Diabetic Foot Due to Anaphylactic Shock: A Case Report

Introduction: Diabetic foot is a clinical disorder, which is commonly seen in patients with diabetes mellitus. It is also the major cause of below knee amputation in the world. There are many underlying causes such as neuropathic, ischemic, and infectious causes for diabetic foot. Local or systemic complications may develop after snake bite. Case Presentation: We reported a very rare case, involving a 78-year-old male admitted to the Emergency Department, who developed anaphylactic shock and diabetic foot after the snake bite. Conclusions: Reviewing the literature, this is the second reported case of snake bite associated with diabetic foot

A physical modeling-based study on the control mechanisms of Negative Poisson's ratio anchor cable on the stratified toppling deformation of anti-inclined slopes

Available online 9 January 2021With ongoing increases in excavation depth, the large-scale toppling instability failure of stratified anti-inclined slopes is gaining wide attention. To address the problem of controlling toppling deformation failure of antiinclined slopes with traditional small-deformation materials, this paper takes the results of existing studies on the extraordinary mechanical properties of engineering-scale Negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) anchor cable as a theoretical basis, and develops a model-scale NPR anchor cable according to similarity theory. Relying on a selfdeveloped “engineering disaster model experimental system”, a physical modeling-based experiment to explore the reinforcement mechanism of stratified anti-inclined slope using model-scale NPR and ordinary anchor cables is performed. The physical model is monitored using static strain data acquisition equipment, an infrared thermal imager, tension sensors, and digital speckle correlation method (DSCM) displacement field measurement equipment. The evolution of the displacement field, strain field, temperature field, and anchor cable force are obtained during excavation on the physical model. By comparing the evolution of these parameters with images from both the anti-inclined slope model instability failure test and the deformation characteristics on the two sides of the slope, which were reinforced using different types of anchor cables, this paper determines the mechanisms governing instability failure of anti-inclined slopes reinforced with NPR anchor cable. In addition, this paper also proves that NPR anchor cable can be used to monitor the sliding force of anti-inclined slopes throughout excavation, and lays a foundation for the application of NPR anchor cable monitoring technology to the advanced anti-inclined slope failure warning.Zhigang Tao, Chun Zhu, Manchao He, Murat Karaku

Compressive Creep Performance and High Temperature Dimensional Stability of Conventional Silica Refractories

Furnace designers and refractory engineers recognize that optimized furnace superstructure design and refractory selection are needed as glass production furnaces are continually striving toward greater output and efficiencies. Harsher operating conditions test refractories to the limit, while changing production technology (such as the conversion to oxy-fuel from traditional air-fuel firing) can alter the way the materials perform. Refractories for both oxy- and air-fuel fired furnace superstructures are subjected to high temperatures during service that may cause them to excessively creep or subside if the refractory material is not creep resistant, or if it is subjected to high stress, or both. Furnace designers can ensure that superstructure structural integrity is maintained if the creep behavior of the refractory material is well understood and well represented by appropriate engineering creep models. Several issues limit the abilities of furnace designers to (1) choose the optimum refractory for their applications, (2) optimize the engineering design, or (3) predict the service mechanical integrity of their furnace superstructures. Published engineering creep data are essentially non-existent for almost all commercially available refractories used for glass furnace superstructures. The limited data that do exist are supplied by the various refractory suppliers. Unfortunately, these suppliers generally have different ways of conducting their mechanical testing and they also interpret and report their data differently; this makes it hard for furnace designers to draw fair comparisons between competing grades of candidate refractories. Furthermore, the refractory supplier's data are often not available in a form that can be readily used for furnace design and for the prediction and design of long-term structural integrity of furnace superstructures. With the aim of providing such comparable data, the US DOE's Office of Industrial Technology and its Advanced Industrial Materials program is sponsoring work to conduct creep testing and analysis on refractories of interest to the glass industry. An earlier stage of the project involved identifying which refractories to test and this is described elsewhere. Conventional silica was one such identified refractory category, and the present report describes the creep behavior of this class of refractories. To portray a more complete understanding of how these refractories perform at service temperatures, their fundamental corrosion resistances, dimensional stabilities, and microstructure were characterized as well

