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Sample records for tissue residue approach

  1. Advancing environmental toxicology through chemical dosimetry: External exposures versus tissue residues

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarty, L.S.; Landrum, P.F.; Luoma, S.N.; Meador, J.P.; Merten, A.A.; Shephard, B.K.; van Wezelzz, A.P.

    2011-01-01

    The tissue residue dose concept has been used, although in a limited manner, in environmental toxicology for more than 100 y. This review outlines the history of this approach and the technical background for organic chemicals and metals. Although the toxicity of both can be explained in tissue residue terms, the relationship between external exposure concentration, body and/or tissues dose surrogates, and the effective internal dose at the sites of toxic action tends to be more complex for metals. Various issues and current limitations related to research and regulatory applications are also examined. It is clear that the tissue residue approach (TRA) should be an integral component in future efforts to enhance the generation, understanding, and utility of toxicity testing data, both in the laboratory and in the field. To accomplish these goals, several key areas need to be addressed: 1) development of a risk-based interpretive framework linking toxicology and ecology at multiple levels of biological organization and incorporating organism-based dose metrics; 2) a broadly applicable, generally accepted classification scheme for modes/mechanisms of toxic action with explicit consideration of residue information to improve both single chemical and mixture toxicity data interpretation and regulatory risk assessment; 3) toxicity testing protocols updated to ensure collection of adequate residue information, along with toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics information, based on explicitly defined toxicological models accompanied by toxicological model validation; 4) continued development of residueeffect databases is needed ensure their ongoing utility; and 5) regulatory guidance incorporating residue-based testing and interpretation approaches, essential in various jurisdictions. ??:2010 SETAC.

  2. Chlortetracycline and Oxytetracycline Residues in Poultry Tissues and Eggs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meredith, W. E.; Weiser, H. H.; Winter, A. R.

    1965-01-01

    A pad-plate method of assaying residual amounts of chlortetracycline (CTC) and oxytetracycline (OTC) using Bacillus cereus 213 was used to determine amounts of antibiotic left in tissues and eggs of poultry fed 1,000 and 200 ppm of CTC and OTC in basal feed mixtures. The effects of various methods of cooking the tissues and eggs and the potentiating effect of terephthalic acid (TPA) were studied. It was found that normal methods of roasting, frying, and autoclaving poultry tissue destroyed all residual CTC and OTC, even with the potentiating effect of TPA. The largest amounts of residual antibiotic were found in the liver, then breast, and then thigh tissue when assayed for CTC. Tissue assays for CTC revealed that it was not taken up as extensively as CTC and the largest amounts were found in the liver, then breast. OTC residue was seldom found in the thigh tissue. Terephthalic acid in 0.5% concentration increased the concentration found in all cases. Cooking by poaching and scrambling eggs did not destroy the antibiotic in all cases. PMID:14264853

  3. Assessment of heavy metal residues in water, fish tissue and human ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    MICHAEL HORSFALL

    ABSTRACT: Residual levels of lead, chromium, cadmium and zinc in water and fish tissue from. Ubeji River ... Key Words : Heavy metal residues , Fish tissue, Human blood, Ubeji River. ... is of critical concern because of their toxicity and.

  4. Interpreting residues of petroleum hydrocarbons in wildlife tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hall, R.J.; Coon, N.C.

    1988-08-01

    This report is the first publication in the field of environmental-contaminant effects on wildlife to tell the reader how to interpret the results of analytical chemical results. Specifically, the publication describes how to interpret residues of petroleum hydrocarbons in wildlife tissues. Pollutant oil residues in avian species are emphasized

  5. The tissue residues of sodium dehydroacetate used as feed preservative in swine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hao; Han, Lingling; Xie, Jiayu; Wu, Yingchao; Xie, Yang; Zhang, Yumei

    2018-01-01

    Sodium dehydroacetate (Na-DHA) is a food and feed additive with antimicrobial effects. There is little information on Na-DHA residue levels in foods derived from animals. In this study, Na-DHA residue levels in swine tissues were determined by HLPC, and the pharmacokinetics of Na-DHA in tissues were determined. The Na-DHA residue levels in swine tissues were liver > muscle > fat. The pharmacokinetics of Na-DHA followed a binomial regression model, and the half-time of Na-DHA in swine tissues was 9.07 days for kidney, 7.19 days for liver, 6.66 days for muscle, and 5.39 days for fat tissue. The accuracy of the HPLC method for Na-DHA determination ranged from 80.18% to 91.33% recovery, with coefficients of variation swine diet is a safe feed additive based on residue elimination and ADI values reported. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  6. Estimation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in the water column based on tissue residues in mussels and salmon: An equilibrium partitioning approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neff, J.M.; Burns, W.A.

    1996-01-01

    Equilibrium partitioning was used to estimate concentrations of dissolved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the water column from PAH residues in tissues of mussels and juvenile pink salmon collected from coastal marine waters affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Estimated concentrations were within factors of 2 to 5 for fish and 5 to 10 for mussels of average total dissolved and particulate PAHs measured in concurrent water samples. Temporal trends of estimated and measured water-column PAH concentrations were comparable. Water-column PAH concentrations estimated from residues in tissues of mussels (Mytilus trossulus) were higher than estimates based on residues in tissues of juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha). Possible reasons for this difference include seasonal variations in mussel lipid content, differences in PAH uptake and depuration rates between fish and mussels, differences in how fish and mussels interact with particulate oil, and possible short exposure times for juvenile pink salmon. All of these factors may play a role. In any event, estimates of dissolved PAHs in the water column, based on PAH residues in either fish or mussel tissue, confirm that PAH concentrations generally did not exceed water quality standards for protection of marine life

  7. Antimicrobial residues in tissues and eggs of laying hens at Chittagong, Bangladesh

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    Ariful Islam

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Aim: Antimicrobial residue in animal food products is an important index of food safety. Antimicrobial residues could result from chemotherapeutic or chemoprophylactic use of drugs in food animals. This occurrence of residue in animal food products has received enormous worldwide attention from some local, international, and public health agencies. A crosssectional study was conducted from July to December 2009 to detect the antibiotic residues in tissues and eggs of laying hens at Chittagong of Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: Microbial inhibition test (MIT and thin layer chromatography (TLC methods were used to detect antibacterial residues in poultry tissues (liver, kidney, breast, and thigh muscles and eggs. The bacteria and pH of the MIT method were as follows: Bacillus subtilis on test agar medium with a pH of 7.2, Bacillus cereus with a pH of 6.0, and Escherichia coli at pH with an 8.0. Results: The overall prevalence of antibiotic residues detected by MIT was 64% in liver, 63% in kidney, 56% in breast muscle, 50% in thigh muscle, and 60% in eggs. There was significant variation in results between MIT and TLC (p<0.05. Tetracycline residues were found in 48% in liver, 24% in kidneys, 20% in thigh muscles, 26% in breast muscles, and 36% in eggs. Ciprofloxacin residues were found 46% in liver, 42% in kidneys, 34% in thigh muscles, 30% in breast muscles, and 30% in eggs. Enrofloxacin residues were found 40% in livers, 36% in kidneys, 24% in thigh muscles, 20% in breast muscles, and 26% in eggs. Amoxicillin residues were found 48% in livers, 30% in kidneys, 26% in thigh muscles, 22% in breast muscles, and 24% in eggs. The most frequently detected antibiotic residues by both MIT and TLC were found in liver tissue, tetracycline (48%, ciprofloxacin (46%, enrofloxacin (40%, and amoxicillin (42% were found in liver. Breast muscle tissue was least likely to contain antibiotic residues (24%. Tetracycline (p=0.01 and amoxicillin (p=0.03 residues had

  8. Inclusion of residual tissue in biobanks: opt-in or opt-out?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noor A A Giesbertz

    Full Text Available Residual samples are an important source of tissue for biobanks. They refer to leftover tissue that is obtained in the course of clinical care. Residual samples can be included through an opt-in method--that is, a person explicitly expresses consent to include residual tissue--or an opt-out method--that is, the tissue is stored unless a person explicitly refuses. At the moment there is a renewed interest in the appropriate method for the inclusion of residual samples in biobanks. The expansion of biobanks and rapid developments in biomedical research underscore the need to evaluate the proper procedure. In this article we revisit the arguments in favor and against opt-in and opt-out methods for residual tissue research. We conclude firstly that an opt-out method is only justifiable when certain conditions are met: (1 awareness has to be raised, (2 sufficient information has to be provided, and (3 a genuine possibility to object has to be offered. An opt-out procedure that fulfills these conditions can be called a "thick" opt-out method. As a consequence, the dichotomy between opt-in and opt-out is less stark than usually suggested, as both methods require a certain amount of effort. Secondly, we conclude that because of the diversity of tissue and research, not every situation can be treated alike. There are at least four situations that require opt-in procedures: (1 research with higher risks or increased burdens, (2 the use of controversial or high-impact techniques, (3 research on sensitive tissue types, and (4 research involving vulnerable patients. We suggest that further interdisciplinary debate should answer the question when to opt-in or when to opt-out.

  9. Quantitative and qualitative determination of enrofloxacin residues in fish tissues

    OpenAIRE

    Đorđević Vesna; Baltić M.; Ćirković M.; Kilibarda Nataša; Glamočlija Nataša; Stefanović S.; Miščević Mirjana

    2009-01-01

    Presence of enrofloxacin residues in fish liver, kidney and muscle tissue was investigated after per os application of the drug. For the purpose of determination of enrofloxacin, the following analytical methods were used: microbiological method - plate pH 8 with Escherichia coli ATCC 11303 and HPLC method with fluorescence detection. After a 5-day oral treatment of carps, enrofloxacin residues in tissues were determined up to the 10th day after the end of the drug application. Enrofloxacin c...

  10. Effect of cooking on enrofloxacin residues in chicken tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lolo, M; Pedreira, S; Miranda, J M; Vázquez, B I; Franco, C M; Cepeda, A; Fente, C

    2006-10-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different cooking processes (microwaving, roasting, boiling, grilling and frying) on naturally incurred enrofloxacin residues in chicken muscle. Enrofloxacin and its metabolite, ciprofloxacin, were analysed using a validated LC-MS method with limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ), respectively, of 2 and 5 ng g-1 quinolones in muscle samples. The method was shown to be linear over the range 5-500 ng g-1. Mean intra-day relative standard deviation (RSD) at a concentration of 50 ng g-1 (n = 6) was 6%; inter-day RSD was 12%. A recovery study demonstrated that 65-101%, of the drug and metabolite could be recovered from the tissue. The RSD with naturally incurred roasted chicken breast was 9.18% at a concentration of 11 +/- 1.01 ng g-1 (n = 6). In water, enrofloxacin remained stable for 3 h when heated at 100 degrees C. It was concluded that residue data from raw tissue are valid for estimation of consumer exposure to this drug, as well as the ADI calculations because cooking procedures did not affect enrofloxacin residues, which remained stable during heating. However, there was an apparent decrease in quinolone concentration in tissue because some was lost by exudation into the liquid used for cooking. Conversely, for a cooking procedure with water loss, there was an apparent increase in residue concentration.

  11. Screening of the residual normal ovarian tissue adjacent to orthotopic epithelial ovarian carcinomas in nude mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, G H; Wang, S T; Yao, M Z; Cai, J H; Chen, C Y; Yang, Z X; Hong, L; Yang, S Y

    2014-04-16

    The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility and methods of screening the residual normal ovarian tissue adjacent to orthotopic ovarian carcinomas in nude mice. Human epithelial ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR3) were subcutaneously implanted for a tumor source and ovarian orthotopic transplantation. The cancer tissue, proximal paraneoplastic tissue, middle paraneoplastic tissue, remote paraneoplastic tissue, and normal ovarian tissue were removed. CK-7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, and TIMP-2 expression was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. We obtained 35 paraneoplastic residual ovarian tissues with normal biopsies from 40 cases of an orthotopic epithelial ovarian carcinoma model (87.5%). CK-7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, and TIMP-2 expression was lower in proximal paraneoplastic tissue than in cancer tissue (P tissue (P tissue as well as among residual normal ovarian tissues with different severity (P > 0.05). In ovarian tissues of 20 normal nude mice, the expression of CK- 7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, and TIMP-2 was negative. Overall, the expression levels of CK-7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, TIMP-2, and other molecular markers showed a decreasing trend in the non-cancer tissue direction. The expression levels can be used as standards to screen residual normal ovarian tissue. We can obtain relatively safe normal ovarian tissues adjacent to epithelial ovarian cancer.

  12. Brain tissues volume measurements from 2D MRI using parametric approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    L'vov, A. A.; Toropova, O. A.; Litovka, Yu. V.

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of the paper is to propose a fully automated method of volume assessment of structures within human brain. Our statistical approach uses maximum interdependency principle for decision making process of measurements consistency and unequal observations. Detecting outliers performed using maximum normalized residual test. We propose a statistical model which utilizes knowledge of tissues distribution in human brain and applies partial data restoration for precision improvement. The approach proposes completed computationally efficient and independent from segmentation algorithm used in the application.

  13. Can MRI diffusion-weighted imaging identify postoperative residual/recurrent soft-tissue sarcomas?

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    Mai Maher ElDaly

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI and quantitative diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC mapping in the detection of recurrent/residual postoperative soft tissue sarcomas. Materials and Methods: This study included 36 patients; 27 patients had postoperative recurrent/residual soft tissue sarcomas and 9 patients had postoperative and treatment-related changes (inflammation/fibrosis. The DWI was obtained with 3 b values including 0, 400, and 800 s/mm2. Calculation of the ADC value of the lesion was done via placing the region of interest (ROI to include the largest area of the lesion. ADC values were compared to histopathology. Results: Our results showed that including CE-MRI improved the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity in recurrence detection compared to conventional non-enhanced sequences. However, it showed low specificity (55.56% with a high false-positive rate that may lead to an unnecessary biopsy of a mass such as region of postoperative scar tissue. Conclusion: The joint use of gadolinium-enhanced MRI and quantitative DWI with ADC mapping offer added value in the detection of recurrent/residual postoperative soft tissue sarcoma. This combined use increased both the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity with a cut-off average ADC value for detecting nonmyxoid recurrent/residual lesions ≤1.3 × 10−3 mm2/s (100% specificity and 90.48% sensitivity. Our results showed limited value of DWI with ADC mapping in assessing myxoid sarcomatous tumor recurrences.

  14. MINIMALLY INVASIVE SINGLE FLAP APPROACH WITH CONNECTIVE TISSUE WALL FOR PERIODONTAL REGENERATION

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    Kamen Kotsilkov

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: The destructive periodontal diseases are among the most prevalent in the human population. In some cases, bony defects are formed during the disease progression, thus sustaining deep periodontal pockets. The reconstruction of these defects is usually done with the classical techniques of bone substitutes placement and guided tissue regeneration. The clinical and histological data from the recent years, however, demonstrate the relatively low regenerative potential of these techniques. The contemporary approaches for periodontal regeneration rely on minimally invasive surgical protocols, aimed at complete tissue preservation in order to achieve and maintain primary closure and at stimulating the natural regenerative potential of the periodontal tissues. AIM: This presentation demonstrates the application of a new, minimally invasive, single flap surgical technique for periodontal regeneration in a clinical case with periodontitis and a residual deep intrabony defect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 37 years old patient presented with chronic generalised periodontitis. The initial therapy led to good control of the periodontal infection with a single residual deep periodontal pocket medially at 11 due to a deep intrabony defect. A single flap approach with an enamel matrix derivate application and a connective tissue wall technique were performed. The proper primary closure was obtained. RESULT: One month after surgery an initial mineralisation process in the defect was detected. At the third month, a complete clinical healing was observed. The radiographic control showed finished bone mineralisation and periodontal space recreation. CONCLUSION: In the limitation of the presented case, the minimally invasive surgical approach led to complete clinical healing and new bone formation, which could be proof for periodontal regeneration.

  15. Levels of organochlorine pesticide residue in grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus) tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blankson-Arthur, S.

    2009-06-01

    Organochlorine pesticide residues have been determined in the muscle, liver and kidney tissues from a total of 45 grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus) meat samples obtained from the Gomoa district, a vegetable farming area in the Central Region of Ghana. All samples were analyzed for their residue content of the following organochlorine pesticides; DDT, DDE, hexachlorocyclohexane isomers, lindane (γ-HCH) and δ-HCH, dieldrin, aldrin, endrin, endrin aldehyde, endrin ketone, alpha endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, chlordane, heptachlor and methoxychlor. The results indicated that all the analyzed samples were contaminated with the studied organochlorine pesticides. Aldrin and heptachlor were the principal contaminants in all the samples. The muscle had the highest pollutant load. All organochlorine pesticides investigated were detected in the muscle tissues of the grasscutter at the following mean concentrations; aldrin 1.833μg /kg, heptachlor 0.695μg /kg, γ-HCH 0.283μg /kg, δ-HCH 0.108μg /kg, dieldrin 0.040 μg /kg, p,p'-DDT 0.019μg /kg. p,p'-DDE 0.014μg /kg, endrin 0.018μg /kg, endrin aldehyde 0.090μg /kg, endrin ketone 0.340μg /kg, α-endosulfan 0.162μg /kg, endosulfan sulfate 0.183μg /kg, gamma-chlordane 0.174μg /kg and methoxychlor 0.101μg /kg wet weight. The organochlorine pesticide residues were detected in the liver tissues at the following mean concentrations; aldrin 1.315μg /kg, heptachlor 0.530μg /kg, dieldrin 0.050μg /kg, γ-HCH 0.233μg /kg, δ-HCH 0.070μg /kg, p,p'-DDT 0.123μg /kg. p,p'-DDE 0.043μg /kg endrin aldehyde 0.110μg /kg, endrin ketone 0.115μg /kg, gamma-chlordane 0.093μg /kg and methoxychlor 0.128μg /kg wet weight. No endrin was however detected in the liver. The highest concentrations of γ-HCH, δ-HCH, endrin ketone and endrin aldehyde were measured in the kidney. The mean concentrations of γ-HCH and δ-HCH in the kidney were 0.435μg /kg and 0.107μg /kg respectively. Endrin aldehyde was detected at 0.135μg /kg in

  16. Determination of tylosin residues in pig tissues using high-performance liquid chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Liguoro, M; Anfossi, P; Angeletti, R; Montesissa, C

    1998-06-01

    In accordance with the maximum residue limit of 100 micrograms kg-1 established by EU legislation, a simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the measurement of tylosin residues in pig tissues (fat, kidney, liver and muscle). Tylosin, a macrolide antibiotic, is extracted with water-methanol and cleaned-up by solid-phase extraction (SPE) on cation-exchange cartridges using methanol elution. Tylosin was determined by reversed-phase HPLC with UV detection at 280 nm and the mean recovery from pig tissues fortified in the range 50-200 micrograms kg-1 was 70-85%, with intra- and inter-day RSDs in the ranges 3.4-9.1 and 3.9-10.1% respectively.

  17. Investigation of enrofloxacin residues in broiler tissues using ELISA and LC-MS/MS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panzenhagen, Pedro Henrique N; Aguiar, Waldemir S; Gouvêa, Raquel; de Oliveira, Andréa M G; Barreto, Fabiano; Pereira, Virgínia L A; Aquino, Maria Helena C

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the efficiency of an enrofloxacin ELISA test kit to detect the presence of enrofloxacin residues in broiler tissues compared with LC-MS/MS. Broiler tissues from 72 samples consisting of 60 breast muscle, six pools of livers (500 g each) and six pools of kidneys (500 g each) were obtained from six different slaughterhouses. Breast muscle from 10 carcasses and pools of livers and kidneys from approximately 200 carcasses of the same flock were collected from each slaughterhouse. ELISA and HPLC were used to identify and quantify the contamination of the samples with enrofloxacin. A total of 72% of the analysed samples contained enrofloxacin residues detected by the ELISA and 22.2% were detected by LC-MS/MS. The mean values of enrofloxacin contamination found in chicken breast by ELISA and HPLC were 8.63 and 12.25 μg kg(-1), respectively. None of the samples exceeded the maximum limit of 100 μg kg(-1) by both methods set by the European Union as well as the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry. All positive samples for enrofloxacin residues detected by LC-MS/MS were also positive by ELISA. These data confirm the efficiency of the ELISA test, and suggest its use as a screening method for enrofloxacin residues in poultry tissues due to its quick results, low price and ease of applicability.

  18. MRI findings associated with microscopic residual tumor following unplanned excision of soft tissue sarcomas in the extremities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Lee; Chelala, Lydia; Jose, Jean; Subhawong, Ty K. [University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Department of Radiology, Miami, FL (United States); Pretell-Mazzini, Juan [University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Musculoskeletal Oncology, Miami, FL (United States); Kerr, Darcy A. [University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Miami, FL (United States); Yang, Xuan [University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Miami, FL (United States)

    2018-02-15

    MRI is often used to determine the presence of residual disease following unplanned excisions (UPE) of soft tissue sarcomas (STS). We sought to identify MRI features associated with histologic evidence of residual disease after TBE. This was an IRB-approved retrospective review of 27 patients with R1-type UPE of STS over a 32-month period, with subsequent MRI and TBE. MRI studies were retrospectively evaluated to determine depth of tissue involvement, presence of nodular enhancement, and maximum length of soft tissue edema normalized to extremity size. MRI findings were correlated with histology from unplanned excision and TBE. Among the 21 subjects, there were 13 males and 8 females, mean age 58. Eighteen of 21 STS were grade 2 or 3. Deep compartments were involved in 5/21 cases. Original margins were positive in 17/21 UPE, with inadequate margin assessment in the remaining 4 cases. Residual tumor was present at TBE in 11/21 cases; it was found in 4/6 cases with nodular enhancement and 7/15 cases without nodular enhancement (sensitivity = 0.36; specificity = 0.80; PPV = 0.67; NPV = 0.53). Increased extent of soft tissue edema increased the likelihood of residual tumor at TBE (OR = 35.0; 95% CI = 1.6 to 752.7; p = 0.023). Nodular enhancement is neither sensitive nor specific in predicting residual microscopic tumor in TBE following UPE. Extensive soft tissue edema on MRI after UPE increases the likelihood of finding a residual microscopic tumor, justifying ample margins at TBE and consideration of adjuvant therapy. (orig.)

  19. Assessment of radioactive residues arising from radiolabel instability in a multiple dose tissue distribution study in rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slatter, J.G.; Sams, J.P.; Easter, J.A.

    2003-01-01

    Our study objectives were to quantitatively determine the effect of radiolabel instability on terminal phase radioactive tissue residues in a multiple dose tissue distribution study, to quantitatively compare tissue residue artifacts (non drug-related radioactivity) from two chemically-distinct radiolabel locations, and to conduct a definitive multiple dose tissue distribution study using the better of the two radiolabeled compounds. We compared the excretion and tissue distribution in rats of [ 14 C]linezolid, radiolabeled in two different locations, after 7 consecutive once daily [ 14 C] oral doses. The radiolabels were in the acetamide (two carbon) and oxazolidinone (isolated carbon) functional groups. Terminal phase tissue residue and excretion data were compared to data from rats dosed orally with [ 14 C]sodium acetate. Drug-related radioactivity was excreted rapidly over 24 h. After a single dose, the acetamide and oxazolidinone radiolabel sites both gave 3% of dose as exhaled 14 CO 2 . After 7 daily [ 14 C] oral doses, terminal phase radioactive tissue residues were higher from the acetamide radiolabel, relative to the oxazolidinone radiolabel, and were primarily not drug-related. In the definitive tissue distribution study, low concentrations of drug-related radioactivity in skin and thyroid were observed. We conclude that although small amounts of radiolabel instability do not significantly affect single dose tissue radioactivity C max and area under the curve (AUC), artifacts arising from radiolabel instability can prolong the apparent terminal phase half life and complicate study data interpretation. When possible, it is always preferable to use a completely stable radiolabel site. (author)

  20. Assessment of radioactive residues arising from radiolabel instability in a multiple dose tissue distribution study in rats

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Slatter, J.G. [Pharmacia Corp., Peapack, NJ (United States); Sams, J.P.; Easter, J.A. [Pharmacia Corp., Kalamazoo, MI (United States)] [and others

    2003-05-01

    Our study objectives were to quantitatively determine the effect of radiolabel instability on terminal phase radioactive tissue residues in a multiple dose tissue distribution study, to quantitatively compare tissue residue artifacts (non drug-related radioactivity) from two chemically-distinct radiolabel locations, and to conduct a definitive multiple dose tissue distribution study using the better of the two radiolabeled compounds. We compared the excretion and tissue distribution in rats of [{sup 14}C]linezolid, radiolabeled in two different locations, after 7 consecutive once daily [{sup 14}C] oral doses. The radiolabels were in the acetamide (two carbon) and oxazolidinone (isolated carbon) functional groups. Terminal phase tissue residue and excretion data were compared to data from rats dosed orally with [{sup 14}C]sodium acetate. Drug-related radioactivity was excreted rapidly over 24 h. After a single dose, the acetamide and oxazolidinone radiolabel sites both gave 3% of dose as exhaled {sup 14}CO{sub 2}. After 7 daily [{sup 14}C] oral doses, terminal phase radioactive tissue residues were higher from the acetamide radiolabel, relative to the oxazolidinone radiolabel, and were primarily not drug-related. In the definitive tissue distribution study, low concentrations of drug-related radioactivity in skin and thyroid were observed. We conclude that although small amounts of radiolabel instability do not significantly affect single dose tissue radioactivity C{sub max} and area under the curve (AUC), artifacts arising from radiolabel instability can prolong the apparent terminal phase half life and complicate study data interpretation. When possible, it is always preferable to use a completely stable radiolabel site. (author)

  1. Depletion of eugenol residues from the skin-on fillet tissue of rainbow trout exposed to 14C-labeled eugenol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinertz, Jeffery R.; Schreier, Theresa M.; Porcher, Scott T.; Smerud, Justin R.; Gaikowski, Mark P.

    2014-01-01

    The U.S. is lagging in access to an approved immediate-release sedative, i.e. a compound that can be safely and effectively used to sedate fish and has no withdrawal period. AQUI-S® 20E (10% active ingredient, eugenol) is under investigation as an immediate-release sedative for freshwater finfish. Because of its investigational status, data are needed to characterize the depletion, distribution, and identity of AQUI-S® 20E residues in fillet tissue. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed to uniformly ring labeled 14C-eugenol at a nominal concentration of 10 mg/L for 60 min in 18 °C water. Fish (n = 6) were sampled immediately after the exposure (0 min) then at 30, 60, 120, and 240 min. Eugenol concentrations and characterization of 14C residues in the fillet tissue were determined by high pressure liquid chromatography and flow-through liquid scintillation counting techniques. Total 14C-residue burdens in fillet tissue were determined by tissue oxidation and static liquid scintillation counting techniques. Maximum eugenol and 14C-eugenol equivalent residue concentrations in the fillet tissue were measured immediately after the exposure (44.5 and 38.8 μg/g, respectively). Eugenol was the primary 14C-residue (> 90% of all 14C-residues) in extracts from fillet tissue taken from fish sampled immediately after the exposure (0 min) and from fish sampled at 30 and 60 min after the exposure. The depletion of 14C-eugenol residues from the fillet tissue was rapid (t1/2 = 26.25 min) after transferring the exposed fish to fresh flowing water.

  2. Reproduction, growth, and tissue residues of deer fed dieldrin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, D.A.; Korschgen, L.J.

    1970-01-01

    Feeding tests were conducted from January, 1966, to January, 1969, to ascertain the effects of daily ingestions of sublethal amounts of dieldrin on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Groups of deer on 0 ppm dieldrin (controls), 5 ppm, and 25 ppm dieldrin were maintained at these respective levels, as were their progeny. Treated food was readily accepted. Dieldrin intoxication was not observed, and 9 of 10 animals of each group survived 3 years of treatment. No differences in conception or in utero mortality were found between groups. Fawns from dieldrin-fed does were smaller at birth and greater post-partum mortality occurred. Fertility of male progeny was not affected. Growth was slower and remained reduced in dieldrin-treated females which were immature when the study began. Hematologic values and serum protein concentrations were not significantly (P > 0.05) related to treatment. Liver/body weight ratios were significantly (P brain, liver, and thigh muscle tissues showed no evidence of increasing with length of treatment, but showed definite relationships to levels of dieldrin in daily diets. Nursing fawns had higher residues in brain tissues than did older deer on 5 ppm a d 25 ppm dieldrin. Highest brain residues (12.60 and 12.10 ppm, wet weight) occurred in fawns only a few days of age at death. Equilibrium between ingestion and storage or excretion of dieldrin occurred prior to 200 days and continued until nearly 1,100 days. There was no evidence of a sharp decline in residues after a long period of continued dosage. Daily ingestion of 100 and 200 ppm of dieldrin proved fatal to yearling male deer at 27 and 22 days, respectively.

  3. Prevalence of antimicrobial residues in eggs, tissue and feed samples in the State of Kuwait

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alomirah, H.; Al-Mazeedi, H.; Al-Zenki, S.; Al-Faili, B.; Al-Foudary, M.; Abuzid, A.; Al-Sayed, I.; Sidhu, J.

    2007-01-01

    A total of 238 locally produced and imported eggs, tissue (meat, poultry and aquacultured fish) and feed and feedstuffs samples were collected at different seasonal periods from different farms and retail outlets in Kuwait and screened for presence of beta-lactams, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, streptomycin, macrolides and chloramphenicol (799 tests) using Charm II system. The results indicated that all of the 222 tests performed on table egg samples were negative for the analyzed antimicrobial residues indicating adherence to the guidelines for microbial use and withdrawal. Similarly, all of the 268 tests performed on tissue samples were negative for the analyzed antimicrobial residues except for chloramphenicol. These chloramphenicol positive samples, all of the 66 tests performed were negative for beta-lactams residues. Out of the 79 feed and feedstuff samples analyzed for teracyclines residues, broiler diet and concentrate samples (5%) were above the tetracyclines MRL (100 ppb.). On the other hands, results have revealed a widespread of sulfonamide residues and to a less extent chloramphenicol in tested feed and feedstuff samples. The Charm II system was reliable for rapid screening of antimicrobial residues. In general, results obtained in our study necessitate more effective and well planned national antimicrobial residues surveillance programs focusing particularly on samples imported from highly risk sources. (author)

  4. Spatial-temporal ultrasound imaging of residual cavitation bubbles around a fluid-tissue interface in histotripsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Hong; Xu, Shanshan; Yuan, Yuan; Liu, Runna; Wang, Supin; Wan, Mingxi

    2015-05-01

    Cavitation is considered as the primary mechanism of soft tissue fragmentation (histotripsy) by pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound. The residual cavitation bubbles have a dual influence on the histotripsy pulses: these serve as nuclei for easy generation of new cavitation, and act as strong scatterers causing energy "shadowing." To monitor the residual cavitation bubbles in histotripsy, an ultrafast active cavitation imaging method with relatively high signal-to-noise ratio and good spatial-temporal resolution was proposed in this paper, which combined plane wave transmission, minimum variance beamforming, and coherence factor weighting. The spatial-temporal evolutions of residual cavitation bubbles around a fluid-tissue interface in histotripsy under pulse duration (PD) of 10-40 μs and pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 0.67-2 kHz were monitored by this method. The integrated bubble area curves inside the tissue interface were acquired from the bubble image sequence, and the formation process of histotripsy damage was estimated. It was observed that the histotripsy efficiency decreased with both longer PDs and higher PRFs. A direct relationship with a coefficient of 1.0365 between histotripsy lesion area and inner residual bubble area was found. These results can assist in monitoring and optimization of the histotripsy treatment further.

  5. Altered lipid metabolism in residual white adipose tissues of Bscl2 deficient mice.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weiqin Chen

    Full Text Available Mutations in BSCL2 underlie human congenital generalized lipodystrophy type 2 disease. We previously reported that Bscl2 (-/- mice develop lipodystrophy of white adipose tissue (WAT due to unbridled lipolysis. The residual epididymal WAT (EWAT displays a browning phenotype with much smaller lipid droplets (LD and higher expression of brown adipose tissue marker proteins. Here we used targeted lipidomics and gene expression profiling to analyze lipid profiles as well as genes involved in lipid metabolism in WAT of wild-type and Bscl2(-/- mice. Analysis of total saponified fatty acids revealed that the residual EWAT of Bscl2(-/- mice contained a much higher proportion of oleic 18:1n9 acid concomitant with a lower proportion of palmitic 16:0 acid, as well as increased n3- polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA remodeling. The acyl chains in major species of triacylglyceride (TG and diacylglyceride (DG in the residual EWAT of Bscl2(-/- mice were also enriched with dietary fatty acids. These changes could be reflected by upregulation of several fatty acid elongases and desaturases. Meanwhile, Bscl2(-/- adipocytes from EWAT had increased gene expression in lipid uptake and TG synthesis but not de novo lipogenesis. Both mitochondria and peroxisomal β-oxidation genes were also markedly increased in Bscl2(-/- adipocytes, highlighting that these machineries were accelerated to shunt the lipolysis liberated fatty acids through uncoupling to dissipate energy. The residual subcutaneous white adipose tissue (ScWAT was not browning but displays similar changes in lipid metabolism. Overall, our data emphasize that, other than being essential for adipocyte differentiation, Bscl2 is also important in fatty acid remodeling and energy homeostasis.

  6. Depletion of isoeugenol residues from the fillet tissue of AQUI-S™ exposed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinertz, Jeffery R.; Schreier, Theresa M.

    2009-01-01

    There is a critical need in U.S. public aquaculture and fishery management for an approved sedative that allows for the immediate release of fish after sedation. AQUI-STM is a fish anesthetic/sedative approved for use in several countries and until recently was being developed in the U.S. as a sedative for immediate release of fish after sedation. The U.S. National Toxicology Program reported that isoeugenol (the active ingredient in AQUI-STM) exposed male mice showed clear evidence of carcinogenicity, therefore efforts within the U.S. Department of Interior to develop AQUI-STM as a sedative that allows for immediate release ceased. Despite the ruling, AQUI-STM still has the potential to be approved as an anesthetic with a short withdrawal time. Among the data required to gain approval for use in the U.S. are data describing the composition and depletion of all AQUI-STM residues from fish fillet tissue. A total residue depletion study for AQUI-STM was conducted by exposing market-sized rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (mean weight, 502.7 ± 54 g; s.d.) to 8.9 mg/L of 14C-[URL]-isoeugenol for 60 min in 17 °C water. The 14C-[URL]-isoeugenol was mixed with a surfactant resulting in a mixture that mimicked AQUI-STM. Groups of fish (n = 6) were sampled immediately after the exposure (0-h sample group) and at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h thereafter. Total isoeugenol-equivalent residue concentrations in the fillet tissue were determined by oxidizing triplicate subsamples of homogenized skin-on fillet tissue from each fish to 14CO2 and enumerating the radioactivity by static liquid scintillation counting. Isoeugenol concentrations in fillet tissue were determined by extracting homogenized fillet tissue with solvents and determining the isoeugenol concentrations in the extracts with high performance liquid chromatography techniques. The mean total isoeugenol-equivalent residue concentrations in the 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4-h sample groups were 55.4, 32.0, 19.8, 11

  7. Investigation of antibiotic residues in edible tissues of slaughtered broilers in Maragheh abattoir using FPT method (short comunication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masumeh Abasi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Antibiotic residues in food stuff and their transmission to the consumers have some consequences such as bacterial resistance, allergic reactions, intoxication, carcinogenic effects and disturbing of intestine natural flora. Among microbiologic methods, four plate test (FPT is used to detect antibiotic residues in food stuff, which performs in four culture media with different pH values and test bacteria. The aim of this study was investigation of antibiotic residues in edible tissues of slaughtered broilers in Maragheh abattoir using FPT method. For this reason, 40 slaughtered broilers carcasses in Maragheh abattoir (from 10 different poultry farms were sampled. The sampling was conducted randomly from breast and leg muscles, gizzard as well as liver of each carcass. According to results of current study, 60% of liver samples, 55% of leg samples, 52.5% of breast samples and 52.5% of gizzard samples contained antibiotic residues. Moreover, the amount of antibiotic residues among different samples did not show statistical significance (p>0.05. The highest occurrence of antibiotic residue was found in two flocks (100% and the lowest occurrence was recorded for another two flocks (0%. According to the health hazard of antibiotic residues in foods, continuous monitoring is recommended for edible tissues of broilers.

  8. Design Approaches to Myocardial and Vascular Tissue Engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akintewe, Olukemi O; Roberts, Erin G; Rim, Nae-Gyune; Ferguson, Michael A H; Wong, Joyce Y

    2017-06-21

    Engineered tissues represent an increasingly promising therapeutic approach for correcting structural defects and promoting tissue regeneration in cardiovascular diseases. One of the challenges associated with this approach has been the necessity for the replacement tissue to promote sufficient vascularization to maintain functionality after implantation. This review highlights a number of promising prevascularization design approaches for introducing vasculature into engineered tissues. Although we focus on encouraging blood vessel formation within myocardial implants, we also discuss techniques developed for other tissues that could eventually become relevant to engineered cardiac tissues. Because the ultimate solution to engineered tissue vascularization will require collaboration between wide-ranging disciplines such as developmental biology, tissue engineering, and computational modeling, we explore contributions from each field.

  9. Analysis of tissue residues and comparative metabolism of virginiamycin in rats, turkeys, and cattle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gottschall, D.W.; Gombatz, C.; Wang, R.

    1987-01-01

    Liver tissue samples from turkeys, cattle, and rats given [ 14 C]virginiamycin were examined for the presence of metabolites. Extraction of the liver was performed sequentially with methanol and pH 7.4 phosphate buffer. The methanol fraction was further partitioned into chloroform-soluble and water-soluble fractions. The majority of the total liver residue (56-73%) remained intractable following these treatments. The three extracts were fractionated by normal- or reversed-phase HPLC. The results indicated that virginiamycin was metabolized to a large number of fragments and that no single metabolite represented greater than 3.5% of the total liver residue. Due to sample limitations no metabolite identification was possible at this time. Fortification experiments indicated that little, if any, parent virginiamycin was present in the tissue. Additional balance-excretion studies conducted in cattle and rats demonstrated that the majority of the dose (83-94%) was eliminated in the feces

  10. A Residual Approach for Balanced Truncation Model Reduction (BTMR of Compartmental Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William La Cruz

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a residual approach of the square root balanced truncation algorithm for model order reduction of continuous, linear and time-invariante compartmental systems. Specifically, the new approach uses a residual method to approximate the controllability and observability gramians, whose resolution is an essential step of the square root balanced truncation algorithm, that requires a great computational cost. Numerical experiences are included to highlight the efficacy of the proposed approach.

  11. Experimental study on effect of roasting, boiling and microwave cooking methods on enrofloxacin antibiotic residues in edible poultry tissues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Javadi

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different cooking processes such as boiling, roasting and microwaving on enrofloxacin residues in muscle, liver and gizzard tissues of broiler chickens. Each of chicks was fed by routine diet and water with %0.05 of enrofloxacine for consecutive 5 days .Then; three locations including breast muscle, liver and gizzard were sampled aseptically from each carcass. Enrofloxacin residue was analyzed using microbial method by plates seeded with Escherichia coli. After doing different phases of the test on raw samples, the positive raw samples cooked by various cooking procedures and we surveyed cooked samples with similar method again for present of residue. The results were show reduction in concentration of enrofloxacin residue after different cooking processes. The most reduction of the residue in cooked meat and gizzard samples related to boiling process and roasting process for cooked liver samples and the highest detectable amount of residue belonged to microwaving process in all cooked samples. Regarding to the results of this study, we can conclude that cooking processes can’t annihilate total amounts of these drug and it can only decrease their amounts and the most of residue in boiling process excreted from tissue to cooking fluid.

  12. Reduction of negative environmental impact generated by residues of plant tissue culture laboratory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusleidys Cortés Martínez

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The research is based on the activity developed by teaching and research laboratories for biotechnology purposes with an environmental approach to determine potential contamination risk and analyze the residuals generated. The physical - chemical characterization of the residuals was carried out from contamination indicators that can affect the dumping of residual water. In order to identify the environmental risks and sources of microbial contamination of plant material propagated by in vitro culture that generate residuals, all the risk activities were identified, the type of risk involved in each activity was analyzed, as well as whether or not the standards were met of aseptic normative. The dilution and neutralization was proposed for residuals with extreme values of pH. Since the results of the work a set of measures was proposed to reduce the negative environmental impact of the laboratory residuals. Key words: biosafety, environmental management, microbial contamination

  13. Standardized Approach to Quantitatively Measure Residual Limb Skin Health in Individuals with Lower Limb Amputation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rink, Cameron L; Wernke, Matthew M; Powell, Heather M; Tornero, Mark; Gnyawali, Surya C; Schroeder, Ryan M; Kim, Jayne Y; Denune, Jeffrey A; Albury, Alexander W; Gordillo, Gayle M; Colvin, James M; Sen, Chandan K

    2017-07-01

    Objective: (1) Develop a standardized approach to quantitatively measure residual limb skin health. (2) Report reference residual limb skin health values in people with transtibial and transfemoral amputation. Approach: Residual limb health outcomes in individuals with transtibial ( n  = 5) and transfemoral ( n  = 5) amputation were compared to able-limb controls ( n  = 4) using noninvasive imaging (hyperspectral imaging and laser speckle flowmetry) and probe-based approaches (laser doppler flowmetry, transcutaneous oxygen, transepidermal water loss, surface electrical capacitance). Results: A standardized methodology that employs noninvasive imaging and probe-based approaches to measure residual limb skin health are described. Compared to able-limb controls, individuals with transtibial and transfemoral amputation have significantly lower transcutaneous oxygen tension, higher transepidermal water loss, and higher surface electrical capacitance in the residual limb. Innovation: Residual limb health as a critical component of prosthesis rehabilitation for individuals with lower limb amputation is understudied in part due to a lack of clinical measures. Here, we present a standardized approach to measure residual limb health in people with transtibial and transfemoral amputation. Conclusion: Technology advances in noninvasive imaging and probe-based measures are leveraged to develop a standardized approach to quantitatively measure residual limb health in individuals with lower limb loss. Compared to able-limb controls, resting residual limb physiology in people that have had transfemoral or transtibial amputation is characterized by lower transcutaneous oxygen tension and poorer skin barrier function.

  14. DETECTION OF LASALOCID RESIDUES IN THE TISSUES OF BROILER CHICKENS BY A NEW SCREENING TEST TOTAL ANTIBIOTICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin Levkut, ml.

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to evaluate the microbial growth inhibition test Total antibiotics for the screening of lasalocid residues in the tissues of broiler chickens after its oral administration in medicated feed. The residues were investigated throughout the 5-day withdrawal period /WP/ and also on day 6 representing the first day following the WP. All broiler chicken tissues were positive for lasalocid. The breast muscle was positive (the presence of residues at/above the detection limit /LOD/ of method up to day 1 of the WP, the thigh muscle, gizzard, heart, skin and fat up to day 3 of the WP and the liver and kidneys up to day 4 of the WP. When evaluating the dubious results (the presence of residues just below the LOD of method, the breast muscle was suspect positive up to day 3 of the WP and the gizzard, skin and fat up to day 4 of the WP. No positive or dubious results were detected on day 5 of the WP. The LOD of Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis for maduramycin was 500 µg.l-1.doi:10.5219/140

  15. TuBaFrost 3: regulatory and ethical issues on the exchange of residual tissue for research across Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Veen, E.-B.; Riegman, P. H. J.; Dinjens, W. N. M.; Lam, K. H.; Oomen, M. H. A.; Spatz, A.; Mager, R.; Ratcliffe, C.; Knox, K.; Kerr, D.; van Damme, B.; van de Vijver, M.; van Boven, H.; Morente, M. M.; Alonso, S.; Kerjaschki, D.; Pammer, J.; Lopez-Guerrero, J. A.; Llombart Bosch, A.; Carbone, A.; Gloghini, A.; Teodorovic, I.; Isabelle, M.; Passioukov, A.; Lejeune, S.; Therasse, P.; Oosterhuis, J. W.

    2006-01-01

    The regulatory regimes for research with residual tissue and accompanying data differ widely between countries in the European Union (EU): from specific consent to opt-out or even no consent at all. This could greatly hamper research where the exchange of tissue and accompanying data has become the

  16. Relatively rapid loss of lampricide residues from fillet tissue of fish after routine treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vue, C.; Bernardy, J.A.; Hubert, T.D.; Gingerich, W.H.; Stehly, G.R.

    2002-01-01

    The selective sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) larvicide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) is currently used to control parasitic sea lampreys in tributaries to the Great Lakes basin. The concentration and persistence of TFM and its major metabolite, TFM glucuronide (TFM-glu), was determined in fillet tissue of fish after a typical stream application. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were exposed to a nominal concentration of 12.6 nmol/mL TFM for about 12 h during a sea lamprey control treatment of the Ford River in Michigan. Concentrations of TFM and TFM-glu were greatest in the fillet tissues during the exposure period, with greater residues in channel catfish (wet wt; mean, 6.95 nmol/g TFM; mean, 2.40 nmol/g TFM-glu) than in rainbow trout (wet wt; mean, 1.45 nmol/g TFM; mean, 0.93 nmol/g TFM-glu). After the exposure period, residues in both species decreased by 90-99% within 6-12 h and were less than the quantitation limit (<0.03 nmol/g) within 36 h.

  17. AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THE USE OF HEAVY OIL RESIDUE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugene Dashut

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We consider an alternative approach to the existing oil refining, in which instead of a single priority that emerged in the traditional approach, we consider two: get the light component and a heavy residue used for the production of new construction materials.

  18. Autotransplantation of spleen tissue in children with mansonic schistosomiasis who underwent splenectomy: Evaluation of splenic residual functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brandt Carlos Teixeira

    1998-01-01

    Full Text Available Autotransplantation of spleen tissue is an attempt for maintenance of splenic functions when splenectomy is indicated in children. It minimizes the risks of overwhelming postsplenectomy infection and it has been done in children with severe portal hypertension due to hepatosplenic mansonic schistosomiasis that underwent splenectomy. The purposes of this investigation were to study the morphology of the residual splenic tissue; to evaluate the residual filtration function of this splenosis; and to assess the immune response to polyvalent pneumococcal vaccine of these patients. Twenty-three children with portal hypertension from mansonic schistosomiasis who underwent splenectomy, ligature of the left gastric vein, autotransplantation of spleen tissue into an omental pouch were evaluated for residual splenic parenchyma and functions. Tc-99m sulfur colloid liver-spleen scans were used for detection of splenic nodules. The search for Howell Jolly bodies were used for assessing the filtration function and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used for measuring the relative rise in titter of specific pneumococcal antibodies. Splenosis was evident in all children; however, in two there were less than five splenic nodules in the greater omentum, which was considered insufficient. Howell-Jolly bodies were found in the peripheral blood only in these two patients with less evident splenosis. The immune response was adequate in 15 patients; it was intermediate in 4 patients and inadequate in 4 patients. Autotransplantation of spleen tissue into an omental pouch is efficient in maintaining the filtration splenic function in more than 90% of the cases and the immune response to pneumococcal vaccination in approximately 65% of the children.

  19. Measurement of capillary permeability in canine heart determined by the tissue injection, residue detection method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svendsen, Jesper Hastrup; Paaske, W P; Haunsø, S

    1991-01-01

    (apparent) interstitial volume of distribution, tev is the mean transit time of the indicator, and klo is the recorded fractional initial washout rate constant. In experiments on open chest dog hearts we examined capillary permeability for 51Cr-EDTA and 99mTc-DTPA with the tissue injection, residue...

  20. Reconstruction of the residual stresses in a hyperelastic body using ultrasound techniques

    KAUST Repository

    Joshi, Sunnie

    2013-09-01

    This paper focuses on a novel approach for characterizing the residual stress field in soft tissue using ultrasound interrogation. A nonlinear inverse spectral technique is developed that makes fundamental use of the finite strain nonlinear response of the material to a quasi-static loading. The soft tissue is modeled as a nonlinear, prestressed and residually stressed, isotropic, slightly compressible elastic body with a rectangular geometry. A boundary value problem is formulated for the residually stressed and prestressed soft tissue, the boundary of which is subjected to a quasi-static pressure, and then an idealized model for the ultrasound interrogation is constructed by superimposing small amplitude time harmonic infinitesimal vibrations on static finite deformation via an asymptotic construction. The model is studied, through a semi-inverse approach, for a specific class of deformations that leads to a system of second order differential equations with homogeneous boundary conditions of Sturm-Liouville type. By making use of the classical theory of inverse Sturm-Liouville problems, and root finding and optimization techniques, several inverse spectral algorithms are developed to approximate the residual stress distribution in the body, given the first few eigenfrequencies of several induced static pressures. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Human health risks associated with residual pesticide levels in edible tissues of slaughtered cattle in Benin City, Southern Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isioma Tongo

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Pesticide residues in meat is of growing concern due to possible adverse effects on humans. Pesticide levels were assessed in five edible cattle parts: muscle, liver, kidney and tongue tissues to determine human health risk associated with consumption of these tissues. Health risk estimates were analysed using estimated daily intake (EDI, hazard quotient (HQ and hazard index (HI for two (2 age/weight categories: 1–11years/30 kg for children while 70 kg was used for adult. Risks were categorized for non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health effects and measured at the average, maximum, 50th and 95th percentiles of the measured exposure concentrations (MEC. Total pesticide residues ranged from 2.38 to 3.86 μg/kg (muscle, 3.58 to 6.3 μg/kg (liver, 1.87 to 4.59 μg/kg (kidney and 2.54 to 4.35 μg/kg (tongue. Residual pesticide concentrations in the tissues were in the order: Liver > Tongue > Muscle > Kidney. The concentrations of all the assessed pesticides observed in the tissues were however lower than the recommended maximum residual limits (MRLs. Human health risk estimations for the children showed EDI values for heptachlor epoxide, aldrin and dieldrin exceeding threshold values. Non-cancer risk posed to children on consumption of contaminated cattle parts showed HQ values for heptachlor epoxide, aldrin, dieldrin and HI values for organochlorines exceeding 1, indicating the possibility of non-carcinogenic health risks to consumers especially children from consumption of cattle meat from the selected abattoirs.

  2. Zeranol: a review of the metabolism, toxicology, and analytical methods for detection of tissue residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baldwin, R.S.; Williams, R.D.; Terry, M.K.

    1983-01-01

    Zeranol, an anabolic agent produced commercially for use in cattle and sheep intended for human consumption, is noncarcinogenic, nonteratogenic, and nonmutagenic. Toxicity testing (acute, subacute, and chronic) in several species by various routes of administration reveals an extremely low toxicity, the oral rat LD 50 exceeding 40 g/kg. Postmortem abnormalities of high-dose animals are attributed to the effects of the compound on the endocrine system. Both zeranol itself and zearalanone, the major Phase I metabolite in the seven species studied, are excreted in the feces and in the urine, either free or as sulfates/glucuronides. A minor urinary metabolite has been identified as taleranol, an epimer of zeranol. Both metabolites exhibit a very low order of toxicity (oral rat LD 50 exceeding 10 g/kg in both cases), and both exhibit less biological activity than the parent compound. The four types of analytical methods which have been employed for the specific detection and quantitation of residues of zeranol in edible tissues are: (1) gas chromatography (detection limit . 20 ppb), (2) high-performance liquid chromatography (detection limit . 5 ppb), (3) thin-layer chromatography (detection limit . 1-3 ppb), and (4) radioimmunoassay methods (detection limit to be published). The following residue levels were determined radiometrically in tissue samples taken 45 days after implantation of cattle with 36 mg tritiated zeranol: less than or equal to 2 ppb in liver, less than or equal to 1 ppb in kidney and fat, and less than or equal to 0.2 ppb in muscle and plasma. A no-effect level (NEL) of 0.225 mg/kg was determined as the highest oral dosage of zeranol which produced no estrogenic effects in female monkeys. Based on the NEL, a tolerance level for tissue residues of zeranol was calculated as 315 ppb

  3. Real-time patient-specific finite element analysis of internal stresses in the soft tissues of a residual limb: a new tool for prosthetic fitting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Portnoy, S; Yarnitzky, G; Yizhar, Z; Kristal, A; Oppenheim, U; Siev-Ner, I; Gefen, A

    2007-01-01

    Fitting of a prosthetic socket is a critical stage in the process of rehabilitation of a trans-tibial amputation (TTA) patient, since a misfit may cause pressure ulcers or a deep tissue injury (DTI: necrosis of the muscle flap under intact skin) in the residual limb. To date, prosthetic fitting typically depends on the subjective skills of the prosthetist, and is not supported by biomedical instrumentation that allows evaluation of the quality of fitting. Specifically, no technology is presently available to provide real-time continuous information on the internal distribution of mechanical stresses in the residual limb during fitting of the prosthesis, or while using it and this severely limits patient evaluations. In this study, a simplified yet clinically oriented patient-specific finite element (FE) model of the residual limb was developed for real-time stress analysis. For this purpose we employed a custom-made FE code that continuously calculates internal stresses in the residual limb, based on boundary conditions acquired in real-time from force sensors, located at the limb-prosthesis interface. Validation of the modeling system was accomplished by means of a synthetic phantom of the residual limb, which allowed simultaneous measurements of interface pressures and internal stresses. Human studies were conducted subsequently in five TTA patients. The dimensions of bones and soft tissues were obtained from X-rays of the residual limb of each patient. An indentation test was performed in order to obtain the effective elastic modulus of the soft tissues of the residual limb. Seven force sensors were placed between the residual limb and the prosthetic liner, and subjects walked on a treadmill during analysis. Generally, stresses under the shinbones were approximately threefold higher than stresses at the soft tissues behind the bones. Usage of a thigh corset decreased the stresses in the residual limb during gait by approximately 80%. Also, the stresses

  4. Regulatory and management approaches to NORM residues in Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Omar, M.; Teng, I.L.

    2006-01-01

    Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) processing industries in Malaysia include oil and gas production and mineral processing plants. These industries are controlled by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board of Malaysia (AELB) through the enforcement of the Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984 (Act 304). Related regulations have been developed in order to ensure the safety of workers and members of the public. However, more regulations are necessary for the safe handling of NORM. NORM processing generates various types of NORM residues that require proper management. As for low-level NORM residues, landfill disposal can be exempted from regulatory control if the Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) shows that the additional dose to the members of the public is below the limit set by the authority. This paper outlines the regulatory and management approaches to NORM residues in Malaysia. (author)

  5. The importance of residues 195-206 of human blood clotting factor VII in the interaction of factor VII with tissue factor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wildgoose, P.; Kisiel, W.; Kazim, A.L.

    1990-01-01

    Previous studies indicated that human and bovine factor VII exhibit 71% amino acid sequence identity. In the present study, competition binding experiments revealed that the interaction of human factor VII with cell-surface human tissue factor was not inhibited by 100-fold molar excess of bovine factor VII. This finding indicated that bovine and human factor VII are not structurally homologous in the region(s) where human factor VII interacts with human tissue factor. On this premise, the authors synthesized three peptides corresponding to regions of human factor VII that exhibited marked structural dissimilarity to bovine factor VII; these regions of dissimilarity included residues 195-206, 263-274, and 314-326. Peptide 195-206 inhibited the interaction of factor VII with cell-surface tissue factor and the activation of factor X by a complex of factor VIIa and tissue factor half-maximally at concentrations of 1-2 mM. A structurally rearranged form of peptide 195-206 containing an aspartimide residue inhibited these reactions half-maximally at concentrations of 250-300 μM. In contrast, neither peptide 263-274 nor peptide 314-326, at 2 mM concentration, significantly affected either factor VIIa interaction with tissue factor or factor VIIa-mediated activation of factor X. The data provide presumptive evidence that residues 195-206 of human factor VII are involved in the interaction of human factor VII with the extracellular domain of human tissue factor apoprotein

  6. Retaining Residual Ovarian Tissue following Ovarian Failure Has Limited Influence on Bone Loss in Aged Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zelieann R. Craig

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous work showed that retaining residual ovarian tissue protects young mice from accelerated bone loss following ovarian failure. The present study was designed to determine whether this protection is also present in aged animals. Aged (9–12 months C57BL/6Hsd female mice were divided into: CON (vehicle, VCD (160 mg/kg; 15d, or OVX (ovariectomized. Lumbar BMD was monitored by DXA and μCT used to assess vertebral microarchitecture. BMD was not different between VCD and CON at any time point but was lower (P<.05 than baseline, starting 1 month after ovarian failure in VCD and OVX mice. Following μCT analysis there were no differences between CON and VCD, but OVX mice had lower bone volume fraction, trabecular thickness, and a trend for decreased connectivity density. These findings provide evidence that retention of residual ovarian tissue may protect aged follicle-depleted mice from accelerated bone loss to a lesser extent than that observed in young mice.

  7. A calibration approach to glandular tissue composition estimation in digital mammography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaufhold, J.; Thomas, J.A.; Eberhard, J.W.; Galbo, C.E.; Trotter, D.E. Gonzalez

    2002-01-01

    The healthy breast is almost entirely composed of a mixture of fatty, epithelial, and stromal tissues which can be grouped into two distinctly attenuating tissue types: fatty and glandular. Further, the amount of glandular tissue is linked to breast cancer risk, so an objective quantitative analysis of glandular tissue can aid in risk estimation. Highnam and Brady have measured glandular tissue composition objectively. However, they argue that their work should only be used for 'relative' tissue measurements unless a careful calibration has been performed. In this work, we perform such a 'careful calibration' on a digital mammography system and use it to estimate breast tissue composition of patient breasts. We imaged 0%, 50%, and 100% glandular-equivalent phantoms of varying thicknesses for a number of clinically relevant x-ray techniques on a digital mammography system. From these images, we extracted mean signal and noise levels and computed calibration curves that can be used for quantitative tissue composition estimation. In this way, we calculate the percent glandular composition of a patient breast on a pixelwise basis. This tissue composition estimation method was applied to 23 digital mammograms. We estimated the quantitative impact of different error sources on the estimates of tissue composition. These error sources include compressed breast height estimation error, residual scattered radiation, quantum noise, and beam hardening. Errors in the compressed breast height estimate contribute the most error in tissue composition--on the order of ±7% for a 4 cm compressed breast height. The spatially varying scattered radiation will contribute quantitatively less error overall, but may be significant in regions near the skinline. It is calculated that for a 4 cm compressed breast height, a residual scatter signal error is mitigated by approximately sixfold in the composition estimate. The error in composition due to the quantum noise, which is the limiting

  8. An approach to the estimation of the value of agricultural residues used as biofuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, A.; Purohit, P.; Rana, S.; Kandpal, T.C.

    2002-01-01

    A simple demand side approach for estimating the monetary value of agricultural residues used as biofuels is proposed. Some of the important issues involved in the use of biomass feedstocks in coal-fired boilers are briefly discussed along with their implications for the maximum acceptable price estimates for the agricultural residues. Results of some typical calculations are analysed along with the estimates obtained on the basis of a supply side approach (based on production cost) developed earlier. The prevailing market prices of some agricultural residues used as feedstocks for briquetting are also indicated. The results obtained can be used as preliminary indicators for identifying niche areas for immediate/short-term utilization of agriculture residues in boilers for process heating and power generation. (author)

  9. A simulation model for the prediction of tissue:plasma partition coefficients for drug residues in natural casings.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haritova, A.M.; Fink-Gremmels, J.

    2010-01-01

    Tissue residues arise from the exposure of animals to undesirable substances in animal feed materials and drinking water and to the therapeutic or zootechnical use of veterinary medicinal products. In the framework of this study, an advanced toxicokinetic model was developed to predict the

  10. Analysis of ethyl acrylate (EA) and acrylic acid (AA) residues from rat tissues following oral ea dosing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Udinsky, J.R.; Frederick, C.B.

    1990-01-01

    Gavage dosing of rats with EA at high dose levels (100 or 200 mg/kg) has resulted in tumors at the dosing site, forestomach (FST), but no lesions of the glandular stomach (GST) or other remote tissues. Since previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that EA is very rapidly metabolized to AA and glutathione conjugates, EA and AA residues were analyzed 0-24 hr following gavage dosing of non-fasted F-344/N male rats with [1- 14 C]EA in corn oil at 10, 50, and 200 mg/kg. Analysis of total 14 C indicated that the dose solution was primarily in the FST at ≥5 min after dosing, although 14 C was detected in the GST, duodenum, and small intestine (attributed to distension of the FST and leakage from the FST to the GST). HPLC analysis of the gut contents, gut wall, liver, kidneys, lungs, and blood indicated that EA and AA could only be detected at ≥15 min in the FST and GST contents, and in the FST tissue. AA alone was detected in the GST tissue, duodenum tissue and contents, and small intestine tissue and contents. The minimum level of detection was 0.0005% of the dose. The remaining 14 C was primarily attributed to binding to the gut contents or bioincorporation of AA. The detection of EA and AA residues only in the upper gastrointestinal tract following gavage dosing is consistent with rapid detoxification of EA by hydrolysis and conjugation which prevents toxicity at sites remote form the site of dosing

  11. Reconstruction of the residual stresses in a hyperelastic body using ultrasound techniques

    KAUST Repository

    Joshi, Sunnie; Walton, Jay R.

    2013-01-01

    This paper focuses on a novel approach for characterizing the residual stress field in soft tissue using ultrasound interrogation. A nonlinear inverse spectral technique is developed that makes fundamental use of the finite strain nonlinear response

  12. A rapid, solid phase extraction (SPE technique for the extraction and gas chromatographic determination lindane pesticide residue in tissue and milk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuningsih

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Organochlorine pesticide contamination in feed can cause residue in animal product (tissue and milk, so its become a problem in food safety. Solid phase extraction (SPE has been carried out for determination organochlorine pesticide residues in food animal production. The technique was rapid, not costly and produce limited amount of hazardous-waste. Samples were homogenized with acetonitrile trough cartridge C18, eluted in fluorocyl column with 2% ether-petroleum or acetonitrile fortissue and milk samples respectively. The recoveries of tissue sample by addition lindane standard solution: 0.50 and 1.00 μg are 85.10 and 103.10% respectively, while that of milk with the addition of 0.50, 1.00 and 1.50 μg are 83.80, 88.69 and 91.24% respectively. Three replicates were carried out for every sample. According of validation criteria of FAO/IAEA the recovery for analysis of pesticide residues was 70-110%. Therefore, the method is applicable.

  13. A novel method to depurate β-lactam antibiotic residues by administration of a broad-spectrum β-lactamase enzyme in fish tissues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Young-Sik Choe

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract As a novel strategy to remove β-lactam antibiotic residues from fish tissues, utilization of β-lactamase, enzyme that normally degrades β-lactam structure-containing drugs, was explored. The enzyme (TEM-52 selectively degraded β-lactam antibiotics but was completely inactive against tetracycline-, quinolone-, macrolide-, or aminoglycoside-structured antibacterials. After simultaneous administration of the enzyme with cefazolin (a β-lactam antibiotic to the carp, significantly lowered tissue cefazolin levels were observed. It was confirmed that the enzyme successfully reached the general circulation after intraperitoneal administration, as the carp serum obtained after enzyme injection could also degrade cefazolin ex vivo. These results suggest that antibiotics-degrading enzymes can be good candidates for antibiotic residue depuration.

  14. An evaluation of preservation of residual hearing using the suprameatal approach for cochlear implantation: can this implantation technique be used for preservation of residual hearing?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Postelmans, Job T. F.; van Spronsen, Erik; Grolman, Wilko; Stokroos, Robert J.; Tange, Rinze A.; Maré, Marcel J.; Dreschler, Wouter A.

    2011-01-01

    The preservation of residual hearing has become a high priority in cochlear implant surgery. This study was designed to substantiate whether conservation of residual hearing can be preserved after cochlear implantation using the suprameatal approach. Retrospective chart review. Retrospective chart

  15. Prediction of welding residual distortions of large structures using a local/global approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan, Y. G.; Bergheau, J. M.; Vincent, Y.; Boitour, F.; Leblond, J. B.

    2007-01-01

    Prediction of welding residual distortions is more difficult than that of the microstructure and residual stresses. On the one hand, a fine mesh (often 3D) has to be used in the heat affected zone for the sake of the sharp variations of thermal, metallurgical and mechanical fields in this region. On the other hand, the whole structure is required to be meshed for the calculation of residual distortions. But for large structures, a 3D mesh is inconceivable caused by the costs of the calculation. Numerous methods have been developed to reduce the size of models. A local/global approach has been proposed to determine the welding residual distortions of large structures. The plastic strains and the microstructure due to welding are supposed can be determined from a local 3D model which concerns only the weld and its vicinity. They are projected as initial strains into a global 3D model which consists of the whole structure and obviously much less fine in the welded zone than the local model. The residual distortions are then calculated using a simple elastic analysis, which makes this method particularly effective in an industrial context. The aim of this article is to present the principle of the local/global approach then show the capacity of this method in an industrial context and finally study the definition of the local model

  16. Fate and residues of trenbolone acetate in edible tissues from sheep amd calves implanted with tritium-labeled trenbolone acetate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Evrard, P.; Maghuin-Rogister, G.; Rico, A.G. (Univ. of Liege (Belgium))

    1989-06-01

    In order to study the fate and residues of trenbolone acetate in edible tissues, two groups of six animals from two ruminant species (ewes and calves) were implanted with (3H)trenbolone acetate. The distribution of extractable radioactive residues was measured in liver, kidney and muscle. We found that the largest proportion of residues was not extractable and thus was considered as covalently bound residues. The proportion of the main extractable metabolites (17 alpha-trenbolone, trendione, 17 beta-trenbolone) was measured. The evaluation of the distribution of trenbolone acetate metabolites directly soluble in water showed that unknown metabolite(s) were predominant. The covalent binding to nucleic acids was measured. It was so low that it was not detectable. The results are discussed in light of the data presented in the scientific report on anabolic agents in animal production from the European scientific working group.

  17. Fate and residues of trenbolone acetate in edible tissues from sheep amd calves implanted with tritium-labeled trenbolone acetate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evrard, P.; Maghuin-Rogister, G.; Rico, A.G.

    1989-01-01

    In order to study the fate and residues of trenbolone acetate in edible tissues, two groups of six animals from two ruminant species (ewes and calves) were implanted with [3H]trenbolone acetate. The distribution of extractable radioactive residues was measured in liver, kidney and muscle. We found that the largest proportion of residues was not extractable and thus was considered as covalently bound residues. The proportion of the main extractable metabolites (17 alpha-trenbolone, trendione, 17 beta-trenbolone) was measured. The evaluation of the distribution of trenbolone acetate metabolites directly soluble in water showed that unknown metabolite(s) were predominant. The covalent binding to nucleic acids was measured. It was so low that it was not detectable. The results are discussed in light of the data presented in the scientific report on anabolic agents in animal production from the European scientific working group

  18. Determination of malachite green residues in the eggs, fry, and adult muscle-tissue of rainbow-trout (Oncorhynchus-mykiss)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, John L.; Gofus, J.E.; Meinertz, Jeffery R.

    1994-01-01

    Malachite green, an effective antifungal therapeutant used in fish culture, is a known teratogen. We developed a method to simultaneously detect both the chromatic and leuco forms of malachite green residues in the eggs, fry, and adult muscle tissue of rainbow trout (oncorhynchus mykiss). Homogenates of these tissues were fortified with [c-14] malachite green chloride and extracted with 1% (v/v) acetic acid in acetonitrile or in methanol. The extracts were partitioned with chloroform, dried, redissolved in mobile phase, and analyzed by liquid chromatography (lc) with postcolumn oxidation of leuco malachite green to the chromatic form. Lc fractions were collected every 30 s for quantitation by scintillation counting. Recoveries of total [c-14] malachite green chloride residue were 85 and 98% in eggs fortified with labeled malachite green at concentrations of 0.5 And 1.00 Mug/g, respectively; 68% in fry similarly fortified at a concentration of 0.65 Mug/g; and 66% in muscle homogenate similarly fortified at a level of 1.00 Mug/g. The method was tested under operational conditions by exposing adult rainbow trout to 1.00 Mg/l [c-14] malachite green chloride bath for 1 h. Muscle samples analyzed by sample oxidation and scintillation counting contained 1.3 And 0.5 Mug/g total malachite green chloride residues immediately after exposure and after a 5-day withdrawal period, respectively.

  19. Determination of tylosin residues in different animal tissues by high performance liquid chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prats, C; Francesch, R; Arboix, M; Pérez, B

    2002-01-05

    A HPLC method to determine and quantify tylosin residues from calves, pigs and poultry is reported. This procedure permitted tylosin to be separated from muscle, liver, kidney and fat after a simple extraction with chloroform or ethyl acetate under basic conditions. The analytical methodology showed a high specificity and sensitivity and an adequate precision and accuracy with a limit of quantification of 50 microg/kg. Eight calves were administered 20 mg/kg/day of tylosin for 5 days and slaughtered at 7 and 14 days post-administration. Results showed that at the 14th day tylosin levels were lower than the MRL in all target tissues.

  20. A study of neurotoxicity of BHC in relation to residual accumulation on the brain tissue of Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazarika, Ranjit

    2003-01-01

    Neurotoxic effect of BHC, the organochlorine pesticide in Heteropneustes fossilis has been studied exposing at the dose concentrations of 1 ppm, 5 ppm and 10 ppm in lab aquarium for 96 hours over a period of one year. The results showed the behavioural abnormalities in different exposure concentrations such as dysfunction of endocrine gland, excretion of mucus, dispigmentation, sign of restlessness, erratic swimming with rapid jurkey movement, spiralling and convolution showing severe effect in central nervous system. Therefore an attempt has been made for monitoring of BHC residues viz. alpha, beta, gamma isomers in the brain tissue exposed to different sublethal concentrations using Gas liquid chromatography. The mean values of isomers were found to be 1.587 microg/gm for 1 ppm, 2.993 microg/gm for 5 ppm and 3.78 microg/gm for 10 ppm test group. Severe behavioural abnormalities were recorded at high dose concentration of pesticides with higher accumulation of pesticide residues in brain tissue.

  1. Liquid-chromatographic determination of sarafloxacin residues in channel catfish muscle-tissue

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinertz, J.R.; Dawson, V.K.; Gingerich, W.H.; Cheng, B.; Tubergen, M.M.

    1994-01-01

    A liquid chromatographic method is described for the determination of sarafloxacin hydrochloride residues i n channel catfish (ictalurus punctatus) fillets. Sarafloxacin was extracted from fillet tissue with acetonitrile=water (1 + 1). The extract was centrifuged and the supernatant was partitioned with hexane. The aqueous fraction was filtered through a 0.45 Mum filter and evaporated to dryness. The sample was redissolved with 20% acetonitrile-methanol (3 + 2) and 80% trifluoroacetic acid (0.1%), Centrifuged, and filtered to remove proteins. Samples were analyzed by chromatography with gradient elution on a c18 column and with fluorescence detection (excitation at 280 nm and emission above 389 nm). Mean recoveries ranged from 85.4 To 104%, and relative standard deviations ranged from 1.06 To 5.58% In samples spiked at concentrations of 10.0-863.8 Ng/g. The method detection limit for sarafloxacin was 1.4 Ng/g.

  2. Determination of drug residues by CLAR-MS/MS in animal tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brenes Jimenez, Jose Eduardo

    2009-01-01

    Produced food of animal origin, present the possibility of occurrence of any contact with substances that have negative effects on the health of people who consume them. The use of drugs in veterinary medicine is one of the possible sources of such waste; so, the conditions for the analysis of some classes of antibiotics in animal tissues are based on the study. Costa Rica and the countries that are export destination, have regulation and programs for control before to be distributed in local markets, or post if it is received any complaint of pollution. The high resolution liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometers (CLAR-MS/MS) allows the analysis of analytes monitored, according to the specifications required by the legislation. The cases of two laboratories in Costa Rica are presented as the only ones who have the ability to perform the analysis of drug residues CLAR-MS/MS. (author) [es

  3. Evaluation of penicillin G residues by kidney inhibition swab tests in sow body fluids and tissues following intramuscular injection

    Science.gov (United States)

    In 2011, the USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) changed the method used for screening swine tissues for antimicrobial residues from the Fast Antimicrobial Screen Test to the Kidney Inhibition Swab (KIS(TM)). Here, we describe the use of KIS(TM) test for the detection of penicillin G res...

