Particle shape, a property of a three-dimensional solid, is an important property. Usually, and problematically, shape measurements of the solid particle are obtained only from two dimensions. It is ...well known that, in general, a given 2D shape measurement cannot be uniquely related to a solid. However, it is shown herein that unique, and therefore discriminating and useful, probabilistic relationships do exist between a convex solid's shape and 2D measurements taken in either section or projection. The key is to recognize that all possible 2D measurements of a solid make a characteristic probability density surface for an appropriate domain. The measurement domain studied in this paper is often used to measure actual particles. In principle a measured probability density surface of physical samples may be quantitatively approximated by mixtures of model solids.
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•Transformation of convex, symmetric solids into AR/HF space was studied.•For each solid all possible silhouettes form a characteristic probability surface.•Also, all possible 2D planar sections form a characteristic probability surface.•Contrary to accepted stereology, forms of 3D particles can be deduced from 2D data.
Automated Synthesis of a Lunar Satellite Antenna System Lohn, Jason D.; Linden, Derek S.; Blevins, Bruce ...
IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation,
2015-April, 2015-4-00, 20150401, Letnik:
63, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In recent years, spacecraft requirements have trended toward smaller, lighter, and less expensive systems with more capabilities. At the same time, demands on the communication systems have ...increased, including faster data rates, lower power budgets, reduced system volume, and smaller link margins. The combination of these factors has posed numerous engineering challenges for antenna system designers, often forming complex tradeoffs among design parameters such as bandwidth, pattern control, beamwidth, and antenna size. In this paper, we show how a challenging set of antenna requirements were met for NASA's recent LADEE mission. We focus on the difficulties inherent in the requirements for both omnidirectional and medium gain antennas, both in S-band. We present techniques used to develop a requirements-compliant system based on our research in antenna synthesis methods. Compared to the conventional antennas considered by NASA for the mission, the antennas we developed yielded 65% increased downlink coverage and 44% cost savings for the mission. The deployed flight antennas were the only antennas on the mission and performed above expectations during the 8-month mission, which concluded in April 2014.
New streamlined models for genetic counseling and genetic testing have recently been developed in response to increasing demand for cancer genetic services. To improve access and decrease wait times, ...we implemented an oncology clinic-based genetic testing model for breast and ovarian cancer patients in a publicly funded population-based health care setting in British Columbia, Canada. This observational study evaluated the oncology clinic-based model as compared to a traditional one-on-one approach with a genetic counsellor using a multi-gene panel testing approach. The primary objectives were to evaluate wait times and patient reported outcome measures between the oncology clinic-based and traditional genetic counselling models. Secondary objectives were to describe oncologist and genetic counsellor acceptability and experience. Wait times from referral to return of genetic testing results were assessed for 400 patients with breast and/or ovarian cancer undergoing genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer from June 2015 to August 2017. Patient wait times from referral to return of results were significantly shorter with the oncology clinic-based model as compared to the traditional model (403 vs. 191 days;
< 0.001). A subset of 148 patients (traditional
= 99; oncology clinic-based
= 49) completed study surveys to assess uncertainty, distress, and patient experience. Responses were similar between both models. Healthcare providers survey responses indicated they believed the oncology clinic-based model was acceptable and a positive experience. Oncology clinic-based genetic testing using a multi-gene panel approach and post-test counselling with a genetic counsellor significantly reduced wait times and is acceptable for patients and health care providers.
ABSTRACT Objective: to assess the relationship between health-related quality of life with depression and self-esteem of people after kidney transplantation. Method: a cross-sectional study of 47 ...outpatients from October 2016 to February 2017. The following tools were applied: The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, Beck Depression Inventory and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation were used. Results: women had lower scores for health-related quality of life. Young adults, people with up to one and a half years of transplantation and those who had dialysis for more than one year had higher scores. Conclusion: the health-related quality of life of people with chronic kidney disease after transplantation ranged from good to excellent. The presence of depression was not identified. The relationship of data indicates that the higher the quality of life, the better the self-esteem assessment.
RESUMO Objetivo: avaliar relação entre qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde com depressão e autoestima em pessoas após transplante renal. Método: estudo transversal, com 47 pessoas em acompanhamento ambulatorial, de outubro de 2016 a fevereiro de 2017. Foram aplicados os instrumentos: The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, Inventário de Depressão de Beck e Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg. Foi utilizada estatística descritiva e correlação de Spearman. Resultados: mulheres apresentaram pontuações mais baixas para qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde. Adultos jovens, pessoas com até um ano e meio de transplante e as que realizaram diálise por mais de um ano apresentaram pontuações mais altas. Conclusão: a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de pessoas com doença renal crônica após o transplante variou de boa a excelente. Não se identificou a presença de depressão. A relação dos dados indica que quanto maior a qualidade de vida, melhor avaliação de autoestima.
