Virtual Coronary Intervention: A Treatment Planning Tool Based Upon the Angiogram

Objectives: This study sought to assess the ability of a novel virtual coronary intervention (VCI) tool based on invasive angiography to predict the patient's physiological response to stenting. Background: Fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with improved clinical and economic outcomes compared with angiographic guidance alone. Virtual (v)FFR can be calculated based upon a 3-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the coronary anatomy from the angiogram, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. This technology can be used to perform virtual stenting, with a predicted post-PCI FFR, and the prospect of optimized treatment planning. Methods: Patients undergoing elective PCI had pressure-wire-based FFR measurements pre- and post-PCI. A 3D reconstruction of the diseased artery was generated from the angiogram and imported into the VIRTUheart workflow, without the need for any invasive physiological measurements. VCI was performed using a radius correction tool replicating the dimensions of the stent deployed during PCI. Virtual FFR (vFFR) was calculated pre- and post-VCI, using CFD analysis. vFFR pre- and post-VCI were compared with measured (m)FFR pre- and post-PCI, respectively. Results: Fifty-four patients and 59 vessels underwent PCI. The mFFR and vFFR pre-PCI were 0.66 ± 0.14 and 0.68 ± 0.13, respectively. Pre-PCI vFFR deviated from mFFR by ±0.05 (mean Δ = -0.02; SD = 0.07). The mean mFFR and vFFR post-PCI/VCI were 0.90 ± 0.05 and 0.92 ± 0.05, respectively. Post-VCI vFFR deviated from post-PCI mFFR by ±0.02 (mean Δ = -0.01; SD = 0.03). Mean CFD processing time was 95 s per case. Conclusions: The authors have developed a novel VCI tool, based upon the angiogram, that predicts the physiological response to stenting with a high degree of accuracy

PACCE: Perl Algorithm to Compute Continuum and Equivalent Widths

We present Perl Algorithm to Compute continuum and Equivalent Widths (pacce). We describe the methods used in the computations and the requirements for its usage. We compare the measurements made with pacce and "manual" ones made using iraf splot task. These tests show that for SSP models the equivalent widths strengths are very similar (differences <0.2A) for both measurements. In real stellar spectra, the correlation between both values is still very good, but with differences of up to 0.5A. pacce is also able to determine mean continuum and continuum at line center values, which are helpful in stellar population studies. In addition, it is also able to compute the uncertainties in the equivalent widths using photon statistics. The code is made available for the community through the web at http://www.if.ufrgs.br/~riffel/software.html.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Static black holes with a negative cosmological constant: Deformed horizon and anti-de Sitter boundaries

Using perturbative techniques, we investigate the existence and properties of a new static solution for the Einstein equation with a negative cosmological constant, which we call the deformed black hole. We derive a solution for a static and axisymmetric perturbation of the Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black hole that is regular in the range from the horizon to spacelike infinity. The key result is that this perturbation simultaneously deforms the two boundary surfaces--i.e., both the horizon and spacelike two-surface at infinity. Then we discuss the Abbott-Deser mass and the Ashtekar-Magnon one for the deformed black hole, and according to the Ashtekar-Magnon definition, we construct the thermodynamic first law of the deformed black hole. The first law has a correction term which can be interpreted as the work term that is necessary for the deformation of the boundary surfaces. Because the work term is negative, the horizon area of the deformed black hole becomes larger than that of the Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black hole, if compared under the same mass, indicating that the quasistatic deformation of the Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black hole may be compatible with the thermodynamic second law (i.e., the area theorem).Comment: 31 pages, 5 figures, one reference added, to be published in PR

Cutinase activity in supercritical and organic media: water activity, solvation and acid–base effects

