Minimal invasive therapy of aneurysms of the superficial femoral artery and the popliteal artery

Percutaneous stent placement has been described for treatment of aneurysms as an alternative to surgical therapy. Literature reports of percutaneous minimal invasive therapy of peripheral aneurysms shall be reviewed and compared with our own results. Six male patients (51-69 years) with femoropopliteal occlusions related to aneurysms were treated percutaneously. In two cases Wallstents and in four cases polyester-covered nitinol stents were applicated. A clinical investigation including doppler-ultrasound was performed 24 hrs, 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after the intervention. Stent placement succeeded in all cases. No adjunctive surgical treatment was necessary. Ankle-brachial-index (ABI) improved from 0.22 +/- 0.2 before to 0.74 +/- 0.2 24 hours after the intervention. One patient was lost for follow-up (Wallstent). A decrease of ABI and additional intraarterial angiography revealed stent-graft occlusion within one month (n = 2) and within three months (n = 1). One of these cases was successfully recanalized with local fibrinolysis therapy. In three patients patency of the stent persisted for 24 (+/- 2) months follow-up with three-vessel-supply of the calf. These results warrant further investigations for this minimal invasive method of percutaneous stent deployment as an alternative to surgical bypass treatment of femoropopliteal aneurysms. Time of hospitalization was reduced. At this time, surgical treatment of peripheral vascular aneurysms is gold standard.     

Computer modeling of the neural network recognizing the contrasts on the image

Computer modeling of the neuron network offered in [1] is discussed. Organization and feature of modeling are described, as well as the changes, which are introduced in the network during researches. Results of modeling are present.     

Poly-1-hexene,synthesis and solubility in dense carbon dioxide

Several poly-1-hexene samples were prepared using different Ziegler-Natta catalysts, and their solubilities in dense carbon dioxide (CO₂) were studied. Despite the varied molecular weight distributions (MWD) in the polymers, a surprising correlation was found between intrinsic viscosity and dense CO₂ solubility. Due to the ability of dense CO₂ to extract low-molecular weight fractions preferentially, it is recommended that narrow MWD polymers be used, as far as possible, for dense CO₂ solubility determinations.     

Diagnostic value of the reaction of morphological dissociation of clotted blood (RMDCB) in nonspecific pneumonias and lung cancer

The authors studied separate parameters of the reaction of morphological dissociation of clotted blood in 97 patients, 83 of them suffering chronic nonspecific pneumonia and 14--lung cancer. Such RMDCB tests as the amount of the third fraction of blood coagulation (TFCB), the time of TFCB sediment formation and "the prognostic index" are found to be of certain diagnostic value, and along with other laboratory tests and clinical symptoms these allowed a differentiation between chronic nonspecific pneumonia and lung cancer.     

Growing a list

It is easy to find expert knowledge on the Internet on almost any topic, but obtaining a complete overview of a given topic is not always easy: information can be scattered across many sources and must be aggregated to be useful. We introduce a method for intelligently growing a list of relevant items, starting from a small seed of examples. Our algorithm takes advantage of the wisdom of the crowd, in the sense that there are many experts who post lists of things on the Internet. We use a collection of simple machine learning components to find these experts and aggregate their lists to produce a single complete and meaningful list. We use experiments with gold standards and open-ended experiments without gold standards to show that our method significantly outperforms the state of the art. Our method uses the ranking algorithm Bayesian Sets even when its underlying independence assumption is violated, and we provide a theoretical generalization bound to motivate its use.     

Spatial Wavefunction-Switched (SWS) InGaAs FETs with II–VI Gate Insulators

This paper presents the implementation of a novel InGaAs field-effect transistor (FET), using a ZnSe-ZnS-ZnMgS-ZnS stacked gate insulator, in a spatial wavefunction-switched (SWS) structural configuration. Unlike conventional FETs, SWS devices comprise two or more asymmetric coupled quantum wells (QWs). This feature enables carrier transfer vertically from one quantum well to another or laterally to the wells of adjacent SWS-FET devices by manipulation of the gate voltages (V _g). Observation of an extra peak (near both accumulation and inversion regions) in the capacitance–voltage data in an InGaAs-AlInAs two-quantum-well SWS structure is presented as evidence of spatial switching. The peaks are attributed to the appearance of carriers first in the lower well and subsequently their transfer to the upper well as the gate voltage is increased. The electrical characteristics of a fabricated SWS InGaAs FET are also presented along with simulations of capacitance–voltage (C–V) behavior, showing the effect of wavefunction switching between wells. Finally, logic operations involving simultaneous processing of multiple bits in a device, using coded spatial location of carriers in quantum well channels, are also described.     

