Background
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) can be classified into CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and CRS without nasal polyps (CRSsNP). CRSwNP displays more intense eosinophilic infiltration and the ...presence of Th2 cytokines. Mucosal eosinophilia is associated with more severe symptoms and often requires multiple surgeries because of recurrence; however, even in eosinophilic CRS (ECRS), clinical course is variable. In this study, we wanted to set objective clinical criteria for the diagnosis of refractory CRS.
Methods
This was a retrospective study conducted by 15 institutions participating in the Japanese Epidemiological Survey of Refractory Eosinophilic Chronic Rhinosinusitis (JESREC). We evaluated patients with CRS treated with endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS), and risk of recurrence was estimated using Cox proportional hazard models. Multiple logistic regression models and receiver operating characteristics curves were constructed to create the diagnostic criterion for ECRS.
Results
We analyzed 1716 patients treated with ESS. To diagnose ECRS, the JESREC scoring system assessed unilateral or bilateral disease, the presence of nasal polyps, blood eosinophilia, and dominant shadow of ethmoid sinuses in computed tomography (CT) scans. The cutoff value of the score was 11 points (sensitivity: 83%, specificity: 66%). Blood eosinophilia (>5%), ethmoid sinus disease detected by CT scan, bronchial asthma, aspirin, and nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs intolerance were associated significantly with recurrence.
Conclusion
We subdivided CRSwNP in non‐ECRS, mild, moderate, and severe ECRS according to our algorithm. This classification was significantly correlated with prognosis. It is notable that this algorithm may give useful information to clinicians in the refractoriness of CRS before ESS or biopsy.
This paper presents a novel development of an ecological (eco) driving system for running a vehicle on roads with up-down slopes. Fuel consumed in a vehicle is greatly influenced by road gradients, ...aside from its velocity and acceleration characteristics. Therefore, optimum control inputs can only be computed through anticipated rigorous reasoning using information concerning road terrain, model of the vehicle dynamics, and fuel consumption characteristics. In this development, a nonlinear model predictive control method with a fast optimization algorithm is implemented to derive the vehicle control inputs based on road gradient conditions obtained from digital road maps. The fuel consumption model of a typical vehicle is formulated using engine efficiency characteristics and used in the objective function to ensure fuel economy driving. The proposed eco-driving system is simulated on a typical road with various shapes of up-down slopes. Simulation results reveal the ability of the eco-driving system in significantly reducing fuel consumption of a vehicle. The fuel saving behavior is graphically illustrated, compared, and analyzed to focus on the significance of this development.
The female flower of hop (Humulus lupulus var. lupulus) is an essential ingredient that gives characteristic aroma, bitterness and durability/stability to beer. However, the molecular genetic basis ...for identifying DNA markers in hop for breeding and to study its domestication has been poorly established. Here, we provide draft genomes for two hop cultivars cv. Saazer (SZ) and cv. Shinshu Wase (SW) and a Japanese wild hop H. lupulus var. cordifolius; also known as Karahanasou (KR). Sequencing and de novo assembly of genomic DNA from heterozygous SW plants generated scaffolds with a total size of 2.05 Gb, corresponding to approximately 80% of the estimated genome size of hop (2.57 Gb). The scaffolds contained 41,228 putative protein-encoding genes. The genome sequences for SZ and KR were constructed by aligning their short sequence reads to the SW reference genome and then replacing the nucleotides at single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites. De novo RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of SW revealed the developmental regulation of genes involved in specialized metabolic processes that impact taste and flavor in beer. Application of a novel bioinformatics tool, phylogenetic comparative RNA-Seq (PCP-Seq), which is based on read depth of genomic DNAs and RNAs, enabled the identification of genes related to the biosynthesis of aromas and flavors that are enriched in SW compared to KR. Our results not only suggest the significance of historical human selection process for enhancing aroma and bitterness biosyntheses in hop cultivars, but also serve as crucial information for breeding varieties with high quality and yield.
