Regularization Procedure Research Articles

Glove disinfection and aseptic technique: Creating a schema for the cleanroom and laboratory

There are different elements that contribute to good aseptic technique within the cleanroom and the laboratory. One such element is the donning of gloves (1), handling items appropriately, and keeping gloves regularly disinfected (2). Glove disinfection is an essential step for bacteriological control, although how successful control is maintained is dependent upon the type of disinfectant (these are generally alcohols for gloved hands) (3), frequency of application, volume of disinfectant, application technique and the contact time. Other variables include purchasing gloves of a suitable material and design, and appropriate training. Aa an added control with more critical areas, the gloves are pre sterilised before donning (often purchased sterile by radiation or ethylene oxide). As with other types of disinfection, the aim is not ‘sterilisation’ but to bring any bacterial density present on the gloves down to a level that is as low as possible (what is sometimes referred to as the "irreducible minimum") (4). Assessment, when required, is commonly through the use of agar contact plates onto the fingertips of each gloved hand (four fingers and the thumb) to create the ‘finger plate’ or ‘finger dab’. To avoid false negatives, the agar needs to be formulated with an appropriate disinfectant neutraliser. For cleanroom and laboratory managers seeking to maximise the maintenance of asepsis, glove control is an important element. This should take the form of a good practice schema and for this to be transitioned into a training module, supported by regular prompts in practice. In terms of what such a schema should look like, this article appraises the research that underpins an appropriate glove ‘sanitisation’ schema. This includes the central concerns of when and how effective glove disinfection is to be achieved (5). The key findings are that a 30 second disinfection time is suitable for both cleanroom and laboratory operations, provided a suitable technique is deployed and an alcohol-based disinfectant used. However, controls need to be in place to avoid the over disinfection of gloves since repeated applications increase the likelihood of microperforations occurring and thereby effective glove disinfection needs to be supported by a regular glove change procedure.

Safety and feasibility of zero-contrast transcatheter aortic valve implantation using balloon-expandable valves in patients with aortic stenosis and severe renal impairment: A single-center study

BackgroundAortic stenosis (AS) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) can coexist. Repeat exposure to contrast media in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has latent mortality risks and increased risk for acute kidney injury. We aimed to assess our “zero-contrast TAVI” protocol for patients with advanced CKD. MethodsConsecutive patients with severe AS who underwent TAVI at a single center registry were enrolled. Zero-contrast TAVI group included patients who underwent TAVI without contrast and who had an estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min/1.73 m2. Conventional TAVI group included patients who underwent the regular TAVI procedure. Patients using balloon-expandable valves via transfemoral approach were analyzed. Baseline clinical and procedural characteristics and clinical outcomes were compared between two groups. The primary outcome was early safety as defined by Valve Academic Research Consortium Criteria. Secondary outcomes included the presence of severe prosthesis-patient mismatch, moderate or greater perivalvular leakage, and requirement for new dialysis (within 3 months). ResultsA total of 520 patients were analyzed. Among these, 32 (6 %) underwent zero-contrast TAVI and 488 (94 %) conventional TAVI. In the zero-contrast TAVI group, 12 patients (37.5 %) had to use 20.7 (11.0–31.2) mL of contrast media. There were no significant differences in the primary and secondary outcomes between zero-contrast TAVI and conventional TAVI groups (78.1 % vs. 86.8 %, P = 0.184 and 9.4 % vs. 8.1 %, P = 0.738 for the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively). ConclusionsZero-contrast TAVI is feasible, safe, and effective in patients with AS and stage 4 CKD.