We performed a comparative study on the activity of Fusarium solani pisi cutinase immobilized on zeolites NaA and NaY, in n-hexane, acetonitrile, supercritical ethane (sc-ethane) and sc-CO2, at two different water activity (aW) values set by salt hydrate pairs in situ and at acid–base conditions fixed with solid-state buffers of aqueous pKa between 4.3 and 10.6. The reaction studied was the transesterification of vinyl butyrate by (R,S)-2-phenyl-1-propanol. The transesterification activity of cutinase was highest and similar in sc-ethane and in n-hexane,about one order of magnitude lower in acetonitrile and even lower in sc-CO2. Activity coefficients (γ) generated for the two substrates indicated that they were better solvated in acetonitrile and thus less available for binding at the active site than in the other three solvents. γ data also suggested higher reaction rates in sc-ethane than in n-hexane, as observed, and provided evidence for a direct negative effect of sc-CO2 on enzyme activity. Manipulation of the acid–base conditions of the media did not afford any improvement of the initial rates of transesterification relative to the blanks (no added acid–base buffer, only salt hydrate pair), except in the case of cutinase immobilized on zeolite NaA in sc-ethane at aW = 0.7. The poor performance of the blank in this case and the great improvement observed in the presence of a basic buffer suggest a deleterious acidic effect in the medium which, an experiment without additives confirmed, was not due to the known acidic character of the salt hydrate pair used to set aW = 0.7. In acetonitrile, increasing aW was accompanied by a decrease in initial rates of transesterification, unlike in the other solvents. There was considerable hydrolysis in acetonitrile, where initial rates of hydrolysis increased about 20-fold from aW = 0.2 to 0.7. Hydrolysis was less pronounced in sc-ethane and in n-hexane, and only at aW = 0.7, and in sc-CO2 butyric acid was detected only at very long reaction times, in agreement with a generally low catalytic activity. Cutinase enantio-selectivity towards the alcohol substrate was low and unaffected by any manipulation of medium conditions.This work has been supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through the contracts PRAXIS/PBIO/14314/1998 and POCTI/35429/QUI/2000 and the grant PRAXIS XXI/BD/21615/99 (S. Garcia), and by FEDER.We thank Ricardo Baptista for help in the production of cutinase

Stellar evolution and modelling stars

In this chapter I give an overall description of the structure and evolution of stars of different masses, and review the main ingredients included in state-of-the-art calculations aiming at reproducing observational features. I give particular emphasis to processes where large uncertainties still exist as they have strong impact on stellar properties derived from large compilations of tracks and isochrones, and are therefore of fundamental importance in many fields of astrophysics.Comment: Lecture presented at the IVth Azores International Advanced School in Space Sciences on "Asteroseismology and Exoplanets: Listening to the Stars and Searching for New Worlds" (arXiv:1709.00645), which took place in Horta, Azores Islands, Portugal in July 201

Superfield covariant analysis of the divergence structure of noncommutative supersymmetric QED4_4

Commutative supersymmetric Yang-Mills is known to be renormalizable for ${\cal N} = 1, 2$, while finite for ${\cal N} = 4$. However, in the noncommutative version of the model (NCSQED$_4$) the UV/IR mechanism gives rise to infrared divergences which may spoil the perturbative expansion. In this work we pursue the study of the consistency of NCSQED$_4$ by working systematically within the covariant superfield formulation. In the Landau gauge, it has already been shown for ${\cal N} = 1$ that the gauge field two-point function is free of harmful UV/IR infrared singularities, in the one-loop approximation. Here we show that this result holds without restrictions on the number of allowed supersymmetries and for any arbitrary covariant gauge. We also investigate the divergence structure of the gauge field three-point function in the one-loop approximation. It is first proved that the cancellation of the leading UV/IR infrared divergences is a gauge invariant statement. Surprisingly, we have also found that there exist subleading harmful UV/IR infrared singularities whose cancellation only takes place in a particular covariant gauge. Thus, we conclude that these last mentioned singularities are in the gauge sector and, therefore, do not jeopardize the perturbative expansion and/or the renormalization of the theory.Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures. Minor correction

Topological Charged Black Holes in High Dimensional Spacetimes and Their Formation from Gravitational Collapse of a Type II Fluid

Topological charged black holes coupled with a cosmological constant in $R^{2}\times X^{D-2}$ spacetimes are studied, where $X^{D-2}$ is an Einstein space of the form ${}^{(D-2)}R_{AB} = k(D-3) h_{AB}$. The global structure for the four-dimensional spacetimes with $k = 0$ is investigated systematically. The most general solutions that represent a Type $II$ fluid in such a high dimensional spacetime are found, and showed that topological charged black holes can be formed from the gravitational collapse of such a fluid. When the spacetime is (asymptotically) self-similar, the collapse always forms black holes for $k = 0, -1$, in contrast to the case $k = 1$, where it can form either balck holes or naked singularities.Comment: 14 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Susceptibility testing of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata to Glycyrrhiza glabra L.

