Characterization of granite matrix porosity and pore-space geometry by in situ and laboratory methods

Most available studies of interconnected matrix porosity of crystalline rocks are based on laboratory investigations; that is, work on samples that have undergone stress relaxation and were affected by drilling and sample preparation. The extrapolation of the results to in situ conditions is therefore associated with considerable uncertainty, and this was the motivation to conduct the ‘in situ Connected Porosity' experiment at the Grimsel Test Site (Central Swiss Alps). An acrylic resin doped with fluorescent agents was used to impregnate the microporous granitic matrix in situ around an injection borehole, and samples were obtained by overcoring. The 3-D structure of the pore-space, represented by microcracks, was studied by U-stage fluorescence microscopy. Petrophysical methods, including the determination of porosity, permeability and P-wave velocity, were also applied. Investigations were conducted both on samples that were impregnated in situ and on non-impregnated samples, so that natural features could be distinguished from artefacts. The investigated deformed granites display complex microcrack populations representing a polyphase deformation at varying conditions. The crack population is dominated by open cleavage cracks in mica and grain boundary cracks. The porosity of non-impregnated samples lies slightly above 1 per cent, which is 2-2.5 times higher than the in situ porosity obtained for impregnated samples. Measurements of seismic velocities (Vp) on spherical rock samples as a function of confining pressure, spatial direction and water saturation for both non-impregnated and impregnated samples provide further constraints on the distinction between natural and induced crack types. The main conclusions are that (1) an interconnected network of microcracks exists in the whole granitic matrix, irrespective of the distance to ductile and brittle shear zones, and (2) conventional laboratory methods overestimate the matrix porosity. Calculations of contaminant transport through fractured media often rely on matrix diffusion as a retardation mechanis

A morphometric study of nucleolar organiser regions in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

The study sought a correlation between the number of AgNOR granules and the degree of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Thirty-five sections (5 normal, 10 CIN1, 10 CIN2 and 10 CIN3) were subjected to retrospective analysis. The percentage of cells with 1, 2, 3, 4 and more AgNORs was calculated and the number of granules per 100 cells was counted. The number of cells containing single granules decreases. However, the number increases with CIN level when the cells contain 4 and more AgNORs. The number of granules per 100 cells also increases with the degree of CIN. It can be thus concluded that the number of cells with 4 and more AgNOR granules can serve as a CIN differentiation exponent

Identification of transplanted pancreatic islet cells by radioactive Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate. Preliminary report

Background: The unique mechanism of dithizone action in the interior of the viable pancreatic islet suggests the possible development of a specific radiopharmaceutical that may have a potential clinical application in the diagnosis of the pancreatic organ allografts or islets rejection. The radiodiagnostic properties of the newly developed radioactive analogue of dithizone, i.e. Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate have been evaluated in the present study. METHODS: The four islet cells transplantation models were chosen for this purpose. The most important feature of the Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate is its possessed ability of zinc chelation. As was presented in the recent study, the conjugate stains pink-reddish the isolated pancreatic islets in vitro. Among the studied transplantation models, only the islets grafting under testis capsule enabled determination of the pancreatic islets in rats by radioactive Dithizone-[131I]-Histamine conjugate. The level of the radioactivity in the recipient testis (right) was almost two times higher compared to the controls (0.24 vs. 0.13% ID/g, respectively). CONCLUSIONS:These preliminary data demonstrate the ability of the developed radioactive analogue of dithizone for in vivo identification of transplanted pancreatic islets, and suggests a potential clinical application of the radiodithizone in the diagnosis of the pancreatic islet rejection

Impact of Decmedetomidine on Opioid and Benzodiazepine Dosing Requirements in Children.

Poster presented at: Annual Update on Pediatric Cardiovascular Disease; February 2008; Scottsdale Arizona

Extraction of thermal and electromagnetic properties in 45Ti

The level density and gamma-ray strength function of 45Ti have been determined by use of the Oslo method. The particle-gamma coincidences from the 46Ti(p,d gamma)45Ti pick-up reaction with 32 MeV protons are utilized to obtain gamma-ray spectra as function of excitation energy. The extracted level density and strength function are compared with models, which are found to describe these quantities satisfactorily. The data do not reveal any single-particle energy gaps of the underlying doubly magic 40Ca core, probably due to the strong quadruple deformation