A fiber beam element based on plastic and damage models for prestressed concrete structures

Modeling of prestressed concrete beams and their degrading processes are relevant issues in the assessment of existing structures and infrastructures, particularly for bridges. This work focuses on the formulation and validation of a fiber beam finite element for prestressed concrete structural elements that accounts for nonlinear material behavior and time-dependent phenomena. The element is a 3D Timoshenko beam that follows a force-based approach. A fiber discretization of the cross-section is used to model concrete, steel reinforcements and prestressing cables based on damage and plasticity for concrete, and plasticity for steel through three-dimensional constitutive laws. The steel fibers are fully bonded. Strain-softening in the concrete requires an appropriate regularization procedure. The tendons are treated as additional fibers with prestressing applied as initial strain of the relevant fibers. No additional discretization is required except for the description of the tendons’ profile. Time-dependent phenomena such as creep, shrinkage and cable relaxation are taken into account. The proposed model is implemented in the OpenSees computational framework to carry out specific validation tests and demonstrate the element potential.

A non-local approach for Reissner–Mindlin shell elements in dynamic simulations: Application with a Gurson model

Numerical prediction of ductile tearing during a car crash is necessary to ensure the structural integrity of the vehicle. Recently, encouraging results were obtained by Davaze et al., (2021) with a non-local damage approach, compatible with dynamic explicit simulations and preserving parallel computation: an implicit gradient model enabled to reproduce experimental results with DP450 steel sheets with 3D solid elements. However, in the automotive industry, thin sheets of metals are mostly modeled with shell elements for computation time efficiency. Shell elements have a more complex formulation: their kinematic description is enriched accounting for displacements but also rotations, leading to two different strain contributions: membrane strain and bending strain. The transverse strain is computed independently in a post-processing step from local internal variables with a zero normal stress assumption. This formulation is known to lead to strain localization after the onset of necking, while this is not the case with 3D solid elements. The problem is even more challenging when considering shells in association with a softening material accounting for damage as this also leads to strong mesh dependency, as with 3D solid elements. This complex problem is solved using non-local formulations for the material behavior. The proposed solution accounts for both in-plane and in-thickness damage gradients. It consists of a two-step regularization procedure introducing nested wire elements in the shell thickness. Using non-local variables to evaluate the transverse strain enables to obtain a continuous spatial distribution for strains, in agreement with the 3D solid case. An updated Lagrangian formulation is used to account for large strains. The performance of the strategy is demonstrated in three test cases, with a comparison with an experimental result for one of them. The results obtained following the proposed strategy lead are equivalent to the ones obtained with the non-local method proposed by Davaze et al., (2021) and are thus consistent with the experimental data.

Comparison of human immunodeficiency virus and syphilis results in pooled sera versus individual samples of blood donors attending suez canal university hospital

Egypt is one of the countries where sexually transmitted diseases like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis are least prevalent. HIV and syphilis count less than one percent of total Egyptian population. An ELISA protocol for pooling serum samples is simple and may provide a way to reduce the cost and time needed for analysis. This study aimed to investigate the applicability and reliability of testing pooled sera of blood donors for HIV and syphilis compared to testing their individual sera and to assess the cost-effectiveness of this procedure. The study included 75 sera from randomly selected blood donors attending Suez Canal University hospital. Sera were screened by two ELISA kits, HIV Ag-Ab ELISA kit, and syphilis total antibody ELISA kit. Screening protocols were done by two sequential steps. At first, samples in pools of five were screened for both HIV and syphilis then, samples in positive pools were individually retested. There was no significant difference between the mean optical density for samples tested HIV and syphilis positive either individually or in pooled sera. There was no difference between the number of individual sera, tested positive for both HIV and syphilis and their pooled sera results (100 % positivity). There was significant decrease of the mean cost in one pool of 5 samples (16.5 L. E) in comparison to 5 individual samples (82.5 L. E) by HIV ELISA. Also, there was significant decrease of the mean cost in one pool of 5 samples (16 L.E) in comparison to 5 individual samples (80 L.E) by syphilis ELISA. In conclusion, the studied pooling protocol appeared reliable and can save up to 80 % of the cost for testing either HIV or syphilis by regular procedures.

