Triamcinolone acetonide for rare ocular manifestations of pemphigus vulgaris: a case report

We present an interesting case of pemphigus vulgaris with severe and rare eye manifestations. An old lady with systemic and ocular manifestations of pemphigus vulgaris was treated with systemic corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, with no effect. Subconjunctival injection of triamcinolone acetate reduced the ocular signs and led to gradual reduction of the systemic medications

Transfer Learning Techniques for the Lithium-Ion Battery State of Charge Estimation

State of Charge (SOC) estimation is vital for battery management systems (BMS), impacting battery efficiency and lifespan. Accurate SOC estimation is challenging due to battery complexity and limited data for training Machine Learning based models. Transfer learning (TL) leverages pre-trained models, reducing training time and improving generalization in SOC estimation. In this paper, 8 different transfer learning techniques are examined, which were applied in four different models (LSTM, GRU, BiLSTM, and BiGRU) for SOC estimation. These transfer learning techniques have been applied to three datasets for re-training the models and results have been compared with the same models defined by Bayesian Hyperparameter Optimization. The TL4 and TL5 techniques consistently stood out as among the most efficient in both accuracy and computational time

Data-Driven Methods for the State of Charge Estimation of Lithium-Ion Batteries: An Overview

In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift towards electric mobility and an increasing emphasis on integrating renewable energy sources. Consequently, batteries and their management have been prominent in this context. A vital aspect of the BMS revolves around accurately determining the battery pack’s SOC. Notably, the advent of advanced microcontrollers and the availability of extensive datasets have contributed to the growing popularity and practicality of data-driven methodologies. This study examines the developments in SOC estimation over the past half-decade, explicitly focusing on data-driven estimation techniques. It comprehensively assesses the performance of each algorithm, considering the type of battery and various operational conditions. Additionally, intricate details concerning the models’ hyperparameters, including the number of layers, type of optimiser, and neuron, are provided for thorough examination. Most of the models analysed in the paper demonstrate strong performance, with both the MAE and RMSE for the estimation of SOC hovering around 2% or even lower

Common Bile-Duct Mucosa in Choledochoduodenostomy Patients — Histological and Histochemical Study

We describe the histological and histochemical changes of the common bile-duct mucosa in specimens obtained by means of peroral cholangioscopy, 1–12 years after choledochoduodenal anastomosis. Our findings — hyperplasia of the superficial epithelium, metaplastic goblet cells containing predominantly acid sialomucins, and pyloric-like gland formation containing neutral mucins — express a morphological and functional differentiation of the common bile-duct mucosa that probably facilitates its survival in a different environment. We consider that these adaptive changes may explain the uneventful long-term postoperative period of choledochoduodenostomized patients

A new method to retrieve the real part of the equivalent refractive index of atmospheric aerosols

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: S. Vratolis, et al, ‘A new method to retrieve the real part of the equivalent refractive index of atmospheric aerosols’, Journal of Aerosol Science, Vol. 117: 54-62, March 2018. Under embargo until 29 December 2019. The final, published version is available online at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaerosci.2017.12.013.In the context of the international experimental campaign Hygroscopic Aerosols to Cloud Droplets (HygrA-CD, 15 May to 22 June 2014), dry aerosol size distributions were measured at Demokritos station (DEM) using a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) in the size range from 10 to 550 nm (electrical mobility diameter), and an Optical Particle Counter (OPC model Grimm 107 operating at the laser wavelength of 660 nm) to acquire the particle size distribution in the size range of 250 nm to 2.5 μm optical diameter. This work describes a method that was developed to align size distributions in the overlapping range of the SMPS and the OPC, thus allowing us to retrieve the real part of the aerosol equivalent refractive index (ERI). The objective is to show that size distribution data acquired at in situ measurement stations can provide an insight to the physical and chemical properties of aerosol particles, leading to better understanding of aerosol impact on human health and earth radiative balance. The resulting ERI could be used in radiative transfer models to assess aerosol forcing direct effect, as well as an index of aerosol chemical composition. To validate the method, a series of calibration experiments were performed using compounds with known refractive index (RI). This led to a corrected version of the ERI values, (ERICOR). The ERICOR values were subsequently compared to model estimates of RI values, based on measured PM2.5 chemical composition, and to aerosol RI retrieved values by inverted lidar measurements on selected days.Peer reviewe