  4. Determination of emamectin residues in the tissues of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) using HPLC with fluorescence detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim-Kang, H; Crouch, L S; Bova, A; Robinson, R A; Wu, J

    2001-11-01

    An accurate, reliable, and reproducible assay for the determination of residual concentrations of emamectin B(1a) in muscle, skin, and intact muscle/skin in natural proportions from Atlantic salmon treated with SCH 58854 (emamectin benzoate) is described. The determinative method was developed and validated using fortified control tissues at five levels over a range of 50-800 ng/g as well as tissues containing incurred levels in the same range. Incurred tissues were obtained from a metabolism study of [(3)H]emamectin benzoate in Atlantic salmon. The assay employs processing of a tissue ethyl acetate extract on a propylsulfonic acid solid phase extraction cartridge, followed by derivatization with trifluoroacetic anhydride in the presence of N-methylimidazole. Following separation using reversed phase HPLC, the amount of derivatized emamectin B(1a) is determined by fluorescence detection. The theoretical limits of detection were determined from the analysis of control tissue matrices to be 2.6, 3.3, and 3.8 ng/g as emamectin B(1a) for muscle, skin, and intact muscle/skin, respectively. Likewise, the theoretical limits of quantitation (LOQ) were determined to be 6.9, 8.1, and 9.5 ng/g as emamectin B(1a) for muscle, skin, and intact muscle/skin, respectively. The lowest fortification level used for method validation was 50 ng/g, which served as the effective LOQ for the method. The overall percent recoveries (+/-% CV) were 94.4 +/- 6.89% (n = 25) for muscle, 88.4 +/- 5.35% (n = 25) for skin, and 88.0 +/- 3.73% for intact muscle/skin (n = 25). Accuracy, precision, linearity, selectivity, and ruggedness were demonstrated. The structure of the final fluorescent derivative of emamectin B(1a) free base was identified by ESI(+)/LC-MS. The frozen storage stability of [(3)H]emamectin B(1a) in tissues with incurred residues was demonstrated for approximately 15 months by radiometric analysis and for an additional approximately 13 months by fluorometric analysis for a total of

  5. Biomimetic Materials and Fabrication Approaches for Bone Tissue Engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hwan D; Amirthalingam, Sivashanmugam; Kim, Seunghyun L; Lee, Seunghun S; Rangasamy, Jayakumar; Hwang, Nathaniel S

    2017-12-01

    Various strategies have been explored to overcome critically sized bone defects via bone tissue engineering approaches that incorporate biomimetic scaffolds. Biomimetic scaffolds may provide a novel platform for phenotypically stable tissue formation and stem cell differentiation. In recent years, osteoinductive and inorganic biomimetic scaffold materials have been optimized to offer an osteo-friendly microenvironment for the osteogenic commitment of stem cells. Furthermore, scaffold structures with a microarchitecture design similar to native bone tissue are necessary for successful bone tissue regeneration. For this reason, various methods for fabricating 3D porous structures have been developed. Innovative techniques, such as 3D printing methods, are currently being utilized for optimal host stem cell infiltration, vascularization, nutrient transfer, and stem cell differentiation. In this progress report, biomimetic materials and fabrication approaches that are currently being utilized for biomimetic scaffold design are reviewed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. A new approach to heart valve tissue engineering

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaasi, Andreas; Cestari, Idágene A.; Stolf, Noedir A G.

    2011-01-01

    The 'biomimetic' approach to tissue engineering usually involves the use of a bioreactor mimicking physiological parameters whilst supplying nutrients to the developing tissue. Here we present a new heart valve bioreactor, having as its centrepiece a ventricular assist device (VAD), which exposes...... chamber. Subsequently, applied vacuum to the pneumatic chamber causes the blood chamber to fill. A mechanical heart valve was placed in the VAD's inflow position. The tissue engineered (TE) valve was placed in the outflow position. The VAD was coupled in series with a Windkessel compliance chamber...

  7. Fatigue life evaluation based on welding residual stress relaxation and notch strain approach for cruciform welded joint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Jeong Woo; Han, Seung Ho; Shin, Byung Chun; Kim, Jae Hoon

    2003-01-01

    The fatigue strength of welded joint is influenced by the welding residual stress which is relaxed depending on local stress distributed in vicinity of stress raisers, eg. under cut, overlap and blow hole. To evaluate its fatigue life the geometry of the stress raisers and the welding residual stress should be taken into account. The several methods based on notch strain approach have been proposed in order to consider the two factors above mentioned. These methods, however, have shown considerable differences between analytical and experimental results. It is due to the fact that the amount of the relaxed welding residual stress evaluated by the cyclic stress-strain relationship do not correspond with that occurred in reality. In this paper the residual stress relaxation model based on experimental results was used in order to reduce the discrepancy of the estimated amount of the relaxed welding residual stress. Under an assumption of the superimposition of the relaxed welding residual stress and the local stress, a modified notch strain approach was proposed and verified to the cruciform welded joint

  8. Post-mortem detection of gasoline residues in lung tissue and heart blood of fire victims.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pahor, Kevin; Olson, Greg; Forbes, Shari L

    2013-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether gasoline residues could be detected post-mortem in lung tissue and heart blood of fire victims. The lungs and heart blood were investigated to determine whether they were suitable samples for collection and could be collected without contamination during an autopsy. Three sets of test subjects (pig carcasses) were investigated under two different fire scenarios. Test subjects 1 were anaesthetized following animal ethics approval, inhaled gasoline vapours for a short period and then euthanized. The carcasses were clothed and placed in a house where additional gasoline was poured onto the carcass post-mortem in one fire, but not in the other. Test subjects 2 did not inhale gasoline, were clothed and placed in the house and had gasoline poured onto them in both fires. Test subjects 3 were clothed but had no exposure to gasoline either ante- or post-mortem. Following controlled burns and suppression with water, the carcasses were collected, and their lungs and heart blood were excised at a necropsy. The headspace from the samples was analysed using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Gasoline was identified in the lungs and heart blood from the subjects that were exposed to gasoline vapours prior to death (test subjects 1). All other samples were negative for gasoline residues. These results suggest that it is useful to analyse for volatile ignitable liquids in lung tissue and blood as it may help to determine whether a victim was alive and inhaling gases at the time of a fire.

  9. Study on predicting residual life of elevator links by fracture mechanics approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li Helin; Zhang Yi; Deng Zengjie [China National Petroleum Corp., Xi`an, Shaanxi (China). Tubular Goods Research Center; Jin Dazeng [Xi`an Jiaotong Univ., Xi`an, Shaanxi (China)

    1995-12-31

    On the basis of investigation, failure and fracture analysis of elevator links, residual life prediction of links using fracture mechanics approach is studied, and mechanical properties, fracture toughness value K{sub IC} and fatigue crack propagation rage da/dN of the steel for elevator links are determined. Using the relation between stress intensity factor K{sub I} and the strain-energy release rate, the two-dimensional conversion thickness finite element method has been used to calculate the stress intensity factors K{sub I} for dangerous sections in the ring part of links. Furthermore, the reliability of calculations of the finite element stress intensity factors K{sub I} for dangerous sections of elevator links and the residual life computation for links are verified by fatigue tests of actual links. Finally, the experimental verification of computed results by 150T link fractured at site indicates that the computed critical crack lengths and residual life tally well with those measured and meet the needs of oil drilling.

  10. On the Rule of Mixtures for Predicting Stress-Softening and Residual Strain Effects in Biological Tissues and Biocompatible Materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alex Elías-Zúñiga

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work, we use the rule of mixtures to develop an equivalent material model in which the total strain energy density is split into the isotropic part related to the matrix component and the anisotropic energy contribution related to the fiber effects. For the isotropic energy part, we select the amended non-Gaussian strain energy density model, while the energy fiber effects are added by considering the equivalent anisotropic volumetric fraction contribution, as well as the isotropized representation form of the eight-chain energy model that accounts for the material anisotropic effects. Furthermore, our proposed material model uses a phenomenological non-monotonous softening function that predicts stress softening effects and has an energy term, derived from the pseudo-elasticity theory, that accounts for residual strain deformations. The model’s theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data collected from human vaginal tissues, mice skin, poly(glycolide-co-caprolactone (PGC25 3-0 and polypropylene suture materials and tracheal and brain human tissues. In all cases examined here, our equivalent material model closely follows stress-softening and residual strain effects exhibited by experimental data.

  11. On the Rule of Mixtures for Predicting Stress-Softening and Residual Strain Effects in Biological Tissues and Biocompatible Materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elías-Zúñiga, Alex; Baylón, Karen; Ferrer, Inés; Serenó, Lídia; Garcia-Romeu, Maria Luisa; Bagudanch, Isabel; Grabalosa, Jordi; Pérez-Recio, Tania; Martínez-Romero, Oscar; Ortega-Lara, Wendy; Elizalde, Luis Ernesto

    2014-01-01

    In this work, we use the rule of mixtures to develop an equivalent material model in which the total strain energy density is split into the isotropic part related to the matrix component and the anisotropic energy contribution related to the fiber effects. For the isotropic energy part, we select the amended non-Gaussian strain energy density model, while the energy fiber effects are added by considering the equivalent anisotropic volumetric fraction contribution, as well as the isotropized representation form of the eight-chain energy model that accounts for the material anisotropic effects. Furthermore, our proposed material model uses a phenomenological non-monotonous softening function that predicts stress softening effects and has an energy term, derived from the pseudo-elasticity theory, that accounts for residual strain deformations. The model’s theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data collected from human vaginal tissues, mice skin, poly(glycolide-co-caprolactone) (PGC25 3-0) and polypropylene suture materials and tracheal and brain human tissues. In all cases examined here, our equivalent material model closely follows stress-softening and residual strain effects exhibited by experimental data. PMID:28788466

  12. Antibiotic Residues - A Global Health Hazard

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nisha A.R.

    Full Text Available Use of Antibiotic that might result in deposition of residues in meat, milk and eggs must not be permitted in food intended for human consumption. If use of antibiotics is necessary as in prevention and treatment of animal diseases, a withholding period must be observed until the residues are negligible or no longer detected. The use of antibiotics to bring about improved performance in growth and feed efficiency, to synchronize or control of reproductive cycle and breeding performance also often lead to harmful residual effects. Concern over antibiotic residues in food of animal origin occurs in two times; one which produces potential threat to direct toxicity in human, second is whether the low levels of antibiotic exposure would result in alteration of microflora, cause disease and the possible development of resistant strains which cause failure of antibiotic therapy in clinical situations. A withdrawal period is established to safeguard human from exposure of antibiotic added food. The withdrawal time is the time required for the residue of toxicological concern to reach safe concentration as defined by tolerance. It is the interval from the time an animal is removed from medication until permitted time of slaughter. Heavy responsibility is placed on the veterinarian and livestock producer to observe the period for a withdrawal of a drug prior to slaughter to assure that illegal concentration of drug residue in meat, milk and egg do not occur. Use of food additives may improve feed efficiency 17% in beef cattle, 10% in lambs, 15% in poultry and 15% in swine. But their indiscriminate use will produce toxicity in consumers. WHO and FAO establish tolerances for a drug, pesticide or other chemical in the relevant tissues of food producing animals. The tolerance is the tissue concentration below, which a marker residue for the drug or chemical must fall in the target tissue before that animal edible tissues are considered safe for human

  13. Assessment of residual active chlorine in sodium hypochlorite solutions after dissolution of porcine incisor pulpal tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarkson, R M; Smith, T K; Kidd, B A; Evans, G E; Moule, A J

    2013-12-01

    In previous studies, surfactant-containing Hypochlor brands of sodium hypochlorite showed better tissue solubilizing abilities than Milton; differences not explained by original active chlorine content or presence of surfactant. It was postulated that exhaustion of active chlorine content could explain differences. This study aimed to assess whether Milton's poorer performance was due to exhaustion of active chlorine. Parallel experiments assessed the influence of titration methods, and the presence of chlorates, on active chlorine measurements. Time required to dissolve one or groups of 10 samples of porcine incisor pulp samples in Milton was determined. Residual active chlorine was assessed by thermometric titration. Iodometric and thermometric titration was carried out on samples of Milton. Chlorate content was also measured. Dissolution of single and 10 pulp samples caused a mean loss of 1% and 3% respectively of active chlorine, not being proportional to tissue dissolved. Thermometric ammonium ion titration resulted in 10% lower values than iodometric titration. Chlorate accounted for much of this difference. Depletion of active chlorine is not the reason for differences in tissue dissolving capabilities of Milton. Thermometric ammonium ion titration gives more accurate measurement of active chlorine content than iodometric titration. © 2013 Australian Dental Association.

  14. [Choice of surgical approaches for salvage surgery of primary lesion recurrence and residual cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Zhong-Qiang; Si, Yong-Feng; Lan, Sheng-Yong; Zhang, Zheng; Deng, Zhuo-Xia; Huang, Bo; Zhou, Ri-Jing; Lu, Jin-Long

    2011-02-01

    The choice of surgical approaches for salvage surgery based on the location and invasion of recurrent and residual lesions of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), surgical results, complications, and survival were assessed. Thirty-seven cases with recurrent and residual lesions of NPC underwent salvage surgery between March 1991 and January 2005 were analysed retrospectively. Of 37 patients, 23 were men and 14 women, with a median age of 46.5 years (26 - 57 years); 4 were at stage I, 10 at stage II, 14 at stage III, and 9 at stage IV; 5 cases were with cervical metastasis, including 3 cases of N1 and 2 cases N2. All recurrent and residual lesions of NPC were determined by biopsy. On the location and invasion of recurrent and residual lesions of NPC, 8 cases underwent endoscopic resection of lesions, 12 cases of the palate nasopharyngectomy, 5 cases of maxillary swing, 4 cases of maxillary swing plus prerenal approach, 2 cases of lateral rhinotomy plus coronal flap approach, and 6 cases transfacial plus nasal pyramid swing approach. Five cases with cervical metastasis received neck dissection in addition to the operations for recurrent and residual lesions of NPC. Postoperatively 31 cases received radiotherapy with dosage of 60 Gy, among them 15 cases with concurrent chemoradiation therapy, and 6 cases with clear surgical margin did not received radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The cases were followed up for 12 - 72 months, with a median of 45 months. Total resection for the recurrent and residual lesions of NPC accounted for 91.8% (34/37) and subtotal resection for 8.2% (3/37). The accident of perioperative complications was 24.3% (9/37). The 3- and 5-year overall disease-free survival rates (DFSR) were 62.1% and 43.3%, respectively. The 3- and 5-year overall survival rates (OSR) were 72.9% and 51.3%, respectively. The 5 year DFSR of cases at stage I-IV were 100%, 40%, 28% and 11% (χ(2) = 10.0, P < 0.01), respectively. The 5 year OSR were 100%, 70%, 35% and 28% (χ(2

  15. Improving probabilistic prediction of daily streamflow by identifying Pareto optimal approaches for modelling heteroscedastic residual errors

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, McInerney; Mark, Thyer; Dmitri, Kavetski; George, Kuczera

    2017-04-01

    This study provides guidance to hydrological researchers which enables them to provide probabilistic predictions of daily streamflow with the best reliability and precision for different catchment types (e.g. high/low degree of ephemerality). Reliable and precise probabilistic prediction of daily catchment-scale streamflow requires statistical characterization of residual errors of hydrological models. It is commonly known that hydrological model residual errors are heteroscedastic, i.e. there is a pattern of larger errors in higher streamflow predictions. Although multiple approaches exist for representing this heteroscedasticity, few studies have undertaken a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of these approaches. This study fills this research gap by evaluating 8 common residual error schemes, including standard and weighted least squares, the Box-Cox transformation (with fixed and calibrated power parameter, lambda) and the log-sinh transformation. Case studies include 17 perennial and 6 ephemeral catchments in Australia and USA, and two lumped hydrological models. We find the choice of heteroscedastic error modelling approach significantly impacts on predictive performance, though no single scheme simultaneously optimizes all performance metrics. The set of Pareto optimal schemes, reflecting performance trade-offs, comprises Box-Cox schemes with lambda of 0.2 and 0.5, and the log scheme (lambda=0, perennial catchments only). These schemes significantly outperform even the average-performing remaining schemes (e.g., across ephemeral catchments, median precision tightens from 105% to 40% of observed streamflow, and median biases decrease from 25% to 4%). Theoretical interpretations of empirical results highlight the importance of capturing the skew/kurtosis of raw residuals and reproducing zero flows. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners seeking robust residual error schemes for practical work are provided.

  16. Regenerative endodontics as a tissue engineering approach: past, current and future.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malhotra, Neeraj; Mala, Kundabala

    2012-12-01

    With the reported startling statistics of high incidence of tooth decay and tooth loss, the current interest is focused on the development of alternate dental tissue replacement therapies. This has led to the application of dental tissue engineering as a clinically relevant method for the regeneration of dental tissues and generation of bioengineered whole tooth. Although, tissue engineering approach requires the three main key elements of stem cells, scaffold and morphogens, a conductive environment (fourth element) is equally important for successful engineering of any tissue and/or organ. The applications of this science has evolved continuously in dentistry, beginning from the application of Ca(OH)(2) in vital pulp therapy to the development of a fully functional bioengineered tooth (mice). Thus, with advances in basic research, recent reports and studies have shown successful application of tissue engineering in the field of dentistry. However, certain practical obstacles are yet to be overcome before dental tissue regeneration can be applied as evidence-based approach in clinics. The article highlights on the past achievements, current developments and future prospects of tissue engineering and regenerative therapy in the field of endodontics and bioengineered teeth (bioteeth). © 2012 The Authors. Australian Endodontic Journal © 2012 Australian Society of Endodontology.

  17. Automatic detection of photoresist residual layer in lithography using a neural classification approach

    KAUST Repository

    Gereige, Issam

    2012-09-01

    Photolithography is a fundamental process in the semiconductor industry and it is considered as the key element towards extreme nanoscale integration. In this technique, a polymer photo sensitive mask with the desired patterns is created on the substrate to be etched. Roughly speaking, the areas to be etched are not covered with polymer. Thus, no residual layer should remain on these areas in order to insure an optimal transfer of the patterns on the substrate. In this paper, we propose a nondestructive method based on a classification approach achieved by artificial neural network for automatic residual layer detection from an ellipsometric signature. Only the case of regular defect, i.e. homogenous residual layer, will be considered. The limitation of the method will be discussed. Then, an experimental result on a 400 nm period grating manufactured with nanoimprint lithography is analyzed with our method. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Quantification of 8-α-hydroxy-mutilin as marker residue for tiamulin in rabbit tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Baere, Siegrid; Devreese, Mathias; Maes, An; De Backer, Patrick; Croubels, Siska

    2015-06-01

    For the first time, a sensitive and specific method was developed and fully validated for the quantification of the EU marker residue of tiamulin, 8-α-hydroxy-mutilin, in rabbit muscle and liver tissues using liquid chromatography combined with positive heated electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The mass spectrometer was operated in the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode with selection of the [M + H](+) ion in both quadrupoles 1 and 3, resulting in the SRM transition m/z 337.25 > 337.25 for quantification. Chromatography was performed using a Hypersil Gold C18 column using a gradient elution program with water and methanol as mobile phases. The sample preparation procedure for the analysis of 8-α-hydroxy-mutilin in liver and muscle samples consisted of three main steps: (1) extraction of the tissue matrix using 0.1 N hydrochloric acid/acetone (50/50, v/v), (2) hydrolysis of tiamulin and metabolites to 8-α-hydroxy-mutilin in alkaline medium at 45 °C, and (3) liquid-liquid extraction in acidic medium using ethyl acetate. This is the first method presenting fully validated results, encompassing a linearity of 50 to 2,000 μg/kg, within-run and between-run accuracy and precision, limit of quantification (50 μg/kg for both muscle and liver tissues), limit of detection (muscle, 11.9 μg/kg; liver, 20.6 μg/kg), extraction recovery (muscle, 66.2%; liver, 75.5%), signal suppression and enhancement (muscle, 51.7%; liver, 43.3%), carryover, applicability and practicability, and stability during storage and analysis. This novel method is therefore sensitive enough to be used for residue depletion studies of tiamulin in rabbits and for food safety monitoring with respect to MRL compliance of residues.

  19. Residual lifetime prediction for lithium-ion battery based on functional principal component analysis and Bayesian approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng, Yujie; Lu, Chen; Li, Tieying; Tao, Laifa

    2015-01-01

    Existing methods for predicting lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery residual lifetime mostly depend on a priori knowledge on aging mechanism, the use of chemical or physical formulation and analytical battery models. This dependence is usually difficult to determine in practice, which restricts the application of these methods. In this study, we propose a new prediction method for Li-ion battery residual lifetime evaluation based on FPCA (functional principal component analysis) and Bayesian approach. The proposed method utilizes FPCA to construct a nonparametric degradation model for Li-ion battery, based on which the residual lifetime and the corresponding confidence interval can be evaluated. Furthermore, an empirical Bayes approach is utilized to achieve real-time updating of the degradation model and concurrently determine residual lifetime distribution. Based on Bayesian updating, a more accurate prediction result and a more precise confidence interval are obtained. Experiments are implemented based on data provided by the NASA Ames Prognostics Center of Excellence. Results confirm that the proposed prediction method performs well in real-time battery residual lifetime prediction. - Highlights: • Capacity is considered functional and FPCA is utilized to extract more information. • No features required which avoids drawbacks induced by feature extraction. • A good combination of both population and individual information. • Avoiding complex aging mechanism and accurate analytical models of batteries. • Easily applicable to different batteries for life prediction and RLD calculation.

  20. Precision Medicine Approaches to Diabetic Kidney Disease: Tissue as an Issue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gluck, Caroline; Ko, Yi-An; Susztak, Katalin

    2017-05-01

    Precision medicine approaches, that tailor medications to specific individuals has made paradigm-shifting improvements for patients with certain cancer types. Such approaches, however, have not been implemented for patients with diabetic kidney disease. Precision medicine could offer new avenues for novel diagnostic, prognostic and targeted therapeutics development. Genetic studies associated with multiscalar omics datasets from tissue and cell types of interest of well-characterized cohorts are needed to change the current paradigm. In this review, we will discuss precision medicine approaches that the nephrology community can take to analyze tissue samples to develop new therapeutics for patients with diabetic kidney disease.

  1. Determination of niclosamide residues in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) fillet tissue by high-performance liquid chromatography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schreier, Theresa M.; Dawson, V.K.; Cho, Yirang; Spanjers, N.J.; Boogaard, M.A.

    2000-01-01

    Bayluscide [the ethanolamine salt of niclosamide (NIC)] is a registered piscicide used in combination with 3-(trifluoromethyl)-4-nitrophenol (TFM) to control sea lamprey populations in streams tributary to the Great Lakes. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of NIC residues in muscle fillet tissues of fish exposed to NIC and TFM during sea lamprey control treatments. NIC was extracted from fortified channel catfish and rainbow trout fillet tissue with a series of acetone extractions and cleaned up on C-18 solid-phase extraction cartridges. NIC concentrations were determined by HPLC with detection at 360 and 335 nm for rainbow trout and catfish, respectively. Recovery of NIC from rainbow trout (n = 7) fortified at 0.04 mu g/g was 77 +/- 6.5% and from channel catfish (n = 7) fortified at 0.02 mu g/g was 113 +/- 11%. NIC detection limit was 0.0107 mu g/g for rainbow trout and 0.0063 mu g/g for catfish. Percent recovery of incurred radioactive residues by this method from catfish exposed to [C-14]NIC was 89.3 +/- 4.1%. Percent recoveries of NIC from fortified storage stability tissue samples for rainbow trout (n = 3) analyzed at 5 and 7.5 month periods were 78 +/- 5.1 and 68 +/- 2.4%, respectively. Percent recoveries of NIC from fortified storage stability tissue samples for channel catfish (n = 3) analyzed at 5 and 7.5 month periods were 88 +/- 13 and 76 +/- 21%, respectively.

  2. Controlled Positioning of Cells in Biomaterials-Approaches Towards 3D Tissue Printing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wüst, Silke; Müller, Ralph; Hofmann, Sandra

    2011-08-04

    Current tissue engineering techniques have various drawbacks: they often incorporate uncontrolled and imprecise scaffold geometries, whereas the current conventional cell seeding techniques result mostly in random cell placement rather than uniform cell distribution. For the successful reconstruction of deficient tissue, new material engineering approaches have to be considered to overcome current limitations. An emerging method to produce complex biological products including cells or extracellular matrices in a controlled manner is a process called bioprinting or biofabrication, which effectively uses principles of rapid prototyping combined with cell-loaded biomaterials, typically hydrogels. 3D tissue printing is an approach to manufacture functional tissue layer-by-layer that could be transplanted in vivo after production. This method is especially advantageous for stem cells since a controlled environment can be created to influence cell growth and differentiation. Using printed tissue for biotechnological and pharmacological needs like in vitro drug-testing may lead to a revolution in the pharmaceutical industry since animal models could be partially replaced by biofabricated tissues mimicking human physiology and pathology. This would not only be a major advancement concerning rising ethical issues but would also have a measureable impact on economical aspects in this industry of today, where animal studies are very labor-intensive and therefore costly. In this review, current controlled material and cell positioning techniques are introduced highlighting approaches towards 3D tissue printing.

  3. Controlled Positioning of Cells in Biomaterials—Approaches Towards 3D Tissue Printing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Hofmann

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Current tissue engineering techniques have various drawbacks: they often incorporate uncontrolled and imprecise scaffold geometries, whereas the current conventional cell seeding techniques result mostly in random cell placement rather than uniform cell distribution. For the successful reconstruction of deficient tissue, new material engineering approaches have to be considered to overcome current limitations. An emerging method to produce complex biological products including cells or extracellular matrices in a controlled manner is a process called bioprinting or biofabrication, which effectively uses principles of rapid prototyping combined with cell-loaded biomaterials, typically hydrogels. 3D tissue printing is an approach to manufacture functional tissue layer-by-layer that could be transplanted in vivo after production. This method is especially advantageous for stem cells since a controlled environment can be created to influence cell growth and differentiation. Using printed tissue for biotechnological and pharmacological needs like in vitro drug-testing may lead to a revolution in the pharmaceutical industry since animal models could be partially replaced by biofabricated tissues mimicking human physiology and pathology. This would not only be a major advancement concerning rising ethical issues but would also have a measureable impact on economical aspects in this industry of today, where animal studies are very labor-intensive and therefore costly. In this review, current controlled material and cell positioning techniques are introduced highlighting approaches towards 3D tissue printing.

  4. Endosulfan residues in fish from the MUDA rice agroecosystem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nashriyah Mat; Sabri Junoh; Nuriati Nurdin

    2002-01-01

    A study was carried out in the recycled and the non-recycled areas of the Muda rice agroecosystem to determine the residue level of endosulfan in rice field fish. Snakehead or haruan (Channa striata), climbing perch or puyu (Anabas testudineus), walking catfish or keli (Clariasspp.) and snakeskin gouramy or sepat siam (Trichogasterpectoralis) were sampled and the tissues analysed using Gas Liquid Chromatography. Endosulfan sulphate metabolite was a ubiquitous residue in all fish at levels ranging from 0.0065 μg/g to 0.9837 μg/g of tissue wet weight whilst α-isomer was detected at a much lower concentration followed by β-isomer. In Channa striata, endosulfan total residue (α+β+sulphate) was accumulated in fish tissues sampled at ACRBD4 (non-recycled) site followed by Blok 14 (recycled) site. Endosulfan residue concentration did not coincide with water recycling practice nor changes in EROD enzyme activity. (Author)

  5. Adipose tissue engineering: state of the art, recent advances and innovative approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanzi, Maria Cristina; Farè, Silvia

    2009-09-01

    Adipose tissue is a highly specialized connective tissue found either in white or brown forms, the white form being the most abundant in adult humans. Loss or damage of white adipose tissue due to aging or pathological conditions needs reconstructive approaches. To date, two main strategies are being investigated for generating functional adipose tissue: autologous tissue/cell transplantation and adipose tissue engineering. Free-fat transplantation rarely achieves sufficient tissue augmentation owing to delayed neovascularization, with subsequent cell necrosis and graft volume shrinkage. Tissue engineering approaches represent, instead, a more suitable alternative for adipose tissue regeneration; they can be performed either with in situ or de novo adipogenesis. In situ adipogenesis or transplantation of encapsulated cells can be useful in healing small-volume defects, whereas restoration of large defects, where vascularization and a rapid volumetric gain are strict requirements, needs de novo strategies with 3D scaffold/filling matrix combinations. For adipose tissue engineering, the use of adult mesenchymal stem cells (both adipose- and bone marrow-derived stem cells) or of preadipocytes is preferred to the use of mature adipocytes, which have low expandability and poor ability for volume retention. This review intends to assemble and describe recent work on this topic, critically presenting successes obtained and drawbacks faced to date.

  6. A method for the estimation of the residual error in the SALP approach for fault tree analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Astolfi, M.; Contini, S.

    1980-01-01

    The aim of this report is the illustration of the algorithms implemented in the SALP-MP code for the estimation of the residual error. These algorithms are of more general use, and it would be possible to implement them on all codes of the series SALP previously developed, as well as, with minor modifications, to analysis procedures based on 'top-down' approaches. At the time, combined 'top-down' - 'bottom up' procedures are being studied in order to take advantage from both approaches for further reduction of computer time and better estimation of the residual error, for which the developed algorithms are still applicable

  7. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation of residual breast tissue following mastectomy and reconstruction with silicone implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zippel, Douglas; Tsehmaister-Abitbol, Vered; Rundstein, Arie; Shalmon, Anat; Zbar, Andrew; Nardini, Gil; Novikov, Ilya; Sklair-Levy, Miri

    2015-01-01

    We present our use of magnetic resonance (MR) measurement to determine the amount of residual breast tissue (RBT) following total mastectomy with reconstruction. Breast MR images of 45 women who underwent surgery between January and November 2011 were reviewed. The cohort included therapeutic and prophylactic mastectomies. RBT was evaluated at four points with a digital caliper assessing T2-weighted and T1-weighted images. Patients undergoing mastectomy for carcinoma tended to have less RBT than in prophylactic surgery. Greater age and recent surgery both correlated with larger RBT. Variable thickness of RBT is demonstrable following mastectomy and implant reconstruction using MR imaging. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Quantitative Segmentation of Fluorescence Microscopy Images of Heterogeneous Tissue: Application to the Detection of Residual Disease in Tumor Margins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Jenna L; Harmany, Zachary T; Mito, Jeffrey K; Kennedy, Stephanie A; Kim, Yongbaek; Dodd, Leslie; Geradts, Joseph; Kirsch, David G; Willett, Rebecca M; Brown, J Quincy; Ramanujam, Nimmi

    2013-01-01

    To develop a robust tool for quantitative in situ pathology that allows visualization of heterogeneous tissue morphology and segmentation and quantification of image features. TISSUE EXCISED FROM A GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MOUSE MODEL OF SARCOMA WAS IMAGED USING A SUBCELLULAR RESOLUTION MICROENDOSCOPE AFTER TOPICAL APPLICATION OF A FLUORESCENT ANATOMICAL CONTRAST AGENT: acriflavine. An algorithm based on sparse component analysis (SCA) and the circle transform (CT) was developed for image segmentation and quantification of distinct tissue types. The accuracy of our approach was quantified through simulations of tumor and muscle images. Specifically, tumor, muscle, and tumor+muscle tissue images were simulated because these tissue types were most commonly observed in sarcoma margins. Simulations were based on tissue characteristics observed in pathology slides. The potential clinical utility of our approach was evaluated by imaging excised margins and the tumor bed in a cohort of mice after surgical resection of sarcoma. Simulation experiments revealed that SCA+CT achieved the lowest errors for larger nuclear sizes and for higher contrast ratios (nuclei intensity/background intensity). For imaging of tumor margins, SCA+CT effectively isolated nuclei from tumor, muscle, adipose, and tumor+muscle tissue types. Differences in density were correctly identified with SCA+CT in a cohort of ex vivo and in vivo images, thus illustrating the diagnostic potential of our approach. The combination of a subcellular-resolution microendoscope, acriflavine staining, and SCA+CT can be used to accurately isolate nuclei and quantify their density in anatomical images of heterogeneous tissue.

  9. TissueCypher™: A systems biology approach to anatomic pathology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey W Prichard

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Current histologic methods for diagnosis are limited by intra- and inter-observer variability. Immunohistochemistry (IHC methods are frequently used to assess biomarkers to aid diagnoses, however, IHC staining is variable and nonlinear and the manual interpretation is subjective. Furthermore, the biomarkers assessed clinically are typically biomarkers of epithelial cell processes. Tumors and premalignant tissues are not composed only of epithelial cells but are interacting systems of multiple cell types, including various stromal cell types that are involved in cancer development. The complex network of the tissue system highlights the need for a systems biology approach to anatomic pathology, in which quantification of system processes is combined with informatics tools to produce actionable scores to aid clinical decision-making. Aims: Here, we describe a quantitative, multiplexed biomarker imaging approach termed TissueCypher™ that applies systems biology to anatomic pathology. Applications of TissueCypher™ in understanding the tissue system of Barrett's esophagus (BE and the potential use as an adjunctive tool in the diagnosis of BE are described. Patients and Methods: The TissueCypher™ Image Analysis Platform was used to assess 14 epithelial and stromal biomarkers with known diagnostic significance in BE in a set of BE biopsies with nondysplastic BE with reactive atypia (RA, n = 22 and Barrett's with high-grade dysplasia (HGD, n = 17. Biomarker and morphology features were extracted and evaluated in the confirmed BE HGD cases versus the nondysplastic BE cases with RA. Results: Multiple image analysis features derived from epithelial and stromal biomarkers, including immune biomarkers and morphology, showed significant differences between HGD and RA. Conclusions: The assessment of epithelial cell abnormalities combined with an assessment of cellular changes in the lamina propria may serve as an adjunct to conventional

  10. Radiation-induced DNA damage in tumors and normal tissues. II. Influence of dose, residual DNA damage and physiological factors in oxygenated cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, H.; Wheeler, K.T.

    1994-01-01

    Detection and quantification of hypoxic cells in solid tumors is important for many experimental and clinical situations. Several laboratories, including ours, have suggested that assays which measure radiation-induced DNA strand breaks and DNA-protein crosslinks (DPCs) might be used to detect or quantify hypoxic cells in tumors and normal tissues. Recently, we demonstrated the feasibility of using an alkaline elution assay that measures strand breaks and DPCs to detect and/or quantify hypoxic cells in tissues. For this approach to be valid, DPCs must not be formed to any great extent in irradiated oxygenated cells, and the formation and repair of strand breaks and DPCs in oxygenated cells must not be modified appreciably by physiological factors (e.g., temperature, pH and nutrient depletion) that are often found in solid tumors. To address these issues, two sets of experiments were performed. In one set of experiments, oxygenated 9L cells in tissue culture, subcutaneous 9L tumors and rat cerebella were irradiated with doses of 15 or 50 Gy and allowed to repair until the residual strand break damage was low enough to detect DPCs. In another set of experiments, oxygenated exponentially growing or plateau-phase 9L cells in tissue culture were irradiated with a dose of 15 Gy at 37 or 20 degrees C, while the cells were maintained at a pH of either 6.6 or 7.3. DNA-protein crosslinks were formed in oxygenated cells about 100 times less efficiently than in hypoxic cells. In addition, temperature, pH, nutrient depletion and growth phase did not appreciably alter the formation and repair of strand breaks or the formation of DPCs in oxygenated 9L cells. These results support the use of this DNA damage assay for the detection and quantification of hypoxic cells in solid tumors. 27 refs., 5 tabs

  11. Simultaneous analysis of aminoglycosides with many other classes of drug residues in bovine tissues by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using an ion-pairing reagent added to final extracts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehotay, Steven J; Lightfield, Alan R

    2018-01-01

    The way to maximize scope of analysis, sample throughput, and laboratory efficiency in the monitoring of veterinary drug residues in food animals is to determine as many analytes as possible as fast as possible in as few methods as possible. Capital and overhead expenses are also reduced by using fewer instruments in the overall monitoring scheme. Traditionally, the highly polar aminoglycoside antibiotics require different chromatographic conditions from other classes of drugs, but in this work, we demonstrate that an ion-pairing reagent (sodium 1-heptanesulfonate) added to the combined final extracts from two sample preparation methods attains good separation of 174 targeted drugs, including 9 aminoglycosides, in the same 10.5-min ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) analysis. The full method was validated in bovine kidney, liver, and muscle tissues according to US regulatory protocols, and 137-146 (79-84%) of the drugs gave between 70 and 120% average recoveries with ≤ 25% RSDs in the different types of tissues spiked at 0.5, 1, and 2 times the regulatory levels of interest (10-1000 ng/g depending on the drug). This method increases sample throughput and the possible number of drugs monitored in the US National Residue Program, and requires only one UHPLC-MS/MS method and instrument for analysis rather than two by the previous scheme. Graphical abstract Outline of the streamlined approach to monitor 174 veterinary drugs, including aminoglycosides, in bovine tissues by combining two extracts of the same sample with an ion-pairing reagent for analysis by UHPLC-MS/MS.

  12. Levels of organochlorine pesticides residues in human adipose tissue, data from Tabasco, Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waliszewski, Stefan M; Caba, M; Rodríguez Díaz, S S; Saldarriaga-Noreña, H; Meza, E; Zepeda, R; Infanzón, R

    2012-11-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the levels of organochlorine pesticides HCB, α-β-γ-HCH, p,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDT in 150 adipose tissue of inhabitants of Tabasco, Mexico. The following pesticides were detected: p,p'-DDE in 100% of samples at mean 1.034 mg/kg; p,p'-DDT in 96.7% at mean 0.116 mg/kg; o,p'-DDT in 78.7% at mean 0.022 mg/kg and β-HCH in 58.0% at mean 0.049 mg/kg. The pooled sample was divided according to sex of donors (75 female and 75 male). Significantly higher levels of all organochlorine pesticides in females were found. The sample was divided into three age's ranges (15-28, 29-45 and 46-84 years). The mean and median levels of β-HCH, p,p'-DDE and Σ-DDT increase significantly (p pesticide residues in Tabasco inhabitants is still observed, indicating sources of exposure to the pesticides.

  13. Vision Restoration in Glaucoma by Activating Residual Vision with a Holistic, Clinical Approach: A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabel, Bernhard A; Cárdenas-Morales, Lizbeth; Gao, Ying

    2018-01-01

    How to cite this article: Sabel BA, Cárdenas-Morales L, Gao Y. Vision Restoration in Glaucoma by activating Residual Vision with a Holistic, Clinical Approach: A Review. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2018;12(1):1-9.

  14. Quantitative Segmentation of Fluorescence Microscopy Images of Heterogeneous Tissue: Application to the Detection of Residual Disease in Tumor Margins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenna L Mueller

    Full Text Available To develop a robust tool for quantitative in situ pathology that allows visualization of heterogeneous tissue morphology and segmentation and quantification of image features.TISSUE EXCISED FROM A GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MOUSE MODEL OF SARCOMA WAS IMAGED USING A SUBCELLULAR RESOLUTION MICROENDOSCOPE AFTER TOPICAL APPLICATION OF A FLUORESCENT ANATOMICAL CONTRAST AGENT: acriflavine. An algorithm based on sparse component analysis (SCA and the circle transform (CT was developed for image segmentation and quantification of distinct tissue types. The accuracy of our approach was quantified through simulations of tumor and muscle images. Specifically, tumor, muscle, and tumor+muscle tissue images were simulated because these tissue types were most commonly observed in sarcoma margins. Simulations were based on tissue characteristics observed in pathology slides. The potential clinical utility of our approach was evaluated by imaging excised margins and the tumor bed in a cohort of mice after surgical resection of sarcoma.Simulation experiments revealed that SCA+CT achieved the lowest errors for larger nuclear sizes and for higher contrast ratios (nuclei intensity/background intensity. For imaging of tumor margins, SCA+CT effectively isolated nuclei from tumor, muscle, adipose, and tumor+muscle tissue types. Differences in density were correctly identified with SCA+CT in a cohort of ex vivo and in vivo images, thus illustrating the diagnostic potential of our approach.The combination of a subcellular-resolution microendoscope, acriflavine staining, and SCA+CT can be used to accurately isolate nuclei and quantify their density in anatomical images of heterogeneous tissue.

  15. Heavy metal residues in tissues of marine turtles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Storelli, M.M.; Marcotrigiano, G.O.

    2003-01-01

    Heavy metal concentrations in the tissues of marine turtles are presented. The most frequently monitored elements are mercury, cadmium and lead; and the tissues mainly analysed in nearly all the stranded individuals are muscle, liver and kidney. The highest mercury and cadmium levels were found in liver and kidney respectively; the majority of the lead burden existed in bones and carapace, while arsenic was present mainly in muscle tissue. Mercury occurred quite completely as methylmercury in muscle, whereas in liver the main form was the inorganic one. Arsenic was exclusively present in the metallorganic form either in muscle tissue or in liver. Metals in the eggs were mainly present in the yolk. Significantly higher concentration of mercury, copper, zinc and iron were found in yolk than albumen, while shell contained highest levels of manganese and copper. The load of trace metals in these animals strictly correlated with the species seems to depend on their different food behaviour

  16. Heavy metal residues in tissues of marine turtles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Storelli, M.M.; Marcotrigiano, G.O

    2003-04-01

    Heavy metal concentrations in the tissues of marine turtles are presented. The most frequently monitored elements are mercury, cadmium and lead; and the tissues mainly analysed in nearly all the stranded individuals are muscle, liver and kidney. The highest mercury and cadmium levels were found in liver and kidney respectively; the majority of the lead burden existed in bones and carapace, while arsenic was present mainly in muscle tissue. Mercury occurred quite completely as methylmercury in muscle, whereas in liver the main form was the inorganic one. Arsenic was exclusively present in the metallorganic form either in muscle tissue or in liver. Metals in the eggs were mainly present in the yolk. Significantly higher concentration of mercury, copper, zinc and iron were found in yolk than albumen, while shell contained highest levels of manganese and copper. The load of trace metals in these animals strictly correlated with the species seems to depend on their different food behaviour.

  17. A random sampling approach for robust estimation of tissue-to-plasma ratio from extremely sparse data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Hui-May; Ette, Ene I

    2005-09-02

    his study was performed to develop a new nonparametric approach for the estimation of robust tissue-to-plasma ratio from extremely sparsely sampled paired data (ie, one sample each from plasma and tissue per subject). Tissue-to-plasma ratio was estimated from paired/unpaired experimental data using independent time points approach, area under the curve (AUC) values calculated with the naïve data averaging approach, and AUC values calculated using sampling based approaches (eg, the pseudoprofile-based bootstrap [PpbB] approach and the random sampling approach [our proposed approach]). The random sampling approach involves the use of a 2-phase algorithm. The convergence of the sampling/resampling approaches was investigated, as well as the robustness of the estimates produced by different approaches. To evaluate the latter, new data sets were generated by introducing outlier(s) into the real data set. One to 2 concentration values were inflated by 10% to 40% from their original values to produce the outliers. Tissue-to-plasma ratios computed using the independent time points approach varied between 0 and 50 across time points. The ratio obtained from AUC values acquired using the naive data averaging approach was not associated with any measure of uncertainty or variability. Calculating the ratio without regard to pairing yielded poorer estimates. The random sampling and pseudoprofile-based bootstrap approaches yielded tissue-to-plasma ratios with uncertainty and variability. However, the random sampling approach, because of the 2-phase nature of its algorithm, yielded more robust estimates and required fewer replications. Therefore, a 2-phase random sampling approach is proposed for the robust estimation of tissue-to-plasma ratio from extremely sparsely sampled data.

  18. Adsorption Property and Mechanism of Oxytetracycline onto Willow Residues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Di Wang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available To elucidate the adsorption property and the mechanism of plant residues to reduce oxytetracycline (OTC, the adsorption of OTC onto raw willow roots (WR-R, stems (WS-R, leaves (WL-R, and adsorption onto desugared willow roots (WR-D, stems (WS-D, and leaves (WL-D were investigated. The structural characterization was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectra, and an elemental analyzer. OTC adsorption onto the different tissues of willow residues was compared and correlated with their structures. The adsorption kinetics of OTC onto willow residues was found to follow the pseudo-first-order model. The isothermal adsorption process of OTC onto the different tissues of willow residues followed the Langmuir and Freundlich model and the process was also a spontaneous endothermic reaction, which was mainly physical adsorption. After the willow residues were desugared, the polarity decreased and the aromaticity increased, which explained why the adsorption amounts of the desugared willow residues were higher than those of the unmodified residues. These observations suggest that the raw and modified willow residues have great potential as adsorbents to remove organic pollutants.

  19. Brown Adipose Tissue Bioenergetics: A New Methodological Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calderon‐Dominguez, María; Alcalá, Martín; Sebastián, David; Zorzano, Antonio; Viana, Marta; Serra, Dolors

    2017-01-01

    The rediscovery of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans and its capacity to oxidize fat and dissipate energy as heat has put the spotlight on its potential as a therapeutic target in the treatment of several metabolic conditions including obesity and diabetes. To date the measurement of bioenergetics parameters has required the use of cultured cells or extracted mitochondria with the corresponding loss of information in the tissue context. Herein, we present a method to quantify mitochondrial bioenergetics directly in BAT. Based on XF Seahorse Technology, we assessed the appropriate weight of the explants, the exact concentration of each inhibitor in the reaction, and the specific incubation time to optimize bioenergetics measurements. Our results show that BAT basal oxygen consumption is mostly due to proton leak. In addition, BAT presents higher basal oxygen consumption than white adipose tissue and a positive response to b‐adrenergic stimulation. Considering the whole tissue and not just subcellular populations is a direct approach that provides a realistic view of physiological respiration. In addition, it can be adapted to analyze the effect of potential activators of thermogenesis, or to assess the use of fatty acids or glucose as a source of energy. PMID:28435771

  20. Esophageal tissue engineering: a new approach for esophageal replacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Totonelli, Giorgia; Maghsoudlou, Panagiotis; Fishman, Jonathan M; Orlando, Giuseppe; Ansari, Tahera; Sibbons, Paul; Birchall, Martin A; Pierro, Agostino; Eaton, Simon; De Coppi, Paolo

    2012-12-21

    A number of congenital and acquired disorders require esophageal tissue replacement. Various surgical techniques, such as gastric and colonic interposition, are standards of treatment, but frequently complicated by stenosis and other problems. Regenerative medicine approaches facilitate the use of biological constructs to replace or regenerate normal tissue function. We review the literature of esophageal tissue engineering, discuss its implications, compare the methodologies that have been employed and suggest possible directions for the future. Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, National Research Register and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched with the following search terms: stem cell and esophagus, esophageal replacement, esophageal tissue engineering, esophageal substitution. Reference lists of papers identified were also examined and experts in this field contacted for further information. All full-text articles in English of all potentially relevant abstracts were reviewed. Tissue engineering has involved acellular scaffolds that were either transplanted with the aim of being repopulated by host cells or seeded prior to transplantation. When acellular scaffolds were used to replace patch and short tubular defects they allowed epithelial and partial muscular migration whereas when employed for long tubular defects the results were poor leading to an increased rate of stenosis and mortality. Stenting has been shown as an effective means to reduce stenotic changes and promote cell migration, whilst omental wrapping to induce vascularization of the construct has an uncertain benefit. Decellularized matrices have been recently suggested as the optimal choice for scaffolds, but smart polymers that will incorporate signalling to promote cell-scaffold interaction may provide a more reproducible and available solution. Results in animal models that have used seeded scaffolds strongly suggest that seeding of both muscle and epithelial cells on scaffolds

  1. Esophageal tissue engineering: A new approach for esophageal replacement

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Giorgia Totonelli; Panagiotis Maghsoudlou; Jonathan M Fishman; Giuseppe Orlando; Tahera Ansari; Paul Sibbons; Martin A Birchall

    2012-01-01

    A number of congenital and acquired disorders require esophageal tissue replacement.Various surgical techniques,such as gastric and colonic interposition,are standards of treatment,but frequently complicated by stenosis and other problems.Regenerative medicine approaches facilitate the use of biological constructs to replace or regenerate normal tissue function.We review the literature of esophageal tissue engineering,discuss its implications,compare the methodologies that have been employed and suggest possible directions for the future.Medline,Embase,the Cochrane Library,National Research Register and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched with the following search terms:stem cell and esophagus,esophageal replacement,esophageal tissue engineering,esophageal substitution.Reference lists of papers identified were also examined and experts in this field contacted for further information.All full-text articles in English of all potentially relevant abstracts were reviewed.Tissue engineering has involved acellular scaffolds that were either transplanted with the aim of being repopulated by host cells or seeded prior to transplantation.When acellular scaffolds were used to replace patch and short tubular defects they allowed epithelial and partial muscular migration whereas when employed for long tubular defects the results were poor leading to an increased rate of stenosis and mortality.Stenting has been shown as an effective means to reduce stenotic changes and promote cell migration,whilst omental wrapping to induce vascularization of the construct has an uncertain benefit.Decellularized matrices have been recently suggested as the optimal choice for scaffolds,but smart polymers that will incorporate signalling to promote cell-scaffold interaction may provide a more reproducible and available solution.Results in animal models that have used seeded scaffolds strongly suggest that seeding of both muscle and epithelial cells on scaffolds prior to implantation is a

  2. Tissue distribution, metabolism, and residue depletion study in Atlantic salmon following oral administration of [3H]emamectin benzoate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim-Kang, Heasook; Bova, Alice; Crouch, Louis S; Wislocki, Peter G; Robinson, Robert A; Wu, Jinn

    2004-04-07

    Atlantic salmon (approximately 1.3 kg) maintained in tanks of seawater at 5 +/- 1 degrees C were dosed with [3H]emamectin B1 benzoate in feed at a nominal rate of 50 microg of emamectin benzoate/kg/day for 7 consecutive days. Tissues, blood, and bile were collected from 10 fish each at 3 and 12 h and at 1, 3, 7, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 days post final dose. Feces were collected daily from the tanks beginning just prior to dosing to 90 days post final dose. The total radioactive residues (TRR) of the daily feces samples during dosing were 0.25 ppm maximal, and >97% of the TRR in pooled feces covering the dosing period was emamectin B1a. Feces TRR then rapidly declined to approximately 0.05 ppm by 1 day post final dose. The ranges of mean TRR for tissues over the 90 days post dose period were as follows: kidney, 1.4-3 ppm; liver, 1.0-2.3 ppm; skin, 0.04-0.09 ppm; muscle, 0.02-0.06 ppm; and bone, emamectin B1a (81-100% TRR) and desmethylemamectin B1a (0-17% TRR) with N-formylemamectin B1a seen in trace amounts (emamectin residues was emamectin B1a. The emamectin B1a level was quantified in individual samples of skin and muscle using HPLC-fluorometry and was below 85 ppb in all samples analyzed (3 h to 30 days post dose).

  3. [Biocybernetic approach to the thermometric methods of blood supply measurements of periodontal tissues].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pastusiak, J; Zakrzewski, J

    1988-11-01

    Specific biocybernetic approach to the problem of the blood supply determination of paradontium tissues by means of thermometric methods has been presented in the paper. The compartment models of the measuring procedure have been given. Dilutodynamic methology and classification has been applied. Such an approach enables to select appropriate biophysical parameters describing the state of blood supply of paradontium tissues and optimal design of transducers and measuring methods.

  4. Risk assessment of mixtures of pesticides. Current approaches and future strategies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reffstrup, Trine Klein; Larsen, John Christian; Meyer, Otto A.

    2010-01-01

    The risk assessment of pesticide residues in food is based on toxicological evaluation of the single compounds and no internationally accepted procedure exists for evaluation of cumulative exposure to multiple residues of pesticides in crops, except for a few groups of pesticides sharing a group...... several approaches are available for the risk assessment of mixtures of pesticides. However, no single simple approach is available to judge upon potential interactions at the low doses that humans are exposed to from pesticide residues in food. In these cases, PBTK models could be useful as tools...... to assess combined tissue doses and to help predict potential interactions including thresholds for such effects. This would improve the quality of the risk assessment....

  5. Using a consensus approach based on the conservation of inter-residue contacts to rank CAPRI models

    KAUST Repository

    Vangone, Anna; Cavallo, Luigi; Oliva, Romina M.

    2013-01-01

    Herein we propose the use of a consensus approach, CONSRANK, for ranking CAPRI models. CONSRANK relies on the conservation of inter-residue contacts in the analyzed decoys ensemble. Models are ranked according to their ability to match the most

  6. Determining potential adverse effects in marine fish exposed to pharmaceuticals and personal care products with the fish plasma model and whole-body tissue concentrations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meador, James P; Yeh, Andrew; Gallagher, Evan P

    2017-11-01

    The Fish Plasma Model (FPM) was applied to water exposure and tissue concentrations in fish collected from two wastewater treatment plant impacted estuarine sites. In this study we compared predicted fish plasma concentrations to Cmax values for humans, which represents the maximum plasma concentration for the minimum therapeutic dose. The results of this study show that predictions of plasma concentrations for a variety of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) from effluent concentrations resulted in 37 compounds (54%) exceeding the response ratio (RR = Fish [Plasma]/1%Cmax total ) of 1 compared to 3 compounds (14%) detected with values generated with estuarine receiving water concentrations. When plasma concentrations were modeled from observed whole-body tissue residues, 16 compounds out of 24 detected for Chinook (67%) and 7 of 14 (50%) for sculpin resulted in an RR tissue value greater than 1, which highlights the importance of this dose metric over that using estuarine water. Because the tissue residue approach resulted in a high percentage of compounds with calculated response ratios exceeding a value of unity, we believe this is a more accurate representation for exposure in the field. Predicting plasma concentrations from tissue residues improves our ability to assess the potential for adverse effects in fish because exposure from all sources is captured. Tissue residues are also more likely to represent steady-state conditions compared to those from water exposure because of the inherent reduction in variability usually observed for field data and the time course for bioaccumulation. We also examined the RR in a toxic unit approach to highlight the importance of considering multiple compounds exhibiting a similar mechanism of action. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  7. Tissue characterization using electrical impedance spectroscopy data: a linear algebra approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laufer, Shlomi; Solomon, Stephen B; Rubinsky, Boris

    2012-06-01

    In this study, we use a new linear algebra manipulation on electrical impedance spectroscopy measurements to provide real-time information regarding the nature of the tissue surrounding the needle in minimal invasive procedures. Using a Comsol Multiphysics three-dimensional model, a phantom based on ex vivo animal tissue and in vivo animal data, we demonstrate how tissue inhomogeneity can be characterized without any previous knowledge of the electrical properties of the different tissues, except that they should not be linearly dependent on a certain frequency range. This method may have applications in needle biopsies, radiation seeds, or minimally invasive surgery and can reduce the number of computer tomography or magnetic resonance imaging images. We conclude by demonstrating how this mathematical approach can be useful in other applications.

  8. Determining potential adverse effects in marine fish exposed to pharmaceuticals and personal care products with the fish plasma model and whole-body tissue concentrations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meador, James P.; Yeh, Andrew; Gallagher, Evan P.

    2017-01-01

    The Fish Plasma Model (FPM) was applied to water exposure and tissue concentrations in fish collected from two wastewater treatment plant impacted estuarine sites. In this study we compared predicted fish plasma concentrations to Cmax values for humans, which represents the maximum plasma concentration for the minimum therapeutic dose. The results of this study show that predictions of plasma concentrations for a variety of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) from effluent concentrations resulted in 37 compounds (54%) exceeding the response ratio (RR = Fish [Plasma]/1%Cmax total ) of 1 compared to 3 compounds (14%) detected with values generated with estuarine receiving water concentrations. When plasma concentrations were modeled from observed whole-body tissue residues, 16 compounds out of 24 detected for Chinook (67%) and 7 of 14 (50%) for sculpin resulted in an RR tissue value greater than 1, which highlights the importance of this dose metric over that using estuarine water. Because the tissue residue approach resulted in a high percentage of compounds with calculated response ratios exceeding a value of unity, we believe this is a more accurate representation for exposure in the field. Predicting plasma concentrations from tissue residues improves our ability to assess the potential for adverse effects in fish because exposure from all sources is captured. Tissue residues are also more likely to represent steady-state conditions compared to those from water exposure because of the inherent reduction in variability usually observed for field data and the time course for bioaccumulation. We also examined the RR in a toxic unit approach to highlight the importance of considering multiple compounds exhibiting a similar mechanism of action. - Highlights: • Fish Plasma Model (FPM) to assess risk based on water and fish tissue concentrations. • Plasma levels predicted with receiving water concentrations underestimate exposure for feral fish.

  9. Tylosin depletion in edible tissues of turkeys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montesissa, C; De Liguoro, M; Santi, A; Capolongo, F; Biancotto, G

    1999-10-01

    The depletion of tylosin residues in edible turkey tissues was followed after 3 days of administration of tylosin tartrate at 500 mg l-1 in drinking water, to 30 turkeys. Immediately after the end of the treatment (day 0) and at day 1, 3, 5 and 10 of withdrawal, six turkeys (three males and three females) per time were sacrificed and samples of edible tissues were collected. Tissue homogenates were extracted, purified and analysed by HPLC according to a method previously published for the analysis of tylosin residues in pig tissues. In all tissues, tylosin residues were already below the detection limits of 50 micrograms kg-1 at time zero. However, in several samples of tissues (skin + fat, liver, kidney, muscle), from the six turkeys sacrificed at that time, one peak corresponding to an unknown tylosin equivalent was detected at measurable concentrations. The identification of this unknown compound was performed by LC-MS/MS analysis of the extracts from incurred samples. The mass fragmentation of the compound was consistent with the structure of tylosin D (the alcoholic derivative of tylosin A), the major metabolite of tylosin previously recovered and identified in tissues and/or excreta from treated chickens, cattle and pigs.

  10. Tissue characterization using electrical impedance spectroscopy data: a linear algebra approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laufer, Shlomi; Solomon, Stephen B; Rubinsky, Boris

    2012-01-01

    In this study, we use a new linear algebra manipulation on electrical impedance spectroscopy measurements to provide real-time information regarding the nature of the tissue surrounding the needle in minimal invasive procedures. Using a Comsol Multiphysics three-dimensional model, a phantom based on ex vivo animal tissue and in vivo animal data, we demonstrate how tissue inhomogeneity can be characterized without any previous knowledge of the electrical properties of the different tissues, except that they should not be linearly dependent on a certain frequency range. This method may have applications in needle biopsies, radiation seeds, or minimally invasive surgery and can reduce the number of computer tomography or magnetic resonance imaging images. We conclude by demonstrating how this mathematical approach can be useful in other applications. (paper)

  11. Accumulation of ethoxyquin in the tissue

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, H.L.

    1991-01-01

    Ethoxyquin (EQ) residue levels in the mouse tissue were determined by the HPLC-fluorometric detection method. Mice were given powdered feed containing 0, 0.125, and 0.5% EQ HCl and the EQ residue levels in liver, kidney, lung, and brain tissues were determined after 2, 4, 6, 10, and 14 wk (4 mice/group). The tissue samples were homogenized in 10 volumes (w/v) of acetonitrile-water (7:3, v/v), centrifuged, and the supernatants were stored in a freezer for 2-3 h or until the two layers separated; then the clear upper layers were analyzed. The mean EQ residue levels in the tissue ranged 0.84-4.58 micrograms EQ/g liver and 0.11-0.92 micrograms EQ/g brain. The relative weight of the liver (5.21-7.07% body weight) and the hepatic glutathione level (5.99-7.83 microM GSH/g tissue) of mice that received EQ were significantly higher than those of the controls (4.67-5.05% body weight and 4.30-5.78 microM GSH/g tissue, respectively). The mean hepatic mitochondrial glutathione level of the higher EQ feeding group, following dietary administration of EQ for 14 wk, was approximately twofold (1.68 nM GSH/mg protein) of both the control and the lower EQ feeding groups (0.83 and 0.74 nM GSH/mg protein, respectively)

  12. Tetracycline residues in porcine stomach after administration via drinking water on a swine farm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindquist, Danielle; Wu, Huali; Mason, Sharon; Yeatts, Jim; Brooks, Jim; Barlow, Beth; Schill, Kaitlyn; Baynes, Ronald

    2014-01-01

    Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic used to treat infections in swine. The maximum residue levels of tetracycline in pork stomach tissue in Russia, Europe, and the United States are 10, 200, and 2,000 ppb, respectively. This difference in accepted safety levels may be the reason why stomach tissues that the United States exports continue to be residue violators in overseas markets. In this study, 30 pigs at two different stages of production (weanling and finisher) were treated with tetracycline at 22 mg/kg of body weight per day for a total of 5 days via a water medicator. Blood samples were collected at 0, 72, 78, 96, and 102 h after the start of medication. The medication was stopped at 120 h, and blood samples were again collected at 126, 144, 168, 192, and 216 h after exposure. Five animals were slaughtered for stomach tissue 0, 24, 48, 96, and 192 h after the drug was flushed from the water line. All blood and tissue samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-UV methods. The tetracycline levels in plasma were below the level of detection after the U.S.-labeled withdrawal time of 4 days. The stomach tissue residues averaged 671.72, 330.31, 297.77, 136.36, and 268.08 ppb on withdrawal days 0, 1, 2, 4, and 8, respectively. Using the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tolerance limit method and a population-based pharmacokinetic model with Monte Carlo simulation, a withdrawal interval was estimated. This study demonstrated that tetracycline residues are still detectable in the stomach tissues after the established United States withdrawal time of 4 days. These residue levels may explain why stomach tissues tested in Russia and Europe show positive residues for tetracycline, even though the meat may pass inspection here in the United States prior to export.

  13. AFNOR validation of Premi Test, a microbiological-based screening tube-test for the detection of antimicrobial residues in animal muscle tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaudin, Valerie; Juhel-Gaugain, Murielle; Morétain, Jean-Pierre; Sanders, Pascal

    2008-12-01

    Premi Test contains viable spores of a strain of Bacillus stearothermophilus which is sensitive to antimicrobial residues, such as beta-lactams, tetracyclines, macrolides and sulphonamides. The growth of the strain is inhibited by the presence of antimicrobial residues in muscle tissue samples. Premi Test was validated according to AFNOR rules (French Association for Normalisation). The AFNOR validation was based on the comparison of reference methods (French Official method, i.e. four plate test (FPT) and the STAR protocol (five plate test)) with the alternative method (Premi Test). A preliminary study was conducted in an expert laboratory (Community Reference Laboratory, CRL) on both spiked and incurred samples (field samples). Several method performance criteria (sensitivity, specificity, relative accuracy) were estimated and are discussed, in addition to detection capabilities. Adequate agreement was found between the alternative method and the reference methods. However, Premi Test was more sensitive to beta-lactams and sulphonamides than the FPT. Subsequently, a collaborative study with 11 laboratories was organised by the CRL. Blank and spiked meat juice samples were sent to participants. The expert laboratory (CRL) statistically analysed the results. It was concluded that Premi Test could be used for the routine determination of antimicrobial residues in muscle of different animal origin with acceptable analytical performance. The detection capabilities of Premi Test for beta-lactams (amoxicillin, ceftiofur), one macrolide (tylosin) and tetracycline were at the level of the respective maximum residue limits (MRL) in muscle samples or even lower.

  14. Improving probabilistic prediction of daily streamflow by identifying Pareto optimal approaches for modeling heteroscedastic residual errors

    Science.gov (United States)

    McInerney, David; Thyer, Mark; Kavetski, Dmitri; Lerat, Julien; Kuczera, George

    2017-03-01

    Reliable and precise probabilistic prediction of daily catchment-scale streamflow requires statistical characterization of residual errors of hydrological models. This study focuses on approaches for representing error heteroscedasticity with respect to simulated streamflow, i.e., the pattern of larger errors in higher streamflow predictions. We evaluate eight common residual error schemes, including standard and weighted least squares, the Box-Cox transformation (with fixed and calibrated power parameter λ) and the log-sinh transformation. Case studies include 17 perennial and 6 ephemeral catchments in Australia and the United States, and two lumped hydrological models. Performance is quantified using predictive reliability, precision, and volumetric bias metrics. We find the choice of heteroscedastic error modeling approach significantly impacts on predictive performance, though no single scheme simultaneously optimizes all performance metrics. The set of Pareto optimal schemes, reflecting performance trade-offs, comprises Box-Cox schemes with λ of 0.2 and 0.5, and the log scheme (λ = 0, perennial catchments only). These schemes significantly outperform even the average-performing remaining schemes (e.g., across ephemeral catchments, median precision tightens from 105% to 40% of observed streamflow, and median biases decrease from 25% to 4%). Theoretical interpretations of empirical results highlight the importance of capturing the skew/kurtosis of raw residuals and reproducing zero flows. Paradoxically, calibration of λ is often counterproductive: in perennial catchments, it tends to overfit low flows at the expense of abysmal precision in high flows. The log-sinh transformation is dominated by the simpler Pareto optimal schemes listed above. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners seeking robust residual error schemes for practical work are provided.

  15. Residual motion of lung tumors in end-of-inhale respiratory gated radiotherapy based on external surrogates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berbeco, Ross I.; Nishioka, Seiko; Shirato, Hiroki; Jiang, Steve B.

    2006-01-01

    It has been noted that some lung tumors exhibit large periodic motion due to respiration. To limit the amount of dose to healthy lung tissues, many clinics have begun gating radiotherapy treatment using externally placed surrogates. It has been observed by several institutions that the end-of-exhale (EOE) tumor position is more reproducible than other phases of the breathing cycle, so the gating window is often set there. From a treatment planning perspective, end-of-inhale (EOI) phase might be preferred for gating because the expanded lungs will further decrease the healthy tissue within the treatment field. We simulate gated treatment at the EOI phase, using a set of recently measured internal/external anatomy patient data. This paper attempts to answer three questions: (1) How much is the tumor residual motion when we use an external surrogate gating window at EOI? (2) How could we reduce the residual motion in the EOI gating window? (3) Is there a preference for amplitude- versus phase-based gating at EOI? We found that under free breathing conditions the residual motion of the tumors is much larger for EOI phase than for EOE phase. The mean values of residual motion at EOI were found to be 2.2 and 2.7 mm for amplitude- and phase-based gating, respectively, and, at EOE, 1.0 and 1.2 mm for amplitude- and phase-based gating, respectively. However, we note that the residual motion in the EOI gating window is correlated well with the reproducibility of the external surface position in the EOI phase. Using the results of a published breath-coaching study, we deduce that the residual motion of a lung tumor at EOI would approach that at EOE, with the same duty cycle (30%), under breath-coaching conditions. Additionally, we found that under these same conditions, phase-based gating approaches the same residual motion as amplitude-based gating, going from a 28% difference to 11%, for the patient with the largest difference between the two gating modalities. We conclude

  16. Removal of residual cavitation nuclei to enhance histotripsy fractionation of soft tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duryea, Alexander P; Cain, Charles A; Roberts, William W; Hall, Timothy L

    2015-12-01

    Remanent bubble nuclei generated by primary cavitation collapse can limit the efficiency of histotripsy softtissue fractionation. When these residual bubbles persist from one histotripsy pulse to the next, they can seed the repetitive nucleation of cavitation bubbles at a discrete set of sites within the focal volume. This effect-referred to as cavitation memory- manifests in inefficient lesion formation, because certain sites within the focal volume are overtreated whereas others remain undertreated. Although the cavitation memory effect can be passively mitigated by using a low pulse repetition frequency (PRF) that affords remanent nuclei sufficient time for dissolution between successive pulses, this low PRF also results in slow lesion production. As such, it would be highly desirable to maintain the high per-pulse efficiency associated with low pulse rates when much higher PRFs are utilized. In this vein, we have developed a strategy for the active removal of the remanent bubble nuclei following primary cavitation collapse, using low-amplitude ultrasound sequences (termed bubble-removal sequences) to stimulate the aggregation and subsequent coalescence of these bubbles. In this study, bubbleremoval sequences were incorporated in high-PRF histotripsy treatment (100 Hz) of a red blood cell tissue-mimicking phantom that allows for the visualization of lesion development in real time. A series of reference treatments were also conducted at the low PRF of 1 Hz to provide a point of comparison for which cavitation memory effects are minimal. It was found that bubble-removal sequences as short as 1 ms are capable of maintaining the efficacious lesion development characteristics associated with the low PRF of 1 Hz when the much higher pulse rate of 100 Hz is used. These results were then extended to the treatment of a large volume within the tissue phantom, and optimal bubble-removal sequences identified for the singlefocal- spot case were utilized to homogenize a 10

  17. Dietary Exposure Assessment of Danish Consumers to Dithiocarbamate Residues in Food: a Comparison of the Deterministic and Probabilistic Approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Bodil Hamborg; Andersen, Jens Hinge; Petersen, Annette

    2008-01-01

    Probabilistic and deterministic estimates of the acute and chronic exposure of the Danish populations to dithiocarbamate residues were performed. The Monte Carlo Risk Assessment programme (MCRA 4.0) was used for the probabilistic risk assessment. Food consumption data were obtained from...... the nationwide dietary survey conducted in 2000-02. Residue data for 5721 samples from the monitoring programme conducted in the period 1998-2003 were used for dithiocarbamates, which had been determined as carbon disulphide. Contributions from 26 commodities were included in the calculations. Using...... the probabilistic approach, the daily acute intakes at the 99.9% percentile for adults and children were 11.2 and 28.2 mu g kg(-1) body weight day(-1), representing 5.6% and 14.1% of the ARfD for maneb, respectively. When comparing the point estimate approach with the probabilistic approach, the outcome...

  18. Approaches for Modelling the Residual Service Life of Marine Concrete Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amir Rahimi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the service life design of existing reinforced concrete structures in a marine environment. The general procedure of condition assessment for estimating the residual service life of structures before a repair measure is illustrated. For assessment of the residual service life of structures which have undergone a repair measure a simplified mathematical model of chloride diffusion in a 2-layer system is presented. Preliminary probabilistic calculations demonstrate the effect of various conditions on the residual service life. First studies of the chloride diffusion in a 2-layer system have been conducted using the finite element method. Results of a long-term exposure test are presented to illustrate the performance of two different repair materials. The distribution of residual chlorides after application of a repair material is being studied in laboratory investigations. The residual chlorides migrate from the concrete layer into the new layer immediately after the repair material has been applied to the concrete member. The content and gradient of residual chlorides, along with the thickness and the chloride ingress resistance of both the remaining and the new layer of cover, will determine the residual service life of the repaired structures.

  19. Application of residual modification approach in seasonal ARIMA for electricity demand forecasting: A case study of China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Yuanyuan; Wang Jianzhou; Zhao Ge; Dong Yao

    2012-01-01

    Electricity demand forecasting could prove to be a useful policy tool for decision-makers; thus, accurate forecasting of electricity demand is valuable in allowing both power generators and consumers to make their plans. Although a seasonal ARIMA model is widely used in electricity demand analysis and is a high-precision approach for seasonal data forecasting, errors are unavoidable in the forecasting process. Consequently, a significant research goal is to further improve forecasting precision. To help people in the electricity sectors make more sensible decisions, this study proposes residual modification models to improve the precision of seasonal ARIMA for electricity demand forecasting. In this study, PSO optimal Fourier method, seasonal ARIMA model and combined models of PSO optimal Fourier method with seasonal ARIMA are applied in the Northwest electricity grid of China to correct the forecasting results of seasonal ARIMA. The modification models forecasting of the electricity demand appears to be more workable than that of the single seasonal ARIMA. The results indicate that the prediction accuracy of the three residual modification models is higher than the single seasonal ARIMA model and that the combined model is the most satisfactory of the three models. - Highlights: ► Three residual modification models are proposed to improve the precision of seasonal ARIMA. ► Accurate electricity demand forecast is helpful for a power production sector to come to a correct and reasonable decision. ► The results conclude that the residual modification approaches could enhance the prediction accuracy of seasonal ARIMA. ► The modification models could be applied to forecast electricity demand.

  20. Estimating Net Interracial Mobility in the U.S. A Residual Methods Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez, Anthony Daniel; Hirschman, Charles

    2009-08-01

    This paper presents a residual methods approach to identifying social mobility across race/ethnic categories. In traditional demographic accounting models, population growth is limited to changes in natural increase and migration. Other sources of growth are absorbed by the model residual and can only be estimated indirectly. While these residual estimates have been used to illuminate a number of elusive demographic processes, there has been little effort to incorporate shifts in racial identification into formal accounts of population change. In light of growing evidence that a number of Americans view race/ethnic identities as a personal choice, and not a fixed characteristic, mobility across racial categories may play important roles in the growth of race/ethnic sub-populations and changes to the composition of the U.S. To examine this potential, we derive a reduced-form population balancing equation that treats fertility and international migration as given and estimates survival from period life table data. After subtracting out national increase and migration and adjusting the balance of observed growth for changes in racial measurement and census coverage, we argue that the remaining error of closure provides a reasonable estimate of net interracial mobility among the native born. Using recent Census and ACS microdata, we illustrate the impact that identity shifts may have had on the growth of race/ethnic sub-populations in the past quarter century. Findings suggest a small drift from the non-Hispanic white population into race/ethnic minority groups, though the pattern varies by age and between time periods.

