Digital subtraction bowel cleansing for CT colonography using morphological and linear filtration methods

We describe a method to perform postacquisition processing of computed tomography colonography (virtual colonoscopy) datasets that results in electronic removal of opacified, ingested bowel contents while reconstructing natural appearing boundaries of colon lumen and thereby permitting three-dimensional visual analyses of the resulting colon models.     

On the drawbacks of large committees

This paper aims at identifying possible drawbacks of large committees. I present a model of a committee of experts with career concerns where each expert may observe an argument about the state of the world but be unsure about the argument’s soundness. Experts may remain silent or decide to be the first to announce an argument. In contrast with the existing literature, I focus on the possibility that experts may discover duplicate information. I show that experts become more reluctant to speak in larger committees as a result. This effect can be sufficiently strong to make small groups of experts optimal.     

Identification of the Ten Inertia Parameters of a Rigid Body

Standard experiments for identifying inertia parameters of a rigid body only provide a subset of the inertia parameters of the body [1–10]. In addition, they do not use in the estimation process the complete information included in the equations of motion of the rigid test body. The objective of the work described in this paper is the simultaneous, automatic experimental identification of the ten inertia parameters of a rigid body using the complete information hidden in the nonlinear model equations of the test body. This task has been solved in several steps:– mathematical modelling of the special motions of a rigid body in space. These model equations have been mapped into a form suitable for identification purposes (identification hypothesis)– design of a special measurement robot for performing the identification experiments– laboratory experiments providing test data used for the identification experiments– identification of the inertia parameters and accuracy tests.The accuracy of the identified parameters is satisfactory.     

A 3‐in‐1 doping process for interdigitated back contact solar cells exploiting the understanding of co‐diffused dopant profiles by use of PECVD borosilicate glass in a phosphorus diffusion

Boron and phosphorus doping of crystalline silicon using a borosilicate glass (BSG) layer from plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and phosphorus oxychloride diffusion, respectively, is investigated. More specifically, the simultaneous and interacting diffusion of both elements through the BSG layer into the silicon substrate is characterized in depth. We show that an overlying BSG layer does not prevent the formation of a phosphorus emitter in silicon substrates during phosphorus diffusion. In fact, a BSG layer can even enhance the uptake of phosphorus into a silicon substrate compared with a bare substrate. From the understanding of the joint diffusion of boron and phosphorus through a BSG layer into a silicon substrate, a model is developed to illustrate the correlation of the concentration‐dependent diffusivities and the emerging diffusion profiles of boron and phosphorus. Here, the in‐diffusion of the dopants during diverse doping processes is reproduced by the use of known concentration dependences of the diffusivities in an integrated model. The simulated processes include a BSG drive‐in step in an inert and in a phosphorus‐containing atmosphere. Based on these findings, a PECVD BSG/capping layer structure is developed, which forms three different n⁺⁺−, n⁺− and p⁺−doped regions during one single high temperature process. Such engineered structure can be used to produce back contact solar cells. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Template controlled synthesis of a coordinated [11]ane-P2C NHC macrocycle

Rhenium complex []Cl with the coordinated [11]ane-P(2)C(NHC) macrocycle was obtained by a metal template controlled ring formation reaction; in this reaction a coordinated NH,NH-stabilised imidazolidin-2-ylidene ligand was connected via the nitrogen atoms to two phenyl substituents of a 2-fluorophenyl substituted diphosphine ligand.     

Analysis of glutathione in supernatants and lysates of a human proximal tubular cell line from perfusion culture upon intoxication with cadmium chloride by HPLC and LC-ESI-MS

