BACKGROUND High-resolution manometry (HRM) has improved the accuracy of manometry in detecting achalasia and has helped distinguish between clinically relevant subtypes. This study investigated whether HRM metrics correlate with the achalasia symptoms and symptomatic outcomes of peroral esophageal myotomy (POEM). METHODS Of the 30 patients who were enrolled, 25 were treated with POEM, 12 of w...

A growing need to have ubiquitous connectivity has motivated our research to provide continuous connection between various wireless platforms such as cellular networks, WLANs and MANETs. In this paper we consider integration at the routing layer and propose two adaptable routing protocols (IRP-RD and IRP-PD) that exploit topology information stored at the fixed network components (cellular Base...

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how integrated resource planning (IRP) oriented to the gas sector can be applied both in new networks and in mature networks, and to present the advantages of its application. One case study is described, in the western central region of Portugal, to illustrate the results of a pilot project on natural gas IRP implementation in a new network in the Europe...

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) have been measured by specific bioassays in pooled urine samples from prepubertal children, aged 2-6 yr, and from male adults. For children the mean urinary excretion of FSH was 2.2 U 2nd International Reference Preparation (2nd IRP) per liter and the mean urinary excretion of LH was 0.44 U 2nd IRP per liter. For adults the mean FS...

The integrated refinery-planning (IRP), an instrumental problem in the petroleum industry, is made of several subsystems, each of them involving a large number of decisions. Despite the complexity of the overall planning problem, this work presents a mathematical model of the refinery operations characterized by complete horizontal integration of subsystems from crude oil purchase through to pr...

The combination of inventory management and vehicle routing decisions yields a difficult combinatorial optimization problem called the Inventory-Routing Problem (IRP). This problem arises when both types of decisions must be taken jointly, which is the case in vendor-managed inventory systems. The IRP has received significant attention in recent years. Several heuristic and exact algorithms are...

OBJECTIVES International reference pricing (IRP) refers to the benchmarking of pharmaceutical prices in one or several other markets when setting or negotiating country-level prices. This policy instrument has been used extensively by payers around the world to regulate pharmaceuticals prices within their jurisdictions. The objective of this research was to characterise the frequency and nature...

The intracellular distribution and diffusivity of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was studied by cryomicrodissection of individual Rana pipiens oocytes. We measured ATP concentrations in the nucleus, in animal and vegetal hemisphere cytoplasm, and in an intracellular reference phase (iRP, a microinjected gelatin "organelle") which samples diffusive ATP. Regional concentrations were not equal: nucl...

The posttranscriptional control of iron uptake, storage, and utilization by iron-responsive elements (IREs) and iron regulatory proteins (IRPs) provides a molecular framework for the regulation of iron homeostasis in many animals. We have identified and characterized IREs in the mRNAs for two different mitochondrial citric acid cycle enzymes. Drosophila melanogaster IRP binds to an IRE in the 5...

Glutaredoxin 5 (GLRX5) deficiency has previously been identified as a cause of anemia in a zebrafish model and of sideroblastic anemia in a human patient. Here we report that GLRX5 is essential for iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis and the maintenance of normal mitochondrial and cytosolic iron homeostasis in human cells. GLRX5, a mitochondrial protein that is highly expressed in erythroid cells,...