Mixed-Signal Approximate Computation: A Neural Predictor Case Study

As transistors shrink and processors trend toward low power, maintaining precise digital behavior grows more expensive. Replacing digital units with analog equivalents sometimes allows similar computation to be performed at higher speed using less power. As a case study in mixed-signal approximate computation, the authors describe an enhanced neural prediction algorithm and its efficient analog implementation.     

Keratinocyte growth factor-2 accelerates wound healing in incisional wounds

BACKGROUND: Keratinocyte growth factor-2 (KGF-2) also described as fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10) is a newly identified member of the fibroblast growth factor family. KGF-2 is 96% identical to the recently identified rat FGF-10 and specifically stimulates growth of normal human epidermal keratinocytes. The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of topically applied KGF-2 in an incisional wound healing model. KGF-2 treatment resulted in an improvement in incisional wound healing as characterized by an increase in breaking strength, collagen content, and epidermal thickness. METHODS: KGF-2 was topically applied to linear incisions made in the dorsal skin of Sprague-Dawley rats. Biomechanical testing was done using an Instron tensiometer for breaking and tensile strength determinations. Wound collagen content was determined using the Sircol collagen assay. Epidermal thickness measurements were conducted using Masson's trichrome-stained sections of the wound. RESULTS: A single topical application of KGF-2 at the time of wounding resulted in an increase in wound breaking and tensile strength at Day 5 after wounding. Breaking strength of KGF-2-treated wounds was significantly higher compared with the buffer control (1 microgram, 222.1 +/- 13.5 g, P = 0.0007; 4 microgram, 248.7 +/- 15.4 g, P = 0.0001; 10 microgram, 247.2 +/- 21.9 g, P = 0.001; buffer, 141.0 +/- 9.7 g). Epidermal thickness and wound collagen content were significantly increased following treatment with KGF-2. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, KGF-2 is a potent stimulator of wound healing as demonstrated by increased mechanical strength accompanied by an increase in wound collagen content. KGF-2 could be an important cellular mediator responsible for the initiation and acceleration of wound healing and may enhance the healing of surgical wounds.     

Take care of your belongings today – securing accessibility to complex electronic business processes

Most of today’s business processes are based solely on digital data. Input, output, and intermediate results are pure digital objects. Keeping such data accessible and meaningful but even more importantly keeping the business processes functional is challenging. With regards to complex electronic business processes traditional archiving does not provide satisfactory results. Due to the fast technical life-cycle the time gap between archiving and re-enactment or reuse of a process poses risks and increases the uncertainty on achievable results. We propose a novel strategy bridging this specific time gap. For this we present a scalable and cost-effective infrastructure with associated workflows focusing on a process’ execution context. Most importantly the process’ developers are able to assess the preserved results in a timely manner, and thus, reduce the uncertainty on future re-enactment results.     

Acute pain responses in dairy calves undergoing cornual nerve blocks with or without topical anesthetic

Dairy calves are routinely administered medicines, vaccines, and anesthesia via injection. Although injections are painful, little is known about methods to alleviate this pain. The aim of this study was to determine whether lidocaine–prilocaine cream, a topical anesthetic, reduced calves' pain response to a subcutaneous injection around the cornual nerve. Calves were assigned 1 of 2 treatments: lidocaine–prilocaine cream at the sites of injection (n = 10) or no cream (n = 9). Thirty minutes after treatment, calves received a subcutaneous injection of 2% buffered lidocaine hydrochloride around the left and right cornual nerves. Contrary to our hypothesis, calves that received anesthetic cream beforehand displayed more escape behaviors during the injections than control calves. Both treatments had similarly low amounts of head-related behaviors afterward. Maximum eye temperature did not differ between the calves that received anesthetic cream and control calves, although eye temperature increased over time for both treatments. Heart rate increased during the 30 s following the first injection in both treatments. There were no treatment differences for any heart rate measures over the 5-min period after the first injection (mean heart rate, root mean square of successive differences, high-frequency power, and the ratio of low-frequency power to high-frequency power). These results suggest that cornual nerve blocks with buffered lidocaine are painful and that a lidocaine–prilocaine cream was not only ineffective in reducing this pain but that it may also worsen it.     

TEM Observation of Crack- and Pit-Shaped Defects in Electrically Degraded GaN HEMTs

AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors stressed under dc bias at various channel temperatures were studied using transmission electron microscopy for evidence of physical damage. Stressed devices consistently developed crack- and pit-shaped defects in the AlGaN/GaN crystal material under the drain-side edge of the gate, whereas side-by-side as-processed unstressed devices did not show these features. Furthermore, the amount of physical damage was found to correlate to the amount of electrical degradation as measured by the change in IDmax from before and after stress. The formation of these defects is consistent with the theory of damage from the inverse piezoelectric effect.     

Recovery by hydrometallurgical extraction of the platinum-group metals from car catalytic converters

The car industry is one of the technological applications which more platinum-group metals (PGM) employs. Therefore, the recovery of the PGMs from the car catalytic converters could be an important source to obtain these precious metals, with economic and environmental consequences.In this work, the car catalytic converters were characterized through different techniques as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma.In order to suggest an environmentally friendly method for the recovery of PGMs, some conditions such as the reagents concentration and composition, energy optimization, pre-treatment in hydrogen atmosphere and a thermal pre-treatment were studied.In addition, a new alternative to recover at least the 95% of the PGMs present in the car catalytic converters by the application of lees aggressive, corrosive or expensive reagents and conditions is proposed.     

Coding repeat instability in the FLO11 gene of Saccharomyces yeasts

In Saccharomyces yeasts, the FLO11 gene encodes an adhesin involved in filamentation, invasive growth, flocculation and adherence to solid surfaces. In wild Saccharomyces flor yeasts, a particularly expanded FLO11 allele also confers to these yeasts the ability to float under stressing liquid environments. We report here that, under optimal laboratory conditions, the repeats domain of the FLO11 gene in these wild yeasts is extremely unstable. Changes in length in the FLO11 coding repeats domain affected Flo11p‐associated functions but, interestingly, some of these functions were affected more than others. Therefore, length variations in this single gene provide a combinatorial diversity, which may contribute to a very rapid adaptation to fluctuating environments. Functional analysis of contracted alleles indicated that buoyancy was not associated to FLO11 length. In contrast, this property depended on the different types of repetitive units found in this gene. Thus, not only variations in the number of intragenic repeats but also the abundance and/or distribution of the different repetitive units may have phenotypic and evolutionary implications. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychotherapy in the veterans health administration: Missed opportunities?

Informed by data on the dose-response effect, the authors assessed use of psychotherapy in the Veterans Health Administration (VA). The authors identified 410,923 patients with newly diagnosed depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress disorder using VA databases (October 2003 through September 2004). Psychotherapy encounters were identified by Current Procedural Terminology codes for the 12 months following patients' initial diagnosis. Psychotherapy was examined for session exposure received within the 12-month follow-up period and time (in days) between diagnosis and treatment. Of the cohort, 22% received at least one session of psychotherapy; 7.9% received four or more sessions; 4.2% received eight or more sessions; and 2.4% received 13 or more sessions. Delays between initial mental health diagnosis and initiation of care averaged 57 days. Patient variables including age, marital status, income, travel distance, psychiatric diagnosis, and medical-illness burden were significantly related to receipt of psychotherapy. Treatment delays and general underuse of psychotherapy services are potential missed opportunities for higher-quality psychotherapeutic care in integrated health care settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)