Plasma conductivity gage

Gage permits determination of stagnation conductivity from measurement of shunt impedance presented by the plasma between the inner and outer conductors of a segment of coaxial transmission line. Response of gage permits its use in shock-tube work and research on explosive propagation

Microfluidic method for rapid turbidimetric detection of the DNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using loop-mediated isothermal amplification in capillary tubes

We describe a microfluidic method for rapid isothermal turbidimetric detection of the DNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification is accomplished in capillary tubes for amplifying DNA in less than 15 min, and sensitivity and specificity were compared to conventional loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The method can detect as little as 1 pg mL−1 DNA in a sample. Results obtained with clinical specimens indicated 90 % sensitivity and 95 % specificity for microfluidic LAMP in comparison to culture methods. No interference occurred due to the presence of nonspecific DNAs. The findings demonstrate the power of the new microfluidic LAMP test for rapid molecular detection of microorganisms even when using bare eyes. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Wien

A Primal-Dual Augmented Lagrangian

Nonlinearly constrained optimization problems can be solved by minimizing a sequence of simpler unconstrained or linearly constrained subproblems. In this paper, we discuss the formulation of subproblems in which the objective is a primal-dual generalization of the Hestenes-Powell augmented Lagrangian function. This generalization has the crucial feature that it is minimized with respect to both the primal and the dual variables simultaneously. A benefit of this approach is that the quality of the dual variables is monitored explicitly during the solution of the subproblem. Moreover, each subproblem may be regularized by imposing explicit bounds on the dual variables. Two primal-dual variants of conventional primal methods are proposed: a primal-dual bound constrained Lagrangian (pdBCL) method and a primal-dual $\ell$1 linearly constrained Lagrangian (pd$\ell$1-LCL) method

Solution of variational problems by means of a generalized Newton-Raphson operator

Generalized Newton-Raphson operator for solving variational problem

Independent predictors of breast malignancy in screen-detected microcalcifications: biopsy results in 2545 cases

Background: Mammographic microcalcifications are associated with many benign lesions, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and invasive cancer. Careful assessment criteria are required to minimise benign biopsies while optimising cancer diagnosis. We wished to evaluate the assessment outcomes of microcalcifications biopsied in the setting of population-based breast cancer screening. Methods: Between January 1992 and December 2007, cases biopsied in which microcalcifications were the only imaging abnormality were included. Patient demographics, imaging features and final histology were subjected to statistical analysis to determine independent predictors of malignancy. Results: In all, 2545 lesions, with a mean diameter of 21.8 mm (s.d. 23.8 mm) and observed in patients with a mean age of 57.7 years (s.d. 8.4 years), were included. Using the grading system adopted by the RANZCR, the grade was 3 in 47.7%; 4 in 28.3% and 5 in 24.0%. After assessment, 1220 lesions (47.9%) were malignant (809 DCIS only, 411 DCIS with invasive cancer) and 1325 (52.1%) were non-malignant, including 122 (4.8%) premalignant lesions (lobular carcinoma in situ, atypical lobular hyperplasia and atypical ductal hyperplasia). Only 30.9% of the DCIS was of low grade. Mammographic extent of microcalcifications >15 mm, imaging grade, their pattern of distribution, presence of a palpable mass and detection after the first screening episode showed significant univariate associations with malignancy. On multivariate modeling imaging grade, mammographic extent of microcalcifications >15 mm, palpable mass and screening episode were retained as independent predictors of malignancy. Radiological grade had the largest effect with lesions of grade 4 and 5 being 2.2 and 3.3 times more likely to be malignant, respectively, than grade 3 lesions. Conclusion: The radiological grading scheme used throughout Australia and parts of Europe is validated as a useful system of stratifying microcalcifications into groups with significantly different risks of malignancy. Biopsy assessment of appropriately selected microcalcifications is an effective method of detecting invasive breast cancer and DCIS, particularly of non-low-grade subtypes.G Farshid, T Sullivan, P Downey, P G Gill, and S Pieters

Nanomolecular detection of human influenza virus type A using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assisted with rod-shaped gold nanoparticles

Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) and rod-shaped gold nanoparticles (gold nanorods; GNRs) were employed for nanomolecular detection of human influenza virus type A RNA. After cDNA synthesis from the RNA, the primers targeting the M protein gene were used for LAMP amplification. A blue shift from red to purple from the GNR inserting into the LAMP-DNAs can be seen by the naked eye. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the formation GNR aggregates due to their interactions with LAMP DNA. One pg RNA (10-3 dilution of the viral cDNA) was detected using this colorimetric test. The nanomolecular test showed 100% sensitivity and 95.8% specificity in comparison to results by RT-PCR. Also, the test indicated 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity in comparison to results by RT-LAMP. The described nanomolecular test could detect human influenza virus type A RNA in nearly 1 hour. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014

Feasibility study of an explosive gun

Feasibility of high performance, explosively driven device, and calculations for deformable piston light gas gu