Intravenous Immunoglobulin PER SE or Combined with Intravenous Methylprednisolone in Children With GBS; Comparing the Effects

ObjectiveGuillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is the most common cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis in children, its pathogenesis most probably involving an autoimmune response to Schwann cell or peripheral nerve myelin antigens. Steroid regimes improve demyelinating diseases such as chronic GBS. We assessed the benefit of high dose methylprednisolone (MP) combined with Intravenous immunoglobulin (MP-IVIG) and compared the effects with those of IVIG per se in children with GBS.Materials& MethodsThirty-six children, aged between 1-12 years were randomized to receive IV MP 20mg/kg/day combined with IVIG 400 mg/kg/day (MP-IVIG) or IVIG per se at same dose for 5 days. All patients were diagnosed by standard clinical criteria and entered the trial within less than 2 weeks of the onset of neurological symptoms. All patients were too weak to walk. Functional grade (FG) was at 3 or more (able to walk with support).ResultsIn the MP-IVIG group, FG improved at least one grade after 5 days of treatment. ConclusionThis study suggests that combined treatment with MP-IVIG in children with GBS does cause rapid improvement in the acute phase, but does not result in any significant difference in the long term outcome.

Effects of pioglitazone on erectile dysfunction in sildenafil poor-responders: A randomized, controlled study

Purpose. The effects of pioglitazone on sildenafil responsiveness in men with erectile dysfunction (ED) and a history of poor response to sildenafil were assessed. Methods. In a double-blinded study, 38 men aged 47 ± 1.5 years with moderate-tosevere ED and poor response to sildenafil were randomly assigned to take a premedication of pioglitazone 30 mg (n=19) or placebo (n=19) once daily for 9 weeks along with on-demand use of sildenafil during the last month of pioglitazonetreatment. Erectile function (EF) scores, assessed by EF domain of International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), along with responses to Global Assessment Questions (GAQs) were major outcome measures. Serum levels of total testosterone (T), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), glucose, lipid profile and liver function test were minor outcome measures. Results. Pioglitazone significantly improved major outcome measures compared with placebo. The decrease from baseline of total cholesterol level was more in pioglitazonethan in placebo-treated groups. In 84 (32 out of 38) of the sildenafil poor-responders, at least one of the associated risk factors of ED was found. There was undiagnosed hypercholesterolemia in 34 of the subjects. Serum levels of T, DHEAS, glucose and other parameters remained unchanged in both groups. The intervention was well tolerated. Conclusions. Pioglitazone increased sildenafil response to improve ED of men with prior sildenafil failure and seems to be safe based on the present preliminary study. This improvement is likely regardless of fasting glucose and sex hormones levels

Phase diagram of the one dimensional anisotropic Kondo-necklace model

The one dimensional anisotropic Kondo-necklace model has been studied by several methods. It is shown that a mean field approach fails to gain the correct phase diagram for the Ising type anisotropy. We then applied the spin wave theory which is justified for the anisotropic case. We have derived the phase diagram between the antiferromagnetic long range order and the Kondo singlet phases. We have found that the exchange interaction (J) between the itinerant spins and local ones enhances the quantum fluctuations around the classical long range antiferromagnetic order and finally destroy the ordered phase at the critical value, J_c. Moreover, our results show that the onset of anisotropy in the XY term of the itinerant interactions develops the antiferromagnetic order for J<J_c. This is in agreement with the qualitative feature which we expect from the symmetry of the anisotropic XY interaction. We have justified our results by the numerical Lanczos method where the structure factor at the antiferromagnetic wave vector diverges as the size of system goes to infinity.Comment: 9 pages and 9 eps figure

Galvanostatic Electrodeposition of Ni-Co Alloys in DMSO under a Magnetic Field

This paper focuses on the galvanostatic magneto-electrodeposition of Ni-Co alloys in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) in the presence and absence of a permanent parallel magnetic field (PPMF) to the cathode surface. It was found that the mass deposition was enhanced in the presence of PPMF(9 T) compared with the deposition without PPMF. The percentage enhancement potential (ξ%) was elevated (ξ5%=23.11, ξ2%=10.65, ξ0.5%= 4.85) with current densities of 5, 2 and 0.5 mA cm–2, respectively, in the presence of PPMF (9 T). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the roughness of the Ni-Co alloy films was reduced from 56.187 to 31.716 nm(at 0.2 mA cm–2) and 97.541 to 52.644 nm(at 0.5 mA cm–2) with applied PPMF(9 T) compared with that without the PPMF. The deposited layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX).Keywords: Potential enhancement, roughness, DMSO, magnetic electrodepositio

