A novel nonlinear de-embedding procedure based on only the use of low- and high-frequency vector large-signal measurements is proposed. The nonlinear Q-V characteristics, along with the parasitic ...network, are here determined by combining vector measurements with numerical optimization. Consequently, the knowledge of their contributions allows one to retrieve the actual waveform at the current generator plane starting from any high-frequency load line.
Ophiobolin A, a sesterterpenoid produced by plant pathogenic fungi, was purified from the culture extract of Drechslera gigantea and tested for its growth-inhibitory activity in both plant and ...mammalian cells. Ophiobolin A induced cell death in Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow 2 (TBY-2) cells at concentrations ≥10 μM, with the TBY-2 cells showing typical features of apoptosis-like cell death. At a concentration of 5 μM, ophiobolin A did not affect plant cell viability but prevented cell proliferation. When tested on eight cancer cell lines, concentrations <1 μM of ophiobolin A inhibited growth by 50% after 3 days of culture irrespective of their multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotypes and their resistance levels to pro-apoptotic stimuli. It is, thus, unlikely that ophiobolin A exerts these in vitro growth-inhibitory effects in cancer cells by activating pro-apoptotic processes. Highly proliferative human keratinocytes appeared more sensitive to the growth-inhibitory effects of ophiobolin A than slowly proliferating ones. Ophiobolin A also displayed significant antitumor activity at the level of mouse survival when assayed at 10 mg/kg in the B16F10 mouse melanoma model with lung pseudometastases. Ophiobolin A could, thus, represent a novel scaffold to combat cancer types that display various levels of resistance to pro-apoptotic stimuli and/or various MDR phenotypes.
When an health condition has been identified, the question of whether to continue driving depends not on a medical diagnosis, but on the functional consequences of the illness. The complex nature of ...physical and mental impairments and their relationship with safe driving make the availability of evidence based tools necessary for health professionals.
The review aims at identifying and summarizing scientific findings concerning the relationship between neuropsychological and clinical screening tests and fitness to drive among people with chronic conditions.
Studies were searched for driving ability evaluation by road test or simulator, clinical/neuropsychological examinations of participants with chronic diseases or permanent disablement impairing driving performance, primary outcomes as fatal/non-fatal traffic injuries and secondary outcomes as fitness to drive assessment.
Twenty-seven studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Some studies included more than one clinical condition. The illness investigated were Alzheimer Disease (n=6), Parkinson Disease (n=8), Cardiovascular Accident (n=4), Traumatic Brain Injuries (n=3), Sleep Apnea Syndrome (n=2), Narcolepsy (n=1), Multiple Sclerosis (n=1) and Hepatic Encephalopathy (n=1), comorbidities (n=3). No studies match inclusion criteria about Myasthenia Gravis, Diabetes Mellitus, Renal Diseases, Hearing Disorders and Sight Diseases. No studies referred to primary outcomes.
The selected studies provided opposite evidences. It would be reasonable to argue that some clinical and neuropsychological tests are effective in predicting fitness to drive even if contrasting results support that driving performance decreases as a function of clinical and neuropsychological decline in some chronic diseases. Nevertheless we found no evidence that clinical and neuropsychological screening tests would lead to a reduction in motor vehicle crashes involving chronic disabled drivers.
It seems necessary to develop tests with proven validity for identifying high-risk drivers so that physicians can provide guidance to their patients in chronic conditions, and also to medical advisory boards working with licensing offices.
The main effort of the laser-driven ion acceleration community is aimed at improving particle beam features (in terms of final maximum energy, particle charge, and beam divergence) and to demonstrate ...reliable approaches for use for multidisciplinary applications. An ion acceleration target area based on unique laser capabilities is available at ELI-Beamlines (Extreme Light Infrastructure) in the Czech Republic; it is called ELIMAIA (ELI Multidisciplinary Applications of laser-Ion Acceleration) and aims to provide stable and characterized beams of particles accelerated by high-power lasers to offer them to the user community for interdisciplinary studies. The ELIMAIA section dedicated to ion focusing, selection, characterization, and irradiation is named ELIMED (ELI MEDical and multidisciplinary applications). Thanks to ELIMED, very high-dose-rate (around Gy/min) controlled proton and ion beams, with energy levels ranging from 5 to 250 MeV, will be transported to an in-air section dedicated to absolute and relative dosimetry of the laser-generated ions. A transmission dual-gap air ionization chamber will allow an on-line, non-destructive characterization of the ion dose at the user sample irradiation point. The uncertainty in the final dose released onto the sample is expected to be well below 5%. An ELIMED radiobiology pilot experiment is scheduled for 2021, during which in-vitro cell irradiations will be carried out with well-controlled proton beams. In this work, the status of the ELIMED/ELIMAIA beamline will be described along with a complete definition of the main dosimetric systems and of their calibrations carried out at conventional accelerators.
