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Objectives The aim of this study was to assess mitral valve (MV) remodeling and strain in patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR) compared with primary MR (PMR) and normal valves. Background A paucity of data exists on MV strain during the cardiac cycle in humans. Real-time 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography allows for dynamic MV imaging, enabling computerized modeling of MV function in normal and disease states. Methods Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was performed in a total of 106 subjects: 36 with SMR, 38 with PMR, and 32 with normal valves; MR severity was at least moderate in both MR groups. Valve geometric parameters were quantitated and patient-specific 3D MV models generated in systole using a dedicated software. Global and regional peak systolic MV strain was computed using a proprietary software. Results MV annular area was larger in both the SMR and PMR groups (12.7 ± 0.7 and 13.3 ± 0.7 cm2, respectively) compared with normal subjects (9.9 ± 0.3 cm2; p Conclusions The MV in secondary MR remodels significantly and similarly to PMR with a resultant larger annular area, leaflet surface area, and leaflet thickness compared with that of normal subjects. Despite these changes, MV strain remains close to or in some instances lower than normal and is significantly lower than that of PMR. Strain determination has the potential to improve characterization of MV mechano-biologic properties in humans and to evaluate its prognostic impact in patients with MR, with or without valve interventions.

A nitrogen replacement process that directly incorporates the 15N atom of glycine-15N into anilines was reported. The process involves a Csp2-N bond cleavage of anilines driven by dearomatization and a Csp3-N bond cleavage of glycine-15N driven by aromatization. A variety of 15N-labeled aromatic heterocycles can be prepared via this process.

The aim of this study was to assess mitral valve (MV) remodeling and strain in patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR) compared with primary MR (PMR) and normal valves.A paucity of data exists on MV strain during the cardiac cycle in humans. Real-time 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography allows for dynamic MV imaging, enabling computerized modeling of MV function in normal and disease states.Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was performed in a total of 106 subjects: 36 with SMR, 38 with PMR, and 32 with normal valves; MR severity was at least moderate in both MR groups. Valve geometric parameters were quantitated and patient-specific 3D MV models generated in systole using a dedicated software. Global and regional peak systolic MV strain was computed using a proprietary software.MV annular area was larger in both the SMR and PMR groups (12.7 ± 0.7 and 13.3 ± 0.7 cmThe MV in secondary MR remodels significantly and similarly to PMR with a resultant larger annular area, leaflet surface area, and leaflet thickness compared with that of normal subjects. Despite these changes, MV strain remains close to or in some instances lower than normal and is significantly lower than that of PMR. Strain determination has the potential to improve characterization of MV mechano-biologic properties in humans and to evaluate its prognostic impact in patients with MR, with or without valve interventions.

We develop an operator splitting approach to solve diffeomorphic matching problems for sequences of surfaces in three-dimensional space. The goal is to smoothly match, at a very fast rate, finite sequences of observed 3D-snapshots extracted from movies recording the smooth dynamic deformations of "soft" surfaces. We have implemented our algorithms in a proprietary software installed at The Methodist Hospital (Cardiology) to monitor mitral valve strain through computer analysis of noninvasive patients' echocardiographies., 18 pages; 8 figures

Objectives The aim of this study was to quantitate patient-specific mitral valve (MV) strain in normal valves and in patients with mitral valve prolapse with and without significant mitral regurgitation (MR) and assess the determinants of MV strain. Background Few data exist on MV deformation during systole in humans. Three-dimensional echocardiography allows for dynamic MV imaging, enabling digital modeling of MV function in health and disease. Methods Three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 82 patients, 32 with normal MV and 50 with mitral valve prolapse (MVP): 12 with mild mitral regurgitation or less (MVP − MR) and 38 with moderate MR or greater (MVP + MR). Three-dimensional MV models were generated, and the peak systolic strain of MV leaflets was computed on proprietary software. Results Left ventricular ejection fraction was normal in all groups. MV annular dimensions were largest in MVP + MR (annular area: 13.8 ± 0.7 cm2) and comparable in MVP − MR (10.6 ± 1 cm2) and normal valves (10.5 ± 0.3 cm2; analysis of variance: p Conclusions MVs that exhibit prolapse have higher strain compared to normal valves, particularly in the posterior leaflet. Although higher strain is observed with worsening MR and larger valves and annuli, mitral valve leaflet thickness—and, thus, underlying MV pathology—is the most significant independent determinant of valve deformation. Future studies are needed to assess the impact of MV strain determination on clinical outcome.

