Один из способов управления технологическим процессом дуговой сталеплавильной печи

В статье приводится описание комплексной математической модели, используемой для рационального управления работой дуговых электросталеплавильных печей.In article the description of the complex mathematical model used for rational management by work of arc electrosteel-smelting furnaces is resulted

Quantificação de fatores de crescimento na pele de equinos tratada com plasma rico em plaquetas

O plasma rico em plaquetas (PRP) é um produto derivado da centrifugação do sangue total, sendo rico em fatores bioativos, como os de crescimento. Apesar da ampla utilização em processos cicatriciais, há controvérsia sobre a eficácia da terapia na cicatrização cutânea. O objetivo desse estudo foi quantificar e comparar a concentração dos fatores TGF-β1 e PDGF-BB no PRP, plasma sanguíneo e pele, durante diferentes fases do processo de cicatrização da pele tratada ou não com PRP. Foram utilizados sete equinos machos castrados, mestiços, hígidos, com idade entre 16 e 17 (16,14±0,63) anos. Três lesões em formato quadrangular (6,25cm²) foram produzidas cirurgicamente nas regiões glúteas direita e esquerda de todos os animais. Doze horas após indução das feridas, 0,5mL do PRP foi administrado em cada uma das quatro extremidades das feridas de uma das regiões glúteas (Grupo tratado = GT), escolhida aleatoriamente. A região contralateral foi utilizada como controle (GC). As feridas foram submetidas à limpeza diária com água Milli Q, e amostras foram obtidas mediante biópsias realizadas com Punch de 6mm. Foram obtidas seis biópsias de pele, sendo a primeira realizada logo após a produção da ferida (T0), e as demais com 1 (T1) 2 (T2) 7 (T3) e 14 (T4) dias após a indução da lesão. A sexta biópsia (T5) foi obtida após completo fechamento da pele, que ocorreu aproximadamente aos 37 dias (36,85±7,45, GC; 38,85±6,46, GT). Também foram obtidas amostras de sangue com EDTA em todos os tempos mencionados. A quantificação dos fatores de crescimento TGF-β1 e PDGF-BB na pele, PRP e plasma sanguíneo foi realizada pela técnica ELISA. Os dados foram analisados estatisticamente pelo teste t, correlação de Pearson e regressão, utilizando nível de significância de 5%. Não houve diferença entre os grupos, nos valores dos dois fatores de crescimento mensurados na pele, nos diferentes tempos. Também não houve correlação entre a quantidade dos fatores de crescimento presentes na pele e no plasma. Por outro lado, correlação positiva foi observada entre PRP e pele no grupo tratado, para os fatores de crescimento TGF-β1 (r=0,31) e PDGF-BB (r=0,38), bem como entre ambos os fatores de crescimento presentes no PRP (r=0,81). Considerando as concentrações dos fatores de crescimento no T0, os maiores valores cutâneos (p<0,05) do TGF-β1, em ambos os grupos, ocorreram nos tempos T3 e T5. Valores mais elevados (p<0,05) do PDGF-BB ocorreram no T4 (GT) e T5 (GC). No plasma não houve alteração nas concentrações desses fatores em relação ao T0, o que sugere que o PRP não acarreta efeito sistêmico, quando os procedimentos adotados na presente pesquisa são utilizados. A administração local de PRP no volume estudado, 12 h após indução cirúrgica de ferida cutânea na região glútea de equinos não ocasiona maiores concentrações dos fatores de crescimento TGF-β1 e PDGF-BB no plasma sanguíneo e pele, durante o processo de cicatrização

A theoretical assessment of the effects of vector-virus transmission mechanisms on plant virus disease epidemics

A continuous-time and deterministic model was used to characterize plant virus disease epidemics in relation to virus transmission mechanism and population dynamics of the insect vectors. The model can be written as a set of linked differential equations for healthy (virus-free), latently infected, infectious, and removed (postinfectious) plant categories, and virus-free, latent, and infective insects, with parameters based on the transmission classes, vector population dynamics, immigration/emigration rates, and virus-plant interactions. The rate of change in diseased plants is a function of the density of infective insects, the number of plants visited per time, and the probability of transmitting the virus per plant visit. The rate of change in infective insects is a function of the density of infectious plants, the number of plants visited per time by an insect, and the probability of acquiring the virus per plant visit. Numerical solutions of the differential equations were used to determine transitional and steady-state levels of disease incidence (d*); d* was also determined directly from the model parameters. Clear differences were found in disease development among the four transmission classes: nonpersistently transmitted (stylet-borne [NP]); semipersistently transmitted (foregut-borne [SP]); circulative, persistently transmitted (CP); and propagative, persistently transmitted (PP), with the highest disease incidence (d) for the SP and CP classes relative to the others, especially at low insect density when there was no insect migration or when the vector status of emigrating insects was the same as that of immigrating ones. The PP and CP viruses were most affected by changes in vector longevity, rates of acquisition, and inoculation of the virus by vectors, whereas the PP viruses were least affected by changes in insect mobility. When vector migration was explicitly considered, results depended on the fraction of infective insects in the immigration pool and the fraction of dying and emigrating vectors replaced by immigrants. The PP and CP viruses were most sensitive to changes in these factors. Based on model parameters, the basic reproductive number (R(0))--number of new infected plants resulting from an infected plant introduced into a susceptible plant population--was derived for some circumstances and used to determine the steady-state level of disease incidence and an approximate exponential rate of disease increase early in the epidemic. Results can be used to evaluate disease management strategies. Additional keywords: compartmental model, nonlinear model, strategic modeling, theoretical epidemiology

