Significant Decline in Galactomannan Signal during Storage of Clinical Serum Samples

Galactomannan (GM) is widely used for detection of invasive aspergillosis in high-risk haemato-oncology patients. Recent publications have reported a lack of repeatability of GM detection. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the repeatability of GM levels during storage of clinical samples. In a GM screening strategy, positive sera were repeat tested as per manufacturer’s recommendations. Short-term (ST) storage of samples was at +4 °C while long-term (LT) storage was at −80 °C. Bronchoalveolar (BAL) fluid was also repeating tested after ST storage and LT storage. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was employed to assess the repeatability of GM levels. In a subset of 14 GM positive sera, repeat testing was performed on both the original serum and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) pre-treated sample. There was a significant reduction in GM signals on repeat testing following ST storage (median GM index: 0.65 vs. 0.19; p < 0.001) and LT storage (median GM index: 0.56 vs. 0.10; p < 0.001) of serum samples. Of samples that were initially GM positive, an average GM index reduction of 50% was seen, with approximately two-thirds becoming GM negative on repeat testing of the same sample. In contrast, GM signal loss was not seen on repeat testing of BAL fluid following ST or LT storage. When GM positive serum samples were repeat tested using EDTA pre-treated serum from the first step of the testing protocol, all samples remained GM positive. In contrast, when the same samples were repeat tested from the original collected serum, 9 samples (64%) became GM negative. The significant reduction in GM signals during ST and LT storage of serum samples has implications for clinical management. Although the reasons for GM decline are unknown, they occur prior to the EDTA pre-treatment stage, indicating that the time from phlebotomy to testing should be minimized. BAL fluid GM index values remain stable.     

A Framework for Recognizing the Simultaneous Aspects of American Sign Language

The major challenge that faces American Sign Language (ASL) recognition now is developing methods that will scale well with increasing vocabulary size. Unlike in spoken languages, phonemes can occur simultaneously in ASL. The number of possible combinations of phonemes is approximately 1.5×10⁹, which cannot be tackled by conventional hidden Markov model-based methods. Gesture recognition, which is less constrained than ASL recognition, suffers from the same problem. In this paper we present a novel framework to ASL recognition that aspires to being a solution to the scalability problems. It is based on breaking down the signs into their phonemes and modeling them with parallel hidden Markov models. These model the simultaneous aspects of ASL independently. Thus, they can be trained independently, and do not require consideration of the different combinations at training time. We show in experiments with a 22-sign-vocabulary how to apply this framework in practice. We also show that parallel hidden Markov models outperform conventional hidden Markov models.     

Mechanical characterization in laminated composite for cryogenic application

Damage in cryogenic composite fuel tanks induced during manufacturing and advanced by thermomechanical cycling can accelerate leakage of the propellant. Whether the leakage exceeds tolerable levels depends on many factors, including pressure gradients, microcrack density, other damage such as delamination, connectivity of the cracks, residual stresses from manufacture, service‐induced stresses from thermal and mechanical loads, and composite lay‐up. This article is concerned with the creation and the detection of damage in cryogenic composites due to thermomechanical loading. The first part deals with cryocycling (cycling between two temperatures) test procedures, that were developed to understand the damage produced in cryogenic composite laminates under thermomechanical loading. An apparatus was developed to thermomechanically cycle coupon test specimens under different thermomechanical loadings. IM7/977‐2 and IM7/5250‐4 graphite/epoxy cross‐ply [90₂/0₂]_S and angle‐ply [0/‐45/90/45/0/45090/‐45/0]_S laminates were tested using these systems. Ply‐by‐ply microcrack density was measured as a function of thermomechanical cycles. The second part of this article deals with effect of thermal gradients due to sudden exposure to a cryogenic temperature. The sudden exposure to cryogenic temperatures may have caused the microcracks, due to large temperature variations through the thickness and the resulting thermal stresses. In this work, an investigation of the sudden exposure to cryogenic temperatures is conducted experimentally with and without an insulating layer. POLYM. COMPOS., 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Efficient architectures for modulo 2n − 2 arithmetic units

Moduli of the 2ⁿ and 2ⁿ ± 1 forms are usually employed in designs that adopt the residue number system. However, in several cases such as in finite impulse response filters and communication components, a modulo value equal to 2ⁿ ? 2 can be used. So far, modulo 2ⁿ ? 2 arithmetic units have been based either on look-up tables or on generic modulo arithmetic units. In this work, by taking advantage of the properties of modulo 2ⁿ ? 2 arithmetic, we propose efficient modulo 2ⁿ ? 2 multi-operand adder, multiplier as well as squarer architectures. The proposed circuits are based on the corresponding ones for modulo 2^n?1 ? 1 arithmetic and some simple logic. Experimental results validate that the proposed circuits achieve significant area and delay savings compared to those previously presented.     

