Cost and Scalability Analysis of Porcine Islet Isolation for Islet Transplantation: Comparison of Juvenile, Neonatal and Adult Pigs.

The limited availability of human islets has led to the examination of porcine islets as a source of clinically suitable tissue for transplantation in patients with diabetes mellitus. Islets from porcine donors are commonly used in both in vitro and in vivo experiments studying diabetes mellitus. However, there are significant differences in quality and quantity of islet yield depending on donor pig age, as well as substantial differences in the costs of pancreas procurement in adult versus neonatal and juvenile pigs. In this study, we compared the total cost per islet of juvenile pig pancreata with that of neonatal and adult pigs. Although adult porcine pancreata yield, on average, more than five times the amount of islets than do juvenile and neonatal pancreata, we found that the high price of adult pigs led to the cost per islet being more than twice that of juvenile and neonatal islets (US $0.09 vs$0.04 and $0.02, respectively). In addition, neonatal and juvenile islets are advantageous in their scalability and retention of viability after culture. Our findings indicate that isolating neonatal and juvenile porcine islets is more cost-effective and scalable than isolating adult porcine islets

Raman scattering of InAs/AlAs quantum dot superlattices grown on (001) and (311)B GaAs surfaces

We present a comparative analysis of Raman scattering by acoustic and optical phonons in InAs/AlAs quantum dot superlattices grown on (001) and (311)B GaAs surfaces. Doublets of folded longitudinal acoustic phonons up to the fifth order were observed in the Raman spectra of (001)- and (311)B-oriented quantum dot superlattices measured in polarized scattering geometries. The energy positions of the folded acoustic phonons are well described by the elastic continuum model. Besides the acoustic phonons, the spectra display features related to confined transverse and longitudinal optical as well as interface phonons in quantum dots and spacer layers. Their frequency positions are discussed in terms of phonon confinement, elastic stress, and atomic intermixing

Cascading Effects and Escalations in Wide Area Power Failures: A Summary for Emergency Planners

This special report is the result of a collaboration between academics and practitioners. It aims to provide a synthetic overview of the cascading effects caused by wide-area power failures, and to define the recurrent impacts and sources of escalation. It provides a reference for the training and the situational awareness of decision makers and emergency operators. The format uses bullet points and examples to facilitate reading in conditions of limited availability of time. The following topics have been developed:- ⚫ A definition of cascading effects. ⚫ An introduction for of wide area power failures (PF) policies and practices. ⚫ Illustrative examples. ⚫ A table listing cascading effects and escalations caused by wide area PF. ⚫ Resources for training and essential references for further reading

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in people with intellectual disability: statistical approach to developing a bespoke screening tool.

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common among people with intellectual disability. Diagnosing ADHD in this clinically and cognitively complex and diverse group is difficult, given the overlapping psychiatric and behavioural presentations. Underdiagnoses and misdiagnoses leading to irrational polypharmacy and worse health and social outcomes are common. Diagnostic interviews exist, but are cumbersome and not in regular clinical use. AIMS: We aimed to develop a screening tool to help identify people with intellectual disability and ADHD. METHOD: A prospective cross-sectional study, using STROBE guidance, invited all carers of people with intellectual disability aged 18-50 years open to the review of the psychiatric team in a single UK intellectual disability service (catchment population: 150 000). A ten-item questionnaire based on the DSM-V ADHD criteria was circulated. All respondents' baseline clinical characteristics were recorded, and the DIVA-5-ID was administered blinded to the individual questionnaire result. Fisher exact and multiple logistic regressions were conducted to identify relevant questionnaire items and the combinations that afforded best sensitivity and specificity for predicting ADHD. RESULTS: Of 78 people invited, 39 responded (26 men, 13 women), of whom 30 had moderate-to-profound intellectual disability and 38 had associated comorbidities and on were medication, including 22 on psychotropics. Thirty-six screened positive for ADHD, and 24 were diagnosed (16 men, eight women). Analysis showed two positive responses on three specific questions to have 88% sensitivity and 87% specificity, and be the best predictor of ADHD. CONCLUSIONS: The three-question screening is an important development for identifying ADHD in people with intellectual disability. It needs larger-scale replication to generate generalisable results

Multi-split configuration design for fluid-based thermal management systems

High power density systems require efficient cooling to maintain their thermal performance. Despite this, as systems get larger and more complex, human practice and insight may not suffice to determine the desired thermal management system designs. To this end, a framework for automatic architecture exploration is presented in this article for a class of single-phase, multi-split cooling systems. For this class of systems, heat generation devices are clustered based on their spatial information, and flow-split are added only when required and at the location of heat devices. To generate different architectures, candidate architectures are represented as graphs. From these graphs, dynamic physics models are created automatically using a graph-based thermal modeling framework. Then, an optimal fluid flow distribution problem is solved by addressing temperature constraints in the presence of exogenous heat loads to achieve optimal performance. The focus in this work is on the design of general multi-split heat management systems. The architectures discussed here can be used for various applications in the domain of configuration design. The multi-split algorithm can produce configurations where splitting can occur at any of the vertices. The results presented include 3 categories of cases and are discussed in detail.Comment: 11 pages, 18 figure

Psychiatry and neurodevelopmental disorders: experts by experience, clinical care and research.

