Craniofacial Analysis May Indicate Co-Occurrence of Skeletal Malocclusions and Associated Risks in Development of Cleft Lip and Palate

Non-syndromic orofacial clefts encompass a range of morphological changes affecting the oral cavity and the craniofacial skeleton, of which the genetic and epigenetic etiologic factors remain largely unknown. The objective of this study is to explore the contribution of underlying dentofacial deformities (also known as skeletal malocclusions) in the craniofacial morphology of non-syndromic cleft lip and palate patients (nsCLP). For that purpose, geometric morphometric analysis was performed using full skull cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of patients with nsCLP (n = 30), normocephalic controls (n = 60), as well as to sex- and ethnicity- matched patients with an equivalent dentofacial deformity (n = 30). Our outcome measures were shape differences among the groups quantified via principal component analysis and associated principal component loadings, as well as mean shape differences quantified via a Procrustes distance among groups. According to our results, despite the shape differences among all three groups, the nsCLP group shares many morphological similarities in the maxilla and mandible with the dentofacial deformity group. Therefore, the dentoskeletal phenotype in nsCLP could be the result of the cleft and the coexisting dentofacial deformity and not simply the impact of the cleft

Removal of phosphorus by a high rate membrane adsorption hybrid system

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd Membrane adsorption hybrid system (MAHS) was evaluated for the removal of phosphate from a high rate membrane bioreactor (HR-MBR) effluent. The HR-MBR was operated at permeate flux of 30 L/m2 h. The results indicated that the HR-MBR could eliminate 93.1 ± 1.5% of DOC while removing less than 53% phosphate (PO4-P). Due to low phosphate removal by HR-MBR, a post-treatment of strong base anion exchange resin (Dowex∗21K-XLT), and zirconium (IV) hydroxide were used as adsorbent in MAHS for further removal of phosphate from HR-MBR effluent. It was found that the MAHS enabled to eliminate more than 85% of PO4-P from HR-MBR effluent. Hence, HR-MBR followed by MAHS lead to simultaneous removal of organics and phosphate in a reliable manner. The experiments were conducted only for a short period to investigate the efficiency of these resins/adsorbents on the removal of phosphorus and high rate MBR for organic removal

Single donor ionization energies in a nanoscale CMOS channel

One consequence of the continued downwards scaling of transistors is the reliance on only a few discrete atoms to dope the channel, and random fluctuations of the number of these dopants is already a major issue in the microelectonics industry. While single-dopant signatures have been observed at low temperature, studying the impact of only one dopant up to room temperature requires extremely small lengths. Here, we show that a single arsenic dopant dramatically affects the off-state behavior of an advanced microelectronics field effect transistor (FET) at room temperature. Furthermore, the ionization energy of this dopant should be profoundly modified by the close proximity of materials with a different dielectric constant than the host semiconductor. We measure a strong enhancement, from 54meV to 108meV, of the ionization energy of an arsenic atom located near the buried oxide. This enhancement is responsible for the large current below threshold at room temperature and therefore explains the large variability in these ultra-scaled transistors. The results also suggest a path to incorporating quantum functionalities into silicon CMOS devices through manipulation of single donor orbitals

Novel pre-treatment method for seawater reverse osmosis: Fibre media filtration

A high rate fibre filter was used as a pre-treatment to seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) to reduce membrane fouling. Seawater was drawn from Chowder Bay where the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Australia is located. A lab-scale fibre filter with a height of 1000 mm and a diameter of 30 mm was used in conjunction with in-line coagulation. The effect of operating the fibre filter with different packing densities (105, 115 kg/m3) and filtration velocities (40, 60 m/h) was investigated in terms of silt density index (SDI10), modified fouling index (MFI), pressure drop (ΔP), turbidity and molecular weight distribution (MWD). The use of in-line coagulation improved the performance of fibre filter as measured by the MFI and SDI. Regardless of filtration velocity and packing density the MFI and SDI10 values remained low as did the turbidity until the end of the filtration run. The MWD analysis showed the removal efficiencies of organic materials like biopolymers, fulvic acids, low MW acids for even experiments with the highest filtration velocity (60 m/h) and lowest packing density (105 kg/m3). This pre-treatment has a small foot print as it has the capacity of operating at a very high filtration velocity. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Polycrystalline Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Fibers from Colloidal Sols

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66320/1/j.1151-2916.1995.tb08626.x.pd

The views of older women towards mammographic screening: a qualitative and quantitative study

Purpose: Mammographic screening has improved breast cancer survival in the screened age group. This improved survival has not been seen in older women (>70 years) where screening uptake is low. This study explores the views, knowledge and attitudes of older women towards screening. Methods: Women (>70) were interviewed about breast screening. Interview findings informed the development of a questionnaire which was sent to 1000 women (>70) to quantify their views regarding screening. Results: Twenty-six women were interviewed and a questionnaire designed. The questionnaire response rate was 48.3% (479/992). Over half (52.9%, 241/456) of respondents were unaware they could request mammography by voluntary self-referral and were unaware of how to arrange this. Most (81.5% 383/470) had not attended breast screening since turning 70. Most (75.6%, 343/454) felt screening was beneficial and would attend if invited. Most, (90.1%, 412/457) felt screening should be offered to all women regardless of age or health. Conclusions: There is a lack of knowledge about screening in older women. The majority felt that invitation to screening should be extended to the older age group regardless of age or health. The current under-utilised system of voluntary self referral is not supported by older women

Therapeutic complement targeting in ANCA-associated vasculitides and thrombotic microangiopathy

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAVs) are a group of systemic autoimmune disorders characterized by necrotizing inflammation of medium-to-small vessels, a relative paucity of immune deposits, and an association with detectable circulating ANCAs. AAVs include granulomatosis with polyangiitis (renamed from Wegener's granulomatosis), microscopic polyangiitis, and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Churg-Strauss syndrome). Until recently, AAVs have not been viewed as complement-mediated disorders. However, recent findings predominantly from animal studies demonstrated a crucial role of the complement system in the pathogenesis of AAVs. Complement activation or defects in its regulation have been described in an increasing number of acquired or genetically driven forms of thrombotic microangiopathy. Coinciding with this expanding spectrum of complement-mediated diseases, the question arises as to which AAV patients might benefit from a complement-targeted therapy. Therapies directed against the complement system point to the necessity of a genetic workup of genes of complement components and regulators in patients with AAV. Genetic testing together with pluripotent stem cells and bioinformatics tools may broaden our approach to the treatment of patients with aggressive forms of AAV

A New SiC-Whisker-Reinforced Lithium Aluminosilicate Composite

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65747/1/j.1151-2916.1993.tb04016.x.pd

On the selection and design of proteins and peptide derivatives for the production of photoluminescent, red-emitting gold quantum clusters

Novel pathways of the synthesis of photoluminescent gold quantum clusters (AuQCs) using biomolecules as reactants provide biocompatible products for biological imaging techniques. In order to rationalize the rules for the preparation of red-emitting AuQCs in aqueous phase using proteins or peptides, the role of different organic structural units was investigated. Three systems were studied: proteins, peptides, and amino acid mixtures, respectively. We have found that cysteine and tyrosine are indispensable residues. The SH/S-S ratio in a single molecule is not a critical factor in the synthesis, but on the other hand, the stoichiometry of cysteine residues and the gold precursor is crucial. These observations indicate the importance of proper chemical behavior of all species in a wide size range extending from the atomic distances (in the AuI-S semi ring) to nanometer distances covering the larger sizes of proteins assuring the hierarchical structure of the whole self-assembled system