Equal Split Research Articles

Defining corticosteroid-regulated sodium transport within the distal nephron

The aldosterone (ALDO)-sensitive distal nephron is typically defined as: the late distal convoluted tubule (DCT2), connecting tubule (CNT) and cortical collecting duct (CCD). ALDO-sensitivity is defined by 11βHSD2 (11β) activity (which inactivates corticosterone, CORT); mineralocorticoid (MR) rather than glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression; and the target epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). Recent studies have reported ALDO-insensitive, but MR-dependent ENaC activity in DCT2/CNT and that CORT-stimulated ENaC may be relevant in MR antagonism as 4th line anti-hypertensive therapy. Whilst functional evidence of ALDO-insensitive ENaC activity is compelling, corticosteroid-regulated Na + transport along the distal nephron is not fully defined. AIM: to determine 11βHSD2, MR and GR expression alongside Na + transporter localisation in murine distal nephron and assess the endogenous receptor(s) underpinning steroid-stimulated ENaC activity.Male C57BL/6 mouse kidney sections were subject to multiplex immunofluorescence (11β, MR and GR) and immunohistochemical labelling (NCC, TRPV5, γ-ENaC and AQP2). Images were co-registered, annotated and analysed using Halo® software. Steroid-induced ENaC-mediated currents were measured in mCCD cl1 and primary CD cells. Carbenoxolone (CBX), mifepristone (MF) or PF-03882845 (PF) were used to inhibit 11β, GR and MR, respectively.Distal nephron segments were defined as: DCT - NCC; DCT/CNT - NCC and TRPV5; CNT - TRPV5; CNT/CCD - TRPV5 and γ-ENaC/AQP2; CCD - γ-ENaC/AQP2. We did not detect NCC and γ-ENaC co-localisation. Average cells/section, DCT: 874±39; DCT/CNT: 238±31; CNT: 198±63; CNT/CCD: 831±282; CCD: 2262±231 ( n=3). Negligible numbers of cells expressed both MR and GR.DCT was predominantly 11β- (~90%) and GR dominant (GR:MR ratio ~7:1). In 11β+ cells (~10%), GR was also dominant (GR:MR ratio ~4:1). DCT/CNT and CNT were mainly 11β- (~85 and ~75%, respectively), where MR and GR were similar. In 11β+ cells, MR and GR were similar in DCT/CNT but MR was greater in CNT (MR:GR ratio ~4:1). CNT/CCD contained a near equal split of 11β- (~52%) and 11β+ (~48%) cells. MR and GR were similar in 11β- cells, but 11β+ cells were almost exclusively MR (MR:GR ratio ~37:1). In CCD, ~35% of cells were 11β-, MR and GR were similar, and ~65% cells were 11β+, these were predominantly MR (MR:GR ratio ~30:1).In mCCD cl1 ( n=8-11) and primary CD cells ( n=6), ALDO-induced ENaC activity was inhibited by MR ( p<0.001) but not GR antagonists. DEX-induced ENaC activity was inhibited by GR ( p<0.001) but not MR antagonists. CORT-induced ENaC activity was modestly inhibited by MR ( p<0.05) but not by GR antagonists.Our data suggest that the DCT is a glucocorticoid-responsive segment, with 11β+ cells becoming progressively more dominant from CNT to CCD. The appearance of ENaC in the late CNT and particularly CCD, alongside 11β and MR, suggest these segments reflect the mineralocorticoid-responsive, and thus aldosterone-sensitive distal nephron. Kidney Research UK, The Royal Society This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Acute beetroot juice reduces blood pressure in young Black and White males but not females

