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Clarifying the etiology of diarrhea cases of unknown cause is important in the fight against enteric infections. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of canine kobuvirus (CaKoV), in cases of diarrhea of unknown origin in dogs. A total 121 swab samples from dogs with diarrhea were collected. Molecular analyses of the samples were performed. For this purpose, after the sequence reaction, a phylogenetic tree was created, and bioinformatics analyses were performed. The prevalence rate of CaKoV in the sampled population was determined as 16.5% (20/121). The presence of parvovirus and coronavirus, which are common viral agents in CaKoV-positive dogs, was determined as 35% (7/20) and 10% (2/20), respectively. The rate of dogs with only CaKoV detected was 65% (13/20). Phylogenetic analysis of CaKoV strains clustered together closely related to reference strains. There are very limited studies on the role of CaKoV in the etiology of diarrhea cases of unknown cause in dogs around the world. So far, only one study has been done on CaKoV in Turkey. In this report which includes molecular characterization and epidemiological data on CaKoV determined the importance of CaKoV in cases of diarrhea of unknown origin. More comprehensive studies are needed to better understand the pathogenesis, epidemiology, and biology of CaKoV and to determine effective strategies to combat it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine coronavirus (CCoV) generally causes an infection with high morbidity and low mortality in dogs. In recent years, studies on coronaviruses have gained a momentum due to coronavirus outbreaks. Mutations in coronaviruses can result in deadly diseases in new hosts (such as SARS-CoV-2) or cause changes in organ-tissue affinity, as occurred with feline infectious peritonitis virus, exacerbating their pathogenesis. In recent studies on different types of CCoV, the pantropic strains characterized by hypervirulent and multi-systemic infections are believed to be emerging, in contrast to classical enteric coronavirus infections. In this study, we investigated emerging hypervirulent and multi-systemic CCoV strains using molecular and bioinformatic analysis, and examined differences between enteric and pantropic CCoV strains at the phylogenetic level. RT-PCR was performed with specific primers to identify the coronavirus M (membrane) and S (spike) genes, and samples were then subjected to DNA sequencing. In phylogenetic analysis, four out of 26 samples were classified as CCoV-1. The remaining 22 samples were all classified as CCoV-2a. In the CCoV-2a group, six samples were in branches close to enteric strains, and 16 samples were in the branches close to pantropic strains. Enteric and pantropic strains were compared by molecular genotyping of CCoV in dogs. Phylogenetic analysis of hypervirulent pantropic strains was carried out at the amino acid and nucleotide sequence levels. CCoV was found to be divergent from the original strain. This implies that some CCoV strains have become pantropic strains that cause multisystemic infections, and they should not be ruled out as the cause of severe diarrhea and multisystemic infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The previous work on connection driven topology control has shown that it has significant potential to reduce energy consumption of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Dynamic Modulation Scaling (DMS) which is a technique that manages transmission power levels in order to change the number of bits encoded per symbol has a direct impact on connection driven topology control. In this paper we investigate the transmission scheduling of multi-hop real-time WSNs equipped with DMS enabled radio chips while taking the effect of DMS on topology control into account. To our best knowledge, this is the first paper that addresses this issue. The current work on DMS enabled WSN tend to rely on theoretical DMS models to predict network performance metrics. However, there is little, if any, work that is based upon empirically verified network performance outcomes using DMS especially on its effect on connection driven topology control. This paper fills this gap by using GNU Radio and Software Defined Radio hardware to show how to emulate DMS in low power wireless systems and measure the impact of varying Signal-to-Noise levels, distance and elevation on throughput and delivery rates for different DMS control strategies. Next, we present the Mixed Integer Nonlinear Optimization Problem of minimizing energy consumption of DMS enabled connection driven topology control on real-time WSNs. Lastly, we present two polynomial time heuristics and compare their performance against the optimal solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of welding parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the dissimilar resistance spot welded DP1000-QP1180 joints was investigated. Heat affected zone (HAZ) width of QP1180 side was smaller than that of DP1000 side. HAZ width and indentation depth increased with increasing welding current and welding time. The nugget size increased with increasing welding current whereas it increased at lower currents and decreased at higher currents with increasing welding time. The lowest hardness was on the DP1000 side. On the QP1180 side, the center of HAZ had the peak hardness. With increasing welding current, hardness values throughout the weld zone decreased and the tensile shear load increased. At lower welding currents, the welding time did not affect the tensile shear load. Tensile elongation decreased with the increase of welding time, whereas there is no relationship between the welding current and elongation. The spot-welded joints having higher strength exhibited a more ductile fracture characteristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of duplex surface treatments consisting of a DC-pulsed plasma nitriding process and subsequent coatings of CrN and