Study of blood collection and sample preparation for analysis of vitamin D and its metabolites by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The analysis of vitamin D status, with special emphasis on 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, is gaining interest in clinical studies due to the classical and non-classical effects attributed to this prohormone. In this research, the influence of the two steps preceding determination (viz. sample collection and preparation) on the quantitative analysis of vitamin D and its more important metabolites has been studied. Two preparation approaches, deproteination and solid-phase extraction (SPE), have been evaluated in terms of sensitivity to delimit their application, thus establishing that detection of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D cannot be addressed by protein precipitation. Concerning sample collection, serum and plasma reported high accuracy (above 83.3%) for vitamin D and metabolites, while precision, expressed as relative standard deviation, was below 12.9% for all analytes in both samples. Statistical analysis revealed that serum and plasma provided similar physiological levels for vitamin D₃, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ and 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃, while significantly different levels were obtained for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃, always higher in plasma than in serum. Sample collection and treatment have proved to be significant in the analysis of vitamin D and its relevant metabolites.     

正负双向脉冲式爆炸及其诱导的簇发振荡

簇发振荡普遍存在.探索通向簇发振荡的可能路径是簇发研究的热点问题之一."脉冲式爆炸(pulsed-shaped explosion,PSE)"是一种最近被报道的可以诱发簇发振荡的新机制,其特征为平衡点和极限环表现出了与参数变化相关的脉冲式急剧量变.PSE会导致系统轨线急剧跃迁,从而诱发典型的簇发振荡.然而,目前报道的PSE中仅含有"单向的尖峰",未发现"双向的尖峰",且由其诱发的簇发振荡仅含单向的振荡簇.本文以多频激励Rayleigh系统为例,旨在揭示PSE的不同表现形式以及与此相关的簇发动力学.利用频率转换快慢分析法得到了Rayleigh系统的快子系统和慢变量.针对快子系统的分析表明,PSE表现出了较为复杂的动力学特性,其特征是PSE包含了正负双向两个不同的尖峰,此即所谓的正负双向PSE.其急剧量变行为,导致了系统轨线在单个振荡周期内出现正向和负向的多次跃迁,由此得到了由正负双向PSE所诱发的簇发振荡.根据吸引子类型分别揭示了点--点型和环--环型两类簇发振荡模式的产生机制.本文的研究给出了PSE的不同表现形式,丰富了多时间尺度下的簇发振荡的诱发机制.      

Existence and asymptotic properties of solutions for a nonlinear Schrödinger elliptic equation from geophysical fluid flows

In this paper, we study the existence and asymptotic behavior of radial solutions for a class of nonlinear Schrödinger elliptic equations on infinite domains describing the gyre of geophysical fluid flows. The existence theorem and asymptotic properties of radial positive solutions are established by using a new renormalization technique.     

On concentration of solution to a Schrödinger logarithmic equation with deepening potential well

In this work, we prove the existence of positive solution for the following class of problems where λ>0 and is a potential satisfying some conditions. Using the variational method developed by Szulkin for functionals, which are the sum of a C¹ functional with a convex lower semicontinuous functional, we prove that for each large enough λ>0, there exists a positive solution for the problem, and that, as λ→+∞, such solutions converge to a positive solution of the limit problem defined on the domain Ω=int(V^?1({0})).     

Quantitative estimations of bivariate summation‐integral–type operators

In this paper, we study the approximation properties of bivariate summation‐integral–type operators with two parameters . The present work deals within the polynomial weight space. The rate of convergence is obtained while the function belonging to the set of all continuous and bounded function defined on ([0],∞)(×[0],∞) and function belonging to the polynomial weight space with two parameters, also convergence properties, are studied. To know the asymptotic behavior of the proposed bivariate operators, we prove the Voronovskaya type theorem and show the graphical representation for the convergence of the bivariate operators, which is illustrated by graphics using Mathematica. Also with the help of Mathematica, we discuss the comparison by means of the convergence of the proposed bivariate summation‐integral–type operators and Szász‐Mirakjan‐Kantorovich operators for function of two variables with two parameters to the function. In the same direction, we compute the absolute numerical error for the bivariate operators by using Mathematica and is illustrated by tables and also the comparison takes place of the proposed bivariate operators with the bivariate Szász‐Mirakjan operators in the sense of absolute error, which is represented by table. At last, we study the simultaneous approximation for the first‐order partial derivative of the function.     

Multiplicity results of nonlinear fractional magnetic Schrödinger equation with steep potential

In this article, we prove the existence and multiplicity of non-trivial solutions for an indefinite fractional elliptic equation with magnetic field and concave–convex nonlinearities. Our multiplicity results are based on studying the decomposition of the Nehari manifold.     

A fast iterative method to find the matrix geometric mean of two HPD matrices

The purpose of this research is to present a novel scheme based on a quick iterative scheme for calculating the matrix geometric mean of two Hermitian positive definite (HPD) matrices. To do this, an iterative scheme with global convergence is constructed for the sign function using a novel three‐step root‐solver. It is proved that the new scheme is convergent and shown to have global convergence behavior for this target, when square matrices having no pure imaginary eigenvalues. Next, the constructed scheme is used and extended through a well‐known identity for the calculation of the matrix geometric mean of two HPD matrices. Ultimately, several experiments are collected to show its usefulness.     

A calibrated model of local food system of Hawaii: What are the economic implications of the state's food goals and policies?

We develop a fully calibrated positive mathematical programming model for Hawaii's local food systems—which captures the production and the consumer sides of the market. Then we use the model to assess two proposed policies—a general excise tax (GET) exemption on locally produced foods, and an investment in agricultural infrastructure. For the GET exemption case, our results indicate an economic gain of $118 per $100 cost. On the other hand, an investment in 1,200 acres of land injected to support local production may generate an economic gain of up to $357 per $100 annual cost of the investment. However, these estimates should be considered preliminary, and thus viewed with caution. Although the model is used to capture Hawaii's local food systems, we believe that our model is generalizable and can be adopted by other economies to assess their respective food localization policies. Recommendations for Resource Managers

• Local food policies need to be based on quantitative terms instead of mere armchair speculation because often their potential outcomes may vary significantly.

• The current modeling framework demonstrates the potential of using positive mathematical programming (PMP) in capturing the intricacies of local food systems. However, this exploratory exercise should be viewed as preliminary in nature and the ensuing results were taken with caution because many important factors such as labor availability may have been left out.

• Thus, further model refinements are necessary to better capture the complexities of local food systems such as farm heterogeneity, availability of farm labor, water availability, and interisland transportation of farm products in the case of Hawaii.