Donahuebundgaard1046

One patient developed postoperative permanent hypoparathyroidism. Conclusion Subtotal parathyroidectomy is a safe and effective surgical treatment for renal hyperparathyroidism.Based on the gradient force of evanescent waves in silica waveguides and add-drop micro-ring resonators, the optical trapping and manipulation of micro size particles is demonstrated in a self-locked scheme that maintains the on-resonance system even if there is a change in the ambient temperature or environment. The proposed configuration allows the trapping of particles in the high Q resonator without the need for a precise wavelength adjustment of the input signal. On the one hand, a silicon dioxide waveguide having a lower refractive index and relatively larger dimensions facilitates the coupling of the laser with a single-mode fiber. Furthermore, the experimental design of the self-locked scheme reduces the sensitivity of the ring to the environment. This combination can trap the micro size particles with a high stability while manipulating them with high accuracy.A simple single pot sol-gel method is used to prepare ZnNiO nanoparticles at assorted Ni doping levels, 1, 3, 7 and 10 wt.%. Structural and optical properties of nanoparticles are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL) measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), μ-Raman and X-ray photoelectron-spectroscopy (XPS). A single substitutional solid solution phase is detected in the wurtzite ZnNiO nanoparticles at various doping levels. XRD peak splitting and shifting is ascribed to reduced wurtzite character and presence of crystalline strain in nanoparticles at higher level of Ni doping. The Kubelka-Munk function of DRS data reveals the presence of the Burstein-Moss effect in the optical absorption of ZnNiO nanoparticles. Photoluminescence studies show intense UV-blue emission from ZnNiO nanoparticles. The UV PL also exhibits the Burstein-Moss blue shift in the ZnNiO luminescence. Raman analyses also confirms the wurtzite structure of ZnNiO nanoparticles; however, crystal structural defects and bond stiffness increase with Ni doping. The optical and structural studies presented in this work are pointing towards a multivalent Ni substitution in the nanoparticles.We developed hybrid organic-inorganic sol-gel silica coatings with good durability in harsh environment (high temperatures, high vapor velocities) and with slightly hydrophobic behavior, sufficient to promote dropwise condensation (DWC) of pure steam. DWC is a very promising mechanism in new trends of thermal management and power generation systems to enhance the heat transfer during condensation as compared to film-wise condensation (FWC). The sol-gel coatings have been prepared from methyl triethoxy silane (MTES) and tetraethyl-orthosilicate (TEOS) and deposited on an aluminum substrate. The coatings were optimized in terms of precursor ratio and annealing temperature highlighting potentials and limits of such mixtures. A comprehensive surface characterization before and after saturated steam condensation tests has been performed and related to the thermal measurements for evaluating the heat transfer augmentation as compared to FWC obtained on untreated aluminum surfaces. The results showed that the developed hybrid organic-inorganic sol-gel silica coatings are promising DWC promoters.Throughout the last decades, dendritic cell (DC)-based anti-tumor vaccines have proven to be a safe therapeutic approach, although with inconsistent clinical results. The functional limitations of ex vivo monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs) commonly used in these therapies are one of the pointed explanations for their lack of robustness. Therefore, a great effort has been made to identify DC subsets with superior features for the establishment of effective anti-tumor responses and to apply them in therapeutic approaches. Among characterized human DC subpopulations, conventional type 1 DCs (cDC1) have emerged as a highly desirable tool for empowering anti-tumor immunity. This DC subset excels in its capacity to prime antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells and to activate natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT) cells, which are critical factors for an effective anti-tumor immune response. Here, we sought to revise the immunobiology of cDC1 from their ontogeny to their development, regulation and heterogeneity. We also address the role of this functionally thrilling DC subset in anti-tumor immune responses and the most recent efforts to apply it in cancer immunotherapy.Rhizosphere bacteria can positively influence plant growth by direct and indirect mechanisms. A total of 112 bacterial strains were isolated from the rhizosphere of rice and tested for plant beneficial activities such as siderophore production, cell-wall-degrading enzyme production, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production and antifungal activity against rice blast disease fungus. The actinomycetes count was 3.8 × 106 CFU/g soil. Streptomyces strains PC 12, D 4.1, D 4.3 and W1 showed strong growth inhibition of blast disease fungus, Pyricularia sp. (87.3%, 82.2%, 80.0% and 80.5%) in vitro. Greenhouse experiments revealed that rice plants treated with Streptomyces strain PC 12 recorded maximum plant height, root length and root dry weight compared to the control. Taxonomic characterization of this strain on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence led to its identification as Streptomyces palmae PC 12. Streptomyces palmae PC 12 may be used as biofertilizer to enhance the growth and productivity of commercially important rice cultivar RD6 and the biocontrol of blast disease fungus.The grasscutter (also known as the greater cane rat; Thryonomys swinderianus) is a large rodent native to West Africa that is currently under domestication process for meat production. However, little is known about the physiology of this species. In the present study, aiming to provide information