In English

Hybrid carbons/metals/metal (metalloid) oxides composites could be effective adsorbents for low– and high–molecular weight compounds, polar and nonpolar, gaseous and liquid. The presence of metal nanocrystallites and carbon nanostructures could provide catalytic properties in redox reactions. For more effective use of hybrid composites, their morphological, structural, textural, and adsorption characteristics should be appropriate for target applications and, therefore, well controlled. Therefore, the aim of this study was to synthesize carbon/metal/silica nanostructured composites with varied content of metal (Ni) to control the mentioned characteristics. Precipitated silica Sipernat 50 was selected as a substrate. Potato starch was used as a carbon precursor. Nickel nitrate (Ni(NO3)2·6H2O) of varied amounts was used as a precursor of Ni nanoparticles reduced upon the starch carbonization. After the starch carbonization and Ni reduction, a set of C/Ni/silica samples was studied using atomic force microscopy, X–ray diffraction, X–ray fluorescence spectroscopy, nitrogen and p-nitrophenol adsorption, thermogravimetry, and Raman spectroscopy. The presence of nickel phase results in the formation of smaller but denser packed char nanoparticles. Estimation of possible contribution of pores accessible for nitrogen molecules in silica globules and outer surface of carbon/Ni particles suggests that the carbon phase is porous that provides a significant part of the specific surface area of the composites. Amorphous silica and char phases are characterized by the presence of certain nuclei of radius (R) &lt; 1 nm and 2 nm &lt; R &lt; 10 nm estimated from the XRD patterns using full peak profile analysis with a self–consistent regularization procedure. Ni crystallites are of several sizes, since particle size distributions include two–three peaks in the range of 3–13 nm in radius. The Raman spectra show that the main changes with increasing Ni content are characteristic to sp3 carbon structures (D line) in contrast to the sp2 structures (G line). The pore size distributions (both differential and incremental) demonstrate complex changes in a broad size range due to increasing Ni content in composites. As a whole, changes in the Ni content in nanostructured C/Ni/silica composites allow one to control the morphological, structural, and textural characteristics of the whole materials.

Python programs to apply regularized derivatives in the magnetic tilt derivative and gradient intensity data processing: A graphical procedure to choose the regularization parameter

The Tikhonov regularization parameter is a key parameter controlling the smoothness degree and oscillations of a regularized unknown solution. Usual methods to determine a proper parameter (L-curve or the discrepancy principle, for example) are not readily applicable to the evaluation of regularized derivatives, since this formulation does not make explicit a set of model parameters that are necessary to implement these methods. We develop a procedure for the determination of the regularization parameter based on the graphical construction of a characteristic “staircase” function associated with the L2-norm of the regularized derivatives for a set of trial regularization parameters. This function is independent of model parameters and presents a smooth and monotonic variation. The regularization parameters at the upper step (low values) of the ''staircase'' function provide equivalent results to the non-regularized derivative, the parameters at the lower step (high values) leading to over-smoothed derivatives. For the evaluated data sets, the proper regularization parameter is located in the slope connecting these two flat end-members of the staircase curve, thus balancing noise amplification against the amplitude loss in the transformed fields. A set of Python programs are presented to evaluate the regularization procedure in a well-known synthetic model composed of multiple (bulk and elongated) magnetic sources. This numerical approach also is applied in gridded aeromagnetic data covering high-grade metamorphic terrains of the Anápolis-Itauçu Complex in the Brasília Fold Belt central portion of Tocantins Province, central Brazil, characterized by multiple magnetic lineaments with different directions and intersections which are associated with shear zones, geologic faults, and intrusive bodies. The results obtained from the regularization procedure show efficiency in improving the maps of filtered fields, better tracking the continuity of magnetic lineaments and general geological trends. The results from the application in the Brasília Fold Belt enhance the importance and broader coverage of the Pirineus Zone of High Strain.

