and find an the high rate of speed, imperfections in the pavement surface, prepare the surface imperfection for repair by air pressure and vacuum cleaning, applying a correct amount of the correct patching material to effect the repair, smooth the resulting repaired surface, and catalog the location and quality of the repairs for maintenance records of the road surface. The rapid road repair vehicle can repair surface imperfections at lower cost, improved quality, at a higher rate of speed than was was heretofor possible, with significantly reduced exposure to safety and health hazards associated with this kind of road repair activities in the past.

Surveys of current status in biomedical science grant review: funding organisations' and grant reviewers' perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schroter, Sara; Groves, Trish; Højgaard, Liselotte

2010-01-01

The objectives of this research were (a) to describe the current status of grant review for biomedical projects and programmes from the perspectives of international funding organisations and grant reviewers, and (b) to explore funders' interest in developing uniform requirements for grant review...

Current Status of the LOFAR EoR Key Science Project

Science.gov (United States)

Koopmans, L. V. E.; LOFAR EoR KSP Team

2018-05-01

A short status update on the LOFAR Epoch of Reionization (EoR) Key Science Project (KSP) is given, regarding data acquisition, data processing and analysis, and current power-spectrum limits on the redshifted 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen at redshifts z = 8 - 10. With caution, we present a preliminary astrophysical analysis of ~60 hr of processed LOFAR data and their resulting power spectrum, showing that potentially already interesting limits on X-ray heating during the Cosmic Dawn can already be gained. This is by no means the final analysis of this sub-set of data, but illustrates the future potential when all nearly 3000 hr of data in hand on two EoR windows will have been processed.

A commentary on the current status and the future role of the European accident code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butland, A.T.D.

1990-01-01

This paper describes the history of the project to produce the European Accident code (EAC), leading to the planned release of a version of EAC-2 at the end of 1989. The requirements of a computer code to model the initiation phase of Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accidents (HCDAs) are discussed, paying particular attention to the lessons learnt in the CABRI project. The current status and content of the EAC-2 code are examined in relation to these requirements, noting how the sophisticated modelling plans for EAC-2 make it a benchmark code. The validation status of EAC-2 and future plans are discussed, noting that currently it consists solely of stand-alone validation of the modules used in EAC-2, rather than validation of the combined code. The future role of EAC-2 is briefly discussed in relation to the fast reactor plans in the EEC countries. (author)

Optimizing pressurized contact area in rotator cuff repair: the diamondback repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Burkhart, Stephen S; Denard, Patrick J; Obopilwe, Elifho; Mazzocca, Augustus D

2012-02-01

The purpose of this study was to compare tendon-bone footprint contact area over time under physiologic loads for 4 different rotator cuff repair techniques: single row (SR), triangle double row (DR), chain-link double row (CL), and diamondback double row (DBK). A supraspinatus tear was created in 28 human cadavers. Tears were fixed with 1 of 4 constructs: SR, DR, CL, or DBK. Immediate post-repair measurements of pressurized contact area were taken in neutral rotation and 0° of abduction. After a static tensile load, pressurized contact area was observed over a 160-minute period after repair. Cyclic loading was then performed. The DBK repair had the highest pressurized contact area initially, as well as the highest pressurized contact area and lowest percentage decrease in pressurized contact area after 160 minutes of testing. The DBK repair had significantly larger initial pressurized contact than CL (P = .003) and SR (P = .004) but not DR (P = .06). The DBK technique was the only technique that produced a pressurized contact area that exceeded the native footprint both at initial repair (P = .01) and after 160 minutes of testing (P = .01). DBK had a significantly larger mean pressurized contact area than all the repairs after 160 minutes of testing (P = .01). DBK had a significantly larger post-cyclic loading pressurized contact area than CL (P = .01) and SR (P = .004) but not DR (P = .07). This study showed that a diamondback repair (a modification of the transosseous repair) can significantly increase the rotator cuff pressurized contact area in comparison with other standard rotator cuff repair constructs when there is sufficient tendon mobility to perform a double-row repair without excessive tension on the repair site. The persistent pressurized contact area of a DBK repair may be desirable to enhance healing potential when there is sufficient tendon mobility to perform a double-row repair, particularly for large or massive rotator cuff tears where it is

Inguinal hernia repair in the Amsterdam region 1994-1996.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoots, I G; van Dijkman, B; Butzelaar, R M; van Geldere, D; Simons, M P

2001-03-01

In the Netherlands, approximately 30,000 inguinal hernia repairs are performed yearly. At least 15% are for recurrence. New procedures are being introduced creating discussion on which technique is the best. Currently it is not possible to choose on evidence alone because of the long follow-up that is needed. In 1996 an inventory was taken of all inguinal hernia repairs that were performed in the Amsterdam region (9 hospitals). These results were compared with the results from a similar study performed in 1994. Major changes in treatment strategy were noted. The Bassini repair was replaced by Shouldice and Lichtenstein techniques. There was a significant increase in the use of prostheses for both primary and recurrent inguinal hernias. There was no significant decrease in the percentage of operations performed for recurrent hernia from 19.5% to 16.8%. However, there was a significant decrease in operations performed for early recurrences (5.1%-3.4%) (p = 0.05). These results suggest that the Shouldice and Lichtenstein repairs may be superior to the Bassini repair in terms of early hernia recurrence.

Current status of RTO development and its implications for Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDougall, M.

2002-01-01

This presentation includes a corporate review of Powerex, a review of Order 2000, and the current status of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) efforts regarding Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs). Other topics of discussion include FERC's standard market design, an update of RTO West and implications for Canada. Powerex was incorporated in 1988 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of BC Hydro. British Columbia-based Powerex's heaviest trading is along the western-most states and Alberta, but it is slowly expanding into central and eastern markets. It evolved by selling and buying power at the United States Border. It received US FERC power marketing authorization in 1997 and has since seen sales jump from C$165 million to C$5.4 billion. Currently, the majority of power supply is from utilities other than BC Hydro. The presentation addresses issues such as the Federal Power Act, PUHCA and PURPA, and the 1992 Energy Policy Act which deals with expanded access to the power grid. Power Pool restructuring and FERC orders 888/889 are also discussed. 2 figs

Current status of RTO development and its implications for Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MacDougall, M. [Powerex Corp., Vancouver, BC (Canada)

2002-07-01

This presentation includes a corporate review of Powerex, a review of Order 2000, and the current status of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) efforts regarding Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs). Other topics of discussion include FERC's standard market design, an update of RTO West and implications for Canada. Powerex was incorporated in 1988 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of BC Hydro. British Columbia-based Powerex's heaviest trading is along the western-most states and Alberta, but it is slowly expanding into central and eastern markets. It evolved by selling and buying power at the United States Border. It received US FERC power marketing authorization in 1997 and has since seen sales jump from C$165 million to C$5.4 billion. Currently, the majority of power supply is from utilities other than BC Hydro. The presentation addresses issues such as the Federal Power Act, PUHCA and PURPA, and the 1992 Energy Policy Act which deals with expanded access to the power grid. Power Pool restructuring and FERC orders 888/889 are also discussed. 2 figs.

Current status of surrogacy in Japan and uterine transplantation research.

Science.gov (United States)

Kisu, Iori; Banno, Kouji; Mihara, Makoto; Iida, Takuya; Yoshimura, Yasunori

2011-10-01

Recent advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART) have made it possible to circumvent many causes of male and female infertility. The right to have a child by ART has been respected for infertile couples. However, there are currently no legal regulations concerning ART in Japan, and this has resulted in social and ethical problems. Surrogacy involves particularly complex medical, ethical, social, and legal issues, and is frequently focused on as a major social concern. Uterine transplantation (UTx) is a potential alternative for young women with uterine factor infertility due to hysterectomy for treatment of a malignant uterine tumor or massive blood loss after delivery, or because of a congenital disease such as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster syndrome. UTx has been examined in experimental animals as a basis for establishment of fecundity for young women with uterine factor infertility. In this review, we focus on surrogacy in Japan and UTx research, and discuss the current status and concerns in this field. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Role of DNA mismatch repair and p53 in signaling induction of apoptosis by alkylating agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Hickman, M J; Samson, L D

1999-09-14

All cells are unavoidably exposed to chemicals that can alkylate DNA to form genotoxic damage. Among the various DNA lesions formed, O(6)-alkylguanine lesions can be highly cytotoxic, and we recently demonstrated that O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)MeG) and O(6)-chloroethylguanine (O(6)CEG) specifically initiate apoptosis in hamster cells. Here we show, in both hamster and human cells, that the MutSalpha branch of the DNA mismatch repair pathway (but not the MutSbeta branch) is absolutely required for signaling the initiation of apoptosis in response to O(6)MeGs and is partially required for signaling apoptosis in response to O(6)CEGs. Further, O(6)MeG lesions signal the stabilization of the p53 tumor suppressor, and such signaling is also MutSalpha-dependent. Despite this, MutSalpha-dependent apoptosis can be executed in a p53-independent manner. DNA mismatch repair status did not influence the response of cells to other inducers of p53 and apoptosis. Thus, it appears that mismatch repair status, rather than p53 status, is a strong indicator of the susceptibility of cells to alkylation-induced apoptosis. This experimental system will allow dissection of the signal transduction events that couple a specific type of DNA base lesion with the final outcome of apoptotic cell death.

Single versus double-row repair of the rotator cuff: does double-row repair with improved anatomical and biomechanical characteristics lead to better clinical outcome?

Science.gov (United States)

Pauly, Stephan; Gerhardt, Christian; Chen, Jianhai; Scheibel, Markus

2010-12-01

Several techniques for arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff defects have been introduced over the past years. Besides established techniques such as single-row repairs, new techniques such as double-row reconstructions have gained increasing interest. The present article therefore provides an overview of the currently available literature on both repair techniques with respect to several anatomical, biomechanical, clinical and structural endpoints. Systematic literature review of biomechanical, clinical and radiographic studies investigating or comparing single- and double-row techniques. These results were evaluated and compared to provide an overview on benefits and drawbacks of the respective repair type. Reconstructions of the tendon-to-bone unit for full-thickness tears in either single- or double-row technique differ with respect to several endpoints. Double-row repair techniques provide more anatomical reconstructions of the footprint and superior initial biomechanical characteristics when compared to single-row repair. With regard to clinical results, no significant differences were found while radiological data suggest a better structural tendon integrity following double-row fixation. Presently published clinical studies cannot emphasize a clearly superior technique at this time. Available biomechanical studies are in favour of double-row repair. Radiographic studies suggest a beneficial effect of double-row reconstruction on structural integrity of the reattached tendon or reduced recurrent defect rates, respectively.

Microbiological risk factors in dentistry. Current status of knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Szymańska, Jolanta

2005-01-01

Dentists belong to a professional group potentially exposed to harmful biological factors which most often are infectious microorganisms, less frequently - allergenic or toxic microorganisms. The fundamental routes of spreading harmful microorganisms in a dental surgery are: blood-borne, saliva-droplet, direct contact with a patient and with infected equipment, and water-droplet infections. In this paper, the current status of knowledge on microbiological hazards in a dentist's work is presented. Groups of microorganisms, such as prions, viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa, to which a dentist is, or may be exposed, are discussed. Epidemiological assessment of microbiological hazards in a dentist's work was performed and the basic principles of prevention formulated. Special attention was given to microflora in dental unit waterlines, and the biofilm persisting in them, as a source of occupational hazards specific for a dentist's workplace.

Current status of high energy nucleon-meson transport code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takada, Hiroshi; Sasa, Toshinobu [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

1998-03-01

Current status of design code of accelerator (NMTC/JAERI code), outline of physical model and evaluation of accuracy of code were reported. To evaluate the nuclear performance of accelerator and strong spallation neutron origin, the nuclear reaction between high energy proton and target nuclide and behaviors of various produced particles are necessary. The nuclear design of spallation neutron system used a calculation code system connected the high energy nucleon{center_dot}meson transport code and the neutron{center_dot}photon transport code. NMTC/JAERI is described by the particle evaporation process under consideration of competition reaction of intranuclear cascade and fission process. Particle transport calculation was carried out for proton, neutron, {pi}- and {mu}-meson. To verify and improve accuracy of high energy nucleon-meson transport code, data of spallation and spallation neutron fragment by the integral experiment were collected. (S.Y.)

Current status of spent fuel management in the Republic of Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, D.K.; You, G.S.; Ro, S.G.; Park, H.S.

1999-01-01

Due to the lack of indigenous energy sources in Korea, the government selected nuclear energy as one of the major sources of electricity generation. According to the Korean government programme of a nuclear power development, currently, 14 nuclear power plants (NPPs) are in operation and 4 NPPs are under construction. In addition, further 10 NPPs are planned to be in operation by the year 2015. The large amount of spent fuel discharged from the nuclear power plants is accumulated in at-reactor (AR) storage pools. Due to the limited capacity of these AR storage pools, the safe and economic management of spent fuel is to be resolved. The spent fuel management strategy in Korea, basically depends on the interim storage in wet and dry storage facilities, including expansion of storage capacity. This paper describes the current status and plans of the spent fuel management in Korea. (author)

A study on current status of KAERI's international cooperation programs and strategies for effective implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyoung Pyo; Park, Chun Kab; Noh, In Young; Kim, Young Min

1998-12-01

This is a report on the status and analysis of standard agreement for technical cooperation, expert mission service and technical staff attachment. This report comprises a total of six chapters. Chapter II discusses the status of the technical cooperation agreement which took effect late 1998, and various other model agreements for technical cooperation. Chapter III provides information on the status, regulations, procedures for the expert mission service, and Chapter IV details the current status of the technical staff attachment and the related procedures. Chapter V deals with the utilization status and analysis of the English Counselor, and Chapter VI is the Conclusion. This report has tow objectives. First, we have never published reference books related to standard agreement for technical cooperation, expert mission service and technical staff attachment necessary for international joint research until now. As a result, the research divisions have often asked many questions to the office of international cooperation. Therefore, we expect that many difficulties will be removed and procedures simplified if the research divisions use this report as a reference book. Second, we plan to use this report reference book for policy decisions after establishing the database. (author). 5 tabs., 9 figs

Review of Defence Plans in Europe: Current Status, Strengths and Opportunities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Boeck, Steven; Van Hertem, Dirk; Das, Kaushik

2016-01-01

interconnected, a contingency in one area can affect the whole power system and possibly lead to a wide area black out. Therefore adequate defence plans need to be designed and in place to handle these situations. This paper starts with an overview of the terminology used in defence plans. Subsequently...... the current status of defence plans in Europe and the preferred sequence of actions to mitigate contingencies, is given based on a survey conducted among several European TSOs. Furthermore his paper gives an overview of how the ongoing changes with renewables, phasor measurement units (PMUs), power flow...

Current status and recent developments of industrial radioisotope applications in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tominaga, Hiroshi

1985-01-01

The current status of application of radioisotopes to industry in Japan is briefly reviewed. Radioisotope gauges are widely used in industry, but most of the radioactive tracer applications are performed in laboratories. as for the recent developments, it is noted that the majority of them are related to high technologies in industry. Some typical examples are described. They include: high accuracy coke moisture guage--dual channel gauging on-line analyzers based on 252 Cf, simultaneous neutron and gamma radiography; tracer techniques in civil engineering field, electronics industry, automobile industry and iron and steel industry.(M.G.B.)

Remotely controlled repair at Douglas Point

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1981-01-01

The Douglas Point nuclear generating station, completed in 1966, was Canada's first venture in commercial nuclear power. The discovery, 11 years later, of two perforations in auxiliary piping in a high radiation area led Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd and Ontario Hydro to develop new approaches to remotely controlled repair that will have much wider applications. Eddy current and ultrasonic testing were used to determine the pattern and extent of wear in a pipe encircled by a U-bolt, without first removing the U-bolt. Progress was monitored using remote TV cameras. Welding tools were designed and fabricated for the repairs, and a manipulator was also designed to transport the tool into its place of work. (author)

Current Status of TRR-1/M1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sittichai, Chaiyut

2000-01-01

In 1961, the first Thai Research Reactor, TRR-1, having power of 1 MW was established. It was located at Office of Atomic Energy for Peace (OAEP) in Bangkok. TRR-1 was completely commissioned in June 1962. Plate typed high-enriched uranium (HEU) and U 3 O 8 -Al were used as fuel. Light water used as moderator and coolant. During 1975-1977, TRR-1 was shut down for modification. The reactor core and control system were disassembled and replaced by TRIGA Mark III. It is a circular hexagonal core typed reactor designed by General Atomics Company (GA). Afterwards, TRR-1 was officially renamed to Thai Research Reactor 1/Modification 1 (TRR-1/M1). TRR-1/M1 is a multipurpose reactor with nominal power of 2 MW. This swimming pool typed reactor uses low-enriched uranium (LEU) as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator. To date, the reactor has been operated with core No.12 that released power 1135 MWD to serve the user. The reactor has been serving for various kinds of utilization, for example, to produce radioisotope, neutron beam experiments and reactor physics experiments. This report explains in detail regarding operational experience and current status of this reactor, for example, reactor operation and reactor utilization. (author)

Prevalence of Jones Fracture Repair and Impact on Short-Term NFL Participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Leigh-Anne; Knapik, Derrick M; Sheehan, Joseph; Salata, Michael J; Voos, James E

2018-01-01

Elite American football athletes are at high risk for Jones fractures. Fixation is recommended to minimize nonunion and allow early return to play. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the prevalence of Jones fracture repair in athletes invited to the National Football League (NFL) Combine and the impact of fracture repair on short-term NFL participation compared to athletes with no history of repair. A total of 1311 athletes participating in the Combine from 2012 to 2015 were evaluated. Athletes with history of Jones fracture repair were identified. Athlete demographic information was collected while physical examination findings were recorded. Radiographs were evaluated to determine fixation type and the presence of nonunion. Future participation in the NFL was evaluated based on draft status, games played, and games started in the athlete's first season following the Combine. Fixation was performed for 41 Jones fractures in 40 athletes (3.1%). The highest prevalence was in defensive linemen (n = 10 athletes), with the greatest rate in tight ends (5.1%, n = 4 of 79 athletes). Intramedullary screw fixation was used for all fractures. Incomplete bony union was present in 3 (8%) fractures. Athletes with a history of repair were not at significant risk for going undrafted ( P = .61), playing ( P = .23), or starting ( P = .76) fewer NFL games compared to athletes with no history of repair during athletes' first NFL season. Athletes with a history of Jones fracture repair were not at significant risk of going undrafted or for diminished participation during their first season in the NFL. Level IV, case series.

