Influence of limestone filler and of the size of the aggregates on DEF

This experimental study aims to determine the effect of limestone filler on concrete expansion due to delayed ettringite formation (DEF). Different mortars made with different sizes and percentages of limestone filler and Portland cement CEM I 52.5N are conserved in water. The expansion of the specimens is measured. Results show that DEF is not inhibited by limestone filler. The kinetics and the amplitude of the swelling depend on the size of the limestone filler. The volume fraction of aggregates changes only the kinetics: the relation between swelling and water uptake depends only on the size of the aggregates.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 4 table

Natural History of Chronic Kidney Disease Stages 2-4

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide problem. The majority of patients in stage 3-5 CKD progress relentlessly to end stage renal disease (ESRD). This study aimed to measure the rate of decline in kidney function among a group of CKD patients and to examine risk factors associated with disease progression. Methods: This is a retrospective study of 300 CKD patients in stages 2-4, that were randomly selected from patients who were on regular follow up in Sheffield kidney institute (SKI), Sheffield, UK, up to June 2007. Patients whose estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) declined by more than 1 ml/min/year according to the MDRD formula during a 5-year follow up period were classified as progressors. Baseline parameters that may be associated with a more rapid decline in GFR were evaluated. Results: Males constituted 57.7% of the study population, one third of patients were older than 65 years of age, 93% were white and 39.7% were diabetic. The study showed that 52.7% of patients had a progressive course of CKD. Gender, old age, ethnicity and diabetic status were not significantly different between progressors and non-progressors. Progressors tended to have higher 24-hour urinary protein excretion (2.6 ± 3.6 versus 1.8 ± 3.5 g/dl) and higher blood pressures measurements at baseline that did not reach statistical significance. The slope of reciprocal serum creatinine (1/S. Cr) was significantly and negatively correlated with systolic blood pressure (SBP). It was also significantly and negatively correlated to baseline serum creatinine. Conclusion: Almost half the patients had a rate of decline in estimated GFR that exceeded 1 ml/min/year and were classified as progressors. Key words: CKD progression; ESRD; progressors; non-progressors

Upgrading legacy long-haul WDM systems through unbalancing the proportion of 1s and 0s in the transmitted data

We present experimental results for wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) transmission performance using unbalanced proportions of 1s and 0s in pseudo-random bit sequence (PRBS) data. This investigation simulates the effect of local, in time, data unbalancing which occurs in some coding systems such as forward error correction when extra bits are added to the WDM data stream. We show that such local unbalancing, which would practically give a time-dependent error-rate, can be employed to improve the legacy long-haul WDM system performance if the system is allowed to operate in the nonlinear power region. We use a recirculating loop to simulate a long-haul fibre system

Thermal Fragmentation and Rearrangement of 3-phenyl-4-aryl-5-phenylimino-1,2,4-oxadiazoline Derivatives

Thermal fragmentation of 3-phenyl-4-aryl-5-phenylimino-1,2,4-oxadiazolines I and II (Ar= Ph, p-tolyl) in a sealed tube under nitrogen gives rise to benzonitrile, arylamines, anilides, phenols, arylureas, and benzimidazole derivatives. In the presence of naphthalene as solvent, I gave α- and β-naphthols beside the previous products. Also, heating of I under reflux in boiling anhydrous tetraline lead to the formation of 1-hydroxytetraline, α-tetralone and 1,1’-bitetralyl as the major products. The isolated products have been interpreted in term of a free radical mechanism involving the homolysis of N-O and/or C-N bond

Tracking precursor lesions of anal squamous cell carcinoma in individuals with HIV

