Metabolic fingerprinting of biofluids by infrared spectroscopy: modeling and optimization of flow rates for laminar fluid diffusion interface sample preconditioning

The laminar fluid diffusion interface (LFDI) is a microfluidic tool that manipulates the composition of liquid mixtures by exploiting differences among diffusion coefficients of the dissolved components. One application is the preprocessing of (bio)fluids prior to spectroscopic characterization. For example, in the case of infrared (IR) spectroscopy, the technique can improve sensitivity to low-concentration serum metabolites. The practical benefit is "metabolic fingerprinting" measurements that are more sensitive to low-concentration metabolites than are the counterpart measurements for the original serum sample. Optimal use of the LFDI technique has proven elusive, since the composition of the product of interest is very sensitive to the choice of flow rates for the liquid streams entering and emerging from the LFDI channel. To provide the basis for optimal use, this study had the objective of developing a simulation package that predicts the composition of the LFDI product, given the LFDI structural and operating parameters. To demonstrate the utility of the simulations, composition of the LFDI products predicted for two illustrative sets of trials were compared with experimental data. The flow rates thus derived provided a LFDI product that is relatively rich in serum metabolites, while largely depleted of protein, and very well suited for subsequent IR spectroscopic characterization.     

Damage due to heavy traffic on three RC road bridges

An investigation of the damage caused by road traffic on three reinforced concrete bridges was performed. This study was performed with a focus on the determination of the damage induced by heavy vehicles in relation to the damage caused by average everyday traffic. A damage model based on fatigue of reinforcement bars was employed. The stress cycles in the reinforcement bars were determined using measurements of the crack widths under traffic loading. Stress cycles were analyzed using the Rainflow Method and Miner’s Rule was employed to gain a measurement for the damage. Monitoring systems were installed on each of the three bridges and operated for several weeks continuously to collect input data for the damage model. Computer software was developed to process the monitoring data in the sense of the damage model. The described methodology was developed and used for the first time in the described project.Heavy traffic was shown to cause a disproportionate high portion of the overall damage on all three bridges. The obtained results indicated that the damage caused by singular events, such as the passage of a heavy vehicle, in relation to the damaging effects of every-day traffic differed significantly between the considered bridges. For one of the bridges the greatest damage from singular traffic events was computed for passages of special transport vehicles. The same bridge was also found to display the highest damage by a single passage in relation to average everyday traffic. Passages of short and heavy trucks with four and five axles were identified as the most detrimental traffic events on the other two bridges.     

Retrograde ureteral intussusception: a rare complication

A 45-year-old man with a history of cyclophosphamide exposure underwent repeated ureteroscopy for positive urine cytology findings after resection of a Grade 2 papillary transitional-cell carcinoma of the bladder. Despite careful technique, an intussusception developed in the left ureter, which was repaired by resection and construction of a Boari flap. To our knowledge, this is the first report of retrograde ureteral intussusception caused by ureteroscopy.     

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Radiosensitization and apoptosis

The toxicity of radiation to living tissues was discovered soon after the discovery of radioactivity itself and this toxicity is the basis for cancer therapy with radiation. Although this mode of therapy is often effective, its success is far from assured. One major difficulty in the implementation of radiotherapy is that normal tissues are also sensitive to killing by radiation so that treatment is often limited by the tolerance of normal tissues for radiation. Thus methods that sensitize tumor cells while sparing normal tissues could potentially lead to greater success with radiation as a therapy. Oncogenes are frequently altered in tumors, but are not in normal tissue making them potential targets for altering radiosensitivity and apoptosis in tumors.     

A linear-time model-checking algorithm for the alternation-free modal mu-calculus

We develop a model-checking algorithm for a logic that permits propositions to be defined using greatest and least fixed points of mutually recursive systems of equations. This logic is as expressive as the alternation-free fragment of the modal mu-calculus identified by Emerson and Lei, and it may therefore be used to encode a number of temporal logics and behavioral preorders. Our algorithm determines whether a process satisfies a formula in time proportional to the product of the sizes of the process and the formula; this improves on the best known algorithm for similar fixed-point logics.