The Conformal Correction in the Strip Centered Coaxial Line Analysis

The presented work reports on the novel analysis of the strip-centered coaxial line. The conformal mapping method is used. For a narrow central strip a very easy conformal mapping is described that maps this structure onto the rectangular model line, but great distortion for wide strip inhibits application of this mapping in all the extent. The conformal mapping method allows to correct this fault very smartly by extension in auxiliary plane. Two different numerical models are also mentioned as comparative solutions of strip-centered coaxial line analysis. One of them is based on numerical evaluating of the Schwarz Christoffel integral, the other (in two modifications) is based on boundary element method (BEM)

Analysis of Homogeneous Coplanar Strip Line

The goal of this work is to introduce a new, maybe complicated but in the final result mathematically simplest model of the coplanar strip line (CPS). In contrast to the usual method based on elliptical integrals the simplest circular inversion is applied. The main advantage is that our solution is mathematically less complicated but its accuracy is a little bit lower. The maximal error of the model described lies within the restricted interval between -3% and 3%. Nevertheless the final formula is useful for the practical engineering application

An Optimized Lentiviral Vector Efficiently Corrects the Human Sickle Cell Disease Phenotype

Autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells transduced with a lentiviral vector (LV) expressing an anti-sickling HBB variant is a potential treatment for sickle cell disease (SCD). With a clinical trial as our ultimate goal, we generated LV constructs containing an anti-sickling HBB transgene (HBBAS3), a minimal HBB promoter, and different combinations of DNase I hypersensitive sites (HSs) from the locus control region (LCR). Hematopoietic stem progenitor cells (HSPCs) from SCD patients were transduced with LVs containing either HS2 and HS3 (\u3b2-AS3) or HS2, HS3, and HS4 (\u3b2-AS3 HS4). The inclusion of the HS4 element drastically reduced vector titer and infectivity in HSPCs, with negligible improvement of transgene expression. Conversely, the LV containing only HS2 and HS3 was able to efficiently transduce SCD bone marrow and Plerixafor-mobilized HSPCs, with anti-sickling HBB representing up to 3c60% of the total HBB-like chains. The expression of the anti-sickling HBB and the reduced incorporation of the \u3b2S-chain in hemoglobin tetramers allowed up to 50% reduction in the frequency of RBC sickling under hypoxic conditions. Together, these results demonstrate the ability of a high-titer LV to express elevated levels of a potent anti-sickling HBB transgene ameliorating the SCD cell phenotype

Pituitary apoplexy can mimic acute meningoencephalitis or subarachnoid haemorrhage

Pituitary apoplexy is an uncommon but life-threatening condition that is often overlooked and underdiagnosed. We report a 45-year-old man who presented to our emergency department with a sudden onset headache, acute confusion, signs of meningeal irritation and ophthalmoplegia. An initial diagnosis of acute meningoencephalitis was made, which was amended to pituitary apoplexy following thorough investigation within the emergency department

Challenges of Early Years leadership preparation: a comparison between early and experienced Early Years practitioners in England

Leadership has been under-researched in the Early Years (EY) sector of primary schools in England, especially in leading change for professional development. The aim of this paper is to theorise what the leadership culture for EY practitioners looks like, and how Initial Teacher Training providers and schools are preparing practitioners for leadership. Using case studies of EY practitioners in different stages of their career in primary schools, we offer an insight into their preparedness for leadership in EY, the implication being that leadership training requires an understanding and embedding of the EY culture and context. Interviews with both sample groups allowed for deeper insight into the lived world. Interviews were also conducted with the head teachers to gain an overview of the leadership preparation they provided. The main findings suggest that newer EY practitioners are better prepared for leadership from their university training in comparison to more experienced EY practitioners

Light-based devices for the treatment of facial erythema and telangiectasia

Facial erythema is one of the most common outpatient complaints in dermatology. There are various causes of facial erythema and several devices are available for its treatment. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) and intense pulsed light (IPL) are the two common light devices used for these conditions. In this review, we evaluated the literature to assess efficacy of IPL versus PDL in facial erythema and telangiectasia. We searched published articles including clinical trials or reviews articles, case series, and case reports. Electronic databases (MEDLINE and PubMed) were searched to retrieve the articles. Reference lists of selected articles were also considered for the review. Articles published in English language until June 2021 were considered for this review

