Serum and follicular fluid leptin levels are correlated with human embryo quality

This prospective study was undertaken to reassess the prognostic value of leptin during critical stages of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) and address its role in the functional staging of assisted reproductive technologies at the level of embryo quality. Serum and follicular fluid samples of 100 selected women undergoing the long IVF-ET protocol were collected for leptin and embryo quality determination. The highest serum leptin concentration (52.11 +/- 4.27 ng/ml) was observed on ovum pick up day, while follicular fluid leptin was higher than all serum samples examined (62.59 +/- 5.73 ng/ml). Serum leptin above 59.48 +/- 7.6 ng/ml was associated with 'poor' embryo quality and above 56.87 +/- 5.52 ng/ml with pregnancy failure. Elevated leptin concentrations were associated with reduced ovarian stimulation and response, follicle maturation, embryo quality and pregnancy success. Our findings suggest that leptin modulates embryo quality and may serve as a sensitive marker of IVF outcome.     

Blind robust watermarking schemes for copyright protection of 3D mesh objects

In this paper, two novel methods suitable for blind 3D mesh object watermarking applications are proposed. The first method is robust against 3D rotation, translation, and uniform scaling. The second one is robust against both geometric and mesh simplification attacks. A pseudorandom watermarking signal is cast in the 3D mesh object by deforming its vertices geometrically, without altering the vertex topology. Prior to watermark embedding and detection, the object is rotated and translated so that its center of mass and its principal component coincide with the origin and the z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system. This geometrical transformation ensures watermark robustness to translation and rotation. Robustness to uniform scaling is achieved by restricting the vertex deformations to occur only along the r coordinate of the corresponding (r, /spl theta/, /spl phi/) spherical coordinate system. In the first method, a set of vertices that correspond to specific angles /spl theta/ is used for watermark embedding. In the second method, the samples of the watermark sequence are embedded in a set of vertices that correspond to a range of angles in the /spl theta/ domain in order to achieve robustness against mesh simplifications. Experimental results indicate the ability of the proposed method to deal with the aforementioned attacks.     

Energetically and pressure driven phase transitions in molecularly thin films of n-alkanes

Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out on molecularly thin films of n-octane confined between topographically smooth solid surfaces. We focused on determining the effect of increasing solid surface-methylene unit energetic affinity and the effect of increasing pressure (normal load) of the film in inducing liquid-solid phase transitions. Simulations of films wide enough to accomodate three segmental layers showed an abrupt transition in the structural features at a critical value of the characteristic energy that quantified the affinity between solid surfaces and methylene units. This energetically driven transition was evident from the discontinuous increase of intermolecular order, a precipitous extension of the octane molecules and freezing of molecular migration and rotation. Increasing pressure had a similar effect in inducing a liquid-solid phase transition. The characteristics of the transition showed that it is a mild first-order transition from a highly ordered liquid to a poorly organized solid. These findings demonstrate that the solidification of nanoscopically thin films of linear alkanes is a general phenomenon (driven either energetically or by increasing pressure), and does not require the aid of commensurate surface topography. Our findings on relatively wider films (5 segmental diameters wide) show that the interfacial layer undergoes a similar first-order phase transition with increasing solid-methylene unit energetic affinity. This energy threshold is significantly higher than the one observed in thin film simulations.     

Analysis and design of punctured rate-1/2 turbo codes exhibiting low error floors

The objective of this paper is two-fold. Initially, we present an analytic technique to rapidly evaluate an approximation to the union bound on the bit error probability of turbo codes. This technique exploits the most significant terms of the union bound, which can be calculated straightforwardly by considering the properties of the constituent convolutional encoders. Subsequently, we use the bound approximation to demonstrate that specific punctured rate-1/2 turbo codes can achieve a lower error floor than that of their rate-1/3 parent codes. In particular, we propose pseudo-random puncturing as a means of improving the bandwidth efficiency of a turbo code and simultaneously lowering its error floor.     

