Marble impaction in the nasopharynx following oral ingestion

Foreign body ingestion is an important emergency occurring in childhood. In this article, we report the case of a 5-year-old girl with marble impaction in the nasopharynx, which had not been discovered by routine X-rays of the chest and abdomen at the time of ingestion. The patient presented 4months after the event with typical symptoms of adenoid hypertrophy and sinusitis, and the diagnosis was established on the basis of a plain film of the nasopharynx. This rare situation is potentially dangerous, since the foreign body may descend and cause sudden airway obstruction. Therefore, in all cases with vanishing foreign bodies in the aerodigestive system, nasopharyngeal impaction and its fatal consequences should be kept in mind and endoscopic examination of the region should be considere

Manufacturing of microcapsules with liquid core and their self-healing performance in epoxy for resin transfer molding

Microcapsules with different active core materials have been receiving a great deal of attention for developing polymer based materials with selfhealing abilities. The self-healing ability is crucial in particular for matrix materials having brittle nature such as epoxy resin. In order for abstaining from an abrupt failure of structural brittle manner polymeric materials, microcapsules can be used excellently as a viable repair agent. In this work, we present a study on the catalyst-free microcapsule based self-healing system. Microcapsules were produced by the insitu polymerization of urea-formaldehyde at the dispersed phase-water interface. Each microcapsule batches were characterized by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analyser (TGA), Di erential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Characteristic peaks of urea-formaldehyde shell, core components; DGEBA, and PhCl was seen in the Mid- IR region. Characteristic thermal decomposition temperature of urea-formaldehyde wall material and DBEBA which is the main microcapsule content were determined from the TGA trace. In addition to the given thermal and spectral characterization tools, optic microscope and SEM images also ensure the formation of liquid- lled microcapsules. Although the microcapsules showed brittle behavior during the processing such as drying and sieving, incorporation of microcapsules into the epoxy matrix was achieved successfully. The healing characteristic of epoxy-microcapsule composite was assessed by the Tapered Double Cantilever Beam (TDCB) specimen at the mode-I crack opening fashion. Besides microcapsule-epoxy composite system showed a moderate healing efficiency, a significant increase in mode-I fracture toughness value was observed. Three point bending experiment was also conducted on the microcapsule-epoxy composite. It was found that microcapsules drastically decrease the flexure strength of questioned host material

Effects of the acute exposure to the electromagnetic field of mobile phones on human auditory brainstem responses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term effects of the electromagnetic fields (EMF) of mobile phones on human auditory brainstem responses. This prospective study of healthy adults evaluated the influence of EMF. Eighteen healthy adult volunteers participated in this study. Mobile telephones emitting signals in the region of 900MHz and with the highest SAR value of 0.82W/kg were positioned in direct contact to the right ear, which was exposed to the phone signal for 15min before and after ABR testing with click stimuli of 60 and 80dB nHL intensities. The latencies of the waves and interwave latencies were measured on screen by an experienced audiologist. The differences of the mean latencies of waves I, III and IV were not significant in initial and post-exposure ABR measurements at both 60 and 80dB nHL stimulus levels ( P >0.05). Similarly, differences of the mean interwave intervals I-III, I-V and III-V remained insignificant at the initial and postexposure ABR measurements at stimulus levels of both 60 and 80dB nHL ( P >0.05). Acute exposure to the EMF of mobile phones does not cause perturbations in ABR latencies. However, these negative results should not encourage excessive mobile communication, because minor biological and neurophysiological influences may not be detectable by the current technolog

Laryngeal involvement in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of laryngeal tuberculosis (LT) among patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. A total of 319 patients under treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis were subjected to laryngoscopy. Five patients (1.5%) with LT were identified. Odynophagia was the most common complaint, followed by alteration in voice. The larynx returned to its normal appearance in 3-8months (average 18weeks) by antituberculous medication. Physicians dealing with pulmonary tuberculosis should keep in mind that symptoms of laryngeal involvement may be minor, and laryngoscopy should always be performed when laryngeal involvement is suspected in order to isolate highly infectious patients. Response to antituberculous medication is usually late in LT and diagnosis by "wait and watch” policy will cause a significant delay in the diagnosis of a possible larynx carcinom

The Effect of Apocynin on Motor and Cognitive Functions in Experimental Alzheimer’s disease.

