3,857 research outputs found
Design of hydraulic output Stirling engine
A hydraulic output system for the RE-1000 free piston stirling engine (FPSE) was designed. The hydraulic output system can be readily integrated with the existing hot section of RE-1000 FPSE. The system has two simply supported diaphragms which separate the engine gas from the hydraulic fluid, a dynamic balance mechanism, and a novel, null center band hydraulic pump. The diaphragms are designed to endure more than 10 billion cycles, and to withstand the differential pressure load as high as 14 MPa. The projected thermodynamic performance of the hydraulic output version of RE-1000 FPSE is 1.87 kW at 29/7 percent brake efficiency
Majocchi’s Granuloma by Trichophytum rubrum in a kidney transplant patient - A case report
Introduction: Trichophytum rubrum is a filamentous fungus, with worldwide distribution, that usually causes
superficial infections of skin and nails, namely tinea pedis, tinea corporis, tinea cruris and onychomycosis.
Rarely, severe dermatophytosis can occur, presenting as deep dermatophytosis, Majocchi’s Granuloma or
extensive dermatophytosis.
Objectives and Methods: Case report of Majocchi’s Granuloma in a kidney transplant patient.
Results: A case of a 55-year-old woman who underwent a kidney transplant 7 months before, under
immunosuppressive therapy with tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil. She attended a Dermatology
consultation to clarify skin lesions that appeared 6 months earlier. The skin exam revealed hard and painful
plaque lesions on both legs, with an ulcer on the left leg lesion, violaceous papular lesions on the dorsum of
the left foot and toes and a hard consistency nodule on the left leg. Some of the toe nails presented dystrophy
or onycholysis. The patient denied any previous trauma or contact with plants or soil.
Biopsies of lesions of the left leg and foot dorsum where sent for histology and mycological culture and toe
nails for mycological culture. The histological examinations showed, in the reticular dermis and reaching the
hypodermis, suppurative granulomas with multinucleated giant cells and areas of necrosis. PAS (Periodic Acid-
Schiff) and GMS (Grocott’s Methenamine Silver) staining revealed multiple spores and septate hypha within the
granulomas but not in the stratum corneum. No remnants of hair follicles where found.
Culture of skin biopsies were positive for Tricophytum rubrum but nails´ culture was negative.
Identification was further confirmed by sequencing of ITS region of ribosomal DNA (GenBank accession
number MK967277).
Oral Itraconazole 100mg bid and topic Sertoconazole where initiated. The patient was observed one month
after and reported general malaise, tiredness, exertional dyspnea, whitish stools and increased abdominal
volume. The physician chose to discontinue itraconazole and initiate oral terbinafine 250mg id. After two
months on oral terbinafine, there was regression of the legs´ and left foot lesions with ulcer healing and
disappearance of the left leg nodule.
Conclusion: Diagnosis of deeper dermatophytosis is difficult, in part because there is no specific clinical
presentation and, in many cases, it is even polymorphic. However, especially in patients with
immunodeficiency, this hypothesis should be weighed. Confirmation is achieved by finding hyphae compatible
with dermatophytes in the dermis and a positive culture for a dermatophyte.
Treatment should include systemic antifungal agents, to which topical medication may be associated. Multiple
therapeutic regimens have been proposed, but randomized trials or large case series are lacking. Antifungal
therapy should be continued until the lesions are completely resolved. Surgical treatment has been reported as
an option for highly localized lesions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Resistance status of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae to selected acaricides on strawberries.
The carmine spider mite, Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Boisduval) and the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, are serious pests of strawberries and many other horticultural crops. Control of these pests has been heavily dependent upon chemical acaricides. Objectives of this study were to determine the resistance status of these two pest species to commonly used acaricides on strawberries in a year-round intensive horticultural production region. LC90 of abamectin for adult carmine spider mites was 4% whereas that for adult twospotted spider mites was 24% of the top label rate. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 0.5%, 0.5%, 1.4% and 83% of their respective highest label rates for carmine spider mite eggs, 0.7%, 2.7%, 12.1% and 347% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. LC90s of spiromesifen, etoxazole, hexythiazox and bifenazate were 4.6%, 11.1%, 310% and 62% of their respective highest label rates for twospotted spider mite eggs, 3%, 13%, 432,214% and 15% of their respective highest label rates for the nymphs. Our results suggest that T. cinnabarinus have developed resistance to bifenazate and that the T. urticae have developed resistance to hexythiazox. These results strongly emphasize the need to develop resistance management strategies in the region
Effects of an extra gauge boson on the top quark decay
The effects of an extra gauge boson with family nonuniversal fermion
couplings on the rare top quark decay gamma10^{-8}m_{Z'}=500Z'B(t --> c
\gamma)\sim 10^{-6}m_{Z'}=1$ TeV.Comment: New paragraphs included to clarify our results, conclusion remains
unchange
Millimeter observations of Planetary Nebulae: a contribution to the Planck pre-launch catalogue
We present new millimetre 43 GHz observations of a sample of radio-bright
Planetary Nebulae. Such observations were carried out to have a good
determination of the high-frequency radio spectra of the sample in order to
evaluate, together with far-IR measurements (IRAS), the fluxes emitted by the
selected source in the millimetre and sub-millimetre band. This spectral range,
even very important to constraint the physics of circumstellar environment, is
still far to be completely exploited. To estimate the millimetre and
sub-millimetre fluxes, we extrapolated and summed together the ionized gas
(free-free radio emission) and dust (thermal emission) contributions at this
frequency range. By comparison of the derived flux densities to the foreseen
sensitivity we investigate the possible detection of such source for all the
channels of the forthcoming ESA's PLANCK mission. We conclude that almost 80%
of our sample will be detected by PLANCK, with the higher detection rate in the
higher frequency channels, where there is a good combination of brighter
intrinsic flux from the sources and reduced extended Galactic foregrounds
contamination despite a worst instrumental sensitivity. From the new 43 GHz,
combined with single-dish 5 GHz observations from the literature, we derive
radio spectral indexes, which are consistent with optically thin free-free
nebula. This result indicates that the high frequency radio spectrum of our
sample sources is dominated by thermal free-free and other emission, if
present, are negligible.Comment: Submitted to A&A, 6 pages, 3 figure
Higgs mediated Double Flavor Violating top decays in Effective Theories
The possibility of detecting double flavor violating top quark transitions at
future colliders is explored in a model-independent manner using the effective
Lagrangian approach through the () decays. A
Yukawa sector that contemplates invariants of up to
dimension six is proposed and used to derive the most general flavor violating
and CP violating and vertices of renormalizable type.
