Multiple Beds Research Articles

Thrombotic Microangiopathy: A Multidisciplinary Team Approach

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is characterized by the presence of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia along with organ dysfunction, and pathologically, by the presence of microthrombi in multiple microvascular beds. Delays in diagnosis and initiation of therapy are common due to the low incidence, variable presentation, and poor awareness of these diseases, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary approaches to clinical care for TMA. We describe a new approach to improve clinical management via a TMA team that originally stemmed from an Affinity Research Collaborative team focused on thrombosis and hemostasis. The TMA team consists of clinical faculty from different disciplines who together are charged with the responsibility to quickly analyze clinical presentations, guide laboratory testing, and streamline prompt institution of treatment. The TMA team also includes faculty members from a broad range of disciplines collaborating to elucidate the pathogenesis of TMA. To this end, a clinical database and biorepository have been constructed. TMA leaders educate front-line providers from other departments through presentations in various forums across multiple specialties. Facilitated by an Affinity Research Collaborative mechanism, we describe an interdisciplinary team dedicated to improving both clinical care and translational research in TMA.

Exploring the decline of oyster beds in Atlantic Canada shorelines: potential effects of crab predation on American oysters (Crassostrea virginica)

Atlantic Canada’s American oyster (Crassostrea virginica) beds, while economically and ecologically important, have been in decline over the past few decades. Predation by crabs, in particular by the European green crab (Carcinus maenas), has been proposed as one of the potential causes of such decline. Hence, this study examined oyster mortality levels in multiple beds across Prince Edward Island (PEI) and then experimentally assessed the contribution of green crab predation to oyster mortality. Results from surveys conducted in 10 estuaries across PEI in 2014 indicate that the probability of mortality for small oysters was significantly higher when green crabs were present then in areas without green crabs. This probability of mortality was significantly less when there was the presence of alternative prey like natural mussel beds (Mytilus edulis). The odds of oyster mortality were also higher when beds had rock crabs (Cancer irroratus) compared to beds with no rock crabs. Given the potential importance of green crab predation, its influence was assessed in 2015 using two field experiments with tethered oysters. Our results indicate that odds of small oyster mortality occurring were much higher in green crab inclusion cages than in the open environment and the exclusion cages. These results reaffirm that oysters up to ~40 mm SL are vulnerable to predation, and at least some of the mortality affecting these oysters can be causally attributed to green crab predation. Green crab predation rates upon small oysters are relevant given the economic benefits and ecosystem services provided by these bivalves. They highlight the need for the industry to consider mitigation measures and potentially adapt their oyster growing strategies.

A Noninvasive Sonographic Study of Multisite Atherosclerosis in an Elderly Chinese Population.

A sonographic study was conducted to determine the prevalence of atherosclerosis across multiple arterial beds in an elderly Chinese population and to examine relationships between detected atherosclerosis and traditional risk factors. A total of 197 participants underwent sonography of the abdominal aorta and bilateral carotid, femoral, and lower limb arteries. Images were reviewed to determine the presence or absence of plaques in each artery. Plaque thickness was measured as the indicator of plaque burden. Plaque prevalence was estimated per site and correlated with age, sex, and the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Plaque frequency and thickness were compared between different arterial beds. Of the 197 participants (54% female; age range, 58-86 years), 90% had plaques present in at least 1 artery, and 55% had plaques present in at least 4 arteries. The most common sites for plaques were the carotid arteries (80%), followed by the lower limb arteries (59%), femoral arteries (57%), and abdominal aorta (37%). Plaque prevalence in each arterial bed except the abdominal aorta was significantly associated with male participants (P < .05), increasing age (P < .003) and FRS (P < .04). Male participants were more likely to have carotid (P = .04), femoral (P = .045), and lower limb (P = .006) plaques than female participants, but there was no significant difference in aortic plaque prevalence between male and female participants (P = .9). Plaque prevalence increased significantly in the carotid and peripheral arteries with increasing FRS. These findings should be considered for designing screening programs for stroke and heart attack prevention.