A simple and highly effective reversed-phase (RP) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method is described for analysing glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) in out-flowing supernatants and lysates of perfusion cell cultures of human kidney cells (HK-2 cells) continuously exposed to cadmium chloride (CdCl₂), which is a well-known nephrotoxin. The developed linear liquid chromatographic gradient employs monolithic poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (PS/DVB) as a stationary phase and is adaptable for coupling to mass spectrometry via an electrospray ionisation interface (LC-ESI/MS), which is carried out in case of co-eluting peaks. This study presents a quantitative assay of glutathione over the time of experiment and cell lysates at the end of the experiment. The assay of out-flowing supernatants has the potential to be applied as an online assay in high time resolution. Glutathione (reduced and oxidised, GSH and GSSG) is chosen as an indicator for toxic effects in the cultured cells. In principle it is possible to show the concentration of glutathione as a function of time in an investigation of exposure of the HK-2 cell line to CdCl₂. In addition to glutathione analysis, well-established assays of cell death such as enzyme release and cell viability are performed to obtain information about the number of living cells. Toxicity of 5 μM CdCl₂ is manifested in all of the assays applied. Fast (<7 min) and highly reproducible (max. aberration 4.7%) determination of glutathione could be achieved.     

Mapping of Malus domestica allergens by 2-D electrophoresis and IgE-reactivity

The importance of apple allergens has been repeatedly emphasized, and their presence has been confirmed both in pollen and in fruits. In the present study, a combination of proteomic tools have been used to build a complete allergen map of apple. The water-soluble fraction of an apple extract was precipitated using a phenol-based procedure and separated by 2-DE. Initially four previously classified allergens, Mal d 1, Mal d 2, Mal d 3 and Mal d 4, could be identified in Western blots with polyclonal rabbit antibodies directed to the four respective allergens, and subsequently matched to the bands recognized by several patient sera. Further, all four known apple allergens were localized on a 2-DE map and they were matched with spots recognized by sera of patients with different allergic patterns. Moreover, a new, putative allergen could be identified using MS. We evaluated the influence of post-translational modifications and the immunoreactivity under different analytical conditions. The comparison of different visualization methods for 2-DE gels and blots revealed that even very low concentrations of the intact epitopes are detectable by IgEs of patients, and therefore might be sufficient to trigger allergic symptoms in sensitized individuals.     

Electrochemical deposition and characterization of mixed-valent rhenium oxide films prepared from a perrhenate solution

Cathodic electrodeposition of mixed-valent rhenium oxides at indium tin oxide, gold, rhenium, and glassy carbon electrodes from acidic perrhenate solutions (pH = 1.5 +/- 0.1) prepared from hydrogen peroxide and zerovalent rhenium metal is described. Cyclic voltammetry, variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis spectroelectrochemistry, and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) data indicate that the chemical nature of the electrodeposited rhenium species depends mainly upon the potential and supporting electrolyte. The presence of SO4(2-) as a supporting electrolyte inhibits the adsorption of perrhenate, ReO4-, at non-hydrogen adsorbing electrode materials. However, in acidic perrhenate solutions containing only protons and ReO4- anions, strong adsorption of ReO4- at potentials preceding hydrogen evolution occurs. This leads to the formation of an unstable ReIII2O3 intermediate which catalytically disproportionates to form mixed-valent rhenium films consisting of 72% ReIVO2 and 28% Re0. During the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), hydrogen polarization causes the principle deposit to be more reduced, consisting of roughly 64% ReIVO2 and 36% Re0. Conclusively, metallic rhenium can be deposited at potentials preceding the HER at non-hydrogen adsorbing electrode materials, especially in the absence of SO4(2-) anions.     

Polarizability and Kerr constant of proteins by boundary element methods

A precise implementation of the boundary element method has been applied to the computation of the polarizability and the Kerr constant of eight soluble proteins. The method is demonstrated to be accurate and precise by comparison with analytical values for spheroids. Two different integral equations have been solved: (1) an exact equation with explicit dielectric constant dependence, and (2) an exact equation for a metallic body. The dielectric dependence for the metallic body case is built in with a generalization of the ellipsoid formula. Both methods agree quantitatively with each other for low relative dielectric constants. A full tensor expression for the Kerr constant yields perfect agreement with experiment for some proteins and badly under reports for the rest. The protein structure is obtained from a crystallographic database and is assumed rigid throughout the TEB measurement. Electrolyte effects are neglected. The Kerr constant is dominated by the protein dipole moment and is quite sensitive to the orientation of the dipole moment relative to the principal axes of the polarizability tensor. Several possible reasons for the large discrepancy between some computed and measured values are discussed.