Polymorphism of the tumour necrosis factor-alpha and lymphotoxin-alpha genes in hairy cell leukaemia

Erythrocytosis arises from a variety of pathogenic mechanisms. We sequenced a 256-bp region 3' to the erythropoietin (Epo) gene which included a 24- to 50-bp minimal hypoxia-responsive element spanning HIF-1- and HNF-4-binding sites in 12 patients with erythrocytosis and 4 normal subjects. Four polymorphisms were found, none of which affected the HIF-1-binding site, although one polymorphism was present in the HNF-4 consensus region. The data indicate that none of these polymorphisms cause erythrocytosis.     

Identification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in healthcare heating,ventilation, and air conditioning units

Evidence continues to grow supporting the aerosol transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To assess the potential role of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in airborne viral transmission, this study sought to determine the viral presence, if any, on air handling units in a healthcare setting where coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients were being treated. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in approximately 25% of samples taken from ten different locations in multiple air handlers. While samples were not evaluated for viral infectivity, the presence of viral RNA in air handlers raises the possibility that viral particles can enter and travel within the air handling system of a hospital, from room return air through high-efficiency MERV-15 filters and into supply air ducts. Although no known transmission events were determined to be associated with these specimens, the findings suggest the potential for HVAC systems to facilitate transfer of virions to locations remote from areas where infected persons reside. These results are important within and outside of healthcare settings and may present necessary guidance for building operators of facilities that are not equipped with high-efficiency filtration. Furthermore, the identification of SARS-CoV-2 in HVAC components indicates the potential utility as an indoor environmental surveillance location.     

Effect of Varying Quartz Particle Size and Firing Atmosphere on Densification of Brazilian Clay-Based Stoneware

Body mixes for stoneware containing a Brazilian red clay, nepheline syenite, and quartz with two different median particle sizes (∼2 and 18 μm) were fired under oxidizing and reducing atmospheres. The densification behavior was followed by dilatometry simulating the firing schedule, as well as by water absorption, linear shrinkage, and bulk density measurements on as-fired specimens. It was revealed that finer quartz led to interconnected pore closure at 1125°C when fired under an oxidizing atmosphere. Densification was systematically related to the uniformity of the compacts in the unfired state. Phase and microstructural examination by X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy/EDS showed that mullite developed more extensively in the stonewares fired in an oxidizing atmosphere, along with cristobalite and haematite, whereas metallic iron was found in stonewares fired under a reducing atmosphere.     

Detection of environmental mismatch in a shallow water waveguide

Performance of source localization, particularly using matched-field processing techniques, is very sensitive to modeling mismatch. This paper presents a novel test for detecting modeling mismatch in a bounded propagation medium, such as shallow water. The test is based on the fact that when there are no model uncertainties, the modal spectrum of the received signal is strictly limited to an a priori known set of modes. Mismatch in the modal eigenfunction of the assumed model causes the modal spectrum out of this band to be nonzero. The proposed test requires no prior knowledge about the radiating sources. The performance of the proposed test is evaluated via computer simulations of a benchmark shallow water channel. It is shown that the test is sensitive to mismatch in the channel depth and in bottom sound speeds. The ability of the test to identify array tilt mismatch is also presented. An application of the test for validation of maximum-likelihood localization results is also discussed     

Detection and parameter estimation of a transient signal usingorder statistics

Detection and parameter estimation of a transient signal in noise is a problem of many applications. It is characterized by the fact that some of the measurements consist of noise only. Modern statistical signal processing techniques are applied on a discrete version of the received data and are implemented by digital signal processing (DSP). In this correspondence, we show how order statistics (OS)-based signal processing, which is of a discrete nature, can be used for simultaneous detection and estimation of parameters (such as time of arrival and signal duration) of a sampled transient signal in white noise. We show that the resulting processors are more robust than the conventional processors, whereas their performance is about the same, at the cost of increased computational complexity     

Optimal and suboptimal broad-band source location estimation

Two maximum-likelihood (ML) estimators are considered for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of broadband sources with unknown spectral parameters. One is based on the assumption that the sources radiate stochastic-Gaussian signals and therefore is called the stochastic-Gaussian ML (SGML) estimator; the other, using estimates of the actual signals (not their assumed distribution), is called the conditional ML (CML) estimator. Neither is efficient if the source spectral parameters are completely arbitrary and unknown, but the problem can be avoided for a version of the SGML estimation if the signal and noise spectra are known to satisfy certain smoothness conditions. While this version of the SGML is formally superior to the CML, it is demonstrated that the performance difference is small with underconditions not infrequently encountered in practice. When these are satisfied, the computationally simpler CML can be used without significant loss. The required conditions become more stringent as the source separation decreases or correlation between sources increases. A closed-form analytic expression is obtained for the small-error variance of the CML estimator of the DOA of the nth source in the presence of N-1 other sources     

Psychometric properties of the French and English versions of the Social Phobia Inventory.

The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN; Connor et al., 2000) is a self-report measure assessing fear, avoidance, and physiological symptoms associated with social anxiety. To date, the psychometric properties of this English-language measure have been examined primarily in individuals with social phobia. This study examined the psychometric properties of the English SPIN and a newly developed French version of the SPIN in nonclinical groups of undergraduate students. The SPIN, along with several other questionnaires, was completed by 202 English-speaking and 222 French-speaking participants in their respective languages from three different universities. A subset of participants completed the questionnaire a second time approximately one month later to assess test-retest reliability. The SPIN total score exhibited excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as strong convergent and divergent validity in both English and French. A revised confirmatory factor analysis suggested the three-factor model of the SPIN was a good fit in French and English; however, the psychometric properties of the fear, avoidance, and physiology subscales were not as strong as those of the total score of the SPIN. The excellent psychometric properties of the English and French SPIN total score support the use of this measure not only in clinical populations, but now also in a nonclinical student sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)