A novel energy capturing technique for wasted parasitic magnetic noise based upon a magneto-mechano-electric (MME) generator, consisting of piezoelectric single crystal fibers and Ni metal plate in the form of cantilever structure.

Sheath blight of rice, caused by Rhizoctonia solani, is one of the most important rice diseases worldwide; however, no rice cultivar has been found to be completely resistant to this fungus. To facilitate detailed analysis of sheath blight resistance at genetic, molecular, biochemical, and functional genomic levels, new methods were developed for effective and uniform infection and accurate evaluation of the disease. The efficiency of R. solani infection was tested on two resistant (Tetep and Jasmine 85) and two susceptible (Chucheongbyeo, Junambyeo) cultivars using three different inoculum types (agar block, liquid cultured mycelia ball, and mycelia suspension). By covering the inoculated sheaths with aluminum foil to maintain humidity, 100% infection rate was achieved in this study. Liquid cultured mycelia balls caused significantly longer lesions (5.4 cm) than other types of inoculum, including agar block (2.4 cm) and mycelia suspension (1.6 cm). An improved method for evaluating sheath blight disease was selected by comparing two methods for evaluating disease severity among three partially resistant cultivars and five susceptible cultivars inoculated with liquid cultured mycelia balls. In addition, a new formula was developed to calculate the disease susceptibility index. Lesion length and the susceptibility index generally were correlated in each leaf, but there were discrepancies between the two evaluation methods due to differences in plant architecture among the cultivars. The susceptibility index calculated using the new formula was the most accurate method for evaluating sheath blight disease across all cultivars. The effect of heading date and panicle number also was evaluated in relation to sheath blight resistance. Cultivars with late heading dates generally were more resistant to sheath blight than those with early heading dates.

A MME generator with a textured Fe–Ga alloy can generate over 1 mW power under a tiny magnetic field.

Study Type – Prognosis (case series) Level of Evidence 4 What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? At present, many studies have been executed to identify predictors for chronic kidney disease or renal insufficiency after radical nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy. We examined whether preoperative kidney volume is a predictor for renal function after radical or partial nephrectomies in RCC patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report on the relationship between preoperative kidney volume and changes in renal function in RCC patients who underwent radical nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy performed by one surgeon. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether preoperative kidney volume is a prognostic factor for predicting the postoperative glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We included 133 patients who underwent radical (n= 83) or partial (n= 50) nephrectomy for RCC. Kidney parenchymal volume was measured using personal computer‐based software and GFR was estimated before and after surgery at 6 and 12 months. We evaluated the change in kidney volume after radical and partial nephrectomy and used regression analysis to identify predictors of lower post‐surgical GFR at 12 months. RESULTS The mean volume of the normal side kidney for the radical nephrectomy group increased from 142.4 mL to 166.0 mL (17.2%) and 171.5 mL (21.2%) after surgery at 6 and 12 months, respectively. In the partial nephrectomy group, the volume of the normal side kidney increased from 127.2 mL to 138.8 mL (9.1%) and 140.6 mL (10.9%) after surgery at 6 and 12 months, respectively. The volume of the operated side kidney decreased from 128.5 mL to 102.3 mL (20.1%) and 101.8 (20.6%) after surgery at 6 and 12 months, respectively. In the radical nephrectomy group, older age (P < 0.001), preoperative volume of the normal kidney (P= 0.022) and preoperative GFR for the normal side kidney (P= 0.045) were significant predictors of lower post‐surgical GFR at 12 months. In the partial nephrectomy group, older age (P= 0.001) and preoperative volume for both kidneys (P= 0.037) were significant predictors of lower post‐surgical GFR at 12 months. CONCLUSION Preoperative kidney volume is an independent predictor of GFR in RCC patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy.