The method of lines solution of the Forced Korteweg-De Vries-Burgers equation (FKdVB)

In this paper, the application of the method of lines (MOL) to the Forced Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equation with variable coefficient (FKdVB) is presented. The MOL is a powerful technique for solving partial differential equations by typically using finite-difference approximations for the spatial derivatives and ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for the time derivative. The MOL approach of the FKdVB equation led to a system of ODEs. Solution of the system of ODEs was obtained by applying the Fourth-OrderRunge-Kutta (RK4) method. In order to show the accuracy of the presented method, the numerical solutions obtained were compared with its progressive wave solution in terms of maximum absolute error at certain times. It was found that the maximum absolute errors are in theorder of 10-6

Ciprofloxacin-resistant Salmonella enterica Typhimurium and Choleraesuis from Pigs to Humans, Taiwan

We evaluated the disk susceptibility data of 671 nontyphoid Salmonella isolates collected from different parts of Taiwan from March 2001 to August 2001 and 1,261 nontyphoid Salmonella isolates from the National Taiwan University Hospital from 1996 to 2001. Overall, ciprofloxacn resistance was found in 2.7% (18/671) of all nontyphoid Salmonella isolates, in 1.4% (5/347) of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium and in 7.5% (8/107) in S. enterica serotype Choleraesuis nationwide. MICs of six newer fluoroquinolones were determined for the following isolates: 37 isolates of ciprofloxacin-resistant (human) S. enterica Typhimurium (N = 26) and Choleraesuis (N = 11), 10 isolates of ciprofloxacin-susceptible (MIC <1 μg/mL) (human) isolates of these two serotypes, and 15 swine isolates from S. enterica Choleraesuis (N = 13) and Typhmurium (N = 2) with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (MIC >0.12 μg/mL). Sequence analysis of the gryA, gyrB, parC, parE, and acrR genes, ciprofloxacin accumulation; and genotypes generated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis with three restriction enzymes (SpeI, XbaI, and BlnI) were performed. All 26 S. enterica Typhimurium isolates from humans and pigs belonged to genotype I. For S. enterica Choleraesuis isolates, 91% (10/11) of human isolates and 54% (7/13) of swine isolates belonged to genotype B. These two genotypes isolates from humans all exhibited a high-level of resistance to ciprofloxacin (MIC 16–64 μg/mL). They had two-base substitutions in the gyrA gene at codons 83 (Ser83Phe) and 87 (Asp87Gly or Asp87Asn) and in the parC gene at codon 80 (Ser80Arg, Ser80Ile, or Ser84Lys). Our investigation documented that not only did these two S. enterica isolates have a high prevalence of ciprofloxacin resistance nationwide but also that some closely related ciprofloxacin-resistant strains are disseminated from pigs to humans

Data-Driven Analysis of COVID-19 Reveals Persistent Immune Abnormalities in Convalescent Severe Individuals

Severe SARS-CoV-2 infection can trigger uncontrolled innate and adaptive immune responses, which are commonly associated with lymphopenia and increased neutrophil counts. However, whether the immune abnormalities observed in mild to severely infected patients persist into convalescence remains unclear. Herein, comparisons were drawn between the immune responses of COVID-19 infected and convalescent adults. Strikingly, survivors of severe COVID-19 had decreased proportions of NKT and Vδ2 T cells, and increased proportions of low-density neutrophils, IgA+/CD86+/CD123+ non-classical monocytes and hyperactivated HLADR+CD38+ CD8+ T cells, and elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as hepatocyte growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor A, long after virus clearance. Our study suggests potential immune correlates of “long COVID-19”, and defines key cells and cytokines that delineate true and quasi-convalescent states

Genomewide Expression Analysis in Zebrafish mind bomb Alleles with Pancreas Defects of Different Severity Identifies Putative Notch Responsive Genes

10.1371/journal.pone.0001479PLoS ONE3

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P &lt; 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Studies of the role of defects on the characteristics emission properties of the zinc oxide

139 p.ZnO is widely known to have an eminent potential to be applied as an UV laser material, which will play an important role in the laser applications. However, the quality of the UV emission of the ZnO can be easily influenced by the appearance of the green emission. Therefore, it is important to perform an in-depth study on the nature of the green emission.DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (MSE