INTRODUÇÃO: O carcinoma espino-celular do canal anal é doença que atinge os adultos de meia idade e corresponde a 4% dos cânceres do trato gastrointestinal baixo. Na população geral a incidência é de 1 em 100.000 habitantes, e entre os homens que fazem sexo com homens essa incidência atinge 35 por 100.000 habitantes, sendo que os portadores de HIV têm esse risco duplicado (70 por 100.000 habitantes). MÉTODO: Foi realizada revisão da literatura com consulta nos periódicos das bases Medline/Pubmed, Scielo e Lilacs cruzando os descritores Rastreamento, Lesões pré-cancerosas, Neoplasias do ânus e HIV. Além da revisão bibliográfica, foi adicionada a este trabalho a experiência pessoal dos autores, e a obtida no Departamento de Gastroenterologia - Divisão Cirúrgica, no ICESP - Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo Octávio Frias de Oliveira, no Departamento de Moléstias Infeciosas - Casa da AIDS e no Serviço de Coloproctologia do Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brasil. CONCLUSÕES: HIV+ é um grande fator de risco no desenvolvimento de carcinoma espino-celular anal em indivíduos infectados por HPV. A avaliação desses pacientes não deve se restringir à erradicação de condilomas, mas principalmente incluir o rastreamento de lesões displásicas subclínicas potencialmente neoplásicas. Apesar dos métodos de rastreamento ainda não serem ideais, o grande benefício do rastreamento baseia-se no fato de oferecer acompanhamento rigoroso, tornando possível à prevenção ou detecção cada vez mais precoce do carcinoma espino-celular anal.INTRODUCTION: Squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal is a disease that affects the middle-aged adults and accounts for 4% of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract below. In the general population the incidence is 1 in 100,000, and among men who have sex with men the incidence is 35 per 100,000 inhabitants, those with HIV have doubled this risk (70 per 100,000 inhabitants). METHODS: Was performed literature review in consultation with periodic Medline / Pubmed, Lilacs and Scielo crossing Trackingm, Precancerous conditions, Anus neoplasms and HIV descriptors. Besides the review,was added to this work the authors'personal experiences, and obtained at the Department of Gastroenterology - Surgical Division, in ICESP - Cancer Institute of the State of São Paulo Octavio Frias de Oliveira, in Department of Diseases Infectious - House of AIDS and in the Department of Coloproctology, Hospital das Clinicas, University of São Paulo, Brazil. CONCLUSIONS: HIV + is a major risk factor in developing squamous cell carcinoma anal in individuals infected with HPV. The evaluation of these patients should not restrict itself to the eradication of warts, but mainly include the screening of subclinical dysplastic lesions potentially neoplastic. Despite the screening methods are still not ideal, the great benefit of screening is based on the fact offer closely monitored, making possible the prevention or detection of increasingly early anal squamous cell carcinoma

The case for early use of rapid whole-genome sequencing in management of critically ill infants: late diagnosis of Coffin-Siris syndrome in an infant with left congenital diaphragmatic hernia, congenital heart disease, and recurrent infections.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) results from incomplete formation of the diaphragm leading to herniation of abdominal organs into the thoracic cavity. CDH is associated with pulmonary hypoplasia, congenital heart disease, and pulmonary hypertension. Genetically, it is associated with aneuploidies, chromosomal copy-number variants, and single gene mutations. CDH is the most expensive noncardiac congenital defect. Management frequently requires implementation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which increases management expenditures 2.4-3.5-fold. The cost of management of CDH has been estimated to exceed $250 million per year. Despite in-hospital survival of 80%-90%, current management is imperfect, as a great proportion of surviving children have long-term functional deficits. We report the case of a premature infant prenatally diagnosed with CDH and congenital heart disease, who had a protracted and complicated course in the intensive care unit with multiple surgical interventions, including postcardiac surgery ECMO, gastrostomy tube placement with Nissen fundoplication, tracheostomy for respiratory failure, recurrent infections, and developmental delay. Rapid whole-genome sequencing (rWGS) identified a de novo, likely pathogenic, c.3096_ 3100delCAAAG (p.Lys1033Argfs*32) variant in ARID1B, providing a diagnosis of Coffin-Siris syndrome. Her parents elected palliative care and she died later that day

50 ghz spaced 25× 40 gbit/s wdm transmission over 560 km using smf-based large effective area fiber (leaf

Abstract In this paper, we present 50 GHz spaced 25 40 Gbit/s WDM transmission over 560 km using SMF-based Large Effective Area Fiber (LEAF) in a recirculating loop. The paper uses band-limited RZ signals carrying 2 31 -1 PRBS data, and shows that transmission distance of 560 km can be achieved with BER ≤ 10 -9 using 1 mW peak power and 4 ps pulse-width for each data signal. To attain this, optical filters with sharp transmission characteristics are used in both transmitter and receiver. The results demonstrated in this paper are based on simulation, and the author believes that the propagation distance reached in the paper is the longest distance achieved for such syste

Genetic variation among Northern and Southern Egyptian buffaloes using polymerase chain reaction-random amplified polymorphic DNA (PCR-RAPD)

The domestic water buffalo is a species of great economic potential, especially in developing countries like Egypt. Egyptian buffalo have been classified according to minor phenotypic differences and their geographical locations. Few studies have taken place to investigate the genetic variations in Egyptian buffalo using  microsatellites analysis. In the present study, 11 random primers were analyzed for the genetic diversity  determination between Northern and Southern Egyptian buffaloes using polymerase chain reaction-random  amplified polymorphic DNA (PCR-RAPD) analysis. 169 bands were amplified for the analyzed 11 random  primers, from which 160 bands (94.67%) for North populations and 168 bands for South population (99.41%).  Out of the 160 amplified bands in North populations, 152 bands were polymorphic with a percentage of 89.94% and only one specific band (0.59%). In South population, all 168 amplified bands were polymorphic, nine bands (5.33%) were specific for this population. The identity index and the genetic distance between North and South populations were measured. The results showed that the two tested populations have the same origin and  belong to one breed without significant genetic difference between their animals.Key words: Buffalo, genetic diversity, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)