Esophageal testing: What we have so far

Gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD) is a common disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. In the last few decades, new technologies have evolved and have been applied to the functional study of the esophagus, allowing for the improvement of our knowledge of the pathophysiology of GERD. High-resolution manometry(HRM) permits greater understanding of the function of the esophagogastric junction and the risks associated with hiatal hernia. Moreover, HRM has been found to be more reproducible and sensitive than conventional water-perfused manometry to detect the presence of transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxation. Esophageal 24-h p H-metry with or without combined impedance is usually performed in patients with negative endoscopy and reflux symptoms who have a poor response to anti-reflux medical therapy to assess esophageal acid exposure and symptom-reflux correlations. In particular, esophageal 24-h impedance and p H monitoring can detect acid and non-acid reflux events. Endo FLIP is a recent technique poorly applied in clinical practice, although it provides a large amount of information about the esophagogastric junction. In the coming years, laryngopharyngeal symptoms could be evaluated with up and coming non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques, such as pepsin detection in saliva or pharyngeal p H-metry. Future studies are required of these techniques to evaluate their diagnostic accuracy and usefulness, although the available data are promising.

Ionosphere correction algorithm for spaceborne SAR imaging

For spaceborne synthetic aperture radar （SAR） imaging,the dispersive ionosphere has significant effects on the propagationof the low frequency （especially P-band） radar signal. Theionospheric effects can be a significant source of the phase error inthe radar signal, which causes a degeneration of the image qualityin spaceborne SAR imaging system. The background ionosphericeffects on spaceborne SAR through modeling and simulation areanalyzed, and the qualitative and quantitative analysis based onthe spatio-temporal variability of the ionosphere is given. A novelionosphere correction algorithm （ICA） is proposed to deal with theionospheric effects on the low frequency spaceborne SAR radarsignal. With the proposed algorithm, the degradation of the imagequality caused by the ionosphere is corrected. The simulation resultsshow the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Nanoindentation and Wear Characteristics of Al 5083/SiC_p Nanocomposites Synthesized by High Energy Ball Milling and Spark Plasma Sintering

AI 5083//10 wt% SiCp nano composites have been synthesized by means of high energy ball milling followed by spark plasma sintering （SPS）. Nano composites produced via this method exhibited near-theoretical density while retaining the nano-grained features. X-ray diffraction （XRD） analysis indicated that the crystalline size of the ball milled AI 5083 matrix was observed to be～25 nm and it was coarsened up to～30 nm after SPS. Nano indentation results of nano composites demonstrated a high hardness of～280 HV with an elastic modulus of 126 GPa. Wear and friction characteristics with addition of SiCp reinforcement exhibited significant improvement in terms of coefficient of friction and specific wear rate to that of nano structured AI 5083 alloy. The reduction in specific wear rate in the nanocomposite was mainly due to the change of wear mechanism from adhesive to abrasive wear with the addition of SiCp which resulted in high hardness associated with nano-grained microstructure.

Filaggrin Gene Mutation c.3321delA is Associated with Dry Phenotypes of Atopic Dermatitis in the Chinese Han Population

INTRODUCTION Atopic dermatitis （AD） is a common chronic inflammatory skin disorder that is characterized by dry skin and disturbed skin barrier functions. Mutations in the filaggrin （FLG） gene, the gene coding profilaggrin/filaggrin, have a great impact on the epidermal barrier function and are an important predisposing factor for AD. However, in both Europeans and Asians,

The impact of seasonality on multi-scale feature extraction techniques

A key component in constructing a broad-scale,gridded population dataset is fine resolution geospatial data accurately depicting the extent of human activity.Analogous datasets are often developed using a wide range of methods and classification techniques,including the use of spatial features,spectral features,or the coupling of both to identify the presence of man-made structures from high-resolution satellite imagery.By using spatial and textural-based descriptors to generate highresolution settlement layers for two dissimilar regions at the peak of seasonal disparity,this study attempts to quantify the influence of seasonality on the accuracy of a supervised,multi-scale,feature extraction framework for automated delineation of human settlement.Results generated by numerous models are evaluated against a reference dataset allowing for assessment of seasonal and feature differences in the context of accuracy.Global or regional mapping of human settlement requires the assemblage of high-resolution satellite images with variegated acquisition characteristics(season,sun elevation,off-nadir,etc.)to produce a cloud-free composite image from which features are extracted.Results of this study suggest an emphasis on imagery criteria,in particular acquisition date,could improve classification accuracy when mapping human settlement at scale.

Thermal plasma synthesis of SiC

Synthesis of silicon carbide has been carried out using thermal plasma processing technique using SiO2 as the solid feed and CH4 as the gaseous reducing agent. Thermochemical calculations have been performed varying the molar ratio of silicon dioxide and methane to determine the feasibility of the reaction. Experiments using a molar ratio of SiO2：CH4 equal to 1：2 produced maximum yield of SiC of about 65 mol % at a solid feed rate of 5 g/min. Mostly spherical morphology with some nanorods has been observed. The presence of Si had been observed and was quantified using XRD, HRTEM, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron microscopy （XPS）. Si acts as a nucleating agent for SiC nanorods to grow.