  1. Emerging nanotechnology approaches in tissue engineering for peripheral nerve regeneration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunha, Carla; Panseri, Silvia; Antonini, Stefania

    2011-02-01

    Effective nerve regeneration and functional recovery subsequent to peripheral nerve injury is still a clinical challenge. Autologous nerve graft transplantation is a feasible treatment in several clinical cases, but it is limited by donor site morbidity and insufficient donor tissue, impairing complete functional recovery. Tissue engineering has introduced innovative approaches to promote and guide peripheral nerve regeneration by using biomimetic conduits creating favorable microenvironments for nervous ingrowth, but despite the development of a plethora of nerve prostheses, few approaches have as yet entered the clinic. Promising strategies using nanotechnology have recently been proposed, such as the use of scaffolds with functionalized cell-binding domains, the use of guidance channels with cell-scale internally oriented fibers, and the possibility of sustained release of neurotrophic factors. This review addresses the fabrication, advantages, drawbacks, and results achieved by the most recent nanotechnology approaches in view of future solutions for peripheral nerve repair. Peripheral nerve repair strategies are very limited despite numerous advances on the field of neurosciences and regenerative medicine. This review discusses nanotechnology based strategies including scaffolds with functionalized cell binding domains, the use of guidance channels, and the potential use of sustained release neurotropic factors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. A unified momentum equation approach for computing thermal residual stresses during melting and solidification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeo, Haram; Ki, Hyungson

    2018-03-01

    In this article, we present a novel numerical method for computing thermal residual stresses from a viewpoint of fluid-structure interaction (FSI). In a thermal processing of a material, residual stresses are developed as the material undergoes melting and solidification, and liquid, solid, and a mixture of liquid and solid (or mushy state) coexist and interact with each other during the process. In order to accurately account for the stress development during phase changes, we derived a unified momentum equation from the momentum equations of incompressible fluids and elastoplastic solids. In this approach, the whole fluid-structure system is treated as a single continuum, and the interaction between fluid and solid phases across the mushy zone is naturally taken into account in a monolithic way. For thermal analysis, an enthalpy-based method was employed. As a numerical example, a two-dimensional laser heating problem was considered, where a carbon steel sheet was heated by a Gaussian laser beam. Momentum and energy equations were discretized on a uniform Cartesian grid in a finite volume framework, and temperature-dependent material properties were used. The austenite-martensite phase transformation of carbon steel was also considered. In this study, the effects of solid strains, fluid flow, mushy zone size, and laser heating time on residual stress formation were investigated.

  3. Comparison of four microbiological inhibition tests for the screening of antimicrobial residues in the tissues of food-producing animals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuzana Gondová

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The study compares two existing microbiological inhibition tests, Screening Test for Antibiotic Residues (STAR and Premi®Test with two recently introduced tests, Nouws Antibiotic Test (NAT and Total Antibiotics for the screening of antimicrobial residues in the tissues of food-producing animals. In the negative or positive sample classification based on inhibition of the growth of test strain sensitive to many antibiotics and sulphonamides, out of 142 samples obtained from slaughterhouses and retail operations, 39 samples yielded a positive result in one or more tests: 4 samples in four tests, 14 samples in three tests, 13 samples in two tests, and 8 samples in one test. As for the numbers of observed positive samples, the descending sequence of tests was: STAR, Total Antibiotics, Premi®Test, NAT. The growth inhibition was observed in three out of seven test strains, namely Bacillus cereus ATCC 11778, Kocuria rhizophila ATCC 9341, and Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis. Considering the test strains sensitivity and no inhibition on the Bacillus pumilus NCIMB 10822 NAT test plates, our preliminary conclusion is that the animal samples are suspected for the presence of tetracycline, macrolide, and b-lactam antibiotics.

  4. Significance of Lead Residues in Mallard Tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longcore, J.R.; Locke, L.N.; Bagley, George E.; Andrews, R.

    1974-01-01

    Tissues of adult, lead-dosed mallards that either died or were sacrificed were analyzed for lead. Lead levels in brains, tibiae, and breast muscle of ducks that died and in tibiae of ducks that were sacrificed increased significantly from dosage until death. Lead in the heart, lung, and blood from sacrificed ducks decreased significantly from dosage until death. Lead concentrations in tissues from ducks in the two groups were not significantly different except for the liver, kidney, and lung. Average lead levels in the livers and kidneys of ducks that died were significantly higher than those in ducks that were sacrificed. The mean concentration of lead in the lungs of the ducks sacrificed was significantly higher than the mean level in the lungs of ducks that died. Measurements of the lead concentrations in this study, when compared with lead levels reported in the literature for avian and non-avian species, showed that arbitrary diagnostic levels indicating lead poisoning could be set. In mallard ducks, lead levels exceeding 3 ppm in the brain, 6 to 20 ppm in the kidney or liver, or 10 ppm in clotted blood from the heart indicated acute exposure to lead.

  5. Towards the design of 3D multiscale instructive tissue engineering constructs: Current approaches and trends.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Sara M; Reis, Rui L; Mano, João F

    2015-11-01

    The design of 3D constructs with adequate properties to instruct and guide cells both in vitro and in vivo is one of the major focuses of tissue engineering. Successful tissue regeneration depends on the favorable crosstalk between the supporting structure, the cells and the host tissue so that a balanced matrix production and degradation are achieved. Herein, the major occurring events and players in normal and regenerative tissue are overviewed. These have been inspiring the selection or synthesis of instructive cues to include into the 3D constructs. We further highlight the importance of a multiscale perception of the range of features that can be included on the biomimetic structures. Lastly, we focus on the current and developing tissue-engineering approaches for the preparation of such 3D constructs: top-down, bottom-up and integrative. Bottom-up and integrative approaches present a higher potential for the design of tissue engineering devices with multiscale features and higher biochemical control than top-down strategies, and are the main focus of this review. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. MR imaging of soft tissue alterations after total hip arthroplasty: comparison of classic surgical approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Agten, Christoph A.; Sutter, Reto; Pfirrmann, Christian W.A. [Balgrist University Hospital, Radiology, Zurich (Switzerland); University of Zurich, Faculty of Medicine, Zurich (Switzerland); Dora, Claudio [Balgrist University Hospital, Orthopedic Surgery, Zurich (Switzerland); University of Zurich, Faculty of Medicine, Zurich (Switzerland)

    2017-03-15

    To compare soft-tissue changes after total hip arthroplasty with posterior, direct-lateral, anterolateral, or anterior surgical approaches. MRI of 120 patients after primary total hip arthroplasty (30 per approach) were included. Each MRI was assessed by two readers regarding identification of surgical access, fatty muscle atrophy (Goutallier classification), tendon quality (0 = normal, 1 = tendinopathy, 2 = partial tear, 3 = avulsion), and fluid collections. Readers were blinded to the surgical approach. Surgical access was correctly identified in all cases. The direct lateral approach showed highest Goutallier grades and tendon damage for gluteus minimus muscle (2.07-2.67 and 2.00-2.77; p = 0.017 and p = 0.001 for readers 1 and 2, respectively) and tendon (2.30/1.67; p < 0.0005 for reader 1/2), and the lateral portion of the gluteus medius tendon (2.77/2.20; p < 0.0005 for reader 1/2). The posterior approach showed highest Goutallier grades and tendon damage for external rotator muscles (1.97-2.67 and 1.57-2.40; p < 0.0005-0.006 for reader 1/2) and tendons (1.41-2.45 and 1.93-2.76; p < 0.0005 for reader 1/2). The anterolateral and anterior approach showed less soft tissue damage. Fluid collections showed no differences between the approaches. MRI is well suited to identify surgical approaches after THA. The anterior and anterolateral approach showed less soft tissue damage compared to the posterior and direct lateral approach. (orig.)

  7. MR imaging of soft tissue alterations after total hip arthroplasty: comparison of classic surgical approaches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Agten, Christoph A.; Sutter, Reto; Pfirrmann, Christian W.A.; Dora, Claudio

    2017-01-01

    To compare soft-tissue changes after total hip arthroplasty with posterior, direct-lateral, anterolateral, or anterior surgical approaches. MRI of 120 patients after primary total hip arthroplasty (30 per approach) were included. Each MRI was assessed by two readers regarding identification of surgical access, fatty muscle atrophy (Goutallier classification), tendon quality (0 = normal, 1 = tendinopathy, 2 = partial tear, 3 = avulsion), and fluid collections. Readers were blinded to the surgical approach. Surgical access was correctly identified in all cases. The direct lateral approach showed highest Goutallier grades and tendon damage for gluteus minimus muscle (2.07-2.67 and 2.00-2.77; p = 0.017 and p = 0.001 for readers 1 and 2, respectively) and tendon (2.30/1.67; p < 0.0005 for reader 1/2), and the lateral portion of the gluteus medius tendon (2.77/2.20; p < 0.0005 for reader 1/2). The posterior approach showed highest Goutallier grades and tendon damage for external rotator muscles (1.97-2.67 and 1.57-2.40; p < 0.0005-0.006 for reader 1/2) and tendons (1.41-2.45 and 1.93-2.76; p < 0.0005 for reader 1/2). The anterolateral and anterior approach showed less soft tissue damage. Fluid collections showed no differences between the approaches. MRI is well suited to identify surgical approaches after THA. The anterior and anterolateral approach showed less soft tissue damage compared to the posterior and direct lateral approach. (orig.)

  8. Characterization of a sequential pipeline approach to automatic tissue segmentation from brain MR Images

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou, Zujun; Huang, Su

    2008-01-01

    Quantitative analysis of gray matter and white matter in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is valuable for neuroradiology and clinical practice. Submission of large collections of MRI scans to pipeline processing is increasingly important. We characterized this process and suggest several improvements. To investigate tissue segmentation from brain MR images through a sequential approach, a pipeline that consecutively executes denoising, skull/scalp removal, intensity inhomogeneity correction and intensity-based classification was developed. The denoising phase employs a 3D-extension of the Bayes-Shrink method. The inhomogeneity is corrected by an improvement of the Dawant et al.'s method with automatic generation of reference points. The N3 method has also been evaluated. Subsequently the brain tissue is segmented into cerebrospinal fluid, gray matter and white matter by a generalized Otsu thresholding technique. Intensive comparisons with other sequential or iterative methods have been carried out using simulated and real images. The sequential approach with judicious selection on the algorithm selection in each stage is not only advantageous in speed, but also can attain at least as accurate segmentation as iterative methods under a variety of noise or inhomogeneity levels. A sequential approach to tissue segmentation, which consecutively executes the wavelet shrinkage denoising, scalp/skull removal, inhomogeneity correction and intensity-based classification was developed to automatically segment the brain tissue into CSF, GM and WM from brain MR images. This approach is advantageous in several common applications, compared with other pipeline methods. (orig.)

  9. Determination of Oxytetracycline and 4-Epi-Oxytetracycline Residues in Feathers and Edible Tissues of Broiler Chickens Using Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornejo, Javiera; Pokrant, Ekaterina; Krogh, Magdalena; Briceño, Cristóbal; Hidalgo, Héctor; Maddaleno, Aldo; Araya-Jordán, Carolina; Martín, Betty San

    2017-04-01

    Antibiotics have been widely used in poultry production for the treatment of bacterial diseases. However, drug residues can remain in products derived from animals after the cessation of the drug therapies. Feathers, in particular, have shown an affinity for antibiotics such as tetracycline, suggesting the persistence of these drugs in nonedible tissue. After the birds are slaughtered, feathers are ground into feather meals, which are used as organic fertilizer or an ingredient in animal diets, thereby entering into the food chain and becoming a potential risk for public health. To evaluate the depletion of oxytetracycline (OTC) and its metabolite 4-epi-oxytetracycline (4-epi-OTC) in the muscles, liver, and feathers, 64 broiler chickens, bred under controlled conditions, were treated orally with a commercial formulation of 10% OTC for 7 days. The analytes were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. OTC and 4-epi-OTC were found in the feathers for 46 days, whereas they were found in the muscle and liver for only 12 and 6 days, respectively. These results prove that the analytes remain in feathers in higher concentrations than they do in edible tissues after treatment with tetracyclines. Thus, feather meals represent a potential source of antimicrobial residue contamination in the food chain.

  10. Rapid intraoperative tissue expansion with Foley catheter in a challenging cripple Hypospadias

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murat Cakmak

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACTFailed hypospadiass cases may result in hypovascular, scarred penis with residual penile chordee and leave the patient with minimal residual skin for penile resurfacing and urethroplasty. Local tissue expansion has become a good alternative to provide skin for penis by using expanders however they require long periods of time for expansion. Besides, rapid tissue expansion was also described in different tissues. We used rapid intraoperative expansion technique by using a Foley catheter in a failed hypospadias case who had minimal residual skin secondary to infection and we concluded that rapid intraoperative tissue expansion with Foley catheter is an effective, feasible reconstructive method for easy dissection and penile resurfacing in failed hypospadiass cases.

  11. A simulation-based approach for evaluating logging residue handling systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    B. Bruce Bare; Benjamin A. Jayne; Brian F. Anholt

    1976-01-01

    Describes a computer simulation model for evaluating logging residue handling systems. The flow of resources is traced through a prespecified combination of operations including yarding, chipping, sorting, loading, transporting, and unloading. The model was used to evaluate the feasibility of converting logging residues to chips that could be used, for example, to...

  12. MANAGEMENT OF RESIDUAL REFRACTIVE ERROR AFTER CATARACT PHACOEMULSIFICATION. PART 2. INTRAOCULAR APPROACHES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. B. Pershin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The review presents an  analysis  of the  literature  data  on  the  methods of surgical  correction of residual  refractive  error after cataract phacoemulsification. Keratorefractive and intraocular approaches are  considered in details.  A comparison of the  efficacy and  safet y  of different groups   of methods on  the  example  of comparative studies is given.  Historically earlier  keratorefractive methods (laser  vision correction with LASIK and  PRK techniques on intact  eyes,  LASIK after  implantation  of multifocal  IOLs and arcuate keratotomy  after  phaco  are  indicated  for  the  correction of astigmatic refractive  error and  a small  spherical refractive error. Intraocular methods, including the  replacement of the  IOL  and  «piggyback» IOLs implantation  are  used  to  correct a large spherical refractive error. The introduction  of new  technology, the  implantation  of light-adjustable  IOLs, will  expand  the  existing evidence  and provide greater predictabilit y and efficiency of the  method  of correction of residual  refractive error.

  13. Alternate approach for calculating hardness based on residual indentation depth: Comparison with experiments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ananthakrishna, G.; K, Srikanth

    2018-03-01

    It is well known that plastic deformation is a highly nonlinear dissipative irreversible phenomenon of considerable complexity. As a consequence, little progress has been made in modeling some well-known size-dependent properties of plastic deformation, for instance, calculating hardness as a function of indentation depth independently. Here, we devise a method of calculating hardness by calculating the residual indentation depth and then calculate the hardness as the ratio of the load to the residual imprint area. Recognizing the fact that dislocations are the basic defects controlling the plastic component of the indentation depth, we set up a system of coupled nonlinear time evolution equations for the mobile, forest, and geometrically necessary dislocation densities. Within our approach, we consider the geometrically necessary dislocations to be immobile since they contribute to additional hardness. The model includes dislocation multiplication, storage, and recovery mechanisms. The growth of the geometrically necessary dislocation density is controlled by the number of loops that can be activated under the contact area and the mean strain gradient. The equations are then coupled to the load rate equation. Our approach has the ability to adopt experimental parameters such as the indentation rates, the geometrical parameters defining the Berkovich indenter, including the nominal tip radius. The residual indentation depth is obtained by integrating the Orowan expression for the plastic strain rate, which is then used to calculate the hardness. Consistent with the experimental observations, the increasing hardness with decreasing indentation depth in our model arises from limited dislocation sources at small indentation depths and therefore avoids divergence in the limit of small depths reported in the Nix-Gao model. We demonstrate that for a range of parameter values that physically represent different materials, the model predicts the three characteristic

  14. Determination of Arsenical Herbicide Residues in Plant Tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    R.M. Sachs; J.L. Michael; F.B. Anastasia; W.A. Wells

    1971-01-01

    Paper chromatographic separation of hydroxydimethylarsine oxide (cacodylic acid), monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA), sodium arsenate, and sodium arsenite was achieved with the aid of four solvent systems. Aqueous extracts of plant tissues removed essentially all the arscnicals applied, but mechanoiic fractionation was required before the extracts could be analyzed by...

  15. Tylosin depletion from edible pig tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prats, C; El Korchi, G; Francesch, R; Arboix, M; Pérez, B

    2002-12-01

    The depletion of tylosin from edible pig tissues was studied following 5 days of intramuscular (i.m.) administration of 10 mg/kg of tylosin to 16 crossbreed pigs. Animals were slaughtered at intervals after treatment and samples of muscle, kidney, liver, skin+fat, and injection site were collected and analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Seven days after the completion of treatment, the concentration of tylosin in kidney, skin+fat, and at the injection site was higher than the European Union maximal residue limit (MRL) of 100 microg/kg. Tylosin residues in all tissues were below the quantification limit (50 microg/kg) at 10 and 14 days post-treatment.

  16. Evaluation of gunshot residue (GSR) evidence: Surveys of prevalence of GSR on clothing and frequency of residue types.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannigan, Thomas J; McDermott, Sean D; Greaney, Claire M; O'Shaughnessy, John; O'Brien, Cliona M

    2015-12-01

    The evaluative approach is a logical approach to interpreting scientific findings in criminal cases, applying knowledge regarding the transfer, persistence and recovery of particulate material. The application of this approach to interpreting the finding of gunshot residue on the clothing of a suspect requires knowledge of background levels of GSR on clothing and on the frequency of different residue types in a particular environment. The cuffs of 100 upper outer garments submitted to a forensic laboratory in connection with non-firearms offences were sampled for gunshot residue. No 3-component lead/antimony/barium particles were found on 98 of them. Two 3-component particles were found on one of them and one 3-component particle was found on another. The frequency of occurrence of various particle types regarded as consistent with GSR was also explored. The findings show that, while 3-component particles were somewhat more likely to be encountered by chance on clothing than on hands, they are still relatively uncommon events. To investigate the frequency of occurrence of particular residue types, 100 discharged rounds of ammunition recovered at crime scenes were sampled and the types of residue present were determined. The results show that some residue types are significantly more common than others. Both sets of data will be of value in evaluating the significance of finding GSR on clothing of suspects in criminal cases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Mapping allostery through computational glycine scanning and correlation analysis of residue-residue contacts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Quentin R; Lindsay, Richard J; Nellas, Ricky B; Fernandez, Elias J; Shen, Tongye

    2015-02-24

    Understanding allosteric mechanisms is essential for the physical control of molecular switches and downstream cellular responses. However, it is difficult to decode essential allosteric motions in a high-throughput scheme. A general two-pronged approach to performing automatic data reduction of simulation trajectories is presented here. The first step involves coarse-graining and identifying the most dynamic residue-residue contacts. The second step is performing principal component analysis of these contacts and extracting the large-scale collective motions expressed via these residue-residue contacts. We demonstrated the method using a protein complex of nuclear receptors. Using atomistic modeling and simulation, we examined the protein complex and a set of 18 glycine point mutations of residues that constitute the binding pocket of the ligand effector. The important motions that are responsible for the allostery are reported. In contrast to conventional induced-fit and lock-and-key binding mechanisms, a novel "frustrated-fit" binding mechanism of RXR for allosteric control was revealed.

  18. Mouse genetic approaches applied to the normal tissue radiation response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haston, Christina K.

    2012-01-01

    The varying responses of inbred mouse models to radiation exposure present a unique opportunity to dissect the genetic basis of radiation sensitivity and tissue injury. Such studies are complementary to human association studies as they permit both the analysis of clinical features of disease, and of specific variants associated with its presentation, in a controlled environment. Herein I review how animal models are studied to identify specific genetic variants influencing predisposition to radiation-induced traits. Among these radiation-induced responses are documented strain differences in repair of DNA damage and in extent of tissue injury (in the lung, skin, and intestine) which form the base for genetic investigations. For example, radiation-induced DNA damage is consistently greater in tissues from BALB/cJ mice, than the levels in C57BL/6J mice, suggesting there may be an inherent DNA damage level per strain. Regarding tissue injury, strain specific inflammatory and fibrotic phenotypes have been documented for principally, C57BL/6 C3H and A/J mice but a correlation among responses such that knowledge of the radiation injury in one tissue informs of the response in another is not evident. Strategies to identify genetic differences contributing to a trait based on inbred strain differences, which include linkage analysis and the evaluation of recombinant congenic (RC) strains, are presented, with a focus on the lung response to irradiation which is the only radiation-induced tissue injury mapped to date. Such approaches are needed to reveal genetic differences in susceptibility to radiation injury, and also to provide a context for the effects of specific genetic variation uncovered in anticipated clinical association studies. In summary, mouse models can be studied to uncover heritable variation predisposing to specific radiation responses, and such variations may point to pathways of importance to phenotype development in the clinic.

  19. Colloidal gas aphron foams: A novel approach to a hydrogel based tissue engineered myocardial patch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Elizabeth Edna

    Cardiovascular disease currently affects an estimated 58 million Americans and is the leading cause of death in the US. Over 2.3 million Americans are currently living with heart failure a leading cause of which is acute myocardial infarction, during which a part of the heart muscle is damaged beyond repair. There is a great need to develop treatments for damaged heart tissue. One potential therapy involves replacement of nonfunctioning scar tissue with a patch of healthy, functioning tissue. A tissue engineered cardiac patch would be ideal for such an application. Tissue engineering techniques require the use of porous scaffolds, which serve as a 3-D template for initial cell attachment and grow-th leading to tissue formation. The scaffold must also have mechanical properties closely matching those of the tissues at the site of implantation. Our research presents a new approach to meet these design requirements. A unique interaction between poly(vinyl alcohol) and amino acids has been discovered by our lab, resulting in the production of novel gels. These unique synthetic hydrogels along with one natural hydrogel, alginate (derived from brown seaweed), have been coupled with a new approach to tissue scaffold fabrication using solid colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs). CGAs are colloidal foams containing uniform bubbles with diameters on the order of micrometers. Upon solidification the GCAs form a porous, 3-D network suitable for a tissue scaffold. The project encompasses four specific aims: (I) characterize hydrogel formation mechanism, (II) use colloidal gas aphrons to produce hydrogel scaffolds, (III) chemically and physically characterize scaffold materials and (IV) optimize and evaluate scaffold biocompatibility.

  20. Monitoring and Auditing Residual Information on the User’s Computer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladlena Sergeevna Oladk

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper considers the problem of violation of information security components such as confidentiality and availability in the event of a computer user's residual information. Analyze the requirements of regulators and mechanisms to be applied in the organization to monitor the residual information or its destruction.Approach to monitoring and auditing residual information on the user's computer, which allows monitoring the residual information in certain areas proposed. Approach allows us to identify the detected information and rank it according to the degree of criticality, as well as calculate the risk of leakage and its potential to develop recommendations aimed at its reduction. The proposed approach is formally described and automated in a software system.

  1. Effects on health, performance, and tissue residues of the ionophore antibiotic salinomycin in finishing broilers (21 to 38 d).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diaz, Gonzalo J; Aguillón, Yandy; Cortés, Amparo

    2018-06-01

    A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding salinomycin at the recommended prophylactic level, and at 2 and 3 times this level, to finishing male broilers (d 21 to 38). Four treatment groups were given the experimental diets containing 0, 60, 120, or 180 parts per million (ppm) salinomycin from d 21 to 38. Performance, relative organ weights, selected serum enzymes, and salinomycin residues in liver, muscle, and serum were determined. Salinomycin supplementation had no effect on body weight, feed intake, or feed conversion, and caused no overt signs of toxicity. After a week of being fed the salinomycin diets, the serum activity of aspartate aminotransferase was significantly increased in chickens fed 180 ppm compared with controls. These birds also showed microscopic lesions in breast and thigh muscles, but not in cardiac muscle. Salinomycin residues were not detected by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry in liver or muscle samples from the birds fed 0, 60, or 120 ppm salinomycin. However, chickens fed 180 ppm salinomycin had detectable levels in liver and muscle above the maximum residue level of 5 μg/kg established by the European Union. All birds fed salinomycin had salinomycin in their sera with levels ranging from N.D. (not detected) in the controls to 24.4 ± 7.9, 61.4 ± 18.9, and 94.5 ± 9.1 μg/L for salinomycin dietary levels of 60, 120, and 180 ppm, respectively. Serum salinomycin concentration was linearly related with salinomycin content in feed (y = 0.584x - 10, r2 = 0.999). The results showed that even at 3 times the prophylactic level, salinomycin does not induce clinical toxicosis or mortality. No salinomycin residues were found in edible tissues at the recommended dietary level or at 2 times this level. However, salinomycin was detected in serum regardless of the dietary level. A simple method for salinomycin determination in serum is described which can be used as a marker of exposure

  2. Rigid Residue Scan Simulations Systematically Reveal Residue Entropic Roles in Protein Allostery.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Kalescky

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Intra-protein information is transmitted over distances via allosteric processes. This ubiquitous protein process allows for protein function changes due to ligand binding events. Understanding protein allostery is essential to understanding protein functions. In this study, allostery in the second PDZ domain (PDZ2 in the human PTP1E protein is examined as model system to advance a recently developed rigid residue scan method combining with configurational entropy calculation and principal component analysis. The contributions from individual residues to whole-protein dynamics and allostery were systematically assessed via rigid body simulations of both unbound and ligand-bound states of the protein. The entropic contributions of individual residues to whole-protein dynamics were evaluated based on covariance-based correlation analysis of all simulations. The changes of overall protein entropy when individual residues being held rigid support that the rigidity/flexibility equilibrium in protein structure is governed by the La Châtelier's principle of chemical equilibrium. Key residues of PDZ2 allostery were identified with good agreement with NMR studies of the same protein bound to the same peptide. On the other hand, the change of entropic contribution from each residue upon perturbation revealed intrinsic differences among all the residues. The quasi-harmonic and principal component analyses of simulations without rigid residue perturbation showed a coherent allosteric mode from unbound and bound states, respectively. The projection of simulations with rigid residue perturbation onto coherent allosteric modes demonstrated the intrinsic shifting of ensemble distributions supporting the population-shift theory of protein allostery. Overall, the study presented here provides a robust and systematic approach to estimate the contribution of individual residue internal motion to overall protein dynamics and allostery.

  3. Epstein-Barr virus patterns in US Burkitt lymphoma tumors from the SEER residual tissue repository during 1979-2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbulaiteye, Sam M; Pullarkat, Sheeja T; Nathwani, Bharat N; Weiss, Lawrence M; Rao, Nagesh; Emmanuel, Benjamin; Lynch, Charles F; Hernandez, Brenda; Neppalli, Vishala; Hawes, Debra; Cockburn, Myles G; Kim, Andre; Williams, Makeda; Altekruse, Sean; Bhatia, Kishor; Goodman, Marc T; Cozen, Wendy

    2014-01-01

    Burkitt lymphoma (BL) occurs at all ages, but the patterns of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positivity in relation to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), immunoprofiles and age have not been fully explored. BL tissues from residual tissue repositories, and two academic centers in the United States were examined by expert hematopathologists for morphology, immunohistochemistry, MYC rearrangement, EBV-encoded RNA (EBER), and diagnosed according to the 2008 WHO lymphoma classification. Analysis was done using frequency tables, Chi-squared statistics, and Student's t-test. Of 117 cases examined, 91 were confirmed as BL. The age distribution was 26%, 15%, 19%, and 29% for 0-19, 20-34, 35-59, 60+ years, and missing in 11%. MYC rearrangement was found in 89% and EBER positivity in 29% of 82 cases with results. EBER positivity varied with age (from 13% in age group 0-19 to 55% in age group 20-34, and fell to 25% in age group 60+ years, p = 0.08); with race (56% in Blacks/Hispanics vs 21% in Whites/Asians/Pacific Islanders, p = 0.006); and by HIV status (64% in HIV positive vs 22% in HIV negative cases, p = 0.03). EBER positivity was demonstrated in about one-third of tumors and it was strongly associated with race and HIV status, and marginally with age-group. © 2013 APMIS Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  4. An Approach to Assess Observation Impact Based on Observation-Minus-Forecast Residuals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todling, Ricardo

    2009-01-01

    Langland and Baker (2004) introduced an approach to assess the impact of observations on the forecasts. In that, a state-space aspect of the forecast is defined and a procedure is derived that relates changes in the aspect with changes in the initial conditions associated with the assimilation of observations) ultimately providing information about the impact of individual observations on the forecast. Some features of the approach are to be noted. The typical choice of forecast aspect employed in related works is rather arbitrary and leads to an incomplete assessment of the observing system. Furthermore, the state-space forecast aspect requires availability of a verification state that should ideally be uncorrelated with the forecast but in practice is not. Lastly, the approach involves the adjoint operator of the entire data assimilation system and as such it is constrained by the validity of this operator. In this presentation, an observation-space metric is used that, for a relatively time-homogeneous observing system, allows inferring observation impact on the forecast without some of the limitations above. Specifically, using observation-minus-forecast residuals leads to an approach with the following features: (i) it suggests a rather natural choice of forecast aspect, directly linked to the analysis system and providing full assessment of the observations; (ii) it naturally avoids introducing undesirable correlations in the forecast aspect by verifying against the observations; and (iii) it does not involve linearization and use of adjoints; therefore being applicable to any length of forecast. The state and observation-space approaches might be complementary to some degree, and involve different limitations and complexities. Illustrations are given using the NASA GEOS-5 data.

  5. Development of a new method for the determination of residues of the neonictinoid insecticide imidacloprid in juvenile Chinook (Oncorhynchus tyshawytscha) using ELISA detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frew, John A.; Grue, Christian E.

    2012-01-01

    The neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid (IMI) has been proposed as an alternative to carbaryl for controlling indigenous burrowing shrimp on commercial oyster beds in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, Washington. A focus of concern over the use of this insecticide in an aquatic environment is the potential for adverse effects from exposure to non-target species residing in the Bay, such as juvenile Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and cutthroat trout (O. clarki). Federal registration and State permiting approval for the use of IMI will require confirmation that the compound does not adversely impact these salmonids following field applications. This will necessitate an environmental monitoring program for evaluating exposure in salmonids following the treatment of beds. Quantification of IMI residues in tissue can be used for determining salmonid exposure to the insecticide. Refinement of an existing protocol using liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) detection would provide the low limits of quantification, given the relatively small tissue sample sizes, necessary for determining exposure in individual fish. Such an approach would not be viable for the environmental monitoring effort in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor due to the high costs associated with running multiple analyses, however. A new sample preparation protocol was developed for use with a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantification of IMI, thereby providing a low-cost alternative to LC-MS for environmental monitoring in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. Extraction of the analyte from the salmonid brain tissue was achieved by Dounce homogenization in 4.0 mL of 20.0 mM Triton X-100, followed by a 6 h incubation at 50–55 °C. Centrifugal ultrafiltration and reversed phase solid phase extraction were used for sample cleanup. The limit of quantification for an average 77.0 mg whole brain sample was calculated at 18.2 μg kg-1 (ppb) with an average

  6. Determination of trimethoprim in tissues using liquid chromatography-thermospray mass spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannavan, A; Hewitt, S A; Floyd, S D; Kennedy, D G

    1997-11-01

    A method is described for the determination of the antibacterial drug trimethoprim in tissues. Minced tissue is homogenised with chloroform-acetone (1 + 1 v/v), filtered, and the filtrate evaporated to an oily residue using a rotary evaporator. The residue is redissolved in methanol-water-acetic acid (50 + 48.7 + 1.3 v/v) and any fats present are partitioned into hexane. The aqueous phase is analysed by liquid chromatography-thermospray mass spectrometry in positive mode with the protonated molecular ion at m/z 291 being monitored. Recoveries ranged between 60% in liver and 79% in muscle. The limit of determination was 25 micrograms kg-1 and the limit of detection was approximately 4 micrograms kg-1. The method is suitable for monitoring tissues taken under national surveillance schemes for veterinary drug residues.

  7. Differential expression among tissues in morbidly obese individuals using a finite mixture model under BLUP approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kogelman, Lisette; Trabzuni, Daniah; Bonder, Marc Jan

    effects of the interactions between tissues and probes using BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) linear models correcting for gender, which were subsequently used in a finite mixture model to detect DE genes in each tissue. This approach evades the multiple-testing problem and is able to detect...

  8. Residues of tritium-labeled morantel in lactating dairy cattle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lynch, M.J.; Mosher, F.R.; Burnett, D.M.; Newby, T.J.

    1987-01-01

    Residues of morantel and its metabolites were monitored in plasma, urine, and milk of five lactating dairy cattle that received an oral dose of [4,4-pyrimidyl- 3 H 2 ]morantel tartrate at 10 mg/kg. Drug-related radioactivity peaked in plasma at 8 h and in milk by the second milking, postdose, and was 170 and 84 ng/mL, respectively. The fraction of total residues in milk convertible to the marker compound, N-methyl-1,3-propanediamine, was 0.38 on the basis of a comparison of the areas under the curves for total and marker residues. Five days after dosing, 3.9% of the total radioactivity in liver was recovered as tritium water. Total drug-related residues in this target tissue averaged 1.15 μg/g. About half of the drug-related residues in liver was unextractable and was classified by bound

  9. A logic programming and statistical systems approach for tissue characterization in magnetic resonance imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levy, G.C.; Dudewicz, E.J.; Harner, T.J.

    1989-01-01

    The main research goal has been to evalute significant factors affecting the in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters R 1 , T 2 , and 1 H density. This approach differs significantly from other such projects in that the experimental data analysis is being performed while concurrently developing automated, computer-aided analysis software for such MRI tissue parameters. In the experimental portion of the project, statistical analyses, and a heuristic minimum/maximum discriminant analysis algorithm have been explored. Both methods have been used to classify tissue types from 1.5 Tesla transaxial MR images of the human brain. The developing program, written in the logic programming language Prolog, similar in a number of ways to many existing expert systems now in use for other medical applications; inclusion of the underlying statistical data base and advanced statistical analyses is the main differentiating feature of the current approach. First results indicate promising classification accuracy of various brain tissues such as gray and white matter, as well as differentiation of different types of gray matter and white matter (e.g.: caudate-nucleus vs. thalamus, both representatives of gray matter; and, cortical white matter vs. internal capsule as representative of white matter). Taking all four tissue types together, the percentage of correct classifications ranges from 73 to 87%. (author)

  10. An integrated finite-element approach to mechanics, transport and biosynthesis in tissue engineering

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sengers, B.G.; Oomens, C.W.J.; Baaijens, F.P.T.

    2004-01-01

    A finite-element approach was formulated, aimed at enabling an integrated study of mechanical and biochemical factors that control the functional development of tissue engineered constructs. A nonlinear biphasic displacement-velocity-pressure description was combined with adjective and diffusive

  11. Scintigraphic criteria for administration of therapeutic activities of 131I for ablation of residual thyroid tissue in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dzhuzha, D.A.

    2003-01-01

    With the aim to determinate the optical scintigraphic criteria of radioablation of the small parts of residual thyroid tissue (RTT) after a thyroidectomy the results of postoperative monitoring of 29 women aged 23-60 with differentiated thyroid cancer, who did not get the radioiodine therapy, were analyzed. At the single postoperative scintigraphy with 131 I the optimal scintigraphic criteria for radioablation are the relative level of 131 I accumulation in RTT and the relative specific volume activity in RTT. At the values of these indices below 0.21% and 0.16%/sm 3 , respectively, only suppressive thyroid hormone therapy and standard monitoring are recommended

  12. [Biofabrication: new approaches for tissue regeneration].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horch, Raymund E; Weigand, Annika; Wajant, Harald; Groll, Jürgen; Boccaccini, Aldo R; Arkudas, Andreas

    2018-04-01

    The advent of Tissue Engineering (TE) in the early 1990ies was fostered by the increasing need for functional tissue and organ replacement. Classical TE was based on the combination of carrier matrices, cells and growth factors to reconstitute lost or damaged tissue and organs. Despite considerable results in vitro and in experimental settings the lack of early vascularization has hampered its translation into daily clinical practice so far. A new field of research, called "biofabrication" utilizing latest 3D printing technologies aims at hierarchically and spatially incorporating different cells, biomaterials and molecules into a matrix to alleviate a directed maturation of artificial tissue. A literature research of the relevant publications regarding biofabrication and bioprinting was performed using the PubMed data base. Relevant papers were selected and evaluated with secondary analysis of specific citations on the bioprinting techniques. 180 relevant papers containing the key words were identified and evaluated. Basic principles into the developing field of bioprinting technology could be discerned. Key elements comprise the high-throughput assembly of cells and the fabrication of complex and functional hierarchically organized tissue constructs. Five relevant technological principles for bioprinting were identified, such as stereolithography, extrusion-based printing, laser-assisted printing, inkjet-based printing and nano-bioprinting. The different technical methods of 3D printing were found to be associated with various positive but also negative effects on cells and proteins during the printing process. Research efforts in this field obviously aim towards the development of optimizing the so called bioinks and the printing technologies. This review details the evolution of the classical methods of TE in Regenerative Medicine into the evolving field of biofabrication by bioprinting. The advantages of 3D bioprinting over traditional tissue engineering

  13. Pesticide residues in birds and mammals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stickel, L.F.; Edwards, C.A.

    1973-01-01

    SUMMARY: Residues of organochlorine pesticides and their breakdown products are present in the tissues of essentially all wild birds throughout the world. These chemicals accumulate in fat from a relatively small environmental exposure. DDE and dieldrin are most prevalent. Others, such as heptachlor epoxide, chlordane, endrin, and benzene hexachloride also occur, the quantities and kinds generally reflecting local or regional use. Accumulation may be sufficient to kill animals following applications for pest control. This has occurred in several large-scale programmes in the United States. Mortality has also resulted from unintentional leakage of chemical from commercial establishments. Residues may persist in the environment for many years, exposing successive generations of animals. In general, birds that eat other birds, or fish, have higher residues than those that eat seeds and vegetation. The kinetic processes of absorption, metabolism, storage, and output differ according to both kind of chemical and species of animal. When exposure is low and continuous, a balance between intake and excretion may be achieved. Residues reach a balance at an approximate animal body equilibrium or plateau; the storage is generally proportional to dose. Experiments with chickens show that dieldrin and heptachlor epoxide have the greatest propensity for storage, endrin next, then DDT, then lindane. The storage of DDT was complicated by its metabolism to DDE and DDD, but other studies show that DDE has a much greater propensity for storage than either DDD or DDT. Methoxychlor has little cumulative capacity in birds. Residues in eggs reflect and parallel those in the parent bird during accumulation, equilibrium, and decline when dosage is discontinued. Residues with the greatest propensity for storage are also lost most slowly. Rate of loss of residues can be modified by dietary components and is speeded by weight loss of the animal. Under sublethal conditions of continuous

  14. An Algorithmic Approach to Total Breast Reconstruction with Free Tissue Transfer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seong Cheol Yu

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available As microvascular techniques continue to improve, perforator flap free tissue transfer is now the gold standard for autologous breast reconstruction. Various options are available for breast reconstruction with autologous tissue. These include the free transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM flap, deep inferior epigastric perforator flap, superficial inferior epigastric artery flap, superior gluteal artery perforator flap, and transverse/vertical upper gracilis flap. In addition, pedicled flaps can be very successful in the right hands and the right patient, such as the pedicled TRAM flap, latissimus dorsi flap, and thoracodorsal artery perforator. Each flap comes with its own advantages and disadvantages related to tissue properties and donor-site morbidity. Currently, the problem is how to determine the most appropriate flap for a particular patient among those potential candidates. Based on a thorough review of the literature and accumulated experiences in the author’s institution, this article provides a logical approach to autologous breast reconstruction. The algorithms presented here can be helpful to customize breast reconstruction to individual patient needs.

  15. A deep learning approach to estimate chemically-treated collagenous tissue nonlinear anisotropic stress-strain responses from microscopy images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Liang; Liu, Minliang; Sun, Wei

    2017-11-01

    Biological collagenous tissues comprised of networks of collagen fibers are suitable for a broad spectrum of medical applications owing to their attractive mechanical properties. In this study, we developed a noninvasive approach to estimate collagenous tissue elastic properties directly from microscopy images using Machine Learning (ML) techniques. Glutaraldehyde-treated bovine pericardium (GLBP) tissue, widely used in the fabrication of bioprosthetic heart valves and vascular patches, was chosen to develop a representative application. A Deep Learning model was designed and trained to process second harmonic generation (SHG) images of collagen networks in GLBP tissue samples, and directly predict the tissue elastic mechanical properties. The trained model is capable of identifying the overall tissue stiffness with a classification accuracy of 84%, and predicting the nonlinear anisotropic stress-strain curves with average regression errors of 0.021 and 0.031. Thus, this study demonstrates the feasibility and great potential of using the Deep Learning approach for fast and noninvasive assessment of collagenous tissue elastic properties from microstructural images. In this study, we developed, to our best knowledge, the first Deep Learning-based approach to estimate the elastic properties of collagenous tissues directly from noninvasive second harmonic generation images. The success of this study holds promise for the use of Machine Learning techniques to noninvasively and efficiently estimate the mechanical properties of many structure-based biological materials, and it also enables many potential applications such as serving as a quality control tool to select tissue for the manufacturing of medical devices (e.g. bioprosthetic heart valves). Copyright © 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Improving protein fold recognition by extracting fold-specific features from predicted residue-residue contacts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Jianwei; Zhang, Haicang; Li, Shuai Cheng; Wang, Chao; Kong, Lupeng; Sun, Shiwei; Zheng, Wei-Mou; Bu, Dongbo

    2017-12-01

    Accurate recognition of protein fold types is a key step for template-based prediction of protein structures. The existing approaches to fold recognition mainly exploit the features derived from alignments of query protein against templates. These approaches have been shown to be successful for fold recognition at family level, but usually failed at superfamily/fold levels. To overcome this limitation, one of the key points is to explore more structurally informative features of proteins. Although residue-residue contacts carry abundant structural information, how to thoroughly exploit these information for fold recognition still remains a challenge. In this study, we present an approach (called DeepFR) to improve fold recognition at superfamily/fold levels. The basic idea of our approach is to extract fold-specific features from predicted residue-residue contacts of proteins using deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) technique. Based on these fold-specific features, we calculated similarity between query protein and templates, and then assigned query protein with fold type of the most similar template. DCNN has showed excellent performance in image feature extraction and image recognition; the rational underlying the application of DCNN for fold recognition is that contact likelihood maps are essentially analogy to images, as they both display compositional hierarchy. Experimental results on the LINDAHL dataset suggest that even using the extracted fold-specific features alone, our approach achieved success rate comparable to the state-of-the-art approaches. When further combining these features with traditional alignment-related features, the success rate of our approach increased to 92.3%, 82.5% and 78.8% at family, superfamily and fold levels, respectively, which is about 18% higher than the state-of-the-art approach at fold level, 6% higher at superfamily level and 1% higher at family level. An independent assessment on SCOP_TEST dataset showed consistent

  17. HIV Persistence in Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissues: Pharmacological Challenges and Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Corbin G; Gay, Cynthia L; Kashuba, Angela D M

    2017-06-01

    An increasing amount of evidence suggests that HIV replication persists in gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT), despite treatment with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Residual replication in this compartment may propagate infection at other sites in the body and contribute to sustained immune dysregulation and delayed immune recovery. Therefore, it is important to focus efforts on eliminating residual replication at this site. There are several challenges to accomplishing this goal, including low antiretroviral (ARV) exposure at specific tissue locations within GALT, which might be overcome by using the tools of clinical pharmacology. Here, we summarize the evidence for GALT as a site of residual HIV replication, highlight the consequences of persistent infection in tissues, identify current pharmacologic knowledge of drug exposure in GALT, define the challenges that hinder eradication from this site, and propose several avenues for pharmacologic intervention.

  18. Improving residue-residue contact prediction via low-rank and sparse decomposition of residue correlation matrix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Haicang; Gao, Yujuan; Deng, Minghua; Wang, Chao; Zhu, Jianwei; Li, Shuai Cheng; Zheng, Wei-Mou; Bu, Dongbo

    2016-03-25

    Strategies for correlation analysis in protein contact prediction often encounter two challenges, namely, the indirect coupling among residues, and the background correlations mainly caused by phylogenetic biases. While various studies have been conducted on how to disentangle indirect coupling, the removal of background correlations still remains unresolved. Here, we present an approach for removing background correlations via low-rank and sparse decomposition (LRS) of a residue correlation matrix. The correlation matrix can be constructed using either local inference strategies (e.g., mutual information, or MI) or global inference strategies (e.g., direct coupling analysis, or DCA). In our approach, a correlation matrix was decomposed into two components, i.e., a low-rank component representing background correlations, and a sparse component representing true correlations. Finally the residue contacts were inferred from the sparse component of correlation matrix. We trained our LRS-based method on the PSICOV dataset, and tested it on both GREMLIN and CASP11 datasets. Our experimental results suggested that LRS significantly improves the contact prediction precision. For example, when equipped with the LRS technique, the prediction precision of MI and mfDCA increased from 0.25 to 0.67 and from 0.58 to 0.70, respectively (Top L/10 predicted contacts, sequence separation: 5 AA, dataset: GREMLIN). In addition, our LRS technique also consistently outperforms the popular denoising technique APC (average product correction), on both local (MI_LRS: 0.67 vs MI_APC: 0.34) and global measures (mfDCA_LRS: 0.70 vs mfDCA_APC: 0.67). Interestingly, we found out that when equipped with our LRS technique, local inference strategies performed in a comparable manner to that of global inference strategies, implying that the application of LRS technique narrowed down the performance gap between local and global inference strategies. Overall, our LRS technique greatly facilitates

  19. A formal statistical approach to representing uncertainty in rainfall-runoff modelling with focus on residual analysis and probabilistic output evaluation - Distinguishing simulation and prediction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Breinholt, Anders; Møller, Jan Kloppenborg; Madsen, Henrik

    2012-01-01

    While there seems to be consensus that hydrological model outputs should be accompanied with an uncertainty estimate the appropriate method for uncertainty estimation is not agreed upon and a debate is ongoing between advocators of formal statistical methods who consider errors as stochastic...... and GLUE advocators who consider errors as epistemic, arguing that the basis of formal statistical approaches that requires the residuals to be stationary and conform to a statistical distribution is unrealistic. In this paper we take a formal frequentist approach to parameter estimation and uncertainty...... necessary but the statistical assumptions were nevertheless not 100% justified. The residual analysis showed that significant autocorrelation was present for all simulation models. We believe users of formal approaches to uncertainty evaluation within hydrology and within environmental modelling in general...

  20. Real-time simulation of biological soft tissues: a PGD approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niroomandi, S; González, D; Alfaro, I; Bordeu, F; Leygue, A; Cueto, E; Chinesta, F

    2013-05-01

    We introduce here a novel approach for the numerical simulation of nonlinear, hyperelastic soft tissues at kilohertz feedback rates necessary for haptic rendering. This approach is based upon the use of proper generalized decomposition techniques, a generalization of PODs. Proper generalized decomposition techniques can be considered as a means of a priori model order reduction and provides a physics-based meta-model without the need for prior computer experiments. The suggested strategy is thus composed of an offline phase, in which a general meta-model is computed, and an online evaluation phase in which the results are obtained at real time. Results are provided that show the potential of the proposed technique, together with some benchmark test that shows the accuracy of the method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Genetic control of residual variance of yearling weight in Nellore beef cattle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iung, L H S; Neves, H H R; Mulder, H A; Carvalheiro, R

    2017-04-01

    There is evidence for genetic variability in residual variance of livestock traits, which offers the potential for selection for increased uniformity of production. Different statistical approaches have been employed to study this topic; however, little is known about the concordance between them. The aim of our study was to investigate the genetic heterogeneity of residual variance on yearling weight (YW; 291.15 ± 46.67) in a Nellore beef cattle population; to compare the results of the statistical approaches, the two-step approach and the double hierarchical generalized linear model (DHGLM); and to evaluate the effectiveness of power transformation to accommodate scale differences. The comparison was based on genetic parameters, accuracy of EBV for residual variance, and cross-validation to assess predictive performance of both approaches. A total of 194,628 yearling weight records from 625 sires were used in the analysis. The results supported the hypothesis of genetic heterogeneity of residual variance on YW in Nellore beef cattle and the opportunity of selection, measured through the genetic coefficient of variation of residual variance (0.10 to 0.12 for the two-step approach and 0.17 for DHGLM, using an untransformed data set). However, low estimates of genetic variance associated with positive genetic correlations between mean and residual variance (about 0.20 for two-step and 0.76 for DHGLM for an untransformed data set) limit the genetic response to selection for uniformity of production while simultaneously increasing YW itself. Moreover, large sire families are needed to obtain accurate estimates of genetic merit for residual variance, as indicated by the low heritability estimates (Box-Cox transformation was able to decrease the dependence of the variance on the mean and decreased the estimates of genetic parameters for residual variance. The transformation reduced but did not eliminate all the genetic heterogeneity of residual variance, highlighting

  2. Induction of angiogenesis in tissue-engineered scaffolds designed for bone repair: a combined gene therapy-cell transplantation approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jabbarzadeh, Ehsan; Starnes, Trevor; Khan, Yusuf M; Jiang, Tao; Wirtel, Anthony J; Deng, Meng; Lv, Qing; Nair, Lakshmi S; Doty, Steven B; Laurencin, Cato T

    2008-08-12

    One of the fundamental principles underlying tissue engineering approaches is that newly formed tissue must maintain sufficient vascularization to support its growth. Efforts to induce vascular growth into tissue-engineered scaffolds have recently been dedicated to developing novel strategies to deliver specific biological factors that direct the recruitment of endothelial cell (EC) progenitors and their differentiation. The challenge, however, lies in orchestration of the cells, appropriate biological factors, and optimal factor doses. This study reports an approach as a step forward to resolving this dilemma by combining an ex vivo gene transfer strategy and EC transplantation. The utility of this approach was evaluated by using 3D poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLAGA) sintered microsphere scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. Our goal was achieved by isolation and transfection of adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) with adenovirus encoding the cDNA of VEGF. We demonstrated that the combination of VEGF releasing ADSCs and ECs results in marked vascular growth within PLAGA scaffolds. We thereby delineate the potential of ADSCs to promote vascular growth into biomaterials.

  3. Induction of angiogenesis in tissue-engineered scaffolds designed for bone repair: A combined gene therapy–cell transplantation approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jabbarzadeh, Ehsan; Starnes, Trevor; Khan, Yusuf M.; Jiang, Tao; Wirtel, Anthony J.; Deng, Meng; Lv, Qing; Nair, Lakshmi S.; Doty, Steven B.; Laurencin, Cato T.

    2008-01-01

    One of the fundamental principles underlying tissue engineering approaches is that newly formed tissue must maintain sufficient vascularization to support its growth. Efforts to induce vascular growth into tissue-engineered scaffolds have recently been dedicated to developing novel strategies to deliver specific biological factors that direct the recruitment of endothelial cell (EC) progenitors and their differentiation. The challenge, however, lies in orchestration of the cells, appropriate biological factors, and optimal factor doses. This study reports an approach as a step forward to resolving this dilemma by combining an ex vivo gene transfer strategy and EC transplantation. The utility of this approach was evaluated by using 3D poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLAGA) sintered microsphere scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. Our goal was achieved by isolation and transfection of adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) with adenovirus encoding the cDNA of VEGF. We demonstrated that the combination of VEGF releasing ADSCs and ECs results in marked vascular growth within PLAGA scaffolds. We thereby delineate the potential of ADSCs to promote vascular growth into biomaterials. PMID:18678895

  4. Hydrodesulfurization and hydrodemetallization of different origin vacuum residues : new modeling approach.

    OpenAIRE

    Ferreira , Cristina; Tayakout-Fayolle , Melaz; Guibard , Isabelle; Lemos , Francisco

    2014-01-01

    International audience; In order to be able to upgrade the heaviest part of the crude oil one needs to remove several impurities, such as sulfur or metals. Residue hydrotreatment in fixed beds, under high hydrogen pressure can achieve high removal performances, with an industrial catalysts optimized staging. Despite the recent improvements, petroleum residues remain very difficult to describe and characterize in detail. Several kinetic models have been developed, but mostly they are feed depe...

  5. Determination of oxytetracycline residues in cattle meat marketed in the Kilosa district, Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuhura I. Kimera

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Oxytetracycline is used to treat various diseases in cattle. However, its use may be associated with unacceptable residue levels in food. Oxytetracycline residues in tissues from indigenous cattle were determined in a cross-sectional study conducted in the Kilosa district, Tanzania, between November 2012 and April 2013. A total of 60 tissue samples, including muscle, liver and kidney, were collected from slaughterhouses and butchers and analysed for oxytetracycline using high-performance liquid chromatography. Oxytetracycline residues were found in 71.1% of the samples, of which 68.3% were above acceptable regulatory levels. The mean concentration of oxytetracycline across tissues was 3401.1 μg/kg ± 879.3 μg/kg; concentrations in muscle, liver and kidney were 2604.1 μg/kg ± 703.7 μg/kg, 3434.4 μg/kg ± 606.4 μg/kg and 3533.1 μg/kg ± 803.6 μg/kg, respectively. High levels of oxytetracycline residue in meat from indigenous cattle may pose a health threat to consumers in Kilosa. The findings possibly reflect a general lack of implementation of recommended withdrawal periods, ignorance about drug use and lack of extension services. Strict regulation of the use of antimicrobial drugs in the livestock industry and associated testing of animal-derived food sources prior to marketing are required.

  6. Determination of oxytetracycline residues in cattle meat marketed in the Kilosa district, Tanzania.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimera, Zuhura I; Mdegela, Robinson H; Mhaiki, Consolatha J N; Karimuribo, Esron D; Mabiki, Faith; Nonga, Hezron E; Mwesongo, James

    2015-11-27

    Oxytetracycline is used to treat various diseases in cattle. However, its use may be associated with unacceptable residue levels in food. Oxytetracycline residues in tissues from indigenous cattle were determined in a cross-sectional study conducted in the Kilosa district, Tanzania, between November 2012 and April 2013. A total of 60 tissue samples, including muscle, liver and kidney, were collected from slaughterhouses and butchers and analysed for oxytetracycline using high-performance liquid chromatography. Oxytetracycline residues were found in 71.1% of the samples, of which 68.3% were above acceptable regulatory levels. The mean concentration of oxytetracycline across tissues was 3401.1 μg/kg ± 879.3 μg/kg; concentrations in muscle, liver and kidney were 2604.1 μg/kg ± 703.7 μg/kg, 3434.4 μg/kg ± 606.4 μg/kg and 3533.1 μg/kg ± 803.6 μg/kg, respectively. High levels of oxytetracycline residue in meat from indigenous cattle may pose a health threat to consumers in Kilosa. The findings possibly reflect a general lack of implementation of recommended withdrawal periods, ignorance about drug use and lack of extension services. Strict regulation of the use of antimicrobial drugs in the livestock industry and associated testing of animal-derived food sources prior to marketing are required.

  7. A computational modeling approach for the characterization of mechanical properties of 3D alginate tissue scaffolds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nair, K; Yan, K C; Sun, W

    2008-01-01

    Scaffold guided tissue engineering is an innovative approach wherein cells are seeded onto biocompatible and biodegradable materials to form 3-dimensional (3D) constructs that, when implanted in the body facilitate the regeneration of tissue. Tissue scaffolds act as artificial extracellular matrix providing the environment conducive for tissue growth. Characterization of scaffold properties is necessary to understand better the underlying processes involved in controlling cell behavior and formation of functional tissue. We report a computational modeling approach to characterize mechanical properties of 3D gellike biomaterial, specifically, 3D alginate scaffold encapsulated with cells. Alginate inherent nonlinearity and variations arising from minute changes in its concentration and viscosity make experimental evaluation of its mechanical properties a challenging and time consuming task. We developed an in silico model to determine the stress-strain relationship of alginate based scaffolds from experimental data. In particular, we compared the Ogden hyperelastic model to other hyperelastic material models and determined that this model was the most suitable to characterize the nonlinear behavior of alginate. We further propose a mathematical model that represents the alginate material constants in Ogden model as a function of concentrations and viscosity. This study demonstrates the model capability to predict mechanical properties of 3D alginate scaffolds.

  8. Release of Phosphorus Forms from Cover Crop Residues in Agroecological No-Till Onion Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodolfo Assis de Oliveira

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Cover crops grown alone or in association can take up different amounts of phosphorus (P from the soil and accumulate it in different P-forms in plant tissue. Cover crop residues with a higher content of readily decomposed forms may release P more quickly for the next onion crop. The aim of this study was to evaluate the release of P forms from residues of single and mixed cover crops in agroecological no-till onion (Allium cepa L. production. The experiment was conducted in Ituporanga, Santa Catarina (SC, Brazil, in an Inceptisol, with the following treatments: weeds, black oat (Avena sativa L., rye (Secale cereale L., oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus L., oilseed radish + black oat, and oilseed radish + rye. Cover crops were sown in April 2013. In July 2013, plant shoots were cut close to the soil surface and part of the material was placed in litterbags. The bags were placed on the soil surface and residues were collected at 0, 15, and 45 days after deposition (DAD. Residues were dried and ground and P in the plant tissue was determined through chemical fractionation. The release of P contained in the tissue of cover crops depends not only on total P content in the tissue, but also on the accumulation of P forms and the quality of the residue in decomposition. The highest accumulation of P in cover crops occurred in the soluble inorganic P fraction, which is the fraction of fastest release in plants. Black oat had the highest initial release rate of soluble inorganic P, which became equal to the release rate of other cover crop residues at 45 DAD. Weeds released only half the amount of soluble inorganic P in the same period, despite accumulating a considerable amount of P in their biomass. The mixtures of oilseed radish + rye and oilseed radish + black oat showed higher release of P associated with RNA at 45 DAD in comparison to the single treatments.

  9. Computational Prediction of Hot Spot Residues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrow, John Kenneth; Zhang, Shuxing

    2013-01-01

    Most biological processes involve multiple proteins interacting with each other. It has been recently discovered that certain residues in these protein-protein interactions, which are called hot spots, contribute more significantly to binding affinity than others. Hot spot residues have unique and diverse energetic properties that make them challenging yet important targets in the modulation of protein-protein complexes. Design of therapeutic agents that interact with hot spot residues has proven to be a valid methodology in disrupting unwanted protein-protein interactions. Using biological methods to determine which residues are hot spots can be costly and time consuming. Recent advances in computational approaches to predict hot spots have incorporated a myriad of features, and have shown increasing predictive successes. Here we review the state of knowledge around protein-protein interactions, hot spots, and give an overview of multiple in silico prediction techniques of hot spot residues. PMID:22316154

  10. Study on the abuse of amantadine in tissues of broiler chickens by HPLC-MS/MS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    You, X; Yang, S; Zhao, J; Zhang, Y; Zhao, L; Cheng, Y; Hou, C; Xu, Z

    2017-10-01

    To evaluate the residual target tissues for better monitoring of amantadine abuse in broiler chickens, 22-day-old commercial Arbor Acres broiler chickens were, respectively, fed with 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg of amantadine for five consecutive days. Plasma, breast, and liver tissue samples from the chickens were collected 0, 4, 16, 24, 48, 96, 144, and 312 h after amantadine withdrawal. The high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was used to detect the concentrations of amantadine. The highest concentration was found in the chicken liver and it took the longest time for amantadine to vanish by metabolism. In the high-dose group, amantadine residues were still detected 312 h after amantadine withdrawal. As the amantadine dose increased, amantadine residues in the chicken liver were more slowly to disappear than in other tissues. Even if approximately the same concentration of amantadine residues was found in chicken breast and plasma samples, it took a shorter time before the residues were eliminated. In the medium- and high-dose groups, the concentrations of amantadine residues in chicken liver samples were substantially higher than those in chicken breast and plasma samples, and it took more time to eliminate them. Therefore, the chicken liver can be used as a target tissue to detect illegal use of amantadine. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Tissue viability monitoring: a multi-sensor wearable platform approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathur, Neha; Davidson, Alan; Buis, Arjan; Glesk, Ivan

    2016-12-01

    Health services worldwide are seeking ways to improve patient care for amputees suffering from diabetes, and at the same time reduce costs. The monitoring of residual limb temperature, interface pressure and gait can be a useful indicator of tissue viability in lower limb amputees especially to predict the occurrence of pressure ulcers. This is further exacerbated by elevated temperatures and humid micro environment within the prosthesis which encourages the growth of bacteria and skin breakdown. Wearable systems for prosthetic users have to be designed such that the sensors are minimally obtrusive and reliable enough to faithfully record movement and physiological signals. A mobile sensor platform has been developed for use with the lower limb prosthetic users. This system uses an Arduino board that includes sensors for temperature, gait, orientation and pressure measurements. The platform transmits sensor data to a central health authority database server infrastructure through the Bluetooth protocol at a suitable sampling rate. The data-sets recorded using these systems are then processed using machine learning algorithms to extract clinically relevant information from the data. Where a sensor threshold is reached a warning signal can be sent wirelessly together with the relevant data to the patient and appropriate medical personnel. This knowledge is also useful in establishing biomarkers related to a possible deterioration in a patient's health or for assessing the impact of clinical interventions.

  12. Residual extrapolation operators for efficient wavefield construction

    KAUST Repository

    Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2013-02-27

    Solving the wave equation using finite-difference approximations allows for fast extrapolation of the wavefield for modelling, imaging and inversion in complex media. It, however, suffers from dispersion and stability-related limitations that might hamper its efficient or proper application to high frequencies. Spectral-based time extrapolation methods tend to mitigate these problems, but at an additional cost to the extrapolation. I investigate the prospective of using a residual formulation of the spectral approach, along with utilizing Shanks transform-based expansions, that adheres to the residual requirements, to improve accuracy and reduce the cost. Utilizing the fact that spectral methods excel (time steps are allowed to be large) in homogeneous and smooth media, the residual implementation based on velocity perturbation optimizes the use of this feature. Most of the other implementations based on the spectral approach are focussed on reducing cost by reducing the number of inverse Fourier transforms required in every step of the spectral-based implementation. The approach here fixes that by improving the accuracy of each, potentially longer, time step.

  13. Management of industrial solid residues; Gerenciamento de residuos solidos industriais

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2002-07-01

    This chapter gives an overview on the management of industrial solid wastes, approaching the following subjects: classification of industrial solid residues; directives and methodologies for the management of industrial solid residues; instruments for the management of industrial solid residues; handling, packing, storage and transportation; treatment of industrial solid residues; final disposal - landfill for industrial residues; the problem of treatment and final disposer of domestic garbage in Brazil; recycling of the lubricant oils used in brazil; legislation.

  14. Label-free protein profiling of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) heart tissue reveals immediate mitochondrial impairment after ionising radiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azimzadeh, Omid; Scherthan, Harry; Yentrapalli, Ramesh; Barjaktarovic, Zarko; Ueffing, Marius; Conrad, Marcus; Neff, Frauke; Calzada-Wack, Julia; Aubele, Michaela; Buske, Christian; Atkinson, Michael J; Hauck, Stefanie M; Tapio, Soile

    2012-04-18

    Qualitative proteome profiling of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue is advancing the field of clinical proteomics. However, quantitative proteome analysis of FFPE tissue is hampered by the lack of an efficient labelling method. The usage of conventional protein labelling on FFPE tissue has turned out to be inefficient. Classical labelling targets lysine residues that are blocked by the formalin treatment. The aim of this study was to establish a quantitative proteomics analysis of FFPE tissue by combining the label-free approach with optimised protein extraction and separation conditions. As a model system we used FFPE heart tissue of control and exposed C57BL/6 mice after total body irradiation using a gamma ray dose of 3 gray. We identified 32 deregulated proteins (p≤0.05) in irradiated hearts 24h after the exposure. The proteomics data were further evaluated and validated by bioinformatics and immunoblotting investigation. In good agreement with our previous results using fresh-frozen tissue, the analysis indicated radiation-induced alterations in three main biological pathways: respiratory chain, lipid metabolism and pyruvate metabolism. The label-free approach enables the quantitative measurement of radiation-induced alterations in FFPE tissue and facilitates retrospective biomarker identification using clinical archives. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation

    OpenAIRE

    Toller, Susanna

    2008-01-01

     In Sweden, utilisation of incinerator residues outside disposal areas is restricted by environmental concerns, as such residues commonly contain greater amounts of potentially toxic trace elements than the natural materials they replace. On the other hand, utilisation can also provide environmental benefits by decreasing the need for landfill and reducing raw material extraction. This thesis provides increased knowledge and proposes better approaches for environmental assessment of incinerat...

  16. Trace residue analysis of dicyandiamide, cyromazine, and melamine in animal tissue foods by ultra-performance liquid chromatography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xusheng Ge

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available An effective sample preparation procedure using an accelerated solvent extraction (ASE procedure, followed by cleaning with melamine molecularly imprinted polymers solid-phase extraction (MISPE was developed. A novel and highly sensitive ASE–MISPE–ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC method was developed for effective separation and simultaneous determination of dicyandiamide (DCD, cyromazine (CYR, and melamine (MEL in complex animal tissue foods. Under optimized conditions, good linearity was achieved with a correlation coefficient (r of 0.9999 in the range of at least two orders of magnitude. The limit of quantification of the method was 1.7 μg/kg, 5.0 μg/kg, and 3.2 μg/kg for DCD, MEL, and CYR, which was three orders of magnitude smaller than the maximum residue limits (MRLs. The intra- and inter-day precisions (in terms of the relative standard deviation, RSD of the three analytes were in the range of 1.7–3.1% and 3.1–6.3%, respectively. The average recoveries of analytes from blank chicken, beef, mutton, pork, and pig liver samples spiked with the three levels varied from 91.2% to 107% with RSD of 1.7–8.3% for DCD, 89.0–104% with RSD of 2.1–6.1% for CYR, and 94.8–105% with RSD of 1.1–6.6% for MEL. The proposed method has the characteristics of speed, sensitivity, and accuracy, and can be used for the routine determination of DCD, CYR, and MEL at the μg/kg level in complex animal tissue foods.

  17. Quantitative assessment of lipoprotein metabolism by positron emission tomography with an 18F-containing residualizing label

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daugherty, A.; Sobel, B.; Kilbourn, M.R.; Dence, C.S.; Thorpe, S.R.

    1992-01-01

    Residualizing labels for proteins are designed to remain entrapped within cells following uptake and degradation of the carrier protein. In the present work we report the synthesis of a novel residualizing label, N-lactitol-S-([ 18 F]fluorophenacyl)-cysteamine ([ 18 F]LCSH), and its use for quantifying the accumulation of low density lipoprotein in tissues in vivo by positron emission tomography (PET). The retention of degradation products in tissues from lipoprotein or from other rapidly catabolized protein pharmaceuticals tagged with [ 18 F]LCSH reduces leakage of tracer into the plasma compartment. Thus, residualizing labels provide a valuable tool for enhancing signal-to-noise ratios, even during the relatively short interval of PET studies. (author)

  18. Feed Technology of Fibrous Sugarcane Residues for Ruminants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuswandi

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Abundant sugarcane residue during shortage of roughage in dry season gives an opportunity to raise ruminants around sugarcane industries. However, these products are not widely used by farmers due to an assumption that the usage is inefficient and that the feed utilization technology is not widely recognized. Sugarcane fibrous residues (tops, bagasse and pith may be a potential feed component if pre-treated to increase its digestion and consumption by the animal, and/or supplemented by other ingredients to balance nutrients in the rumen as well as those for production purpose. Digestibility can be increased by chemical treatments such as ammoniation and other alkaline treatments, whereas consumption can be increased by physical treatments such as grinding, hammermilling or pelleting. Nutrients that are missing in these fibrous residues can be provided by addition of urea, molasses and minerals for maintenance need, and bypass nutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fats that are digested in the small intestine and available for tissue or milk synthesis. There are three options for development of livestock agribusiness based on fibrous sugarcane residues; however, these require several technologies to optimize the utilization of these residues.

  19. Accuracy of high-field intraoperative MRI in the detectability of residual tumor in glioma grade IV resections

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hesselmann, Volker; Mager, Ann-Kathrin [Asklepios-Klinik Nord, Hamburg (Germany). Radiology/Neurologie; Goetz, Claudia; Kremer, Paul [Asklepios-Klinik Nord, Hamburg (Germany). Dept. of Neurosurgery; Detsch, Oliver [Asklepios-Klinik Nord, Hamburg (Germany). Dept. of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine; Theisgen, Hannah-Katharina [Universitaetsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel (Germany). Dept. of Neurosurgery; Friese, Michael; Gottschalk, Joachim [Asklepios-Klinik Nord, Hamburg (Germany). Dept. of Pathology and Neuropathology; Schwindt, Wolfram [Univ. Hospital Muenster (Germany). Dept. of Clinical Radiology

    2017-06-15

    To assess the sensitivity/specificity of tumor detection by T1 contrast enhancement in intraoperative MRI (ioMRI) in comparison to histopathological assessment as the gold standard in patients receiving surgical resection of grade IV glioblastoma. 68 patients with a primary or a recurrent glioblastoma scheduled for surgery including fluorescence guidance and neuronavigation were included (mean age: 59 years, 26 female, 42 male patients). The ioMRI after the first resection included transverse FLAIR, DWI, T2-FFE and T1 - 3 d FFE ± GD-DPTA. The second resection was performed whenever residual contrast-enhancing tissue was detected on ioMRI. Resected tissue samples were histopathologically evaluated (gold standard). Additionally, we evaluated the early postoperative MRI scan acquired within 48 h post-OP for remaining enhancing tissue and compared them with the ioMRI scan. In 43 patients ioMRI indicated residual tumorous tissue, which could be confirmed in the histological specimens of the second resection. In 16 (4 with recurrent, 12 with primary glioblastoma) cases, ioMRI revealed truly negative results without residual tumor and follow-up MRI confirmed complete resection. In 7 cases (3 with recurrent, 4 with primary glioblastoma) ioMRI revealed a suspicious result without tumorous tissue in the histopathological workup. In 2 (1 for each group) patients, residual tumorous tissue was detected in spite of negative ioMRI. IoMRI had a sensitivity of 95 % (94 % recurrent and 96 % for primary glioblastoma) and a specificity of 69.5 % (57 % and 75 %, respectively). The positive predictive value was 86 % (84 % for recurrent and 87 % for primary glioblastoma), and the negative predictive value was 88 % (80 % and 92 %, respectively). ioMRI is effective for detecting remaining tumorous tissue after glioma resection. However, scars and leakage of contrast agent can be misleading and limit specificity. Intraoperative MRI (ioMRI) presents with a high sensitivity for residual

  20. Accuracy of high-field intraoperative MRI in the detectability of residual tumor in glioma grade IV resections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hesselmann, Volker; Mager, Ann-Kathrin; Goetz, Claudia; Kremer, Paul; Detsch, Oliver; Theisgen, Hannah-Katharina; Friese, Michael; Gottschalk, Joachim; Schwindt, Wolfram

    2017-01-01

    To assess the sensitivity/specificity of tumor detection by T1 contrast enhancement in intraoperative MRI (ioMRI) in comparison to histopathological assessment as the gold standard in patients receiving surgical resection of grade IV glioblastoma. 68 patients with a primary or a recurrent glioblastoma scheduled for surgery including fluorescence guidance and neuronavigation were included (mean age: 59 years, 26 female, 42 male patients). The ioMRI after the first resection included transverse FLAIR, DWI, T2-FFE and T1 - 3 d FFE ± GD-DPTA. The second resection was performed whenever residual contrast-enhancing tissue was detected on ioMRI. Resected tissue samples were histopathologically evaluated (gold standard). Additionally, we evaluated the early postoperative MRI scan acquired within 48 h post-OP for remaining enhancing tissue and compared them with the ioMRI scan. In 43 patients ioMRI indicated residual tumorous tissue, which could be confirmed in the histological specimens of the second resection. In 16 (4 with recurrent, 12 with primary glioblastoma) cases, ioMRI revealed truly negative results without residual tumor and follow-up MRI confirmed complete resection. In 7 cases (3 with recurrent, 4 with primary glioblastoma) ioMRI revealed a suspicious result without tumorous tissue in the histopathological workup. In 2 (1 for each group) patients, residual tumorous tissue was detected in spite of negative ioMRI. IoMRI had a sensitivity of 95 % (94 % recurrent and 96 % for primary glioblastoma) and a specificity of 69.5 % (57 % and 75 %, respectively). The positive predictive value was 86 % (84 % for recurrent and 87 % for primary glioblastoma), and the negative predictive value was 88 % (80 % and 92 %, respectively). ioMRI is effective for detecting remaining tumorous tissue after glioma resection. However, scars and leakage of contrast agent can be misleading and limit specificity. Intraoperative MRI (ioMRI) presents with a high sensitivity for residual

  1. Surgical treatment for residual or recurrent strabismus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Wang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Although the surgical treatment is a relatively effective and predictable method for correcting residual or recurrent strabismus, such as posterior fixation sutures, medial rectus marginal myotomy, unilateral or bilateral rectus re-recession and resection, unilateral lateral rectus recession and adjustable suture, no standard protocol is established for the surgical style. Different surgical approaches have been recommended for correcting residual or recurrent strabismus. The choice of the surgical procedure depends on the former operation pattern and the surgical dosages applied on the patients, residual or recurrent angle of deviation and the operator''s preference and experience. This review attempts to outline recent publications and current opinion in the management of residual or recurrent esotropia and exotropia.

