The main objective of this paper is to determine the optimal placement of oilfield producer wells while accounting for surface infrastructure constraints. To accomplish this objective, we replace a ...first-principles optimization model with a hybrid approach, which draws the correlations for oil production from data obtained by rigorous simulations of grid discretized reservoir models. We use these correlations to build a Multiperiod Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem with the production constraints and maximization of the Net Present Value (NPV) as the objective function. A computationally efficient multiperiod MILP model is proposed to evaluate the performance of this methodology with a surrogate correlation for the oil production rate built in ALAMO. This set of equations takes into account the distance of the producer well from the injection well, the depth of the producer well, and the time of operation. This model allows higher levels of grid discretization and longer time horizons of interest. In order to address systems where high spatial resolution is necessary and computational expense is high, we introduce a methodology of Spatial Aggregation and Disaggregation. In such method, we first simplify the problem through aggregation to then decompose the obtained solution, producing highly resolved well placement strategies. With this approach, it is shown that the optimal well placement locations can be obtained with order of magnitude reductions in computational expense.
New educational resources are being implemented as an initiative to foster learning. In order to contribute to the toolkit of innovative educational resources, we developed a microbiology comic book. ...The aim of this comic is to provide educators with a fun, accessible, and rigorous way to generate awareness of the invisible world that surrounds us and that inhabits us. Bacteria have a reputation as harmful and disgusting entities. Mass media, with advertisements of disinfectants, soaps, and house cleaning products, are sending a distorted message about microbes. We must debunk these misconceptions and emphasize the importance of microorganisms, and particularly bacteria, in the environment and our lives. Education is the means to this end, and therefore this comic is intended to help educators teach microbiology in an attractive, accurate, and straightforward way. Here, we present this educational tool and give some tips on the different themes that can be addressed in the classroom using this resource.
•A hypointense signal on MRI-susceptibility sequences in the path of a cerebral artery may indicate a thrombotic occlusion.•Susceptibility vessel sign in recent small subcortical infarcts is an ...infrequent finding.•Susceptibility vessel sign in recent small subcortical infarcts is associated with deep white matter hyperintensities.
Recent small subcortical infarcts (RSSI) are considered an acute manifestation of cerebral small vessel disease. Paramagnetic signals in perforating arteries supplying RSSI may be detected on T2*-relaxation derived sequences on MRI and is defined as susceptibility vessel sign (SVS). We aimed to study the prevalence of SVS in patients with RSSI, and explore whether its identification is related to cerebral small vessel disease markers.
We selected patients with RSSI identified on MRI during admission from a single-center stroke registry. The main demographic and clinical features, including vascular risk factors, were collected. Radiological features of RSSI and cerebral small vessel disease white matter hyperintensities in deep and periventricular regions, enlarged perivascular spaces, lacunae, microbleeds, and brain atrophy were described using validated qualitative scores. The presence of SVS was assessed on T2*gradient-echo or other susceptibility-weighted imaging. We compared the clinical and radiological features of patients with or without SVS in uni- and multivariate models.
Out of 210 patients with an RSSI on an MRI, 35 (17%) showed SVS. The proportion of SVS+ patients was similar in different susceptibility imaging modalities (p=.64). Risk factor profiles and clinical course were similar in SVS+ and SVS- patients. SVS+ patients had a higher grade of deep white matter hyperintensities and brain atrophy, more lacunae (p=.001, p=.034, p=.022, respectively), and a similar degree of the rest of radiological variables, compared to SVS- patients. In the multivariate analysis, the grade of deep white matter hyperintensities was the only independent factor associated with SVS OR 3.1 (95% CI, 1.5-6.4).
SVS in patients with RSSI is uncommon and related to a higher grade of deep white matter hyperintensities. Pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the deposition of hemosiderin in the path of occluded perforating arteries are uncertain and might include endothelial dysfunction or embolic mechanisms.
ABSTRACT The role of the Co-52 and Co-42 alleles in the early activation of bean immunity against Colletotrichum lindemuthianum is poorly known. Thus, by using the anthracnose-susceptible Sutagao ...cultivar and the anthracnose-resistant bean G2333, this study aimed to evaluate the presence of the Co-42 and Co-52 alleles by SCAR markers, as well as their role in the respective defense responses, using histochemical tests and diferential gene expression. The results showed that the Co-52 allele contributes to defense responses against anthracnose, since susceptible beans with the Co-42 allele and without the Co-52 allele decreased both the number of callose deposits and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species at the fungus attack sites. Additionally, for the Sutagao cultivar, there was a late response of defense-related genes such as PR-1, PR-3 and Pv-POD. The Co-52 allele contributes to induce defense mechanisms in the Phaseolus vulgaris and C. lindemuthianum interaction.
RESUMO Em feijoeiro, pouco se conhece sobre o papel dos alelos Co-52 e Co-42 na ativação precoce da imunidade da planta ao fungo Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. Utilizando-se a cultivar Sutagao suscetível à antracnose e o feijoeiro G2333 resistente à antracnose, objetivou-se avaliar a presença dos alelos Co-42 e Co-52 por meio de marcadores SCAR, bem como sua função nas respectivas respostas de defesa, por meio de testes histoquímicos e expressão gênica diferencial. Os resultados mostraram que o alelo Co-52 contribui para as respostas de defesa contra a antracnose, uma vez que os feijoeiros suscetíveis com o alelo Co-42 e sem o alelo Co-52 diminuíram tanto a quantidade de depósitos de calose quanto o acúmulo de espécies reativas de oxigênio nos locais de ataque do fungo. Ademais, para a cultivar Sutagao, houve resposta tardia de genes relacionados à defesa, como PR-1, PR-3 e Pv-POD. O alelo Co-52 contribui para induzir mecanismos de defesa na interação entre Phaseolus vulgaris e C. lindemuthianum.