A complex interplay of social, lifestyle, and physiological factors contribute to Black Americans having the highest blood pressure (BP) in America. One potential contributor to Black adult's higher BP may be reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. Therefore, we sought to determine whether augmenting NO bioavailability with acute beetroot juice (BRJ) supplementation would reduce resting BP and cardiovascular reactivity in Black and White adults, but to a greater extent in Black adults. A total of 18 Black and 20 White (∼equal split by biological sex) young adults completed this randomized, placebo-controlled (nitrate (NO3−)-depleted BRJ), crossover design study. We measured heart rate, brachial and central BP, and arterial stiffness (via pulse wave velocity) at rest, during handgrip exercise, and during post-exercise circulatory occlusion. Compared with White adults, Black adults exhibited higher pre-supplementation resting brachial and central BP (Ps ≤0.035; e.g., brachial systolic BP: 116(11) vs. 121(7) mmHg, P = 0.023). Compared with placebo, BRJ (∼12.8 mmol NO3−) reduced resting brachial systolic BP similarly in Black (Δ-4±10 mmHg) and White (Δ-4±7 mmHg) adults (P = 0.029). However, BRJ supplementation reduced BP in males (Ps ≤ 0.020) but not females (Ps ≥ 0.299). Irrespective of race or sex, increases in plasma NO3− were associated with reduced brachial systolic BP (ρ = −0.237, P = 0.042). No other treatment effects were observed for BP or arterial stiffness at rest or during physical stress (i.e., reactivity); Ps ≥ 0.075. Despite young Black adults having higher resting BP, acute BRJ supplementation reduced systolic BP in young Black and White adults by a similar magnitude, an effect that was driven by males.

Systematic Studies on Anti-Cancer Evaluation of Stilbene and Dibenzo[b,f]oxepine Derivatives.

Cancer is one of the most common causes of human death worldwide; thus, numerous therapies, including chemotherapy, have been and are being continuously developed. In cancer cells, an aberrant mitotic spindle-a microtubule-based structure necessary for the equal splitting of genetic material between daughter cells-leads to genetic instability, one of the hallmarks of cancer. Thus, the building block of microtubules, tubulin, which is a heterodimer formed from α- and β-tubulin proteins, is a useful target in anti-cancer research. The surface of tubulin forms several pockets, i.e., sites that can bind factors that affect microtubules' stability. Colchicine pockets accommodate agents that induce microtubule depolymerization and, in contrast to factors that bind to other tubulin pockets, overcome multi-drug resistance. Therefore, colchicine-pocket-binding agents are of interest as anti-cancer drugs. Among the various colchicine-site-binding compounds, stilbenoids and their derivatives have been extensively studied. Herein, we report systematic studies on the antiproliferative activity of selected stilbenes and oxepine derivatives against two cancer cell lines-HCT116 and MCF-7-and two normal cell lines-HEK293 and HDF-A. The results of molecular modeling, antiproliferative activity, and immunofluorescence analyses revealed that compounds 1a, 1c, 1d, 1i, 2i, 2j, and 3h were the most cytotoxic and acted by interacting with tubulin heterodimers, leading to the disruption of the microtubular cytoskeleton.

Shear stress metrics associated with pro-atherogenic high-risk anatomical features in a carotid artery bifurcation model

BackgroundDiseases associated with atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid artery are a major cause of deaths in the United States. Blood-flow-induced shear-stresses are known to trigger plaque formation. Prior literature suggests that the internal carotid artery sinus is prone to atherosclerosis, but there is limited understanding of why only certain patients are predisposed towards plaque formation. MethodsWe computationally investigate the effect of vessel geometry on wall-shear-stress distribution by comparing flowfields and wall-shear-stress-metrics between a low-risk and a novel predisposed high-risk carotid artery bifurcation anatomy. Both models were developed based on clinical risk estimations and patient-averaged anatomical features. The high-risk geometry has a larger internal carotid artery branching angle and a lower internal-to-carotid-artery-diameter-ratio. A patient-averaged physiological carotid artery inflow waveform is used. FindingsThe high-risk geometry experiences stronger flow separation in the sinus. Furthermore, it experiences a more equal flow split at the bifurcation, thereby reducing internal carotid artery flowrate and increasing atherosclerosis-prone low-velocity areas. Lowest time-averaged-wall-shear-stresses are present at the sinus outer wall, where plaques are often found, for both geometries. The high-risk geometry has significantly high, unfavorable oscillatory-shear-index values not found in the low-risk geometry. High oscillatory-shear-index areas are located at the vessels outside walls distal to the bifurcation and on the sinus wall. InterpretationThese results highlight the effectiveness of oscillatory-shear-index, to augment classical time-averaged-wall-shear-stress, in evaluating pro-atherogenic geometry features. Furthermore, the flow split at the bifurcation is a promising clinical indicator for atherosclerosis risk as it can be directly accessed using clinical imaging, whereas shear-stress-metrics cannot.