Computers in Secondary Schools: Educational Games

This entry introduces educational games in secondary schools. Educational games include three main types of educational activities with a playful learning intention supported by digital technologies: educational serious games, educational gamification, and learning through game creation. Educational serious games are digital games that support learning objectives. Gamification is defined as the use of "game design elements and game thinking in a non-gaming context" (Deterding et al. 2011, p. 13). Educational gamification is not developed through a digital game but includes game elements for supporting the learning objectives. Learning through game creation is focused on the process of designing and creating a prototype of a game to support a learning process related to the game creation process or the knowledge mobilized through the game creation process. Four modalities of educational games in secondary education are introduced in this entry to describe educational games in secondary education: educational purpose of entertainment games, serious games, gamification, and game design

A novel dynamic framework to detect DDoS in SDN using metaheuristic clustering

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Security is a crucial factor in the continuously evolving programmable networks. With the emergence of programmable networking terminals, the need to protect the networks has become mandatory. Software-defined networks (SDNs) provide programmable switches, thereby isolating the data plane from the control plane. Many security algorithms have been proposed to protect the network; however, they have failed to protect SDNs from attacks such as distributed denial of service (DDoS), jamming, and man-in-the-middle attacks. In this article, we only address the DDoS attack that prevails in SDNs. Isolation of the control plane from the data plane increases the probability of an attack on the data plane. Therefore, a framework that can handle the dynamic traffic and can protect the network from DDoS attacks is required. Our proposed whale optimization algorithm–based clustering for DDoS detection (WOA-DD) avoids the DDoS attacks using a metaheuristic approach by clustering the attack requests. We evaluated this algorithm for robustness in comparison with several existing solutions and found it to be safe under several conditions. The proposed attack request clustering is explored to check its feasibility with various machine learning approaches and found to be stable with the prevailing mechanisms. Analysis of the algorithm under varied conditions reveals that WOA-DD is robust, stable, and efficient against DDoS attacks

Real-time three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography in daily practice: initial experience

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Aim of the work</p> <p>To evaluate the feasibility and possible additional value of transthoracic real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3D-TTE) for the assessment of cardiac structures as compared to 2D-TTE.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>320 patients (mean age 45 ± 8.4 years, 75% males) underwent 2D-TTE and RT3D-TTE using 3DQ-Q lab software for offline analysis. Volume quantification and functional assessment was performed in 90 patients for left ventricle and in 20 patients for right ventricle. Assessment of native (112 patients) and prosthetic (30 patients) valves morphology and functions was performed. RT3D-TTE was performed for evaluation of septal defects in 30 patients and intracardiac masses in 52 patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>RT3D-TTE assessment of left ventricle was feasible and reproducible in 86% of patients while for right ventricle, it was (55%). RT3D-TTE could define the surface anatomy of mitral valve optimally (100%), while for aortic and tricuspid was (88% and 81% respectively). Valve area could be planimetered in 100% for the mitral and in 80% for the aortic. RT3D-TTE provided a comprehensive anatomical and functional evaluation of prosthetic valves. RT3D-TTE enface visualization of septal defects allowed optimal assessment of shape, size, area and number of defects and evaluated the outcome post device closure. RT3D-TTE allowed looking inside the intracardiac masses through multiple sectioning, valuable anatomical delineation and volume calculation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our initial experience showed that the use of RT3D-TTE in the assessment of cardiac patients is feasible and allowed detailed anatomical and functional assessment of many cardiac disorders.</p

Enantioselective Phytotoxicity of the Herbicide Imazethapyr on the Response of the Antioxidant System and Starch Metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana

Background: The enantiomers of a chiral compound possess different biological activities, and one of the enantiomers usually shows a higher level of toxicity. Therefore, the exploration of the causative mechanism of enantioselective toxicity is regarded as one of primary goals of biological chemistry. Imazethapyr (IM) is an acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting chiral herbicide that has been widely used in recent years with racemate. We investigated the enantioselectivity between R- and S-IM to form reactive oxygen species (ROS) and to regulate antioxidant gene transcription and enzyme activity. Results: Dramatic differences between the enantiomers were observed: the enantiomer of R-IM powerfully induced ROS formation, yet drastically reduced antioxidant gene transcription and enzyme activity, which led to an oxidative stress. The mechanism by which IM affects carbohydrate metabolism in chloroplasts has long remained a mystery. Here we report evidence that enantioselectivity also exists in starch metabolism. The enantiomer of R-IM resulted in the accumulation of glucose, maltose and sucrose in the cytoplasm or the chloroplast and disturbed carbohydrates utilization. Conclusion: The study suggests that R-IM more strongly retarded plant growth than S-IM not only by acting on ALS, but also by causing an imbalance in the antioxidant system and the disturbance of carbohydrate metabolism wit