This paper presents a novel learning‐based clothing deformation method to generate rich and reasonable detailed deformations for garments worn by bodies of various shapes in various animations. In ...contrast to existing learning‐based methods, which require numerous trained models for different garment topologies or poses and are unable to easily realize rich details, we use a unified framework to produce high fidelity deformations efficiently and easily. Specifically, we first found that the fit between the garment and the body has an important impact on the degree of folds. We then designed an attribute parser to generate detail‐aware encodings and infused them into the graph neural network, therefore enhancing the discrimination of details under diverse attributes. Furthermore, to achieve better convergence and avoid overly smooth deformations, we proposed to reconstruct output to mitigate the complexity of the learning task. Experimental results show that our proposed deformation method achieves better performance over existing methods in terms of generalization ability and quality of details.
This paper presents a novel learning‐based clothing deformation method to generate rich and reasonable detailed deformations for garments worn by bodies of various shapes in various animations.
The double bubble tubular film (DBTF) process is a more economical way of producing biaxially oriented film, when compared to the tenter biaxially oriented film process. This film manufacturing ...technique has been widely used to produce biaxially oriented films because of good shrinkability and high physical properties. Recently, shrinkage film for this usage is required to have good stretchability and shrinkage strength. But the biaxial stretchability changes of polypropylenes and the reasons for such have not been reported upon systematically.
In this report, the relationship between stretchability and material design of various polypropylenes (PP) for biaxially oriented film, which are most popular polymers, was investigated. Several different ethylene contents and melt flow indices (MI) of PP were examined. There was a correlation between MI, ethylene content and the stretchability of the DBTF. A random copolymer with MI 2 g/10 min and ethylene content 4.0 wt.% gave good stretchability. The most suitable composition distribution for stretching and the properties of biaxially oriented films were studied by using the temperature rising elution fractionation.
Summary
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune‐mediated inflammatory disease of the neuromuscular junction. Previous studies of animal MG models have suggested important roles of cytokines in MG ...pathogenesis, but adequate studies on cytokines in human MG are lacking. Using a multiplex suspension array system, we measured the serum levels of 27 cytokines/chemokines in 47 anti‐acetylcholine receptor antibody‐positive patients with MG and 20 normal controls (NC) to investigate the contribution of cytokines/chemokines toward MG pathogenesis. Correlations between clinical parameters and cytokine/chemokine levels in patients with MG were also examined. The serum levels of interleukin (IL)‐15 (mean ± standard deviation: 6·85 ± 6·97 pg/ml) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (96·21 ± 71·60 pg/ml) significantly increased, whereas IL‐4 levels (3·57 ± 0·86 pg/ml) decreased in patients with MG compared with NC (IL‐15: 4·42 ± 1·55 pg/ml; VEGF: 63·51 ± 32·95 pg/ml; IL‐4: 4·15 ± 0·81 pg/ml, P < 0·05). In addition, eight cytokines (IL‐4, IL‐8, IL‐15, eotaxin, macrophage inflammatory protein‐1α, macrophage inflammatory protein‐1β, VEGF and IL‐1b) were significantly changed among MG patients with thymoma, MG patients without thymoma and NC (P < 0·05). Some cytokines, such as IL‐4, IL‐15, and VEGF, may play roles in the pathogenesis of MG.
This paper describes the design and reports the test results of the world's most compact rotating gantry for a heavy-ion therapy system mounted with superconducting bending and focusing magnets. A ...rotating gantry is cylindrical irradiation equipment with magnets for beam transport and beam scanning that delivers energetic carbon ions at up to 430 MeV/u precisely to a tumor from any direction without changing the posture of the patient. However, because of the high magnetic rigidity of therapeutic carbon ions, the rotating gantry was too big to be installed at general hospitals. Therefore, the superconducting rotating gantry had been developed in collaboration with Yamagata University. In the project, to achieve further downsizing of the rotating gantry, the length of the scanning irradiation system is reduced and the magnetic field of the superconducting magnet is increased to 3.5 T from the 2.88 T of the first superconducting gantry installed in the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST). As a result, the gantry is downsized to 2/3 of the first superconducting rotating gantry. This next-generation small superconducting rotating gantry has already been installed and is undergoing preclinical commissioning at Yamagata University.
Background and purpose
A single, oral dose of 3 mg/day tacrolimus, approved for myasthenia gravis (MG) treatment in Japan, was shown to reduce steroid dose and anti‐acetylcholine receptor (AChR) ...antibody titers as well as to improve MG symptoms. However, no studies have investigated the association between tacrolimus concentration and its clinical efficacy in MG. In this study, we aimed to determine the optimal tacrolimus concentration for MG treatment.
Methods
The trough tacrolimus concentration in 51 patients with MG (positive for anti‐AChR antibody, n = 48; negative for anti‐AChR and anti‐muscle‐specific tyrosine kinase antibodies, n = 3) who received 3 mg/day tacrolimus for more than 1 year was measured using a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay. The clinical characteristics of patients with MG as well as the dose of prednisolone used before and after tacrolimus treatment were evaluated retrospectively.
