4,345 research outputs found
Identification of thalassemia disorder using active contour
Thalassemia was known as the red blood cell (RBC) morphology disorder. This disease mostly affects the shape of the red blood cells. Thalassemia becomes the major public health problem when one of the people becomes the carrier of the disease. It can occur within a months after birth or even before birth and results in inappropriate growth and development of babies. Sometimes the affected babies will die shortly after birth. In order to screen thalassemia, there are a few tests need to be done. Firstly by performed Complete Blood Count (CBC) and secondly continued with hemoglobin electrophoresis test. This CBC test will identify the morphology of RBC. Hence, this paper will discuss the methods on identifying the morphology of thalassemia blood cells by using active contour technique. From the result of 16 normal and abnormal blood cell images, the active countour methods able to identifyThalassemia blood cells with accuracy of 90% from the abnormal cell images
The rate of quasiparticle recombination probes the onset of coherence in cuprate superconductors
The condensation of an electron superfluid from a conventional metallic state
at a critical temperature is described well by the BCS theory. In the
underdoped copper-oxides, high-temperature superconductivity condenses instead
from a nonconventional metallic "pseudogap" phase that exhibits a variety of
non-Fermi liquid properties. Recently, it has become clear that a charge
density wave (CDW) phase exists within the pseudogap regime, appearing at a
temperature just above . The near coincidence of and
, as well the coexistence and competition of CDW and superconducting
order below , suggests that they are intimately related. Here we show that
the condensation of the superfluid from this unconventional precursor is
reflected in deviations from the predictions of BSC theory regarding the
recombination rate of quasiparticles. We report a detailed investigation of the
quasiparticle (QP) recombination lifetime, , as a function of
temperature and magnetic field in underdoped HgBaCuO
(Hg-1201) and YBaCuO (YBCO) single crystals by ultrafast
time-resolved reflectivity. We find that exhibits a local
maximum in a small temperature window near that is prominent in
underdoped samples with coexisting charge order and vanishes with application
of a small magnetic field. We explain this unusual, non-BCS behavior by
positing that marks a transition from phase-fluctuating SC/CDW composite
order above to a SC/CDW condensate below. Our results suggest that the
superfluid in underdoped cuprates is a condensate of coherently-mixed
particle-particle and particle-hole pairs
Propagation of Light in Photonic Crystal Fibre Devices
We describe a semi-analytical approach for three-dimensional analysis of
photonic crystal fibre devices. The approach relies on modal transmission-line
theory. We offer two examples illustrating the utilization of this approach in
photonic crystal fibres: the verification of the coupling action in a photonic
crystal fibre coupler and the modal reflectivity in a photonic crystal fibre
distributed Bragg reflector.Comment: 15 pages including 7 figures. Accepted for J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Op
Two-dimensional amine and hydroxy functionalized fused aromatic covalent organic framework
Ordered two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have generally been synthesized using reversible reactions. It has been difficult to synthesize a similar degree of ordered COFs using irreversible reactions. Developing COFs with a fused aromatic ring system via an irreversible reaction is highly desirable but has remained a significant challenge. Here we demonstrate a COF that can be synthesized from organic building blocks via irreversible condensation (aromatization). The as-synthesized robust fused aromatic COF (F-COF) exhibits high crystallinity. Its lattice structure is characterized by scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray diffraction pattern. Because of its fused aromatic ring system, the F-COF structure possesses high physiochemical stability, due to the absence of hydrolysable weak covalent bonds
Associations between arterial stiffening and brain structure, perfusion, and cognition in the Whitehall II Imaging Sub-study: A retrospective cohort study
Background: Aortic stiffness is closely linked with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but recent studies suggest that it is also a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. However, the brain changes underlying this risk are unclear. We examined whether aortic stiffening during a 4-year follow-up in mid-to-late life was associated with brain structure and cognition in the Whitehall II Imaging Sub-study. /
Methods and findings: The Whitehall II Imaging cohort is a randomly selected subset of the ongoing Whitehall II Study, for which participants have received clinical follow-ups for 30 years, across 12 phases. Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured in 2007â2009 (Phase 9) and at a 4-year follow-up in 2012â2013 (Phase 11). Between 2012 and 2016 (Imaging Phase), participants received a multimodal 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and cognitive tests. Participants were selected if they had no clinical diagnosis of dementia and no gross brain structural abnormalities. Voxel-based analyses were used to assess grey matter (GM) volume, white matter (WM) microstructure (fractional anisotropy (FA) and diffusivity), white matter lesions (WMLs), and cerebral blood flow (CBF). Cognitive outcomes were performance on verbal memory, semantic fluency, working memory, and executive function tests. Of 542 participants, 444 (81.9%) were men. The mean (SD) age was 63.9 (5.2) years at the baseline Phase 9 examination, 68.0 (5.2) at Phase 11, and 69.8 (5.2) at the Imaging Phase. Voxel-based analysis revealed that faster rates of aortic stiffening in mid-to-late life were associated with poor WM microstructure, viz. lower FA, higher mean, and radial diffusivity (RD) in 23.9%, 11.8%, and 22.2% of WM tracts, respectively, including the corpus callosum, corona radiata, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and corticospinal tracts. Similar voxel-wise associations were also observed with follow-up aortic stiffness. Moreover, lower mean global FA was associated with faster rates of aortic stiffening (B = â5.65, 95% CI â9.75, â1.54, Bonferroni-corrected p < 0.0125) and higher follow-up aortic stiffness (B = â1.12, 95% CI â1.95, â0.29, Bonferroni-corrected p < 0.0125). In a subset of 112 participants who received arterial spin labelling scans, faster aortic stiffening was also related to lower cerebral perfusion in 18.4% of GM, with associations surviving Bonferroni corrections in the frontal (B = â10.85, 95% CI â17.91, â3.79, p < 0.0125) and parietal lobes (B = â12.75, 95% CI â21.58, â3.91, p < 0.0125). No associations with GM volume or WMLs were observed. Further, higher baseline aortic stiffness was associated with poor semantic fluency (B = â0.47, 95% CI â0.76 to â0.18, Bonferroni-corrected p < 0.007) and verbal learning outcomes (B = â0.36, 95% CI â0.60 to â0.12, Bonferroni-corrected p < 0.007). As with all observational studies, it was not possible to infer causal associations. The generalisability of the findings may be limited by the gender imbalance, high educational attainment, survival bias, and lack of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity in this cohort. /