Hair preservation results of scalp cooling in > 3000 patients - The Dutch Scalp Cooling Registry

Experimentele farmacotherapi

Post-damming flow regime development in a large lowland river (Volga, Russian federation): implications for floodplain inundation and fisheries

Periodic flooding plays a key role in the ecology of floodplain rivers. Damming of such rivers can disturb flooding patterns and have a negative impact on commercial fish yield. The Volga River, the largest river in Europe, has a regulated flow regime after completion of a cascade of dams. Here, we study effects of damming on long-term discharge variability and flood pulse characteristics. In addition, we evaluate the effects of the altered flood pulse on floodplain ecosystem functioning and commercial fish yields. Our results indicate that both flood pulse and fish populations of the Volga–Akhtuba floodplain have varied considerably over the past decades. After damming, annual maximum peak discharges have decreased, minimum discharges increased, but average discharges remained similar to pre-damming conditions. Moreover, because of bed level incision of over 1.5 m, a higher discharge is needed to reach bankfull level and inundate the floodplains. Despite this significantly altered hydrological regime and subsequent morphological changes, current discharge management still provides significant spring flooding. However, commercial fish catches did decrease after damming, both in the main channel and in the floodplain lakes. All catches were dominated by species with a eurytopic flow preference, although catches from the main channel contained more rheophilic species, and floodplain catches contained more limnophilic and phytophilic species. The strong increase of opportunistic gibel carp (Carassius gibelio) around 1985 was apparent in the main channel and the floodplain lakes. Despite the hydrological changes, the decrease in overall catches, and the upsurge of gibel, we found a strong positive effect of flood magnitude in the previous year on commercial fish yield in the floodplain lakes. This suggests that under the current discharge management there still is an increased fish growth and/or survival during high floods and that functioning of the floodplain is at least partly intact

Overexpression and topology of the Shigella flexneri O-antigen polymerase (Rfc/Wzy).

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), particularly the O-antigen component, are one of many virulence determinants necessary for Shigella flexneri pathogenesis. O-antigen biosynthesis is determined mostly by genes located in the rfb region of the chromosome. The rfc/wzy gene encodes the O-antigen polymerase, an integral membrane protein, which polymerizes the O-antigen repeat units of the LPS. The wild-type rfc/wzy gene has no detectable ribosome-binding site (RBS) and four rare codons in the translation initiation region (TIR). Site-directed mutagenesis of the rare codons at positions 4, 9 and 23 to those corresponding to more abundant tRNAs and introduction of a RBS allowed detection of the rfc/wzy gene product via a T7 promoter/polymerase expression assay. Complementation studies using the rfc/wzy constructs allowed visualization of a novel LPS with unregulated O-antigen chain length distribution, and a modal chain length could be restored by supplying the gene for the O-antigen chain length regulator (Rol/Wzz) on a low-copy-number plasmid. This suggests that the O-antigen chain length distribution is determined by both Rfc/Wzy and Rol/Wzz proteins. The effect on translation of mutating the rare codons was determined using an Rfc::PhoA fusion protein as a reporter. Alkaline phosphatase enzyme assays showed an approximately twofold increase in expression when three of the rare codons were mutated. Analysis of the Rfc/Wzy amino acid sequence using TM-PREDICT indicated that Rfc/Wzy had 10-13 transmembrane segments. The computer prediction models were tested by genetically fusing C-terminal deletions of Rfc/Wzy to alkaline phosphatase and beta-galactosidase. Rfc::PhoA fusion proteins near the amino-terminal end were detected by Coomassie blue staining and Western blotting using anti-PhoA serum. The enzyme activities of cells with the rfc/wzy fusions and the location of the fusions in rfc/wzy indicated that Rfc/Wzy has 12 transmembrane segments with two large periplasmic domains, and that the amino- and carboxy-termini are located on the cytoplasmic face of the membrane