A Lattice-Boltzmann-based modelling chain for traffic-related atmospheric pollutant dispersion at the local urban scale

Urban traffic-related air pollution is a major source of environmental and health damage and is difficult to quantify due to its inherent physical complexity. We construct a CFD-based simulation framework coupling an efficient numerical method for turbulent fluid flows with a microscopic traffic model and an emissions model to simulate road transport pollutant dispersion at the urban microscale. We improve the open-source Lattice-Boltzmann based CFD software OpenLB to overcome its original stability deficiencies for high Reynolds number flows. A stable recursive regularization procedure with a double distribution function approach is proposed to solve an advection diffusion equation for passive scalar transport at high Reynolds number. The code is successfully validated on three reference cases of increasing complexity and the traffic model SUMO along with a physical engine emissions model are coupled with OpenLB to simulate traffic-induced pollution from a road network in a realistic complex geometry. Transient flow features are analysed and the time-averaged concentration levels in different neighbourhoods of the considered geometry are evaluated: high concentration levels are observed close to the streets but also inside specific building infrastructures due to complex wind dynamics. Analyses of altitudinal concentration variations show that flow recirculations located close to traffic lights can drive pollutant over the buildings and increase concentration levels inside inner courtyards. Time-averaged concentration maps are constructed using both spatially uniform and non-uniform line sources and it is shown that using uniform sources leads to up to 20% local concentration overestimations inside the urban canopy.

Hyperglycemia, Ischemic Lesions, and Functional Outcomes After Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background Ischemic lesions observed on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) magnetic resonance imaging are associated with poor outcomes after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We evaluated the association between hyperglycemia, ischemic lesions, and functional outcomes after ICH. Methods and Results This was a retrospective observational analysis of 1167 patients who received magnetic resonance imaging in the ERICH (Ethnic and Racial Variations in Intracerebral Hemorrhage) study. A machine learning strategy using the elastic net regularization and selection procedure was used to perform automated variable selection to identify final multivariable logistic regression models. Sensitivity analyses with alternative model development strategies were performed, and predictive performance was compared. After covariate adjustment, white matter hyperintensity score, leukocyte count on admission, and non-Hispanic Black race (compared with non-Hispanic White race) were associated with the presence of DWI lesions. History of ICH and ischemic stroke, presence of DWI lesions, deep ICH location (versus lobar), ICH volume, age, lower Glasgow Coma Score on admission, and medical history of diabetes were associated with poor 6-month modified Rankin Scale outcome (4-6) after covariate adjustment. Inclusion of interactions between race and ethnicity and variables included in the final multivariable model for functional outcome improved model performance; a significant interaction between race and ethnicity and medical history of diabetes and serum blood glucose on admission was observed. Conclusions No measure of hyperglycemia or diabetes was associated with presence of DWI lesions. However, both medical history of diabetes and presence of DWI lesions were independently associated with poor functional outcomes after ICH.

Pathological changes or technical artefacts? The problem of the heterogenous databases in COVID-19 CXR image analysis

BackgroundWhen the COVID-19 pandemic commenced in 2020, scientists assisted medical specialists with diagnostic algorithm development. One scientific research area related to COVID-19 diagnosis was medical imaging and its potential to support molecular tests. Unfortunately, several systems reported high accuracy in development but did not fare well in clinical application. The reason was poor generalization, a long-standing issue in AI development. Researchers found many causes of this issue and decided to refer to them as confounders, meaning a set of artefacts and methodological errors associated with the method. We aim to contribute to this steed by highlighting an undiscussed confounder related to image resolution. Methods20 216 chest X-ray images (CXR) from worldwide centres were analyzed. The CXRs were bijectively projected into the 2D domain by performing Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) embedding on the radiomic features (rUMAP) or CNN-based neural features (nUMAP) from the pre-last layer of the pre-trained classification neural network. Additional 44 339 thorax CXRs were used for validation. The comprehensive analysis of the multimodality of the density distribution in rUMAP/nUMAP domains and its relation to the original image properties was used to identify the main confounders. ResultsnUMAP revealed a hidden bias of neural networks towards the image resolution, which the regular up-sampling procedure cannot compensate for. The issue appears regardless of the network architecture and is not observed in a high-resolution dataset. The impact of the resolution heterogeneity can be partially diminished by applying advanced deep-learning-based super-resolution networks. ConclusionsrUMAP and nUMAP are great tools for image homogeneity analysis and bias discovery, as demonstrated by applying them to COVID-19 image data. Nonetheless, nUMAP could be applied to any type of data for which a deep neural network could be constructed. Advanced image super-resolution solutions are needed to reduce the impact of the resolution diversity on the classification network decision.