Exploring more efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts to replace platinum (Pt) is highly desired to promote the practical hydrogen production through water splitting. Herein, a facile and effective strategy is proposed to fabricate self-standing Al3Ni2/Ni electrode with controlled phase composition and surface morphology, which is obtained by one-step electrochemical reduction of Al3+ on commercially available nickel in eutectic NaCl-KCl melt. Different from previously reported approaches, uniform Al3Ni2 monolith catalyst can directly grow onto Ni substrate. The deposit possesses unique three-dimensional (3D) cauliflower-like morphology comprising of nano- and microparticles due to the rapid nucleation rate during molten salt electrolysis. The as-fabricated Al3Ni2/Ni electrode can be directly used as the cathode to catalyze Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Impressively, it exhibits remarkable HER activity comparable to commercial Pt, including a low overpotential of 83.4 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 40.7 mV dec-1, and excellent long-term stability over 36 h of continuous HER operation in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. The intrinsic catalytic ability of Al3Ni2 with the unique hierarchical structure of nano/microsized grains can offer multiple effects, including massive exposed active sites, enhanced charge transfer and mass transport, and fast gas releasing that synergistically contribute to improving the electrocatalytic performance of HER. This work represents a highly promising approach to the design and one-step controllable fabrication of efficient and self-standing base metal electrode for electrocatalytic hydrogen production.

The electrochemical behavior of Nd(III) and its coreduction with Mg(II) were investigated on a molybdenum electrode at 1023 K in eutectic NaCl–KCl melts. The results indicate that the reduction of NdCl3 in NaCl–KCl melts is a one-step process with three electrons exchanged, and the reaction is an irreversible diffusion-controlled process at low scan rate with the calculated diffusion coefficient of about 6.8 × 10–5 cm2 s–1. After MgCl2 is introduced to the melts, the reduction of Nd(III) takes place at a more positive potential value due to the formation of Mg–Nd intermetallic compounds through electrochemical co-deposition and chemical reduction of Nd(III) ions by preferentially deposited Mg. The solid intermetallic compounds of Mg3Nd, Mg2Nd, and MgNd observed in open circuit chronopotentiometry curves are transformed to thermodynamically more stable Mg-rich phases of Mg12Nd and Mg41Nd5 when potentiostatic electrolysis at −2.10 V. It has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction and SEM-EDS microscopy that the...

In this article, two novel numerical methods have been developed for simulating fluid/porous particle interactions in three-dimensional (3D) Stokes flow. The Brinkman–Debye–Bueche model is adopted for the fluid flow inside the porous particle, being coupled with the Stokes equations for the fluid flow outside the particle. The rotating motion of a porous ball and the interaction of two porous balls in bounded shear flows have been studied by these two new methods. The numerical results show that the porous particle permeability has a strong effect on the interaction of two porous balls.

Background & Aims The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether use of combined radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and percutaneous iodine-125 ( 125 I) seed implantation results in better progression-free survival compared with the use of RFA alone in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods 136 patients were randomly assigned to undergo HCC treatment with RFA and percutaneous iodine-125 seed implantation (RFA- 125 I, n=68) or RFA-only (n=68). A total of 91 patients had hepatitis B viral infection in both groups. Rates of tumour recurrence and overall survival were evaluated. Results The probabilities of recurrence at 1-, 3-, and 5-years were 4.5%, 22.1%, and 39.8% in the RFA- 125 I group; and 14.8%, 35.3%, and 57.4% in the RFA-only group, respectively. The recurrence rate in the RFA- 125 I group was significantly lower than in the RFA-only group (HR, 0.508; 95% CI, 0.317–0.815; p =0.004 by log-rank test). Local and intrahepatic recurrence was significantly lower in the RFA- 125 I group than in the RFA-only group (7.3% vs . 22.0%, p =0.012 by log-rank test; 17.6% vs . 32.3%, p =0.041 by log-rank test). The probabilities of survival at 1-, 3-, and 5-years were 100%, 86.7%, and 66.1% in the RFA- 125 I group and 95.6%, 75.0%, and 47.0% in the RFA-only group, respectively. The survival rate in the RFA- 125 I group was significantly better than in the RFA-only group (HR, 0.502; 95% CI, 0.313–0.806; p =0.003 by log-rank test). Cox regression model indicated that the treatment group and tumour size were both recurrence-related and overall survival-related prognostic factors. Conclusions There were significant differences in overall survival and cumulative recurrence between RFA- 125 I and RFA-only for patients with small HCCs (⩽3cm). Treatment with RFA- 125 I facilitated better local and intrahepatic tumour control and long-term survival compared with treatment of RFA alone. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01717729.

