Assessing Bilateral Neurovascular Bundles Function with Pulsed Wave Doppler Ultrasound: Implications for Reducing Erectile Dysfunction Following Prostate Radiotherapy

This study aims to evaluate the functional status of bilateral neurovascular bundles (NVBs) using pulsed wave Doppler ultrasound in patients undergoing prostate radiotherapy (RT). Sixty-two patients (mean age: 66.1 +/- 7.2 years) underwent transrectal ultrasound scan using a conventional ultrasound scanner, a 7.5 MHz bi-plane probe and a mechanical stepper. The ultrasound protocol comprised 3 steps: 1) 3D B-mode scans of the entire prostate, 2) localization of NVBs using color flow Doppler imaging, and 3) measurement of NVB function using pulsed wave Doppler. Five pulsed Doppler waveform features were extracted: peak systolic velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV), mean velocity (Vm), resistive index (RI), and pulsatile index (PI). In summary, this study presents a Doppler evaluation of NVBs in patients undergoing prostate RT. It highlights substantial differences in Doppler ultrasound waveform features between bilateral NVBs. The proposed ultrasound method may prove valuable as clinicians strive to deliver NVB-sparing RT to preserve sexual function effectively and enhance patients' overall well-being.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Offset Free Model Predictive Control Of An Open Water Reach

Model predictive control (MPC) is a powerful tool which is used more and more to managing water systems such as reservoirs over a short-term prediction horizon. However, due to unknown disturbances present in the water system and other uncertainties, there is always a mismatch between the model and the actual system. To overcome this mismatch and achieve offset free control of the water system, the internal model of the MPC is updated by adding the disturbance dynamics of the actual system by means of a disturbance model. In this paper, the conditions to achieve offset free control for an open water reach are provided. A disturbance model is designed and used to achieve offset free control in a test canal assessed from simulation results

Insect peptide metchnikowin confers on barley a selective capacity for resistance to fungal ascomycetes pathogens

The potential of metchnikowin, a 26-amino acid residue proline-rich antimicrobial peptide synthesized in the fat body of Drosophila melanogaster was explored to engineer disease resistance in barley against devastating fungal plant pathogens. The synthetic peptide caused strong in vitro growth inhibition (IC50 value ∼1 μM) of the pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum. Transgenic barley expressing the metchnikowin gene in its 52-amino acid pre-pro-peptide form under the control of the inducible mannopine synthase (mas) gene promoter from the Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens displayed enhanced resistance to powdery mildew as well as Fusarium head blight and root rot. In response to these pathogens, metchnikowin accumulated in plant apoplastic space, specifying that the insect signal peptide is functional in monocotyledons. In vitro and in vivo tests revealed that the peptide is markedly effective against fungal pathogens of the phylum Ascomycota but, clearly, less active against Basidiomycota fungi. Importantly, germination of the mutualistic basidiomycete mycorrhizal fungus Piriformospora indica was affected only at concentrations beyond 50 μM. These results suggest that antifungal peptides from insects are a valuable source for crop plant improvements and their differential activities toward different phyla of fungi denote a capacity for insect peptides to be used as selective measures on specific plant diseases

Mechanistic understanding and effective prevention of erosion-corrosion of hyrotransport pipes in oil sand slurry

Bibliography: p. 81-91Some pages are in colour

Water-mediated adhesion of oil sands on solid surfaces at low temperature

Adhesion of frozen granular materials on solid surfaces creates various problems for surface cleaning, reduces the carrying capacity of vehicles, and increases energy consumption for in-land transportation. Here we report that water content determines the adhesion strength of oil sands on solid surfaces at temperature of -2.5 ◦C to -20 ◦C. Our measurements by X-ray micro-computed tomography revealed that water forms capillary bridges between the sand particles and the solid substrate and more air gaps at the interface between oil sands and the substrate are filled with interstitial water at a higher content. We experimentally measured the minimal force required to push the frozen oil sands off the substrate and identified that the adhesion strength increased linearly with water content from 4% to 14% on both rubber and steel substrate. For short freezing time at a fixed water content, lowering the temperature increased the adhesion strength on the steel substrate. Fouling from a layer of bitumen or asphaltenes aggravated the adhesion of oil sands on steel. A theoretical model was proposed to rationalize the linear relationship between water content and the adhesion strength, based on the contact area between ice and the substrate. We also found an effective method to reduce the adhesion of oil sands by spraying a little amount of anti-freezing liquid on the substrate. Our approach may reduce the energy consumption in transport and processing of wet granular materials, and potentially save manpower and the cost from cleaning in industrial operations. The insight from our work may have wide applicability to many natural/industrial processes, such as soil formation, food processing, and porous structures in ice crystal-templating nanomaterials synthesis by freezing-drying

Optimal salinity and water level control of water courses using Model Predictive Control

Worldwide, delta areas are under stress due to climate change. With rising sea levels and decreasing freshwater availability, surface water salinization due to groundwater exfiltration is expected to increase in these low-lying areas. To counteract surface water salinization, freshwater diverted from rivers is used to flush agricultural ditches. In this paper, we demonstrate a Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme to control salinity and water levels in a water course while minimizing freshwater usage. A state space description of the discretized De Saint Venant and advection-dispersion equations for water and salt transport, respectively, is used as the internal model of the controller. The developed MPC scheme is tested using groundwater exfiltration data from two different representative Dutch polders. The tests demonstrate that water levels and salinity concentrations can successfully be controlled within set limits while minimizing the freshwater used

Effects of manganese oxides on the activity and stability of Ni-Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 anode for solid oxide fuel cells with methanol as the fuel

Ni-MnOx-Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 (SDC) composites are synthesized and investigated as anode materials of solid oxide fuel cells fed with methanol. The lowest anodic polarization resistance is obtained when the molar ratio of Mn to Ni is 0.05:0.95. The high catalytic activity is attributed to the transfer of electrons from Ni to Mn and the increase of the content of the lattice oxygen in the anode. The single cell with that anode and SDC-carbonate composite electrolyte exhibits a maximum power density of 722 mW cm-2 at 700 °C. Mn also increases the resistance to carbon deposition of the anode due to the high lattice oxygen content and the redox cycle of the Mn species. The stability of the single cell is enhanced with the increase of the content of Mn in the anode.Peer reviewe