  2. Development of a General Modelling Methodology for Vacuum Residue Hydroconversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pereira de Oliveira L.

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This work concerns the development of a methodology for kinetic modelling of refining processes, and more specifically for vacuum residue conversion. The proposed approach allows to overcome the lack of molecular detail of the petroleum fractions and to simulate the transformation of the feedstock molecules into effluent molecules by means of a two-step procedure. In the first step, a synthetic mixture of molecules representing the feedstock for the process is generated via a molecular reconstruction method, termed SR-REM molecular reconstruction. In the second step, a kinetic Monte-Carlo method (kMC is used to simulate the conversion reactions on this mixture of molecules. The molecular reconstruction was applied to several petroleum residues and is illustrated for an Athabasca (Canada vacuum residue. The kinetic Monte-Carlo method is then described in detail. In order to validate this stochastic approach, a lumped deterministic model for vacuum residue conversion was simulated using Gillespie’s Stochastic Simulation Algorithm. Despite the fact that both approaches are based on very different hypotheses, the stochastic simulation algorithm simulates the conversion reactions with the same accuracy as the deterministic approach. The full-scale stochastic simulation approach using molecular-level reaction pathways provides high amounts of detail on the effluent composition and is briefly illustrated for Athabasca VR hydrocracking.

  3. Infrared spectroscopy with multivariate analysis to interrogate endometrial tissue: a novel and objective diagnostic approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, S E; Cheung, K T; Patel, I I; Trevisan, J; Stringfellow, H F; Ashton, K M; Wood, N J; Keating, P J; Martin-Hirsch, P L; Martin, F L

    2011-03-01

    Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological malignancy in the United Kingdom. Diagnosis currently involves subjective expert interpretation of highly processed tissue, primarily using microscopy. Previous work has shown that infrared (IR) spectroscopy can be used to distinguish between benign and malignant cells in a variety of tissue types. Tissue was obtained from 76 patients undergoing hysterectomy, 36 had endometrial cancer. Slivers of endometrial tissue (tumour and tumour-adjacent tissue if present) were dissected and placed in fixative solution. Before analysis, tissues were thinly sliced, washed, mounted on low-E slides and desiccated; 10 IR spectra were obtained per slice by attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform IR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Derived data was subjected to principal component analysis followed by linear discriminant analysis. Post-spectroscopy analyses, tissue sections were haematoxylin and eosin-stained to provide histological verification. Using this approach, it is possible to distinguish benign from malignant endometrial tissue, and various subtypes of both. Cluster vector plots of benign (verified post-spectroscopy to be free of identifiable pathology) vs malignant tissue indicate the importance of the lipid and secondary protein structure (Amide I and Amide II) regions of the spectrum. These findings point towards the possibility of a simple objective test for endometrial cancer using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. This would facilitate earlier diagnosis and so reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this disease.

  4. Clothianidin and Imidacloprid Residues in Poa annua (Poales: Poaceae) and Their Effects on Listronotus maculicollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clavet, Christopher; Requintina, Matthew; Hampton, Emily; Cowles, Richard S; Byrne, Frank J; Alm, Steven R

    2014-12-01

    Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify the amounts of the neonicotinoids clothianidin and imidacloprid in Poa annua L. clippings from treated golf course fairways. Average clothianidin residues 7 d after application ranged from 674 to 1,550 ng/g tissue in 2012 and 455-2,220 ng/g tissue in 2013. Average clothianidin residues the day of application ranged from 17,100-38,800 ng/g tissue in 2014. Average imidacloprid residues 7 d after treatment ranged from 1,950-3,030 ng/g tissue in 2012 and 7,780-9,230 ng/g tissue in 2013. Average imidacloprid residues the day of application ranged from 31,500-40,400 ng/g tissue in 2014. Neonicotinoid or bifenthrin-neonicotinoid combination products applied in field plots in 2012 did not significantly reduce the numbers of larvae relative to the untreated control. However, in 2013, statistically significant reductions in the numbers of larvae recovered from treated field plots were associated with the presence of bifenthrin alone or when used in combination with neonicotinoid active ingredients. Listronotus maculicollis (Kirby) adults caged on neonicotinoid-, bifenthrin-, and bifenthrin-neonicotinoid-treated P. annua turf plugs fed on P. annua leaves, but mortality was only highly significantly different between treated and untreated foliage when weevils were placed on treated foliage the day after treatment and allowed to feed for 7 d. The modest degree of population suppression with bifenthrin in these experiments may not be adequate to justify the continued use of these products due to the increased risk of insecticide resistance and disruption of biological control. © 2014 Entomological Society of America.

  5. Quantitative segmentation of fluorescence microscopy images of heterogeneous tissue: Approach for tuning algorithm parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mueller, Jenna L.; Harmany, Zachary T.; Mito, Jeffrey K.; Kennedy, Stephanie A.; Kim, Yongbaek; Dodd, Leslie; Geradts, Joseph; Kirsch, David G.; Willett, Rebecca M.; Brown, J. Quincy; Ramanujam, Nimmi

    2013-02-01

    The combination of fluorescent contrast agents with microscopy is a powerful technique to obtain real time images of tissue histology without the need for fixing, sectioning, and staining. The potential of this technology lies in the identification of robust methods for image segmentation and quantitation, particularly in heterogeneous tissues. Our solution is to apply sparse decomposition (SD) to monochrome images of fluorescently-stained microanatomy to segment and quantify distinct tissue types. The clinical utility of our approach is demonstrated by imaging excised margins in a cohort of mice after surgical resection of a sarcoma. Representative images of excised margins were used to optimize the formulation of SD and tune parameters associated with the algorithm. Our results demonstrate that SD is a robust solution that can advance vital fluorescence microscopy as a clinically significant technology.

  6. Residual nilpotence and residual solubility of groups

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikhailov, R V

    2005-01-01

    The properties of the residual nilpotence and the residual solubility of groups are studied. The main objects under investigation are the class of residually nilpotent groups such that each central extension of these groups is also residually nilpotent and the class of residually soluble groups such that each Abelian extension of these groups is residually soluble. Various examples of groups not belonging to these classes are constructed by homological methods and methods of the theory of modules over group rings. Several applications of the theory under consideration are presented and problems concerning the residual nilpotence of one-relator groups are considered.

  7. Studies of 14C-methamidophos residues and their binding to Costa Rican vegetables and soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carazo, E.; Constenla, M.A.; Fuentes, G.; Moza, P.N.

    1984-01-01

    Studies of 14 C-methamidophos residues in tomato, lettuce and two soils were made under greenhouse conditions. Residues in tomato fruits were 4.5 ppm 35 days after the last application. Total residues in lettuce were also high and present mainly in the edible leaves (9.7 and 12.8 ppm after 3 and 5 applications of the insecticide, respectively). The non-extractable residues constituted a significant part of the total residues in plant tissues. Recovery of the extractable residues decreased with time more rapidly in a loamy clay than in a clay soil. Bound residue levels were about 8% of the applied 14 C in loamy clay after 10 days. Residues in the clay soil were higher and continued to decline throughout a 65-day period. (author)

  8. Machine learning approaches to analyze histological images of tissues from radical prostatectomies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gertych, Arkadiusz; Ing, Nathan; Ma, Zhaoxuan; Fuchs, Thomas J; Salman, Sadri; Mohanty, Sambit; Bhele, Sanica; Velásquez-Vacca, Adriana; Amin, Mahul B; Knudsen, Beatrice S

    2015-12-01

    Computerized evaluation of histological preparations of prostate tissues involves identification of tissue components such as stroma (ST), benign/normal epithelium (BN) and prostate cancer (PCa). Image classification approaches have been developed to identify and classify glandular regions in digital images of prostate tissues; however their success has been limited by difficulties in cellular segmentation and tissue heterogeneity. We hypothesized that utilizing image pixels to generate intensity histograms of hematoxylin (H) and eosin (E) stains deconvoluted from H&E images numerically captures the architectural difference between glands and stroma. In addition, we postulated that joint histograms of local binary patterns and local variance (LBPxVAR) can be used as sensitive textural features to differentiate benign/normal tissue from cancer. Here we utilized a machine learning approach comprising of a support vector machine (SVM) followed by a random forest (RF) classifier to digitally stratify prostate tissue into ST, BN and PCa areas. Two pathologists manually annotated 210 images of low- and high-grade tumors from slides that were selected from 20 radical prostatectomies and digitized at high-resolution. The 210 images were split into the training (n=19) and test (n=191) sets. Local intensity histograms of H and E were used to train a SVM classifier to separate ST from epithelium (BN+PCa). The performance of SVM prediction was evaluated by measuring the accuracy of delineating epithelial areas. The Jaccard J=59.5 ± 14.6 and Rand Ri=62.0 ± 7.5 indices reported a significantly better prediction when compared to a reference method (Chen et al., Clinical Proteomics 2013, 10:18) based on the averaged values from the test set. To distinguish BN from PCa we trained a RF classifier with LBPxVAR and local intensity histograms and obtained separate performance values for BN and PCa: JBN=35.2 ± 24.9, OBN=49.6 ± 32, JPCa=49.5 ± 18.5, OPCa=72.7 ± 14.8 and Ri=60.6

  9. Isolation of cDNA clones coding for human tissue factor: primary structure of the protein and cDNA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spicer, E.K.; Horton, R.; Bloem, L.

    1987-01-01

    Tissue factor is a membrane-bound procoagulant protein that activates the extrinsic pathway of blood coagulation in the presence of factor VII and calcium. λ Phage containing the tissue factor gene were isolated from a human placental cDNA library. The amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the cDNAs indicates that tissue factor is synthesized as a higher molecular weight precursor with a leader sequence of 32 amino acids, while the mature protein is a single polypeptide chain composed of 263 residues. The derived primary structure of tissue factor has been confirmed by comparison to protein and peptide sequence data. The sequence of the mature protein suggests that there are three distinct domains: extracellular, residues 1-219; hydrophobic, residues 220-242; and cytoplasmic, residues 243-263. Three potential N-linked carbohydrate attachment sites occur in the extracellular domain. The amino acid sequence of tissue factor shows no significant homology with the vitamin K-dependent serine proteases, coagulation cofactors, or any other protein in the National Biomedical Research Foundation sequence data bank (Washington, DC)

  10. Characterization of Hospital Residuals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blanco Meza, A.; Bonilla Jimenez, S.

    1997-01-01

    The main objective of this investigation is the characterization of the solid residuals. A description of the handling of the liquid and gassy waste generated in hospitals is also given, identifying the source where they originate. To achieve the proposed objective the work was divided in three stages: The first one was the planning and the coordination with each hospital center, in this way, to determine the schedule of gathering of the waste can be possible. In the second stage a fieldwork was made; it consisted in gathering the quantitative and qualitative information of the general state of the handling of residuals. In the third and last stage, the information previously obtained was organized to express the results as the production rate per day by bed, generation of solid residuals for sampled services, type of solid residuals and density of the same ones. With the obtained results, approaches are settled down to either determine design parameters for final disposition whether for incineration, trituration, sanitary filler or recycling of some materials, and storage politics of the solid residuals that allow to determine the gathering frequency. The study concludes that it is necessary to improve the conditions of the residuals handling in some aspects, to provide the cleaning personnel of the equipment for gathering disposition and of security, minimum to carry out this work efficiently, and to maintain a control of all the dangerous waste, like sharp or polluted materials. In this way, an appreciable reduction is guaranteed in the impact on the atmosphere. (Author) [es

  11. Single molecule approaches for quantifying transcription and degradation rates in intact mammalian tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahar Halpern, Keren; Itzkovitz, Shalev

    2016-04-01

    A key challenge in mammalian biology is to understand how rates of transcription and mRNA degradation jointly shape cellular gene expression. Powerful techniques have been developed for measuring these rates either genome-wide or at the single-molecule level, however these techniques are not applicable to assessment of cells within their native tissue microenvironment. Here we describe a technique based on single molecule Fluorescence in-situ Hybridization (smFISH) to measure transcription and degradation rates in intact mammalian tissues. The technique is based on dual-color libraries targeting the introns and exons of the genes of interest, enabling visualization and quantification of both nascent and mature mRNA. We present a software, TransQuant, that facilitates quantifying these rates from smFISH images. Our approach enables assessment of both transcription and degradation rates of any gene of interest while controlling for the inherent heterogeneity of intact tissues. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Endoscopic Approach for Tissue Expansion for Different Cosmetic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background/Purpose: The use of tissue expanders in plastic and reconstruction surgery is now well established for large defects in adults & children. Tissue expansion is one of the reconstructive surgeon's alternatives in providing optimal tissue replacement when skin shortage is a major problem. Predesigned plan about ...

  13. Protein microarray: sensitive and effective immunodetection for drug residues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zer Cindy

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Veterinary drugs such as clenbuterol (CL and sulfamethazine (SM2 are low molecular weight ( Results The artificial antigens were spotted on microarray slides. Standard concentrations of the compounds were added to compete with the spotted antigens for binding to the antisera to determine the IC50. Our microarray assay showed the IC50 were 39.6 ng/ml for CL and 48.8 ng/ml for SM2, while the traditional competitive indirect-ELISA (ci-ELISA showed the IC50 were 190.7 ng/ml for CL and 156.7 ng/ml for SM2. We further validated the two methods with CL fortified chicken muscle tissues, and the protein microarray assay showed 90% recovery while the ci-ELISA had 76% recovery rate. When tested with CL-fed chicken muscle tissues, the protein microarray assay had higher sensitivity (0.9 ng/g than the ci-ELISA (0.1 ng/g for detection of CL residues. Conclusions The protein microarrays showed 4.5 and 3.5 times lower IC50 than the ci-ELISA detection for CL and SM2, respectively, suggesting that immunodetection of small molecules with protein microarray is a better approach than the traditional ELISA technique.

  14. PREvaIL, an integrative approach for inferring catalytic residues using sequence, structural, and network features in a machine-learning framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Jiangning; Li, Fuyi; Takemoto, Kazuhiro; Haffari, Gholamreza; Akutsu, Tatsuya; Chou, Kuo-Chen; Webb, Geoffrey I

    2018-04-14

    Determining the catalytic residues in an enzyme is critical to our understanding the relationship between protein sequence, structure, function, and enhancing our ability to design novel enzymes and their inhibitors. Although many enzymes have been sequenced, and their primary and tertiary structures determined, experimental methods for enzyme functional characterization lag behind. Because experimental methods used for identifying catalytic residues are resource- and labor-intensive, computational approaches have considerable value and are highly desirable for their ability to complement experimental studies in identifying catalytic residues and helping to bridge the sequence-structure-function gap. In this study, we describe a new computational method called PREvaIL for predicting enzyme catalytic residues. This method was developed by leveraging a comprehensive set of informative features extracted from multiple levels, including sequence, structure, and residue-contact network, in a random forest machine-learning framework. Extensive benchmarking experiments on eight different datasets based on 10-fold cross-validation and independent tests, as well as side-by-side performance comparisons with seven modern sequence- and structure-based methods, showed that PREvaIL achieved competitive predictive performance, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and area under the precision-recall curve ranging from 0.896 to 0.973 and from 0.294 to 0.523, respectively. We demonstrated that this method was able to capture useful signals arising from different levels, leveraging such differential but useful types of features and allowing us to significantly improve the performance of catalytic residue prediction. We believe that this new method can be utilized as a valuable tool for both understanding the complex sequence-structure-function relationships of proteins and facilitating the characterization of novel enzymes lacking functional annotations

  15. Pyrolysis of forest residues: an approach to techno-economics for bio-fuel production

    Science.gov (United States)

    The techno-economics for producing liquid fuels from Maine forest residues were determined from a combination of: (1) laboratory experiments at USDA-ARS’s Eastern Regional Research Center using hog fuel (a secondary woody residue produced from mill byproducts such as sawdust, bark and shavings) as a...

  16. The occurence of nitrofuran metabolites in the tissues of chickens exposed to very low dietary concentration in the nitrofurans

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    McCracken, R.J.; Rhijn, van J.A.; Kennedy, D.G.

    2005-01-01

    The global problem of food products contaminated by residues of the banned carcinogenic nitrofuran drugs has prompted research into how such residues accumulate in tissues. In the study described here, two aspects have been investigated where the nitrofurans accumulate in tissues from chickens

  17. Computational prediction of protein hot spot residues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrow, John Kenneth; Zhang, Shuxing

    2012-01-01

    Most biological processes involve multiple proteins interacting with each other. It has been recently discovered that certain residues in these protein-protein interactions, which are called hot spots, contribute more significantly to binding affinity than others. Hot spot residues have unique and diverse energetic properties that make them challenging yet important targets in the modulation of protein-protein complexes. Design of therapeutic agents that interact with hot spot residues has proven to be a valid methodology in disrupting unwanted protein-protein interactions. Using biological methods to determine which residues are hot spots can be costly and time consuming. Recent advances in computational approaches to predict hot spots have incorporated a myriad of features, and have shown increasing predictive successes. Here we review the state of knowledge around protein-protein interactions, hot spots, and give an overview of multiple in silico prediction techniques of hot spot residues.

  18. Quantification of petroleum-type hydrocarbons in avian tissue

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gay, M.L.; Belisle, A.A.; Patton, J.F.

    1980-01-04

    Methods were developed for the analysis of 16 hydrocarbons in avian tissue. Mechanical extraction with pentane was followed by clean-up on Florisil and Silicar. Residues were determined by gas-liquid chromatography and gas-liquid, chromatography-mass spectrometry. The method was applied to the analysis of liver, kidney, fat, and brain tissue of mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) fed a mixture of hydrocarbons. Measurable concentrations of all compounds analyzed were present in all tissues except brain. Highest concentrations were in fat.

  19. Mechanical tension as a driver of connective tissue growth in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Cameron J; Pearcy, Mark J; Epari, Devakara R

    2014-07-01

    We propose the progressive mechanical expansion of cell-derived tissue analogues as a novel, growth-based approach to in vitro tissue engineering. The prevailing approach to producing tissue in vitro is to culture cells in an exogenous "scaffold" that provides a basic structure and mechanical support. This necessarily pre-defines the final size of the implantable material, and specific signals must be provided to stimulate appropriate cell growth, differentiation and matrix formation. In contrast, surgical skin expansion, driven by increments of stretch, produces increasing quantities of tissue without trauma or inflammation. This suggests that connective tissue cells have the innate ability to produce growth in response to elevated tension. We posit that this capacity is maintained in vitro, and that order-of-magnitude growth may be similarly attained in self-assembling cultures of cells and their own extracellular matrix. The hypothesis that growth of connective tissue analogues can be induced by mechanical expansion in vitro may be divided into three components: (1) tension stimulates cell proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis; (2) the corresponding volume increase will relax the tension imparted by a fixed displacement; (3) the repeated application of static stretch will produce sustained growth and a tissue structure adapted to the tensile loading. Connective tissues exist in a state of residual tension, which is actively maintained by resident cells such as fibroblasts. Studies in vitro and in vivo have demonstrated that cellular survival, reproduction, and matrix synthesis and degradation are regulated by the mechanical environment. Order-of-magnitude increases in both bone and skin volume have been achieved clinically through staged expansion protocols, demonstrating that tension-driven growth can be sustained over prolonged periods. Furthermore, cell-derived tissue analogues have demonstrated mechanically advantageous structural adaptation in

  20. Pharmacokinetics and tissue residues of an oxytetracycline/diclofenac combination in cattle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mestorino, N; Mariño Hernández, E; Marchetti, L; Errecalde, J O

    2007-12-01

    Eight male cattle were given a combined dose containing 20 mg/kg oxytetracycline and 0.5 mg/kg diclofenac intramuscularly. Blood samples were drawn at different times until 168 h after administration. Two experimental animals were slaughtered by humane means at weekly intervals up to 28 days after administration. Samples of muscle, injection zone tissue, liver, kidney and fat were obtained. Oxytetracycline and diclofenac concentrations were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Kinetic analysis was performed by linear regression using the CSTRIP programme. Plasma oxytetracycline concentration showed a maximum (Cmax) of 3.89 +/- 1.48 microg/ml and a prolonged elimination half-life (T1/2beta: 47.73 +/- 18.33 h). The diclofenac plasma profile showed high Cmax (577.62 +/- 238.40 ng/ml), and its T1/2beta was also prolonged (30.48 +/- 9.42 h). Oxytetracycline concentrations were measurable in liver and adipose tissue until day 21 after administration, but all tissue samples were negative for diclofenac at 21 days. The long elimination half-life of diclofenac was an unexpected finding; its T1/2beta in humans is 1.1 h.

  1. Hard tissue deposition in dental pulp canal by {alpha}-tricalcium phosphate cement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshikawa, M.; Toda, T. [Osaka Dental Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Endodontics; Mandai, Y. [Bio-Chemical Lab. of Nitta Gelatin Inc., Yao (Japan); Oonishi, H. [Osaka Minami National Hospital, Kawachi (Japan). Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery

    2001-07-01

    Canal closure by hard tissue proliferation in the pulp canal and/or apical foramen is the most ideal healing after pulp removal. Generally, Ca(OH){sub 2} may induce secondary dentine or dentine-bridge on the amputated pulp surface. However, Ca(OH){sub 2} shows strong alkalinity and may cause severe inflammatory responses in the residual pulp. Moreover, completely formed dentine-bridge at the orifice will disturb further treatment of residual pulp because of the difficulty in localizing the pathway. The purpose of this study was to see hard tissue induction using newly developed {alpha}-tricalcium phosphate cement and to recognize the morphological difference of hard tissue from that of Ca(OH){sub 2}. (orig.)

  2. Novel approaches to determining residual stresses by ultramicroindentation techniques: Application to sandblasted austenitic stainless steel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frutos, E.; Multigner, M.; Gonzalez-Carrasco, J.L.

    2010-01-01

    This research addresses the determination of residual stresses in sandblasted austenitic steel by ultramicroindentation techniques using a sharp indenter, of which the sensitivity to residual stress effects is said to be inferior to that of spherical ones. The introduction of an angular correction in the model of Wang et al. which relates variations in the maximum load to the presence of residual stresses is proposed. Similarly, the contribution to the hardness of grain size refinement and work hardening, developed as a consequence of the severe plastic deformation during blasting, is determined in order to avoid overestimation of the residual stresses. Measurements were performed on polished cross sections along a length of several microns, thus obtaining a profile of the residual stresses. Results show good agreement with those obtained by synchrotron radiation on the same specimens, which validates the method and demonstrates that microindentation using sharp indenters may be sensitive to the residual stress effect.

  3. Novel approaches to determining residual stresses by ultramicroindentation techniques: Application to sandblasted austenitic stainless steel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frutos, E. [Centro de Bioingenieria, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, CIBER-BBN, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain)] [Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalurgicas, CENIM-CSIC, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Multigner, M. [Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalurgicas, CENIM-CSIC, 28040 Madrid (Spain)] [Centro de Bioingenieria, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, CIBER-BBN, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain); Gonzalez-Carrasco, J.L., E-mail: jlg@cenim.csic.es [Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalurgicas, CENIM-CSIC, 28040 Madrid (Spain)] [Centro de Bioingenieria, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, CIBER-BBN, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain)

    2010-07-15

    This research addresses the determination of residual stresses in sandblasted austenitic steel by ultramicroindentation techniques using a sharp indenter, of which the sensitivity to residual stress effects is said to be inferior to that of spherical ones. The introduction of an angular correction in the model of Wang et al. which relates variations in the maximum load to the presence of residual stresses is proposed. Similarly, the contribution to the hardness of grain size refinement and work hardening, developed as a consequence of the severe plastic deformation during blasting, is determined in order to avoid overestimation of the residual stresses. Measurements were performed on polished cross sections along a length of several microns, thus obtaining a profile of the residual stresses. Results show good agreement with those obtained by synchrotron radiation on the same specimens, which validates the method and demonstrates that microindentation using sharp indenters may be sensitive to the residual stress effect.

  4. Tissue engineering in dentistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abou Neel, Ensanya Ali; Chrzanowski, Wojciech; Salih, Vehid M; Kim, Hae-Won; Knowles, Jonathan C

    2014-08-01

    of this review is to inform practitioners with the most updated information on tissue engineering and its potential applications in dentistry. The authors used "PUBMED" to find relevant literature written in English and published from the beginning of tissue engineering until today. A combination of keywords was used as the search terms e.g., "tissue engineering", "approaches", "strategies" "dentistry", "dental stem cells", "dentino-pulp complex", "guided tissue regeneration", "whole tooth", "TMJ", "condyle", "salivary glands", and "oral mucosa". Abstracts and full text articles were used to identify causes of craniofacial tissue loss, different approaches for craniofacial reconstructions, how the tissue engineering emerges, different strategies of tissue engineering, biomaterials employed for this purpose, the major attempts to engineer different dental structures, finally challenges and future of tissue engineering in dentistry. Only those articles that dealt with the tissue engineering in dentistry were selected. There have been a recent surge in guided tissue engineering methods to manage periodontal diseases beyond the traditional approaches. However, the predictable reconstruction of the innate organisation and function of whole teeth as well as their periodontal structures remains challenging. Despite some limited progress and minor successes, there remain distinct and important challenges in the development of reproducible and clinically safe approaches for oral tissue repair and regeneration. Clearly, there is a convincing body of evidence which confirms the need for this type of treatment, and public health data worldwide indicates a more than adequate patient resource. The future of these therapies involving more biological approaches and the use of dental tissue stem cells is promising and advancing. Also there may be a significant interest of their application and wider potential to treat disorders beyond the craniofacial region. Considering the

  5. Metabolic disposition of ivermectin in tissues of cattle, sheep, and rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiu, S.H.; Sestokas, E.; Taub, R.; Buhs, R.P.; Green, M.; Sestokas, R.; Vandenheuvel, W.J.; Arison, B.H.; Jacob, T.A.

    1986-01-01

    The metabolic disposition of ivermectin, a new antiparasitic drug, has been studied in cattle, sheep, and also in rats dosed with the drug labeled with tritium in the C-22,23 positions. In the edible tissues of these animals, the unaltered drug was the major tissue residue component and was quantitated by HPLC-reverse isotope dilution assay. The depletion half-lives of the drug ranged between 1 and 6 days, similar to those of the total tissue residue in these species. Most metabolites present in the liver tissues were more polar than the parent drug. Based on spectral (NMR, mass spectrometric) analysis and chromatographic comparison with authentic compounds prepared by in vitro rat or steer microsomal incubations, three of these metabolites have been isolated and identified as the hydroxylation derivatives of ivermectin, i.e. 24-hydroxymethyl-H 2 B1a, its monosaccharide, and 24-hydroxymethyl-H 2 B1b

  6. Qualitative and Quantitative Drug residue analyses: Florfenicol in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and supermarket meat by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Shanoy C; Subbiah, Seenivasan; Gentles, Angella; Austin, Galen; Stonum, Paul; Brooks, Tiffanie A; Brooks, Chance; Smith, Ernest E

    2016-10-15

    A method for confirmation and detection of Florfenicol amine residues in white-tailed deer tissues was developed and validated in our laboratory. Tissue samples were extracted with ethyl acetate and cleaned up on sorbent (Chem-elut) cartridges. Liguid chromatography (LC) separation was achieved on a Zorbax Eclipse plus C18 column with gradient elution using a mobile phase composed of ammonium acetate in water and methanol at a flow rate of 300μL/min. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out using liquid chromatography - heated electrospray ionization(HESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)-tandem mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) interface. The limits of detection (LODs) for HESI and APCI probe were 1.8ng/g and 1.4ng/g respectively. Limits of quantitation (LOQs) for HESI and APCI probe were 5.8ng/g and 3.4ng/g respectively. Mean recovery values ranged from 79% to 111% for APCI and 30% to 60% for HESI. The validated method was used to determine white-tailed deer florfenicol tissue residue concentration 10-days after exposure. Florfenicol tissue residues concentration ranged from 0.4 to 0.6μg/g for liver and 0.02-0.05μg/g for muscle and a trace in blood samples. The concentration found in the tested edible tissues were lower than the maximum residual limit (MRL) values established by the federal drug administration (FDA) for bovine tissues. In summary, the resulting optimization procedures using the sensitivity of HESI and APCI probes in the determination of florfenicol in white-tailed deer tissue are the most compelling conclusions in this study, to the extent that we have applied this method in the evaluation of supermarket samples drug residue levels as a proof of principle. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  7. Verification and Validation of Residual Stresses in Bi-Material Composite Rings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nelson, Stacy Michelle [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Hanson, Alexander Anthony [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Briggs, Timothy [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Werner, Brian T. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2017-07-01

    Process-induced residual stresses commonly occur in composite structures composed of dissimilar materials. These residual stresses form due to differences in the composite materials’ coefficients of thermal expansion and the shrinkage upon cure exhibited by polymer matrix materials. Depending upon the specific geometric details of the composite structure and the materials’ curing parameters, it is possible that these residual stresses could result in interlaminar delamination or fracture within the composite. Therefore, the consideration of potential residual stresses is important when designing composite parts and their manufacturing processes. However, the experimental determination of residual stresses in prototype parts can be time and cost prohibitive. As an alternative to physical measurement, it is possible for computational tools to be used to quantify potential residual stresses in composite prototype parts. Therefore, the objectives of the presented work are to demonstrate a simplistic method for simulating residual stresses in composite parts, as well as the potential value of sensitivity and uncertainty quantification techniques during analyses for which material property parameters are unknown. Specifically, a simplified residual stress modeling approach, which accounts for coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch and polymer shrinkage, is implemented within the Sandia National Laboratories’ developed SIERRA/SolidMechanics code. Concurrent with the model development, two simple, bi-material structures composed of a carbon fiber/epoxy composite and aluminum, a flat plate and a cylinder, are fabricated and the residual stresses are quantified through the measurement of deformation. Then, in the process of validating the developed modeling approach with the experimental residual stress data, manufacturing process simulations of the two simple structures are developed and undergo a formal verification and validation process, including a mesh

  8. Salt stripping: a pyrochemical approach to the recovery of plutonium electrorefining salt residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christensen, D.C.; Mullins, L.J.

    1982-10-01

    A pyrochemical process has been developed to take the salt residue from the plutonium electrorefining process and strip the plutonium from it. The process, called salt stripping, uses calcium as a reducing/coalescing agent. In a one-day operation, greater than 95% of the plutonium can be recovered as a metallic button. As much as 88% of the residue is either reused as metal or discarded as a clean salt. A thin layer of black salts, which makes up the bulk of the unrecovered Pu, is a by-product of the initial reductions. A number of black salts can be collected together and re-reduced in a second step. Greater than 88% of this plutonium can be successfully recovered in this second stage with the resulting residues being discardable. The processing time, number of processor hours, and the volume of secondary residues are greatly reduced over the classical aqueous recovery methods. In addition, the product metal is of sufficient quality to be fed directly to the electrorefining process for purification. 8 figures, 7 tables

  9. Simultaneous determination of β-agonists and monitoring in bovine tissues by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyunghun Jeong

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The misuse of β-agonists leads to a potential risk to public health and is forbidden in many countries. We developed a rapid, sensitive and reliable multi-residue detection method for zilpaterol, ractopamine, and clenbuterol in bovine tissues by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Residues were extracted in ethyl acetate after protein precipitation, and then analyzed by the developed method. Good linearities (R2 > 0.99 were observed, and the recoveries of zilpaterol, ractopamine, and clenbuterol were 99%, 74%, and 102%, respectively. The limits of quantitation for zilpaterol, ractopamine, and clenbuterol were 1.3, 5.0, and 1.7 ng/g, respectively. The method is also applied successfully to bovine tissues within the Korean National Residue Programme. None of the 3 β-agonists were detected from 50 domestic samples. However, zilpaterol (6.3 ng/g was quantified in one out of the 50 imported samples. The application of this method will be helpful in quality control analysis of β-agonists residues in bovine tissues.

  10. A Note on the Inverse Reconstruction of Residual Fields in Surface Peened Plates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Ali Faghidian

    Full Text Available Abstract A modified stress function approach is developed here to reconstruct induced stress, residual stress and eigenstrain fields from limited experimental measurements. The present approach is successfully applied to three experimental measurements set in surface peened plates with shallow shot peening affected zone. The well-rehearsed advantage of the proposed approach is that it not only minimizes the deviation of measurements from its approximations but also will result in an inverse solution satisfying a full range of continuum mechanics requirements. Also, the effect of component thickness as a geometric parameter influencing the residual stress state is comprehensively studied. A key finding of present study is that the plate thickness has no influence on the maximum magnitude of eigenstrain profile and compressive residual stresses within the shot peening affected zone while having a great influence on the magnitude of tensile residual stress and the gradient of linear residual stresses present in deeper regions.

  11. Pharmacokinetics, efficacy prediction indexes and residue depletion of antibacterial drugs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arturo Anadón

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Pharmacokinetics behaviour of the antibacterial in food producing animals, provides information on the rates of absorption and elimination, half-life in plasma and tissue, elimination pathways and metabolism. The dose and the dosing interval of the antimicrobial can be justified by considering the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD relationship, if established, as well as the severity of the disease, whereas the number of administrations should be in line with the nature of the disease. The target population for therapy should be well defined and possible to identify under field conditions. Based on in vitro susceptibility data, and target animal PK data, an analysis for the PK/PD relationship may be used to support dose regimen selection and interpretation criteria for a clinical breakpoint. Therefore, for all antibacterials with systemic activity, the MIC data collected should be compared with the concentration of the compound at the relevant biophase following administration at the assumed therapeutic dose as recorded in the pharmacokinetic studies. Currently, the most frequently used parameters to express the PK/PD relationship are Cmax/MIC (maximum serum concentration/MIC, %T > MIC (fraction of time in which concentration exceeds MIC and AUC/MIC (area under the inhibitory concentration– time curve/MIC. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic parameters provide the first indication of the potential for persistent residues and the tissues in which they may occur. The information on residue depletion in food-producing animals, provides the data on which MRL recommendations will be based. A critical factor in the antibacterial medication of all food-producing animals is the mandatory withdrawal period, defined as the time during which drug must not be administered prior to the slaughter of the animal for consumption. The withdrawal period is an integral part of the regulatory authorities’ approval process and is designed to ensure that no

  12. Distribution of chloramphenicol to tissues, plasma and urine in pigs after oral intake of low doses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aspenström-Fagerlund, Bitte; Nordkvist, Erik; Törnkvist, Anna; Wallgren, Per; Hoogenboom, Ron; Berendsen, Bjorn; Granelli, Kristina

    2016-09-01

    Toxic effects of chloramphenicol in humans caused the ban for its use in food-producing animals in the EU. A minimum required performance level (MRPL) was specified for chloramphenicol at 0.3 μg kg(-1) for various matrices, including urine. In 2012, residues of chloramphenicol were found in pig urine and muscle without signs of illegal use. Regarding its natural occurrence in straw, it was hypothesised that this might be the source, straw being compulsory for use as bedding material for pigs in Sweden. Therefore, we investigated if low daily doses of chloramphenicol (4, 40 and 400 μg/pig) given orally during 14 days could result in residues in pig tissues and urine. A dose-related increase of residues was found in muscle, plasma, kidney and urine (showing the highest levels), but no chloramphenicol was found in the liver. At the lowest dose, residues were below the MRPL in all tissues except in the urine. However, in the middle dose, residues were above the MRPL in all tissues except muscle, and at the highest dose in all matrices. This study proves that exposure of pigs to chloramphenicol in doses occurring naturally in straw could result in residues above the MRPL in plasma, kidney and especially urine.

  13. Nanometer-scale structure of alkali-soluble bio-macromolecules of maize plant residues explains their recalcitrance in soil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adani, Fabrizio; Salati, Silvia; Spagnol, Manuela; Tambone, Fulvia; Genevini, Pierluigi; Pilu, Roberto; Nierop, Klaas G J

    2009-07-01

    The quantity and quality of plant litter in the soil play an important role in the soil organic matter balance. Besides other pedo-climatic aspects, the content of recalcitrant molecules of plant residues and their chemical composition play a major role in the preservation of plant residues. In this study, we report that intrinsically resistant alkali-soluble bio-macromolecules extracted from maize plant (plant-humic acid) (plant-HA) contribute directly to the soil organic matter (OM) by its addition and conservation in the soil. Furthermore, we also observed that a high syringyl/guaiacyl (S/G) ratio in the lignin residues comprising the plant tissue, which modifies the microscopic structure of the alkali-soluble plant biopolymers, enhances their recalcitrance because of lower accessibility of molecules to degrading enzymes. These results are in agreement with a recent study, which showed that the humic substance of soil consists of a mixture of identifiable biopolymers obtained directly from plant tissues that are added annually by maize plant residues.

  14. Practical guidance on representing the heteroscedasticity of residual errors of hydrological predictions

    Science.gov (United States)

    McInerney, David; Thyer, Mark; Kavetski, Dmitri; Kuczera, George

    2016-04-01

    Appropriate representation of residual errors in hydrological modelling is essential for accurate and reliable probabilistic streamflow predictions. In particular, residual errors of hydrological predictions are often heteroscedastic, with large errors associated with high runoff events. Although multiple approaches exist for representing this heteroscedasticity, few if any studies have undertaken a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of these approaches. This study fills this research gap by evaluating a range of approaches for representing heteroscedasticity in residual errors. These approaches include the 'direct' weighted least squares approach and 'transformational' approaches, such as logarithmic, Box-Cox (with and without fitting the transformation parameter), logsinh and the inverse transformation. The study reports (1) theoretical comparison of heteroscedasticity approaches, (2) empirical evaluation of heteroscedasticity approaches using a range of multiple catchments / hydrological models / performance metrics and (3) interpretation of empirical results using theory to provide practical guidance on the selection of heteroscedasticity approaches. Importantly, for hydrological practitioners, the results will simplify the choice of approaches to represent heteroscedasticity. This will enhance their ability to provide hydrological probabilistic predictions with the best reliability and precision for different catchment types (e.g. high/low degree of ephemerality).

  15. A generic approach for a linear elastic fracture mechanics analysis of components containing residual stress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Hyeong Y.; Nikbin, Kamran M.; O'Dowd, Noel P.

    2005-01-01

    A review of through thickness transverse residual stress distribution measurements in a number of components, manufactured from a range of steels, has been carried out. Residual stresses introduced by welding and mechanical deformation have been considered. The geometries consisted of welded T-plate joints, pipe butt joints, tube-on-plate joints, tubular Y-joints and tubular T-joints as well as cold bent tubes and repair welds. In addition, the collected data cover a range of engineering steels including ferritic, austenitic, C-Mn and Cr-Mo steels. The methods used to measure the residual stresses also varied. These included neutron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and deep hole drilling techniques. Measured residual stress data, normalised by their respective yield stress have shown an inverse linear correlation versus the normalised depth of the region containing the residual stress (up to 0.5 of the component thickness). A simplified generic residual stress profile based on a linear fit to the data is proposed for the case of a transverse residual tensile stress field. Whereas the profiles in assessment procedures are case specific the proposed linear profile can be varied to produce a combination of membrane and bending stress distributions to give lower or higher levels of conservatism on stress intensity factors, depending on the amount of case specific data available or the degree of safety required

  16. Quadratic residues and non-residues selected topics

    CERN Document Server

    Wright, Steve

    2016-01-01

    This book offers an account of the classical theory of quadratic residues and non-residues with the goal of using that theory as a lens through which to view the development of some of the fundamental methods employed in modern elementary, algebraic, and analytic number theory. The first three chapters present some basic facts and the history of quadratic residues and non-residues and discuss various proofs of the Law of Quadratic Reciprosity in depth, with an emphasis on the six proofs that Gauss published. The remaining seven chapters explore some interesting applications of the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity, prove some results concerning the distribution and arithmetic structure of quadratic residues and non-residues, provide a detailed proof of Dirichlet’s Class-Number Formula, and discuss the question of whether quadratic residues are randomly distributed. The text is a valuable resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as for mathematicians interested in number theory.

  17. Adult soft tissue sarcomas: conventional therapies and molecularly targeted approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mocellin, Simone; Rossi, Carlo R; Brandes, Alba; Nitti, Donato

    2006-02-01

    The therapeutic approach to soft tissue sarcomas (STS) has evolved over the past two decades based on the results from randomized controlled trials, which are guiding physicians in the treatment decision-making process. Despite significant improvements in the control of local disease, a significant number of patients ultimately die of recurrent/metastatic disease following radical surgery due to a lack of effective adjuvant treatments. In addition, the characteristic chemoresistance of STS has compromised the therapeutic value of conventional antineoplastic agents in cases of unresectable advanced/metastatic disease. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed to improve the prognosis of patients with STS. Recent advances in STS biology are paving the way to the development of molecularly targeted therapeutic strategies, the efficacy of which relies not only on the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development/progression but also on the personalization of the therapeutic regimen according to the molecular features of individual tumours. In this work, we review the state-of-the-art of conventional treatments for STS and summarize the most promising findings in the development of molecularly targeted therapeutic approaches.

  18. Current Advance and Future Prospects of Tissue Engineering Approach to Dentin/Pulp Regenerative Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ting Gong

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent advances in biomaterial science and tissue engineering technology have greatly spurred the development of regenerative endodontics. This has led to a paradigm shift in endodontic treatment from simply filling the root canal systems with biologically inert materials to restoring the infected dental pulp with functional replacement tissues. Currently, cell transplantation has gained increasing attention as a scientifically valid method for dentin-pulp complex regeneration. This multidisciplinary approach which involves the interplay of three key elements of tissue engineering—stem cells, scaffolds, and signaling molecules—has produced an impressive number of favorable outcomes in preclinical animal studies. Nevertheless, many practical hurdles need to be overcome prior to its application in clinical settings. Apart from the potential health risks of immunological rejection and pathogenic transmission, the lack of a well-established banking system for the isolation and storage of dental-derived stem cells is the most pressing issue that awaits resolution and the properties of supportive scaffold materials vary across different studies and remain inconsistent. This review critically examines the classic triad of tissue engineering utilized in current regenerative endodontics and summarizes the possible techniques developed for dentin/pulp regeneration.

  19. Current Advance and Future Prospects of Tissue Engineering Approach to Dentin/Pulp Regenerative Therapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Ting; Heng, Boon Chin; Lo, Edward Chin Man; Zhang, Chengfei

    2016-01-01

    Recent advances in biomaterial science and tissue engineering technology have greatly spurred the development of regenerative endodontics. This has led to a paradigm shift in endodontic treatment from simply filling the root canal systems with biologically inert materials to restoring the infected dental pulp with functional replacement tissues. Currently, cell transplantation has gained increasing attention as a scientifically valid method for dentin-pulp complex regeneration. This multidisciplinary approach which involves the interplay of three key elements of tissue engineering—stem cells, scaffolds, and signaling molecules—has produced an impressive number of favorable outcomes in preclinical animal studies. Nevertheless, many practical hurdles need to be overcome prior to its application in clinical settings. Apart from the potential health risks of immunological rejection and pathogenic transmission, the lack of a well-established banking system for the isolation and storage of dental-derived stem cells is the most pressing issue that awaits resolution and the properties of supportive scaffold materials vary across different studies and remain inconsistent. This review critically examines the classic triad of tissue engineering utilized in current regenerative endodontics and summarizes the possible techniques developed for dentin/pulp regeneration. PMID:27069484

  20. Residual generator for cardiovascular anomalies detection

    KAUST Repository

    Belkhatir, Zehor

    2014-06-01

    This paper discusses the possibility of using observer-based approaches for cardiovascular anomalies detection and isolation. We consider a lumped parameter model of the cardiovascular system that can be written in a form of nonlinear state-space representation. We show that residuals that are sensitive to variations in some cardiovascular parameters and to abnormal opening and closure of the valves, can be generated. Since the whole state is not easily available for measurement, we propose to associate the residual generator to a robust extended kalman filter. Numerical results performed on synthetic data are provided.

  1. Transglutaminase reactivity with gelatine: perspective applications in tissue engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertoni, F; Barbani, N; Giusti, P; Ciardelli, G

    2006-05-01

    Gelatine was crosslinked by means of an enzymatic treatment using tissue transglutaminase (tTGase) (Sigma) and microbial transglutaminase (mTGase) (Ajinomoto) which catalyses the formation of isopeptide bonds between the gamma-carbonyl group of a glutamine residue and the epsilon-amino group of a lysine residue. The reaction is an interesting alternative to the traditional glutaraldehyde crosslinking, which has several drawbacks (e.g., in medical application) due to the toxicity of the chemical reagent. To further investigate the possibility to utilize the modified protein for tissue engineering application, TGase crosslinked gelatine was incorporated in a gellan matrix, a polysaccharide, to enhance the stability in aqueous media. Films obtained by casting were characterized by thermal analysis, chemical imaging, swelling behaviour and cell adhesion.

  2. Analytical and Experimental Study of Residual Stresses in CFRP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chia-Chin Chiang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Fiber Bragg Grating sensors (FBGs have been utilized in various engineering and photoelectric fields because of their good environment tolerance. In this research, residual stresses of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRP were studied using both experimental and analytical approach. The FBGs were embedded inside middle layers of CFRP to study the formation of residual stress during curing process. Finite element analysis was performed using ABAQUS software to simulate the CFRP curing process. Both experimental and simulation results showed that the residual stress appeared during cooling process and the residual stresses could be released when the CFRP was machined to a different shape.

  3. An active artificial cornea with the function of inducing new corneal tissue generation in vivo-a new approach to corneal tissue engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Yaoxiong; Li Qinhua

    2007-01-01

    An active artificial cornea which can perform the function of inducing new cornea generation in vivo but does not need culture cells in vitro and which has similar optical and mechanical properties to those of the human cornea was constructed. An animal keratoplasty experiment using the artificial cornea as the implant showed that the animals' corneas could keep smooth surface and clear stroma postoperatively, and that the repopulation of the host's keratocytes, the degradation of the implant and new corneal tissue generation were completed at 5-6 months after surgery. Such an artificial cornea has several advantages over other corneal equivalents constructed in the typical way of tissue engineering: in having similar mechanical and optical properties to those of the human cornea and with no exogenetic cells, it can be used universally in different implantation surgeries without immunoreaction; it is easy to prepare and process into different shapes and sizes on a large scale, and suitable for long-distance transportation and long-term storage. All these characteristics make it a new approach to cornea tissue engineering having potential in many clinical applications

  4. Bubble-Induced Color Doppler Feedback for Histotripsy Tissue Fractionation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Ryan M; Zhang, Xi; Maxwell, Adam D; Cain, Charles A; Xu, Zhen

    2016-03-01

    Histotripsy therapy produces cavitating bubble clouds to increasingly fractionate and eventually liquefy tissue using high-intensity ultrasound pulses. Following cavitation generated by each pulse, coherent motion of the cavitation residual nuclei can be detected using metrics formed from ultrasound color Doppler acquisitions. In this paper, three experiments were performed to investigate the characteristics of this motion as real-time feedback on histotripsy tissue fractionation. In the first experiment, bubble-induced color Doppler (BCD) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis monitored the residual cavitation nuclei in the treatment region in an agarose tissue phantom treated with two-cycle histotripsy pulses at [Formula: see text] using a 500-kHz transducer. Both BCD and PIV results showed brief chaotic motion of the residual nuclei followed by coherent motion first moving away from the transducer and then rebounding back. Velocity measurements from both PIV and BCD agreed well, showing a monotonic increase in rebound time up to a saturation point for increased therapy dose. In a second experiment, a thin layer of red blood cells (RBC) was added to the phantom to allow quantification of the fractionation of the RBC layer to compare with BCD metrics. A strong linear correlation was observed between the fractionation level and the time to BCD peak rebound velocity over histotripsy treatment. Finally, the correlation between BCD feedback and histotripsy tissue fractionation was validated in ex vivo porcine liver evaluated histologically. BCD metrics showed strong linear correlation with fractionation progression, suggesting that BCD provides useful quantitative real-time feedback on histotripsy treatment progression.

  5. Carcass characteristics and tissue composition of commercial cuts of lambs fed with banana crop residues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tânia Dayana do Carmo

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of substitution of Cynodon hay with banana plantation residue hay on the carcass characteristics and tissue composition of commercial cuts of feedlot Santa Inês lambs. Twenty-five whole lambs were used, with an average age of five months and an initial live weight of 26.95 kg (± 1.5, distributed in a completely randomized design with five treatments (1 = 40% Cynodon spp. hay + 60% concentrate; 2 = 20% banana leaf hay + 20% Cynodon spp. hay + 60% concentrate; 3 = 40% banana leaf hay + 60% concentrate; 4 = 20% banana pseudostem hay + 20% Cynodon spp. hay + 60% concentrate; 5 = 40% banana pseudostem hay + 60% concentrate and five repetitions. The lambs were slaughtered on day 69 of the experiment. The variables evaluated were: live weight without fasting (LWWF, live weight post-fasting (LWPF, morphometric measurements in vivo and postmortem, hot and cold carcass weights (HCW, CCW, hot and cold carcass yield (HCY, CCY, biological performance and weight loss by chilling. The carcasses were divided into eight commercial cuts: neck, shoulder, foreshank and hindshank, breast and flank, loin, leg and rack. The leg, shoulder and loin were dissected into muscle, fat and bone. The animals fed on pseudostem hay showed higher LWWF, LWPF, body length, HCW and CCW; however, the HCY, CCY, morphometric measurements and commercial cut weights and yields were not altered by the treatments. The use of pseudostem hay allows for heavier carcasses; however, the use of coproducts changed the characteristics and carcass yield of the assessed commercial cuts.

  6. Toxic effects of ethylene oxide residues on bovine embryos in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holyoak, G R; Wang, S; Liu, Y; Bunch, T D

    1996-04-15

    The potential of ethylene oxide (EtO) residues in exposed plastic tissue culture dishes to adversely affect bovine oocyte maturation, fertilization and subsequent embryonic development was monitored. In experiment 1, the effects of aeration time and aeration combined with washing of EtO-gassed culture dishes on the extent of residual toxicity were investigated. There was no cleavage in any treatment in which oocytes were matured and fertilized in dishes exposed to EtO. EtO residues caused functional degeneration of oocytes even when culture dishes were aerated for more than 12 days post EtO-exposure and repeatedly washed. In experiment 2, the residual toxicity of EtO gas on in vitro maturation (IVM), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in vitro culture (IVC) were evaluated. Cleavage rate significantly decreased and post-cleavage development was retarded in ova maintained in dishes treated with EtO either during IVM or IVF. EtO residues may be more detrimental to spermatozoa than to oocytes which may have been the primary cause of fertilization failure during IVF.

  7. Eviromental Economic and Technological Residues Management Demands: An Optimization Tool.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa Soares Borges

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Industrial residues management is a very demanding task since many different goals must be achieved. The combination of different approaches used by people from different stuff is very challenging activity that can misuse the residues potential value and applicability. An interactive WEB base tool, to integrate different sectors and overcome residues management difficulties will be presented. The system must be loaded with all data concerning the residue life cycle, and through data integration and modeling routine will give the best alternative as output. As wider and complete the system data becomes, by information loading from differen t segment, more efficient the residues management becomes. The user friendly tool will encourage the participation of industries, labs and research institutions to obtain qualified information about industrial residues inventory, raw materials recovery, characteristics, treatment and alternative uses, to achieve residues management sustainability.

  8. Tissue engineering for lateral ridge augmentation with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 combination therapy: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandelaris, George A; Spagnoli, Daniel B; Rosenfeld, Alan L; McKee, James; Lu, Mei

    2015-01-01

    This case report describes a tissue-engineered reconstruction with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2/acellular collagen sponge (rhBMP-2/ ACS) + cancellous allograft and space maintenance via Medpor Contain mesh in the treatment of a patient requiring maxillary and mandibular horizontal ridge augmentation to enable implant placement. The patient underwent a previously unsuccessful corticocancellous bone graft at these sites. Multiple and contiguous sites in the maxilla and in the mandibular anterior, demonstrating advanced lateral ridge deficiencies, were managed using a tissue engineering approach as an alternative to autogenous bone harvesting. Four maxillary and three mandibular implants were placed 9 and 10 months, respectively, after tissue engineering reconstruction, and all were functioning successfully after 24 months of follow-up. Histomorphometric analysis of a bone core obtained at the time of the maxillary implant placement demonstrated a mean of 76.1% new vital bone formation, 22.2% marrow/cells, and 1.7% residual graft tissue. Tissue engineering for lateral ridge augmentation with combination therapy requires further research to determine predictability and limitations.

  9. Maintenance optimization and prognostics of residual life - A state of the art report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nystad, Bent

    2006-01-15

    In many industries a huge part of the daily operational costs are related to maintenance. One key function in cutting costs is in optimization of the maintenance efforts. A major task is to change the work culture and work processes from being repair oriented, with focus on repairing breakdowns, to being proactive and maintain critical parts/systems before failures occur. Estimation of residual life distributions is of great need to obtain an optimum preventive maintenance strategy. In this report two approaches for estimation of residual life are discussed. The first model assumes that the residual life follows a Weibull distribution where the parameters are dependent on expert judgement, inspection data, repair data, and technical health trends. The second model is based on a continuous time Markov chain. In maintenance optimization a quantitative approach like the mean residual life estimation is needed in addition to a qualitative approach like the Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) methodology to give support for e.g. optimization of the maintenance overhaul intervals.The use of residual life knowledge in opportunistic maintenance is also discussed.(auth)

  10. Synovial tissue research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Orr, Carl; Sousa, Elsa; Boyle, David L

    2017-01-01

    The synovium is the major target tissue of inflammatory arthritides such as rheumatoid arthritis. The study of synovial tissue has advanced considerably throughout the past few decades from arthroplasty and blind needle biopsy to the use of arthroscopic and ultrasonographic technologies that enable...... easier visualization and improve the reliability of synovial biopsies. Rapid progress has been made in using synovial tissue to study disease pathogenesis, to stratify patients, to discover biomarkers and novel targets, and to validate therapies, and this progress has been facilitated by increasingly...... diverse and sophisticated analytical and technological approaches. In this Review, we describe these approaches, and summarize how their use in synovial tissue research has improved our understanding of rheumatoid arthritis and identified candidate biomarkers that could be used in disease diagnosis...

  11. Biomarker discovery in heterogeneous tissue samples -taking the in-silico deconfounding approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parida Shreemanta K

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background For heterogeneous tissues, such as blood, measurements of gene expression are confounded by relative proportions of cell types involved. Conclusions have to rely on estimation of gene expression signals for homogeneous cell populations, e.g. by applying micro-dissection, fluorescence activated cell sorting, or in-silico deconfounding. We studied feasibility and validity of a non-negative matrix decomposition algorithm using experimental gene expression data for blood and sorted cells from the same donor samples. Our objective was to optimize the algorithm regarding detection of differentially expressed genes and to enable its use for classification in the difficult scenario of reversely regulated genes. This would be of importance for the identification of candidate biomarkers in heterogeneous tissues. Results Experimental data and simulation studies involving noise parameters estimated from these data revealed that for valid detection of differential gene expression, quantile normalization and use of non-log data are optimal. We demonstrate the feasibility of predicting proportions of constituting cell types from gene expression data of single samples, as a prerequisite for a deconfounding-based classification approach. Classification cross-validation errors with and without using deconfounding results are reported as well as sample-size dependencies. Implementation of the algorithm, simulation and analysis scripts are available. Conclusions The deconfounding algorithm without decorrelation using quantile normalization on non-log data is proposed for biomarkers that are difficult to detect, and for cases where confounding by varying proportions of cell types is the suspected reason. In this case, a deconfounding ranking approach can be used as a powerful alternative to, or complement of, other statistical learning approaches to define candidate biomarkers for molecular diagnosis and prediction in biomedicine, in

  12. DNA quantification of basidiomycetous fungi during storage of logging residues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabella Børja

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The demand for bioenergy caused an increased use of logging residues, branches and treetops that were previously left on the ground after harvesting. Residues are stored outdoors in piles and it is unclear to what extent fungi transform this material. Our objective was to quantify the amount of wood degrading fungi during storage using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR to detect basidiomycetous DNA in logging residues, a novel approach in this field. We found that the qPCR method was accurate in quantifying the fungal DNA during storage. As the moisture content of the piled logging residues decreased during the storage period, the fungal DNA content also decreased. Scots pine residues contained more fungal DNA than residues from Norway spruce. Loose piles had generally more fungal DNA than bundled ones.

  13. Recent advances in residual stress measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Withers, P.J.; Turski, M.; Edwards, L.; Bouchard, P.J.; Buttle, D.J.

    2008-01-01

    Until recently residual stresses have been included in structural integrity assessments of nuclear pressure vessels and piping in a very primitive manner due to the lack of reliable residual stress measurement or prediction tools. This situation is changing the capabilities of newly emerging destructive (i.e. the contour method) and non-destructive (i.e. magnetic and high-energy synchrotron X-ray strain mapping) residual stress measurement techniques for evaluating ferritic and austenitic pressure vessel components are contrasted against more well-established methods. These new approaches offer the potential for obtaining area maps of residual stress or strain in welded plants, mock-up components or generic test-pieces. The mapped field may be used directly in structural integrity calculations, or indirectly to validate finite element process/structural models on which safety cases for pressurised nuclear systems are founded. These measurement methods are complementary in terms of application to actual plant, cost effectiveness and measurements in thick sections. In each case an exemplar case study is used to illustrate the method and to highlight its particular capabilities

  14. Evaluation of a Method for Quantifying Eugenol Concentrations in the Fillet Tissue from Freshwater Fish Species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinertz, Jeffery R; Schreier, Theresa M; Porcher, Scott T; Smerud, Justin R

    2016-01-01

    AQUI-S 20E(®) (active ingredient, eugenol; AQUI-S New Zealand Ltd, Lower Hutt, New Zealand) is being pursued for approval as an immediate-release sedative in the United States. A validated method to quantify the primary residue (the marker residue) in fillet tissue from AQUI-S 20E-exposed fish was needed. A method was evaluated for determining concentrations of the AQUI-S 20E marker residue, eugenol, in freshwater fish fillet tissue. Method accuracies from fillet tissue fortified at nominal concentrations of 0.15, 1, and 60 μg/g from six fish species ranged from 88-102%. Within-day and between-day method precisions (% CV) from the fortified tissue were ≤8.4% CV. There were no coextracted compounds from the control fillet tissue of seven fish species that interfered with eugenol analyses. Six compounds used as aquaculture drugs did not interfere with eugenol analyses. The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 0.012 μg/g. The method was robust, i.e., in most cases, minor changes to the method did not impact method performance. Eugenol was stable in acetonitrile-water (3 + 7, v/v) for at least 14 days, in fillet tissue extracts for 4 days, and in fillet tissue stored at ~ -80°C for at least 84 days.

  15. Residue Geometry Networks: A Rigidity-Based Approach to the Amino Acid Network and Evolutionary Rate Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fokas, Alexander S.; Cole, Daniel J.; Ahnert, Sebastian E.; Chin, Alex W.

    2016-01-01

    Amino acid networks (AANs) abstract the protein structure by recording the amino acid contacts and can provide insight into protein function. Herein, we describe a novel AAN construction technique that employs the rigidity analysis tool, FIRST, to build the AAN, which we refer to as the residue geometry network (RGN). We show that this new construction can be combined with network theory methods to include the effects of allowed conformal motions and local chemical environments. Importantly, this is done without costly molecular dynamics simulations required by other AAN-related methods, which allows us to analyse large proteins and/or data sets. We have calculated the centrality of the residues belonging to 795 proteins. The results display a strong, negative correlation between residue centrality and the evolutionary rate. Furthermore, among residues with high closeness, those with low degree were particularly strongly conserved. Random walk simulations using the RGN were also successful in identifying allosteric residues in proteins involved in GPCR signalling. The dynamic function of these residues largely remain hidden in the traditional distance-cutoff construction technique. Despite being constructed from only the crystal structure, the results in this paper suggests that the RGN can identify residues that fulfil a dynamical function. PMID:27623708

  16. Connective tissue activation. XXXII. Structural and biologic characteristics of mesenchymal cell-derived connective tissue activating peptide-V.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabral, A R; Cole, L A; Walz, D A; Castor, C W

    1987-12-01

    Connective tissue activating peptide-V (CTAP-V) is a single-chain, mesenchymal cell-derived anionic protein with large and small molecular forms (Mr of 28,000 and 16,000, respectively), as defined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The proteins have similar specific activities with respect to stimulation of hyaluronic acid and DNA formation in human synovial fibroblast cultures. S-carboxymethylation or removal of sialic acid residues did not modify CTAP-V biologic activity. Rabbit antibodies raised separately against each of the purified CTAP-V proteins reacted, on immunodiffusion and on Western blot, with each antigen and neutralized mitogenic activity. The amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the CTAP-V proteins, determined by 2 laboratories, confirmed their structural similarities. The amino-terminal sequence through 37 residues was demonstrated for the smaller protein. The first 10 residues of CTAP-V (28 kd) were identical to the N-terminal decapeptide of CTAP-V (16 kd). The C-terminal sequence, determined by carboxypeptidase Y digestion, was the same for both CTAP-V molecular species. The 2 CTAP-V peptides had similar amino acid compositions, whether residues were expressed as a percent of the total or were normalized to mannose. Reduction of native CTAP-V protein released sulfhydryl groups in a protein:disulfide ratio of 1:2; this suggests that CTAP-V contains 2 intramolecular disulfide bonds. Clearly, CTAP-V is a glycoprotein. The carbohydrate content of CTAP-V (16 kd) and CTAP-V (28 kd) is 27% and 25%, respectively. CTAP-V may have significance in relation to autocrine mechanisms for growth regulation of connective tissue cells and other cell types.

  17. Computer assisted collimation gamma camera: A new approach to imaging contaminated tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quartuccio, M.; Franck, D.; Pihet, P.; Begot, S.; Jeanguillaume, C.

    2000-01-01

    Measurement systems with the capability of imaging tissues contaminated with radioactive materials would find relevant applications in medical physics research and possibly in health physics. The latter in particular depends critically on the performance achieved for sensitivity and spatial resolution. An original approach of computer assisted collimation gamma camera (French acronym CACAO) which could meet suitable characteristics has been proposed elsewhere. CACAO requires detectors with high spatial resolution. The present work was aimed at investigating the application of the CACAO principle on a laboratory testing bench using silicon detectors made of small pixels. (author)

  18. Computer assisted collimation gamma camera: A new approach to imaging contaminated tissues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quartuccio, M.; Franck, D.; Pihet, P.; Begot, S.; Jeanguillaume, C

    2000-07-01

    Measurement systems with the capability of imaging tissues contaminated with radioactive materials would find relevant applications in medical physics research and possibly in health physics. The latter in particular depends critically on the performance achieved for sensitivity and spatial resolution. An original approach of computer assisted collimation gamma camera (French acronym CACAO) which could meet suitable characteristics has been proposed elsewhere. CACAO requires detectors with high spatial resolution. The present work was aimed at investigating the application of the CACAO principle on a laboratory testing bench using silicon detectors made of small pixels. (author)

  19. STANDARDISED CLINICAL EXAMINATION OF SOFT-TISSUE PAIN IN PATIENTS WITH HIP DYSPLASIA USING THE CLINICAL ENTITIES APPROACH

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Julie Sandell; Hölmich, Per; Thorborg, Kristian

    2016-01-01

    Introduction In patients with symptomatic hip dysplasia soft-tissue pain may be a prevalent condition that might affect the outcome of periacetabular osteotomy (PAO). However, the distribution of soft-tissue pain in hip dysplasia has never been examined systematically using a standardised...... and reliable protocol. The aim of this study was to investigate five clinical entities in 100 patients with hip dysplasia using the clinical entities approach identifying the anatomic location of soft-tissue pain. The first 50 patients are presented in this paper. Material and Methods Fifty patients (10 males...... prevalence in the iliopsoas and the hip abductors. This indicates that patients with hip dysplasia also experience pain related to the surrounding soft-tissues, and not only from the hip joint. References (1) Holmich P, Holmich LR, Bjerg AM. Clinical examination of athletes with groin pain: an intraobserver...

  20. Model-based leakage localization in drinking water distribution networks using structured residuals

    OpenAIRE

    Puig Cayuela, Vicenç; Rosich, Albert

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, a new model based approach to leakage localization in drinking water networks is proposed based on generating a set of structured residuals. The residual evaluation is based on a numerical method based on an enhanced Newton-Raphson algorithm. The proposed method is suitable for water network systems because the non-linearities of the model make impossible to derive analytical residuals. Furthermore, the computed residuals are designed so that leaks are decoupled, which impro...

  1. Estimation of gas and tissue lung volumes by MRI: functional approach of lung imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qanadli, S D; Orvoen-Frija, E; Lacombe, P; Di Paola, R; Bittoun, J; Frija, G

    1999-01-01

    The purpose of this work was to assess the accuracy of MRI for the determination of lung gas and tissue volumes. Fifteen healthy subjects underwent MRI of the thorax and pulmonary function tests [vital capacity (VC) and total lung capacity (TLC)] in the supine position. MR examinations were performed at inspiration and expiration. Lung volumes were measured by a previously validated technique on phantoms. Both individual and total lung volumes and capacities were calculated. MRI total vital capacity (VC(MRI)) was compared with spirometric vital capacity (VC(SP)). Capacities were correlated to lung volumes. Tissue volume (V(T)) was estimated as the difference between the total lung volume at full inspiration and the TLC. No significant difference was seen between VC(MRI) and VC(SP). Individual capacities were well correlated (r = 0.9) to static volume at full inspiration. The V(T) was estimated to be 836+/-393 ml. This preliminary study demonstrates that MRI can accurately estimate lung gas and tissue volumes. The proposed approach appears well suited for functional imaging of the lung.

  2. Influence of turkey meat on residual nitrite in cured meat products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilic, B; Cassens, R G; Borchert, L L

    2001-02-01

    A response surface experimental design was employed to estimate residual nitrite level at various initial nitrite concentrations, percent turkey meat in the formula, and heat quantity (F) values using a typical wiener as the test system. Pork and mechanically separated turkey were used as the meat ingredients. Residual nitrite and pH were measured at day 1, 7 days, 14 days, and 49 days after processing. Protein, fat, salt, moisture, and CIE (L*a*b*) color values were also determined. Results showed that the effect of turkey meat on residual nitrite level was significant (P meat in the formula resulted in lower residual nitrite levels at a fixed pH. The residual nitrite level was initially proportional to initial nitrite concentration, but it became a nonsignificant factor during longer storage time. Differences in heat quantity had a significant effect (P nitrite level initially. Greater heat quantity decreased residual nitrite level in finished cured meat products at a fixed pH. However, this effect became nonsignificant during longer storage. Reduction of residual nitrite in wieners because of turkey meat addition at a fixed pH was due to characteristics of the turkey tissue, but the mechanism of action remains unknown. It was also established that commercial wieners had a higher pH if poultry meat was included in the formulation.

  3. A novel multi-network approach reveals tissue-specific cellular modulators of fibrosis in systemic sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taroni, Jaclyn N; Greene, Casey S; Martyanov, Viktor; Wood, Tammara A; Christmann, Romy B; Farber, Harrison W; Lafyatis, Robert A; Denton, Christopher P; Hinchcliff, Monique E; Pioli, Patricia A; Mahoney, J Matthew; Whitfield, Michael L

    2017-03-23

    system is central to SSc disease processes but that subtle distinctions exist between tissues. Our approach provides a framework for examining molecular signatures of disease in fibrosis and autoimmune diseases and for leveraging publicly available data to understand common and tissue-specific disease processes in complex human diseases.

  4. Incorporation of carbohydrate residues into peroxidase isoenzymes in horseradish roots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lew, J Y; Shannon, L M

    1973-11-01

    Sliced root tissue of the horseradish plant (Armoracia rusticana), when incubated with mannose-U-(14)C, incorporated radioactivity into peroxidase isoenzymes. Over 90% of the radioactivity in the highly purified peroxidase isoenzymes was present in the neutral sugar residues of the molecule, i.e. fucose, arabinose, xylose, mannose. When the root slices were incubated simultaneously with leucine-4,5-(3)H and mannose-U-(14)C, cycloheximide strongly inhibited leucine incorporation into the peptide portion of peroxidase isoenzymes but had little effect on the incorporation of (14)C into the neutral sugars. These results indicated that synthesis of the peptide portion of peroxidase was completed before the monosaccharide residues were attached to the molecule. This temporal relationship between the synthesis of protein and the attachment of carbohydrate residues in the plant glycoprotein, horseradish peroxidase, appears to be similar to that reported for glycoprotein biosynthesis in many mammalian systems.

  5. Use of radioimmunoassay procedures for the determination of sex hormones in animal tissues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoffmann, B.

    1983-01-01

    Radioimmunoassay methods for the determination of sex steroids and other compounds with sex hormone-like activities in various edible animal tissues and endocrine glands have been developed. Reliability of these methods, allowing quantification in a range of 10 -11 M, has been adequately demonstrated. When applied to monitoring residues of anabolic sex hormones in edible tissues of veal calves, physiological baseline levels of some endogenous ''anabolic'' steroids (like testosterone, oestrogens) were established; in the case of xenobiotics residues at the scheduled time of slaughter could be quantified (trenbolone) and a regulatory method to implement the ban of diethylstilbestrol was introduced. (author)

  6. Combining specificity determining and conserved residues improves functional site prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gelfand Mikhail S

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Predicting the location of functionally important sites from protein sequence and/or structure is a long-standing problem in computational biology. Most current approaches make use of sequence conservation, assuming that amino acid residues conserved within a protein family are most likely to be functionally important. Most often these approaches do not consider many residues that act to define specific sub-functions within a family, or they make no distinction between residues important for function and those more relevant for maintaining structure (e.g. in the hydrophobic core. Many protein families bind and/or act on a variety of ligands, meaning that conserved residues often only bind a common ligand sub-structure or perform general catalytic activities. Results Here we present a novel method for functional site prediction based on identification of conserved positions, as well as those responsible for determining ligand specificity. We define Specificity-Determining Positions (SDPs, as those occupied by conserved residues within sub-groups of proteins in a family having a common specificity, but differ between groups, and are thus likely to account for specific recognition events. We benchmark the approach on enzyme families of known 3D structure with bound substrates, and find that in nearly all families residues predicted by SDPsite are in contact with the bound substrate, and that the addition of SDPs significantly improves functional site prediction accuracy. We apply SDPsite to various families of proteins containing known three-dimensional structures, but lacking clear functional annotations, and discusse several illustrative examples. Conclusion The results suggest a better means to predict functional details for the thousands of protein structures determined prior to a clear understanding of molecular function.

  7. Combined spectroscopic imaging and chemometric approach for automatically partitioning tissue types in human prostate tissue biopsies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haka, Abigail S.; Kidder, Linda H.; Lewis, E. Neil

    2001-07-01

    We have applied Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging, coupling a mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) focal plane array detector (FPA) and a Michelson step scan interferometer, to the investigation of various states of malignant human prostate tissue. The MCT FPA used consists of 64x64 pixels, each 61 micrometers 2, and has a spectral range of 2-10.5 microns. Each imaging data set was collected at 16-1 resolution, resulting in 512 image planes and a total of 4096 interferograms. In this article we describe a method for separating different tissue types contained within FTIR spectroscopic imaging data sets of human prostate tissue biopsies. We present images, generated by the Fuzzy C-Means clustering algorithm, which demonstrate the successful partitioning of distinct tissue type domains. Additionally, analysis of differences in the centroid spectra corresponding to different tissue types provides an insight into their biochemical composition. Lastly, we demonstrate the ability to partition tissue type regions in a different data set using centroid spectra calculated from the original data set. This has implications for the use of the Fuzzy C-Means algorithm as an automated technique for the separation and examination of tissue domains in biopsy samples.

  8. Estimation of selected residual antibiotics in muscle, kidney, liver, and egg of layer chicken

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amjad, H.; Iqbal, J.; Naeem, M.

    2006-01-01

    The present studies were conducted for the estimation of quinolone residues in our local poultry products. The poultry products included muscle, kidney, liver and egg (yolk and white). The quinolones included in this study were, oxolonic acid, flumequine, enrofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin. An assessment of the variation of each analyte (quinolones antibiotic residues) in these products was made. A comparison was made among the analyte (quinolones) concentrations in different tissues/organs and their internationally permissible safer maximum residue limits (MRLS'). Infra Red spectra were used to detect the presence and identification of different quinolones. HPLC with ODS Column and U.V. detector was used for the quantification. (author)

  9. 77 FR 75082 - Notice of Receipt of Several Pesticide Petitions Filed for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-19

    ...) following sample extraction, hydrolysis (to convert CHNP-glucoside to its aglycone, CHNP) and solid-phase... method for analysis of large animal tissues includes extraction of the residues of concern, followed by... analysis of milk eliminated the initial extraction step in the tissue method. Contact: Rosemary Kearns...

  10. Valorization Challenges to Almond Residues: Phytochemical Composition and Functional Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iva Prgomet

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Almond is characterized by its high nutritional value; although information reported so far mainly concerns edible kernel. Even though the nutritional and commercial relevance of the almond is restricted to almond meat; to date; increasing attention has been paid to other parts of this fruit (skin; shell; and hull; considered by-products that are scarcely characterized and exploited regarding their properties as valuable sources of bioactive compounds (mainly represented by phenolic acids and flavonoids. This lack of proper valorization procedures entails the continuation of the application of traditional procedures to almond residues that nowadays are mainly addressed to livestock feed and energy production. In this sense; data available on the physicochemical and phytochemical composition of almond meat and its related residues suggest promising applications; and allow one to envisage new uses as functional ingredients towards value-added foods and feeds; as well as a source of bioactive phytochemicals to be included in cosmetic formulations. This objective has prompted investigators working in the field to evaluate their functional properties and biological activity. This approach has provided interesting information concerning the capacity of polyphenolic extracts of almond by-products to prevent degenerative diseases linked to oxidative stress and inflammation in human tissues and cells; in the frame of diverse pathophysiological situations. Hence; this review deals with gathering data available in the scientific literature on the phytochemical composition and bioactivity of almond by-products as well as on their bioactivity so as to promote their functional application.

  11. Superhard behaviour, low residual stress, and unique structure in diamond-like carbon films by simple bilayer approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dwivedi, Neeraj; Kumar, Sushil; Malik, Hitendra K.

    2012-01-01

    Simple bilayer approach is proposed for synthesizing hard and superhard diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings with reduced residual stress. For this, M/DLC bilayer (M = Ti and Cu) structures are grown using hybrid system involving radio frequency (RF)-sputtering and RF-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition techniques. Ti/DLC bilayer deposited at negative self bias of 100 V shows superhard behaviour with hardness (H) as 49 GPa. Cu/DLC bilayer grown at self bias of 100 V exhibits hard behaviour with H as 22.8 GPa. The hardness of Ti/DLC (Cu/DLC) bilayer gets changed from superhard (hard) to hard (moderate hard) regime, when the self bias is raised to 300 V. Residual stress in Ti/DLC (Cu/DLC) bilayer is found to be significantly low that varies in the range of 1 GPa-1.65 GPa (0.8 GPa-1.6 GPa). The microstructure and morphology are studied by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). SEM and AFM pictures reveal the creation of nanostructured features in the deposited bilayers. Raman, SEM, and AFM analyses are correlated with the nano-mechanical properties. Owing to excellent nano-mechanical properties, these bilayers can find their direct industrial applications as hard and protective coatings.

  12. Biological augmentation and tissue engineering approaches in meniscus surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, Cathal J; Busilacchi, Alberto; Lee, Cassandra A; Athanasiou, Kyriacos A; Verdonk, Peter C

    2015-05-01

    The purpose of this review was to evaluate the role of biological augmentation and tissue engineering strategies in meniscus surgery. Although clinical (human), preclinical (animal), and in vitro tissue engineering studies are included here, we have placed additional focus on addressing preclinical and clinical studies reported during the 5-year period used in this review in a systematic fashion while also providing a summary review of some important in vitro tissue engineering findings in the field over the past decade. A search was performed on PubMed for original works published from 2009 to March 31, 2014 using the term "meniscus" with all the following terms: "scaffolds," "constructs," "cells," "growth factors," "implant," "tissue engineering," and "regenerative medicine." Inclusion criteria were the following: English-language articles and original clinical, preclinical (in vivo), and in vitro studies of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine application in knee meniscus lesions published from 2009 to March 31, 2014. Three clinical studies and 18 preclinical studies were identified along with 68 tissue engineering in vitro studies. These reports show the increasing promise of biological augmentation and tissue engineering strategies in meniscus surgery. The role of stem cell and growth factor therapy appears to be particularly useful. A review of in vitro tissue engineering studies found a large number of scaffold types to be of promise for meniscus replacement. Limitations include a relatively low number of clinical or preclinical in vivo studies, in addition to the fact there is as yet no report in the literature of a tissue-engineered meniscus construct used clinically. Neither does the literature provide clarity on the optimal meniscus scaffold type or biological augmentation with which meniscus repair or replacement would be best addressed in the future. There is increasing focus on the role of mechanobiology and biomechanical and

  13. Residual extrapolation operators for efficient wavefield construction

    KAUST Repository

    Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

    2013-01-01

    and smooth media, the residual implementation based on velocity perturbation optimizes the use of this feature. Most of the other implementations based on the spectral approach are focussed on reducing cost by reducing the number of inverse Fourier transforms

  14. Vision restoration after brain and retina damage: the "residual vision activation theory".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabel, Bernhard A; Henrich-Noack, Petra; Fedorov, Anton; Gall, Carolin

    2011-01-01

    Vision loss after retinal or cerebral visual injury (CVI) was long considered to be irreversible. However, there is considerable potential for vision restoration and recovery even in adulthood. Here, we propose the "residual vision activation theory" of how visual functions can be reactivated and restored. CVI is usually not complete, but some structures are typically spared by the damage. They include (i) areas of partial damage at the visual field border, (ii) "islands" of surviving tissue inside the blind field, (iii) extrastriate pathways unaffected by the damage, and (iv) downstream, higher-level neuronal networks. However, residual structures have a triple handicap to be fully functional: (i) fewer neurons, (ii) lack of sufficient attentional resources because of the dominant intact hemisphere caused by excitation/inhibition dysbalance, and (iii) disturbance in their temporal processing. Because of this resulting activation loss, residual structures are unable to contribute much to everyday vision, and their "non-use" further impairs synaptic strength. However, residual structures can be reactivated by engaging them in repetitive stimulation by different means: (i) visual experience, (ii) visual training, or (iii) noninvasive electrical brain current stimulation. These methods lead to strengthening of synaptic transmission and synchronization of partially damaged structures (within-systems plasticity) and downstream neuronal networks (network plasticity). Just as in normal perceptual learning, synaptic plasticity can improve vision and lead to vision restoration. This can be induced at any time after the lesion, at all ages and in all types of visual field impairments after retinal or brain damage (stroke, neurotrauma, glaucoma, amblyopia, age-related macular degeneration). If and to what extent vision restoration can be achieved is a function of the amount of residual tissue and its activation state. However, sustained improvements require repetitive

  15. Antigen retrieval prior to on-tissue digestion of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour tissue sections yields oxidation of proline residues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Djidja, Marie-Claude; Claude, Emmanuelle; Scriven, Peter; Allen, David W; Carolan, Vikki A; Clench, Malcolm R

    2017-07-01

    MALDI-mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) has been shown to allow the study of protein distribution and identification directly within formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections. However, direct protein identification from tissue sections remains challenging due to signal interferences and/or existing post-translational or other chemical modifications. The use of antigen retrieval (AR) has been demonstrated for unlocking proteins prior to in situ enzymatic digestion and MALDI-MSI analysis of FFPE tissue sections. In the work reported here, the identification of proline oxidation, which may occur when performing the AR protocol, is described. This facilitated and considerably increased the number of identified peptides when adding proline oxidation as a variable modification to the MASCOT search criteria. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: MALDI Imaging, edited by Dr. Corinna Henkel and Prof. Peter Hoffmann. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Computer-aided assessment of regional abdominal fat with food residue removal in CT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makrogiannis, Sokratis; Caturegli, Giorgio; Davatzikos, Christos; Ferrucci, Luigi

    2013-11-01

    Separate quantification of abdominal subcutaneous and visceral fat regions is essential to understand the role of regional adiposity as risk factor in epidemiological studies. Fat quantification is often based on computed tomography (CT) because fat density is distinct from other tissue densities in the abdomen. However, the presence of intestinal food residues with densities similar to fat may reduce fat quantification accuracy. We introduce an abdominal fat quantification method in CT with interest in food residue removal. Total fat was identified in the feature space of Hounsfield units and divided into subcutaneous and visceral components using model-based segmentation. Regions of food residues were identified and removed from visceral fat using a machine learning method integrating intensity, texture, and spatial information. Cost-weighting and bagging techniques were investigated to address class imbalance. We validated our automated food residue removal technique against semimanual quantifications. Our feature selection experiments indicated that joint intensity and texture features produce the highest classification accuracy at 95%. We explored generalization capability using k-fold cross-validation and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with variable k. Losses in accuracy and area under ROC curve between maximum and minimum k were limited to 0.1% and 0.3%. We validated tissue segmentation against reference semimanual delineations. The Dice similarity scores were as high as 93.1 for subcutaneous fat and 85.6 for visceral fat. Computer-aided regional abdominal fat quantification is a reliable computational tool for large-scale epidemiological studies. Our proposed intestinal food residue reduction scheme is an original contribution of this work. Validation experiments indicate very good accuracy and generalization capability. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  17. Construction of a recombinant single chain antibody recognizing nonreducing terminal mannose residues applicable to immunohistochemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuasa, Noriyuki; Iida, Noriko; Sakaue, Hiroyuki; Zhang, Wei; Wilczynski, Sharon; Fujita-Yamaguchi, Yoko

    2007-10-01

    We recently reported characterization of 25 clones isolated from a phage library displaying human scFvs using a neoglycolipid Man3-DPPE, which was synthesized from mannotriose (Man3) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE). Of those, 5A3 scFv was successfully expressed and purified as a humanized scFv-Fc form (Sakai et al., Biochemistry 46:253, 2007, Zhang et al. ibid 263). To carry out immunohistochemistry (IHC) in human tissues, a HA tag sequence was introduced to the 5A3 scFv-Fc gene and the resulting construct was transfected to murine myeloma NS0 cells. The 5A3 scFv-Fc protein expressed was affinity-purified. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under nonreducing and reducing conditions and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed that 5A3 scFv-Fc protein is dimeric and retained the ability to recognize nonreducing terminal mannose residues. IHC staining of non-neoplastic tissues by this recombinant antibody revealed that no immunoreactivity was detectable in most of 16 tissues examined. Exceptions were found in IHC staining of kidney and pancreas, which demonstrated clear staining of proximal tubules and islet of Langerhans, respectively. These results demonstrated that nonreducing terminal mannose residues are not usually present under normal physiological conditions. This study thus provided a potentially useful tool for examination of the nonreducing terminal mannose residues, which may become exposed under certain pathophysiologycal conditions.

  18. Prediction of retained residual stresses in laboratory fracture mechanics specimens extracted from welded components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hurlston, R.G.; Sherry, A.H.; James, P.; Sharples, J.K.

    2015-01-01

    The measurement of weld material fracture toughness properties is important for the structural integrity assessment of engineering components. However, welds can contain high levels of residual stress and these can be retained in fracture mechanics specimens, particularly when machined from non-stress relieved welds. Retained residual stresses can make the measurement of valid fracture toughness properties difficult. This paper describes the results of analytical work undertaken to investigate factors that can influence the magnitude and distribution of residual stresses retained in fracture mechanics specimen blanks extracted from as-welded ferritic and austenitic stainless steel plates. The results indicate that significant levels of residual stress can be retained in specimen blanks prior to notching, and that the magnitude and distribution of stress is dependent upon material properties, specimen geometry and size, and extraction location through the thickness of the weld. Finite element modelling is shown to provide a useful approach for estimating the level and distributions of retained residual stresses. A new stress partitioning approach has been developed to estimate retained stress levels and results compare favourably with FE analysis and available experimental data. The approach can help guide the selection of specimen geometry and machining strategies to minimise the level of residual stresses retained in fracture mechanics specimen blanks extracted from non stress-relieved welds and thus improve the measurement of weld fracture toughness properties. - Highlights: • A simplified method for generating realistic weld residual stresses has been developed. • It has been shown that significant levels of residual stress can be retained within laboratory fracture mechanics specimens. • The level and distribution is dependant upon material, specimen type, specimen size and extraction location. • A method has been developed to allow estimates of the

  19. Calcination/dissolution residue treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knight, R.C.; Creed, R.F.; Patello, G.K.; Hollenberg, G.W.; Buehler, M.F.; O'Rourke, S.M.; Visnapuu, A.; McLaughlin, D.F.

    1994-09-01

    Currently, high-level wastes are stored underground in steel-lined tanks at the Hanford site. Current plans call for the chemical pretreatment of these wastes before their immobilization in stable glass waste forms. One candidate pretreatment approach, calcination/dissolution, performs an alkaline fusion of the waste and creates a high-level/low-level partition based on the aqueous solubilities of the components of the product calcine. Literature and laboratory studies were conducted with the goal of finding a residue treatment technology that would decrease the quantity of high-level waste glass required following calcination/dissolution waste processing. Four elements, Fe, Ni, Bi, and U, postulated to be present in the high-level residue fraction were identified as being key to the quantity of high-level glass formed. Laboratory tests of the candidate technologies with simulant high-level residues showed reductive roasting followed by carbonyl volatilization to be successful in removing Fe, Ni, and Bi. Subsequent bench-scale tests on residues from calcination/dissolution processing of genuine Hanford Site tank waste showed Fe was separated with radioelement decontamination factors of 70 to 1,000 times with respect to total alpha activity. Thermodynamic analyses of the calcination of five typical Hanford Site tank waste compositions also were performed. The analyses showed sodium hydroxide to be the sole molten component in the waste calcine and emphasized the requirement for waste blending if fluid calcines are to be achieved. Other calcine phases identified in the thermodynamic analysis indicate the significant thermal reconstitution accomplished in calcination

  20. Multiple-energy tissue-cancellation applications of a digital beam attenuator to chest radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dobbins, J.T. III.

    1985-01-01

    The digitally-formed primary beam attenuator (DBA) spatially modulates the x-ray fluence incident upon the patient to selectively attenuate regions of interest. The DBA attenuating mask is constructed from CeO 2 powder by a modified printing technique and uses image information from an initial low-dose exposure. Two tissue-cancellation imaging techniques are investigated with the DBA: (1) energy-dependent information is used to form a beam attenuator that attenuates specific tissues in the primary x-ray beam for tissue-cancelled film radiography; (2) the beam attenuator is used to improve image signal-to-noise and scattered radiation properties in traditional energy-subtraction tissue-cancellation imaging with digital detectors. The tissue-cancellation techniques in the primary x-ray beam were capable of adequately removing either soft-tissue or bone from the final compensated film radiograph when using a phantom with well defined soft-tissue and bone sections. However, when tried on an anthropomorphic chest phantom the results were adequate for cancellation of large soft tissue structures, but unsatisfactory for cancellation of bony structures such as the ribs, because of the limited spatial frequency content of the attenuating mask. The second technique (with digital detectors) showed improved uniformity of image signal-to-noise and a two-fold increase in soft-tissue nodule contrast due to improved scattered radiation properties. The tissue-cancelled images contained residual image contributions from the presence of the attenuating mask, but this residual may be correctable by future algorithms

  1. CT evaluation of soft tissue and muscle infection and inflammation: A systematic compartmental approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beauchamp, N.J. Jr. [Dept. of Radiology, and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD (United States); Scott, W.W. Jr. [Dept. of Radiology, and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD (United States); Gottlieb, L.M. [Dept. of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD (United States); Fishman, E.K. [Dept. of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD (United States)

    1995-07-01

    This essay presents a systematic approach to the evaluation of soft tissue and muscle infection by defining the various pathologic processes and then illustrating them through a series of CT studies with corresponding schematic diagrams. The specific processes discussed are cellulitis, lymphangitis/lymphedema, necrotizing fascitis, myositis/myonecrosis, and abscess. Key points in the differential diagnosis of these entities are discussed and illustrated. The clinical management of the specific pathologic processes is also discussed. (orig./MG)

  2. CT evaluation of soft tissue and muscle infection and inflammation: A systematic compartmental approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beauchamp, N.J. Jr.; Scott, W.W. Jr.; Gottlieb, L.M.; Fishman, E.K.

    1995-01-01

    This essay presents a systematic approach to the evaluation of soft tissue and muscle infection by defining the various pathologic processes and then illustrating them through a series of CT studies with corresponding schematic diagrams. The specific processes discussed are cellulitis, lymphangitis/lymphedema, necrotizing fascitis, myositis/myonecrosis, and abscess. Key points in the differential diagnosis of these entities are discussed and illustrated. The clinical management of the specific pathologic processes is also discussed. (orig./MG)

  3. Development of a new screening method for the detection of antibiotic residues in muscle tissues using liquid chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry with a LC-LTQ-Orbitrap instrument.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurtaud-Pessel, D; Jagadeshwar-Reddy, T; Verdon, E

    2011-10-01

    A liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) method was developed for screening meat for a wide range of antibiotics used in veterinary medicine. Full-scan mode under high resolution mass spectral conditions using an LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometer with resolving power 60,000 full width at half maximum (FWHM) was applied for analysis of the samples. Samples were prepared using two extraction protocols prior to LC-HRMS analysis. The scope of the method focuses on screening the following main families of antibacterial veterinary drugs: penicillins, cephalosporins, sulfonamides, macrolides, tetracyclines, aminoglucosides and quinolones. Compounds were successfully identified in spiked samples from their accurate mass and LC retention times from the acquired full-scan chromatogram. Automated data processing using ToxId software allowed rapid treatment of the data. Analyses of muscle tissues from real samples collected from antibiotic-treated animals was carried out using the above methodology and antibiotic residues were identified unambiguously. Further analysis of the data for real samples allowed the identification of the targeted antibiotic residues but also non-targeted compounds, such as some of their metabolites.

  4. Use of radioimmunoassay procedures for the determination of sex hormones in animal tissues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoffmann, B. (Institut fuer Veterinaermedizin des Bundesgesundheitsamtes (Robert von Ostertag-Institut), Berlin (Germany, F.R.))

    1983-07-01

    Radioimmunoassay methods for the determination of sex steroids and other compounds with sex hormone-like activities in various edible animal tissues and endocrine glands have been developed. Reliability of these methods, allowing quantification in a range of 10/sup -11/ M, has been adequately demonstrated. When applied to monitoring residues of anabolic sex hormones in edible tissues of veal calves, physiological baseline levels of some endogenous ''anabolic'' steroids (like testosterone, oestrogens) were established; in the case of xenobiotics residues at the scheduled time of slaughter could be quantified (trenbolone) and a regulatory method to implement the ban of diethylstilbestrol was introduced.

  5. X-ray analysis of residual stress gradients in TiN coatings by a Laplace space approach and cross-sectional nanodiffraction: a critical comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefenelli, Mario; Todt, Juraj; Riedl, Angelika; Ecker, Werner; Müller, Thomas; Daniel, Rostislav; Burghammer, Manfred; Keckes, Jozef

    2013-10-01

    Novel scanning synchrotron cross-sectional nanobeam and conventional laboratory as well as synchrotron Laplace X-ray diffraction methods are used to characterize residual stresses in exemplary 11.5 µm-thick TiN coatings. Both real and Laplace space approaches reveal a homogeneous tensile stress state and a very pronounced compressive stress gradient in as-deposited and blasted coatings, respectively. The unique capabilities of the cross-sectional approach operating with a beam size of 100 nm in diameter allow the analysis of stress variation with sub-micrometre resolution at arbitrary depths and the correlation of the stress evolution with the local coating microstructure. Finally, advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are extensively discussed.

  6. Different finite element techniques to predict welding residual stresses in aluminum alloy plates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moein, Hadi; Sattari-Far, Iradj

    2014-01-01

    This study is a 3D thermomechanical finite element (FE) analysis of a single-pass and butt-welded work-hardened aluminum (Al) 5456 plates. It aims to validate the use of FE welding simulations to predict residual stress states in assessing the integrity of welded components. The predicted final residual stresses in the plate from the FE simulations are verified through comparison with experimental measurements. Three techniques are used to simulate the welding process. In the first two approaches, welding deposition is applied by using element birth and interaction techniques. In the third approach, the entire weld zone is simultaneously deposited. Results show a value at approximately the yield strength for longitudinal residual stresses of the welded center of the butt-welded Al alloy plates with a thickness of 2 mm. Considering the application of a comprehensive heat source, along with heat loss modeling and the temperature dependent properties of the material, the approach without deposition predicts a reasonable distribution of residual stresses. However, the element birth and interaction techniques, compared with the no-deposit technique, provide more accurate results in calculating residual stresses. Furthermore, the element interaction technique, compared with the element birth technique, exhibits higher efficiency and flexibility in modeling the deposition of welded metals as well as less modeling cost.

  7. Development and validation of a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry procedure for confirmation of para-toluenesulfonamide in edible fish fillet tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idowu, Olutosin R; Kijak, Philip J; Meinertz, Jeffery R; Schmidt, Larry J

    2004-01-01

    Chloramine-T is a disinfectant being developed as a treatment for bacterial gill disease in cultured fish. As part of the drug approval process, a method is required for the confirmation of chloramine-T residues in edible fish tissue. The marker residue that will be used to determine the depletion of chloramine-T residues from the edible tissue of treated fish is para-toluenesulfonamide (p-TSA), a metabolite of chloramine-T. The development and validation of a procedure for the confirmation of p-TSA is described. Homogenized fish tissue is dried by mixing with anhydrous sodium sulfate, and the mixture is extracted with methylene chloride. The extract is passed through a silica gel solid-phase extraction column, from which p-TSA is subsequently eluted with acetonitrile. The acetonitrile extract is evaporated, and the oily residue is dissolved in hexane. The hexane solution is shaken with fresh acetonitrile. The acetonitrile solution is evaporated and the residue is redissolved in dilute potassium hydroxide solution. The aqueous solution is extracted with methylene chloride to further remove more of the fat co-extractive. The aqueous solution is reacted with pentafluorobenzyl bromide in presence of tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate. The resulting di-(pentafluorobenzyl) derivative of p-TSA is analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. This method permits the confirmation of p-TSA in edible fish tissue at 20 ppb.

  8. Residual stresses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahotra, I.M.

    2006-01-01

    The principal effect of unloading a material strained into the plastic range is to create a permanent set (plastic deformation), which if restricted somehow, gives rise to a system of self-balancing within the same member or reaction balanced by other members of the structure., known as residual stresses. These stresses stay there as locked-in stresses, in the body or a part of it in the absence of any external loading. Residual stresses are induced during hot-rolling and welding differential cooling, cold-forming and extruding: cold straightening and spot heating, fabrication and forced fitting of components constraining the structure to a particular geometry. The areas which cool more quickly develop residual compressive stresses, while the slower cooling areas develop residual tensile stresses, and a self-balancing or reaction balanced system of residual stresses is formed. The phenomenon of residual stresses is the most challenging in its application in surface modification techniques determining endurance mechanism against fracture and fatigue failures. This paper discusses the mechanism of residual stresses, that how the residual stresses are fanned and what their behavior is under the action of external forces. Such as in the case of a circular bar under limit torque, rectangular beam under limt moment, reclaiming of shafts welds and peening etc. (author)

  9. Exchangeable basic cations and nitrogen distribution in soil as affected by crop residues and nitrogen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ciro Antonio Rosolem

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available In this work, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of N fertilization and residues of pearl millet, black oats and oilseed radish on pH and Ca, Mg, K, NO3-, and NH4+ distribution within the profile of a Distroferric Red Latosol. The equivalent of 8 t ha-1 of plant residues were placed on soil surface. Lime was applied on the soil surface and nitrogen was applied over the straw at 0, 50, 100, and 150 mg kg-1, as ammonium nitrate. Corn was grown for 57 days. Calcium contents and pH in the soil profile were decreased by Pearl millet residue, while black oat and oilseed radish increased Ca contents and these effects are not related with Ca contents in residue tissue. However, the presence of plant residues increased nitrate, ammonium, and potassium contents in the deeper layers of the pots.

  10. Brassicaceae tissues as inhibitors of nitrification in soil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Paul D; Morra, Matthew J

    2009-09-09

    Brassicaceae crops often produce an unexplained increase in plant-available soil N possibly related to bioactive compounds produced from glucosinolates present in the tissues. Our objective was to determine if glucosinolate-containing tissues inhibit nitrification, thereby potentially explaining this observation. Ammonium, NO(2)(-), and NO(3)(-) N were measured in soils amended with Brassicaceae ( Isatis tinctoria L., Brassica napus L., Brassica juncea L., and Sinapis alba L.) tissues containing different glucosinolate types and concentrations or Kentucky bluegrass ( Poa pratensis L.) residues with equivalent C/N ratios as the Brassicaceae samples. There was greater accumulation of NH(4)(+) N in soils amended with tissues containing high glucosinolate concentrations as compared to soils amended with tissues containing no or low glucosinolate concentrations. Nitrite N was detected only in soils amended with Brassicaceae tissues having the highest glucosinolate concentrations. The positive correlation of both NH(4)(+) and NO(2)(-) N accumulation with the glucosinolate concentration indicates the participation of glucosinolate hydrolysis products in nitrification inhibition.

  11. Scoring protein interaction decoys using exposed residues (SPIDER): a novel multibody interaction scoring function based on frequent geometric patterns of interfacial residues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khashan, Raed; Zheng, Weifan; Tropsha, Alexander

    2012-08-01

    Accurate prediction of the structure of protein-protein complexes in computational docking experiments remains a formidable challenge. It has been recognized that identifying native or native-like poses among multiple decoys is the major bottleneck of the current scoring functions used in docking. We have developed a novel multibody pose-scoring function that has no theoretical limit on the number of residues contributing to the individual interaction terms. We use a coarse-grain representation of a protein-protein complex where each residue is represented by its side chain centroid. We apply a computational geometry approach called Almost-Delaunay tessellation that transforms protein-protein complexes into a residue contact network, or an undirectional graph where vertex-residues are nodes connected by edges. This treatment forms a family of interfacial graphs representing a dataset of protein-protein complexes. We then employ frequent subgraph mining approach to identify common interfacial residue patterns that appear in at least a subset of native protein-protein interfaces. The geometrical parameters and frequency of occurrence of each "native" pattern in the training set are used to develop the new SPIDER scoring function. SPIDER was validated using standard "ZDOCK" benchmark dataset that was not used in the development of SPIDER. We demonstrate that SPIDER scoring function ranks native and native-like poses above geometrical decoys and that it exceeds in performance a popular ZRANK scoring function. SPIDER was ranked among the top scoring functions in a recent round of CAPRI (Critical Assessment of PRedicted Interactions) blind test of protein-protein docking methods. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Studies by nuclear and physico-chemical methods of tissue's metallic contamination located around biomaterials. Toxicity measurements of several biomaterials residual radioactivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guibert, Geoffroy

    2004-01-01

    Implants used as biomaterials fulfill conditions of functionality, compatibility and occasionally bio-activity. There are four main families of biomaterials: metals and metal alloys, polymers, bio-ceramics and natural materials. Because of corrosion and friction in the human body, implants generate debris. These debris develop different problems: toxicity, inflammatory reactions, prosthetic unsealing by osseous dissolution. Nature, size, morphology and amount of debris are the parameters which have an influence on tissue response. We characterize metallic contamination coming from knee prosthesis into surrounding capsular tissue by depth migration, in vivo behaviours, content, size and nature of debris. The PIXE-RBS and STEM-EDXS methods, that we used, are complementary, especially about characterization scale. Debris contamination distributed in the whole articulation is very heterogeneous. Debris migrate on several thousands μm in tissue. Solid metallic particles, μm, are found in the most polluted samples, for both kinds of alloys TA6V and CrCoMo. In the mean volume analysed by PIXE, the in vivo mass ratios [Ti]/[V] and [Co]/[Cr] confirm the chemical stability of TA6V debris and chemical evolution of CrCoMo debris. Complementary measures of TA6V grains, on a nano-metric scale by STEM-EDXS, show a dissolution of coarse grain (μm) in smaller grains (nm). Locally, TA6V grains of a phase are detected and could indicate a preferential dissolution of β phase (grain boundaries) with dropping of Al and V, both toxic and carcinogenic elements. A thin target protocol development correlates PIXE and histological analysis on the same zone. This protocol allows to locate other pathologies in relationship with weaker metal contamination, μg/g, thanks to the great sensitivity of PIXE method. Harmlessness with respect to the residual radioactivity of several natural or synthetic biomaterials is established, using ultra low background noise γ detection system. (author)

  13. On locating steganographic payload using residuals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quach, Tu-Thach

    2011-02-01

    Locating steganographic payload usingWeighted Stego-image (WS) residuals has been proven successful provided a large number of stego images are available. In this paper, we revisit this topic with two goals. First, we argue that it is a promising approach to locate payload by showing that in the ideal scenario where the cover images are available, the expected number of stego images needed to perfectly locate all load-carrying pixels is the logarithm of the payload size. Second, we generalize cover estimation to a maximum likelihood decoding problem and demonstrate that a second-order statistical cover model can be used to compute residuals to locate payload embedded by both LSB replacement and LSB matching steganography.

  14. Co-administration of creatine and guanidinoacetic acid for augmented tissue bioenergetics: A novel approach?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostojic, Sergej M

    2017-07-01

    A confined absorption of exogenous creatine through creatine transporter (CRT1) seems to hamper its optimal uptake in bioenergetical deficits. Co-administration of guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) along with creatine could target other transport channels besides CRT1, and supremely improve cellular levels of creatine. This innovative approach might tackle tissues difficult to reach with conventional creatine interventions, providing a potentially more effective and safe mixture in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  15. Low-Dose Radioactive Iodine Destroys Thyroid Tissue Left after Surgery

    Science.gov (United States)

    A low dose of radioactive iodine given after surgery for thyroid cancer destroyed (ablated) residual thyroid tissue as effectively as a higher dose, with fewer side effects and less exposure to radiation, according to two randomized controlled trials.

  16. Cell-based and biomaterial approaches to connective tissue repair

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stalling, Simone Suzette

    Connective tissue injuries of skin, tendon and ligament, heal by a reparative process in adults, filling the wound site with fibrotic, disorganized scar tissue that poorly reflects normal tissue architecture or function. Conversely, fetal skin and tendon have been shown to heal scarlessly. Complete regeneration is not intrinsically ubiquitous to all fetal tissues; fetal diaphragmatic and gastrointestinal injuries form scars. In vivo studies suggest that the presence of fetal fibroblasts is essential for scarless healing. In the orthopaedic setting, adult anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) heals poorly; however, little is known about the regenerative capacity of fetal ACL or fetal ACL fibroblasts. We characterized in vitro wound healing properties of fetal and adult ACL fibroblasts demonstrating that fetal ACL fibroblasts migrate faster and elaborate greater quantities of type I collagen, suggesting the healing potential of the fetal ACL may not be intrinsically poor. Similar to fetal ACL fibroblasts, fetal dermal fibroblasts also exhibit robust cellular properties. We investigated the age-dependent effects of dermal fibroblasts on tendon-to-bone healing in rat supraspinatus tendon injuries, a reparative injury model. We hypothesized delivery of fetal dermal fibroblasts would increase tissue organization and mechanical properties in comparison to adult dermal fibroblasts. However, at 1 and 8 weeks, the presence of dermal fibroblasts, either adult or fetal, had no significant effect on tissue histology or mechanical properties. There was a decreasing trend in cross-sectional area of repaired tendons treated with fetal dermal fibroblasts in comparison to adult, but this finding was not significant in comparison to controls. Finally, we synthesized a novel polysaccharide, methacrylated methylcellulose (MA-MC), and fabricated hydrogels using a well-established photopolymerization technique. We characterized the physical and mechanical properties of MA-MC hydrogels in

  17. Residual stresses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Macherauch, E.

    1978-01-01

    Residual stresses are stresses which exist in a material without the influence of external powers and moments. They come into existence when the volume of a material constantly changes its form as a consequence of mechanical, thermal, and/or chemical processes and is hindered by neighbouring volumes. Bodies with residual stress are in mechanical balance. These residual stresses can be manifested by means of all mechanical interventions disturbing this balance. Acoustical, optical, radiological, and magnetical methods involving material changes caused by residual stress can also serve for determining residual stress. Residual stresses have an ambivalent character. In technical practice, they are feared and liked at the same time. They cause trouble because they can be the cause for unexpected behaviour of construction elements. They are feared since they can cause failure, in the worst case with catastrophical consequences. They are appreciated, on the other hand, because, in many cases, they can contribute to improvements of the material behaviour under certain circumstances. But they are especially liked for their giving convenient and (this is most important) mostly uncontrollable explanations. For only in very few cases we have enough knowledge and possibilities for the objective evaluation of residual stresses. (orig.) [de

  18. Tissue Pharmacologic and Virologic Determinants of Duodenal and Rectal Gastrointestinal-Associated Lymphoid Tissue Immune Reconstitution in HIV-Infected Patients Initiating Antiretroviral Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asmuth, David M; Thompson, Corbin G; Chun, Tae-Wook; Ma, Zhong-Min; Mann, Surinder; Sainz, Talia; Serrano-Villar, Sergio; Utay, Netanya S; Garcia, Juan Carlos; Troia-Cancio, Paolo; Pollard, Richard B; Miller, Christopher J; Landay, Alan; Kashuba, Angela D

    2017-10-17

    Plasma, duodenal, and rectal tissue antiretroviral therapy (ART) drug concentrations, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA and HIV DNA copy numbers, and recovery of mucosal immunity were measured before and 9 months after initiation of 3 different ART regimens in 26 subjects. Plasma and tissue HIV RNA correlated at baseline and when 9-month declines were compared, suggesting that these compartments are tightly associated. Antiretroviral tissue:blood penetration ratios were above the 50% inhibitory concentration values in almost 100% of cases. There were no correlations between drug concentrations and HIV DNA/RNA. Importantly, no evidence was found for residual viral replication or deficient tissue drug penetration to account for delayed gastrointestinal-associated lymphoid tissue immune recovery. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Epimorphic regeneration approach to tissue replacement in adult mammals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urodeles and fetal mammals are capable of impressive epimorphic regeneration in a variety of tissues, whereas the typical default response to injury in adult mammals consists of inflammation and scar tissue formation. One component of epimorphic regeneration is the recruitment of resident progenitor...

  20. Protein-protein docking with dynamic residue protonation states.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krishna Praneeth Kilambi

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Protein-protein interactions depend on a host of environmental factors. Local pH conditions influence the interactions through the protonation states of the ionizable residues that can change upon binding. In this work, we present a pH-sensitive docking approach, pHDock, that can sample side-chain protonation states of five ionizable residues (Asp, Glu, His, Tyr, Lys on-the-fly during the docking simulation. pHDock produces successful local docking funnels in approximately half (79/161 the protein complexes, including 19 cases where standard RosettaDock fails. pHDock also performs better than the two control cases comprising docking at pH 7.0 or using fixed, predetermined protonation states. On average, the top-ranked pHDock structures have lower interface RMSDs and recover more native interface residue-residue contacts and hydrogen bonds compared to RosettaDock. Addition of backbone flexibility using a computationally-generated conformational ensemble further improves native contact and hydrogen bond recovery in the top-ranked structures. Although pHDock is designed to improve docking, it also successfully predicts a large pH-dependent binding affinity change in the Fc-FcRn complex, suggesting that it can be exploited to improve affinity predictions. The approaches in the study contribute to the goal of structural simulations of whole-cell protein-protein interactions including all the environmental factors, and they can be further expanded for pH-sensitive protein design.

  1. A tissue regeneration approach to bone and cartilage repair

    CERN Document Server

    Dunstan, Colin; Rosen, Vicki

    2015-01-01

    Reviewing exhaustively the current state of the art of tissue engineering strategies for regenerating bones and joints through the use of biomaterials, growth factors and stem cells, along with an investigation of the interactions between biomaterials, bone cells, growth factors and added stem cells and how together skeletal tissues can be optimised, this book serves to highlight the importance of biomaterials composition, surface topography, architectural and mechanical properties in providing support for tissue regeneration. Maximizing reader insights into the importance of the interplay of these attributes with bone cells (osteoblasts, osteocytes and osteoclasts) and cartilage cells (chondrocytes), this book also provides a detailed reference as to how key signalling pathways are activated. The contribution of growth factors to drive tissue regeneration and stem cell recruitment is discussed along with a review the potential and challenges of adult or embryonic mesenchymal stem cells to further enhance the...

  2. Local approach to brittle fracture under residual stress field. Assessment of pre-loading effect; Local approach no tekiyo ni yoru zanryu oryoku wo motsu buzai no zeisei hakai kyodo hyoka. Yokaju no eikyo no hyoka

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamashita, Y.; Sakano, K.; Onozuka, M. [Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan); Minami, F. [Osaka University, Osaka (Japan)

    2000-01-01

    The effect of residual stresses on brittle fracture was investigated on the basis of the Local Approach. Compressive residual stress was introduced by pre-loading and the subsequent fracture test conducted with a 780 MPa class steel. Preloading apparently increased the critical load and critical CTOD at the onset of brittle fracture initiation. The Weibull stress criterion was used to evaluate the brittle fracture resistance of the pre-loaded specimen. The critical Weibull stress is a material property independent of test conditions with and without pre-loading. Using the Weibull stress criterion, the critical CTOD of the pre-loaded specimen can be predicted from test results of the specimen without pre-loading. (author)

  3. Development and application of radioimmunological methods to determine an anabolic compound (trenboloneacetate sup(R)) and its major metabolite (trenbolone) in various tissues and in bovine plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oettel, G.M.

    1976-01-01

    For quantitation of the anabolic compound trenboloneacetate sup(R)(TBA) and its major metabolite trenbolone (TBOH) a radioimmunoassay (RIA) was established after raising antibodies in rabbits immunized with TBA-3-(o-carboxi-methyl)-oxime-BSA and TBOH-17β-hemisuccinate-BSA. In order to apply this assay for residue determinations in muscle, liver kidney and fat as well as in plasma of treated animals specific extraction procedures were developed. Specifity, sensitivity, accuracy and reproductibility were tested and the developed methods were shown to be highly reliable. Besides free also conjugated TBOH could be determined after enzyme hydrolysis. The lower limit of sensitivity was around 45 pg; at present 100 tissue samples can be analyzed by one person during one week. With the methods described tissue and plasma samples of 41 heifer calves, 10 bull calves and two steers were analyzed for residues of TBA and TBOH. The animals were treated with various dosages of TBA, alone or in combination with oestradiol-17β. In treated animals the highest residue levels were found in liver, with conjugated TBOH being the major residue fraction (76,4%). Second ranking after liver were fat and kidney tissue with similarly high total residue concentrations, however, free TBOH being the major residue fraction (84,1%) in fat, while each, free and conjugated TBOH, accounted for about 50% in kidney. Lowest residue concentrations with free TBOH being the major residue fraction (91,5%) were found in general in muscular tissue. TBA could only be quantitated in fat (14.2% of total residues). (orig.) [de

  4. Exploiting residual information in the parameter choice for discrete ill-posed problems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Per Christian; Kilmer, Misha E.; Kjeldsen, Rikke Høj

    2006-01-01

    Most algorithms for choosing the regularization parameter in a discrete ill-posed problem are based on the norm of the residual vector. In this work we propose a different approach, where we seek to use all the information available in the residual vector. We present important relations between...

  5. Characterization of residual stresses generated during inhomogeneous plastic deformation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lorentzen, T.; Faurholdt, T.; Clausen, B.

    1998-01-01

    Residual stresses generated by macroscopic inhomogeneous plastic deformation are predicted by an explicit finite element (FE) technique. The numerical predictions are evaluated by characterizing the residual elastic strains by neutron diffraction using two different (hkl) reflections. Intergranular...... compare well and verify the capability of the numerical technique as well as the possibilities of experimental validation using neutron diffraction. The presented experimental and numerical approach will subsequently be utilized for the evaluation of more complicated plastic deformation processes...

  6. Evaluation of residue-residue contact predictions in CASP9

    KAUST Repository

    Monastyrskyy, Bohdan

    2011-01-01

    This work presents the results of the assessment of the intramolecular residue-residue contact predictions submitted to CASP9. The methodology for the assessment does not differ from that used in previous CASPs, with two basic evaluation measures being the precision in recognizing contacts and the difference between the distribution of distances in the subset of predicted contact pairs versus all pairs of residues in the structure. The emphasis is placed on the prediction of long-range contacts (i.e., contacts between residues separated by at least 24 residues along sequence) in target proteins that cannot be easily modeled by homology. Although there is considerable activity in the field, the current analysis reports no discernable progress since CASP8.

  7. Selection of treatment and surgical approach for vestibular schwannomas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eguchi, Kuniki; Yamaguchi, Satoshi; Sakoda, Eiichiro

    2007-01-01

    Described are the present state of selection of stereotactic radiotherapy or surgical treatment and their combination for schwannomas in the title, and authors' policy of surgery as a first choice treatment. The policy stands on the concept that surgery is useful for the controllability thereafter of the tumor, of which size is at first larger than 25 mm diameter, and radiotherapy like a gamma-knife is applicable to the residual tissue grown after operation and to the tissue with less than the size before surgery because the smaller the size, the better is thought the control by the knife (reportedly 100% for the tissue of <14 mm diameter). The basis of authors' selection of two surgical approaches of through-lower lateral occiput and trans-labyrinthine, and their outcomes like hearing loss are described and discussed in details for 24 patients (two underwent radiotherapy before surgery) during the period Sep. 2003-Aug. 2006 of authors' hospital. Radiotherapy is thought essentially useful for the control of the tumor with a small or surgically reduced size. (R.T.)

  8. Tissue partition and risk assessments of trace elements in Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides) from the Pearl River Estuary coast, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiyang; Lin, Wenzhi; Yu, Ri-Qing; Sun, Xian; Ding, Yulong; Chen, Hailiang; Chen, Xi; Wu, Yuping

    2017-10-01

    Throughout the last few decades, an increased number of stranded marine mammals, particularly the Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), were observed in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). As long-lived, apex predators vulnerable to bioaccumulation of contaminants, the tissue residue levels and health risk of trace elements (TEs) in N. phocaenoides from the PRE have been little studied. Eleven typical TEs distributed in skin, liver and kidney tissues were investigated from 25 specimens stranded along the PRE from 2007 to 2015 in the present study. It revealed that most TEs were highly accumulated in internal organs (liver and kidney), except for Zn with high residue levels in external skin. Compared with the TEs in prey items, the residue levels of Hg, Se, Zn, Cu, Cd and Cr in N. phocaenoides increased 4-618 times, indicating a potentially significant biomagnification. Sex-related differences of TE accumulation were not obvious, except for renal Mn, in which the females showed lower mean concentrations than males. Significantly positive correlations between body length and TE levels were found for Hg, Se and Cd. Results of the calculated risk quotients (RQ) suggested that the risks to N. phocaenoides from consumption of prey items were generally low, but further attentions should be paid to Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg and As due to the elevated RQ values. The concentrations of Hg, Cd and Se in the epidermis were positively correlated with the levels found in internal organs. Our investigation provides evidence to support the use of skin as one biomonitoring approach on Hg, Cd and Se contamination of internal tissues in this species. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. PINGU: PredIction of eNzyme catalytic residues usinG seqUence information.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Priyadarshini P Pai

    Full Text Available Identification of catalytic residues can help unveil interesting attributes of enzyme function for various therapeutic and industrial applications. Based on their biochemical roles, the number of catalytic residues and sequence lengths of enzymes vary. This article describes a prediction approach (PINGU for such a scenario. It uses models trained using physicochemical properties and evolutionary information of 650 non-redundant enzymes (2136 catalytic residues in a support vector machines architecture. Independent testing on 200 non-redundant enzymes (683 catalytic residues in predefined prediction settings, i.e., with non-catalytic per catalytic residue ranging from 1 to 30, suggested that the prediction approach was highly sensitive and specific, i.e., 80% or above, over the incremental challenges. To learn more about the discriminatory power of PINGU in real scenarios, where the prediction challenge is variable and susceptible to high false positives, the best model from independent testing was used on 60 diverse enzymes. Results suggested that PINGU was able to identify most catalytic residues and non-catalytic residues properly with 80% or above accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. The effect of false positives on precision was addressed in this study by application of predicted ligand-binding residue information as a post-processing filter. An overall improvement of 20% in F-measure and 0.138 in Correlation Coefficient with 16% enhanced precision could be achieved. On account of its encouraging performance, PINGU is hoped to have eventual applications in boosting enzyme engineering and novel drug discovery.

  10. Grounding-Induced Sectional Forces and Residual Strength of Grounded Ship Hulls

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paik, Jeom Kee; Pedersen, Preben Terndrup

    1996-01-01

    The aim of the present study is to determine the sectional forces induced by ship grounding and also to assess the residual strength of groundedship hulls. An analytical approach is used to estimate the grounding-induced sectional forces of ships. The extent and location of structural damage due...... to grounding is defined based on the ABS Safe Hull guide. The residual strength of damaged hulls is calculated by using a simple analytical formula. The method is applied to residual strength assessment of a damaged double hull tanker of 38,400 dwt due to grounding....

  11. Residue determination of two co-administered antibacterial agents--cephalexin and colistin--in calf tissues using high-performance liquid chromatography and microbiological methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leroy, P; Decolin, D; Nicolas, S; Archimbault, P; Nicolas, A

    1989-01-01

    Residues of two antibacterial agents, cephalexin and colistin, co-administered by intramuscular injection to calves, were quantified in four different tissues (muscle, fat, liver and kidney) by column switching HPLC and by a microbiological method. For cephalexin assay, tissue samples with cephradin as internal standard were homogenized in a 5% trichloroacetic acid solution and filtrates were injected onto a concentration precolumn filled with LiChroprep RP-18 (25-40 microns). A clean-up step was incorporated by flowing a mobile phase (methanol-0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 3.0); 15:85, v/v) through the enrichment column before elution on a LiChrospher RP-18e (5 microns) column with a methanol-phosphate buffer (30:70, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 ml min-1. Spectrometric detection was at 260 nm. An additional "off-line" washing step of extracts with methylene chloride was operated to achieve higher selectivity in the case of liver and kidney samples. The limit for quantitative assay was 0.045 micrograms g-1 with relative standard deviations in the range 5-8% and recoveries within 70%. For microbiological assay of colistin, samples were homogenized in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid-acetonitrile mixtures (3:1, v/v, for kidney and liver; 3:2, v/v, for fat and muscle). The supernatants were assayed by the cylinder plate method after evaporation to dryness under vacuum. Bordetella bronchiseptica ATCC 4617 was chosen as test organism. After a 3-h diffusion step at room temperature, the medium was incubated at 37 degrees C for 18 h and then the diameter of the growth inhibition zones was measured. Sensitivity reached 0.10-0.15 micrograms g-1. Results from the analysed samples over a 7-28 day period after drug administration show that no cephalexin was found at concentrations higher than the quantitation limit in the four test tissues and that colistin was found in muscle (injection site only) for 15 days and in kidney for 21 days.

  12. Residual stress analysis in carbon fiber-reinforced SiC ceramics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Broda, M.

    1998-01-01

    Systematic residual stress analyses are reported, carried out in long-fiber reinforced SiC ceramics. The laminated C fiber /SiC matrix specimens used were prepared by polymer pyrolysis, and the structural component specimens used are industrial products. Various diffraction methods have been applied for non-destructive evaluation of residual stress fields, so as to completely detect the residual stresses and their distribution in the specimens. The residual stress fields at the surface (μm) have been measured using characteristic X-radiation and applying the sin 2 ψ method as well as the scatter vector method. For residual stress field analysis in the mass volume (cm), neutron diffraction has been applied. The stress fields in the fiber layers (approx. 250μm) have been measured as a function of their location within the laminated composite by using an energy-dispersive method and synchrotron radiation. By means of the systematic, process-accompanying residual stress and phase analyses, conclusions can be drawn as to possible approaches for optimization of fabrication parameters. (orig./CB) [de

  13. A Realization Approach for Residual Expressions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skovmose Kallesøe, Carsten; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh; Wisniewski, Rafal

    2006-01-01

    This paper is concerned with state space realization of inherent redundant information in subsystems, which are identified by structural analysis (SA) approach. The identified subsystems are assumed to involve algebraic variables, representing unknown signals. The proposed realization method...

  14. A review of residual stress analysis using thermoelastic techniques

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robinson, A F; Dulieu-Barton, J M; Quinn, S [University of Southampton, School of Engineering Sciences, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Burguete, R L [Airbus UK Ltd., New Filton House, Filton, Bristol, BS99 7AR (United Kingdom)

    2009-08-01

    Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) is a full-field technique for experimental stress analysis that is based on infra-red thermography. The technique has proved to be extremely effective for studying elastic stress fields and is now well established. It is based on the measurement of the temperature change that occurs as a result of a stress change. As residual stress is essentially a mean stress it is accepted that the linear form of the TSA relationship cannot be used to evaluate residual stresses. However, there are situations where this linear relationship is not valid or departures in material properties due to manufacturing procedures have enabled evaluations of residual stresses. The purpose of this paper is to review the current status of using a TSA based approach for the evaluation of residual stresses and to provide some examples of where promising results have been obtained.

  15. A review of residual stress analysis using thermoelastic techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, A F; Dulieu-Barton, J M; Quinn, S; Burguete, R L

    2009-01-01

    Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) is a full-field technique for experimental stress analysis that is based on infra-red thermography. The technique has proved to be extremely effective for studying elastic stress fields and is now well established. It is based on the measurement of the temperature change that occurs as a result of a stress change. As residual stress is essentially a mean stress it is accepted that the linear form of the TSA relationship cannot be used to evaluate residual stresses. However, there are situations where this linear relationship is not valid or departures in material properties due to manufacturing procedures have enabled evaluations of residual stresses. The purpose of this paper is to review the current status of using a TSA based approach for the evaluation of residual stresses and to provide some examples of where promising results have been obtained.

  16. Integrated approaches to spatiotemporally directing angiogenesis in host and engineered tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kant, Rajeev J; Coulombe, Kareen L K

    2018-03-15

    The field of tissue engineering has turned towards biomimicry to solve the problem of tissue oxygenation and nutrient/waste exchange through the development of vasculature. Induction of angiogenesis and subsequent development of a vascular bed in engineered tissues is actively being pursued through combinations of physical and chemical cues, notably through the presentation of topographies and growth factors. Presenting angiogenic signals in a spatiotemporal fashion is beginning to generate improved vascular networks, which will allow for the creation of large and dense engineered tissues. This review provides a brief background on the cells, mechanisms, and molecules driving vascular development (including angiogenesis), followed by how biomaterials and growth factors can be used to direct vessel formation and maturation. Techniques to accomplish spatiotemporal control of vascularization include incorporation or encapsulation of growth factors, topographical engineering, and 3D bioprinting. The vascularization of engineered tissues and their application in angiogenic therapy in vivo is reviewed herein with an emphasis on the most densely vascularized tissue of the human body - the heart. Vascularization is vital to wound healing and tissue regeneration, and development of hierarchical networks enables efficient nutrient transfer. In tissue engineering, vascularization is necessary to support physiologically dense engineered tissues, and thus the field seeks to induce vascular formation using biomaterials and chemical signals to provide appropriate, pro-angiogenic signals for cells. This review critically examines the materials and techniques used to generate scaffolds with spatiotemporal cues to direct vascularization in engineered and host tissues in vitro and in vivo. Assessment of the field's progress is intended to inspire vascular applications across all forms of tissue engineering with a specific focus on highlighting the nuances of cardiac tissue

  17. An adjoint method of sensitivity analysis for residual vibrations of structures subject to impacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Kun; Cheng, Gengdong

    2018-03-01

    For structures subject to impact loads, the residual vibration reduction is more and more important as the machines become faster and lighter. An efficient sensitivity analysis of residual vibration with respect to structural or operational parameters is indispensable for using a gradient based optimization algorithm, which reduces the residual vibration in either active or passive way. In this paper, an integrated quadratic performance index is used as the measure of the residual vibration, since it globally measures the residual vibration response and its calculation can be simplified greatly with Lyapunov equation. Several sensitivity analysis approaches for performance index were developed based on the assumption that the initial excitations of residual vibration were given and independent of structural design. Since the resulting excitations by the impact load often depend on structural design, this paper aims to propose a new efficient sensitivity analysis method for residual vibration of structures subject to impacts to consider the dependence. The new method is developed by combining two existing methods and using adjoint variable approach. Three numerical examples are carried out and demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed method. The numerical results show that the dependence of initial excitations on structural design variables may strongly affects the accuracy of sensitivities.

  18. Tissue distribution and excretion of radioactivity following administration of 14C-labeled deoxynivalenol to White Leghorn hens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prelusky, D.B.; Hamilton, R.M.; Trenholm, H.L.; Miller, J.D.

    1986-01-01

    The disposition of [ 14 C]deoxynivalenol ([ 14 C]DON) administered to hens as either a single oral dose or consumed in spiked feed over a 6-day period was determined by tracing the specific radioactivity of tissues and excreta. Following a single intubated dose (2.2 mg [ 14 C]DON; 2.4 microCi/bird), the toxin was found to be poorly absorbed; peak plasma levels (2-2.5 hr post-treatment) accounted for less than 1% of the administered dose. Maximum tissue residues were measured at 3 hr in all tissues (liver, kidney, brain, heart, spleen, proventriculus, gizzard, small intestine) except for fat, muscle, and oviduct which occurred at 6 hr postdosing. Among the organs, the highest activities were measured in kidney, liver, and spleen; however, these levels were equal to less than 500 ng DON equivalents/g tissue, and declined quickly. Clearance of radioactivity from tissue had an average half-life of 16.83 +/- 8.2 hr (range 7.7-33.3 hr, depending on the tissue). Elimination of the labeled toxin in excreta occurred rapidly; recovery of radioactivity accounted for 78.6, 92.1, and 98.5% of the dose by 24, 48, and 72 hr, respectively. In continuously dosed birds fed 2.2 mg unlabeled DON for 6 days followed by 2.2 mg (1.5 microCi) [ 14 C]DON for 6 days, accumulation of radioactivity in tissues did not occur. Maximum residual levels, which occurred in the kidneys, were only 60 ng DON equivalents/g. Estimated level of residues contained in the edible tissues amounted to only 13-16 micrograms DON/1.5 kg hen

  19. Pesticide residue assessment in three selected agricultural production systems in the Choluteca River Basin of Honduras

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kammerbauer, J.; Moncada, J.

    1999-01-01

    There is a basic lack of information about the presence of pesticide residues in the environment in Central America. Over the period of February 1995 to June 1997, river, well, lagoon and spring water samples, as well as soil, fish tissue, lagoon bed sediments and some foodstuffs were taken from the greater Cholutecan River Basin of Honduras and analyzed for pesticide residues. These were collected at three separate sites (La Lima, Zamorano and Choluteca), each characterized by differing agricultural production systems. The main pesticide residues found in soil samples were dieldrin and p,p'-DDT, while river water samples were found to have detectable levels of heptachlor, endosulfan and chlorpyrifos, with lagoon and well water also being shown to contain heptachlor. These pesticides detected were in more than 20% of the samples assessed. In river water samples more pesticide residues at higher concentrations were found to be associated with areas of more intensive agricultural production. The fewest pesticides with lowest concentrations were found in the small subwatershed associated with traditional agricultural production. Although the pesticides found in the soils at the three sites were generally similar they tended to be higher in the southern part of the Cholutecan watershed, followed by the central zone, with the lowest concentrations being found in the more traditional production zone. In lagoon and well water samples more pesticides, but mostly in lower concentrations were detected at the traditional production site than at the others. Ten pesticide compounds were detected in fish tissue, mainly organochlorines, some of which were also found in lagoon sediments. In terms of food products, almost no pesticides were detected in vegetables, but the kidney adipose tissue taken from slaughtered cows was shown to have a tendency to contain some organochlorines. Spring water in the traditional agricultural production zone contained three organochlorine compounds

  20. Inulin-125I-tyramine, an improved residualizing label for studies on sites of catabolism of circulating proteins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maxwell, J.L.; Baynes, J.W.; Thorpe, S.R.

    1988-01-01

    Residualizing labels for protein, such as dilactitol-125I-tyramine (125I-DLT) and cellobiitol-125I-tyramine, have been used to identify the tissue and cellular sites of catabolism of long-lived plasma proteins, such as albumin, immunoglobulins, and lipoproteins. The radioactive degradation products formed from labeled proteins are relatively large, hydrophilic, resistant to lysosomal hydrolases, and accumulate in lysosomes in the cells involved in degradation of the carrier protein. However, the gradual loss of the catabolites from cells (t1/2 approximately 2 days) has limited the usefulness of residualizing labels in studies on longer lived proteins. We describe here a higher molecular weight (Mr approximately 5000), more efficient residualizing glycoconjugate label, inulin-125I-tyramine (125I-InTn). Attachment of 125I-InTn had no effect on the plasma half-life or tissue sites of catabolism of asialofetuin, fetuin, or rat serum albumin in the rat. The half-life for hepatic retention of degradation products from 125I-InTn-labeled asialofetuin was 5 days, compared to 2.3 days for 125I-DLT-labeled asialofetuin. The whole body half-lives for radioactivity from 125I-InTn-, 125I-DLT-, and 125I-labeled rat serum albumin were 7.5, 4.3, and 2.2 days, respectively. The tissue distribution of degradation products from 125I-InTn-labeled proteins agreed with results of previous studies using 125I-DLT, except that a greater fraction of total degradation products was recovered in tissues. Kinetic analyses indicated that the average half-life for retention of 125I-InTn degradation products in tissues is approximately 5 days and suggested that in vivo there are both slow and rapid routes for release of degradation products from cells

  1. Residual tissue post splenectomy detected by splenic scintillography with erythrocytes damaged by heat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rivera B, B.; Garcia C, E.S.; Garcia O, J.R.

    2005-01-01

    Feminine of 26 years old with diagnostic of purple thrombocytopenic idiopathic to those 4 years of age, tried with steroids and splenectomy at 11 years old. Pathway practically asymptomatic until 4 months ago she had presented asthenia, adynamia and general uneasiness, with platelet figures of 40,000 plat/microliter. It was carried out scintillographic study with damaged erythrocytes for post surgical remainder search. Its were took two-dimensional images and tomography by single photon emission (SPECT), being knitted splenic residual in area of anatomical projection of the spleen. (Author)

  2. A dynamic cellular vertex model of growing epithelial tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Shao-Zhen; Li, Bo; Feng, Xi-Qiao

    2017-04-01

    Intercellular interactions play a significant role in a wide range of biological functions and processes at both the cellular and tissue scales, for example, embryogenesis, organogenesis, and cancer invasion. In this paper, a dynamic cellular vertex model is presented to study the morphomechanics of a growing epithelial monolayer. The regulating role of stresses in soft tissue growth is revealed. It is found that the cells originating from the same parent cell in the monolayer can orchestrate into clustering patterns as the tissue grows. Collective cell migration exhibits a feature of spatial correlation across multiple cells. Dynamic intercellular interactions can engender a variety of distinct tissue behaviors in a social context. Uniform cell proliferation may render high and heterogeneous residual compressive stresses, while stress-regulated proliferation can effectively release the stresses, reducing the stress heterogeneity in the tissue. The results highlight the critical role of mechanical factors in the growth and morphogenesis of epithelial tissues and help understand the development and invasion of epithelial tumors.

  3. Experimental exposure of African catfish Clarias Gariepinus (Burchell, 1822 to phenol: Clinical evaluation, tissue alterations and residue assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mai D. Ibrahem

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available There is lack of information regarding; the toxicological and pathological consequences of phenol stressed Clarias gariepinus; as well as; the susceptibility of the stressed fish to disease occurrence. Static renewal bioassay was experimentally conducted to evaluate the toxic effects of phenol on the African catfish C. gariepinus. Ninety-six-hour acute toxicity tests revealed that the median lethal concentration of phenol (LC50 is 35 mg/L by immersion. Four experimental fish groups were assigned for 3 weeks exposure test; three were exposed 20%, 50% and 70% LC50, the fourth control fish group received a vehicle of dechlorinated water. Abnormal signs including cessation of feeding, nervous manifestations; skin expressed perfuses mucous, black patches with skin erosion and ulcerations in the later stages. All observations were correlated to the time and dose of exposure. Post mortem examination revealed adhesion of the internal organs. For tissue alterations; Skin, gills, brain, liver and kidney showed variable degrees of degenerative changes and necrosis. Muscle residues shown in mean ± SE were 4.3 ± 0.05 and 6.65 ± 0.05 ppm in groups that received 20 and 50% LD50, respectively. Infection with Aeromonas hydrophila resulted in high percent of mortalities with a non significant difference between the challenged fish groups. The study cleared that phenol is toxic to C. gariepinus under experimental conditions.

  4. Assessment of residual error for online cone-beam CT-guided treatment of prostate cancer patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Letourneau, Daniel; Martinez, Alvaro A.; Lockman, David; Yan Di; Vargas, Carlos; Ivaldi, Giovanni; Wong, John

    2005-01-01

    Purpose: Kilovoltage cone-beam CT (CBCT) implemented on board a medical accelerator is available for image-guidance applications in our clinic. The objective of this work was to assess the magnitude and stability of the residual setup error associated with CBCT online-guided prostate cancer patient setup. Residual error pertains to the uncertainty in image registration, the limited mechanical accuracy, and the intrafraction motion during imaging and treatment. Methods and Materials: The residual error for CBCT online-guided correction was first determined in a phantom study. After online correction, the phantom residual error was determined by comparing megavoltage portal images acquired every 90 deg. to the corresponding digitally reconstructed radiographs. In the clinical study, 8 prostate cancer patients were implanted with three radiopaque markers made of high-winding coils. After positioning the patient using the skin marks, a CBCT scan was acquired and the setup error determined by fusing the coils on the CBCT and planning CT scans. The patient setup was then corrected by moving the couch accordingly. A second CBCT scan was acquired immediately after the correction to evaluate the residual target setup error. Intrafraction motion was evaluated by tracking the coils and the bony landmarks on kilovoltage radiographs acquired every 30 s between the two CBCT scans. Corrections based on soft-tissue registration were evaluated offline by aligning the prostate contours defined on both planning CT and CBCT images. Results: For ideal rigid phantoms, CBCT image-guided treatment can usually achieve setup accuracy of 1 mm or better. For the patients, after CBCT correction, the target setup error was reduced in almost all cases and was generally within ±1.5 mm. The image guidance process took 23-35 min, dictated by the computer speed and network configuration. The contribution of the intrafraction motion to the residual setup error was small, with a standard deviation of

  5. Effects of food processing on pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables: a meta-analysis approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keikotlhaile, B M; Spanoghe, P; Steurbaut, W

    2010-01-01

    Pesticides are widely used in food production to increase food security despite the fact that they can have negative health effects on consumers. Pesticide residues have been found in various fruits and vegetables; both raw and processed. One of the most common routes of pesticide exposure in consumers is via food consumption. Most foods are consumed after passing through various culinary and processing treatments. A few literature reviews have indicated the general trend of reduction or concentration of pesticide residues by certain methods of food processing for a particular active ingredient. However, no review has focused on combining the obtained results from different studies on different active ingredients with differences in experimental designs, analysts and analysis equipment. In this paper, we present a meta-analysis of response ratios as a possible method of combining and quantifying effects of food processing on pesticide residue levels. Reduction of residue levels was indicated by blanching, boiling, canning, frying, juicing, peeling and washing of fruits and vegetables with an average response ratio ranging from 0.10 to 0.82. Baking, boiling, canning and juicing indicated both reduction and increases for the 95% and 99.5% confidence intervals. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Detection of gunshot primer residue on bone in an experimental setting-an unexpected finding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berryman, Hugh E; Kutyla, Alicja K; Russell Davis, J

    2010-03-01

    Pork ribs with intact muscle tissue were used in an experimental attempt to identify bullet wipe on bone at distances from 1 to 6 feet with 0.45 caliber, full metal jacket ammunition. This resulted in the unexpected finding of primer-derived gunshot residue (GSR) deep within the wound tract. Of significance is the fact that the GSR was deposited on the bone, under the periosteum, after the bullet passed through a Ziploc bag and c. 1 inch of muscle tissue. It is also important to note that the GSR persisted on the bone after the periosteum was forcibly removed. The presence of primer-derived GSR on bone provides the potential to differentiate gunshot trauma from blunt trauma when the bone presents an atypical gunshot wound. In this study, the presence of gunshot primer residue at a distance of 6 feet demonstrates the potential for establishing maximum gun-to-target distance for remote shootings.

  7. Process induced residual stresses and distortions in pultrusion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baran, Ismet; Tutum, Cem Celal; Nielsen, Michael Wenani

    2013-01-01

    In the present study, a coupled 3D transient Eulerian thermo-chemical analysis together with a 2D plane strain Lagrangian mechanical analysis of the pultrusion process, which has not been considered until now, is carried out. The development of the process induced residual stresses and strains...... together with the distortions are predicted during the pultrusion in which the cure hardening instantaneous linear elastic (CHILE) approach is implemented. At the end of the process, tension stresses prevail for the inner region of the composite since the curing rate is higher here as compared to the outer...... regions where compression stresses are obtained. The separation between the heating die and the part due to shrinkage is also investigated using a mechanical contact formulation at the die-part interface. The proposed approach is found to be efficient and fast for the calculation of the residual stresses...

  8. Application of environmental management system for a energetic plant with oil residual biomass; Aplicacion de un sistema de gestion medio ambiental a una planta generadora de energia que utiliza la biomasa residual del olivar

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Linan Veganzones, M.J.; Soca Olazabal, N.; Pizarro Camacho, D

    1998-12-01

    Being the alpechin one of the most contaminant residues by the mediterranean agrarian industry, as of today there is no integral depuration procedure. In this paper we show the innovative approach being used to eliminate the alpechin along with the oil miller residual biomass. What it more, the only agroindustrial complex which has introduced such approach is using an EMAS so that actual achievements could be realistically measured. (Author) 12 refs.

  9. Monitoring residue in animals and primary products of animal origin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Janković Saša

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of control and systematic monitoring of residue is to secure, by the examination of a corresponding number of samples, the efficient monitoring of the residue level in tissues and organs of animals, as well as in primary products of animal origin. This creates possibilities for the timely taking of measures toward the securing of food hygiene of animal origin and the protection of public health. Residue can be a consequence of the inadequate use of medicines in veterinary medicine and pesticides in agriculture and veterinary medicine, as well as the polluting of the environment with toxic elements, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, and others. Residue is being monitored in Serbia since 1972, and in 2004, national monitoring was brought to the level of EU countries through significant investments by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management. This is also evident in the EU directives which permit exports of all kinds of meat and primary products of animal origin, covered by the Residue Monitoring Program. The program of systematic examinations of residue has been coordinated with the requirements of the European Union, both according to the type of examined substance, as well as according to the number of samples and the applied analytical techniques. In addition to the development of methods and the including of new harmful substances into the monitoring programme, it is also necessary to coordinate the national regulations that define the maximum permitted quantities of certain medicines and contaminants with the EU regulations, in order to protect the health of consumers as efficiently as possible, and for the country to take equal part in international trade.

  10. Seismomorphogenesis: a novel approach to acclimatization of tissue culture regenerated plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarmast, Mostafa Khoshhal; Salehi, Hassan; Khosh-Khui, Morteza

    2014-12-01

    Plantlets under in vitro conditions transferred to ex vivo conditions are exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses. Furthermore, in vitro regenerated plants are typically frail and sometimes difficult to handle subsequently increasing their risk to damage and disease; hence acclimatization of these plantlets is the most important step in tissue culture techniques. An experiment was conducted under in vitro conditions to study the effects of shaking duration (twice daily at 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. for 2, 4, 8, and 16 min at 250 rpm for 14 days) on Sansevieria trifasciata L. as a model plant. Results showed that shaking improved handling, total plant height, and leaf characteristics of the model plant. Forty-eight hours after 14 days of shaking treatments with increasing shaking time, leaf length decreased but proline content of leaf increased. However, 6 months after starting the experiment different results were observed. In explants that received 16 min of shaking treatment, leaf length and area and photosynthesis rate were increased compared with control plantlets. Six months after starting the experiment, control plantlets had 12.5 % mortality; however, no mortality was observed in other treated explants. The results demonstrated that shaking improved the explants' root length and number and as a simple, cost-effective, and non-chemical novel approach may be substituted for other prevalent acclimatization techniques used for tissue culture regenerated plantlets. Further studies with sensitive plants are needed to establish this hypothesis.

  11. Residual life management. Maintenance improvement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sainero Garcia, J.; Hevia Ruperez, F.

    1995-01-01

    The terms Residual Life Management, Life Cycle Management and Long-Term Management are synonymous with a concept which aims to establish efficient maintenance for the profitable and safe operation of a power plant for as long as possible. A Residual Life Management programme comprises a number of stages, of which Maintenance Evaluation focuses on how power plant maintenance practices allow the mitigation and control of component ageing. with this objective in mind, a methodology has been developed for the analysis of potential degradative phenomena acting on critical components in terms of normal power plant maintenance practices. This methodology applied to maintenance evaluation enables the setting out of a maintenance programme based on the Life Management concept, and the programme's subsequent up-dating to allow for new techniques and methods. Initial applications have shown that although, in general terms, power plant maintenance is efficient, the way in which Residual Life Management is approached requires changes in maintenance practices. These changes range from modifications to existing inspection and surveillance methods or the establishment of new ones, to the monitoring of trends or the performance of additional studies, the purpose of which is to provide an accurate evaluation of the condition of the installations and the possibility of life extension. (Author)

  12. A stochastic logical system approach to model and optimal control of cyclic variation of residual gas fraction in combustion engines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Yuhu; Kumar, Madan; Shen, Tielong

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • An in-cylinder pressure based measuring method for the RGF is derived. • A stochastic logical dynamical model is proposed to represent the transient behavior of the RGF. • The receding horizon controller is designed to reduce the variance of the RGF. • The effectiveness of the proposed model and control approach is validated by the experimental evidence. - Abstract: In four stroke internal combustion engines, residual gas from the previous cycle is an important factor influencing the combustion quality of the current cycle, and the residual gas fraction (RGF) is a popular index to monitor the influence of residual gas. This paper investigates the cycle-to-cycle transient behavior of the RGF in the view of systems theory and proposes a multi-valued logic-based control strategy for attenuation of RGF fluctuation. First, an in-cylinder pressure sensor-based method for measuring the RGF is provided by following the physics of the in-cylinder transient state of four-stroke internal combustion engines. Then, the stochastic property of the RGF is examined based on statistical data obtained by conducting experiments on a full-scale gasoline engine test bench. Based on the observation of the examination, a stochastic logical transient model is proposed to represent the cycle-to-cycle transient behavior of the RGF, and with the model an optimal feedback control law, which targets on rejection of the RGF fluctuation, is derived in the framework of stochastic logical system theory. Finally, experimental results are demonstrated to show the effectiveness of the proposed model and the control strategy.

  13. Efficient identification of critical residues based only on protein structure by network analysis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael P Cusack

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Despite the increasing number of published protein structures, and the fact that each protein's function relies on its three-dimensional structure, there is limited access to automatic programs used for the identification of critical residues from the protein structure, compared with those based on protein sequence. Here we present a new algorithm based on network analysis applied exclusively on protein structures to identify critical residues. Our results show that this method identifies critical residues for protein function with high reliability and improves automatic sequence-based approaches and previous network-based approaches. The reliability of the method depends on the conformational diversity screened for the protein of interest. We have designed a web site to give access to this software at http://bis.ifc.unam.mx/jamming/. In summary, a new method is presented that relates critical residues for protein function with the most traversed residues in networks derived from protein structures. A unique feature of the method is the inclusion of the conformational diversity of proteins in the prediction, thus reproducing a basic feature of the structure/function relationship of proteins.

  14. Overview of tracheal tissue engineering: clinical need drives the laboratory approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ott, Lindsey M; Weatherly, Robert A; Detamore, Michael S

    2011-08-01

    Breathing is a natural function that most of us do not even think about, but for those who suffer from disease or damage of the trachea, the obstruction of breathing can mean severe restrictions to quality of life or may even be fatal. Replacement and reconstruction of the trachea is one of the most difficult procedures in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, and also one of the most vital. Previous reviews have focused primarily on clinical perspectives or instead on engineering strategies. However, the current review endeavors to bridge this gap by evaluating engineering approaches in a practical clinical context. For example, although contemporary approaches often include in vitro bioreactor pre-culture, or sub-cutaneous in vivo conditioning, the limitations they present in terms of regulatory approval, cost, additional surgery, and/or risk of infection challenge engineers to develop the next generation of biodegradable/resorbable biomaterials that can be directly implanted in situ. Essentially, the functionality of the replacement is the most important requirement. It must be the correct shape and size, achieve an airtight fit, resist collapse as it is replaced by new tissue, and be non-immunogenic. As we look to the future, there will be no one-size-fits-all solution.