Do Neoproterozoic (Moine) calc-silicate rocks represent metamorphosed tuffs? A geochemical re-appraisal

ABSTRACTFollowing the identification of grey quartz–albite–chlorite–calcite–muscovite rocks in Meso- to Neo-proterozoic sequences in Scotland as metamorphosed tuffs of intermediate composition, it has been shown that this lithology will generate calc-silicate rocks at higher metamorphic grades. Both rock types occur as thin beds with sharp contacts with their host, occur as multiple beds in isolated suites, and share chemical compositions suggestive of volcanic sources with tholeiitic andesite affinities. The failure to recognise calc-silicate rocks as tuffs might explain the apparent scarcity of volcanogenic material through c.220 million years of early Earth history in Scotland.

Adverse drug reactions in children: New perspectives on old problems

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is characterized by the presence of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia along with organ dysfunction, and pathologically, by the presence of microthrombi in multiple microvascular beds. Delays in diagnosis and initiation of therapy are common due to the low incidence, variable presentation, and poor awareness of these diseases, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary approaches to clinical care for TMA. We describe a new approach to improve clinical management via a TMA team that originally stemmed from an Affinity Research Collaborative team focused on thrombosis and hemostasis. The TMA team consists of clinical faculty from different disciplines who together are charged with the responsibility to quickly analyze clinical presentations, guide laboratory testing, and streamline prompt institution of treatment. The TMA team also includes faculty members from a broad range of disciplines collaborating to elucidate the pathogenesis of TMA. To this end, a clinical database and biorepository have been constructed. TMA leaders educate front-line providers from other departments through presentations in various forums across multiple specialties. Facilitated by an Affinity Research Collaborative mechanism, we describe an interdisciplinary team dedicated to improving both clinical care and translational research in TMA.

New Interactions

From the first studies of wearables inside MIT’s Media Lab decades ago to the smartwatches and smartglasses sold these days as consumer devices, wearables provide clues to better understand new paths to record and distribute information. Google Glass was one of the first immersive products, allowing users to capture and stream information to the Web, creating screen-based micro-interactions displayed in front of the user’s eye or sent to their smartphone. The first-person perspective is not new, but network-enabled Glass creates a novel state of streamed information and images, potentially making the journalist an avatar of the audience. Possibilities also lay in the development of Glass-specific ambient or calm communications—providing users with seamless information updates. Our study explores how Glass, attached to the head of the journalist-broadcaster, creates alternative behaviours in those captured due to its almost-invisible camera. These and other aspects of Glass will be explored during this paper, recalling experiences made across multiple test beds in the United Kingdom, Porto Alegre, Brazil and the Sahara Desert. The lessons acquired from these experiences allow us to understand not only new ways to inform, but new relationships between journalists, newsrooms and the public.

Quantitative assessment of petroleum loss during secondary migration in the Yaojia Formation, NE Songliao Basin, NE China

In the NW Songliao Basin, NE China, petroleum is produced from fluvio-deltaic sandstones in the Upper Cretaceous Yaojia Formation. Source rocks are dark-colored lacustrine shales of the Qinshankou Formation. In this paper, two models were developed to characterize the petroleum migration pathways in the lower member (Member 1) of the Yaojia Formation. In the first model, which applies to the northern region of the study area, petroleum migrates only in the lowermost carrier bed in Member 1 immediately above the area of the source kitchen, and later in multiple carrier beds outside this area. In the second model, which represents migration patterns in the central and southern regions of the study area, petroleum migrates in multiple carrier beds both within and outside the area of the source kitchen.Pressures in the Yaojia Formation were inferred to be hydrostatic while petroleum expulsion and migration took place. Therefore seven “migration-accumulation” (i.e., local palaeo-drainage) systems were defined according to the fluid potential gradients. Migration loss was found to vary markedly between migration-accumulation systems in the study area, and was controlled by factors including the shape, width and area of the effective source rocks, the thickness and distribution of carrier beds inside the source area, the migration distance outside the source area, and the number of carrier beds involved in petroleum migration.Using these two models, petroleum loss during secondary migration was estimated. The loss during secondary migration was approximately 5.21 billion bbl of petroleum, which is approximately 6% of the petroleum expelled into the first Member of the Yaojia Formation. Nearly 80% of the total migration loss occurred in all the carrier beds above the source area.