Growth and nitrogen productivity of drip-irrigated winter wheat under different nitrogen fertigation strategies in the North China Plain

Excessive application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer is the main cause of N loss and poor use efficiency in winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) production in the North China Plain (NCP). Drip fertigation is considered to be an effective method for improving N use efficiency and reducing losses, while the performance of drip fertigation in winter wheat is limited by poor N scheduling. A two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth, development and yield of drip-fertigated winter wheat under different split urea (46% N, 240 kg ha −1 ) applications. The six treatments consisted of five fertigation N application scheduling programs and one slow-release fertilizer (SRF) application. The five N scheduling treatments were N0-100 (0% at sowing and 100% at jointing/booting), N25-75 (25% at sowing and 75% at jointing/booting), N50-50 (50% at sowing and 50% at jointing/booting), N75-25 (75% at sowing and 25 at jointing/booting), and N100-0 (100% at sowing and 0% at jointing/booting). The SRF (43% N, 240 kg ha −1 ) was only used as fertilizer at sowing. Split N application significantly ( P <0.05) affected wheat grain yield, yield components, aboveground biomass (ABM), water use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen partial factor productivity (NPFP). The N50-50 and SRF treatments respectively had the highest yield (8.84 and 8.85 tons ha −1 ), ABM (20.67 and 20.83 tons ha −1 ), WUE (2.28 and 2.17 kg m −3 ) and NPFP (36.82 and 36.88 kg kg −1 ). This work provided substantial evidence that urea-N applied in equal splits between basal and topdressing doses compete economically with the highly expensive SRF for fertilization of winter wheat crops. Although the single-dose SRF could reduce labor costs involved with the traditional method of manual spreading, the drip fertigation system used in this study with the N50-50 treatment provides an option for farmers to maintain wheat production in the NCP.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Pregnant Women and Healthcare Providers in Bangladesh regarding Multivitamin Supplements during Pregnancy

Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread among pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and lead to potentially adverse effects for mother and baby. In Bangladesh, maternal malnutrition remains a severe problem, with high rates of anemia (49.6% of pregnant women and 47.8% of lactating women are anemic) and other nutritional deficiencies. A Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) study was conducted to assess Bangladeshi pregnant women's perceptions and related behaviors, as well as awareness and knowledge among pharmacists and healthcare professionals concerning prenatal multivitamin supplements. This was done in both rural and urban areas across Bangladesh. A total of 732 quantitative interviews were conducted (330 with providers and 402 with pregnant women, with an equal split between urban and rural areas for both sets of audiences; 200 women were users of prenatal multivitamin supplements, while 202 women were aware non-users). The study identified a few findings that can guide further research or market-based interventions to reduce micronutrient deficiencies. These include most pregnant women not knowing the right time to start multivitamin supplements (56.0%, [n = 225], stating that a woman should start taking supplements 'after the first trimester'), not knowing their benefits, and how they help both the mother and baby-only 29.5% [n = 59] stated that they believed the supplements helped their baby to grow well). Further, barriers to taking the supplements include women believing a nutritious diet is a substitute (88.7% [n = 293]), and a perceived lack of support from other family members (21.8%, [n = 72]). This suggests that there is a need for further awareness-raising among all pregnant women, their family members, and providers.

Simple acoustic metagrating for perfect two- and three-beam splitting

Acoustic metasurfaces have been widely explored and attracted great attention for their extraordinary wavefront manipulation abilities. In this paper, we propose a simple acoustic metagrating with periodic grooves that can split a normally incident beam into two or three reflected beams. The amplitudes and power flows of different reflected beams can be manipulated by changing the groove parameters. The mirror reflected wave is suppressed for equal two-beam splitting case and allowed for three-beam splitting case. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the perfect two- and three-beam splitting performances based on local power conservation. Our research work provides a simple method for designing acoustic beam splitters and has extensive applications in acoustic sensing and communication.