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that faster rates of aortic stiffening in mid-to-late life were associated with poor brain WM microstructural integrity and reduced cerebral perfusion, likely due to increased transmission of pulsatile energy to the delicate cerebral microvasculature. Strategies to prevent arterial stiffening prior to this point may be required to offer cognitive benefit in older age. /
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0333569
Marriage âsharia styleâ: everyday practices of Islamic morality in England
The growing visibility of Islam in the public spaces of Western societies is often interpreted in the media as a sign of Muslim radicalisation. This article questions this postulate by examining the flourishing Muslim marriage industry in the UK. It argues that these âhalalâ services, increasingly popular among the young generation of British Muslims, reflect the semantic shifting of categories away from the repertoire of Islamic jurisprudence to cultural and identity labels visible in public space. Informed by long-term ethnographic fieldwork in the British field of Islamic law, this article examines a Muslim speed-dating event, which took place in central London in 2013. It investigates how Islamic morality is maintained and negotiated in everyday social interactions rather than cultivated via discipline and the pursuit of virtuous dispositions. Using Goffmanâs âframe analysisâ and his interpretation of the social as a space of âperformancesâ as well as recent anthropological reflections on âordinary ethicsâ (Lambek) and âeveryday Islamâ (Schielke, Osella and Soares), it examines the potential for such practices to define the contours of a new public culture where difference is celebrated as a form of distinction
Punica granatum (Pomegranate) juice provides an HIV-1 entry inhibitor and candidate topical microbicide
BACKGROUND: For â 24 years the AIDS pandemic has claimed â 30 million lives, causing â 14,000 new HIV-1 infections daily worldwide in 2003. About 80% of infections occur by heterosexual transmission. In the absence of vaccines, topical microbicides, expected to block virus transmission, offer hope for controlling the pandemic. Antiretroviral chemotherapeutics have decreased AIDS mortality in industrialized countries, but only minimally in developing countries. To prevent an analogous dichotomy, microbicides should be: acceptable; accessible; affordable; and accelerative in transition from development to marketing. Already marketed pharmaceutical excipients or foods, with established safety records and adequate anti-HIV-1 activity, may provide this option. METHODS: Fruit juices were screened for inhibitory activity against HIV-1 IIIB using CD4 and CXCR4 as cell receptors. The best juice was tested for inhibition of: (1) infection by HIV-1 BaL, utilizing CCR5 as the cellular coreceptor; and (2) binding of gp120 IIIB and gp120 BaL, respectively, to CXCR4 and CCR5. To remove most colored juice components, the adsorption of the effective ingredient(s) to dispersible excipients and other foods was investigated. A selected complex was assayed for inhibition of infection by primary HIV-1 isolates. RESULTS: HIV-1 entry inhibitors from pomegranate juice adsorb onto corn starch. The resulting complex blocks virus binding to CD4 and CXCR4/CCR5 and inhibits infection by primary virus clades A to G and group O. CONCLUSION: These results suggest the possibility of producing an anti-HIV-1 microbicide from inexpensive, widely available sources, whose safety has been established throughout centuries, provided that its quality is adequately standardized and monitored
âWe are women and men nowâ: Intimate spaces and coping labour for Syrian women refugees in Jordan
War affects women from the bedroom to the battlefield, but for most women war is experienced within intimate spaces. Intimate spaces are rarely the focus of mainstream academic research or media reporting; thus women\u27s experiences with war and displacement are often concealed. Building from literature in feminist geopolitics that helps focus our attention toward everyday and intimate geopolitics, I conducted inâdepth interviews with Syrian women refugees in Jordan in order to examine how they are coping. Of the many ways that they\u27ve learned to cope, these women asserted that earning an income and adjusting to altered gender performances and relations have been both dire and formative. Many Syrian women refugees have become income providers for the first time in their lives. Some women have become their familiesâ sole providers, and other women are now heads of households as well. Bringing literature from feminist geography, transnational and migration studies, and critical home studies together with feminist geopolitics, I offer the ideas of coping and coping labour as a framework to examine the intimate spaces of displacement. I highlight that paid work is understudied within feminist geopolitics, but such a focus renders important insights into how gender shapes experiences of displacement and how displacement is reshaping gendered relations. In this paper, I show that in the intimate spaces of displacement women have taken on traditionally masculine practices, but while their gendered performances shift, they are simultaneously entrenched as the ideals of appropriate feminine and masculine performances are recreated. Though these multiple gendered performances are creating numerous demands and challenges for Syrian women refugees, these women are also experiencing an increased sense of strength, confidence and respect as a result of their shifting performances
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