Use of virtual reality-based training in different fields of rehabilitation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: To analyse the effectiveness of virtual reality-based interventions within several fields of rehabilitation, and to investigate whether the outcomes of virtual realitybased interventions, in terms of upper or lower limb function, gait and balance, differ with respect to the virtual reality system used. Methods: A search of PubMed database resulted in an initial total of 481 records. Of these, 27 articles were included in the study. A final total of 20 articles, with neurological, orthoapedic, geriatric or paediatric patients, published between 2012 and 2019, were included in the study. Two independent reviewers selected potentially relevant articles based on the inclusion criteria for fulltext reading. They extracted data, and evaluated the methodological quality of each study. Results: Seventeen studies were included in the metaanalysis. Eight studies analysed upper limb function, with no significant evidence that specialized VR is superior to conventional treatment. Regarding Fugl-Meyer scale results, the effect of specialized virtual reality therapy was found to be significantly better than conventional treatment. No significant differences between specialized VR and conventional treatment were observed in effects on hand dexterity and gait. There was a significant difference in effects on balance in favour of specialized virtual reality as compared to conventional treatment. Gaming virtual reality was significantly better than conventional treatment for upper limb function, but not for hand dexterity, gait and balance. Conclusion: Use of specialized virtual reality and gaming virtual reality can be advantageous for treatment of the upper extremity, but not for hand dexterity and gait in all pathologies considered. Specialized virtual reality can improve balance in neurological patients

Right ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral-to-pulmonary artery systolic pressure ratio: a non-invasive metric of pulmonary arterial compliance differs across the spectrum of pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial compliance (PAC), invasively assessed by the ratio of stroke volume to pulmonary arterial (PA) pulse pressure, is a sensitive marker of right ventricular (RV)-PA coupling that differs across the spectrum of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and is predictive of outcomes. We assessed whether the echocardiographically derived ratio of RV outflow tract velocity time integral to PA systolic pressure (RVOT-VTI/PASP) (a) correlates with invasive PAC, (b) discriminates heart failure with preserved ejection-associated PH (HFpEF-PH) from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and (c) is associated with functional capacity. We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with PAH (n = 70) and HFpEF-PH (n = 86), which was further dichotomized by diastolic pressure gradient (DPG) into isolated post-capillary PH (DPG \u3c 7 mmHg; Ipc-PH, n = 54), and combined post- and pre-capillary PH (DPG ≥ 7 mm Hg; Cpc-PH, n = 32). Of the 156 patients, 146 had measurable RVOT-VTI or PASP and were included in further analysis. RVOT-VTI/PASP correlated with invasive PAC overall (ρ = 0.61, P \u3c 0.001) and for the PAH (ρ = 0.38, P = 0.002) and HFpEF-PH (ρ = 0.63, P \u3c 0.001) groups individually. RVOT-VTI/PASP differed significantly across the PH spectrum (PAH: 0.13 [0.010-0.25] vs. Cpc-PH: 0.20 [0.12-0.25] vs. Ipc-PH: 0.35 [0.22-0.44]; P \u3c 0.001), distinguished HFpEF-PH from PAH (AUC = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.63-0.81) and Cpc-PH from Ipc-PH (AUC = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.68-0.88), and remained independently predictive of 6-min walk distance after multivariate analysis (standardized β-coefficient = 27.7, 95% CI = 9.2-46.3; P = 0.004). Echocardiographic RVOT-VTI/PASP is a novel non-invasive metric of PAC that differs across the spectrum of PH. It distinguishes the degree of pre-capillary disease within HFpEF-PH and is predictive of functional capacity

Presupernova Evolution with Improved Rates for Weak Interactions

Recent shell-model calculations of weak-interaction rates for nuclei in the mass range A = 45 - 65 have resulted in substantial revisions to the hitherto standard set of Fuller, Fowler, & Newman (FFN). In particular, key electron-capture rates, such as that for Co60 are much smaller. We consider here the effects of these revised rates on the presupernova (post-oxygen burning) evolution of massive stars in the mass range 11 to 40 M_sun. Moreover, we include, for the first time in models by our group, the effects of modern rates for beta-decay in addition to electron capture and positron emission. Values for the central electron mole number at the time of iron core collapse in the new models are typically larger, by delta Y_e = 0.005 to 0.015, than those of Woosley & Weaver 1995, with a tendency for the more massive models to display larger differences. About half of this change is a consequence of including beta-decay; the other half, result of the smaller rates for electron capture. Unlike what might be expected solely on basis of the larger Y_e's, the new iron core masses are systematically smaller owing to a decrease in the entropy in the outer iron core. The changes in iron core mass range from zero to 0.1 M_sun. We also observe, as predicted by Aufderheide et al. (1994), a tendency towards beta-equilibrium just prior to the collapse of the core, and the subsequent loss of that equilibrium as core collapse proceeds. We discuss the key weak reaction rates, both beta-decay and electron-capture, responsible for the evolution of Y_e and make suggestions for future measurements.Comment: 22 pages including 17 PostScript figures, uses emulateapj.sty, submitted to Ap