In utero exchange transfusion in homozygous alpha-thalassaemia: a case report

We report a case of homozygous alpha-thalassaemia with hydrops fetalis presenting at 22 weeks of gestation. In utero exchange transfusion was performed with maternal blood at 23 weeks. 25 weeks and 29 weeks of gestation. The fetus was delivered at 29 weeks of gestation without significant neonatal complication. Post-transfusion haemoglobin pattern after transfusion suggested that a total haematocrit of 0.52 may be the desired post-exchange transfusion haematocrit to aim for and the total haematocrit of haemoglobin A and haemoglobin Portland dropped approximately one percent per day.     

On effective execution of nonuniform DOACROSS loops

It is extremely difficult to parallelize DOACROSS loops with nonuniform loop-carried dependences. In this paper, we present a static scheduling scheme with an accompanying synchronization strategy that can execute such DOACROSS loops effectively and efficiently. Our approach uses one of the parallelization techniques called Dependence Uniformization, which finds a small set of uniform dependence vectors to cover all possible nonuniform dependences in a DOACROSS loop. It differs from the previous schemes in that we demonstrate a better way to select the uniform dependence vectors. When used with the Static Strip Scheduling scheme, the proposed uniform dependence vector set allows us to enforce dependences with more locality, which reduces the requirement of explicit synchronization considerably while retaining most of the parallelism. This paper describes the uniform dependence vectors selection strategy and the static strip scheduling scheme. The performance analysis and examples are also presented     

A note on circle packing

The problem of packing circles into a domain of prescribed topology is considered. The circles need not have equal radii. The Collins-Stephenson algorithm computes such a circle packing. This algorithm is parallelized in two different ways and its performance is reported for a triangular, planar domain test case. The implementation uses the highly parallel graphics processing unit (GPU) on commodity hardware. The speedups so achieved are discussed based on a number of experiments.     

Fast buffering for FPGA implementation of vision-based object recognition systems

Real-time frame rate is an important factor for practical deployment of computer vision systems. Field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology has been considered for many applications due to its parallel computing capability. FPGA implementations of computer vision algorithms normally involve buffering data on external memory devices, which could slow down the whole system. This paper proposes a buffering scheme suitable for implementing real-time vision-based systems on an FPGA that does not require external memory to buffer data. A stop sign detection system implemented on an FPGA employing the proposed buffering scheme is presented as an example system. This system is capable of processing over 200?fps at the frame size of 480?×?752 pixels.     

Optimization and evaluation of reduced graphene oxide hydrogel composite as a demulsifier for heavy crude oil-in-water emulsion

The rising production of produced water from oilfields had been proven to bring detrimental environmental effects. In this study, an efficient, recyclable, and environmental-friendly reduced graphene oxide immobilized κ-Carrageenan hydrogel composite(κCa GO) was fabricated as an alternative sorbent for crude oil-in-water demulsification. Polyethyleneimine(PEI) was employed to form a stable hydrogel composite. The conditions for the immobilization of graphene oxide(GO) on PEI-modified κ-Carrageenan(κC) beads were optimized appropriately. An immobilization yield of 77% was attained at 2% PEI, 2 h immobilization activation time, and p H6.5. Moreover, the synthesized κCa GO is capable of demulsification with an average demulsification efficiency of 70%. It was found that the demulsification efficiency increases with salinity and κCa GO dosage, and it deteriorates under alkaline condition. These phenomena can be attributed to the interfacial interactions between κCa GO and the emulsion. Furthermore, the κCa GO can be recycled to use for up to six cycles without significant leaching and degradation. As such, the synthesized κCa GO could be further developed as a potential sorbent substitute for the separation of crude oil from produced water.     

Outdoor attractancy of males ofMatsucoccus josephi (Homoptera: Matsucoccidae) andElatophilus hebraicus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) to synthetic female sex pheromone ofMatsucoccus josephi

The active component of the sex pheromone ofMatsucoccus josephi is (2E,6E,8E)-5,7-dimethyl-2,6,8-decatrien-4-one; the chemical is also a powerful kairomone of adult males and females of the bugElatophilus hebraicus the principal predator ofM. josephi. The presence of theZ isomer (2E,6Z,8E)-5,7-dimethyl-2,6,8-decatrien-4-one does not interfere with the attractancy of the activeE component forM. josephi males or the bug. Our results show a clear dose-response between trap catch ofM. josephi males andE. hebraicus. Conversely, increasing amounts of theZ isomer in the mixture did not affect the attraction of the scale insect males or the bug. The catch ofM. josephi males did not differ significantly among traps of different color, and was significantly higher with traps attached to the tree trunk than those suspended between trees. Comparison of the catch ofM. josephi among the three forests and between pine species suggests that the level of infestation ofPinus halepepsis andPinus brutia ssp.brutia is similar, despite the fact that the latter pine is resistant to the scale insect. Both sexes ofE. hebraicus were trapped in much lower numbers at the more infested sites. This may be related to interference with the activity ofE. hebraicus due to deterioration and drying of parts of the tree crowns and heavy colonization by generalist predators in injured trees.