Multislice/multidetector-row computed tomography findings of a rare coronary anomaly: the first septal perforator branch originating from the left main coronary artery

Multislice/multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) is now widely used for noninvasive assessment of coronary arteries, and it may sometimes reveal coronary anomalies. Detection of such anomalies may be relevant both during follow-up and for planning cardiac or coronary surgical/interventional procedures. These anomalies may be missed unless carefully sought. In this paper, we present the MDCT images of a first septal perforator branch originating from the left main coronary artery, which represents an extremely rare coronary anomaly. To the bestof our knowledge, this is the first case in the literature where MDCT images are presented

Generator voltage stabilisation for series-hybrid electric vehicles

This paper presents a controller for use in speed control of an internal combustion engine for series-hybrid electric vehicle applications. Particular reference is made to the stability of the rectified DC link voltage under load disturbance. In the system under consideration, the primary power source is a four-cylinder normally aspirated gasoline internal combustion engine, which is mechanically coupled to a three-phase permanent magnet AC generator. The generated AC voltage is subsequently rectified to supply a lead-acid battery, and permanent magnet traction motors via three-phase full bridge power electronic inverters. Two complementary performance objectives exist. Firstly to maintain the internal combustion engine at its optimal operating point, and secondly to supply a stable 42 V supply to the traction drive inverters. Achievement of these goals minimises the transient energy storage requirements at the DC link, with a consequent reduction in both weight and cost. These objectives imply constant velocity operation of the internal combustion engine under external load disturbances and changes in both operating conditions and vehicle speed set-points. An electronically operated throttle allows closed loop engine velocity control. System time delays and nonlinearities render closed loop control design extremely problematic. A model-based controller is designed and shown to be effective in controlling the DC link voltage, resulting in the well-conditioned operation of the hybrid vehicle

Retinal vessel diameters and reactivity in diabetes mellitus and/or cardiovascular disease

Background: Retinal vessel calibre and vascular dilation/constriction in response to flicker light provocation may provide a measure distinguishing patients suffering from diabetes mellitus and/or cardiovascular disease. Methods: One hundred and sixteen age and sex matched patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD) and both DM and CVD (DM+CVD) underwent systemic and intraocular pressure measurements. Retinal vessel calibres were assessed using a validated computer-based program to compute central retinal artery and vein equivalents (CRVE) from monochromatic retinal images. Vessel dilation and constriction responses to flicker light provocation were assessed by continuous retinal vessel diameter recordings. Plasma endothelial markers von Willebrand factor (vWf) and soluble E selectin (sEsel) were measured by ELISA. Results: Retinal vessel calibres were comparable across groups but CRVE correlated significantly with disease duration in DM patients (r=0.57, p<0.001). Patients suffering DM only exhibited reduced arterial vasomotion at rest and reduced arterial constriction following flicker light induced vessel dilation compared to patients with CVD and those suffering both CVD+DM (p=0.030). Patients suffering from CVD+DM exhibited significant differences between each flicker cycle in regards to arterial maximum constriction (p=0.006) and time needed to reach arterial maximum dilation (p=0.004), whereas the other two groups did not show such inconsistencies between individual flicker cycles. vWf was raised in CVD+DM compared to the other two groups (p≤0.02), whilst sEsel was raised in CVD+DM compared to DM alone (p=0.044). Conclusions: Dynamic retinal vascular calibres as obtained by continuous diameter measurements using flicker light provocation can reveal subtle differences between groups suffering from CVD with and without DM. This difference in reaction pattern and lack of arterial constriction in DM may provide a suitable marker to monitor progression

Computational investigation of diesel nozzle internal flow during the complete injection event

[EN] Currently, diesel engines are calibrated using more and more complex multiple injection strategies. Under these conditions, the characteristics of the flow exiting the fuel injector are strongly affected by the transient interaction between the needle, the sac volume and the orifices, which are not yet clear. In the current paper, a methodology combining a 1D injector model and 3D-CFD simulations is proposed. First, the characteristics of the nozzle flow have been experimentally assessed in transient conditions by means of injection rate and momentum flux measurements. Later, the 3D-CFD modeling approach has been validated at steady-state fixed lift conditions. Finally, a previously developed 1D injector model has been used to extract the needle lift profiles and transient pressure boundary conditions used for the full-transient 3D-CFD simulations, using adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) strategies to be able to simulate the complete injection rate starting from 1 mu m lift.This work was partly sponsored by "Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad'', of the Spanish Government, in the frame of the Project "Estudio de la interaccion chorro-pared en condiciones realistas de motor'', Reference TRA2015-67679-c2-1-R. The authors would like also to thank the computer resources, technical expertise and assistance provided by Universidad de Valencia in the use of the supercomputer "Tirant''. Mr. Jaramillo's Thesis is funded by "Conselleria d'Educacio, Cultura i Esports'' of Generalitat Valenciana in the frame of the program "Programa VALI + D para investigadores en formacion, Reference ACIF/2015/040.Salvador, FJ.; De La Morena, J.; Bracho Leon, G.; Jaramillo-Císcar, D. (2018). Computational investigation of diesel nozzle internal flow during the complete injection event. Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering. 40(3):153-167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-018-1074-zS153167403Hall CAS, Lambert JG, Balogh SB (2014) EROI of different fuels and the implications for society. Energy Policy 64:141–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.049Lujan JM, Tormos B, Salvador FJ, Gargar K (2009) Comparative analysis of a DI diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel blends during the European MVEG-A cycle: preliminary study (I). 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Fuel 118:316–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.11.001Desantes JM, Salvador FJ, Lopez JJ, De la Morena J (2011) Study of mass and momentum transfer in diesel sprays based on X-ray mass distribution measurements and on a theoretical derivation. Exp Fluids 50:233–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-010-0919-8De la Morena J, Neroorkar K, Plazas AH et al (2013) Numerical analysis of the influence of diesel nozzle design on internal flow characteristics for 2-valve diesel engine application. At Sprays 23:97–118. https://doi.org/10.1615/AtomizSpr.2013006361Duke DJ, Schmidt DP, Neroorkar K et al (2013) High-resolution large eddy simulations of cavitating gasoline-ethanol blends. Int J Engine Res 14:578–589. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087413501824Mitroglou N, McLorn M, Gavaises M et al (2014) Instantaneous and ensemble average cavitation structures in diesel micro-channel flow orifices. 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Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Turkey

