Estimation of uncertainty in odour measurement is essential to the interpretation of the measurement results. The fundamental procedure for the estimation of measurement uncertainty comprises the ...specification of the measurement process, expression of the measurement model and all influences, evaluation of the standard uncertainty of each component, calculation of the combined standard uncertainty, determination of a coverage factor, calculation of the expanded uncertainty and reporting. Collaborative study such as interlaboratory comparison of olfactometry yields performance indicators of the measurement method including repeatability and reproducibility. Therefore, the use of collaborative test results for measurement uncertainty estimation according to ISO/TS 21748 and ISO 20988 is effective and reasonable. Measurement uncertainty of the triangular odour bag method was estimated using interlaboratory comparison data from 2003 to 2007 on the basis of the simplest model of statistical analysis, and the expanded uncertainty of odour index ranged between 3.1 and 6.7. On the basis of the establishment of the estimation procedure for uncertainty, a coherent interpretation method for the measurement results will be proposed and more effective and practical quality control of olfactometry will be available.
Objective
Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that primarily affects lacrimal and salivary glands. We previously reported that FliC derived from Escherichia coli could induce ...autoimmune pancreatitis‐like lesions. From these results, we speculated that FliC could also induce SS‐like exocrinopathy. In this study, we investigated the effects of chronic exposure to FliC on lacrimal and salivary glands and the possibility that it might lead to an autoimmune response.
Methods
C57BL/6 mice were repeatedly injected with FliC and histological changes, serum levels of cytokine/chemokines and autoantibodies were evaluated at different time points after the final injection. The presence of sialadenitis was diagnosed by histological methods.
Results
In FliC‐treated groups, 57% of subjects developed inflammatory cell infiltrates around ducts in mandibular salivary glands, but not lacrimal glands. In addition, serum levels of total IgG, IgG1, and IgG2a were significantly higher in FliC‐treated groups. Intriguingly, serum anti‐SSA/Ro levels were also significantly higher in FliC‐treated groups. Cytokine analysis revealed that serum levels of IL‐1β, IL‐12p70, IL‐13, IFN‐γ, IL‐15, and IL‐23 seemed to be higher in FliC‐treated mice.
Conclusions
Our data suggest that FliC‐treated mice develop an SS‐like phenotype. Our model may elucidate the relationship between commensal bacteria and SS.
Hyperplastic polyps of the colorectum are heterogeneous lesions, a subset of which is now regarded as the precursor of colorectal cancer with DNA microsatellite instability. Some authors have ...distinguished this subset from classic hyperplastic polyps and have introduced the term “sessile serrated adenoma”. These lesions frequently show BRAF mutation and DNA methylation. This personal perspective reviews recent insights into serrated polyps and highlights the importance of inhibition of apoptosis as a unifying mechanism. It is estimated that around 25 hyperplastic polyps of the proximal colon exist for every colorectal cancer with DNA microsatellite instability. Further research is required to identify additional risk factors for hyperplastic polyps other than anatomical location. These may be demographic, clinical, morphological, or molecular. It is not recommended that the term sessile serrated adenoma be used in routine reporting, but it is desirable that potentially aggressive hyperplastic polyps should be identified for the purposes of both clinical practice and research.
Needs of micro structured components and its molds/dies are increasing in a solar cell system, an infrared night view and micro medical devices. In order to improve the accuracy of the structured ...molds/dies made of tungsten carbide, a new truing method of the diamond grinding wheel by alloy metals was proposed and the performance of the proposed truing method was evaluated. In the grinding test, Fresnel molds of tungsten carbide were ground by using the diamond wheel trued with the alloy metal. From the experiments it was clear that the form accuracy and surface roughness of the ground molds were improved.
Based on negative correlation learning and evolutionary learning, this paper presents evolutionary ensembles with negative correlation learning (EENCL) to address the issues of automatic ...determination of the number of individual neural networks (NNs) in an ensemble and the exploitation of the interaction between individual NN design and combination. The idea of EENCL is to encourage different individual NNs in the ensemble to learn different parts or aspects of the training data so that the ensemble can learn better the entire training data. The cooperation and specialization among different individual NNs are considered during the individual NN design. This provides an opportunity for different NNs to interact with each other and to specialize. Experiments on two real-world problems demonstrate that EENCL can produce NN ensembles with good generalization ability.