Rich Extensions of the Core and the Equal Split Off Set

This paper studies extensions of the core and the equal split off set (ESOS) for TU games, and also subsolutions of the extensions in order to derive some new egalitarian solutions for TU games. Stability of the allocations is weakened such that an allocation [Formula: see text] can be blocked only by rich coalitions which together with a player will contain all players having payoffs not less than him. In accordance with such a definition of blocking, two new solutions — the rich core and the egalitarian rich core — are defined and characterized by means of weakening of axioms characterizing the ESOS on the class of all TU games [Dietzenbacher, B. and Yanovskaya, E. [2021] Consistency of the equal spit-off set, Int. J. Game Theory 50(1), 1–22]. Two subsolutions of the egalitarian rich core — the set of Lorenz undominated allocations and the set of allocations that lexicographically minimize maximal payoffs of players (Lmax solution) are characterized. The tight upper boundary of the number of allocations in the ESOS and in the egalitarian rich core is found.

E-cigarette-related beliefs, behaviors, and policy support among young people in China.

China has recently introduced a range of e-cigarette control policies with a focus on addressing an increase in youth vaping. This study aimed to investigate a wide range of e-cigarette-related attitudes and behaviors in a national sample of Chinese adolescents and young adults to obtain insights into their exposure to, experiences with, and attitudes to e-cigarettes on the cusp of new regulations coming into force. An online survey was administered to a sample of 1062 adolescents and young adults (aged 15-30 years) in China in November-December 2021. Quotas were applied to achieve an approximately equal gender split, representation across age sub-groups (15-17, 18-20, 21-23, 24-26, and 27-30 years), and approximately two-thirds representing low- and middle-income groups. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were also calculated. Just under half (47%) reported no knowledge of e-cigarettes and/or vaping. One in five reported ever using e-cigarettes ('even once or twice'), 8% reported being current users, and 3% reported being daily users. Around twothirds of those who had heard of e-cigarettes/vaping had friends who vaped and had seen e-cigarette advertising. Fruit flavors were most popular, and the most frequently nominated reasons for vaping were to cut down on cigarette smoking and because a friend used them. The factors positively associated with ever use of e-cigarettes were current tobacco smoking (AOR=68.26) or previous tobacco smoking (AOR=39.15) and having friends who vape (AOR=1.76). Perceptions of addictiveness were negatively associated with ever use (AOR=0.47). Strong support was evident for most assessed e-cigarette control policies. The results indicate that young people in China have been able to access and use e-cigarettes, although rates of regular use are low. Generally, high levels of expressed support for a range of e-cigarette control policies among members of this age group suggest the new regulatory environment is consistent with their policy preferences.

A Non-Laboratory Gait Dataset of Full Body Kinematics and Egocentric Vision

In this manuscript, we describe a unique dataset of human locomotion captured in a variety of out-of-the-laboratory environments captured using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) based wearable motion capture. The data contain full-body kinematics for walking, with and without stops, stair ambulation, obstacle course navigation, dynamic movements intended to test agility, and negotiating common obstacles in public spaces such as chairs. The dataset contains 24.2 total hours of movement data from a college student population with an approximately equal split of males to females. In addition, for one of the activities, we captured the egocentric field of view and gaze of the subjects using an eye tracker. Finally, we provide some examples of applications using the dataset and discuss how it might open possibilities for new studies in human gait analysis.

Clinical review of stroke care at National District Hospital, Bloemfontein.

Stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality affecting sub-Saharan Africa. Studies show that dedicated stroke units improve patient outcomes. National District Hospital (NDH) manages strokes, with the potential of becoming a dedicated stroke unit in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics, management and outcomes of patients presenting with stroke at NDH. In this retrospective descriptive study, emergency department registers were used to identify patients presenting with symptoms of a stroke between 01 January 2019 and 31 March 2019. Relevant data were extracted from hospital files. Of the 106 identified patients, 53 were included in the study. The median age was 61 years (range 28-89 years), with an almost equal split between genders. The most common risk factor was hypertension (81.3%). The median time from symptom onset to presentation at NDH was 9 h. No patient received thrombolysis. One patient received neurosurgical intervention. The most prescribed secondary preventative drugs were antihypertensive medication, statins, anticoagulation and antiretroviral therapy. Half (52.8%) of the patients received rehabilitation as in-patients. Final diagnoses were ischaemic strokes (26/53, 49.0%), transient ischaemic attacks (10/56, 22.7%) and haemorrhagic strokes (6/56, 13.6%). The 6-month post-infarct mortality rate was 37.5%. Patient outcomes were comparable to similar South African studies. Time delays in stroke management remain a major obstacle. Identified action points include community education, improving emergency medical services and establishing a dedicated stroke unit.Contribution:This study underlines the importance of stroke and cardiovascular disease prevention and stresses the value of establishing dedicated stroke units.