Primary repair of colon injuries: clinical study of nonselective approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krivokapic Zoran V

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This study was designed to determine the role of primary repair and to investigate the possibility of expanding indications for primary repair of colon injuries using nonselective approach. Methods Two groups of patients were analyzed. Retrospective (RS group included 30 patients managed by primary repair or two stage surgical procedure according to criteria published by Stone (S/F and Flint (Fl. In this group 18 patients were managed by primary repair. Prospective (PR group included 33 patients with primary repair as a first choice procedure. In this group, primary repair was performed in 30 cases. Results Groups were comparable regarding age, sex, and indexes of trauma severity. Time between injury and surgery was shorter in PR group, (1.3 vs. 3.1 hours. Stab wounds were more frequent in PR group (9:2, and iatrogenic lesions in RS group (6:2. Associated injuries were similar, as well as segmental distribution of colon injuries. S/F criteria and Flint grading were similar. In RS group 15 primary repairs were successful, while in two cases relaparotomy and colostomy was performed due to anastomotic leakage. One patient died. In PR group, 25 primary repairs were successful, with 2 immediate and 3 postoperative (7-10 days deaths, with no evidence of anastomotic leakage. Conclusions Results of this study justify more liberal use of primary repair in early management of colon injuries. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN94682396

Current status of theranostics in prostate cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Virgolini, Irene; Decristoforo, Clemens; Uprimny, Christian [Medical University of Innsbruck, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Innsbruck (Austria); Haug, Alexander [Medical University of Vienna, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Vienna (Austria); Fanti, Stefano [University of Bologna, S. Orsola Hospital Bologna, Nuclear Medicine Unit, Bologna (Italy)

2018-03-15

The aim of this review is to report on the current status of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-directed theranostics in prostate cancer (PC) patients. The value of {sup 68}Ga-PSMA-directed PET imaging as a diagnostic procedure for primary and recurrent PC as well as the role of evolving PSMA radioligand therapy (PRLT) in castration-resistant (CR)PC is assessed. The most eminent data from mostly retrospective studies currently available on theranostics of prostate cancer are discussed. The current knowledge on {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET/CT implicates that primary staging with PET/CT is meaningful in patients with high-risk PC and that the combination with pelvic multi parametric (mp)MR (or PET/mpMR) reaches the highest impact on patient management. There may be a place for {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET/CT in intermediate-risk PC patients as well, however, only a few data are available at the moment. In secondary staging for local recurrence, {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET/mpMR is superior to PET/CT, whereas for distant recurrence, PET/CT has equivalent results and is faster and cheaper compared to PET/mpMR. {sup 68}Ga-PSMA PET/CT is superior to {sup 18}F / {sup 11}Choline PET/CT in primary staging as well as in secondary staging. In patients with biochemical relapse, PET/CT positivity is directly associated with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) increase and amounts to roughly 50% when PSA is raised to ≤0.5 ng/ml and to ≥90% above 1 ng/ml. Significant clinical results have so far been achieved with the subsequent use of radiolabeled PSMA ligands in the treatment of CRPC. Accumulated activities of 30 to 50 GBq of {sup 177}Lu-PSMA ligands seem to be clinically safe with biochemical response and PERCIST/RECIST response in around 75% of patients along with xerostomia in 5-10% of patients as the only notable side effect. On the basis of the current literature, we conclude that PSMA-directed theranostics do have a major clinical impact in diagnosis and therapy of PC patients. We recommend

Current Status of Nephron-Sparing Surgery (NSS) in the Management of Renal Tumours.

Science.gov (United States)

Venkatramani, Vivek; Swain, Sanjaya; Satyanarayana, Ramgopal; Parekh, Dipen J

2017-06-01

Nephron-sparing surgery has emerged as the surgical treatment of choice for small renal masses over the past two decades, replacing the traditional teaching of radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. With time, there has been an evolution in the techniques and indications for partial nephrectomy. This review summarizes the current status of nephron-sparing surgery for renal carcinoma and also deals with the future of this procedure.

Current status and directions for fast reactor reprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burch, W.D.

1983-01-01

The development of fast breeder reactors (FBRs) for commercial electric power production has been under way in several countries for more than 20 years. In the United States (US), as elsewhere, early work was focused on small reactors to prove the feasibility of concepts and later was followed by larger reactors to test engineering features and to develop fuel technology. Because of the perceived crisis in electrical generation expected late in this century, major efforts (including fuel cycle activities) were developed in the early 1970s to ensure the capability of developing and using this new form of nuclear power. However, because of the effects of the oil price rise and subsequent emphasis on conservation, and a slowdown of industrial growth, there has been a decline in such activities, particularly in the US, which was at one time (1970s) the world leader in reactor development. This paper provides a brief history of breeder reprocessing and describes the current status, with emphasis on US programs and glimpses into the future

Gastric Cancer: Current Status of Diagnosis and Treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Tsunehiro; Saikawa, Yoshiro; Kitagawa, Yuko

2013-01-01

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of death from malignant disease worldwide and most frequently discovered in advanced stages. Because curative surgery is regarded as the only option for cure, early detection of resectable gastric cancer is extremely important for good patient outcomes. Therefore, noninvasive diagnostic modalities such as evolutionary endoscopy and positron emission tomography are utilized as screening tools for gastric cancer. To date, early gastric cancer is being treated using minimally invasive methods such as endoscopic treatment and laparoscopic surgery, while in advanced cancer it is necessary to consider multimodality treatment including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. Because of the results of large clinical trials, surgery with extended lymphadenectomy could not be recommended as a standard therapy for advanced gastric cancer. Recent clinical trials had shown survival benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy after curative resection compared with surgery alone. In addition, recent advances of molecular targeted agents would play an important role as one of the modalities for advanced gastric cancer. In this review, we summarize the current status of diagnostic technology and treatment for gastric cancer

Veterinary pharmacology: history, current status and future prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Lees, P; Fink-Gremmels, J; Toutain, P L

2013-04-01

Veterinary therapeutics, based on the art of Materia Medica, has been practised for countless centuries, but the science of veterinary pharmacology is of very recent origin. This review traces the contribution of Materia Medica to veterinary therapeutics from the Egyptian period through to the Age of Enlightenment. The first tentative steps in the development of the science of veterinary pharmacology were taken in the 18th century, but it was not until the mid 20th century that the science replaced the art of Materia Medica. This review traces the 20th century developments in veterinary pharmacology, with emphasis on the explosion of knowledge in the 35 year period to 2010. The range of factors which have influenced the current status of the discipline are reviewed. Future developments are considered from the perspectives of what might be regarded as desirable and those innovations that might be anticipated. We end with words of encouragement for young colleagues intent upon pursuing a career in veterinary pharmacology. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Collagen Cross-Linking: Current Status and Future Directions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marine Hovakimyan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Collagen cross-linking (CXL using UVA light and riboflavin (vitamin B2 was introduced as a clinical application to stabilize the cornea by inducing cross-links within and between collagen fibers. CXL has been investigated extensively and has been shown clinically to arrest the progression of keratoconic or post-LASIK ectasia. With its minimal cost, simplicity, and proven positive clinical outcome, CXL can be regarded as a useful approach to reduce the number of penetrating keratoplasties performed. Small case series have also indicated that CXL is beneficial in corneal edema by reducing stromal swelling behavior and in keratitis by inhibiting pathogen growth. Despite these encouraging results, CXL remains a relatively new method that is potentially associated with complications. Aspects such as side effects and recurrence rates have still to be elucidated. In light of the growing interest in CXL, our paper summarizes present knowledge about this promising approach. We have intentionally endeavored to include the more relevant studies from the recent literature to provide an overview of the current status of CXL.

Lead exposure in radiator repair workers: a survey of Washington State radiator repair shops and review of occupational lead exposure registry data.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittaker, Stephen G

2003-07-01

Radiator repair workers in Washington State have the greatest number of very elevated (> or =60 microg/dL) blood lead levels of any other worker population. The goals of this study were to determine the number of radiator repair workers potentially exposed to lead; estimate the extent of blood lead data underreporting to the Occupational Lead Exposure Registry; describe current safety and health practices in radiator repair shops; and determine appropriate intervention strategies to reduce exposure and increase employer and worker awareness. Lead exposure in Washington State's radiator repair workers was assessed by reviewing Registry data and conducting a statewide survey of radiator repair businesses. This study revealed that a total of 226 workers in Washington State (including owner-operators and all employees) conduct repair activities that could potentially result in excessive exposures to lead. Approximately 26% of radiator repair workers with elevated blood lead levels (> or =25 microg/dL) were determined to report to Washington State's Registry. This study also revealed a lack of awareness of lead's health effects, appropriate industrial hygiene controls, and the requirements of the Lead Standard. Survey respondents requested information on a variety of workplace health and safety issues and waste management; 80% requested a confidential, free-of-charge consultation. Combining data derived from an occupational health surveillance system and a statewide mail survey proved effective at characterizing lead exposures and directing public health intervention in Washington State.

The potential of neural transplantation for brain repair and regeneration following traumatic brain injury

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Dong Sun

2016-01-01

Traumatic brain injury is a major health problem worldwide. Currently, there is no effective treatment to improve neural structural repair and functional recovery of patients in the clinic. Cell transplantation is a potential strategy to repair and regenerate the injured brain. This review article summarized recent de-velopment in cell transplantation studies for post-traumatic brain injury brain repair with varying types of cell sources. It also discussed the potential of neural transplantation to repair/promote recovery of the injured brain following traumatic brain injury.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia: current status and future recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Efrati, Shai; Deutsch, Israel; Antonelli, Massimo; Hockey, Peter M; Rozenblum, Ronen; Gurman, Gabriel M

2010-04-01

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common hazardous complication in ICU patients. The aim of the current review is to give an update on the current status and future recommendations for VAP prevention. This article gives an updated review of the current literature on VAP. The first part briefly reviews pathogenesis and epidemiology while the second includes an in-depth review of evidence-based practice guidelines (EBPG) and new technologies developed for prevention of VAP. VAP remains a frequent and costly complication of critical illness with a pooled relative risk of 9-27% and mortality of 25-50%. Strikingly, VAP adds an estimated cost of more than $40,000 to a typical hospital admission. An important aetiological mechanism of VAP is gross or micro-aspiration of oropharyngeal organisms around the cuff of the endotracheal tube (ETT) into the distal bronchi. Prevention of VAP is preferable. Preventative measures can be divided into two main groups: the implemen- tation of EBPGs and use of device-based technologies. EBPGs have been authored jointly by the American Thoracic Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The Canadian Critical Care Trials group also published VAP Guidelines in 2008. Their recommendations are detailed in this review. The current device-based technologies include drainage of subglottic secretions, silver coated ETTs aiming to influence the internal bio-layer of the ETT, better sealing of the lower airways with ultrathin cuffs and loops for optimal cuff pressure control. EBPG consensus includes: elevation of the head of the bed, use of daily "sedation vacations" and decontamination of the oropharynx. Technological solutions should aim to use the most comprehensive combination of subglottic suction of secretions, optimization of ETT cuff pressure and ultrathin cuffs. VAP is a type of hospital-acquired pneumonia that develops more than 48 h after endotracheal intubation. Its incidence is estimated to be 9-27%, with a

Exploration Challenges: Transferring Ground Repair Techniques to Space Flight Application

Science.gov (United States)

McLemore, Carole A.; Kennedy, James P.; Rose, Frederick A.; Evans, Brian W.

2007-01-01

Fulfilling NASA's Vision for Space Exploration will demand an extended presence in space at distances from our home planet that exceed our current experience in space logistics and maintenance. The ability to perform repairs in lieu of the customary Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) process where a faulty part is replaced will be elevated from contingency to routine to sustain operations. The use and cost effectiveness of field repairs for ground based operations in industry and the military have advanced with the development of technology in new materials, new repair techniques and new equipment. The unique environments, accessibility constraints and Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) issues of space operations will require extensive assessment and evolution of these technologies to provide an equivalent and expected level of assurance to mission success. Challenges include the necessity of changes in design philosophy and policy, extremes in thermal cycling, disruptive forces (such as static charge and wind entrainment) on developed methods for control of materials, dramatically increased volatility of chemicals for cleaning and other compounds due to extremely low pressures, the limits imposed on dexterity and maneuverability by current EVA equipment and practices, and the necessity of unique verification methodology. This paper describes these challenges in and discusses the effects on the established ground techniques for repair. The paper also describes the leading repair methodology candidates and their beneficial attributes for resolving these issues with the evolution of technology.

Current data warehousing and OLAP technologies’ status applied to spatial databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Orlando Abril Fradel

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Organisations require their information on a timely, dynamic, friendly, centralised and easy-to-access basis for analysing it and taking correct decisions at the right time. Centralisation can be achieved with data warehouse technology. On-line analytical processing (OLAP is used for analysis. Technologies using graphics and maps in data presentation can be exploited for an overall view of a company and helping to take better decisions. Geo- graphic information systems (GIS are useful for spatially locating information and representing it using maps. Data warehouses are generally implemented with a multidimensional data model to make OLAP analysis easier. A fundamental point in this model is the definition of measurements and dimensions; geography lies within such dimensions. Many researchers have concluded that the geographic dimension is another attribute for describing data in current analysis systems but without having an in-depth study of its spatial feature and without locating them on a map, like GIS does. Seen this way, interoperability is necessary between GIS and OLAP (called spatial OLAP or SOLAP and several entities are currently researching this. This document summarises the current status of such research.

[Current overview of cartilage regeneration procedures].

Science.gov (United States)

Schenker, H; Wild, M; Rath, B; Tingart, M; Driessen, A; Quack, V; Betsch, M

2017-11-01

Cartilage is an avascular, alymphatic and non-innervated tissue with limited intrinsic repair potential. The high prevalence of cartilage defects and their tremendous clinical importance are a challenge for all treating physicians. This article provides the reader with an overview about current cartilage treatment options and their clinical outcome. Microfracture is still considered the gold standard in the treatment of small cartilage lesions. Small osteochondral defects can be effectively treated with the autologous osteochondral transplantation system. Larger cartilage defects are successfully treated by autologous membrane-induced chondrogenesis (AMIC) or by membrane-assisted autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI). Despite limitations of current cartilage repair strategies, such procedures can result in short- and mid-term clinical improvement of the patients. Further developments and clinical studies are necessary to improve the long-term outcome following cartilage repair.

Current status of regional hydrogeological studies and numerical simulations on geological disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakao, Shinsuke; Kikuchi, Tsuneo; Ishido, Tsuneo

2004-01-01

Current status of regional hydrogeological studies on geological disposal including hydrogeological modeling using numerical simulators is reviewed in this report. A regional scale and boundary conditions of numerical models are summarized mainly from the results of the RHS (regional hydrogeological study) project conducted by Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) in the Tono area. We also refer to the current conceptual modes of hydrology and numerical models of unsaturated zone flow at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, which is the arid site proposed for consideration as the United States' first underground high-level radioactive waste repository. Understanding behavior of a freshwater-saltwater transition zone seems to play a key role in the hydrogeological modeling in a coastal region. Technical features of a numerical simulator as a tool for geothermal reservoir modeling is also briefly described. (author)

Deep-well injection of liquid radwaste in Russia - current status and operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, D.J.; Foley, M.G.; Rybal'chenko, A.I.

