From 2011 through 2018, there was a notable increase in sporadic Legionnaires' disease in the state of Minnesota. Sporadic cases are those not associated with a documented outbreak. Outbreak-related ...cases are typically associated with a common identified contaminated water system; sporadic cases typically do not have a common source that has been identified. Because of this, it is hypothesised that weather and environmental factors can be used as predictors of sporadic Legionnaires' disease. An ecological design was used with case report surveillance data from the state of Minnesota during 2011 through 2018. Over this 8-year period, there were 374 confirmed Legionnaires' disease cases included in the analysis. Precipitation, temperature and relative humidity (RH) data were collected from weather stations across the state. A Poisson regression analysis examined the risk of Legionnaires' disease associated with precipitation, temperature, RH, land-use and age. A lagged average 14-day precipitation had the strongest association with Legionnaires' disease (RR 2.5, CI 2.1–2.9), when accounting for temperature, RH, land-use and age. Temperature, RH and land-use also had statistically significant associations to Legionnaires' disease, but with smaller risk ratios. This study adds to the body of evidence that weather and environmental factors play an important role in the risk of sporadic Legionnaires' disease. This is an area that can be used to target additional research and prevention strategies.
Herein, the results of a systematic study on the kinetics of dissociation and formation of iron–boron (FeB) pairs in boron‐doped Czochralski silicon after phosphorus implantation gettering of iron at ...different temperatures are reported. The aim herein is threefold: 1) investigation of the dissociation kinetics of the FeB pairs by standardized illumination as a function of iron concentration after the gettering process; 2) study of the kinetics of their association; and 3) extraction of the characteristic parameters of these two phenomena for gettered samples, in particular the effective time constants of dissociation and association as well as the constant of material, which describes the dissociation rate well in the absence of other recombination channels.
Behavior of iron–boron (FeB) pairs in boron‐doped Czochralski silicon after extended gettering by phosphorus implantation at different temperatures is studied. The kinetic parameters of the light‐induced dissociation of iron–boron pairs under standardized illumination, i.e., 1 and 0.5 sun, as well as the characteristics of their formation in the dark, are determined.
Light and elevated‐temperature induced degradation (LeTID) is currently a severe issue in passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC). In this work, we study the impact of surface texture, especially a ...black silicon (b‐Si) nanostructure, on LeTID in industrial p‐type mc‐Si PERC. Our results show that during standard LeTID conditions the b‐Si cells with atomic‐layer‐deposited aluminum oxide (AlOx) front surface passivation show no degradation despite the presence of a hydrogen‐rich AlOx/SiNx passivation stack on the rear. Furthermore, b‐Si solar cells passivated with silicon nitride (SiNx) on the front lose only 1.5%rel of their initial power conversion efficiency, while the acidic‐textured equivalents degrade by nearly 4%rel under the same conditions. Correspondingly, clear degradation is visible in the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the acidic‐textured cells, especially in the ~850 to 1100‐nm wavelength range confirming that the degradation occurs in the bulk, while the IQE remains nearly unaffected in the b‐Si cells. The observations are supported by spatially resolved photoluminescence (PL) maps, which show a clear contrast in the degradation behavior of b‐Si and acidic‐textured cells, especially in the case of SiNx front surface passivation. The PL maps also suggest that the magnitude of LeTID scales with surface area of the texture, rather than wafer thickness that was recently reported, although the b‐Si cells are slightly thinner (140 vs 165 μm). The results indicate that b‐Si has a positive impact on LeTID, and hence, benefits provided by b‐Si are not limited only to the excellent optical properties, as commonly understood.
We study the impact of surface texture, especially a black silicon (b‐Si) nanostructure, on light and elevated‐temperature induced degradation (LeTID) in p‐type mc‐Si PERC. Industrial b‐Si cells exposed to typical degradation conditions maintain their performance, while acidic‐textured equivalents degrade by nearly 4%rel. The results suggest that b‐Si has a positive impact on LeTID, and hence, benefits provided by b‐Si are not limited only to the excellent optical properties, as commonly understood.
Background: The production of proinflammatory cytokines activates the systemic inflammatory response in sepsis. Patients also develop a compensatory anti‐inflammatory reaction, which may have an ...important down‐regulatory effect on the overactive inflammation. However, the role of this anti‐inflammatory response in sepsis is not completely clarified. In this prospective study, we investigated the relationship between the pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokine profiles in severe sepsis and their role in the development of multiple organ failure (MOF).
Methods: Thirty‐eight patients meeting the criteria for severe sepsis were studied. MOF was defined as a maximum SOFA score of 10 or higher. Serial measurements of the proinflammatory IL‐6 and IL‐1β and the anti‐inflammatory IL‐10 and IL‐1ra were used. The cytokine samples were taken at the onset of sepsis and on the third and fifth day during the ICU period.
Results: The initial IL‐10 and IL‐1ra responses were identical in patients with or without MOF. The anti‐inflammatory cytokine levels remained elevated in the MOF patients, whereas in patients without MOF the levels declined. The IL‐6/IL‐10 ratio was significantly higher in the MOF patients on days 1 and 3 compared with patients without MOF.
Conclusions: We could not demonstrate overproduction of anti‐inflammatory IL‐10 in MOF patients. On the contrary, the high IL‐6/IL‐10 ratio indicates that IL‐10 deficiency may contribute to the development of MOF in severe sepsis.
