Strial capillary permeability following noise exposure in mice

A study of strial capillary permeability using fluorescent microspheres and immunohistochemistry in mice that do or do not exhibit a reduction in endocochlear potential following a single, intense noise exposure

Aportación a la flora pirenaica

54 páginas.- Actas del Quinto Congreso Internacional de Estudios Pirenaicos : Jaca-Pamplona, 1966, T. II: Sección 2: Climatología, edafología, botánica y zoología .Peer reviewe

Poetic metaphor and everyday metaphor: a corpus-based contrastive study of metaphors of SADNESS in poetry and non-literary discourse

Conceptual Metaphor Theory holds that metaphor is a ubiquitous phenomenon that frequently manifests itself in ordinary discourse rather than a rhetorical device characteristic of literary language. This makes the similarities and differences between poetic metaphors and everyday metaphors an interesting issue. Lakoff and Turner (1989) have claimed that poetic metaphors are based on everyday metaphors and what distinguishes the two is that the former combine and elaborate the latter in ways that go beyond the ordinary. A number of studies have lent support to this claim by illustrating how the meaning of a poem depends essentially on conceptual metaphors that pervade non-literary language and how poetic metaphors elaborate everyday metaphors creatively to achieve their “poeticality” (see, for instance, Deane 1995; Freeman 1995, 2002; Yu 2003). However, these studies have not answered the question of whether poems generally exploit the same range of conceptual metaphors to depict a particular target domain topic as the range that is commonly used to conceptualize it. The question is worth investigating not only because it can shed new light …published_or_final_versio

Empirical model for quasi direct current interruption with a convoluted arc

This contribution considers various aspects of a quasi direct current, convoluted arc produced by a magnetic field (B-field) connected in parallel with an RLC circuit that have not been considered in combination. These aspects are the arc current limitation due to the arc convolution, changes in arc resistance due to the B-field and material ablation, and the relative significance of the RLC circuit in producing an artificial current zero. As a result, it has been possible to produce an empirical equation for predicting the current interruption capability in terms of the B-field magnitude and RLC components

The association of statin use after cancer diagnosis with survival in pancreatic cancer patients: a SEER-medicare analysis.

BackgroundPancreatic cancer has poor prognosis and existing interventions provide a modest benefit. Statin has anti-cancer properties that might enhance survival in pancreatic cancer patients. We sought to determine whether statin treatment after cancer diagnosis is associated with longer survival in those with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).MethodsWe analyzed data on 7813 elderly patients with PDAC using the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) - Medicare claims files. Information on the type, intensity and duration of statin use after cancer diagnosis was extracted from Medicare Part D. We treated statin as a time-dependent variable in a Cox regression model to determine the association with overall survival adjusting for follow-up, age, sex, race, neighborhood income, stage, grade, tumor size, pancreatectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, chronic pancreatitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).ResultsOverall, statin use after cancer diagnosis was not significantly associated with survival when all PDAC patients were considered (HR = 0.94, 95%CI 0.89, 1.01). However, statin use after cancer diagnosis was associated with a 21% reduced hazard of death (Hazard ratio = 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67, 0.93) in those with grade I or II PDAC and to a similar extent in those who had undergone a pancreatectomy, in those with chronic pancreatitis and in those who had not been treated with statin prior to cancer diagnosis.ConclusionsWe found that statin treatment after cancer diagnosis is associated with enhanced survival in patients with low-grade, resectable PDAC

In-lab three-dimensional printing:an inexpensive tool for experimentation and visualization for the field of organogenesis

The development of the microscope in 1590 by Zacharias Janssenby and Hans Lippershey gave the world a new way of visualizing details of morphogenesis and development. More recent improvements in this technology including confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical projection tomography (OPT) have enhanced the quality of the resultant image. These technologies also allow a representation to be made of a developing tissue’s three-dimensional (3-D) form. With all these techniques however, the image is delivered on a flat two-dimensional (2-D) screen. 3-D printing represents an exciting potential to reproduce the image not simply on a flat screen, but in a physical, palpable three-dimensional structure. Here we explore the scope that this holds for exploring and interacting with the structure of a developing organ in an entirely novel way. As well as being useful for visualization, 3-D printers are capable of rapidly and cost-effectively producing custom-made structures for use within the laboratory. We here describe the advantages of producing hardware for a tissue culture system using an inexpensive in-lab printer