1995-01-01

This paper is submitted as part of a coordinated effort to present the topic of deep-well injection. The companion paper, open-quotes Deep-Well Injection of Liquid Radwaste in Russia - Background and Technical Basis,close quotes focuses on the original decision to inject liquid radwaste, the research behind that decision, and the design and construction of the injection facilities. The emphasis in this paper is on the current status and operation of the well facilities and the control systems used to minimize environmental impact

Advanced Gas Tungsten Arc Weld Surfacing Current Status and Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan Egerland

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Gas Shielded Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW – a process well-known providing highest quality weld results joined though by lower performance. Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW is frequently chosen to increase productivity along with broadly accepted quality. Those industry segments, especially required to produce high quality corrosion resistant weld surfacing e.g. applying nickel base filler materials, are regularly in consistent demand to comply with "zero defect" criteria. In this conjunction weld performance limitations are overcome employing advanced 'hot-wire' GTAW systems. This paper, from a Welding Automation perspective, describes the technology of such devices and deals with the current status is this field – namely the application of dual-cathode hot-wire electrode GTAW cladding; considerably broadening achievable limits.

DNA repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Zeeland, A.A.

1984-01-01

In this chapter a series of DNA repair pathways are discussed which are available to the cell to cope with the problem of DNA damaged by chemical or physical agents. In the case of microorganisms our knowledge about the precise mechanism of each DNA repair pathway and the regulation of it has been improved considerably when mutants deficient in these repair mechanisms became available. In the case of mammalian cells in culture, until recently there were very little repair deficient mutants available, because in almost all mammalian cells in culture at least the diploid number of chromosomes is present. Therefore the frequency of repair deficient mutants in such populations is very low. Nevertheless because replica plating techniques are improving some mutants from Chinese hamsters ovary cells and L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells are now available. In the case of human cells, cultures obtained from patients with certain genetic diseases are available. A number of cells appear to be sensitive to some chemical or physical mutagens. These include cells from patients suffering from xeroderma pigmentosum, Ataxia telangiectasia, Fanconi's anemia, Cockayne's syndrome. However, only in the case of xeroderma pigmentosum cells, has the sensitivity to ultraviolet light been clearly correlated with a deficiency in excision repair of pyrimidine dimers. Furthermore the work with strains obtained from biopsies from man is difficult because these cells generally have low cloning efficiencies and also have a limited lifespan in vitro. It is therefore very important that more repair deficient mutants will become available from established cell lines from human or animal origin

Perioperative Serum Lipid Status and Statin Use Affect the Revision Surgery Rate After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Cancienne, Jourdan M; Brockmeier, Stephen F; Rodeo, Scott A; Werner, Brian C

2017-11-01

Recent animal studies have demonstrated that hyperlipidemia is associated with poor tendon-bone healing after rotator cuff repair; however, these findings have not been substantiated in human studies. To examine any association between hyperlipidemia and the failure of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair requiring revision surgery and to investigate whether the use of statin lipid-lowering agents had any influence on observed associations. Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. From a national insurance database, patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with perioperative lipid levels (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein [LDL], and triglycerides) recorded were reviewed. For each lipid test, patients were stratified into normal, moderate, and high groups based on published standards. For the total cholesterol and LDL cohorts, a subgroup analysis of patients stratified by statin use was performed. The primary outcome measure was ipsilateral revision rotator cuff surgery, including revision repair or debridement. A logistic regression analysis controlling for patient demographics and comorbidities was utilized for comparison. There were 30,638 patients included in the study. The rate of revision rotator cuff surgery was significantly increased in patients with moderate (odds ratio [OR], 1.20; 95% CI, 1.03-1.40; P = .022) and high total cholesterol levels (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.10-1.55; P = .006) compared with patients with normal total cholesterol levels perioperatively. Within each of these groups, patients without statin use had significantly higher rates of revision surgery, while those with statin prescriptions did not. The absolute risk reduction for statin use ranged from 0.24% to 1.87% when stratified by the total cholesterol level, yielding a number needed to treat from 54 to 408 patients. The rate of revision surgery was significantly increased in patients with moderate (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.10-1.41; P = .001) and high LDL levels (OR, 1.46; 95

Machine Repairers and Operators. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

Focusing on machine repairers and operators, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include appliance repairers,…

Engineered Heart Repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujita, B; Zimmermann, W-H

2017-08-01

There is a pressing need for the development of advanced heart failure therapeutics. Current state-of-the-art is protection from neurohumoral overstimulation, which fails to address the underlying cause of heart failure, namely loss of cardiomyocytes. Implantation of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes via tissue-engineered myocardium is being advanced to realize the remuscularization of the failing heart. Here, we discuss pharmacological challenges pertaining to the clinical translation of tissue-engineered heart repair with a focus on engineered heart muscle (EHM). © 2017 American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Current status of the reactor physics code WIMS and recent developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindley, B.A.; Hosking, J.G.; Smith, P.J.; Powney, D.J.; Tollit, B.S.; Newton, T.D.; Perry, R.; Ware, T.C.; Smith, P.N.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The current status of the WIMS reactor physics code is presented. • Applications range from 2D lattice calculations up to 3D whole core geometries. • Gamma transport and thermal-hydraulic feedback models added. • Calculations methodologies described for several Gen II, III and IV reactor types. - Abstract: The WIMS modular reactor physics code has been under continuous development for over fifty years. This paper discusses the current status of WIMS and recent developments, in particular developments to the resonance shielding methodology and 3D transport solvers. Traditionally, WIMS is used to perform 2D lattice calculations, typically to generate homogenized reactor physics parameters for a whole core code such as PANTHER. However, with increasing computational resources there has been a growing trend for performing transport calculations on larger problems, up to and including 3D full core models. To this end, a number of the WIMS modules have been parallelised to allow efficient performance for whole core calculations, and WIMS includes a 3D method of characteristics solver with reflective and once-through tracking methods, which can be used to analyse problems of varying size and complexity. A time-dependent flux solver has been incorporated and thermal-hydraulic modelling capability is also being added to allow steady-state and transient coupled calculations to be performed. WIMS has been validated against a range of experimental data and other codes, in particular for water and graphite moderated thermal reactors. Future developments will include improved parallelization, enhancing the thermal-hydraulic feedback models and validating the WIMS/PANTHER code system for BWRs and fast reactors.

Evaluation and Management of Hepatic Encephalopathy: Current Status and Future Directions

Science.gov (United States)

Suraweera, Duminda; Sundaram, Vinay; Saab, Sammy

2016-01-01

Hepatic encephalopathy is a spectrum of neurocognitive manifestations often seen in patients with liver injury or rarely in patients with portosystemic shunting without liver injury. It can be divided into minimal (covert) hepatic encephalopathy and overt hepatic encephalopathy, depending on the severity. Patients with hepatic encephalopathy have compromised clinical outcomes, decreased quality of life, and increased healthcare utilization, often resulting in a heavy financial and personal burden on caregivers. The diagnosis remains largely clinical, with the exclusion of possible other causes for the altered mental status. Current treatment strategies include nonabsorbable disaccharides and antibiotics. This review will focus on the diagnosis, management and clinical impact of hepatic encephalopathy. PMID:27377741

Emerging memories: resistive switching mechanisms and current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Doo Seok; Thomas, Reji; Katiyar, R S; Scott, J F; Kohlstedt, H; Petraru, A; Hwang, Cheol Seong

2012-01-01

The resistance switching behaviour of several materials has recently attracted considerable attention for its application in non-volatile memory (NVM) devices, popularly described as resistive random access memories (RRAMs). RRAM is a type of NVM that uses a material(s) that changes the resistance when a voltage is applied. Resistive switching phenomena have been observed in many oxides: (i) binary transition metal oxides (TMOs), e.g. TiO 2 , Cr 2 O 3 , FeO x and NiO; (ii) perovskite-type complex TMOs that are variously functional, paraelectric, ferroelectric, multiferroic and magnetic, e.g. (Ba,Sr)TiO 3 , Pb(Zr x Ti 1−x )O 3 , BiFeO 3 and Pr x Ca 1−x MnO 3 ; (iii) large band gap high-k dielectrics, e.g. Al 2 O 3 and Gd 2 O 3 ; (iv) graphene oxides. In the non-oxide category, higher chalcogenides are front runners, e.g. In 2 Se 3 and In 2 Te 3 . Hence, the number of materials showing this technologically interesting behaviour for information storage is enormous. Resistive switching in these materials can form the basis for the next generation of NVM, i.e. RRAM, when current semiconductor memory technology reaches its limit in terms of density. RRAMs may be the high-density and low-cost NVMs of the future. A review on this topic is of importance to focus concentration on the most promising materials to accelerate application into the semiconductor industry. This review is a small effort to realize the ambitious goal of RRAMs. Its basic focus is on resistive switching in various materials with particular emphasis on binary TMOs. It also addresses the current understanding of resistive switching behaviour. Moreover, a brief comparison between RRAMs and memristors is included. The review ends with the current status of RRAMs in terms of stability, scalability and switching speed, which are three important aspects of integration onto semiconductors. (review article)

Emerging memories: resistive switching mechanisms and current status

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Doo Seok; Thomas, Reji; Katiyar, R. S.; Scott, J. F.; Kohlstedt, H.; Petraru, A.; Hwang, Cheol Seong

2012-07-01

The resistance switching behaviour of several materials has recently attracted considerable attention for its application in non-volatile memory (NVM) devices, popularly described as resistive random access memories (RRAMs). RRAM is a type of NVM that uses a material(s) that changes the resistance when a voltage is applied. Resistive switching phenomena have been observed in many oxides: (i) binary transition metal oxides (TMOs), e.g. TiO2, Cr2O3, FeOx and NiO; (ii) perovskite-type complex TMOs that are variously functional, paraelectric, ferroelectric, multiferroic and magnetic, e.g. (Ba,Sr)TiO3, Pb(Zrx Ti1-x)O3, BiFeO3 and PrxCa1-xMnO3 (iii) large band gap high-k dielectrics, e.g. Al2O3 and Gd2O3; (iv) graphene oxides. In the non-oxide category, higher chalcogenides are front runners, e.g. In2Se3 and In2Te3. Hence, the number of materials showing this technologically interesting behaviour for information storage is enormous. Resistive switching in these materials can form the basis for the next generation of NVM, i.e. RRAM, when current semiconductor memory technology reaches its limit in terms of density. RRAMs may be the high-density and low-cost NVMs of the future. A review on this topic is of importance to focus concentration on the most promising materials to accelerate application into the semiconductor industry. This review is a small effort to realize the ambitious goal of RRAMs. Its basic focus is on resistive switching in various materials with particular emphasis on binary TMOs. It also addresses the current understanding of resistive switching behaviour. Moreover, a brief comparison between RRAMs and memristors is included. The review ends with the current status of RRAMs in terms of stability, scalability and switching speed, which are three important aspects of integration onto semiconductors.

Opportunities and Challenges for Repair of Macrovascular Disease using Circulating Blood-Derived Progenitor Cells

OpenAIRE

Loeken, Mary R.

2014-01-01

There are currently few solutions for diabetic vascular disease that involve repair of damaged tissues. The manuscript by Porat, et al., suggests a possible method to use a patient’s own circulating blood cells to provide progenitors to repair damaged vascular tissues.

Emotional or Behavioral Disorders: Background and Current Status of the E/BD Terminology and Definition.

Science.gov (United States)

Forness, Steven R.; Kavale, Kenneth A.

2000-01-01

This article reviews the development and current status of alternatives to the federal definition of emotional disturbance or behavior disorders. It notes that several states are now revising their own terminologies or definitions in response to the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that dropped the term…

The current status of orphan drug development in Europe and the US.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Anthony K; Carlson, Marilyn R

2014-02-01

Orphan drug legislation has been introduced in a number of countries in order to stimulate the development of treatments for rare diseases by introducing commercial incentives for companies wishing to undertake that development. In order to navigate the maze of regulatory regulations and procedures so that companies can make proper use of the orphan drug incentives, specialist knowledge is required. This article will review the current status of orphan drug development in the EU and the US, explain the incentives and procedures, and touch on the role of patient organisations in the process.

A review on current status of municipal solid waste management in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Neha; Yadav, Krishna Kumar; Kumar, Vinit

2015-11-01

Municipal solid waste management is a major environmental issue in India. Due to rapid increase in urbanization, industrialization and population, the generation rate of municipal solid waste in Indian cities and towns is also increased. Mismanagement of municipal solid waste can cause adverse environmental impacts, public health risk and other socio-economic problem. This paper presents an overview of current status of solid waste management in India which can help the competent authorities responsible for municipal solid waste management and researchers to prepare more efficient plans. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Understanding Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Knee Cartilage Repair: A Focus on Clinical Relevance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, Daichi; Li, Xinning; Murakami, Akira M; Roemer, Frank W; Trattnig, Siegfried; Guermazi, Ali

2017-06-01

The aims of this review article are (a) to describe the principles of morphologic and compositional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques relevant for the imaging of knee cartilage repair surgery and their application to longitudinal studies and (b) to illustrate the clinical relevance of pre- and postsurgical MRI with correlation to intraoperative images. First, MRI sequences that can be applied for imaging of cartilage repair tissue in the knee are described, focusing on comparison of 2D and 3D fast spin echo and gradient recalled echo sequences. Imaging features of cartilage repair tissue are then discussed, including conventional (morphologic) MRI and compositional MRI techniques. More specifically, imaging techniques for specific cartilage repair surgery techniques as described above, as well as MRI-based semiquantitative scoring systems for the knee cartilage repair tissue-MR Observation of Cartilage Repair Tissue and Cartilage Repair OA Knee Score-are explained. Then, currently available surgical techniques are reviewed, including marrow stimulation, osteochondral autograft, osteochondral allograft, particulate cartilage allograft, autologous chondrocyte implantation, and others. Finally, ongoing research efforts and future direction of cartilage repair tissue imaging are discussed.

Current Status of Postdoctoral and Graduate Programs in Dentistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Assael, Leon

2017-08-01

Advanced dental education has evolved in the context of societal needs and economic trends to its current status. Graduate programs have positioned their role in the context of health systems and health science education trends in hospitals, interprofessional clinical care teams, and dental schools and oral health care systems. Graduate dental education has been a critical factor in developing teams in trauma care, craniofacial disorders, pediatric and adult medicine, and oncology. The misalignment of the mission of graduate dental programs and the demands of private practice has posed a challenge in the evolution of programs as educational programs have been directed towards tertiary and indigent care while the practice community focuses on largely healthy affluent patients for complex clinical interventions. Those seeking graduate dental education today are smaller in number and include more international dental graduates than in the past. Graduate dental education in general dentistry and in the nine recognized dental specialties now includes Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) recognition of training standards as part of its accreditation process and a CODA accreditation process for areas of clinical education not recognized as specialties by the American Dental Association. Current types of programs include fellowship training for students in recognized specialties. This article was written as part of the project "Advancing Dental Education in the 21 st Century."

Current status of ITER I&C system as integration begins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davis, William, E-mail: william.davis@iter.org [ITER Organisation, Route de Vinon-sur Verdon, CS 90 046, 13067 St. Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France); Wallander, Anders [ITER Organisation, Route de Vinon-sur Verdon, CS 90 046, 13067 St. Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France); Yonekawa, Izuru [Nippon Advanced Technology Ltd., 3129-45 Hibara Muramatsu, Tokai, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1112 (Japan)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • The ITER I&C system is organisationally complicated and technically challenging. • Standard technologies for the ITER I&C systems have been selected. • Supply of non-standard technologies will cause serious issues. • Differing levels of design maturity of plant I&C systems is a serious challenge. • Systems are in the final stages of design and are being delivered to site. - Abstract: The ITER I&C system is organisationally complicated and technically challenging, and integrating its many sub-systems into a single coherent system is critical for the ITER project to meet its objectives. This paper explains the integration risks being faced now and anticipated in the near future. Standardisation initiatives by the ITER central team to mitigate these risks are described. The paper also presents the architecture of the ITER I&C system, the current status of design and manufacture key developments made in recent years, and the current and future activities of the central I&C teams. Finally, a short description is given of the plant I&C systems that will be delivered to ITER in the near future.

Current Status and Research into Overcoming Limitations of Capsule Endoscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Won Gun Kwack

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Endoscopic investigation has a critical role in the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal (GI diseases. Since 2001, capsule endoscopy (CE has been available for small-bowel exploration and is under continuous development. During the past decade, CE has achieved impressive improvements in areas such as miniaturization, resolution, and battery life. As a result, CE is currently a first-line tool for the investigation of the small bowel in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding and is a useful alternative to wired enteroscopy. Nevertheless, CE still has several limitations, such as incomplete examination and limited diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. To resolve these problems, many groups have suggested several models (e.g., controlled CO2 insufflation system, magnetic navigation system, mobile robotic platform, tagging and biopsy equipment, and targeted drug-delivery system, which are in development. In the near future, new technological advances will improve the capabilities of CE and broaden its spectrum of applications not only for the small bowel but also for the colon, stomach, and esophagus. The purpose of this review is to introduce the current status of CE and to review the ongoing development of solutions to address its limitations.