Primary mitral regurgitation is amenable to surgical repair; its durability may be influenced by the surgical approach, underlying pathology, and possibly annular geometry and leaflet stress. Recently, we have reported a new method to compute mitral valve (MV) strain in humans from 3-dimensional (3D

Few data exist on mitral valve (MV) deformation during systole in humans. 3D echocardiography allows for dynamic MV imaging, enabling digital modeling of MV function in health and disease. 3D transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 32 patients with normal MV, and 48 with mitral valve

To have in-depth analysis of clinical ablation effect of noninvasive radiofrequency field-induced hyperthermia on liver cancer cells, this paper collected liver cancer patients’ treatment information from 10 hospitals during January 2010 and December 2011, from which 1050 cases of patients were randomly selected as study object of observation group who underwent noninvasive radiofrequency field-induced hyperthermia treatment; in addition, 500 cases of liver cancer patients were randomly selected as study object of control group who underwent clinical surgical treatment. After treatment was completed, three years of return visit were done, survival rates of the two groups of patients after 1year, 2years, and 3years were compared, and clinical effects of radiofrequency ablation of liver cancer were evaluated. Zoom results show that the two groups are similar in terms of survival rate, and the difference is without statistical significance. 125 patients in observation group had varying degrees of adverse reactions, while 253 patients in control group had adverse reactions. There was difference between groups P

We present new algorithms to compute patient specific strain maps for mitral valve leaflets, by tracking and modeling deformations of the mitral valve apparatus in 3D echocardiography. We can then quantify comparisons of mitral leaflets strain maps between normal patients and cases of mitral valve prolapse or regurgitation. For patients with mitral valve regurgitation, we compare mitral leaflets strain maps between pre-surgery and post-surgery, to quantify the strain reduction due to mitral valve repair surgery.

Objectives Immunosuppressant-related hip pain can greatly affect a patient's mobility and increase the number of total hip arthroplasties. We investigated risk factors and causes of hip pain after orthotopic liver transplant. Materials and methods The medical records of 175 adult orthotopic liver transplant patients, who were followed-up for more than 2 years, were retrospectively reviewed. Data collected from the records included primary disease, medications, biochemical results, Child-Turcotte-Pugh score, death, rejection, and complications related to liver transplant. Results A total of 11 patients (6.3%) complained of hip pain, which was diagnosed as calcineurin-inhibitor-induced pain syndrome in 4 patients (2.3%), osteonecrosis of the femoral head in 3 patients (1.7%), and osteoporosis in 2 patients (1.1%). The incidence of calcineurin-inhibitor-induced pain syndrome was related to the dosage of tacrolimus (P > .05) but independent of methylprednisolone use. The occurrence of osteonecrosis of the femoral head was independent of the dosage and early withdrawal of methylprednisolone (P > .05). Patients with methylprednisolone withdrawal within 6 months had significantly longer survival than those using methylprednisolone for more than 6 months (50 ± 15 vs 41 ± 18 mo; P = .007). Conclusions Calcineurin-inhibitor-induced pain syndrome and osteonecrosis of the femoral head are main causes of hip pain in adult orthotopic liver transplant patients. Osteonecrosis of the femoral head was not common, but the incidence of hip pain owing to calcineurin-inhibitor-induced pain syndrome was relatively high in orthotopic liver transplant patients. Early withdrawal of methylprednisolone could benefit the patients' survival.

