Cohen-Macaulay graphs and face vectors of flag complexes

We introduce a construction on a flag complex that, by means of modifying the associated graph, generates a new flag complex whose $h$-factor is the face vector of the original complex. This construction yields a vertex-decomposable, hence Cohen-Macaulay, complex. From this we get a (non-numerical) characterisation of the face vectors of flag complexes and deduce also that the face vector of a flag complex is the $h$-vector of some vertex-decomposable flag complex. We conjecture that the converse of the latter is true and prove this, by means of an explicit construction, for $h$-vectors of Cohen-Macaulay flag complexes arising from bipartite graphs. We also give several new characterisations of bipartite graphs with Cohen-Macaulay or Buchsbaum independence complexes.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures; major updat

Sensitivity-bandwidth limit in a multi-mode opto-electro-mechanical transducer

An opto--electro--mechanical system formed by a nanomembrane capacitively coupled to an LC resonator and to an optical interferometer has been recently employed for the high--sensitive optical readout of radio frequency (RF) signals [T. Bagci, \emph{et~al.}, Nature {\bf 507}, 81 (2013)]. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate how the bandwidth of such kind of transducer can be increased by controlling the interference between two--electromechanical interaction pathways of a two--mode mechanical system. With a proof--of--principle device \new{operating at room temperature, we achieve a sensitivity of 300 nV/Hz^(1/2) over a bandwidth of 15 kHz in the presence of radiofrequency noise, and an optimal shot-noise limited sensitivity of 10 nV/Hz^(1/2) over a bandwidth of 5 kHz. We discuss strategies for improving the performance of the device, showing that, for the same given sensitivity, a mechanical multi--mode transducer can achieve a bandwidth} significantly larger than that of a single-mode one

Mucocutaneous manifestations and nail changes in patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis.

Mucocutaneous manifestations are common among patients on hemodialysis (HD). This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of mucocutaneous manifestations in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are on HD. In this cross-sectional, descriptive and analytic study conducted in 2009, 100 patients on HD at the Five Azar Hospital in Gorgan city were randomly selected. All the patients underwent detailed examination by a dermatologist to look for lesions in the skin, hair, nail and mucous membranes; if felt necessary, biopsy was obtained from the lesions. The findings were statistically analyzed using SPSS-13 software. For evaluation of normality of distribution, Kolmogorov-Smirnov was used, for quantitative variables Mann-Whitney and T-test (abnormal distribution) were used and for qualitative variables, Chi-2 and Fisher were used. In this study, P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Fifty-one males and 49 females were enrolled. The mean age was 49 ± 12 years. Diabetes was the most common cause of ESRD. In 95% of the patients, at least one mucocutaneous manifestation was present. Xerosis (78.3%) was the most common lesion, followed by pruritus (39.1%), lentigo (34.8%), skin discoloration (32.6%), leukonychia (32%) and thinning of the nail bed (24%). Xerosis, scaling, lentigo, folliculitis, idiopathic guttate hypopigmentation, leukonychia and half and half nail were associated with age. A significant relationship was seen between duration on dialysis and skin discoloration and leukonychia. Clubbing had a significant association with calcium-phosphorus product (Ca � P). There was a significant association between serum ferritin level and pruritus and tinea versicolor lesions. Our study shows that mucocutaneous manifestations are common among patients with ESRD. Identification of these manifestations and their association with causative factors are useful for preventing the lesions

Short communication: Cadmium determination in two flat fishes from two fishery regions in north of the Persian Gulf

Heavy metals are natural trace components of the aquatic environment, but their levels have increased due to industrial agriculture, mining activities, industrial activity, shipping accident. Pollution studies in the ROPME area including the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea are extremely important because this region is shallow, semi-enclosed, and has a very high evaporation rate and poor flushing characteristics. Other Iranian scientists reported the pollution from inland water but our study was the first on evaluation of Cadmium pollution from northern coastal waters of the Persian Gulf, belonging to the Iranian coastlines. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of local seafood in terms of heavy metal contamination by examining the two commercial fish species, Euryglossa orientalis and Psettodes erumei through the determination of Cd concentration levels in the muscle and liver tissues of the fish, monitoring the ROPME region, and investigating the relationship between fish size and metal concentration in the different tissues of these two flat fishes