•We analyzed the sense of presence experienced in a virtual environment using EEG.•Free navigation in a virtual environment was compared with video and photographs.•We compared the results obtained ...using two different screens.•A common Desktop screen and a high-resolution power wall screen were compared.•We used an Emotiv EPOC headset, obtaining activation mainly in the Insula.
In the virtual reality field, presence refers to the sense of “being there” in the virtual world. Our aim in this work is to evaluate the usefulness of the Emotiv EPOC EEG device to measure brain activations due to the sense of presence in a virtual environment (VE), using for the analysis the sLORETA tool. We compare between three experimental conditions: photographs, video and free navigation through a VE. We also compare the differences in the sense of presence due to the visualization of the VE in different screens: a common desktop screen and a high-resolution power wall screen. We monitored 20 healthy subjects, obtaining significant differences between the navigation and video conditions in the activity of the right Insula for the Theta band. We also found a higher activation of the Insula for the Alpha and Theta bands while navigating, when comparing the two screen types. The Insula activation is related to stimulus attention and self-awareness processes, directly related with the sense of presence.
Early detection of retinal diseases is one of the most important means of preventing partial or permanent blindness in patients. In this research, a novel multi-label classification system is ...proposed for the detection of multiple retinal diseases, using fundus images collected from a variety of sources. First, a new multi-label retinal disease dataset, the MuReD dataset, is constructed, using a number of publicly available datasets for fundus disease classification. Next, a sequence of post-processing steps is applied to ensure the quality of the image data and the range of diseases, present in the dataset. For the first time in fundus multi-label disease classification, a transformer-based model optimized through extensive experimentation is used for image analysis and decision making. Numerous experiments are performed to optimize the configuration of the proposed system. It is shown that the approach performs better than state-of-the-art works on the same task by 7.9% and 8.1% in terms of AUC score for disease detection and disease classification, respectively. The obtained results further support the potential applications of transformer-based architectures in the medical imaging field.
Window aggregation is a core operation in data stream processing. Existing aggregation techniques focus on reducing latency, eliminating redundant computations, or minimizing memory usage. However, ...each technique operates under different assumptions with respect to workload characteristics, such as properties of aggregation functions (e.g., invertible, associative), window types (e.g., sliding, sessions), windowing measures (e.g., time- or count-based), and stream (dis)order. In this article, we present
Scotty
, an efficient and general open-source operator for sliding-window aggregation in stream processing systems, such as Apache Flink, Apache Beam, Apache Samza, Apache Kafka, Apache Spark, and Apache Storm. One can easily extend Scotty with user-defined aggregation functions and window types. Scotty implements the concept of general stream slicing and derives workload characteristics from aggregation queries to improve performance without sacrificing its general applicability. We provide an in-depth view on the algorithms of the general stream slicing approach. Our experiments show that Scotty outperforms alternative solutions.
Reconstruction of bile ducts damaged remains a vexing medical problem. Surgeons have few options when it comes to a long segment reconstruction of the bile duct. Biological scaffolds of ...decellularized biliary origin may offer an approach to support the replace of bile ducts. Our objective was to obtain an extracellular matrix scaffold derived from porcine extrahepatic bile ducts (dECM-BD) and to analyze its biological and biochemical properties. The efficiency of the tailored perfusion decellularization process was assessed through histology stainings. Results from 4’-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stainings, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) quantification showed proper extracellular matrix (ECM) decellularization with an effectiveness of 98%. Immunohistochemistry results indicate an effective decrease in immunogenic marker as human leukocyte antigens (HLA-A) and Cytokeratin 7 (CK7) proteins. The ECM of the bile duct was preserved according to Masson and Herovici stainings. Data derived from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed the preservation of the dECM-BD hierarchical structures. Cytotoxicity of dECM-BD was null, with cells able to infiltrate the scaffold. In this work, we standardized a decellularization method that allows one to obtain a natural bile duct scaffold with hierarchical ultrastructure preservation and adequate cytocompatibility.
Around the world, groundwater constitutes approximately 94% of the total volume of freshwater, providing a wide range of economic and environmental services. In Baja California, Mexico, groundwater ...provides around 60% of the required demand and has become an essential source for agriculture, industry and domestic use. Particularly, in the Guadalupe Valley, in the municipality of Ensenada, the development of diverse activities depends on the water stored in the aquifer. Among these activities, agroindustry stands out; due to its high value, it represents a regional development factor. The objective of this research consisted of identifying potential aquifer recharge sites as tools for the planning process for regional socio-economic development. The study consisted of four fundamental parts: (1) Compilation and identification of entry data of the recharge model; (2) identification and evaluation of the sites that have a greater or lesser capacity of water recharge, using a geographic information system (GIS); (3) comparison of the model results with the piezometric data of two wells in the study area and their relationship with precipitation events; (4) finally, the development planning instruments of the study area were identified, and the relevance of the present study as a planning tool was evaluated. The results obtained showed that 16.31% and 3.64% of the area presents a high and very high recharge potential, respectively. This article is useful for the authorities and users to develop projects for aquifer recharge in the Guadalupe Valley.
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