Search results for "STING"
showing 10 items of 3756 documents
Two Patients With History of STEC-HUS, Posttransplant Recurrence and Complement Gene Mutations
2013
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a disease of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure. About 90% of cases are secondary to infections by Escherichia coli strains producing Shiga-like toxins (STEC-HUS), while 10% are associated with mutations in genes encoding proteins of complement system (aHUS). We describe two patients with a clinical history of STEC-HUS, who developed end-stage renal disease (ESRD) soon after disease onset. They received a kidney transplant but lost the graft for HUS recurrence, a complication more commonly observed in aHUS. Before planning a second renal transplantation, the two patients underwent genetic screening for aHUS-associat…
Simultaneous harvest-and-transmit ambient backscatter communications under Rayleigh fading
2019
Ambient backscatter communications is an emerging paradigm and a key enabler for pervasive connectivity of low-powered wireless devices. It is primarily beneficial in the Internet of things (IoT) and the situations where computing and connectivity capabilities expand to sensors and miniature devices that exchange data on a low power budget. The premise of the ambient backscatter communication is to build a network of devices capable of operating in a battery-free manner by means of smart networking, radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting and power management at the granularity of individual bits and instructions. Due to this innovation in communication methods, it is essential to investigat…
SIGNAL ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A VEHICLE CRASH TEST WITH A FIXED SAFETY BARRIER BASED ON HAAR WAVELETS
2011
Author's version of an article published in the journal: International Journal of Wavelets, Multiresolution and Information Processing. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s0219691311003979 This paper deals with the wavelet-based performance analysis of the safety barrier for use in a full-scale test. The test involves a vehicle, a Ford Fiesta, which strikes the safety barrier at a prescribed angle and speed. The vehicle speed before the collision was measured. Vehicle accelerations in three directions at the center of gravity were measured during the collision. The yaw rate was measured with a gyro meter. Using normal speed and high-speed video cameras, the beha…
Lock-In Signal Post-Processing Techniques in Infra-Red Thermography for Materials Structural Evaluation
2013
This paper describes the potential of off-line thermographic signal processing by means of Lock-In Correlation algorithms, in order to implement structural health monitoring and stress analysis techniques. Thermal datasets acquired by infrared thermocameras are locked-in and correlated numerically with opportune reference signals, and amplitude and phase values of various harmonics retrieved by means of a Fast Fourier Transform and time averaging based filtering. This information is then processed for NDT defect probing and for evaluating the Thermoelastic Effect induced temperature changes. Two case studies in particular are discussed, implementing the proposed signal lock-in processing: a…
Quantitative thermoelastic stress analysis by means of low-cost setups
2020
Abstract A low-cost Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA) experimental setup is proposed which uses an ordinary micro-bolometer and in-house developed signal processing scripts. The setup is evaluated by analysing the thermoelastic signal from a tensile and a SENT specimen made of stainless steel AISI 304L, and the bolometer performances are compared with those of a state of the art photon detector. Signal processing is based on off-line cross-correlation, using a self-reference signal which is retrieved from the acquired thermal data. Procedures are in particular developed to recognise, quantify and correct errors due to spectral leakage and loss of streamed frames. The thermoelastic signal …
Surface AFM microscopy of unworn and worn samples of silicone hydrogel contact lenses
2008
Abstract: Purpose. To evaluate the qualitative and quantitative topographic changes in the surface of worn contact lenses (CLs) of different materials using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Methods. The topography of five different CL materials was evaluated withAFM over a surface of 25 lm2 according to previously published experimental setup. Average roughness (Ra) and root mean square (Rms) values were obtained for unworn and worn samples. Results. The Ra value increased for balafilcon A (11.62–13.68 nm for unworn and worn samples, respectively), lotrafilcon A (3.67–15.01 nm for unworn and worn samples, respectively), lotrafilcon B (4.08–8.42 nm for unworn and worn samples, respectively), g…
Plasmonic Focusing Reduces Ensemble Linewidth of Silver-Coated Gold Nanorods
2008
Silver coating gold nanorods reduces the ensemble plasmon line width by changing the relation connecting particle shape and plasmon resonance wavelength. This change, we term "plasmonic focusing", leads to less variation of resonance wavelengths for the same particle size distribution. We also find smaller single particle linewidth comparing resonances at the same wavelength but show that this does not contribute to the ensemble linewidth narrowing.
Effect of surface treatment with sandblasting and Er,Cr:YSGG laser on bonding of stainless steel orthodontic brackets to silver amalgam
2011
Objectives: Satisfactory bonding of orthodontic attachments to amalgam is a challenge for orthodontists. The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the shear bond strength of stainless steel orthodontic brackets to silver amalgam treated with sandblasting and Er,Cr:YSGG laser. Study Design: Fifty-four amalgam discs were prepared, polished and divided into three groups: In group 1 (the control group) the premolar brackets were bonded using Panavia F resin cement without any surface treatment; in groups 2 and 3, the specimens were subjected to sandblasting and Er,Cr:YSGG laser respectively, before bracket bonding. After immersing in distilled water at 37°C for 24 hours, all the specimens w…
Delisting of liver transplant candidates with chronic hepatitis C after viral eradication: A European study
2016
Background & Aims: All oral direct acting antivirals (DAA) have been shown to improve the liver function of patients with decompensated cirrhosis but it is presently unknown whether this clinical improvement may lead to the delisting of some patients. The aim of this study was to assess if and which patients can be first inactivated due to clinically improvement and subsequently delisted in a real life setting. Methods: 103 consecutive listed patients without hepatocellular carcinoma were treated with different DAA combinations in 11 European centres between February 2014 and February 2015. Results: The cumulative incidence of inactivated and delisted patients by competing risk analysis…
Biological tolerance of different materials in bulk and nanoparticulate form in a rat model: sarcoma development by nanoparticles
2006
In order to study the pathobiological impact of the nanometre-scale of materials, we evaluated the effects of five different materials as nanoparticulate biomaterials in comparison with bulk samples in contact with living tissues. Five groups out of 10 rats were implanted bilaterally for up to 12 months with materials of the same type, namely TiO 2 , SiO 2 , Ni, Co and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), subcutaneously with bulk material on one side of the vertebral column and intramuscularly with nanoparticulate material on the contralateral side. At the end of each implantation time, the site was macroscopically examined, followed by histological processing according to standard techniques. Malign…