Effect of noscapine, the antitussive opioid alkaloid, on bradykinin-induced smooth muscle contraction in the isolated ileum of the guinea-pig

Bradykinin (BK) and related kinins are autocoid peptides that play integral roles in many pathophysiological processes such as cough. In this study, the inhibitory effect of noscapine, the antitussive opioid alkaloid, on BK receptors, was tested in the guinea-pig ileum. Contractions of the isolated ileum of the guinea-pig in response to BK were inhibited by noscapine (10–1000 nM) in a concentration-dependent manner. Concentration-response curves (CRCs) to BK were slightly shifted to the right with a concomitant decrease in the maximum effect. A pA2value of 6.68 was calculated for noscapine. The slope of the Schild plot of the antagonism was found to be 0.56. Noscapine had no effect on contractions induced by KCl, acetylcholine, histamine,5-hydroxy tryptamine or angiotensin II. In conclusion, noscapine has a specific antagonistic effect on BK receptors and the mode of inhibition was found to be non-competitive

Remote sensing of mesospheric dust layers using active modulation of PMWE by high-power radio waves

This paper presents the first study of the modulation of polar mesospheric winter echoes (PMWE) by artificial radio wave heating using computational modeling and experimental observation in different radar frequency bands. The temporal behavior of PMWE response to HF pump heating can be employed to diagnose the charged dust layer associated with mesospheric smoke particles. Specifically, the rise and fall time of radar echo strength as well as relaxation and recovery time after heater turn-on and turnoff are distinct parameters that are a function of radar frequency. The variation of PMWE strength with PMWE source region parameters such as electron-neutral collision frequency, photodetachment current, electron temperature enhancement ratio, dust density, and radius is considered. The comparison of recent PMWE measurements at 56 MHz and 224 MHz with computational results is discussed, and dust parameters in the PMWE generation regime are estimated. Predictions for HF PMWE modification and its connection to the dust charging process by free electrons is investigated. The possibility for remote sensing of dust and plasma parameters in artificially modified PMWE regions using simultaneous measurements in multiple frequency bands are discussed. © 2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

Energy management of virtual power plant considering distributed generation sizing and pricing

UID/EMS/00667/2019The energy management of virtual power plants faces some fundamental challenges that make it complicated compared to conventional power plants, such as uncertainty in production, consumption, energy price, and availability of network components. Continuous monitoring and scaling of network gain status, using smart grids provides valuable instantaneous information about network conditions such as production, consumption, power lines, and network availability. Therefore, by creating a bidirectional communication between the energy management system and the grid users such as producers or energy applicants, it will afford a suitable platform to develop more efficient vector of the virtual power plant. The paper is treated with optimal sizing of DG units and the price of their electricity sales to achieve security issues and other technical considerations in the system. The ultimate goal in this study to determine the active demand power required to increase system loading capability and to withstand disturbances. The effect of different types of DG units in simulations is considered and then the efficiency of each equipment such as converters, wind turbines, electrolyzers, etc., is achieved to minimize the total operation cost and losses, improve voltage profiles, and address other security issues and reliability. The simulations are done in three cases and compared with HOMER software to validate the ability of proposed model.publishersversionpublishe

Improved HPLC method for determination of four PPis, omeprazole, pantoprazole, lansoprazole and rabeprazole in human plasma