Purpose
We hypothesized that skin blood flow (SBF) of fingers are modulated during concentrated finger perception and that the changes in SBF reflect fluctuations in finger volume (FV). The aim of ...this study, therefore, was examine the relationship between the changes in SBF and FV during Braille reading.
Methods
We measured SBF of the finger, cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC), FV, and arterial blood pressure during Braille reading performed under blind conditions in thirty healthy subjects. The subjects were instructed to read a flat plate with raised letters (Braille reading) for 15 seconds using their forefinger, and to touch a blank plate as a control for the Braille discrimination procedure.
Results
Arterial blood pressure slightly increased during Braille reading but remained unchanged during the touching of the blank plate. SBF, CVC, and FV were reduced during Braille reading (decreased by −26%, −29%, and −0.3 mL/100 mL respectively). Furthermore, a significant relationship was observed between the changes in SBF and FV (r=.613) during Braille reading.
Conclusion
These results suggested that SBF of fingers is modulated during concentrated finger perception, and that the variability of blood flow reflects the response in FV.
Today, the penetration of renewable energies in power system significantly increases. However, the intermittent power of renewable energies may cause severe problems of low frequency oscillations in ...interconnected power systems due to insufficient system damping. Moreover, the operating condition of power system may change any time. This paper proposes a design of adaptive robust power system stabilizer (PSS) to damp low frequency oscillations in an interconnected power system with high renewable energy (RE) penetration. System identification is used to construct an estimated model, and the estimated model will be updated whenever the estimated mismatch exceeds predetermined bound. Based on the estimated model, the PSS controller of each generator will be re-tuned using a genetic algorithm. The optimization problem is formulated to guarantee the robustness of PSS and to increase the damping ratio of the dominant mode. In this work, we also install a memory so that several models and corresponding PSS parameter sets can be stored in the memory and re-used in the similar situations. Moreover, the PSSs on generators are able to control without communications among them; it will reduce investment cost significantly. The performance, effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method have been investigated in an interconnected power system in comparison with a conventional PSS (CPSS). Simulation results confirm that the damping effects of the proposed PSS are much better than that of the CPSS against various operating conditions and system uncertainties.
•We develop an adaptive robust PSS for multimachine interconnected power system with high renewable energy penetration.•Increasing amount of power from the renewable energy generation units will decrease the total inertia constant of conventional generating plants, and it may cause rotor angle instability.•When the variations of total inertia constants are large, giving robustness to the controllers is not enough. Therefore, adaptive robust controller is needed.•In adaptive control, the controller parameters are changed depending on the situations. It is preferable that the parameter alteration is done at the right moment.•Existing controllers are optimized, so that they can exhibit better performance and low cost.
A novel technique for planarizing gallium nitride (GaN) wafers has been developed. In this method, hydroxyl radicals (OH) catalytically generated on a polishing plate are used to oxidize the surface ...of a GaN wafer, and the produced oxide is dissolved in the solution. H2O2 is employed as the source of OH. Iron is used as the catalyst material that functions as the polishing plate. A GaN wafer was placed on the iron plate in the H2O2 solution, and it was rotated relative to the plate with a controlled contacting load. Extremely flat surfaces that were free from scratches or pits were obtained for the Ga-polar GaN surface. Atomic force microscope images of the processed surface indicate that it is well ordered and that it has an atomic step-terrace structure.
A new type of a trigger-scintillation counter array designed for the MTV experiment at TRIUMF-ISAC has been developed, which uses aluminum-metallized film tape for wrapping to achieve the required ...assembling precision of ±0.5mm. The MTV experiment uses a cylindrical drift chamber (CDC) as the main electron-tracking detector. The barrel-type trigger counter is placed inside the CDC to generate a trigger signal using 1mm thick, 300mm long thin plastic scintillation counters. Detection efficiency and light attenuation compared with conventional wrapping materials are studied.
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