Participatory decision-support model in the context of building structural design embedding BIM with QFD

The design and optimisation of building structures is a complex undertaking that requires the effective collaboration of various stakeholders and involves technical and non-technical expertise. The paper investigated an integrated decision-support framework using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in structural design optimisation. The aim of the study was to develop and test a systematic participatory model that utilises Building Information Modelling (BIM)-enabled technologies for data collection and group decision-making theory. The uncertainties associated with the decision-makers’ preferences were computed using Evidential Reasoning (ER) algorithms in the QFD house of quality. An actual decision scenario was used to test the proposed framework and investigate its capabilities in the context of reinforced concrete buildings. The study demonstrated how the proposed QFD model could effectively enhance decision-making by managing the diversity of stakeholders’ preferences via design integration, enhanced communication and shared domain knowledge

User Rofde Identification in Future Mobile Telecommunications Systems

Nevertheless, researchers are working for the specification of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), which will be a third-generation system for mobile telecommunications. The UMTS [3] will provide a wide range of telecommunication services to a very large number of Mobile Users (MUS). Services highly comparable to those offered by fixed networks will be available via various Mobile Terminals (MTs). The UMTS will be a multi-operator system and will consist of a range of sub-networks, providing userswith access to different environments, according to the entitlement of the subscriptionswith which they are associated. As a user moves between sub-networks during a call, handover functions from one environment to another may take place [4]. Each of these environments has different technical and economic constraints and will require different solutions. In addition, the UMTS radio access point must be able to connect to or cooperate with fixed networks and be capable of operating as a stand-alone network for operation in non-B-ISDN environments, although itsintegrationwithB-ISDNisanobjectivefor UMTS. Other critical aspects of UMTS are the techniques used to store and manipulate the large amount of information involved, and the intelligence needed in order to control calls and cope with user and terminal mobility. In order to make use of a service, a UMTS user will be able to register on an MT for this particular service [5]. Since user registrations will be performed on a per service basis, a user may be registered on more than one MT for different services. Moreover, some types of UMTS terminals will support multiple user registrations,' but only one of the registered users will be allowed to make use of the terminal at a time. The UMTS will also support Universal Personal Telecommunications (UPT), which means that UPT users will be able to register onto (one or more) UMTS terminals in order to make and accept calls. The ability of a user to roam into the various UMTS environments and make use of the resources and services via different terminals will be checked every time this user enters an environment and/or uses resources and services. This means that an information entity must exist for every user so as to be retrieved every time such achecking is required. This user-related information entity is called the UMTS User Profile (UUP). The UUP is stored in the UMTS Distributed Data Base (UMTS DDB) and can be accessed from every point in the network.2 Management operations on a particular user profile can b e performed only by authorized UMTS operators and possibly by the subscriber concemedorbyauser authorizedbythissubscriber. A U U P includes user authentication information, service access information, access domain information, user charging and accounting information, etc. This article discusses the UMTS user profile identification issues. The authors introduce first the concept of user profile and the UMTS entities related to it. Then, the user profile is described and its management requirements are discussed followed by the description of two scenarios proposed for the user profile identification. Finally, the authors give a comparison of the two scenarios and their concluding remarks. The study of the impact of the proposed scenarios upon UMTS operators, subscribers, users, and mobile terminals is beyond the authors' intent for the scope of this article. Entities Related to the UMTS User Profile efore introducing the UMTS User Profile, we B attempt to identify a number of UMTS entities related to this concept

Quantitative assessment of the variability in chemical profiles from source apportionment analysis of PM10 and PM2.5 at different sites within a large metropolitan area

