scholarly journals Four-dimensional impedance manometry derived from esophageal high-resolution impedance-manometry studies: a novel analysis paradigm

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 175628482096905
Author(s):  
Wenjun Kou ◽  
Dustin A. Carlson ◽  
Neelesh A. Patankar ◽  
Peter J. Kahrilas ◽  
John E. Pandolfino
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Time History ◽  
Type I ◽  
Bolus Transit ◽  
Time Flow ◽  
Biophysical Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Emptying Time

Background: This study aimed to introduce a novel analysis paradigm, referred to as 4-dimensional (4D) manometry based on biophysical analysis; 4D manometry enables the visualization of luminal geometry of the esophagus and esophagogastric junction (EGJ) using high-resolution-impedance-manometry (HRIM) data. Methods: HRIM studies from two asymptomatic controls and one type-I achalasia patient were analyzed. Concomitant fluoroscopy images from one control subject were used to validate the calculated temporal-spatial luminal radius and time-history of intraluminal bolus volume and movement. EGJ analysis computed diameter threshold for emptying, emptying time, flow rate, and distensibility index (DI), which were compared with bolus flow time (BFT) analysis. Results: For normal control, calculated volumes for 5 ml swallows were 4.1 ml–6.7 ml; for 30 ml swallows 21.3 ml–21.8 ml. With type-I achalasia, >4 ml of intraesophageal bolus residual was present both pre- and post-swallow. The four phases of bolus transit were clearly illustrated on the time-history of bolus movement, correlating well with the fluoroscopic images. In the control subjects, the EGJ diameter threshold for emptying was 8 mm for 5 ml swallows and 10 mm for 30 ml swallows; emptying time was 1.2–2.2 s for 5 ml swallows (BFT was 0.3–3 s) and 3.25–3.75 s for 30 ml swallows; DI was 2.4–3.4 mm2/mmHg for 5 ml swallows and 4.2–4.6 mm2/mmHg for 30 ml swallows. Conclusions: The 4D manometry system facilitates a comprehensive characterization of dynamic esophageal bolus transit with concurrent luminal morphology and pressure from conventional HRIM measurements. Calculations of flow rate and wall distensibility provide novel measures of EGJ functionality.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Mining and Characterization of CRISPR-Cas Systems in Bifidobacterium

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meichen Pan ◽  
Matthew A. Nethery ◽  
Claudio Hidalgo-Cantabrana ◽  
Rodolphe Barrangou
Keyword(s):  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Rare Variants ◽  
Adaptive Immune System ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Type I ◽  
Human Gut ◽  
Adaptive Immune ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
History Of

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas (CRISPR-associated cas) systems constitute the adaptive immune system in prokaryotes, which provides resistance against bacteriophages and invasive genetic elements. The landscape of applications in bacteria and eukaryotes relies on a few Cas effector proteins that have been characterized in detail. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on naturally occurring CRISPR-Cas systems in beneficial bacteria, such as human gut commensal Bifidobacterium species. In this study, we mined 954 publicly available Bifidobacterium genomes and identified CRIPSR-Cas systems in 57% of these strains. A total of five CRISPR-Cas subtypes were identified as follows: Type I-E, I-C, I-G, II-A, and II-C. Among the subtypes, Type I-C was the most abundant (23%). We further characterized the CRISPR RNA (crRNA), tracrRNA, and PAM sequences to provide a molecular basis for the development of new genome editing tools for a variety of applications. Moreover, we investigated the evolutionary history of certain Bifidobacterium strains through visualization of acquired spacer sequences and demonstrated how these hypervariable CRISPR regions can be used as genotyping markers. This extensive characterization will enable the repurposing of endogenous CRISPR-Cas systems in Bifidobacteria for genome engineering, transcriptional regulation, genotyping, and screening of rare variants.