Electrophysiological Assessment of a Peptide Amphiphile Nanofiber Nerve Graft for Facial Nerve Repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Jacqueline J; McClendon, Mark T; Stephanopoulos, Nicholas; Álvarez, Zaida; Stupp, Samuel I; Richter, Claus-Peter

2018-04-27

Facial nerve injury can cause severe long-term physical and psychological morbidity. There are limited repair options for an acutely transected facial nerve not amenable to primary neurorrhaphy. We hypothesize that a peptide amphiphile nanofiber neurograft may provide the nanostructure necessary to guide organized neural regeneration. Five experimental groups were compared, animals with 1) an intact nerve, 2) following resection of a nerve segment, and following resection and immediate repair with either a 3) autograft (using the resected nerve segment), 4) neurograft, or 5) empty conduit. The buccal branch of the rat facial nerve was directly stimulated with charge balanced biphasic electrical current pulses at different current amplitudes while nerve compound action potentials (nCAPs) and electromygraphic (EMG) responses were recorded. After 8 weeks, the proximal buccal branch was surgically re-exposed and electrically evoked nCAPs were recorded for groups 1-5. As expected, the intact nerves required significantly lower current amplitudes to evoke an nCAP than those repaired with the neurograft and autograft nerves. For other electrophysiologic parameters such as latency and maximum nCAP, there was no significant difference between the intact, autograft and neurograft groups. The resected group had variable responses to electrical stimulation, and the empty tube group was electrically silent. Immunohistochemical analysis and TEM confirmed myelinated neural regeneration. This study demonstrates that the neuroregenerative capability of peptide amphiphile nanofiber neurografts is similar to the current clinical gold standard method of repair and holds potential as an off-the-shelf solution for facial reanimation and potentially peripheral nerve repair. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Current R and D status on material motion and interactions relevant to core disruptive accidents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kondo, Satoru [Safety Engineering Division, O-arai Engineering Center, Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation, O-arai, Ibaraki (Japan)

1994-07-01

In this paper, the current status of research and development activities are briefly reviewed on evaluation of material-coolant interactions and material movement and relocation relevant to the safety of liquid-metal fast reactors. Since the status of European activities are well summarized in other papers submitted to the present meeting, the activities in Japan and the United States are highlighted in this paper. The review includes: out-of-pile experiments, in-pile experiments and relevant computer code development. It is emphasized that improved understanding on material motion has contributed to establishing more realistic and rational safety evaluation methods, where various mitigation mechanisms are inherently effective. (author)

The Current Status of Baculovirus and Their Implication for Insect Pest Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arman Wijonarko

2001-07-01

Full Text Available Baculovirus have been promoted as the promising bioinsecticides for their pest control potential for more than half a century. But only a few have been successful as biological control agent, and almost none has been proven as commercial success, or widely used for large-scale insect pest control. The bioinsecticides currently represent only a small fraction of the world pesticide market. The successful of the Bt crop marked a special achievement in the bioinsecticide market growth. How about the baculoviruses? The main hurdle for baculovirus to be developed as bioinsecticide is its poor performance compare to synthetic chemical ones, include the speed of kill, and host range. It is important to understand the nature of baculovirus, and explore the possibilities to develop new way in applying the baculovirus as bioinsecticides. Key words: current status, baculovirus, insect control

Altered Mental Status: Current Evidence-based Recommendations for Prehospital Care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashley Sanello

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In the United States emergency medical services (EMS protocols vary widely across jurisdictions. We sought to develop evidence-based recommendations for the prehospital evaluation and treatment of a patient with an acute change in mental status and to compare these recommendations against the current protocols used by the 33 EMS agencies in the State of California. Methods: We performed a literature review of the current evidence in the prehospital treatment of a patient with altered mental status (AMS and augmented this review with guidelines from various national and international societies to create our evidence-based recommendations. We then compared the AMS protocols of each of the 33 EMS agencies for consistency with these recommendations. The specific protocol components that we analyzed were patient assessment, point-of-care tests, supplemental oxygen, use of standardized scoring, evaluating for causes of AMS, blood glucose evaluation, toxicological treatment, and pediatric evaluation and management. Results: Protocols across 33 EMS agencies in California varied widely. All protocols call for a blood glucose check, 21 (64% suggest treating adults at <60mg/dL, and half allow for the use of dextrose 10%. All the protocols recommend naloxone for signs of opioid overdose, but only 13 (39% give specific parameters. Half the agencies (52% recommend considering other toxicological causes of AMS, often by using the mnemonic AEIOU TIPS. Eight (24% recommend a 12-lead electrocardiogram; others simply suggest cardiac monitoring. Fourteen (42% advise supplemental oxygen as needed; only seven (21% give specific parameters. In terms of considering various etiologies of AMS, 25 (76% give instructions to consider trauma, 20 (61% to consider stroke, and 18 (55% to consider seizure. Twenty-three (70% of the agencies have separate pediatric AMS protocols; others include pediatric considerations within the adult protocol. Conclusion: Protocols

The current implementation status of the integration of sports and physical activity into Dutch rehabilitation care.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoekstra, Femke; Hettinga, Florentina J; Alingh, Rolinde A; Duijf, Marjo; Dekker, Rienk; van der Woude, Lucas H V; van der Schans, Cees P

2017-01-01

To describe the current status of the nationwide implementation process of a sports and physical activity stimulation programme to gain insight into how sports and physical activity were integrated into Dutch rehabilitation care. The current implementation status of a sports and physical activity stimulation programme in 12 rehabilitation centres and 5 hospitals with a rehabilitation department was described by scoring fidelity and satisfaction. Seventy-one rehabilitation professionals filled out a questionnaire on how sports and physical activity, including stimulation activities, were implemented into rehabilitation care. Total fidelity scores (in %) were calculated for each organization. Professionals' satisfaction was rated on a scale from 1 to 10. In most organizations sports and physical activity were to some extent integrated during and after rehabilitation (fidelity scores: median = 54%, IQR = 23%). Physical activity stimulation was not always embedded as standard component of a rehabilitation treatment. Professionals' satisfaction rated a median value of 8.0 (IQR = 0.0) indicating high satisfaction rates. The fidelity outcome showed that activities to stimulate sports and physical activity during and after rehabilitation were integrated into rehabilitation care, but not always delivered as standardized component. These findings have emphasized the importance to focus on integrating these activities into routines of organizations. Implications for Rehabilitation Components of an evidence-based programme to stimulate sports and physical activity during and after rehabilitation can be used to measure the current status of the integration of sports and physical activity in rehabilitation care in a structural and effective way. The method described in the current study can be used to compare the content of the rehabilitation care regarding the integration of sports and physical activity among organizations both on a national and international level

Repair kinetics in tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thames, H.D.

1989-01-01

Monoexponential repair kinetics is based on the assumption of a single, dose-independent rate of repair of sublethal injury in the target cells for tissue injury after exposure to ionizing radiation. Descriptions of the available data based on this assumption have proved fairly successful for both acutely responding (skin, lip mucosa, gut) and late-responding (lung, spinal cord) normal tissues. There are indications of biphasic exponential repair in both categories, however. Unfortunately, the data usually lack sufficient resolution to permit unambiguous determination of the repair rates. There are also indications that repair kinetics may depend on the size of the dose. The data are conflicting on this account, however, with suggestions of both faster and slower repair after larger doses. Indeed, experiments that have been explicitly designed to test this hypothesis show either no effect (gut, spinal cord), faster repair after higher doses (lung, kidney), or slower repair after higher doses (skin). Monoexponential repair appears to be a fairly accurate description that provides an approximation to a more complicated picture, the elucidation of whose details will, however, require very careful and extensive experimental study. (author). 30 refs.; 1 fig

Current status of construction license of PEFP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J. Y.; Cho, J. S.; Min, Y. S.; Nam, J. M.; Jeon, G. P.; Park, S. S.; Jo, J. H.; Song, I. T.

2012-01-01

Since 2010 August, PEFP(Proton Engineering Frontier Project)'s Proton Accelerator Research Center has been under construction so far. Generally, in advance of construction startup, many kinds of licenses should be acquired along with the types of construction works. To acquire a license in time, each item should meet the standard by the related regulation, including not only procedural but also content aspect. In the advent of internet era, electronic government system has been adopted in many governmental functions: So is the national construction license acquisition system. Owing to the system, both approval and documentation functions in licensing are integrated in online computer network which provide us simplification in process and easy accessibility to license data. However, aside from these construction licenses, other types of licenses still remain separately managed: Machinery, electric facilities, and so on. Moreover, all the licenses have the priority order and take legal term in processing. So, to avoid any time delay in license acquisition, we organized license hierarchy and found out the priority among them. Thereafter, according to their legal term in approval and acquisition, whole license acquisition schedule was arranged and we completed all the necessary licenses acquisition in time In this study, we summarize the current status of license acquisition on Proton Accelerator Research Center Construction, and manifest how they have been and will be managed systematically

Current status of construction license of PEFP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, J. Y.; Cho, J. S.; Min, Y. S.; Nam, J. M.; Jeon, G. P.; Park, S. S.; Jo, J. H.; Song, I. T. [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2012-10-15

Since 2010 August, PEFP(Proton Engineering Frontier Project)'s Proton Accelerator Research Center has been under construction so far. Generally, in advance of construction startup, many kinds of licenses should be acquired along with the types of construction works. To acquire a license in time, each item should meet the standard by the related regulation, including not only procedural but also content aspect. In the advent of internet era, electronic government system has been adopted in many governmental functions: So is the national construction license acquisition system. Owing to the system, both approval and documentation functions in licensing are integrated in online computer network which provide us simplification in process and easy accessibility to license data. However, aside from these construction licenses, other types of licenses still remain separately managed: Machinery, electric facilities, and so on. Moreover, all the licenses have the priority order and take legal term in processing. So, to avoid any time delay in license acquisition, we organized license hierarchy and found out the priority among them. Thereafter, according to their legal term in approval and acquisition, whole license acquisition schedule was arranged and we completed all the necessary licenses acquisition in time In this study, we summarize the current status of license acquisition on Proton Accelerator Research Center Construction, and manifest how they have been and will be managed systematically.

Current status and prospects of HIV treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cihlar, Tomas; Fordyce, Marshall

2016-06-01

Current antiviral treatments can reduce HIV-associated morbidity, prolong survival, and prevent HIV transmission. Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) containing preferably three active drugs from two or more classes is required for durable virologic suppression. Regimen selection is based on virologic efficacy, potential for adverse effects, pill burden and dosing frequency, drug-drug interaction potential, resistance test results, comorbid conditions, social status, and cost. With prolonged virologic suppression, improved clinical outcomes, and longer survival, patients will be exposed to antiretroviral agents for decades. Therefore, maximizing the safety and tolerability of cART is a high priority. Emergence of resistance and/or lack of tolerability in individual patients require availability of a range of treatment options. Development of new drugs is focused on improving safety (e.g. tenofovir alafenamide) and/or resistance profile (e.g. doravirine) within the existing drug classes, combination therapies with improved adherence (e.g. single-tablet regimens), novel mechanisms of action (e.g. attachment inhibitors, maturation inhibitors, broadly neutralizing antibodies), and treatment simplification with infrequent dosing (e.g. long-acting injectables). In parallel with cART innovations, research and development efforts focused on agents that target persistent HIV reservoirs may lead to prolonged drug-free remission and HIV cure. Copyright © 2016 Gilead Sciences, Inc. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cognitive function in older adults according to current socioeconomic status.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Michael; Gale, Shawn D; Erickson, Lance D; Brown, Bruce L; Woody, Parker; Hedges, Dawson W

2015-01-01

Cognitive function may be influenced by education, socioeconomic status, sex, and health status. Furthermore, aging interacts with these factors to influence cognition and dementia risk in late life. Factors that may increase or decrease successful cognitive aging are of critical importance, particularly if they are modifiable. The purpose of this study was to determine if economic status in late life is associated with cognition independent of socioeconomic status in early life. Cross-sectional demographic, socioeconomic, and cognitive function data were obtained in 2592 older adults (average age 71.6 years) from the Center for Disease Control's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and analyzed with linear regression modeling. Cognitive function, as measured with a test of processing speed, was significantly associated with poverty index scores after adjusting for educational attainment as an estimate of childhood socioeconomic status, ethnic background, age, health status, and sex (P status is independently associated with cognitive function in adults over age 60 years.

Effect of load on the repair of osteochondral defects using a porous polymer scaffold

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hannink, G.J.; de Mulder, E.L.; Tienen, T.G. van; Buma, P.

2012-01-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate if a porous polymer scaffold, currently used for partial meniscal replacement in clinical practice, could initiate regeneration and repair of osteochondral defects, and if regeneration and repair were related to mechanical stimulation. Two equally sized

Mood repair via attention refocusing or recall of positive autobiographical memories by adolescents with pediatric-onset major depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovacs, Maria; Yaroslavsky, Ilya; Rottenberg, Jonathan; George, Charles J; Baji, Ildikó; Benák, István; Dochnal, Roberta; Halas, Kitti; Kiss, Enikő; Vetró, Ágnes; Kapornai, Krisztina

2015-10-01

Impaired emotion regulation is increasingly recognized as a core feature of depressive disorders. Indeed, currently and previously depressed adults both report greater problems in attenuating sadness (mood repair) in daily life than healthy controls. In contrast, studies of various strategies to attenuate sad affect have mostly found that currently or previously depressed adults and controls were similarly successful at mood repair in the laboratory. But few studies have examined mood repair among depression-prone youths or the effects of trait characteristics on mood repair outcomes in the laboratory. Adolescents, whose first episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) had onset at age 9, on average (probands), and were either in remission or depressed, and control peers, watched a sad film clip. Then, they were instructed to engage in refocusing attention (distraction) or recalling happy memories. Using affect ratings provided by the youths, we tested two developmentally informed hypotheses about whether the subject groups would be similarly able to attenuate sadness via the two mood repair strategies. We also explored if self-reported habitual (trait) mood repair influenced laboratory performance. Contrary to expectations, attention refocusing and recall of happy memories led to comparable mood benefits across subjects. Control adolescents reported significantly greater reductions in sadness than did depressed (Cohen's d = .48) or remitted (Cohen's d = .32) probands, regardless of mood repair strategy, while currently depressed probands remained the saddest after mood repair. Habitual mood repair styles moderated the effects of instructed (state) mood repair in the laboratory. Whether depressed or in remission, adolescents with MDD histories are not as efficient at mood repair in the laboratory as controls. But proband-control group differences in mood repair outcomes were modest in scope, suggesting that the abilities that subserve affect regulation have been

Mood repair via attention refocusing or recall of positive autobiographical memories by adolescents with pediatric onset major depression

Science.gov (United States)

Kovacs, Maria; Yaroslavsky, Ilya; Rottenberg, Jonathan; George, Charles J.; Baji, Ildikó; Benák, István; Dochnal, Roberta; Halas, Kitti; Kiss, Enikő; Vetró, Ágnes; Kapornai, Krisztina

2014-01-01

Background Impaired emotion regulation is increasingly recognized as a core feature of depressive disorders. Indeed, currently and previously depressed adults both report greater problems in attenuating sadness (mood repair) in daily life than healthy controls. In contrast, studies of various strategies to attenuate sad affect have mostly found that currently or previously depressed adults and controls were similarly successful at mood repair in the laboratory. But few studies have examined mood repair among depression-prone youths or the effects of trait characteristics on mood repair outcomes in the laboratory. Methods Adolescents, whose first episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) had onset at age 9, on average (probands), and were either in remission or depressed, and control peers, watched a sad film clip. Then, they were instructed to engage in re-focusing attention (distraction) or recalling happy memories. Using affect ratings provided by the youths, we tested two developmentally informed hypotheses about whether the subject groups would be similarly able to attenuate sadness via the two mood repair strategies. We also explored if self-reported habitual (trait) mood repair influenced laboratory performance. Results Contrary to expectations, attention re-focusing and recall of happy memories led to comparable mood benefits across subjects. Control adolescents reported significantly greater reductions in sadness than did depressed (Cohen’s d=.48) or remitted (Cohen’s d=.32) probands, regardless of mood repair strategy, while currently depressed probands remained the saddest after mood repair. Habitual mood repair styles moderated the effects of instructed (state) mood repair in the laboratory. Conclusions Whether depressed or in remission, adolescents with MDD histories are not as efficient at mood repair in the laboratory as controls. But proband-control group differences in mood repair outcomes were modest in scope, suggesting that the abilities

Current status of NPP generation IV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yohanes Dwi Anggoro; Dharu Dewi; Nurlaila; Arief Tris Yuliyanto

2013-01-01

Today development of nuclear technology has reached the stage of research and development of Generation IV nuclear power plants (advanced reactor systems) which is an innovative development from the previous generation of nuclear power plants. There are six types of power generation IV reactors, namely: Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR), Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR), Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR), Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR), Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), and Super Critical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR). The purpose of this study is to know the development of Generation IV nuclear power plants that have been done by the thirteen countries that are members of the Gen IV International Forum (GIF). The method used is review study and refers to various studies related to the current status of research and development of generation IV nuclear power. The result of this study showed that the systems and technology on Generation IV nuclear power plants offer significant advances in sustainability, safety and reliability, economics, and proliferation resistance and physical protection. In addition, based on the research and development experience is estimated that: SFR can be used optimally in 2015, VHTR in 2020, while NPP types GFR, LFR, MSR, and SCWR in 2025. Utilization of NPP generation IV said to be optimal if fulfill the goal of NPP generation IV, such as: capable to generate energy sustainability and promote long-term availability of nuclear fuel, minimize nuclear waste and reduce the long term stewardship burden, has an advantage in the field of safety and reliability compared to the previous generation of NPP and VHTR technology have a good prospects in Indonesia. (author)

[Current status and sustainable development countermeasures of Anoectochilus roxburghii].

