ANCA-positive Vasculitides and Coronary Artery Pathology

Vasculitides constitute a heterogeneous group of disorders affecting from large arteries to post-arteriolar capillaries. These disorders can affect all organs and are categorized on the basis of the affected artery diameter and the presence or absence of antibodies to neutrophil cytoplasmic antigens (ANCA). ANCA-positive vasculitides involve small to medium size arteries of many organs, primarily of the upper and lower respiratory system, the kidneys and the peripheral nervous system. Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), Wegener granulomatosis (WG) and Churg-Strauss syndrome (CS) are forms of these vasculitides. Coronary arteries have been previously shown to be occasionally affected during the course of these diseases; however, this has never been formally assessed

ANCA-positive Vasculitides and Coronary Artery Pathology

Vasculitides constitute a heterogeneous group of disorders affecting from large arteries to post-arteriolar capillaries. These disorders can affect all organs and are categorized on the basis of the affected artery diameter and the presence or absence of antibodies to neutrophil cytoplasmic antigens (ANCA). ANCA-positive vasculitides involve small to medium size arteries of many organs, primarily of the upper and lower respiratory system, the kidneys and the peripheral nervous system. Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), Wegener granulomatosis (WG) and Churg-Strauss syndrome (CS) are forms of these vasculitides. Coronary arteries have been previously shown to be occasionally affected during the course of these diseases; however, this has never been formally assessed

Singlet vs Nonsinglet Perturbative Renormalization factors of Staggered Fermion Bilinears

In this paper we present the perturbative computation of the difference between the renormalization factors of flavor singlet ($\sum_f\bar\psi_f\Gamma\psi_f$, $f$: flavor index) and nonsinglet ($\bar\psi_{f_1} \Gamma \psi_{f_2}, f_1 \neq f_2$) bilinear quark operators (where $\Gamma = \mathbb{1},\,\gamma_5,\,\gamma_{\mu},\,\gamma_5\,\gamma_{\mu},\, \gamma_5\,\sigma_{\mu\,\nu}$) on the lattice. The computation is performed to two loops and to lowest order in the lattice spacing, using Symanzik improved gluons and staggered fermions with twice stout-smeared links. The stout smearing procedure is also applied to the definition of bilinear operators. A significant part of this work is the development of a method for treating some new peculiar divergent integrals stemming from the staggered formalism. Our results can be combined with precise simulation results for the renormalization factors of the nonsinglet operators, in order to obtain an estimate of the renormalization factors for the singlet operators. The results have been published in Physical Review D.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, Proceedings of the 35th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 18-24 June 2017, Granada, Spai

Confining strings in representations with common nn-ality

We study the spectrum of confining strings in SU(3) pure gauge theory, by means of lattice Monte Carlo simulations, using torelon operators in different representations of the gauge group. Our results provide direct evidence that the string spectrum is according to predictions based on $n$-ality. Torelon correlations in the rank-2 symmetric channel appear to be well reproduced by a two-exponential picture, in which the lowest state is given by the fundamental string $\sigma_1=\sigma$, the heavier string state is such that the ratio $\sigma_2/\sigma_1$ is approximately given by the Casimir ratio $C_{\rm sym}/C_{\rm f} = 5/2$, and the torelon has a much smaller overlap with the lighter fundamental string state.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Wind power potential assessment for seven buoys data collection stations in Aegean Sea using Weibull distribution function

This paper utilizes three hourly measured values of wind speed and direction from seven buoys data collection stations in Aegean Sea to study the wind speed and power characteristics applying the Weibull shape and scale parameters. Specifically, the site dependent, annual and monthly mean patterns of mean wind speed, Weibull parameters, frequency distribution, most probable wind speed, maximum energy carrying wind speed, wind power density and wind energy density characteristics have been studied. The Weibull distribution was found to represent the wind speed distribution with more than 90% accuracy in most of the cases. Slightly decreasing trends were observed in annual mean wind speed values at Lesvos and increasing at Mykonos. The mean values of wind speed, scale parameter, most probable wind speed, maximum energy carrying wind speed, wind power and wind energy density values showed higher values during winter time and lower in summer time. Mykonos was found to be the best site from wind power harnessing point of view. Moreover, the correlation between the percentages of times the wind speed was above cut-in-speed and the measured mean wind speed for the three selected sites and the correlation between the aforementioned percentages and the scale parameter c were examined and were found linear.http://jrse.aip.org/ai201