Characterization of Real Eigenvalues in Linear Viscoelastic Oscillators and the Nonviscous Set

2013 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Lázaro ◽  
José L. Pérez-Aparicio
Keyword(s):  
Time History ◽  
Negative Numbers ◽  
Closed Intervals ◽  
Convolution Integrals ◽  
History Of ◽  
Linear Viscoelastic ◽  
One Step ◽  
Damping Model ◽  
Theoretical Results

In structural dynamics, energy dissipative mechanisms with nonviscous damping are characterized by their dependence on the time-history of the response velocity, which is mathematically represented by convolution integrals involving hereditary functions. The widespread Biot damping model assumes that such functions are exponential kernels, which modify the eigenvalues' set so that as many real eigenvalues (named nonviscous eigenvalues) as kernels are added to the system. This paper is focused on the study of a mathematical characterization of the nonviscous eigenvalues. The theoretical results allow the bounding of a set belonging to the real negative numbers, called the nonviscous set, constructed as the union of closed intervals. Exact analytical solutions of the nonviscous set for one and two exponential kernels and approximated solutions for the general case of N kernels are developed. In addition, the nonviscous set is used to build closed-form expressions to compute the nonviscous eigenvalues. The results are validated with numerical examples covering single and multiple degree-of-freedom systems where the proposed method is compared with other existing one-step approaches available in the literature.

scholarly journals EcoR124I: from Plasmid-Encoded Restriction-Modification System to Nanodevice

2008 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Youell ◽  
Keith Firman
Keyword(s):  
Plasmid Dna ◽  
Molecular Motor ◽  
Type I ◽  
Incompatibility Group ◽  
Modification System ◽  
Restriction Modification System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Restriction Modification ◽  
Potential Use

SUMMARY Plasmid R124 was first described in 1972 as being a new member of incompatibility group IncFIV, yet early physical investigations of plasmid DNA showed that this type of classification was more complex than first imagined. Throughout the history of the study of this plasmid, there have been many unexpected observations. Therefore, in this review, we describe the history of our understanding of this plasmid and the type I restriction-modification (R-M) system that it encodes, which will allow an opportunity to correct errors, or misunderstandings, that have arisen in the literature. We also describe the characterization of the R-M enzyme EcoR124I and describe the unusual properties of both type I R-M enzymes and EcoR124I in particular. As we approached the 21st century, we began to see the potential of the EcoR124I R-M enzyme as a useful molecular motor, and this leads to a description of recent work that has shown that the R-M enzyme can be used as a nanoactuator. Therefore, this is a history that takes us from a plasmid isolated from (presumably) an infected source to the potential use of the plasmid-encoded R-M enzyme in bionanotechnology.

Acoustic Impact Technique for Characterization of Defects in Laminated Composites

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Haque ◽  
Pollapragada K. Raju
Keyword(s):  
Time Domain ◽  
Laminated Composites ◽  
Time History ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Experimental Configuration ◽  
History Of ◽  
Acoustic Impact ◽  
The Time Domain ◽  
Laminated Structures

Abstract The Acoustic Impact Technique (AIT) of nondestructive testing (NDT) has been investigated in detecting gross defects such as delamination in laminated composites. The use of Acoustic Impact Technique has shown encouraging results by previous investigators in identifying defects like delamination and disbonds in honeycomb structures. Very limited work has been reported in the literature about the utility of AIT as a NDT tool for testing in laminated structures. The present work investigates the sensitiveness of the AIT method in detecting delamination in laminated composites in terms of size, shape, position and degree of concentration. The significant advantage of AIT is that this technique is attractive for field applications. The method involves striking the structure with an instrumented impacter in the region of interest and recording the time history of the impulse. The response of the signals received from both good and defective zones of a specimen were analyzed in the time domain. The experimental configuration used by previous investigators was very restrictive. In this study a different approach to AIT is developed. The effectiveness of AIT was evaluated by making a comparative study with ultrasonic C-scan in detecting similar types of defects. The results indicate the sensitiveness of AIT in detecting delamination in laminated composites in terms of size, depth and degree of concentration.