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Lin; Shao, Qing-Song; Zhou, Ai-Cun; Wang, Hong-Zhen; Zhang, Ai-Lian; Xu, Jian-Wei; Huang, Yu-Qiu

2016-02-01

The current status of the domestic manufacturing and sales markets of Anoectochilus roxburghii were investigated and analyzed in the study. Some problems in the A. roxburghii industry were revealed and a variety of sustainable development countermeasures were also proposed. The main problems of A. roxburghii industry are the lack of protection for wild resources, the lag in the speed of variety breeding, the insufficient research on the quality systems, the low level of industry and product innovation capability, as well as the relatively low market cognition and brand competence. Therefore, strengthening the protection for breeding resources, establishing a dynamic monitoring system, promoting the variety breeding, constructing a propagation system for improved varieties, enhancing the quality of medicinal herbs, accelerating the adjustment of product structure, upgrading the industry technology, strengthening brand competence and expanding the market, will be the effective methods to realize the sustainable development of A. roxburghii industry. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Materials technology for fusion - Current status and future requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gold, R.E.; Bloom, E.E.; Clinard, F.W. Jr.; Smith, D.L.; Stevenson, R.D.; Wolfer, W.G.

1981-01-01

The general status of the materials research and development activities currently under way in support of controlled thermonuclear fusion reactors in the United States is reviewed. In the area of magnetic confinement configurations, attention is given to development programs for first wall materials, which are at various stages for possible austenitic stainless steels, high-strength Fe-Ni-Cr alloys, reactive and refractory metal alloys, specially designed long-range ordered and rapidly solidified alloys, and ferritic/martensitic steels, and for tritium breeding materials, electrical insulators, ceramics, and coolants. The development of materials for inertial confinement reactors is also surveyed in relation to the protection scheme employed for the first wall and the effects of pulsed neutron irradiation. Finally, the materials requirements and selection procedures for the ETF/INTOR and Starfire tokamak reactor designs are examined. Needs for the expansion of research on nonfirst-wall materials and inertial confinement fusion reactor material requirements are pointed out

The payloads of Advanced Virgo: current status and upgrades

Science.gov (United States)

Naticchioni, L.; Virgo Collaboration

2018-02-01

The development and integration of new detector payloads has been an important part of the Advanced Virgo (AdV) project, the major upgrade of the Virgo interferometric detector of Gravitational Waves, aiming to increase the detector sensitivity by one order of magnitude. During the integration phase of the new AdV payloads with monolithic suspension of mirrors we experienced systematic suspension failures later identified as caused by dust contamination of the vacuum system. In order to not postpone the detector commissioning, making possible to join the LIGO O2 observation run, the Collaboration decided to proceed with the integration of the payloads relying on steel wire suspensions for all the mirrors. In this proceeding the status of the currently integrated payloads is reported, including their angular control characterization and the Q-factor measurements for test mass steel wire suspensions. The payload upgrade for the re-integration of monolithic suspensions after the O2 run is reported in the last section.

Sutureless liver repair and hemorrhage control using laser-mediated fusion of human albumin as a solder.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadia, Y; Xie, H; Kajitani, M

2001-07-01

Major liver trauma has a high mortality because of immediate exsanguination and a delayed morbidity from septicemia, peritonitis, biliary fistulae, and delayed secondary hemorrhage. We evaluated laser soldering using liquid albumin for welding liver injuries. Fourteen lacerations (6 x 2 cm) and 13 nonanatomic resection injuries (raw surface, 8 x 2 cm) were repaired. An 805-nm laser was used to weld 53% liquid albumin-indocyanine green solder to the liver surface, reinforcing it by welding a free autologous omental scaffold. The animals were heparinized and hepatic inflow occlusion was used for vascular control. For both laceration and resection injuries, 16 soldering repairs were evaluated acutely at 3 hours. Eleven animals were evaluated chronically, two at 2 weeks and nine at 4 weeks. All 27 laser mediated-liver repairs had minimal blood loss compared with the suture controls. No dehiscence, hemorrhage, or bile leakage was seen in any of the laser repairs after 3 hours. All 11 chronic repairs healed without complication. This modality effectively seals the liver surface, joins lacerations with minimal thermal injury, and works independently of the patient's coagulation status.

A geometric process repair model for a repairable cold standby system with priority in use and repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yuanlin; Wang Guanjun

2009-01-01

In this paper, a deteriorating cold standby repairable system consisting of two dissimilar components and one repairman is studied. For each component, assume that the successive working times form a decreasing geometric process while the consecutive repair times constitute an increasing geometric process, and component 1 has priority in use and repair. Under these assumptions, we consider a replacement policy N based on the number of repairs of component 1 under which the system is replaced when the number of repairs of component 1 reaches N. Our problem is to determine an optimal policy N* such that the average cost rate (i.e. the long-run average cost per unit time) of the system is minimized. The explicit equation of the average cost rate of the system is derived and the corresponding optimal replacement policy N* can be determined analytically or numerically. Finally, a numerical example with Weibull distribution is given to illustrate some theoretical results in this paper.

Phenomenology of an inducible mutagenic DNA repair pathway in Escherichia coli: SOS repair hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radman, M.

1974-01-01

A hypothesis is proposed according to which E. coli possesses an inducible DNA repair system. This hypothetical repair, which we call SOS repair, is manifested only following damage to DNA, and requires de novo protein synthesis. SOS repair in E. coli requires some known genetic elements: recA + , lex + and probably zab + . Mutagenesis by ultraviolet light is observed only under conditions of functional SOS repair: we therefore suspect that this is a mutation-prone repair. A number of phenomena and experiments is reviewed which at this point can best be interpreted in terms of an inducible mutagenic DNA repair system. Two recently discovered phenomena support the proposed hypothesis: existence of a mutant (tif) which, after a shift to elevated temperature, mimicks the effect of uv irradiation in regard to repair of phage lambda and uv mutagenesis, apparent activation of SOS repair by introduction into the recipient cell of damaged plasmid or Hfr DNA. Several specific predictions based on SOS repair hypothesis are presented in order to stimulate further experimental tests. (U.S.)

[Nutritional screening before surgery for esophageal cancer - current status and evaluation results].

Science.gov (United States)

Shimakawa, Takeshi; Asaka, Shinich; Sagawa, Masano; Shimazaki, Asako; Yamaguchi, Kentaro; Usui, Takebumi; Yokomizo, Hajime; Shiozawa, Shunichi; Yoshimatsu, Kazuhiko; Katsube, Takao; Naritaka, Yoshihiko

2014-10-01

The incidence of postoperative complications and mortality are usually higher in patients with preoperative malnutrition. Malnutrition often preexists, particularly in patients undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer, which is substantially invasive. It is therefore important to understand the nutritional condition of patients and actively control perioperative nutrition.Our hospital has been providing nutritional status screening for patients before resection of esophageal cancer, and we report the current status and evaluation results in this article.This screening included 158 patients requiring radical resection of esophageal cancer.Age, comorbidity with diabetes, body mass index(BMI), serum albumin(Alb), Onodera's prognostic nutritional index(PNI), and Glasgow prognostic score(GPS)were used as nutritional indicators to stratify patients for analysis.Evaluation parameters included the incidence of postoperative complications(any complication, pulmonary complications, psychiatric disorder, and anastomotic leakage)and rates of long-term postoperative hospitalization.The analysis indicated that age, BMI, serum Alb, PNI, and GPS are useful for predicting the onset of postoperative complications and prolonged postoperative hospitalization.For such patients, more active nutritional control should be provided.

More efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks in skeletal muscle stem cells compared to their committed progeny

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leyla Vahidi Ferdousi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The loss of genome integrity in adult stem cells results in accelerated tissue aging and is possibly cancerogenic. Adult stem cells in different tissues appear to react robustly to DNA damage. We report that adult skeletal stem (satellite cells do not primarily respond to radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs via differentiation and exhibit less apoptosis compared to other myogenic cells. Satellite cells repair these DNA lesions more efficiently than their committed progeny. Importantly, non-proliferating satellite cells and post-mitotic nuclei in the fiber exhibit dramatically distinct repair efficiencies. Altogether, reduction of the repair capacity appears to be more a function of differentiation than of the proliferation status of the muscle cell. Notably, satellite cells retain a high efficiency of DSB repair also when isolated from the natural niche. Finally, we show that repair of DSB substrates is not only very efficient but, surprisingly, also very accurate in satellite cells and that accurate repair depends on the key non-homologous end-joining factor DNA-PKcs.

More efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks in skeletal muscle stem cells compared to their committed progeny.

Science.gov (United States)

Vahidi Ferdousi, Leyla; Rocheteau, Pierre; Chayot, Romain; Montagne, Benjamin; Chaker, Zayna; Flamant, Patricia; Tajbakhsh, Shahragim; Ricchetti, Miria

2014-11-01

The loss of genome integrity in adult stem cells results in accelerated tissue aging and is possibly cancerogenic. Adult stem cells in different tissues appear to react robustly to DNA damage. We report that adult skeletal stem (satellite) cells do not primarily respond to radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) via differentiation and exhibit less apoptosis compared to other myogenic cells. Satellite cells repair these DNA lesions more efficiently than their committed progeny. Importantly, non-proliferating satellite cells and post-mitotic nuclei in the fiber exhibit dramatically distinct repair efficiencies. Altogether, reduction of the repair capacity appears to be more a function of differentiation than of the proliferation status of the muscle cell. Notably, satellite cells retain a high efficiency of DSB repair also when isolated from the natural niche. Finally, we show that repair of DSB substrates is not only very efficient but, surprisingly, also very accurate in satellite cells and that accurate repair depends on the key non-homologous end-joining factor DNA-PKcs. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

X-ray repair cross complementing protein 1 in base excision repair

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanssen-Bauer, Audun; Solvang-Garten, Karin; Akbari, Mansour

2012-01-01

X-ray Repair Cross Complementing protein 1 (XRCC1) acts as a scaffolding protein in the converging base excision repair (BER) and single strand break repair (SSBR) pathways. XRCC1 also interacts with itself and rapidly accumulates at sites of DNA damage. XRCC1 can thus mediate the assembly of large...

Current Status of Carl Sagan Observatory in Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Ibarra, A.

The current status of Observatory "Carl Sagan" (OCS) of University of Sonora is presented. This project was born in 1996 focused to build a small solar-stellar observatory completely operated by remote control. The observatory will be at "Cerro Azul", a 2480 m peak in one of the best regions in the world for astronomical observation, at the Sonora-Arizona desert. The OCS, with three 16 cm solar telescopes and a 55 cm stellar telescope is one of the cheapest observatories, valuated in US200,000 Added to its scientific goals to study solar coronal holes and Supernovae Type 1A, the OCS has a strong educative and cultural program in Astronomy to all levels. At the end of 2001, we started the Program "Constelacion", to build small planetariums through all the countries with a cost of only US80,000. Also, the webcast system for transmission of the solar observations from the prototype OCS at the campus, was expanded to webcast educational programs in Astronomy since July of this year, including courses and diplomats for Latin American people. All of these advances are exposed here.

The current status of theory evaluation in nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Eun-Ok

2015-10-01

To identify the current status of theory evaluation in nursing and provide directions for theory evaluation for future development of theoretical bases of nursing discipline. Theory evaluation is an essential component in development of nursing knowledge, which is a critical element in development of nursing discipline. Despite earlier significant efforts for theory evaluation in nursing, a recent decline in the number of theory evaluation articles was noted and there have been few updates on theory evaluation in nursing. Discussion paper. A total of 58 articles published from 2003-2014 were retrieved through searches using the PUBMED, PsyInfo and CINAHL. The articles were sorted by the area of evaluation and analysed to identify themes reflecting the theory evaluation process. Diverse ways of theory evaluation need to be continuously used in future theory evaluation efforts. Six themes reflecting the theory evaluation process were identified: (a) rarely using existing theory evaluation criteria; (b) evaluating specifics; (c) using various statistical analysis methods; (d) developing instruments; (e) adopting in practice and education; and (f) evaluating mainly middle-range theories and situation-specific theories. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Thorium-based nuclear fuel: current status and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-03-01

Until the present time considerable efforts have already been made in the area of fabrication, utilization and reprocessing of Th-based fuels for different types of reactors, namely: by FRG and USA - for HTRs; FRG and Brazil, Italy - for LWRs; India - for HWRs and FBRs. Basic research of thorium fuels and thorium fuel cycles are also being undertaken by Australia, Canada, China, France, FRG, Romania, USSR and other countries. Main emphasis has been given to the utilization of thorium fuels in once-through nuclear fuel cycles, but in some projects closed thorium-uranium or thorium-plutonium fuel cycles are also considered. The purpose of the Technical Committee on the Utilization of Thorium-Based Nuclear Fuel: Current Status and Perspective was to review the world thorium resources, incentives for further exploration, obtained experience in the utilization of Th-based fuels in different types of reactors, basic research, fabrication and reprocessing of Th-based fuels. As a result of the panel discussion the recommendations on future Agency activities and list of major worldwide activities in the area of Th-based fuel were developed. A separate abstract was prepared for each of the 9 papers in this proceedings series

Analysis for a two-dissimilar-component cold standby repairable system with repair priority

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leung, Kit Nam Francis; Zhang Yuanlin; Lai, Kin Keung

2011-01-01

In this paper, a cold standby repairable system consisting of two dissimilar components and one repairman is studied. Assume that working time distributions and repair time distributions of the two components are both exponential, and Component 1 has repair priority when both components are broken down. After repair, Component 1 follows a geometric process repair while Component 2 obeys a perfect repair. Under these assumptions, using the perfect repair model, the geometric process repair model and the supplementary variable technique, we not only study some important reliability indices, but also consider a replacement policy T, under which the system is replaced when the working age of Component 1 reaches T. Our problem is to determine an optimal policy T* such that the long-run average loss per unit time (i.e. average loss rate) of the system is minimized. The explicit expression for the average loss rate of the system is derived, and the corresponding optimal replacement policy T* can be found numerically. Finally, a numerical example for replacement policy T is given to illustrate some theoretical results and the model's applicability. - Highlights: → A two-dissimilar-component cold standby system with repair priority is formulated. → The successive up/repair times of Component 1 form a decreasing/increasing geometric process. → Not only some reliability indices but also a replacement policy are studied.

Development of bonded composite doublers for the repair of oil recovery equipment.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roach, David W.; Rackow, Kirk A.

2005-06-01

An unavoidable by-product of a metallic structure's use is the appearance of crack and corrosion flaws. Economic barriers to the replacement of these structures have created an aging infrastructure and placed even greater demands on efficient and safe repair methods. In the past decade, an advanced composite repair technology has made great strides in commercial aviation use. Extensive testing and analysis, through joint programs between the Sandia Labs FAA Airworthiness Assurance Center and the aviation industry, have proven that composite materials can be used to repair damaged aluminum structure. Successful pilot programs have produced flight performance history to establish the durability of bonded composite patches as a permanent repair on commercial aircraft structures. With this foundation in place, this effort is adapting bonded composite repair technology to civil structures. The use of bonded composite doublers has the potential to correct the difficulties associated with current repair techniques and the ability to be applied where there are no rehabilitation options. It promises to be cost-effective with minimal disruption to the users of the structure. This report concludes a study into the application of composite patches on thick steel structures typically used in mining operations. Extreme fatigue, temperature, erosive, and corrosive environments induce an array of equipment damage. The current weld repair techniques for these structures provide a fatigue life that is inferior to that of the original plate. Subsequent cracking must be revisited on a regular basis. The use of composite doublers, which do not have brittle fracture problems such as those inherent in welds, can help extend the structure's fatigue life and reduce the equipment downtime. Two of the main issues for adapting aircraft composite repairs to civil applications are developing an installation technique for carbon steel and accommodating large repairs on extremely thick

40 CFR 798.5500 - Differential growth inhibition of repair proficient and repair deficient bacteria: “Bacterial DNA...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... repair proficient and repair deficient bacteria: âBacterial DNA damage or repair tests.â 798.5500 Section... inhibition of repair proficient and repair deficient bacteria: “Bacterial DNA damage or repair tests.” (a... killing or growth inhibition of repair deficient bacteria in a set of repair proficient and deficient...

