Aero-Structural Assessment of an Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

NASA is conducting an Entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis (EDL-SA) Study to determine the key technology development projects that should be undertaken for enabling the landing of large payloads on Mars for both human and robotic missions. Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators (IADs) are one of the candidate technologies. A variety of EDL architectures are under consideration. The current effort is conducted for development and simulations of computational framework for inflatable structures

Dermatoglyphics as a Non-Invasive Anatomical Marker in Early Childhood Caries

Background/Aim: Dermatoglyphics is supposed to be influenced by genetic and environmental factors and so also dental caries. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to find out a possible relation between some quantitative and qualitative dermatoglyphic variables and early childhood caries (ECC). Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 200 children in age group of 3 to 6 years from two private kindergarten, Egypt, and divided into 2 equal groups i.e. caries active group (n=100) and caries free group (n=100). The caries active group included children with dmft index = 4 or more and caries free group consist of normal, healthy children without any dental caries. The finger prints of both hands were taken using a stamp pad method then qualitative and quantitative data of dermatoglyphics were analyzed. Results: There was increase in frequency of whorls and decrease in frequency of loops in caries active group when compared to caries free group which was statistically significant (p = 0.000). The total finger ridge counts of whorls was higher in caries active children while total finger ridge counts of loops and the atd angles were higher in caries free children. The differences were statistically significant (p = 0.000). Conclusion: Early childhood caries susceptibility of an individual increased with increased frequency of whorl pattern but it decreased with increased frequency of loop pattern and increased atd angl

Aerostructural Vortical Flow Interactions with Applications to F/A-18 and F-117 Tail Buffet

The buffet response of the flexible twin-tail configuration of the F/A-18 and a generic F-111 aircraft are computationally simulated and experimentally validated. The problem is a multidisciplinary one which requires the sequential solution of three sets of equations on a multi-block grid structure. The first set is the unsteady, compressible, full Navier-Stokes equations. The second set is the aeroelastic equations for bending and torsional twin-tail responses. The third set is the grid-displacement equations which are used to update the grid coordinates due to the tail deflections. The computational models consist of a 76 deg. swept back, sharp edged delta wing of aspect ratio of one and a swept-back F/A-18 or F-117 twin-tail. The configuration is pitched at 30 deg. angle-of-attack. The problem is solved for the initial flow conditions with the twin tails kept rigid. Next, the aeroelastic equations of the tails are turned on along with the grid-displacement equations to solve for the bending and torsional tails responses due to the unsteady loads produced by the vortex breakdown flow of the leading-edge vortex cores of the delta wing. Several spanwise locations of the twin tails are investigated. The computational results are validated using several existing experimental data

Activation and inactivation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase: characterization of Ca2+-dependent [125I]Calmodulin binding

Constitutive isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) are activated by transient binding of Ca(2+)/Calmodulin. Here, we characterize the binding of Calmodulin to purified neuronal NOS (nNOS). [125I]Calmodulin bound to a single class of non-interacting and high affinity sites on nNOS. [125I]Calmodulin binding achieved rapid saturation, was linear with nNOS concentration, and exhibited a strict dependence on [Ca(2+)]. Neither affinity nor extent of [125I]Calmodulin binding was affected by L-arginine, NADPH or Tetrahydrobiopterin. Native Calmodulin and engineered Calmodulin homologs [i.e., duplicated N-terminal (CaMNN)] potently displaced [125I]Calmodulin. CaMNN supported nNOS catalysis, but required approximately five-fold more Ca(2+) for comparable activity with native Calmodulin. Taken with results from kinetic analyses of [125I]Calmodulin association and dissociation, our findings suggest four sequential steps in activation of nNOS by Calmodulin: (1) Ca(2+) binds to Calmodulin's C-lobe, (2) the C-lobe of Calmodulin binds NOS, (3) Ca(2+) binds to the N-lobe of Calmodulin, and (4) the N-lobe binds to nNOS. Activation of nNOS only occurs after completion of step (4), with the displacement of nNOS's autoinhibitory insert. Upon intracellular Ca(2+) sequestration, deactivation of nNOS would proceed in reverse order

Molecular identification of adenoviruses associated with respiratory infection in Egypt from 2003 to 2010.

BACKGROUND: Human adenoviruses of species B, C, and E (HAdV-B, -C, -E) are frequent causative agents of acute respiratory infections worldwide. As part of a surveillance program aimed at identifying the etiology of influenza-like illness (ILI) in Egypt, we characterized 105 adenovirus isolates from clinical samples collected between 2003 and 2010. METHODS: Identification of the isolates as HAdV was accomplished by an immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and confirmed by a set of species and type specific polymerase chain reactions (PCR). RESULTS: Of the 105 isolates, 42% were identified as belonging to HAdV-B, 60% as HAdV-C, and 1% as HAdV-E. We identified a total of six co-infections by PCR, of which five were HAdV-B/HAdV-C co-infections, and one was a co-infection of two HAdV-C types: HAdV-5/HAdV-6. Molecular typing by PCR enabled the identification of eight genotypes of human adenoviruses; HAdV-3 (n = 22), HAdV-7 (n = 14), HAdV-11 (n = 8), HAdV-1 (n = 22), HAdV-2 (20), HAdV-5 (n = 15), HAdV-6 (n = 3) and HAdV-4 (n = 1). The most abundant species in the characterized collection of isolates was HAdV-C, which is concordant with existing data for worldwide epidemiology of HAdV respiratory infections. CONCLUSIONS: We identified three species, HAdV-B, -C and -E, among patients with ILI over the course of 7 years in Egypt, with at least eight diverse types circulating

TOPICAL BENZOPHENONE-3 MICROEMULSION-BASED GELS: PREPARATION, EVALUATION AND DETERMINATION OF MICROBIOLOGICAL UV BLOCKING ACTIVITY

Objective: Microemulsions (MEs) have been developed as active vehicles for sunscreens being physical sunscreens on their own.The aim of this study is to incorporate Benzophenone-3 (BZ-3), a chemical sunscreening agent into MEs resulting in a synergistic effect on its protective characteristics. Methods: Screening of BZ-3 in different oils, surfactants and cosurfactants available for topical delivery was carried out. A full factorial study design (3.22) was adopted to study the effect of three independent variables namely;BZ-3, oil, and S/CoSmix(1:1) concentrations on the in-vitro SPF value of the prepared ME gel formulae. Results: Formulae having SPF>30 were further evaluated regarding in-vitro permeation test. Finally, an in vitro microbiological assay was adopted to compare the survival percent of E.coli against UV exposure. Formula F11IPM ME gel consisting of 3% BZ-3 and 10% Isopropyl myristate as oil together with 60% w/w Tween80/Cremophore RH40 mix (1:1)as surfactant and cosurfactant respectively was chosen as the optimum formula having an in vitro SPF of 33.15±0.91,lowest permeation of 192±16.13µg/cm2 after eight hours and microbiological UV blocking activity of 88±5.84%which is not significantly different from the standard Spectra Ban plus (SPF=30) having a survival percent of 80±3.04%. Conclusion: This study illustrated the potential use of microemulsified BZ-3 delivery system to improve the SPF of BZ-3

Computation and Validation of Fluid/Structure Twin Tail Buffet Response

The buffet response of the flexible twin-tail/delta wing configuration, a multidisciplinary problem, is solved using three sets of equations on a multi-block grid structure. The first set is the unsteady, compressible, full Navier-Stokes equations which are used for obtaining the flow-field vector and the aerodynamic loads on the twin tails. The second set is the coupled aeroelastic equations which are used for obtaining the bending and torsional deflections of the twin tails. The third set is the grid-displacement equations which are used for updating the grid coordinates due to the tail deflections. The computational model is similar to the one used by Washburn et. al. which consists of a delta wing of aspect ratio one and twin tails with taper ratios of 0.23. The vortex of the twin tails are located at the wing trailing edge. The configuration is pitched at 30 deg angle of attack, and the freestream Mach number and Reynolds number are 0.3 and 1.25 million, respectively. With the twin tails fixed as rigid surfaces, the problem is solved for the initial flow conditions. Next, the problem is solved for the twin tail response for uncoupled bending and torsional vibrations due to the unsteady loads produced by the vortex breakdown flow of the leading-edge vortex cores. The configuration is investigated for three spanwise positions of the twin tails; inboard, midspan and outboard locations. The computational results are validated and are in very good agreement with the experimental data of Washburn, et. al

Clinical Outcomes in 3343 Children and Adults with Rheumatic Heart Disease from 14 Low and Middle Income Countries: 2-Year Follow-up of the Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY study)

Background: There are few contemporary data on the mortality and morbidity associated with rheumatic heart disease or information on their predictors. We report the 2-year follow-up of individuals with rheumatic heart disease from 14 low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia. Methods: Between January 2010 and November 2012, we enrolled 3343 patients from 25 centers in 14 countries and followed them for 2 years to assess mortality, congestive heart failure, stroke or transient ischemic attack, recurrent acute rheumatic fever, and infective endocarditis. Results: Vital status at 24 months was known for 2960 (88.5%) patients. Two-thirds were female. Although patients were young (median age, 28 years; interquartile range, 18–40), the 2-year case fatality rate was high (500 deaths, 16.9%). Mortality rate was 116.3/1000 patient-years in the first year and 65.4/1000 patient-years in the second year. Median age at death was 28.7 years. Independent predictors of death were severe valve disease (hazard ratio [HR], 2.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.80–3.11), congestive heart failure (HR, 2.16; 95% CI, 1.70–2.72), New York Heart Association functional class III/IV (HR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.32–2.10), atrial fibrillation (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.10–1.78), and older age (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01–1.02 per year increase) at enrollment. Postprimary education (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.54–0.85) and female sex (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.52–0.80) were associated with lower risk of death. Two hundred and four (6.9%) patients had new congestive heart failure (incidence, 38.42/1000 patient-years), 46 (1.6%) had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (8.45/1000 patient-years), 19 (0.6%) had recurrent acute rheumatic fever (3.49/1000 patient-years), and 20 (0.7%) had infective endocarditis (3.65/1000 patient-years). Previous stroke and older age were independent predictors of stroke/transient ischemic attack or systemic embolism. Patients from low- and lower-middle–income countries had significantly higher age- and sex-adjusted mortality than patients from upper-middle–income countries. Valve surgery was significantly more common in upper-middle–income than in lower-middle– or low-income countries. Conclusions: Patients with clinical rheumatic heart disease have high mortality and morbidity despite being young; those from low- and lower-middle–income countries had a poorer prognosis associated with advanced disease and low education. Programs focused on early detection and the treatment of clinical rheumatic heart disease are required to improve outcomes. </jats:sec

Deep Neural Network for Heart Disease Medical Prescription Expert System

One of the most common causes of death is Ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Clinical decisions are often made based on doctors’ intuition and experience rather than on the knowledge-rich data hidden in the database, which leads to unwanted errors and excessive medical costs that affects the quality of service provided to patients. On the other hand, there is lack of cardiologist and IHD specialist in developing countries. Therefore, the development of an expert system that improves the diagnostic and therapeutic decision model of IHD creates a universal need. The expert system is developed based on the cardiologist expertises in diagnosing IHD symtomps and the given prescriptions. This work attempts to increase the accuracy and the effectiveness of the expert system to treat IHD patient by leveraging deep neural networks and adopting deep learning strategy for Retristic Boltzman Machine (RBM). The deep neural network in this work has 152 neurons in the input layer, 52 neurons in the output layer, and 4 hidden layer. Experimental results show that the proposed system achieves up to 0.00974 error level in the training sessions and average improvement of 0.7322% in term of accuracy compared to expert system with standard machine learning in the testing phase. Some results that have discrepancies are consulted to the cardiologist to confirm the results

Feasibility of Using VLS-PV Systems in the Future Egyptian Cities: Case Study Suez Canal Region

The international project, Very Large Scale Photovoltaic (VLS-PV), is considered one of the international promising projects that discuss the potentials for developing the world's desert by using large scale Photovoltaic plants. Urban-scale photovoltaic applications have been sponsored by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and discussed through Photovoltaic Power System Program (PVPS) through Task 10 in 2004, in addition studying the use of photovoltaic services for developing countries through Task 9 started in 1999. The tasks aim to improve the utilization of PV systems in the urban environment, as part of the global trends for maximizing building energy efficiency by using renewable energy systems. Studying the feasibility of VLS-PV projects for developing the deserts in Egypt and other Middle-East countries, has a wide interest in research activities through the last years, specially studying of the urban and architectural infrastructure for the proposed VLS-PV community and feasibility in the Egyptian desert, beside studying of socio-economic, energy, and developmental constituents of desert communities. Through the studies, VLS-PV project has been introduced as the most promising project that may combine the international trends regarding renewable energy and sustainable development, with the recent national developmental trends and proposed scenarios. In this context, the research paper presents the ability of using building integrated PV systems 'BIPV' to improve energy efficiency in the Egyptian' cities, throughout presenting case study of El-Mostakbal city in Suez Canal region, as a part of studying the feasibility of implementing VLS-PV stages. The research findings and recommendations are forwarded to the development of urban and architectural design strategy for the recent and future Egyptian cities, to be more adapted to use renewable energy integrated systems