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Background: The perforating cutaneous nerve/perforating nerve of the sacrotuberous ligament is rarely observed. It usually arises from the posterior division of the sacral plexus or the pudendal nerve and perforates the sacrotuberous ligament. The anatomy of this nerve and its variants is poorly described in the literature, but there are data indicating its role in pudendal neuralgia. Materials and methods: Herein, we present an anatomical study of six formal-in-fixed cadavers with descriptions of the topography of spinal nerves S2-S4, the pudendal bundle, the perforating cutaneous nerve and the sacrotuberous ligament. Results: We found three perforating cutaneous nerves and described each of them in detail, with measurements of length and width, and point of perforation of the sacrotuberous ligament. Conclusions: We distinguished three types of perforating cutaneous nerve on the basis of our findings and previous publications; two of the three types were observed in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sheet resistance and Hall effect measurements evaluated high-resistivity region formation as a function of ion dose and annealing temperature when n-type InGaAsP was subjected to ion bombardment at various temperatures. Samples subjected to He+ amorphization at 80 Kelvin, when annealed, exhibited excellent stability and high resistivity. High-resistivity region formation was essential for current restriction and device isolation in laser structures.

The article discusses the universal current sensor fault detection and compensation mechanism, which can be applied in three-phase power electronics (PE) symmetrical system. The mechanism is based on the assumption that a symmetrical system can be described using different components in the stationary reference frame. The solution given in article as a Cri-base detector was tested in electrical drives with induction motors (IMs) and permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). This study also proves that the same algorithm can work stable in active rectifier systems. Such an application of this detector has not been previously reported in the literature. The article describes the detection of various types of faults in different phases. The fault-tolerant voltage-oriented control (FTVOC) of an active rectifier is compared with previously described solutions for IMs and PMSMs. By analysing in various types of systems, the work proves the universality of the detector based on Cri markers.

Due to their many advantages, permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) are increasingly used in not only industrial drive systems but also electric and hybrid vehicle drives, aviation and other applications. Unfortunately, PMSMs are not free from damage that occurs during their operation. It is assumed that about 40% of the damage that occurs is related to rolling bearing damage. This article focuses on the use of Kohonen neural network (KNN) for rolling bearing damage detection in a PMSM drive system. The symptoms from the fast Fourier transform (FFT) and Envelope (ENV) Analysis of the mechanical vibration acceleration signal were analysed. The signal ENV was obtained by applying the Hilbert transform (HT). Two neural network functions are discussed: a detector and a classifier. The detector detected the damage and the classifier determined the type of damage to the rolling bearing (undamaged bearing, damaged rolling element, outer or inner race). The effectiveness of the analysed networks from the point of view of the applied signal processing method, map size, type of neighbourhood radius, distance function and the influence of input data normalisation are presented. The results are presented in the form of a confusion matrix, together with 2D and 3D maps of active neurons.

Contents Previous in vitro studies demonstrated that bovine endometrium has the capacity to convert inactive cortisone to biologically active cortisol (Cr) and that Cr inhibits cytokine-stimulated prostaglandin F2α (PGF) production. This study was carried out to test the hypothesis that bovine reproductive tract has the capacity to convert cortisone to Cr in vivo and to evaluate the effects of intravaginal application of exogenous cortisone on uterine PGF secretion during the late luteal stage. The temporal relationships between PGF and Cr levels in uterine plasma were also determined. Catheters were inserted into jugular vein (JV), uterine vein (UV), vena cava caudalis (VCC) and aorta abdominalis (AA) of six cows on Day 15 of the oestrous cycle (ovulation = Day 0) for frequent blood collection. On Day 16, the cows were divided randomly into two groups and infused intravaginally with vaseline gel (10 ml; control; n = 3) or cortisone dissolved in vaseline gel (100 mg; n = 3). Blood samples were collected at −2, −1, −0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 h after treatments (0 h). Intravaginal application of cortisone increased plasma concentrations of Cr between 0.5 and 1.5 h in UV, at 0.5 h in VCC, at 1 h in JV and at 1.5 h in AA. The plasma concentrations of PGF in UV and of PGF metabolite in JV were greater at 0.5 and 1 h in the cortisone-treated animals than in control animals. The levels of PGF in UV blood plasma decreased after Cr reached its highest levels. The overall findings suggest that the female reproductive tract has the capacity to convert cortisone to Cr in vivo. Based on the temporal changes of PGF and Cr levels in the uterine plasma, a biphasic response in PGF secretion was found to be associated to the Cr increase induced by the cortisone treatment at the late luteal stage in non-pregnant cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of resistance patterns among wastewater fecal coliforms was determined in the study. Susceptibility of the isolates was tested against 19 antimicrobial agents: aminoglycosides, aztreonam, carbapenems, cephalosporines, b-lactam/b-lactamase inhibitors, penicillines, tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and fluoroquinolones. Additionally the removal of resistant isolates was evaluated in the laboratory-scale wastewater treatment model plant (M-WWTP), continuously supplied with the wastewater obtained from the full-scale WWTP. Number of fecal coliforms in raw (after mechanical treatment) and treated wastewater, as well as in aerobic chamber effluent was determined using selective medium. The selected strains were identified and examined for antibiotic resistance using Phoenix Automated Microbiology System (BD Biosciences, USA). The strains were identified as Escherichia coli (n = 222), Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp. ozaenae (n = 9), and Pantoea agglomerans (n = 1). The isolate of P. agglomerans as well as 48% of E. coli isolates were sensitive to all antimicrobials tested. The most frequent resistance patterns were found for ampicillin: 100% of K. pneumoniae ssp. ozaenae and 41% of E. coli isolates. Among E. coli isolates 12% was regarded as multiple antimicrobial resistant (MAR). In the studied M-WWTP, the applied activated sludge processes reduced considerably the number of fecal coliforms, but increased the ratio of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli isolates to sensitive ones, especially among strains with MAR patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sensitivity of bacteria, isolated from coastal marine sediments and waters of Sopot beach, Gdańsk Bay (Poland), to heavy metals in the presence of mineral ship motor oil were studied. All isolated heterotrophic bacteria were resistant to the 0.1 mM lead concentration occurring in the environment. Metal resistance of bacteria isolated from coastal water was strongly related to mineral ship motor oil concentration. At 0.1% mineral ship motor oil (stimulating bacteria growth) Pb and Cd resistance was lower compared to 1% oil concentration. The number of Pb-resistant bacteria, isolated from shoreline sediments, decreased with increasing metal and oil concentrations within the range occurring in the environment. The number of Cd-resistant bacteria at 0.1 mM Cd concentration was slightly stimulated by 1% concentration of mineral ship motor oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]