We present a stabilized theory to address the breakdown or inaccuracy issue for low-frequency (LF) characteristic mode analysis (CMA). At LFs, to properly preserve the governing quasi-static circuit ...physics, the eigenvalue decomposition technique is leveraged to formulate a stabilized eigenvalue problem regarding low-order CMs, which dominate the scattering, radiation, and energy storage properties of arbitrarily shaped conducting bodies. Several efficient schemes are introduced for the computation of the low-order CMs in the LF regime, including the augmented electric-field integral equation, the potential (A-Φ)-based integral equation, and the Calderón multiplicative preconditioner. The LF stabilized CMA enables one to understand and interpret the behaviors of complicated conducting objects with a reduced "modal" representation at LFs, which offers an insightful tool for reduced order modeling in circuit design and analysis.
Conventional electric field integral equation-based theory is susceptible to the spurious internal resonance problem when the characteristic modes (CMs) of closed perfectly conducting objects are ...computed iteratively. In this paper, we present a combined field integral equation-based theory to remove the difficulty of internal resonances in CMs analysis. The electric and magnetic field integral operators are shown to share a common set of nontrivial characteristic pairs (values and modes), leading to a generalized eigenvalue problem which is immune to the internal resonance corruption. Numerical results are presented to validate the proposed formulation. This work may offer efficient solutions to CM analysis which involves electrically large closed surfaces.
The modulation of a polysaccharide–protein complex from
Lycium barbarum (LBP
3p) on the immune system in S180-bearing mice was investigated. The mice inoculated with S180 cell suspension were treated ...p.o. with LBP
3p (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg) for 10 days. The effects of LBP
3p on transplantable tumors and macrophage phagocytosis, quantitative hemolysis of sheep red blood cells (QHS), lymphocyte proliferation, the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene expression and lipid peroxidation were studied. LBP
3p could significantly inhibit the growth of transplantable sarcoma S180 and increase macrophage phagocytosis, the form of antibody secreted by spleen cells, spleen lymphocyte proliferation, CTL activity, IL-2 mRNA expression level and reduce the lipid peroxidation in S180-bearing mice. The effect is not dose-dependent in a linear fashion. A total of 10 mg/kg dose is more effective than 5 and 20 mg/kg doses. This suggests that LBP
3p at 10 mg/kg has a highly significant effect on tumor weight and improves the immune system.
Objectives/Hypothesis:
To find the risk factors of lymph node (LN) metastasis of salivary gland cancer and draw a scheme for LN management.
Study Design:
Hospital‐based retrospective study.
Methods:
...The records of salivary gland cancer patients treated at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Cancer Hospital, Fudan University, were entered in a database, and 219 consecutive patients with carcinomas of major salivary glands primarily operated on between January 1998 and January 2011 were chosen for univariate and multivariate analysis to identify risk factors for LN involvement.
Results:
Fifty‐eight (26.5%) patients had LN involvement. Factors associated with cervical LN involvement on univariate analysis included pathologic type, male sex, shorter duration of preoperative course, facial paralysis, advanced T stage, and major nerve, soft tissue, lymphatic/vascular (L/V), neural/perineural, and extracapsular invasion. Multivariate analysis identified major nerve invasion, histologic type, L/V invasion, and extracapsular invasion as significant factors for LN involvement. The proportion of patients with LN involvement with low (105), middle (61), high (34), and super high (19) predictive index scores based on the four risk factors were 3.8%, 27.9%, 55.9%, and 94.7%, respectively.
Conclusions:
A predictive index using the clinicopathologic factors described in this report can effectively stratify patients into risk groups for nodal metastasis. Comprehensive management based on this risk index should improve treatment outcomes for patients with salivary gland cancer.
White light has often been used for surface illumination to acquire images for digital image correlation (DIC) analysis. In recent years, fluorescent imaging technique has been introduced for ...illumination, surface deformation and topography measurements with applications on various materials including biomaterials (biofilms, etc.) at the microscale. Traditional imaging, with the use of white light, encounters technical issues such as specular reflection owing to moisture or smooth shiny surfaces (e.g., metallic or glass surfaces). As an altemative to white light, fluorescent imaging serves as a solution to resolve the issues of specular reflection. Fluorescent DIC techniques, especially the fluorescent stereo DIC, allow 3D surface profilometry and deformation measurements at the microscale and submicron scale. Fluorescent stereo imaging under a microscope utilizes emission wavelengths that are different from illumination wavelengths to ensure clear images on any surface that might give reflections at certain angles when white light is used, allowing accurate metrology and deformation measurement. In addition microscopic fluorescent imaging provides nanoscale resolutions surpassing Abbe's diffraction limit. This paper provides a review of the recent advances in fluorescent DIC.
We conducted experiments in a wind tunnel with Mach number 2 to explore the evolution of a transverse plasma jet and its modification effect on a shock wave induced by a ramp with an angle of 24°. ...The transverse plasma jet was created by arc discharge in a small cylindrical cavity with a 2 mm diameter orifice. Three group tests with different actuator arrangements in the spanwise or streamwise direction upstream from the ramp were respectively studied to compare their disturbances to the shock wave. As shown by a time-resolved schlieren system, an unsteady motion of the shock wave by actuation was found: the shock wave was significantly modified by the plasma jet with an upstream motion and a reduced angle. Compared to spanwise actuation, a more intensive impact was obtained with two or three streamwise actuators working together. From shock wave structures, the control effect of the plasma jet on the shock motion based on a thermal effect, a potential cause of shock modification, was discussed. Furthermore, we performed a numerical simulation by using the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation(IDDES) method to simulate the evolution of the transverse plasma jet plume produced by two streamwise actuators. The results show that flow structures are similar to those identified in schlieren images. Two streamwise vortices were recognized, which indicates that the higher jet plume is the result of the overlap of two streamwise jets.
