Search

MicroRNAs circulating in body fluid have been suggested as biomarkers of various diseases. We studied the serum and urinary level of several miRNA species (miR-200 family, miR-205 and miR-192) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We studied 40 SLE patients. Serum and urinary miRNA levels were determined and compared with that of healthy controls. The serum levels of miR-200a, miR-200b, miR-200c, miR-429, miR-205 and miR-192, and urinary miR-200a, miR-200c, miR-141, miR-429 and miR-192 of SLE patients were lower than those of controls. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) correlated with serum miR-200b (r = 0.411, p = 0.008), miR-200c (r = 0.343, p = 0.030), miR-429 (r = 0.347, p = 0.028), miR-205 (r = 0.429, p = 0.006) and miR-192 (r = 0.479, p = 0.002); proteinuria inversely correlated with serum miR-200a (r = −0.375, p = 0.017) and miR-200c (r = −0.347, p = 0.029). SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) inversely correlated with serum miR-200a (r = −0.376, p = 0.017). Serum miR-200b (r = 0.455, p = 0.003) and miR-192 (r = 0.589, p < 0.001) correlated with platelet count, while serum miR-205 correlated with red cell count (r = 0.432, p = 0.005) and hematocrit (r = 0.370, p = 0.019). These pilot results suggested that miRNA may take part in the pathogenesis of SLE. Further studies are needed to validate the role of serum miRNA as a biomarker of SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fuzzy integration (FI) detector aiming to alleviate the adverse effect due to multi-access interference (MAI) is presented. The Ft detector suppresses MAI by clipping the magnitude of the possible corrupted signal, hence avoids the domination of any interfered oversampling pulses in the detection process. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed detector could improve the bit-error-rate (BER) performance of a multi-access ultrawide bandwidth (UWB) impulse radio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adding an external shield to mobile phones is one of the common methods adopted for the reduction of the specific absorption rate (SAR), which is the safety level of human exposure to radiated electromagnetic fields from mobile phones. This paper provides an experimental study on the effectiveness of SAR reduction by attaching conductive materials to mobile phones, and the corresponding effects of the antenna performance of the mobile phones. The results show a typical trade-off of a 20% reduction in the SAR value with a maximum 1.8-dB reduction in the received power of the antenna. The results also conclude that the attachment position of the shielding material is an important factor, whereby the hot spot of the SAR distribution of the mobile phone must be well covered in order to achieve good SAR reduction. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 44: 140–144, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20569 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulated data is presented to illustrate previous analytical results for hemispherical dielectric resonator antennas (DRA) composed of both dielectric and magnetic material. The bandwidth and radiation efficiency is significantly increased when μr = εr while minimum electrical size requires compatible boundary conditions (CBC) for either probe or slot excitation. Simulated data for various shapes of rectangular DRA,including offset feeds, confirm that CBC again dictate electrical size while equality of μr and εr remains a design guide for maximum bandwidth and efficiency. The μr/εr ratio is also seen to be a useful design parameter for dual-mode DRA to achieve a wide bandwidth. It is concluded that the incorporation of ferrite material will significantly enhance DRA performance, given the availability of appropriate material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We set out to assess the maternal and neonatal outcomes of women with placenta praevia and antepartum haemorrhage (APH) between 1991 and 1997, compared with woman with a diagnosed placenta praevia who did not bleed. The demographic data, maternal and perinatal outcomes of 159 women with antepartum haemorrhage were compared with 93 women without antepartum haemorrhage in a retrospective study. Women with antepartum haemorrhage had the diagnosis of placenta praevia confirmed at an earlier gestation. More women with antepartum haemorrhage received antenatal steroids and tocolytic agents, and had emergency caesarean sections. The majority of women with bleeding had an emergency caesarean section for antepartum haemorrhage and more delivered early because of fetal distress. There were more preterm deliveries in women with antepartum haemorrhage. The mean birth weight was 2·69 kg in the women with antepartum haemorrhage and 3·06 kg in those without. More infants in the bleeding group had a low Apgar score at the first minute, respiratory distress syndrome, and admission to special baby care and neonatal intensive care unit. It is concluded that there is an increased risk of premature delivery in women with antepartum haemorrhage and placenta praevia. Aggressive management, tocolysis and cervical cerclage should be explored further to improve the perinatal outcome. Women without antepartum haemorrhage can be managed on an outpatient basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]