Impacts of Silicon Foliar Spraying and Nitrogen Application Techniques on Quantitative and Qualitative Parameters of Rice at Different Planting Spaces

The silicon (Si) foliar application along with timely application of nitrogen (N) can be help to increase the quantity and quality of crops. Also, planting spaces is an agronomic technique that can affect yield and quality of rice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of Si foliar application and N application techniques on yield components, grain yield and accumulation of Si and N in rice grains at different planting spaces. The experiment was conducted as a split-split-plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications during two crop years of 2018 and 2019. The experimental treatments included the main plot assigned to planting spaces (25×10 cm, 20×10 cm), the sub-plot assigned to N application techniques (N application as 33.3% at basal + 33.3% at panicle initiation + 33.3% at full heading, N application as 40% at basal + 40% at panicle initiation + 20% at full heading), and the sub-sub-plot assigned to foliar application of Si (control or non-use of Si, Si foliar application). The results indicated that the reducing planting space (20×10 cm) resulted in an increase in the number of panicle number m–2 by 9.3%, followed by an improvement in grain yield by 9.7% compared with planting distance of 25×10 cm. The plants that received N in three equal splits had higher grain yield (6993.1 kg.ha–1 ). The Si-treated plants showed both higher yield parameters and greater physiological characteristics when compared with control plants. We observed an increase in grain yield (10%), N concentration (7%) and uptake (14.3%) in grain, protein content (6.8%), and nitrogen use efficiency (7.1%) by supplying Si fertilizer. Overall, our results revealed that foliar application of Si could be an effective technique for increasing rice grain yield and improving rice nutritional quality.

Yield Performance of Rapeseed and Mustard under Rice Fallow Situation as Influenced by Varieties and Integrated Nutrient Management Practices

A field experiment was conducted during the rabi season of 2019-20 to study the effect of varieties and integrated nutrient management (INM) practices on the yield attributing characters, seed yield, oil content and oil yield of rapeseed and mustard under rice fallow situation. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three mustard varieties viz., PM 26 (V1 ), PM 27 (V2 ), NRCHB-101 (V3 ) along with one rapeseed variety viz.,TS-36 (V4 ) in the main plot and five INM practices viz., control (No N-P-K) (F1 ), 50% of the recommended dose (RD) of NPK + vermicompost (VC) @1t/ha (incubated with Azotobacter and PSB @ 0.2% w/w for 15 days) in equal splits applied at basal and 30 DAS (F2 ), VC @ 2t/ha enriched with biofertilizers (Azotobacter + PSB) incubated @ 0.2% w/w for 15 days (F3 ), FYM @ 2t/ha (incubated with Azotobacter and PSB @ 0.2% w/w for 15 days) + quick lime @ 20 kg/ha + ash @ 2 kg/ha at basal and 30 DAS (1000:10:1) (F4 ) and recommended NPK @ 40-35-15 kg/ha (F5 ) in the sub-plots and replicated thrice. Results revealed that the mustard variety PM 27 (V2 ) was significantly superior with respect to yield attributing characters, seed yield, seed oil content and oil yield followed by NRCHB 101 (V3 ) and also application of recommended NPK @ 40-35-15 kg ha-1 (F5 ) was significantly superior and at par with 50% RD of NPK + VC @ 1t ha-1 (incubated with Azotobacter and PSB) (F2 ) in equal splits as basal and at 30 DAS.