The study aims to assess the differences between the chemical profiles of the major anthropogenic and natural PM sources in two areas with different levels of urbanization and traffic density within the same urban agglomeration. A traffic site and an urban background site in the Athens Metropolitan Area have been selected for this comparison. For both sites, eight sources were identified, with seven of them being common for the two sites (Mineral Dust, non-Exhaust Emissions, Exhaust Emissions, Heavy Oil Combustion, Sulfates & Organics, Sea Salt and Biomass Burning) and one, site-specific (Nitrates for the traffic site and Aged Sea Salt for the urban background site). The similarity between the source profiles was quantified using two statistical analysis tools, Pearson correlation (PC) and Standardized Identity Distance (SID). According to Pearson coefficients five out of the eight source profiles present high (PC > 0.8) correlation (Mineral Dust, Biomass Burning, Sea Salt, Sulfates and Heavy Oil Combustion), one presented moderate (0.8 > PC > 0.6) correlation (Exhaust) and two low/no (PC < 0.6) correlation (non-Exhaust, Nitrates/Aged Sea Salt). The source profiles that appear to be more correlated are those of sources that are not expected to have high spatial variability because there are either natural/secondary and thus have a regional character or are emitted outside the urban agglomeration and are transported to both sites. According to SID four out of the eight sources have high statistical correlation (SID < 1) in the two sites (Mineral Dust, Sea salt, Sulfates, Heavy Oil Combustion). Biomass Burning was found to be the source that yielded different results from the two methodologies. The careful examination of the source profile of that source revealed the reason for this discrepancy. SID takes all the species of the profile equally into account, while PC might be disproportionally affected by a few numbers of species with very high concentrations. It is suggested, based on the findings of this work, that the combined use of both tools can lead the users to a thorough evaluation of the similarity of source profiles. This work is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time a study is focused on the quantitative comparison of the source profiles for sites inside the same urban agglomeration using statistical indicators.The study was supported by “CALIBRA/EYIE” (MIS 5002799) and “PANhellenic infrastructure for Atmospheric Composition and climatE change” (MIS 5021516) implemented under the Action “Reinforcement of the Research and Innovation Infrastructure”, funded by the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (NSRF 2014–2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund). Collection and chemical analysis of samples were supported by LIFE + AIRUSE EU project (ENV/ES/584). Partial support was also received by H2020 ERAPLANET/SMURBS ERANET GA No 689443.Peer reviewe

Automated specification of steel reinforcement to support the optimisation of RC floors

A Building Information Modelling (BIM)-enabled computational approach was presented in this paper for the automated specification of steel reinforcement to support the optimisation of reinforced concrete (RC) flat slabs. After importing slab geometries from BIM, the proposed procedure utilised internal forces output from Finite Element Model (FEM) to map required reinforcement in two stages. In the first stage, the reinforcement specifications matched the spatial resolution of the FEM. In the second, the reinforcement was adjusted by imposing constructability functions to limit the number of arrangements in terms of zones and bar spacing. The aim of the paper was to investigate the parametric capabilities of the proposed approach in the context of an optimisation model for the generation of material-efficient structural designs. Numerical examples were presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the automated specification procedure. The material efficiency and the design complexity of the developed reinforcement configurations were also assessed against a conventional solution under realistic design conditions

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy for a patient with an intractable small bowel injury after repeat surgeries: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The management of intestinal injury can be challenging, because of the intractable nature of the condition. Surgical treatment for patients with severe adhesions sometimes results in further intestinal injury. We report a conservative management strategy using percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy for an intractable small bowel surgical injury after repeated surgeries.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 78-year-old Japanese woman had undergone several abdominal surgeries including urinary cystectomy for bladder cancer. After this operation, she developed peritonitis as a result of a small bowel perforation thought to be due to an injury sustained during the operation, with signs consistent with systemic inflammatory response syndrome: body temperature 38.5°C, heart rate 92 beats/minute, respiratory rate 23 breaths/minute, white blood cell count 11.7 × 10⁹/L (normal range 4-11 × 10⁹/μL). Two further surgical interventions failed to control the leak, and our patient's clinical condition and nutritional status continued to deteriorate. We then performed percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy, and continuous suction was applied as an alternative to a third surgical intervention. With this endoscopic intervention, the intestinal leak gradually closed and oral feeding became possible.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We suggest that the technique of percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy combined with a somatostatin analog is a feasible alternative to surgical treatment for small bowel leakage, and is less invasive than a nasojejunal tube.</p