4,193 research outputs found
Results and predictability of fat-removal orbital decompression for disfiguring graves exophthalmos in an Asian patient population.
No full textApplication of digital infrared thermal imaging in determining inflammatory state and follow-up effect of methylprednisolone pulse therapy in patients with Graves’ ophthalmopathy
No full textRole of macrophage infiltration in the orbital fat of patients with Graves’ ophthalmopathy.
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Mechanisms for accumulation and migration of technetium-99 in saltmarsh sediments
No full textThis thesis describes the development of analytical methods for both the bulk determination of 99Tc, and determination of 99Tc in sequential extracts from sediments. These methods have been used to collect data, which, along with trace and major element data have been used to interpret the mechanisms for 99Tc input, migration and accumulation in saltmarshes. The inventory of 99Tc stored in the Thornflatt Saltmarsh, Esk Estuary has also been determined. The routine determination of 99Tc in bulk samples uses 99mTc as a yield monitor. Samples are ignited stepwise to 550°C and the 99Tc is extracted using 8M nitric acid. Many contaminants are precipitated with Fe(OH)3 and the Tc in the supernant is pre-concentrated and further purified using anion-exchange chromatography. Final separation of Tc from Ru is achieved by extraction of Tc into 5% TnOA in xylene from 2M sulphuric acid. The yield is determined by γ-spectrometric analysis of 99mTc. Determination of 99Tc is made by liquid scintillation counting. Typical recoveries are in the order of 70-95% and the method has a detection limit of 1.7 Bq/kg for a sample size of 10g. Determination of Tc in sequential extracts uses operationally defined procedures to extract: exchangeable Tc, reducible Tc and oxidisable Tc. An initial water wash is used to extract any occluded Tc and a final leach in 8 M nitric acid is used to dissolve any residual Tc. The isolation of 99Tc uses TEVA resin for Extracts 1-4 and the decontamination procedure developed for bulk analysis for Extract 5. 99mTc was used as a yield monitor, and determination of 99Tc is by liquid scintillation counting. Limits of detection were dependent on the amount of 99mTc tracer used but were found to be as low as 2.4 Bq/kg for a sample size of 2g. A study was made of the mechanisms responsible for the accumulation and migration of Tc in estuarine sediments using sediments collected from saltmarshes at Thornflatt, Carlaverock and the Ribble Estuary. 99Tc was present at determinable activities in all the sediment cores taken from these sites. Good correlations between Tc and CaO as well as CO3 concentrations and poor correlation between Tc and radionuclides adsorbed to inorganic detritus infer a direct input of 99Tc to marsh sediments. Determination of 99Tc in biota living on the marsh also showed that this was not a significant pathway for input of Tc to the sediments. Sequential extraction data imply sorption to an organic fraction of the sediment. Stable element and sequential extraction data indicates that Tc is readily oxidised and remobilised before reprecipitation where redox conditions are favourable. Data indicate a reduction potential between those of the MnIV to MnII reaction and the FeIII to FeII reaction is necessary for re-accumulation to occur, as suggested by published thermodynamic data. Data collected from reducing sediments imply that similar mechanisms are responsible for the accumulation of Mn (e.g. reduction by sulphate reducing bacteria) and the accumulation of Tc. The inventory of 99Tc held within the Thornflatt saltmarsh is proportionally less than that of 137Cs or 241Am when compared to discharges from Sellafield. However a higher proportion of 99Tc is transferred from Seliafield and incorporated into saltmarsh sediments than is suggested by previously published standard distribution coefficient data. Saltmarsh sediments are therefore a more important sink of 99Tc than extrapolations made from inventories of other radionuclides would suggest
Service-oriented models for audiovisual content storage
No full textWhat are the important topics to understand if involved with storage services to hold digital audiovisual content? This report takes a look at how content is created and moves into and out of storage; the storage service value networks and architectures found now and expected in the future; what sort of data transfer is expected to and from an audiovisual archive; what transfer protocols to use; and a summary of security and interface issues
Turbo-coded CDMA-based two-way relaying
No full textIn this contribution, we have studied the performance of a Turbo-Coded (TC) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) based two-way relaying scheme. More explicitly, we employ a seven-user CDMA model, where two of the CDMA users are communicating with each other with the aid of an additional relay node, while the other five CDMA users are interferers. More explicitly, two CDMA users exchange their information frames within two timeslots. Note that the conventional one-way relaying system can only transmit one information frame within two timeslots because the relay node is half-duplex, where it cannot listen and transmit simultaneously. We found that our proposed TC-CDMA two-way relaying scheme is capable of attaining over 4 dB of SNR gain at a Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10-6 when compared to a conventional non-cooperative TC-CDMA system. We also found that there is about two dB of SNR loss at a BER of 10-6, due to the error propagation from the relay node. The proposed scheme exploits the benefits of TC and CDMA schemes in order to assist the two-way relaying system to operate with a reduced transmit power. The reduction of the transmit power can also be exploited for increasing the coverage area of a cellular cell. Hence, the TC-CDMA two-way relaying scheme is a good candidate for future generation mobile system
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