Quantitative Phosphorus-31 NMR Analysis of Six Soluble Lignins

By using a set of lignin samples, which have been subjected to thorough analyses by the international wood chemistry community, the recently developed quantitative method of ³¹P NMR spectroscopy was comprehensively examined. The values of total phenolic hydroxyl groups and those of total hydroxyl groups were found to favourably compare with those obtained by other laboratories, applying independent methods of analysis. Furthermore, the application of quantitative ³¹P NMR spectroscopy offered additional detailed structural information for the examined lignins which was in accord with literature accounts for similar wood species and lignin preparations. More specifically, the steam explosion lignins from aspen and yellow poplar woods and that produced by ball milling/enzyme hydrolysis of cottonwood were found to contain relatively high amounts of β-O-4 structures. In contrast, the kraft, organosolv, and the acid hydrolysis processes were found to induce significant chain scission on the resulting lignins. Ball milled cottonwood lignin contained the highest frequency of β-O-4 bonds and the lowest amount of free phenolic hydroxyls. The erythro form of β-O-4 structures were invariably predominant in the lignins from aspen, yellow poplar and cottonwood, in accord with the conclusions of previous reports on hardwood lignins. Thus, the application of quantitative ³¹P NMR spectroscopy offered the detailed chemical composition of the examined lignins.     

Saliva Proteomics as Fluid Signature of Inflammatory and Immune-Mediated Skin Diseases

Saliva is easy to access, non-invasive and a useful source of information useful for the diagnosis of serval inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. Following the advent of genomic technologies and -omic research, studies based on saliva testing have rapidly increased and human salivary proteome has been partially characterized. As a proteomic protocol to analyze the whole saliva proteome is not currently available, the most common aim of the proteomic analysis is to discriminate between physiological and pathological conditions. The salivary proteome has been initially investigated in several diseases: oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral leukoplakia, chronic graft-versus-host disease, and Sjögren’s syndrome. Otherwise, salivary proteomics studies in the dermatological field are still in the initial phase, thus the aim of this review is to collect the best research evidence on the role of saliva proteomics analysis in immune-mediated skin diseases to understand the direction of research in this field. The results of PRISMA analysis reported herein suggest that human saliva analysis could provide significant data for the diagnosis and prognosis of several immune-mediated and inflammatory skin diseases in the next future.     

Geostatistical analysis of spatial variability of rainfall and optimal design of a rain gauge network

Kriging is a geostatistical estimation technique for regionalized variables that exhibit an autocorrelation structure. Such a structure can be described by a semivariogram of the observed data. The punctual-kriging estimate at any point is a weighted average of the data, where the weights are determined by using the semivariogram and an assumed drift, or lack of drift, in the data. The kriging algorithm, based on unbiased and minimum-variance estimates, involves a linear system of equations to calculate the weights. Kriging is applied in an attempt to describe the spatial variability of rainfall data over a geographical region in northern Greece. Monthly rainfall data of January and June 1987 have been taken from 20 measurement stations throughout the above area. The rainfall data are used to compute semivariograms for each month. The resulting semivariograms are anisotropic and fitted by linear and spherical models. Kriging estimates of rainfall and standard deviation were made at 90 locations covering the study area in a rectangular grid and the results used to plot contour maps of rainfall and contour maps of kriging standard deviation. Verification of the kriging estimates of rainfall are made by removing known data points and kriging an estimate at the same location. This verification is known as the jacknifing technique. Kriging errors, a by-product of the calculations, can then be used to give confidence intervals of the resulting estimates. The acceptable results of the verification procedure demonstrated that geostatistics can be used to describe the spatial variability of rainfall. Finally, it is shown how the property of kriging variance depends on the structure and the geometric configuration of the data points and the point to be estimated can also be used for the optimal design of the rain gauge network in an area.     

The Effects of Spirulina Supplementation on Redox Status and Performance Following a Muscle Damaging Protocol

Spirulina plantensis is a popular supplement which has been shown to have antioxidant and performance enhancing properties. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of spirulina supplementation on (a) redox status (b) muscle performance and (c) muscle damage following an eccentric bout of exercise that would induce muscle damage. Twenty-four healthy, recreationally trained males participated in the study and were randomly separated into two groups: a spirulina supplementation (6 g per day) and a placebo group. Both groups performed an eccentric bout of exercise consisting of 5 sets and 15 maximum reps per set. Blood was collected at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after the bout and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and protein carbonyls (PC) were assessed in plasma. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) was also assessed at the same aforementioned time points. Eccentric peak torque (EPT) was evaluated immediately after exercise, as well as at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h post exercise. Redox status indices (TAC and PC) did not change significantly at any time point post exercise. DOMS increased significantly 24 h post exercise and remained elevated until 72 h and 96 h post exercise for the placebo and spirulina group, respectively. EPT decreased significantly and immediately post exercise and remained significantly lower compared to baseline until 72 h post exercise. No significant differences between groups were found for DOMS and EPT. These results indicate that spirulina supplementation following a muscle damaging protocol does not confer beneficial effects on redox status, muscle performance or damage.