about gut microbiota of the grasscutter and better understand its physiology, we investigated the intestinal microbiota of grasscutters and compared it with that of other livestock (cattle, goat, rabbit, and sheep) using 16S rRNA metagenomics analysis. Similar to the other herbivorous animals, bacteria classified as Bacteroidales, Clostridiales, Ruminococcaceae, and Lachnospiraceae were abundant in the microbiome of grasscutters. However, Prevotella and Treponema bacteria, which have fiber fermentation ability, were especially abundant in grasscutters, where the relative abundance of these genera was higher than that in the other animals. The presence of these genera might confer grasscutters the ability to easily breakdown dietary fibers. Diets for grasscutters should be made from ingredients not consumed by humans to avoid competition for resources and the ability to digest fibers may allow the use of fiber-rich feed materials not used by humans. Our findings serve as reference and support future studies on changes in the gut microbiota of the grasscutter as domestication progresses in order to establish appropriate feeding methods and captivity conditions.Cotton production is highly sensitive to nitrogen (N) fertilization, whose excessive use is responsible for human and environmental problems. Lowering N supply together with the selection of N-efficient genotypes, more able to uptake, utilize, and remobilize the available N, could be a challenge to maintain high cotton production sustainably. The current study aimed to explore the intraspecific variation among four cotton genotypes in response to various N supplies, in order to identify the most distinct N-efficient genotypes and their nitrogen use efficiency (NUE)-related traits in hydroponic culture. On the basis of shoot dry matter, CCRI-69 and XLZ-30 were identified as N-efficient and N-inefficient genotypes, respectively, and these results were confirmed by their contrasting N metabolism, uptake (NUpE), and utilization efficiency (NUtE). Overall, our results indicated the key role of shoot glutamine synthetase (GS) and root total soluble protein in NUtE. Conversely, tissue N concentration and N-metabolizing enzymes were considered as the key traits in conferring high NUpE. The remobilization of N from the shoot to roots by high shoot GS activity may be a strategy to enhance root total soluble protein, which improves root growth for N uptake and NUE. In future, multi-omics studies will be employed to focus on the key genes and pathways involved in N metabolism and their role in improving NUE.An entity's existence in an image can be depicted by the activity instantiation vector from a group of neurons (called capsule). Recently, multi-layered capsules, called CapsNet, have proven to be state-of-the-art for image classification tasks. This research utilizes the prowess of this algorithm to detect pneumonia from chest X-ray (CXR) images. Here, an entity in the CXR image can help determine if the patient (whose CXR is used) is suffering from pneumonia or not. A simple model of capsules (also known as Simple CapsNet) has provided results comparable to best Deep Learning models that had been used earlier. Subsequently, a combination of convolutions and capsules is used to obtain two models that outperform all models previously proposed. These models-Integration of convolutions with capsules (ICC) and Ensemble of convolutions with capsules (ECC)-detect pneumonia with a test accuracy of 95.33% and 95.90%, respectively. The latter model is studied in detail to obtain a variant called EnCC, where n = 3, 4, 8, 16. Bay117085 Here, the E4CC model works optimally and gives test accuracy of 96.36%. All these models had been trained, validated, and tested on 5857 images from Mendeley.A differential microwave permittivity sensor and comparator is designed using a microstrip transmission line loaded with a magnetic-LC resonator. The microstrip transmission line is aligned with the electric wall of the resonator. The sensor shows a single transmission zero, when it is unloaded or loaded symmetrically on both halves. A second notch appears in the transmission response by asymmetrical dielectric loading on the two halves of the device. The frequency splitting is used to characterize the dielectric properties of the samples under test. The sensitivity of the sensor is enhanced by removing the mutual coupling between the two halves of the magnetic-LC resonator using a metallic wall. The sensors' operation principle is explained through a circuit model analysis. A prototype of the designed sensor is fabricated and measurements are used for validation of the sensing concept. The sensor can be used for determination of the dielectric properties in solid materials or detecting defects and impurities in solid materials through a comparative measurement with a reference sample.Commercial interests in indoor localization have been increasing in the past decade. The success of many applications relies at least partially on indoor localization that is expected to provide reliable indoor position information. Wi-Fi received signal strength (RSS)-based indoor localization techniques have attracted extensive attentions because Wi-Fi access points (APs) are widely deployed and we can obtain the Wi-Fi RSS measurements without extra hardware cost. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical classification-based method as a new solution to the indoor localization problem. Within the developed approach, we first adopt an improved K-Means clustering algorithm to divide the area of interest into several zones and they are allowed to overlap with one another to improve the generalization capability of the following indoor positioning process. To find the localization result, the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) algorithm and support vector machine (SVM) with the one-versus-one strategy are employed. The proposed method is implemented on a tablet, and its performance is evaluated in real-world environments.