Offshore wind speed and wind power characteristics for ten locations in Aegean and Ionian Seas

This paper utilizes wind speed data measured at 3 and 10 m above water surface level using buoys at 10 stations in Ionian and Aegean Seas to understand the behaviour of wind and thereafter energy yield at these stations using 5 MW rated power offshore wind turbine. With wind power densities of 971 and 693 W/m2 at 50 m above water surface level, Mykonos and Lesvos were found to be superb and outstanding windy sites with wind class of 7 and 6, respectively. Other locations like Athos, Santorini and Skyros with wind power density of more than 530 W/m2 and wind class of 5 were found to be the excellent sites. Around 15–16% higher winds were observed at 10 m compared to that at 3 m. Lower values of wind speed were found during summer months and higher during winter time in most of the cases reported in the present work. Slightly decreasing (∼2% per year) linear trends were observed in annual mean wind speed at Lesvos and Santorini. These trends need to be verified with more data from buoys or from nearby onshore meteorological stations. At Athos and Mykonos, increasing linear trends were estimated. At all the stations the chosen wind turbine could produce energy for more than 70% of the time. The wind speed distribution was found to be well represented by Weibull parameters obtained using Maximum likelihood method compared to WAsP and Method of Moments.http://www.ias.ac.in/jess/ai201

Spectrum of confining strings in SU(N) gauge theories

We study the spectrum of the confining strings in four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theories. We compute, for the SU(4) and SU(6) gauge theories formulated on a lattice, the string tensions sigma_k related to sources with Z_N charge k, using Monte Carlo simulations. Our results are consistent with the sine formula sigma_k/sigma = sin k pi/N / sin pi/N for the ratio between sigma_k and the standard string tension sigma. For the SU(4) and SU(6) cases the accuracy is approximately 1% and 2%, respectively. The sine formula is known to emerge in various realizations of supersymmetric SU(N) gauge theories. On the other hand, our results show deviations from Casimir scaling. We also discuss an analogous behavior exhibited by two-dimensional SU(N) x SU(N) chiral models.Comment: Latex, 34 pages, 10 figures. Results of new SU(4) simulations added. The new data are included in the analysis, leading to improved final estimates for SU(4). Conclusions unchange

A facile approach to hydrophilic oxidized fullerenes and their derivatives as cytotoxic agents and supports for nanobiocatalytic systems

A facile, environment-friendly, versatile and reproducible approach to the successful oxidation of fullerenes (oxC60) and the formation of highly hydrophilic fullerene derivatives is introduced. This synthesis relies on the widely known Staudenmaier’s method for the oxidation of graphite, to produce both epoxy and hydroxy groups on the surface of fullerenes (C60) and thereby improve the solubility of the fullerene in polar solvents (e.g. water). The presence of epoxy groups allows for further functionalization via nucleophilic substitution reactions to generate new fullerene derivatives, which can potentially lead to a wealth of applications in the areas of medicine, biology, and composite materials. In order to justify the potential of oxidized C60 derivatives for bio-applications, we investigated their cytotoxicity in vitro as well as their utilization as support in biocatalysis applications, taking the immobilization of laccase for the decolorization of synthetic industrial dyes as a trial case.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Socioeconomic dynamism and the growth of baby factories in Nigeria

Abstract: Illegally breeding babies for marketing purposes otherwise known as “infant commodification” is increasing in Nigeria. This menace is a vice that threatens the lives and wellbeing of babies, young girls, and women. This article investigates through an in-depth review of scholarly publication and media coverages the factors that have contributed to the emergence and growth of the illicit industry in Nigeria. It examines the role of cultural beliefs, social attitudes, and norms as well as the harsh economic conditions of the nation as factors playing pivotal roles in the continual growth of baby farming in Nigeria. Some of these sociocultural factors are social stigmatization of pregnancy outside wedlock, stigmatization of adopted children, and the importance attached to fertility and the demonization of childlessness. The article draws on Emile Durkheim anomie theory and Chambers dimensions of poverty to explain how breakdown within the nation’s socioeconomic structure has a concomitant impact in breading social vices. It concludes by recommending that there is a need to jettison stigmatizing sociocultural beliefs within the nation’s social fabrics. Responsive attitude toward family reproductive issues should be encouraged and finally the activities of health care providers, operators of nongovernmental organizations taking custody of babies and young girls be properly monitored. As well, stringent punishment be meted out to apprehended operators of these baby farms to serve as deterrent to others