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Purpose: To assess whether therapeutic and toxic effects of intravesical lidocaine are determined by coincident serum levels. Material and Methods: Published clinical trials and case studies on instilled lidocaine 1-2% that reported serum lidocaine levels were analyzed using model independent pharmacokinetic equations to compute the absorbed dose fraction (F) for linear regression with the respective dwell times. Results: Rapid absorption of intravesical lidocaine is evinced by the serum levels of 0.16±0.3 mg/L at 5 min in bladder cancer patients coinciding with the rapid onset of pain relief (

Resilience is a highly desirable quality of supply chains, as it increases a firm’s readiness in dealing with risks and disruptions that can emerge from the supply chain environment. Based on extensive literature on knowledge sharing and supply chain resilience, the current study sets a stage to investigate the relationship between supply chain resiliency and specific elements of knowledge sharing. The study is conceptual in nature, and it aims to derive a set of hypotheses by combining social exchange theory used in knowledge sharing and the systems theory used in supply chain management literature.

Quantum computers promise to efficiently solve important problems that are intractable on a conventional computer. Quantum computational algorithms have the potential to be an exciting new way of studying quantum cosmology. In quantum cosmology, we learn about the dynamics of the universe without constructing a complete theory of quantum gravity. Since the universal wavefunction exists in an infinite-dimensional superspace over all possible 3D metrics and modes of matter configurations, we take minisuperspaces for our work by constraining the degrees of freedom to particular 3D metrics and uniform scalar field configurations. Here, we consider a wide variety of cosmological models. We begin by analyzing an anisotropic universe with cosmological constant and classical radiation. We then study the results for higher derivatives, Kaluza-Klein theories and string dilaton in quantum cosmology. We use IBM's Quantum Information Science Kit (QISKit) python library and the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) algorithm for studying these systems. The VQE algorithm is a hybrid algorithm that uses the variational approach and interleaves quantum and classical computations in order to find the minimum eigenvalue of the Hamiltonian for a given system., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the major cause of dementia worldwide, is characterized by progressive loss of memory and cognition. The sporadic form of AD accounts for nearly 90% of the patients developing this disease. The last century has witnessed significant research to identify various mechanisms and risk factors contributing to the complex etiopathogenesis of AD by analyzing postmortem AD brains and experimenting with animal and cell culture based models. However, the treatment strategies, as of now, are only symptomatic. Accumulating evidences suggested a significant association between vitamin D deficiency, dementia, and AD. This review encompasses the beneficial role of vitamin D in neurocognition and optimal brain health along with epidemiological evidence of the high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D among aged and AD population. Moreover, disrupted signaling, altered utilization of vitamin D, and polymorphisms of several related genes including vitamin D receptor (VDR) also predispose to AD or AD-like neurodegeneration. This review explores the relationship between this gene-environmental influence and long term vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for development of sporadic AD along with the role and rationale of therapeutic trials with vitamin D. It is, therefore, urgently warranted to further establish the role of this potentially neuroprotective vitamin in preventing and halting progressive neurodegeneration in AD patients.

The dynamic and inter-connected nature of the current day business environment has transformed the supply chain of any enterprise into a highly complex system. However, the increased complexity of the supply chain has also made it more risk-prone. This paper presents a supply chain model for use-oriented product-service systems and proposes a complexity driven approach that deploys multiple domain matrices and agent based modeling for the identification and evaluation of a set of critical risk factors associated with supply chains. The findings of this research can aid systems professionals to have a better understanding of the risks associated with the complex nature of supply chains in order to develop mitigations strategies accordingly.