TiAlN deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) on AISI H13 tool steel was studied in this article. The treated samples were characterized using metallographic techniques, SEM, EDS, and microhardness methods. Hydro-abrasive erosion wear tests were performed in a specifically designed wear tester in which the samples were rotated in a wear tank containing a mixture of distilled water and ceramic abrasive chips with a fixed rotational speed. The wear rates caused by the abrasive particle impacts were assessed based on accumulated weight loss measurements. The worn surfaces were also characterized using optical microscopy, SEM, and EDS. Microhardness measurements indicated a significant increase in the surface hardness of the duplex-treated samples. The surfaces of the samples with the TiAlN coating were approximately 15 times harder than that of the untreated samples and 3 times that of the plasma nitrided samples. Hydro-abrasive erosion wear results showed that the duplex surface treatments, especially the CrN coating, displayed the highest erosion wear resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate whether renal mass biopsy (RMB) biopsy location or number affected diagnostic accuracy in a prospective ex vivo study. Methods: Three cores (1 central and 2 peripheral) were obtained for histologic processing from each of 48 renal masses after nephrectomy. Individual biopsy cores were evaluated independently for tumor subtype and grade by a single, blinded GU pathologist. Results: Although individual biopsy cores were informative and confirmed accurate in only 59 % of samples, accuracy increased to 85 % with three-core biopsy ( p < 0.01). Cancer identification with a single peripheral core increased to 77 % by adding a central core ( p = 0.005), to 80 % with a second peripheral core ( p = 0.008), and to 85 % with three cores ( p = 0.001). Similarly, diagnostic yield for histologic subtyping increased from 44 % for 1-core biopsy to 59-63 % with 2-core biopsy ( p = 0.03) and to 67 % with 3-core biopsy ( p = 0.02). The correct subtype was confirmed at nephrectomy for 63 % of clear cell RCC, 60 % of papillary RCC, 100 % of chromophobe RCC and 75 % of oncocytomas. When recorded, nuclear grade corresponded to final grade assignment in 56 % and was within 1 grade in an additional 37 %. Conclusions: RMB has not been used routinely in the evaluation of renal cortical neoplasms because of reportedly high rates of indeterminate or inaccurate diagnoses. In this prospective, ex vivo study, single-core RMB results in a low diagnostic yield. Obtaining multiple cores significantly improved diagnostic yield, with similar results with two-core and three-core RMB. We therefore recommend that RMB for suspicion of cancer include at least two peripheral cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cluster scheduling, where processors are grouped into clusters and the tasks that are allocated to one cluster are scheduled by a global scheduler, has attracted attention in multiprocessor real-time systems research recently. In this paper, assuming that an optimal global scheduler is adopted within each cluster, we investigate the worst-case utilization bounds for cluster scheduling with different task allocation/partitioning heuristics. First, we develop a lower limit on the utilization bounds for cluster scheduling with any reasonable task allocation scheme. Then, the lower limit is shown to be the exact utilization bound for cluster scheduling with the worst-fit task allocation scheme. For other task allocation heuristics (such as first-fit, best-fit, first-fit decreasing, best-fit decreasing and worst-fit decreasing), higher utilization bounds are derived for systems with both homogeneous clusters (where each cluster has the same number of processors) and heterogeneous clusters (where clusters have different number of processors). In addition, focusing on an efficient optimal global scheduler, namely the boundary-fair (Bfair) algorithm, we propose a period-aware task allocation heuristic with the goal of reducing the scheduling overhead (e.g., the number of scheduling points, context switches and task migrations). Simulation results indicate that the percentage of task sets that can be scheduled is significantly improved under cluster scheduling even for small-size clusters, compared to that of the partitioned scheduling. Moreover, when comparing to the simple generic task allocation scheme (e.g., first-fit), the proposed period-aware task allocation heuristic markedly reduces the scheduling overhead of cluster scheduling with the Bfair scheduler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliability-aware power management (RAPM) has been a recent research focus due to the negative effects of the popular power management technique dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) on system reliability. As a result, several RAPM schemes have been studied for uniprocessor real-time systems. In this paper, for a set of frame-based independent real-time tasks running on multiprocessor systems, we study global scheduling based RAPM (G-RAPM) schemes. Depending on how recovery blocks are scheduled and utilized, both individual-recovery and shared-recovery based G-RAPM schemes are investigated. An important dimension of the G-RAPM problem is how to select the appropriate subset of tasks for energy and reliability management (i.e., scale down their executions while ensuring that they can be recovered from transient faults). We show that making such decision optimally (i.e., the static G-RAPM problem) is NP-hard. Then, for the individual-recovery based approach, we study two efficient heuristics, which rely on local and global task selections, respectively. For the shared-recovery based approach, a linear search based scheme is proposed. The schemes are shown to guarantee the timing constraints. Moreover, to reclaim the dynamic slack generated at runtime from early completion of tasks and unused recoveries, we also propose online G-RAPM schemes which exploit the slack-sharing idea studied in previous work. The proposed schemes are evaluated through extensive simulations. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed schemes in yielding energy savings while simultaneously preserving system reliability and timing constraints. For the static version of the problem, the shared-recovery based scheme is shown to provide better energy savings compared to the individual-recovery based scheme, in virtue of its ability to leave more slack for DVFS. Moreover, by reclaiming the dynamic slack generated at runtime, online G-RAPM schemes are shown to yield better energy savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we undertake the competitive analysis of the online real-time scheduling problems under a given hard energy constraint. Specifically, we derive worst-case performance bounds that apply to any online algorithm, when compared to an optimal algorithm that has the knowledge of the input sequence in advance. First, by focusing on uniform value-density settings, we prove that no online algorithm can achieve a competitive factor greater than $1-\frac{e_{\max}}{E}$, where emax is the upper bound on the size of any job and E is the available energy budget. Then we propose a variant of EDF algorithm, EC-EDF, that is able to achieve this upper bound. We show that a priori information about the largest job size in the actual input sequence makes possible the design of a semi-online algorithm EC- EDF∗ which achieves a constant competitive factor of 0.5. This turns out to be the best achievable competitive factor in these settings. In non-uniform value density settings, we derive an upper bound on the competitive factor achievable by any online algorithm, as well as the competitive factors of EC-EDF and EC- EDF∗ algorithms. We also investigate the implications of having additional constraints on the online scheduling algorithm, including non-idling and non-preemptive execution constraints. Moreover, we analyze the case where the processor can adjust its speed at run-time through Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS) capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which arises from the renal tubular epithelial cells, accounts for more than 90% of primary renal tumors in adults. This article reviews the current literature on RCC, including the new histologic subtypes that were included in the latest World Health Organization classification. It also reviews the conventional histopathologic prognostic parameters, potential prognostic biomarkers, and molecular profiling of RCC. Evolving understanding of genetics, coupled with morphologic and immunophenotypic characteristics, should enable more precise categorization of RCCs for diagnosis and clinical behavior and, hence, better stratification of patients for the most beneficial treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This morphological study aims to investigate the effects of defibrotide, a deoxyribonucleic acid derivative drug with cytoprotective, immunosuppressive and vasorelaxant effects, on protamine sulfate induced bladder injury. Wistar albino female rats were catheterized and intravesically infused with phosphate buffered solution (control group) or, either protamine sulfate (bladder injury group) or protamine sulfate+defibrotide (bladder injury+defibrotide group) dissolved in phosphate buffered solution. The morphology of the urinary bladder was investigated using light and electron microscopy. The number of mast cells in the mucosa, mucosal alterations, intercellular junctions, surface topography and the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer as well as microvillus formation on the luminal surface were evaluated. In the bladder injury group, ulcerated areas, irregularity of the GAG layer, increased number of mast cells, vacuole formation, dilated perinuclear cistern, formation of pleomorphic and uniform microvilli and dilatations in the intercellular spaces in the urothelium were observed. In the bladder injury+defibrotide group a relatively normal urothelial topography, GAG layer and a few mast cells in the mucosa, some dilatations between the intercellular areas, less uniform microvilli, regular perinuclear cistern and tight junctions were observed. These results show that defibrotide can inhibit PS induced bladder damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, CrN and TiAlN thin films were deposited on plasma-nitrided QRO 90 Supreme hot work tool steel by physical vapor deposition process and analysed with regard to their erosion performance under hydro-abrasive erosion conditions. The as-received specimens were quenched to room temperature from 1050°C and tempered gradually at 605°C for 2 h and at 560°C for 4 h. These specimens were plasma-nitrided for 10 h at 500°C at a pressure of 250 Pa in a gas mixture of 80% N2 + 20% H2 and then coated with TiAlN or CrN coatings by cathode arc evaporation. The specimens were characterized by metallographic techniques, SEM, EDS and micro-hardness test. Plasma nitriding and duplex surface treatments significantly increased the hardness of the specimens and thus significantly reduced the erosion of the specimens. The hardnesses on the surface of plasma-nitrided, CrN-deposited and TiAlN-deposited QRO 90 steels were 1092 HV0.025, 2436 HV0.025 and 3578 HV0.025, respectively. TiAlN-coated specimens were about 17-fold harder than the as-received specimens and over 3-fold harder than the plasma-nitrided specimens. The erosion resistance of CrN-coated specimens was increased by a factor of 3.6 and 1.5 compared with that of the as-received and plasma-nitrided specimens, respectively. A brittle fracture phenomenon was observed on the eroded surface of the duplex-treated specimens while a ductile material removal was observed on the as-received and the tempered specimens. The plasma-nitrided specimens showed a mixed behaviour of ductility and brittleness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]