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In this research, the water spray injection process in a natural-gas-fueled gas turbine combustor is studied numerically using an Eulerian-Lagrangian formulation, and the combined effect of different design variables, including the swirl number, water injection mass flow rate, injection partitioning between a pre- and a post-flame injector, and injection direction, are investigated on several combustor performance objectives by systematic multi-objective optimizations. Sensitivity analyses reveal that the most effectual parameter changing the combustion efficiency and overall emission is the swirl number while the outlet maximum temperature and liquid water mass loading are most sensitive to the post-flame and pre-flame injection mass flow rates, respectively. In addition, the outlet temperature uniformity depends on all the four design variables nearly the same. As the optimal design criteria, multi-objective optimizations propose a high swirl number, a small injection angle, and introducing 81% of the total water at the post-flame injector. The optimal total water-to-fuel ratio is 3.4. However, if the flame instability due to the pressure pulsation becomes critical, this value should be lowered to 2. The optimal designs can reduce both maximum temperature and temperature non-uniformity by 19% and suppress NOx and overall emission by 87% and 110%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing and modeling the vibrational behavior of arched bridges during earthquake in order to decrease the exerted damages to the structure is a very hard task to do. In the present paper, this item has been performed analytically for the first time. Due to the importance of arched bridges building as a great structure in the human being civilization and its specifications such as transferring vertical loads to its arcs and the lack of bending moments and shearing forces, this case study is devoted to this special issue. Therefore, the nonlinear vibration of arched bridges has been modeled and simulated by an arched beam with harmonic vertical loads and its behavior has been investigated by analyzing a nonlinear partial differential equation governing on the system. It is notable that the procedure has been done analytically by AGM (Akbari-Ganji's Method). It has found that angular frequency is increased significantly by escalating the amount of the center outlet. Furthermore, comparisons have been made between the obtained results by numerical Method (rkf-45) and AGM in order to assess the scientific validity. Obtained results indicate the precision of the achieved answers by AGM method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the observed familial clustering of breast and ovarian cancer cannot be explained by mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. Several other cancer susceptibility genes have been identified, but their value in routine clinical genetic testing is still unclear. Germline mutations in RAD51C have been identified in about 1% of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer families. RAD51C mutations are predominantly found in families with a history of ovarian cancer and are rare in families with a history of breast cancer alone. RAD51C is primarily an ovarian cancer susceptibility gene. A mutation is present in approximately 1% of unselected ovarian cancers. Among mutation carriers, the lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is approximately 9%. The average age at onset is approximately 60 years; this suggests that preventive oophorectomy can be delayed until after natural menopause. Under current guidelines, genetic testing for RAD51C is expected to have a limited impact on ovarian cancer incidence at a population level. This is because the penetrance is 9% to age 80; the great majority of families with mutations would be represented by a single case of ovarian cancer, these are potentially preventable through population screening but not through screening of established ovarian cancer families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paper “Exact solutions for functionally graded pressure vessels in a uniform magnetic field ( Dai et al. 2006 )” had several errors with negative impact on the main results. The purpose of the present paper is to discuss the flaws in deriving the formulas and presenting the corrected formulation. Also, the corrected graphs and figures are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuromuscular diseases ( NMDs) include a broad range of disorders affecting muscles, nerves and neuromuscular junctions. Their overlapping phenotypes and heterogeneous genetic nature have created challenges in diagnosis which calls for the implementation of massive parallel sequencing as a candidate strategy to increase the diagnostic yield. In this study, total of 45 patients, mostly offspring of consanguineous marriages were examined using whole exome sequencing. Data analysis was performed to identify the most probable pathogenic rare variants in known NMD genes which led to identification of causal variants for 33 out of 45 patients (73.3%) in the following known genes: CAPN3, Col6A1, Col6A3, DMD, DYSF, FHL1, GJB1, ISPD, LAMA2, LMNA, PLEC1, RYR1, SGCA, SGCB, SYNE1, TNNT1 and 22 novel pathogenic variants were detected. Today, the advantage of whole exome sequencing in clinical diagnostic strategies of heterogeneous disorders is clear. In this cohort, a diagnostic yield of 73.3% was achieved which is quite high compared to the overall reported diagnostic yield of 25% to 50%. This could be explained by the consanguineous background of these patients and is another strong advantage of offering clinical exome sequencing in diagnostic laboratories, especially in populations with high rate of consanguinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of genes other than BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been associated with breast cancer predisposition, and extended genetic testing panels have been proposed. It is of interest to establish the full spectrum of deleterious mutations in women with familial breast cancer.We performed whole-exome sequencing of 144 women with familial breast cancer and negative for 11 Polish founder mutations in BRCA1, CHEK2 and NBS1, and we evaluated the sequences of 12 known breast cancer susceptibility genes. A truncating mutation in a breast cancer gene was detected in 24 of 144 women (17%) with familial breast cancer. A BRCA2 mutation was detected in 12 cases, a (non-founder) BRCA1 mutation was detected in 5 cases, a PALB2 mutation was detected in 4 cases and an ATM mutation was detected in 2 cases. Polish women with familial breast cancer who are negative for founder mutations in BRCA1, CHEK2 and NBS1 should be fully screened for mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2. The PALB2 founder mutation c.509_519delGA should be included in the panel of Polish founder mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations among unselected breast cancer patients in the Bahamas is 23%. It is beneficial to advise relatives of mutation carriers that they are candidates for genetic testing. Women who test positive are then eligible for preventive interventions, such as oophorectomy. It is not clear how often relatives of women with a mutation in the Bahamas wish to undergo genetic testing for the family mutation. Furthermore, it is not clear how best to communicate this sensitive information to relatives in order to maximize patient compliance. We offered genetic testing to 202 first-degree relatives of 58 mutation carriers. Of 159 women who were contacted by the proband or other family member, only 14 made an appointment for genetic testing (9%). In contrast, among 32 relatives who were contacted directly by the genetic counselor, 27 came for an appointment (84%). This study suggests that for recruitment of relatives in the Bahamas, direct contact by counselor is preferable to using the proband as an intermediary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three founder alleles of BRCA1 ( C61G, 4153delA, 5382insC) were reported in Poland in 2000, and these three mutations have comprised the standard testing panel used throughout the country. However, since 2000, other recurrent mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been reported. To establish if the inclusion of one or more of these mutations will increase the sensitivity of the standard test panel, we studied 1164 Polish women with unselected breast cancer diagnosed at age of 50 or below. All women were genotyped for 12 recurrent mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2. We identified a mutation in 83 of 1164 patients (7.1%) including 61 women with one of the original three mutations ( C61G, 4153delA, 5382insC) and 22 women with a different mutation (1.9%). Three new mutations (3819del5, 185delAG and 5370C>T) were seen in multiple families. By including these three mutations in the extended panel, the mutant frequency increased from 5.2 to 6.7%. Polish women with breast cancer diagnosed at age of 50 or below should be screened with a panel of six founder mutations of BRCA1 ( C61G, 4153delA, 5382insC, 3819del5, 185delAG and 5370C>T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identification of individuals who have a pathogenic mutation in breast cancer susceptibility genes is an important step to take advantage of genetic counseling, screening, and potentially life-saving prevention strategies. Based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline, genetic testing is deemed suitable for breast cancer patients with young age at onset, positive family history of cancers, male breast cancer, or diagnosis with a multifocal or triple negative breast cancer. Aim: Since, it is not known what proportion of breast cancers in Iran is hereditary and related to mutations in BRCA1/2 and PALB2 genes, therefore, we screened these 3 genes in multiethnic Iranian population to determine the spectrum of the breast cancer susceptibility gene mutations and to further assess the predictive value of the hereditary breast cancer risk criteria for genetic testing. Methods: Next generation sequencing (NGS) was conducted on a population consisted of 299 and 125 breast cancer patients, with and without hereditary cancer risk criteria for genetic testing, respectively. Results: Pathogenic mutation rate was 10.36% in patients with hereditary criteria for breast cancer vs 1.6% in no criteria group (P = 0.002). All the patients who only met the young age at onset (<40) criterion tested negative for a gene mutation. This is while patients who had only 1 hereditary criterion (OR: 5.48, 95% CI: 1.09, 52.90, P = 0.017) and patients with multiple hereditary criteria (OR: 22.5, 95% CI: 5.19, 201.31, P < 0.0001) had a significantly higher probability of finding a mutation compared with no risk-criteria group. Conclusion: The first application of NGS on Iranian breast cancer population added to the cumulative evidence that BRCA1/2 mutations are seen commonly among Iranian breast cancer patients especially those with hereditary breast cancer criteria and indicated that PALB2 should be concerned in hereditary breast cancer screening alongside BRCA1/2. Investigating the predictive potential of hereditary breast cancer risk criteria our results suggest that offering genetic testing to women with early age at onset of <40 with no other hereditary criteria, may not be cost effective and should be considered for optimization of genetic counseling and genetic testing of the Iranian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]