Observation of the interactions of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) mediated by acid in the aquatic matrices using in-situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy

The properties of the solution matrix play a prominent role in determining the interactions between the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) when they are present in the aquatic environment. Here, using in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM), we show that the interaction of AgNPs is predominantly affected by the solution pH. Reducing the pH in the solution will accelerate the aggregation of AgNPs due to the alteration of the charge cloud around the NPs. Aggregates formed in this scenario were non spherical and irregular shaped and were stable under the electron beam irradiation. Individual AgNPs and smaller aggregates moved randomly and approached the larger aggregates before the aggregation process came to an end. We found that during the aggregation process, the mode of jump to contact and the pairwise approach of aggregation differed according to the composition of the solution. Observations made using the LCTEM were further explained using empirical formulae. Our observation on the pH induced interactions provides important insights on predicting the behavior of AgNPs released through many anthropogenic activities in the environment.Accepted versio

A study on US MNCs entry strategies into ASEAN.

The project looks into the feasibility of Singapore as a regional headquarters, operational problems encountered by US MNCs in ASEAN region, functions of trade offices in US as well as Sinagpore and US MNCs' future outlook of ASEAN

Copper diffusion barrier performance of amorphous Ta-Ni thin films

Amorphous Ta–Ni thin films were deposited on Si substrate by magnetron sputtering. The oxygen concentration was adjusted by controlling the substrate bias during the sputtering deposition. Two types of Ta–Ni films, namely Ta67.34Ni27.06O5.60 and Ta73.25Ni26.10O0.65 were employed in the current study. To assess the diffusion barrier performance, Cu/Ta–Ni/Si stacks were fabricated in sequence without breaking the vacuum. The samples were then annealed in vacuum for 30 min at temperatures ranging from 500 °C to 800 °C. SEM, 4-point probe, SIMS and TEM have been used to study the film properties to assess the barrier performance. The films were found to remain stable up to 600 °C without significant Cu diffusion. At 700 °C, Cu diffusion through the barrier film was detected in both types of samples, but with different degree of severity. For the Ta67.34Ni27.06O5.6 barrier film, there was no Cu–Si reaction at 700 °C, while Cu3Si was observed at the Ta73.25Ni26.10O0.65/Si interface. At 800 °C, Cu3Si crystalline phase was found in both samples, and the barrier films have completely lost integrity. This study shows that sputter deposited Ta–Ni amorphous thin films can be used as an effective copper diffusion barrier for microelectronic device fabrication. Incorporation of a few percent of oxygen into the film can retard copper diffusion and interface reaction, which enhances the barrier performance

Controlled CVD growth of Cu–Sb alloy nanostructures

Sb based alloy nanostructures have attracted much attention due to their many promising applications, e.g. as battery electrodes, thermoelectric materials and magnetic semiconductors. In many cases, these applications require controlled growth of Sb based alloys with desired sizes and shapes to achieve enhanced performance. Here, we report a flexible catalyst-free chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process to prepare Cu–Sb nanostructures with tunable shapes (e.g. nanowires and nanoparticles) by transporting Sb vapor to react with copper foils, which also serve as the substrate. By simply controlling the substrate temperature and distance, various Sb–Cu alloy nanostructures, e.g. Cu11Sb3 nanowires (NWs), Cu2Sb nanoparticles (NPs), or pure Sb nanoplates, were obtained. We also found that the growth of Cu11Sb3 NWs in such a catalyst-free CVD process was dependent on the substrate surface roughness. For example, smooth Cu foils could not lead to the growth of Cu11Sb3 nanowires while roughening these smooth Cu foils with rough sand papers could result in the growth of Cu11Sb3 nanowires. The effects of gas flow rate on the size and morphology of the Cu–Sb alloy nanostructures were also investigated. Such a flexible growth strategy could be of practical interest as the growth of some Sb based alloy nanostructures by CVD may not be easy due to the large difference between the condensation temperature of Sb and the other element, e.g. Cu or Co.Accepted versio