532 research outputs found
The influence of processing parameters on morphology and granulometry of a wet-milled sol-gel glass powder
A quaternary bioactive sol-gel glass of high silica content was heat treated at different temperatures, and then wet ball milled under different balls-to-powder ratios. A total of sixteen experiments were performed to study in detail the effects of both experimental variables on the structure, morphology, particle size distributions and nitrogen adsorption isotherms. The balls–to–powder ratio exerts a tremendous influence on the final particle size distribution of the powders, while its effects on the pore volume and morphology are minimal. These structural features are mostly governed by the changes in calcination temperature. Therefore, understanding the specific roles of each experimental parameter is of paramount importance towards achieving optimum powders with the desired properties. This work sheds light on the importance of using a suitable combination of these two parameters for tuning the morphology and the granulometry of the sol-gel derived bioactive glass powders.publishe
The role of calcium (source & content) on the in vitro behaviour of sol–gel quaternary glass series
To highlight the effect of salt precursors on the final properties, bioactivity and biocompatibility, five quaternary (Si–Ca–P–Na) glass compositions were successfully prepared through two distinct rapid sol–gel routes; one using acetate salt precursors (A) catalysed by nitric acid, and the other using nitrate salts (N) and citric acid as a catalyst. The sols dried rapidly, and stabilised at 550 & 800 °C to be characterised by X–ray diffraction (XRD), Magic angle spinning–Nuclear magnetic resonance (29Si MAS–NMR) and Fourier transform infra–red spectroscopy (FTIR). Upon immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF), hydroxyapatite (HAp) formation was initially enhanced by increasing Ca–content up to 40 mol%, but the formation of calcite was favoured with further increments of Ca to 45 and 48 mol%. The A–glasses exhibited lower density and lower network connectivity compared with N–glasses. The chemical surface modifications after 4 h in SBF were more evident for N–glasses in comparison to A–glasses. The biocompatibility is favoured for the samples treated at 800 °C and for the samples of the higher silica contents.publishe
The 21 cm Signature of Shock Heated and Diffuse Cosmic String Wakes
The analysis of the 21 cm signature of cosmic string wakes is extended in
several ways. First we consider the constraints on from the absorption
signal of shock heated wakes laid down much later than matter radiation
equality. Secondly we analyze the signal of diffuse wake, that is those wakes
in which there is a baryon overdensity but which have not shock heated. Finally
we compare the size of these signals compared to the expected thermal noise per
pixel which dominates over the background cosmic gas brightness temperature and
find that the cosmic string signal will exceed the thermal noise of an
individual pixel in the Square Kilometre Array for string tensions .Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Appendix added, version published in JCA
Music to prevent deliriUm during neuroSurgerY (MUSYC) Clinical trial:A study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
INTRODUCTION: Delirium is a neurocognitive disorder characterised by an acute and temporary decline of mental status affecting attention, awareness, cognition, language and visuospatial ability. The underlying pathophysiology is driven by neuroinflammation and cellular oxidative stress. Delirium is a serious complication following neurosurgical procedures with a reported incidence varying between 4% and 44% and has been associated with increased length of hospital stay, increased amount of reoperations, increased costs and mortality. Perioperative music has been reported to reduce preoperative anxiety, postoperative pain and opioid usage, and attenuates stress response caused by surgery. We hypothesize that this beneficial effect of music on a combination of delirium eliciting factors might reduce delirium incidence following neurosurgery and subsequently improve clinical outcomes. METHODS: This protocol concerns a single-centred prospective randomised controlled trial with 6 months follow-up. All adult patients undergoing a craniotomy at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam are eligible. The music group will receive recorded music through an overear headphone before, during and after surgery until postoperative day 3. Patients can choose from music playlists, offered based on music importance questionnaires administered at baseline. The control group will receive standard of clinical care Delirium is assessed by the Delirium Observation Scale and confirmed by a delirium-expert psychiatrist according to the DSM-5 criteria. Risk factors correlated with the onset of delirium, such as cognitive function at baseline, preoperative anxiety, perioperative medication use, depth of anaesthesia and postoperative pain, and delirium-related health outcomes such as length of stay, daily function, quality of life (ie, EQ-5D, EORTC questionnaires), costs and cost-effectiveness are collected. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study is being conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The Medical Ethics Review Board of Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands, approved this protocol. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: NL8503 and NCT04649450
A population Monte Carlo scheme with transformed weights and its application to stochastic kinetic models
This paper addresses the problem of Monte Carlo approximation of posterior
probability distributions. In particular, we have considered a recently
proposed technique known as population Monte Carlo (PMC), which is based on an
iterative importance sampling approach. An important drawback of this
methodology is the degeneracy of the importance weights when the dimension of
either the observations or the variables of interest is high. To alleviate this
difficulty, we propose a novel method that performs a nonlinear transformation
on the importance weights. This operation reduces the weight variation, hence
it avoids their degeneracy and increases the efficiency of the importance
sampling scheme, specially when drawing from a proposal functions which are
poorly adapted to the true posterior.