Biomonitoring of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams in Europe: Current practice and priorities to enhance ecological status assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Stubbington, Rachel; Chadd, Richard; Cid, Núria; Csabai, Zoltán; Miliša, Marko; Morais, Manuela; Munné, Antoni; Pařil, Petr; Pešić, Vladimir; Tziortzis, Iakovos; Verdonschot, Ralf C M; Datry, Thibault

2018-03-15

Intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES) are common across Europe and dominate some Mediterranean river networks. In all climate zones, IRES support high biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. As dynamic ecosystems that transition between flowing, pool, and dry states, IRES are typically poorly represented in biomonitoring programmes implemented to characterize EU Water Framework Directive ecological status. We report the results of a survey completed by representatives from 20 European countries to identify current challenges to IRES status assessment, examples of best practice, and priorities for future research. We identify five major barriers to effective ecological status classification in IRES: 1. the exclusion of IRES from Water Framework Directive biomonitoring based on their small catchment size; 2. the lack of river typologies that distinguish between contrasting IRES; 3. difficulties in defining the 'reference conditions' that represent unimpacted dynamic ecosystems; 4. classification of IRES ecological status based on lotic communities sampled using methods developed for perennial rivers; and 5. a reliance on taxonomic characterization of local communities. Despite these challenges, we recognize examples of innovative practice that can inform modification of current biomonitoring activity to promote effective IRES status classification. Priorities for future research include reconceptualization of the reference condition approach to accommodate spatiotemporal fluctuations in community composition, and modification of indices of ecosystem health to recognize both taxon-specific sensitivities to intermittence and dispersal abilities, within a landscape context. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Current status and future developments of small and micro hydro in southern Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Jonker Klunne, W

2012-05-01

Full Text Available -1 Current status and future developments of small and micro hydro in southern Africa Wim Jonker Klunne Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) PO Box 395 Pretoria 0001 South Africa Introduction Small and micro hydropower... are renewable energy technologies that have large potential in the south- ern African region, both for grid and off-grid applications. Within the region a good understanding exists on the potential for large scale hydro with a substantial number of plants...

A Survey on Renewable Energy Development in Malaysia: Current Status, Problems and Prospects

OpenAIRE

Alam Syed Shah; Nor Nor Fariza Mohd; Ahmad Maisarah; Hashim Nik Hazrul Nik

2016-01-01

Energy demand in Malaysia is increasing over seven per cent a year, while forty per cent of the energy is supplied from conventional fossil fuel. However, a number of social barriers have mired the social acceptance of renewable energy among the users. This study investigates the current status of renewable energy, problems and future outlook of renewable energy in Malaysia. A total of 200 respondents were surveyed from Klang Valley in Malaysia. Majority of the respondents use energy to gener...

DNA repair in human cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regan, J.D.; Carrier, W.L.; Kusano, I.; Furuno-Fukushi, I.; Dunn, W.C. Jr.; Francis, A.A.; Lee, W.H.

1982-01-01

Our primary objective is to elucidate the molecular events in human cells when cellular macromolecules such as DNA are damaged by radiation or chemical agents. We study and characterize (i) the sequence of DNA repair events, (ii) the various modalities of repair, (iii) the genetic inhibition of repair due to mutation, (iv) the physiological inhibition of repair due to mutation, (v) the physiological inhibition of repair due to biochemical inhibitors, and (vi) the genetic basis of repair. Our ultimate goals are to (i) isolate and analyze the repair component of the mutagenic and/or carcinogenic event in human cells, and (ii) elucidate the magnitude and significance of this repair component as it impinges on the practical problems of human irradiation or exposure to actual or potential chemical mutagens and carcinogens. The significance of these studies lies in (i) the ubiquitousness of repair (most organisms, including man, have several complex repair systems), (ii) the belief that mutagenic and carcinogenic events may arise only from residual (nonrepaired) lesions or that error-prone repair systems may be the major induction mechanisms of the mutagenic or carcinogenic event, and (iii) the clear association of repair defects and highly carcinogenic disease states in man [xeroderma pigmentosum (XP)

Current Status of Tissue Engineering in the Management of Severe Hypospadias

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tariq O. Abbas

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Hypospadias, characterized by misplacement of the urinary meatus in the lower side of the penis, is a frequent birth defect in male children. Because of the huge variation in the anatomic presentation of hypospadias, no single urethroplasty procedure is suitable for all situations. Hence, many surgical techniques have emerged to address the shortage of tissues required to bridge the gap in the urethra particularly in the severe forms of hypospadias. However, the rate of postoperative complications of currently available surgical procedures reaches up to one-fourth of the patients having severe hypospadias. Moreover, these urethroplasty techniques are technically demanding and require considerable surgical experience. These limitations have fueled the development of novel tissue engineering techniques that aim to simplify the surgical procedures and to reduce the rate of complications. Several types of biomaterials have been considered for urethral repair, including synthetic and natural polymers, which in some cases have been seeded with cells prior to implantation. These methods have been tested in preclinical and clinical studies, with variable degrees of success. This review describes the different urethral tissue engineering methodologies, with focus on the approaches used for the treatment of hypospadias. At present, despite many significant advances, the search for a suitable tissue engineering approach for use in routine clinical applications continues.

Flexor tendon repair: a comparative study between a knotless barbed suture repair and a traditional four-strand monofilament suture repair.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Joyce, C W

2014-01-01

We compared the tensile strength of a novel knotless barbed suture method with a traditional four-strand Adelaide technique for flexor tendon repairs. Forty fresh porcine flexor tendons were transected and randomly assigned to one of the repair groups before repair. Biomechanical testing demonstrated that the tensile strengths between both tendon groups were very similar. However, less force was required to create a 2 mm gap in the four-strand repair method compared with the knotless barbed technique. There was a significant reduction in the cross-sectional area in the barbed suture group after repair compared with the Adelaide group. This would create better gliding within the pulley system in vivo and could decrease gapping and tendon rupture.

Alternative methods for skin irritation testing: the current status : ECVAM skin irritation task force report 1

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Botham, P.A.; Earl, L.K.; Fentem, J.H.; Roguet, R.; Sandt, J.J.M.

1998-01-01

The ECVAM Skin Irritation Task Force was established in November 1996, primarily to prepare a report on the current status of the development and validation of alternative tests for skin irritation and corrosion and, in particular, to identify any appropriate non-animal tests for predicting human

Current status of food irradiation in the world. Trend in Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kume, Tamikazu

2002-01-01

This review describes the current status of food irradiation in the world and particularly, its trends in Asia, based on the report of the economic scale investigation on the irradiation in United States and Japan (2001) and on the information of 12th International Meeting on Radiation Processing in France in 2001 and on personal communications. International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation promotes its activities of irradiation globally and 46 countries are affiliated. Food irradiation is allowed in 52 countries. In 1999, 257,000 t of food is irradiated in the world, of which 1/3 is due to spice. The facilities for the irradiation have such sources as 60 Co and 137 Cs γ-rays, electron beam of <10 MeV and X-ray with <5 MeV. Detection methods of irradiated foods are summarized by the project of Analytical Detection Methods for Irradiation Treatment of Foods. The US is the most advanced country in the irradiation and, in Japan, only irradiation of potato is permitted. The detailed present status is also described of Bangladesh, China (the irradiation is most widely conducted in the world), India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Recently Australia and New Zealand have started the irradiation. (K.H.)

Mobile Learning in Nursing Undergraduates in China: Current Status, Attitudes and Barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Qian; Zhang, Qiannan; Wang, Lanlan; Wang, Yanling; Sun, Liu; Wu, Ying

2017-01-01

To explore the current status, attitudes and barriers of nursing undergraduates toward mobile learning, 157 nursing students were investigated. more than half of them used mobile learning frequently in past half year. The mean score of students' intention towards mobile learning was 10.5 (ranged from 6 to 15), and it related to students' gender, expected effect, ease of operation, influence of other students, self-learning management and perceived interest. Some barriers affected students' mobile learning. Therefore, students had positive attitude and perception toward mobile learning, then we should create enough conditions to promote students' mobile learning.

Outpatient repair for inguinal hernia in elderly patients: still a challenge?

Science.gov (United States)

Palumbo, Piergaspare; Amatucci, Chiara; Perotti, Bruno; Zullino, Antonio; Dezzi, Claudia; Illuminati, Giulio; Vietri, Francesco

2014-01-01

Elective inguinal hernia repair as a day case is a safe and suitable procedure, with well-recognized feasibility. The increasing number of elderly patients requiring inguinal hernia repair leads clinicians to admit a growing number of outpatients. The aim of the current study was to analyze the outcomes (feasibility and safety) of day case treatment in elderly patients. Eighty patients >80 years of age and 80 patients ≤55 years of age underwent elective inguinal hernia repairs under local anesthesia. There were no mortalities or major complications in the elderly undergoing inguinal herniorraphies as outpatients, and only one unanticipated admission occurred in the younger age group. Elective inguinal hernia repair in the elderly has a good outcome, and age alone should not be a drawback to day case treatment. Copyright © 2014 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Homozygous germ-line mutation of the PMS2 mismatch repair gene: a unique case report of constitutional mismatch repair deficiency (CMMRD).

Science.gov (United States)

Ramchander, N C; Ryan, N A J; Crosbie, E J; Evans, D G

2017-04-05

deficiency syndrome should be considered in patients who present with early onset cancer, a strong family history of cancer, and cutaneous features resembling neurofibromatosis type I. Immunohistochemistry analysis of tumour and normal tissue is sensitive and specific for identifying patients with mismatch repair deficiency and should direct DNA sequencing of lymphocytic tissue to establish a diagnosis. Microsatellite instability status appears to be of little value in identifying patients who may have constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome.

Laboratory and On-Site Tests for Rapid Runway Repair

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Federico Leonelli

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The attention to rapid pavement repair has grown fast in recent decades: this topic is strategic for the airport management process for civil purposes and peacekeeping missions. This work presents the results of laboratory and on-site tests for rapid runway repair, in order to analyse and compare technical and mechanical performances of 12 different materials currently used in airport. The study focuses on site repairs, a technique adopted most frequently than repairs with modular elements. After describing mechanical and physical properties of the examined materials (2 bituminous emulsions, 5 cement mortars, 4 cold bituminous mixtures and 1 expanding resin, the study presents the results of carried out mechanical tests. The results demonstrate that the best performing material is a one-component fast setting and hardening cement mortar with graded aggregates. This material allows the runway reopening 6 h after the work. A cold bituminous mixture (bicomponent premixed cold asphalt with water as catalyst and the ordinary cement concrete allow the reopening to traffic after 18 h, but both ensure a lower service life (1000 coverages than the cement mortar (10,000 coverages. The obtained results include important information both laboratory level and field, and they could be used by airport management bodies and road agencies when scheduling and evaluating pavement repairs.

Cartilage repair in the degenerative ageing knee

Science.gov (United States)

Brittberg, Mats; Gomoll, Andreas H; Canseco, José A; Far, Jack; Lind, Martin; Hui, James

2016-01-01

Background and purpose Cartilage damage can develop due to trauma, resulting in focal chondral or osteochondral defects, or as more diffuse loss of cartilage in a generalized organ disease such as osteoarthritis. A loss of cartilage function and quality is also seen with increasing age. There is a spectrum of diseases ranging from focal cartilage defects with healthy surrounding cartilage to focal lesions in degenerative cartilage, to multiple and diffuse lesions in osteoarthritic cartilage. At the recent Aarhus Regenerative Orthopaedics Symposium (AROS) 2015, regenerative challenges in an ageing population were discussed by clinicians and basic scientists. A group of clinicians was given the task of discussing the role of tissue engineering in the treatment of degenerative cartilage lesions in ageing patients. We present the outcomes of our discussions on current treatment options for such lesions, with particular emphasis on different biological repair techniques and their supporting level of evidence. Results and interpretation Based on the studies on treatment of degenerative lesions and early OA, there is low-level evidence to suggest that cartilage repair is a possible treatment for such lesions, but there are conflicting results regarding the effect of advanced age on the outcome. We concluded that further improvements are needed for direct repair of focal, purely traumatic defects before we can routinely use such repair techniques for the more challenging degenerative lesions. Furthermore, we need to identify trigger mechanisms that start generalized loss of cartilage matrix, and induce subchondral bone changes and concomitant synovial pathology, to maximize our treatment methods for biological repair in degenerative ageing joints. PMID:27910738

Current Status of QA For Nuclear Power Plants in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagoshi, Hitohiko

1986-01-01

It is the current status of QA and our QA experiences with nuclear power plants against the background of the Japanese social and business environment. Accordingly, in 1972, 'The Guidance for Quality Assurance in Construction of Nuclear Power Plants' based on U. S. 10CEF50 Appendix B, was published by the Japan Electric Association. 'Jug-4101 The Guide for Quality Assurance of Nuclear Power Plants' has been prepared by referring to the IAEA QA code. The Guide has been accepted by the Japanese nuclear industry and applied to the QA programs of every organization concerned therewith. The Japanese approach to higher quality will naturally be different from that of other countries because of Japan's cultural, social, and economic conditions. Even higher quality is being aimed at through the LWR Improvement and Standardization Program and coordinated quality assurance efforts

Transient postoperative atrial fibrillation after abdominal aortic aneurysm repair increases mortality risk

Science.gov (United States)

Kothari, Anai N.; Halandras, Pegge M.; Drescher, Max; Blackwell, Robert H.; Graunke, Dawn M.; Kliethermes, Stephanie; Kuo, Paul C.; Cho, Jae S.

2016-01-01

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether new-onset transient postoperative atrial fibrillation (TPAF) affects mortality rates after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair and to identify predictors for the development of TPAF. Methods Patients who underwent open aortic repair or endovascular aortic repair for a principal diagnosis AAA were retrospectively identified using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-State Inpatient Database (Florida) for 2007 to 2011 and monitored longitudinally for 1 year. Inpatient and 1-year mortality rates were compared between those with and without TPAF. TPAF was defined as new-onset atrial fibrillation that developed in the postoperative period and subsequently resolved in patients without a history of atrial fibrillation. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for age, gender, comorbidities, rupture status, and repair method, were used to assess 1-year survival. Predictive models were built with preoperative patient factors using Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector decision trees and externally validated on patients from California. Results A 3.7% incidence of TPAF was identified among 15,148 patients who underwent AAA repair. The overall mortality rate was 4.3%. The inpatient mortality rate was 12.3% in patients with TPAF vs 4.0% in those without TPAF. In the ruptured setting, the difference in mortality was similar between groups (33.7% vs 39.9%, P = .3). After controlling for age, gender, comorbid disease severity, urgency (ruptured vs nonruptured), and repair method, TPAF was associated with increased 1-year postoperative mortality (hazard ratio, 1.48; P predict an individual's probability of developing TPAF at the point of care. Conclusions The development of TPAF is associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients undergoing repair of nonruptured AAA. Predictive modeling can be used to identify those patients at highest risk for developing TPAF and guide interventions to improve

Effect of Pregnancy on Ventricular and Aortic Dimensions in Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot.

Science.gov (United States)

Cauldwell, Matthew; Quail, Michael A; Smith, Gillian S; Heng, Ee Ling; Ghonim, Sarah; Uebing, Anselm; Swan, Lorna; Li, Wei; Patel, Roshni R; Pennell, Dudley J; Steer, Philip J; Johnson, Mark R; Gatzoulis, Michael A; Babu-Narayan, Sonya V

2017-07-23

The aim was to assess whether cardiovascular adaptation to pregnancy in women with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) adversely affects hemodynamic stability, in particular with respect to right ventricular (RV) dilatation, pulmonary regurgitation, or aortic root dilatation. This was a retrospective cohort study of women with repaired TOF with paired cardiovascular magnetic resonance scans before and after their first pregnancy (baseline RV end systolic volume index 49 mL/m 2 and RV end diastolic volume index 118 mL/m 2 ) matched with a comparison group of nulliparous women with TOF. Cases were matched for age at baseline cardiovascular magnetic resonance scan, time between follow-up of cardiovascular magnetic resonance scans, QRS duration, RV ejection fraction, and indexed RV end systolic and diastolic volume at baseline. Effect of pregnancy and time on parameters was assessed using mixed-effects modelling. Nineteen women with repaired TOF who had completed their first pregnancy were identified and matched with 38 nulliparous women. We observed no deleterious effects of pregnancy on RV volumes, aortic dimensions, or exercise data. There was an effect of pregnancy observed in both left ventricular end diastolic volume and left ventricular stroke volume, consistent with a sustained small increase in left ventricular stroke volume attributed to pregnancy (53-55 mL/m 2 ). Women with repaired TOF and with mild-to-moderate RV dilatation considering pregnancy can be reassured that pregnancy is unlikely to cause deterioration in their cardiovascular status. We recommend that women are routinely assessed and followed up before and after pregnancy and that prepregnancy counseling is tailored to their individual clinical status. © 2017 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

Drugs in development for toxoplasmosis: advances, challenges, and current status.

Science.gov (United States)

Alday, P Holland; Doggett, Joseph Stone

2017-01-01

Toxoplasma gondii causes fatal and debilitating brain and eye diseases. Medicines that are currently used to treat toxoplasmosis commonly have toxic side effects and require prolonged courses that range from weeks to more than a year. The need for long treatment durations and the risk of relapsing disease are in part due to the lack of efficacy against T. gondii tissue cysts. The challenges for developing a more effective treatment for toxoplasmosis include decreasing toxicity, achieving therapeutic concentrations in the brain and eye, shortening duration, eliminating tissue cysts from the host, safety in pregnancy, and creating a formulation that is inexpensive and practical for use in resource-poor areas of the world. Over the last decade, significant progress has been made in identifying and developing new compounds for the treatment of toxoplasmosis. Unlike clinically used medicines that were repurposed for toxoplasmosis, these compounds have been optimized for efficacy against toxoplasmosis during preclinical development. Medicines with enhanced efficacy as well as features that address the unique aspects of toxoplasmosis have the potential to greatly improve toxoplasmosis therapy. This review discusses the facets of toxoplasmosis that are pertinent to drug design and the advances, challenges, and current status of preclinical drug research for toxoplasmosis.