Low-energy data, on high precision measurements, and experimental limits are
used to constraint the and vertices and then used to
predict the branching ratios for the decays. It is found
that this branching ratios may be of the order of , for a
relative light Higgs boson with mass lower than , which could be more
important than those typical values found in theories beyond the standard model
for the rare top quark decays () or . %% LHC experiments, by using a total integrated luminosity of of data, will be able to rule out, at 95% C.L., DFV top quark
decays up to a Higgs mass of 155 GeV/ or discover such a process up to a
Higgs mass of 147 GeV/.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figure
Production of doubly charged vector bilepton pairs at colliders
The production of pairs of doubly charged vector bileptons is studied at
future colliders. The unpolarized cross--section for the
subprocess is analytically calculated and
convoluted to predict the number of events in the complete process. The gauge or non--gauge character of the
vector bilepton is discussed. It is found that as a consequence
of its spectacular signature, as it decays dominantly into two identical
charged leptons, and also due to its charge contents, which significantly
enhance the cross--section, the detection of this class of particles with mass
in the sub--TeV region can be at the reach of these colliders. The
model--independent nature of our results is stressed.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, submitted to physical review
Spacelab 3 flight experiment No. 3AFT23: Autogenic-feedback training as a preventive method for space adaptation syndrome
Space adaptation syndrome is a motion sickness-like disorder which affects up to 50 percent of all people exposed to microgravity in space. This experiment tested a physiological conditioning procedure (Autogenic-Feedback Training, AFT) as an alternative to pharmacological management. Four astronauts participated as subjects in this experiment. Crewmembers A and B served as treatment subjects. Both received preflight training for control of heart rate, respiration rate, peripheral blood volume, and skin conductance. Crewmembers C and D served as controls (i.e., did not receive training). Crewmember A showed reliable control of his own physiological responses, and a significant increase in motion sickness tolerance after training. Crewmember B, however, demonstrated much less control and only a moderate increase in motion sickness tolerance was observed after training. The inflight symptom reports and physiological data recordings revealed that Crewmember A did not experience any severe symptom episodes during the mission, while Crewmember B reported one severe symptom episode. Both control group subjects, C and D (who took antimotion sickness medication), reported multiple symptom episodes on mission day 0. Both inflight data and crew reports indicate that AFT may be an effective countermeasure. Additional data must be obtained inflight (a total of eight treatment and eight control subjects) before final evaluation of this treatment can be made
Promoting post-stroke recovery through focal or whole body vibration: criticisms and prospects from a narrative review
Objective: Several focal muscle vibration (fMV) and whole body vibration (WBV) protocols have been designed to promote brain reorganization processes in patients with stroke. However, whether fMV and WBV should be considered helpful tools to promote post-stroke recovery remains still largely unclear. Methods: We here achieve a comprehensive review of the application of fMV and WBV to promote brain reorganization processes in patients with stroke. By first discussing the putative physiological basis of fMV and WBV and then examining previous observations achieved in recent randomized controlled trials (RCT) in patients with stroke, we critically discuss possible strength and limitations of the currently available data. Results: We provide the first systematic assessment of fMV studies demonstrating some improvement in upper and lower limb functions, in patients with chronic stroke. We also confirm and expand previous considerations about the rather limited rationale for the application of current WBV protocols in patients with chronic stroke. Conclusion: Based on available information, we propose new recommendations for optimal stimulation parameters and strategies for recruitment of specific stroke populations that would more likely benefit from future fMV or WBV application, in terms of speed and amount of post-stroke functional recovery
Autogenic-feedback training: A preventive method for space adaptation syndrome
The progress made to date on the reduction of data for Spacelab 3 Shuttle experiment, No. 3AFT23 is reported. Four astronauts participated as subjects in this experiment. Crewmen A and B served as treatment subjects (i.e., received preflight training for control of their own motion sickness symptoms) and Crewmen C and D served as control (i.e., did not receive training). A preliminary evaluation of Autogenic Feedback Training (AFT) was made from visual inspections of graphs that were generated from the preflight and inflight and inflight physiological data which included: (1) Baseline rotating chair tests for all crewmen; (2) Posttraining rotating chair tests of treatment groups subjects; (3) Preflight data from Joint Integrated Simulations for all crewmen; and (4) Flight data for all crewmen during mission days 0 through 4, and mission day 6 for treatment subjects only. A summary of the findings suggested by these data is outlined
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