Nineteen cases of suspected Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever reported from Turkey

The relationship of systemic markers of renal function and vascular function with retinal blood vessel responses

Purpose: To test the hypothesis of a significant relationship between systemic markers of renal and vascular function (processes linked to cardiovascular disease and its development) and retinal microvascular function in diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease.Methods: Ocular microcirculatory function was measured in 116 patients with diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease using static and continuous retinal vessel responses to three cycles of flickering light. Endothelial function was evaluated by von Willebrand factor (vWf), endothelial microparticles and soluble E selectin, renal function by serum creatinine, creatinine clearance and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). HbA1c was used as a control index.Results: Central retinal vein equivalence and venous maximum dilation to flicker were linked to HbA1c (both p<0.05). Arterial reaction time was linked to serum creatinine (p=0.036) and eGFR (p=0.039), venous reaction time was linked to creatinine clearance (p=0.018). Creatinine clearance and eGFR were linked to arterial maximum dilatation (p<0.001 and p=0.003 respectively) and the dilatation amplitude (p=0.038 and p=0.048 respectively) responses in the third flicker cycle. Of venous responses to the first flicker cycle, HbA1c was linked to the maximum dilation response (p=0.004) and dilatation amplitude (p=0.017), vWf was linked to the maximum constriction response (p=0.016), and creatinine clearance to the baseline diameter fluctuation (p=0.029). In the second flicker cycle, dilatation amplitude was linked to serum creatinine (p=0.022). Conclusions: Several retinal blood vessel responses to flickering light are linked to glycaemia and renal function, but only one index is linked to endothelial function. Renal function must be considered when interpreting retinal vessel responses

Enhanced microbial bile acid deconjugation and impaired ileal uptake in pregnancy repress intestinal regulation of bile acid synthesis

Pregnancy is associated with progressive hypercholanemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia, which can result in metabolic disease in susceptible women. Gut signals modify hepatic homeostatic pathways, linking intestinal content to metabolic activity. We sought to identify whether enteric endocrine signals contribute to raised serum bile acids observed in human and murine pregnancies, by measuring fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 19/15 protein and mRNA levels, and 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one. Terminal ileal farnesoid X receptor (FXR)-mediated gene expression and apical sodium bile acid transporter (ASBT) protein concentration were measured by qPCR and western blotting. Shotgun whole-genome sequencing and ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry were used to determine the cecal microbiome and metabonome. Targeted and untargeted pathway analyses were performed to predict the systemic effects of the altered metagenome and metabolite profiles. Dietary CA supplementation was used to determine whether the observed alterations could be overcome by intestinal bile acids functioning as FXR agonists. Human and murine pregnancy were associated with reduced intestinal FXR signaling, with lower FGF19/15 and resultant increased hepatic bile acid synthesis. Terminal ileal ASBT protein was reduced in murine pregnancy. Cecal bile acid conjugation was reduced in pregnancy because of elevated bile salt hydrolase-producing Bacteroidetes. CA supplementation induced intestinal FXR signaling, which was not abrogated by pregnancy, with strikingly similar changes to the microbiota and metabonome as identified in pregnancy. Conclusion: The altered intestinal microbiota of pregnancy enhance bile acid deconjugation, reducing ileal bile acid uptake and lowering FXR induction in enterocytes. This exacerbates the effects mediated by reduced bile acid uptake transporters in pregnancy. Thus, in pregnant women and mice, there is reduced FGF19/15-mediated hepatic repression of hepatic bile acid synthesis, resulting in hypercholanemia

Nutrition and lung cancer: a case control study in Iran

Background: Despite many prospective and retrospective studies about the association of dietary habit and lung cancer, the topic still remains controversial. So, this study aims to investigate the association of lung cancer with dietary factors. Method: In this study 242 lung cancer patients and their 484 matched controls on age, sex, and place of residence were enrolled between October 2002 to 2005. Trained physicians interviewed all participants with standardized questionnaires. The middle and upper third consumer groups were compared to the lower third according to the distribution in controls unless the linear trend was significant across exposure groups. Result: Conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the association with lung cancer. In a multivariate analysis fruit (Ptrend < 0.0001), vegetable (P = 0.001) and sunflower oil (P = 0.006) remained as protective factors and rice (P = 0.008), bread (Ptrend = 0.04), liver (P = 0.004), butter (Ptrend = 0.04), white cheese (Ptrend < 0.0001), beef (Ptrend = 0.005), vegetable ghee (P < 0.0001) and, animal ghee (P = 0.015) remained as risk factors of lung cancer. Generally, we found positive trend between consumption of beef (P = 0.002), bread (P < 0.0001), and dairy products (P < 0.0001) with lung cancer. In contrast, only fruits were inversely related to lung cancer (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: It seems that vegetables, fruits, and sunflower oil could be protective factors and bread, rice, beef, liver, dairy products, vegetable ghee, and animal ghee found to be possible risk factors for the development of lung cancer in Iran