Aim: SCT800 is a new third-generation recombinant FVill agent that is undergoing promising preclinical study. This study aimed to investigate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of ...SCT800 in hemophilia A mice. Methods: After hemophilia A mice were intravenously injected with single dose of SCT800 (80, 180, and 280 IU/kg) or the commercially available product Xyntha (280 IU/kg), pharmacokinetics profiles were evaluated based on measuring plasma FVIIh C. For pharmacodynamics study, dose-response curves of SCT800 and Xyntha (1-200 IU/kg) were constructed using a tail bleeding model monitoring both bleeding time and blood loss. Results: Pharmacokinetics profile analysis showed a dose independency of SCT800 ranging from 80 to 280 IU/kg and comparable pharmacokinetic profiles between SCT800 and Xyntha at the doses tested. Pharmacodynamics study revealed comparable ED50 values of SCT800 and Xyntha in the tail bleeding model: 14.78 and 15.81 IU/kg for bleeding time, respectively; 13.50 and 13.58 IU/kg for blood loss, respectively. Moreover, at the doses tested, the accompanying dose-related safety evaluation in the tail bleeding model showed lower hypercoagulable tendency and wider dosage range potential for SCT800 than Xyntha. Conclusion: In hemophilia A mice, SCT800 shows comparable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to Xyntha at the doses tested, and possibly with better safety properties.
Background:
More widespread use of drug‐eluting stents (DES) to treat coronary heart disease (CHD) has recently generated more attention to thrombosis, which was relative to the polymer. ...Polymer‐free and biodegradable polymer‐based stents are more frequently studied, but their efficacy on preventing detrimental clinical events is unclear.
Methods and Results:
To assess whether polymer‐free paclitaxel‐eluting stent (YINYI stent) was noninferior or equivalent to biodegradable polymer‐based rapamycin‐eluting stents (EXCEL stent) in preventing detrimental clinical cardiovascular events, a total of 167 consecutive CHD patients requiring DES implantation were randomly divided into the YINYI group (n = 82) and the EXCEL group (n = 85). The primary end‐point was major adverse cardiac events (MACE). The secondary end‐points included stent thrombosis events, all‐cause mortality, and rehospitalization. The study was designed to test the noninferiority or equivalence of the YINYI stent compared with the EXCEL stent with respect to one‐year MACE according to a noninferiority or equivalence margin of 0.1. One‐year MACE was 6.10% in the YINYI group versus 5.88% in the EXCEL group. The lower limit of the one‐sided 95% confidence interval was −0.0582 (P = 0.002 from the test for noninferiority). The 95% confidence interval for the equivalence test was −0.0698, 0.0742 (P1=0.004 and P2=0.007 from 2 times the 1‐sided test for equivalence). There was no statistically significant difference in thrombosis events, all‐cause death, and rehospitalization (all P > 0.05).
Conclusions:
In this small randomized trial, polymer‐free paclitaxel‐eluting stents appear to be noninferior or equivalent to biodegradable polymer‐based rapamycin‐eluting stents. (J Interven Cardiol 2012;25:604–610)
Ardipusilloside I, extracted from ARDISIA PUSILLA A.DC, effectively inhibits the progression of several cancers in animal models and is a potential anti-cancer drug candidate. However, the metabolism ...and pharmacokinetic characteristics of ardipusilloside I remain unknown. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem MS method to determine the ardipusilloside I concentration in rat plasma using ginsenoside Re (whose structure is similar to ardipusilloside I) as the internal standard. After oral administration of ardipusilloside I, its four possible metabolites (M1, M2, M3, and M4, whose structures were determined by MS) were detected in the content from rat small intestine. In rat plasma, however, only M3 and M4 were detected after oral administration of ardipusilloside I. None of the metabolites were detected in plasma samples after intravenous administration of ardipusilloside I to rats. These results indicated that the metabolites, but not the drug itself, were absorbed into plasma after oral administration of ardipusilloside I to rats and that M3 and M4 may be responsible for the antitumor activity of orally administered ardipusilloside I in rat models of cancer.
The present study was designed to examine the contributions of the fatty acid elongase (ELOVL) gene polymorphisms to the levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in breast milk. Two hundred and ...nine healthy Han Chinese mothers were included in the study. Carriers of minor alleles of SNPs (rs2397142 and rs9357760) in ELOVL5 were associated with higher levels of linoleic acid (LA), dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA), arachidonic acid (AA), docosatetraenoic acid (DTA), docosahexenoic acid (DHA), while in rs209512 of ELOVL5 the carriers of minor alleles had lower levels of DTA compared to major homozygote alleles (P ranged from 0.004-0.046), and genetically explained variability ranged from 3.2% for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to 6.0% for LA. Our findings demonstrated that common variation in ELOVL5 gene encoding rate-limiting enzymes in the metabolism of PUFAs contribute to the PUFAs in breast milk.