Entropy generation analysis of thermally developing forced convection in fluid-saturated porous medium

Entropy generation for thermally developing forced convection in a porous medium bounded by two isothermal parallel plates is investigated analytically on the basis of the Darcy flow model where the viscous dissipation effects had also been taken into account. A parametric study showed that decreasing the group parameter and the Péclet number increases the entropy generation while for the Brinkman number the converse is true. Heatline visualization technique is applied with an emphasis on B

"Dark" Z implications for Parity Violation, Rare Meson Decays, and Higgs Physics

General consequences of mass mixing between the ordinary Z boson and a relatively light Z_d boson, the "dark" Z, arising from a U(1)_d gauge symmetry, associated with a hidden sector such as dark matter, are examined. New effects beyond kinetic mixing are emphasized. Z-Z_d mixing introduces a new source of low energy parity violation well explored by possible future atomic parity violation and planned polarized electron scattering experiments. Rare K (B) meson decays into pi (K) l^+ l^- (l = e, mu) and pi (K) nu anti-nu are found to already place tight constraints on the size of Z-Z_d mixing. Those sensitivities can be further improved with future dedicated searches at K and B factories as well as binned studies of existing data. Z-Z_d mixing can also lead to the Higgs decay H -> Z Z_d, followed by Z -> l_1^+ l_1^- and Z_d -> l_2^+ l_2^- or "missing energy", providing a potential hidden sector discovery channel at the LHC. An illustrative realization of these effects in a 2 Higgs doublet model is presented.Comment: Version to appear in PR

Gravitational Baryogenesis

We show that a gravitational interaction between the derivative of the Ricci scalar curvature and the baryon-number current dynamically breaks CPT in an expanding universe and, combined with baryon-number-violating interactions, can drive the universe towards an equilibrium baryon asymmetry that is observationally acceptable.Comment: Revtex4, 4 pages, two figure

The winking sign is an indicator for increased femorotibial rotation in patients with recurrent patellar instability

Purpose: Rotation of the tibia relative to the femur was recently identified as a contributing risk factor for patellar instability, and correlated with its severity. The hypothesis was that in patellofemoral dysplastic knees, an increase in femorotibial rotation can be reliably detected on anteroposterior (AP) radiographs by an overlap of the lateral femoral condyle over the lateral tibial eminence. Methods: Sixty patients (77 knees) received low-dose computed tomography (CT) of the lower extremity for assessment of torsional malalignment due to recurrent patellofemoral instability. Three-dimensional (3D) surface models were created to assess femorotibial rotation and its relationship to other morphologic risk factors of patellofemoral instability. On weight-bearing AP knee radiographs, a femoral condyle/lateral tibial eminence superimposition was defined as a positive winking sign. Using digitally reconstructed radiographs of the 3D models, susceptibility of the winking sign to vertical/horizontal AP knee radiograph malrotation was investigated. Results: A positive winking sign was present in 30/77 knees (39.0%) and indicated a 6.3 ± 1.4° increase in femorotibial rotation (p 15°) with 43% sensitivity and 90% specificity (AUC = 0.72; p = 0.002). A positive winking sign (with 2 mm overlap) disappeared in case of a 10° horizontally or 15° vertically malrotated radiograph, whereas a 4 mm overlap did not disappear at all, regardless of the quality of the radiograph. In absence of a winking sign, on the other hand, no superimposition resulted within 20° of vertical/horizontal image malrotation. Femorotibial rotation was positively correlated to TT-TG (R2 = 0.40, p = 0.001) and patellar tilt (R2 = 0.30, p = 0.001). Conclusions: The winking sign reliably indicates an increased femorotibial rotation on a weight-bearing AP knee radiograph and could prove useful for day-by-day clinical work. Future research needs to investigate whether femorotibial rotation is not only a prognostic factor but a potential surgical target in patients with patellofemoral disorders. Level of evidence: III. Keywords: Femorotibial rotation; Knee rotation; Patellar instability; Winking sig

An extremely rare case of concurrent BRAF V600E mutation driven hairy cell leukemia and melanoma: case report and review of literature

BRAF protein is a serine/threonine kinase with 766 amino acids. Approximately 15% of human cancers harbor BRAF mutations as well as other BRAF anomalies (amplifications, fusions). Somatic mutations mainly occur in the catalytic kinase domain (CR3), and the predominant mutation is p.V600E which is the substitution of glutamic acid (E) for valine (V) as result of a mutation at codon 600 of the kinase domain. To our knowledge, the vast majority of the cancers have non-germline BRAF mutations. Here we describe a case of a 60-year-old female with a history of hairy cell leukemia (HCL) who presented with aphasia and forgetfulness. A follow-up Brain CT scan showed three distinct brain lesions which were found to be diagnostic of melanoma (confirmed by immunohistochemistry) with no evidence of a concurrent brain involvement by a B-cell neoplasm. Molecular studies confirmed the same BRAF p.V600E mutation in both malignancies (hairy cell leukemia and melanoma). Thereafter the patient was started on BRAF inhibitor treatment and is now symptom-free after one year of follow up. Having two concurrent malignancies with a shared BRAF mutation is extremely rare and makes this an excellent example of a genomic marker-driven treatment in two histologically and immunophenotypically distinct tumor

The prevalence and incidence of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol study

