Identification of Kelvin waves: numerical challenges

Kelvin waves are expected to play an essential role in the energy dissipation for quantized vortices. However, the identification of these helical distortions is not straightforward, especially in case of vortex tangle. Here we review several numerical methods that have been used to identify Kelvin waves within the vortex filament model. We test their validity using several examples and estimate whether these methods are accurate enough to verify the correct Kelvin spectrum. We also illustrate how the correlation dimension is related to different Kelvin spectra and remind that the 3D energy spectrum E(k) takes the form 1/k in the high-k region, even in the presence of Kelvin waves.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co

High-Q photonic bandgap resonant cavities: From mm-wave to optical regime

The authors have realized a new class of high-Q resonant cavity using two-dimensional photonic bandgap (PBG) structures and showed that its Q-value can be as high as {approximately}23,000 in the mm-wave regime. They further show that its modal properties, such as the resonant frequency, modal linewidth and number of modes, can be tuned by varying the cavity size. In addition, they present a new nano-fabrication technique for constructing PBG resonant cavities in the near infrared and visible spectral regime

Avaliação da função de macrófagos alveolares em cavalos clinicamente sadios Evaluation of alveolar macrophage function in healthy horses

Devido à importância dos macrófagos alveolares (MA) nos mecanismos de defesa pulmonar, foram realizados estudos para avaliar a atividade desses fagócitos em cavalos hígidos. Foram realizados lavados broncoalveolares (LBA) em cinco cavalos clinicamente sadios. A citologia foi realizada pela citocentrifugação das amostras e posterior confecção de lâminas coradas pelo método de Rosenfeld. Todas as amostras do LBA foram centrifugadas e a concentração celular foi ajustada para 2×10(6) células/ml, para a mensuração da atividade macrofágica (testes de espraiamento, fagocitose e liberação de peróxido de hidrogênio). A contagem diferencial das células presentes no LBA demonstrou a predominância de macrófagos (59,0&plusmn; 6,9%). Os resultados obtidos nos testes de mensuração da atividade macrofágica foram: índice de espraiamento 25,1&plusmn; 19,7%, índice de fagocitose 89,4&plusmn; 6,2% e liberação de peróxido de hidrogênio 1,6&plusmn; 0,3nmoles/2×10(5) células (sem PMA - phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate) e 1,8&plusmn; 0,4nmoles/2×10(5) células (com PMA). Os resultados demonstraram um padrão de atividade para MA de cavalos hígidos, os quais apresentaram índices de ativação mesmo sem elicitação prévia, indicando que as técnicas utilizadas foram adequadas para tal propósito.<br>Due to the importance of alveolar macrophages (AM) in pulmonary defense mechanisms, studies were performed in order to evaluate the activity of these cells. Bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) were obtained from five healthy horses, and cytology was performed on glass slides after cytocentrifugation of the samples. Slides were stained by Rosenfeld. All BAL samples were centrifuged and cell concentration was adjusted to 2×10(6) cells/ml, for the measurement of AM activity (spreading, phagocytosis and hydrogen peroxide release tests). Differential counting of the BAL cells demonstrated that macrophages were the predominant type of cell (59.0&plusmn; 6.9%). Measurement of AM activity presented the following results: spreading rate, 25.1&plusmn; 19.7%, phagocytosis rate, 89.4&plusmn; 6.2% and hydrogen peroxide release, 1.6&plusmn; 0.3nmoles/2×10(5) cells (without PMA- phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate) and 1.8&plusmn; 0.4nmoles/2×10(5) cells (with PMA). Results presented a pattern for the activity of AM in healthy horses enabling the demonstration of an activation rate even without known previous eliciting factors. These results indicate that the tests of macrophage activity measurement are adequate for evaluation of phagocytic activity of AMs

Enhanced interpretation of newborn screening results without analyte cutoff values

Purpose: To improve quality of newborn screening by tandem mass spectrometry with a novel approach made possible by the collaboration of 154 laboratories in 49 countries. Methods: A database of 767,464 results from 12,721 cases affected with 60 conditions was used to build multivariate pattern recognition software that generates tools integrating multiple clinically significant results into a single score. This score is determined by the overlap between normal and disease ranges, penetration within the disease range, differences between conditions, and weighted correction factors. Results: Ninety tools target either a single condition or the differential diagnosis between multiple conditions. Scores are expressed as the percentile rank among all cases with the same condition and are compared to interpretation guidelines. Retrospective evaluation of past cases suggests that these tools could have avoided at least half of 279 false-positive outcomes caused by carrier status for fatty-acid oxidation disorders and could have prevented 88% of known false-negative events. Conclusion: Application of this computational approach to raw data is independent from single analyte cutoff values. In Minnesota, the tools have been a major contributing factor to the sustained achievement of a false-positive rate below 0.1% and a positive predictive value above 60%. © 2012 American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics