Efficient computations on meshes with express links

At head of title: Computer science publication.Cover title.Includes bibliographical references (p. 10-12).published_or_final_versio

Routing with locality in partitioned-bus meshes

We show that adding partitioned-buses (as opposed to long buses that span an entire row or column) to ordinary meshes can reduce the routing time by approximately one-third for permutation routing with locality. A matching time lower bound is also proved. The result can be generalized to multi-packet routing.published_or_final_versio

Adoption of robotic assisted partial nephrectomies: a population-based analysis of U.S. surgeons from 2004-2013

The advent of minimally invasive and robotic techniques has resulted in the rapid adoption of this novel technology, with the field of urology at the forefront. Since the first Robotic‐Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy (RALP) was performed in 2000 using  the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA), surgeons have rapidly incorporated robotic technology for the use of radical prostatectomies for prostatic carcinoma. Prior to 2005, only a minority of surgeons‐‐fewer than 2.5%‐‐performing radical  prostatectomies utilized robotic assistance.  However, robotic assistance has become the predominant approach for radical prostatectomies, increasing from 22% to 85% between the years 2002 to 2013, representing a nearly five‐fold increase in utilization

Vascular Response to Sildenafil Citrate in Aging and Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - the leading cause of vision loss in the elderly - share many risks factors as atherosclerosis, which exhibits loss of vascular compliance resulting from aging and oxidative stress. Here, we attempt to explore choroidal and retinal vascular compliance in patients with AMD by evaluating dynamic vascular changes using live ocular imaging following treatment with oral sildenafil citrate, a phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor and potent vasodilator. Enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) and OCT angiography (OCT-A) were performed on 46 eyes of 23 subjects, including 15 patients with non-exudative AMD in one eye and exudative AMD in the fellow eye, and 8 age-matched control subjects. Choroidal thickness, choroidal vascularity, and retinal vessel density were measured across the central macula at 1 and 3 hours after a 100 mg oral dose of sildenafil citrate. Baseline choroidal thickness was 172.1 ± 60.0 μm in non-exudative AMD eyes, 196.4 ± 89.8 μm in exudative AMD eyes, and 207.4 ± 77.7 μm in control eyes, with no difference between the 3 groups (P = 0.116). After sildenafil, choroidal thickness increased by 6.0% to 9.0% at 1 and 3 hours in all groups (P = 0.001-0.014). Eyes from older subjects were associated with choroidal thinning at baseline (P = 0.005) and showed less choroidal expansion at 1 hour and 3 hours after sildenafil (P = 0.001) regardless of AMD status (P = 0.666). The choroidal thickening appeared to be primarily attributed to expansion of the stroma rather than luminal component. Retinal vascular density remained unchanged after sildenafil in all 3 groups (P = 0.281-0.587). Together, our studies suggest that vascular response of the choroid to sildenafil decreases with age, but is not affected by the presence of non-exudative or exudative AMD, providing insight into changes in vessel compliance in aging and AMD

Heat Transfer in Laser Tumor Excision

Cancer is an ongoing disease that is present in a majority of the population. Laser surgery provides minimally invasive techniques to excise tumors in humans. This method allows quicker recoveries and fewer complications. This study analyzes the effectiveness of excision of tumor tissue using a CO2 laser. By using computer aided design and finite element analysis, we model a cylindrical tumor tissue with 0.3cm in diameter and height. A flux of 282mmW from the laser and a convection coefficient of KmmW???26105 were applied when designing this model. Our results produced temperature contour plots at several time intervals, all showing precise laser excision with minimal inadvertent tissue damage (less than 0.006 mm in depth after excising approximately 0.15 mm of tissue in depth). Sensitivity analysis indicate that changes in material properties such as conductivity, convection, specific heat, density, and laser power have minimal affects on the temperature profile

Analysis of Odor‐Causing VOCs and Semi‐VOCs Associated with Particulate Matter in Swine Barns Using SPME‐GC‐MS‐Olfactometry

Swine operations can affect air quality by emissions of odor, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other gases, and particulate matter (PM). Particulate matter has been proposed to be an important pathway for carrying odor. However, little is known about the odor‐VOCs‐PM interactions. In this research, continuous PM sampling was conducted simultaneously with three collocated TEOM analyzers inside a 1000‐head swine finish barn located in central Iowa. Each TEOM (tapered element oscillating microbalance) was fitted with total suspended particulate (TSP), PM‐10, PM‐2.5 and PM‐1 preseparators. Used filters were stored in 40 mL vials and transported to the laboratory. VOCs adsorbed∕absorbed to dust were allowed to equilibrate with vial headspace. Solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) Carboxen∕polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS) 85 μm fibers were used to extract VOCs. Simultaneous chemical and olfactometry analyses of VOCs and odor associated with swine PM were completed using a gas chromatography‐mass‐olfactometry (GC‐MS‐O) system. Fifty VOCs categorized into nine chemical function groups were identified and confirmed with standards. Five of them are classified as hazardous air pollutants. VOCs were characterized with a wide range of molecular weight, boiling points, vapor pressures, water solubilities, odor detection thresholds, and atmospheric reactivities. All characteristic swine VOCs and odorants were present in PM and their abundance was proportional to PM size. However, the majority of VOCs and characteristic swine odorants were preferentially bound to smaller‐size PM. The findings indicate that a significant fraction of swine odor can be carried by PM. Research of the effects of PM control on swine odor mitigation is warranted

Nursing and community rates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among students in Harare, Zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND: African hospitals have experienced major increases in admissions for tuberculosis, but they are ill-equipped to prevent institutional transmission. We compared institutional rates and community rates of tuberculin skin test (TST) conversion in Harare, Zimbabwe. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study of TST conversion 6, 12, and 18 months into training among 159 nursing and 195 polytechnic school students in Harare. Students had negative TST results (induration diameter, or =10 mm) per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.2-26.2 conversions per 100 person-years), and polytechnic school students experienced 6.0 (95% CI, 3.5-10.4) conversions per 100 person-years. The rate of difference was 13.2 conversions (95% CI, 6.5-20.0) per 100 person-years. With a more stringent definition of conversion (increase in the induration diameter of > or =10 mm to at least 15 mm), which is likely to increase specificity but decrease sensitivity, conversion rates were 12.5 and 2.8 conversions per 100 person-years in nursing and polytechnic school students, respectively (rate difference, 9.7 conversions per 100 person-years; 95% CI, 4.5-14.8 conversions per 100 person-years). Nursing students reportedly nursed 20,868 inpatients with tuberculosis during 315 person-years of training. CONCLUSIONS: Both groups had high TST conversion rates, but the extremely high rates among nursing students imply high occupational exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Intense exposure to inpatients with tuberculosis was reported during training. Better prevention, surveillance, and management of institutional M. tuberculosis transmission need to be supported as part of the international response to the severe human immunodeficiency virus infection epidemic and health care worker crisis in Africa

Effects of Swine Dietary Treatment on Odor and VOCs Emitted from Swine Manure

Odor and VOCs emissions associated with swine production facilities is a major concern for the swine industry. Swine manure is one of the major sources of odor from swine operations. Odor control approaches include ration manipulation, improved manure treatment processes, capture and treatment of odorous gases, and improved dispersion. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of low level of crude protein and low sulfur content in small swine diet on odor and VOCs emissions from the headspace of swine manure. Small pigs in metabolic stalls were fed twice daily over 28 days with diets containing either 19.36 % crude protein, 7.06 % cellulose and 2,296 mg/kg sulfur (diet B) or 17.83 % crude protein, 6.82 % cellulose and 1,772 mg/kg sulfur (diet H). Three replicate trials were conducted and three pigs were used for each diet. All excreted manure (feces and urine) were collected daily after morning feeding and added to the manure storage vessel designed to hold waste from the same growing pig. Gas samples were collected from the headspace of manure storage container using 85 µm Carboxen/PDMS SPME fibers at the end of each trial and three replicate gas samples were collected for each pig. All samples were analyzed simultaneously for chemicals and odors on a GC-MS-olfactometry system. Statistical analyses were performed to determine the effects on diets on target odorous chemicals and odor. A total of 40 compounds belonging to 14 chemical classes were identified the headspace of swine manure. A subset of 14 odorous compounds responsible for the characteristic odor of swine manure odor were selected for statistical analyses. Lower sulfur and lower crude protein diet was associated with reduced methanethiol (p=0.0686), dimethyl sulfide (p=0.0006), 2,4-dithiapentane (p2S) (p=0.0014), \u27acetic\u27 (acetic acid) (p=0.00001), \u27skunky\u27 (2,4-dithiapentane) (p=0.0261), \u27onion\u27 (dimethyl trisulfide) (p=0.0122) and phenolic\u27 (4-ethyl phenol) (p=0.0168)