People with neurodevelopmental disorders often present with challenging behaviours and psychiatric illnesses. Diagnosis and treatment require patients, families and healthcare professionals to work closely together in partnership, acknowledging their respective areas of expertise. Good treatment outcomes should also be underpinned by robust research evidence. Key research priorities are highlighted

A proton-cyclotron wave storm generated by unstable proton distribution functions in the solar wind

We use audification of 0.092 s cadence magnetometer data from the Wind spacecraft to identify waves with amplitudes >0.1 nT near the ion gyrofrequency (~0.1 Hz) with duration longer than 1 hr during 2008. We present one of the most common types of event for a case study and find it to be a proton-cyclotron wave storm, coinciding with highly radial magnetic field and a suprathermal proton beam close in density to the core distribution itself. Using linear Vlasov analysis, we conclude that the long-duration, large-amplitude waves are generated by the instability of the proton distribution function. The origin of the beam is unknown, but the radial field period is found in the trailing edge of a fast solar wind stream and resembles other events thought to be caused by magnetic field footpoint motion or interchange reconnection between coronal holes and closed field lines in the corona

Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation of Farmed Salmon Is Associated with Infection with a Novel Reovirus

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) mariculture has been associated with epidemics of infectious diseases that threaten not only local production, but also wild fish coming into close proximity to marine pens and fish escaping from them. Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) is a frequently fatal disease of farmed Atlantic salmon. First recognized in one farm in Norway in 1999[1], HSMI was subsequently implicated in outbreaks in other farms in Norway and the United Kingdom[2]. Although pathology and disease transmission studies indicated an infectious basis, efforts to identify an agent were unsuccessful. Here we provide evidence that HSMI is associated with infection with piscine reovirus (PRV). PRV is a novel reovirus identified by unbiased high throughput DNA sequencing and a bioinformatics program focused on nucleotide frequency as well as sequence alignment and motif analyses. Formal implication of PRV in HSMI will require isolation in cell culture and fulfillment of Koch's postulates, or prevention or modification of disease through use of specific drugs or vaccines. Nonetheless, as our data indicate that a causal relationship is plausible, measures must be taken to control PRV not only because it threatens domestic salmon production but also due to the potential for transmission to wild salmon populations

Digit-only sauropod pes trackways from China - evidence of swimming or a preservational phenomenon?

For more than 70 years unusual sauropod trackways have played a pivotal role in debates about the swimming ability of sauropods. Most claims that sauropods could swim have been based on manus-only or manus-dominated trackways. However none of these incomplete trackways has been entirely convincing, and most have proved to be taphonomic artifacts, either undertracks or the result of differential depth of penetration of manus and pes tracks, but otherwise showed the typical pattern of normal walking trackways. Here we report an assemblage of unusual sauropod tracks from the Lower Cretaceous Hekou Group of Gansu Province, northern China, characterized by the preservation of only the pes claw traces, that we interpret as having been left by walking, not buoyant or swimming, individuals. They are interpreted as the result of animals moving on a soft mud-silt substrate, projecting their claws deeply to register their traces on an underlying sand layer where they gained more grip during progression. Other sauropod walking trackways on the same surface with both pes and manus traces preserved, were probably left earlier on relatively firm substrates that predated the deposition of soft mud and silt . Presently, there is no convincing evidence of swimming sauropods from their trackways, which is not to say that sauropods did not swim at all

Dental management considerations for the patient with an acquired coagulopathy. Part 1: Coagulopathies from systemic disease

Current teaching suggests that many patients are at risk for prolonged bleeding during and following invasive dental procedures, due to an acquired coagulopathy from systemic disease and/or from medications. However, treatment standards for these patients often are the result of long-standing dogma with little or no scientific basis. The medical history is critical for the identification of patients potentially at risk for prolonged bleeding from dental treatment. Some time-honoured laboratory tests have little or no use in community dental practice. Loss of functioning hepatic, renal, or bone marrow tissue predisposes to acquired coagulopathies through different mechanisms, but the relationship to oral haemostasis is poorly understood. Given the lack of established, science-based standards, proper dental management requires an understanding of certain principles of pathophysiology for these medical conditions and a few standard laboratory tests. Making changes in anticoagulant drug regimens are often unwarranted and/or expensive, and can put patients at far greater risk for morbidity and mortality than the unlikely outcome of postoperative bleeding. It should be recognised that prolonged bleeding is a rare event following invasive dental procedures, and therefore the vast majority of patients with suspected acquired coagulopathies are best managed in the community practice setting