Unique atmospheric pressure plasma devices are designed to investigate the plasma characteristics for various driving frequencies under the same operating conditions. Electrical properties of the ...plasma, gas temperature, formation of plasma jets, and sterilization efficiency are studied for two different driving frequencies of 13
kHz (low frequency) and 877
MHz (microwave frequency). When compared with low frequency plasma, microwave plasma is found to have better electrical properties such as no electric shock for safety, high discharge current for effective chemical reactions, clean waveform for homogenous plasma, and high power coupling efficiency. Furthermore, microwave plasma leads to effective sterilization which is related to the high intensity of atomic oxygen. One-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation reveals that microwave plasma has substantial electrons in the energy range 2–5
eV (bond dissociation energy), thus electrons in this energy range can produce more atomic oxygen. It shows that the probability of producing high energy ions, which can damage the electrode, is low in microwave plasma.
Engineered dissipative reservoirs have the potential to steer many-body quantum systems toward correlated steady states useful for quantum simulation of high-temperature superconductivity or quantum ...magnetism. Using up to 49 superconducting qubits, we prepared low-energy states of the transverse-field Ising model through coupling to dissipative auxiliary qubits. In one dimension, we observed long-range quantum correlations and a ground-state fidelity of 0.86 for 18 qubits at the critical point. In two dimensions, we found mutual information that extends beyond nearest neighbors. Lastly, by coupling the system to auxiliaries emulating reservoirs with different chemical potentials, we explored transport in the quantum Heisenberg model. Our results establish engineered dissipation as a scalable alternative to unitary evolution for preparing entangled many-body states on noisy quantum processors.
Objectives
Primary restless leg syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS) frequently co‐exist, obscuring the boundaries between the two conditions. In such instances, a study of ...secondary cases with focal lesions such as post‐stroke RLS and PLMS (psRLS and psPLMS, respectively) can be helpful in identifying characteristics of the individual conditions.
Materials and Methods
Patients who had suffered strokes and who subsequently developed psRLS or psPLMS were recruited. To determine the overall features of psRLS/PLMS, historical cases were selected from the literature. All cases with either psRLS or psPLMS alone were further analyzed to elucidate the distinctive pathomechanisms of the two conditions.
Results
Six patients with either psRLS or psPLMS were recruited from our hospital; two patients had both conditions contemporaneously. The literature contains details on 30 cases of psRLS or psPLMS. The causative lesion was most frequently located in the pons. We found that psRLS was more often bilateral, and usually detected later in time. Lesions in both the pontine base and tegmentum (together) were associated with unilateral psPLMS, whereas lesions in the corona radiata and adjacent basal ganglia were associated with bilateral RLS. Lesions confined to the corona radiata resulted in either unilateral or bilateral RLS.
Conclusions
The observed differences in the clinical and radiological features of psRLS and psPLMS suggest that the pathophysiologies of the two conditions are distinct. Further research is needed to understand the pathophysiologies of primary RLS and PLMS.
The role of laminar flow (LAF) is contradictory with several studies failing to replicate risk reduction. The 2016 World Health Organization guidelines identified this lack of good comparative ...studies.
To analyse the use of LAF and the incidence of prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) in Asian patients undergoing total knee replacement (TKR).
Patients who underwent standard cemented posterior-stabilized TKR from 2004 to 2014 were reviewed from a prospectively collected single-surgeon database. Revision, traumatic and/or inflammatory cases were excluded. The type of airflow used was identified. The technique and surgical protocol for all procedures were similar. Tourniquets and inserted drains were routinely used. Patellar resurfacing was not performed. Patients were followed up at the outpatient clinics at regular intervals up to two years. At each visit, the patient was assessed for the occurrence of PJI.
Of the 1028 procedures, 453 (44.1%) were performed in an LAF operating theatre (OT) whereas 575 (55.9%) were performed in a non-LAF OT. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age, gender, or side of procedure. The overall incidence of PJI was 0.6% (N = 6). Three (50%) occurred in an LAF OT whereas three (50%) occurred in a non-LAF OT. This was not statistically significant.
Laminar flow systems are costly to procure and maintain. With modern aseptic techniques, patient optimization, and use of prophylactic antibiotics, laminar flow does not appear to further reduce risk of PJI in Asian patients after TKR.
A pulse shape difference between photons and neutrons was observed in the output signals of scintillation light from the un-doped CsI calorimeter of the KOTO experiment for the KL→π0νν̄ decay. We ...developed a discrimination method to reject neutrons and to accept photons in the deposited energy range from 0.1 to 2 GeV. The method rejects 67% of neutron-induced single hadronic clusters and 86% of neutron-induced two-cluster events while keeping more than 90% of photon-induced single electromagnetic clusters and two-photon events.