Medicinal plants and their botanical formulations have gained a pivotal attention among scientific researchers mainly due to its action as health promoters. Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) constitutes a great example, with an increasingly evidenced antimicrobial potential. Opportunistic yeast infections constitute an alarming public health problem, highly exacerbated by the inefficacy of antifungal drugs and the increase of drug-resistant microorganisms, being Candida species one of the most common invaders. The present work aims to assess Candida glabrata and Candida albicans susceptibility to G. glabra methanol: water extract by using flow cytometry and transmission electron microscopy techniques. After 5 minutes, licorice extract (1.5 mg/mL) altered Candida membrane potential. Within an hour, it induced primary damages on Candida species cells, causing cell cytoplasm disorganization with high evidence of cell membrane invaginations, making cells turgid. Thus, based on the current findings, licorice extract seems to be a promising anti-Candida agent, without presenting any toxic potential at the effective concentrations used.The authors are grateful to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for N. Martins grant (SFRH/BD/87658/2012) and financial support to the research centre CIMO (strategic project PEst-OE/ AGR/UI0690/2014). This work was also supported by the Programa Operacional, Fatores de competitividade – COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia on the scope of the projects FCT PTDC/SAU-MIC/119069/2010, RECI/EBBEBI/0179/2012 and PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013. The authors thank the Project “BioHealth – Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality”, Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027, cofunded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2–O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Haematological and biochemical parameters in Churra-da-Terra-Quente ewes from the northeast of Portugal

Hematological and biochemical parameters, including plasma electrolytes and thyroid hormones, were determined in 73 clinically healthy Churra-da-Terra-Quente ewes, a typical breed from the northeast of Portugal. The hemogram values were: erythrocytes 9.8±1.51012/L; haemoglobin 118.1±19.1g/L; haematocrit 40.8±5.9%; leukocytes 5.7±1.8109/L; and platelets 544.3±177.2109/L. The thrombin time was 17.3±1.7 seconds. The values of biochemical parameters were: total protein 76.4±6.1g/L; glucose 2.87±0.60mmol/L; total cholesterol 1.65±0.33mmol/L; aspartate aminotransferase 155.9±49.2U/L; alanine aminotransferase 23.2±9.6U/L; γ-glutamyl transferase 48.0±18.7U/L; total alkaline phosphatase 121.6±76.1U/L; glutamate dehydrogenase 6.4±3.7U/L; urea 7.32±2.22mmol/L; creatinine 123.0±54.1μmol/L; total calcium 2.53±0.25mmol/L; phosphorus 2.10±0.46mmol/L; magnesium 1.01±0.09mmol/L; sodium 152.04±3.65mmol/L; potassium 4.7±0.4mmol/L; ionized calcium 1.32±0.07mmol/L; total thyroxine 111.75±42.29nmol/L; total triiodothyronine 1.01±0.28nmol/L; free T4 11.93±1.78pmol/L; free T3 4.22±1.33pmol/L; and thyroid-stimulating hormone 0.18±0.19μIU/mL. Although differences among the Churra-da-Terra-Quente breed and other breeds may occur, the hematological and biochemical parameters, plasma electrolytes, and thyroid hormones, for this indigenous breed, were generally situated within the reference intervals previously reported for sheep

Stellar Inversion Techniques

Stellar seismic inversions have proved to be a powerful technique for probing the internal structure of stars, and paving the way for a better understanding of the underlying physics by revealing some of the shortcomings in current stellar models. In this lecture, we provide an introduction to this topic by explaining kernel-based inversion techniques. Specifically, we explain how various kernels are obtained from the pulsation equations, and describe inversion techniques such as the Regularised Least-Squares (RLS) and Optimally Localised Averages (OLA) methods.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures. Lecture presented at the IVth Azores International Advanced School in Space Sciences on "Asteroseismology and Exoplanets: Listening to the Stars and Searching for New Worlds" (arXiv:1709.00645), which took place in Horta, Azores Islands, Portugal in July 201