A comparison of center-based vs. home-based daily hemodialysis for patients with end-stage renal disease

Home hemodialysis has been a therapeutic option for almost 4 decades. The complexity of dialysis equipment has been a factor-limiting adoption of this modality. We performed a feasibility study to demonstrate the safety of center-based vs. home-based daily hemodialysis with the NxStage System One portable hemodialysis device. We also performed a retrospective analysis to determine if clinical effects previously associated with short-daily dialysis were also seen using this novel device. We conducted a prospective, 2-treatment, 2-period, open-label, crossover study of in-center hemodialysis vs. home hemodialysis in 32 patients treated at 6 U.S. centers. The 8-week In-Center Phase (6 days/week) was followed by a 2-week transition period and then followed by the 8-week Home Phase (6 days/week). We retrospectively collected data on hemodialysis treatment parameters immediately preceding the study in a subset of patients. Twenty-six out of 32 patients (81%) successfully completed the study. Successful delivery of at least 90% of prescribed fluid volume (primary endpoint) was achieved in 98.5% of treatments in-center and 97.3% at home. Total effluent volume as a percentage of prescribed volume was between 94% and 100% for all study weeks. The composite rate of intradialytic and interdialytic adverse events per 100 treatments was significantly higher for the In-Center Phase (5.30) compared with the Home Phase (2.10; p=0.007). Compared with the period immediately preceding the study, there were reductions in blood pressure, antihypertensive medications, and interdialytic weight gain. Daily home hemodialysis with a small, easy-to-use hemodialysis device is a viable dialysis option for end-stage renal disease patients capable of self/partner-administered dialysis.     

Detection of green fluorescent protein in a single bacterium by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence

Green fluorescence protein (GFP) is a common reporter used to monitor protein expression in single cells. However, autofluorescence from endogenous components can mask the signal from GFP, particularly at low expression levels in prokaryotes. We employ capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence for the analysis of the expression of green fluorescent protein in a single bacterium. Capillary electrophoresis separates GFP from native cellular autofluorescent components, reducing the background signal and improving detection limits. Our system provides 100 ymol (60 copies) limits of detection for GFP. To demonstrate the performance of this instrument, we employ a model system of Deinococcus radiodurans that has been engineered to express GFP under the control of the recA promoter. We report resolution and detection of GFP and autofluorescent components in a single D. radiodurans bacterium. This paper presents the first example of expression of GFP in D. radiodurans and the first detection of GFP in a single bacterium by capillary electrophoresis.     

CE-microreactor-CE-MS/MS for protein analysis

We present a proof-of-principle for a fully automated bottom-up approach to protein characterization. Proteins are first separated by capillary electrophoresis. A pepsin microreactor is incorporated into the distal end of this capillary. Peptides formed in the reactor are transferred to a second capillary, where they are separated by capillary electrophoresis and characterized by mass spectrometry. While peptides generated from one digestion are being separated in the second capillary, the next protein fraction undergoes digestion in the microreactor. The migration time in the first dimension capillary is characteristic of the protein while migration time in the second dimension is characteristic of the peptide. Spot capacity for the two-dimensional separation is 590. A MS/MS analysis of a mixture of cytochrome c and myoglobin generated Mascot MOWSE scores of 107 for cytochrome c and 58 for myoglobin. The sequence coverages were 48% and 22%, respectively.     

微米氧化银膏原位生成纳米银的低温烧结连接

为降低纳米银膏用于低温烧结电子互连封装的成本,用较低廉的微米级Ag2O粉末与三甘醇配制成膏.文中研究了其原位生成纳米银的反应机理、低温烧结特性并用其低温烧结连接镀银铜块.结果表明,三甘醇还原微米级Ag2O原位生成纳米银的温度远低于Ag2O粉本身的分解温度,同时生成可以逸出的气体,且随温度升高和保温时间延长,生成的银颗粒增多并逐渐烧结长大形成颈缩式颗粒.在烧结连接温度250℃和外加压力2 MPa条件下,烧结保温时间延长可显著提高接头强度,保温5 min可获得抗剪强度为24 MPa的接头,并对典型条件下的接头断口和横截面显微组织结构进行了分析.     