Microvertebrates from multiple bone beds in the Rhaetian of the M4–M5 motorway junction, South Gloucestershire, U.K.

The Rhaetian (latest Triassic) is best known for its basal bone bed, but there are numerous other bone-rich horizons in the succession. Boreholes taken around the M4–M5 motorway junction in SW England provide measured sections with multiple Rhaetian bone beds. The microvertebrate samples in the various bone beds differ through time in their composition and in average specimen size. The onset of the Rhaetian transgression accumulated organic debris to form a fossiliferous layer high in biodiversity at the base of the Westbury Formation. The bone bed at the top of the Westbury Formation represents a community with lower biodiversity. The bone beds differ in their faunas: chondrichthyan teeth are dominant in the basal bone bed, but actinopterygians dominate the higher bone bed. These differences could be taphonomic, but are more likely evidence for ecological-evolutionary changes. Further, a change from larger to smaller specimen sizes up-sequence allows rejection of an earlier idea that the successive bone beds represented multiple reworkings of older bone beds.

Participation of Pharmacists in Emergency Care at Outpatient Clinics with Multiple Beds.

A major difference in medical flow between acute and nonacute medical care is the urgency of diagnosis and treatment. In the acute medical setting, diagnosis and treatment sometimes must be done almost simultaneously. Learning clinical management in the acute-care setting can be the basis of drug therapy in other clinical settings. When infusion is performed in emergency medicine, stabilization of blood pH is achieved through kidney and lung functions. At the same time, the oxygen transport capacity is monitored using blood gas analysis. One medical intervention can lead to multiple diagnostic and treatment processes in the emergency medical field. Most pharmacists rarely have the opportunity to learn about the reasoning process in which different body functions are linked together such as heart, lung, and kidney functions when performing infusions in emergency medicine before starting to work in the clinical setting. Learning from emergency medicine can be applied to drug therapy in other clinical settings as it teaches how to link different body functions and understand the relationships between those functions and the results of medical tests. These are considered to be necessary reasoning skills to understand patients' conditions in various clinical situations, including management in intensive care and the treatment of chronic disease. Knowledge of emergency medicine can be the foundation of drug therapy in other clinical settings, for example, the meanings of vital signs.

The study of solid circulation rate in a compartmented fluidized bed gasifier (CFBG)

Biomass waste has been abundantly available in Malaysia since the booming of palm oil industry. In order to tackle this issue, gasification is seen a promising technology to convert waste into energy. In view of the heat requirement for endothermic gasification reaction as well as the complex design and operation of multiple fluidized beds, compartmented fluidized bed gasifier (CFBG) with the combustor and the gasifier as separate compartments is proposed. As such, solid circulation rate (SCR) is one of the essential parameters for steady gasification and combustion to be realized in their respective compartments. Experimental and numerical studies (CFD) on the effect of static bed height, main bed aeration, riser aeration and v-valve aeration on SCR have been conducted in a cold- flow CFBG model with only river sand as the fluidizing medium. At lower operating range, the numerical simulations under-predict the SCR as compared to that of the experimental results. Also, it predicts slightly different trends over the range. On the other hand, at higher operating range, the numerical simulations are able to capture those trends as observed in the experimental results at the lower operating range. Overall, the numerical results compare reasonably well with that of the experimental works.