For the sake of illustration, we have applied the proposed algorithm to the
estimation of the parameters of a Gaussian mixture model. This is a very simple
problem that enables us to clearly show and discuss the main features of the
proposed technique. As a practical application, we have also considered the
popular (and challenging) problem of estimating the rate parameters of
stochastic kinetic models (SKM). SKMs are highly multivariate systems that
model molecular interactions in biological and chemical problems. We introduce
a particularization of the proposed algorithm to SKMs and present numerical
results.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figure
Cancer-prone syndrome of mosaic variegated aneuploidy and total premature chromatid separation: Report of five infants
Five infants (two girls and three boys) from four families all had severe pre- and post-natal growth retardation, profound developmental delay, microcephaly, hypoplasia of the brain with Dandy-Walker complex or other posterior fossa malformations, and developed uncontrollable clonic seizures. Four infants developed Wilms tumors, and one showed cystic lesions in bilateral kidneys. All five infants showed variegated mosaic aneuploidy in cultured lymphocytes. In two infants whose chromosomes were prepared by us, 48.5%-83.2% lymphocytes showed total premature chromatid separation (PCS). Their parents had 3.5%-41.7% of their lymphocytes in total PCS. The remaining three infants and their parents, whose chromosomes were prepared at outside laboratories, tended to show lower frequencies of total PCS. Another five infants reported with the disorder were reviewed together with the five infants we described. Together, their clinical and cytogenetic manifestations were similar enough to suggest a syndrome. Seven of the 10 infants developed proven or probable Wilms tumors. The age at diagnosis of the tumors was younger than usual at 2-16 months. The tumors were bilateral in four infants and unilateral in three infants, and cystic changes were present in six infants. Two infants developed botryoid rhabdomyosarcoma. The carriers of the syndrome are thus liable to tumorigenesis. The possible role of mitotic checkpoint defects, proven in two infants with the syndrome (Matsuura et al. [2000: Am J Hum Genet 69:483-486]), was discussed in connection with tumor development and progression
Molecular cytogenetic analysis of prostatic adenocarcinomas from screening studies : early cancers may contain aggressive genetic features
No objective parameters have been found so far that can predict the
biological behavior of early stages of prostatic cancer, which are
encountered frequently nowadays due to surveillance and screening
programs. We have applied comparative genomic hybridization to routinely
processed, paraffin-embedded radical prostatectomy specimens derived from
patients who participated in the European Randomized Study of Screening
for Prostate Cancer. We defined a panel consisting of 36 early cancer
specimens: 13 small (total tumor volume (Tv) < 0.5 ml) carcinomas and 23
intermediate (Tv between 0.5-1.0 ml) tumors. These samples were compared
with a set of 16 locally advanced, large (Tv > 2.0 ml) tumor samples, not
derived from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate
Cancer. Chromosome arms that frequently (ie, > or = 15%) showed loss in
the small tumors included 13q (31%), 6q (23%), and Y (15%), whereas
frequent (ie, > or = 15%) gain was seen of 20q (15%). In the intermediate
cancers, loss was detected of 8p (35%), 16q (30%), 5q (26%), Y (22%), 6q,
and 18q (both 17%). No consistent gains were found i
D0-D4 brane tachyon condensation to a BPS state and its excitation spectrum in noncommutative super Yang-Mills theory
We investigate the D0-D4-brane system for different B-field backgrounds
including the small instanton singularity in noncommutative SYM theory. We
discuss the excitation spectrum of the unstable state as well as for the BPS
D0-D4 bound state. We compute the tachyon potential which reproduces the
complete mass defect. The relevant degrees of freedom are the massless (4,4)
strings. Both results are in contrast with existing string field theory
calculations. The excitation spectrum of the small instanton is found to be
equal to the excitation spectrum of the fluxon solution on R^2_theta x R which
we trace back to T-duality. For the effective theory of the (0,0) string
excitations we obtain a BFSS matrix model. The number of states in the
instanton background changes significantly when the B-field becomes self-dual.
This leads us to the proposal of the existence of a phase transition or cross
over at self-dual B-field.Comment: a4 11pt Latex2e 40 pages; v2: typos fixed, refined comments on
renormalisation, refs added, v3: ref added, version publishe
Technoscience and the modernization of freshwater fisheries assessment and management
Inland fisheries assessment and management are challenging given the inherent com-
plexity of working in diverse habitats (e.g., rivers, lakes, wetlands) that are dynamic
on organisms that are often cryptic and where fishers are often highly mobile. Yet,
technoscience is offering new tools that have the potential to reimagine how inland
fisheries are assessed and managed. So-called ‘‘technoscience’’ refers to instances in
which science and technology unfurl together, offering novel ways of spurring and
achieving meaningful change. This paper considers the role of technoscience and its
potential for modernizing the assessment and management of inland fisheries. It first
explores technoscience and its potential benefits, followed by presentation of a series
of synopses that explore the application (both successes and challenges) of new tech-
nologies such as environmental DNA (eDNA), genomics, electronic tags, drones, phone
apps, iEcology, and artificial intelligence to assessment and management. The paper
also considers the challenges and barriers that exist in adopting new technologies. The
paper concludes with a provocative assessment of the potential of technoscience to
reform and modernize inland fisheries assessment and management. Although these
tools are increasingly being embraced, there is a lack of platforms for aggregating these
data streams and providing managers with actionable information in a timely manner.
The ideas presented here should serve as a catalyst for beginning to work collectively
and collaboratively towards fisheries assessment and management systems that harness
the power of technology and serve to modernize inland fisheries management. Such
transformation is urgently needed given the dynamic nature of environmental change,
the evolving threat matrix facing inland waters, and the complex behavior of fishers.
Quite simply, a dynamic world demands dynamic fisheries management; technoscience
has made that within reach.publishedVersio
- …