Context: Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), being more prevalent in infants and children, is recognized by a triad of acute kidney injury, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and thrombocytopenia. It is classified according to the underlying disorders, such as infection, systemic, metabolic disorder, or complement dysregulation. It has a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Many types of treatment, such as conservative management, plasma exchange, regular plasma infusion, and even a new expensive medication, "Ecluzimab", have been suggested. The aim of this systematic review is to estimate the incidence and prevalence of HUS (according to diarrhea positive or negative samples). In addition, the study will investigate the clinical presentation and the outcome of Iranian patients. Evidence Acquisition: The following data bases will be explored for articles published between years 1985 and 2016, PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, SCOPUS,Web of Sciences, Google Scholar, Google, barakatkns.com, MagIran, SID, dociran, PDFiran, and ganj.irandoc. Besides, all online university databases will be searched for theses and abstracts of local or international congresses; a manual search will be performed to identify pertinent cross references. Systematic reviewor meta-analysis, longitudinal and cohort studies, crosssectional, case-control, and epidemiological studies will be included in this review. Relevant conference proceedings, theses or unpublished data will also be considered. The retrieved data should comprise of proportions, incidence, prevalence, geographical distribution, mortality and morbidity rates (i.e. dialysis and central nervous system involvement). A meta-analysis will be performed if 3 similar studies are found. If sufficient data is extracted, subgroup analysis will be performed for age, gender, acute kidney injury, dialysis, and death. Results: The results of the current study could have implications for health policies, practice, research, and medical education: The data could improve clinical and health care decisions, allow estimation of the number of patients that require new medication, and could direct future research design in this field. © 2018, Journal of Comprehensive Pediatrics

The prevalence and incidence of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol study

Context: Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), being more prevalent in infants and children, is recognized by a triad of acute kidney injury, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and thrombocytopenia. It is classified according to the underlying disorders, such as infection, systemic, metabolic disorder, or complement dysregulation. It has a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Many types of treatment, such as conservative management, plasma exchange, regular plasma infusion, and even a new expensive medication, "Ecluzimab", have been suggested. The aim of this systematic review is to estimate the incidence and prevalence of HUS (according to diarrhea positive or negative samples). In addition, the study will investigate the clinical presentation and the outcome of Iranian patients. Evidence Acquisition: The following data bases will be explored for articles published between years 1985 and 2016, PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, SCOPUS,Web of Sciences, Google Scholar, Google, barakatkns.com, MagIran, SID, dociran, PDFiran, and ganj.irandoc. Besides, all online university databases will be searched for theses and abstracts of local or international congresses; a manual search will be performed to identify pertinent cross references. Systematic reviewor meta-analysis, longitudinal and cohort studies, crosssectional, case-control, and epidemiological studies will be included in this review. Relevant conference proceedings, theses or unpublished data will also be considered. The retrieved data should comprise of proportions, incidence, prevalence, geographical distribution, mortality and morbidity rates (i.e. dialysis and central nervous system involvement). A meta-analysis will be performed if 3 similar studies are found. If sufficient data is extracted, subgroup analysis will be performed for age, gender, acute kidney injury, dialysis, and death. Results: The results of the current study could have implications for health policies, practice, research, and medical education: The data could improve clinical and health care decisions, allow estimation of the number of patients that require new medication, and could direct future research design in this field. © 2018, Journal of Comprehensive Pediatrics

Growth-related quantitative trait loci in domestic and wild rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Background: Somatic growth is a complex process that involves the action and interaction of genes and environment. A number of quantitative trait loci (QTL) previously identified for body weight and condition factor in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and two other salmonid species, were used to further investigate the genetic architecture of growth-influencing genes in this species. Relationships among previously mapped candidate genes for growth and their co-localization to identified QTL regions are reported. Furthermore, using a comparative genomic analysis of syntenic rainbow trout linkage group clusters to their homologous regions within model teleost species such as zebrafish, stickleback and medaka, inferences were made regarding additional possible candidate genes underlying identified QTL regions.Results: Body weight (BW) QTL were detected on the majority of rainbow trout linkage groups across 10 parents from 3 strains. However, only 10 linkage groups (i.e., RT-3, -6, -8, -9, -10, -12, -13, -22, -24, -27) possessed QTL regions with chromosome-wide or genome-wide effects across multiple parents. Fewer QTL for condition factor (K) were identified and only six instances of co-localization across families were detected (i.e. RT-9, -15, -16, -23, -27, -31 and RT-2/9 homeologs). Of note, both BW and K QTL co-localize on RT-9 and RT-27. The incidence of epistatic interaction across genomic regions within different female backgrounds was also examined, and although evidence for interaction effects within certain QTL regions were evident, these interactions were few in number and statistically weak. Of interest, however, was the fact that these predominantly occurred within K QTL regions. Currently mapped growth candidate genes are largely congruent with the identified QTL regions. More QTL were detected in male, compared to female parents, with the greatest number evident in an F 1male parent derived from an intercross between domesticated and wild strain of rainbow trout which differed strongly in growth rate.Conclusions: Strain background influences the degree to which QTL effects are evident for growth-related genes. The process of domestication (which primarily selects faster growing fish) may largely reduce the genetic influences on growth-specific phenotypic variation. Although heritabilities have been reported to be relatively high for both BW and K growth traits, the genetic architecture of K phenotypic variation appears less defined (i.e., fewer major contributing QTL regions were identified compared with BW QTL regions)