Highstand shelf fans: The role of buoyancy reversal in the deposition of a new type of shelf sand body

Although sea-level highstands are typically associated with sediment-starved continental shelves, high sea level does not hinder major river floods. Turbidity currents generated by plunging of sediment-laden rivers at the fluvial-marine interface, known as hyperpycnal flows, allow for cross-shelf transport of suspended sand beyond the coastline. Hyperpycnal flows in southern California have deposited six subaqueous fans on the shelf of the northern Santa Barbara Channel in the Holocene. Using eight cores and nine grab samples, we describe the deposits, age, and stratigraphic architecture of two fans in the Santa Barbara Channel. Fan lobes have up to 3 m of relief and are composed of multiple hyperpycnite beds ∼5 cm to 40 cm thick. Deposit architecture and geometry suggest the hyperpycnal flows became positively buoyant and lifted off the seabed, resulting in well-sorted, structureless, elongate sand lobes. Contrary to conventional sequence stratigraphic models, the presence of these features on the continental shelf suggests that active-margin shelves may locally develop high-quality reservoir sand bodies during sea-level highstands, and that such shelves need not be solely the site of sediment bypass. These deposits may provide a Quaternary analogue to many well-sorted sand bodies in the rock record that are interpreted as turbidites but lack typical Bouma-type features.

Scalable wide-field optical coherence tomography-based angiography for in vivo imaging applications.

Recent advances in optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based angiography have demonstrated a variety of biomedical applications in the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of diseases with vascular involvement. While promising, its imaging field of view (FOV) is however still limited (typically less than 9 mm2), which somehow slows down its clinical acceptance. In this paper, we report a high-speed spectral-domain OCT operating at 1310 nm to enable wide FOV up to 750 mm2. Using optical microangiography (OMAG) algorithm, we are able to map vascular networks within living biological tissues. Thanks to 2,048 pixel-array line scan InGaAs camera operating at 147 kHz scan rate, the system delivers a ranging depth of ~7.5 mm and provides wide-field OCT-based angiography at a single data acquisition. We implement two imaging modes (i.e., wide-field mode and high-resolution mode) in the OCT system, which gives highly scalable FOV with flexible lateral resolution. We demonstrate scalable wide-field vascular imaging for multiple finger nail beds in human and whole brain in mice with skull left intact at a single 3D scan, promising new opportunities for wide-field OCT-based angiography for many clinical applications.

Inversion-based interpretation of borehole sonic measurements using semianalytical spatial sensitivity functions

One of the major challenges in the interpretation of sonic logs is the presence of bed-boundary (shoulder-bed) effects, which can decrease the accuracy of the estimated elastic properties due to spatial averaging caused by the sonic receiver array across thin beds. A reliable approach to account for shoulder-bed effects in the interpretation of sonic logs is the implementation of forward modeling and inversion techniques. We have developed an efficient inversion-based interpretation method for the estimation of in situ rock formation elastic properties from sonic logs acquired in vertical wells. The method uses semianalytical spatial sensitivity functions for fast forward modeling of sonic-slowness logs and estimates formation elastic properties by iteratively matching the available logs with numerical simulations. Due to the intrinsic vertical resolution limits of sonic logs, the inversion method requires predefined bed boundaries using other high-resolution well logs. We first developed a workflow to estimate shear slowness of thin beds from flexural mode dispersions measured at multiple discrete frequencies. Then, we extended the method to estimate layer-by-layer compressional and shear slownesses by combining the slowness logs of nondispersive P- and S-waves. The method was first successfully verified using data numerically simulated for synthetic rock formations consisting of multiple thin beds and exhibiting large elastic property contrasts. Maximum relative errors and maximum uncertainty in the estimates were less than 2% and 6%, respectively. Field data acquired in wells penetrating multiple horizontal thin beds were also used to appraise the reliability and resolution improvement of the method in the estimation of formation compressional and shear slownesses. Our results indicated that our inversion-based interpretation method improved the vertical resolution of sonic logs by 70%. The new inversion-based interpretation method opens up the possibility of integrating modern borehole acoustic measurements with nuclear and resistivity logs for improved poroelastic and petrophysical interpretations.

