Conjunctival Expansion Using a Subtenon's Silicone Implant in New Zealand White Rabbits

Purpose: In the field of ophthalmology, the conjunctival autograft is a useful therapeutic material in many cases, but the small size of the autograft is a disadvantage. Therefore, we evaluated the feasibility of taking an expanded sample of conjunctival tissue using a subtenon's silicone implant. Materials and Methods: We included a total of nine rabbits; eight rabbits were operative cases, and one was a control. A portion of conjunctival tissue from the control rabbit, which did not undergo surgery, was dissected and examined to determine whether it was histologically different from the experimental group. The surgical procedure was performed on eight rabbits via a subtenon's insertion of a silicone sponge in the left superior-temporal portion; after surgery, we dropped antibiotics into the eyes. We sacrificed a pair of rabbits every three days (on days 3, 6, 9, and 12) after surgery, remove

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

A system study of the production department of MSG in Union Ajinomoto, Inc.

Executive Summary. In the Philippines, Union Ajinomoto, Inc. is the leading producer in the flavoring extracts and food coloring industry. They produce AJINOMOTO Super Seasoning, which everybody knows as MSG or monosodium glutamate, Ginisa Flavor Mix, and AJINOMOTO Soy Sauce. Since most of the company\u27s resources are allocated for MSG manufacturing, we intend to study the activities and factors that involve the production of MSG for the year 1998. Based from our analysis of their present system, the problem that we saw was at the Packaging Section which has exceeded its acceptable reject rate by 0.402% for its big packages. Because of this, the company incurs an additional rework cost of Php 22,085.847. The group was able to generate alternatives for the solution for this problem and after doing the Kepner-Tregoe analysis, two proposed solutions were produced: reduce the amount of MSG packed in boxes and reduce the number of boxes stacked

Multi-tunnelnet

Tunneling is a method of creating a virtual private network over a public network. Numerous programs had already been developed to serve this purpose. Multi-Tunnelnet uses User Data Protocol for its transport layer and can support multiple tunnel connections

Inhibition of norovirus 3CL protease by bisulfite adducts of transition state inhibitors

Noroviruses are the most common cause of acute viral gastroenteritis, accounting for >21 million cases annually in the U.S. alone. Norovirus infections constitute an important health problem for which there are no specific antiviral therapeutics or vaccines. In this study, a series of bisulfite adducts derived from representative transition state inhibitors (dipeptidyl aldehydes and α-ketoamides) was synthesized and shown to exhibit anti-norovirus activity in a cell-based replicon system. The ED[subscript 50] of the most effective inhibitor was 60 nM. This study demonstrates for the first time the utilization of bisulfite adducts of transition state inhibitors in the inhibition of norovirus 3CL protease in vitro and in a cell-based replicon system. The approach described herein can be extended to the synthesis of the bisulfite adducts of other classes of transition state inhibitors of serine and cysteine proteases, such as α-ketoheterocycles, α-ketoesters, and others

Pliocene four-rayed discoasters from IODP Expedition 363 sites in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean

International audienceThe stratigraphic distribution, occurrence and possible biostratigraphic significance of several previously-undescribed and rarely-reported four-rayed discoasters are described. The discoasters were observed in ZonesNN10 to NN18 (Upper Miocene to Lower Pleistocene) in cores recovered from International Ocean Discovery ProgramExpedition 363 sites in the eastern Indian Ocean (offshore NW Australia) and western Pacific Ocean. One ofthe discoasters is a bilaterally-symmetrical form with simple ray-tip morphology, which is herein described as thenew species Discoaster alyssae. Three new varieties are also introduced––Discoaster surculus var. pullumpedes, D.variabilis var. pacificus and D. exilis var. resolutioniae

Corporate instant messenger (CIM)

Over time, instant messaging (IM) has been continually becoming popular. Many companies are using them either as a means of communication or as a means of transferring data ( Instant headache August 2002). Due to this emerging trend, companies must now deal with security problems like IM\u27s un-secure way of sending message over the net. Un-secure meaning messages sent over the Internet are unencrypted data. Also, there are a lot of emerging viruses which spread in IM clients that may take control of the user\u27s system or destroy the user\u27s system completely. Integrating encryption with instant messaging will secure the communication process which is the foundation of corporate instant messaging. Encryption provides security by converting plain texts into encoded messages which are often called cipher texts which can only be decrypted or read with the use of a cryptographic definition/library and a secret key. This research intends to create a new instant messenger client which uses encryption to secure messages and data being sent over the internet and provides the capability to connect with other existing IM clients even simultaneously