Neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract in infectious and inflammatory diseases of the spine: is there a correlation with clinical and radiological variants of myelopathy? Preliminary result of the analysis of a single-center cohort

Objective. To study the relationship between clinical and radiation variants of myelopathy and types of the neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract in patients with infectious spondylitis. Material and Methods. A single-center cohort observational study was conducted with the analysis of medical records and a prospective examination of 20 patients with infectious spondylitis complicated by neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract. Results. Infectious spondylitis can be complicated by the development of various urodynamic disorders, including neurogenic detrusor hyperactivity (30 %), its combination with detrusor-sphincter dissinergia (30 %) and a decrease in detrusor contractility (40 %). In 50 % of patients, an urodynamic examination revealed an increase in detrusor pressure of more than 40 cm water. There was no connection between the development of any type of lower urinary tract dysfunction and MRI types of myelopathy according to Vendatam, as well as between the level of spinal cord compression and the severity of neurological disorders according to AIS. Conclusion. The results of the study do not confirm the existence of a relationship between the various characteristics of myelopathy in infectious spondylitis and the results of urodynamic examination. The limitation of the reliability of the results is the small number of observations. Studies with a larger sample are required to assess the relationship between the clinical and radiation characteristics of myelopathy and variants of neurogenic dysfunction of the lower urinary tract in patients with infectious spondylitis

Optimization of laser stabilization via self-injection locking to a whispering-gallery-mode microresonator: experimental study

Self-injection locking of a diode laser to a high-quality-factor microresonator is widely used for frequency stabilization and linewidth narrowing. We constructed several microresonator-based laser sources with measured instantaneous linewidths of 1 Hz and used them for investigation and implementation of the self-injection locking effect. We studied analytically and experimentally the dependence of the stabilization coefficient on tunable parameters such as locking phase and coupling rate. It was shown that precise control of the locking phase allows fine tuning of the generated frequency from the stabilized laser diode. We also showed that it is possible for such laser sources to realize fast continuous and linear frequency modulation by injection current tuning inside the self-injection locking regime. We conceptually demonstrate coherent frequency-modulated continuous wave LIDAR over a distance of 10 km using such a microresonator-stabilized laser diode in the frequency-chirping regime and measure velocities as low as sub-micrometer per second in the unmodulated case. These results could be of interest for cutting-edge technology applications such as space debris monitoring and long-range object classification, high resolution spectroscopy and others

The leukocyte blood composition of Elaphe dione (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Orenburg State Nature Reserve (Russia)

For the first time a hematological approach has been used to assess the status of the population of Dione snake Elaphe dione in a Protected Area (protected area «Aytuarskaya steppe» of the Orenburg State Nature Reserve). The blood formula (WBC) was calculated with the integral leukocyte indices (lymphocyte-granulocyte index, leukocyte shift index, index of the heterophiles and lymphocytes ratio, index of the heterophiles and eosinophils ratio, index of the lymphocytes and eosinophils ratio), the surface area of the main leukocyte types was measured: heterophiles, basophils, eosinophils, azurophiles, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Intraspecific gender differences were revealed for all the indicators studied. In females, the proportion of heterophiles and monocytes in peripheral blood is higher, compared with males; in contrast, the proportion of basophils and eosinophils is lower. Heterophiles, basophils, and eosinophils were characterised by moderate association with a qualitative trait (sex of the individual), and monocytes – by strong association (r = 0.82, R2 = 0.67, p = 0.001). Morphometric parameters of male granulocytic series exceeded similar parameters of female ones. There were no statistically significant differences in morphometric parameters of mononuclear cells (azurophiles, monocytes, and lymphocytes) between males and females. A strong positive correlation was found between the content of heterophiles (%) in the blood and the ratio of heterophiles and lymphocytes (r = 0.97, p = 0.001), which illustrated the significant contribution of the nonspecific blood defence system to adaptive responses of the body. The absence of differences in the integral index of the heterophiles and lymphocytes ratio for males and females (U = 1.33, p = 0.18) indicated a comparable level of impact and identity of the physiological adaptation mechanisms occurring in the animals in Protected Area conditions. The haematic picture and the dynamics of leukocytal indexes of Elaphe dione living on the reserve territory reflected the active response of the organism to a complex of environmental factors , with the most pronounced activation of immune processes in females in comparison with males

Development of a 0.15 μm GaAs pHEMT Process Design Kit for Low-Noise Applications

This work presents a process design kit (PDK) for a 0.15 μm GaAs pHEMT process for low-noise MMIC applications developed for AWR Microwave Office (MWO). A complete set of basic elements is proposed, such as TaN thin film resistors and mesa-resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transistors. The developed PDK can be used in technology transfer or education

RD50 Status Report 2008 - Radiation hard semiconductor devices for very high luminosity colliders

The objective of the CERN RD50 Collaboration is the development of radiation hard semiconductor detectors for very high luminosity colliders, particularly to face the requirements of a possible upgrade scenario of the LHC.This document reports the status of research and main results obtained after the sixth year of activity of the collaboration