Red blood cell distribution width-standard deviation but not red blood cell distribution width-coefficient of variation as a potential index for the diagnosis of iron-deficiency anemia in mid-pregnancy women

The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic values of red blood cell distribution width-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) and red blood cell distribution width-standard deviation (RDW-SD) in mid-pregnancy women with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). To obtain the results, 115 mid-pregnancy women with IDA, defined as the IDA group, and 142 healthy mid-pregnancy women, selected as the control group, were enrolled in this study. Hematological parameters and ferritin concentrations in the serum were analyzed. The efficiency of RDW-CV and RDW-SD to distinguish IDA from mid-pregnancy women was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The RDW-SD value in the IDA group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p < 0.05), while the RDW-CV value did not differ between them (p = 0.84). Significantly negative correlations were found between RDW-CV (r = −0.297, p = 0.001), RDW-SD (r = −0.404, p = 0.000), and serum ferritin in the IDA group but not in the control group. For the diagnosis of IDA, RDW-CV and RDW-SD produced areas under the ROC curves of 0.58 and 0.84. To conclude, our results suggest that RDW-SD, but not RDW-CV, can be used as a diagnostic index of IDA for mid-pregnancy women.

Analytical Study on the Effective Flange Width for T-shaped Shear Walls

This study was organized to derive simplified expressions to estimate the effective flange width for T-shaped shear walls at different loading stages. For that purpose, the variation in the effective flange width was explored by introducing dimensionless effective flange width coefficient. According to the principle of minimum potential energy, the theoretical expression of the effective flange width coefficient in the elastic stage was obtained. Furthermore, a parametric study considering the axial load ratio, height-width ratio of flange and width-thickness ratio of the flange, as well as the section aspect ratio was conducted to determine the effective flange width using verified nonlinear finite-element models. In light of the parametric analysis results, a formula model was proposed depending on the axial load ratio and height-width ratio of flange. Finally, the predictions of the proposed simplified formulas were verified with the theoretical solutions or finite element (FE) results, which indicated that the proposed formulas can accurately capture the effective flange width at the elastic, yield and limit state.

The hepcidin concentration decreases in hypothyroid patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis following restoration of euthyroidism

The purpose of the study was to measure the hepcidin concentration and evaluate Fe homeostasis indices in a prospective study on patients with newly diagnosed hypothyroidism in the course of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) and following successful therapy. The prospective observational study consisted of 34 patients. The clinical evaluation and laboratory tests were performed at diagnosis (T0) and after restoration of euthyreosis 12 weeks later (T1). The median level of hepcidin was significantly lower (p = 0.002) after recovery (7.7 [6.2–13.0] ng/mL) than that before treatment (17.4 [7.6–20.4] ng/mL), while creatinine (p = 0.011) and GFR (p < 0.001) significantly improved after euthyroidism was achieved. A positive correlation was observed between hepcidin and fT3 (p = 0.033, r = 0.465) at T0. In the females, the level of hepcidin positively correlated with ferritin concentration before (p < 0.001, r = 0.928) and after treatment (p < 0.001, r = 0.835). A statistically significant difference was observed in RDW-CV (red blood cell distribution width - coefficient of variation) between the hypothyroid and euthyroid states. In conclusion, a decrease in hepcidin concentration during the transition from the hypothyroid state to euthyroidism in patients with HT is associated with the observed dynamics in iron homeostasis, mainly reflected by improvement in RDW-CV and significant correlations between ferritin and hepcidin as well as between hepcidin and fT3.