Scope: We investigated the potential beneficial effect of Apocynin (APO) on motor and cognitive functions in experimental Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Materials and Methods: Experimental AD was induced in rats by intraventricular streptozotocin (STZ) injection. Sham group received artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Both groups were randomly divided into two subgroups. One of the subgroups received intraperitoneal APO for while the other had normal saline (NS). The animals were evaluated with rotarod, accelerod and Water-Maze tests before and after the treatment. Additionally, biochemical markers of oxidative stress such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were analyzed from brain specimens. Standard histological evaluation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to evaluate the neural damage. Results: The difference between STZ+NS in comparison with CSF+NS, CSF+APO and STZ+APO were statistically significant on 30 and 40 rpm on rotarod test. GSH levels, accelerod and Water-Maze test results were not statistically significant between subgroups. However, MDA differences between STZ+NS in comparison with CSF+NS, CSF+APO and STZ+APO were statistically significant. Hemotoxilene eozine staining and TEM results showed apocynins protective effect. Conclusion: These results indicate that APO can provide neuro-protective effect for motor but not for cognitive performance in experimental AD.   Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Streptozotocin, Apocynin, Rotarod test, Accelerod test, Water-Maze test</p

State of Utah v. Christena White : Appellant\u27s Reply Brief to Appellee\u27s Brief

DISTRICT COURT NO. 021900588FS APPELLANT COURT NO. 20040201-C

Early-detection and classification of live bacteria using time-lapse coherent imaging and deep learning

We present a computational live bacteria detection system that periodically captures coherent microscopy images of bacterial growth inside a 60 mm diameter agar-plate and analyzes these time-lapsed holograms using deep neural networks for rapid detection of bacterial growth and classification of the corresponding species. The performance of our system was demonstrated by rapid detection of Escherichia coli and total coliform bacteria (i.e., Klebsiella aerogenes and Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae) in water samples. These results were confirmed against gold-standard culture-based results, shortening the detection time of bacterial growth by >12 h as compared to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved analytical methods. Our experiments further confirmed that this method successfully detects 90% of bacterial colonies within 7-10 h (and >95% within 12 h) with a precision of 99.2-100%, and correctly identifies their species in 7.6-12 h with 80% accuracy. Using pre-incubation of samples in growth media, our system achieved a limit of detection (LOD) of ~1 colony forming unit (CFU)/L within 9 h of total test time. This computational bacteria detection and classification platform is highly cost-effective (~$0.6 per test) and high-throughput with a scanning speed of 24 cm2/min over the entire plate surface, making it highly suitable for integration with the existing analytical methods currently used for bacteria detection on agar plates. Powered by deep learning, this automated and cost-effective live bacteria detection platform can be transformative for a wide range of applications in microbiology by significantly reducing the detection time, also automating the identification of colonies, without labeling or the need for an expert.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Monitoring the damage state of fiber reinforced composites using an FBG network for failure prediction

A structural health monitoring (SHM) study of biaxial glass fibre-reinforced epoxy matrix composites under a constant, high strain uniaxial fatigue loading is performed using fibre Bragg grating (FBG) optical sensors embedded in composites at various locations to monitor the evolution of local strains, thereby understanding the damage mechanisms. Concurrently, the temperature changes of the samples during the fatigue test have also been monitored at the same locations. Close to fracture, significant variations in local temperatures and strains are observed, and it is shown that the variations in temperature and strain can be used to predict imminent fracture. It is noted that the latter information cannot be obtained using external strain gages, which underlines the importance of the tracking of local strains internally

The Perception of Memory and Identity in The Sacred Night of Tahar Ben Jelloun

In France, the semiotic method of analysis that developed as an important branch of structuralism accepts text as a semantic construction. Considering this, the Paris school of Semiotics developed a method that gradually phased out texts as surface and deep structure. In this study, we use semiotic methods to analyze the book The Sacred Night, which is a continuation of the novel titled The Sand Child, for which the Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun won the "Prix Goncourt" in 1987. The semiotics of Greimas, also known as the Paris school of Semiotics, comes from the basic principles of metamorphosis and includes a description and analysis of narrative elements. In our study, the narrative level of the action areas covers the protagonist and other characters involved in the novel La nuit sacree, the discursive level contains the figurative and thematic roles that people engage in, and the semes and the isotopies appear in the deep structure by which means the semantic structure of texte. We examine the fantastic story of Zehra, who is raised as a male child and explores feminine identity after his father's death in the context of memory and identity. After determining the semantic boundaries of memory and identity, we separate the narrative parts and evaluate the narrative processes in the context of time and space

Iron Catalyzed α-C-H Cyanation of Simple and Complex Tertiary Amines

This manuscript details the development of a general and mild protocol for the α-C-H cyanation of tertiary amines as well as its application in late stage functionalization. Suitable substrates include tertiary aliphatic, benzylic, and aniline-type substrates as well as complex substrates. Functional groups tolerated under the reaction conditions include various heterocycles, as well as ketones, amides, olefins, and alkynes. This broad substrate scope is remarkable, as comparable reaction protocols for α-C-H cyanation frequently occur via free radical mechanisms, and are thus fundamentally limited in their functional group tolerance. In contrast, the presented catalyst system tolerates functional groups that typically react with free radicals, suggesting an alternative reaction pathway. All components of the described system are readily available, allowing implementation of the presented methodology without the need for lengthy catalyst synthesis