  15. Bio-electrospraying and droplet-based microfluidics: control of cell numbers within living residues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hong Jongin; DeMello, Andrew J [Nanostructured Materials and Devices Group, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Jayasinghe, Suwan N, E-mail: a.demello@imperial.ac.u, E-mail: s.jayasinghe@ucl.ac.u [BioPhysics Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE (United Kingdom)

    2010-04-15

    Bio-electrospraying (BES) has demonstrated great promise as a rapidly evolving strategy for tissue engineering and regenerative biology/medicine. Since its discovery in 2005, many studies have confirmed that cells (immortalized, primary and stem cells) and whole organisms (Danio rerio, Xenopus tropicalis, Caenorhabditis elegans to Drosophila) remain viable post-bio-electrospraying. Although this bio-protocol has achieved much, it suffers from one crucial problem, namely the ability to precisely control the number of cells within droplets and or encapsulations. If overcome, BES has the potential to become a high-efficiency biotechnique for controlled cell encapsulation, a technique most useful for a wide range of applications in biology and medicine ranging from the forming of three-dimensional cultures to an approach for treating diseases such as type I diabetes. In this communication, we address this issue by demonstrating the coupling of BES with droplet-based microfluidics for controlling live cell numbers within droplets and residues. (communication)

  16. Bio-electrospraying and droplet-based microfluidics: control of cell numbers within living residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong Jongin; DeMello, Andrew J; Jayasinghe, Suwan N

    2010-01-01

    Bio-electrospraying (BES) has demonstrated great promise as a rapidly evolving strategy for tissue engineering and regenerative biology/medicine. Since its discovery in 2005, many studies have confirmed that cells (immortalized, primary and stem cells) and whole organisms (Danio rerio, Xenopus tropicalis, Caenorhabditis elegans to Drosophila) remain viable post-bio-electrospraying. Although this bio-protocol has achieved much, it suffers from one crucial problem, namely the ability to precisely control the number of cells within droplets and or encapsulations. If overcome, BES has the potential to become a high-efficiency biotechnique for controlled cell encapsulation, a technique most useful for a wide range of applications in biology and medicine ranging from the forming of three-dimensional cultures to an approach for treating diseases such as type I diabetes. In this communication, we address this issue by demonstrating the coupling of BES with droplet-based microfluidics for controlling live cell numbers within droplets and residues. (communication)

  17. Residual stresses in non-symmetrical carbon-epoxy laminates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijskamp, Sebastiaan; Akkerman, Remko; Lamers, E.A.D.; Martin, M.J.; Hahn, H.T.

    2003-01-01

    The curvature of unsymmetrical [0/90] laminates moulded from AS4/8552 uni-directional tape has been measured. A linear thermoelastic approach has been applied to predict the related residual stress state before demoulding, giving an estimate of the stress induced by polymerisation strain. The

  18. Genetic programming based models in plant tissue culture: An addendum to traditional statistical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mridula, Meenu R; Nair, Ashalatha S; Kumar, K Satheesh

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, we compared the efficacy of observation based modeling approach using a genetic algorithm with the regular statistical analysis as an alternative methodology in plant research. Preliminary experimental data on in vitro rooting was taken for this study with an aim to understand the effect of charcoal and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) on successful rooting and also to optimize the two variables for maximum result. Observation-based modelling, as well as traditional approach, could identify NAA as a critical factor in rooting of the plantlets under the experimental conditions employed. Symbolic regression analysis using the software deployed here optimised the treatments studied and was successful in identifying the complex non-linear interaction among the variables, with minimalistic preliminary data. The presence of charcoal in the culture medium has a significant impact on root generation by reducing basal callus mass formation. Such an approach is advantageous for establishing in vitro culture protocols as these models will have significant potential for saving time and expenditure in plant tissue culture laboratories, and it further reduces the need for specialised background.

  19. Oral manifestations of connective tissue disease and novel therapeutic approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heath, Kenisha R; Rogers, Roy S; Fazel, Nasim

    2015-10-16

    Connective tissue diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), and Sjögren syndrome (SS) have presented many difficulties both in their diagnosis and treatment. Known causes for this difficulty include uncertainty of disease etiology, the multitude of clinical presentations, the unpredictable disease course, and the variable cell types, soluble mediators, and tissue factors that are believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of connective tissue diseases. The characteristic oral findings seen with these specific connective tissue diseases may assist with more swift diagnostic capability. Additionally, the recent use of biologics may redefine the success rate in the treatment and management of the disease. In this review we describe the oral manifestations associated with SLE, SSc, and SS and review the novel biologic drugs used to treat these conditions.

  20. Pesticide residues and bees--a risk assessment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Sanchez-Bayo

    Full Text Available Bees are essential pollinators of many plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural crops alike. In recent years the decline and disappearance of bee species in the wild and the collapse of honey bee colonies have concerned ecologists and apiculturalists, who search for causes and solutions to this problem. Whilst biological factors such as viral diseases, mite and parasite infections are undoubtedly involved, it is also evident that pesticides applied to agricultural crops have a negative impact on bees. Most risk assessments have focused on direct acute exposure of bees to agrochemicals from spray drift. However, the large number of pesticide residues found in pollen and honey demand a thorough evaluation of all residual compounds so as to identify those of highest risk to bees. Using data from recent residue surveys and toxicity of pesticides to honey and bumble bees, a comprehensive evaluation of risks under current exposure conditions is presented here. Standard risk assessments are complemented with new approaches that take into account time-cumulative effects over time, especially with dietary exposures. Whilst overall risks appear to be low, our analysis indicates that residues of pyrethroid and neonicotinoid insecticides pose the highest risk by contact exposure of bees with contaminated pollen. However, the synergism of ergosterol inhibiting fungicides with those two classes of insecticides results in much higher risks in spite of the low prevalence of their combined residues. Risks by ingestion of contaminated pollen and honey are of some concern for systemic insecticides, particularly imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, chlorpyrifos and the mixtures of cyhalothrin and ergosterol inhibiting fungicides. More attention should be paid to specific residue mixtures that may result in synergistic toxicity to bees.

  1. Development of a HS-SPME-GC-MS/MS Method for the Quantitation of Thymol and Carvacrol in Bovine Matrices and To Determine Residue Depletion in Milk and Tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armorini, Sara; Yeatts, James E; Mullen, Keena A E; Mason, Sharon E; Mehmeti, Elmira; Anderson, Kevin L; Washburn, Steve P; Baynes, Ronald E

    2016-10-11

    Thymol and carvacrol may be present in several phytoceutical products but there are no well-defined methods to measure these compounds in meat and milk from treated animals. U.S. regulatory authorities deem their presence as an adulteration of food. A rapid and sensitive HS-SPME-GC-MS/MS method was developed for the detection of thymol and carvacrol in bovine milk, plasma, liver, kidney, and fat. Inter- and intraday precision values were all less than 15.7 and 20.2% for thymol and carvacrol, respectively. The accuracy was in ranges of 69.9-111.8% for thymol and 74.0-119.2% for carvacrol. With the exception of fat tissue, stability studies showed that both compounds are stable over a 2 month period. A pilot pharmacokinetic study was conducted to evaluate the developed analytical method and to provide initial estimates of thymol and carvacrol depletion in plasma, milk, and several tissues. Treatment of lactating dairy cattle with phytoceutical products containing these substances resulted in low but measurable residue levels at 96 h for liver and 36 h for milk with very short apparent plasma and milk half-lives (<3.0 h).

  2. Towards modeling of cardiac micro-structure with catheter-based confocal microscopy: a novel approach for dye delivery and tissue characterization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lasher, Richard A; Hitchcock, Robert W; Sachse, Frank B

    2009-08-01

    This work presents a methodology for modeling of cardiac tissue micro-structure. The approach is based on catheter-based confocal imaging systems, which are emerging as tools for diagnosis in various clinical disciplines. A limitation of these systems is that a fluorescent marker must be available in sufficient concentration in the imaged region. We introduce a novel method for the local delivery of fluorescent markers to cardiac tissue based on a hydro-gel carrier brought into contact with the tissue surface. The method was tested with living rabbit cardiac tissue and applied to acquire three-dimensional image stacks with a standard inverted confocal microscope and two-dimensional images with a catheter-based confocal microscope. We processed these image stacks to obtain spatial models and quantitative data on tissue microstructure. Volumes of atrial and ventricular myocytes were 4901 +/- 1713 and 10 299 +/-3598 mum (3) (mean+/-sd), respectively. Atrial and ventricular myocyte volume fractions were 72.4 +/-4.7% and 79.7 +/- 2.9% (mean +/-sd), respectively. Atrial and ventricular myocyte density was 165 571 +/- 55 836 and 86 957 +/- 32 280 cells/mm (3) (mean+/-sd), respectively. These statistical data and spatial descriptions of tissue microstructure provide important input for modeling studies of cardiac tissue function. We propose that the described methodology can also be used to characterize diseased tissue and allows for personalized modeling of cardiac tissue.

  3. AAV vector encoding human VEGF165-transduced pectineus muscular flaps increase the formation of new tissue through induction of angiogenesis in an in vivo chamber for tissue engineering: A technique to enhance tissue and vessels in microsurgically engineered tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moimas, Silvia; Manasseri, Benedetto; Cuccia, Giuseppe; Stagno d'Alcontres, Francesco; Geuna, Stefano; Pattarini, Lucia; Zentilin, Lorena; Giacca, Mauro; Colonna, Michele R

    2015-01-01

    In regenerative medicine, new approaches are required for the creation of tissue substitutes, and the interplay between different research areas, such as tissue engineering, microsurgery and gene therapy, is mandatory. In this article, we report a modification of a published model of tissue engineering, based on an arterio-venous loop enveloped in a cross-linked collagen-glycosaminoglycan template, which acts as an isolated chamber for angiogenesis and new tissue formation. In order to foster tissue formation within the chamber, which entails on the development of new vessels, we wondered whether we might combine tissue engineering with a gene therapy approach. Based on the well-described tropism of adeno-associated viral vectors for post-mitotic tissues, a muscular flap was harvested from the pectineus muscle, inserted into the chamber and transduced by either AAV vector encoding human VEGF165 or AAV vector expressing the reporter gene β-galactosidase, as a control. Histological analysis of the specimens showed that muscle transduction by AAV vector encoding human VEGF165 resulted in enhanced tissue formation, with a significant increase in the number of arterioles within the chamber in comparison with the previously published model. Pectineus muscular flap, transduced by adeno-associated viral vectors, acted as a source of the proangiogenic factor vascular endothelial growth factor, thus inducing a consistent enhancement of vessel growth into the newly formed tissue within the chamber. In conclusion, our present findings combine three different research fields such as microsurgery, tissue engineering and gene therapy, suggesting and showing the feasibility of a mixed approach for regenerative medicine.

  4. ABOUT COMPLEX OPERATIONS IN NON-POSITIONAL RESIDUE NUMBER SYSTEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu. D. Polissky

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of this work is the theoretical substantiation of methods for increased efficiency of execution of difficult, so-called not modular, operations in non-positional residue number system for which it is necessary to know operand digits for all grade levels. Methodology. To achieve the target the numbers are presented in odd module system, while the result of the operation is determined on the basis of establishing the operand parity. The parity is determined by finding the sum modulo for the values of the number positional characteristics for all of its modules. Algorithm of position characteristics includes two types of iteration. The first iteration is to move from this number to a smaller number, in which the remains of one or more modules are equal to zero. This is achieved by subtracting out of all the residues the value of one of them. The second iteration is to move from this number to a smaller number due to exclusion of modules, which residues are zero, by dividing this number by the product of these modules. Iterations are performed until the residues of one, some or all of the modules equal to zero and other modules are excluded. The proposed method is distinguished by its simplicity and allows you to obtain the result of the operation quickly. Findings. There are obtained rather simple solutions of not modular operations for definition of outputs beyond the range of the result of adding or subtracting pairs of numbers, comparing pairs of numbers, determining the number belonging to the specific half of the range, defining parity of numbers presented in non-positional residue number system. Originality. The work offered the new effective approaches to solve the non-modular operations of the non-positional residue number system. It seems appropriate to consider these approaches as research areas to enhance the effectiveness of the modular calculation. Practical value. The above solutions have high performance and can

  5. Human health risk assessment of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in plant tissue due to biosolids and manure amendments, and wastewater irrigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prosser, R S; Sibley, P K

    2015-02-01

    Amending soil with biosolids or livestock manure provides essential nutrients in agriculture. Irrigation with wastewater allows for agriculture in regions where water resources are limited. However, biosolids, manure and wastewater have all been shown to contain pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Studies have shown that PPCPs can accumulate in the tissues of plants but the risk that accumulated residues may pose to humans via consumption of edible portions is not well documented. This study reviewed the literature for studies that reported residues of PPCPs in the edible tissue of plants grown in biosolids- or manure-amended soils or irrigated with wastewater. These residues were used to determine the estimated daily intake of PPCPs for an adult and toddler. Estimated daily intake values were compared to acceptable daily intakes to determine whether PPCPs in plant tissue pose a hazard to human health. For all three amendment practices, the majority of reported residues resulted in hazard quotients plants to concentrations of PPCPs that would not be considered relevant based on concentrations reported in biosolids and manure or unrealistic methods of exposure, which lead to artificially elevated plant residues. Our assessment indicates that the majority of individual PPCPs in the edible tissue of plants due to biosolids or manure amendment or wastewater irrigation represent a de minimis risk to human health. Assuming additivity, the mixture of PPCPs could potentially present a hazard. Further work needs to be done to assess the risk of the mixture of PPCPs that may be present in edible tissue of plants grown under these three amendment practices. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Protein biomarkers on tissue as imaged via MALDI mass spectrometry: A systematic approach to study the limits of detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Ven, Stephanie M W Y; Bemis, Kyle D; Lau, Kenneth; Adusumilli, Ravali; Kota, Uma; Stolowitz, Mark; Vitek, Olga; Mallick, Parag; Gambhir, Sanjiv S

    2016-06-01

    MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is emerging as a tool for protein and peptide imaging across tissue sections. Despite extensive study, there does not yet exist a baseline study evaluating the potential capabilities for this technique to detect diverse proteins in tissue sections. In this study, we developed a systematic approach for characterizing MALDI-MSI workflows in terms of limits of detection, coefficients of variation, spatial resolution, and the identification of endogenous tissue proteins. Our goal was to quantify these figures of merit for a number of different proteins and peptides, in order to gain more insight in the feasibility of protein biomarker discovery efforts using this technique. Control proteins and peptides were deposited in serial dilutions on thinly sectioned mouse xenograft tissue. Using our experimental setup, coefficients of variation were biomarkers and a new benchmarking strategy that can be used for comparing diverse MALDI-MSI workflows. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. High-throughput sequencing approach uncovers the miRNome of peritoneal endometriotic lesions and adjacent healthy tissues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Merli Saare

    Full Text Available Accumulating data have shown the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs in endometriosis pathogenesis. In this study, we used a novel approach to determine the endometriotic lesion-specific miRNAs by high-throughput small RNA sequencing of paired samples of peritoneal endometriotic lesions and matched healthy surrounding tissues together with eutopic endometria of the same patients. We found five miRNAs specific to epithelial cells--miR-34c, miR-449a, miR-200a, miR-200b and miR-141 showing significantly higher expression in peritoneal endometriotic lesions compared to healthy peritoneal tissues. We also determined the expression levels of miR-200 family target genes E-cadherin, ZEB1 and ZEB2 and found that the expression level of E-cadherin was significantly higher in endometriotic lesions compared to healthy tissues. Further evaluation verified that studied miRNAs could be used as diagnostic markers for confirming the presence of endometrial cells in endometriotic lesion biopsy samples. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the miRNA profile of peritoneal endometriotic lesion biopsies is largely masked by the surrounding peritoneal tissue, challenging the discovery of an accurate lesion-specific miRNA profile. Taken together, our findings indicate that only particular miRNAs with a significantly higher expression in endometriotic cells can be detected from lesion biopsies, and can serve as diagnostic markers for endometriosis.

  8. Global warming impact assessment of a crop residue gasification project—A dynamic LCA perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Jin; Chen, Bin

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A dynamic LCA is proposed considering time-varying factors. • Dynamic LCA is used to highlight GHG emission hotspots of gasification projects. • Indicators are proposed to reflect GHG emission performance. • Dynamic LCA alters the static LCA results. • Crop residue gasification project has high GHG abatement potential. - Abstract: Bioenergy from crop residues is one of the prevailing sustainable energy sources owing to the abundant reserves worldwide. Amongst a wide variety of energy conversion technologies, crop residue gasification has been regarded as promising owing to its higher energy efficiency than that of direct combustion. However, prior to large-scale application of crop residue gasification, the lifetime environmental performance should be investigated to shed light on sustainable strategies. As traditional static life cycle assessment (LCA) does not include temporal information for dynamic processes, we proposed a dynamic life cycle assessment approach, which improves the static LCA approach by considering time-varying factors, e.g., greenhouse gas characterization factors and energy intensity. As the gasification project can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) discharge compared with traditional direct fuel combustion, trade-offs between the benefits of global warming mitigation and the impact on global warming of crop residue gasification should be considered. Therefore, indicators of net global warming mitigation benefit and global warming impact mitigation period are put forward to justify the feasibility of the crop residue gasification project. The proposed dynamic LCA and indicators were then applied to estimate the life cycle global warming impact of a crop residue gasification system in China. Results show that the crop residue gasification project has high net global warming mitigation benefit and a short global warming impact mitigation period, indicating its prominent potential in alleviating global warming impact. During

  9. Assumed non-persistent environmental chemicals in human adipose tissue; matrix stability and correlation with levels measured in urine and serum

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Artacho-Cordón, F; Arrebola, J P; Nielsen, O

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to (1) optimize a method for the measurement of parabens and phenols in adipose tissue, (2) evaluate the stability of chemical residues in adipose tissue samples, and (3) study correlations of these compounds in urine, serum, and adipose tissue. Samples were obtained fro...

  10. AAV vector encoding human VEGF165–transduced pectineus muscular flaps increase the formation of new tissue through induction of angiogenesis in an in vivo chamber for tissue engineering: A technique to enhance tissue and vessels in microsurgically engineered tissue

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Moimas

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In regenerative medicine, new approaches are required for the creation of tissue substitutes, and the interplay between different research areas, such as tissue engineering, microsurgery and gene therapy, is mandatory. In this article, we report a modification of a published model of tissue engineering, based on an arterio-venous loop enveloped in a cross-linked collagen–glycosaminoglycan template, which acts as an isolated chamber for angiogenesis and new tissue formation. In order to foster tissue formation within the chamber, which entails on the development of new vessels, we wondered whether we might combine tissue engineering with a gene therapy approach. Based on the well-described tropism of adeno-associated viral vectors for post-mitotic tissues, a muscular flap was harvested from the pectineus muscle, inserted into the chamber and transduced by either AAV vector encoding human VEGF165 or AAV vector expressing the reporter gene β-galactosidase, as a control. Histological analysis of the specimens showed that muscle transduction by AAV vector encoding human VEGF165 resulted in enhanced tissue formation, with a significant increase in the number of arterioles within the chamber in comparison with the previously published model. Pectineus muscular flap, transduced by adeno-associated viral vectors, acted as a source of the proangiogenic factor vascular endothelial growth factor, thus inducing a consistent enhancement of vessel growth into the newly formed tissue within the chamber. In conclusion, our present findings combine three different research fields such as microsurgery, tissue engineering and gene therapy, suggesting and showing the feasibility of a mixed approach for regenerative medicine.

  11. A survey of residual analysis and a new test of residual trend.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDowell, J J; Calvin, Olivia L; Klapes, Bryan

    2016-05-01

    A survey of residual analysis in behavior-analytic research reveals that existing methods are problematic in one way or another. A new test for residual trends is proposed that avoids the problematic features of the existing methods. It entails fitting cubic polynomials to sets of residuals and comparing their effect sizes to those that would be expected if the sets of residuals were random. To this end, sampling distributions of effect sizes for fits of a cubic polynomial to random data were obtained by generating sets of random standardized residuals of various sizes, n. A cubic polynomial was then fitted to each set of residuals and its effect size was calculated. This yielded a sampling distribution of effect sizes for each n. To test for a residual trend in experimental data, the median effect size of cubic-polynomial fits to sets of experimental residuals can be compared to the median of the corresponding sampling distribution of effect sizes for random residuals using a sign test. An example from the literature, which entailed comparing mathematical and computational models of continuous choice, is used to illustrate the utility of the test. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  12. Usefulness of food chain information provided by Dutch finishing pig producers to control antibiotic residues in pork.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Wagenberg, Coen P A; Backus, Gé B C; van der Vorst, Jack G A J; Urlings, Bert A P

    2012-11-01

    The EU prescribes that food business operators must use food chain information to assist in food safety control. This study analyses usefulness of food chain information about antibiotic usage covering the 60-day period prior to delivery of pigs to slaughter in the control of antibiotic residues in pork. A dataset with 479 test results for antibiotic residues in tissue samples of finishing pigs delivered to a Dutch slaughter company was linked to information provided by pig producers about antibiotic usage in these finishing pigs. Results show that twice as many producers reported using antibiotics in the group of 82 producers with antibiotic residues (11.0%) compared to the group without antibiotic residues (5.5%) (p=0.0686). For 89% of consignments with a finishing pig with antibiotic residues, the producer reported 'did not use antibiotics'. Food chain information about antibiotic usage provided by Dutch pig producers was no guarantee for absence of antibiotic residues in delivered finishing pigs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. The microstructure of petroleum vacuum residue films for bituminous concrete: a microscopy approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sourty, E.; Tamminga, A.Y.; Michels, M.A.J.; Vellinga, W.P.; Meijer, H.E.H.

    2011-01-01

    Selected carbon-rich refinery residues (‘binders’) mixed with mineral particles can form composite materials (‘bituminous concrete’) with bulk mechanical properties comparable to those of cement concrete. The microstructural mechanism underlying the remarkable composite properties has been related

  14. Literature mining of protein-residue associations with graph rules learned through distant supervision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravikumar KE

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We propose a method for automatic extraction of protein-specific residue mentions from the biomedical literature. The method searches text for mentions of amino acids at specific sequence positions and attempts to correctly associate each mention with a protein also named in the text. The methods presented in this work will enable improved protein functional site extraction from articles, ultimately supporting protein function prediction. Our method made use of linguistic patterns for identifying the amino acid residue mentions in text. Further, we applied an automated graph-based method to learn syntactic patterns corresponding to protein-residue pairs mentioned in the text. We finally present an approach to automated construction of relevant training and test data using the distant supervision model. Results The performance of the method was assessed by extracting protein-residue relations from a new automatically generated test set of sentences containing high confidence examples found using distant supervision. It achieved a F-measure of 0.84 on automatically created silver corpus and 0.79 on a manually annotated gold data set for this task, outperforming previous methods. Conclusions The primary contributions of this work are to (1 demonstrate the effectiveness of distant supervision for automatic creation of training data for protein-residue relation extraction, substantially reducing the effort and time involved in manual annotation of a data set and (2 show that the graph-based relation extraction approach we used generalizes well to the problem of protein-residue association extraction. This work paves the way towards effective extraction of protein functional residues from the literature.

  15. Literature mining of protein-residue associations with graph rules learned through distant supervision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravikumar, Ke; Liu, Haibin; Cohn, Judith D; Wall, Michael E; Verspoor, Karin

    2012-10-05

    We propose a method for automatic extraction of protein-specific residue mentions from the biomedical literature. The method searches text for mentions of amino acids at specific sequence positions and attempts to correctly associate each mention with a protein also named in the text. The methods presented in this work will enable improved protein functional site extraction from articles, ultimately supporting protein function prediction. Our method made use of linguistic patterns for identifying the amino acid residue mentions in text. Further, we applied an automated graph-based method to learn syntactic patterns corresponding to protein-residue pairs mentioned in the text. We finally present an approach to automated construction of relevant training and test data using the distant supervision model. The performance of the method was assessed by extracting protein-residue relations from a new automatically generated test set of sentences containing high confidence examples found using distant supervision. It achieved a F-measure of 0.84 on automatically created silver corpus and 0.79 on a manually annotated gold data set for this task, outperforming previous methods. The primary contributions of this work are to (1) demonstrate the effectiveness of distant supervision for automatic creation of training data for protein-residue relation extraction, substantially reducing the effort and time involved in manual annotation of a data set and (2) show that the graph-based relation extraction approach we used generalizes well to the problem of protein-residue association extraction. This work paves the way towards effective extraction of protein functional residues from the literature.

  16. Measurement of the fluorescence of crop residues: A tool for controlling soil erosion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daughtry, C. S. T.; Mcmurtrey, J. E., III; Chappelle, E. W.; Hunter, W. J.

    1994-01-01

    Management of crop residues, the portion of a crop left in the field after harvest, is an important conservation practice for minimizing soil erosion and for improving water quality. Quantification of crop residue cover is required to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation tillage practices. Methods are needed to quantify residue cover that are rapid, accurate, and objective. The fluorescence of crop residue was found to be a broadband phenomenon with emission maxima at 420 to 495 nm for excitations of 350 to 420 nm. Soils had low intensity broadband emissions over the 400 to 690 nm region for excitations of 300 to 600 nm. The range of relative fluorescence intensities for the crop residues was much greater than the fluorescence observed of the soils. As the crop residues decompose their blue fluorescence values approach the fluorescence of the soil. Fluorescence techniques are concluded to be less ambiguous and better suited for discriminating crop residues and soils than reflectance methods. If properly implemented, fluorescence techniques can be used to quantify, not only crop residue cover, but also photosynthetic efficiency in the field.

  17. Tissue mobilisation in Holstein-Friesian cattle selected for divergence in efficiency, defined as residual feed intake

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Waghorn, G.C.; MacDonald, K.A.; Verwoerd, M.M.

    2014-01-01

    Residual feed intake (RFI) is a measure of feed (energy) requirements of individuals, relative to the population mean. Two groups, of ~120 Holstein-Friesian heifer calves (aged 6–9 months), which differed in efficiency by ~20%, were reared and mated. Liveweight and body condition score (BCS) were

  18. Criteria for the restoration of mining residues in Germany

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kraus, W.; Ettenhuber, E.; Gehrcke, K.; Przyborowski, S.

    2000-01-01

    , water, air and dose rate level) to identify the relevant residues through simple measurements. If the reference levels were exceeded, a site specific analysis was to be carried out to determine whether the primary criteria had been exceeded, in which case the restoration would be justified. The relevant authorities then developed exposure scenarios to be considered and calculation models for analyses specific to each site. Decisions as to restoration of sites are based on optimization. Using the SSK criteria and levels in an appropriate way, rapid decisions on a large number of similar residues under different ownership are possible, as exemplified by the Federal Project on registration, investigation and evaluation of mining residues. For the rehabilitation programme of the huge and complex Wismut sites, another approach was used. Cost-benefit analysis taking into account chemical pollutants, mechanical impacts and radiation detriment was undertaken to aid in selecting the optimum restoration option. The pros and cons of both optimization approaches are discussed in the light of future regulations concerning mining and industrial residues. Although German legislation did not require the involvement of interested parties in the decision making process, many attempts were made to inform the public on planned restoration activities and to involve the affected communities in the selection of the restoration option. (author)

  19. Residual energy deposition in dental enamel during IR laser ablation at 2.79, 2.94, 9.6, and 10.6 μm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragadio, Jerome N.; Lee, Christian K.; Fried, Daniel

    2000-03-01

    The objective of this study was to measure the residual heat deposition during laser ablation at those IR laser wavelengths best suited for the removal of dental caries. The principal factor limiting the rate of laser ablation of dental hard tissue is the risk of excessive heat accumulation in the tooth, which has the potential for causing damage to the pulp. Optimal laser ablation systems minimize the residual energy deposition in the tooth by transferring deposited laser energy to kinetic and internal energy of ejected tissue components. The residual heat deposition in the tooth was measured at laser wavelengths of 2.79, 2.94, 9.6 and 10.6 micrometer and pulse widths of 150 ns - 150 microsecond(s) . The residual energy was at a minimum for fluences well above the ablation threshold where it saturates at values from 25 - 70% depending on pulse duration and wavelength for the systems investigated. The lowest values of the residual energy were measured for short (less than 20 microseconds) CO2 laser pulses at 9.6 micrometer and for Q-switched erbium laser pulses. This work was supported by NIH/NIDCR R29DE12091 and the Center for Laser Applications in Medicine, DOE DEFG0398ER62576.

  20. Modeling of CMUTs with Multiple Anisotropic Layers and Residual Stress

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engholm, Mathias; Thomsen, Erik Vilain

    2014-01-01

    Usually the analytical approach for modeling CMUTs uses the single layer plate equation to obtain the deflection and does not take anisotropy and residual stress into account. A highly accurate model is developed for analytical characterization of CMUTs taking an arbitrary number of layers...... and residual stress into account. Based on the stress-strain relation of each layer and balancing stress resultants and bending moments, a general multilayered anisotropic plate equation is developed for plates with an arbitrary number of layers. The exact deflection profile is calculated for a circular...... clamped plate of anisotropic materials with residual bi-axial stress. From the deflection shape the critical stress for buckling is calculated and by using the Rayleigh-Ritz method the natural frequency is estimated....

  1. Diffraction measurements of residual stress in titanium matrix composites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    James, M.R.; Bourke, M.A.; Goldstone, J.A.; Lawson, A.C.

    1993-01-01

    Metal matrix composites develop residual strains after consolidation due to the thermal expansion mismatch between the reinforcement fiber and the matrix. X-ray and neutron diffraction measured values for the longitudinal residual stress in the matrix of four titanium MMCs are reported. For thick composites (> 6 plies) the surface stress measured by x-ray diffraction matches that determined by neutron diffraction and therefore represents the stress in the bulk region consisting of the fibers and matrix. For thin sheet composites, the surface values are lower than in the interior and increase as the outer rows of fibers are approached. While a rationale for the behavior in the thin sheet has yet to be developed, accounting for composite thickness is important when using x-ray measured values to validate analytic and finite element calculations of the residual stress state

  2. Assessment of residual tissue viability by exercise testing in recent myocardial infarction: comparison of the electrocardiogram and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margonato, A; Ballarotto, C; Bonetti, F; Cappelletti, A; Sciammarella, M; Cianflone, D; Chierchia, S L

    1992-04-01

    The assessment of residual myocardial viability in infarcted areas is relevant for subsequent management and prognosis but requires expensive technology. To evaluate the possibility that simple, easily obtainable clinical markers may detect the presence of within-infarct viable tissue, the significance of exercise-induced ST elevation occurring in leads exploring the area of a recent Q wave myocardial infarction was assessed. Twenty-five patients with recent (less than 6 months) myocardial infarction were studied. All had angiographically documented coronary artery disease, diagnostic Q waves (n = 24) or negative T waves (n = 25) on the rest 12-lead electrocardiogram and exhibited during exercise greater than or equal to 1.5 mm ST segment elevation (n = 17) or isolated T wave pseudonormalization (n = 8) in the infarct-related leads. ST-T wave changes were reproduced in all patients during thallium-201 exercise myocardial scintigraphy. A fixed perfusion defect was observed in 24 of the 25 patients. A reversible defect was seen in 16 (94%) of 17 patients who exhibited transient ST elevation during exercise but in only 4 (50%) of the 8 patients who had only T wave pseudonormalization. In conclusion, in patients with recent myocardial infarction, analysis of simple ST segment variables obtained during exercise testing may allow a first-line discrimination of those who may potentially benefit from a revascularization procedure.

  3. Liquid chromatographic determination of para-toluenesulfonamide in edible fillet tissues from three species of fish

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meinertz, J.R.; Schmidt, L.J.; Stehly, G.R.; Gingerich, W.H.

    1999-01-01

    Chloramine-T (N-sodium-N-chloro-p-toluene-sulfonamide) is a candidate therapeutic drug for treating bacterial gill disease, a predominant disease of a variety of fish species. Research has been initiated to obtain the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval for the use of chloramine-T on a variety of fish species. An attribute of a therapeutic aquaculture drug that must be characterized before the FDA approves its use is depletion of the drug's marker residue (the drug's parent compound or metabolite of highest concentration in an edible tissue). Para-Toluenesulfonamide (p-TSA) is the primary degradation product and marker residue for chloramine-T in rainbow trout. To conduct residue depletion studies for chloramine-T in fish, a robust analytical method sensitive and specific for p-TSA residues in edible fillet tissue from a variety of fish was required. Homogenized fillet tissues from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were fortified at nominal p-TSA concentrations of 17, 67, 200, 333, and 1000 ng/g. Samples were analyzed by isocratic reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) with absorbance detection at 226 nm. Mean recoveries of p-TSA ranged from 77 to 93.17%; relative standard deviations ranged from 1.5 to 14%; method quantitation limits ranged from 13 to 18 ng/g; and method detection limits ranged from 3.8 to 5.2 ng/g. The LC parameters produced p-TSA peaks without coelution of endogenous compounds and excluded chromatographic interference from at least 20 chemicals and drugs of potential use in aquaculture.

  4. A robust approach to identifying tissue-specific gene expression regulatory variants using personalized human induced pluripotent stem cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Je-Hyuk Lee

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Normal variation in gene expression due to regulatory polymorphisms is often masked by biological and experimental noise. In addition, some regulatory polymorphisms may become apparent only in specific tissues. We derived human induced pluripotent stem (iPS cells from adult skin primary fibroblasts and attempted to detect tissue-specific cis-regulatory variants using in vitro cell differentiation. We used padlock probes and high-throughput sequencing for digital RNA allelotyping and measured allele-specific gene expression in primary fibroblasts, lymphoblastoid cells, iPS cells, and their differentiated derivatives. We show that allele-specific expression is both cell type and genotype-dependent, but the majority of detectable allele-specific expression loci remains consistent despite large changes in the cell type or the experimental condition following iPS reprogramming, except on the X-chromosome. We show that our approach to mapping cis-regulatory variants reduces in vitro experimental noise and reveals additional tissue-specific variants using skin-derived human iPS cells.

  5. Evaluation of residue-residue contact predictions in CASP9

    KAUST Repository

    Monastyrskyy, Bohdan; Fidelis, Krzysztof; Tramontano, Anna; Kryshtafovych, Andriy

    2011-01-01

    This work presents the results of the assessment of the intramolecular residue-residue contact predictions submitted to CASP9. The methodology for the assessment does not differ from that used in previous CASPs, with two basic evaluation measures

  6. Determinação de resíduos de nitrofurazona, furazolidona e nicarbazina em tecidos de origem animal Determination of nitrofurazone, furazolidone and nicarbazin residues in animal tissues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scheilla V. C. SOUZA

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Foi padronizado e validado um método analítico para determinação de resíduos de nitrofurazona, furazolidona e nicarbazina em tecido muscular empregando-se extração com acetonitrila, purificação com cartuchos de sílica e C18 e detecção e quantificação por CLAE/UV. Nos ensaios com amostras fortificadas entre 5 e 200mg/kg as recuperações médias obtidas variaram de 73,6 a 95,6% com valores de C.V. entre 4,8 e 26,4%. O limite de detecção e quantificação do método foi de 5mg/kg, para cada um dos três resíduos estudados.A method for determination of nitrofurazone, furazolidone and nicarbazin residues in muscle tissues was standardized and validated using acetonitrile extraction, clean-up with silica and C18 cartridges and detection and quantification by HPLC/UV. In the assays using spiked samples in levels varying from 5 to 200mg/kg the average recovery values ranged from 73.6 to 95.6% with C.V. values between 4.8 and 26.4%. The limits of detection and quantification of this method was 5mg/kg for each studied residue.

  7. A residual Monte Carlo method for discrete thermal radiative diffusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, T.M.; Urbatsch, T.J.; Lichtenstein, H.; Morel, J.E.

    2003-01-01

    Residual Monte Carlo methods reduce statistical error at a rate of exp(-bN), where b is a positive constant and N is the number of particle histories. Contrast this convergence rate with 1/√N, which is the rate of statistical error reduction for conventional Monte Carlo methods. Thus, residual Monte Carlo methods hold great promise for increased efficiency relative to conventional Monte Carlo methods. Previous research has shown that the application of residual Monte Carlo methods to the solution of continuum equations, such as the radiation transport equation, is problematic for all but the simplest of cases. However, the residual method readily applies to discrete systems as long as those systems are monotone, i.e., they produce positive solutions given positive sources. We develop a residual Monte Carlo method for solving a discrete 1D non-linear thermal radiative equilibrium diffusion equation, and we compare its performance with that of the discrete conventional Monte Carlo method upon which it is based. We find that the residual method provides efficiency gains of many orders of magnitude. Part of the residual gain is due to the fact that we begin each timestep with an initial guess equal to the solution from the previous timestep. Moreover, fully consistent non-linear solutions can be obtained in a reasonable amount of time because of the effective lack of statistical noise. We conclude that the residual approach has great potential and that further research into such methods should be pursued for more general discrete and continuum systems

  8. Development of an improved high resolution mass spectrometry based multi-residue method for veterinary drugs in various food matrices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaufmann, A; Butcher, P; Maden, K; Walker, S; Widmer, M

    2011-08-26

    Multi-residue methods for veterinary drugs or pesticides in food are increasingly often based on ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Previous available time of flight (TOF) technologies, showing resolutions up to 15,000 full width at half maximum (FWHM), were not sufficiently selective for monitoring low residue concentrations in difficult matrices (e.g. hormones in tissue or antibiotics in honey). The approach proposed in this paper is based on a single stage Orbitrap mass spectrometer operated at 50,000 FWHM. Extracts (liver and kidney) which were produced according to a validated multi-residue method (time of flight detection based) could not be analyzed by Orbitrap because of extensive signal suppression. This required the improvement of established extraction and clean-up procedures. The introduced, more extensive deproteinzation steps and dedicated instrumental settings successfully eliminated these detrimental suppression effects. The reported method, covering more than 100 different veterinary dugs, was validated according to the EU Commission Decision 2002/657/EEC. Validated matrices include muscle, kidney, liver, fish and honey. Significantly better performance parameters (e.g. linearity, reproducibility and detection limits) were obtained when comparing the new method with the older, TOF based method. These improvements are attributed to the higher resolution (50,000 versus 12,000 FWHM) and the superior mass stability of the of the Orbitrap over the previously utilized TOF instrument. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Human in vitro 3D co-culture model to engineer vascularized bone-mimicking tissues combining computational tools and statistical experimental approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bersini, Simone; Gilardi, Mara; Arrigoni, Chiara; Talò, Giuseppe; Zamai, Moreno; Zagra, Luigi; Caiolfa, Valeria; Moretti, Matteo

    2016-01-01

    The generation of functional, vascularized tissues is a key challenge for both tissue engineering applications and the development of advanced in vitro models analyzing interactions among circulating cells, endothelium and organ-specific microenvironments. Since vascularization is a complex process guided by multiple synergic factors, it is critical to analyze the specific role that different experimental parameters play in the generation of physiological tissues. Our goals were to design a novel meso-scale model bridging the gap between microfluidic and macro-scale studies, and high-throughput screen the effects of multiple variables on the vascularization of bone-mimicking tissues. We investigated the influence of endothelial cell (EC) density (3-5 Mcells/ml), cell ratio among ECs, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and osteo-differentiated MSCs (1:1:0, 10:1:0, 10:1:1), culture medium (endothelial, endothelial + angiopoietin-1, 1:1 endothelial/osteo), hydrogel type (100%fibrin, 60%fibrin+40%collagen), tissue geometry (2 × 2 × 2, 2 × 2 × 5 mm(3)). We optimized the geometry and oxygen gradient inside hydrogels through computational simulations and we analyzed microvascular network features including total network length/area and vascular branch number/length. Particularly, we employed the "Design of Experiment" statistical approach to identify key differences among experimental conditions. We combined the generation of 3D functional tissue units with the fine control over the local microenvironment (e.g. oxygen gradients), and developed an effective strategy to enable the high-throughput screening of multiple experimental parameters. Our approach allowed to identify synergic correlations among critical parameters driving microvascular network development within a bone-mimicking environment and could be translated to any vascularized tissue. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Determination of temperature and residual laser energy on film fiber-optic thermal converter for diode laser surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Weichao; Kong, Yaqun; Shi, Xiafei; Dong, Xiaoxi; Wang, Hong; Zhao, Jizhi; Li, Yingxin

    2017-12-01

    The diode laser was utilized in soft tissue incision of oral surgery based on the photothermic effect. The contradiction between the ablation efficiency and the thermal damage has always been in diode laser surgery, due to low absorption of its radiation in the near infrared region by biological tissues. Fiber-optic thermal converters (FOTCs) were used to improve efficiency for diode laser surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the photothermic effect by the temperature and residual laser energy on film FOTCs. The film FOTC was made by a distal end of optical fiber impacting on paper. The external surface of the converter is covered by a film contained amorphous carbon. The diode laser with 810 nm worked at the different rated power of 1.0 W, 1.5 W, 2.0 W, 3.0 W, 4.0 W, 5.0 W, 6.0 W, 7.0 W, 8.0 W in continuous wave (CW)and pulse mode. The temperature of the distal end of optical fiber was recorded and the power of the residual laser energy from the film FOTC was measured synchronously. The temperature, residual power and the output power were analyzed by linear or exponential regression model and Pearson correlations analysis. The residual power has good linearity versus output power in CW and pulse modes (R 2  = 0.963, P film FOTCs increases exponentially with adjusted R 2  = 0.959 in continuous wave mode, while in pulsed mode with adjusted R 2  = 0.934. The temperature was elevated up to about 210 °C and eventually to be a stable state. Film FOTCs centralized approximately 50% of laser energy on the fiber tip both in CW and pulsed mode while limiting the ability of the laser light to interact directly with target tissue. Film FOTCs can concentrate part of laser energy transferred to heat on distal end of optical fiber, which have the feasibility of improving efficiency and reducing thermal damage of deep tissue.

  11. Assessment of long-term pH developments in leachate from waste incineration residues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Astrup, Thomas; Jakobsen, Rasmus; Christensen, Thomas Højlund

    2006-01-01

    influenced by changes in pH over time. The paper presents an approach for assessing pH changes in leachate from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) air-pollution-control (APC) residues. Residue samples were subjected to a stepwise batch extraction method in order to obtain residue samples at a range...... of pH Values (similar to common pH-dependence tests), and then on these samples to determine leaching of alkalinity as well as remaining solid phase alkalinity. On a range of APC residues covering various pretreatment and disposal options, this procedure was used to determine leachable and residual...... alkalinity as a function of pH. Mass balance calculations for typical disposal scenarios were used to provide data on pH as a function of the liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio in the leaching system. Regardless of residue type and pretreatment, pH was found to stay above 7 for L/S ratios up to about 2000 L kg(-1...

  12. [Strategy for minimally invasive cochlear implantation and residual hearing preservation].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Y Y; Chen, J Y; Shen, M; Yang, J

    2018-01-07

    In the past few decades, considerable development was achieved in the cochlear implantation following the emergence of innovative electrode array and advances in minimally invasive surgery. Minimally invasive technique led to a better preservation of residual low-frequency hearing. The loss of residual hearing was caused by complicated factors. According to previous studies, a slower and stable speed of electrode insertion and the use of perioperative steroids were demonstrated to have a positive impact on hearing preservation. The selection of electrode array or its insertion approaches didn't show any distinctive benefits in hearing preservation.

  13. Aqueous electrochemical mechanisms in actinide residue processing. 1998 annual progress report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blanchard, D.L. Jr.; Burns, C.J.; Morris, D.E.; Smith, W.H.

    1998-01-01

    'New and/or improved solutions to the stabilization and volume reduction of nuclear materials processing residues are urgently needed. Mediated electrochemical oxidation/reduction (MEO/R) processes are one such approach for incinerator ash, combustibles, and other solid residues. However, questions remain concerning the mechanisms of these processes, and how they might be optimized. In addition, further research is merited to extend their range of applicability. Recent advances in the study of heterogeneous electron transfer in solid substrates have opened the door for the re-examination of electron transfer processes associated with redox mediated actinide dissolution. The authors develop a deeper understanding of the thermodynamic and mechanistic aspects of heterogeneous electron transfer that lie at the heart of these MEO/R processes. They will also develop and test new approaches based on the results of these fundamental studies using actual residue materials. Key aspects of this proposal include: (1) determination of the potential windows for oxidation/reduction of colloidal actinide oxides and actinide-bearing oxide and organic substrates and the e transfer kinetic parameters that govern the current--overpotential characteristics; (2) development of adaptations of mediation schemes and application of co-mediation reagents for oxidative and reductive dissolution based on complexation of the surface-bound or solid-phase actinides and/or the dissolved redox mediator;and (3) execution of bench-scale tests of new MEO/R schemes on actual residue materials.'

  14. Sampling and sample processing in pesticide residue analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehotay, Steven J; Cook, Jo Marie

    2015-05-13

    Proper sampling and sample processing in pesticide residue analysis of food and soil have always been essential to obtain accurate results, but the subject is becoming a greater concern as approximately 100 mg test portions are being analyzed with automated high-throughput analytical methods by agrochemical industry and contract laboratories. As global food trade and the importance of monitoring increase, the food industry and regulatory laboratories are also considering miniaturized high-throughput methods. In conjunction with a summary of the symposium "Residues in Food and Feed - Going from Macro to Micro: The Future of Sample Processing in Residue Analytical Methods" held at the 13th IUPAC International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry, this is an opportune time to review sampling theory and sample processing for pesticide residue analysis. If collected samples and test portions do not adequately represent the actual lot from which they came and provide meaningful results, then all costs, time, and efforts involved in implementing programs using sophisticated analytical instruments and techniques are wasted and can actually yield misleading results. This paper is designed to briefly review the often-neglected but crucial topic of sample collection and processing and put the issue into perspective for the future of pesticide residue analysis. It also emphasizes that analysts should demonstrate the validity of their sample processing approaches for the analytes/matrices of interest and encourages further studies on sampling and sample mass reduction to produce a test portion.

  15. Determination and depletion of residues of carbadox, tylosin, and virginiamycin in kidney, liver, and muscle of pigs in feeding experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lauridsen, M G; Lund, C; Jacobsen, M

    1988-01-01

    The results of residue determinations of the growth promotors carbadox, tylosin, and virginiamycin in kidney, liver, and muscle from pigs in feeding experiments are described as well as the analytical methods used. Residues of the carbadox metabolite quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid were found in liver from pigs fed 20 mg/kg in the diet with a withdrawal time of 30 days. No residues were detected in muscle with zero withdrawal time. The limit of determination was 0.01 mg/kg for both tissues. No residues of virginiamycin and tylosin were found in pigs fed 50 and 40 mg/kg, respectively, in the diet, even with zero withdrawal time. Residues of tylosin of 0.06 mg/kg and below were detected in liver and kidney from pigs fed 200 or 400 mg/kg and slaughtered within 3 h after the last feeding.

  16. Effects of oral hygiene, residual caries and cervical Marginal-gaps on the survival of proximal atraumatic restorative treatment approach restorations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arthur M Kemoli

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Although Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART approach has been in existence for a while, the reasons for the poor performance of multisurface ART restorations are not very clear. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of oral hygiene, residual caries and cervical marginal-gaps on survival of proximal ART restorations. Settings: Two rural divisions in Kenya were selected for the study. Design: A randomized clinical trial. Material and Methods: The 804 children in the study had their baseline- and 2-year dental plaque levels documented. Each child received one proximal restoration in a primary molar using ART approach, together with trained and pre-tested operators/assistants, three glass ionomer cements (GIC-brands and two tooth-isolation methods. The restorations were clinically evaluated soon after placement and after 2 years. Post-restorative bite-wing radiographs taken soon after restoration were also evaluated. Statistical analysis: Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 14 computer programme was used and results tested using Pearson′s correlation, Cox Proportional Hazards regression analysis and Multiple Logistic regression models tests. Results: At baseline and after 2 years, the mean cumulative survival and plaque index changed from 94.4% to 30.8% and 2.34 (Standard Deviation, or SD of 0.46 to 1.92 (SD 2.1 respectively, with higher plaque indices associated with higher restoration failures. Of the 507 radiographs evaluated, 48 (9.5%, 63 (12.4% and 9 (1.8% restorations had residual caries (RC, cervical marginal-gaps (CMG and both RC/CMG respectively. Survival of the restorations with RC/CMG was significantly lower (p = 0.003 compared to those with RC or without RC. Conclusion: Low survival of proximal restorations in the study was associated with the presence of cervical marginal-gaps.

  17. Similarities and discrepancies in homozygous factor VII defects due to mutations in the region of residues Met298 to Cys310 (exon 8) in the catalytic domain of factor VII.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girolami, A; Berti de Marinis, G; Bonamigo, E; Vettore, S

    2011-06-01

    Patients with the Arg304Gln mutation in factor VII Padua (FVII Padua) show discrepant activity levels that depend on the thromboplastin used in the assay system. This report investigates the possibility that residues close to Arg304 (exon 8) show the same discrepant behavior. All available homozygous patients with a mutation in a 13-residue region (preceding and following Arg304) have been evaluated. Only the Arg304Trp mutation showed a discrepancy similar to that shown by the Arg304Gln mutation. Other homozygotes failed to show differences, despite their all being positive for cross-reacting material. Another FVII amino acid residue involved in tissue factor binding and activation is Arg79 (exon 4). No comparison could be carried out because no homozygotes for deficiency in this region have ever been described. The relationship between these 2 residues involved in tissue factor binding and activation has not yet been completely clarified; however, Arg residues 79 and 304 are the only 2 residues definitely shown thus far to be involved in this important function.

  18. Cellulosic ethanol production from agricultural residues in Nigeria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iye, Edward; Bilsborrow, Paul

    2013-01-01

    Nigeria′s Biofuels Policy introduced in 2007 mandates a 10% blend (E10) of bioethanol with gasoline. This study investigates the potential for the development of a cellulosic ethanol industry based on the availability of agricultural residues and models the number of commercial processing facilities that could be sited in the six Geo-political zones. The potential for cellulosic ethanol production from agricultural residues in Nigeria is 7556 km 3 per annum exceeding the mandate of 10% renewable fuel required and providing the potential for 12 large- and 11 medium-scale processing facilities based on the use of a single feedstock. Cassava and yam peelings provided in excess of 80% of the process residues available with enough feedstock to supply 10 large-scale facilities with a fairly even distribution across the zones. Sorghum straw, millet straw and maize stalks represented 75% of the potential resource available from field residues with the potential to supply 2 large- and 7 medium-scale processing facilities, all of which would be located in the north of the country. When a multi-feedstock approach is used, this provides the potential for either 29 large- or 58 medium-scale facilities based on outputs of 250 and 125 km 3 per annum respectively. - Highlights: • Nigeria′s Biofuels Policy mandates a 10% blend of bioethanol with gasoline. • Total bioethanol production from agricultural residues was 7556 km 3 per annum. • Process residues offer the greatest potential accounting for 62% of production. • Nigeria has the potential for 12 large- and 11 medium scale commercial. • The use of mixed feedstocks significantly increases the potential for production

  19. Pesticide Residues and Bees – A Risk Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanchez-Bayo, Francisco; Goka, Koichi

    2014-01-01

    Bees are essential pollinators of many plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural crops alike. In recent years the decline and disappearance of bee species in the wild and the collapse of honey bee colonies have concerned ecologists and apiculturalists, who search for causes and solutions to this problem. Whilst biological factors such as viral diseases, mite and parasite infections are undoubtedly involved, it is also evident that pesticides applied to agricultural crops have a negative impact on bees. Most risk assessments have focused on direct acute exposure of bees to agrochemicals from spray drift. However, the large number of pesticide residues found in pollen and honey demand a thorough evaluation of all residual compounds so as to identify those of highest risk to bees. Using data from recent residue surveys and toxicity of pesticides to honey and bumble bees, a comprehensive evaluation of risks under current exposure conditions is presented here. Standard risk assessments are complemented with new approaches that take into account time-cumulative effects over time, especially with dietary exposures. Whilst overall risks appear to be low, our analysis indicates that residues of pyrethroid and neonicotinoid insecticides pose the highest risk by contact exposure of bees with contaminated pollen. However, the synergism of ergosterol inhibiting fungicides with those two classes of insecticides results in much higher risks in spite of the low prevalence of their combined residues. Risks by ingestion of contaminated pollen and honey are of some concern for systemic insecticides, particularly imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, chlorpyrifos and the mixtures of cyhalothrin and ergosterol inhibiting fungicides. More attention should be paid to specific residue mixtures that may result in synergistic toxicity to bees. PMID:24718419

  20. Residual life of technical systems; diagnosis, prediction and life extension

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reinertsen, Rune

    1996-01-01

    The paper presents and discusses research related to residual life of non-repairable and repairable technical systems. Diagnosis of systems and extension of residual life of technical systems are also presented and discussed. This paper concludes that research published describing determination and extension of residual life as well as methods for diagnosis of non-repairable and repairable technical systems, is somewhat limited. Many papers have a rather pragmatic approach. The authors only describe special cases from their own plant and do not provide any explanation of a more academical nature. The other papers are mainly describing very specific applications of statistical models, leaving the more general case out of consideration. One of the main results of this paper is to point out these facts, and thereby identify the need for future research in this area

  1. The use of total human bone marrow fraction in a direct three-dimensional expansion approach for bone tissue engineering applications: focus on angiogenesis and osteogenesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerrero, Julien; Oliveira, Hugo; Catros, Sylvain; Siadous, Robin; Derkaoui, Sidi-Mohammed; Bareille, Reine; Letourneur, Didier; Amédée, Joëlle

    2015-03-01

    Current approaches in bone tissue engineering have shown limited success, mostly owing to insufficient vascularization of the construct. A common approach consists of co-culture of endothelial cells and osteoblastic cells. This strategy uses cells from different sources and differentiation states, thus increasing the complexity upstream of a clinical application. The source of reparative cells is paramount for the success of bone tissue engineering applications. In this context, stem cells obtained from human bone marrow hold much promise. Here, we analyzed the potential of human whole bone marrow cells directly expanded in a three-dimensional (3D) polymer matrix and focused on the further characterization of this heterogeneous population and on their ability to promote angiogenesis and osteogenesis, both in vitro and in vivo, in a subcutaneous model. Cellular aggregates were formed within 24 h and over the 12-day culture period expressed endothelial and bone-specific markers and a specific junctional protein. Ectopic implantation of the tissue-engineered constructs revealed osteoid tissue and vessel formation both at the periphery and within the implant. This work sheds light on the potential clinical use of human whole bone marrow for bone regeneration strategies, focusing on a simplified approach to develop a direct 3D culture without two-dimensional isolation or expansion.

  2. A hierarchical structure through imprinting of a polyimide precursor without residual layers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pai, I-Ting; Hon, Min-Hsiung; Leu, Ing-Chi

    2008-01-01

    A patterned polyimide without a residual layer is obtained by imprinting with the assistance of a residual solvent. The effects of the wetting behaviors of the poly-amic acid (PAA) solution coated on various surfaces are examined and the formation of hierarchical patterns without residual layers is demonstrated. polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and PEI/PDMS are used as imprinting molds with Si and 300 nm SiO 2 /Si as substrates. The results indicate that the various ambits of patterns without a residual layer are formed due to the dewetting phenomena caused by surface tension (Suh 2006 Small 2 832). During imprinting, PDMS with a low surface energy makes the PAA solution flow away from its surface exposing the contact area due to dewetting. Self-organized hierarchical structures are also obtained from this process due to effective dewetting. The present study provides a new approach for fabricating patterns without residual layers and the consequent preparation of hierarchical structures, which is considered to be impossible using the lithographic technique

  3. Entropy Transfer between Residue Pairs and Allostery in Proteins: Quantifying Allosteric Communication in Ubiquitin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aysima Hacisuleyman

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available It has recently been proposed by Gunasakaran et al. that allostery may be an intrinsic property of all proteins. Here, we develop a computational method that can determine and quantify allosteric activity in any given protein. Based on Schreiber's transfer entropy formulation, our approach leads to an information transfer landscape for the protein that shows the presence of entropy sinks and sources and explains how pairs of residues communicate with each other using entropy transfer. The model can identify the residues that drive the fluctuations of others. We apply the model to Ubiquitin, whose allosteric activity has not been emphasized until recently, and show that there are indeed systematic pathways of entropy and information transfer between residues that correlate well with the activities of the protein. We use 600 nanosecond molecular dynamics trajectories for Ubiquitin and its complex with human polymerase iota and evaluate entropy transfer between all pairs of residues of Ubiquitin and quantify the binding susceptibility changes upon complex formation. We explain the complex formation propensities of Ubiquitin in terms of entropy transfer. Important residues taking part in allosteric communication in Ubiquitin predicted by our approach are in agreement with results of NMR relaxation dispersion experiments. Finally, we show that time delayed correlation of fluctuations of two interacting residues possesses an intrinsic causality that tells which residue controls the interaction and which one is controlled. Our work shows that time delayed correlations, entropy transfer and causality are the required new concepts for explaining allosteric communication in proteins.

  4. Free-Suspension Residual Flexibility Testing of Space Station Pathfinder: Comparison to Fixed-Base Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinker, Michael L.

    1998-01-01

    Application of the free-suspension residual flexibility modal test method to the International Space Station Pathfinder structure is described. The Pathfinder, a large structure of the general size and weight of Space Station module elements, was also tested in a large fixed-base fixture to simulate Shuttle Orbiter payload constraints. After correlation of the Pathfinder finite element model to residual flexibility test data, the model was coupled to a fixture model, and constrained modes and frequencies were compared to fixed-base test. modes. The residual flexibility model compared very favorably to results of the fixed-base test. This is the first known direct comparison of free-suspension residual flexibility and fixed-base test results for a large structure. The model correlation approach used by the author for residual flexibility data is presented. Frequency response functions (FRF) for the regions of the structure that interface with the environment (a test fixture or another structure) are shown to be the primary tools for model correlation that distinguish or characterize the residual flexibility approach. A number of critical issues related to use of the structure interface FRF for correlating the model are then identified and discussed, including (1) the requirement of prominent stiffness lines, (2) overcoming problems with measurement noise which makes the antiresonances or minima in the functions difficult to identify, and (3) the use of interface stiffness and lumped mass perturbations to bring the analytical responses into agreement with test data. It is shown that good comparison of analytical-to-experimental FRF is the key to obtaining good agreement of the residual flexibility values.

  5. Entropy Transfer between Residue Pairs and Allostery in Proteins: Quantifying Allosteric Communication in Ubiquitin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hacisuleyman, Aysima; Erman, Burak

    2017-01-01

    It has recently been proposed by Gunasakaran et al. that allostery may be an intrinsic property of all proteins. Here, we develop a computational method that can determine and quantify allosteric activity in any given protein. Based on Schreiber's transfer entropy formulation, our approach leads to an information transfer landscape for the protein that shows the presence of entropy sinks and sources and explains how pairs of residues communicate with each other using entropy transfer. The model can identify the residues that drive the fluctuations of others. We apply the model to Ubiquitin, whose allosteric activity has not been emphasized until recently, and show that there are indeed systematic pathways of entropy and information transfer between residues that correlate well with the activities of the protein. We use 600 nanosecond molecular dynamics trajectories for Ubiquitin and its complex with human polymerase iota and evaluate entropy transfer between all pairs of residues of Ubiquitin and quantify the binding susceptibility changes upon complex formation. We explain the complex formation propensities of Ubiquitin in terms of entropy transfer. Important residues taking part in allosteric communication in Ubiquitin predicted by our approach are in agreement with results of NMR relaxation dispersion experiments. Finally, we show that time delayed correlation of fluctuations of two interacting residues possesses an intrinsic causality that tells which residue controls the interaction and which one is controlled. Our work shows that time delayed correlations, entropy transfer and causality are the required new concepts for explaining allosteric communication in proteins.

  6. Fluoroquinolone residues in raw meat from open markets in Ibadan, Southwest, Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adekunbi Bridget Omotoso

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Misuse of fluoroquinolones in livestock production may lead to the presence of their residues in tissues of meat animals after slaughter, constituting health hazards to consumers. The present study was designed to screen for residues of three fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and ofloxacin in raw meat. Microbiological assay, followed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC was used to screen three hundred and twenty samples of beef, chicken, pork and chevon purchased from open markets. Initial screening by microbiological assay revealed that 50%, 55%, 40% and 40% of beef, chicken, pork and chevon, respectively were positive for residues of antibiotics. Further analysis by HPLC with UV detection revealed the presence of ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and ofloxacin at varying concentrations in the meat samples. Ofloxacin was the least in frequency and abundance in all meat types. Results obtained in this study have implications for public health and will lead to steps that will further enhance the safety of animal foods in order to protect consumers and the animal production industry

  7. Measurement and analysis of cross-section for some residues produced in 16O + 27Al system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, Manoj Kumar; Unnati; Singh, Devendra P.; Singh, Pushpendra P.; Singh, B.P.; Prasad, R.; Rakesh Kumar; Golda, K.S.; Bhardwaj, H.D.

    2006-01-01

    In the present work, the theoretical estimate of the cross-section for the evaporation residues has been determined using code ALICE-91 which is based on statistical approach and considers the population of the residues only through CF channels, including PE emission

  8. Residual heat removal during accidental situations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Depond, M.; Sureau, H.; Tellier, N.

    1983-07-01

    Existing emergency procedures, whose purpose is residual heat removal and a safe recovery are based on sequential analysis and initiating event diagnosis. This approach was found in some cases inappropriate and inefficient, specially in case of out-of-design accidents corresponding to multiple equipment failure or simultaneous human failures. To cope with these situations, a new approach was necessary. Parallel studies performed in France at Framatome (the designer) and Electricity de France (the utility) gave a new method, called NSSS physical states approach. Prior to the implementation of this method which necessitates further studies and developments, some improvements in the existing operating procedures derived from the NSSS physical states have already been achieved: that is the case for the safety injection control and the development of an emergency procedure called ''U1''. This paper will briefly physical states approach and present the ''U1'' procedure. The tools which will be used to chack these methods are also mentioned

  9. Coevolution of amino acid residues in the key photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kapralov Maxim V

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background One of the key forces shaping proteins is coevolution of amino acid residues. Knowing which residues coevolve in a particular protein may facilitate our understanding of protein evolution, structure and function, and help to identify substitutions that may lead to desired changes in enzyme kinetics. Rubisco, the most abundant enzyme in biosphere, plays an essential role in the process of carbon fixation through photosynthesis, thus facilitating life on Earth. This makes Rubisco an important model system for studying the dynamics of protein fitness optimization on the evolutionary landscape. In this study we investigated the selective and coevolutionary forces acting on large subunit of land plants Rubisco using Markov models of codon substitution and clustering approaches applied to amino acid substitution histories. Results We found that both selection and coevolution shape Rubisco, and that positively selected and coevolving residues have their specifically favored amino acid composition and pairing preference. The mapping of these residues on the known Rubisco tertiary structures showed that the coevolving residues tend to be in closer proximity with each other compared to the background, while positively selected residues tend to be further away from each other. This study also reveals that the residues under positive selection or coevolutionary force are located within functionally important regions and that some residues are targets of both positive selection and coevolution at the same time. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that coevolution of residues is common in Rubisco of land plants and that there is an overlap between coevolving and positively selected residues. Knowledge of which Rubisco residues are coevolving and positively selected could be used for further work on structural modeling and identification of substitutions that may be changed in order to improve efficiency of this important enzyme in crops.

  10. Tissue distribution and elimination of rotenone in rainbow trout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gingerich, W.H.

    1986-01-01

    The fate of a single i.v. dose (120 μg/kg) of the piscicide [14C]rotenone was evaluated in rainbow trout for periods up to 72 h after dosing. Rotenone was rapidly cleared from the plasma; less than 2% of the dose remained in the plasma compartment after 20 min. The highest concentrations of rotenone residues (% dose/g tissue) were in the hepatobiliary system, bile, intestine, and in heart, lateral line swimming muscle, and posterior kidney; tissues that are highly dependent on oxidative metabolism. Although rotenone activity was present in all cell fractions examined, greater than 40% was associated with the mitochondrial fraction of liver, kidney, and muscle. More than 85% of the activity extracted from these tissues, except the liver, was parent rotenone. Elimination from whole body and major tissue depots conformed to simple first-order kinetics; the estimated half-life from whole body was 68.5 h. Branchial elimination accounted for 5% of the injected dose over a 4-h period, and urinary elimination was less than 2% over a 48-h period. Rotenone was eliminated essentially unchanged across the gills; however, parent rotenone was not found in either urine or bile. More than 80% of the activity in both urine and bile eluted from HPLC chromatographs as a highly polar fraction that was not hydrolyzed by incubation with either β-glucuronidase or sulfatase. The results imply that hepatobiliary excretion is the major route of elimination for rotenone residues in the trout and that metabolism to a more polar form is a prerequisite for elimination in both the bile and the urine

  11. Residual heat deposition in dental enamel during IR laser ablation at 2.79, 2.94, 9.6, and 10.6 microm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fried, D; Ragadio, J; Champion, A

    2001-01-01

    The principal factor limiting the rate of laser ablation of dental hard tissue is the risk of excessive heat accumulation in the tooth. Excessive heat deposition or accumulation may result in unacceptable damage to the pulp. The objective of this study was to measure the residual heat deposition during the laser ablation of dental enamel at those IR laser wavelengths well suited for the removal of dental caries. Optimal laser ablation systems minimize the residual heat deposition in the tooth by efficiently transferring the deposited laser energy to kinetic and internal energy of ejected tissue components. The residual heat deposition in dental enamel was measured at laser wavelengths of 2.79, 2.94, 9.6, and 10.6 microm and pulse widths of 150 nsec -150 microsec using bovine block "calorimeters." Water droplets were applied to the surface before ablation with 150 microsec Er:YAG laser pulses to determine the influence of an optically thick water layer on reducing heat deposition. The residual heat was at a minimum for fluences well above the ablation threshold where measured values ranged from 25-70% depending on pulse duration and wavelength for the systems investigated. The lowest values of the residual heat were measured for short (heat deposition during ablation with 150 microsec Er:YAG laser pulses. Residual heat deposition can be markedly reduced by using CO(2) laser pulses of less than 20 microsec duration and shorter Q-switched Er:YAG and Er:YSGG laser pulses for enamel ablation. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  12. Treatment of Vascular Soft Tissue Sarcomas With Razoxane, Vindesine, and Radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhomberg, Walter; Wink, Anna; Pokrajac, Boris; Eiter, Helmut; Hackl, Arnulf; Pakisch, Brigitte; Ginestet, Angela; Lukas, Peter; Poetter, Richard Prof.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: In previous studies, razoxane and vindesine together with radiotherapy was proved to be effective in soft tissue sarcomas (STS). Because razoxane leads to a redifferentiation of pathological tumor blood vessels, it was of particular interest to study the influence of this drug combination in vascular soft tissue sarcomas. Methods and Materials: This open multicenter Phase II study was performed by the Austrian Society of Radiooncology. Among 13 evaluable patients (10 angiosarcomas and 3 hemangio-pericytomas), 9 had unresectable measurable disease, 3 showed microscopic residuals, and 1 had a resection with clear margins. They received a basic treatment with razoxane and vindesine supported by radiation therapy. Outcome measures were objective response rates, survival time, and the incidence of distant metastases. Results: In nine patients with measurable vascular soft tissue sarcomas (eight angiosarcomas and one hemangiopericytoma), 6 complete remissions, 2 partial remissions, and 1 minor remission were achieved, corresponding to a major response rate of 89%. A maintenance therapy with razoxane and vindesine of 1 year or longer led to a suppression of distant metastases. The median survival time from the start of the treatment is 23+ months (range, 3-120+) for 12 patients with macroscopic and microscopic residual disease. The progression-free survival at 6 months was 75%. The combined treatment was associated with a low general toxicity, but attention must be given to increased normal tissue reactions. Conclusions: This trimodal treatment leads to excellent response rates, and it suppresses distant metastases when given as maintenance therapy.

  13. Residual stress analysis in linear friction welded in-service Inconel 718 superalloy via neutron diffraction and contour method approaches

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith, M. [University of British Columbia – Okanagan, School of Engineering, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, Canada V1V 1V7 (Canada); Levesque, J.-B. [Institut de recherche d' Hydro-Québec (IREQ), 1800 Lionel-Boulet Blvd., Varennes, Canada J3X 1S1 (Canada); Bichler, L., E-mail: lukas.bichler@ubc.ca [University of British Columbia – Okanagan, School of Engineering, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, Canada V1V 1V7 (Canada); Sediako, D. [Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Building 459, Station 18, Chalk River, Canada K0J 1J0 (Canada); Gholipour, J.; Wanjara, P. [National Research Council of Canada, Aerospace 5145 Decelles Ave., Montreal, Canada H3T 2B2 (Canada)

    2017-04-13

    In this study, an analysis of elastic residual stress in Inconel{sup ®} 718 (IN 718) linear friction welds (LFWs) was carried out. In particular, the suitability of LFW for manufacturing and repair of aero engine components was emulated by joining virgin and in-service (extracted from a turbine disk) materials. The evolution in the residual strains and stresses in the heat-affected zone (HAZ), thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and dynamically recrystallized zone (DRX) of the weld was characterized using the neutron diffraction and contour methods. The results provided insight into diverse challenges in quantitative analysis of residual stresses in welded IN 718 using diffraction techniques. Specifically, judicious selection of the beam width, height and stress-free lattice spacing were seen to be crucial to minimize measurement error and increase accuracy. Further, the contour method – a destructive technique relying on capturing the stress relaxation after electrical discharge machining – was used to characterize the residual stress distribution on two-dimensional plane sections of the welds. Both techniques suggested an increasing magnitude of residual stress originating from the base metal that reached a peak at the weld interface. Both methods indicated that the peak magnitude of residual stresses were below the yield stress of IN 718.

  14. Cell and Tissue Engineering

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    “Cell and Tissue Engineering” introduces the principles and new approaches in cell and tissue engineering. It includes both the fundamentals and the current trends in cell and tissue engineering, in a way useful both to a novice and an expert in the field. The book is composed of 13 chapters all of which are written by the leading experts. It is organized to gradually assemble an insight in cell and tissue function starting form a molecular nano-level, extending to a cellular micro-level and finishing at the tissue macro-level. In specific, biological, physiological, biophysical, biochemical, medical, and engineering aspects are covered from the standpoint of the development of functional substitutes of biological tissues for potential clinical use. Topics in the area of cell engineering include cell membrane biophysics, structure and function of the cytoskeleton, cell-extracellular matrix interactions, and mechanotransduction. In the area of tissue engineering the focus is on the in vitro cultivation of ...

  15. Tissue distribution of residual antimony in rats treated with multiple doses of meglumine antimoniate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deise Riba Coelho

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Meglumine antimoniate (MA and sodium stibogluconate are pentavalent antimony (SbV drugs used since the mid-1940s. Notwithstanding the fact that they are first-choice drugs for the treatment of leishmaniases, there are gaps in our knowledge of their toxicological profile, mode of action and kinetics. Little is known about the distribution of antimony in tissues after SbV administration. In this study, we evaluated the Sb content of tissues from male rats 24 h and three weeks after a 21-day course of treatment with MA (300 mg SbV/kg body wt/d, subcutaneous. Sb concentrations in the blood and organs were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. In rats, as with in humans, the Sb blood levels after MA dosing can be described by a two-compartment model with a fast (t1/2 = 0.6 h and a slow (t1/2 >> 24 h elimination phase. The spleen was the organ that accumulated the highest amount of Sb, while bone and thyroid ranked second in descending order of tissues according to Sb levels (spleen >> bone, thyroid, kidneys > liver, epididymis, lungs, adrenals > prostate > thymus, pancreas, heart, small intestines > skeletal muscle, testes, stomach > brain. The pathophysiological consequences of Sb accumulation in the thyroid and Sb speciation in the liver, thyroid, spleen and bone warrant further studies.

  16. Residues of PCDDs and PCDFs in human milk samples in Ahmedabad, India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kashyap, R.; Bhatnagar, V.; Sadhu, H.; Jhamb, N.; Karanjkar, R.; Saiyed, H. [National Inst. of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad (India)

    2004-09-15

    Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and Polychlorinated dibenzo furans (PCDFs) represent a class of organic environmental pollutants. They are unwanted byproduct of incineration, uncontrolled burning and certain industrial processes. They are persistent in nature and bioaccumulates through food chain. These are hazardous to human health and environment. The residues of these toxicants have been detected in human adipose tissue, blood and milk. WHO has coordinated two rounds of follow up studies on levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in human milk and the data shows a decreasing trend during the last 30 years. However, in India there is no data available on the exposure and residues of these contaminants. This study presents first time the levels of dioxin and furans in human milk samples collected from the Ahmedabad city in India.