Cartilage Repair Surgery: Outcome Evaluation by Using Noninvasive Cartilage Biomarkers Based on Quantitative MRI Techniques?

Science.gov (United States)

Jungmann, Pia M.; Baum, Thomas; Bauer, Jan S.; Karampinos, Dimitrios C.; Link, Thomas M.; Li, Xiaojuan; Trattnig, Siegfried; Rummeny, Ernst J.; Woertler, Klaus; Welsch, Goetz H.

2014-01-01

Background. New quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are increasingly applied as outcome measures after cartilage repair. Objective. To review the current literature on the use of quantitative MRI biomarkers for evaluation of cartilage repair at the knee and ankle. Methods. Using PubMed literature research, studies on biochemical, quantitative MR imaging of cartilage repair were identified and reviewed. Results. Quantitative MR biomarkers detect early degeneration of articular cartilage, mainly represented by an increasing water content, collagen disruption, and proteoglycan loss. Recently, feasibility of biochemical MR imaging of cartilage repair tissue and surrounding cartilage was demonstrated. Ultrastructural properties of the tissue after different repair procedures resulted in differences in imaging characteristics. T2 mapping, T1rho mapping, delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC), and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) are applicable on most clinical 1.5 T and 3 T MR scanners. Currently, a standard of reference is difficult to define and knowledge is limited concerning correlation of clinical and MR findings. The lack of histological correlations complicates the identification of the exact tissue composition. Conclusions. A multimodal approach combining several quantitative MRI techniques in addition to morphological and clinical evaluation might be promising. Further investigations are required to demonstrate the potential for outcome evaluation after cartilage repair. PMID:24877139

Cartilage Repair Surgery: Outcome Evaluation by Using Noninvasive Cartilage Biomarkers Based on Quantitative MRI Techniques?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pia M. Jungmann

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. New quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI techniques are increasingly applied as outcome measures after cartilage repair. Objective. To review the current literature on the use of quantitative MRI biomarkers for evaluation of cartilage repair at the knee and ankle. Methods. Using PubMed literature research, studies on biochemical, quantitative MR imaging of cartilage repair were identified and reviewed. Results. Quantitative MR biomarkers detect early degeneration of articular cartilage, mainly represented by an increasing water content, collagen disruption, and proteoglycan loss. Recently, feasibility of biochemical MR imaging of cartilage repair tissue and surrounding cartilage was demonstrated. Ultrastructural properties of the tissue after different repair procedures resulted in differences in imaging characteristics. T2 mapping, T1rho mapping, delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC, and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI are applicable on most clinical 1.5 T and 3 T MR scanners. Currently, a standard of reference is difficult to define and knowledge is limited concerning correlation of clinical and MR findings. The lack of histological correlations complicates the identification of the exact tissue composition. Conclusions. A multimodal approach combining several quantitative MRI techniques in addition to morphological and clinical evaluation might be promising. Further investigations are required to demonstrate the potential for outcome evaluation after cartilage repair.

IAEA occupational radiation protection programme: current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deboodt, P.; Mrabit, K.

2006-01-01

As stated in Art.III.A.6 of its Statute, the International Atomic Energy Agency (commonly referred to as the Agency) is authorized to establish or adopt, in consultation and, where appropriate, in collaboration with the competent organs of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies concerned, standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property (including such standards for labour conditions), and to provide for the application of these standards to its own operation as well as to the operations making use of materials, services, equipment, facilities, and information made available by the Agency or at its request or under its control or supervision. The Agency s Occupational Radiation Protection Programme aims at harmonizing infrastructures for the control of radiation exposure of workers and for optimizing radiation protection in situation s of exposures due to external radiation and intakes of radionuclides from both artificial and natural sources of radiation. Under its regular and technical cooperation programmes, the Agency has been assigning high priority to both the establishment of safety standards for labour conditions and for the application of these standards through, Interalia, direct assistance under its technical cooperation (TC) programme, the rendering of services, the promotion of education and training, the fostering of information exchange and the coordination of research and development. The purpose of this paper is to present the current status and future IAEA activities in support of occupational radiation protection. (authors)

Human colon cancer profiles show differential microRNA expression depending on mismatch repair status and are characteristic of undifferentiated proliferative states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarver, Aaron L; Cunningham, Julie M; Subramanian, Subbaya; Wang, Liang; Smyrk, Tom C; Rodrigues, Cecilia MP; Thibodeau, Stephen N; Steer, Clifford J; French, Amy J; Borralho, Pedro M; Thayanithy, Venugopal; Oberg, Ann L; Silverstein, Kevin AT; Morlan, Bruce W; Riska, Shaun M; Boardman, Lisa A

2009-01-01

Colon cancer arises from the accumulation of multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations to normal colonic tissue. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding regulatory RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. Differential miRNA expression in cancer versus normal tissue is a common event and may be pivotal for tumor onset and progression. To identify miRNAs that are differentially expressed in tumors and tumor subtypes, we carried out highly sensitive expression profiling of 735 miRNAs on samples obtained from a statistically powerful set of tumors (n = 80) and normal colon tissue (n = 28) and validated a subset of this data by qRT-PCR. Tumor specimens showed highly significant and large fold change differential expression of the levels of 39 miRNAs including miR-135b, miR-96, miR-182, miR-183, miR-1, and miR-133a, relative to normal colon tissue. Significant differences were also seen in 6 miRNAs including miR-31 and miR-592, in the direct comparison of tumors that were deficient or proficient for mismatch repair. Examination of the genomic regions containing differentially expressed miRNAs revealed that they were also differentially methylated in colon cancer at a far greater rate than would be expected by chance. A network of interactions between these miRNAs and genes associated with colon cancer provided evidence for the role of these miRNAs as oncogenes by attenuation of tumor suppressor genes. Colon tumors show differential expression of miRNAs depending on mismatch repair status. miRNA expression in colon tumors has an epigenetic component and altered expression that may reflect a reversion to regulatory programs characteristic of undifferentiated proliferative developmental states

Applications of Piezoelectric Materials in Structural Health Monitoring and Repair: Selected Research Examples.

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Wen Hui; Wang, Quan; Quek, Ser Tong

2010-12-06

The paper reviews the recent applications of piezoelectric materials in structural health monitoring and repair conducted by the authors. First, commonly used piezoelectric materials in structural health monitoring and structure repair are introduced. The analysis of plain piezoelectric sensors and actuators and interdigital transducer and their applications in beam, plate and pipe structures for damage detection are reviewed in detail. Second, an overview is presented on the recent advances in the applications of piezoelectric materials in structural repair. In addition, the basic principle and the current development of the technique are examined.

Applications of Piezoelectric Materials in Structural Health Monitoring and Repair: Selected Research Examples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ser Tong Quek

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The paper reviews the recent applications of piezoelectric materials in structural health monitoring and repair conducted by the authors. First, commonly used piezoelectric materials in structural health monitoring and structure repair are introduced. The analysis of plain piezoelectric sensors and actuators and interdigital transducer and their applications in beam, plate and pipe structures for damage detection are reviewed in detail. Second, an overview is presented on the recent advances in the applications of piezoelectric materials in structural repair. In addition, the basic principle and the current development of the technique are examined.

Pediatric neurology training in Canada: current status and future directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Doja, Asif

2012-05-01

Child neurology training in Canada has changed considerably over time, with increasing requirements for standardized teaching of the fundamentals of child neurology and the CanMEDS competencies. We sought to determine the current status of child neurology training in Canada as well future directions for training. A web-based survey was sent to program directors (PD's) of active pediatric neurology training programs. General questions about the programs were asked, as well as about success at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) exam, breakdown of rotations, views on CanMEDS roles and questions on the future of pediatric neurology. 9/9 PD's completed the survey. 96.5% of all trainees successfully passed their RCPSC exam from 2001-2006. Breakdowns of the number and type of rotations for each year of training were provided. All CanMEDS roles were deemed to be important by PD's and programs have developed unique strategies to teach and assess these roles.92.6% of trainees chose to go into academic practice, with the most popular subspecialty being epilepsy. All PD's favour joint training sessions particularly for neurogenetics and neuromuscular disease. Overall, PD's suggest recruitment for future child neurologists at the medical student level but are divided as to whether we are currently training too few or too many child neurologists. This survey provides a view of the current state of pediatric neurology training in Canada and suggestions for further development of post-graduate training. In particular, attention should be given to joint educational programs as well as urgently assessing the manpower needs of child neurologists.

Acute stroke magnetic resonance imaging: current status and future perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kloska, Stephan P.; Wintermark, Max; Engelhorn, Tobias; Fiebach, Jochen B.

2010-01-01

Cerebral stroke is one of the most frequent causes of permanent disability or death in the western world and a major burden in healthcare system. The major portion is caused by acute ischemia due to cerebral artery occlusion by a clot. The minority of strokes is related to intracerebral hemorrhage or other sources. To limit the permanent disability in ischemic stroke patients resulting from irreversible infarction of ischemic brain tissue, major efforts were made in the last decade. To extend the time window for thrombolysis, which is the only approved therapy, several imaging parameters in computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been investigated. However, the current guidelines neglect the fact that the portion of potentially salvageable ischemic tissue (penumbra) is not dependent on the time window but the individual collateral blood flow. Within the last years, the differentiation of infarct core and penumbra with MRI using diffusion-weighted images (DWI) and perfusion imaging (PI) with parameter maps was established. Current trials transform these technical advances to a redefined patient selection based on physiological parameters determined by MRI. This review article presents the current status of MRI for acute stroke imaging. A special focus is the ischemic stroke. In dependence on the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia, the basic principle and diagnostic value of different MRI sequences are illustrated. MRI techniques for imaging of the main differential diagnoses of ischemic stroke are mentioned. Moreover, perspectives of MRI for imaging-based acute stroke treatment as well as monitoring of restorative stroke therapy from recent trials are discussed. (orig.)

Mesenchymal Stem/Progenitor Cells Derived from Articular Cartilage, Synovial Membrane and Synovial Fluid for Cartilage Regeneration: Current Status and Future Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yi-Zhou; Xie, Hui-Qi; Silini, Antonietta; Parolini, Ornella; Zhang, Yi; Deng, Li; Huang, Yong-Can

2017-10-01

Large articular cartilage defects remain an immense challenge in the field of regenerative medicine because of their poor intrinsic repair capacity. Currently, the available medical interventions can relieve clinical symptoms to some extent, but fail to repair the cartilaginous injuries with authentic hyaline cartilage. There has been a surge of interest in developing cell-based therapies, focused particularly on the use of mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells with or without scaffolds. Mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells are promising graft cells for tissue regeneration, but the most suitable source of cells for cartilage repair remains controversial. The tissue origin of mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells notably influences the biological properties and therapeutic potential. It is well known that mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells derived from synovial joint tissues exhibit superior chondrogenic ability compared with those derived from non-joint tissues; thus, these cell populations are considered ideal sources for cartilage regeneration. In addition to the progress in research and promising preclinical results, many important research questions must be answered before widespread success in cartilage regeneration is achieved. This review outlines the biology of stem/progenitor cells derived from the articular cartilage, the synovial membrane, and the synovial fluid, including their tissue distribution, function and biological characteristics. Furthermore, preclinical and clinical trials focusing on their applications for cartilage regeneration are summarized, and future research perspectives are discussed.

TomoMINT - the current status and future plan of MINT's computed tomography scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanesan Sinnakaruppan; Jaafar Abdullah

2000-01-01

TomoMINT, a second generation computed tomography scanner developed by MINT, is a powerful non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique for producing two-dimensional cross-sectional images of an object without physically sectioning it. Characteristics of the internal structure of an object such as dimensions, shape, internal defects, density and component distribution are readily available from the scan. Tomographs of wood, metal components and concrete slabs have been successfully obtained from TomoMINT. This paper deals with the current status and future development of this scanner. (author)

In-Space Repair of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon Thermal Protection System Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Mrityunjay

2006-01-01

Advanced repair and refurbishment technologies are critically needed for the thermal protection system of current space transportation system as well as for future Crew Exploration Vehicles (CEV). The damage to these components could be caused by impact during ground handling or due to falling of ice or other objects during launch. In addition, in-orbit damage includes micrometeoroid and orbital debris impact as well as different factors (weather, launch acoustics, shearing, etc.) during launch and re-entry. The GRC developed GRABER (Glenn Refractory Adhesive for Bonding and Exterior Repair) material has shown multiuse capability for repair of small cracks and damage in reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) material. The concept consists of preparing an adhesive paste of desired ceramic with appropriate additives and then applying the paste to the damaged/cracked area of the RCC composites with adhesive delivery system. The adhesive paste cures at 100-120 C and transforms into a high temperature ceramic during simulated entry conditions. A number of plasma torch and ArcJet tests were carried out to evaluate the crack repair capability of GRABER materials for Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) composites. For the large area repair applications, integrated system for tile and leading edge repair (InSTALER) have been developed. In this presentation, critical in-space repair needs and technical challenges as well as various issues and complexities will be discussed along with the plasma performance and post test characterization of repaired RCC materials.

SaudiVeg ecoinformatics: Aims, current status and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed A. El-Sheikh

2017-02-01

Full Text Available During the last decade many electronic databases of vegetation plots were established in many countries around the world. These databases contain valuable phytosociological information assisting both governmental and NGO (Non-governmental organizations agencies to formulate strategies and on-ground plans to manage and protect nature resources. This paper provides an account on aims, current status and perspectives of building of a vegetation database for the Central Region (Najd of Saudi Arabia – the founding element of the Saudi Vegetation Database (SVD. The data stored by the database are sample plots (vegetation relevés collected according to the field techniques of the Braun-Blanquet approach (lists of taxa accompanied by semi-quantitative cover assessment, and are accompanied by general vegetation characteristics such as vegetation layering and cover, information on life-form of the recorded species, geographical coordinates, altitude, soil typology, topography and many more. More than 2900 vegetation-plot records (relevés have so far been collected in the Najd region; of these more than 2000 have already been stored using the Turboveg database platform. These field records cover many habitats such as depressions, wadis (dry river beds, agricultural lands, sand dunes, sabkhas, and ruderal habitats. The ecological information collected in the database is currently the largest set of vegetation data collated into a database in the Middle East. These data are of great importance for biodiversity studies in Saudi Arabia, since the region is recording a loss of biodiversity at a fast rate due to environmental problems such as global warming and land-use changes. We envisage that this database would catalyze further data collection on vegetation of the entire Arabian Peninsula, and shall serve as one of the most important datasets for classification and mapping of the vegetation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Mesenchymal stromal cells for cardiovascular repair: current status and future challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mathiasen, Anders Bruun; Haack-Sørensen, Mandana; Kastrup, Jens

2009-01-01

of treatments in patients with heart failure, the 1-year mortality is still approximately 20% after the diagnosis has been established. Treatment with stem cells with the potential to regenerate the damaged myocardium is a relatively new approach. Mesenchymal stromal cells are a promising source of stem cells...... studies are promising, but there are still many unanswered questions. In this review, we explore present preclinical and clinical knowledge regarding the use of stem cells in cardiovascular regenerative medicine, with special focus on mesenchymal stromal cells. We take a closer look at sources of stem...... for regenerative therapy. Clinical studies on stem cell therapy for cardiac regeneration have shown significant improvements in ventricular pump function, ventricular remodeling, myocardial perfusion, exercise potential and clinical symptoms compared with conventionally treated control groups. The results of most...

Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair in elite rugby players.