#3475 NOVEL OPTIMISED PROTOCOL FOR ISOLATION OF PTEC AND SYSTEMATIC CHARACTERISATION FROM HUMAN KIDNEY BIOPSY

Abstract Background and Aims Human kidneys have a role in water homeostasis, acid-base control, reabsorption of compounds, and secretion of xenobiotics and endogenous metabolites, exposing them to substances that could cause harm. This results in an alarming number of acute kidney injuries (AKI) worldwide, estimated at 13%. Furthermore, one-quarter of hospitalised cases are due to drug-induced AKI [1]. Current methods for nephrotoxicity assays are based on animal testing and/or the use of simple human cell lines. Meta-analyses show that we can correctly predict human drug responses in only 10–50% [2]. Our work aimed to develop a novel and optimised protocol for isolating proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) from human kidney biopsy to aid future research regarding AKI and nephrotoxicity studies. Method Isolation and cultivation of primary human adult PTEC obtained with biopsy during the regular diagnostic procedure was performed. We used a protocol consisting of micro-dissection of a tissue sample to get ∼1 mm3 fragments, enzymatic dissociation with 0.2% collagenase type 1, and use of selective culture media (Advanced DMEM/F12 with added insulin, transferrin, and selenite (all three together termed ITS), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and hydrocortisone). Light microscopy was used for morphologic characterisation. Some cells were cultured on Transwell inserts, and the transepithelial electric resistance (TEER) was measured in mature cells that formed a confluent culture. For phenotypic characterisation, several markers characteristic of PTEC were chosen [3], and immunocytochemical staining was performed using a fluorescent microscope to evaluate the PTEC phenotype. Results Following the described protocol resulted in isolating cells that formed first colonies after 24 h. Using light microscopy, the cells exhibited a cobblestone appearance, reached confluence after eight days, and showed dome (hemicysts) formation after 13 days. TEER reached 169 Ω/cm2 after 14 days. The isolated cells were marked positive using immunocytochemistry for sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), multidrug-resistant protein 4 (MRP4), organic anionic transporter 1 and 3 (OAT1 and OAT3), organic cationic transporter 2 (OCT2), p-glycoprotein (p-gp), multidrug and toxin extrusion protein 1 (MATE1), and N-cadherin. Conclusion In this study, we developed a protocol for isolating and cultivating primary human PTEC from biopsy samples. To the best of our knowledge, we have performed the most extensive systematic characterisation following the isolation of PTEC from kidney biopsy reported to date.

Free electron laser stochastic spectroscopy revealing silicon bond softening dynamics

Time-resolved x-ray emission/absorption spectroscopy (Tr-XES/XAS) is an informative experimental tool sensitive to electronic dynamics in materials, widely exploited in diverse research fields. Typically, Tr-XES/XAS requires x-ray pulses with both a narrow bandwidth and subpicosecond pulse duration, a combination that in principle finds its optimum with Fourier transform-limited pulses. In this work, we explore an alternative experimental approach, capable of simultaneously retrieving information about unoccupied (XAS) and occupied (XES) states from the stochastic fluctuations of broadband extreme ultraviolet pulses of a free electron laser. We used this method, in combination with singular-value decomposition and Tikhonov regularization procedures, to determine the XAS/XES response from a crystalline silicon sample at the ${L}_{2,3}$ edge, with an energy resolution of a few tens of meV. Finally, we combined this spectroscopic method with a pump-probe approach to measure structural and electronic dynamics of a silicon membrane. Tr-XAS/XES data obtained after photoexcitation with an optical laser pulse at 390 nm allowed us to observe perturbations of the band structure, which are compatible with the formation of the predicted precursor state of a nonthermal solid-liquid phase transition associated with a bond softening phenomenon.

