Efficient Single Photon Absorption by Optimized Superconducting Nanowire Geometries

We report on simulation results that shows optimum photon absorption by superconducting nanowires can happen at a fill-factor that is much less than 100%. We also present experimental results on high performance of our superconducting nanowire single photon detectors realized using NbTiN on oxidized silicon.Comment: \copyright 2013 IEEE. Submitted to "Numerical Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices - NUSOD 2013" on 19-April-201

Speed Roughness Control of an SI Engine Using Fuzzy Self Tuning Method

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Associations between Western and Mediterranean-type dietary patterns and anxiety and stress

In this study we investigated the relationship between dietary patterns and anxiety and stress in adults living in Shiraz, Iran. In a cross-sectional design, 416 subjects (180 men and 236 women) aged 20 to 50 years were selected by stratified multistage random sampling. Dietary intakes were assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Mental health information was collected by depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS) questionnaire. Three major dietary patterns were extracted by factor analysis: vegetable, Western, and Mediterraneantype dietary patterns. Regression analysis showed a strong positive association between Western dietary pattern and anxiety (β=0.66; 95% CI: 0.03, 1.28), and stress (β=0.84; 95% CI: 0.1, 1.57). Also, there was an inverse association between Mediterranean-type dietary pattern and anxiety (β= ‒0.81; 95% CI: ‒1.43, ‒0.19). These associations remained statistically significant even after adjustments for demographic characteristics, physical activity, smoking, body mass index, and energy intake. No association was found between vegetable dietary pattern and any of the assessed psychiatric disorders

Causes of Death Accompanying by Soft Tissue Neck Hemorrhage

Background: Generally, soft tissue hemorrhages in anterior part of the neck are attributed to the neck compression or trauma and suspicion goes more to homicidal death than suicide. Although artificial posterior neck hemorrhages are described as Prinsloo-Gordon phenomenon in cadavers with posterior lividity, studies conducted on such hemorrhages in the anterior and lateral compartments are rare. This study intends to investigate causes of death accompanied by soft tissue neck hemorrhages in different compartments of neck. Method: In this retrospective case series, between March 2008 and 2009, cadavers whose autopsies indicated soft tissue neck hemorrhages and the lividity was dominant in posterior, were evaluated according to the cause of death and anatomical and histological locations of hemorrhage. Results: Among 86 cases of neck hemorrhage, 72.1% (n=62) were male. Direct neck trauma, hanging, strangulation, chocking and positional asphyxia constituted 50% (n=43) of them, 40.7% (n=35) were non-asphyxial, non-traumatic deaths such as natural diseases, drug and CO poisoning, electrocution and drowning, and 9.3% (n=8) were unknown. 65.1% (n=28) of non-traumatic, non-asphyxial cases bore anterior or lateral neck hemorrhages. Conclusion: The considerable prevalence of soft neck tissue hemorrhages in non asphyxial deaths with no history of neck trauma and the location of such hemorrhages in anterior and lateral sides of neck, lead the investigators to pay more attention to interpret these hemorrhages and determining the mode and cause of death

Towards Long-term and Archivable Reproducibility

Analysis pipelines commonly use high-level technologies that are popular when created, but are unlikely to be readable, executable, or sustainable in the long term. A set of criteria is introduced to address this problem: Completeness (no execution requirement beyond a minimal Unix-like operating system, no administrator privileges, no network connection, and storage primarily in plain text); modular design; minimal complexity; scalability; verifiable inputs and outputs; version control; linking analysis with narrative; and free software. As a proof of concept, we introduce "Maneage" (Managing data lineage), enabling cheap archiving, provenance extraction, and peer verification that been tested in several research publications. We show that longevity is a realistic requirement that does not sacrifice immediate or short-term reproducibility. The caveats (with proposed solutions) are then discussed and we conclude with the benefits for the various stakeholders. This paper is itself written with Maneage (project commit eeff5de).Comment: The downloadable source (on arXiv) includes the full/automatic reproduction info (scripts, config files and input data links). Supplementary datasets and source also available on Zenodo.3872248: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4291207 . v2: Referee points addressed, two appendices adde

Association of TNF-α G308A gene polymorphism in essential hypertensive patients without type 2 diabetes mellitus

