Influence of pH on mechanical relaxations in high solids lm-pectin preparations

The influence of pH on the mechanical relaxation of LM-pectin in the presence of co-solute has been investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry, ζ-potential measurements and small deformation dynamic oscillation in shear. pH was found to affect the conformational properties of the polyelectrolyte altering its structural behaviour. Cooling scans in the vicinity of the glass transition region revealed a remarkable change in the viscoelastic functions as the polyelectrolyte rearranges from extended (neutral pH) to compact conformations (acidic pH). This conformational rearrangement was experimentally observed to result in early vitrification at neutral pH values where dissociation of galacturonic acid residues takes place. Time-temperature superposition of the mechanical shift factors and theoretical modeling utilizing WLF kinetics confirmed the accelerated kinetics of glass transition in the extended pectin conformation at neutral pH. Determination of the relaxation spectra of the samples using spectral analysis of the master curves revealed that the relaxation of macromolecules occurs within ~0.1 s regardless of the solvent pH

Modeling and fundamental aspects of structural relaxation in high-solid hydrocolloid systems

The structural relaxation properties of high-solid gelling polysaccharides, gelatin and whey protein with small-molecule co-solutes have been reviewed focusing on the glass transition region and glassy state of the mechanical master curve. Compliance with the principle of thermorheological simplicity is established allowing horizontal superposition of viscoelastic functions in the form of small-deformation stress relaxation or dynamic oscillation modulus. Numerical calculations via the Tikhonov regularization yield smooth stress relaxation spectra over a broad timescale that encompasses the isothermal process of vitrification in these systems. Next, the molecular coupling theory addressed the polymer chain dynamics of the local segmental motions that determine the glass transition temperature (Tg) of condensed matrices. Thus a more complete picture of the physics of intermolecular interactions in the short-time region of the glass dispersion has emerged. It allows estimation of the relaxation time for local segmental motions at Tg, and the extent of cooperativity between adjacent chemical moieties governing kinetics of viscoelastic relaxation in hydrocolloid based systems at the glass transition region

Current and emerging strategies for the treatment of acute pericarditis: a systematic review

Pericarditis is a common disorder that has multiple causes and presents in various primary-care and secondary-care settings. It is diagnosed in 0.1% of all hospital admissions and in 5% of emergency room visits for chest pain. Despite the advance of new diagnostic techniques, pericarditis is most commonly idiopathic, and radiation therapy, cardiac surgery, and percutaneous procedures have become important causes. Pericarditis is frequently benign and self-limiting. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents remain the first-line treatment for uncomplicated cases. Integrated use of new imaging methods facilitates accurate detection and management of complications such as pericardial effusion or constriction. In this article, we perform a systematic review on the etiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, and management of acute pericarditis. We summarize current evidence on contemporary and emerging treatment strategies

An experimental investigation of the structural evolution of trans-critical fluid interfaces

This thesis applies simultaneous laser diagnostics to steady, rotationally symmetric, laminar jets of fluoroketone injected into a high-pressure and high-temperature vessel with the goal to unambiguously identify interface transitions under trans-critical conditions, for the first time. The chamber was filled with nitrogen and the ambient thermodynamic conditions were varied from subcritical, to transcritical, to supercritical levels, relative to both the pure injectant and the binary mixture that ultimately developed in the chamber following injection. The laminar jet presents a clear interface that can be studied optically and its evolution was monitored under different test cases. Vapour-liquid equilibrium calculations for the binary mixture helped establish conditions that would identify the mixture as supercritical. This was necessary owing to the effect that mixing has on the critical properties of the mixture (relative to its constituents) and to design the test cases. Consistent with previous reports, it was found that the addition of nitrogen resulted in a rapid increase of the critical pressure of the mixture. The calculated phase envelopes reported here demonstrate the highly non-linear nature of mixing effects for the given binary mixture. Two main laser diagnostic techniques were employed: 1) Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) and 2) Planar Elastic Light Scattering (PELS). The former was used to obtain images of the mixture spatial distribution and the latter to monitor the strength of the interface. The diagnostics were applied simultaneously, thus allowing the comparison of interface strength and flow morphology at the same physical location and point in time. Using the average flow velocity at the nozzle, based on the known mass flowrate, and data from the elastic scattering signal, temporal estimates of the fluid interface destruction were calculated. Imaging results have shown that under all test cases a jet could be seen via PLIF, but a PELS signal was not always recorded. By knowing when a fluid interface was present or not, the PLIF images could be analysed in light of such information. Further, with the use of thermocouples 2-D temperature maps were obtained in the plane of injection. The temperature results presented further information about the heat transfer process of transcritical, laminar jets and, depending on the adopted definition of a supercritical fluid, indicated regions where the fluid was more likely to be supercritical. Cooling of the jet under the most demanding test case considered may have been an observation of pseudo-boiling effects (and their significance) due to injection near the Widom line. Investigation of intermittent, interface scattering observed even under supercritical cases revealed that the reflectivity of the fluid interface could potentially persist even beyond significant broadening of the interface. This meant that a decay of the interface scattering signal to zero would not necessarily coincide with the destruction of the interface, and some scattering could still be observed in supercritical cases where no interface is considered to be present. Magnified PLIF experiments were also done to obtain higher-fidelity images and density maps. These provided more information on fluid flow features and mixture distribution

