Real-time sono-elastography in the diagnosis of diffuse liver diseases

AIM: To analyze whether computer-enhanced dynamic analysis of elastography movies is able to better characterize and differentiate between different degrees of liver fibrosis. METHODS: The study design was prospective. A total of 132 consecutive patients with chronic liver diseases and healthy volunteers were examined by transabdominal ultrasound elastography. All examinations were done by two doctors.RESULTS: Due to the limitations of the method, we obtained high-quality elastography information in only 73.48% of the patients. The κ-means clustering method was applied to assess the inter-observer diagnosis varia- bility, which showed good variability values in accordance with the experience of ultrasound examination of every observer. Cohen’sκ test indicated a moderate agreement between the study observers (κ = 0.4728). Furthermore, we compared the way the two observers clustered the patients, using the test for comparing two proportions (t value, two-sided test). There was no statistically significant difference between the two physicians, regardless of the patients’ real status. CONCLUSION: Transabdominal real-time elastography is certainly a very useful method in depicting liver hard- ness, although it is incompletely tested in large multicenter studies.

Diffusion of ions in an electrostatic stochastic field and a space-dependent unperturbed magnetic field

We calculate the diffusion coefficients for ions moving in a prescribed electromagnetic field.The field is considered to he a superposition of an electrostatic stochastic field and a space-dependent and sheared magnetic field.We have considered as parameters involved in the calculation of the diffusion coefficients the shear ion Kubo number the electrostatic Kubo number K.the parallel shear ion Kubo number and the parallel thermal ion Kubo number A geometrical parameter which is the measure of the product of the stochastic perpendicular correlation length and the gradient in the magnetic field strength(see definitions in the text)is found not to he important in our calculation.The results concerning the diffusion coefficients obtained in our model are in agreement with experimental data and with those corresponding to other models,and the neoclassical and anomalous values for the diffusion coefficients arc obtained.

The Localization of Commutative Bounded BCK-Algebras

In this paper we develop a theory of localization for bounded commutative BCK-algebras. We try to extend some results from the case of commutative Hilbert algebras (see [1]) to the case of commutative BCK-alge- bras.

EXISTENCE RESULTS FOR SINGULAR FRACTIONAL p-KIRCHHOFF PROBLEMS

This paper is concerned with the existence and multiplicity of solutions for singular Kirchhoff-type problems involving the fractional p-Laplacian operator.More precisely,we study the following nonlocal problem:{M (∫∫_(R2N)|x|^(α1p)|y|^(α2p)|u(x) − u(y)|^(p)/|x − y|^(N+ps) dxdy)L_(p)^(s)u = |x| ^(β)f(u) in Ω,u = 0 in R^(N) \ Ω,where L_(p)^(s) is the generalized fractional p-Laplacian operator,N≥1,s∈(0,1),α_(1),α_(2),β∈R,Ω■R^(N) is a bounded domain with Lipschitz boundary,and M:R0^(+)→R0^(+),f:Ω→R are continuous functions.Firstly,we introduce a variational framework for the above problem.Then,the existence of least energy solutions is obtained by using variational methods,provided that the nonlinear term f has(θ_(p-1))-sublinear growth at infinity.Moreover,the existence of infinitely many solutions is obtained by using Krasnoselskii’s genus theory.Finally,we obtain the existence and multiplicity of solutions if f has(θ_(p-1))-superlinear growth at infinity.The main features of our paper are that the Kirchhoff function may vanish at zero and the nonlinearity may be singular.

Tensegrity applied to modelling the motion of viruses

A considerable number of viruses’structures have been discovered and more are expected to be identified.Different viruses’symmetries can be observed at the nanoscale level.The mechanical models of some viruses realised by scientists are described in this paper,none of which has taken into consideration the internal deformation of subsystems. The authors’models for some viruses’elements are introduced,with rigid and flexible links,which reproduce the movements of viruses including internal deformations of the subunits.

On the Cohomological Derivation of Yang-Mills Theory in the Antifield Formalism

We present a brief review of the cohomological solutions of self-coupling interactions of the fields in the free Yang-Mills theory. All consistent interactions among the fields have been obtained using the antifield formalism through several order BRST deformations of the master equation. It is found that the coupling deformations halt exclusively at the second order, whereas higher order deformations are obstructed due to non-local interactions. The results demonstrate the BRST cohomological derivation of the interacting Yang-Mills theory.

Scientific Investigation of the Paintings from the Agarbiciu (Cluj County) Wooden Church

The investigation of the painting materials (pigments, binders and varnish) of Agarbiciu wooden church painted walls was done by employing both nondestructive (XRF and reflection FTIR spectroscopy for pigments) and destructive methods (FTIR spectroscopy and GC-MS spectrometry for pigments and binders). The digital restoration of the interior of the wooden church was done using the physical-chemical composition of the painting layer, a metadata set that describes the timeline, detailed photographic documentation and the 3D scanned interior of the church.

On Designing of the Main Elements of a Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Driving System

The paper deals with the designing of an electric drive system used for hybrid electric vehicles. The driving system is realized with an induction motor and a voltage source inverter. Specifically, the application is for a series hybrid vehicle powered by electric storage batteries charged by solar batteries. In the first part of the paper the designing of the electric storage batteries and of the photoelectric system is presented. In the second part of the paper some aspects regarding the designing of the induction motor are presented. Then some aspects concerning the voltage source inverter designing are exposed.