This study aims to investigate the effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) G308A gene polymorphism on essential hypertension (EHT) with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The project was conducted on buccal epithelial and blood cells for case and control patients, respectively. Epithelial cells were obtained from the inner part of the cheeks. Techniques including DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were utilized to assess biomarkers of DNA damage. Our results demonstrated significant differences between wild and mutated genotypes among EHT patients without T2DM. We also found a significant association between wild and mutated allele frequencies in EHT patients (P < 0.05). Clinical characteristics between the groups (EHT with or without T2DM and controls) showed statistically significant association (P < 0.05). Overall, we show that G308A polymorphism of the TNF-αgene may be a significant genetic risk factor for EHT without T2DM patients in Malaysia

Diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis in pregnant women referred to therapeutic centers of Alborz Province (Iran) using immunoglobulin G avidity ELISA technique

Objective To evaluate immunoglobulin G (IgG) avidity as a useful and reliable technique in diagnosing toxoplasmosis in pregnant women referring to therapeutic centers of Alborz Province (Iran) in 2014, against two other tests, IgG and immunoglobulin G (IgM) anti-Toxoplasma. Methods Serum samples (468 in total) were obtained from different therapeutic centers in Karaj City. ELISA method was used to test the anti-Toxoplasma avidity of IgG, IgM and IgG. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods and Chi-square test (P < 0.05) using SPSS 17.0. Results Anti-Toxoplasma avidity tests of IgM and IgG were positive in 9 and 86 samples respectively. Also, a borderline IgM avidity was detected in 2 suspected samples. In addition, among all positive and suspected samples, 79 cases indicated high titers of IgG avidity, 7 cases were of low titers and 1 case was of a borderline titer. The prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies was 20. The sera which showed high avidity index was obtained from patients at chronic phase of infection (77.7) while those which showed low avidity levels were from patients at acute toxoplasmosis (92). Conclusions This study clearly showed that acute and chronic phases of toxoplasmosis could be differentiated with the aid of IgG avidity test. This test may also assist in recognizing old and newly acquired infections. © 2016 Asian Pacific Tropical Medicine Pres

Effects of Long-term Induced Hyperthyroidism on Egg Quality Traits in Cobb 500 Broiler Breeder Hens

Published data on 4-week-long administration of exogenous thyroxine in broiler breeder hens to decline the cold-induced ascites in their progeny suggest that the long-term maternal hyperthyroidism would affect egg quality characteristics traits in Cobb 500 broiler breeder hens. Seventy 47-w-old broiler breeder Cobb 500 hens (5 replicates and 7 hens each) were assigned in separate cages and allotted to two treatments, control and hyperthyroid. Thyroxine was orally administered to the hyperthyroid group (0.3 mg hen/day) for a period of 100 days consecutively. Simultaneously, distilled water was orally administered to the control group. The blood sampling was done every two weeks to analyze T3, T4, and estrogen assays, using commercially kits and the egg quality attributes were evaluated for weeks 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12. Thyroxine treatment resulted in an increase in plasma concentration of T4; however, the T3 level and estrogen were not affected. The results of this study showed that the long-term administration of thyroxine had adverse effect on the most of egg quality traits in broiler breeder hens; although the results may be distinct for treatments that using other birds, doses and duration of treatments, among the different egg quality traits of broiler breeder hens evaluated in this research. Therefore, further studies should be done to make a final conclusion to use of long-term maternal hyperthyroidism treatment to reduce the ascites incidence

Individualised profiling of white matter organisation in moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury patients

Background and purpose Approximately 65% of moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (m-sTBI) patients present with poor long-term behavioural outcomes, which can significantly impair activities of daily living. Numerous diffusion-weighted MRI studies have linked these poor outcomes to decreased white matter integrity of several commissural tracts, association fibres and projection fibres in the brain. However, most studies have focused on group-based analyses, which are unable to deal with the substantial between-patient heterogeneity in m-sTBI. As a result, there is increasing interest and need in conducting individualised neuroimaging analyses. Materials and methods Here, we generated a detailed subject-specific characterisation of microstructural organisation of white matter tracts in 5 chronic patients with m-sTBI (29 – 49y, 2 females), presented as a proof-of-concept. We developed an imaging analysis framework using fixel-based analysis and TractLearn to determine whether the values of fibre density of white matter tracts at the individual patient level deviate from the healthy control group (n = 12, 8F, Mage = 35.7y, age range 25 – 64y). Results Our individualised analysis revealed unique white matter profiles, confirming the heterogenous nature of m-sTBI and the need of individualised profiles to properly characterise the extent of injury. Future studies incorporating clinical data, as well as utilising larger reference samples and examining the test–retest reliability of the fixel-wise metrics are warranted. Conclusions Individualised profiles may assist clinicians in tracking recovery and planning personalised training programs for chronic m-sTBI patients, which is necessary to achieve optimal behavioural outcomes and improved quality of life