Recruitment Patterns of Juvenile Fish at an Artificial Reef Area in the Gulf of Mexico

In 2011 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Coastal Conservation Association of Texas deployed over 4,000 concrete culverts in a designated artificial reef area off Port Mansfield, Texas, to enhance habitat for sport fish species in the Gulf of Mexico. A study was conducted to assess juvenile fish recruitment at varying culvert densities within the artificial reef area. Standard monitoring units for the recruitment of reef fish (SMURFs) were used to sample juvenile fish, and these collections were compared with visual scuba surveys. The 0.027-m3 SMURFs were placed at four different culvert densities (0, 1–50, 51–100, and 101+ culverts in a 30-m radius) and sampled during 2013 to 2014. Measurements of rugosity, vertical relief, and percent cover were collected to elucidate factors that drive juvenile recruitment. Average species richness was highest at sites with no culverts and lowest at dense culvert sites. Species compositions were significantly different between sampling locations with no culverts and all locations with culverts; average similarity was 33.8%. Belted Sandfish Serranus subligarius was the most ubiquitous species among all sampling locations. Visual scuba surveys at the same locations showed lower diversity indices of the juvenile fish community than observed by SMURFs and were only 14% similar to the community sampled by the SMURFs. These findings suggest SMURFs are a more effective tool for examining juvenile fish at an artificial reef due to the cryptic nature of juveniles and the low visibility around shallow reefs. Additionally, commercially important Yellowedge Grouper Hyporthodus flavolimbatus, Warsaw Grouper H. nigritus, and Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus juveniles were only found at SMURFs at sampling locations with no culverts. The presence of juveniles of these key species suggest that fisheries management may benefit from creating low-relief reef patches away from the main reef where juvenile fish can recruit and grow

Effectiveness of BaTiO3 dielectric patches on YBa2Cu3O7 thin films for MEM switches

A micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) switch built on a superconducting microstrip filter will be utilized to investigate BaTiO3 dielectric patches for functional switching points of contact. Actuation voltage resulting from the MEM switch provokes static friction between the bridge membrane and BaTiO3 insulation layer. The dielectric patch crystal structure and roughness affect the ability of repetitively switching cycles and lifetime. A series of experiments have been performed using different deposition methods and RF magnetron sputtering was found to be the best deposition process for the BaTiO3 layer. The effect examination of surface morphology will be presented using characterization techniques as x-ray diffraction, SEM and AFM for an optimum switching device. The thin film is made of YBa2Cu3O7 deposited on LaAlO3 substrate by pulsed laser deposition. For this work, the dielectric material sputtering pressure is set at 9.5x10-6 Torr. The argon gas is released through a mass-flow controller to purge the system prior to deposition. RF power is 85 W at a distance of 9 cm. The behavior of Au membranes built on ultimate BaTiO3 patches will be shown as part of the results. These novel surface patterns will in turn be used in modelling other RF MEM switch devices such as distributed-satellite communication system operating at cryogenic temperatures

Analyzing Large-Scale Multiuser Molecular Communication via 3D Stochastic Geometry

arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1605.08311arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1605.08311Information delivery using chemical molecules is an integral part of biology at multiple distance scales and has attracted recent interest in bioengineering and communication theory. Potential applications include cooperative networks with a large number of simple devices that could be randomly located (e.g., due to mobility). This paper presents the first tractable analytical model for the collective signal strength due to randomly-placed transmitters in a three-dimensional (3D) large-scale molecular communication system, either with or without degradation in the propagation environment. Transmitter locations in an unbounded and homogeneous fluid are modelled as a homogeneous Poisson point process. By applying stochastic geometry, analytical expressions are derived for the expected number of molecules absorbed by a fully-absorbing receiver or observed by a passive receiver. The bit error probability is derived under ON/OFF keying and either a constant or adaptive decision threshold. Results reveal that the combined signal strength increases proportionately with the transmitter density, and the minimum bit error probability can be improved by introducing molecule degradation. Furthermore, the analysis of the system can be generalized to other receiver designs and other performance characteristics in large-scale molecular communication systems