PURPOSE: To develop a simple and rapid HPLC method for measuring of four proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), omeprazole (OPZ), pantoprazole (PPZ), lansoprazole (LPZ) and rabeprazole (RPZ) concentrations in human plasma. METHODS: Following a single step liquid-liquid extraction analytes along with an internal standard (IS) were separated using an isocratic mobile phase of phosphate buffer (10 mM)/acetonitrile (53/47, v/v adjusted pH to 7.3 with triethylamine) at flow rate of 1 mL/min on reverse phase TRACER EXCEL 120 ODS-A column at room temperature. RESULTS: Total analytical run time for selected PPIs was 10 min. The assays exhibited good linearity (r2&gt;0.99) over the studied range of 20 to 2500 ng/mL for OPZ, 20 to 4000 ng/mL for PPZ, 20 to 3000 ng/mL for LPZ and 20 to 1500 ng/mL for RPZ. The recovery of method was equal or greater than 80 and lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 20 ng/mL for four PPIs. Coefficient of variation and error at all of the intra-day and inter-day assessment were less than 9.2 for all compounds. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that this method is a simple, rapid, precise and accurate assay for determination of four PPIs concentrations in human plasma. This validated method is sensitive and reproducible enough to be used in pharmacokinetic studies and also is time- and cost-benefit when selected PPIs are desired to be analyzed

Aberrant Frequency Related Change-Detection Activity in Chronic Tinnitus

Tinnitus is the perception of sound without the occurrence of an acoustic event. The deficit in auditory sensory or echoic memory may be the cause of the perception of tinnitus. This study considered the mismatch negativity (MMN) to investigate the potential difference between and within groups of persons with normal hearing (NH) and tinnitus. Using an auditory multi-feature paradigm to elicit the MMN, this study considered the MMN peak amplitude at two central frequencies for two MMN subcomponents. These central frequencies were 1 and 5 kHz, which the latter was closer to the perceived tinnitus frequency in the group with tinnitus. The deviants were higher frequency, lower frequency, higher intensity, lower intensity, duration, location (left), location (right), and gap. The pure tone audiometry (PTA) test and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) test showed no meaningful difference between the two groups. For the frontal subcomponent, the mean amplitudes of the MMN peak for the two groups illustrated less negative meaningful MMN peak amplitudes in the group of persons with tinnitus. For the supratemporal component at 5 kHz central frequency, amplitudes were lower for the group of persons with tinnitus, whereas for the central frequency of 1 kHz, most deviants exhibited meaningful differences. Additionally, within-group comparisons indicated that mean amplitudes for both groups were more negative at the central frequency of 1 kHz for the frontal MMN subcomponent. In comparison, the supratemporal component illustrated a lower peak amplitude at 5 kHz central frequency in the group of persons with tinnitus and no difference in the NH group, which is a unique observation of this study. Results of the between-groups are in accordance with previous studies and within-group comparisons consider the probability of decreasing the change detection capability of the brain. The results of this study indicate that increasing the frequency of the stimuli close to the tinnitus perceived frequencies decreases the prediction error, including the prediction error of the silence. Such a decrease may cause the prediction error of the spontaneous neural activity in the auditory pathway to exceed the silence prediction error, and as a result, increases the probability of occurrence of tinnitus in higher frequencies according to the predictive coding model. © Copyright © 2020 Asadpour, Jahed and Mahmoudian

Investigation of incoherent scatter radar spectra features with stimulated electromagnetic emissions at EISCAT

Electromagnetic (EM) and electrostatic (ES) emissions can be generated in the ionosphere by high-power high-frequency (HF) radio waves transmitted from the ground. The signatures of the EM emissions observed on the ground are known as Stimulated Electromagnetic Emissions (SEE) and can be employed for remote measurement of ionospheric parameters. The experimental data from recent HF heating experiments near the fourth electron gyro-frequency (4f ce ) at EISCAT are presented. This paper compares the temporal behavior of SEE within a few Hertz up to 50 kHz of the transmission frequency to the time evolution of enhanced ion line (EHIL) in the incoherent scatter radar (ISR) spectrum. The correlation of Wideband SEE (WSEE) spectral lines within 1 kHz to 100 kHz such as the downshifted maximum (DM), downshifted peak (DP), and broad upshifted maximum (BUM), with HF enhanced ion lines (EHIL) is shown. It is shown that WSEE spectral lines can be used to reproduce the EHIL characteristics including altitude range, rise and decay time, maximum and minimum amplitude. A data reduction technique is developed to derive ionospheric parameters such as the electron density profile near the interaction altitude, magnetic field strength B 0 as well as the altitude profile of the EHIL using the temporal evolution of WSEE spectral lines near nf ce . © 2019 COSPA