Arnon Blum¹, Snait Tamir², David Hazzan³, Oxana Podvitzky¹, Rizak Sirchan¹, Lital Keinan-Boker⁴, Rotem Shelly Ben-Shushan², Nava Blum¹, Laylee Shaich Suliman⁵, Nissim Geron⁶

European Cytokine Network, Vol.23, No.4, pp. 154-157, 2012, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2012.0318

Abstract Studies have shown that mortality was reduced by 31.6% in patients that underwent bariatric surgery compared with the non-operative control group. However, in most surgical series the majority of patients were women, and men had higher post-operative mortality rates and a higher postoperative morbidity, regardless of weight. Our primary end point was to study gender effects on vascular inflammation following bariatric surgery for weight loss. Methods. A prospective study evaluated vascular inflammation in obese patients before and three months after bariatric surgery. Markers of vascular inflammation were measured - before surgery and three months afterwards.Results.One… More >

Prodromos Philippou, David Payne, Francis Keeley

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.19, No.1, pp. 6118-6120, 2012

Abstract A “corkscrew deformity” of the proximal ureter is a rare congenital anomaly that typically lacks any postnatal clinical significance. The rarity of this entity, however, has not allowed the clarification of its natural history and the ideal approach to its management.
We herein present a case of a 27-year-old female patient who presented with right flank pain and significant hydronephrosis. On retrograde ureterography, a typical spiral configuration of the proximal ureter was noted. The patient underwent successful reconstruction by laparoscopic transperitoneal dismembered pyeloplasty. We report the first use of laparoscopic reconstruction for the management of More >

J. Ryan Mark, Francisco Gelpi-Hammerschmidt, Edouard J. Trabulsi, Leonard G. Gomella

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.19, No.2, pp. 6227-6231, 2012

Abstract In patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, fluorescence cystoscopy can improve the detection and ablation of bladder tumors. In this paper we describe the technique and practical aspects of hexaminolevulinate (HAL) fluorescence cystoscopy, also known as “blue light cystoscopy”. More >

Pierre-Alain Hueber¹, Tal Ben-Zvi¹, Daniel Liberman¹, Naeem Bhojani¹, Gagan Gautam², Tom Deklaj², Mark Katz², Kevin C. Zorn^1,2

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.19, No.5, pp. 6450-6458, 2012

Abstract Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of GreenLight 120-HPS (American Medical Systems, Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA) laser vaporization for men with obstructive benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) according to prostate volumes: <60 cc, 60–100 cc, and >100 cc.
Material and methods: The clinical data of 250 men with symptomatic BPH who underwent photoselective vaporization prostatectomy (PVP) by a single surgeon between July 2007 and August 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. Prostate volumes were measured by transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS). Functional evaluations were performed at 3, 6, and 12 months, with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels obtained at… More >

Redha A, P Suleman, R Al-Hasan, M Afzal

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.81, pp. 181-190, 2012, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2012.81.181

Abstract Cococarpus lancifolius Engl. grows wild in Djibouti, Somalia and East Africa, and South Asia. The species was introduced into Kuwait, where it is exposed to several stresses: oil pollution, salinity, high temperature and harsh climatic conditions. These conditions are prevalent in its semi-arid environment. In this study, the impact of salinity (2, 6 and 10%), temperature (20, 30 and 40 °C), polyethylene glycol (10, 30 and 60%) and drought has been investigated on C. lancifolius. Proline (Pro) accumulation (5.5 ± 0.03 µg/g dry weight; p≤0.05-0.005), protein (16.47 ± 0.052 mg/g; p≤0.001), free amino acids (10.92 ± 0.082… More >

He XY^1,2, H Ye¹, JL Ma^1,2, RQ Zhang², GC Chen¹, YY Xia¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.81, pp. 177-180, 2012, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2012.81.177

Abstract Annual leaf segments of eight Camellia species were used to study the heat tolerance by an electrical conductivity method, in combination with a Logistic equation to ascertain the semi-lethal high temperature by fitting the cell injury rate curve. The relationship between the processing temperature and the cell injury rate in Camellia showed a typical "S" shaped curve, following the Logistic model. The correlation coefficient was above 0.95. The semi-lethal high temperature LT₅₀ of the eight Camellia species, determined by the inflection point on the curve, varied from 50 to 57 LT₅₀ / °C, following the descending order: Camellia oleifera More >

Castro-Nava S¹, J Ortiz-Cereceres^2,†, M del C Mendoza-Castillo², AJ Huerta³

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.81, pp. 149-156, 2012, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2012.81.149

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of drought classification criteria that we previously reported for our grain sorghum genotypes. Two tolerant genotypes of grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] (UAT-124 and UAT-152) and one susceptible (UAT-30) were subjected to drought under greenhouse conditions at either panicle initiation, flag leaf, or flowering. Results showed that the effects of drought depended on when drought stress occurred during development. Biomass of the three sorghum genotypes was significantly reduced at the flag leaf stage (48%) by drought stress, but the greatest reduction occurred in the susceptible… More >

K.N. Song¹

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.8, No.3, pp. 209-222, 2012, DOI:10.32604/sdhm.2012.008.209

Abstract A PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) is a key component in transferring the high temperature heat generated from a VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) to the chemical reaction for the massive production of hydrogen. A performance test on a small-scale PHE prototype made of Hastelloy-X is currently under way a small-scale gas loop at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Previous research on the elastic high-temperature structural analysis of the small-scale PHE prototype has been performed using the parent material properties over the whole region. In this study, an elastic-plastic high-temperature structural analysis considering the mechanical More >

Xibin Yang^*, Rui Li^†,‡, Jianfeng Zhu^*, Daxi Xiong^*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.9, No.4, pp. 285-294, 2012, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2012.009.285

Abstract A new type of optocoupler applied to medical lighting system is proposed, and the principle, Etendue and design process is introduced. With the help of Tracrpro, modeling and simulation of the optocoupler is conducted and the parameters are optimized. Analysis of factors affecting the energy coupling efficiency is done. With a view towards the development of Ultra High Brightness Light Emitting Diodes (UHB-LEDs), which play an important role a new sources of lighting in various biomedical devices, including those used in diagnosis and treatment, a series of simulations are executed and a variety of solutions More >

Chien-Hao Tseng¹, Dah-Jing Jwo², Chih-Wen Chang¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.27, No.1, pp. 23-54, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2012.027.023

Abstract The extended particle filter (EPF) assisted by the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy logic adaptive system (FLAS) is used to design the ultra-tightly coupled GPS/INS (inertial navigation system) integrated navigation, which can maneuver the vehicle environment and the GPS outages scenario. The traditional integrated navigation designs adopt a loosely or tightly coupled architecture, for which the GPS receiver may lose the lock due to the interference/jamming scenarios, high dynamic environments, and the periods of partial GPS shading. An ultra-tight GPS/INS architecture involves the integration of I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature) components from the correlator of a GPS… More >