Current Approach to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Femoral-Popliteal Arterial Disease. A Systematic Review

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common manifestation of atherosclerosis affecting 5 million adults in the United States, with an age-adjusted prevalence of 4% to 15% and increasing up to 30% with age and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors. In this article we focus on lower extremity PAD and specifically on the superficial femoral and proximal popliteal artery (SFPA), which are the most common anatomic locations of lower extremity atherosclerosis. We summarize current evidence and perform a systematic review on the diagnostic evaluation as well as the medical, endovascular and surgical management of SFPA disease

Using ROC and Unlabeled Data for Increasing Low-Shot Transfer Learning Classification Accuracy

One of the most important characteristics of human visual intelligence is the ability to identify unknown objects. The capability to distinguish between a substance which a human mind has no previous experience of and a familiar object, is innate to every human. In everyday life, within seconds of seeing an "unknown" object, we are able to categorize it as such without any substantial effort. Convolutional Neural Networks, regardless of how they are trained (i.e. in a conventional manner or through transfer learning) can recognize only the classes that they are trained for. When using them for classification, any candidate image will be placed in one of the available classes. We propose a low-shot classifier which can serve as the top layer to any existing CNN that the feature extractor was already trained. Using a limited amount of labeled data for the type of images which need to be specifically classified along with unlabeled data for all other images, a unique target matrix and a Receiver Operator Curve (ROC) criterion, we are able to increase identification accuracy by up to 30% for the images that do not belong to any specific classes, while retaining the ability to identify images that belong to the specific classes of interest

Using Unlabeled Data for Increasing Low-Shot Classification Accuracy of Relevant and Open-Set Irrelevant Images

In search exploration and reconnaissance tasks performed with autonomous ground vehicles an image classification capability is needed for specifically identifying targeted objects relevant classes and at the same time recognize when a candidate image does not belong to anyone of the relevant classes irrelevant images In this paper we present an open-set low-shot classifier that uses during its training a modest number less than 40 of labeled images for each relevant class and unlabeled irrelevant images that are randomly selected at each epoch of the training process The new classifier is capable of identifying images from the relevant classes determining when a candidate image is irrelevant and it can further recognize categories of irrelevant images that were not included in the training unseen The proposed low-shot classifier can be attached as a top layer to any pre-trained feature extractor when constructing a Convolutional Neural Networ

Terminology of Greek mysteries and its justification in Christianity

Овај рад се бави основним терминима грчких мистеријских култова, подробно терминима ὄργια, τελετή, μυστήρια. У првом, уводном поглављу даје се сажет културно-историјски увид у мистеријске култове грчког света. Набрајају се божанства за која се они везују и главна места култова. Наглашава се њихово есхатолошко значење скопчано са обавезом ћутања, одакле проистиче оскудност наших извора о њима. Друго поглавље посвећено је анализама семантичких вредности, творбених облика и етимологијама трију термина. Значења су сагледана у ширем контексту у којем се речи јављају. У трећем поглављу полазиште чини етимологија која глагол μυέω, од којег су изведене именице μύστης и μυστήριον, изводи од глагола μύω. Подробно су размотрене употребе глагола μύω и његових превербалних изведеница, како би се сагледала изворна мотивација ових термина унутар грчког језика и на дубљем, индоевропском плану. У четвртом поглављу прослеђује се судбина мистеријских термина код хришћанских аутора. Спроведен је дијахрони филолошко-лингвистички метод, с нагласком на семантичким историјско-упоредним увидима.This PhD thesis deals with the basic terms of Greek mystery cults, and particularly with ὄργια, τελετή, μυστήρια. The first, introductory chapter gives a concise cultural-historical insight into the mystery cults of Greek world. Deities presiding over mysteries are referred to, as well as the main cult places. Their eschatological dimension is stressed, that was connected with the vow of silence, a fact that explains the scarcity of our sources. In the second chapter three terms are analysed from the points of view of semantics, word-formation and etymology. Their semantic values are derived from the broader context of relevant passages. In the third chapter the starting point is the etymology deriving the verb μυέω as underlying the terms μύστης and μυστήριον from the verb μύω. The usages of μύω and its preverbal derivatives are thoroughly analysed in order to uncover the original motivation of these terms within Greek and on a deeper, Indo-European level. In the fourth chapter the use of the mystery terms in Christian authors is focused. In this study the methods of classical philology and of diachronic linguistics are applied, with the stress on the historical semantics