Magnetospheric compression due to impact of enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure Pdyn has long been considered as one of the generation mechanisms of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves. With ...the Van Allen Probe‐A observations, we identify three EMIC wave events that are triggered by Pdyn enhancements under prolonged northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) quiet time preconditions. They are in contrast to one another in a few aspects. Event 1 occurs in the middle of continuously increasing Pdyn while Van Allen Probe‐A is located outside the plasmapause at postmidnight and near the equator (magnetic latitude (MLAT) ~ −3°). Event 2 occurs by a sharp Pdyn pulse impact while Van Allen Probe‐A is located inside the plasmapause in the dawn sector and rather away from the equator (MLAT ~ 12°). Event 3 is characterized by amplification of a preexisting EMIC wave by a sharp Pdyn pulse impact while Van Allen Probe‐A is located outside the plasmapause at noon and rather away from the equator (MLAT ~ −15°). These three events represent various situations where EMIC waves can be triggered by Pdyn increases. Several common features are also found among the three events. (i) The strongest wave is found just above the He+ gyrofrequency. (ii) The waves are nearly linearly polarized with a rather oblique propagation direction (~28° to ~39° on average). (iii) The proton fluxes increase in immediate response to the Pdyn impact, most significantly in tens of keV energy, corresponding to the proton resonant energy. (iv) The temperature anisotropy with T⊥ > T|| is seen in the resonant energy for all the events, although its increase by the Pdyn impact is not necessarily always significant. The last two points (iii) and (iv) may imply that in addition to the temperature anisotropy, the increase of the resonant protons must have played a critical role in triggering the EMIC waves by the enhanced Pdyn impact.
Key Points
Three EMIC wave events triggered by various dynamic pressure conditions
Exhibit proton flux increases in expected resonant energy
Exhibit temperature anisotropy with T⊥ > T|| in the resonant energy
A method for implementing a hardware-efficient multi-channel digital sigma-delta modulator is presented for processing field sequential multiple inputs. Compared to a conventional one, which ...processes the inputs in a time-multiplexed manner without sharing integrator memory for the multiple sequential inputs, the proposed method significantly reduces the number of storage bits in the integrator memory by partially sharing the integrator memory for the inputs. Simulation results on modulator noise power spectral density and overall signal-to-noise ratio match well with those based on quantitative noise analysis.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(Mtb) in sputum originates from lung cavities in tuberculosis (TB) patients. But drug susceptibility testing (DST) of sputum Mtb can not be conducted the same as in the ...lung because mutagenesis of bacilli may be happening in the lung during treatment and result in the possibility of the presence of heterogeneous drug-resistant subpopulations in the different lung lesions. This could be one of the reasons for low cure rates for multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB. We studied the resected lungs of nine surgery patients with chronic TB. The isolates isolated from the sputum and different lung lesions of each patient were tested for phenotypic DST and genotyped using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing method. Genetic analysis to resistance to first and second line drugs was also performed. Five of nine patients were MDR-TB and three XDR-TB. DST results for ten anti-TB drugs were in accordance among different lung lesions in eight patients. However, only three of these eight patients showed the concordance of DST with sputum. Even though the isolates were heteroresistant, genotyping them by RFLP showed the clonal population in each individual patient. Six of eight followed-up patients achieved successful cure. In conclusion, the heteroresistance between sputum and lung lesions and a clonal population without mixed infection might provide useful information in establishing treatment regimen and surgery decision for MDR- and XDR-TB.
The tsunamis that have occurred in many places around the world over the past decade have taken a heavy toll on human lives and property. The eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula is not safe from ...tsunamis, particularly the eastern coastal areas, which have long sustained tsunami damage. The eastern coast had been attacked by 1983 and 1993 tsunami events. The aim of this study was to mitigate the casualties and property damage against unexpected tsunami attacks along the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula by developing a proper tsunami response system for important ports and harbors with high population densities and high concentrations of key national industries. The system is made based on numerical and physical modelings of 3 historical and 11 virtual tsunamis events, field surveys, and extensive interviews with related people.
Phenotypic differences in drug responses have been associated with known pharmacogenomic loci, but many remain to be characterized. Therefore, we developed next‐generation sequencing (NGS) panels to ...enable broad and unbiased inspection of genes that are involved in pharmacokinetics (PKs) and pharmacodynamics (PDs). These panels feature repetitively optimized probes to capture up to 114 PK/PD‐related genes with high coverage (99.6%) and accuracy (99.9%). Sequencing of a Korean cohort (n = 376) with the panels enabled profiling of actionable variants as well as rare variants of unknown functional consequences. Notably, variants that occurred at low frequency were enriched with likely protein‐damaging variants and previously unreported variants. Furthermore, in vitro evaluation of four pharmacogenes, including cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19), confirmed that many of these rare variants have considerable functional impact. The present study suggests that targeted NGS panels are readily applicable platforms to facilitate comprehensive profiling of pharmacogenes, including common but also rare variants that warrant screening for personalized medicine.