At the Intersection of Geology, Archaeology, History, and Art: Engineer Cantonment (1819–1820), Washington County, Nebraska

In the fall of 1819, members of the Stephen Long Expedition constructed two log and limestone buildings along the west bank of the Missouri River north of modern Omaha, Nebraska, to serve as their winter quarters (Engineer Cantonment). A detailed watercolor and sketches of the site by expedition member Titian Ramsay Peale were key to the rediscovery of Engineer Cantonment. Subsequent excavations of the site identified three distinct archaeological components: two Native American hearths that date to the late Holocene, about 870 and 810 14 C years before present (BP), the Engineer Cantonment from AD 1819–20, and a farmstead from the late 19th to mid-20th century. The site is a low terrace-fan complex composed of four major depositional units: a late Holocene Missouri River alluvial fill, a late Holocene through modern alluvial fan, a younger historic alluvial fill, and 19th-to 20th-century Missouri River floodplain deposits. The late Holocene fill is a fining-upward sequence of channel sand and gravel overlain by silt and clay overbank deposits with redoximorphic features. The fan includes multiple beds of yellowish brown, brown, and gray alluvial fan sediments with thin, weakly developed buried soils. The historic alluvial fill truncates the distal portions of the alluvial fan and the upper portions of the late Holocene fill. The modern floodplain deposits consist of a thin bed of silty clay overlying cross-bedded silty sand. Our study demonstrates two things: the significance of the margins of the valley floor of the Missouri River as a record of late Pleistocene through modern fluvial activity, and a potentially long record of human occupation of the valley during the Holocene. This project also demonstrates the potential usefulness of 19th-century art in the study of cultural and environmental change during the last two centuries.

Hypothetical operation model for the multi-bed system of the Tritium plant based on the scheduling approach

In this paper, we describe our hypothetical operation model (HOM) for the multi-bed system of the storage and delivery system (SDS) of the ITER tritium plant. The multi-bed system consists of multiple getter beds (i.e., for batch operation) and buffer vessels (i.e., for continuous operation). Our newly developed HOM is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model and has been extensively investigated to optimize chemical and petrochemical production planning and scheduling. Our model determines the timing, duration, and size of tasks corresponding to each set of equipment. Further, inventory levels for each set of equipment are calculated. Our proposed model considers the operation of one cycle of one set of getter beds and is implemented and assessed as a case study problem.

Improvement of uniformity in cultivation environment and crop growth rate by hybrid control of air flow devices

A complete control type plant factory has high efficiency in terms of cultivation area by constructing vertical multiple layered cultivation beds. However, it has a problem of irregular crop growth due to temperature deviation at upper and lower beds and increases in energy consumption by a prolonged cultivation period. In this work, air flow rate inside a facility was improved by a hybrid control of air flow devices like air conditioning and air circulation fan with an established wireless sensor network to minimize temperature deviations between upper and lower beds and to promote crop growth. The performance of proposed system was verified with an experimental environment or Case A wherein air conditioning device was operated without a control algorithm and Case B wherein air conditioning and circulation fans were alternatively operated based on the hybrid control algorithm. After planting leafy vegetables under each experimental condition, crops were cultivated for 21 days. As a result, Case B wherein AC (air conditioning) and ACF (air-circulation fan) were alternatively operated based on the hybrid control algorithm showed that fresh mass, number of leaves, and leaf length for the crops grown were increased by 40.6%, 41.1%, and 11.1%, respectively, compared to Case A.

A YAP/TAZ-miR-130/301 molecular circuit exerts systems-level control of fibrosis in a network of human diseases and physiologic conditions.

The molecular origins of fibrosis affecting multiple tissue beds remain incompletely defined. Previously, we delineated the critical role of the control of extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffening by the mechanosensitive microRNA-130/301 family, as activated by the YAP/TAZ co-transcription factors, in promoting pulmonary hypertension (PH). We hypothesized that similar mechanisms may dictate fibrosis in other tissue beds beyond the pulmonary vasculature. Employing an in silico combination of microRNA target prediction, transcriptomic analysis of 137 human diseases and physiologic states, and advanced gene network modeling, we predicted the microRNA-130/301 family as a master regulator of fibrotic pathways across a cohort of seemingly disparate diseases and conditions. In two such diseases (pulmonary fibrosis and liver fibrosis), inhibition of microRNA-130/301 prevented the induction of ECM modification, YAP/TAZ, and downstream tissue fibrosis. Thus, mechanical forces act through a central feedback circuit between microRNA-130/301 and YAP/TAZ to sustain a common fibrotic phenotype across a network of human physiologic and pathophysiologic states. Such re-conceptualization of interconnections based on shared systems of disease and non-disease gene networks may have broad implications for future convergent diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Sequence and sedimentary features of the Changxing Fm organic reefs and their control on reservoir development in the Yuanba Gas Field, Sichuan Basin