Reparative response by bone marrow (BM)-derived progenitor cells (PCs) to ischemia is a multistep process that comprises the detachment from the BM endosteal niche through activation of osteoclasts ...and proteolytic enzymes (such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)), mobilization to the circulation, and homing to the injured tissue. We previously showed that intramyocardial nerve growth factor gene transfer (NGF-GT) promotes cardiac repair following myocardial infarction (MI) in mice. Here, we investigate the impact of cardiac NGF-GT on postinfarction BM-derived PCs mobilization and homing at different time points after adenovirus-mediated NGF-GT in mice. Immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry newly illustrate the temporal profile of osteoclast and activation of MMP9, PCs expansion in the BM, and liberation/homing to the injured myocardium. NGF-GT amplified these responses and increased the BM levels of active osteoclasts and MMP9, which were not observed in MMP9-deficient mice. Taken together, our results suggest a novel role for NGF in BM-derived PCs mobilization/homing following MI.
We evaluate the uncertainty in on-wafer vector-calibrated nonlinear measurements with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Microwave Uncertainty Framework. We include in our ...analysis uncertainties in the passive calibration standards, power meter, NIST-traceable phase calibration reference, cable bending, and probe alignment. These uncertainties are propagated first to the electrical quantities across the terminals of the device-under-test, which was an on-wafer microwave transistor. Next, we propagate uncertainties to the transistor current-generator plane, whose temporal voltage/current waveforms and impedances are of interest for the design of power amplifiers.
Blood group O candidates remain on the waiting list for a liver transplant for a longer time than candidates of other blood groups. Herein, we analyzed potential factors affecting waiting times in ...the period that preceded the introduction of the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) and in MELD era, remarking possible corrections introduced by the adoption of the MELD.
Our analysis was entirely based on data obtained from the "Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network", referring to the periods before and after the adoption of the MELD.
In the MELD era, taking into consideration all candidates, the cumulative probability of remaining on the waiting list significantly diminished whereas that of undergoing transplantation significantly increased when compared with the pre-MELD era. However, group O candidates maintained the lowest cumulative probability of undergoing liver transplant, in all MELD classes, and the highest percentage of list removal for death/too sick. What caused the highest disadvantage for group O, in both eras, was the use of group O organs for ABO-compatible transplants, even in the absence of urgency. In candidates receiving ABO-compatible organs a significantly lower graft survival rate was observed compared with candidates receiving ABO-identical organs, even when the analysis was adjusted for the MELD score.
The introduction of the MELD significantly reduced the waiting time for all candidates as also the shift of group O organs. Limiting ABO-compatible organs exclusively to urgent cases would have a positive effect not only in terms of individual justice, but also terms of in general utility, considering the effect of ABO-matching on graft survival.
Background. Chronic kidney diseases (CKD) tend to progress to end-stage renal failure (ESRF). As it has been demonstrated that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) have a renoprotective ...effect in adults with proteinuric disease and may be effective in reducing hyperfiltration and proteinuria, they are also frequently used as anti-progression agents in paediatric patients with CKD despite the lack of data confirming their role in the nephropathies peculiar to children. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with hypodysplastic CKD (the most common cause of ESRF in children) treated with ACEi show a significantly slower decline in creatinine clearance (Ccr). Methods. The analysis was based on the information available in the database of the ItalKid Project, a nationwide, population-based registry of chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) in children in Italy. Of the 822 patients with CRI due to hypodysplasia, we selected those who had been continuously treated with ACEi; the control patients were identified from the same diagnostic group and matched for gender, age and baseline Ccr. Results. Progression was analysed as the slope of Ccr in a total of 164 patients: 41 cases and 123 matched controls. There were no significant between-group differences in blood pressure, duration of follow-up or pre-study slope of Ccr (−0.31 ± 2.26 vs − 0.33 ± 3.58 ml/min/1.73m2/year; P = NS). After an average of 4.9 ± 2.3 years, the mean slope of Ccr was 40% lower in the ACEi-treated cases in comparison to controls (−1.08 ± 2.08 vs − 1.80 ± 4.42 ml/min/1.73 m2/year), however, this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.31). Conclusions. We conclude that ACEi treatment does not significantly modify the naturally progressive course of hypodysplastic nephropathy in children and further studies are necessary before such treatment is routinely proposed for anti-progression purposes in children with CKD.
Objective. This study describes and evaluates the application of a waiting list management program in ambulatory care. Design. Waiting list active management survey (telephone call and further ...contact); before and after controlled trial. Setting. Local Health Trust in Veneto Region (North-East of Italy) in 2008-09. Participants. Five hundred and one people on a 554 waiting list for C Class ambulatory care diagnostic and/or clinical investigations (electrocardiography plus cardiology ambulatory consultation, eye ambulatory consultation, carotid vessels Eco-colorDoppler, legs Eco-color-Doppler or colonoscopy, respectively). Intervention. Active list management program consisting of a telephonic interview on 21 items to evaluate socioeconomic features, self-perceived health status, social support, referral physician, accessibility and patients' satisfaction. A controlled before-and-after study was performed to evaluate anonymously the overall impact on patients' self-perceived quality of care. Main outcome measures. The rate of patients with deteriorating healthcare conditions; rate of dropout; interviewed degree of satisfaction about the initiative; overall impact on citizens' perceived quality of care. Results. 95.4% patients evaluated the initiative as useful. After the intervention, patients more likely to have been targeted with the program showed a statistically significant increase in self-reported quality of care. Conclusions. Positive impact of the program on some dimensions of ambulatory care quality (health status, satisfaction, willingness to remain in the queue), thus confirming the outstanding value of 'not to leave people alone' and 'not to leave them feeling themselves alone' in healthcare delivery.
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