Literature Review: Benefits of Balloon Blowing Breathing Exercises on Lung function in Astma Patients

Chronic inflammation that occurs in asthmatic patients results in recurrent episodic symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing, and wheezing breath sounds. This indicates that there is impaired lung function which can be seen from the results of the Peak Expiratory Flow (APE) examination. The purpose of compiling a literature review is to analyze the benefits of breathing exercise therapy using the balloon blowing technique on lung function in asthma patients. The method used in this literature study is the PICOS framework. Article searches were carried out using the science database from Science Direct, Pub Med and Google Scholar. The keywords used are breathing exercises, Balloon Blowing and asthma or asthma. Results have been literature found 7 articles analyzed. A total of 5 articles discussed the effect of breathing exercises using the balloon blowing technique on lung function, namely in terms of Peak Expiratory Flow (APE) values ​​and 2 journals discussed the effect of balloon blowing on improving clinical symptoms, namely shortness of breath and increased oxygen saturation. Based on the results of the literature review, it can be concluded that the Balloon Blowing breathing exercise can be applied to asthma patients. This exercise, when performed according to correct and regular procedures, can improve lung function which can be seen from several indicators, namely increasing Peak Expiratory Flow (APE), oxygen saturation and decreasing complaints of shortness of breath.

Optimal protective relaying scheme of distributed generation connected distribution network using particle swarm optimization-gravitational search algorithm technique

&lt;span lang="EN-US"&gt;This paper develops particle swarm optimization integrated with gravitational search algorithm (PSO-GSA) to coordinate the relays in a distribution system with distributed generation (DG) connectivity. This algorithm combines PSO and GSA to improve the performance of the relay protection system. To prevent relay malfunctions following DG penetration, a suitable primary and backup relay is chosen. The PSO-GSA is coded using MATLAB software and tested on an IEEE 4-bus system simulated in Simulink. Results indicate that, when compared to using regular PSO and GSA procedures individually, the PSO-GSA technique reduces the operating time of the relay significantly.&lt;/span&gt;

Homotopy solution to the nonlinear evolution for heavy nuclei

In the paper we suggest the homotopy method for solving of the non linear evolution equation. This method consists of two steps. First is the analytical solution for the linearized version of the non-linear evolution deep in the saturation region. Second, the perturbative procedure is suggested to take into account the remaining parts of the non-linear corrections. It turns out that these corrections are rather small and can be estimated in the regular iterative procedure.

Use of Modified Tikhonov Regularization in Analysis of Ground Surface Temperature Variations

Inversion techniques employed in geothermal studies of ground surface temperature (GST) changes are known to have problems of instability and non-uniqueness in numerical solutions. In the present work it is pointed out that some of these difficulties can be overcome through the use of a method based on Tikhonov regularization of order one which imposes smoothing of main parameters. A major disadvantage of this approach is obliteration of weak thermal signals usually present at larger depths at the expense of strong ones present at relatively shallow depths. In the present work we consider a convenient way of minimizing this problem using a method based on Tikhonov regularization of order one. In this approach residuals of observational data are minimized by imposing constraints on the variations of smoothing parameters, that is controlled by the magnitude of regularization coefficients. This is accomplished in two stages of inversion. In the first stage we seek an estimation of the dates of climate events derived from results of temperature logs. Inversion of the second stage allows estimation of the magnitudes of GST variations that are compatible with the ages of climate events of the first stage. The advantage is in finding better solutions without introducing other artefacts on the climate history. Such two-stage Tikhonov regularization procedures has been employed for extracting complementary information on GST history in continental regions of Brazil. The results reveal that the main warming event of the last century has been preceded by several secondary events during the time period of 1400 to the 2000 A.D.