Coupling of Serendipity, Affordance and Taxonomy in Digital Competence: HCI for Illiterates

This research work is the result of multidisciplinary research for the design of a digital learning tool from the basic level. Computer science guarantees the technical concepts of the development of the tool. At the same time, Information and Communication Science discipline describes the concepts of cognitive psychology with digital competence in computerization. The overall goal of this work is to provide an HCI component for basic level learning or HCI for the illiterate. It is about transforming a communication tool from a cognitive system to a digital learning tool adapted to the learner’s level of digital competence. The author relies on the UML class diagram to identify the affordance and serendipity of HCI property entities. The mathematical study of the similarity between these two properties allows us to update the learner’s profile. Stephanie’s approach was used when managing the learner’s profile and the digital competency taxonomy to classify the learner’s level of digital use. The principle of an expert system was taken up in this work to make the decision on the level of digital competence of the learner and to guide the solution so that the learning continues without interruption. This expert system integrates the data science of digital educational materials, defining its specificity. The algorithm of the realization summarizes the implementation of the whole approach. αβGasy@mobile is an application on Android for Malagasy language literacy. To learn the letter “l” with this application, the initially low-level learner had an intermediate assessment score after 2 hours of continuous learning. Self-constructivism has been developed and strengthened by the HCI illiterate component. We have hundreds of learners for the case study and used ten smartphones to 5 inches. On the selected samples, the results of the experiment are close to our objective. More precisely, the inactive time is almost non-existent, the learning time predefined in the system is close to reality, and the speed of return on the interaction is fluid while the evaluation is notified.

Category Theoretic Properties of the A. Rényi and C. Tsallis Entropies

The problem of embedding the Tsallis, Rényi and generalized Rényi entropies in the framework of category theory and their axiomatic foundation is studied. To this end, we construct a special category MES related to measured spaces. We prove that both of the Rényi and Tsallis entropies can be imbedded in the formalism of category theory by proving that the same basic partition functional that appears in their definitions, as well as in the associated Lebesgue space norms, has good algebraic compatibility properties. We prove that this functional is both additive and multiplicative with respect to the direct product and the disjoint sum (the coproduct) in the category MES, so it is a natural candidate for the measure of information or uncertainty. We prove that the category MES can be extended to monoidal category, both with respect to the direct product as well as to the coproduct. The basic axioms of the original Rényi entropy theory are generalized and reformulated in the framework of category MES and we prove that these axioms foresee the existence of an universal exponent having the same values for all the objects of the category MES. In addition, this universal exponent is the parameter, which appears in the definition of the Tsallis and Rényi entropies. It is proved that in a similar manner, the partition functional that appears in the definition of the Generalized Rényi entropy is a multiplicative functional with respect to direct product and additive with respect to the disjoint sum, but its symmetry group is reduced compared to the case of classical Rényi entropy.

Determination of the Dynamic ITER Energy Confinement Time Scalings

We derive the differential equation, which is satisfied by the ITER scalings for the dynamic energy confinement time. We show that this differential equation can also be obtained from the differential equation for the energy confinement time, derived from the energy balance equation, when the plasma is near the steady state. We find that the values of the scaling parameters are linked to the second derivative of the power loss, estimated at the steady state. As an example of an application, the solution of the differential equation for the energy confinement time is compared with the profile obtained by solving numerically the balance equations (closed by a transport model) for a concrete Tokamak-plasma.

Psychosocial stress and liver disease status

"Psychosocial stress" is an increasingly common concept in the challenging and highly-demanding modern society of today. Organic response to stress implicates two major components of the stress system, namely the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Stress is anamnestically reported by patients during the course of disease, usually accompanied by a decline in their overall health status. As the mechanisms involving glucocorticoids and catecholamines have been deciphered, and their actions on immune cell function deeper understood, it has become clear that stress has an impact on hepatic inflam-matory response. An increasing number of articles have approached the link between psychosocial stress and the negative evolution of hepatic diseases. This article reviews a number of studies on both human populations and animal models performed in recent years, all linking stress, mainly of psychosocial nature, and the evolution of three important liver-related pathological entities: viral hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ischemic colitis and large bowel infarction:A case report

Ischemic bowel disease results from an acute or chronic drop in the blood supply to the bowel and may have various clinical presentations, such as intestinal angina, ischemic colitis or intestinal infarction. Elderly patients with systemic atherosclerosis who are symptomatic for the disease in two or more vascular beds have multiple comorbidities and are particularly at risk. The clinical evolution and outcome of this disease are difficult to predict because of its pleomorphic aspects and the general lack of statistical data. In this paper, we present the case of a patient who was monitored in our unit for six years. For this patient, we encountered iterative changes in the clinical pattern, beginning with chronic "intestinal angina" and finishing with signs of acute mesenteric ischemia after an episode of ischemic colitis. This evolution is particularly rare in clinical practice, and the case is instructive because it raises discussions about the natural history of the condition and the thera-peutic decisions that should be made at every stage of the disease. An important lesson is that ischemic bowel disease should always be considered in patients who have multiple risk factors for atherosclerosis and have experienced recurrent "indistinct" abdominal symptoms.In these cases, aggressive investigation and therapeutic decisions must be taken whenever possible. Despite an absence of standardized protocols, angiographic evaluation and revascularization procedures have beneficial outcomes. Current advances in endovascular therapy, such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting, should be increasingly used in patients with chronic mesenteric ischemia. Such therapy can avoid the risks that are associated with open repair. However, technical difficulties, especially in severe stenotic lesions, frequently occur.