Positron-emission tomography (PET) tracers for myocardial perfusion are commonly labeled with short-lived isotopes that limit their widespread clinical use. 18F-BMS-747158-02 (18F-BMS) is a novel ...pyridaben derivative that was evaluated for assessment of myocardial perfusion by comparison with 13N-ammonia (13NH3) and with radioactive microspheres in a pig model.
Fourteen pigs injected with 500 MBq of 13NH3 or 100 to 200 MBq of 18F-BMS underwent dynamic PET at rest and during pharmacological stress. In 8 of these pigs, 18F-BMS was injected during stress combined with transient, 2.5-minute constriction of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Radioactive microspheres were coinjected with 18F-BMS. Ratios of myocardial tracer uptake to surrounding tissues were determined, and myocardial blood flow was quantified by compartmental modeling. Both tracers showed high and homogeneous myocardial uptake. Compared with 13NH3, 18F-BMS showed higher activity ratios between myocardium and blood (rest 2.5 versus 4.1; stress 2.1 versus 5.8), liver (rest 1.2 versus 1.8; stress 0.7 versus 2.0), and lungs (rest 2.5 versus 4.2; stress 2.9 versus 6.4). Regional myocardial blood flow assessed with 18F-BMS PET showed good correlation (r=0.88, slope=0.84) and agreement (mean difference -0.10 25th percentile -0.3, 75th percentile 0.1 mL x min(-1) x g(-1)) with that measured with radioactive microspheres over a flow range from 0.1 to 3.0 mL x min(-1) x g(-1). The extent of defects induced by left anterior descending coronary artery constriction measured by 18F-BMS and microspheres also correlated closely (r=0.63, slope=1.1).
18F-BMS-747158-02 is a very attractive new PET perfusion tracer that allows quantitative assessment of regional myocardial perfusion over a wide flow range. The long half-life of 18F renders this tracer useful for clinical PET/CT applications in the workup of patients with suspected or proven coronary artery disease.
We report on the first Belle search for a light CP-odd Higgs boson, A^{0}, that decays into low mass dark matter, χ, in final states with a single photon and missing energy. We search for events ...produced via the dipion transition ϒ(2S)→ϒ(1S)π^{+}π^{-}, followed by the on-shell process ϒ(1S)→γA^{0} with A^{0}→χχ, or by the off-shell process ϒ(1S)→γχχ. Utilizing a data sample of 157.3×10^{6} ϒ(2S) decays, we find no evidence for a signal. We set limits on the branching fractions of such processes in the mass ranges M_{A^{0}}<8.97 GeV/c^{2} and M_{χ}<4.44 GeV/c^{2}. We then use the limits on the off-shell process to set competitive limits on WIMP-nucleon scattering in the WIMP mass range below 5 GeV/c^{2}.
B4C is widely used as control rods in light water reactors, such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, because it shows excellent neutron absorption and has a high melting point. However, B4C ...can melt at lower temperatures owing to eutectic interactions with stainless steel and can even evaporate by reacting with high-temperature steam under severe accident conditions. To reduce the risk of recriticality, a precise understanding of the location and chemical state of B in the melt core is necessary. Here we show that a novel soft X-ray emission spectrometer in electron probe microanalysis can help to obtain a chemical state map of B in a modeled control rod after a high-temperature steam oxidation test.
The present study statistically addresses the dependence of large‐scale field‐aligned currents (R1/R2) and particle precipitation in the premidnight sector on solar illumination at the ionosphere. ...The energy flux and average energy of precipitating electrons and ions are examined for downward R2 and upward R1 currents. Results are summarized as follows: (1) The R1 current density is larger in the dark hemisphere, whereas the dependence of R2 density on solar illumination is unclear. (2) For R1 currents the electron energy flux is larger and the average electron energy is higher in the dark hemisphere. (3) For R2 currents, a similar preference for the dark hemisphere is found for the electron energy flux, which, however, is significantly lower than for R1 currents. The average electron energy is similar between the two hemispheres. (4) For both R1 and R2 currents, ion precipitation is more intense and energetic in the dark hemisphere. (5) For a given field‐aligned current density, whether R1 or R2 currents, both electron and ion precipitation is more intense and energetic in the dark hemisphere. The Pedersen conductivity is estimated from electron precipitation and solar illumination. The result suggests that in the dark hemisphere the absence of solar illumination is often overcompensated by more intense and energetic electron precipitation. The interhemispheric difference in electron acceleration may be interpreted in terms of plasma density in the acceleration region, which is known to be significantly lower in the dark hemisphere, and therefore electrons need to be more accelerated along the field line to carry imposed currents.
PDF