Objectives To investigate the prevalence of qnr determinants, their influence on quinolone susceptibility and their association with other plasmid-mediated genes in AmpC-producing Enterobacteriaceae ...without any selection criteria. Methods A total of 644 consecutive, non-duplicate isolates of Enterobacter cloacae (186), Enterobacter aerogenes (154), Citrobacter freundii (138) and Serratia marcescens (166) were examined. We performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing and PCR for qnr determinants (qnrA, qnrB and qnrS), extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) (blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M), orf513, orf1005 and blaDHA-1. To differentiate qnr subtypes, restriction enzyme analysis and sequencing was performed. Results The prevalence of qnr determinants was high in C. freundii (38.4%) and E. cloacae (28.5%), but low in E. aerogenes (3.2%) and S. marcescens (2.4%). qnrA1 was most frequent in E. cloacae, and qnrB was prevalent in C. freundii. All the qnrA- and qnrB4-positive isolates showed ciprofloxacin MICs ≥ 0.5 mg/L and nalidixic acid MICs ≥ 16 mg/L. However, the B1 and B2 subtypes showed a wide range of quinolone MICs. In relation to ESBLs, we found that qnrA1, qnrB2 and qnrB4 producers were significantly more frequent among ESBL producers (P < 0.05). Twelve of 13 qnrB4 producers harboured blaDHA-1. orf513 was detected in 43 isolates of the 47 isolates with co-resident qnr and ESBL genes. None of the qnr producers harboured orf1005. Conclusions The prevalence of qnrA and qnrB was high among C. freundii and E. cloacae in Korea and there were characteristics unique to the qnr subtypes. Quinolones should be used cautiously in these species, especially when they are ESBL producers.
Uncertainties in calculated impacts of climate forecasts on future regional air quality are investigated using downscaled MM5 meteorological fields from the NASA GISS and MIT IGSM global models and ...the CMAQ model in 2050 in the continental US. Differences between three future scenarios: high-extreme, low-extreme and base case, are used for quantifying effects of climate uncertainty on regional air quality. GISS, with the IPCC A1B scenario, is used for the base case simulations. IGSM results, in the form of probabilistic distributions, are used to perturb the base case climate to provide the high- and low-extreme scenarios. Impacts of the extreme climate scenarios on concentrations of summertime fourth-highest daily maximum 8-h average ozone are predicted to be up to 10 ppbV (about one-seventh of the current US ozone standard of 75 ppbV) in urban areas of the Northeast, Midwest and Texas due to impacts of meteorological changes, especially temperature and humidity, on the photochemistry of tropospheric ozone formation and increases in biogenic VOC emissions, though the differences in average peak ozone concentrations are about 1–2 ppbV on a regional basis. Differences between the extreme and base scenarios in annualized PM2.5 levels are very location dependent and predicted to range between −1.0 and +1.5 μg m−3. Future annualized PM2.5 is less sensitive to the extreme climate scenarios than summertime peak ozone since precipitation scavenging is only slightly affected by the extreme climate scenarios examined. Relative abundances of biogenic VOC and anthropogenic NOx lead to the areas that are most responsive to climate change. Overall, planned controls for decreasing regional ozone and PM2.5 levels will continue to be effective in the future under the extreme climate scenarios. However, the impact of climate uncertainties may be substantial in some urban areas and should be included in assessing future regional air quality and emission control requirements.
We investigate the photophysical properties of organic donor-acceptor dyad and triad molecular systems based on triphenylene and perylene diimide units linked by a non-conjugated flexible bridge in ...solution using complementary optical spectroscopy techniques. When these molecules are diluted in dichloromethane solution, energy transfer from the triphenylene to the perylene diimide excited moieties is evidenced by time-resolved fluorescence measurements resulting in a quenching of the emission from the triphenylene moieties. Simultaneously, another quenching process that affects the emission from both donor and acceptor units is observed. Solution ultrafast transient absorption measurements provide evidence of photo-induced charge transfer from either the donor or the acceptor depending upon the excitation. Overall, the analysis of the detailed time-resolved spectroscopic measurements carried out in the dyad and triad systems as well as in the triphenylene and perylene diimide units alone provides useful information both to better understand the relations between energy and charge transfer processes with molecular structures, and for the design of future functional dyad and triad architectures based on donor and acceptor moieties for organic optoelectronic applications.
This randomised controlled trial compared the effect of equipotent anaesthetic doses of sevoflurane (S group) versus propofol (P group), during remifentanil-based anaesthesia for off-pump coronary ...artery bypass surgery, on myocardial injury. Either sevoflurane or propofol was titrated to maintain bispectral index values between 40 and 50. In both groups, a targeted concentration of remifentanil 20 ng x ml(-1) was maintained during anaesthesia. The concentrations of creatine kinase MB and troponin I were measured before the start of surgery, on admission to the intensive care unit, and at 12 and 24 hours after intensive care unit admission. The postoperative values of creatine kinase MB (S group: 15.08 +/- 18.97, 20.78 +/- 20.92, 12.76 +/- 12.82 vs 2.09 +/- 1.54 ng x ml(-1); P group: 10.99 +/- 13.15 27.16 +/- 56.55 11.88 +/- 18.80 vs 1.84 +/- 1.67 ng x ml(-1)) and troponin I (S group: 3.56 +/- 5.19, 566 +/- 7.89, 3.35 +/- 4.55 vs 0.52 +/- 1.90 ng x ml(-1); P group: 2.42 +/- 3.33, 4.11 +/- 6.01, 3.04 +/- 5.31 vs 0.43 +/- 1.28 ng x ml(-1)) were significantly higher than preoperative values in both groups but there were no significant differences between the two groups. There were no significant differences in time to extubation (S group, 476 +/- 284 minutes; P group, 450 +/- 268 minutes) and intensive care unit length of stay (S group, 2775 +/- 1449 minutes; P group, 2797 +/- 1534 minutes) between the two groups. In conclusion, sevoflurane and propofol at equipotent doses guided by bispectral index with remifentanil 20 ng x ml(-1) had similar creatine kinase MB and troponin I values.
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