  17. Residual stresses and critical diameter in vitreous matrix materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mastelaro, Valmor R.; Zanotto, Edgar D.

    1995-01-01

    The present study was undertaken to test the validity of existing models for: i) the residual internal stresses which arise due to thermal and elastic mismatch in duplex systems, and ii) the critical particle diameter for spontaneous cracking. Partially crystallized 1,07 Na 2 O-2 Ca O-3 Si O 2 - 6% P 2 O 5 glasses were studied. The experimental residual stress was in excellent agreement with the calculated value, however, the critical particle diameter, estimated by an energy balance approach, was more than ten times smaller than the experimental value. This discrepancy indicates that the energy model is not applicable in this case. (author)

  18. Comparison of distal soft-tissue procedures combined with a distal chevron osteotomy for moderate to severe hallux valgus: first web-space versus transarticular approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Yu-Bok; Lee, Keun-Bae; Kim, Sung-Kyu; Seon, Jong-Keun; Lee, Jun-Young

    2013-11-06

    There are two surgical approaches for distal soft-tissue procedures for the correction of hallux valgus-the dorsal first web-space approach, and the medial transarticular approach. The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes achieved after use of either of these approaches combined with a distal chevron osteotomy in patients with moderate to severe hallux valgus. One hundred and twenty-two female patients (122 feet) who underwent a distal chevron osteotomy as part of a distal soft-tissue procedure for the treatment of symptomatic unilateral moderate to severe hallux valgus constituted the study cohort. The 122 feet were randomly divided into two groups: namely, a dorsal first web-space approach (group D; sixty feet) and a medial transarticular approach (group M; sixty-two feet). The clinical and radiographic results of the two groups were compared at a mean follow-up time of thirty-eight months. The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot scale hallux metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal scores improved from a mean and standard deviation of 55.5 ± 12.8 points preoperatively to 93.5 ± 6.3 points at the final follow-up in group D and from 54.9 ± 12.6 points preoperatively to 93.6 ± 6.2 points at the final follow-up in group M. The mean hallux valgus angle in groups D and M was reduced from 32.2° ± 6.3° and 33.1° ± 8.4° preoperatively to 10.5° ± 5.5° and 9.9° ± 5.5°, respectively, at the time of final follow-up. The mean first intermetatarsal angle in groups D and M was reduced from 15.0° ± 2.8° and 15.3° ± 2.7° preoperatively to 6.5° ± 2.2° and 6.3° ± 2.4°, respectively, at the final follow-up. The clinical and radiographic outcomes were not significantly different between the two groups. The final clinical and radiographic outcomes between the two approaches for distal soft-tissue procedures were comparable and equally successful. Accordingly, the results of this study suggest that the medial transarticular

  19. Dielectric and FT-Raman spectroscopic approach to molecular identification of breast tumor tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abd El-Hakam, Rasha; Khalil, Safaa; Mahani, Ragab

    2015-01-01

    FT-Raman spectra and dielectric properties of benign and malignant women breast tissues in vitro were investigated. FT-Raman spectra for the malignant tissues showed a remarkably decrease in the lipid/protein ratio. Dielectric properties of women breast tissues measured in the low frequency range (42-10(6)Hz) were interpreted in spite of electrode polarization effect. Experimental results showed a contrast between the dielectric properties of malignant (Grade II) and benign tissues within the frequency range studied. The permittivity of malignant to normal breast tissue was found to be 160:1 while it could be 1.3:1 for fibrocystic breast tissues. These findings could contribute to distinguish between two breast tissues. The differences in spectral features between benign and malignant tissues may lead to breast cancer detection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. A texture based pattern recognition approach to distinguish melanoma from non-melanoma cells in histopathological tissue microarray sections.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elton Rexhepaj

    Full Text Available AIMS: Immunohistochemistry is a routine practice in clinical cancer diagnostics and also an established technology for tissue-based research regarding biomarker discovery efforts. Tedious manual assessment of immunohistochemically stained tissue needs to be fully automated to take full advantage of the potential for high throughput analyses enabled by tissue microarrays and digital pathology. Such automated tools also need to be reproducible for different experimental conditions and biomarker targets. In this study we present a novel supervised melanoma specific pattern recognition approach that is fully automated and quantitative. METHODS AND RESULTS: Melanoma samples were immunostained for the melanocyte specific target, Melan-A. Images representing immunostained melanoma tissue were then digitally processed to segment regions of interest, highlighting Melan-A positive and negative areas. Color deconvolution was applied to each region of interest to separate the channel containing the immunohistochemistry signal from the hematoxylin counterstaining channel. A support vector machine melanoma classification model was learned from a discovery melanoma patient cohort (n = 264 and subsequently validated on an independent cohort of melanoma patient tissue sample images (n = 157. CONCLUSION: Here we propose a novel method that takes advantage of utilizing an immuhistochemical marker highlighting melanocytes to fully automate the learning of a general melanoma cell classification model. The presented method can be applied on any protein of interest and thus provides a tool for quantification of immunohistochemistry-based protein expression in melanoma.

  1. Mass-spectrometry analysis of histone post-translational modifications in pathology tissue using the PAT-H-MS approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberta Noberini

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Aberrant histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs have been implicated with various pathologies, including cancer, and may represent useful epigenetic biomarkers. The data described here provide a mass spectrometry-based quantitative analysis of hPTMs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE tissues, from which histones were extracted through the recently developed PAT-H-MS method. First, we analyzed FFPE samples from mouse spleen and liver or human breast cancer up to six years old, together with their corresponding fresh frozen tissue. We then combined the PAT-H-MS approach with a histone-focused version of the super-SILAC strategy-using a mix of histones from four breast cancer cell lines as a spike-in standard- to accurately quantify hPTMs from breast cancer specimens belonging to different subtypes. The data, which are associated with a recent publication (Pathology tissue-quantitative mass spectrometry analysis to profile histone post-translational modification patterns in patient samples (Noberini, 2015 [1], are deposited at the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/projects/PXD002669.

  2. Distributed capillary adiabatic tissue homogeneity model in parametric multi-channel blind AIF estimation using DCE-MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kratochvíla, Jiří; Jiřík, Radovan; Bartoš, Michal; Standara, Michal; Starčuk, Zenon; Taxt, Torfinn

    2016-03-01

    One of the main challenges in quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI is estimation of the arterial input function (AIF). Usually, the signal from a single artery (ignoring contrast dispersion, partial volume effects and flow artifacts) or a population average of such signals (also ignoring variability between patients) is used. Multi-channel blind deconvolution is an alternative approach avoiding most of these problems. The AIF is estimated directly from the measured tracer concentration curves in several tissues. This contribution extends the published methods of multi-channel blind deconvolution by applying a more realistic model of the impulse residue function, the distributed capillary adiabatic tissue homogeneity model (DCATH). In addition, an alternative AIF model is used and several AIF-scaling methods are tested. The proposed method is evaluated on synthetic data with respect to the number of tissue regions and to the signal-to-noise ratio. Evaluation on clinical data (renal cell carcinoma patients before and after the beginning of the treatment) gave consistent results. An initial evaluation on clinical data indicates more reliable and less noise sensitive perfusion parameter estimates. Blind multi-channel deconvolution using the DCATH model might be a method of choice for AIF estimation in a clinical setup. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Environmental interpretation using insoluble residues within reef coral skeletons: problems, pitfalls, and preliminary results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budd, Ann F.; Mann, Keith O.; Guzmán, Hector M.

    1993-03-01

    Insoluble residue concentrations have been measured within colonies of four massive reef corals from seven localities along the Caribbean coast of Panama to determine if detrital sediments, incorporated within the skeletal lattice during growth, record changes in sedimentation over the past twenty years. Amounts of resuspended sediment have increased to varying degrees at the seven localities over the past decades in response to increased deforestation in nearby terrestrial habitats. Preliminary results of correlation and regression analyses reveal few consistent temporal trends in the insoluble residue concentration. Analyses of variance suggest that amounts of insoluble residues, however, differ among environments within species, but that no consistent pattern of variation exists among species. D. strigosa and P. astreoides possess high concentrations at protected localities, S. siderea at localities with high amounts of resuspended sediment, and M. annularis at the least turbid localities. Little correlation exists between insoluble residue concentration and growth band width within species at each locality. Only in two more efficient suspension feeders ( S. siderea and D. strigosa) do weak negative correlations with growth band width exist overall. These results indicate that insoluble residue concentrations cannot be used unequivocally in environmental interpretation, until more is known about tissue damage, polyp behavior, and their effects on the incorporation of insolubles in the skeleton during growth in different coral species. Insoluble residue data are highly variable; therefore, large sample sizes and strong contrasts between environments are required to reveal significant trends.

  4. Affinity of 167Tm-citrate for tumor and liver tissue

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ando, A.; Ando, I.; Hiraki, T.

    1983-01-01

    Strong affinity of 167 Tm-citrate for tumor tissue was reconfirmed by using Ehrlich tumor. Excellent tumor imaging was obtained with 167 Tm-citrate because of its strong tumor affinity and because of the suitable physical characteristics of 167 Tm. A large amount of 167 Tm had accumulated in the connective tissue which contained inflammatory tissue, quite large amounts were found in areas containing viable and necrotic tumor tissue, and small amounts were present in viable tumor tissue. 167 Tm was not seen in necrotic tumor tissue. It was concluded that lysosomes did not play a major role in the tumor concentration of 167 Tm, but played an important role in the liver concentration of this nuclide. In the case of hepatoma AH109A, it was presumed that lysosomes played a considerably important role in the tumor concentration of 167 Tm, hepatoma AH109A possessing some residual features of the liver. 167 Tm was bound to acid mucopolysaccharides and transposed by the acid mucopolysaccharides in the tumor tissues and liver. The acid mucopolysaccharides to which 167 Tm were bound in tumor and liver, were heparan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate (or keratosulfate) and heparin (or keratosulfate). (orig.)

  5. Modeling of plates with multiple anisotropic layers and residual stress

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engholm, Mathias; Pedersen, Thomas; Thomsen, Erik Vilain

    2016-01-01

    Usually the analytical approach for modeling of plates uses the single layer plate equation to obtain the deflection and does not take anisotropy and residual stress into account. Based on the stress–strain relation of each layer and balancing stress resultants and bending moments, a general...... multilayered anisotropic plate equation is developed for plates with an arbitrary number of layers. The exact deflection profile is calculated for a circular clamped plate of anisotropic materials with residual bi-axial stress.From the deflection shape the critical stress for buckling is calculated......, and an excellent agreement between the two models is seen with a relative difference of less than 2% for all calculations. The model was also used to extract the cell capacitance, the parasitic capacitance and the residual stress of a pressure sensor composed of a multilayered plate of silicon and silicon oxide...

  6. Intraoperative radiotherapy in the multidisciplinary management of soft tissue sarcomas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calvo, F.A.; Abuchaibe, O.; Escude, L.; Santos, M.; Villas, C.; Beguiristain, J.L.; Amillo, S.; Canadell, J.

    1989-01-01

    From 1984 to 1989 locally advanced stages of soft tissue sarcomas have been systematically approached with maximal surgical resection, IORT (10-20 Gy) boost to the tumor bed (high risk or residual disease areas) and conventional fractionated external beam postoperative radiotherapy. Chemotherapy was given to patients with high cellular grade sarcomas. Nineteen patients with localized soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities were treated and local control was obtained in 18/19 cases (95%). Distant metastasis developed in 2 patients and 15 patients are alive with no evidence of disease. The median follow-up time of the entire group is 27+ months (range 2+ to 43+ months). Severe IORT toxicity consisting in unreversible peripheral neuropathy has been observed in 3 patients. Another group of 24 patients had tumor located in central anatomical areas (3 head and neck, 7 trunk, 6 retroperitoneal, 3 glutens, 3 pelvis, 1 rectal, 1 bladder). Local control has been obtained in 15 patients (62%). Distant metastasis developed in 3 patients and 11 are alive and free of malignant disease. The median follow-up in this group is 14.5+ months (range from 4 to 50+ months). Severe neuropathy was observed in 1 patient. Severe neurological damage is a preoccupying finding that merits a word of caution in the development of IORT protocols, as what single dose can be selected in areas including nerves in treatment field

  7. A novel approach for studying programmed cell death in living plant tissues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mark, Christina

    to traditional approaches. Future applications of this type of setup could be used for other types of plant tissues such as leaves or germinating embryos for studying the effects of e.g. biotic and abiotic stresses or for screening of compounds for biological effects. Due to the ease of use and many......Programmed cell death (PCD) is a highly regulated process in which cells are killed as part of developmental programmes or as defence mechanisms against pathogens, but the process is less well understood in plant cells compared to animal cells. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in PCD...... in plants, but the relationship between and mechanisms behind ROS and PCDhas not yet been fully elucidated due to the involvement of complex signalling networks. Elucidation of these mechanisms and signalling pathways will allow manipulation of cell death in plants, which could help to improve yield...

  8. Residual gas analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berecz, I.

    1982-01-01

    Determination of the residual gas composition in vacuum systems by a special mass spectrometric method was presented. The quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) and its application in thin film technology was discussed. Results, partial pressure versus time curves as well as the line spectra of the residual gases in case of the vaporization of a Ti-Pd-Au alloy were demonstrated together with the possible construction schemes of QMS residual gas analysers. (Sz.J.)

  9. Semiparametric regression for restricted mean residual life under right censoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mansourvar, Zahra; Martinussen, Torben; Scheike, Thomas H.

    2015-01-01

    is not observed, the restricted mean residual life must be considered. In this paper, we propose the proportional restricted mean residual life model for fitting survival data under right censoring. For inference on the model parameters, martingale estimating equations are developed, and the asymptotic properties...... of the proposed estimators are established. In addition, a class of goodness-of-fit test is presented to assess the adequacy of the model. The finite sample behavior of the proposed estimators is evaluated through simulation studies, and the approach is applied to a set of real life data collected from...

  10. Assessing the Availability of Wood Residues and Residue Markets in Virginia

    OpenAIRE

    Alderman, Delton R. Jr.

    1998-01-01

    A statewide mail survey of primary and secondary wood product manufacturers was undertaken to quantify the production and consumption of wood residues in Virginia. Two hundred and sixty-six wood product manufacturers responded to the study and they provided information on the production, consumption, markets, income or disposal costs, and disposal methods of wood residues. Hardwood and pine sawmills produce approximately 66 percent of Virginia's wood residues. Virginia's wood product man...

  11. Electrophoretic Detection and Confocal Microscopic Imaging of Tyrosine Nitrated Proteins in Plant Tissue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arora, Dhara; Singh, Neha; Bhatla, Satish C

    2018-01-01

    Tyrosine nitrated proteins can be detected in plant cells electrophoretically and their distribution can be monitored by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) imaging. One-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (1D PAGE) followed by Western blotting using polyclonal antibody against 3-nitrotyrosine residues enables detection of tyrosine nitrated proteins in plant cells. Here we describe detection of tyrosine nitrated proteins in the homogenates derived from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seedling cotyledons. Total soluble proteins obtained from tissue homogenates are resolved using vertical gel electrophoresis followed by their electrophoretic transfer on to a microporous membrane support for immunodetection. Spatial distribution of tyrosine nitrated proteins can be visualized using an antibody against 3-nitrotyrosine residues. Immunofluorescent localization is performed by cutting 7 μm thick wax sections of tissue followed by incubation in primary anti-nitrotyrosine antibody (dilution 1:200) and secondary Cy-3 labeled anti-rabbit IgG antibody (dilution 1:1500). Confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis is undertaken using argon lasers (ex: 530-550 nm and em: 570 nm) at pinhole 1. Modulation in the abundance and spatial localization of tyrosine nitrated proteins in plant tissues can be monitored using these techniques.

  12. The use of time-of-flight camera for navigating robots in computer-aided surgery: monitoring the soft tissue envelope of minimally invasive hip approach in a cadaver study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Putzer, David; Klug, Sebastian; Moctezuma, Jose Luis; Nogler, Michael

    2014-12-01

    Time-of-flight (TOF) cameras can guide surgical robots or provide soft tissue information for augmented reality in the medical field. In this study, a method to automatically track the soft tissue envelope of a minimally invasive hip approach in a cadaver study is described. An algorithm for the TOF camera was developed and 30 measurements on 8 surgical situs (direct anterior approach) were carried out. The results were compared to a manual measurement of the soft tissue envelope. The TOF camera showed an overall recognition rate of the soft tissue envelope of 75%. On comparing the results from the algorithm with the manual measurements, a significant difference was found (P > .005). In this preliminary study, we have presented a method for automatically recognizing the soft tissue envelope of the surgical field in a real-time application. Further improvements could result in a robotic navigation device for minimally invasive hip surgery. © The Author(s) 2014.

  13. Radiological approach to systemic connective tissue diseases

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wiesmann, W; Schneider, M

    1988-07-01

    Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) represent the most frequent manifestations of systemic connective tissue diseases (collagen diseases). Radiological examinations are employed to estimate the extension and degree of the pathological process. In addition, progression of the disease can be verified. In both of the above collagen diseases, specific radiological findings can be observed that permit them to be differentiated from other entities. An algorithm for the adequate radiological work-up of collagen diseases is presented.

  14. Environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation

    OpenAIRE

    Toller, Susanna; Kärrman, Erik; Gustafsson, Jon Petter; Magnusson, Y.

    2009-01-01

    Incineration ashes may be treated either as a waste to be dumped in landfill, or as a resource that is suit able for re-use. In order to choose the best management scenario, knowledge is needed on the potential environmental impact that may be expected, including not only local, but also regional and global impact. In this study. A life cycle assessment (LCA) based approach Was Outlined for environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation, in which leaching of trace elements as wel...

  15. Mutational properties of amino acid residues: implications for evolvability of phosphorylatable residues

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Creixell, Pau; Schoof, Erwin M.; Tan, Chris Soon Heng

    2012-01-01

    in terms of their mutational activity. Moreover, we highlight the importance of the genetic code and physico-chemical properties of the amino acid residues as likely causes of these inequalities and uncover serine as a mutational hot spot. Finally, we explore the consequences that these different......; it is typically assumed that all amino acid residues are equally likely to mutate or to result from a mutation. Here, by reconstructing ancestral sequences and computing mutational probabilities for all the amino acid residues, we refute this assumption and show extensive inequalities between different residues...... mutational properties have on phosphorylation site evolution, showing that a higher degree of evolvability exists for phosphorylated threonine and, to a lesser extent, serine in comparison with tyrosine residues. As exemplified by the suppression of serine's mutational activity in phosphorylation sites, our...

  16. Production of decellularized porcine lung scaffolds for use in tissue engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balestrini, Jenna L; Gard, Ashley L; Liu, Angela; Leiby, Katherine L; Schwan, Jonas; Kunkemoeller, Britta; Calle, Elizabeth A; Sivarapatna, Amogh; Lin, Tylee; Dimitrievska, Sashka; Cambpell, Stuart G; Niklason, Laura E

    2015-12-01

    There is a growing body of work dedicated to producing acellular lung scaffolds for use in regenerative medicine by decellularizing donor lungs of various species. These scaffolds typically undergo substantial matrix damage due to the harsh conditions required to remove cellular material (e.g., high pH, strong detergents), lengthy processing times, or pre-existing tissue contamination from microbial colonization. In this work, a new decellularization technique is described that maintains the global tissue architecture, key matrix components, mechanical composition and cell-seeding potential of lung tissue while effectively removing resident cellular material. Acellular lung scaffolds were produced from native porcine lungs using a combination of Triton X-100 and sodium deoxycholate (SDC) at low concentrations in 24 hours. We assessed the effect of matrix decellularization by measuring residual DNA, biochemical composition, mechanical characteristics, tissue architecture, and recellularization capacity.

  17. From stem to roots: Tissue engineering in endodontics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kala, M.; Banthia, Priyank; Banthia, Ruchi

    2012-01-01

    The vitality of dentin-pulp complex is fundamental to the life of tooth and is a priority for targeting clinical management strategies. Loss of the tooth, jawbone or both, due to periodontal disease, dental caries, trauma or some genetic disorders, affects not only basic mouth functions but aesthetic appearance and quality of life. One novel approach to restore tooth structure is based on biology: regenerative endodontic procedure by application of tissue engineering. Regenerative endodontics is an exciting new concept that seeks to apply the advances in tissue engineering to the regeneration of the pulp-dentin complex. The basic logic behind this approach is that patient-specific tissue-derived cell populations can be used to functionally replace integral tooth tissues. The development of such ‘test tube teeth’ requires precise regulation of the regenerative events in order to achieve proper tooth size and shape, as well as the development of new technologies to facilitate these processes. This article provides an extensive review of literature on the concept of tissue engineering and its application in endodontics, providing an insight into the new developmental approaches on the horizon. Key words:Regenerative, tissue engineering, stem cells, scaffold. PMID:24558528

  18. Approaches to improve angiogenesis in tissue-engineered skin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahota, Parbinder S; Burn, J Lance; Brown, Nicola J; MacNeil, Sheila

    2004-01-01

    A problem with tissue-engineered skin is clinical failure due to delays in vascularization. The aim of this study was to explore a number of simple strategies to improve angiogenesis/vascularization using a tissue-engineered model of skin to which small vessel human dermal microvascular endothelial cells were added. For the majority of these studies, a modified Guirguis chamber was used, which allowed the investigation of several variables within the same experiment using the same human dermis; cell type, angiogenic growth factors, the influence of keratinocytes and fibroblasts, mechanical penetration of the human dermis, the site of endothelial cell addition, and the influence of hypoxia were all examined. A qualitative scoring system was used to assess the impact of these factors on the penetration of endothelial cells throughout the dermis. Similar results were achieved using freshly isolated small vessel human dermal microvascular endothelial cells or an endothelial cell line and a minimum cell seeding density was identified. Cell penetration was not influenced by the addition of angiogenic growth factors (vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor); similarly, including epidermal keratinocytes or dermal fibroblasts did not encourage endothelial cell entry, and neither did mechanical introduction of holes throughout the dermis. Two factors were identified that significantly enhanced endothelial cell penetration into the dermis: hypoxia and the site of endothelial cell addition. Endothelial cells added from the papillary surface entered into the dermis much more effectively than when cells were added to the reticular surface of the dermis. We conclude that this model is valuable in improving our understanding of how to enhance vascularization of tissue-engineered grafts.

  19. A coupled creep plasticity model for residual stress relaxation of a shot-peened nickel-based superalloy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchanan, Dennis J.; John, Reji; Brockman, Robert A.; Rosenberger, Andrew H.

    2010-01-01

    Shot peening is a commonly used surface treatment process that imparts compressive residual stresses into the surface of metal components. Compressive residual stresses retard initiation and growth of fatigue cracks. During component loading history, shot-peened residual stresses may change due to thermal exposure, creep, and cyclic loading. In these instances, taking full credit for compressive residual stresses would result in a nonconservative life prediction. This article describes a methodical approach for characterizing and modeling residual stress relaxation under elevated temperature loading, near and above the monotonic yield strength of INI 00. The model incorporates the dominant creep deformation mechanism, coupling between the creep and plasticity models, and effects of prior plastic strain to simulate surface treatment deformation.

  20. Tissue Engineering Strategies in Ligament Regeneration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caglar Yilgor

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Ligaments are dense fibrous connective tissues that connect bones to other bones and their injuries are frequently encountered in the clinic. The current clinical approaches in ligament repair and regeneration are limited to autografts, as the gold standard, and allografts. Both of these techniques have their own drawbacks that limit the success in clinical setting; therefore, new strategies are being developed in order to be able to solve the current problems of ligament grafting. Tissue engineering is a novel promising technique that aims to solve these problems, by producing viable artificial ligament substitutes in the laboratory conditions with the potential of transplantation to the patients with a high success rate. Direct cell and/or growth factor injection to the defect site is another current approach aiming to enhance the repair process of the native tissue. This review summarizes the current approaches in ligament tissue engineering strategies including the use of scaffolds, their modification techniques, as well as the use of bioreactors to achieve enhanced regeneration rates, while also discussing the advances in growth factor and cell therapy applications towards obtaining enhanced ligament regeneration.

  1. Tissue polarimetry: concepts, challenges, applications, and outlook.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Nirmalya; Vitkin, I Alex

    2011-11-01

    Polarimetry has a long and successful history in various forms of clear media. Driven by their biomedical potential, the use of the polarimetric approaches for biological tissue assessment has also recently received considerable attention. Specifically, polarization can be used as an effective tool to discriminate against multiply scattered light (acting as a gating mechanism) in order to enhance contrast and to improve tissue imaging resolution. Moreover, the intrinsic tissue polarimetry characteristics contain a wealth of morphological and functional information of potential biomedical importance. However, in a complex random medium-like tissue, numerous complexities due to multiple scattering and simultaneous occurrences of many scattering and polarization events present formidable challenges both in terms of accurate measurements and in terms of analysis of the tissue polarimetry signal. In order to realize the potential of the polarimetric approaches for tissue imaging and characterization/diagnosis, a number of researchers are thus pursuing innovative solutions to these challenges. In this review paper, we summarize these and other issues pertinent to the polarized light methodologies in tissues. Specifically, we discuss polarized light basics, Stokes-Muller formalism, methods of polarization measurements, polarized light modeling in turbid media, applications to tissue imaging, inverse analysis for polarimetric results quantification, applications to quantitative tissue assessment, etc.

  2. Comparative autoradiographic investigations on the tissue distribution of benfotiamine versus thiamine in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilbig, R; Rahmann, H

    1998-05-01

    The tissue distribution of two therapeutically applied preparations of B-vitamins were investigated in blood and selected organs (liver, brain, muscle, kidney) of laboratory mice using autoradiographic techniques. Incorporation of lipid-soluble 3H-benfotiamine (CAS 22457-89-2) and water-soluble 3H-thiaminehydrochloride (CAS 67-03-8) (200 microCi, equivalent to 105 mg vitamin/kg body weight) was monitored between 0.75 and 168 h after an oral or subcutaneous administration. The labelled tissue slices were autoradiographically analysed after a differential histochemical extraction procedure to evaluate the respective total radioactivity, the uptake into lipid-soluble, water-soluble and residual macromolecular compounds. Evaluation of these autoradiographic data (given as mumol vitamin preparation/mg tissue equivalent) proved that benfotiamine is incorporated much better than thiaminehydrochloride independent of the administration mode. In muscle and brain tissue a 5 to 25 fold higher amount of tracer incorporation was registered following benfotiamine as compared with the thiamine application, whereas in all other organs the difference in the label was mostly between 10 and 40%. Concerning the organ specific distribution, liver and kidney were the structures labelled highest by both substances and administration procedures. In the liver, concerning all incorporation times, a higher proportion of residual macromolecular compounds was found, whereas in the kidney the proportions of lipid- as well as of water-soluble materials prevailed. These data should be clinically relevant.

  3. Full waveform inversion in the frequency domain using classified time-domain residual wavefields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Son, Woohyun; Koo, Nam-Hyung; Kim, Byoung-Yeop; Lee, Ho-Young; Joo, Yonghwan

    2017-04-01

    We perform the acoustic full waveform inversion in the frequency domain using residual wavefields that have been separated in the time domain. We sort the residual wavefields in the time domain according to the order of absolute amplitudes. Then, the residual wavefields are separated into several groups in the time domain. To analyze the characteristics of the residual wavefields, we compare the residual wavefields of conventional method with those of our residual separation method. From the residual analysis, the amplitude spectrum obtained from the trace before separation appears to have little energy at the lower frequency bands. However, the amplitude spectrum obtained from our strategy is regularized by the separation process, which means that the low-frequency components are emphasized. Therefore, our method helps to emphasize low-frequency components of residual wavefields. Then, we generate the frequency-domain residual wavefields by taking the Fourier transform of the separated time-domain residual wavefields. With these wavefields, we perform the gradient-based full waveform inversion in the frequency domain using back-propagation technique. Through a comparison of gradient directions, we confirm that our separation method can better describe the sub-salt image than the conventional approach. The proposed method is tested on the SEG/EAGE salt-dome model. The inversion results show that our algorithm is better than the conventional gradient based waveform inversion in the frequency domain, especially for deeper parts of the velocity model.

  4. The impact of hydration changes in fresh bio-tissue on THz spectroscopic measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Png, G M; Ng, B W-H; Mickan, S P; Abbott, D; Choi, J W; Zhang, X-C

    2008-01-01

    We present a study of how residual hydration in fresh rat tissue samples can vastly alter their extracted terahertz (THz) optical properties and influence their health assessment. Fresh (as opposed to preserved) tissue most closely mimics in vivo conditions, but high water content creates many challenges for tissue handling and THz measurement. Our THz measurements of fresh tissue over time highlight the effect of tissue hydration on tissue texture and dimension, the latter directly influencing the accuracy of calculated optical properties. We then introduce lyophilization (freeze drying) as a viable solution for overcoming hydration and freshness problems. Lyophilization removes large amounts of water while retaining sample freshness. In addition, lyophilized tissue samples are easy to handle and their textures and dimensions do not vary over time, allowing for consistent and stable THz measurements. A comparison of lyophilized and fresh tissue shows for the first time that freeze drying may be one way of overcoming tissue hydration issues while preserving tissue cellular structure. Finally, we compare THz measurements from fresh tissue against necrotic tissue to verify freshness over time. Indeed, THz measurements from fresh and necrotic tissues show marked differences

  5. Trans-nipple removal of fibro-glandular tissue in gynaecomastia surgery without additional scars: An innovative approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R K Mishra

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: The established techniques that have been used to treat gynaecomastia are said to have relatively less patient satisfaction rate as they leave some visible scars or mild elevation over the nipple areola complex, resulting in aesthetically unsatisfactory results. Even the slightest elevation or smallest scar over nipple areola complex leave patients extremely self conscious and in a dilemma of having a second intervention to get rid of that blemish. Aims: The aim of the study is to achieve - A flat chest without adding a scar and with no chances of re-occurrence of the condition. This article suggests an innovative approach to address the problem. Materials and Methods: The author presents trans-nipple incision approach for the delivery of fibro-glandular tissue component following liposuction for maximum patient satisfaction. This method consists of a unique small criss-cross incision right on the nipple itself for retrieving any volume of tough fibro-glandular tissues. Between the duration of January 2012 to October 2013, 28 male patients of different ages were operated with this technique. Results: The surgery resulted in well-shaped, symmetric chest contour without any visible elevation or additional scars on nipple areola complex. No complications were noticed in any of the patients. Conclusions: The presented technique is proved to have a high patient satisfaction rate and to be promising method to achieve good aesthetic results in gynaecomastia surgery.

  6. A new approach to dengue fatal cases diagnosis: NS1 antigen capture in tissues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monique da Rocha Queiroz Lima

    Full Text Available UNLABELLED: / BACKGROUND: Dengue is the most important arthropod borne viral disease worldwide in terms of morbidity and mortality and is caused by any of the four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV-1 to 4. Brazil is responsible for approximately 80% of dengue cases in the Americas, and since the introduction of dengue in 1986, a total of 5,944,270 cases have been reported including 21,596 dengue hemorrhagic fever and 874 fatal cases. DENV can infect many cell types and cause diverse clinical and pathological effects. The goal of the study was to investigate the usefulness of NS1 capture tests as an alternative tool to detect DENV in tissue specimens from previously confirmed dengue fatal cases (n = 23 that occurred in 2002 in Brazil. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A total of 74 tissue specimens were available: liver (n = 23, lung (n = 14, kidney (n = 04, brain (n = 10, heart (n = 02, skin (n = 01, spleen (n = 15, thymus (n = 03 and lymph nodes (n = 02. We evaluated three tests for NS1 antigen capture: first generation Dengue Early ELISA (PanBio Diagnostics, Platelia NS1 (BioRad Laboratories and the rapid test NS1 Ag Strip (BioRad Laboratories. The overall dengue fatal case diagnosis based on the tissues analyzed by Dengue Early ELISA, Platelia NS1 and the NS1 Ag Strip was 34.7% (08/23, 60.8% (14/23 and 91.3% (21/23, respectively. The Dengue Early ELISA detected NS1 in 22.9% (17/74 of the specimens analyzed and the Platelia NS1 in 45.9% (34/74. The highest sensitivity (78.3%; 58/74 was achieved by the NS1 Ag Strip, and the differences in the sensitivities were statistically significant (p<0.05. The NS1 Ag Strip was the most sensitive in liver (91.3%; 21/23, lung (71.4%; 10/14, kidney (100%; 4/4, brain (80%; 8/10, spleen (66.6%, 10/15 and thymus (100%, 3/3 when compared to the other two ELISA assays. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study shows the DENV NS1 capture assay as a rapid and valuable approach to postmortem dengue confirmation. With an

  7. Predicting tissue-specific expressions based on sequence characteristics

    KAUST Repository

    Paik, Hyojung; Ryu, Tae Woo; Heo, Hyoungsam; Seo, Seungwon; Lee, Doheon; Hur, Cheolgoo

    2011-01-01

    In multicellular organisms, including humans, understanding expression specificity at the tissue level is essential for interpreting protein function, such as tissue differentiation. We developed a prediction approach via generated sequence features from overrepresented patterns in housekeeping (HK) and tissue-specific (TS) genes to classify TS expression in humans. Using TS domains and transcriptional factor binding sites (TFBSs), sequence characteristics were used as indices of expressed tissues in a Random Forest algorithm by scoring exclusive patterns considering the biological intuition; TFBSs regulate gene expression, and the domains reflect the functional specificity of a TS gene. Our proposed approach displayed better performance than previous attempts and was validated using computational and experimental methods.

  8. Predicting tissue-specific expressions based on sequence characteristics

    KAUST Repository

    Paik, Hyojung

    2011-04-30

    In multicellular organisms, including humans, understanding expression specificity at the tissue level is essential for interpreting protein function, such as tissue differentiation. We developed a prediction approach via generated sequence features from overrepresented patterns in housekeeping (HK) and tissue-specific (TS) genes to classify TS expression in humans. Using TS domains and transcriptional factor binding sites (TFBSs), sequence characteristics were used as indices of expressed tissues in a Random Forest algorithm by scoring exclusive patterns considering the biological intuition; TFBSs regulate gene expression, and the domains reflect the functional specificity of a TS gene. Our proposed approach displayed better performance than previous attempts and was validated using computational and experimental methods.

  9. Residual stress control and design of next-generation ultra-hard gear steels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, Yana

    In high power density transmission systems, Ni-Co secondary hardening steels have shown great potential for next-generation gear applications due to their excellent strength, toughness and superior fatigue performance. Study of residual stress generation and evolution in Ferrium C61 and C67 gear steels revealed that shot peening and laser peening processes effectively produce desired beneficial residual stress in the steels for enhanced fatigue performance. Surface residual stress levels of -1.4GPa and -1.5GPa were achieved in shot peened C61 and laser peened C67, respectively, without introducing large surface roughness or defects. Higher compressive residual stress is expected in C67 according to a demonstrated correlation between attainable residual stress and material hardness. Due to the lack of appropriate shot media, dual laser peening is proposed for future peening optimization in C67. A novel non-destructive synchrotron radiation technique was implemented and applied for the first time for residual stress distribution analysis in gear steels with large composition and property gradients. Observed substantial residual stress redistribution and material microstructure change during the rolling contact fatigue screening test with extremely high 5.4GPa load indicates the unsuitability of the test as a fatigue life predictor. To exploit benefits of higher case hardness and associated residual stress, a new material and process (CryoForm70) aiming at 70Rc surface hardness was designed utilizing the systems approach based on thermodynamics and secondary hardening mechanisms. The composition design was first validated by the excellent agreement between experimental and theoretical core martensite start temperature in the prototype. A novel cryogenic deformation process was concurrently designed to increase the case martensite volume fraction from 76% to 92% for enhanced strengthening efficiency and surface hardness. High temperature vacuum carburizing was

  10. Ontology-based, Tissue MicroArray oriented, image centered tissue bank

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viti Federica

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Tissue MicroArray technique is becoming increasingly important in pathology for the validation of experimental data from transcriptomic analysis. This approach produces many images which need to be properly managed, if possible with an infrastructure able to support tissue sharing between institutes. Moreover, the available frameworks oriented to Tissue MicroArray provide good storage for clinical patient, sample treatment and block construction information, but their utility is limited by the lack of data integration with biomolecular information. Results In this work we propose a Tissue MicroArray web oriented system to support researchers in managing bio-samples and, through the use of ontologies, enables tissue sharing aimed at the design of Tissue MicroArray experiments and results evaluation. Indeed, our system provides ontological description both for pre-analysis tissue images and for post-process analysis image results, which is crucial for information exchange. Moreover, working on well-defined terms it is then possible to query web resources for literature articles to integrate both pathology and bioinformatics data. Conclusions Using this system, users associate an ontology-based description to each image uploaded into the database and also integrate results with the ontological description of biosequences identified in every tissue. Moreover, it is possible to integrate the ontological description provided by the user with a full compliant gene ontology definition, enabling statistical studies about correlation between the analyzed pathology and the most commonly related biological processes.

  11. Ninety-five orthotopic transplantations in 74 women of ovarian tissue after cytotoxic treatment in a fertility preservation network: tissue activity, pregnancy and delivery rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van der Ven, H; Liebenthron, J; Beckmann, M; Toth, B; Korell, M; Krüssel, J; Frambach, T; Kupka, M; Hohl, M K; Winkler-Crepaz, K; Seitz, S; Dogan, A; Griesinger, G; Häberlin, F; Henes, M; Schwab, R; Sütterlin, M; von Wolff, M; Dittrich, R

    2016-09-01

    -one pregnancies and 17 deliveries were recorded. In Subgroup 1, tissue was cryopreserved at the age of 30 ± 5.6 and transplanted at 34 ± 4.9 years. Ovaries remained active 1 year after transplantation in 67% of cases (n = 33/49), the pregnancy rate was 33% (n = 16/49) and the delivery rate was 25% (n = 12/49). In Subgroup 5, tissue was cryopreserved at the age 30 ± 5.9 years and transplanted at 34 ± 5.2 years. Ovaries remained active 1 year after transplantation in 63% of cases (n = 25/40), the pregnancy rate was 28% (n = 11/40) and the delivery rate was 23% (n = 9/40). The success rates were age dependant with higher success in women who cryopreserved at a younger age. In Subgroup 5, tissue was exclusively transplanted into the ovary in 10% (n = 4/40) of women and into a peritoneal pocket in 75% (n = 30/40), resulting in spontaneous conceptions in 91% of patients (n = 10/11). The data were drawn from a retrospective analysis. The cryopreservation and transplantation techniques used have changed during the study period. The tissue was stored in many tissue banks and many surgeons were involved, leading to heterogeneity of the procedures. However, this does reflect the realistic situation in many countries. Although patients with POI were evaluated before transplantation to allow specific analysis of the transplanted tissue itself, the possibility cannot be excluded that residual ovarian tissue was also reactivated. This is the largest case series worldwide to date and it confirms that cryopreservation and transplantation of ovarian tissue can be a successful option for preserving fertility. Persistent tissue activity 12 months after transplantation suggests that the pregnancy and delivery rates may increase further in the future. As transplantation into the peritoneum results in a high success rate, this approach may be an alternative to transplantation into the ovary. However, in order to establish the best transplantation site, a randomized study is required. This study was

  12. Bioprinting for Neural Tissue Engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knowlton, Stephanie; Anand, Shivesh; Shah, Twisha; Tasoglu, Savas

    2018-01-01

    Bioprinting is a method by which a cell-encapsulating bioink is patterned to create complex tissue architectures. Given the potential impact of this technology on neural research, we review the current state-of-the-art approaches for bioprinting neural tissues. While 2D neural cultures are ubiquitous for studying neural cells, 3D cultures can more accurately replicate the microenvironment of neural tissues. By bioprinting neuronal constructs, one can precisely control the microenvironment by specifically formulating the bioink for neural tissues, and by spatially patterning cell types and scaffold properties in three dimensions. We review a range of bioprinted neural tissue models and discuss how they can be used to observe how neurons behave, understand disease processes, develop new therapies and, ultimately, design replacement tissues. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Radiological approach to systemic connective tissue diseases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiesmann, W.; Schneider, M.

    1988-01-01

    Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) represent the most frequent manifestations of systemic connective tissue diseases (collagen diseases). Radiological examinations are employed to estimate the extension and degree of the pathological process. In addition, progression of the disease can be verified. In both of the above collagen diseases, specific radiological findings can be observed that permit them to be differentiated from other entities. An algorithm for the adequate radiological work-up of collagen diseases is presented. (orig.) [de

  14. Accumulation of DNA Double-Strand Breaks in Normal Tissues After Fractionated Irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruebe, Claudia E.; Fricke, Andreas; Wendorf, Juliane; Stuetzel, Annika; Kuehne, Martin; Ong, Mei Fang; Lipp, Peter; Ruebe, Christian

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: There is increasing evidence that genetic factors regulating the recognition and/or repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are responsible for differences in radiosensitivity among patients. Genetically defined DSB repair capacities are supposed to determine patients' individual susceptibility to develop adverse normal tissue reactions after radiotherapy. In a preclinical murine model, we analyzed the impact of different DSB repair capacities on the cumulative DNA damage in normal tissues during the course of fractionated irradiation. Material and Methods: Different strains of mice with defined genetic backgrounds (SCID -/- homozygous, ATM -/- homozygous, ATM +/- heterozygous, and ATM +/+ wild-type mice) were subjected to single (2 Gy) or fractionated irradiation (5 x 2 Gy). By enumerating γH2AX foci, the formation and rejoining of DSBs were analyzed in organs representative of both early-responding (small intestine) and late-responding tissues (lung, kidney, and heart). Results: In repair-deficient SCID -/- and ATM -/- homozygous mice, large proportions of radiation-induced DSBs remained unrepaired after each fraction, leading to the pronounced accumulation of residual DNA damage after fractionated irradiation, similarly visible in early- and late-responding tissues. The slight DSB repair impairment of ATM +/- heterozygous mice was not detectable after single-dose irradiation but resulted in a significant increase in unrepaired DSBs during the fractionated irradiation scheme. Conclusions: Radiation-induced DSBs accumulate similarly in acute- and late-responding tissues during fractionated irradiation, whereas the whole extent of residual DNA damage depends decisively on the underlying genetically defined DSB repair capacity. Moreover, our data indicate that even minor impairments in DSB repair lead to exceeding DNA damage accumulation during fractionated irradiation and thus may have a significant impact on normal tissue responses in clinical

  15. RANDOM FUNCTIONS AND INTERVAL METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE RESIDUAL RESOURCE OF BUILDING STRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shmelev Gennadiy Dmitrievich

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Subject: possibility of using random functions and interval prediction method for estimating the residual life of building structures in the currently used buildings. Research objectives: coordination of ranges of values to develop predictions and random functions that characterize the processes being predicted. Materials and methods: when performing this research, the method of random functions and the method of interval prediction were used. Results: in the course of this work, the basic properties of random functions, including the properties of families of random functions, are studied. The coordination of time-varying impacts and loads on building structures is considered from the viewpoint of their influence on structures and representation of the structures’ behavior in the form of random functions. Several models of random functions are proposed for predicting individual parameters of structures. For each of the proposed models, its scope of application is defined. The article notes that the considered approach of forecasting has been used many times at various sites. In addition, the available results allowed the authors to develop a methodology for assessing the technical condition and residual life of building structures for the currently used facilities. Conclusions: we studied the possibility of using random functions and processes for the purposes of forecasting the residual service lives of structures in buildings and engineering constructions. We considered the possibility of using an interval forecasting approach to estimate changes in defining parameters of building structures and their technical condition. A comprehensive technique for forecasting the residual life of building structures using the interval approach is proposed.

  16. Environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toller, Susanna

    2008-10-15

    In Sweden, utilisation of incinerator residues outside disposal areas is restricted by environmental concerns, as such residues commonly contain greater amounts of potentially toxic trace elements than the natural materials they replace. On the other hand, utilisation can also provide environmental benefits by decreasing the need for landfill and reducing raw material extraction. This thesis provides increased knowledge and proposes better approaches for environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation, particularly bottom ash from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI). A life cycle assessment (LCA) based approach was outlined for environmental assessment of incinerator residue utilisation, in which leaching of trace elements as well as other emissions to air and water and the use of resources were regarded as constituting the potential environmental impact from the system studied. Case studies were performed for i) road construction with or without MSWI bottom ash, ii) three management scenarios for MSWI bottom ash and iii) three management scenarios for wood ash. Different types of potential environmental impact predominated in the activities of the system and the scenarios differed in use of resources and energy. Utilising MSWI bottom ash in road construction and recycling of wood ash on forest land saved more natural resources and energy than when these materials were managed according to the other scenarios investigated, including dumping in landfill. There is a potential for trace element leaching regardless of how the ash is managed. Trace element leaching, particularly of copper (Cu), was identified as being relatively important for environmental assessment of MSWI bottom ash utilisation. CuO is suggested as the most important type of Cu-containing mineral in weathered MSWI bottom ash, whereas in the leachate Cu is mainly present in complexes with dissolved organic matter (DOM). The hydrophilic components of the DOM were more important for Cu

  17. Evaluation of residue-residue contact prediction in CASP10

    KAUST Repository

    Monastyrskyy, Bohdan

    2013-08-31

    We present the results of the assessment of the intramolecular residue-residue contact predictions from 26 prediction groups participating in the 10th round of the CASP experiment. The most recently developed direct coupling analysis methods did not take part in the experiment likely because they require a very deep sequence alignment not available for any of the 114 CASP10 targets. The performance of contact prediction methods was evaluated with the measures used in previous CASPs (i.e., prediction accuracy and the difference between the distribution of the predicted contacts and that of all pairs of residues in the target protein), as well as new measures, such as the Matthews correlation coefficient, the area under the precision-recall curve and the ranks of the first correctly and incorrectly predicted contact. We also evaluated the ability to detect interdomain contacts and tested whether the difficulty of predicting contacts depends upon the protein length and the depth of the family sequence alignment. The analyses were carried out on the target domains for which structural homologs did not exist or were difficult to identify. The evaluation was performed for all types of contacts (short, medium, and long-range), with emphasis placed on long-range contacts, i.e. those involving residues separated by at least 24 residues along the sequence. The assessment suggests that the best CASP10 contact prediction methods perform at approximately the same level, and comparably to those participating in CASP9.

  18. Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in various tissues of waterbirds in Nalabana bird sanctuary, Chilika Lake, Orissa, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhananjayan, V

    2012-07-01

    In order to understand whether organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are responsible for the mortality of waterbirds in Nalaban bird sanctuary in Chilika Lake, the current investigation was carried out in tissues of 11 individuals comprising 7 species of birds. One or more residues were detected in all the tissues of birds analysed. Concentration of ∑HCH, ∑DDT, and ∑PCBs were ranged from below detectable level (BDL)-811 ng/g, BDL-1,987 ng/g and BDL-1,027 ng/g respectively. PCBs levels were less than the food and drug administration's (FDA) action limits. Although varying levels of residues were detected among tissues, they do not appear to be responsible for the mass mortality of waterfowl. However, the need for additional research is heightened when considering that some of the birds are classified as a globally protected species by the international bodies.

  19. Metagenome enrichment approach used for selection of oil-degrading bacteria consortia for drill cutting residue bioremediation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerra, Alaine B; Oliveira, Jorge S; Silva-Portela, Rita C B; Araújo, Wydemberg; Carlos, Aline C; Vasconcelos, Ana Tereza R; Freitas, Ana Teresa; Domingos, Yldeney Silva; de Farias, Mirna Ferreira; Fernandes, Glauber José Turolla; Agnez-Lima, Lucymara F

    2018-04-01

    Drill cuttings leave behind thousands of tons of residues without adequate treatment, generating a large environmental liability. Therefore knowledge about the microbial community of drilling residue may be useful for developing bioremediation strategies. In this work, samples of drilling residue were enriched in different culture media in the presence of petroleum, aiming to select potentially oil-degrading bacteria and biosurfactant producers. Total DNA was extracted directly from the drill cutting samples and from two enriched consortia and sequenced using the Ion Torrent platform. Taxonomic analysis revealed the predominance of Proteobacteria in the metagenome from the drill cuttings, while Firmicutes was enriched in consortia samples. Functional analysis using the Biosurfactants and Biodegradation Database (BioSurfDB) revealed a similar pattern among the three samples regarding hydrocarbon degradation and biosurfactants production pathways. However, some statistical differences were observed between samples. Namely, the pathways related to the degradation of fatty acids, chloroalkanes, and chloroalkanes were enriched in consortia samples. The degradation colorimetric assay using dichlorophenolindophenol as an indicator was positive for several hydrocarbon substrates. The consortia were also able to produce biosurfactants, with biosynthesis of iturin, lichnysin, and surfactin among the more abundant pathways. A microcosms assay followed by gas chromatography analysis showed the efficacy of the consortia in degrading alkanes, as we observed a reduction of around 66% and 30% for each consortium in total alkanes. These data suggest the potential use of these consortia in the bioremediation of drilling residue based on autochthonous bioaugmentation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Fasting, but Not Aging, Dramatically Alters the Redox Status of Cysteine Residues on Proteins in Drosophila melanogaster

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja E. Menger

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Altering the redox state of cysteine residues on protein surfaces is an important response to environmental challenges. Although aging and fasting alter many redox processes, the role of cysteine residues is uncertain. To address this, we used a redox proteomic technique, oxidative isotope-coded affinity tags (OxICAT, to assess cysteine-residue redox changes in Drosophila melanogaster during aging and fasting. This approach enabled us to simultaneously identify and quantify the redox state of several hundred cysteine residues in vivo. Cysteine residues within young flies had a bimodal distribution with peaks at ∼10% and ∼85% reversibly oxidized. Surprisingly, these cysteine residues did not become more oxidized with age. In contrast, 24 hr of fasting dramatically oxidized cysteine residues that were reduced under fed conditions while also reducing cysteine residues that were initially oxidized. We conclude that fasting, but not aging, dramatically alters cysteine-residue redox status in D. melanogaster.

  1. Crop residues as raw materials for biorefinery systems - A LCA case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cherubini, Francesco; Ulgiati, Sergio

    2010-01-01

    Our strong dependence on fossil fuels results from the intensive use and consumption of petroleum derivatives which, combined with diminishing oil resources, causes environmental and political concerns. The utilization of agricultural residues as raw materials in a biorefinery is a promising alternative to fossil resources for production of energy carriers and chemicals, thus mitigating climate change and enhancing energy security. This paper focuses on a biorefinery concept which produces bioethanol, bioenergy and biochemicals from two types of agricultural residues, corn stover and wheat straw. These biorefinery systems are investigated using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, which takes into account all the input and output flows occurring along the production chain. This approach can be applied to almost all the other patterns that convert lignocellulosic residues into bioenergy and biochemicals. The analysis elaborates on land use change aspects, i.e. the effects of crop residue removal (like decrease in grain yields, change in soil N 2 O emissions and decrease of soil organic carbon). The biorefinery systems are compared with the respective fossil reference systems producing the same amount of products/services from fossils instead of biomass. Since climate change mitigation and energy security are the two most important driving forces for biorefinery development, the assessment focuses on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cumulative primary energy demand, but other environmental categories are evaluated as well. Results show that the use of crop residues in a biorefinery saves GHG emissions and reduces fossil energy demand. For instance, GHG emissions are reduced by about 50% and more than 80% of non-renewable energy is saved. Land use change effects have a strong influence in the final GHG balance (about 50%), and their uncertainty is discussed in a sensitivity analysis. Concerning the investigation of the other impact categories, biorefinery systems

  2. Proceedings of the 7. biennial residue-to-revenue residual wood conference 2007

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raulin, J.

    2007-01-01

    This conference provided information on the highest and best use of residual wood, which is quickly becoming a valuable commodity. Issues concerning forest residues, sawmill wastes, agricultural residues and urban organic materials were discussed along with trends in Canadian surplus mill waste production. The evolving nature and technologies of the biomass business were highlighted with particular focus on how to generate energy and save money through the use of residual wood. Residual wood energy projects and developments in Canada, North America and Europe were outlined along with biomass development in relation to forest fires and insect disturbances. Cogeneration technologies using wood wastes for thermal heat, steam and electricity were also presented, along with transportation fuel technologies for the production of ethanol. It was noted that with the rising cost of energy, the forest industry is seeking energy solutions based on the use of residual wood. The range of economically practical residual wood solutions continues to grow as energy prices increase. The conference was attended by more than 200 delegates from the forest industry, suppliers and government representatives, to discuss policies and procedures currently in place. Industry investment is being stimulated by the potential for biofuels and biochemicals, as well as the co-operation between the forest and energy sectors. The conference featured 23 presentations, of which 12 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs

  3. Using a consensus approach based on the conservation of inter-residue contacts to rank CAPRI models

    KAUST Repository

    Vangone, Anna

    2013-10-17

    Herein we propose the use of a consensus approach, CONSRANK, for ranking CAPRI models. CONSRANK relies on the conservation of inter-residue contacts in the analyzed decoys ensemble. Models are ranked according to their ability to match the most frequently observed contacts. We applied CONSRANK to 19 CAPRI protein-protein targets, covering a wide range of prediction difficulty and involved in a variety of biological functions. CONSRANK results are consistently good, both in terms of native-like (NL) solutions ranked in the top positions and of values of the Area Under the receiver operating characteristic Curve (AUC). For targets having a percentage of NL solutions above 3%, an excellent performance is found, with AUC values approaching 1. For the difficult target T46, having only 3.4% NL solutions, the number of NL solutions in the top 5 and 10 ranked positions is enriched by a factor 30, and the AUC value is as high as 0.997. AUC values below 0.8 are only found for targets featuring a percentage of NL solutions within 1.1%. Remarkably, a false consensus emerges only in one case, T42, which happens to be an artificial protein, whose assembly details remain uncertain, based on controversial experimental data. We also show that CONSRANK still performs very well on a limited number of models, provided that more than 1 NL solution is included in the ensemble, thus extending its applicability to cases where few dozens of models are available.© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. GEOGRAPHICALANALYSIS WITH GIS METHODOLOGY FOR A SUSTAINABLE USE OF LOGGING RESIDUES IN MOUNTAINOUS AREA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raffaele Cavalli

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available A GIS-based approach is presented in order to define a decision support system tool for strategic planning of forest biomass supply chain for a heating/energy use. The presented GIS-based approach focus its analysis on forest management data, road network characteristics, terrain features and chipping and transporting cost. According to two different heating plants location, results on the availability of logging residues for energy use are presented in form of cost supply curves. For the investigated case study, supply curves evidence that, also at local level, different locations of heating plants can affect the cost-efficient use of logging residues in form of wood chips.

  5. Chemical modelling of pore water composition from PFBC residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karlsson, L.G.

    1991-01-01

    The concentration of trace elements varies depending on the source of the coal and also due to the combustion process used. Mercury is one important element among the trace elements in the coal residues, generally recognised as potentially harmful to the biological system. To predict the pore water concentrations of mercury and other important constituents leached from coal combustion residues disposal sites, mechanistic data on chemical reactions are required. The present study is an application of a basially thermodynamical approach using the geochemical code EQ3NR. The presence of discrete solid phases that control the aqueous concentrations of major elements such as aluminium, calcium and silicon are identified. Solid phases are modelled in equilibrium with a hypothetical pore water at a pH range of 7-11. In this study the thermodynamic database of EQ3NR has been complemented with data for cadmium, mercury and lead taken from the OECD/NEA Thermodynamic Database and from a compilation made by Lindsay. Possible solubility limiting phases for the important trace elements arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel and lead have been identified. Concentrations of these trace elements as a function of pH in the hypothetical pore water were calculated using mechanistic thermodynamial data. The thermodynamical approach in this study seems justified because most solid residues that are either present or expected to form during weathering have relatively fast precipitation/dissolution kinetics. (21 refs., 18 figs., 5 tabs.)

  6. Solid residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mulder, E.; Duin, P.J. van; Grootenboer, G.J.

    1995-01-01

    A summary is presented of the many investigations that have been done on solid residues of atmospheric fluid bed combustion (AFBC). These residues are bed ash, cyclone ash and bag filter ash. Physical and chemical properties are discussed and then the various uses of residues (in fillers, bricks, gravel, and for recovery of aluminium) are summarised. Toxicological properties of fly ash and stack ash are discussed as are risks of pneumoconiosis for workers handling fly ash, and contamination of water by ashes. On the basis of present information it is concluded that risks to public health from exposure to emissions of coal fly ash from AFBC appear small or negligible as are health risk to workers in the coal fly ash processing industry. 35 refs., 5 figs., 12 tabs

  7. Approach to Residual Kidney Stone Fragments After Shock Wave Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tumay Ižpekci

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available For kidney stones up to 2 cm in diameter shock wave therapy (SDT is safely applied and kidney stones smaller than 5mm remaining in the kidney after treatment are regarded as clinically insignificant. Management of this condition is still controversial among clinicians. These stones in the kidney may continue to persist without any clinical symptoms or begin to cause clinical signs. In the event that the clinical symptoms are present, it requires detailed urological examination and treatment. The aim in the surgical treatment of urinary tract stones is completely stone clearance but in stones that are not infected, not causing urinary tract obstruction and without clinical symptoms medical treatment is also beneficial fort he prevention of growth and recurrence. In addition, surgical intervention is also possible for the residual stone fragments which become symptomatic during follow-up.

  8. An electrochemical approach to monitor pH change in agar media during plant tissue culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Min; Ha, Yang

    2007-05-15

    In this work, metal oxide microelectrodes were developed to monitor pH change in agar media during plant tissue culture. An antimony wire was produced by a new approach "capillary melt method". The surface of the obtained antimony wire was oxidized in a potassium nitrate melt to fabricate an antimony oxide film for pH sensing. Characterization results show that the oxide layer grown on the wire surface consists of Sb(2)O(3) crystal phase. The sensing response, open-circuit potential, of the electrode has a good linear relationship (R(2)=1.00) with pH value of the test solution. Adding organic compounds into the test media would not affect the linear relationship, although the slope of the lines varied with different ingredients added. The antimony oxide electrodes were employed to continuously monitor pH change of agar culture media during a 2-week plant tissue culture of Dendrobium candidum. The antimony oxide electrode fabricated this way has the advantages of low cost, easy fabrication, fast response, and almost no contamination introduced into the system. It would be suitable for in situ and continuous pH measurement in many bio applications.

  9. Impact of Different Analytic Approaches on the Analysis of the Breast Fibroglandular Tissue Using Diffusion Weighted Imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoon Jung Choi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. This study investigated the impact of the different region of interest (ROI approaches on measurement of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC values in the breast firbroglandular tissue (FT. Methods. Breast MR images of 38 women diagnosed with unilateral breast cancer were studied. Percent density (PD and ADC were measured from the contralateral normal breast. Four different ROIs were used for ADC measurement. The measured PD and ADC were correlated. Results. Among the four ROIs, the manually placed small ROI on FT gave the highest mean ADC (ADC = 1839 ± 343 [×10−6 mm2/s], while measurement from the whole breast gave the lowest mean ADC (ADC = 933 ± 383 [×10−6 mm2/s]. The ADC measured from the whole breast was highly correlated with PD with r=0.95. In slice-to-slice comparison, the central slices with more FT had higher ADC values than the peripheral slices did, presumably due to less partial volume effect from fat. Conclusions. Our results indicated that the measured ADC heavily depends on the composition of breast tissue contained in the ROI used for the ADC measurements. Women with low breast density showing lower ADC values were most likely due to the partial volume effect of fatty tissues.

  10. In-situ observation of dislocation and analysis of residual stresses by FEM/DDM modeling in water cavitation peening of pure titanium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ju, D Y; Han, B

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, in order to approach this problem, specimens of pure titanium were treated with WCP, and the subsequent changes in microstructure, residual stress, and surface morphologies were investigated as a function of WCP duration. The influence of water cavitation peening (WCP) treatment on the microstructure of pure titanium was investigated. A novel combined finite element and dislocation density method (FEM/DDM), proposed for predicting macro and micro residual stresses induced on the material subsurface treated with water cavitation peening, is also presented. A bilinear elastic-plastic finite element method was conducted to predict macro-residual stresses and a dislocation density method was conducted to predict micro-residual stresses. These approaches made possible the prediction of the magnitude and depth of residual stress fields in pure titanium. The effect of applied impact pressures on the residual stresses was also presented. The results of the FEM/DDM modeling were in good agreement with those of the experimental measurements. (paper)

  11. Pharmacokinetics of Mequindox and Its Marker Residue 1,4-Bisdesoxymequindox in Swine Following Multiple Oral Gavage and Intramuscular Administration : An Experimental Study Coupled with Population Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zeng, Dongping; Lin, Zhoumeng; Fang, Binghu; Li, Miao; Gehring, Ronette; Riviere, Jim E; Zeng, Zhenling

    2017-01-01

    Mequindox (MEQ) is a quinoxaline-N,N-dioxide antibiotic used in food-producing animals. MEQ residue in animal-derived foods is a food safety concern. The tissue distribution of MEQ and its marker residue 1,4-bisdesoxymequindox (M1) were determined in swine following oral gavage or intramuscular

  12. In vitro systems toxicology approach to investigate the effects of repeated cigarette smoke exposure on human buccal and gingival organotypic epithelial tissue cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlage, Walter K; Iskandar, Anita R; Kostadinova, Radina; Xiang, Yang; Sewer, Alain; Majeed, Shoaib; Kuehn, Diana; Frentzel, Stefan; Talikka, Marja; Geertz, Marcel; Mathis, Carole; Ivanov, Nikolai; Hoeng, Julia; Peitsch, Manuel C

    2014-10-01

    Smoking has been associated with diseases of the lung, pulmonary airways and oral cavity. Cytologic, genomic and transcriptomic changes in oral mucosa correlate with oral pre-neoplasia, cancer and inflammation (e.g. periodontitis). Alteration of smoking-related gene expression changes in oral epithelial cells is similar to that in bronchial and nasal epithelial cells. Using a systems toxicology approach, we have previously assessed the impact of cigarette smoke (CS) seen as perturbations of biological processes in human nasal and bronchial organotypic epithelial culture models. Here, we report our further assessment using in vitro human oral organotypic epithelium models. We exposed the buccal and gingival organotypic epithelial tissue cultures to CS at the air-liquid interface. CS exposure was associated with increased secretion of inflammatory mediators, induction of cytochrome P450s activity and overall weak toxicity in both tissues. Using microarray technology, gene-set analysis and a novel computational modeling approach leveraging causal biological network models, we identified CS impact on xenobiotic metabolism-related pathways accompanied by a more subtle alteration in inflammatory processes. Gene-set analysis further indicated that the CS-induced pathways in the in vitro buccal tissue models resembled those in the in vivo buccal biopsies of smokers from a published dataset. These findings support the translatability of systems responses from in vitro to in vivo and demonstrate the applicability of oral organotypical tissue models for an impact assessment of CS on various tissues exposed during smoking, as well as for impact assessment of reduced-risk products.

  13. Biomass supply from alternative cellulosic crops and crop residues: A spatially explicit bioeconomic modeling approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Egbendewe-Mondzozo, Aklesso; Swinton, Scott M.; Izaurralde, César R.; Manowitz, David H.; Zhang, Xuesong

    2011-01-01

    This paper introduces a spatially-explicit bioeconomic model for the study of potential cellulosic biomass supply. For biomass crops to begin to replace current crops, farmers must earn more from them than from current crops. Using weather, topographic and soil data, the terrestrial ecosystem model, EPIC, dynamically simulates multiple cropping systems that vary by crop rotation, tillage, fertilization and residue removal rate. EPIC generates predicted crop yield and environmental outcomes over multiple watersheds. These EPIC results are used to parameterize a regional profit-maximization mathematical programming model that identifies profitable cropping system choices. The bioeconomic model is calibrated to 2007–09 crop production in a 9-county region of southwest Michigan. A simulation of biomass supply in response to rising biomass prices shows that cellulosic residues from corn stover and wheat straw begin to be supplied at minimum delivered biomass:corn grain price ratios of 0.15 and 0.18, respectively. At the mean corn price of $162.6/Mg ($4.13 per bushel) at commercial moisture content during 2007–2009, these ratios correspond to stover and straw prices of $24 and $29 per dry Mg. Perennial bioenergy crops begin to be supplied at price levels 2–3 times higher. Average biomass transport costs to the biorefinery plant range from $6 to $20/Mg compared to conventional crop production practices in the area, biomass supply from annual crop residues increased greenhouse gas emissions and reduced water quality through increased nutrient loss. By contrast, perennial cellulosic biomass crop production reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved water quality. -- Highlights: ► A new bioeconomic model predicts biomass supply and its environmental impacts. ► The model captures the opportunity cost of switching to new cellulosic crops. ► Biomass from crop residues is supplied at lower biomass price than cellulosic crops. ► Biomass from cellulosic crops has

  14. A generic approach for expanding homolog-targeted residue screening of sulfonamides using a fast matrix separation and class-specific fragmentation-dependent acquisition with a hybrid quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang Chunlin [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Pharmacy and Life Science, University of South China, Hengyang 421001 (China); Guo Bin, E-mail: binnguo@126.com [Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081 (China); Wang Xiaoying [Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081 (China); Li Jie [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Pharmacy and Life Science, University of South China, Hengyang 421001 (China); Zhu Weitao; Chen Bo [Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081 (China); Ouyang Shan [Food Inspection and Quarantine Center, Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of the People' s Republic of China, Shenzhen 518067 (China); Yao Shouzhuo [Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081 (China)

    2012-08-06

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Generic homolog-targeted screening approach for multi-residual sulfonamide analogs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Single-tube extraction/partitioning-multifunction adsorption cleanup for direct injection. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Class-specific fragmentation for expanding coverage of N{sup 4}-acetyl and N-OH metabolites. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer PreS-IDA-EPI in LC-QqLIT for simultaneous screening and confirmation of real samples. - Abstract: A generic and efficient homolog-targeted approach was used to expand screening and detection of target class of sulfonamides and structural analogs, based on a fast single-tube extraction/partitioning-multifunction adsorption cleanup (SEP/MAC) for class-specific fragmentation-dependent acquisition with a liquid chromatography-hybrid triple-quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometer (LC-QqLIT). By combining the two-stage process conducted in a single tube as one-pot protocol, the straightforward SEP/MAC procedure was optimized to offer clean extracts with reasonable recovery (71-109% with RSDs < 20%) and decreased matrix interferences (-9 to 19%) of multiresidual sulfonamide extraction from different tissue samples. The novel use of neutral loss scan of 66 Da (NLS) or precursor ion scanning of m/z 108 (PreS) in positive ion mode was found to achieve more comprehensive coverage of protonated molecular ions of a wide array of sulfonamides including N{sup 4}-acetyl and hydroxylamine metabolites plus their possible dimers. Moreover, the PreS-triggered automatically enhanced product ion spectral acquisition enabled simultaneous screening, profiling and confirmation of an unlimited number of analytes belonging to the sulfonamide class within a single analysis. The validation and application results of the generic SEP/MAC-based LC-QqLIT strategy consistently demonstrated favorable performances with acceptable accuracy (67-116%), precision (RSDs < 25%), and sensitivity (LOQs {<=} 7.5 ng

  15. Maximizing Selective Cleavages at Aspartic Acid and Proline Residues for the Identification of Intact Proteins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foreman, David J.; Dziekonski, Eric T.; McLuckey, Scott A.

    2018-04-01

    A new approach for the identification of intact proteins has been developed that relies on the generation of relatively few abundant products from specific cleavage sites. This strategy is intended to complement standard approaches that seek to generate many fragments relatively non-selectively. Specifically, this strategy seeks to maximize selective cleavage at aspartic acid and proline residues via collisional activation of precursor ions formed via electrospray ionization (ESI) under denaturing conditions. A statistical analysis of the SWISS-PROT database was used to predict the number of arginine residues for a given intact protein mass and predict a m/z range where the protein carries a similar charge to the number of arginine residues thereby enhancing cleavage at aspartic acid residues by limiting proton mobility. Cleavage at aspartic acid residues is predicted to be most favorable in the m/z range of 1500-2500, a range higher than that normally generated by ESI at low pH. Gas-phase proton transfer ion/ion reactions are therefore used for precursor ion concentration from relatively high charge states followed by ion isolation and subsequent generation of precursor ions within the optimal m/z range via a second proton transfer reaction step. It is shown that the majority of product ion abundance is concentrated into cleavages C-terminal to aspartic acid residues and N-terminal to proline residues for ions generated by this process. Implementation of a scoring system that weights both ion fragment type and ion fragment area demonstrated identification of standard proteins, ranging in mass from 8.5 to 29.0 kDa. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  16. Coil occlusion of residual shunts after surgical closure of patent ductus arteriosus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujii, Yoko; Keene, Bruce W; Mathews, Kyle G; Atkins, Clarke E; Defrancesco, Teresa C; Hardie, Elizabeth M; Wakao, Yoshito

    2006-12-01

    OBJECTIVE; To describe use of coil embolization to occlude residual flow through a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) after incomplete surgical ligation. Clinical study. Dogs (n=4) with continuous murmur after surgical ligation of PDA. After PDA ligation, residual ductal flow through the PDA was visible on color-flow Doppler examination and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter remained increased. Coil embolization by an arterial approach was performed to achieve complete occlusion of the PDA. Embolization coils were delivered without complications and hemodynamically successful occlusion was achieved. Doppler-visible flow resolved in 2 dogs within 3 months after embolization. Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter indexed to body weight decreased in all dogs. Transcatheter coil embolization appears to be a safe and minimally invasive procedure for complete occlusion of residual PDA flow after incomplete surgical ligation. Transcatheter coil embolization should be considered for correction of hemodynamically significant residual shunts in dogs that have incomplete PDA occlusion after open surgical ligation.

  17. Seasonal dynamics and diversity of bacteria in retail oyster tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Dapeng; Zhang, Qian; Cui, Yan; Shi, Xianming

    2014-03-03

    Oysters are one of the important vehicles for the transfer of foodborne pathogens. It was reported that bacteria could be bio-accumulated mainly in the gills and digestive glands. In artificially treated oysters, bacterial communities have been investigated by culture-independent methods after harvest. However, little information is available on the seasonal dynamics of bacterial accumulation in retail oyster tissues. In this study, retail oysters were collected from local market in different seasons. The seasonal dynamics and diversity of bacteria in oyster tissues, including the gills, digestive glands and residual tissues, were analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). It was interesting that the highest bacterial diversity appeared in the Fall season, not in summer. Our results indicated that Proteobacteria was the predominant member (23/46) in oyster tissues. Our results also suggested that bacterial diversity in gills was higher than that in digestive glands and other tissues. In addition, not all the bacteria collected from surrounding water by gills were transferred to digestive glands. On the other hand, few bacteria were found in oyster tissues except in the gills. Therefore, the gills could be the best candidate target tissue for monitoring of pathogenic bacteria either to human or to oyster. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Residual stress evaluation in brittle coatings using indentation technique combined with in-situ bending

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Futakawa, Masatoshi; Steinbrech, R.W.; Tanabe, Yuji; Hara, Toshiaki

    2000-01-01

    The indentation crack length approach was adopted and further elaborated to evaluate residual stress and toughness of the brittle coatings: two kinds of glass coatings on steel. The influence of the residual stress on indentation cracking was examined in as-received coating condition and by in-situ superimposing a counteracting tensile stress. For purpose of providing reference toughness values stress-free pieces of separated coating material have also been examined. Thus results of the two complementary sets of experiments were assumed to prove self-consistently toughness and residual stress data of the coating. In particular, the in-situ bending of specimen in combination with the indentation test allowed us to vary deliberately the residual stress situation in glass coating. Thus experiments which utilized the combination of bending test and micro-indentation were introduced as a method to provide unambiguous information about residual compressive stress. Toughness and residual compressive stress of glass coatings used in this study were 0.46-0.50 MPa·m 1/2 and 94-111 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, a thermoelastic calculation of the residual compressive stress was performed and it is found that the value of residual compressive stress at coating surface of specimen was 90-102 MPa. (author)

  19. Near-infrared spectroscopic tissue imaging for medical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demos, Stavros [Livermore, CA; Staggs, Michael C [Tracy, CA

    2006-12-12

    Near infrared imaging using elastic light scattering and tissue autofluorescence are explored for medical applications. The approach involves imaging using cross-polarized elastic light scattering and tissue autofluorescence in the Near Infra-Red (NIR) coupled with image processing and inter-image operations to differentiate human tissue components.