An objective evaluation method for rehabilitation exergames

The aim of this work is to objectively evaluate the performance of patients using a virtual rehabilitation system called MIRA. MIRA is a software platform which converts conventional therapeutic exercises into games, enabling the user to practice the given exercise by playing a game. The system includes a motion sensor to track and capture user's movements. Our assessment of the performance quality is based on the recorded trajectories of the human skeleton joints. We employ two different machine learning approaches, dynamic time warping (DTW) and hidden Markov modeling (HMM), both widely used for gesture recognition, to compare the user's performance with that of a reference as ground truth

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in Raw Caprine, Ovine, Buffalo, Bovine, and Camel Milk Using Cell Cultivation, Cat Bioassay, Capture ELISA, and PCR Methods in Iran

This study was conducted to determine the presence of Toxoplasma gondii in animal milk samples in Iran. From a total of 395 dairy herds in three provinces of Iran, 66 bovine, 58 ovine, 54 caprine, 33 buffalo, and 30 camel herds were studied, and from these parts of Iran, 200 bovine, 185 ovine, 180 caprine, 164 buffalo, and 160 camel milk samples were collected from various seasons. Samples were tested for Toxoplasma gondii by cell line culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Only the results of cell line cultivation were confirmed by bioassay in cat. Results indicated that all herds were infected with Toxoplasma gondii. The culture method showed that 51 out of 889 milk samples (5.73%) were positive for Toxoplasma gondii, and all 51 positive culture results were positive with bioassay in cat. The Fars province had the highest prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (6.84%). The ELISA test showed that 41 milk samples (4.61%) were positive for the presence of Toxoplasma gondii, while the PCR showed that 46 milk samples were positive for Toxoplasma gondii. The results showed higher sensitivity of PCR and higher specificity of ELISA. Caprine had the highest (10%) and camel had the lowest (3.12%) prevalence rate of parasite. The summer season had the highest (76.47%) but winter (3.92) had the lowest incidence of Toxoplasma gondii. This study is the first prevalence report of direct detection of Toxoplasma gondii in animal milk samples in Iran

Prevalence of chronic kidney disease and its associated risk factors: The first report from Iran using both microalbuminuria and urine sediment

Background: The incidence of major risk factors of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the world is on the rise, and it is expected that this incidence and prevalence, particularly in developing countries, will continue to increase. Using data on urinary sediment and microalbuminuria, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of CKD in northeast Iran. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, the prevalence of CKD in a sample of 1557 regionally representative people, aged � 18 years, was analyzed. CKD was determined based on glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and microalbuminuria. Life style data, urine and blood samples were collected. Urine samples without any proteinuria in the initial dipstick test were checked for qualitative microalbuminuria. If the latter was positive, quantitative microalbuminuria was evaluated. Results: 1557 subjects with a mean age of 56.76 ± 12.04 years were enrolled in this study. Based on the modifcation of diet in renal disease (MDRD) equation, 137 subjects (8.89%) were categorized as CKD stages III-V. Based on urine abnormalities, the prevalence of combined CKD stages I and II was 10.63%, and based on macro- and microalbuminuria it was 14.53%. The prevalence of CKD was significantly associated with sex, age, marital status, education, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), ischemic heart disease (IHD), waist to hip ratio, myocardial infarction (MI), and cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Conclusion: CKD and its main risk factors are common and represent a definite health threat in this region of Iran. Using and standardizing less expensive screening tests in low resource countries could be a good alternative that may improve the outcome through early detection of CKD