Background: Listeria monocytogenes infection is not commonly reported in China. Increasing the awareness of neonatal listeriosis is necessary. Methods: Six cases of neonatal listeriosis were diagnosed in the neonatal intensive care unit at Beijing Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital in 2008. We reviewed the clinical features, laboratory findings, timing of treatment, medications used, and the history of the mothers during pregnancy. Results: All six cases were preterm infants. Blood cultures were positive for L. monocytogenes. All of the mothers developed fever in the third trimester of pregnancy, and three of them ended their pregnancy the day the fever appeared. The severity of the clinical symptoms varied in each infant, and all cases were treated with antibiotics immediately after birth. All six cases were discharged from hospital in good health. Conclusions: Neonatal Listeria infection is generally a severe disease. Pregnant women must guard against fever and other manifestations, such as Listeria infection. Clinicians encountering such cases should be attentive to the patient's condition and should provide appropriate antibiotic treatment. Early detection and effective targeted treatment of listeriosis helps to improve the patient's survival and prognosis.

In atmospheric aerosols, water and volatile inorganic and organic species are distributed between the gas and aerosol phases in accordance with thermodynamic equilibrium. Within an atmospheric particle, liquid and solid phases can exist at equilibrium. Models exist for computation of phase equilibria for inorganic/water mixtures typical of atmospheric aerosols; when organic species are present, the phase equilibrium problem is complicated by organic/water interactions as well as the potentially large number of organic species. We present here an extension of the UHAERO inorganic thermodynamic model (Amundson et al., 2006c) to organic/water systems. Phase diagrams for a number of model organic/water systems characteristic of both primary and secondary organic aerosols are computed. Also calculated are inorganic/organic/water phase diagrams that show the effect of organics on inorganic deliquescence behavior. The effect of the choice of activity coefficient model for organics on the computed phase equilibria is explored.

We present a new variant of a domain decomposition method with complete overlap and not necessarily nested grids to solve numerically elliptic problems with multi-scale data. The novelty of the method consists in restricting finite element functions on the coarse grid to be approximately harmonic inside the subdomain where a finer triangulation is applied. Numerical experiments confirm an increase in the convergence rate over a previously proposed method. To cite this article: J. He et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 345 (2007).

A model that rigorously computes the gas–particle partitioning and liquid–liquid equilibrium for organic atmospheric aerosol particles is presented. The dynamics of the mass transfers between the particle and the gas phase are modeled with differential equations and are coupled with a constrained optimization problem for the thermodynamic equilibrium inside the particle. The nonlinear system composed by the first order optimality conditions coupled with the discretized differential equations is solved with an interior-point method and a Newton method. The resulting linear system is decoupled with sequential quadratic programming techniques. Numerical results and comparisons of time scales show the accuracy and efficiency of our algorithm. To cite this article: N.R. Amundson et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 344 (2007).

Background— A paucity of data exists on mitral valve (MV) deformation during the cardiac cycle in man. Real-time 3-dimensional (3D) echocardiography now allows dynamic volumetric imaging of the MV, thus enabling computerized modeling of MV function directly in health and disease. Methods and Results— MV imaging using 3D transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 10 normal subjects and 10 patients with moderate-to-severe or severe organic mitral regurgitation. Using proprietary 3D software, patient-specific models of the mitral annulus and leaflets were computed at mid- and end-systole. Strain analysis of leaflet deformation was derived from these models. In normals, mean strain intensity averaged 0.11±0.02 and was higher in the posterior leaflet than in the anterior leaflet (0.13±0.03 versus 0.10±0.02; P P =0.05). Higher mean strain intensity was noted for the posterior leaflet in both normal and organic valves. Regional valve analysis revealed that both anterior and posterior leaflets have the highest strain concentration in the commissural zone, and the boundary zone near the annulus and at the coaptation line, with reduced strain concentration in the central leaflet zone. Conclusions— In normals, MV strain is higher in the posterior leaflet, with the highest strain at the commissures, annulus, and coaptation zones. Patients with organic mitral regurgitation have higher strain than normals. Three-dimensional echocardiography allows noninvasive and patient-specific quantitation of strain intensities because of MV deformations and has the potential to improve noninvasive characterization and follow-up of MV disease.