  20. Promoting tissue regeneration by modulating the immune system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Julier, Ziad; Park, Anthony J; Briquez, Priscilla S; Martino, Mikaël M

    2017-04-15

    The immune system plays a central role in tissue repair and regeneration. Indeed, the immune response to tissue injury is crucial in determining the speed and the outcome of the healing process, including the extent of scarring and the restoration of organ function. Therefore, controlling immune components via biomaterials and drug delivery systems is becoming an attractive approach in regenerative medicine, since therapies based on stem cells and growth factors have not yet proven to be broadly effective in the clinic. To integrate the immune system into regenerative strategies, one of the first challenges is to understand the precise functions of the different immune components during the tissue healing process. While remarkable progress has been made, the immune mechanisms involved are still elusive, and there is indication for both negative and positive roles depending on the tissue type or organ and life stage. It is well recognized that the innate immune response comprising danger signals, neutrophils and macrophages modulates tissue healing. In addition, it is becoming evident that the adaptive immune response, in particular T cell subset activities, plays a critical role. In this review, we first present an overview of the basic immune mechanisms involved in tissue repair and regeneration. Then, we highlight various approaches based on biomaterials and drug delivery systems that aim at modulating these mechanisms to limit fibrosis and promote regeneration. We propose that the next generation of regenerative therapies may evolve from typical biomaterial-, stem cell-, or growth factor-centric approaches to an immune-centric approach. Most regenerative strategies have not yet proven to be safe or reasonably efficient in the clinic. In addition to stem cells and growth factors, the immune system plays a crucial role in the tissue healing process. Here, we propose that controlling the immune-mediated mechanisms of tissue repair and regeneration may support

  1. On the residual stress modeling of shot-peened AISI 4340 steel: finite element and response surface methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asgari, Ali; Dehestani, Pouya; Poruraminaie, Iman

    2018-02-01

    Shot peening is a well-known process in applying the residual stress on the surface of industrial parts. The induced residual stress improves fatigue life. In this study, the effects of shot peening parameters such as shot diameter, shot speed, friction coefficient, and the number of impacts on the applied residual stress will be evaluated. To assess these parameters effect, firstly the shot peening process has been simulated by finite element method. Then, effects of the process parameters on the residual stress have been evaluated by response surface method as a statistical approach. Finally, a strong model is presented to predict the maximum residual stress induced by shot peening process in AISI 4340 steel. Also, the optimum parameters for the maximum residual stress are achieved. The results indicate that effect of shot diameter on the induced residual stress is increased by increasing the shot speed. Also, enhancing the friction coefficient magnitude always cannot lead to increase in the residual stress.

  2. Pressure induced deep tissue injury explained

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oomens, C.W.J.; Bader, D.L.; Loerakker, S.; Baaijens, F.P.T.

    The paper describes the current views on the cause of a sub-class of pressure ulcers known as pressure induced deep tissue injury (DTI). A multi-scale approach was adopted using model systems ranging from single cells in culture, tissue engineered muscle to animal studies with small animals. This

  3. Interdisciplinary approach to enhance the esthetics of maxillary anterior region using soft- and hard-tissue ridge augmentation in conjunction with a fixed partial prosthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khetarpal, Shaleen; Chouksey, Ajay; Bele, Anand; Vishnoi, Rahul

    2018-01-01

    Favorable esthetics is one of the most important treatment outcomes in dentistry, and to achieve this, interdisciplinary approaches are often required. Ridge deficiencies can be corrected for both, soft- and hard-tissue discrepancies. To overcome such defects, not only a variety of prosthetic options are at our disposal but also several periodontal plastic surgical techniques are available as well. Various techniques have been described and revised, over the year to correct ridge defects. For enhancing soft-tissue contours in the anterior region, the subepithelial connective tissue graft is the treatment of choice. A combination of alloplastic bone graft in adjunct to connective tissue graft optimizes ridge augmentation and minimizes defects. The present case report describes the use of vascular interpositional connective tissue graft in combination with alloplastic bone graft for correction of Seibert's Class III ridge deficiency followed by a fixed partial prosthesis to achieve a better esthetic outcome.

  4. Materials for Nuclear Plants From Safe Design to Residual Life Assessments

    CERN Document Server

    Hoffelner, Wolfgang

    2013-01-01

    The clamor for non-carbon dioxide emitting energy production has directly  impacted on the development of nuclear energy. As new nuclear plants are built, plans and designs are continually being developed to manage the range of challenging requirement and problems that nuclear plants face especially when managing the greatly increased operating temperatures, irradiation doses and extended design life spans. Materials for Nuclear Plants: From Safe Design to Residual Life Assessments  provides a comprehensive treatment of the structural materials for nuclear power plants with emphasis on advanced design concepts.   Materials for Nuclear Plants: From Safe Design to Residual Life Assessments approaches structural materials with a systemic approach. Important components and materials currently in use as well as those which can be considered in future designs are detailed, whilst the damage mechanisms responsible for plant ageing are discussed and explained. Methodologies for materials characterization, material...

  5. Liquefied Residue of Kenaf Core Wood Produced at Different Phenol-Kenaf Ratio

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saiful Bahari Bakarudin; Sarani Zakaria; Chia, C.H.; Jani, S.M.

    2012-01-01

    Liquefactions of kenaf core wood were carried out at different phenol-kenaf (P/ k) ratios. Characterizations of kenaf core wood liquefied residue were carried out to measure the degree of liquefaction. This provides a new approach to understand some fundamental aspects of the liquefaction reaction. Functional groups on the raw kenaf core wood and liquefied residue were examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The crystallinity index of the kenaf wood liquefied residue, which represents crystallinity changes of the cellulose component after the liquefaction process, was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphology of the wood residue was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal behavior of the residues was analyzed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Abroad peak around 3450-3400 cm -1 representing OH stretching in lignin start to disappear as P/K ratio increases. The results showed that the higher the P/K ratio the greater the liquefaction of the lignin component in the kenaf core wood. The crystallinity index (CrI) on the kenaf liquefied residues increased with the increase in P/K ratio. SEM images showed that the small fragments attached on the liquefied kenaf residue surface were gradually removed as the P/K ratio was increased from 1.5/ 1.0 to 2.5/ 1.0, which is mainly attributed to the greater chemical penetration toward reactive site of the kenaf fibres. Residue content decreased as the P/K ratio increased from 1.5/ 1.0 to 2.5/ 1.0. TGA results showed the increase of heat resistance in the residue as the P/K ratio was increased. (author)

  6. The performance of random coefficient regression in accounting for residual confounding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gustafson, Paul; Greenland, Sander

    2006-09-01

    Greenland (2000, Biometrics 56, 915-921) describes the use of random coefficient regression to adjust for residual confounding in a particular setting. We examine this setting further, giving theoretical and empirical results concerning the frequentist and Bayesian performance of random coefficient regression. Particularly, we compare estimators based on this adjustment for residual confounding to estimators based on the assumption of no residual confounding. This devolves to comparing an estimator from a nonidentified but more realistic model to an estimator from a less realistic but identified model. The approach described by Gustafson (2005, Statistical Science 20, 111-140) is used to quantify the performance of a Bayesian estimator arising from a nonidentified model. From both theoretical calculations and simulations we find support for the idea that superior performance can be obtained by replacing unrealistic identifying constraints with priors that allow modest departures from those constraints. In terms of point-estimator bias this superiority arises when the extent of residual confounding is substantial, but the advantage is much broader in terms of interval estimation. The benefit from modeling residual confounding is maintained when the prior distributions employed only roughly correspond to reality, for the standard identifying constraints are equivalent to priors that typically correspond much worse.

  7. Sol-gel derived manganese-releasing bioactive glass as a therapeutical approach for bone tissue engineering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barrioni, B.R.; Oliveira, A.C.; Leite, M.F.; Pereira, M.M. [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), MG (Brazil)

    2016-07-01

    Full text: Bioactive glasses (BG) have been highlighted in tissue engineering, due to their high bioactivity and biocompatibility, being potential materials for bone tissue repair. Its composition is variable and quite flexible, allowing the incorporation of therapeutic metallic ions, which has been regarded as a promising approach in the development of BG with superior properties for tissue engineering. These ions can be released in a controlled manner during the dissolution process of the glass, having the advantage of being released at the exactly implant site where they are needed, thus optimizing the therapeutic efficacy and reducing undesired side effects in the patient. Among several ions that have been studied, Manganese (Mn) has been shown to favor osteogenic differentiation. Besides, this ion is also a cofactor for several enzymes involved in remodeling of extracellular matrix, presenting an important role in cell adhesion. Therefore, it is very important to study the Mn role in the BG network and its influence on the glass bioactivity. In this context, new bioactive glass compositions derived from the 58S (60%SiO2-36%CaO-4%P2O5, mol%) were synthesized in this work, using the sol-gel method, by the incorporation of Mn into their structure. FTIR and Raman spectra showed the presence of typical BG chemical groups, whereas the amorphous structure typical of these materials was confirmed by XRD analysis, which also indicated that the Mn incorporation in the glass network was well succeeded, as its precursor did not recrystallize. The role of Mn in the glass network was also evaluated by XPS. The influence of Mn on carbonated hydroxyapatite layer formation after different periods of immersion of the BG powder in Simulated Body Fluid was evaluated using zeta potential, SEM, EDS and FTIR, whereas the controlled ion release was measured through ICP-OES. MTT assay revealed that Mn-containing BG showed no cytotoxic effect on cell culture. All these results indicate

  8. Sol-gel derived manganese-releasing bioactive glass as a therapeutical approach for bone tissue engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barrioni, B.R.; Oliveira, A.C.; Leite, M.F.; Pereira, M.M.

    2016-01-01

    Full text: Bioactive glasses (BG) have been highlighted in tissue engineering, due to their high bioactivity and biocompatibility, being potential materials for bone tissue repair. Its composition is variable and quite flexible, allowing the incorporation of therapeutic metallic ions, which has been regarded as a promising approach in the development of BG with superior properties for tissue engineering. These ions can be released in a controlled manner during the dissolution process of the glass, having the advantage of being released at the exactly implant site where they are needed, thus optimizing the therapeutic efficacy and reducing undesired side effects in the patient. Among several ions that have been studied, Manganese (Mn) has been shown to favor osteogenic differentiation. Besides, this ion is also a cofactor for several enzymes involved in remodeling of extracellular matrix, presenting an important role in cell adhesion. Therefore, it is very important to study the Mn role in the BG network and its influence on the glass bioactivity. In this context, new bioactive glass compositions derived from the 58S (60%SiO2-36%CaO-4%P2O5, mol%) were synthesized in this work, using the sol-gel method, by the incorporation of Mn into their structure. FTIR and Raman spectra showed the presence of typical BG chemical groups, whereas the amorphous structure typical of these materials was confirmed by XRD analysis, which also indicated that the Mn incorporation in the glass network was well succeeded, as its precursor did not recrystallize. The role of Mn in the glass network was also evaluated by XPS. The influence of Mn on carbonated hydroxyapatite layer formation after different periods of immersion of the BG powder in Simulated Body Fluid was evaluated using zeta potential, SEM, EDS and FTIR, whereas the controlled ion release was measured through ICP-OES. MTT assay revealed that Mn-containing BG showed no cytotoxic effect on cell culture. All these results indicate

  9. Regulatory aspects of tissue donation, banking and transplantation in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lobo Gajiwala, Astrid

    2018-05-04

    Amendments to India's Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, have established the legality of tissue donation and transplantation from deceased donors and the conditions under which they are permitted. The amended Act, now known as The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, seeks to prevent the commercialization of tissue donation and to guarantee the safety of indigenous allografts. Registration of tissue banks, compliance with national standards and the appointment of transplant co-ordinators in hospitals registered under the Act are now mandatory. A national registry and Regional and State networks for donation and transplantation of tissues have been introduced. Despite the amendments a few anomalies of the principal Act persist as some of the differences between tissue and organ donation and transplantation have been overlooked. These include the possibility of skin donation in locations other than hospitals; the donation of medical and surgical tissue residues which does not pose any risk to the living donor; the non-requirement for compatibility between donor and recipient; the delayed time factor between tissue donation and transplantation which makes identification of a recipient at the time of donation impossible; and the easy availability of alternatives to tissues which make waiting lists redundant for many tissues. Rules for the implementation of the amended Act were framed in 2014 but like the Act must be adopted by the State health assemblies to become universally applicable in the country.

  10. Handling of Solid Residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medina Bermudez, Clara Ines

    1999-01-01

    The topic of solid residues is specifically of great interest and concern for the authorities, institutions and community that identify in them a true threat against the human health and the atmosphere in the related with the aesthetic deterioration of the urban centers and of the natural landscape; in the proliferation of vectorial transmitters of illnesses and the effect on the biodiversity. Inside the wide spectrum of topics that they keep relationship with the environmental protection, the inadequate handling of solid residues and residues dangerous squatter an important line in the definition of political and practical environmentally sustainable. The industrial development and the population's growth have originated a continuous increase in the production of solid residues; of equal it forms, their composition day after day is more heterogeneous. The base for the good handling includes the appropriate intervention of the different stages of an integral administration of residues, which include the separation in the source, the gathering, the handling, the use, treatment, final disposition and the institutional organization of the administration. The topic of the dangerous residues generates more expectation. These residues understand from those of pathogen type that are generated in the establishments of health that of hospital attention, until those of combustible, inflammable type, explosive, radio-active, volatile, corrosive, reagent or toxic, associated to numerous industrial processes, common in our countries in development

  11. Biotechnological and molecular approaches for vanillin production: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaur, Baljinder; Chakraborty, Debkumar

    2013-02-01

    Vanillin is one of the most widely used flavoring agents in the world. As the annual world market demand of vanillin could not be met by natural extraction, chemical synthesis, or tissue culture technology, thus biotechnological approaches may be replacement routes to make production of bio-vanillin economically viable. This review's main focus is to highlight significant aspects of biotechnology with emphasis on the production of vanillin from eugenol, isoeugenol, lignin, ferulic acid, sugars, phenolic stilbenes, vanillic acid, aromatic amino acids, and waste residues by applying fungi, bacteria, and plant cells. Production of biovanillin using GRAS lactic acid bacteria and metabolically engineered microorganisms, genetic organization of vanillin biosynthesis operons/gene cassettes and finally the stability of biovanillin generated through various biotechnological procedures are also critically reviewed in the later sections of the review.

  12. Raman spectroscopic biochemical mapping of tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, Nicholas; Hart Prieto, Maria C.; Kendall, Catherine A.; Shetty, Geeta; Barr, Hugh

    2006-02-01

    Advances in technologies have brought us closer to routine spectroscopic diagnosis of early malignant disease. However, there is still a poor understanding of the carcinogenesis process. For example it is not known whether many cancers follow a logical sequence from dysplasia, to carcinoma in situ, to invasion. Biochemical tissue changes, triggered by genetic mutations, precede morphological and structural changes. These can be probed using Raman or FTIR microspectroscopy and the spectra analysed for biochemical constituents. Local microscopic distribution of various constituents can then be visualised. Raman mapping has been performed on a number of tissues including oesophagus, breast, bladder and prostate. The biochemical constituents have been calculated at each point using basis spectra and least squares analysis. The residual of the least squares fit indicates any unfit spectral components. The biochemical distribution will be compared with the defined histopathological boundaries. The distribution of nucleic acids, glycogen, actin, collagen I, III, IV, lipids and others appear to follow expected patterns.

  13. Evaluation of small intestine grafts decellularization methods for corneal tissue engineering.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Celeste Oliveira

    Full Text Available Advances in the development of cornea substitutes by tissue engineering techniques have focused on the use of decellularized tissue scaffolds. In this work, we evaluated different chemical and physical decellularization methods on small intestine tissues to determine the most appropriate decellularization protocols for corneal applications. Our results revealed that the most efficient decellularization agents were the SDS and triton X-100 detergents, which were able to efficiently remove most cell nuclei and residual DNA. Histological and histochemical analyses revealed that collagen fibers were preserved upon decellularization with triton X-100, NaCl and sonication, whereas reticular fibers were properly preserved by decellularization with UV exposure. Extracellular matrix glycoproteins were preserved after decellularization with SDS, triton X-100 and sonication, whereas proteoglycans were not affected by any of the decellularization protocols. Tissue transparency was significantly higher than control non-decellularized tissues for all protocols, although the best light transmittance results were found in tissues decellularized with SDS and triton X-100. In conclusion, our results suggest that decellularized intestinal grafts could be used as biological scaffolds for cornea tissue engineering. Decellularization with triton X-100 was able to efficiently remove all cells from the tissues while preserving tissue structure and most fibrillar and non-fibrillar extracellular matrix components, suggesting that this specific decellularization agent could be safely used for efficient decellularization of SI tissues for cornea TE applications.

  14. Mathematical Approach in Rheological Characterizing of Asphalt Emulsion Residues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seong Hwan Cho

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Three different emulsion residues, such as SS1HP, HFE90, and SS-1VH (trackless, and a base asphalt binder (PG 64-22 are compared to characterize rheological properties by using DSR test. In order to capture the emulsion properties, different frequencies (from 1 to 100 rad/sec at a 10% constant shear rate and temperatures (from −45°C to 75°C with 15°C increments were applied. Then, a master curve for shear modulus was plotted for each emulsion. The transition of the HFE90 emulsion from viscous to elastic behavior occurs at lower temperatures, compared to the other materials. This emulsion is known for performing in a wider temperature range as shown in the results. The trackless emulsion presents an elastic behavior at intermediate temperatures. This product is known as having very fast setting and high resistance to shear stresses. The trackless emulsion presents the highest viscous and elastic modulus, followed by the PG 64-22 binder, SS1HP, and HFE90 emulsion. Shear strength test results show a behavior between trackless emulsion and SS1HP similar to the frequency sweep test results performed by DSR.

  15. Production of decellularized porcine lung scaffolds for use in tissue engineering†

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balestrini, Jenna L.; Gard, Ashley L.; Liu, Angela; Leiby, Katherine L.; Schwan, Jonas; Kunkemoeller, Britta; Calle, Elizabeth A.; Sivarapatna, Amogh; Lin, Tylee; Dimitrievska, Sashka; Cambpella, Stuart G.; Niklason, Laura E.

    2015-01-01

    There is a growing body of work dedicated to producing acellular lung scaffolds for use in regenerative medicine by decellularizing donor lungs of various species. These scaffolds typically undergo substantial matrix damage due to the harsh conditions required to remove cellular material (e.g., high pH, strong detergents), lengthy processing times, or pre-existing tissue contamination from microbial colonization. In this work, a new decellularization technique is described that maintains the global tissue architecture, key matrix components, mechanical composition and cell-seeding potential of lung tissue while effectively removing resident cellular material. Acellular lung scaffolds were produced from native porcine lungs using a combination of Triton X-100 and sodium deoxycholate (SDC) at low concentrations in 24 hours. We assessed the effect of matrix decellularization by measuring residual PMID:26426090

  16. RSARF: Prediction of residue solvent accessibility from protein sequence using random forest method

    KAUST Repository

    Ganesan, Pugalenthi; Kandaswamy, Krishna Kumar Umar; Chou -, Kuochen; Vivekanandan, Saravanan; Kolatkar, Prasanna R.

    2012-01-01

    Prediction of protein structure from its amino acid sequence is still a challenging problem. The complete physicochemical understanding of protein folding is essential for the accurate structure prediction. Knowledge of residue solvent accessibility gives useful insights into protein structure prediction and function prediction. In this work, we propose a random forest method, RSARF, to predict residue accessible surface area from protein sequence information. The training and testing was performed using 120 proteins containing 22006 residues. For each residue, buried and exposed state was computed using five thresholds (0%, 5%, 10%, 25%, and 50%). The prediction accuracy for 0%, 5%, 10%, 25%, and 50% thresholds are 72.9%, 78.25%, 78.12%, 77.57% and 72.07% respectively. Further, comparison of RSARF with other methods using a benchmark dataset containing 20 proteins shows that our approach is useful for prediction of residue solvent accessibility from protein sequence without using structural information. The RSARF program, datasets and supplementary data are available at http://caps.ncbs.res.in/download/pugal/RSARF/. - See more at: http://www.eurekaselect.com/89216/article#sthash.pwVGFUjq.dpuf

  17. Profile Monitors Based on Residual Gas Interaction

    CERN Document Server

    Forck, P; Giacomini, T; Peters, A

    2005-01-01

    The precise determination of transverse beam profiles at high current hadron accelerators has to be performed non-interceptingly. Two methods will be discussed based on the excitation of the residual gas molecules by the beam particles: Firstly, by beam induced fluorescence (BIF) light is emitted from the residual gas molecules and is observed with an image intensified CCD camera. At most laboratories N2 gas is inserted, which has a large cross section for emission in the blue wave length region. Secondly, a larger signal strength is achieved by detecting the ionization products in an Ionization Profile Monitor (IPM). By applying an electric field all ionization products are accelerated toward a spatial resolving Micro-Channel Plate. The signal read-out can either be performed by observing the light from a phosphor screen behind the MCP or electronically by a wire array. Methods to achieve a high spatial resolution and a fast turn-by-turn readout capability are discussed. Even though various approaches at dif...

  18. Tissue engineering approaches to develop decellularized tendon matrices functionalized with progenitor cells cultured under undifferentiated and tenogenic conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniele D’Arrigo

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Tendon ruptures and retractions with an extensive tissue loss represent a major clinical problem and a great challenge in surgical reconstruction. Traditional approaches consist in autologous or allogeneic grafts, which still have some drawbacks. Hence, tissue engineering strategies aimed at developing functionalized tendon grafts. In this context, the use of xenogeneic tissues represents a promising perspective to obtain decellularized tendon grafts. This study is focused on the identification of suitable culture conditions for the generation of reseeded and functional decellularized constructs to be used as tendon grafts. Equine superficial digital flexor tendons were decellularized, reseeded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs from bone marrow and statically cultured in two different culture media to maintain undifferentiated cells (U-MSCs or to induce a terminal tenogenic differentiation (T-MSCs for 24 hours, 7 and 14 days. Cell viability, proliferation, morphology as well as matrix deposition and type I and III collagen production were assessed by means of histological, immunohistochemical and semi-quantitative analyses. Results showed that cell viability was not affected by any culture conditions and active proliferation was maintained 14 days after reseeding. However, seeded MSCs were not able to penetrate within the dense matrix of the decellularized tendons. Nevertheless, U-MSCs synthesized a greater amount of extracellular matrix rich in type I collagen compared to T-MSCs. In spite of the inability to deeply colonize the decellularized matrix in vitro, reseeding tendon matrices with U-MSCs could represent a suitable method for the functionalization of biological constructs, considering also any potential chemoattractant capability of the newly deposed extracellular matrix to recruit resident cells. This bioengineering approach can be exploited to produce functionalized tendon constructs for the substitution of large tendon defects.

  19. Review on Sources and Handling Method of Pesticide Residues in Animal Products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indraningsih

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Field studies and literature search showed that some pesticide residues either organochlorines (OC or organophosphates (OP were detected in animal products (meat and milk . Pesticide residues in meat collected from West Java were detected at the level of 0 .8 ppb lindane and 62 ppb diazinon . While in meat from Lampung was detected at the level of 7 ppb lindane . 2 .7 heptachlor, 0 .8 endosulfan and 0 .5 ppb aldrin . Furthermore, pesticide residues were also detected in the milk collected from West, Central and East Java . The levels of lindane were 2,3 ; 15,9 ; 0,2 ppb ; heptachlor 8 ; 0 .4 and 0,05 ppb; diazinon 8 ; 0 and 1,8 ppb; CPM 0,4 ; 0,8 and 0 ppb ; endosulfan 0,1 ; 0,04 and 0,05 ppb for West, Central and East Java, respectively . The source of pesticide contamination in animal products is generally originated from feed materials, fodders . contaminated soils and water around the farm areas . Minimalization approach of pesticide residues in animal products could be conducted integratedly, such as through chemical process, biodegradation using microorganisms . Organic farming system is recognised as an alternative that may be applied to minimise contamination on agricultural land, eventually reducing pesticide residues in the agricultural products . Feeding with organic agricultural by-products with low pesticide residues appears to reduce pesticide residues in animal products . In order to eliminate pesticide contamination in soil, it has to be conducted progressively by implementing sustainable organic farming .

  20. Morphing of geometric composites via residual swelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pezzulla, Matteo; Shillig, Steven A; Nardinocchi, Paola; Holmes, Douglas P

    2015-08-07

    Understanding and controlling the shape of thin, soft objects has been the focus of significant research efforts among physicists, biologists, and engineers in the last decade. These studies aim to utilize advanced materials in novel, adaptive ways such as fabricating smart actuators or mimicking living tissues. Here, we present the controlled growth-like morphing of 2D sheets into 3D shapes by preparing geometric composite structures that deform by residual swelling. The morphing of these geometric composites is dictated by both swelling and geometry, with diffusion controlling the swelling-induced actuation, and geometric confinement dictating the structure's deformed shape. Building on a simple mechanical analog, we present an analytical model that quantitatively describes how the Gaussian and mean curvatures of a thin disk are affected by the interplay among geometry, mechanics, and swelling. This model is in excellent agreement with our experiments and numerics. We show that the dynamics of residual swelling is dictated by a competition between two characteristic diffusive length scales governed by geometry. Our results provide the first 2D analog of Timoshenko's classical formula for the thermal bending of bimetallic beams - our generalization explains how the Gaussian curvature of a 2D geometric composite is affected by geometry and elasticity. The understanding conferred by these results suggests that the controlled shaping of geometric composites may provide a simple complement to traditional manufacturing techniques.

  1. A machine learning approach for real-time modelling of tissue deformation in image-guided neurosurgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tonutti, Michele; Gras, Gauthier; Yang, Guang-Zhong

    2017-07-01

    Accurate reconstruction and visualisation of soft tissue deformation in real time is crucial in image-guided surgery, particularly in augmented reality (AR) applications. Current deformation models are characterised by a trade-off between accuracy and computational speed. We propose an approach to derive a patient-specific deformation model for brain pathologies by combining the results of pre-computed finite element method (FEM) simulations with machine learning algorithms. The models can be computed instantaneously and offer an accuracy comparable to FEM models. A brain tumour is used as the subject of the deformation model. Load-driven FEM simulations are performed on a tetrahedral brain mesh afflicted by a tumour. Forces of varying magnitudes, positions, and inclination angles are applied onto the brain's surface. Two machine learning algorithms-artificial neural networks (ANNs) and support vector regression (SVR)-are employed to derive a model that can predict the resulting deformation for each node in the tumour's mesh. The tumour deformation can be predicted in real time given relevant information about the geometry of the anatomy and the load, all of which can be measured instantly during a surgical operation. The models can predict the position of the nodes with errors below 0.3mm, beyond the general threshold of surgical accuracy and suitable for high fidelity AR systems. The SVR models perform better than the ANN's, with positional errors for SVR models reaching under 0.2mm. The results represent an improvement over existing deformation models for real time applications, providing smaller errors and high patient-specificity. The proposed approach addresses the current needs of image-guided surgical systems and has the potential to be employed to model the deformation of any type of soft tissue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Type I and type II residual stress in iron meteorites determined by neutron diffraction measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caporali, Stefano; Pratesi, Giovanni; Kabra, Saurabh; Grazzi, Francesco

    2018-04-01

    In this work we present a preliminary investigation by means of neutron diffraction experiment to determine the residual stress state in three different iron meteorites (Chinga, Sikhote Alin and Nantan). Because of the very peculiar microstructural characteristic of this class of samples, all the systematic effects related to the measuring procedure - such as crystallite size and composition - were taken into account and a clear differentiation in the statistical distribution of residual stress in coarse and fine grained meteorites were highlighted. Moreover, the residual stress state was statistically analysed in three orthogonal directions finding evidence of the existence of both type I and type II residual stress components. Finally, the application of von Mises approach allowed to determine the distribution of type II stress.

  3. Elimination of super(14)C-bisazir residues in adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, J.L.; Dawson, V.K.

    1987-01-01

    Bisazir (P.P-bis(1-aziridinyl)-N-methylphosphinothioic amide), a chemosterilant, was administered to sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus ) by intraperitoneal injection of 100 mg/kg or by immersion for 2 h in a 100- mg/L aqueous solution of the chemical. Whole body analysis of the injected lampreys showed that total residue concentrations decreased to 4.65 in males and 10.07 in females during the first day after injection, and to 1.46 in males and 3.74 in females after 10 days of withdrawal. Lampreys exposed by bath immersion contained residues of about 25 mu g/g of tissue immediately after exposure. The concentration ( mu g/g) decreased to 1.02 in males and 2.11 in females after 1 day of withdrawal and to 0.51 in males and 0.85 in females after 10 days.

  4. Investigation of the differentiation of ex vivo nerve and fat tissues using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS): Prospects for tissue-specific laser surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehari, Fanuel; Rohde, Maximillian; Kanawade, Rajesh; Knipfer, Christian; Adler, Werner; Klämpfl, Florian; Stelzle, Florian; Schmidt, Michael

    2016-10-01

    In the present study, the elemental compositions of fat and nerve tissue during their plasma mediated laser ablation are studied in the context of tissue differentiation for laser surgery applications by using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Tissue samples of porcine fat and nerve were prepared as ex vivo experimental objects. Plasma mediated laser ablation is performed using an Nd : YAG laser in open air and under normal stray light conditions. The performed measurements suggest that the two tissue types show a high similarity in terms of qualitative elemental composition while at the same time revealing a distinct difference in the concentration of the constituent elements. Different analysis approaches are evaluated and discussed to optimize the tissue-differentiation performance of the LIBS approach. Plasma mediated laser tissue ablation. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  5. Risk-based approach to developing a national residue sampling plan for testing under European Union regulation for veterinary medicinal products and coccidiostat feed additives in domestic animal production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Danaher, Martin; Shanahan, Conor; Butler, Francis; Evans, Rhodri; O'Sullivan, Dan; Glynn, Denise; Camon, Tim; Lawlor, Peadar; O'Keeffe, Michael

    2016-07-01

    A ranking system for veterinary medicinal products and coccidiostat feed additives has been developed as a tool to be applied in a risk-based approach to the residue testing programme for foods of animal origin in the Irish National Residue Control Plan (NRCP). Three characteristics of substances that may occur as residues in food are included in the developed risk ranking system: Potency, as measured by the acceptable daily intake assigned by the European Medicines Agency Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use, to each substance; Usage, as measured by the three factors of Number of Doses, use on Individual animals or for Group treatment, and Withdrawal Period; and Residue Occurrence, as measured by the number of Non-Compliant Samples in the NRCP. For both Number of Doses and Non-Compliant Samples, data for the 5-year period 2008-12 have been used. The risk ranking system for substances was developed for beef cattle, sheep and goats, pigs, chickens and dairy cattle using a scoring system applied to the various parameters described above to give an overall score based on the following equation: Potency × Usage (Number of Doses + Individual/Group Use + Withdrawal Period) × Residue Occurrence. Applying this risk ranking system, the following substances are ranked very highly: antimicrobials such as amoxicillin (for all species except pigs), marbofloxacillin (for beef cattle), oxytetracycline (for all species except chickens), sulfadiazine with trimethoprim (for pigs and chickens) and tilmicosin (for chickens); antiparasitic drugs, such as the benzimidazoles triclabendazole (for beef and dairy cattle), fenbendazole/oxfendazole (for sheep/goats and dairy cattle) and albendazole (for dairy cattle), the avermectin ivermectin (for beef cattle), and anti-fluke drugs closantel and rafoxanide (for sheep/goats); the anticoccidials monensin, narasin, nicarbazin and toltrazuril (for chickens). The risk ranking system described is a relatively simple system

  6. Depletion of penicillin G residues in heavy sows after intramuscular injection. Part II: application of kidney inhibition swab tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shelver, Weilin L; Lupton, Sara J; Newman, David J; Larsen, Steven; Smith, David J

    2014-07-30

    Sows (n = 126; 228 ± 30.1 kg) were administered daily IM doses of penicillin G procaine (33 000 IU/kg bw; 5× the label dose) for 3 consecutive days using three different administration patterns. Within treatment, six sows each were slaughtered on withdrawal day 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 32, and 39. Tissues (injection site, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle) or body fluids (serum and urine) were screened for penicillin G using the KIS test, recently adopted by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. The IM administration patterns had no discernible effect on penicillin G depletion. Residues were depleted more rapidly from liver and skeletal muscle and more slowly from kidney and urine. Kidney was the most sensitive and suitable tissue for detecting penicillin G residues on-site, with two positive results after a 39-day withdrawal period. Urine was the most suitable ante-mortem surrogate to predict the results of kidney tests.

  7. A constitutive model of soft tissue: From nanoscale collagen to tissue continuum

    KAUST Repository

    Tang, Huang

    2009-04-08

    Soft collagenous tissue features many hierarchies of structure, starting from tropocollagen molecules that form fibrils, and proceeding to a bundle of fibrils that form fibers. Here we report the development of an atomistically informed continuum model of collagenous tissue. Results from full atomistic and molecular modeling are linked with a continuum theory of a fiber-reinforced composite, handshaking the fibril scale to the fiber and continuum scale in a hierarchical multi-scale simulation approach. Our model enables us to study the continuum-level response of the tissue as a function of cross-link density, making a link between nanoscale collagen features and material properties at larger tissue scales. The results illustrate a strong dependence of the continuum response as a function of nanoscopic structural features, providing evidence for the notion that the molecular basis for protein materials is important in defining their larger-scale mechanical properties. © 2009 Biomedical Engineering Society.

  8. A generic approach for expanding homolog-targeted residue screening of sulfonamides using a fast matrix separation and class-specific fragmentation-dependent acquisition with a hybrid quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Chunlin; Guo Bin; Wang Xiaoying; Li Jie; Zhu Weitao; Chen Bo; Ouyang Shan; Yao Shouzhuo

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Generic homolog-targeted screening approach for multi-residual sulfonamide analogs. ► Single-tube extraction/partitioning-multifunction adsorption cleanup for direct injection. ► Class-specific fragmentation for expanding coverage of N 4 -acetyl and N-OH metabolites. ► PreS–IDA–EPI in LC–QqLIT for simultaneous screening and confirmation of real samples. - Abstract: A generic and efficient homolog-targeted approach was used to expand screening and detection of target class of sulfonamides and structural analogs, based on a fast single-tube extraction/partitioning-multifunction adsorption cleanup (SEP/MAC) for class-specific fragmentation-dependent acquisition with a liquid chromatography–hybrid triple-quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometer (LC–QqLIT). By combining the two-stage process conducted in a single tube as one-pot protocol, the straightforward SEP/MAC procedure was optimized to offer clean extracts with reasonable recovery (71–109% with RSDs 4 -acetyl and hydroxylamine metabolites plus their possible dimers. Moreover, the PreS-triggered automatically enhanced product ion spectral acquisition enabled simultaneous screening, profiling and confirmation of an unlimited number of analytes belonging to the sulfonamide class within a single analysis. The validation and application results of the generic SEP/MAC-based LC–QqLIT strategy consistently demonstrated favorable performances with acceptable accuracy (67–116%), precision (RSDs −1 ) to meet the acceptance criteria for all the sulfonamide–tissue combinations. Thus, the integration of the matrix-independent SEP/MAC procedure and the multiparameter matching algorithm with the unit-resolution LC–QqLIT instrument can serve as a valuable semi-targeted discovery strategy for rapid screening and reliable quantitative/confirmatory analysis of real samples.

  9. Re-evaluation of model-based light-scattering spectroscopy for tissue spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lau, Condon; Šćepanović, Obrad; Mirkovic, Jelena; McGee, Sasha; Yu, Chung-Chieh; Fulghum, Stephen; Wallace, Michael; Tunnell, James; Bechtel, Kate; Feld, Michael

    2009-01-01

    Model-based light scattering spectroscopy (LSS) seemed a promising technique for in-vivo diagnosis of dysplasia in multiple organs. In the studies, the residual spectrum, the difference between the observed and modeled diffuse reflectance spectra, was attributed to single elastic light scattering from epithelial nuclei, and diagnostic information due to nuclear changes was extracted from it. We show that this picture is incorrect. The actual single scattering signal arising from epithelial nuclei is much smaller than the previously computed residual spectrum, and does not have the wavelength dependence characteristic of Mie scattering. Rather, the residual spectrum largely arises from assuming a uniform hemoglobin distribution. In fact, hemoglobin is packaged in blood vessels, which alters the reflectance. When we include vessel packaging, which accounts for an inhomogeneous hemoglobin distribution, in the diffuse reflectance model, the reflectance is modeled more accurately, greatly reducing the amplitude of the residual spectrum. These findings are verified via numerical estimates based on light propagation and Mie theory, tissue phantom experiments, and analysis of published data measured from Barrett’s esophagus. In future studies, vessel packaging should be included in the model of diffuse reflectance and use of model-based LSS should be discontinued. PMID:19405760

  10. Residual tissue post splenectomy detected by splenic scintillography with erythrocytes damaged by heat; Tejido residual postesplenectomia detectado por centellografia esplenica con eritrocitos danados por calor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rivera B, B; Garcia C, E S; Garcia O, J R [Centro Medico ABC, Departamento de Medicina Nuclear, Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)

    2005-07-01

    Feminine of 26 years old with diagnostic of purple thrombocytopenic idiopathic to those 4 years of age, tried with steroids and splenectomy at 11 years old. Pathway practically asymptomatic until 4 months ago she had presented asthenia, adynamia and general uneasiness, with platelet figures of 40,000 plat/microliter. It was carried out scintillographic study with damaged erythrocytes for post surgical remainder search. Its were took two-dimensional images and tomography by single photon emission (SPECT), being knitted splenic residual in area of anatomical projection of the spleen. (Author)

  11. Interdisciplinary approach to enhance the esthetics of maxillary anterior region using soft- and hard-tissue ridge augmentation in conjunction with a fixed partial prosthesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaleen Khetarpal

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Favorable esthetics is one of the most important treatment outcomes in dentistry, and to achieve this, interdisciplinary approaches are often required. Ridge deficiencies can be corrected for both, soft- and hard-tissue discrepancies. To overcome such defects, not only a variety of prosthetic options are at our disposal but also several periodontal plastic surgical techniques are available as well. Various techniques have been described and revised, over the year to correct ridge defects. For enhancing soft-tissue contours in the anterior region, the subepithelial connective tissue graft is the treatment of choice. A combination of alloplastic bone graft in adjunct to connective tissue graft optimizes ridge augmentation and minimizes defects. The present case report describes the use of vascular interpositional connective tissue graft in combination with alloplastic bone graft for correction of Seibert's Class III ridge deficiency followed by a fixed partial prosthesis to achieve a better esthetic outcome.

  12. Probabilistic and possibilistic approach for assessment of radiological risk due to organically bound and tissue free water tritium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dahiya, Sudhir; Hegde, A.G.; Joshi, M.L.; Verma, P.C.; Kushwaha, H.S.

    2006-01-01

    This study illustrates use of two approaches namely probabilistic using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and possibilistic using fuzzy α-cut (FAC) to estimate the radiological cancer risk to the population from ingestion of organically bound tritium (OBT) and tissue free water tritium (TFWT) from fish consumption from the Rana Pratap Sagar Lake (RPSL), Kota. Using FAC technique, radiological cancer risk rate (year -1 ) at A αl.0 level were 1.15E-08 and 1.50E-09 for OBT and TFWT respectively from fish ingestion pathway. The radiological cancer risk rate (year -1 ) using MCS approach at 50th percentile (median) level is 1.14E-08 and 1.49E-09 for OBT and HTO respectively from ingestion of fresh water fish. (author)

  13. Bioprinting of hybrid tissue constructs with tailorable mechanical properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schuurman, W; Khristov, V; Pot, M W; Dhert, W J A; Malda, J [Department of Orthopaedics, University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands); Van Weeren, P R, E-mail: j.malda@umcutrecht.nl [Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Department of Equine Sciences, Utrecht University (Netherlands)

    2011-06-15

    Tissue/organ printing aims to recapitulate the intrinsic complexity of native tissues. For a number of tissues, in particular those of musculoskeletal origin, adequate mechanical characteristics are an important prerequisite for their initial handling and stability, as well as long-lasting functioning. Hence, organized implants, possessing mechanical characteristics similar to the native tissue, may result in improved clinical outcomes of regenerative approaches. Using a bioprinter, grafts were constructed by alternate deposition of thermoplastic fibers and (cell-laden) hydrogels. Constructs of different shapes and sizes were manufactured and mechanical properties, as well as cell viability, were assessed. This approach yields novel organized viable hybrid constructs, which possess favorable mechanical characteristics, within the same range as those of native tissues. Moreover, the approach allows the use of multiple hydrogels and can thus produce constructs containing multiple cell types or bioactive factors. Furthermore, since the hydrogel is supported by the thermoplastic material, a broader range of hydrogel types can be used compared to bioprinting of hydrogels alone. In conclusion, we present an innovative and versatile approach for bioprinting, yielding constructs of which the mechanical stiffness provided by thermoplastic polymers can potentially be tailored, and combined specific cell placement patterns of multiple cell types embedded in a wide range of hydrogels. (communication)

  14. Bioprinting of hybrid tissue constructs with tailorable mechanical properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schuurman, W; Khristov, V; Pot, M W; Dhert, W J A; Malda, J; Van Weeren, P R

    2011-01-01

    Tissue/organ printing aims to recapitulate the intrinsic complexity of native tissues. For a number of tissues, in particular those of musculoskeletal origin, adequate mechanical characteristics are an important prerequisite for their initial handling and stability, as well as long-lasting functioning. Hence, organized implants, possessing mechanical characteristics similar to the native tissue, may result in improved clinical outcomes of regenerative approaches. Using a bioprinter, grafts were constructed by alternate deposition of thermoplastic fibers and (cell-laden) hydrogels. Constructs of different shapes and sizes were manufactured and mechanical properties, as well as cell viability, were assessed. This approach yields novel organized viable hybrid constructs, which possess favorable mechanical characteristics, within the same range as those of native tissues. Moreover, the approach allows the use of multiple hydrogels and can thus produce constructs containing multiple cell types or bioactive factors. Furthermore, since the hydrogel is supported by the thermoplastic material, a broader range of hydrogel types can be used compared to bioprinting of hydrogels alone. In conclusion, we present an innovative and versatile approach for bioprinting, yielding constructs of which the mechanical stiffness provided by thermoplastic polymers can potentially be tailored, and combined specific cell placement patterns of multiple cell types embedded in a wide range of hydrogels. (communication)

  15. PENETAPAN RESIDU DAN PERKIRAAN PENETAPAN BATAS MAKSIMUM RESIDU (BMR ORGANOKLORIN PADA SIMPLISIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ani Isnawati

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Penggunaaan bahan obat tradisional (simplisia untuk skala industri dan peningkatan produksi tanaman obat dalam skala besar menjadi tidak ekonomis tanpa pestisida. Disatu sisi penggunaan pestisida dapat menguntungkan yaitu menyebabkan toksis pada hama namun disisi lain toksisitas dapat terjadi juga pada manusia, sehingga residu pestisida dalam tanaman obat yang dikonsumsi dalam jangka panjang akan merugikan kesehatan. Batas maksimum Residu (BMR pestisida dalam simplisia baik di Indonesia maupun di negara lain belum ditetapkan. Sehingga untuk itu untuk mengetahui adanya residu pestisida jenis organoklorin yang telah dilarang penggunaannya melalui Permentan No.434.1/kpts/TP.270/7/2001 dan untuk mengetahui batas keamanannya, maka perlu dilakukan penetapan residu organoklorin dalam simplisia dan menetapkan batas keamanan berdasarkan perhitungan secara teoritis. Pengujian residu dilakukan terhadap golongan pestisida organoklorin pada 4 jenis simplisia (daun wungu (Graptophyllum pictum (L Grifl, daun sambiloto Andrographis paniculata Ness, herba pegagan (Centella  asiatica (L Urban, daun tempuyung (Sonchus arvensis (L yang berasal dari 3 lokasi penanaman, yaitu : perkebunan Tanaman Obat Manako (Jawa Barat, Balai Penelitian Tanaman Obat Tawangmangu (BPTO di Jawa Tengah dan Perkebunan Tanaman Obat Purwodadi (Jawa Timur. Pemeriksaan residu pestisida organoklorin menggunakan kromatografi gas dan perhitungan batas keamanan dihitung dengan adanya nilai ADI (Acceptable daily intake yang telah ditetapkan bersama antara JAO dan WHO serta perkiraan banyaknya konsumsi simplisia. Hasil Pengujian residu pestisida organoklorin diperoleh bahwa simplisia daun Wungu (Tawangmangu mengandung residu lindan dengan kadar 0,24 mg/kg, pegagan (Purwodadi, mengandung lindan 0,36 mg/kg dan aldrin 0,31 mg/kg serta pegagan (Manako mengandung heptaklor 0,15 mg/kg dan op-DDE 0,11 mg/kg. Adapun penghitungan BMR heptaklor dan lindan secara teoritis dengan asumsi rata

  16. [Scientific basis in the setting of residue limits for veterinary drugs in food of animal origin taking into account the presence of their metabolites].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitsumori, K

    1993-01-01

    Maximum residue level (MRL) for veterinary drugs in food of animal origin has been proposed by FAO/WHO, as a new evaluation procedure taking into account the presence of metabolites for the regulation of veterinary drug residues. The MRL is the maximum concentration of residue resulting from the use of a veterinary drug that is recommended to be legally permitted as acceptable in a food. It is established from the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) obtained from the data of toxicological studies, the residue concentration of the drug when used according to good practice in the use of veterinary drugs, and the lowest level consistent with the practical analytical methods available for routine residue analysis. Among the veterinary drugs, some chemicals contain a large amount of bound residues that are neither extractable from tissues by the analytical method identical with that used in parent chemicals. Especially, the bioavailable residues which are probably absorbed when the food is ingested are of great toxicological concern. In this case, the FAO/WHO recommends that the MRL can be established after the calculation of daily intake of residues of toxicological concern by the addition of both the extractable and bioavailable bound residues.

  17. Residual magnetic field in rotary machines; Campo magnetico residual en maquinas rotatorias

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonzalez V, Esteban A; Apanco R, Marcelino [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico)

    2007-07-01

    The residual magnetism is a phenomenon in which the magnetic dipoles of a substance are oriented in a certain degree. On the other hand, when internal forces exist capable of aligning elementary magnetic dipoles of a material, a permanent magnet is obtained. Just as in a conductor or in a material, in the elements of a rotary electrical machine magnetic fields can be induced that produce a residual magnetism or magnetization. In the rotary electrical machines, the magnetization phenomenon causes serious problems, such as the generation of induced currents that propitiate the mechanical wear in bearings, collars, trunnions and inclusive in the shaft, by effects known as pitting, frosting and spark tracks, as well as erroneous readings in vibration and temperature sensors, that in some cases can cause the shut down of the machine. In this article are presented the general concepts on the residual magnetism in rotary electrical machines, the causes that originate it and the problems that arises, as well as the demagnetization of the components that have residual magnetic field. The results obtained by the area of Electrical Equipment of the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas are revised, during the execution of activities related to the measurement and elimination of the residual magnetic field in rotary electrical machines. [Spanish] El magnetismo residual es un fenomeno en el que los dipolos magneticos de una sustancia se encuentran orientados en un grado determinado. Por otro lado, cuando existen fuerzas internas capaces de alinear los dipolos magneticos elementales de un material, se tiene un iman permanente. Al igual que en un conductor o un material, en los elementos de una maquina electrica rotatoria se pueden inducir campos magneticos que producen un magnetismo residual o magnetizacion. En las maquinas electricas rotatorias, el fenomeno de magnetizacion causa graves problemas, como la generacion de corrientes inducidas que propician el desgaste mecanico

  18. Deep convolutional neural network and 3D deformable approach for tissue segmentation in musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Fang; Zhou, Zhaoye; Jang, Hyungseok; Samsonov, Alexey; Zhao, Gengyan; Kijowski, Richard

    2018-04-01

    To describe and evaluate a new fully automated musculoskeletal tissue segmentation method using deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and three-dimensional (3D) simplex deformable modeling to improve the accuracy and efficiency of cartilage and bone segmentation within the knee joint. A fully automated segmentation pipeline was built by combining a semantic segmentation CNN and 3D simplex deformable modeling. A CNN technique called SegNet was applied as the core of the segmentation method to perform high resolution pixel-wise multi-class tissue classification. The 3D simplex deformable modeling refined the output from SegNet to preserve the overall shape and maintain a desirable smooth surface for musculoskeletal structure. The fully automated segmentation method was tested using a publicly available knee image data set to compare with currently used state-of-the-art segmentation methods. The fully automated method was also evaluated on two different data sets, which include morphological and quantitative MR images with different tissue contrasts. The proposed fully automated segmentation method provided good segmentation performance with segmentation accuracy superior to most of state-of-the-art methods in the publicly available knee image data set. The method also demonstrated versatile segmentation performance on both morphological and quantitative musculoskeletal MR images with different tissue contrasts and spatial resolutions. The study demonstrates that the combined CNN and 3D deformable modeling approach is useful for performing rapid and accurate cartilage and bone segmentation within the knee joint. The CNN has promising potential applications in musculoskeletal imaging. Magn Reson Med 79:2379-2391, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

  19. Characterization and electrolytic cleaning of poly(methyl methacrylate) residues on transferred chemical vapor deposited graphene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Jianbo; Finklea, Harry O.; Liu, Yuxin

    2017-03-01

    Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) residue has long been a critical challenge for practical applications of the transferred chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene. Thermal annealing is empirically used for the removal of the PMMA residue; however experiments imply that there are still small amounts of residues left after thermal annealing which are hard to remove with conventional methods. In this paper, the thermal degradation of the PMMA residue upon annealing was studied by Raman spectroscopy. The study reveals that post-annealing residues are generated by the elimination of methoxycarbonyl side chains in PMMA and are believed to be absorbed on graphene via the π-π interaction between the conjugated unsaturated carbon segments and graphene. The post-annealing residues are difficult to remove by further annealing in a non-oxidative atmosphere due to their thermal and chemical stability. An electrolytic cleaning method was shown to be effective in removing these post-annealing residues while preserving the underlying graphene lattice based on Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy studies. Additionally, a solution-gated field effect transistor was used to study the transport properties of the transferred CVD graphene before thermal annealing, after thermal annealing, and after electrolytic cleaning, respectively. The results show that the carrier mobility was significantly improved, and that the p-doping was reduced by removing PMMA residues and post-annealing residues. These studies provide a more in-depth understanding on the thermal annealing process for the removal of the PMMA residues from transferred CVD graphene and a new approach to remove the post-annealing residues, resulting in a residue-free graphene.

  20. A Novel Approach to High-Quality Postmortem Tissue Procurement: The GTEx Project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Carithers, Latarsha J.; Ardlie, Kristin; Barcus, Mary; Branton, Philip A.; Britton, Angela; Buia, Stephen A.; Compton, Carolyn C.; Deluca, David S.; Peter-Demchok, Joanne; Gelfand, Ellen T.; Guan, Ping; Korzeniewski, Greg E.; Lockhart, Nicole C.; Rabiner, Chana A.; Rao, Abhi K.; Robinson, Karna L.; Roche, Nancy V.; Sawyer, Sherilyn J.; Segrè, Ayellet V.; Shive, Charles E.; Smith, Anna M.; Sobin, Leslie H.; Undale, Anita H.; Valentino, Kimberly M.; Vaught, Jim; Young, Taylor R.; Moore, Helen M.; Barker, Laura; Basile, Margaret; Battle, Alexis; Boyer, Joy; Bradbury, Debra; Bridge, Jason P.; Brown, Amanda; Burges, Robin; Choi, Christopher; Colantuoni, Deborah; Cox, Nancy; Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T.; Derr, Leslie K.; Dinsmore, Michael J.; Erickson, Kenyon; Fleming, Johnelle; Flutre, Timothée; Foster, Barbara A.; Gamazon, Eric R.; Getz, Gad; Gillard, Bryan M.; Guigo, Roderic; Hambright, Kenneth W.; Hariharan, Pushpa; Hasz, Rick; Im, Hae K.; Jewell, Scott; Karasik, Ellen; Kellis, Manolis; Kheradpour, Pouya; Koester, Susan; Koller, Daphne; Konkashbaev, Anuar; Lappalainen, Tuuli; Little, Roger; Liu, Jun; Lo, Edmund; Lonsdale, John T.; Lu, Chunrong; MacArthur, Daniel G.; Magazine, Harold; Maller, Julian B.; Marcus, Yvonne; Mash, Deborah C.; McCarthy, Mark I.; McLean, Jeffrey; Mestichelli, Bernadette; Miklos, Mark; Monlong, Jean; Mosavel, Magboeba; Moser, Michael T.; Mostafavi, Sara; Nicolae, Dan L.; Pritchard, Jonathan; Qi, Liqun; Ramsey, Kimberly; Rivas, Manuel A.; Robles, Barnaby E.; Rohrer, Daniel C.; Salvatore, Mike; Sammeth, Michael; Seleski, John; Shad, Saboor; Siminoff, Laura A.; Stephens, Matthew; Struewing, Jeff; Sullivan, Timothy; Sullivan, Susan; Syron, John; Tabor, David; Taherian, Mehran; Tejada, Jorge; Temple, Gary F.; Thomas, Jeffrey A.; Thomson, Alexander W.; Tidwell, Denee; Traino, Heather M.; Tu, Zhidong; Valley, Dana R.; Volpi, Simona; Walters, Gary D.; Ward, Lucas D.; Wen, Xiaoquan; Winckler, Wendy; Wu, Shenpei; Zhu, Jun

    2015-01-01

    The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project, sponsored by the NIH Common Fund, was established to study the correlation between human genetic variation and tissue-specific gene expression in non-diseased individuals. A significant challenge was the collection of high-quality biospecimens for

  1. Engineering spinal fusion: evaluating ceramic materials for cell based tissue engineered approaches

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wilson, C.E.

    2011-01-01

    The principal aim of this thesis was to advance the development of tissue engineered posterolateral spinal fusion by investigating the potential of calcium phosphate ceramic materials to support cell based tissue engineered bone formation. This was accomplished by developing several novel model

  2. Controlled drug release for tissue engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rambhia, Kunal J; Ma, Peter X

    2015-12-10

    Tissue engineering is often referred to as a three-pronged discipline, with each prong corresponding to 1) a 3D material matrix (scaffold), 2) drugs that act on molecular signaling, and 3) regenerative living cells. Herein we focus on reviewing advances in controlled release of drugs from tissue engineering platforms. This review addresses advances in hydrogels and porous scaffolds that are synthesized from natural materials and synthetic polymers for the purposes of controlled release in tissue engineering. We pay special attention to efforts to reduce the burst release effect and to provide sustained and long-term release. Finally, novel approaches to controlled release are described, including devices that allow for pulsatile and sequential delivery. In addition to recent advances, limitations of current approaches and areas of further research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Effect of paste processing on residue levels of imidacloprid, pyraclostrobin, azoxystrobin and fipronil in winter jujube.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Wei; Zhao, Liuwei; Liu, Fengmao; Xue, Jiaying; Li, Huichen; Shi, Kaiwei

    2014-01-01

    The changes of imidacloprid, pyraclostrobin, azoxystrobin and fipronil residues were studied to investigate the carryover of pesticide residues in winter jujube during paste processing. A multi-residue analytical method for winter jujube was developed based on the QuEChERS approach. The recoveries for the pesticides were between 87.5% and 116.2%. LODs ranged from 0.002 to 0.1 mg kg(-1). The processing factor (Pf) is defined as the ratio of pesticide residue concentration in the paste to that in winter jujube. Pf was higher than 1 for the removal of extra water, and other steps were generally less than 1, indicating that the whole process resulted in lower pesticide residue levels in paste. Peeling would be the critical step for pesticide removal. Processing factors varied among different pesticides studied. The results are useful to address optimisation of the processing techniques in a manner that leads to considerable pesticide residue reduction.

  4. A tissue engineering approach to anterior cruciate ligament regeneration using novel shaped capillary channel polymer fibers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinclair, Kristofer D.

    2009-12-01

    Ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are the most frequent of injuries to the knee due to its role in preventing anterior translation of the tibia. It is estimated that as many as 200,000 Americans per year will suffer from a ruptured ACL, resulting in management costs on the order of 5 billion dollars. Without treatment these patients are unable to return to normal activity, as a consequence of the joint instability found within the ACL deficient knee. Over the last thirty years, a variety of non-degradable, synthetic fibers have been evaluated for their use in ACL reconstruction; however, a widely accepted prosthesis has been unattainable due to differences in mechanical properties of the synthetic graft relative to the native tissue. Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field charged with the task of developing therapeutic solutions for tissue and organ failure by enhancing the natural wound healing process through the use of cellular transplants, biomaterials, and the delivery of bioactive molecules. The capillary channel polymer (CC-P) fibers used in this research were fabricated by melt extrusion from polyethylene terephthalate and polybutylene terephthalate. These fibers possess aligned micrometer scale surface channels that may serve as physical templates for tissue growth and regeneration. This inherent surface topography offers a unique and industrially viable approach for cellular contact guidance on three dimensional constructs. In this fundamental research the ability of these fiber channels to support the adhesion, alignment, and organization of fibroblasts was demonstrated and found to be superior to round fiber controls. The results demonstrated greater uniformity of seeding and accelerated formation of multi-layered three-dimensional biomass for the CC-P fibers relative to those with a circular cross-section. Furthermore, the CC-P geometry induced nuclear elongation consistent with that observed in native ACL tissue. Through the

  5. Microfluidic systems for stem cell-based neural tissue engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karimi, Mahdi; Bahrami, Sajad; Mirshekari, Hamed; Basri, Seyed Masoud Moosavi; Nik, Amirala Bakhshian; Aref, Amir R; Akbari, Mohsen; Hamblin, Michael R

    2016-07-05

    Neural tissue engineering aims at developing novel approaches for the treatment of diseases of the nervous system, by providing a permissive environment for the growth and differentiation of neural cells. Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems provide a closer biomimetic environment, and promote better cell differentiation and improved cell function, than could be achieved by conventional two-dimensional (2D) culture systems. With the recent advances in the discovery and introduction of different types of stem cells for tissue engineering, microfluidic platforms have provided an improved microenvironment for the 3D-culture of stem cells. Microfluidic systems can provide more precise control over the spatiotemporal distribution of chemical and physical cues at the cellular level compared to traditional systems. Various microsystems have been designed and fabricated for the purpose of neural tissue engineering. Enhanced neural migration and differentiation, and monitoring of these processes, as well as understanding the behavior of stem cells and their microenvironment have been obtained through application of different microfluidic-based stem cell culture and tissue engineering techniques. As the technology advances it may be possible to construct a "brain-on-a-chip". In this review, we describe the basics of stem cells and tissue engineering as well as microfluidics-based tissue engineering approaches. We review recent testing of various microfluidic approaches for stem cell-based neural tissue engineering.

  6. Is increased residual shank length a competitive advantage for elite transtibial amputee long jumpers?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolan, Lee; Patritti, Benjamin L; Stana, Laura; Tweedy, Sean M

    2011-07-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which residual shank length affects long jump performance of elite athletes with a unilateral transtibial amputation. Sixteen elite, male, long jumpers with a transtibial amputation were videoed while competing in major championships (World Championships 1998, 2002 and Paralympic Games, 2004). The approach, take-off, and landing of each athlete's best jump was digitized to determine residual and intact shank lengths, jump distance, and horizontal and vertical velocity of center of mass at touchdown. Residual shank length ranged from 15 cm to 38 cm. There were weak, nonsignificant relationships between residual shank length and (a) distance jumped (r = 0.30), (b) horizontal velocity (r = 0.31), and vertical velocity (r = 0.05). Based on these results, residual shank length is not an important determinant of long jump performance, and it is therefore appropriate that all long jumpers with transtibial amputation compete in the same class. The relationship between residual shank length and key performance variables was stronger among athletes that jumped off their prosthetic leg (N = 5), and although this result must be interpreted cautiously, it indicates the need for further research.

  7. Affinity of /sup 167/Tm-citrate for tumor and liver tissue

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ando, A; Ando, I; Hiraki, T; Sakamoto, K; Hisada, K; Takeshita, M

    1983-10-07

    Strong affinity of /sup 167/Tm-citrate for tumor tissue was reconfirmed by using Ehrlich tumor. Excellent tumor imaging was obtained with /sup 167/Tm-citrate because of its strong tumor affinity and because of the suitable physical characteristics of /sup 167/Tm. A large amount of /sup 167/Tm had accumulated in the connective tissue which contained inflammatory tissue, quite large amounts were found in areas containing viable and necrotic tumor tissue, and small amounts were present in viable tumor tissue. /sup 167/Tm was not seen in necrotic tumor tissue. It was concluded that lysosomes did not play a major role in the tumor concentration of /sup 167/Tm, but played an important role in the liver concentration of this nuclide. In the case of hepatoma AH109A, it was presumed that lysosomes played a considerably important role in the tumor concentration of /sup 167/Tm, hepatoma AH109A possessing some residual features of the liver. /sup 167/Tm was bound to acid mucopolysaccharides and transposed by the acid mucopolysaccharides in the tumor tissues and liver. The acid mucopolysaccharides to which /sup 167/Tm were bound in tumor and liver, were heparan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate (or keratosulfate) and heparin (or keratosulfate).

  8. Heavy metals in tissues of stranded short-finned pilot whales

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoneburner, D.L.

    1978-01-01

    Selected tissues from four short-finned pilot whales that stranded at Cumberland Island National Seashore were analyzed for total cadmium, mercury and selenium by neutron activation. Cadmium reached a maximum mean wet weight concentration of 31.4 ppm in the kidney tissues. Maximum mean wet weight concentrations of mercury, 230.9 ppm, and selenium, 44.2 ppm, were found in the liver tissues. The lowest concentration of each metal was found in the blubber. Postmortem examination showed that the whales had no food in their stomachs. The whales must have been utilizing metabolic reserves, contaminated with residual concentrations of heavy metals, prior to beaching. This utilization of reserves probably resulted in the high concentrations of cadmium, mercury and selenium found in the liver and kidney tissues. Since the heavy metal concentrations were three to four times greater in the stranded whales, as compared to apparently healthy whales of the same species, it is suggested that heavy metal toxicosis may have been a factor contributing to this particular stranding. (Auth.)

  9. Residual Generation for the Ship Benchmark Using Structural Approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cocquempot, V.; Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh; Staroswiecki, M

    1998-01-01

    The prime objective of Fault-tolerant Control (FTC) systems is to handle faults and discrepancies using appropriate accommodation policies. The issue of obtaining information about various parameters and signals, which have to be monitored for fault detection purposes, becomes a rigorous task...... with the growing number of subsystems. The structural approach, presented in this paper, constitutes a general framework for providing information when the system becomes complex. The methodology of this approach is illustrated on the ship propulsion benchmark....

  10. Uptake and Tissue Distribution of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Wild Fish from Treated-Wastewater-Impacted Streams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanoue, Rumi; Nomiyama, Kei; Nakamura, Haruna; Kim, Joon-Woo; Isobe, Tomohiko; Shinohara, Ryota; Kunisue, Tatsuya; Tanabe, Shinsuke

    2015-10-06

    A fish plasma model (FPM) has been proposed as a screening technique to prioritize potential hazardous pharmaceuticals to wild fish. However, this approach does not account for inter- or intraspecies variability of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters. The present study elucidated the uptake potency (from ambient water), tissue distribution, and biological risk of 20 pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) residues in wild cyprinoid fish inhabiting treated-wastewater-impacted streams. In order to clarify the uncertainty of the FPM for PPCPs, we compared the plasma bioaccumulation factor in the field (BAFplasma = measured fish plasma/ambient water concentration ratio) with the predicted plasma bioconcentration factor (BCFplasma = fish plasma predicted by use of theoretical partition coefficients/ambient water concentration ratio) in the actual environment. As a result, the measured maximum BAFplasma of inflammatory agents was up to 17 times higher than theoretical BCFplasma values, leading to possible underestimation of toxicological risk on wild fish. When the tissue-blood partition coefficients (tissue/blood concentration ratios) of PPCPs were estimated, higher transportability into tissues, especially the brain, was found for psychotropic agents, but brain/plasma ratios widely varied among individual fish (up to 28-fold). In the present study, we provide a valuable data set on the intraspecies variability of PPCP pharmacokinetics, and our results emphasize the importance of determining PPCP concentrations in possible target organs as well as in the blood to assess the risk of PPCPs on wild fish.

  11. An integrated approach using orthogonal analytical techniques to characterize heparan sulfate structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beccati, Daniela; Lech, Miroslaw; Ozug, Jennifer; Gunay, Nur Sibel; Wang, Jing; Sun, Elaine Y; Pradines, Joël R; Farutin, Victor; Shriver, Zachary; Kaundinya, Ganesh V; Capila, Ishan

    2017-02-01

    Heparan sulfate (HS), a glycosaminoglycan present on the surface of cells, has been postulated to have important roles in driving both normal and pathological physiologies. The chemical structure and sulfation pattern (domain structure) of HS is believed to determine its biological function, to vary across tissue types, and to be modified in the context of disease. Characterization of HS requires isolation and purification of cell surface HS as a complex mixture. This process may introduce additional chemical modification of the native residues. In this study, we describe an approach towards thorough characterization of bovine kidney heparan sulfate (BKHS) that utilizes a variety of orthogonal analytical techniques (e.g. NMR, IP-RPHPLC, LC-MS). These techniques are applied to characterize this mixture at various levels including composition, fragment level, and overall chain properties. The combination of these techniques in many instances provides orthogonal views into the fine structure of HS, and in other instances provides overlapping / confirmatory information from different perspectives. Specifically, this approach enables quantitative determination of natural and modified saccharide residues in the HS chains, and identifies unusual structures. Analysis of partially digested HS chains allows for a better understanding of the domain structures within this mixture, and yields specific insights into the non-reducing end and reducing end structures of the chains. This approach outlines a useful framework that can be applied to elucidate HS structure and thereby provides means to advance understanding of its biological role and potential involvement in disease progression. In addition, the techniques described here can be applied to characterization of heparin from different sources.

  12. Multiaxial mechanical response and constitutive modeling of esophageal tissues: Impact on esophageal tissue engineering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommer, Gerhard; Schriefl, Andreas; Zeindlinger, Georg; Katzensteiner, Andreas; Ainödhofer, Herwig; Saxena, Amulya; Holzapfel, Gerhard A

    2013-12-01

    Congenital defects of the esophagus are relatively frequent, with 1 out of 2500 babies suffering from such a defect. A new method of treatment by implanting tissue engineered esophagi into newborns is currently being developed and tested using ovine esophagi. For the reconstruction of the biological function of native tissues with engineered esophagi, their cellular structure as well as their mechanical properties must be considered. Since very limited mechanical and structural data for the esophagus are available, the aim of this study was to investigate the multiaxial mechanical behavior of the ovine esophagus and the underlying microstructure. Therefore, uniaxial tensile, biaxial tensile and extension-inflation tests on esophagi were performed. The underlying microstructure was examined in stained histological sections through standard optical microscopy techniques. Moreover, the uniaxial ultimate tensile strength and residual deformations of the tissue were determined. Both the mucosa-submucosa and the muscle layers showed nonlinear and anisotropic mechanical behavior during uniaxial, biaxial and inflation testing. Cyclical inflation of the intact esophageal tube caused marked softening of the passive esophagi in the circumferential direction. The rupture strength of the mucosa-submucosa layer was much higher than that of the muscle layer. Overall, the ovine esophagus showed a heterogeneous and anisotropic behavior with different mechanical properties for the individual layers. The intact and layer-specific multiaxial properties were characterized using a well-known three-dimensional microstructurally based strain-energy function. This novel and complete set of data serves the basis for a better understanding of tissue remodeling in diseased esophagi and can be used to perform computer simulations of surgical interventions or medical-device applications. Copyright © 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Characterization Report on Sand, Slag, and Crucible Residues and on Fluoride Residues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murray, A.M.

    1999-01-01

    This paper reports on the chemical characterization of the sand, slag, and crucible (SS and C) residues and the fluoride residues that may be shipped from the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) to Savannah River Site (SRS)

  14. Effect of tissue-harvesting site on yield of stem cells derived from adipose tissue: implications for cell-based therapies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jurgens, W.J.F.M.; Oedayrajsingh-Varma, M.J.; Helder, M.N.; Zandieh Doulabi, B.; Schouten, T.E.; Kuik, D.J.; Ritt, M.J.P.F.; van Milligen-Kummer, F.J.

    2008-01-01

    The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of adipose tissue contains an abundant population of multipotent adipose-tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) that possess the capacity to differentiate into cells of the mesodermal lineage in vitro. For cell-based therapies, an advantageous approach would be to

  15. Mapping residual stress by ultrasonic tomography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hildebrand, B.P.; Harrington, T.P.

    1979-01-01

    It is known that internal stress concentrations can give rise to microcracks which then grow when the structure is subjected to external forces. It has also been found that the velocity of sound is altered as it propagates through a region of stress. In this paper a technique called Computer-Assisted Tomography (CAT) is discussed and an application that provides pictures of stress fields is described. The results of both simulated and experimental models used to evaluate the technique are reported. It is concluded that the CAT approach has great potential for locating and mapping residual stress in metals. (author)

  16. An unusual cause of mechanical dysphagia: an agglomerate of calculi in a tonsillar residue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cantarella, Giovanna; Pagani, Davide; Biondetti, Pietro

    2006-04-01

    We report the case of a 68-year-old man affected by severe oropharyngeal dysphagia for solid food, who had undergone tonsillectomy when he was 22 years old. Videolaryngoscopy revealed a smooth-surfaced, elongated overgrowth on the left lateral pharyngeal wall that protruded toward the left pyriform fossa and impeded the transit of solid boli. A computed tomography scan showed that the solid content of the lesion was markedly inhomogeneous and denser than the surrounding soft tissues. The mass was removed by means of direct pharyngoscopy under general anesthesia. It was found that it arose from the inferior pole of the left tonsillar fossa and had a central cavity filled with caseum and multiple calculi. Histopathologic examination showed that its soft tissue component consisted of lymphoid tonsillar tissue. The operation totally resolved the swallowing disturbance. This case report highlights that tonsilloliths in a tonsillar residue should be considered in the differential diagnosis of mechanical oropharyngeal dysphagia, even in tonsillectomized patients.

  17. Tissue-based map of the human proteome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Uhlén, Mathias; Fagerberg, Linn; Hallström, Björn M.

    2015-01-01

    Resolving the molecular details of proteome variation in the different tissues and organs of the human body will greatly increase our knowledge of human biology and disease. Here, we present a map of the human tissue proteome based on an integrated omics approach that involves quantitative transc...

  18. Genetic control of residual variance of yearling weight in nellore beef cattle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Iung, L.H.S.; Neves, H.H.R.; Mulder, H.A.; Carvalheiro, R.

    2017-01-01

    There is evidence for genetic variability in residual variance of livestock traits, which offers the potential for selection for increased uniformity of production. Different statistical approaches have been employed to study this topic; however, little is known about the concordance between

  19. Quantifying residues from postharvest fumigation of almonds and walnuts with propylene oxide

    Science.gov (United States)

    A novel analytical approach, involving solvent extraction with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) followed by gas chromatography (GC), was developed to quantify residues that result from the postharvest fumigation of almonds and walnuts with propylene oxide (PPO). Verification and quantification of PPO,...

  20. Visualizing feasible operating ranges within tissue engineering systems using a "windows of operation" approach: a perfusion-scaffold bioreactor case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCoy, Ryan J; O'Brien, Fergal J

    2012-12-01

    Tissue engineering approaches to developing functional substitutes are often highly complex, multivariate systems where many aspects of the biomaterials, bio-regulatory factors or cell sources may be controlled in an effort to enhance tissue formation. Furthermore, success is based on multiple performance criteria reflecting both the quantity and quality of the tissue produced. Managing the trade-offs between different performance criteria is a challenge. A "windows of operation" tool that graphically represents feasible operating spaces to achieve user-defined levels of performance has previously been described by researchers in the bio-processing industry. This paper demonstrates the value of "windows of operation" to the tissue engineering field using a perfusion-scaffold bioreactor system as a case study. In our laboratory, perfusion bioreactor systems are utilized in the context of bone tissue engineering to enhance the osteogenic differentiation of cell-seeded scaffolds. A key challenge of such perfusion bioreactor systems is to maximize the induction of osteogenesis but minimize cell detachment from the scaffold. Two key operating variables that influence these performance criteria are the mean scaffold pore size and flow-rate. Using cyclooxygenase-2 and osteopontin gene expression levels as surrogate indicators of osteogenesis, we employed the "windows of operation" methodology to rapidly identify feasible operating ranges for the mean scaffold pore size and flow-rate that achieved user-defined levels of performance for cell detachment and differentiation. Incorporation of such tools into the tissue engineer's armory will hopefully yield a greater understanding of the highly complex systems used and help aid decision making in future translation of products from the bench top to the market place. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.