Constructal Optimization for Cooling a Non-Uniform Heat Generating Radial-Pattern Disc by Conduction

A heat conduction model in a radial-pattern disc by considering non-uniform heat generation (NUHG) is established in this paper. A series of high conductivity channels (HCCs) are attached on the rim of the disc and extended to its center. Constructal optimizations of the discs with constant and variable cross-sectional HCCs are carried out, respectively, and their maximum temperature differences (MTDs) are minimized based on analytical method and finite element method. Besides, the influences of the NUHG coefficient, HCC number and width coefficient on the optimal results are studied. The results indicate that the deviation of the optimal constructs obtained from the analytical method and finite element method are comparatively slight. When the NUHG coefficient is equal to 10, the minimum MTD of the disc with 25 constant cross-sectional HCCs is specifically reduced by 48.8% compared to that with 10 HCCs. As a result, the heat conduction performance (HCP) of the disc can be efficiently improved by properly increasing the number of HCCs. The minimum MTD of the disc with variable cross-sectional HCC is decreased by 15.0% when the width coefficient is changed from 1 to 4. Therefore, the geometry of variable cross-sectional HCC can be applied in the constructal design of the disc to a better heat transfer performance. The constructal results obtained by investigating the non-uniform heat generating case in this paper can contribute to the design of practical electronic device to a better heat transfer performance.

Study on Shear Lag Effect of a PC Box Girder Bridge with Corrugated Steel Webs under Self Weight

In the present paper, based on the three-dimensional finite element analysis for a three-span continuous PC box girder bridge with corrugated steel webs and the corresponding conventional box girder bridge with concrete webs, a comparative study on the shear lag effect under self-weight is carryied out together with the analyslis on the coefficient of the effective flange width. The results show that At the sections in the negative bending moment near the intermediate piers, the shear lag effect in the bridge with corrugated steel webs is more obvious than that in the bridge with concrete webs by 8%; and the corresponding effective flange width coefficient in the bridge with corrugated steel webs is even smaller than 0.9, so the shear lag effect at these sections should be considered in the design of this type of bridges. At the mid-span section of the middle span of a three-span continuous bridge either with corrugated steel webs or concrete webs, the shear lag effect can be omitted since the corresponding effective flange width coefficient there is close to 1.0.

Acute cardiopulmonary effects induced by the inhalation of concentrated ambient particles during seasonal variation in the city of São Paulo

Ambient particles may undergo modifications to their chemical composition as a consequence of climatic variability. The determination of whether these changes modify the toxicity of the particles is important for the understanding of the health effects associated with particle exposure. The objectives were to determine whether low levels of particles promote cardiopulmonary effects, and to assess if the observed alterations are influenced by season. Mice were exposed to 200 μg/m3 concentrated ambient particles (CAPs) and filtered air (FA) in cold/dry and warm/humid periods. Lung hyperresponsiveness, heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood pressure were evaluated 30 min after each exposure. After 24 h, blood and tissue samples were collected. During both periods (warm/humid and cold/dry), CAPs induced alterations in red blood cells and lung inflammation. During the cold/dry period, CAPs reduced the mean corpuscular volume levels and increased erythrocytes, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and red cell distribution width coefficient variation levels compared with the FA group. Similarly, CAPs during the warm/humid period decreased mean corpuscular volume levels and increased erythrocytes, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red cell distribution width coefficient variation levels compared with the FA group. CAPs during the cold/dry period increased the influx of neutrophils in the alveolar parenchyma. Short-term exposure to low concentrations of CAPs elicited modest but significant pulmonary inflammation and, to a lesser extent, changes in blood parameters. In addition, our data support the concept that changes in climate conditions slightly modify particle toxicity because equivalent doses of CAPs in the cold/dry period produced a more exacerbated response.

Study on the Effective Slab Width of Composite Cable-Stayed Bridge under Axial Force

There exist evident shear-lag phenomena in large-span composite cable-stayed bridges under the action of axial force, especially in the deck with double main girders. In order to discuss the distribution law of the effective flange width coefficient along the span, caused by axial force, finite element computations of five composite cable-stayed bridges and theoretical analysis have been performed. The transmission angle of axial force caused by the axial compression of stay cables was given, meanwhile the formulas for computation effective slab width coefficient under axial force were suggested.