Spaces of rational curves in complete intersections

We prove that the space of smooth rational curves of degree $e$ in a general complete intersection of multidegree $(d_1, ..., d_m)$ in \PP^n is irreducible of the expected dimension if $\sum_{i=1}^m d_i <\frac{2n}{3}$ and $n$ is large enough. This generalizes the results of Harris, Roth and Starr \cite{hrs}, and is achieved by proving that the space of conics passing through any point of a general complete intersection has constant dimension if $\sum_{i=1}^m d_i$ is small compared to $n$

Day of the week effect on foreign exchange market volatility: Evidence from Turkey

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper assesses the day of the week effect of the daily depreciation of the Turkish lira (TL) against the US dollar (USD) and its volatility. The empirical evidence from Turkey presented here suggests that Thursdays are associated with higher and Mondays with lower depreciation rates compared to those of Wednesdays. Moreover, Mondays and Tuesdays are associated with higher volatility than Wednesdays. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Arterial, neural and muscular variations in the upper limb

During our routine dissection studies we observed arterial, neural and muscular variations in the upper limbs of an adult male cadaver. In this case we observed the superficial brachial artery origination from the third part of the axillary artery, communications between the musculocutaneous and median nerves, variant formation of the brachial plexus, origination of the profunda brachii artery from the posterior circumflex humeral artery and supernumerary tendons of the abductor pollicis longus muscle. We think that such variations should be kept in mind during surgical and diagnostic procedures

Effect of different levels of royal jelly on biochemical parameters of swimmers

This study aims to investigate the effects of different levels of royal jelly supplementation on biochemical parameters in swimmers. Randomly selected 40 male swimmers aged 18 to 25 years attending the same trainings were recruited. Swimmers were assigned to 4 groups each with 10 subjects. Varying amounts of royal jelly (2, 1 g and 500 mg) were given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd groups and placebo (corn starch) to the 4th group. Participants were trained by swimming totally 20 km in 2 h on 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Resting blood samples were taken before royal jelly administration and after 30 days of application. Then biochemical analyses were performed. Different levels of royal jelly were found to be ineffective on glucose, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels of the swimmers. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine levels increased after the training program, and BUN level was higher in the group receiving 500 mg royal jelly than those in the other groups. The increment in creatinine levels was higher in those groups receiving higher amounts of royal jelly after the training. A supplementation of 500 mg, 1 and 2 g/day of royal jelly throughout the 30 day-exercise program was not significantly effective in the swimmers. Also, due to its high amino acid content, BUN and creatinine levels tended to increase.Key words: Royal jelly, swimming, exercise, biochemical parameters, ergogenic aids

Intensity limits for stationary and interacting multi-soliton complexes

We obtain an accurate estimate for the peak intensities of multi-soliton complexes for a Kerr-type nonlinearity in the (1+1) - dimension problem. Using exact analytical solutions of the integrable set of nonlinear Schrodinger equations, we establish a rigorous relationship between the eigenvalues of incoherently-coupled fundamental solitons and the range of admissible intensities. A clear geometrical interpretation of this effect is given.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

An online model composition tool for system biology models

Background: There are multiple representation formats for Systems Biology computational models, and the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) is one of the most widely used. SBML is used to capture, store, and distribute computational models by Systems Biology data sources (e.g., the BioModels Database) and researchers. Therefore, there is a need for all-in-one web-based solutions that support advance SBML functionalities such as uploading, editing, composing, visualizing, simulating, querying, and browsing computational models. Results: We present the design and implementation of the Model Composition Tool (Interface) within the PathCaseSB (PathCase Systems Biology) web portal. The tool helps users compose systems biology models to facilitate the complex process of merging systems biology models. We also present three tools that support the model composition tool, namely, (1) Model Simulation Interface that generates a visual plot of the simulation according to user’s input, (2) iModel Tool as a platform for users to upload their own models to compose, and (3) SimCom Tool that provides a side by side comparison of models being composed in the same pathway. Finally, we provide a web site that hosts BioModels Database models and a separate web site that hosts SBML Test Suite models. Conclusions: Model composition tool (and the other three tools) can be used with little or no knowledge of the SBML document structure. For this reason, students or anyone who wants to learn about systems biology will benefit from the described functionalities. SBML Test Suite models will be a nice starting point for beginners. And, for more advanced purposes, users will able to access and employ models of the BioModels Database as well

Methotrexate – A Potential Risk Factor for Delayed Healing and Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw Following Dental Extractions – A Case Study Aiming to Raise Awareness in Clinical Practice

A case report documenting how a routine atraumatic extraction of a lower right second premolar in a female patient with rheumatoid arthritis taking methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine, certolizumab pegol and pain relief medication, resulted in the sequestration of bone in the coronal aspect of the socket, inflammation, suppuration, and delayed healing mimicking medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. Treatment of the lesion involved a methotrexate drug holiday (after consulting with her rheumatologist), antibiotics, chlorhexidine and saltwater rinses as well as surgical curettage of the lesion under local anaesthesia. This case report highlights to the general dental practitioner an important potential link between methotrexate and medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw and is strengthened by case studies from the literature. An emphasis on liaising with other health care professionals such as the rheumatologist is also made

A task and performance analysis of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) surgery

BACKGROUND: ESD is an endoscopic technique for en bloc resection of gastrointestinal lesions. ESD is a widely-used in Japan and throughout Asia, but not as prevalent in Europe or the US. The procedure is technically challenging and has higher adverse events (bleeding, perforation) compared to endoscopic mucosal resection. Inadequate training platforms and lack of established training curricula have restricted its wide acceptance in the US. Thus, we aim to develop a Virtual Endoluminal Surgery Simulator (VESS) for objective ESD training and assessment. In this work, we performed task and performance analysis of ESD surgeries. METHODS: We performed a detailed colorectal ESD task analysis and identified the critical ESD steps for lesion identification, marking, injection, circumferential cutting, dissection, intraprocedural complication management, and post-procedure examination. We constructed a hierarchical task tree that elaborates the order of tasks in these steps. Furthermore, we developed quantitative ESD performance metrics. We measured task times and scores of 16 ESD surgeries performed by four different endoscopic surgeons. RESULTS: The average time of the marking, injection, and circumferential cutting phases are 203.4 (σ: 205.46), 83.5 (σ: 49.92), 908.4 s. (σ: 584.53), respectively. Cutting the submucosal layer takes most of the time of overall ESD procedure time with an average of 1394.7 s (σ: 908.43). We also performed correlation analysis (Pearson's test) among the performance scores of the tasks. There is a moderate positive correlation (R = 0.528, p = 0.0355) between marking scores and total scores, a strong positive correlation (R = 0.7879, p = 0.0003) between circumferential cutting and submucosal dissection and total scores. Similarly, we noted a strong positive correlation (R = 0.7095, p = 0.0021) between circumferential cutting and submucosal dissection and marking scores. CONCLUSIONS: We elaborated ESD tasks and developed quantitative performance metrics used in analysis of actual surgery performance. These ESD metrics will be used in future validation studies of our VESS simulator