The impact of metabolic risk management on recurrence of urinary stones

Introduction: Urinary stone disease is a common urologic problem and recurrence in stone formation is a very familiar issue to urologists. Although recurrence in stone formation has been linked to metabolic abnormalities, it can be accessible by metabolic risk analysis studies.Methods: Herein, we present our experience in metabolic risk management on recurrence of urinary stones for 10 years in Akdeniz University School of Medicine department of Urology. We retrospectively analyzed Akdeniz University Urinary Stone Database between dates of January 2000 and December 2010. We found over 3500 patients who were managed by SWL (shock wave lithotripsy) or PCNL (percutaneus nephrolithotripsy) or URS (Ureterorenoscopic lithotripsy) or open surgery.Results: 525 patients’ metabolic risk analysis was ordered due to recurrent urinary stone disease. Only 134 (25.5 %) current metabolic analysis were returned. Mean patient age was 32.2 years (range: 19-82 years).Patients were 103 male and 31 female. Stone analysis results were CaOx monohydrate in 48 (35.8 %), CaOx dihydrate in 8 (5.9 %), CaOx mono and dihydrate in 70 (52.2 %), uric acid in 3, CaOx monohydrate and uricacid in 2, cystine in 2, and struvite in 1 patient, respectively. The  metabolic risk analysis showed some abnormality in 54 (40.2 %) patients.Conclusion: Although compliance to metabolic risk analysis studies is low among recurrent urinary stone formers, some significant metabolic abnormalities could be detected in those who are effectively screened.Recurrence of urinary stones in patients who are started on appropriate metabolic management can be prevented

Balanced Boolean Functions with Nonlinearity > 2^{n-1} - 2^{(n-1)/2}

Recently, balanced 15-variable Boolean functions with nonlinearity 16266 were obtained by suitably modifying unbalanced Patterson-Wiedemann (PW) functions, which possess nonlinearity 2^{n-1}-2^{(n-1)/2}+20 = 16276. In this short paper, we present an idempotent interpreted as rotation symmetric Boolean function) with nonlinearity 16268 having 15 many zeroes in the Walsh spectrum, within the neighborhood of PW functions. Clearly this function can be transformed to balanced functions keeping the nonlinearity and autocorrelation distribution unchanged. The nonlinearity value of 16268 is currently the best known for balanced 15-variable Boolean functions. Furthermore, we have attained several balanced 13-variable Boolean functions with nonlinearity 4036, which improves the recent result of 4034

Generalized rotation symmetric and dihedral symmetric boolean functions - 9 variable boolean functions with nonlinearity 242

Recently, 9-variable Boolean functions having nonlinearity 241, which is strictly greater than the bent concatenation bound of 240, have been discovered in the class of Rotation Symmetric Boolean Functions (RSBFs) by Kavut, Maitra and Yucel. In this paper, we present several 9-variable Boolean functions having nonlinearity of 242, which we obtain by suitably generalizing the classes of RSBFs and Dihedral Symmetric Boolean Functions (DSBFs). These functions do not have any zero in the Walsh spectrum values, hence they cannot be made balanced easily. This result also shows that the covering radius of the first order Reed-Muller code R(1, 9) is at least 242

Cellular Neural Networks Template Training System Using Iterative Annealing Optimization Technique on ACE16k Chip

Cellular neural networks proved to be a useful parallel computing system for image processing applications. Cellular neural networks (CNNs) constitute a class of recurrent and locally coupled arrays of identical cells. The connectivity among the cells is determined by a set of parameters called templates. CNN templates are the key parameters to perform a desired task. One of the challenging problems in designing templates is to find the optimal template that functions appropriately for the solution of the intended problem. In this paper, we have implemented the Iterative Annealing Optimization Method on the analog CNN chip to find an optimum template by training a randomly selected initial template. We have been able to show that the proposed system is efficient to find the suitable template for some specific image processing applications

The Impact of Intravenous Fluid Therapy on Acid-Base Status of Critically Ill Adults: A Stewart Approach-Based Perspective

One of the most important tasks of physicians working in intensive care units (ICUs) is to arrange intravenous fluid therapy. The primary indications of the need for intravenous fluid therapy in ICUs are in cases of resuscitation, maintenance, or replacement, but we also load intravenous fluid for purposes such as fluid creep (including drug dilution and keeping venous lines patent) as well as nutrition. However, in doing so, some facts are ignored or overlooked, resulting in an acid-base disturbance. Regardless of the type and content of the fluid entering the body through an intravenous route, it may impair the acid-base balance depending on the rate, volume, and duration of the administration. The mechanism involved in acid-base disturbances induced by intravenous fluid therapy is easier to understand with the help of the physical-chemical approach proposed by Canadian physiologist, Peter Stewart. It is possible to establish a quantitative link between fluid therapy and acid-base disturbance using the Stewart principles. However, it is not possible to accomplish this with the traditional approach; moreover, it may not be noticed sometimes due to the normalization of pH or standard base excess induced by compensatory mechanisms. The clinical significance of fluid-induced acid-base disturbances has not been completely clarified yet. Nevertheless, as fluid therapy may be the cause of unexplained acid-base disorders that may lead to confusion and elicit unnecessary investigation, more attention must be paid to understand this issue. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to address the effects of different types of fluid therapies on acid-base balance using the simplified perspective of Stewart principles. Overall, the paper intends to help recognize fluid-induced acid-base disturbance through bedside evaluation and choose an appropriate fluid by considering the acid-base status of a patient

Search for Boolean functions with excellent profiles in the rotation symmetric class

For the first time Boolean functions on 9 variables having nonlinearity 241 are discovered, that remained as an open question in literature for almost three decades. Such functions are found by heuristic search in the space of rotation symmetric Boolean functions (RSBFs). This shows that there exist Boolean functions on n (odd) variables having non, linearity > 2(n-1) - 2 (n-1/2) if and only if n > 7. Using similar search technique, balanced Boolean functions on 9, 10, and 11 variables are attained having autocorrelation spectra with maximum absolute value < 2 [n/2]. On odd number of variables, earlier such functions were known for 15, 21 variables; there was no evidence of such functions at all on even number of variables. In certain cases, our functions can be affinely transformed to obtain first-order resiliency or first-order propagation characteristics. Moreover, 10 variable functions having first-order resiliency and nonlinearity 492 are presented that had been posed as an open question at Crypto 2000. The functions reported in this paper are discovered using a suitably modified steepest descent based iterative heuristic search in the RSBF class along with proper affine transformations. It seems elusive to get a construction technique to match such functions