Activatable cell-penetrating peptides (aCPPs) allow non-viral, low cytotoxic and selective delivery of compounds into target cells for cancer therapy. In tumour cells, up-regulation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) frequently occurs and is being considered as a target in cancer diagnosis and treatment. siRNA sequence that target hTERT mRNA can silence the gene and reduce hTERT protein expression to reduce cell proliferation and inhibit cell growth. In our study, we tested a matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MPP2) aCPP in delivering hTERT siRNA into hepatocellular carcinoma cells (SMMC-7721) to silence the hTERT gene. Cultured SMMC-7721 cells were transfected with a complex of aCPPs and hTERT-specific siRNA-encoding or control plasmids. Compared with cells treated with the complex of control plasmid–CPPs, cells treated with the hTERT-specific siRNA-encoding plasmid–CPP complex had a prolonged G1-phase, but a shorter G2/S-phase, indicating a G1-arrest. Treatment with the hTERT-specific siRNA resulted in a significant decrease (by 26%; P, In the present study, we delivered human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) siRNA into SMMC-7721 hepatoma cells using a matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2)-activatable cell-penetrating peptide (aCPP). The siRNA subsequently induced down-regulation of the hTERT gene and G1-arrest, implicating the utility of this delivery system in cancer therapy.

A mathematical model for the computation of the phase equilibrium related to atmospheric organic aerosols is presented. The phase equilibrium is given by the global minimum of the Gibbs free energy for a system that involves water and organic components. This minimization problem is equivalent to the determination of the convex hull of the corresponding molar Gibbs free energy function. A geometrical notion of phase simplex related to the convex hull is introduced to characterize mathematically the phases at equilibrium. A primal-dual interior-point algorithm for the efficient solution of the phase equilibrium problem is presented. A novel initialization of the algorithm, based on the properties of the phase simplex, is proposed to ensure the convergence to a global minimum of the Gibbs free energy. For a finite termination of the interior-point method, an active phase identification procedure is incorporated. Numerical results show the robustness and efficiency of the approach for the prediction of liquid-liquid equilibrium in multicomponent mixtures.

A general equilibrium model for multiphase multicomponent inorganic atmospheric aerosols is proposed. The thermodynamic equilibrium is given by the minimum of the Gibbs free energy for a system involving an aqueous phase, a gas phase, and solid salts. A primal-dual algorithm solving the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions is detailed. An active set/Newton method permits to compute the minimum of the energy and tracks the presence or not of solid salts at the equilibrium. Numerical results show the efficiency of our algorithm for the prediction of multiphase multireaction chemical equilibria.

A variety of thermodynamic models have been developed to predict inorganic gas-aerosol equilibrium. To achieve computational efficiency a number of the models rely on a priori specification of the phases present in certain relative humidity regimes. Presented here is a new computational model, named UHAERO, that is both efficient and rigorously computes phase behavior without any a priori specification. The computational implementation is based on minimization of the Gibbs free energy using a primal-dual method, coupled to a Newton iteration. The mathematical details of the solution are given elsewhere. The model computes deliquescence behavior without any a priori specification of the relative humidities of deliquescence. Also included in the model is a formulation based on classical theory of nucleation kinetics that predicts crystallization behavior. Detailed phase diagrams of the sulfate/nitrate/ammonium/water system are presented as a function of relative humidity at 298.15 K over the complete space of composition.

A mathematical model for the computation of chemical equilibrium of atmospheric inorganic aerosols is proposed. The equilibrium is given by the minimum of the Gibbs free energy for a system involving an aqueous phase, a gas phase and solid salts. A primal-dual method solving the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions is detailed. An active set/Newton method permits the computation of the minimum and track solid salts at the equilibrium. To cite this article: N.R. Amundson et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 340 (2005).

A mathematical model for the computation of the phase equilibrium related to atmospheric organic aerosols is proposed. The equilibrium is given by the minimum of the Gibbs free energy and is characterized using the notion of phase simplex of its convex hull. A primal-dual interior-point method solving the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions is detailed. Numerical results show the efficiency of our algorithm. To cite this article: N.R. Amundson et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 340 (2005).

In this paper we present a family of iterative methods to solve numerically second order elliptic problems with multi-scale data using multiple levels of grids. These methods are based upon the introduction of a Lagrange multiplier to enforce the continuity of the solution and its fluxes across interfaces. This family of methods can be interpreted as a mortar element method with complete overlapping domain decomposition for solving numerically multi-scale elliptic problems. (C) 2004 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

We describe a canonical form of electrolyte solution systems for the mathematical interpretation of solidliquid equilibrium. The canonical form is obtained from the analysis of the algebraic structure of electrolyte solution systems and the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions for the minimization of the total Gibbs free energy. As a result, the mathematical role of solid species in the solid-liquid equilibrium problem is explained as a Lagrange multiplier of a sort of the linearly constrained optimization problem. This finding will add to the development of an efficient numerical algorithm for the simulation of electrolyte solution systems.