A behavioral comparison of male and female adults with high functioning autism spectrum conditions

Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) affect more males than females in the general population. However, within ASC it is unclear if there are phenotypic sex differences. Testing for similarities and differences between the sexes is important not only for clinical assessment but also has implications for theories of typical sex differences and of autism. Using cognitive and behavioral measures, we investigated similarities and differences between the sexes in age- and IQ-matched adults with ASC (high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome). Of the 83 (45 males and 38 females) participants, 62 (33 males and 29 females) met Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) cut-off criteria for autism in childhood and were included in all subsequent analyses. The severity of childhood core autism symptoms did not differ between the sexes. Males and females also did not differ in self-reported empathy, systemizing, anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive traits/symptoms or mentalizing performance. However, adult females with ASC showed more lifetime sensory symptoms (p = 0.036), fewer current socio-communication difficulties (p = 0.001), and more self-reported autistic traits (p = 0.012) than males. In addition, females with ASC who also had developmental language delay had lower current performance IQ than those without developmental language delay (p<0.001), a pattern not seen in males. The absence of typical sex differences in empathizing-systemizing profiles within the autism spectrum confirms a prediction from the extreme male brain theory. Behavioral sex differences within ASC may also reflect different developmental mechanisms between males and females with ASC. We discuss the importance of the superficially better socio-communication ability in adult females with ASC in terms of why females with ASC may more often go under-recognized, and receive their diagnosis later, than males

Complexity of coordinated beamforming and scheduling for OFDMA based heterogeneous networks

Coordination is foreseen to be an important component of future mobile radio networks. It is especially relevant in heterogeneous networks, where high power base stations produce strong interference to an underlying layer of low power base stations. This work investigates in detail the achievable performance gains for one coordination technique—coordinated beamforming. It reveals the main factors that influence the throughput of the mobile stations. These findings are combined with an analysis of the computational complexity. As a result, a heuristic algorithm is presented that achieves results close to an exhaustive search with significantly less calculations. Detailed simulation analysis is presented on a realistic network layout

Cognition in males and females with autism: similarities and differences

The male bias in autism spectrum conditions (ASC) has led to females with ASC being under-researched. This lack of attention to females could hide variability due to sex that may explain some of the heterogeneity within ASC. In this study we investigate four key cognitive domains (mentalizing and emotion perception, executive function, perceptual attention to detail, and motor function) in ASC, to test for similarities and differences between males and females with and without ASC (n = 128 adults; n = 32 per group). In the mentalizing and facial emotion perception domain, males and females with ASC showed similar deficits compared to neurotypical controls. However, in attention to detail and dexterity involving executive function, although males with ASC showed poorer performance relative to neurotypical males, females with ASC performed comparably to neurotypical females. We conclude that performance in the social-cognitive domain is equally impaired in male and female adults with ASC. However, in specific non-social cognitive domains, performance within ASC depends on sex. This suggests that in specific domains, cognitive profiles in ASC are modulated by sex

Role of the electro-thermo-mechanical multiple coupling on the operation of RF microswitch

A phenomenological approach is proposed to identify some effects occurring within the structure of the microswitch conceived for radio frequency application. This microsystem is operated via a nonlinear electromechanical action imposed by the applied voltage. Unfortunately, it can be affected by residual stress, due to the microfabrication process, therefore axial and flexural behaviors are strongly coupled. This coupling increases the actuation voltage required to achieve the so-called ‘‘pull-in'' condition. Moreover, temperature may strongly affect strain and stress distributions, respectively. Environmental temperature, internal dissipation of material, thermo-elastic and Joule effects play different roles on the microswitch flexural isplacement. Sometimes buckling phenomenon evenly occurs. Literature show that all those issues make difficult an effective computation of ‘‘pull-in'' and ‘‘pull-out'' voltages for evenly distinguishing the origin of some failures detected in operation. Analysis, numerical methods and experiments are applied to an industrial test case to investigate step by step the RF-microswitch operation. Multiple electro-hermomechanical coupling is first modeled to have a preliminary and comprehensive description of the microswitch behavior and of its reliability. ‘‘Pull-in'' and ‘‘pull-out'' tests are then performed to validate the proposed models and to find suitable criteria to design the RF-MEM