In the Yuanba area, Sichuan Basin, the gas reservoirs in the Upper Permian Changxing Fm are now at the development stage. With the smooth progress of development, it is urgent to characterize the reservoir architectures accurately and summarize the controlling factors for reservoir development. In this paper, research was mainly performed on the Changxing Fm organic reefs in terms of their sequence stratigraphy, sedimentary facies, and reservoir characteristics and architectures based on core observation and thin section analysis, combined with physical property data and logging curves analysis results. It is shown that the Changing Fm can be divided into two third-order sequences and six fourth-order sequences, their electric logs are characterized by abrupt change above and below the high-frequency sequence boundary and are consistent with the sedimentary cycles controlled by high-frequency sequences. Besides, the Changxing Fm organic reefs mainly represents zonal distribution outside SQ2 platform margin, and they are vertically composed of two obvious two reef sedimentary cycles and laterally developed in asymmetric patterns (early in the east and late in the west). Finally, in general, organic reef (bank.) reservoirs are mainly composed of low-porosity and moderate–low-permeability dissolved dolomite reservoirs, and they are mostly distributed at reef caps in the upper–middle parts of the two fourth-order sequences, with the characteristics of multiple beds, thin single beds, different types of reservoirs with different thickness interbedded with each other, strong heterogeneity and double-layer reservoir architectures. It is concluded that the distribution of organic reef microfacies in this area is controlled by high-frequency sequence, which is the key controlling factor for reservoir development and spatial distribution.

Novel single-bed and twin-bed pressure swing adsorption systems

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is one of the promising technologies for separation of gas mixtures. Multi-bed (poly-bed) PSA units are used to get both raffinate and extract products of high purities. Any multi-bed PSA cycle can be carried out in a single bed (or in multiple beds connected in parallel to a common header) with a requisite number of holding tanks and a single set of compressors and vacuum pumps. The performances of single-bed systems have been studied operating on the molecular gate, duplex, modified and moving-bed emulation of 3-bed PSA cycles, which are known to yield both products of high purities and to have potential for process intensification. The sizes of holding tanks were found to be unwieldy for commercial applications. Twin-bed systems have been proposed in which an additional complementary bed replaced the holding tanks. The twin-bed system facilitates also the scale-up of molecular-gate PSA, which was considered difficult to scale up to commercial units. A process-intensification index has been used to compare the performance of different configurations. The studies show that the performances of the 3-bed and modified duplex PSA configurations are far superior to the other two for CO2 capture from flue gas.

Carbon dioxide removal using carbon monolith as electric swing adsorption to improve indoor air quality

This study explores the feasibility of excess CO2 removal from living spaces. Electric-swing adsorption (ESA) splits ambient air into two portions: waste gas for removal and recovery air for recycling back into the living space. Ambient air holds dilute but unacceptable concentrations of CO2 (selected as 3000 ppm in this study), while the waste gas contains higher concentrations. The concentration in the recovered air is below ambient levels. Carbon monolith functions as an adsorbent and direct heating resistance material. Cooling is accomplished by the convective flow of ambient air. The computational model and preliminary tests establish ways to quantify the separation characteristics and thermal response of the monolith. Based on the ESA steps identified with the single monolith, a prototype of a two-bed device is built to demonstrate the cyclical operation of multiple beds with phase shift. The electrical energy requirement for treating air containing 3000 ppm CO2 is in the range of 57.8 kJ/(m3 air) under the selected temperature swing of 20 °C. This requirement indicates that further refinement is essential for practical application. However, the overall findings are in agreement with the well-established fact that the concentration of CO2 is the most important factor affecting energy consumption, especially when the mole fraction of CO2 is less than 0.15.