Results
The median trough tacrolimus concentration was 5.4 (range, 2.9–7.6) ng/mL, which was correlated with ‘minimal manifestation or better status’ (P = 0.0190, r = 0.3273) and the reduction in anti‐AChR antibody 1 year after tacrolimus initiation (P = 0.0170, r = 0.3465). When the cut‐off value for tacrolimus was defined as 4.8 ng/mL using a receiver operating characteristic curve, patients with adequate tacrolimus concentration (≥4.8 ng/mL) showed more reduction in anti‐AChR antibody titers and more improvement in MG‐related activities in daily life scores. More patients with adequate tacrolimus concentration achieved ‘minimal manifestation or better status’ compared with those with low tacrolimus concentration.
Conclusions
An adequate tacrolimus concentration is required for better MG prognosis.
Bulk superconducting MgB2 samples, 20 mm in diameter, were prepared by hot-pressing of ball-milled Mg and B powders using fine-grained boron powders. High maximum trapped fields of B0 = 5.4 T were ...obtained at 12 K in one of the investigated trapped field magnets (height 8 mm) at the centre of the bulk surface. Investigating the temperature dependence of the trapped field for short MgB2 samples (height ≤1.6 mm), trapped fields of up to B0 = 3.2 T at 15 K were achieved. These high trapped fields are related to extremely high critical current densities of up to 106 A cm−2 at 15 K, indicating strong pinning due to nanocrystalline MgB2 grains. Expected trapped field data for long trapped field magnets prepared from the available MgB2 material are estimated.
Background and purpose
Thymectomy is an effective treatment for myasthenia gravis (MG) with anti‐acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies. We rarely encounter patients who develop MG after surgery ...for thymic tumors. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and frequency of post‐thymectomy onset (PostTx) MG.
Methods
We reviewed the clinical information of thymoma‐associated MG in 158 patients. Of these, 18 (11%) patients with PostTx MG were identified.
Results
The presence of anti‐AChR antibodies (82%) and electrophysiological abnormalities (50%) was confirmed before thymectomy in patients with PostTx MG. The clinical characteristics of PostTx MG were similar to those of pre‐thymectomy onset (PreTx) MG. In PostTx MG, the duration between thymectomy and MG onset were distributed as < 6 months (early‐onset PostTx MG) and ≥ 6 months (late‐onset PostTx MG). Notably, some patients with late‐onset PostTx MG were associated with thymoma relapse.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that approximately 11% of patients with thymoma‐associated MG were PostTx MG and pre‐surgical assessment of anti‐AChR antibody titer or electrophysiological testing may predict PostTx MG development. However, no difference in clinical manifestation and prognosis was observed between PreTx MG and PostTx MG.
The hypothesis of helper T (T(h))1/T(h)2 cytokine balance proposed by Mosmann and Coffman is often invoked to explain the development of inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases ...(IBD). Recently, however, a newly identified class of T(h) cells-T(h)17 cells, which produce T(h)17 family cytokines-has been recognized as an essential subpopulation in the development of almost all kinds of human and animal inflammatory diseases, rather than T(h)1 and T(h)2 cells. A representative T(h)17 family cytokine, interleukin (IL)-17A, is produced by not only T(h)17 cells, but also by other types of cells, such as T-cell receptor γδ T cells, natural killer (NK) T cells, NK cells, myeloid cells, and innate lymphoid cells, which may also be critically involved in the initiation and persistence of IBD. Here we review recent advances in the study of such IL-17A-producing cells in the pathogenesis of IBD.
We present computational analysis of flow-driven string dynamics in a pump and the related residence time calculation. The objective in the study is to understand how the strings carried by a fluid ...interact with the pump surfaces, including the blades, and get stuck on or around those surfaces. The residence time calculations help us to have a simplified but quick understanding of the string behavior. The core computational method is the Space-Time Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, and the other key methods are the ST Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA), ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) method, ST/NURBS Mesh Update Method (STNMUM), a general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method for complex geometries, and a one-way-dependence model for the string dynamics. The ST-IGA with NURBS basis functions in space is used in both fluid mechanics and string structural dynamics. The ST framework provides higher-order accuracy. The VMS feature of the ST-VMS addresses the computational challenges associated with the turbulent nature of the unsteady flow, and the moving-mesh feature of the ST framework enables high-resolution computation near the rotor surface. The ST-SI enables moving-mesh computation of the spinning rotor. The mesh covering the rotor spins with it, and the SI between the spinning mesh and the rest of the mesh accurately connects the two sides of the solution. The ST-IGA enables more accurate representation of the pump geometry and increased accuracy in the flow solution. The IGA discretization also enables increased accuracy in the structural dynamics solution, as well as smoothness in the string shape and fluid dynamics forces computed on the string. The STNMUM enables exact representation of the mesh rotation. The general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method makes it easier to deal with the complex geometry. With the one-way-dependence model, we compute the influence of the flow on the string dynamics, while avoiding the formidable task of computing the influence of the string on the flow, which we expect to be small.
We report on the development of an optical parametric chirpedpulse amplifier at a 1-kHz repetition rate with a 5.5-fs pulse duration, a 2.7-mJ pulse energy and carrier-envelope phase-control. The ...amplifier is pumped by a 450-nm pulse from a frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire laser.
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