Indium Gallium Arsenide Quantum Dot Gate Field-Effect Transistor Using II–VI Tunnel Insulators Showing Three-State Behavior

This paper presents an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) quantum dot gate field-effect transistor (QDG-FET) that exhibits an intermediate “i” state in addition to the conventional ON and OFF states. The QDG-FET utilized a II–VI gate insulator stack consisting of lattice-matched ZnSe/ZnS/ZnMgS/ZnS/ZnSe for its high-κ and wide-bandgap properties. Germanium oxide (GeO _x )-cladded germanium quantum dots were self-assembled over the gate insulator stack, and they allow for the three-state behavior of the device. Electrical characteristics of the fabricated device are also presented.     

Purification and characterization of an endopeptidase from Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus B14

An intracellular endopeptidase was purified from cell-free extracts of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus B14 by anion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose, hydroxyapatite chromatography, second anion exchange chromatography on Mono-Q, and metal-chelating affinity chromatography. The endopeptidase was a monomer with a molecular mass of approximately 70 kDa determined by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration. Various oligopeptides (e.g. Met-enkephalin, bradykinin) were hydrolysed by the endopeptidase. Exopeptidase activity and cleavage of dipeptides or tripeptides was not observed. The K_M value for the cleavage of Metenkephalin was 1.2 mM. Temperature and pH optima were 47 °C and pH 7.7, respectively. The endopeptidase was inhibited by the classical agents for metal-dependent (EDTA) and serine (DFP) enzymes. Activity was increased by Co²⁺ and Mg²⁺, no effect was observed with Ca²⁺. After inhibition with EDTA, enzyme activity could be restored fully by Co²⁺. Activity was inhibited by Zn²⁺, Mn²⁺, Fe²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Hg²⁺. The N-terminal sequence of the endopeptidase was determined as: H₂N-Val-Arg-Gly-Gly-Ser-Gly-Asp-Thr-Thr-Val-0H.     

Ge-ZnSSe Spatial Wavefunction Switched (SWS) FETs to Implement Multibit SRAMs and Novel Quaternary Logic

This paper describes novel multibit static random-access memories (SRAMs) implemented using four-channel spatial wavefunction switched field-effect transistors (SWS FETs) with Ge quantum wells and ZnSSe barriers. A two-bit SRAM cell consists of two back-to-back connected four-channel SWS FETs, where each SWS FET serves as a quaternary inverter. This architecture results in a reduction of the field-effect transistor (FET) count by 75% and data interconnect density by 50%. The designed two-bit SRAM cell is simulated using Berkeley short-channel insulated-gate field-effect transistor equivalent-channel models (for 25-nm FETs). In addition, the binary interface logic and conversion circuitry are designed to integrate the SWS SRAM technology. Our motivation is to stack up multiple bits on a single SRAM cell without multiplying the transistor count. The concept of spatial wavefunction switching (SWS) in the FET structure has been verified experimentally for two- and four-well structures. Quantum simulations exhibiting SWS in four-well Ge SWS FET structures, using the ZnSe/ZnS/ZnMgS/ZnSe gate insulator, are presented. These structures offer higher contrast than Si-SiGe SWS FETs.     

Insight into the Solid Electrolyte Interphase Formation in Bis(fluorosulfonyl)Imide Based Ionic Liquid Electrolytes

The formation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) in an ionic liquid electrolyte of 0.5 m lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide at high cell voltages (1.7–1.9 V) is investigated in ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) based Li metal cells using an operando small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique coupled with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is demonstrated that discharging the OMC Li metal cells to ≈2 V and holding the cell voltage constant induces a rapid current increase with time, confirming extensive reduction and SEI formation. XPS analysis reveals that LiF is formed at open cell voltage (OCV), which is attributed to the carbenes generated at the lithium negative electrode because of its reaction with EMIm cation diffusing to and initiating the reaction with FSI⁻ anions at the carbon positive electrode. It is confirmed that the chemical reaction at OCV and electrochemical reduction at high cell voltage of the FSI⁻ anion plays a protective role against EMIm cation co-intercalation into the carbon positive electrode during the initial discharge. Operando SANS studies also suggest that slight differences occur in the surface composition and reaction mechanism as a function of cell voltage.