Hearing impairment affects about 1 in 1,000 children at birth. Approximately 70 loci implicated in non-syndromic forms of deafness have been reported in humans and 24 causative genes have been ...identified (see also http://www.uia.ac.be/dnalab/hhh). We report a mouse transcript, isolated by a candidate deafness gene approach, that is expressed almost exclusively in the inner ear. Genomic analysis shows that the human ortholog STRC (so called owing to the name we have given its protein-stereocilin), which is located on chromosome 15q15, contains 29 exons encompassing approximately 19 kb. STRC is tandemly duplicated, with the coding sequence of the second copy interrupted by a stop codon in exon 20. We have identified two frameshift mutations and a large deletion in the copy containing 29 coding exons in two families affected by autosomal recessive non-syndromal sensorineural deafness linked to the DFNB16 locus. Stereocilin is made up of 1,809 amino acids, and contains a putative signal petide and several hydrophobic segments. Using immunohistolabeling, we demonstrate that, in the mouse inner ear, stereocilin is expressed only in the sensory hair cells and is associated with the stereocilia, the stiff microvilli forming the structure for mechanoreception of sound stimulation.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
46.
Needle-knife assisted ERCP GULLICHSEN, R; LAVONIUS, M; LAINE, S ...
Surgical endoscopy,
09/2005, Letnik:
19, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
During endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), incising through the wall of the major papilla with an electrocautery needle-knife is a method for achieving access into the bile duct. ...This procedure, often referred to as a "precut," may be used when cannulation attempts via the orifice of the papilla are unsuccessful. Potential complications include hemorrhage, duodenal perforation, and acute pancreatitis.
The 172 patients who underwent an attempt of a needle-knife assisted ERCP during the years 1997-2003 at our institution were retrospectively evaluated.
A selective bile duct cannulation was achieved after needle-knife incision in 148 out of 172 patients (86%) at the primary session. In 10 additional patients (6%), a repeated procedure proved successful for cannulation. In the remaining 14 patients (8%), the biliary cannulation failed and was not attempted again. Complications after needle-knife assisted ERCP occurred as follows: three patients (2%) presented with late bleeding after the ERCP and three patients (2%) developed acute pancreatitis. None of the patients required operative treatment for complications. There was no mortality.
The use of the needle-knife markedly improves the success rate of selective biliary cannulation in ERCP without increasing the rate of complications.
An important aspect of Process Simulators for photovoltaics is prediction of defect evolution during device fabrication. Over the last twenty years, these tools have accelerated process optimization, ...and several Process Simulators for iron, a ubiquitous and deleterious impurity in silicon, have been developed. The diversity of these tools can make it difficult to build intuition about the physics governing iron behavior during processing. Thus, in one unified software environment and using self-consistent terminology, we combine and describe three of these Simulators. We vary structural defect distribution and iron precipitation equations to create eight distinct Models, which we then use to simulate different stages of processing. We find that the structural defect distribution influences the final interstitial iron concentration (
Fe
i
) more strongly than the iron precipitation equations. We identify two regimes of iron behavior: (1)
diffusivity-limited
, in which iron evolution is kinetically limited and bulk
Fe
i
predictions can vary by an order of magnitude or more, and (2)
solubility-limited
, in which iron evolution is near thermodynamic equilibrium and the Models yield similar results. This rigorous analysis provides new intuition that can inform Process Simulation, material, and process development, and it enables scientists and engineers to choose an appropriate level of Model complexity based on wafer type and quality, processing conditions, and available computation time.
Displaying a synthetic image on a computer display requires determining the colors of individual pixels. To avoid aliasing, multiple samples of the image can be taken per pixel, after which the color ...of a pixel may be computed as a weighted sum of the samples. The positions and weights of the samples play a major role in the resulting image quality, especially in real‐time applications where usually only a handful of samples can be afforded per pixel. This paper presents a new error metric and an optimization method for antialiasing patterns used in image reconstruction. The metric is based on comparing the pattern against a given reference reconstruction filter in spatial domain, and it takes into account psychovisually measured angle‐specific acuities for sharp features.
Aims.We study the CO and the radio continuum emission in an active galaxy to analyze the interplay between the central activity and the molecular gas. Methods.We present new high-resolution ...observations of the 12CO(1–0) and 12CO(2–1) emission lines, and 3.5 cm and 20 cm radio continuum emission in the central region of the LINER/starburst galaxy NGC 6764. Results.The galaxy has an outflow morphology in radio continuum, spatially coincident with the CO and Hα emission, and centered slightly off the radio continuum peak at the LINER nucleus. The total molecular gas mass in the center is about $7\times10^{8}$ $\mathcal{M}_{\odot}$, using a CO luminosity to total molecular gas conversion factor that is three times lower than the standard one. 12CO(1–0) emission is found near the boundaries of the radio continuum emission cone. The outflow has a projected expansion velocity of 25 km s-1 relative to the systemic velocity of NGC 6764. About $4\times 10^{6}$ $\mathcal{M}_{\odot}$ of molecular gas is detected in the outflow. The approximate location (~1 kpc) of the dynamical inner Lindblad resonance has been derived from the rotation curve. The peak of the CO emission is slightly (<200 pc) offset from the peak of the radio continuum. Conclusions.The molecular gas has most likely been ejected by the stellar winds from the recent starburst, but the CO line ratios show indication of an interaction with the AGN. The energy released by the nuclear starburst is sufficient to explain the observed outflow, even if the data cannot exclude the AGN from being the major energy source. Comparison of the outflow with hydrodynamical simulations suggests that the nuclear starburst is 3–7 Myr old and the bubble-like outflow is still confined and not freely expanding.
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