Science.gov (United States)

Tambe, Amol; Badge, Ravi; Funk, Lennard

2009-01-01

Rugby is an increasingly popular collision sport. A wide spectrum of injuries can be sustained during training and match play. Rotator cuff injury is uncommon in contact sports and there is little published literature on the treatment of rotator cuff tears in rugby players. We therefore reviewed the results and functional outcomes of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair in elite rugby players. Eleven professional rugby players underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair at our hospital over a 2-year period. We collected data on these patients from the operative records. The patients were recalled for outcome scoring and ultrasound scans. There were seven rugby league players and four rugby union players, including six internationals. Their mean age was 25.7 years. All had had a traumatic episode during match play and could not return to the game after the injury. The mean time to surgery was 5 weeks. The mean width of the cuff tear was 1.8 cm. All were full- thickness cuff tears. Associated injuries included two Bankart lesions, one bony Bankart lesion, one posterior labral tear, and two 360 degrees labral tears. The biceps was involved in three cases. Two were debrided and a tenodesis was performed in one. Repair was with suture anchors. Following surgery, all patients underwent a supervised accelerated rehabilitation programme. The final follow-up was at 18 months (range: 6-31 months) post surgery. The Constant scores improved from 44 preoperatively to 99 at the last follow-up. The mean score at 3 months was 95. The Oxford shoulder score improved from 34 to 12, with the mean third month score being 18. The mean time taken to return to full match play at the preinjury level was 4.8 months. There were no complications in any of the patients and postoperative scans in nine patients confirmed that the repairs had healed. We conclude that full-thickness rotator cuff tears in the contact athlete can be addressed successfully by arthroscopic repair, with a rapid return to

Satisfaction, function and repair integrity after arthroscopic versus mini-open rotator cuff repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, L A Fink; Kim, H M; Caldwell, J-M; Buza, J; Ahmad, C S; Bigliani, L U; Levine, W N

2017-02-01

Advances in arthroscopic techniques for rotator cuff repair have made the mini-open approach less popular. However, the mini-open approach remains an important technique for repair for many surgeons. The aims of this study were to compare the integrity of the repair, the function of the shoulder and satisfaction post-operatively using these two techniques in patients aged > 50 years. We identified 22 patients treated with mini-open and 128 patients treated with arthroscopic rotator cuff repair of July 2007 and June 2011. The mean follow-up was two years (1 to 5). Outcome was assessed using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) and Simple Shoulder Test (SST) scores, and satisfaction. The integrity of the repair was assessed using ultrasonography. A power analysis ensured sufficient enrolment. There was no statistically significant difference between the age, function, satisfaction, or pain scores (p > 0.05) of the two groups. The integrity of the repair and the mean SST scores were significantly better in the mini-open group (91% of mini-open repairs were intact versus 60% of arthroscopic repairs, p = 0.023; mean SST score 10.9 (standard deviation (sd) 1.3) in the mini-open group; 8.9 (sd 3.5) in arthroscopic group; p = 0.003). The ASES scores were also higher in the mini-open group (mean ASES score 91.0 (sd 10.5) in mini-open group; mean 82.70 (sd 19.8) in the arthroscopic group; p = 0.048). The integrity of the repair and function of the shoulder were better after a mini-open repair than after arthroscopic repair of a rotator cuff tear in these patients. The functional difference did not translate into a difference in satisfaction. Mini-open rotator cuff repair remains a useful technique despite advances in arthroscopy. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:245-9. ©2017 The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery.

Current status, new frontiers and challenges in radiation biodosimetry using cytogenetic, transcriptomic and proteomic technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fenech, Michael, E-mail: michael.fenech@csiro.au [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Gate 13 Kintore Avenue, Adelaide, SA 5000 (Australia)

2011-09-15

Biodosimetric methods for determining exposure dose in individuals following a radiation accident are important for the health management of the exposed cohort and prioritisation of high dose exposure cases to receive emergency medical treatment. This brief review provides a succinct outline of (i) the current status of standard cytogenetic methods used in radiation biodosimetry; (ii) development of high-throughput systems for current standard cytogenetic methods; (iii) emerging minimally invasive methods; (iv) the impact of nutrition and genotype on observed dose-response relationships and (v) new frontiers in biodosimetry using molecular biology techniques such as transcriptomics and proteomics.

Small molecules, inhibitors of DNA-PK, targeting DNA repair and beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David eDavidson

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Many current chemotherapies function by damaging genomic DNA in rapidly dividing cells ultimately leading to cell death. This therapeutic approach differentially targets cancer cells that generally display rapid cell division compared to normal tissue cells. However, although these treatments are initially effective in arresting tumor growth and reducing tumor burden, resistance and disease progression eventually occur. A major mechanism underlying this resistance is increased levels of cellular DNA repair. Most cells have complex mechanisms in place to repair DNA damage that occurs due to environmental exposures or normal metabolic processes. These systems, initially overwhelmed when faced with chemotherapy induced DNA damage, become more efficient under constant selective pressure and as a result chemotherapies become less effective. Thus, inhibiting DNA repair pathways using target specific small molecule inhibitors may overcome cellular resistance to DNA damaging chemotherapies. Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ a major mechanism for the repair of double strand breaks (DSB in DNA is regulated in part by the serine/threonine kinase, DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK. The DNA-PK holoenzyme acts as a scaffold protein tethering broken DNA ends and recruiting other repair molecules. It also has enzymatic activity that may be involved in DNA damage signaling. Because of its’ central role in repair of DSBs, DNA-PK has been the focus of a number of small molecule studies. In these studies specific DNA-PK inhibitors have shown efficacy in synergizing chemotherapies in vitro. However, compounds currently known to specifically inhibit DNA-PK are limited by poor pharmacokinetics: these compounds have poor solubility and have high metabolic lability in vivo leading to short serum half-lives. Future improvement in DNA-PK inhibition will likely be achieved by designing new molecules based on the recently reported crystallographic structure of DNA

Single- and double-row repair for rotator cuff tears - biology and mechanics.

Science.gov (United States)

Papalia, Rocco; Franceschi, Francesco; Vasta, Sebastiano; Zampogna, Biagio; Maffulli, Nicola; Denaro, Vincenzo

2012-01-01

We critically review the existing studies comparing the features of single- and double-row repair, and discuss suggestions about the surgical indications for the two repair techniques. All currently available studies comparing the biomechanical, clinical and the biological features of single and double row. Biomechanically, the double-row repair has greater performances in terms of higher initial fixation strength, greater footprint coverage, improved contact area and pressure, decreased gap formation, and higher load to failure. Results of clinical studies demonstrate no significantly better outcomes for double-row compared to single-row repair. Better results are achieved by double-row repair for larger lesions (tear size 2.5-3.5 cm). Considering the lack of statistically significant differences between the two techniques and that the double row is a high cost and a high surgical skill-dependent technique, we suggest using the double-row technique only in strictly selected patients. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Pediatric Patients: To Repair or Not Repair

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gnannt, Ralph; Patel, Premal; Temple, Michael; Al Brashdi, Yahya; Amaral, Joao; Parra, Dimitri; Rea, Vanessa; Stephens, Derek; Connolly, Bairbre

2017-01-01

IntroductionPreservation of venous access in children is a major concern in pediatric interventional radiology. If a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) breaks, there are two options: repair the line with a repair kit or exchange the line over a wire in the interventional suite. The purpose of this study is to assess the outcome of PICC repairs in children and to compare these with the outcomes of PICC exchange.Materials and MethodsThis is a single-center, retrospective study of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) following management of externally broken PICCs (2010–2014). The occurrence of CLABSI within 30 days after repair (Group A) or exchange (Group B) of a line was analyzed, as well as PICCs exchanged following an initial and failed repair.ResultsA total of 235 PICC breaks were included in the study, of which 161 were repaired, and 116 of whom were successful (68%, Group A). No repair was performed in 74 PICCs—55/74 of these were exchanged over a wire (74%, Group B), and 19/74 lines were removed. The 30 days post-repair CLABSI rate (Group A) was 2.0 infections per 1000 catheter days, and the calculated risk was 4.3%. In comparison the 30 days post-exchange CLABSI rate (Group B) was 4.0 per 1000 catheter days and the calculated risk 10.9%. This difference was significant when adjusted for antibiotic use (OR 3.87; 95% CI 1.07–14.0, p = 0.039).ConclusionThe results of this study support repairing a broken PICC instead of removing or replacing the line.

Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Pediatric Patients: To Repair or Not Repair

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gnannt, Ralph, E-mail: ralph.gnannt@usz.ch; Patel, Premal; Temple, Michael; Al Brashdi, Yahya; Amaral, Joao; Parra, Dimitri; Rea, Vanessa [University of Toronto, Image Guided Therapy, Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children (Canada); Stephens, Derek [University of Toronto, Child Health Evaluative Sciences (Canada); Connolly, Bairbre [University of Toronto, Image Guided Therapy, Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children (Canada)

2017-06-15

IntroductionPreservation of venous access in children is a major concern in pediatric interventional radiology. If a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) breaks, there are two options: repair the line with a repair kit or exchange the line over a wire in the interventional suite. The purpose of this study is to assess the outcome of PICC repairs in children and to compare these with the outcomes of PICC exchange.Materials and MethodsThis is a single-center, retrospective study of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) following management of externally broken PICCs (2010–2014). The occurrence of CLABSI within 30 days after repair (Group A) or exchange (Group B) of a line was analyzed, as well as PICCs exchanged following an initial and failed repair.ResultsA total of 235 PICC breaks were included in the study, of which 161 were repaired, and 116 of whom were successful (68%, Group A). No repair was performed in 74 PICCs—55/74 of these were exchanged over a wire (74%, Group B), and 19/74 lines were removed. The 30 days post-repair CLABSI rate (Group A) was 2.0 infections per 1000 catheter days, and the calculated risk was 4.3%. In comparison the 30 days post-exchange CLABSI rate (Group B) was 4.0 per 1000 catheter days and the calculated risk 10.9%. This difference was significant when adjusted for antibiotic use (OR 3.87; 95% CI 1.07–14.0, p = 0.039).ConclusionThe results of this study support repairing a broken PICC instead of removing or replacing the line.

Virtual surgical modification for planning tetralogy of Fallot repair

Science.gov (United States)

Plasencia, Jonathan; Babiker, Haithem; Richardson, Randy; Rhee, Edward; Willis, Brigham; Nigro, John; Cleveland, David; Frakes, David H.

2010-01-01

Goals for treating congenital heart defects are becoming increasingly focused on the long-term, targeting solutions that last into adulthood. Although this shift has motivated the modification of many current surgical procedures, there remains a great deal of room for improvement. We present a new methodological component for tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair that aims to improve long-term outcomes. The current gold standard for TOF repair involves the use of echocardiography (ECHO) for measuring the pulmonary valve (PV) diameter. This is then used, along with other factors, to formulate a Z-score that drives surgical preparation. Unfortunately this process can be inaccurate and requires a mid-operative confirmation that the pressure gradient across the PV is not excessive. Ideally, surgeons prefer not to manipulate the PV as this can lead to valve insufficiency. However, an excessive pressure gradient across the valve necessitates surgical action. We propose the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to improve preparation for TOF repair. In our study, pre-operative CT data were segmented and reconstructed, and a virtual surgical operation was then performed to simulate post-operative conditions. The modified anatomy was used to drive CFD simulation. The pressure gradient across the pulmonary valve was calculated to be 9.24mmHg, which is within the normal range. This finding indicates that CFD may be a viable tool for predicting post-operative pressure gradients for TOF repair. Our proposed methodology would remove the need for mid-operative measurements that can be both unreliable and detrimental to the patient.

Influence of repair length on residual stress in the repair weld of a clad plate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Wenchun; Xu, X.P.; Gong, J.M.; Tu, S.T.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Residual stress in the repair weld of a stainless steel clad plate is investigated. ► The effect of repair length on residual stress has been studied. ► Large tensile residual stress is generated in the repair weld and heat affected zone. ► With the increase of repair length, transverse stress is decreased. ► Repair length has little effect on longitudinal stress. - Abstract: A 3-D sequential coupling finite element simulation is performed to investigate the temperature field and residual stress in the repair weld of a stainless steel clad plate. The effect of repair length on residual stress has been studied, aiming to provide a reference for repairing the cracked clad plate. The results show that large tensile residual stresses are generated in the repair weld and heat affected zone (HAZ), and then decrease gradually away from the weld and HAZ. The residual stresses through thickness in the clad layer are relative uniform, while they are non-uniform in the base metal. A discontinuous stress distribution is generated across the interface between weld metal and base metal. The repair length has a great effect on transverse stress. With the increase of repair length, the transverse stress is decreased. When the repair length is increased to 14 cm, the peak of transverse stress has been decreased below yield strength, and the transverse stress in the weld and HAZ has also been greatly decreased. But the repair length has little effect on longitudinal stress.

Current Status of the Elevated Temperature Structure Design Codes for VHTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong-Bum; Kim, Seok-Hoon; Park, Keun-Bae; Lee, Won-Jae

2006-01-01

An elevated temperature structure design and analysis is one of the key issues in the VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) project to achieve an economic production of hydrogen which will be an essential energy source for the near future. Since the operating temperature of a VHTR is above 850 .deg. C, the existing code and standards are insufficient for a high temperature structure design. Thus the issues concerning a material selection and behaviors are being studied for the main structural components of a VHTR in leading countries such as US, France, UK, and Japan. In this study, the current status of the ASME code, French RCC-MR, UK R5, and Japanese code were investigated and the necessary R and D items were discussed

Current status and future prospect of electron beam sterilization in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katsura, Ichiro

1998-01-01

It seems that electron beam sterilization is being current topic among all applications in Japan and that this tendency will continue until when major companies interested in the technology complete introducing electron beam. Since the Ministry of Health and Welfare(MOHW) officially issued revised regulation on GMP for medical devices in 1995, EtO has become the method regarded as time and money consuming one. On the contrary, electron beam has become as relatively economical and desirable method to achieve same result by its characteristics such as high productivity, rather easy validation and consequent cost reduction, although less penetration limit the kind of products to be treated. Status and prospect of electron beam sterilization in Japan will be presented in the paper along with accelerator related technologies

Current status of Joint FAA/NASA Runway Friction Program

Science.gov (United States)

Yager, Thomas J.; Vogler, William A.

1989-01-01

Tests with specially instrumented NASA B-737 and FAA B-727 aircraft together with several different ground friction measuring devices have been conducted for a variety of runway surface types and wetness conditions. This effort is part of the Joint FAA/NASA Aircraft Ground Vehicle Runway Friction Program aimed at obaining a better understanding of aircraft ground handling performance under adverse weather conditions and defining relationships between aircraft and ground vehicle tire friction measurements. Aircraft braking performance on dry, wet, snow-, and ice-covered runway conditions is discussed together with ground vehicle friction data obtained under similar runway conditions. For the wet, compacted snow- and ice-covered runway conditions, the relationship between ground vehicles and aircraft friction data is identified. The influence of major test parameters on friction measurements such as speed, test tire characteristics, and surface contaminant type are discussed. The test results indicate that use of properly maintained and calibrated ground vehicles for monitoring runway friction conditions should be encouraged particularly under adverse weather conditions. The current status of the runway friction program is summarized and future test plans are identified.

Plague in Iran: its history and current status

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolrazagh Hashemi Shahraki

2016-07-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Plague remains a public health concern worldwide, particularly in old foci. Multiple epidemics of this disease have been recorded throughout the history of Iran. Despite the long-standing history of human plague in Iran, it remains difficult to obtain an accurate overview of the history and current status of plague in Iran. METHODS: In this review, available data and reports on cases and outbreaks of human plague in the past and present in Iran and in neighboring countries were collected, and information was compiled regarding when, where, and how many cases occurred. RESULTS: This paper considers the history of plague in Persia (the predecessor of today’s Iran and has a brief review of plague in countries in the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region, including a range of countries in the Middle East and North Africa. CONCLUSIONS: Since Iran has experienced outbreaks of plague for several centuries, neighboring countries have reported the disease in recent years, the disease can be silent for decades, and the circulation of Yersinia pestis has been reported among rodents and dogs in western Iran, more attention should be paid to disease monitoring in areas with previously reported human cases and in high-risk regions with previous epizootic and enzootic activity.

Plague in Iran: its history and current status.

Science.gov (United States)

Hashemi Shahraki, Abdolrazagh; Carniel, Elizabeth; Mostafavi, Ehsan

2016-01-01

Plague remains a public health concern worldwide, particularly in old foci. Multiple epidemics of this disease have been recorded throughout the history of Iran. Despite the long-standing history of human plague in Iran, it remains difficult to obtain an accurate overview of the history and current status of plague in Iran. In this review, available data and reports on cases and outbreaks of human plague in the past and present in Iran and in neighboring countries were collected, and information was compiled regarding when, where, and how many cases occurred. This paper considers the history of plague in Persia (the predecessor of today's Iran) and has a brief review of plague in countries in the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region, including a range of countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Since Iran has experienced outbreaks of plague for several centuries, neighboring countries have reported the disease in recent years, the disease can be silent for decades, and the circulation of Yersinia pestis has been reported among rodents and dogs in western Iran, more attention should be paid to disease monitoring in areas with previously reported human cases and in high-risk regions with previous epizootic and enzootic activity.

High-density matter: current status and future challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stone J. R.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available There are many fascinating processes in the Universe which we observe in more and more in detail thanks to increasingly sophisticated technology. One of the most interesting phenomena is the life cycle of stars, their birth, evolution and death. If the stars are massive enough, they end their lives in the core-collapse supernova explosion, the one of the most violent events in the Universe. As the result, the densest objects in the Universe, neutron stars and/or black holes are created. Naturally, the physical basis of these events should be understood in line with observation. The current status of our knowledge of processes in the life of stars is far from adequate for their true understanding. We show that although many models have been constructed their detailed ability to describe observations is limited or non-existent. Furthermore the general failure of all models means that we cannot tell which are heading in the right direction. A possible way forward in modeling of high-density matter is outlined, exemplified by the quark-meson-coupling model (QMC. This model has a natural explanation for the saturation of nuclear forces and depends on very few adjustable parameters, strongly constrained by the underlying physics. Latest QMC results for compact objects and finite nuclei are presented.

Current Status of Manufacturing Hazardous Waste in Shanghai