RESUMEN Objetivo: evaluar la relación entre calidad de vida relacionada con salud, con depresión y autoestima en personas después del trasplante de riñón. Método: estudio transversal de 47 personas en seguimiento ambulatorio de octubre de 2016 a febrero de 2017. Se aplicaron los instrumentos: The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, Inventario de Depresión de Beck e Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg. Utilizó estadística descriptiva y correlación de Spearman. Resultados: mujeres obtuvieron puntuaciones más bajas en la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud. Los adultos, las personas con hasta un año y medio de trasplante y las que se sometieron a diálisis durante más de un año obtuvieron puntuaciones más altas. Conclusión: calidad de vida relacionada con la salud después del trasplante varió de buena a excelente. La relación de los datos indica que cuanto mayor sea la calidad de vida, mejor será la evaluación de la autoestima.
ABSTRACT
Virtually all blood vessels are surrounded by adventitial fat. Adipocytes produce a host of vasoactive substances that may influence vascular contraction. We tested whether or not ...perivascular adipose tissue modulates contraction of aortic ring preparations. We studied aortic rings surrounded by periadventitial adipose tissue from adult Sprague‐Dawley rats. At a maximum concentration of 300 nM angiotensin II, 6.5 μM serotonin, and 5 μM phenyleph‐rine, the contractile response of intact rings was 95%, 80%, and 30% lower than that of vessels without periadventitial fat. The anticontractile effect of periad‐ventitial fat was reduced by inhibition of ATP‐dependent K+ channels with glibenclamide (3 μM) and by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein (10 μM). Blocking NOS, cyclo‐oxygenase, cytochrome P450, or adenosine receptors did not restore the vascular response in intact vessels. The anticontractile effect of perivascular fat was present in Zucker fa/fa rats, suggesting that leptin receptors were not responsible. Transferring the bath solution from intact vessels, isolated periadventitial tissue, and cultured rat adipocytes to precontracted vessels lacking periadventitial fat resulted in a rapid relaxation. We suggest that perivascular adventitial adipose tissue releases a transferable adventitium‐derived relaxing factor that acts by tyrosine kinase‐dependent activation of K+ channels in vascular smooth muscle cells..—Löhn, M., Dubrovska, G., Lauterbach, B., Luft, F. C., Gollasch, M., Sharma, A. M. Periadventitial fat releases a vascular relaxing factor. FASEB J. 16, 1057–1063 (2002)
There are several unresolved challenges associated with the clinical application of genome-wide sequencing technologies. One of the most discussed issues is incidental findings (IF), which are ...defined as discoveries made as a result of genetic testing that are unrelated to the indication for the test. The discussion surrounding IF began in the context of research, which we have used to frame consideration of IF in the clinical context. There is growing consensus that analytically valid and medically actionable IF should be offered to patients, but whether and to what extent clinicians should disclose other kinds of IF is debated. While others have systematically reviewed the literature concerning genetic IF, previous reviews focus on ethical and research-related issues and do not consider the implications for the genetic counseling profession specifically. This review discusses the practical considerations, ethical concerns and genetic counseling issues related to IF, with a particular focus on clinical genome-wide sequencing. To date, the bulk of the literature with respect to IF in the clinical context consists of commentaries, reviews and case reports. There is a need for more empirical studies to provide a foundation for institutional protocols and evidence-based clinical practice standards.
Indium phosphide (InP) nanowires were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition on hydrogenated silicon (Si:H) surfaces prepared on various non-single crystal substrates. Structural and ...chemical properties of the nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, elucidating the effect of varying the non-single crystal substrate on nanowire growth. A technique for growing InP nanowires on various non-single crystal substrates, including metals and dielectrics was demonstrated.
Sustainability in an organizational environment involves a form of management that allows attaining a balance between the economic, environmental and social dimensions, and can contribute to the ...sustainable behavior of employees and administrators. Nevertheless, studies that evaluate sustainable behavior of future professionals using a multidimensional approach to create a scale to measure sustainable behavior of students are relatively rare and there is a need for research in this field. Therefore, the objective of this article is to analyze the sustainable behavior of potential professionals, using the multidimensional approach of item response theory (IRT). A set of 13 items evaluated by specialists and tested by graduate students was applied to 492 undergraduate students from a community university in Southern Brazil in the schools of administration, human resources, accounting, law, civil engineering and biology. The results indicate that the students have higher sustainable behavior in the social dimension and lower in the economic dimension, highlighted by participation in voluntary activities. This result can provide important information to companies, given that in their processes for recruiting and selecting new employees, many have included issues related to sustainable practices, not only from an economic perspective, but particularly from environmental and social perspectives.
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