Skeletal elements of crinoid echinoderms: High-resolution structural and microanalytical results

1983 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 194-195
Author(s):  
D. F. Blake ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
D. R. Peacor
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
High Resolution Tem ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

Echinodermata is a phylum of marine invertebrates which has been extant since Cambrian time (c.a. 500 m.y. before the present). Modern examples of echinoderms include sea urchins, sea stars, and sea lilies (crinoids). The endoskeletons of echinoderms are composed of plates or ossicles (Fig. 1) which are with few exceptions, porous, single crystals of high-magnesian calcite. Despite their single crystal nature, fracture surfaces do not exhibit the near-perfect {10.4} cleavage characteristic of inorganic calcite. This paradoxical mix of biogenic and inorganic features has prompted much recent work on echinoderm skeletal crystallography. Furthermore, fossil echinoderm hard parts comprise a volumetrically significant portion of some marine limestones sequences. The ultrastructural and microchemical characterization of modern skeletal material should lend insight into: 1). The nature of the biogenic processes involved, for example, the relationship of Mg heterogeneity to morphological and structural features in modern echinoderm material, and 2). The nature of the diagenetic changes undergone by their ancient, fossilized counterparts. In this study, high resolution TEM (HRTEM), high voltage TEM (HVTEM), and STEM microanalysis are used to characterize tha ultrastructural and microchemical composition of skeletal elements of the modern crinoid Neocrinus blakei.

High-resolution electron microscopy of nanostructured materials

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 172-173
Author(s):  
M. José-Yacamán
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Grain Boundaries ◽  
Nanostructured Materials ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Hrem Image ◽  
Small Particles ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Nanophase Materials

Electron microscopy is a fundamental tool in materials characterization. In the case of nanostructured materials we are looking for features with a size in the nanometer range. Therefore often the conventional TEM techniques are not enough for characterization of nanophases. High Resolution Electron Microscopy (HREM), is a key technique in order to characterize those materials with a resolution of ~ 1.7A. High resolution studies of metallic nanostructured materials has been also reported in the literature. It is concluded that boundaries in nanophase materials are similar in structure to the regular grain boundaries. That work therefore did not confirm the early hipothesis on the field that grain boundaries in nanostructured materials have a special behavior. We will show in this paper that by a combination of HREM image processing, and image calculations, it is possible to prove that small particles and coalesced grains have a significant surface roughness, as well as large internal strain.

High-resolution transmission electron microscopic study of highly oxygen doped silicon layer

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 692-693
Author(s):  
H. Takaoka ◽  
M. Tomita ◽  
T. Hayashi
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Oxygen Concentration ◽  
Silicon Layer ◽  
Detailed Structure ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Doped Silicon ◽  
Argon Ion

High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is the effective technique for characterization of detailed structure of semiconductor materials. Oxygen is one of the important impurities in semiconductors. Detailed structure of highly oxygen doped silicon has not clearly investigated yet. This report describes detailed structure of highly oxygen doped silicon observed by HRTEM. Both samples prepared by Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and ion implantation were observed to investigate effects of oxygen concentration and doping methods to the crystal structure.The observed oxygen doped samples were prepared by MBE method in oxygen environment on (111) substrates. Oxygen concentration was about 1021 atoms/cm3. Another sample was silicon of (100) orientation implanted with oxygen ions at an energy of 180 keV. Oxygen concentration of this sample was about 1020 atoms/cm3 Cross-sectional specimens of (011) orientation were prepared by argon ion thinning and were observed by TEM at an accelerating voltage of 400 kV.

HRTEM simulation of interfacial structure in amorphous multilayers

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 466-467
Author(s):  
Margaret L. Sattler ◽  
Michael A. O'Keefe
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Interfacial Structure ◽  
Multilayer Sample ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Multilayered Materials ◽  
Simulated Images

Multilayered materials have been fabricated with such high perfection that individual layers having two atoms deep are possible. Characterization of the interfaces between these multilayers is achieved by high resolution electron microscopy and Figure 1a shows the cross-section of one type of multilayer. The production of such an image with atomically smooth interfaces depends upon certain factors which are not always reliable. For example, diffusion at the interface may produce complex interlayers which are important to the properties of the multilayers but which are difficult to observe. Similarly, anomalous conditions of imaging or of fabrication may occur which produce images having similar traits as the diffusion case above, e.g., imaging on a tilted/bent multilayer sample (Figure 1b) or deposition upon an unaligned substrate (Figure 1c). It is the purpose of this study to simulate the image of the perfect multilayer interface and to compare with simulated images having these anomalies.

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