Effect of nonionic surfactants on the solubilization of alachlor

The ability of nonionic surfactants to solubilize the pesticide alachlor was studied. Two homologue series, octylphenol ethoxylates (Triton X-114, Triton X-100 and Triton X-102) and ethoxylated decyl alcohols (Neodol 91-5E, Neodol 91-6E and Neodol 91-8E) were used at concentrations 3 critical micelle concentration (CMC) and 6 CMC. The rate of solubilization of a sufficient quantity of alachlor (for saturation) in aqueous solution containing the micelles of nonionic surfactant was recorded. The experimental data were fitted to a first-order kinetic model. The rate constant, saturation concentration and enhancement factor were estimated for each surfactant system. The effect of surfactant structure, CMC concentration, pesticide structure and its physicochemical properties on the effectiveness of solubilization was determined. In terms of solubilization capability, the nonionic surfactants of each homologue series can be ranked as follows: Neodol 91-8E>Neodol 91-6E>Neodol 91-5E and Triton X-102>Triton X-100>Triton X-114. The more hydrophilic Neodol series was proved more efficient in alachlor solubilization than Triton series. The enhancement factor values ranged from 1.064 to 1.995 at 3 CMC and 1.320 to 2.919 at 6 CMC. The results will be used mainly for micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration since the extent of solubilization is a critical factor.     

The Role of Leptin in Childhood Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP): An Anti-Inflammatory Agent?

To investigate the effect of leptin in childhood ITP, we measured plasma leptin in 39 children with acute ITP, after treatment and in remission, and in 33 healthy age/BMI-matched controls. We also cultured ITP and control peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with recombinant leptin to assess its direct effect on pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine gene expression. A significant increase in leptin was observed in children with active disease compared to controls. A significant inverse correlation of leptin with platelet count was also observed in children with acute ITP. Leptin remained high after treatment with IVIg, whereas steroid treatment lowered leptin below control levels. In remission, leptin was in the control range. Cytokine gene expression was significantly increased in children with acute ITP compared with controls, with highest expression for IFN-γ and IL-10. IVIg/steroid treatment significantly decreased IFN-γ and IL-10 expression. In remission, IFN-γ and IL-10 expression remained low. Addition of leptin to PBMCs isolated from patients in remission resulted in a significant increase in IL-10 gene expression compared to controls. Further experiments with purified T-cells and monocytes identified monocytes as the source of leptin-induced IL-10. We suggest that leptin acts as an active anti-inflammatory agent in childhood ITP by promoting IL-10 secretion by monocytes.     

Image-based gating of intravascular ultrasound pullback sequences

Intravascularultrasound (IVUS) sequences recorded in vivo are subject to a wide array of motion artifacts as the majority of these studies are performed within the coronary arteries of a beating heart. To eliminate these artifacts, an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is typically used to gate (collect) those frames recorded at the points in time associated with a particular fraction of the cardiac cycle. However, this technique may be suboptimal for a number of reasons, among which is the difficulty of determining the optimal fraction at which to gate. This value is generally nonobvious. To circumvent this problem, we introduce a frame-gating method for IVUS pullbacks that mimics ECG (i.e., in the sense that it selects only one frame per cardiac cycle), but will automatically choose the fraction of the cycle that renders the most stable gated frame set. Stability here is gauged by measuring interframe similarity. Our method operates exclusively on the imagery data and does not require ECG or any form of image segmentation or other high-level image analysis. To validate our algorithm, we compare its behavior versus true ECG gating.     

Vegetable waste treatment: comparison and critical presentation of methodologies

Vegetable industries have been considered responsible for a great amount of pollution; hence, there has been a strong need for the optimization of vegetable waste treatment systems. The currently employed systems are numerous and fall in the following large categories; thermal processes, evaporation, membrance processes, anaerobic digestion, anaerobic co-digestion, biodiesel spraying, combustion, transesterification, coagulation, and composting. Respective methodologies in conjunction with waste treatment methods were presented per waste treatment method. The comparative presentation of the various vegetable waste treatment methodologies showed that though anaerobic digestion stands for the most enviromentally friendly technique, its required longer treatment time in conjuction with its weakness to deal with elemental contaminants makes imperative the employment of a second alternative technique which could either be a membrance process (low energy cost, reliability, reduced capital cost) or a coagulation/flocculation method because of its low cost and high effectiveness. Biogas production appears to be another promising and energy effective waste treatment method. On the other hand, methods like distillation and ozonation (high cost) and electrolysis (experimental level) have not been employed in the field. Finally, new waste management technologies have been described.