In this paper we present a method to solve numerically elliptic problems with multi-scale data using multiple levels of not necessarily nested grids. The method consists in calculating successive corrections to the solution in patches whose discretizations are not necessarily conforming. It resembles the FAC method (see Math. Comp. 46 (174) (1986) 439-456) and its convergence is obtained by a domain decomposition technique (see Math. Comp. 57 (195) (1991) 1-21). However it is of much more flexible use in comparison to the latter. (C) 2003 Academie des sciences. Published by Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

In (J. Differential Equations 66 (1987) 340) a uniform stabilization method of the wave equation by boundary control a la Dirichlet has been discussed. In this article, we investigate the numerical implementation of the above stabilization process by a numerical scheme which mimics the energy decay properties of its continuous counterpart. The practical implementation of that scheme leads to a biharmonic problem of a new type which is solved by a method directly inspired by some related work of Glowinski and Pironneau on the solution of the Dirichlet problem for the biharmonic operator (SIAM Rev. 21(2) (1979) 167). Numerical experiments show that the decay properties of the energy are well-preserved by our numerical methodology.

Nous presentons une methode d'approximation qui permet de retrouver l'estimation d'erreur optimale, lorsqu'elle est utilisee avec la methode usuelle des Elements Finis de Lagrange P1, dans des domaines bidimensionnels non-convexes. Celle-ci peut-etre appliquee aux equations de Poisson, de la chaleur ou des ondes scalaires, ainsi qu'a des problemes similaires a coefficients constants par morceaux.

The main objective of this article is to investigate computational methods for the active control and drag optimization of incompressible viscous flow past cylinders, using the two-dimensional Navier?Stokes equations as the flow model. The computational methodology relies on the following ingredients: space discretization of the Navier?Stokes equations by finite element approximations, time discretization by a second-order-accurate two-step implicit/explicit finite difference scheme, calculation of the cost function gradient by the adjoint equation approach, and minimization of the cost function by a quasi-Newton method a la BFGS. The above methods have been applied to boundary control by rotation of the flow around a circular cylinder and show 30 to 60% drag reduction, compared to the fixed cylinder configuration, for Reynolds numbers in the range from 200 to 1000.

This paper proves a sharp inequality relating the L p -norms of uu″ with that of (u′)2when uis a periodic, non-negative function. The constant is independent of the period and is found explicitly. The inequality leads to some associated imbedding theorems which provide conditions under which u 2is in implies uis in .

In this article we investigate computational methods for the control and stabilization of systems modeled by parabolic equations of the advection-reaction-difTusion type and by the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluids. For the first class of control problems wc shall discuss open loop control methods and closed loop methods a la Riccati. Concerning the second class of problems we shall consider the Dirichlet boundary control of low around cylinders and attempt to reduce the viscous drag. The results of numerical experiments will validate the computational methods described in this article.

The present article is concerned with the Neumann control of systems modeled by scalar or vector parabolic equations of reaction-advection-diffusion type with a particular emphasis on systems which are unstable if uncontrolled. To solve these problems, we use a combination of finite-difference methods for the time discretization, finite-element methods for the space discretization, and conjugate gradient algorithms for the iterative solution of the discrete control problems. We apply then the above methodology to the solution of test problems in two dimensions, including problems related to nonlinear models.

Listeria monocytogenes infection is not commonly reported in China. Increasing the awareness of neonatal listeriosis is necessary.Six cases of neonatal listeriosis were diagnosed in the neonatal intensive care unit at Beijing ObstetricsGynecology Hospital in 2008. We reviewed the clinical features, laboratory findings, timing of treatment, medications used, and the history of the mothers during pregnancy.All six cases were preterm infants. Blood cultures were positive for L. monocytogenes. All of the mothers developed fever in the third trimester of pregnancy, and three of them ended their pregnancy the day the fever appeared. The severity of the clinical symptoms varied in each infant, and all cases were treated with antibiotics immediately after birth. All six cases were discharged from hospital in good health.Neonatal Listeria infection is generally a severe disease. Pregnant women must guard against fever and other manifestations, such as Listeria infection. Clinicians encountering such cases should be attentive to the patient's condition and should provide appropriate antibiotic treatment. Early detection and effective targeted treatment of listeriosis helps to improve the patient's survival and prognosis.