A Comparison of Three Different Procedures for Estimating Variance Components

An analytic procedure for obtaining variances of estimates of variance components in a general multi-way classification is described. As an application, three methods for estimating variance components are compared for a two-way classification. Since the variances of the estimates are affected by the magnitude of the true variance components (parameters) as well as the arrangement of the subclass numbers (n _ij 's), a numerical tabulation is necessary in order to make a comparison. Using a UNIVAC 1105, the variances of the estimates of variance components are evaluated over a substantial range of parameters and n _ij 's. These results are presented in tabular form for selected sets of parameter values.     

Heuristics for single-pass welding task sequencing

Welding task sequencing is a prerequisite in the offline programming of robot arc welding. Single-pass welding task sequencing can be modelled as a modified travelling salesman problem. Owing to the difficulty of the resulting arc-routing problems, effective local search heuristics are developed. Computational speed becomes important because robot arc welding is often part of an automated process-planning procedure. Generating a reasonable solution in an acceptable time is necessary for effective automated process planning. Several different heuristics are proposed for solving the welding task-sequencing problem considering both productivity and the potential for welding distortion. Constructive heuristics based on the nearest neighbour concept and tabu search heuristics are developed and enhanced using improvement procedures. The effectiveness of the heuristics developed is tested and verified on actual welded structure problems and random problems.     

An empirical study of policies to integrate reactive scheduling and control in just-in-time job shop environments

In this paper, we compare the performance of policies for integrating reactive scheduling and control that differ in the way they interpret and dynamically reoptimize schedules in the face of contingencies. We conduct our analysis in the context of just-in-time job shop environments (?job shop problems with an objective of minimizing the sum of tardiness and inventory costs), subject to machine failures. We empirically evaluate the tradeoffs in schedule quality and computational time of different scheduling policies under different load conditions and different levels of uncertainty. Our results show that reactive procedures that selectively reoptimize a subset of the scheduling problems are capable of producing high-quality solutions in a fraction of the time required to generate brand new schedules.     

A methodology for design and reconfiguration of reconfigurable bending press machines (RBPMs)

Customer requirements have become very dynamic and unprecedented. A manufacturing paradigm called reconfigurable manufacturing system was initiated to adjust the physical machine entities. The main enabler of a machine structure’s reconfigurability is a modular design approach. The paper explains a function-driven object-oriented methodology for the design and reconfiguration of RBPMs. The complete method aims to optimise initial design of RBPMs, followed by subsequent design of RPBM modules which are stored in a module library so as to enable full-automatic reconfiguration of the RBPMs. The methodology is implemented on a pilot project to design a 145 ton bending capacity RBPM, with a maximum reconfigured length of 5?m and total height of 3?m. In order to deduce the design for the reconfigurable bending press machine, the reconfigurability needs were identified first, followed by the construction of a function tree for the machine. The function tree identifies the primary function for the RBPM, which is to bend sheet metal. The primary function is further decomposed to lower level functions until terminal functions are arrived at. The terminal functions are then used to identify the modules for the machine. The modules implement specific brunches of the machine functions.     

An analysis of competing toughening mechanisms in layered and particulate solids

The relative potency of common toughening mechanisms is explored for layered solids and particulate solids, with an emphasis on crack multiplication and plasticity. First, the enhancement in toughness due to a parallel array of cracks in an elastic solid is explored, and the stability of co-operative cracking is quantified. Second, the degree of synergistic toughening is determined for combined crack penetration and crack kinking at the tip of a macroscopic, mode I crack; specifically, the asymptotic problem of self-similar crack advance (penetration mode) versus $90^{\circ }$ symmetric kinking is considered for an isotropic, homogeneous solid with weak interfaces. Each interface is treated as a cohesive zone of finite strength and toughness. Third, the degree of toughening associated with crack multiplication is assessed for a particulate solid comprising isotropic elastic grains of hexagonal shape, bonded by cohesive zones of finite strength and toughness. The study concludes with the prediction of R-curves for a mode I crack in a multi-layer stack of elastic and elastic–plastic solids. A detailed comparison of the potency of the above mechanisms and their practical application are given. In broad terms, crack tip kinking can be highly potent, whereas multiple cracking is difficult to activate under quasi-static conditions. Plastic dissipation can give a significant toughening in multi-layers especially at the nanoscale.