Политическая борьба по вопросу “жесткого” Брекзита в период премьерства Терезы Мэй

The article examines the struggle of various political forces in Great Britain with the issue of a ‘hard’ Brexit during the period from the moment the results of the referendum on the membership of the United Kingdom (UK) in the European Union (EU), held on June 23, 2016, appeared until the announcement of the change of the first British strategy for the UK’s exit from the EU, held on July 5, 2018. Due to the approximately equal split between citizens regarding the participation of the country in the European integration project, split among members of leading parties into euro-optimists and euro-pessimists, existence of unresolved domestic political problems, executing the original Brexit plan made by the Conservatives met resistance from the pro-European part of the British society and the parliamentarians who represented its interests. Generally, the given period was a time of gradual accumulation of contradictions between various political forces in the United Kingdom on the issue of a ‘hard’ Brexit, which later resulted in one of the deepest political crises in the modern history of the country.

Demystifying the Maze: A Guide to Shared Services Cost Allocation in the Cloud

Organizations may greatly benefit from utilizing shared services in cloud-based settings, including increased operational effectiveness and cost savings. Nevertheless, efficiently allocating the costs related to these shared services can take time and effort. This article strives to navigate the complex world of cloud resource management alongside asserting the significance of understanding the notion of Shared Services Cost Allocation, or SSCA. It examines the many benefits of implementing a clear SSCA model, highlighting how it may promote better cost transparency, increase team accountability, and enable data-driven decision-making throughout the company. This article also explores other approaches to cost allocation, including equal split, proportionate allocation based on utilization, and proportional allocation based on other factors, outlining the benefits and drawbacks of each in different situations. It also highlights how crucial cooperation is between various stakeholders, such as finance, IT, and individual teams, in creating and sustaining an effective and long-lasting SSCA model. The paper highlights the critical role that efficient SSCA plays in optimizing cloud service ROI and advancing businesses toward their strategic objectives.

Unequal implies success? How initial ownership split impacts team entry and new venture performance

When launching a new venture, the new venture team (NVT) determines the ownership split, a decision which has implications for the venture's performance. We develop a novel theoretical framework by extending the relational-models theory to the type of ownership split chosen and explaining the choice of an equal or unequal split with the preferred model of social interaction. The models differ in terms of contribution organization and valuation, as well as the primary motivations of NVT members. We hypothesize that NVTs with unequal splits perform better and are more open to NVT entry. Furthermore, NVT entry is hypothesized to act as a partial mediator in the ownership split–performance relationship. We find support for our hypotheses using mediation analysis on a large sample of 24,194 German start-ups. Our research contributes to a better understanding of the performance implications of NVT's internal organization. Our findings, however, do not imply that all NVTs should choose an unequal split. Importantly, our research demonstrates that, depending on owners' preferences, both equal and unequal splits are distinct and viable models for organizing NVTs, even though performance differences should be taken into consideration.

Effect of Levels and Time of Nitrogen Application on Yield and Economics of Rice

A field experiment was conducted on yield and economics of rice during 2017 at Agriculture Research Institute, Rajensranagar. The study was conducted with 10 treatments and laid out in randomized block design with 3 replications. The soil of the experimental site was clay loam in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction, non-saline, low in organic carbon and available nitrogen, high in available phosphorous and potassium.Among the different time and dose of application of nitrogen, the highest panicle m-2 (309.3), panicle length (23.9 cm), number of filled grains panicle-1 (103.2),number of total grains panicle-1 (118.1), test weight (23.9 g), grain yield (4514 kg ha-1), straw yield (5470 kg ha-1) and B: C ratio (1.99)were recorded highest with application of 160 kg N ha-1 25% each at sowing, 20 DAS, 40 DAS and 60 DAS compared to the other treatments. However, growth recorded with 160 kg in 4 equal splits was found to be on par with the growth in the treatments having 160 and 140 kg N ha-1applied at various splits and with application of 120 kg N ha-1 in 4 equal splits at sowing, 20 DAS, 40 DAS and 60 DAS. The lowest observation wasfoundin the farmer’s practice with the application of nitrogen at 120 kg ha-1 N in 3 splits with 12% at sowing, 44% at 40 DAS and 44% at 60 DAS.