SETTING The long-term natural course of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) disease with nodular bronchiectasis, the most common pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease, is not well described.
...To identify risk factors for the deterioration of nodular bronchiectatic MAC lung disease over a 5-year follow-up period.
Clinical and laboratory data of 67 patients with nodular bronchiectatic MAC lung disease were collected. Chest computerised tomographic images were used to count the number of lung segments involved at diagnosis and measure subcutaneous fat thickness during follow-up.
The 34 patients who showed deterioration had significantly lower body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.004) and % predicted forced vital capacity (P = 0.032), higher numbers of lung segments involved (P < 0.001) and MAC-positive sputum cultures (P = 0.028), and thinner chest subcutaneous fat during follow-up (P < 0.001) than patients without deterioration. In particular, patients with both BMI <21.0 kg/m(2) and more than four lung segments involved had a 240-fold increased risk of deterioration (P < 0.001).
Patients with poor nutritional status and extensive lung involvement tend to experience deterioration of nodular bronchiectatic MAC lung disease.
Minimally invasive treatment has become a mainstay management strategy for early gastric cancer (EGC). Full-thickness incision of the gastric wall using natural orifice transluminal endoscopic ...surgery (NOTES) has been reported but is not easily applicable in clinical settings at present. The aim of the current study was to assess the feasibility of hybrid NOTES, which consists of endoscopic full-thickness gastric resection and a laparoscopic lymphadenectomy.
This was a prospective, pilot study at a single tertiary care referral center. A total of 14 patients with EGC located above the lower third of the stomach underwent hybrid NOTES. Clinically, the patients had contraindications to exclusive treatment using endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). The main outcome measure was technical success of hybrid NOTES.
All cases were resected en bloc with negative surgical margins. Histologically, four cases were mucosal cancers, and 10 cases were submucosal cancers. The median tumor size was 26 mm (range 12 - 90 mm). Lymphatic vessel invasion was found in four cases without lymph node metastasis (LNM). The median number of obtained lymph nodes was 18 (range 7 - 67). LNM was discovered in one case of undifferentiated submucosal cancer without lymphovascular invasion. Hybrid NOTES was conducted without intraoperative or postoperative adverse events in nine cases. The median operating time and estimated blood loss of successful cases were 143 minutes (range 110 - 253 minutes) and 16 mL (range 5 - 30 mL), respectively. The median hospital stay was 6 days (range 4 - 10 days). Five cases were converted to a subtotal gastrectomy for various reasons.
Hybrid NOTES could be a bridge between endoscopic resection and laparoscopic surgery and may prevent extensive gastrectomy in patients with EGC.
Arrays of electrical devices with each comprising multiple single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) bridging metal electrodes are obtained by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of nanotubes across ...prefabricated electrode arrays. The ensemble of nanotubes in such a device collectively exhibits large electrical conductance changes under electrostatic gating, owing to the high percentage of semiconducting nanotubes. This leads to the fabrication of large arrays of low-noise electrical nanotube sensors with 100% yield for detecting gas molecules. Polymer functionalization is used to impart high sensitivity and selectivity to the sensors. Polyethyleneimine coating affords n-type nanotube devices capable of detecting NO2 at less than 1 ppb (parts-per-billion) concentrations while being insensitive to NH3. Coating Nafion (a polymeric perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomer) on nanotubes blocks NO2 and allows for selective sensing of NH3. Multiplex functionalization of a nanotube sensor array is carried out by microspotting. Detection of molecules in a gas mixture is demonstrated with the multiplexed nanotube sensors.
The functionally graded (FG) sandwich plate has attained much attention in recent years due to its potential for exhibiting the merits of sandwich construction and FGM. Accordingly, intensive studies ...have focused on FG sandwich plates to investigate their mechanical behaviors. However, these mechanical behaviors are still in need of further investigation, particularly with respect to the major parameters. In this context, this paper intends to parametrically investigate the free-vibration behavior of the FG sandwich plate with a homogeneous core by developing a reliable and effective numerical method. This numerical method was based on hierarchical models, developed from the spectral model accuracy, and the 2-D natural element method (NEM). The hierarchical models were derived from the 3-D elasticity and the NEM was characterized by high smooth interpolation functions. From the verification experiments, the proposed method shows a good agreement with the reference and a uniform convergence to the 3-D elasticity. The free vibration characteristics of FG sandwich plates with a homogeneous core were investigated using the proposed numerical method. It was found that the calibrated fundamental frequency was significantly influenced by the type of material composing the core, the volume fraction index, the relative thickness and position of core layer, and the plate aspect ratio.
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