ANALISA PROSEDUR PENJUALAN SEPEDA MOTOR PADA PT MANDIRI MOTOR JAKARTA

The ability to obtain profits can be obtained from sales. Sales will not go well without systematic and regular sales procedures. The system and rules in selling are called sales procedures. The purpose of this study was to find out how the procedure for selling motorbikes at PT Mandiri Motor in West Jakarta. In the data collection process, field research methods were carried out, namely observation and interviews as well as library research methods. The types of data used are primary data and secondary data. In data analysis techniques, the authors use descriptive analysis techniques. Based on the results of the analysis it can be concluded that the procedure for selling motorbikes at PT Mandiri Motor has sales procedures, namely sales planning, sales and payment processes and delivery

Clinicopathological analysis of patients with dual malignancies: A retrospective study.

This study aims to report the increasing incidence of second primary malignancies to better understand the association of multiple primary cancers and the duration of their occurrence. Keeping in view the current trends in dual malignancies and to further emphasize the importance of screening and follow-up diagnosis, we reviewed the records of patients who were diagnosed with dual malignancies. This is a retrospective observational study. We collected data from the hospital database, of patients presenting with either histologically proven synchronous or metachronous double primaries between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2021. The time interval to differentiate between synchronous and metachronous has been taken as 6 months. During the period of five years, twenty-three patients presented with dual malignancy. Out of 23 cases, seven were synchronous (30.43%), and 16 were metachronous (69.56%). In the synchronous malignancy group, the most common site of first and second primary malignancy was breast [5 cases (71.4%) and 3 cases (42.8%), respectively]. In the metachronous malignancy group, the most common site of the first primary was breast (7 cases; 43.75%), followed by the head and neck (4 cases; 25%), and the most common site of the second primary was also the breast (6 cases; 37.5%), followed by the lung (5 cases; 31.25%). Second primary malignancies are not rare and can occur at any age. Regular follow-up and screening procedures by the treating oncologist can play a major role in early detection followed by appropriate treatment of second primary tumors.

Control of port-Hamiltonian differential-algebraic systems and applications

We discuss the modelling framework of port-Hamiltonian descriptor systems and their use in numerical simulation and control. The structure is ideal for automated network-based modelling since it is invariant under power-conserving interconnection, congruence transformations and Galerkin projection. Moreover, stability and passivity properties are easily shown. Condensed forms under orthogonal transformations present easy analysis tools for existence, uniqueness, regularity and numerical methods to check these properties.After recalling the concepts for general linear and nonlinear descriptor systems, we demonstrate that many difficulties that arise in general descriptor systems can be easily overcome within the port-Hamiltonian framework. The properties of port-Hamiltonian descriptor systems are analysed, and time discretization and numerical linear algebra techniques are discussed. Structure-preserving regularization procedures for descriptor systems are presented to make them suitable for simulation and control. Model reduction techniques that preserve the structure and stabilization and optimal control techniques are discussed.The properties of port-Hamiltonian descriptor systems and their use in modelling simulation and control methods are illustrated with several examples from different physical domains. The survey concludes with open problems and research topics that deserve further attention.

Introducing a Rapid DNA Analysis Procedure for Crime Scene Samples Outside of the Laboratory-A Field Experiment.

Technological innovations enable rapid DNA analysis implementation possibilities. Concordantly, rapid DNA devices are being used in practice. However, the effects of implementing rapid DNA technologies in the crime scene investigation procedure have only been evaluated to a limited extent. In this study a field experiment was set up comparing 47 real crime scene cases following a rapid DNA analysis procedure outside of the laboratory (decentral), with 50 cases following the regular DNA analysis procedure at the forensic laboratory. The impact on duration of the investigative process, and on the quality of the analyzed trace results (97 blood and 38 saliva traces) was measured. The results of the study show that the duration of the investigation process has been significantly reduced in cases where the decentral rapid DNA procedure was deployed, compared to cases where the regular procedure was used. Most of the delay in the regular process lies in the procedural steps during the police investigation, not in the DNA analysis, which highlights the importance of an effective work process and having sufficient capacity available. This study also shows that rapid DNA techniques are less sensitive than regular DNA analysis equipment. The device used in this study was only to a limited extent suitable for the analysis of saliva traces secured at the crime scene and can mainly be used for the analysis of visible blood traces with an expected high DNA quantity of a single donor.