Spatial-aware data partition for distributed memory parallelization of ANN search in multimedia retrieval

Content-based multimedia retrieval (CBMR) applications are becoming very popular in several online services which handles large volumes of data and are submitted to high query rates. While these applications may be complex, finding the nearest neighboring objects (multimedia descriptors) is typically their most time consuming operation. In order to address this problem, several recent works have proposed distributed memory parallelization of approximate nearest neighbors (ANN) search. These solutions employ a variety of ANN algorithms and different parallelization strategies. In this paper, we have identified the currently used parallelization strategies (Data Equal Split (DES) and Bucket Equal Split (BES)) and systematically evaluated their performance. We have also developed a framework to simplify the deployment of ANN algorithms in distributed memory machines with customized parallelization or data partition strategies. We further proposed a novel class of data partition/parallelization strategies that takes into account the data spatial proximity. Our approaches (SABES and SABES++) improves data locality and the system efficiency as compared to DES and BES. For instance, SABES++ achieved speedups of 4.2× and 1.8× on top of DES and BES, respectively, in the baseline case (40 nodes). Further, SABES and SABES++ also attained higher multi-node scalability and the gains vs DES and BES increase a larger number of nodes. SABES++ is 14.5× faster than DES when 160 nodes are used.

Spontaneous obliteration of brain arteriovenous malformations: illustrative cases.

Spontaneous angiographic obliteration of a brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is considered a rare outcome, with most cases in the literature related to prior hemorrhage in small brain AVMs. The authors present a prospective, single center, consecutive case series. The clinical course and radiographic features of four cases with spontaneous obliteration of brain AVM were analyzed. The median age of patients in this series was 47.6 years, with an equal gender split. The median maximum brain AVM diameter was 2 cm. The median time to spontaneous obliteration was 26 months, with hemorrhage preceding this in three out of four cases and a prolonged latency in the only case with a nidus size larger than 3 cm and no hemorrhage. The present study provides additional information to allow clinicians to counsel patients about the rare outcomes of conservative management. This work extends our understanding of when this phenomenon can occur by reporting on the differences associated with spontaneous obliteration of larger AVMs.

Morphological Characterization and Adaptive Trail of Two Prominent T. Aman Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Lines under Different Locations of Bangladesh

Two advanced lines: BR8693-8-4-2-1 and BR8693-17-6-2-2, along with BRRI dhan49 (S. Ck) and BRRI dhan33 (R. Ck) as checks were tested at farmers’ field in eight locations such as West Byde (BRRI Gazipur), Khulna (Dumuria), Habiganj (Sadar), Chapainawabganj (Gomostapur), Rangpur (Sadar), Feni (Dagonbhuyan), Chattagram (Hathazari) and Barishal (Sadar) during the season of Transplanting Aman 2018. The trial was replicated three times in each location. The unit plot size was 17.94 m2 (4.6m x 3.9m). Seeding emergence for eight locations varied from 11-17 July 2018. Seedling age varied from 25-30 days among the locations. Seedlings were transplanted at 20 cm x 15 cm spacing. NPKS and Zn fertilizers were applied at the rate of 0, 15, 50, 12 and 3.6 kg ha-1, respectively. All fertilizers except urea were applied as basal whereas, urea was applied in 3 equal splits at 10, 25 and 40 days after transplanting (DAT) Other standard management practices were followed as and when necessary. No insecticide was used because the two advanced lines were insect resistant and diseases were not controlled (to identify susceptibility and tolerance level of lines). Date of seeding, transplanting, flowering and maturity, lodging tolerance, pest and disease incidence, phenotypic acceptance at vegetative and ripening stage, yield and yield components were recorded. Among the two advanced lines, BR8693-8-4-2-1 line was statistically significant from BR8693-17-6-2-2, BRRI Dhan49 and BRRI Dhan33 respectively and the disease reaction, farmers’ opinion, and special character of insect resistant, BR8693-8-4-2-1 was found to be superior for further variety trial. The main purpose of the experiment is to recommended insect resistant rice genotype for proposed variety trail. For yield estimation, 9 m2 sample area from each plot was harvested at maturity and grain yields were adjusted to 14% moisture content.