High I/O flow rates, up to 10 GB/s, are required in large fusion Tokamak experiments like ITER where hundreds of nodes store simultaneously large amounts of data acquired during the plasma ...discharges. Typical network topologies such as linear arrays (systolic), rings, meshes (2-D arrays), tori (3-D arrays), trees, butterfly, hypercube in combination with high speed data transports like Infiniband or 10G-Ethernet, are the main areas in which the effort to overcome the so-called parallel I/O bottlenecks is most focused.
The high I/O flow rates were modelled in an emulated testbed based on the parallel file systems such as Lustre and GPFS, commonly used in High Performance Computing. The test runs on High Performance Computing–For Fusion (8640 cores) and ENEA CRESCO (3392 cores) supercomputers. Message Passing Interface based applications were developed to emulate parallel I/O on Lustre and GPFS using data archival and access solutions like MDSPLUS and Universal Access Layer. These methods of data storage organization are widely diffused in nuclear fusion experiments and are being developed within the EFDA Integrated Tokamak Modelling – Task Force; the authors tried to evaluate their behaviour in a realistic emulation setup.
A great number of studies have been published on acute pancreatitis, but few have focused on the recurrent form. In this study, we have sought to determine the relative frequency and mortality of ...recurrent acute pancreatitis, and also to update our knowledge of its etiological factors.
Patients were selected from a total of 1068 persons included in a previous European study of acute pancreatitis. All were admitted to a hospital with an attack of acute pancreatitis between January, 1990 and December, 1994. Data for each patient was recorded on a standardized form.
Of the 1068 with acute pancreatitis, 288 (27%) had recurrent pancreatitis; the majority (78.8%) were men, with a mean age of 43 yr (range 16-95 yr). Regarding etiology, alcohol was the most frequent factor (57%), followed by gallstones (25%), other factors (7.6%), and no identified factor (10.4%). Of the 288 patients, 17 (5.9%) died, all of whom had necrotizing pancreatitis; among all of the patients with necrotizing pancreatitis (141 of 288), the mortality was 12.1%. These percentages are lower than those for patients who had a single attack (8.5% and 18.6%, respectively), but not to a statistically significant degree. Mortality was significantly lower among patients with alcoholic pancreatitis (6.9%) than among those with biliary (30%) (p < 0.002) or idiopathic pancreatitis (25%) (p < 0.04). Most of the deaths (82.4%) occurred at the second attack of pancreatitis.
Acute recurrent pancreatitis remains a frequent disease, with alcohol being the most frequent etiological factor. Mortality is similar to that of a single episode of acute pancreatitis, and it is significantly lower among patients with alcohol as the etiology.
Reference materials were used to assess measurement result uncertainty in determination of 210Pb by gamma-ray spectrometry, liquid scintillation counting, or indirectly by alpha-particle ...spectrometry, using its daughter 210Po in radioactive equilibrium. Combined standard uncertainties of 210Pb massic activities obtained by liquid scintillation counting are in the range 2–12%, depending on matrices and massic activity values. They are in the range 1–3% for the measurement of its daughter 210Po using alpha-particle spectrometry. Three approaches (direct computation of counting efficiency and efficiency transfer approaches based on the computation and, respectively, experimental determination of the efficiency transfer factors) were applied for the evaluation of 210Pb using gamma-ray spectrometry. Combined standard uncertainties of gamma-ray spectrometry results were found in the range 2–17%. The effect of matrix composition on self-attenuation was investigated and a detailed assessment of uncertainty components was performed.
•Confirmed 210Pb certified values by LSC and alpha-particle spectrometry (210Po).•Assessed 210Po measurement result uncertainty by alpha-particle spectrometry.•Matrix composition effect on gamma-ray spectrometry measurement result uncertainty.•Assessment of 210Pb measurement result uncertainty by gamma-ray spectrometry.•Comparison of techniques and approaches: ‘fit-for-purpose’ considerations.
Gastric carcinoid tumors are rare tumors that originate from gastric enterochromaffin-like cells in the oxyntic mucosa.
1
There are three types of gastric carcinoid tumors: type I is associated with ...chronic atrophic gastritis, type II develops in patients with combined multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and the Zollinger–Ellison syndrome, and type III is sporadic.
1
Although the pathogenesis of these tumors is not completely understood, hypergastrinemia has an important role in the development of types I and II.
2
The multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 gene locus may be involved in type II gastric carcinoid tumors.
3
,
4
All three types are usually removed . . .
40 Sasanian silver coins of the emperor Khusro II (591–628) belonging to the Coin Collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna (KHM) as well as 188 coins of the same emperor acquired at the free ...coin market were analyzed using micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis (μ-XRF) in the course of the research project “Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum”. These studies revealed the presence of mercury in the XRF spectra of a bigger part of the coins. First investigations with complementary techniques showed that the mercury is present as a surface layer. Therefore, further detailed studies were performed on polished sections using the Particle Induced X-ray Emission technique with a proton microprobe (μ-PIXE) that offers quantitative and spatially resolved elemental information with micron resolution, scanning micro-X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) analyses for a better understanding of the elemental distribution on the surface and polished sections of the coins and finally confocal micro-XRF (3D μ-XRF or CMXRF) analyses for revealing information on the surface layering and elemental in-depth distribution. The synergistic application of these methods offered detailed and improved information on the structure of the mercury-layer on the surface of the silver coins supporting assumptions dating back to 1976/78 indicating medical treatments using Hg as basis for this phenomenon.
•The analysis of ancient Sasanian coins is described.•The mercury layer that was found on the surface of the bigger part of these coins makes them very special.•The finding of the mercury layer was the reason for further careful analysis after investigations using μ-XRF.•The methods involved for further analysis were: μ-XRF scanning, confocal XRF and μ-PIXE.•The examinations led to the assumption that these mercury layers are ancient, at least not applied in recent times.
Abstract Background Many women with coronary artery disease (CAD), commonly referred to as coronary heart disease, do not receive an annual office visit to manage their disease. We set out to ...determine what barriers factor into women not receiving an office visit to manage their disease. Methods A purposive sample of 26 eligible women (≥65 years of age) diagnosed with CAD completed in-depth, qualitative interviews. Systematic analysis of the content of interviews was performed on transcripts from these interviews. Participants with an AARP Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan insured by UnitedHealthcare insurance company that did not receive an annual office visit were eligible. In addition, we surveyed 100 physicians to obtain their thoughts about why women may not schedule at least one annual visit to manage their CAD. Results The most common barriers identified were skepticism of heart problems, having to take the initiative to schedule the appointment, and dealing with seemingly more pressing health problems. Many of these barriers identified were substantiated in a survey of physicians that treat women with CAD, but the relative rankings of the importance of these problems differed somewhat. Conclusions Many women were skeptical about their heart health and often lacked the initiative to schedule a follow-up appointment. Most agreed that they would make an appointment if contacted by their doctor's office. Many of these women were receptive to the idea of receiving educational information by mail. Active involvement by doctors' offices to schedule appointments may help improve care, as might mail-based reminders.
PDF
